Adrian Challands, son of James and Ivy, husband of Norma, and brother to Vivienne, died at the age of 76 on Christmas Day 2020. Born and educated in Peterborough and Kent, he was a graduate of the Institute of Archaeology, London University. With Norma, he had lived for 41 years in Helpston.
He was a member of the Peterborough Museum Society from being a teenager, always encouraged by the late Eric Standen, and he later led the Museum Archaeological Field Section. In his twenties, he was elected a Fellow of the Geological Society and was also an early Member of the Chartered Institute for Archaeologists.
Adrian was the Archaeological Officer for Peterborough Development Corporation, working from the Field Centre of the Nene Valley Research Committee, which was established to excavate, record and publish the many archaeological sites unearthed during the development of the city from 1969. One of the longest-serving members of the Nene Valley Research Committee, he was also a member of MidNAG, the Middle Nene Archaeological Group. He taught archaeology at Peterborough Regional College and the Peterborough College of Adult Education.
For many years Adrian was a member of the Conservation Committee of the East of England Agricultural Society and a steward on their stand at the East of England Show.
Following the winding up of the Peterborough Development Corporation, Adrian became a consultant archaeological geophysicist, a numismatist specialising in Roman coins and a Roman metalwork specialist. He surveyed many sites and produced specialist reports for Cambridge Archaeological Unit. Easter Island and Egypt were among the countries where Adrian worked. In Orkney he worked on many Neolithic and Bronze Age sites. He was there so often that some Orcadians thought he lived there. Orkney became his spiritual home.