Thrill at trenching revelation

Trenching work being carried out by the Manx Electricity Authority in the north of the Island opened a window on the Island's distant past.

The excavations for the new gas pipeline between Ramsey and Ballaugh has enabled experts to see and photograph a long section dug through peat and silt deposits which once formed a vast wetland area.

Dr Phillipa Tomlinson from Liverpool University and the Centre for Manx Studies, now working part-time with the Department of the Environment, Food and Agriculture, expected to see bog oaks in the trench but was thrilled at what was revealed.