Arriving in Bamburgh to 6th of June

I arrived on Sunday afternoon after a rather unexciting train trip for almost 4 hours. It was cold and wet for the first time really though in London. Once I got off the train I was confused by bus time tables and where the stops were, seeing as it was cold and wet I just caught a taxi to site which cost more than a bus would have but I got it over and done with. Immediately the staff swarmed to greet me and help me put my tent up. Although our campsite would only be set up in that area of the campsite until Tuesday, then we had to move. I couldn’t help but unpack because everything was in space bags. Sunday night was freezing. When I woke on Monday I was wishing I’d gotten a blanket and a better jacket with a hood.

On Monday we had an induction at the castle of the various trenches and the history of the site. We have not gone on a tour of the inside of the castle yet. I’ve only seen inside one wall (that’s where the toilets are). Still being the jubilee weekend there was some excitement around the castle; a civil war re-enactment group was in the back paddock. 

On Monday afternoon I was in trench 3 doing ‘gardening’ which is removing the weeds that grew over winter and any loose soil off the top. We found a few bulk finds things like animal bones and some people found some cool small finds like coins. For the second night in a row a BBQ was provided of ‘burgers’ (rissoles) with lettuce and cheese. I enjoyed a new beers, Fosters :p (it was the cheapest in the camp shop).

Tuesday I woke up sweating, I’d worn a jumper to bed and two pairs of socks. The sun was out and all was looking good. Today I was on finds washing, so just brushing the dirt off with water. 

Later in the afternoon it started drizzling so our group packed up and headed back to the campsite to set up the mess tent. The mess tent is a large canvas pavilion that is really molding on the inside yucky. Unlike the sca pavilions that we put up with man power alone BRP uses the power of a landrover. We had fun moving our tents in the rain. Seeing as it was raining and we had all just moved tents the majority of us decided to go have dinner at the pub. I had a pint of ginger beer (the alcoholic kind) and Bangers and Mash. There were 4 medium sized sausages covered in gravy, a bunch of peas and a pile of mash potato. I think I may be putting on weight and should cut down the amount of food I’m eating. I really don’t need all the biscuits and snacks I’m eating on top of two sandwiches for lunch.

On Wednesday I was assigned to the Kaims (the wetlands project) but it was too wet for us to head out there in the rain. So I end up spending the day inside sorting finds in the windmill. I’m the sort of person who really enjoys that sort of thing. See the photo below for a pic of the windmill.