Once more our June meeting will start with our Annual General Meeting at 7.00 p.m.  But this year we also celebrate our thirtieth birthday.  When FLARE began in 1977 the Lincoln Archaeological Trust had just moved from the then semi-derelict Old City School to the Sessions House just across the road from St Hugh’s Church Hall.  So a celebration is due.  A cake and drinks have been ordered and we hope you will stay on for a short reminiscence and a toast to FLARE after the talk.  On this special evening we are also privileged to welcome David Miles now the Chief Archaeological Advisor at English Heritage, who also holds honorary positions at Oxford and Stanford Universities – and an old friend of Mick Jones.

Since our last A.G.M. FLARE has continued to present more enjoyable and successful monthly lectures. We have been brought up-to-date with work in Lincoln (and Sudbrooke), York, Leicester and Birmingham. We have perused prehistoric, Roman, Anglo-Saxon, medieval and later discoveries, and have ranged through Libya and Asia, and into the ‘English’ Caribbean.  There is much more to come.

Jim Johnston

It was with great sorrow that we learned of the death of Jim Johnston on 27 January. A founder member of FLARE and long-time committee member of the Lincoln Archaeological Trust and its successor bodies, Jim has been with us at our lectures and events throughout the past thirty years.  It was a mark of the friendship, gratitude, and high esteem that we all felt for Jim and Susan that so many of us joined current and past students and colleagues at the funeral and at the reception at Bishop Grosseteste University College, on 12 February.   A Newsletter is not the place for an adequate obituary; but this will no doubt be provided at a special Memorial Service at the College at 1 p.m. on 30 June.  You are all most warmly invited.

In consultation with Sue, and at her suggestion, FLARE has adopted a carved stone in the arched window-frame over the great northern doorway of Lincoln Cathedral’s West Front. This is an apt memorial to Jim reminding us each time we enter the Cathedral of the talks and tours we have enjoyed from one of Lincoln’s most notable, able, respected and loved local historians. 

Lincolnshire Integrated Cultural Facility

Further to the report in our January Newsletter on a proposal to merge the diverse elements of our county’s cultural heritage, local societies and interest groups have formed: ‘The Lincolnshire Cultural Alliance.’  FLARE is putting the case for archaeology.  This Alliance has drawn-up a ‘Manifesto for the Development of Lincolnshire County Council Cultural Facilities in Lincoln’. It is designed to inform members of the County Council from a user viewpoint exactly what they propose to ‘reorganise’ – and what is at stake.  The Alliance is also speaking for the staff who look after our cultural resources and the volunteers and enthusiasts upon whom they heavily rely. The manifesto offers an essential background; it identifies the societies most able to respond on behalf of the informed public; and it provides the starting point from which any meaningful consultations with the public must begin.  The Council has acknowledged this and established an ‘Integrated Cultural Facility Project Board’ that has its inaugural meeting on 11 June at Lincoln University.  The Alliance will be represented by its chairman Catherine Wilson who will speak on behalf of members and report back at regular intervals.

          Members of the Alliance are:

1. Friends of Lincoln Archaeological Research and Education (FLARE),
2. Friends of Lincoln’s Museums and Gallery (FLMAG), 3. Lincoln Civic Trust,
4. Lincoln Music and Drama Festival,
5. Lincoln Society of Arts,
6. Lincolnshire Family History Society,
7. Lincolnshire branch, National Trust,
8. Made in Lincolnshire Trust,
9. Society for Lincolnshire History and Archaeology (SLHA),
10. Survey of Lincoln, and
11. Tennyson Society.
Chairman: Catherine Wilson
Secretary: Dennis Mills.

FLARE Committee 2006-7

As Chairman I would like to thank all those who make FLARE such a pleasure to belong to, especially our President Jean Scott who not only contributes ideas and sound advice but offers her house (and coffee and biscuits) every month for committee meetings.  I supply this list to remind you who we are prior to our A.G.M.

          President: Jean Scott
          Chairman: John Wilford
          Vice-Chairman: Ken Jones
          Secretary: Jennifer Jackson
          Treasurer: Dean Bird
          Ex-officio: Mick Jones
          Membership Sec: Roz Mellows
          Marketing: Ann Allen
          Liz East
          Ken Hollamby
          Richard Hutchinson
          Judy Jones
          Brenda Webster
          Auditor: JAB Consultants Ltd.

John Wilford

CITY ARCHAEOLOGIST’S REPORT

I hope that members have enjoyed the 2007 lecture programme to date and that those in the rest of the season will be just as enjoyable.  This year’s Annual Meeting will be graced by the presence of David Miles, Chief Archaeological Advisor for English Heritage.  David Miles started his field archaeology career proper overseeing excavations in advance of the M4/M5 motorways in the south-west.  While both postgraduate students in 1971, he and I were interviewed (unsuccessfully!) for the post of Field Archaeologist at Chester.  Later he took charge of the Oxford Archaeological Unit and developed it into one of the most successful operations in Britain, with an international reputation. He subsequently moved to be the most senior archaeologist at English Heritage.  His current role, involving extensive travel, has further widened his already cosmopolitan perspective. His work The Tribes of Britain has been one of the best-selling archaeology books of recent years, and David will be selecting just a small part of its content that for us.

I hope to provide more details of the autumn talks in our September Newsletter.  In the meantime, those of you unable to make Mike Hodder’s account of Birmingham’s archaeology might like to know that Mike’s book Birmingham: The Hidden History is available from Tempus Publishing.

As many members will be aware, this year’s SLHA Archaeology Day will be held at Lincoln University’s Riseholme Campus on Saturday 6 October, on the theme: ‘Digging Big Holes – Archaeological Landscapes and Quarrying.’

It is timely to note that several of the Society’s volumes in the History of Lincolnshire series have been reduced in price.  One of the next volumes will be by Glyn Coppack on Lincolnshire Monasteries.  Glyn tells me that he is making good progress with this, but he is having to absorb a lot of new evidence that has emerged from the ground across the county in recent years.  It continues.  Last year we got our first glimpse of St Catherine’s Priory.  New  investigations have been taking place a little to the south and more structural remains have been discovered: details in due course. Other sites in the area of the priory are due for redevelopment, and these should give us a clear inkling of the general layout of the complex.

In recent weeks, a section of the Roman aqueduct has been excavated on Nettleham Road.  A fragment has been retained for further analysis, but interestingly (and contrary to earlier indications) this fragment did have evidence of limescale, suggesting that the system did work, if only, perhaps, for a limited period. Further south, to the rear of 29 Steep Hill part of the Roman street running immediately inside the southern defences was found below 18th-century deposits.  The wall of a Roman house lay on its northern side.  More surprises can be expected as other developments take place around the city.
         
Our visit to the Sudbrooke Roman Villa excavations will take place on Thursday 26 July, commencing at 5pm. Please travel by personal vehicle and park on Scothern Road, about half a mile north of Wragby Road, from where you will see the site and work in progress. Members at our January meeting will remember Craig Spence’s talk on the project.  Our Christmas Party this year has been arranged for Tuesday 11 December.  We have a different menu and new entertainment.  Please note the date in your diaries.  More details and a booking form will be in the September Newsletter.

Mick Jones

Flare Annual General Meeting
20 June 2007 at 7.00 p.m.
(Please note starting time)

Agenda
1. Election of President
2. Apologies for Absence
3. Minutes of the 2006 A.G.M.
4. Matters Arising
5. Chairman’s Report
6. Treasurer’s Report
7. Nominations to Committee
8. Election of Officers
  a. Chairman
  b. Vice-Chairman
  c. Honorary Secretary
  d. Honorary Treasurer
  e. Members of the Committee
9. Appointment of Auditor
10. Any Other Business

Minutes of the FLARE Annual General Meeting, 7 June  2006
Present – about forty members

1. Election of President
Jean Scott was elected for a third term
Jean Scott then took the Chair

Apologies were received from Dr Ken Jones

2. Minutes of 2005 Meeting
The summary minutes of the 2005 meeting were read and adopted. There were no matters arising.

3. Election of Officers
The following were elected:
Chairman                     Mr John Wilford
Vice-Chairman            Dr Ken Jones
Hon Treasurer             Mr Dean Bird
Hon Secretary             Mrs J Jackson

4. Election of Executive Committee
The remaining members of the committee were re-elected en bloc.

5. Appointment of Independent Examiner
J.A.B. Consultants Ltd were re-appointed as Auditors.

6. Chairman’s Report
The Chairman referred to the newsletter circulated in May and highlighted

7. Treasurer’s Report
Dean Bird presented a detailed report with a breakdown of income and expenditure as a Trading and Profit and Loss Account with a final balance sheet.  This showed an income over the year of £2,865.71 with a general expenditure of £5,539.32 – with a consequent net loss of £2,673.61. This outcome reflected the purchase of new audio-visual equipment.

FLARE had a fund balance of £13,862.11
The Treasurer’s report was adopted.

8. There was no other business.
The meeting concluded at 7.25 and was followed by an entertaining lecture by Dr Richard Hall on ‘A Roman cemetery, a gift from King Alfred and a Viking Ship Burial’.