Getting into scrapes
This week was a big moment for the Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust and the creation of a new semi wetland reserve at Whitminster. The long awaited pond scrapes can begin which creates the base design for the layout of the reserve.
I joined Pete to help with stewarding and safety with the public while the machine operated. As it turned out, it was such a wild and rainy day that no-one but us was out. So most of the time spent watching the process and talking to the archaeologist who was also on site.
This machine is the only one in England. It can dig scrapes using a spinning rotivator, but uniquely it spits the spoil up to 100m away which means there are no heaps to dispose of – the volume is spread thinly across the field.
It was fascinating to watch the process. It moved slowly back and forth, syncing it’s depth gauge with a signal from an external tower erected in the corner of the field.
The archaeologist had also made some interesting finds. A single roman coin was uncovered in one of the ponds (this area is connected to previous Roman discoveries). And a whole pile of nails, from perhaps the time the canal was constructed. It’s not really clear from the number, condition and location of the nails what they were used for. However, when these are dispatched to the nail expert, the mystery can perhaps be pieced together. There were also a number of metal buttons found, one which was quite ornate.
We know from the historic record that this area had allotments in 1849, but the previous 70 years back to the completion of the canal is unaccounted for. So these finds may add to the record.
In the evening we held another Dursley Green Drinks. This was a slightly smaller crowd than usual due to other events being on tonight, but we still have new people showing up as well as a core of regulars.
Wow that’s pretty cool. I love reading your diary posts. Keep up the good work mister 😊
It was a fun day … if a little soaking wet! Feels like progress finally on that project.