I would specially like to understand what Colchester goers get for their $.
Well I can chime in here with a little insight on the Colchester trips as I have 5 under my belt with another two booked. The fees are a bit different between the barns and full board (not really anything to be concerned about) and the amount of hours in the field work out close to the same. ( it's sometimes just because of the location of the accommodations to the proximity of the field). The cost's are a flat rate of £1000 per week of detecting. What do I get for that?
A choice of approx.650 fields
All transportation
Accommodation
All meals and I mean GREAT MEALS eat all you want till the belly is full. (Lunches are in the fields and we each make our own sandwiches up in the morning)
Detecting hours will be 10-12 hours a day on the average and some teams go up to 16 hours on some days. It's up to the team what they want to do and where they want to go. Some sit back and relax on bad weather days and some just take a break sometimes and there's no pressure on anyone how they spend their detecting time.
The teams are made up with folks that have a serious passion for detecting history, we follow some very strict rules in the club and if a person doesn't like them they're told flat out to shape up or ship out if they choose their own path- well they're not welcomed back.
It's very simple really, fill the holes, don't leave trash behind, dig it up take it off the field.
Hand in every find that you dig (except for what goes into the trash bucket)
Have a total respect for the club, the land owner, the accommodation owner, the laws that govern the find process.
No bloody whining about the lack of finds, or somebody finding all the good stuff, the weather, food, accommodations, price.
Be the hunter that feels as much joy for the fellow hunter that digs up the stonking find as if they dug it up themselves. ( I've been beside the guys that have dug gold and man it's a back slapping time and a real feeling of joy for them)
So here is what I got one day for my $35 an hour for detecting.
Boots covered in mud, sticky clay, weighing extra pounds.
Wind blowing 40mph
Snowing to the point of white out conditions
Digging crap all day
10 hours
Trading it for anything else - NO WAY! The thought of digging something from the field is so real sure I had a better day in this field ( 2 gold's one of them a 50BC Stater, 2 silver hammered, and other relics) digging in this type of weather is just part of the experience and one I won't forget.
Cru your price isn't scary and I feel that folks that are dumb struck over the cost of a trip- well it's not for them in the first place. One has to pay to play, regardless of where. Taking a trip on a cruise boat, or sitting one's ass down in the sand on a Island isn't cheap either.
So looking at what the extra 500 gets me.
All transportation to and from the airport, to the fields each day, to the store to buy something that's needed, to the pub if a bunch decide to eat out.
All the cooked meals each day, plus all the fixings for the lunch time meal.
Accommodations
1.5 extra days of detecting
The amount of land that's available to hunt on each day.
I find this well worth it as I don't want to do any of the above while I'm dreaming of digging up that next target.
So If I missed something as I lost most of the post and will correct anything that has been wrongly written if it's pointed out to me.
to the person that takes on the task. No amount of $$$ would get me to commit to such a task anywhere, heck it's stressful enough having a couple of buddies down for a weekend of detecting fun and wondering if there's going to be any targets. 
