Reading 2006 - We had to fill in after digging!

My digging career (or hobby!),started in 1978,when as a school boy i helped to dig out a small 1910-1920's refuse site near Crowthorne in Berkshire.

Like most young diggers,my idea of a hard days digging was a couple of hours scratching around in a hole better suited to a rabbit and every item recovered was considered worthy of my slowly expanding collection!

Luckily,my skills soon improved and in that first year i uncovered several pot lids,poisons and printed pots as well as a very rare small size Warner's Safe compound,a bottle i still consider one of my best finds.

As i grew older and moved into the adult world,my digging became more sporadic.Spells of active digging would be interspaced with long periods of inactivity.Through the 1980's and early 90's finding sites was always difficult because i was too busy with socialising and work,so my collection remained fairly stagnant.

All that changed when i was made redundant from my job in 1997.To tie me over,i started to sell my swaps at a local antiques market in Oxford.I was amazed how much interest there was for bottles and i soon became a full time bottle digger/seller (luckily i have no big mortgage or expenses!).

Since that time i have found many new sites and built up a great network of similar minded friends and between us we have travelled much of the country in search of new sites to dig.

My main aim is still to expand my own collection.I collect a bit of everything and continue to add new items with great regularity.There are still some great things to be found,though they don't give themselves up easily!

I belong to the Oxford Antique Bottle Club,one of the best attended and well run bottle clubs in the country.It meets at the Gardeners Arms in Tackley on the third Sunday of every month and visitors from any part of the World are always most welcome.

Most items i sell on ebay are found either by myself or my friends.I will always try to give a full and accurate description,as i realise that not everyone will know the basic details about even some of the more common items.Most antique bottles have a fascinating history if you look for it.