Metal detecting fun, with friends from Clodhoppers club.

I have been a member with the Clodhoppers club for well over a year now. In that time i have forged some strong relationships with my fellow diggers. I share their triumphs and joys when out digging, i think they reciprocate.

Being part of a club is something i enjoy immensely, though i do still enjoy going out on my own, and the solitude that brings. 

As in every society, there are those that do, those that think they do, and those that don't muck in and help. Every one as important as the last, they are the parts that make a club what it is.

I like to be in the thick of it when i am involved in any club or group, it’s just the way i am.

The clodhoppers’ members are a fun loving lot who put a mountain of time and effort into organising digs for the masses. Most of the digs are club digs, to which only dig members are allowed. To be a dig member you must frequent the clodhopper’s forum and become involved with the club. When you first join the forum you will be classed as a light blue. Once you have gained the trust of others and frequented the forum for some time, you may be changed to a dark blue. In the interim, light blues may attend open digs which we put on fairly often. Anyone who brings land to the table for a club dig is almost sure to go dark blue, though this would still have to be discussed between members. 

You can be one of two types when you go detecting, those that will always have time to stop and chat, and those that will not make eye contact with any one. I love to stop and chat, and so do most of the clods. 

If that is the sort of camaraderie that rocks your world, get yourself over to www.clodhoppers.co.uk and join the fun.

The love token rally with Clodhoppers, when i was sick as a dog. Worcestershire metal detecting.

Well the time had come for the Clodhoppers mdc annual weekender. A weekend of fun filled metal detecting, camp fire antics and all around good sport.

I decided to finish work a little early on Friday, and load the car with my camping gear. You would think a simple two night camping trip would take 5 minutes to put together, well think again. After 2 hrs of packing the car was full to the brim. 

I set off and hit the usual delays and diversions on our wonderful motorway network. At one point I was diverted into spaghetti junction at 5.15 on a Friday, really not where anyone wilfully goes at the best of times.

On arrival to the site, I was surprised to see so many caravans and tents already set up. I quickly set up my tent in a pitch away from the others, as I did not want to keep anyone awake with my snoring.

I cracked open a Fosters and wondered over to the crowed for a chat. There were pats of cow shit everywhere, one of which I managed to tread in with just my flip flops on.

The fields looked amazing. Two fields were ploughed and rolled, the rest were pasture. Wayne who was the finder of the permission commented that we would have to give the farmer a hand in the morning to get some bulls off the pasture.

The rolling hills of wonderful Worcestershire. Note the detectorists enjoying the rally. Picture courtesy of woody

The camp fire was soon roaring (the farmer had dropped us a ton of wood). Chairs were pulled around the fire and people gathered. A guitar was being played and the air was full of banter and laughter.

I headed back to my tent at about 11.30 as I was a bit hungry and had eaten nothing since breakfast. A tin of corned beef was opened; I ate about 1/3rd of it before getting into my bag and going to sleep. At 4 am I woke and immediately felt a bit queasy. After about 10 minutes I began to projectile vomit out of my tent door, and scrambled to the hedge at the back of the tent. I am pretty sure I almost heaved one of my lungs up. That being said I felt like I had got whatever ailed me out of the system once the vomiting stopped.

Cars belonging to the one day detectorists began arriving at about 7.30am, I organised the parking. There were  people turning up at regular intervals, most of who I knew and a few I had never seen before.

There were about 25 who camped and at least 35 who turned up for the day. Everyone attended a briefing from Wayne just before 9am, and then off they went.

My son was the last to arrive on site. We quickly got the detectors out and headed off into the fields. I told him that I had been sick and was feeling a bit iffy again. Within 30 minutes I was doing a impression of the projectile vomiting, that the exorcist film exhibited. I knew by now i was going to be ill for at least the rest of the day. Simon my son was using my Whites Spectrum XLT, and sure enough he soon was on the money. At the top of a ridge he found a small hammered silver coin which was almost blank. Due to me being ill we decided to get closer to the tent in case I started spewing up again. By now i was feeling drained and got into the tent and fell asleep. Simon carried on detecting and found a lovely 1725 silver love token. There had also been found a Gold love token by one of the ladies on the dig, as well as quite a  few other love tokens of various denominations. 

Simon's 1725 silver shilling

Gold love token

This got me thinking of how a gold coin could be used as a love token and either lost or discarded in this field?

There is an old nursery rhyme that mentions such things;

There was a crooked man and he walked a crooked mile,
He found a crooked sixpence upon a crooked stile.
He bought a crooked cat, which caught a crooked mouse.
And they all lived together in a little crooked house.

I think the reference to crooked sixpence is about a discarded love token.

Now this is my take on what would happen back in the day;

A young man would have an eye for a young lady. He would have to impress upon her that he was serious about his feelings. This would be conveyed to her by presenting a coin bent into a‘s’ shape as a token of undying love and dedication. Some say that the man would bend the coin with his bare hands in front of the lady as a show of strength.

There is a train of thought that says love tokens (coins) were rubbed smooth on each side and then engraved with a message of love for the lady to keep and read. I have found many tokens, some smooth and flat, some bent and with all details on them.

Rubbed smooth

Rubbed smooth

 I have yet to find one with a message engraved that I can read. That being said, i have seen ones with engravings, but not very often.

The funny thing is that if the Lady was not impressed, she would discard the token (throw it into a field), only then the young man would know he was not going to get anywhere.

When you think about it, to throw away a silver coin worth about half a weeks wages was a big thing. The young man would be gutted on so many levels, and the young lady would really have to dislike him to throw it.

The poorer classes would sometimes use a copper coin to impress the lady; however I would imagine they were taking a risk that some one would come along and out do them. I have not found many bent copper coins; perhaps the young men knew better and would make sure they at least offered at least a silver sixpence (the crooked sixpence).

The weekend dig as I said earlier produced many tokens, including a gold quarter noble. That would be at least a week’s wages for a well paid man at the time.

I can just imagine the son of one of the local landowners bending his gold token up and presenting it to a beautiful young lady from the next village. Only problem was the lad was a mess, with two of his front teeth missing and a serious case of halitosis. To top it off he had a wart the size of a malteeser on the side of his nose. She held out her hand as he place the love token in it, she was shocked as she knew nothing of his affection. She knew however the only way to rebuff him was to throw the coin over her shoulder and into the field. I bet the lad was rooting through the grass for hours trying to recover it, what he would have given for a Deus I wonder?

I have given my wife a 18th century love token to keep in her purse as a gesture of my love to her (big softy me).

Also there is a belief that some of these tokens were good luck gifts to their lovers, or a lucky charm. I understand that they thought, as long as the token remained in their possession they would never be without money or luck. It is believed that soldiers and sailors often took them (tokens) to war with them. These tokens would be bent in half, not into the 's' shape that the love tokens were bent into. This was so that the recipiant would not spend the money. Below is one such coin that has now been flattened out, note the crease and note the date on it.

1943 sixpence, ww2 in full flow.

How romantic and tragic at the same time were these love tokens? I am trying to compare the giving of a love token with what we do these days to win over a lady. May be when we take a young lady for a meal? Chip shop for first meal is the equivalent of a copper coin token.
Silver sixpence would be a Chinese takeaway.
Silver shilling would be a top notch Indian curry house, with a bottle of Châteaux Bilston.
The gold token would be a meal at the Ritz, followed by copious amounts of Bollinger.

Its not to be said that the Chip shop meal would not do the trick, love after all is blind.

James 1 half groat possibly bent into love token   1604-1619

Love tokens are not worth much to numismatists, however they mean a lot to me and i am sure to others who find them.

The weekender dig will always be remembered by me for the projectile vomiting and the beautiful Gold love token, not an ideal match i know.

God bless.

if you like what i do, throw me a dollar and i will soon have more interesting posts for your enjoyment.

Detecting in Birmingham night soil with the clodhoppers.

Sunday 26th May 2012.



Typical night soil finds.

These items came from a site just outside of Birmingham and adjacent to the canal. The whole place was littered with broken crocks etc. Most of the finds came from the contents of the night soil that was spread over the field back in or around the industrial revolution era. the whole industry of night soil is rather interesting, with many stories, true or false associated with it.
During the early days of the industrial revolution, Birmingham grew fast. Housing was basic and running water was non existent. People would do their business in toilets which were often shared (fode). The result was that vast amounts of sewerage would gather in cuss pits. This would need to be removed to allow the continued use of the toilets. This is where the night soil men came into it. They were only allowed to work during the night, due to the smells generated while they did their business. The night soil men would go to each dwelling with wooden wheelbarrows and firstly remove the ash generated by the solid fuel burners. Each house would have a miskin (pile of general household waste). This would be piled up in the street by the night soil men and formed into a large circle with a depression in the centre. They would then scoop/ladle out the contents of the fode, and barrow it into the depression in the centre of the ash. Then it would be mixed up, like mortar is mixed on building sites. Once the mix was of suitable consistency it would be put on a tipping horse drawn cart and taken to the local night soil wharf. Here it was loaded onto barges; once the barges were full they would make their way out of the city and into the farmlands. Farmers would pay good money for the nightsoil as it vastly improved the yields of their crops. On this site there is a very narrow field, only about 12 meters wide which runs from the canal to a nearby lane. Story has it that a farmer who was desperate to get the nightsoil had to purchase the strip off one of his fellow farmers. He then used the strip to access the canal with his carts, and thus was able to use the night soil on his farm. Another story about nightsoil is that the Tipton slasher, William Perry was a night soil man, well kind of.

The Tipton slasher. picture courtesy of Sandwell museum, unknown artist.

 Story goes that he learned his fighting skills by having many punch ups with barge owners. You see, having to queue for locks was not good for business and a punch up would often decide who went through first. Once he gained his notoriety for fighting he made it to the top of the country’s pugilists. William managed to buy a public house before he lost his title to the legendary Tom Sayers. William Perry then retired to his public house (Champion of England) until he decided to make a comeback. He sold his pub and all his belongings to fund his comeback in 1857, which was a brutal rematch with Tom Sayers. The fight lasted for 2 hrs with Sayers eventually coming out as winner….Perry was a broken man. Perry returned to working the canal boats, and died of a lung disease in 1880. Its fanciful to think some of my finds could have been transported by the Tipton slasher himself to the field where I found them. It may be a little to far from Tipton…….or maybe not.

Tiny teapot lid found on surface of field.

Any thoughts on what this is?

Buttons, may be they fell into the bog ole when taking a dump.

Ship halfpenny 1942, probably lost at harvest time.

Traders token, many were found.

Club digs are all about socialising with people who are turned on by the same things as yourself, namely history. 
Everyone gathers in the morning, talking of their recent finds and often displaying them. New detectors are displayed and explained to enthusiastic onlookers. The aroma of thermos coffee fills the air, while members dress themselves in their detecting garb. A nervous voice raises above all others and beckons the members around for the briefing before the big off. 
And there you go 40+ detectorists heading into the distance, at times it brings to mind something from the walking dead. i am sure if it were a misty day and some one happened upon a dig just after the off, they would sh!t themselves thinking a colony of zombies were coming for them.

Thanks for reading and God bless.

Hypothyroidism and me!

My thyroid problem discovered.

Well slowly over the last 6 months my health has deteriorated. i have been back and forth to my doctors, which triggered them into sending me for all sorts of procedures. Most of the procedures were not related to my Hypothyroidism, nor did they identify it as my problem.
My main symptom was a sore throat, and a fullness in the throat. I felt the doctors were not taking me seriously, but at the same time i felt like i was being a nuisance!
Finally i was feeling ill enough to go back to the doctor and ask again for his help. The consultation was not going well, with the doctor rolling out the "you need to lose weight" rhetoric. I finally said that i wanted to have a blood test and asked if they could check my thyroid function?  the doctor agreed to this as well as sending me for another consultation with the Gastro consultant.
I turned up for my blood test early the next morning and read the card which said i should have fasted for 12 hrs! This had not been relayed to me by my doctor. I had to ask the nurse if i could return the following day when i had fasted, and this i did.
After 5 days i called my doctors who said my results were in and i could come in to see the doctor. My doctor went through my results and confirmed that i was suffering from Hyperthyroidism. He prescribed me some tablets and sent me on my way.
On getting home i decided to have a look at what the symptoms of Hypothyroidism were.
it turns out all of the following afflicted me.

Dry skin.
Sore throat.
Sore below the ears.
Swollen tongue.
Tiredness.
Mood swings.
Feeling cold.
Hot flushes.
Gaining weight.
Mind racing.

I have only taken my first tablet this morning and can not expect to see any improvements for a while.

If you are suffering the same symptoms, insist on a blood test which checks for your thyroid function.

god bless.

I guess when the weather is too bad for one to venture out into the suburbs, you have to become a little inventive in the home.
in a recent issue of a popular photography magazine my eye was caught by some interesting items. One of which was a shot taken on a office desktop using limited resources. that put me to work in my kitchen, using a beaded pillow which i thought might be of interest. I also had a small led light which produced a very white light.
The camera was my D7000, which i had set upon a tripod, as i was going to be using a long exposure.

uninteresting after my experiment.

Got the shadows to cast, but nothing of interest.

I have experimented with other materials as well. My first attempt was using silver foil as a base to illuminate a drinks glass and ice. Again it was not impressive, but i guess that if you don't try it you will never know.

Just did not work as i thought it might.

I finally got out with the camera 1 day in the week. I tried to capture an image of a moody youth wearing red which contrasted with the surroundings. i was not unhappy with this effort, but with the youth being moody, i could only get 5 minutes of cooperation.

Moody youth.

This weekend i will be out with my detector and hopefully taking a few pictures of finds.

Happy days.

Walsall wood camera club, on the move.

Shortly after joining Walsall wood camera club i discovered that they were going to move their home.
The new home of the camera club will be at the Anex (the old boys school) at the top of Brownhills.

Having been a witness to the parking problems that they had at the church hall in Walsall wood, i fully understand their reasons. There is potential for the club to grow, but not where they were located.

The Anex will provide ample parking and a room easily large enough to accommodate and increase in membership.
You can find a link to the club here. Contact details and meeting times are all available for anyone interested in joining.

It is a friendly and welcoming club, so if you have a passion for photography, get yourself along to a meeting.

Happy days.

Fisher F75 special edition in action.

Its been over a year since i purchased my F75 special addition. At the forefront of metal detector technology i was told. Well i have to say it has been a disappointment to say the least. Before the F75 i had a Whites spectrum XLT, which i really enjoyed using over the 14 years i had it.
Today i traveled to some fields which have been done over and over again by many enthusiasts. I was not expecting to find another Staffordshire hoard, just a general run out and may be pick up a coin or two.
I was initially trying to arrange for a few of the clodhoppers (a group of detectorists) club members to attend the farm on Sunday 6th. When i asked the farmer he was all for it, but the land was deep with mud. Also the crops are still to be harvested from most of the fields due to the bad weather, where they are Harvested the tractor has created deep sludge.

photo taken with my Blackberry of mud.

wellington got stuck in this lot!

One of my problems with the F75 is that it will not work when near power lines. The first field i went on had a railway track running along it. If i got within 25 meters of the track i got major feedback, rendering the machine useless. Even without power lines, i get lots of chatter through the headphones while searching. I have to turn the sensitivity way down to get the noise down to manageable levels. i don't see the point in having high sensitivity settings that i can't use.

All that being said, i do find plenty of things with the machine, i just don't get on with it. Here are the interesting and slightly interesting things i found while out.

Finds from muddy field.

Bottom center looks li a lions face pendant and is my favorite find of the day.Next to it on the left is what i think is a Roman pin head. the coin is a 1932 half penny. the strange shaped item above and left of the lions face is what looks like an oak leaf.

On the whole not majorly productive, but enjoyable. Now, what to do with the F75?