TIME TEAM: A Time Team excavation of a Roman villa in the Cotswolds, filmed live on TV, was described at Moreton Local History Society's May meeting by Roger Box, the man who discovered the site. A former policeman, he is now an archaeologist researching TV documentaries on ancient history. He was a passenger in an aircraft when he saw outlines in a field at Turkdean and recognised the layout as that of a Roman villa. He notified Channel 4 which decided to finance and film an excavation while work was in progress and Mr Box showed slides of the Time Team in action with a huge back-up of technicians and equipment needed for showing the programme live. The episodes achieved high ratings and attracted viewers all over the world. Excavation eventually became too expensive and the site was covered up and looks no different now. A vote of thanks to the speaker was proposed by Mark Turner, a former colleague of Mr Box in the police force.

This was the last meeting of the season but three outings take place during the summer - to Ludlow on June 26, a tour of Oxfordshire churches on August 9 and a visit to the Birmingham Assay Office on September 2. Ray Poulton is tour organiser (Moreton 651372).