Wow isn't Monica the most delightful, enthusiastic and smart larker ? Every video she features in her bright smile and warm eyes just draws you in and you cant help but wish to be in the same room to hear her tales. 😃🇨🇦

@minnierose4398

3 ай бұрын

Soo true! Xx

@LeaC-lw8xl

3 ай бұрын

Yes!!

@captainsensiblejr.

3 ай бұрын

Her name is Nicola.

@valsmall1446

3 ай бұрын

@@captainsensiblejr.... thanks! I though I was going bonkers 😂

@steveshepherd2712

3 ай бұрын

@@captainsensiblejr. I know who Nicola is .Watch the video and you will understand 😉

Tha fact that Monika has a 'drawer of lost soles' makes me smile. Monika, you are a bright shining star 🌟 A++ for organization. 😲wow!

A good day is when my two favorite mudlarkers upload a video. Thank you.

The little toddler leather shoe is absolutely stunning and bittersweet. Makes my heart ache for the little darling who wore it. She did such a wonderful job in restoring it. Thanks so much for another excellent video. Looking forward to the next.

@nicolawhitemudlark

3 ай бұрын

Thank you Suzanne! xo

Monika's knowledge and skills never cease to amaze. Fascinating segment!

@captainsensiblejr.

3 ай бұрын

Her name is Nicola.

@brandihayes1274

3 ай бұрын

ya starting to look dumb, mate.@@captainsensiblejr.

@roxysimmons

3 ай бұрын

@@captainsensiblejr.she was talking about the lady who restored the shoe - her name is Monika.

Went to London two weeks ago, I couldnt help to longily look at the foreshore, sadly knowing as a tourist I'm not allowed to mudlark. Luckily there are the heroes such as you to excavate these little treasures!

@cclyon

3 ай бұрын

One of the highlights of my trip to London two years ago was mudlarking on the Thames. I'm so glad they were still issuing permits then. Maybe you'll still get the chance.

@aaronknightstep5372

3 ай бұрын

Permits are only for residents?

@zoemapp

3 ай бұрын

They have stopped issuing them as people are crowding there and they are worried the shady people are taking away historic items and selling them instead of getting them checked etc

@cclyon

3 ай бұрын

@@aaronknightstep5372 Anyone who paid for a permit could get one. Right now they're not issuing them at all but they may again in the future.

@aaronknightstep5372

3 ай бұрын

@@zoemapp That makes sense

The shoe lady was amazing. I love when people talk passionately about their hobby.

The shoe is adorable! Monica is a true artist with old leather!

Monika is an absolute wonder with her work on the leather shoes.

From someone who, like that bone tube you displayed, "used to be something," Nicola, thank you for this extra long multi-part video! Monika is an absolute treasure, and she rightly featured in both your video and Simon's this week. What a great Valentine's gift from both you and Simon, uploading videos on Sunday once again. A real joy to watch.

@nicolawhitemudlark

3 ай бұрын

Thank you Steve! Hugs, Nicola xx

I loved seeing Monika’s preservation of the shoes, especially the little baby shoe you found in the Thames mud. Such dedication and what an amazing talent.

I love Monika's enthusiasm for her old worn leather shoes. You can see she's just so excited to show off her collection. Love it! Thanks for sharing.

Monika is brilliant! The baby shoe restoration she did is sensational. I also like her smiling voice! What an informative video! Thank you Nicola!

I found a British "Penny Ink" pot all the way over here in Mississippi, USA! It came out of a bayou they call "Dutch" because it was settled by Danes and a few Norwegians and Swedes and in the Nineteenth century all Germanic peoplrs in America were called "Dutch". The Danes paddled down that bayou in small boats to work in the sawmills on the islands in the river or the shipyard owned by the D'Angelo family. A Union regiment from Wisconsin burned it all down in 1864 but it was rebuilt and one sawmill renamed the "Phoenix" afterwards. ❤😊

@nicolawhitemudlark

3 ай бұрын

Fab find Dustin!

So nice to see all those poor lost soles finding a loving home. The little shoe is so adorable, I hope you can find its solemate some day.

Monika's most amazing abilities and devotion to excellence in restoration is museum worthy. And her love of shoes is so fab. So beautiful. Thank you again for sharing your adventures Nicola.

About the split bullets - if an aircraft crashes and catches fire, any ammunition on board 'cooks off' in the heat and the shell case of the bullet splits. If you're finding these all in one place, it could be the site of a WW2 plane crash.

Oh-my goodness, that baby shoe turned out fantastic! Well done Monica! Very lovely, indeed! ❤

🌟 ✨Nicola✨ You are so very kind to take us out for a wonderful day on The River Thames ❤❤ The outing was spectacular! A ton of fun…. I enjoyed every minute of it, and certainly the history that you shared with us! ❤ your videos and the priceless, devoted personal time that you put into each video! ✨Nicola✨ You certainly are one very special gifted woman in this world today! Thanks for sharing your joys of life with us!! You are a shining STAR 🌟 on KZread!

@nicolawhitemudlark

3 ай бұрын

Thankyou xx

The restoration on that beautiful precious toddler's shoe was so well done and the whole segment with Monica was fascinating and so interesting. And I especially loved the Goose conversations. Beautiful creatures. I loved it all Nicola, thank you so much xx Teresa ❤🇦🇺

@nicolawhitemudlark

3 ай бұрын

Thank you so much!

What a wonderful video!!! You & Monika truly brought history back to life!!❤

Monica really is so talented and full of Knowledge.

Monika had me thinking I was watching "The Repair Shop", until she took us on a tour of her private museum. Quite interesting to see all the old shoes.

The wooden tube might be a needle case. I have a similar one where both ends unscrew to store different sized sewing needles.

@pheart2381

3 ай бұрын

A bit big for normal needles,but maybe for sail mending needles?

Lots of great finds. The shoe is adorable! Wonderful work Monika!! Loved seeing her collection of other shoes too. You can tell she really enjoys restoring them. A cobbler in a past life for sure 🙂

I love the strolls through history. Thank you 🥰

Monika is incredible. Such a beautiful tiny little shoe. Thank you Nicola for this wonderful video.

@nicolawhitemudlark

3 ай бұрын

So glad you enjoyed it x

I like to think that the wearer of that lovely little shoe lost it by being naughty and running away from mom into the mud, where the shoe was pulled off. And then that child grew up to have their own naughty children, who bred their own, who also brought little ones into the world, who grew up to be parents of parents who now wander the shores finding old shoes while their children have set out on adventures of their own!

@nicolawhitemudlark

3 ай бұрын

i love this! it does get the imagination going doesn't it!

I am amazed how that little shoe has come back to life!

This popped up and I thought for a moment it was filmed this afternoon, but no one could be that quick, could they? What a fantastic day. The river is so beautiful.

Many thanks Nicola. That's how far passion can carry you, I love it.. Thank you and your friend Monika for sharing these treasures from the past. For my part, I still wear wooden and leather clogs in my garden, they are very confortable! Cheerio for now 🩰👠👡🥾

Wow, Monica is a woman of many talents. Thank you for letting us go along to pick up your beautiful baby shoe..

It was absolutely fascinating seeing the process Monika went through to restore your little shoe. She is so passionate about preserving history and I loved listening to her. What a delight she is.

Love Monicas mudlarking room, its awesome. Another woman of many interesting talents. Beautifully done. You can "bore" us with anything, we will lap up your knowledge and interesting finds. Not ever boring at all.

@nicolawhitemudlark

3 ай бұрын

That's so kind thank you

The baby shoe was adorable! Great job Monica!

I loved Monica’s presentation. I used to work sewing at a boot shop. I loved the job.the owner was very interested in the old ways and we had big sewing machines that you used a hand crank on.

What a darling little baby shoe! Monika did a beautiful job restoring it. I love the little pheasant piece. You should absolutely get Wendy to fix it up with some rhinestones or semi precious stones and pin and you should definitely wear it. It would be gorgeous! Lovely treasures for today's video. I love Sundays, where I get a video from you and one from Si! They are the best Sundays. Oh, I came back to add something. You always include film of the ducks, geese and swans on the foreshore. I thought I would share. My mother and I have been watching a live stream of a nesting pair of bald eagles on KZread, FOBBV (Friends of Big Bear Valley), in San Bernardino, CA. They have three eggs. Mama Jackie and daddy Shadow. Then the other day we found/saw a bald eagle's nest with a nesting pair fairly close to our home. We are so excited to hopefully get to see chicks hatch with Jackie and Shadow and hopefully see some young in a couple months in the nest here. Hope your weekend was great.

What a beautiful little shoe!! Great find Nic!! And Monica did a fantastic job on the restoration. Really stunning. And love the little worn spot on the back. ❤❤

Wow, Monika's transformation was just the best!

Thank you Nicola that was so interesting visiting your friend and seeing her beautiful collection of Thames shoes. 💕🇦🇺

I saw the restoration on Instagram before I watched this video, so I knew what was coming, but that doesn't make it any less amazing. I also saw the camera restoration Monika did on Si's video. She definitely has a knack for bringing things back to life.

@nicolawhitemudlark

3 ай бұрын

She really does doesn't she!!

The baby shoe now looks new! I am so impressed. What a great find and careful preservation work

Hello from Prescott, AZ! I so look forward to your videos. Your channel is part of my average Sunday morning tradition, along with Si-Finds. Please thank Monika for sharing her amazing leather restorations.

@nicolawhitemudlark

3 ай бұрын

Thank you! I will tell her x

I never thought old shoes would be so interesting, the restoration work was beautifully done ❤

That little shoe is exactly like the shoes I wore as a baby. I was born in 63 and still have my little pink shoes.

I had no idea so many shoes had been saved out of the Thames!! And how many different kinds! But that stands to reason how many different items of various kinds are found, and how far the history layers go. Just interesting beyond imagination. Monika is just wonderful and I would love to just sit and listen to her stories! As we listen to yours Nicola, which are always interesting. So much more history than they tell you in school. I think it would have made going to history class much more interesting! Take care Nicola! Happy Valentines Day!! ❤️❤️❤️🦋🦋💐💐

I wonder how all those shoes got into the river. Fascinating that they have survived, and that clever Monica has restored them. Some look almost like new. Such a personal item, really bridges the centuries.

The dock clog is cool with rocking in it. I work in a lot running store and a lot of today’s running shoes have a built-in roll to make running easier and getting onto the toes easier. I guess the saying everything old is new again is true.

What a beautiful, tasteful home Monica has

This was a fantastic video, Nicola. As always you found a few interesting pieces in the Thames mud but the wee shoe has to be the best find. Monika did an excellent job of restoring the shoe to near its original condition and it is lovely. I remember tiny shoes like that with those buttons! Thank you for sharing your adventures with me. ❤🇦🇺

Oh that little shoe is the sweetest thing and in such good condition ,Monika did an amazing job. I think you should get the pheasant made into something you can wear, its really pretty. xx

Thank you Nicola, and really well done Monika. Always a delight to see the "Ladies that Lark".

Your amazing the beautiful work you have done on that baby’s shoe I can’t believe it’s the same baby shoe wow Monica your something special

I am so glad that you were able to have the little shoe restored. I would have never thought it would have been so interesting and she did an amazing job!

Who on God's earth could possibly be interested in old shoes! We'll I was! Thank you Monika this was a special treat for me. I'm almost green thinking about finding these old treasures from many years gone by. We don't have anything like that where I live. Anyway I'm rambling on. Thank you girls I've thoroughly enjoyed this episode. I look forward to each week actually. Keep well keep happy & keep on doing what you do so well Nicola. All the best from the land down under.

@nicolawhitemudlark

3 ай бұрын

Haha thank you! ❤

What an absolutely fantastic and most interesting, addictive end to this larking adventure Nicola. The little baby shoe ened up so lovingly put back together and preserved. Great job done there by Monica. I loved seeing part of her collection. Who else wanted to look in all those draws to see whats hidden within. I can tell you, i certainy did. I also wanted to see what was on the shelves too. Absoluty facinating. Thank you Nicola. I so much enjoyed this post. I can even go as far as saying a favourite. Thank very much for sharing your finds with us Monica. Plus thank you too Nicola for another entertaing lark on the shores of the Thames. She can be so generous at times. Re giving them back to the shore line. The things that lie beneath all the mud, baffles my brain. Such wonderful things hidden from us all. Unless the Thames decides its time to shift them out. You never know from one day to the next, what will appear next. 😊xxx

@nicolawhitemudlark

3 ай бұрын

Thank you ❤😊

What a wonderful little shoe!!! I think shoes are one of the most evocative finds from the past. Shoes are not only very personal but they tell you so much about the wearer… their occupation, their station in life, the conditions in which they lived and worked, and, if we’re really lucky, actually show the wearer’s foot-marks on the inside of the sole and the creases in the upper from wear… the latter being especially poignant because they are actual tangible connections to the wearer.

Truly miraculous! I was a cobbler in the 1850s in the West of the U.S. This was utterly fascinating.

Thank you so much for this. Monika is a star! In the 1980s I worked in a shop called Clogs and Wellies - wood-soled clogs with either irons or rubbers on the bottom of the wood. I also saw terrifying duelling clogs though they weren’t for sale!

Monica is Wonderful. What a great friend. Great lark. Thank you, Nicola.

Omgosh, the tiny shoe is so precious, what a lovely find and the little part at the end, i was welling up imagining a small child wearing it all those years ago. Well done Nicola and Monika

Thank you once again, Nicola, for another fascinating video! I’ve been in hospital for nearly four months, and when internet connection allows, my ‘go to’ has been your channel. Your opening good wishes have always resonated, but they mean all the more these days. Again, my thanks.

@nicolawhitemudlark

3 ай бұрын

I hope you're doing well Chris sending you love and hugs. ❤

Monica is always so delightful

If you had a day-glow orange (or yellow) trowel, you'd be a lot less likely to lose it. Your shoe lady friend is really amazing!

This was absolutely lovely to watch! Please tell Monica "Well done!"🎉

Amazing that you can still stitch the leather back together, after all these years and all its peregrinations!

Hello,, Nicola.. bonjour..!!🤗 Thank you for this little trip..'it's great to also film the waves and the gills of my dear London..👍 it was a poetry of the day. Bye.!🇫🇷🇪🇦

Monica has an amazing skill she about knocked me out of my shoes😂 Her patience and talent are astounding actually this is truly a lost form of art.

I've often wondered why mudlarks get so excited when you find old shoes. Well, now I know! Thanks to Monika for her work on restoring this precious little shoe, and for sharing her passion with us all. Cheers from NE Florida!

Monica did an awesome job on that precious shoe. Perfect looking. Enjoying to see items never heard of before and learning what and why they were made and their use.

Wonderful video, loved the baby shoe, the restoration by Monica was fantastic.

That's a beautiful pheasant and a great find with that shoe! Please keep enjoying the mudlarking (and the deep-dive into history) for all of us.

When I see people like you I always have more hope for humanity than I did before.

I love the baby shoe, absolutely beautiful. Excellent work Monica x

And big corps wonder why we no longer pay for tv...marvelous stuff❤ Real people, real talent, intelligent and calm, just a delight.

Thank you so much letting us get to share Monica’s enthusiasm. I look forward to visits with you Sunday morning.

Thank you as always Nicola! Please pass on my delight in Monica’s contribution. I was speculating on the bone tube. Maybe a crank or windless handle. When you said a piece of a musical instrument my mind kept trying to make it a handle for a crank music box like the organ grinder and his monkey. So fun to speculate. Thank you!!!

It’s always fun, watching you Mudlark, your commentary, pictures showing what the objects looked like cleaned up,and your after chat!

I could spend a week or more listening to Monica going through all her treasures, absolutely fascinating ❤

The stitching around the child’s shoe actually would strengthen the edge of the shoe. I used to do that with the bags I used to make. My work was rougher shoulder bags of buffalo leather or moose. The leather was thick and soft.

Another great video, I can’t believe how much the Thames just keeps giving..People lost / discarded quite a lot back in the day..The baby shoe is fantastic, makes me wonder if the baby grew up and had a good life..Fantastic find..

I'm absolutely fascinated with the 👞s... 😊 THANK you, Girls ! 😘 What a TREAT ! 😍

I just wanted to say how much I enjoy the quiet scenery that you show and the beautiful birds. Along with the treasures you find that just brings a beautiful calm to my day. Keep up the good work. From the USA

Hi sweet Nicola. Wonderful video as usual! Monika did an amazing job on that precious baby shoe!! Reminds me of the pre-walkers my daughter wore 40 years ago. Much love from DeeAnn 🇺🇸

This was such a pleasure -- from Foreshore to Studio to Monika's. Every step a delight. Thank you, Nicola, for sharing the adventure. Thank you, Monika, for sharing your knowledge and reconstruction expertise. Loved spending time with you both as we got a chance to see some of Monika's treasures...and all those soles! What a wonderful, soulful experience.

I can't tell you how much my sister and I have enjoyed your channel. Given the way you make sure that we have time to see the pieces as you claim them but you include great audio, sounds of the water, the birds, and your occasional "Whoop." I found this today whilst looking for an ancestor, Thomas Dunn, who imigrated to Virginia in 1624 as an indentured servant to Gov. Yeardley at Flowerfew Plantation now near Richmond. This was an archeological study of a North Carolina colonial town and would you believe the first thing they talk about are PIPES!!! Enjoy!! “Little Tube of mighty pow’r, Charmer of an idle hour, Object of my warm desire, Lip of wax and eye of fire: And thy snowy taper waist, With my finger gently brac’d; And thy pretty swelling crest, With my little stopper prest, And the sweetest bliss of blisses, Breathing from thy balmy kisses…” (reprinted in Mackenzie 1957:196) Originally published in 1736, the beginning lines of this verse extol the pleasures that a pipe of “fragrant Indian weed” could bring to those who partook in the social rituals of smoking. HET REGENT PIJPESTELEN AT BRUNSWICK TOWN: A QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS OF WHITE CLAY TOBACCO PIPES AND SMOKING BEHAVIORS IN COLONIAL NORTH CAROLINA by Thomas E. Beaman, Jr. chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/www.rla.unc.edu/Publications/NCArch/NCA_54.pdf

Hi Nicola. That baby shoe is amazing and so complete. Stunning find

@nicolawhitemudlark

3 ай бұрын

Thanks Andrew!

This is the most memorable episode I have seen. I have admired your work and knowledge as a want-to-be mudlarker for some time. I am from Washington State and in the 1970s I spent a lot of time as a child digging through 100 yr old garbage dumps on the shores of Hood Canal, a 40 mile long natural canal on the Olympic Peninsula, where we had many Victorian settlers near Port Townsend, WA. In addition to my collection of antique (1800s) bottles from the hillside dump, my incredible childhood allowed me to explore the woodlands and the 100 year old structural ruins from the church yard to the orchard housing. In one orchard hut, I found an old carved wooden shoe mold, either for a woman or child- most exciting! As a young girl, immediately gave it to my mother (a historian). So I just emailed her to ask where it was! I have since been to the UK 48+ times, and dream of doing what you do and sharing the love for artisans and civilizations past.

Wow, that was enthralling, what a talented lady Monica is. Of course these treasures have to be found !; now theres a gift that you have. Nicola I was thinking the actual 'impressions ' left are just so evocative. A fine art photo series. ' solid shadows from the past'

@nicolawhitemudlark

3 ай бұрын

Lovely idea thank you

Thank you Nicola and Monica!

I watched a program about The Great Fire of London hour by hour of 1666 it reminded me of your baby's shoe, as the hosts followed 3 different people one being a single mother who worked making shoes for children in a orphanages. Great Video as always ❤😊❤

Monica is so clever with her shoe restoration. Such delicate work.

I’m watching you with Monica and chuckling. Your mudlarking room looks like my sewing room looks like Monica’s “shoeing” room. Open shelves, drawers, table and all. Thank you for sharing. You bring mudlarking and social history vividly to life, literally breathing life into finds. 😊😊😊

You are blessed by the mudlarking gods ...first to find a whole shoe and then to have a friend like Monika who is so amazingly talented!! I was thinking while she was describing the process that somewhere an old cobbler was smiling down on her!! ...looking forward to next weeks discoveries...Karl from eastern Canada

Monica is awsome. She worked that little shoe perfectly.

Monika's is amazing lady. Not only one of the TOP mudlarkers but also a very TOP shoe maker! Wonderful result! You and she are two lovely persons in that fabulous mudlarking world! PS. Coming to London from 7th April for a week!

@nicolawhitemudlark

3 ай бұрын

Yay see you then Pirjo. I'll show your book soon too xx

It is never hard to watch your video's till the end Nicola, this one was another one I enjoyed very much. That little leather baby shoe you found and so beautiful repared and brought back to life by Monica was so great to watch. Have a good week, love, Nicole.

WOW the restoration of that little shoe is fantastic well done Monica and well done Nickola for finding it.❤

Wow! Great finds. And now I know what my tiny little brown pot was - an ink well. Thanks. The broach was adorable. The bone tube looks like a handle. Could it be for a small kettle? And then the shoe. How wonderful to see it back together again and so soft looking. A gorgeous restoration. As was her dockers clog. I would have been beside myself to find a Tudor shoe sole. You two make up a fascinating couple of women. The things you have found…

Absolutely wonderful transformation of the shoe you found. Monika has some amazing cobbler skills and as always, informational and educational video. Thank you so much for sharing!