As organising events is “such hard work” according to many, our Club ran two events on one day.
The first was a local event near Loughborough for our members only, as a couple of members offered to look after that one.
We like doing small, friendly events which are the essence of the hobby unlike certain “commercial groups” who seem more interested in hyping events and cramming in as many punters as possible.
Dig Two was in Shropshire, close to Stokesay Castle for those who know the area.
Both events had almost perfect land conditions, Loughborough was cultivated/drilled stubble and Stokesay was over wintered stubble from a barley crop.
After a pretty wet spell both sites had dried nicely so parking wasn`t a problem either, its often the hardest part of organising events as tractors don`t need to park!
Weather forecast was dry & sunny for both, although getting up to travel to Stokesay at 4.30am I might not have noticed!!
I arrived on sight at 7.00am to open gates, put some banners up and have a cuppa after the drive, the local lads got a nice lie in getting on site at around 8.00am, maybe I got the short straw?
Both events started at 9.00am prompt with the usual expectation and excitement. Stokesay had about 45/50 acres across 2 fields and Luffy had about 120 acres across 2 fields!
About an hour in in Shropshire the first finds report came in, 1 lucky chap had already found 3 hammered silver coins, why hammered coins “define a dig” I have no idea, but there we are!
Reports came in that “Luffy” was also on 3 hammered coins, the battle was on!!
As is the way when folk are getting signals and finding stuff, they are reluctant to come back until about lunchtime or later. Early reports suggested Field 2 at Stokesay was “quiet” but Field 1 was providing plenty of signals such as musket balls, buckles and the like.
Back in Loughborough events had led to a phone call from the Estate manager suggesting one of the fields was off limits due to being drilled with sugar beet. No problems – they moved to another field, small communication error and easily resolved. They say – we do, easy fix with 2 phone calls.
In between times folk were returning with “stuff” including, at Stokesay, a cracking Anglo-Saxon strap end with a floral/beast motif from the “quiet” Field 2.
I have a real love of Anglo-Saxon metalwork and thinking how the craftsman of the time were able to make things of such beauty.
As is the way these days folk post pictures on social media often not knowing what they have found.
Back in Loughborough an evening post on our members page revealed an Anglo-Saxon stirrup mount!
2 bits of Anglo-Saxon in one day, 200 miles apart, its why we love the hobby!
As for the “Hammered Score” Stokesay 11 Loughborough 7.
24 people attended Stokesay so the landowner collected £480.00 for the day.
At Loughborough the “members only” events are operated on slightly different Ts & Cs with the gate money being split between Estate & the club.
All in all a successful “Double Dig Day” with plenty of folk finding brief glimpses of our collective past. We even had a “Youtuber” recording at Stokesay, not my thing but many folk like to watch them and she is one of the more Down to Earth styles of filming rather than the excessive hype some utilise.
