09.09.2007

Another visit to our favourite well hammered site today. As I mentioned previously it is difficult to find some undug here, but if you're lucky there is plenty to be found, mainly around the edge of the tip. One advantage of this is that it is pretty easy digging, with quite a shallow depth, but most days will produce a full bag of mainly local bottles, which are always welcome.

We tried another part of the field today, digging separately, but with very different results. The spot Stephen decided on produced virtually nothing, not even bits, while my hole was producing more glass than ash, although most of it was broken or tat. After an hour or so we both decided to move to another spot to see if we could hit some undug.

Some of the bits that came out of the first hole:

Not far away was a gate leading into the neighbouring field, so we decided there was a chance that previous diggers had not bothered with it because of the farm machinery going back and forth along the track. It was soon obvious that it was definitely undug, but strangely enough it was very sparse, which is unusual for this site. We had just started our second session when the unmistakable sound of a Quad could be heard approaching, and the next thing we knew it had pulled up in the next field and the farmer calling out to us. It seemed that the digging was over for the day, until he asked us if we had found anything!!!!! We went over and had a good chat with him, he turned out to be a very nice guy. He had no objections to us digging as long as the holes were filled in. (Why can't all farmers be reasonable like this??). Wishing us luck, he left us to get on with it. Now that the ice has been broken the next step is to get permission to try our luck in the next field. We are pretty sure that part of the tip extends into it, and it is totally undug.

Stephen just starting on his second hole:

Stephen hit lucky at a very shallow depth, with a nice local skittle and a lovely round base cylinder from Birstall. The signs were good, and it was looking undug. Sadly it proved to be very sparse, although there was a much greater depth of ash here. We didn't quite bottom it out as we ran out of time, but frustratingly there did seem to be a few more finds beginning to appear as we neared the clay. Stephen hit a seam of Codds, almost all necked, with only two coming out complete.

A Codd appears after nearly a hundred years below ground:



Stephen with two of his Codds:

This spot around the gate is certainly worth further exploration, and will be hit next time we visit. Bearing in mind the farmer's wishes, the holes were filled in with care. Hopefully this will further endear us to him: