Following on from Mike’s previous visits to Grimes Graves, we were keen to attend the Flint Festival held there on 15th June, organised by English Heritage and The Stone Club. It would be Lance’s first visit to the site:
“Aside from the archaeological significance, the overall impression of Grimes Graves is sheer beauty; a wide open space bounded by the green of Thetford Forest, the grassy plain giving way to undulations being an astounding number of pits, filled in shafts from the years of prehistoric flint mining. The place is so incredibly peaceful, the silence only broken by the sound of numerous, resident skylarks.
The site is a biological and geological Site of Special Scientific Interest; hence the number of attendees, and what could be allowed on site, was limited. Despite this, the event was well-attended – and very well organised! – featuring a number of demonstrations of traditional flint knapping, basket weaving and leather tanning amongst other activities.
The main marquee hosted talks by The Stone Club, live music from the folk band 2Steps4Words (whose song ‘Grimes (Fire Stories and Whispers)’ turned out to be a real ear-worm) and a superb talk on the magical Norfolk landscape by the inspiring Val Thomas, whose book “Of Chalk and Flint” Mike bought and should be an insightful read for us both.
For me, the highlight was the descent into Pit 1, a 9-metre shaft with numerous galleries branching out, some littered with the antlers used to extract the flint and blocks of the sought-after black flint (floorstone) evidenced in contrast with the surrounding chalk. It was a moving, humbling experience to inhabit a place carved out so long ago, and a credit to English Heritage for their respectful presentation of the site.
The visit to the Flint Festival at Grimes Graves proved to be a fun, moving but above all hugely important visit for us both, giving further insights and inspiration for the projects we are pursuing at Earthwaves”.