Updates on New Content
Every time I add something new to the site I'll write about it here, in this website diary.
Recent Additions or Edits (most recent first)
Autumn 2024 Major overhaul of site ongoing
July 2024 Additions to update page (discoveries since 1993’) for Gazetteer of Roman Villas in Britain, and general edits
July 13th 2024 - edited and sorted out ‘Bio and Career’ section under ‘Home’
(June-July 2024 - researching audio files, You Tube videos etc)
(May 2024 - exploring branching out on to Substack, and lining up new articles including much that will continue to be free)
(April 2024 - editing site and layout)
(December 2023-March 2024 - research on Roman villas)
(June-November 2023 - working on new content including audio files of popular blog pieces on ancient history, archaeology and women’s history; general editing of site)
May 31st 2023 - Politics Blog - ‘Ed Balls Should Stick To Dad Dancing - Debate With Prof Stock Is Beyond Him’
May 28th 2023 - Archaeology Blog - ‘Musculoskeletal Disorders in Archaeologists Who Dig’
May 14th 2023 - Politics Blog - ‘Penny Mordaunt Seeks Out Her Prime Directive’
(April 2023 - site editing (Biog) and research)
March 2023 - work on ‘Roman Villas in Britain: New Discoveries’ page
March 14th 2023 - Dig Food Blog - ‘Cheapo Meals: Tinned Tomatoes on Toast’
February 25th 2023 - Dig Food Blog - ‘Cheapo Meals: Sardines on Toast’
February 24th 2023 - addition to ‘Villa Discoveries Since 1993’
February 6th 2023 - Dig Food Blog - ‘Cheapo Meals: Eggs on Toast’
(Dec 2022-Feb 2023 - research & development for website)
December 8th 2022 - Dig Food Blog - ‘Humble Mushrooms - Are They Worth It?’
November 14th 2022 - Dig Food Blog - ‘Are 30p Meals Really Possible, Including Hidden Costs? No, Not Really’
October 31st 2022 Home Page - temporary Hop Tu Naa (Halloween) content
October 30th 2022 - Politics Blog - ‘Phil Shaddock RIP - The Man Who Ate the Raffle Prize’
October 8th 2022 - editing and updating of page: Gazetteer of Roman Villas in Britain. Addition of new page on recent discoveries of Roman villas in Britain (under construction).
September 2022 - research for cost-of-living ‘Dig Food’ Archaeology Blog posts - coming soon, in October
August 21st 2022 - Politics Blog - ‘Penny Mordaunt - All At Sea With Liz Truss’
August 4th 2022 - Politics Blog - ‘The “Support of Penny Mordaunt”? I’d Rather Trust a Fifth Columnist’
July 18th 2022 - Politics Blog - ‘Margaret Foster, Friend of the ‘Hancock Dynasty’, and Jacqui Hancock to be Voted on as Honorary Aldermen’
July 13th 2022 - Politics Blog - ‘The Unease Around Penny Mordaunt: A Mumsnet Explainer’
(June-July 2022 General site editing and tidying)
June 11th 2022 - Archaeology Blog - ‘Women In Archaeology - Meeting Dr Larch Garrad, Isle of Man’
May 8th 2022 - Politics Blog - ‘Mike Hancock and his ‘Category X’ Parliamentary Pass - his Victim ‘Annie’ Says ‘Enough’
May 3rd 2022 - LONG READ in Archaeology Blog - ‘When Gertrude Met Vita: the Friendship of Gertrude Bell and Vita Sackville-West’
(December 2021 to April 2022 - research and editing)
November 14th 2021 - Archaeology Blog - ‘The Falklands Yomper - Still Betwixt Barracks and Beach’
November 5th 2021 - Politics Blog - ‘Fireworks Ahoy - the Questions that Still Exist for the Portsmouth Lib Dems’
October 31st 2021 - Archaeology Blog - ‘The Horrors of the Burning of ‘Witches’ and Heretics - Island Stories’
October 12th 2021 - Archaeology Blog - ‘Infanticidal Women: The Strange Resurgence Of Murder Trials In A Corner Of Modern England’
July 10th 2021 - Archaeology Blog - ‘Gertrude Bell and the Pandemic’
April 22nd 2021 - Archaeology Blog - ‘Norton Disney Roman Villa Landscape 2021 - A New Threat’
Full Archive List (oldest first)
September 1st 2016 - website launched
September 2nd and 3rd 2016 - additions to Gertrude Bell Project Page and Gertrude Bell Gallery
September 12th 2016 - TRAC papers added
October 3rd 2016 - Roman Palestine - 'Roman Landscapes of the West Bank' page - first draft
October 5th - 6th 2016 - general editing of Home Page, and additions to Roman Landscapes of the West Bank
October 7th 2016 - additions to Jerusalem Gallery. Additions to Roman Landscapes of the West Bank and Roman Israel pages
October 15th 2016 - general editing
November 15th 2016 - general editing including Home Page, and a news update about Scott Vanderbilt's work on digitising to map form the Gazetteer of Roman Villas in Britain.
November 16th-18th - general site editing including repairs to intra-site links, and changes to site lay-out.
November 30th - 10th December - changes to Main Home Page. Working on as yet unpublished blog pieces. BLOG publication dates: estimated mid-late December 2016
December 11th 2016 - TRAC archives page added - original delegate list from 1991 (1st conference in Newcastle) and letter.
December 13th - El's Politics Blog begins.
December 16th - new political blog post; and El's Archaeology Blog begins.
December 17th-19th - added Twitter. Added new TRAC 1 (Newcastle 1991) archival info.
December - Twitter activated.
January 7th 2017 - Archaeology Blog - Greenham Common Peace Camp, space and material culture, women's history, competing masculinities
January 14th - Political Blog - 'The Knives Are Out For You, Eleanor'.
January 16th - Political Blog - Hancock and the 'Independent' Blue Letter
January 18th - some Archaeology of Infant Death pages under review (disabled for time being)
January 25th - Political Blog - Why Weren't Hancock's Texts Enough?
February 6th - new photo added to Gertrude Bell Project page (Auguste Salzmann 1854, Damascus Gate interior) and some new text
February 9th 2017 - Gertrude Bell - More Than 'A Free Booting Scholar'. Archive article added
February 10th 2017 - Political Blog - Neil Gaiman - An Apology (piece about Lib Dem Cabinet shenanigans in Portsmouth)
February 12th 2017 - 'Romano-British Villas and the Social Construction of Space'. Article from Social Archaeology of Houses 1990
February 14th 2017 - El's Urban Garden & Food Blog begins. 'The Power of the Small Urban Garden'. Food history and food politics, set in a small urban garden in Fratton, Portsmouth UK
February 17th 2017 - Urban Garden & Food Blog - Growing Chillies In Britain And What To Do With Them
February 18th 2017 - Political Blog - From Nuttall To Hancock - The Strange Arts Of The Political CV
February 21st 2017 - 'Animal and Infant Burials on Romano-British Villas: a Revitalization Movement'. Article from Sacred and Profane 1991
February 24th 2017 - Archaeology Blog - Beadlam Roman Villa - Unpicking an Archaeological Site (Show Houses and Quantum Archaeology)
February 26th 2017 - Archaeology of Infant Death - 'Images and Contexts of Infants and Infant Burials: some thoughts on some cross-cultural evidence' 1990 Archaeological Review from Cambridge 11:1
March 1st 2017 - Archaeology Blog - 'Yomper'
March 2nd 2017 - Urban Garden & Food Blog - 'March in the Urban Garden'
March 16th 2017 - 'Wells on Villa Sites in Roman Britain'
March 21st 2017 - Archaeology Blog - 'Experimental Archaeology - building the first Iron Age roundhouse at Castell Henllys, Pembs, Wales, 1981'. A piece written for my daughter Maddy - from 21 to 21. Happy birthday.
March 28th 2017 - 'Inventing TRAC'
April 19th 2017 - 'The Death of Gertrude Bell'
April 20th 2017 - Urban Garden & Food Blog - 'April in the Urban Garden'
April 28th 2017 - Archaeology Blog - 'Excavation - Let's talk about the Mental and Physical Challenges'
May 2nd 2017 - Politics Blog - 'Tam Langley - the best Lib Dem MP this city never had'
May 29th 2017 - Politics Blog - 'Shaddock Vs Hunt - the Rumble in Hancock's Jungle'
June 13th 2017 - Urban Life Blog - 'Urban Crow Rescue - Mortimer's Story'
June 15th 2017 - general editing and updates to home pages; and postscript to crow story
June 18th 2017 - Archaeology Blog - 'Writing Roman Britain in 1,200 Words - aka Writing for Encyclopedias'
June 28th 2017 - 1st July 2017 - editing of format of main home page (the hub)
July 9th 2017 - Postscript #2 update to Mortimer's Story (rescue crow) in Urban Life Blog. Mortimer lives!
July 20th 2017 - Archaeology Blog - Excavation Challenges: Food, Fieldwork and Difference [now in Dig Food Blog]
July 22nd 2017 - Archaeology Blog - postscript to 'Yomper' - news is that statue is staying put
July 22nd 2017 - Urban Life Blog - 'Spring into Summer in the Urban Garden'
August 2nd 2017 - Archaeology Blog - 'Please Feed The Archaeologists (Recipes 4 All)' [now in Dig Food Blog]
August 16th 2017 - Archaeology Blog - 'Archaeological Dig Food - Vegan Special' [now in Dig Food Blog]
August 19th 2017 - Site Maintenance and Editing - Main Home Page And Hub split into: main home page hub; about this website; and copyright
August-Sept 2017 - general site editing and maintenance
September 23rd 2017 - Politics Blog - 'Reflections on a Resignation - Football, Politics and Chucking Women under the Bus'
October 9th 2017 - Archaeology Blog - 'Dig Food - Vegan, Gluten-Free and Type2-Friendly: Prep & Store Cupboard' [now in Dig Food Blog]
October 24th 2017 - Archaeology Blog - 'A Week Of Fieldwork Recipes - Vegan, Gluten-Free And Type2-Friendly [now in Dig Food Blog]
October 24th 2017 - separated out Dig Food Blog from main Archaeology Blog
November 8th 2017 - Archaeology Blog - 'Gertrude Bell, Photographer - from Jerusalem to the Dead Sea'
November 13th 2017 - Politics Blog - 'If The Lib Dems Care About Women's Well-Being, They've Got A Funny Way Of Showing It'
December 17th 2017 - Politics Blog - "The Best Deal We Could Get" - The Role of Alistair Carmichael MP, in a Scandal'
December 22nd 2017 - Archaeology Blog - 'Gertrude Bell's Christmas in Bethlehem, 1899'
January 20th 2018 - Archaeology Blog - 'The Intriguing Roman Villa at Norton Disney - a Conundrum under Threat'
January 31st 2018 - Archaeology Blog - 'Three Burials at Norton Disney - and the End of Roman Villas in Britain'
February 15th 2018 - Archaeology Blog - 'What is a Roman Villa?'
March 7th 2018 - Politics Blog - 'A History Lesson from Gertrude Bell to the Lib Dems - Hancock and Armenian Genocide Denial'
Mid-march till Late-april - some major surgery came calling
April 30th 2018 - Archaeology Blog - 'Polyandry in Late Iron Age and Roman Britain - Myth or Reality?'
May 1st 2018 - PhD thesis 'Aspects of the Roman Villa as a Form of British Settlement', Newcastle University 1988 - detailed contents
May 3rd 2018 - Politics Blog - 'The Liberal Democrat MPs, An Alleged 'Russian Spy', And Their Teeny Tiny London Flat'
May 16th 2018 - Politics Blog - 'Gerald Vernon-Jackson and his Hancockian Resurgence to Lead a Lib Dem Portsmouth'
May 19th 2018 - Politics Blog - 'Shout Out to the Lib Dems who Want to 'Just Move On' - You Are the Story Now'
May 22nd 2018 - Politics Blog - 'Hancock's Back'
May 23rd 2018 - Politics Blog - 'Hancock Calling - and He's Got Gerald's Number'
May 25th 2018 - Politics Blog - 'Too Unwell To Talk, Not Too Unwell To Speak - Hancock's Still Spinning'
June 18th 2018 - minor edits, Main Hub Page
June 18th 2018 - Dig Food Blog - 'Fieldwork Food and Diabetes'
June 24th 2018 - Urban Life Blog - 'An Urban Fledgling Blackbird - and Loss of Habitat'
June 26th 2018 - Urban Life Blog - 'The Urban Bat - Challenges Ahead'
June 29th 2018 - minor site edits
June 30th 2018 - Archaeology Blog - 'Rape - the Use and Misuse of Ideas about Sexual Violence'
June 30th 2018 - 'On the Incompleteness of Archaeological Narratives' (chapter from Invisible People and Places: writing gender and childhood into European Archaeology eds Jenny Moore and Eleanor Scott)
June 30th 2018 - 'Rape - the Use of Misuse of Narratives of Sexual Violence - (includes paper from Indecent Exposure: sexuality, society and the archaeological record ed Lynne Bevan)
July 5th 2018 - additions to Jerusalem Gallery
July 13th 2018 - Archaeology Blog - 'The "Gods of Old" - and the Power of Community Archaeology'
July 14th 2018 - updates to Biog
July 27th 2018 - Archaeology Blog - 'Museums, Children and Violence - Boudicca in Colchester'
SUMMER RECESS - working on three books for online publication (On: Gertrude Bell; Archaeology of Children; Inclusive Archaeological Practice - Food.) [edited entry]
October 13th 2018 - Archaeology Blog - ‘Gertrude Bell - in Search of the “Real Woman’’’
October 22nd 2018 - Urban Life Blog - ‘Preserving a Tomato Glut - Blanch, Peel and Freeze’
October 25th 2018 - Politics Blog - ‘The Politics of … Student Housing’
November 15th 2018 - Archaeology Blog - ‘Gertrude Bell’s WW1 - Beginnings’
December 22nd 2018 - Archaeology Blog - ‘Gertrude Bell 1914-15 - Christmas in France, A New Year in Purgatory’
January 18th 2019 - Archaeology Blog - ‘Fine Dining in the Desert with Gertrude Bell’
March 14th 2019 - Politics Blog - ‘Did Mumsnet Just Hand Penny Mordaunt Her Arse?’
March 16th 2019 - Politics Blog - ‘Did Mumsnet Catch Out Penny Mordaunt Over Turkey “Lies”’?
April 8th 2019 - Politica Blog - ‘Penny Mordaunt, THAT Mumsnet Webchat, And A Brewing Children’s Safeguarding Scandal’
May 2nd 2019 - Politics Blog - ‘Penny Mordaunt, Defence Secretary - Has Theresa May Replaced One Gaffe-Prone 'Liar' With Another?’
June 20th 2019 - Urban Life Blog - ‘The Crow Family at the Newcome Arms, Portsmouth’ (updated July 4th)
July 9th 2019 - Archaeology Blog - ‘The Prehistoric Infants of Wadi Kubbaniya – Making Young Lives Visible’ (link to guest blog on The History Girls website)
September 4th 2019 - Politics Blog - ‘Five Political Things I Love About Mumsnet This Week’
November 7th 2019 - Urban Life Blog - ‘Urban Cats - Fleas and Flea Allergy Dermatitis (FAD)’
November 11th 2019 - Archaeology Blog - ‘‘Our Boy’ - An Act Of Remembrance In A Landscape of the Fallen, East Jerusalem’
November 29th 2019 - Archaeology Blog - ‘The Last Dambuster - Landmark, Landscape And Memory At Norton Disney, Lincs’
December 3rd 2019 - Edits to ‘About This Website’ and ‘Main Home Page and Hub’
January 30th 2020 - Edits to ‘Main Home Page and Hub’
February 3rd 2020 - Politics Blog - ‘Keir Starmer’s Mumsnet Webchat & The ‘Lost’ Inquiry into Children’s Safeguarding’
February 5th 2020 - Politics Blog - ‘Emily Thornberry’s Mumsnet Webchat & the Children’s Safeguarding Inquiry Not Worth a Mention’
February 6th 2020 - Greenham Common Gallery added
April 22nd 2020 - Main page edit (news)
May 21st 2020 - Politics Blog - ‘Portsmouth’s Follies - Will imploding business plans make student sky-hutches redundant?'
Throughout 2020 - editing, research, article preparation, blog piece(s) preparation. Provision of assistance to researchers and other bloggers, and receipt of donations to this website
January 15th 2021 - site updates
March 15th 2021 - Politics Blog with link in Archaeology Blog - ‘From Greenham Common to Clapham Common - Two Generations of Vigil & Protest’
July 7th - 10th 2021 - site editing
July 16th 2021 - edits