Megaliths on Line
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If you are a fan of prehistoric stone monuments, there is a whole new web-site just for you. www.megalithics.co.uk is an interactive database created by Andy Burnham and contains photographs and descriptions of all known megalithic sites in the UK. To help you find the monument you want, Andy has included a clickable map of the UK and thumbnails of all the photographs on file. Andy says the database will remain open and will be continually updated with new photos and information.
Arley Mill Survey
Last month Tom Glover and I gave a talk to the Chorley Archaeology Society, in which we described the work we have been carrying over the years, including our research and excavations in the Arley valley. The audience were very receptive and afterwards it became clear that, in fact, they had also done some researcher on the Arley Mill site. Mike Bennett, their society's recorder, has surveyed the site and in 1997 produced a detail plan of the mill's remains. Since the meeting, Mike has very generously sent me all the details of his work, which compares very favourable with our findings. Mike has also volunteered to help in any future work we do down there.
Lancashire Arch. Society
I have just received this society's programme for 2001. They meet on the third Friday of every month at the Lancashire Record Office in Bow Lane Preston and have an impressive listing for this year. This includes a trip to Ravenglass on the Cumbrian coast in the summer. Just to the south of the village of Ravenglass lies the site of a Roman fort and also the remains of a bath-house which is reputed to be one of the tallest surviving Roman structures in Britain. If you are interested in more details of the programme please contact me at the meeting.
Congress of Independent Archaeologist
This year's congress is to be held at Nottingham University in the summer and will be based on the role of the amateur in a world dominated by professionalism. In recent decades, amateur archaeology has been crushed by the elephant of officialdom. Amateurs have lost their confidence, and with rare exceptions, seem to be making little contribution to knowledge. Yet at the same time, the success of programmes such as The Time Team suggests that there is widespread interest in archaeology, while official archaeology - notably the PPG 16 programme - is piling up data that is never used. The Congress will look at the relations between official and non-official archaeology and ask: What has gone wrong? The Congress will be arranged as a series of workshops under a series of related headings. In recent years these meetings have been very entertaining and enlightening. If anybody is interested in attending this year, please contact me at the meeting.
Next Meeting
Wednesday 7th March at the BP Centre (Scout HQ) in Greenough Street, at 7.30 pm as usual. This month's speaker is Dr Malcolm Bain who will be presenting his talk on the Medieval Landscape of Anglezark and Rivington Moor, which was deferred from October last year.
Hope to see you there - B.A.