Year three in the life of Detectingwales.com 2011

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Neil:
Year three in the life of Detectingwales.com

Who would have thought that 3 years and 45 rallies could fly past so quickly? Its  that time of year again for the annual review including some of the highlights of the past 12 months.

The year started with the awful news that DW regular FarmerPhil had sadly passed away. He was a close friend to Casa Dos, Melonhead, OzzyHead Jo and Paul having all spent many days detecting together. In memory of Phil, his mate Kev has introduced the “Farmer Phil Memorial Shield” which is a points system for finds on DW rallies. Kev does a great job running this and its kind of apt that the runaway leader is he of the melon shaped head!

We have once again witnessed numerous new members join the growing family that is Detectingwales having swelled our ranks to nearly 1500 members. Many of these “newbies” have become regular message board contributors and rally goers and a big welcome on board goes to Deadlock, Heather, Mike the Fob, Doddy10, IFINDNOTHING, Jassy, Mungo, Zeus, Bulbus, Jon 1987, Ben Watergent, Relichunting, Herbie, Wayne, MarkyMark, Ysbyty Mike and anyone else I have forgotten.

There have been well over 2 million page turns alone on DW in the past year, with 114,000 posts within a total of 12,000 topics. Tap “detecting” and “Wales” into any search engine in the world now and we turn up as the number one result. That’s down to you lot - the members who ensure that the topics are on the whole interesting, relevant and informative. I couldn’t sleep a few nights ago and logged in at 1am to find there were 17 people on Detectingwales in the middle of the night – absolutely astonishing!

There have been numerous firsts for members this year including Napoleon, Nobby, IFINDNOTHING and Scrappy finding their first hammered coins, John1987 with a gold ring, Colin with a socketed axe head, and even Roman Ray discovered a Roman coin!

The private members club for gold coin finders had at least four new recruits this year with Proconsul, Handyman, Rambo and Beachboy all finding gold coins. It’s a club we all aspire to join.

Those with sand between their toes, also known as “The Beachies” have done really well, with Dances with Badgers leading the way, closely followed in hot pursuit by Jassy, Faymous and Joel. Its amazing to see how much gold these guys are finding on our local beaches and long may their good fortune continue.

Behaviour has once again been impeccable with not a single site ban this year – although many of you have asked me to get rid of RJM (aka Spartacus – the Destroyer of Romans)! Likewise on the rallies apart from the occasional badly filled hole or bit of rubbish left, as a rule the fields are left in excellent condition. This is highlighted by the fact that we have 40 or so farms in our portfolio, all of which are happy to have us back. Well done to the Rally Stewards who are now a permanent fixture and a great assistance on the day.

A huge debt of thanks goes to all the established moderators and the three new ones (Nobby, Napoleon and Casa Dos) who help run this site – we couldn’t do it without you guys. Equally the site wouldn’t be the same without The Doc, WBM, Handyman and Chef’s knowledge and ability to identify the vast majority of our finds. Thanks for your help. Sorry if I have missed out any other regular contributors but it’s a Hell of a lot to remember.

Our rallies have taken us far and wide with a record breaking 20 events to date this year. We have seen increased attendance by our North and West Walian brothers, along with members from Scotland, all over England and even as far as a guest from Canada.

Onto the Rally Highlights:

Farmer Phil Rally. There was a great turn out for the first rally of the year held in honour of Farmer Phil. The day started with an apt round of applause and was followed by some lovely finds. The stand out finds suitably fell to OzzyHead Jo and Melonhead who whilst strangely following a “Congratulations” balloon happened upon a scarce milled Lizzy sixpence and a stunning Charles 1st Half Crown. Somebody was certainly looking after them!

Rally of the Rings. This was the rally where it poured down all day and we took over a container in desperate need of shelter. Some of the standout finds included a gold posy ring to Melonhead, Willowtree’s Victorian maundy penny and an Edward hammered coin for Richard16.5DD. The wettest DW rally we have ever held!

Plucked Cherries Rally. For this rally we headed over the bridge to an area of Roman and Medieval pedigree and we were not to be disappointed. Finds included numerous first hammered coins for members and some larger denominations for Villan and even myself! A smattering of Roman including denari and fibulas turned up, but I think the highlight of the day was watching 2 bulls chase a collection of DW members across a pasture! In fairness the bulls had escaped an electric fence, so no one was to blame – but it did look funny!

The Rambo Rally. A cold day near Bristol saw 40+ members brave the weather along with three Finds Liason Officers. The day started with a several hammered coins including a Lizzy Shilling dated 1660 for myself and the first ever hammered for Napoleon – the happy Frenchman, who promptly found a second straight after. I think the day truly belonged to Rambo though who surfaced a gold quarter guinea dating to 1762 - a stunning find.

5 Willies Rally. Saw us head to the home of the cowboy hat for a well attended rally. Bizzarely it was a rally dominated by William III silver love tokens, with IFINDNOTHING finding the first of six for the day. Plenty of other milled silver turned up including a silver matchbox.

Mad Magpies Rally. We are into April now and for this rally lots of new faces turned up on a scorching day. In total 16 hammered coins surfaced, along with a Bronze Roman fishy item, a cracking spindle whorl for Casa Dos and numerous other finds. This was the rally with the magpie in the box acting as a lure to catch other magpies. It may have seemed barbaric, but the reason was that the magpies had been killing the lambs by pecking out their eyes. Someone released it but we have all learnt that from now on we don’t tamper in farm practices.

Lord of the Flies Rally. Back to the same farm, but TaffLaff’s car blew up en-route! We were greeted to piles of fresh manure and swarms of flies on this day – lovely. On the finds front the stand outs were a Lizzy Shilling for Mrs Parki John and a gold and ruby ring for Seasider.

Shadow of the Tor Rally. We headed in numbers to Glastonbury for Rally 32 and it was a cracker. Bobkoi started the day with a Charles 1st shilling. He was quickly joined by Scrappy finding his first hammered coin ever in the shape of an Edward penny. Hipster turned up a Bronze Age gouge and Nobby joined the first hammered club with a Lizzy sixpence. Laura – the local FLO recorded 29 finds of historical interest in total.

Mad Cows & Happy Wives Rally.  Ademinelab got this rally off to a great start by promptly finding a gold earring the farmer’s wife has lost – which left her over the moon. Other finds included a Roman denari for Welshbreed and a gothic florin for Mrs Stampy.

Hammeredfest – The Sequel. We had waited 2 years to revisit this site and within minutes of the rally starting Tom Tom had found a cracking Scottish hammered coin. This was soon followed by numerous hammered coinage for the 25 members. IFINDNOTHING had his first hammered in 30 years on and off detecting. John Talbot had a brace of hammered coins. Even Chef got in on the action with a cut half. Avalon’s gold test pit providing an interesting draw for members to test their machine on. The total for the day was 14 hammered coins for 25 members. A great ratio.

Wacky Races Rally. This was the rally that led to us all driving like loons desperately trying to find the fields after the farmer changed the location at the last minute. It resulted in plenty of milled silver and a few hammered coins, with the find of the day being Alan’s silver buckle ring.

Two Dayer. The 3rd annual Detectingwales Two Day event was held in the VOG and saw over 30 members camping over night. BigHoni provided us with a marquee which was the centre for entertainment in the night. Finds on the first day included Melonhead’s half crown of Charles II dated 1679 and a further 10 hammered coins for various members. John turned up a denari and also won the main raffle prize of a GPS machine kindly donated by Nomad. Steven King managed a trumpet brooch, but the find of the day fell to young Joe (grandson of Bob) who discovered a silver bodkin that is now winding its way through the Treasure Act. Mike the Fobs scrap bucket for charity made its first appearance and was heavily used by members and has since become a regular on our rallies.
The most memorable part of the day must have been the hours spent by around 10 DW members trying to break into a locked car that ultimately led to the now renowned member that is Deadlock! The master lock pick of DW turned out to be Treorchy’s finest – TaffLaff!

Day 2 saw new fields and more Roman denari, short crosses, Tudor coinage and the outstanding find that was a Norman hammered coin that was duly reported. A scare find for Welsh soil.

Record Breaking Rally.  Held in a setting full of Roman and Medieval promise. Within the first 10 minutes Proconsul unearthed a gold third guinea. This rally was attended by a relative of Handyman called Jeff who had come all the way from Canada. He managed to find a battered hammered coin and was promptly given a Roman and another hammered coin by Tom Tom and JJ. Numerous hammered coins popped up all day particularly from a small area in the furthest field. The stand out find was a bronze Roman key handle in the shape of a boars head with two further faces on it discovered by Jaydogg. Its with the Museum of Wales awaiting a full report.

Bucket of Buckles Rally. This event happened in early September and included finds of a silver Turkish coin for MiketheFob, a sword belt hanger for Nomad and as the title suggests numerous buckles.

Raining Hammered Coins. Back to the VOG for this one with BeachBoy have a cracking day resulting in 4 hammered coins and a gold Vicky half sovereign. Others amongst the hammered coins included Roman Ray, DuggyPuggy, Nobby and Heather. Ancient Pat joined in with a silver clog clasp and the find of the day was once again Melonhead with a medieval silver ring that is currently going through the Treasure Act.

Paulywow Rally. In late September Paulywow helped DW find land, and we headed over the bridge en-mass. Dave Ha did particularly well with 3 medieval coins, Da Monkey had a Lizzy penny, MarkyMarks lady had a Lizzy sixpence, and Steven King pulled out a shilling of James 1st which had the profile deliberately removed.

The Force was not Strong Rally. Thanks to Yoda, CoinDemon and Relichunting we travelled again over the bridge, and Chef managed to find an answer to what those ubiquitous bronze rings we find actually are, by finding some intact on a horse bridle. Other unusual finds included a gurkha knife, a Roman sestertious and The Doc found a 18ct gold ring with sapphires and diamonds.

T-Shirts in November Rally. We returned for a third visit to Cardiff East and the weather was so fine it was a day for t-shirts. Very odd considering this time last year snow was the order of the day. Staterchaser found a middle Bronze Age palstave axe head minus its blade. Another lovely find by Casa Dos was a groat in stunning condition apart from the fact it had been ripped in half by the plough. It looked like it had recently happened and underlines how important metal detecting truly is in the recovery of coins and artefacts before they are lost or damaged forever.

Romans & Rolexs. Late November and just over the bridge the clans gathered. A smattering of Roman finds including coins, fibulas, lock part and a ring turned up, along with an early Bronze Age flat axe for Mungo. It wasn’t all about the history though, as Hammerd found a ladies Rolex watch. The verdict is still out on whether it is real or not, but an unusual find all the same.

Santa Hats & Rebellion! The final rally of the year saw 70+ members don their santa hats and dodge the mud for a wonderful days detecting. There were finds a plenty with Rambo finding a silver stater, Passingclod his first Roman and numerous other medieval and Roman finds turning up. A quality rally to end what has been a stellar year on the rally front.

With the end of the year in sight, we are heading into our fourth year and already have a handful of rallies lined up. Some of them are returns to productive previous farms, and others are in completely new territories for us. As usual we will be having the annual two day event in the summer and if you have any location ideas, feel free to get in touch via a private message. I think Cardiff Castle is out this year!  

We still feature prominently in the leading Detecting magazine in the World with Detectingwales having been represented in 30 articles to date. If anyone ever has an interesting find that they want featured, just get in touch and that can be easily arranged.

Plans are still in progress for potentially a Wales V Scotland detecting event with the blossoming Detectingscotland.com. It would probably take place somewhere equal distance between us and would take the form of a 2 dayer. More news to follow on that when we have it.

All of this would not have been possible without the tireless work of TaffLaff and Proconsul. They really are the two most important people on DW as without one the rallys wouldn’t happen and without the other the site wouldn’t even exist! A huge thanks to both of you.

May 2012 be a year full of unexpected discoveries, good health for all and many laughs.  

Keep the Faith.
Neil

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