IMPORTANT COVID-19 ANNOUNCEMENTS

As spokesperson for our small group I have been following this very serious situation closely.Other detectorists in our small group have called and emailed me about the disrespectful and grossly dangerous behaviour of other hobby and sporting groups throughout Derbyshire ,which is helping to spread this terrible virus.We have been impatiently waiting for a statement from our national metal detecting organisations ,and thankfully the National Council For Metal Detecting issued a statement on the 20th /March /2020.We are still awaiting for a public statement from the Federation of Independent Detectorists and the European Council For Metal Detecting.

I personally feel that the issued statement does not go far enough,and judging from the irresponsible behaviour of other outdoor hobby and sport groups and the public ,the possibility of curfews and travel restrictions are now a serious possibility.

As a very small club we’re going to take some very tough decisions to help others to try and “flatten the curve” of this terrible disease.

No1 we are suspending the use of our free to use club metal detectors until Further notice.

No2 Our free to read club metal detecting magazine scheme is also suspended until further notice

No3 Our ideas and suggestion working groups will no longer be holding meetings ,but will instead be doing all this work online or over the phone

No 4 we ask all members of our small association to abstain from our lovely hobby of metal detecting ,especially where to practice it would involve public travel and would help to spread this terrible disease.

No5 we ask all other metal detectorists in Derbyshire to observe this request also

No 6 We ask all clubs and rally organisers to cancel all rallies and  metal detecting public events in Derbyshire until further notice

Community Action In Derby/Derbyshire has been in contact with us as we are under the umbrella of this large national organisation.They are looking for volunteers to help out during this emergency.If anyone is interested please email me .

we have to be seen by the British Public “To be doing our bit” during this national medical emergency.In years to come I want to me able to say that the members of our small group and detectorists from all over Derbyshire made big sacrifices in our lovely hobby ,in order to try and slow down the spread of this terrible virus.Therefore I want the public to contact me by our club email if they see any detectorist/detectorists out flouting our request s and we won’t hesitate to publish the pictures taken showing their irresponsible actions and naming them publicly.

Its such a pity other hobby and sporting groups haven’t taken such strict action with their enthusiasts .

Our annual year in review has been held up due to a very important court case in the crown court ,which is relevant to our lovely pastime.Im going to re-edit it and make it a morale boosting read to followers of our lovely pastime, in the coming peak weeks .

Finally on Behalf of our very small group and no doubt all the detectorists from all over Derbyshire ,I just want to say a very sincere and heartfelt thank you to everyone who is working in or supporting our medical services during these difficult times.Our thoughts and prayers are with and for you all.

yours sincerely

John Potts

Spokesperson

Making Derbyshire Safer Metal Detecting Association

Monday 23rd March 2020

 

 

 

 

2019 Annual Solemn Commeration Weekend for all metal detectorists in Derbyshire

As most participants of our lovely hobby in Derbyshire know ,our small association asks all Detectorists from Derbyshire for one weekend each year , to take time out from our great pastime to remember the victims ,the survivors ,the families and friends of the Tunisian Terrorist attack,many of whom were from Derbyshire.It was decided last year by our association members that this commeration weekend would become a  moveable date.There was some criticism that in the past it was scheduled during the quiet part of the year for our great hobby.So our annual commeration weekend will take place this year on Saturday 14th and Sunday 15th of September 2019 for the county of Derbyshire.

So we politely ask all detectorists based in Derbyshire and for clubs and individuals thinking of coming into our fair county to abstain from detecting , in Derbyshire  for this solemn  single weekend.It has been a difficult year for the surviving families as the court cases have just recently occurred,and you know it’s so sad that they can no longer enjoy their hobbies with the deceased victims.

in the past our solemn weekend has been widely supported and there has not been one media report of any detectorist being disrespectful to the families by not observing this request.

As part of our ideas and suggestion scheme one of our members wants this weekend to be established at first in the Midlands region ,and then if it is sucessful to have it as a National Commeration Event for all Detectorists in the U.K.

Association members will be asked to vote on this great idea later on this year.

please take time during this weekend to remember the victims and their families and friends.

John Potts

Association Spokesperson

2018 A” very late ” Year in Review !

This is a very late year in review for 2018.The annual printing of the membership cards has reminded my dim grey cells that this task needs attending to as well.A poorly grandchild plus a new grandchild has kept me very busy and offline and  just about managing to get out  ,clean up some areas and rescue some old coins and artefacts too.Given the choice when you have got limited time , getting out in the fresh air metal detecting always wins over sitting  down typing away at a computer screen .But my apologies to all and sundry for my poor time management skills and delay in getting this year in review done.

The year just gone has seen a spectacularly warm and dry summer ,pointing to a future  climate trend which will not be good for our hobby and indeed the environment as well. Thankfully most of our members were able to find marshy areas in those very dry months ,whilst others taking advantage of low water levels and safe waters did the annual summer season of river detecting ,which they have been doing for many years .

It has also been a year when the Assocition finally achieved what we started off at our 25th Anniversery year.We took delivery of two lovely new metal detectors for our members free use just before Christmas .We have recieved permission from the family of one great former metal detectorist to name one machine in their honor  and we will go public  with both ,when we have reached agreement for the same with the second family.Sincere thanks to the family of this former great detectorist and ambassador of our hobby for their permission.Currently each member is recieving training on the detectors as they are very advanced machines.We are very grateful to the supplier for the two machines and the huge discount recieved and we look forward to hearing that our members are buying their metal detecting consumables from this very generous distributor for many years to come.We must also thank the public for their contribution towards these two lovely free machines and for our members who handed in their contributions.I must admit that it did take a long time but we finally got there .Its such a pity that we hear of so many other clubs and associations making so much money out of their members and not even offering them the use of a free quality metal detector.

Some of our  members  along with other independent detectorists in one part of our fair county are settling into  the second year of a protracted dispute with their local council ,over the introduction of a  very unfairly introduced  local ban on the use of  all types of metal detectors.The association is helping out our members to the best of our ability and with what few resources we have.Its really a David and Goliath situation there ,and I’ve been informed only one Councillor is seriously interested in their situation ,and the sad thing is that already some children have allegedly suffered needle stick/sharps injuries  whilst playing in these council parks .We do sincerely hope that the children affected will be given a medical all clear soon and we do hope that some agreement can be reached for all the detectorists  affected ,for the public who have lost items ,but most of all the children who play in these areas.

Thankfully  our lovely hobby of metal detecting continues its very safe trend for its participants.However we are very concerned that a new metal detecting television programme  called “River Hunters” could have another another “Time Team ” effect on our lovely hobby , and put lots of inexperienced new metal detectorists in risky and dangerous situations especilly  if they try and emulate this tv show.In our collective opinion only very experienced metal detectorists should detect in rivers and water ,and all possible precautions should be taken. We do have to offer condolonces in this section to a participant of one of our related hobbies and activities and that is to the family and friends of Mr Gordon McGhee of Colchester Essex, who was a well regarded Numatist. Sadly Mr McGhee was killed during an alleged robbery of his rare coin collection.We also have to offer our sympathies to the editor and contributors of UKDN as we have heard that they will no longer be publishing their great and regular  monthly metal detecting WORD magazine.We are so sorry to see this  great  monthly publication ceasing production and publication ,and we are disapointed  to see that we are one of the few metal detecting clubs ,associations to publicly thank them for all their great work and great editions over the years .

I always take this yearly review to have a look at the number of  metal detecting clubs and associations in Derbyshire.Unless I’m mistaken all clubs are still operating and one new club has been formed.Its very hard to know as some clubs “went under the radar” post PAS introduction.Currently at the moment there is an important consultation process regarding ” Treasure Trove ” laws and it will be interesting to note the number of “clubs ” and “associations” that make submissions.I just want to take this opportunity to thank all our association members for their responses and our collective submission in this consultation process will be made very soon.

Im pretty sure that everyone agrees with me when I say that our lovely hobby is heading in the wrong direction ,especially with these rallies and “megarallies.We have all seen the television and social media pictures and film footage.Stupid stunts such as leaping out of planes ,people being buried alive, to advertise metal detectors.Rally  marshalls using powerful drones to “buzz” people at rallies and other rally event staff  weaving in and out of detectorists in powerful luxury SUVs.If any of those actions  went wrong ,lives could have been lost .However following a complaint from a female detectorist I personally now believe that metal detecting rallies have sunk to a new low.I have reviewed the film and social media footage of an event at a detecting  rally,and have been very disapointed at the behaviour of the metal detectorists towards the lady models at the event.We have written messages of complaint to the three organisers of the metal detecting event  ,about the behaviour of the metal detectorists at this part of the event , the inappropriate clothing of the lady models and the fact that some of the lady models appeared to be very young .The event was attended by many companies ,magazines ,celebrity detectorists and organisations ,and we’re very surprised that none of them have made any  negitive /disassociation comments about this particular event which occurred at a recent metal detecting rally.We ask all detectorists not to support or attend rallies or megarallies.These events are not good for the future of our lovely pastime.Detectorists ,small clubs are being forced off permissions by rally organisers and the relationship between the landowner and individual detectorist,small clubs  are being eroded If you want to contribute towards a charity ,please give the money directly to the charity yourself ,rather than going to a rally.

I always take the year in review ,to thank all the organisations who safely dispose for us the huge amount of rubbish,heavy metals ,batteries that we collectively remove from the ground each year.I also want to thank the land owner who continues to give us the  use of our free to use to all members club detecting land in Derbyshire.A big thank you to all members who supported our selected charities  who facilitate our lovely hobby of metal detecting ,with their foreign,old currency and brass keys.Please keep up this good work.A big thank you to Linda for continuing to supply everyone with free to read metal detecting magazines.This year we have reduced our chosen publication titles from two to one ,so there won’t be many magazines in circulation.This was done because it was felt that the quality of the magazines had reduced and that there was far too much advertising.However Linda is still saving us collectively a large amount of money so we don’t each have to buy a magazine and just think of all the trees we are saving.

Our website has not been as busy this year .This is partly due to there being less posts ,but also finding it more difficult to advertise our association on forums ,magazines  and other websites We will try going forward to remedy all these issues and to advertise more successfully.Our security features have been very effective and there have been very few troll attacks so far,but we are still visited by these individuals ,however the damage to the website and the association has been negligible.A very big thank you to WordPress for the use of the free website and for their excellent security features.

Everyone knows and supports our annual commeration for the victims of the Tunisian terrorist attack.This year it has been a difficult year for the families and friends of the victims due to legal proceedings.However we will still commerates the victims in this way but in future this lovely event will have moveable dates.This years commeration dates have not been decided yet but we will give other clubs and individual detectorists in Derbyshire or coming into Derbyshire to Detect  enough prior notice on this site ,so that they can leave those weekends free to support us in this lovely commeration event.

Going forward I just want to remind all association members that our ideas and suggestions  box needs filling ,so that our association stays fresh and active.We look forward to the very important “Treasure Trove ” consultation process and we hope that our collective proposals are listened to when decisions are being made.Finally I just want to thank all our members for their continued support and to wish them a safe and sucessful metal detecting year ahead especially with our two free to use top quality metal detectors !

John Potts

Association Spokesperson

 

 

 

 

AND WHILE IM ON HERE!

I didn’t want to take the excitement off our great news with our Association Machines ,so I’ve decided to put some housekeeping announcements on here separately.

REMEMBERING OUR SUPPORTIVE CHARITIES

Chrismastide is fast approaching so please remember our supportive charities with your foreign currency,old currency and unclaimed keys.Plate collections are plummeting and these large donations by detectorists are becoming increasingly important for our clergy and charities.Please remember to keep me updated so that we can keep the list of charities who are supportive of our hobby accurate.

OUR FREE TO READ METAL DETECTING MAGAZINE

as hinted previously Linda is reducing the number of publications in circulation from two to one in 2019.Please could everyone contact me with their publication title that they would like to keep in circulation.As always please could all magazines be handed back in good complete condition before the end of the year ,so they can be passed onto deserving detectorists in other countries where access to these publications are restricted .Please remember that our scheme is self financing so long as the magazines are kept in good clean condition.Linda is cutting down on the number of titles as she feels that the quality of the magazines has deteriorated and that there is far too much advertising in them .Members choices to be submitted before the end of the year.I must take this opportunity to thank Linda for doing this free to read scheme and from talking to other detectorists in other clubs ,she may have started something as from what I hear quite a few clubs also have schemes of their own.

THE WORRYING POSSIBILITY OF LARGE METAL DETECTING RALLIES OCCURING IN DERBYSHIRE IN THE FUTURE

The two main topics of conversation amongst ourselves this year has been the changing weather and the the rise of the large /mega detecting rallies that are occuring  within our hobby now.These events are very damaging to our hobby and they cause problems for small clubs and individual detectorists.There is a very real possibility that a large / mega rally will occur within our lovely county of Derbyshire very soon.Members think we need to have plans ready to try and legally prevent this  horrible possibility from happening.So ideas and suggestions are being sought from members over the next few months on what we can do as an association,together with other small clubs and individual detectorists ,to prevent this terrible occurrence from happening here in the very near future.

UPCOMING METAL DETECTING TELEVISION SHOW TO BE BROADCAST IN THE UK IN 2019

As an association we have contacted the very nice “celebrity detectorist” involved in the show ,and we have explained to them  the reasons behind what they encountered during filming in Derbyshire.Our explanations were very graciously recieved and we sincerely hope that when the issues are resolved that they will be able to come back  as our guests and do a better video/film.We have given them our good wishes with the show which we have been told will hopefully be aired next year.

John potts

 

NEARLY THERE WITH OUR FREE TO USE MACHINES !!!

It’s great to be able to announce some very good news about our free to use for members metal detectors.Most will remember that we started off our fundraising  many years ago as part of our 25th ANNIVERSERY year ,so that all members could have access to quality equipment ,which would have been out of the price range of most people.A few months back we narrowed it down to two quality  makes and quality models ,and a small group of brave brass necked members were given the task of tyre, kicking,bargaining ,hard talking and begging with the distributors.

So they’ve all come back in one piece with a result!.Weve got two  quality new machines at a massive substantial discount.Ive just done the math and with what we have saved already , each member  just has to contribute £60 each…and their ours. That’s a massive result !

The surviving family of a very respected detectorist and might I say a great ambassadoor for our hobby,has agreed to allow one of the machines to be exclusively named in their  honor and memory Collectively and on behalf of all our members I wish to sincerely thank the family for allowing us to honor their memory in this way.

We are in talks with another family regarding the second machine.

Two quality large brass plates will have to be purchased and inscribed ,so I’m asking  for £20 from each member for this purpose.Obviously if it’s less the difference will be refunded to each member.

So I am looking forward to each members contribution as soon as possible .Please remember that there will also be a very small fee annually to cover insurance  and Maintenence for the two Association Metal Detectors.We will have to support our very generous distributor for a number of years when we are buying all our detecting consumables.And a fair use policy wil have to be set up so that every member will have an equal chance to use these two new lovely machines.

So I look forward to everyones contribution as quickly as possible

john Potts

Association Spokesperson

 

 

 

URGENT EMERGANCY MEETING FOR ALL MEMBERS

For about the last few days I have been recieving ,calls messages and emails from journalists ,newspapers and television stations ,most originating from the United States of America and Canada,but also some from Europe too.At first I though it was some sort of cruel hoax caused by some of the horrible internet trolls who cause distress and misery to our lovely hobbyists .

The calls general nature are seeking our reaction as a metal detecting association to a television programme /film /video documentary made by an American film production company and I might add a  highly respected metal detecting celebrity /television star  in Derbyshire very recently.

with the help of my grandchildrens  superior technological skills  I have been able to view the programme and I feel that we need an emergancy meeting for all members to discuss our reaction and position to the media and local government .It is vitally important that all members attend and I’m emphasising that Derbyshire detectorists who are currently being affected by the very unfair and in my personal view  illegally introduced metal detecting ban in one local government area should attend as a matter of priority .

We need to have a media position before local and national media get involved .We also need to contact the local government in the area where the film was made .We also need to contact the film production company  and celebrity detectorist .

This has to be done very quickly ,so I am calling the meeting for tomorrow night Monday 16 th September ,at the same time and location where we were deciding our choice of metal detectors for our free to use club machine  a few months ago.

Text messages emails  have been sent out as well as this notice

yours very seriously

John Potts

association  spokesperson

 

FOOTBALL’S COMING HOME (and our free to use metal detectors ) hopefully!

Hello everyone it’s John here .Im just putting up some items to keep members informed of what’s going on and also for the benefit of the two members who couldn’t make  our last meeting.

now onto the serious matter.

Most Detectorists in Derbyshire know that we take time out  every year to remember the victims and their families of the Tunisia Terrorism attacks some of whom were personally know to us  Everyone agrees it a very respectful and dignified way of remembering the victims ,survivors and their families  .This year as in previous years we didn’t see one detectorist or get a report about one been seen out “metalin” during our commeration weekend  ,so a big thank you to everyone again.

Our new and more secure approach to advertising our  rememberance  event ,by only using  very  well administered online  social media  sites and magazines  was very sucesfull and we recieved lots of positive messages back from detectorists and the general public

.Sadly nearly every year we have to pass on condolonces to families and friends of people who have passed on tragically in similar or related  hobbies /activities.This year we have to pass on our very sincere condolonces  to the family and friends of Mr Jack and Martin Andrews of Pudsey who died tragically whilst Magnet Detecting  in Huddersfield.and Mr Anthony Bubbins a Numismatist who also died tragically in Newport as a possible result of an attempted robbery of his extensive and valuable rare coin collection.

 

Onto the details of our last group meeting mostly for the benefit of those  two members who couldn’t make it and it’s good and bad news here .

even with the postal votes we couldn’t get an agreement on which metal detector to get for our free to use association  machine. Currently it’s tied which ever way you look at it on two different machines .Some metal detecting companies came in for severe criticism for their reluctance  to disclose what the workers terms and conditions are like in the factories where the metal detectors are assembled  and packaged .They also came in for criticism for being reluctant to disclose the identities and locations of large shareholders in their companies .It was decided on the night not to even consider purchasing from  a certain company ….who actully makes quite good detectors ,due to recent sad events in the UK ,and similar events over the last few years in Syria and certain parts of Eastern and south eastern  Europe.

We urge other hobbyists thinking of purchasing new machines to be very vigilant about the terms and conditions of employees involved in their  manafacturing and assembley ,and also where do the profits of the companies eventually go?.There is a very notable deafening silence from most detector manafacturers , UK and World  Detecting Associations and from Celebtectorists  themselves on these subjects.

whos going to be brave enough to write about those topics !

There was good news however on the finance front .Due to the steep downfall in donations due to the public tightening their fiscal belts pre brexit  and  a local government detecting ban  in some parts of Derbyshire ,members have decided to each loan the remaining amount due in order to purchase the club detector /detectors .We are to continue with our fundraising and to use this money to pay back each member over time.

One member was heard to  comment ….”just a  sly way of making sure they stay in the club then “!But thankfully it was carried and I will be delighted to collect their contribution !

.If we were to go ahead and purchase the two machines the total would be £2400 and we have £700 saved .However some members have heard of  rally organisers /and pop up clubs  recieving  substantial discounts of 50-70% on  new detecting machines .Also it was decided that we could throw in a sweetener to buy all our club  detecting consumables from the vendor in future for say the next 5-15 years  ,as members are predicting a very severe post Brexit recession.People voiced  an opinion that we could recieve substantial discounts if we  did  this approach but only with vendors / distributors  who were located in areas where local government allowed metal detecting presently and vendors who do not sponsor metal detecting rallies .

One very nice idea was that we should name  the machine /machines in  honor / memory of local or national detectorists who have passed on,it would be a fitting memorial most agreed.A small group of detectorist are going to follow this all up and hopefully will have a result by the Autumn.

The presentation by the members affected by the very unfair and in our view illegally introduced  metal detecting ban  in one local government controlled area was recieved very positively by the group.So much so that we went way over time in this area.Our two members have been joined by other independent detectorists and members from other clubs.Sadly there has been a complete lack of interest from other clubs in the affected area ,some people are saying the local government  ban suits them as it forces detectorists into going on their paid rallies .However the detectorist affected are now organised  and have already undertaken  a very sucessful car pool in order to bring “detecting friendly voters ” to recent local elections ,and they are prepared for a long and very drawn out campaign ,in order to restore their legal right to continue metal detecting in the affected local government area.

they are seeking their  right to continue their lovely hobby as they have already being doing so for many years .

people in the affected area need to be able to call on the services of this group of detectorists in order to retrieve valuable or sentimental lost items ,when they have failed to find the item themselves visually.The ban on the use of metal detectors will lead to a huge upsurge in the number of needle stick and sharp injuries to children playing in these council parks as for years metal detectorists have been removing these dangerous items along with other rubbish.Council staff do not have the equipment or the time to search and remove these types of hazards which are hidden in the long grass or just under the surface.

the affected group need to find out why was our lovely hobby targeted .Who were the council officials and councillors who signed off on the policy change / introduction and was there any outside influence ,and why was there no public consultation process with all the affected stakeholders ,such as metal detectorists ,archaeologists,The Derbyshire Constabulory ,civil engineers and security companies  and the general public.

It might be more than football that is coming home over the next few years as this small group of determined detectorist are here to stay and will recieve  our full support and backing

we finally got a quick discussion going on the issues affecting the national detecting organisations and the revised policy.Amazingly it was the easiest item to discuss.We all decided that it is up to each individual detectorit to interpret and follow the rules accordingly.Yes if other organisations and similar hobbies bring in enforcement rules we will look at the issue again.

so hopefully everyone is up to date and we wish our members the best of luck in their negotiations with the vendors and hopefully we will have good news in the Autumn.

sincerely John Potts

Association spokesperson

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ACTION MEETING FOR ALL MEMBERS

There are quite a lot of things to be sorted and all up against a tight deadline.Therefore I am calling a meeting of all members for the 27th April 2018 at 7.30 pm.The second only meeting in our associations history.The location has yet to be decided and for security /anti troll reasons I  will contact each member  privately closer to the time. The two members who are encountering problems with their council will be meeting our friendly solicitor and myself from 5 pm on before hand. For the two members affected Please bring all documents ,media clippings ,old pictures which can be verified independently,old letters of permission, old letters from past council managers,old maps ,and details of the previous landowners ,and letters of granting conditions ,who granted their lands to the people ,which is being managed by the council.If any other member who has been affected but has not declared so ,they should also come along with all relevant documents and details.Our kindly solicitior will look at everything and give you his interpretation of your legal position .

later on in the meeting the affected members will address the association for roughly half an hour on these issues, and they are also seeking some car drivers help as they need transport for bringing metal detectorists to the polling stations where they live in the upcoming local elections next month.Ive been told about 15 people in two wards ,will need transport as they have difficulty getting to their polling stations.

we also have to make our decision about our final choice for our free to use association metal detector.Currently  five machines are the most popular.Some members also want to discuss the countries of origion and ownership and shareholders within these companies

we also have to discuss corrsepondance from each of the companies who manafacture the machines ,from the trade unions in the regions of origion of the machines.

we also need to get our finances sorted before  predicted post Brexit prices increase. Hopefully some generous individual or individuals will make up the shortfall,and we also have to choose which vendor to purchase the final machine choice from.

a discussion will have to take place on new revised aspects of the Portable Antiquities scheme ,which I believe is causing problems for other Organisations and metal Detecting Clubs.

so it’s very important for every member to attend as there are so many important issues to decide

sincerely John Potts

association Spokesperson

2017 A GOOD YEAR ,BUT A LOT TO DO GOING FORWARD!

The annual job of preparing the membership cards is great for reminding me that I have to do the year of end review.Just to let you know that all the cards are done for this year ahead.Again please keep them on you ready for inspection when on the club land ,and please make sure to inform me if you get or change any new machine or pinpointer.2017 has been a good year with great weather for detecting ,actually too good as all the crops were in at least a month early.Were so lucky we have our free club land to go to ,a big thank you to the landowner

.Also thanks goes out to Linda for keeping our free magazine going for another year .But do be warned she is thinking of reducing it to one publication from 2019 onwards .So no sticky fingers please and do keep passing the magazines around.Members will have a say In the decision  I have been informed !.

We also wish to thank other organisations who dispose safely all the hazardous materials such as sharps batteries  etc for us that we remove off public  and private lands in great quantities for us.

Its very nice to recieve positive feedback and I’d just like to let you all know that ive heard back from a charity to say that they raised £150 from the sale of old coins / keys  ,that we  helped contributed towards.Now a lot of people would say that’s not much  but you have to remember the sheer volume of coins and Keys that would have needed to be donated to achieve this  amount,and also religious attendance is at an all time low and the plate collections  are plummeting ,so these sort of  fundraising events will become more important going forward in the future.We in the association are very keen to ensure that charities which positively support our lovely hobby continue to recieve the help of detectorists all over Derbyshire

I also wish to thank the members who took part in the working group set up to see if a schools metal detecting scheme  was feasible for Derbyshire .I shall avoid the landlords of the various pubs  where you met as I heard they were disapointed in that you talked more than you drank.!

We also wish to thank other clubs and independent detectors for observing our 2017 solemn commeration and we wish to announce that the 2018 Commeration weekend will take place from the 22-24 th June all over Derbyshire We respectfully invite all other detectorists to observe this commeration when we  all take time out from our lovely hobby to remember  the victims many of whom were from Derbyshire .We do have to be a bit careful of how we advertise this commeration  this year .I can’t really say much but everyone knows what happened .

We would be so pleased and also I’m sure that the families of the victims and survivors would be so grateful if all detectorists observed this years commeration like they did last years one

Our free to use 25 ANNIVERSERY club machine fund is ever so slowly moving along.Its perhaps the most visible sign of brexit as people tighten their belts .The total has crept up to £645.95 .We do need to take action here as I’ve heard a lot of talk about metal detectors increasing in price after brexit by 10 -25 % .Likely excuses that will be put forward  by retailers and manafacturers for this will be tariffs ,import duties ….and the weakness of the pound!.I think we might need to borrow forward from some generous person and get our machine sorted before this happens .Urgent feedback from members needed on this one please .

And talking about our club machine ,thankfully at long last all members have submitted their choices .Praise be to the Lord !.In all 35 machine choices were submitted !.When I am giving everyone their membership cards I will include this list and asking them to whittle this down to five machine choices ,and not to take all year about it either!.I will be contacting Trade Union representatives in the areas for the various manafacturers to see what way the employees are being treated and about the manafacturing process and the environment.Please do not base your choices on online videos as sooo many posters have been nobbled by vested interests!

Detecting in Derbshire is holding its own compared to many other historical societies and traditional hobbies .I think one new club has been formed in the county ,and I’ve heard of one club  which I thought had ceased  but had actually went under the radar post p.a.s ,and  is still in existence.So at the moment there are 9 or 10 active clubs based in or come into Derbyshire to detect .We still feel in the association that our lovely hobby is heading in the wrong  direction.This year huge detecting rallies have been held in the uk  with much fanfare and  with “celebrity” detectorists ! .Traditional  detectorists clubs and asociations are finding it difficult in retaining /gaining permissions because of these rallies and the amounts of money involved .Where allowed we will work closely with HMRC and local government to ensure that large rallies don’t start occurring in Derbyshire .

One very good thing that did happen this year was the decision of the Home Secretery to tighten up the laws concerning online trolling.This was due to concerted public pressure by the public .Well done to all detectorists who signed and encouraged people to sign the  various petitions.Thanks to WordPress we have limited the damage that trolls can do to us and  now people involved in this unsavoury activity will face the consequences  for the first time if they are based inside or outside the UK.

This year wasn’t all about highlights,we’ve had some setbacks too.I was personally disapointed with the recommendations of the working group but I will respect their professional decision.It will have an impact on membership going forward but I do agree it gives us a more controllable result that is favourable to the association.

Late in the year I recieved reports from some members saying that they had encountered difficulties  practicing their lovely  hobby ,in an area that they had done so for years ,by local council staff.I can’t say any more until this matter is investigated fully but we in the association will do the best we can to help out our members  in difficulty.

There was also some criticism of the association  website  to the effect that “it was nowt more than a glorified notice board”We’re all entitled to our opinions and constructive criticism is always welcome.I personally would like our website to talk about issues concerning  our lovely hobby in Derbyshire and in the Uk.But we have to be so so careful and respectful to other people ,and their views and opinions.Yes there is room going forward to cover one or two topics of interest each year  to members ,but they will require considerable research ,and very careful presentation to members and the public.Whilst this is going on I will have to cut back on day to day announcements .Personally we also have to do a lot of work online on finding online avenues of  secure and unrestricted access to the public  as I and other members are seeing subtle signs of reluctance and hostility from some forum/site administrators.

So a good year but a lot of planning and work  to do going forward ,and a lot of it up against a tight schedule .Hoping we all get some time to meet up this year and thanks for all members for helping to Make Derbyshire Safer .

sincerely John Potts

association spokesperson

 

 

MAKING DERBYSHIRE SAFER METAL DETECTING ASSOCIATION WORKING GROUPS FEASIBILITY REPORT ON THE POSSIBILITY OF SETTING UP ,RUNNING AND OUTCOMES OF A SCHOOLS METAL DETECTING SCHEME

As promised I have just recieved the report of the working group ,set up to examine this proposal.For security and data protection reasons I could not scan the report and post it on here .Names  and information which could be used to identify people and locations have been removed.But apart from that the report is complete and  word perfect.

Introduction

john  (Assocition spokesperson ) asked us each individually would we mind getting involved in a working group .Each person on the group was selected due to their experience in working in professions which are relevant to the subject.

We all agreed and  over the course of the Spring ,Summer we met up in selected local inns  throughout Derbshire to discuss and debate the proposal.Many thanks to the landlords of the (censored ) for allowing us to us their wifi and the use of tables .Sorry we did more talking than drinking !

john had asked us to discuss a proposal which was part of the Association ideas and suggestion scheme,which was approved by the members .Due to the seriousness and complexity it was decided to establish a working group to examine the proposal in detail.

BACKGROUND

Many traditional outdoor hobbies are suffering in Derbyshire ,if you go about especially in recent years ,it is quite noticable the reductions in numbers of participants in what were considered traditionally strong hobbies in the county.The numbers  of people taking part in Fishing,Bowling,Train&Bus Spotting, Pigeon Racing,Orienteering ,Amateur Archaeology and Historical societies are reducing and quite a number of clubs in these various hobbies have ceased to exist.Also the age profile of the people taking part in these activities is increasing with very few young people taking their place.Alternatively the growth and rise in numbers of participants in cycling ,walking,geocaching ,RC model aeroplane flying ,dowsing and wild food harvesting has increased and in some hobbies has done so spectacularly.Metal Detecting in Derbyshire has thankfully held its own and is  slowly increasing in participants  but this cannot be garaunteed going forward into the future.

EXAMINATION OF THE PROPOSAL

Setting up and running

Yes it was felt by us all in this group that it was possible to set up a school scheme.The working group felt that it was not simply a case of buying a few detectors and giving them to the schools .To do this would be irresponsible ,expose children to risk and leave the association and schools open to the possibility of future historical litigation .We all felt that a proper scheme would need to be set up to run and safely maintain the scheme . However it would involve significant costs and personnel to set up and run the scheme.A full/part time  manager would have to be employed to run and operate the scheme,liasing  with the various schools ,to ensure that safe procedures were being followed ,and to produce and create written and audiovisual material complimentary for the scheme.A permanent management committee would have to be set up to over see the manager .Numerous HR  Safegaurding and Safety policies would have to be established ,and this in itself is very expensive and time consuming.

The group also felt that the scheme would have to be set up as a stand alone scheme, where the material and equipment would be supplied and the programme would be run by the teachers .Many associations find it increasingly difficult to get volunteers and even volunteers from within their own organisation to run programmes as many people are risk averse .The working group did speak to several schools and they were quite receptive ,so long as the materials were checked  didn’t require PAT procedure and were approved by them.

( Spokespersons note )

PAT is a legal requirement where equipment has to be annually checked for safety and safe  running.It is quite a significant cost to schools.It mostly applies to mains powered equipment .As our detectors are very safe and battery powered PAT would not be required

On the matter of insurance most schools contacted said they participants would be covered by the schools own insurance policy.

It was noted that it would cost a significant amount of money to put one good metal detector in each school in Derbyshire

Beneficiaries of the scheme

Yes it was agreed by all that if such a scheme was set up and run correctly then the numbers taking part in the hobby would take a huge jump forward.It would not happen straight away but it would certainly be noticable after 10 years but it could create what one working group member described as a TIME TEAM EFFECT.

The best way to describe  the Time Time Effect is to explain what happened when this great and lovely programme was first aired on Television.It was a quality programme  which came out at the right time before people were all consumed by their phones and social media ,which captured the public imagination in archaeology.The problem was that the producers didn’t foresee what would happen when there was no society /club infrastructure to positively harness this enthusiasm.Most post millennial metal detectorists were inspired to go into metal detecting as a result of this programme ,but if they had the opportunity and the infrastructure was there . perhaps most might have gone into amateur archaeology instead !

The working group feels that this situation could happen again with our Schools Detecting Scheme and that Centurion clubs, rally organisers ,Pop up clubs ,Mega-Rallies and detector dealers who don’t support the hobby positively  would benefit

(Spokespersons note.   centurion club is a term used amongst ourselves to quickly identify metal detecting clubs and associations which have over 80 members )

The environment would significantly improve in areas where metal detecting is allowed for wildlife and people as so much heavy metals ,rubbish ,drug equipment would be removed

However the working group also felt that organisations and other groups which  hold views contrary to our Association could benefit more than us.

Decision of the working group.

It is the working groups honest  and collective  professional opinion that for cost and outcome reasons that the association should not pursue the idea any further regarding the setting up of a schools metal detecting scheme for Derbyshire.Our small association has not got the money / volunteer commitment to set up and run such a scheme.It was felt that national metal detecting organisations would be better placed to start and run such a scheme as they have the resources we don’t have.

Recommendation of the working group

The group feels that a better and a more positive controlled outcome would be to encourage members to get their own grandchildren ,children involved and that when membership vacancies become available priority should be given to these young people to try and become members