4 ms·

The Curious Gems of the River Thames

74 points by alt227 2y ago

tocs3 2y ago
I would like to see some of the faceted garnets found. The ones in the pictures all look natural to me.
- TSiege 2y ago
  the cover photo is faceted. several in the photos are
- dghughes 2y ago
  The second last photo labelled "Thames garnets tend to appear in specific spots along the riverbank, but those locations are carefully guarded among mudlarks. Courtesy Jason Sandy" you can see a big one. It has what looks to be a five-sided facet that's reflecting light.
  - adrian_b 2y ago
    The natural garnet crystals have frequently the form of rhombic dodecahedra (i.e. with 12 rhombic faces disposed in the directions of the 12 edges of a cube). Such crystals may be eroded to more rounded forms, but some of the original plane faces may remain more or less intact. It is hard to be sure from the image, but the garnet below the title may be not artificial, but just an eroded natural garnet that originally was a rhombic dodecahedron. The same can be true for other faceted garnets. Only a more thorough examination can distinguish natural crystals from those that have been polished, so they have plane faces with other orientations than the faces of the natural garnet crystals.
pavel_lishin 2y ago
> Only a few people are legally allowed to hunt for Thames garnets—or even remove them if they find them by chance. Mudlarks are among the few who are legally permitted to remove items from the riverbanks. To be a mudlark, you need a license, and in recent years, the British government suspended the issuing of new licenses for several years following a boom in applications during the pandemic lockdowns, leaving the already tight-knit mudlark community in a holding pattern. Well, that's something new I learned today. I wonder why they have to be licensed?
- notavalleyman 2y ago
  Here's a licence issuing authority's faq section. https://pla.co.uk/thames-foreshore-permits https://pla.co.uk/thames-foreshore-permits >Why do I need consent? > All the foreshore in the UK has an owner. Metal detecting, searching or digging is not a public right and as such it needs the permission of the landowner. The PLA and the Crown Estate are the largest landowners of Thames foreshore and jointly issue a permit, which is administered by the PLA, allowing all searching, metal detecting, ‘beachcombing’, scraping and digging. Another section reads, > The foreshore of the river Thames is a sensitive environment and London’s longest archaeological site, with finds dating back to 10,000 BCE. It is also the border to the UK’s biggest port and busiest inland waterway and must be protected and respected by all that use it. > The Thames foreshore is a potentially hazardous environment which must be respected; it contains many dangers that may not always be immediately apparent. The Thames can rise and fall by over seven metres twice a day as the tide comes in and out. The current is fast and the water is cold.
  - pavel_lishin 2y ago
    SEVEN METERS!? Wow!
    - alt227 2y ago
      The UK has some really big tides. See the river Severn, whos estuary tidal range is 15 metres, and the second highest in the world. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Severn_Estuary https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Severn_Estuary
    - ncruces 2y ago
      An image/map: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:M2_tidal_constituent.jpg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:M2_tidal_constituent.jpg
      - wongarsu 2y ago
        Basically the UK is in the way when a sizable chunk of the Atlantic wants to move north-east to follow the tides. The water squeezes into whatever openings it can find and creates really high tides in the process
myself248 2y ago
In my mind, "gems" is pronounced "games", just to mess with foreigners.
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
Jun8 2y ago
Not these gems but my son and I hunted for and found a couple of 19th century single use pipes and part of a brick with a cool logo a couple of years ago. Go to the Tower Bridge, there are stairs to go to the shore right next to it. Good hunting!
- pbalau 2y ago
  Before you do that, you need to be very careful about two things: 1. Tide state, witch I did 2. Dog poo, which I didn't and there is a pub I won't ever go back to, as I discovered the poo issue quite late.
- mkl 2y ago
  The article says you need a licence, or is that location different?
jayshah5696 2y ago
Looks like British museum is not only place to get stolen items
nickdothutton 2y ago
I highly recommend the museum of London. Probably days worth of stuff to see in there, and you can buy a ticket that allows return visits within a year. Best spot for garnets (for those with a permit, naturally) : Bankside Foreshore near the Tate Modern.
mring33621 2y ago
So the UK gatekeeps scrounging.
- gerikson 2y ago
  From a comment upstream, all foreshore in the UK has an owner. You can't just steal from the owner.

74 points by alt227 2y ago

tocs3 2y ago

I would like to see some of the faceted garnets found. The ones in the pictures all look natural to me.

TSiege 2y ago
the cover photo is faceted. several in the photos are
dghughes 2y ago
The second last photo labelled "Thames garnets tend to appear in specific spots along the riverbank, but those locations are carefully guarded among mudlarks. Courtesy Jason Sandy" you can see a big one. It has what looks to be a five-sided facet that's reflecting light.
- adrian_b 2y ago
  The natural garnet crystals have frequently the form of rhombic dodecahedra (i.e. with 12 rhombic faces disposed in the directions of the 12 edges of a cube). Such crystals may be eroded to more rounded forms, but some of the original plane faces may remain more or less intact. It is hard to be sure from the image, but the garnet below the title may be not artificial, but just an eroded natural garnet that originally was a rhombic dodecahedron. The same can be true for other faceted garnets. Only a more thorough examination can distinguish natural crystals from those that have been polished, so they have plane faces with other orientations than the faces of the natural garnet crystals.

pavel_lishin 2y ago

> Only a few people are legally allowed to hunt for Thames garnets—or even remove them if they find them by chance. Mudlarks are among the few who are legally permitted to remove items from the riverbanks. To be a mudlark, you need a license, and in recent years, the British government suspended the issuing of new licenses for several years following a boom in applications during the pandemic lockdowns, leaving the already tight-knit mudlark community in a holding pattern. Well, that's something new I learned today. I wonder why they have to be licensed?

notavalleyman 2y ago
Here's a licence issuing authority's faq section. https://pla.co.uk/thames-foreshore-permits https://pla.co.uk/thames-foreshore-permits >Why do I need consent? > All the foreshore in the UK has an owner. Metal detecting, searching or digging is not a public right and as such it needs the permission of the landowner. The PLA and the Crown Estate are the largest landowners of Thames foreshore and jointly issue a permit, which is administered by the PLA, allowing all searching, metal detecting, ‘beachcombing’, scraping and digging. Another section reads, > The foreshore of the river Thames is a sensitive environment and London’s longest archaeological site, with finds dating back to 10,000 BCE. It is also the border to the UK’s biggest port and busiest inland waterway and must be protected and respected by all that use it. > The Thames foreshore is a potentially hazardous environment which must be respected; it contains many dangers that may not always be immediately apparent. The Thames can rise and fall by over seven metres twice a day as the tide comes in and out. The current is fast and the water is cold.
- pavel_lishin 2y ago
  SEVEN METERS!? Wow!
  - alt227 2y ago
    The UK has some really big tides. See the river Severn, whos estuary tidal range is 15 metres, and the second highest in the world. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Severn_Estuary https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Severn_Estuary
  - ncruces 2y ago
    An image/map: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:M2_tidal_constituent.jpg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:M2_tidal_constituent.jpg
    - wongarsu 2y ago
      Basically the UK is in the way when a sizable chunk of the Atlantic wants to move north-east to follow the tides. The water squeezes into whatever openings it can find and creates really high tides in the process

myself248 2y ago

In my mind, "gems" is pronounced "games", just to mess with foreigners.

deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
deleted 2y ago
[deleted]

Jun8 2y ago

Not these gems but my son and I hunted for and found a couple of 19th century single use pipes and part of a brick with a cool logo a couple of years ago. Go to the Tower Bridge, there are stairs to go to the shore right next to it. Good hunting!

pbalau 2y ago
Before you do that, you need to be very careful about two things: 1. Tide state, witch I did 2. Dog poo, which I didn't and there is a pub I won't ever go back to, as I discovered the poo issue quite late.
mkl 2y ago
The article says you need a licence, or is that location different?

jayshah5696 2y ago

Looks like British museum is not only place to get stolen items

nickdothutton 2y ago

I highly recommend the museum of London. Probably days worth of stuff to see in there, and you can buy a ticket that allows return visits within a year. Best spot for garnets (for those with a permit, naturally) : Bankside Foreshore near the Tate Modern.

mring33621 2y ago

So the UK gatekeeps scrounging.

gerikson 2y ago
From a comment upstream, all foreshore in the UK has an owner. You can't just steal from the owner.