UK Organised Rallies

[Jonola (Jon)]

I have seen rallies advertised in various locations in the UK. They advertise the following kind of thing;

2 Day Detecting event with camping
£20 per day inclusive.
Full Catering, Toilets, Water Etc.
Over 300 Acres of Prime Detecting,
in prime arable area, trade stands available.

What are peoples experiences of these events? I haven't attended one but wouldn't mind doing so. What should you expect in the way of organisation or does it vary?

[waltonbasinman]

Have been to a few Jon. Good land, good facilities and have met some great people. On the downside the two weekend wanderers rallies were that full of people I was frightened to swing my minelab more than 6 inches for fear of hitting somebody. The land is not always as described. Don,t believe it if they tell you it is undetected. Some people do bring their own finds, traces of red clay stuck to Roman coins in a Chalk loam upland site does not compute. £20 a day is still a cheap day out when you compare to a lot of activities, but if you want a cheap day out you can detect your own fields for free and still get the same chance of  a find. I personally did not like the experience but really enjoy the Detecting Wales Rallies which are a far superior with more room to breath, a better quality of people and we all get to chat about it for a good while after. Personal choice mate I would go to a DW rally every time but would prefer a smaller restricted numbers commercial rally if I had to go to one.

[Jonola (Jon)]

It was the trade stands and camping camaraderie side of it that appealed to me. The chance to see what the trade has to offer. Seeing a pic in a magazine isn't that good if you are considering ahelling out big money.

I used to go to Silverstone and we used to camp out on the Tuesday. Race wasn't till the Sunday but the chance to mingle with people with the same interests. That is why I would like the DW barbecue weekend that has been mooted.

I know what you mean with people having their own finds with them. Never know why they do that. And fair play I haven't found much on my last few outings!

[romano-brit]

wouldnt do the WW rlly again, 50 quid for the weekend, min 1000 pepole

overall rallys are a great time, meet up with friends old and new, i tend to stick to the local ones now as there normally for a charity

[vitallius (Dave)]

Hi all,
I agree have been to a few Advertised Rallys over the years,again have good and bad points going back years ago the Rallys were pretty good as most land had not been detected and some excellent finds,these days most the events held are so called fresh undetected land but thats not always the case so its a bit dissapointing if travelling a long way to find out when you get there paid ur money that the land has been done to death not saying you might not find anything, but normally pretty sparce,also I know on couple of Rallys dross hammereds and coins have actually been put out to keep the interest..... Dave

[zorro]

Jon it really depends what you call a good weekend. Please dont go thinking you'll be on "virgin" ground over a roman settlement and you should buy a bigger finds bag and will you have enough from the museum to buy a villa in the Algarve...it aint gonna happen!
on the other hand if the thought of meeting a great bunch of people, sharing a few beers, stories, finds and making some friends in the hobby ...with a bit of detecting on land you've never been to, appeals to you then i'd say go for it.
on last years WW rally i have never seen as much mud in my life, it ****** down!! but when you see a mate trying to eat a bacon butty while trying to put his foot BACK into the welly that got swallowed up by the mud whilst trying not to fall over it's worth it. of course finding out Sunday morning that the same person had been washing his nether regions in the same bowl we had been washing the plates in all weekend left a nasty taste in the mouth...LITTERALLY 
oh and as for the people who take "finds" with them remember, there are Dick Heads  in every hobby....they should be pittyed, or failing that humilliated 

[U.K. Brian]

I 'll never forget one of the leading detector users of the time nearly being lynched after being caught planting coins then wandering round for a few minutes till someone came near when he would say "this sounds a good 'un" and recover the coin.
And the "best fined" prize that many rally's gave had to be stopped when it was noticed the same people would win each time with items they had displayed months before.

The big plus is the people you meet and the chance to try either new machines or the old classic you could never afford and hadn't seen in years.

I liked it when you could arrive on a Friday and stay till the Monday with free detecting each side of the weekend so you could really get your money's worth ! On the other hand if you talked to a passing farm worker you often did find out that the "virgin" site had been worked each Sunday for the previous six months.

The other worry is if you did hit a real hot spot you are unlikely ever to get on it again.

[altinkum]

i would never part with money to go on a commersal rally. their all advertised as being undetected with a roman villa in the middle of the field charity or not someone is making a lot of money out of these rally's

[parkijohn]

Me & the missus was a member of the ww some of my stuff in the gallery came from there digs but most of the time it was hard work and the travelling was always quite away we didnt mind that as we used to camp the night before somewhere near to the dig as we could but the big rallies was heaving my detector used to go mental i had to wait till everyone went ahead of me as there was loads of detectorists in line.But had some good finds not much but came away with something,I aint that bothered if i dont find anything its a day out and meeting new people and the crack.

[outlaw]

its all down to personal preference !

Last years ww rally in Oxford was caught in the most awful down pours continually from early Friday morning and hardly stopped. Sea of mud ! The atmosphere was very good. There will always be someone moaning, whether its because of tall stumpy stubble, lack of finds, or rain !!

 I found an old jetton and numerous artefacts. It was more than i expected, and was well pleased.

The bigger rallies are more about meeting people from around the globe that you wouldnt normally bump into other than on internet forums.

When visiting other forums, that post mainly up market finds roman etc, I wonder sometimes whether its the real detecting world, as in Wales hill farms produce mainly
buckles and button with the occasional silver 
roman is usually hard to find.
Find a rally site in a good roman area.

[altinkum]

i cant understand how people can say they only go to rally's to meet old and new friends and finds are a bonus. rally organisers must love you lot at the end of the day you've payed to attend that rally because it was advertised as being in a romam/medievel area with loads to be found. if anyone on here would like to attend a rally to meet people i'm holding one in my back garden on 20/7/09 £10 a head 10 people max the garden is belived to have been built on a roman villa/saxon village. book early to avoid dissapointment.  mike

[U.K. Brian]

I haven't managed to get to a Rally in the U.K. four years or so and I had to get to that one as I was meeting up with Gary to have my Goldmaxx Mk 1 re chipped.

I do set off but see a farmer in a field or dark marks in the soil and its out with the detector and I don't make the Rally.

I've had quite a few prizes in the past, books, headphones, C-Scope 5 MX, DFX and an Excaliber so I've done alright but on the other hand at one time I was selling all my clapped out coins, broken items etc to a dealer and much of it was going on to salt Rally fields. I wonder if the dealer who has advertised in "Treasure Hunting" to buy "partifacts" by the pound weight is doing the same ?

Cost are pretty high in this country. In the U.S. they have some great prizes, even cars. The French Rally coming up has 2000 jettons to find. Here the prizes that compensate for a lack of natural finds seem to have got less as the costs have risen.

[james2nd]

Have been on quite a few rallys in then Wiltshire area but have not had an y great success.I like the atmosphere,meeting up with people and the chance of something good coming out of new land to me,so I will still keep going.Having said all that they are not a patch on the DW Rallys!
Jim

[hedgehog]

As Neil pointed out in an earlier post the best one to go to for finds is the Hucclecote rally, more or less guaranteed on the farm near Over!
Last time I went on one of the non-charity ones (no names) I think they had dropped coins etc; for people to find , wasn't impressed so gave up going to the money makers!!

[parkijohn]

Yeah i went to that one found 6 romans all near to each other