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Visits
Events
normally cost £2 per child (to cover refreshments and incidental
expenses) which can be paid on the day. However, some visits to
attractions that charge an admission fee may incur a higher charge.
9-16 year olds require a completed parental
permission slip. Under 9's are welcome but must be accompanied
by a parent or guardian for the duration of the visit.
Future Visits
August - No visit in August due to the summer holiday
27th September 2008 - Details to be confirmed.
18th October 2008 - ‘The Romans’ at Birmingham Archaeology
– One of our members Edwin Rose will be telling us about what
he learned when he visited Rome and Pompeii and we’ll be designing
and making our own mosaics.
22nd November 2008 - Visit to the Lapworth
Museum of Geology
13th December 2008 - Glyphs, Ciphers and Enigma - Breaking
the Codes of History at Birmingham Archaeology
Recent Visits
13th July 2008 - National Archaeology Week event at Weoley Castle
Ruins [podcast].
28th June 2008 - Finds Drawing Session in conjunction with Duncan
Slarke from the Portable
Antiquities Scheme. [Full
report]
31st May 2008 - In the final part in our series of visits to
historic Kings Nortonwe were one of the first groups to be taken
on a tour of the newly restored Saracen's Head so we could compare
the outcome with what we saw of the old building back in March
2006.
26th April 2008 - The 2nd part of our series of visits to historic
Kings Norton examined St Nicolas’ Churchyard. We learned how gravestones
vary at different times & in different places and gained an understanding
of how the churchyard has developed over time and how it has been
used during different time periods.
Brief summaries of our visits are provided below. Full details
of all of our events can be found in our Annual Reports (Adobe
Acrobat files):
April 2007 - March 2008
April 2006 - March 2007
April 2005 - March 2006
15th March 2008 - We learned about medieval life, castles &
textiles at Weoley Castle Ruins [Report].
23rd February 2008 - We learned about the Egyptians including
decorating death masks, and creating our own personalised hieroglyphs.
BYAC member Billy told us all about found out when he visited
the King Tut exhibition in London [Report].
26th January 2008 - Restoration in Kings Norton. We visited the
site of the winner of TV’s Restoration Project a couple of years
ago at the Saracen’s Head, Kings Norton. The Grammar School has
recently been completed and is due to be opened to the public
very soon. We were one of the first groups to be taken around
it following the restoration. We found out exactly what they have
been doing – and just how much they have left to do! We hope to
be able to start our own in-depth project about the sites which
will be completed in future sessions.
15th December 2007 - Christmas in the Trenches at Cannock Chase.
We met up with some of the members of the Birmingham Pals Regiment
and had an exclusive visit to a hutment that they are restoring
next door to the Visitor Centre [Report].
17th November 2007 - We had a fun tour of the workshops of the
Museum
of the Jewellery Quarter with demonstrations of welding and
stamping metal. We looked at the Ship wreck box with various artefacts,
made drawings of these as well as making some bracelets [Report].
27th October 2007 - Mexican Day of the Dead. We learned about
this festival’s Aztec origins and recreated a Day of the Dead
altar complete with bread and sugar skulls. We had great fun making
masks and playing piñata. [Report]
9th September 2007 - We were given a guided tour of New Hall
Mill and of New Hall Valley where we examined a burnt mound. We
will also took a look at New Hall itself which is now used as
an exclusive Hotel.
14th July 2007 - We helped in the excavation of the so-called
Warley Abbey which was built in Warley Woods for the Galton Family
in the early 1800s. [Report]
30th June 2007 - In our Civil War session at Selly Manor we met
a Civil War soldier, learned pike drill and battle tactics, and
designed and made BYAC banners to raise to the glory of archaeology
in the West Midlands.
26th May 2007 - We visited the 13th century Churchill
Forge Mill.
21st April 2007 - Archaeological techniques, examination
of animal bones [Report].
31st March 2007 - We investigated the canals, locks, and canal
art at Lifford Hall, Kings Norton.
24th February 2007 - We visited Birmingham Back to Backs.
[Report]
27th January 2007 - We visited Birmingham Archaeology
for artefact related activities including pot washing and finds
identifying.
December 16th 2006 - Our Victorian Christmas party was held in
The Old Clifton School, Balsall Heath.
November 18th 2006 - We learned about the ancient craft of woodturning
with various techniques being demonstrated by Brian Hooper at
Blackroot Saw Mill in Sutton Park where we were able to look around
the workshops and learn about different trees.
October 28th 2006 - We investigated the area around St James
Church in Mere Green and learned about genealogy.
30th September 2006 - We conducted an archaeological walkover
survey of the River Cole, walking just over a mile from Sarehole
Mill to the site of Tittiford Mill (now called Trittiford Mill).
Along the way we learned about how the mills diverted water from
the river and investigated archaeological evidence for previous
land use.
23rd July 2006 - For National Archaeology Week we will be spent
the day living like the Vikings, building our own turf house,
making shields so that we can defend it, learning about runes
and the myths of the gods and our ancestors. [Full
report and photo's]
24th June 2006 - We had a guided tour of the restored 16th Century
Castle Bromwich Gardens with its sculptures and maze, a sneaky
look in the special church which has an older wooden church inside
the brick outer skin, and we made a real mosaic for the YAC competition.
20th May 2006 - Our day in the Ice Age in conjunction
with the National
Ice Age Network told us everything we'd need to know about
living in an ice age including demonstrations of flint knapping
and how to identify stone tools and fossils.
22nd April 2006 - Visit to Soho
House, the home of Matthew Boulton one of the great pioneers
of the Industrial Revolution. The house is unique in that it was
probably the first centrally heated English house since Roman
times.
25th March 2006 - We visited the Saracen's Head and Old Grammar
School in Kings Norton which were the winners of the BBC Restoration
programme in 2004.
25th February 2006. We made viking dolls with authentic dress
and constructed model Viking houses and long ships which we tried
out in the stream [report].
28th January 2006. We visited the labs of Birmingham Archaeology
to learn how archaeologists process finds from excavations [report].
10 December 2005. We had a Tudor Christmas party at Selly Manor
[report].
26 November 2005. We visited Selly Manor (one of the oldest
Tudor houses in Birmingham) and took an inventory of items found
in the house.
29 October 2005. We visited Birmingham University to
learn about human bones and what archaeologists can learn about
people that lived long ago from bones that are found on excavations
[report].
24 September 2005. We visited to Sarehole Mill and Moseley Bog
(inspiration for Lord of the Rings) [report].
23 July 2005 - we enjoyed a range of events with an Iron Age
Romano-British theme to celebrate National Archaeology Week.
25 June 2005 - we had an interesting look around the historic
site of Weoley Castle [photo].
28 May 2005 - we completed our
excavation that we began in April at Moseley
Dovecote [report].
21 May 2005 - We researched the history of Sutton Coldfield,
including looking at historic buildings and old photographs. We
saw how Sutton Coldfield has changed from a Saxon town through
history and how the architecture has been changed over time.
30 April 2005 - We began an excavation in the grounds
of Moseley Dovecote and tried our hands at various surveying techniques
[report].
19 March 2005 - We visited Bourne Pool which is the site of
ancient settlements where flint tools have been found.
19th February 2005 - A visit to Metchley
Roman Fort and an insight into the work of Birmingham
Archaeology. We learned about the work of Birmingham Archaeology
including a visit to an excavation currently underway within the
area of Metchley Roman Fort and a visit to their stores and labs
where we washed finds from an excavation near Coventry [report].
29th January 2005. We surveyed some earthworks that have been
recently uncovered in Sutton Park and discussed some theories
about the possible origin [report].
18th December 2004 - Fancy Dress Chrismas Party. We had a mini-party
with food, games and competitions. Members dressed up as a variety
of historical characters.
27th November 2004 - Experimental Archaeology. Plants have been
used for dying materials for 1,000's of years. We created some
material from scratch including spinning wool, dying and weaving.
23rd October 2004 - Hallowe'en Spectacular. We learned about
myths, ledgends & fokelore and how these have infiltrated
into modern superstitions and traditions. We also learned about
how ancient people lived off the land using natural resources
for herbal remedies and to make useful tools. Some of us made
brooms in the traditional way using silver birch twigs and some
of us made magic wands for a spot of sourcery. We also had fun
playing the traditional Hallowe'en game of apple-bobbing.
25th September 2004 - Roman Road Sutton Park. We will
be took a close look at the Roman road, and the pressures it faces,
2000 years on from its construction. We surveyed a number of locations
of the Roman road, measuring its cross section including the roadside
ditches and pits. For more information about the Roman road running
through Sutton Park visit the Birmingham
Roman Roads Project.
21st August 2004 - Chedworth Roman Villa. We visited Chedworth
joining our neighbouring Worcester YAC branch in a day of Roman
activities at the villa site.
17th July 2004 - National Archaeology Day. We will helped to
create a fully working ‘sweat
lodge’ based on the Bronze age remains found in Sutton Park.
We also enjoyed host of other bronze age activities such as making
pottery and nettle rope. [Report]
19th June 2004 - Wall Roman Town. We learned archaeological
techniques as we surveyed the Roman Site at Wall. We discovered
more about the Romans and how the site relates to other Roman
sites in the area.
29th May 2004 - Sutton Park. We did experimental archaeology,
including some preparation work for building our sweat lodge in
July for National Archaeology Day.
May 9th 2004 - Newhall Mill. We were given a guided tour round
the working mill followed by a look at the archaeology of the
landscape surrounding it.
May 8th 2004 - Aston Hall. We were shown the archaeological
dig to discover the north range of the stable court demolished
over 135 years ago. We also visited Aston Hall itself and were
given a tour of the cellars.
April 24th 2004 - Blakesley Hall. We took another trip out to
the Tudor mansion to do a spot of building recording, and surveying.
March 27th 2004 - Museum visit. Another trip to the museum, for
a guided tour round the exhibitions.
February 28th 2004 - Sandwell Valley. A step back in time with
a look at the mediaeval priory, farm museum and Country Park.
[Report]
January 31st 2004 - Sutton Park. We examined and recorded the
earthworks around Sutton Park. [Report]
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