Dr Christopher Phillpotts, MA (London), PhD (Liverpool), BA (York) AIFA, FSA

It is with the greatest regret that Crickley Hill Man records the death, peacefully on 27 January 2013, of his dear friend known on this blog as Dr Phillpotts or The Chronicler. Our sympathies go to his family.

Dr Iain Ferris has kindly drawn my attention to the following item in the newsletter of the Society of Antiquaries of London: "Finally, the Society has been informed of the sad news of the death of our Fellow Christopher Phillpotts, who was elected as recently as 1 November 2012 and who was one of the authors of the paper on ‘The King’s High Table at the Palace of Westminster’ published in last year’s Antiquaries Journal. Christopher was widely known as a specialist in medieval towns, to whose history and archaeology he brought extensive field experience combined with palaeographical skills in medieval French and Latin. He contributed many specialist reports and papers to monographs and journals on the London suburbs of Spitalfields, Shoreditch and Southwark, on medieval Winchester, Kingston, Uxbridge, Northampton, Bristol, Bath and Newport (Gwent)."

Chris dug at Crickley for many seasons and it was a rare summer when he did not put in an appearance. His first season was 1972 , an account of which appears here. As he wrote then this was his first publication. I've found at least the first page of his next publication in the 1984 EHR:

He worked for the Museum of London Archaeological Service for many years and then practised as a consultant in history and archaeology. I have compiled an online bibliography of some of his work set out below

Books to which he contributed as author or joint author:

Royal Navy Victualling Yard, East Smithfield, London 

Winchester Palace: Excavations at the Southwark Residence of the Bishops of Winchester

The Cistercian Abbey of St Mary Graces,East Smithfield, London

Holywell Priory and the Development of Shoreditch to C 1600: Archaeology from the London Overground East London Line

Excavations at the Priory and Hospital of St Mary Spital, London

Kentish Sites and Sites of Kent: A Miscellany of Four Archaeological Excavations (Wessex archaeology report)

A Quietly Active Community: The Historyof the Kennet Centre, Newbury

Charter Quay: The Spirit of Change - TheArchaeology of Kingston's Riverside

Other articles by Dr Phillpotts include

The Charter Quay Site, Kingston, Documentary Research Report

Park Farm, Thornbury, South Gloucestershire DocumentaryResearch Report

Excavations of the Priory and Hospital of St Mary Spital

Bishop Percy's House, 52-53 Cartway,Bridgnorth

Deptford Creek

The Priory of StLeonard Stratford-at- Bow and Parish Church of St Mary Bromley-by-Bow

His entry in British and Irish Archaeological bibliography shows further the breadth of the assessments and studies he wrote over the years.

He will be much missed.

Chris at Conwy Castle, September 2012

Squeal Pig ...

Malc White sends the following intriguing piece of intelligence: "Just a quick note to report that the Cheeserollers pub in Shurdington is now selling a cider called Squealy Pig. Now I don't know if Squeal Pig as used by Mr Parry (and referring to Woodpecker Cider if I remember correctly[may well have been: or otherwise GL cider? Ed.]) is an original or whether it's a local term for cider but it struck me as a coincidence that a pub which was used by diggers occasionally is selling a cider described so eloquently by one of them."

Strange indeed, and best illustrated by a photo of JP clasping a glass, most probably of Squeal(y) Pig, at the 2009 reunion picnic, courtesy of Terry Courtney. Also in view, Dr Phillpotts & Andrew Powell.

A bit bedraggled ...

Apologies for the recent lack of postings: C-H-M has been mildly poorly as well as being frantically busy at the cookery school and cooking dinners on the odd evening for clients, which has left me short on energy and inspiration though I am now on the mend. Feeling slightly bedraggled was probably what made me select this picture from Anna's collection of the assembled diggers sheltering from a bit of a downpour. I think I can spot Kathy Scott, Anna Behan, Elsa Charlot and Dr Phillpotts.

A normal evening at the Air Balloon ...

From Anna Behan's collection, an evening in garden of the 'Air Balloon' in 1978 or thereabouts: Dr Phillpotts, C-H-M beginning his entry for that night's gurning competition, Anna turning away in horror being comforted by Ollie Crick, Ranging Rod & Mike Webb looking on and Mike Taylor watching the unknown photographer. It is surprising that Flt Lt Southwood is not in the frame but perhaps the photographer was he, unless he was getting the next round in. It looks as though the lights of the bar, small as it was in those days, are in the background.

C-H-M has, somewhat unromantically for the time of year, been abed with a gastric bug (- what other kind would a student of cookery get?), which is why postings have been lacking, for which my apologies. Perhaps Bacillus cereus was the culprit or indeed Clostridium perfringens. Each can stalk a curry house ...

Dumper and buckets

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 ...

Dirt

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.

Sitting on the step ...

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.

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 ...

What are these people doing?

Jane Dineen supplied this photo from her 1982 collection with the entirely appropriate question 'What are these people doing?' as the file name. C-H-M can identify Gail Boyle, standing on the left, the Chronicler, Dr Phillpotts kneeling to her right and, I think, Dr Nick Snashall second from the right. The location seems to be the Long Mound. There appears to be an unturfed portion from an earlier season in the foreground with one or two thistles growing out of the limestone. But what are they up to? Is this an impromptu rehearsal for the Below Average White Band? The cast list is not quite who one might expect but there are various shapes that might be (sub-) musical being thrown ...

What on earth was the occasion?

A curious pair of photos from either 1988 or 1989 from the Phillpotts archive. The team seems to have taken a break, or organised a party or decided in Arwel Barrett's case upon a nap in the middle of what is plainly an exhibition about the excavation featuring a hand-shovel and a catbasher pinned to the wall above Penny's head. Also featured are Ros Cleal and Bernie Dawson. Can anyone recall the event?

A collector's item from 1985

C-H-M thinks that this Phillpotts photograph from 1985 is rare indeed: Mr John Parry, of Ross-on-Wye, quite clearly wearing a tie. We never knew you possessed a tie, John ...

On a separate note C-H-M is relieved to say that he has passed his first term examinations for the diploma at Leiths School of Cookery and Wine. The practical examination was undoubtedly the toughest test C-H-M has ever undertaken including the Cambridge Archaeology Tripos and the attentions of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales. Essays don't burn irreparably if you stare out of the window and day-dream for 30 seconds but shallots can and do, but didn't, just ... C-H-M is off to celebrate.

Big digger

When you need to shift a lot of spoil fast nothing better than a JCB. Which indeed is the caption on this 1983 photo belonging to Dr Phillpotts. But the Chronicler's evidence must be slightly re-interpreted: JCB is one of those brands which, in the UK at least, has become so well known that the manufacturer's name is used to mean the product itself e.g. Hoover. But just as there are vacuum cleaners other than hoovers, so there are front-hoe loaders that are not made by JCB. This particular effort is a Massey-Ferguson 50HX.

Was the Below Average White Band ahead of its time?

Joanne Milroy has had a fascinating item pop into her inbox. She writes:

"Dear Julian,

See below a news release from the government's recycling bods. Don't ask why in the course of my working day I am exposed to this sort of thing - I know it isn't good for me.

But the big question is ....is this a secret reformation of the Below Average White Band or just another demonstration that our most favourite popular music combination was so ground-breaking it has taken the rest of the world 30 years to catch up?

Joanne


December 03, 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE


WASTE ELECTRICAL 'INSTRUMENTS' TO ENCOURAGE GADGET-GRIPPED BRITONS TO RECYCLE

With the UK public predicted to spend £7.3bn on electricals in the run up to Christmas this year, a new survey from Recycle Now (http://www.recyclenow.com ) has revealed that more than a third of us (35 per cent) still believe we can't recycle the small electrical and electronic goods we are replacing, such as kettles, games consoles, phones and garden power tools.

But with 80 per cent saying we'd make more effort to recycle if we knew we could, Recycle Now is teaming up with The Really Rubbish Orchestra and BBC Last Choir Standing finalists Hear Me Now! on 1 December for a special concert in Covent Garden to raise awareness that small waste electricals do have value and can be recycled.

Recycle Now's latest survey of 1,500 UK adults reveals that just under 30 per cent of us - particularly young people and women - simply throw broken or unwanted items away in the rubbish, whereas if we switched to recycling these items we could divert over 100,000 tonnes of valuable waste electricals from landfill each year, weighing the equivalent of 14,000 double decker buses.

The survey also indicates that people over 35 are 50 per cent more likely than those under 35 to have recycled at least one small electrical item, and men are almost 20 per cent more likely than women. But despite the hundreds of recycling collection centres that are able to receive waste electronics, a staggering 41 per cent of people have never recycled a small appliance in their life even though almost a third of respondents changed their kettle in the past twelve months (29 per cent) and one in four swapped mobile phones (25 per cent).

With the UK population projected to spend £7.3bn in total, or £144 per head, on electricals in the last quarter of this year alone, there is an urgent need to raise awareness about the possibilities of recycling electronic waste, especially over the Christmas period when many of us will receive new goods to replace broken or unwanted items.

In this unique event designed to encourage more of us to recycle our old unwanted or broken small electrical goods this season, Hear Me Now! will perform carols accompanied by The Really Rubbish Orchestra playing a number of unique, electronic instruments that have been built out of electronic waste such as an old telephone receiver, a walkman and a computer scanner. The aim of the event is to highlight that broken or unwanted items are not just waste - they have a value and can be recycled into other useful items.

Maurice Cairnduff, co-founder of the Really Rubbish Orchestra said: "We are delighted to be able to use our expertise to help Recycle Now raise awareness about recycling electrical waste in a fun and creative way. It is quite amazing what you can make from very little. We are really looking forward to the gig and hope people will come down to support us and Recycle Now's campaign."

Gerrard Fisher from Recycle Now said: "Our aim is to inform people in a fun way how and where to recycle their small electricals. At Christmas and New Year many of us choose to buy new appliances, or receive them a gifts and don't know what to do with the old ones.

"The Recycle Now website is a fantastic resource with useful information on how and what to recycle. It also has a helpful postcode finder, which locates all the recycling facilities in your area, and a list showing which retailers take back old electrical goods. All the information is available on the website, and we are hoping that the Really Rubbish experience will get people in the festive spirit but also raise awareness and encourage more of us to recycle our electrical waste over the Christmas period and into the future."

To find out more about recycling in the UK including what you can recycle and where to recycle, please visit the Recycle Now website on www.recyclenow.com/electricals


- ends -


NOTES FOR EDITORS

Background to the survey:
The survey for Recycle Now was carried out online by Opinion Matters between 12/11/ 2009 and 18/11/2009 amongst a nationally representative sample of 1514 UK adults aged 16+. Opinion Matters adheres to and follows the codes of the MRS (Market Research Society) and are fully registered and compliant with the Data Protection Registrar.

Survey headlines:
o A 1/3 of people (35%) believe electrical goods can't be recycled
o Men are more likely to know that waste electricals can be recycled than women (71% to 61%)
o Older people are more likely to recognise that electricals can be recycled than young people (16-24: 58%; 25-34: 63%; 35-44: 64%; 45-55: 65%; 55+: 67%)
o 28% of people with broken or replaced small electrical items typically throw them away in the bin with their rubbish
o 41% of people have never recycled an electrical item
o Women are more likely than men to have never recycled an electrical item (45% to 35%); conversely, men are more likely than women to have recycled at least one electrical item (65% to 55%)
o Young people are more likely to have never recycled an electrical item than older people (16-24: 67%; 25-34: 58%; 35-44: 40%; 45-55: 36%; 55+: 34%)
o More than a third of people (35%) say they don't know where to take electricals to be recycled
o Kettle and mobile phones top the list for goods that have been replaced in the past year (29% of people have replaced a kettle and 25% a mobile phone)
o Women are slightly more likely to just throw away electricals goods in their rubbish than men (30% compared with 26%)
o 83% would make more of an effort to recycle electricals in the future having been made aware they could

Latest Environment Agency data on recycling small electricals:
Latest figures indicate that as of June 2009, 1.27 million tonnes of electricals were bought in the UK. Of these figures, 480,000t of the electricals bought were small items (irons, kettles, games consoles, hair straighteners, computers, electric hedge trimmers etc) and 70,000t was collected for recycling, which is 14.5%.

Christmas retail predictions:
Verdict report - UK Retail: Christmas 2009 forecast - what's in store?

Waste electrical instruments developed by The Really Rubbish Orchestra
o Plank/skateboard slide guitar and practice amplifier (telephone / portable tape / computer speakers)
o Scanner pianner (computer scanner and waste metal instrument tuned in the key of C (for Chaos!))
o Amplified drums (audio cabinet speakers and amplifier)
o Vocals microphone & stand (internal computer speaker and ex-office lighting standard lamp)
o Percussion (computer keyboard)
o Cuica (Brazilian friction drum) (electric kettle)
o The Really Rubbish Orchestra 'bandemonium' music composition environment (all the above plus walkman tape players, portable cd players, computer speakers, toy keyboard, electronic toy)
o Guitar amplifier, lesley speaker & spring reverb (domestic audio amp, music centre cabinet, record deck, car audio speakers, electronic packaging waste, internal computer speakers, hairdryer heating element, portable tape player, metal computer cabinet)

Recycle Now and WRAP:
1 WRAP helps individuals, businesses and local authorities to reduce waste and recycle more, making better use of resources and helping to tackle climate change.
2 Established as a not-for-profit company in 2000, WRAP is backed by government funding from England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
3 Working in seven key areas (Construction, Retail, Manufacturing, Organics, Business Growth, Behavioural Change, and Local Authority Support), WRAP's work focuses on market development and support to drive forward recycling and materials resource efficiency within these sectors, as well as wider communications and awareness activities including the multi-media national Recycle Now campaign for England.
4 Recycle Now is a campaign to encourage people in England to recycle more things more often. Six out of ten of us now describe ourselves as committed recyclers, compared to less than half of us when the campaign began in 2004.
5 More information on all of WRAP's programmes can be found on www.wrap.org.uk and for more information on the Recycle Now campaign visit www.recyclenow.com"

Priceless. I think Dr Phillpotts thought of, and played, much of this stuff many years ago. Perhaps he should get a commission?

The Chronicler scoops the prize ...

Dr Phillpotts has been on enquiries en famille in Tunisia "sampling the delights of Roman cities, troglodyte dwellings and camels."

This is a family blog, Dr Phillpotts, so private emails only about the camels, please. He continues:

"With reference to a fairly recent posting of a near-naked Noakes looking regal with a large white sceptre: I don't remember the photograph being taken, but I believe it relates to the following episode.

There was in the mid 1970s a popular television programme fronted by Esther Rantzen called 'That's Life', a mixture of consumer items and comic silliness. One of the regular items was 'Heap of the Week' in which members of the public were invited to nominate an unwanted item for imaginative destruction. One week [it was during 1975. Ed.] the Heap was a large white plaster statue of a seated king, and it was destroyed in the quarry at Crickley Hill.

[Photo of large white plaster King kindly supplied by Mr John Boden who was brandishing his Pentax to pleasing effect that day. Ed.]

We were peacefully excavating the hill-fort interior one day when one of our number (it may have been me) looked out over the rampart to see a troop of Roman soldiers marching up the quarry, and gave the alarm. Believing we might be in a time-warp, we armed ourselves with catbashers and ranging poles, and sallied forth to tackle the invaders, Biggles blowing a rallying cry on the scaffolding pipe. This was in the true spirit of Iron Age warfare, as had been nobly elucidated to us by the lectures of R D A Savage. However, the television crew were less than happy with our noisy arrival, as the presenter was doing his piece to camera at the time.

It turned out that the Ermine Street Guard (for it was they) had been engaged to destroy the offending statue with their small mangonel (or whatever Romans called it) by lobbing missiles at it from across the quarry. In this endeavour the ersatz Romans were singularly ineffective, only succeeding in denting one of the royal knees; so the television crew cheated by pushing the statue off the edge, editing the film afterwards to give the illusion of success.


[Ersatz Romans, being singularly ineffective with a mangonel, also supplied by the Atelier Boden. Ed.]

I can only assume that Noakes was posing with pieces of the debris. I wonder if anyone else remembers the incident? If so, I claim my prize of a free dinner for four at the Albergo Parker.

We did have some later contacts with the Ermine Street Guard. Bryn Boreham (Personality of the Year CH84?) was a member and sometimes wore his armour to parties. I remember trying to play a tune on it with a pair of spoons, one of the more unusual instruments I have played in my eccentric musical career.

Re the picture of John Howell delving in a post-hole with a mallet and a catbasher by his side in CH78, I recall that some of John's post-holes in the gull in that year had fills so hard that they needed robust tools to excavate them. I think even picks were employed."

Dr Phillpotts is correct in all particulars in his recollection, as one would wish a Chronicler to be, and the free dinner at the Albergo Parker is surely his. I think Mr Boden also merits dinner for the excellent and timely illustrations, don't you?

Tumbleweed ...

Apologies for the dilatory posting - stoves have run hot today ... and C-H-M's mind, or what passes for it these days, is a desert (not a dessert - that would be more sustaining). My tired mood seemed matched by the slightly bleak aspect of this Phillpotts 1985 picture of a cutting. Was this Slot City? What does it all mean? Answers on the e-mail, please ...

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?

Griff

Another portrait today, this time from Dr Phillpotts's 1985 Crickley album of Griff and, on the right, Ian 'Mad Blodwen' Rogers. I don't think I know how he acquired that nickname ...

Limestone Brain?

Griff tells me that this photo represents "the 1983 award ceremony for 'limestone brain', which was was taken immediately after [he] was awarded the equally-laughable title (one assumes!) of Mister Crickley". Can anyone remember what qualities and behaviour were needed to earn the dubious-sounding honour of "limestone brain"? I fear it does not sound kind. L to R, Messrs. Dixon, Noakes, Phillpotts, Savage and someone whom I'm afraid I'm not sure I recognise.

A fine ewer & a catch-up on earlier posts ...

Dr Ferris sends me an e-mail entitled 'Cool Hand Luke' and seems mildly dissatisfied with my 'Catering tip of the week': "Having now tried out Crickley Hill Man's tip for pre-cooking poached eggs, I can verify that it works a treat. However, I would not recommend any of his readers to eat 34 reheated poached eggs in one sitting as I just did. I now know how Cool Hand Luke felt. Maybe the next catering tip could be geared towards the domestic kitchen rather than the restaurant kitchen. Hopefully I'll be well enough by then to give it a try."

C-H-M needed some extra kitchen equipment in order to make sure that he can test whether or not his catering tips work so this afternoon involved a trip to Divertimenti in Brompton Road. Whilst engaged on that mission, C-H-M found a moment to nip into the V&A and found this rather engaging 18th century Mughal dark green nephrite jade ewer with enamelled gold poppies. Stylish way to add liquids to brews on the stove, I feel.

Arwel Barrett writes: "Perhaps you could provide hotel chefs with a tip on how to scramble eggs? I have had rock hard lumps, granulated sitting in a thin whey or barely coagulated looking more like congealed phlegm." Thank you Arwel: when I've recovered from your description I'll post a note on how to scramble eggs ...

Max Glaskin observes of this post:

"Your memory for jokes is clearly phenomenal. Wibble I remember clearly although I have no recollection of one you have attributed to me about Moshe Dayan and a parrot and I'm not at all certain that I want to be reminded. [It's a very funny joke indeed, Max, but ultimately visual, which means it will have to wait until I see you. My skills do not extend to telling the joke on a webcam and posting on You Tube. Ed]

BTW, that formal dinner in 1977 was, I believe, a meeting of the heads of state who were engaged in a game of Diplomacy which was being held over several evenings. It led to all kinds of subterfuge and mistrust.

There was a boy who offered to spy on my rivals' plans for me, in return for Mars Bars. Bars and information were duly exchanged but, after I started losing territories unexpectedly, I learned that the boy had subsequently been "turned" by one of the other players who had access to a more toothsome selection of confectionery.

Jane (aka Wibble) may have come from the Wirral originally but I believe that her parents ran 'The Happy Return' in Chard."

Dr Phillpotts writes:

"Dear Chef Jules,

I hope you are enjoying your return to student life. In regard to a couple of recent posts of my photographs on the Crickley blog, Joe Stone's tool, on which Ros is laying a gently restraining hand, is actually an axe. She was trying to dissuade him from cutting down a tree in the middle of her cutting. The tree was removed later by Joe and Mike Webb; I think the picture of this has already appeared. If you look closely at the picture of Gail, you will see that she is wielding not a catbasher but a lump hammer; being a determined young woman she selected this to trim back the plates of limestone projecting from the baulk.

I saw Dr Dixon a few days ago at a conference on Dover Castle at which we were both speaking. He seemed on good form, although very busy with work projects, as am I.

Now get down in the kitchen and start rattling them pots and pans."

Further observations from J Arwel Barrett MD (Master of the Dosimeter):

"With the datum string and tape set up over the top, this looks as if Julie is following the "dig a bit and draw it" school of posthole excavation."

And:

"Is that Paul Noakes on his knees in the background of the top picture?"

And lastly:

"On coincidences ... I was trying to deliver a Christmas present (probably in 2004) to a friend in London who worked for a legal Headhunter but she had the day off. She arranged that I should deliver it to her boss at the office, one Cleo. I met her and handed over the present when she asked if I was the Arwel Barrett who had been at Crickley Hill in the mid-80s! She had dug with Dave Hollos on the Long Mound for a couple of seasons while a student. After my (boring!) meeting with the electricity industry I had lunch in a pub with them all and was recounting what a small world it was to a couple of the chaps. One, a Nick Trowell who worked for DTI at the time, remarked that it was indeed a small world as he had also dug at CH on Terry's Iron Age rampart cutting down in the National Trust part. Twice in one day."

That's enough coincidences. Ed.

Foz and digger

It looks as though Foz may have put quite some effort into the angle irons supporting his planning frame: even allowing for a bit of foreshortening when Jill Hummerstone snapped him at work: that one on the right must have needed at good belt with a clout-iron to get it into the limestone. In the background, not a JCB, for once, but a Massey Ferguson back hoe loader: a model 50HX which, according to C-H-M's research, seems to have been manufactured in the late 1980s and early 1990s: that would be about right. A used one would set you back between $5,000 and $15,000 according to the Machinery Trader website.

Jane Dineen writes: "I remember having one of these on site, trying it out, and lifting JP in the big bucket. And bringing him down again gently. ('84, I think.)"

Er ... something like this, Jane? I have tried to see whether it's you in the cab in this 1983 shot from Dr Phillpotts (which did appear on the blog in November 2008) but even on high magnification it's hard to see: maybe JP had a taste for riding in the bucket?