Frontt line useer of thee PAS

As one who
w has been n a detectorisst for the besst part of 30 years I can honestly
h sayy that my
interactioon with the PAS
P has been life changing.

I'd like too explain how

w and why if
i I may, as obviously
o soome think off me otherwise!

In 2003 Kurt
K Adams became myy local FLO in i South Glooucestershiree, after the sccheme was rolled
r
out nationally that yeear. Since thaat time I havve become onne of the moost prolific reecorders in my
m
area withh the schemee. This is duee to the workk of Kurt andd the centrall unit that suppports him in
i his
role.

Meeting Kurt in Octo ober 2003, I did not realise what an impact
i the PAS
P would have
h on my life.
l
Through their educattion, outreacch and inclussion through public archaaeology I haave been amaazed
at just hoow much theey're involved with and juust how far they
t reach. Kurt
K had beeen a fantasticc
ambassaddor for the sccheme whichh has been clearly
c led byy the centrall unit under Dr
D Roger Blland.
Equally the
t same can n be said of the
t many othher FLO's baased throughhout Englandd and Wales,,
some of whom
w I've had
h the pleassure of meetiing.

I have woorked with thhe PAS in quite

q a number of areas from
fr lecturess to universitty students
(Bristol & Gloucesteer Universitiees), to speakking to historrical groups, to identifyinng and recorrding
finds at a rally with Kurt.
K All thiss is down to their invite and encouraagement. Thee last lecturee was
with Dr Naomi
N Payne and Dr Rooger Bland himself
h at Briistol Universsity. Roger spoke
s on thee
PAS centtral issues, Naomi
N spokee about beingg an FLO annd I spoke abbout being ann end user of the
scheme asa well as showing somee finds that were
w going too be recorded through thhe scheme. The T
whole thiing dovetaileed beautifullly and everyyone could seee the value of the PAS quite clearlyy.

The real life changinng experiencee has come through

t the reference
r Kuurt wrote forr me that wennt a
long wayy toward me becoming an a undergradduate studentt at Bristol on a course ruun by Dr Pauula
Gardinerr. I've had treemendous enncouragemennt from Proffessor Mark Horton, Dr Stuart S Prior and
Paul Tubbb, my curren nt tutor. All can see the value
v of whaat I do and how
h I achievve what I do
through the
t PAS. So I can quite comfortably
c be an archaaeologist andd use a metall detector annd not
feel the need
n to be ap
pologetic witth either.

The PAS S to me is not just a fabullous academmic work in progress,

p butt also a publiic interface that
t
reaches many
m groupss with many interests. Yees' of coursee metal detecctorist use it the most, thhat's
because they
t find thee most, but I know field walkers, garrdeners, buillders and ammateur
archaeoloogical group ps use it too! The amount of work cooming out off this schemee is tremendoous,
be that laate Roman co oin scatters (Sam
( Moorhhead) to late Iron Age/Roomano-Britiish rings (Addam
Daubneyy, TOT Rings, 2007).
Having seen what the scheme means to me you can certainly take it as read that many thousands
feel the same as they regularly use it too. I have always said that the PAS will be a scheme for
the long haul, members of the public are using the scheme more and more each year as the PAS's
own figures show. Every area of the scheme that is monitored by the central unit is seeing
growth, so why now want to change this? It seems a British disease to want to change the shape
of the wheel every now and again, only to find that we had it right in the first place.

I have a passion for what the PAS is, but the last thing it needs now is change, in fact that will be
disastrous for it. I am a front line user of the PAS and am bemused that Mr. Clare is obviously
taking advice from a vociferous group of anti-PAS supporters playing silly playground games
with a national treasure, a couple of whom don't even live or pay tax in this country!

The PAS is achieving what it set out to do, why oh why dismantle it now!

I urge anyone who reads this to support the petition and save both the central Unit and have the
PAS brought in under the British Museums Wing as now the MLA has surely pitted itself against
the scheme through its very obvious public actions!

As a last point I would like to remind everyone who remembers what it was like pre 1997 when
the PAS began. I sincerely hope that none of us would want to return to those times, but I fear
that is exactly where we're heading if what the MLA has planned happens. The PAS will not
survive in the Renaissance regions, like so many other projects money will become an issue
somewhere down the line and jobs will go as they already are. If we remove the head from the
PAS the body will die, if that happens then there are many that believe that detecting will be
banned. All that will do is create a monster that none of us surely wants!

Peter Twinn, Archaeologist & Detectorist and front line user of the PAS.