British Prehistoric Trip - April 3rd-6th 2017

April 3rd - First stop Peterborough

The first port-of-call was Peterborough for Flag Fen. This is to the East of the city. A somewhat misty start but with the Sun shining through. It soon cleared. Ken drove up the M11 & a smooth trip up the A14. Peterborough is quite difficult to navigate, as the maps Ken had were either too small or too big in scale but we found our way to Flag Fen through industrial estates and over-small houses, which did not look built to Parker-Morris standards or half that. The site had a nice Visitor Centre with an oldish man & a young girl who knew her stuff. We walked a marked route round the site, the first feature of which was a big shed with some of the timbers from the causeway but under rows of sprinklers to preserve the wood. There were artefacts from both the bronze and iron ages in glass cabinets, the bronze ones in better nick of course. Note the bronze sword left, broken for burial with its owner.

The Visitor Centre	The Causeway	Swords, left one broken for burial rites
Pots	Antler picks (Iron age) & iron axe-head	Bronze tools

Near was a reconstructed Bronze Age house, similar to the sort we had been living in for 8,000 years by then. Carrying on, there was a drove road which had been repaired.

Bronze Age house	Altar opposite the dorrway	Inside the roof.
The doorway	How the roof meets the walls	The Droveway

There was a hut with boats from the nearby Must Farm site, undergoing their thirty-year preservation cycle. This was next to the Roman Road, which ran over the marsh & peat, which had completely covered the previous site as the waters rose. (Must Farm, known as the “British Pompeii” has been excavated & reburied to preserve it). There was a yurt, inside which was an Iron Age house reconstruction, itself being reconstructed as it has had too many school parties in it. As we left, we gave a donation of £100 to help with that, for which we were given a Flag Fen shopping bag!

We went into Peterborough for lunch & a look-round this unfamiliar city, which has an impressive cathedral. Ken drove out to Crowland to see the abbey, trashed by Henryr VIII but the church, the oldest surviving bits being from 1113, he left alone. It is a miracle the thin arch stayed up. Interesting chat to the guides, with whom we swapped info. They said they learned much from the visitors, which was good of them. Then, to Thorney but the church (of St. Botolph) was closed, so we then made our way to the hotel, the Peterborough Hub but is in an industrial estate, which outside, looks like a row of tea chests, two high but inside, was quite nice. Inside, I was about the size of a cruise ship cabin but that was good enough.

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Day 1 - Flag Fen

Day 2 - Arbor Low

Day 3 - Llandudno & Dinas Emrys

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