Holst & Crickley?

Joanne Milroy writes: "I have been away on holiday but the day before I set off I was brushing my teeth to the sound of the Today programme on a Friday morning when a news item popped up about about a newly-discovered piece of archive film featuring the Cheltenham born composer Gustav Holst. Apparently Holst was an eccentric figure, and the radio item reported how once he was chased away by a local farmer after he spent the day on the top of a nearby Gloucestershire hill top practising his trombone. The farmer apparently complained how the noise worried his cow.

I was just thinking, while still brushing my teeth, whether the said hill top might be Crickley, when the Chair of the Holst Birthplace Trust was introduced. It turned out to be none other than Marjorie Imlah, well known among many Crickley-ites from the mid 1980s-early 1990s vintage, as the manager of the GLOSCAT Crickley "Project".

Richard Savage and others will have to fill you in on the "project" work. I was never quite sure of the purpose- although I do recall expeditions transporting vast quantities of finds and scrunging material either from the hill to the 'Project' or from the 'Project' back to the hill. I can't even remember where the Project was located although I seem to recall it was near Travis Perkins, the builders merchants where we often used to go for advance weekend mending and renovation kit. I think Waitrose has now nicely sanitised this part of Cheltenham now.

I seem to remember JP had various touching terms of endearment for the project and various personalities connected with it. The Project did spawn the yellow peril bus and there was a lovely lady called Liz, who was Marjorie's deputy and often drove the bus around the district to schools and other destinations to spread the Word about Crickley.

Perhaps Richard and Phil can provide more detail?"

Ullenwood from the air, 1990

Click on the photo to enlarge

I've been saving up this wonderful 1990 shot of Ullenwood Camp from the air which Phil kindly sent me some months ago.  From the angle of the shadows it was taken when he flew over the camp during the early evening, I should think at about 6:30 p.m. ish.   Five weary diggers can be seen trudging back over the fields, one in Greenway Lane and half a dozen in the camp itself, including a couple outside the mess hall and one approaching the Ablutions block.  There's a lone horse and rider in the lane as well, just arriving level with Dorm 3.  Within the camp itself are 21 cars, the Yellow Bus containing the mobile exhibition at the far end of the car park, and a couple of dozen tents in two groups.  The hangar, the bunker, the mess hall, Lofty's house and all the huts and the dormitories show up very well. I'd forgotten that the dormitories all had small roofed porches at the entrances.  A Phillpotts photo of the city of tents, taken during the same season, is here.

From a freezing garret in Shrewsbury ...

... the Chronicler, Dr Phillpotts, his mittened fingers almost paralysed with cold, taps out a message on the keyboard: "I am glad to see that the Crickley blog continues to attract attention. Amongst the things I have noticed recently is your query about the Yellow Bus and the Hula Hoop Frenzy. You may not be aware that after the Yellow Bus became redundant in 1989(?), being not so much a white elephant as a yellow elephant, it was adopted by the supervisors' circle as a semi-illicit after-hours drinking den called the Yellow Elephant Club. In this it was the successor to Naughty Nicky's (a caravan in the car park) 1983-1985, and the Boudoir (a room filled with mattresses at the end of the Brick House) 1986-1988(?). Despite our efforts to promote the sleazy aspects of these establishments, proceedings were usually quite sedate, lapsing only occasionally into the orgiastic. The Hula Hoop Frenzy refers to one night in the Yellow Elephant Club when Joanne consumed a bottle of white wine and several packets of Hula Hoops in pretty short order before retiring. When Steve followed her a little while afterwards he found her lying on her back with her head poking out of the downhill end of their tent,  at which point Steve decided that what she really needed was a walk round the car park and a cup of strong black coffee. Of course it was the Hula Hoops that did it, hence the name. Why Jock should be putting his finger in Nicky's ear I don't know. It joins other such notably named events as the Dance of the One Cagoul and the Night of the Exploding Schoolgirl. "

I think I want to hear more about the Night of the Exploding Schoolgirl, please ...  did we ever tell her parents?

Article from Gloucestershire and Avon Life July 1983

The following article, written by Richard Savage, was published in the now defunct "Gloucestershire and Avon Life" in July 1983.

" Fifteenth season at Crickley Hill.  Richard Savage issues an invitation to one and all to visit the Country Park that is the focal point of one of the region's most intriguing long-term archaeological digs.

On July 15 volunteers from all over the world will begin the 15th season of archaeological excavation at Crickley Hill, 4 miles south of Cheltenham.

The site is now a Country Park, a promontory of the Cotswolds Scarp with breathtaking views over the Severn Vale and into Wales.  Its prehistoric settlements are clearly marked, access and parking are easy, and visitors to the excavation of welcome during the hours of work 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily, including Saturdays and Sundays, but not Thursdays.  Ask at the finds hut if you would like a guided tour.

The season runs until August 25, and visitors are particularly welcome on the open days, Saturday and Sunday, August 13 and 14, when extra attractions are provided. The trust's splendid new mobile exhibition coach will be there at weekends.

As before the team of volunteers will be led by Dr Philip Dixon of the University of Nottingham. All are unpaid - in fact most pay for their own food - and while their ages range from 14 to 70, the majority are between 16 and 25.  More than 2000 have now worked at the site, the archaeological importance of which has attracted them from most of the countries in the Western World, and several from the Eastern bloc was well.  

Since 1976 their work has been sponsored and organised by the Crickley Hill Trust, an educational charity which must find the difference between volunteers' contributions and the true cost of the excavations.  The trust believes that the project offers an invaluable experience of physically and intellectually demanding teamwork, with important scientific results.

The first 14 years of work has shown an extraordinary series of settlements on the site, with great deal of Gloucestershire's past represented there.  Its earliest occupants were neolithic (New Stone Age) farmers, about 3500 BC, using only stone and flint tools.  They built rectangular timber houses on the hill in an enclosure defended by stone walls and ditches.

Their successors - about 2000 BC - were protected by a far stronger and better planned defences, but these did not avail them: they were attacked by bowmen, whose flint arrowheads are found concentrated along the walls and in the entrance, giving a dramatic picture of a New Stone Age battle which is at present unique.  The attackers were victorious, and the walls were destroyed.

After their destruction, a long earthen mound was built, incorporating at regular intervals flat slabs of stone, some of which cover deposits - presumably sacrificial - of butchered meat.  The Long Mound seems to have been used as a source of processional way, perhaps religious.

There are only hints of human activity on the hill from then until the beginning of the Iron Age, when, about 600 BC, a substantial village of long timber houses was built and defended by majestic stone wall and ditch.  This, too, was destroyed after a battle, and replaced by a village of round houses, with defences rebuilt and strengthened.  In its turn, this was destroyed and abandoned about 500 BC.  Even in periods not notable for their tranquillity, Crickley Hill seems to have had more than its fair share of violence.

Until 1982, the destruction of this second Iron Age village seemed to mark the end of permanent occupation on the hill.  But last year excavation just inside the Iron Age wall at its southern end showed that a small village, probably of earth houses, had huddled there after the end of the Roman occupation of Britain.  It is one of the windiest and least sheltered parts of the hill, and there must have been a compelling reason for the villagers to avoid more comfortable areas. Perhaps they chose to place least visible from the Vale, at a time of lawlessness and hunger when a few hovels or even a wisp of smoke might have invited attack.

In the coming season Dr Dixon and his team intend to examine this post-Roman settlement further, to establish its date and nature.  They will also investigate the Long Mound, in the hope of finding out more about the date and purpose of this odd structure, at the point where it crosses the ditch and bank of the first New Stone Age enclosure.

With the help of sponsors, the trust has fitted out the mobile exhibition to make the results of the work easily available to schools and the public.  In scale models, photographs, drawings and finds from the site, the exhibition shows the successive occupations on the hill and the archaeological methods used to examine them.  It has proved very popular at schools, and is a big attraction at charity fairs, fêtes and similar events.  If you would like it to visit you, contact the author, Richard Savage, at Jarolen House, Old Rectory Close, Walkley Hill, Stroud, GL53 3TY."  

(The captions to the photographs read as follows: (Top) drystone walling two 2,500 years old dominates this picture of volunteers at work on the Iron Age defences of Crickley Hill; (above) new this season is a well equipped mobile exhibition aimed at spreading word of the project far and wide.)"

Alas, I fear that the yellow bus went to meet its maker long since, so cannot come to your fête ... 

What was this all about? Answers on the e-mail, please

I haven't had a chance to discuss what led to this pair of photos with Dr Phillpotts. Was a party ever held in the Yellow Bus? No drinks are on show. Careful comparison of the 2 photographs shows the following. In the top one, Joanne is between Nick, whose sleeve can be matched to the lower picture, and Steve, whose ear and eye are recognisable.  Steve has his pullover on.  Joanne appears to be eating Hula Hoops. Indeed Dr Phillpotts's album title mentions a "Hula Hoop frenzy".  The frenzy must have been heated, because by the time of the second photo, Joanne has turned into Jock Bruce, and is kindly cleaning Nick's ear and Steve has taken his pullover off. Clear interpretation of the archaeological record is sometimes hard to achieve ...

Is that a Mobile Exhibition I see before me ...

A 1990 view of that part of Ullenwood where in earlier years football was often played, by this time, gradually turning into a caravan and car park. On high magnification I think I can just make out the words "Crickley Hill Trust" on the side of the big yellow bus. For an interesting account of its activities see this piece by Marjorie Imlah which I posted a few weeks ago.

Remember the Crickley Hill mobile exhibition of archaeology?

I found this piece from Marjorie Imlah:

"At the time of writing, the Crickley Hill Mobile Exhibition is well into its fourth year of operation, having been invited into at least 70 schools in Gloucestershire and many more beyond the county boundaries, as far afield as Hampshire, Sussex, and Kent. It has also been visited by many thousands of members of the public. The bright yellow singledecker bus, flagship of the Crickley Hill Trust, is now a fairly familiar sight around Gloucester and Cheltenham.

But how did it all start, and when? In 1982, two of the Trust’s most generous benefactors, anxious to publicize and promote the findings from the excavations, joined forces to provide a 30ft long, 45-seater coach of 1972 vintage and to arrange for it to be converted into a mobile exhibition centre. The coach, currently valued at £3000, is still serviced and maintained at a minimal cost by Warners of Tewkesbury. The value of their generous support is immeasurable, particularly as age and wear and tear begin to take their toll. The occasional breakdowns always occur at the most inconvenient moment and can bring the programme to a halt.

Westbury Homes heads a long list of companies and organizations whose support and sponsorship helped to build and furnish the initial exhibition (planned and designed by Philip Dixon, Patricia Borne, and Richard Savage), and to launch it in the spring of 1983. During those early months, it visited Nottingham University, and even the august forecourt of the British Museum. It was driven in those pioneering days by enthusiastic volunteers, but the Crickley Hill Trustees soon realised that, to be effective, the exhibition had to be driven and manned by a permanent, full-time staff. An application was therefore submitted to the Manpower Services Commission in the summer of 1983 for funding to employ five staff under the Community Programme. They would be responsible for three areas of work, the major one being the promotion and presentation of a unique mobile display of general archaeological methods and techniques and specific information based on seventeen seasons of excavation on Crickley Hill.

In January 1984, the exhibition was completely refurbished and updated to its present state. The walls and display panels on the coach were covered with maps, diagrams, photographs, and plans; on the shelves were placed scale models showing the development of many of the communities that lived on the Hill, from 4000 BC to the Dark Ages (the Dark Age dwellings are to be investigated during the summer of 1986). An invaluable dimension was added to the exhibition by the inclusion of a comprehensive selection of artefacts, ranging from Stone Age axe heads and Iron Age flints and pottery to skulls and modern animal bones.

Schools are the major clients for the mobile exhibition and experience has shown that the junior school age group is the most receptive, offering at times a most rewarding enthusiasm and thirst for knowledge.

In practical terms, the coach is manned at all times by two staff (both of whom need to be able to drive, but who do not have to hold a Public Service Vehicle Licence as the vehicle is not allowed to carry passengers). An advance planning meeting is essential to place a proper value on the forthcoming visit and provide an opportunity to plan a timetable, prepare worksheets, brief staff, and check coach parking facilities. On the day of the visit children and adults are invited to 'board the bus' in groups of no more than 10-12, and to stay there on an initial visit for 20-30 minutes in order to have a first look and gain a first impression. They are encouraged to return a second time to have a longer look, to draw or paint some favourite object or scene, to prepare a model, to answer a quiz, to complete a worksheet, or just to question the guide/organizer. While this is going on, the second member of the exhibition team is usually busy in a classroom with the other members of the group, encouraging them to handle and work with the artefacts. A classroom can be used for associated activities, both group and individual; such as a child trying to understand stratigraphy, a group painting a mural of an Iron Age village, creating papier mâché skulls or stone age weapons, flint knapping, or even trying to build a basic pottery kiln. The potential for creativity from such an educational resource as the Mobile Exhibition is considerable. Some of the 'thank you' letters from the schools reflect an interest and enthusiasm which is, in itself, rewarding.

It may be argued that the Exhibition is only as good as the staff who operate it. Their motivation and commitment to a job which can make great demands on them have been essential ingredients in the success of the project to date. One of the prime objectives of the Crickley Hill Archaeological Trust is to ‘advance the education of the public in archaeology...’. The Mobile Exhibition and its team have endeavoured to carry out that aim and will continue to do so while the yellow bus still rolls."

Whatever happened to the bus, I wonder?