00:00Under the shadow of London's modern skyline,
00:02a centuries-old pursuit is seeing a surge in popularity.
00:09This is one of the earliest tobacco pipes I've ever found.
00:13Looks like a cup and a bit of a plate
00:15from around the time of Shakespeare.
00:17This is mudlarking, the booming hobby.
00:20But it isn't open to everyone.
00:22And permits to take part are becoming
00:25almost as prized as the relics themselves.
00:29Here, on London's River Thames.
00:34Once, mudlarks were London's poor,
00:36scouring this foreshore for scraps to sell.
00:39Today, hobbyists like Flora are on the trail of the past.
00:43It's quite cool.
00:45Somebody's house, you know, from 2,000 years, 1800 years down here.
00:50Hidden in the rocks, Flora discovers items
00:53that have journeyed through time.
00:55Telling stories of the ordinary Londoners
00:57who lived and worked on the river.
01:00It's like you're going back in time really briefly
01:03so you can forget your modern-day troubles, anxieties.
01:07I have stuff where it's taken years to work out what it is.
01:10And, you know, when you figure it out after that long a time,
01:13it is absolute, you know, massive fist pump.
01:17Away from the foreshore, Flora displays her finds at Southwark Cathedral.
01:22Selling items is not permitted.
01:24Instead, this yearly mudlarking festival gives enthusiasts a glimpse into the Thames' treasures.
01:32Mudlarking has built up a huge following in recent years,
01:35with thousands hoping to follow in Flora's footsteps.
01:39But with demand so great, there are strict limits on mudlarking numbers.
01:44Only 4,000 permits are issued by the Port of London Authority a year,
01:49with the waiting list at one point surging to more than 10,000.
01:53Among them, death historian Dan.
01:55Oh, no, they're fights.
01:56They're fights.
01:58I'm now somewhat in the wilderness.
02:00I'm in the list of people who've put their names forward to be considered,
02:03but I'm still very much waiting, and I haven't heard anything for a very long time there.
02:08So, I was a mudlarker.
02:10In my heart, I'm still a mudlarker, but I'm unlicensed, so I can't lark.
02:14I'm Dr Dan O'Brien. I am a historian of death.
02:18Despite studying mudlark's finds, he's been unable to renew his license.
02:23On the Thames foreshore.
02:24I would gain so much as a historian from being able to lark again,
02:28and to actually find items and start to piece together some of the stories around them,
02:32because I'm writing and researching about places that were around the Thames,
02:36full of people losing the sorts of things that I was finding in the river.
02:39So, really, it gave a new dimension to my history, and that would be awesome to have back.
02:44Aletheia joined the list shortly after it went live,
02:47and has been waiting almost two years.
02:49I met someone else who, within the first 20 minutes,
02:52had clicked the link and gotten on the waitlist, and it took them six months.
02:57So, I said I was probably within the first 20 to 40 hours,
03:02so maybe in the next 20 to 40 years.
03:06Just a short walk away, mudlarking author Jason scouring the foreshore.
03:11He's been a mudlark for 14 years, and has witnessed its boom firsthand.
03:17He says it was Covid that helped turn this once niche hobby mainstream.
03:23Some discovering a new appreciation for the river.
03:26Others finding a fresh connection with the struggles of London's past.
03:30All while social media accounts like Jason's nurtured the growing audience,
03:36avidly following his jaw-dropping discoveries.
03:38One of my favourite finds from this exact area is a medieval shoe.
03:43It's an infant's first shoe, and it came out with everything still intact.
03:49And I donated it to the Museum of London,
03:51and it's one of the earliest medieval shoes that's ever been found in the river
03:55that's in such good condition, so roughly 600 years old, and still has its shoelaces.
04:01The river Thames is tidal.
04:04Twice a day, the water here falls up to 7 to 10 metres,
04:07turning it into the longest and largest archaeological site in Britain.
04:12It's anaerobic oxygen-free mud, preserving items you may least expect.
04:18Jason says it's the unique nature of the foreshore that makes limiting mudlark numbers vital.
04:24We have to make sure that it's sustainable.
04:26We also need to make sure that these artefacts aren't hoovered up,
04:29and that they're also preserved for future generations.
04:32So we can't just let anybody come down and just take a shopping bag full of things home.
04:38It needs to be done in a sustainable way.
04:40And I think we've found a nice balance now with the Port of London Authority.
04:45The Authority says protecting this sensitive environment
04:48will make it available to more people over time.
04:53Flora only keeps a select group of her finds.
04:57The others she throws back, intent on preserving the river's history for the future.
