Youngsters set to get hands on at archaeological digs over summer

Students from 20 local schools will take part in the My Place Project, which is funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund and supported by West Yorkshire Joint Services, in partnership with Bradford Museums and Galleries.

They will head to Bolling Hall in Bradford and Cliffe Castle in Keighley in June.

Archaeologists hope that with the help of the students they will unearth items from medieval to early Victorian times.

Finds such as Victorian pottery along with discoveries of iron work, ceramics, window and vessel glass, clay pipe fragments, and animal bones are not uncommon in the area.

The one-month summer term digs with the students will take place in the grounds of Bolling Hall from June 10- 21 and at Cliffe Castle from June 24 to July 3.

Some of the school’s involved include Oxenhope Primary, Newhall Park Primary School, Tong High School and Carlton Bolling College.

Alongside the outdoor activities, supporting lessons will see the young people examining their finds by cataloguing, archiving and reconstructing artefacts.

Each young person will have the opportunity to create their own excavation manual for the future, where they will include their own memories, stories and pictures that are important to them.

Councillor Val Slater, chair of the Archives, Archaeology and Trading Standards committee, said: “This district celebrates its diverse communities and, when students are given the chance to see for themselves what life was like in the past we begin to spread the message that we can celebrate our diversity while recognising and valuing our commonalities.”

Each participant will have the chance to experience the tools and methods that archaeologists use to unearth ancient artefacts.

Graham Hebblethwaite, chief officer of West Yorkshire Joint Services, said: “This project is undoubtedly an exciting, innovative way to bring the history of our communities alive to our young residents.”