In the local parish of Messing cum Inworth where I grew up, there are finds from Iron Age, Roman, Medieval and Post Medieval times. I enjoyed the historical facts and stories woven into the book and the leaps of faith Nigel made with some of the objects he found – to create plausible stories linking them back to his house and the people who once lived there. But what at first is planned as a one-off activity to generate 800 words or so quickly becomes something more, and in this lovely book Nigel recounts his adventures, set-backs and discoveries on the road to becoming a detectorist. As well as telling the story about Nigel’s first accidental steps into detecting, the book is packed with useful information for the beginner, witty one liners and advice from other hobbyists.

The Accidental Detectorist: The Adventures of a Reluctant Metal The Accidental Detectorist: The Adventures of a Reluctant Metal

By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file.Richardson describes his encounters with other detectorists and how he learns from them, both about detecting and life. This country beneath his feet, these people who scour it for clues and tokens - they are the home he's been looking for.

The Accidental Detectorist by Nigel Richardson | Hachette UK The Accidental Detectorist by Nigel Richardson | Hachette UK

During a permitted walk around his home he came across a metal detectorist, and so a new obsessive hobby was born. I often find it hard to get into non fiction books but Richardson’s writing style drew me in and I was keen to find out more about his story. In the first few chapters, I could feel his palpable sense of being the new boy in the world of metal detecting, like a pupil on their first day at school. From women's groups who react against the hobby's male bias, to the 'Nighthawks' who risk jail-time in their pursuits, he finds his preconceptions disabused and gets to the heart of what makes this quiet community so obsessed with happy beeps. Anyways, I’m now off to Silchester Roman Wall to bury this book in a nice metal box for some lucky nighthawker to find.There is a real Zen to detecting whether in the field, watching or reading you can find yourself at peace, even if nothing gets found. Which certainly made me very happy as I love learning about new things and other people's personal experiences.

The Accidental Detectorist: Uncovering an Underground Obsession The Accidental Detectorist: Uncovering an Underground Obsession

Richardson's writing style is easy enough, conversational with some humour thrown in but there are only so many times you can read someone saying "found anything good? Influenced by his solitary rambles, and the TV show The Detectorists, he decided his next column should be about metal detecting. Some people are there in the hopes of life changing discoveries, others to consolidate their collection of finds by discovering specific items or remnants of a particular time.Excellent story, well written and kept me interested with well balanced facts and narrative, been back and listened several times and the narration was excellent, I couldn’t believe that it was not read by the author such was the narrators tone and pace.

The Accidental Detectorist: Uncovering an Underground - WHSmith The Accidental Detectorist: Uncovering an Underground -

There's plenty to learn besides the laws of digging on farmland, from reading old maps and history books to the new jargon and equipment belonging to the detectorists. Whether you are a fully fledged detectorist or not, this is a thoroughly enjoyable read and testament to the pleasures you can find just outside your own front door. The book is about a journey of discovery as well as a physical journey, and a deeper understanding of the land and our relationship with it.I liked the author’s writing style, the factual book’s subject matter and finding out about this community of larger than life characters who use metal detectors around the UK. I have a small metal detector that came into my possession a couple of years ago and with my fascination of all things history I thought that this memoir would be interesting. This book was interesting about the author's adventures being a metal detectorist and a potted history of things found over the years by detectorists. So I completely understand the attraction of metal detecting and the hit of dopamine they must get as they find something interesting.