A large number of U3A members gathered on 14th July at the United Reformed Church Hall to hear John Clark talk on ‘Treasure Hunting’.
John is one of Europe’s experts in underwater treasure hunting. Many of the finds he showed us were from the sea around Spain.
He started his talk by showing us some metal detectors, early and modern. He explained that the early metal detectors, based on the technology used in mine detectors, only gave a single signal which was the same for all metals.
Modern ones can distinguish between metals, and a demonstration showed the different ‘note’ responses to gold and silver. The detector that John uses underwater is very sophisticated and he is able to strap it on whilst treasure hunting underwater.
A selection of the coins and jewellery that John has found and identified were passed round for people to examine. Coins, brooches and rings were carefully labelled showing their origin and what metal they were made of, wherever possible the artefacts dated, difficult in the case of Saxon jewellery.
A newspaper article was also circulated telling the story of how John had retrieved a wedding ring for a very anxious couple from a lake in Wiltshire.
His Spanish adventures also included retrieving a cross from a lake belonging to the local Abbot, whose gratitude included permission to search on Church Lands and a conducted tour of the Cathedral.
Many questions were asked and over refreshments U3A members were able to look at the rest of the display items that John had brought in.
Next month members are going out for lunch but reassemble on Tuesday 8th September at The United Reformed Church Hall to hear Shaun McCormack talking about The Queen’s Bodyguard, The Yeoman of the Guard. Do join us, you will be very welcome, the meeting starts at 2.00pm and your first visit is free.
