For older readers or....

Wed 12 Apr 2017, 13:44

Rod. Can't do Monday I'm afraid. Any time Thursday onwards will be OK. Look forward to seeing what you've found. Sorry about possible damage to the gooseberries - maybe think about old bottles as just a different kind of crop!

Tue 11 Apr 2017, 23:45

Rhona thanks indeed, lovely to hear all that and of course you're welcome to come and see - so far I've only cleaned up a small proportion of what I've found but would love to know what you make of it. And there is probably a huge amount of stuff still waiting to be dug up... (I do love my gooseberries though!). How about Easter Monday afternoon for you and anyone else interested?

John - thanks, haven't heard from anyone else but you'd be welcome too on Monday if interested.

Tue 11 Apr 2017, 10:34

Some of these bottles and pots such as Woods Areca Nut Toothpaste, are Victorian/1910. Gartons made HP sauce and Holbrook and Co (1870s-1954) made Worcestershire sauce both presumably popular condiments that added flavour to the Charlbury diet. Before the days of municipal dumps and regular rubbish collections, there was nowhere to dump the ever-increasing number of discarded containers. Domestic rubbish tips built up at the edge of villages and towns and a century later excavation offers a fascinating glimpse of a pre-plastic world. I have lots of pots and bottles from all over the UK and would love to see what you have dug up in Charlbury.

Tue 11 Apr 2017, 09:19 (last edited on Tue 11 Apr 2017, 09:19)

Rod, have you heard from Celia Faulkner or Barbara Allison or Ron Prew?

Mon 10 Apr 2017, 21:08

Thanks Heather - I'd certainly heard of it before, my parents found something similar in Somerset 40 years ago!

Am reposting also in the hope of more replies - and having found a couple more names which might jog memories. How about Gartons; and Holbrook & Co? Both found on glass stoppers so am guessing pre-war or 50s...

Sun 26 Mar 2017, 18:35

Apparently there are a few tips like that about, one on the A361 between Shipton and Chipping Norton. Charlbury Parish council should be able to shed some light on the location of these domestic tips.

Sun 26 Mar 2017, 18:11 (last edited on Sun 26 Mar 2017, 18:13)

...those with older Charlbury relatives.

Many of you will be familiar with Mill Lane. The garden to Millers Barn (last house on left) tapers towards the point where the mill stream rejoins the main river. There used to be a large old willow about 15 yards in from the end of the garden - reduced to a tall stump, it finally fell over and was removed 2 years ago.

Since then, from digging in that area (to plant fruit bushes) it's become obvious that it was once used as a general domestic tip - I've dug up loads of old bottles and pots, metal work, bits of china and glass etc. Just this weekend, a 3' x 2' hole produced about 50 unbroken bottles and 3 large bags of other stuff - I stopped digging at 2+ ft!

So what I'd like to know is, was it a public or private tip, how big an area was it and when was it in use? A few things might date from the 50s or even 60s (eg Crosse & Blackwell bottles) but most look older, especially medicine bottles with glass stoppers. A lot are unmarked but here's a few names which might jog memories: Eifel Tower Lemonade from Maidstone; California Fig Syrup Co; Cook's Lemonade ("Try also Cook's Farm Eggs"!); Woods Areca Nut Toothpaste: Burgess's Anchovy Paste ("Late 107 Strand, London" - but relegated to Willesden!); T Ritchings Pottery, Cranham; SCWS Shieldhall.

Can anyone shed any light??