Mudlarking on the Thames with CUT/HALF and HAMMERRHOID

[cardiffian]

Nice find Galoshers - I'm enjoying your mud larking tales and finds.

Keep them coming.

I agree with Neil your stories are very interesting.

[galoshers]

thanks , as and when i recall the stories i will post them as they just pop into my head in the morning.
i am at the moment looking for a piccy of a stuart gold and enamel diamond ring my pal found ,which the London museum bought for 20,000 .at first they said it was a Victorian forgery ! but he persevered via the V&A expert who said it was genuine.
so there was a row between the experts over it and eventually they accepted it was the real thing but it took a while .
the diamonds were found to be of Indian origin ,24 of them .

[Dryland]

What a find, but don't tell Badger or he'll be on his way to London 

[galoshers]

The actual history of the diggers dates back to the late 70s and early 80s before even the mudlarks existed .
a lose collection of guys started digging in Queenhithe dock on a Sunday just as a pastime after reading Joan Allens book on treasure hunting. about a dozen were there when tides allowed.

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=queenhithe+dock&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=SGYtU_H2N8Se0QXhoYDwCA&sqi=2&ved=0CDYQsAQ&biw=1385&bih=740

at first it wasnt very deep digging ,just 12 inches . then some bright spark youth started digging deep holes and finding valuable daggers from the medieval to 17th century period .2 grand a pop in the 80s was good money !so then some of them started digging 24/7 as they were doing so well they were earning more than their salary .

(the daggers were in very nice condition wth bone handles and quillon daggers in superb condition ,many now in the Tower Armouries and in the London museum) as good as the day  they were lost nicely preserved in the mud)

new cars were common amongst the diggers .
!
Big holes were getting noticed by the passing cop boats and soon the PLA started making a fuss and the London Museum got involved to ban the diggers from digging holes completely .

thats when the Mudlarks Society came into being around late 80s to get around the possible ban and licences were issued to all diggers so that they reported finds to the museum.and filled in their monster holes properly .
it was the only way round the ban

But later on they then banned deep holes and they could only be a metre deep and had to be filled in on the same day ,no more 2 week holes could be dug .
********************************
a piccy of onion bottles and delftware pots found by myself ..

[galoshers]

here's some gold items i dug up underneath Putney Bridge at the start of the boatrace lost by careless spectators over the years i guess  .i was raking over the surface and i checked it with the Deus

one earing a belcher chain and 3 rings

[troutmasterfunk]

Nice finds 

[diggaduff]

Some nice precious there

[Dale]

The river Avon should produce some good finds the romans used it as a natural port and they built a little harbour at seamills, then the Saxons came along and settled where Bristol castle once stood. From then on Bristol became a very important port for probably a good 1000 years with a lot wealthy merchants trading.......So what was lost in the rivers who knows?

[Dryland]

 You've got some great finds there.Those onion bottles are superb and very collectable,and a nice bit of jewelery as well, Great memories mate.Do you still do mudlarking ?

[galoshers]

oh yes its in my blood now after reading these 2 books i became addicted  



and heres a saxon glass bangle with a copper coating ,the london museum couldn't make up their mind if it was roman or saxon but they settled on saxon glass reworked from roman glass
surface find eyes only on the bangle
amazing it never got smashed after all the years on the foreshore
not sure why it has a copper coating ...

i sold around a dozen of the glass onions to a few dealers and still have some left ,the ones i sold were in tiptop condition and made around 900 each
to major glass dealer laurence  at  http://www.theantiquedispensary.co.uk/

i must have dug around 30 onions over the space of 2 years

[galoshers]

yep the river avon should have plenty of finds waiting to be dug up

[Chef Geoff]

Unfortunately the historically important part of the Avon ie Bristol is now the floating harbour and so permanently flooded, the tidal river at Bristol is the "New Cut" and was only dug in the early 19thC

[Dale]

Unfortunately the historically important part of the Avon ie Bristol is now the floating harbour and so permanently flooded, the tidal river at Bristol is the "New Cut" and was only dug in the early 19thC

Yeah you are right, from the cut back to the Severn should be ok, but its just mud mud and mud

[Dryland]

Copper is used as an undercoat  (for want of a better word)  these days for better adhesion when you plate  or enamel an item. Maybe  they did something similar ??

[pontyboy]

Nice find Galoshers - I'm enjoying your mud larking tales and finds.

Keep them coming.

Me too...Great stories and invaluable information about the Thames foreshore, you should write a book if you haven't already, about the foreshore