I'll be honest. When I first joined my club, I expected a lot of very funny smelling old men who had no personality, and were overly geeky concerning anything to do with frequencies and what-not.
I was apprehensive. I'll admit that.
But, I had fallen in love with Metal detecting, and had found a passion for the hobby. I told my friends, but they just laughed at me. My girlfriend rolled her eyes. My Daughter, thought I was trying to be Indiana Jones, so the time came to be round other people that shared a passion along with myself. I needed to find people that understood me. I heard of a local club that had just started up, rang the Chairman, got a date to go visit, and prepared myself...
I'd like to point out at this point, that It was very wrong of me to make a presumption about Metal detecting like I did before I met my fellow club members. I'd done everything that everybody else does when they talk about Metal Detecting or Metal Detectors. Images of sad, lonely old men wandering around fields finding nothing but nails day after day still holds strong with people from outside the hobby. And with people in the hobby as well, like myself. I presumed I was different. I presumed that I didn't hold the typical cliched values of that man wandering around a field.
And thats what people don't understand. This is what they miss about what we do.
If they knew the truth, they'd actually see that the man actually still has a great sense of adventure for a start. They'd see that he has a sincere, and passionate interest in our history. They'd see he understands the magic of not knowing what the next bleep is, and what is under the coil. They'd see that from all the walking around and digging, he's actually very fit for his age. They'd see that he'd chosen a lifestyle that wasn't rotting in front of a TV, or computer, watching mind numbing programmes that dumb him down. He's an adventurer. He's happy, and by God he has a cracking sense of humour...
...And as soon as I walked through the door of my Metal Detecting club, I realised the mistake I had made, in being so presumptuous.. In front of me were all sorts of people, from all sorts of backgrounds, and of all sorts of ages.
And slowly, I began to make friends. Friends that I honestly think, and hope, will become life-long friends. You can learn a lot about Metal detecting these days. With Internet forums, social media, and websites. But the majority of what I've learnt is from real people, that have had more experience than you can shake a stick at. Ideas that I'd never have thought of. Lessons that I'd never have learnt off a website. Real experience.
I'd been offered to go out on peoples permission. I'd learnt of potential permissions I should go for, and lots lots more. Now we have our own club land. We pay to a charity every time we go on it, and share experiences together. We laugh a lot. We dig up a lot of horrible things (See 'Sense of humour') and we dig up a lot of very, very cool things.
So if you're into the hobby, and have no-one else to share your passion with, consider a club. You'll never regret it.
They don't smell that bad, either...
