Our enthusiastic Wessex West team, alongside our partners at the WEA (Workers’ Education Association), had a fantastic day at the Blaise Castle Estate Festival of Archaeology, organised by Bristol Museum. This was our Bristol office’s first foray into outreach events and they thoroughly enjoyed the experience – rumour has it they can’t wait for next year!
While the younger visitors got straight into being trainee archaeologists in our sandpit excavation, older children tried their hand at measured drawing and the tricky business of pottery reconstruction. There was plenty for the older generations too, with advice on spotting archaeology in aerial photos and understanding stratigraphy, as well as information provided by our displays and brochures. There were many other stalls and displays at the event, including living history from Wulfheodenas and the Ermine Street Guard.
The event sparked a lot of interest from members of the public in learning more about archaeology, and broader heritage themes, and the WEA was on hand to gather feedback on the types of courses they could develop to deliver just that kind of learning.
The weather couldn’t have been better and the organisation of the whole event ran very smoothly. We are extremely grateful to the Bristol Museum volunteers for providing much-needed refreshments and snacks throughout the day, and we can categorically say ……………We’ll Be Back!