New detector to help you unearth history
18/04/2007
“Metal-detecting is not just for anoraks or eccentrics; it’s probably the best and the most enjoyable way of learning about our history,” says Bill Wyman – the erstwhile Rolling Stone who now spends his spare time tracking down hidden history.
Bill is just one of the army of people who are filling up their spare time – and our museums – and gaining a far greater appreciation of history, archaeology and anthropology, just by visiting fields and moorland. And now he has applied his experience to help develop the Bill Wyman’s Signature Detector - an easy-to-use, light-weight effective metal detector available to people of all ages wanting to find their own piece of history.
The numbers of finds with genuine historical and monetary importance is growing rapidly in Britain, last year almost 58,000 finds were reported to the Portable Antiquities Scheme the governing body of historical finds in Britain; a massive 45 per cent increase – 93% of which have been found with the help of metal detectors.
“On any garden, country field, footpath, woodlands, beach or moor land you can find a huge variety of historical objects, all easily located with this high quality metal detector,” says Bill.
To activate, simply switch on and go. There’s no intensive training manual or geeky jargon to slow you down. As you head off on your metal-detecting adventure, you can select between field or beach settings to get the best coverage depending on the terrain. With your metal-detector turned on, a high-pitched tone is emitted to tell you if you are hovering over a good target like gold or a low pitch tone indicating a bad target like iron.
“Everything you find tells you something about our history, it’s not just things that are very valuable that explain things about the lives of our ancestors,” says Bill.
The Detector comes with a free informational DVD and is supported by an in-depth and easy to use website (see the link below), which also explains the laws covering metal detection.
“Metal detectorists have been described by Minister for Culture David Lammy as ‘the unsung heroes of Britain’s heritage’,” says Wyman. “I hope with this new detector that more people take up the adventure and delight in personally discovering our nation’s history.”