Wednesday 17 April 2013

Focus on UK Metal Detecting Forum: "Work is...."


Seen on a metal detecting forum near you:
"Work is for people who don't know how to MD"
"manicdev" Clevedon, North Somerset [Fri Mar 15, 2013 10:29 am]. Let it be noted that in an English content, he is most likely talking about using a metal detector for finding saleable relics - taken from the archaeological record. Could only happen in Britain.

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. What do you think about that as a "policy"?

4 comments:

kyri said...

i wonder how many metal detectors are on benefits,especially disability benefits,now that would be an intresting statistic to know.
kyri.

Unknown said...

I see your posts are getting shorter as you can't seem to find much to slag us detectorists off with, Mr. Barford.

Please, just answer me this...
Why do you think EVERY single metal detectorist out there pursues the hobby as a means of making a fortune? Yes, ok there are the select few who buy a detector, thinking ''I'm gonna find a pot of gold and become rich'', but in reality, that is probably one in a million. I have been detecting for 2 years now, with a £1300 detector, and everything i've found (Being out every Sunday and most days during the summer holidays - WITH landowners permission, may i add), would probably add up to about £400 worth of coins/artefacts IF i sold them. They've all been recorded with the PAS and i will never sell any of it.
I am a member of a club with 60odd members, and i can positively say that not 1 of them detects for the money. And yes, there are people who illegally detect, but then in every hobby there's always that select few who do break the law, making the rest of us look bad. We only ever hear about detectorists in the news if they've been caught in the act detecting on a heritage site (And believe me, all of us responsible detectorists are against this too), or if they've found a hoard or treasure find. You then take this opportunity to broadcast to your little group of detectorist haters that us detectorists are 'Dirty handed heritage grabbers', and that we are all in it for the money. Believe me, we're not.


Sam

Paul Barford said...

Mr 'LeBailey' This blog is about artefact collecting, not metal detecting, and you are all boringly predictable and repetative.

"Why do you think EVERY single metal detectorist out there pursues the hobby as a means of making a fortune? "
Eh? Where do I say that? Show me.

The artefacts they find have a financial value, the hobby mags give 'valuation' sections showing this very clearly. I think what you are getting confused over is the element of the discussion which questions how precisely landowners are kept in the picture about the value of the items they are conned into handing over. Have you paid your landowners the full 400 quid for the items you have added to your collection and your executors/heirs will no doubt be selling?

"in reality, that is probably one in a million"
blimey, how many detectorists do you think are out there, Sam?


"We only ever hear about detectorists in the news if they've been caught in the act detecting on a heritage site"

Bollocks. Read any newspapers recently Sam? The country is full of law-abiding "responsible detectorists" doing us all a big favour by hoiking stuff out. That's what the newspapers say. Courtesy of the PAS and its press releases. There is, isn't there, another side of the story the newspapers are NOT telling.

The brevity and lack of posts is due to me being both busy with other things and seriously ill at the moment, but normal service will be resumed after Mayday I hope.

Paul Barford said...

Anyway, I assume those of my readers "challenged by formal education", as Minister Lammy put it, might well appreciate some shorter posts.

 
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