MEMBERS of the Police Scotland Youth Volunteers group in Helensburgh were busy during their October break lending a hand at an archaeological dig in Kilcreggan.
The group spent two days at the First World War archaeological project at Portkil, operated by the North Clyde Archaeological Society (NCAS).
On day one, after an introduction and tour of the site explaining the archaeological discoveries made so far, the team were put to work on the continuation of the WW1 shower block.
The 20-man block had individual cubicles, some of which had been excavated by NCAS, while the remainder of the building was obscured by trees growing on it and by 100 years of soil built up over the concrete floor and shower cubicles.
READ MORE: Fascinating finds shed light on the past at Portkil dig
One half of the floor was cleared to reveal the central positions for roof supports and other holes in the floor for some unknown purpose, but perhaps to support a line of sinks running down the centre of the floor.
The opposing entrance was cleared and also on this side of the building new evidence of the fireclay pipe drains was established. This gave rise to a search for manholes into which these drains ran. One was found and adds a new aspect to the installation so far.
A few scraps of pottery and an eggcup from the Crystal Palace Exhibition were found.
On day two, the team continued with the shower block, clearing out the open drain and shower cubicles on the upper side of the building, and also cleared some of the floor adjacent to the boiler room.
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They also discovered a second manhole for this line of drains, which are seen to run as fireclay pipes below the open concrete drain beside the walls.
The water main was also revealed on this side and an iron pipe has been covered with broken clay pipe sections to protect it.
Site manager Tam Ward said: “This has been an outstanding contribution to the WWI project at Portkil by the PSYV team.
“Considering they were novices and their ages, the work achieved has been amazing.
READ MORE: Young police volunteers are making great strides in Helensburgh
“Apart from a large clearance of roots and soil, the group have made discoveries which have helped considerably with an understanding of the installation.”
Constable Stephen Carr, PSYV Helensburgh co-ordinator, said: “We look forward to working with Tam Ward and Sandra Kelly from NCAS again in the future to help discover our past.”
READ MORE: Check out all the latest Helensburgh and Lomond news headlines here
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