U
V
~Page 16-Fridoy, April 17, 1981-The Michigan baiiIy
the Michigcin Daily-F' daj
IiU- I~ - I II
i ,
I U II
SHAWN SPENDS HER time mostly working on a pebbled flooring on the far
lower left of this drawing, near the macellum (meat market). This is an
overview of the Baths Basilica of Wroxeter.
Students dig
theEnglish
countryside
Do you really want tc
all that stuff home
you this summer?
(TUR ATn
2500 S. Indusi
Ann Arbor,]r
973-2212
When you've more to store t
gained for, you can now stoi
ever before, securely.
RVDER
RYDER TRUCK RENTAL
Authorized Ryder Dealer
WE ALSO SELL BOXES, TAPE,
L
.... ....... .. ........ ............................ .. ..........
dp
d
/
- -
i :.
by SHAWN MORAN
Ibelieve those who are descend-
ants of the English countryside
and have never visited the
place, have yet to experience the
mystique and richness of their
heritage. But even if your ancestors
aren't buried in English soil, the history
it harbors is well worth digging into-
literally.
England is filled with various ar-
chaeological sites that antiquaries and
treasure hunters have dug into since
medieval times, and by the summer of
1978, I, too, was at the disposal of shovel
and trowel.
MY INITIAL INTEREST in ar-
chaeology was sparked by Prof. John
Humphrey's course in excavation
techniques here at the University. By
the end of the term at Prof. Hum-
phrey's suggestion, I enrolled by mail
in a field archaeology course led by
Dr. Graham Webster from the Depar-
tment of Extramural Studies at the
University of Birmingham in England.
I also received credit for the course at
this University.
Three months later in July, I stepped
off a Freddi Laker DC-10 at England's
Gatwick airport.
I naturally took advantage of the trip
and planned a two-week "never-been-
abroad" tour of the British Isles prior to
the field course. I covered everything
from London to Loch Ness. (I would
also like to report that. Mr. Holmes'
alleged address at 221 Baker St. has
been an insurance company for some
years, but they're still accepting his
mail!)
SOON ENOUGH I headed south by
train to the small town of Wellington,
just northeast of Wales. This is the site
of the ancient Roman city of Wroxeter
and Dr. Webster's class.
All students attending the course
were to meet and lodge at Wrekin
College, an English boarding school for
young boys in Wellington. At the train
station, I asked to be pointed in the
direction of the college and found it a
Shawn Moran is a LSA senior,
majoring in English.
good mile up a steep hill away from the
valley-town area.
Before I made the climb I tried to buy
a t-shirt or some other type of souvenir
with the Wrekin insignia but was told by
a store merchant that all the young gen-
tlemen (on holiday for the summer)
wore blazers with crests from a men's
clothier.
WHEN I FINALLY got to the iron
gates of the school grounds, I dropped
my pack and looked around. The entire
area was donned by large shade trees
and meticulously well-kept gardens. An
ivy covered church stood in the center
of the grounds with a line of stone
stables just beyond it. The surrounding
green hills were spotted with grazing
sheep.
At this point I expected to be greeted
by one of Wrekin's very proper, five-
foot suited gentlemen, but instead,
another woman attending the field
course caught me browsing the gar-
dens. She had arrived from Greece
earlier that morning and was already
able to escort me to York House, the
proper building for check-in.
On -an inside bulletin board I
discovered that I was the only U.S.
student among the 16 attending the
course. Several of the expected studen-
ts were from England, the rest arriving
from different points in Europe.
OUR LIVING QUARTERS were a bit
different than the University's ... York
House was the dormitory where we
would live for the next fortnight (two
weeks). In order to reach our rooms up-
stairs, a very shaky, circular iron
staircase had to be climbed a full three
flights. At the top of the third floor was
a hallway leading to the dormitory
bedrooms-and true dormitory
bedrooms they were-with all the style
and character of the original Oliver
Twist flick.
The sets of lumps (cots) were
uniformly spaced in each room with a
long wooden cabinet for personal
belongings along the length of one wall.
Because there were normally no women
residents at the college, a section of the
dormitory's bathroom area was cur-
Continued on next page
F
C]
for 0
Pen
Se
so
ENGR
Giftwol
traditi(
Black
qualit
black f
22 kar
and th
guarar
time c
('
OPEN 7 DAYS A WEEK IN THE MICE