INTREPID explorers Jack Brewster and Katie Scholefield were on a bug hunt.

But the seven-year-old friends found more than they were expecting beneath a bush at Bolster Moor, near Golcar.

Instead of a beetle or an earwig the pair unearthed a rusty bayonet thought to be more than 100 years old.

Experts said the weapon found by the child pals was an 1888-pattern bayonet, used by British troops at the end of the 19th century and the start of the 20th century.

And they delighted the youngsters by producing a picture of troops using the same type of bayonet.

Jack, of Bolster Moor, and Katie, from Salendine Nook, went exploring in fields close to Jack’s home.

His mum, Claire, said: “They went out with a bucket each, looking for bugs. But they came running back with this very rusty weapon.

“They said they’d found it under a bush in a neighbour’s field, just laying in the roots.

“Jack took it to school and then we took it to the Tolson Museum to see if they could identify it.

“It was very exciting for the children; now they think they’re pirates on a treasure hunt.”

Tolson Museum collections officer Chris Yeates said such bayonets were designed for use with the Lee Metford rifle.

He added: “They were the first rifles adopted by the British Army which carried cartridges in a magazine.

“The same basic design of bayonet continued to be used for the succeeding rifle, the long magazine Lee Enfield, which was introduced in 1895 and used until 1905.

“It was a very interesting find.”

Jack lives with parents Claire and Darren and two-year-old twins Ben and Holly.

He goes to Wilberlee School, Slaithwaite.

Katie is a pupil at Moorlands School, Mount, Outlane

The bayonet has now been handed to the landowner on whose field it was found.