Newsletter 161: July, 1984
WEST HEATH IN ACTION AGAIN
HADAS re-opened its West Heath site on June 16 and the dig is now going strong, The first weekend – unfortunately cut short, on Sunday, by a highly temperamental thunderstorm – was spent ‘laying out.’ Digging proper began on the Monday and three trenches were opened – XVH, J and K. More will follow.
It has been harder work in the early stages of this dig than in the halcyon seasons of the ’70s. During the last three years – our first phase on the site, you may remember, ended on October 31, 1981 – much building rubble has been dumped and is now grassed over. Before we could reach the flint-bearing stratum in the new trenches some heavy pick-and shovel work was needed to remove it. It was much tougher going than the gentle sand trowelling that was a hallmark of earlier years.
The present area is close to the original site – just a little more into the trees and marginally further away from the Leg of Mutton pond, which is still just below us. The whooper swans we once nervously knew have gone; instead there is a pair of Canada geese with a delightful family of goslings; and, of course, there is a familiar quackery of ducks.
Dave King has come up trumps again with a Mk II processing shed which can be put up – or taken down – in ten minutes flat. It’s a little roomier than the original Mk I version and as great a success as ever. Only drawback is that it’s slightly higher than before, so the short ones among us can only just manage to raise the roof!
The most important thing to report, however, is that the excavation is well under way and will continue to flourish – but only if every HADAS member who can do so will come along to help. Digging is all day every day till July 31 – and we need to put into it every bit of HADAS muscle that’s available, So if you haven’t yet signed on for a trowelling stint, please do right away – don’t put it off till next week. Should you want any more details, ring either Margaret Maher (907 0333) or Sheila Woodward
(952 3697) – but in the evening, as both will be on site most days.
PROGRAMME NEWS
Sat July 14. Outing cancelled (see June Newsletter).
Sat Aug 18. Outing to Repton, Derbyshire. Martin Biddle is running an excavation there and has agreed to show us round and talk about the site. More details in the August Newsletter.
Sat/Sun Sept 15/16. Lincoln: arrangements for the mini-weekend are reaching their final stages. The Lincoln Archaeological Trust are providing guides for the whole weekend and the Director of the Trust will give a talk on Saturday evening. Accommodation will probably be in a small hotel, and depending on numbers and transport we hope to do it for an all-in figure of app. £39. If you wish to come, please fill in the enclosed application form and send it to me with £10 deposit per person by July 7, as the hotel is waiting for our booking. Late comers should ring me as usual, please, in case there are cancellations.
DOROTHY NEWBURY
A WALK WITH THE FAMOUS FRANCES RADFORD describes
HADAS’s Hampstead Walk
In May Christopher Wade, Curator of Burgh House, New End Sq, provided a group of HADAS members with a guided tour round a small Area of Hampstead village. It was full of memories of the famous in art, science and literature, and particularly of one of the most notable Hampstead families, the du Mauriers.
We started in Well Walk, which took its name from the springs of ferruginous water known as chalybeate for which it became famous. In 1698 the Hon Susannah Noel and her son, Baptiste, 3rd Earl of Gainsborough, gave a Well and 6 acres of land to ‘the use and benefit of the poor of Hampstead ‘The Gainsborough family was responsible for developing much of this area, promoting it as a spa. Hampstead waters became so famous that they were bottled and sold at 3d a bottle in Fleet Street. Dr Johnson and Mrs Thrale were among the notables who visited the spa.
No 40 Well Walk was for a time the home of John Constable the painter, who had moved to Hampstead for his wife’s health. He came here in 1827 from his previous home in Downshire Hill. D H Lawrence stayed in the road for a while before eloping with Frieda. John Masefield once lived at No 13.
We moved on to Cannon Lane to see the Parish lock-up (c.1730) built into the wall of Cannon Hall where local magistrates had held court. Prisoners were kept there ‘until more lengthy arrangements’ could be made for them. When a police force was founded in 1829 the prisoners were transferred to the Watch House in Holly Walk, The lock-up is a Listed building,
Cannon Hall (early 18c) later became the home of Gerald du Maurier, (1873-1934) the well-known actor-manager who ran Wyndham’s Theatre from 1910-25 and opened the Everyman Theatre in Hampstead, now a cinema. He was the original Captain Hook in Barrie’s Peter Pan in 1904. His daughter Daphne, the novelist, used the changing room above the stables as a study, writing while her friends and sisters played tennis.
Gerald’s father, George, the artist, had been advised to live in Hampstead for the good of his health. He had a detached retina of one eye, which caused him much concern as he feared he might not be able to carry on his work. He was a cartoonist with ‘Punch’ and seems to be best known for his cartoon ‘the Curate’s egg – good in parts!’ When he turned to writing, his novel Trilby was a huge success.
George used to walk his dog up to the Whitestone Pond, from whence the dog chose the route; either to the Bull & Bush or the Spaniards Inn. One day, the story goes, George rescued a dog that had fallen through the ice on the Pond. The owner came up to offer him 6d for his pains. When George refused it, the man exclaimed ‘sorry, sir, I never knew you were a gentleman’
George lived at 28 Hampstead Grove, opposite Fenton House, a beautiful 17c building now owned by the National Trust and a home for antique musical instruments. A few yards away is a house which once belonged to George Romney, the painter. When he moved there he took over a building which was then a stable, intending to turn it into a picture gallery. The project never got off the ground and was abandoned in 1800.
Another well-known building is the Admiral’s House in Admiral’s Walk, distinguished by its white exterior and the quarter-deck construction of the upper storeys. It never was an admiral’s house, although Admiral Barton lived nearby in Vane House, now demolished. -A mere lieutenant owned the Admiral’s House. Adjoining is, Grove Lodge, where Galsworthy wrote The Forsyth Saga.
As Hampstead had long been considered a healthy place many came there to recover from illness, one patient being Robert Louis Stevenson. The large building at Mount Vernon, now a research laboratory, was once the largest TB hospital in the country,
Our walk continued down Holly Hill, with a brief glimpse of the Roman Catholic Church where de Gaulle worshipped during the war years. Now the centre building in a terrace of houses, the west end of the church itself was once a house with a small chapel at its rear. On to Hampstead Parish Church where the churchyard, or more aptly, the church garden, is a resting place for many well-known people – the du Mauriers, Beerbohn Tree, Anton Walbrook, Llewelyn Davies of the ‘Lost Boys,’ Gilbert Scott, John Constable and Professor Joad, to Mention but a few.
Hampstead abounds in plaques, blue, brown and black, commemorating the many distinguished people who have lived in the area. There are four names to add to those already mentioned – Newman Hall, a nonconformist preacher who founded homes for the aged; Sir Henry Cole, who originated the habit of sending Christmas cards; Sir Henry Dale, physiologist; and last but not least in the eyes of HADAS, Sir Flinders Petrie, Egyptologist and a founding father of modern archaeology.
Many thanks to Christopher Wade for his splendid commentary, fact-filled and highly entertaining. We had, of course, gone to the fountain head, because he is the compiler/editor of the Camden History Society’s excellent ‘Streets of Hampstead’ booklets ‘The Streets of Hampstead’
(1972), ‘More Streets of Hampstead’ (1973) and ‘The Streets of West Hampstead’ (1975).
ROMAN MILITARY TOMBSTONES by Alastair Scott Anderson Shire Archaeology,
Reviewed by RAYMOND LOWE No 19, £1.95
When Shire Publications first introduced their archaeology series the Roman titles were of a very general nature. They covered subjects that were already available to the general reader. This has now to some extent changed and we have several volumes dealing with specific subjects that cannot be found elsewhere. Roman Military Tombstones is such a subject. A S Anderson covers only the period of the lst/2nd centuries, and we must hope for a second volume for the 3rd/4th centuries.
After a succinct description of the army, Roman funerary practices are discussed. The stones are classified into four groups in chapter 3. Chapter 4 deals with the most interesting section, epigraphy. It is a pity it is so short. A crib of all the usual abbreviations found on tom stones would be most useful to the non-Latin Romanist. Even a catalogue of all the stone’s would be possible. There are, we are told, only 450 extant in Britain There is certainly room on p24 for another example.
Chapter 5 discusses the various styles and Chapter 6 the possible dating. The book is well supplied with illustrations. In spite of my criticisms; this book is a must for anyone interested in the Roman army in Britain, and is good value at £1.95.’ Copies are obtainable from Pete Griffiths, 8 Jubilee Avenue, London Colney, Herts AL2 1QG (61-23156),
NEW COURSE AT THE HGS INSTITUTE
In the May Newsletter we mentioned the possibility off the Hampstead Garden Suburb Institute starting courses in London University’s Certificate in Field Archaeology.. This idea has now come to fruition and the first year of the Certificate, which deals with prehistory, will begin on Thurs Sept 27. It will be a daytime course, from 2-4 pm at Friends meeting House, on the NE corner of Central Square, behind the Teahouse.
The course will consist of 24 meetings and 4 visits, and will cost £30 for two terms. Lecturer will be Tony Legge, Staff Lecturer in Archaeology to the Extramural Department of the University. Among other things he specialises in environmental archaeology.
It is hoped that the course will be well supported by HADAS members; if you would like to join it, let the Institute know, on 455 9951.
INTO SUNNY SUFFOLX LINDA BARROW reports on the HADAS outing of June 16
A better day could not have been chosen for this outing the beautiful landscapes in which Icklingham, West Stow and Ickworth were situated gained even more from the sunny summer weather.
After leaving the suburbs we soon crossed once-glaciated areas into Grimes Graves country. We arrived at Icklingham in excellent time after a welcome stop at Comfort Cafe. The journey was pleasant and informative, with handouts for all – in which not the least interesting item was a cartoon of Ted Sammes.
Icklingham was a small village with two Churches, one of them, renowned for its thatched roof. The Marston family, to whom the ‘museum’ belonged, had been – and still are – private millers. Duncan Marston spoke about his father’s collections and of his interest in gathering goodies from all over the locality. These were displayed in cabinets of which the frames, glass and timber were constructed from old machines removed from the flour mill after the Second World War.
Exhibits a ranged from lucky stones, buried under hearths of wattle and daub cottages at the time of the Black Death, to instruments once attached to the rear legs of horses to prevent kicking. There were collections of old photos and postcards and ‘war budget’ magazines priced three pence each to leaf through.
A most impressive cabinet displayed Anglo-Saxon burial urns, one of which was thought to be one of the finest examples in existence. There was a fine ethnographic collection of beautifully worked. Stone pearheads, impressive displays of prehistoric artefacts, a collection of arrowheads including the rare single-barbed variety, quernstones made from local materials, ancient farming implements, Edwardian and Victorian dolls, millers’ tools and last but not least a miscellaneous section in which ‘Little Lucy’ (traction engine), a large haycart and an old Morris van were housed.
The museum is not open to the public. It has retained a very individual character. The warmth and humour of Duncan Marston’s talk is illustrated by this quote: ‘Father was like a flying buttress he never went into the church but supported it from outside – by donations!
It was not only the archaeological features that interested members on the trip: the unexpected appearance of a pheasant or the sound of a cuckoo produced many an ‘ooh’ and ‘aah.’
A short drive from Icklingham brought us to West Stow and the Anglo-Saxon village reconstruction. Reminders that we were in Saxon country were reinforced by posters advertising a forthcoming ‘Saxon Skirmish.’ After picnicking in West Stow Country Park we were shown around by the Warden Richard Darrah. The hill on which the reconstructions stand could be considered as a multi-period site – starting with. Mesolithic occupation and occupied until about 1300 AD when the site was buried by a sandstorm, West Stow had links with the Icklingham collection – one of its Saxon inhabitants may have been cremated in an urn on show at the Marston museum.
The reconstructions of the buildings were based on archaeological evidence. Oak was used to build the walls and floors, hazel for the roofs, ash for the rafters and straw for thatch. Mr Darrah gave us a detailed talk on the technology behind the reconstructions – the timber was split with wedges and hewn with adzes. Apparently there used to be controversy about where the Saxons actually lived in the houses. It is now known that they were living on floors over the pits rather than in the pits. One house was set up especially to show how the Saxons did not live.
The economy of the village was predominantly agricultural. During excavation forty tea chests were filled with animal bones, mainly from domesticated types. Numerous bone implements were found; and again bone combs were displayed in the Ickingham collection, one of two of which one had been found at West Stow. Cereals grown in Saxon times included wheat, barley and rye and some pulses.
Our next move was to Ickworth House – a great contrast to the thatch settlement of the Saxons. The first thing that struck us was the rotunda, with its bas relief friezes glowing golden in. the mid-afternoon sun. The beckoning park with its midsummer green was a serious challenge to the glories of the house itself. Many members preferred the natural beauty of park and garden to the more ornate sights inside.
When we boarded the coach again it was rather like entering the temperate house at KEW, It had been- as so many HADAS trips are – an outing to savour. It’s the little touches – the passing of the sweet the raffles plus the excellent organisation – that make HADAS expeditions so memorable.
HISTORIC BUILDINGS SAVED
We were happy to learn, from the last Newsletter of the Council for British Archeology, that there has been a reprieve for the Historic Buildings Division of the GLC. At first it looked seemed possible – though incredible – that Government plans to scrap the GLC and Metropolitan counties would mean the total loss of this unique organisation with all its accumulated knowledge.
The CBA Newsletter says:
The Secretary of State announced … when introducing the Second Reading of the. Local Government (Interim Provisions) Bill, that the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England had indicated it was ready to take on the Division in the event of the GLC being abolished, and to maintain it as a discrete unit within the Commission.”
The HBMCE is the ‘new body, established under the National Heritage Act, which came into being on April 1 last and which now controls both Listed Buildings and scheduled sites in England. The proposed set-up should work well from both sides: the Historic Buildings Division has
Much to offer HBMCE in experience and expertise; and HBMCE will, we hope be able to provide the Historic Buildings Division with the finance and stability it needs to do its work to best advantage.
Also in the June CBA Newsletter was news of a new organisation called Archaeologists for Peace, founded in Bedford in April.
Archaeologists for Peace, says CBA, is ‘seen as a voice for archaeologists who are concerned with the escalation of the arms race and all its implications. As students of human society, archaeologists may be deemed to have a special perspective on this subject, seeing the future as part of a continuum deriving from man’s earliest development.’
More details about AFP can be obtained from Hilary Major, 57A South Street, Braintree, Essex. CM7 6QD.
SITES TO WATCH
The following applications for planning permission have been made since the last Newsletter:
Land forming part of 24 Uphill Rd, NW7 detached house
Land at rear of 22 Kings Rd, fronting
Jennings Way, Barnet bungalow
4 Farrington Cottages, Moon Lane, Moxon
St, Barnet (amended plan) semi-detached dwelling
Land adj. 2 Ash Cottages & part of Highwood demolition of coach house &
Lodge, Highwood Hill, NW7 stable; erection 2 detached houses
Land adj. Ashley Pines, Barnet Gate Lane,
Arkley 2 detached houses
201 High Rd, N2 3-storey flats (outline)
Land adj. 4 Parsons Crescent, Edgware detached house
Members who notice signs of building or development activity on any of these sites are asked to alert Brian Wrigley on 959 5982.
There have been a couple of applications for alterations to interesting Listed buildings recently. One is Hill House, Elstree Hill South, Elstree. There it is proposed that the end bay of the south wing be reconstructed. Hill House, now a memorial Home, is basically a mid-18c red brick mansion with many additions. The 2-storey main block has two full-height flanking bays, and on the ground floor the central door, with a window either side, is covered by a conservatory which fills the space between the bays. There is a mid-18c wing one side, with a late 18c wing beyond it. On the other side a long, 2-storey wing with a steep pitched roof and irregularly spaced windows may be earlier. There are also 19c additions.
The second application is for Gingerbread Cottage on Totteridge Green. This is the only remaining gatehouse of the former Copped Hall, where Bulwer Lytton is said to have written ‘The Last of the Barons’ in the summer house and where Cardinal Manning was born. Gingerbread Cottage is sometimes called Green Lodge and has been in the news several times recently. It is a small, attractive 2-storey 19c weather boarded house with a fretted barge boarded gable. Its small size is a temptation to owners to wish to extend it – and the last time someone proposed doing so there was a storm of protest because it was felt that any extension would spoil the whole. This time a flat-roofed extension which will contain a kitchen and breakfast room has been applied for.
RESEARCH AND GROUP ACTIVITIES
In the June Newsletter we printed part of the report given at the AGM on Research& Group activities, and said that the remainder of the report would follow this month. Here it is:
The INDUSTRIAL ARCHAEOLOGY GROUP may be small but it is not inactive. Research on the aircraft industry and the aerodromes in the district has continued and a paper on the archaeology of Hendon Aerodrome is at an advanced stage of completion. We have been particularly active in the last few months with the Borough Planning Department in trying to get Grahame-White’s offices and control tower at Hendon Listed. The offices are the main prestige building built during World War I by Claude Grahame White and the control tower is believed to be the earliest extant, so these buildings are of much more than local importance. –
During the year we have also commemorated the centenary of STC and the Diamond Jubilee of the Tube extension to Edgware with some research and Newsletter articles. Research on STC revealed an unexpected link with Hendon Aerodrome, where the company leased premises between the wars,
Bill Firth
The DOCUMENTARY GROUP has continued work on various long-term projects previously reported. One of these – Field Names in the Borough of Barnet was completed by Nell Penny in October, 1983, and the material deposited with John Field, coordinator of field-name studies for the English Place-name Society. Mr Field hopes to include the material in a future publication.
New projects begun or planned during the year include:
a study of the Barnet end of the Welsh droving trade in 18c/early 19c, coupled with research into Barnet Fair; the preparation of a new index of Listed buildings in LBB, to coincide with the new Statutory List now undergoing final revision; research into the papers of the Overseers of the Poor in our area, of which there is a fine collection, hitherto unstudied, in the LBB Local History library. Two brief papers, arising from this, have already been published in the Newsletter – Annals of the Peer in the 18c (Jan 1984) and Charity Children March 1984 the possibility of a more ambitious publication is being investigated.
Other results of documentary work published in the Newsletter during the past year include:
The history of ‘The Village,’ Finchley (Sept 1983)
Maps, drawings and a report recording Church Farm, East
Barnet (Feb 1984)
A biographical note on Joseph Grimaldi (April 1984)
Further recording, by photography and drawing, has been planned for sites (such as the Hand & Flower pub at Whetstone) which are under threat of re-development; and a photographic record was made of the old RAF married quarters in Booth Road, NW9, before their demolition.
A leaflet on Archaeology in Barnet, for which HADAS provided documentary work and illustrations, was published by LBB Planning Dept in October 1983 and has been sufficiently successful – particularly in schools – for a reprint, in changed format, to be planned for later this year by LBB Libraries Dept.
An illustrated booklet called Milk for the Millions, for which HADAS produced the text and photos, on the history of the Express Dairy in this area, was published by LBB Libraries Dept in June 1983.
The Documentary Group has co-operated in various ways with the British Association for Local History (of which HADAS is a corporate member). In all 12 members of the Society have taken part in the various projects mentioned.
Brigid Grafton Green
Members interested in joining either the .Industrial Archaeology or the Documentary. Groups (both of, which will welcome new members) should ring Bill Firth for 455 7164), or Brigid Grafton Green for Documentary (455 9040).
The EXCAVATION WORKING PARTY has continued to meet throughout the years as a body reviewing site-watching and research activities and operating with the Greater London Archaeological Service, with an eye to possible digs. Of the list of 6 possible sites reported last year, an excavation has taken place at Hadley Wood earthwork, which has been reported in the Newsletter; some documentary research is continuing. No urgent rescue operation has cropped up during the year; so the position is that we have opportunities to dig which can be pursued whenever we have the enthusiasm of diggers and most importantly, someone available and prepared to take charge ‘for a few weekends.
This summer there will by a 6-week full-time dig at West Heath and much work is being put into organising this. This should not preclude other part-time digs, if needed.
The first incumbent of the post of site-watching co-ordinator, Elizabeth Sanderson has unhappily had to give up the job; we are grateful for her considerable work in getting an organisation started.
BRIAN WRIGLEY
ROMAN POTTERY: TECHNIQUES AND TECHNOLOGY,
Some discoveries at the Teahouse, described by TESSA SMITH
Once again at the Teahouse weekend of May 19/20 the pottery excavated at Brockley Hill before 1954 was available for research and hypothetical analysis, Special interest centered on pottery assembly. For example, exactly how did Roman potters fit together the amphora-type flagons made at Sulloniacae?
Study of the inverted necks of this type of vessel, which are usually broken off where they meet the body, shows clear evidence of join-marks. The neck was obviously thrown independently of the body and joined later. Close inspection of the grooves in the handles suggested that finger-pressure alone was the method of furrowing the two-groove handles, but that a tool had left sharper-edged grooves in the three-groove handles. The handles were then pressed onto the assembled body and neck, clear finger-poking marks at the base of the handle being noted on several examples. Not proven, but put forward as a hypothesis, was the thought that a firm circular foot ring had been added for stability to the bases of two examples.
Pinch-neck flagons were .examined. The pinch-neck rims, which produce two spouts, one larger at the back above the handle for filling the flagon, one smaller at the front for pouring, were compared with our own fingers and thumbs. It was uncannily obvious which pinch-marks had been made by the potter’s thumb and which by his forefinger, the thumb-press being slightly wider.
It was also demonstrated that a tazza could have been rotated slowly on a wheel, the top rim and the lower edge of the carinated shape being pinched towards each other by light pressure of the thumb and forefinger at regular intervals to provide a ‘frilled’ appearance. There were 23 press-marks on the top rim and 25 corresponding press-marks on the lower carination, Neat detective work.
Rough clay which had been used in the kiln packing also showed interesting features. Two examples had clear finger pressure marks where the potter had rammed them into position as kiln filling. Another piece had the clear indentation of a four ringed flagon neck. We also found a four ringed flagon-neck which just happened to fit the indentation exactly, giving a neat motive and negative example.
Typical Brockley Hill ware feels gritty, due to the addition of sand to the clay body. Sand is mainly silica which melts at a higher temperature than pure clay. During firing the clay particles melt and fuse together while the silica remains in its stable state, thus retaining its gritty feel, Brockley Hill ware is, of course earthernware and thus slightly porous. The Romans did not have the ability to reach the consistently high temperatures needed to produce non-porous stoneware.
However, over-firing does seem to have occurred frequently, and examples of colour changes from normally fired, to heavily over-fired were examined. The change was from natural buff and pinky-orange to burnt sienna and purple grey, some sherds even showing a ‘sandwich’ effect. Some scorched sherds showed clearly where they had faced the outer lick of flames in the kiln. It is not the flames but the high-temperature gas that fire the pots and change the clay body into pottery. This is known as becoming isotrophic and occurs around 800°C.-850°c,
Generally speaking Brockley Hill ware looks creamy and pink and freshly scrubbed this is due in part to oxygenating firing of the kilns.
This means that air was allowed to enter continuously throughout the firing time through the arched flue. Excess gases passed out through the dome of the kiln. In this type of firing the natural clay colours, buff, pale cream, slightly pink, etc were preserved. It was only from over-firing of the kiln that the previously mentioned darker colours resulted.
Examples of slipped sherds, where the potter has painted or dipped the pot in a coat of creamy slip, pose the question of whether this was an experiment to try to produce non-porous ware. It could have been purely for decoration, but Brockley Hill ware is generally functional and undecorated. Some of the pottery excavated had, in fact, been imported to Brockley Hill for example, samian ware with its smooth, glossy surface and occasional pieces of burnished or colour-coated ware.
Highgate Wood ware was also imported. The body fabric of this is consistently grey, resulting from reduction firing. Here the oxygen supply is cut off during firing, the kiln is sealed completely, including the dome, and the fuel produces free carbon or smoke
Techniques and technology of Roman pottery give most interesting food for thought and it is intended that these aspects of research done during the Teahouse weekends will result in another exhibition by HADAS at Church Farm House Museum later in the summer. More of that in a later Newsletter.
.
PARAGRAPHS ABOUT PEOPLE
VICTOR JONES, our Hon. Treasurer, is in midst of moving house and is finding it – as it always is – traumatic. It’s doubly so because he is attempting to fit the contents of a large building into a much smaller one. His new address is 78 Temple Fortune Lane, NW11 (only 5 houses away from the Editor of the Newsletter) and he is keeping the same phone number: 458 6180.
Birthday greetings this month to GEORGE INGRAM who will achieve the age of 84 on July 28. We regretfully report that George is still struggling against eye trouble but – being George – is determined not to be beaten by it. Last month, for the first time since his operation in June of last year, he set forth alone one evening on an expedition to see a display at the Old Bull, in Chipping Barnet. It meant travelling by train there and back, as well as searching out a building he didn’t know no small undertaking, when you can’t rely on seeing properly. However, it was accomplished triumphantly. We know that George’s many HADAS friends will want to join in wishing him a very happy birthday.
At the other end of the age-scale, one of our youngest members, 10-year-old. LLOYD MORRIS, gave the vote of thanks to TED SAMMES for compering the last outing with such kindly efficiency. Lloyd and his brother GWILYM, who is 11, joined the Society last year- their father, WILLIAM, .one of our most valued artists and draughtsmen, is a member of long standing, and was active on the Research Committee until paternal duties became too time-consuming. Lloyd paid his tribute to Ted early on the trip home, announcing that it was better to say ‘thank you’ quickly as he would probably fall asleep later:, It sounds as if he is another satisfied HADAS customer. We all know that feeling of returning from a Society outing, replete with sunshine, good talk and archaeological knowledge painlessly applied!
Another HADAS member who has been fighting against odds is NELL PENNY. .A few weeks ago she had the unpleasant experience, while driving across Streatham Common, of being rammed in the back by another car. It was during a torrential rainstorm and she was in the middle of three lanes of traffic, so it can’t have been much fun. Delayed shock a few days later (‘I hadn’t time to be shocked straight away,’ she says) was followed by an attack of bronchitis. However, she is now not only up and about again, but is driving a replacement car while her own is put right.
PERCY REBOUL dashed into Dewhurst’s butcher’s shop in Ballards Lane a few weeks ago just before it closed. He wasn’t, however, after the Sunday joint. Camera at the ready, he took a smashing set of photos for the HADAS archives of the delicious decorative wall tiles which have been a feature of the shop for years. There are 10 pictures-in-tile, each one made up of four 6-inch sq. tiles: a mother sow with one piglet running by her; a cock and two hens; a chicken run, with two haystacks in the background; a pair of geese; a black-faced sheep with its lamb; A pair of ducks on a pool; a pair of black and white rabbits; doves, with a dove-cot behind; a turkey cock on the warpath; and a windmill on top of a little hill. The tiles are polychrome, in four or five colours, with a coloured border all round.
The shop was, alas, closing forever that night and Percy fears the tiles will be demolished with the building.
The HADAS library has just had a splendid acquisition. A non-HADAS member, MRS STARR, who recently completed the external Diploma in Archaeology, kindly donated all her books for the four years of the course to the Society. This is no small benefaction there are over a hundred of them, in three large boxes, and our librarian, JUNE PORGES, is purring with pleasure! The Newsletter would like to seize this chance of thanking Mrs Starr very much on HADAS’s behalf for her generous gift.
‘INKY’
Don’t forget that when you get this Newsletter the ‘Inky’ Stephens exhibition, organised by Paddy Musgrove and the Finchley Society at Avenue House, East End Road, N3, will be in full swing. You can see it up to and including July 8, opening times 10.30 am-8 pm.
To accompany the exhibition there is an interesting illustrated booklet, in which Paddy has written a history of the Stephens ink firm and the two men – Henry Stephen’s father and son – who put it on the map.
