Kentish Gazette Canterbury & District
First-time detectorist finds bomb
Try metal detecting for the first time and you will probably find an odd rusty nail or washed up drinks can.
But for Carl Bradford, his first taste of the popular hobby was a little more dramatic.
The 45-year-old pensions consultant, who was given the detector as a birthday present, dug up an unexploded wartime bomb below Tankerton Slopes.
“It was the first time I had ever used my new detector and thought I would give it a go on the beach with my daughter,” said. “I found some old bits of scrap and then just came across this device.”
Mr Bradford and his daughter Holly, an 18-year-old mathematics student at the University of Kent, unearthed the bomb, laying six inches below the surface.
“We dug down lower to try and lever it up as we thought it would be something basic like metal tubing,” he added.
“We soon twigged what it might be so I gently placed it back into the ground. It was a large shell, about 30cm long – so it must have been some explosive.”
Mr Bradford, from Maidstone, expected a quick response from police but he was left waiting 45 minutes for officers to arrive.
He said: “I assume that finding a bomb is a serious matter but the police took ages to get to us.”
Officers cordoned off a section of the seafront while Royal Navy bomb disposal experts were called. The device was destroyed and the area made safe.