2017 ANNUAL SOLEMN COMMERATION WEEKEND IN DERBYSHIRE

This is the time of year when us as individuals and as an Association pause to remember the victims and their families of the Tunisia Terrorist attacks.We politely ask other  Associations /clubs and individual detectorists to join us in our solemn  commeration  when we respectfully take time out from detecting to think and remember these lovely people.We all decided that this was the nicest way for us to remember them.

This year we politely ask all detectorists  as a mark of respect to the victims and their families to abstain from detecting in Derbyshire from and on the the 23 June -25th  June  2017

last years weekend was observed brilliantly and we didn’t recieve one report of any club or individual detectorist being active that weekend,from the public.

we also wish to take this time to extend our sympathy to the families and friends of the victims ,and the injured of the Manchester and London Terrorist attacks.

Individually and as a Metal Detection Association we also wish to offer our sincere condolonces to the Family and friends of  Archaeologist Hannah Bladon from Derbyshire who was also a victim of the recent terrorist attack in Israel.We also extend our sympathy to her archaeological colleagues  in Birmingham and Derbyshire.

We have done our best to advertise our solemn commeration weekend in the newspapers and online .Sadly we have encountered some negitive online comments and we have had to take down these online notices because it would be very upsetting  for the families and survivors of these attacks if they saw some of the responses  left.I can’t really make any more comments about this as this matter and the individuals involved are being traced and being  investigated by the authorities.

Hoping that all Detectorists/Metal Detecting  Associations and Clubs  in Derbyshire will join with us in observing our solemn  annual  rememberance for the victims ,injured and their families and friends.

sincerely John Potts

Association Spokesperson

SUMMER IN SPRINGTIME

After a bit of gentle badgering after a meet up on our clubland I have finally gotten around to announcing our ideas survey results,and to do a bit of housekeeping whilst I’m at it.

its been like summer in spring and the crops are in at least a month early in some places,so it will get busier on our free to use clubland from now on.Remember our landowner will be watching and please observe all our rules.I look forward to meeting up with most of you there during the actual summer.

we recieved £25 towards our free machine fund .Thank you to all concerned.Total is now slowly creeping up and is at £529.75. Well done to all.Lets hope brexit does not affect donations too much

we have had some interesting correspondence over the last few months.We have been contacted by Mr Anthony Poulton Smith a respected English Countryside Author .We have also been asked to take part in a land survey in Tibshelf in order to try and find England’s first underground oil pipeline.Ive just checked our current machine register and Sadly we couldn’t help the landowner as quite simply our metal detectors are just not powerful enough to go that deep.We also have been contacted by Derbyshire County Council. All correspondance has been passed on to  association members confidentially.

Our ideas survey results are in and selected by raffle, and done one the first day of Spring,All those members who voted for idea  number 8 had their next choice selected instead.As Linda has already agreed to keep our free metal detecting magazine scheme going for another year .In no particular order the ideas and objectives chosen for the coming year were as follows.

Idea no5……. which is the local government idea

idea no2 ………Schools metal detecting scheme for Derbyshire

idea no 6….. licencising &ambulence cover for paid metal detecting rallies consisting of over 3 people in Derbyshire.

some great ideas there which in my opinion make take a lot longer than a year to complete.

work has already started on idea no 6 and correspondence has started which will hopefully lead to a meeting with Derbyshire County Council Officials/Councillors

It is my opinion that a working group needs to be established to pursue idea number 2, as it needs to be established in a very careful and safe manner for everyone concerned.

looking forward to hear all your ideas and feedback.

sincerely John

THE YEAR PAST/THE YEAR FORWARD

Oh dear I’m so sorry about being so late with this year end review.It was only when I was printing and laminating the membership cards for 2017 that I realised I hadn’t done a end of year review.So please accept my Apologies it’s all because I was so busy in work.I did tell you all that I would be be on here as much as Jack.

anyway. All the cards are ready to be collected and looking back wasn’t 2106 a great year for our association.It was a brilliant year for detecting….its been a while since we have had to shelter from the sun!

Our free to use clubland has been a blessing in that we have somewhere to go when the crops are in and it’s also great from a social point of view as we get to meet up with people who we wouldn’t normally meet ,because they are at tother end of the county or what not.Thanks to all the members for keeping the landowner happy by filling in all the small holes and obeying the rules of the clubland.Agin huge thanks to the landowner.

we would also like to thank the other organisations who safely dispose of all the hazardous materials we find whilst detecting ,for us.

Big thanks to Linda for  organising the free metal detecting magazine scheme ,and good news she is going to keep it going for another year….yippee !!.Great on our pockets post brexit and great for  the environment too.

Another highlight and a frequent topic of conversation whilst sheltering from the sun last year was The Queen and we were one of the few Metal Detecting Clubs to publicly send her Birthday Wishes.We look forward to possibly accommodating some of her extended family on a metal detecting day out  perhaps sometime in the future.

we raised £161.50 last year towards our free to use association metal detector fund.Thanks to all members who passed on donations and thanks to all contributors.We are slowly heading in the right direction.

Talking about fundraising ,thanks to all metal detectorists who have passed on their donations to charitable organisations  following our advice.We ensure that  we only recommend organisations that are friendly and supportive to metal detecting.Were continuously updating our information and we welcome input from non association detectorists .

last year wasn’t all about highlights there were some sad things that happened too.NCMD members of the association lost Mr Trevor Austin.We again were one of the few metal detecting clubs in the Midlands to publicly extend sympathy and  condolonces.We also lost members ourselves but sadly we couldn’t publicly announce this on the website because of the continuing troll attacks on the website and Assocition members.Thankfully due to WordPress we can monitor and trace known trollers  and monitor their browsing activities ,but we can’t prevent attacks ,but we can limit the personalisation of attacks by being very sensitive over disclosing information which could be negitively used on members  / bereaved members or their families.

were also very concerned individually and collectively by the actions of  some local government authorities  ,regarding the possible damage and destruction of known and unknown archaeological sites ,due to pressure  from property developers.Were also very concerned about more restrictions on users of local authority  recreational areas.If less people are using these areas then it’s easier for local government to class the areas as under used  ,and have them zoned for development.

The increase  in size and occurrence of large ,unregulated, and unsafe Metal Detecting ” Rallies ” also has caused many  members hearts to sadden in the association.Untill such time as regulation  and limits  are introduced we sincerely pray that all those people who do attend ,roadside passers by  are kept safe by Divine Intervention.

were all very sad at the moment for the surviving families of the Tunisia Terrorist attacks ,and we remember them at this difficult time at the legal hearings.It was great that last year we didn’t recieve one complaint about non observance of our memorial weekend ,from the public.A big thank you to all the independent detectorists and other Metal detecting  clubs who are based in Derbyshire or who use the Area but are based outside.

This years solemn commeration weekend will occur on the 23/24/25 June 2017 when we remember the victims and their families by refraining from our lovely hobby in Derbyshire .We politely ask independent detectorists , other clubs and associations based in Derbyshire ,and others outside the county  thinking about detecting in Derbyshire then to join with us in our solemn commeration by abstaining from metal detecting.

 

Finally just to remind every member that they need to be sending their results back  soon for two surveys which the association is conducting.The first is the members ideas survey.The second is the selection of metal detector models for the association to research in depth.We ask all members to be realistic ,and not to use online videos to base their results as so many online video bloggers have been ” Nobbled ” by vested interests.

I don’t expect to be on here much this year as work is exceedingly busy.If something very important occurs then I will put it on the website.Our next post will hopefully be in the spring.

hope to see most of you out and  about

John

association spokesperson

 

SUMMER IDEAS

Sorry for my work forced delay in publishing our association members suggestions ,of ideas for the association to follow.

in no particular order here they are.

1, one member wants us to encorouge more people to make donations of land to us  through bequests ,wills etc.

2, other hobbies such as ,bowling,archaeological clubs,pigeon racing,fishing are in steep decline as hobbies.To improve the demographics and to get more young people involved in metal detecting, that the Association with the help of the schools should start a carefully selected  “Making Derbyshire Safer Schools Metal Detecting Scheme “For Derbyshire.

3 a member wants us to contact “celebrities ” involved in our hobby in order to try and improve their portrayal of metal detecting

4 would it be possible for the association to assist the probationary service by offering metal detecting as a rehabilitation service with the assistance of the association.

5 that the association be more assertive  in roles with local government in guiding the future of our hobby in Derbyshire in a positive direction,in line with our ethos.

6two members who chat to other non association detectorists  in Derbyshire are hearing other detectorist concerns over  green waste,safety issues  etc at  pay-for rallies.They would like the association to ask local government  and HMRC to introduce compulsory licencing requirements and ambulence cover for metal detecting rallies greater than three persons In Derbyshire.

7 that the association take steps to attract more ladies to our lovely hobby and club

8 that the association ask Linda to continue our free association magazine for another year.

so some very interesting ideas there …..which will create a lot of discussion.

members should decide carefully on what they think we can achieve as an association when they make their choice.

results to be announce in the spring

thank you to all contributors.

sincerely John

association spokesperson

 

OVER A THRESHOLD

Just to let everyone know that £10 has been donated this month to bring our Free to use  club metal detector to £504.75.

a sincere thanks to all donors and to association members who pass these donations along to us.

we have all been chatting away all summer that we would start researching in  ernest for machines once we got over this threshold.We are undecided whether to get one machine for deep pasture ,and another for tilled soil.Hopefully there is one that does both!

our selection process is an unusual one.Scores will be given by each member  on machine performance,durability etc.

we also intend to include ratings for manafacturers,sourcing of materials and also their treatment of their workforce,and also their support for our lovely hobby.

our choice of vendor will also be rated by association members in areas similar to the manafacturers.Depending on how things go ,a substantial price rise might happen due to possible sterling weakness and trade tariffs for new metal Detectors.So we can also buy a second hand machine once it is in good condition and it’s  providence is colloborated.

so we ask all members to crack on with their research and discrete enquiries and please note we still have quite a way to go in our fundraising.

We will see how things go with this years fundraising…it will be a difficult one once the forecasted cost of living increases kick in .Depending on this variable will influence our pre agreed temporary morotorium  on new members .

yes we are not at our limits but it was decided that it wasn’t fair for Johnny and Mary come lately to enjoy our free machine at the expense of people who have been members for years.

A HECTIC SUMMER

It’s been a hectic summer for me work wise.The free clubland has been a gift to us all in that we have somewhere to go when all the crops are in ,and it allows us to keep in better contact.

Very positive comments from the landowner and well done for leaving no holes Unfilled.

This summer I concentrated on getting out buddying up   saving coins Finding lost items  and removing dangerous items by detecting rather than being online.When I took on the post of spokesperson I did say I wouldn’t be able to commit as much time to the website as Jack did.

We gratefully recieved £52.00 from the public this summer , towards our free association machine, with now stands at an impressive £494.75.An announcement is to be made when we reach over £500.

ideas have been listened to on buddy ups and by email and over the next few months we will be deciding on which ones to follow up.I must say some very interesting ideas have been proposed.

We have had some interesting correspondence this summer from Buxton Museum and  separately from Derby City Council which has been passed on confidentially to members

Our clergy have asked me to remind you all  ,that your old coins will be gratefully recieved at Christmastide.Donation envelopes can be obtained from participating churches.Also I have been informed that a new company is buying old batteries such as AA,AAA,button and mobile phone,smartphone batteries.I know we remove so much of these lethal and damaging discarded batteries from publicly accessible land .They will take them in any condition ,and feel free to donate this money in your Christmastide  envelopes too.

Just to remind everyone that come the end of December all the 2016  copies of our free to read club metal detecting magazine ,are going to be passed on to a “deserving ” recipient in Eire.Contact our beautiful Linda before then if you are interested in any  past articles .Linda is very pleased  that the reading scheme has run so well and at hopefully no cost to herself ,and definately no cost to association members.She figures that the scheme has saved  members individually over £50 each and over £500 collectively.More importantly is the amount of trees saved and pollution reduced by the reduction in the number of magazines consumed.

Thats the end of the summer roundup.

our next news will be the important announcement concerning our free association metal detector..once we get over the £500 total

 

THE WHOLE KIT AND BOODLE

Association free members machine fundraising,recieved £28.50 in June.Total £442.75, Thanks to all involved.

linda has informed me that in future , she will be passing on all returned free association Magazines to Detectorists in Eire.Apparently The Searcher ,American Digger and Treasure Hunting and other magazines are no longer freely available over there ! If anyone has a particular interest in any specific article or edition they should contact Our dear Linda before December.

On Saturday the 23rd of July from 1-4pm Mr Alastair Willis the Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire FLO will be having a finds identification event at the Derby Museum.No prior booking or  contact details are needed ,just turn up with your finds on the day and good luck.

We wish to pass on sincere thanks from some of the families involved in our memorial weekend ,held for the victims ,survivors and their families of the Tunisia Terrorist Attack.A positive aspect from this year was the 100% observance by other clubs ,associations and independent detectorists.This creates a very good and positive image of our lovely hobby and participants and it is a great comfort to all involved that the victims have not been forgotten.However other clubs and associations need to do more non rally type events to promote themselves more positively to the public.We look forward to next years solemn commeration.

Our kindly solicitor has finished his report on Derby City Councils Community Asset Transfer Scheme,which is available on request for any member who are thinking of getting involved .Sincere thanks to our solicitor who did this for us voluntarily.

please keep sending your ideas for the Association.At the end of the summer the best ideas will be discussed  and hopefully we will have more brilliant thoughts similar to our association  free magazine sharing scheme, free association machine  for members, and free to detect clubland .We are particularly keen to hear ideas which will promote us positively to the public, to expand our hobby from fringe to mainstream,and to carefully and thoughtfully improve the demographics of participants and clubs .Other hobbies and activities are in decline such as bowling, fishing ,archaeological clubs in Derbyshire and we must be pro-active that this does not happen to our lovely and very publically beneficial hobby.