Getting Hammered

Whilst those readers who have been directed here from a link on one of the metal detecting forums will know what my headline alludes to, I must assure regular blog readers that this is not a reference to my embarrassing performance at last year's summer retirement party. No, it refers to what are known as hammered coins, so called as they were made by hammering a piece of metal (usually silver or gold) between two dies thus stamping them on both sides. They are something of a holy grail amongst detectorists and some even have a pet name for them (hammies) and we proudly proclaim how many we have found alongside our signatures in our forum posts -( or not in my case - until today that is).

It's been a fair few years since I found one of these elusive coins but equipped with my new XP Deus metal detector that has recently turned up twelve Roman coins and two brooches in fields that we had considered worked out, I was hopeful of breaking that duck. With my favourite fields either full of cows or with the grass too long I had to literally seek pastures new today and I headed to North Lancashire to a farm I had not visited before. It's a bit remote but there is a Roman road running through the middle of the fields that I had permission to search and I figured that a couple of Roman navvies might have lost something while they were on their break or maybe something had fallen from a chariot or cart into the fields.

Sadly there was no trace of the Romans and almost all I had to show for my labour was this motley collection of buttons, buckles, shotgun cartridge cases, horseshoes and a few old copper coins that were worn beyond recognition but probably Victorian. Apart from the coins and buckles the signals were not ones that I would normally dig but, as they were few and far between I dug whenever the machine beeped unless iron was an absolute certainty. But all was not lost. Halfway through the day, just as I was anticipating my ham buttty and a packet of crisps, the machine gave a delightful high pitched signal that was definitely not a cartridge case. I dug down to hit a huge rock. The pinpointing probe indicated that the item was beneath the rock which was good news and suggested something pretty old. After widening the hole sufficiently to be able to prize the mini boulder out and dig another small spade full of soil, there was the unmistakeable glint of silver. I saw the coat of arms and knew immediately that it was a hammered coin - at last.

It's a shilling from the reign of Charles I as far as I can tell. It would have been in great condition if somebody hadn't clipped it around the edges and a bit of a loss for the finder having the spending power of about a fiver today according to the National Archives currency convertor. It's not worth much in this condition but a nice addition to my display. I set out with the aim of just one displayable item per trip so it was a case of mission accomplished.

So I've found a hammered coin for the first time since retiring and I hope that it's a foretaste of things to come. I need to decide where to go next week now. There's half a mile of fields available on this farm but it wasn't a huge return from the day, although in beautiful weather and with superb views I think I may be tempted to give the fields another go.

Bad news for this lamb that I came across today. It hadn't been dead long and hadn't been killed by a fox or other animal as it's body was untouched. As it was at the foot of a telegraph pole I wonder if it was struck by lightning. There were some almighty downpours in the area over the weekend but I don't know if there was any thunder. 

Orange Wednesday tomorrow and, yet again, our film of choice is not showing at the local multiplex so, in order to see Senna, it's another visit to FACT in Liverpool . Not that I mind. I enjoy going to FACT it's a great little indie cinema, comfortable, friendly and with a decent cafe and bar.


Here's a taster. Wonder if Lewis Hamilton was watching this before his performance at the weekend.

Playing Catch Up

Far be it for me to complain about the luxury of being able to take a three week holiday but one thing that has been difficult has been catching up with everything that's on the Sky hard drive. Before we left we set series links on all sorts, The Good Wife,  The Shadow Line, Modern Family, Spiral and a lot more and now we have to decide wether to watch or to delete.

I'm certainly glad that we didn't delete The Shadow Line. We've almost caught up now and I have to say that this is a TV cop show that's a cut above the rest with beautiful cinematic direction an excellent soundtrack and an abundance of outstanding performances from a first class cast. The "baddies" played by Stephen Rea, Rafe Spall and Anthony Sher are as sinister bunch as you would ever imagine and terrify me even in the safety of my armchair. It's rare to find TV drama that is the equal of a cinema visit but this one must be in line for a bagful of awards.

 
We've also been catching up on The Hotel, the fly on the wall documentary about The Damson Dene Hotel in Cumbria. I had to watch this as my dad and I stayed there forty years ago and had a few days fishing in the Lakes. For the eighteen year old me it was the height of luxury although luxury would not be the word of choice for most reviewers today. The documentary has certainly been entertaining and we have grown to love the cast of eccentric characters from the hard working Welsh general manager and the moustachioed chef to the united nations of Eastern European staff. The show comes up with some classics. For me the highlight was the customer who complained to the receptionist that the toilet seat was "literally the most worrying thing I've ever seen". Now I don't know about you but if I had got to my mid fifties and the most worrying thing I'd ever seen was a wooden toilet seat with a couple of rough splinters then I'd think I'd had a pretty cushy life. Another wonderful sequence showed a shrewish woman who had brought her daughter on a last minute break (£50 for one night dinner bed and breakfast  - for 2!) complaining about anything and everything. For fifty quid you'd be lucky to get a three course meal for two never mind a room and use of the spa as well.

I don't know wether to love or hate the iPhone weather app. Without it we would have gone to Gresgarth Hall today and seen the wonderful gardens which open to the public just once a month. But we would have got soaked as the app seems to be uncannily accurate most of the time and it seems that it's p*****g down today at Gresgarth as predicted. Great pity as we can't go in July and may not be able get there in August either. The app is certainly a great aide to planning but does it spoil life's unpredictability?

Two weeks on from the cycling holiday we're missing the bikes. There aren't too many interesting cycle routes around here but there is a BMX park. Perhaps we should try this.

Desert Island Disappointment

We were up and dressed bright and early this morning to make sure that breakfast was over with and cleared away before the much anticipated special edition of Desert Island Discs featuring the listeners' choices came on. We had both been to the website and input eight pieces of music that were close to us and to our lives and many thousands of others had done the same. Indeed Kirsty opened the show by informing us that over 250,000 tracks had been listed.

I wasn't expecting any of my selection including The Pogues,UB40, Bob Marley, Annie Lennox, Steve Harley, Pulp and Run DMC to feature in the top ten although I did think that some of Marion's more melodious suggestions like James Taylor might sneak in. But what we got was a list of eight mainly classical pieces which, though beautiful, could hardly be representative of the general public or even the typical Radio 4 listener. I couldn't help thinking as the show progressed that the public vote had been heavily advertised on Radio 3 or Classic FM as we went through Holst, Beethoven and Elgar with the only nod to "pop" being "Bohemian Rhapsody"(produced over thirty six years ago)and Pink Floyd's "Comfortably Numb"(a newcomer at 32 years old). This implies that over the past thirty two years at least there has been no music of the moment that has captured the imaginations and stayed in the minds of the great British public.

Being avid Radio 4 listeners who tune in to DID every week we felt that the public vote did not reflect the typical castaway interviewed by Kirsty. OK there are some people in the operatic and classical worlds who choose eight pieces of Beethoven and his ilk but generally speaking the mix is far more eclectic and interesting. In fact the most interesting thing about this week's show was the list from a member of the public who recalled the influx of West Indians into the East End of London and chose some of the Ska music that she had heard at their parties plus other pop pieces that had accompanied her life.

I had to smile at the publics' choice of Handel's Messiah as this had been on my list of potentials not only as it had been popular with my mum and dad when I was a kid but because I can still see my son Paul skipping into the room in his little green dressing gown and singing at the top of his voice "Come For Tea" (Comfort Ye) - (and that was when he was twenty one) - just kidding son. So all in all a bit of a let down from Radio 4 listeners who appear to be a lot less interesting than I had hoped.

There's very little that Marion and I don't see eye to eye on but I do tend to upset her when we go shopping. I tend to chuck everything in the trolley whilst she is very methodical and we arrive at the till with everything neatly segregated into logical places for ease of packing. So I felt a bit like a naughty schoolchild yesterday as I went alone to Tesco and was able to indulge myself and bung it all in willy nilly. And we didn't suffer so much as a squashed loaf - well we did but I managed to squeeze it back into shape.


I'll finish today with proof that the Great British Public was wrong.

Chalk And Cheese

Our two visits to the cinema this week were to see films that were as different as chalk and cheese. Johnny Depp's pirate blockbuster was all special effects and corny jokes whereas "Win Win" was a beautifully observed family drama. The latest of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise had a entertaining story to tell and Depp did his usual comic turn as Jack Sparrow but I felt that the film suffered from being over long and too dark (in terms of screen brightness). I know that this is a criticism often levelled at 3D films but so many sequences took place either at night or in gloomy places that I was yearning a dash of colour which only really surfaced at the very end of the film.


The swashbuckler is a bit of fun but there was really no need for 2 hours 16 minutes of it and Tom McCarthy admirably demonstrated how to direct more sparingly in "Win Win" which, at 1 hour 46 minutes, flies by. This is a tale of human nature starring Paul Giamatti as an unsuccessful lawyer who lets his financial worries cloud his judgement and get the better of his morals. I won't spoil the story for you by going into detail but the love of his life (apart from his happy family) is wrestling. He coaches the local high school team and when Kyle ,a hugely talented kid with a difficult past, turns up in town, things look up for the team. Giamatti is perfect in the role as too is newcomer Alex Shaffer as Kyle and with the strong supporting cast of Amy Ryan, Bobby Cannavale, Jeffrey Tambor and Burt Young, McCarthy has put together a wonderful group of actors who make this a poignant, funny and highly enjoyable movie which is well worth making a journey to see as, yet again, it's not very likely to hit any but the biggest of the multiplexes.

Another reader responded to my call for those old black and white photo booth snaps that were so popular with young couples in the sixties and seventies. Here is young Peter Eglin together with his sweetheart Christine in 1970. Like me, they used to work in the catering equipment industry. The couple married but tragically Christine died far too young leaving Peter unable to send me an updated snap of them together today. It's stories like Peter's  that make me appreciate how lucky we are to be sharing our retirement and it's a spur to make sure that we make the very most of every day.

Whilst on our way to FACT in Liverpool yesterday we walked past The Playhouse which reminded us about the production of The Ladykillers that is being staged there in November. I am a big fan of Graham Linehan who is adapting the classic Ealing comedy and it should be great fun. So we popped in and bought a couple of tickets. Tickets only went on sale on Monday and the box office staff told us that it is their fastest selling production ever. We managed to get some decent seats but it's highly likely that the sold out signs will be going up on this one in the very near future.

Advertising a stage production of a completely different nature we came across this enormous statue in Liverpool One yesterday. We were arguing about who it was supposed to be from seeing it in the distance up to the point of reaching it when it became obvious (as there was a sign advertising the Queen musical We Will Rock You). Without that hint we would never have guessed it was Freddie Mercury  as, apart from the stance, the statue looks nothing like him or is it a statue of the actor who plays him perhaps?


With films at the top of today's blog, I'll leave you with a funny and well made little movie about temptation.

3D or Not 3D That Is The Question

It's Orange Wednesday and a chance for us to get back into the swing of our regular film going after four weeks absence from the silver screen. There's not a great deal that appeals at the local Vue but we decided to go and see "Pirates of the Caribbean 4" as we had read that, although the film was not up to much, the 3D was good. So I duly booked for the 6.20 p.m showing and we turned up on time. As I handed in the tickets I waited for the 3D glasses only to be told that I had booked a 2D performance (I was unaware that it was showing in anything other than 3D). Fortunately, possibly down to our being regulars, the manager agreed to a swap for the 8.30 3D showing so there's time for a quick blog and then back to Vue. 

We would have gone to the cinema in Ile De Re but sadly it had closed recently so we were unable to experience the no doubt fascinating delights that this picture house had to offer.

It's been a busy day with us both spending an hour at the gym this morning and then taking Marion's mum Flo to the local National Trust property Rufford Old Hall along with friends Enid and Joyce before heading to the cinema (and back). The property is an interesting old place with a fabulous timber framed great hall and a very rare carved screen as shown below. Flo didn't seem particularly impressed but we all enjoyed a high tea at the cafe. This was a quite significant spread and we fortunately ordered four between five of us and still had to ask for a couple of doggie bags for Flo, Enid and Joyce who should tonight be enjoying a scone, a cheese sandwich and cupcake with their cup of tea. 

Part of the ancient carved screen at Rufford Old Hall

As we're not expecting a great deal from the Johnny Depp extravaganza tonight we've also booked to see "Win Win" at FACT in Liverpool tomorrow. I don't know a great deal about this film other than it was a success at Sundance in 2011 and we have enjoyed most of the hits from that festival that we have seen. It was also directed by Thomas McCarthy who made the brilliant "The Station Agent" which is in itself sufficient incentive to see it. Apart from that I am also pretty sure that it won't turn up at Vue in Southport so a trip to Liverpool One and a bit of shopping before the 6.15 screening should make for a pleasant day.

We've not a lot on then until Sunday when we are off to the fabulous Gresgarth Hall Gardens near Caton on the edge of the Trough of Bowland which open to the public on a few Sundays throughout the year. This is a gardener's paradise - a quite stunning setting. Let's hope that the weather doesn't ruin it as the forecast is not looking too good.


I'll let you know how we found "Pirates" and "Win Win" on the next blog.

What A Difference A Deus Makes

With Marion away at Center Parcs for the weekend celebrating the forthcoming wedding of friends' daughter Kate, I decided to go off on my own and do some metal detecting. I contacted a number of hotels, pubs and guest houses within about 20 miles of Ingleton and the most pleasant response was from John & Julia Yeadon of Scar Close farm in the tiny hamlet of Feizor between Ingleton and Settle. I haven't stayed in a B&B before and didn't know what to expect but the accommodation was spotless throughout, the room was well equipped with en suite facilities, the breakfast was fabulous and the host and hostess were extremely friendly and helpful and made me a great packed lunch. It's an ideal spot for walkers and I'm pleased to recommend it.   

The weather on Friday was incredible with temperatures running in the mid twenties and I decided to visit a couple of new farms and ask for permission to search. My brother phoned and said he would come up on Saturday for a few hours so, having been given permission by a couple of farmers, I decided to leave them for the next day and head for a field where I had once found an ancient buckle and try the XP Deus detector there for the first time. Although I picked up a few decent signals I was digging down to enormous stones and couldn't get to the objects and, after an hour in the baking sun and exhausted from the digging, I sat down for lunch. Lunch over and with a few hours to spare before I needed to get to the B&B I thought I would go back to the site that we have been to on and off for twenty years. My brother won't go there any more as he no longer gets any signals but on my first day with the Deus I had found a Romano British brooch and three Roman coins.

Within half an hour of getting there I found this super brooch. When I dug the signal and saw a green disc I thought it was just an old halfpenny but when I spotted the pin I was delighted. It may not look much to you but it's getting on for two thousand years old. Disc brooches are not rare (there are over 1,000 on The Portable Antiquities Scheme Website ) but there are only 38 recorded from North Yorkshire (two of them mine) so it's not a common find for the area. It's the best Roman period brooch I have found having a complete pin and a pattern still intact. I would have been happy if that was the total for the weekend but in the two hours I went on to find two further Roman coins and a thin copper disc that is probably an old jetton or token.

In the evening I went to the Game Cock Inn at Austwick for dinner. It's a very welcoming old pub. I'm not a moaner and perhaps I was spoiled by our recent holiday in France but the food was very disappointing with over cooked mussels to start with and a lamb shank in a watery gravy as  a main course. The people on the next table were moaning amongst themselves about the food but when the waiter asked if everything was OK they said it was excellent! Oh well I had come for a detecting break not a gastronomic experience.

This was the view from my bedroom window on Saturday morning. So like any detectorist I obviously had to go and ask the farmer if I could have a look around. He was very friendly and after breakfast I was on the fields. My brother drove up and joined me but after an hour or so on the fields we had only found a couple of buttons and a corroded cartwheel penny so we headed off to one of the new fields I had been given permission on. We gave it an hour or so but the grass was long and we were only finding junk so Pete decided to call it a day and I was stuck for somewhere to go. So, you've guessed it, it was back to the brooch field. Now this field is not that big and has been flogged to death by me and Peter for years now but again the Deus came good and I found another five Roman coins. And a lot of .22 cartridge cases. Now you can identify these cases by a number on the detector screen but on this field i tend to dig anything.

I took the farmer who farms that field along with his brother for dinner at the pub on Saturday night. The meal was better than on Friday but I deliberately chose simple stuff (pate and steak). I enjoyed learning about the farmer's large family. I was quite jealous as they all live within a few miles whilst our kids are both over two hundred miles away. It seems that son Steve is an ace marksman with the .22 and shoots rabbits by the score (thanks Steve). It would be great to find something of value to be able to reward the family for allowing us onto their fields for so long but our finds have only been of historic worth so far.

I was picking Marion up on Sunday afternoon so I didn't want to spend hours looking for a new site so I went and tried the field adjoining the one that had produced the Roman finds. I've not found a great deal in this field and was not too hopeful especially as there was a herd of cows in it. The weather changed for the worse which was good for me as the cows sheltered at the opposite end of the field. After digging just one signal I was covered in mud. But that signal was another Roman coin - only the second I've found on that field. An hour later I had another Roman coin, a couple of buttons, a musket ball and two bronze rings that where probably once buckles or fasteners. It doesn't sound a lot but for a field that was barren it just demonstrates what a good machine my new detector is. I was about to pack in when I caught movement from the corner of my eye. I turned to see a cow charging towards me. She was soon followed by the whole herd. I've read about those recent tragic cases of walkers being trampled and luckily for me I was right by the gate. I was through it within seconds of the first four arriving.  I decided to call it a day and went back to the car to eat the guest house lunch. 

I enjoyed the weekend. It wasn't great being away from Marion but it was good to learn how to use the new detector and I'm sure I got better as the days went on. Here are some photos of the finds. I will be asking the detecting forums for help with the id 

The nine ancient coins found over the weekend plus 5p for scale

                                       

The best coin. Can't tell if this is bronze of base silver

Another possibly silver coin

This one's definitely a bronze

This one's a bit of a mystery

North Yorkshire's now got less rubbish

Buttons and other bits from the weekend

Oh and finally, if you are Welsh Pigeon fancier and owner of bird with ring number WHU 2008 K03652, I am afraid he's not coming back.

Recline And Fail

We spent an hour yesterday in the local furniture store looking at reclining chairs. Don't get the wrong idea we're not that old yet that we've got to the stage where we look at stuff like this and say "hmm Nice" but Marion's Mum Flo at almost 86 is. If any budding sitcom writers had been present we would have provided them with enough material for a whole episode.

We started with manual recliners. But bloody hell I don't know who they are designed for. You'd need to be Arnold Schwarzenegger to operate one of these and a frail eighty something stood no chance. So Flodilocks declared it unsuitable and we moved on to the electric section. These have between two and four buttons. Now you may think that four buttons is not so much to deal with but I can assure you that the look on Flo's face  suggested that we had given her a Rubik cube and asked for the solution.


"Now what does this one do"


"It brings out the footrest"


"And this one?"


"It reclines the seat backwards"


"And this one?"


"It helps you to stand up"


"And this one?"


"It puts it all back to normal."


"So what does this one do?"


"It brings out the footrest"


Repeat for ten minutes and you'll get the idea. Only visualise at the same time an elderly woman moving backwards and forwards on the chair throughout whilst making sounds of amazement.


"Ooh. They never had this in our day" as the chair rose to a level that almost ejected her from it.


"Ooh." again as it brought her to an almost prone position. And with each press, the incredulity continued with me desperately wishing that I had filmed the episode and ensured myself almost certain YouTube immortality.


Marion and I (and the extremely kind and patient saleswoman) persuaded Flodilocks that this chair too was not right. So we moved to a two button version. After fifteen minutes training she had mastered (well almost) the art of reclining. She declared that this chair was "just right" and a sale was made. Now we're looking forward to delivery in ten days time when I'm quite sure that there will be a phone call.


"John. What does this button do?"

A reader commented on the photo at the top of the blog and sent along his own from the same era. There must be hundreds of these little photo booth snaps (young couples were easily entertained in those days) and it would be good to create an archive somewhere. Stuart and his wife (he didn't give me her name) will have been married 38 years in October. I'll ask him for an up to date one to put alongside it and maybe we could get the ball rolling with a website or something.

I see that there's a movement afoot promoting the decriminalisation of drugs. I've been arguing for this for years. I've never tried drugs apart from alcohol but, whilst I appreciate that it must be distressing for parents to see their children fall into addiction or even die from their habit, making drugs freely available will save the police and the customs and excise untold millions of wasted man hours. Bringing the price down will leave criminals looking for other sources of income and the savings on police and customs could be better used in hospitals and other social resources. If you saw the Channel 4 documentary on A&E last night you can see the cost that alcohol puts on the NHS and that's legal. I can't see that legalisation of drugs will vastly increase the strain. Buying over the counter will also ensure that drugs are purer and less likely to be adulterated.


I've given up my season ticket at Anfield after all these years. But I still have a passing interest in football and couldn't resist putting this on the blog. Even Flo could have scored.