The pandemic has inevitably had regrettable impacts of the events planned for the Association. After much discussion, and our determination to protect the health of our members, the Trustees have agreed the following:
Postponements and Cancellations
- The Darganfod/Discovery Conference, Cardiff 4 April 2020, has been postponed. Participants who have booked have been notified and refunds sent. We hope to reschedule this conference in April 2021 and will notify members when a new date has been agreed.
- The Summer meeting at Lincoln, 4-11 July, has been postponed and participants have been informed. Refunds are being sent out to all who have booked. We hope to reschedule this meeting, probably in the same hotel and with a similar if not identical programme in July 2021 and we will notify members when the dates have been organised.
- The Autumn meeting at Cowbridge, 9-11 October. We very much hope that this will go ahead as planned. We will keep the situation closely under review and notify members if the situation changes.
- The Summer 2021 meeting, planned for the Ribble Valley, will be postponed until 2022, and the Autumn meeting, 2021, provisionally suggested as a trip to Krakow, will be postponed until Autumn 2022. Plans are in active preparation for a visit to the Saintonge region of France in June 2023
Presidential Address and AGM
- Our President Elect, Professor Michael Jones, will be installed as President and will give his Presidential Address at the Cowbridge meeting in October 2020. This will allow the address to be published in Archaeologia Cambrensis in the usual way. We appreciate that this is not ideal, as the subject matter will relate to the content of the Lincoln summer meeting, but we hope it will act as a foretaste of treasures to be experienced the following summer.
- The AGM will also be held at the Cowbridge meeting.
175 Years of the Association
- We are proud to be able to report that in 2021 our Association will be 175 years old. We are one of the oldest archaeological societies in the UK, and Trustees felt that this was an occasion we should celebrate.
- Discussions are underway as to the best way of doing this. We are considering an Autumn 2021 meeting with the theme of ‘Illustrating the Past in Wales’, featuring the many and varied ways in which the Association has illustrated its journals and publications. The high quality, charming engravings in the older volumes of the journal are well known as superb sources of information and we are considering issuing a publication giving a selection of these along with the photographs, excavation records, reconstruction drawings and digital methods that are employed now. We will continue to work to organise this and will notify members when ideas are firmed up. Suggestions (to Heather James) are welcome.
We do hope that Association members are keeping well in spite of this terrible virus attack. Please be assured that Trustees will do everything in our power to ensure that the Association continues to thrive and give members opportunities to enjoy the historic environment of Wales. We will continue to update members on the current situation as it affects events and hope to issue periodic items of interest through our website and social media.