The first thing to say is that I am a mudlark, licensed by the Port of London Authority to comb the foreshores of the Thames at low tide, searching for trash and treasure. Very often my finds fall into both of these camps: broken clay pipes and pot shards are as exciting to me as medieval spurs (I haven’t actually found one of these yet and it’s second from top on my wish list) and Roman rings (I have found one of these. Well, the top of one.)