What’s this?

[Kings Norton Sue]

Hi everyone, perhaps you could help with me with this query. I found this poking out of the ground in a Northfield park years ago and always wondered what it is. It’s heavy (1.8kg), made of iron as it’s still flaking/rusting away and fits nicely into the palm/hand at 13x9.5cm. I think i might know what it is but wondered what everyone else thinks and what situation you would expect i might have found it in, if it was in situ.

Thanks, Sue

 

[Tinpot]

Hi everyone, perhaps you could help with me with this query. I found this poking out of the ground in a Northfield park years ago and always wondered what it is. It’s heavy (1.8kg), made of iron as it’s still flaking/rusting away and fits nicely into the palm/hand at 13x9.5cm. I think i might know what it is but wondered what everyone else thinks and what situation you would expect i might have found it in, if it was in situ.

Thanks, Sue

It is difficult to understand the form of the object with only one view.

 

[Kings Norton Sue]

It is difficult to understand the form of the object with only one view.

Sorry I’ve tried and I’m still trying to limit the photo file size but i can’t. Aaaargh!

 

[Morturn]

Its not a piece of slag from a small steel or iron works is it?

 

[John L]

Sorry I’ve tried and I’m still trying to limit the photo file size but i can’t. Aaaargh!

Could you describe what the top and bottom look like and give a rough size of the object please?

 

[Astoness]

Could you describe what the top and bottom look like and give a rough size of the object please?

john the size and weight is on post 1

hi sue there is nothing wrong with the size of your photo but could you maybe take a couple more from different angles please

lyn

 

[pjmburns]

I think Sue means another photo needs resizing in order to be able to post it.
Right click and open with Paint. Click on resize (towards left of toolbar,) and enter 20. Then "save as" so you still have your original. Upload the copy.

 

[Kings Norton Sue]

I think Sue means another photo needs resizing in order to be able to post it.
Right click and open with Paint. Click on resize (towards left of toolbar,) and enter 20. Then "save as" so you still have your original. Upload the copy.

hi Janice, thanks, yes you’re right. I bought an ipad to make life easier but i can’t get the damn thing to do anything! I’m new to this and don’t really know what I’m doing. I can take a smaller photo but only from far away…i would laugh at my incompetence but it’s very frustrating (I have googled doing it). I’ll try again and hope.

 

[Kings Norton Sue]

Its not a piece of slag from a small steel or iron works is it?

That was my thought but it was found in a park.

 

[Kings Norton Sue]

john the size and weight is on post 1

hi sue there is nothing wrong with the size of your photo but could you maybe take a couple more from different angles please

lyn

hi, i have more but almost every photo is 4MB or more and won’t upload except by cropping it. As i said aaaargh..

 

[Pedro42]

hi, i have more but almost every photo is 4MB or more and won’t upload except by cropping it. As i said aaaargh..

PhotoRazor is a good method to reduce photo sizes. It's free & it's easy to use. I don't know if there is an ipad version though

PhotoRazor

A free Design & photography program for Windows

photorazor.en.softonic.com

This app is one of many designed for iPads

Image Size

This app allows you to resize an image to whatever size you like (with limitation), quickly and easily. You can specify the output format using one of the following four units of measurement: pixels, millimeters, centimeters, inches To preserve aspect ratio just tap on the chain icon between...

apps.apple.com

 

[Astoness]

That was my thought but it was found in a park.

it depends what was on the ground before the park...can you give us the location and maybe we can check earlier maps for you

lyn

 

[Morturn]

Yes, there were quite a few small steel works in Birmingham. People used to collect furnace slag too. In Overseal, South Derbshire there are garden walls buily from the glazed slag form the pipworks kilns.

 

[pjmburns]

hi Janice, thanks, yes you’re right. I bought an ipad to make life easier but i can’t get the damn thing to do anything! I’m new to this and don’t really know what I’m doing. I can take a smaller photo but only from far away…i would laugh at my incompetence but it’s very frustrating (I have googled doing it). I’ll try again and hope.

It is the memory size. Sending you a PM - check envelope top right next to your avatar.

 

[pjmburns]

Have pics from Sue will resize and post soon.

 

[Astoness]

hi sue even looking at your updated photos on post 1 i have no idea im afraid...could you give us the exact location of where you found it

lyn

 

[pjmburns]

Not sure what the problem was as these all uploaded straight away. A couple are repeats but I have left them.

 

[pjmburns]

question - was the park used in WW2 for any training?

 

[John L]

My thought was, could it be the top of what is left of a shell (the lower half of the picture below)?

 

[pjmburns]

I hadn't quite got that far but that was the thinking behind my question about WW2 training.

 

[Kings Norton Sue]

it depends what was on the ground before the park...can you give us the location and maybe we can check earlier maps for you

lyn

Hi, thanks lyn. Can i post screenshots of maps or are they all copyrighted? It’s Ley Hill park and it’s always been a fields or golf course/park as far as i know. I think Chris Dwyer wrote about it’s history.

 

[Kings Norton Sue]

question - was the park used in WW2 for any training?

It looks like they did. These are not parch marks but the other type, from a gully or similar? This is from the flat top green football pitch/space near the building.

 

[mikejee]

For uses such as this forum there is no copyright issue

 

[Eric Gibson]

It really looks like slag to me.

 

[Morturn]

Interesting that, the area does not look like it had been industrialised. The Elan Aqueduct runs a few yards to the south of the find site, so am wondering if its either from the excavations or a piece of iron pipework.

 

[Kings Norton Sue]

It really looks like slag to me.

It did to me too. I found it poking out of the hillside in a small rise of 12” or so, way up the top of the hillside far away from the aqueduct. It did look in situ to me as the soil around was undisturbed and that got me thinking about conditions needed to make iron in this way. I recall reading a furnace dug into a blowy hillside was the way to do it.
It really looks like slag to me.

For uses such as this forum there is no copyright issues.

it depends what was on the ground before the park...can you give us the location and maybe we can check earlier maps for you

lyn

 

[Kings Norton Sue]

PhotoRazor is a good method to reduce photo sizes. It's free & it's easy to use. I don't know if there is an ipad version though

PhotoRazor

A free Design & photography program for Windows

photorazor.en.softonic.com

This app is one of many designed for iPads

Image Size

This app allows you to resize an image to whatever size you like (with limitation), quickly and easily. You can specify the output format using one of the following four units of measurement: pixels, millimeters, centimeters, inches To preserve aspect ratio just tap on the chain icon between...

apps.apple.com

Thanks, I’ll give it a go.

 

[mw0njm.]

part of a cannon ball

 

[Kings Norton Sue]

part of a cannon ball

Yikes…

 

[Richard Dye]

Its not a piece of slag from a small steel or iron works is it?

Is it magnetic?