River Thames: End Of Summer
By Tobias Neto
Left to right: “Thames Barrier” (Todd Prescott). “Summer Night—Shirtsleeves” (Anna Borzello). “Stormy Skies Over Royal Arsenal, Woolwich” (Alexandra Abraham).
The Thames Foreshore Finds (TFF) Facebook Group held a photography competition in October 2023, entitled “River Thames: End Of Summer.” The competition was open to members of TFF and was sponsored by Regton, metal detection specialists based in Birmingham, England.
There was a record number of almost 200 entries showing the River Thames. Due to the high quality of photographs submitted by the members, the admin team of the TFF group was faced with some hard decisions during the selection process. The judges were looking for creativity, originality, and impact the photo created. Finally, the judges selected the three best photos. There were prizes for First, Second, and Third places. Awards for the winners took place on Sunday, December 3, 2024, at The Old Thameside Inn in London.
First Prize
Thames Barrier, Todd Prescott
“I feel privileged to be able to experience the legendary beauty and historical significance of the Thames,” said Todd. “There are so many beautiful places to photograph here, but the unique, modern, mathematically precise design of the barrier made for a fascinating contrast to this ancient and turbulent river.”
Second Prize
Summer Night—Shirtsleeves, Anna Borzello @foreshoreseashore
“Searching for treasures on the Thames foreshore in Central London on a late-night low tide,” Anna said. “This was taken as we made our way back to the exit and fellow mudlark Christina bent down for one last, hopeful look.”
Third Prize
Stormy Skies Over Royal Arsenal, Woolwich, Alexandra Abraham
“Every day I take an iPhone photo for my Instagram account from the balcony of my 16th floor apartment at Royal Arsenal Woolwich,” said Alexandra. “This is just one of the many fleeting and beautiful images I have captured.”
Judging
The photographs chosen by the judges were selected for creativity, originality, and relevancy to the competition theme. What really make a good photo are composition and arrangement, and the River Thames is the perfect subject for that either in daylight or at night time. Technical quality and lighting were taken into consideration, but judges were mainly looking for the impact of the photo, including the first impression and what the photographer wanted to convey. The story a photo tells is key, combined with the colors and style used by the photographer. The judges were also looking for originality.
The final decision of the judges was only reached after several days of discussion. The three winning photos ticked all the boxes related to the main subject, the River Thames and the end of summer. They all captured the moment through colors, backgrounds, and lighting.
Lead toy soldiers, rings, angel button (Tobias Neto).
The main purpose of this photography competition was to encourage members to appreciate the beauty of the river where mudlarks spend so much time. The River Thames rises in the Cotswolds and runs through London until it reaches the North Sea. The longest river in England passes under 35 bridges across London. From Teddington Lock, the Thames becomes tidal, and its tidal section includes most of its London stretch. It has a rise and fall of up to 23 feet (7 meters). It is during low tides that a few artifacts are exposed on its banks.
Sasanian Drachm silver coin, military brooch, porcelain doll head (Tobias Neto).
Thames Foreshore Finds
The Thames Foreshore Finds group was created in 2014 and has almost 8,000 members from around the world. The main focus of the group is news, photos, discussions, and identification of finds from the River Thames foreshore. The group benefits from the insight and contribution of its expert members who are generous with their time and experience. The members seek to educate people about cleaning and preserving finds, and ensuring that they are appropriately recorded with the Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS) run by the British Museum and Amgueddfa Cymru – Museum Wales to encourage the recording of archaeological objects found by members of the public in England and Wales. From a pottery sherd to a coin, group members are always willing to help with identification. The group provides an opportunity for members to display their interesting finds and share their views.
Roman coins, thimbles (Tobias Neto).
For the protection of the River Thames and its archaeology, members agree not to provide exact locations of their finds. This approach not only preserves archaeology but also encourages members to explore the foreshore for themselves. The group admins work to educate members about health and safety during activities on the foreshore to help protect mudlarks against potential hazards.
TFF encourages individual responsibility of members to be aware of the law and to use common sense around ammunition, shells, bombs, and other dangerous items found on the Thames foreshore. Anyone wishing to search the tidal Thames foreshore in any way for any reason—including searching by eyes, metal detecting, digging, and scraping—must hold a current foreshore permit from the Port of London Authority. A standard permit only allows you to dig or scrape to a depth of three inches. Permit holders must record all coins and artifacts that are over 200 years old with the PAS through the Finds Liaison Officer at the Museum of London. Due to the high popularity of mudlarking and metal detecting on the foreshore of the River Thames in recent years, the Port of London Authority has currently paused issuing new permits.
If you need help with identification of a Thames find, we welcome you to post a photo of in the TFF group for assistance. If you’re not a member of the group yet, please feel free to join us. New members are always welcome.
You can find the Thames Foreshore Finds group on Facebook at bit.ly/ThamesForeshoreFinds.
Learn more about mudlarking
Learn more about the experiences of mudlarks, who search the shores of rivers, bays, and seas for historical finds and other objects. Articles ›
Mudlarking on the Thames Foreshore requires a permit. Learn about rules for mudlarking in London ›
This article appeared in Beachcombing Magazine Volume 41 March/April 2024.
