SALFORD'S HISTORY TURNED UP IN LOCAL EXCAVATIONS

Last month I told how a good friend of mine, Barry Calderwood who drives a mechanical digger unearthed a stone ginger beer bottle from Batty's of Walkden whilst removing the rubble from the now demolished Unicorn pub in Peel Green and kindly gave it me.

Barry knows I collect most things Salford related and said he would keep his eyes open for future finds and keep them for me, and this morning he kindly left a gift on my doorstep for me.

I was delighted to see a C. Wilhelm, Ardwick, Manchester, Ginger Beer bottle in mint condition which is well over a 100 years old which he excavated from a site on Salford Quays,

Also two glazed cream jugs, one from Hammersley's Creamery Broughton with the three hammers logo, the other from Hailwoods, Manchester Creamery, Broughton with a cow logo, again these are over 100 year old each.

I have several variations on the Broughton cream jug, some on a two coloured glaze and others without the cow logo and so they will make welcome additions to my collection of over 200 Ginger Beer bottles and cream jugs.

I started collecting in the mid 1970s when a Victorian tip was unearthed where I was working, Codd bottles, the one's that have a marble in as a closure, blue poison bottles, Dutch Gin Bottles, pot lids advertising toothpaste and the wonderful Bears Grease for your hair, wine bottles, beer bottles, clay pipes, ink wells etc came out in their hundreds, 

Sadly a chap who was digging there was killed when the trench he was in collapsed, a horrendous death, this incident stopped me from digging for many, years.

The hobby is still going strong though with local; diggers unearthing new tips all the time, some not as old as the Victorian one, but still yielding some treasures.

If you have unearthed any or collect them I would love to see them, more importantly if you have any lying about in your attic or garage and don't want them...I'm your man!