Heritage Action: Beyond the mumbo jumbo – Part 1

Another must-read and must-re-read from Heritage Action for both supporters and detractors of so-called "metal detecting" in the UK ('Beyond the mumbo jumbo – Part 1'). To be honest I am helpless to identify the best "soundbites" to cut and paste here. This is vintage Swift and cannot be sipped, and to do it justice would involve cut and pasting the whole lot here, so instead of that, please take the time to get to grips with the ideas behind the whole text on the HA webpage. Powerful arguments - let us see how long we have to wait for an answer from those who would deny that its reflects the truth about artefact hunting and collecting in Britain. Don't hold your breath.

EXPERIMENT: (1) Pretend to be a UK metal detectorist [see below how], (2) Register with a national (UK) metal detecting forum of your choice, (3) Write: "Hello, I am new hear. Hiya. I wuz reeding wot that Nigel Swift bloke writ about how the PAS our going to chenge the lawz about Traesure and make are hobby impossible to do, innit? Wot do yuz gys think about it, will it appen? LOL", (4) post it and go and make a sandwich, (5) come back and read the denial immediately sent to the forum by a member of staff of the PAS stating authoritatively that anything of the type is being considered and that "people like Nigel Swift" can be safely ignored by metal detectorist. And yet Heritage Action and any other member of the non-collecting public will wait until the cows come home before the PAS will do any proper "outreach" to them and engage in any discussion with their concerns. Try it and see if I am right.