England 2025 - The Usual Odd People

Offered with minimal commentary.

Now, you might be wondering why there is no "Album Cover" photo this year.  It is after all a long standing tradition that we pose moodily for the camera in the fashion of some 70's band.  

Well its like this.  Half of the "Anaerobes" decided to spend the in between Saturday going to a big tattoo show in Newcastle.  It was rather..........well, I don't know exactly what it was but this was part of the entertainment there:

Yikes.  Could it be that the Anaerobes will split up, with one branch going sort of "Death Metal" and renaming themselves Anoxia?  Lots of flames, almost as much as on that 60th birthday cake, Pete!

England 2025 - The Usual Odd Sights

Wrapping up the trip to England.  I took fewer pictures than usual.  After 18 years of visiting the same place perhaps fewer things catch my eye.  But still.....

On arrival we usually make a trip to Tesco, which is a bit like a British Wal Mart or Target.  The last several years we've run into some of our digging pals who are on the same schedule.  Anthea, they were clearly expecting you!  Security nets and tags on all the gin.

And of course the usual product double entendres were to be found.

Our accommodation is next door to an interesting pottery.  Zombie Chickens and ceramic tractor tire planters.

Things in this very old part of the world change.  Or don't change depending on your perspective.  On my morning walk into the site I pass a crumbling ruin of a cottage.  I don't know how old it was, but this year there was almost nothing left except this.  Weirdly the metal hook looks nearly identical to a Roman one that I dug the next day.

Northumberlandia - Now that's a Big Girl

No doubt you've heard the expression "Coals to Newcastle".  They used to mine a great deal of coal in the area back in the day.  Which left a bit of a mess.  Some years back an open pit mine just north of Newcastle was tidied up in a rather distinctive way....by making the world's largest nude figure out of 1.5 million tons of rock and mine tailings.  Behold Northumberlandia, the Lady of the North.

I've seen her from the air when approaching the Newcastle airport.  Although she is posed somewhat demurely, you can't help but notice those 100 foot tall....er....mounds.

On our recent visit several members of our band of adventurers went in for a closer look.

And of course.....

That's Sue, our excavator-novelist.  She has a history of doing cartwheels over various landscapes.  While far from being a Prude, she did at least show Prudence in not attempting to careen straight off the giant nipple and down into the Cleavage below.

I don't get to use my Larger than Life tag very often, but the Lady of the North deserves nothing less.  

Vindolanda - Benches of Memorium

As you walk in the western gate of the Vindolanda site you go past several benches.  Nice shady spots for people to rest, especially on their way back from visiting the site.

But they are more than that.  This one has a bit of text across it that reads:  HE CAME. HE DUG. HE LOVED.  A PASSIONATE VOLUNTEER 2006-2018.  I like that.  There is also a little bronze plaque.

This got me thinking.  I'm sure there was an arrangement whereby the Trust that runs the site put this up after a donation by the Lutz family.  So.....what would I put on "my" bench?

How about this:

Perhaps I'd up the game a bit more.  Wooden benches are nice, but a few seasons back something was unearthed from the bath house site.  Behold, one support from a Stone Bench!

I'm still excavating with most of these folks.

Now I realize that the inscription will puzzle some people.  That's unavoidable.  Badger Trowelsworthy both is and is not me.  He's an alter ego, so if you want to be picky about it, I'm real and he isn't.  He of course insists that the exact opposite it true, and frankly there are times he almost has me convinced.  More on the old scoundrel HERE.  

Bollards

We've gotten pretty accomplished at using public transportation in England.  It helps that the bus runs in front of our pub/accommodation, with the train only a few hundred yards away.  I have never been willing to drive in the UK.  It's the "wrong side of the road" thing along with the narrow twisty roads full of interesting things to be looking at instead of what I should be.

From the window of the bus we saw this.  And as it was only a mile from home base I had to go back and inspect.

These are traffic bollards, sturdy posts on the edge of roads.  Just in case a distracted, careless or American driver comes by.  They are of course outside the village school.

A nice union of form and function.  I suppose the fact that the tip of the pencils is red is just for that added bit of safety, not a reminder of papers to be corrected!  They look sturdy.  I bet they'll still be standing when students no longer know what a pencil actually is!

Vindolanda 2025 - Jet Lag Recovery Week

Back home safely after a trip with eerily efficient connections everywhere.  Walk up, get on.  It will be a few days of mild mental and physical impairment, but circadian rhythms will be lulled with naps and flogged with strong coffee.  Time for a few follow up thoughts and pictures of May 2025 in eerily sunny Northern England.

I kept forgetting to post a picture of this nice floor tile with a pair of 18 century old fingerprints in it.  It was handy to keep our finds bag stationary in windy conditions, but said bag got pretty stable with the large number of pottery shards we were pulling up.  Oh, and a fair percentage of an 18 hundred year old cow.

For those following the story here over the past two weeks, the end of session video overview might be enlightening.  We had an extended version of this as our end of session site walk.

The daily walk to and from the site was delightful.  With some necessary twists and turns it is about two miles there and a bit more coming back by a different route.  Plenty of hills, beautiful scenery.  I saw rabbits, pheasants, deer.  And of course, these guys.  

More ramblings of a written variety in the days ahead, probably becoming more coherent around mid week.

Vindolanda 2025 - Day 10 and Last

In the past my final day at Vindolanda was one of frantic troweling.  Surely that elusive find that had been taunting me all session was just another scrape away!  But no more.  I enjoy the last day, tidy things up, make everything nice for the next crew coming in on Monday.  It was in fact a minimal finds day....but again with the magnificent weather we've had the entire two weeks.

A few bits of scrap metal.  Iron, and as shown here, bronze.  You recognize this stuff by the green tinge in the soil around it.  I tell newbies to look for the color of motel swimming pools.

Iron can be trickier as there is plenty of low grade iron ore around, leaching into the soil  But sometimes you can squint and see interesting things.  Here's what you see when somebody leaves a sandal on the floor 1700 years ago.  Just the ghosts of the hob nails.

And of course pottery.  I have to remind myself that when I started out it was very exciting to get a nice bit like this.

Work this session was spread out across a wide area, so the end of session trench talk was very informative.  For instance, the mystery post Roman "blob" might actually be two adjacent collapsed buildings.  Next session will sort it out.  Hopefully.  I'll update when they do.

And so another digging season ends.  We'll see if Fortuna, or more likely KLM, brings me back again.