Our first evening lecture as part of our Autumn programme was given by Dr Phil Murphy on Caves, Cavers, Collapses and Corpses and proved to be illuminating in various ways. He discussed mainly the discovery and opening up of Victoria Cave, Settle. This is a very important and renowned cave principally for the scientific evidence…
September Visit to Woodend Mining Museum
A party of 11 members of the Friends were welcomed by Carol and Harry Johnson, the owners of the Woodend Coal Mining Museum. After an excellent ….. lunch we were given a lively tour of the small but very interesting Museum. We were shown a plethora of mining equipment and it was easy to understand…
Autumn Trip 2016
On Saturday 24th September 17 members of the Friends of Pendle Heritage Centre met in Barrowford and were driven direct to Buxton. We had coffee in the Pavilion (designed by Joseph Paxton) and then were treated to a conducted tour of the largely Georgian town by a town guide who told us about the foundation…
A non-viking, viking settlement!
Under the leadership of Alex Whitlock, thirteen intrepid explorers crossed the border into the rather windy (and occasionally wet) Yorkshire Dales to join the Ingleborough Archaeology Group to view the widely publicised Gauber Viking Settlement. However, a slight detour above Settle on our outward journey allowed us – like a flock of sheep – to…
Widdop Wander
A small but elite group did a very low speed walk along the northern edge of Widdop today. We lunched in Orthostat Bay before walking out along Barn Point. The walk was a break from the usual field walks that are part of the vaccary & PHV projects. Today was about enjoying the rather excellent…
Can you find a new use for an ancient Church?
One of the area’s most ancient Christian sites, “Church Kirk”, near Accrington is up for sale. Its unique name simply means ‘the church’ in the old Saxon and Viking languages. The absence of any further description illustrates its importance to medieval people. The Church Kirk story goes back to the Dark Ages when, the early Anglo Saxons were gradually being…
Stanhill Heritage Trail Launched
The Hyndburn Mayor, Cllr Tim O’Kane and MP for Hyndburn, Graham Jones, launched Stanhill’s new heritage trail today. Stanhill Methodist Church was packed with heritage buffs and local people. Richard Hooper of Stanhill Residents led the proceedings which included a talk about James Hargreaves and the Spinning Jenny, a slideshow, some short speeches and a close…
Up Hill & Down Dale – PENDLE’S HIDDEN VALLEY FIELDWALK – 25th June 2016 – Brown Hill
Our day started with a slight twist. Having finished our pre walk meeting in the Heritage Centre Café (aka The Office) – we were invited to take a look at the newly renovated cruck framed barn. This has gone from an agricultural use to a marital one. Today it was being bedecked for a wedding…
Bona Fido (grins sheepishly)
Post excavation news – I have started the conservation of the bones from the dig. The first stage of the work was to remove the soil carefully from the bone. This was a slow painstaking process and somewhat frustrating as the bone is very soft & fragmentary. The next stage is to allow the bone…
5 Shades Of Brown (count ’em) – Summer Dig Day 9
Final day & it was spent backfilling the trenches – many thanks to Pam, Mike, Fiona, Steven, Idris, & Rhiannon for their help. The image above is the filled T2 & the series of images are of the various stages of backfilling T1. Few little things to ask those of you who attended – 1)…
The Dog The Dog He’s At It Again – Summer Dig Day 8
Final full day of digging today, we were a small but perfectly formed crew, and the sun continued to shine upon the righteous. Before we started digging I took some photos (header image & below) of some of the artificial looking shapes that the sandstone off the site splits into naturally. Trench 2 was left…
Little Fluffy Clouds “They were beautiful, the most beautiful skies as a matter of fact” – Summer Dig Day 7
Today the weather was scorchio! And there were plenty of people out to dig under little fluffy clouds (header image & below). Things were happening in both trenches today & our trainees are learning fast. Trench 2 has had the slab lined feature cleaned up (see above – & below with approximate alignment of the…
In A New Context – Summer Dig Day 6
The weather played another blinder today. On the way to the site today I mused that for the last three days the Find Of The Day had been won by people on the first day of their first dig. Yet by early afternoon it looked to be going to a particularly nice sherd of Staffordshire…
Skulldiggery – Summer Dig Day 5
Another vigorously breezy yet sunny day with lots of enthusiastic diggers helping out. Trench 2 has revealed what may be the first proper structure (not counting the pet cairn in T1). If you look in the photo above its the top of the question mark. Two slabs have apparently been set on end and packed…
In The Sun Out Of The Wind – Summer Dig Day 4
It was a bit of a wild start to the day – the fertilizer sack I was a using as a toboggan (whilst waiting for the others) on the steep slope of the dam wall kept trying to blow away. However once on site we were nicely sheltered and above the gods tried to come…
And Still It Shone – Summer Dig Day 3
We were joined today by some budding future diggers who all produced some interesting stuff. Find of the day went to a rather sweet little suspended weight (top row 2cnd right in the pic below) – possibly from a clock. More Victoriana today, including some more cranberry glass, part of a commerative tankard, & a…
Days In The Sun – Summer Dig Day 2
The sun warmed us today we continued clearing back to the context discovered at the end of yesterday. We were joined by a few debutant diggers both young & older (see below). One of our young diggers found our largest piece of metal to date. Its a …. thing. While the rate of finds has…
Summer Dig Day 1
Broke the ground on the new dig today – loads of Victorian pot in the top soil – down to our first proper context by day end. The dig will be open until next weekend 10:30 am to 3 pm (at least) each day (unless overly inclement). So please feel free to wander along for…
Annual General Meeting 2016
At the Annual General Meeting of The Friends of Pendle Heritage held on Wednesday, 25th May, the Chairman, David Morris, gave notice that he was not seeking re-election due to unforeseen circumstances. Subsequently the meeting acknowledged the important contribution he has made to The Friends during his chairmanship and wished him well.The following officers were…
Lancashire upland’s first excavated south looking lime kiln??
Well the kiln dig is finished – well the digging stuff out bit is. In classic archaeological fashion things revealed themselves as we ran out of time. However what we have found is the bowl & flue from the last firing (see pics), charcoal (hopefully dateable), and a tiny sherd of gritty ware pottery which…
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