3/3: It's an interesting example as the bowl is a bit short - it's obviously been trimmed lower than normal, nearly cutting off the top of the thistle and not leaving any space above the rose. I like all these little variations which show the choices in the pipe making process!

2/3: Ta-dam! It's a rose and thistle pipe - this side shows the rose; follow the thread for a closer look.

1/3: I spotted what looked like a clay pipe half-hiding under some ship staples on the foreshore; when I pushed them aside, I was delighted to see that the clay pipe was a decorated one...

3/3: Not a Ganesh for years, then three in a few weeks! These are the other two that I found in the weeks before - one of them on the same foreshore, the other a completely random find in a brook while walking in north London. (You can also see them in my previous posts, further below.)

2/3: I immediately recognised it as the figure of Ganesh, the elephant-headed Hindu god. It's a modern religious offering, but I really like the way this one has worn down, with just highlights of the original paint remaining. But what's unusual is that this is my 3rd Ganesh in under a month...

1/3: After a fairly unproductive few hours on the Thames foreshore, I was just returning to the river stairs when I spotted something unexpected directly in my path...

I took this brick from the Thames foreshore thinking it'd be a perfect gift for a couple with the initials E and M. I think I've now found a suitable candidate to offer it as a surprise... (The E & M initially stood for the brickmakers Emerson and Milner of County Durham.)

Here's a new clay pipe design I haven't seen before! The stem is like a tree branch, leading to some leaves and a flower at the base of the pipe bowl. (The bowl shape tells us that this dates from 1850-1910.)

2/2: This is a more complete Spiers and Pond piece I found several years ago - look at all those wonderful names of hotels and taverns, many of which we still recognise or remember such as the Criterion, Windmill and Gaiety, and a few of which are still open today!

1/2: When I spotted this red-lettered fragment, I immediately recognised it as being from Spiers and Pond - the great Victorian catering chain that once dominated rail refreshment rooms and ran numerous hotels and venues; now forgotten except when one of these intriguing fragments is found!

What's this? I was simply doing some garden tidying, clearing away some dead leaves, when I spotted this beautifully painted clay pipe underneath. It was a surprise gift from a friend, Carol, who knows the patch of garden that I look after and had hidden this a couple of weeks earlier!

2/2: Yes, it's Ganesh, the elephant-headed Hindu god, which is often dropped in waterways as an offering! I think its purpose that day was to cheer me up, and it certainly worked. I left it there to cheer up someone else. (This is one of three Ganesh offerings I've found in the last few weeks!)

1/2: I wasn't actually mudlarking this time - I was walking a difficult section of the Capital Ring walk. Feeling very frustrated at the local inhospitality, I sat alongside a shallow channelled brook to cool my feet in the water. Then I spotted something underwater on the other side of the brook...

4/4: ... as this figurine appears more serious than satirical, and it clearly depicts the structure supporting his giant wig, I wonder if this is instead a representation of a French aristocrat or fashionista of the late 1700s, whose style inspired the macaronis?

3/4: The macaronis were a laughing stock and a subject for satirical prints and cartoons. It's a fascinating story - you can read more here: www.historytoday.com/miscellanies/meet-macaronis . But let's have another look at my figurine...

2/4: ... I gasped - and chuckled - when I saw what it was. My first thought was 'macaroni' – the nickname of a Georgian fashion craze taken up by some young men returning from the Grand Tour of Europe in the 1760s; a defining feature was their extravagant and extremely tall wigs...

1/4: Spotted on the Thames foreshore on a very low tide; at first I thought it was just part of a Victorian figurine, but when I picked it up...

3/3: Here's a couple of other examples, the second one being from the V&A Museum. Such a large fragment as the one I found is a rare find on the Thames, so it turns out my 'disappointing' day on the Thames was actually quite the opposite!

2/3: But when I sent the photos to a pottery expert, I was delighted to find out it's something rather rare and special: called Beauvais double Sgraffito, it's from the 1500s! Made in Beauvais in northern France, it was a high status import. The lettering would be part of a religious motto.

1/3: When I spotted this colourful fragment of pottery on the Thames foreshore, I didn't know what to make of it; to be honest I even wondered if it was something fairly modern, perhaps a European souvenir. It was the only thing I found that day, so I was initially a bit disappointed...

Another gorgeous blue and white vintage marble! Found unexpectedly in a patch of otherwise very barren shingle, in which I found another marble at the same time. (The other one is a more modern marble in a less pleasing colour, so I'll return it for a future mudlark to find).

3/3: You can now see the wonderful detail of those leaves and that 'twig' on the base. The bowl itself is also shaped, making me wonder if it's supposed to represent a fruit like a plum or a peach?

2/3: Here it is after excavation; it's still stained from the mud, and the back of the bowl is broken, but it looks promising... follow the thread to see it cleaned up.

1/3: A tantalising glimpse of the stem of a decorated clay pipe peeking through the foreshore mud... what's it going to be?

3/3: So yes, these Victorian clay pipes were called thorn pipes (I can't tell you the reasoning behind them.) But it turned out this particular one wasn't simply stained - I think it's actually a glazed one, which is unusual!

2/3: Here we go...

1/3: There was a little clue as to what this clay pipe bowl was going to be - I could already spot one of its 'thorns'... Follow the thread to see if I'm right:

3/3: Anyway, here they are together - both different designs (the one on the right is a bullseye design I think). They've now been added to my china marble scallop shell display!

2/3: But when I glanced behind me, I spotted another china marble a couple of feet behind! The video shows me looking from one to the other:

1/3: There's a particular patch on the Thames foreshore where I tend to find china marbles. Sadly they're usually rather faded ones, but still a pleasing find. On this occasion I spotted one, picked it up quickly before a wave caught it, then put it down again to photograph...