Sunday 19 January 2014

"And now, the end is near And so we face the final workshops"

Happy New Year everyone!!!!

I should have posted before Xmas, but I'm afraid life got in the way! I hope everyone had a great Christmas and New Year. I most certainly did with a week up in Castleton keeping cosy in the caravan, with late mornings and early nights, followed by a week of manic activity at Centre Parcs, where we threw ourselves into a flurry of high octane water rides (wild rapids and the Cyclone), paint balling, tennis, field archery and bike rides. Needless to say I was grateful to get back to work for a rest! .

So from the immortal lines from "My Way" from ol' blue eyes himself, we have just 2 more workshops to go! Where did 2013 disappear to I ask myself. We've certainly achieved an awful lot in the months since we started the project, having worked our way through all the processes of an archaeological project.

You volunteers have been amazing, and for me it's been really nice to meet lots of new people from all walks of life, some of them getting involved in a hobby that previously they have never thought about.

The pottery and small finds are off being assessed by the experts, and we have just 2 workshops remaining, one on publication and the final one on archiving. AND we have a date for the geo-phys, which is this Monday, 20th January. The team from Northampton, who we all met on the geo-phys workshop, will be heading up a team of 7, I believe, and aim to do the 2 fields, 15 hectares, in 3 days. It's all a bit Time-Teamish. So the bumble-bee dance will be perfomed en masse. An interesting sight for anyone just passing!!!

Our thoughts must also turn to the forthcoming exhibition at the Herbert Art Gallery and Museum
"Roman Empire: Power and People" exhibition from May to August this year, where some of the Broadwell finds will be on display. As you may know, the exhibition originates from the British Museum and will tour around the country. The bulk of the exhibition will be supplied by the British Museum, with local influences being add at the various venues around the country. CADAS, Rugby Art Gallery and Museum, Leicester and Alcester will be contributing artifacts.

Watch out for further news on this amazing exhibition and also about the 2 final workshops.