All the Gs: Groups, Gardens, Gold and Generalising

Do you ever get the feeling that – as you finish one task-in-hand – two more pop up to replace it?

That’s certainly the feeling I’ve had today. Completing a whole host of documents for the accountant (Why do I have to do all this work? It’s like cleaning up before the cleaner arrives!) I’ve now found myself with two new tour routes to measure out for some very diverse groups I have coming, a project to complete for a course I’m doing, e-mails to reply to and – more mundanely – a garden fence to get built.

The garden fence is as a result of us having had all the leylandii cleared from the back garden. The term “garden” though is a very approximate one at the moment. Even the wreck of a lawn we had is now buried until several tons of sawdust and assorted twigs. We’ve discovered that the garden is longer than we thought and that previous occupants used the top part as a dumping ground. The stuff “buried” there is incredible, at least in volume. I’m wondering whether or not to get a metal detector and see if there’s anything left over from the Anglo-Saxon conquest of Smethwick in the 6^th century…….

The Staffordshire Hoard

We've been to see the Staffordshire Hoard at the Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery this morning (the only chance we were going to have to see it).

The Hoard - for those of you reading this from outside the area - has been the talk of the region for a couple of weeks now, one of the most significant finds from the so-called "DarkAges" ever made in Britain. Having been declared Treasure Trove by a coroner, there is much hope that it might be acquired by a consortium of local museums but in the meantime, a small part of the Hoard has been put on display here in Birmingham.

Interest has been intense and people have been queueing for in excess of two hours to see just a small collection. Those who say that the days of the traditional museum, with exhibits in glass cases, are gone and that everything now has to be interactive really are talking through their bottoms (as I've always maintained). They need to witness the public interest being shown here.

We arrived at 9.00am, just as they were opening and our "queueing" time was only about 10 minutes. In fact, the "selection" on display was considerably more than I'd been expecting and was enough to make my jaw drop more than once. There is some genuinely absorbing stuff here and I can't wait to hear what the experts have to say. It's bound to keep them busy for years to come!

There's not long left to see it now; if you're nearby, choose your visiting time carefully but go if you can!