archaeology | toriherridge.com

Britain at Low Tide: S2 E4 Severn Estuary

Posted on March 17, 2018 by toriherridge

I love the River Severn, but I tend to stay way upstream, as it wends its way through Shropshire. Canoeing down under Ironbridge and over the Jackfield Rapids has to be one of my favourite things.

The Severn as we see it in this episode of Britain at Low Tide is a different beast altogether. Treacherous, changeable, fast and swirling. Hard to navigate, and hard to cross. But intriguingly, the challenge of crossing this natural barrier appears to have brought communities on each bank of the river closer together, rather than driving them apart. Even today, you can hear people on the Wye side of the river talk about ‘Forest Folk’ and ‘River Folk’; kinship with the water runs deep.

I cannot overstate how dangerous this stretch of the Severn is. The tides rush in. People can, and do, get caught out and die. To get permission to film, we had to have a hovercraft on standby to rescue us, just in case.

We also had to fortune to be guided by Frank Larkham, local skipper (and one of the few remaining people with the knowledge to pilot up river beyond Aust) and owner of the Wastdale and Arkendale wrecks. His knowledge of the tides kept us safe getting to and from these boats. Even so, it was tense. Please, please don’t be foolhardy and venture out into the mud yourself unless you know what you are doing, and take all the necessary precautions (if you don’t know what these are: DON’T GO). AND CHECK THE TIDES.

You can, however, continue to explore the stories in this episode from the safety of your armchair by following the links below

If you want to get involved with local archaeology safely, get in touch with the CITiZAN team, and find out what opportunities and events there are in your area: https://citizan.org.uk/get-involved/

If you want to know more about the archaeology of the tidal Severn, the Severn Estuary and Levels Research Committee is the place to visit — as ever, we could only scrape the surface of the fascinating history and prehistory of this region: http://www.selrc.org.uk/

This episode is really all about crossing the River Severn, and this blogpost by CITiZAN’s Alex Bellisario covers much of the history of the ingenious ways people have done — or attempted to do — just that: https://www.citizan.org.uk/blog/2017/Apr/22/crossing-the-severn-through-the-ages/

And Chris Witts, who shared his memories of the Severn Bridge Disaster with us (see WASTDALE AND ARKENDALE/SEVERN BRIDGE DISASTER below) wrote a whole book called The Severn Estuary Crossings

AUST TO BEACHLEY FERRY

This video has fabulous vintage footage from the Huntely Film Archive of the Aust-Beachly Ferry in the 1930s:

From a historical POV, I like this blogpost about the old ferry crossing at Aust because it has a fab quote from ~~scardy-cat~~ probably quite sensible Daniel DeFoe: http://www.aforgottenlandscape.org.uk/projects/aust-ferry/
And for what came next, i.e. the first Severn road Bridge, this is pure, glorious, nerdy joy: http://www.cbrd.co.uk/index.php/photo/aust-beachley

SUB-AQUEOUS TUNNEL

I love tunnels, especially lost or abandoned ones, so I was gutted I didn’t get to do this story. Lucky Oliver!

Keith Walker wrote a brilliant article all about his work uncovering the history of the first Severn Tunnel for the British Association for Local History’s The Local Historian, Vol. 30 (pp. 222-238) [pdf here]
Should you want to see the 1810 Act of Parliament for a tunnel under the Severn at Newnham, you can find a copy in the Gloucester Archives, Ref D1420
A nice summary of the history of the tunnel: https://www.gracesguide.co.uk/An_Abortive_Severn_Tunnel

WASTDALE AND ARKENDALE/SEVERN BRIDGE DISASTER

Chris Witts has his own blog, and he tells the story of the Severn Bridge Disaster there in much greater detail than we could possibly do in the programme. I recommend reading it: http://www.severntales.co.uk/severn-bridge-disaster.html

Chris has also written a book all about Severn crossings, called

ST TWROG’S CHAPEL*

St Twrogs really is a bit of a mystery, and I have struggled to find anything accessible to link to for further reading. But:

This is CITiZAN’s 3D model of St Twrog’s Chapel, made by Drone Meistro Pete Rauxloh: https://sketchfab.com/models/dec128907dbf49c0886a7a1defb43d7d
Here are references to St Twrog’S Chapel in the Victoria County Histories(falling under Tidenham) : http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/glos/vol10/pp73-78#highlight-first
This is a great article by Mari Hughes-Edwards about Medieval Anchorites: http://www.buildingconservation.com/articles/anchorites/anchorites.htm
Professor Madeleine Gray (who Charlotte met in the Gwent Archives) blogs all about Welsh medieval history on her blogs The Cistercian Way and Heritage Tortoise

*With apologies for pronunciation. I think I should have been pronounced more like ‘Tur-rogs’, but consistency (and a lack of confidence in my own opinion at the time…) required me to fall in with Trogs…

Britain at Low Tide: S2, E3 Clyde

Posted on March 13, 2018 by toriherridge

“Glasgow made the Clyde, and the Clyde made Glasgow”

For the first time, we head north of the border to Scotland! And whilst Gus, Oliver, and Charlotte come along for the ride, our expert guides are Tom, Jo, Ellie and Tanya from SCAPE, whose Scotland’s Coastal Heritage at Risk Project (SCHARP) was the inspiration for CITiZAN.

This week it all gets a bit muddy, as we explore the banks of the tidal River Clyde. This episode blew my mind, as it seems totally ridiculous that a river that built and launched some of the world’s largest ships could be WADED ACROSS just a couple of hundred years ago.

As ever, there was so much we couldn’t fit in to a Channel 4 hour. So here are some links to help you delve a little deeper into the fascinating archaeology and history of the Clyde.

After a weekend of for Crufts, Britain at Low Tide is back **17TH MARCH, 8PM, CHANNEL 4** where we will be investigating the Severn, and those who have braved its tricksy, dangerous crossings, from medieval hermits to Bob Dylan…

NEWSHOT SHIP GRAVEYARD

The mud isn’t the only obstacle to observing intertidal archaeology…

This is the home of the MUD PUNTS (impossible to say this without a twinkle, for some reason…), the SCHOONERS, and THE DIVING BELL BARGE. A veritable treasure trove, capturing the history of the deepening of the Clyde, and the growth of Glasgow as a city.

SCAPE have done a stellar job working with local volunteers to record and investigate the history of Newshot. Here is their own survey report, complete with maps, pictures, and delicious archaeological detail: http://www.scharp.co.uk/media/medialibrary/2017/08/NEWSHOT-DSR-small.pdf [pdf]
And here is a blog post all about the top-notch investigative work by Ian Sinclair in tracking down the true identity of the Diving Bell Barge: https://scharpblog.wordpress.com/2014/10/23/the-newshot-ship-graveyard-part-2-a-very-special-vessel/
While here is the full story of how the schooners came to be dumped at Newshot: https://scharpblog.wordpress.com/2014/10/16/the-newshot-ship-graveyard-part-1-the-mystery-of-the-burned-schooners/

DUMBUCK CRANNOG

Oh, how I love this Crannog. And we didn’t even get to go into the fascinating, tragi-comical history of the site, full of fakes and ‘queer objects’. Trust me, it’s worth looking into:

Start by reading this illustrated, accessible, and un-put-downable introdcution to the site by Alex Hale (who we met in the programme) and Rob Sands: Controversy on the Clyde, Archaeologists, Fakes and Forgers (out of print, but you can still find copies for sale online)
or take a look at the site summary, complete with fabulous images: https://canmore.org.uk/site/43402/dumbuck
And here is a nice paper on dating the Clyde Crannogs (there are at least FOUR!), by Alex and colleagues, with some context and background info: http://eprints.gla.ac.uk/148822/1/148822.pdf [pdf]

TIMBER PONDS (AND LORDS)

BALT crew filming at the Timber Ponds. This was before the tide started to come in, and I had to do my ‘pensive wading’ shots.

The Timber Lords were the money and power behind the early growth of Glasgow. The sheer extent of the timber ponds,even just the stumps in the mud that remain, are testament to this wealth. What we didn’t touch on, and what I wish we had, was the dark side to this trade wealth: slavery.

these pictures show how eerie, and extensive the timber ponds are/were: https://www.geograph.org.uk/snippet/15258
the Open University have a rather nice walking tour of Glasgow that you can follow, either on foot or from the safety of your armchair, focussing on the city’s Timber Lord history: http://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/history/heritage/walk-around-glasgow
and just as a very brief insight into how slavery was a key component of the tobacco trade into Glasgow, see this search within The Transatlantic Slave Trade: A History by James A. Rawley and Stephen D. Behrendt.

LANG DYKE

The Lang Dyke was the 18th Century engineering solution to the Timber Lords’ problem of not being able to get their ships close to the city.

This blog by Scharp gives a nice overview to the problem, and John Golborne’s solution (plus some fab pics): https://scharpblog.wordpress.com/2018/03/02/exploring-the-clyde-with-britain-at-low-tide/
and here is the potted biography of John Golborne in
A Biographical Dictionary of Civil Engineers in Great Britain and Ireland edited by A. W. Skempton.

Thanks to Tanya T-dog Venture for this fine Lang Dyke meme.

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…

science

Volunteer with me at the Natural History Museum

Image | Posted on March 11, 2015 by toriherridge

I’m recruiting a volunteer to work with me at the Natural History Museum, 1 day a week (preferably wednesday) for approximately 4 months, to help piece together the excavation history of Ghar Dalam Cave in Malta (a key site for Pleistocene insular dwarf elephants, hippo and deer). It would suit someone with an interest in palaeontology and evolution, and also an interest in the history of science. You must be able to read and interpret maps and diagrams of stratigraphical sections.

Applications & enquiries must be made via the NHM recruitment system. To apply, follow this link [NHM Jobs], and then select ‘Cave of Darkness’ for my project.