HISTORY came to life the first

time Julian Richards scraped back the soil during an archaeological

excavation.

The presenter of BBC's Meet The Ancestors has been enthralled ever since and has now been a professional archaeologist for more than 30 years. This weekend he is in Worcester taking a look at the city's biggest dig, the excavation at the Commandery in Sidbury.

Mr Richards said he is looking forward to answering questions on the finds as well as talking about some of his own experiences of digging in the dirt. He also hopes his visit will encourage people to look at history in a different light.

He said: "I left school with not great A-levels that I couldn't get into university with. Then I went to work on an excavation in my home town of Nottingham.

"We were finding things that told us about the everyday lives of people hundreds of years ago.

"That's what so great about it. When you put something in somebody's hand and you tell them somebody once ate their dinner off it the past becomes real."

Mr Richards said the history of the Commandery sounded fascinating, as did the gold-leaf painted stonework unearthed by a volunteer archaeologist last week.

He said: "Many people think the past was gloomy, that everybody wore dirty rags and everything was dark, but then you find one artefact that's so colourful and you start to piece together a true picture."

As well as being an archaeologist and broadcaster, Mr Richards is an author. He said his writing is now taking up a lot of his time and his visit to Worcester will be a welcome return to field archaeology.

To meet Mr Richards, go to the Commandery between 10am and 4pm on Saturday or Sunday. Visitors can book a place at the shop for one of the free tours.