Monday, February 15, 2010

Tar for the cover-up

A section of the damaged road before and after repair
 
Deep pot holes in College Road between The Good Intent public house (GI) and the United Reform Church (URC), created by the recent snow, have been repaired almost faster than they appeared.

College Street resident Bee Wildered said: “It’s incredible. We normally have to wait months for any sort of repair. I can only assume we have a senior councillor or someone influential living in the street.”

However, there are suspicions that the reason for the incredibly swift repair might be the result of a 'back-hander' to the council as images of the damaged road surface come to light.

The picture above was provided to us by Canon Cann, after visiting Petersfield to hold Eucharist at the URC. On close inspection you can just about make out traces of tesserae, possible evidence of Roman occupation.

So why the swift cover-up?

The extent of the hurried repairs is clear

It has been suggested that either the landlord of the GI or the rector of the URC insisted on immediate repairs fearful that if news got out about the archaeological remains, Channel 4’s Time Team could be invited in to dig up the area. Such a project would inevitably mean disruption and loss of custom. The repairs do indeed look hurried and at best temporary.

Phil Harding, the one from Time Team who looks like he needs a shower before he has even started digging, was asked what he thought of the situation.

“Why it’s a dream come true,” he said.

“Looking at this photo, the remains definitely look Roman, which I can tell you will make them pre WWI.

“I have dreamed of a dig like this since the early days of Time Team, can you imagine it? We could dig up the road when the sun is shining and when it rains concentrate on the floors inside both the church and the pub, where we would be sheltered and warm.

“All this, and beer would never be more than a few yards away, superb. When can we start?”

Neither the rector of the GI nor the landlord of the URC were available for comment.

1 comment:

  1. No comment (landlord of The Good Intent)

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