Everybody except Poulter went up to London to hear Christopher Hawkes read a paper on “Camulodunum, ten years excavation 1930-39” before the Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies at the Antiquaries’ rooms.
Hull, Laver and I all went up in the same carriage. It was a crowded morning, because before catching the 12.10 Hull and Laver had to get in a Special Committee meeting at which it was decided to allow an Art Exhibition of Modern work in the Castle in April. The result was the Committee came into the Castle in a body for the first time for years, and had a chance to see the Tudor Hall, at which I must say they seemed impressed.
Laver kept up a continuous conversation with all the other passengers the whole journey. Hull went to sleep. I tried to read. The paper, I thought, was good. Hawkes seemed to give a fairly likely story, which hung together quite well.
There was not a very large crowd at the Antiquaries. Only about 30.
The archaeologist, Christopher Hawkes, had undertaken several major excavations at Colchester in collaboration with the Museum staff during the 1930s. Camulodunum was the Roman name for Colchester, an adaption of its Iron Age name meaning the fortress of Camulos, the God of War.
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