Somewhat adapted from a great tale told to me by someone working in a castle. Still repelling invaders.

If you don’t know, Flag Fen is widely acclaimed as one of the most important Bronze Age sites in the world, deservedly so as it is fascinating, In brief layman’s terms, as it got really soggy, the farmers over 3000 years ago built a wooden causeway and platform – the platform is marked down as being used for “ceremonial” purposes*. The wet conditions have preserved the wood, as well as pottery, leather, bits of food.... thousands of interesting things that just don’t survive elsewhere.

Flag Fen is under threat with drainage of the local landscape, plus less water in general (as in, the current drought), so doing as much work as possible to record the site and preserve finds is vital. That costs money though...  So Dig Ventures is a cracking idea where you sponsor the work at Flag Fen, and depending on how much you sponsor, you get rewards from accessing information on the dig, to t-shirts, through to actually getting training and taking part in it!

As a way to get backing to help out a site of great importance, this raises money and raises interest at the same time, a sort of fundraising and promotional cross over. They have hit their target for fundraising, but more never hurts and there are 35 days left to donate and reap the rewards of investigating something so unique.

http://digventures.com/ 

Spread word around, donate on someone's behalf as a fantastic present for them, get school kids interested by sponsoring as a group, achieve an Archaeology merit badge at scouts or guides, add something unique to your student CV - Dig Ventures has a lot to give back for what you put in! 

* i.e. "we're really not sure what's going on here, but by golly, it's interesting!" 

The Hurlers on Bodmin Moor, quite stunning even if summarised as "Here you are, rocks in a field, that keep you happy?" 
Cornwall cartoons will end soon!

I feel like I've mentioned the National Trust a fair bit of late, well they own a lot of things, do a sterling job raising awareness about many issues and put on quite a few good activities. (and some slightly odd ones)

On the 21st and 22nd of April they're offering free entry to over 200 properties, with a voucher to download and print that can get up to 2 adults and 2 kids in totally free. That can be quite a saving if you're hard up for cash and want a good day out.

See where you could get to, and get your voucher here:http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/get-involved/competitions-and-offers/offers/free-weekend/  


Go on, give it a go with some mates or meet up with family, and you may find somewhere you love.

Nothing like listening to someone talk with total certainty about something they have no knowledge of.

Read on to find out just two of the reasons why it pays to read the labels yourself, rather than take your friend's word...

We've all been dragged around some big posh house, in a big area of green, perhaps with deer in it. I say dragged, because well, even though you do often enjoy it, there can come a point where it's yet another big posh house while trying to entertain the kids/visiting family/fill a holiday. Lanhydrock In Bodmin manages to hit all the nails on the head though, and many similar sites could learn a lot from it.