At the pre-dig meeting on the 23rd April Bruce had some potentially devastating news for us. Several years ago, David, the landowner, joined Natural England’s Basic Stewardship Scheme. At the beginning of the winter they came and did a spot check. The dig had not been declared to them. One of their conditions is that the land is not disturbed. That means that at present the only thing that can be done on the site is tidying, general maintenance and going through the spoil heap. This has been taking place since the pre-dig meeting.
There is a way round it but it entails an enormous amount of paperwork. Bruce has been writing and collating the information that is needed. In this he is being advised and helped by Ian Meadows at Northampton Archaeology. Among the documents he has to produce is the equivalent of a business plan. One for today and one for when the dig was first started! A covering letter also has to be produced. It has to have the correct jargon. Ian has been especially helpful in this area with all the documents.
We should get consent to continue excavating on this site but it may take some time. Until then not a spade or a trowel can be used.
A.G.M.
As usual there was a good turn out. Mike resigned as Treasurer, Kerry volunteered to take over. Three new members were voted onto the committee.-They were Jerry Hefford, Janet Hales and David Turner.
The idea of pottery recognition and recording workshops was floated. After training we would then meet fortnightly at the Talbot to record finds. The idea was received well. There is more about this later in the newsletter.
Harry Cotton is now an honorary member
Just to remind you the members on the committee are now
Chair /Website / Newsletter/Events Organiser-Carol Morton
Secretary – Robert Warren
Treasurer /Membership Secretary/ Deputy Site Director – Kerry Hand
Site Director – Bruce Hardy
Heath and Safety – Jonathan Hall
Janet Hales
Jerry Hefford
Dave Turner
We are extremely sorry to lose Mike as treasurer, a job he has done well over the years. Mike is one of the early members of the Society and has been treasurer for much of that time. He is still a member. This means that his knowledge of the early days is still available to us.
The Xmas Get Together.
There were 22 of us at the get together. Again the Talbot put on a lovely spread. We added stollen and mince pies. There was lots of chat and the usual “Where did you get that question from?” and “I knew that” with the quiz.
This year we decided to give out some funny awards. Ray got the award for the most imaginative use of site for catching fish in the flooded area. His prize was a packet of Fisherman’s Friends sweets. Jerry was the most optimistic for being in shorts the earliest and the latest. His prize was a bottle of suntan lotion. Steve was the person who most looks like an archaeologist. He got a mini garden sieve to sieve for his finds. Ray received a second prize for being the keenest by arriving before Bruce every week. His prize was a timer and finally for having the shiniest spade Tony was given some Brillo pads.
The Winter Programme
Men, Muck and Magic part one, started the year well. It was a fascinating look at industrial archaeology from the Neolithic to the beginning of the industrial revolution. About 25 people came
In February we had another interesting talk by John Kliene. He told us what happened at Alderton after Time Team had done their quick tidy up. This is a lovely example of Community archaeology as anyone in the village who dug a hole of any size was asked to let John and Paul Blinkhorn have a look and excavate the site. Most people were only too glad to let them do this. This has resulted in a much more accurate history of the village with still more to come. We had a slightly smaller number this time (20).
Again there was a slightly lower turnout (18) in March. This was hardly surprising as we had been experiencing gale force winds earlier in the day. Steve Ashby from the Portable Antiquities Scheme gave an interesting and positive talk about how metal detectorists have contributed to the archaeological knowledge of this country. This is especially so in rural areas. Finds are usually found when some form of building work takes place. Because they usually work in the countryside a much wider picture of life in the past is being built up based on their reports. Part of Steve’s job is to encourage them to report not only their finds but also their location. He does this by regularly visiting clubs in the county.
For More Men, Muck and Magic the turnout was back up to the early twenties. It was another fascinating evening which took us up to the present day.
NAS Archaeology Day.
The Society had a table at the event on Saturday, 5th April at Cogenhoe Community Centre. This was the first time that the event has taken place. There were a wide variety of organisations represented including CLASP, Portable Antiquities, Piddington Villa and many more. There were also three re-enactors who were superb. We have already put our names down for next year.
Old Members – Do any members have information about how to contact past members who may have information about the early days of the site?
Grants and Funding- After last years successful bid for funding we have applied again so that we can pay for the workshops and set up the recording sessions.
Web Site
Dave Turner has agreed to take over the website in the near future.
Open Evening – There will not beone this June due to the situation with Natural England but there may be one in September.
Pottery Recognition and Recording Workshops
At the AGM the idea of taking work on the finds further was well received. The plan is to have two specialists, Paul Blinkhorn and Jane Timby, to run workshops at the Corn Market Hall. At these we will be shown how to recognise and record Roman (Jane) and Anglo-Saxon (Paul) pottery. A reference sample will also be set up so that we will have something concrete to compare the shards to. The skills learnt can then be used to record other types of finds as well.
Later we will meet at The Talbot, fortnightly on a Monday, to put these skills to work. The dates and times are on the last page. There will be a charge of £10 for the Roman Pottery workshop and £5 for the Anglo- Saxon one. A snip as the all day Roman workshop is costing us over £300 and the afternoon Anglo-Saxon one is over £100. Please send your cheques to made out to The Ise Archaeological and Research Society to Kerry Hand,76 Kingsley Avenue, Kettering NN16 9EU. The Roman Workshop is full but there are a few places left on the Anglo-Saxon one.
Naseby Battle Field Tour
The tour has been booked for Saturday 5th July. There will be a charge of £4 per head. Again please send your cheques to Kerry.
We meet in The Old Red Lion car park, Clipston at 10.15a.m. There we will move into as few cars as possible. We will follow our guides to different places connected with the battle. They will then tell us the history of each stopping place. The tour will take about two hours finishing back at the pub. There you could finish the morning with a nice lunch or a refreshing drink.
IF ANY ONE CAN OFFER A LIFT PLEASE CONTACT CAROL ON 01536 420724. There are one or two people who need a lift.
