A major, apparently early, c. 1830-40, dump in Romford, just inside the M25 motorway, has attracted huge numbers of bottles collectors ignoring all Government advice to self isolate and only go out near to your home for some exercise, food shopping or work - unless you can work from home.
Despite regular News bulletins on the television and the radio warning everyone to "stay safe, stay at home" diggers from Kent, Surrey, and as far afield as Burghead (in Scotland, that must have been Iain Gosling) and and Elsecar (that's a tiny village in Yorkshire) bored and locked at home collectors risked everything in the slim hope of getting over the garden fence to dig beneath newly installed decking in some old fellas back garden.
David Matthews, a.k.a. Wade, Jason Jenkins & Ian Topp (all from South Yorkshire) were stopped by the police on the M1. Wade told BBR "he said he wanted to charge us £30 for not staying at home, I offered him 2 codds and a ginger beer, but Jase said that was too much. We negotiated for some time and in the end he took a Jewsbury & Brown pot lid - I didn't tell him it was repaired - and a copy of BBR magazine. I think it was the magazine that swayed the deal!"
Boris Johnson spoke to BBR's Alan Blakeman, whilst in hospital, to ask if there was anything the worlds No1 bottle magazine do to stop idiots ignoring all the warnings, risking life and limb for some old bottles.
Alan spoke with the owner, a grumpy Essex householder - a Mr Stuart Leiberman, who said he didn't really mind as the diggers all seemed like decent chaps - although one fella - short, bald, wearing glasses, arrived with his petite wife (described as "wearing glasses and having purple hair, and a funny Kent accent") who pushed him over the fence in a wheel chair - one leg splintered in front following a recent operation. Tenant Mr Leiberman told BBR, "my girlfriend has been serving them all baked camembert, Percy Turner pork pies, and black pudding (no garlic), but one digger told me she was asking them for donations toward a new Mulberry handbag?"
BBR issue 162.5, out April 1st, contains the exact postcode and run down of some of the fantastic finds.....
NB: Editor Guy Burch was unavailable for comment, sat in the sun downing another bottle of white wine!
