Silbury Hill 180
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Silbury Hill

Silbury updates

"May I also suggest that you send your eleven questions to English Heritage's 'Ask the Experts' board"

It seems to me from the answers that have been coming through that non-technical questions such as the Time Capsule issue are being fielded by technical people, not the people best placed to answer. Which is hardly fair on them or the public. So maybe they would be best directed to the Project Board not the "experts" on site (who may not even all be EH people).

Consequently, if I send my questions it will be to [email protected] who is the leading member of the Project Board and others may wish to do the same.

In fact, I've just forwarded my questions to him.

It seems to me from the answers that have been coming through that non-technical questions such as the Time Capsule issue are being fielded by technical people, not the people best placed to answer. Which is hardly fair on them or the public. So maybe they would be best directed to the Project Board not the "experts" on site (who may not even all be EH people).
I'm sure you're right in that Nigel. However, English Heritage's 'Ask the Experts' link is the only readily available channel the general public have of... well... asking questions (and hopefully getting answers). If English Heritage don't have the right people in the right place to respond in the right way to the questions and concerns raised by the public that again shows a failing on their part and they should do something to correct that failing immediately. Writing to the Project Board is another prong in the pressure game, and I hope it will yield results; sadly however most of us know only too well that arguing a cause through bureaucratic channels achieves very little - petitions, meetings and letters of concern are neatly deflected by bureaucrats who have the machinery to do it very effectively.

Personally I don't think we should let up on any of the channels of pressure we have at our disposal. As a civil servant once told me, "If you want to win, get all the issues out in the public domain - there are fewer place to hide them there."

Just sent off an email the the Mr Harding re my thoughts on Silbury. I await a reply. Hi, I would like to voice a complaint at the intention to put a "Time Capsule" into Silbury Hill while the restoration is being undertaken. I am involved with E.H. and the D.P.A in the surveying and restoration of cairns on Dartmoor , also listed ancient monuments. We do this with the upmost care for the monument and try and leave it as it was intended to be , after varying amounts of remodeling by the general public. How would it be if we left a "Time Capsule" in each of these for future archaeologists to find? I think , and probably a lot of the public would think , if they knew what was intended, that the monument should be left as it was in the first place , full of chalk. Peter Castle.