Paul Belford

Archaeology: art or science?

2012-01-19T22:58:00.002Z

Astonishingly, I first wrote this post about eight months ago but didn't actually post it. Since then, I have been grappling with the work that has been involved in this particular project. Now that the end is in sight (and still some weeks away, and regrettably about six weeks overdue), I have decided it is time to re-post my original thoughts. I shall probably put up my final thoughts, which may well be more robust, when we are near completion/publication. Original post follows, in italics:

This old chestnut [ie. art versus science] has reared its head in a quite specific fashion for me, and it looks like I shall be grappling with this particular issue for the rest of the year.

Specifically, I am writing up a commercial archaeology project that was undertaken in 2007 and 2008. This was just before, or indeed during the early stages of, the crash. The curatorial and commercial wings of British archaeology were at their strongest and most powerful. PPG16 was still in force, and there was optimism about a future replacement which was in thair. The curator in question was known to be strong-minded and rigorous. The contractor was long-established, with an excellent reputation, and well known for producing high quality work with solid academic credentials.

However, between the completion of the work in 2008, and the final write-up on which I am now engaged in mid-2011, several things happened. Firstly the contracting unit was wound up by its parent organisation and the archive split between two successor organisations. Secondly the curator suffered a period of ill-health. Nationally, of course, there had been a change of Planning Policy (PPS5) and then a change of government with subsequent further changes in approaches to archaeology, planning and heritage.

My initial exploration of the archive suggests that the recording process fell short of the idea. Yes, certainly, systems were in place, Standards and Guidance were folllowed, and best practice was attempted at all levels. However... a turnover of field managers, other preoccupations of project managers some 80km away, and the inevitable problems of excavating a large and complex site in developer-determined timescales and chunks ...all means that the archive, whilst earnestly and conscientously compiled, regettably falls far short of the objective 'preservation by record' that we all had in mind when PPG16 was launched.

I find the philosophical and methodological implications of this project particularly interesting. Many colleagues have for many years questioned the objectivity of archaeological recording methods. My own personal interest in this area goes back to discussions in the early 1990s with Adrian Chadwick and other colleagues of the now long-defunct South Yorkshire Archaeology Unit, often in 'The Bath' public house in Sheffield. Although Ian Hodder was among the first to publish on the question of reflexivity (based on his experiences at Çatalhöyük); however I found Chad's 1997 paper in assemblage to be more inspiring, and have followed with interest the many attempts by other members of the South Yorkshire diaspora (including the Heathrow Framework project) to make allowances for subjectivity in the archaeological record.

Of course many colleagues have had to grapple with much earlier sites, whose archive is less complete and less familiar. However this is going to be an interesting exercise.

...and so it has proved to be!

Excavations in Broseley

2011-05-14T16:07:00.001Z

For the last couple of weeks we have been excavating in Broseley, Shropshire. This early industrial town, in the hinterland of the Ironbridge Gorge, was the scene of extensive coal mining from the late 1500s onwards; later - as part of a wider group of settlements including Jackfield and Coalford - it developed a specialised ceramic industry, focusing in particular on the manufacture of clay tobacco pipes.

Here indeed is Kate having discovered a deposit containing numerous clay pipes, which appear to have been dumped here during the life of one of the later coal mines on the site. There seem to be two broad phases of mining. The most recent is this 19th century phase, with relatively large scale extraction of coal, ironstone and clay; the clay has been spread across the site and effectively seals a much earlier layer of mining activity. This seems to date to the 17th and early 18th centuries and was quite intensive in places.

Interestingly, as well as numerous tips of pottery and other artefacts, we have found a few ephemeral traces of buildings and structures associated with this earlier phase. The photo below shows one of those: probably a lean-to against one of the mining spoil heaps incorporating a small domestic hearth. This may have been a small 'squatter cottage' or more likely a pit-head shelter.

We have so far completed about two-thirds of our excavation, and finish next week. We will be offering a public tour on Tuesday 17th May at 6.00pm - so if you are interested do please come along!

Stirchley Furnaces: excavations II

2011-04-11T20:34:00.001Z

After the first day, we were all full of enthusiasm... rather too full as it turned out, for we managed to excavate more than we could record on Friday! As a result, some of us returned (and some new recruits joined us) to help out on the Saturday as well. Friday began by clearing the final bit of overburden on the south-western side of the southern furnace. Here Malcolm (left, inside the furnace) and Craig and Janis (in one of the blowing arches) have almost finished the job.

The furnace wall is alarmingly thin here; it seems to have failed with iron still in situ and clearly the lining had eroded considerably by the time of the final campaign. The floor that Craig and Janis are on is a later modification by the Wrekin Chemical Company; the original furnace floor would have been about a metre below this.

After lunch, the survey team went off to look at the rest of the site, spending the rest of the afternoon in the undergrowth - and in the process discovering the remains of an engine house, possible hot blast stove (of 1828?!), ore bins and other exciting features.

Meanwhile, back on site, Janis and Malcolm laboured in what was becoming an unseasonably hot day. Their mission was to clean up the south-eastern corner of the furnace, and in particular investigating a flue that ran from one blowing arch to the other.

This flue turned out to have been later filled in with brick and concrete - so excavating it was hard going - but it seems to have been part of Thomas Botfield's patented furnace gas recycling system of 1828... more evidence to suggest that this was a very early hot blast furnace. This view from the inside of the furnace shows the flue (running between the two long scale rods in the background).

Saturday was another spectacularly warm and sunny day, and we were joined by Jim and Jo who helped put levels on the plan of the furnace...

...and, with Nigel, developed a curious but ultimately rather effective method of creating a three-dimensional profile of both of the furnace stacks.

Meanwhile I carried on creating the detailed plan of the southern end, whilst Malcolm and Jo worked out what was going on with the flue. A long day but well worth it. We seem to have uncovered the interesting remains of a quite unusual early 'hot blast' furnace. Hopefully it will be possible to conserve as much of this as possible... this next stage will be interesting.

Stirchley Furnaces: excavations I

2011-04-07T18:44:00.001Z

Today was an excellent day of excavation and recording at Stirchley Furnaces as part of a community archaeology project. Dry (and later sunny) weather, and an excellent team of local volunteers, made for an enjoyable and interesting day.

The main objective of today's work was to excavate and record the southern furnace, which had been exposed during investigative works last month and is due to be reburied as part of the conservation works to take place later in the spring. The furnace excavation reunited members of the volunteer team who had worked on the Hinkshay rows project last year, and also introduced some new volunteers. We began by cleaning the exposed remains...

...and of course discussing various aspects of the industrial archaeology of the Telford area - here Jim and Malcolm are engaged in a debate about coal mining at Granville...

...we stopped for a well-deserved lunch...

...and then proceeded to record the remains which we had so painstakingly cleaned.

Moss, as ever, helped enormously! Tomorrow we are back on site to finish the recording of our excavations, drawing profiles of the furnaces, and also doing a landscape survey of the whole site.

Stirchley Furnaces

2011-03-30T13:48:00.001Z

This very interesting project has developed over the last couple of months from a short bit of building recording to a multifaceted conservation project with community archaeology. Happily our client (Telford and Wrekin Council) - and their funder (the Heritage Lottery Fund) - have helped us develop a flexible approach to dealing with these remains.

Barely half a mile from the Hinkshay rows that were the scene of last year's community archaeology project, the Stirchley furnaces have lain largely forgotten, somewhat overshadowed by the impressive chimney. Initially we were required to record the upstanding remains of the furnace structure, exposed by the removal of vegetation.

However it became clear during the course of this work that there were in fact two furnaces, and that the visible part of the structure was only the tip of the iceberg. So we excavated around the furnaces to enable us to record the full extent.

This pair of furnaces was built by William and Thomas Botfield in the 1820s, and remained in use until May 1859. The Botfield brothers has extensive iron and coal mining interests in Stirchley and Dawley, with other furnaces at Old Park and Hinkshay (they also built the Hinkshay rows). Documentary evidence suggests that there were in fact four furnaces on the Stirchley site, although this is not certain. With the collapse of the Botfield concern in the early 1860s the site was sold to the Wellington Coal and Iron Company, who rebuilt large parts of it (including the iconic chimney). The furnaces appear to have been in use briefly in the 1880s, but after that the ironworks closed.

The site was later used by the Wrekin Chemical Company, who appear to have further modified the furnaces.

The 1820s saw the transition from the classic 'masonry stack' type of blast furnace (such as the 1750s Bedlam Furnaces) to the later type with a masonry base and iron superstructure (such as the Blists Hill furnaces of the 1830s and 1840s). Survival of furnaces from this transitional period is quite rare - indeed the Stirchley ones are probably the only ones that have been excavated or examined archaeologically.

Further work will continue on the site next week, as volunteers from the Wrekin Historical Group will join us in completing the record of the southern furnace, as well as making a wider 'landscape survey' of the site as a whole. Numerous other buildings and structures appear to be lurking in the undergrowth, and given the extent to which the ground level was raised in the 1970s it is quite likely that they will be well-preserved. We may even find two more furnaces!

End of the line

2011-01-28T18:26:00.003Z

The last Wrexham and Shropshire train is just about to leave Marylebone to make its way northwards, bringing to an end a short-lived but much-loved service.

The Wrexham and Shropshire provided a strong argument in favour of privatisation (not an argument I have unreservedly supported when it comes to the railways). However in this case all of the points that are usually made to show how the private sector is better at providing public services actually happened. Here was a small operator, a veritable David frequently bullied by the Virgin Goliath, offering a niche product catering for a clear demand, and doing it extremely well.

Although a nearly three-hour journey to London is not going to break any speed records, importantly it was an uninterrupted journey which made it possible to get some work done. The seats were comfortable and there was plenty of room on the table for laptop, papers and tea (or wine). There was also pretty good WiFi.

All of which was merely the physical backdrop to consistently excellent, cheerful, helpful and generally efficient customer service. They were even helpful when I took Moss on the train - providing her with free bottled water!

So as well as being convenient and pleasant, it was also relatively cheap. The last tickets I actually used, on 12th January, cost me £32.00 return.

I was due to travel to London on Wednesday. However the 06.09 pulled into the station, the carriages were empty, all the lights were off and the doors were looked. Baffled passengers stood around looking slightly puzzled, as one does at that time in the morning when the world doesn't function as smoothly as it ought to. The driver got out and walked down the platform telling passengers that the company was going to finish on Friday, no-one had turned up this morning and he was not taking passengers. He then climbed back in the cab and drove off into the darkness.

Station staff were taken aback, having heard nothing about it, and they could not offer much advice. In fact, as the day went on, it became evident that the announcement of the closure had only been made to staff the night before; a formal announcement to the public was made at about 9am, but it was too late for the poor 06.09, which presumably trundled down to Marylebone empty... leaving a trail of passengers standing folornly on various platforms.

It is a shame that this all-round excellent service is no longer operating. It often seemed too good to be true and clearly it was, having made a loss of over £2m last year. Unfortunately Virgin (arguably the Tesco of the railway world) denied them access to Wolverhampton and other stations, so that the company couldn't take advantage of a potentially lucrative business market.

I have been spoiled by Wrexham and Shropshire's convenient, comfortable and cheap service. My next trip to London will be a nighmare. I will have to get a typically dirty Arriva Trains Wales train (also usually late and overcrowded so will have to leave earlier to make sure I get my connection); then spend half an hour standing on a draughty and dingy platform at Birmingham New Street; and then squeeze into a Virgin with no room to work, filthy seats and smelly toilets. The total journey time will be the same or longer, I will not be able to get any work done and the whole experience will be stressful and unpleasant. On top of which, I will have to pay between £80 and £160 instead of £30-40.

Without Wrexham and Shropshire I think I may be back in favour of re-nationalising the railways. I think this announcement by train manager Jane recorded on the last day of service speaks for itself.

Hertfordshire and Cambridgeshire

2011-01-24T18:12:00.002Z

Last week was hugely enjoyable. I had the opportunity to wander around part of the country which I had never visited before, looking at old buildings and interesting landscapes. It's always nice to go somewhere new and do something a bit different. Archaeology really can be the best job in the world!

I was impressed with just how many timber-framed vernacular buildings had survived the ravages of time; including quite a few substantial fifteenth and sixteenth century examples. There are too many to show even a representative sample, so the two pictures above show the sort of thing I mean. At the top is a small timber-framed seventeenth century cottage at Caxton End in Cambridgeshire; at the bottom is a somewhat larger house, with sixteenth century origins, in the north Hertfordshire village of Ashwell.

Ashwell was also home to a particularly spectacular church. Not only does it have the 'tallest tower in Hertfordshire' (a widely visible landmark), but also a selection of interesting graffiti. The church's own website gives a good guide to the written inscriptions, which include an ccount of the plague in the fourteenth century and various comments scattered around the nave. Most unusual, however, is a series of architectural drawings, including one showing London's St. Paul's Cathedral as it was before the Great Fire.

Other ecclesiastical highlights included the astonishing survival of a fourteenth century rood screen at St. Mary's church in Guilden Morden (below, top photo) and, at the other extreme, a nineteenth century 'tin chapel' at Shinghay (below, bottom photo).

There was also an interesting variety of agricultural buildings - many still in use for their original function after four or five centuries. Alas, again there is only room here to show the extremes of that range. First, an impressive sixteenth century timber-framed barn near Abington Piggots; below that the adaptive re-use of part of a second world war US airbase near Steeple Morden (in this case rather the worse for wear).

Finally, there is just enough time and space to mention the earthworks. Not always the most impressive, as the largely agrarian use of the landscape in this part of the world has tended to smooth out many of the lumps and bumps. Hertfordshire offered a nice collection of bronze age barrows at Therfield Heath, overlooking Royston and the ancient Icknield Way - as well as the noisy A505 and busy railway line to Kings Cross. Unfortunately the barrows have been rather compromised by the creation of a golf course, which has brought its own humps and bumps (and scowling golfers).

My favourite earthworks on this particular adventure, however,formed the deserted medieval settlement at Clopton in Cambridgeshire, which I reached on a misty morning as the sun was struggling to break through. A very impressive moated church site, surrounded by quite extensive house platforms, roads and boundaries.

Finally, on the way home, I paid a brief visit to the timber-framed post mill at Bourne.

The present stucture is largely seventeenth century, although there may have been an earlier mill. The post-mill is lovingly maintained by 'Cambridge Past Present and Future', and I am also extremely grateful to the owner of the neighbouring cottage for permission to take a photo from his driveway.

So a wonderful week, a splendid break from the office and a good excuse to play with the camera... and a much-needed and timely reminder of why I do what I do!

Filling in holes in New Jersey

2011-01-14T14:51:00.002Z

It is disappointing to hear the news that the excavations at the Petty's Run site in Trenton, New Jersey, are going to be filled in. This particularly exciting early industrial site was excavated a couple of years ago by Richard Hunter and Ian Burrow of Hunter Research Inc., who discovered an early eighteenth century steel furnace, as well as a plating mill and a paper mill, amongst many other interesting buildings and structures.

The picture shows the site during excavation - the story of which is still accessible on the Petty's Run web journal. Some provisional findings were also presented in an excellent paper at the 'Footprints of Industry' conference in 2009, which is imminently about to be published in the conference proceedings. The site is extremely important to the history of Trenton, and also to the development of an independent industrial economy in what was to become the United States.

Unfortunately the New Jersey Department of Environmental Preservation seems to have decided to stop short of creating an 'archaeological park' with the well-preserved remains at its centre. The 'archaeological park' was actually the reason for the excavation programme in the first place, and the State has already spent more than US$1m on the project. Criticism of this decision has been widespread. Richard Veit, President of the New Jersey Archaeological Society is quoted as expressing surprise that "after the extensive, well-publicized high-quality excavation that took place at the site in preparation for creating this new urban park, that the governor’s office would be reconsidering it at such a late date. The archaeological finds provide an opportunity to celebrate our state’s past and to look forward to the future" (link to full article).

There is no doubt that the site is of international importance (the photo above shows the site being discussed at the 2009 Coalbrookdale conference by colleagues from the UK, Canada and the United States). Of course the archaeological research and publication programme will continue, and some would argue that burying the remains is the best way of preserving them. Certainly an 'archaeological park' would require ongoing support, which the state of New Jersey is clearly not prepared to commit. However such support would be an investment, not just in telling the story of the remains themselves, but also inspiring new generations about the historic environment. Moreover, as the Trenton Trenton Historical Society has pointed out, the cost of filling in the site (an estimated US$400,000) would go a long way to creating a viable tourist attraction.

It does seem quite short-sighted to have done most of the work already and then pull the plug at the last minute. The steel furnace in particular was one of only five in north America at the time, and is the only one to have been excavated. There is now less of an opportunity to tell the story to a wide audience, and it seems as though a lot of peoples' hard work over many years has been disregarded.

New year, new projects!

2011-01-05T16:14:00.001Z

Well 2011 has started with lots of action and excitement, following a rather subdued festive break as both Kate and I were flu-ridden over the holiday period. As well as work on existing projects, field investigation has begun on a former mining site in Shropshire which potentially contains remains of an early wooden railway.

Despite suffering from post-flu sniffles, Kate has been out surveying for the last couple of days (seen here in action with assistance from Moss). The site is covered with a complex series of mining remains, including trackways and ponds as well as the usual pits and mounds. Field evaluation will follow this survey phase, once areas of archaeological potential have been identified.

Meanwhile I am continuing to work on several smaller projects, getting various things out of the way before an extended bout of field investigation in Cambridgeshire later this month. We are also looking for a new office - and requests for lectures and teaching are now lining up once again. On 26th January I shall be speaking to the Friends of the Ironbridge Gorge Museum about the work we did last year at Hinkshay.

Shropshire snow

2010-12-22T11:28:00.001Z

Another long-delayed addition to the blog, due to another very busy month - both at work and home. The last two weeks have been very cold, and we have had snow on the ground for most of that time. This was the scene in the back garden this morning: about four or five inches of snow have built up over the last couple of days.

The chickens (see the post below) were finally adopted and now have their own blog; in fact most blogging activity has been taking place on that site in recent weeks, which will also give you a good idea of the weather. To summarise: it has ranged from extreme frost and -15 degrees through to heavy snow and 0 degrees. Here are some cold-looking chickens having a warm meal.

In the middle of all this I have continued to battle up to York to finish off my stint of teaching on the MA in Historical Archaeology. Thankfully - apart from some marking - that is now all finished; the last few months particularly have proved quite tiring, although the current bunch of students are the best yet. Now I can begin to focus more fully on my PhD, which has been on the back burner a bit as a result of the teaching workload.

Work at Nexus continues to be bright and cheerful. At some point over Christmas I shall update the project pages; suffice to say in this post that there is a lot going on and much of it extremely exciting. One major and very interesting project has been recording the historic farm complex at Chillington Hall: this rather substantial and very early 'model farm' is full of surprises. As well as the early and elaborate dovecote, it also contains a complete 19th century malthouse and lots of graffitti. Here is a wonderful double rainbow over the farmyard on a blustery day in mid-November.

A short summary of the work was published in The Archaeologist, and the project was also shortlisted for the Georgian Group 2010 award in the Restoration of a Georgian Landscape category. Other projects have been less glamorous but nevertheless interesting including work in Telford, Derbyshire and Cheshire.

Finally I am very pleased to have cleared my publication backlog (at least for the time being). Trying to get drawings done six years ago on software that no longer exists into a coherent form has been trying. However early next year should see a paper in Post-Medieval Archaeology on shipbuilding in Bermuda, and a paper in the Historic Environment journal on archaeology, community and identity.

Now just lots of finishing off to do before Christmas!

Winter wildlife

2010-11-25T11:34:00.001Z

Another two months has passed by... and an extremely busy time it has been too. More teaching at York, many exciting projects for Nexus, and lots of papers to finish writing - to clear the decks for the PhD. Nearly there now, but slightly distracted by chickens.

Yes, it looks like some nearby chickens have adopted us, and, together with our neighbours, we have decided to take them on! Here they are in their current home.

EAA - Den Haag

2010-09-22T09:38:00.001Z

The 16th Annual Meeting of the European Association of Archaeologists took place in the Netherlands during the first week of September 2010, and, as usual, we were there. I was instantly impressed by the efficiency of the railway system and the general impression of prosperity; my last visit was in 1992 so there was lots of catching up to do. The conference took place in Den Haag, but we also found time to visit Leiden (too briefly, alas) and Amsterdam.

The meeting was hosted by the University of Leiden – although the academic programme took place at the Royal Conservatoire in the Hague. Delegates were not only treated to a virtuoso musical performance by students of the Conservatoire during the opening ceremony, but were accompanied between sessions by musical noises from the various practice rooms along the corridors. The picture below is not of the Conservertoire (a 1960s concrete building between roundabouts) but is instead the Binnenhof - the former parliament building in Den Haag and the centrepiece of this strange city of two halves.

A very well-provided drinks reception followed the opening ceremony, the musical theme continued with archaeological bands playing at the Friday night party on the pier at Scheveningen, and the conference concluded with an excellent dinner situated around an Egyptian temple in the National Museum of Antiquities in Leiden. The picture below shows contributors to the 'Urbanisation' session (see below) enjoying a pre-dinner glass of wine in the temple.

There were three main sessions specifically concerning historical and post-medieval archaeology in Europe and elsewhere, all of which engendered lively debate and are likely to develop further at future conferences and in publication.

A session entitled ‘Re-animating Industrial Spaces’ was chaired by Hilary Orange (UCL) and Emily Glass (University of Bristol), and was a continuation of a TAG session which had taken place at Durham in 2009. The session began with a presentation by Emily Glass on her investigations of a 1950s concrete factory in Albania, touching on memory and the re-use of space in post-communist Europe. Similar themes were taken up by Paul Belford (Nexus Heritage), who described a community archaeology project in Shropshire and the ways in which archaeology acted as a springboard for memory for the former residents of a row of workers’ housing demolished in the 1960s.

Peter Oakley (UCL) presented a fascinating study of the archaeology and heritage of mining sites in Cornwall and Alaska, and delivered a penetrating critique of visitor experience and heritage management. After the coffee break, Gabriel Moshenska (UCL) examined the complex and often counter-intuitive relationships that children have with warfare, focussing on gas masks and gas training in London during the Second World War. This was followed by a chilling and thought-provoking analysis of a cellar in a 1930s financial building in Athens by Katerina Chatzikonstantinou (Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece). The cellar – originally designed as a safe refuge from bombing – had been commandeered by the Nazis and used as a prison and punishment centre; the presentation looked both at the material evidence for this, and discussed the ways in which this aspect of heritage has been presented to the public.

The session ended with two papers which further addressed the theme of mining landscapes. Hilary Orange (UCL) used a series of walks with local people to explore their understanding of the post-industrial use of mining landscapes in Cornwall, including reactions to contentious ‘hippy’ camps and pretentious artistic installations. Finally Jon Humble (English Heritage) provided a sweeping overview of how coal mining heritage – both material and intangible – had been dealt with over many years in the UK, and the relationship of an often difficult past with politics today.

Post-medieval colonialism was addressed in a session chaired by Krish Seetah (University of Central Lancashire) entitled ‘Ever increasing circles: European ripples in wider seas’. Again this session was part of a series, following on from the very successful ‘Islands’ session chaired by Krish and Aleks Pluskowski (University of Reading) at the 2008 EAA conference in Malta.

The session opened with a fascinating paper by Chris Evans (University of Cambridge) on fieldwork in Cape Verde, a Portuguese settlement off the coast of Africa which was established in the 15th century. After an overview of the role of Cape Verde in the early slave trade, and the contestations of the past; Chris then explored the roles of different elements of intangible and material heritage in the present – and in particular the negative impact on archaeology which has resulted from the recent inscription on the UNESCO list of World Heritage. Similar themes were investigated by two papers on Mauritius. Krish Seetah discussed a range of fieldwork projects relating both to slavery and to the use of indentured labour, and examined the issues involved in doing archaeology in a post-colonial context. Fieldwork on a cemetery supposed by historians to be Malagassian in fact determined that it was not; work elsewhere continues to challenge the dominant discourse of historians. Saša Čaval (Zrc Sazu, Slovenia) provided an anthropological analysis of religion on Mauritius, looking at the tensions between Christianity and the religions imported with various groups – the Hindus and Muslims from the Indian subcontinent, and Buddhism and other religions from China.

After the coffee break Ruud Stelten (University of Leiden, Netherlands) discussed anchors and cannons in St. Eustatius, a former Dutch colony in the Caribbean. This very welcome addition from the field of maritime archaeology reminded us how an examination of the origins and distribution of these particular artefact types can increase our understanding of trade and social relations. A kind of ‘internal’ European colonialism was highlighted by Jonas Nordin (Museum of National Antiquities, Sweden) who discussed the role of silver in 17th century Europe, and the creation of a ‘Swedish West Indies’ in the frozen mountains of Lapland. This colonial enterprise displaced the indigenous people and created a planned town in the wilderness; short-lived and ultimately unsustainable, this project echoed other New World adventures. Finally, the session was concluded with a paper by Paul Belford (Nexus Heritage) which explored the impact of European contact on Europe itself – including influences on the Reformation, science and art, and concluding that European explorations in the New World were key to reshaping the old world. Discussion was lively and engaging.

‘Later historical European urbanisation’ was a session which did exactly what it said, looking at a range of urban experiences from late Antiquity to the 19th century. Organised by Paul Belford (Nexus Heritage) and Jeroen Boowmeester (Rijksdienst voor het Cultureel Erfgoed, Netherlands), this session looked mainly at north-western Europe and Scandinavia.

Jeroen Boowmeester began by examining three towns in the Netherlands which had followed very different trajectories in the later historical period. Some towns had declined, some had seen their growth restricted by the ‘corset’ of fortification, others had expanded enormously with industrialisation. The subject of de-urbanisation and landscape change was rigorously investigated by Kate Page-Smith (Nexus Heritage), who looked at so-called ‘Deserted Medieval Villages’ and concluded that most had in fact been deserted in the post-medieval period. Kate discussed several ‘new’ deserted settlements which she had discovered in the course of developer-funded projects, and examined in detail the various causes of their abandonment.

A microcosm of urban archaeology was provided by Mark Spanjer (ARCADIS, Netherlands), who described ‘the little history of a street’ in Dordrecht. The ‘s-Heerboeijenstraat emerged in the 14th century and remained in use until its redevelopment in the 1970s; the fascinating archaeology revealed how the inhabitants dealt with subsidence and immigration over centuries. A broader picture of social stratification was provided after tea by Göran Tagesson (Riksantikvarieämbetet, Sweden), who looked at the ways in which several Swedish towns had been re-organised and re-planned in the 17th century. Looking at these ambitious – and sometimes unrealised – schemes in the context of enlightenment and modernity, Göran used archaeology to assess social hierarchies.

Roger White (University of Birmingham) discussed the relationships between cities in Antiquity and post-medieval cities, noting many similarities of structure and organisation and suggesting fruitful ways in which Roman and later historical archaeologists might co-operate. The session was concluded with a summary by Paul Belford (Nexus Heritage), who explored the role of industrialisation in creating the post-medieval city, and asked how an archaeological understanding of the historic city can improve the development of cities in the future.

Several other sessions contained papers which touched on aspects of historical archaeology – both from a ‘pure research’ point of view, and in the context of heritage management. Some of the highlights included the investigation and conservation of a 17th century fur traders’ house in New Jersey by Charles Bello (FEMA, USA) and colleagues in a session on in-situ preservation; a discussion of Warsaw’s post-medieval water supply by Wlodzimierz Pela (Historical Museum of Warsaw, Poland) in a session on water; an analysis of the spatial organisation of 17th century merchant ships by Niklas Eriksson (Södertörn University, Sweden) in a remarkably wide-ranging session on architecture and space organised by Hanna Stoeger (University of Leiden); and, in a session on housing, papers on Irish tower-houses and Scandinavian middle-class housing of the 16th century by Vicky McAlister (Trinity College Dublin, Ireland) and Joakim Thomasson (Museum of Copenhagen, Denmark) respectively.

On the Sunday, we went on an unofficial tour of historical Amsterdam, led by Mark Spanjer and looking at the development of the waterfront, the Jewish quarter and other aspects - finishing with a few beers and a lovely meal! On the whole an excellent, if somewhat exhausting adventure... and we are already looking forward to Oslo next year.

Now, back to work!

Historical metallurgy in Cumbria

2010-05-27T19:50:00.004Z

On 22nd and 23rd May we joined the Historical Metallurgy Society at their Spring Meeting in Cumbria. This was centred around a stay at Castle Head, the former country retreat of 'iron mad' John Wilkinson - the well-known eighteenth century ironmaster. On Saturday, we first paid homage to the great man at his memorial.

This was originally located in the grounds of the mansion itself - over the site where Wilkinson was buried in his cast iron coffin - but was removed after the estate was sold. The rocky ground on which the house was built was originally encircled by salt marshes, which Wilkinson drained as part of a series of agricultural improvements. At the top of the hill was a series of post-medieval buildings, including a crenellated mock-enclosure with a cast-iron water tank; however given its prominent and defensible location, it is reasonable to assume that earlier settlement did once exist on the site - perhaps even an Iron Age entrepot?

We then moved on to the nearby Wilson House Farm, formerly the home farm of the Castle Head estate, and where David Cranstone and I did some fieldwork a few years ago. Wilson House is notable for its surviving Wilkinson-cast columns (some dated 1784) and its role as the location of Wilkinson's experimental blast furnace (where he smelted iron, copper and lead, using coal and peat) and the second Boulton and Watt engine. Little trace of furnace or engine survives today - although the entrance to what may have been an early canal warehouse is still visible.

After some interesting discussion, we moved down to Newland Furnace, a charcoal blast furnace in operation from 1747 to 1891. The vigorous Newland Furnace Trust have been extremely active in conserving and caring for the site over the last 25 years or so, and we were shown round by their Secretary, John Helme.

The view above shows the new corrugated-iron roof over the furnace stack (largely funded by English Heritage), as well as the charging ramp, blowing house and casting house. Below we see several HMS members in the furnace stack.

As well as the furnace itself, we also visited several possible sites of a forge, as well as a rolling mill (said to be "the first in the north of England"), and the various associated water-power features. The forge is important as it contained a unique hearth arrangement, reported on in the early 19th century by the Swedish industrialist Gustav Ekman and subsequently adopted in that country as the 'Lancashire Hearth'. We also investigated the iron-roofed blacking house.

Discussion again was animated and enthusiastic, and many new ideas were brought forward on both sides. Here David Cranstone is discussing hot blast stoves with John Helme.

Due entirely to the enthusiasm of HMS members and our hosts, our stay at Newland was longer than anticipated, and the hot weather was already taking its toll.

So, after a quick lunch, we moved on to look at bloomeries. Our first stop was the iconic site of Stony Hazel - built in 1718 and abandoned within a few years. This was excavated by Mike Davies-Shiel in the 1980s, and interpreted by him as a finery forge; however recent work by David Cranstone and others has re-evaluated this as a bloomery forge, using a variation of the Catalan process.

Time was moving more quickly than the heat-exhausted metallurgy group, and so we only had time to visit two more sites - a so-called 'Mega-Bloomery', and the more comprehensively-investigated site at Cunsey Forge. This is another 'type-site' which has been subject to much recent debate: a 'bloomsmithy' of the 17th century was subsequently developed in the early 18th century. There is the suggestion that there may have been a blast furnace as well, although perhaps not on the same site. The forge went out of use in the later 18th century. Impromptu sampling techniques were devised...

After this we returned to Castle Head for dinner, and lectures by Warren Allison and Sam Murphy on the lead mining, lead smelting and silver extraction industries of the northern Lakes - from Roman to post-medieval periods. This set us up nicely for the field trips on Sunday. Our first stop was up at Caldbeck, where lead mining and smelting activities have left their mark upon the landscape. Most obviously this was in the form of the lead smelting site itself...

...which has been radiocarbon dated to around the 11th century. However, as various HMS members made their way around the landscape, it was clear that this smelting site was associated with buildings, a water-power system and slag/spoil heaps, suggesting a long-lived and intensive occupation over many centuries. Just over the hill, and not visited (sadlty) were the extensive 'German' mines of the sixteenth century, which have been painstakingly investigated by Warren and his team (an arduous undertaking involving the removal of tonnes of spoil). From here we moved a short distance to another smelting site. Here we found litharge cakes suggesting silver extraction, as well as the remains of the later water-powered carding mill. There was so much discussion and analysis here...

...that the promised pub lunch was cancelled, and we had to eat our sandwiches on the bus down to the last site visit of the trip - the Greenside Lead Mine. First mined in the 17th century, the present remains date from 1825, and by the 1850s Greenside was the largest lead mine in Lake District with over 300 employees. The mine was run down by the 1920s, but major investments were made during the second world war, when it was the only source of lead for the country. The mine closed in 1962, and was largely demolished; the spoilheaps have subsequently been landscaped and the archaeology somewhat compromised as a result. Alas we were not able to visit the underground workings; however there was still plenty of interest above ground.

This view is looking down the valley, with the remains of ore-processing buildings in the foregroud, and the stabilised spoil heap along the base of the hill to the left. We returned to Castle Head via a very picturesque route, and were back home in time for a curry and glass of wine!

Community archaeology at Hinkshay

2010-04-28T11:41:00.005Z

Sometimes archaeology is the best thing in the world, making a massive impact on peoples' lives. Last week was an overwhelming roller-coaster ride of research, engagement and emotion as we explored the vanished village of Hinkshay. The project took place in Telford Town Park as part of the local authority's Parks for People initiative, and was a co-operative venture between Nexus Heritage and the Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust.

The excavation took place between 21st and 26th April on the site of 'Double Row', one of three rows of housing built in c.1815 by the Botfield family of ironmasters for their workers at Hinkshay ironworks. 'Double Row', as its name suggests, was a row of back-to-back housing; the other rows were 'Single Row' and 'New Row' (also called Ladies' Row). This photo shows the rows a few years before demolition in 1969. The prominent chimney of the Stirchley ironworks still stands, and Double Row is to the left of the photograph. The edge of the Ever Ready factory (built in the 1950s and itself demolished in 1994) can be seen on the right.

We found part of No.13, and its counterpart to the rear (No.26) together with the communal "brew'us" or wash house which served several houses. The photo below shows the site at a rare quiet moment on Sunday morning. This is a view looking north, with the front wall of the pantry of No.13 in the foreground, the concrete floor of the former wash-house behind it, and the level set up in the living room of No.26.

The project also gave many local people the chance to try their hand at 'doing' archaeology, and we had participants in the dig itself from ages 2 to 70. There were of course the physical remains: fireplaces, floors and walls, and a wide range of artefacts from 19th century ceramics to 20th century electrical fuseboxes. But this was only a small part of the story.

Much more exciting than these physical remains were the memories that we excavated. We were visted by scores of former residents and their relatives, who were extremely excited and enthusiastic about the rediscovery of their 'lost ' village. This extremely close-knit community was relatively isolated, and everyone looked out for eachother. Hundreds of anecdotes about people and events came out, and many former residents - who had not met for over 40 years - were reunited.

The most emotional moment came during a mini-reunion on the Saturday. The photo above shows some of these former residents of the Hinkshay Rows and their families; below are Barbara, Gene and Marion who grew up in the rows.

Over the four open days the dig attracted more than 200 visitors and participants, and was a tremendous success in every aspect. Many thanks to Joanne Ridgeway of Telford and Wrekin Council for enabling us to do this, and to colleagues from Ironbridge: Gillian Whitham and Mel Weatherley and her team from Enginuity. Thanks also to the many people who helped out on the dig - particularly to Brian Savage of the Telford Historical and Archaeological Society, and also to K&M Construction and Freeman plant hire. Hopefully we can come back to Hinkshay again soon and do some more. Meanwhile we shall be putting on an exhibition and post-excavation workshop in the near future.

Historical archaeology

2009-12-19T15:23:00.001Z

A long time since the last post - and a lot has happened since then. Firstly I am now working only three days per week at the Ironbridge Gorge Museums - one of many changes which took place last summer. In September I was successful in applying for a part-time Teaching Fellowship in Historical Archaeology at the University of York. So I am now dividing my time between Shropshire and Yorkshire, and continuing several other projects in the meantime.

More updates in due course.

Snailbeach Lead Mine

2009-06-26T07:35:00.005Z

On Sunday we visited the Snailbeach Lead Mine in Shropshire - prompted by a random internet search in the morning which discovered a rare open day! In its day, Snailbeach was the largest lead mine in Shropshire, allegedly yeilding the greatest volume of lead per acre of any mine in Europe. Lead was mined here by the Romans, and although the mine closed in 1955 the remains are still well-preserved (not least due to a large restoration project in the 1990s.) As well as lead, the mine also produced Barite, Calcite, Fluorspar, Silver and Zinc. Here we are - all set to go along the adit...

Moss was slightly reluctant, all the more so because she was not able to be equipped with hard hat and lamp!

Our mine tour was conducted by an extremely enthusiastic member of the Shropshire Mining and Caving Club. We were escorted along the adit for a couple of hundred yards until we reached the main shaft - originally extending 552 yards below the ground, but now flooded so that only the first 112 yards is extant. All of us small boys dropped stones down the shaft - and astonishing explosive noise echoing up as the stones hit the water.

Outside, many of the pithead buildings have been restored. Here is the smithy, impressive with brand-new bellows (Rob take note!)...

...and this is a view of the Locomotive shed.

The compressor house, winding engine and pumping engine houses are also well-preserved. Elsewhere in the village there are a couple of curious survivals, despite considerable gentrification and modernisation.

Indeed the whole landscape was faintly redolent of Cornwall - not least because of the persistent drizzle, but also as a slightly scruffy unplanned landscape full of partly derelict mining remains and excessively modern pebbledashed single-storey houses. The Cornish parallels were made further apparent as we made our way home (via an excellent and much needed feast of chips and Three Tuns ale in the Stiperstones Inn). We stopped by the site of the Ladywell Mine, the engine house of which now forms the focus of a set of sheep pens.

All in all a marvellous day out - and once again I continue to be surprised by the endless variety of landscape which Shropshire has to offer!

Post-medieval and Roman ironworking

2009-06-19T09:48:00.004Z

My excursion on Wednesday involved visits to an 18th- and 19th-century forge site in Worcester, and a return visit to Roger's site in Shropshire. At the latter they have now excavated the circular feature shown in the previous post (see below, or here).

I had to sadly dash Roger's initial hopes that this may have been a bloomery... it is far too large, too deep and there is absolutely no sign of in-situ burning or heating. The fill is a mixture of charcoal and smithing slag - nothing too obviously from smelting activities but it was difficult to tell from the uncleaned items which I saw on site. There is also a large quantity of Roman pottery: Samian and greyware are evident in the tray on the left in the photo above.

The visit to Roger's site followed one to a very interesting project a little further south. Here there is a long-established forge on a stream, and the local group there have found the base of a reheating furnace. I made a visit in conjuction with other colleagues of the Historical Metallurgy Society, including David Starley and Peter King, as well as the county archaeologist.

Once again hopes were dashed by the visit, as the excavators had wondered if they might have encountered a puddling furnace. However, after a great deal of discussion and debate, the consensus emerged that this was the remains of a pair of more conventional re-heating furnaces. Probably of 19th century date. One was clearly in use later than the other (pictured); the earlier one had a large quantity of slag in the base but had been much robbed out.

Work continues on both sites, but not for much longer...

Something completely different

2009-06-16T09:17:00.005Z

The proverbial busman's holiday! It is that time of the year again, the Birmingham University archaeology training excavations. Roger White has been working on a cracking site near Bridgnorth, a possible vicus to an as-yet-undiscovered fort. They are now into week three of the dig, and we made a quick visit last week just after the conference.

As well as a large quantity of Samian sherds ranging in date from the 1st to the 4th century, there is also a substantial amount of smithing slag - including a few fragments of hearth bottom. Roger sent in this photo of a charcoal-filled circular feature yesterday. I shall be going out tomorrow afternoon for another visit to see what is emerging.

After the conference

2009-06-11T13:21:00.005Z

Many thanks to everyone who came and made a contribution; still tidying up at this end! Plans for publication are progressing (some quite interesting ideas there), and quite a helpful series of new ideas has begun to emerge. Here is the 'team photo' taken at the wine reception by Adam of Aerial Cam, whose Land Rover and telescopic pole delighted delegates on Thursday and Friday.

Meanwhile research into other matters continues.

Yesterday morning I had a delightful (if all-too-brief) meeting with Ian Burrow about their New Jersey steel furnace, and then spent a very long perambulating lunch with Brian Dix. We visited Madeley Court (where they supplied us with coffee and sandwiches) and then around various parts of the sixteenth and seventeenth century landscape of Madeley and Caolbrookdale. We also discovered a hitherto unrecognised link between Shropshire and Northamptonshire recusants into the bargain!

All of which marvellous jollification is a long way from the "real work" of today; finalising invoices, editing reports, preparing tenders and working out my own work programme for the reduced-hours future of the next few months. At least it has stopped raining!

Fe09 "Footprints of Industry" Conference

2009-06-09T16:49:00.005Z

After a great deal of hard work - both in preparation and during the five days of the event itself - the conference is finally over! By all accounts it went extremely well, and it was a fantastic opportunity to meet a wide range of colleagues from all over the world. We had about 85 individual delegates, averaging about 70 actually in attendance on each of the five days. These included an evening opening with a lecture by Michael Darby and a wine reception, three very full days of papers, and a final day of tours. Plus a party on the Friday night with about 100 in attendance and lots of Celidh dancing; as well as a final conference dinner on the Saturday and so-on.

I am still recovering... and too tired to go into a long and detailed report, so for now here are a few photos of some of my highlight moments, all taken by Katie, who I think had a better time than I did since she was able to do all the usual conference conversation and networking without being distracted by various requests.

This was the evening meal after the opening night on the Wednesday, naturally enough in the Coalbrookdale Inn.

It was absolutely fantastic to see Ron again, and here we are posing at the landscaped site of our epic steel furnace excavations which took place in 2003, 2004 and 2005. Both looking rather smarter than we ever did in those days, and rightly proud of our achievements at the Upper Forge.

As conference organiser I was largely deprived of many of the perks of conference going - such as being able to chat about archaeology to colleagues! However in a rare free moment (away from sorting out broken projectors, faulty toilets, missing presentations, virus-laden memory sticks, food supply and so-on), I had one of the my real highlights of the conference. This was extended discussion with Ian Burrow of Hunter Research Inc. (New Jersey) about their recently-discovered 18th century steel furnace. In an historic moment here are the only four people in the world who have excavated 18th century cementation furnaces: Ron Ross (L), Ian Burrow, myself and David Cranstone:

Marilyn Palmer and David Cranstone presented me with a bottle of port on the last day of the conference as a "thank you" for organising it... I was extremely grateful and quite moved by the warm applause.

The Sunday post-conference tour took place in six hours of continuous heavy rain. Most people had decided to go home early anyway, so numbers were rather depleted. At this stage we had been en route for about two-and-a-half hours and were already rather soggy. L-R: Pablo Sanchez (Spain), Colin Axon (Oxford), me, Gerhard Ermischer (Germany), Andrew Passmore (Exeter), Alan Levitt (USA) and L H Verseldt (Netherlands).

More in due course - including some of the exciting outcomes of the conference, tomorrow's further meeting with Ian Burrow, and Brian Dix on sixteenth century sundials.

The Old Mill

2009-05-12T19:27:00.003Z

I have recently bought this painting on the internet, and it is just back from being framed and looking very nice indeed. I think it is quite a pretty watercolour, signed "MEH 1871". The mill itself appears to be almost Wealden in appearance, but the mountains behind suggest a Cumbrian or even Cambrian location. Is this a made-up picture? Or can the location be identified? I have no idea who "MEH" might be either. Do please let me know if it rings any bells!

Dorset delights

2009-03-25T11:36:00.007Z

A wonderful weekend of discovery in the sunny Dorset springtime. We started on Saturday with a trip to Salisbury (admittedly in Wiltshire, but only just), passing through some out of the way places along or near the river Puddle.

First stop was Warmwell, a beautiful and very simple late medieval church, somewhat compromised by the Victorian chancel, on the right of the picture above. This place had long military associations, with numerous incumbents of both Manor and Church serving in various wars of the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries. Most moving were the 25 or so war graves of fighter pilots who were stationed at the nearby airfield during the war. The airfield is long gone, but the heroism of these RAF pilots who gave their lives during the Battle of Britain is poignantly evident – brave men who hailed from Poland, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand as well as the UK. The interior of the church was a simple and elegant study in understated English beauty.

From here we went on to Affpuddle, now barely a village but once an important settlement. The church sits alongside the mill, itself located in the centre of the river Puddle. A quite delightful 15th century church containing many relict pre-Reformation features such as the stairs to the rood loft. Some interesting wooden bench-ends as well. Here is Kate in her hat admiring new spring willow buds; the millstream is on the right between the trees.

Due to questionable navigation, we then found ourselves in the tiny village of Anderson, dominated by its very private Manor House, adjacent to which is this delightful semi-derelict 12th century chapel.

By the time we got to Salisbury it was certainly time for lunch and a large pot of tea, followed by a wander round the market. Here the 15th century 'Poultry Cross' is still very much the focus of activity.

After browsing some antique shops and buying some mosquito-proof clothing for Senegal, we had a quick look round the cathedral in the evening light.

On Sunday we took Moss on an expedition to Kingston Lacy. Again we stopped en route, this time at White Mill, which is in fact part of the Kingston Lacy estates. This was certainly in operation by the 12th century, although the current mill mostly dates from 1776. Apparently the stone wheelpit is medieval, although alas the mill wasn't yet open to visitors so we couldn't judge for ourselves.

Just downstream from the mill is Whitemill Bridge, said to be the oldest bridge in Dorset. The present structure dates mainly to the 16th century but radiocarbon dating of the timber piles on which it sits suggest a 12th century origin. According to the early 19th century sign affixed to the bridge: "ANY person wilfully INJURING any part of this COUNTY BRIDGE will be guilty of FELONY and upon conviction liable to be TRANSPORTED FOR LIFE by the Court". They were quite keen to send Dorset folk to Australia in the 19th century for some reason, as some labourers from nearby Tolpuddle were to discover.

Then up and over the hill to arrive at Kingston Lacy. This rather splendid house is, in its present form, a 19th century recreation of a 17th century Italianate mansion which had seen its glories partially curtailed in the 18th century. Formerly owned by the Bankes family, it passed to the National Trust in the 1980s and is rightfully one of the jewels in their glittering crown.

Sadly the extensive beech woods and avenues surrounding the house itself are now nearing the end of their natural lives. Beech has a habit of suddenly shedding branches without warning, so the National Trust is selectively felling and replanting, and large areas of the woodland were actually closed for safety reasons. Nevertheless we still managed to have a lovely walk around the grounds with Moss (who was herself disappointed by the lack of squirrels).

The house itself was very nice, with some special features such as the 'tented' attic rooms and the 'loggia' enclosed with new-fangled plate glass in the 1850s to accommodate the English weather. The two-storey-high 'saloon' was a treat, although Kate I think would have preferred it to have remained in its original 18th century configuration as a ballroom. I was particularly excited by a set of Breughel painting of the 'Four Elements' – the element 'Fire' was represented by a particularly detailed and accurate portrayal of all the components of early 17th century ironmaking – a blast furnace, cannon foundry, boring mill, tilt hammers, finery forge, grinding wheels and so-on. Sadly no pictures were allowed inside the house, so here is one of Kate outside it...

The present appearance of the house owes much to the enthusiasm and collecting of William John Banks. After cavorting with Byron and having an indiscreet moment on the heath with a young army officer, he escaped imprisonment for sodomy by fleeing to Italy. There he spent his time buying artworks for the house which he allegedly never saw again – although it is probably quite likely that he was smuggled home on more than one occasion. Curiously the National Trust website fails to mention any of this!

A stroll round the garden at the end of the day caused encounters with an Egyptian obelisk (set on a plinth whose foundation stone was laid by the Duke of Wellington) and a field of cattle amongst other things. We also saw the stump of the "King's Tree", a cedar planted in 1905 by King Edward VIII. Two years later Kaiser Wilhelm planted the "Kaiser's Tree" next to it. A couple of years ago a large chunk of the Kaiser's tree came crashing down in a storm, taking out King Edward's tree (whatever symbolic significance may or may not be read into that).

This view shows the obelisk and the house, taken from under the rather safer and arguably more patriotic branches of an oak tree!

On the way back to Weymouth we tried in vain to find a pub serving food. The quite substantial settlement of Puddletown, despite having a large school, a shop and a big manor house, appeared totally pub-less. So we bimbled back along the coast road and came back to the delightful 'Smugglers Inn' at Osmington Mills, where we had an excellent an very filling meal washed down with some pints of Badger's Hopping Hare (brewed in Blandford). Moss was catered for partly by being under our table and partly by the large jar of dog treats on the bar.

All in all another wonderful weekend.

PS. Photos in this post were taken on XP2 using my trusty 23-and-a-half-year-old Minolta with Sigma 24mm lens, a lovely combination but now clearly on its last legs.

Up, up and away

2009-03-19T17:57:00.009Z

An exciting day on Monday... and a perfect day to explore the rural landscape of south Shropshire from the comfort (if that is the right word) of a glorified laundry basket.

Hot air ballooning seems to have changed little from the days of the Montgolfier brothers (although the open fire has been replaced by high-pressure gas). We arrived in a field near Stokesay Court at 07.00, to be cheerfully greeted and invited to help with setting up the balloon. As you can see from the photos the balloon was single-handedly inflated by me...

...no surprise there, given the amount of hot air I am known to produce. Equally no surprise that Kate had chosen a fetching outfit designed to perfectly harmonise with the colour scheme of the balloon itself!

Once filled with cold air the burners were turned on and the balloon looked more convincing as a mode of air transport. We all climbed aboard and were given a quick pre-flight drill from our wonderful pilot Lindsay... no lifejackets under the seat or emergency exits on this flight. Landing would be bumpy and we weren't to look, and if we chose to leave during the flight, then we would be on our own!

Within an hour of arrival we were airborne. Take off was not the nail-biting experience of heavier-than-air craft, swerving down the runway on full throttle... instead, one minute we were on the ground, the next we were floating about six inches above it, and then within a couple of minutes we were 100, 200, 500 feet above the ground and sailing serenely north-east. The first impression was a breathtaking view of Stokesay Court itself – the house, grounds, walled garden, stable block and mill all laid out in the early morning sunshine.

Then we were up over the A442 and drifting north-west. A great view up the Stretton valley, with the Long Mynd in the background and Stokesay Castle dominating the approaches up and down the valley...

The balloon floats along at a height of between 800 and 1000 feet, which is really the perfect balance between the broader view of the landscape and the detailed view of individual houses, trees, sheep and other animals.

We were spotting hares in the fields and deer in the woods, all thanks to the eerily quiet gliding of the balloon, with the occasional burst of hot air to keep us afloat. I was surprised to learn that the temperature in the balloon itself is up to 100 degrees; I had thought that much less hot air would be needed to keep us afloat in the ambient temperature of about 5 degrees on this glorious spring day.

Looking east over the Clee Hills, mist still hanging in the valleys...

We floated up along the southern end of Wenlock Edge, which was very prominent in the landscape from this height. Here we are looking along the Edge, with the Long Mynd to the left and the Wrekin just visible in the far distance.

Sadly the flight came to an end after an hour or so. We could quite happily have floated on to the Wrekin and dropped back home for a cup of tea, but it was not to be. Our gallant pilot chose a field about half a mile away, and skillfully brought us in to land. A large balloon is clearly not going to be very agile vehicle, and in a shallow valley the room for maneouvre is rather limited. We grazed the tops of the trees before adopting the brace position (!) and came down for a fairly smooth landing in a field near Church Stretton. I have had much more frightening aeroplane landings than the gentle way this Virgin kissed the ground.

After a few moments whilst the ground crew obtained the farmer's permission to enter the field, they arrived in the field and the balloon was deflated – all the while keeping us passengers in the basket as ballast. A welcome glass of champagne was our reward for helping pack the balloon back into its trailer!

This was a truly wonderful experience, and all credit to Virgin for this marvellous morning. I might grumble about their trains, but the balloon was much more reliable and enjoyable, and the choice of destination (and arrival time at it) was probably no less random! Many thanks to our cheerful and expert pilot Lindsay, and the equally amiable ground crew who got us up and helped us down. Absolutely top value for money, I cannot describe what a wonderful experience this was... and a happy (belated) Valentine's day to Katie!

After this exciting start to the day it was still only mid-morning, so we repaired to the Ludlow Food Centre for elevenses, and then had a lovely day pootling about in Ludlow, Church Stretton and round about. On the Mynd, looking north towards the Wrekin...

...and some new Shropshire lambs we met in a field. Bring on the mint sauce!

Evolution, cod and sardines

2009-02-25T14:18:00.005Z

The success of the Shepard Fairey Obama posters continues to spawn various imitations and parodies. My most recent favourite is this one, produced by Mike Rosulek (and now available for sale.)

And, following the entertaining if strangely controversial London Atheist Bus campaign last year, someone has set up a "bus slogan generator" for you to design your own. Here, the original slogan ("There’s probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life.") has been transformed...

IfA Recession Seminar

2009-02-19T11:06:00.008Z

Here is a short report on my perspective on the IfA recession seminar. This was held at the Museum of London Docklands on 16th February 2009, and was intended to provide a forum for discussion of the various issues which are affecting the profession at the present time.

The meeting was chaired by Taryn Dixon (Managing Director of Museum of London Archaeology) who introduced proceedings – the aim of the day was to try and identify key priorities for the IfA collective effort for the sector during the recession. As well as continuing to protect the heritage itself, protection of people working in the heritage sector was also important.

The first speaker was Noel Fojut of Historic Scotland (HS), who described the HS reaction to the recession. Beginning by outlining the HS remit, Noel emphasised that HS was there to protect the heritage assets themselves rather than employees in the sector per se; any work in the future will be through existing traditional roles rather than new ones. Happily historic environment Policy in Scotland was now at the same level as planning Policy rather than subordinate to it; the new SPP23 was a compression of existing Scottish guidance, and would be supported by a raft of advice which HS would deliver. Scotland had seen a 25% fall in specific planning applications but an increase in strategic applications (eg. EIAs). The lack of speculative building work was leading to a reduction in turnover for many commercial archaeological organisations, and a resultant decline in profit. Noel urged the profession as a whole to:

- “be more pungent”... using the example of sewage as a building requirement that developers could not cut back on because of the recession, he suggested that archaeologists should insist on their role in a similar way: namely an essential component of the development process which should not be cut back because of recession.

- think more about values (eg. social, environmental) rather than costs

- embrace the positive aspects for the historic environment (eg. the re-use of historic buildings)

- invest in skills training, especially conservation-related skills

Standards were actually more likely to be at risk at the end of the recession than during it, when the rapid expansion of work would be taking place when fewer experienced practitioners were around. One of HS’s roles will be to reinforce the rigour of decisions taken by local authority curators.

Noel concluded by remarking that he anticipated HS funding was going to be cut by around 25%, and set out some of the priorities for project funding by HS under these restrictions. Large projects solely funded by HS were more likely to be cut than smaller partnership projects where HS funding, although at a relatively low level, was key to the continuation of the project or indeed the partner organisation. Particular emphasis was going to be on community and volunteer projects. Some new projects would inevitably be cancelled, and these would include proposals to deal with existing backlogs.

The second speaker, slightly delayed by his train, was Kenneth Aitchison, the IfA’s Head of Projects and Professional Development. He outlined the basic facts and figures (as far as they were known) of the current recession, beginning with a brief overview of the development of the profession since PPG16. Drawing largely from his recently-published paper in Antiquity, as well as last-year’s "Profiling the Profession" survey, Kenny provided a cogent analysis of the effects of the recent downturn on the profession. Looking also at data recorded by the Archaeological Investigations Project (AIP), it was clear that 2007-2008 had seen a marked downturn in the number of archaeological projects being undertaken. This decline had to some extent begun with the property downturn but was being exacerbated by the slide into recession in the second half of 2008. Year on year the AIP had seen a decline of between 6% and 7% of archaeological projects.

Employment in archaeology had also been affected. It was now recognised that the ‘Profiling the Profession’ survey had taken place at the “crest of the wave” of developer-funded archaeology. Indeed the date for which archaeological organisations were asked to submit their returns was Monday 13th August 2007; on Friday 10 August 2007, the FTSE-100 index fell by nearly 4%, its greatest single-day loss for over four years. This marked the onset of the credit crunch, already being reflected in land registry figures and other indicators.

At that time there were 6,865 people employed in archaeology in the UK. By the 1st October this figure had fallen to 6,735, and by 1st January this year the number stood at 6390. This represents a fall of around 5% of all jobs in archaeology – however for commercial archaeology the decline is much higher, around 8.6%. This means around 1 in 12 jobs in commercial archaeology were lost last year.

The IfA will repeat their January survey in April 2009, and again each quarter.

The third speaker was Dave Allen from the Prospect trade union, who provided an analysis of the industrial relations setting. He noted that employment tribunals have seen something like a 25% increase in activity in the last year as a result of employers trying to avoid their statutory redundancy obligations (this was all employers, not specifically archaeological ones). Prospect was particularly keen to see good management practice being adhered to on the issue of redundances, both voluntary and compulsory. Dave pointed out that the long-term danger of the current financial crisis is the loss of skills to the profession as a whole through redundancies, and in particular the loss of specialist skills. He was keen to see some flexibility from employers on these longer-term issues, such as consideration of contracts for when people were laid off, so that they could return to work in the future – after the recession.

Propsect acknowledged that the reduced volume of work would mean that some redundancies and even organisational failures would be inevitable. Therefore Prospect was keen to retain a “sense of realism” and was not going to try and save each and every job in the sector. Rather it would adopt a pragmatic, positive and constructive approach to working with employers.

Arguably at the opposite end of the spectrum, but in fact sharing much common ground, was the fourth speaker, Roland Smith from FAME. He also acknowledged the need for everyone to be “open, honest and realistic” about the situation. FAME members had seen a significant drop in the volume of new work – housing and mineral extraction being particularly badly affected. There had been a big impact so far on fieldwork projects, but the downturn is yet to move on to other areas. The IfA JIS and the BAJR websites suggested that there are presently no new jobs in commercial archaeology; moreover he felt that future job losses will be inevitable. The market is extremely price-sensitive, especially at present; other aspects by which organisations could distinguish themselves (such as quality, delivery, reliability and so-on) were now less of a factor than formerly.

Roland predicted industry losses of up to 30% in the commercial sector. There was a high probability that some organisations will go out of business – and this would be as much as a result of cash- and credit-flow issues as empty order books. This had huge consequences for post-excavation and archiving of current projects. It was also a possibility that terms and conditions of employment would also worsen, as in other areas of the economy.

FAME would survey its members about the current situation. It urged member organisations to continue to invest in training and skills development. FAME would work closely with EH and ALGAO to ensure that standards are maintained for fieldwork and post-excavation; this would also involve FAME’s continued commitment to raising barriers to entry to the profession.

Roland identified three key areas where FAME could help the sector emerge from recession.

- Input into Planning Policy development in the coming months and years

- Continuing to ensure high standards and good practice were maintained (including greater regulation of the profession)

- Providing a commitment to skills and training

The final speaker for the morning was Dave Bachelor of English Heritage (EH). He outlined the wide range of responsibilities which EH had as a government agency – rather like its sister body north of the border. EH had a primary responsibility for the protection of heritage assets – and of course this included a wide range of buildings, sites and artefacts as well as archaeology per se. As a result the presentation was talking about the historic environment sector as a whole rather than just archaeology. EH was working closely with other government departments, such as DCMS, CLG and so-on, as well as Natural England, the Highways Agency and the Ministry of Defence.

For the local authority sector the “crest of the wave” for archaeological development control seemed to be 2006-2007, since then the conservation side has come down by around 5% or so. However the high point for planning applications was actually 2008, and Listed Building applications have in fact increased in some areas. Part of EH’s role in the recession might be to “stiffen the resolve” of planning authorities where they might waver in applying archaeological conditions in the face of economic pressure.

Although making clear that there was no chance of bailing out failing commercial businesses, EH would try to ensure that vulnerable projects would be protected in the event of catastrophe where possible – such as ensuring the post-excavation work could be completed.

EH itself had seen a drop in income from public visits to sites, as well as pressures on its government funding stream and so was not itself immune from the wider situation. Resources would be focused strategically. For example in driving through those elements of HPR which were still attainable despite the disappointment of the Queen’s Speech, and in particular in funding support for HERs at local authority level. “English Heritage can help” but it needs information and advance intelligence from the profession in order to do so.

The recession has brought some existing issues into sharper focus – eg. planning, delivery, skills etc. One particular issue was in the supply of some conservation materials (such as lime), and the decline of skills in the conservation sector. Three main areas stood out:

- Skills. This was clearly an issue but at present there was not enough data to show the impacts of the recession on the skills base and what skills we need going forward. Otherwise standards are likely to fall during the upturn. EH was looking to work with the higher education sector to deliver appropriately trained undergraduates and postgraduates.

- Archives. EH is aware of the issues with archives of abandoned projects, but this is a “legal minefield”. However they are trying to produce guidance to ensure the survival of archives and information from them.

- EH Projects. Continuing projects will be carried on, including characterisation and HEEP-funded projects, as well as work on EH’s own estate.

Lunch consisted of sandwiches and orange juice.

The first speaker after lunch was Alastair Dryburgh, CEO of Akenhurst Consultants. Alastair saw the recession as a “challenge to leadership”, and in particular leaders needed to provide plausible vision, confidence and hope for their organisations. Actions needed to be justified, even though actions might be unpalatable. Drawing on the work of Michael Porter, Alastair suggested that any business needed to take one of three strategic directions on pricing:

- differentiated – stand out with a qualitatively different product

- niche – highly specialised

- cost-leadership – cheapest

...and stick to it. In an open and challenging presentation, discussion passed between Alastair and the audience, and issues were raised about the peculiar nature of the archaeological marketplace. For instance the quality of the archaeological product is rarely determined by the client who pays, and there is a substantial public benefit component to the heritage sector which is not factored in to conventional business analyses. The issue of barriers to entry to the profession was also raised.

The second part of Alastair’s presentation looked at the relationship between costs and pricing, and the value of specialist expertise. Such specialist activities could be of great value to potential clients and could therefore generate greater income and profit. Alastair also argued that cutbacks could be a false economy – any expenditure is an investment decision... it is possible to spend more on overhead costs to produce a return but the question is where in the business to invest? Businesses needed to understand where they made money and where they lost it. He gave several examples of projects and companies with substantial order books but sometimes made up of 30% or 40% of projects which were unprofitable. Many organisations had a "long tail" of unproductive projects, and undertook misguided cost cutting based on poor information.

Many clients were not worth having if their projects consistently cost more to the organisation than they should. One key action to survival was to think of "firing customers" rather than "firing staff".

After a short tea break, Mike Heyworth (of the CBA) spoke on behalf of the Archaeology Training Forum (ATF). Mike began by stressing how archaeology was a “people-business”, in which there was tremendous enthusiasm and a great range of skills. We needed to look ahead – not just at what is happening now – remembering that the person made redundant today might be useful in the future. Archaeology was a very varied and complicated profession in terms of its structure – although hopefully the development of the National Occupational Standards will continue to smooth this out.

Entry into the profession was a major issue, and there needs to be a route for non-graduate entry into the profession – for example through the use of NVQs.
The potential loss of specialist skills as a result of the recession was a real worry for the profession, especially in finds and artefact studies where the situation was exacerbated by impending retirement of many specialists.

The ATF was working on a number of initiatives with partner organisations, and was encouraging closer relations between the training plans of organisations and those of individual staff. Drawing up Personal Development Plans (PDPs) and programmes of Continuing Professional Development (CPD) were important. Mike acknowledged that the ATF needs to do more to provide feedback to employers on these and other issues.

One interesting recent development was the development of the “Cultural Heritage Blueprint” by the skills council for the creative and cultural sector. This provides a workforce development plan for cultural heritage in the UK.

As far as the ATF was concerned, there were a number of practical steps which organisations could take to ensure that skills were maintained and enhanced in the profession. These included hosting apprentices, developing traineeships (perhaps in partnership), developing a workforce diversity plan, and providing staff with the opportunities to enhance and develop skills. and lists a number of practical steps for organisations.

There was also scope to develop wider partnerships between the Higher Education sector and commercial organisations, at a national level. Programmes such as the Clore Leadership Programme, which were well-used in the museums sector, were less well-known in the archaeology profession and should be made greater use of.

The final speaker for the day was Stewart Bryant of ALGAO. He noted that one current problem was the pressure from developers and LPAs to discharge conditions which had outstanding post-excavation conditions. There was a risk of contracting units failing with these commitments, as well as the risk of developers themselves going bust in mid-project. Other issues included the failure of HPR to make the Queens Speech, with the result that HERs remained non-statutory. The reform of PPG15 and PPG16 was also an issue.

Local government was able to help by maximising the potential for projects (where reasonable), by ensuring that all planning commitments are met by archaeological contractors and developers, and by providing more consistent advice. This last point was an acknowledgment that archaeological advice by local government archaeologists sometimes varied from authority to authority.

For their part, contractors and consultants could add more value to the process by focussing on quality above the minimum standard and not underselling the archaeology to their clients. They could also help promote a less adversarial culture, engage more in formal academic research and support local government services. Many local government archaeologists would welcome engagement from consultants and contractors on research priorities.

Looking to the future, ALGAO would like to see

- more and tighter regulation of the process, including more rigorous standards and guidance

- greater research justification for projects and sampling strategies

- greater emphasis on the public benefit of archaeology in its widest possible sense

The day finished with a lengthy and detailed discussion, led by Peter Hinton of the IfA. Several points emerged – the main one being the human cost of the recession, and its impact on the skills and well-being of individuals. Specialists pointed out that in fact their workload had increased substantially as a result of contractors concentrating more on project backlogs; whilst this was good in the short term there were issues of quality assurance. There was considerable concern about post-excavation budgets particularly, and the possible threat to projects being completed if archaeological firms or their clients collapsed. Local authority archaeologists reminded their commercial colleagues of the need for archaeology as a whole to provide a public benefit, and discussion explored some of the ways in which this can be measured and achieved. Accreditation, and barriers of entry to the profession was clearly an issue – although Alastair Dryburgh pointed out the model of the accountancy profession which also had low barriers to entry and where quality assurance was an issue for the individual firm rather than the profession as a whole.

In summing up, Peter Hinton noted that he had 32 bullet points of key issues which had emerged from the meeting. A full summary would appear shortly on the IfA website.
The government was genuinely aware of the issues facing the profession – at the highest levels – but was of course unable to directly subsidise archaeological jobs. There would be no bail out for archaeology as there had been for the banks.
There were clearly issues over the incentives for the profession to provide full quality services, and readjustment was needed to ensure that these were addressed. Accreditation and barriers to entry were of concern, and the IfA was looking at this. Some of the key points for attention included:

- an urgent need to work on curatorial standards and guidance

- discharge of planning conditions, especially post-excavation

- improvements to government planning guidance, to make the process work better

- the recession was an opportunity for change which should be embraced

- the public benefit of archaeology needed to be explained (by the profession) to the wider world

It was clear that further meetings like this would be of benefit to the profession, and it was hoped that a follow-up meeting could be arranged in due course.

Note! Whilst I have done my best to convey the impressions of the meeting, these notes are entirely personal and subjective and do not constitute an official record, nor do they puport to represent the views, opinions and policies of any of the organisations or individuals mentioned. Phrases in quotation marks are verbatim as recorded by me at the time, but may not be in the context which the speaker had either intended or delivered.

Antiquarian Adventures

2009-02-06T09:45:00.008Z

An interesting couple of days in London, mainly revolving around the Society of Antiquaries.

This was the tail end of the week of excessive snow, and indeed my train journey down on the Thursday was impressively snowy throughout. The first picture shows the train approaching Telford Central Station - exactly on time at 08.27 - and the second is "somewhere near Banbury". I was impressed with the new(ish) Wrexham and Shropshire train service (at least on the way down), which arrived at Marylebone three minutes early.

On arrival in London itself, despite the lack of snow there was some chaos. Various tube lines were disrupted, and the meeting which I should have attended had been cancelled whilst I was en route. (Due to very heavy snow in Leicestershire). However I was able to spend a bit of time chatting with friends and colleagues at MoLAS (now known simply as MOLA) HQ at Mortimer Wheeler House in Shoreditch.

Then to the Antiquaries for tea and sandwiches, and my inauguration... an exciting moment for me to be formally admitted into the Fellowship. On my way the Antiquaries I spotted this rather folorn snowman in the courtyard of Burlington House...

The following day was also spent at the Antiquaries, in attendance at Roger White's Wroxeter day. This was extremely interesting celebration of 150 years of archaeological work at Wroxeter, which provoked many interesting discussions about research, management and curation of archaeological sites and landscapes. Well attended by many Shropshire-based colleagues!

So far, an interesting year...

2009-01-24T19:04:00.002Z

Well I must first apologise to everyone for not updating the blog since June 2008! My excuses for this are... a very busy time, the use of facebook, a trip to Australia, and lack of work-time to update. I shall do my best to try and add to the blog at least once a month.

2009 has begun in a very interesting way, most of it very good.

I am currently in a rather cheesy 'Executive Centre' of a big chain hotel somewhere in rural Berkshire. The decor is unchanged since its original inception in c.1990. More shortly... but for now... HAPPY NEW YEAR to all.

Much Ado About Nothing

2008-07-14T12:44:00.001Z

Quite a wonderful Saturday evening was spent at Coalbrookdale, watching the Oddsocks Theatre Company doing a production of Much Ado about Nothing outside the Darby Furnace.

This was an entertaining open-air production, very much in the Elizabethan manner, with much ribaldry and audience participation. The set(s) were all contained in an ingeniously contrived wagon. Despite a light shower we had a great time, with a pleasant picnic and wine. A very lively and humorous production, full marks to all the actors who took various off-stage moments and the weather in their stride – and just the sort of thing the Museum should be doing more of.

Goodbye Good Year

2008-07-03T08:34:00.002Z

In all the excitement of car crashes and other adventures I have forgotten to post this picture which I took in April. However now seems to be the right moment, since this chimney has just recently been demolished.

This was an iconic Wolverhampton landmark. The Good Year tyre factory was built in 1927, and apart from the chimney bits of the site had some quite interesting 1920s and 1930s buildings. After years and years of cutbacks the factory finally closed in 2004. Another nail in the coffin of English industry – presumably the tyres are now made in eastern Europe or indeed even further east...

The Lloyds and Lloyds Head

2008-06-30T08:58:00.000Z

Canute-like, Telford and Wrekin Council is attempting to prevent geological subsidence at the Lloyds in Ironbridge. This year’s scheme is a much more ambitious project than last year’s, although along the same 150-metre stretch of the 10 kilometre Ironbridge Gorge.

Last year, several million pounds were spent sinking a series of piles into the geology to try and stop the road slipping into the river. The life-expectancy of this work was 30 years, but the current works supposedly will last 100 years. Quite what happens when this short stretch of riverside stays where it is, and the rest of the gorge quietly slips into the river, is not clear.

This is an impressive bit of engineering work, involving 30-metre piles on both sides of the river. These go down into the underlying bedrock, such as it is, and thus retain the overburden which is suffering from rotational slippage exacerbated by 500 years of mining and other industrial activity. The main beneficiaries of this seem to be the ‘Black Swan’ pub and a few other houses, plus of course the roads themselves. This view is from the Lloyds side, looking across to Lloyds Head (‘Black Swan’ on the far right on the opposite bank).

We did a special visit last week with some Museum and Institute colleagues, with a very interesting presentation by Neal Rushton, the Council’s chief engineer on the project. Here is Roger White with the rapidly subsiding Lloyds Cottage in the background.

The cottage itself was compulsorily purchased by the Council a couple of years ago. There is an idea afoot to convert it into a visitor centre, but many of the project team would be quite happy to see it disappear, it would seem. The problem for engineers is that historic structures like this aren’t built of mega reinforced concrete and so they move naturally with the landscape, which is not at all in accordance with modern building regulations.

Here is one of the piling rigs.

These alone weigh 90 tons, and so a great deal of temporary reinforcement of the river bank has been needed just to allow the work to proceed! The current project is costing tens of millions of pounds. One wonders whether this scheme would actually be undertaken if this was not a high-value property area in a World Heritage Site. As someone who is prone to consider whether even relatively ordinary conservation of some historic structures is worthwhile, I have to seriously question these attempts – however noble – to try and arrest what is, after all, a natural geological process. Moreoever these natural processes are what made the Gorge in the first place. I am sure that people affected by equally unstoppable coastal erosion in other parts of the country might have something to say. Proposals are afoot for further work in the future.

West Mids Show

2008-06-23T08:31:00.004Z

After a couple of years' absence we made another visit to the West Mids show at the weekend. This time the atmosphere seemed much less agricultural and much more like a fun fair. However Moss certainly enjoyed herself, inspecting various animals... here she is with some Dorset sheep:

Due to bluetongue various animal parades were a bit thin on the ground, and there were hardly any horses at all. Pigs, on the other hand, were in abundance. Those cattle which were able to make it put on a good show:

There were some quite entertaining side shows, including some Civil War re-enactors and some jousting. However the very high winds made it very difficult for those presenting as well as those watching, and by the end of the day a number of exhibitors had already taken their tents and stands down.

Crossing Paths, Sharing Tracks

2008-06-05T12:15:00.001Z

This was the title of the Leicester conference in April which attempted to coalesce some of the rather disparate strands of historical archaeology in the UK.

The organisers very bravely tried to bridge a number of gaps by bringing together the four major bodies concerned with historical archaeology in the British Isles – the Society for Post-Medieval Archaeology (SPMA), the Association for Industrial Archaeology (AIA), the Irish Post-Medieval Archaeology Group (IPMAG) and the Contemporary and Historical Archaeology in Theory group (CHAT).

Subtitled "future directions for the archaeological study of post-1550 Britain and Ireland", there seemed to be two main thrusts. The first of these was in trying to locate UK and Irish historical archaeology in a broader global context. The second was trying to bring together the very separate traditions of 'industrial' and 'post-medieval' archaeology.

Despite brave attempts, the meeting only partially succeeded in the first aim, and, to my mind at least, largely failed in the second.

To deal with the second aspect first: the whole premise of the meeting was slightly Quixotic. There isn't really quite the 'clash of cultures' that was highlighted as a problem in UK archaeology. Rather there are a few on the fringes of mainstream archaeology who maintain a distinctly atheoretical and technocentric stance to the study of the industrial past. Needless to say, those people were largely absent from the conference and so will remain obdurate. The fact is that 'industrial archaeology' has never been more mainstream, and is now being undertaken regularly in all sorts of places. The only slight worries which I have - and, in fairness, these were rather overlooked at the conference - are a rather widespread ignorance of even rather basic technological processes on the part of many archaeologists dealing with industrial remains, and the generally rather patronising attitude which many academics have to non-academics.

The first aim was closer to being achieved, although contributors from outside the British Isles were exclusively from the United States. This meant that the many vibrant and interesting historical archaeologies of Europe, south America, Africa, Australia and even non-anglophone Canada, were absent. In addition there was no-one from the world of maritime archaeology - another glaring absence given the number of references to 'Atlanticity', colonialism and so-on - none of which are possible without a boat. And a boat is, of course, an example of industrial technology.

Another notable omission was the absence of data from developer-funded projects. It would therefore have been nice to have had more input from some of the contracting units who are doing excellent work every day on this period.

So a mixed bag therefore, but much food for thought. Of course now I am in the throes of writing up my own deeply flawed contribution, which will doubtless be too long and too unwieldy for the proceedings. Let's hope we can do better in 2009...

A Midsummer Night's Dream

2008-05-22T10:07:00.003Z

On Tuesday I happened to be in London for a meeting. In the evening Kate and I went to the Globe Theatre to see A Midsummer Nights Dream. What a wonderful venue...

...reconstructed about 10 years ago near the original site using original materials and techniques. Thankfully modern Health and Safety and Buildings Regulations were ignored; the place really genuinely has the ambience and buzz of an Elizabethan theatre. We were lucky enough to have seats in the 'Gentlemans' Box', a slightly restricted view to the side of the stage, but at least we had seats.

The performance was very good - marred only by the occasional jet airliner passing overhead (not the theatre's fault) and by what I thought was a slightly lacklustre performance from Michael Jibson as Puck/Philostrate. Paul Hunter was excellent as Bottom, and in the final act had the audience literally rolling around with laughter. The whole performance was hugely entertaining and engaging, with very good period costume and excellent music. Highly recommended - a fantastic evening!

Burford and Witney

2008-05-13T16:00:00.004Z

In celebration of Harry's birthday we all met in Oxfordshire. Harry and Steph and Moss came up in the motorhome to Lincoln Farm Park, a spotless and well-groomed caravan site (with excellent toilets) if rather formal and 'suburban' for my own taste. After lunch, and presenting Harry with his croquet set, we then set off for Burford.

Burford is one of the jewels of Cotswold towns, and of course remembered from childhood - although not so much the town but more the wildlife park, scene of at least two 'end of year' trips from Miss Martins' school. But I digress, as ever. Above is a photo of the almshouses, whose foundation dates from 1457 (although much of the fabric is later).

The church was quite magnificent, and clearly this is where much of Burford's 15th century wealth was spent. We had delightful conversations with the verger, and discovered the memorial to Edmund Harmann (which, curiously, incorporates the earliest English depiction of native Americans). Harmann, whose portrait you can see on this rather clever page from the National Gallery, was barber to Henry VIII and died in 1576. The church itself was quite marvellous in many other respects, and despite having been 'scraped' inside by the Victorians, managed - in the complexity of its plan and richness of its features - to retain much of its pre-reformation splendour.

We then wandered up and down the main street, buying clothes and plants, looking at expensive antiques, and visiting the (free) Tolsey Museum. Above, a random doorway; below, a rather pretty alleyway.

After Burford we went down the road to Witney, where we were just in time for everything to be closed! However by peering plaintively through the door I was able to pursuade the Oxfam Bookshop to open briefly. Here I am at what I am now reliably informed is The Buttercross - a medieval structure with seventeenth century additions (many thanks to Witney Net for the correction, see comments below). No doubt this is where various ancestors passed by in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries...

After Witney (not enough time to explore properly on this occasion) we went back to the campsite for food and much booze, and a game of croquet...

Sunday was spent in the garden, about which more in a future chronicle.

Northern adventures: Yorkshire and beyond...

2008-05-08T08:17:00.004Z

A bank holiday weekend and an extra day off on Friday meant a lovely 4 days together, which we spent in visiting Kate's granddad in Hull. For me this was a particularly interesting visit, to see a city for which I developed a great deal of affection in the summer of 1994.

We set off on Friday afternoon, in the uncomfortable BMW hire car (see below) and got as far as Leicestershire before deciding to stop. We visited Breedon-on-the-Hill, a spectacular place which started life as a hill fort in the Iron Age. A monastery was established here in AD 675, was plundered by the Vikings and then re-established in the 9th century. Bits and bobs of that early fabric survive in the present church...

...however the standing buildings today are largely 13th century. Earthworks show the outline of the monastic cloister which surrounded it. The location is spectacular because half of the hill has been quarried away over the last 200 years, leaving the church perched virtually on the edge of a cliff. Curiously most of the 18th and 19th century gravestones were not made from the local stone at all but from slate. Similarities in the style of carving and inscription over a 150-year span suggested that several generations of the same family were Breedon's monumental masons.

From Breedon we set off northwards, arriving in Hull at about 7.00 that evening. There was time and light enough for a reminiscent drive round. First stop was a look at the new Magistrates Court which had been built over the site of the 1994 excavations - but otherwise the surrounding scene seemed little changed. Admiration of industrial buildings along the River Hull...

...was followed by a drive down Holderness Road and Mersey Street, and then on to our accommodation in Beverley. Kate had managed to book the most wonderful place - the Minster Garth Guest House which was literally right next to the Minster, as you can see from the photos.

We were in the "cottage" a self-contained self-catering annexe to the main Bed and Breakfast that was quite marvellous. That evening we went for a stroll looking for something to eat, and eventually discovered a Turkish restaurant called "Seraglio", located down a little alleyway. The food (washed down with some Turkish wine) and service were excellent. The next day we wondered into the market and had a browse in an antiques market (as well as visiting Yorkshire bargain emporium Boyes) before setting off back to Hull to visit Kate's granddad.

It was great to finally meet up and compare notes on living in Hull at various times, maritime history, the history of Hull, twentieth century poetry, local elections and all manner of other interesting topics.

In the afternoon we went for a wander round Hull's streetlife museum, which I didn't remember at all (although I think I had different recreational priorities in those days), and reliving Kate's childhood somewhat...

...a more glamorous tram driver you couldn't hope to meet! We then went on a drive through scenic east Humberside. Through the well-named village of Paull...

...then on to Spurn Point, then up the coast to Withernsea and eventually to Hornsea where we had fish and chips at Sullivans.

By this time Kate was pining for land with hills in it. So the next day we headed north and east - winding our way through Driffield and Malton, and eventually pausing for lunch in the beautiful estate village of Hovingham. All of this landscape very familiar from my immediate post-Sheffield days, and lovely to see again after such a long time. The next stop was Helmsley, a very busy town on a bank holiday weekend - and yes we managed to find not one but two bookshops. We also visited Helmsley Castle, a marvellous 13th century fortification gentrified into a gracious mansion in the 16th century. Our visit coincided with a 'Medieval Event'...

...with the usual food and pageantry. It has been nice to see the development over the last five years or so of this kind of event at previously quite sterile English Heritage properties. However this popular approach was well blended with leaflets and interpretation panels which actually gave you proper facts and spoke in real English. A refreshing change from constantly being told to dumb down.

So after a happy couple of hours at Helmsley, our next stop was another EH site, to my mind one of the best in the whole country. It was of course Rievaulx Abbey. By this time (about 3.30 in the afternoon) a steady drizzle had set in, and only the most determined were exploring the site.

There was an 'event' here of sorts, but due to the rain and lack of visitors this had (by 5 o'clock) declined into four soggy people huddled in a tent playing 16th century music. Actually the playing was very good and the players extremely knowledgeable about the music, instruments and social world of the late middle ages. It was a shame that their expertise was only deployed on us and a group of three motorcyclists.

Leaving the Abbey (reminiscent in many ways of Tintern) we decided to climb up onto the moors to see some bleak landscapes, and so indeed it proved. En route we made a visit to the former iron calcining kilns at Rosedale Ironworks...

...where we spotted a black grouse. We then descended the extraordinarily steep Chimney Bank into the valley - then, noticing the word 'Brewery' on the map, decided to reward ourselves with a couple of pints at the New Inn at Cropton, home of the Cropton Brewery. Marvellous beer - between us we had some Endeavour Ale (lovely), Honey Gold (not enough Honey for Kate's southern palate) and my favourite... Monkmans Slaughter.

But this was not all, for now we needed to get back to Beverley. Which we did by way of a convoluted route via West Heslerton (where I worked in 1990) and back through Malton, stopping on the way for rather average food at Rillington. We got back to Beverley at about 10.30, to see the Minster all lit up (a rather blurred photo though I am afraid).

The next day was Monday, and the end of our holiday was aproaching. But there was time to go and have a look round Beverley Minster in the morning, including a guided tour of the roof. Quite a marvellous experience, they certainly don't grow oaks like that any more (and probably haven't since the 1300s). Graffiti scratched on the window glass was quite interesting, including various wartime aircraft; and of course the main attraction was the treadwheel for hoisting materials up to the roof through the giant roof boss at the centre of the church.

After descending we followed the Beverlonians' advice to get lunch at the Church Hall, where a slice of cake was 80p and a cup of tea 50p. And what marvellous cake, all home made and indeed sold to us by the (somewhat competitive) women who made it.

After this a quick visit to Hull to say farewell to granddad and Pat, and then the inevitable tour of industrial buildings - including various oil works, a flour mill and a paint factory - which Kate put up with remarkably patiently.

On the way home we stopped at Roche Abbey in South Yorkshire. This was very disappointing since it was closed (at only about 3.30 in the afternoon on a Bank Holiday monday), and various persons from Rotherham were scattered around in a faintly menacing manner.

So we moved on, got a cup of tea on the motorway and then drifted through Chesterfield and came to rest in Bakewell in late afternoon sunshine. (The last time we visited Bakewell it was a bit colder). There was lots of traffic going the other way by this time as the hordes of Sheffielders were returning home, but we had a lovely amble through Bakewell. Here is Kate on the bridge looking at geese and ducks...

It was then a case of bimbling through the Peak District, pausing at the wonderfully picturesque village of Parwich. Here we stopped for a pint, sitting in the beer garden watching the evening sunlight ripple on the stream and caress the lush grass of the village green.

After stopping in Ashbourne for a rather dull pub meal - well the meal was dull but the characterful serving crone and the pub was rather entertaining - we finally made it home to Shropshire... another wonderful weekend.

German cars

2008-05-06T14:35:00.003Z

This probably isn't the time or place to detail the shortcomings of the insurance claim, although a full account of the nonsense will emerge in due course. However in the meantime they have provided me with alternative transport, which must sadly end at the end of this week. The first car was a Vauxhall Astra, which was so uncomfortable and cheap that I asked for something else. Since my lost car was a Saab they felt that I was entitled to something more upmarket. So I was "upgraded"...

First upgrade was a Mercedes B-Class. Not the Mercedes I would have chosen if I had the choice, but it grew on me over the two weeks or so and 1200 miles. Extremely well-made and very comfortable. This particular version was the diesel automatic so it was dreadfully slow... however it managed to do about 40mpg! Cruise control, automatic wipers, automatic lights - really very relaxing to drive - almost too relaxing in fact sometimes (on an empty motorway) to the point of boredom. It felt very safe and solid, and the stereo was superb. Sadly last week the car hire firm rang me up to tell me that "the vehicle is life-expired" and I had to hand it in for something else. I had to laugh at the idea of a car being life-expired at 10,000 miles (and a Mercedes at that).

Sadly the car I was asked to swap into was a bit downmarket. Yes, horror of horrors, the ultimate cheap tart of the roads... a BMW. And a BMW 1-series at that.

I have to say this was the most uncomfortable car I have been in for a long time. No matter how hard I tried all the very many levers which adjusted the seat I was unable to find a driving position which enabled me to simultaneously be (a) reasonably comfortable, (b) see where I was going, and (c) reach the controls. Eventually a compromise was reached but this did my back no good at all. It was nice, after the Mercedes, to have gears again - no less than 6 gears in fact - and a petrol engine. But all of the gears were very close together and 6th was a lower ratio than 5th in the Saab, so it was not a very relaxed long-distance car. Very very firm ride, horribly firm seats and completely un-intuitive controls. However I seem eventually to have got the hang of it, although the crappy indicators were crap. Like the Merc it had auto-wipers and lights, but it didn't deploy either with the same intelligence as the Merc so these features were pointless and even dangerous in the gathering gloom of a rainy Humberside evening. In its favour I would say that it handled beautifully, extremely well balanced and very nice to have rear-wheel drive, very good on the twisty bits and some very neat touches. Tiny tiny boot though - and not hugely economical, managing only about 36mpg over the first 500 miles or so.

Can't wait to get back into a proper car with comfortable seats. Although whether the measly sum the insurance are offering for the written-off Saab will stretch to another one quite as good remains to be seen.

Southern adventures: Dorset and beyond...

2008-04-28T08:30:00.005Z

At the weekend we took the Mercedes to Dorset In fact we ended up in Wiltshire and Hampshire as well, generally having a marvellous adventure in the proper manner. Our intention was to go to Salisbury, and indeed we did, but in an indirect fashion due to spotting a Saab for sale in the Dorset Echo and going to visit it. Curiously the seller was from the Isle of Wight and was acquainted with Andrew Prideaux of all people... but the car was not quite what was wanted so we set off again (Kate being pleased to have been thought of as the owner of the Mercedes!).

We arrived, rather by chance, in Breamore - just over the border in Hampshire. Attracted by the thought of a tea room in the grounds of a large country house, we discovered it was closed on Saturdays so went to inspect the nearby church instead. And what a marvellous church it was! Lots of surviving Saxon fabric, some later medieval wall paintings and a quite magnificent yew tree in the churchyard. This tree, which you can see on the right-hand side of the photo above, is probably as old as the church.

We got to Salisbury in time for lunch, but delayed tea and pizza in order to visit the quite remarkable church of St. Thomas a Becket, built as part of the new planned town of Salisbury in the 12th century. A quite magnificent interior, including the (much-restored) Doom painting of 1475 over the chancel arch (photo below), plus a good collection of 17th and 18th century funeral hatchments.

After wandering the seemingly endless streets of Salisbury...

...including a slightly expensive visit to a delightful secondhand bookshop in a quite wonderful state of temporary chaos, we moved on out of the new town and to Old Sarum. Here a quite marvellous iron age earthwork adapted as an early medieval castle, town and cathedral and then abandoned in the thirteenth century as people moved to the new planned town of Salisbury.

This view is from the outer ramparts across to the inner fortification. A lovely walk in beautiful sunshine... followed by a pleasant trip back to Weymouth in the evening. We stopped en route at Old Wardour Castle, and then had a lovely meal and a pint at pausing only for food and drink at the Crown in Fontmell Magna. A very nice meal and a good pint as well - indeed a quite wonderful village with an old water mill and various other bits and bobs which we discovered on our post-pirandial stroll.

Next day was very dull, but we set off for Kingston Maurward in the morning for their open day. Needless to say the main attraction here were the various animals, but we also enjoyed a stroll through the grounds of the former country house (quite an interesting - albeit rather recent - history) and a tractor ride.

After this we went back to Weymouth to get our own animal, and then set off on one of our favourite journeys - westward through Abbotsbury and beyond. We had the inevitable Dorset Apple Cake and afternoon tea at Abbotsbury - the whole place rather alarmingly deserted despite now being well into the 'tourist season'. Thus fortified we proceeded to Seatown. This little settlement (a pub and a couple of houses) is very close to Chideock and famous - like most of this stretch of coastline - for smuggling and fossils.

The weather, murky to begin with, really began to close in as we set off up the hill. Moss was able to be let off the lead for a while, although her enthusiasm for rabbits and sheep meant that freedom was subsequently curtailed. By the time we had gone no more than a mile and a half we could barely see what we were doing...

...so we decided to retreat and return to Weymouth for warming up. Another wonderful adventure - typical of most weekends I suppose but perhaps a little less activity than most and so very relaxing.

The end of the road

2008-04-15T14:03:00.003Z

The poor Saab is no more, wiped out by an errant Nissan Micra hurtling towards us on the wrong side of the road. Luckily he admitted the error, and the motorcyclist behind us (miraculously undamaged) stayed as a witness. Fortunately we all survived more or less unscathed, although back and neck pain is now haunting us this week. It now remains to be seen whether the car will be written off - and how much the insurance will think it was worth....

More photos here.

The Regent's Canal, London

2008-02-19T08:27:00.003Z

Here is a selection of some of the photos from my walk last week. The full set can be found here. My walk took me from London Bridge, up through Brick Lane and Bethnal Green to Hackney, where I joined the Regent's Canal. I then walked westwards to Paddington following the Canal...

This building off Royal Mint Street was part of the Goods Depot for the London, Tilbury and Southend Railway, which opened in the 1850s. The viaduct behind carries the line from Fenchurch Street Station, which is about 500m to the west (ie. left of the photo).

Typical late suburban church, this is St. Matthew's at Bethnal Green. The parish of Bethnal Green was created in the 1740s in response to urban expansion after two centuries of immigration to the area. The church was completed in 1746. Destroyed by fire in the 1859 and rebuilt, destroyed by bombing in 1940 and rebuilt... its history reflects that of London as a whole.

"When I am rich, say the bells of Shore- ditch." I have spared you the sights of Brick Lane and the Bethnal Green gas-holders (for these you can see the album on facebook), and jumped straight to the canal. Shoreditch was, of course, another outlying village (centred around St. Leonard's Church) until urban growth in the 17th century finally caught up with it and made it a suburb of Hackney. The creation of the canal in the early 19th century brought trade and industry, all of which is now pretty much gone and the waterside is now almost exclusively apartments and offices. Below is one of the surviving wharves at Haggerston, with canal boats tied up over winter.

Here some of the nice low-key streets of Islington (ish), all mid-19th century and the second generation of urban housing in this area. This is Arlington Square, looking very pretty with the winter sunshine on the typical London yellow brick; nice to see relatively normal two-storey houses.

Looking back towards the Wenlock Basin. This is an interesting bit of canal, with industrial buildings on one side and a wall constructed of bits of a reverberatory furnace (?ferrous?) on the other. Shortly after this I had to leave the canal (which proceeded gracefully through the Islington Tunnel, and climb up the hill across Islington. After a short diversion to the Antiques Mall (and a cup of tea stop), it was back down again to the canal via Chapel Market.

The canal then winds it way round the back of Kings Cross and St. Pancras Stations - now greatly altered since I last wandered around here taking photographs in 1989 (amazingly 19 years ago!). I should scan them in and put them on here, actually, that might be interesting. This is a view of one of the last of the famous St. Pancras gas-holders, with the Post Office Tower (now itself a listed building) in the background.

Looking back towards the gas-holder a bit further along. I am standing underneath the railway bridge to St. Pancras, completely rebuilt except for the outer steelwork (the inside of which is visible here painted green) as part of the redevelopment for the Eurostar trains. It is a shame that the French arrive here now instead of Waterloo, which was more appropriate - perhaps St. Pancras should be renamed 'Agincourt' or something to make up for it?

Reflections of various 20th century archit- ecture in the water near Camden Town.

Scene of peaceful- ness and tranquility at Camden Lock, the area still vibrant and full of hippies despite the recent fire. Lots of self-consciously 'alternative' types here, mingling about and trying to look moody and interesting but occasionally letting their mask slip and smiling in their enjoyment of the clear winter sunshine. By the time I took this photo it was about 3pm and the sun was getting lower in the sky...

...so I moved on to more salubrious areas with increasingly substantial houses. These are on the back of Jamestown Road, each having a garden running down to the canal with its own private mooring. Gradually the houses get larger and more graceful as the route moves westwards away from Camden...

...and then suddenly the canal enters Regent's Park, passing through the middle of London Zoo. So for a while there were jackals and hyenas running alongside the towpath, as well as the very impressive aviary seen here (designed by Cedric Price).

Further along some very expensive houses fooled the eye for a while but are all clearly brand spanking new, forming part of the Regents Park development by Quinlan Terry. This particular one is the 'Regency Villa' (2002-2002), the last in the series is still being built. The project has not been without some controversy, with genuine Regency structures being demolished to make way for the new ones.

Finally, after walking through the short Lisson Grove Tunnel, I had to leave the canal when it plunged into the Maida Hill Tunnel. A short walk through posh late nineteenth century suburbs, and I arrived at the western portal. By this time the sun was now very low and beaming into the tunnel - lighting up the roof and reflecting in the water in this rather marvellous fashion. Below is the view from more or less the same point but in the opposite direction, looking from the Maida Hill Tunnel along Blomfield Road. A very tranquil scene in the winter, although I suspect rather busier in the summer. I was actually surprised at how little-used the canal was - with the exception of one British Waterways maintenance barge near Kings Cross, there was no traffic on the waterway at all.

At the end of this stretch is the so-called 'Little Venice' (although it seemed more like 'little St. Petersburg' or 'little Birmingham' in character really), where I turned left to finish my walk in Paddington Basin.

Tired of life? ...or Bjorn Again!

2008-02-18T08:52:00.003Z

Last week I was in London for much of the time, at some interesting meetings of various archaeological bodies - including the IFA and the Society for Post-Medieval Archaeology. Change is very much in the air for the profession as a whole, and for the study of the more recent past (post-medieval, historical or industrial archaeology). In some ways the two changes are linked.

London is enormous, dirty, oppressively busy, impersonal and exceedingly expensive. One can, I feel, be tired of London if not entirely ready to throw oneself off one of its elaborate bridges. If you do, of course, Big Brother will certainly be keeping an eye on you, as here at Tower Bridge...

This photo is one of a series I took on Wed- nesday, which I shall post on here when I have a bit more time. I was able to spend the whole day walking around London seeing very few people and having a nice peaceful and tranquil time. Reflective, in fact. I set off from Tower Bridge Road, across the river and then up towards Bethnal Green where I joined the Regent's Canal. I then followed the canal westwards, pausing only in Hoxton to have lunch with a friend from the Museum of London. Apart from having to climb over the hill at Islington and Maida Hill rather than swim along the tunnels, I was able to follow the canal all the way to Paddington Basin.

This view was taken about halfway along my walk, in beautiful crisp winter sunshine. We have had quite a lot of that lately, very cold but very clear days with fantastic light. Mid-week in February I had the canal pretty much to myself. My enthusiasm for walking along the canal from Shropshire to London is certainly increasing.

After a lovely Thursday night Valentine's Meal at the Baltic restaurant (lovely venue, nice food, slightly overpriced, average service) I returned to Shropshire on the train. Kate then treated me to her own Valentine's event - all the excitement of Bjorn Again in Malvern... an extremely entertaining evening in fact, a very professional show which managed to include elements of the Police, Status Quo and various other '70s groups - plus lots of dancing by overweight middle-aged women in the audience. Then yesterday we went to Chester for an afternoon of shopping. Up early this morning and now back in the office.

More details of all adventures to follow, hopefully, when I have more time. Plus the long-awaited retrospective...

Moss on Holiday

2008-02-11T16:07:00.001Z

Well it was very sad on Sunday to see the departure of Moss, who has spent the last two weeks enjoying the delights of Shropshire. Despite being an old lady in terrier terms she was bright and lively and full of beans, and seemed to be very happy once she had settled down into a routine.

This is one of her favourite walks through Blists Hill. Squirrel-filled woods on the way, a Victorian town with various animals and its own set of muddy squirrely woods, and then more woods on the way back. What more could a Moss ask for. In the evenings we would have a pint at the All Nations.

Fantastic company for two weeks, and a wonderful little character. No doubt she will have her own version of events on her own blog.

Walk in Wolverhampton

2008-01-25T14:16:00.005Z

Happy New Year to all - it has been a long time since I have posted on here. Life has been busy and much has been missed. At some point if I have a moment (a moment in which, at the same time, I have all the necessary photos) then I might do a retrospective of the last part of the year - which included trips to Croatia and Spain and much more besides.

Anyway, this morning I was in Wolverhampton - part of the long-running saga of the car's cooling system. This time the heater core inlet pipe had split (on the way to York on Monday and almost instantly half of the water squirted out). Needless to say I had to buy both the inlet and outlet pipes to sort it out. Bits of tape have kept it together for the time being.

Needing to go to the town centre, I walked from the garage mainly along the canal. The full set of photos is on facebook but here is a selection.

Just next to the garage is the tip (or 'community recycling facility') as it is known. This sign, now hidden in the foliage, is, in its current context, quite an amusing survival from whatever the previous use of the land was...

A bit further along I got to the canal via the Gorsebrook Bridge, a nice ferro-concrete bridge of the 1930s, spanning the canal near Lock No.15 (of 21) which was itself built in the 1860s.

Looking back down my route (ie. away from the City Centre) from Lock No.11 (I think). In front is the Wolverhampton Low Level railway line, with the High Level line (the main line from London) behind it.

One of the saddest sights in Wolverhampton for some years has been the old Mitchell and Butler brewery outside the station. This Victorian tower brewery was in use until about 2001, but was subject to an arson attack in 2004. In late 2007 development began at the once-evocative derelict Low Level Station to turn it into an anodyne set of luxury apartments. It seems that the brewery has gone the same way...

Again, more photos on facebook. To finish with a couple of shots of canalside architecture. The first, from the bridge below the top locks, is looking towards Wolverhampton city centre with the Chubb building (of lockmaking fame) prominent in the background. The second is of the street entrance of the Broad Street Canal Basin, which was looking quite atmospheric with the sunlight streaming through. Note also the giant BR sign on the station car park in the background.

Well that's all for now. I know why I gave up posting to the blog - it is much too time-consuming and stressful to get all the photos lined up right etc. However I shall persevere and try to put some more on soon. Walking down this short stretch of canal - a couple of miles I guess - made me think a bit more about my plan of walking from Shropshire to London along the canals...

Great Dorset Steam Fair

2007-09-06T08:35:00.004Z

Where else but in late-summer rural England could you find the Great Dorset Steam Fair? Only forty minutes in the Hippo from Weymouth. Perhaps inspired by last year's visit to Sherbourne (and the subsequent reminder from Dad that nothing much has changed since I was six!)... Kate, Moss and I paid a visit on Sunday – the final day of this five day festival of steam, beer, folk music, rusty junk and high-cholesterol food.

Reflections

In several fields near Blandford gathered the largest assemblage of steam engines, tractors and other miscellaneous vehicles – as well as a substantial funfair, extensive spare parts market, and substantial array of food and drink stalls. The history of the development of mobile power and traction through the nineteenth- and twentieth-centuries was wonderfully displayed in a landscape full of possibilities for ethnographers of early twenty-first century English identity.

Steam engines large and small.

Kate and Moss, looking surprisingly happy?!

Happiness for boys of all ages...

I shall burble on no more; I think we all had a good time. Despite previous boyhood enthusiasm and present-day adult delight, I regret that I am unqualified to comment on the differences between a 'Fowler' and a 'Foster', let alone the subtleties of an 'Aveling and Porter' versus a 'Burrell'. However, as an archaeologist what I can do is to arrange my observations by date range and typological characteristics. An outline of the history of different engine types can be found here. During the day my admiration grew for the dedication of all the enthusiastic and heroic preservers of our industrial past. We begin with some animal power...

Before steam there were horses.

Marvellous horse-drawn fire engine at full pelt.

Sheepdog demon- stration (sheep replaced by ducks due to foot and mouth).

Nicely-restored shepherds (or possibly duck-herds?) cabins.

Early incursions into the monopoly of the horse were made during the widespread agricultural 'improvements' of the nineteenth century. (Although to my eyes, some of these steam-powered ploughing arrangements did not seem to be much quicker or less labour-intensive than their horse-powered predecessors).

Early stationary engine on the move.

Steam ploughing engine of c.1870, function defines purity and elegance of form.

One of many active demon- strations of 19th century threshing.

By the end of the nineteenth century the steam engine had come into its own as a source of power for haulage and a wide variety of other uses. No worries about carbon footprints in those days, of course. Undoubtedly the most impressive part of the show for me was the 'heavy haulage arena' - a variety of traction engines pulling a wide range of heavy loads up and down hills all day. It looked like great fun for the exhibitors, never mind the audience!

Britannia certainly leading the way in fossil fuel pollution (more irony evident here as there is lots of smoke and heat, but the lightbulbs are still not working!)

A trio of heavy smokers wheezing up the hill

Driving without due care and attention?

Two delightful smaller engines at rest

'Lord Kitchener' – surely the prettiest steam- roller?

Throughout the dry dusty day it was of course necessary to keep all participants fully topped up with fuel and liquid...

Moss anticipating her share of ham and cheese rolls.

Carbon- rich food for the steam engines.

Thirst quenching (1)

Thirst quenching (2) - "You said you wanted four sugars!"

There seems to be a disproportionate number of surviving 'showmen’s' engines. In part this is due to their continuation in use long after agricultural efficiency had rejected steam in favour of diesel; it also probably reflects the early enthusiasms of the engine preservation groups. Of course some steam engines are more glamorous than others. Unlike the 'working' engines which were charging around the arena these were mainly stationary. Most interesting were the engines still connected to their original fairground attractions (such as the 'Steam Yachts' and the various carousels).

Heavy metal film star

Aquarius

Wallis and Steevens

Under pressure...

The petrol age was also well-represented by exhibitors (not to mention the surrounding acres of visitor car parking!). There were probably as many old tractors as there were steam engines, and as many ‘wartime’ vehicles as both of them put together. Only room for a couple of scenes from these areas of the show...

No-one had the heart to tell him his front axle had been stolen.

Chief Engineer (don’t tell Moss!)

Finally, a couple of photos for the Australian contingent...

Every new home in the hills should have one.

Waiting for the billy to boil?

I hope you appreciated this post; normal service will be resumed shortly!

ss. Great Britain

2007-09-05T11:47:00.003Z

By popular request (believe it or not) I was going to post today about the Dorset Steam Fair which we visited at the weekend. However, for various technical reasons that will now have to wait until tomorrow. Instead, you will have to make do with some thoughts and pictures on my visit last week to the ss. Great Britain - made en route back to Shropshire from Dorset.

The last time I visited the Great Britain was probably when I was about 8 or 9. I remember subverting Ben Kempton's birthday trip to Bristol (in which we went ice skating) and have a great time running around what was then a pretty much empty hull. Two restorations since then, which included urgent conservation work by Telford-based Eura Conservation (whose premises I visited only a few months ago), and the ship (and visiting experience) certainly deserves its Gulbenkian Prize.

Probably the most remarkable feature is the new glass 'roof' to the dry-dock which has created a sealed low-humidity room for the lower hull. Note all the extraction pipes.

The glass also supports a thin layer of water on top, giving the impression of the ship afloat when you are at ground level. The glass has gone a bit green since originaly installed, but the effect is still excellent.

This is the view I remember from 25 years ago, now only retained in the bow section. The interior also contains dehumidification equipment. The rear parts of the ship have had their original interiors re-created.

Another impressive 'new' feature is the reconstruction of Brunel's original engine - a full sized 1:1 working model which occupies the whole centre part of the ship.

The first class dining room, recreated in all its glory.

The ship is presented more or less as she was on her maiden voyage in 1845. The story told in the accompanying museum is excellent - unusually you enter the museum in '1970' (when the ship was returned to Bristol from the Falkland Islands) and go backwards through time to her construction from 1839. I have to say that this innovative idea didn't quite work for me, but I went backwards through the exhibition again after visiting the ship and appreciated it much more. The four phases of the ship's history prior to restoration were well-described, lots of interactives and excellent and friendly staff. On board you were free to wander around at leisure.

For me it was quite a novel experience to see a museum which clearly enjoyed joined-up managerial thinking! For instance the website, exhibition, guidebook and everything was entirely consistent in content and presentation. The need to get additional income from corporate events had clearly been planned in advance (shock horror!) so that potential clashes between curatorial accuracy and event operations were kept to a minimum (ie. there was space to store chairs, service the catering etc. etc. without unsightly piles of stuff in the corridors).

So hats off to the ss. Great Britain, and although the £10.50 admission charge was a bit steep, at least the ticket is infinitely re-useable for a whole year.

Guernsey

2007-08-30T08:54:00.006Z

The 'overseas' tradition for Kate's birthday has happily been maintained with a wonderful weekend in Guernsey. This idea partly came from an expedition to Jersey earlier in the year (sadly not reported in the blog). This will be another long post with lots of photos!

In contrast to the rest of the summer, the weekend weather was pretty good. We set off from Weymouth very early, leaving the house at 6 am to get the 7 am boat to St. Peter Port (many thanks to Steph for the lift!). It was an uneventful voyage (particularly for Kate, who slept the whole way) but needless to say provided an opportunity for some photos. The crossing was unbelievably calm, the English Channel was literally as flat as a mill pond - or "as calm as custard" as they say in Australia.

Weymouth looking particularly stunning in the early morning light.

Oil tanker moored off Portland.

Mid-channel waters in the mist.

Although the mist prevented a clear view of the Channel Islands on our approach, by the time we reached the entry to St. Peter Port the sun had broken through.

Passing the lighthouse and breakwater at Castle Cornet.

On arrival we collected our hire car (of which more below), and set off with Kate at the wheel. Our first journey lasted approximately 400 metres, as we drove around the harbour to find somewhere to park to visit Castle Cornet. Fortunately, thanks to the fast ferry, we had arrived just after 9 am so there weren't too many tourists around; also parking in Guernsey was entirely free!

The harbour at St. Peter Port.

Castle Cornet

This formidable fortress guards the entry to St. Peter Port and has had an interesting history. I think it is the first English castle we have visited which has been held for any length of time by both the French and the Germans! The earliest parts of Castle Cornet were built in the first half of the 13th century, with further additions over the next hundred years. Despite this it was captured by the French in 1338. Fortunately order was restored after seven years, and subsequent English-built defences included a massive stone keep and a barbican.

Tightly twisting defensive passages made attack difficult.

Site of the keep, or donjon.

Improvements in artillery meant that further additions were made in the 16th century, including various external bastions and numerous internal alterations. During the Civil War (in which Guernsey generally supported the Parliamentarians) the Castle remained staunchly Royalist and was effectively beseiged for nine years. After this, lightning struck the 'donjon' in 1672, narrowly missing the Governor but killing his wife and destroying much of the interior accommodation. So large parts of the interior of the castle date from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.

Princess in the castle.

View over castle roofs towards St. Peter Port.

In the nineteenth century the castle (formerly an island) was linked to the mainland. Further additions to the defences were made by the Germans between 1940 and 1945, usually comprising reinforcement and improvement of the 19th century gun positions.

We particularly appreciated the guided tour of the castle, given by Fred Gallienne. He was an entertaining and knowledgable guide who provided a characterful interpretation of historical events. Of course with that surname he may even be one of Kate's relatives! (about which more information below...)

Fred Gallienne.

On the whole the castle was excellent value, although the tea served in the tearoom was not the best. Having said that the shop was excellent with lots of books (hooray!) and I was able to load myself down by buying various archaeological reports (published by the Guernsey Museums Service and very good value). Afterwards we wandered back into St. Peter Port to have a look round and get some food. St. Peter Port is a very hilly town with lots of narrow winding lanes and overhanging buildings. A French influence is very much present in aspects the architecture and in some of the public spaces, but the overwhelming impression of the place (for me at least) was much closer to some of the smaller West Country towns such as Dartmouth or Totnes.

We finally stopped for food in a slightly snooty Italian-ish restaurant, the name of which escapes me. The food was OK but really we chose it for the view...

Yes, its that castle again!

After lunch we wandered up the hill to visit...

Hautville House

Hautville House was the residence of Victor Hugo during the 1850s. The writer was exiled from his beloved France due to his dislike of the autocratic Napoleon III, and chose to live in this house in Guernsey. His taste in interior decoration was quite remarkable, basically scavenging items of unwanted old furniture and cutting them up to create bits of wall, ceiling and new furniture. Outside the house was fairly conventional...

View from the garden.

...but inside it was a complete fantasy of madness and delight. His main passion seemed to have been for sixteenth and seventeenth century carved chests and tables, but he also had a good line in Dutch tiles and French tapestries of the same period. Carpets on the ceiling, glass in the walls and doors as tables.

Dutch tiles (and tin-glazed earthenware!) incorporated into the dining room fireplace. The 'H' is for 'Hugo', obviously.

Re-used 16th century woodwork in the third-floor bedroom.

View from the writer's study on the top floor.

The house was very much a work of art in its own right, and was probably quite exasperating for Mme. Hugo (not to mention Victor's various mistresses) to actually live in. Very French of course, lots of symbolism with various Latin and French inscriptions scattered around about family, ancestry and life in exile. Most of the main rooms were very dark, leading up to a symbolic 'study of light' at the top floor. In stylistic terms the house was full of interesting echoes of the earlier work of William Blake, but it was also anticipating (by about 50 years) a lot of the aesthetic qualities of the Arts and Crafts movement.

Hautville House is certainly to be recommended. The whole house is owned by the City of Paris, and so it was staffed by French museum service employees. It is probably the only French museum in the world that charges entry in pounds sterling! Of course being French there is no tearoom, and surprisingly few useful books on sale (a couple of paperback versions of Les Miserables etc. but no biography of the man or history of the house).

Birthday meal

After the Victor Hugo house we spent some time exploring the alleyways of the town... apologies for trying not posting every single photograph - it was certainly extremely pictureque but I shall try and limit the length of this post. I might do a supplemental one a bit later! We eventually returned to the car (having reached the end of our free ten-hour parking) and drove to the hotel.

We stayed at the Hotel Bella Luce, which was in St. Martins. I have to say that (apart from variable water pressure and slightly dated decor) the hotel could not really be faulted. Food, service and accommodation was excellent. My overall impression was of a good quality but rather old-fashioned hotel in gentle decline.

Hotel Bella Luce, with birthday girl in the foreground.

On the recommendation of the hotel we set of down several winding lanes and eventually ended up at The Auberge restaurant. We were warmly welcomed and given a table, despite the fact that we mistakenly arrived at the back door without a reservation, and it was already 7.45 on Bank Holiday Saturday and the restaurant was fully booked.

The girl at the hotel had mentioned the nice views, but it was still breathtaking. It was quite marvellous to sit out on the terrace and watch the sun set...

I took this photo without even getting up from my seat!

Starters...

The food was excellent. After three courses and a cheeseboard it was too dark to see what we were doing, but this did not of course impair the flavour! We enjoyed the whole 'Auberge' experience tremendously. We both agreed that this was certainly in our top five of restaurants around the world. A good birthday meal then, it would seem.

The car

And now a word of praise for the perfect tool for exploring small islands - the Ford Ka. Car hire is remarkably cheap on Guernsey, and the island is so small that we used barely a thimbleful of petrol. Nothing more than this is needed really, the maximum speed limit is 35 mph and the roads are very narrow.

Car and driver posing just prior to a tea-stop.

'High-speed' curves in the Val des Terres!

Fortifications and beaches

Sunday dawned misty and dull, and in fact it wasn't until mid-afternoon that the sun was able to break through. Nevertheless we enjoyed an interesting day exploring the sights of Guernsey, basically driving round the whole coastline in a broadly anti-clockwise direction but with numerous detours and back-trackings along the way.

St. Sampson, port and ship- building centre. Mist-shrouded Castle Vale behind.

We had stopped at St. Sampson so that I could take a picture of the power station, which I shall not bore you all by reproducing here. A visit to nearby Vale Castle was sadly precluded due to its occupation for the weekend by a bunch of hippies who had blocked all the surrounding roads and parking spaces with their not very eco-friendly vehicles! However there was still plenty to see along the way, including various prehistoric monuments (see next section), and a substantial collection of 18th century defensive towers built to keep out the French. Of these probably the most impressively preserved was the Rousse Tower, complete with its original magazine (a building sensibly located some distance away!).

Rousse Tower

Sunday lunch was a complete contrast to the previous evening's meal! Having passed through a slightly scruffy-looking Cobo Bay to find the fish and chip shop closed and a rather dubious looking crowd at the only other visible establishment (the Rockmount Hotel), we eventually ended up at a characterful bikers' cafe in Vazon Bay. A large mug of tea and a plate of chips restored energy for further exploration!

All the other customers had arrived on two wheels and were outside smoking!

It was then onwards to the Pleinmont Tower, one of several large concrete watchtowers built by the Germans in 1940-45 as part of Hitler's 'Atlantic Wall'. This one has been preserved and is open as a nice low-key Museum. Thankfully many of the original features have been preserved and reinstated and there are no modern intrusions like railings, safety barriers and ramps.

Very modern sculptural appearance belies original sinister purpose.

Ooh, what big eyes you have my dear...

...all the better for seeing you with! View across Rocquaine Bay.

A brave climb up the ladder to the top, and the view was well worth it.

From Pleinmont (also lacking in tea) we visited what was effectively a much earlier version of the same thing, at Fort Grey. After a beautiful walk along the beach of the bay of Rocquaine we arrived at the Fort - another of the Guernsey Museum Service sites - to be given another friendly greeting and cheerful welcome.

View of the fort from the beach.

Fort Grey was the home of the Guernsey Shipwreck Museum, and very good it was too. An excellent display explaining the perils of Channel Island navigation, illustrated with examples of well-known shipwrecks through the ages and some explanation of the processes of maritime archaeology. Top marks from me.

Sadly there was no tea here either, but you will be pleased to learn that we were able to top up with a generous helping of this much-needed vital ingredient at the slightly tacky pearl shop opposite.

Prehistory

In contrast to the extensively-preserved and well-presented medieval and post-medieval fortifications, Guernsey's prehistoric heritage is less well served. This appears to be partly due to the historical nature of archaeological enquiry on the island (there does not appear to be much in the way of a planning-led response to development, and what relevant legislation there is appears to be 40 years old). It also is a shame that some very magnificent sites are shown poorly on tourist maps, and are sometimes given very basic interpretation.

Our first visit was to Le Dehus, a chambered tomb near St. Sampsons. This was actually quite interesting as a study of antiquarianism - excavated twice in the nineteenth century, reconstructed, excavated again in the twentieth century and again reconstructed. Therefore the present monument may not represent the Neolithic original too closely! There is also no sense of what the surrounding landscape may have looked like.

The tomb entrance.

Interior of the tomb.

The 'Guardian' carved on one of the roof slabs.

We also had a look at some of the tombs near L'Ancresse Bay. Here the landscape is much more open - largely due to the creation of the un-natural and at times quite surreal landscape of the Royal Guernsey Golf Club. The golf course winds its way around various prehistoric monuments, Martello towers and German gun emplacements.

Entrance to La Varde, largest tomb on the island.

Excavated remains of Les Fouillages, dated to 4,500 BC.

It is not clear what damage the creation of the golf course has done to the archaeology, but if other examples are anything to go by then it is probably quite a lot. Undulations, bunkers, 'rough', and complex irrigation systems are quite intrusive features. Les Fouillages (above) was only discovered in 1977, and is perilously close to one of the holes - its excavation was probably prompted by alterations to the course, and it is difficult to say what else from the surrounding landscape may have been lost.

As well as tombs, Guernsey is home to a number of other prehistoric sights/sites. These include a couple of impressive figure sculptures, of which the most famous is the Gran'Mere de Chimquiere at St. Martin's church. We also visited her 'sister' at the Castel church. Both figures were carved in the Neolithic, but the "Gran'Mere" at least appears to have been augmented during the Roman period.

Gran'Mere at St. Martins.

It is certainly interesting to see continuity of worship on these sites for over 4,000 years. As you can see someone had placed flowers on the head of "Gran'Mere" for good luck. Her sister at Castel has been less well-respected - partly mutilated, she was buried under the church until the 1870s!

Family history

It was curious that first genuine Guernseyman that we actually met could have been a relative; and some of the remaining time on Sunday afternoon was spent visiting various sites of ancestral significance. Kate's great-grandmother, the distinctively-named Celia Cecilia Gallienne, was born in the 1890s in St. Pierre du Bois, and christened in the church there. So off we went...

St. Pierre du Bois church was built in c.1375 and extended in the fifteenth century. When we arrived the bells were ringing for the impending evening service, or perhaps to welcome the belated return of one of the flock. Certainly the vicar gave a very friendly "welcome home" to Kate! Curiously the church itself is built on a slope, and the interior of the church slopes up quite dramatically towards the altar.

St. Pierre du Bois church.

Searching for ancestors at St. Pierre du Bois, sadly without much luck.

The ancestors' connection with St. Pierre du Bois was perhaps quite fleeting, because most of the family appears to have been based around Torteval, a neighbouring parish. This was a very pretty church indeed, although quite modern as it was only built in 1818. It did replace an earlier church, and still contains the bell of 1432 - the oldest bell in the Channel Islands.

Torteval church, with its prominent spire - we had spotted this earlier in the day from the German tower at Pleinmont.

In the churchyard where every grave contains at least one Gallienne!

We also visited two other possible ancestral churchs but without much luck at finding relatives (or "rellies" as the Australians call them!). St. Saviours' church dates back to the twelfth century but may well be earlier as its graveyard includes a Christianised menhir. There was much later alteration, including (apparently) a series of wartime underground tunnels built by the Germans, who also used the tower as an observation post.

St. Saviour's church.

At Castel the Sunday evening service was in progress, so we didn't intrude and instead had a fruitless search of the rather large graveyard. This of course included, beside the main church door, the prehistoric female figure noted above. The church itself was first mentioned in 1158, but stands on or near the site of a Viking fortified settlement - hence its proper name of St. Marie de Castro (ie. St. Mary of the Castle). Of course the site's sacred significance may be much earlier indeed. Only a couple of (unrelated) Galliennes in the churchyard though!

Ste. Marie-de-Castro at Castel.

This entire family history exploration was all done on the basis of a half-hour search in the Guernsey record office by Steph some years ago. Nowadays a lot more information is more easily available and so further research will no doubt continue in the future. As we all know, once these things get started it is hard to stop!

...and finally

By the time we left Castel church it was about 7.30 pm and with a boat to catch at 10.00 that evening we decided to head back towards St. Peter Port and get some food. We ate at Christie's Restaurant, located on 'the Pollet', a very French-style street running parallel to the harbour. This was an excellent and good value restaurant, which in fact first been recommended to us by the girl in Boots (where Kate had stopped to buy some plasters for her blistered feet on Saturday). This was a lively and busy restaurant, with good food and nice wine.

En route up some of the famous steps of St. Peter Port, treading once again in the footsteps of the ancestors.

Eating in Christies - sadly the lack of wide-angle means the very French ambience of the outside street is not really visible. Kate is about to eat an enormous slice of deep-fried brie!

Very nice (if slightly blurred and/or sozzled) view on the way back to the ferry terminal.

The journey home was uneventful, another calm crossing which Kate took full advantage of to sleep in. We were back home by about half past midnight. Looking back it doesn't seem like we did a great deal in two days, but the main aim was really to relax and just bimble about. There is certainly at least another few days of adventure and exploration in Guernsey, and we are both very much looking forward to a return visit - it is after all nearer to Weymouth than Bristol!

The rest of the weekend was very relaxing, and no doubt a report on other adventures between then and now will follow shortly.

Hatfield House

2007-08-21T08:15:00.004Z

On Saturday we visited Hatfield House in Hertfordshire. Hatfield House is the home of the Cecil family, whose most illustrious ancestor was undoubtedly Sir William Cecil, Baron Burghley (1520-1598), chief advisor to Queen Elizabeth. In his day the main residence was a magnificent 15th century palace, formerly the property of Henry VIII and childhood home of Elizabeth. It is said that an oak tree in the grounds is where Elizabeth learned of her accesssion to the throne. Sadly most of the old palace was demolished in the early seventeenth century and only a fragment remains.

This is about one quarter of the original palace.

The present house was built by Sir William's son, Sir Robert Cecil - created first Earl of Salisbury in 1605. The house was built between 1607 and 1611 and is quite marvellous in all its seventeenth century detail. The gardens were also laid out at the same time - although, as with the house, various modifications have clearly been made subsequently. Robert Cecil died in 1612, so did not live to appreciate his house.

The south front, overlooking the park.

After the death of the first Earl of Salisbury there were a further six generations of Earls, before the seventh Earl was made Marquess of Salisbury in 1789. The current owner and occupant is the Seventh Marquess. As with most families the quality of individual generations has varied - some Cecils were Prime Ministers and Secretaries of State, others were drunken gamblers and traitors. At least they have all managed to keep the house and grounds - built at that pivotal moment in world history in the five years between the first and second successful English colonies in the new world (Jamestown 1607 and Bermuda 1612).

Detail of central part of south front, with date '1611'.

The east wing, overlooking the walled garden.

In fact the whole house spoke of transition from old to new world. In form and scale the Marble Hall was essentially a medieval great hall (replete with minstrel's gallery); in detail and function however it was clearly a post-medieval reception room designed to impress rather than to live in. Much more than functional passageways, the Long Gallery (with its later gilded ceiling) and Grand Staircase provided quite magnificent backdrops for art collections. Sadly we weren't allowed to take photos inside, but there are a few here.

It was an extremely damp and grey day and I am afraid that my photos are not brilliant. The gardens were pleasant but not wonderfully accessible. This is the walled garden between the old and new houses, now surrounded by a rather clever beech walkway and more 18th century in character than 17th.

Pretty Kate in the foreground, Old Palace behind.

Modern Elizabethan princess in front of worthies from an earlier Elizabethan age.

On the whole I have to say that Hatfield represented poor value for money for the general visitor. I was quite happy to be in the early seventeenth century, but still thought that nearly £30.00 for a two-hour visit was a bit steep. This comprised £9.00 per person entry, plus £5.00 for a guidebook - so that is £23.00 just to get through the door! Feeling thirsty afterwards we went to the cafe, where we were charged an astonishing £5.60 for a cup of tea, a small bottle of orange juice and two packets of crisps.

Looking gorgeous

2007-08-20T13:09:00.002Z

This is a picture of Kate looking particularly stunning in her red party dress. Sadly the photo doesn't really do her justice...

The occasion was her works do at Hanbury Manor in Hertfordshire. A not particularly distinguished but pleasant enough late 19th-century neo-Jacobean sprawling pile. The do itself (on Friday) was quite fun with various activities in the day (including hovercraft driving, falconry and such-like) and a meagre but good quality meal and bar in the evening.

Kate's colleagues at a well-known planning and historic environment consultancy (who shall remain nameless) were an interesting group of people and meeting them all was a fascinating experience. Many thanks and best wishes to all!

Festival of History '07

2007-08-16T08:55:00.003Z

For the first time in three years the weekend was dry and sunny! This was a bit of a shock to the system, and Moss in particular found it a bit hard going as the day wore on.

Kate and Moss

As usual the venue at Kelmarsh Hall was excellent, lots of large flattish fields for jousting, battles and runways. The marketplace was moved this year to a more peripheral location within the festival which was perhaps not ideal from the traders' point of view. Full marks to the English Heritage tent (sorry, 'pavillion') which was full of friendly and cheerful customer-focused staff. The EH book tent was quite seductive - the 10% discount a bit stingy I thought.

Needless to say we (mainly me) spent a fortune in the slipware stall (more of which in a future post). We also encountered our Czech glass-selling friend who we met at Dover Castle earlier in the year, and bought another pair of 16th century goblets. Some books were also bought.

Roman around the place

It seemed that there were fewer re-enactment groups this year. As usual there was a strong bias towards the 1640s, and increasing enthusiasm for twentieth century conflicts. Probably the Civil War and the two World Wars accounted for more than 50% of the re-enactors there. This is a bit of a shame, as other periods - and non-military aspects of life - are under-represented. Full marks though to The History Re-enactment Workshop and their recreation of an all-day dinner sitting of 1695.

Very well done, with guides on hand to explain what was going on (apologies for the poor lighting).

The medieval village was very good too (we had bumped into it earlier this year at Kenilworth Castle), as was the slavery re-enactment in the garden. However it might have been braver and bolder to have had a slave auction or even gangs of slaves chained up and being beaten to make the point more effectively - although no doubt some politically-correct idiot would have complained. The display of "Dogs through History" was not as good as we had hoped, being slightly marred by over-gratuitous 'sponsorship' from a dog-food manufacturer and by a general lack of action.

An heroic poodle (Moss was not impressed).

Probably the most marvellous event of the whole day was the Great War aerial combat. No less than 12 full-sized flying machines of the 1914-18 period took part in an extended fly-past that ended up in a massive dogfight. They flew so slowly and so close to the ground (compared to modern aircraft) - take-off took only a couple of hundred yards. It was Biggles brought to life and quite wonderful to behold. Here are some photos:

German monoplane strafing the crowd

Three British SE5's to the rescue!

Take that, sausage-eating Boche swine!

The Fokker triplane also takes a pasting...

A fantastic display. Most of the other aircraft landed elsewhere, but the four SE5s returned to base at Kelmarsh for the afternoon. The whole thing was made even more remarkable by the fact that one of the pilots was in fact an 83-year-old veteran Mosquito pilot of the Second World War. Hats off to him...

One of the SE5's coming into land.

Post-dogfight checks

We tried to get into the re-created wartime trenches, but there were enormous queues for this and in the end we were too late. We also missed most of the jousting, unfortunately. The final parade was fairly impressive - although again the overwhelming bias towards military history was slightly irritating. Some magnificent horses and wonderful costumes.

Some nineteenth century troops.

A thoroughly excellent day - made even more so by the un-roadworked motorway. Most bizarrely the M6 was entirely free of roadworks and other obstructions, so that the 78-mile journey took an hour and a quarter on the way in, and only an hour on the way back. Which is what it should do every day really, but the usual experience of the motorway network is rarely so pleasurable. Hopefully this is a permanent fixture and not an aberration. The whole day's experience was washed down with another fantastic meal in the Coalbrookdale Inn, with the usual cheeky banter from Danny and very filling plate-loads of food.

Vandalism

2007-08-15T12:30:00.003Z

The day started with one of my field officers ringing in to say that the site hut had been broken into and vandalised. The total tally for the theives was one roll of plastic sheeting, two water containers, three mattocks and some boxes. They wrote "we am good" on the outside of the portacabin. Presumed protagonists are bored teenagers on school holidays.

En route to the office I went past part of the rather grim Woodside estate, as I do every morning. Alas I did not have my camera to record the graffitti daubed on the wall, which read "nein polonskia". Little "NF" symbols as well. Presumed protagonists are ill-educated Telford chavs resentful that some people are prepared to get off their backsides and work, rather than sit in drug-addled idleness at the tax-payers expense.

Three thoughts revolve around my brain as a result of these unconnected but symptomatic incidents...

1. Graffitti is one thing, wanton destruction quite another.

2. Disenfranchisement? Or deliberate 'resistance' to authority? Or mindless destruction by barbarian hordes?

3. Complete and total failure of the state education system.

I mean if you are going to write a message of resistance, then at least make it understandable. I guess my reaction to the "nien polonskia" is in part reminiscent of the 'Romanes Eunt Domus' scene from the Life of Brian. I suppose this sort of thing has always gone on but it is quite depressing.

Finally, it's summer...

2007-08-06T09:00:00.002Z

...and what better place to be than sunny Weymouth? Hurrah! Saturday was chilled out, a nice potter along the sea front and some browsing in 'Books Afloat' (wherein Kate spent more than I did for the first time ever). In the afternoon we joined the pink hoards of grockles on the beach - Kate, like many fellow beach-goers, continuing to read the latest Harry Potter. I joined thousands of other non-residents in the sea...

(Picture taken post-swim)

...later on we took Moss for a stroll - a more detailed account of which can probably shortly be found on the Moss Blog. Needless to say she proved as stubborn as ever...

On this occasion wanting to join in someone else's game.

...but the light was beautiful and Weymouth was looking picture-postcard perfect on what was for me the first proper weekend of the summer.

Weymouth Harbour (not the first time this view has featured on the blog).

In the evening we took Steph and Harry out for a meal at the Mexican restaurant ('El Mexico'), which seemed less impressive than the first time we went (although we were arguably more sober this time). Full marks to the staff who were clearly very busy and apologetic for non-existent delays. Good customer service, even if the food was (at least on Saturday night) somewhat average.

On Sunday we took refuge from the hoards of newly-pink people in Weymouth and visited Lyme Regis. Partly in honour of Sir George, and partly to continue this most recent spate of book-buying (soon to end not least due to lack of funds). Lyme also had its fair share of tourists, but few of them seemed interested in books. The newly-refurbished gardens were quite impressive, last time I was here (in December 2006) the whole lot was undergoing complete re-landscaping. The weather since then has been less than helpful, so full marks to (presumably) the local authority.

Pink flowers overlooking pink people.

From Lyme we headed back towards Weymouth. This was the first run for the Hippo for a long while; since Kate started her job in London the Hippo has been largely laid up outside Meg's flat. En route we stopped briefly in Charmouth, on the trail of 'Lighthouse Books' which was in fact closed. After spotting this amusing example of clerical illiteracy...

...we bought some food in the village shop and then returned to Weymouth to grab Moss, and then on towards Lulworth to meet up with some of Kate's friends for a 'picnic' at Durdle Door. This was another fantastically glorious day with cloudless sky and temperatures in the mid or even high 20s. Marvellous. More swimming and general lazing about...

The picnic party (Moss of course taking centre stage).

Me, with approp- riately -named beer.

Glamour photo of eponymous beer - a very nice Weymouth- brewed ale.

Matt bravely hurling himself into the sea.

Sunset over Durdle Door and Portland.

All in all a fantastic weekend, an extremely relaxing break. Many thanks as ever to the usual culprits, and it is sad indeed that work and life prevent us both from spending more time in Weymouth, probably the most perfect seaside resort in the country.

Summer in Shropshire

2007-07-31T09:12:00.003Z

The summer has only just arrived here, as we have had a few weeks of floods. Actually the flooding in our part of the world has not been too bad - the problems came as the river waters moved down the Severn to Worcester, Tewkesbury and Gloucester. We did have some excitement a few weeks ago when about a month's rainfall fell in a day, and there was a fear at one stage that the Upper Furnace Dam at Coalbrookdale would burst. I am quite glad to have sold the low-lying house in Worcester (which did actually flood in 2004) and to be living on the hill in Madeley.

The river still quite high at Ironbridge on 21st July - although in 2000 it would have been over my head in this photo.

Last weekend we had a lovely time away from the pressures of work, which are particularly stressful at present. On Saturday we went to Ludlow - itself the victim of major flooding three or four weeks ago but now happily back to normal. Cheese and books for sale in the market place, so a happy day was had. We then went to little-known Richard's Castle, a few miles to the south. This is a very spectacular (disused) church and associated early medieval castle - largely surviving as earthworks.

Intrepid explorer on top of the castle - in fact standing on the buried masonry structure of the keep.

View from the castle, looking south-east over the Shropshire - Hereford- shire border.

Interior of the church, still with its original box-pews.

Still here!

2007-07-23T10:39:00.000Z

Still here but of late somewhat busy and there were technical problems. Lots to report from April, May and June...

...hopefully I will have time to post a bit more later in the week!

My early scientific career

2007-04-01T23:59:00.002Z

Here are some important non-archaeological studies, to which I made a valuable contribution by undertaking key data collection. Nowadays such work would be done by computer (or eastern European immigrant), but in those days only child labour was available. These are all clickable links to the abstracts of the relevant papers - although you can only download the full paper if you have a subscription.

The first four examples would not have been possible without the dedication of myself and my sister Anna in collecting and noting data from the lysimeter basement at Letcombe...

'A lysimeter system used to study the effect of transient waterlogging on crop growth and yield', in Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture, 31(2), 1980

'Effects of waterlogging at different stages of development on the growth and yield of winter wheat', in Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture, 31(2), 1980

'Effects of waterlogging at different stages of development on the growth and yield of peas (Pisum sativum L.)', in Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture, 31(9), 1980

'Effects of waterlogging at different stages of development on the growth and yield of winter oilseed rape (Brassica napus L.)', in Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture, 31(9), 1980

The next two papers were partly (or perhaps largely?) the result of me spending my school summer holidays in South Perth. Half the time I was in a shed somewhere in the grounds washing bags of roots (!), otherwise I was in the lab counting those very same roots under a microscope, and ears of wheat. Little did I realise the great contribution I was making to the study of:

'Growth, development and light interception of old and modern wheat cultivars in a Mediterranean-type environment', in Australian Journal of Agricultural Research, 40(3), 1989

and

'Root:shoot ratios of old and modern, tall and semi-dwarf wheats in a mediterranean environment', in Plant and Soil, 122(1), 1990

Still, I suppose this was no worse than washing sherds of broken pottery - indeed perhaps it was just the beginning of a career spent pointlessly washing mud and counting the things which emerged. Thanks Dad! (and congratulations on your new job)

Snowy Snowdonia

2007-02-13T11:02:00.005Z

This is the story of my Birthday weekend. Perhaps to make up for the relative lack of postings to the blog in recent months, this contains a lot of photos and text. I have reduced the photos so hopefully they will download OK but please be warned! (As usual you can click on the photos for bigger versions, but these are at a lower resolution than normal).

After a lovely snowy day on the Thursday (some photos of which on the Ironbridge Archaeology blog), Kate arrived and suddenly it was my birthday! She had arranged a special surprise…

…but first it was time to open my presents!

Then we set off to Wales! Driving up the A5, built by Thomas Telford in the 1820s. The snow started before we set off, and it snowed heavily pretty much all the way. As it turned out we actually set off in the right direction – Friday was a terrible day for the citizens of Telford by all accounts, and even the Museum had to shut early.

Journey through the snow

But the Museum, work and Telford were far behind us as we drove carefully up the gently winding contours of the Holyhead Road.

Somewhere near Llangollen.

Between Llangollen and Corwen.

A pretty barn on the A5 between Corwen and Betws-y-Coed.

I had in fact stopped at this point because the trees in the adjacent field looked particularly stunning. I was of course in ‘analogue’ mode (having remembered what conditions the blue filter was actually for!) and Kate had charge of the digital camera. The barn picture would not have worked in black and white. This roadside pause gave me a chance to clear the side windows and praise the Saab for having headlight wipers (and at the same time curse fellow motorists for not having clear headlights!).

Cleaning windows…wearing my lovely warm birthday jumper!

So on we went, up and into the snow. To arrive at Betws-y-Coed, famous for the cast-iron Waterloo Bridge of 1815 (no photograph, I am afraid but click on this link for some background), where we had a much-needed loo stop and bought some food. Betwys-y-Coed has three kinds of shops – a couple of reluctant cafes, a smattering of Welsh ‘craft shops’ (slate coasters and woollen dragons) and a veritable plethora of Outdoor Clothing specialists – of which more later. Everyone we saw in Betws-y-Coed was wearing Berghaus, Hawkshead, Peter Storm and so-on – whether this was because they were all outdoors types, or whether this was because this is the only clothing you can buy in Betws-y-Coed was not entirely clear.

At Betws-y-Coed.

Next stop was Capel Curig, which was stunningly spectacular in the snow. As you can see...

Tree.

Happy couple in a snowy fairytale landscape.

Pretty Kate beside the Afon Llugwy.

We continued up the A5 for a while. The weather was a mixed blessing – yes there are lots of snowy pictures, but also we couldn’t see glorious Snowdonia in its full glory. We arrived at Llyn Ogwen...

View of the lake, not least because low cloud hid the mountain!

Time for a quick snowball fight.

...we then decided to retrace our steps back towards Capel Curig, where we turned off the A5 and onto the A4086, which was the ‘main road’ to Caernarfon. Spectacular snowy views...

Llynnau Mymbyr.

Glyder Fach.

...and then down the Llanberis Pass.

Looking north-west along the foothills of Snowdon itself.

By the time we got to the bottom of the Llanberis pass we were below the snowline, and so we went for a short walk along the valley bottom.

A view up the pass, with Y Garn in the foreground and Glyder Fawr looming behind.

A cold person in the valley…standing less than 14km from his birthplace on his birthday!

Extensive slate workings at Dinorwig, the line of the inclined plane clearly visible.

We then stopped to have a look at Dolbadarn Castle, a very well-preserved 13th century motte-and-bailey. The beautiful round tower was actually reminiscent (to me) of the Iron Age broch at Dun Vulan, the excavations of which I worked on in 1990 and 1991 – a strong stone tower on an excellent defensive site with various passages and chambers in the walls. This was a wonderful site, with the foundations of the surrounding outer works surviving to an extent only dreamed of in England.

The tower, with out- buildings in the foreground.

View from the top of the tower up the Llanberis Pass.

View of foundations from the top of the tower.

Happy birthday boy at the top of the tower.

Finally we arrived at the Celtic Royal Hotel in Caernarfon. This was a luxurious hotel, with lots of good facilities and very nice food. The main lobby was spectacular, although the aesthetics of the architecture were somewhat patchy, it is fair to say.

Birthday champagne! (The dent in the ceiling and sub- sequent spillage on the floor don't need to be illustrated).

Where have we been and where are we going?

A very nice glass of wine to accompany the special birthday meal.

Caernarfon Castle

The next day we had a gentle start and wondered into Caernarfon. Obviously the main feature here is Caernarfon Castle and its associated walled town, built by Edward I in the 1280s. A site of ancient symbolic importance, a stronghold of the Welsh princes until the defeat of Llywelyn ap Gruffudd in 1282. The castle was built over a period of about 40 years (some interruptions caused by Welsh rebellions) and was more or less finished by 1330. It was the main administrative centre for the Welsh principality, and no expense was spared in its construction. Caernarfon, together with castles at Conwy, Harlech and Beaumaris, was made a World Heritage Site in 1987.

View of the main courtyard from the ‘Eagle Tower’.

At the side of the ‘Eagle Tower’ (post-birthday boy as scale).

Health and Safety notices. And how right they were!

Kate having conquered the main gate.

Surveying the latest conquest.

View from the highest tower over the town and towards Mynydd Mawr.

Horse riding

A quick cup of tea and toasted sandwich later and we set off for the main event – an afternoon of horse-riding. (Despite Belly’s scepticism) this was extremely enjoyable, although inevitably the character of the horses played a key role. Initially Kate was on ‘Hazel’, who was clearly in a bit of a mood – quite skittish and unwilling to be steered in the right direction. For my pains I was on ‘CJ’, a reluctant horse if ever there was one. Unwilling to lead, unwilling to trot, and extremely unhappy to go uphill (not a helpful attribute in Snowdonia), CJ’s best role was in keeping up the rear. After a very skittish (and scary) moment beside the narrow gauge railway, Kate swapped horses in mid-ride for ‘Thor’, an altogether better-tempered beast. ‘CJ’ of course stayed firmly in the rear.

Setting off, CJ still keeping up with the rest at this stage.

Oh dear, its uphill, not sure we want to go this way.

Kate on Thor, ready to tackle the mountains.

Taking pictures on horseback is not easy!

View en route. The warm sunshine (about 6 degrees) rapidly thawing yesterday’s snow.

Looking back to Caernarfon, the castle clearly standing out (behind the electricity pylon).

Horse and rider in perfect unity.

Back at base, CJ finally well-behaved!

Many thanks to the people and horses of the Snowdonia Riding Stables for an excellent day out. That evening we took advantage of the hotel’s swimming pool and sauna, and then had a wonderful ‘Valentine’s Special’ meal and a fantastic evening.

Across to Anglesey...

A gentle start to Sunday, although - despite the sauna and more very nice wine - we were still a bit stiff from the horse-riding. After a leisurely breakfast we decided to go to Anglesey in the beautiful clear winter sunshine.

The Menai Bridge, another Thomas Telford creation.

On the bridge.

First stop was Beaumaris Castle, another of Edward I’s creations – in fact the final and ‘most perfect’ design with no less than four concentric defensive walls. Building work took place between 1295 and c.1330, although the castle was never finished and its present state today is pretty much where work finished in the 1330s.

The main gatehouse; in the foreground is the dock which originally connected to the sea.

Inside the outer ward.

The north gatehouse, incor- porating the main hall.

View from the battle- ments back across the Menai Straits.

After the castle we had a much needed cup of tea before heading on towards the former monastic settlement at Penmon, and then a quick look at Puffin Island at the north-east corner of Anglesey. Here we had a view of the Great Orme before the weather finally closed in.

View up the strait from Lleiniog.

Industrial archae- ology! Lime kilns at Penmon.

Early medieval cross in the church of the former priory at Penmon.

A 16th century dovecote built from the ruins of Penmon Priory.

By this time it was mid-afternoon, and the clouds had come down, so we began the journey home in the rain. We stopped in Bangor for some provisions and wandered around a bit taking in the famous city where, 36 years and two days previously, momentous events had occurred. No trace survives, as this rather pithy Wikipedia entry makes clear! So we moved quickly on. On the way back we went via the A5 and spent a while wondering round the straggly and rather grey settlement of Tregarth looking for a dimly-remembered cottage, but to no avail. Through the gloomy slate-hewn landscape of Bethesda and then home.

A final view of the hills south of Bethesda.

On the way back we stopped again at Betws-y-Coed for a cup of tea from one of the reluctant café’s and some ‘sale bargains’ from outdoor shops. Kate bought a couple of tops, and I got some trousers – and a pair of wellies for £1, what a bargain!

A marvellous and wonderful birthday weekend.

How I spent January 2007

2007-01-31T09:58:00.004Z

Well it has been another long gap since the last post. Christmas has come and gone, and New Year has been appropriately celebrated. Adventures have been a bit think on the ground lately, and can only be sparsely illustrated due to the lack of digital photography.

This is Moss at Christmas time...

And here is a photo (from Matt's mobile phone) of the crowd about set out in celebration of New Year.

So in fact both of these photos were taken in December 2006, rather than January 2007. I seem to have been very busy, driving all over the place for work, but my mind has gone completely blank as far as 'exciting events' goes.

Having said that I did finally fill in my expenses claim for the whole of 2006, and the resulting large cheque has gone towards various self-indulgent purchases.

Not least (and much to my surprise) was a shopping spree in Bristol during the January sales. I managed to spend a lot of money (nearly £300) on clothes, a quite unprecedented amount by my standards, but for that I got a suit, five very nice shirts, three ties, two pairs of jeans, another pair of trousers and some socks. Very self-indulgent but once I got over the shock of having spent so much money I was quite pleased with myself!

I have also bought a laptop. This was not much more than the clothes in fact, but does enable me to work from home more effectively.

I have also bought some more fencing kit, following the wonderful Christmas present of a Leon Paul foil. I got some breeches and a lame, and so am now pretty much kitted out and ready for competition.

The final area of expenditure has been my continuing purchase of all available B&W photographic supplies that I can find (which are not many).

So January seems to have been a month of big spending. But at least I am now very well equipped with costumes and equipment for work, rest and play. Some belt tightening is probably in order for the next few months, however!

Merry Christmas

2006-12-21T13:30:00.001Z

and a happy, prosperous and stress-free New Year to all!

Christmas cheer...

2006-12-19T16:58:00.001Z

...on an industrial estate 'somewhere in Exeter'. Our English Heritage correspondent reported, quite simply, at 11.18 this morning: "I just went Carol singing! The salvation army were playing outside the office and I went and joined in.".

(Photo also by Kate).

Meanwhile we had our Ironbridge Archaeology Christmas lunch at the White Hart this afternoon, which was excellent.

X-TAG

2006-12-18T18:19:00.001Z

The rather pretentiously-named X-TAG took place in Exeter. X is for Exeter. TAG is Theoretical Archaeology Group. I had in fact not been to a TAG conference since the one in Manchester in 2002. Before that I went to the one in Birmingham, which was 1998. So it seems, quite by accident, that I have been to a TAG conference once every four years. It is always a big conference, if poorly-timed and almost exclusively academic.

My main interest was in the Metallurgy session organised by Lee Bray and Gill Juleff of the University of Exeter, and I also attended the session on liminality in historic cities. Kate went to the one on landscapes, and the party was good fun.

We bunked off on Sunday afternoon and went back to Weymouth via Lyme Regis. A couple of photos by Kate.

Looking west towards the Cobb

Looking east towards Charmouth

Despite the alluring quaintness of Lyme there was little in the way of Christmas presents. I had in fact visited Lyme on the Friday and got some (hopefully) quite spectacular photos (on film) of the waves breaking against the Cobb. There was a remarkable contrast between the windy, gloomy and wet conditions of Friday (when I was out and about on a day off) and the bright, crisp and sunny conditions of Saturday and Sunday (when we were in an archaeological theory conference).

Christmas is here!

2006-12-12T13:54:00.000Z

At the weekend Kate came up to visit and we got into the Christmas spirit! A tree, some tinsel and some candles and the house is suddenly very festive...

Entering the living room...

The fireplace and tree.

I am pleased with the new brickwork in the fireplace (reclaimed old bricks from the wall that previously blocked it off) and 'new' fireback in the fireplace. The side walls are plastered but not painted but the overall effect seems to work. The aerial photo of Bermuda fits the space above the fireplace well but is perhaps a bit out of keeping with the wintery scene; the dial on the far wall was acquired from the 'Exchange Brewery' in Sheffield in the days before its demolition (sometime in April or May 1996) and until now has never seen the light of day, so it is nice to have that on the wall.

I think the chimney is quite large enough for Santa to come down, so let's hope he makes it.

A (shortened) rant about Jessops

2006-12-11T17:37:00.001Z

(Slightly modified from yesterday's original, but still quite annoyed)

I am going to have a rant about Jessops, which describes itself as the 'largest photographic retailer in the UK'.

The situtation was in decline but has now reached rock bottom. For at least six months I have noticed that in all of their smaller branches (Weymouth, Telford, Wolverhampton, Shrewsbury, Dorchester etc.) they no longer sell cameras!. My definition of a camera is similar to that of the 'free dictionary', namely...

"An apparatus for taking photographs, generally consisting of a lightproof enclosure having an aperture with a shuttered lens through which the image of an object is focused and recorded on a photosensitive film or plate"

(Some light sensitive products...)

But I was very shocked to discover on Friday that even at the big Jessops in Birmingham (the so-called 'World Camera Centre') they no longer sell any cameras!! There is not a single item of equipment on sale where light is "focussed and recorded on a photosensitive film". Also they have closed their second-hand department, where only five months ago I bought my £15 Minolta MD 135mm lens. Even the so-called 'darkroom' section consisted simply of a couple of shelves of chemicals and paper. I immediately bought as much as I could carry away with me.

At the moment the only 'national' photographic retailers that appear to still be selling actual photographic equipment are the London Camera Exchange (30 branches) and Jacobs (although only just).

In another twelve months it will be impossible to walk into any shop off the street and buy photographic equipment.

Back again

2006-12-06T12:21:00.000Z

No postings for over a month, that must be some kind of record!

Well it has been a busy time lately what with one thing and another, and after Gran left us I didn't feel like updating the website with too many cheery images. Many thanks to everyone who left comments here and elsewhere, and to everyone for their support and love.

Life has moved on apace over the last six weeks or so, with changes at work and at home. Of the former not much to say at present, things are generally moving in a positive direction even if it doesn't always seem that way. At home, bits and bobs of the house continue to get done. The fireplace is now finished, but the fire itself draws rather badly and so more work is needed there. Meanwhile we have been up to many of our usual tricks socialising merrily here and there. Unfortunately I don't seem to have many photos to illustrate any of this, as they are all on Kate's computer or indeed non-existent. Instead, here is a seasonal picture from a previous adventure:

The River Severn at Buildwas, February 2006.

More will be uploaded shortly, if there is time and energy! I hope to feature not only the newly restored fireplace but also its recent festive makeover...

Bye Gran...

2006-10-19T08:53:00.000Z

Dorothy Smith, 1917-2006.

Many thanks to all the staff at Beckley Farm Lodge for looking after her. Here are some gran-related links that seem appropriate...

Thriftys
New Horizons
Oxfam Shops
Beacon Hill Park
The UK Tea Council
Words to sing along

Some more photos...

...taken by Mum during our visit to Canada in April 2004.

The notice behind says 'Please try to keep volume down' - no chance!

Me and my gran.

Archaeological investigator

2006-10-16T11:33:00.002Z

After an all-too-short weekend in Weymouth I am now back in Shropshire feeling very tired. I am preparing for the meeting of the Museum Board's 'Academic and Curatorial Committee' this afternoon, at which I have to present a coherent case for spending on conferences, publications and curatorial work over the next couple of years. We had a good weekend - buying some clothes, having a nice meal in Weymouth's Mexican Restaurant, and watching Hannah horseriding at the Affpuddle Hunter Trials. More about these exciting events will appear in due course, but for now here are some photos of Katie in action taken by her English Heritage boss Phil Newman whilst on Dartmoor.