Heritage Action, the national campaign group dedicated to preserving Britain and Ireland's ancient heritage, has launched an independent pressure group focussing on the campaign to protect the Thornborough henges in North Yorkshire, north-east England.
    TimeWatch was formed last month and has called for an end to quarrying within a one-mile radius of the monuments. Tarmac is proposing an extension to its sand and gravel extraction operations at Ladybridge Farm, half a mile from the henges.
    George Chaplin, the chairman of TimeWatch and a Heritage Action member, said "When we first started campaigning about Thornborough, there was just a handful of us and we were extremely pleased to find a supportive home within Heritage Action. Now our campaign group has grown so large within Heritage Action that it made sense to launch an independent group in its own right, with a wider remit and set of priorities.
    "The new group will keep its focus on Thornborough's archaeology but will widen its involvement into all other related issues. The impacts of quarrying will be felt far beyond the purely archaeological ones and we intend to ensure the public is fully informed of them."
    The chairman of Heritage Action, Nigel Swift, explained that the Thornborough campaign had "grown to be one of the largest of its kind in Britain, reflecting the grave national concern that exists. The two organisations will now take up parallel but independent roles. Heritage Action will continue campaigning on threats to all ancient sites and supporting the campaigns of others. TimeWatch will concentrate on raising national awareness of individual sites under threat, starting with Thornborough. We wish them well and look forward to working closely with them in future."
    Tarmac's application to extend their operations at Ladybridge Farm will be decided by North Yorkshire County Council later this year.

Source: Heritage Action / Northallerton News (1 March 2005)