My detecting trip with Roy was as perfect a trip, in every respect, as a trip could possibly be. The accommodations at a local bed and breakfast were wonderful---clean, spacious, friendly, and convenient to the detecting sites. Both breakfast and dinner were delicious; the restaurant part of the B&B deserves its reputation among the local Brits.
Each day Roy picked us up and drove us
to the chosen site, stopping along the way at a supermarket
for us to pick out our own sandwiches and drinks. Then
we had a full day of detecting. I found 8 Roman bronze
coins, 2 complete Roman fibulae (brooches), a Medieval
bronze ring, several Medieval pot legs, a nice jeton, a
hammered silver half penny, lots of unusual artifacts,
and my first gold coin: a Spanish 1 escudo from the reign
of Joanna and Charles I (the daughter and son of Ferdinand
and Isabella), who ruled from 1515-1556. It was the find
of a lifetime, and I will be forever grateful to Roy for
facilitating its discovery. Within a very reasonable period
of time, the coin and my other finds cleared the British
export license process, and I now have them in my possession.
Needless to say, this will not be my
only trip with Roy. I plan to go back as often as possible.
I think the highest compliment I can pay Roy is that I
would be eager to detect with Roy even if I hadn't found
the gold coin!
Pasdeclef
Virginia
This was my first detecting tour with Roy and based on the fun and excitement that I had it certainly won't be my last. We landed at the airport in the morning and were in the field that afternoon for a few hours of detecting. It was the start of many fine days in the field finding coins, relics and artifacts. I detected once before in England and because of my lack of knowledge was disappointed in my finds. Roy takes all the guesswork out and takes you to those areas that are very productive. He also handles all the export licenses and shipping of your finds. All you have to do is go out and detect to your hearts content. Some of my finds included Roman coins of various types, up to nine hammered coins, jettons, lead tokens, including a "Boy Bishop" token, a nice 1856 silver Victoria shilling, a King Edward half crown, and quite a assortment of buckles, lead spindle whorls, etc. I think some of my better finds were a Roman brooch and gaming piece found in the same field. On our last day out after finding some hammered and copper coins I was lucky enough to find a very intricate Viking stirrup mount. What a way to end your last day detecting. Of course I can't but mention the wonderful accommodations we had at a 1827 windmill that was converted into a hotel and the absolutely fantastic English meals that were served there. All the people we met were kind and gracious and pleased that we were having such a great time in their country. I am making plans for this upcoming year and can't wait. Since I've talked about the amount of fun that I had on this last trip I may have some friends come along on my next one.
Sincerely,
William D. Oxendine
Flagstaff, AZ
This was my 7th tour to England. I've been on all the others and it's too bad I didn't discover this tour in the beginning. It is by far the best I've ever experienced. The group is small, very friendly, with bend over backwards personal service. I've never before been on any kind of trip where everyone tried so hard to make every day a pleasure.The accommodations and the food were great. The fields were prepared to pristine conditions, which enabled me to make more and better finds than ever before. In fact, I was overwhelmed by the number and quality of items I found. I plan to go back as often as possible and would not consider going on any other tour after experiencing Roy's program.
Joe W. Brown
Kentucky
Just wanted to drop a few lines to let you know what a great time I had on my trip with you. By far, of the two others offering these kinds of trips, your's is far and away the best. Starting with the accommodations, the Sunningdale Hotel is as nice as they come and so are the staff of Bob and Maureen. The meals were great tasting and filling. Rooms were always clean and neat, actually one couldn't ask for more. The town of Hunstanton was small with everything to offer, pub, pizza, fish&chips and even a Wal-Mart lookalike in Tesco.
Your promptness in picking is up in the morning and bringing us back at night was on the money. The fields were many and huge. Thank you for a wonderful 10 days of which I'll undoubtedly be back for many more. Regards,
Jim Cianelli
Brooklyn, NY
My detecting trip with Roy,was nothing but first class all around.Great
accomadations,great food and most of all a super great guy as a guide with the best possible fields to hunt. My first day alone, I found 2 hammered coins, with 10 more to come in the followings days. I also found 3 roman coins, a few early 1900,s milled silver, and a mint 1858 shilling. Roys knowledge, along with his great detecting background was first class all the way. I would and have recomended this trip to every detectorist that wants to hunt England. I,m definitly going back every year. Roy himself is one of the kindest, nicest guys i'v met. Hats off to Roy and his great tour..
Rod Porter
Canada
Dear Roy
What a wonderful metal detecting adventure. The anticipation when
digging a "good signal" and others around you are recovering Celtic,
Roman, Viking and Medieval coins gets the adrenalin pumping. It is
almost anticlimactic to find the coin or relic even though it will be
treasured.
This trip far exceeded my expectations and your representations.
I highly recommend your England Metal Detecting Adventure to all
detectorist who want the thrill of finding their oldest coin and oldest
relic on the same trip, just as I did.
Have a great day
Jim Bryan
Topeka, Kansas
My sons and I
have detected every year with Roy since he started
his tours. Detecting in England is the highlight of the year
for us. Two of my sons have found gold coins plus many other
coins and artifacts. I would recommend his tours to everyone,
families included.
T.M.
Rochester, Minnesota
Our
Journey Into English History
Last year my Wife Patti & I decided
to take a vacation into the past with Roy's England Metal Detecting Tour.
We arranged the trip through John Buck, and England Detecting Adventures. With a group of 5 other adventurers
we boarded a jet liner for the 8 hour trip to Gatwick airport
in London.
Upon our arrival in England we were met by Roy, our
host and guide who made sure we and our gear were transported
to the beautiful northeast town of Upwell, where we were
to stay at the Olde Mill Inn ( bed and breakfast) hotel.
We were met by the owner, Matt Brown, given our lovely rooms,
and after a short time to settle in, we had a short meeting
to outline the weeks activities.
It rained the day we arrived so we all opted to do a bit
of site seeing. We went to some ancient cathedrals, churches,
and even an antique shop that was so large that it would
take a person a week just to see everything that they had
to offer.
The rest of the week the weather held out for us, so we
were in the fields everyday detecting for pieces of English
history. We would go from one field that had been the site
of a Medieval village at one time, to another field that
had been the site of a Roman Villa, and then off to another
that had been the site of a Saxon settlement.
Roys knowledge of the history of the countryside is remarkable
as he leads us from one period of English history to another.
All the time giving us a history lesson and describing how
the sites were set and how the people lived and carried out
there lives. We uncovered Roman, Saxon, Celtic, and Medieval
artifacts and coins in every site Roy took us to.
The accommodations at the Inn were fantastic too. The food
was heavenly, and the folks that own and operate the property
are very helpful and understanding of our needs. Matt brown,
the owner even came detecting with us on occasion being quite
an expert in history himself. He made everyone feel right
at home, and shared his advice in field hunting with and
being a big help to everyone.
On one day my wife Patti (not being
into detecting that day) was escorted by Matt & his
wife to an antique and collectibles sale that Patti described
as fantastic. They even saw a British Antiques T.V. show
being filmed at the sale for later broadcast. Patti said
that the items for sale are so much more desirable than
what you normally find here in the U.S.A., because of the
fact that what we think is old here, they think is still
new.
All in all, our trip into English history was a real adventure
that we will remember for the rest of our lives.
Gary Dare
I had NEVER metal detected. Roy selected a site and
my first coin was a Roman silver Siliqua of Emperor, Constantius
II (337-361 A.D.). That discovery has forever re-arranged
my priority list of the most exciting events in my life.
I am very excited about returning to Roy's to detect.
Tod Aldrich
Westcliffe, Colorado
I have been detecting since 1970, all over the U.S.-Oregon
to Florida, Massachusetts to California. I thought I had
experienced the best in metal detecting until I went to London
and detected in 1984. I really enjoyed that, and then I was
introduced to Roy and became interested in Roman coins and
artifacts. Roy knows where to go because he is a student
of history and has researched these areas. I have returned
to detect several times and I am looking forward to my next
trip over.
Arvid
Anoka, Minnesota
In September of 1994 I was in a group of four detectorists
from Minnesota who participated in an English detecting tour
hosted by Roy. From the moment Roy met us a Gatwick
airport there were no worries about travel, lodging, food
or hunting destinations. Everything was meticulously planned
so that there was no wasted time, yet there was room for
adjustments to suit the interests of the group.
We had expressed an interest in local history, so we were
taken to a local museum, escorted around the site of a Celtic-roman
battlefield, and toured the British Museum. Our hunting concentrated
on sites of roman camps and villages, but we also searched
sites that should have yielded military artifacts from the
20th century. For instance, I found a small piece of a V-1
rocket, a buzz-bomb!
One morning we participated in a dig in the mug-flats of
the Thames River at Gravesend. Artifacts were retrieved from
the 20th century back to the 11th century, and with Roy there,
every artifact could be identified. I found a 13th or 14th
century Pilgrim's badge!
We participated in a local rally (hunt). Our finds were
meager, but the food and comradery were top of the line!
Roy runs a first class small group treasure hunting
tour. Even if one found very few old coins, the educational
experience would be well worth the cost of the tour. I highly
recommend these tours for any dedicated metal detectorist
with any interest in English history.
Quentin I. Crouch
"The
first time I ever used a metal detector was on a
England Detecting Adventure. Roy was very helpful
and took us to farm fields over looking the North Sea.
The first day was slow for me as I learned to use my
equipment but the results for the trip were many roman
coins, hammered silver English coins and artifacts from
all the ages. It was so exciting I returned the following
year and was even more successful. I am hooked now and
will return to detect with Roy in the future."
TJD
Lakeville, MN
An England Treasure Story
As my quest and goals for finding older and different treasures
grew, I started researching where and how to treasure hunt
for relics and coins that would take my treasure hunting
to new levels. That's when my research lead me to the
England Detecting Adventure Tour. I was extremely excited
to find that it was possible to go to England to treasure
hunt for coins and relics from so many time periods of civilizations,
spanning over 2000 years.
So I saved up some money and made
my deposit. While I was waiting for the tour date to arrive
I researched the history of the Celtic, Roman, & middle
ages time periods and their peoples, on the internet. My
mind was day dreaming of King Richard and the knights of
the round table, Robin Hood, and Roman solders. I became
increasingly excited to know it was possible for me to
find relics and coins that were not only older than what
I was finding in the U.S. but had such incredible history
behind them. The day finally arrived and I was on the big
jet airliner, on my way to what turned out to be the most
exciting treasure hunting adventure of my life!
I was met at the airport and we drove along the beautiful
English country side to an old mill that was made into a
restaurant and hotel, where I was to stay. The food was delicious
and the room was very nice. There was also a bar that was
great to visit before dinner, after a great days detecting.
The morning arrived for the first
day of treasure hunting. The five of us loaded up the van
and Roy drove us to the farmers fields where we would be
detecting. The fields had just recently been plowed and
rowed which made for smooth walking on the fresh, moist
soil. It was perfect for detecting. I still remember the
thrill of finding my first English relic, which turned
out to be a medieval chest/casket key. As I held it in
my hand my mind raced with thoughts. Who was the person
that lost this key hundreds of years ago? What did they
look like? What was their life like? And what treasures
or possessions would this key have unlocked for them at the
time? That day, I also found my first English silver hammered
coin, which Roy looked up in the book for me. It had a hammered
image of King Henry the VI on it! It was hammer stamped during
his reign 1422-1461 AD. I also found some other relics that
day including a finger thimble, some pewter buttons and a
crotal bell. This was just the beginning. Each day more coins
and relics where found by myself and the other tour members.
Roy would identify the items for us. It was great fun to
do "show and tell" of the treasures we found each
night at dinner time. I look forward to returning and would
encourage adventurous treasure hunters of all ages to experience
the thrill of this England Detecting Tour.
Dakota T. Ranger
It just doesn't get any better! There are not words to describe
detecting in England. With Roy you'll have truly a rewarding
and meaningful experience. My first Roman coin was a Constantine
the Great (circa 300 A.D.) in beautiful condition. My first
gold coin ever was from a small county park-a Queen Anne
guinea, 1710. I was overwhelmed--and that was only the beginning!
J.B.
Northfield,
Minnesota
Our Trip to England
A recently adopted tradition of traveling
to England has become an annual event for our family.
My name is Peter Macken. Along with mother, father and
3 siblings, I live in Rochester Minnesota. I am currently
a junior in high school. My father, Tim Macken, discovered
the England Detecting Adventure as a member of the Zumbro
Valley Treasure Hunters Club in Rochester. Being very
interested in Metal Detecting, he decided to try the
England Detecting Adventure metal detecting tour of east
central England. The allurement of finding the unknown,
especially anything older than the early 1800's or anything
gold was enough to make my dad interested. His first
trip was in 1994 with three other members from the metal
detecting club. This first England trip was a major success.
Dad returned with more interesting items than imaginable.
He had found, bronze Roman coins, silver Roman coins,
silver hammered coins from the 12 and 13 hundreds and
numerous artifacts ranging from roman broaches to lead
musket balls. Roy his detecting guide, who led the tour,
was instrumental in guiding the group to all the "right spots" Roy
has a lease from certain farmers in the area to metal
detect in previously plowed and harvested fields. Since
my dad went in the fall, most of these fields were recently
plowed, bringing new and undiscovered treasures to the
surface. Also on the tour, Roy took the group to detect
in the London area in the Thames River. Unlike usual
metal detecting, the hunters dug a hole in the "muck" while
the tide was out and began sifting through the mud with
their detectors. Many items were visually found that
weren't metal, including clay pipes and old shoes. Some
of the metal objects found included a cannon ball, coins,
some horseshoes, a gigantic padlock and a rare pilgrim
badge. Returning home the whole family was mystified
by the many interesting treasures found. After this first
trip, he was hooked!
For the next four years dad continued
to travel annually with the England Detecting Adventure
to metal detect. Every year bringing back more and more
interesting things to show the family, but sorry to say,
nothing gold. finding a gold coin soon became an endless
quest. Twice, upon returning dad told us how the guy
detecting right next to him found a gold coin, but never
dad.
It wasn't until the fall of 1998, being fifteen years old,
that my father suggested that I come with him. I have always
been interested in metal detecting and have my own metal
detector. I couldn't wait to get there! Dad helped me get
a passport and explained thoroughly what the trip would be
like. I was excited, but a bit nervous. When the time came
to get on the plane and head east, I was ready to go.
After eight hours in the air, it was nice to finally meet
Roy after years of stories. This first trip for
me was very successful and fun. We found a large number of
Roman and old English coins. The best coin that I found was
a Saxon Skeet that was rare. This coin was no bigger than
my pinky fingernail! There was a gold Celtic Stater found
by another member of our group. The coin was about the size
of a nickel. Seeing gold made us even more anxious to come
back the next year.
The next year, dad and I decided to go again in November.
(1999) After landing in London-Gatwick airport, we traveled
by car; it was about three hours to Stanhoe, a small farm
town near the North Sea. Roy had arranged a cottage
for the group. A few people from New England were in our
group and stayed with my father and I. We started off detecting
on the first day and found some coins to get us going. Roy,
the guide, took us all out to a pub for dinner that night
to help us become better acquainted with the other detectorists.
It was that night that we first met George, Sunny, Gerry,
and Tony who had already been there for five days before
we got there. They were eager to show us some of the items
they had found so far. They had quite a few hammered coins
and Roman coins. It was hard to sleep that night; I was excited
for the next day to come!
Throughout the next few days, Roy would pick up dad, me
and the rest of the group and take us out to one of the many
fields to metal detect on. The first days of the trip, the
weather was good, but, for the later part, the weather was
poor. It rained often and even hailed once. Even though the
weather got worse, our spirits didn't. We continued to find
intriguing and interesting objects. On the fifth day, we
were dropped off at a field that was notorious for containing
Saxon-era coins. I started off slow from the edge of the
field, while my father and the rest of the group charged
on ahead. Felling that I should catch up with the group,
I started to head toward my dad when I got a faint, yet clear
signal. I thought for sure that my dad or someone else from
the group might have gone over the same ground, so I was
a little skeptical, but I decided to dig it up anyway. The
ground was soft, so the dirt came up easily, in clumps. I
went over the hole to re-check for a signal, but there was
none. I tried again, kicking the dirt before I swung the
machine over it. The signal came back, so I decided I must
have dug it up. I pinpointed the clump of dirt that it was
in and crumbled it in my hand. I swung the machine over my
hand and sure enough, it was in there. With prodding fingers
I felt the shape of a small, round object about the size
of an American half-dime. As I cleaned it off, I saw it was
a coin and that it was a small one. I ran over to dad and
showed him what I found. He took a close look and with a
little more cleaning, the coin gave a gleam. It looks like
GOLD! Roy, returning with our lunches, took a look at the
coin and was astonished to find that yes, it was gold, and
it was a coin that he had never seen before! We were all
excited! That evening, while eating dinner at the pub, we
all inspected the coin and tried to determine what exactly
it was. Roy decided that we should take a trip to the Fitzwilliam
Museum, which is part of the University of Cambridge. Roy
called Mr. Sean Miller in the coin department and scheduled
an appointment for the next day.
We drove for about two hours the next
day, and arrived at the museum at noon. We were greeted
by Mr. Miller and were taken to the coin room and locked!
After an examination, Mr. Miller found a book containing
French coins and we found a match. The only other coin
found like mine was in a hoard. My coin is one of the
three of its type that the museum knew of. The coin was
identified as a Quentovic Tremissis minted in the year
640 AD in what is now Northern France even though this
area would not be known as France for another 300 years.
Mr. Miller then photographed the coin and entered it
into the Museum's database. When we asked what he thought
the value of the coin would be, he said that the Museum
is not in a position to put a value on coins. Roy
thought that if we were to put this coin on auction,
with Christies, it could sell for somewhere between three
and five thousand dollars. This coin can be seen along
with other coins from the museum on the internet at this
address: http://www.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/emc.
Mr. Miller gave us a copy of my coin history from the database.
It was a great experience.
The remaining part of the trip went smoothly, and the excitement
stayed with us. Not only did we continue to detect, but Roy
took us to Ely, where I bought some gifts for my brothers
and sister back home and we toured a cathedral. My father
and I can't wait for our next trip, this fall.
Overall, we were very happy with finally finding a gold
coin! But... I kind of feel sorry for dad. After all those
years of trying to find a gold coin, it was me who ended
up finding it first.
