'The Fallen: rediscovering a lost generation'
Ian Blair
In August 2018 I wrote a short post ‘The Fallen: remembering a lost generation’ which detailed a journey I made to a Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery at St Amand in France, to mark the 100th anniversary of the death in World War One of my Great Uncle George William Alfred Blair.
‘I keep saying another metre and that will be it, but I said that 2m ago’: The excavation of the massive Roman wells and their bucket chains at 20-30 Gresham Street
Ian Blair
An Eventful Week in Carthage
Chrissie Harrison
Sometime in the spring of 1990 whilst shopping in Habitat, Tottenham Court Road, I bumped into Paul McCulloch. We sat on a sofa and had a chat about the archaeological excavations in Carthage which he would be supervising in the coming summer. This conversation led to a welcome invitation to visit the site.
40 Years On: The development of the Greater London Historic
Environment Record
Peter James
As many will know, the Historic Environment Records (HERs) which now serve the information needs of archaeologists, planners, and academic or amateur researchers across the UK are the successors to the ‘Sites and Monuments Records’ (SMRs) which local authorities first began to develop in the 1970s.In 1982 plans were drawn up and the foundations were laid to create such a record for London. 2022, then, marks the 40th anniversary of the Greater London SMR/HER.
Sunflowers and Polyspans
Written by Ian Blair
Calverts Buildings, 15–23 Southwark Street, SE1 (15SKS80)
Photographs from Robin Densem
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.
Kevin Flude and Derek Gadd Photos
LORD MAYOR'S SHOW, DAY OUT and PARTIES
Archaeology of the City of London
1980
Department of Urban Archaeology
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."
Graham Troillet
Writer Archaeologist Coastal Ambassador
Australia
27th July 2014
Into the Jaws of Death ... Walked One
Ivor Noël Hume
From LAMAS Special Paper No.2 1978 p.7-22
Collectanea Londiniensia
Studies in London archaeology and history presented to Ralph Merrifield
Trevor Brigham Days Out
In 1991, in the dying days of the DUA, an intrepid group of Heroes set sail on the good ship 'June' into unknown territory - well, the River Trent -
to search out new lands and have a last bash at experimental archaeology.
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
‘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.
‘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.
‘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.
‘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
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.
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.
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