Newsletter 10

A Week in Luxor

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.