Channel Four’s ‘Time Team’ have returned to the site of the Shipwreck Colossus, which has attracted international interest over the past year or so.
The TV production unit made an initial visit last September. Their well known presenter, Tony Robinson, was attracting much attention this time around from interested onlookers on St. Marys Quay this Tuesday morning . The Colossus site was partially protected from the harsh winter and it is thought that the good weather usually associated with the summer months has provided an opportunity for further excavations.
The Bryher diving vessel ‘Scavenger’ (pictured above the wreck last year) had been seen on the site over the weekend, prompting speculation over further excavations. A large figurehead, preserved by being buried in the sand, is said to have been discovered which has prompted this most recent interest. The site of the wreck has been known about for several decades but it had been thought that there was nothing of further interest on the site.
The production unit as well as the ‘Time Team’ were seen climbing down the ladders on the Quay this Tuesday Morning, and climbing aboard the large, yellow Portsmouth based boat ‘Sea Trax’. Many holidaymakers who were queuing for the boats to off Islands were intrigued by this celebrity, and one noted how nervous Tony Robinson looked as he ‘disappeared over the brink of the Quay on the precarious ladder’.
This is a fairly new experience for the time team, usually more renowned for their hot mugs of cocoa and muddy excavations. There has only been one previous underwater excavation, of a Spanish Armada ship which was discovered in Kinlochbervie, NW Scotland. On that occasion, Tony Robinson was one of the divers, and it is thought he will dive on ‘The Colossus’ too. This visit comes just days after an excavation vessel finished work on the wreck of the ‘Hollandia’ which sank West of Annet in the 1800’s.