DetectingWales.com

We crossed the bridge today for the first DetectingWales.com rally in England!

As usual the weather had been arranged and was official scorchio. We also managed to arrange an astounding 13 hammered coins, 3 milled silver coins, 2 silver spoons and some other quality items!

Jaydogg, Mark, Digger and I left Cardiff early and following a brief stop at the services where Mark bought the smallest coffees know to man we arrived at the location. ;)

The rabble met at 10am with parking on one of the fields. After a quick morning snack of individual Birthday cakes courtesy of the Birthday Boy [Geoff - nice touch mate!} I gave a quick overview of the history of the area, where we could go and where we couldn't go and a warning about the huge piles of human excreament in the field waiting to be spread. I think I phrased it as "Please avoid the piles of human rubbish!"   :o - not perhaps the most sensitive approach, but it got the point over. Anyway following that we were off!

The first find after only an hour that was brought to my attention was courtesy of Chef and was probably the best coin I have seen found on any of our rallies for detail. It being a hammered silver groat of Edward - unclipped and in prestine condition. Well done mate - a cracking find!

Shortly after a shout came over regarding a hammered silver half groat of Elizabeth found in the parking field by a father and son team. I think the finder was Ademinelab - another beauty - it looked like it was going to be another good day for DetectingWales members. ::)

I stopped to tell one of the Hereford boys about the finds, and he then produced a tiny silver coin with a man holding a staff on it. First thoughts were Saxon! Second thoughts were a Soldino as we could see Sol on it and thats what it turned out to be! I think it was Benny that found it [correct me if I'm wrong].

3 hammered in an hour - does it get any better than that? You bet your life it does!

I headed into the field with just 4 cars in it and saw The Jinx who had managed to find a beauty of a buckle with its pin still intact. I gave him some bubble wrap to put it in {I always have it on me if anyone needs some!}  The Jinx I found out later had managed to lose it somehow and we are now changing his name to Barry Lost Buckle! ;D Did anyone find it?

Next I returned to the main parking field and saw a hammered coin from Casa Dos who also found a silver spoon stamped 800 which is continental silver. Simon Chiles then upped the ante with a hammered coin in nice condition. Soft Top then got in on the game with a hammered coin of Edward. Jaydogg then steamed in with a William III silver shilling. What was this Silverfest 2009?

Ancient Pats son had a cracking lead dice - whos opposite sides dont add up to 7! Didn't we just talk about that on the site recently? I think its at the very least medieval and possibly Roman. Although I like Pats idea that the numerous hammered coins and a dice may represent gambling taking place on the site.

The Jinx promptly redemeed himself for his earlier loss with a Henry cut half, which he managed to keep hold of this time!

Then ancient Pat thought he would steal the day yet again with not one, not two, but three hammered coins! One of which was a Groat. Hammered coins galore - what a day!

Other finds included Tynas lead donkey head, a couple of decent buttons, a silver strip of filigree work, an ornate button, several other hammered coins, and numerous other bits. Steven King also had a beauty of a silver spoon - possibly Georgian or earlier.

I managed to find a silver ball - possibly from a rattle and a  Hans Krauwinkle jetton that has seen better days, a lead spoon, couple of buttons and the best George II penny I have ever found. Not my best day, but I was happy.

The rally was coming to a close and I think most people were content with the day all in all. Thanks for coming along and supporting this site - I hope the sunburn isn't too bad! ;D

There are more Rallies scheduled for the near future. so stay tuned to the only detecting web site in Wales that offers rallies for its participants. As far as I know we are also the only website in the UK that does this, and I am guessing possibly in the whole World! Does anyone know of any other sites that do the same? I would be interested to know.

Cheers
Neil

More

Even more

Still more to come!

A couple more!

When will it end?

They keep coming!

The end must be in sight soon!

Almost there!

The end - Pats coins!

Thank God for that!
 
I took over 130 photos!

cheers
Neil

Got a bit of video guys , sounds really windy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YDvoooi5QME (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YDvoooi5QME)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRCQuhAroUc (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRCQuhAroUc)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MG1yQNSYAFc (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MG1yQNSYAFc)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZyjKSehokYw (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZyjKSehokYw)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4E8ZhMter0o (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4E8ZhMter0o)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-wxZjUoyTAI (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-wxZjUoyTAI)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tVRiDmrjl-E (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tVRiDmrjl-E)

Please note the William III Shilling has a B below the bust making
it a scarcer coin from the provincial mint of Bristol....PaulB.

looks like  another brill day was had by all      some excellent finds there ............  just wish i could of made it   never mind  next time ......................... lovely to see the vids on here too  specially the talking ducks  lol

Like to say thanks to everyone for a great day today,i've now got red shoulders and neck due to a sun/vest combo!The Soldino is of Leonardo Loredan dating between 1501-1521(just looked it up on ukdfd)and is a first for me! Thats a stunning groat that came out today. So,what was this special find that turned up on the test dig the other day cos we couldn' beat it out of Neil or Rob!

great pics of todays finds !...... terrific videos by tafflaff....i loved the hot off the press presentation rob !..well done.....and a full report by neil.....well done both....it was a very successful and enjoyable day and well organised ..again !...many thanks to all who made it so.........byron...ps..i almost forgot..HAPPY BIRTHDAY GEOFF !

Hi all I think benny hit the nail on the head, a great day out, really enjoyed it and some good finds. Here are some of my finds of today some which I have no idea what they are cheers cider  8) 8)

And some more ;D

Oh and some more  ;D ;D

I think this is the last  :o many thanks cider (martin) 8)

Just been looking through some of the coin sites and found that my coin is a wiliam 3rd half penny not an ann which we thought it was cheers cider ::)

Nice day out Niel i enjoyed very much, many thanks to those who found the site and organised the rally,

much appreciated,

soft top.

Thoroughly enjoyed the day, suffering for it now but so what, did'nt find a lot but hope to find it all at the next DW rally.......... :D

Once again Detecting Wales dot com comes up trumps. Well done Rob, Neil and Geoff for a cracking site and the great weather made it a great day. Again a bunch of great guys and ladies were out and though my morning was not to good when I managed to wake up with a really sore throat and stiff neck. Thanks to Casa Dos, Jonola, Dig It Adie and the others for cheering me up. Really nice to see so many good finds coming out of the ground but was surprised no Roman as I saw plenty of Severn Valley ware, Grey Ware and bits of Black Burnished ware pottery. My finds included 3 buttons all modern, Pieces of hammered out lead, a piece of lead with holes that others had found of similar size, best guess a weight for something. Three coins all totally defaced but best guess Two Georgian and a William. Thanks Geoff for the cake (LOVERRRRRLY) and after a easy trip down I would say at some time maybe a Rooksbridge 2 as I understand more land would be available if this went well.

   My lasting image of Rooksbridge will always be the Hamm...........  TALKING DUCKS.

we'll i made to the rally an hour and a half early traffic for a bank holiday was good.when i got there with my old chap(ademinelab).we stared by talking   to detecting dave and his father (thanks for letting us leave bag in your car)cider soon joined the chat when we had cake(happy birthday geoff) the day went well ade had a liz 1 half groat,we wood like to thank every one there for a fab day and i hope every one enjoyed it as much as i did and i hope to see ya all at the next one THANKS gav

Thank you  GEOFF NEIL AND ROB for a Great day nice to see all the hammereds and other finds ! did,nt find anything myself thats life as neil said you have to go over it to find it  ::) knew it was going to be one of those days when two miles into my jorrney the satnav fell off the windscreen it kept directing me home ??? never mind ;D good hunting   ::) mole

Thanks for the reports and all the photo's , The groat is a cracker !
 

When I got home the wife said I smelt of s..t  :D :D :D ;D cider

some pictures from the Rooks Bridge Rally. Can you spot your self.  A council of War from two wise heads.

And another. Gadget with his head down concentrating. Good Man.

The mighty One and his commander in chief set the boundaries whilst the enthralled masses look on.

Neil recording finds. Good Man.

Kev, have you got any cider. No sorry Adie but if you borrow Tafflaff your headphones you will see them on E bay next week. Week after he might buy you some cider when he realises that they were yours. Hee Hee.  ;D ;D

Man, what a good rally.  I’m surprised at the amount of quality finds, especially as I was waiting a long time between signals but hey ho.  Thanks to Neil, Geoff (with his tasty cakes) and Taff for the event, even if I do have a crispy and burned neck as a result.  My only find of note was the William III shilling, which Mark instantly noticed as a Bristol mint type, is rarer than usual.  I hope everyone had a good day. 

What a superb day and without a doubt Detecting Wales most prolific rally to date, surprised more people didn’t turn up tho.  Well done to Rob for providing the location and the Detecting Wales team for their usual efforts.  Saw some great finds so well done to everyone who found something interesting.   8) 8)

The george II penny I found.

The photo does not do it justice - ask Jaydogg as he wanted to swap it for the William III Shilling he had found at one point! ;)

Cheers
Neil

More finds from the rally . . .

More

more

some more

Great rally again thanks to all the organisers, my only complaint I didn't get a bit of Geoffs birthday cake!! Did anyone find a buckle in a plastic money bag lost by the " Jinx " Barrie listed in Neils pictures.

                                                  Pat. ::) ::)

heyyy some nice finds there, lovely coins too,  must be good soil conditions judging by the condition on the georgian and bronzes ect

what can i say left my flat at 7-00am on sat went to pick up JONOLA at 7-20am headed down to risca to meet up with DIG IT (ADE). we went in dig it car left at 7-50am, on the way down the three of us were talking detecting stuff also having a giggle at JONOLA story when he went detecting in a ancient wood which he will put on this site soon ;D i think anyway !!!. we arrived at the rally site opened the car doors and it just hit us THE PLACE STUNK ;D as Neil has explained ;D the rest is history guys the rally was another great success thanks to the organized and really great job by the 3 amigos GEOFF NEIL TAFF.good finds ,great weather great camaraderie by everyone.just like to say nice to meet up with the guys i meet before WALTONBASINMAN,TAFF, IAN,(gadget) ,MELONHEAD,PETERH(doc) sorry if iv left anybody out !!. and nice to meet for the first time was DATA311(alan),DEBBIE, ONEHORSE-AL..................................P.S. TOUCHING MOMENT OF THE DAY WAS not my hammered i found it was TAFF giving me 4 cheese and branston pickle rolls ;)for me lending my headphones to him on the rally before. thanks for the cake to GEOFF..........GREAT RALLY AT ROOKSBRIDGE

Here is my find of the day
[img]http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3314/3496895957_7317f6a7cd.jpg/img]

I think its a medieval Beltt slide or mount. My first anyway so well pleased.
Al :) :)

AL the photo as not come out m8   ::) ::) ::) :'(

for Al

Hi all

Looks like i missed a good Days Detecting there ;0(
all them hammered Hey !

Well done all that winkled out them beauties


regards
Phil

By the way Rob could you thank the landowner for the fields. Smell aside I thought it was a great location and If he was happy with us Maybe a return some time and well done you for finding it.

Here is the imposing Brent Knoll who looked down on us for the day at Rooksbridge. You can see the Iron Age ramparts in the out line of the hill. Thought the rally Site was special yesterday. I loved the place.

AL that is a nice mount or slide well done. :)

Did it on the way out fella , he also said we are welcome to hold another one in the future if we wish.

hi walt it looks like myself(kane) and byron (by matt666) getting ready for the off and what a day it was (fab) DES

more of brent knoll

enjoyed the day, many thanks to every one. got one or two bits, nothing of any real interest but still smiling. looking forward to the next one.

Thouroughly enjoyed the day lads,even though i found very little but nice to hear of all the other finds.The only drawback to the day was that horrendous smell from the muck heaps !The car stinks inside stripped all the mats out and washed them but i still cant get rid of the stench the mrs went ballistic :o.Thanks for a well organised rally,i just hope i can get the smell out of the motor before the next one! :-\

Thanks Geoff,Neil,Rob. Great day and good company. Seeing all the finds on the web just finishes it off nicely :) :)

Kev

Thanks Rob!Dont know what I did wrong ??? ???.
Al

"ONLY ME"..... just had to have a photo with our good old flag ;D

They are some fair mole hills behind you Kev. Good job you were not around when the mole was.  ;D ;D

What I was going to say though was how surprised I was at no Roman Finds. Has any body got any views on this as I know that the area is surrounded by Roman finds and this is Backed up by the Archaeology. The fields suggest nothing medieval in the landscape except for the story of the monks and the channels. But we found loads of medieval. Very odd.

Taking a guess i would say that if the land was reclaimed by the monks in medievel times the ground was waterlogged beforehand and roman finds have sunk out of reach of our detecting range .Just a thought paul i could be wrong but thats my theory! ;D

If it was flooded in Roman times (which it was) I bet theres a fair chance of there being a few deep Votive offerings down there somewhere  ::)

Quick taff ring time team and ask them for a lend of their digger! ;D

Wow, that was a nice lot of finds , well done all, good report and pics as usual Neil!

Thanks for a really fabulous day guys - well organized as usual, great site and location, and special thanks to Geoff for the lovely cake  ;D ;D It is good to put faces to the names on the web site (Hello Kev!!  :D) and have a chat to everyone whilst having a cuppa.  I didn't find anything special myself, but it was good to see the great coins and artefacts that came up on the day.  AncientPat - I will be stuck by you like glue at the next one!!  See you all at the next rally   :-*

A very good point gentlemen. In North Herefordshire all the flood plain cropmark sites go out of use around 200 ad and since i have excavated a few I realise that they were abandoned because of flooding. Now why did I not realise straight away. Stupid me.

I forgot to say "thank you" to Neil for having a word with the old man upstairs and organising the weather!! :D :D

I enjoyed the cake immensely! The smell was a bit off putting and I can still whiff it after two showers and a bath! Just a button and a 1971 QE2 penny   ::) for me but an enjoyable day nonetheless.

I saw four hares but mssed the talking ducks  ;) I did, however see some duck eggs in a drainage ditch and took some piccies. Paul (Waltonbasinman) saw me attacked by a hare that ran straight at me and missed me by a foot!

I think we left half of the smell in the car jon it dont half stink! :o

Why does my car smell like a rotton fish?

It'll take more than a bit of shake'n'vac to get the pong from the cars boys. I bet people are wondering why your wheels smell like a Yaks armpit

scrubbed mine from top to bottom just found poop down back of seat in the boot must have been on somebodys wellies i blame casa!Casa you got a nerve ;D :D ;)Lol

I blame Casa Kev for my car as well................Lets all Blame Kev!  Its easier ;D

Kev you have officially been nominated a trouble maker by me and rob have you got anything to say in defence >:(

 :'( :'( neil can you get this shirt done for me at the next rally ::) ::) ;D

Where does it say love Debbie on there Kev.  ;) ;) :D :D ;D ;D ;D :'( Sorry below the belt Kev

oooo paul you are naughty :D

 ::) ::) no comment ;D

Defend yourself kev mate.I hate to see a man downtrodden :(Go on sontell him :D

I can see the alleged brown stuff on his wellies Ade.  ;D

Stands out a mile jon I rest my case ;D

At least it covers up that black and white fashion statement Adie.

You guys are sooooooooooooooooooooo funny - just don't give up the day jobs !!!! ;D ;D ;D ;D

hi debbie :-[ :-[ :-[ :-[ :-[ ;D

Priceless kev you always make me laugh :D

Hi Kev  :-*  They boys are such a tease  ;D

Sorry Debbie but I was Ribbing Kev cos hes not a trouble maker and was well upset that he had upset you.

sorry debbie :-[ :-[ :-[ :-[

Kevs a BAD BOY >:(And he mutton do it again ;D or we will tell Baaaabara

No offence taken Paul - I just thought that I would be banned from attending rallies !!!!  I'm a big reader, but not a big poster.  I will try harder (just like my school reports ...)  ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

I had a chat to Debbie yesterday in the rally , lovely person nice to talk to, she assured me she had buried the hatchet with Kevin. I did look for the body in the water channels but couldnt find it! :D

The gang waiting for the off.A reminder of a smashing day out
Al :) :)

Thanks for a really good day out.Enjoyed the company the site,the detecting andd the cake!Special thanks to Neil,Rob and Geoff for all their work.
Jim :) :) :)

Great photos and report Neil, :) Looks like everyone had a great day, some very nice finds, well done to all.  :) Well done on your hat trick Pat, well deserved.  ;D ;D

looks like you all had a good time shung gav and ademinelab have not stop talkin about how nice you all where and that they had cake  i am very soory i could not make it  i was working at a wedding 100 people nice    but i hope to make it to the next one