Older than the Roman Empire. Older than Moses. It would have been in the water at the same time Stonehenge was in use. That’s about 1500 BC – 3,500 years ago.

The Dover Boat after it was discovered in 1992 Photo: Dover Museum

There would have been countless others like it of course but they have not survived. Built from planks of oak, stiched together with pieces of yew. Certainly not meant to last thousands of years, which is why the vast majority have disappeared.

So to have found one – or at least seventy per cent of one – and to have preserved and displayed it is nothing short of miraculous. There are boats or fragments of boats which may well be older; the Abydos fleet of Egypt for example or the pine canoes of China’s Zhejiang province. And wood found off the Hampshire coast at Hayling Island in the late 1990s has been carbon dated to 7,000 years ago.

What makes Dover’s boat special though is that so much of it can still be seen and appreciated thanks to a huge rescue and conservation effort.

When it was first discovered during roadworks in Dover town centre it stunned archaeologists. But every hour the timbers were exposed it was effectively rotting away. And so teams of historians and archaeologists swung into action by the roadside. The boat was cut into sections, measured, recorded and cleaned. The bits were taken to a shed in Dover Harbour where they were kept wet in large and hastily-constructed water tanks. Later the ancient wood was strengthened using liquid wax, freeze-dried at the Mary Rose Trust in Portsmouth and finally put back together using an adjustable crane.

The preserved Bronze Age Boat in Dover Museum Credit: Dover Museum

The Dover Boat is one of Britain’s great under-appreciated ancient artefacts.

Older than the Roman Empire. Older than Moses. It would have been in the water at the same time Stonehenge was in use. That’s about 1500 BC – 3,500 years ago.

There would have been countless others like it of course but they have not survived. Built from planks of oak, stiched together with pieces of yew. Certainly not meant to last thousands of years, which is why the vast majority have disappeared.

So to have found one – or at least seventy per cent of one – and to have preserved and displayed it is nothing short of miraculous. There are boats or fragments of boats which may well be older; the Abydos fleet of Egypt for example or the pine canoes of China’s Zhejiang province. And wood found off the Hampshire coast at Hayling Island in the late 1990s has been carbon dated to 7,000 years ago.

What makes Dover’s boat special though is that so much of it can still be seen and appreciated thanks to a huge rescue and conservation effort.

When it was first discovered during roadworks in Dover town centre it stunned archaeologists. But every hour the timbers were exposed it was effectively rotting away. And so teams of historians and archaeologists swung into action by the roadside. The boat was cut into sections, measured, recorded and cleaned. The bits were taken to a shed in Dover Harbour where they were kept wet in large and hastily-constructed water tanks. Later the ancient wood was strengthened using liquid wax, freeze-dried at the Mary Rose Trust in Portsmouth and finally put back together using an adjustable crane.

Then came another battle – to keep the Dover Boat where it belonged. A world-famous museum was said to have bid for it but had the idea of keeping it in pieces. In the end there was a massive fund-raising initiative and a great gallery was built in Dover Museum with a sealed glass chamber that now keeps the precious object safe in perpetuity.

And all the time historians have been looking at it, examining it, working out how it was built.

Seeing how it would have been hewn from the timbers of mighty trees that would have grown all the way down to the shoreline back then.

Seeing how it would not have had a sail, perhaps not even a rudder. Difficult to tell because the back of the boat is missing.

Seeing how it would have been rowed by about a dozen men using huge oars.

Maybe they wave-tested it off the Kent coast. Maybe it pootled upriver. Debate has raged over whether the Dover Boat was robust enough to have taken to the seas and therefore establish a claim to be one of the world’s oldest surviving seagoing vessels.

It or something like it would surely have rowed along the coast of Southern Britain, hugging the coastline in case it shipped too much water. How can we say that? What evidence do we have to back this up?

Well there are artefacts found in Dover from this time period from as far away as Dorset. Logical to think of them having been brought by sea rather than carried overland in what would have been a cumbersome and time-consuming journey.

And so above and beyond all the theories about why and how our boat was built emerges a tantalising possibility.

That it was put together by people who did not just have skills passed down over a few generations, but boat-building knowledge accrued in their communities over hundreds if not thousands of years.

That something very similar to our rickety-looking, oak-planked, yew-stitched craft was crossing the English Channel and also the oceans way back in Stone Age times.

Imagine what light that would cast on our knowledge of the spread and dispersment of peoples, societies, cultures, even entire civilisations, in that yawning chasm of time before recorded history.

The Dover Boat is that significant. A rare treasure.

Article from ITV News: http://www.itv.com/news/meridian/2012-05-12/dover-boat-personal-view/

The Best Guided Tours in British History
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Avebury, Wiltshire

Avebury

Strolling through an ancient stone circle is just the start of this adventure. Avebury’s fine historical monument also forms the hub of a cracking day’s countryside wandering. Avebury is the world’s biggest stone circle – so large it has a whole village in its centre – but it doesn’t attract the huge numbers that Stonehenge does. This walk introduces you to the circle via West Kennet Avenue, a ceremonial approach that originally had 100 pairs of stones. It’s half a mile long and still impressive. People can wander freely among the ancient monoliths, unlike Stonehenge. Tourists touch them, kids lean on them and wild-bearded men in rainbow trousers do yoga beneath them. Our tour concludes with a relaxing stretch through the surrounding fields.

OS map: Explorer 157
How far: about 3 miles
Route: Enter the field to the west of the parking area.

• Walk between the stones up West Kennet Avenue.

• When the road to your right joins the main road, cross the smaller road and walk past the trees to the embankment that runs around the ditch.

• Follow the path on top to your right. When you reach a small road, cross it and continue around the circle.

• At the main road follow the path in, towards the centre of the circle, cross the road and take the path out and around the next sector of the circle.

• Detour to your right to visit the café and visitor centre.

• Join the minor road in the village and walk west to east, right through the circle, passing the pub and the point at which you crossed the road earlier.

• You are now walking away from the circle, down a country lane; continue for 1/2 mile, passing Manor Farm, then turn right, down a byway.

• After 1/2 mile, turn right along the edge of a fi eld. Another 1/2 mile will take you back to the start.

Rest and refresh: The Red Lion pub has outdoor space (01672 539266, red-lion-pub-avebury.co.uk). The National Trust visitor centre has a spacious cafe with outside benches. Visitor centre: 01672 539250,nationaltrust.org.uk/avebury

Article Source and more walks:http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/2012/may/06/buggy-walks-family-holidays-england 

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The first one was reported on April 15 at Hill Barn, near East Kennett in oil seed rape but a more striking one is currently visible, also in oil seed rape, also known as canola, at Yarnbury Castle  near Winterbourne Stoke.

This one was reported on April 28. It will be interesting to see how drier weather and more prolific crops affect the number of formations that appear over the next three months.

In medieval times, May Day was often celebrated by young men and women dancing on the village green around a specially-decorated tree called a maypole.

The branches of a slender tree were cut off, coloured ribbons tied to the top and the revellers held on to the ends of the ribbons and danced. Some villages still carry on the tradition today.

Before the dancing began there was also a procession led by a woman appointed May Queen for the day. Sometimes she was accompanied by a May King, who dressed in green to symbolise springtime and fertility.

The maypole was a symbol of fertility

In Germany, it was the tradition that a fir tree was cut down on May Eve by young unmarried men. The branches were removed and it was decorated and set up in village square. The tree was guarded all night to prevent it being stolen by the men of a neighbouring village. If the guard was foolish enough to fall asleep the going ransom rate for a maypole was a good meal and a barrel of beer.

A similar festival existed in ancient Rome called Floralia, which took place at around the end of April and was dedicated to the Flower Goddess Flora. On May 1, offerings were made the goddess Maia, after which the month of May is named.

Pagan groups call the fertility festival by its Celtic name of Beltane.

The church in the middle ages tolerated the May Day celebrations but the Protestant Reformation of the 17th century soon put a stop to them. The Puritans were outraged at the immorality that often accompanied the drinking and dancing – and Parliament banned maypoles altogether in 1644.

But when Charles II was restored to the throne a few years later, people all over the country put up maypoles as a celebration and a sign of loyalty to the crown.

May Day had a boost in popularity again in the 19th century when the Victorians seized on it as a “rustic delight”. But many of the significant pagan aspects of the day were ignored by our strait-laced ancestors and instead of a fertility rite, dancing around the maypole became a children’s game.

For traditionalists other things to do on May Day include getting up before dawn and going outside to wash your face in dew – according to folklore this keeps the complexion beautiful.

“Bringing in the May” also involves getting up very early, gathering flowers, making them into garlands and then giving them to your friends to wear. If you are feeling particularly charitable, folklore advises that it is good time to make up a “May basket” of flowers to take to someone who needs cheering up.

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East Kennett, Wiltshire

 This is a beautiful pattern to open the 2012 season, although because we were unable to photograph it straight away (the pictures here were taken when the formation was approximately 5 days old), we assume the plants have sprung back up quite a lot. 

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Wiltshire Crop Circles

In the early 1970′s Crop circles used to be unexplained patterns that were generally found in corn fields – hence the terminology ‘corn circles’. However, in more recent years teams of ‘circle-makers’ within the South of England have openly admitted creating some of these fantastic formations, and have constructed them in crops as diverse as Linseed and Rapeseed.

Most frequently these art forms have appeared in Wiltshire near ancient monuments that are themselves considered to be built on sites of powerful natural energies. Many people believe that it’s no coincidence that the phenomenon appears close to these ancient sites, and some have even reported crop circles forming in under 20 seconds under incandescent or brightly coloured balls of light.

Whatever you choose to believe about the crop circle phenomenon, there is no doubt that the circles are responsible for attracting huge amounts of media attention, which consequently results in thousands of visitors coming to Wiltshire every year in order to catch a glimpse of some of the more spectacular ones.

Link: http://www.wccsg.com
Link:  http://www.visitwiltshire.co.uk/

Needless to say we will be offering guided tours of all the best formations in the Wiltshire throughout 2012

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The Wiltshire Heritage Museum has been awarded the cash by the Heritage Lottery Fund at the end of a month which started with local council chiefs refusing its pleas for more cash.

The lottery money will not only save the museum’s immediate future, but create a new gallery focusing on its prize collections of Bronze Age artefacts.

The Devizes-based museum has long been recognised as housing one of Britain’s most important prehistoric collections outside of London, but after Wiltshire Council refused to increase its annual grant, raised the level of council tax the museum had to pay and reinforced a costly pensions deal, the museum said redundancies would follow and the museum could end up being mothballed. But now the future is bright for the museum after the successful lottery bid, which has been made as part of the beneficial ripple effect of the £25million plan to revive the visitor experience at Stonehenge.

Museum chairman Negley Harte said “We are delighted as this project is vital for the future sustainability of the museum. “The grants from the HLF and English Heritage will enable us to develop this new gallery to tell the stories of this unique collection in a more engaging way. It will bring more visitors to the museum, help us with our battle to make the museum financially sustainable and bring economic development to Devizes,” he added. The new gallery will tell the story of the people who built and used the world renowned monuments of Stonehenge and Avebury. The new Prehistoric Galleries will provide an opportunity to display for the first time in generations the unique gold and amber finds from Wiltshire that date back to the Bronze Age, over 4,000 years ago. “This was a time of shaman and priests, learning and culture and contacts across Europe.

The museum will be able to build on its existing learning and outreach programme, and inspire local people and visitors to become engaged and informed about the prehistoric landscapes of Wiltshire,” added a museum spokesman. Regional Heritage Lottery Fund boss Richard Bellamy said the links between the museum at Devizes and Wiltshire’s famous Neolithic sites were key. “These Neolithic and Bronze Age collections provide a fascinating insight into our prehistoric past, and they have the potential to play a key role in telling the wider story of the Stonehenge and Avebury World Heritage Site,” he said.

Source: http://www.thisisbath.co.uk

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A picture of a gold bronze age diamond shaped lozenge found in Wiltshire

recent years in a bank vault.

The Wiltshire Heritage Museum in Devizes, which had been at risk of closure, has been awarded a £370,000 lottery grant to create a new gallery.

The new Prehistoric Galleries will display Wiltshire’s gold and amber finds dating back to before 2,000 BC.

Museum director David Dawson said he was “absolutely delighted”.

“The best thing is we’ve got completely unique gold items from the time of Stonehenge and we’ve been able to put those on display for the first time in generations,” he said.

‘More visitors’

“It was excavated almost 200 years ago but it’s been buried away in bank vaults for the last few generations – simply because we’ve not been able to display it.

“We haven’t had the security in place but this lottery cash means that we’ll be able to.”

The museum currently receives a grant of £35,500 per year from Wiltshire Council.

But last month, the council rejected the museum’s request to increase its grant despite the trustees claiming it could run out of cash within two years.

Negley Harte, the museum chairman, said the new gallery would be “vital for the future sustainability of the museum”.

“It will bring more visitors to the museum and help us with our battle to make the museum financially sustainable.”

Link Sourc: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-wiltshire-17553249
Link: http://www.wiltshireheritage.org.uk/
Link: http://www.salisburymuseum.org.uk/
Linl: http://www.HisTOURies.co.uk

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The silver coins are believed to date from 270AD and have been described as the fifth largest UK hoard ever found.

The coins were found close to the Roman Baths

The coins are fused together and were sent to the British Museum. Conservators are expected to take at least a year to work through them.

A campaign has now been started at the Roman Baths to try to raise £150,000 to acquire and display them.

The size of the find is not as large as the Frome Hoard in April 2010 when more than 53,500 coins were discovered by metal detectorist Dave Crisp near Frome in Somerset.

The coins found in this hoard date from a similar time and are thought to be the largest ever discovered in a Roman town in the UK.

Roman Baths spokesman Stephen Clews said: “We’ve put in a request for a formal valuation and then hope to buy the coins to display them at the baths.

“At the time there was a lot of unrest in the Roman Empire so there may be some explanation for why the coins were hidden away.

“The find is also unusual as it was discovered by professional archaeologists as opposed to an amateur using a metal detector,” he added.

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-somerset-17480016

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St. Patrick and the First St. Patrick’s Day Parade

Saint Patrick, who lived during the fifth century, is the patron saint and national apostle of Ireland. Born in Roman Britain, he was kidnapped and brought to Ireland as a slave at the age of 16. He later escaped, but returned to Ireland and was credited with bringing Christianity to its people. In the centuries following Patrick’s death (believed to have been on March 17, 461), the mythology surrounding his life became ever more ingrained in the Irish culture: Perhaps the most well known legend is that he explained the Holy Trinity (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) using the three leaves of a native Irish clover, the shamrock.

Since around the ninth or 10th century, people in Ireland have been observing the Roman Catholic feast day of St. Patrick on March 17. Interestingly, however, the first parade held to honor St. Patrick’s Day took place not in Ireland but in the United States. On March 17, 1762, Irish soldiers serving in the English military marched throughNew York City. Along with their music, the parade helped the soldiers reconnect with their Irish roots, as well as with fellow Irishmen serving in the English army.

Source: http://www.history.com

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