Mel Roxby-McKay and Ian McKay present their exciting initiative of working with the YAC. Check out the link to their blog-post on the YAC site, introducing the Offa’s Dyke YAC! Also, check out their work on the COSMM initiative. Here’s their presentation via this link and pasted below.
We are so disappointed not to be in Trefonen in person, sharing a day of activities with fellow Offa’s Dyke enthusiasts. But in these interesting times we’re equally excited to be able to still contribute to the day, albeit in a digital form. We’d like to thank Howard and Pauline for making this whole online event possible.
This is a joint presentation written by the coordinators of the Offa’s Dyke Young Archaeologists Club based at the Offa’s Dyke Association’s (ODA) centre at Knighton. Ian Mackey is a Community Project Officer with Worcestershire Archives and Archaeology Service and the ODA’s Outreach Officer; Melanie Roxby-Mackey is a third year archaeology PhD student at the University of Birmingham and the joint Archaeologist-in-Residence at the ODA alongside Liam Delaney from the University of Chester. We work alongside other members of the Association’s Committee, particularly Dave McGlade, the Chair and former Trail Officer for Hadrian’s Wall, to promote the ODA itself and the profile of the monuments it protects, both Offa’s and Wat’s Dykes.
The Offa’s Dyke Association celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2019 and the Committee took the opportunity to explore how we might further our remit to enhance our role in the community and to secure the future of these monuments for a further half century. A key consideration was how to expand engagement, and in particular how to encourage children and young families to become involved in exploring and protecting their local heritage. Thankfully, the Young Archaeologists Club (YAC), a national organisation run under the auspices of the Council for British Archaeology, with over 70 branches across the UK, provided a perfect opportunity to create a well-resourced local group for 8-16 year olds living in and around Knighton with an interest in the past and archaeology in particular.
The winter of 2019 was spent on planning and preparations undertaken in collaboration with Penny Foreman, the Community Archaeologist for the Clwyd-Powys Archaeological Trust(CPAT) and the group was formally launched with its first session in January.
The Offa’s Dyke Young Archaeologists Club currently has 16 keen members and a friendly cohort of parent volunteers. So far, the group have considered archaeological preservation – which of their valued possessions might survive for future archaeologists to discover and how they might interpret them? They have also learned about basic field survey techniques and had the opportunity to handle reconstructed artefacts including an Anglo-Saxon helmet!
The group have varied interests, so despite our name we don’t just concentrate on things early medieval – even if we are based in one of the best visitor centres for anyone with a particular interest in the period (if you haven’t visited, once we are all allowed out and about again, you should!) – so we explore everything from prehistory through to the Industrial Revolution. Looking to the future we are also planning tours to a range of nearby archaeological sites.
Unfortunately, the Corona Virus struck just in time for us to have to cancel our third meeting in March, but in common with other YAC groups up and down the country we have taken things online, so it is still possible to join in the fun! If you are keen to discover more we have an active FaceBook page and you can follow us on Twitter @OffasDykeYAC
Most recently, YAC have posted a page on their website dedicated to promoting activities it’s possible to undertake at home. This resource is freely accessible to anyone, you don’t need to be a YAC member, so please take a look at YACatHome for inspiration. If you are on Twitter you can also follow YAC @YAC_CBA and YACatHome with the hashtag #YACatHome.
Obviously, we are very much looking forward to when we are able to resume the sessions at the centre in Knighton. If you could like to register your interest in joining, either as a member or a volunteer, then please email offasdykeyac@gmail.com.
The Offa's Dyke Collaboratory 
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