Free Workshops held during the on site investigation provided residents of Knowsley and local school groups with a unique opportunity to have an involvement with an archaeological dig. Members of the community will be able to participate on-site and with the cleaning of important finds.

Workshops for other community members including local residents were scheduled to take place on Saturday 10th and Sunday 11th November 2007 at 11.am and 2.pm.

School workshops would be on the following Monday and Tuesday.

In order to participate in the workshops, members of the community were asked to book in advance by calling Knowsley Council and book on a 'Gladstone Roots Workshop'. Residents were also advised to wear suitable clothing!

The event was advertised in local newspapers and shops as well as the 'Tony Snell radio show' on BBC radio Merseyside. Leaflets were posted locally. Bookings were to be taken on a first come first served basis.

"If you don't want to get involved, or you miss out on the workshops, please come along anyway and chat to council officers and the Friends of Court Hey Park. You will be able to view the dig from 10.30 am until 3.30.pm during all workshop days."

Knowsley Council staff asked all participants for their permission to use their photographs for publicity and as evidence for the HLF.

22nd October 2007
The project meeting was well attended by the Friends along with Dave Ramsbottom and Karen Brady of Knowsley Council. Special guests were archaeological project officer Dr Mark Adams and archaeological project assistant Sarah Pevely from the Museum of Liverpool field archaeology unit.

Mark and Sarah were keen to explain the basics of the community and school workshops that are a unique feature of the first phase of the Gladstone Roots Project.

After an informative meeting a walk-round and inspection of the site was made and photos taken.

24th October.
Knowsley Council media released information about the project and this leaflet (word document) was distributed as much as possible.

5th November.
The Geophysical Survey by Ron Gurney of Archaeological Excavations took place on Monday, the results were quickly processed and looked very encouraging. We could clearly see the outline of the original mansion house.

The friends were continuing to prepare for the start of the Project - every participant would receive a special printed T-shirt, certificate and fact sheet folder about the project.

6th November
Knowsley MBC gave permission for members of the South Lancs Metal Detecting Club to investigate areas of Court Hey Park. Many metal items were found using this method. Once the initial work site was explored the metal detectorists dispersed in all directions and found even more interesting objects literally all over the park! Photo.

8th November
Knowsley MBC green spaces officer Dave Ramsbottom gave a radio interview in the morning on the Tony Snell radio show on BBC Radio Merseyside.

9th November
An early start for many as the JCB digger was due in the morning. At 9.30ish there was a photo shoot with the Lord Mayor. Preparations were almost complete for the week-end workshop sessions involving the community volunteers. Liverpool Museum staff arrived on site to start work. The Mayor of Knowsley, Councilor Eddie Baker opened the first trench and within a short space of time, thanks to Liverpool Museum Field Archaeology staff, the geophysics, GPS and old O.S. maps we could see the first glimpses of the original Gladstone Mansion House.

10th November
Community Workshops
The first of two community workshops started in dry weather and volunteers of all ages showed more interest in the act of getting involved on site and digging for finds. Any artefacts from the dig were displayed in the Friends meeting room and were due to be examined in greater detail over the following weeks with the aim of a special web site dedicated to them.

11th November
Community Workshops
This time the weather turned against us and for most of the day rain made the site muddy and slippy in some areas. Again a full complement of eager amateur archaeologists appeared and began to dig around the walls of the old building. When some volunteers were interviewed, all of them said it was a great idea, not only to excavate the hall but also to involve the community and, as one adult said; "give the children a reason to get outdoors instead of playing with their computer games!"

12th November
School Workshops
The first two workshops were a success with participants using trowels, spades and pick axes (under supervision!) to uncover even more of the Victorian mansion house buried for over 50 years. Children were now given full supervised access to the site and given a lecture about the hall and the process of the archaeological excavation. The children were then divided into two groups. One group worked on site whilst the second worked to clean and interpret finds from the dig. At a predetermined time both groups would change over tasks and continue until the end of the workshop were they were given a bag containing a project fact folder and a specially designed Gladstone Roots t-shirt.

13th November
School Workshops
Another day of school workshops and the friends were kept busy making sure there was enough information printed for the 'fact folders' we had made for the project. Bowls and cleaning equipment were again set out on a large table. Artefacts found were placed on our temporary finds table and labelled if we knew what they were.
By 3 o'clock all workshops had been completed and the tidy up process began!

14th November 2007.
This day was the very last time people were able to view the remains of the Gladstone Mansion. Once the last recordings have been made by Liverpool Museum Field Archaeology staff, the area was to be filled in ready for stage two of the project. The job of cataloging and preserving finds and work on the project DVD and web site would begin in the future.

15th November 2007.
The community and school workshops were a great success and many participants were pleased to have had the chance to take part in an archaeology exploration.

19th November 2007.
A meeting was held on Monday at 1.30 to discuss the successful outcome of the 1st stage of the Project and also, how best to research, preserve and display all the wonderful finds from around the actual dig site and from other areas of court hey park. Grateful thanks to all the 'amateur archaeologists' that took part in the workshops, Dr Mark Adams and his team and not forgetting Knowsley MBC staff, especially Dave Ramsbottom and Karen Brady for their professional assistance, South Lancs metal Detector Club and lastly, thanks to all the friends of court hey park that worked very hard to make all this come together - well done to all!

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