357: Jason Sandy on Mudlarking the Thames River
Today on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast I have an interview with Jason Sandy. He is a modern-day mudlark searching the foreshore of the Thames River in London. In our interview we talk about the history of London as a riverside city, the wide variety of objects that are found in the anaerobic mud of the Thames, and what these objects tell us about the eras they came from. We also discuss his newly published book Thames Mudlarking: Searching for London’s Lost Treasures, which he coauthored with Nick Stevens. Pictured above: 18th century skull found by Nick Stevens, Roman hair pin found by Jason Sandy, Neck of a Bellarmine Jug found by Nick Stevens. To find out more about Jason follow him on Instagram at www.instagram.com/jasonmudlark.
Each object pulled from the Thames has a unique story to tell. One of my favorite modern tales involves a little boy named Jack who put his wish to be a Red Power Ranger in a bottle before he threw it in the Thames. Mudlark Nicola White found the boy’s message, used social media to find him and granted his wish by sending him a Red Power Ranger suit. Today’s guest Jason Sandy posted this heart warming story on Instagram where the actor who played the Red Ranger saw it and offered to contact the little boy. Rarely has a childhood dream come true in such a historic and dramatic fashion!
On today’s Amaco Community Corkboard we have the POT LA Go Fund Me campaign. POT is a full-service studio owned and operated by artists of color with a mission to create a “space that felt accessible and empowering for those that felt marginalized in ceramic spaces.” Due to the pandemic POT needs your help while transitioning to online programming. Help them in reaching their Go Fund Me goal to keep this important space going! To support them directly visit www.gofundme.com/f/help-pot.