Happy digging?!

Helen reflects on Day One:

We all arrived at the site hut enthusiastic about spending the day in the sun. After the health and safety briefing, we all collected some wheelbarrows and buckets and headed over to the site, although group D tested the gazebos to see which one worked the best. We then had to remove the backfill from last year; sheets of breathable material marked the bottom of this. Whilst some JCB’s had removed a substantial thickness of backfill, the site still had to be cleared and the trenches re-dug. This was great fun to begin with as it was a lovely summer day and we were entrusted with pick axes and spades. However, as the heat increased and the trench continued to deepen without any signs of the sheets of fabric, it became simply hard manual labour. Group D hope to find the bottom and at least one end of our trench tomorrow. Within the backfill we managed to find lots of clay pipe, some pottery, a few musket balls and floor tile fragments. Even though I love the sun, maybe tomorrow could be slightly cloudy, but I am not looking for rain.