Treasures from our Viking past unearthed on TV show

11:24am Thursday 26th April 2007

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WIRRAL'S Viking heritage features heavily in an episode of the new television series of Lost Treasures with one or two surprises being revealed.

The team discover an important treasure from the Viking era in a village garden, and more Romano-Celtic rock carvings, one of which was identified by presenter Mark Olly as a Cheshire cat.

"Once again Wirral has proved itself to be a haven for lost archaeology."

Keith Thompson

Meols is also receiving attention with a discovery which could, if verified, rock the world of archaeology but will need a substantial amount of funding to do so.

LT2 spokesman Keith Thompson from Noctorum said: "Having been born in Bidston and done my own research on the village, I encouraged the team to chat to one the village residents, a member of the local conservation group, who had recently found a Viking object.

"While the team were filming our presenter Mark's attention was also drawn to carvings that coincidentally helped his research into the history of the Cheshire cat for the second episode. Once again Wirral has proved itself to be a haven for lost archaeology."

Largely through the work of Professor Stephen Harding, Wirral's Viking heritage has received high profile coverage.

What lies beneath the shores of Meols is still a subject of some debate but it is of potentially high archaeological interest if ever it was excavated.

The programme reveals the nature of the object and its significance.

Dubbed the "people's archaeology show," it encourages ordinary people to help professionals piece together the past through objects they have found or research they have done.

Programme producer Phil Hirst of Planet X said: "Adventure archaeology is all about people discovering their own treasures responsibly. It never ceases to amaze us what turns up."

The new series on ITV Granada starts on Sunday, April 29, (this includes the Bidston and Meols discoveries) at 5.30pm and runs for eight weeks.