'The Work of the Hants and IOW Trust for Maritime Archaeology' doesn't sound a very exhilarating subject, but anyone who stayed away from the October meeting for that reason missed a treat.   Although Julie Satchell's quickfire delivery made it a rather short talk, the subject matter and some excellent slides made it rivetting stuff.

There was known to be so much archaeology under the waters of the Solent that the Trust was set up in 1991 with three aims.   Research would be carried out by practical fieldwork;  Education would be disseminated through all kinds of presentation;  and there would be the co-ordination of the various interested groups.   The Trust's projects attract volunteer help from all over the country.

The Solent was the result of the flooding that occurred after the last Glaciation, and now hides a Mesolithic landscape of the sort that we normally associate with land-based archaeology.   Evidence of habitation exists below the water, and the slides included pictures of the worked flints that have been recovered from submerged sites, and it is fascinating to think that lobsters are digging out artefacts down there in much the same way as moles and rabbits dig them out up ashore.

The second part of the talk dealt with shipwrecks.   Many wreck-sites are now protected by legislation, and it is significant that a high proportion of the total round Britain (seven out of fifty-four) is lying under the Solent.   We heard about HMS Hazardous, that went down in Bracklesham Bay in 1706;  about the 'Pomone', wrecked on the Needles in 1811, with bits conveniently drifting into the quiet of Alum Bay;  and the Dutch 'Fenna', wrecked in 1881 with its cargo of railway tracks and barrels of cement.   Equally important were the finds of a Saxon log-boat at Langstone, Roman jetties in the Itchen and a Napoleonic shipyard at Bursledon.   A few crashed aircraft have also been recorded.

Standard archaeological tools are adapted for the underwater work, and sites are charted and mapped in just the same way as they are on land.   The preservation of organic material is costly, and most of the finds are left in situ.   The motto of the Trust seems to be 'Record!, Record!, Record!'

FOLLOW-UP TO THE AIR HORSE STORY FROM THE LAST ISSUE

Regular reader Mrs Dorothy Sign writes:

…"I read with interest of the "Air Horse" in the September-October "Westender". I had seen it flying around West End. My brother-in-law, George Price was a Flight Engineer for "Cierva". He had flown that morning on the "Air Horse" and on what was a satisfactory flight, landed. Decisions were made to go up again and George stood down for Henry Unsworth, also a Flight Engineer, to go up. George watched it take off and soon after it disappeared tragically. A tremendous shock and loss to all concerned. George is no longer with us but his wife Lettie Price still lives at Millbrook Road, Southampton and has verified this account. My mother, Mrs Mills was watching the craft from her garden at 117 Moorgreen Road when she said it looked like a lot of sticks dropping from it as it disappeared in trees behind "Pragnell's" Farm.That evening I went with friends to the scene which was cordoned off. Our thoughts were with the families of the three men who died with the craft."

Mr Barry Chinchen sent this e-mail:

…"I have just noticed the article about the air-horse in your September/October Newsletter. My father worked for Cierva and was offered a flight on the machine that crashed but declined to go up."

Fate was obviously very kind to these two gentlemen.                         Ed.