Yay ……. Paul, Headley and Darren. Now if only Tweedy Outdoors had joined you to make you a spot of lunch this video would have been perfect. However, it remains a gem. Love the mix of humour and serious research. Keep up the good work Darren, and let’s hope the RU-vid algorithm kicks in a your channel gets the traction it deserves. 👏👏👍😀
Thank you Andrew - that’s really nice feedback and greatly appreciated. Who knows the ways of the mysterious RU-vid algorithm, but numbers are gradually going up so hopefully this will enable me to stop the boring day job at some stage!
@@WC21UKProductionsLtd My own channel has painfully slow traction. I did get a new subscriber today. I’m now up to 84. However since it’s nearly two years since I last posted a video, and I have some total of only two videos, I can’t complain. 😂 Seriously though, I am baffled by how some channels achieve exponential traction, whilst others don’t. Good luck and keep producing your fun and entertaining videos.
@@andrewdolinskiatcarpathian 84 for 2 videos is pretty good! It is baffling, but having been focused on this for a year and a bit now, I’ve learnt the following: being consistent with regular uploads works and extra content outside of the established publishing routine doesn’t necessarily equal growth; collabs always lead to some growth and finally, if a video does well in the first 24 hours - compared to the norm - RU-vid seems to do something a few days later and it ramps up again. I suspect they’re endlessly changing the wretched algorithm, though, so as soon as you notice something, it then stops working!
Outstanding! This deserves multiple viewings. I'm not sure whether to say the historical insights were punctuated with a lot of laughs or whether it was more the other way round! Great viewing either way. Paul and Hedley were really good sports. What a fantastic team the three of you make!
Thank you, Tweedy! I really appreciate your feedback and I’m glad the teamwork came across, because that’s what it felt like. Despite covering a bit of ground and entailing a yomp up to the hillfort - where the weather really turned - it all felt very easy. Paul and Hedley were great sports indeed.
@@WC21UKProductionsLtd I particularly enjoyed when Hedley started to break into song. It sounded to me like he was riffing on Let's Call the Whole Thing Off ("you say either, I say either"), but more like the tune of Loch Lomond ("you take the high road, I'll take the low road")... The latter of course being very appropriate for the theme of this video!
@@tweedyoutdoors yes, I see potential for a musical number with Hedley somewhere down the line! Very much spurred on by your singing on Tweedy Outdoors, I’ve been experimenting with it lately and I really enjoy it. Not sure everyone else does, though!
@@WC21UKProductionsLtd I can see it now! RU-vid Antiquarians: The Musical. Featuring timeless hits like "Roll out the Barrow" and a Roman road themed reworking of Black Lace's disco classic "Agger Doo".
Very funny and interesting. It is not how big it is, either for drones or subscriber, it is the quality. However I was rather hoping for a bottle of Gevrey-Chambertin and a sunset as the closing sequence :-)
Thank you Davie. I think Paul’s onto something here. The terrace/cutting in Grim’s Ditch is quite noticeable on the ground. I reckon they gave up and went round the ridge top instead.
Amazing, Darren, really good stuff! And I'm happy to see like minded people get together and follow our shared passion - discover more about forgotten historic sites. And kudos to Paul Whitewick (what a professional he has become, eh!) for thinking things through with that break-through in Grim's Ditch - Well done to all of you!
Thank you Matthias! Paul has made a cracking find here - the alignment is absolutely spot on. I wonder what happened: did the road go straight on originally, or did they change their mind mid-construction? Fascinating stuff. I also enjoyed the quarry - first one I've filmed, I think! Thank you for your support and I hope all is well.
Thank you Stuart - glad you enjoyed it. On a selfish note, I’d wanted to see Paul’s find ever since his first video on it. It’s quite compelling on the ground, I’d say.
I did. The teleporting hurted but I just did as I was told...! Look out for the next video Mr WC21 and I have done, coming out soon on Watlington Hill - we will release it on both of our channels.
We are highly amused. Learnt a lot and demonstrates what three disreputable antiquarians can achieve providing "quality" youtubing. It only needed the wandering cook, Tweedie to make it an awesome foursome. Well done Darren for producing such a great presentation.
@@WC21UKProductionsLtd Do you remember the monster in Carry On Screaming and the campsite owner in Carry On Camping.. Next time include the infamous line starting 'Infamy, infamy......'.
Thank you very much. It was fun filming this and I really do think Paul is onto something here. I’m leaning towards the straight on approach having been started and abandoned!
Well done, Gentlemen. Appreciating the effort and drone footage from the other side of the Pond. Cheers from the Willamette (rhymes with "dammit") Valley in Oregon.
@@WC21UKProductionsLtd I couldn't help but notice he had to use both hands to keep it steady. I expect you have to stay well clear when he sends it up!
Thanks David. I think Paul’s onto something here. Leaning towards the idea that they made a start on going straight and changed the plan! This was a lot of fun to make - so many questions!
The reincarnation of the Goodies? Did you find any giant kittens in Grimm’s Ditch? Grown men gallanting around the countryside comparing the size of their Drones(yes, a new name for it). They do drone on about the aggressor. Did you find any mileposts or even still stone phalli?
Thanks Andrew! We’ll have to get a tandem! No, it’s just that short stretch of terraced road. Really intriguing. The alignment is spot on. I bet they’d find a phallus or two if they dug into it! Thank you for watching and commenting.
Thank you, Malcolm - glad you enjoyed it. That’s a good point. Slaves probably dug that quarry. And here we are in 2024 teleporting into it - a different world!
Thank you Oscar. I’m sure I speak for all 3 of us - your support and engagement is very much appreciated. It’s fun making these videos, but also hard sometimes - getting feedback like this makes it all worthwhile.
This wonderful vid remined me of another time Britannia scored a minor victory against the Roman legions. It is such a vague reference I imagine it may puzzle even a wonderful historian as yourself. As a child in the 70's we were taken on a three day school camping excursion to Hadrian's wall. One day a guide took us to see a large boulder not far from the wall that the Romans had bored a hole into using their technique of how they would normally have split such a boulder, they failed to split it so eventually they just gave up. (Many will know how they split boulders, but just in case it's helpful to your channel I'll shh) ...I have since visited the wall many times but can't for the life of me remember where that Britannia boulder of resistance was.
Thanks Phil. Your story does ring a bell - I’m pretty sure I’ve got something in a book somewhere. You’ve given me an idea for a video with this. Cheers!
I'd love to see that vid good sir...Such a niggle in my mind...One of those things you can remember seeing, without a clue where exactly it was. Alas it was forty nine years ago. I hope said boulder has not since eroded 🤣.
Very interesting. I've often wondered why this apparent anomaly occured and cycled to see for myself some forty years ago. The gradients would have made Oxen and mule transport quite difficult if not down right dangerous. Has any work been done on the tangential possible alternative route as it would have been the way military engineers would have tackled this problem in my humble opinion.....
Thank you Malcolm - glad you enjoyed it. Did you recognise the views, 40 years on? As far as I know, there's been no work on this uncharacteristic Roman road. It's just accepted as what it is and that's what makes Paul's discovery so interesting to me. On the ground, the cutting in Grim's Ditch and terraced road running down the slope is quite clear. The alignment with the agger through the parkland is spot on. It does seem too much to be a coincidence. But as you say, the gradients would have been horrendous for carts. It's just unusual for Roman engineers to make a mistake. As Paul has identified, the more normal approach would have been to have moved the whole alignment way to the southwest, to avoid this whole deviation. A real mystery from nearly 2,000 years ago.
Hi Darren, I think you missed the key statistic at the end i.e. ..... how many Roman phalli have Paul or Hedley discovered? and a subset of this, how many have they felt with tip of their toes underwater? That will sought the Centurions out from the puerculus. I demand that the algorithm is altered!! It was a great find by Paul and it seems likely that they started to go in a straight line until the practicalities of doing so became apparent, perhaps the architect of the new route was Bypassicus? A cracking day out, you looked like you all had a great time. Great entertainment!! I'm on the search for watermills on the river Tagus in Toledo today, the rest of the town are waving palm trees and olive branches at the wooden statue of someone called Jesus. All the best
Thanks David! That made me laugh about the phallus. I can still “feel” it whenever I put those wellies on! Yes, I’m leaning towards this road being an abortive attempt. Or maybe they were having trouble with the natives in that hillfort and decided to steer clear? You go to some great places - ideal for RU-vid, I’d say. Although perhaps you just want to have nice, relaxing days out!
@@WC21UKProductionsLtdI shudder to think what it's like to put those wellies on ..... It's a lovely place Toledo, it ouses history on every street. You would really have to know your stuff to do something worthwhile on RU-vid. Hard job too, It's full of tourists (like me) but down by the river off the beaten track plenty of weirs bridges and watermills to keep me happy!!
Thank you, jsa! “Agger” is a crusty old word used by antiquarians to describe the raised profile of a Roman road. They’re often obsessed by them, in fact!
🇬🇧 I'm guessing that the only way to confirm the theory, is to dig right down to try to find the original Roman road. With permission from the land owner. Maybe the higher ground, ( the detour ) , was a better and more economical / practical choice. Ps . I've just subscribed. So, add 1. Haha
Thank you Sharon and welcome! Yes, it would be great to dig a trench across that terrace to settle this once and for all. It is a perfect alignment with the established road running through the parkland. I think the detour route might well be a pre-Roman track that they then “Romanised”.
i think the ancient road whent allong the ridge, the romans put in a straight one and no one used it, prefering to walk thier ox carts a bit farther, rather than try to get them up and down the slope, because ox dont like steep slopes and take ages on them
Thank you. Yes, that feels very likely, doesn't it. My sense is that there would have been a pre-existing routeway along that ridge. Later "Romanised".
You deserve a mention for the debut of your gateway tweed cap Hedley, and for that very sheepish grin in the thumbnail. I don't think I'll be trying a teleportation system too for the same reasons. I refuse to unless I can use the jingle from Randall and Hopkirk (deceased) ...... mind you don't have a white suit either.
@@davidberlanny3308 There was so much going on here I somehow didn't notice that auspicious tweed cap premiere until you highlighted it! Truly a very pivotal moment in RU-vid history today!
