| Transcript |
| · | The Problem |
| 0:08 | · | [Music] you might be surprised to learn that right now I'm walking on one of the |
| 0:11 | · | possible remnants of doggerland and yet I'm in the middle of Southern England |
| 0:16 | · | in Hertfordshire let me [Music] explain the year is 1913 and a man named Clement |
| 0:24 | · | Reid would publish a book entitled submerge forests it's a fascinating read and perhaps |
| 0:30 | · | the first book dedicated to the existence of a long lost land joining Britain to Mainland |
| 0:35 | · | Europe Clement was sure that land must have existed there and he came to that conclusion |
| 0:41 | · | based on plant and geological studies that he did longed for the day that a uh something tangible |
| 0:48 | · | would come to light and perhaps one day we would find the stone Circles of the Antiquities now |
| 0:53 | · | buried well below the North Sea had Clement Reed survived until 19 31 his dream would have come |
| 1:01 | · | true 25 Miles off the coast of Norfolk a trowler boat brought up a lump of Pete and inside that a |
| 1:09 | · | barbed spear made from antler was found sat there wedged in the Peete and dated at 10,000 to 4,000 |
| 1:18 | · | BC and nearly 100 years on we learned so much more about what the land looks like under the |
| 1:24 | · | North Sea from the rivers estries Marshland to other events such as the tsunami in six ,200 BC |
| 1:31 | · | so the various sea level rises over time but how does all of that relate to here in hartfordshire |
| · | The Ridgeway |
| 1:38 | · | so this is the Ridgeway and it stretches from way back in that direction to Overton Hill the |
| 1:48 | · | sanctuary near aere in Wiltshire all the way in the distance there to Beacon Hill |
| 1:54 | · | in hertfordshire that's as it is in its current official form today we know it probably stretched |
| 2:00 | · | a lot further in either direction from that route and we also know it to be over 5,000 |
| 2:06 | · | years old some have said early near liic maybe even late mesic so what was going on in the UK |
| 2:13 | · | at that time now I have a theory on this route on this ancient trackway which likely spanned |
| 2:19 | · | from the east coast of England to Lyme Regis on the Dorset Jurassic Coast now I'm no academic |
| 2:25 | · | in this field I'm not an archaeologist and I'm not historically trained so sometimes |
| 2:30 | · | give my own small theory on an idea or a subject and that's okay I've have no reputation to lose |
| 2:36 | · | but this idea this notion this Theory well it struck me as really obvious now I'll come to |
| 2:42 | · | that theory shortly but first of all something really important very much relates to this |
| 2:46 | · | and it's going to help us piece together this Theory a much more modern perspective on all of |
| 2:50 | · | [Music] |
| 2:54 | · | this just so turns out that today a new route that spans across the country is being launched |
| · | The Great Chalk Way |
| 3:03 | · | the great chalk way and that's going to help me explain my theory perfectly so if we accept that |
| 3:09 | · | the old Ridgeway was indeed a lot longer than the current form we see today and did indeed |
| 3:15 | · | take that direction and Route we implied earlier well this is great because and now the great chalk |
| 3:20 | · | way is set to recreate England's oldest route taking in 400 miles 11 counties they're picking |
| 3:28 | · | up some established uh National trails and popular long-distant Pathways we're now at dunstable Downs |
| 3:34 | · | we're going to and take a look find out a bit more context which will definitely help us with today's |
| 3:38 | · | story wow hiy hello how are you you right I'm [Music] [Applause] [Music] good dearly beloved |
| 3:58 | · | we're gathered here today the reason is we're gathered here today is for the great chalk way |
| 4:02 | · | and the launch of the great chalk Way project and Route but the whole thing is about 400 m |
| 4:08 | · | long reestablishing a prehistoric long-distance route that would have been used by our ancestors |
| 4:14 | · | between the ice ages West Stow has evidence of human activity 440,000 years ago that's on |
| 4:20 | · | Route so the history is deep the scenery is wonderful and I just want to invite you all |
| 4:28 | · | to take a look at the information board get acquainted with this and spread the |
| 4:34 | · | word so it's not often you explain the evidence before the theory itself there's good reason |
| · | The Evidence |
| 4:43 | · | for that to bear with me let's go take a look at barbar Castle up on the Ridgeway so we're |
| 4:50 | · | just south of Swindon over there high up on the Ridgeway it's a gorgeous day today Blue Sky no |
| 4:56 | · | Breeze and I think the old Ridgeway is that way in the new Ridgeway goes down that way towards |
| 5:02 | · | ogborne St George either way right ahead of me is a very beautiful barbrey castle Iron Age Hill Fort |
| 5:09 | · | now up here we'd have a whole Maze of uh ancient history through different eras importantly we have |
| 5:16 | · | Iron Age occupation here at least 40 roundhouse imprints were found here we have Iron Age pottery |
| 5:22 | · | and we even have Iron Iron Age blacksmith's hoarde including all kinds of equine stuff |
| 5:28 | · | so that's great with this hillfort we have 2,500 year old construction really gorgeous construction |
| 5:36 | · | beautiful views probably 30 or 40 mil on this really clear day but it didn't end there in terms |
| 5:43 | · | of the date of this site on the Ridgeway because to the Northwest we have a bowl Barrow probably |
| 5:49 | · | of bronze Age construction and then there's more because in 2013 I think just to the uh back on |
| 5:56 | · | the east side over there where they found a flint knife and they dated it to 5 to 7,000 BC that's |
| 6:05 | · | perfect let me explain why so why are we all here well it's because paths really matter they connect |
| 6:12 | · | us they connect us to where we're going to where we've been I always think that when I'm walking |
| 6:17 | · | it's like the spine of a story that you're telling as each step is taken because I have such passion |
| 6:23 | · | for archaeology and diversifying the people who feel welcome and included in the outdoors I think |
| 6:30 | · | that's a really fantastic way not in into nature connection into Heritage but into connecting with |
| 6:37 | · | communities that are alive and existing around us today because paths don't exist in abstraction |
| 6:44 | · | they don't exist in a social vacuum when you're walking any section of this route the Peddars |
| 6:51 | · | way the ickneild way the Ridgeway or the Wessex Ridgeway you're walking through living landscapes |
| 6:59 | · | [Music] so back to doggerland back to the gradual climate change and the melting ice |
| · | The Theory |
| 7:05 | · | of Northern Europe you can map the sea level changes over the last 20,000 years place that |
| 7:11 | · | into terrain models and you can broadly give you the shape of Northwestern Europe over that |
| 7:17 | · | period from the very early stages of this ice age of this ice Retreat you could hardly make |
| 7:22 | · | out the shape of the UK and Ireland as we see it today but at this point we start to see something |
| 7:27 | · | significant you see the populations that we now know would have existed here likely slowly moving |
| 7:33 | · | south the hunter gatherers of the tundra being moved South by the ever increasing sea levels |
| 7:38 | · | well around 6,200 BC well they'd have faced very dramatic change one that many would not |
| 7:46 | · | survive this path really matters this bringing together of the four to create something that's |
| 7:55 | · | greater than the sum of its parts I find that so incredibly exciting Because the actual linking |
| 8:02 | · | up of the paths represents what we all are here to do which is connect our organizations and our |
| 8:09 | · | different interest groups into something that is greater than the sum of its parts we have to work |
| 8:16 | · | out ways to make this investable we have to work out ways that this is a proposition to the people |
| 8:24 | · | with pots of money to say that is something I'm going to back that is something I'm going to back |
| 8:29 | · | because of nature that is something I'm going to back because of climate resilience biodiversity a |
| 8:35 | · | tackling the biodiversity crisis tackling our health and well-being challenges paths do it |
| 8:42 | · | all Studies have suggested that off the northwest coast of Norway this Monumental tsunami would have |
| 8:51 | · | started now all along the east coast of Scotland where we have deposits which are able to uh allow |
| 8:58 | · | us to see dates of this event 6,200 BC give or take now further Studies have suggested that the |
| 9:05 | · | Mesolithic population would have been wiped out to the tune of 25% now that event itself wouldn't |
| 9:11 | · | raise the sea level as a whole of course the sea does retract after such an event but perhaps not |
| 9:16 | · | only did it change the face of the landscape maybe new Lakes were carved out areas became |
| 9:22 | · | much more marshy perhaps it also changed the lives of the people that lived there not only |
| 9:27 | · | the event itself but perhaps they moved forward moved South in fear of such an event well perhaps |
| 9:34 | · | their story passed on for Generation to generation the tales of that event is this a route that would |
| 9:42 | · | have meant people could trade from one Coastline to another meeting other communities on route or |
| 9:48 | · | were all roads leading to a for example I don't know what the answer is I don't know that there |
| 9:53 | · | is one definitive answer because as many people Journey along a path have as many reasons to walk |
| 9:59 | · | on that path themselves there's no one fixed answer and I think that's the same for people |
| 10:04 | · | Travelers and pilgrims now as well we walk for different reasons but we all gain some of the |
| 10:09 | · | shared benefits or maybe there's a bit that you will love and revisit again and again and again |
| 10:13 | · | or maybe it's the scale of that long pilgrimage that appeals to you whichever way it is the great |
| 10:20 | · | chalk way is ours and it's for the future as well thank you everybody [Applause] [Music] |
| · | Avebury and Sanctuary |
| 10:33 | · | the barbury Castle isn't the only place with mesic fins along the Ridgeway they're lited |
| 10:38 | · | along here it doesn't take much research I think upington segsbury watlington and even at the far |
| 10:44 | · | end of the modern one the uh Beacon Hill near dunable well that had them too but just a few |
| 10:51 | · | years back Professor Vincent Gaffney led a team that took some core samples from various features |
| 10:57 | · | Within doggerland chucking huge crane likee cone sample equipment over the side of their |
| 11:03 | · | boats deep into the North Sea now the dates they gathered from these cores varied hugely but one |
| 11:10 | · | date one area produced something quite staggering that date 4,500 BC to 3,100 BC well that's well |
| 11:20 | · | into the near lithic a near liic landscape way off of the now Coast so let's move from there |
| 11:26 | · | let's keep moving away from the melting ice in the increasing sea levels let's move away from |
| 11:31 | · | the ever disappearing landscape our ancestors may be talked of waves and water and Marshland |
| 11:37 | · | to the safety of High Ground let's head to the Ridgeway we now know that by at least 4,000 BC |
| 11:45 | · | this area had significance it was more than just dwellings and of the next two Millennia we start |
| 11:51 | · | to see significant change here the neic people building monuments like their lives depended on it |
| 11:59 | · | I do wonder if the Stroger event and uh maybe others like it combined with the shrinking ice |
| 12:05 | · | and the ever rising sea levels gave people this sort of inbuilt fear and stories that |
| 12:11 | · | lasted through generation to generation as they slowly move South South East and perhaps |
| 12:16 | · | onto what we now know as Mainland Britain and perhaps from the wash down the Ridgeway the |
| 12:22 | · | safe route is the Ridgeway the high place away from that primal fear that that Primal instinct |
| 12:29 | · | and perhaps I'm romanticizing that whole View and putting it all together and too much of a |
| 12:33 | · | small box maybe it spans obviously eras more but the fact there was a onetime incident a tsunami |
| 12:41 | · | 6,200 BC well maybe that was the last straw and that fair Instinct it was inbuilt and it never |
| 12:47 | · | went away and now we have a Ridgeway that had been used for thousands and thousands of years a route |
| 12:52 | · | to safety maybe a route to the sanctuary so I've really enjoyed today's video big thanks to those |
| 12:59 | · | the uh the great chalk way what a great event that was yesterday the opening of that route |
| 13:03 | · | they're looking for volunteers they're looking for promotion they're looking |
| 13:05 | · | for people to make it aware of a national thing so I'll put a lot of good links in |
| 13:10 | · | the description below in the meantime thanks for watching we'll see you this time next week |
| 13:28 | · | [Music] |
