The watching brief was designed to meet the requirements of the West of Scotland Archaeology Service (SAT) and is in keeping with the policies outlined in Historic Environment Scotland Policy Statement (2016), Scottish Planning Policy (2023) and PAN 2/2011 Planning and Archaeology (2011). The watching brief is required in order to monitor the removal of heritage assets on site, and to record the extent and significance of any archaeological remains which may be present and disturbed by these works. The watching brief also was compliant with standards as described in the Chartered Institute for Archaeologists (CIfA 2020) 'Standards and Guidance of an Archaeological Watching Brief'. The watching brief was focused on the safe removal of a number of historic moorings and two winches for the wet dock. All ground-breaking during the watching brief was conducted using a hydraulic breaker and a toothless ditching bucket where possible, although a toothed bucket had to be employed frequently due to the nature of the surface. A wooden box was constructed to shield the mooring posts as much as possible from flying debris caused by the use of the hydraulic breaker. Work was undertaken with constant archaeological supervision and as per the methodology within the Written Scheme of Investigation Following removal of concrete settings of mooring posts and winches, these winches were then lifted using an appropriately sized machine and sling in order to cause as little damage as possible to the assets during their removal. Where this was not possible (for example when it would be unsafe to completely undermine a mooring post by hand), this methodology was adapted. This could seen at mooring post 22, where a machine equipped with a bucket was used to pry/push the mooring post over. This was because of the steel pile being used to secure the mooring post being unable to be broken safely with the hydraulic breaker. Problems with safely undermining the winches also meant that certain securing bolts had to be removed with a cutting torch, including all securing bolts located inside of the winch drum. This caused scorching to the outside and inside of the winch and destroyed these fittings. All of the assets will then be moved to a safe location off site to ensure no further damage using a flatbed lorry During this watching brief the successful removal of all mooring posts and winches was carried out, with minimal damage to the assets during this process. This process provided great insight into the methods used to secure these assets to the dock, including the ways in which these methods changed following moving the mooring posts at a later date. The mooring posts and winches should be available to reuse as laid out by the planning conditions for this project, following some restoration and repair work No further significant archaeological features or finds were discovered during the removal of these assets, and no further investigation of the area was required beyond the scope of the project initially set out in in the Written Scheme of Investigation.
Craig Stewart (Sun,) studied this question.