Welcome to this weeks Wessex Ways Podcast in visual format! This week we talk Maiden Castle, Hampshire Downs and Plaques.
We also waffle about Allotment Fox:
https://www.youtube.com/c/AllotmentFox
You can check out his channels here:
Social Media: Paul Twitter and Instagram: @ PaulWhitewick
Hedley @ Thorneh @ Hedley_Thorne
Uh so she said to me Headley there’s no pogo sticks allowed but there’s plenty of custard on site I’m not about that life and I’m Headley let’s roll the Music heyy what what what are you doing Headley what I mean what do you mean what am I doing what kind of an intro was that we’re meant to have a serious listener base and Goodness Me Oh welcome to wesx ways podcast episode 24 24 that’s right 24 so you know new
New listeners bear with us a minute while we just sort this out so what usually happens is I think Paul’s cotton onto something I’ve been doing at the start of the podcast is that I introduce the podcast I introduce us both and so there’s nothing left to say and then I
Hand over to Paul and of course he can’t do anything so I think he’s gotten onto that and just thrown a curve ball today I just thought you know it’s time head it’s time things were thrown back in your general direction to deal with know oh it’s going to be one of those
Evenings fantastic how’s how’s it going Headley have you have you got Special beer this even it’s all good it’s all I do have beer this evening so I amum well I you know I I was going to go out and get myself um something a bit different
But unfortunately it was a little bit last minute um because of stuff today and so I just went to the local shop but and Warren brand you are going to be proud of me again I’m on the Old Speckled Hen Old Speckled Hen could be
Worse Ed could be worse dire crap a year on right well it’s like this Rebecca as you may have seen or not seen is very much pushing her own YouTube channel at the moment because she loves it and she loves a bit of train so the other day
She took a trip to Edinburgh by lumo lumo give you a beer they do lots of things apparently but one of the things they do they give you a beer so I’m Rebecca brought it back with me specifically for the um for the reason of drinking it during the podcast it’s done by
Donzo it’s called Foy beer I don’t even know what’s a Foy beer Headley I don’t know put it in the comments yeah put it in the comments so train beer it says on train beer lumo lumo lumo is like a separate brand or franchise I think
They’re owned by first and they go to Edinburgh and back that’s it um fantastic it was it was a trip by Rebecca you can you can watch her YouTube channel and video on the Luma train journey to Edinburgh um she did she did a good video on the South Bank
As well um going along the South Bank in London that was that was good that was good yeah yeah I I was just looking at that because she was she’s not down she was not that far from Westminster bridge to begin with but yeah there’s there’s a
There’s um a scam going on on Westminster Bridge have you do you know about it nope so it’s what it is is there’s a load of people on there and they do what is called the the ball and cup uh scam so there three three cups of the ball underneath they
Do that and you then select you know which one you think it’s under yeah and you but the difference is you put money on it now it is a trick it’s it’s you know they’ve got some method of moving it between cups and there’s a lot of
Them doing up and down the bridge now if for for you and I walking over there with your family and all that you know you see that and you put a Fiverr on it sort of thing it’s a bit of fun isn’t it but what you don’t know at the time is
That everyone in the crowd of people around you are in on it and so what happens is when they do it they’re seen to be winning yes but when you go in there you will lose your money and they take thousands and they have spotters spotters at either end of Westminster
Bridge spotting for the police getting ready to radio through to get everyone to move on it’s a real scam watch that program I think it BBC 2 or something like hustle or the real hustle or something where there was like a a team of three of them that used to go along
And try and show you how all those scams are done and and by and large like you youve nail on the head there you said there were like a group of people all in on it and you think the essence is what are the economics of that
Business model you’ve got to pay a lot of people I read a book called Freakonomics and it was all about the economics of crime and there is this guy that basically did about 10 different examples of all these different crimes like this to make money and he said he
Said in nine out of 10 cases you’re better off getting a minimum wage job stacking shelves in the supermarket no disrespect to those stacking shells and supermarkets that was the point you you will earn more money in nine out of 10 um you know instances by just getting a minimum
Wage job then you will through crime and with crime obviously you have the extra additional uh threat you might be prosecuted or put in prison or many things so I wonder I wonder yeah but anyway I think it just you know sort of gentle warning to listeners if you’re
Crossing Westminster Bridge don’t get suckered into it you will lose your money so yeah yeah so anyway anyway so we nor talk about wesex Headley we do talk about Wes and we’re going to be talking a lot about about Wessex tonight aren’t we so I
Think so yeah I think so this is a slightly more normal episode we we don’t have any anybody uh bmch in Tweed uh as a guest um unfortunately I mean that was brilliant um and uh we we just just you and you and I we do however have some
Amazing and not to you know spend half the podcast talking about the podcast um you know like some others do but you know we do have um some rather special guests lined up don’t we so are they going to wear tweed is it like a theme now that anyone
On this podcast has no I think I think we’re probably through the Tweed phase of the podcast at the moment apart from obviously promoting you know Tweedy Outdoors we’re not paid for that um but he does mention us on his videos so we have to he did yes he did I watched the
Last one I got a little Mentor I was very happy it’s good was makes me happy um so yeah we have we we’ve caught a big fish than you know the next guest and that’s Maran aot from the television brilant so brilant historian TV presenter she was on time team um she
Well she’s hosted God knows how many things um and she is coming on here on Wessex ways so spread the news everyone uh let’s get some viewers on that uh she you know she deserves a lot of and viewers and listeners of course um and
Um yeah and then after her we do have the aforementioned Warren brand coming on uh the excellent Warren brand I don’t think there’ll be any Tweed I think that’s more outdoor gear although he does wear a very distinctive leather hat which I’m hoping here bring on I I I
Will I will confess that I’ve not watched one of uh his videos as yet but I will correct that very soon well let me send a few of my favorites over to you it’s probably the best way of doing it um because I’m trying to get you out
I’m I’m buying a tent I want to do some camping um I’ve got aere area in my sight and milk Hill also um looking at parts of Wales uh particularly places that Warren himself has actually gone to and camped as well okay um so yeah I’ve actually although you know I bought the
Tent and picking it up Sunday and realized I’ve actually already got four tents in the garage so and we got another one coming as well so we’re going to have six tents wow but this is this is a good one this is a good tent I
Can’t wait to get it it’s a little oneman tent that um one of these aerodynamic things yeah so okay so we’re going to be talking I think both of our subjects this evening will be about wesex places in Wessex um Paul’s there’s no point in doing a treasure hunt for
Paul’s Place because I know where it is um Paul doesn’t know where mine is and so that we later on for those that viewers that are listeners that are Clinging On for probably for dear life by that point to be honest with you um will finally be eradicated through that
Pointless um game that we we play that uh I’m everybody loves has everybody’s fav completely off the air I think I need to start a poll Headley I think I need to start like um some kind of evidence-based survey to um to convince you how popular that feature of our
Podcast truly is no no can we turn it around can can we have in the comments people on YouTube can put in the comments how much you hate treasure hunt love how much you love no no no no no no you hate the treasure hunt feature it’s
Pointless boring time wasting and and it makes people motion sick with the map so oh to be fair we do need to change that feature I will hand that to you speaky I don’t know about you but I I mean oh I’m drinking the lumo beer I’m
Not having a great time okay so for those listening on Spotify Apple Google and YouTube and whatever Paul is holding what looks to be a slightly tepid frothing cup of urine in a Cocola glass but you know I wasn’t going to say that but now you said it I’m I’m kind of
Thinking that maybe yeah I need to drink some more water if this was if this was the produce that is the worst looking Coca-Cola I’ve ever seen yeah anyway enough of my one one more thing one more bit of housekeeping before we get on to what we’ve done yeah the this last
Couple of weeks um you you uh put on Facebook something on Twitter that you’ve got a a plark issue or something now have you been to dentist yeah I need to I need to get one of the little pics the TR is head it’s a really really big
Bit of plaque that I’ve got okay um I don’t oh look at you look at you for for the benefit of those listening on the podcast I’m holding up something that has a small mirror in it stop distorting my face and Headly can see himself it’s like it’s like one of
Those funny mirrors at a fair you’re making me look even fatter than I am yeah so I’m holding up a YouTube plaque which is lovely that arrived in the post of the other day I feel really guilty right I’ll tell you why because it’s got
My name on it you’ll note it’s got Paul whitewick on it we know that yes yeah that’s me right so when we when we were at 85,000 subscribers Rebecca and I came to the decision that we would change the name of the channel because Rebecca wanted to really push her own channel
She said let your videos are kind of just you these days because they’re more documentary and that’s where we wanted to go Rebecca says right rename the channel I’ll really want to push mine so we renamed it when we’re at 85,000 we were really going nowhere fast and we it
Took us like a month to get a th000 subscribers then all of a sudden the channel took off and the last 90 days thereafter went mad and we got like 16,000 subscribers in just you know very short period of time and all of a sudden
This turned up and um I’m feel a bit guilty cuz it should say Rebecca but it doesn’t cuz obviously I want to you know it’s not just one person that made the videos it was re she might she might come along with a pair of compasses and
Scratch her name at that point but yes yeah but that’s why she she is adamant she will have hers very soon yeah I think she will I think she will and and thanks for for those watching on YouTube thanks uh for inadvertently showing us around the room you’re in using your
Highly reflective well there I mean there’s nothing to hide if I look over there there’s a shoe collection red red curtains a shoe rack oh bed this I am building a studio as we speak Headley so you are for the moment stuck in the bedroom um oh dear so I’ll have
To respond in kind and do the same well you have to build a studio put your YouTube plaque in the background as well Headley YouTube plaque I’ve got 300 followers you don’t what do you get for 300 followers a a piece of paper or rubber band or something so well the
Thing is I’m you know I’ve had people asking about these blue curtains behind me in here and I actually record this in my wife’s office so at the back of the house we have two offices over there is mine which I do my work in um maps of
Heath and drone pictures and goodness NOS the two are not related and uh over here is my wife’s office so um and I use this because it’s furthest away from the rest of the house and less susceptible to interruptions fair enough what you what have you what have
You been up to this week apart from replacing Rebecca in bed with your plaque and stuff like yeah well I’m sorry Rebecca but you know it’s um it is what it is basically and there’s even a mirror on it anyway what have I been up to I’ve been I’ve been largely based
Locally around Salsbury I’m not going to go too much detail because there’ll be a video or two that won’t have been released yet um so I don’t want to give too much away but suffice to say um I was showing a dipstick today uh which was marvelous some of you
May know what that means some of you may not um I’ve also been looking at again I’m not going to go into detail but I’ve been looking at uh mystery Railways um that not a lot of people know they’re there or know the reason why they’re there so that was a little
Video and I’ve also been talking about the first king of wessix in around about 580 ad um a man called sherck and I pronounced that correctly believe or not now that is a big video we’re doing probably in around about a month’s time and we’re doing it based on the request
Of an author who’s written a book on said character and has been using Anglo-Saxon Charters to plot the burial site of the first king of England so um there a little little treat in a for you yeah that’s sort of two or three lots of suspense there that’s great so yeah so
I’m not going to go into detail about any of those because obviously there are videos coming up soon um yeah but yeah suffice to say we’ve been wandering around soulsbury in the rain today and yeah we’ve had a meeting with with a guy that’s written a book which you can
Pre-order but I’ll we’ll come to that soon and of course you’ve you’ve been I proofed another video of yours which it’s probably out by the time this comes out which I think you’re going to be talking about as well yes so on Maiden Castle uh which fascinating place and
We’ll get on to that in a bit uh shortly so yeah I about that because there’s a lot more as ever a YouTube video is 10 minutes long or thereabouts maybe 15 and there’s always so much more to say um and yeah I I even for that video I even
Had a meeting with miles Russell uh I think he’s head of Bournemouth University archaeology Department um who kindly sort of gave me some more insights and I I didn’t really have opportunity to share those so i’ be good to talk about a couple of those as
Well yeah yeah which I should do what about yourself Eddie what have you been up to in the last week or two I’ve been fairly busy um let’s take a spig of beer very unprofessional um so yeah I’ve been um um I’ve been busy so um but but not not
Busy as in you know sort of chores busy busy as in interesting stuff busy so uh last night um I went to a a talk on the Ridgeway by Dan Bashford from historic England so I went with um Anna so thanks to Anna for paying for me to go along
And driving me there as well very good uh and that was that was really good and he he was concentrating on the stretch of the Ridgeway sort of from I think he looks after the let me get this right he looks after the scheduled monuments and the ancient sites between whan Smithy and
Nuffield on the Ridgeway so you’re looking mostly along the middle Ridgeway along the you know the remind me where remind me where nuffield is nuffield in the chilon it’s the South Chilton so think Way Up Wallingford Wallingford way so if if you draw a line between Wallingford and Henley it’s half way
Along that line okay um so he was telling us about all these places like Rams Hill which is something I’ve featured recently uh he was telling us uh about a little bit about L about uh some of the field markings up on streetly Warren about the Grims ditch
Sections um and he lives um fairly near the Ridgeway uh around the sort of the wage and hreds area so he he s of Majors on the the stuff along there so things like touch and AR and and um uh around by Lord Wantage monument and stuff like
That oh got I’ve got a replac beer Headley you got a replacement beer there’s there’s water that doesn’t look very beer like that can I can I give you that just tip it so so sorry about this everyone Paul Paul is just sorting out his
Uh the lumo beer but it’s not it’s not that’s fine get musico said H hello well this is this is fantastic isn’t it so uh for people uh listening in Paul is just opening a beer I’ve moved over to the traditional butty back absolute again terrible entertainment um terrible entertainment terrible
Entertainment we can’t we can’t completely expe Tweety from our system can we so uh so that’s good so right so um no no absolutely AB absolutely it’s we we can’t have get in front you can’t get between a man and his beer um so that was the Ridgeway talk um so um
Going to fly my own flag a little bit here to be honest with you maybe I do it a bit too often I shouldn’t do not worthy of it but um uh I I provided the cover photo for British archaeology magazine this episode so this is for the
Next two months of old sarum because Mr sorry Dr Alex langland’s uh has done a piece on old sarum inside definitely worth a read um some interesting insights in there and I discovered a hill for oh are you allowed to divulge as yet I can well no okay when I say I
Discovered a hill Fort I didn’t discover a hill for for the first time I mean you know there’s a path around it and a fence and written Hill for on an OS map but in my own little world I’ve discovered for me a hill Fort um strangely
Very close to where I have lived for a great deal of my life when I was a child um so this is over again sort of marcham frilford area little uh Little Village called Char Basset um used to cycle through it a lot and chy bass is a Charming little place beautiful little
Church um but there’s a path going out to the north and there’s a hill for although it’s not actually on a hill it’s so it’s just a fort really but it’s huge it’s called cherbury camp and so I sent the Dr Drone screaming up and took some aerial photos of it do you
Know what let me through for those for those for those that are those that are on YouTube let’s do a share of photo for those that are on the podcast version the Spotify I’ll describe what I’m seeing first of all I can see headley’s
Forehead oh now I can see now I can see Bing Maps Headley this is exciting so I feel like we’re starting treasure hunt too early so yeah no so what I’ve done is i’ straight away I’ve shared the wrong screen so I need to stop sharing
Share why am I so bad I do now back to headley’s face right okay here we so cherbury Camp is this one so tell me if there’s H can you see that on your screen all I can see is your folder your folder with pict oh I despise Microsoft I can’t see the
Actual picture it’s fine no I can share it this way I’ll just share the I should just right there we go there you go so oh look that um so for for those that are listening in I’m now showing an aerial photograph of cherin as you can
See it’s kind of um as those you watching on YouTube can see it’s kind of an oblong it’s a multiv valet Hill for so it’s Iron Age and multiv valate means it’s got more than one circular earthw work around it in fact it had three so
You can see down towards the bottom um here does the zoom work here so you can see down towards the bottom there are three defensive Earthworks as You Follow the bottom one round unfortunately it’s been plowed out by agriculture now there’s local Legend has it that in the
Background here you’ve got very bad resolution this um the original pictur is not uh you got upington White Horse Hill just there and apparently they invaded and C captured this particular Fort but then some people are saying it wasn’t invading and capturing it was actually um literally just you know uh
It was empty and they they took it over but yeah yeah I mean that’s very close to sort of invade and capture isn’t it because surely yeah if we’re talking Iron Age obviously we are yeah is and we’re talking the tribes of the Iron Age well that’s very close that’s like what 10
Miles yeah yeah yeah so yeah so there was that um today I’m I’m going to talk a little bit about what I’ve done today it’s it’s been really good so um before my birthday in December I was talking with Sam walks a lot uh who was a guest
On here uh surname is not actually walks a lot but you know we refer to her that way for now and um she she promised me a birthday walk and so we decided on a Bri we decided to make a night walk um um and then we decided to make it a morning
Walk with the sunrise so all you know it sounds sort of idilic to begin with but unfortunately things don’t go according to plan as we know things generally don’t so we had to postpone and uh it was today that we picked up on it and
And done it so um we traveled I mean I I woke up middle of the night uh to the alarm went off um and the the rain was bashing against the window and so immediately I we knew it was forecast rain just didn’t realize quite how heavy
The rain was going to be and how cold it was going to be anyway you know dogged britishness takes over and so I got in the car and we you know drove down to A3 met up with Sam and we started our our night walk so we’re walking around the
Stones and you know 5:00 in the morning you know on Winter’s morning when it’s dark for a few hours in that kind of conditions there is nobody else around you know and so everywhere you point your head torch it it lights something up and it’s kind of eery and you know we
All know our way around a let’s face it but you know when you’re there in the dead of night with the the rain and the mist and the wind and the cold it’s a completely different place but I remember Tweety saying um he used the word atavistic in the last podcast
Didn’t he and it’s still you know even in those conditions at that time of night you still get that feeling that’s what I me it doesn’t have to be a summer’s day Sunset to have that feeling when you’re at Avery um okay it’s it’s going to feel a bit more special when
You you are there at that time but you know this was great so she was doing a video cuz she she does YouTube videos there and we walked up the Avenue uh after looking all the trees and Stones around ay and then we went up to West
Kennet longb and you know dark and head torches yeah uh and by the time we got up there we were frozen it was you know we were wet through um you know we got very good waterproof clothes and you know Fab sealed them and everything but
When you’ve been out a few hours in heavy rain and driving wind you know you know you can’t keep it out you can’t hold back the tide so to speak so went into the West kennet Long Barrow of course nobody there because no one’s as stupid as we are that time and
In there uh the temperature a little bit like um the oran’s long Barrow is not always the same as it is outside and so actually it was a bit warmer in there and of course it’s dry in there so we set up we had head lots of different
Torches and head torches of various colors set them up into the actual you know the ledges around and we actually made a quite a nice ambient sort of place to be so we decided to spend some time there and you know um we had an English breakfast we didn’t cook it in
There just to be clear we’ve had comments we did not cook in a scheduled Monument um but we did have uh bacon eggs uh fresh bread freshly ground coffee and stuff like that with us and it was just special and of course and we put some music on as well so we
Put on is it John dun John Lun uh the the the last Kingdom okay yeah the um last yeah and and the edge Lars as well and um yeah it was really good and then we we you know um came out and it was it
Was light um it was it was really really good and uh thoroughly enjoyed it so well that is a very different birthday present isn’t it Headley like it it is it is it was um it was it was very different and it’s it’s you know it’s
Strange when you talk about it um but it just felt at the time it just kind of felt you know um it felt what I what I wanted to do so I’ve put for those on YouTube you probably see on my screen now I’ve put my British archaeology magazine just
To just to have it there just to have it I mean if you if you’re going to do that I’ll just I’ll just sit sit here like this with with one with this look all right look your trump card is better than my trump card
I know my trump card’s got a bit water on it or something not good is it is it there we go that sounds like a good a great little great little birthday present great little birthday what’s what’s the million one like the million is gold right I mean I don’t think it’s
Made of gold but I might be wrong maybe it is um and and then there’s a 10 million which I think is Diamond maybe I’m not sure I don’t know I don’t know I’ve not researched should be precious metals and stones for the amount that YouTube are making out of
You correct as well correct yeah but anyway I digress anyway that you know that your picture highlights the old cathedal very well doesn’t it yeah and really shows that up it’s funny because Alex langland wanteded um a picture for his book and it’s he wanted
Right so you got to think about how you would do this he wanted a picture of the the base of the old Cathedral on top of the hill for at Old sarum yeah which is where he I think he led the excavations with actual soulsbury cathedral in the
Background right so there’s you can’t do that you know if you if you’ve got a um a standard camera and you point it at that thing you need um kind of a a panorama shot to get it all in but SSB Cathedral itself is so far away that
Unless you zoom right in you’re not going to see it no so and if you send a drone up which I don’t you know recommend from National Trust or English Heritage land but if you happen to be on a nearby footpath and throw a drone up
Then fine you can get a picture of old sarum but again Salsbury Cathedral was too far away to see so what we did is we did some um telephoto lens experimentation so we sent the Drone up um about between half a mile and a mile from old
Sarum so from the opposite side from the opposite side that’s right yeah okay yeah so you’re in the North to the north um got be careful there’s a flight restriction Zone there as well nearby um and pointed the camera back towards old serum and then zoomed right in so you
You’re in far enough to capture the the Cathedral on the ground or the mot on the top but it also brings up Salsbury Cathedral behind and you can get both in shock and I didn’t know if it work I tried it on Google Earth um giving away
Trade Secrets there um and then doing doing a crop of uh a screenshot and that seemed to work um so we replicated it with a drone and it worked so uh that was that was good that was was enjoyable brilliant anyway that’s that’s what I’ve been doing this week so
Excellent do you want to do some talking about a little bit talking about one of my favorite places increasingly becoming one of my favorite places which is Maiden Castle um which many of you will know is not a castle in the essence that we know it it is actually a hill for um
And the hill Fort you see today was built or constructed between 600 a and maybe 450 to more what it looks like today um and there’s there’s a lot to see not only is it absurdly vast and I mean absurdly vast in in in its acreage which we’ll
Talk about in a secondly but in terms of it acreage but then you know if you’re looking from above the plan view well you can you can almost probably double it size with the the the ditches and the Earthworks the embankments um it’s a fascinating place
And I I think sort of the early traces of it in terms of the Neolithic not occupation but activity there goes back to 400 4,000 BC so there’s a a neic cway right along the top which you can still see today like um a traditional sort of
Cway and 6,000 years old now they they think there was no sort of um inhabitation there at that time but there are or there have been two um bodies found two children age between sort of five and seven I think but just to think that they did that 4,000 years
Ago takes you it gives you it gives you an idea of how people treated that landscape even back then you know way back and then yeah I say more recently but uh 600 BC when we all started building Hill fors everywhere well they built this one it was probably about
Half probably was 16 or 17 Acres um so maybe sort of a quarter the size of what it is maybe less um still big I mean still much bigger than almost all Iron AG chill fors yeah exactly um and I think it took him a sort of 150
Years to really then beef up the Earthworks and I’ve been to quite a few hill hill fors you’ve been to a few Headley and you walk up and down the ditches the embankments and you’re still left in all but this is just like like nothing else
Just stood on the top and you’ve got maybe four layers but it’s not just the layers it’s the scale of those layers it’s just ridiculous um and you know you you they’d probably be a little bit steeper than what they are now but they’re very steep you’d have had the wooden ramp
Parts on the top um and just the most formidable um defense I structure you can imagine and that’s sort of where this story starts for me because I I I think I heard maybe like a BBC Radio sounds little production about the um the chap called Mortimer wheeler
Who in the 1930s him and his wife Tessa did a lot of excavations on that so very very highly reputed archaeologist of his time and he really brought archaeology forward Leaps and Bounds but at the time here his time at Maiden Castle was a very strange curious
One because he seemed to really want to popularize archaeology he knew that there was no such thing as funding so he needed funding from sort of private um individuals and to do this well you need to popularize it you need to make archaeology this most dramatic thing so
He went to Maiden castle with a big agenda and that agenda was to tell this amazing story and get everybody to come and see this amazing story of how the Romans invaded Britain and how they just completely sort of tore apart these Hill fors and everything he found he fitted
To that narrative so the narrative was already there the story was already there of how the Romans came and brutally killed everybody there you know they burnt the place to the ground and he found all this evidence which he said well this is it it supports it he got
All the new newspapers on board you can go back on the British newspaper archive and you can see all these articles of how mortim wheeler got on board the local press and people were turning up from miles away to see what Morton wheeler had found he’ found all these 52
Adult males in a grave and he said they’ve just been chucked in there uh 75% of them have got wounds to the head and torso therefore look what the Romans did there’s one of them with a bit of a ballist in their SP there’s a famous
Picture um and that was it he sold this story and we all believe that the Romans came here in ad43 and brutally attacked all these um tribes um but it turns out none of it was true um and that’s kind of the story I told the weekend just gone when the
Video came out um whereby he did the archology and he found all these things but it turned out that the graves 52 bodies in the graves they could have been from any era and they weren’t just shoved in that grave they were placed with the goods alongside them yes they were very much
Um had signs of the the attacks of the Torso in the head but that could have been at any point and I think it was a a chap called um Nile sharles or nil sharles and he did the archaeology there in the 1980s and 1990s and said well
There’s no evidence at all that this is Roman in fact I think this could have happened over a longer period of time um and to top it all off well this place was abandoned by 100 BC so like 140 years before the Romans got here to the Romans
Maiden Castle would probably have looked very much like what it looks like now to us maybe maybe a few more bits of sort of you wood strewing about and the roundhouses that um he said have been burnt to the ground they were w’t burnt to the ground at all they actually found
60 or 70 kilos worth of um what do we call it um Iron slag so the workings metal workings all the offshoots of the the metal workings and Neil Shar was describe the the maiden Hil for as the largest um production Center of um tools and iron you workings in the
British Isles it it was a factory um but of course mortim wheeler said well actually I think you’ll find that they are remains of burnt roundhouses just because it fitted his narrative so he was deliberate it wasn’t mistaking this was a an embellishment of a story well a
Changing of a story for Sensational purposes it’s difficult to tell there was certainly a narrative in place of what he wanted to to sell whether it it was yes it was deliberate it but I think and this is where I spoke to a chat called miles Russell and I want to
Thank miles Russell for his time because he was great and he said I don’t want to take too much away from wheeler because wheeler did so much for archaeology he did so much to get it where it is today and in the Limelight you know he was he
Was the time team of yesterday um excuse me but yes it was very much um a a a a story of misinformation yes all these things were found that’s it end of conversation we’ll just shove it into that narrative yes I found bodies yes I found burn marks yes I found all these
Different things oh look it was the Romans that was it um so his archaeology and his methodology was completely fine in what he did but that’s it that’s where the story stopped for him right next product yeah his wife sadly died halfway through the excavations um and you know that some
Had said he just wanted to move on so he stopped what he did fit the narrative move on um and it’s fascinating it’s such a interesting story because you you always assume that the Romans just brutalized the place and came along it just took over and yes I’m
Sure there was instances where that happened clearly there were um but I think as miles suggested that um the Romans probably came to the jro trigers area that tribe that landscape and probably didn’t really know what to do because they probably didn’t find an army or tribe or somebody in that
Essence they probably just found a lot of farmsteads and they were there ready to fight ready to battle and there were just people happily farming away um you know the landscape looked in the in the r& hill for sense very much like what it does today there
Was no one ready to fight them um certainly in this this landscape and it’s fascinating truly fascinating I I love doing that and and that sight that iron AG Hill forall at Maiden Castle yes because of its size of its of its um Earthworks just takes your breath away
And as you know Hy trying to get a drone shot of the place I I had to fly like half a mile backwards to get it all in it’s ridiculous it’s ridiculous yeah so old sorum was a bit like that but Maiden Castle is something else I mean yeah you
Know I I I took off to somewhere to the west of it when I was there I was in there middle of the summer and or in the summer anyway and they had all the sunflower so they had a sunflower maze to the north of it between old s sorry Maiden castle and
Dorchester but there’s a footpath that goes out to the west and you know my my drone you know is bigger and more intrusive I guess than yours and and so I didn’t want anyone to see it um but I I sent it off out to the west and you’re
Right I mean I got the Drone in the air I’m not even looking at it side on I’m looking at it length on So in theory you think well I should be be to you know get it all in shot but as soon as you
Turn the Drone around to look at it it’s like oh okay this is bigger than I thought and I had to sort of you know reverse it out as you say sort of you know to to the limit of where I could actually still see the Drone just to to
Fit the hill for end on so I mean yeah they said at it Peak there could well have been up to 1,400 people living there comfortably you know not sort of not sort of crammed in because it’s one of the Hill forts that’s almost the exception to the rule where they
Actually did uh live there for quite some time um but yeah I think it’s like something like 800 nearly nearly a kilometer from end to end so it’s it’s it’s got very complicated ramp Parts hasn’t it at the East and the West both gates yeah both gates it’s a bit mazike
Um so unless you’d already sent some Scouts there to work out how to get to the actual Gates where you have your workout cuz you might end up sort of wasting time climbing a hill Fort climbing in an embankment realizing that actually you’ve got to um yeah go up
Another four yet yeah wow yeah for I was going to say there’s one more thing if you are ever going to visit Maiden castle and you have time on your hands number one go and see the amphitheater which again has neic um in herited it’s a um it was originally like
A huge Mound neic Mound Romans took it over turned it into a Amphitheater that’s just in the south of Dorchester but also one of the most fascinating things is one of the only remaining aqueducts in this country goes from Dorchester sort of Northwest up the valley there’s like an8 mile Aqueduct um
And it’s just again it’s a beautiful thing because it just carves its way through the landscape um so Dorchester Dorchester is such a wonderful place to visit for your not only your sort of your more recent history but um yeah bit of prehistory bit of Roman bit of
Everything really very good very good so the size of it so when I was there I was staggered as you say how how huge the hill Fort is I mean it you can’t see from one end to the other as you say it’s probably about a kilometer long um
Yeah is and it is obviously elevated but it’s it’s kind of it’s one of those sort of almost peanut shaped Hill for is it like hell um but the thing is it’s kind of um the internet is lying I think so I I looked it up there was an argument I saw
On on Twitter I think it was because people down uh on the south down are saying no cisb ring is is is larger than you know Maiden Castle yeah so you know I didn’t get involved at the time I was watching this argument um and then so
Someone put on there know you know CIS ring is 60 Acres in size ma Castle 47 and I looked it up and sure enough that’s what you know the internet says the cisy ring is 68 I me I’ve been to both they are both enormous Hill fors
They’re you know they they are the two largest Hill fors in the UK by far of the two Maiden Castle feels larger now I haven’t measured it on a map but there’s a a slight curve ball here again there’s another fly in this IM excuse me
And that’s the um I was wanding over uh you know with WC 21 looking at you know um wbry hill hill Fort from above that looks very very large now I look that up and so if we’re saying cisb ring is 60 Acres Maiden Castle is 47 and that one
Of those is probably wrong I looked at wury Hill for and that says 82 Acres so if you believe the internet that wury Hill is by far the biggest hill for in Europe followed by Cy rivering followed by Maiden Castle do you know what I’m looking now Headley it’s all over the
Place it’s all over the place isn’t it Wikipedia has sister ritten down as 208 Acres it has right which is ridiculous is not not the case is it yeah so my my conclusion is it’s all rubbish on the internet everyone’s trying to outsmart each other um and I think the correct
Order is Maiden Castle then cisb ring then wurry I’m not disputing that they’re the three largest Hill fors in the United Kingdom probably in Europe um but from and this is a gut feeling when I’m there Maiden Castle feels the largest to me um yeah do you know what
The solution is to this all this headle Google Earth wow I mean number one yet that would be to measure it clearly but the solution is we need somebody to start a database of UK Hill fors you’re look I know who up for that you’re
Looking at me I you well okay I I probably look let me speak with Wendy Morrison Dr Wendy Morrison she’s the hill for expert um I just run the Facebook group which by the way we’re now just under 18,000 members which is very it it’s very popular some great
Post people are putting in as well um but um yeah I I did measure wurry Hill uh along its longest part and that is 800 and something met so it’s not far off you know it’s it’s not far off um but yeah um I’m I’m going to be this
Is going to kill my OCD now I think I think what you should do is start up a Google sheet Google sheet spreadsheet yeah and um I we can happily muster a few volunteers that would have access to Google Sheets we could we could get them to we don’t
Just want size yeah we could have a lot of different criteria to make this a bit exciting yeah um this this should be a thing Headley this I think this should be a thing yeah database we can stick it on Wikipedia at some point you know yeah as built by the
Incredibly uh popular westex ways podcast team and volunteers I mean you know let’s put this out there who’s up for volunteering stick your name in the comments below what have I done yeah yeah what have you done you oh right okay also while we’re at it we our
Podcast has been getting longer uh I think this is probably going to be shorter today because we don’t have a guest but with the one with Tweety went on for you know better part of two hours and and we were talking quite long into the night afterwards as
Well so with him so um yeah I put if if anyone’s got any ideas how long the ideal podcast should be I mean this is long format you know long form podcast isn’t it so we’re not a a five minute job we’re not but then we’re not you
Know like Lex fredman 8 hour interview either so um you know um I don’t think we’ve quite got the brains for that either but um but yeah if anyone’s got any ideas how long they think you know they their idea would be put it in on YouTube put it in the the comments
Below so yeah so I’m oh on hang on hang on you’ve done the you’ve done you’ve done the treasure hunt face for those listening on the podcast Headley is just just I want to say pulled that’s the wrong word but Headley has pulled the Pod the the treasure hunt face pulled a
Well are you screen sharing Headley are you screen sharing yeah yeah yeah where should careful I mean I need to choose where we start because otherwise it’ll be influenced by your um we start at the center of the UK the almighty Royal town of didcot okay the only town to start
From so we will start in didcot where would you like to go I mean obviously you wouldn’t really ideally you you’d just love to stay and didot me you got the railway center you got power station and I was wrong it’s not an Aldi and it’s not Leal it’s an Aldi we’ve got
Iies to apologies for UPS upsetting the did cot posy on that where do you want to go from couple where should we go where should we go we need to get on some kind of transportation and I feel the only transportation of any significance uh is the
Railway um so let’s let’s take our trusty abandoned Railway and head south on Theon okay I’m not sure how how far south would you like where would sir care to a light well I’ve just bought a ticket to newb so should I crack on down there yeah that’s not a bad Shout that’s
Not a bad shot yeah okay so you’re NE you’ve only paid to go as far as Nuri I’m afraid so I’m going to boot you off this particular that’s fine you know I’m playing along with this like this yeah I’m jump I’m jumping on the Ken and a
Headley I’m going to um I’m going to I’m going to jump on a um barge like a like a freight barge and just sort of like be like a stow away for a little bit you know make it short make it sure make it
Sure yeah a trip on the K and aen is not short Headley let’s face it no could go on for hours and be quite frustrating couldn’t it right let’s head uh go way I mean West yes West is good you’re getting warmer where where would sir
Care to a light along the um I mean do I want to a light just just keep going keep take me longer H take me longer so you’re getting warmer you’re getting warmer you’re getting warmer you’re getting War oh dear hang on no you’re not getting War all right stop stop stop
The car stop the car stop the car let’s get off at Hungerford so you’re getting off the kenet and aen Canal from your car bit weird at Hungerford hungerford’s not bad let’s right so Hungerford is a good place so where would you like to go from
Hungerford I mean I I feel like I should head south a little yeah why not where would you like to go south I mean we’re going to have to take the car aren’t we yeah yeah I think I think yeah yeah just head south along the a338 I guess Ed and
See where we end up okay well I mean we this could go all the way down South Coast but I I would recommend so you’re getting warmer now you’re getting colder again now getting colder well I tell you what stop there stop there yeah let’s let’s let’s jump off at whatever that
Ridge is yeah okay so the River Ridge yeah okay so you’re now you are now on the um wayf far’s walk oh is it okay so you’ve got East or West basically I think I should head back in the direction I originally came from which
Is to the east okay to the east do you know what I mean we’re nearly back at um what’s it called we are back at gy we are and actually I’ve covered this can’t be here can it because I covered this in a previous episode
But I hate to say it we are at WBY Hill again oh happy days yeah now we’re we’re not um actually on WBY Hill is not the focus far attention it’s more this particular Ridge uh which is the the north Hampshire Downs so if you look at this
Picture I mean for terrible radio isn’t it uh if you think about it this is uh for those listening I’m showing a 3D Google map of um wbry Hill and let me just align that with a photograph that I published the other day get rid of my
Archaeology one and there we have the actual Wy Hill itself with the way feris heading over the top and a beautiful Cloud inversion and actually just down here um in this littleit you can just see myself and Mr WC 21 in the background there so um this is the ridge
It runs east to west or west to east depending on your orientation um and uh if we just pop back to Bing Maps you can see this Ridge you can see the lovely contour lines running along here that nor Northwest to to South East um I did a walk here uh so
I admitted it from my what did I do this week uh to try and fox you um I thought that you know I wanted to do another walk and I didn’t you know want to resort to you you know finding out where I am so um this is East Woody so what we
Can do here is we can scroll along um so East Woody is just below pilot Hill and so you got the northern scarp so let me just talk a little bit about the um the the north Hampshire Downs um and to do that uh I need to describe the Northwest
X Downs so the northwes X Downs are it’s kind of a horseshoe of hills on its side if you imagine that the sort of the mouth of the Horseshoe the the U shape uh contains newb and then you’ve got basing Stoke um sort of one end of it
Woking them the other and then that that sort of Curves around past devises uh at the the the Western end so the the Northwest the north Hampshire so the Northwest St is made up by different ranges of hills in the north you’ve got the Barsha downs and then over in the
West you’ve got the Morra downs and the pezy Downs uh and then to the South you have the north Hampshire Downs now the north Hampshire Downs actually goes around where you are and over over to Beijing Stoke but the the north Hampshire Downs is is more specifically this The Ridge
Of Hills uh that goes along the north of it with the scarp so you got the dip slope uh going down to the South and the scarp slope going um to the north um it contains various significant Hills it contains actually the highest hills in the whole of the uh Northwest Downs so
Wy Hill as we’ve already talked about is the king so that’s 297 meters which I think is 9 75 ft um you’ve got close behind it Kum Hill which is not on the map here um which is something like 292 M 293 ink pen Hill 289 uh just to the um
West and that on its shoulder has K jibit and then you have side down hill which is the um the the the large wooded Hill beside Beacon Hill near the a34 which has got um Heaven’s Gate on the top clear castle at the bottom so my
What we’re going to do is we’re going to discuss my walk so let’s go to Pilot Hill uh how do I do this there we go so pilot Hill which people on YouTube uh can currently see on the screen um is not quite as high as wury Hill in the
Distance but it’s extremely steep um and it’s actually the highest point in Hampshire um now to climb this hill from the direction I’m coming from is a very very steep climb uh and it comes up from there’s a road at the bottom and and kind of like this this Quarry and you
Can either climb up around the Quarry uh and then up some trees at the top and along the way faras walk or you can climb a very steep path up the the scarp of the Hill uh up to there uh and of course naturally I kind of have a a
Picture of that as well at this terrible l there we go so uh got a picture of uh pilot hill now pilot Hill has two tree lines plunging down the scarp to the north um and various sort of Woodlands around it and everything now the day I was there on
The top of the hill um there were some people uh hunting with uh with guns so I couldn’t get to the actual trig Point um I’m not going to attempt to go to a trig Point that’s um got people hunting around it yeah um but yeah it was it was
A beautiful walk so I climbed the hill um and the views off to the north um from the uh the way farer is walk at the top are absolutely subline you can see along the ridge uh to the West out towards wbury Hill and then to the north
You can actually see in the distance you can see the the bark shans so it’s kind of the the other side of the Horseshoe and then looking out to the east uh just going to wait for this to resolve a little bit you this green green mass in
The background that’s side down hill so that’s kind of the the fourth highest Hill Beacon Hill you can just see visible just behind it but Beacon Hill actually in the grand scale of things is not actually that High um yeah so I climb the hill and there’s a path that
Kind of Dives down the back of the hill so you got lot a lot of these valleys off to the South and this is um very much a territory of uh Springs and place like that and there’s this one path I took down it’s very steep it’s a chalk
Path uh for those on YouTube you can see it in the middle of the screen here and it goes down and uh some of the views on on the Southern Slope of the Hill are really really spectacular beautiful scenery so um let me see if I can find
One here oh so this was the top there’s the the looking down from the wayfair’s walk and then you’ve got a series of gates and valleys and you can see Kum Hill in the distance uh dropping down the side um absolutely beautiful very very remote it is a hunting area so
There were people hunting on top of the hill um there were people hunting down in the valley and so you had kind of this stereo symy Symphony of uh 12b shotguns so going off all around me yeah um and that was really really nice actually I have got a picture of Beacon
Hill as well I was talking about Beacon Hill with the hill form top with side down hill and then you’ve got the the hills we’re experimenting out to the West in the uh in the distance okay um so yeah it it it kind of plunges down
And uh it’s it’s it’s beautiful so I followed the track down uh stopped for a little bit stopped for a little bit of a coffee in the woods and down here I knew I was close to hunting but I I couldn’t see it the the the there were guns going
Off all the way around here um and you could hear it echoing around the hills left and right so I I didn’t know whether or not to proceed along the path CU I didn’t know if they were just down here to the left or something um so I
Stopped to think about it and have a coffee um I didn’t want to send the Drone up either because I don’t really want uh an expensive drone being shot out the sky um climbed up out to the um the Southwest up to the beautiful little village of uh an at and very strangely
Named Village of fuckum yeah so I really hope that that came across clearly as faam f a c o m b e um fom’s lovely it’s it’s a very well to-do Village um you’ve got a church in the middle called St Barnabas um for those on YouTube here it is so Church of
St Barnabas beautiful Flint Church uh with a sort of a a a castle style Tower to the West um and you’ve got a a pub in the village called the Jack Russell and I got attacked by a Jack Russell just outside the pub called the jack russell
I I feel I should win a prize for that um to be perfectly honest with you you know I felt like inserting my walking pole into the Jack Russell and then taking into the jack russell to show it off but uh never mind I love dogs but
You know not when they try and eat me so um the jck Russell again this area is very well to do so everything’s quite expensive um and the as is the pub um but it’s a beautiful pub with a little Pond opposite um and they were very very nice
In there I’m not being paid by them um we used to stop there on bikes we used to cycle from dead cot down to here and everything yeah um I was feeling quite tired at this point um I felt I hadn’t eaten and I I was you know all those
Hills were really you know tiring me out uh so I I spent quite a lot of time in the Jack R so I didn’t have many time constraints so so looking now toward towards the southeast uh I followed the road out of the village uh and there’s
Some tree formations here that remind me a little bit of the tree formations we mentioned in the last podcast uh the battle of the Nile and then I I I headed sort of uh this way so you’re heading Northeast and you descend through the woods here now this time of year The
Descent uh through the woods is really tricky it’s a very steep gradient coming down through these trees um and I found myself because of my previous accidents descending sort of you know um veering away from the path and zigzagging down through where there’s brambles and everything I’d
Rather get stung than fall over and you know break something um and when I came down to the bottom of the valley uh there’s this hunting lodge and you know sort of 12 large Range Rovers and people drinking wine with guns over their shoulders and stuff so so that was the
Answer of where the shooting was um and uh you know they were very pleasant they said hello so the walk took me up again still sort of heading off to the the East now up a very steep track into some Woods here and then the track climbs up through the woods and
Appears out the other side y uh and a field system some very nice views off to the South from here very quiet area this didn’t see anyone else around yeah uh and then the track sort of descends the field uh here you know between the brown and the green through another wood it
Goes down through here I don’t know if you can actually see me moving the cursor yeah um and at the bottom of the wood there is a very steep Bank to descend and I found myself little bit stuck there because it was it was very muddy um very steep really out of my
Comfort zone to be honest with you and I I did what any oversized kid would do and as I slid down it on my ass I I basically didn’t care about the mud at all again I’d rather rip and you know soil my trousers for one of a better
Phrase uh than um you know end up with an ankle or shoulder injury in the hospital and uh basically lying in a little wood there in the middle of nowhere that I’m probably not going to be seen for eight years until someone sees a a skeleton you know um anyway you
Then meet a road um that climbs up a a kind of steep hill you’re already very high up here um let me just show a picture from this road which one is it it is this one so you climb up to ashmansworth and this is the the road up
Very narrow road very steep um picture doesn’t really do it justice but wonderful views all the way around and you can see back all the way back to the hills that I’d come over to get there um absolutely gorgeous uh and then you you come up to ashmansworth
Now it is actually the the highest Village in Hampshire I just check my notes ashman’s worth it’s 240 M yeah uh people saw my cheat sheets there 240 M uh elevation so it is the the highest Village probably the highest Village in the southeast of England I’d imagine
Actually certainly certainly uh in this area and definitely in Hampshire and in ashmansworth is’s a very well-kept Village is some lovely little sort of uh things so there were a few sort of hedge figures around so there’s this one sort of a a hedge figure of a a chap with a
Top hat and uh you know I’m not quite sure that looks more like the bad guy from Sonic the hedge jog if you ask me but um you know I wouldn’t want to see that at night but it’s Robotnik it’s Dr Robotnik that’s it Eggman um so yeah um
I I sat opposite this sh and and had my my lunch um not my lunch but a coffee I’d already had lunch um in fact for those that are really interested there’s my lunch b anyway I don’t know why terrible entertainment um so uh anyway I carried
On to the north so you’re heading now back towards the scarp of the hill and then there’s a choice here you can either walk along this asphalt road which Bears around to the West which is actually the road that I’d parked on originally yeah or carry on to the way
Far’s walk here uh which which crosses sort of east to west now the so we’ve now reached the scarp of the Hill looking down towards like high clear and and all of that and I realized my I can’t remember what my elevation was but it was stuck on something that triggered
My OCD it was like 990 M or something and I know there’s no more uphill from here so sorry 990 ft not 990 m so what I did is I I extended the walk I actually went down the hill into the Ry Y and then I realized quickly that you know
Again my OCD is preventing me going back up the same road so I entered some Woodland um around here yeah and there’s a track that just disappears and next thing you know you’re stuck in the middle of this this you know thick Woodland and thistles and everything um
But I knew if I just you know heaz in the plastic population he only weighs up keep fighting my way up and eventually manag to uh climb through a barb wire fence and I know I shouldn’t be doing any of this but uh go through a plow field which is absolutely terrible and
Then join the Wayfair as walk and just to sort of reiterate what John Tweety was saying in the last episode um that these high level walks were basically there to avoid the mud in the valley it it didn’t work it was terrible um it was basically this this last mile and a half
Just took forever probably took about an hour and a half it was just pure uh puddles mud all the way back um there’s some Woodland on the Scarpa the hill that I deviated into had another coffee and managed to make a bit more progress through the Woodland than I would on the
Path yeah and then just join the original road now the original Road you got lovely views off to the South um and it’s kind of a um Holloway all the way down so uh the top of the road is lined with beach trees uh uh people on YouTube
Can see you got off to the left here you got sigh downhill in the distance you got this beautiful road going along and there’s some gaps in the trees where you’re seeing down into the the veil and then the road you know descends um back down to the car basically and it’s this
Lovely long deep hallway all the way down uh with a sort of a real mixture of Beach and um non deciduous trees all the way down back to the car and uh that was it that was my my walk so bit of a strange kind of subject um this week you
Know walk isn’t itce it’s a walk it’s not you know a scripted one like I’ve done the last two podcasts but I do again I recommend this hill and this area pilot Hill um for those that um for for those that are capable I think is
Probably the best way of putting it it’s um it’s a beautiful place it’s a beautiful scarp um but it’s it’s not very accessible uh if you don’t have a car it’s not very accessible if you um if you can’t deal with some pretty harsh gradients so it’s it’s probably more of
A summer walk than a winter walk if I’m perfectly honest with you but you know you got a drone you stick it up you get some wonderful views out along the scarp of the hills and I think this this whole area is not as well known as the
Barkshire downs and the Ridgeway and and a um but here they’re definitely higher I mean you got the highest points along here and um you you won’t see anyone all day you really won’t the whole side because the start of the Tess way K jibit wry Hill may be much more known
But yeah when you go to the east of that where you are now yeah I think it’s yeah it’s part of this go to I think you’re right most people know about Kum jibbit um and probably half of those people know about wry Hill where you know the
Higher Point um yeah and um but when you when you’re talking about the hills to the east um you yeah they’re not very well known most people don’t know where Pilot Hill or Kum Hill is they probably haven’t heard of side down hill and yet these
Are the some of the biggest hills in barkshire and Hampshire and they can be seen for Miles I mean you see these this range of Hills you can see from the Ridgeway which is not as high nearly all of these Hills are higher than offington white horse Hill um which you know is
Perceived to be a very high hill uh and I mean look at the hill for on top of you know the hill here on on W Hill it’s absolutely magnificent yeah and um yeah it’s it’s an area I’m I’m very very quickly falling in love with to be
Honest with you it’s it’s very easy for me to get to and uh I plan to spend a lot of time there probably almost as much time as I do along the park Shams so yeah yeah not a million miles from me Headley not a million miles from me yeah
I mean not everything’s perfect about the area but you know you you put up with you know near nearby White Wicks you know over and motorways and a34 and but yeah no it’s it is lovely and it is a quiet area um you’re not under the not
To berate where I work but you’re not under the heath R flight path here yeah so you don’t get the noise that you get uh out there and everything so it’s a very quiet area there’s no major roads and it’s um I think it’s a very it’s a
Very underrecognized place to be B honest with you yeah yeah yeah yeah marvelous no no worries um how do I stop we are he’s terrible with technology terrible terrible entertainment terrible entertainment terrible camera work I think we need to adopt uh adopt um some sayings from our
Guests so often we do we need a couple of WC 21 sayings don’t we I don’t know what yeah yeah I mean Warren brand doesn’t have many he doesn’t repeat his sayings much I mean he’s he’s a bit mad about custard which is quite interesting um and but yeah tweedy’s tweedy’s got
Loads of sayings I think a lot of them are inadvertent and I think it just wonderful they I I just love his videos they’re brilliant um and yeah yeah I think all of our guests got their little sayings really I enjoyed the roll right stones that he covered that was a good
Little good little video amazing how busy it was so late in the day yeah it it was and again he had that that thing that we said before where he wasn’t overly concerned about how he gets back he was more living the moment enjoying being there yes and I think that so many
So many people are obsessed with the logistics and you know don’t have the ability to sort of do things relatively on a whim I think it’s human nature isn’t it I I can’t do what he does I need a plan I don’t I’m very jealous
Yeah I am but you know he takes us with him anyway doesn’t he yes of course of course so speaking of YouTube channels I want I think some of our viewers and listeners do quite like when we mention new channels that we’ve been talking about and obsessing with and I think we
Mentioned or I say we twei mentioned a couple of times allotment Fox oh yes and I’ve been obsessing with a lotman fox as he will himself attest to over the last couple of weeks because I’ve just been spamming his videos with comments um and yeah I think it’s it’s such a I think
He’s evolved his style a lot over the last sort of six months to a year but I really love his cinematography and I doubt he sees it as that can you just explain who he is um quickly what he does rather what he so basically his videos are very
Much from our Wessex area and he will go out and he will talk about one specific place but he will do that on the back of a lot of research from Saxon Charters Anglo Saxon Charters and that just gives it a whole new a whole new way of looking at a
Video looking at something um very intelligent chap that uh um yeah so he looks at an area based on a charter and he goes into the atmology atmology the names of these places and tries to understand them better using you know where they are what where they came from what their evolution is
And it’s really fascinating and I love that blend of him trying to sort of work out Grundy’s interpretations his own interpretations of the language and the name sake and the local to and just work out the landscape using language and it’s something I never considered he he
Did a video little while back about how he found new Roman Road using an Anglo-Saxon Charter and it’s I won’t go into detail on that but but wow yeah indeed that sums up for me cinematography is great because he uses I don’t know what he uses he uses a quite a deep
Lens um yeah to zoom into things he just got a really good way with the camera and I think it works really well choice of music is great and uh very relaxing it’s not YouTube which is why I don’t think his channel is huge but it should be huge because of the
Work and the research he does to sort of come up with a production and they’re only sort of 6 to 11 minutes long but thoroughly enjoyable a really different way of looking at the landscape um and there’s another reason why he isn’t big because his thumbnails aren’t YouTube
They’re not capturing they’re not sort of you know they don’t hook you in they literally do what they say on the tin which is great it tells you exactly what you get them um yeah yeah and they’re thoroughly enjoyable they’re very relaxing really good cinematography especially in the more recent ones and a
Incredibly um you know good pieces of research to find out more about what he’s doing on that day and I love it I love it it’s a great Channel I thoroughly recommend allotment Fox yeah I I second that I’ve I’ve I’m kind of going down a few rabbit
Warren with videos um and alotment fox is kind of um I’ve watched two or three of his videos fantastic especially the seby camp and the the wh and Smithy and if if if the two or three videos I’ve watched or anything to go by um it’s one
Of those sort of rabbit Warren that I’m on the precipice of I’m about to go over I’d also put James Archard in there as well his Hill fors and uh Springs talking to David Carson about him today so yeah um we speak more about him next
Time I think but he’s yeah he he he’s really really good and he sort of takes you on a bit of Voyage of Discovery but but with lotman Fox you’re right he he spacing so much on the you know the place names and you know marrying it up
With other Concepts and and you know places nearby and it it’s it’s enthralling isn’t it because it reminds me of the Alex langland’s talk that we went to where he talked about the Wes D in context of the Anglo-Saxon Charters and I I I found that completely new for me personally that that’s
Something we should try and sort of delve into a bit more again from my point of view I’ll be careful because it’s not very YouTube but nevertheless it’s important aspect of research is trying to understand the charters and names and what that meant in the context of the landscape
Really fasinating yeah fantastic so should we do YouTube comments yeah always interesting okay so the last video as we’ve said many times was the one with Tweety so um we got 40 comments on this one so still you know quite a lot um yeah and um more views actually
Um so Sam walks a lot uh basically saying looking forward to our our walk in the dark so yes that went really really well now we I’m going to save a lotman’s fox comment to last because I think this this is worth uh finishing on I think it’s really really good yeah um
So Oscar the rescue dog good man Tweedy uh the beaten track6 going to try the Barry Conway trick it seemed to work well here goes allotment fox lotman fox lotman fox so we seem to have people commenting and chanting the names of people who we eventually get on so alotment Fox if
You’re watching stroke listening which you know I think he probably is because of yeah I think there’s kind of I think we’re informally casting a net out here and seeing if we can pull it in and see if there’s a lot of flocks flapping in it but not everyone wants to be on
Podcast to be honest with you you know it’s not everyone’s cup of tea so done uh Chris h53175 200 tons correct agree with Paul re the whole issue of uh misperceptions of history like Urban myths suspect re the Welsh endorse it John was correct and was referring to ior
Courney which is also known as schroen yes yes uh sorry just caught up to the allotment Fox reference apologies say he a lotman fox is getting a lot of love here isn’t he yeah love the way Headley love the way Hy developed a fleeting her her poo star mustache farway through
Courtesy of his cat so I did have a s of slight Hitler moment Hitler mustache moment with my cat um yeah so he does correct as someone thing that the Stonehenge tree clumps are reportedly the battle of the Nile notal yes yeah but nevertheless still as interesting
Yeah yeah and he’s we’ve led him to follow Sam Tweedy and wc 21 he says for which I will ever be grateful so yeah so appearing on this podcast does seem to get you followers and I know wc2 um has gained quite a lot of followers uh no I’m not saying it’s
Because of this podcast but I think it’s just because his videos are really starting to propagate the communities that appreciate them now yeah um so Barry Ballard 1408 uh great triple albums worth of material well done on the BBC uploads however not surprising they didn’t want in any treasure on
Clips the corporation are trying hard to attract audiences uh yeah chapter marking is a good suggestion that’s a great suggestion I think it’s a very good suggestion I need to write it down as I edit it basically y we have a very long comment from David balani
3308 um I’ve been following him on Instagram and he’s got some wonderful pictures from Spain um saying John Tweety was an excellent guest and very good sport too uh absolutely no terrible entertainment on his videos I enjoyed every single one and he’s sure that Keith Floyd would have enjoyed watching
His channel it’s just what he would have done too Floyd on wesex it might have been called um he’s he’s actually he’s made a lot of comments on that um he did say this is quite interesting because I was talking about HMS Victory last time um my talk was for those that didn’t
Listen was on the historic ships at Portsmouth I really enjoyed doing that I have to say that I really enjoyed that um he said uh David bani has been fortunate enough to visit Victory many times including once for a party where he dined in one of the state rooms uh
The commemorations it was the commemoration of the 200th anniversary of Battle of tfala and then closely followed uh oh what did he say here in fact waths were laid uh in the sea just off Cape chaga by the three navies and descendants of the key figures uh he
Says it’s time I got myself besched with some Tweed look up besched I love that word so we have here a future guest Linley so Linley 360 is the YouTube channel of Warren brand who we’ve been talking about he’s done another fantastic walking video uh since the
Last time we’ve done a podcast uh up again in the Breen beacons ban uh I’m so G to get shot out from Miss pronouncing that um and uh he’s also done a a model Railway video he’s making one in his garden which is uh pretty enthralling as well yeah so he’s
Looking forward to joining us yes uh he says referencing use of the term guys I see the word is usable for any gender as a teacher I made a specific point of using the term guys for any group of students uh what other uh says I think
He’s right isn’t it you know when students say hi sir the easy response is good morning guys and everyone I know of any sort of persuasion seems fine you know being called you know a group of people being labeled as guys it’s not you’re not labeling everyone as male you
You know it’s if you say he’s a great guy you you know you’re talking about someone who’s M but you know if you got a mixed group of people you hi guys you know you’re you’re you’re talking to everyone equally sort of thing yeah twe the
Outdoors um he he he was talking about chapter markings as well which I think is is is is an idea you know it’s up to you for I think I’m hoping I’ve spared you a little bit of editing This Time by providing the pictures by Shar my screen
Yeah wc2 UK Productions limited another member of the gang uh great to see Tweedy on West its ways um he hasn’t visit visited HMS fit Tre since around the age of eight uh and yeah he remembers it very clearly um atmospheric moving activistic is my word again I’m
Nicking that from Tweety uh the bewilder Treasure Hunt is always fun yes and we got another comment from Tweety Outdoors excellent um so again he’s he’s apologizing I’m sorry I ended up for such a long episode St apologizing he’s brilliant um yeah so uh he said Headley asked for one sentence
Answered a y tweet and I proceeded to Ramble On for several minutes and I apologized to him I think I cut across him a little bit on the vict talk so I think I was just kind of stuck on a script and you know unable to get away
From it but I did unfortunately cut across him so um Davey 941 hi Headley Paul and Tweety I laugh so hard at people that complain about traffic noise and wind really enjoyed this one well done thank you guys tweet is very popular isn’t he uh James walks in
History now this is James Archard who I was talking about okay uh definitely subscribe James walks in history 3848 um enjoyed this a feeling almost that I’d walked into a mature University students room uh with everyone having a chat after a few drinks so yeah I think that’s that’s
Brilliant David balani 3308 uh just said about the great intro roaring with laughter uh no burgundy I’m afraid it’s uh Ribera deero for me uh and then Barry Conway just says Tweety tweety tweety brilliant absolutely brilliant smashing so that’s it it’s been a bit longer than I thought
Actually just yeah is it we’ve done a we’ve done a near a near on Tweety without Tweety yeah that’s fine but we do have as I say I think we’ probably got one or two more of these um before we have guests on again um we have got
Loads of guests I mean Hannah Dylan’s probably going to be on G to try and wrote David Carson and I’ve also um feathered the idea with Alex langin as well um so we we and we’ got some great people we’ve got Warren brand um also been speaking with the people’s
Countryside um so as William and Stuart who I’m good friends with uh they’re a great pair they really are and um in fact yeah people’s Countryside good good one to subscribe to um and also uh yeah Maryanne akota I mean wow you know Fame so that’s that she’s
Probably going to be March I think yeah I think he said March yeah got M it’s all good yeah looking forward to it yeah yeah can’t wait enjoy this so like subscribe I I got to get that action like subscribe share hit the Bell whatever um
I this is why you’re you’re a YouTuber and I’m not I can’t say those things well we people like it then then they interact and that all helps doesn’t it so if you like it tell your friends Etc yes we’ be appreciative if you really have a hankering for two
Middle-aged men drinking beer and talking crap then please do share our podcast yeah so thank you very much well I’m done he if you’re done I’m done and we will speak to you all in episode 25 see you next time
19 Comments
Great discussion, enjoyed our subjects tonight. Interesting guests coming up, can't wait.
What now? I had to look and see if I was starting at zero. Serious listener base you say? Let’s sit here and see if one comes along…
An aerodynamic tent, Hedley? Splendid. Remember the 500’ rule, eh?
Thank you Hedley & Paul a very good podcast-Totally enjoyed + Thank you for the reference to my small adventures 👍👍
Ughhh I didn't read out Allotment Fox's comment in the end. Terrible presenting. Sorry AF.
It's not how big it is it's what you do with it 😁
This one rattled along – well done, chaps!
Share your appreciation of the North Hampshire Downs as an undiscovered gem. When I lived in the south Chilterns I used to venture down to them whenever I wanted to avoid the crowds. On a clear day, the views from the ridge must rank as some of the best in the south east.
Good to see Allotment Fox getting some recognition for his excellent work. I assumed he must have taken early retirement on account of the amount of work that goes into his videos, but he put me right on that in his inimitable way! His content is unique, and as Paul said, very stylish videography.
That was the least bewildering treasure hunt to date. Clearly cars need to be driven down canals for me to get it!
hi again Hedley and Paul , great waffle , omg lmao poor Hedley giving up on life at the start lol, the hedge figures looked really good ,enjoyed it again as always really well done and thank you both 😊
Another great session. Some great inspiration for walking that we will have to take up. Regarding shooting, as long as you are on public footpaths, there should be no issue. All shoots we have encountered close to footpaths have been very polite and friendly. We usually ask if it is OK to proceed or wait until the end of the drive (they can't stop you). That is appreciated and we have never been asked to wait. We are now out of season, so all should be clear until the autumn.
As usual gents, a varied and interesting chatwaffle.
Pauls shiney plaque was in contrast to that murky liquid called 'train beer’ Rebecca gave him to drink. Remember always be nice to people who have access to your food!
Headleys walk around the feudal village of Faccombe –
Interesting story about the aquistion of the village, the 4,000 acre estate and 11,000 acres of Scottish grouse moors by the late Brigadier Tim Landon. All paid for by a Sandhurst mate for his efforts in overthrowing the Sultan of Oman in the 1970s.
A nice little thankyou payout, and somewhat more useful than a plaque, however shiney.
Look forward to more……….
Love the treasure hunt
I'm not sure I can put my finger on it completely but this has been one of my favourite episodes! Maybe because it discusses past great episodes and guests, bringing an element of nostalgia (at only episode 24!) but also great content, humour, and of course the fabulous, much maligned and well-loved 'Treasure Hunt' feature. 😉
Another great podcast. Am with Hedley on the treasure hunt apart from the opportunity it gives to show us more of wonderful Wessex. Felt sorry for Sam and Hedley in that rain. Loved the Mortimer Wheeler discussion.
Hi Hedley and Paul, ¡Terrible entertainment! hahaha well if the podcasts not serious the comments shouldnt be either!!
Congratulations to all three of you, firstly for Rebeccas Nest Productions for reaching 100k subscibers and to Hedley for having made the front cover of the British Archaeology Magazine (see what I did there Paul didnt get a mention!!).
A couple of very interesting places in the discussion. Maiden Castle is simply amazing, maybe the height of the ramparts and number of them are also factors to be included in the measurements. The ampitheatre in Dorchester, Maumbury Rings, was used by Thomas Hardy in the Mayor of Casterbridge. Did enjoy seeing Sam's Avebury Ring video, she really editted it well and the part in the barrow was excellent, mind you I was hoping to see the bacon and egg too!!
It doesnt surprise me to find the barrow was slightly warmer, dotted all round Spain you will find active cave dwellings, perhaps the most numerous are a short drive away from Granada, where I live, in the towns of Guadix and Purullena where a good portion of both towns are cave dwellings. We have stayed in them numerous times and they provide excellent shelter from the heat of the summer. Well worth visiting. I need to go back and visit they have a famous steam engine locked up in a shed, it appeared in many of the Hollywood films like Dr Zhivago and The Good the Bad and the Ugly.
Thanks very much for the mentions, I'm pleased you enjoy my posts on the instathingy, as you know they are a world away from the coastal resorts that most people get to visit, which is a shame for them.
Enjoyed the talk around North Hampshire It is a part of my county that I really don't know. I think being able to show the maps and other graphics works very well and perhaps if you had an agreed start and end point to the discussión point it might work out even better, just a thought.
Look forward to the next edition. All the best!!
Sorry I'm a bit late to the party here!
Thank you for all the mentions, and really enjoyed hearing your description of your birthday trip to Avebury Hedley. Very glad to hear you got to experience the atavism! In a way, challenging weather is all the better for evoking that. Our ancestors obviously wouldn't have had the luxury of only choosing to be outdoors on sunny days. I vaguely recall we may have discussed the idea of "type 2 fun" before – experiences which might seem a bit gruelling at the time (usually because you're cold and/or wet) but you look back on with fondness. I have to admit though I'm not sure I've ever wanted to spend more than a few minutes inside West Kennet Long Barrow – it is a spectacular monument but it has a bit of a weird atmosphere to it, I find.
I haven't been to Maiden Castle but I walked the South Dorset Ridgeway (from where you can see it) last year and thought that was incredible for its density of ancient monuments.
As for your question about the ideal length of the podcast – I think Paul touched earlier on the pressure I suspect he feels that most YouTube videos have to be kept fairly short, and as a result you don't get the chance to really get into the details on some topics. So I think there's definitely a place for more long form content. As I said before though I think it would be great to have chapter markers!
Another enjoyable session. I hadn't realised there were so many fantastic hills and ridges around the areas you described. I need to go exploring there! Looking forward to joining you. Cheers, Warren
I’m a big fan of Paul’s videos because they are concise, informative, well researched and entertaining. I wish I could muster similar enthusiasm for the rambling waffle fest that are these podcasts, they are the antithesis of every thing that got me hooked in the first place.
another great podcast guys could listen to you all day every day
Great consumer focused podcast! Crime prevention advice?: Avoid Westminster Bridge. Alcohol recommendations?: Give Lumo beer a miss. Slippery downward gradient ahead?: Descend on your rear. All valuable, sound suggestions from our favourite two wise men. Also, a terrific walk from Hedley. Ideal podcast length for YouTube? I'd vote for around an hour.
Really fascinating discussion of some important issues; not least the role of archaeological investigation and historical narrative in the interpretation of artefacts such as hillforts. I found your nuanced discussion of Wheeler very enlightening, in challenging his overly romanticised interpretation, with the more forensic investigations by Sharples and Russell.