With a really hot (English) April and May and then a damp June, and so far July, the cereal crops in many areas are somewhat stunted. Fields that should be full of golden waving corn are more emerald green in colour. So it looks like it`s going to be a late harvest for 2011. However, we detectorists often have a “Thin period” when crops are seeded until they are cut. Fortunately we have several kind land owners who own great swathes of ancient pasture, rough-land and pheasant coverts.
Steve and I have been making full use of these and have made some great finds with our Explorer and Safari metal detectors. Crotal bells, jettons, buttons, coins (Roman to Georgian) and mediaeval fittings have abounded in the last few weeks.
Pasture finds, here there are Georgian coins, buttons, a bone knife handle a Roman coin and a Jetto
Viking Cloisonne brooch found on pasture by Steve
Constantine issue coin from rough grassland
Nothing can quite beat that experience when you have dug a hole, and are carefully removing your dug out soil and then spot the bright green colour of something old at the bottom... simply fantastic.
This time for Steve... it was only a ring pull, but who knows it could have been a soverereign
We have recently concentrated on gaining permission for garden searches from large interesting looking manor type houses as well as farm houses, all of which are making our “Thin Period” rather “Fatter” than previous years.
Me searching the garden of an old farmhouse
We have gained permission for so much land that we hope we may never have to class this as a “Thin Period” of the year again. This is particularly handy in such years as this when harvest seems some time away, now we can detect pretty much all year. However, our really good sites (of course) are subject to cereal crops, and for those we are going to have to wait.
Just waiting for its engine to start!!!
As with most detectorists the distant sounds of a combine harvester engine, the clouds of dust and country lanes bursting with seed hauling tractors and trailers cannot come quickly enough. For many of us the wait is tiresome but almost always worth waiting for, be it a humble Georgian button or a major haul of Saxon golden artefacts all our finds reach back into times past and from this point are all equal in terms of importance.
Good luck to all Minelab users worldwide!
Julian Evan-Hart
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