HISTORY hunters in Port Glasgow have unearthed some amazing finds in a pilot project which is helping to make archaeology accessible to all. 

Parklea Branching Out service users, volunteers, and support workers headed to the timber ponds on Inverclyde's shoreline as part of their 'Looking to the Past – Linking to the Future' project, which has been running for the last few months. 

Dr Eddie Stewart, engagement officer at Archaeology Scotland, used the three-day Parklea activity as the first session in the organisation's new Clyde Valley Archaeological Research Framework (CVARF) scheme. 

Together, Eddie and the Parklea team discovered artefacts steeped in history, including a clay tobacco pipe dating back to between 1580 and 1620, a tiny perfume bottle from the 1880s/1890s, and a pieces of plates from the Victorian era. 

(Image: George Munro) (Image: George Munro) Service users at Parklea collected, washed, and categorised all of the finds, and created art inspired by the pieces of history, and by the impressive shoreline itself. 

The project has come to fruition thanks an £83,000 boost from the National Lottery Heritage Fund. 

(Image: George Munro) The hub's heritage project manager, Susan Rose, says Parklea's amateur archaeologists had a great time learning more about their history and heritage. 

She told the Tele: "It's been great.

"Our activity gave Archaeology Scotland the perfect opportunity to launch their Clyde Valley project. 

"It's been a great way for them to get into communities and reach people who wouldn't normally get the chance to take part in these projects.

"We drew the landscape around us, and took photographs to record the current state of the timber ponds. 

"We found a lot of pottery - some of which we believe came from The Clyde Pottery company, which used to stand on Pottery Street in Greenock - and recreated our own painted plates. 

"It's been great to explore the timber ponds and develop our research skills."

Archaeology Scotland's CVARF project is part of the Scottish Archaeological Research Framework and is aimed at producing an archaeology initiative which serves the needs of the community through supporting social, mental and physical health, and community building and development. 

(Image: George Munro) The team describes the timber ponds as an 'enigmatic monument to the area's industrial heritage', and say it helps explore how communities have changed through industrialisation and the connections of Scotland to the Empire.

Dr Stewart was joined in Port Glasgow by a group of fourth year students from the University of Glasgow. 

He said: "We're working with groups that wouldn't normally get the chance to do this kind of thing.  

"It's a great chance to engage with people who have a whole range of needs. 

"Archaeology is for everyone and we're trying to broaden access to archaeology as much as we can."

(Image: George Munro) Dr Stewart said the group had uncovered some really good finds over the three-day period which offer potential for further study, and which he hopes will form a 'display of curiosities' at a later date. 

He added: "It's been great to be able to partner with the centre. 

"This is one of the few surviving timber pond sites in Britain and there's some brilliant archaeology here."