Our Springboard group recently visited the Wessex Archaeology office in Heeley, where their Community Engagement Officer, Natasha gave us a tour of the building and talked about what each of their teams locally does, what they do nationally, the sorts of artifacts they handle etc.

We met a few of the staff, specifically those involved in cataloguing and cleaning finds. Amongst the things we saw included (starting with the least glamorous) about 2000 buckets of site debris in the process of discard; a damaged but surprisingly intact vase from the early 3rd century and a shard of pottery dating back 5000 to 8000 years. The latter we actually got to hold! That was quite an experience for all of us. 

Coming up, on Wednesday 31st August, Springboard will be having another guided walk around the Botanical Gardens with Laura from the Parks for People project to see how the gardens gradually change through the seasons. The walk will start at 1pm and last for about 90 minutes. Meeting as usual by the gatehouse on Clarkehouse Road.