AI-rewritten: This is a summary of an article from Positive News, rewritten by AI (Qwen, running locally) to make it easier to read. The facts come from the original article – read it for the full story.

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Emmylou Vaxby, a 14-year-old schoolgirl from London, has spent nearly a decade searching the Thames foreshore for historical fragments. She is an author of *A Guide to Mudlarking on the River Thames* and describes herself as a "seasoned mudlark," a term she uses for foraging artefacts on riverbanks. Her hobby began when she was five or six, but it became a passion during lockdown when her parents and brother spent their daily hour outside on the foreshore.

Emmylou teaches that one must bend down to get close to the ground and look for objects that are a different colour than the surrounding silt. She explains that bones found there could belong to sheep, dogs, horses, or cows, possibly cast out by butchers or thrown in after death. She notes these items may have been there for many years, referencing the Great Stink of 1858 when raw sewage and rubbish made the river a health hazard. All mudlarkers require a permit from the Port of London Authority, which is currently operating a waiting list.

Last year, a publisher approached her to write a book, and she spent the summer holidays of 2025 writing between 1,000 and 2,800 words a day. In 2021, she founded the Wapping Plastic-Free Community through Surfers Against Sewage after seeing a swan mistake plastic for food. She organises twice-yearly riverbank clean-ups and tags along with litter picks. Her book is published by Fonthill and costs £16.99.