AN Almondbury man is working to help preserve a part of Yorkshire’s heritage.

John Smithson is one of a number of volunteers working on a scientific survey of Marsden Moor.

Mr Smithson – a former Kirklees councillor – has been working with scientists on new studies of the moor’s peat and landscape.

They collected peat samples which are thought to date back at least 10,000 years from the National Trust property.

The project is being led by two masters students from the University of Bradford who are benefiting from the wealth of archaeology in the South Pennines.

Liza Kavanagh and Ronald Organ are working towards their masters degrees and both have linked their research with the Watershed Landscape Project, managed by rural regeneration company Pennine Prospects.

Liza has run three workshops with people from various different groups to introduce a wider audience to the scientific methodology involved in trying to recreate our past environments.

“Community archaeology is well established in Britain,” explained Liza.

“We took a group onto Marsden Moor to collect peat samples by using a corer.

“The group then spent a day in the university laboratory analysing the samples of pollen remains, some of which were 10,000 years old and dated back to the last ice age.

“I think everyone really enjoyed the workshops and it’s shown me what’s involved in working with community groups,” added Liza, who following her MSc in Bradford would like to return to her native Ireland to help develop community archaeology there.

The Riches of the Earth project, is investigating the industrial heritage of the South Pennines.