‘Never trust a man with a balloon’: the aerial photography of the Guildhall amphitheatre
Written by Ian Blair
For inexplicable reasons now lost in the mists of time, a man with a balloon (with I assume a camera slung beneath it on an umbilical), as opposed to a Montgolfier brothers style balloon launch from the Guildhall Yard, had been booked to take aerial photographs of the Roman amphitheatre, something that perhaps for very good reason, had never been tried before on an archaeological site in the City of London.
‘Welcome to the house of fun’
Written by Ian Blair
The dynamics of any archaeological excavation is largely driven by the personalities of the individuals who participated. This was amply illustrated on a small DUA site at 61 Queen Street in the City of London (QUN85), supervised by Mark Burch
‘The Two Sues: MOLA Managing Editors par excellence’:
Unsung heroes of London archaeology No. 173
Written by Ian Blair
The two Sues as they are fondly known, arrived as a pair at MOLA in 2000 as Managing Editors for the Greater London Publication Programme funded by Historic England to deal with selected sites from pre-1992,and remained with MOLA for the next 21 years.
Remembering Eric Norton
Written by Ian Blair
1st July 2021
On Monday I returned to Eagle Wharf Road for the first time in fifteen months, and it was great to see some of my former colleagues after such a long absence from MOLA. Much sadder news however was relayed by Derek Seeley, that Eric Norton had recently died.
Early on-site assessment of archaeological competency
Written by Ian Blair
Peter Hinton with luxuriant flowing locks to rival those of Gustav Milne* in the Department of Urban Archaeology (DUA), seen relaxing at Chaucer House in Southwark in 1975/76, musing if the archaeologists toiling away in the background, might qualify for ‘Practitioner (PCIfA)’ level membership of a future Chartered Institute for Archaeologists.
Archaeology of the City of London
1980
Department of Urban Archaeology
In memory of Gina Porter
1957-2021
Written by Ian Blair
The last few months have been awful in terms of the news of the untimely deaths of Pete Clark and Eric Norton,and this has been compounded in the last week, when I learnt of the passing of Gina Porter.
The DUA (Department of Urban Archaeology), managing archaeological investigations in the City of London 1973-91
Written by John Maloney
Unsolved archaeological mysteries No. 42:
‘Could I have worked at Sutton Hoo in 1939, but have no recollection of it?’
Written by Ian Blair
I recently spent a pleasant couple of hours watching the film ‘The Dig’, which details the discovery and excavation of the Sutton Hoo ship burial in 1939, on the eve of the Second World War.
‘Please Sir, can I have some more?’
Written by Ian Blair
A lovely photo of Geoff Egan, Penny MacConnoran, and Anne Davis at the Guildhall Christmas lunch around 2008.
THE WHISPER DICTIONARY
[Devised at the Custom House, Seal House, Angel Court, Trig Lane, St Magnus, and New Fresh Wharf Sites 1974-5
Edited by Jamie Muir who writes,
"A lot of [misplaced] youthful energy went into the devising of the attached. Everybody had a hand. I don’t think it’s libellous."
Paul Tyers Photo Album
28 fantastic photographs
Lord Mayors Show, Envirnemental Department, Upstairs at the Globe Pub, Gill Craddocks (Scarlett) leaving Do, Finds Department Party and Pudding Lane Excavation photographs from Paul Tyers
Two photos taken in Smallhythe, Kent, by Rysz Bartkowiak during the making of Time Team Episode 6, Series 6 (1999)
From Trevor Brigham
Two photos taken in Smallhythe, Kent, by Rysz Bartkowiak during the making of Time Team Episode 6, Series 6 (1999), where Time Team were looking for a 15th-century dock next to the River Rother, one of a number of episodes with MoLAS involvement.
