A friend’s just sent me the link to this article about the final dig at Whitehall Roman Villa in Northamptonshire. I’ve been privileged to be involved with this project over the years and it will be sad to see the site covered up for the last time at the end of the summer.
I shall particularly miss that puddly drain to the right of the farmer. Some of it was trowelled out by mine own fair hand. On its left (out of sight) there are some wooden stakes still in the places where the Roman builders hammered them. This is not the sort of thing that makes headlines – no precious metals, no rewards for farmer and finder, no calls to save them for the British Museum – but it made me, and several others, inordinately happy.
Ruth Downie 
I hear your wistful feelings. So glad you were able to be a part of that wonderful project. It’s the less glamorous parts, the work-a-day bits, that mean most to me, and I think to others. Not the coins and other glam finds. So here’s to you, and the other trowel-wielders!
Thank you Laurie. Maybe it’s the work-a-day bits that appeal to us because we can imagine ourselves using them. It’s hard to imagine ever owning a huge hoard of gold or a massive marble statue (speaking for myself, that is).
Yes, there were many mixed emotions as the Whitehall site was re-covered! None of us are likely to be around, physically anyway, as and when it is ever uncovered! How about setting a future story there in its heyday?
Hm… yes, now it’s safely covered up and my fabrications aren’t likely to be contradicted by the findings of next year’s dig, that could be an interesting possibility…
Ok. Do it!