|
Last week Mark Hayward and Brian Parr met with David
Owen, the Parks and Gardens manager, to discuss the possibility of
carrying out an excavation in the park. The main site in question is the
area where we carried out excavations in 2003 as part of Channel 4's Big
Dig programme. However, as a contingency, a site on the opposite side of
the pond was also discussed. David gave provisional approval in both cases
as long as we avoid damaging the oak saplings on the Big Dig site. This is
great news and as soon as we can get our resources together we will be
able to proceed.
New Economics Survey
We have been asked to participate in an on-line survey about the future
for the Grand Arcade development. The organisation (a registered charity
Think Tank, The New Economics Foundation) is gathering data related to the
'distinctiveness' of Wigan so that this information can be used to inform
the further developments planned. The survey can be found at (
www.wigansurvey.com ) . They want
as many people as possible to participate but there is also the
possibility of funding so Tom will also fill in the survey on behalf of
the society as a whole.
Dave's Project
Our Canadian friend, Dave Horrocks has been very busy over the last few
months. Not only has he been developing our new website (which will
hopefully be published shortly and include a special section for the
bathhouse excavations), he has also been studying the Roman landscape in
the north Lancashire area. He has been particularly interested in the
forts and interconnecting roads north of the River Ribble. During his
studies Dave came across this site which he suspects could be a Roman
fort.
It lies very close to a road which he also thinks maybe Roman in
origin. The rounded corners of the crop mark are very persuasive and
overall dimensions of the enclosure fit in well with the size of an
auxiliary fort. If, indeed, this does turn out to be Roman, it would be a
quite a remarkable find in an area of the North West which is generally
regarded not to have been heavily occupied in Roman times. Dave has
already contacted Pete Iles of Lancashire Archaeological Services who has
suggested that we get involved with a field walk and maybe a resistivity
survey. With this in mind we will be arranging a site visit later this
month to check out the lie of the land.
Summer Trip
 There
hasn't been a great response to this summer's trip to York. This maybe due
to a combination of the date and the four-hour round trip involved.
Therefore, assuming no further response at the meeting, we will look at an
alternative. Specifically Tom has spotted a self-guided walk around the
Ribblehead Viaduct near Ingleton. This remarkable feat of Victorian
engineering is still in perfect working order. The Friends of the
Settle-Carlisle Line are now providing an audio download for visitors to
listen to as they walk round. (This can be downloaded from
www.settle-carlisle.co.uk/walks/
and can be played on an MP3 player or Ipod).
Wyre Archaeology Group
This is a relatively new group who have been active in the field
researching the area around the village of Nateby, a few miles east of
Garstang, Neil Thompson from the group gave a talk at this year's Spring
CBA meeting in Lancaster where he described the discovery of a Roman Road
at Nateby. This year the group have been given permission to carry out a
limited excavation on the site of a suspected Iron-age hill fort. Neil has
asked if we would help with a geophiz survey. In fact the whole area is
dotted with ancient sites including a henge monument, a Bronze-age farm
and a Romano-British settlement. Neil has kindly offered to take us round
them all (which could in fact fit in nicely with the trip to Ingleton). A
preview of these sites can be viewed on this website (look for the slide
show):
http://wyrearchaeology.blogspot.com/2007_05_27_archive.html
Next WAS Meeting
Wednesday 6th June at the District Scout HQ (Baden Powell Centre) in
Greenough Street, starting at 7.30 pm as usual. Once again John Johnson
will be entertaining us with another of his fascinating lecture on the
Egypt. This year John has been doing more research on the Tombs of the
Nobles. These burials, which lie outside the Valley of the Kings, have
provided an enormous amount of information on the everyday life the
Egyptians.
Hope to see you there B.A.
|
