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It’s February once again and John Johnson and company are off to Egypt on their
annual visit to the Valley of the Kings; and guess who’s going with them? Yes I have
managed to scrape some extra holidays together, and with a bit of grovelling (at home,
that is), I’ve got myself a place in the Novatel on the banks of the Nile for a
week. We fly on the 19th which means I’ll be back for the meeting in March
hopefully with some nice pictures for a future talk (oh no they say).
Programme (So far)
Starting in March we have Fred Holcroft, local historian, famous for his books on
military campaigns from the Civil War to WW1. He has agreed to give us a talk on the
Bayeux Tapestry.
Gifford and Partners are national archaeological consultants with an office in Chester.
They have done work on a number of sites in the Northwest including the Roman sites at
Walton-le-Dale near Preston and Wilderspool at Warrington. In May, Ian Rogers, who
lead these excavations will be giving us an update on the latest information from some of
these projects. In July we have Dr Mary Higham with a talk on Medieval Parks and
Gardens, and in October we have Dr Martin Bain on The Palaeolithic history of Anglezarke.
Sluice Gate
As mentioned last month, work is continuing on the Doughty Mill in the Arley
Valley. The wooden structure of the sluice gate is now completely exposed and on our
last visit, we managed to record the details. The actual opening is 134cm (4ft 5in)
wide by 160cm (5ft 3in) deep, which when full would represent a considerable volume of
water. The beams, which originally completely covered the entrance floor, are 5cm
(2ins) thick and up to 37cm (14.5in) wide. Over the years of the mill’s use, a
deep layer of light brown river bed gravel and pebbles has formed in the bottom of the
race. The rest of the fill is thick black sediment washed in from the valley side when the
mill ceased operations in the mid 19thC. The field walk I hoped to arrange at the
end of last year is still on hold, as the farmer has yet to plough the area we are
interested in. Remnant of last years crop still covers the surface making a detailed
survey impractical, but hopefully the field will be ready later in the year.
Courses
Liverpool University has published details of a series of short courses in Archaeology
as part of their accredited Continuing Education programme. Credits are awarded for
attendance and satisfactory completion and may accumulate towards a University award or
transferred for other vocational purpose. For details ring 0151-794-2550/6900 or see
me for an application form. A Pompeii Day-school has been arranged for Saturday 14th
March by Manchester University. Despite the wealth of evidence produced since
excavations began in 1748, the site has lacked a holistic and coherent programme of
research, resulting in areas of neglect and misinterpretation. Natural
deterioration, vandalism, wars and further earthquakes have taken their toll, and new
discoveries have not always been adequately recorded or published. The day school
will focus on the most recent work carried out by British archaeologists, who have been
instrumental in developing a new integrated approach to research. According to the
brochure the speakers represent the best in British Archaeological research at
Pompeii. Once again I have the application forms or ring 0161 275 3316 for further
details. The price is £18 (£15 concession, £10 students).
Next Meeting
The next meeting of the Society will be on Wednesday 4th January at the history shop at
7.30 pm as usual. Once again we have the annual ritual of the A.G.M. so please bring
your subscription i.e. £5. At the meeting I will be going through some of the work
we did last year in particular on the SMR. By the way I’ve have put last
year’s Newsletters together in the form of a pamphlet, if anybody needs a copy, just
see Bill Nuttall at the meeting.
Hope to see you there - B.A.
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