The Time Team dig at Groby was a three day frenzy of archaeological investigation - but not for everyone. As part of the production team, I'd first heard about the site five months before any of our archaeologists got to work. Reading about it, Groby sounded like the perfect Time Team; just one back garden boasted evidence of a Norman motte, fragments of a 14th century wall and a beautiful 15th century standing house - an archaeological theme park. To top it all off, you could see the local pub from site.
Before each of our shoots the production team swings into action, pulling together aerial photos, excavation reports, experts, historical documents... anything that might help us work out what were uncovering during the three days. Groby had centuries of history to uncover, as the possibility existed that we might find evidence ranging from the Anglo-Saxon period, right through to the Victorian age. Over a thousand years of history to piece together meant a lot of work for myself and the researcher.
Searching through historical documents at the archives is one of the most rewarding parts of the job. Often we can be first people to locate original documents referring to our sites. The next reference we uncover could give us vital clues as to what's buried in the ground. At Groby that moment came when I was thumbing through the county records. In an inauspicious brown envelope were a series of black and white photos of a 1950s excavation on the motte at Groby. These showed that deep inside the motte were a series of huge stone walls, including a staircase leading down into the heart of the mound. These encouraged the team to get digging...
After extensive research we finally arrived on site for the beginning of Day One. However, my most enduring memory of that first morning isn't the archaeology, but the temperature - it was absolutely freezing. There was only one heated room on site, the incident room, and I've never seen so many people find so many excuses to be in there at once.
During the dig the AP's job is to direct one of the three film crews needed to make an episode of Time Team. At Groby this proved to be a bit of a problem. On site each crew tries their best not to appear in the background of each others shots. Groby was so compact it was almost impossible to stay out of each others way. We would have to duck and weave across site to get ready for the next piece of filming.
Shooting a scene for the programme is much more complex than it looks on TV. A scene that lasts a minute on screen can take up to an hour to film. To begin with the director needs get all the people you want to film in the same place at the same time - no easy feat on a hectic dig. Once they're in place you're ready for the first take. We don't just film a scene once; it's usually shot from at least four angles, which means re-running it several times. If you're in the scene, you really have to remember who said what, when you pointed to the archaeology and where you were all standing otherwise all the takes won't cut together in the edit.
Every site has volunteers and those interested in what we uncover. Groby had a very special guest; Martha, a three year old Great Dane. She was owned by the family who'd invited us to work in their garden, and she was thrilled that there were fifty people to play with. It took a small army of people to keep her under control as she supervised our work on site.
Before the digging begins, the production team like to put together a comprehensive list of local pubs - just to be thorough you understand. At Groby there was no need as the Stamford Arms was just across the road. Almost the entire team was to be found there at the end of each day, sampling Leicester's finest ales (although Summer Lightning is still Phil Harding's favourite). Even when we don't finish a day with a pub scene, the team will be in there anyway!
By the end of Day Three we were all exhausted, but thrilled with how the dig had gone. We couldn't have hoped for better archaeology. At 6.30pm it was time for most of the production team to pack up and head to the train station for the trip back to London. The following morning we'd be back in the office to start preparing for the next dig, in only a few weeks time...
