Mudlarkers

TRANSCRIPT
Mudlarkers 

NARRATOR:
In London, the River Thames rises and falls every day with the tide. When the water goes down, the muddy ground appears. In this mud, people can find objects from long ago. These objects tell stories about what life was like in the city many years ago. Many people come here to look for these old things. They are called mudlarkers.

UPSOUND: 
“I’ve spotted what looks like it could be part of a button sticking out of the mud, just here. Ah, it’s a military button. It’s probably from World War 2.”

NARRATOR:
They don’t always find treasure. Sometimes, they find very small things. But for them, even a pin or a broken bottle is exciting.

SOUNDBITE – Anna Borzell: 
“Oh, I've just picked up pins, which I love. I've got about 15,000 of them. You can think of it as like an archaeological trench filled with rubbish for the past 2,000 years. And the rubbish is mainly ordinary people's throwaway items. And that's brilliant because you can connect with how just ordinary Londoners used to live.”

NARRATOR:
These small objects help us understand how people lived in the past. A long time ago, the first mudlarks were poor people, often children or women. They searched in the mud to find things they could sell. Today, people do it for fun and to learn about history.
Mudlarkers need a special permit to search by the river. They must follow safety rules and be careful about what they keep. If they find something important or valuable, they must report it. This is good for museums. The British Museum gets reports of tens of thousands of new finds every year. Mudlarkers like Anna help experts learn more about London’s history. Next time you walk by a river, you might look down and wonder what stories are hidden in the mud.