Erosion of Freedom or an evil necessity…

I am seeing on social media, the typical hype & talk about these latest changes coming to our hobby, with our own hobby media being led by the nose, down the path by the BBC, yes, it’s all exciting to be on TV & using it as a guise of fame, but is it good for the hobby…

Seriously who wants the most legally corrupt organisation this nation has ever had, to interview you, the BBC will distort the truth to sell itself, after all, it is a government organisation, which will only support the current government’s views…

Whilst the media will sideline the government, & the reporters will go straight to the BM, to gather their story, and that’s where the investigation will end…

With the so-called truth being told by the so-called professionals, whilst the different story portrayed by the papers, ITV or Sky will not reflect the true meaning behind this new change which for all intents and purposes has happened behind closed doors, with no representations from the hobby, with more grey areas than openness…

Shown below is a statement from the NCMD, a group set up for the metal detecting community… or is it…

Take note that the proposers of the new change to the treasure act refused the NCMD to consult their own paying public funders, that’s the likes of you and me, which the NCMD capitulated on, so again this is being pushed through Parliament to become law, without any fuss…

Way back in the early nineties, we were making noises about these creeping regulations happening, as well as the early 2000s, with no one listening, yet, it is still happening, we are losing the right to our Freedom to Metal Detect as a Hobby, and keep many of the Artefacts we find, time after time…

Those archaeologists that watched with eyes filled with the envied dead stare of greed, had this and more planned in the mid-nineties, with sneaky amendments along the way, slowly eroding the freedom of the great uneducated, who contribute more to the nation’s history and understanding of our past, as can be seen by the dark ages now emerging from the dark into the light…

Even today most universities teach that metal detectors and their usage by the public are nothing short of a robbery of the nation’s heritage, and should only be handled by professionals, all the new detectorists are being walked into a greater mire of having the hobby strangled, everyone will argue their argument but over twenty-five years ago the writing was on the wall, due to disinterest from the grassroots, but those that stood together in the seventies right up until the new treasure act are sadly now a lot older and watching a hobbies freedom slowly disappearing…

These are my views, i will be criticised for, but i really don’t care, i just want to continue with the greatest hobby in the time i have left, without meddling bureaucracy… if you don’t, believe me, question why we had no say in it, or why the NCMD had no say in it… All under the guise of including the right of taking another item, or even worse just one coin or item from a hoard and returning the rest, to the finder, with no or little reward, if you stick up for the right of this, then we are already losing our hobby…

A small edit, below…

Just one of my FB posts… I am sorely peed about this…

The biggest difference seems to be 200 years and not 300 years, & the “significant finds” in other words, let’s shaft you some more, i agree that some things slipped through the net, but that was not down to the finder but the incompetence of the FLO, archeologist, museum or coroner, and that is only some of the parts of what is wrong with this plus we were not allowed privy to this, and the NCMD has done nothing as the voice, to support those paying them…

The likes of our media are getting plenty of coverage, but nothing to support the grass root detectorist… we have been saying this from the beginning, of the change, in fact, the early nineties and again the early to mid-two thousand, we will slowly lose our right to keep our finds, most of the older detectorists will know what i am talking about, as the noose is slowly being tightened…

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Treasure Act Review – Progress update from the NCMD

As recently announced by Lord Parkinson, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Minister for Arts), we would like to make you aware that a new classification of treasure will soon be added to Treasure Act (1996).

It will extend the current definition of treasure to include items that are over 200 years old and ‘significant’. This new significance classification will allow important items that don’t meet the existing criteria to be claimed by the Crown under existing treasure law.

The aim of the Treasure Act (1996) is to preserve important finds for public access, yet over the years it has become apparent that a number of significant finds have not met the current definition of treasure. The most obvious examples include the Ryedale Hoard and the Crosby Garrett Roman helmet, although lots more examples exist. The new classification intends to ensure these important items are preserved for the nation in public ownership.

The new classification and the updated Code of Practice (the detailed document intended to provide guidance for all those concerned with treasure) will require parliamentary approval before they become law. This will be done by introducing a designation order. This is not a new law but a change to the existing Treasure Act and will require agreement by both Houses of Parliament. We expect this to happen soon.

The NCMD has been consulted during the process of developing the new significance definition. We’d hoped you; our members could have had a greater input to the process too but sadly our offers to facilitate this was not taken up.

However, we hope our input to the initial stages of the process, and feedback on the final documentation will result in a classification that walks the fine balance between being broad enough to ensure important finds are protected for the nation but without it being so loose that hundreds more finds burden the already overstretched treasure system. To this end, we have been repeatedly assured that the bar will be set high for any item to be considered significant.

This update is to let you know we are working hard to ensure the interests of the detecting community are being considered in the proposed changes. A briefing document is being prepared so you will understand what the changes will mean for you. We will make it available as soon as Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS) publishes the new classification.

We know you will have questions. Sadly, we can’t tell you about any more information at this stage as we are bound by a confidentiality agreement, plus the fine detail of the proposed significant treasure definition has not yet been finalised.

As soon as we have an update, we will let you know.