On the day of arrival you are picked up at the airport and usually arrive here around 11.30

I have made the pick up times at the airport early so we get nearly a full days detecting in on the first day.

Hotel stay guys have all their detecting gear already on on and machines made up when they arrive. As soon as they arrive at the hotel in Colchester, suitcases are stored for later, and we go straight off to the fields. Old hands will pick the land for the first day.

Each hotel and Barn teams gets a laminated map pack to keep so they can decide on where they want to hunt during the week.

I tell you the history, what was found where and when (a good idea is a small notepad to write the fields that you get 'vibes about') without this reminder it all gets very confusing as there are LOT of fields. All the old fields have been given names so we can remember them and talk about them. New land has not been named until a prominent find has been made. Old land naming sure as Axe hoard field, Saxon sceat hoard field etc.

You can all go on different sites or all on the same, the choice is completely yours. You point me and the Barn leader in the direction you want to go and I take you there.

Lunch is 1 o'clock for hotel teams, Barn teams vary. We always have a mixture of hot food and sandwiches out in the field, soup, pasties, hot dogs with fried onions,etc prepared fresh each day, depending on the weather and any special requests.

After lunch you decide whether to stay on the site you were on or move on to another new farm or set of fields.

Most locations are multi fields anyway i.e. you have a choice of 6 to 20 or so fields right next to each other so after an hour on one field you can move onto another.

It has been known for us to hit 6 fields in a morning when we are feeling restless !!

We usually decide the evening finish time at lunchtime, whatever time we decide on whether it is 6 or 8 0'clock. Most guys are completely dead by 6 o'clock !! Hard core guy go on to 10pm.

Evenings are spent eating, cleaning and trying to identify the finds, time for bed and then it starts all over again.

It is no good asking me each morning what field to go on, I am generally crap at it, when I tell a guy this field has given me nothing and sucks within an hour he is holding a Celtic gold stater. I say this field next to an old church must have hammered silver on it we get skunked, so I have learnt my lesson. I have found it is best to follow a 'newbie' like Alaskan Todd who could sniff out a gold coin at 10 miles. Arkansas Gary followed him and got his Celtic gold.

This holiday is not to be confused with other tours as it is you that decides where you go, not me. I am just your driver LOL. If you want to be on your own in the middle of a 800 acre site then go for it, if you want company when out detecting then stick together. Don't feel obliged to follow others as they might be leading you to a detectorists graveyard !!

Some guys have asked me that I must know where to go, the simple answer is no because if I did then I would already be on there LOL. With a choice of over 300 + fields is it just luck and the fact you walked over it ! Mass Bruce found his axe head hoard because he went for a s**t under the only tree on a 100 acre field in the middle of no where LOL. It would have been the last field I would have picked LOL

Remember that you can go on as many of the 300 or so fields available during your tour or spend the whole week on just one. The choice is yours !!

With over 300 fields the average guy goes on about 20 during the week if he moved fast leaving over 280 untouched. With the vastness of the land it is just luck if you turned left your right at the right time. WE HAVE FIELDS THAT NO MEMBER HAS EVER WALKED ON YET