7 weeks to go until we finally get the chance to see what lies beneath the surface at Cockenzie Harbour.
It's a fantastic opportunity for anyone to come along and get involved in a real archaeological dig - for myself it is a dream come true, and I hope it is for many more of you.
If you want to take part or just pop in for a look, see the details on the Big Dig 2017 section of our website. We'll be attempting open-pan salt making too - wish us luck!
Already our Phase 1 trenches, opened over the past 3 months, have yielded a wealth of finds relating to the waggonway - and they are fabulous items in the field of industrial heritage and archaeology.
Of course, on their own, artefacts can tell us limited information but it is when looked at in context and recorded properly that we can tell the full picture of how the waggonway, salt pans and harbour functioned, and most importantly; what it was like for the people who lived and worked there.
We've got a fairly good idea of what we should find - more stone sleepers, iron rail chairs and salt pan buildings to name but a few ... but what has survived? Will we hit the jackpot and find one of the wonderfully named 'fishbelly' rails? What survives within the pan houses? And we still haven't found a clay pipe yet!
The only way to find out, is to dig it ...