and what a wonderful story the land has to tell!

I’ve wanted a metal detector since I was a boy, reading comic books and dreaming of lost pirate treasure. When I finally received one for my birthday a few years ago, I couldn’t wait to get started. Of course, you can’t just run outside and start digging—there are permissions, memberships, and national databases to navigate. But those necessary steps are simply the groundwork for a far more rewarding adventure.

I should tell you right away that you won’t find Roman hoards, Spanish pieces of eight, or gold bullion on this blog. What you will find are the real treasures: the everyday bits and pieces of life from centuries gone by. A simple coin, a broken bit of pottery, a humble button—each one is a fascinating artifact that hasn’t seen the light of day in a hundred years or more. My imagination runs rampant as I try to piece together the life of the person who once owned it, and how it came to rest just beneath my feet.

I hope you find these stories as interesting as I do.

My detecting journey, “Every Find Tells a Story” is now available in the Dun Valley Magazine!

Find 1: Pewter school bell

Find 2: A glimpse of Roman turmoil

Find 3: The Bovine Barrier

Find 4: The Glorious First of June

Find 5: First Hole Silver!

Find 6: The Highs and Lows of Metal Detecting

Find 7: Laundry Day, 1936

Find 8: The Dagger out of Time

Find 9: The Weight of the Mystery

Find 10: Nearly 3 grams, nearly 4 millennia

Find 11: A scattering of Shot

Find 12: No Longer Child’s Play

Find 13: Girl Guide Pixie Promise Badge

Find 14: Thimbles of the Grimstead Oak

Find 15: The Soho Survivor

Find 16: The Great Recoinage of William III

Find 17: The Thimble in my Palm

Find 18: The Watchful Eye

Find 19: A Florin’s a Florin!

Find 20: A Chip off the Ol’ Flint

Find 21: A Tiny Toggle

Find 22: The Master’s Mark

Find 23: Just a Jetton

Find 24: The City in the Country

Find 25: The Emerald in the Earth

Find 26: The Clasp Maketh the Garb

Find 27: The Purloined Purse Bar

Find 28: Double Gilt Double Buttons

Find 29: Found Ring, Found Wanting

Find 30: The Master’s Silence

Find 31: The Light-bearer’s Loss

Find 32: The House of Constantine

Find 33: A Storied Sixpence

Find 34: A prefab plaque of Pratten & Co.

Find 35: The Monastic Tinkerer

Find 36: A Mouldy Mystery

Find 37: Relic or Replica?

Find 38: A Final Gift from a Grimstead Field

Find 39: Off the Hook

Find 40: Fit for a Bishop

FInd 41: The Lost Flight of GB96

Find 42: A Simple Pattern of Pattens

Find 43: Two Elizabeths and a Thruppence

Find 44: A Wee Dram of History

Find 45: Lead in Prayer

Find 46:  A Matter of Scale

Find 47: Fastened in Time

Find 48: Sound of the Ages

Find 49: Tokens of Faith

Find 50: The Healers of the Fields