Germander Speedwell
@germanderspeedwell.bsky.social
Gatherer of lost knowledge
Explorer of Thames foreshores
Assembler of obscure collections
And observer of flora and fauna.
London, England
www.germanderspeedwell.org.uk
No direct messages sorry - I can't access them; please email me (see my website).
Explorer of Thames foreshores
Assembler of obscure collections
And observer of flora and fauna.
London, England
www.germanderspeedwell.org.uk
No direct messages sorry - I can't access them; please email me (see my website).
Thank you!
November 26, 2025 at 5:01 PM
Thank you!
I don't have time to actively search, but what will probably happen is that I'll spot a complete vessel in a shop in a few years' time and realise it looks familiar...
November 25, 2025 at 8:02 AM
I don't have time to actively search, but what will probably happen is that I'll spot a complete vessel in a shop in a few years' time and realise it looks familiar...
It's fine - I'm happy enough that it's clearly an insect!
November 24, 2025 at 5:11 PM
It's fine - I'm happy enough that it's clearly an insect!
Thanks so much for making sense of that mystery creature!
November 23, 2025 at 8:09 PM
Thanks so much for making sense of that mystery creature!
Thanks for your suggestion of a dragonfly - that makes visual sense - it's just confusing at this angle where you can't see its head!
November 23, 2025 at 8:08 PM
Thanks for your suggestion of a dragonfly - that makes visual sense - it's just confusing at this angle where you can't see its head!
Thanks for reposting and querying!
November 23, 2025 at 8:07 PM
Thanks for reposting and querying!
Thanks Vicky!
November 23, 2025 at 8:05 AM
Thanks Vicky!
Thanks so much!
November 23, 2025 at 8:04 AM
Thanks so much!
Thanks very much! I also showed it on Instagram, but it's harder to present as a narrative in that format.
November 22, 2025 at 6:17 PM
Thanks very much! I also showed it on Instagram, but it's harder to present as a narrative in that format.
Sort-of - I think they're broken in the middle of the neck or just below it.
November 22, 2025 at 6:16 PM
Sort-of - I think they're broken in the middle of the neck or just below it.
Thanks so much! Great place to be born. I think I know the building that was the workhouse you mention. I lived in Highgate for many years so also feel a connection with Dick Whittington..
November 22, 2025 at 6:15 PM
Thanks so much! Great place to be born. I think I know the building that was the workhouse you mention. I lived in Highgate for many years so also feel a connection with Dick Whittington..
It might do, but it would be near impossible to get the cloth or paper beyond the marble in the bottle's neck. However, I've sometimes considered putting a dark liquid inside the bottles to bring back the deep blue colour!
November 22, 2025 at 10:27 AM
It might do, but it would be near impossible to get the cloth or paper beyond the marble in the bottle's neck. However, I've sometimes considered putting a dark liquid inside the bottles to bring back the deep blue colour!
Thanks - much appreciated! Yes, I agree it's a pity that they lose that deep blue. I've got one small and plain but beautifully iridescent bottle which I've left with the mud inside for that very reason!
November 22, 2025 at 9:26 AM
Thanks - much appreciated! Yes, I agree it's a pity that they lose that deep blue. I've got one small and plain but beautifully iridescent bottle which I've left with the mud inside for that very reason!
Yes, he's a bit of an oddball figure. And not sure why they made him look naked...
November 22, 2025 at 9:19 AM
Yes, he's a bit of an oddball figure. And not sure why they made him look naked...
And just to confirm, that was the end of that thread. But there might still be more of those bottles to find...!
November 22, 2025 at 9:18 AM
And just to confirm, that was the end of that thread. But there might still be more of those bottles to find...!
... so, those bottles of mineral water were almost certainly drunk at the smallpox receiving station in the early 1880s. As such, they join the collection of bottles and other artefacts that I've been assembling in this display cabinet of the site's history at @surreydocksfarm.bsky.social !
November 22, 2025 at 9:17 AM
... so, those bottles of mineral water were almost certainly drunk at the smallpox receiving station in the early 1880s. As such, they join the collection of bottles and other artefacts that I've been assembling in this display cabinet of the site's history at @surreydocksfarm.bsky.social !
... it's the same patch where I find all the crockery fragments from the Metropolitan Asylums Board (MAB) smallpox receiving station formerly on the @surreydocksfarm.bsky.social site. When researching the maker, R. Pyle, I discovered they were a regular supplier to the MAB in the early 1880s! ....
November 22, 2025 at 9:12 AM
... it's the same patch where I find all the crockery fragments from the Metropolitan Asylums Board (MAB) smallpox receiving station formerly on the @surreydocksfarm.bsky.social site. When researching the maker, R. Pyle, I discovered they were a regular supplier to the MAB in the early 1880s! ....
... when I mentioned these finds to mudlark Carol, who also checks the same patch, she revealed that she'd also found a broken one of this same design in the same patch! So, three bottles of the same design, in the same patch. And that patch has a significance...
November 22, 2025 at 9:08 AM
... when I mentioned these finds to mudlark Carol, who also checks the same patch, she revealed that she'd also found a broken one of this same design in the same patch! So, three bottles of the same design, in the same patch. And that patch has a significance...
... the figure is sitting against a milepost, with a tiny church in the distance - it's Dick Whittington! On Highgate Hill, about to leave London, but called back by the bells of Bow church. (I didn't work this out by myself - the wording actually says Dick Whittington above the image) ...
November 22, 2025 at 9:01 AM
... the figure is sitting against a milepost, with a tiny church in the distance - it's Dick Whittington! On Highgate Hill, about to leave London, but called back by the bells of Bow church. (I didn't work this out by myself - the wording actually says Dick Whittington above the image) ...
... here it is clean. I was now able to identify it as a mineral water bottle from producer R. Pyle, of Hollingsworth St, Islington, dating from the 1880s. But the exciting bit was identifying that curious seated figure depicted on the bottle...
November 22, 2025 at 8:57 AM
... here it is clean. I was now able to identify it as a mineral water bottle from producer R. Pyle, of Hollingsworth St, Islington, dating from the 1880s. But the exciting bit was identifying that curious seated figure depicted on the bottle...
... a complete codd bottle - of the same design! And this one was a lot clearer and would be easier to identify.
It was a lot of work to clean out all the mud inside, and in the process the lovely blue colour is lost, because that's the colour of the iridescence against the dark mud....
It was a lot of work to clean out all the mud inside, and in the process the lovely blue colour is lost, because that's the colour of the iridescence against the dark mud....
November 22, 2025 at 8:53 AM
... a complete codd bottle - of the same design! And this one was a lot clearer and would be easier to identify.
It was a lot of work to clean out all the mud inside, and in the process the lovely blue colour is lost, because that's the colour of the iridescence against the dark mud....
It was a lot of work to clean out all the mud inside, and in the process the lovely blue colour is lost, because that's the colour of the iridescence against the dark mud....
... another bottle - in the same patch. But would it be complete? I wish I'd filmed the extraction, because once I'd moved the stones above it, it came out easily in one go, and it was a beauty...
November 22, 2025 at 8:49 AM
... another bottle - in the same patch. But would it be complete? I wish I'd filmed the extraction, because once I'd moved the stones above it, it came out easily in one go, and it was a beauty...