I was recently offered the use of a metal detector.
I declined but it brought back memories of trying one in my teens. I don't recall finding anything.
I did however find a few things without a metal detector back then. Mostly bits of pot. I found so many bits that made a few pictures.
These pictures were spirals of pot pieces glued onto wooden boards covered in hessian.
These were hung in my flat circa 1978. They may have gone abroad with me in 1981 but I can't recall.
I was reminded of these finds when recently I began to see bright cream tube pieces in the local ploughed fields whilst walking Blue the Moonbase mutt.
Recognising them as broken bits of clay pipes I have kept my eye out for them on every walk ever since as the parts are lying on the surface of the soil. I simply pick them up. I have also found bits of the cup of the pipe[s].
There's something oddly fascinating about finding items which maybe very old. I can imagine people collecting found objects.
Have you ever found anything old readers?
Some fossils on the Jurassic Coast, they really are just lying there to be picked up!
ReplyDeleteAmazing. Ive never been Kev. Hard to fathom that those fossils are so old and yet lying around on the surface!
DeleteMy grandfather and uncle owned a large tract of wooded property.They knew spots where old glass bottles were buried,hand blown glass vessels with tops that could only be stoppered by cork or wax.Un-earthing them was a delicate process,but they often brought back some really nice specimens.I have also found what is called "Cape May Diamonds",which are actually quartz rocks rounded and polished by a very long,slow trip down the Delaware river and deposited in New Jersey's southern -most beaches.
ReplyDeleteGreat memories Bri. Are the bottles still around?
DeleteI have one.I'll send you a pic.
DeleteOther than old coins and well worn Victorian pennies, the two main things I unearthed as a kid was an old horse shoe, and a lone old metal toy soldier. I still have both today, Woodsy. I agree, there is something fascinating about finding something which someone from a previous generation may have lost :)
ReplyDeleteA lucky soldier Tone. Have you ID'd him?
DeleteYeah, I found an old man looking out at me from the mirror today. Wonder where he came from.
ReplyDeleteha ha, I know that old man Kid!
DeleteJust an unknown soldier, Woodsy, lost by some lad before my time:)
ReplyDeleteThat sounds like the first line of a poem Tone. Get the rest written!
DeleteThere a big victorian refuse tip nearby Scoops base and under the local hospital. When i worked there, i would always keep an eye out for any earthworks - roadworks or pipe laying of building on the hospital grounds. There were always almost complete bottle and china unearthed in the spoil. As I live in Burscough, near the canal network, the fields are full of pottery shards and clay pipes. i asked a local resident why this was and its apparently 'night soil' from Liverpool, loaded into empty barges as ballast, to weight them down to pass through various tunnels along the Leeds-Liverpool canal. When the arrived at Burscough, the manure and sewage would be offloaded and spread on the fields as fertiliser. All the bits of crockery and pipes had been thrown n the bins along the way with the other refuse. the barges would then be reloaded with boxes of veg for the markets and sent back to liverpool, riding low in the water again due to the weight of produce!
ReplyDeleteTheres a huge tip near Widnes where the Meccano/Dinky factory buried its waste, my brother in law recalls digging up all kinds of cars and trucks that had been discontinued or damaged in the factory.
Its reputed that somewhere in the US is a vast landfill full of Atari 2600 cartridges of the E.T movie tie in game, which was such a flop it almost bankrupted Atari.
Fascinating stuff Bill. there's something primeval about finding something in the soil. I love the 'night soil' explanation. That makes sense when a village is next to a canal but what about canal-free villages? Are the clay pipes brought in inside some other material used as fertiliser or where they thrown in the fields by farm workers?
DeleteBill,there is a documentary from 2014 about the Atari E.T.urban legend called "Atari,Game Over".I saw it and found it enlightening. I think you would like it too.
Deleteill check that out Brian!
DeleteI think the sewage and rubbish from the Liverpool waste tips would have been carted off to outlying villages as well. The soil around the area is especially good for growing crops, rich and black. The fruit ad veg industry back then was big business, so any free fertiliser would have been snapped up. the broken crockery and glass would help to aerate the soil too, making the damp earth a bit less claggy.
ReplyDeleteCheers Bill. very helpful. I found more pipe this Thursday gone out with Blue boy. Weird to think someone's lips and fingers touched it many decades ago. How old do you think they mostly are?
Deleteclay pipes were cheap and mass produced. Id imagine they were probably still in use up to WW1.
ReplyDelete