Back on Track

I was driving back along the coast road from Sheringham this morning when I spotted them doing some track repairs on the Poppy Line so stopped to take a blip. Jan to Easter is when all repair and upgrade work gets done in North Norfolk, builders vans are everywhere. Good news is the council has issued a compulsory purchase order on the derelict hotel in Sheringham on the seafront which has been empty for 10 years. 

I attended another excellent lunch talk at the Norfolk Wildlife Centre at Cley today on the Anglo Saxon burials found in Great Ryburgh in North Norfolk in 2016. A local man had flooding problems in his garden next to the river and wanted to build a lake and flood defence system. Research by an archaeologist living in the village showed no sign of settlements at the site and test pits revealed only a few bits of pottery, but signs of earthworks. A full dig revealed 81 very rare  in-tact Anglo Saxon burials in hollowed out tree trunks and split plank coffins preserved by being in wet sandy soil. What amazed me is that each burial would cost £2-£5k to do the archaeological work required at the cost of the landowner. He obviously couldn't afford it so work started to cover the site over again. Historic England then found the money to fund the work only by cancelling lots of other projects. It seems hardly any money is available to support such work. DNA and other test are still on-going on the skeletons and they will be re-buried in the new cemetery when work is complete in a few years time.