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
