The New Trench!....... Food For Thought….
by Bernie Bell - 08:00 on 04 December 2025
The New Trench!.......
There has been exciting news from The People of the Ness (and Time Team) – a new trench will be opened next July and the site will be open to visitors on weekdays between Tuesday July 7 and Thursday July 30. Site tours are planned to take place during this period, but please remember that the buildings previously excavated will not be visible.
https://www.nessofbrodgar.co.uk/dig-2026/
There will be a lot of interest in The New Trench, so best book your visit to Orkney in good time!
I’m picturing the parking space up by the main site being used again, maybe with the shop parked up there too? ...
And then….folk could walk down along by Stenness Loch, passing the wildflowers of the Garden of Brodgar on their left.
I’ve previously written of my vision for the ‘Garden of Brodgar’….
“…….it all started with plans for a wildflower meadow – which delights me!
Then I thought – maybe when the dig has finished next year - that field could be a wildflower meadow.
Then I thought – I wonder if the soil from the spoil heap will go back onto the land there and, if so, would it be possible that there could be seeds in that soil contemporary with the active life of the site, which would then come back to life? So I looked up the possibility, and…..
https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/blog/2020/12/what-is-a-seed-bank/
Note…and I quote….
'There are a few reports and examples of ancient seeds found in pyramids and ancient palaces that have germinated, but data on seed longevity is scarce.’
There’s a thought to conjure with!
I’m now looking to see what might turn up in that field in the years following the Ness being covered over again long term.
To paraphrase a song my Mum used to sing…
‘The Garden of Eden has vanished they say
But I know the lie of it still
Just turn to the left at the bridge of Brodgar
And stop when halfway to Bookan.
It's there you'll find it I know sure enough
For fortune has come to my call
The grass it is green around the Stenness Loch
And the blue sky is over it all.’
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5Nc8wf2jDg
When the site is covered over we’ll still know it’s there and, hopefully, it won’t be forgotten again.
Not at all sound archaeologically…. just thoughts and images to play with….picture it…”
And there's my ‘Equinox Seeds’ poem ...…
“Yesterday we collected seeds from our wildflower meadow.
After collecting them I came in and separated them from their heads and pods, then laid them out on paper to dry off properly.
It felt like a very witchy-poo thing to do, and I wrote this…
Equinox Seeds
Dust of Orchid
Pod of vetch
Thistle-down
And Ox-eye head
Devil’s bit blue
And Campion red
‘Ear of cat’
Hawkweed seed
Glove of Fox
And Black Knapweed
This is how I brew my mix
When moon is full
I’m full of tricks!
BB 22.9.24”
We then gave Nick the seeds to potentially be scattered on the infilled main site.
Visitors can view the dig and be given the relevant info. by one of the most excellent guides - then maybe walk back along the other side of the original site, looking across to Harray Loch and back to the car park.
This would produce a good flow of visitors, and give those visitors a good idea of the whole site and its place in the bowl in the hills, between the Lochs – The Neolithic Heart of Orkney.
This is just how I picture it ….might be wishful thinking, but…picture it….
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Food For Thought….
For those who see parallels between Hitler’s Germany leading up to WW2 and Britain and America – particularly America – today. I suggest that you read the chapter entitled ‘The Door to War” in Michael Bentine’s book ‘Doors of the Mind’.
It makes interesting reading.
Read it….think about it….. and……. Beware.
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