Polite Request To Enter Your Land With a MD

Oxygen

New Member
Hi all,
this is my first post on this forum so please bare with me :) Thank You.
My name is Jan and I am a keen history enthusiast who loves to learn about UK's heritage and my goal is to add to this knowledge and to share it with others. I live in London and I would like to ask all of you guys owning any small or large piece of land not far from London for permission to access your land and use a metal detector which will enable me to find any local artefacts and relics that may be present thus enabling me to learn more about our local ancestors which I can share with others.
When I locate a target my metal detector is very accurate and will ensure that the smallest possible plug of soil or turf is removed. Once I have recovered the artefact, I carefully replace any loose soil and turf. It would be hard for you to tell any disturbance had ever took place. The same consideration and care is taken on ploughed land.
I am very respectful of the country code and care a lot for nature, and always abide by the metal detecting code of practice which is agreed by the National Farmers Union and the National Council for Metal Detecting which I am member of. For your peace of mind I am also covered by public liability insurance to the amount of £1.000.000
I would completely comply to any rules, restrictions, and boundaries you set and would always have the greatest respect for your land, property and animals. I would also always report to you before entering your land to make sure It wasn't inconvenient.
If I was to find any artefacts of value (including those covered by the Treasure act 1996) the usual agreement between yourself as the landowner and myself would be an equal share of any monetary reward. Anything I found on your land would be reported to you. I would also be willing to offer you a few free services as a gesture of good will, one being the attempted recovery of any items on your land that you or a family member may have lost i.e. jewellery or tools etc secondly removing litter, nails and sharp objects on my way around.
If you are willing to give me a chance then please let me know below and I will contact you. If you would like me to call you to discuss things further and answer any questions that you may have then please let me know.
Thank you all in advance for your time on reading this post and your consideration.
 

JCMaloney

Member
Location
LE9 2JG
Hi Jan, good luck on the quest!

PS: NCMD insurance is for £10,000,000. Yep...£10 million cover for £8! And freebies as well..... (I declare an interest, I`m on the committee!)

PPS: Its good to mention that all finds are, legally, the landowners property...they aren`t the finders nor is the legal position 50/50 without a writted search agreement.

There is a whole 34 pages about detecting, llamas, shrews,sandwiches andother things here..... https://thefarmingforum.co.uk/index.php?threads/not-looking-for-metal-detecting.15526/
 

Oxygen

New Member
Hi JCMaloney,
thanks very much for your post. You are absolutely correct!
And yes, the NCMD insurance is for up to £10,000,000 - there was a typo there in my message.

Regards,
Jan
 

Oxygen

New Member
Not a single friendly farmer/landowner from Surrey, Buckinghamshire, Berkshire, Kent, Sussex, Essex, Hampshire, Middlesex, Hertfordshire area on here? Is it about money? If so, drop me a price and if it's not ridiculous I'll be happy to accept it. Hope to hear from you guys soon and thanks in advance!

Regards,
Jan
 

nick...

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
south norfolk
Just to give an example and I've put this story on here before,I had a professional wildlife photographer appear about 4 years ago and ask if he could photograph hares.we were and still are over run with them.i said ok and he became a regular visitor coming before day break and staying till dark..he started bringing people with him too.after a couple of years another friend said have you seen what that guy is charging others to come and film the hares.i had no idea and thought this guy would be a friend for life.he was charging others £140 a day.no mention to me either.i asked how many people he had bought for the last couple of years and he said 40/50 a year.you do the maths,all cash.i asked for a big donation for 'big c' which is a cancer charity my mum raises money for in Norfolk,and also said he could pay me a large sum too.never saw him again either.still niggles me now and I often think about reporting to hmrc.had another mate who had run of farm for probably ten years for shooting.he lived on what he shot and was here several times a week.helped himself to our wheat to feed birds and had two pheasant shoots a year and my mum would feed and water the shooting party.if he was paying it would have cost him thousands.anyway he built a small house for himself and all our mutual friends said I'd get to do the groundwork as I do that sort of thing.he decided to do it himself which is his choice but the damage he done to cables and machines was huge.anyway he deleted me as a friend from Facebook so I could not see what he was doing but was told by others.he continued coming and shooting to get his meat.i eventually realised I was being used again so anyone who wants something from me now gets told to f**k off.
Nick...
 

Oxygen

New Member
Thanks for posting Nick.
So sorry to hear that people tried to use you in the past. Surely you won't let that happen again!
There's hundreds of people on this forum, some of them are farmers, others landowners.. I think everyone has their own reason similar to you or not, and just simply doesn't want any problems. I totally understand that.
Oh well..never mind. It's now been over 3 weeks I'm looking for some land to at least test my detector (apart from my garden) with no luck at all. I'm more and more convinced about selling the detector whilst it's still under 2 years warranty.
Thats about it really..
 

JCMaloney

Member
Location
LE9 2JG
@Oxygen there are no "easy options" to getting permission barring the Crown Estates beach permit, or a Thames mudlarking permit.
The majority of farmers/landowners prefer to see you face to face and make their judgement then.
If you think its tough getting permission for yourself then try getting it for a Club. :whistle::)
As Nick says above there are so many "groups" out there (especially on FB!!) that are charging people £15+ then giving the farmer/landowner £8-£10 a head.
There is no cost involved in setting up a one day dig. So there is a likelihood they are making a profit and destroying any good will once word gets out.
If I was a landowner it would be easier to say "No"...no confusion then.
However there are still accountable, long established clubs that do things right. We count the members in, tell the landowner on the day and give them the money for their charity or send it to the Club charity and they send a receipt/letter of thanks directly to the landowner. (y)
 

Oxygen

New Member
Thanks for valuable hints JCMaloney. I have sent a few emails to clubs further away from London and...
...got a response from one of them. They have sent me a form to join their waiting list so fingers crossed! It's a proper club established years ago. It's £25 yearly membership plus £5 admission fee.
 

Oxygen

New Member
Hi again guys :)
It's been a while and I'm still looking for a friendly farmer who would allow me to visit his land ;)
Please take a few minutes to watch this short clip where myself and my wife are enjoying a day out on a pasture the other day.

 

JCMaloney

Member
Location
LE9 2JG
So you`ve got some land then? Why do you need more? Will you tell Farmer "A" that you have moved on to pastures new?
I should think most of the farmers on here think they have somebody...but never see them!
 

Oxygen

New Member
Hi JCMaloney, hope you're well.
This video was recorded during a club dig in Oxfordshire. There was over 60 of us on 50 acres of land for 8 hours :confused:
Club digs? - the faster you go the more chance of finding something before someone else will you have. I'm not fast at all as you can see...prefer to do it slowly but the right way (y)
 

JCMaloney

Member
Location
LE9 2JG
Nothing wrong with Club digs if the club is friendly and less "competitive or greedy". :)

Would that be the Oxford Blues MDC or one of the more commercial outfits down that way?

PS: Done a great job with the hole filling, would be more than welcome on our digs but we are in Middle Earth!! (y)
 

Mrtwhite59

Member
Location
Medway Kent
Hi I have tried and I have offered a lot in exchange for a chance but unfortunately to no avail
I do think. A lot of farmers and land owners have had there fingers burnt so I don't blame them for there stance
So I wish you well on your quest
Regards Tony
 

milkloss

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
East Sussex
Not a single friendly farmer/landowner from Surrey, Buckinghamshire, Berkshire, Kent, Sussex, Essex, Hampshire, Middlesex, Hertfordshire area on here? Is it about money? If so, drop me a price and if it's not ridiculous I'll be happy to accept it. Hope to hear from you guys soon and thanks in advance!

Regards,
Jan

To be fair I think sometimes posts like this can make the poster seem as if he feels annoyed farmers won't allow them on thier land. I'm not sure that is the case here but are you suggesting farmers that haven't given you permission are unfriendly?

You have to perservere and it will take time to get there. Go walking and 'bump' into local people/farmers, friendly atitude and absolutely no push-push and a thank you when you get a no. Again expect it to take time. Good luck.

Might be worth reading how shooters get permissions (it hate it being labelled that) on some of the shooting forums to give you some ideas.
 

JCMaloney

Member
Location
LE9 2JG
Look from a different view...........would you let a "bunch of strangers" wander round your garden to find things you don`t know are there ?

Engage with the community, understand the problems and go from there. (y)
 

JCMaloney

Member
Location
LE9 2JG
as a metal detecting nerd why do you need to be insured for so much?

Its public liability insurance that covers any potential disaster caused by the insured. Its £10 million as most land agents/councils & the big estates request that level of cover.
From a Club point of view it also covers the venue we use for the meetings etc.
 

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