This reminds me of old Peony debris

does look something like that-- reminded me of old begonia corms

Thank you to the above answers. I am sorry to say I have no idea what a Peony or begonia looks like. This is the first year I have planred anything in these borders which were dug out 2 - 3 years ago. Nothing has ever been planted nor has anything been put in the ground in preparation for planting so I have no idea how they could have got there. Like last time, the spade hit something quite solid and this time I was so very careful not to damage it, then I found another, then another just a few feet from each other and as you can see they look quite big. How would they have got there? Please forgive me for being so dim but I do not know where they have come from if they are Peony or begonias. Could someone please send a photo of these 2 plants so I can see what they are?

HI Neil if you scroll down to the bottom of this page you will see a black section with the alphabet in white click on the appropriate letter and both plants will be there to view ( click on others as well to see some other amazing photo's as well)

It still looks like the remains of tree/plant roots to me Neil that have been rotting away for years, nothing to worry about when I find bits similar to this I just leave them to continue breaking down.

This is, as the others say, just root debris from some plant or other, possibly the remains of woody shrubs or trees which have probably been present for years, and obviously weren't dug out or were missed when you "dug out" the border 3 years ago.

Many thanks to all who have answered my questions. I have never had a garden I feel so proud about, and because these things are so odd looking I thought I would put it in this web site. I am glad I found it. I have a 5 year old little boy who loves to play in the garden, sometimes helping me, sometimes getting so bored he does something very silly. Today I found that, as I was inside, he had gone to the rabbit hutch and let the rabbit out. When I got outside the rabbit, Honey, had taken a shine to my Suinflowers which were growing nicely. Sad to say she ate literally every sunflower leaf, although they had not got to the stage of flowering. With all leaves gone is it likely the sunflowers will still grow, and are they dangerous to Honey.

Well sunflowers are not toxic to cats, but there are reports of cattle in Europe getting sick from eating sunflower leaves before the seeds have set, caused by nitrate poisoning. Might want to ask your vet if you should worry.