Mudlarks (1962)

River Thames, London. L/S of the muddy shores of the Thames between Blackfriars and Southwark. M/S of London University student, Janet Manning climbing down a ladder from a wharf onto the mud. Janet joins three other amateur archaeologists ’mudlarking’ - they are all members of the Thames Basin Archaeology Group. C/U of the water washing over a broken bottle buried in the shore. One of the male archaeologists picks up the bottle and places it in a bag. C/U of broken clay pipes half buried in the mud. C/U of a student’s hands cleaning a piece of pottery. M/S of a woman (not Janet as commentary suggests!) picking up a Maria Theresa dollar. The others rush over the have a look. C/U of the coin in a hand. C/U of cleaned broken pipes lying on a wall. Janet and her companions catalogue their hoard on a bridge parapet above the Thames mud. Extreme C/U of the hoard - old spoons, more pipes, bits of pottery. The other students are named as Marjorie Gillespie, Peter A. Clayton and John Casey