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kbmidura 's review for:
Mudlark: In Search of London's Past Along the River Thames
by Lara Maiklem
This is a fun book. The author is basically a hoarder! But a dedicated one with a great hunting-ground.
Mudlarks are a community of people who spend lots of time wandering around the banks of the Thames searching for treasure. It's an old profession that has now become a hobby. "Treasure" has a broad definition in this case, apparently everything from coins to broken bottles or bones. The last time I visited London, I saw a lot of mudlarks on the river at Southwark at low tide, scanning the ground and carrying bags of stuff. That is why I was interested in reading this book.
I learned that the reason there is so much stuff washing up on the banks is that the Thames is essentially a giant landfill site. Every time over the past 2,000 years that the river has been rearranged, by building embankments for flood control or commercial activity, the fill has been obtained by either dredging the river and dumping it up on the banks, or carting in rubble from the surrounding area. In the process, thousands of years of artifacts have been deposited on the banks. But because the Thames is tidal, there is a lot of daily erosion, gradually releasing all the "treasure" onto the foreshore (what we Americans would call the tidal flats) to be picked up by anyone who notices it. It's pretty amazing that Roman coins and Tudor buttons are just lying there ready to be picked up. Sometimes the narrative gets a bit list-y, there are so many items, but still, a fascinating variety.
The book is divided into chapters about various sections of the river and the stuff that can be found there, with historical background to explain it. Lots of fun local London history for anyone who is somewhat familiar with the city. It is also frank about all the garbage and muck (and occasional dead body) that mudlarks have to wade through in order to find their treasures. Pretty gross! Mudlarking would not be my hobby, but it's probably good that Maiklem is honest about this aspect, or everyone would want to climb down to the river and treasure-hunt.
A good, light read and a way to virtually travel to London in 2020.
Mudlarks are a community of people who spend lots of time wandering around the banks of the Thames searching for treasure. It's an old profession that has now become a hobby. "Treasure" has a broad definition in this case, apparently everything from coins to broken bottles or bones. The last time I visited London, I saw a lot of mudlarks on the river at Southwark at low tide, scanning the ground and carrying bags of stuff. That is why I was interested in reading this book.
I learned that the reason there is so much stuff washing up on the banks is that the Thames is essentially a giant landfill site. Every time over the past 2,000 years that the river has been rearranged, by building embankments for flood control or commercial activity, the fill has been obtained by either dredging the river and dumping it up on the banks, or carting in rubble from the surrounding area. In the process, thousands of years of artifacts have been deposited on the banks. But because the Thames is tidal, there is a lot of daily erosion, gradually releasing all the "treasure" onto the foreshore (what we Americans would call the tidal flats) to be picked up by anyone who notices it. It's pretty amazing that Roman coins and Tudor buttons are just lying there ready to be picked up. Sometimes the narrative gets a bit list-y, there are so many items, but still, a fascinating variety.
The book is divided into chapters about various sections of the river and the stuff that can be found there, with historical background to explain it. Lots of fun local London history for anyone who is somewhat familiar with the city. It is also frank about all the garbage and muck (and occasional dead body) that mudlarks have to wade through in order to find their treasures. Pretty gross! Mudlarking would not be my hobby, but it's probably good that Maiklem is honest about this aspect, or everyone would want to climb down to the river and treasure-hunt.
A good, light read and a way to virtually travel to London in 2020.