Twmbarlwm Dig 2022 – Day 12
Twmbarlwm Dig 2022
– Day 12
Tuesday 23rd August 2022
A few notes from Norman who heroically went up and down the mountain twice today leading a couple of groups to the top for a guided tour.
What a grim morning 9:00 am and the visibility in the car park was about 50 metres, at least it meant that when you started the walk up to the dig you couldn’t see the steepness of the path ahead of you.
Seven volunteers this morning all raring to go despite the weather, I don’t know where they get their energy from!
We had two organised visits today, the first this morning from the Fusion project which is a joint Caerphilly CBC and Torfaen CBC project aimed at encouraging people to get involved in local arts, culture and heritage. After a climb to the top we met the CPAT archaeologists and also, to our surprise, about a dozen cattle contentedly grazing in the mist.
The Fusion group enjoyed a tour of the excavations with Jack Rowe of CPAT. Today these consisted of a continuation of the excavation in the ditch below the circle of stones and the start of an excavation in the ditch below the motte. They were also fortunate to be there when the mist finally cleared and the sun came out so that they could enjoy the view.
In the afternoon we had a visit from a group of councillors from Caerphilly CBC, glorious weather this time so the views from Twmbarlwm were fabulous. Another tour by Jack from CPAT and an overview of the work Cadw has been doing with the Society at Twmbarlwm from Will Davies of Cadw. We were also able to explain the work the CTS has done and is doing to prevent erosion of the ancient monument and reduce the risk of wildfire.
Still no artifact finds apart from the remains of 19th C glass and ceramic bottles which show that Twmbarlwm has drawn visitors for a long time. Unfortunately it also shows that littering is not a modern phenomena.
NORMAN
AND HERE’S MY NOTES
Arrived 9am – again it was very misty and raining. Seven volunteers here today, including two first timers – although Jack Hanbury can hardly be described as a novice.
The CPAT team arrived and everyone started to load the equipment into the back of Will’s car – despite the slippery conditions he had decided to drive up.
Work was going on in the car park by local farmer Chris – repairs to the bund around the car park – which was all part of the work of the Adventure Triangle project (a jointly funded project by Caerphilly and Torfaen CBCs) which has largely been instigated by the Society.
Will Davies of Cadw arrived and we had a long discussion in the rain about the progress of the dig and whether we will be back for more next year.
A couple of people from the local Fusion project arrived for their guided tour of the site and Norman set off up the hill with them.
As the morning wore on we considered cancelling the visit by a group of Caerphilly Councilors because the rain was so persistent. But by the time they arrived the weather had broken and they were treated to some magnificent views at the top whilst being given a very informative, guided walk and talk by CPAT’s community liaison archaeologist Jack Rowe.
As far as the actual archaeology on-site is concerned I still haven’t dragged my bad leg up there so will have to wait for a note from the CPAT team (see below) – but I understand that the first and second trenches are backfilled and the new trench at the base of the motte is getting quite substantial and revealing some interesting features.
TERRY
Sue gave us a great contribution today as well
Sue helped to show the councillors around and took the following collection of photographs of the VIP visits and the progress of the trenches – CLICK HERE – (there’s a lot of photos here and the link will open in a new window):
CPAT’s TwitterFeed entry from today:
Having reached these conclusions, we have refocused our efforts to better understanding the construction of the various ditches on Twmbarlwm. We now have two trenches open, one in the rampart ditch, and another between the cairn and the Motte.
This included augering to help us determine how much further the ditch around the Motte might go. At the rampart ditch, we are beginning to reveal the stone face which Iron Age people cut into to create it, similar to that we exposed elsewhere on the hill last year.
We also welcomed local councillors and other visitors throughout the day, despite the damp and misty conditions of the morning (very apt for an Iron Age monument given that the climate back then was cooler and wetter!).
