DetectingWales.com

Today heralded the arrival of our tenth Detectingwales.com Rally! An amazing amount when you consider we have only been going for less than a year. To celebrate it we probably had our worst day of finds ever! Who am I kidding? No one![] Its was our greatest rally to date!

The day started bright and early in Llantwit on a farm kindly donated by 1MoreCoin - Thanks Steve it was really appreciated mate! Only about 25 members and 2 dogs made it and we are all treated to another day of glorious sunshine in the Vale of Glamorgan.

The fields consisted of stubble and we had another site a short drive away if people wanted to go. I never made it there so I have no idea how everyone got on there, as I also managed to leave my phone at home. ::)

After a quick intro by Geoff we were off. The first finds of note came in the form of a really tiny hammie, a Edwardian Sixpence, a Vicky Joey and a little silver ball from a babys rattle - all I believe courtesy of Crashland - I think.

Next I bumped into Collegwent who was busy sweeping up the finds in his usual manner, having found a little cross, a medieval buckle {of which I was highly jealous} and to top it off a hammered coin of Charles. He also had a bronze Roman pin with him that had seen better days - still a nice find though.

The finds were coming in thick and fast now with TaffLaff having amassed 12 coins in one small area including 3 silver sixpences.

Mike - a newish member of DW had found a 1697 love token that for once was in good condition. He was well chuffed with it as his oldest coin to date and rightfully so!

Benny who had travelled all the way down from Hereford with his good lady, and Norman the Dog had a small hammered as well. Nice to speak to you again mate - hope you hada safe journey home.

Casa Dos managed to find a spindle whorl, a cracking button and a nice buckle with its pin still intact - which he commented was a first for him - well done Kev.

Byron found a pair of badges using Robs machine - one belonging to the British Legion and the other a very odd item - we speculated over it being police or fire service - no idea either of us really!

Jeff Stock  had a curious hamster that the verdict is out on for the moment - looked like a Johnny Foreigner - but who knows - we could make out a Roman numerals VI -  a fleur de lys and other bits of regalia - nice coin all the same and I am sure he will be able to figure it out.

Another chap had another strange coin as well that looks gilded - not sure what it is.

1MoreCoin was rewarded for providing the land for the rally with a lovely little lead seal matrix. I think it will clean up nice - if you need some proper seal wax Steve I have some at home you can use! It will be interesting to see what the legend reads.

A couple of more hammies and a Roman sestertious appeared from various sources - I forget everyone who had one, but I think the total for the day ended up as 8 or 9

That was it for the day, we all packed up to go home! What am I talking about I have left out the most important part of the day! After about 1pm the farmer decided to help out by discing the field in various directions, scattering us all over the place. Not long after this I saw Admin jogging up the field - {well walking quickly} shouting to me "Axe head!" What - an axe head? I quickly dug my own signal out and in my hand I had a huge lump of bronze - verdicts out on what it is. Anyway back to the axe head. I followed Geoff to a part of the field where a few people had gathered to find a very happy Steven King {the Bronze Age Axe finding person and not the writer of Kujo I hasten to add! You must be getting bored of these puns by now!}  ;D

In Stevens hand was a Bronze Age palstave looped axe head in absolute pristeen condition after 3000 years in the soil. After much congratulating and back slapping, we decided to widen the hole a little, actually a Hell of a lot and what do you know we found a nother one! With the help of TaffLaff [who is at his happiest digging in a hole] we quickly produced another axe head - slightly different design and considerably larger. What a find! The hole then got bigger and bigger as we were all dreaming of a major axe hoard, but alas it was not to be. All of this was recorded for posterity by Mark, aka Melonhead and will be coming to a Detectingwales.com website near you very soon! Thanks for recording it Mark.

A cracking pair of Bronze Age axe heads - a days detecting does not get much better than this! Steven also had a Bronze Age gouge at our last rally - its becoming a bit of a theme for him. Congratulations mate - really pleased for you!

I headed home at about 5 pm with hammies still coming out of the ground. Rob had one as I was on my way to the car, and he just rang me and said Gadget also had one. I realised TaffLaff had found a hamster when I saw him running around the field t-shirt over his head and his belly blowing in the wind! Well done mate - your best hammie to date - looks like an Edy - couldn't happen to a nicer guy.

A great day out and a very apt way to celebrate our tenth rally. Well done everyone on the finds. Theres more rallies planned in the near future, so keep logging in and we'll let you know as soon as they are confirmed.

Get comfy because here come the photos.

Cheers
Neil

More

Couple more

They keep coming

They keep coming!

Axe heads on their way soon!

Almost time to show them!

Here come the axes!

Revealing another one!

Here it comes!

great finds guys n gals - -well done everyone.

for the benefit of newbies, please make sure any finds over 300 yrs old are recorded with the FLO.

congrats to all

Well I said yesterday this area is right in the zone and what a day it has proved. Well done all on a fantastic days searching. A little surprised not much Roman but I thought the Bronze Age might get well represented and boy was it. You must be all proud of your self well done.

What a lovely lot of finds, exciting with the axe heads coming up , well done Steven. The first wotsit looks like a sword chape and your bit of bronze Neil is a pot leg I think, great day , great finds and well done 1morecoin.

nice write up neil well done thanks geff for your hard work once again and well done steve on your axe heads  :o outstanding mate and steve 1more coin for the land injoyed it very much and well done to all the finders  ;)

Thanks Steve for a great day, and thank you Neil for putting the photo of my love token on the site , much appreciated , i didn't realise so much came out of the first field , the axe heads are amazing , wish i'd stayed on the first field longer now , never mind always next time , already looking forward to it ,,,,cheers all Mike

congrats on the hammie rob..nice one!! i must say that it was quiet unreal holding one of those axe heads, not been touched by anyone in three thousand years..well done steve :)

Neil your bronze thingy does it have a hole. Thinking flanged macehead medieval. MAYBE

well done on the finds all the pics are brilliant

Cheers lads - I also thought my lump of bronze could be a pot leg later in the day. I have found lots of them before - but none ever this big or sharp - one for Mark I think. Can't see a hole Paul - I like that idea though!

Couple of more photos below

Well done to everybody on the finds it looks like a good day had by all i just wish i could have made it and the axes are lovely same design as the one i found just up the road from where your rally was today  again WELL DONE to all ;) Probably came from the same mould :o mark lodwick dated it to 1100-1200bc

Congrats to all. Looks like a great day and SURE to get a good write-up in Treasure magazine.

Wow lovely axes,welldone Steve,and some very nice finds welldone all  :)

Wow! Wish I'd of stayed on the first field now just to see the axe heads coming up. Never turned up anything of interest on the second field but did have an Elizabeth halfpenny on the first.
Find of the day for me was Taffy Apple cider in the Old Swan went down a treat after that sunshine!
Had a cracking day,knackered the dog out and spent the day in great company(always a great atmosphere wit DW).
Thanks to all involved especially 1morecoin for giving up the land.
Hope to see you all next time.
Ben.

What more can be said,   I am gutted,    Iwent to work,   they told me that wasn't needed today,   too late to get the directions to the site,   Bum Bum  Bum :'( :'( :'(
Terry,   well done all  realy great

Thanks to everyone involved for making it a rally to remember, especially to 1morecoin for allowing it to happen. Steven, awesome finds, are you down off the ceiling yet  :) :)

Heres my lizzie halfpenny as found.

And after cleaning.

Some excellent finds there lads the Axes are absolutely fantastic, well done Steve, I wish I had been there, I am glad you all enjoyed the day I am working on one for the future.

Best of luck with your detecting,

Steve.

Great day out. After close examination my hammie turned out to be the centre of a James 1 sixpence. All the outside lettering and even part of the centre has been clipped away but you can see the VI next to what remains of the head.
Also had a pretty good condition G11 halfpenny of 1750, a spur rowel,half a buckle, another pot leg and loads of buttons. Sorry I was too far away when the axes came up but it certainly seemed to be the longest single dig I have ever seen! Thanks again to Steve for the land and Admin for organisation and weather!

WoW Fantastic ;D amazing would love to find one. Well done to all the finders ;D ;D

Sounds like everyone had a good time and some interesting things were found good stuff  :) ;D

Who needs to go over the water for decent finds? I have always said Wales may not have the quantity but we certainly have the quality of finds as the lads proved today.

Well done to everyone.

WOW  HAMMIES ,,,,AXEHEADS ,,,COINS   SOUNDS LIKE EVERYONE HAD A GREAT DAY  :D :D :D   WELL DONE TO EVERYONE THAT WENT ,,,  HOPING I WILL BE ABLE TO GET TO THE NEXT ONE   ;D ;D ;D ;D

Normans first rally!

Well done on getting the report on the site so quickly Neil. It sums up the day perfectly. The excavation of Steven's pair of axe heads and hunt for further examples was great fun for all of us that helped dig the giant 'ole. There's never been such a big hole on one of our rallies or one filled in so quickly, with Rob jumping up and down in the middle of it to tamp down the soil whilst we shovelled it in. He almost ended up getting planted...  ;D

I believe Rob is editing a video of the axe head dig from Melonhead's raw video. Watch out for that one on here and Youtube.

Just to add to your report, some interesting finds were also made at the alternative Llanmaes site including a number of hammered - a medieval penny and James I groat to name a couple. Perhaps the people who made finds at the Llanmaes site would like to upload pictures of their finds?

Thanks to Steve (1morecoin) for so kindly donating the land and Neil and Rob for helping out with the organisation. It was a brilliant day.

Geoff

a big thanks to 1morecoin for organising the land and another thanks to admin for the rapid arrangements of the rally.....some fantastic finds came up...many congrats to steven on the axeheads...amazing to see, and hold, them...my day was marred by my machine packing in.... >:(...but a quick job with the soldering iron tomorrow should fix that... ;)...thanks to rob for the lend of his DFX..i found the badges with it..lol....and who shall we thank for the weather ? i was glad i put some sun block on before i left the house !  ::)...well done everyone !.....byron

Having a bit of difficulty uploading the video at the moment normal service will be resumed as soon as youtube stops winding me up  >:(

Wow well done everyone !
 ;D

had a wicked day found the smallest hammered of the day especially when i compared it to tafflaffs i think the farmer was a bit jealous  he nearly run us over in his tractor .had a vicky joey  1910 sixpence ,1919 shilling,little silver babies rattle part ? charles 2nd fourpence as suggested by neil there is a picture of it any ideas ? also found a milled coin might be a florin wont know till i cleaned it up a bit and a musket ball .special thanks to crashland for the lift also neil for giving me a little bag to put my finds in going to put something on my sunburn now it was worth getting one , had some great finds and seen a lot of great finds too holding those axeheads was awesome ,great peole ,great finds , great weather,a perfect day  :)

Well done everybody on some really fantastic finds. Those axe heads are just superb! Well done Steve.
Biggest thanks of the day go to Neil for crediting me with all of willow tree's finds.
 I didn't have too many finds myself today, just a 1939 6d, a few pennies and buttons and a small buckle but what a day out! As willow tree said: Great people, great finds, great weather.
Thanks to 1morecoin......Top guy!

HI ALL WELL DONE TO YOU ALL SOME VERY NICE FINDS THERE.........  I WAS GUTED I WASNT ABLE TO MAKE I WAS BIZZY............... ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

Good day out yet again with glorious weather and thanks to everyone yet again for a superb rally.

I only found a Lizzy 2 penny, some buttons and a small buckle besides the normal junk but my excitement came when I found what looked like a small axe head.. however after cleaning it up it turned out to be ferrous but who cares?

Who was sick as a pig?  Drayman from Llanelli.  In the second site he found a very small roman but somehow managed to miss his top pocket and it must have fallen on the ground. He went back later but could not find it again.... ah well.. the one that got away.

I know we have had a rally on the first site but it would probably be worth a second rally after he has ploughed the entire field.

Great report and a sound day out for all who attended. Well done all !!

I agree that the land deserves another rally after the farmer has turned it over.

Heres Part of the video from llantwit , this is the last part of the vid, having major problems uploading 6 gig of  video  :D

"EDIT" Ok heres part 1, 2 and 3 of the Second Axe head
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EvX6_wy-FDc (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EvX6_wy-FDc)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYwol-GL4OM (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYwol-GL4OM)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HbhHC2Nx8M0 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HbhHC2Nx8M0)

More Rob More, More love it. The anticipation and suspense brilliant.

Well I'll be damned, found up by the road,  :o I would never have found them as I keep away from the road due to the cans and rubbish thrown over the hedge by passers by, maybe a rethink is in order  :-\

i injoyed that rob that was good what are you doing steve with them coat hangers neils face was a scream he was dieing to laught well done steve on the find over the moon for you  8) and kev looked as if he was in shock  :D :D :D

great day out on sunday at the rally,nice to meet new people iv not meet before, nice to meet CARDIFF BATS,CRAZYFACH (mike) and thanks a lot NICK for letting me have a go at your camera ;) it was great to be there seeing the axeheads found by STEVE KING well done again to you for finding them a dream come true, this is what our great hobby is all about,thanks 1morecoin for getting the land for us all as well,weather great and a great atmosphere as well  ;D nice to meet up with the old guard as well .some photos to look at to ;)well done everyone on your finds as well.

few more ;) ;D

How deep were they? the hole looks like it could be used in the film at the earths core 2
Mind you the farmers son did say that at one point he was worried he was going to lose his tractor ;D

couple more ;) ;D

COME ON ROBERTO ,,,, YOU CANT LEAVE IT LIKE THAT BUD  WHERES PART  2  ??? ???   IM SURE  EVERYONES ON THE EDGE OF THEIR SEATS ,,, LOOK AT TAFF DIGGING ,,,,,  3 MINS INTO THE FILM .....   HES LIKE A SPANIEL  ON   SPEED   ;D ;D ;D

With you on this one Digga. Come on Rob I,m down to the knuckles.  ;D ;D ;D ;D

But where were the 2 dogs ?

With my sound turned off to begin with I thought that Rob was trying to teach the dogs how to dig holes. Did you notice how fast he was? The dogs would have been jealous of his actions.... LOL

After i watched the vid i realised, that was the area i was working earlier,, trying to figure out my hawkeye ,,,, just one step to the right or left and there by the grace of god it could have been me,,,,,, congratulations,  ;D ;D ;D ;D Steve, i'm over the moon for you, glad they got found. ;D ;D

hi
Thanks to everyone that made for a great day out.Great company  ,great location and fantastic weather made it all the more fun.
Looking forward to the next  rally and i think i must have caught the bug.
Cheers Andrew

Great video taff  enjoyed every minute of it and well done taff for getting stuck in :D :D :D :D :D :D ;)

One of the best rallies yet and a great thrill to see the axes greet the light of day after what must be around 3000 years!
Here's my bunch of finds, from top let I think I have the top of a spoon (shows filigree working) - old lump of lead (I like finding old lead with that white patina on it, usually means its pretty old) - furniture fitting? - 3 coins, one is an Irish penny, smallest is 1882 halfpenny - small brass thingy? - lead shot - furniture fitting? - a poxy button that when came up I thought was a gold coin... meh... however it does have a coat of arms on it and looks similar to the sheriff's star badge that someone else found - button - bronze or brass piece.

My thanks to Niel, Geoff and Steve for providing all at the Detecting Wales Rally a brill day out and giving me the opportunity to find bronze items on top of my wish list. Also, giving me and others the opportunity to meet so many good and interesting people. Keep up the good work!

Cheers
Steven

What a great day you all had, and well done Steve. Let's hope we can get another rally on that site ;D

Cant be much left,   well done Steve   and nice hammies came out,  hope in the future we can get back on the farm,  cheers 1more.
Terry

More Llantwit movie uploaded guys. Shows the Axe coming out.

really sorry i couldn't make this one...at the Wanderers rally. looks like you all had a great time (as usual) and some nice finds.
hope to see you all at the next one,  whenever that is.
until then "good hunting people"

A great big well done to all,good write up and pics, and really nice quality finds too congratulations im so jealous ::) again well done ;D ;D...Dave

Hi Neil,cant find your video of your very sucessful rally last sunday¬!!Gwil.

See what I mean Kevin

Hello again

On page one there is a picture of my whatsit( its the first picture that neil had taken that day). Any way has any one got any idea as to what it could be? I dont think that it is a sword chape as hedgehog suggested as it is decorated exactly the same on both sides. I have not got a clue myself as i have not been doing this that long either. Any suggestions?? :)

Well done Steven fantastic finds, sorry I could not make the rally.
                 
                                  Pat. :( :(

CARDIFF BATS whatsit ;)

cheers kev i have been trying to do that all day mate :D :D :D :D

no probs, ;) ;D

Well done Rob for putting up the video and Mark for filming it in the first place.

Sunday really was a cracking day out and I would agree with other posts that it was by far the best atmosphere we have had on a rally for a long time. The axeheads really were the icing on the cake and it was a pleasure to take part in locating one of them.

Thanks for all the compliments on the report and photos guys and gals - glad you liked them.

cheers
Neil

Well done ALL the organisers of rally,Geoff, Neil, Rob and Steve.

Great report again Neil and great video Mark and of course commentary by Rob.  made it all come to life!!!!

Great finds everybody and ofcourse Steve King for his great finds (first person I talked to, when I arrived)

Great day , all around...didn't want to go home..great talking and meeting you all :D

Found an Edward 1 hammy (Peter i.d'd), 1921 shilling, 14 coppers (the best  being a Cartwheel) 50p , several bag seals, lead shot, scallop thingy and a clasp.  Lost my eyeglass

Great rally ;)

Farmer Phil 8)

Yes i agree.It must be the best extraction of an artifact i have seen on the web so far.
Well done to Rob and Neil for the vid.A lot of these extractions are staged managed.Well done again.gwil.