A man who battled a drug addiction for over 20 years "beat his demons" by travelling around the country with a metal detector.
Stephen Gray was born and bred in Birkenhead and developed a drug addiction during the 1980s. The 54-year-old told the ECHO he spent much of his youth "on a dodgy corner of the Ford estate or Toxteth trying not to get ripped off, beat up or arrested".
Stephen, who now lives in Worcestershire, said: "For 24 years the scourge of serious addiction darkened my soul and blighted my family." But he added at the same time he developed another "obsession" - metal detecting. Stephen said he started the hobby in around 1988 in Birkenhead Park.
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And now over thirty years later, Stephen travels around the UK searching the country for "genuine" archaeological history. Stephen said: "Metal detecting drew me in from a young age. I took my first detector mum bought me to Birkenhead Park - I didn't know how to use it.
"This didn't stop me though. I pressed those buttons and dug lots of holes until I knew how to work it. I always had to keep one eye open for the park wardens and would sometimes get kicked out. I used to find shillings and sixpences, British and German medals and cap badges and even an Italian Mussolini medal."
Stephen said drugs still dominated his life. He used to go with a friend, called David, until he sadly died from his addiction. Stephen even sold his first detector to fund his habit. But years later he managed to kick his habit and found himself back digging.
Stephen moved near Malpas with his wife Rachael and used his midlands base to travel around the country searching for items of historical significance. He added his wife Rachael, who was from Evesham, "loved it when I found her local history". Sadly Rachael died of cancer two years ago.
But Stephen still goes out with his metal detector and Rachael's 17-year-old dog Buster as his companion. And just last week the 54-year-old found what he believes is a Viking battle axe which could date back to the tenth century when Viking raiders were granted the abbey at Evesham. He said: "There's every chance my battle axe was a monk slayer, which blows my mind really.
"It's being recorded with the authorities and I'm going to get it x-rayed because some having swirling patterns under the rust. I film it all these days and put it on my YouTube channel. People watch from all over the world, but one person who makes it worthwhile is a ten-year-old lad called Charlie Cropper who watches from Liverpool. He loves the videos.
"The videos open doors for me across the country and in the trade. But also I hope it can give encouragement to anybody else out there that might be struggling with any demons."
You can follow Stephen's journey on his YouTube account here.
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