The Crown Jewels in magnificent close-up….

  Last night I watched a truly decorative and stylish BBC documentary called The Crown Jewels. At the outset we were told that the makers had unprecedented access to both the jewels and the very latest technology, the latter permitting such close-ups of the dazzling gems that their true beauty really was revealed. There were…

Tutankhamun’s tomb was discovered one hundred years ago today….

  The Pharaoh Tutankhamun seems to have been part of our lives forever, so it’s hard to believe that his tomb was found just hundred years ago on 4th November 1922. Even the discoverer, Howard Carter, had no idea what lay within the tomb, only that it didn’t seem to have been got at by…

“Bone Detectives” come to Ipswich …

… and other venues, with Tori Herridge and Raksha Dave. This Channel Four series, which consists of five episodes, begins at Stoke Quay on the town’s Waterfront where a long-forgotten (St. Augustine’s) burial ground was fully explored before some new buildings were constructed. Three bodies in particular were examined: 1) A wealthy man buried in…

The Nanfans and the shadow of Raggedstone Hill….

It was a member of the Nanfan family of Birtsmorton Court in Worcestershire (Sir Richard Nanfan, Deputy Lieutenant of Calais) who told tales to Henry VII about Sir James Tyrell giving succour to the fugitive Yorkist de la Pole brothers, Edmund and Richard. Tyrell had done this knowing full well that the elder brother, Edmund,…

First Richard’s Remains – now the Bard’s Bones…

First Richard’s last resting place, and now Shakespeare’s. All you have to do is dig in from the side, thus not disturbing the stones. Then you can take a peek, but DO NOT MOVE DEM BONES! http://www.telegraph.co.uk/history/12184086/Shakespeares-grave-to-be-radar-scanned-despite-famous-curse.html