Fiona Standfield Expand Educated at the Universities of Leeds, Caen and Oxford, Fiona began her career as a fast-track Civil Servant in Whitehall, subsequently teaching Modern Foreign Languages and working in the House of Commons, before joining Royal Mail plc. Fiona enjoyed a thirteen-year career with Royal Mail plc, undertaking operational, training and management posts both at home and abroad, including Home Shopping Sales Director and culminating in Business Implementation and Delivery Director on a UK-wide IT Programme. Since returning to the North East, Fiona has developed a portfolio career, which has included her own consultancy practice – providing language services, project management and business development support to SMEs across all three sectors – and interim change leadership roles as Director, Newcastle Science City and North East Programme Director for Safe Families for Children. Fiona is currently working for the Diocese of Hexham and Newcastle as their Chief Operating Officer. A former chair of an NHS Mental Health and Learning Disability Trust, Fiona is also employed by the Ministry of Justice as a Specialist (mental health) Lay Tribunal Member and an Appraiser. Fiona enjoys voluntary positions as a Trustee of Vindolanda, Chair of Northumberland based theatre company November Club and supports Durham University Business School’s full-time MBA Programme.
Gary Calland Expand Gary has been a volunteer archaeologist at Vindolanda for nearly 25years. Originally trained as an electrician, he later studied Ancient History and Archaeology at the University of Leicester and has been a professional archaeologist and a teacher of history and archaeology. Gary is also a published author. Gary has been working for the National Trust since 2001 and is currently a General Manager in Devon where he looks after a varied portfolio of historic houses and gardens, countryside and coastline. He brings a wealth of experience in managing people, operational performance, looking after historic places and making everyone welcome.
Hans Christian Andersen Expand Hans Christian Andersen came to the UK from Denmark in 1979, to study for a PhD and, since 1982, has worked at Newcastle and Northumbria Universities, in the School of Modern Languages, ICCHS and in Newcastle Business School respectively. For most of his life, he has been passionate about museums (“I am a linguist at heart, for me museums and galleries are powerful media, storers and bearers of social meaning,” he says when asked why he did not just work in one). He has been involved in Museums North (the Museums Federation for North East England) for twenty years, including a period as its President, has lectured and written about museums in the tourism industry and manages a FaceBook page about museums for the North East region. He is particularly delighted to be a Director at Vindolanda Trust, contributing actively to the life one of the UK’s internationally most famous Roman museums, not just in the committee room and on-site but also as a volunteer archaeologist in 2018.
Helen Woodford Expand Helen is a Partner at the law firm Bexley Beaumont. Since she qualified as a solicitor in 2001, Helen has specialised is advising employers and trustee boards on the application of pensions law. However, from a very young age, Helen has been greatly interested in history and chose this subject for her undergraduate degree at the University of Liverpool. Being from the North-East and living in Northumberland now, Helen has visited Vindolanda and the Roman Army Museum many times over the years and was delighted to become a Trustee early in 2017.
Lawrence Thompson Expand Lawrence Thompson is a retired schoolteacher who has been actively involved with Vindolanda for more than forty years. He has been a town, district and county councillor over a period of thirty years and a member of Northumbria Police Authority for a period of seven Years. He was also a member of Northumberland National Park Authority for seven years. Lawrence was a magistrate for more than thirty years and served on The Lord Lieutenant's Advisory Committee and the organisation involved in the training of newly appointed magistrates. He is presently involved as a trustee in a local development trust and as Chairman of Trustees of a youth development initiative. Lawrence has a lifelong and continuing interest in cricket and is a vice-president of Haltwhistle Cricket Club.
Pete Wilson Expand Pete Wilson was formerly Head of Research Policy (Roman Archaeology) for English Heritage and through that role has had a long association with Vindolanda. He is a specialist in the Roman-period archaeology of Northern England and has published widely. He is now an Independent Consultant working with a variety of statutory/official, commercial, charitable and voluntary organisation. In addition to being a Trustee of the Vindolanda Charitable Trust Pete is Chair of Trustees of the Senhouse Roman Museum, Maryport and Honorary Secretary of the Royal Archaeological Institute.
Professor Anthony Birley Expand Anthony Birley (Former Chair & Patron) 1937-2020 Anthony Birley was born at Chesterholm (in the then spare bedroom, now an office) on 8th October 1937. His earliest memories of the place are from 1943 when the family returned to Northumberland after being away for the first years of the Second World War. He left the house when his parents moved to Durham City in 1950. At school he showed talent mainly for languages, so, as still allowed in those days, concentrated from the age of 13 on Latin, Greek and Ancient History to the exclusion of most other subjects. This led to Classics at Oxford, followed by a doctoral thesis on second century AD wars, then to posts in ancient history at Birmingham, Leeds, Manchester and Düsseldorf Universities. He always enjoyed digging, mainly in England (especially, for many years, at Vindolanda), Scotland and Wales, with two spells in Libya. Experience of directing a dig himself (at Maryport in 1966) decided him to stick to teaching and writing history (several books on Roman Britain and three on Roman emperors). He became a Trustee of the Vindolanda Trust when it started in 1970 and served until 2016, for the final twenty years as Chair.
Professor Ian Haynes Expand Ian Haynes is Professor of Archaeology at Newcastle University. He has a particular interest in the frontier communities of the Roman Empire and has written extensively on the types of auxiliary units which occupied Vindolanda. As part of his research, Ian has been privileged to direct archaeological fieldwork at Maryport and Beckfoot in Cumbria, and Corbridge in Northumberland. Ian is also heavily involved in the work of the Clayton Trust, best known for its museum at Chesters Roman Fort. In addition to his work in Britain, Ian has worked extensively in Rome, where he co-directs the Lateran Project, and in Romania, where his research has focussed on the largest Roman conurbation north of the Danube, Apulum.
Terry Carroll Expand Terry has professional qualifications in town and country planning and rural resources management. He worked for the Northumberland National Park Authority for some 25 years where he became the deputy chief officer. He subsequently operated as a freelance consultant in the field of rural development and as a research fellow at the Centre for Rural Economy at Newcastle University. He has extensive practical experience of rural planning and land use, environmental conservation, rural micro-businesses and renewable energy and also of the government institutions, policies and programmes that impact upon these sectors. He has carried out numerous consultancy assignments in these fields at local, national and international level. Terry is a director and board member of the Vindolanda Trust and member of the Northumberland Uplands Local Action Group for the EU funded Leader programme.
Veryan Johnston, MBE. Expand Veryan was appointed as a Trustee Director of Vindolanda Trust in April 2016 and is currently a member of the Staffing Committee for the Trust. Veryan is an experienced HR Director. Her early career was spent in the water industry and more recently in Higher Education. She was Executive Director of HR at Newcastle University for 17 years until December 2015. Veryan is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development. Veryan continues to work with institutions in HE as a coach, mentor and consultant. She is also a Trustee for Hadrian Learning Trust and Newcastle University Development Trust.