Dendrochronology and the return of Mick the Twig

As with the Chenies programme in the 2005 series, Time Team's visit to Esher saw the return of an old favourite for Time Team viewers: the one-time regular excavation supervisor, Mick 'the Dig' Worthington. He was there in his new incarnation as Mick 'the Twig', the dendrochronologist, taking timber samples for tree-ring dating.

After leaving Time Team (he had been advised to give up digging to avoid permanent damage to his knees), Mick concentrated on his dendrochronology business. This is now a fully fledged trans-Atlantic affair, he says, 'with more work than ever'. He was very happy to be back at Time Team, however, even if only for a one-off show.

'It was great to be back', Mick says. 'There's a few new faces but it's not that different. It's great to see the crew again. I've had a hectic time in the States, where there are plenty of people interested in dating their timber houses, and back in the UK where the call for dendrochronology is greater than ever. The worst thing about being back in the UK at the moment is that I'm missing the Whoppers (a US version of Maltesers) – they're really malty and chocolatey. I'll have to see if a runner can get some for me!'

Dendrochronology works on the basis that trees develop new growth rings each year. Climate and other regional conditions affect how thick the rings grow. So two trees of the same species growing at the same time in the same area will have practically the same ring thickness sequence. The chronology is constructed by overlapping successively older samples until the species tree ring pattern goes back for centuries.

'We take a core of wood from, say, a timber beam,' says Mick, 'and then measure the rings down to an accuracy of 0.01 millimetres. Then a computer compares our sample with my database, which holds the full chronology for the species of tree in this region. When I get a sequence match I can establish an accurate date for the sample – and the timber beam it came from.'

Mick dated the timber sample taken from Wayneflete Tower at Esher to 1462-72.

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