Simon Denison reports on the Young Archaeologists' Club on its silver anniversary
It is not every profession that has a young person's section, and the idea of a 'Young Accountants' or a 'Young PR Executives' Club is perhaps a touch ludicrous. One might therefore be forgiven for raising an eyebrow at the idea of a Young Archaeologists' Club, which (to the irreverent mind) conjures up images of dreadlocked children with trowels, digging trenches in the family's dahlia beds when they should be eating fish fingers in front of Blue Peter.
Yet archaeology is not quite like every other profession. It is more of an interest, a passion, which in many people starts young and which may never lead to a formal career. The profession of archaeology is only part of it. And for those who do pursue archaeology actively as adults, it is this intense interest - rather than any other benefit or remuneration - that sustains them through all the cramps and back-ache and periodic drenchings of the typical British dig.
The Young Archaeologists' Club, 25 years old this year, is therefore serious business. At a time when archaeology still barely exists in schools, it is the only national organisation that nurtures an interest in the past during childhood in a sustained way. The Club is also growing. It now has a national membership of 1,850 youngsters aged 9-16, with 46 local branches - about four times as many as four years ago.
According to Tony Blackman, a retired headteacher who runs the Club's branch in Cornwall, children's fascination with the past often appears to 'come from nowhere' and has not been fostered by parents. 'So often, parents breathe a sigh of relief when they hear about the Club, because we are the first people they meet who actually understand their child's interest, ' he said.
Although the Club is run nationally by the Council for British Archaeology - which produces a quarterly magazine, Young Archaeologist - many activities take place in the local branches. The Cornwall group mixes indoor 'educational' sessions with field-trips, and recent projects have included building a Bronze Age roundhouse on Bodmin Moor, and a prehistoric kiln with which the group plans to produce their own bronze.
Many of the Cornwall youngsters would 'never miss a meeting', according to Mr Blackman, and have been members of the Club for years. This means that several have built up a substantial expertise, and are able to do some 'real' archaeology. They have participated, for example, in the Defence of Britain project (see BA, July), finding and mapping 'slit trenches' on Bodmin Moor used for training troops before D-Day. They have also discovered a series of propped-up stones on the Moor, believed to be Neolithic and aligned with other Neolithic monuments, which Mr Blackman believes comprise a previously unknown category of monuments.
Similar stories can be heard elsewhere. The York branch has recently discovered traces of York's 19th century golf course, in a joint archaeology/ oral history project that involved gathering information from old golfers as well as working in the field.
Andrew Jones, Head of Education at the York Archaeological Trust, and the branch leader, says that, as in Cornwall, he too has a small, dedicated group of youngsters who attend meetings year in, year out. The children are not all archetypal school swots. Some are clever, others are less academic. 'Archaeology is like owning an exotic car or motorbike. It attracts people of all types and social classes - children as well as adults - united by nothing except their unusual interest,' he said.
The Club, for all its success, also has its weaknesses. Locally, it is so heavily dependent on the enthusiasms and abilities of individual branch leaders, who are volunteers, that there is an inevitable patchiness and instability across the whole network. Some areas - such as London - have no branch at all, while several areas complain of a lack of support from local professional units.
Branches, moreover, are run on tiny budgets, with few helpers and often minimal local back-up, and can therefore cater for only a limited number of members. Although the club attracts sponsorship, it could be that without a better-resourced network and more volunteers, its abilities to reach and satisfy its full potential membership are limited.
Meanwhile, children's delight in archaeology continues. Last month's National Archaeology Days, run by the Club, attracted an estimated 80,000 youngsters and their families to more than 150 archaeological sites across Britain during one weekend. But what will happen to all those youthful enthusiasms? Will archaeology reach out to them (not least by a bit of decent writing for children)? Or will they be dissipated as adulthood takes hold?
A new Family Membership has recently been introduced by the CBA, offering joint membership of both the CBA and the Young Archaeologists' Club for £25.00. For more information on the YAC, contact Juliet Mather at the CBA on 01904 671417.
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© Council for British Archaeology, 1997