The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Community => Marketplace => Topic started by: johnmac on July 20, 2011, 09:14:38 pm
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Hi all.
Had a thought last night.
As well as being a keeper of chickens and grower of veggies, and a fish farmer. On the weekends and evenings after harvest I'm also a metal detectorist! sad? Maybe, but it's good exercise and an easy way of finding some history!
I have permission to search various farms and fields in Perthshire and fife, bit always on the look out for more. Then I realised, smallholder = fields!
I've been doing it for about 12 years. A lot of farmers are keen to learn a bit of history about their land, and several have a framed collection of finds I've dug from their fields displayed on their walls. Add to that I've also found a wedding ring for a woman. A mobile phone for a farmer, who dropped it whilst planting tatties, and an irrigation fitting for another farmer.
So..... Do any forum members have a field or two, either pasture or ploughed that isn't totally overgrown that they would like searched? Maybe even a large garden?? If the house is over 100yrs old, there may have been people on that site for centuries! I'd happily give it a try, and if I find a gold torc it's halfers!!!
Below will hopefully appear a few of my finds to date, most from fields with no known written history! If there's no takers, maybe some folks will just find it interesting!
PS. I'm near Blairgowrie. Happy to travel through Perthshire, Fife, maybe even Stirling if the land is a plenty! ;-)
And I'm very responsible!!!
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Forgot to attach pictures!!
(http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e340/johnmac1979/1a1b7fd2.jpg)
This is a copper turner (2p) of Charles the second, around 1640
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(http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e340/johnmac1979/ee72b3cc.jpg)
This is the tip of a bronze age axe head, roughly 800BC. Found near Blairgowrie.
(http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e340/johnmac1979/3d3724e0.jpg)
This is a silver denarius of Diva Faustina, dates to 145ad
(http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e340/johnmac1979/Medal_1.jpg)
This is a silver Victorian key fob or watch fob
(http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e340/johnmac1979/DSCF0368.jpg)
This is a silver sixpence of Queen Victoria the first 1581ad
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We haven't lost anything (except perhaps our sanity ;D)but we'd love to have you come here to Dalmore. This house was built in 1887 but there has been a settlement here for much longer than that. I was intending to do some local history research over the winter, so this would fit beautifully.
We're near Carnoustie - you can email me direct on [email protected]
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Hi Rosemary.
I've sent you an email. Any questions ask away. I forgot to ask you how big your holding is and what type of field(s) you have and whether they are ploughed or pasture?
Look forward to sorting something out!
John.
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Me too, John!
Our place is over 400yrs old..... the parish folk would get out of their carts, pony traps etc at the end of our house to go to the Kirk. This is old bandit country, the smugglers used to use the Kirk on the inch to shelter from the sherrifs as they made their way through the bogs and marshes ....or so the story goes.
Emma T
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Emma, sounds great!
It was actually whilst driving away from yours past the old kirk that it came to me, then promptly left my head only to return today! And better still you are only a few moles away!
Look forward to it! I shall do my research!
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*moles* Is that detecterist secret speak.. ;D ;D ;D ;D
..'yeh, Sarge she's 25 clicks away to the north, and 4 moles to the east' ;) ;)
Emma T
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Moles and miles! Doh!
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I was begining to think you did your stuff 'mole fashion'. Random images of John burrowing his way round the fields...head popping up every so often ::) ::) ::) ;D ;D ;D ;D
ET x
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we usually find clydesdale shoes every year :wave:
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Always handy for painting and hanging on the fence! I've had a few over the years.... The signal is that loud it can make your ears bleed! :D
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Tony Robinson eat your heart out! Time Team has a rival! I look forward to seeing what you find, John.
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We are in Robbie Bruce Land, the center of Clackmannan and soooo many people come to the tower with metal detectors, this house is only 300 years old but there must have been houses on this site since dear old Robert the Bruce, his tower is 300 yards away!!! The area surrounding was a hunting ground for royalty so some of them MUST have dropped a few £££££....I would love to find something other than a Buckfast bottle!!
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Hi John. I love the things you have found esp the copper axe head piece. We are a bit south for you in S Lanarks, but anyway a friend has already 'done' our place and found absolutely zilch ;D The only exciting (to me) thing we have ever dug up was a mediaeval lead spindle whorl. Loads of old bottles, crockery, horseshoes, bits of broken agricultural implements too but nothing to get the heart racing.
Looking forward to seeing more of your finds :)
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If you're in Fife I have 10 acres you're more than welcome to wander over - I offered same to another detector guy who has never been - but this land was railway before agri so you would have to set it not to find bits of track as there are a couple I know about already and that would give you a headache ;)
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ellied if you have track left in the ground you are worth a fortune SCRAP PRICES ARE HIGH :farmer:
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Such a shame you're so far away :(
The farmhouse here was built in 1865, but the farm itself pre-dates that by quite a bit I believe.
David Steel (covenanters - sp?) hid from the Red coats on our ground and was found and executed at my neighbours farm, there's rumour that Wallace crossed the land (but I suppose everywhere in Scotland has that claim ;))
An elderly local historian reckoned our 'spinny' (to me it's a big clump of old trees) was actually a pagan burial site.
We've 130 acres, mostly planted with forrestry style trees. But there are lots of old woods and open fields too.
If you ever find yourself in the Lesmahagow area (South Lanarkshire), please, please bring your beepy thing and feel free to explore - it would be great to know what (if anything) is lurking down there ;) My email is [email protected]
Thanks, Karen :wave:
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Erm...isn't it Elizabeth the First, not Victoria?
Lovely things. I've always wanted to have a metal detector and find bits of history.
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Ooops! Typo! It IS Elizabeth I not Victoria! Well spotted! It's a silver sixpence and dates from 1580 or is it 1581?!? Glad you spotted my error!
Thanks all for the replies.
I'm on the recovery from neck surgery at the moment, but hope to be out 'swinging' (not the Tommy Sheridan sense of the word!) very soon!
I don't do it for the 'treasure' and it's very rare to find something valuable. But, if like me you ate interested in history then that is value enough.... Though it's a bit like the lottery, you just never know!!
I've had quite a few 'good' finds over the last twelve years. My most valuable coin to date is around £150. But like I said, that's not why I do it! Though a gold coin hoard would be nice!!
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We are probably a bit far for you (Aberdeenshire) but we have 7 acres of pasture with an old black house that had been derelict for 50 years on the land. It used to form part of the Gordon estate. You are welcome to come and visit if you are up this way at all ;D
I have to admit to a great interest in this as I used to teach and research in the area of antiquities law.
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I'm very tempted to buy a detector myself, though I would have to take a grandson to do the digging!
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Thanks for all the replies!
I wish I could get round all of those that have land available. I never thought I'd get so many offers. Thanks to all! In the short term I'll give Emma and Rosemaries land a try and with their permission post pictures of any finds for those that are interested to have a look!
As for those a bit further afield, you never know. I'll keep you in mind and you never know I might be out your way and look you up.
Thanks all.
John.
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Happy hippy and ellied, forgot to add, whilst a bit further away, if I get the chance, depending on how much free time I have over autumn/winter, I will try and look you up!
Sylvia. Detecting can be great fun and kids are normally really into it... Buried treasure and all that!
If you were ever to get into detecting, you need to buy a decent machine, £300+ from a proper metal detecting dealer... Not Argos! If you buy cheap, you'll just find rubbish and get fed up! Once you start making a few finds you can flog some stuff on eBay and upgrade. My current machine cost me £1,000, ouch! I hear you say! But I've found several thousand pounds worth of stuff. Speculate to accumulate and all that!
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(http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e340/johnmac1979/1edb9151.jpg)
A few silver denarii from a 'roman field' that I've been detecting in Perthshire over the last few years. These coins date from Mark Anthony to Gordian III. Roughly 60BC to 300AD.
The field has no known structures, cropmarks or history on record from any date. Just goes to show you what can be lurking in the mud!
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(http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e340/johnmac1979/41edeeaa.jpg)
Just to wet the appetite of Emma and Rosemary. You've probably all seen these?!? Found in a field near Blair Drummond, Stirling. No clues what so ever to indicate there was anything there. A guy goes into the field with a metal detector... Beep! Digs up four solid gold bronze age torcs from around 100BC!
Total value... About £1,000,000
Not bad for a days work! ;)
Oooohhhh you never know!!
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We can dream!
ET x
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When we bought our croft in Aberdeenshire the old man told us that some Roman coins had been dug up in a bit he called 'the quarry' - It's just a big hole in the ground where they dumped vegetation - I still own that bit and am waiting to get planning permission on it. Perhaps I should get it surveyed first ;) ;D ;D
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Just to whet your appetite John....this may be of more modern history interest. The field just north of the railwayline is in potato at the moment. It used to be, many many years ago, one of the dumping areas for Dundee. The trains came loaded with the rubbish up the Auchterhouse Newtyle line, then onto the Glamis line, and would stop along this stretch to have the rubbish unloaded. Even walking around the field after harvest you can come accross old crockery etc.
I wonder what else may be lurking there! ....the field doesnt belong to us but i am sure we could get permission...
Emma T
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Emma, sounds good! The more the merrier! I've yet to come across a field with nothing in it, you just never know! One mans junk is another mans .... However that saying goes! ;-)
I was thinking heading out your way with the detector mid August? If that suits you?
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Give us a call john, may be in aberdeen the weekend of the 20th, the weekend before may be sausage making, you are free to join in. Sample tasters all round, you catch us as you find us, always ready for a bit of distraction. ;D ;D you may even find my fencing dibber pole. I lost it last year....argh!! its only four foot long and is hugely heavy, but can i find it !!!! >:( >:( >:(
Emma T
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Romans? In Scotland? Surely not?
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Romans? In Scotland? Surely not?
Mons Graupius - aka Grampian Mountains?????? ::) (the Romans defeated the inhabitants of Scotland at the Battle of Mons Graupius)
They got as far as an as yet unidentified battle site near Inverurie in Aberdeenshire with an expeditionary force. My croft was 11 miles from Inverurie, not exactly far in Roman marching terms ;) ;D
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Sounds good Emma! I'll be in touch.
Romans in Scotland, hell yes!
At school you were often taught about hadrians wall being the limit of the roman empire. In actual fact there was an earlier frontier called the gask ridge which dates to around 70ad, 50yrs earlier than hadrians wall. It is the oldest frontier in the entire roman empire and runs from Stirling to Perth along the course of the modern A9. In total over forty forts, fortlets and camps all on the edge of the equivalent of a roman motorway.
At the centre of the gask ridge is Inchtuthil fortress near Meikleour in Perthshire. At it's height it was a camp for around 10,000 Roman soldiers and the base of the invasion north east.
Several scholars from the roman era describe the third century Severan occupation of Scotland as similar to america's Vietnam. With over 10,000 roman soldiers killed by scots in a three year occupation.
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Sounds good Emma! I'll be in touch.
Romans in Scotland, hell yes!
At school you were often taught about hadrians wall being the limit of the roman empire. In actual fact there was an earlier frontier called the gask ridge which dates to around 70ad, 50yrs earlier than hadrians wall. It is the oldest frontier in the entire roman empire and runs from Stirling to Perth along the course of the modern A9. In total over forty forts, fortlets and camps all on the edge of the equivalent of a roman motorway.
At the centre of the gask ridge is Inchtuthil fortress near Meikleour in Perthshire. At it's height it was a camp for around 10,000 Roman soldiers and the base of the invasion north east.
Several scholars from the roman era describe the third century Severan occupation of Scotland as similar to america's Vietnam. With over 10,000 roman soldiers killed by scots in a three year occupation.
Gosh, you know you're stuff! Not an ex History teacher are you? ;D ;D ;D
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History teacher? Alas no! My dream job!
At 32, if I was to do open learning to be a history teacher, it'd probably take me until 40 to be fully qualified!
:-(
Much regret!
I know so much about Romans just through research and metal detecting! Its a good way to learn, assuming you can find something!
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I have a few old coins that I'd love to know what they are. Everyone laughs & says they're not real. there's not much to see on them but maybe an expert like you would be able to tell me ;) Could I maybe e mail you a pic? I don't know how to put pics on here.
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Email away! I'm far from an expert, but I'll do my best! Any info you can tell me about the coins would help, ie where did they come from?
[email protected]
If you don't mind I'll post any info on this page in case anyone else is interested? With site permission of course!?
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Great, thanks! will look them out & photograph them later on, got to go earn a crust. And no prob posting them on here. I found them in my back garden, farm cottage with big area at the back which has been used as a dump in the past, thanks to the worms & hens things come to the surface, among the many socks!!
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Geebee, haven't received your pics yet? Just checking you hadn't sent them
And they'd gone missing... My Internet has been down for a week!
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Went out today on a field bear my house that's just been cropped. For anyone that's interested, this is an average sort of fields finds for an hours work... Don't give up my day job! But the good stuff keeps mengoing back, assuming I find any!
(http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e340/johnmac1979/4354e6b9.jpg)
Large caliber lead bullet 1850 to 1930's?
Halfpenny of 1929
Small looped button circa 1900?
Silver plated 'livery' style button, date to be confirmed.
Oh well! I'll be in touch with interested people who fancy me paying their land a visit shortly!
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I find this absolutely fascinating. Just like Time Team - I love that programme!
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I love history - especially local stuff. I think it's great that all schools now have to teach Scottish history - wish it had been like that when I was at school. There's a big gap in my knowledge :(
When they found the Iron Age skeletons in Alloa a few years ago, it made me think about these people thousands of years ago walking along the same riverbank as we did, probably with the same feelings, emotions and problems as we have now.
I must set aside some time to catch up on stuff like Time Team.
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Thankyou both! Glad I am stirring the imagination.
A follow up... The silver button to the right has been identified as a 'livery button' Georgian in date, so 1714 to 1820 in date. So oldest of the four finds! With some hard work it would be possible to trace the exact estate that the crest relates to and with it an exact date. Just think, 200 to 300yrs ago someone wearing their estate jacket lost a button whilst ploughing or harvesting and I'm the first person to pick it up since it was lost.
That's what keeps me going back, not the monetary value, but the history and info you can gleam from it!
;-)
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too far for a visit but wondered what equipment you used - birthday coming up ;D ;D ;D
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History teacher? Alas no! My dream job!
At 32, if I was to do open learning to be a history teacher, it'd probably take me until 40 to be fully qualified!
:-(
For the good of our kids, you should go for it! At 40. you'd still have a good 20 years as a teacher - and the life experience you'd bring to it too. Schools would welcome you with open arms - wish I'd had a history teacher with as much enthusiasm as you.
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Thanks Rosemary. Very good of you to say so!
In answer to the question about what equipment I use...
I've got a 'whites DFX-E Series' detector. I've had it for nearly eight years. It was... Wait for it... £1,000 new! Ouch! But I've certainly had my use out of it! And it's still in great condition. You can pick up a new good quality machine for £300 or a good second hand version of mine for £450.
I bought mine from Joan Allen detectors down south. They do a lot of detectors at 0% finance so you can pay £15 to £30 a month over a few years like I did! I don't smoke, so figured what the hell!
If you used it frequently you get your money back in spades, forgive the pun! And you just never know what you might find! That's what keeps you going!
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I should add, if anyone thought of buying one get the best you can afford! DONT buy from Argos or the like... All you find is rubbish and get bored fast!
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You can train for a teaching qualification whilst you teach and get paid
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When they found the Iron Age skeletons in Alloa a few years ago, - What skeletons, where can I find out more about this?
I must set aside some time to catch up on stuff like Time Team. I watch it on Freeview Channel 14 Saturdays - back to back, so you can watch one episode or lots of them.
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Ok but what should I look our for as being a good bit of kit? I promise way south so not in competition he he :)
I should add, if anyone thought of buying one get the best you can afford! DONT buy from Argos or the like... All you find is rubbish and get bored fast!
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As to what kind of machine.
Whites machines are very good.
Avoid C scope
Depends on your budget really?? How much are you looking to spend? And would you consider paying £20 to £30 a month over two years?
England is hoaching with good detecting land. 400yrs of non stop roman occupation, 600 yrs of Saxons, 300yrs of Vikings and then the medieval spell of 600yrs... Give or take!
Plus a population ten times greater and wealthier than that in Scotland!
I'd consider moving to England only for the detecting! ;)
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Went for a wee wander today with the dog to one of my fields I nicknamed 'the roman field' and spotted this wee coin on the surface. Who needs a detector?!?
(http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e340/johnmac1979/b84fc549.jpg)
(http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e340/johnmac1979/22c6f764.jpg)
I believe it is an 'As' of the emperor Claudius, which would date it from 41ad to 54ad? Possibly came to Scotland in the pocket of a roman legionary during the invasion of Britain?!?
Not the best looking coin I know, but at almost 2,000yrs old, it ain't that bad! ;)
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That looks brilliant! What are you going to do with it?
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Add it to the collection... I call it the rainy day fund! When the flat roof leaks or the boiler breaks or whatever else, I can always cash it in! :)
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When they found the Iron Age skeletons in Alloa a few years ago, - What skeletons, where can I find out more about this?
Um, try contacting Susan Mills, the Council's museum's officer - she oversaw the excavation. Alternatively, try Alloa Library.
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John, Dan found an old coin yesterday (see what you've started). What's the best way to clean it up? He read to put it in vinegar or I've got some Cocacola. ???
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Vinegar and coke a no no! Too corrosive! An old tooth brush and water, maybe a dot of fairy liquid, post a photo if you like! I'll try and date it! Well done to the man! :)