Mick Aston - 1946-2013

I am most saddened to hear about the death of Time Team's Professor Mick Aston - one week short of his 67th birthday. The Time Team format really made archaeology accessible to the layman and brought history back to life.  He was a die-hard favourite in our home, along with Phil Harding and other cheerfully scruffy academics.  My youngest used to adore Mick and would set about looking for bits of broken pot in the garden - even if his finds were less 'Byzantine' and more '1800's willow pattern.'

It was a great treat to watch Phil with his hat and Mick with his crazy striped jumpers and together they lit up homes across the British Isles for nearly two decades.  RIP Mick - you did the impossible and make history interesting again.