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Published September 8, 2014 | By Philip Cunningham

‘The Stour Valley: A Prehistoric Landscape’

Sneak preview of the yet to be published CAG book . This will Cost £5 plus p&p and will be available in a few weeks time. Formal launch is planned to take place at Wormingford on the Winter Solstice: 22nd December. Sunrise watch at 8am followed by breakfast at the Crown. Further details coming soon!

British Museum, Wednesday 9^th April

A full coach left Colchester for a visit to the British Museum to see the “Vikings – Life and Legend” exhibition. This important show was arranged in the brand new Conservation and Exhibition Hall. It was extremely informative with three rooms displaying artefacts from all over the Viking world, some very beautiful and finely worked. Finally you arrive at the ship hall where the Roskilde boat (what remains of it) had been brought over and reassembled. Nothing can prepare you for just how big it really was!

: Roskilde 6 at the British Museum

Flag Fen, Saturday 7^th June

On a rather damp morning our coach party left Colchester and arrived at Flag fen in time to meet our guide who took us around the site pointing out things to see. A very important Bronze Age site which was initially discovered and excavated by Francis Pryor.

Amongst other things, we saw the site of the Neolithic trackway; reconstructed Bronze & Iron Age huts; remains of a Roman road; a small museum displaying a few of the many finds – several of which, it is thought, had been ritually deposited. As Flag Fen is now a centre for the conservation of waterlogged wood it was very exciting to see the Bronze Age boats from Must Farm being treated. Members may recall we had a fascinating talk about this project last year. By this time the rain had cleared and we had time to picnic or lunch at the visitor centre, watching the antics of a little water vole!

We set off again a very soon arrived at BuckdenTowers – originally called BuckdenPalace, when the property belonged to the Bishops of Lincoln. It is now a Claretian Missionary Centre used for retreats and conferences. We split into 2 groups each with a guide. Much of what we saw was 15 cent. There is an imposing Gatehouse and a large square tower. The site was walled and moated – some of which still exists. A part of the original structure was demolished to make way for a large Victorian House. We were made very welcome and given tea and biscuits in the beautiful walled garden before setting off on our return journey home. An excellent day out!