DetectingWales.com

Complaints about  illegal detecting on a scheduled site in Northamptonshire on BBC1 now. Two men were arrested and imprisoned. for digging a scheduled Roman site, coins etc were found in their homes. They obviously knew what they were doing was wrong as they ran when approached. Rightly so Police are clamping down on illegal detecting in that area.

This story first broke around 18 months ago. The court appearance was end of last year. Since then, the story has emerged several times in the press. It serves as a useful reminder that there are indeed thieves out there who go equipped with a detector to plunder protected sites for personal gain.

da dirrty stinkin teeevez ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

they ruin it for the rest but i,m afraid there everywhere in every honest hobby

m m must resist,, cant comment ,,, think of a happy place ,thank you granny the home made ice cream was lovely ;D,,,,,oh bugger it didn't work nighthawking and detecting go like cheese and crackers ,,enough said .

Or fishing and poaching :-\

or sport and steroids ;)

or table football and spinning! :-*

i was told a few months ago by a member of public who saw me detecting and came over to chat that they had seen people detecting on a national trust castle monument i wont say where .Apparently police were called and the police turned up and said it was a civil matter.
Personally i woulnt do it because its scuzzy , illegal and i cant run very fast (in that order) :P

I don't participate in the sport of nocturnal ground seeking either and many of us don't but there are many that do participate and there are many that know of people that do but they prefer to remain quiet  and that's why its a problem and why it goes like crackers and cheese ,, fishing and poaching,,sport and steroids and table football and spinning. ;D 

Why does Regton sell these night vision viewers on there site? surely no use to us above board detectorists or is it just me ?


http://www.metaldetectorshop.co.uk/shopping_cart/index.php?_a=product&product_id=62474 (http://www.metaldetectorshop.co.uk/shopping_cart/index.php?_a=product&product_id=62474)

wasnt me i was up carreg cennen castle lol ;)

We all express our disgust of night hawks but how would you feel if you suddenly discovered you'd been rubbing shoulders with a now convicted paedophile.
Seems a certain fella from Haverfordwest was a member of Johns flying club. All the other members are amazed. They all say what a nice bloke he seemed to be.
Just goes to show, you never know who you're mixing with.

Val

My opinion on this has always been ....Why arnt the great and good involving good honest Detectorist to clear everything detector depth from the site and record it for the nation instead of moaning when the sites are plundered by criminals.

Because the find itself isn't that important it's the possible context that the find is in which matters more and you simply can't tell that from digging a hole down to a find. :-\

And that Geoff is something a lot of detectorists do not grasp !

i hope that in the future better relationships can be forged with national trust and councils and cadw .perhaps where the national trust call on reputable clubs to further their research on particular areas closely monitored  and regulated of course.Or perhaps allow particular areas to be detected on set days with flo in attendance.I believe that detectorists have and can still help to piece together the jigsaw that is our history to the benefit of all involved if we were all able to negotiate with the above authorities .

I Agree chef, at last the voice of reason,  but isnt it better to do remedial work before artifacts are put on ebay or sold to coin dealers?  but this dog in a manger attitude of the long heads and then pissing and moaning when these,s sites are robbed has got to stop it just bad PR for Detectorist,s.

Ive never heard of Nighthawk digging randomly in the hope of finding anything.
On the most important sites, get some academic and Detectorists together, dig and record anything within the depth of a detector jobs done.
They can be added to any groundwork data at a later date if and when they get funding to dig it properly.
Leaving it in the ground to be stolen is just daft its like putting a group of kids in a sweet shop and tell them not to shop lift.

Good post chantalpoole

I sort of agree Paul but I have a feeling that when you start talking about remedial solutions the powers that be are far more likely to just outlaw metal detecting with a heavy fine AND imprisonment if caught using a detector even in your garden as it is in Ireland, illegal to use, illegal to sell and illegal to market we have it very cushy in this country and it's up to us to police it if and when we can ;)

Well, I'm straight and normal.

What you been up too, Val?  ;D

Not much Bob.  Merely expressing a fact.  There are worse animals than Night Hawkes.

Turns out that a certain Mr.Smith was an accepted member of Johns club and personally I would have preferred to rub shoulders with a thief than a scum bag like that.

Val



 

Your right Val  There are worse animals than Night Hawkes.
We dont need the press stiring up hated. i doubt if every hole the Police and Archys  found had a Artifact in it, i bet they dug up some rubbish like we all do.

I bought 2 mini shovels once from the Army Surplus shop in Pontypridd, the young lad asked what i was using them for, i said im a "Detectorist " he called me a Grave robber and detecting should be illegal, turned out he was a 1st year Archaeology student.
I would have got more respect if i said i was going to club a Badger to death with them. lol

HI Bob
i havnt seen Salty around here much is he still Detecting ?? ??

sorry to hear you met an obvious idiot when getting your spades.personally i would have demonstrated on him how you swing your detector.
i bet the shop owner would have been very annoyed at his young cashier.I think detecting is kinder to the enviroment than pumping lead and plastic balls into the ground during airsoft games ,paintballing ect.As detectorists we all know where those gun cartridges end up (in our rubbish pouches)
I do hear about negative attitudes in some areas,however in west wales iv never seen this.I have a friend who works for the national trust as an archiologist (he found the walkway up by borth when after the tidal storms) and he has never said anything bad about detecting.I also have a good friend who i was in school with who worked for the national trust and now does the planning department and he offered me his land to detect recently and told me of some great spots i should go and get permission on.
Next time you go to that surplus store be sure to bring in a nice big bag of tin foil,nails and ring pulls and tell him to write his thesis on them  ;D ;D ;D

No, he hasn't detected for a couple of years. He had trouble with his knees. I think he's had a op on them and is losing weight with weight watchers.

I don't know whether he will make a come back. He's so many hobbies. The last couple if years it's been radio ham and the guitars!

Oh dear, and you've been watching Rolf Harris and Stuart Hall, et al.

You really do mix with the wrong people!  ;D

Lol Im a same Bob, The only pass time ive stuck at is eating  lol
I,ll have to give him a bell and catch up.