Auf Wiedersehen Pets!

I had a terrific time at Hexham North Tourist Fair as Hands-on-Latin...seeing lots of people and chatting all day.

Just catching up now!

Also showed around a group of German journalists around Housesteads Roman Fort on Saturday morning on behalf of National Trust and English Heritage. Worth looking at the website as EH have done some new links and graphics relating to the fort. (Also lots on too!)

I got to practise the odd word or two of German...kein problem! (No problem!) Amazing what you remember....

What is interesting is that the 1st Cohort of Tungrians were stationed there for the whole lifetime of the  fort (approx. 300 years). They are Belgian/Germanic and were strengthened by the Frisians (again Germanic) who created their own 'Housesteadsware' - their own special bowls which reflected the strong, independent Frisian character. They even kept the Frisian names going. One bowl in particular is engraved with the name 'Neuto' - which is not found anywhere else except that area of Germany.

So definite German links there...

Still snowing here on and off. According to the weather forecast we are due for a lot more...but we are used to it. Kein problem! And for now.....Auf wiedersehen pets!

P.S.: If you can - try to listen to David Almond, a local author, on recent recording of Desert Island Discs - Radio 4. Well worth it!

Birdoswald Burning Beacons with a Blip and a Blast

Anita's beacon up from West Gate opposite me - West Interval Tower within the Fort of Birdoswald (Banna)

The Moon Rose in Distance Wonderously (towards the South)

Managed to get good photo (without flash) of three beacons (Ann& David - at the South gate, (Left Beacon on Photo); David - at the SW angle tower (Middle Beacon) and Anita (Right Beacon) - at the West interval tower

Looks as if I am praying to the Gods - thanking them that my beacon lit OK

The full moon and Derek's Beacon - he's at the SE angle tower

Tom hiding behind his beacon - he was positioned at the East Gate (No.1 beacon in the sequence of lighting up at 10.12 onwards)

Derek and Tom at Tom's beacon

Derek and myself at Tom's beacon

You can see the remains of the East Gate beside Tom's beacon

Is it working? Have the Reiver midges gone yet?

Re-enactors warming up the crowd before the beacons are lit up

Members of the viewing public prior to the lighting up. The English Heritage buildings are in background

Looking towards the South with the fort walls beginning on left hand side

Looking at where archaeology has taken place - the posts represent where there used to be a great feasting hall after the Romans had left (possibly) or maybe they were still there. Was this the home/hall of a great tribal chief? Could it have been that of King Arthur? The West Gate was in use until the 15th century

Lots of sheep milling around, leaving their tell tale signs and calling to one another e.g.

 "What on earth is going on?"

There was a fabulous sunset....

Derek, Ann and David - Volunteer Hadrian's Wall Rangers and

 Derek is also  a volunteer guide at Senhouse Museum in Maryport

Looking towards Tom's beacon and set-up

The 19kg gas cyclinder is in place and not damaging any archaeology

The sheep are still wishing we would leave them in peace

Forgot to say that I am/was no.2 in the sequence of lighting up after Tom at 10.12pm and this is my beacon

I was based opposite Anita on eastern side potentially beside an interval tower

Yup! That's me

My beacon is lit and burning brightly and Tom's is in the distance

That's Derek's beacon and he had the Sky camera man behind him.

We were on Sky Live News apparently

Derek's beacon again (sorry - without the flash - all my pictures tend to go blurry)

That is a beacon at Walltown Quarry in the distance on Hadrian's Wall 

In reality it looked more like a bonfire it was so bright

The night, itself, was absolutely fantastic. I wasn't sure what to expect when I'd be asked to volunteer at the Queen's Diamond Jubilee for lighting up the Beacons along several communities on Hadrian's Wall. I thought that I'd be at Housesteads Roman fort initially but got assigned to Birdsowald Roman Fort instead.

I was not disappointed! I got to light my own burner! Yeah! (At the Illumination of Hadrian's Wall March 2010 I got to light a flare which was exciting but this was even better...my own piece of kit!!)

At 7.30pm there were seven of us - "The Magnificent Seven of Hadrian's Wall Volunteers" were there at Birdoswald Roman Fort. Ann and David, David, Derek, Tom, Anita and myself. All artfully organised by Neil and Kerry of Hadrian's Wall Heritage Ltd.

Banna is Birdoswald's Roman name which means 'horn' or 'peak' which is a good name as it sits on a hill or promontory overlooking the river Irthing.

We all carefully assembled all the equipment in the designated areas within the fort...and we were careful not to damage any potential archaeological remains underfoot. If anything our main concerns were the midges, the sheep poo and would our beacons light up at the appointed time????

I nearly voted myself into pole position for lighting up at 10.12pm - our appointed time for lighting the beacons along Hadrian's Wall - at least at this fort...but given my propensity for self induced drama I thought not....maybe I couldn't get the blasted thing to work....?!?

So I opted for the number two slot...which would be nearer the viewing area where my husband, Nigel, and children would be. That was my thought process anyway.

Around the 8pm slot (before any crowds had assembled) we had a test run..........

No.1. Click....Whoosh....flame! Tom's beacon lit up - no bother.
No. 2. Me....Click.......I went with my clicker (yes...I HAD turned on the gas...I had checked, I WAS standing down wind, I WAS clicking in the right place), click, click, click, click, click, nothing, nix, nil, rien, niente, zilch...no flame whatsover. Luckily Tom ran over and lit up my beacon for me. I felt such a fool.....durr....the ignominy. Ye Gods! eheu! Alas!
No.3. Click...Whoosh...flame! Derek's beacon lit up - no bother.
No.4. Click...Whoosh...flame! Ann and David's beacon lit up - no bother.
No.5. Click...Whoosh...flame! David's beacon lit up - no bother.
No.6. Click....Whoosh...flame! Anita's beacon lit up - no bother.

Oh heck! Maybe my nightmares will come true after all..............? Will I be on camera nationwide, nay internationally, as the non-functioning beacon lighter?????????

We went to have a cup of coffee and a natter. I was asked by some members of the public....why wasn't there an annual lighting up of Hadrian's Wall? Yes...that would be nice...even if it was only every five years. It would be nice. We pondered.

I said hello to my nearest and dearest. At ten to ten we wandered back to our posts.

My kit very fortunately included two other lighters (they are the same kind as those ones you would use for lighting up your cooker/hob - that sort of thing). I found one which did work (or seemed to work). I thought about putting the other one on top of the gas cylinder and nearly did until the thought of self-immolation on camera in front of millions strangely began not to appeal...so I put my back up lighter/clicker on the wall behind me.

The minutes ticked down to 10pm, then 10.05pm, (I am NOT nervous I told myself. Nobody is watching and nobody cares!!), then 10.10pm and then 10.12pm arrived. Still nothing happened. "Tom? Tom? Why haven't you lit up?" I quietly called across...then the re-enactors got the whole crowd to start counting down: 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.....

No.1. Click....Whoosh....flame! Tom's beacon lit up - no bother.
No. 2. Me....Click.......I went with my clicker (yes...I HAD turned on the gas...I had checked), click, click, click,("Ye Gods!!!!!" pro Iuppiter! By Jupiter!)...Whoosh!!!!!............Hadriana's beacon lit up - no bother. (Huge sigh of relief.....insanum bonum, jolly good show. It did work after all.)
No.3. Click...Whoosh...flame! Derek's beacon lit up - no bother.

No.4. Click...Whoosh...flame! Ann and David's beacon lit up - no bother.

No.5. Click...Whoosh...flame! David's beacon lit up - no bother.

No.6. Click....Whoosh...flame! Anita's beacon lit up - no bother.

We then relaxed and started taking photos. We were entranced by a fabulous night sky in the distance. The Reiver midges stayed away (at least from me - euge! Hurrah!) and we witnessed the full white moon slowly rising above the trees near the river Irthing. And yes! there - miles and miles away lit up once again perched on the crags on Hadrian's Wall....another beacon.....

                             What a marvellous sight! mirabile visu!
                              mirabile dictu! How splendiferous to relate!

(And if you click HERE it should take you to an ITV clip of the beacon celebrations at Housesteads.)

Epic Epiacum's Big Launch Day

We had a fantastic and wonderfully sunny day/evening up at the Village Hall to launch Epic Epiacum Ltd this last Tuesday (May 22nd). Elaine Edgar is the owner of a farm near Alston (just up the road from here) called Castle Nook/Whitley Castle (Epiacum). There is a link to a local paper, The Journal, here which describes Elaine's plans for Epiacum and here in the Hexham Courant.

"The name Epiacum is possibly a contraction of epi-acumen meaning 'surrounding the point', which could refer to the fort's outstanding tactical position surrounding the summit of a small hill. The modern name means 'the castle in the white clearing'"This is quoted from the excellent website Roman Britain.The name, Epiacum, is debated ...it could also been the property or estate of Eppius - a Romanised Celtic/British name.

Elaine is "the wife of a farmer" (her words) and sitting on their farm is an unexcavated Roman fort.
I first got to know Elaine as we are Governors for the federation of local primary Church of England Schools. Through those meetings we got chatting and given that she has a Roman fort at her fingertips...I naturally got interested!

"Whitley Castle, or Epiacum, at Castle Nook Farm has not been explored by archaeologists apart from one small dig in 1957. The foundations of the fort's buildings are preserved, including the barracks, commander's house and bath house. Elaine Edgar claims it is the "best preserved roman fort" with everything "lying intact". She said, despite being unexcavated and "virtually unknown", the fort is "very visible in the landscape"." (Quoted from the BBC article.)

Through  the Area of Natural Beauty North Pennines I started to attend the guided tours and walks that have been (and still are) taking place around the fort. Paul Frodsham, is the main archaeologist, who works for AONBNP and he has been instrumental in setting up a volunteer led programme for budding local archaeologists called 'Altogether Archaeology'. Through this programme they have been conducting molehill surveys at the fort. I had to miss last year's as I was committed elsewhere but I did manage to attend one day this year. I found some shards of pottery. Other people have found some other artefacts too which show up on this BBC Look North short film here of that molehill survey day.

Elaine very kindly invited me to join the steering group which is advising the Directors of Epic Epiacum earlier this year. It's been Elaine's vision to create a visitor centre at Epiacum to welcome all visitors there, improve access and tell them more about the farm, the landscape, the history, the fort and much more besides. (The history is not all Roman as there are tell tale signs in the landscape which date back to the Bronze Age.) Through her unstinting efforts Epic Epiacum Ltd has just been awarded some money from the Heritage Lottery fund to make the fort more accessible to school parties and tourists as well as the many walkers who follow the Pennine Way footpath around the margins of the fort. By creating improved access and interpretation facilities we hope that future visitors will be able to appreciate just what a unique and astonishing place this is (quoted from EH website).
Paul Frodsham has also been working with *Stewart Ainsworth of Time Team fame and English Heritage. As such the fort has now been extensively surveyed by English Heritage and its reports begin here. *Stewart's first contact with Whitley Castle was over thirty years ago. He has stated that he enjoys being in contact with this part of the world for the warmth of its people and for the richness of an apparently bleak landscape (when it is anything but!)...he is shown in two of the photos above in the cap and blue jacket.

There are many things I could tell you about Epiacum/Whitley Castle but for now
I'll restrict myself to these:

• the fort has seven defensive ditches (!!!) - that's a very high number...
• the fort/farm sits on a Roman road called the Maiden Way
• the fort was there (most likely) to exploit the mining of lead and silver
•  the fort/older farm steading was the birth place of Northumbrian historian, John Wallis/Wallace, in the eighteenth century. Apparently he stated that being born on a Roman fort inspired his love of history...

Anyway returning now to recent history (last Tuesday night)..the launch to the local community and a wider audience in the evening was a resounding success! Many thanks, Elaine and everyone, for creating such a wonderful atmosphere, presentation, organisation, buffet (as provided by the very scrumptious Blue Sheep Catering of Alston)!

Looking forward to helping you now and in the future!

PS - A new website is being created for Epic Epiacum and you can follow Elaine on Twitter @epiacum
You can also become a Friend of Epiacum to be invited along to special events and training opportunities. Ask Elaine for more details!