Children's Footsteps of Mudlarks: Mon 25th May 2026, Rotherhithe

Join us for a family session to discover the history of the Thames

Join us for a fun session to discover the history of the Thames

This is a chance for children and their adults to learn about the history of London through mudlarking and draws on Thames Explorer’s 33 year history of foreshore education. Starting with stories of the Victorian mudlarks who eked out a living on the Thames looking for objects to sell, you will venture onto the foreshore to discover and learn about London through the many artefacts you can still find. Participants will assemble their finds on a tarpaulin to create their own museum and learn who might have used the objects and how they might have come to be there. Typical finds include smoking pipes, drainpipes, pottery, bones, etc. There is lots of evidence of London's past to be found.

Money raised from these sessions supports the development and delivery of our schools’ programmes.

A note to our regular participants: walks on different days will start and finish at different times depending on the tide and weather conditions. See above for the times of this walk.

Booking is essential. Children must be accompanied by an adult (minimum age for children is 5 years). Maximum of 2 children per adult.

Important information

This session is designed specifically for children aged 5 to 12 (who must be accompanied by a supervising adult). Supervising adults must be over 20 years old and take full responsibility for the safety and behavior of the children in their care. A maximum of 2 children per adult. All adults must be be acompanied by a child, sorry no lone adults and no children under 5. Booking is essential.

Payment

Please pay by clicking the PayPal button - once you are on that page you don't need a PayPal account - just click on pay by debit or credit card. If you can't see this please use another device (laptop or desktop) and another browser.

Cancellations

Full refunds for cancellations received with seven or more days notice. Cancellations received with less than seven days notice qualify for a 50% refund. Cancellation requests MUST be via email to [email protected]. For further terms, see the FAQs (bottom of the page) "what is your cancellation policy? "

Health and Safety

We recommend you bring waterproof gloves. Although this is not compulsory it is important to cover broken skin ie eczema, cuts etc. Wear sensible footwear e.g. wellies, old trainers or walking boots – no sandals, high heels or bare feet· Please bring hand-sanitizer as there may be no local hand-washing facilities - wash your hands with soap and water at the first available opportunity·

Artefact policy

Thames Explorer developed our artefact policy almost a decade ago after seeing people removing wholesale quantities of artefacts from the foreshore. We encourage all to adhere to the following principal: that you take only photographs, knowledge and memories and not artefacts themselves. Doing this helps preserve the historic nature of the Thames foreshore and the unique experience of mudlarking.

If you have any questions please email: [email protected] or ring 020 8742 0057

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Host or Publisher Thames Explorer Trust