So PAS and others would have you believe: a novice detectorist not asking for permission or a more seasoned detectorists not reporting what they find is down to a lack of “education”. It’s not. The rest of the population have zero trouble knowing they shouldn’t go to a farm (or indeed a neighbour’s garden) and help themselves to spuds, flowers, peas, pheasants eggs and anything else they come across, and that they shouldn’t avoid telling others what they have found.

It’s stealing. Only detectorists claim it’s an honest mistake. Diddums. Look how false and irrational it is …..

“I’m a novice rambler/ birdwatcher/ angler/ greengrocer and haven’t been “educated” so naturally I thought I had every right to go anywhere I wanted and steal anything I found.”

So it’s not education that’s needed. It’s punishment. Let the pending reforms embrace that concept.

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More Heritage Journal views on artefact collecting
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