A day out with Rob, Ray and Chef - 17th October 2010

[Tafflaff (Rob)]

Ok I can take a hint Val 

Field selection is just common sense. Research the land , land close to existing old towns are always good places to start. Talk to the farmer they normally got a good idea of what went on. Even putting yourself on a farm that "must have goodies on it"  is not a given sometimes its just not there . Have you  (Val , Mike)  got any farms at the moment ?

[Chef Geoff]

OK, OK, no not deaf or blind just lazy
Right, well there are a few perpetual truths about detecting sites and they are...there are no guarantees, no secret formula and no short cuts to finding them.
I have personally detected on a field adjoining a 10th century Saxon church, that has never been detected and found bugger all. Other sites similar to the Roman one I'm detecting on now, seemingly (on paper) have nothing going for them.
The sites we were detecting in this thread were planned and also by accident the pasture we were on in the morning, has a detailed and recorded history which should of produced a multitude of medieval coins and artefacts and what did we get?......one broken medi buckle (Taff) and one lead weight (Neil).
The stubble we went on in the afternoon was just opportunist, I got the name of the farmer and he gave Taff permission for us to detect as we were on his neighbours land that Sunday. No history no documentation but due to it's location (closer to a main road and village) it had seen more foot fall and therefore more losses.

Also it took me 4 hours today to find one tiny Roman coin, to me that has proved there is more there but it was not a fun 4 hours as far as finds went.
When you see posts of people finding countless mouthwatering finds from one site, they usually fail to tell you of the hours they have spent and miles they have covered to get them.
As the saying goes "you have got to walk over it" so the more land you walk over the better are your chances.

[Val Beechey]

O.K.Guys I wasn't knocking you. I know you've been detecting much longer than us newbies so have more experience but that doesn't mean you'll find goodies every time you go out.
I think I answered my own question in the 'Interesting Crop Marks' thread.
I said much the same as Geoff has just pointed out. Just 'cause there are intersting marks in a field or it has a 12th.c. church dont mean the pot of gold is there. Many years ago when I first started riding I had a saying, remember the 3 'p's  Persistence, Perserverance, Patience.
I think this is a good one to remember with this hobby while also keeping in mind the good tips and lessons picked up along the way.
Looked at the Royal Commission site in more detail last night. If any one hasn't done the same, have a look, I was well impressed, though it will take the whole winter to sort the sites out.

Val

[outlaw]

Well done guys on your finds 

Quite often, the fields where you would expect to find goodies because of their location, or what might have been built beside them yeild nothing. Then you wander in an adjacent non discript field and find the goodies !

[Chef Geoff]

O.K.Guys I wasn't knocking you. I know you've been detecting much longer than us newbies so have more experience but that doesn't mean you'll find goodies every time you go out.

Very true Val, I may have more good finds than most new to the hobby, but I definitely have more trash

[Roast Lamb and Mint Sauce]

As a footnote to that Val a little story to tell you about when I started detecting about four years ago. I had permission to detect a farm in Mid Wales with no recorded history and was getting no signals at all but was sure there was something as it was on a old drovers way also believed to be part of the roman road network into central wales. Down by the river was a obvious platform that after recording with the county smr had a small trench put in it and found to be a Roman fortlet. Was obviously not allowed on there after this but I had already been there six times and found nothing. The archaeology was down a good metre and out of depth of a detector so even if the history is there it is not a surefire finds ticket. I have had many a trip and found bugger all.

[Val Beechey]

Hey, what am I moaning about. I found so many nails yesterday I suggested the area should be scraped out and refilled with uncontaminated spare soil. I never thought I'd get fed up hearing my detector bleeping, but  as I said to owner it would take a fortnight to pick them out one by one.
On the subject of finds. We all groan when we find yet another old farthing or halfpenny but does anyone ever stop to think how much these must have meant to the poor people who lost them.
The fields I'm doing at present have given clear evidence of habitation in several places with lots of pottery brought up by the plough BUT nothing metal except the usual bits of Iron. They must have been su poor they had nothing to loose. It's a sad fact that there were more poor than rich people.
Things don't change much, do they.

Val

[shunggav]

crackin day out loads and loads stuff well done chaps