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SALON NO 93: London Clay - London Mud

What Lies Beneath

7.00pm Thursday 26th May 2022

The Horse Hospital
Collonade
London 
WC1N 1JD

Admission: Tickets £7.00/ £8.00 in advance only  - SOLD OUT

Join writer TOM CHIVERS and mudlarker LARA MAIKLEM as they uncover and reclaim stories and histories from the earth upon and around which our city is built.

London’s premier mudlarker LARA MAIKLEM leads us through the city's history of mud. 

The mudlark was born amongst the filth and chaos of Victorian London. These poor creatures were scavengers, wading through the foul-smelling mud to collect anything they could sell, such as rags, coal and rope. Most of the original mudlarks were children and old people, society's most vulnerable, but these days they are a band of searchers that scour the foreshore of the River Thames for objects that recover forgotten tales of history. We learn how it is often the smallest of objects that tell the greatest stories.

Meanwhile writer TOM CHIVERS takes us on a trip along hidden pathways, to explore lost islands and uncover the geological mysteries that burst up through the pavement and bubble to the surface of our streets. From Roman ruins to a submerged playhouse, from an abandoned Tube station to underground rivers, 

We take a deep dive into the depths of the city to investigate urban edgelands: the in-between spaces where the natural world and the metropolis collide.

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LARA MAIKLEM is the author of the award winning Sunday Times bestseller Mudlarking: Lost and Found on the River Thames and the illustrated A Field Guide to Larking: Beachcombing, Mudlarking, Fieldwalking and More. She is a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries and has a following of over 200k across Facebook, Instagram and Twitter where she posts posts her finds - the good, the bad and the ugly as London Mudlark.

TOM CHIVERS is a writer, publisher, arts producer and award winning poet. He has made perambulatory, site-specific and audio work for organisations including LIFT, Cape Farewell, Humber Mouth and Southbank Centre.  His non-fiction debut London Clay: Journeys in the Deep City (Doubleday, 2021) was audio book of the week in The Times.

Images courtesy of Lara Maiklem
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Our new home, THE HORSE HOSPITAL, is a unique Grade II listed not for profit, independent arts venue within the only existing unspoilt example of a two-floor, purpose-built stable with public access in London. 

Built in 1797 by James Burton. the shell is constructed with London Stocks whilst the interior features a mock cobbled re-inforced concrete floor and ramps with slats to prevent the horses from slipping. Each floor has five cast iron pillars and several original iron tethering rings.

We are no longer sponsored by Hendricks but there will be a small bar to purchase drinks!