Wednesday 2 December 2020

Ugly Side of UK Metal Detecting


In a previous post (here) I drew attention to an ongoing thread on a metal detecting Facebook Groups page with 13000 members. Self-absorbed metal detectorist Chris Weir was complaing that a Treasure  item he's waiting to hear about is held up because "my ring is stuck at the coroner stage [...] the coroner's office has told us that they are only holding death inquests for the time being due to covid". It seems he's not the only one who feels entitled enough to be livid about the holdup to the progress of the legal process here. Note the prevalence of the Them and Us motif here.

Disrespect:
Margaret Bassett
Pathetic
Entitlement:
John Morris They [Coroners] fail to understand the importance of a treasure find to the Finder.That`s why many items are not reported.They also need to take on more staff. [...]
("to serve our needs quickly"?). Rebellion:
Joe Dodsworth Im 3 years an waiting, whole process is a shower of shit, and shoot me down i wont report a god dam single thing again
Greed:
Rob Spades I've been waiting 3 1/2 years. £90K hoard. Landowner died last year. Very slow process.
Sean Henri Ferguson thats disgraceful. Thats exactly what they hope for.
They? The landowner's heirs don't get the share of the reward of items taken by Dodsworth from their property? Self-educated (read it in th'internet so must be true) epidemologist speaks out:
Mark Reed the covid thing is no excuse , the reality is the average total daily death rate remains virtually unchanged from the last five year average, only last night I read that only four hospitals in the UK are busier now than they were the same time last year. Seems this 99% percent survival rate "lethal virus" is being used as an excuse for all sorts mainly by the government control freaks.
[note, the Mark Reid FB page is empty, could be a bot]. Conspiracy:
Geoff Moverley Theyre just passing on the buck and blaming covid. An inquest isnt needed at all if the persons died within 14 days of seeing a doctor, is it?
More conspiracy theory:
Samuel Pilgrim I wonder if they want it but can’t find a museum to stick it in
Maybe somebody needs to explain to these folk how the Treasure process works. Possibly best to do it with a comic strip for the hard-of-understanding. PAS? [note, the Samuel Pilgrim FB page has suspicious content, could be a bot]. As for the 'partnership' with said PAS:
Peter Gibson cant stand them they realy do take the p_ss no wonder some people keep on to things, not saying a massive hoard lol
Chris Weir agrees:
I don't think it's the people themselves, I think it's the stupid system. I've had FLO's moaning about the system and how their hands are tied most of the time. But yes totally understand why some people don't hand things in [...].
This "system" is called "the law" and [literally] it is the same legislation that allows these oiks to pocket 98.75% of what they find and report. This thread shows the extent of the greed and feelings of entitlement of a number of them (there are no comments from the 13000 group members criticising these attitudes and the justifications offered for breaking the law).
Peter Gibson you have a good point i should of (sic) said when its out of the hands of flo your takeing a chance i think people dont mind a little wait its when ther is no reply and they have to just keep chaseing them to be told the same old story over n over again you can sort of see why other think twice and keep on to things

Because they can't get their money from the public purse as quickly as they want?  

Norfolk Wolf Todd I have been doing this for 35 years. Waiting years n years losing items undervalued items. I refuse to be involved anymore with this system.

Note the plethora of mindfulness and Buddhist memes on this guy's FB profile, sending out a different message than this post!

Nick Willis I got my ring back after 18 months a lot of ignored phone messages then l became a bit abusive and l think he got sick of me and returned it and other finds they had. It felt to me that they just want to forget about it and leave em with em. Much Wenlock museum wanted the ring but hadn.t got the money to pay (What a Shock). They do take the piss So my advice is to Pester Pester and to drop in a few un PC Words.


Vignette: Doctor comforting elderly COVID patient (The Hill)


9 comments:

Brian Mattick said...

Much Wenlock museum is a sweet little museum in the town centre with free admission or £2.50 if you wish, dedicated to the story of Much Wenlock https://www.visitmuchwenlock.co.uk/attractions/united-kingdom/england/much-wenlock/heritage/much-wenlock-museum/

and this gentleman presumably found a ring which was considered important to the town.
What a charming human being.

(If he's a member of LGD it's worth noting they have yet another pandemic-peak commercial rally on Saturday and another one on Sunday.)

Paul Barford said...

So we learn that the reason why the local museum "hadn.t [sic] got the money to pay" the detectorist was because they are not ripping off the public. Which is something we cannot say for the selfish metal detectorists taking part in the discussion above. Scandalous.

Brian Mattick said...

It's a fact, isn't it, that for every treasure item a museum would like but can't afford there's a finder who won't give it to them for free.

I believe those who DO give up their reward get a certificate from the Government saying so (as they're mostly simpletons) so I guess those who don't donate should be put on a public list pointing out what they (haven't) done. It works like a dream with toddlers.

Dick Stout said...

So here have Brian and Paul talking to one another....hilarious.


https://detectingandcollecting.wordpress.com/2020/06/06/its-not-always-children-who-invent-imaginary-friends/#more-1759

Paul Barford said...

Dick Stout, what the dickens is the matter with you, Grandpa? Have you gone completely senile? Both of you.

Right, if you refer to the sidebar you will see some guidelines for comment posters here. I've allowed most of recent posts from 3 singularly unattractive detectorists because it suits me to allow you to show yourselves up in the eyes of the other readers of this blog (this blog is about metal detectorists, not for them). Nevertheless you have pretty consistently ignored the purpose of a section where guests can comment sensibly on the posts above.

I'd draw attention to point 3 of the guidelines, but above all 10. Mr Mattick is a guest here, and I will not allow you to use my blog (all three of you have your own) to attack anyone. So, please stick to the guidelines. OK, alles klar?

Sean henri fergs said...

Mr Barford,
Sean henri here...
I am just writing to say, i stand by my comment that you labelled as greed.
I have worked so hard to find items that would have never seen the light of day if it wasnt for my extreme efforts, walking, digging and researching.. without us detectorist then what would the museums have to show? Not a great deal.
I have donated items of treasure to museums, more than once, can you say them same?
Crawl back under your rock please and stay there.
Mentioning my name on blogs etc, cheeky btard. Lucky u are in poland.

Paul Barford said...

...or what? Is that a threat?

It's funny this metal detecting innit? When there's a lockdown, it's an inalienable right to get out there "for mental health M8", you have to do it fer "exercise" or you'll all get pale skins, get fat and die.

Now when it suits you it's nothing but hard work that you all do for the public good and to fill British museums.

Please give the details of the Treasure items and other artefacts that you have donated and then we can see who has deposited more artefacts from fieldwork, you or the archaeologist? Do we count sherds, bones and iron slag etc. by the fragment or simply boxes? Or maybe truckload...

Funnily enough all of the gold and silver items I have found on excavations is in museums, and the public has not had to pay a penny in Treasure ransom to me or the landowner, as archaeologists don't get them. As has the Roman coin hoard.

Tell us about that Research please...

and if I find something in the public domain that you have yourself put there that seems comment-worthy, I will probably comment on it.
That's life M8. Innit?

Unknown said...

Paul Barford, this is the first time I've ever read your "blog" and I have to admit it's got me wondering. Do you suffer with a mental illness, maybe PTSD or something, have you been diagnosed medically?
You completely miss the point on so many things, and then ramble on in a most peculiar way. You seem to be completely absorbed in your own little world, like a toddler playing.
Maybe some form of a mental examination would be a good idea whilst there's still a possible chance of regaining normality?

Paul Barford said...

And what, for you, unknown Unknown, is this "normality"?

If I had PTSD, autism, Tourettes, ADHD, OCS, or was a sociopath or anything else, would it make my evidence-based opinion on anything any "less valid" than yours? What makes you think that? What makes you think you are entitled to come up to a complete stranger (you admitted you've never read this blog before), with such personal remarks(and do it anonymously too)?

 
Creative Commons License
Ten utwór jest dostępny na licencji Creative Commons Uznanie autorstwa-Bez utworów zależnych 3.0 Unported.