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Metal Detecting

another 100 acres

As we all know one of the most frustrating and difficult aspects of this hobby is obtaining permissions. It’s because of this that I feel incredibly lucky to have access to some brilliant permissions, one of which...

Metal Detecting

detecting, writing & work

It’s that time again where I’ve had another of my articles published in Treasure hunting Magazine, and this time it’s more of an interview based affair about the archaeologist Gilbert Burleigh. It all came about through a chance meeting...

Metal Detecting

gil burleigh – archaeologist

Somebody, somewhere said to me that a great way to obtain permissions is to politely ask the question on Facebook community pages. Specifically ones which are hosted by villages, the reasoning being that...

Metal Detecting

Writing about Detecting

It's quite clear that over the past few years metal detecting has had a huge impact on my life. From my first trips out on the family fields finding iron scraps and lead seals, to now finding Roman artefacts...

Metal Detecting

still noisy at weston

I do consider myself to be incredibly lucky to have a permission that keeps on giving, and it gives in many ways. The obvious being the finds that it has been producing which at this point in time include...

Metal Detecting

the hobby becomes work!

So here I go again, yet another set of my metal detecting ramblings to make it into Treasure Hunting Magazine. This time it’s all about the Roman discoveries that me and a friend have been finding...

Metal Detecting

all noisy on the weston front

I’m sure most detectorists would agree that the hardest part of our hobby is obtaining permissions. I have been trying so hard for the past few years to get my own permissions outside of the couple of fields my family owns...

Metal Detecting

a detectorists best friend

2022 shall be remembered as the year that saw the death of many a detectorists best and trusted friend, the humble spade. Ground conditions in the middle of this year became incredibly hard due to the long hot summer...

Metal Detecting

Writing is now a hobby!

Since I started metal detecting again back in September 2021, I have become so passionate about it that I felt compelled to write about it. This gave birth to the Hertfordshire History Hunter blog in which I write about...

Metal Detecting

Where are all the finds?

One sunny winter’s morning, I was standing with a friend on his permission, in the gaze of the late bronze age hill fort of Arbury Banks, (a Scheduled Ancient Monument) looking out over the site of a suspected Roman villa complex...

Metal Detecting

Jeton Back to the Past

It’s been a long time coming, but I have finally had this Jeton I found way back in June 2021 identified. Well sort of, it turns out that there is ’no parallel for this particular Jetton’ according to my local FLO. But he did say...

Metal Detecting

can’t stop treasure hunting

So as my love for this wonderful hobby grows, so does my contributions to Treasure Hunting magazine. This is now my third outing in my favourite mag, but this time it feels that bit more special as I have made it onto the contents page!

Home Ideas

The Light Distillery

Last year I posted a blog called “Krakin’ Kraken Lights” in which I made some shelf lights out of old Kraken Rum bottles. They actually turned out better than I had hoped, so I wondered if I could turn them into lamps...

Metal Detecting

Treasure Hunting Again…

So here I go again, I now have my second article printed in the January 2022 edition of Treasure Hunting Magazine. This time I have two pages dedicated to my ramblings so things are definitely on the up.

Metal Detecting

Another walk in the fields

I had two weekends in which to search a field that was incredibly muddy and which was so big I couldn’t fully see it from end to end! I was told I had the permission a day before the first weekend and luckily I had no plans.

History

A Life Span

Not many people know or knew that my Grandmother was German. She was born and raised in Berlin and when WWII broke out she was just a young teenager. This is her story, written in her words...

Metal Detecting

A walk in the fields

So I have been back detecting again for nearly a year now and I have pretty much been on the same permission for that entire time. The two fields where I detect were kept by my family when the rest of the land which they owned...

Grand Days Out

Cars, cars cars…

I wanted to write a short blog about the London Concours car event that I attended in June and share some of the photos I took as it’s not everyday you get to see a collection of precious cars like this all in one place.

Metal Detecting

favourite find so far

I don’t know why I have waited until now, but I think its time to blog about my favourite find so far, an Early Medieval (Anglo-Saxon) small-long brooch. I found this little beauty on a pretty cold Sunday afternoon at the beginning of January.

Metal Detecting

Treasure Hunting

So as you will know from my blog, I got back into detecting in September 2020. Since then it’s a hobby which I have become addicted too and one that I love everything about. I have only been detecting in two fields so far...

Home Ideas

krakin’ kraken lights

This time the focus is wall lights. Before the plastering was redone there used to be two wall lights, one either side of the fireplace. The wiring for these lights was left in place but we couldn’t find any lights that we liked to replace them with.

Flat Refurb

Flat Refurbishment – Part 8

Looking back on my finished blog, I think it will serve as a great reminder for my future self. If ever I find myself in a situation feeling like I can't do something, all I will have to do is just look at this and I will know! 🙂

Metal Detecting

Detect-Ed Shaft Review

You may ask what’s the point in changing the shaft, the stock one is reasonably user friendly and it’s not particularly heavy? These things are true, but I have a couple of niggles with the stock one and I also have a tech addiction to please.

Flat Refurb

Flat Refurbishment – Part 7

So here it is, the final room to be tackled and the journey’s end for my flat refurbishment project! As you can see from the cover pic, this room was used as storage whilst the rest of the flat was being sorted out.

Flat Refurb

Flat Refurbishment – Part 6

Two things in the living room had to go which were the old enclosed wooden curtain rail and the bulky 1960's gas fireplace surround. The curtain rail was easy to remove with a little help from a crow bar...

Metal Detecting

The humble, boring, button…

On the whole most of the buttons I find are in fact quite boring, faceless and small. But as you can see from my collection, I have also found some buttons with quite detailed designs and variations in sizes.

Flat Refurb

Flat Refurbishment – Part 5

The hallway… what can you say about the hallway? It’s not like the other rooms where a lot of consideration was needed to make things work the way I wanted. In fact it’s not really a room at all, more a collection of doors.

Home Ideas

Creating A Gallery Wall

Creating a gallery wall is a great way of making an exciting feature in your home and there is no end to what you can include. So if creating a gallery wall is something you want to do then just do it!

Commissions

a three part commission

We absolutely loved working on this commission. Our client came to us with an idea of what he wanted, and we turned that Idea into reality. The three musical artists in this series are personal favourites of our client.

Metal Detecting

what have the romans…

So having found my first silver hammy I didn’t think it could get much better. Even though it’s a coin that’s fairly common in the world of hammered’s, it was still a thrill to find my first, so much so that I have framed it!

Flat Refurb

Flat Refurbishment – Part 4

The bathroom… oh the bathroom. This was possibly even worse than the kitchen. The thing that first hit you was the musty damp smell which emanated from the floor. Why would anyone use carpet as bathroom flooring, just why!?!

Metal Detecting

first silver hammy…

For the most part, I find detecting is a pastime that enriches my soul and I’m sure I’m not alone in thinking it’s a great tonic for mental health too, something a lot of people are struggling with during this pandemic.

Metal Detecting

half a denari…

As most detectorists know, it’s a great feeling when you find something good, but for me it’s even better when you are able to research the history, and sometimes even find out who made and held what you found.

Flat Refurb

Flat Refurbishment – Part 3

The toughest and most costly parts of this refurb were always going to be the kitchen and bathroom as both needed to be completely ripped out, re-designed and rebuilt from scratch. I decided to tackle the kitchen first...

Flat Refurb

Flat Refurbishment – Part 2

So, I had the keys, my stuff was all moved in, the only thing left to do was show the place to my son. He was 12 at the time and I guess he probably couldn’t visualise what the flat could become. He was pretty excited...

Flat Refurb

Flat Refurbishment – Part 1

Back at the beginning of 2019 at the ripe old age of 46 I was lucky enough to find myself in a position to buy my first flat. Little did I know what an amazing journey lay ahead and how rewarding it would be...

Metal Detecting

history is in the lead

Since I started my new journey back into this amazing hobby I have been finding all sorts of things of the metal persuasion. A lot of the time I find quite a bit of rubbish, nails, tin cans, ring pulls, the list goes on...

Metal Detecting

detecting – what a hobby!

In detecting I have found a hobby that I truly love and one I know will keep me (and the dog) occupied and happy for years to come, I just need to work on securing some new permission's for the future!

Home Ideas

Skateboard Coat Rack

I knew I wanted something contemporary and cool but my searches on the internet weren't really coming up with anything inspiring and if anything was close to what I was looking for then it would also have a ridiculous price tag!

Home Printing

getting the best home print!

Recently we wanted showcase some of our digital art prints at a local art market in Hitchin, so we thought it was a great opportunity to try out some different printer paper types to see what would give the best results for our prints.

The Hertfordshire History Hunter – useful links & information