I like Pete. He has the air of a man constantly harassed. Mind you though :-
- Tuesday – he was travelling down to the site on the A419 when he ripped the back trim off of the EH Mondeo going over some roadworks.
- Wednesday – Volunteers on site. No delivery of hard hats or safety shoes till later.
- Thursday – No JCB
- Friday – Access ramp trashed by @#%$ lorry driver (that’s a job description not a criticism)
Hmm…………. I can see why he always looks harassed. 
Poor man.
Conditions Hot, Cloud with periodic sun.
Good progress made today on the main trench (20m x 25m) and I spent a little time up on the section through the possible roman road/trackway (25m x 3m) nothing spectacular yet and no archaeology to back up the theory at this time – but you know what you get along roman roads? Speculation about that was rife.
One thing I haven’t mentioned is the mock excavation on-site. This is for KS2 children from local schools. “Be an Archaeologist for a Day” is the idea that Dawn,the Outreach Officer, will be promoting. The mock excavation looks like a raised bed (in gardening) it has a couple of “Roman walls” built into it and all this is filled with topsoil and pieces of pottery and other finds are spread within the fill. Each kiddy will be given their own little trowel and pointed in the direction of the pit. (someone suggested they should be given mattocks as well but he was sent off to help with portaloo emptying). The teachers and TA’s then swan off to the pub while Dawn and a volunteer or two “supervise”. (I’ve got at least 2 classes that I’ll be with !!!)
Anyway – end of day 3.
Day3
S.W. corner of Trench
Day 3
S.W. corner of trench. Think that might be a wall 🙂
Official EH update forWeek 1 – Day 3
Today we were again able to have a JCB which has meant that most of the topsoil has been removed from Trench 6. With luck we should be able to get rid of the rest of the modern material used to infill the road created in 1996 tomorrow. As we have moved across the area the pieces of Roman tile that we have found have increased in size. We are getting readily recognisable pieces of box-flue tile that would have been used to take hot air up the walls of heated rooms – possibly rooms in a bath-house, or bath-suite or a larger building, or domestic rooms with underfloor heating. In the south-eastern and south-western parts of Trench 6 we have been using tools a little more subtle than a JCB and, working with trowels, mattocks and shovels, have defined the walls we first saw on day 1. However we are now less certain that we have the backfill of the trial trench excavated by Bernard Phillips and Bryn Walters in 1997. In Trench 7 our team have been looking enviously at the JCB operating in Trench 6 as they have been removing the topsoil that underlay the turf. However the size of the trench has meant that machine stripping was not really a viable option. Despite this we may have already got the top of a ditch running parallel with the earthwork that may represent the Roman road. Roman roads normally have a drainage ditch either side, so currently things are looking good.
Tonight is our ‘Residents Evening’ when we give those people most directly affected by the project an opportunity to see what we are doing and ask questions about the project. Last year it proved popular and we were able to put people’s minds at rest with regard to concerns that we might be building a visitor centre outside their front windows! When we have finished this year we will know much more about the site, but again we will be reinstating the site as a green field.
Designed by Corinne Mills 2005
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