2023 saw a change of format for the annual FROGs get together. Leaving our wellies at home we ventured away from the foreshore to learn a bit more about the city whose residents and buildings have, over the centuries, contributed the detritus and artefacts that make the Thames foreshore such a rich and wonderful place.
The City Wall at Vine Street
Led by Claire and Will – with Josh making a return appearance – some two dozen FROGs met at The City Wall at Vine Street – a remarkably intact section of the Roman wall and the footings of a 3rd century bastion. For lovers of archaeological fragments, extensive displays of finds from the site and further afield offered pictures of Londoners, London life and London waste from Roman times down to the 20th century, with which we could compare our own foreshore finds.
This was a great setting for Claire to thank Will and Josh for their amazing contribution to everything FROG-like over the past few years.
Exploring East London's Theatrelands
From Vine Street a MOLA designed walk took us from Aldgate to Shoreditch through the sites of Elizabethan theatres and vanished City landmarks. Although technically self-guided, superb additional commentary provided by Will and Josh meant that we could leave the 20th Century behind as we walked through Roman, medieval and Elizabethan London and the world of Shakespeare, ending outside the actors’ church of St Leonard’s Shoreditch before we adjourned to a nearby hostelry to recover.
Blog written by Edward Troup (TDP FROG)