Well, the exciting news is that we have now finished removing the soil that has built-up behind the box, and have reduced it down to the clay 'base' that was probably there long before the railway came along.
All that remains is to cut out a couple of old stumps, and one or two shovelfuls of spoil that have fallen under the brambles in the field where we can't reach them. These may have to wait until future fence-repair works, but should definitely be removed, lest the horses encounter a piece of broken glass.
Besides that, we carried on digging the ditch from the box towards the culvert. This week we found:
- More of the frame
- More jars and milk bottles
- A bicycle lamp (rear)
- Part of the ash-hole cover
- Part of the stove
- An aluminium teapot
- Bits of telegraph-pole insulating pot
- Part of a bicycle bell?
- The base of a B22 lamp
- A spray-cannister, perhaps from an inhaler? (I can make out 'Lloyds Ltd' on the back)
- More bits of battery-jar
- The case of a shotgun cartridge, and another from a .22 rifle
- The top off a white enameled flask
- Shards of mug
- A nickel-plated steel spoon
Besides that, we cleared away some of the ballast that has piled up on the asphalt path around the front of the building, and did a spot of weeding. The things have sprung up remarkably fast this summer, even in the least-hospitable areas of the structure.
The part of the ditch near the building seems to have an exceptionally high density of interesting junk, so I fully expect to find more as we get the channel cleared-out!
