THE TAYNTON METAL DETECTING CLUB

President Dr Alf Webb

                                                                            Club Xmas Party at Hownhall Farmhouse December 22nd 2007 at 12.30 pm

                                                                                                       Schedule of Club Meetings 2008 at Taynton Parish Room at 7pm

Thursday January 3rd 2008  (Inc talk/slides by Kurt Adams)

AGM Thursday March 6th 2008

(Please make every effort to attend our 2nd AGM)

Thursday May 1st 2008

Thursday July 3rd 2008

Thursday  September 4th 2008

Thursday November 6th 2008

Thursday January 8th 2009

We are  privileged to have Dr Alf Web as our President.

Alf was the founder and was for many years 'The Director of Archaeology' of the Dean Archaeology Group (DAG) and is now it's President. He is a qualified archaeologist, a renowned authority on Archery and the author of many publications.  Among them are:  'Archaeology of Archery' and 'Stone Age Dean' .   A book entitled 'A Strange War' by Spider Smythe is a very dramatic account of Alf''s near death experiences during World War II. Well worth a read.

STOP PRESS NEWS.

CONGRATULATIONS TO MARY MAYES FOR WINNING THE 'DETECTORIST OF THE YEAR' COMPETITION.

We now have a private Club Forum thanks to Alan Kinnear, please make use of it.

You NCMD cards for 2007/8 have been issued to subscribed members.

We have just purchased our own club digital camera.

We have also purchased two Garmin  GPS recorders for club use. (Some members have their own)

We have now started a club library having purchased nearly £250.00 worth of books, we will add to it as finances permit  (Gerald Proctor Librarian)

When land is available we aim to hold club detecting outings every two weeks alternating Saturdays and Sundays.

The club has 25 paid up members with four applicants on the waiting list.

At a club committee meeting held on October 26th 2006 it was agreed that the membership be increased to 25 commencing March 1st 2007.

In addition to the end of year trophy for the most points, there will  be awards for the best finds from club outings in the usual three competition categories.

On September 20th  Time Team made a programme at the 'Roman Villa' site at Coberley.  Dave and Don who discovered it in 2003 were employed to scan the spoil heaps.

                                                                                  The programme will be broadcast during early part of 2008 ( Date to be announced )

We have been invited by our FLO (Kurt Adams) in conjunction with Gloucester Museum to submit artefacts for a display of Detecting Finds.     It is intended that this will be set up towards the end of this year 2007.

It is proposed to have a Club visit to Cirencester Museum in the new year 2008.

CLUB DETECTING OUTINGS

February 12th 2006. The Club's first detecting outing was to a 200 acre farm at Blaisdon where there were the remains of an ancient chapel. Eleven members came along and a few interesting finds were made including some mediaeval items. See Club Latest Finds.  The farmer was very hospitable and we have been invited back, I am sure that we will be returning before too long.

February 26th 2006 Eight members of the Club detected on a 600 acre farm at Coberley where finds were sparse but nevertheless a few interesting items were recovered. Amongst them were a Roman 'Polden Hill' type brooch, a Roman Coin of Constantine and a Mediaeval hammered.

March 19th 2006. Ten members had access to four large arable fields at Huntley on a 200 acre farm. Finds were not prolific but to compensate our vice chairman  Charlie Wilden unearthed a rare silver sixpence of Philip and Mary dating 1554.

April 4th 2006.  Twelve members visited a 300 acre farm at Maisemore. Dave Hutton had the best find of the day  being a silver hammered of Edward III 1327 - 1377.

April 17th 2006.  Eleven members detected at Maisemore . Finds were elusive with Dave Hutton's Edward III penny          c 1327 - 1335 being the only notable discovery.

 May 20th 2006.  Six members detected on a two large arable fields at Hartpury that were not yet planted due to the wet weather (lucky for us but not for the farmer). The most notable finds were a half groat of Charles I  found by Mary Mayes  (her first hammered}  and a very nice Henry III shilling c 1250 from Gloucester Mint found by your truly.

May 22nd 2006 (Bank Holiday) Eight members and two prospective members detected at Coberley in an area where a mediaeval castle is believed to have been located . Some nice finds turned up including a nice late Roman Buckle with two confronting dolphins design, found by Charlie Wilden. Five Roman coins - one with a large Christogram c AD 352 (Gerald Proctor)  a complete mediaeval Horse Pendant (One of John Turner's best find to date I think !) and an Edward I  Irish hammered also  found by Charlie.

June 25th 2006. Twelve members came back to Coberley again but on 40 + acres in the vicinity of a Medieval village. Some interesting finds were made on a hot and energy sapping day. Some Medieval items turned up including  a farthing of Edward II c 1310 found by Mary Mayes and two other hammered coins thought to be of Edward I  by Julian Ford & Mike Christie. Dave Hutton unearthed a medieval buckle & plate and a plain Roman Polden Hill brooch was found, also by Julian. The day was cut short as members left early in time for the World Cup match England v Ecuador .

July 23rd 2006. Thirteen members visited a 15 acre field at Murrels End Farm, Hartpury.  After a drizzly start the day turned out hot and sunny and was very enjoyable. The field had no particular history except that it was fairly close to a  Civil War skirmish site which may account for the  half dozen or so musket balls that were retrieved. Finds were plentiful but not outstanding, amongst them were two mediaeval strapends found by John Turner & Mary Mayes and Gerald Proctor turned up a nice Nuremberg Jetton. There were as usual a variety of coins amongst them a cartwheel penny and two very worn hammerds, some tokens and an interesting medallion of George V Coronation 1911.

August 6th 2006.   Another visit to Hartpury but this time on  some pasture land by the River Leadon.  14 eager members  came along but unfortunately the ground was rock hard and the very hot day making detecting almost unbearable.  A few lead weights and a few coins turned up but nothing to jump up and down about.

August 27th 2006.  We visited  the same farm at Huntley as on March 19th but on  some previously undetected land.  Only ten members came along partly due to some of our gang going the big exciting detecting rally at Wantage. Despite that some interesting finds were unearthed. Dave Hutton found a very fine Elizabeth I sixpence of 1566 and Gerald Proctor was quite excited about his nice Commonwealth halfgroat. Gerald seemed unaware that a 'piece of junk' that he had in his pocket was a 9th/10th century Viking mount!   I  (Don Sherratt) turned up a Civil War powder measure which is interesting as it ties in with the fact that Welsh Roundheads passed through Huntley in 1643 just before attacking the Royalist troops at Highnam.  I was  also quite pleased with myself when on my way back to the car to go home I picked up a rare ornate Medieval 'beehive' thimble. I understand that there are some other interesting finds  yet to be examined.

September 10th 2006.  A good turnout on a beautiful September morning and with high expectations! The land known as Monksland had at one time belonged to the Monks of nearby Flaxley Abbey (founded c1150). They must have been very careful with their possessions or perhaps they had none to loose for very little of interest was found.    Lead finds included a few 'Civil War type' musket balls and two lead  steelyard weights. There were the usual Georgian worn coppers lying around but the only coins of interest were two silver finds being a Victoria sixpence (Mary Mayes) and a George III shilling (Charlie Wilden).   The only ancient finds of the day were some nice flint tools including a perfect Mesolithic blade (Phil Riches) and two thumbnail scrapers (Don and Dave).

October 7th 2006.  Twelve members re-visited Morses Farm, Tibberton having been rained-off on the previous Sunday. Gerald Proctor had the biggest success of the day with a 13th century seal matrix with the Star of David intaglio and a silver penny of Edward I of c1306/7.  A number of other coins came to light with  Charlie Wilden unearthing  a silver sixpence of Elizabeth I, Mary Mayes a silver groat of Victoria and myself a silver sixpence of George V. Amongst other finds were a cup weight (Nigel Davis) and a large cow bell (myself -Don Sherratt). An interesting aspect is that we may have stumbled upon an unknown piece of  village history.  The field known as Abbey Ground yielded two medieval finds (one religious) - maybe there had been a small community of monks there in the 13th /14th century.

October 15th 2006. This was a re-visit to a farm at Hartpury that the club detected over on May 20th. Twelve members came along this time but not a lot was found. The most interesting find was made by  John Ganley with a (rather damaged) groat of Henry VIII of 1554/57. Dave Hutton found a musket powder measure and several members found large musket balls. It seems that a Civil War  skirmish may have taken place in the area in 1643.

October 22nd 2006. We had another re-visit but this time to Blaisdon and onto previously undetected land. Nine members came along but left rather early due to lack of finds and looming rain clouds. Dave Hutton braved the weather and it seems to have paid off as he unearthed the only interesting finds of the morning. Having resorted to digging iron! he dug up a very large 9.5 inches long iron key that must have belonged to a very heavy - possibly  church door. After that his luck changed and in one hole he found a Victoria sixpence of 1875 and three nice tokens relating to Gloucester ale houses. Next week we will be back at Hartpury on to new ground

October 29th 2006. Back to Hartpury again but on to 100 acres of previously undetected land. Some of our newer members must be very aware by now that finds just don't pop out of the ground. It can be hard slog sometimes and finds can be very elusive. Nevertheless with patience and perseverance a few interesting objects surrendered to us . Don and Gez found a couple of 16th - 17th century buckles, several members found Civil War type musket balls and Mike Christie retrieved a crotal bell. Some silver finds brightened things up a bit when I found a sterling silver teaspoon and Charlie Wilden a perfect silver watch chain.   Mary, our only lady member unearthed a couple of (rather worn) Romans and this after having on the previous day dug two Romans from her own site including a  nice Denarius  - she is getting the Midas touch it seems!

November 12th 2006.  Fourteen members of the club paid a visit to Upper Coberley on a nice bright Sunday morning. The air was fresh and the scenery was outstanding but this cannot be said for the finds. Only a quarter of a mile from a Medieval village and only half a mile from a Roman villa hopes were high but the best find was a brass harness noseband fitting!. This was uncovered by Mary Mayes and bears the name W. Pile & Co, Maker, Stonehouse. In desperation Dave Hutton stayed on to the last man and was rewarded with a Queen Victoria silver groat and a nice flint.  Prospective member  - Mary's twin brother Dave came along for the first time.  He has just retired from the police force, perhaps he will find 'walking the fields' is preferable and safer than 'walking the beat' !

November 26th 2006. The club returned to a farm at Maisemore onto some land that they had detected on previously but had been rained off. This time the weather was fine but little of interest was found.

December 17th 2006. The club made a further visit to a 600 acre farm at Coberley but on to new ground that was in stubble.

Finds were not prolific to say the least but some members seemed quite happy to have found some rather worn Roman coins.

 A few other finds turned up including buckles and Roman pottery sherds but we only had time to scratch the surface on the large expanse of land - a further visit may be worthwhile. Quite a highlight of the morning was to be in the Cotswold countryside and to see wild deer and hares leaping across the fields very close by.

January 14th 2007.  There was a big turnout (16 members) on a nice sunny morning for the club's first outing of the new year. We had available three large set-aside fields on a 600 acre farm on our home ground at Taynton. Finds were scattered and hard to come by but perhaps we are expecting Romans and Hammerds every time! Amongst the artefacts that did turn up were a Portuguese 18 shilling coin weight (Mike Christie), a WWII anti-aircraft shell nose cone (Dave Hutton), a Brass horse harness fitting inscribed GHH (could be of Giles Haynes who farmed the land in the 18th century) found by Nigel Davis. Amongst the other mixed bag of finds here were coins of George III and Victoria, a lead steelyard weight, a Tudor buckle, a thimble and a token. Of much interest was a Bronze Age Axe  brought along by our new club member David Mayes that he had found on his own site.

February 4th 2007. A visit to a farm not far from Berkley Castle conjured up  prospect of loads of Medieval finds. The reality was that very little of interest was found. Much of the land was flood plain - perhaps accounting for the lack of finds. I picked up a 19th century shotgun cartridge extractor and there were a few oldish coins found, but not much else was reported.

February 18th 2007. The Club visited a large sandy field on the outskirts of Newent - ideal during this wet weather. John Ganley had the best find of the day with a Edward I penny and David Mayes turned up a 17th century Spur. Apart from these finds there were a few George III coins and a thimble or two.

March 4th & 11th 2007.  Our visit to three fields at Malswick on the 4th was rained off after 1hour so members re-visited on the following Sunday when the weather was much kinder. Alan Mayes made the best find there with a Medieval Barrel Lock. Dave Hutton unearthed a complete Barrel Tap that needed a special key to open it and an exact key to fit was found in our trash box!  Newcomer and prospective member Josie Oak was well pleased with her endeavours having found a few items including a couple of lead tokens. Most members found something to take home if only a buckle or a Georgian coin - altogether a pleasant day out.

March 25th 2007.   Birdwood, Nr Huntley was the venue for this outing. A Roman road supposedly ran through the farm but pockets full of Roman artefacts did not materialize! To keep us guessing one Roman coin did turn up but it has not yet been identified. Members found  a few various other coins including a silver George III shilling (Andy Frape) and a George VI  half crown (David Mayes). Our next outing will probably be on April 8th when we are hoping for better things.

April 8th 2007.  (Easter Monday) This detecting outing was to a farm at Huntley where the Roman road from Gloucester to Mitchledean is thought to have passed through.

We must have got the wrong info as there seemed to be little evidence of it. Two nice (very small) crotal bells turned up I am told as well as several Georgian coins and a couple of silver sixpences of Victoria . Josie Oak our new lady recruit stayed on to the last and came away well pleased as she believes that she has found her first silver Roman.  If so, then perhaps we were on the right track after all!!  Can't wait to see it Josie. It is a Denarius of Trajan AD 96 - 117.