#VolunteersWeek2020: WEX and YAC - introducing our Heritage Heroes!

One of the key elements of the Gwent Levels landscape is the crucial link between its history, archaeology and the wildlife - that’s what makes it so unique.

With this in mind, Living Levels has brought together two youth groups from across the Levels with very different interests, on a landscape that combines the two beautifully. The Wildlife Explorers (WEX) based at Newport Wetlands and the South East Wales branch of the Young Archaeologists Club (YAC) meet on the same day of the month and are on the look-out for new members.

Kevin Hewitt from the WEX group takes up the story  “The inspiration for me was attending the Living Levels supported Day School event last summer at Redwick. It was a bit of a ‘Eureka!’ moment since WEX was going through poorish times and needed a fresh focus,  so why not focus locally and link in with the history of the Levels?”

At the same time, Living Levels had been discussing potential archaeological activities with Rebecca Eversley-Dawes of the YACs. So, the solution was easy; why not organise joint activities on the Levels looking at both wildlife and archaeology? – let’s face it, both groups share key interest elements like being outdoors, handling stuff and getting muddy. So that’s what we did, back before we were all told to stay indoors!

20 children and adults from the Chepstow, Newport and Cardiff areas came together for the first Living Levels ‘Heritage Heroes’  activity on the Gwent Levels. We kicked-off with a mile long walk across muddy fields from the Newport Wetlands Centre to St Mary’s Church in Nash, introducing everyone to the medieval ditch network and the wildlife found in and around the reens. The group was greeted by Sue Waters of the 3 Parish Heritage Group, who gave a wonderful history of the church, before donning headtorches and braving its medieval tower, from where the ditch network, Severn Estuary and Bridge, Wetlands, hills to the north and  former site of Goldcliff Priory could be seen in all their glory!  There was also time for building and wildlife surveys around the church before heading back.

Rebecca Eversley-Dawes of the Young Archaeologists Club sums up the partnership: “YAC is 25 years this year and during our many years based in Newport we have come to rely on the Archaeology which surrounds us to teach us more about our ancestors. Any opportunity to learn something new is welcomed and we look forward to working in partnership with the Living levels project and WEX to combine interests in this archaeological landscape. Our team are looking forward to introducing some much loved activities with others and will enjoy exchanging knowledge of this area.”

#VolunteersWeek2020: Jeremy White

Volunteering seems to have been something that I’ve always done, even from an early age. 

I’ve had adult roles in the Scouts for decades and been a member of a local archaeology group for twenty years.  When I retired I thought I could help out at Newport Wetlands for a day a week.  I’d have a regular structure to the week, something different to do and plenty to learn… think of all the birds, insects and plants to find out about.  And there’s an interesting landscape to understand. Nowadays I help out at the visitor centre talking to visitors, leading guided walks and helping behind the scenes develop the knowledge of our volunteers. For example, we’re often asked about the East Usk Lighthouse… do we have a lighthouse, is it a real one, does it work, what’s it for?  It’s awkward when you can’t give a decent answer so I researched and wrote a few pages about its history.  It wasn’t long before the team started to think that I could “do history” or was even “an expert”.  My protests that I know very little about history since I’m an amateur archaeologist went unheeded.  After all I’d volunteered without giving a comprehensive list of what I didn’t do (or wouldn’t do).

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The next “little project” was to set up and catalogue the new display cabinet in the visitor centre … we filled it with local archaeological finds and replica flint tools. It’s a good starting point when talking to visitors about what life on the levels was once like.  It’s also a strong tie-in to the work of the Living Levels Landscape Programme.  So, now I’ve been helping the LLLP team with events (Gavin’s “Levels from Above” walks) and the development of more history resources.  I really hadn’t started out thinking I’d write a chapter for the KLLP’s history of the Levels, let alone two (remember when every other volunteer takes a step back, you should, too).  I’d only thought that it would be nice to go on a couple of free courses to improve my archaeology.  I’ve spent dozens of hours helping digitise the Court of Sewers maps having learned a bit about public-facing Geographical Information Systems.  I’ve ended up extremely muddy after four days of estuarine archaeology out on the Peterstone mud flats.  But, at least I know a bit more to talk to visitors about so they can better appreciate their time in the Levels.

Jeremy White

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For general queries about volunteering with Living Levels, please contact the Living Levels Volunteer Coordinator,  Beccy Williams: rwilliams@gwentwildlife.org

#VolunteersWeek2020: Mike Rees

At the moment I’m spending my time with Sir Charles Morgan and Sir Thomas Robert Salusbury, Baronets, Thomas Lewis of St. Pierre, William Phillips of Whitson, amongst others, through the record of their deliberations as Commissioners as they manage the Levels of Caldicot and Wentlooge - the Court of Sewers Book Minute Book (1811 - 1824).

And when I need a break? 

I walk to Mounton Brook and sit on its banks in a meadow the tithe map for the area shows was once owned by the same Thomas Lewis of St Pierre.

Mike Rees

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For general queries about volunteering with Living Levels, please contact the Living Levels Volunteer Coordinator,  Beccy Williams: rwilliams@gwentwildlife.org

#VolunteersWeek2020: Cath Davis

I had never heard of the Living Levels project until I attended a meeting at NRW Pye Corner in 2018. The 'Gwent Now' Police email headlined it as a meeting on fly-tipping; I was very interested in this topic as the area in which I live on the Wentlooge Levels suffers badly from this nuisance.

The meeting room was full and I signed up to receive further information about the project. A newsletter was sent out and a piece about volunteering to do history research seemed interesting to me. The timing was good as I had just retired from work;  I also had a great interest in the area as I had spent my early life on my grandfather's farm at Rumney and I owned some land at Marshfield - all contained within the Wentlooge Levels.

As I learned more about the Living Levels Project and all that it encompassed I became very enthusiastic and totally committed to spreading the word to anyone that listens! I keep my local shop stocked with information leaflets and brochures of events, I will put up posters that advertise forthcoming events and basically do anything to help spread the word.

Part of the project is to re-engage people with their landscape and it certainly has done that for me. I just keep thinking why wasn't something like this ever done before!

I have thoroughly enjoyed the RATS history group and learned so much during the process of research and our sessions with Rose Hewlett. I have met some great and interesting people who have become good friends.

The coronavirus lockdown has unfortunately stifled the project at the moment; this has been very disappointing as I miss all the events and people associated with running the project. I hope that we can make up for our lost time in the coming months.

Cath Davis

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For general queries about volunteering with Living Levels, please contact the Living Levels Volunteer Coordinator,  Beccy Williams: rwilliams@gwentwildlife.org

#VolunteersWeek2020: Volunteering for the Living Levels Project

I retired from working in Local Government a few years ago. As part of my job I had experience of organising and using volunteers for projects ranging from tree planting, community events to large Country Fairs. I never thought that one day I would become a volunteer or that I would volunteer in an area that I knew from my childhood.

My paternal grandparents lived in Newport and sometimes when my family visited them we would go to Goldcliff to walk along the sea wall. My father and his brother used to tell me that as teenagers they would regularly cycle to Goldcliff and the Lighthouse, where they said they friends would swim. I distinctly remember seeing signs for Whitson zoo, and how flat and comparatively featureless the area was compared to the Sirhowy Valley where we lived. The water weed covered reens were a mystery as were the lines of baskets (putchers) that I saw in the estuary.

Little did I know that many years later I would get a call from my friend Gavin, who is the Living Levels Community Engagement Officer, asking me if I would like to volunteer and help him with  a Guided Walk that he was organising which would run  from the RSPB Centre to and over the Transporter Bridge.

My youngest daughter who was In university at the time offered to help as well, partly I think to make sure her ‘old Dad’ was up to the job and also because she was training to walk the Inca Trail to Machu Pichu to raise money for a cancer charity.

Gavin and I checked the route before the actual walk and I soon learnt that the levels may be flat but they are certainly not featureless, the hedges, foot bridges, stiles, grips, ditches and reens were small but important landscape features and all played a part in how the land was and is still managed.

On the day of the walk we all met at the RSPB centre, there were about 25 taking part with Gavin leading, Rhiannon and myself ‘back marking’ to make sure that there were no stragglers, that gates were closed and
any road crossings controlled. Another volunteer,( Jeremy White) also came along to explain about the east Usk Lighthouse. From the centre the walk went through the Nature Reserve to the lighthouse and then returned to pass the Centre and then following footpaths over the small fields, bounded by hedges and water filled ditches, to the Church of St Mary’s, at Nash. This was a revelation, with a mark showing the height of the Great Flood (or was it a Tsunami) of 1607, its leper window, Mass dial and  its box pews. From the church
we carried on over farmland and then passed through an industrial area to the banks of the Usk all the time heading for the Transporter Bridge.

The Bridge again holds childhood memories for me as I frequently travelled on the gondola with my parents. My father often told me that when he was a teenager you could pay threepence to walk over the Usk on the bridges walkway. At the bridge we had a choice of either crossing the river on the gondola or crossing over on the gantry walkway linking the bridge towers.

The walk to the bridge may have been flat but the climb to the gantry certainly wasn’t. Our legs were aching, we were breathless and it was very breezy when we got to the top. But the view over the city, the docks and the Usk, towards Cardiff and up to the distinctive ‘pimple’ which distinguishes the iron age hillfort of Twmbarlwm certainly made it very worthwhile.

I have helped on this walk twice now and would have done so again this April if it had not been postponed due to the Lockdown. On both occasions I have seen the walkers I helped ‘look after’ see the Levels, their history and their importance to the biodiversity of south east Wales in a new light.  I am certainly looking forward to helping on this walk again.

Norman Liversuch

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For general queries about volunteering with Living Levels, please contact the Living Levels Volunteer Coordinator,  Beccy Williams: rwilliams@gwentwildlife.org

#VolunteersWeek: Laura Phelps 'Life on the Levels'

I volunteered with Marsha O'Mahony on the Life on the Levels project over a period of several months in 2019. I observed, collected and transcribed oral history interviews, did some archival research, and made a number of site visits with Marsha.

The experience was varied thanks to Marsha's flexibility and I felt supported to learn new skills. It was a particularly useful experience at that time in my life as I was applying for a PhD in the field of heritage research and was able to talk about this volunteering on my applications. It was also valuable for me personally for a couple of reasons:

(1) I was new to Wales and it helped me understand the local area, its history and environment; and (2) it was good to talk with someone who was interested in the same (potentially rather niche) issues!

I actually wish I could have been involved more, and would be happy to volunteer again if any follow-on projects happen.

Laura Phelps

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For general queries about volunteering with Living Levels, please contact the Living Levels Volunteer Coordinator,  Beccy Williams: rwilliams@gwentwildlife.org

#VolunteersWeek2020: Martyn Swain

I have been involved in the abstraction of 1881 census data for several parishes since getting roped in at the open day at Tredegar House last September. What may at first glance seem to be a little tedious has been anything but. As you transcribe the original data, and often verify from other sources, you come across all sorts of interesting entries.

Image: Peter Britton

Whilst transcribing Dyffryn parish I discovered that Lord and Lady Tredegar spent the night of the census at their London address and Tredegar had a skeleton staff head by a young servant in his early 20's. I had a Frederick Morgan who spent the night at his mother's house in Nash and who gave his occupation as Australian Bushman. One woman, in the column for Blind/Deaf/Dumb, noted her servant's disability as "bad-tempered". Another woman declared her husband had "run-away". And in Chepstow the occupations ranged widely from professional classes, through shipbuilding trades and iron foundry workers to bobbin turners and a full range of shopkeepers. I had (as-yet) unnamed infants aged 6 hours and 1.5 days old. I also had people born overseas in India, Jamaica, Denmark, Italy, Germany, France and America.

It has been a fascinating exercise to-date. Thank goodness for the internet, but I'd like the museums and archives to open to progress some research into the personalities of Chepstow in the 1870's and 1880's.

Martyn Swain

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For general queries about volunteering with Living Levels, please contact the Living Levels Volunteer Coordinator,  Beccy Williams: rwilliams@gwentwildlife.org

#VolunteersWeek2020: Explore the 1830s with the Living Levels Historic Map Viewer and help us expand it further!

Last summer, we put out a call for volunteers to join us for a week of archaeology in Redwick Village. To our delight, over 40 people joined us, helping us to carry out a whole series of excavations and surveys to learn more about the rich history that makes this region so unique.

Since then, we’ve been working with ‘Pushing the Sensors’ to create ‘The Living Levels Historic Map Viewer’ - an interactive online map that brings all of these discoveries together into one place and now, our first historic layer is nearly ready for you to explore!

This layer is the result of our first big project  ‘Map the 1830’s Landscape’ and, thanks to the RATS volunteers, you will  see who owned each field in the Levels in 1830s.

Our next big goal is to start looking for new archaeological sites that we can add to the map by searching through the local LiDAR data (topographical maps made by laser scanning). We’ll be collecting all this information to complete the first full LiDAR transcription for the Gwent Levels!

The tools we need to do this are all available online and, over the next few months, we’ll be looking for more volunteers to help us do it. Never done anything like it before? No problem! We’ve got all the resources you’ll need for learning how to identify potential archaeological sites among the LiDAR data, and an easy-to-use tool for flagging things up when you think you might have found something. And the good news is, you can do it all from home!

Thanks to our amazing volunteers, the Historic Map is already coming to life. But there’s loads more that we can add to it. With so many of us currently staying at home, this is the perfect opportunity to join the project and help us search for new archaeology from your sofa.

Maggie Eno

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Whether you want to find out more about volunteering, or just want to see what we’ve already achieved, just visit livinglevelsgis.org.uk

#VolunteersWeek2020: Mud, mud, glorious mud!

In March last year I saw an intriguing post on twitter, from ‘The Living Levels’ project, about an opportunity to spend 4 days on an archaeological dig on the Gwent Levels. Now for years I had (probably) bored my family and friends, saying on countless occasions. ‘If I had my time again, I’d be an archaeologist’, but had never actually done anything about it.

At first, I assumed that as I worked full-time, I wouldn’t be able to go, but much to my amazement, when I checked the dates, I was actually free to do it. Apart from sounding interesting, this dig was right there on my doorstep and free, so I signed up straight away.

The dig was really well organised and helpful, in that on the first day we learned some of the basics about what we were going to be doing and the history and archaeology of the area. Our leader was Professor Martin Bell from Reading University. He was really passionate about the area - he has been coming to the Gwent Levels for over 20 years and he made it interesting and easy to understand. There were about 12 of us on the group - lots of retired people, including one person who had retired the previous week!

Days two and three were spent out on the mud flats near Peterstone Village- tides allowing. I had never realised before how many different types of mud there were, including the very slippery, fall on your bottom kind!

One of the most exciting things to me, was that we found a Bronze Age (about 3,000 years old) hand tool, made out of a deer antler. Professor Bell pointed to an innocuous piece of seaweed and said, ‘that’s either growing on stone or bone’, well it turned out to be the antler hand tool, when we extracted it from the mud.

Day Four we spent indoors, cleaning and logging all the things (finds) we had found. Once the antler hand tool was clean, we could actually see where a right handed person had held it, wearing it smooth in the process. It was an amazing thought to know that the last person to hold this had lived several thousand years ago.

Since then, my interest in archaeology has gone from strength to strength. I’ve done two evening courses at Cardiff University (check them out- they do all kinds of courses) and I also did a week’s dig in west Wales, as part of the Strata Florida Trust project, which was another great experience, where I learned a lot and met some lovely people.

So, my thoughts are, if you see something that looks interesting- go for it- you never know where it may take you!

Ceri Meloy

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For general queries about volunteering with Living Levels, please contact the Living Levels Volunteer Coordinator,  Beccy Williams: rwilliams@gwentwildlife.org