Having a dig...

Acting on orders received in 2007, and again in 2008, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 and 16, I have used the first two days of my holiday to start to remove the site of our bonfire, and prepare it for grassing over. 

As Dominique has just got back from a week in Cambridge, on an Archaeology summer school, I was paying particular attention to what I found as I dug out the fire pit.

It was my first pit (hereafter Pit 1), and I have to say, I was astonished at the richness it yielded.  The most exciting find, to my mind, is this amazing selection of fossilised calamari, thus demonstrating that the people of Cumbria were trading with Venice far earlier than was heretofore thought. I pictured them with a garden fork for scale, as I do not own a geological hammer. (Mrs T, incidentally, facetiously remarked that she thought they were curtain rings. Charlie's theory, that they were gold bangles from the arm of the Young Woman [Tutankhamun's mother] was not supported by the fact that they are not gold. So the calamari hypothesis remains).

But that was by no means my only find in Pit 1. Perhaps it is not surprising, given that we are relatively near Hadrian's Wall, and very near the old Roman Road, High Street, that we should have found these carefully shaped bricks, clearly designed for crenelations, or battlements, along the Wall. What is more surprising is finding so many together, and in such good condition.

Pit 1 also yielded this intriguing object; my conjecture is that it is a Roman toy catapult. It was found by the battlements, and is remarkably like a modern catapult, but is clearly of great antiquity. I will be sending this to the experts at Vindolanda for further analysis.

And then there was this, which I can only take to be an early barber's shaving blade. I imagine it had an ivory handle, or decorative knob on the end, as the handle end is a hollow tube. Clearly it is very old, as more sophisticated tooling has allowed much less coarse blades to be manufactured for such intimate and intricate work.

Another extraordinary find was this scimitar. I can only assume that this was brought home as a souvenir from the crusades by a previous occupant of the house; and was, perhaps, banished to the flames of a fire following some domestic dispute (?). It has survived well, and I am carefully cleaning the rust, in the hope of finding some inscription on the blade.

I had decided to keep the location of Pit 1 secret, and had indeed installed a guard dog, for obvious reasons. Pit 1 having yielded such treasures, it might have proved tempting to the less scrupulous of my archaeological followers.

However, following further discussions with the landowner ("Don't you leave that like a big mess in the garden; I want it turfed over, not left half-finished like so many of your projects...") Pit 1 has now been filled and is not available for further excavation. I will have to ensure that Mrs T does not disappear in the near future, as I understand the police take a dim view of freshly dug pits in such circumstances. 

It's all right for some

So Ant has landed on her feet again. She just enquired about the possibility of going for a voyage on this ship, and the next minute, she was booked on, with a bursary paying her passage, and a promise to give her the next level of sailing qualification that she is after.

She sails from Genoa in a few days, for a ten day voyage, to Malta.

How is it that I never got to do such stuff at her age? (or any age, come to that?)

A Family Holiday

Anna, the redoubtable Mrs T., had found an isolated cottage, on the coast path near Strumble Head, in Pembrokeshire; and all the kids had arranged their summer jobs and other activities to make sure we could all be together for our family holiday.

A path on Strumble Head

 The cottage was not only remote, it also had no electricity, let alone internet, so we had a very peaceful week: the whole family together, enjoying each other's company with no distractions.

 A remote cottage...

So we walked the coast path, swam with the seals, visited St David's, which boasts a fantastic Cathedral and fascinating remains of the Bishop's Palace, and the extraordinary iron age burial chamber at Pentre Ifan (which looked remarkably like the cottage, above) surfed, explored caves in sea kayaks, walked more of the coast path, sketched and painted... and in the evenings, we played music (the cottage had a honky tonk piano, and the kids had taken various instruments) and sang, and read, and did jigsaws; all by candle light (plus a few paraffin lamps).

On Friday night we treated ourselves to fish and chips, which we ate on the cliffs above Porthgain, as we watched the sun set.

A stock photo of Sunset from Porthgain (ours was more stunning, but the kids have the camera)

I wouldn't particularly recommend the Sunday Mass in Fishguard. The best bit was having the Kyrie in Greek); the music was lamentable and the sermon extraordinary: the priest appeared angry, and seemed to be saying we are saved by Faith alone; and that the Church now is in a much better state in every way than it was in the 'good old days,' which he remembered well, being 70. And we had EP2.

Other than that, it was a great week: the pace of life relaxed, and there was plenty of time for each other - and much merriment as a result.

Off on holiday

Well, that's it. All the kids' summer jobs are over, I have a clear week, and we are off to some remote cottage Mrs T has found, with no electricity, wi-fi or anything else.

Apparently the idea is that we enjoy each others' company for a week, without any distractions.  Music, games, jigsaws, wetsuits, waterproofs, sun tan lotion and walking boots are all being packed.

Sounds good to me.

So we are off tomorrow morning, and back at the end of next weekend. Expect nothing from me in the meantime.

An Enjoyable Day Out

On Saturday, we made our way up the A6 to Brougham and Clifton.

The A6 is a very small major road, as it goes from Kendal over the fells to Shap, then up over the tiny Eamont Bridge to Penrith. It is extraordinary to reflect that it was the main road to Scotland on the West of the country until the M6 was built.

Clifton lies between Shap and Penrith, and is the site of the last battle fought on English soil: the Battle of Clifton Moor in 1745. This was fought by the retreating Jacobites, under Lord George Murray, and the pursuing English, led by the Duke of Cumberland. Bonnie Prince Charlie was already safely over the River Lowther, and lodged in Penrith. It was a fairly low-key affair, fought in the late evening, with about a dozen casualties on each side.

(I see Wikipedia refers to it as a skirmish, but the local signs, understandably, all cite it as a battle. With thousands on each side, it sounds reasonably significant to me.  Wikipedia also disputes its claim to be the last battle on English soil, citing the 'Battle' of Graveney Marsh: which involved four Germans who had been forced to crash land their aircraft in the Second World War. Why the capture of four German airman is a battle but the engagement of two significant forces is a skirmish is opaque to me...)

There is not much to see at Clifton, to be honest. The George and Dragon pub has a very good reputation, but advance booking is essential to eat there, so we didn't try.

Brougham, however, has a lot more to offer.


The castle is very fine, dating back to the thirteenth century, and the walls of the keep still stand, including the (repaired) spiral stairs, so you can go to the top and walk around the perimeter at the highest level. That includes a tiny family chapel, with recognisable decorated stone.

Around the keep are, variously, the later gatehouse (largely still standing) and the ruins of many later buildings: a large hall, lots of additional accommodation, and so forth.

The setting is lovely, too, at the confluence of the rivers Eamont and Lowther: the Romans had seen the potential of the site and built a fort here, too.

In fact Brougham stands on the old Roman Road, now known as High Street, which continues over the fells (including the summit also called High Street) and down to Ambleside, and thence to the most remarkable Roman fort at Hardknott Pass. This was of particular interest to us, as we have previously walked over High Street summit, and also visited the fort at Hardknott.

The other place to visit in Brougham is the Hall. There is a huge amount of restoration work to be done here: the perimeter wall survives, as do some of the buildings around the edges, whilst others have been restored. These now house various studios for photographers, potters and alternative therapists (!).

But the part that caught my attention was the derelict (but being restored) Chancellor's Den. It was here, apparently, that Lord Brougham, who was Lord Chancellor 1830-34 drafted the 1832 Great Reform Act and the 1833 Slavery Abolition Act.

All in all a great day out: plenty for the kids to do (they are not above playing sardines in a ruined castle in the rain) and lots for Anna and me to enjoy as well.

A Great Day Out

Anna and I (and Goldie) had a wonderful day at Fountains Abbey and Studley Royal.  There is not much to add to what I wrote about the site on the occasion of our last visit, last year.

However, it was even more enjoyable this year, as it was sunny rather than raining. Also, I tried the acoustics in the Cellarium. The stone-vaulted ceiling is made for chant, and I filled it with sound without singing very loudly - till Mrs T bade me desist.

It was fascinating to stop and chat with the archaeologists who are digging a trench to try to discover the whereabouts (and any remains) of the Studley Royal bath house.  There are pictorial records of this feature, and it is shown (in different positions) on some Victorian maps. So far, they have found some old plaster and rubble, and half a brick: but they were very optimistic and enthusiastic.

In the meantime, Charlie and Dominique had a wonderful day at Lightwater Valley: rather them than me.

It's all happening...

So tonight, for the first time for ages, we will have everyone under one roof.

Ant is just back from a road trip in the USA with some university friends; Bernie has been down in London and parts south (Kent? does that ring a bell?) visiting friends and seeing the sights; Dominique is just back from a whistlestop tour of Italy, taking in Rome, Pompeii, Florence, Pisa, Garda, Venice and who knows where else in 10 days. Charlie has been at home, but we managed a trip to the Media Museum with him as he's interested in film.

But tonight all are home (or will be: Ant is out playing frisbee somewhere, and Bernie is working till midnight).

Tomorrow the big two are both working, and Charlie and Dominique are off to Lightwater Valley Theme Park for the day; so Anna and I (and Goldie) will go to Fountains Abbey for an outing of our own: always a fantastic place to visit.

Thursday, of course, is the Feast of the Assumption - and also the day Charlie gets his AS results.  So it would be kind of you to say a prayer for him. He is not that confident they will meet his mother's expectations...

A Short Break

The Trovati are off on holiday today, collecting Bernie en route and then proceeding to the West Country for a week of walking and surfing etc.

Consequently, there will be no Latin Class this week or next, nor any other blogging.

Normal service will (probably) be resumed on our return.

A Clean Start

Charlie and Dominique finished school for he summer yesterday, so this morning seemed a good day for us to go to confession Bernie came too, just back from her trip to Barcelona which was a great success. Ant is away at present

This afternoon was sunny, so Charlie Dominique and I cycled to a nearby village which has an open air swimming pool. For about 20 minutes, we were the only ones in the pool, which is always great fun.

All in all, I feel very clean for the start of the school holidays (shame I still have to work, but you can't have everything...)

New game...

Spent the evening playing a new board game which Charlie and Dominique have made. It's a family version of Cluedo, based on our house as a board (on two levels, downstairs and upstairs). The family become the suspects (including Goldie the dog) and the murder implements include grandma's knitting needles, the potato peeler, one of Charlie's hats and so on. They have added some chance cards (as in Monopoly) including discovering a steel boot that enables you to boot another player out of any room at any time (but only once!).

The whole thing has been wonderfully produced: photos of all the suspects and implements mounted on cards etc. And people wonder how they fill their time with no TV...

On Holiday

It's all go during the holidays.

Ant is working at a Sailing Centre, teaching sailing. It's like being paid to do your favourite hobby - in fact, it is being paid to do her favourite hobby.

Bernie is in Edinburgh, doing an Art Summer School as she considers her University choices - and awaits her AS results - and visiting the Fringe shows in the evenings...

Charlie and Dominique are at home at present, and we have Ant's boyfriend, Zadok, as a guest at present - so we've been doing lots of walks, a bit of sailing, a few visits to National Trust places. Charlie and Dominique have also been working on a project on Cardianl Newman, in preparation for his beatification by the Holy Father later in the year. They now take an avid interest every time his name is mentioned in the press etc.

Zadok and I have been working hard clearing out our outhouses and sheds. I now have a re-floored upstairs for storage, and a bike shed, a wood shed, a potting shed, a couple of general storage sheds and a tool shed all organised and tidy. (These were all full of the debris of the guy who lived here before us for many years; he never threw anything away, so we have given away or dumped a huge amount of stuff: a Victorian bath, old bicycles etc...)

And games in the evening: Zadok is a dab hand at card games, and managed to beat me at chess (though that was mainly carelessness on my part in the endgame...)

The Holidays are Upon Us

Suddenly we are well into the holidays: so far more important things to do than blog regularly.

Have taken in several good walks, lots of games (frisbee is in at the moment, as the bruise and scab on my nose attest!), a bonfire, a major shed clearing project (in anticipation of being given a snooker table and needing space for it - cleared the shed, then offer of table withdrawn...), a bit of music-making, a movie or two...

Do I live for pleasure alone, you may wonder. But actually, spending time with the kids, doing the kind of things they want to do, is central to being a Father; and of course all sorts of moments arise where by example or word one influences, teaches or communicates values to the kids. And my theory is that if I am with them when they want me to be, they will find it easier to turn to me when it might become more difficult (if you see what I mean...)

A good weekend...

It felt like the start of the holidays this weekend (though I still have to work for while yet...) All the family are home, as Ant is back from University, and Bernie and Charlie are back from their orchestra trip to Italy.

So went to adoration and confession first thing on Saturday (and how great it is that my teenage girls still see this as the best way to start a weekend - marvellous example for Charlie and Dominique). Then had a relatively quiet day at home until later in the afternoon when we went to the local County Show.

Last year, we won a number of prizes (well Anna, her mum and the kids did - I have no appropriate talents...) but this year we didn't win a thing (though I thought Bernie was unlucky not to win with her painting or her photography, and Anna didn't win with her muffins simply because they went for chocolate over fruit...but perhaps I'm biased).

In the evening went to see Toy Story 3 in the evening, which we all enjoyed enormously.

Today we went to the Extraordinary Form of Mass at Lancaster Cathedral - and this time you could really hear the impact of Nick Gale's training workshop: the Schola sang better than I have ever heard them before.

And this afternoon, we've packed Charlie and Dominique off to Sail Camp to improve their sailing - and Bernie is there as an assistant instructor. And has a summer job, so can't help at sail camp this year - but as her summer job is teaching sailing, she's not too disappointed...

A great half term

Along with the rest of the country, I think, we had fabulous weather for the half term week - and we made the most of it, with some serious walks, a bit of rock climbing, messing about in boats on the lake, some gentle gardening, and some idling around not doing much; hardly spent a penny (except on a few ice creams) but had a truly memorable and highly enjoyable week.

The only exception was Bernie who spent most of the week revising for her remaining AS levels.

It's tough these days:- when I was at school the lower sixth was a very relaxed year: only studying subjects you had chosen to study and with no pressure. Not so nowadays...

A Day at Pemberley

As an end-of-holiday treat, we had a family outing to Lyme Park, which featured as Pemberley in the BBC's Pride and Prejudice.

Ant and Bernie are huge P&P fans (as are Anna and I), and the whole family, including Grandma, enjoyed both the beautiful gardens and the impressive house.

Ant and Bernie were rushing around declaring 'What a notion!' and similar quotable comments at every opportunity, and Charlie and Dominique both played pieces on the piano featured in P&P.

And we were blessed with beautiful weather too.

Holy days and holidays

During the week both Bernie and Charlie had their music exams, which all seemed to go ok, but not spectacularly well, so I suspect we're on course for a couple of Merits there.

Now it's the holidays: so this week will be holy, and next week profane (apart from anything else, Anna and I will be back on the booze...)

Hope to get some decent walks in during the holidays - walking is always a good way to re-connect with each other, and there's a lot to talk about, not least Bernie's possible university choices....

And then of course there's the triduum to look forward to and prepare for: confession the first and perhaps most important step.

A great summer

The counter cultural family had a great summer. I took August off (not so hard as a freelance: nobody is using me then anyway!) so we had time for wild camping (and surfing, sea kayaking, sand castles and walking) in the Hebrides and a lot of fell walking in the Lake District. Ant and Bernie both got good results in their A Levels and GCSEs respectively so they are pleased: Ant off to University in the autumn and very excited about that. And I managed to keep slow, in accordance with my spring resolution - so very little internet etc. A much better pace of life...