I have been restraining myself throughout June from commenting on the EU referendum. After all it doesn’t effect archaeology does it? Well, actually it does and on this, the day of the referundum vote, I’m going to reblog two posts which I feel best reflect my own feelings and exemplfy reasoned argument (often lacking in…
On the 31st March 2016 the Lancashire County archaeological planning advisory service closed. As Lancashire was the first local authority to appoint a county archaeologist, way back in 1963, this is a heart-wrenching moment, which may act as signal to other lcoal authorities that they too can ditch this kind of heritage planning advisory service… …However, Joanne Smith…
This year’s Association for Industrial Archaeology conference seminar looked at the challenges facing the future of industrial heritage and archaeology, in this European year of Industrial Heritage. The first session of the day looked at valuing our industrial heritage (see my previous blog). Keith Falconer, chair of the AIA, introduced the afternoon session on Funding…
May 2015 marks the end of my third year at Chair of CBA North West, and the archaeological landscape continues to change regionally and nationally. Nationally, the big worry in archaeology remains financing and a lack of skills. On the 1st April 2015 English Heritage split into a trust (still named English Heritage) designed to look after…
2015 marks the 25th anniversary of the start of the Tameside Archaeology Survey. Funded by Tameside MBC, one of the ten districts of Greater Manchester, it had three main aims: primary research, community engagement, and dissemination. Tameside as a local authority was only created in 1974 and this project was seen by the council as…
Archaeology in England is in the middle of its worst crisis ever according to Jane Greenville of the CBA. Speaking at the CBA winter meeting in London in February 2014 she highlighted the cuts in local authority budgets which make it possible that the provision of county archaeological services, established in the 1970s and 1980s,…
Picture the scene on a summer’s day: tens of thousands of protesters campaigning for the vote; a government fearing revolution; the army brought into to break up a large rally; hundreds of protestors injured and dozens killed. This situation is not Cairo in 2013 but Manchester in 1819. August 16th marked the anniversary of the…
I have just returned from a week’s holiday in northern Cumbria, having missed most of the torrential rain and flash floods that marked the end of the heat-wave in Britain. The noisiest parts of our holiday (excepting the massive thunder storm on Tuesday evening) were the sheep baaing outside the cottage windows in the depth…
archaeologytea 