We’ve invited course participants on Ageing Well: Falls to tell us the three words they associate with falls. It’s made fascinating reading, thank you to everyone who has contributed so far.
You can see the most frequently used words in the word cloud above and we’ll be updating this during the course – so it’s not too late to have your say.
Here’s a taster of the course materials for Ageing Well: Falls which starts on Monday 24 November. Explore the various kinds of dizziness we can experience which might lead to a fall. And you don’t have to be old to fall – it can happen to any of us.
Meet the educators Professor Julia Newton and Dr James Frith who will be leading Ageing Well: Falls which starts on 24 November. Find out more about the course, and sign up (there’s still plenty of time) at www.futurelearn.com.courses/falls
English Heritage have just published a large number of their archaeological monographs online as e-books and available for free as PDF files. Rather brilliantly, these include Tony Wilmott’s Birdoswald: Excavations of a Roman fort on Hadrian’s Wall and its successor settlements, 1987-1992 as discussed in step 6.3!
All of the available monographs, including Tony’s, can be found at http://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/archives/view/eh_monographs_2014/
Have fun exploring and thanks to Pat Oddy for pointing out the link on platform.
Thank you for your great questions on our “Known Unknowns” step on in this, the last week of our Hadrian’s Wall journey. Dr Rob Collins chaired our panel which took place this afternoon at around 3.45-4.15pm, when he posed the questions you had asked to:
NB: Lindsay recommends a book during the video – it’s Murus ille famosus (That Famous Wall): Depictions and Descriptions of Hadrian’s Wall Before Camden by William D Shannon.
If you prefer you can read the transcript for this discussion.
The digital media team captured some wonderful images at Circus Central for our upcoming course Ageing Well: Falls which starts on the 24th November. You can sign up through the FutureLearn pages.
The footage shows Vladamir walking a wire and standing on a barrel. This will become part of a video illustrating how amazing the body is at balancing. We hope that exploring the science of balance and walking upright, will help course participants understand how to manage the risk of falling and possible preventative measures covered in the course.
Vladamir (pictured on the wire) has 45 years experience as a performer, including tours with the Moscow State Circus. He is now settled in Gateshead, and teaches classes at Circus Central (based in the Christ Church Building on Shieldfield Green in Newcastle). Circus Central’s mission is ‘to provide access to fun, high quality circus experiences for everyone’. They have a growing range of workshops for all ages and levels and can provide circus workshops, parties and trainings for groups. Find out more about Circus Central at http://www.circuscentral.co.uk/.
Master leatherworker Andy Bates visited the School of History, Classics and Archaeology at Newcastle University recently during our first year undergraduate archaeology induction week. He talked about the process and demonstrated how he makes replica Roman shoes, which some of our students filmed on their mobile phones (with Andy’s permission!). We’ve edited some of their footage together, and whilst student mobile phones didn’t give the best sound in the echoey room, we thought you’d be interested to get a glimpse into what an induction session is like. Andy provided shoes for our week five videos filmed in the Commanding Officer’s House at Arbeia in South Shields for Hadrian’s Wall: Life on the Roman Frontier.
Professional chef John Crouch joined us at Arbeia in South Shields the day we filmed the 5 videos that make up the fourth century banquet in week 5 of Hadrian’s Wall: Life on the Roman Frontier. John put together a menu inspired by Roman recipes in order to help us visualise what a Roman banquet might have been like in the summer dining room of the Commanding Officer’s House.
We blogged a couple of recipes earlier as a teaser for this week. And now, here are the rest of the recipes which make up the Roman inspired menu which John devised for the event. He very kindly agreed that we could share them with you.
LIVER, CHICKEN, AND ONION
1 medium onion, chopped
1 cup chicken stock
2 tablespoons olive oil
½ cup white wine
1 cup pork and chicken livers, sliced
3 chicken breasts, sliced
Sauce
dash of pepper
½ teaspoon celery seed (or lovage)
1 cup chicken stock
¼ cup white wine
flour
In a saucepan, soften the onion in the olive oil. Add the sliced livers
and chicken (or meats from small birds). Add the white wine and stock
and cook for about 30 minutes until the liver and chicken are cooked.
When the meats are almost cooked, combine the pepper, celery seed (or
lovage), stock, and white wine for the sauce. Add a little liquid from
the casserole dish and bring the sauce to a boil. Pour the sauce over
the meats. Bring to a boil, thicken with flour if you wish, and serve.
GRATIN OF MUSSELS WITH PESTO
36 large fresh mussels, scrubbed and debearded
7 tablespoons dry white wine
4 tablespoons parsley, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
2 tablespoons fresh white breadcrumbs
4 tablespoons olive oil
chopped fresh parsley, for garnish
crusty bread to serve
For the pesto
2 garlic cloves, chopped
½ teaspoon salt
100g (4oz) basil leaves
25g (1oz) pine nuts, chopped
50g (2oz) freshly grated Parmesan cheese
120ml (4floz) olive oil
Put the mussels in a pan with the wine, put on the lid and shake over
high heat for 3-4 minutes until the mussels have opened. Discard any
that remain closed.
As soon as the mussels are cool enough to handle, strain the cooking
liquid and keep it for another recipe. Discard the empty half-shells.
Arrange the mussels in their half-shells in a single layer in four
individual gratin dishes. Cover and set aside.
To make the pesto, put the chopped garlic and salt in a mortar and
pound to a purée with a pestle. Then add the basil leaves and chopped
pine nuts and crush to a thick paste. Work in the Parmesan cheese and,
finely, gradually drip in enough olive oil to make a smooth and creamy
paste. Alternatively use a food processor.
Spoon pesto over the mussels placed in the gratin dishes. Mix the
parsley, garlic and breadcrumbs. Sprinkle over the mussels. Drizzle
with the oil.
Preheat the grill to high . Stand the dishes on a baking tray and grill
for 3 minutes. Garnish with basil and serve with crusty bread.
WATERCRESS SALAD
watercress
1 tablespoon fish pickle
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
¼ teaspoon ground pepper
pinch of cumin
2 tablespoons hazel nuts, chopped
Use fresh watercress and serve it as a salad in a dressing made by
combining the fish pickle, olive oil, vinegar, pepper and cumin.
Garnish with chopped nuts.
ROMAN FISH SAUCE (GARUM)
400g (13oz) sea salt
700ml (24floz) water
1 jar of salted anchovies (100g (4oz))
a pinch of dried oregano
1 teaspoon sapa *
Dissolve the salt in the water over low heat. Add the anchovies to the
salted water with the oregano and sapa. Simmer for 20 minutes and then
leave to cool. Strain the garum through a fine sieve or muslin cloth
and store in a jar ready for use.
*SAPA
1lt (2pts) red grape juice
Pour the grape juice into a saucepan and boil vigorously whilst
stirring until one third remains. Leave to cool and decant into a
sterilised bottle.
ROAST WILD BOAR WITH CUMIN IN WINE
2-3kg (4-6lb) boar roast
Marinade
1 teaspoon salt
water
1 teaspoon myrtle berries, or juniper berries
2 teaspoons peppercorns
2 teaspoons cumin
Sauce
2 teaspoons honey
125ml (¼pt) pork or chicken stock
65ml (1/8pt) red wine
½ teaspoon ground pepper
roasting pan juices
Wipe the roast dry. Immerse for 24 hours in a marinade of salt, water,
myrtle or juniper berries, peppercorns, and cumin. Roast uncovered in a
180ºC (350ºF/Gas mark 4) oven for 30 minutes per 400g (pound).
To make the sauce, combine pepper, honey, stock, and pan juices. Bring
to a boil and simmer for 30 minutes. Serve with the slices of meat.
FISH POACHED WITH ANISEED
1kg (2lb) fish fillets
water
1 teaspoon coriander seed
pinch of aniseed
sharp white vinegar
Put the fish fillets in a frying pan. Barely cover with water, and
season with coriander and aniseed. Bring to a boil and simmer for about
10 minutes. Discard the liquid and serve the fillets with a sprinkling
of vinegar.
ROSEMARY-MINT SAUCE FOR POACHED SALMON
1-1½kg (2-3lb) poached salmon
Sauce
½ teaspoon ground pepper
pinch of aniseed
¼ teaspoon cumin
½ teaspoon thyme
1 teaspoon fresh of dried mint
pinch of rosemary
1 teaspoon honey
1 teaspoon white wine or cider vinegar
125ml (¼pt) white wine
1 tablespoon olive oil
250ml (½pt) fish stock
flour
In a mortar, grind together pepper, aniseed, cumin, thyme, mint, and
rosemary. Combine with honey, vinegar, white wine, olive oil, and
stock. Bring to a boil and simmer gently to reduce for 25 minutes.
Thicken with flour, if you wish, and serve with the poached fish.
ASPARAGUS
500g (1lb) asparagus
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
Scrape any stringy bark off the asparagus and tail the ends. Steam the
asparagus until tender. Then heat the olive oil in a frying pan, add
the salt and toss the asparagus briefly before serving with the oil,
salt and the frying juices.
CHICKPEAS WITH CHEESE
The cheese in this recipe sticks the chickpeas together and allows them
to be eaten easily with the fingers. Parmesan and pecorino cheese are
both ideal as they grate finely and impart a robust flavour to the dish.
200g (8oz) chickpeas
100g (4oz) Parmesan or pecorino cheese
salt
Soak the chickpeas overnight, boil them in salted water for 40 minutes
or until tender and then drain. Finely grate the cheese and stir into
the chickpeas. Serve while still warm/ The cheese will coat the
chickpeas and add a glistening effect.
HONEY OMELETTE
4 eggs
125ml (¼pt) milk
4 tablespoons butter or oil
2 tablespoons runny honey
cinnamon
Take the eggs, milk, and butter and combine. With butter, grease a
shallow pan or skillet and then heat. When the melted butter begins to
bubble, pour in the eggs and cook the omelette. Do not fold. Serve with
honey poured on top and a sprinkling of cinnamon.
STUFFED DATES
6 dates per person
shelled almonds, hazelnuts or pine kernels (1 per date)
pepper
salt
3 tablespoons honey
Stone the dates and stuff with the nuts and a little pepper. Roll the
dates in salt, then heat the honey in a frying pan, fry the dates
briskly, and serve.
CCBY 2.0 Luke Wrobelwski
This strand considered University supported apps as well as a case study from Henny Mills in Civil Engineering. Henny explained how Civil Engineering students are provided with an android tablets and the resulting opportunities and challenges this presents.
NUTELA-Mobile (presentation as pdf)
In this session, we shared apps used by participants in learning and teaching. See separate App Swap blog
We also saw the VEO (Video Enhanced Observation) app created in the School of ECLS aiming to facilitate better peer review of teaching and potentially other collaborative and group activity. Many thanks to Jon Haines and Paul Miller for this demonstration.
