Despite the small turnout the trip was very enjoyable and we got to see quite a lot. The idea was to have a long distance trip similar to last year’s successful Orkney trip and Vindolanda, and the forts on Hadrian’s, seemed to be a suitable subject. You can follow the weekend event here
Great turn out for our summer trip this year which everybody body seemed to enjoy (helped no doubt in part by the fine weather. You can see all the details about it here
The weekend Festival and Open Day was a great success with a good number of volunteers and many visitors over the two-day event. Friday volunteer numbers were down (probably as it’s a weekday) but, on Saturday, we were oversubscribed.
Saturday’s volunteers and crew. Left to right: Chon, Tracey, Al, Darren, Alex, Vanessa, Bill, Patrick, Andy and Mark. Front row: Lily, Indiana (Bones) the dog and Lucas.
Throughout the two days we had a constant stream of visitors, particularly from the local residence who were keen to have a look at the Roman road we had discovered on their door step (encourage to have a look by Trevor acting as gatekeeper). It was particularly pleasing to see David Ratledge who hasn’t been too well recently – his Gazetteer of Roman Roads in Lancashire is quite comprehensive (and he’s currently working on roads in Cheshire – we all wish him well on this project).
Friday’s contingent: Left to right Patrick, Andy, Dave North, Mark, Dave Flanagan and Tony Boylan
Much Progress was made on searching for the Roman road between Wigan and Walton-le-Dale and you can see the details of our work here.
Great day out last Saturday despite the reduced numbers. It was the open day for the archaeological excavations which are being run by Liverpool University as training site undergraduates. More details here
Despite the wet weather last month’s Open Day was a great success with a good number of visitors throughout the day. There was also some emotion for one or two of the locals on seeing the road for the first time, knowing of its existence over the years – and, reminiscent of scenes from the Life of Brian, souvenirs stones from the site were going like hot cakes. More details here
Great turn out last Saturday for our Historical Graffiti survey of St Wilfrid’s Parish Church Standish. It was a great success and dozens and dozens of marks were discovered. 
The Church was built in the late 16th century and is the only Grade 1 Listed building in the Wigan Borough. You can see more details of our surveying activity here.
Last Sunday, despite the wind and rain, three brave members of our Society (plus Debbie the dog) ventured up on Heapey Fold Lane to see if they could find where Chorley Society excavated in the early 1960’s. Overlooking the Anglezarke reservoirs, this track is thought by many to be the Roman road to Ribchester (you can see more details of the trip here…).
Just when we though we had finished our work on this site more features turn up (see the details here).
Sunday 20th August. Ian Trumble has kindly arranged for us to visit Hall i’th Wood and Smithills Hall – both grade I listed buildings on the outskirts of Bolton. Please contact me direct on bill@wiganarchsoc.co.uk if you interested in going.
Hall i’th Wood is 16th century and famous for being the home of Samuel Crompton, who invented of the Spinning Mule. The oldest part of Smithill’s Hall dates to the early 14th century and was probably moated.
Ian will be opening Hall i’th Wood specifically for us in the morning but for Smithill’s Hall we will be joining a regular tour in the afternoon. Ian is also seeing if he can get us access to the Bolton Museum archive store which has over a million items in store.
Some more photos of our recent trip to the Orkneys here