Members will be aware that we have backed the 5 year long campaign to have The Antonine Wall achieve World Heritage Site status. Less than 1000 places in the world have this status and of course, as we all know now, the Wall has successfully joined this exclusive list. Our campaign activities took us to the Scottish Parliament on two occasions, we lobbied MSP and MPs of all parties and of course, we supported Historic Scotland and various Local Authorities in their efforts. We also wrote directly to the UNESCO headquarters in Paris and the 'word on the wind' indicates that this letter was influential on the final decision.

This activity had not gone unnoticed and we had the distinction of being the honour guard for the Director General of UNESCO on the occasion of his visit to Scotland Again,' the word on the wind' has let us know that this was greatly appreciated by Mr Matsuura and his colleagues. The 'tongue of good report' has also spoken in our favour in internal UNESCO documentation (with photographs too!) and so, well done everyone who took the time off to come to New Lanark on a very wet day.

If parading on a roof garden at New Lanark in honour of a visiting Japanese dignatory was not a surreal enough experience, then a further venture by the Convenor and Secretary realised a dream come true. Although we initially sought to be 'merely' a first class living history group covering the 1st and 2nd century period of Roman history, the deplorable treatment and condition of Roman archaeology in Scotland angered us to the extent that we have also become a de facto conservation and protection lobbying group in its favour. We have confronted threats to Ardoch, Dere Street, Cramond, Inveresk, Kinneil Museum and of course The Antonine Wall itself. We have been the bane of and thorn in the flesh to Quango's, bureaucrats and politicians in defence of Roman heritage in Scotland.

This, and of course, our support for the WHS status for The Antonine Wall has not gone unobserved. The manifestation of this was the invitation by the First Minister, Alex Salmond, to John Richardson and Ron Greer, on behalf of TAG, to attend an evening of celebration in the Great Hall of Edinburgh Castle on 3rd September.

Needless to say this was a duty enthusiastically and enjoyably carried out by the Centurion and Signifer. Much useful schmoozing and lobbying was carried out in between snacking (mainly Ron), imbibing (mainly John) hugging female politicians, (again mainly John) for the benefit of all TAG members. The sacrifice was well worth it and the Culture Minister mentioned us specifically in her official speech to the audience. It all became very surreal and dreamlike by the end of the evening and we can just about remember our return trip to the Praesidium at Letham Rise to deliver the official report to the Matrix.
Firmitas et honorare indeed.

Ron Greer (Secretary)