My first became interested in archaeology in the 1980s. I remember getting hooked when two excavations were going on in the town of Ayr. I have listed my Dig Record below under  their Project headings:

Maybole Town Centre Community Council Dig.

This 1980s excavation was funded by the town's Community Council who paid for some equipment. The site was on the western side of the castle where the health centre is today. The old buildings had been demolished to makeway for the new centre. We never found very much, we were digging into what I think was medieval fill consisting of yellow and red sandstone masonry which had been dumped into what was then a burn that run past the castle. In the middle of this 'fill' was an old buttress sticking out which had probably supported a wooden footbridge over the burn. I opened a trench along one side and followed it down about 2-3 metres. It must have been standing when all the fill was deposited round it. All my drawings and photographs of the dig are in The Ayrshire Archives Centre in Ayr under the Kilwinnet Papers.

Kinclair Sawmill, Pinmore.

In 1999, as part of The Kilwinnet Millennium Wood Project, an excavation was carried out on what turned out to be an old stable which had been used in Victorian times as a dump. We took out clay pipes, bottles and old boots etc. On the floor of the stable was old horse fittings, and two post holes where the stalls had been. The stable appears on maps of the 1850s. A Colin Fergie, 'smith in Concair' is on record for 1687. The ruins of a house are situated just west of the stable.

The Dunragit Project.

This project was my first professional dig and oldest site. I started digging on it in the summer of 2000, working under Dr. Julian Thomas and his team. We were excavating a Neolithic timber enclosure, more than 4,000 years  old, formed by three concentric rings and entered through a wide avenue. A full account of this excavation can be viewed on the Dunragit web site. I returned again in 2001 and 2002 to continue digging.   http://orgs.man.acuk/research/dunragit/staff_2002.htm

 John at Dunragit.

My last archaeological activity was  completed an HNC unit in History and Archaeology as part of my college studies in 2003.