Mudlarking is the practice of looking for valuable items in the grimy silt of riverbeds at low tide. The term is used especially to describe those who scavenged this way in London during the late 18th and 19th centuries. Mudlarks, as they were known, searched the Thames riverbed for anything of worth, be it coal, rope, or a piece of lost jewelry. And over 200 years later, modern mudlarks are doing exactly the same thing—except that so many are willing to take up the hobby that there's a waiting list of thousands hoping to gain a permit to do so! So, what's going on? Why is trudging across a dirty riverbank at low tide so appealing?
Click through the gallery and search out the answers!