Metal Detecting

Yesterday was our second trip out with our recently acquired Ace 250. This time I was also able to put my new Garrett (Carrott) Pro Pointer to test for the first time.
The beach at Seaford is mostly shingle, with some patches of sand which was still quite damp when we were there. The Ace 250 worked really well, very few false readings. The 'Carrot' was just a joy! Great for homing in on the objects we'd come across.
We didn't come away with the most exciting of finds but at this stage for us, any find is a good find
Most bits we picked up seemed to be fishing related, so no great surprises there. Here's some pictures for anyone interested:
This one shows everything we came back with. A selection of nails, some lead fishing weights, abstract lumps of metal and a 10p piece!


Some close ups:
We're really not sure about these two pieces. Someone at work said that the piece with a hook on the end was for mending fishing nets.


This one is a piece of metal that seems to be encased in concrete. We were quite excited at first because it was quite big, but we've no idea what it is from.



This last shot shows the two lead fishing weights (I was surprised at just how heavy they were). Also pictured the 10p piece and a non-metal find that we thought was interesting...a Mermaid's Purse, actually an egg sac from a Skate.


Thoroughly enjoyed pottering around on the beach with the Ace 250. I always enjoy being by the sea, so any excuse, plus it was my birthday so a good day all round.

Tryed Seaford beach a few times only found modern stuff on it , would suggest Eastbourne beach you may have more luck, keep looking .

Lil, the ACE 250 is a good machine and fantastic value IMHO.
Although not the best on some beaches, although you seem to have done OK.

Re the "Someone at work said that the piece with a hook on the end was for mending fishing nets." Could well be.

Re the "piece of metal that seems to be encased in concrete" this would be reinforced concrete and be part of an old sea wall / sea defence ... not an uncomon find where the original wall / sea defence has been destroyed and replaced (try going near the current sea wall and you will get masses of signals, I have been caught out a couple of times when the sea wall is concave and the base has been covered by sand rl; )

Re the "lead fishing weights (I was surprised at just how heavy they were)." the reason for the weight is that they have be able to hold the seabed in strong currents - hence the wire prongs to assist in griping the seabed. If in good condition (often they have a swivel attachent which gets broken / erroded) and you spot any anglers if you have a few you could see if they are interested in them and would give you anything for them (fyi: ones with the wire prongs are well over £1 new).

Evan

simon brown wrote:Tryed Seaford beach a few times only found modern stuff on it , would suggest Eastbourne beach you may have more luck, keep looking .

Thanks for the tip Simon. I'll try Eastbourne sometime. We did go to Birling Gap just after Christmas (our first time out) but seemed to get lots of small pieces of aluminium. Seaford was good though, if only because we were able to park for free right on the beach front!

Thanks for the extra info Evan. Perhaps my fortune lies in fishing weights, not gold.

Beechunta wrote:Dont get disheartened about the gold.Gold is rare compared to trash so it is just a matter of perseverance.Usually,where you find fishing weights,gold rings will be found also as both tend to settle at the same type of depths.
However,if you are serious about beach detecting,i would look to upgrade the 250 in the future for a dedicated beach machine........this will give you a much better chance of reaching the gold.

Yes, I was already thinking about that. At the moment we have just the one detector which is fine, we take it in turns but we were joking that we really ought to have two and it crossed my mind that a more beach orientated one would be the way to go as I already have a feeling that beaches are going to be my preference. It's still early days, we've only had the Ace since Christmas. I'll probably see how we get on over the next few months as hopefully we'll get out a bit more when the weather picks up.

It's not so long ago that Seaford had tons and tons of shingle moved on to the beach to stop erosion. Presumably everything got buried under a huge layer that even the best machine couldn't reach. The fishing was pants for a long time but seems to be returning. Might be worth talking to some locals for areas of beaches that have remained unchanged except by the tides.

Eastbourne beach the parking is free on the sea front till March I think . look for the big low tides if your machine is stable enough try along the low tide line best of luck

The bit of iron with the copper ring on it is the remains of a 20mm cannon bullet. The sealing ring made sure that the iron bullet fitted snugly against the barrel and you can probably see the grooves on it from the rifling inside the barrel when it made its final journey. Probably WW2 and if it came in with the shingle it could have been from a plane or boat. Well done.

i live in seaford & yes the beach is good for free parking & free toilets, as for the beach its self ive

only detected it myself afew times, as like been said yes its a fairly new beach with all the shingle

which is at least 10ft deep up along by the prom, finds never found anything real exciting, mainly a

afew fishing weights & some scissors & couple of quid in loose change,,