Wednesday, March 04, 2009

Here Today, Bourne Tomorrow (Title copyright © Steventon’s Corny Puns Ltd)

Meet Francis Twizell. As well as having an excellent name (it’s pronounced Twye-Zell incidentally – sounds very Dickensian, doesn’t it?) and hair attaining the sort of length that mine could never reach (far too curly mine…after about six inches it just becomes one huge wave on either side of my head and I end up looking like a giant bluebell) Francis also has the dubious distinction of being Wyre Archaeology’s latest recruit. (At least he does at the time of writing. He might have left and gone into hiding when this article finally makes it to being posted.)
Here’s Francis anyhow, getting to grips with Danielle’s geophysics machine on February the fifteenth 2009 (for anybody reading this who likes their literature to be chronologically ordered):



(I realise I’ve used the old bedstead joke before, but it’s been that sort of day. If you want invention try asking the government about Britain’s economic prospects.)

At the time of writing, we’re waiting for Danielle’s geophysics’ results, but, effectively, the survey’s completed and, short of the many arguments that are about to ensue concerning the placement of this summer’s trenches with regard to said results, the job’s a good ’un.
(Editor's note: At the time of posting, the geophys results are in. However, I'm going to be completely evil now and make everybody wait until I write a separate article for them. While I'm here, though, I'd better just correct the fact that I've been going round telling everyone that the A.G.M. is this month. It isn't, apparently. It's next month. And so senility sends out its twisted roots. Enough, back to the article...)
Not having been put off by his experiences thus far (apparently people come to us for the crack and stay for the banter…the bloke who sells the crack having usually buggered off by the time they get there) Francis actually returned to Bourne Hill the following weekend to help us complete our contour survey as well. (Brave lad…he must be very serious about taking archaeology up as a profession.)



Yes, you did read that correctly. Danielle is, even as I type, either in training for, or climbing up, Kilimanjaro. I’m not sure which. I can’t be bothered with all that research.

Anyhow, as possibly already intimated (I can’t be bothered reading back through this article to check, either) we managed to finish the contour survey on February the 20th 2009. Well, when I say finished…we completed the bit for the rectangular enclosure on the summit. We’ve still got plenty left to survey around the rest of the site yet.

Want to see the results? It’s a rhetorical question. Unless you’re blind or have extremely quick responses you’re going to see them anyway, because here they are:



What exactly does this tell us about the nature of the settlement beneath the ground?

Not a lot, to be honest. But we have to combine it with our geophysics results really, which we haven’t (at the time of writing) actually got. Give us chance. We’re doing the best we can.

Because it’s not a particularly long article this week, I thought we could finish with a couple more photographs from the last two helpings of our surveys. The first one features Paul Bradshaw (Lord of Bodkin Hall) and Ken Emery (Wyre Archaeology Secretary) helping out with the geophysics:



Last, and almost certainly least (as far as humorous captions go at any rate) here’s one of Chris Clayton (Head of our Surveying Department) half hidden, as always, behind his dumpy:



8 comments:

Anonymous said...

You should go on a recruitment drive; get a poster with the words "Free Sex", and post it around Fleetwood. Make the smaller print the true advertisement.

Unknown said...

Excellent post title, I must say. more like that, please, and keep the royalty checks coming. :0)

Looking forward to the correlation of all this data. Do you think it will lead to new places to dig, or did you hit it right the first time?

JOHN :0)
I should have said, I hope your findings have been bourne out...

Unknown said...

Or maybe, I'm just bourne-ing to see the next post!

Sorry, I was Bourne to pun...

Brian Hughes said...

Reuben,

I suspect the words 'Free Lunch' would work better round these parts.

John,


"Do you think it will lead to new places to dig, or did you hit it right the first time?"

Both. The results are...intriguing. We're going to busy this summer, that's for sure. That's why I'm saving all the Bourne puns for later posts...got to pace myself here.

Jayne said...

Excellent!
With 3 episodes of TT each week and new digs from you we'll be able to illegally excavate the cricket ground middens in the midnight darkness....maybe not.

What's the go with English Heritage and those fireplaces?!

Brian Hughes said...

Jayne,

It's in London. They can pull the whole city down as far as I'm concerned. Preferably with most of the residents in it.


"The architect of New Delhi, Sir Edwin Lutyens, described it as “a most interesting house of exceptional quality”."

He was good him. We've got an Edwin Lutyens' designed house in Cleveleys. The trouble is I'm still trying to work out which one it is.

Anonymous said...

C'mon, Brian...I'm sure you'd love to go to London just to see what they're digging up in Clapton. I hear it's quite amazing.

Brian Hughes said...

When the cockneys start to take an interest in what we're digging up round our neck of the woods I might take a polite interest. Until then, I honestly couldn't care less.