The Importance of Archaeology

This blog is normally reserved for matters relating to the decision making process; scrutiny and accountability in legislatures.

But today I want to draw your attention to a threat to the future of archaeology in Britain - and how it threatens the loss of knowledge about our past. I have to declare an interest:  history - and archaeology - fascinate me. As well as my academic and practical political interests - I spend a lot of time reading archaeological reports - and (save for lockdown periods) - visiting places of archaeological interest. I live close to Watling Street - and archaeologists in Milton Keynes have uncovered a host of Bronze Age/Iron Age/Roman settlements in my part of a very modern city.

We in Milton Keynes have a special debt to those with the foresight to fund and undertake archaeological work while the New City was under construction. There is a special series of monographs about what has learned about this area - published by the Buckinghamshire Archaeological Society. While the fantastic Milton Keynes Archaeology Unit has been wound up - a number of Archaeological Companies are continuing to unearth new secrets about our local past. Many reports can be found on the Archaeology Data Service website or in libraries.

Throughout the UK, archaeologists have helped us to understand where we came from - how our ancestors lived - and have revolutionised our understanding of the space which we, for our short lifespan, inhabit. Some projects have caught the public imagination - such as the discovery of the body of Richard III by the  University of Leicester School of Archaeology and Ancient History's Archaeology Unit. (Leicester Archaeology Monographs). Our understanding of our history has been turned on its head (see for example the references in the superb series presented by Huw Edwards "The Story of Wales"). The fascination with history powers a lot of tourism (and if you see my post from Tuesday this week about Owain Glyndŵr, you'll see how my recent holiday was enhanced by the work of Archaeologists - and took me to Sycharth, Conwy, Harlech, & Glyndyfrdwy). 

Our fascination with Stonehenge has led to many TV programmes and much tourism - drawing (in 2019) more than 800,000 visitors. Other crowd pullers include the Jorvik Viking Centre , the British Museum, and many local museums across the country.

It seems perverse then that a number of Archaeological Departments face the chop.

The Council of British Archaeology has highlighted the problem - do visit this page! I studied Law at Sheffield University & Politics at Leicester University. Cuts are threatened to the esteemed Archaeology Departments of both. The University of Chester (Chester was a Roman legionary city, and the site of a key battle  in the early 7th Century), Birkbeck College, part of the University of London, and Aston University  are also considering cuts to their archaeology departments.

There is an article in today's Guardian which is well worth reading.

If you'd like to add your name to the petition - and I'd urge you to do so - the address is here

2020 has arrived - and Washminster has returned!

It takes a long time for a New Year to arrive - It first arrived in Samoa & Christmas Island at 10h00 GMT - Tuesday 31st December. New Zealand saw the New Year in at 11h00. China saw 2020 in at 16h00, and a large part of the European Union at 23h00.

London - which includes Greenwich - where the "Prime Meridian" runs through, welcomed the New Year in, five minutes before this was posted.

However it still has a long journey to go. It will reach the USA at 05h00 but the final welcoming of 2020 will be in parts of the US Minor outlying Islands at Noon on Wednesday (GMT).

Wherever you are reading this - and whether the New Year arrived many hours ago - or is still some time off, may I wish you a Happy New Year.

Washminster is back!

At first the posts may be separated by a few days - as I get back into the rhythm. It's been a long time since I was blogging on a regular basis. You can still look back at some of the earlier posts. The first was made on Wednesday 7th March 2007, and began as an exercise to get me writing on a regular basis, ahead of starting to study for a Ph.D. at the University of Hull. I was working at Westminster at the time , and was able to witness some of the key events of that decade. On the 27th June 2007 I posted a number of times from the Palace of Westminster - as Tony Blair stepped down and power passed to Gordon Brown.

I've posted about the various US Presidential Elections - and reported from Washington at the height of each one.

(Warning - this is me! But I'm pictured with a cardboard cutout of Hillary Clinton - taken in a Democrat campaign office in Fairfax County, Virginia)


Many of my posts were written with my students in mind. But time moves on - and some of the law may no longer be applicable. Certainly the British Constitution has seen many changes in recent months.

So what will the new Washminster look like? It will of course continue to bring news and insights about the British Parliament and the US Congress - but won't stop there. While I continue to follow both - I am also interested in what is happening elsewhere - do expect to read more about the French Parliament; the European Parliament; and politics across Europe (especially France, Greece and The EU), the United States and China.

Much of my time will be spent exploring History - so expect lots of posts about areas that I will have been researching. These will include the ancient history of the very modern city that I live in (Milton Keynes); British History from the re-population of Britain after the last Ice Age to the death on the Battlefield of Bosworth of Richard III; Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome - and China (plus anything else that attracts my interest). I'm looking forward to going to the Troy exhibition at the British Museum - I had intended to go a lot earlier - but was otherwise engaged as a candidate in the Parliamentary constituency of Buckingham. The British Museum is a great place to visit - and is now one of the most places that I visit most frequently in London.

As the year progresses, I also hope to visit a number of interesting places around the UK (and beyond?) - Ill be posting about those too.



Do subscribe to this blog - and send me your comments. I'm hopeful that I'll be able to invite some guests to post for a one-off or even a regular basis.

Just keeping watching this space.