We were off to a good start for our first walk of the year.   New people were introduced to the Hidden Valley project and the rain held off as the walk leader Alex Whitlock took us to previous excavation sites and on the way we tried to find the Chartist Well, well not entirely successfully. We saw the roadway and quarries date and exact history unknown and investigated marker stones.

Apparently there is quite a lot of Prehistory in the area, not to mention the Kiln site – another of our excavation sites.  There are two carbon dates from this site, meaning there is hard evidence  that the kiln was worked in the 11th Century, possibly before the Norman Conquest and another date of around 1545.     We also  viewed the remains of Great and Little Craggs farms where we have held previous excavations where Alex divulged relevant information. The image of the Group Finds is likely to contain some of the finds from Little Craggs.

All in all a very interesting walk.

Next session:  Saturday February 8th in the Green Room a lecture on the Importance of Pottery in Archaeology.

Banner Image: Near Calf Hill. Attribution: Gaye McCrum