Fabulous Finds from the River Thames - You'll see Why I love Mudlarking so much (February 2023) 

Hi! The luck of that little fish...to have an angel come along in the dark and save him❣😇. Timing is everything. Good girl.

You are an ANGEL 😇 you helped a poor creature (FISH) who was stranded ashore ,back into its home environment 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️🌟⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️these are STARS IN YOUR CROWN ❤❤❤❤🍀🍀🍀🍀🍀 LOVE and tons of good 🍀luck mud larking ! 🙀👵🏻😱🖖🏼👽🐲👍🏻🌵 ARIZONA,USA 🇺🇸

The hinge you found is a pintel, a hook like fixture that is used to fasten a rudder to the stern of a boat. Usually two of them were fastened to the transom of the vessel and there were complimentary fixtures fastened to the rudder, then one is slipped inside the other holding it to the stern of the boat/ship so it was movable to be able to steer the vessel from a tiller or a wheel.

The watch is army issue, ATP stands for Army Trade Pattern and the number below is a unique issue number so it may be possible to trace the original owner through records. The large brass item is an old nautical fixed pulley block with independant sheaves, possible from a sailing boats steering mechanism.

Even when I’m not particularly in the happiest of moods, your greetings and wrap up well wishes ALWAYS make my day brighter and I cannot help but smile! Thank you, Dear One, for shedding happiness, treasures, and well wishes to make the world just a little more rich for all of us! ❤

Now that is a lovely chunk of brass. ..and the sword broach is a lovely bit of craftsmanship ! Thank you for saving the fish 🐟

You are brave to be there on your own 😮

Luv how you care enough to save the fish. I too would have . I luv watching your videos on treasure hunting - so great ❤️

Nicola you really are a force of nature - rescuing fish, finding really interesting stuff and brightening everyone's day!

Really enjoyed this one and I enjoyed seeing the paddle steamer Waverley in the opening sequences. She comes down all the way from Scotland and it was her first visit to the Thames for four years. After a day visiting my 5 day old grandson and taking him for a walk in his pram, this was a delightful video to come back to. Thank you.

Thank you for all the pleasant things you have to say to each one of us!! Sometimes yours is the only kind, sweet and thoughtful voice I hear in a day! I appreciate all of your hard work - showing us your sweet finds! 💕

Thank you so much for saving that poor fishy. 🥺 people with their heart on the right place for the living creatures have a special place in my heart. Even if it is "just" a fish. Every living creatures has feelings. Luckily you where at the right place at the right time. 🙏😘

Dear Nicola I hope you arent mudlarking at night alone and that you are safe and share such adventures again.

My first thought is that the sword is a kilt pin. Traditional plain kilt pins are made from a single piece of wire, so I think it's likely that more elaborate shapes were also made the same way. Swords are a very popular design for kilt pins and have been for the last 201 years (since Sir Walter Scott made tartan fashionable and "clan tartans" were invented)

Welcome back! Those of us who grew up on The Three Stooges know the valve of a seltzer bottle when we see one.

Your videos are truly spellbinding in the most curiously delightful way. Thank you for bringing us along. I’m always wishing you on and hoping “today will be the day” for you to stumble across an ancient and ornately designed gold relic, or highly detailed and well-preserved gold coin, or some other grand and monumentally significant treasure. While the odds aren’t great, I realize, watching these videos of you and the other mudlarks, the chance of doing just that is very real. That’s what I love. We just never know what the receding tides will reveal for all of you as you take each sloshy step through the mud. So here’s hoping today will be the day for you discovering the best-ever find, but in the interim, I will remain equally smitten to see all these other truly wonderful finds, even if they don’t land you the front cover of National Geographic magazine. I can’t wait to see what you and your fabulous mudlarking friends will find next! ❤

Lovely rescuing the fish Nicola! 🐟Hi from New Zealand 🇳🇿

I wrote this down before you told about it: The tap thingy looks like a syphon for an old seltzer bottle. I remember seeing things like this in old movies.

I love your shirt..As a little girl, I loved to watch the butterfly march where I live in Southern California. Because of storms, fewer trees, and pesticides...now It is a rare view.

Thanks for being so nice and cheery.

3 min in and 75 people beat me to your channel. Damn girl you are so popular. I love your content.

I love the sword pin. Nice find! The brass mystery item looks like a pulley system for wire rope, probably from a ship. Have a great week!

the sword looks like a tie clasp...very nice

Hi Nicola. I wanted to thank you for the inspiration. It crosses the borders! During the past weekend my wife and I have visited London (we live in Poland). We have had a tight sight seeing schedule, but managed to spend a few minutes on the Thames shore near Greenwich Tunnel. It wasn't long before we have scored a few pieces clay pipe stems, and a beautiful turquoise glass marble (a bottle stopper). As we were leaving the place we have had the nicest conversation with a lady living nearby, who has congratulated us on our finds and said that one of the clay pipe pieces was probably from 16th century. This really made our day. But if not for your videos, we'd never have a chance of Thames mudlarking, even if only for a day. Thank you so much!

🎉nicola please don't go alone anymore in this day and age its just not safe 🎉😊

So nice of you to save the fish. You are very kind!

A fine collection of oddments, again. The sword pin is lovely, and the brass hardware quite unique. As are you, I'm certain. Thanks so much for taking us along!

You're so brave on your own at night. 😮❤

12:31 star looks like a Girl Scout year push pin --- we would get one for each year in scouting to push the back pin through the badge sash to a waiting pinch type backing.

So far just the beautiful Thames at night

Nicola, your finds today are very Steam-punkable! So lovely that their parts still move. Be well from washington state USA ❤️

Thanks for saving the fish.

Another "gem" of a video!!! Thanks

It is amazing to see the wooden dog that gave you the heebie-jeebies looks so happy on your shelf. You did the right thing for him and he is so happy to have a loving home.

You should take a battery powered UV light on night hunts. It will illuminate radium glass and florescent minerals

You saved the fish.🤗✨💖

Really cool finds! Loved the sword 🗡️ pin. I thought it was a kilt pin to begin with, but it’s much to fine.

I love old things for the piece of history that they are. Monetary value is of secondary concern. ❤️

Ooh, a night swan--what a sight! A lovely night crab, too. And good on you for helping out that poor fish! I'd say you're a very well-hinged lady. When you first gliumpsed the sword, it looked to you like a piece of wire--and what a piece of wire it was! Such exquisite workmanship, seeing the light of day after who knows how long. But whatever you do, DON'T give it to that squirrel!

Love you, thank you❤

When you got enthusiastic about the hinge while you were out on the river, I didn't quite see why. But cleaned up? I love that thing! The broad arrow adds so much, too: both clarity and mystery. I finally got hit by Covid last weekend, after three years of avoiding it. I made a silly mistake and went maskless into my portable planetarium for a presentation to a group of excited six-year-olds. Then I gave it my wife and son. I'm on the mend, and your kind wishes for my good health really meant something today. Please take care, everyone; especially those, like me, who are older, with other risk factors. It didn't last too long for me, but I just had the sickest week of my life.

Love the little sword 🗡️ pin !!! The clay pipe was very nice. The big metal thing looked like a pulley for ropes & I liked that hinge, it was made very sturdy & thick !!! I love watching your videos & seeing what you discover next !!! Can't wait to see more of them !!! Alittle bit of good news: I have been wanting one of those bottles with the marble in it that you found or some of your friends found. Well I actually found one where I live in NC but in a little town I used to live in named Black Mountain & in an Antique Store & it was light blue 💙 with a green 💚 marble !!! Only thing is the stopper was missing but I love it anyway !!! Thank you for showing us those beautiful bottles Nicola !!! ❤️🙂

Nicola, you're my happy ending to a particularly stressful day, and your cheerfulness must have helped give my patient the will to survive by watching your channel's video on her phone in A&E. I cannot thank you enough for such a great mudlarking video too, and your wonderfully colourful studio and your finds also helped make my day. Much love, Wendi 🙂 🌻 PS. I ran through my Edwardian brooch collection appertaining to the Royal Navy and found one that is very similar. Yours may be 9k gold, so check that out. I'm 90% certain it's Edwardian!

The large brass pulley object looks to be part of a ships telegraph system. If it is it would have held chain links around each wheel running from the bridge telegraph to the engine room repeater. What ever it is, it is a great find.

Well done Nicola for a great video and saving a local fish.

The little star looks like the pins we used to get as Girl Scouts in the US for each year we participated. There was a colored plastic circle that went behind the star to indicate the year (as I recall...this was back in the early 70s).

Thank you for helping that fish 🐟 he looked almost like a catfish Another great night out mudlarking

I used to have one similar which I wore on my kilt when I was in my twenties

Just watched The Northern Mudlarks also finding one of those little metal stars which they guessed came from the shoulders of a military uniform. I used to love London at night,your videos remind me of coming out of the theatre ,walking over the bridge and stopping to look up and downriver - magical, thank you for taking us along.

Another series of great adventures by the Thames, Nicola! I especially enjoy your night views of the lights of London. Such a beautiful city! If you're unhinged, then I guess that means I must have a screw loose. Thanks for the mudventure....

My favourite find was the little sword and love the large fish and crab, also you can never go wrong with a pipe

Hello Nicola! Another great video of finds.

Unusual finds and people helping with ID have a super week in the mud. Thanks again for Sunday adventure.

Just delighted when you pop up on my notifications! The thrill of the hunt and the feeling of being there with you through your great photography..that sword was a real amazing find in the dark! Wow! Much love

Always love to watch your escapades to the foreshore... absolutely love that little sword you found... and it does appear to be made from 1 continuous wire... so cute and the tiny domino... Hope you have many more wonderful adventures to come.

I agree with you that sword brooch was the best find WELL DONE 👍

Hola Nicola ,que interesante todo lo que encontró ,buen video me entretuve harto .Bendiciones un abrazo desde Chile 👍🥰

The copper/brass thing with the 4 for hoisting. wheels is a Sheave block, the individual wheels are pulleys. They were used together with another sheave block probably with 3 pulleys .

The sword you found was a handmade wire wrap piece of jewelry art. It is made without solder and is referred to as the "art of the pharaohs". I am a wire wrap artist and it is a lovely piece of workmanship - great find!

That lovely pink winged fish is a Gurnard they live over 80 years and must live in the Atlantic and the Pacific oceans because they are native here in New Zealand also! They look exactly the same! The Maori name is Puwhaiau. Cool finds as usual thanks, much enjoyed.

Just amazing Nicola. 🍁🥰🇨🇦

Hello from New Zealand. I love your posts, Nicola. My country is still very young so we don't have places like the Thames to go exploring, which I'd enjoy very much! We're planning to come to do a trip there next year sometime. Do you welcome fellow mudlarks to join you on your hunts, because I'd so love to meet you? * Regarding the brooch pin, I do believe it's a formal piece, because it's made in the style (one piece of wire) that our navy uses, as well. I found a cake slice from the captain's cabin if one if our old navy ships. I traced it to the jewellers who made all formal pieces, in Sydney, Australia. I gifted it to my brother in-law, who was at one time our Rear Admiral, so it went back to a person who can treasure it

The syphon has the inscription "British Syphon MFG Co.' You are including a little erosion or chip at the bottom of the " F" and mis-read it as an "E". Really wonderful find. The round swiveling metal thing is a cable/wire roller for coiling and uncoiling sheets (ropes) on a sail-based ship, which apparently had a crash one day.

Thank You, Nicola, having a wonderful day drawing and watching my favorite You Tubers. A happy Sunday, indeed!

Absolutely stunning footage of the Thames!! You are simply amazing Nicola!

That beautiful Gunard was so lucky to meet you! #lifesaver 💖

Great video as always nic. Thankyou for posting it. Your vids are just the distraction needed lately xxx

Hello from Australia …love watching your finds and seeing the history. Thanks for sharing. Have an awesome day.

Thanks for posting this video Nicola! It always makes me feel better when I see a post from you on here. This one was unique and did not disappoint, per usual. I have been recovering from a battle with Lyme disease which drains a person's strength , believe me. Today i have all the strength off a 2 year old without the stamina, lol. I am pleased to report that I was able to ID the majority of the wonderful finds that you were able to find on your night time foray onto the foreshore. Thank you again for shining a healing light across the pond, over the Appalachian mountains and foothills and into my dreary life here in southern Ohio. You are my angel of light even when you are searching for treasures in the dark! Much admiration, love and gratitude, Cathy

Thank you for your Music List. Always appreciated

You have great eyes for spotting things and you are also very brave to mud lark river side in the dark. I’d be spooked thinking some sort of river monster was going to grab me. My imagination gets the better of me sometimes. The pipe gods certainly reward you often with nice pipes Thank you for the informative videos!

324 people beat me LOL. But I'm here. Thank you for sharing with us all. Love love love all your knowledge you share and adventures. :)

Do you ever feel scared or intimidated mudlarking ar night alone?

Love the little sword broach what a lovely find for you Nichola. Will you wear it? Whatever, carry on having fun and sharing your knowledge and fun with us all. Enjoy

Ooow, thank you Nicola, great to have you back. I REALLY love old metal pieces, the hinge and the pulley bracket are fab, but, like you, I think the little sword is sensational. Keep on keeping on. Much love. Jx

That little star pin is part of an older Girl Guide/ Boy Scout uniform. White metal ones showed length of “service” - the kind you found denoted first completed year, longer service had a number on a raised round ground in the middle of the star. Similar pattern stars in bronze were worn by Boy Scouts

We thoroughly enjoyed these mudlarking trips (as always) James liked the tiny sword broach the best, and he asked "where's squirrel? 🐿 lol! Xx

Another wonderful time with you on the Thames!! Thanks!!💕💕💕💕

10:46 snowy Northern Arizona morning. Could the sword be a kilt pin? Your RU-vid show is my Sunday morning go to. Thank you from Prescott, AZ.

Soda Syphon tap...were good for using to drench people. Lol.

I always look forward to Sundays and seeing a new video from you. I find it so educational and interesting seeing what you have found lately in the mud. Thank you for adding to my historical knowledge of various objects and lore.

What a great lot of finds, loved them all . I love the history behind the items . 💓💥🦈🗡🦐Great one Nicola. love visiting with you .

I play a little game when I watch your videos so I will often pause and try to figure out certain items. It's fun. At first, I thought the big unknonn object (UFO = Unidentified Found Object) looked like an engine valve (from what I could see of the rings.) It looked like part of an engine and then perhaps part of an air compressor. I had to laugh when your solution seemed so much more simple and practical, a la Occam's Razor theory. Of course the revelation shots do sometimes make me lose the game, ibut it's so much fun to guess what life really might have been like, in the past. (So much better, sometimes, than "book learning", IMO) Thanks again, Nicole.

I always love ❤️ when you find jewelry and all the pieces of the past!!!

You always seem to find the most unique and interesting treasures during your mudlarking adventures. The brass hinge and the pully or "block" are most interesting to me. The hinge would, of course, hang a very heavy hatch. Possibly, a watertight exterior hatch. I think that the brass "block" might have been used for hoisting the sails on a nineteenth century ship. It's always a pleasure. Always something new and interesting. Many thanks. Many Blessings.

That sword find is wonderful. I really like the soda topper. And the pulley,have a great week.

great finds

Great fund's love ur video's hello from kenai Alaska👍🍀🇺🇸

Nicola, although I thoroughly enjoyed your night mudlarking portion of the video, all I could think of was if you were all alone down by the river and your safety. Obviously you got home safely, as evidenced by the video, but I still worried. There is so much violent crime in London. That being said, I look forward to your videos. They are very calming the way you combine the search, music and scenery. Your videos look professionally done. You are so talented.

Hi nicola, another interesting collection of artifacts rescued from The Mud. The Watch with the MOD markings and the ATP inscription, stands for " Army Trade Pattern " they were Swiss made for the Ministry Of Defence . Interestingly to show their neutrality, they also fulfilled a contract for The German Military but theirs didn`t have the MOD mark of course and the Face was Black.

Such a wonderful assortment of treasures! The domino is really cool because it was probably cherished & I love to imagine the hand that held it. But my favorite is the sword pin. I do think it is a single piece of wire. Such craftsmanship! And the fact that the pin & the sword survived is nothing short of miraculous.

What a fetching and pleasant lass your are! ❤ From Minneapolis!!

So not only does this lovely totally mad muddle go out in the day and find brown things in brown mud but she now goes out at NIGHT, just to make things even more difficult !

Sword brooch is old. It has a c clasp. Victorian era and a C clasp of some type was generally in use from around 1850 until 1910.

Too bad that the brass pulley wheel piece didn't have any identification markings 😕 I do believe it either came off of a British (or other nations) old military sailboat or off of an expensive yacht. Brass just isn't used now like it used to be 👍

Thank you Nicola. You find such incredible things. Cheers and have a great week.

More amazing finds! Do love the maritime items, did I see a number on the back of the hinge? I wonder who walked through or opened the door it held?! My Grandad was in the Navy and he'd have loved all these things you find - although he'd want to take them apart to see how they work lol. The Science Museum has a medical section, maybe they have a similar syringe? The brooch has to be my favourite find this week, so detailed even though it's made of wire! Thank you for taking us along the Thames with you, have a great week xx

Thanks!

I've recently found your videos and am enjoying them immensely. The pipes are fascinating. When I was young (decades ago) we'd occasionally find very plain clay pipes out in the garden, left by some old New England/Yankee farmers. Your perspective make history come alive, when something as simple as a shiny brass hinge helps us envision the daily life of someone in the past. Thank you very much.

Thanks for another fun and interesting video. Stay safe.