Detectorists of the DEEP
Historical secrets submerged in waterways are dredged up in fascinating series River Hunters
Following ancient maps and archive accounts, and using state-of-the-art underwater metal detectors, fascinating show River Hunters aims to uncover age-old treasures submerged in waterways and throw fresh light on some of the darkest periods in history. And the new series turns literally explosive when a live bomb is recovered from a river near Fort William in the Scottish Highlands.
American river detectorist Beau Ouimette, who scours riverbeds for artefacts on the show along with presenter Rick Edwards and underwater archaeologist Gary Bankhead, unearths a grenade while searching in the River Arkaig for battle relics from an epic clash between the Cameron and Campbell clans in 1645.
The area was later used as a training camp for commandos during the Second World War, and Beau had already found pieces of exploded shells from that era in the river. ‘Then, as I was going along the riverbed, I got a strong signal from my detector,’ he says. ‘So I reached down and felt something solid and heavy. I pulled it up and it was a hand grenade. I was so happy – I’d never found an unexploded grenade before!
‘I shouted to the team, “I’ve got a grenade!” but they shot me down pretty quick. They said, “Whoa,
AT HOME I CAN WEAR SHORTS IN THE SUMMER – BUT HERE I NEEDED TWO WETSUITS
Beau, let’s put that thing down now. We need to make sure it’s safe.” I’m used to finding American Civil War explosives, but they’re not that dangerous.’
Everyone was ordered out of the river while a bomb disposal unit was called in. When they discovered the grenade was still live, they detonated it on the riverbank. ‘I was a bit sad,’ admits Beau. ‘But I appreciate it wasn’t something that could easily be made safe and preserved.’
Beau also finds a much older, more significant grenade in the first episode – in the River Garry in Perthshire, scene of the 1689 Battle of Killiecrankie between the Jacobites and government forces. The battle marked the first time grenades were used in Britain, and before this only one fragment of a grenade of this sort had been unearthed.
‘That was my favourite find of the series,’ says Beau. ‘I could tell it was old because its walls were not uniform like a modern grenade. It was broken open and I could see where the fuse would have been.’
The archaeologists who analyse the relics, Dr Natasha Ferguson and Dr Murray Cook, were ecstatic. ‘I didn’t know how important the find was, but Natasha and Murray were astonished,’ says Rick. The experts agreed the fragment would most likely end up in a museum.
It’s a thrilling start to the six-part Sky History series, in which the team also explore Viking York in the River Ouse, Roman and Civil War history in the Colne at Colchester, and medieval times in the Stour in Canterbury and the Nidd and Swale in Yorkshire.
River Hunters’ selling point is its combination of gung-ho metal-detecting and history with a large helping of banter. In the first series Rick – host of BBC1 daytime quiz Impossible – was thrown in at the deep end, so to speak, as he had no clue about underwater metal-detecting. ‘I think I was hired because they heard I was a keen wild swimmer, which is a slight overstatement,’ he laughs. ‘Basically, what I have is an ability to be interested in anything, and this show has historical insight as well as being fun to watch.’
Beau was discovered by River Hunters’ producers after they saw his YouTube channel all about his underwater exploits, which has more than a million subscribers. He’s been scavenging in US rivers since the mid-80s, but River Hunters is his first excursion into British waters. ‘Don’t tell them, but I would have done it for nothing,’ he says. ‘I was so eager because Britain’s history is so much older than America’s. I can go back 300 years in US rivers, but in Britain you can go back 3,000.’
Of course, there’s a downside to trawling Britain’s waterways. ‘The rivers are so much colder here,’ says Beau. ‘At home I can go in rivers in my shorts in the summer, but in the UK I’m often wearing two wetsuits.
‘While filming, the safety people constantly watch us, and if we start slurring our words or shivering they pull us out.’
Although Rick is a newcomer to river metal-detecting, even he unearthed some artefacts, his favourite being a Roman coin he found in the Colne. ‘I’d been in the water for five minutes and I found it,’ he recalls. ‘It’s always good for the show when I find something because it motivates Beau.
‘He hates it and it makes him try even harder – you can’t get him out of the water until he’s found something better.’ Vicki Power n River Hunters returns on Monday 5 April at 9pm on Sky History.