Decided I would take half a day off work to visit my favourite dig site. That and an opportunity to see in the flesh the delectable Dan Snow. National Treasures Live had come to Stratford. And Will's back.
The film crew had already set up and there was wires and equipment and bodies all over the place.
Tasked with cleaning up the stepped section in the front garden with 2 other ladies. The soil is so dry and crumbly, it was a nightmare but we got it done and then we started cleaning up the Haliwell brick structures. Just to make everything look nice for the camera.
Then suddenly we were inundated with all the guides from the house who came down to have their photo taken as a group. We weren't very impressed when we were told to make way for the diggers!!.....and we are.....!!!!! Obviously volunteers don't score very highly on the digger's scale. Miffed wasn the word!.
Anyway, it was interesting to meet Sian and Dan. They appear to be friendly, approachable people and Sian even had a bit of a banter with some of the volunteers.
There were several rehearals throughout the day and the umbrellas were in constant use. Yes it rained and we all got very wet...twice.
There was a lot of hanging around and doing nothing, because the film crew kept moving us out of shot etc. But they were very polite to joe public.
Chloe grabbed a couple of us and said that there were some t-shirts with "Dig for Shakespeare" on that she wanted us to wear. However this didn't go down well with the rest of the volunteers because the t-shirts were something we wanted since last year. Even if we had to put something towards them. I think there will be a few emails flying around.
Finally Will had a couple of minutes away from his newly found star status (yes he's on camera) to start alloting jobs for the actual live run. Myself and Colin were tasked with "pretending" to do a section drawing in the "Brew House". We actually got it done as well. Well it saved hanging around for hours with nothing to do.
All to soon the programme had finished, and I think I became Dan's oldest groupie that day, by asking him to sign my site diary which he did graciously.
When I watched the programme later that night I realised that my dig bag got 2 seconds of fame and that I was just a little dot in the background clutching our finished plan in the final few minutes of the show. Oh well, it was in interesting experience.
Thursday, 25 August 2011
Sunday, 21 August 2011
Catch-up August
A very hectic August at work meant no time to update blog!!! But here's the story so far:
Will and Emily had a baby boy called Arthur, little brother to Freyja. Congratulations to you all.
SBT (or at least a gardener) went down the well. Strangely enough only last Sunday somebody was asking me if there were any plans to go down the well, and a week later it happens. Apart from the usual coinage, there were a few other interesting items: pair of matching earrings, smartie tops (you remember...the plastic ones with the letters on them), marbles, small plastic toy figures, a conker with a pin in it(!), a 1950's flashlight (very interesting. It still had the liquid in), a 1966 world cup ornament, a couple of pencils, a pen knib (of the dipping variety and circa 1917's) and other assorted rubbish!
Found this whilst washing finds.
the girls sieving......
...and Gem
David finds marking
Me!!!
A much needed ice-cream after a long, hot, hard day!
Will and Emily had a baby boy called Arthur, little brother to Freyja. Congratulations to you all.
SBT (or at least a gardener) went down the well. Strangely enough only last Sunday somebody was asking me if there were any plans to go down the well, and a week later it happens. Apart from the usual coinage, there were a few other interesting items: pair of matching earrings, smartie tops (you remember...the plastic ones with the letters on them), marbles, small plastic toy figures, a conker with a pin in it(!), a 1950's flashlight (very interesting. It still had the liquid in), a 1966 world cup ornament, a couple of pencils, a pen knib (of the dipping variety and circa 1917's) and other assorted rubbish!
Found this whilst washing finds.
the girls sieving......
...and Gem
David finds marking
Me!!!
A much needed ice-cream after a long, hot, hard day!
Day 1 of 4 day stint
As I enjoyed it so much last year, I decided to do another 4 day stint at New Place. After dragging the caravan to the Riverside Caravan park in Tiddington and enjoying the evening in Connolly's Deli Tapas bar, I was well set up for an early start Saturday. And did I earn my bottle (or two) of coronona that night....in fact every night for the next 4 days!!!!!
So what delights did the 4 days hold for me.Well there was the rain Saturday morning and the chance to meet some of the Saturday diggers in rather soggy circumstances in the sieving tent, where we sorted finds, washed them and marked them. I washed but also took the opportunity to catch up with Mat from last year's 4 day stint which was nice. The afternoon turned sunny and Gem and I did a bit of gardening and cleaning at the front of the house garden to prepare for photos...that never happened, but that's another story. We then weightd the brick, tile and stone from 4003, and there was a lot of that as my arms will attest to on the Sunday and Monday. Boy did they ache!!!! I finished the day in the sieving tent where I had a heck of a busy afternoon and after 9 people had cleared me out of all the soil, another 20 came in (students) looking to do some sieving!! No chance, so I had to turn them away. Honestly the place looked like a bomb had hit it! There was soil everywhere, but fortunately with everyone's help, it didn't take too long to clear up.
The expectant father
So what delights did the 4 days hold for me.Well there was the rain Saturday morning and the chance to meet some of the Saturday diggers in rather soggy circumstances in the sieving tent, where we sorted finds, washed them and marked them. I washed but also took the opportunity to catch up with Mat from last year's 4 day stint which was nice. The afternoon turned sunny and Gem and I did a bit of gardening and cleaning at the front of the house garden to prepare for photos...that never happened, but that's another story. We then weightd the brick, tile and stone from 4003, and there was a lot of that as my arms will attest to on the Sunday and Monday. Boy did they ache!!!! I finished the day in the sieving tent where I had a heck of a busy afternoon and after 9 people had cleared me out of all the soil, another 20 came in (students) looking to do some sieving!! No chance, so I had to turn them away. Honestly the place looked like a bomb had hit it! There was soil everywhere, but fortunately with everyone's help, it didn't take too long to clear up.
The expectant father
Sunday, 26 June 2011
Sunday 26th June
What...a...scorcher!!!! Over breakfast I thought, ah well dull but dry, but by the time we'd parked up, we could feel the sun beating down on our backs. And it didn't get any better!!
First up in the sieving tent, me and Rita, tried to open as many panels as we could, to find that because of the windy weather, a lot of the eyelets had been attached to the main fram by plastic ties!. Not to be out-done, we got a fair few panels open. The breeze, when it happened was a welcome relief from the heat and humidity.
After tea-break it got worse as we relocated to context 4003. A right little sun trap. However, frequent stops wer necessary as Madam Blackbird ferreted around for worms and stuff. Me, I prefer a bacon sarnie!
Finds for us today started well as I spotted 2 pins in the soil, but this was followed by a lot of nothingness, but we did a good mornings work, taking back the raised platform to the cellar floor...well not all of it of course but 22 buckets in the morning and 33 after lunch wasn't bad going I don't think.
Meanwhile, Will was all alone in his little trench, trying to make sense of it all.....42 I hear you cry (or was it 41!)
The knot garden is looking, wait for it, blooming marvellous!! The gardeners doing a great job making it look absolutely gorgeous.
First up in the sieving tent, me and Rita, tried to open as many panels as we could, to find that because of the windy weather, a lot of the eyelets had been attached to the main fram by plastic ties!. Not to be out-done, we got a fair few panels open. The breeze, when it happened was a welcome relief from the heat and humidity.
After tea-break it got worse as we relocated to context 4003. A right little sun trap. However, frequent stops wer necessary as Madam Blackbird ferreted around for worms and stuff. Me, I prefer a bacon sarnie!
Finds for us today started well as I spotted 2 pins in the soil, but this was followed by a lot of nothingness, but we did a good mornings work, taking back the raised platform to the cellar floor...well not all of it of course but 22 buckets in the morning and 33 after lunch wasn't bad going I don't think.
Meanwhile, Will was all alone in his little trench, trying to make sense of it all.....42 I hear you cry (or was it 41!)
The knot garden is looking, wait for it, blooming marvellous!! The gardeners doing a great job making it look absolutely gorgeous.
Wednesday, 22 June 2011
Catch up blog
Well for all my fans out there!!!( Who am I kidding) I'm back. It's going to be a short one but lots of nice piccies. My year of barreness has finally ended when in the dying minutes of last Sunday, I pulled from the ground a disc-like object. Will took a look and reckons that it's the 3rd of its kind that we've found on site, and it's a .......token. Still got to do a bit of research on this, but I'm very happy with in. In fact the smile still hasn't left my face!
And this is my star find
A remnant of the old lake bed - sand and gravel.
Knot Grden looking good again this year.
Fame at last for me and Rita. See if you can spot us on the info boards...
The blackbirds have been visiting us again. I wonder if they're the same ones as last year. They're very bold.
Coupkke of drains that Will's uncovered and Halliwell missed...by inches!!!
Never seen a bullet before. How small is that!
And this is my star find
A remnant of the old lake bed - sand and gravel.
Knot Grden looking good again this year. 
Fame at last for me and Rita. See if you can spot us on the info boards...
The blackbirds have been visiting us again. I wonder if they're the same ones as last year. They're very bold.
Coupkke of drains that Will's uncovered and Halliwell missed...by inches!!!
Never seen a bullet before. How small is that!
Monday, 9 May 2011
Sunday 8th April Day 2
Bit of a mixed day today weather wise. It started off really naff, with a few spots of rain, and then it became glorious.
Will had marked out all the features in the garden, but due to the rain yeasterday, he had to do it all again today. I had a bit of a disaterous start. Will asked me to tidy up a section ready for photographing, but I got a bit too close to the edge and the sides fell in! So a 30min job turned into a bit of a session as Will re-drew the goal posts, so to speak, making the section bigger!!
My section
The marked features
After tea, I started on the opposite quarter of the section from this morning. Nothing much occuring. Bit of glass and bone. The 1st quarter had given up some lovely tudor pottery but also some later bricks. The 2nd quarter gave up 2 bits of blue and white amongst the CBM! Sort of put the kybosh on the dating of this section. I'm so glad I'm not doing the interpreting!
After lunch I spent the afternoon in the sieving tent. It was really quiet all day, with relatively few visitors, but the Stratford Half Marathon was on in the morning presumably with lots of associated events so people went to them instead. We were serenaded most of the afternoon by a very good singer. Goodness knows where he was, but he played some really nice music.
Hot and tired, we left the house and made out way to the ice-cream barge. We've got quite a good tradition now, and more people are joining us.......
Will had marked out all the features in the garden, but due to the rain yeasterday, he had to do it all again today. I had a bit of a disaterous start. Will asked me to tidy up a section ready for photographing, but I got a bit too close to the edge and the sides fell in! So a 30min job turned into a bit of a session as Will re-drew the goal posts, so to speak, making the section bigger!!
My section
The marked featuresAfter tea, I started on the opposite quarter of the section from this morning. Nothing much occuring. Bit of glass and bone. The 1st quarter had given up some lovely tudor pottery but also some later bricks. The 2nd quarter gave up 2 bits of blue and white amongst the CBM! Sort of put the kybosh on the dating of this section. I'm so glad I'm not doing the interpreting!
After lunch I spent the afternoon in the sieving tent. It was really quiet all day, with relatively few visitors, but the Stratford Half Marathon was on in the morning presumably with lots of associated events so people went to them instead. We were serenaded most of the afternoon by a very good singer. Goodness knows where he was, but he played some really nice music.
Hot and tired, we left the house and made out way to the ice-cream barge. We've got quite a good tradition now, and more people are joining us.......
Wednesday, 4 May 2011
Sunday 17th April Day 1
Well it's been a long time, but going back into the garden, it's just like we've never been away. A smaller crowd this year with Adrian, Karen, new girl Rita, Kat, David and another chap (never got his name) with Colin joining us in the afternoon.
For my loyal followers (who am I kidding!) soz I've taken so long to get this blog started but what with Easter, wedding holiday all in the way, then I've been a tad busy. BUT I'M BACK NOW. Yippeeeeeeeee
Oh, right don't get too excited. Photos will come later.
So what did we do? Well a health and safety talk was followed by...guess what..... a stint in the sieving tent!....Oh no it wasn't, that came after I actually got my trowel dirty in the front of the garden chipping off a raised bit of dirt to get it back to the level of the surrounding dirt...then it was off to the sieving tent. Oh joy!
But hey, it's good to be back
Sieving
Will and David contemplating the spoil heap.
Can you guess where it is yet? Yes it's the Knot garden. The quarter we did last year...or did we!!!!
Adrian in his favourite hole
For my loyal followers (who am I kidding!) soz I've taken so long to get this blog started but what with Easter, wedding holiday all in the way, then I've been a tad busy. BUT I'M BACK NOW. Yippeeeeeeeee
Oh, right don't get too excited. Photos will come later.
So what did we do? Well a health and safety talk was followed by...guess what..... a stint in the sieving tent!....Oh no it wasn't, that came after I actually got my trowel dirty in the front of the garden chipping off a raised bit of dirt to get it back to the level of the surrounding dirt...then it was off to the sieving tent. Oh joy!
But hey, it's good to be back
Sieving
Will and David contemplating the spoil heap.
Can you guess where it is yet? Yes it's the Knot garden. The quarter we did last year...or did we!!!!
Adrian in his favourite hole
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