Secret Weapons of the South Essex

[Sir Norman Ray]

"I assure you sir, the French won't have ANYTHING as big as this. This is just the cannon ball!"

So, I was down my dad's shop today where we sell seafood, frozen fish and fresh fish, covering for my brother. I knew I was gonna be down there, so I thought what the hell. My dad and uncle often dreg up a lot of things. Bottles, jars, pots, smoking pipes, coal etc, and they stick it all on show in the shop (cleaned up of course.) And there's 4 pieces that intrigue me, two big gun shells (both have the firing pin still, no shells themselves though) and two cannon balls. The one here is twice the size of the other, and I thought it'd make a small giggle.

[Fordo]

Nice, do you happen to know which Pound both of them are?

[BlueBard]

Well, I find it's a bit too big to keep it secret! LOL

[Kinzcove]

WOAH! cool pics!

[Lord Of Pies]

It reminds me of the boulder scene in Indiana Jones!

Very cool and interesting size comparison too.

[Sir Norman Ray]

Nice, do you happen to know which Pound both of them are?

No idea. Only scales I had was for fish weighing, so yeah, old rusty ball on food scales, bad idea...

Thanks anyway though!

[Mister Phes]

Do you have any idea how old they are or where they might have originated from?

[Sir Norman Ray]

To be honest, no. As I said, my dad and uncle's boats catch a lot of pots, bottles, kettles, jugs and plates. Baring in mind that we used to have a Garrison in this town, the British army/Navy having a testing area not far from us and that the town was bombed in WW1 and mined in WW2, it could be any age. It's condition is pretty good, as the second ball in the shop, though smaller, has begun to crumble slightly, with large, loose bits. They could have come from the Garrison, the testing ground, we have the Worlds Longest Pleasure Pier since the Victorian Era so it could have fallen overboard, like the coal we get. There are only two shipwrecks off of our coast, one was a freighter from a few decades past and the other is the SS Richard Montgomery, which is a WW2 wreck. Sorry, but it could be any age.

[Mister Phes]

You guys should keep finding this stuff and turn the fish shop into a museum!

Get your fresh fish and a dose history all at the same time!

You got pictures of the pots, bottles, kettles, etc?

[Sir Norman Ray]

No, sorry. I didn't think to take any pics of those. They are cool to show off to customers. But I don't plan to go back to that shop for a while. I have a 9-5 job, and I did that spell as a favour for my mum, dad and uncle. (Dad not well, Uncle on holiday and my mum doesn't like me arguing because I win.)

Surprisingly, we have had offers for these bits, but to be honest...

"Hey dad! How about you cut back on the family business and only try to catch these rare items whilst fending off EU inspectors and the occasional German mine!"

"... shut up boy."

(Seriously, our boats have had 11 mines get caught in the nets, and 1 in ten are still live...)

[El Bucanero]

Nice, do you happen to know which Pound both of them are?

I guess they are a tad too big for LEGO cannons, don't you?

[Sir Norman Ray]

Not at all. We'll get them firing! We'll crush the enemies with ease!