Come with me and see what I found under an ancient Thames Pier!

Years ago I discovered some mysterious carvings. Today, years later I went back to see if they're still there! It also happens to be a special day today - so what better place to visit than the Thames foreshore. I'm hoping that the tide will leave out some special gifts. Let's see if I'll be lucky!
Thank you for watching
Love Nicola xx

[@HughLindsay66]

Happy Birthday Nicola 🎉🎂 The badge MSC is a Metropolitan Special Constable lapel badge from WW2. Have a lovely evening with your friends 💚🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

[@luana1600]

It's so cool that you know that! Nicola will be so happy! 😊

[@leeannmettlach2412]

Amazing job! How did you figure that out? That is incredible!

[@HughLindsay66]

The power of Google 💚🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

[@tillybinkieking7258]

Oh yes, so it is! Well researched. So good to know the answer.

[@leeannmettlach2412]

@@HughLindsay66 😃

[@Happy.Hellbender]

The MSC item is a WWII Metropolitan Special Constable enamel lapel badge

[@Thanetian577]

Out of stock

[@cdd4248]

Very Interesting and Than You!

[@leeannmettlach2412]

Amazing job!

[@user-mg6il8uk3t]

And not trying to copy you...posted mine before I scrolled down and saw yours. Well done!

[@nicolawhitemudlark]

Thank you!

[@TheLincsGent]

Hi Nicola. Yes, that enamel badge is a Metropolitan Special Constabulary. I was a Met Special for ten years at Hackney nick in the 1970s. I have a silver plated tea spoon which I won for playing team billiards against other met stations. It has exactly the same designed badge as the one you found. Keep 'em coming Nicola.

[@-Reagan]

Happy birthday Nicola, Darling! I turn 43 tomorrow. I love this for you! It’s so different looking back on my 23rd birthday when I thought I needed a party and/or to go out and be a rockstar in the club. Or from being a mother with a young child at 33 when everything was hectic. Now, I’ve discovered the best thing is to spend it doing something I love, just for myself, and a lovely evening with family for dinner, reflecting and enjoying life. Like you have. Cheers! 🥂

[@lindyjourde7411]

Oh, Happy Birthday from New Zealand, Reagan darling. I hope the had the loveliest of days. ❤️😁⭐❤️

[@annehathway7737]

Happy birthday Nicola! Kiwi white was indeed a shoe polish. Not the 'waxy' type, but a white chalky liquid with which we used to 'polish' up our childhood canvas tennis shoes, using a little sponge on the end of the bottle. The plastic bottle allowed you to squeeze out the liquid. Prior to the bottle, the thick pasty liquid used to come in a tube - like toothpaste only bigger - also with a sponge on the end.

[@ordinosaurs]

Funny how just seeing the shape, you not only know immediately what it is, but you can remember the chemical smell as well.

[@ericalbany]

It was generically called "wet white"

[@marykunselman284]

Used it to polish my majorette boots

[@eloisebates7827]

Nurses'white shoes were kept spotless with Kiwi White.

[@lindabaldwin2568]

​@@marykunselman284and then when the polish dried we would buff them up so they shined .

[@GhastlyCretin]

Nicola giving us a gift on her birthday! What an unexpected treat! Happy birthday 🎉

[@ArtbyKatina]

Happy BirthdayNicola🎉, it’s my Grandson Stan’s birthday today also, he’ll be 11yrs old this year. The Kiwi White is a Paint for Cloth Sneakers my Dad used it on our, what were called Sand Shoes back in the day. 5:07

[@BB-iy9yg]

Kiwi white, the shoe polish, my mother and I used it to polish our children’s toddler shoes. My father was a shoe maker, so we always had to have our shoes polished like the sun. It used to have a sponge tip so you would go over the baby shoes with the white polish, leave them overnight and then buff them in the morning chefs kiss. Happy birthday Nichola.

[@wijjit]

"shoes polished like the sun". I really sorry for snort laughing at that wee pearl of a snort blaster.

[@LennaWinther-Saxe]

These are all fun finds, your "bead" could actually be a chandelier crystal. Thank you for taking us along on your outing.

[@kittyr6534]

I was going to suggest the same thing 😊

[@ukulelefatman]

My mom used Kiwi white shoe polish. She was a nurse and used a squeeze bottle to freshen up her white shoes. There would have been a sponge tip and a clear plastic cap to contain the liquid polish. You had to shake it before use. 50 years ago is my best guess on seeing her use it. And yes, Kiwi is still in business. Her bottle was all white, I think you've found an older version.

[@scm731]

My mom too!

[@elizabethscruggs1622]

I used to use it myself in white and black for saddle shoes!

[@victorcarmelo8606]

Yes, used to make our plimsols very white especially for sports day at school, we used to know it as “Pipley” (not sure of the right spelling). Many happy returns Nicola, best wishes.

[@colleennikstenas4921]

We still do sometimes!

[@kimrocksthetrees]

Nicola, You missed possible coins at 2:20 & 2:47. I was hoping you would see them, but you didn't. ☹️

[@honorw4125]

Happy Birthday Nicola 🥳🎉 The 'national mixture' image is from National Benzole Co which was a petroleum brand used in the UK from 1919 - 1990's. It was wholly owned in 1957 by Shell-mex & BP.and was rebranded as 'National' in the 1960's but was eventually phased out by BP in the 1990's.

[@debraslotkinshulman7173]

The image of Mercury started to be used in 1928 and was one of the notable advertising images of its day

[@patricialamb3205]

Happy Birthday ,Nicola 🎈🎁 thank you for taking us along with you on your birthday.❤🇨🇦

[@rebeccaque2697]

Happy Birthday Nicola! I found your channel while battling cancer in the first part of the pandemic and it has been such a life giver to me! At a time when I was so unwell and so isolated, your videos brought me such joy! Thank you for being you and sharing your love of history and nature with all of us! Much love from Canada 🇨🇦.

[@tillybinkieking7258]

Blessings to you. My the loving energies surround and heal you. X (from London, England)

[@nicolawhitemudlark]

I am so glad that you have enjoyed the videos. Sending you lots of love. Nicola xx

[@nicolawhitemudlark]

Thanks. That's so kind of you to comment like that @@tillybinkieking7258

[@rebeccaque2697]

Such a kind and lovely thing to say! Thank you!@@tillybinkieking7258 Isn’t the mudlarking community beautiful?

[@joshthemediocre7824]

I don't think there will ever be another place in the world like the Thames. It's unique in so many ways. Thank you for spending your birthday with us Nicola. We couldn't feel more special, I wish you many more happy birthdays.

[@steveoszman8746]

Happy birthday Mum, thank you for sharing your life with us. God bless!

[@Spinningininfinity]

I share your birthday and your passion for unearthing the shadows cast by those gone before, and the gifts that the tide leaves resound still. Happy Birthday, may the coming year lay treasures at your feet 😊

[@orionbirch2705]

Happy birthday Nicole. Your videos and your family warmth is precious, a real treasure.

[@lechatel]

Happy Birthday!! The 'safety pin' is a kilt pin I think. When kilts were in fashion for little girls like me in the early 60's I had a pin on the bottom 'flap' bit just like that, to stop the skirt/kilt from blowing open.

[@barbaracerniglia6986]

Thanks for your comment about the pin! I remember now that the kilt my grandparents had made for me in Scotland had a pin...a fairly large one. 😊

[@roowyrm9576]

Yes, I had those kilt pins too. And kiwi white for my school tennis shoes.

[@kathryndeloria1834]

Happy Birthday beautiful girl. You have given this old granny so much information, entertainment and fun thru the years! Thank you!

[@ModestaFeb14]

Happy Belated! May the River Thames continue to give you precious gifts. Love ALL of your content & education that I’ve gotten from them. I hope you continue to make videos for yours to come for all of us to enjoy..

[@nicolawhitemudlark]

Thank you!

[@user-cp8em9sl1i]

Happy birthday! Our birthdays are a week apart. I’m glad you had a nice mudlark on your special day, and we enjoyed going along with you.

[@jeannewalker3412]

WW2 Metropolitan Special Constable police lapel badge A good original Second World War period 'Metropolitan Special Constable lapel badge', Crowned circular chromium plated example, the centre bearing 'MSC' on blue enamel ground, the reverse impressed with maker's details 'Firmin London'. Very good condition, complete with original buttonhole fitting, no damage to the enamel.

[@katherinewiseman9707]

Happy Birthday, Nicola. You brighten up every week for so many people. :) 💐💐💐

[@nicolawhitemudlark]

Thanks Katherine that's such a lovely thing to say ❤️

[@timtaylor8406]

I like to see your technique of looking for and finding things YOU want to find, and ignoring old bits of metal staring at you on the mud surface that have no interest for you. Happy Birthday Nicola, how nice to find something "White" on your birthday!

[@eba44]

Many Happy Returns of the Day! (Eliza, long time viewer, seldom commenting) Thank you for all the lovely hours of delight, seeing what you and your pals find next. We really are the lucky ones for having you on the Tube. Thanks, Nic

[@susanbdusan2785]

A happy and healthy birthday to you, Nicola, my favorite mudlark!

[@irenechappell2776]

Happy birthday! It was very generous of you to give us a gift of one of your videos on your birthday. I hope you had a wonderful day 🥳

[@tomlee812]

Thank you for sharing your birthday outing with us. We hope you had a lovely day and a lovely meal with your friends. You'll find being now in your 40's will be quite rewarding.

[@heikejohann4802]

Happy Birthday🎂🍾🥳!And thanks for taking US with you to treasures hunts👍🏽😍

[@katieharmer8466]

Happy Birthday Nicola, enjoy the rest of your day, thank you for sharing your birthday lark with us. It's very much appreciated 🎁🎂💖

[@bluetoo8010]

What a perfect way to spend you birthday, doing something you love doing. Hope it was fantastic!

[@marydegenkolb9603]

Happy belated Birthday from Georgia. Hope you have many more. And yes, they grow up so fast. My daughter is the mother of two teenagers. One is 13 the other is 16. And yes time flies!

[@pamelavans5116]

Wishing you the best of birthdays Nicola, may the year ahead be healthy and joyful. My birthday is tomorrow, the 21st, and I'm recovering from a heart attack and stroke, so I'll be happy with just waking up in the morning. Thank you for the many hours of joy you have shared with your mudlarking videos, I greatly appreciate them, and you. ❤ Pamela

[@Hippiechick11]

Hope you are doing well.

[@leeannmettlach2412]

Pamela, Happy Early Birthday! I hope you have a lovely day & that you are feeling better soon!

[@pamelavans5116]

​@@Hippiechick11Thank you for your kind words 😊

[@pamelavans5116]

​@@leeannmettlach2412 That's so kind of you, thank you!

[@tillybinkieking7258]

Hallo, yes it is so nice to watch Nicola scouring the River Thames foreshore, when having to rest up inside. May the loving energies surround and envelop you and let you heal. X

[@Serrendip56]

🎂🥂 Wishing you a very Happy Birthday Nicola! Thanks for sharing your joy. Nothing better than a Birthday spent doing what you love. Hope your now enjoying a Fantastic Birthday Dinner! Cheers 🎉 and much love from 🇦🇺

[@heatherforsythe8525]

Happiest of birthdays, Nicola! So glad you had a chance to muck about on the foreshore.

[@marilynmiller5605]

Happy Happy Birthday dear Nicola! Glad you got that beautiful faceted tear drop- and can’t wait to see what you make and wear out of it!!! Sacramento California!

[@ordinosaurs]

MSC is "Metropolitan Special Constable" Badge dating from WWII ; Many happy returns ! (PS I think the carvings may be Saturn [or Chronos], a head with two faces back to back, one young and one old as a symbol of the passing of time)

[@nicolawhitemudlark]

Thank you! So interesting too for the carvings. you could be right!

[@terryt.1643]

Happy Birthday to you! I am celebrating it with you virtually. 🥰 I remember polishing the white part of my saddle shoes with Kiwi polish when I was a little girl. Lovely video

[@lindabaldwin2568]

Me also . ❤

[@douglasberwick1699]

Congrats on your 39th birthday and may your evening out give you as much joy as your videos give me.

[@janetregan2382]

Happy Birthday! The carvings are haunting, but so special given their impermanence. I wonder who did them as well. Thank you for sharing your day with us!

[@krisyung]

think they are modern haunting carvings and someone had a good idea to do them spooky ...

[@texasrose455km]

Happy birthday! Glad you got to mudlark on your birthday. I can't believe you passed up the little shield -shaped piece of metal @1:35. I was so sure you would pick it up. That "safety pin" reminds me of a pin my mom had, probably from the 50s, that was used to pin a scarf on one's shoulder. It was a bit thicker material, but made exactly the same way.

[@elizarock655]

I was thinking it was a nappy pin but yes I do remember those scarf pins

[@moxielouise]

I was thinking kilt pin... Love how we each see something different

[@texasrose455km]

I thought of that, too :D@@moxielouise

[@tillybinkieking7258]

I scrolled back and saw it! Least ways,I think I did! haha

[@Hamsterbuns622]

Happy Birthday, Miss Nicola!!!!! What a blessing you are to all of us and to the history you find, research, save, and share! ❤ Thank you!

[@Irene_Arsen]

Thank you for taking us with you on your birthday lark!

[@carolhedia4549]

Happy birthday Nicola, my favorite treasure hunter. We love your videos, thank you so much for sharing your adventures!!!

[@ladyskellington3296]

Happiest of birthdays Nicola from a fellow Scorpio , Its us who should thank you for sharing your journeys with us. Without you we wouldn't know so much or be able to enjoy history as we do. Much love xx

[@amywright2243]

Happy birthday Nicola! My mother was a nurse for 30 years, and she used Kiwi white polish for her nursing uniform shoes. Love from Kentucky! ❤️

[@patagualianmostly7437]

Spot on! That's where I remember it from: It was used on the shoes of Navy Officers white shoes when in the tropics. Small world.... Love from Chile!

[@bobclarke2705]

A very happy birthday Nic and thanks for the enjoyment you bring into my life. Enjoy your day and Giod Bless you.

[@glassengraver]

Happy birthday Nicola. Keep up the lovely videos! Your little "bead" looks like possibly a piece of chandelier.

[@paulbennett4415]

Happy Birthday Nicola White, Mudlarker Extraordinaire! 🎂 🎉 🎈 🎊 Monday 20th November 2023. Thank you for continuing to present such relaxing programmes.

[@kathimorrical9912]

Happy birthday, Nicola! May your days be filled with happiness and larks in the air, and finds at your feet!!❤

[@shirleywolford3650]

I love following you on your Mudlarking adventures, you brighten my days. Have a blessed birthday Nicola! 🎉❤

[@pseko]

Happy Slightly Belated Birthday Nicola!! thanks for taking us along - hope you had a blissfilled evening.

[@janedickson-gw4pb]

Happiest of birthdays!! 🎉 so enjoyed your birthday lark!! Enjoy your dinner with friends!! ❤

[@lovelyskull3483]

Happy Birthday Nicola. Every video you make is a gift to me. I wish you the best of everything. Cheers and take care.

[@nicolawhitemudlark]

Thank you! I really appreciate your lovely comments and your support. xx

[@pamelamcleroy9413]

Happy Birthday Nicola!! 🎉🎉

[@cathyjones9543]

Happy Birthday Nicola!! So nice you were able to get out on the Thames on your birthday!

[@cheryldurham3560]

Happiest of birthdays ❤️🎉 Thank you for sharing your day with us. Much love to you🙏🏻🇺🇸❤️

[@maarinabudd]

Happy Birthday Nicola! 🎉🥳🎂🍷 It was lovely to see you out on the foreshore yesterday xx

[@donnaking0715]

Happy Birthday 🎂 🥳 Thanks for letting us spend some of this day with you 💕

[@barbarapartington6182]

Happy Birthday Nicola. I could watch your videos for hours. Have a lovely meal.xx

[@irenefitzpatrick6480]

Kiwi white is for canvas shoes. The kilt pins make nice brooches if you dangle things from them. Happy birthday! 🥳

[@treasuretom13]

Thankyou for all you've brought to us, may you have a Splendid Birthday Nicola!👏🎉🌺

[@cynthiaswearingen1037]

Happy Birthday, Nic!!! The little bead is a beautiful gift from the Thames!!!❤

[@Toche44]

Happy birthday Nicola, and many more! Thank you for taking all of us on your adventures!

[@drfred1203]

Happy Birthday Nicola~!!! From me, my wife, and 4 y/o who love watching you here in Wisconsin (US) 🖖🙂 💖

[@nicolawhitemudlark]

Thank you! please say hi to your wife and 4 year old from me xox

[@jilllucier6341]

I hope you have a wonderful Birthday, Nicola! Thank you for sharing so many amazing finds with us. Your videos are so interesting and informative. Bless you!

[@cyndicunanan400]

Happy birthday! What a beautiful day for treasure hunting.

[@lynnekells6163]

A very happy Birthday Nicola. The bead would make a great abdomen for a bee necklace. Have a truly lovely meal with friends - very precious.

[@mickeymelton66]

Happy birthday…& thanks for your productions for our enjoyment. I pray it provides you as much enjoyment as it does your viewers. HUGS From California, USA.

[@janpenland3686]

Thank You and HAPPY BIRTHDAY NICOLA ❤❤❤ I hope your night out with friends was wonderful and memorable. Much Love ❤

[@superbellabeau]

Happy Birthday Nicola! May the year ahead bring you lots of treasures especially pipes! We still have kiwi shoe polish here in Australia. ❤🎉

[@marilyngianadda1661]

A very happy birthday dear Nicola! Thank you for delivering such a polished video every week and today on your special day! Health success and wealth, love ❤

[@oldmanhuppiedos]

Nicola, congratulations on your birthday. The faces in the wooden posts are very special. The badge has already been recognized.

[@karenpelletier5707]

Happy Birthday Nicola!❤🎉 Greetings and hugs from Oregon. The carvings are way cool! On my last birthday i encountered a cinnamon colored black bear while walking in the woods. Certainly very memorable!😮

[@ozarkladyscreativemoods]

Happy Birthday and I enjoyed your video but the scene of your daughter laying there on the foreshore just really tickled me! Good memories often come from some aggravating ones when you think back on them and find the laughter in it! Hope your day was blessed beyond measure!

[@nicolawhitemudlark]

oh she knew I would have to take her home for a bath after flopping in the mud like that!!

[@helenburke9507]

Happiest of Birthdays Nicola. I wish you much luck and happiness. Always be safe in all of your wandering Thank you for all do and your history lessons and wonderful information.

[@luana1600]

Happy Birthday Nicola!! 🎂💃⭐️🎁 I love all your outings to the Thames. But, I must say, the carvings literally made my jaw drop! I can just imagine a sailor in the 18th or 19th century carving underneath the pier doing what he's passionate about! How amazing the carvings are! Just wow!! 💚

[@nicolawhitemudlark]

aren't they great!

[@luana1600]

@@nicolawhitemudlark YES!! 💚

[@merahertel6256]

Happy Birthday Nic! Have fun with your friends. Thanks for sharing another great year of larks, learning, and laughs with us.

[@lisestanley4330]

The glass may be been part of a glass topped gas pump. The faceted glass I think is a crystal drop from a chandelier.

[@DonConstance]

I was about to make the same two suggestions ☺️

[@tlfreeland7941]

Happy Birthday lovely lady. I hope your special day went wonderfully. ❤

[@shirleynitka5030]

how sweet of you to spend your birthday with us. Hope it was lucky after you left us. Enjoy!! & thanks for being special you!!

[@adriannenash9852]

Hey Nic! I thought we were supposed to give you the gift! What a lovely surprise for all of us! Happy birthday and be well from washington state USA ❤️

[@jode_ster]

This was such a great "Oh, My Goodness What's That!?" episode for me. I did a whole lot of pausing to look around your shots of the ground, wondering what different things I could spot and what they might be (things you weren't looking at). Thank you so much for sharing your adventures so we can live the excitement vicariously through you! Sending the warmest of Happy Birthday wishes to you all the way from Cairns in Australia! 🥳❤🎂

[@nicolawhitemudlark]

thank you!

[@lynneharrill9570]

I wish you the happiest of all birthdays sweet Nicola! Sending you big hugs and much love from Tennessee!

[@briankesterson4365]

Happy Birthday Nicola! Continued blessings and "luck in the muck" as Si would say.

[@tillybinkieking7258]

What fun it is to come-a-Mudlarking with you Nicola. Who would ever have seen the carvings under the pier, if not for you?!

[@nicolawhitemudlark]

I've been wanting to share those faces for a long while! x

[@karenabendshien846]

Happy Belated Birthday Nicola! What a wonderful lark you had for your birthday celebration. Do you ever look back at your footage and see things that you missed? Just curious, it's funny that when mudlarks ask if we can see what they are looking at, I sometimes see something different than what was intended. Oh I would love to mudlark in London! Thanks for sharing your passion for history and finds with us.

[@kerouacist]

Im an Aussie from Sydney. Back in 1991 I was a Tower Crane Operator at Vauxhall Bridge on the Mi5 Security building.Most days I would go down at lunch and fossack on the banks of the Thames and i was always amazed at what was there and how fast the river flowed.

[@kathyfollett9776]

Happy Happy Birthday! I hope your day was wonderful. Thank you for all of your videos. I love the search and the history!

[@iansuehooper7542]

Many happy returns Nicola, may you have many more! Thank you for all your hard work ov

[@aprilleighallred8546]

Happy Birthday, to a beautiful person and an amazing soul! You bring me so much joy and intrigue through the year! I want to wish you the best year ever, with lots of fun, friends, fascinations, fulfillment, funds, and finds!

[@nicolawhitemudlark]

Thank you my dear friend! xxx

[@ianlloyd1182]

Belated happy birthday from Australia Nicola, I enjoy your mud larking videos, a nice change so see what the Thames washes up from a bygone age. With all that is going on in the world at the moment it’s very nice to watch and listen to something not relating to the various disastrous things going on around the world.

[@JR-yz2iy]

Happy Birthday to you, Nicola. Good to see the surprise video, thank you. 🙂

[@veggified1]

Happy Birthday, Nicola! Thank you for sharing these wonderful videos. I've been watching you mudlark for years, and your videos definitely helped keep me entertained during COVID lock down. May your year ahead be filled with clay pipe extractions, bellamine jugs, onion bottles and historical treasures! (as well as good health, good friends and much happiness)

[@tillybinkieking7258]

Don't forget the Cod Bottles ! hee hee

[@nicolawhitemudlark]

Thank you my dear friend! xx

[@nicolawhitemudlark]

ha ha yes@@tillybinkieking7258

[@Jennie-fh4me]

Kiwi White I think is the shoe whitening liquid we used to use on our pumps / daps/ plimsolls whatever you call them 😜

[@janetschmitt6760]

I immediately thought nurse shoe polish.

[@Jennie-fh4me]

@@janetschmitt6760 It has a sponge on the top of the bottle that would dry out and when you next used it, it would squirt white polish over the shoe and the floor 🤣

[@janetschmitt6760]

@@Jennie-fh4me I remember using it on white baby shoes.

[@au.metaldetection6694]

Wishing you a Happy Birthday Nicola, from Australia.

[@barbaracatalano6299]

Happy Birthday Nicola. I use to have to kiwi my Sunday shoes. Thank you for sharing your birthday lark with us. Have a great time.

[@goodpeople5676]

Happy Birthday 🎂 🥳 Pipe Queen 👸. God bless you, and enjoy your day with sweet family members and friends 💖 With love from SAM Guwahati, Assam, India 🇮🇳 ♥️

[@annachala4751]

Happy birthday 🎂 Nicola 🎆🍾

[@sandrahomeniuk4427]

Happy Birthday Nicola glad you had a wonderful day! 🎉🎶🥳

[@sandradix3152]

Happy Birthday Nicola - I love your posts they got me through the pandemic -