Time Signs S01E01 The Deserted Valley 30th June 1991 (pre Time Team)

This is the series which preceded Time Team, presented by Professor Mick Aston.

[@Stuparod]

Mick, knew so much and taught very well, as in this programme

[@nigelh3253]

Great man, Mick, interested in the lifestyle of the "ordinary man". We've got plenty of information about the rich lords and ladies in their mansions - that exists a plenty. But I want to understand how most people lived and survived. Thanks Mick

[@Cohowarren]

Mick was so wonderful! And intelligent.

[@donnal.oglesby4806]

Mick leave behind a lot of the history he taught and tried to preserve and help others along the way in preserving, with his insights and knowledge. I must say he will missed. Thank you Mick, for all you did and all you gave all of us. Memory Eternal!

[@Czarnopolski]

Mick was an outstanding presenter and an excellent guide into the world of archeology.

[@carrienania9427]

Mick has a soft, subtle voice. I could listen to him tell stories of history. He knows so much information of each period of life. What a man Mick was. Thank you for all you have done and accomplished. Just for u MICK.... (I came, I saw, I conquered)!!!

[@kelliv2995]

I hope you find & share more older series like this. I'm hooked on them ❤

[@Devinn777]

Seeing this for the first time, in Australia and exactly 33 years after it first aired. It is stunningly informative 👍 👍

[@joyceeleanor2]

thank you for your reflections and knowledge enriched by the dear Local farmers.

[@louisahadley7082]

Thank you so much for this. I'm a big fan of Time Team.

[@DonegreaghConnemaras]

So sad to see the detritus of a farming community, knowing even the very apples would be lost beneath the rising waters. Grateful for the work of those who recorded so much before it was all gone.

[@haunanimartin459]

Thanks for the upload! Mick left an important legacy. He's truly missed...

[@petert3355]

Exactly, the things I learned from that man, hell the entire team, I'll probably never use. But that does not diminish the enjoyment I had in learning them from Mick and friends.

[@radketim]

Haunani Martin he had excellent tastes in sweaters/jumpers as well

[@tarnishedknight730]

As I understand it, Mick had the belief that he would not leave much of a "legacy" behind him. He was certain that the all the work that he had done to make people aware of history and archeology would fade away after his death. Was he humble or naive in this belief? No matter what the root cause was; I have never known Mick Aston to be so wrong about anything in his life. He is directly responsible for thousands and thousands of people taking history and archeology seriously. He has left a legacy behind that will continue long after his death, and even long after his name has been forgotten. Not only the artifacts and history that he, himself has unearthed. But the history and artifacts that will be dug up by those that he has inspired and taught, will be his legacy in years to come. It would be interesting to find out how many people became archeologists because of Mick Aston.

[@lynnepierce3676]

Will watch more episodes of this. Interesting. Glad I happened to come across this😊❤️

[@maximiliand2544]

From US. He most certainly did. Wish i could have met him.

[@shirleyvmaui]

Aww Mick.😔. Thank you for your fantastic legacy of work. I’ve learned a lot because of you❤️

[@kungfuasgaeilge]

I didn't really shed a tear for the buildings going, as some in the comments have, but when the old local said "This'll be the last crop of apples out of Shop orchard", looking up at those old lovely trees... that got me.

[@samikirk05]

Too many of my ancestors lie at the bottom of reservoirs (and under carparks and shopping malls etc etc) for me to not feel that grief deeply.

[@lindasue8719]

@@samikirk05 I agree. It's a tragedy what some humans do to the planet and the Ancestors. For me, hits the number one source of emotional distress, and it never gets better because this is the kind of world I live in.

[@helenamcginty4920]

@@lindasue8719 barring accidents I will be an 'ancestor' in 10 to 15 years. I couldnt care less where my bones or ashes end up. All this reverence for old bones is very recent. Graveyards were regularly cleared of old bones to make way for new. With luck they were stored in the charnel house or in charnel pit.

[@helenamcginty4920]

After my parents died none of us was in a position to buy their house and acre of land from the rest of the family. Funnily enough it was the land that hurt to part with. That and their favourite clothes. The house was just bricks and mortar.

[@sgrannie9938]

@@helenamcginty4920bones are the least of it. It’s history. If your people have lived and worked somewhere for centuries, drowning their (and my) history cuts to the soul. JMO.

[@MrSOLOPIANIST]

Wow the very first precursor of TIME TEAM!!!!

[@micheleploeser7720]

As an educator myself, with a love of who went before us, Mick is my hero/mentor, long live Landscape Archaeology.

[@karenalletson9767]

I love these programmes. Mick always was fantastic. I came from an ancient farming valley. When they are lost, for what ever reason but particularly like this, it is very sad. Your history, your past life is there. It is like being buried alive as all evidence apart from what you keep in your head is obliterated. I feel very melancholy at the moment.

[@samikirk05]

Exactly 😢

[@Desertbearsangel]

It was lovely seeing a younger Mick. Thank you for sharing this, the beauty of the history and knowledge shared is amazing.

[@davidrenfrew6651]

This is a great addition ... I wasn't aware of the series until lastnight thanks to a mention on a Mick Aston tribute by Tony Robinson et al ...

[@elisa8044]

A privileged and emocional moment with Mr.MICK wich we miss a lot! Good to remenber...GRATITUDE to you all from Time Team and also audience!

[@simongentry]

the fab precursor to time team - love the focus on Mick - but so happy Mick and Tim decided there was something there was something missing here...thank goodness for Mick, Tim and Tony!

[@bobstirling6885]

Don't forget Phil.....

[@roguishowl3915]

Thank you very much for uploading. Mick Aston was a great presenter and Archaeologist.

[@maveric5381]

Love how Mick dressed up for his tv debut. What a great guy, we miss you.

[@diabolicalartificer]

Great program, thanks for uploading. It's very sad these beautiful village's and landscape, not to mention the people had to vanish so folk can chuck million's of gallons of clean drinkable water down the bog. I think Mick Aston made some valuable points there at the end, as usual folk with sense aren't listened to.

[@briangoldberg4439]

And that's how we'll (humans) will meet our end. People will always try to ignore what's in front of them, especially when it's something unpleasant.

[@Kunjo79]

Sometime those KZbin recommendations are spot on :) great upload

[@russellgosselin3325]

Pre-Time Team. . . Love it! Mick definitely left a mark for all to see. Thank you, Sir, for all your hard work.

[@Spartan265]

Been watching Time Team for about a year now (Discovered it during quarantine). And I had heard about this show from comments but never really thought to check it out. But now I am. Fascinating seeing Mick look so young.

[@gnarshread]

Wow! I had no idea this series existed.

[@sharonfarris1282]

Mick was such a lovely man. Learned from him. Glad I found this video. Thank you . RIP Mick.🙏

[@SimonSimon-rn3tm]

Another great, pioneering contribution from Professor Aston.

[@davekinghorn9567]

Interesting guy. Mick has this ability to look at a landscape and read its thousands of years of history like Neo reads The Matrix. RIP

[@robclark4626]

This is excellent and thanks for preserving. Mick was brilliant at his craft and had a unique way about him that was accessible to al.

[@gwendolynfish2102]

Fascinating to see Mick pre Time Team! Such an incredible man!

[@peterbaxter2913]

Thank you! This is vintage Aston, before he allowed himself (albeit reluctantly) to be morphed into a TV 'character'. It demonstrates what a splendid lecturer he must have been.

[@britainthroughmylens]

But he always stuck to his principles, that's why he elected to leave Time Team because he wasn't happy with the direction in which it was going; to much 'dumbing down' of the format.

[@free_gold4467]

He always stayed serious and I don't agree he 'morphed'- they made him wear the jumper and that's about it. Very sad to hear of his untimely death.

[@georgielancaster1356]

This is Time Team without the artificial time limitations. Without the build up of excitements to create urgency, for viewers. There is a real sadness at losing that history - but it looks like the houses were abandoned a long time before... The compulsory purchases must have been slapped on and people given yearly leases, until it was clear that repairs would not be viable. Bit sad that it appears the beautiful old gates - especially the iron ones, are going to be left behind. To my mind, photographing everything, recording it by laser, if that were possible, in 1991, and then allowing at least the above ground stone work be removed to reuse, would be better than leaving it to fall apart under water. Pity best topsoil wasn't taken, too

[@johnnytank944]

We only see the silhouette of the guy wielding the pre-historic axe - but that has to be Phil Harding, amiright.

[@nickraschke4737]

Johnny Tank yes

[@erinobrien8408]

Absolutely! 👏

[@rogerlacaille3148]

And knowing about his abilities with flint napping (spelling) he probably made the axe as well

[@deborahparham3783]

​@@rogerlacaille3148He did.

[@snaggletooth7031]

Mis you mick,,thanx for all of your work for humanity,

[@brianhaskard1042]

I could listen to Prof Aston all day!

[@Missangie827]

the iron, bottles, vintage paper,bricks, cobbles, wood beams and windows are salvageable or at least collectible-I'd love to have been able to save some of those treasures

[@stevenhale2935]

Get into salvage, there's plenty of it about!

[@richardphillips6281]

Just shows how much more we are into recycling these days with glass, metal and other materials. That sewing machine would go to Tools With A Mission (TWAM) for spare parts.

[@ledacedar6253]

Love seeing the Team with Mick and all apparently have Halos, proving their wonderous research & huge success in their innovative, early live archeology digs! And purposeful shot no doubt inserted by TT & Time Dig 2022 - same producer, Tim Allen, Yes. ! Love the continuity, especially as it ensures a pleasant, relaxed state of watching, listening calming breath; and still reliably intriguing, with me in surprise, awe or admiration for our ancestor's sturdiness, innovation and wisdom. Did I not hear Phil's & my beloved tones of the same regional countryman's accent? and phrases come to mind!

[@chrismccartney8668]

Mick brought History to life wish he been around when we had history at school..

[@mysticjen379]

So much wisdom in Mick and his work.

[@itsamachineworld]

How lovely this is! I found this through Time Team, of course, but I'll be glad to go through these episodes for Time Signs. It's a very lovely exploration of the community that was here, and seeing the landscape and what's left of the buildings in shots between the archaeological explanations leaves a very pleasant feeling. This episode was a calming and inspiring experience. Thanks for the uploads.

[@flo15jo]

This is brilliant. The old chap making cob. The drowned valley. I can watch this again and again. Many, many thanks.

[@rrc7t3]

Yes, It's great watching these again. I wish they'd make more TV like this. Glad you're enjoying them, thanks for the comment & you're welcome:-)

[@kungfuasgaeilge]

The old lad was great! Natural wit and charm.

[@nigelh3253]

Really enjoyed watching this early programme with Mick Aston - a true pioneer of making archaeology a popular topic. Interesting to see how this Tim Taylor series with its academic bias led to the hugely watched 'Time Team' and how the format changed. Thanks for the upload.

[@Greenpoloboy3]

wow! Great this still exists

[@nanny7996]

I loved this, Mick. Aston speaks to me

[@animerlon]

Wow, Mick is slim, has dark in his beard & looks so young. Lately, i've been going backwards through the Time Team playlist. I'd forgotten how he looked when he started doing television.

[@AvaT42]

I came here from someone mentioning these shows on the FB group Time Team fans. Interesting to see how TT evolved from Time Signs.

[@MarioPapworth]

Amazing footage 👍🏼

[@lindasue8719]

Thank you for this, as I didn't know he had his own series! He was my favorite person on TT.

[@jayrennie7031]

never seen this before, it's brilliant!

[@DeanMackenziebelldmb]

Not many people talk can talk to you like mike could. Legend

[@Germanicus-]

We miss you Mick♥️.

[@annemcnaney981]

Thoroughly enjoyed this piece. Sad, though, that this piece of history is now lost, but thanks to Mick, we can understand how things were

[@Blagger3000]

The history is not lost just placed under long term preservation.

[@123456wasp]

Very nice video! Love this stuff! 🍺😎🇬🇧

[@tellingthetruth3726]

Mick had his own charm......

[@markorollo.]

Mick was about a year younger here than I am now, I'm not sure how I feel about that!

[@stevenhale2935]

This is thirty years ago to be fair, I wouldn't worry!

[@brettwalters-n4u]

And in 2024 Time Team are getting ready for their new digs, and the one this june at Sutton Hoo... Mick must be smiling down on all the Patreon fans who got the gang back together, in 2021. TIME TEAM lives on...

[@davidbarton5438]

Brilliant nice to hear his voice ,would have been nice to see the area it has been flooded

[@bettygreenhansen]

Delightful! Thank you!!! ❤️❤️❤️

[@belairjeff]

i love this man.

[@Daytona2]

Whoaa... old school programming. Thank god for the fly on the wall nature of Time Team, that allowed Aston freedom from set piece speeches such as these. Thanks for preserving/uploading, a piece of... err... history! :)

[@Lemma01]

Really have to disagree about TT - in terms of content and educative value, this is as far superior to TT as Ray Brooks' narration is to T.Robinson's irritating interruptions. What a relief not to have the inane "We've got just three days!" and the ludicrous drum-roll. A shame it morphed into 'entertainment'... Many thanks indeed for uploading.

[@eljanrimsa5843]

@@Lemma01 In terms of content read the scientific publications. The drumrolls are brillant, an instantly recognizable meme. And the professor is at his most insightful best, when not reciting prepared safe remarks, but processing bits and pieces into a coherent picture while being challenged by a paid actor.

[@brucesims3228]

Well, God be Praised. So very glad to see you folks doing actual surveys of those sites before they disappear below the water. I've watched Time Team enough to know each project starts with some survey of the literature and I'm quite sure, in years later, some Archeologist's Grad Asst will be singing your praises and blessing your names. Well Done!

[@naui_diver9290]

This is even pre-striped sweaters!

[@adkviking69shofner98]

Love Mick and Phil this is what i wanted to do when i grew up

[@london19657]

The narrator must be Ray Brooks! not mentioned in the credits.. Thanks for posting this.

[@MjC7192]

Thank You Phil Harding for mentioning this show...and Thank You Tim Taylor for Time Team

[@MsDig65]

Banging ! I remember watching these first time around. Thanks for uploading, you've made my day.

[@sgrannie9938]

Fascinating and sad all at once.

[@clareb8015]

Really enjoyed this. Thanks for posting.

[@marcblack1]

Amazing just how much history you have, keep up the great work

[@TheLonesomeBricoleur]

THANKS for posting these!

[@rrc7t3]

You're welcome mate:-)

[@tutnallman]

So much better than later versions with Tony Robinson. Mick should have continued as Not a presenter but the Lecturer.

[@charlesroberts2166]

Great to see, & listen to, Mick ... without that vertically challenged individual interrupting constantly & making it 'his' show. More of these please.

[@hallets1956]

Thank you so much for the upload.

[@resistradio4489]

We know at that least two clodites exist in the world. THUMBS UP FOR MICK !!

[@Pauldjreadman]

No wonder Time Team was so popular. Took this and added to it.

[@brianherbert2061]

The thick Devon burr of my childhood sadly fast disappearing. Cob is /was a good insulator, but needed a good hat (thatch) and decent boots (pitch painted around the base) to stop the water getting into it. I remember father cursing the cob walls when gran asked him to hang a picture - you can't drive in a nail without great flakes coming away, or hitting a hard pebble. And in the end it would wiggle about in its hole, useless to hold any weight.

[@happygardener28]

I thought is so odd that they published this in June 1991 and Professor Aston is wearing a shirt (possibly a t-shirt underneath), a sweater, a jacket and a coat. I don't see where they started the filming... November or December the year before? Glad to see a more layman explanation of how history can be studied.

[@dennispepperack2973]

Mick was the man!

[@chiseldrock]

Miss you Mick...RIP

[@slitheytoves]

The beginning of this you see a silhouette of Phil(?) holding up a sherd - reminds me alot of the later time team logo on the flaked stone.

[@DeborahParham-ve1vp]

Not a sherd. It is an arrowhead like the one he used when demonstrating how to make arrows in one of the other Time Signs episodes.

[@ppotter]

The Box takes me back. Must be where I got these too.

[@ludo9234]

All that destruction and heart ache for a poxy dam.

[@richardphillips6281]

The basic need for drinking water means we must construct artificial reservoirs to supply enough for our growing population. These programmes teach us that our ancestors had to cope with many changes due to human and natural activity just as we do these days.

[@kelliv2995]

❤❤❤

[@a.westenholz4032]

While this was very charming and enjoyable, somehow I was left at the end without feeling that I learned much about the actual the history of the valley that the archaeology was discovering. I suppose I was hoping for something a bit different when it started. More about the valley's past settlements being brought to light by archaeology.

[@Pauldjreadman]

I tend to agree. This was the Time Team tester as it were.

[@tarnishedknight730]

Keep in mind that this was the first episode of the first show of this kind. I doubt that they had any idea of what (exactly) to do yet. All other shows of this type before, had been little more than "We dug this up, and this is what it means." While Mick points out the possibilities of what it could mean, and how those possibilities can change as more information is uncovered. Like with the arrow head. It could have been someone passing through that dropped it. Or it could have been someone living here. Until Mick, people were used to being told "This means this and nothing else!" You may feel that you didn't learn because you were not told "exactly" what you learned. Rather, you were told the possibilities and left to discover more truth as it is discovered. Mick taught people a new way of archeology. A way that did not set out to prove a preconceived belief, but a way that you learn from the evidence that is uncovered. And with that "new" way of doing history, a way that does no always come up with definite answers, Time Team was able to start up and flourish for twenty years.

[@a.westenholz4032]

@@tarnishedknight730 I grew doing archaeology with my parents. And continued on my own. I didn't need Mick Aston, with all due respect to him, to teach me archaeology. Nor did I need to be shown "exactly" what I learned from the archaeology. What I wasn't shown at all was anything besides of the valley's immediate past for most of the program despite them going on about how there was now a whole project into discovering just that. All we got was one little snippet. The rest was about the recent past.

[@tarnishedknight730]

I don't know how to respond. Your first statement sounds like this show was far beneath you. And your second statement sounds as if you are proving why it was so far beneath you. I am wondering if I need to ask if you can understand that not everybody knows everything about archeology like you do, and that they need a little help. Maybe you should have produced the show. That way it would have been done correctly... right? Oh well, at least you know enough now to now waste your time on any future episodes. Or did I misunderstand what you have said?

[@a.westenholz4032]

@@tarnishedknight730 You seem to have no problem not only knowing how to respond but also injecting my comment and response with a "superior" attitude that wasn't there. Merely because I dared to criticize? Sure I know about archaeology, but that wasn't the basis of my criticism if you paid attention. I wasn't complaining that they were explaining about basics that I knew about (that your comment would seem to indicate). No, that despite that were projects into what, we should presume, are to establish the valley's history back to earliest pre-history, the program mostly covered the very recent past. That has little to do with my own background, which as you're the one who presumed I was ignorant of archaeology and so made that an issue. Now you trying to say I need to be a producer as well in order to make a valid criticism? I get that you admire Mick Aston greatly, so do I. He was a wonderful man and a great archaeologist. But I'm not criticizing Mick Aston as such, just the focus of they chose for this episode, which left me feeling at the end that wasn't quite what I hoped to learn from the episode.

[@MegaBoilermaker]

"The ordinary peasant was a realist, an empty belly can inject a dose of reality bloody quick.

[@ordinosaurs]

16:49 "I don't fancy very much getting into there because the roof doesn't look too good"... cameraman : ... cameraman :

[@TheSpikehere]

This certainly has the feel of Chronicle, which ran from 1966 until May 1991 on the Beeb.

[@a.j.carter8975]

Ahh didnt realise this and T.T. were produced by the same bloke.. Prof. Tim Taylor. That must've been some pitch.

[@SandraNelson063]

In the words of the late great Gilda Radner: Gimme Mick.

[@davidgibbins8812]

At 1.22 is that also the imagery they use in Time Team?

[@m1necraft1573]

1:23 is that to become the Time Team intro?

[@helleolsen5441]

Love it

[@danhanqvist4237]

Before the trade-mark sweaters....

[@rosehart341]

I much prefer programmes that don't use glitzy CGI every 5 minutes, as if we can't cope with having to do a bit of thinking by ourselves

[@roottootshoot]

Your the man mick

[@mickusable]

Such a shame so many farms and villages had to die because of progress

[@Satters]

rivitingly interesting, what a shame the subsequent time team became so far divorced from explaining archeology