Our sites that were productive have now showing signs of serious 'artefact diminution'
We could in essence search the entire landholding of all the permissions we have but this would be an impossible task due to our life-time expectancies.
After all, we've only targeted a small area of a farm to conduct a survey with no expectation to survey any other area of that farm.
So, if we had permission to survey 50 farms, that would, in reality, be 50 fields. A majority of farms have far more than 50 fields under their ownership.
So, after a work injury in April, we ventured out on a beautiful sunny day to visit 5 farms that we had researched with a view to asking for permission to survey.
The first farm was down a very long farm track.
We parked up next to the kennels with two beautiful labs that were wagging their tails enthusiastically.
Our research showed that there may be a Saxon settlement there so we were quite excited at the prospect of gaining a permission here.
The landowner came out to greet us and after the initial 'cold' meet we got on really well with him. He did make a point of the dogs not barking, he said that they always bark at any approaching vehicle or person!
He was surprised by our knowledge of the area.
A downside to the visit was to learn that nighthawkers had targeted the same area we wished to survey 5-years on-the-trot.
Unfortunately, this scum had come across what we'd suspected to be a special site. Hopefully we can rescue the remaining artefacts that may be there.
The second farm we visited has evidence of Romano-British and, perhaps, Anglo-Saxon habitation.
The farmhouse is quite a distance from our survey site and is adjacent to his son's house and land.
Again, we were invited to return as soon as the crops are harvested.
The third farm has definitely got Roman history there.
After a good exchange of history and cultural discussions, we were again invited to return at harvest time.
The fourth farm visit was again successful with the landowner saying we could come back at harvest.
Our suspicions of Roman activity were verified when the landowner said the other detectorists had found Roman coins there.
The fifth farm however was a definite 'no'.
This was quite a strange affair as the person we spoke to was the landowners son and came out with some odd remarks.
He said "we don't like the idea of people walking around our fields".
Another comment was "how would you like it if someone was walking around your garden?"
Another comment was "if others see you detecting, hundreds will start to come".
This was a legitimate request to survey their field and I'm afraid that if we could ascertain that there's a large Roman settlement there, nighthawkers will eventually find the same evidence.
Phase 2 of our permission requests will start in ernest soon......
Let's hope that our new 2023/2024 season starts well and the shoulder injury sustained earlier this year doesn't affect our progress!
We could in essence search the entire landholding of all the permissions we have but this would be an impossible task due to our life-time expectancies.
After all, we've only targeted a small area of a farm to conduct a survey with no expectation to survey any other area of that farm.
So, if we had permission to survey 50 farms, that would, in reality, be 50 fields. A majority of farms have far more than 50 fields under their ownership.
So, after a work injury in April, we ventured out on a beautiful sunny day to visit 5 farms that we had researched with a view to asking for permission to survey.
The first farm was down a very long farm track.
We parked up next to the kennels with two beautiful labs that were wagging their tails enthusiastically.
Our research showed that there may be a Saxon settlement there so we were quite excited at the prospect of gaining a permission here.
The landowner came out to greet us and after the initial 'cold' meet we got on really well with him. He did make a point of the dogs not barking, he said that they always bark at any approaching vehicle or person!
He was surprised by our knowledge of the area.
A downside to the visit was to learn that nighthawkers had targeted the same area we wished to survey 5-years on-the-trot.
Unfortunately, this scum had come across what we'd suspected to be a special site. Hopefully we can rescue the remaining artefacts that may be there.
The second farm we visited has evidence of Romano-British and, perhaps, Anglo-Saxon habitation.
The farmhouse is quite a distance from our survey site and is adjacent to his son's house and land.
Again, we were invited to return as soon as the crops are harvested.
The third farm has definitely got Roman history there.
After a good exchange of history and cultural discussions, we were again invited to return at harvest time.
The fourth farm visit was again successful with the landowner saying we could come back at harvest.
Our suspicions of Roman activity were verified when the landowner said the other detectorists had found Roman coins there.
The fifth farm however was a definite 'no'.
This was quite a strange affair as the person we spoke to was the landowners son and came out with some odd remarks.
He said "we don't like the idea of people walking around our fields".
Another comment was "how would you like it if someone was walking around your garden?"
Another comment was "if others see you detecting, hundreds will start to come".
This was a legitimate request to survey their field and I'm afraid that if we could ascertain that there's a large Roman settlement there, nighthawkers will eventually find the same evidence.
Phase 2 of our permission requests will start in ernest soon......
Let's hope that our new 2023/2024 season starts well and the shoulder injury sustained earlier this year doesn't affect our progress!
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