Detectorists: Women finding treasure

Many of us as children dream of finding a treasure map and digging up gold and precious jewels. For some that longing never goes away. Kim Chakanetsa talks to two women from the UK and Australia who spend their free time using metal detectors to search for treasure. In November 2021, a British nurse called Elizabeth Bailey discovered a tiny gold book while out with her metal detector. She first thought it was from a charm bracelet but, engraved with two figures thought to be the patron saints of childbirth, it's believed the charm could have been given to a wealthy pregnant woman between 1280 and 1410, when it was illegal for anyone besides the nobility to own gold. Alison Walker uses her hobby of metal detecting to recover lost jewellery and keys for people around Ontario in Canada where she lives. Instead of asking for a finder’s fee like many, she finds precious belongings in exchange for a donation to a breast cancer charity. She belongs to an international organisation called Ring Finders and took up the passtime 11 years ago after bidding for a metal detector in a charity auction.