Metal Detecting History Podcast

This week's episode is a special one as its the 100th one! Our guest is very special too....! Actor Kenneth Collard, known to this community as the Mayor from the BBC series The Detectorists, and to a wider audience from Cuckoo, House of the Dragon, The Capture and most recently Beyond Paradise. But Kenneth has been a detectorist since the early 1980s, long before any of those credits, starting out with a basic C-scope in the forests of Germany and chasing that coin-shaped thrill ever since.During lockdown, Kenneth picked up his Equinox 800 and turned to the Thames foreshore, barely getting his PLA permit before the system closed. He has been learning to read the foreshore ever since, mentored by experienced mudlarks and working alongside his now great friend Carrie from Carry On Larkin.In this episode Kenneth talks about filming The Detectorists alongside Mackenzie Crook, the tobacco pipe bowl depicting an African man that was displayed in the Museum of London Docklands Secrets of the Thames exhibition alongside a cowry shell Kenneth found at the same moment, and his all-time top find, which has nothing to do with history and everything to do with being in the right place at the right time.He also shares his plans to develop a mudlarking TV show, talks about the Spanish Ardite minted in Barcelona for a child king and a Peruvian silver two reals found on the same stretch of foreshore, and signs off with one of the most genuinely motivating closers this podcast has had.Watch the full interview version of this episode from 6:30pm on YouTube at youtube.com/@detectinghistorychannel | Find Detecting History on Instagram and YouTube at @detectinghistorychannel | Use code DHPodcast at Regton.com for 10% off some items.

Darren Searle and Rod from Gloucestershire Detectorists join Katie to tell the story of two finds that most detectorists will never experience in a lifetime of searching.The first: a scattered Roman hoard where both Darren and Rod's very first signals on a brand new field turned out to be Roman coins. What followed was multiple return visits, over 400 coins recovered, a Roman silver ring and a Roman lead seal found by Rod that was nearly discarded as scrap and turned out to be unique in Britain.The second: a hammered scattered hoard on a farm where the landowner had been openly sceptical about the hobby. The find included quarter nobles and half nobles, and eventually 26 hammered coins recovered over several visits. That one went to auction and found a home with an American historian who supports archaeological digs in the UK.Darren also talks through their Minelab Manticore setup, the moment the Manticore picked up a deep gold hammered coin that the Nox 600 couldn't reach, how their relationship with their FLO made the Treasure Act process far smoother than most, and what is still on the bucket list including a gold stater and a gold Roman.Watch the full interview version of this episode from 6:30pm on Friday on YouTube at youtube.com/@detectinghistorychannel | Find Detecting History on Instagram and YouTube at @detectinghistorychannel | Use code DHPodcast at regton.com for 10% off some items.

Jamie and Erin from Bottles from the Deep join Katie to talk about loch larking, their unique hobby of snorkeling in Scottish lochs to find Victorian bottles, ceramics and all sorts of historical treasures.Jamie shares the story of finding a rare WWII Colt Commando revolver in a loch, discovering a scattered medieval coin hoard whilst metal detecting dating to around 1307 with coins from Alexander III, John Balliol and Edward I, and a secret Bronze Age hoard found just one week earlier. Erin talks about their favourite finds including Codd marble bottles, Staffordshire Flow Blue ceramics, cocaine-infused Victorian wine bottles and why every loch in Scotland seems to have a teapot in it.They also cover how they research new lochs using the National Library of Scotland maps, LiDAR and old fishing spots, plus Jamie's journey into metal detecting with his Minelab Equinox 600. Find Jamie and Erin on both YouTube and Instagram @bottlesfromthedeep.Watch the full interview version of this episode from 6:30pm on YouTube at youtube.com/@detectinghistorychannel | Find Detecting History on Instagram and YouTube at @detectinghistorychannel | Use code DHPodcast at regton.com for 10% off some items.

What's been happening in the world of UK metal detecting in 2026? In this solo episode, Katie rounds up the biggest stories so far this year and announces the Detecting History 100th episode giveaway competition.First up, the Melsonby Hoard goes on public display at the Yorkshire Museum from 15 May. Over 800 Iron Age objects including the first evidence of four-wheeled wagons in Britain. Then we look at the Portable Antiquities Scheme's record-breaking year with over 79,000 finds recorded, and why your local Finds Liaison Officer needs your support more than ever.We also cover the Great Baddow Hoard, 933 Iron Age gold coins now secured for the Museum of Chelmsford, but with a cautionary tale about what happens when you detect without permission. That leads into the rise of nighthawking, with Humberside Police reporting increased illegal detecting on protected land.On the brighter side, the Chew Valley Hoard's incredible journey from field to national tour shows the system working as it should. And a father and son's Anglo-Saxon find in Lincolnshire has inspired an entire jewellery collection.Plus, Katie announces the 100th episode giveaway with prizes from Regton, The Etching Booth, Composite Cleaning Company, and S&D Detectorist.ENTER THE COMPETITION Go to @detectinghistorychannel on Instagram, like the competition post, share it on your stories, comment "100" and subscribe to our YouTube channel. UK only. Details on the post.LINKS AND RESOURCES Melsonby Hoard exhibition: yorkshiremuseum.org.uk Report your finds: finds.org.uk Report nighthawking: call 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111SPONSORS AND PARTNERS Regton: regton.com (use Katie's affiliate discount code DHPODCAST) The Etching Booth: www.instagram.comthe_etching_booth Composite Cleaning Company www.cleaningpencil.com and https://snddetectorist.comCONNECT WITH DETECTING HISTORY YouTube: Detecting History Channel Instagram: @detectinghistorychannelIf you enjoyed this episode, please leave a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. It genuinely helps new listeners find the show.

UK metal detecting podcast. This week Katie is joined by Lewis from lewis_detects on Instagram, an Oxfordshire-based detectorist with seven years of experience finding hammered coins, Roman artefacts and medieval silver across the fields of southern England.Lewis talks through his best metal detecting finds: a Roman brooch, a cut half Stephen penny, and a 1636 Charles I shilling found at a historical drama film set, found next to an ancient tree on a brilliant signal. He also shares how he runs his Deus metal detector completely screen-free on tones only, and why he always chooses ploughed fields over pasture.Topics covered include how to get metal detecting permissions from landowners, using LiDAR for research, the PAS database at finds.org, the National Library of Scotland side-by-side maps with GPS, and the pros and cons of club digs versus solo permissions.Lewis's bucket list: Gold, Roman gold, and a complete Saxon penny.Katie also announces a giveaway for the 100th episode with prizes from Regton, The Etching Booth, Swing and Dig Detectorist and Composite Cleaning Pencil.Watch the full interview version of this episode from 6:30pm on YouTube at youtube.com/@detectinghistorychannel | Find Detecting History on Instagram, Facebook and YouTube at @detectinghistorychannel | Use code DHPodcast at regton.com for 10% off some items.

This week Katie sits down with Sam Willoughby, known on Instagram as the_peaky_larker, a Kent-based mudlarker, metal detectorist and self-described archaeo-detectorist who bridges both worlds with the kind of knowledge and ethics that makes you want to get outside immediately.Sam shares how furlough in 2020 sent him to the banks of the Medway and eventually onto the Thames foreshore itself, where he waited 18 months for his Port of London Authority permit. He talks about upgrading from a Garrett ACE 150 to the Minelab Xterra Pro, why a 6-inch coil is non-negotiable on the foreshore, and how he became the only detectorist on an active Roman site in an elderly couple's back garden that has now yielded around 30 Roman coins.There are finds too. A late Tudor buckle dug from a new permission while still recovering from a cold. A minuscule Hudson's Bay Company trade bead, red and black, manufactured in Britain and traded with indigenous peoples in North America for fur pelts. And one weird discovery that turned out to be a Victorian bedpan with a hospital crest, which Sam very wisely gave to a friend.The conversation also covers the Dove's typeface mystery, the ethics of mudlarking on the foreshore, Thames Explorer Trust exhibitions, and a farmer near Richborough Roman Fort who took matters into his own hands with a bucket of copper nails.Find Sam on Instagram at @peakylarkerWatch the full interview version of this episode from 6:30pm on YouTube at youtube.com/@detectinghistorychannel | Find Detecting History on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok and YouTube at @detectinghistorychannel | Use code DHPodcast at regton.com for 10% off some items.