Tuesday 15 August (day 23): we're racing through week 5

More from Alison
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It’s been a beautiful sunny day at Nottingham Castle for trainees, Explainer volunteer Cara and tutors Laura, Tristan, Joe and Jen.

It was good to welcome more new trainees today and we’ve had lots of interested visitors. In fact,  Cara (helped out by Alison) was kept busy for almost all of the day, nipping out in the afternoon only to join in with the pottery workshop.

Today’s trainees began with the features in the west of the trench and there was excavation, cleaning, recording and drawing to work through. Trainee Beth was also a real asset, using her new expertise to help the newer trainees with taking levels.

Later in the day our newer trainees moved to the eastern extension of the trench, where they continued to take down the soil level and clean the newly exposed stone and rubble, keeping an eye out for changes in soil colour that might indicate a construction ditch. For those needing a stretch and a break from digging there was spoil to sieve, finds to wash, and a hands-on tutorial in contexts and context sheet recording with Tristan.

Other highlights of the day included a pottery identification workshop with Laura and a tour of Mortimer’s Hole with legendary guide Richard. In addition, the excellent ice cream van was spotted near the bastion-cum-We Dig the Castle tea room, which meant a very happy We Dig the Castle team.

​Alison

Catch trainee and Explainer volunteer Cara tell us what she's gained from being part of We Dig the Castle 2017: