In December 2000 we published ‘Time Please’, a retrospective of archaeological transformation in England, by Geoffrey Wainwright, the former Chief Archaeologist of English Heritage. He reviewed the enormous changes over the last 30–40 years from his perspective at the heart of the ‘Heritage’ establishment.

We have received three comments from fellow professionals which offer some alternative recollections of events, priorities and changes. Philip Rahtz, Emeritus Professor of Archaeology at York and a founder of Rescue, comments on that area, and the emergence of state archaeology in the early years. Peter Fowler, formerly Secretary to the Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England) and Emeritus Professor of Archaeology at Newcastle, comments too on Rescue, and particularly on the role of academic archaeology, including that of Extra-Mural, as one of the principal promoters of public interest and action in archaeology. David Baker (formerly County Archaeologist for Bedfordshire and Chair of ACAO) & Richard Morris (formerly Chair of the Council for British Archaeology) add their views to the debate with a candid discussion of PPG-16 and the business of planning and archaeology. Predictably, there are many perspectives on the route that archaeology, as a means to mitigate damage to the heritage, and to provide a record of the past, has taken over its years of increasingly high-profile professional and business activity.