TimeWatch - News archive

On Friday the 22nd October and Saturday the 23rd 2004, a group of twenty or so modern-day pilgrims re-enacted a 5,000 year old journey, returning a Neolithic stone axe to the ancient henge capital of Thornborough. The axe originally came from Scotland and was deposited unused in a bog near the henges during the Neolithic period (circa 3,000BC).

We made this epic journey of 20 miles from Catterick to Boroughbridge against the worst of Yorkshire's weather and stiff opposition from Britain's fourth largest global conglomerate, Anglo American Plc, in the hope that the Thornborough Henges can be saved from quarrying.
Anglo American's subsidiary Tarmac Northern Ltd announced plans to quarry the land surrounding the henges, despite this land containing the remains of ancient kings and queens (or whatever we called our most important people back then). The first part of this plan, Ladybridge, is the focus for a current planning application. If granted, within twenty years the henges may have lost all the land surrounding them, the archaeology destroyed.

The event stirred the greatest ever media attention. Newspaper reporters accompanied the group, Radio and yet more newspapers met the walkers en route and covered the story for the two days of the event.

Heritage campaign group TimeWatch have urged the UK Government to protect the Thornborough Complex as judgement on Tarmac’s planning appeal draws near.

Despite being hailed as a world-class ancient site, quarry company Tarmac Northern Ltd have been quarrying a significant portion of the ritual landscape of the Thornborough Henges for more than ten years, destroying a great deal of important archaeology in the process.

Following the refusal of a planning application earlier this year, Tarmac have appealed to the secretary of State and it has been announced that the Planning Inspectorate are to hold an enquiry into the matter.

Further comments from the public can be submitted to the Planning inspectorate by going to www.planningportal.gov.uk/pcs and searching for Ladybridge. Comments can be submitted until September 6th 2006

“This whole thing puts on display a massive and ugly loophole in Britain’s planning system” claimed Thornborough campaign leader George Chaplin “It is time that we ensured such rare and important sites are properly protected – the loss of value to the nations heritage is immense.

This is a very important site and it is time our government acted to protect it for once and for all, otherwise, once this appeal has been rejected, we are all going to be back to square one with another ludicrous application to quarry within the complex”

Whilst all comments already received by the council are being passed to the Planning Inspectorate, TimeWatch are recommending that further comments will be important, especially as the Inspectorate have a wider brief than the Council Planners.

“The evidence provided by the Council Officers failed to adequately consider the true extent of the setting of the monuments on Ladybridge and also the wider setting of the “super” monuments on Thornborough Moor” Said Mr Chaplin

Now is the time to impress on the planning system the importance of recognising this aspect for such a large and important site, one that comprises of a great variety of monuments scattered over several square miles.”

Tarmac Northern Ltd, the firm quarrying the Thornborough Neolithic monument complex has announced that it has lodged an appeal regarding its rejected bid to extend quarrying within the ancient site.

The application, to extract sand and gravel from an area on Thornborough Moor known as Ladybridge Farm was rejected by council planners in February because the site contains nationally important archaeology that planning guidelines protect against such activities.

Tarmac, who have been quarrying the Thornborough Complex for ten years or so have shown dogmatic determination to continue quarrying in the Thornborough Complex, destroying what English Heritage describe as a site of "World Heritage class", "the most important ancient site between Stonehenge and the Orkneys" and this latest move comes as no surprise to pro-heritage campaign group TimeWatch.

"There's massive amounts of gravel all over North Yorkshire but Tarmac are determined that the Thornborough Complex should continue to be quarried, even though the application has been shown to be contrary to council policy on several counts" Said George Chaplin, Chairman of TimeWatch "There is no need for the gravel, the application is not in a preferred area for quarrying and it will destroy nationally important archaeology"

"Our concern is that the appeal is simply on grounds that the council did not properly follows planning process; Tarmac may be granted the application not because it is right to do so, but because they can afford very expensive lawyers".

TimeWatch believe that it is time for the British Government to intervene, potentially to purchase the land that holds the complex in order to prevent Tarmac from quarrying the site or its tenant farmers from ploughing away the archaeological remains.

The group have set up a petition aimed at the British Government which they say all people concerned to preserve Britain's most important ancient sites should sign:

http://www.petitiononline.com/TimeW1/petition.html

The group added that they felt this was an international issue and any international signatures were welcome.

Further details about Thornborough are available on the TimeWatch website at www.timewatch.org.

Heritage campaign group TimeWatch.org have today struck out at the needless loss of our nations heritage at Ladybridge Farm in North Yorkshire.

The concerns have been raised as a consequence of the granting of a delay in the planning process to allow quarry company Tarmac Northern Ltd to perform further archaeological research on the site. This latest outcry has come after Tarmac’s investigation plan was revealed.

“The decision to regarding the archaeological survey was made behind closed doors and in our opinion was ill-conceived.” Said George Chaplin, Chairman of TimeWatch.org “This newest digging will not produce the 8 – 10% sample required by English Heritage and, in fact, is focused on an area where artefacts have already been found.”

“The researchers appear to be focusing only on Neolithic archaeology in one location while additional important archaeology is likely to be located where they are not looking.”

“We are concerned that the current digging is being done in a hurried manner, in bad weather, using heavy equipment, and without the constant supervision of an outside group of archaeologists who have no vested interest in the outcome.”

“This is already a major tragedy for this nationally important piece of heritage, but add to that the fact that the planning officials have categorically said that quarrying here is against the Council’s own rules anyway and it is a tragic farce that has become a national disgrace.”

This work should not be done in the first place since the application fails FOUR council planning policies, not just the one regarding archaeology. This is a needless loss of heritage and the research will do nothing to change the any of these failures.

Quarry company Tarmac Northern Ltd have had to admit another defeat in their fight to quarry gravel from within the archaeological zone of the Thornborough Henges – one of Britain's most important ancient monument complexes. North Yorkshire County planners were due to determine Tarmac's application to quarry gravel at Ladybridge Farm, within the complex on September 20th.

Since June 2004 Tarmac has insisted that its quarry operations would have no impact on the archaeology of the Thornborough Henges. But English Heritage has insisted the site is of national importance and North Yorkshire County planning officers recommended that the application be rejected.

Campaigners and leading archaeologists have been pointing to large amounts of nationally important archaeology already lost at the neighbouring Nosterfield Quarry. This includes what Tarmac's archaeologists have described as "The largest collection of Neolithic remains of this type so far found in the North of England".

In the face of this opposition, finally, Tarmac has been forced to request that the determination be delayed until they have been able to carry out more research – research that objectors to the plan have been requesting for more than two years.

North Yorkshires Planning Committee agreed to delay their decision until January 2006, but campaign group TimeWatch have strong concerns regarding this latest turn of events.

The first concern is that the archaeologists have been given too little time to do their job properly "Tarmac proposes to complete the operation between now and November. " said George Chaplin, Chairman of TimeWatch. "We feel this is an unrealistic timescale for a proper evaluation of the area. The operation has yet to be planned and agreed, once it starts, increasingly inclement weather is likely to cause further delays. "Given the acknowledged importance of the archaeology, this work needs to be done to a high standard.

We think the timescales set will ultimately place undue pressure on the archaeologists planning and performing the work."

The second main concern for TimeWatch is that it will be very difficult for the report to be independent if it is carried out by Tarmac.

Thornborough Henges: TimeWatch rejects Tarmac’s “flawed” mitigation strategy.

Campaigners seeking to protect the nationally important archaeology surrounding the three enormous Thornborough Henges have rejected Tarmac’s last minute mitigation strategy for Ladybridge Farm, the latest quarry planned for the Thornborough landscape.

“Tarmac have refused to accept English Heritage’s assertion that the archaeology at Ladybridge is nationally important and they have chosen to ignore government and county council planning rules” Claimed TimeWatch Chairman George Chaplin. “Instead, they have made a bogus offer of land that is not under threat from quarrying and for the most part has unproven archaeological value.

“If we compare the land “donated” at Ladybridge to the map of known features it is clear virtually all of these features have been missed by the land offer, in fact the offer seem to be for land that would not be quarried anyway – it is the field boundary”

TimeWatch have released images showing the true extent of the land offered and the known archaeology at Ladybridge – they clearly show the land donated misses the majority of the known archaeology – this archaeology, confirmed by English Heritage as being nationally important, will be destroyed.

“The whole point is that archaeology of national importance, whether scheduled or not, should be preserved in situ.” Commented Mr Chaplin “This mitigation strategy is an attempt to avoid such an undertaking as it denies that English Heritage are able to decide what is nationally important and fails to consider the possibility that any archaeology on site may be of such importance.

In essence, Tarmac have decided that North Yorkshires Minerals Local Plan is not to their liking and they are insisting that it should be ignored”.

Mr Chaplin also called for more stringent press scrutiny of Tarmac’s media announcements “Three weeks ago this land was reported as a gift to the nation with no strings, this was front page news. It now turns out that it is completely dependent on the planning application being granted. Yet much of the “offer” actually consists of provisions already made for other purposes, for example,” continued Mr Chaplin “the visitors centre already exists and the land by the Northern Henge has been on offer to the Village of Nosterfield for over a year – this offer has been rejected twice. As a result of these newspaper headlines, there are a large number of people with a false view of Tarmac’s “offer” and we call of the press to make sure this false image is corrected.”

Images of Tarmac’s proposed mitigation area for Ladybridge (left) and known archaeology (right) – almost no archaeology will be saved.

TimeWatch are also keen to point out that most of Tarmac’s “offer” of land is not acceptable as mitigation under council planning rules as it is not relevant to the development in question.

Thornborough Henges is Britain's largest ancient site, a complex of monuments created over 5,000 years ago.

TimeWatch have made their response to the planning application available via their website on www.timewatch.org

A downloadable pdf of Ladybridge - The case against quarrying is available at http://tinyurl.com/7ack3

Objectors trying to save the ritual landscape of the Thornborough Henges, Britain's largest ancient religious site, have been awarded SIX MINUTES to speak in defence of the Neolithic landscape at the main planning meeting, to be held later this autumn.

During a planning and regulatory functions committee of North Yorkshire's councillors today, 19 th July, the members discussed Tarmac Northern's application to extend the Nosterfield quarrying operations, which will encroach on the ritual landscape of the Thornborough Henges for the first time.

Quarrying operations have been carried out in the area for more than forty years, but it was not until the operators of the Nosterfield Quarry, owned by Tarmac Northern Ltd. was forced to record archaeology on site that the true extent of the loss of archaeology in the area was revealed.

As little as ten years ago council archaeologists believed there was little or no archaeology contained in the land surrounding the Thornborough Henges - three massive earth circles that spread out over a mile and create what many regard as the largest ritual gathering place ever created in prehistoric Britain.

Following Tarmac's release of their archaeology reports, archaeologists and locals were astounded at the amount of important archaeology that was being lost to the quarry, despite assurances that nationally important archaeology would be preserved in-situ (in the ground).

From then on, both local and national groups have rallied round to create an unprecedented volume of protest about the continued quarrying of the area and things look set to come to a head in under two months when council planners will meet to decide the fate of Ladybridge Farm on September 20 th.

"Six minutes is not long to describe the importance of a site that was virtually unknown just three years ago!" Said TimeWatch.org Chairman George Chaplin, "But at least this is twice as long as the usual three minutes objectors get. We have six minutes to plead the case for 5,000 years of history; if we fail it will all be quarried in four years!"

Council planners agreed to hold the planning meeting at a location close to Thornborough and the venue will be announced later.

TimeWatch have made their response to the Ladybridge Quarry application available to the public via their website - www.timewatch.org.

TimeWatch claim "cast iron" case against quarrying at "Stonehenge of the North"

Thornborough Henges is Britain's largest ancient site, created in the Neolithic period - 5,000 years ago.

Take away the stones at Stonehenge and you are transported back to the birth of modern society, this was the time when Thornborough dwarfed all other religious sites in Britain.

It is a complex of ancient monuments that *includes the three giant henges that give its name as well as a great many other ancient remains clustered around these Stone Age structures. It is a complex that is under threat from one of Britain's largest gravel quarries.

On Monday 4th July 2005 Heritage campaigners will present North Yorkshire County Council with the largest public response against a planning application in the county's history.

The battle for Thornborough's future is rapidly turning into Britain's largest ever, as academics and activists, pagans and the public band together in order to stop further destruction of a once sacred landscape.

So far a total of more than 10,000 petition signatures and 1,500 hundred letters of objection have been collected - a record in North Yorkshire's history for any development. These will be handed to North Yorkshire County Council on Monday 4th July.

TimeWatch will also be submitting a "cast iron" response to Tarmac Northern Ltd's planning application for Ladybridge Farm - a site within Thornborough's "ritual landscape"; its archaeology zone.

George Chaplin, Chairman of TimeWatch said "Our response shows that the application is fundamentally flawed and contrary to council planning policy on many counts. Tarmac want to quarry in the wrong place, with grave environmental impacts, at a time when Yorkshire is over producing gravel."

"This quarry will cause the permanent loss of nationally important archaeology and good quality arable land. The case against Ladybridge quarry is simple and undeniable."

Despite the certainty of their case, TimeWatch are leaving nothing to chance; North Yorkshire is losing its "mega monuments" at an alarming rate.

"We have an ancient monument complex which dwarfs that at Stonehenge, yet our council has allowed much of this to be destroyed without a word" said Mr Chaplin, "Thornborough was the largest and probably the most important religious site in Britain, yet the biggest signpost in the area is for the quarry".

TimeWatch claim that *allowing quarrying* is not the way to treat "the most important ancient monument between Stonehenge and the Orkneys" (English Heritage).

"We feel that by showing we are more than willing to argue our case, together with significant public support we can ensure that right is done at Thornborough".

The group have made their response to the planning application available via the website www.timewatch.org

A downloadable pdf of Ladybridge - The case against quarrying is available at http://tinyurl.com/7ack3

Welsh office extends the reach and strengthens support for Heritage Campaign group.

Heritage Campaign group TimeWatch (www.timewatch.org) have announced what they are describing as a “significant step forward” by the creation of a new “Education and Professional Services Unit” located in south Wales.

Peter Alexander-Fitzgerald, one of the UK’s only practising Heritage Lawyers will manage the unit, aided by Elaine Swann and Lynn Shillitoe, who will be moving down to Wales this month to ensure the unit has sufficient resources for a successful start.

“Lynn Shillitoe our Deputy Chairman and Elaine Swann a Campaign Executive are superb campaigners, both have shown a huge commitment to heritage and have volunteered to move to Wales in order to make this happen. They intend to study Tourism Management and Archaeology at Carmarthen University in order to give Peter the best possible support”, commented George Chaplin “Education has always been our most important activity, we will now increase our effectiveness by setting up this dedicated team”.

TimeWatch are a voluntary group set up at the beginning of 2005. At that time the group took over the bulk of campaigning regarding Thornborough Henges in North Yorkshire from fellow campaign group Heritage Action.

TimeWatch regards education as it’s single most important task, and runs talks, lectures and presentations though out the United Kingdom. The group also believes in attracting public interest by running “outreach” events at schools and festivals.

Recently more than 1,500 music fans were introduced to the wonders of prehistoric culture at the Thornborough Free Festival at Masham in North Yorkshire.

“This step marks a significant expansion in activities that will be of great benefit to the Thornborough and any other future campaigns” Said Peter Alexander-Fitzgerald.

In September 2005 TimeWatch in association with Heritagelaw Europe are presenting a “heritage Concern” session “ Heritage Administrative Law in the twenty-first Century - Fact or Fantasy?” at the European Association of Archaeologists conference in Cork.

"Ladybridge Man" proven to be domesticated and very much alive, 5,000 years ago.

Today TimeWatch.org are pleased to announce that our interpretation of the illustrious but hidden past of Ladybridge has been confirmed by Tarmac, the company wishing to quarry the site for gravel.

Based on evidence provided by Newcastle University and earlier excavations by Tarmac, TimeWatch have consistently claimed that there was a high probability of a large Neolithic “ritual settlement” located at Ladybridge Farm, close to the Thornborough Henges in North Yorkshire. Now it seems that the nationally important finds found at Nosterfield quarry may well be eclipsed by remains at Ladybridge.

Thornborough Henges are the site of one of Neolithic Britain’s largest religious events. They are a huge complex of ancient monuments that cluster around the three mighty henges at Thornborough. They include henges, ritual causeways, burial grounds and settlements, and it is now confirmed that probably a great many more lie hidden beneath the soil at Ladybridge.

“Across the road from Ladybridge Tarmac found the largest collection of Neolithic finds in the North of England”, said George Chaplin, Chairman of TimeWatch. “These have been interpreted by archaeologists as the site of a short term camp where people lived whilst attending the festivities at the henges. At the time Tarmac's own archaeologists suggested these finds may extend beyond Nosterfield quarry and fieldwalking by Newcastle University provided vital clues that these lay on Ladybridge Farm.”

“ Now, Tarmac's pre-quarrying archaeological survey has proven that these nationally important remains do indeed spread onto Ladybridge and they are so extensive that even from the tiny 2% excavation of the site we can tell that 5,000 years ago, Neolithic people rested and relaxed between henge ceremonies by sharpening tools by the fire.”

It was Dr Jan Harding of Newcastle University who first raised concerns regarding the quarrying close to Thornborough Henges - Britain's largest Neolithic ritual site - a gathering place for potentially thousands of people during the period known as the birth of modern society.

Dr Harding has been keen to explain that the archaeology within fields more than 600m away from the henges contained some of the most important archaeological evidence in Britain.

“Both archaeologists and the public understand that archaeology as rare and important as this needs to be taken great care of”, explained Mr Chaplin. “It is only Tarmac who are suggesting it is best treated by ripping it out in advance of quarrying. We believe that Ladybridge is a critical part of this most important ancient complex.

This is a place we know very little about yet much of the area has been torn apart by quarrying without any effort to record what was destroyed. Thankfully the latest quarry at Nosterfield was forced to record all archaeology in accordance with government guidelines, but the preference for preservation in-situ has proven to be unenforceable. Now, the little that is left MUST be protected from quarrying and placed under a thorough long-term research project, that we hope would be lead by Dr Harding”.

Tarmac have recently published their long-delayed “pre-application archaeological evaluation” for the proposed quarry site of Ladybridge Farm, more than nine months after they first submitted the planning application. Now campaigners are claiming that the results of this work show a site of even greater archaeological potential than even they suspected.

“To be honest, we knew that a 2% excavation of the site was unlikely to find much archaeology at all; you just need to watch Time Team trying to find graves to know how hard it is to find such pits as those found at Ladybridge”, said Mr Chaplin. “But Tarmac’s archaeologists appear to have struck gold.”

More than ten years ago Tarmac did an almost identical 2% trench evaluation of the area over the road from Ladybridge. The result was they found nothing much of interest. Yet when they performed a full excavation of the area in advance of quarrying they found it to be the greatest archaeological site of its type in the north of England.

Earlier last year they performed the same 2% trenching survey at Ladybridge and found a significant number of Neolithic finds of the same type, indicating the site could be a great deal richer, and all the more important due to the destruction of the quarrying elsewhere.”

TimeWatch are calling for an end to quarrying at Thornborough. The area is not a preferred area for quarrying and sits amidst an extensive gravel bed that runs throughout a large portion of North Yorkshire. The group insist that gravel reserves already identified by the council should be exploited before even thinking about Thornborough.

Tarmac’s planning application for Ladybridge Farm will be heard by North Yorkshire councillors at a planning meeting on the 19 th of July 2005.

After six months of campaigning under the banner of Heritage Action, the Thornborough Campaign is now to be launched as a separate, independent campaign group, called TimeWatch.

"When we first started campaigning about Thornborough, there was just a handful of us and we were extremely pleased to find a supportive home within Heritage Action" commented George Chaplin. "Now our campaign group has grown so large within Heritage Action that it made sense to launch an independent group in it's own right, with a wider remit and set of priorities.

"The new group will keep its focus on Thornborough's archaeology but will widen its involvement into all other related issues. The impacts of quarrying will be felt far beyond the purely archaeological ones and we intend to ensure the public is fully informed of them."

Nigel Swift, chairman of Heritage Action said: "This reflects well on all who have worked so hard on the Thornborough Campaign. It has grown to be one of the largest of its kind in Britain, reflecting the grave national concern that exists.

"The two organisations will now take up parallel but independent roles. Heritage Action will continue campaigning on threats to all ancient sites and supporting the campaigns of others. TimeWatch will concentrate on raising national awareness of individual sites under threat, starting with Thornborough. We wish them well and look forward to working closely with them in future."

For more information on TimeWatch and the Thornborough campaign, the public are urged to visit the TimeWatch website at www.timewatch.org

Call for independent henges opinion

CAMPAIGNERS are calling for an independent assessment by archaeologists of the threatened quarry site near the Thornborough Henges.

Last week North Yorkshire County Council put off a decision on controversial plans by quarry firm Tarmac to extract 2.2 million tonnes of sand a gravel from the Ladybridge Farm site, half a mile from the triple henge complex north of Ripon.

But campaign group TimeWatch has voiced concerns regarding the agreed strategy of allowing Tarmac a further four months to carry out research into the archaeology at the proposed quarry site.

The group has now called on North Yorkshire councillors to ensure that the archaeological work due to be carried out at Ladybridge is done by an independent third party.

"There is a massive gulf between Tarmac and the rest of the archaeological world regarding the importance of Thornborough's archaeology," said George Chaplin, chairman of TimeWatch.

"Now that Tarmac's evaluation has effectively been rejected by the council, we are pressing to get this new evaluation done by an independent third party otherwise we can see that this confused situation will only continue.

"For more than three years Tarmac have abjectly refused to accept the notion that there could be archaeology of national importance at Ladybridge. This line has remained unchanged despite the protestations of a great many archaeologists, campaigners and now English Heritage.

"When Tarmac was faced with rejection of the planning application, they ask for a delay, not so they can work out how much nationally important archaeology they are looking at, but to try yet again to prove that it is not important at all.

"This is turning into a critical situation, one that could have ramifications for every major heritage site in North Yorkshire."

Tarmac's existing Nosterfield Quarry, close to the henges, is nearing the end of its working life and the firm wants to continue production by expanding on to the adjacent Ladybridge site.

The firm's estates manager, Bob Nicholson, said: "The application site is more than half a mile from the nearest henge and in our view truly poses no threat to the monument. Tarmac has no wish or intention to affect the henges but naturally we want to continue in production and keep the employment in place."

Commenting on the deferment of a decision on their application, he said: "The deferment will give time to discuss the archaeological aspects with English Heritage in more detail and hopefully reach an informed decision based on additional factual evidence if required."

The county council is expected to consider the matter again in January.

30 September 2005

http://www.ripontoday.co.uk/ViewArticle2.aspx?SectionID=18&ArticleID=1207264

Quarry firm's land offer 'was conditional' - protesters

by staff of The Darlington & Stockton Times - 26.8.05

CAMPAIGNERS working to preserve ancient monuments from the effects of quarrying near Bedale have accused Tarmac Northern of making a bogus offer of land to the nation.
The three 5,000-year-old earthwork henges at Thornborough are the subject of a bitter battle between heritage campaigners and the quarry company, which wants to extend sand and gravel extraction to agricultural land at Ladybridge Farm, half a mile from the nearest henge.
Campaigners claimed this week that, despite an assurance by Tarmac last month, the company's offer to donate 60 acres of land next to the northern henge through English Heritage or an acceptable charitable trust was conditional on planning permission for the extension being granted by North Yorkshire County Council on September 20.

They based their argument on a detailed catalogue of proposed mitigation measures submitted by Tarmac to County Hall earlier this year in which it was said that, should permission be granted, the company would offer the land and, among other steps, would work to promote a positive management regime for all three henges.

Tarmac said, however, that this had since been overtaken by a company decision taken at national level and incorporated in the announcement of the land offer on July 29 making it clear that there were no conditions attached.

Campaigners believe that archaeological remains shedding light on those who visited the henges during the Neolithic era will be under threat from quarrying at Ladybridge.

George Chaplin, chairman of pressure group TimeWatch, said: "Tarmac has refused to accept English Heritage's assertion that the archaelogy at Ladybridge is nationally important and has chosen to ignore Government and county council planning rules.

"Instead it has made a bogus offer of land that is not under threat from quarrying and for the most part has unproven archaeological value.

"If we compare the land 'donated' at Ladybridge with the map of known features it is clear that virtually all of these features have been missed by the land offer. The offer seems to be for land that would not be quarried anyway. It is the field boundary."

A Tarmac spokesman said: "When the mitigation strategy was first proposed the offer of land was conditional. Subsequently a decision was made nationally by a Tarmac director, who had the power to do it, that the offer should be non-conditional and that was the situation as of July 29. Since then it has been confirmed twice."

Tarmac estates manager Rob Moore said the offer of 60 acres did not form part of Ladybridge Farm but separately, as part of its mitigation proposals, the company had offered not to strip soils from a 7.5-acre area within the site.

Mr Moore said Tarmac did not believe that remains found in an extensive site investigation by professional archaeologists did not meet the criteria requiring them to be left in place.
http://www.thisisthenortheast.co.uk/the_north_east/dst/NY1.html

Site visit puts henges ruling off until autumn

by staff of The Darlington & Stockton Times - 19.8.05

A DECISION on a controversial plan to extract sand and gravel near scheduled ancient monuments will not be made for another two months.North Yorkshire councillors agreed on Tuesday to make a site visit on August 4 before meeting again in September in an attempt to determine the application by Tarmac Northern, which is seeking to secure the future of its quarrying operation at Nosterfield, between Bedale and Ripon.The company wants to extract 550,000 tonnes of material a year over four years from land at Ladybridge Farm, half a mile from the nearest of three Neolithic earthwork henges at nearby Thornborough.Thousands of people have signed petitions against the application and there have been 750 letters of objection expressing concern about the impact on important archaeological remains in the surroundings of the henges.Objectors claim the application is contrary to the minerals local plan adopted by the county council because Ladybridge is not a preferred extraction area or a small extension to an existing site.The county planning committee was told on Tuesday that there had been 70 letters of support, many stressing the importance of quarrying in its contribution to the economy.

Committee members were told it was a crucial issue, and it was agreed that a special meeting to make a decision should be held on Tuesday, September 20, at 1pm. It has yet to be decided whether it will take place at County Hall, Northallerton, or closer to the site.

A quarry firm has stated that it has no intention to extract sand and gravel from Thornborough Moor - home of the Thornborough Henges - within the next ten years.

Tarmac Northern Ltd is currently quarrying nearby Nosterfield Quarry and has applied to quarry Ladybridge Farm half a mile from the henges next year.

The application has upset archaeological campaigners who say Ladybridge Farm is part of the henges setting and fear Thornborough Moor may be next on Tarmac's list.

But on Wednesday Tarmac declared they will "not be seeking Thornborough Moor to be included for allocation in the forthcoming review of North Yorkshire County Council's minerals local plan".

The review covers the next ten-year period and is designed to ensure that the county can meet its supply quota to the local construction industry.

Tarmac Northern company estates manager Rob Moore said the decision was taken after listening to concerns expressed by local people.

He said "Some had mistakenly believed that the henges were under threat from the imminent minerals local plan review and believed that this allocation would be tantamount to permission to extract sand and gravel from beneath Thornborough Moor.

"We have said time and time again and repeat that the henges, which are scheduled ancient monuments within a scheduled protection zone, are not threatened by quarrying.

"We hope that this move will help to allay any fears and confusion that people may have in relation to our current planning application, remove the that there is time pressure to conserve the henges and allow time for a full conservation plan study for the henges."

George Chaplin, chairman of TimeWatch, said the news was "welcomed" but questioned Tarmac's commitment to staying away from Thornborough Moor long term.

He said "What we would like is an uncomplicated, unambiguous statement from Tarmac saying they have no intention ever of quarrying Thornborough Moor, that should be pretty straightforward."

While John Lowry, chairman of Friends of Thornborough, said Tarmac's declaration was "reassuring", he added "it is not relevant to the Ladybridge Farm application which is our main concern, I think it is a bit of a red herring.

"I suppose it is reassuring but we were never too worried about Thornborough Moor - the chances of Tarmac being given permission to quarry Thornborough Moor are pretty remote now that we have raised the profile. They could never quarry right up to the henges - they are internationally important recognised monuments."

* Tarmac is holding a public meeting on Wednesday at West Tanfield Memorial Hall at 7.30pm. The company will provide updated reports on archaeology, ecology and the proposals for Ladybridge Farm which, they say, have been substantially revised following feedback from local residents.

Ripon Gazette - 4th March 2005 - Tourism can't make up for loss of quarry jobs

TarmacTOURISM income will not compensate for the loss of quarry jobs claims the company at the centre of dispute over conservation of the Thornborough henges.

The row between Tarmac Northern and campaigners who want an end to quarrying in the area around the henges, follows suggestions that tourism associated with the site would generate just as much income.

Only last month, Euro-MP Edward McMillan-Scott hinted that European money could be available to develop the tourisim potential of the henges when he visited the site.

But Tarmac estates manager Bob Nicholson said this week tourism alone would be very unlikely to keep the same number of local people in work.

He said Tarmac currently paid in the region of £2.3 million a year to its employees at the quarry and hauliers.
Without quarrying the henges would require 230,000 tourists a year spending £10 each, said Mr Nicholson.
"We seriously doubt whether this number of tourists could be attracted to pay to visit Thornborough Henges and we question whether the impact would be welcomed by the majority of local residents – or would truly be in the interests of the henges.

"This £2.3 million is a significant figure in a rural area and it is dependable year-round employment, not subject to the seasonal fluctuations of tourism.

"We support conservation of the henges and we have no problem with people visiting them in numbers suitable for the area.

"But we do think it is time for a reality check on the ideas which are being mooted and together with employees and hauliers we will be asking all concerned to consider all aspects including the value of quarry employment".
Mr Nicholson said that Tarmac are writing on behalf of the quarry workers and hauliers to Mr McMillan-Scott to emphasise their concern that account be taken of the value of their jobs.

Campaigners, including the newly- formed TimeWatch group, are opposing plans by Tarmac to carry out more quarrying in the vicinity of the henges, at Ladybridge Farm.

TimeWatch chairman George Chaplin, who has suggested a 'Sacred Vale' tourism trail for the area, insisted this week: "This tourism benefit is a sustainable economic asset, quarrying is not."

TimeWatch claim the average heritage tourist actually spends in the region of £60 to £150 per visit.
This income tends to stay local and creates flexible employment opportunities for a wide range of local people.
Mr Chaplin added: "Virtually none of the people who work at Nosterfield Quarry live locally, most travel quite a distance and should have no problem travelling to a quarry site within the areas set out as preferred for quarrying by North Yorkshire County Council.

"Gravel is a widespread resource in North Yorkshire. Surely the best option is to quarry in areas already set aside by the council where the long term heritage tourism impact is minimal, rather than North Yorkshire's most important ancient site, one that is growing in renown the world over."

Tarmac's application to quarry Ladybridge Farm is set to be decided by North Yorkshire County Council later this year.

A NATIONAL campaign group fighting to protect the Thornborough Henges has launched an independent pressure group dedicated to preserving the ancient monuments and their surroundings.

Heritage Action has been campaigning to try and stop quarry firm Tarmac extending its sand and gravel operations to the Ladybridge Farm site, half a mile away from the henges.

Now the campaign is being taken up by a newly formed group, TimeWatch, which wants a total cessation of quarrying within a one-mile radius of the monuments.

George Chaplin, a Heritage Action member and the new chairman of TimeWatch, revealed the reasons for the splinter group.

"When we first started campaigning about Thornborough, there was just a handful of us and we were extremely pleased to find a supportive home within Heritage Action," he said.

"Now our campaign group has grown so large within Heritage Action that it made sense to launch an independent group in its own right, with a wider remit and set of priorities.

"The new group will keep its focus on Thornborough's archaeology but will widen its involvement into all other related issues.

"The impacts of quarrying will be felt far beyond the purely archaeological ones and we intend to ensure the public is fully informed of them."

Nigel Swift, chairman of Heritage Action, said the formation of TimeWatch reflected well on all those who had worked so hard on the Thornborough campaign so far.

"It has grown to be one of the largest of its kind in Britain, reflecting the grave national concern that exists," he said.
"The two organisations will now take up parallel but independent roles.

"Heritage Action will continue campaigning on threats to all ancient sites and supporting the campaigns of others. TimeWatch will concentrate on raising national awareness of individual sites under threat, starting with Thornborough.
"We wish them well and look forward to working closely with them in future."

Tarmac's application to quarry Ladybridge Farm is set to be decided by North Yorkshire County Council later this year.
For more information on TimeWatch and the Thornborough campaign, TimeWatch's website can be visited at www.timewatch.org

25th February 2005 - Darlington & Stockton Times - Henge champions stress the tourism point with MEP

A EUROPEAN MP has called for more study into scheduled ancient monuments which have become the focus of a controversial quarrying plan near Bedale.

He is being asked to seek European funding to look at issues surrounding their conservation and tourism potential.

Edward McMillan-Scott spent a day last Friday being briefed on the history of the Thornborough henges, three earthwork features said to be older than Stonehenge and an important ritual meeting place in ancient times.

Attention has been drawn to the henges since the end of 2001 by a planning application by Tarmac Northern to secure the future of nearby Nosterfield quarry, which employs 15 full-time workers extracting sand and gravel.

Later this year, North Yorkshire County Council planning committee is due to consider an application by Tarmac to extend its operations to Ladybridge Farm, half-a-mile from the nearest henge, but local campaigners fear that the quarrying could have a devastating effect on valuable archaeological remains.

Tarmac has confirmed that it will defer any attempt to move on to Thornborough Moor, which contains the henges, until the results of an environmental and management appraisal are known. The henges enjoy legal protection, but their surroundings do not.

The significance of the henges was largely unknown until an extensive ten-year study was undertaken by Dr Jan Harding, of the archaeological department at Newcastle University.

Mr McMillan-Scott inspected them, accompanied by representatives of the campaign group Friends of Thornborough, the Campaign to Protect Rural England, and county councillor Peter Sowray, who is chairing a local liaison group of all interested parties in the run-up to consideration of the Ladybridge planning application.

It was revealed that the 55-year-old MEP for Yorkshire and the Humber, whose interests include history, is being asked to investigate ways of securing European funding for a tourist trail taking in the site of the henges.

Mr McMillan-Scott said: ''I was invited to look at the site, where there is widespread interest in these mysterious Neolithic monuments which probably have some religious significance.

"There is local concern about quarrying, and the extent of it, and it is something I feel very sympathetic with. The aim was to see the site for myself.

"I am seeking European support for a feasibility study into the conservation and possible development of the site as a future amenity. It is very impressive and needs much more study.''

Jon Lowry, chairman of the Friends of Thornborough, said: "For a long time we have wanted communication with Europe because most of the funding would come from there for what a local working group has in mind, and we approached Mr McMillan-Scott to find out more about it.

"The working group has a strategic plan for the whole area from Bedale to Boroughbridge as an alternative to quarrying, to bring money into the area by using tourist attractions like the henges and linking them all up.

"There would be an educational and research link and a landscape survey and we think we have made Mr McMillan-Scott fully aware of what is going on here.''

The henges are said to have a historic link with the Devil's Arrows at Boroughbridge, which were also visited by Mr McMillan-Scott.

Darlington and Stockton Times 18-02-05 - Quarry operators anger at being barred

Campaigners fighting against a controversial quarrying plan near Bedale have been accused of trying to put local workers out of jobs.

The claim was made by quarrying operator Tarmac Northern after its representatives were denied access to a meeting at West Tanfield Memorial Hall on Tuesday to discuss a planning application to extend the life of Nosterfield Quarry, where sand and gravel reserves are almost exhausted.

Later this year, North Yorkshire County Council planning committee is due to consider an application by Tarmac, which employs 15 full time workers at Nosterfield and supports the operations of local haulage companies to the tune of £2.3m a year, to extend extraction into the nearby Ladybridge Farm area. The proposal was first unveiled at the end of 2001, since when campaigners against the move have claimed that it could have a devastating effect on the archaeological setting of the Thornborough Henges, three prehistoric scheduled ancient monuments which enjoy legal protection.

Tarmac Northern has agreed to defer any attempt to extend extraction to Thornborough Moor, which contains the henges, until the results of an extensive environmental appraisal are known. It has pointed out that Ladybridge Farm is about half a mile from the nearest henge.

On Tuesday, about 40 local people attended a meeting at West Tanfield to develop what was described as an informed and united voice regarding local environmental issues.

The county council, invited to explain how the Ladybridge Farm application and future mineral planning would affect those living close to the quarry, sent head of minerals planning Alwyn Shaw.

Tarmac Northern said later, however, that it was disappointed that the organisers had declined an offer by the company to give factual answers to questions raised by residents. The firm instead distributed a letter to residents, in the name of estates manager Bob Nicholson and Alan Coe, operations manager, putting forward points on behalf of Tarmac and the
workforce.

Thornborough villager Elaine Swann, who organised the meeting with other residents, said it had not been a public event. "we specifically asked Tarmac Northern not to attend, and I thought I made it perfectly clear, because we wanted to keep the meeting impartial."

Mr Nicholson said later: "This would have been an ideal opportunity to go in there and answer the questions of local residents, but we were prevented from doing so."

"These are just normal men who are not in any way militant, but they are angry that people from elsewhere are coming in and making statements that are not particularly accurate".

"They feel these people are trying to get the quarry closed and put them out of a job."

The Tarmac letter addressed operational aspects of the proposed extension and described the companies record in local environmental, archaeological and wildlife issues since it began working Nosterfield quarry 14 years ago.