Shillington

On another dig this weekend, this time it lasted both days. Usual suspects on parade, me , Kevin, Ivor, Nigel with Derek I/C with the addition of Alison in between the Italian Grand Prix warm up and race! 

Again, looking at how the village grew and where there was occupation here, this test pit being nearer the church.

First really good feature we got was a nice cobbled surface at about 30cm down, only took up half of our test pit, could have been more going under where we hadn't dug of course, probably Victorian that's the pottery we were finding.  It was interesting to ponder who might have walked over this surface when it was in use.

Some nice pottery finds coming up including the ever popular blue & white Victorian wares & some sherds of probable Hertfordshire  grey ware.

We were happily digging when at 60cm we hit a field drain again!( prob Victorian) We were rained off not long after this so repaired to The Crown for post dig analysis & during a very nice pint of Doombar we decided to extend the trench the following day, we didn't have alot of room to play with but thought we could probably get another half metre.

Day Two. No rain forecast which was good though it was overcast all day. We got cracking on the new half of trench to bring it down to the 60cm level of the field drain and then took out more from the extended half so keeping away from the drain.   

Taking it down another context to 70cm I found  a nice piece of Hertfordshire grey ware & in higher levels animal bones, probably pig & sheep. After that it was decided to take out a quarter of the trench to see what was happening as finds were drying up. General consensus was that it was looking like natural ground at this point so we called it a day and began the task of back filling. I really do think we should ask whether the householders would like the pit left as a feature to their garden!

Another session of post dig analysis with another dig in a couple of weeks and potentially another one for October.

A great couple of days.

Dig commences.

Derek gets stuck in with the mattock.

Cobbled surface is revealed.

General view of the chaos of a dig in a 1m test pit!

Cobbled surface.

Now cleaned up and measured.

The digging A Team of Kevin,Ivor,Nigel and Derek.

Selfie with glasses.

Selfie without glasses.

Finds from the last context. 

Cleaning up for final recording and phot.

Tree root in bottom right corner with field drain above next to measure. 

   

 



An idiots guide to an Idiot: Beer and Leighton Buzzard.

An idiots guide to an Idiot: Beer and Leighton Buzzard.: Now here's the thing. What better way to spend an afternoon than drinking good ale & chatting with friends. Julian, Kevin & I we...

Beer and Leighton Buzzard.

Now here's the thing. What better way to spend an afternoon than drinking good ale & chatting with friends. Julian, Kevin & I went to one of the open days at the Leighton Buzzard Brewing Company on Saturday.  It's a micro brewery that's been in business since 2014 & appears to be doing well, it deserves to, supplying local pubs & selling from their own shop in the brewery. As well as four beers and two ciders on offer today there was food available & even a band!
 The beers then, my favourite of the four was called Restoration Ale 4.6% strength a good nut-brown colour and a nice fruity taste, just my cup of tea......or rather beer. The next beer called Narrow Gauge at 3.9% is named after the LB railway, another very palatable beer, again quite fruity with a nice bitterness to finish, very refreshing. Cuckoo at 3.8% was beer three & another very quaffable drink and finally my least fave (yes there are beers I'm not keen on!) called Black Buzzard, a porter at 5.8%. Far too much like cough mixture for me with a smoky after taste, one  Stan would like I think, none of us tried the ciders

Julian and Kevin enjoying another beer.

The business end of where the beer is brewed.

. Weather was ok so it was a popular event so also difficult to get a seat. We ended up sharing a table with a couple of chaps from the Milton Keynes branch of CAMRA, we had an interesting conversation with them, they waxed lyrical about a festival they have organised for October called the 'Concrete Pint,' ninety beers & a few special editions as well, will see if we can get along to support it. They also told us how the LB beer Borrowers Bitter came by its name. The author of the childrens classic 'The Borrowers' Mary Norton ,lived in Leighton Buzzard. Not alot of people know that.
Well, we tried all the beers and then tried them all again and were beginning to get hungry so we left the brewery & walked into LB to the Wetherspoons pub there The Swan Hotel. Busy but not too busy & surprisingly for a Wetherspoons they seemed to have enough staff on! Had our eats, all of us going for the all day brunch strangely and a couple more beers to round the evening off. Cab home and that was it. Very pleasant excursion.

An idiots guide to an Idiot.: Fairport Conventions Cropredy Festival 2016.

An idiots guide to an Idiot.: Fairport Conventions Cropredy Festival 2016.: Well, where to start, with bit of a moan really. We met Kas, Stan, Dan & Matt at the Cherwell Valley services on the M40 at 6.30am &...

Fairport Conventions Cropredy Festival 2016.

Well, where to start, with bit of a moan really. We met Kas, Stan, Dan & Matt at the Cherwell Valley services on the M40 at 6.30am & made our way in convoy to Cropredy to be waved on passed the field we wanted to camp in even though it was still half empty! We weren't there before 7am as the festival requests & ended up in field 7a  much further than we wanted from the arena field. Not impressed & have already written to complain as has Stan.
Now that's out the way onto the good stuff, of which there was lots.
We wanted to help put up the trailer tent but Stan & Kas have it down to such a fine art now that's it slows them down to explain what we can do, so we pottered & helped where we could, with everything looking ship shape by about 9am I think.
Now Tara & I have tried to start a Cropredy tradition of bringing scones, jam and cream for all to start things off, we did this again today with extra strawberries & raspberries & Kas brought clotted cream. We even found some wheat free scones for Tara & Matt so all could tuck in. The next traditional event entails Dan, Matt & Tom going into the village to busk for a while & Stan, Kas Tara & I make our way to the cricket pavilion so they can meet up with  old festival friends, the first pint of the festival is partaken which is the excellent Hook Norton Brewery 'Old Hooky' ( coke for Kas !) and then a 'scratch' Morris side is put together & they do a couple of dances. Kas met for the first time a friend she had on FaceBook relating to Croppers but had never met before, a very decent chap called Ian.
I running away with the story abit as poor old Chris & Ceri were still enroute after a litany of disasters made them much later than planned & unable to camp with us. I admire their tenacity as I think I'd have given up & gone home by now! However they made it!
Made our way to the arena field our pitch held by Tara until we arrived with chairs etc, Stan however gave the day up as a bad job & remained at the camper & went to bed early.
Opening act is traditionally an acoustic set by Fairport Convention followed by an interesting collection of old loons called Gryphon. Medieval Prog Rock if you can get your head round that. They weren't bad as it happens, especially the crumhorn, wielded by a bloke who looked like an electrocuted Catweazle!   CoCo & the Butterfields were good but Hayseed Dixie were brilliant & probably my fave set of the whole gig. Any band who can do a country & western/bluegrass version of 'Ace of Spades' & 'Highway to Hell' aren't 'arf bad pop pickers! Madness rounded off day one & they are definitely a great festival band. The bar serves Wadworths 6X, a fine brew, supplemented by wine & bottled beer we'd brought along, my dinner was an Oggie ,basically a Welsh version of a Pasty. My Steak & Stilton Oggie was very nice & Tara had gluten free pasta and sauce.
Back to the camper , eventually, as we wrestled the cart thing back over undulating ground plus a couple of bottlenecks due the amount of people making their way back to tents, camper vans, mobile homes  and caravans. Weather was a bit karzi to be honest. We couldn't believe it was going to be wet again. Surely we are due a  dry Cropredy!

Festival hand and polish!

Scratch Morris side do their thing.

General view of Cricket Pavilion and old git.

Memsahib and self on first night.

Amusing signs on fence near stage.

None of us were setting alarms or anything like that but nobody rose too late either. Day two started overcast but improved all the time and turned into a really nice hot day. Memsahib, done in from previous days early start and knackering walks plus other stresses of previous days decided to stay at the camper & chill today. Cart & bodies loaded with packs, chairs, bottles, snacks  etc  we trudged off to the arena field once more.
Not sure whether it was a sellout but the field filled up quicker & earlier this year than the previous two we've been.
First turn on today was Anthony John Clarke & Peggy , the Fairport bass player. An amusing set with some singable songs, I enjoyed them greatly. Next on the BBC Radio Two Young Folk Singer of the Year, a 17year old playing Hamish Moore Smallpipes (abit like Northumbrian pipes) called Brighde Chaimbeul (neither to I so don't ask!) from the Isle of Skye, alittle obscure for my taste but not bad. Sound of the Sirens were two girls from Devon who were quite good, I missed the next act as I returned to the camper to see Tara. Glad to say she was chilling nicely & could feel waves of angst and negativity lifting from her. So I poured her a Hooch. Probably the worst thing in my opinion about camping is lack of washing facilities in particular showers. There was showers provided. Sixteen shared by getting on for twenty thousand people so I was pleasantly surprised  only to have to queue for 20 minutes or so before I could shower. It felt great!
Refreshed & squeaky clean I left Tara & returned to the arena field. Willie and the Bandits weren't bad , their influences being Cream & Hendrix  though Kas thought they were more Fleetwood Mac. Then came a band I really wanted to like, Headspace, their keyboard player is Adam Wakeman son of no less a rock luminary than Rick. If their set hade been half the length it was I'd have thought they were great but being prog rock it had to go on! The frontman Damian Wilson was very energetic, jumping on and off the stage & even singing while milling about in the crowd at one point. He had a powerful voice and used it to good effect, I take it he too enjoyed the Cropredy vibe as I saw him next day taking in the festival.
I have never seen Steeleye Span before ,I've got quite a few of their albums, and albums from Maddy Prior & I was looking forward to them. They were OK but , again in my humble opinion, their song choice was rather dull. There's lots of great songs to join in with but they didn't seem to choose them, thank gawd they played 'All around my hat' which I could bellow out. Tara was convinced she could hear me from the camper!
This evenings gastronomic delights were from the Northfield Farm stand offering various burgers ,sausages etc from their own animals, all top quality stuff and it tasted like it. I had a sausages in a bun tonight with a side of chips. Absolutely delicious. With recommendations from Rick Stein and Clarissa Dickson-Wright I couldn't go far wrong!
Headliners for this evening were The Bootleg Beatles. Got to say they were brilliant & I surprised myself by how many Beatles lyrics I actually knew. 

Suggs from Madness.

Goodnight!

The excellent Northfield Farms stand.

Dusk.

Maddy Prior of Steeleye Span.


I should add a note about my photos, you may notice a strange black mark in mid air, no idea what it is, reckon it must be something inside my camera as the outside lens looks fine.

So the final day of the festival dawned. All on parade today which was great, made our way to the field for midday to catch Richard Digance who regularly starts proceedings on Saturday. He's quite amusing & always gets everyone on their feet to make the biggest Morris dance side in the world. Not sure whether this has ever been challenged! Can remember nothing of substance about the following two turns, Maia & then Gilmore & Roberts. Not because of an alcoholic haze but generally just chatting, chilling, walking with Stan to the bar and back. Demon Barbers XL were good , with added Morris, Clog & also Street Dancers. They were abit different ,I liked!

Pierce brothers were awesome! Two Aussie lads who have been busking their way round Europe & after this gig off back home. They left the stage to tumultuous applause & even got a little emotional  to the Cropredy crowds response to them. They were very good! Babylon Circus came and went , I did like them but it was a mix of Ska and sort of Indie and lordy knows what else. Now I know this will be considered heresy but I though Ralph McTell was abit boring. He did 'Streets of London' luckily so all could join in.

At some stage we had our eats. Tara had a gluten free quiche and I headed straight for the Northfield Farm stall again this time for an excellent cheese burger, lovely!

As Cropredy is masterminded by Fairport Convention, as well as opening the festival they also close it this time with all the bells and whistles of electric instruments and a proper drumkit for Gerry Conway.   They end their set with the song 'Meet on the ledge' which by tradition (there's alot of tradition about Croppers) everybody belts out & links arms al la 'Auld Lang Syne.'  That wraps up the whole event. It was great, our third festival will testify to that  though we are still playing at it compared to the others who are well into double figures with Matt coming here everyone one of his 21 years!

Bed and asleep by about 2am & up 9 ish for breaky, then we broke camp. Said our goodbyes, by far the worst bit & headed home. Dropped Tom enroute & arrived back about 3.15pm to a much improved and freshly painted kitchen courtesy of Kevin.

Brilliant few days as always  though we probably won't be able to get to next years which is a shame as its the 50th Anniversary because we are saving our pennies to go and see Alec & Laura who will be in Australia by then, with abit of luck the Pierce Brothers  will be playing a local venue to them!

Please do follow this link to the Cropredy Blog  run by Tom, Dan and Matt. They have uploaded songs and interviews with performers and spectators alike. Link : http://youtube.com/cropredyblog you'll also find them on FaceBook.   It's very interesting!

General view of the crowd looking up the field.

                                                          Stan near Mecca  (ok the bar!)  getting the beers in.



An idiots guide to an Idiot.: The Somme-From both sides of the wire.

An idiots guide to an Idiot.: The Somme-From both sides of the wire.: Did you catch the above excellent three part documentary on the Battle of the Somme by military historian Peter Barton? Much has been writt...

The Somme-From both sides of the wire.

Did you catch the above excellent three part documentary on the Battle of the Somme by military historian Peter Barton?
Much has been written,said and broadcast about this battle but Peter Barton had done it a little differently, he has painstakingly researched the German archives as well as the British. It's always the victors that write the histories of course, so much of what he has to say hasn't been widely known. The fact that German intelligence  had intercepted British phone calls a good ten weeks before the battle. They knew in part what was going to happen they just didn't know exactly when. When tanks first appeared on the battlefield in October 1916 within a couple of weeks all German units had a detailed report of what they were and the best way to tackle and stop them. Top secret reports stating clearly 'Not to be taken into the front line' were taken either from prisoners or dead bodies and some POW's did not hold back with information, all of this meticulously noted in the German archives. The Germans on the Somme were out gunned and out manned but according to the historian the tactical victory was theirs.
With his fedora hat and tweedy waistcoat Peter Barton walks you across 'no mans land' carrying a 303 Enfield rifle, he stands on remains of pillboxes,trenches and redoubts, he has an obvious passion for the subject and presents it in a very digestible way. I haven't read any of his books on World War One but with my obsession for the period I will be looking for some.
Whatever you think of war it's a terrible thing and he does go into on the human side of it rather than just orders from commanders and statistics. He quotes an Australian soldier  as summing up the terrain of the Somme (forgive the language!) as 'miles of shit coloured fuck all.' An honest opinion if ever I heard one, and don't forget the Aussies were all volunteers, they did not have conscription.
 The Whitehall committee that was tasked with naming and dating all the actions of the war record that the Battle of the Somme concluded in November 1916, Peter Barton has suggested it was later than that in Spring 1917 when the Germans fell back to the well prepared defensive positions of the Hindenberg Line which rendered many of the villages and woods and hills taken at such a high cost by the British pretty well null and void.
There will forever be discussion and argument on what did or did not happen and who was to blame. I think this documentary series has shed alittle light onto an area that hasn't been really looked at and I found it fascinating. If you get the chance do watch these programmes, follow this link http://bbc.in/29r3QfI  I don't think you'll be disappointed.

An idiots guide to an Idiot.: The Cropredy vibe.

An idiots guide to an Idiot.: The Cropredy vibe.: It's that time of year when Cropredy approaches and excited expectations begin to form. It's our third festival and that's due ...

The Cropredy vibe.

It's that time of year when Cropredy approaches and excited expectations begin to form.
It's our third festival and that's due to our dear friends Kas & Stan & Dan & our extended Cropredy family of Tom, Matt & Natalie to be extended even further this year with Chris & Ceri.
Kas & Stan tried to get us to go to Cropredy ages ago & finally we bit the bullet in 2014. We are so glad we did!
It's  such a friendly place, I just love the way it takes over the whole village. I wonder if all the villagers like it? I suppose there's some who book their holidays for mid August every year! We stay in the positively palatial surroundings of the Pitt-Simkus trailer tent which is brilliant and has all mod cons, even a karzi!
So, what to expect this year. Headliners are Madness first night, Bootleg Beatles  the second night and Fairport Convention , the ones who run it, on the last night, I am also looking forward to seeing Steeleye Span,I've seen Maddy Prior on her own but not with Steeleye. Richard Digance is always good and Ralph McTell should be too.It's an eclectic mix of music at Cropredy, there's obviously a strong folk element but lots of other genres as well. Then there's the bar. One long glorious bar serving the excellent Wadworths 6X, a fine pint indeed.
We'll meet up on the services on the M40  early Thursday morning and go in convoy from there to the camp sites arriving as they open the fields for the festival. I tend to stick to Stan like glue at this stage to make sure we get in with them! We'll get the camper put up and probably about lunch time we'll indulge ourselves in what I hope has become a Cropredy tradition of scones & jam & cream. Wheat-free for Tara & Matt, alittle later the cricket  pavilion will beckon for the first pint of the festival (unless we've broken out the beers earlier at the camper of course!) which will be the ever popular and delicious Hooky or Old Hooky from the Hook Norton Brewery. This pint will be the first Cropredy pint to be drunk out of my fine English pewter tankard (pictured) brought for me by our best buds the aforementioned Kas & Stan.
  At the pavilion Kas & Stan will meet up with old festival friends and there will probably be the 'Scratch Morris' side put together by those who can and watched by those who can't.
Into the field for 4pm where Fairport Convention will start the music off with an acoustic set (though I wish they'd give Jerry Conway the drummer something better than a box to bang on!).
 Not forgetting of course that the famous Cropredy Blog is filmed, written, produced, rehearsed and broadcast from the camper. Check out You Tube for their videos of the music, interviews with the performers and festival goers at  this link: http://youtube.com/cropredyblog  There're very good you know!
The two pubs in the village also have bands on, I'd like to try & catch one of them this year as well if the moment presents it's self.
I'm looking forward  to wandering round the village with the craft fairs and boot fair and foodie bits you can buy, I'm looking forward to the beer, the music, seeing our Cropredy family, the wine and the beer, the field with the stage, the fun of it all, hopefully the good weather, the great vibe the place has , the beer...........
Cropredy 2016 here we come ready or not!

My Cropredy pewter tankard.

An idiots guide to an Idiot.: Norfolk

An idiots guide to an Idiot.: Norfolk: Another one of my business trips to Norfolk. I must admit there are far worse places to have to go for a couple of days but as it's a bu...

Norfolk

Another one of my business trips to Norfolk. I must admit there are far worse places to have to go for a couple of days but as it's a business trip I have to go on my own and of course and I don't really have the time to look around much, that said I arrange my own stop overs so have tried various hotels and pubs vast majority of which I'd go back to again and where I stayed this time  will definitely get a return trip. I do vary where I stay as I' don't want  to become known like  'Here's your favourite table Mr Morgan' I prefer a degree of anonymity.
Two hundred miles of driving round Norfolk and I headed to the William IV in Sedgeford  near Hunstanton. Had bit of a walk before dinner and found that there is an ongoing archaeological dig in the village run by the Sedgeford Historical and Archaeological Research Project. it's an long term project to understand the entire range of human settlement and land use in Sedgeford. It was all closed up by the time I got there so I wondered on. Sedgeford is also where  Boudicca, Queen of the Iceni tribes trained her troops in AD60 or 61 before leading her army in sacking Colchester, London and St Albans.
 Found quite an interesting grave in the cemetery to 73661 Private Arthur William Fisher of the Royal Army Medical Corps who died in 1919 aged 29.It wasn't the usual Commonwealth War Graves Commission headstone but a normal privately made headstone though he is logged on the CWGC website. He was part of No53 Field Ambulance that was attached to the 17th (Northern) Division in France. A Field Ambulance was a mobile front line medical unit, not mobile in the sense of vehicles but in the sense of it would be moved as the troops moved. The theory was they could deal with about 150 casualties but in reality it was often far more than that. The 17th Div saw action on the Somme in 1916 and Passchendaele in 1917 to mention just two places. Arthur Fisher was from Durham though his family appear to be in Norfolk when he died as the graves next to his are also of family members. He qualified for the British War and Victory Medals so it means he did not see active service before January 1916.


Grave of Private Arthur William Fisher, Royal Army Medical Corps.


                                                                                                       
                                                                                                                                   

So to dinner. My favourite part of the day. The beer I had was Woodfordes (a Norfolk brewery) Werry which is a very palatable pint, another beer with nice citrusy flavours, perfect for a warm day.
Spoilt for choice for dinner but went for Devilled Lambs’ Kidneys & Mushrooms with Pancetta for a starter which was delicious but quite warm! the for main Sundried Tomato & Gurney Gold Cheese Stuffed Guinea Fowl Breast wrapped in Parma ham with dauphinoise potatoes, apple sauce and crackling. 'Mmmmmm' is the only comment I can make. Lovely! Cooked to perfection and was nice and moist. Pigged out a bit tonight as I also had the cheeseboard for dessert with 3 local cheeses including the Gurney Golden that was on the Guinea Fowl. As you can see from the photos  it was also very well presented and I remembered to take the photos before I tucked in. Suitably replete I adjured to bed. Read for a while, a very interesting book about the Italian Front in the first World War then Z's.

Werry. A werry nice pint (sorry!)

 

Starter.

 

Main.

 

Cheeseboard.

 

 



An idiots guide to an Idiot.: The Sunday Indian.

An idiots guide to an Idiot.: The Sunday Indian.: We met up with my bro Paul & his Fiancé Kate today for dinner.  Kate knew of a very good veggie Indian restaurant in Kenton that they&#3...

The Sunday Indian.

We met up with my bro Paul & his Fiancé Kate today for dinner.  Kate knew of a very good veggie Indian restaurant in Kenton that they'd booked called Rams. This was especially good for Tara being both wheat intolerant and a veggie,  dishes using flour had gram flour or the like, not wheat which is the main thing.
It was really nice. For a change the Memsahib had most of the menu to choose from rather than the usual 2 or 3 choices all of which were a little but different from the norm.

I keep forgetting to take the photos before I get eating , so here's a piccy of half my starter!   It was a Masala Dosa. Onions and potatoes in a sauce in a sort of pancake, delicious! Tara had potato balls deep fried , can't recall the name of that dish & Paul & Kate had spring rolls. Mains were equally as good. Mine being Khata Batata which was spicy tomatoes and potatoes in a tomato sauce this was quite warm on the spice front & I 'glowed' the more I had, served with  a Nan bread and of course a Cobra beer. Can't remember what the mains were called that everyone else had. Tara's was cheese in a veg sauce, Paul & Kate had a curry type dish ,one with spinach and one with peas.  We were all pretty full by then so declined a pud though I'd have been interested in trying their home made Kulfi if we'd have had room.

My main course.

Adjured but to Paul & Kates for a cuppa . They have a lovely house and both seem very content and happy there. Paul put in a small pond which looks good, they obviously both enjoy the garden and work hard trying to encourage wildlife into it. Paul saw a Mink the other day! They have a great view over fields and regularly get bats flying over their garden.  Talk about wildlife! Their Niger seeds have also not been visited by any Finches of late. Paul told me to keep faith with it and leave ours out as the Finches will return, as like a lot of birds at the moment they are moulting.  Had another cuppa and then went home, a very pleasant afternoon had by all.

An idiots guide to an Idiot.: Somme 29th July 1916

An idiots guide to an Idiot.: Somme 29th July 1916: After nearly a month since the first day I thought it may be interesting to look again at what my Grandfathers may have been doing using the...

Somme 29th July 1916

After nearly a month since the first day I thought it may be interesting to look again at what my Grandfathers may have been doing using their regimental diaries.

G2014 L/Cpl. Alfred Gower MM 2nd Bn The Middlesex Regiment.
The battalion had been back in the trenches  near Guinchy, still in the Somme sector since 14th July, the diary reads:
'2Lt L McCoy-Hill and 2 OR's to 23rd Brigade Bombing School. One OR to 8th Division RE workshops. 1 OR killed.'
(OR = Other Ranks)
They were relieved the next day by 2nd Bn The Worcestershire Regiment and went into Divisional Reserve at Beuvry.
D1901 Pte William Morgan 1st (Kings) Dragoon Guards.
The regiment were at Neuville St Vaast near Arras and since 20th July. 8 officers and 300 OR's had been in the front line trenches  employed in mining work in eight hour shifts.
The diary for 28th July simply reads:
'Pte Smith of the Trench Party to hospital. (shrapnel wound to forehead)
The regiment moved to Monchy Breton on 1st August.

Middlesex Regiment cap badge.

1st (Kings) Dragoon Guards cap badge.

An idiots guide to an Idiot.: Archaeological dig in Shillington, Bedfordshire.

An idiots guide to an Idiot.: 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  ...

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...