Visiting Norman McCord

 

Professor Norman McCord was one of my lecturers at Newcastle University nearly 40 years ago. We have kept in touch since I completed my PhD thesis 30 years ago. Back in the 1970s, Norman carried out a great deal of aerial photography. He discovered the Roman fort at Washingwell, near Whickham, in 1972 when he flew over the site heading to Corbridge to take photos before the A69 Corbridge bypass was built. Norman spotted the crop marks at Washingwell which revealed the existence of the previously unknown fort. The site is south of the Tyne and the discovery challenged the assumption that the first Roman border on Tyneside was north of the river, where the Roman Wall was subsequently built in AD122.

I visited Norman at his house earlier this month to show him some research I was doing on the Washingwell fort. I also showed him an RAF photo I had been given by a friend and Whickham resident which was taken in the immediate postwar years. The photo revealed crop marks showing the Washingwell fort. It meant the evidence for the fort had been there in plain sight for a generation before Norman's discovery but no one had spotted it.

I talked Norman through the work I have been doing on Washingwell and the talks I have given on the issue recently to local groups. He is now in his 90s but his mind is as sharp as ever.

The above photo (courtesy of Norman McCord) was taken in 1972 clearly showing the fort in the crop marks.

This photo (courtesy of Harry Shipley) was taken in the late 1940s by the RAF. You can see the crop marks in the top centre of the photo.