Members of Archenfield Archaeology found a 1st Century Roman brooch whilst fieldwalking near Harewood End in the parish of Hentland recently. The brooch is of a type which until recently were referred to as fibulae, the singular noun, 'fibula' meaning pin. This type of brooch is now known as a 'bow brooch'.

The Celtic-style, trumpet brooch dates to the 1st / 2nd century AD and is of a type which worked like a modern safety pin, used to secure clothing. It is also decorative and may have been worn for its own sake.

This is the first Roman brooch recorded from any of the twelve parishes in the Archenfield Archaeology study area. Stray finds of this type occur randomly and usually represent the chance loss of the object. Objects like the one found are as likely to be found away from settlements as near them.

On Friday, 10th March, I visited Archaeology near Fownhope and photographed the brooch. Whilst there I asked Huw Sherlock, finder of the artefact if he would like to be my first victim of Wyenot Television and record how and where he found it. To my amazement, he agreed. Click here to watch what Huw had to say on Wyenot Television.

Ross Health & Fitness Club held a three hour sponsored aerobathon in memory of Matthew Beddard and to raise money for the brain tumour research clinic at Birmingham Children's Hospital on Sunday, 12th March. Approximately fifty people took part in this mammoth exercise session, including some of Matt's mates, who helped to make the three hours fun with their choreography skills and great humour.

Matt's passion throughout his life was for sport, so this was a fitting memorial to him.

Dean, Caroline, Tony, Mel, Abi and Nan are extremely grateful to all who turned out in the snow and participated in the aerobathon and would like to thank all of you and all sponsors.

As well as photographing this event, I took some video footage for Wyenot Television. I have edited most of it out as I just left the camera running and it had me in it, taking photos (you wouldn't want to see that!) but what is left can be seen by clicking the following link: Wyenot Television Footage.

Further information on Ross Health & Fitness Centre can be seen by clicking here.

'A' level History students from John Kyrle travelled to London to take part in three seminar workshops at the Tower of London in February. All three workshops began with a study of authentic documents and continued with a session when students handled and assessed the importance and reliability of historical artefacts. The day ended with a tour of the Tower itself.

The whole experience was extremely educational and enjoyable. Students found working with the original documents in the library particularly interesting. Not only did they assess the actual Tudor accounts, students also had the opportunity to decipher Tudor and Stuart hand writing.

The work that one group attempted concentrated on an inventory of weapons from the Civil War period. They were given a variety of text books to help with the study. Part of the work was also to consider the different prisoners of the Tower, including the fact that only seven prisoners were ever executed within the Tower itself. Two of these were the wives of Henry VIII, Anne Boleyn and Katherine Howard; most people were executed on Tower Hill.

At the end of the seminar, whilst working on the documents one student, Sarah Hicks approached the curator to enquire if it would be possible for her to experience work at the Tower during the summer holidays. She was successful and a week of work experience has been arranged for her at the end of July. She will be working closely with the curator of the Tower of London and is looking forward to being an archivist during that time.