Archaeological dig in Shillington, Bedfordshire.

It must be at least two and a half to three years since I last put my trowel and mattock to good archaeological use but my digging drought  has now been broken!
As the Pirton digs drew to a close Shillington got going with some test pits and had some lottery money awarded so they could have the pottery analysed by Paul Blinkhorn of Time Team fame.
They follow the same method as Pirton which is 1m square test pits dug in 10cm spits to a depth of 1m, any deeper and you should be shoring up the sides. This was the methodology used by the Cambridge University outreach scheme ( then headed by Carenza Lewis also a former Time Team archaeologist) in Pirton and the other villages they dug in East Anglia. It's simple and it works. As you reach 10cm from the last context you clean up the surface, photo and draw a plan of anything of interest also note what is in the sides of the test pit, at Shillington this is done by Derek who runs the show and any finds from that context are bagged up so you know what depth they came from, the site of the test pit is carefully planned and mapped for the record.
 Just the odd test pits are dug now as inevitably interest waned after the initial village digs in 2013, I believe they are now up to 50 test pits dug.
Todays dig had potential as it was in the garden of the doctors house who in the First World War had a small hospital in the gardens for recuperating troops although we were not digging on the building footprint.
After Derek marked out where we were to dig Kevin got to work taking off the turf & myself and Nigel moved the turf to the spoil heap area and we were underway!
 The day was hot hot hot smothered myself in sun tan lotion before I left home but forgot to take it with me. Bugger! Luckily Nigel let me use some of his. Ivor was the other digger on duty today & it worked well taking it in turns to dig & also to sieve the spoil coming out of the pit, this is where alot of the finds, such as they were , were found. While I was digging I found half a wine bottle, difficult to date not old enough for the glass to have vitrified but from the look of it not of modern manufacture.
Have to say that finds were thin on the ground unfortunately, Victorian blue & white pottery, two  sherds of possible Medieval pot, a couple of clay pipe stems and part of a bowl, and small pieces of bone too small to identify really but the deeper we dug  the fewer the finds and also they more clayish the soil became.
Stopped for lunch about 1pm. Must say my pork pie was very welcome, got through alot of liquid (not the alcoholic type liquid either!) as it was so hot,  I was knackered but we pressed on and eventually called it a day later in the afternoon at  0.8m  depth when the finds had definitely stopped altogether. Believe me that's alot of dirt to shift!
We back filled and tamped it down best we could , it looked pretty good to be fair, almost like we'd never been there.
Post Dig Analyses  then............at The Crown. Never did pints of Tribute ale slip down so well as today! Derek reckons that's it for this area of the village that hasn't produced much but at least that is now known he has other hot spots he'd like to dig & is always asking locals for permission, there's another two digs lined up for this year at present.
Got home early evening to meet our house guest for the week Casper. A white German Shepherd dog. He's bloody huge but a lovely old boy!

The dig.

Test pit cleaned up at about 20cm.

Derek digs, Nigel, Ivor and Kevin sieve.

Self with a rapidly disappearing Ivor in the test pit. 

Pit at about 50cm.

Finds from 5 context levels.

Close up of the clay pipe bowl found probably Victorian as it was a reasonable sized bowl and quite straight up from the stem.

The digging hat and specs!

Casper.

An idiots guide to an Idiot.: Shrewsbury.

An idiots guide to an Idiot.: Shrewsbury.: Hottest day of the year on the 19th July and I was on my North Wales & Shropshire run. It's a big driving day which wasn't too b...

Shrewsbury.

Hottest day of the year on the 19th July and I was on my North Wales & Shropshire run. It's a big driving day which wasn't too bad as it happens. I spent alot of the time in an air conditioned car!
Anyway, overnight at The Lion in central Shrewsbury, I've stayed before so I already know it's quite good there. Quick shower & to the bar for a well earned pint (though I say so myself!) of Wye Valley Breweries 'Butty Bach' a very pleasant amber coloured brew with some nice citrusy notes to it. Slipped down a treat I can tell you!
Unfortunately the restaurant was fully booked so had to slum it on the bar menu which was just as good though not as extensive.  Went boring and predicable  this evening and had fish and chips, and very nice it was too! Good crisp batter and thick cut crisp chips, crushed peas and home made tartare sauce. Had a pint of a local Shrewsbury beer by Salopian Brewery called Shropshire Gold which again was quite light in colour but not light enough to be a blonde beer, could have been a quaffing beer I think.
Dinner done thought I'd go for a walk to cool off as the temperature was still very high & humid. I wondered through the church yard of St Chad's , as I tend to do, & found a grave to Captaine John Benbow , a Royalist Officer shot in Shrewsbury Castle. His story is an interesting one. Originally an officer for the Parliamentarian Cavalry he was part of an attaching force that took the town from the Royalists in 1645, for his part he was promoted from Lieutenant to Captain. He served until the end of the Civil War and then appeared to change sides! Not a very healthy option you'd think. When Charles II returned to Britain in 1651 with an army Benbow  became an officer in the Royalist army however this army was routed by Parliament at the Battle of Worcester with Benbow eventually captured and tried as a traitor. On the 16th October 1651 he was shot by firing squad at Shrewsbury Castle which six years earlier had been the scene of his greatest action. He  was buried locally at St Chads his grave falling into disrepair until it was renovated in 1829.
Got back to the hotel feeling hotter than when I started & went to my room, eventually to sleep as the room too was pretty hot!

Pint of Shropshire Gold and the debris of the previous pint.  

Dinner!

Grave of Captaine John Benbow

Renovated in 1829 & in need again I think!

An idiots guide to an Idiot.: Ely

An idiots guide to an Idiot.: Ely: Another weekend away, aren't we dirty ol' stop outs! Pottered over to Ely via the village of Reach in Cambridgeshire. An interesting...

Ely

Another weekend away, aren't we dirty ol' stop outs! Pottered over to Ely via the village of Reach in Cambridgeshire. An interesting first world war memorial on the village green noted not only the names of the fallen but their regiment and where they were killed, two of the eight noted being killed on the first day of the Somme and another on 11th July (died of wounds) all from the 11th Bn, The Suffolk Regiment. They took a terrible mauling on that day suffering some 691 causalities, getting on for half of them killed. They attached 'Sausage Valley'  ( my Grandad in 2/Middlesex  was next to their division attacking 'Mash Valley') and were mown down by machine gun fire from the village of La Boiselle .
Tara suggested taking a picnic which we did, we had a walk around Reach trying to find the start of what is known as the Devils Dyke, an earthwork started by the Saxons and improved by the Romans but could we find it? Could we bugger! However we did have a very pleasant walk around some woods  where we had a chat to a dog walker with two quite lively golden Labs.

After our pic-er-nic   onward to Ely. Checked in at The Lamb & then went exploring.

Now Ely has a most spectacular looking Cathedral. It dominates the landscape on the approach to Ely & obviously has many stages of different builds, notably the Norman arches photo'd here:

 

 

 

 

 

Both Tara & I like looking round cathedrals and churches, not only are they beautiful historic buildings with our interest in genealogy places like this are integral to our hobby but I do object to being charged to go in. Not all cathedrals do it but Ely does, minimum admission is £8 for an adult. Churches shouldn't charge in my humble opinion. I'm not even a Christian!   You won't be surprised to learn we decided not to go in which was a shame (Bath Abbey asked for donations of £2.50 or so which is fine but £8 as a starting price not including towers is a take on)
However we were not downhearted & looked around the shops in Ely still trying to find that elusive hat for Cropredy ( though I did find a very passable one) & then went to the very interesting Ely Museum contained in the old Bishops Goal.

Ely Museum artefacts.

Roman helmet!

Saxon burial artefacts.

10th Cuirassiers helmet and cuirass from Waterloo donated to the museum. No one is quite sure how they ended up in Ely.  

Me behind bars of Ely Goal.

With most of the day done now we adjourned back to The Lamb for a beer. Ruddles County for me (draft not real ale barrel) & Tara a Bitter Shandy (IPA).

Dinner then, I had garlic mushrooms & Tara had Olives, my main was Steak & Ale pie with chips & Tara had Risotto with Sea bass & Scallops. Both very nice indeed. I didn't have a pud but finished my beer (Old Speckled Hen) & Tara had ice cream. It was still a very warm evening so we went for bit of a stroll before bed. Good old fry up in the morning set us up for the day & off we went. Lovely!   

 

 

 




Anniversary trip to Bath & Bradford On Avon.

Had a fantastic couple of days away with the Memsahib courtesy of No's 1 & 3 sons and their other halves. For Xmas they brought us a weekend away somewhere & we plumped for Bath as it's been on our list of places to go for some time, we decided to take it around our 32nd Wedding Anniversary which was 7th July. We were actually away over our  Anniversary which was even better.
Arrived at BOA mid afternoon, checked in had a beer then went for a wonder. Delightful river to walk along, weather was nice so it was very pleasant. Took in a Saxon Chapel ( rebuilt in 1857) and the Medieval (12th Century) Tithe barn a little way along the river. Back along the other side of the river, a couple of fly fishermen out ( one caught a 2lb Bluebottle :) )  a Swan meandered along seemingly taking no notice of it's seven Cygnets various Mallard & Coot swam by eventually back to the town and had an ice cream.


Saxon Chapel

River Avon

Tithe Barn

 




Tiles of Tithe barn emailed to Alec.



  To dinner then and that was a treat indeed. The Swan Hotel in Bradford On Avon had the usual pub classics but also a complete Thai menu that we both chose from. I meant to photo each course we had but I got a bit enthusiastic a couple of times & ate the food straight a way. Sorry! But first a photo is of a pint of Swan Best Bitter & a pint of Swan shandy with our Wedding rings to the fore. 32 years & I wouldn't have had it any other way, I love Tara as  much today as I always have, more infact. Just can't believe 32 years has gone by!

First courses ordered and eaten! I had Tiger prawns wrapped in crispy pastry (Goong Salong) & Tara had Thai fish cakes with sweet chilli sauce (Tod Man Pla), our mains photo'd here were Deep fried Hake with garlic (Pla Tod Katian) for Tara & stir fried pork with cashew nuts (Pad Med Ma Mong) for me both served with rice. Bloody delicious! Both rather full after that so we decided we couldn't really do a pud justice so we pondered......... and had a liqueur coffee (whiskey) which was spiffing. Getting an early start to go into Bath in the morning so we knocked it on the head there.

Tara's main course.

My main course eating irons resting as I had already started!



Liqueur coffees.






 

Up with the Lark on Thursday  morning to a rather mediocre breakfast.(The only disappointment of our stay, so much so we cancelled breakfast for the following morning.) A short walk to the station  and about a 20 minute  journey to Bath Spa  & we were sitting outside the Roman Baths just before they opened at 9am. We wanted to get  a good start on the day as the place was soon filling up with tourists. The Roman Baths are truly spectacular and well worth a visit, originally  a shrine to the Celtic God Sulis the Romans called the town Aquae Sulis & constructed a temple in 60-70AD  though the site was extensively added to over the next 300 years of Roman rule. There is much archaeology to see of the excavated baths , their changing rooms, hot ,tepid and cold rooms etc and alot of artefacts put up on walls in their original settings including a head (pictured) that might  represent a Gorgon  though they are usually female and this one definitely has a beard so it could be the head of the water god Oceanus or something completely different. I suppose one of the pitfalls of archaeology is that things are always open to interpretation  & in many ways is not an exact science.
There is also a magnificent  gilded head of  the god Sulis Minerva (photo in black and white).
We spent a good two hours there and would visit again, glad we got there early as it was getting busy as we finished, though we'd brought a saver ticket including the Baths, Victorian galley & Fashion Museum we weren't able to get to the latter as the Memsahib was done in. Not only had we done alot of walking but much of the Baths was on uneven ground & fibromyalgia  doesn't much like it! The Victorian galley was OK had an exhibition of 20th century painters including a couple by Walter Sickert who spent four years in Bath. His were probably the best paintings as in my humble opinion a lot of them were a load of old cobblers! I also popped into Bath Abbey while Tara had a coffee.


Baths from the Victorian terrace.

Gorgon or Oceanus or other god type bod.

 



Sulis Minerva



Original excavated streets around the baths. 

Romans!



Samian pottery found on just about every Roman site you can shake a stick at!

Tara and baths.

Bath Abbey taken from the baths.

Tomb of the Jane Waller wife of Sir William Waller Major General in Parliaments army during the English Civil War. He was meant to be buried with her but ended being buried in London. 

And so to our second dinner and also our Anniversary dinner, had a bottle of Cava with us & had it with grenadine which made it much nicer but nicer still was their Swan Best Bitter, unable to discover the brewer of this beer, it could be Greene King as the other beers were from them.  
For dinner we again went for the Thai. Tara had a chat with the chef at the bar who was a very enthusiastic Thai lady and was able to adapt dishes to suit Tara  and on her recommendation had a whole seabass deep fried with garlic. Tara had the same starter  as yesterday & I had Prawn toast with plum sauce (Kanom Pang Na Goong) and a main of beef red curry with pineapple , Tara had salad with hers and I had noodles (Pad Thai).We managed a pud this time, I had the cheese board (English cheeses) & Tara had a frozen Eaton Mess, this dessert was a bit lack lustre but tasted good.

Forgot to photo starters as the empty plates show.

Tars main of deep fished Sea Bass with garlic. 

My main of beef red curry and pineapple. 

Every week the hotel has a music evening in the basement bar and tonight was blues night. Real blues , the like of Muddy Waters & Fats Waller. It was very good, one chap ( who played the steel guitar photo'd) had his dog with him , who joined in on a couple of songs! Great stuff!
Had a another wonder around BOA the next morning & found a bakery that properly caters for wheat free people so got a few  bits there.  Got home about 3pm  after a fantastic couple of days. 

Blues bar with a steel guitar waiting its turn.



















  

Kensal Green Cemetery Open Day.

A fascinating place Kensal Green Cemetery, such luminaries as Emile Blondin who tight rope  walked over Niagara Falls in 1859, Marc & his son Isambard Kingdom-Brunel, Princess Sophia fifth daughter of George III & the Duke of Cambridge (George William Frederick) who was C in C of the British Army from 1862 to 1895 plus many more!
Once a year the cemetery has an official open day, there's various stalls some guided tours, afew Goths milling around and this year some World War One re enactors. They were very interesting to talk to and as with all re enactors they knew their stuff! 
Very interesting place & well worth a visit.

Duke of Cambridges tomb

WW1 re enactors

 

Mjr Gen Sir George de Lacy Evans GCB. Fought in the American War of 1812, at Waterloo
commanded the 2nd Division in the Crimean War.

Marcus Antonius Waters late of the Royal Engineers, last surviving officer from Quatre Bras and Waterloo.

Memsahib near the Anglican Chapel expressing an opinion! 

Emile Blondin. Tightrope walker extraordinary.

Somme 1916-2016.

This is a fuller version of my Facebook post of this morning.

On this day at 7.30am one hundred years ago whistles blew and soldiers went ‘over the top.’ The Battle of the Somme had started. It was the blackest of black days for the British Army with staggering statistics of nearly 20000 killed and 40000 wounded on the first day.

Both my Grandfathers took part in very different ways, one an infantryman went over the top into ‘Mash Valley’ where ‘no mans land’ was at one of its widest points of 700 yards. The other a cavalryman was waiting for orders to move to exploit the gaps that the infantry and artillery were supposed to make in the German lines so they could ride down the retreating boche. The gaps were never made and eventually the cavalry divisions were stood down. The regimental diaries  ( and bear in mind these diaries would have been written either in or very near the front line, often in pencil or sometimes typed) of the two regiments state the following:

William Morgan 4th from left , top row. Taken circa 1911.

Alfred Gowers taken circa 1949.

G2104 Private Alfred Gowers MM. 2^nd Bn The Middlesex Regiment.

23rd Brigade, 8^th Division.

‘The battalion in conjunction with the remainder of the 8th Division assaulted the German front line trench system between Ovillers la Boisselle & La Boisselle at 7.30am after an intense bombardment lasting 65 minutes. The assault was carried out in four waves, 50 yards apart. The leading wave consisting of two platoons of 'B' Coy and on the right two platoons of 'A' Coy. The second wave followed 50 yards distance consisting of the remaining platoons of 'A' & 'B' Companies. The third wave similarly consisted of 'D' and 'C' Coys followed the preceding waves at 50 yards distance the battalion bombers being distributed by squads amongst the 4 waves  the eight Lewis gun teams amongst the 2nd,3rd & 4th waves.

On the right was a battalion of the Tyneside Scottish belonging to the 34th Division and on the were the 2nd Devons R.  As soon as the leading wave left the trenches to assault it was caught by heavy machine gun fire & suffered heavy loses. As soon as the succeeding waves came under this fire they doubled forward & before anyone had reached the German front line the original wave formation had ceased to exist.

About 200 all ranks succeeded in reaching the German lines passing over the front line they entered the second line trenches but after a short fight during which about half became casualties they were forced to retire to the German front line. Here under the leadership of Maj HBW Savile , Capt & Adjt RJ Young, 2/Lieuts PM Elliott, W Spatz & HO Hunt the survivors proceeded to consolidate.  By 9.15am the handful of un wounded men numbering about a dozen were forced to retire to shell holes outside the enemy front line where the majority remained until darkness enabled them to regain our lines.

Of the 23 officers who took part only one returned unwounded, of the 650 NCOs’ and men who took part in the assault 50 answered their names in the early hours of 2^nd July.’

My Grandad volunteered for the army  at the end of August 1914 ( he'd had an ignominious spell in the Royal Navy from 1905 until 1911) he served until March 1918 when he was invalided out he told me because of wounds but records say because of illness. A conundrum I'll never get a suitable answer to I think. I had a couple of very brief conversations with my Grandad about the war. He told me a little but didn't go into detail, I've learnt more about what he did through research rather than his words, but even into his 90's  ask him his army service number & without hesitation he'd bark it out!

D1901 Private William Morgan 1^st (Kings) Dragoon Guards.

8^th (Lucknow) Cavalry Brigade, 1^st Indian Cavalry Division.

'The regiment received orders to remain in a state of readiness to move in two hours of notification.

The regiment marched at 5.30pm via Viske-Hansart-Barly-into new billets at Frochen Le Grand. 'A' Echelon under SSM Browning  arrived shortly after the Regiment. 'B' Echelon under 2nd Lieut JGK Barraclough marched via Haute Visee-Halte arriving at new billets at 11.30pm. Cpl Rogers 1st KD Gud's promoted 2nd Lieut with effect from 12/6/16 & posted to 15th Batt Royal Warwick Regiment after attending a course at the Cadet School.' 

My Grandad was a regular soldier having joined up in May 1908 & served in India from September 1908 until mobilisation for war in August 1914 travelling with their horses arriving at Marseilles on 8th Nov 1914. He stayed with the KDG's until late 1917 when the regiment was ordered back to India, rather ironically to the North West Frontier-Afghanistan, however my Grandad did not go with them. He was compulsory transferred to 15th Bn The Royal Warwickshire Regiment (on cavalry pay) where he remained until demob in early 1920.This included a spell on the Italian front which was only curtailed due to the big German offensive in March 1918 (Operation Michael) on the Western Front. Another conundrum is the fact that a cavalryman of 9 years experience was transferred to an infantry regiment. Surely his horsemanship could have been put to better use! His brother Percy was also in the KDG's and was a shoeing smith. I know little of what he did but assume it was similar to my Grandad  as they were both in 'D' Squadron.    My Grandad died before I knew he'd been a soldier let alone been in the First World War to his sons questions of trench life his stock answer was 'oh you don't want to know about that,'  and no more.

I have become more than a little obsessed with the First World War of late, being into genealogy as well I am very interested in ancestors who took part, both my Grandads survived  how they coped with what they saw I do not know, Tara had two Grt Grt Uncles who did not survive the war and another who survived but with the catastrophic  life changing injury of losing a leg. How did they cope? Another generation more used to hardship maybe though what choices did they have other than to get on with it?