Ash and Old Bottles
This story starts way back in the 1980s when I travelled all over the UK with my friends, looking and hunting for old Victorian bottle tips. Scotland was my favourite place for bottle digging, with some of the nicest stoneware bottles and cream pots coming from this part of the country.
On one particular day back in 1987, I was digging a Victorian bottle tip at Mirfield in west Yorkshire. This is an area where there had once been plenty of Victorian houses and old rectories where the local doctors and mill owners used to live, so the prospects of good finds made it look very inviting. Indeed, this proved to be the case, with many 1890s medicine bottles, Codd bottles and even a lovely green glass Warner’s Safe Cure bottle being found. In addition, a huge variety of toothpaste lids from chemists and some superb examples of hand blown pontilled bottles were all there for the taking.
On the day in question, my friend Martin and I arrived and started digging to try and reach the layer of undisturbed ash a few feet from the bottom, which had not been dug by previous bottle diggers. Usually we had to dig to a depth of around 10 feet to hit fresh ash, then we would probe it carefully with our forks to extract the bottles. Despite our efforts, finds were a bit sparse, although we did recover a lovely French figural pipe bowl, depicting a blonde haired lady on a potty. Martin also found another good example of a French clay pipe bowl, in the form of a boy sitting on the bowl Both pipe bowls were in superb condition considering they had been buried for probably the best part of a century!
The previous day I had purchased a detector from Maplin, known to most detectorists as the ‘Maplin special’, the Mylek discrimination detector . The retail price back then was around £12! I set up the detector and started walking about searching, it was very erratic and seemed rather unstable until I got a good solid two-way signal. I dug down and couldn’t believe it, for there in the hole was a gold Victoria full sovereign!
The Very Beginnings
Denne historien er fra November 2018-utgaven av Treasure Hunting magazine.
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Denne historien er fra November 2018-utgaven av Treasure Hunting magazine.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
New Detector Network – ‘A Treasure Unearthed for Detectorists'
www.detectornetwork.com is a new online platform that has recently been launched for both beginners and experienced detectorists to share their finds, advice and learn even more about this exciting hobby.
Only a Bit of Lead
As in common with most people, when asked if they have found anything, the reply can often be “Oh, only a bit of lead.”
My Great Uncle Joseph's Anglo-Saxon Sword
My Great Uncle Joseph’s Anglo-Saxon Sword
Roman Lead Ingot Update
I would just like to update readers of Treasure Hunting magazine with some further information about the Roman lead ingot I found back in September 2019.
The Westbury Sub-Mendip Roman Hoard
The Westbury Sub-Mendip Roman Hoard
The Family Hoard
It was the end of the second week of the school summer holidays in 2019.
Remembering the 1970s
Remembering the 1970s
No More Moon Boots?
In more than four decades of detecting, the weather and varying soil conditions have all had a huge influence on the level of my enjoyment of this noble hobby.
My A-Z of Detecting
Part 1: A-G
Lost and Found?
There have been several instances over my long detecting career where, not only has it has been a delight to be able to help people who have lost things, but also a great thrill when such losses are returned to their owners. I have several memories of such occurrences.
