ISSUE NO. 230 Edited by Liz Holliday MAY 1990
DIARY
Tuesday, 8 May ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING 8.00pm for 8.15pm at Hendon Library. Business meeting followed by slides of cur Whetstone dig. (If any members have slides of other HADAS activities during the past year, please bring them to be shown – time permitting).
SUMMER OUTINGS
Sunday, 20 May QUAINTON. Details and booking form with this Newsletter.
Saturday, 23 June RICHMOND, MARBLE HILL AND HAM HOUSE,
Saturday, 21 July HARLOW MUSEUM (Finds from the Temple of Minerva-subject of February’s lecture) and CRESSING TEMPLE, BRAINTREE (Knights Hospitallers).
Friday, 31 August – Sunday, 2 September SHROPSHIRE WEEKEND. Wall, Ironbridge, Shrewsbury, Wroxeter etc.
Enquiries, advance booking and further details about all summer outings should be made to Dorothy Newbury on 203 0950.
MINIMART 1990 Saturday, 6 October
OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES TO START THE 90s Report by Brian Wrigley and Victor Jones
The Excavation Working Party has not met for over twelve months – its members being for too busy excavating. When the digging behind The Mitre, Chipping Barnet finished, it was high time to consider excavation and fieldwork activities for the coming summer. A number of interesting and challenging projects emerged, some ❑f which are being overtaken by events as you read this.
THE THREE VALLEYS WATER RELIEF PIPE PROJECT is due to start at the end of April. This involves cutting an 18 metre wide strip, 9 inches deep from Brockley Hill to Arkley, crossing archaeologically interesting areas in the north-west of the Borough. The route has been changed slightly from that previously suggested, so it is important to take advantage of this opportunity. We are hoping to organise site-watching
f the turf-stripping and any excavations in the area. This will need plenty of person-power, particularly of any members who can be available during the working week. If you would like to take part in this unusual site-watching and field walking project, please let Brian Wrigley (.959 5982) or Victor Jones (458 6180) know as soon as possible.
19-25 HIGH STREET, CHIPPING BARNET adjoins the old route of the Great North Road, before Barnet Hill was engineered in the early 19th Century. This site may well reveal some evidence of medieval occupation. We already have permission from the helpful developer, who also offers us, at very reasonable cost, the services of his JCB and driver for the initial stripping. Andrew Simpson, Arthur Till and Brian Wrigley will be organising the dig – so please let one of them know if you would like to take part. Experience is not essential as we have decided to treat every HADAS dig as a training dig where new members can gain experience alongside more seasoned veterans. If there is enough support, sessions of recording, drawing, levelling and find-processing will be arranged. Please get in touch with Andrew (9 Cranfield Drive, NW9 – 205 6456), Arthur (55 Brunswick Avenue, N11 – 368 6288) or Brian (21 Woodcroft Avenue, NW7 – 959 5982).
CHURCH FARM, EAST BARNET. John Heathfield has kindly offered to take charge of a further dig on this site, in conjunction with British Heritage and Barnet Local History Society and with the agreement of the Borough, who own the site. Such is John’s enthusiasm, that by the time you read this, the exploratory trenches will, we believe, have been completed over the Easter• week-end! A further report will appear in due course.
Finally, the very welcome news that restoration of the WHETSTONE TUDOR HALL (last year’s major dig at 1264 High Road, N20). has been approved and will go ahead in the late summer We have been asked to return to complete our project in the house and dig in the courtyard, probably in July.
ARCHAEOLOGY & BARNET’S UNITARY DEVELOPMENT PLAN Report by Brian Wrigley
Members who are aware (and I am sure there are many) that the Borough of Barnet has recently been considering the draft Unitary Development Plan, may have been wondering if HADAS has done anything about this. The answer is – YES. The draft was sent to us, as well as many other bodies, for comment. We returned our submission. which concentrated on the few, short, archaeological references, in January. We did not feel that the draft Plan dealt adequately with either the local interest in the past or the opportunities which redevelopments can offer for investigation. The Museum of London also returned a submission and we supported their suggestion of a discussion between the Museum, the Borough and ourselves.
Neither we, nor the Museum, received any reply (despite two reminders) until AFTER the draft Plan had been finalised by the Planning Committee in April. We never got our discussion.
The Planning Committee accepted the recommendation made to them by their Officers, that both our and the Museum’s suggestions be dealt with during the the first review of the Plan (date unspecified).
MINUTES OF THE 28th ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING HELD AT HENDON LIBRARY ON TUESDAY, 9 MAY 1989 at 8.30pm.
In the Chair: Vice-President Daphne Lorimer. 51 members attended.
The Chairman welcomed members,
Apologies for absence: Brian Jarman, Ted Sammes, Bill Firth, Margaret Maher.
Minutes of the 27th AGM on 10 May 1988 and of the Special General Meetings of 1 November 1988 and 4 April 1989, which had been circulated in the Newsletter, were approved and signed.
The Annual Report (copy in the Minute Book) was given by the Chairman, Andrew Selkirk, and accepted nem con (proposed Bill Bailey, seconded June Forges).
The Accounts (copy in the Minute Book) were presented by the Hon. Treasurer, Victor Jones, who expressed gratitude for the sum raised by the Minimart. The Accounts were accepted nem con
