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Tom Chivers

@thisisyogic

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Writer, publisher & producer. Dad of girls. Thames mudlark. Founder @pennedinthemargins. PhD at QMUL & MOLA. London Clay: Journeys in the Deep City.

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Next stop on Year 5 @boutcher_ce_primary Southwark odyssey to ask residents What Southwark Means To Me was a meeting with author and mudlarker Tom Chivers @thisisyogic 🙌

Boutcher Primary School art project, What Southwark Means To Me, is a journey of discovery. Year 5 pupils have 19 encounters with people from all walks of life who make an impact in our community. Empirical by design, pupils sketch in each location and ask participants about their sense of belonging and connection. They sketch & listen to participants' answers and consider their responses over time as they collectively make 19 paintings from their experiences.

The pupils chatted to Tom on Rotherhithe beach, knee protectors on, trowel in hand, as he scoured the shore for traces of stories of lives lived locally for the last few thousand years. After a safety talk about the foreshore and dangers of the river with beach debris that can often be toxic, we then learnt about mudlarking permits. These legal necessities for mudlarkers are issued by the Port of London Authority, who manage the foreshore.

A relative newcomer to the art & science of mudlarking, Tom discovered his passion during lockdown walks along the foreshore with his daughters, and now he's completing a PHD @officialqmul

Tom crawled & scraped the whole time, but paused long enough to show us his box of treasures - like a tardis taking us back through time. From broken Victorian & Georgian clay pipes to fragments of 16thC wine jugs, he led us further back through Southwark's history to a gold coin made from Scottish gold during the reign of King James - he knew which river the gold came from. He produced a 17th trader token, and knew the name of the trader that issued it, and his wife's name. This was detective work that Holmes himself would be proud of.

Further back we travelled via blackened Roman pottery, scorched during Boudica's revolt? A Roman coin stunned us. History was alive. We looked at coral used as ballast for cargo ships and ended up with an iron age weaving tool.

Perhaps most moving of all for Yr 5 was the sole of a Tudor child's shoe. The pupils are really looking forward to celebrating Tom on canvas
🙏 🏺

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🍂 📚 Snuggle up with a good book this autumn from our award-winning back catalogue – from visionary poetry to genre-bending literary fiction and non-fiction. Includes seminal releases by Booker-shortlisted novelist Luke Kennard, multi-award-winning poet Raymond Antrobus, innovative nature writers Rebecca Tamás and Elizabeth-Jane Burnett, leading performance poet Luke Wright and many, many more.

Up to 50% off available titles while stocks last. Sale ends 16 October 2026.

🇪🇺 We do not ship to EU countries, sorry.

#book #booksbooksbooks #poetry

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So pleased to have been invited by Tom Chivers @thisisyogic to give a presentation on the @londonportauth Creative Permit at the Mudlark Symposium @guildhallartlondon and what it means to us, some of the 50 holders.

I’ll be talking about our artwork and jewellery as well as the connections, creativity, collaborations and friendships that have resulted from this new category of permit.

I’m the last speaker on the Sunday afternoon, so I’ll be ending the Symposium on a creative high 👈🏻◀️ for more info

Work illustrated here in no particular order is by:

@south_river_artist
@clare_o_hagan
@cabbythepotter
@lizwillisjewellery
@marshmadeleine
@carolinewinnceramics
@bollymay_mudlark
@larkangel.jewellery
@tidelineart
@wendys_thames_jewels
@megasteg
@strandline.art
@janeslondon
@mudlarting
And me - @mythamesview.etc 😀

NB you need @londonportauth Creative Permit to make, sell and exhibit artwork and jewellery made from Thames Mudlark finds

#mudlarkartist #thamesmudlarkmakers #londonmudlark #mudlarking #mudlarks

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Penned In The Margins, Truck Festival, Oxfordshire (22/07/2006). With MatKore and Sore Throat.

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A beautiful azure bluepaste stone set in a decorative pewter mount found me on the Thames foreshore this week. I don’t find many pieces like this so I was very happy to turn this up in a midweek mudlark. It’s small so I suspect it may have broken off a finger ring rather than being a cufflink. I’ve seen others before, including a complete (albeit rather misshapen) ring found a few years ago by Tom @thisisyogic .

#mudlarking #mudlarkingfinds #mudlarkinglondon #thamesmudlark #londonmudlark

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I’m honoured to have been invited to present at the Hands on History Symposium: Mudlarks of the Thames Foreshore at Guildhall, London. The symposium runs for two days, and I will be presenting on Sunday 6 September between 11.30am and 12.30pm. I will be doing a fire talk on foreshore ecology and my experience of the foreshore as a mudlark and conservationist, talking about the unexpected forms of life I have come across.

The title of my fire talk is ‘From seahorses to house martins, a mudlark’s view of foreshore ecology’

Session 1: On Mudlarking: Looking, Touching, Noticing
Geneviève Godin, Sam Caethoven, Candace Kuss, Dan McCabe, Brigitte Hart

Session 2: Local Heritage of the Thames and Other Foreshores
Liz Anderson, Debbie Larkins, Germander Speedwell

Session 3: Archaeology of the Thames
Sadie Watson, Nathalie Cohen, Elise Unwin, Hella Eckardt, Philippa Walton, Pamela Greenwood

Session 4: Ecologies of the Thames
Wanda Bodnar, Barbara Polonara, Hannah Niblett, Lee Berwick

Session 5: Objects in Motion: Mudlarking and the Global Thames
Nsiya Mangu, Nigel Jeffries, Monika Buttling-Smith, Eliot Benbow

Session 6: Afterlives of Mudlarking and Mudlarked Objects
Kamila Mamadnazarbekova, Anna Freed, Alexandra Abraham

Please register here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/hands-on-history-symposium-mudlarks-of-the-thames-foreshore-tickets-1996619446512, tickets are FREE!

The symposium is organised by mudlark and researcher Tom Chivers (Queen Mary, University of London/Museum of London Archaeology) and supported by the AHRC’s Collaborative Doctoral Partnerships Scheme via the Researcher Led Activity Fund. Thank you @thisisyogic and @handsonhistorymudlarks for this wonderful opportunity❤️

You need a valid PLA permit to mudlark on the Thames foreshore

#mudlarking #talk #guildhall #london #free

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I’m thrilled to announce the programme for the Hands on History Symposium: Mudlarks of the Thames Foreshore at Guildhall, London, 5-6 September.

Created by Tom Chivers, @thisisyogic , the symposium brings together practising mudlarks and academic researchers in a blend of presentations, short talks and panel discussions to shed light on the Thames at low tide, the people who search it and the objects they find.

I’m excited to be a participant in the symposium. If you’d like to attend, tickets are free and available here:

Register now for FREE tickets: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/hands-on-history-symposium-mudlarks-of-the-thames-foreshore-tickets-1996619446512

Session 1: On Mudlarking: Looking, Touching, Noticing
Geneviève Godin, Sam Caethoven, Candace Kuss, Dan McCabe, Brigitte Hart

Session 2: Local Heritage of the Thames and Other Foreshore
Liz Anderson, Debbie Larkins, Germander Speedwell

Session 3: Archaeology of the Thames
Sadie Watson, Nathalie Cohen, Elise Unwin, Hella Eckardt, Philippa Walton, Pamela Greenwood

Session 4: Ecologies of the Thames
Wanda Bodnar, Barbara Polonara, Hannah Niblett, Lee Berwick

Session 5: Objects in Motion: Mudlarking and the Global Thames
Nsiya Mangu, Nigel Jeffries, Monika Buttling-Smith, Eliot Benbow

Session 6: Afterlives of Mudlarking and Mudlarked Objects
Kamila Mamadnazarbekova, Anna Freed, Alexandra Abraham

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🎺 Calling all mudlarks and academic researchers!

📇Hands on History Symposium: Mudlarks of the Thames Foreshore.
📅Saturday 5 and Sunday 6 September 2026
📍Guildhall, London (in person only)

ABOUT THE SYMPOSIUM
Mudlarks of the Thames Foreshore is a two-day symposium which brings together practising mudlarks and academic researchers in a blend of presentations, short talks and panel discussions. The symposium takes place at Guildhall, London, alongside the Hands on History mudlarking exhibition (part of Totally Thames 2026). The symposium is free to attend and open to all.

There has been growing interest in mudlarking for some years, but it remains an under-researched area. This symposium follows London Museum’s major exhibition ‘Secrets of the Thames’ and aims to bring together mudlarks and academic researchers working across archaeology, geography, heritage, history and environmental science to shed new light on the Thames at low tide, the people that search it and the objects they find.

The symposium is organised by postgraduate researcher and mudlark Tom Chivers (Queen Mary, University of London/Museum of London Archaeology) and supported by the AHRC’s Collaborative Doctoral Partnership Scheme via the Researcher Led Activity Fund.

THEMES AND TOPICS
The organisers welcome contributions in (but not limited to) the following areas:

• Mudlarking Practice
• Local heritage
• Global connections
• Foreshore ecology
• Public history

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES
Tom invites proposals for individual papers (15-20 minutes) and short ‘lightning’ talks (3-5 minutes). Funding for presentation fees and travel expenses is available, with priority given to non-academic contributors, postgraduate students and early-career researchers.

Please send your expression of interest by email to symposium organiser Tom Chivers
(t.b.chivers@qmul.ac.uk) by 5pm on 24 July 2026. Please include a short paragraph (c. 100 words) outlining your contribution. All participants will be notified by 3 August 2026.

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Penned In The Margins, Truck Festival, Oxfordshire (22/07/2006). Backstage after a big thunderstorm that almost got the event cancelled.

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Penned In The Margins, Truck Festival, Oxfordshire (22/07/2006).

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Penned In The Margins, Truck Festival, Oxfordshire (22/07/2006). With special guest MatKore.

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from the archive (literally)

summertime 2025 ft. mudlarking.

'She is a small thing, barely the size of a pinky
finger. Resting her weight on her left hip, her
bottom half lies exposed and one arm hangs
at her side, whilst the other raises bunched
fabric above her navel. Her breasts are not
covered; rather, they sit framed and apparent.
She has a middle part, hair lying flat against
her scalp then cascading downwards towards her posterior. Her face is plain and indifferent. Her mouth turns slightly downwards though not in a frown. Never a frown. Her nose is almost triangular and her eyes are white: eternally open.

She cannot breathe and yet she sighs, tired
after centuries of being trapped in sediment.
Time has worsened her memory. She knows
she is made of earth, specifically that used
in the making of clay pipes, though no one
seems to smoke them now. Moulded and cast and attached to – what? She cannot remember, though she is sure it was important. She is a figurine: this she knows. The product of a tradition of exposed women forever enshrined in permanent form. Used as vessels for a sought-after beauty and forgotten to time until someone chooses to gaze upon them again.'

please excuse the flurry of posts as i try to catch up on what drafts are in the vault...

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