It has been a strange time since March 2020 for anything archaeology related and my so-called treasure-hunting adventures. I still managed a few muddy & watery outings with wonderful memories to be cherished during the uncertain times I must stay at home. No one would have predicted a pandemic, and who could have guessed how drastically our lives and freedom of movement/ leisure time would be affected by it … for me it has been a time for introspection and retrospection, a trip down memory lane. Being a soul in isolation (sadly, not new for me) has helped me reflect on what my life has been, over 10 wonderful years of foreshore tribulations and exploring some of the UK seashores and riverways … the Thames probably being the only constant in my life, my familiar.
I must apologize for the long silence and not publishing much … my passion for seabeds, rivers & estuaries, maritime and inter tidal archaeology hasn’t changed. However, now that ‘mudlarking’ is no longer an obscure and secretive hobby for a few mixed with the odd museum experts and archaeologists, with a lot of social media overload, I somehow felt that my public outreach work here was done and there wasn’t much point in me being virtually or publicly around… To me, it’s never been about myself, always been about the river, the context, or the find, the object, the story of the person behind it – history ! I must confess that I am conflicted with new behaviours and what I witness on social media with a new generation of ‘foragers’, sometimes not shy on reclaiming restricted access land, disregarding PLA or PAS regulations, putting a price tag on everything they find, filming themselves discarding or throwing what is not intact or good enough for their purpose, not always conveying the right message to the general public. For this reason, I have chosen to remain a ghost of the past and taking a massive step down from my hobby. I’m sure some people mean well, but sometimes with the wrong outcomes for locals, land preservation and archaeology. Being a trained archaeologist at heart, I am keeping my good standards and ethics in everything I do.
I’ve recently spent some time and energy giving my best finds to archives or private collections, or simply people who would be happy with my finds.
However, I know some people kindly reached out for an update, left some lovely comments, or asked for more information about me or my activities, at least since I briefly participated (on a discreet, almost anonymous and humble level) to the ‘Foragers of the Foreshore’ exhibition in September 2019. This gave me the courage to update the old blog.
Since the exhibition, while others took to social media and press with a growing audience and following, I made the impulsive choice of disappearing from social media for a while. Last year, I took the difficult decision to wipe out the Instagram public account ‘thamesadmirer’, while I focused on other important personal matters. I since then created another personal account with my name, mainly for networking purposes and keeping up-to-date.
All of this led me to an unexpected journey, which was probably a blessing (or a silver lining). All I wanted was to go back to the roots, the pure joy and feelings of going to the foreshore or on my walks anonymously without the online interaction or constant monitoring, no self-induced stress or fear of missing out that can sometimes be generated by social media. At least, I did, for a little while.
Being a rather intense and passionate person (according to friends, past lovers & family), I always find the online interactions somewhat difficult & surreal – if not shallow or destined to end. I consider myself being socially awkward most of the time, of ‘a shyness that is criminally vulgar’ anyway. I am much more enthusiastic and approachable in person on the foreshore though.
I spent the last 3 years between Merseyside and London, missing the Thames dearly at times, visiting London on good low tides once or twice a month when there were no restrictions, exploring other riverways and seashores up North (and what wonderful sights!). My heart seems torn between Liverpool and London, the Thames and the Mersey these days. I love both dearly, can’t be somewhere without missing the other place.
Last year, I decided to share a few of my wonderful walks and experiences, part of my ‘life in lockdown walks’ series, but in the end didn’t really have the time to write it all down to relive the magic moments.
For those with an insatiable desire to search and discover, putting the wellies on, there is this reassuring fact that history is everywhere, and it does not take exceedingly long looking down before you find historical evidence, structural remains or even pottery & glass fragments, clay pipes, animal bones and familiar sights in other rivers and waterways.
I must confess that being formerly trained as an archaeologist (both community and commercial), I have always asked permission locally and researched the targeted area before even intending to explore or help myself to river blessings or sea gifts. I put some time and thoughts into health and safety, it’s all about calculated risks, checking the tides, not plunging blindfolded and wellies first into the unknown.
These last couple of years over-indulging myself in liquid love, I have also developed a sort of guilt for sharing my leisure publicly and questioned my past years’ behaviour of collecting finds or artefacts. In parallel, I’ve worked on living more ethically, going plastic free and reucing my own waste, while doing my bit to clean foreshores or seashores everytime I can.
I have always been reasonable, eye-search only and sticking to my standard foreshore permit rules. However, I ‘ve been over-worrying lately that perhaps I did not convey the right message to the public myself, perhaps it was miscommunicated or misunderstood.
I will always gladly remove what can be considered as plastic rubbish when I can too, however I do not wish to hoard finds and do not really collect anymore, taking photographs instead and leaving on site…
As a trained archaeologist, I have kept my faith in social history, in the past of this city, some strong ethics and certain standards in how I approach and treat the foreshore. I could never even think of permanently removing significant material from the riverways, foreshore or seashore, claiming ownership of materials such as mooring features, chains, anchors, timbers etc. Sadly, there seems to be a growing interest & ‘help yourself’ behaviour on the Thames foreshore.
In my opinion, it belongs to the foreshore and in situ. I pretty much see the Thames as an underwater final resting place too, a live museum, best to be left undisturbed, or with minimal damage on its surface.
A surviving mooring feature on the riverwall 
TImber reused as mooring feature 
Surviving timber at low tide 
Surviving ship timber at low tide
Having monitored certain areas of the foreshore regularly over 10 years, I have witnessed some more accessible patches of the foreshore being stripped down to just gravel, London clay or prehistoric peat layer, and by that I don’t mean the effect of erosion, I mean the repetitive action of occasional visitors filling whole plastic carrier bags with finds and all sorts.
I am not pouring my heart out here to point out or blame others. What I mean is …the approach to the river has changed since I first started. Not just the Thames, anyway, any riverway or explorable foreshore or land. In a way, I feel like I have failed the river, failed to convey the right message myself, and failed in my secret mission to protect & record the archaeological features for generations to come, which was always the reason why I started in the first place. Do not get me wrong, most people mean well, I still get the adrenaline rush when accidentally picking up a good find myself, but this is not the main reason why I visit the Thames so often. It’s at a more spiritual and wellbeing level for me.
Lately my life has been back to a minimalist and humble approach: the former naive contemplation of the site, enjoyment of the river for what it is, taking photographs of finds to document my walks and leave them on site, keep occasionally the ones important enough to be reported and reporting sightings of potentially unrecorded structures/ features to relevant archaeologists (not that it happens much).
Selfishly wrapped in my happy place, I am oblivious to what is going on around me, and ignoring all the negative behaviour I have witnessed or experienced the last few years.
I am a dreamer, I worship the river, I want to understand its context and history, I am not here to reclaim ownership or being territorial. I do not own the river, the river owns me, body and soul.
So, if you can bear with me long enough, I will hopefully be publishing more this year about some of my walks & discoveries in Merseyside, Lancashire, and North Wales the last couple of years, and of course carrying on with some information on my finds and more recent Thames journey. Just need to find the time now.
(***All content and photographs in this blog article are by Lucie Commans, the views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author only, please do not use or copy without copyright permission*** )
The Thames Admirer 