Framlingham "Hot Tub Rally" Video

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One of the reasons why detectorists need third-party insurance it seems - from this video - is because when they get out in a farmer's field they spend a lot of time throwing things at each other like nine year olds. Nine years old is about the intellectual level of the dialogues we hear on the soundtrack of the latest production of "Sheddy" (Richard Lincoln) - filmed at a November 2011 Framlingham rally. He say there were 30 people present, but a head-count on the group photo shows 27 of them, mostly fat middle-aged blokes. The You Tube video is preceded by a notable text (Uploaded by Sheddy1966 on Dec 11, 2011):

Paul Barford continually criticises Metal detecting for it's (sic) erosion of archaelogy. Heritage action has it's (sic) erosion counter. Neither takes into account the ampount that is dug up that is rubbish, they claim that all finds are good finds. This video of one of our Metal detecting rallies in Suffolk, England shows things as they are. Most finds are disguarded (sic) rubbish. This four day rally saved some good bits of our history from the plough but please bear in mind that the people on this rally are amoungst (sic) the best detectorists in the country, they know thier (sic) machines and how to use them. A total of 1200 man hours gave us the finds that you see at the end of the video. All finds have been recorded but will not be released to the PAS for 5 years at the landowners request.

Wow. One thousand two hundred hours divided by 30 gives 40 hours each in the field - long rally. Don't these people have jobs and families?

Now, it seems to me that among the UK metal detecting community are a high proportion of people lacking in basic literacy skills (I think we see one of them in the quote above). So it is no surprise to see that the same folk have problems reading too. Thus we see "Sheddy" making a basic comprehension error with regard to what the Heritage Action counter counts. Sheddy says it counts "rubbish" that is dug up instead of just recordable finds. That is completely untrue, as any literate person who can get to the eighth word of a text written in fairly straightforward English (http://www.heritageaction.org.uk/erosioncounter/ ) can see. I suppose illiteracy may be an excuse for ignorance, but if Mr Sheddy can read, then he is deliberately spreading falsehoods - probably in the hope that people who have reading difficulties might not notice.

So Mr "Sheddy" shows us what he says "30" people found in 1200 man-hours detecting and larking about. First of all we should note that what the text actually says is "some" of the finds are being shown, not all of them. These are just the highlights, so notice the emphasis on the hammered coins, thin, lightweight, very difficult to find with a metal detector - so their finders here are boasting of their metal detecting prowess showing us so many (even if they are cruddy Tudor ones). Where there are hammered coins there will be other Medieval metalwork (and pottery and other stuff of course) but we are shown very little of this in the video. I have watched this several times and it is clear that some of the finds are shown several times over. But I counted among the "some of the finds" shown at least 166 recordable items (more are shown, but not all PAS-recordable). Now that is 5.5 finds each from these few days detecting. Yet, when we look at what seem to be finds of individual finders presented in the video, we see 13 recordable objects from one, 10 finds from another, 19 finds from another, 8 another, 12 finds from what appears to be another and so on. Also it is worth noting that some of the finds being shown dug up in the body of the video do not appear in the presentation of the finds at the end. It seems that there is only a selection shown here of what 30 people found doing 40 hours each - presumably with the intention of showing that "detectorists do not find much". Really? So why not show each person showing the camera what they are taking home, and then show us what is in the scrap bucket? Actually the finds rate shown here is, taking into account what "Sheddy" seems concerned not to show, not incompatible to the Heritage Action figures.

All finds have been recorded but will not be released to the PAS for 5 years at the landowners request.

Who will do the releasing? Each of the 30 individuals in the photo? Including UKDFD's Gary Brun (the one in the hat and the earring). Some of those finders might be dead in five years time - possibly some from head injuries from flying stones. Plus, there may not BE a PAS in five years. The Code of Responsible Detecting says that detecting without reporting to the PAS cannot be considered responsible detecting.

Funnily enough the landowner's stipulation for some reason does not seem to have been taken to apply to recording finds on the UKDFD website, where we see the spouted strainer bowl nozzle and a few other things from this rally presented. So, what has the landowner got against PAS that it has not got against UKDFD? Or is this just a little tekkie fib to explain why none of them can actually be bovvered to report any of this stuff to the PAS?