Although there were only three of us this week, we got an early start, and good weather let us drop easily into the now-familiar spoil extraction routine. With one of the gang digging out a new ditch, another clearing the heap at the foot of the rear wall, and a third barrowing it away to the north, we made excellent progress. The end of this particular task is on the horizon!
Of course, no day of digging would be complete without the usual array of archeological finds. In the mud this week were:
- Eight intact glass bottles, various types
- Assorted shards of glass and pottery (part of a teapot?)
- A push-along lawnmower, sans handle
- More carbon rods, probably the remains of zinc-carbon batteries
- Part of the lever frame, showng the makers' name
- Fusewire holders, perhaps from the original distribution board
- A melamine "Midwinter Modern" teacup, c1960. This claims to be break-resistant, and it has certainly outlasted all the other tableware we've found!
We also encountered a length of pipe, firmly burried at an inexplicable angle, so as to block the ditch. We weren't able to determine if it is attached to anything, or merely fell there.
Lastly, just to prove S&T involves more than shovelling dirt, I've included a slightly grainy view of a small signal bracket being fabricated at Ruddington for use in the station area.
