February | 2018 | toriherridge.com

Britain at Low Tide: S2, E2 Dorset

Posted on February 24, 2018 by toriherridge

A bit of extra info, with links, in case you want to delve a bit deeper into the stories featured in Episode Two of Britain at Low Tide, Series Two.

This particular episode was fun, but also very moving to film. It’s a funny feeling, because from the safe distance of 2018, it is all to easy to get caught up in the excitiment of a Girls Own adventure — I got to ride in a tank! And go out on a boat! And explore beneath the waves with a remotely operated submersible!

And then it hits you: the reality of war. People died. And their loved ones didn’t know why, or when, or where. FOR OVER FIFTY YEARS.

Thankfully, people like John Pearson exist. He’s not just a tank enthusiast, though I am glad he is that too (thanks for the tank ride, John!): he was he was responsible for placing the plaque at Fort Henry commemorating the six men who died in Exercise Smash. For the first time, family members like Joan Brunt, the widow of Arthur Parks, had a memorial for their loved ones where they could mourn their passing.

So lets just take a moment to remember those who died on the 4th April 1944:

Sergeant V. Hartley
Corporal Arthur J. Park
Corporal V. N. Townson
Trooper A. Kirkby
Trooper E. G. Petty
Lieutenant C. R. Gould

Just six names amongst the tens of millions of people who died worldwide in the second world war. But worth remembering nonetheless.

Next week we are across the border on the River Clyde, where we lark around in the mud investigating how a river as ridiculously shallow as the Clyde ended up becoming the shipyard for some of the world’s largest ships… and get scorched uncovering the secrets of a mysterious crannog — 8pm, 3rd March, Channel 4.

And don’t forget, if you want to get involved in coastal archaeology CITiZAN have loads of opportunities: https://citizan.org.uk/get-involved

EXERCISE SMASH

View from the turret. I felt a bit like Margaret Thatcher.

Oliver is sent below, where he belongs.

Valentine Duplex Drive tanks weren’t actually used in D-Day. Instead, by the time the 6th June 1944 came around, enough of the bigger and better (it didn’t have to have it’s gun turret spun around in the wrong direction while afloat..) Sherman Tanks had been modified to duplex drive, with the characteristic canvas skirts. Valentines continued to be used for training, and also saw active service in Italy 1945.

Here is some more info about the archaeological work being done by Dave Parham, Nick Reed & co to record and study the tanks sunk in Studland Bay:
- http://www.thisismast.org/projects/amphibious-tanks-and-world-war-two.html
- https://research.bournemouth.ac.uk/2014/11/pooles-d-day-heritage/
The team is commencing a new survey of the tanks on the 4th April 2018, which will start with the laying of a wreath in memory of the men who died (thanks to Nick Reed for letting me know)
And here is CITiZAN’s introduction to Studland Bay and it’s arcaheological treasures: https://www.citizan.org.uk/resources/key-zones/south-west/studland-bay-dorset/

IRON AGE POOLE

Mike Markey’s latest work on the Iron Age Jetty at Cleavel Point hasn’t been published yet, but this is a nice summary of the excavations and preliminary findings: http://www.wessexportal.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Poole-Harbour-Iron-Age-Port.pdf [pdf]
And I heartily recommend reading Eileen Wilke’s PhD thesis to get a sense of just how much maritime trade was going on along the Dorset coast in the Iron Age: Volume One (the text) and Volume Two (the figures & tables)
And shortly after we filmed with Grace Jones, she successfully defended her PhD Thesis! Hurrah! Here it is, with everything you ever hoped to know about Iron Age pottery production in Poole Harbour: http://eprints.bournemouth.ac.uk/29885/
You can also delve deeper into Poole Harbours Iron Age archaeology with this write up of Time Team’s excavations on Green Island: http://www.wessexarch.co.uk/files/52568_Green%20Island.pdf

BROWNSEA ISLAND CLAY WORKS

The failure of Colonel Waugh’s clay works was all down to the geology, and there is no better place to read more about the geology and history (and how these intersect) of Brownsea than Ian West’s excellent field guides. Seriously,they are AMAZING: http://www.southampton.ac.uk/~imw/Brownsea-Island-Geology.htm
And here is CITiZAN’s introduction to Brownsea and the work they are doing there: https://www.citizan.org.uk/resources/key-zones/south-west/brownsea-island-dorset/

CITiZAN volunteers at work recording the Sea Plane Lighter in the mud of Poole Harbour

SEA PLANE LIGHTER

The wonderful Dave Morris is a Curator of Aircraft at the Fleet Air Arm Museum, where they have a T3 Sea Plane Lighter in their Reserve Collection which is in far better nick than the one CITiZAN were recording…
- the reserve collection is only open to the public on special tour days, but THERE IS JUST SUCH A TOUR HAPPENING ON THE **8TH OF MARCH**! See here for more info: http://www.fleetairarm.com/event/87.aspx
- but if you can’t get a place on the 8th March tour, you can see a picture of it here: http://www.fleetairarm.com/aircraft-reserve-collection.aspx

Britain at Low Tide: S2, E1 East Sussex

Posted on February 17, 2018 by toriherridge

Some handy links and info if you want to delve a bit deeper into the stories featured in Episode One of Britain at Low Tide, Series Two.

If you missed Episode One, East Sussex, catch up here: http://www.channel4.com/programmes/britain-at-low-tide/on-demand/66195-002

Next week we are in sunny Dorset, where we investigate some sunken tanks that helped change the military strategy for D-Day (no biggy), and an enigmatic and ancient structure submerged in Poole Harbour — 8pm, 24th February, Channel 4.

And don’t forget, if you want to get involved in coastal archaeology CITiZAN have loads of opportunities: https://citizan.org.uk/get-involved/

SMEATON’S HARBOUR

Engineering Timelines gives a nice, clear summary of the project, it’s historical and geographical setting, and what happened next
Rye Museum has some good images, and tells the story well. Nice stumps! They also explain why the original harbour at Rye stopped being fit for purpose.
You can read John Smeaton’s own assessment of the planned harbour here (from page 70)
And *drum roll* here is the actual 3D model of Smeaton’s harbour in SketchFab that Pete Rauxloh put together from his drone data, which you can play around with to your heart’s content!

THE AMSTERDAM

****QUICKSAND CLAXON!! WARNING: THIS SITE IS DANGEROUS****

the Shipwreck Museum tells the story of the wreck, and has a fab vintage photo to boot.
This is a great chapter by Jerzy Gawronski on how the ship The Amsterdam is a microcosm of the city of Amsterdam, and indeed the 18th Century world.
you can buy Peter Marsden’s book all about The Amsterdam here
And here are two academic articles about The Amsterdam by Jerzy Gawronski (behind a paywall, I am afraid:
- Gawronski, J. H. G. (1990), The Amsterdam project. International Journal of Nautical Archaeology, 19: 53–61. doi:10.1111/j.1095-9270.1990.tb00234.x
- Gawronski, J. (1990). East Indiaman Amsterdam research 1984–1986. Antiquity, 64(243), 363-375. doi:10.1017/S0003598X00078029
Charlotte and I looked at those original archive letters at The Keep, where the East Sussex Records Office keeps it’s archive. Access is available by appointment.
You can visit the sort-of replica (well, more ‘inspired by’) of The Amsterdam at the Het Scheepvaartmuseum in Amsterdam.

PETT LEVEL

Here is the CITiZAN report on their work at Pett Level: https://citizan.org.uk/resources/key-zones/south-east/pett-level-east-sussex/
And here are some really interesting papers on the ancient environment at Pett Level, and the complex task of reconstructing and understanding sea level change:
- Long, A. J. and Waller, M. P. and Stupples, P. (2006) ‘Driving mechanisms of coastal change : peat compaction and the destruction of late Holocene coastal wetlands.’, Marine geology., 225 (1-4). pp. 63-84. [pdf]
- Waller et al. (1998), Flandrian Sedimentation and Palaeoenvironments in Pett Level, the Brede and Lower Rother Valleys and Walland Marsh [pdf]
And a nice summary of the local geology and landscape of the coastline between Hastings and Pett: Robinson and Wilson, THE HIGH WEALD COAST FROM HASTINGS TO PETT: Classic Landforms of The Weald, Landform Guide No. 4 pp 39 – 43 [pdf]

Medieval ship graffiti in the Church of St Thomas the Martyr, Winchelsea

SHIP GRAFFITI

Gus and I were shown the Ship Graffiti in St Thomas’, Winchelsea by Natalie Cohen of the National Trust/Museum of London. Winchelsea is a remarkable town, and it’s history — and how fundamental ships were to it — is something we that we just didn’t have time to do justice to.

But if you want to know more, I heartily recommend reading Thomas Dhoop’s PhD thesis Shaped by Ships and Storms: A Maritime Archaeology of Medieval Winchelsea [Volume 1 and Volume 2]

BRONZE AGE SHAFT

Here is Oliver’s write up of the mysterious shaft in the Belle Tout Bronze Age enclosure at Birling Gap, and CITiZAN’s work to record and monitor it: https://citizan.org.uk/blog/2016/Apr/19/lost-and-found-rediscovering-bronze-age-shaft-belle-tout/

Britain at Low Tide is BACK!

Posted on February 15, 2018 by toriherridge

Britain at Low Tide is back for a new series! Six whole episodes, airing over six weeks, of archaeological and historical goodness (and the odd bit of geology I managed to squeeze in under the radar), starting 8pm, Saturday 17th February, on Channel 4. And it’s all bathed in glorious sunshine (well, mostly…) to banish the damp, drear days of never-ending winter.

This series, Gustav, Charlotte, Oliver and I are visiting the shorelines of East Sussex (Episode 1, 17th Feb), Dorset (Episode 2, 24th Feb), The Clyde (Episode 3, 3rd March), The Severn (Episode 4, 10th March), East Yorkshire (Episode 5, 17th March), and Fife (Episode 6, 24th March).

We have shipwrecks, lost harbours, sunken tanks, enigmatic structures, incredible feats of Bronze Age engineering, crannogs, beacons, Bob Dylan, medieval graffiti, Pictish cave art, ancient forests, ferries, trains, and seaplanes (and their lighters). Do watch!

Get involved…

As with the first series, Britain at Low Tide is all about how YOU can help to preserve our coastal heritage. As well as continuing to work with CITiZAN (download their archaeology app here), we teamed up with Scottish public archaeology initiative SCHARP. Both these projects are doing great work recording, investigating and — where possible — preserving the archaeology of our foreshore. And if you’ve ever wanted to try your hand at archaeology, both SCHARP and CITiZAN have loads of opportunities to get your boots mucky…