THE recent surprise discovery of nine previously “lost” vintage Dr Who episodes in a Nigerian TV station has certainly created a wave of excitement among fans of the long running and now BBC Wales produced television series.

The discovery of the two classic Patrick Troughton stories last aired in Britain in the 1960s opens the door on other discoveries where you might least expect them.

We’ve had our own taste of this kind of excitement in Monmouth recently with the launch of local archaeologist Steve Clarke’s brilliant new book “The Lost Lake” which tells the story of the discovery of prehistoric boat building on the shores of a huge post-glacial lake where the town now stands.

There have been a number of finds of tree trunk-constructed prehistoric boats but no one has ever known where they were built.

It now seems that like today’s county even Neolithic Monmouthshire may have been home to a thriving and skilled home-grown industry that exported to the rest of the British Isles and possibly even the rest of Europe. Makes you think doesn’t it?

Back to the business of the here and now and I was pleased to attend this year’s Monmouthshire Business Awards at St Pierre near Chepstow.

It’s always humbling to attend these events and see the companies represented, often run by young, energetic entrepreneurs gaining well-deserved recognition for the hard work and dedication that is needed to make a business successful in these challenging economic times. We should never forget the sacrifices that people have to make when trying to build up a business.

I’m fortunate to represent a county as diverse and enterprising as Monmouthshire. From the small cottage industry working out of someone’s kitchen and vital village shops and pubs to larger companies such as Tri-Wall in Monmouth who manufacture advanced cardboard packaging just a stone’s throw from the site where the prehistoric boat builders once practiced their skilled, forgotten trade.

We need to acknowledge the sacrifices that business owners make and ensure that government does everything within its power to assist businesses and remove the obstacles that bureaucracy and red tape too often create. Some argue that the Welsh Assembly needs more powers or more “tools in the toolbox” to be able to do this. I say that in the spirit of the long-gone boat builders, the Assembly should learn to better use the tools it has.