Spanish Delights
If you are interested in Roman history, a holiday in Spain can be very rewarding, as Mike Booth discovered earlier this year. Based from Madrid, Mike went on a 10-day tour, which included Segovia, Avila, Salamanca, Caceres, Merida and Toledo, as well as numerous small towns on the way.
The highlight of the trip however must have been Merida, which boasts an impressive aqueduct at Los Milagros, a theatre, an amphitheatre as well as this huge bridge, which crosses the river Guadiana. It spans 760 meters and has 60 arches. Merida was the largest Roman city in Iberia. Founded in 25 BC as Emerita Augusta, a colony for army veterans, the town became the capital of Lusitania Province (northern Portugal). By the 4th century the city was the 9th largest in the Empire.
Mike has brought home some excellent pictures of these spectacular remains. If you want to see them I am sure he will be only too glad to show them to you.
Website revamp
Andy Best our internet expert has been hard at work giving our website a new look. It now includes a new section on the History of Wigan, which has been expertly complied by Adrian Morris. If you have access to the internet it is well worth a visit as it includes some excellent photos taken by Adrian himself. If you don't have access, Andy is bringing his laptop computer to the next meeting to give us all a quick preview of the site.
Resistivity Meter
The recent weather conditions have obviously prevented any further work with the meter. I have, however, received an update from CIA on the progress of the combined meter/datalogger project. The 1st prototype has been built and field-tested against a known site discovered through aerial photography. The results are very impressive. They say the production version is well underway and should be available early in the new year. Meanwhile Tom Glover has put in a new bid to the Community Chest for funds to cover the cost of buying it.
Next Meeting
Wednesday 6th December at the BP Centre (Scout HQ) in Greenough Street, at 7.30 pm as usual. This month's speaker is Dr Steven Snape from Liverpool University, who will be giving a talk on 'Rameses the Great and his Forts in the West'.
As it is the meeting before Christmas the usual seasonal refreshments will be available, for which I would like to thank in advance Mandy Singleton and Tom Glover.
By the way, apologies to those who showed up for the last meeting and good news for those who couldn't make it. The speaker, Tim Strickland, has been rebooked for May next year. As usual there is no meeting in January, the next being the AGM in February. Hope to see you there, if not, have a great Christmas and hope to see you sometime in the New Year -B.A