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 If
you are interested in Roman history, a holiday in Spain can be very rewarding, as Mike
Booth discovered earlier this year. Based
from Madrid, Mike went on a 10-day tour, which included Segovia, Avila, Salamanca,
Caceres, Merida and Toledo, as well as numerous small towns on the way.
The highlight
of the trip however must have been Merida, which boasts an impressive aqueduct at Los
Milagros, a theatre, an amphitheatre as well as this huge bridge, which crosses the river
Guadiana. It spans 760 meters and has 60
arches. Merida was the largest Roman city in Iberia. Founded in 25 BC as Emerita Augusta,
a colony for army veterans, the town became the capital of Lusitania Province (northern
Portugal). By the 4th century the city was
the 9th largest in the Empire.
At Segovia
there is a magnificent aqueduct (below), which dates from 1st century AD and up to
recently was still in working order. Water
was piped from a spring 15 kilometres away, to a tower, thence through the aqueduct. It is 800 meters (1/2 mile) long and runs right
through the middle of the town. It is composed of 128 arches, the highest of which is 30
meters above the ground.
Mike has
brought home some excellent pictures of these spectacular remains. If you want to see them I am sure he will be only
too glad to show them to you.
Website revamp
Andy Best our
internet expert has been hard at work giving our website a new look. It now includes a new
section on the History of Wigan, which has been expertly complied by Adrian Morris. If you have access to the internet it is well
worth a visit as it includes some excellent photos taken by Adrian himself. If you don't have access, Andy is bringing his
laptop computer to the next meeting to give us all a quick preview of the site.
Resistivity
Meter
The recent
weather conditions have obviously prevented any further work with the meter. I have,
however, received an update from CIA on the progress of the combined meter/datalogger
project. The 1st prototype has been built and field-tested against a known site discovered
through aerial photography. The results are very impressive. They say the production
version is well underway and should be available early in the new year. Meanwhile Tom
Glover has put in a new bid to the Community Chest for funds to cover the cost of buying
it.
Next Meeting
Wednesday 6th
December at the BP Centre (Scout HQ) in Greenough Street, at 7.30 pm as usual. This
month's speaker is Dr Steven Snape from Liverpool University, who will be giving a talk on
'Rameses the Great and his Forts in the West'.
As it is the
meeting before Christmas the usual seasonal refreshments will be available, for which I
would like to thank in advance Mandy Singleton and Tom Glover.
By the way,
apologies to those who showed up for the last meeting and good news for those who couldn't
make it. The speaker, Tim Strickland, has been rebooked for May next year. As usual there
is no meeting in January, the next being the AGM in February. Hope to see you there, if
not, have a great Christmas and hope to see you sometime in the New Year -B.A
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