Mudlarking 91 - A milk bottle, a pint glass and a farm

[squirmelia]

I decided to try somewhere new again! Trinity Wharf Stairs outside Surrey Docks Farm.

When I reached the foreshore, there was someone digging to the right of the stairs. I walked that way a little bit and then decided to walk to the left. It was pebbly on the upper bit of the foreshore but lower down, there was a lot of mud. I took tentative steps and felt myself sinking in it so tried to be careful. Another mudlark appeared and was a lot more confident than me at walking over the mud nimbly!

This seemed much more like the kind of place I see the famous mudlarks finding things, prying items out of the mud. A lot of the foreshore I walk on isn't muddy at all, it's just pebbles.

I walked up to where there was a sign saying "Engineers Mills". The full sign apparently said:
Engineers
Mills & Knight
Nelson Dry Dock
Ship repairs



I found a pint glass with a handle, buried in the mud, and was glad I had my trowel, so I could dig it out. It has a pint symbol on it and looks like it says 1370 on it, which means it's from Chesterfield and was made between 1971 and 2006, so quite recent really. It has survived at least 20 years in the mud though! It's quite heavy.

I found a bottle, and it's still full of mud, and I'm trying to get the mud out of it. It's a UGB (United Glass Bottle Manufacturers) bottle, but on the side it says LWD - London Wholesale Dairies. Here's a photo of their building in Vauxhall in 1927: https://historicengland.org.uk/images-books/photos/item/BL29277/001 They were the wholesale arm of United Dairies.

I found an Amazon Basics plate, which I left on the foreshore.

I found a small cowrie shell with holes in it. I also found a bit of coral, which may have been used on a ship as ballast. There's also a stone that looks like it has tiny bits of fossils in it.

I found a piece of glass that was probably once a Royal Arsenal Co-operative Society milk bottle. Written on it is "Royal Arsenal" and "RACS". RACS were in operation from 1872 to 1987 when they merged with the Co-Op. Their headquarters were in Woolwich. As well as shops selling food, they ran everything from hairdressers to bookshops to undertakers to hotels, and also built houses. Their motto was "Each for all and all for each". I also found a second piece of glass.

I found a piece of glass from a Walker’s Kilmarnock whiskey bottle. They later became Johnnie Walker, in 1909.

I found a red and white sherd, that might be from Hilti.

I found a piece of green glass from an R White's bottle that said "Camberwell" on it.

I found a bit of a pipe with the initials I I on it.

I have yet to figure out the piece of glass with "KS" written on it.

Surrey Docks Farm had signs around that explained the history of the area, of how the area was used for shipbuilding and how there was a smallpox receiving station there. There was also a mudlarked finds box but unfortunately there was a lot of condensation on it, so it was difficult to see. They had pottery from the smallpox receiving station and from London County Council (LCC). They also had a mosaic made from clay pipes and bits of pottery.

I had a quick look around the farm after mudlarking and they had a few more signs about the history, as well as pigs, goats, cows, sheep, and other animals.

After that, I walked past some more steps that were a bit green, but the gate was open, near the Ship & the Whale and wondered if the glass had come from that pub.

I then saw people running to get on a boat at Greenland Pier, so I decided to do the same, not knowing where the boat was going. I ended up getting off the boat in Woolwich.









(You need a permit to search or mudlark on the Thames foreshore.)

Comments

[spiralsheep]

If you find any decent size sherds of receiving station ware please consider handing them in at Surrey Docks Farm as a local mudlark has been slowly and painstakingly fitting them back together for years with surprisingly good results.

You possibly know this: best way to deal with getting stuck in mud is to spread your weight, e.g. by taking a bucket to lean on (rim up, obv) as you pull your feet out. You can liquify mud by small fast movements, e.g. pumping your feet (preferably one at a time), BUT you'll sink a bit more before you get free so it takes some practice to make it work well (I bet there's an instructional vid on youtube somewhere).

I especially like your fossiliferous (?) rock and the red breccia/tile (?) next to it. Good luck with identifying NKS, and de-mudding the bottle!

[squirmelia]

I was hopeful that I might find some of the kind of things they had in the display box, but alas, not this time. I would definitely hand them in if I found any! Maybe next time.

Thanks for the tips on dealing with mud. Maybe taking my hiking pole would help if I need to spread my weight to escape?

I should take a better photo of the fossily rock.

The red tile is kind of like a paving slab - there was a second bigger bit but I just took that one, with the idea that I could add it to the unmade road where I live or up a pathway by the side of my house, as I quite liked it. I wonder where it was from originally.

[spiralsheep]

Hiking pole end is too thin and will sink into mud unless it has a wide anti-mud skirt attachment (which mine does, although I wouldn't choose it over other better options). Need a wide flat base like a bucket. Or just confidence from experience of getting stuck and freeing oneself (preferably learning while accompanied, obv), which also improves one's risk assessment skills (i.e. how sinky is too sinky to risk in various mud / sand / water / tide combinations).

I've seen paved surfaces like that before but I can't think where (apart from Opus signinum which that isn't).