DetectingWales.com

Well i have seen many things but excavators and hammers demolishing a known site of interest is way beyond me!!
As a Heavy plant engineer my work takes me to some pretty weird places, but this time i was on a local site where the contractors are involved in building a new water treatment works. I could not believe my eyes when they began ripping through a obvious cobbled area about three feet down in a wide open field. I asked one of the guys what he thought it was and he replied knowingly its Roman mate, its the side of the old road which runs adjacent to the site. Stunned i just watched as the machine i needed to work on broke my bloody heart.
I even asked one of the supervisors if there was a chance i could bring my detector up next time of which he told me there was no chance.
Why is it that when we go about things the right way, with conservation and research in mind we get ignored most of the time. But if large companies by ways of political persuasion can provide some sort of benefit to the area they are granted permission to rip our history apart. Could not hide my annoyance and did speak my mind n what was going on.
This has happened on many sites I have covered, Old forts, buildings, and piers some of which have had archaeologists in attendance during certain stages, but most are left unreported. I have dropped a subtle hint in the direction of the local council historical inspector to the area, but my job would be on the line if I take things further.
Incidentally my manager has since had a request that another engineer covers that site, reasons unknown!!!?

ARE YOU TAKING NOTE the vexatious blogger with incredibly itchy underpants

My local quarry owned by tarmac have also obliterated a prehistoric barrow and if wasnt for a local lithics expert it would have gone unknown into oblivian. But then who cares as it is a multinational that can afford the fine (if there ever was one) and they call us vandals

It seems to happen on a regular basis. There's a new by-pass being built not too far from where I live and it's going strait through the middle of a huge iron Age fort with known archie. sights, from Neolitic to Medi. all around.
I can understand the need to re-build in towns and it seems that once the site is recorded etc. and back filled the new building goes on top. This isn't the case here though. They seem to be removing part of the top of the hill to reduce the height for the road. What, I wonder has happened to anything that may have been in the soil thats been dug out.
And they criticise us for digging a 6in hole and removing a George 111 coin. If it wasn't so sad it'd be laughable.

Val

have been told by many machine drivers who work for large sites the same kind osf story ,as soon as i mention im a detectorist i usually get '' oh you should have been on our last site we found graves but were told to cover them up quick '' or ''we were one site years ago and all theses old coins were coming up but the boss told us not to mention it''.
 taylor woodrow.charles church,persimon e.t.c theres a lot going on we or the archies will never know about.
 another prime example is the wind turbines being built at the moment on my mountain MYNYDD Y GWAIR at ammanford.they discovered a number of neolithic standing stones while they were driving a road up there from nr the old ABERNANT COLLIERY side of the mountain.the local paper did a little right about them being as important as stone henge,they also found old settlements and burrows.the localws thought that the work would then be stopped for a while but the archies just logged their location and they ploughed on regardless wrecking my mountain .
 just goes to show what money can do to change attitudes to theses sites.
 CANT STOP PROGRESS i was told at the time.p#ss#es me right off

I worked laying a large water main in Herefordshire between Stretton Grandison and Ledbury in the late 70s. There were huge amounts of Roman pottery and tiles in the trench but never had a detector then. Chester town centre is the same, wherever you dig a hole Roman artefacts come up. It's a shame that there is no funding to research these sites better and it's going to get worse with this Tory government! Rant over

well we all know the answer, lets all buy a J C B between us, even time team
have got one  ;D

Val i covered one site your way in Narbeth on the by pass road, here they dug through many mounds and Barrows on the way through to Haverfordwest, criminal. Wind farms all along the Amman Valley and through Bridgend, all have to answer to indiscriminate digging. The main one at present is right in the middle of a renown Roman area in Brecon, a area where i have been told by local farmers that Night Hawkers are a big problem there!!!!!!!!!!! Look again Farmers, and contractors, Detectors like ourselves look towards discovering and protecting such places, so why do we get the bad stigma.
Anyways progress hey!! Love to say more but thats asking for trouble.
Good luck to all fellow detectors, look forward to meeting some of you through the coming year.

All part of the same project Alun. The part they're working on at the present from St.Clears through to the other side of Red Roses. It runs across part of the flood plain and around the back of Llandowror, over the big hill where the Iron Age Fort is (was) ?  I know there is Bronze Age, Iron Age, Roman and Medieval all around there.  Commerce seems to rule the day.  Can't see why another Major road is needed anyway. Waste of money in my opinion. And what a botch job it is. A bit of new road and then a stretch of old. Stop start, bottle necks.
The Argument here was the Port at Pembroke Dock. All it needed was a good link road to the main A40. Could have saved millions.
Well I spose it keeps the 'Boys' in jobs and shows they are earning thier keep. ::)

Val.