Feature Week

Roman Britain

This week we have a feature week looking at Roman Britain , the addition of a new section, with articles providing a brief history and others looking at Roman roads , Roman Walls and amphitheatres . We have listings of many of the Roman locations in England, Scotland and Wales, and location guides on some. We are hoping later in the year to have another specific feature week looking at Hadrian's Wall and all its forts and other features, so we haven't covered them very much this week.

Besides seeing the remains, now between 1600 and 2000 years old, we can also see impressive reconstructions both in the form of buildings and re-enactment groups, and we have an article on Roman re-enactments groups, with links to see what each is up to. Some of these groups, as well as having a costumed legions complete with full dress, weapons and shields also have others who can demonstrate the way that they lived, the medical world at the time, the toys the children had and more.

For the photographer this offers a wide range of opportunities, be it the remains of a roman villa with pieces of mosaic, a section of town wall or longer stretch of Hadrian's Wall, a reconstructed roman building, museum feature or re-enactments group. In addition in some locations there are other specific unusual features to look out for, for example at the Chedworth Roman Villa in Gloucestershire you may come across far larger than normal snails, these are the descendants of snails brought in and farmed by the Romans for eating.

Roman history is different from the periods before and 500 plus years after, as there are surviving writings. These include many individual letters as well as large texts. In addition to this some monuments, statues and other items have stories within them, helping to fill in more details. This however is not complete, for example the names of roads we use today for Roman Roads are not original, and texts applying to the way some roman roads were laid out have been applied to others, where original roads existed and were improved by the Romans. Numbers stated in relation to battles is also suspect, they tend to have 'improved' on their victories, and did not point out that the Romans lost as many battles as they won.

The people of Britain before the Romans arrived were organised, trading, had trackways at least, if not roads. However as you will discover many welcomed there arrival, which brought many benefits, including the end to warring between smaller kingdoms. If you have been with us for some time you may remember the article looking at Heritage Truth , what is and is not true and what misconceptions you may spot. In this we showed that it is likely that trackways at least existed where some of the roman roads are located, based on entrances and exits from stone circles far older than the roman period. In going over the history briefly most of what we cover you may be aware of but its likely that a few bits of information will be new.

Its the beginning of August already, and we have rolled forward our photographers diary, showing many opportunities for photographers through August and September.

Do you know what's special about the 11th to 14th of September and why this would be a good few days to allocate to get out and take some photos this year. The answer is that this is Heritage Open days this year, a period when a very large number of places that usually charge are open without any entry fee, and many places not usually open to the public open for a few days for members of the public to visit and view. Every year on four days in September, buildings of every age, style and function throw open their doors, ranging from castles to factories, town halls to tithe barns, parish churches to Buddhist temples. This year more than 3,500 will be included and its not just buildings, steam railways, ships, barges, many museums, and 35,000 volunteers are lined up to make this all happen. To find out what is open and of interest to you, there is a browse and explore section on the the Heritage Open days website, where you can identify places by area. but you can also identify specific days and ask to see events within a defined number of miles of a postcode, by defined type. For example you can just select the period Roman, without entering anything else and it shows you a two page listing of many roman places across the UK open, most for the whole period but some putting on events on a specific day, all with free entry. So plan now what you will see, to get the most in between Thursday 11th to Sunday 14th September. Over this weekend you will find a number or re-enactments occurring. Two weeks ago we covered how to reduce other costs like transport, and entry costs in the Controlling Costs section. If you are over 60 for example this could be a very low cost few days for you, if you claim your free bus pass, allowing you to get out, travel free, enter free, and make the most of this period.

Scotland run a similar scheme called Doors Open Days where every weekend in September you can explore places for FREE that are not normally open to the public, some open just once a year, some just once in a lifetime. Last year over 950 properties took part. Visiting their website will give you details on those places that are open. DoorsOpenDays

Also a similar annual event is run in London, LondonOpenHouse (see this link for more details). On the weekend of 20th and 21st September you get the opportunity to have access to over 600 buildings old and new across London, many of them normally closed to the public, completely free of charge. Details on the properties taking part are usually available from mid August.

These and any others that we know of are listed in the Photographers Diary, so remember to take a look and see what's on.

Next week we have an unusual date 08/08/08 and as you may know the number 8 is considered a  lucky number in some Asian counties.  If you believe in such things then 8 seconds past 8 minutes past 8am would be the time to make your wish on that day.

We have covered recently the new edition of Nikon Capture NX2 , it would appear that currently no UK retailer has copies of the upgrade from NX1.  It has been available now for several weeks at least in the USA from stock, so UK dealers are hoping it will soon be here. You can download a 60 day free trial version, off the Nikon website. Those of us who got this when it first come out have only a week left on the trial version, however we can buy an online key from Nikon Europe now, bypassing the dealers. If you have someone you know in the USA, they can buy an online key for you cheaper, and you can bypass Nikon Europe. This is well worth having, even at the inflated price here, and is our preferred editing package, it is far quicker than other options, most pictures can be edited in under 5 minutes, even where you are doing quite a lot to them. Camera Images can train you, 1 to 1, in a day to use this, so you can get the full benefits now. Camera Images also have available a small number of second user items including two camera bodies, a lens and a number of other items. see our deals page for information.

Roman Britain - what we really know

Re-enactments of Roman Britain

Roman Roads

Roman Walls

Roman Amphitheatres in Britain

Topic Index - Roman Britain

Where to Photograph Roman Britain in England

Where to Photograph Roman Britain in Scotland

Where to Photograph Roman Britain in Wales

Nikon CashBack Offers

Once again Nikon have modified and extended their cashback offer schemes when purchasing a DSLR camera and lenses from a Nikon UK supplier.  Their current offers are for the D40 and D60 and relate to cameras purchased between the 1st July and 30th August 2008 with claims needing to be with them by 30th September 2008. So what can you get:

D40 + AF/AF-S Nikkor Lens = £40 cashback; D40 + 2 x AF/AF-S Nikkor Lenses = £60 cashback; or D40 + AF/AF-S Nikkor Lens + SB-400 or SB-600 flash = £60 cashback.

D60 + AF/AF-S Nikkor Lens = £60 cashback; D40 + 2 x AF/AF-S Nikkor Lenses = £90 cashback; or D40 + AF/AF-S Nikkor Lens + SB-400 or SB-600 flash = £90 cashback.

They have a list of the qualifying lenses on their website. Click here for Nikon Qualifying Lenses.

Remember you pay the full price asked for from the retailer and send to Nikon a copy of your receipt, warranty slip together with a form you can download from their website. Click here for instructions on what you need to do as well as being able to download the PDF form. It is then Nikon who writes you a cheque for the cashback offer you qualify under. The prices quoted here are for the UK, they also have an offer for those living in the Republic of Ireland with Euro cashback deals.

Arbeia Roman Fort, South Shields, Durham

Bignor Roman Villa Pulborough, Sussex 

Brading Roman Villa Isle of Wight

Caerleon, Nr Newport, South Wales

Chedworth Roman Villa, Gloucestershire

Cirencester Amphitheatre, Gloucestershire      

Corinium Museum, Cirencester, Gloucestershire  

Great Witcombe Roman Villa, Gloucestershire    

Roman Baths, Bath, Somerset

Verulamium, St Albans, Hertfordshire

Verulamium Roman Theatre, St Albans, Hertfordshire

Wroxeter Roman City, Shropshire