West Country Clegg Network

Quick update 👋

I’ve been getting early access to a new metal detecting mapping platform called Detector Maps, and there’s a lot more planned than just one or two layers.

The idea is to bring a wide range of data together in one place, including things like:

Modern and historic maps

Farm and land boundaries (so you know which land belongs to which farmer)

LiDAR hillshade and slope analysis

Sophisticated NDVI cropmark mapping, with the ability to merge it directly with terrain and LiDAR data

Historic environment layers such as Roman roads, villas, and other known sites

Find-spot data from schemes like the Portable Antiquities Scheme

Heat maps showing concentrations of artefacts from different periods

National heritage and historic environment records

Not everything is live yet and some of this is still being added, but once it’s all in place I’ll be doing proper field-based videos showing how these layers can be used together in practice.

I currently have early access because I’ve been collaborating with Detector Maps, feeding in real-world detecting experience and site-analysis knowledge to help shape how the system is used in the field.

The launch date is currently pencilled in for the 23rd of January, so I’ll share more details once things go live.

This is shaping up to be a very powerful tool for research and planning before you ever step into a field.

More to come once everything’s ready.

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2 weeks ago | [YT] | 34

West Country Clegg Network

I helped save someone’s life tonight. Walking home from the pub we found a man, very drunk, lying in a garden. It was just above freezing. If he had been left there all night, he would have died.

My Army training kicked in. I ran back to the pub and hammered on the windows even though it was shut, got help, and between us we managed to get him on his feet. It was a struggle, but we walked him back to his house and made sure he was safe.

3 weeks ago | [YT] | 77

West Country Clegg Network

My settings analysis has come a long way in the last 7 years:

https://youtu.be/6baSzRjRZYw?si=G2bN8...

2 months ago | [YT] | 6

West Country Clegg Network

It's taking shape. Shaun popped over today, and we've constructed about 95% of the mega coil 😎

3 months ago | [YT] | 28

West Country Clegg Network

I'm sorry I've not put out any videos lately. But I've been going through a difficult time at the moment. It's been 2 weeks since the coil was ordered from Germany, and Parcelforce is one of the worst F-ing companies have ever come across. Customer relations are frankly seriously awful. I paid the import duties, but it's not showing up on their crappy system. It wouldn't surprise me if there's still using computers with sloppy drives. I've made a formal complaint and if that doesn't get anywhere then I'll be contacted my MP to go to the CEO of Parcel Force.

4 months ago | [YT] | 32

West Country Clegg Network

Let's get Luc a few more subscribers!

youtube.com/@lucprodetectdetectwithconfiden

5 months ago | [YT] | 17

West Country Clegg Network

If anyone's interested, I'm going to minelab 500 tomorrow. Me Shaun and his other half Sue have been invited

5 months ago | [YT] | 30

West Country Clegg Network

The Funniest Thing I’ve Ever Seen (Even If I Shouldn’t Have Laughed)

This is a true story from my time in the Territorial Army—specifically, when I was with the Royal
Corps of Transport. It happened over 30 years ago on Salisbury Plain during a military exercise, and
to this day, it remains the funniest thing I’ve ever witnessed.


Now, for the sake of privacy, I won’t use the real name of the poor bloke involved, so let’s just call
him Dave.


We’d been out on the plain for a while, and the weather had been miserable—on and off rain, the
kind that soaks through everything and turns your sleeping kit into a soggy mess. The issue kit we
had for sleeping was absolutely useless.


Now, I’ve always been the sort who takes orders with a pinch of salt. Not one for ticking every box
or following every rule to the letter—especially when it came to comfort. I wasn’t about to freeze
my backside off for the sake of doing things by the book.


So, I decided to get some kip underneath the operations (4-tonner) Truck. Dangerous? Probably. But it was dry,
and I figured if it started up, the roar of the engine and the cloud of diesel fumes would wake me
before I ended up becoming messy.


Strangely enough, it was actually quite warm under there. I’ve no idea why—but I reckon the heater
in the ops truck must have been running, because despite the rain and the cold, I was surprisingly
snug.


The only problem was: no one expected me to be under there. So when the chaos kicked off in
the morning, I wasn’t found, because for some reason no one was even looking under trucks.
By some miracle, I woke up anyway. I crawled out, packed away my gear, and stood at the back of
the truck waiting for orders. I’d been designated as the runner for the day, so I was supposed to take
messages between locations. But as I stood there, I realised something was off.


There was no one about.


It was quiet—far too quiet for a supposedly active military position. I could hear engines humming
somewhere in the distance, but no voices, no movement. Just this eerie, foggy silence. Then, out of nowhere, two lads came running up to the generator and started rummaging around like lunatics. They were REME. One of them clocked me standing by the steps of the truck and, without missing a beat, shouted.


“Why aren’t you looking for Dave’s ear?!”


I just stared at him, completely stunned. I genuinely couldn’t tell if I was still dreaming. But he was deadly serious. Then they found whatever they were looking for and legged it. I stood there for a moment, trying to process what I’d just heard. Looking for Dave’s ear? What the hell was going on? Curiosity got the better of me. I climbed up onto the cab and then up onto the roof to get a better look at what was happening.


What I saw has been etched into my memory ever since.

In a semi-circle, about six Land Rovers were parked up with their engines running and headlights
on full beam, cutting through the morning mist. And in the middle of that circle, around fifty
soldiers were crawling through the undergrowth on their hands and knees like they were searching
for the crown jewels.


And that’s when it dawned on me—they really were looking for Dave’s ear.


Here’s what had happened:
Dave had been put on guard duty at a junction of two dirt tracks. During exercises, Truck often
drove with no lights to simulate night operations. On Salisbury Plain, that’s standard because
the chalk roads reflect just enough light for you to see where you’re going once your eyes adjust.
But one driver must’ve taken the corner too tight and run straight over the end of Dave’s rifle.
Thankfully, it missed him—but the rifle had a sling, and Dave had been leaning over it slightly.
When the wheel hit the muzzle, the force flipped the weapon upwards—and took Dave’s ear clean
off.


Gone. Just like that.


Apparently, Dave staggered off straight away, bleeding heavily and in shock. He stumbled through
the trees until he found a sergeant who was fast asleep. Dave kicked him awake. Understandably grumpy, the sergeant barked at him to get back on stag—but then he grabbed his torch, shone it in Dave’s face, and stopped dead.
Dave’s face was soaked in blood. A stream of it was spurting rhythmically from the side of his head
where his ear had been. That’s when the panic began. Dave was rushed to Hospital and word spread fast. Everyone was woken up and sent out to search the area. The Land Rovers were repositioned to light up the scene, and a full-scale sweep was launched across the grass and brambles. Fifty blokes crawling around, eyes to the floor, all looking for one severed ear.
And yes—they did eventually find it.


But unfortunately, too much time had passed. There’s a window of opportunity for that sort of thing,
and by the time it was recovered, the ear was no longer viable to be sewn back on.
To make matters worse, Dave wore glasses. From that point on, they were distinctly lopsided—one
arm had nothing to rest on, so it just dangled in mid-air, and the lenses never sat level. He tried to
hold them in place with a bit of elastic stretched around his head, but it didn’t help much—it just
made him look like a badly assembled action figure, with one lens higher than the other and the
whole frame slanted across his face.


In the end, the medical lot fitted wall plugs into the side of his skull so he could clip on a prosthetic
ear. And to be fair to him, he did get compensation—I think it was around £10,000 at the time. Not
a bad result, considering how close he came to being flattened.


So there you have it—the funniest thing I’ve ever seen in the Territorial Army.

5 months ago | [YT] | 33

West Country Clegg Network

I was just looking at the analytics from my latest video and the moment Shaun came onto the fields with me, the interest in the video started climbing. So I thought I would do a poll because it looks to me that we might complement each other rather than just me detecting?

6 months ago | [YT] | 31

West Country Clegg Network

AI is revolutionizing cancer treatment — you've seen the headlines.

But here’s the twist: that same technology can now uncover buried treasure.

I’m on the verge of revealing not just which field hides a coin hoard… but exactly where in that field it’s buried.

All I can say is this — I’ve spent the last 10 years mastering a powerful program called Quantum GIS, and now, with advanced AI modelling, I can predict with stunning accuracy where hoards are waiting to be found.

8 months ago (edited) | [YT] | 13