What is this stuff on Barry Beach

[Matt]

Hi

I spent an enjoyable morning on Barry beach last week digging lumps of something out of the beach. Most of them were between 6 and 12 inches long and a few inches wide.
I was about half way between the low and high tide marks and these things were everywhere. They were too light to be sold metal and most had tinged the sand around them bright orange. One even had an iron stick up the middle and I genuinely thought I had found a turd on a stick until I smelt it and thankfully it didn't have a smell.
I know its rubbish left over from the industrial age but what is it and why is there so much of it? I emptied three bags in the local bins before finally giving up for the day. I would have thought this beach would be detected regularly and most of this removed long before I got there.

Can any one enlighten me. Also, we've got some low tides this week and I was thinking of doing Penarth beech below the Pier (or as far down the pier as I can get). Is it worth it ? I never see Penarth mentioned anywhere but it used to be very popular with the Victorians and in the early part of last century.

Matt

[nobby]

I know the stuff your on about......dont know where it comes from but it does come in odd forms ........it hasnt been dug previous because most dectorists choose to discrim or ignore it.

[dances with badgers]

the stuff is like hot rocks,loads of 2ft lenths of copper cable there too.penarth pier will drive you nuts theres junk everywhere,nuts, bolts,washers,srews its like a local B and q exploded nearby.
 do barry from where the ripple trough starts to the very low tide line and any slopey bits. if you want car park money back do the dry sand for pounds.
 i have never do very well at barry but others do,had a few gold rings off there.

[Lady Marian]

i detect barry beach regular and hav'nt come across the stuff you mention the only thing thats a pain are the lumps of large coke that we find on the low water line on the big tides.  what detector are you useing

[Matt]

Lol re B&Q. I'm using a Sov GT and just learning so although I was getting the hang of switching on discrim to see if it was the lumps I still had to dig it to check. That and the fact it was in a well wormy area I figured taking it out off the beach would help the worms a bit (yes I do fish the beaches as well so have a vested interest).

Maybe I should make that my goal in life, to rid Barry island beach of metalic rubbish. I could even stick a 15x12 SEF coil on, as recomended by DwB and I could find even more.  I'll just need something more sturdy than a Asda bag for life to cope with it.

Thanks for the advice on Penarth, maybe I'll try Barry again tomorrow but lower down towards the low water mark. My planned trip today got canned when I got called in to work last night to cover for a colleague pulling a sickie so didn't get to bed till 6 and woke up to the wife wanting a lift etc.

Happy days come to those who wait. And I've been waiting bloody ages.

[dances with badgers]

you will find more junk too dont forget with a bigger coil,just take time and dig everything until u have sussed your machine out,i dig every repeatable signal cos im learning with sov too.different than my etrac.easy digging at beach anyway.
 good luck

[russ]

 :'(yep I,ve dug some rubbish at Barry, think the council use it as landfill when nobodys about, but theres plenty of coins and the odd jewelry, had a nice silver broach in watchtower bay not long back.Middle class victorians piled there in droves in the late 1890s early 1900s.Keep at it mate youll dig plenty of car parts but you will def get some goodies too.make sure you get a good solid spade cos youll need it.good luck.    also Ive had coins at Penarth but try far out between the coral theres the odd patch of sand.Bathing machines used to be used up from the pier towards the lifeboat jetty  but theres plenty of iron as well.

[dances with badgers]

loads at barry but conditions need to be right

[markymark123]

for some reason i only every find peoples bloody spectacles at barry lol , did well in the hot weather on the dry sand was having 30+ in coinage every trip. but have never bloody found gold or silver one day lol

[Whiteduke]

Having detected on Barry beach on and off for 30 odd years,i was always of the opinion the iron on the beach is dumped ballast from times gone by,

not saying its right,but it makes sense

[cardiffian]

I used to do Barry Island in the late seventies. When the conditions were right(usually after a good storm) you would get lots of silver coinage and rings the length of the beach from where the ripple troughs started. I found an old book that gave an account, and pictures of  'sail boats on wheels' that freewheeled along  the beach from the same point down to the water. The operators would sell confectionery and other goods to the throngs on the beach, from out of the boats. I think this is one of the reasons why Barry has given up so much over the years and continues to do so. My best finds were two Victorian gold rings (one 18ct and the other 22ct) on the same morning.