3 Stories -
It was 20 years ago, in a field near Brighton, me and a mate just got metal detectors for Xmas, so we got on the no.60 bus to Mileoak farm and started searching the farmers field without his permission. Within minutes, we found .303 bullets, copper halfpennies, tail fins from mortar bombs and the prize of all one complete bomb intact. So chucking all the items into a Tesco carrier bag, we got back on a packed bus and headed home to show mum. She said typically, Oh how nice! my dad, ex Army said what you found then? Opening the bag and tipping the contents onto the lounge floor, he said quietly, his voice getting softer and softer, lets leave very slowly and we did not know what he was going on about. within 30 minutes the local Army Bomb disposal crew arrived and loaded the items into their truck. It was blown up in a controlled explosion that afternoon.
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My dad was a fisherman, he often trawled up bits and pieces of sucken treasure from the Channel. In 20 years as kids we saw, A spitfire engine, a horse, a box full of live spitfire shells (which we stuck between concrete piers and using a 6" nail let off across Newhaven Arm - cannot be done today), a bag of gold watches (I still wear one), various cups, mugs and utensils and many pens (mostly parker pens that all worked even having been in the sea).
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In 1980 or so the Devils Dyke public House Brighton was being partially developed. During the work a bottle dump was uncovered and we as kids set about finding all the pot lids and marble stopper bottles. During 'the Big dig' we came across a small gold ring so enthusiastically dug to find more. At this time the pub was still open serving Sunday lunches...We then uncovered at the edge of the dump a small metal disc we though was some ancient artifact, but sadly turned out to be a small stash of mortar shells left over from WW2 when the Dyke valley was a firing range, and like the first story above, the Army Bomb Disposal team appeared and promptly closed the road off, forced everyone out of the pub, before detonating the bombs in situe. So the moral of treasure hunting on the South Downs and in the Channel is - be prepared and have the Army phone number handy.
