Taking Archaeology into our Own Hands
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- Опубліковано 5 лют 2025
- Taking archaeology into our own hands this week to see if we've found a new Roman road.
The Roman Roads Research Association expressed their doubts as to whether this road - just outside Ribchester in Lancashire - was Roman, so there was only one way to find out. Dig it, man!
One sunny Saturday a band of amateur archaeologists got to work in David and Carole's garden. We had a digger, 2 metal detectors and even Barry - a seasoned digger from the second ever episode of Time Team.
And as if that's not enough excitement, we get to look at the point where the Roman Roads Research Association have the Ribchester to Ilkley Roman road crossing the then course of the River Ribble. It's on private land, so another first for the channel and the finds there are fantastic, with a clear agger and even signs of the Roman bridge.
It's a real insight into the changes of the river course since the days of Roman Britain, so we pop down to the Roman Fort in Bremetenacum Veteranorum to consider that too.
We also discuss the importance of using enhanced LiDAR in such investigations.
This video is a follow up to, "We've Found a Roman Road in our Garden, which you can watch here:
• We've Found a Roman Ro...
For more on this road from the Roman Roads Research Association:
www.twithr.co.u...
#romanroads #romanroadsresearchassociation #ribchester #bremetenacum #lancashire #romanbritain #archaeology #metaldetecting #timeteam #ilkley #ribble #riverribble #agger #romanbridge #romanfort #lidar
If you would like to support this channel, you can buy us a “coffee” via the link in the About section.
All contributions gratefully received and ploughed back into our productions. Travel costs and equipment - that sort of thing. Occasionally, actual real coffee.
Credits (Where due)
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The demonstration of the Roman agger was made very clear. It was a good idea to get David to walk across it. I really enjoyed this video. Thank you for all of your hard work.
Thanks Jane and I'm glad you could see the agger. These are always hard to convey on camera. It was very special getting to see that road approaching their crossing point of the river and the signs of it in the landscape surpassed my expectations.
That was fascinating, Darren, and it was great that people came together to find out the truth too. I'm surprised that the RRRA didn't come along and help out. I thought they would come out to see how it unfolded. But one thing you did find out was that it was definitely an ancient road. You couldn't get the Time Team to organise it all in this time frame. I'm impressed that you solved the puzzle in such a short time span. A big thank you to everyone involved. Another great video, Darren, and some great citizen archaeology.
Cheers Chris - really appreciate that. It was amazing how effective the dig was. We settled the matter really quickly and any disappointment at it not being Roman was more than offset by getting access to where it did cross the then course of the river. The evidence there surpassed my expectations and was conclusive.
my “take” on this is that you provided that gentleman some level of support and expertise in his exploration of his land.
and he was satisfied. good on you.
Thank you. David was pleased to get to the bottom of it and his determination to do so was admirable. If it weren’t for his connections we wouldn’t have got to access that crossing point either.
Well done guys. A truly fascinating vid. I was pleased there was no deep sense of disappointment discovering the road turned out to not be Roman but more a case of looking on the bright side that at least the mystery was solved. Besides, a 300 plus year old track is interesting in itself. That river moves more than a Pickfords van!
Good Pickfords van joke there - wish I'd thought of that!
Yes, I don't think we felt disappointed and the very effective way the dig settled it was a fantastic experience after years of watching Time Team. And if there was any sense of disappointment, it was more than made up for by getting access to that road and river crossing - where the physical evidence in the landscape was more apparent than I had imagined.
I agree with the sudden shift in the river bed. It just takes one big flood to gouge out a new river bed in a gravel flood plain, the former route becoming an oxbow that may flood but rapidly silts up without the scouring current.
Cheers Andy. I was a bit surprised to find signs of the Roman road on the southern side of the Roman course - I assumed it would have all been taken out by the movement of the river, but that wasn't the case.
It must have been so annoying back then to suffer rivers with a mind of their own. One day you own a lovely roundhouse on the banks of the river with a great real-estate value. Go to bed one night during a storm to wake up and discover you're now plonked in the middle of a muddy field whilst 'Scruffy Sid's' roundhouse 15 doors down is enjoying river views and worth a fortune. I can imagine Roman bridge builders felt the strain too... '' Where do you want us to build the bridge Curia?'' ...They reply '' Oh just build it anywhere, eventually the river will run under it''
Hi Darren. That was indeed such a valiant effort. Whilst disappointing that no new Roman Road was found at least David can rest easy now, knowing what h3 has in his back garden. A brilliant episode. Interesting and enjoyable from beginning to end. 👏👏👍😀
Thanks Andrew! It was very instructive and great fun. Strangely, I didn’t feel disappointed about the road - it was great seeing how effectively digging answered the question! And the local interest led to us getting access to that wonderful road and Roman river crossing.
Nice one Team. Enjoyable stuff.
Cheers Paul! This was a lot of fun.
Good episode Darren. Thank you for sharing your time, energy and knowledge …. And again all done in YOUR unique endearing style too. I reckon you have established your own particular individual niche. 10/10
Thank you, Mark. Yes, I’m definitely niche! Glad you enjoyed it - a lot of fun to make and learnt some stuff too.
Excellent video, Darren, thank you!
Thank you @poppadog53 - glad you enjoyed it. A lot of fun to make and an eye opening experience with that dig.
another fabulous history lesson. can't wait for the next one.
Cheers @Gracievision - glad you enjoyed it and thank you!
Great video, and interesting to see this interpretation of the landscape.
Cheers Heds - much appreciated.
Great work, inspiring all us layman antiquarians to take matters out knowledge and passion and to do something with it. Bravo.
Thank you Nelly - really appreciate that. There was only one way to settle this and thanks to David, Carole and all those volunteers, we were able to.
I can see how some people may find us a bit mad. Being so interested in what is an extremely obscure slice of Roman minutiae in a bit of green, far out in the countryside. But how fortunate we are! This will do nicely. Bit of Citizen Archeology. Bit of old farm track. Bit of old bridge. Bit of mud. Wish I was there. Thanks to you and David.
Cheers Jim and I’m sure they do. It’s difficult to describe the excitement of identifying a nearly 2,000 year old road in the corner of a field. And walking on it. And a couple of old dressed stones that may have been part of a Roman bridge.
Glad you enjoyed it - this was a lot of fun. Fragmentary clues as to what went on here nearly 2,000 years before I stood there with a camera
Another good one mate.
Thanks Monty!
Thank you, Darren, for all your hard work in bringing us excellent and interesting content.
Cheers Ron - positive feedback like this makes it all worthwhile. Thank you.
Cheers Darren two firsts in two weeks your spoiling us
Cheers and yes - all these firsts coming my way!
Great work Mr WC21, David and the rest of the team! Really exciting stuff, even if you didn't find the answers you were hoping for. This feels like the beginning of a heady new era for WC21 (UK) Productions Ltd, really pushing the boundaries of UA-cam antiquarianism!
I of course now want to open a trench in my own back garden! However it only being about 100 square feet it might be difficult to get a digger in there.
I particularly liked the effect where you superimposed the old course of the river onto the landscape while you were standing on it - that looked like a very fiddly thing to do from a video editing perspective, as at least at one point it appeared to be behind where you were standing!
Thanks Tweedy! I'm sure "Tats" would be willing to pop round with the digger? Perhaps he could travel over your neighbours' gardens to gain access - do you get on with them?
Thank you so much for acknowledging that effect where the "river" was behind me. I lost at least one meal to achieve that!
Having watched Time Team for years it was nonetheless, a real eye opener how quickly digging gave us the answer that LiDAR and old maps could not.
Thanks again for another great video.
Great - glad you enjoyed it and thank you @OonaghEllis.
Absolutely love this. Thank you to all involved.
I have watched it twice today and will be returning to it later as I'm a novice and eager to absorb expert information 👌
Thank you again Mr. WC 21.
Thank you Christine - that's lovely feedback and I'm delighted you've found it so interesting.
Great Episode wiggy 🤣⚔️😎👏👍
It's enough to give viewers nightmares and I probably should have included a warning!
My fave so I watched it again 😎😎⚔️⚔️👏👏👁️
@@andrewlamb8055 that's good - these two videos were great fun to make. I felt very important directing the dig!
Great detective work! Wonderful that the land owner allowed the excavation. Thanks🎉
Thank you kindly. David was such a sport and great that we got permission to go onto the land where the old river course and Roman crossing are located too. Cheers.
I class myself as an ancient ruin....cheers....E...😊😊
You and me both @eamonnclabby7067! Cheers.
'' I Was Beginning To Fear You Had Lost Yourself '' was a Dr Who quote ...beyond that I'm lost too ...Loved the grandfather clock.
Correct - although probably half-remembered and a bit wrong!
Well done I struggled for ages trying to get it
@@WC21UKProductionsLtd lol you do have the presence of the Doctor a genuine time traveller if you was you can then travel back to any roman road you wanted to walk on, I struggled with your quote puzzle fun though
hello Darren and David, this was so interesting, shame it wasn't a roman road , it made my Sunday, well done and thank you again 😊
Thank you Davie - that's great. Yes, it would have been nice if it had been Roman, but it was a very interesting process to find out and I was really pleased with how conclusive the dig was. Also a very special moment for me to see that surviving road and traces of the bridge, where they did cross the Ribble.
Amazing thanks for sharing
Cheers Andrew - glad you enjoyed it!
Disproving a theory is still expanding the frontiers of human knowledge. Great job. Sorry that David doesn't get to say he's got a Roman road, but he seems happy enough to have an Early Modern (or maybe Medieval) one. The RRRA are presumably happy that it strengthens their theory.
Cheers Chris and I agree 100% with that. He was right to move quickly to resolve it one way or the other and it does show how good the RRRA's work around Ribchester is. It was a real treat to have access to the land upon which the actual Roman crossing is and I found the evidence there in the landscape to be pretty conclusive. An all round instructive and fun exercise.
Fascinating video. I would be very proud to have any ancient road in my back garden. I entirely understand why David had to investigate.
Thank you @lynettecockburn332 - so impressed with David for taking this decisive action to settle the mystery around the road appearing in his garden.
I haven't got lost 😀, just struggling a bit with keeping up with this riddle. Pity that no Roman road was found, but the process was interesting and entertaining to watch. I guess in academic archeology it happens as well that excavations don't confirm a prior hypothesis and on the other hand unexpected discoveries turn up e.g. on construction sites. It is great to see that after the setback the search goes on and new ideas are discussed. Thank you David, Darren and everyone else involved in this intriguing episode.
Thank you @JustcallmeKathi and absolutely. There can be a bit too much "confirmation bias" in archaeology I feel, and it was good to resolve this one. It was a useful exercise and demonstrates how good the RRRA's understanding of the network around Ribchester is. Very positive confirmation of their proposed crossing point too - strong evidence in the landscape there and very special to get permission to goo on the land there and see it.
Thanks to all contributors for this follow up. Interesting to see there may have been another bridge.
Thanks Jennifer! Yes that was a surprising discovery. Bang on the line of that Ilkley road. David Ratledge from the Roman Roads Research Association has contacted me this morning to say he's looked at it and he thinks it's later bank defenses. It was great getting access to the land where the Romans did cross the then course of the Ribble - very clear signs of that there.
Darren, you are without doubt the best dressed Antiquarian out there...never a fleece in sight...love the coat, love the video...
Thank you very much Michael! Glad you enjoyed the video and the coat. I'd forgotten about that one, to be honest, and it hadn't been out for about a year!
If I could double subscribe, I would. Very clear, well described, and very well analyzed. Thank you! ✌️
Many thanks @ddecker902 - I couldn't ask for better feedback than that. Cheers.
Wonderful video! I am a bit disappointed that it wasn't a Roman road. I got very excited when I saw the original episode. But like you, there was so much else going on it was hard to stay disappointed for long. Terrific finds and deductions.
Thanks @cherylwood5202. I was so impressed by how quickly we got our answer by digging that I didn't suffer major disappointment that it wasn't Roman. Reflecting on the exercise, I'm really impressed that David and Carole took this decisive action and it does demonstrate what a good job the RRRA have done sorting out the network around Ribchester. Getting permission to view the Roman river crossing was magic and the surviving evidence of that in the landscape was impressive. I'm glad it made for an interesting watch - thank you.
This is awsome! Vool approach yo history..
Cheers from southern Europe
Thank you and good to hear from you. It was a great experience doing this!
👍
Cheers @dutchman4737
Awesome video.
Cheers @stevedarcy9542 - thank you very much.
A lot of water has run under the bridge since the original inception of the Roman occupation. I suggest because of all the excellent work going into this the Ordnance Survey map know so any changes are recorded. Excellent!
Cheers @brynmorjenkins4376 - that's great. They really do need to move that Ilkley Roman road on the O/S. Apparently it still affects planning decisions on its line, even though the LiDAR clearly shows it's wrong!
Very interesting, nice work.
Thanks Stuart - glad you enjoyed it. A lot of fun and a very interesting exercise.
Fantastic work, guys! It just goes to show that relying on Lidar and bumps in the ground are not really sufficient to prove anything one way or another, digging is the key 😁👍 At the risk of sounding like a boring old professional (🙄), it should really be stated that when it comes to archaeology, context is hugely important. Context in this case meaning the specific location of any finds as they relate to everything else in the ground; for example an artefact that is found on top of wall foundations would necessarily be later than an artefact buried underneath the foundations. So if anyone gets it in their head to dig up their garden, taking clear measurements and lots and lots of pictures is absolutely vital! Boring lecture over...
Anyway, great stuff, Darren, your videos just keep getting better and better ☺
Thanks Rob - glad you enjoyed it. The detector guys were extremely focused and just didn't dig if the level was not right for Roman. I took a lot of photos and was ready to pinpoint the exact location of anything significant, but the reality was that the construction of the road immediately answered our question. Totally second your advice here: record everything. We have the means to do that so easily now and there's no excuse not to. Power to the people comes with responsibility!
Great video! More please my new friend! 👏👏👏😎👍👍👍⭐️⭐️⚔️
Thanks Andrew! Really glad you enjoyed it - a lot of work and a lot of fun!
Absolutely the high point of the video! Unbelievable Enhanced LiDAR. 😁😉
(I actually believe that enhanced LiDAR is a game changer).
The River crossing(s) are very interesting, Looking at the size of the Ribble Now, I too suspect that the river was in multiple channels during the Roman period. If it was a single channel I think the the bridge abutments would still be quite significant visible structures.
Now how did I know you'd say that?!
It is a game changer without a doubt. Without LiDAR, that Ilkley road would be still be understood to be where the O/S show it. Working with your unbelievable enhanced LiDAR has reminded me of a whole bunch of sites where I could do with it....
Yes, the size of the Ribble today is significantly larger than the LiDAR suggests those earlier routes were and it does make me wonder if there was more than one Roman crossing. Although David Ratledge has already come back to me on those bridge remains David showed me to say he's looked at them and concluded they are not Roman.
Very interesting.
Cheers Keith - glad you enjoyed it.
Thanks
Thank you, Sir.
Citizen archaeology can be both beneficial and harmful in my experience. I worked with very knowledgeable amateur local historians and metal detectorists on several digs and their enthusiasm and knowledge of finds often exceeded mine. On a couple of digs they were a curse though -- especially on a Roman temple dig which got trashed by 'nighthawks' with detectors who left the site looking like the Somme battlefield. Fun video, thanks.
P.S. You asked us about Neolithic human sacrifices in a previous video and I've just remembered Duggleby Howe barrow in Yorkshire had a number of presumed sacrifices. Probably several others if you look.
Cheers @PalaeoClive1684 and I can well imagine how ruinous citizen archaeology could be. These nighthawks are an absolute curse. The farmer who let me onto his land to see Ehenside Tarn last week told me he has real issues with them. Ironic since his is a Stone Age site....
Thanks on Duggleby Howe. So far I have one other site with a potential sacrificial interpretation of what's been found there. I will definitely pick up on Neolithic sacrifice as a video topic.
@@WC21UKProductionsLtd Hi again. Yes, some of the respectable detectorists have outstanding knowledge of artefacts and can even detect areas worth excavating in a large field through clusters of finds. One chap I worked with found a group of nails on a dig up north and thought them pre-mediaeval. They were from a small Anglo-Saxon boat we then excavated.
But the bloody nighthawks just plunder and steal, so we don't know what was taken by them. The whole site's disturbed and potentially important finds for dating or cultural interpretation are gone. There were a lot of coins found on that Roman temple site and who knows what else they've nicked and put on-line to sell -- the rotters! They broke into the on-site finds shed too, but luckily all the coins were bagged and transferred daily in case this happened so they just got bones and ceramics. I've been a hobby detectorist myself and found sod all, but there are many willing to break the rules in search of a hoard -- even on a Stone Age site. Cheers for the reply. Look forward to grisly Neolithic sacrifices!
The maker of the longcase clock at 1:57 was born in 1756 , possibly around the time that the mystery road was being built.
Cheers @Rob-eBw that’s great. I was given that clock by my mother years ago and bizarrely, I was living near Thame at the time. She had it in Sussex. It now lives with me in North Yorkshire. The journeys these clocks go on!
Brilliant - you deserve a wider audience. I liked A.I.’s images. They appear to be in the spirit of Grant Wood’s painting American Gothic.
You forgot to leave behind a buried time capsule in a bottle “ WC21 woz here. 2024 Anno Domini”
Are you going to place a record of your findings in the local history archive?
Did you reply to Phillip that he should remain retired?
I think the abbreviation “3RA” rolls off the tongue better.
Can’t wait for the next video.
Thanks @Nuts-Bolts - isn't AI wonderfully ridiculous?! I used it in my editing software the other day to turn a channel trailer script into a video. The results were hilarious. It's on the Facebook page if you want to take a look.
I will put something together on the dig for the local archive. I'm working on historic maps to show what has happened to David's road over time and he has unearthed some history on the pub to support that. I suspect that road was there to serve the pub.
Thank you for your support!
Time Team Imposters at work - Ch4 - Eat your heart out. This WC21 (UK) Productions Ltd is so much better. Thank you all.
Thank you @drinksafewater - that is high praise indeed. I do feel that I might have a bit of a team now should the need arise again!
Returning to the order of the Itinerary as written, from Ribchester, if travelling by known roads would have meant heading along RR703 as far as Preston, then south down RR70 to Coccium (Wigan), a distance of some 24.5 miles. A direct road, however, would be about 20 Roman miles, a perfect fit with the itinerary. Unfortunately this road has not yet been found although there are many hints of such a road
Thanks @joed285 - that sounds like a mystery to be solved - I'll pop that on my list to have a look at. Cheers.
Nice on Daz and Dave....when was the Great Flood that took out the bridge at Bishop Auckland(Newton Cap), and shifted the course of the Wear up stream, which would support the sudden the shift of the Ribble...questions, questions, questions.... excellent stuff, tek care.
Agree. So many questions about what has happened with that river. I do wonder if it ran in multiple channels there at some stage.
Lovely Marc Bolan costume there...
That sounds like an opportunity for the Christmas Special!
Hi Darren, What an excellent video this was, really well produced, well done and a big thanks to all who contributed, stand aside Sir Tony!!
So if it wasn't a Roman Road, what was it? It didn't seem to lead anywhere although maybe closer study of the old maps might make it obvious.
I was amazed at the findings in the nearby fields, it would seem obvious that the river would gradually meander but the evidence on the ground shows otherwise. I wonder what caused that to happen? A landslide maybe?
The power of water to find a way is present in all of us down here at the moment. The photos and videos have been shocking, at the moment they are pumping out the underground carpark at a large shopping centre where it is feared that many people became trapped. In part this is because they have built on the flood plain and the water courses that remain are insufficient to deal with normal storm water let alone the once in a 100 year storms. They say that the peak flow was 4 or 5 times greater than the Ebro (a river in the north maybe as big as Tyne, probably bigger, I'll look it up).
I must protest about the outro, my "awkwardness factor" meter was reading negative ...... David is a natural presenter, a great addition to your team!!
All the best!!
Cheers David and I'm really sorry to hear those accounts of what's happening in Spain. It must be truly awful to experience that.
I think the track probably came about to serve the De Tabley Arms in its days as a pub. The footpath that seems to remember it runs up the hill to the main road. If you go through the maps on the National Library of Scotland it's on the very earliest editions and then gradually disappears as you come forward in time. The earliest records of the pub are 1600s, so I think its origins are in the 17th or 18th centuries.
The river changes are dramatic and I was very surprised to find evidence of the road surviving south of its Roman crossing - suggesting a series of channels as it moved to where it is now. Again, if you've got a spare moment, it's worth looking at the Ribble's course on the 1800s O/S maps and comparing to current - there have been changes since then!
Currently in negotiation with David to see if he'll do the endings every week!
Cheers and glad you've escaped the disastrous flooding. Stay safe.
@WC21UKProductionsLtd Yes, will have a look at the maps. It's the change of the river course that amazes me.
Just been investigating the flow rates of rivers. The average flows in M3/S that I've found are:
Tyne 45
Severn 62
Thames 66
Ebro 414
The Valencia flood affected area 2,200
Not sure how accurate they are but it gives an idea of the scale. A real tsunami
What a lot of r’s. But you knew that already. Carry on.
Cheers Barry! Too many r’s at one point, but I think I got away with it!
@ better too many than too much when it comes to r’s, right?
On a more serious note … this investigation highlights the challenges in reading the landscape. A really good bit of investigative reporting and, equally, interpreting subtle remains in the field which can be very difficult to make out through the lens of a camera.
Your investigation also, in my mind, indicates that the river may have been much broader in the past and may well have been spread over multiple shallow channels which may equally have been so shallow in normal circumstances such that fording may well have been more appropriate for a crossing. I wonder if it is possible to investigate this by mapping a series of soil profiles using manually taken cores across what would now be considered the river floodplain. A clever and appropriately knowledgeable person may be able to help interpret the history of the river’s behaviour over the past 2000 years. It certainly looks like the fort was positioned to overlook a broad range of this floodplain with the innate threat being perceived at the wide field of approach that a bunch of the local riffraff might come at you from .. so the implication being that the river may well not have (generally) constituted a particularly formidable barrier to any said riffraff.
As always … another thought provoking bit of visual stimulation for a bleak and chilly Somerset Sunday.
Thank you very much, David. I've become a bit obsessed about the river movements whilst making this. A number of us have wondered whether there were multiple channels running here in the past - although someone else has pointed out there's nowhere on the Ribble today where that is happening.
I know the river is completely silted up now where the Roman crossing was, but I thought that channel looked very narrow by comparison to the river today. I was surprised to find that potential evidence of the road on the other side of it.
You're probably right that you'd need to look at soil samples to understand it. The other thing I'd note is that the river is still moving. We could see sections of bank disappearing fast and the course is somewhat different to the earlier O/S maps too. And I think David was right about the siting of the fort - they would probably never have imagined it be threatened by the river back then.
Definitely an interesting problem to try and interpret from Google maps … what is very apparent is that the existing river course has been halted from flowing further southward by coming up against a significant geological ridge (now wooded and quite clearly visible as a geological barrier if you look downriver from the bridge on street view). This is deflecting the flow of water back into the northern bank of (what looks like) relatively soft alluvial floodplain. It is this force of water that has led to the northward loop until it hits the rockier raised ground on which Ribchester sits … so diverting the water southward again.
You say that it has been suggested the river course ran much straighter in Roman times .. and this could be the case … but if so, I would expect it to also have then passed across the area of land currently forming the heart of the current classic oxbow loop that Ribchester now sits beside. Again, with benefit of street view from Ribchester, the land bound by the current river appears very much to be formed by alluvial deposit and lends itself to being carved relatively easily at the whim of the river currents.
Also interesting was the clear layer of clay from the trenches dug across the old trackway. I would expect this to be post glacial deposit and I would, therefore, expect any archeology to be in the soils above this layer. From the video, it looks like this layer is only a couple of feet down. I would then expect the wandering water course to be contained in this soil level .. but I would very much like to see the opinion of an appropriate specialist in the behaviour of rivers in this regard.
I think I still hold with my previous thoughts .. that the best way to get to the bottom of this one would be through mapping the clay layer and any associated river bed deposits via lots of test bore sampling. My gut tells me the course hasn’t changed too significantly from the part where it currently runs along the foot of that wooded scarp edge … but the loop up toward the town may have become more dominant in the past 2k years.
Question .. what is basis of theory that river ran straighter and to north of current course?? … does someone actually have good soil data from cores?
Actually … first source would be comparison of current OS maps to the earlier editions .. first reliable version probably dates to mid 1800s.
A quick Gurgle search, Nov 16+17, 1771....probably took out the SW corner of Binchester Roman Fort....there are a line of stones low down on the steep N bank of the Wear about 200 yards down stream of the former rail viaduct, just below Auckland Castle/Bishop's Palace, but I'm probably in mumbo jumbo territory...😊
Cheers Billy! I will almost certainly be looking at those stones one day. What is it with Roman forts getting destroyed by rivers, eh?!
@WC21UKProductionsLtd they didn't chuck enough silver in...
If you're still there or going back have a look at St Saviour's church down Stydd Ln and the Shepherds huts.
Thanks @69waveydavey - I'm only an hour from Ribchester, so will check those out. Cheers.
Morning Tony, sorry Darren! That was interesting but have a daft question - why did the river course change so dramatically? And how long do you think it took? Yonks since I did Geography at school!! Yuk that bloody sweaty hat, even a brief glimpse put me off my porridge! Take care
Sorry about your breakfast, Carol! Glad you enjoyed the video and I share your fascination with the dramatic changes in the river course. I am starting to wonder if the river was flowing in multiple channels there at one stage. Especially since there seems to be signs of a bridge - or something - where the Roman road would have crossed the current course.
@@WC21UKProductionsLtddo you know what Mate, that crossed my mind,no bridge required, but it does seem feasible- they were probably shallower so dried up over time - possible??
What would you say to the river being diverted by the romans because the fort was being affected by erosion further down stream ? That might explain the remnants remaining in the field and not washed away by meandering erosion.
That's an interesting idea. I was surprised to find signs of the bridge on the southern side and had just assumed the erosion would have taken that out, but it does appear that something else happened - whether a natural process or through intervention. I'm still not convinced the river didn't possibly run in multiple channels at some point - although the RRRA are adamant that's not the case. However, I think the silted up channel at the bridge site looks materially narrower than the Ribble today. I do accept the river doesn't do that anywhere today.
That was well gel
Cool!
Blimey, not a single attack helicopter! I suppose the police have their hands full at the moment.
Yes. Thankfully!
@@WC21UKProductionsLtdI'm in Australia, do Ordnance survey provide LiDAR to the public now?
@@AndyJarman yes Andy, free LiDAR is available on a number of sites, but you do need to enhance it to find this sort of thing. The site I typically use is the National Library of Scotland. They have a great thing on there where you can view the LiDAR side-by-side against old O/S maps.
Where else on UA-cam would you find content of this quality?
Double heart for comments like this. Cheers!
Great Video and so pleasing to see Citizen (Smith) Science in action. Come the Revolution Brothers all Science will be conducted by Noble Citizens rather the Scientific Establishment and their Confirmation Biased Opinions. "Freedom For Tooting!
Cheers @gibjamie - come the day, we'll be manning the diggers and tearing up all those papers written by the experts. It'll be people's archaeology for the people, by the people!
@@WC21UKProductionsLtd And Donald Bonaparte and his battalions will clear the roads with a whiff of grape! 😱😉😊
Ohhh … the rudely raucous resounding ringing roar of random ruinous Roman rubble remains rumbling rhythmically round the Ribble … or is it just another rumpus in the rialto of Roman Ribchester? 🤔
I've only had one Sunday pint of bitter, but I can confirm that I can't read that out right now!
My imagination or does David’s voice sound much like Stewart Ainsworth, notorious landscape archeologist? 🤔
You’re right he does! Building our own replica Time Team here.
@ Crack on, as long as you don’t mix in a striped jumper with those elegant tweeds.
I think I can say quite confidently that there are NO Roman roads near me.
Where are you based, Jane? We can always pop round with that digger to take a look?
New Plymouth, Taranaki!
@@janecapon2337 There were a few folks from Rome there originally. The Local First Nations People said they were quite a tasty lot!
There is a need for more Citizen Digs as most current digging is part of 106 agreements and leads to it's immediate destruction once the building begins.
Cheers. It's a bit depressing that archaeological digs seem limited to developments now. So many of the sites I consider on this channel haven't not been looked at since the 19th Century.
@@WC21UKProductionsLtd Those 106 laws led to the Time Team, with enough digs for a whole season, and the "we've got three days to do it !" coming from Ch 4 having two ad breaks per hour. If the BBC had done who knows how they'd have formatted it.
not relevant but my grandfather took me fishing on the ribble back in the 1970s at Ribchester and I caught a seatrout
Cheers. I like it when my videos remind viewers of their experiences of places. Romano British people probably caught them in it too.
Citizen Smith or Citizen Digg?
I guess the Citizen Smith thing is going to be lost on the younger demographic?!
@@WC21UKProductionsLtd Power to the people!
Roman Roads Researchers reckon Roman rubble is in the River Ribble, ‘round there, right?
That made me laugh! Try saying that when you've had a couple!
@@WC21UKProductionsLtd Splendid! I live on laughter lately. You’ve made my whole day and it’s only 7:30 in the morning! ☕️
Where was the photographic and written record placed just so in a few hundred years people won't come along and dig it again thinking it's Roman. County Records office maybe. Did you do any environmental sampling of the buried soils as well. 🤔
Hi Paul, I’m putting that together and will be logging it with the RRRA and the County Records. Doing a bit more work on maps and history of the pub - which I think the track most likely relates to - before finalising it. Cheers.
I had to see, just for the obvious FAKE PHIL HARDING of Time Team being fraudulently thumbnailed.
Stayed for the entertaining content.
Cheers @lundworks9901 - always good to get feedback on the perplexing subject of thumbnails. I'm actually running 3 at the moment on a test to see which works. We had a discussion about the Fake Phil Harding one on the Facebook page - I thought it might be off-putting - but 64% said they thought that one was the best. Will be interesting to see which one UA-cam tells me is the best!
All need arresting😢😢😢 Wealreaf ..... Digging scandalous and criminal
“Wealreaf”?
Your footwear looks like Clown shoes.
Thank you for your comment. The contents of which have been noted.
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Thanks Agent!