Old favourite soon to be ruined forever!
Posted: Wed Feb 01, 2017 10:21 am
Hi all,
I've been waiting for an opportunity to write this for a while; it has taken one of my kids to be ill to get time at home to do some admin!
I was horrified to turn up to one of my all time favourite sites last week to discover mountains and mountains of green waste ready to be spread. I have detected this farm for a good few years when available and finds have spanned all ages but predominantly Roman; I got on really well with the farmer - we did chat about green waste as some of the neighbouring farms had received it and I showed him a bag full of the 'compost' which he was genuinely shocked at and said he wouldn't have it despite hearing good things about the price, nitrogen content. However the composting facility was located alarmingly close to us and more and more of the fields have succumbed not helped by the fact that the owner has made so much money he is paying top dollar to rent and buy fields up and so continue the cycle....
Sadly the farmer passed away a couple of years ago and the farm was taken over by his sons who, although were fine about me continuing to detect, the relationship with them was never the same; I'd always txt to let them know I was about but never got a reply, no more nice long chats, not interested in finds etc...roll on a few years and here we are....
I know for me this is a hobby and for the farmer/land owner it is a business and so actually what right have I to complain or even write this but it just cannot be morally right to spread and plough in such rubbish across the fields. Another farmer who we deal with at our club says he's heard of pigs rooting around and ingesting 'compost' which has shredded their guts so had to be put down - he was about to invest in the 'compost' but declined at the last minute.
Anyway last summer I spoke to a parish councillor about it who I meet when I'm out and he's walking his dogs, out of allegiance to me for all I'd done in the community he felt strongly enough to write an article in our parish magazine cunningly entitled "You can never have too many teaspoons", he also said he'd write a similar letter to our MP. I've copied the article for you below - I've taken out our village name and his name ok:
You can never have too many teaspoons!
At the recent exhibition and community engagement day in North Glos I spoke to a metal detectorist who is a great source of research information about the history of the local landscape. Working with landowners’ permission, he discovers our lost past. From pre-Roman to the 21st Century he catalogues and displays the found artefacts and fragments whilst explaining to visitors of all ages the nature of his discoveries around the local area. He reports finds to the museum, and is a major source of new information about local history.
His parting comment, after a fascinating history lesson, was that some fields no longer have a story to tell to those metal detectors.
The compost by-product of anaerobic digesters is now a regular deposit on some farm land, and is ploughed in as a fertiliser to improve cultivation. Indeed, crops such as maize are also grown to feed these digesters, along with farm slurry, green waste and food waste. This mix is fermented to produce gas which is used to generate electricity. The composted waste is then available as a fertiliser. And, of course, there are government subsidies for this sort of thing. It sounds too good to be true! Is there a downside?
These lorry loads of “compost” are contaminated with metal, from the composted kitchen waste. Spoons, kitchen utensils, metal foil and drink cans are just a few of the items that are spread across the land. These metals fragments obliterate the signals from significant historical lost artefacts. No longer does a detectorist pick up a discrete signal from an old harness medallion, Roman coin or earlier brooch. There is a mass of competing, and irrelevant metal junk!
Keep your eyes open as you walk through cultivated fields, and look out for the evidence of composted waste. Shredded black polythene “poo” bags, green biodegradable kitchen waste bags, and aluminium ring pulls and bits of cans. I have found cutlery, chef’s overalls and chicken bones. Until this conversation, I assumed the bits I found were the exception, but now I look more closely the evidence is scattered all around us! What a great shame if the archaeological layer left by early 21st Century civilisation is teaspoons and torn cling film.
We are in danger of losing our heritage landscapes, not only to the intensification of farming but also to this pollution from thoughtlessly discarded rubbish. We are seeing pastures converted to arable and scattered with the debris of a society evermore demanding of electricity. If you find a teaspoon please pick it up!
A. N. Other.
Believe me I have tried to detect on fields after it has been spread. After one year it's tolerable - just; but after successive years it becomes intolerable - especially as I have a few hours once a week to enjoy my hobby I have to chose uncontaminated fields to concentrate my efforts on; it may be do-able if I had the patience and time - perhaps a week or so to get through/clear the waste but the enjoyment factor would be gone.
Anyway, here are a few piccies of the fields I detect on soon to be put out of bounds.
I've been waiting for an opportunity to write this for a while; it has taken one of my kids to be ill to get time at home to do some admin!
I was horrified to turn up to one of my all time favourite sites last week to discover mountains and mountains of green waste ready to be spread. I have detected this farm for a good few years when available and finds have spanned all ages but predominantly Roman; I got on really well with the farmer - we did chat about green waste as some of the neighbouring farms had received it and I showed him a bag full of the 'compost' which he was genuinely shocked at and said he wouldn't have it despite hearing good things about the price, nitrogen content. However the composting facility was located alarmingly close to us and more and more of the fields have succumbed not helped by the fact that the owner has made so much money he is paying top dollar to rent and buy fields up and so continue the cycle....
Sadly the farmer passed away a couple of years ago and the farm was taken over by his sons who, although were fine about me continuing to detect, the relationship with them was never the same; I'd always txt to let them know I was about but never got a reply, no more nice long chats, not interested in finds etc...roll on a few years and here we are....
I know for me this is a hobby and for the farmer/land owner it is a business and so actually what right have I to complain or even write this but it just cannot be morally right to spread and plough in such rubbish across the fields. Another farmer who we deal with at our club says he's heard of pigs rooting around and ingesting 'compost' which has shredded their guts so had to be put down - he was about to invest in the 'compost' but declined at the last minute.
Anyway last summer I spoke to a parish councillor about it who I meet when I'm out and he's walking his dogs, out of allegiance to me for all I'd done in the community he felt strongly enough to write an article in our parish magazine cunningly entitled "You can never have too many teaspoons", he also said he'd write a similar letter to our MP. I've copied the article for you below - I've taken out our village name and his name ok:
You can never have too many teaspoons!
At the recent exhibition and community engagement day in North Glos I spoke to a metal detectorist who is a great source of research information about the history of the local landscape. Working with landowners’ permission, he discovers our lost past. From pre-Roman to the 21st Century he catalogues and displays the found artefacts and fragments whilst explaining to visitors of all ages the nature of his discoveries around the local area. He reports finds to the museum, and is a major source of new information about local history.
His parting comment, after a fascinating history lesson, was that some fields no longer have a story to tell to those metal detectors.
The compost by-product of anaerobic digesters is now a regular deposit on some farm land, and is ploughed in as a fertiliser to improve cultivation. Indeed, crops such as maize are also grown to feed these digesters, along with farm slurry, green waste and food waste. This mix is fermented to produce gas which is used to generate electricity. The composted waste is then available as a fertiliser. And, of course, there are government subsidies for this sort of thing. It sounds too good to be true! Is there a downside?
These lorry loads of “compost” are contaminated with metal, from the composted kitchen waste. Spoons, kitchen utensils, metal foil and drink cans are just a few of the items that are spread across the land. These metals fragments obliterate the signals from significant historical lost artefacts. No longer does a detectorist pick up a discrete signal from an old harness medallion, Roman coin or earlier brooch. There is a mass of competing, and irrelevant metal junk!
Keep your eyes open as you walk through cultivated fields, and look out for the evidence of composted waste. Shredded black polythene “poo” bags, green biodegradable kitchen waste bags, and aluminium ring pulls and bits of cans. I have found cutlery, chef’s overalls and chicken bones. Until this conversation, I assumed the bits I found were the exception, but now I look more closely the evidence is scattered all around us! What a great shame if the archaeological layer left by early 21st Century civilisation is teaspoons and torn cling film.
We are in danger of losing our heritage landscapes, not only to the intensification of farming but also to this pollution from thoughtlessly discarded rubbish. We are seeing pastures converted to arable and scattered with the debris of a society evermore demanding of electricity. If you find a teaspoon please pick it up!
A. N. Other.
Believe me I have tried to detect on fields after it has been spread. After one year it's tolerable - just; but after successive years it becomes intolerable - especially as I have a few hours once a week to enjoy my hobby I have to chose uncontaminated fields to concentrate my efforts on; it may be do-able if I had the patience and time - perhaps a week or so to get through/clear the waste but the enjoyment factor would be gone.
Anyway, here are a few piccies of the fields I detect on soon to be put out of bounds.