The Group is run by its officers and committee, who are elected by members at the Annual General Meeting to serve for a period of three years. The officers comprise the Chair, Secretary and Treasurer. The rest of the committee consists of between nine and twelve elected members and up to three members co-opted by the rest of the committee. The committee normally meets six times a year.
CBA West Midlands Committee 2022-23
Chair & Web Editor
Ellie Ramsey is the Archaeology and Historic Environment officer for Wolverhampton City Council, where she gives archaeological advice on planning applications and manages the city’s Historic Environment Record. Prior to this she worked for many years as a field archaeologist at Birmingham Archaeology and as a research associate for the Visualisation and Spatial Technology Centre at Birmingham University. Her interests include archaeology of all periods, with a particular love of geographical information systems, landscape archaeology, 3D modelling and virtual reality, and digital heritage.
Vice-Chair
John Hunt
75 Lower Road, Hednesford, Staffs. WS12 1ND
John Hunt is a Fellow of The Institute for Advanced Research in Arts and Social Sciences and a Research Fellow in the School of Historical Studies at the University of Birmingham. He is also a member of the University’s Centre for West Midlands History.
John is a former Trustee of the CBA as well as being a Vice-Chair of CBA WM.
Honorary Secretary and Membership Secretary
Sheena Payne-Lunn
The Guildhall, High Street, Worcester WR1 2EY
Twitter handle: @sheenapaynelunn
Tel: 01905 721 133
Sheena Payne-Lunn is the Historic Environment Record Officer for Worcester City Council. In addition to being Chair of CBA WM Sheena also chairs the Chartered Institute for Archaeology’s Voluntary and Community Group. She is a former leader of the Worcestershire Young Archaeologists’ Club.
Treasurer & Day School Administrator
Caroline Mosley
Tel: 07786 941 059
Caroline Mosley is a qualified librarian. Following a presentation at News From the Past, she became a volunteer at Weoley Castle Ruins as a member of the Castle Keepers. She is still fully involved with all aspects of their work. On the CBA WM Committee, she is Treasurer and Events Co-Ordinator, responsible for the administration of the day schools.
WMA Editor
Aisling runs Ashtree Heritage and is a freelance heritage consultant and illustrator. With a background in field archaeology, she has extensive experience working in both historic environment records and planning archaeology. She also has experience of outreach and public engagement, including training on a range of topics.
HE Student Liaison & News from the Past Programme Organiser
Esme is a PhD student at Staffordshire University researching the presence of non-adults at medieval hospital sites in England. She has previously completed a BA and MRes in Archaeology at the University of Birmingham and worked as a casual field archaeologist. Her interests in archaeology are many and varied, but primary interests include the Medieval period, the archaeology of childhood, and the use of archaeology in contemporary society.
Education Liaison Officer
Jan is a teacher and has for a number of years worked specifically in heritage environments for the complete range of BMAG sites amongst others. She is also a member of Kingsheath LHS and a fount of all knowledge on researching historical figures and family histories.
Other Committee Members
Mike Hodder was Birmingham City Council’s Planning Archaeologist from 1994 to 2014. He advised on the management of archaeological sites of all dates and types throughout the city as part of the planning and development process. He also maintained the city’s Historic Environment Record, formerly the Sites and Monuments Record and initiated and encouraged research into the city’s archaeology.
Mike is particularly interested in the links between the historic and natural environments and in making information about the archaeology of the West Midlands accessible to as many people as possible. He undertakes archaeological consultancy alongside many voluntary archaeological activities which include his role as archaeological advisor to the Diocese of Birmingham.
Mike served as Black Country Archaeologist, based at Wolverhampton City Council, from 2000 until his retirement at the end of 2014. Before that he was Project Manager for the Cheshire Historic Towns Survey, and prior to that he worked principally in urban archaeology, especially in Northampton. After his retirement he embarked on a PhD on ‘The Analysis of Medieval Town Plans’ at Birmingham University which he completed in 2020. He is now carrying out further research projects relating to his interests which include town plan analysis, the combination of archaeological and documentary evidence, the use of GIS in archaeological analysis, urban archaeology, Anglo-Saxon archaeology, medieval history and archaeology, industrial archaeology, the archaeology of the tanning industry and early railways.
General email address: [email protected]