Sunday, January 31, 2010

Telling stories on the barrow

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Dr Cleal, hearing C-H-M's appeal for more material, has emerged from hiding, blinking into the light and very kindly sent C-H-M this picture. She writes "... at some time in the 80s, I think after your time but I may be wrong, we started going to sit on the top of Crippets long barrow in the field next to Ullenwood, usually after we'd been to the pub (strange, that). This is an occasion in 1984 and the protaganists are from left front clockwise : I'm afraid unknown (or forgotten on my part), Julian Thomas (now Professor Thomas, University of Manchester), Clive Anderson, Nicky Snashall, Clare Milroy, Julie Lancley, Simon (help - have temporarily forgotten his surname) [Figg? Ed.], self, Dave Southwood (Biggles). We certainly did this on more than one occasion and I've since looked up Crippets in the 1920s volume on Gloucestershire long barrows by the well known field archaeologist O.G.S.Crawford in which he notes that there is evidence of some antiquarian activity - well, we should have recognised that, as we were sitting with our feet in the remains of the 'dig' - but I'm not sure that did occur to us (except perhaps to Julian!). If you're putting stuff on line you can mention that Nicky (usually 'Nick' now) and I now work for the National Trust at Avebury where we recreate, as far as is possible, the ambience of the CH finds and planning huts - all we lack is Corky to keep us in order."

To which Dr Ferris muses: "Oh, the youth of today thinking they invented everything-the jet engine, alcohol, cyber-sex, the wireless, pot noodles, sitting on Crippets barrow at night etc. I remember some splendid late night, GL-fuelled,ghost-story-telling sessions on the barrow in 1976 and 1978, the latter being my opportunity to reveal my strange experience with the ghost of a miner encountered in County Durham. And I wasn't making it up." How much GL had you had when you met the miner?

Saturday, January 30, 2010

Not for the pogonophobic ...

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A 1991-ish study of Jim Irvine by Alan Ford: he wonders whether Jim will be cast as Thorin Oakenshield in the forthcoming hobbit movie. Can't think how that idea popped into your head, Alan.

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

All in a good mood

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High good humour all round at the award, it would appear to Randal Motkin, of the 1979 'Mr Crickley' title. Back row, L to R, Dmitri, Terry Courtney, Julian Parker, Bernard Dawson, Dave Southwood. Middle row, Training, The Skeleton, John Parry congratulating Randal, Mike Taylor. Front row, David Hole, Zoya Spivakowska, Ros Cleal, and Anna Collinge. The Skeleton is wearing C-H-M's father's demob suit from 1945.

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Dumper and buckets

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Or perhaps this 1985 effort from Dr Phillpotts should be his Turner prize entry. Or is it too simple to interpret? But then again it's beyond your loyal correspondent to work out what's going on with the stratigraphy here. I may just be tired after the wine lecture and making soy braised guineafowl with shiitake mushrooms and bok choi ...

Monday, January 25, 2010

Dirt

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One of Dr Phillpotts's' more inspired compositions entitled 'Dirt, buckets and limestone'. I am thinking of nominating this seminal example of late 20th century archaeo-grunge for the Turner Prize. Having examined the rules, Dr Phillpotts was young enough to qualify when he took the picture even if he would not pass muster now. Come to think of it, C-H-M himself missed that boat last week.

Sunday, January 24, 2010

Dirty work

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Sue Bauman (Lee Jeffs) features in this 1980-or-thereabouts photo she sent C-H-M together with Kate Domeshek (Gilbert) and Lucy Loveridge and two other C-H-M does not recognise. The filthy water of Frank Green's scrunging machine can be glimpsed under Kate's elbow. All blissfully mucky.

Saturday, January 23, 2010

The bucket hut builder

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Another Rebecca Chambers shot of the 1988 sequence in which other people watch Steve Vaughan constructing the hut to keep the buckets. John Gale and Joanne Milroy supervise ...

Friday, January 22, 2010

Sitting on the step ...

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From Jill Hummerstone and Les Capon's collection: Dr Phillpotts and Adrian Corrigan sit upon the step of the mess hall at Ullenwood watching the world go by: the diggers are probably trotting to and fro to the dormitories and the ablutions block.

Thursday, January 21, 2010

A red dragon in a ditch

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Mike Taylor proudly wears a faded T shirt with the red dragon of Wales whilst posing in the bottom of the ditch of the 1979 rampart cut. Photo by Anna Behan.

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Some unseemly revelation ...

In the murk of winter C-H-M reminds his readers of what a beautiful day the reunion took place on last year. Courtesy of Jane Dineen, a snap of Messrs Courtney, Parry, Phillpotts and Powell (right elbow) plainly enjoying whatever startling morsel the Chronicler is fishing up from the depths ...

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

1990 season begins ...

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A splendidly atmospheric view of the vale taken by Lara Unger at the beginning of the 1990 season with just the turf taken off the cutting on the lower slope of the hill.

Monday, January 18, 2010

Just feel the width ...

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Going to a dance, gentlemen? Proof that Dave and Ken Fussell possessed a suit apiece as well as chef's whites. Just look at the width of those tie-knots ...

Sunday, January 17, 2010

Reunion 2003?



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Lydia Savage thinks these reunion pictures which show the site walk and the picnic are from 2003 or thereabouts. C-H-M thinks they may be a tiny bit more recent than that, but is not sure. It's certainly not 2009, 2008 or 2004. Anyone definitively remember? Surely either Richard's shirt or Noakesy's shorts might provide secure dating evidence. JP's denims could come from any year between 1972 and today so they're no help. Many usual suspects feature.

Saturday, January 16, 2010

What is Mr Motkin doing to Dr Cleal?

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A 1979 assembly by the huts featuring, L to R, C-H-M (lining Anna Behan up through the viewfinder of a camera of a type which he has never owned and does not recognise), Ros Cleal, Marion Barter, Paul Noakes, Randal Motkin, Sarah Roberts and someone I'm not sure I can identify under a broad-brimmed green hat. But the main curiosity of this picture is figuring out what Randal is doing to Ros's footwear. He appears to be checking whether her foot is attached to the rest of her leg by jiggling the toecap of her left boot. I've enlarged the photo to a high magnification and it doesn't look like an optical illusion. But Dr Cleal's withers appear quite unwrung by whatever Randal is up to and she seems to be ignoring it.

Friday, January 15, 2010

1978 panorama

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This shot from Anna Behan's collection must be, I think, 1978: is that Dave Hollos on the left? I'm sure Dr Howell stands in the middle facing away from the camera sporting a panama hat.

Thursday, January 14, 2010

Testudo tactics


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Alan Ford has kindly responded to my appeal for more material and has been scanning his Crickley photos. Thank you, Alan. His guest appearance for the Ermine Street Guards was mentioned a few weeks ago on the blog. He illuminates further: "1991 was the year that Rob Knell and myself were press ganged into the Ermine Street Guard. I actually at first refused the chance of an all expenses trip to Martigny in Switzerland as I was filling in as planning supervisor that year. Cold sobriety and wiser council returned the next morning, so off the two recruits went.

As you can see we made a right pair, straight out of the pages of Asterix. Whilst there I had a chance to experience an attack in Testudo for myself. Though all the commands were audibly shouted in Latin I can assure you that the Legionnaires within the Testudo were keeping time by shouting "Mince! Mince! Mince!" as we shambled down the ramp of the Roman Ampitheatre in Martigny. Our visual acuity being about as good as that from a WWII tank, our lead rank did not note we were drifting to the right. Thus it came as a terrible blow to us all when the front Sinister corner of our Testudo collided with the gate post, resulting in the entire formation falling apart with arms and legs (and yes probably other appendages too) waving in the air like a stunned beetle or the Belgians in the "It's a Knockout attack the Castle blindfolded in a foam outfit game". And all this on a bright day, on an even surface and without without the rocks, corpses, writhing wounded, incoming missiles and other obstacles that would have got in the way of a Roman assault.

I can however attest to the efficaciousness of the Mangonel as a weapon of war. One shot missed the butts, sailed over the Ampitheatre Wall and smashed the windscreen of a parked car some 300 metres distant."

Splendid.

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Forlorn Dormitory

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The interior of one of the dormitories taken by Mike Sims in summer 2004. Did we not enjoy the finest luxury?

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

December 2009

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A few stray shafts of late afternoon sunshine warm the Severn Vale just over two weeks ago when C-H-M paused on his way home from his Christmas travels. Cookery school back at full throttle: some recipes may follow soon ...

Monday, January 11, 2010

Excerpt from 1975

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From the Boden studio, 1975. Andrew Powell, planning as ever, has spotted JB, Pentax in hand, whilst Clive Anderson faces away from the camera in the check shirt. Others unknown to C-H-M.

Sunday, January 10, 2010

Identity parade 1980

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From the Behan archive, some of the usual suspects line up for what was, I suspect, a 'Mr Crickley' ceremony. Back row, L to R: Jim Gale resplendent in a smoking jacket, Mike Taylor, Training, John Parry. Front row: left side of Arwel Barrett's face, C-H-M in black tie acquired from the Cheltenham Oxfam shop and Mark the Clerk. From the length of my beard and the comparison of the colours in Mike's scarf with other dated photographs this was probably taken in 1980. It was certainly before the performance of the Below Average White Band which led to the untimely demise of the piano ...

Saturday, January 9, 2010

Southwood by the huts

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Flight Lieutenant Southwood looks characteristically cheery in this 1977 snap taken during a teabreak by Becky Sanderson (Spencer). Who's that sitting next to Terry Courtney in the background?

Friday, January 8, 2010

O di Immortales ...

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Les Capon implores the Gods to grant him a wish during the 1988 season ...

Apologies for sporadic posting the last few days - C-H-M has been cooking fairly enthusiastically at the same time as trying finally to shake off a winter bug that has lingered for about 6 weeks. Culinary term resumes on Monday ...

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

O Great Whale!

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It's been a while since we've had one of Andrew Powell's excellent sketches: here's a fine one he drew of Mike Taylor:

"That dark hairy character lurking
Is checking up you're all working
So if you trowel like a snail
Beware! The Great Whale
The moral of this tale is 'No shirking'"

Monday, January 4, 2010

The Naked Archaeologist ...

I fear Dr Ferris may have found and sampled an old barrel of GL cider that has started to referment: he is having strange fantasies and writes: "If the rumours are true that television's Channel 4 is looking to cast a real-life archaeologist in a programme called 'The Naked Archaeologist', I wonder if Crickley Hill Man has any photographs in his extensive under-the-counter Crickley collection that might just depict a candidate who fits the bill admirably?" Apart from the odd photo of Arwel wearing his shorts the only Triple-X rated material I have is this, Iain ...



Sunday, January 3, 2010

Iron Age Wall

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A further section of the public information board reads as follows: "Iron Age Wall. You are looking out over the south eastern sector of the Iron Age Wall. It was originally built about 700BC to defend the Long House Village and made from stone dug out from the ditch in front of it which itself served a defensive purpose. The wall was deliberately burned along with the village. About 500BC, on the establishment of the Round House Village, it was rebuilt and enlarged with new stonework to make a defence 5 or 6 metres high. Like its predecessor, this had a walkway along the top defended by a palisade with another ledge lower down. The purpose of the ledge is not clear; it may have been structural. The stone for rebuilding was gained by widening the old ditch and opening new quarry pits in the interior."

Given that the board is now located within the entrance to the fort since the platform was destroyed, you're not looking out over anything any more: you're looking at the north end of the south rampart section but I don't suppose either the grockles or Gloucestershire County Council care about such minor inaccuracies.