Thaks for all your support, chaps. The Time Team investigation is our first project. If you know anyone who can supply us with information please get them either to PM me or contact me at
geoff@detectingwales.com.
We need to start spreading a positive image of metal detecting. People know we remove interesting stuff from the soil but do they know about all the rubbish we remove as well? As you all know one of the most common metals we find is lead. Do people know the countryside is strewn with lead? It is a concern amongst doctors nowadays that increasing levels of lead are being found in our bodies and it's just not good for us. A lot of it comes from traffic pollution and similar sources but some of it undoubtedly comes from agricultural crops whose roots are sucking up nutrients from soil which is contaminated with lead.
We need to make the point that a farm that has been detected on has far lower levels of lead in its soil that one that hasn't.
How about getting all the members of your club to bring in the scrap lead they've found, pile it up in a big heap and take a photograph with the members and their detectors around it? We can supply a press release to go with the picture - send both to your local paper and we start to have a much more positive portrayal of metal detectorists.