| March 10th, 2005 11:31 AM |
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| moy |
not sure if this is already posted
Wyman leaves no stone unturned
By Valentine Low, Evening Standard
9 March 2005
When it comes to the recreational pursuits of famous rock-n'rollers, there is a traditional range of choices - throwing televisions from hotel windows, developing (and then trying to lose) expensive drug habits, hunting down groupies, and, ah, entertaining them.
But these days former Rolling Stone Bill Wyman likes nothing better than tramping through muddy fields with his trusty metal detector in search of buried treasure.
As he was worth an estimated £25 million at last count, Wyman does not exactly need the money. He has, however, always been interested in history, and for him digging up medieval coins and ancient axeheads provides a fascinating insight into our island's past.
As he said when he took up the hobby: "Metal detecting is more interesting to me than the new Rolling Stones record."
Now he has written a book detailing longforgotten treasures which have been found in farmers' fields, footpaths and old railway cuttings over the years.
Bill Wyman's Treasure Islands, co-written with Richard Havers, is a catalogue of some of the thousands of artefacts - coins, jewellery, armour and eating and drinking vessels - which have been discovered.
They vary from the Roman silver dish found on the banks of the Tyne by a nine-year-old girl in 1735 to the Hoxne Hoard of 1992, when Eric Lewes stumbled across Roman coins worth £1.75 million with his metal detector, the most valuable find of its kind in Britain.
Wyman, 68, developed an interest in archaeology after buying his 15th century Suffolk manor house in 1968.
"Some workmen repairing a water pipe found a 16th century jug. That kind of astounded me. Then I was digging the roses in the rose garden one summer's day and saw a little pewter pot and thought, 'wow, there must be more things here.'" He started his own dig, got local archaeologists involved and bought his first metal detector in 1991.
"For me it was fascinating. I started to relearn my history and found a great hobby which got me a bit of fresh air and exercise in my spare time," he said. "I have spent literally thousands of hours searching the fields close to my house and I have been rewarded with hundreds of interesting finds."
Wyman has uncovered more than 300 coins, including two from the Iron Age, a gold halfnoble from 1361, and a silver penny from the reign of Harold II in near-mint condition. That is despite the fact that he has limited his searches to the area near his home, south of Bury St Edmunds.
He still relishes the experience of a new find. " The moment you find something you pick it up and rub the dirt off, and it gives you a feeling. You look at it and think, 'This has been buried here for 1,700 years and I've just picked it up.'"
A collection of Bill's treasure - CLICK IMAGE to enlarge
He has had to put up with a certain amount of ribbing over the years, but insists it is a hobby that has some relevance for the younger generation.
"It's not just an old fogey thing," he said. "My little girls are really interested. My eldest, Katharine, she's 10, has been out. She also goes out by herself and collects fossils."
But heavy metal detecting is hardly rock'n'roll is it? Surely Wyman's band mates, past and present, have had some fun at his expense. On the contrary, he says. "Some of them are very interested. Jeff Beck has been up to my house with his detector, and various other people."
• Bill Wyman's Treasure Islands is published by Sutton Publishing, priced at £25. To order your copy of the book call Haynes Publishing on 01963 442 030. |
| March 10th, 2005 03:40 PM |
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| Ten Thousand Motels |
What a waste of talent and time!!! Fuck the past. What about the present? He should be in the studio with the Stones making some real history. |
| March 10th, 2005 09:00 PM |
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| Soldatti |
Pathetic. |
| March 10th, 2005 09:15 PM |
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| parmeda |
Ha!...and we all thought WE needed a Stones tour badly? |
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