Day 1, Monday July 2nd. This is what I did:
9am Meet and Greet 83 new arrivals
10am Site Tour for University of Reading students
11am Coffee
11.30am Site Tour for New participants (non-University of Reading)
12.15am H&S Briefing
1.45pm Catch-up Site Tour for those who have been to Silchester before
Plus Helena, Charlie, Cindy, Lisa, Elise, Laura, Elspeth, Sam, Zoe
3.50pm Silchester Assessment – a (reassuring) talk to all those who are being assessed for their time on the excavation.
I gave 3 Site Tours (all in the teeming rain), 1 Health and Safety Briefing, held 3 meetings and drank 6 cups of coffee. It rained pretty much all day but spirits were high. The staff were miraculous and kept things going on and around site. We moved some soil, planned some strategies and ate meatballs for supper. All of the new arrivals – without exception – were stoically wonderful. I watched rain drip down their noses as they listened to my site tours. It is going to be a good season.