User:Sonofthesands

Family

Mike Wolstencroft, Englishman. Born on 8th August 1965 in Lytham St Annes,Lancashire, Michael is the only son of Joseph Wolstencroft, and his wife Margaret, daughter of Reginald King and Hilda Taylor.

He studied at King Edward VII and Queen Mary School from 1976 to 1981. Leaving school to work on the family nursery, he then drifted idly through life for a few years before becoming a civil servant at the HM Land Registry. It was there he met his wife Sharron (nee Farrar). They have 5 children. After leaving the Land Registry, he worked for ScottishPower, EDS and HP in the UK, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand. Currently living back at the family seat in Lytham, and working as a contractor for HP on the UK Government business.

Interests

A lifelong supported of Blackpool F.C. keen gardener and birdwatcher, his hobbies also include metal detecting.

Metal Detecting

Gold Posy Ring

It was while metal detecting in 2005 that he found a 15th Century gold posy ring which is now in the British Museum. A Medieval finger-ring of hollow construction. The hoop is decorated at three points with the motif of an open book. Six spherical pellets decorate the top and bottom of the hoop at the points where the leaves of the book are placed. Between each book a beaded panel of text is inserted which reads: cest mon decir (c’est mon desir/ it is my desire). Each open book is inscribed with two letters: PO YR EC (pour E C/ for EC ). The initials E C are undoubtedly those of a lover. Diameter: 23mm; height: 10mm. The ring’s construction relates to another found among a hoard deposited at Chalcis on the Greek island of Euboea. Discovered in 1840, the hoard is split between the British Museum and the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, which has the ring. The Chalcis ring takes the form of a knight’s belt. The Kirkham find is equally chivalric in character.