Do Central Searchers hold unacceptable rallies? No question. Knowingly detecting where damage is caused, refusing to take professional advice to desist and allowing participants to keep non-Treasure finds worth up to a massive £2,000 without sharing with the landowner (and leaving the detectorists alone to decide if things ARE worth £2,000!) Yet the Establishment won’t say so out loud and leaves it to the likes of us to say it and to take the consequent nasty flack that ought to be their professional burden. That’s the way it is in crazy Britain, where the government has decreed that professionals must suppress conservation principles in favour of lickspittle populism.
But we have found even worse behaviour within this vulgar world of crassfestery that British public policy has spawned – once again with no public demur from professionals or even any sign they are aware of it. Consider the terms of the Contract available on the Rally UK forum for use by organisers of metal detecting events: never mind £2000, this allows the detectorist to keep ALL non-Treasure items whatever their value and not give a penny to the landowner. You might well think that’s a monumental rip-off and reflects not a love of history but extreme greed. Yet the Contract is clearly designed to give landowners the opposite impression: “In consideration of payment of 50% of the value of any Treasure Property found the owner/occupier hereby grants to the licensee the right to enter the said land (which land is called the licensed area) and subject to the conditions herein to search for treasure, metals, buried coins and artefacts.”
From that the hapless farmer, new to all this, is likely to believe he is granting access in exchange for a significant payment by the detectorists of a 50% share of what they find. But in truth Treasure items are only 0.01% of what they will find (and probably 0% on any particular day) and anyway if they do find any then it will not be the detectorists that pay him by agreement but the taxpayer, by law! Further, the Contract is totally silent about 99.99% of what they are likely to find so the detectorists will be free to take those home for themselves or sell them on EBay and not share a penny of them with the farmer – indeed, he has signed to give them permission to do that, by default, if he but knew.
Not much of a deal for him is it, considering he started the day owning 100% of everything in his field and will end up in the evening with the detectorists taking home everything they find and giving him nothing for it. It’s a cleverly worded rip-off, who can possibly pretend otherwise?
************************************
Makes you proud to be British! A recent rally adjacent to an Oxfordshire hill fort attended by TWO THOUSAND detectorists – and PAS! American collectors claim that purchasing British finds is fine because we have “the most enlightened antiquities laws in the world”….
This is a serious matter for the management of the Portable Antiquities Scheme. Attending rallies that everyone knows cause damage is one thing, and we understand the cleft stick they see themselves in (though we disagree with their failure to express huge disapproval). But attending an event where the detectorists have got the farmer to sign a contract that, unappreciated by him, leaves the door invitingly open for mendacious avarice and the picking of his artefactual pocket ! (Prose too purple PAS Management? You try being ripped off on your own land at an event attended by officialdom that knows you’re being ripped off but doesn’t tell you, see what colour YOU go!)
It seems to us PAS cannot possibly turn a blind eye to this and ought to warn farmers long and loud about it (and not just in a few local talks to them but by posting a formal notification on all the relevant websites). They should also start examining the Landowner/Organiser Contract before they attend any rally as a matter of routine. “Partnership” with metal detectorists in order to try to get them on side was never viable since it is partnership with “taking” (see the recent changes to the IfA code of ethics). But extending the strategy to include mutely standing by as one’s partners bamboozle innocent members of society? There’s a racket going on, PAS. What are you going to do about it? What would be your defence if a farmer stood up and blamed you for not warning him (despite us having put you on notice about it?)
__________________________________________________________
More Heritage Action views on metal detecting and artefact collecting
__________________________________________________________
The Heritage Journal 
62 comments
08/09/2010 at 01:21
Metal Detecting Tips
This is a very enlighting article. Thanks for sharing your thoughts for others to read and maybe understand.
20/10/2010 at 21:32
barry edwards
your heads stuck up your arse mate. We all know a few of so called honest uni trained archaeologists are filling their own pockets with finds.
Funny, i was talking to a guy the other day who knows such a person, house full of pottery from a well known Roman town in England, just get your facts in perspective.
24/12/2010 at 10:39
martin
I have never known a farmer not know what hes doing with anything regarding his land.it seems to me you are almost saying farmers are not all there and need a little help to manage their affairs. think you should give them the credit they deserve.
oh and i agree with the first 5 words of the previous post.
most detectorists are good ones…recording logging finds doing the right thing, look at the hoards etc that have been found and logged, you talk mostly crap. alot of items would have simply disappeared into the earth as though never existed ,there are always some not so good people in every interest.
stop being a Mr Meldrew and try to come together with these hobbyists instead of wanting to obliterate them
i think i know what’s happened here……you bought a detector…. couldn’t use it properly and now all you do is spit ya dummy out at every opertunity
24/12/2010 at 15:47
Pat
“most detectorists are good ones…recording logging finds doing the right thing”
Yes, so all ten thousand of you say, like Pavlovian pooches, on the basis of absolutely nothing, quite the reverse. (Do you know the other 9,999 and look over their shoulders?)
Unfortunately, the rest of us have to go on evidence not claims picked out of the air – and PAS, which is in a position to know, say most detectorists don’t report most of what they find. Something that’s easily established by anyone that cares to look at their published statistics.
No harm done when you say things like that here but when ten thousand people habitually say it at the doors of hundreds of thousands of farmers it DOES matter. Particularly when they absolutely know it’s untrue. So yes, farmers most certainly “need a little help to manage their affairs”.
As for “you bought a detector…. couldn’t use it properly”….
Hardly. Using a detector properly is one of the lowest peaks of human achievement and several of your pals have confided that a child can pick up 99% of it in a few minutes. The myth of the “detecting specialist” that is desperately needed by archaeologists on excavations is another much pushed fiction I’m afraid, and I’ve only ever come across one archaeologist that has truly thought otherwise. To use a metal detector on an archaeological excavation you need…. ummmm… a metal detector. That’s about it I’m afraid.
Any more detectorist myths to trot out? Debunking R Us….
24/12/2010 at 20:57
martin
ok………….mr ruffled feathers, I was a bit flippant SORRY
me being on the other side as it were, it seems that you have a vast amount of knowledge in this area. I on the other hand I am limited to the little that i know..your response has…..well if nothing else has intrigued me to look at things in a different light. I want to (would like to ) look more into “your side”, As I have been in detecting clubs, didn’t like them and decided to go alone, i have kept records of my finds, although nothing of great importance or value yet (and i would definitely tell the farmer, i have no problem with that at all). if i did find something important it would be straight to an FLO.in my case its not about profit, really. The items i have found have me researching what it is which is the history bit i like. Do you think that there is ANY place for metal detecting or are you just totally dead set against it ?i can see you have very strong views and i will look at this topic of discussion in a very different way. i think if it were totally banned or even heavily restricted what would happen is night hawking, day hawking and next to nothing would get reported or recorded when found.. then everyone looses out.dont you think. Even time team have them on…your views on that are…………? surely there is a place for them. we could could slang it out further..but some how i dont think would agree on much
respect (eventually) to your opinions and beliefs but…………….!
24/12/2010 at 23:44
Pat
Is there a place for it?
Well, the resource is both finite and fragile so how does selective erosion of it for fun or profit fit in morally? It doesn’t, does it? 99% of archaeology is forced, carried out in advance of development and destruction, 100% of archaeology is carried out to maximise public knowledge and 0% is for recreation or profit. So clearly, metal detecting has a place, but only within archaeological methodology and survey and only in the communal interest.
Sadly, unlike most countries, the government has bottled it, although one day I would imagine, pressure from Europe will bring Britain into line. In the meantime “less damaging” detecting might be the way to go, like this http://www.ethicaldetecting.org.uk/
09/02/2012 at 22:08
jim
i seem to find that a lot of farmers simply dont care about whats under their soil, ive often shown finds to my landholder and they have simply said yeah thats great and are happy to let me decide what to do with it, i have given farmers half of anything i find that is declared as treasure trove, ( i detect in scotland) but most of the time the farmer is happy with his 6 monthly hamper and whisky.
10/02/2012 at 01:11
heritageaction
So if that’s a fair arrangement perhaps you’d be just as happy if HE kept all the finds and gave YOU an occasional bottle of whiskey?
10/02/2012 at 09:07
J S (@juamei)
@jim, and of course you fully disclose to the farmer how much you are making off him? Presumably its enough to give him a 6 monthly hamper and whiskey. Care to tell us a ball park figure?
10/02/2012 at 09:50
heritageaction
@juamei, we calculate on average a detectorist finds 3 saleable artefacts a month (0.66 per trip) although studies by EH, CBA, archaeologist David Connolly and detectorist Kevmar of UKDetectornet all put the finds rate higher.
Using our figures, and assuming the artefacts on average are worth a tenner each that’s about 30 bottles of whiskey a year. Unless the detectorist gets lucky just once of course, in which case it could be a distillery.
So it’s likely that a farmer that thinks he’s getting a good deal is misinformed.
14/06/2012 at 19:02
James Pincher
Do think you people had better take a look at the picture at the top of the page, to search that area would take every detectorist who ever lived in the next 100000 years to search if they were lucky, no complaints regarding the Staffordshire hoard, you could not get it through the valuation commitee fast enough, 3 million my butt, if it had gone to auction you would never have got your hands on it and thats the truth as any other items handed in you are lucky to see any proceeds for 2 to 3 years if you are lucky and many people are 60 – 70 plus and most likely be dead by the time you get your act together and the values which are given are always below the true value/ suck on that. we are doing you a great service by discovering these items which probarbly amount to approx 0% compared to what has not been discovered. Do you realise how much time and money is spent on metal detecting and how many books have been purchased by detectorists over the last thirty years by you people who cream the rewards from those purchasers, never see you complaining at that, you are pure hippocrits , god i could write a book.
15/06/2012 at 07:56
Jefferson
“god i could write a book.”
Can’t wait!
15/09/2012 at 17:14
offaman, essex
i have been metal detecting for 25 plus years and have spent thousands on rallys, books, and detectors ,not to mention fuel costs .all that aside ive always showed the farmers my finds and ive never met one who was genuinely interested in my finds,ive made up displays for my farmer friends and they have been delighted ,it beats giving them odd one off finds , although i have over the years had few good finds it hasnt detered me as i do it for the historical side and love getting home in the evening and researching my odd bits and pieces dug up…spending hours days and sometimes weeks for a scrap of info ..there are good and bad in every hobby starting at the top all the way to the bottom its known as being corrupt in my book.. but hey hoe deep holes my friends ..
15/09/2012 at 19:43
heritageaction
“ive made up displays for my farmer friends and they have been delighted”
Shouldnt it be the other way round, the farmer giving YOU a few finds?
(They all belong to him after all, and you only do it for “the historical side”.)
12/11/2012 at 17:01
Paul Kerridge
The starting atricle presents a truly biased position. I went on a central searchers rally recently and it was well organised and respectfull of the farmers property. A few items of some minor historic interest and low value were found but nothing that would interest anyone outside of detecting. I found a hammerred silver coin dating back to 1200 AD, but the FLO was not interested, I registered on the PAS and called to arrange for recording, guess what – they didnt even return my phone calls.
I know for a fact that many detectorists dont bother to record finds with the FLO because they are not interested in the normal stuff, they only seem to get exited about rare and valuable items. Elitism maybe?
12/11/2012 at 18:22
heritageaction
So this central searchers rally you went on that was “respectfull of the farmers property”….. would that be the same central Searchers that has the rule that anything found worth up to £2,000 belongs entirely to the detectorist, not the farmer?!
14/11/2012 at 16:31
paul kerridge
Yes you are right, the farmer agrees to this up front. Its a legal contract he (the farmer) is entitled to enter into. From my experience the farmers are very happy with this arrangement and often profit considerably from alowing detectorists to use their land, some charge £10 a head or more per day.
Frankly finds worth in excess of £2000 are very rare indeed and any hoard found becomes a 50/50 split.
If you look at this years PAS statistics more than 90% of historic finds are now reported by detectorists, most of these finds would remain hidden and areas of historical interest would remain undiscovered. Detectorists are reporting thousands of these finds every month and they are populating the historic map of the UK.
I expect the problems you seem to be angry about are quite rightly those where sheduled sites are pillaged by unscroupulous people, or where important historic finds are not reported. No organised detector group would consider such action, perhaphs those you have in your sights were not aware they were doing anything illegal or immoral.
You are obviously an intelligent person, I think your cause would be far better served by reining back your reaction and trying to work with detecting groups, getting personal will only cause both sides to become entrenched. Some of the awful comments reflect how your reaction is goading people, this does nothing to further your cause.
14/11/2012 at 18:23
heritageaction
“finds worth in excess of £2000 are very rare indeed”
So Ebay is a mirage is it? As it happens, there’s a Central Searchers member currently auctioning a coin he found for £2,000 – £3,000. So not all that very rare at all then. He calls it “my” coin.
No, the £2,000 rule is outrageous. Only a complete yob would make such an arrangement (I do hope that doesn’t sound impolite. Perhaps moral pygmy would be better.)
“trying to work with detecting groups”
Well step one would be 100% of detectorists behaving themselves wouldn’t it? At present only Crawley detecting group has that. Surely you don’t advocate working with people who don’t report all their finds to PAS? For whose benefit? Surely you’re not saying their antisocial behaviour is down to “not being worked with”? Your claim that “more than 90% of historic finds are now reported by detectorists” is absolute rot. Ask PAS.
14/11/2012 at 20:18
paul kerridge
Oh dear, I thought I was talking to a real archaeolegist.
Firstly one case on ebay is hardly an argument, and the £2000 rule is an agreement between the farmer and the detectorists so this has nothing to do with you, the law or archaeolegy.
Secondly you are quite right to call my statistics information ‘rot’, it is. I checked on the PAS site and I was a few percent out.
Have a look: http://finds.org.uk/news/stories/article/id/242
The actual figures for 2011 are:
1. Treasure cases – 92.7% from metal detecting, 3.4% from archaeolegy.
2. PAS cases (97,509) – 83% from metal detecting, 2.19% from archaelogy.
It seems metal detectorists are declaring nearly 38 times more finds than archaeologists.
I would have thought you would know this????
So, how many detector club meetings have you attended to present your views and concirns? If you have not arranged this I am sure your attendance would be appreciated. I am not being sarcastic I mean it…face the people you wish to influence, its the only way forward, sniping and griping does nothing.
Good luck.
15/11/2012 at 03:11
heritageaction
Claiming that “more than 90% of historic finds are now reported by detectorists” when in fact it transpires you only mean Treasure finds, for which detectorists are handsomely rewarded, is rot. Is that what you tell farmers?
We’ve had some pretty rum detectorists on here but one that blatantly claims they report nearly everything and actually tries to defend Central Searcher’s outrageous £2,000 rule is a first. And a last hopefully.
27/04/2013 at 00:05
philip tomlinson
carnt believe some of the things im reading if it wasent for people with metal detectors some of the greatest treasure finds would still be in the ground rotting away and never found by all you book readers and talkers get a grip i report all my finds and i mean all my finds to hull flo archaeolegy has been left behind because you all sit on your arses and just talk metal detectorists spend thousands of hours walking up and down fields some times for weeks with nothing to show for it but we still carry on just to find some thing you can complain about how meny things have you found and reported (heritageaction ) zip
27/04/2013 at 06:23
Pat
How boring. Every detectorist that comes here claims “I report all my finds” as if that means there’s no problem. Most detectorists don’t and that’s what we complain about.
05/07/2013 at 06:53
heritageaction
To those that have been leaving abusive messages….
We believe metal detecting should be legally regulated to ensure best practice and maximum public benefit. The world’s archaeologists agree. We are disinclined to provide a platform for those British detectorists who oppose that aim. Any artefact hunter wishing to comment please clarify you support comprehensive regulation else it won’t be published. Thanks.
17/07/2013 at 13:26
Philip McHugh
Metal detectorists regularly find metalwork, be it gold, silver, bronze etc which change or add to our historical, cultural and social knowledge of pre-Roman to say 1066 in particular. The MAJORITY of these finds would never, I SAY NEVER, be found by any archaeologist simply because the find sites are just ORDINARY PLACES. They are not Abbeys, not in castles, not in the centre of a hill fort etc. etc. It’s crazy to demonise detectorists because and here’s a bit of controversy, they have probably in the last 40 odd years contributed more to our knowledge and understanding of history than the professional professors.
17/07/2013 at 17:15
Pat
Our complaint is against the majority who don’t report most of their finds or otherwise act against the public good. Our thesis is that they should be made to by law. It’s not rocket science.
09/10/2013 at 14:36
Mk
Reading the posts and having friends that detect and friends that are archeologists, what I have noticed that. The archeologist. Want information where things are being found but when they arrange a schedule dig they do not allow. The local metal detectorists to help. Even though the dectorists has had permission on the land for years. Point one. Point two. Archeologists have done digs on site a withhold lots of information and things that are recovered are then put in vaults for years and years and in a most cases over ten years,
Point three the archeologists get there money from hand outs ie. government funding building site which is now compulsory to have a sanctioned dig which they have to pay for ,
Metal detectorists. Pay their own way putting money back into the government pocket via taxes on products that they buy for their hobby, also they are taxed on the wages from doing a job that benefits the public ie. dustman. Plumber. Electricians. Shop owners or workers etc , Archologists have had it all too easy spending our hard earned taxes on a so called job that we class as a hobby , wake up. We are not stupid persons any more that can be manipulated or conned into what has been written above stop thinking about your selfs And allow all persons to enjoy there short life on this earth,
After working 60 hours a week to go out with my friend for a few hours detecting in the fresh air is relaxing and then to read the tripe that the heritage journal has allowed into its pages beggars believe, I agree that there may be some clubs out there that have other interests like the one mention at the start of the article. But if you are going to write about a lub get the info correct a lot of digs they do is the same old land which does not produce that well and the only losers are the detectorists that are paying good money to go on these digs and find nothing at all, why not do an article on all those that have been on digs with the mentioned club and find out what they have to say this May balance the article more .
I have spoken to my archeology friends who inform me that there are changes being made to help archeologists understand the benefits of working with metal detectorists, I think this will take some time as articles like the one in the journal leaves a bad taste in metal detectorists mouths,
Nit trying to offend any one but hopefully all can see the real picture
09/10/2013 at 16:04
heritageaction
We believe metal detecting needs to be regulated so that it is carried out for society’s benefit. Do you agree?
14/12/2013 at 15:04
Rob Deane
I’ve just stumbled across this so called ‘Heritage Action’ website by chance & can’t believe what a load of mis-guided utter garbage is being spouted on here by you so-called heritage activists.
As with anything in life that involves human behaviour, metal detecting has a few irresponsible people doing it, but the vast majority do care about the historical value of their finds. It’s what draws them into the hobby in the first place. Every coin or artefact recovered from the ground is an item saved from further irreversible damage, either through errosion or mechanical damage from farm machinery etc. Nothing lasts forever in the ground, except gold perhaps.
Instead of going to war with detectorists, why not get down off your pedestal & try working with the clubs instead for the mutual benefit of all who enjoy finding & preserving our history? I guess that’s not as much fun as getting angry though is it?
14/12/2013 at 15:22
heritageaction
http://www.heritageaction.org.uk/erosioncounter/
Get it? (Probably not).
01/10/2014 at 19:13
Robert Paterson
What a sorry apology for an article. Totally misleading as regards the – well, everything really! Factually incorrect in so many ways that it would take pages of response to reply to. Nothing objective in the whole diatribe, and absolutely shows the author up for the bigoted, biased, and badly informed ignoramus that he/she is. In my meagre three years as a detectorist having been out every weekend and often midweek in all weathers I have yet to meet anyone remotely resembling the thieving swindling fraudsters you describe. I have however met retired police officers of all ranks, a marine archaeologist, numerous Company Directors, Doctors, Dentists, Local Authority employees of all levels, Civil Servants, Lawyers etc etc, as well as ‘ordinary’ decent folk … You get the drift?
I just found a silver bracelet worth the best part of £1,000 on a local beach. I could easily have kept it – no farmer to share with, no witnesses, and no contract! I handed it to the police and it was claimed by the distraught owner. I declined any reward, being content in the knowledge that I had done the right thing and made someone feel good. What would you have done?
Grow up chum and use the objectivity you were born with – unless of course that has been ‘educated’ out of you.
How dare you insult and categorise detectorists in that way? I hope we never meet because I would be sorely tempted to let you know EXACTLY what I think of your outrageous allegations. Had you named names your article would have been libelous. Dreadful.
Do you detect? If not may I suggest you start doing so, and see for yourself just how wrong you are.
Have a nice life …
02/10/2014 at 05:54
heritageaction
So the NCMD finds agreement, used by most detectorists, enabling them to take most finds home without showing the landowner is fine is it? And the Central Searcher’s rule, allowing detectorists to keep non-Treasure finds worth up to a massive £2,000 without showing or sharing with the landowner is also fine is it?
We’ll have to disagree. Thanks for your interest.
” I hope we never meet because I would be sorely tempted to let you know EXACTLY what I think of your outrageous allegations.”
We’ll take that as another threat. Noted. Here and elsewhere.
06/10/2014 at 12:49
bollox
we pay £10 each to the farmer and usually about 30-40 detectorists. thats £300-£400 for opening a farm gate. also anything in his land that belongs to him would never have been recovered anyway.
06/10/2014 at 13:55
Pat
“also anything in his land that belongs to him would never have been recovered anyway.”
How on earth can you know that? Well you can’t can you? Look at Weyhill Fair, ripe for an archaeological project one day.
“£300-£400 for opening a farm gate”.
Pull the other one. You each pay a tenner and have a rule that if a find is worth £2,000 it’s all yours, not his. That’s a total rip off, isn’t it.
17/10/2014 at 19:01
F. Wiggs
I am afraid you are talking out of your proverbial . The farmers are fully aware of what they are agreeing to, since they are paid to allow the rallies on their land,and agree to a minimum value for division of rewards. A nice little earner for the farmers, since there may be nothing on their land of any value. Try to get your facts straight before you post your malicious diatribes.
18/10/2014 at 00:04
heritageaction
Fully aware, are they? And yet you have a contract under which you alone decide if you alone decide something is worth less than £2K you can legally shuffle off home with it and sell it on EBay without showing him, informing him, paying him or allowing him to get an independent valuation.
That’s not the behaviour of an honourable, normal person nor of a “history lover” and nothing you say will make it so. (And how many people who would sign such an unfair agreement would be honest about their own valuation? Approximately none.)
05/11/2014 at 11:06
Don Jenkins
Hello there I’m a land owner/farmer I allowed a rally on my land a month ago I got £380 for it there was lots of different things found one was a saxon coin they recorded all things they had coin was worth £1500 so well done to the lady who found it I don’t think my plough would ever of told me it was there I came across this site just looking at these rallies out of interest and must say what is wrong with these archeologists I got payed the metal detector people enjoyed themselves and thing that would be lost forever were found not sure if the lady sold the coin or not but who cares because I’m sure if someone brought it they will care for it. Ps pat and heritageaction I wasn’t ripped off I got payed and I agreed that people keep what they found.how much do you archeologists pay? because you are welcome to come dig my fields up if your offering the same as the metal detectors thanks.
05/11/2014 at 11:59
heritageaction
“Hello there I’m a land owner/farmer”
I think you lack the spelling and punctuation skills to carry that off!
10/11/2014 at 21:36
Paul
Jeeze mate, I am a professional archaeologist and have two degrees in archaeology and most of your arguments regarding metal detectorists appear to be formulated from nothing but your own opinion
We all know that over 90% of the antiquities found in the UK are due to detectorists, regardless of the amount that are not declared, which is way lower than you seem to think.
You sound like a book burner insofar as you would prefer these finds to remain where they are and where we cannot learn anything from them.
Another issue I have is the fact that the premise of this article is based on the fact that it appears that you think that the landowner owns the stuff under the land simple by virtue of having a piece of paper with his/her name on it. this is precisely why we have treasure trove which is the process by which the government take ownership of any important antiquities found. This whole process has been designed to reward people who do find antiquities. This is very rare indeed and in most counties anything found anywhere is immediate the property of the state.
I would say that was very lucky that UK landowners get anything from finds at all
11/11/2014 at 01:40
heritageaction
“regardless of the amount that are not declared, which is way lower than you seem to think….”
So you know that do you, despite the fact we base our view on 3 surveys done by EH/CBA, an archaeologist and a detectorist? Remarkable.
“you think that the landowner owns the stuff under the land simple by virtue of having a piece of paper with his/her name on it.”
Er, yes.
This whole process has been designed to reward people who do find antiquities.
Er no. You are confusing the Treasure process, which deals with a thousand finds with portable antiquities, which involve millions. So ….
Jeeze mate, I am a professional archaeologist and have two degrees in archaeology
Jeeze, you sure?
11/11/2014 at 09:14
Paul
Err no I am not confusing this with the treasure process!
I have to say that for a so called journal you could be slightly more professional with your approach to comments on articles. *I have been reading them and they are not responses that I would expect from a so called journal.
You should expect people to disagree with you when you publish so called articles. You need to take comments on the chin, otherwise you are in danger of looking like a prat
Ill have a chat with my colleagues this morning about this rag
11/11/2014 at 10:58
heritageaction
Err no I am not confusing this with the treasure process!
etc etc
You most certainly were, as you said “This whole process has been designed to reward people who do find antiquities” – which only applies to the treasure process!
But anyway, your spelling, vocabulary, logic and abusive sentiments scream detectorist not archaeologist (unless the standards for archaeology degrees have hit rock bottom) so goodbye.
20/11/2014 at 11:47
Michelle
Heritageaction, I for 1 think you are very rude how dare you make a comment like this “Hello there I’m a land owner/farmer”
I think you lack the spelling and punctuation skills to carry that off!.
Not all of us are clever at spelling and using punctuation skills like yourself, but never mind we will always be polite and not insult the farmers as they are the ones who let us on the land. Then when we find anything you lot seem to think it is okay to come and do what yous want whether it is the farmers land or not.
20/11/2014 at 12:23
Scott Ellis
Who is the author of this article? Why are full names of each commenter not published here?
What a Bullshit article from a bottom feeder. Give the farmers some credit. You make it out like the farmers are a bunch of illiterate and delusional fucks.
20/11/2014 at 13:58
Pat
If we were rude it wasn’t about you or about landowners it was about someone pretending to be a landowner, which is fair enough!
We have been accused of being rude by detectorists previously but not reporting finds or working to the Central Searchers’ rally rules is ruder!
20/11/2014 at 14:00
Conna
Lol, Archaeologists are so jealous that detectorists find so much more than they do. Dummy out of pram springs to mind. Grow up you pathetic lot.
20/11/2014 at 14:01
heritageaction
On the contrary, we think farmers are fine and deserve to be treated better.
20/11/2014 at 14:18
Pat
I’m afraid your theory looks a bit silly considering we’re not archaeologists!
20/11/2014 at 14:32
Holedigger Pete.
Heritageaction, you and Paul Barford, do nothing just sit on your keyboards thinking who we can get at next, people are fed up with the pair of you. This is a fact my club payed out £21,000 to farmers last year some of these farmers struggle year in year out and we can be a life line to them.
20/11/2014 at 14:48
Nigel S
“people are fed up with the pair of you”
Quite possibly. However, I console myself with the knowledge that gradually, year by year, educated opinion is moving towards the belief that artefact hunting should be regulated in order to force ethical behaviour on those who are incapable or unwilling to adopt it voluntarily.
The fact that “people” (who comprise detectorists almost exclusively) are fed up with me as a consequence doesn’t trouble me one iota. They’re on the wrong side of the argument and I’m not.
20/11/2014 at 14:58
Paul Wood
Sorry I should also have said who will supply the Millions of pounds needed to sort this whole mess out. Politicians are only interested in lining their own pockets and heritage is usually the first to receive the axe :ie my good self I worked with a student for a week who was doing a paper about this and the figure she came up with for he paper was around 50 to 100 million to sort out and around 25 million to police yearly without adding costs. Her figures not mine. So where are we going to start.
20/11/2014 at 15:22
heritageaction
You should tell your student acquaintance that the cost of making your metal detecting pals behave in the national interest is minimal – it just requires legislative changes and decent punishments, like in so many countries. The “if you legislate we’ll all become criminals” is a pretty silly though widely voiced threat.
Anyway, enough. The article was on the subject of Central Searchers rallies, and how outrageous they are- and no-one has denied it, how could they? So that’ll do.
07/10/2015 at 04:39
Dawn turnbull
I no this man and we’re he lives
15/01/2017 at 13:44
Peter Brown
I just came across this site by accident, and really can’t be bothered to write a long drawn out augment. I have been a keen metal detectorist for over thirty years and have heard all this nonsense before, In my time detecting i have worked closely with archaeologists and just like detectorists some are good and some are bad and I know several who have amassed wonderful personal collections over there careers. I have donated items to the BM,the museum of London, and docklands museums, and given several items to local schools to use in history lessons ect. i work very closely with PAS, who only record a fraction of what i show them due to not having the resources. to do the job properly.ask any honest archaeologist,curator,or historian what they think detecting has has done to further the knowledge of ancient history in this country and if they are honest all will say the good out ways the bad.
15/01/2017 at 15:02
heritageaction
Statistics.
22/01/2017 at 22:09
late b
Heritage action, why the need to insult people? if they insult you then rise above it!
I have stumbled across this thread, cant even remember what I was looking for. Anyway I agree the CS rallies are outrageous, I used to go on them (probably 50 plus times). I’ve spent £100’s on their digs in fees alone not to mention in fuel (usually a 100+ mile round trip) etc, what have i found? nothing ever worth finding. So yes its outrageous the amount it is costing the detectorist.
I note you say someone was selling a find worth 2-3k on ebay from a CS dig well the farmer agreed to the dig, and for some reason you seem to think they lack the intelligence to know any better, but i disagree i think most farmers are happy for the money they receive and care little for what is found.
Most of the CS digs ive been on have had 50 plus detectorists on all paying the farmer (indirectly). Many of the farmers fields have been used many times (hence the lack of signals) each time they have been payed, so undoubtedly earning far more than a one off 2k find. I have been detecting 15 years mainly on farms with sole permission, i highly doubt everything ive ever found is even worth £1000 let alone 2k. Also the farmer of the land i mostly go on are hardly interested in anything ive found. Every quarter i go round and show everything I’ve found over the last 3 months and they do not want anything.
Yes certainly there are detectorists that are dishonest and or irresponsible but the vast majority operate in a totally responsible and honest manor.
I guess the 2k rule sounds greedy but finds even remotely close to that are very few and far between the average find worth anything is probably worth more like £10-20 and on an average dig very few of these turn up.
I have never sold anything i have found, i have recorded all finds or any historical interest and they are on the pas site.
EVERY DETECTORIST knows that anyone in the hobby to make money won’t be in the hobby for long, just the cost, time and effort involved to recover anything far outweighs the monetary value.
Honestly try it you will see how much money and effort it takes for virtually zero financial gain.
I welcome your polite reply.
Kind regards
23/01/2017 at 05:57
heritageaction
You agree with us that “CC rallies are outrageous”. Thank you. I think you are the first detectorist to do so in public.
The fact that you yourself are responsible is not our point. Statistics show most aren’t.
We do not think the £2,ooo rule is fair or acceptable. An old lady having her loft cleared should not be treated that way either.
23/01/2017 at 21:20
late b
yes outrageous the amount it costs the detectorists that is all, not what deal the farmer gets!!…
I highly doubt that any statistics that you may be referring to are factually correct.
I don’t see what an old ladies loft has to do with this either, you seem to be hung up on the £2000 rule, but as i said before any find of this value would be extremely few and far between. detectorists just do not come up with finds of this value or even close to it, on even a remotely regular basis.
like I said before EVERY detectorists whether honest (or the minority dishonest) knows that anyone in the hobby for money wont be in it for long. the shear cost, time and effort far outweighs any possible financial gain.
A friend of mine started detecting just over 2 years ago, he goes at least once a week for a full day, he just found his first hammered coin and only find of any value last weekend which was an Elizabeth 1st sixpence worth around £40, incidentally the farmer was interested to see it but did not want to keep it and was happy for him to have it, he is currently in the process of arranging a visit to the local FLO to record it on with the PAS.
kind regards
24/01/2017 at 06:53
heritageaction
I don’t see what an old ladies loft has to do with this ….
Don’t see or don’t want to? It couldn’t be clearer.
Anyway, when detectorists adopt the non-acquisitive, pro-public interest stance of amateur archaeologists we’ll have no reason to complain and you’ll have no reason to defend them.
25/01/2017 at 19:17
late b
I’m happy to, but no I don’t see what an old ladies loft has to do with it, there is just no comparison at all.
Reading through all of the comments and replies it seems pretty clear that you have no argument for your exaggerated fabricated story, and replies.
Kind Regards
26/01/2017 at 06:18
heritageaction
Well, there’s no point discussing it if you can’t see how “I’ll take it all away but will show you anything I alone think you ought to see” aren’t the words of a yob in a field as much as a loft. Just how much is stolen from owners in that way do you suppose? Nothing?
27/01/2017 at 18:47
late b
The loft and old lady comment of yours has nothing to do with it in the slightest, it is just another fabrication on your part, trying to compare detectorists to rogue traders (or yobs as you put it) and farmers to old ladies, which is a bit of an insult to all parties to say the least.
There are dishonest people in all walks of life but this does not make everyone or even close to everyone the same.
So to answer your final sentence, I would say yes nothing or close to nothing as possible. You seem happy to make up your own mind as to what you think detectorists find on say a CS club dig and even as to how honest the average detectorist is, without any experience of this first hand.
As I have said before finds of £2000 or even close to £2000 just do not come up on even a remotely regular basis. I consider myself as an experienced detectorist of 15 years I have 4 friends who also detect, one of them 25+ years experience, none of us have even found anything of that value, and again i highly doubt everything ive ever found combined even totals up to £1000.
the best find between all 5 of us with all the hours spent detecting was one of my friends who once found a 13c silver annular brooch, that was declared treasure the farmer and himself received £140 each (not quite £2000)
I may be wrong but I think you would happily have people think that on every club dig almost all the detectorists are walking off with finds of £2000+ value?
The reality is, that this isn’t happening, maybe you ought to try the hobby for a year or so and see what you find.
kind regards once again.
27/01/2017 at 19:56
heritageaction
“As I have said before finds of £2000 or even close to £2000 just do not come up on even a remotely regular basis.”
You seem to be completely dense. It is the fact that everything worth less than £2000 is kept by the detectorist that is a disgrace and makes him akin to a yob clearing a loft.