Forget the search for a star, a hobbyist group is on the lookout for soil … and West Berkshire’s hidden history. Gary Franklin heads up a team of detectorists and they want landowners to give them permission to sweep across their fields. Launched in 2017, The Soil Searchers started with 10 members taking their metal detectors out on a Sunday. Fast forward seven years and they have hundreds of members, more than 7,000 followers on social media, and a slew of terrific finds from the Iron Age upwards. Having permission to search land is a crucial part of the hobby, and they organise digs most wee…