HAARG Hastings Area Archaeological Research Group  
Registered Charity No.294989
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NEWSLETTER - JANUARY 2005

ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTIONS ARE NOW DUE, and a renewal form is enclosed which please return to the Treasurer as soon as possible. The rate is unchanged for a fourth year at £8 for ordinary membership, or £9 for one household or family where only one copy of each publication is required. For those who are retired, or full-time students, the individual rate is reduced to £7.

THE WINTER 2004 JOURNAL is now published and should be with all those who were fully paid-up members last year. Most of those who have not been in contact in any way for more than 12 months have been deleted from the mailing list after three reminders.

CURRENT MEMBERSHIP is about 125, but including family members the total becomes nearer 160. There were 20 new members during the year, but a similar number did not renew - in several cases because we know they have gone away to universities. We continue to collect tax refunds under the Gift Aid scheme, amounting to £195 in the past year.

THE TREASURER, MIKE GREENHALGH is likely to move to a new address some time in the next few months, but details are still uncertain. A further announcement may be made by the time of the next Newsletter - normally April.

THE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING OF HAARG, as foreshadowed in the August Newsletter, will be on Wednesday 23 February 2005 at 7,30pm, in the same place as the past few years - Clive Vale United Reformed Church, Edwin Road, Hastings. Anyone who needs a location plan should contact the Chairman. A copy of the Agenda has been sent to all members, together with the annual reports and accounts and the Minutes of last year's meeting. Please bring these with you if attending.
After the AGM there will be a slide talk on the conservation work in progress at Dickens Cottage, and the excavation which we carried out last August - which is also featured in the Winter Journal.

DICKENS COTTAGE (112 High Street) will be open for inspection again on SUNDAY 27 FEBRUARY from 11.0am to 3.0pm, with donations to the fund for the Asian flood disaster being organised by the Old Hastings Preservation Society. Please come along and bring your friends.

EXCAVATIONS AT GLOSSAMS PLACE, BECKLEY: a summary of progress to date is also included in the current Journal, and members will read that Dr. Andrew Woodcock is having to scale down any further excavations to enable him to write up the definitive report before his impending retirement in a year or two. No plans have therefore been made so far for a full-scale dig this summer, but there may be limited investigations to resolve a few of the uncertainties. Members with some knowledge of the site will be contacted if this does occur. Additionally it is still hoped that conservation work on some of the masonry can be carried out by members and students as a training course under Paul Reed's professional supervision; details will be announced later.

MR. DAVID DEVENISH: we record with regret the death, suddenly on 23 November, of HAARG member David Devenish. During his time as Curator of Hastings Museum he directed an excavation at Winding Street by Hastings Wall, in which members took part. Subsequently he held a number of curatorial posts overseas.

BODIAM CASTLE: HAARG member Tim Clapham is now working part-time for the National Trust as Learning Officer at Bodiam Castle - primarily with school parties. They are now looking for volunteers to work, perhaps one day a week, who might enjoy dealing with the public and/or schools. This would suit someone with a knowledge of and interest in local history, and could involve stewarding, guided tours or even brief talks with artefacts to school parties. Anyone interested should contact Tim Clapham at 68 Wickham Avenue, Bexhill-on-Sea TN39 3ER (01424 736691).

WEEKLY INFORMAL MEETINGS OF HAARG MEMBERS: for the time being, these continue on Wednesday mornings from 10.30 to 12.00 at 61 All Saints Street, Hastings. However the search for a new headquarters continues.

HAARG COMMITTEE: at the meeting on 13 October a recently joined member, Barbara Young, was co-opted to the Committee. Mrs. Young has come to live in Hastings Old Town from Bexley in Kent, where for the past 17 years she has been Chairman of Bexley Archaeological Group, and we feel her experience will be valuable to HAARG.

THE HISTORY AND ARCHAEOLOGY OF HASTINGS COUNTRY PARK which formed a Special Issue of HAARG Journal last summer, has now been reprinted with card cover and slightly extended text, to be placed on permanent sale to the public at the Fairlight information kiosk and outlets in the town. Cover price is £4.50, but members can purchase copies for £3 from the Editor or HAARG clubroom.

THE SUSSEX ARCHAEOLOGICAL SOCIETY is holding its Spring Symposium at the University of Sussex on Sat. 12 March on the theme of Sussex Archaeology. Leaflets are available from HAARG.

LUKE BARBER, known to some members as one of the Archaeology South-East team, has been appointed Research Officer for Sussex Archaeological Society from 1 March.

OUT AND ABOUT: Our Secretary Lynn Russell and other active members have been taking part in field work with other groups: at the Long Man of Wilmington, a dating project involved a Total Station survey and trenches across the figure, and later field-walking in the field below and a resistivity survey of barrows on the crest above. Near Arlington, a Romano-British settlement was trenched, and the alignment of the Roman road explored. Also in Arlington, a resistivity survey of the deserted medieval village by the church was carried out. All these will be reported elsewhere in due course.

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