So, Freya and I tramped down to the local shore in our wellies and waterproof trousers earlier. The wind was whistling around us but was surprisingly not as cold as you might expect. I introduced Freya to the delights of attacking a shoreline with a large garden fork and then having to peer at the results as if you’ve lost a contact lens (photo 1). There is not a large tidal range here, less than 1.5m which for someone used to the 10m range of the Bristol Channel is tiny. Still we found a reasonable range of little worms, some excitingly large, others eye-strainingly small and did our best to keep them from breaking into several smaller pieces before we could get them back to the lab.

We sampled 3 sites down the shore and, not surprisingly with such a small tidal range, found that the specimens varied little between samples and there was not a high diversity within those. That said, I have a nice collection just from today covering at least 12 different family groups and slightly more species. The most striking was a very stripy phyllodocid looking as if it had just escaped from jail (photo 2) and a terebellid with a fantastic ‘80s crimp to its gills (photo 3). Not the best photos I admit but I am hoping to access the camera microscope soon!

Tomorrow will be a new site, hopefully with different animals to find. Luckily I havebeen given a landrover to use as I need to get around. I’m just about used to it now and have stopped hopping along when I set off!. 4x4’s are the only vehicles seen on the roads and I’m very grateful to the complete stranger who has entrusted me with this vehicle to use while he is away! People here are very friendly, nothing is locked and doors are left open. In paranoia, I did try to lock the landrover last night but found that the locks were so unused that I couldn’t get a key in them!

The large block of armour was initially far too heavy to lift in one piece, so we had to split it into three. Julia has been working on the largest section (see previous blog) and I’m now excavating one of the smaller blocks.

At first glance this second block contains a number of interesting objects. A piece of bronze sheet with a cast head, a plain bronze disc, scale armour, a selection of iron objects (not yet identified) and something composed of rows of overlapping flat headed pins, similar in appearance to drawing pins. At this stage it’s difficult to tell if these objects are associated or not.

The most striking object in the block is the cluster of overlapping disc headed pins that have been laid down in rows and imitate scale. When new and brightly polished the copper alloy discs would have shimmered and caught the light. They are now very fragile, little metal remains and their shape is preserved by the green copper corrosion products. Retrieval and conservation is going to be fun and probably age me about 10 years!

The pins were once attached to a backing, probably made of leather which would have been flexible and allowed movement. This has now perished, leaving a black stain in the soil. I’ve kept samples so we can have a closer look at this later. However, the thickness of the backing material can be established by measuring the distance between the head and the bend in the pin.

Now the backing has gone, the soil is the only thing keeping the pins together. It’s going to be a challenge lifting them and preserving the pins original association. This is vital though as it might help identify this mysterious object .

In a time before modern mechanisation it is hard to work out how the Romans managed to make such small and perfectly formed little pins. A closer look down the microscope reveals interesting manufacturing marks but doesn’t really help with the intriguing question, how did they make them? On closer inspection different types of pins have been used, some are domed, some flat and there are also slightly larger studs, which may indicate that the pins were possibly laid in a pattern. I've put a few pictures up just in case anyone has seen an object like this before or fancies a challenge and work out how these little disc headed pins could have been made?

Mae llawer o ysgolion wedi anfon eu cofnodion tywydd yn barod! Hwn yw'r ail wythnos o gofnodi ac mae disgyblion yn brysur dysgu i gadw cofnodion tymheredd a glawiad ac yn anfon eu data.

Os byddwch yn anfon eich data mewn, gall ysgolion eraill i'w weld a chymharu. Gwelwch y llun i weld yr adroddiadau tywydd, wrth Ysgol Bishop Childs - gallwch ei weld ar y wefan hefyd drwy ddilyn y ddolen hon http://www.museumwales.ac.uk/cy/2968

Mae rhai ysgolion wedi sefydlu blogiau eu hunain am y prosiect. Gweler y blog gwych hyn gan Ysgol Fulwood a Cadley: http://www.fulwood-cadley.lancsngfl.ac.uk/index.php?category_id=529

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Daliwch ati gyda'r gwaith da Ffrindiau Gwyrdd!

Yr Athro'r Ardd

Coch y Berllan Benyw yn bwydo yn ein coedwigoedd heddiw. Dewch i weld yn ein cuddfan adar www.amgueddfacymru.ac.uk/cy/coedwig/neu gwyliwch nhw o'ch gartref www.amgueddfacymru.ac.uk/coedwig/gwylltgamerau/

Heddiw mae Ty Gwyrdd wedi bod yn gartref i weithdy creadigol iawn!

Gweithdy yn benodol i athrawon oedd hon, yn cynnig y cyfle iddynt i ddysgu sut i fynd ati i greu crefftau Nadolig o helyg.

Heddiw mae'r grwp wedi bod yn brysur iawn yn creu! Yn amlwg , roedd pawb yn falch iawn yn gadael gyda'u torchau, ser, coed bach i gyd wedi'u gwneud o helyg! Dwi'n siwr bydd sawl ysgol yn mynd ati i ail-greu y crefftau hyn dros cyfnod yn arwain at y Nadolig.

Trefnwyd y gweithdy gan Out to Learn Willow.

O bryd i'w gilydd, mae modd llogi Ty Gwyrdd fel gofod i gynnal gweithdai tebyg i hyn. Mae gofyn profi bod eich gweithdy yn hyrwyddo cynaliadwyedd ac yn un di-elw.

Os am rhagor o fanylion cysylltwch drwy Adran Addysg yma yn Sain Ffagan.

Diolch.