The conversation must have been scintillating ...

L to R: Rowena Dutton, Terry Courtney, Philip Dixon, Anna Collinge, Jane Dineen's legs. Anna was plainly so gripped by the elevated conversation during this break that she is deep in her book. From her own photo collection, probably from the 1980 season.

Dirty work

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.

Identity parade 1980

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 ...

O Great Whale!

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'"

Under the wire

This must be somewhere in Greenway Lane near Ullenwood camp, I think, and shows Sue Bauman (Lee Jeffs), whose photo this is, helping Lucy Loveridge under the barbed wire fence into the lane whilst Corky Gregory and Ros Cleal look on.

Ullenwood scene

L to R: Philip Dixon, Frank Green, Anna Collinge ? Naomi Jackson, and Jo Bacon at Ullenwood. This is from Jane Dineen's 1980 collection. It looks to C-H-M as though it may be after breakfast just before going up to site. The alternatives are pre-supper one evening or a Thursday before going into Cheltenham.

Thinking of supper, a correspondent writes:

"Dear Crickley Hill Man,

I write to you in desperation. I'm at my wits' end and need your help. Last night I made a celeriac mash which, though delicious, had a slightly sludgy colour to it as the celeriac went brown during its initial cooking in salted water. What caused the browning I don't know and seek your advice as to how to prevent this happening in future. The only alternative course of action is for me to foreswear celeriac for ever more; as you imagine, a potential middle class nightmare on a par with running out of organic couscous. Please help.

Desperate of Selly Oak"

Dear Desperate of Selly Oak,

Fear not: you need not suffer permanent social ignominy. Celeriac oxidises quite fast after it has been peeled, a little like the flesh of apples: the cure is the same: as you prepare the celeriac before cooking, pop it into acidulated water (the juice of half a lemon will do the trick) and the distressing browning that you have suffered will not happen.

Crickley Hill Man.

Later: an e-mail arrives in C-H-M's inbox headed

'Acidulated Response' :

"Dear Crickley Hill Man,

Thank you, thank you, thank you. You have saved my marriage.

'Desperate of Selly Oak' (as was)."

Glad to be of service ...

An inadvertent fashion statement?

Jane Dineen sporting a ?dancing injury during the 1980 season in this Anna Behan shot. Jane doesn't appear too distressed by her injury and had perhaps been enjoying the benefits of the National Health Service ...

A reader writes ...

Andrew Powell says: "the sketch of Phil (the first to be drawn) was done after a lunch-time site tour, and the curious structure he is pondering is not my attempt to draw a roundhouse but some actual group of features that we had stopped to puzzle over. Given Corky's recollection that the sketches were probably done in 1980, maybe someone knows what this was. The car port I believe was the long mound, rather than the rampart - was there a line of large stones near it?

Keep up the excellent work - the blog is my first stop in the morning before getting down to work. [Thank you! Ed] One point - there does seem to be a dearth of images from the early years - apart from the odd shot by Boden and myself. There must be more out there. [I'm sure there are - all contributions gratefully received, please. Ed]

PS now published for your delectation, the intriguingly entitled 'Kentish Sites and Sites of Kent: a miscellany of four archaeological excavations' 2009 by Andrews, Egging Dinwiddy, Ellis, Hutcheson, Phillpotts, Powell and Schuster." And where can we find this volume, please, Andrew? C-H-M did a quick search on Google and nowt helpful emerged?

Kate Gilbert

Kate Gilbert seems happy and Mike Taylor is simply flaked out at her side in this picture taken in about 1980 by Sue Bauman (Lee Jeffs). I can't work out whose left side it is on Kate's right.

Dr Ferris will be wondering what has happened to the catering tip of the week. So here it is: how do you tell if grilled or fried meat is done without cutting into it and losing the delicious juices? Leiths Techniques Bible provides the answer: "Press the surface of the meat with the tips of the fingers and compare the texture of the meat to that of the fleshy base of the thumb [itself] held in turn against each finger of the same hand to discern how well the meat is cooked. ... When the thumb is relaxed, the base of the thumb feel soft and flabby like the texture of uncooked meat. When the thumb is held against the base of the index finger, the flesh becomes softly springy and represents the texture of rare cooked meat. If the tip of the thumb is moved to the middle finger the fleshy area [at the base of the thumb] becomes firmer and more like the texture of medium rare meat. If the tip of the thumb is moved to the ring finger, the fleshy area firms a little more and feels more springy to the touch like texture of medium meat. Finally on moving the thumb to touch the little finger, the fleshy area becomes firm and loses its spring to represent the texture of well done meat. With practice the thumb test can reliably inform the chef of the stage a small joint or sliced portion of meat has reached in cooking without the need for a meat thermometer The thumb test is not suitable for large joints of meat as the outer layers may be quite well cooked while the centre may be rare. ..."

Happy prodding!

Fixing the limo & Jane's fashion notes

Anyone who dug at Crickley will recall Terry Courtney's passion for limousines: he rarely appeared with less than 2. Jane Dineen stands by highly amused in this Anna Collinge 1980 photo of Mr Courtney trying to get one of his limos going again after some mechanical or electrical collapse. Assisting Terry are Jane Fitt and Julie-Ann Souter and C-H-M in person. What I am doing trying to help is not entirely clear to me as my knowledge of car engines is not fantastic now and was certainly non-existent then. Maybe I was getting Terry to talk me through it.

Jane writes: "Me in 1980 demonstrating an early fascination with engines. Fashion notes: I think that's a black silk t-shirt that I eventually wore to bits, and a little purse (who was that designer with the lion?) that I still have. I don't wear flip-flops now but apparently did then (I guess Dr. Scholl's weren't easy to find in the '80s). I love the other Jane's pink overall/dungarees. And the ultimate accessory (even when momentarily disabled), the Vanden Plas limo." Lucy Loveridge supplies the answer: "I think Ann Klein used the lion as her logo back then. Very high fashion." Jane: "That's it!"

A cheerful crew

A dumper full of diggers: Sue Bauman (was Lee Jeffs) sent me this shot of Naomi Jackson, Sue, Sonia and Dave Hollos, Kate Gilbert and Mike Taylor (complete with his exceptionally long scarf). The grey dumper truck tells me this comes from the 1980 season.

A reader writes ...

Dr Ferris is shown here in a curious pose in 1980, with threadbare parts of Mr Boden in the background. I can only assume my finger slipped on the camera: I can't recall a particular interest in backsides or blue jeans that would otherwise account for this picture.

Dr F. muses: "Now that October is here, I wonder if Crickley Hill Man has selected a new photo candidate for his hugely implausible blog feature 'Doppelganger of the Month'? Would it not also be apposite to instigate a 'Catering Tip of the Week' feature, to pass on vital cooking tips learned at Leith's each week to C-H-M's avid but often hungry readers?"

'Doppleganger of the Month' is scheduled for publication tomorrow so Dr Ferris will have to possess his soul in patience. But I hope I can provide some culinary satisfaction while Dr Ferris hangs upon his tenterhooks ...

C-H-M's first catering tip of the week relates to poached eggs: if you have ever wondered how people manage to turn out huge numbers of poached eggs in short order in the morning, the answer is this. Work out how many eggs you think you'll need during breakfast in the morning: poach them the night before for 3 minutes each, fish them out and plunge them into very cold water. Trim them so they look neat and then store them overnight in the fridge in a tub of cold water with the lid on. When you need to turn them out in quick succession in the morning they only need a minute in boiling water before they can be served to your hungry audience. Perfect. Oh, and don't put vinegar in the water. [Will this do? Ed.]

Hopscotch

Dr Cleal, as Director of Planning, gives a demonstration of 'Planning Frame Hopscotch', which involved doing a jig across the cutting, placing one's feet in the 20cm square holes strung in the planning frames: a simple enough game if the frame is flush with the ground surface but trickier if, as here, the frames are unstable and elevated above the ground at mid-calf level. It should have been set to fast-paced music, perhaps with a chair or stretcher on the cutting edge to accommodate casualties.

Mostly not watching her progress in this Phillpotts photograph are, L to R, Andrew Powell, Graham O'Hare, ?, Penny Locke, ? Ros Cleal, Jenny and Christine. From 1980.

What are they waiting for?

A charming photo taken at Ullenwood in 1980 sent to C-H-M by Sue Lee Jeffs (now Bauman). L to R: Jo Bacon, Kate Gilbert, Sue herself and Lucy Loveridge. Now they're obviously waiting for something. Maybe the clue's above Jo's head. Was it a bed? Was it a man? Or did they hope to have a shower, but only on two nights out of three? Ullenwood was always full of possibilities.

Roll call for the finds ...

Fresh from his latest peace-keeping mission in his UN beret, giving the shorts an outing and the legs an airing, Arwel Barrett has spotted Rebecca Chambers with the camera: Jane Dineen is concentrating hard on recording finds information properly. Let's hope Arwel's sitrep met with approval. My guess is that this is c 1980, based on the location of the cutting right by the fence between the National Trust and the Council land, the length of Jane's hair and a dendrochronological fix on Arwel's knees.

Work scene 1980

Jane Dineen must have got her magnifying glass out to manage to spot even Naomi Jackson, Philip Dixon (examining) and Anna Collinge in this atmospheric 1980 shot. C-H-M had forgotten a feature of digging when the site is dry and dusty: all diggers face away from the wind to stop the dirt blowing into their eyes: the breeze must have been from the south that day as most people are facing north.

Wheelbarrow lunch

A 1980 Sunday lunch break. L to R: a wheelbarrow recently vacated by photographer Jane Dineen, Bernie Dawson (with newspaper), Ros Cleal (applying suntan lotion?), Anna Collinge and Melanie Cook (who know Jane's there with her camera), Frank Green, Rowena Dutton, Terry Courtney and Julian Parker (who don't all know she's there.) I look as though I've been decapitated and attached to the finds hut door.

I'm quite sure Jane is correct in identifying this as a Sunday lunchtime as it was the only day of the week when, feeling deprived of news and a good read, someone would whiz into Cheltenham and acquire the Sunday newspapers. We never did that on a weekday, as far as I can recall.

Oops! C-H-M has had an 'early-middle-aged' moment: Jane Dineen points out: "Pickings must be getting slim if you're reduced to repeating photos! [She's right - March 29th - tsk, tsk.] I have dug 1981 out from behind the furniture and will dispatch the few worth scanning (one a corker) as soon as I've excavated the scanner." Ooh, yes please, Jane - use a 4" WHS forged-tang trowel to excavate your scanner - and sorry, team, for the inadvertent duplication ... I'll fire the blog administrator.

Let's hope things aren't quite what they seem ...

Dr Ferris has been honing his observational powers on the column of Marcus Aurelius in Rome: he instantly spotted the insalubrious possibilities of this shot from Anna Collinge (now Behan)'s series: "It doesn't look as though Arwel's wearing any clothes!" observed the shocked Sage of Selly Oak. Too much scrutinising of naked barbarians for his new book, if you ask me.

Anna herself cannot be the photographer of this 'Health & Efficiency' snap as she's on the left with her planning board. And is that Julie-Ann Souter in the background? From 1980. Update from Julie-Ann who writes: "Yup that's me in the background, and I don't remember Arwel not wearing clothes that day, although maybe my brain has just blocked out the memory ..."

The Open Weekend 1980?

From the angle of the shadows it looks as though Anna Behan took this photo during the afternoon teabreak during the Open Weekend in 1980. In the foreground, L to R, Philip, Dixon, Julian Parker, Jim Gale, Jane Dineen, Bernie Dawson. In the background I spy Richard Savage's Volkswagen bus of sainted memory, many grockles, a marquee (doubtless erected for a small exhibition and to provide refreshments to said grockles) a camper van with the roof up and the shelter. Behind the marquee is the hornbeam tree, unless I am mistaken.

What are they wrestling over?

Sue Bauman (formerly Lee Jeffs) has found the blog and sends this photo of her, Mark the Clerk and Kate Gilbert on a bench at Ullenwood in 1980. Sue thinks there may have been a hat involved that was being wrestled over. Either that or Kate is torturing Mark by tickling him.

Sue recalls: "I spent most of the summer of 1980 working as part of Frank Green’s scrunging team. We worked hard but also had a lot of fun! We did tend to get noisy and I remember that on more than one occasion the supervisor on the cutting on the other side of the hedge would complain and tell us that we were ruining his peace and quiet. I shan’t name him - maybe he remembers.

Young Mark was a teenager from Cheltenham who had ambitions to be a museum curator. He was bright and curious, but was sometimes a little clumsy on the cuttings, so he came to the scrunging team. He was awesome, a super kid, and he was also deaf: because the wind affected his hearing aids he would switch them off. That’s why we were noisy: we had to speak loud to Mark.

We soon discovered that Mark had a skill that none of the rest of us possessed: hand-writing - he became our clerk, recording all the information from Frank’s samples. If the books still exist from that summer you will see that all the legible writing was his! Mark taught me an important lesson about perseverance and not giving up on his dreams. I learnt a lot from him and I wonder whether he ever fulfilled his ambition. Does anyone know?"