Peter Jackson wrote:

> Hard as it may be to accept, my experience is that there are a significant
> number of people who find it extremely hard to accept that times have
> changed.

I couldn't agree more, and the sadness is that any offer of assistance is
seen as a threat and held in considerable suspicion. There is a dogmatism
which states, "we will do it our way or not at all."

> Some of those people are members of NAMHO organisations. We are not
> talking about hundreds of thousands of people in our UK community - we
> probably all know who they are.  Time to face up to the hard decisions.

In knowing 'who they are', I feel NAMHO should have the courage of its
conviction, and insist that continued membership is reliant upon any group
showing they are implementing guidelines to a basic requirement. I recently
enquired of a local group as to their H&S policy and risk assessment
procedures. I was advised categorically that H&S did not apply to them, and
risk assessment was a waste of time. "We would never get any work done if we
had to bother with all that."

> However, it is worth reminding the archaeologists that the majority of
> underground people are responsible...all they need is a little education.

But a minority are NOT responsible and see even the most basic offers of
assistance educationally as a threat.

> Some of our archaeology might have been buried, hidden or lost if it had
not
> been for the eforts of the unwashed amateur mine explorer. The explorers
> have led the archaeologists, they just don't have the training.

Living in Combe Martin I have taken an interest in the pre 19th century
silver/lead smelting processes. I had tramped the hills around this area for
three years looking for traces of boles, through topography and heavy metal
contamination vegetation growth. I drew a blank.

Last year I was very fortunate to assist Dr. Gill Juleff in the 2 week
quantitative excavation at Brayford on an iron smelting slag dump. The
history of North Devon has been re written by the large quantities of black
burnish ware, and samian ware pottery found amongst the slag - also a Roman
coin. The pottery is already considered to be the largest find of Roman
pottery outside a military site in the South West.

It was during this excavation that I shared with Gill my frustration at not
finding traces of bole sites at Combe Martin. Look in the valley bottom she
suggested, and offered her reasons for this suggestion.

More by luck than research I stumbled across a potential smelting site in
the valley bottom. My immediate response was to call upon the County
Archaeologist, to inform the archaeologist of the Exmoor National Park, even
though the site was just outside the park. To involve the 2 of the
archaeologists of The North Devon Archaeological Society of which I am a
member, to keep intouch with Peter Claughton, who probably knows more about
the Combe Martin mines than anyone. Out of courtesy to involve the curator
of  Barnstaple Museum and of the Combe Martin Museum.

Only after full consultation was a 2.1meter excavation commenced. All
artefacts were recorded and taken to Exeter Museum for full identification
and cataloguing. High reduction lead slag, ore, gangue material, fuel ash
and bone cupel were subject to quantitative analysis, and it is hoped the
whole will shortly be subjected to chemical analysis. An interim report is
now being printed and archaeologists were consulted throughout the
excavation.

All the early evidence suggests the habitation and smelting materials date
from the mid 16th century to the mid 17th century. This year further
excavations will be carried out determine the size of the slag deposits.

Now I'm a 63 year old amateur, but wether you are 20 years of age or 70
years of age, that is how it has to be done! We must never forget that in
our enthusiasm for our interests and pursuits, whenever we pick up a spade,
shovel, or trowel, wether above ground or underground, we immediately start
to DESTROY ARCHAEOLOGY. We must always be prepared to call in, take, and
accept advise, infact we must go out of our way to ensure we are part of the
consultation game.

Incidentally, I'm starting a 3 year degree course in archaeology this
autumn. You are never too old to learn!

Kindest regards,

Trevor