Can anyone ID this lump of metal?
Discussion
A thrilling thread I agree....
In my garden I have a spring fed pond. The land used to be farm land and the pond part of the farmland where I believe they originally had cattle grazing. With the weather being hot and not much rain following a similar summer last year, the water levels are lower than I've ever seen them and as such things are being exposed that I've never seen before.
Spotted what looks like a decorative piece of iron tonight but the bugger wont shift at all at the moment. It's going to require a lot more effort and some rope at some point as it seems to be partly buried in the silt, but next to it was this thing.
It's hollow, has a hole where the crow bar is holding it and quite heavy. My theory is if I can identify what this is, it might give me a clue as to what is still in the water.
Gut instinct is it's a gate, but curious if anyone knows what this is from!
In my garden I have a spring fed pond. The land used to be farm land and the pond part of the farmland where I believe they originally had cattle grazing. With the weather being hot and not much rain following a similar summer last year, the water levels are lower than I've ever seen them and as such things are being exposed that I've never seen before.
Spotted what looks like a decorative piece of iron tonight but the bugger wont shift at all at the moment. It's going to require a lot more effort and some rope at some point as it seems to be partly buried in the silt, but next to it was this thing.
It's hollow, has a hole where the crow bar is holding it and quite heavy. My theory is if I can identify what this is, it might give me a clue as to what is still in the water.
Gut instinct is it's a gate, but curious if anyone knows what this is from!
SistersofPercy said:
A thrilling thread I agree....
In my garden I have a spring fed pond. The land used to be farm land and the pond part of the farmland where I believe they originally had cattle grazing. With the weather being hot and not much rain following a similar summer last year, the water levels are lower than I've ever seen them and as such things are being exposed that I've never seen before.
Spotted what looks like a decorative piece of iron tonight but the bugger wont shift at all at the moment. It's going to require a lot more effort and some rope at some point as it seems to be partly buried in the silt, but next to it was this thing.
It's hollow, has a hole where the crow bar is holding it and quite heavy. My theory is if I can identify what this is, it might give me a clue as to what is still in the water.
Gut instinct is it's a gate, but curious if anyone knows what this is from!
Looks like the release timer from a 1944 Heinzkrupp 44 Tonne "Badboy" ground sinking bomb. Usually designed to go off 24-48 hrs after the release timer is dislodged by the impact on the ground.In my garden I have a spring fed pond. The land used to be farm land and the pond part of the farmland where I believe they originally had cattle grazing. With the weather being hot and not much rain following a similar summer last year, the water levels are lower than I've ever seen them and as such things are being exposed that I've never seen before.
Spotted what looks like a decorative piece of iron tonight but the bugger wont shift at all at the moment. It's going to require a lot more effort and some rope at some point as it seems to be partly buried in the silt, but next to it was this thing.
It's hollow, has a hole where the crow bar is holding it and quite heavy. My theory is if I can identify what this is, it might give me a clue as to what is still in the water.
Gut instinct is it's a gate, but curious if anyone knows what this is from!
So there are two choices:
a) It was dislodged in 1944 and the impact is what made your pond.
b) You are about to get a bigger pond in the next few days.
Having being around farms a bit...it does kind off look like it could be a gate post mount though, especially if there was originally a fence for cattle to go down and water so it could be that as well.
Though when I desludged my garden pond (believed to be from late 1800s) I did find two remains of incendiary bombs and about 10 years ago a house a few hundred meters away was doing groundworks for an extension and found some interesting large metal objects requiring the bomb squad out! However I'm in urban land so was a candidate for bombs from Jerry if you were on farmland possibly not so much.
Allegro_Snapon said:
Looks like the release timer from a 1944 Heinzkrupp 44 Tonne "Badboy" ground sinking bomb. Usually designed to go off 24-48 hrs after the release timer is dislodged by the impact on the ground.
So there are two choices:
a) It was dislodged in 1944 and the impact is what made your pond.
b) You are about to get a bigger pond in the next few days.
Having being around farms a bit...it does kind off look like it could be a gate post mount though, especially if there was originally a fence for cattle to go down and water so it could be that as well.
Though when I desludged my garden pond (believed to be from late 1800s) I did find two remains of incendiary bombs and about 10 years ago a house a few hundred meters away was doing groundworks for an extension and found some interesting large metal objects requiring the bomb squad out! However I'm in urban land so was a candidate for bombs from Jerry if you were on farmland possibly not so much.
Now you jest, but the land was initially part of an airfield and the factory up the road built Spitfires and flew them out of this land in WWII. So there are two choices:
a) It was dislodged in 1944 and the impact is what made your pond.
b) You are about to get a bigger pond in the next few days.
Having being around farms a bit...it does kind off look like it could be a gate post mount though, especially if there was originally a fence for cattle to go down and water so it could be that as well.
Though when I desludged my garden pond (believed to be from late 1800s) I did find two remains of incendiary bombs and about 10 years ago a house a few hundred meters away was doing groundworks for an extension and found some interesting large metal objects requiring the bomb squad out! However I'm in urban land so was a candidate for bombs from Jerry if you were on farmland possibly not so much.
Local legend has it that after the war parts were dumped in local ponds as the factory returned to it's original purpose. If there is half a plane under there it's under a few meters of silt. I do like the idea of DIY pond enlargement though, would save the effort of digging I've pulled bits of fence up before, metal bars and some shaped like shepherds crooks, but what made me extra curious was the part I can see poking out from under the lily pads looks decorative. I think you're probably right and it is fence, but I think tomorrow I'm going to have to get my waders on and see how far I can get in and if I can pull the rest of it up.
Sitting here contemplating it when him indoors says 'do you want to go and try and get it?' I'd got my waders on before he'd taken his watch off!
I think I've got an answer...
In my dreams this is a lump of said Spitfire I mentioned upthread, however, my head tells me it's probably some piece of old farm equipment? Maybe a rotivator of some type and the first lump possibly a swing arm from it? It's got cogs, seems to be rotivator blade type things on one end. Whatever it is will stay, i'll find a way of standing it and grow something up it. It's part of the history so should stay, though other half shook his head and said 'just give it the scrap man'
The other part I could not retrieve. It's huge. I'm fairly sure it's an old metal bed frame as there seems to be holes for the springs. Thats going to have to stay as there is so much pond grass growth through it, it would be a real pain to pull up.
More photos.....
I think I've got an answer...
In my dreams this is a lump of said Spitfire I mentioned upthread, however, my head tells me it's probably some piece of old farm equipment? Maybe a rotivator of some type and the first lump possibly a swing arm from it? It's got cogs, seems to be rotivator blade type things on one end. Whatever it is will stay, i'll find a way of standing it and grow something up it. It's part of the history so should stay, though other half shook his head and said 'just give it the scrap man'
The other part I could not retrieve. It's huge. I'm fairly sure it's an old metal bed frame as there seems to be holes for the springs. Thats going to have to stay as there is so much pond grass growth through it, it would be a real pain to pull up.
More photos.....
A quick look on Google for 'horse drawn fam machinery reveals any number of implements from which your bits could have come.
Maybe if you send your pictures to the Rural Life Centre near Tilford, Surrey, someone there might recognise it, as they have any amount of old farm machines. Rural Life Centre
info@rural-life.org.uk
Maybe if you send your pictures to the Rural Life Centre near Tilford, Surrey, someone there might recognise it, as they have any amount of old farm machines. Rural Life Centre
info@rural-life.org.uk
GliderRider said:
A quick look on Google for 'horse drawn fam machinery reveals any number of implements from which your bits could have come.
Maybe if you send your pictures to the Rural Life Centre near Tilford, Surrey, someone there might recognise it, as they have any amount of old farm machines. Rural Life Centre
info@rural-life.org.uk
I spent an hour poring over that kind of stuff myself and gave up trying as it all looked the same to me. That’s an excellent idea, I shall drop them an email tomorrow. The bit on the end certainly looks like it’s designed for tilling soil. I’m very curious at this point. Maybe if you send your pictures to the Rural Life Centre near Tilford, Surrey, someone there might recognise it, as they have any amount of old farm machines. Rural Life Centre
info@rural-life.org.uk
I do have a metal detector that works in water so might see what else I can dig up, though in the past that’s been limited to a nineties can of Fanta left by the builders
You could have a try at electrolytic rust removal on the iron parts. It's very easy to do and often yields spectacular results, . You just need a large enough bucket, a couple of tablespoons of washing soda a battery charger and a sacrificial lump of iron you don't care about - plus a few wires. Depending on settings it may take a few days or even weeks to work. Detailed instructions all over Google so I won't labour it here.
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