An Interview with the Hawthorn Ridge Crater Association

Battles of the First World War Podcast

Mike Cunha

History

4.8 • 812 Ratings

🗓️ 1 September 2018

⏱️ 48 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

During my recent trip to France, my crew and I had the most wonderful experience when we visited Mr. Andy Robertshaw and Mr. Colin Winn and their archeological dig team out at the Hawthorn Crater on the Somme. How we met the people of the Hawthorn Crater Association will be told in the interview that follows--it was just a stunningly amazing day amongst so many amazing days out there on the Somme and previously in the Argonne.

For many years the Hawthorn Crater has sat in relative obscurity on the Somme battlefield. It has been overgrown with trees and brush, and it has remained enough off the beaten path that most tourists have bypassed it altogether. The Hawthorn Crater Association is changing that. Through limited clearance of diseased trees and careful archeological digs conducted with the enthusiastic support of the people of nearby Beaumont-Hamel village, Mr. Robertshaw, Mr. Winn, and several others are bringing the story of the crater and the men who lived in it, fought in it, and died in it, back to life.

As I will say at the end of the interview, this is not just digging in the earth looking for pieces of metal from the Battle of the Somme. It is so much more than that, as you will hear. And to be clear: no archeological dig is just digging in the dirt, it’s really important and fascinating stuff!

Due to some technical difficulties, Mr. Robertshaw was unable to join us. The VOIP connection also tended to be a bit wobbly at times, but I think overall you’ll be able to understand things fairly clearly.

Please follow the Hawthorn Ridge Crater Association on Twitter to stay up to date: @HawthornRidgeCA

The BFWWP is on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/BattlesoftheFirstWorldWarPodcast.

Any questions, comments or concerns please contact me through the website, www.firstworldwarpodcast.com or the Battles of the First World War Podcast page on FaceBook. We're also on Twitter! Follow us at @WW1podcast. Not into social media? Email me directly at [email protected]. Please consider reviewing the Battles of the First World War Podcast on iTunes.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey folks, welcome to a very special standalone episode of the Battles of the First World War
0:09.1	podcast. During my recent trip to France, my crew and I had the most wonderful experience
0:16.3	when we visited Mr. Andy Robertshaw and Mr. Colin Wynne and their archaeological dig team out at the
0:24.3	Hawthorne Crater on the Somme. How we met the people of the Hawthorne Crater Association will be
0:30.6	told in the interview that follows. It was just a stunningly amazing day amongst so many amazing days out there in the argon and on the psalm
0:42.3	for many years the hawthorn crater has sat in relative obscurity on the psalm battlefield it has been
0:51.6	overgrown with trees and brush and it has remained enough off the
0:56.1	beaten path that most tourists have bypassed it altogether. A Hawthorne Crater Association is changing
1:02.7	that. Through limited clearance of diseased trees and careful archaeological digs conducted
1:08.9	with the enthusiastic support of the people of nearby
1:12.9	Beaumont-Amel village, Mr. Robertshaw, Mr. Wynn, and several others are bringing the story
1:19.9	of the crater and the men who lived in it, fought in it, and died in it back to life.
1:27.8	As I will say at the end of the interview, this is not just digging in the earth,
1:33.1	looking for pieces of metal from the Battle of the Psalm.
1:36.0	It is so much more than that, as you will hear.
1:39.6	And to be clear, no archaeological dig is just digging in the dirt. It's really important and fascinating
1:47.2	stuff. Due to some technical difficulties, Mr. Robert Shaw was unable to join us. The VoIP connection
1:56.4	also tended to be a bit wobbly at times, but I think overall you'll be able to understand things pretty clearly.
2:04.2	Links to the Hawthorne Creator Association will be provided in the episode notes and on the website, Facebook, and Twitter pages.
2:13.4	Please follow them and their work, and if possible, please consider supporting their work as well.
2:19.6	I hope you enjoy this little standalone interview with Mr. Colin Wynne of the Hawthorne Crater Association.
2:26.9	All right, folks.
	...

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