Newsletter
201: November 1987 Edited by Jean Snelling
DIARY Dorothy
Newbury
Wednesday November
4th
Late Celtic Art in Britain and Ireland Dr Graham Campbell.
Dr Campbell is Reader in Medieval Archaeology in the History
Department of University College, London. He has lectured to the Irish
Archaeological Society in Eton Square, who gave me his name. I am sure this
will be a most enjoyable lecture.
Saturday November
28th
LAMAS Local History Conference. Theme, 'London Spas &
Pleasure Gardens'. Details in October Newsletter.
Wednesday December 9th
Join us at the Museum of London and at the 'Crowders Well’,
Barbican for Christmas Dinner afterwards. (See separate notice and application
form.)
TUESDAY - TUESDAY -
TUESDAY January 3th
Aspects of Work for the Protection of Ancient Buildings
(SPAB) Phillip Venning.
Tuesday February 2nd
The Romans in Rumania
Margaret Roxan
Tuesday March 1st
Tythe Maps Geraldine Beach
THE MINIMART,
September 26th 1987
The panic is over once more and in spite of our 'lower key'
efforts (I didn't really notice any difference) we have again reached the £900
clear profit level - and still rising. In some ways the organising becomes a
little easier each year as the handful of stalwart, regular workers take over
their respective duties without direction. I will not name them individually,
but the remainder of the membership I am sure are very grateful to all of them
for raising such a magnificent sum for the Society once again. Thanks also must
go to members and friends who send in such saleable goods. We seem always to
hit the jack-pot by having a couple of members moving house and we receive all
their surplus belongings.
We had a warm sunny Saturday, attendance was up, more
members of the public were coming in and it was lovely to see many old faces
again. We even had Mr & Mrs Spiegelhalter all the way from Devon. And while
clearing up, the nicest thing we heard was from a couple of exhausted helpers
saying - 'It was good fun wasn't it'.
Thanks to everyone.
(And what about thanks from all the rest of us to that
moving spirit D. Newbury? Editor)
THE SPIRES
DEVELOPMENT, STAPYLTON HOAD, CHIPPING BARNET
Jennie Cobban
As the result of a meeting between HADAS and Barnet Museum
on October 13th it was decided, that special teams should be organised to
site-watch the development above. These teams will comprise members of both
HADAS and Barnet Local History Society, who run Barnet Museum.
Lovell's, the site developers, have agreed to extend their
legal agreement with Barnet Council by allowing named persons access to the
building site while mechanical digging is taking place. The JCBs will be moving
in some time in December and making a start on the basement for the
multi-storey car park. Lovells estimate that they will excavate down to about 3½
metres, so something of interest may be churned up.... Excavations will
continue into January and we shall therefore need to keep a regular eye on the
site for approximately two months.
I need to get together two teams of victims (sorry,
volunteers).
Team One
Volunteers who will have a look at the site, say, once a
week, morning or afternoon, chat to the site foremen, and check if the JCBs are
to be used that morning/afternoon. If mechanical digging is to take place,
these volunteers will then contact a member of Team Two. So, if you have a
little time to spare during the day, live in or very near Barnet, and could
offer your services on this Team, please let me know.
Team Two
Volunteers with archaeological experience/training who will
observe while mechanical digging is actually in progress and watch out for
anything of archaeological importance which may come to light.
I shall be liaising between HADAS, Barnet Museum and Lovells
to try to organise a rota of sitewatchers and access to the site, so if you can
help in either team please let me know as soon as possible on 440 3254
(preferably after 6.30pm).
OUTING TO WIMBLEDON
VILLAGE AMD SOUTHSIDE HOUSE. Micky
O'Flynn
Results of the previous day's storm were clearly in evidence
on October 17th as we drove down to Wimbledon; but for the 20 members who made
the journey the elements were kind and except for one brief heavy shower we had
a mild sunny day.
We met our guide and local resident John Barrett outside two
pubs, both with C17 origins and standing on Cromwell's half acre; so named
because Oliver Cromwell's father once owned the land. These are the Crooked
Billet (meaning, trimmings of the oak tree) and the Hand in Hand (one-time
winner of the Evening Standard Pub of the Year). Our walk took us around the
edges of Wimbledon Common and past many interesting houses. Gothic Lodge (1760)
is said to be the first house which was completely lit by electricity, William
Priest the telecommunication innovator having lived there. However in recent
times its past history has been overshadowed by the IRA bomb of Friday 13th
November 1981. Sir Michael Havers then owned the house and the bomb caused
£100,000 of damage but thankfully no injuries.
Another house with an interesting history is Rushmere House
(1788) built by David Watney. He had been found on the Common as an abandoned
baby by a local farmer, who kept saying "What Name?" (shall we call
him). This was to become his surname Watney. One of David's three sons, John,
went on to found the Watney Brewery. Other buildings of note are King's College
School consisting of three parts dated C18, C19 and C20; Westside House (1760)
where Spencer Gore lived, first Men's Singles Champion, Wimbledon, 1877;
Chester house (1670) now Barclays Bank staff training centre; and Worsley House
(1900) former home of Lord Russell of Liverpool and more lately of Julie
Andrews. The oldest house in Wimbledon is Eagle House (1613).
Wimbledon Common extends for 1,100 acres; although Princess
Diana's father Earl Spencer is lord of the manner in name, it is run by eight
conservators. Three are appointed by the government and five by the residents,
who pay rates to the conservators for the upkeep of the Common. In the past
conservators have prevented enclosure of the land and property development of
the area called Caesar's Camp, dating from 250 BC. The Common has been put to
varied use, and has been previously the site of the Royal Tournament, the
National Shooting Tournament, military manoeuvres, and numerous duels. On
Saturday however its atmosphere was more peaceful and dog walking seemed to be
the major occupation.
The second half of our visit was a tour of Southside House.
This is quite unlike most houses open to the public in that the atmosphere is
of a home, not a museum or gallery; indeed the present owner Major Munthe whose
family has had the house since 1687 still lives there. The house is made the
more unique by its exceptional collection of paintings, mainly family
portraits, by painters such as Rouselle, Van Dyke, Hogarth and Burne-Jones; and
by its collection of family souvenirs. Our knowledgeable guide Wendy Bath
recounted stories concerning the fascinating objects and the escapades of
family members appearing in the portraits. Among the objects seen were Queen
Anne Boleyn's vanity case, Marie Antoinette's lost pearl necklace later owned
by Josephine Bonaparte, gifts and photographs from royal visitors and friends.
There is the Prince of Wales Room where Frederick Prince of Wales and later
King Edward Vilas Prince of Wales stayed during manoeuvres. The music room
houses C18 furniture acquired on Grand Tours through Prance and Italy, and also
two giant Chinese vases which "fell off the back of a camel". A
matching pair, a present from the Emperor of China to the Tsar, can now be seen
in the Kremlin. The Painted Tapestry Room has a powder closet, for repowdering
one's wig after riding across the Common from London.
There is much more but I will stop here and just encourage
others to visit on another occasion. This has two motives in that I'm sure they
like us will have an enjoyable day but also, sad to say, repairs have still to
be made from firebombs on Southside House during the war, so all money received
is desperately needed.
I must lastly, on behalf of all those who went, thank Mary O’
Connell for organising such a splendid trip, as I know it was appreciated by
Everyone.
MEDIEVAL PARISH
CHURCHES IN MIDDLESEX Peter
Pickering
The autumn lecture series began on October 7th by Bridget
Cherry. She is editor of the indispensable Penguin series 'the Buildings of
England’ and her talk displayed the encyclopaedic learning that we all expect
from those books.
Middlesex is not wealthy in old churches. There have perhaps
never been more than eighty. It is not therefore the result of the ravages of
time or even of suburban development, but perhaps of the absence of rich
patrons anxious to glorify God. Mrs Cherry found however many gems for us to
admire and architectural problems to ponder.
She took us through the range of architectural styles, and
through the old county of Middlesex from Laleham, now annexed by Surrey, in the
south-west to Stepney, long since annexed by London, in the east, and strayed
into Hertfordshire with Monken Hadley. On the way we saw the Norman doorway of
Harlington, its beakheads paralleled in Lincoln Cathedral, the modest Northolt,
the nave of Hayes, and Ruislip. Mrs Cherry drew attention particularly to
churches which had expanded without losing their early heart - Finchley,
Hendon, Uxbridge - and her own local Hackney, where only the tower of the
medieval church survives. There are, we learnt, some 30 medieval towers in
Middlesex, all to the west, several with the characteristic corner turret
rising above the main tower.
Some of Mrs Cherry's appreciative audience will have been
set longing for an opportunity of excavating and elucidating the complex
architectural history of these churches. I was made to regret my ignorance, and
the few I have yet seen; and to wonder whether HADAS might visit some of them,
arranging, for those locked to keep out vandals to be opened to let in
enthusiasts.
HADAS SOUTH WALES
WEEKEND - discovering our Welsh Heritage -
John Enderby
An expectant party of 23, later joined by three more by car,
left Hendon by coach in sunshine on September 11th. Accompanied by Barry Owen
of the Welsh Tourist Board who proved to be an eloquent erudite son of the
Rhondda by teaching us basic Welsh, we sped quickly down the M4-.
We were fortunate not to experience any delay in crossing
the Severn Toll Bridge. Now that we were in Wales the scenery changed
dramatically. The Marches gave way to the more gentle landscape of the Wye
Valley and our first visit - Tintern Abbey. To those of us glimpsing for the
first time the awe inspiring splendour of this Cistercian Abbey, one could
appreciate the quality of its romantic appeal in a picture book setting that
had our cameras clicking. The lower Wye Valley has been settled since prehistoric
times. Bronze Age barrows, Iron Age hill forts and evidence of Romano- British
occupation abound on the 3,000 acres of land which formed the estate of the
Abbey. Thus the stature of the Abbey even today reflects its former wealth, and
one is amazed that the magnificently constructed CI2 and C13 buildings were
enjoyed by only 20 monks and 50 lay brothers. The Abbey reached its zenith in
C14 after which it declined although remaining the wealthiest abbey in Wales
until it was 'surrendered’ to Henry VIII in 1536. Rapid decay followed,
arrested only in recent times. We were much impressed by the restorative
efforts of the craftsmen working on the ruins, employed by CADW, the Welsh
Historic Monuments Commission, whose caring hand was in evidence on many of the
sites we visited. After a glance round the Museum we continued on our way to
Abergavenny, passing in Tintern village a vineyard dating back to Roman times
that now produces Tintern Parva table wine.
In ancient Monmouth, the birthplace of Henry V in 1387, we
had intended looking at the C11 castle and medieval Shire Hall, only to be
frustrated by a traffic jam, and we took an alternative route via Usk. On our
way we sighted the substantial ruins of Raglan Castle, a C15 stronghold to stir
the imagination which Cromwell managed to knock about more than a bit!
On arriving at The Hill, an attractive College set in 17
acres of rolling parkland on the edge of the Brecon Beacons, we were warmly
welcomed by the Principal, John Newcombe, an old friend of HADAS, and invited
to a sherry Reception during which he told us of the history of the house.
Dating from late C19, it had belonged to a local 'coal baron'; among its many
period features was a grand oak staircase and gothic fireplaces.
Each evening after an excellent dinner, we were privileged
to be given illustrated talks by skilled lecturers. On the first Eric Talbot
formerly Reader in Medieval Archaeology at Glasgow University and now a local
resident, gave us a brilliant lecture on the pre-history of Wales, and on the
second an equally entertaining talk on the later history of the Marches. On the
Saturday he accompanied us on a whole day outing which not even drenching rain
could detract from being instructive and enjoyable, although the planned
itinerary had to be adapted to the conditions; much to the disgust, I am
afraid, of some hardy HADAS ramblers who would still have liked to have climbed
the Blorenge to view an Iron Age hill fort. The first visit was to Usk,
headquarters of a Roman Legion in the mid-50s AD. The town itself delighted us
with its calm natural beauty. Eric led the HADAS crocodile to a rescue dig
being conducted by Andrew Marvell for the Glamorgan-Gwent Archaeological Trust
to uncover, prior to redevelopment, the ground plan of the fort. Andrew Marvell
talked to us about the project which was revealing evidence of the granaries,
barracks and perimeter defences of the compound and we were able to view
artefacts already found, which were being cleaned and documented in an on-site
building. From Usk we went to Caerwent (Venta Silurum) and in ever more
persistent rain walked round the base of the giant walls - 9ft thick and 15ft
high - and supporting towers, enclosing the 4-5 acre site of this important
centre of Roman tribal administration. Why no museum, we wondered, surely
Caerwent deserved one?
From Caerwent the coach took us the few miles to Caerleon
(Isca). First we visited a current excavation, thought to be the house of a
Roman officer, and then on to the Roman theatre, baths and the newly opened
Legionary Museum. The latter houses a stunningly displayed collection recording
every facet of the life of Isca, which flourished from c 75 AD to 290 as the
headquarters of the 2nd Legion and its 5,000 effectives who subjugated the
Silures. The sun now shining, we were able to marvel at the scale of the
amphitheatre, excavated by Sir Mortimer Wheeler in 1926/7, which once held at
least 5,000 spectators. Our final visit was to the Roman legionary baths, which
were only roofed and opened to the public in 1985. We found it to be a prime
example as to how such an important site could be caringly preserved and
presented to the public as part of our national heritage; the lighting, choice
woodwork of the walkways, and audio visual displays were superb.
On the idyllic Autumn Sunday Richard Keen, an authority on
the industrial archaeology of Wales and now working for the Brecon Beacons
National Park, took us on a journey through Gwent which reflected the
ingenuity, and the harshness, of life of working people at the heart of the
Industrial Revolution. We looked at canals, traced old tramways, and had the
now greened over scars of industrial workings explained. Our first stop was at
Blaenafon Ironworks. Here, with Richard's help, we were able to see in the
mind's eye the former greatness of the plant which dated back to the 1780s. We
viewed the remains of massive furnaces, the casting houses, the giant stone
water balance tower built in 1850, and the sad rows of humble cottages used by
the skilled workers. The works had decayed rapidly when it closed down in 1900
but it is now being painstakingly preserved as the finest example of a late C18
ironworks in Britain. Before leaving, we looked at and photographed (I have a
photographic record of the weekend for anyone to see) the 7 ton Hammer Mill
which, when working, shook the whole valley.
We came next to Tredegar and Merthyr Tydfil, the very heart
of the Industrial Revolution in Wales. The impressive cast iron replica of Big
Ben erected by the proud craftsmen of Tredegar in their town square, along with
the black 'soil' of a building site, sticks in the memory. As does the sight of
partly vandalised gravestones on unconsecrated ground way above the town, all
dated 1849 with chilling inscriptions recalling the horrendous deaths of no
less than 1,300 people who died in 17 days in a cholera epidemic which
devastated the community in the Summer of that year, consequent on polluted
water and poor hygiene.
Leaving now almost workless valleys, we travelled back via
the once 'model' but uncompleted town of Bute, through the Clydach Gorge and
along the Heads of the Valley road to Abergavenny and the welcome of an open
Bar and a traditional roast beef Sunday lunch. A short Summing Up Session gave
us the opportunity of thanking John Newcombe and his Staff for their unfailing
care and hospitality which had made the weekend so pleasurable. On our way from
and back to London in the College coach, John had thoughtfully provided flasks
of tea or coffee, and this was symptomatic of his approach throughout an
enjoyable and instructive weekend in the best traditions of HADAS.
The following guide books on sites visited have been
presented to the HADAS Library:
The CADW illustrated guide to Tintern Abbey
The Legionary Fortress of Caerleon-Isca George C. Boon
Blaenafon Town 'Walk (Torfaen Museum Trust)
BROCKLEY HILL
EXCAVATION: interim report Gill
Braithwaite
Our month's digging and field work at Brockley Hill came to
an end on September 26. All in all it was a very enjoyable and in many respects
a rewarding season, despite the changeable weather, and the fine days and
wonderful views more than made up for the days when we were sliding around in
the mud and trying to bail out the trenches.
As a result of our field-walking we now have a much clearer
idea what the main areas of Roman activity are in the field, and we also
identified what could be quite an important concentration of mesolithic and
possibly neolithic flints. Our trial trenches along the line of the proposed
new Water Main were perhaps rather less rewarding; one, half way across the
field produced nothing, just confirming the results of our field-walking in
this area, while the other two, placed near the modern road on a postulated
line of Roman Watling Street, did indeed pick up a likely-looking gravel layer,
with a thick bed of sandy clay beneath it, full of corroded iron and Roman
pottery, but at the end of the day we weren't sure if we'd found a Roman road,
a C18 gravel track, or a Roman river. But more of all this in the full report which
hopefully will be ready for next month's Newsletter.
Meanwhile I would like to give a big thank you to all those
who came to help at Brockley Hill, especially to those who were prepared to
face the rain and the horrors of the soggy, slippery, muddy clay, and even more
to those stalwarts who came to help back-fill on the last Sunday and made such
a good job of the cleaning up and replanting of the site. It looked like Mr
MacGregor's cabbage patch when we had finished, all beautifully dug and the
little rape plants in nice neat rows, and hopefully the farmer will be prepared
to let us back again.
We thought it would be a good idea to have a Brockley Hill
Reunion Party to round off the dig and so that people can see all the finds,
discuss the results and interpretations, and see each other again. I do hope as many of those who took part as
possible will be able to come, and everyone else who is interested, on Friday
November 20th from 8pm onwards at 79 Hampstead Way NW11.
200 NOT OUT: BUT OUT
MONTHLY Ted Sammes
Last month saw the issue of our 200th Newsletter, which
started in October 1969. Miss Daisy Hill, then Secretary of the Society, was
the first Editor. For the 100th number Brigid Grafton Green wrote an
informative account of its history, in June 1979.
It is interesting to note that in the first issue HADAS was
hopefully excavating on the site of demolished Westhorpe, Tenterden Grove,
Hendon, in a search for traces of the Manor House. Strangely, Westhorpe has
featured in several numbers of the Newsletter because of its Russian connection
and the Elworthy family.
We should be very proud of our Newsletter, with its index. I
find the latter of inestimable help in tracing events and places of past HADAS
activity. HERE'S TO THE NEXT HUNDRED ISSUESI
GRAPEVINE
We hear that our Chairman Andrew Selkirk (435 7517) is
looking for secretarial assistance for Current Archaeology. Perhaps a HADAS
member would be interested to promote archaeological publication on a couple of
mornings a week?
Congratulations to Ted Sammes, now made an Honorary Life
Member of the London and South East Milling Society and presented with a
certificate in recognition of exceptional services. The honour gives special
pleasure as Ted considers himself to have started on the other side of the fence,
in the baking industry in 1937 at the laboratory of H.W.Nevill Ltd at Acton.
TRIBUTE TO A VICE
PRESIDENT Brigid Grafton Green
We report with sorrow the death three weeks ago of our
longest- serving Vice President, Mrs Rosa Freedman. She had many local claims
to fame: but one, of which she was proud, was that she was a founder member of
HADAS. Very early in the Society's life we made her a Vice President - and I
remember her telling me, at one of the AGMs over which, as a Vice President,,
she presided so often and so willingly, of her great pleasure in the Society's
success.
Mrs Freedman was twice Mayoress to her husband Joe: once in
1951 (long before HADAS was even a gleam in anyone's eye) when she was Mayoress
of Hendon; and again in 1972-3 when Joe Freedman became Mayor of Barnet. We
seized our chance that year to hold a special lecture-and-reception for the
Freedmans, in March 1973, at the Prince Albert in Golders Green - one of our
first big parties - with David Price-Williams delivering a lecture on
"Archaeology in the Land of the Bible". Appropriately the Mayor and
Mayoress brought along three albums of their own colour photos of their recent
trip to Israel for us to mull over.
That was the sort of friendly note that Rosa Freedman always
struck in her dealings with us: and when, in turn, she herself became Mayor of
Barnet in 1981-2 we rejoiced with her at the honour and at the accolade which
followed it - an MBE from the Queen.
During that crowded year of office she was guest of honour at our 21st
birthday party and ceremonially cut the birthday cake, delighting in the fact
that many of the guests were dressed in flights of historic fancy and the menu
consisted of 21 dishes made from recipes dating from Roman times to today. At
the very end of her mayoral year she took part, with the Mayor of Camden and
Dame Geraldine Aves, in unveiling a Blue Plaque to Samuel and Henrietta
Barnett.
Although the Freedmans moved from Hendon to Stanmore last
year, we always knew that Rosa Freedman remained, not only one of our Vice
Presidents, but also one of our real friends. Those of us who knew her will
miss her greatly,
THB CONGRESS QF
INDEPENDENT ARCHAEOLOGISTS September 19-20 at Selwyn College, Cambridge.
" June Porges and Andrew Selkirk
This second congress looks like being a turning point in
British Archaeology. In his opening address Andrew Selkirk admitted to earlier
despondency for local societies, relieved by the support and enthusiasm of
Angela Bullock, an archaeologist at York specialising in fish bones, which
eventually led to this happy and constructive gathering.
The theme of the Congress was the question of an Institute
of Independent Archaeologists or some sort of recognised Liaison Committee
being established to represent the amateurs and to compete with other bodies
such as Rescue, the Institute of Field Archaeologists, the Museum Association
etc. to draw the attention of English Heritage, CADW and the Royal Commission
on Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland. Obviously all were conscious
of the lessening of enthusiasm for amateur archaeology since the 1970s, caused
in some part by the change in climate for the professionals. Towards them there
was little antagonism, rather tributes for help received, and anxiety to
reassure them that amateurs do not wish to diminish their grants, wages or
status. There was a positive attempt to find a way to complement the
professionals, by doing work for which they do not have time or costly
resources, or in emergencies when, an amateur group may sometimes move faster
into action than a formal unit.
Examples were given of groups walking and talking in their
own areas and steadily building up a familiarity with the landscape and local
people which reveals hitherto unknown features and information. There were examples
of widely recognised amateur expertise such as the work of Teresa Briscoe on
Anglo-Saxon pot stamps, and of Peter and Nita Farmer on Scarborough ware.
There was a problem of definition: independent, amateur and
unpaid in description. What emerged was that independents who wished to offer
themselves as a viable and respected work force must be trained and be prepared
to work to professional standards. Real professionalism means good records,
reports being written quickly after excavation closes, and interim reports to
be available during a dig. Twenty members or so spoke of their demanding
experience in recent work. Computer buffs emphasised the usefulness of what is
now a cheap tool, with desktop publishing and quick and easy compiling of
reports. There was a demonstration of computers, showing databases for sorting
pot stamps and for recording a church on an Amstrad, and Andrew Selkirk's
various programmes on an IBM clone including one to calculate calibrations for
radiocarbon dates.
A final decision was reached to ask the Council for British
Archaeology to represent the Independent Archaeologists in high places for the
next two years, and then if this has not been successful the question of
setting up a formal organisation will be reconsidered at the next Congress.
Impressions remain of a gathering of friends with the same
passionate interests, albeit it different emphases, intent on exchanging ideas.
There was a particular satisfaction in the liveliness of the 10-minute
presentations throughout the Congress. There are memories of dinners in a
candle-lit Cambridge Hall with founders looking down, and then finding
ourselves thrown out of the bar at 10.30 with nowhere to go; and of a
beautifully sunny autumn Sunday morning when birdsong filled the quad and one
envied the students soon to return there. Our reporters confess to suspecting
that grass is greener in other places than Hendon, where we struggle to find
any small promising looking site to excavate, while other societies apparently
have only to stick a trowel in the ground to find hand axes, Bronze Age hoards
and Roman burials neatly stratified and waiting for them.
The Congress closed, looking positively towards a future
which will be different for amateur societies but which, if the relationship
with the professionals can be adjusted, will be a rewarding one. It will be
interesting to see if this mood has been sustained when we gather for the next
Congress in 1989 (rumour has it, somewhere in the North).
THE PAINTED CAVES OF
CANTABRIA, NORTH WEST SPAIN October 3-10 Prehistoric Society Study Tour of
Upper Paleolithic Art Clodagh Pritchard
With ten HADAS members in the party, we flew to Bilbao, and
it was dark before we reached Santillana del Mar after a 2½ hour coach drive,
but we had time for an impression of the countryside. It is a green landscape
of scattered houses and smallholdings. Maize is grown in patches, for fodder
and for oil. Grass is scythed or mown , stacked and carried away to feed cows,
kept in byres or bare enclosed yards. The more fortunate animals are out in the
fields, sometimes with horses. The area is noted for milk and cheese.
Eucalyptus trees stand out grey-green in contrast to the
dark green forests clothing hills and mountainsides. These trees are cut for
paper making and for scaffolding. The wood industry has great economic
importance in the area; logs are stacked by the roadsides waiting transport.
Pampas grass has escaped from gardens into the wild, the plumes being seen high
on hillsides.
Sunday October 4- was a sunny windy day. We visited the cave
of El Castillo, one of several in Monte Castillo. An open space and low wall
provided a place to sit and enjoy the splendid view while waiting our turn to
enter. With the help of a guide, torches and electric light, we were able to
make out the groups of bison, hinds and horses, the hand prints and signs
depicted on the walls. In the uncertain moving light the formations of
stalagmites and stalactites were colourful and impressive. Later we drove to
Santian, a long narrow cave with unusual symbols in red ochre, thought to
represent arms terminating in hands, and also groups of red spots with a cross.
Monday 5th. We divided into two groups to facilitate our
visit to Altamira where only 3 people at once are allowed in, the general public
being altogether excluded. So some of us visited Santillana del Mar near our
hotel. This is an unspoilt medieval village, preserved as a national monument.
There are many fine houses and a C12 church. The day was overcast ending in
rain. We had a long afternoon Walk from the coach to Los Hornos de la Peña,
again dividing into groups and awaiting our turn. I did not get right up to the
cave but there is a reference to the Hornos man in the Skira Lascaux
publication under the heading of Aurignacian Figures of Man.
Tuesday 6th.The visit to the cave of Altamira was brief and
exciting. The painted ceiling is gloriously colourful even in the dim light.
One needs to stand and stare to bring the lively animals into focus, to
appreciate the drawing of the forms and the movement conveyed by the stance of
bison, horse, deer and boar. In tour round the chamber there is a rock 'sofa’
where one can lean back and gaze upward for a moment. We watched a video of the
site at the Altamira museum. The building shelters sweet-smelling mimosa trees
in flower. Then we drove to Covalanas through spectacular mountains, with a
rough zigzag climb up to the cave. There was a fig tree outside and we
refreshed ourselves with not quite ripe figs.
Wednesday 7th.Sunshine for our return to Monte Castillo. We
followed a level path round the mountainside - passing La Pasiega and Las
Chimeneas, locked for conservation - and reached Las Monedas. A large cave with
staggering rock formations, most notable is a ‘frozen waterfall’ of coloured
mineral deposits formed into a cascade of stalagmites reaching from ceiling to
floor. The art forms are remarkable, including a reindeer, cave bear and
possible fish. Later an arduous walk led to the site of the rock shelter and
(closed) cave of El Pendo.
Thursday 8th. To Santander with its great market (meat,
fish, fruit, vegetables, cheese), cathedral and Museum. Particularly
interesting there were incised and decorated cone implements from El Pendo and
other caves that we had visited; also flint tools and ancient bones of wolf,
cave bear, small mammals, bats and fish from neighbouring sites,
Friday 9th.A fine day for El Pendal in Asturias. We walked
down toward the sea and lighthouse, turned onto a path ending in steps and
grass between hillsides. Before us a deep cove with a mighty sea surging up a
narrow inlet, thundering on cliff and rocks, with clouds of spray dispersing in
sunlight. The long narrow cave contains paintings and engravings including the
'elephant with a heart' in red ochre. We ate our lunches on a viewing gallery
at the cliff top with a splendid view along the coast. Next day - torrential
rain all the way to Bilbao for our return flight to London, where the torrent
continued.