A TEESDALE resident received an unusual birthday surprise last week – a visit from the bomb squad after she made an unusual discovery in her garden.
Jeanette Morris was working her Eggleston garden last Tuesday when she found what is believed to be an old cannonball, possibly dating from the English Civil War.
Thinking it was better safe than sorry, she called 999.
A short while later a team of munitions experts were at the scene and they took the projectile away after carrying out an x-ray to confirm that it was solid and so didn’t pose any risk.
The drama wasn’t quite the birthday surprise Mrs Morris had been expecting, she joked.
She added: “It would have been lovely to keep it, but not all cannonballs were solid. Some were filled with gunpowder and made to explode, so we thought it was safer to call the emergency services.
“A few years ago, someone in Middleton found a bomb on the moor and brought it home not realising what it was – that was in my mind.”
Mrs Morris has lived at The Old Post Office all her life.
She said: “My dad would have probably had a story to tell about it but sadly he is no longer with us.
“I was digging out tree trunks. There’s a drain pipe, so I was doing the work by hand. It wasn’t particularly deep down.
“When I found it, I thought, ‘this is a bit odd’, but equally I thought it could also be dangerous.
“Whether it landed here a long time ago or was thrown in with some rubble, we will never know.
“Lots of people will be doing gardening in lockdown – you never know what you might find.”
