Aeroplanes, Lasers & Puffins: My Year at the Royal Commission - Part 1

The office of an aerial archaeologist – the front seat of a Cessna 172

Having finished my Ph.D. in 2010 I was eager to pursue my career in archaeology, but I had hit the job market at probably the worst time in a generation. I had been interested in aerial photography for many years – in fact, mapping prehistoric archaeology from aerial photos had formed a big part of my thesis – so when the opportunity to train in aerial archaeology with the Royal Commission came up, I applied right away, but knew I would be only one of many capable graduates going for the post. Fortunately, I was lucky enough to be offered the role, and even though it meant up-heaving my settled life from Cardiff to Aberystwyth, the opportunity was just too good to turn down.

The year has been exciting, but intensive. Training has been provided in everything needed to under take the aerial survey of archaeological sites, from flight planning and map reading to interpreting and cataloguing the captured images. I have even learnt how to use cutting edge survey technology such as LiDAR, which uses lasers to produce highly detailed terrain models of the earth’s surface that show the lumps and bumps of surviving archaeology. It could perhaps have been easy to have felt overwhelmed when faced with learning all these new techniques and processes, but from the start, I had the expert guidance of Toby, the Royal Commission’s Aerial Investigator, who, throughout the year provided me with his invaluable support and encouragement.

Without doubt, the flight training has been the most exhilarating and rewarding part of the role. I had been up in a light aircraft once before, but when you do it as a day job it’s an entirely different experience. We take to the skies in a four-seater Cessna 172, expertly flown by a professional pilot. The aerial archaeologist sits on the left-hand side of the aircraft and takes photos through the open window. There is little spare room – just enough space in the back for a trainee aerial archaeologist and a spare camera! Strapped in and wearing coats to keep warm and headphones to communicate, we fly at around 1,000 ft, navigating between known archaeological sites and always searching for new discoveries.

Wrapped up in coats and hats to keep warm, the experienced pilot (right) is always on hand to give advice and guidance about how to get that perfect shot, and provides a crucial second pair of eyes in the sky.

Oliver Davis, Royal Commission, March 2012.

View Part 2
Aeroplanes, Lasers & Puffins: My Year at the Royal Commission - Part 2 >>

Subscribe to the Heritage of Wales News and sign up for the full feed RSS, just click this RSS button and subscribe!

Also find us on:
Twitter Hashtag: #RCAHMWales

The Arms Park: Heart of a Rugby Nation

The Arms Park: Heart of a Rugby Nation

Bill O’Keefe and Emyr Young, The Arms Park: Heart of a Rugby Nation (Talybont: Y Lolfa, 2012).
119 pages, paperback, £9.95.

For Welsh rugby fans of a certain age, the Arms Park holds a special place in their (sporting) hearts and every one of them has a favourite match when, stood on the terraces or sat in the stands, they sang songs and cheered on their favourite team. In the words of the Valleys troubadour, Max Boyce, there was Cwm Rhondda, Delilah, and a croaking Calon Lân. For fans of Pontypridd, like me, there was Olé, Olé, Olé as well. As a ten-year old, along with thousands of other Ponty folk, I sang it as loud as could be in the old stadium as the team’s captain, Nigel Benzani, lifted the SWALEC Cup and sealed that day in the annals of the town.

The authors of this new book, The Arms Park: Heart of a Rugby Nation, know all about the power of that stadium and its memories. For over 130 years, the Arms Park (and its successors) has been the focal point of Welsh sporting life. From its humble origins as a cricket pitch to the great Millennium Stadium that stands there today, the story is one of triumph, despairing defeat, and the making of legends. Bill O’Keefe and Emyr Young have gathered together fascinating photographs that not only chart the ground but the city that surrounds it. Their tale brings to life the people as well as the place and they show that the Arms Park was never just about rugby.

Over six chapters, they chart the history of the ground and the teams that have played on it. With comment on recent developments in professional rugby as well as thoughts of how we got there, this is a valuable contribution to sports history and deserves to be widely read and considered. Yet, the most important part of this highly-readable and engaging book comes at the very end. It is a plea for something more than memories to mark the history of the Arms Park; a plea for a national rugby museum for Wales to stand alongside the other national sporting museums in England, Scotland and Ireland. It is a plea that, along with their fine book, this reviewer wholeheartedly endorses!

Daryl Leeworthy, Royal Commission, March 2012.


Coflein - Discovering Our Past Online
Coflein is the online database for the National Monuments Record of Wales (NMRW), the national collection of information about the historic environment of Wales. 
 

One of many images to be found on Coflein, view other photographs of the Arms Park.

Digital copy of a black and white, oblique aerial photograph of Cardiff Arms Park, Cardiff. The photograph shows a view from the West following the completion of the North Stand. On the right hand side of the photograph it is possible to see Empire House, a telephone exchange, under construction on the site of the Temperance Town which was demolished by the Cardiff Corporation in 1937.
Aerofilms, (Crown Copyright).

Subscribe to the Heritage of Wales News and sign up for the full feed RSS, just click this RSS button and subscribe!

Also find us on:
Twitter Hashtag: #RCAHMWales

The Story of Wales – episode 4: Furnace of Change

The fourth episode of the BBC Wales series ‘The Story of Wales’ looked at how the Industrial Revolution and the copper and iron trades turned Wales into a global player, from the mining of copper on Parys Mountain, Anglesey and it s smelting and export at Copperopolis, Swansea, to the transformation of the iron industry under the Crawshays at Merthyr Tydfil. The episode also explored the subsequent social turmoil, riots and uprisings at Merthyr Tydfil and Newport and in the countryside with the Rebecca Rioters.
The next episode in the series entitled ‘New Beginnings’ looks at the boom time of the coal industry.

If you want to find out more about the sites covered, follow the links below:

• Parys Mountain Copper Mines
• Hafod and Morfa Copperworks, Swansea
• Cyfarthfa Ironworks, Methyr Tydfil
• Cyfarthfa Castle, Merthyr Tydfil
• Chartist uprising monument and mural, John Frost Square, Newport
• Carmarthen Workhouse – stormed by Rebecca rioters in 1843

Other links:

• Link to The Story of Wales website
• Add your own photographs to People's Collection Wales to help tell the story of Wales

Finally, the Royal Commission's superbly illustrated book, Hidden Histories: Discovering the Heritage of Wales is an informative companion for anyone interested in the life and heritage of Wales and is now available for only £19.95 or alternatively only £17.95 for Friends of the Royal Commission with their special 10% discount.

Subscribe to the Heritage of Wales News and sign up for the full feed RSS, just click this RSS button and subscribe!

Also find us on:
Twitter Hashtag: #RCAHMWales

Third Draft of the Computer Animation of Maenofferen Slate Mine

The third draft of the computer animation of Maenofferen slate mine (NPRN: 400427 LINK) has been delivered to the Royal Commission as part of the Atlanterra Project.
All the components parts of the animation have been completed, and work will now concentrate on editing the animation into the finished product which the public will see in summer 2012.

Still from the third draft of the animation of Maenofferen Slate Mine showing a modern dumper truck used for the untopping process carried out as part of the current twenty first century mining operations, and the timber launder on stilts which brought water to power the slate mill  at the turn of the twentieth century. (Crown Copyright).

This image gives some idea of how the Royal Commission as the client and See 3DLtd as the animators work together in order to create the most accurate animation possible. In reality, what is pictured above is impossible, and everything you can see did not exist on site at Maenofferen Slate Mine at the same time.

Each of the different elements which make up the finished product, such as the twenty first century dumper truck and the early twentieth century timber launder carrying water to the Dressing Mill have been built by the animators according to information provided by the Atlanterra Project and can be turned on and off individually as the animation is being assembled.

Working this way enables the animators to overlay buildings or structures of different periods and assists in the writing of the Coflein entries for the mine. An overall interpretation history of the site will be on placed on Coflein as a separate downloadable .pdf file.

Acknowledgement: thanks are due to See 3D.

• Second Draft of the Computer Animation of Maenofferen Slate Mine ...
  01 Mar 2012
  Still from the second draft of the animation of Maenofferen Slate Mine showing the waterwheel which powered the mill. Note that the water flow has still to be added to the leat bringing water to the wheel and that the stack yard ... 

• First Draft of the Computer Animation of Maenofferen Slate Mine ...23 Feb 2012
  Three slate extraction sites are being recreated through computer animation as part of the 'Atlanterra' project. The surveys of Maenofferen, Blaenau Ffestiniog, which is an example of an underground slate quarry, (NPRN: ...

• Survey at the Maenofferen Slate Quarry | Heritage of Wales News
  05 Oct 2010
  As part of both the Commission's new Slate Quarries project and the Atlanterra project, RCAHMW Investigators have just completed their first week of survey at Maenofferen, part of the extensive quarrying complex at Blaenau ...

• A Fine Week At The Maenofferen Slate Quarry | Heritage of Wales ...
  11 Oct 2010
  Survey at Maenofferen is nearly completed with an overall site plan encompassing the whole quarry complex including the original workers housing, the inclines for carrying away the processed slate and the tramways for ...

Subscribe to the Heritage of Wales News and sign up for the full feed RSS, just click this RSS button and subscribe!

Also find us on:
Twitter Hashtag: #RCAHMWales

Laser Scanning of Wales' Oldest Dated Church Roof

Grosmont Church PNG – Image from the registered point cloud data (Aberystwyth University).(Crown Copyright)

Royal Commission Investigators Susan Fielding and Louise Barker have been involved in laser scanning the oldest dated church roof in Wales. Working with Marek Ososinski and Dr Fred Labrosse  of the Computer Science Department at Aberystwyth University, the entire nave of St Nicholas Church Grosmont was scanned on Friday 2^nd March. As well as providing a complete, 3-dimensional record of the crown-post roof, dated by the Oxford Dendro Lab to between 1214-1244, the scanning recorded details of the 13^th century nave arcading, later alterations and the range of memorials inside the church.  As well as providing a comprehensive archive record of the structure, the laser scan will be used to produce detailed and accurate plans and cross-sections of the structure. A detailed scan was also produced of an intricate memorial stone dating to the 17^th century. Many thanks are given to Dr Jean Prosser, vicar of St Nicholas for her kind help in allowing the survey. 

Scanning of the 17th century memorial stone.(Crown Copyright) IMG 6527

Subscribe to the Heritage of Wales News and sign up for the full feed RSS, just click this RSS button and subscribe!

Also find us on:
Twitter Hashtag: #RCAHMWales

Prehistoric Landscape Uncovered at Borth in Ceredigion

Rescue excavation underway.
(Crown Copyright) 100_1185

It’s a race against tide this week at Borth in Ceredigion. Archaeologists have a short window of opportunity to record, excavate and carry out palaeo-environemntal sampling of a large expanse of peat recently exposed beneath the sands on the beach. The peat together with a number of tree stumps and branches, provide a glimpse at the earlier Prehistoric environment, a time when the sea shore lay further west and this was an area of salt marsh. Of particular interest are the series of human and animal footprints fossilized in the now hardened peat surface, a line of post holes perhaps part of a causeway that once crossed the marsh, and also scatters of burnt stone, possible burnt mounds that are often associated with the Bronze Age.

A submerged forest to the north of this site has previously been studied by archaeologists http://www.coflein.gov.uk/en/site/506500/details/SUBMERGED+FOREST%2C+BORTH+SANDS/

The emergency archaeological work is being carried out by staff and students of the School of Archaeology, History and Anthropology at the University of Wales Trinity St David. The Royal Commission has provided survey support, mapping the extents of the peat and other exposed features.

Fossilized footprints, both human and animal.
(Crown Copyright) 100_1186

Exposed tree stump.(Crown Copyright) 100_1182

The exposed  peat deposits along the beach.
(Crown Copyright) 100_1181

 Subscribe to the Heritage of Wales News and sign up for the full feed RSS, just click this RSS button and subscribe!

Also find us on:
Twitter Hashtag: #RCAHMWales

140 Delegates Attend Fourth Digital Past Conference

Digital Past 2012 conference held at the Pavilion, Llandrindod Wells.

On the 22-23 Feburary the Royal Commission held its fourth Digital Past conference, this time in the historic Pavilion venue in Llandrindod Wells. 140 delegates attended two days of presentations, seminars and workshops focusing on the use of digital technologies in survey and conservation and 'The Digital Marketplace'. Opened by professor Huw Bowen of Swansea university, the conference included talks on a range of projects from underwater survey of the Greek city of Pavlopetri
http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/pavlopetri/index.aspx to Roman Caerleon
http://www.cardiff.ac.uk/share/research/projectreports/caerleon/index.html
to the use of Twitter and  Facebook for the promotion of heritage, while the seminars promoted some lively debate on the of the use of technologies for heritage audiences and archiving standards for large digital datasets. This year's event offered our first 'Unconference' session which proved to be extremely popular, with 14 delegates booking 15 minutes slots to talk about their own research or projects. Fitting with one of the themes of social media, tweeting was encouraged throughout the event, with the results reaching over 38,000 people. Details of the programme, photos, presentations and the Twitter comments can all be found at http://digitalpast2012.blogspot.com/.

ScanStation demonstration by Leica Geosystems.

Subscribe to the Heritage of Wales News and sign up for the full feed RSS, just click this RSS button and subscribe!

Also find us on:
Twitter Hashtag: #RCAHMWales

The Story of Wales, Episode 3 - England and Wales

The third episode of the BBC Wales series ‘The Story of Wales’ looked at how Henry VII captured the English crown and established the Tudor dynasty. Several important buildings were featured in the programme such as Plas Penmynydd in Anglesey, one of the family seats of Henry VII; Gwydir Castle, rebuilt by Meredith ap Ieuan ap Robert following the Wars of the Roses (in which he was a leading supporter of King Henry VII), and Mathafarn in Mongomeryshire, owned by Dafydd Llwyd in 1485, when the Earl of Richmond (later to become King Henry VII) stayed there the night before the battle of Bosworth Field.

The next episode in the series will be: ‘Furnace of Change’ looking at how the Industrial Revolution and the copper and iron trades transformed Wales.

If you want to find out more about the sites covered, follow the links below:

• Plas Penmynydd
• Gwydir Castle
• Mathafarn
• Caerphilly Castle
• Pembroke Castle
• Strata Florida Abbey

Other links:

• Link to The Story of Wales website
• Add your own photographs to People's Collection Wales to help tell the story of Wales

Finally, the Royal Commission's superbly illustrated book, Hidden Histories: Discovering the Heritage of Wales is an informative companion for anyone interested in the life and heritage of Wales and is now available for only £19.95 or alternatively only £17.95 for Friends of the Royal Commission with their special 10% discount.




Subscribe to the Heritage of Wales News and sign up for the full feed RSS, just click this RSS button and subscribe!

Also find us on:
Twitter Hashtag: #RCAHMWales

Churchyard Surveying at Ysbyty Cynfyn Church, Blaenrheidol, Ceredigion

Surveying the churchyard at Ysbyty Cynfyn Church, Blaenrheidol, Ceredigion

Last week the Metal Links Project Community Archaeologists (Abby Hunt & Samantha Williams), along with Louise Barker of the RCAHMW Recording & Investigation Team, were out surveying the churchyard at Ysbyty Cynfyn Church, Blaenrheidol, Ceredigion (NPRN: 303658). Using GPS and Total Station technology, an accurate plan of the churchyard and the gravestones was made. This work was done in advance of a training session in graveyard recording to be run at the church in May. By recording the precise location of the stones and the extent of the churchyard, it is possible to create a good base-map onto which further details about the gravestones and their inscriptions can be recorded. This information will then feed into genealogical research into the parish, hopefully linking some of the people and families with the many historic metal mines in the area.

An interesting feature of the church at Ysbyty Cynfyn are the five large standing stones incorporated into the churchyard wall; there has been long debate about whether these are the in situ remains of a prehistoric stone circle or just re-used, re-positioned stones.

More information about the graveyard survey training day (open to all) will be posted shortly on the RCAHMW website, on the Metal Links Facebook page: www.facebook.com/MetalLinksProject and on the project Twitter feed: @MetalLinks.


Subscribe to the Heritage of Wales News and sign up for the full feed RSS, just click this RSS button and subscribe!

Also find us on:
Twitter Hashtag: #RCAHMWales