YOUNGSTERS from The Downley School were up to their eyeballs in muck during an archaeological dig on The Common.

Year Three pupils loved every minute of the outing on Monday, June 13, as they dug for Victorian artefacts with archaeologist Dr Jill Eyres, of Chiltern Archaeology.

The school was invited by Dr Eyres to join in the £20,000 lottery-funded dig.

Sue Francis, who co-ordinated the exercise with fellow Year Three teacher Sheila John, said the children had a fabulous time.

"We had two classes, one digging all morning, and the other digging all afternoon. They loved it. They turned up several Victorian items and some pottery we thought was from the 17th century.

"The children got very muddy some still are."

Items were washed on Tuesday and investigated in class before being displayed at tomorrow's Downley Day.