Cooksbridge, Offham & Hamsey

JUMBLE SALE: Tomorrow, Saturday, at 2pm in the village hall, Beechwood Lane. This is the annual sale organised by Anita and Tom Walker to raise funds for the community. As well as some sale bargains, tea, coffee and home-made cakes will be on sale. For further details call Anita on 01273 472595.

ADVANCE NOTICE: Easter will soon be with us and Sunday, April 1, is Easter Sunday. At St Peter’s Church there will be the usual 10.30am service which will be followed by an Easter Egg Hunt in the church grounds and coffee in the church hall where I’m sure there will also be a lovely Easter cake, made by Ursula hare from Cooksbridge.

LITTER PICK: The Parish Litter Pick will be on Sunday, April 8, at 10am starting and finishing at the village hall, Beechwood Lane.

METAL DETECTING: Where metal detectorists are concerned there could be considerable gains. In 2009, a series of bleeps in a Staffordshire field led to the discovery of 3,500 items of Anglo Saxon treasure and eventually a £3.2 million windfall, split between the farmer and the detectorist. There are also responsibilities with NFU members increasingly asked for access to land. It is useful to understand the law around finds, not least to avoid falling foul or ending up out of pocket. There are more treasure finds because there are more people hunting, up to 10,000 regular metal detectorists. The NFU, working with the Portable Antiquities Scheme and National Council for Metal Detecting, has created a model search agreement that makes clear the understanding between landowners and detectorists. It is available through NFU CallFirst on 0370 8458458. Members are advised to complete the document before allowing access. It is legally binding when signed by both parties. Both landowner and detectorist can also read the NFU endorsed and recently updated Code of Practice for Responsible Metal Detecting. It explains what must be declared and recorded.