Wall to wall sunshine
Driving to work is a supreme pleasure at the moment. The sky is a clear and striking blue. The Hampshire fields are a wash of shades of green. Everything sparkles! Radio and sunglasses on, the sunlight bounces off my car bonnet as I pull into the campsite at 7.30am. It seems as though everyone is awake! Gone are those cold, dreary, muddy mornings when people stood in small, dripping groups clasping their cup of coffee. Instead people sit in relaxed groups, eyes closed to the morning sunshine as the caffeine works its magic. I know I say – many times – ‘this is not a holiday camp’….but actually, it is! On days like this – who would be anywhere else doing anything else?
Today my Visitors’ Team are on show: Ross, Emily and Joe. Plus assorted volunteers!
Visitor smiles: Emily and Ross (Joe was sunburnt)!
At 10am we are expecting a visit from Geoffrey Field Junior School in Reading – 81 children! The number alone might strike a chord of fear…..but Ross is more than equal to it. Over the last week he has developed an interesting and informative programme for our visiting schools – and the reward is in watching the delighted faces of our young visitors. I love watching my Vistors’ team working with the schools – they are engaged, approachable and above all, fun! The children are extremely well behaved as they move from organised task to organised task – and you can see they are full to bursting with the excitement of it all.
Awaiting instruction outside the Visitors’ Hut
Geoffrey Field School on the walkway
Elsewhere I continue my teaching programme…..in the morning Mike Fulford delivers his introductory lecture to all newcomers in the cool pews of St. Mary’s Church, and in the afternoon I teach Silchester’s Recording system to rows of sunburnt faces! #Archaeological Field School!
Otherwise today was – of course – all about the food!
Before……..
After!
Seconds!
#Hungry archaeologists
Hi Amanda,
My boyfriend and I visited the site on Wednesday (pot luck as we were passing through the area and looking for something to do to pass a couple of hours) – just wanted to say we loved it! What a great atmosphere – I wanted to be a part of the team (I’d have been useless, the only digging I should be permitted to do is with a bucket and spade on the beach).
Huge thanks to Ross for taking time out to give us a tour and explain a few things – he was excellent at explaining things in a way we could understand (probably because he’s used to dealing with primary school children and we’re probably on a similar level) and he took us from the point of whispering to each other “it’s just dirt, there’s nothing there” to actually being able to recognise different features and understand what was going on!
Good luck over the next few weeks, I hope you make some exciting finds and keep blogging, it’s really interesting to read about your actual experiences on site (and you write really well)!!
Best regards,
George
George! Thank you so much for your comments – and I have passed them on to Ross and his team! It is great to have such positive feedback. Come and visit us again! Amanda