Always interesting to find anything 'in the dirt' that could be a conversation piece and speculating on the history does allow the imagination to roam. When I was a kid my dad brought home an arrow head that he found at a worksite. I kept it for years (lost it in a move) and had it in a small basket of stones, shells and odds 'n sods. Always marveled at the skill it would have taken to chip out an arrow head with a stone.
Hi. This not quite the same thing as digging in the garden but interesting all the same I hope - it does involve "finds". A company I worked for required to extend a large building and work having started on the site clearing it was found the area had been an early 1900's rubbish tip. Digging right down it all had to be cleared away to a suitable surface - took quite a time. Whilst this was happening we used to go out lunchtimes and hunt amongst the masses of things being unearthed. Beautiful old bottles of greens blues browns plus old lemonades (some with "marbles" in them) - jars of all types - tins - broken china figures - plates - vases - buckles - buttons . Amazing what was thrown away. I cleaned some bottles and stood them on a higher window ledge in front of the light - lovely colours - looked great. Also a from smallest to largest set of brown Bovril jars. Being a keen collector of pottery and porcelain I was particularly interested in the china - many patterns on plates and also makers backmarks - much info gleaned from it all - by comparing with unmarked items I already had. Have always had this interest in "finds" including hunting round antique shops etc etc.
Syd, I think the process of polishing stones is Lapidary. Like you I remember finding interesting stones on the pebble beach and we would wet them to see what colours they contain. In East Kent we have plenty of pebble beaches and not too many sandy ones But Carolyns find is really interesting and I am inclined to think, like you, that it is some sort of early tool. Perhaps this is part of a larger tool that broke in half.
May I add another poser to this thread. I found a lump of what I assume is glass in my garden. It weighs 205 grams, is 7cm x 5cm approx. It is very pale amethyst in colour but i could not get that to photograph even in sunlight. It kept coming up brown. Any idea where such a lump might come from? I should add that the bank at the end of my patio backyard is the embankment of the first ever scheduled railway service that commenced in 1830, just in case this gives any clues. (The trackbed is still there but the track was removed about 60 years ago.
@Sydney Smith & Raddang - I love collecting and finds and I do have an affinity for pottery but I do collect rocks and have some of my finds in a wicker basket that I use to prop the door open. Not too sure what your find is Raddang but it is definitely of high interesting. The first thought that came to my mind was melted glass - but - as I look at it closely it definitely is more rock. Might you have a huge chunk of amethyst that got broken off of a larger egg? (I'm no rock expert but aren't amethyst found inside other rocks and only discovered when the rock is broken open?) For sure it looks interesting.
@Islandlife It is transparent and very pale amethyst in colour. It has areas where it has impacted and created a slight shattering on the surface. It may be just a lump of glass from the bottom of a glass crucible but how would it get to an old railway embankment. Is there any way that glass could be formed in the bottom of the locomotive firebox from dirty/ sandy coal? I have had this lump for many years and never been able to explain how it came about...
I've actually been mulling the 'how' it could relate to a railway too. Didn't mention it as so far nothing much is occurring to me BUT I'm thinking on it. Mulled the is it really just melted glass idea - hard to say but it IS quite an interesting something to mull over and try to come with a theory about. THESE are the riddles I quite enjoy working on Still thinking .........
Raddang,..it could well be Anthracite,..good for burning in fires,..steam engine boilers. Lol,..giving my age away,..i was around when there were only steam engines
Philip, it is actually transparent and probably glass. I just can't explain how a tinted lump of glass came to be on a railway embankment. Like you, I was also around in the days of steam and take any opportunity to see steam locos if the come through my city on enthusiasts trips. This is a frequent caller.
Very nice lines,..it has character compared to the modern trains,..nice to have seen on TV the return of The Flying Scotsman. Dangrabbit,..i was hoping it was Anthracite in order to solve the mystery,..it would be nice to be able to tag it,..ah so you are of that steam age era,..nice to know,..one can not tell by reading posts
Hi. Steam loco fans - wonderful - me too. Did in fact spend a couple of years before National Service firing them on BR. Just a thought this. Ref the find the heat in a loco firebox would certainly melt glass had a broken piece found its way into the tender with the coal then onto the fire. Were this to happen though would not the melted glass be just a blob whereas the find seems to be faceted - like breaks??. Also whatever it is it could possibly have been in with the ballast used between the sleepers and thus onto the banking.
That sounds plausible Syd. I just keep it a discussion item. As a young teenager I did find something in the garden that was rather more interesting than my lump of glass. It was a Roman coin which I took to the local museum and they identified it and offered me half a crown (12 1/2 pence today) to add it to their roman collection. You could go to The Flicks twice and have change from half a crown so I took the money. Just realised, more nostalgia.
Hi Raddang. For interest I have been looking at Wiki and pics of minerals to be found and your item does resemble quartz - apparently it is one of the most (the most?) readily found minerals and theres quite a few different types and colours - opaque and clear - also very durable so would stand up to quite a bashing - found everywhere.
Syd could be onto something re: Quartz. I don't know much about minerals but quartz is semi clear I believe and does come in lots of different colours. But - ??? Still a mystery. MY theory is that the train was being robbed. As the Robber jumped into the front engine and yelled "Hands up" the Engineer, being startled by the intruder, threw the bottle he we drinking from into the firebox where it slowly melted into a blob. As the Robber was robbing everybody on the train his accomplice demanded the train be slowed so they could make a hasty yet quick escape. To accommodate this request the Engineer started shoveling bits of the burning wood and ashes in the firebox out onto the tracks. The melted bottle was part of this and settled into the embankment to be found by Raddang years later. Like a fly on the wall - That's my story and I'm sticking to it!
We have drifted from Carolyns find so, inconclusive. My find is going the same way so, also inconclusive. Now we are entering the realms of hypothesis so I thought you might like to see the actual loco, and firebox, that ran on the line from 1830. This is now in a local museum.
