Magnet fishers find old BT phone box and moped in Worcester canals

Hobbyists use strong magnets on the end of long ropes to pull all sorts of objects from the bottom of canals, rivers and lakes.

Magnet fishing has a big following on YouTube, where videos of the most exciting finds get hundreds of thousands of views.

Mark Stringer, who magnet fishes with a group called the Shropshire Dippers, looks for potential ‘dipping’ spots on Google Maps before heading out with son Matthew and experienced magnet fisher Ray Harper.

It took three people to pull the heavy phone box out of the canal

At a spot near Sixways this month, they found the pay phone, coin box and backboard from a phone box, a large knife and hundreds of smaller items.

A moped that police have confirmed is not stolen or of interest, an empty safe and a double-barrelled shotgun from the early 1800s have also been found in canals around Worcester recently.

READ MORE: Police not investigating 'stag party' canal boat sinking in Droitwich lock

“In canals, the stuff isn’t just sitting there on the surface, it’s well under the silt,” said Mark.

“The magnets we use are very heavy - they sink into the silt and drag things along then we pull them out.

The moped is being cleaned up after police confirmed it hadn't been stolen

“They can pull 500kg on each side - but that phone box took three of us with two magnets and a grapple hook to pull out.

Phone box likely to have been in canal for 20 years

“Things like that I’ll research before sending them for scrap. That had adverts for the BT Changecard, which they stopped making in 2002, so the chances are it had been in the canal for 20 years.”

Mark says one of his most exciting finds was a jewellery box containing three watches, gold earrings and ripped up bank notes.

A knife and many other items were found in Worcester

“There was nothing valuable in it, but it’s so exciting to find something like that and it gets you wondering about the story behind it,” he said.

The police are always informed when the team finds something dangerous or illegal and Mark has a rule that nothing is ever left behind on the towpath.

If anyone has an old water well or lake on their land and would like Mark and the team to see what they can find with their magnets, visit the Shropshire Dippers Facebook page.