A quick update on Olivers Mound. The dig is due to go ahead in the last 2 weeks of May where AOC Archaeology and Archaeological Investigations are making preperations to see where the trenches are going to go and the decide on a plan of action. There has been a good response from the volunteers, although  we need solid names of people who are going to commit! There is even hint of Civil War business lingering around the woods. Definetely also have to get the Worcestershire YAC involved also.

'I am doing a guided geology walk on the 19th of May when the digging starts. It is at 10am from the mound. It is about 2 miles and will take a couple of hours. That gets people out of the way while the archaeologists prepare for the digging in the afternoon. I will show you some of the best sites in the woods. Some are very ancient and barely visible and it is possible that the buildings on the mound came from these. By the time I have done that, most people should know a fair bit about the rock type and recognise what is different on the site. I can't promise dinosaurs in these Triassic rocks, but it isn't impossible. Hopefully some of the historians will come along too, and explain about the methodology of the quarrying. For more information go to the EHT website and look at the events page. If you e-mail the EHT you can be sent a copy of the flyer. [Buthere's a link to it anyway].

I'll be blogging the day by day progress of the dig from 19th May onwards, so watch this space and more updates to come. If anyone is interested in coming along as a volunteer - let me know - the more the merrier, as they say!

The archaeological professional in the UK today is not like the Time Team at all. Sorry. The common mistake that some folk make is that we all work for the government or are  - I kid you not  - volunteers or University students having a jolly. Fair enough (well, not really, but you know what I mean). But whereas larger media exposure of archaeology has gone somewhat to bring the need for this profession to be understood and appreciated, where does this leave us with the people who actually pay for it? No, not you - the dreaded developers.

For the most part, the developer does. Whether that's Mr Barrat Homes building his 2,000 suburbian dwellings on a flood plain or John Smith who wants to extend his kitchen over a Roman road. This is a result of a new Planning Policy Guide which was introduced in the mid 1990s  - BAJR can say it best here in his Section 1. I have glossed over English Heritage and Historic Scotland here, who also provide grants for research work, and the Heritage Lottery Fund is also starting to go with some research excavations, mostly involving lots of community involvement and development. Just see the stuff about the Olivers Mound project on that one.

Quite often, however, developers are all surprised when an archaeological condition is placed on thier site (this means that they will not get their planning permission unless an archaeological investigation has taken place - be it a few test trenches or an historic buildings assessment) and have no idea what to do.

There are therefore a number of archaeological contractor firms that quote - much as a surveyor or demolition contractor would - to get that job done. Consider how many costs are involved in a new development, especially somewhere with some history to it - the bat people, the tree people, the environment people, the architect, the demolition contractor, the building conservationist, etc. Despite the complaints, the archaeological work is often a meagre expense. It is an annoyance to some developers because it is one they may not have been expecting. Why? Why were you not expecting it?

Yes, but not very much when you are first starting out, and even at the top it's pretty meagre. The average starting salary for a graduate archaeologist is the lowest starting salary for any profession in the country. Why? Well, in some respects, the archaeological profession has shot iself in the foot over pay and conditions. In the mid 1990s, when new planning guidelines came out focusing the payment for recording and processing the nation's heritage on the developer's wallet, many new contracting firms appeared which were, for the first time, competing against each other for the 'next' job. This created a lot of under-cutting and dare-I-say-it 'cowboy like' attitudes to getting archaeology done and this low tendering structure has meant that wages have always remained low.

A recent article in the latest IFA magagazine (Institute of Field Archaeologists) states that archaeology is actually more profitable than constriction with a 1% average profit for construction compared to a 3% profit for archaeological companies. However, the turnovers for archaeological compnaies are quite small, although it has stresssed that we could pay ourselves more, but have never had enough drive to push forward for better wages and condtions. When I graduated, I had to volunteer for at least 8-9 months before getting the odd job here and there. I eventually went to do a Masters degree with the aim of getting a better (or more importantly) a permanent job.

So why do developers never take archaeology seriously?

A trip down to Worcestershire for the launch meeting of the Olivers Mound project proved very interesting. The morning was taken up by a trip by myself and Treasurer of the Society Rod Sproat and AOC Archaeology's Edmund Simons, who insisted on trudging through the woods! I took the opportunity to have a look at the site again (now full of nettles - ouch!).

The launch meeting for went off wonderfully. About 40 people showed up in all. Andy Boucher from Archaeological Investigations talked through his geophysical results, the most promising ones being the resistivity results which show the areas where the 1920s excavations took place and also a very high result in an area which may contaoin another tower. Rollo Gillespie from the Earth Heritage Trust was also on hand to talk about the geology of the area and the detailed geological study that will be undertaken before the dig.

The last 2 weeks in May seem to be the preferred time of the dig, and there may be a few school visits (yikes!) and also some civil war reinactment (the woods being part of a Royalist stronghold by those under the traitor Charles Stuart ).

Do you like archaeology and blogging?

Hi All,

Well, things are progressing at Olivers Mound, and the geophysics results are more or less back in with some positive results. There's going to be a launch meeting on 10th December at 7pm where Archaeological Investigations will show the results of their geophysics survey and we will start to arrange Phase 2 - the archaeological excavations - which will take place in May 2008.

For those of you who don't know, Olivers Mound is the name of the former 'Courts Hills' or 13th/14th century castle in the village of Shrawley, Worcestershire, for which the local history society (all of 11 members) have secured HLF funding (just short of £45k) to undertake a programme of investigtaions, excavation, community projects and publications on the site. Little to see now, the castle was strategically placed to control an ancient ford over the River Severn deep in Shrawley Woods. I won't be giving the exact position of the site for obvious reasons!

The dig itself will be professionally run by AOC Archaeology, but will have a large number of volunteers and school parties - a tent, loos, a lock-up. I'm also thinking of getting a barbecue in - nothing like a hotdog after some hard trowelling.

The Main tower at Stokesay Castle

The later-added timber-framed gatehouse at Stokesay

So why is it caled Olivers Mound when it is the site of a 13th century castle? Well, it might be to do with the fact that Royalist sympathisers used the castle as a defensive gun position against parliamentary forces. There's more stories about vagabonsds and cutthroats in the woods, but I'm going to make sure I've got my facts straight before retelling that story! Would be a good one for the shcool visits, especially if there's a few reinactment peolpe involved.

Oh, the world of archaeology is SO glamorous today. I'm sitting here (handwriting post to write later) watching a guy peck out concrete. Have to wait until he gets to the 17th century foundation wall which is much easier to peck out, but equally as dull to watch.

'Damn, I forgot my context sheets...now how am I going to defeat the Nazis?'

...As I will soon become involved in my Dad's Scoiety's archaeological project at Olivers Mound in Shrawley, Worcestershire, for which they have just got HLF funding! It will be a big community dig with loads of volunteers. There are two stages to the excavations, one this autumn within the ditch rior to gaining better access to teh site and a 2 week summer excavation next year. Might even drive down my new (old) pick-up, it would be perfect for this job.

Gil x

The Cutty Sark has gone up in flames

The ship, which was undergoing a major restoration project, is kept in a dry dock at Greenwich in south-east London.

An area around the 138-year-old tea clipper had to be evacuated when the fire broke out in the early hours.

A Cutty Sark Trust spokesman said 50% of the ship was removed for restoration work. He said the Trust was devastated but it could have been worse.

Charred planking

The decks of the ship are said to be unsalvageable. But much of the boat, including the masts, had already been removed as part of the restoration work.

Chris Livett, Chairman of Cutty Sark Enterprises, speaking at the scene, said: "We had removed 50% of the planking, so 50% of the planking wasn't on site and that's safe and secure.

"And from where I stand there is not a huge amount of damage to the planking that was left on.

"There are pockets of charred planking and some have gone, but it doesn't look as bad as first envisaged."

Police are analysing CCTV images which are thought to show people in the area shortly before the fire started at about 0500 BST.

Inspector Bruce Middlemiss from the Metropolitan police said detectives were looking into the possibility that the fire was deliberately started and would like to speak to some people seen in the area last night.

"There is indication that there were people in the area at the time when the fire initially started, that's come from the local borough CCTV," he said.

"There's no indication at this stage that the people that are on that CCTV footage are actually involved in the incident, but may merely be witnesses."

Speaking to BBC News, the chief executive of the Cutty Sark Trust, Richard Doughty, said he feared what would be lost in the blaze.

"When you lose original fabric, you lose the touch of the craftsman, you lose history itself," he said.

"And what is special about Cutty Sark is the timbers, the iron frames, that went to the South China Seas, and to think that that is threatened in any way is unbelievable, it's an unimaginable shock."

He said the ship would be "irreplaceable".

He added that the Cutty Sark was not just an important part of maritime heritage but an important part of British identity.

Mr Doughty described the ship as the epitome of speed under sail.

An eyewitness, who saw the fire as she was driving across the Thames, said: "I can see all this smoke billowing out from round by where the Cutty Sark is.

"It was black, thick black smoke... as I've come over the bridge there's all police cars blocking the road and everyone's being diverted."

Residents living near the ship were evacuated from their homes and taken to a Greenwich hotel, Scotland Yard confirmed.

The ship was undergoing £25m renovation works and was closed to visitors.

• She is the most famous ship in the world
• She is the epitome of the great age of sail
• She is the only surviving extreme clipper, and the only tea clipper still in existence.
  
• Most of her hull fabric survives from her original construction and she is the best example of a merchant composite construction vessel.
• She was preserved in Greenwich partly as a memorial to the men of the merchant navy, particularly those who lost their lives in the world wars.
• She is one of the great sights of London.