Back to the trenches

Spent the afternoon with my son checking on some sites where he wants to take samples for pollen extraction and anlaysis as part of his project on reconstructing past landscapes. This is probably not a suitable site for taking cores, although useful for the exposed stratigraphy.

The commons have a wide variety of holes in the ground - mainly post-medieval quarries as well as trenches from the first and second world wars. In particular there is an extensive network of trenches that were dug in the first world war. Its quite unusual for these to have survived in southern England. They are up to 2 meters deep and currently flooded with rainwater. These trenches were re-used in the second world war when this particular area was a mortar firing range.