It was of little surprise to discover during my recent trip to London that there are very few beaches along the Thames river in the central part of London.
At the part of the river just below Shakespeare’s rebuilt Globe Theatre a few hundred yards of rocky beach exist at low tide. St Paul’s Cathedral rises in the distance at the top of Ludgate Hill.
Considering London has been a city since before the time of the Romans, the avid beachcomber (or jetlagged tourist) is likely to make some interesting finds.
Pieces of broken pottery, clay smoke pipes and the obligatory old shoe were some of the things we discovered.
Back at our apartment that night I arranged the pieces we had found (and yes I did return the pieces to the beach the next day in the spirit of all good global travellers).
Blue and white glazed pieces of pottery littered the beach at various places. Pieces of cheap clay pipes were everywhere from the waterline to the stone walls. Clay smoking pipes were so cheap in years gone by that you simply threw the broken one away and bought another.
We were unable to decide what the hook was for, it looks like it may have belonged to a length of chain from a boat at some point.
It was a very fruitful half hour or so on the beach looking for interesting finds before we headed off for lunch at a nearby pub, and only served to remind me that as a Regency writer I am only dealing with a small part of the long and magnificent history of London.
Once engaged to the future Duke of Strathmore, the beautiful Lady Clarice Langham now finds herself in the humiliating position of celebrating his marriage – to another woman. As a result of the scandal, it seems her reign as London’s most eligible debutante has come to an end. But things begin to look up when handsome and charming rake David Radley makes it clear that, at least as far as he’s concerned, she’s still the catch of the season.
The Illegitimate Son… The eldest son of the Duke of Strathmore, David Radley has been raised alongside his father’s legitimate children. But while he is generally received as part of the family, not everyone thinks he should be, and especially not Clarice’s father, the Earl of Langham, who forbids her from having anything to do with him.
An Unsuitable Match…David’s been in love with Clarice for years, and it isn’t long before the attraction between them develops into something deeper. Yet he senses Clarice is hiding something and until she reveals her secret, she won’t be free to follow her heart. Despite everything, David will not give up on Clarice, not even when another seems set to claim her…
Here is the trailer to An Unsuitable Match. I hope you enjoy it.
An Unsuitable Match Amazon
Also available iTunes, Kobo, JB HiFi, Sainbury’s, BigW
- About the Author
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Award winning author, Sasha Cottman writes Historical romance centred around the glittering world of London during the Regency period. Her themes cover love, family and the belief that for everyone there is that someone special.
Wouldn’t it be interesting to excavate right in the middle of the river. I wonder what treasures would be revealed! Assuming the dredgers haven’t wrecked them.
So many ships used to come right up river to this point I expect a treasure trove is laying in wait. Smuggling and thefts from the ships were rampant in the 17th century which was why the Thames River Police were created.
Did you get to the London Museum? They had some amazing finds from the Iron Age onwards that had come out of the mud of the Thames. Small children called mud larks used to scour the mud flats looking for anything worth selling. There is a lovely old 1950s movie called “The Mud Lark”… about a small child and Queen Victoria.