Everything has now been recorded, so the next step is to lift the pins! The decorative pins were once attached to an organic material, possibly leather, this has now gone, replaced by soil and once the soil has been removed there will be nothing holding the pins together. So the challenge is to lift and conserve the pins in such a way to preserve the original fish scale pattern and any dimensions of the group, which may help identify this mystery object in the future.

A bit of a challenge, so I decided to lift only small sections at a time, which does mean breaking up the largest surviving section unfortunately, but I should be able to reconstruct this later.

In the first image you can see that some of the pins are facing up and some facing down, indicating that the material the pins were once attached to was folded, this has perished leaving the pins in this position. So now it’s not just a mystery object it’s also a layered mystery object! Oh joy!

On the next image, outlined in white, is the first section to be tackled; I thought I’d start with the smallest and simplest first! The upper surface of the pins is faced up with Japanese tissue and adhesive. Once dry I excavate round and under the section then lift and turn it over.

Not as straight forward as I thought as something new appears, not just pins, but a disc headed stud. The x-ray also reveals the remains of a chain, plus a line of dome headed studs

On cleaning, the chain can clearly be seen attached to the stud and would have once been suspended from it, possibly linking up to another stud elsewhere on the armour. There are also enough dome headed studs running in a line to suggest they were part of a deliberate pattern. The remains of a tinned surface and therefore white metal finish survive on the upper surface of the stud and at the end of the pin there is a washer or rove identical to that on the plaque featured on the previous blog. So there is a good chance that they were once part of the same object, but again it’s too early to be sure.

The disc and pins are now cleaned and preserved, in the last photo they are laid out as they were in the ground. The dome headed pins were in direct contact with the disc suggesting they were on the same layer as the stud, which was facing downwards in the soil and attached to something folded under the layer with fish scale pins, which were facing up. Hope that makes sense!

Now to tackle the next section and I have a feeling that this may be full of surprises as well.

Crocus:

Watch your crocus very carefully over the next few weeks. They could flower any time, especially if your school is in the South or near the coast. See the reports below from schools that have seen signs that their flowers are on the way.

Since the 6th of January my Crocus has grown 1cm taller. The tiny leaves and buds have pushed through the soil, so I predict that I will have some flowers next week or the one after. See my picture and compare it with your own.

Daffodils:

My Daffodils are 6 cms taller, but I think they could take another 3-5 weeks to flower. 

The daffodils I planted in autumn 2010 have already grown their buds, so it should only be a week or two now before they flower. Look at these pictures so you know what to look for - when yours start to appear.

Answers to your comments:

Westwood CP School - Bulbs are starting to push through - no flowers yet - not too far away. Prof.P: Great news - I can't wait to see the pics!

Ysgol Bro Cinmeirch - Wythnos gwlyb iawn yma! Athro Ardd: Gobeithio bod y bwrw wedi gorffen nawr!

Stanford in the Vale School - Dear Professor plant. What a week! Bitter cold at the start of the week and then considerably warmer towards the end of the week! The children have been hoping for snow :-) Kind regards, Gardening Club. Prof.P: Yes the weather has been very changeable, snow would be lovely but it could harm the flowers!

Woodplumpton Primary School - We are excited that some of our bulbs have started to grow. Now we are looking closely every day and worrying a bit about ones that haven't appeared! Prof.P: Great that some bulbs are coming through, don't worry about the others they should come in their own good time!

Christchurch CP School - Some of the bulbs started to grow. Green shoots have started to come though! Excellent news! Prof.P: Watch them very carefully now.

Laugharne VCP School - We were very excited when we returned to school after the Christmas break to discover that 8 of our daffodils and one of our crocuses have started to grow! We couldn't believe it very early! Prof.P: So exciting! Keep watching to catch those flowering dates.

Sunday 4 December 2011

A bright, clear, sunny morning gave us our first good look at Macquarie Island, its straight steep eastern side plunging into the sea. On the shore we could see a beach packed with King penguins.

We had hoped to take the zodiacs out to cruise amongst the swimming Kings but a southerly wind was too strong and the swell too big for safety. But the Kings came to us instead. They are curious birds, and hundreds of them swam all around the ship.

Soon it was time to leave and we set off along the eastern side of Macquarie and out into the Southern Ocean. Once well out of sight of land, we were accompanied by several pairs of light-mantled sooty albatross which soared alongside our ship.

Below, skimming the waves, flashes of blue were Antarctic prions, while farther out, the huge white wingspan of a wandering albatross swept back and forth low above the water.

Monday 5 December 2011

It's going to take us two full days at sea to our next landfall, at Hobart in Tasmania, where my Antarctic journey will end. So all day today we've been rolling back and forth in the swell of the Tasman Sea and we've another day of it to go.

This is the time to look back on where we've been and what we've seen. A visit to Antarctica is always special, but this visit to the Ross Sea has been truly extraordinary. It's a difficult place to get to - we had to break our way through 900 miles of pack ice to reach 77o 50° South - and the landscape is like no other. It's one of those places where you find it hard to believe that you are really there.

It's been an amazing and moving experience to visit the century-old huts of the Scott and Shackleton expeditions, and one can only be in awe of their achievements, not just in their exploration of new lands but in the scientific work they did here, often in the severest conditions.

Having been to their expedition bases and to some of the sites they visited, I'm looking forward to re-reading the accounts of their expeditions, and especially that of Scott's last expedition, the centenary of which will be marked next year with a number of events in the UK.

I'm sure that much of what I've seen and experienced on this trip deep below the Antarctic Circle will enhance our forthcoming exhibition,

, and the activities we have planned around it. But for now, it's back to the rolling sea.

You may remember our pictures of roses and daisies flowering in December?  Well, top botanist, Dr Tim Rich, who is based at Amgueddfa Cymru - National Museum Wales has looked much further into this strange occurence.

On new year's day he counted how many different types of plants were found to be flowering in the Winter. He found that the warm weather had allowed an amazing 63 wildflowers to bloom, which is much more than the normal average of 20-30 species. See the news reports below that explain the findings of his investigation.

Perhaps you could count the number of wild plants that are in flower around your school? If you do, please send me in some pictures. Meanwhile, I've had many reports from schools telling me that their daffodils and crocus are starting to grow!

Many thanks. Professor Plant.

Links:

BBC Breakfast this morning and BBC News live pieces all day today

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-16503250

Listen out for Tim Rich on BBC Radio Wales' Roy Noble Show at 3pm

BBC Radio 4 Today programme this morning - listen again

http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_9675000/9675422.stm

Western Mail  http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/need-to-read/2012/01/08/unseasonably-warm-weather-sees-doubling-of-wild-flowers-in-cardiff-91466-30081765/

BBC Wales Online http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-16465133

www.museumwales.ac.uk/scan/bulbs

Follow me on Twitter http://twitter.com/Professor_Plant

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John Cornwell was a freelance photographer who took many photographs of collieries, mostly in south Wales and the English Midlands, both underground and on the surface, during the 1970s and early 1980s. He perfected a method of underground photography using the standard colliery lighting and was able to photograph coal faces, roadways, shafts and equipment with amazing clarity. In addition to photographing working mines he also recorded abandoned mine workings, above and below ground.

John Cornwell was also well respected in the broader field of industrial archaeology. He published a number of books on Welsh and English collieries.

The copyright of his south Wales images is now owned by National Museum Wales.

John Cornwell: Colliery photos

Tirpentwys Colliery 1979

Six Bells Colliery, 1979

Oakdale Colliery, electric locomotive near the pit bottom, c.1978

Oakdale Colliery, coal conveyor attendant, c.1978

North Celynen Colliery, 1975

Markham Colliery yard, 1977

Marine Colliery, 1980

Marine Colliery, 1974, a 'Western' class locomotive - the 'Western Consort'.

Llanhilleth Colliery, the lattice headframe on the No.2 shaft, 1975.

Hafodyrynys Colliery, electric locomotive at the entrance to the drift in 1968.

Cwmtillery Colliery, decorative brickwork on ventilation fan building, 1980

Cwmtillery Colliery pit bottom, 22 November 1977

Celynen South Colliery, 1978.

Blaenserchen Colliery pit bottom in 1979 with supplies and a dram of waste.

Blaenserchan colliery in 1973.

Coegnant Colliery 1978, prop and bar face.

Wyndham Colliery, c.1975

Wyndham/Western Colliery, turntable near pit bottom, c.1979

Treforgan Colliery with the afternoon shift waiting to descend 1979

St John's Colliery, Anderson Strathclyde shearer, c.1979

Overmen inspecting a shearer on the Six Feet Seam, Brynlliw Colliery 15 December 1977

Modern concrete viaduct linking the mine with the washery, Blaengwrach Colliery, c.1977.

Graig Merthyr Colliery, line of drams in the Graigola Seam - note the unsupported sandstone roof, c.1977

Graig Merthyr Colliery yard in 1977 with a long journey of drams waiting to be run into the mine.

Garw Colliery in 1977, with village in the background.

Cefn Coed Colliery, 1973, engine house and downcast shaft headframe.

Cefn Coed Colliery engine house for the Markham engine on the upcast shaft 1973.

Aberpergwm, 1972, entrance of the new drift mine.

Abernant Colliery, miner at a pumping station at pit bottom, 1978

Aberpergwm Colliery, Dosco Road heading machine and auxiliary fan ducting, c.1978

Ty Mawr Colliery, the remains of an underground ventilation furnace which date back to the late 1870s.

Tower Colliery, 'Rex' with his ostler, 1979.

Taff Merthyr Colliery, heading with Dosco road heading machine and auxiliary ventilation, 1979.

Taff Merthyr Colliery in the late 1970s.

Penrhiwceiber Colliery Pit bottom, 1978.

Nantgarw Colliery, 1978, Anderson Strathclyde drum shearer cutting coal on the coal face.

Merthyr Vale Colliery downcast shaft, c.1980

Maerdy Colliery, 1977, empty mine cars waiting at pit top.

Lewis Merthyr Colliery, 1977, hydraulic roof supports in the yard waiting to be taken underground.

Lady Windsor Colliery, steam locomotive with the upcast shaft in the background, 1977

Ffaldau Colliery, 1977, the pit head.

Fernhill Colliery, the jib of an AB 15 hydraulic undercutter on a timbered longwall face.

Deep Navigation Colliery, the downcast headframe, c.1978

Deep Duffryn Colliery, two pitmen inspecting the shaft from the roof of the cage, 1977-78.

Bargoed Colliery, 20 May 1977.

Morlais Colliery, general view looking east across the River Llwchwr, 1978.

Morlais Colliery, a general view, note the derelict engine pumping house, 1978

Cynheidre Colliery,coal drams at an underground loading point, c.1978

Cynheidre Colliery, main trunk road with high speed conveyor, c.1978

Cwmgwili Colliery, 1978, afternoon shift waiting for their ride at the entrance of the mine.

Cwmgwili Colliery, 1978, a Joy Loader and operators ready to commence work.

Betws Mine, the afternoon shift waiting for the manriding train, c.1976

Cwmgwili Colliery, a completed drivage supported by timber, 1978

Ammanford Colliery, 1974, Mr P.A. Jones, Safety Officer inspecting the roof on the last coal face.

Ammanford Colliery, 1974, Gerald Gibson drilling a shot hole on the coal face.

Ammanford Colliery, 1974, a journey of empty drams being lowered into the slant.

Two Blaenavon miners in the timber yard at the end of the morning shift, 1978.

The Big Pit manager, Glyn Morgan, talking to Billy 'Pigeon' Preece (seated), Big Pit 1975

New roadway driven from the drift entrance with conveyor belt carrying coal from the Garw Seam, Big Pit 1975.

Last day for Glyn Morgan, the last National Coal Board Manager, on 28 November 1980.

Junction near pit bottom, Big Pit 1975, now part of the museum's underground tour.

General surface view, Big Pit 1975.

Forge level, driven c.1812, later incorporated into the Big Pit underground complex .

Colliery horse returning to Big Pit surface stables from the Washery in 1968.

Bill Gunter, the Big Pit safety officer, on the G11 face in 1979

Bill Gunter standing at the archway to Dick Kear's Slope, driven around 1820. Big Pit.

A mine official examining a section of a cage of a water balance machine, near the pit bottom of the Forge Pit (Big Pit), 1975