Shoot four navigation
Runners and sound technicians are tracking down different members of the Team to make sure they are ‘miked up’ and ready for the day's recording. Stewart Ainsworth is already nose down in maps. ‘I’m not saying anything yet,’ he says as he returns to a tithe map he looked at earlier and mutters to himself: ‘Mmmm, there’s a nice path running down to a junction.’
After a few frustrating problems with passing cars making too much noise, Tony manages to film his first opening piece to camera outside the pub. Meanwhile, Mick Aston is investigating a new piece of equipment that the geophysics team has acquired. ‘This is an extraordinary thing,’ says Mick, looking at the oversized spirit level. ‘It certainly looks the business.’
‘This is an EM38,’ says Chris Gaffney. ‘It’s a new geophysics tool that works a bit like resistivity, but you don’t need to insert probes into the ground. It works by electro-magnetic means and can determine what’s under the ground. It’s so sensitive that it can even tell us if we’re over stone or slag. It’s especially helpful here where we can’t put probes through the tarmac surface of the car park.’
Production 'sparks' (electrician) Garry Owen swings into action shifting cables and lights from around the cellar entrance. Onsite asks him for a quote about his work: ‘What? You want me to give you a price?’ Meanwhile Tony is called in to do a quick scene before the wall demolition starts at the hands of veteran Time Team digger Ian Powlesland.
The pub has a few resident chickens in the beer garden, which are showing an interest in the proceedings. The boss is a particularly snooty looking Silky cockerel with a deep crest that looks like a sun-dried tomato. Could this be the Time Team equivalent of the Big Brother chicken?
By lunchtime on day one, the work is underway. Geophysics is bringing in its first batch of results, pre-excavation demolition is forging ahead, the first scenes have been filmed and the Team is preparing to open the first trench.
