Now in one of those silly acts I came to regret I got rid of pretty much all of the books and articles on the archaeological dig down by Liverpool Road.
The excavations of 1972 were covered pretty extensively in the media and led to a flurry of interest in Roman Manchester and were followed up at the end of the ‘70s with another dig and it was this later one which attracted my attention and drew me down to the site.
Once I had an extensive collection of slides and negatives which recorded my visits to the place, but pretty much most were lost a long time ago.
But not quite all because amongst a batch of old negatives dating back four decades I found these two which I took sometime around 1978 or ’79.
Trawling the net I found plenty of references to the 1972 dig but none to the later one, and yet it happened.
Together the digs discovered the extent of the small civilian settlement which stood outside the Roman fort as well as set of furnaces.
I rather like this picture taken close to the fort and looking towards Liverpool Road.
Location; the Roman dig, Manchester,
Pictures; the Roman dig, Manchester, circa 1978, from the collection of Andrew Simpson
Once I had an extensive collection of slides and negatives which recorded my visits to the place, but pretty much most were lost a long time ago.
But not quite all because amongst a batch of old negatives dating back four decades I found these two which I took sometime around 1978 or ’79.
Together the digs discovered the extent of the small civilian settlement which stood outside the Roman fort as well as set of furnaces.
I rather like this picture taken close to the fort and looking towards Liverpool Road.
Location; the Roman dig, Manchester,
Pictures; the Roman dig, Manchester, circa 1978, from the collection of Andrew Simpson
I remember the badges being worn around 1978/9:
ReplyDelete'We dig Romans in Deansgate'
I was involved in printing them.
I remember going to the dig in about 1977/78 as my dad was involved in the archaeological team excavating it.
ReplyDeleteThese are fabulous! The dig was promoted on a Granada show called Reports Action that rallied locals to help out on community projects. Huge numbers of people turned out, including me a school boy, and I got to dig up Romans. I was hooked, have been ever since and have been fortunate enough to spend my adult life working in heritage. Do you have any other pics? Brilliant!! Thank you and to the Romans of Deansgate!
ReplyDeleteI might have a few
DeleteAmazing! It was all about Buzzcocks and acne for me then - would be great to see them! I was in the MEN pic of the Roman kiln being lifted there - would be great to track that pic down. I remember seeing Joan Bakewell there doing a live OB and feeling like was on the edge of Hollywood!
Delete