To mark national Volunteers’ Week 2015, PAS volunteers were invited to contribute a blog post to the new County Pages about their experiences of volunteering for the Scheme.
This post was written by Tom Redmayne, an independent metal detectorist and self-recorder from Lincolnshire who records his own finds onto the PAS database with the assistance of Adam Daubney, the Finds Liaison Officer for Lincolnshire.
I started metal-detecting in 2005 when I moved to Lincolnshire and, after making my first few exciting finds, started to look for somewhere to have them recorded as I knew that these objects must have a story to tell and a value to the historical record. After talking to many other metal-detectorists and reading the hobby magazines I was finally pointed in the direction of Adam Daubney and the PAS. A phone call later and I was on my way to Lincoln with a very mixed box of finds and some very vague coordinates of their find spots. So began an incredibly educational and fascinating journey into small finds identification, recording and research.
Soon Adam introduced me to my first handheld GPS and my finds suddenly took on new meaning with their find spots being recorded to 10 place NGR accuracy. Patterns started to become evident in where many objects were found and the whole ethos of recording to the most accurate find spot and with the most accurate description was something that I became dedicated to following.
Over time the number and variety of my finds led me more and more into research, with small-finds and coin identification becoming a particular interest of mine. By 2010 I was identifying most of my own finds and offering a detailed description with full coordinates to Adam when I handed them to him for recording. The obvious next step was to learn how to record my own finds directly onto the database so, in November 2010 I was set up as a self-recorder by Dan Pett and I wrote my first record!
All along the way, Adam had coached me, instilling into me the discipline and standards required to ensure that the maximum amount of information was extracted from the objects that I was finding, and he continued to do so, checking my records, offering suggestions and advice and, generally, keeping me on the right tracks.
It is over four years since that first entry and I have now written and uploaded over 730 records to the database.
Not only have I enjoyed recording my own finds, but also using the database to expand my own knowledge and to help others do the same by sharing information.
I have, over the last two years, used the database myself to study and classify a type of medieval buckle called a ‘disc-on-pin’ type. My research and classification is soon to be published as a Finds Research Group Datasheet. This would not have been possible without the PAS database and the time and effort given to me by its staff over the past ten years.
The whole database is a continually-growing and invaluable resource and tool for people from many disciplines and walks of life, not just from the heritage sector, and long may it continue.
