Covid-flaunting UK Artefact Hunters Claim 'Victimisation' and Petition Government

"No person may leave or be outside of the place 

where they are living without reasonable excuse [...]

where one of the exceptions set out in regulation 6 applies" 
Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions)
(England) (No. 4) Regulations 2020

"Digger Dawn"
(Change org)

The NCMD is still confused about how the law should be interpreted. So now, instead of working out by reading the legislation for themselves why their thick-as-planks members cannot be walking willy-nilly all over private land belonging to other households whether they have permissions or not (it's in the Act guys), they decided to play the victim and their chairman, the aptly-named Mr Hacket, has written a complaint to Boris Johnson:

NCMD Letter To Government
7th November 2020
We have as yesterday sent a letter of complaint to the Government on the singling out of our hobby for restrictions
Edited letter Dowden 

Firstly, if they were to read down to the schedule (paragraph 24) they would find that there are a whole range of outdoor and equally "solitary" activities/recreation/forms of "taking exercise" (golf , water sports, shooting and archery ranges etc.) that are also covered by these health regulations. It is patently false to claim that they've been "singled out". But I expect most of them can't read that far. 

Note (apart from the fact they don't know how to write a transactional letter), how they admit that the person that told them "detecting is allowed" is the (joint) Head of Cultural Property. This is not by any means the correct department to answer such a query, and I suspect [if the DCMS is taking these ranting and uncomprehending hoikers seriously, which I doubt]  this person is now having to forward copies of this correspondence they had to their superiors.

Note also that they redacted out this person's name (although it's pretty easy to Google it), why? Because the National Council of Metal Detectorists knows that their own members cannot be trusted not to send this person hate-mail because of their involvement in this matter.  That's the community that the NCMD 'represents'.

Will the government revise their law and their guidelines to suit Mr Hacket? Will the NCMD publish the government reply if they get a poke-in-the-eye? Watch this space. 

And, as an added bonus, the sad bunch have started a petition. Just read this:

                  (from Change.org)          

Remove the lockdown BAN on Metal Detecting private land in England
Dawn Chipchase started this petition to Oliver Dowden and Boris Johnson Prime Minister

This petition has been started as a last resort and on behalf of the metal detecting community. We believe there has been some error with the guidelines set out on the 5th November by Minister, Oliver Dowden MBE, Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. https://www.gov.uk/guidance/guidance-on-searching-for-archaeological-finds-in-england-during-covid-19. It states that metal detecting is not allowed on private land, but is allowed on council land as in parks parks and beaches? [sic] This makes no sense as it is virtually impossible to get permission to detect on council land, such as council parks and beaches are already full of walkers taking exercise, children and other members of the public, whereas private land is usually miles away from anyone and is very solitary and safe? [sic]

Metal detecting for many is linked with mental health. There are large groups of ex veterans with PTSD who use metal detecting as therapy, many who suffer from anxiety and depression, many Autistic people and others such as myself who are teachers and NHS staff, who need to stand in a field alone at weekends to mentally unwind from the stress and anxiety we undergo throughout the week during this very stressful time.

It is especially tough knowing that all other solitary outdoor activities such as fishing, shooting, golf, cycling, walking, horse riding* are still allowed, yet metal detecting is not? [sic] It is hard going to work each day, teaching classrooms full of teenagers knowing I and others like me, are not deemed to be safe to stand in a field on our own at weekends.

I receive letters and messages from people constantly telling me how metal detecting has saved their lives from suicide and depression. To the outside world, we probably appear to be a set of strange loner hobbyists, but to us it’s a source of meditation and mental freedom from the worlds[sic] stresses.

Please could you ask for this guidance on metal detecting be changed to the way I’m assuming it should have been written, No metal detecting on council/public land, but metal detecting allowed on private land as long as you are on your own (with landowners [sic] permission)

And if its not changed, at least tell us why the decision was made to ban metal detecting on private land with permission, because as a community we are completely confused and frustrated by this seemingly strange rule. We are aware this may not be the last time we as a country have to go through a lockdown and would like any changes be made for the future.

Metal detecting is one of the safest and most solitary hobbies there is. It incorporates taking daily exercise and provides mental relief for many of thousands of people across the UK.

547 have signed. Let’s get to 1,000!

Artefact hunting is particularly solitary if you are one of the thousands of metal detector users in the UK that never take any of their finds to the FLO to get them recorded.

What is particularly galling in all of these layers of special pleading is that they not only totally ignore the conservation issues involved in their hobby of site-trashing, but the answer to the question raised at the end of this curious and revealing document is there to read in the Act to which the Guidelines refer and on the basis of which they were compiled so that tekkies would not have to work it out for themselves.

Note also the rather pathetic punctuation here. In this text, "Digger Dawn" says she is a teacher, in fact if you've been following her, you'd know that she's also actually been a college lecturer in the UK. I think that says a lot about the British education system and why many detectorists who have been through British schools can't cope with reading the Act for themselves. 

TAKE A GOOD LOOK at this behaviour, for these are precisely the sort of people the PAS wants to grab more and more millions of public quid to make into the "partners" of the British Museum, archaeological heritage professionals and to whom they want us all to entrust the exploitation of the archaeological record. Take a good look and decide what you think about that as a "policy".  

* Petition author Digger Dawn, and all those signing their names under her text, clearly had not gone to the trouble to read the whole document, schedule paragraph 24 for example. So this episode merely shows up the lack of attention to detail and responsibility of at least part of the metal detecting community in the UK.   Also there is a difference between "taking exercise" (Art 6 (c)) and "continuing to engage regardless in all other outdoor activities".