Ancient and modern finds from Wiltshire

Saxon strap end

to view a gallery with more photos, click here

I had an interesting day's metal detecting with Mid Week Searchers in Wiltshire on Thursday after passing Stonehenge on the way to the site:

1. Saxon strap end 47mm long 

2. Barbarous radiate, 3rd Century coin (22mm) 

3. Constantius II coin (13mm diameter) similar to "RIC VIII Antioch 49 var 337-341 AD"
    on Wildwinds site

4. Knee buckle - anchor chape Type V xv 18thC

5. pewter bowl  (squashed) 5cm long

6. lid of Roman seal box, late 1st to the mid 3rd Century AD. similar to:
    https://finds.org.uk/database/artefacts/record/id/939857
    https://finds.org.uk/database/artefacts/record/id/927120

7. Roman coin(?) with hole as pendant(?) 15mm diameter

8. broken handle of candle snuffer 18thC 

9. half of a crotal bell. The bottom half looks like it has been cut away rather than
    broken.

Saxon strap end, 5cm

Strap ends were used to decorate and weigh down leather straps so they hung well. There are 2 rivet holes to attach to the strap. strap end often had zoomorphic decoration and two eyes can be seen with some bands on this one. It is made of a copper alloy.

barbarous radiate 22mm

Barbarous radiates are imitations of the antoninianus, a type of coin issued during the Roman Empire c.270-273 AD.

coin of Constantius II, 13mm

similar to "RIC VIII Antioch 49 var. 337-341 AD" on Wildwinds site 

knee buckle 18thC.

Knee buckle / anchor chape Type V xv

squashed bowl, 5cm

Possibly pewter, too light for lead. I have no idea what this is for or how old it is!

lid of roman seal box, 26mm

Seal boxes are believed to be used to protect wax seals. They often had holes in the lid and base. This is just the lid, copper alloy.

similar to: https://finds.org.uk/database/artefacts/record/id/939857 and

https://finds.org.uk/database/artefacts/record/id/927120

possibly a worn Roman coin used as a pendant

broken handle of candle snuffer, 18thC

similar to: https://finds.org.uk/database/artefacts/record/id/103028

half of a crotal bell

The bottom half of this animal bell looks like it has been cut away rather than broken. 

Fungi in Binsted Wood

Fly Agaric, Amanita muscaria

to view a gallery with more photos, click here

This afternoon I visited Binsted Wood near Arundel for a fungi walk. I was rewarded with plenty of Fly Agarics of various stages, Southern Bracket, Red-belted Bracket, Beechwood Sickener and others which I have not had time to identify yet.

Beechwood Sickener, Russula nobilis

Binsted Wood

Fly Agaric, Amanita muscaria

unidentified fungi: 

Red-belted Bracket, Fomitopsis pinicola

Red-belted Bracket

Southern Bracket, Ganoderma australe

a visit to Ronda in 1988

The Puente Nuevo and the cliffs of El Tajo

to view a gallery with more photos, click here

I've started to look at slides from my vast store and digitise some. It's a lengthy and tedious process which will never be completed, but I'm homing in on those that particularly interest me. 

  One of the first boxes I looked at is from a visit I made to the Marbella area in 1988 to see Bruce, a friend from Saudi days. Bruce was a graphic designer and an excellent photographer who was my mentor when I bought my first serious SLR camera (a Nikon FE2). It was in Spain on that trip that I first met Jackie who had become a partner to Bruce. Jackie became one of our close friends and the reason we moved to Littlehampton when we retired from Saudi. Jackie lives nearby and we see her most weeks for supper. During that visit they took me on a day trip around the mountains and we stopped at Ronda. These are the photos I took at Ronda that day during the week May 17-23. They are from Kodachrome 64 slides.

Plaza de Toros de Ronda

The Puente Nuevo and the cliffs of El Tajo