Once again, we have gathered together for you a few of the top stories from the world of metal detecting over the last month. We’d love to hear what you think about each of them and as always we love to hear about your own recent finds and successes.
A metal detectorist, Philip Sarossy, discovered this WWI Female Relatives Badge whilst trawling the Central Highlands of Tasmania. These female badges were issued to the nearest female relative, usually wives or mothers, of those who engaged in active service. Sarossy discovered it after his metal detector picked up what sounded like a good sized target, and he posted about his find on social media.
Karan Campbell-Davis, a fellow detectorist, upon seeing the post was prompted to dig through online archives and track down the owner of the badge. She discovered the World War 1 badge was linked to a woman who lost two sons in the conflict. Marion Cranswick was a single mother from the small north-west Tasmanian town of Stanley, who lost her two sons, John Stewart Cranswick, known as Jack, who was shot in his elbow during the landing at Gallipoli in 1915 and his brother Thurstan George Cranswick, who suffered a gunshot wound a year later and was returned to Australia, but later died from tetanus.
The detectorist community managed to track down a grandson of Ms Cranswick, who was in fact named after his Uncle Thurstan and who is now 81 years old, and is ecstatic that this piece of his family history is going to be returned to him.
You can read the full story HERE.
Graeme Rushton, the successful detectorist of Unearthed UK, has released a book sharing his wisdom with the world, entitled ‘A Guide to Metal Detecting’. He is hoping that this complete guide for metal detectors will bring in even more people to one of the fastest growing hobbies in the UK. The detectorist has seen some of his finds including incredibly rare medieval coins sell for thousands of pounds at auction, so it’s really no wonder that he’s already selling out and has had to order more copies to print.
You can actually buy yourself a copy of this great guide, HERE.
An exciting discovery by a metal detectorist in Furness is now going to lead to a full blown archaeological dig. Peter Major, of Barrow, found three stave axe heads, which have been dated back to the Bronze Age, between 1,500 BCE (Before Common Era) and 1,300 BCE.
Major also discovered a hoard of medieval hammered coins, even though the farmer of the land said that he had detectorists come on the land before who had all found nothing. You can read the full story HERE.
A metal detectorist has unearthed a curious relic from the Stamford Mercury’s past during a charity dig near Newark. Mark Fitzpatrick, a member of the East Midlands History Hunters (EMHH), found a badge for the Stamford Mercury Children’s Guild during a dig for Cancer Research UK. Sarah Critchard from the Mercury Archive Trust helped shed light on its origins.
She said the Stamford Mercury Children’s Guild dated from the 1930s and was promoted through a weekly ‘Guilders’ Corner’ section in the paper. It was run by a character called Uncle Dudley, helped by a budgie called Claude who features on the badge. Sarah added: “The Corner was around until December 1939, but seems to have been a victim of the Second World War.”
Recent estimates suggest that the number of metal detectorists are on the rise and that there are now over 20,000 metal detectorists in the UK. It is no wonder that thousands of people are flocking to take up detecting as a new hobby, in recent years, people have found treasures valued at more than £500,000!
And if that isn't incentive enough, as well as the prospect of finding real buried treasure, there are many other benefits of metal detecting. You could learn some fascinating things about history, enjoy spending time out in nature doing some exercise, and make new friends along the way too. Why not read the full story and see why metal detecting is becoming such a popular hobby HERE.