Welsh "Detectorists", Rather Slow off the Mark

.
The cuts to the PAS due to the government spending review were announced about two thirds of the way through last year, if not earlier, but apparently the news has only now filtered into the Welsh valleys. It was only eleven o'clock last night that the "metal detectorists" on the Welsh forum "Detecting Wales" started discussing what to do about it. This was only after a new member wrote in and asked about the "rumour" that the PAS scheme in Wales "is in danger of being done away with" at the end of March. It's good to see these people keeping up with the news that affects their hobby. It seems a bit late in the day to be asking:

"what can we Detectorists, Detecting clubs, and DetectingWales.com do to offer our support AGAINST such cuts [?]"

This list member considers that:

If our FLO for Wales was to be made redundant due to cutbacks, what an utter disaster this would be for Welsh detectorists who record their finds on a regular basis via cardiff. I only hope it is just a rumour.

The very real problem for "metal detecting" in England and Wales is that the removal of the Portable Antiquities Scheme would remove the only thing which can be perceived as "legitimising" this exploitive and archaeologically erosive hobby. With it gone, artefact hunters will have to work really hard to prove to public opinion that they are not mere looters - and that is something (given their desire to merely stifle open discussion of what artefact hunting and collecting from the archaeological record really represents), can only be a good thing. The problem is not that so many lost souls would have "nowhere to record their finds" because figures show that, over the last decade (nearly), only a few hundred Welsh detectorists annually have been reporting only a small fraction of what they find to the PAS. The detectorist calling himself "Chef Geoff" hits the nail on the head

How many people on D[etecting] W[ales] can honestly put their hand up, that they have recorded their last recordable (post 300 years old) find regardless of it's worth ? I suspect not many.

I do too. He asks how many have taken the step to self-record. Very few from Wales. He suggests the response should be "an influx of recorded finds" but it seems a bit late to suggest an extempore "use it or lose it" approach. One member attempts to justify himself that he's too busy at work to report his finds, but he's not too busy to spend hours out in the fields searching for these collectables, is he?

One list member suggests that it would be a good thing if all the "detectorists" in Wales could band together and "bombard the National Assembly expressing our outrage". I'd say it would be good if hundreds of concerned citizens would bombard them expressing their outrage about the despoiling of the archaeological record by these takers and the need to spend tens of thousands of pounds a year in an (unsuccessful) effort to mitigate at least some of the damage. It is outrageous that another approach to this problem cannot be found by devolved government in Wales.

A member ("Handyman Alan") suggests writing to Huw Lewis, the Minister responsible for heritage. It seems he's not entirely familiar with the remit of Lewis' department (ministerial spelling and punctuation corrected):

The Welsh Government is responsible for protecting Wales’ historic environment and making it accessible to all. We do this though our division, Cadw, and the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales.

Not through random "metal detectorists" hoiking out random collectables and scattering them through ephemeral uncatalogued personal collections and internet sales sites. I hope Mr Lewis appreciates the difference.