A Thirty Year Old Toy And Some Eight Hundred Year Old Finds

We've had a busy but enjoyable five days in Framlingham. We got back late on Tuesday night and have packed loads into the time we've been home and are now getting ready to head back to Rochester for another few days of babysitting.

We've done a couple of spinning classes and a circuit training class at the college. We've been in the monthly quiz at The Railway too ; we won last month but this time we were half way down the rankings despite a very good score. I've also been writing letters to the district councillors about the reckless overdevelopment that's being planned for the town - that makes me sound like a NIMBY but I'm all for development if done sensibly and for the benefit of the residents and not just the developers. There are scores of arguments against the plans. Here's just one.

This was the scene in the Co-Op car park on Saturday morning with cars driving round and round before exiting without finding a space. Does this show that the town can cope with a 30% increase in residents (and their cars)?

Halloween was a non-event in our road. We stocked up with sweets but the bell didn't ring.

Meanwhile in Rochester, our two year old granddaughter was terrorising her neighbourhood as a bright red and very ferocious crocodile.

After another excellent Saturday cooked breakfast and a stab at the Times2 crossword at The Lemon Tree (finished all bar two this week), it was time for a look around the market and to pick up some food from Hall Farm Butchers and Leo's Deli. 

In the afternoon Marion carried on with her master plan for the garden and planted a superb specimen Mexican Orange Blossom from nearby Crown Nurseries of Ufford. Our neighbour David came and put up some wire trellis for me while I acted as his assistant. Thanks David! I'm a bit useless at DIY and don't possess much more than a screwdriver and hammer by way of tools and, having bought this custom made wirework to support a new rose, Marion didn't want it wrecked by my handiwork.

With the days getting shorter I didn't think I would have time to get out with the detector but David was so quick that I managed to walk down the road and have a quick try. It was a successful ninety five minutes and these were the better finds that I made. Apart from the small medieval buckle and the small pistol balls, there were two medieval to post medieval lace tags, a cut medieval silver halfpenny, a medieval harness pendant and a possible medieval to post medieval hawking bell. The "bell" might be simply a button with holes in it but the local FLO (finds liaison officer) will be able to tell me.

This harness pendant would once have been decorated with a coat of arms and been part of the decoration on a knight's horse.

This cut silver halfpenny dates from around the same period (13th century).

 One of the lace tags.

Our daughter Sarah phoned yesterday to ask if we could get to her old Sindy house easily. She got it as a present from her nana and granddad when she was three and was thinking of handing it down to her own daughters. Fortunately we spent four hours on Thursday afternoon tidying the garage so finding it wasn't too hard.

We fished it out of the garage and put it back together. It's in pretty good condition for thirty plus years old.

Here's Sarah with it on the day that she got it all those years ago.

Grandparenting In Rochester

We've spent another busy week in Rochester helping out with our granddaughter during a temporary childcare crisis. It wasn't as tiring this week as we stayed in Kent and the driving was limited to one early start on Monday (although torrential rain at around 6.15 a.m reducing visibility to next to nothing and flooding the A12 made it a pretty hair raising journey). We enjoyed looking after our special little two-year-old and we're off there again tomorrow for a couple of days. The town is going to be very much in the news for the next few weeks in the run up to the by-election and it becomes overrun by politicians. We've seen a number of TV News crews and photographers there but haven't spotted any big names as yet. 

I'm becoming quite an expert in toddler activities. We visited Little Stars playgroup, Toddler Boogie at Rochester Library, Toddler Shake And Boogie at Chatham Library and another playgroup run by King's School in Rochester. Men are conspicuous by their absence at all of these events and there has only been the odd dad amongst the mums and grans and no other granddads. It's a pity in these days of gender equality that more males don't participate. I'm sure that Paul, who often takes Catherine to these kids' clubs, would welcome a couple of blokes to talk to.

It must be confusing for the children attending these activities as each group has its own version of songs like The Wheels On The Bus and Row, Row Row Your Boat. I'm getting the hang of it (even the politically incorrect version with Mummies on the bus going "Chatter Chatter Chatter")

We got back to Framlingham in time to take an elderly woman on her regular Friday afternoon shopping trip as part of our participation in the Framlingham Hour Community. It's a great scheme as there are plenty of people living on their own (or with disabled partners) here and simple things like shopping can present them with tremendous worries. 

Yesterday we had a day to ourselves and enjoyed breakfast and the The Times Jumbo2 crossword at the Lemon Tree (didn't finish it this week as we didn't know a Belgian composer) before Marion went to the hairdressers and I had a couple of hours out with the detector.

I tipped this lot out of the bag when I got home - that's two trips worth as I didn't have time after the last trip. And no, the detector doesn't pick up golf balls, it was just lying on the surface of the field. Here are some of the better finds from the two trips.

A Medieval Silver Penny Heavily Clipped

A Medieval Silver Farthing - Damaged

Another Medieval Penny

A Charles I Rose Farthing

Unidentified Probably A 17th Century Trade Token

There were not very many artefacts but I have found seven early hammered coins in four short visits to this very small field so I look forward to trying it out again when the crop which covers ninety per cent of it is harvested (I have been searching a set-aside strip).

I am pleased that the novel is still selling and I now have ten reviews in total on Amazon and Amazon.com. I spent over £118 posting twenty free copies to the winners of my Goodreads giveaway last week but have not heard from any of the recipients as yet and hope that the copies arrived safely. It would be great if all twenty read the book and leave constructive feedback. If I hear nothing it will be a disappointment. 

A Real Treasure From Framlingham

As a keen metal detectorist sharing a birthday with MacKenzie Crook and living in Framlingham (where it was filmed) , I feel well qualified to comment on BBC4's latest sitcom The Detectorists which aired on Thursday night.

Starring Mackenzie alongside Toby Jones (whose performance in Marvellous last week was indeed marvellous) as a pair of hobbyists in search of their own Holy Grail ( a Saxon ship burial) it was a gentle and hugely enjoyable first episode. Did I object to its portrayal as the detecting fraternity as a slightly odd bunch of obsessives? Not at all.To be honest most of us who indulge in the hobby are fairly obsessive about it (it gets you that way) and, whilst I am sure that some will protest at taking the mickey out of detecting clubs whose members moan about others intruding on THEIR sites (ahem the farmers' sites) and listen to boring talks on buttons, most will be thick skinned enough to take it with a pinch of salt and, hopefully take a moment to reflect on the smidgeon of truth in that depiction. 

MacKenzie had certainly done his research on detecting and the hauls of ring pulls and shotgun cartridges will have been immediately recognisable to anyone who has spent a day on an unproductive site. A scene where both characters pored over a Google Earth map on a laptop and Lance found an iron age settlement which turned out to be the Google Watermark certainly struck a chord with me.Less recognisable was the arrival on the field of a beautiful young female student asking to look in their finds bags which, I imagine, will now be the new Holy Grail for detectorists.

I loved MacKenzie's character Andy's cleaning the floor in his job as a cleaner all the while daydreaming of his hobby and sweeping across the flooring with his vacuum as he would a detector and picking up a stray button. 

The Show Features On The Cover Of The Latest The Searcher

I was slightly disappointed at Toby's character Lance being shown as money driven (he even sells the ring pulls he finds on eBay) and a pilferer ( he pinches veg from the farm where he works). I am biased on this as I and many detector owners have never sold a thing we have found and, far more importantly, Marion and I once suffered a major five figure loss from a staff member stealing from us. A few carrots and a cabbage may look like a bit of a perk but multiply that out over a year and twenty staff and it's not a laughing matter (only one staff member was involved in our case I hasten to add).

Shooting Here In Framlingham Earlier This Year

That very minor grumble apart, it was great fun spotting the Framlingham locations and I noticed Lance's home in Double St, Maggie's Shop (the lovely Panorama), Fram Bookshop (which still has a few signed copies of my novel), The Castle Inn and St Michael's rooms. I am sure that others will have seen more.

The comedy involved far more than detecting and there were a number of romantic threads running through the episode. Will Andy's head be turned by the beautiful student despite his fabulous long term partner (who appears to be out of his league) and will Lance ever give up on trying to win back his ex (Maggie) who runs the shop and ran off with a pizza shop manager? I am sure that all will be revealed as the series unfolds and I guess that what they eventually find may well be an influence on those relationships

This first episode had 655,000 viewers which was a 3.9% share of the total audience (in these days of multi channels that's a very hefty slice and 146.8% up on the average for that BBC4 slot). So it looks like MacKenzie Crook has already found treasure here in Framlingham.

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Give Me Your Tomorrow

by John Brassey

Giveaway ends October 10, 2014.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

Fame At Last

There’s been a flurry of interest in my book over the last few days thanks to some free publicity from fellow tweeters and bloggers. So I must thank Scott Pack (@meandmybigmouth), Red Button Publishing and Caroline Goldsmith (@goldcaro) who tweeted mentions to their thousands of followers.

I must also thank fellow writer, blogger and metal detecting enthusiast John Winter who is Assistant Editor of The Searcher magazine (there’s a link to John’s blog over on the right). John kindly featured me in one of his occasional blogs about detector enthusiasts resulting in a spike in visits to this blog and some extra book sales. It also resulted in my being mentioned on the celebrated anti-detecting and antiquities collecting blog by archaeologist Paul Barford click here who used John’s blog highlighting a detector user in a positive light to provide a list of links to sites which mostly do the opposite – as they say, there’s no such think as bad publicity. I hope that Mr Barford’s blog also results in more hits and book sales for me.

Meanwhile we’re enjoying our usual hectic retirement schedule. On Friday evening we visited The Lemon Tree in Framlingham for a very good Jazz night with a performance by Frank Noble and his trio. We've seen Frank perform at The Lemon Tree several times and have enjoyed his performances immensely. A good value tapas menu and some fine local wines accompanied the music.

On Saturday we had a visit from our Goddaughter Kate and her husband Adam together with baby Amelia. It was good to see them all and to meet little Amelia for the first time.

It was an early start on Sunday as we headed up to Scotland. We made a diversion to Ribchester to see our friends Mark and Nita who provided a fabulous lunch before we got back on the road to St Andrews.

Now we are here in the caravan and trying to see as much of the grandchildren as we can. Rose has started nursery and is growing up so quickly. 

As always, blogging opportunities are limited while we are here as our WIFI providers Caravan Connect would be more appropriately named Caravan Connect If You’re Lucky And Nobody Else Is Around. And, as that is the case right, now I had better press publish quickly.

Keeping The Retirement Active

I saw a sticker on a car parked near ours the other day. "On An Adventure Before Dementia" it proclaimed. I didn't know whether to approve or disapprove of the mixed messages it conveyed - to live life to the full before the inevitable onset of decay is an admirable aim but to assume that we're all going to end up with dementia is, hopefully, wide of the mark. Our neighbour is almost into his nineties but still as bright as a button (as were those one hundred year olds still driving in a documentary last night) and, although both of us have witnessed dementia in grandparents I'm hoping that it's a problem that doesn't mar our retirement.

At least the sticker didn't announce "Busy Spending Our Kids' Inheritance" - I hate that one - so mean spirited. But we continue to eat drink and be merry as much as possible with a mindful eye on the kids' and grandchildren's futures and fill as many of our waking moments as we possibly can. 

I last blogged about the incredible performance of The Crucible at the Old Vic and was delighted that it was my most read blog since I found some Roman gold jewellery with the detector. It took me to over 100,000 hits. I know that's not many and some bloggers get twice that daily but it was a nice milestone to reach. Anyway, I'll be losing readers if I continue to waffle on like this. 

After that theatre trip and dinner in Soho, we did a bit of shopping for presents on Oxford St before heading back to the Apex London Wall hotel where we had a very comfortable night in a spacious and well appointed room with a wonderful bathroom. Being close to Suffolk's London terminus Liverpool St it was ideally placed for us. Slightly more expensive than the likes of Premier Inn it was worth the few extra pounds to have just a touch of luxury without being ridiculously extravagant - after all we were only in the hotel for a little over twelve hours.

In the morning it was time for some more shopping. I have only worn a suit once since retiring. On that occasion we took some of our family to a meal at a very upmarket London hotel with a fairly strict dress code but when I got dressed to go and put on the suit I found myself swamped. I had forgotten all about the weight loss a few years back and had to dine with the trousers belted up like a sack of potatoes. Fortunately the jacket spared my embarrassment and covered this unseemly spectacle. So when a wedding invitation arrived recently it was the signal for a new outfit. We went to Selfridges and I bought this really lovely suit by Paul Smith. I can get away with the slim fit now but no, I am not going to be wearing it with no socks and half mast trousers.

We've spent this week in Framlingham. Marion's been active with fitness classes and has been to three or four while I've been out twice with the detector again. Here's what I tipped out of the bag when I got home after each visit.

Here's what was left after disposing of the rubbish and scrap lead.

Even though I've searched this field about eight times now there are still plenty of interesting things turning up. Here are close ups of some of them.

A livery button. Haven't been able to identify the family.

Just a piece of lead but obviously one used for something  - will have to ask the archaeologist.

An Edward II Silver Penny 

It was minted in Durham and dates between 1307 and 1327

A crotal bell in perfect condition - it still rings. It's Post Medieval and probably 17th Century

Part of an old cloth bag seal

Another medieval penny - too clipped to identity 

A white metal (probably silver) name tag for E L Baines. Has a Victorian look to it.

Two more Charles I rose farthings.

Another unidentified lead fitting.

Another bag seal - this one has the initials TP and is probably 17th century.

A Suffolk trade weight probably 17th or 18th century

An apothecary weight with the symbol for one ounce (I think). This could date from the early 17th to the early 19th century.

A strap fitting - possibly medieval

A trader's token. This one is dated 1667 and was issued by William Smith of Yoxford. Sadly it's in terrible condition.

Terrible condition again but this is another local trader's token from the 17th century. This one is a farthing issued by Thomas Knights of Saxmundham. 

This lead scrap has the look of a fragment of a pilgrim's badge.

A door bolt slider - date uncertain.

Some people refer to the hobby as "Treasure Hunting". As you can see, there's certainly no treasure here but there's certainly an insight into what local people mislaid and, with the agreement of the landowner, I'm planning to make a display of everything from this particular field which will be available to anyone interested in local history and could even be loaned to the museum if they are interested. 

Visiting The FLO In Bury St Edmunds

I went to see Andrew, the local FLO (finds liaison officer) at the archaeology office in Bury St Edmunds yesterday. I took him all the recent finds that I've been blogging about for recording on the Portable Antiquities Scheme database. I used to record my own finds in Lancashire but the Suffolk unit insists on doing it for us which, though understandable (we aren't as knowledgeable and can make mistakes), does involve a couple of hours drive and a wait of six months before getting the finds back which must discourage some detector users from bothering to record.

Being retired, the trip to Bury is not too onerous and Andrew confirmed my identification of around sixty items and took them for recording. There were three bits that I hadn't been sure of and he identified these for me. 

This is medieval and probably a casket fitting

I suggested a medieval vessel handle - it's a medieval vessel leg

I wondered if this could be a Roman coin but it's a post medieval medallion

So, with only three uncertain identifications out of sixty plus items I could have saved the FLO a lot of work.

To make sure that it wasn't a wasted journey to Bury, Marion joined me and we had a good couple of hours looking around the town. We've been before but not for long - it really is a great place to visit with amazing Cathedral and Abbey grounds, plenty of shops and a great selection of places to eat and drink.

We had a coffee and sandwich at an old fashioned cafe with this view of the ancient church buildings and, after a good look around the old and new shopping areas, we went for a refreshing cold drink at the beautiful Angel Hotel.

We'll have to go for another visit when I've had a few more trips out with the detector.