Tweed man's goal to re-unite lost items with their owners

Pottsville retiree trawls beaches for residents

SEARCHING: 78 Year old Alan Davis from Pottsville gets around the Tweed Coast with his metal detector, collecting lost items for free. Picture: Scott Powick

FORMER social services worker Alan Davis sure knows his way around a metal detector - he even comes recommended by his local council.

The 78-year-old Pottsville resident trawls across the Tweed's beaches and backyards for free collecting errant jewellery, keys and just about anything (metallic) in between.

He's saved many of the region's residents and tourists quite a bit of stress since he took up his unusual hobby about five years ago.

"I'm retired, just a pensioner, and I'd done all the landscaping and the housework and I was getting a bit bored," he laughed.

"I just thought 'Oh, I'm going to get one of those'. And I've been doing it for about five years now.

"I love it. I just love it. That's all there is about it."

Mr Davis started to amass a collection of odds and ends and found it difficult to track down the owners.

Then he had something of a light bulb moment.

"See, I find things now and again, personal items like rings and that sort of thing," he said.

"I spoke to the council because I had to find a way I could get a bit of advertising free - I don't charge.

"I found out a bit later I ended up on the council website, on frequently asked questions."

Speaking volumes about his dedication to detecting, Mr Davis was initially out and about on the hunt when phoned to chat.

He gets called out regularly these days - "whenever something metallic goes missing".

"There's always someone, when they find out I exist," he said.

"The big appeal is coming across something. That's why it's a growing hobby now.

"It's that anticipation. The next ping or growl or whatever you get from whatever you're detecting.

"You hope it's going to be something interesting that's not rubbish. And then I try and find the owner.

"Some of them are bound to be of sentimental value."

Mr Davis finds quite a lot of garbage scattered about while detecting and always makes sure it ends up in the bin.

"I reckon over the last five years I've probably taken a box trailer load of rubbish off the beaches. So that's a good thing," he said.

Looking for a helping hand to find a missing knick-knack in the Tweed? Mr Davis can be contacted on [phone].

You might also see him on Facebook, trying to track down the owners of found items on community based Facebook pages in the Tweed.