Hidden History is a new way for you to engage with the past through turning the streets you walk along into the museum you never knew existed! It’s a win win!
Hidden History turns the streets you walk along into the museum you never knew existed! We combine original historical research and GPS technology to provide a unique way for you to explore the History of the United Kingdom (UK). Our dedicated team of historians, research each location and topic to uncover the real history behind the landmarks, locations and events that have shaped the world we li
ve in. All of this is shared with you at either individual locations or through wider pieces explaining the full historical detail behind a subject. Are mission is to give you the full story of what truly happened, not just a repeat of popular myths - we can promise you will find the real stories more emotive, powerful and inspiring than the myths – as well as giving you the capability to visit the locations where it all happened easily. We believe that by combing the story with the location together in this way gives you a unique way to connect with the past. Hidden History also provides introductions and reviews of museums, galleries and historic attractions. As well as the 'big' museums, we also highlight museums and experiences that might not always be on the average tourist's radar. These places are incredible to visit, as they tend to give you a closer view of a period of time or a subject. They also they tend to be quitter with fewer visitors. In the guides you will find everything you need to plan your day out from opening times all the way through to disability access. Who is the app for? Lovers of history – Hidden History has been built by people who love history for people who love history. City Breakers – The app is perfect for anyone on a City Break in London, Edinburgh, Liverpool and York as it’s enables you to explore the city completely independently. We have even included public toilets on the app so you don’t get caught short as you explore. Day out hunters – The reviews of the museums, galleries and historic locations give you all the information you need to plan a day out.
Operating as usual
Day 3 - starting the day with a walk through of Sword Beach. An over looked part of D-Day. The successes of the 3rd Division was critical to D-Day espically the Staffordshire Yeomary and 40 Anti-Tank battery who stopped the only armoured counter attack on D-Day by 21st Panzer Div.
Day 2 of the 2nd We Have Ways Festival! The sun is shinning, the tanks are warming up and the talks are about to start. An outstanding line up for today with a big All Arms display at 17:00 today.
Always look up... St Albans Cathedral. Absolutely stunning!
Today we stopped at The Yomper on Southsea sea fromt. Its a stunning tribute and memorial to the 27 Royal Marines lost during the Falklands War.
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The statues is based on the iconic picture of Royal Marine Peter Robinson during the 70mile Yomp to Stanley. Its one of most iconic war images of the 20th century and has come to symbolise the war.
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Out and about today at the Historic Dockyard in Portsmouth. A slightly ridiculous ammount to see, taken in and enjoy! Highlights where... , HMS Victory and the Horribel Histories pirate attraction for the kids. Excellent day out.
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We are at Warfest! The 1st We Have Ways festival. Its a whole weekend focused on WW2 with talks, living history demonstration and beer! Whats not yo like!
It never stop to amaze me what you can find in the UK! This is a scale model of the Mohne Dam used by Barnes Wallis to test the ideas behind 'upkeep' (the bouncing bomb), which led onto the famous Dambusters Raid.
Finding these types of sights is kinda special. It connects you with the past in a way a book or tv show never can. At this sight there is something quite special to highlight....The blast damage to the model. This happened during the testing and showstheeffect of the explosives on the Dam.The pictures show the before & after of the testing. It must have been a huge moment for entire team as they saw the idea work.
Its in the most unlikely of places...Watford. At the back of a new estate in some small woods. You can park up round the corner and walk to it in about 10 mins. Well worth a trip for all fanatics!
London looking stunning this morning!.
1st day back exploring the city today as we start to preparing for the next set of tours for the HH app. We will be covering Soho, Covent Garden and Trafalgar Square. Hopefully the Royal Parks as well. Still lots to do but its awesome to be able to get back to this after a long break.
A small tribute to Prince Philip.... This is one story from his military service in WW2 that an old friend brought to my attention back when Prince Philip retired. I hope you enjoy it and raise a glass to the Prince.
In July 1943, at the height of the Allied landings in Sicily during World War Two, HMS WALLACE came under sustained bombardment in the dead of night and its crew realised that they would probably lose their lives.
Onboard the ship was Prince Philip who was a First Lieutenant and he came up with the ingenious plan to use one of the wooden rafts to divert the bombers. The raft was thrown overboard and smoke bombs where used to help create the illusion of a burning ship.
The Captain ordered HMS WALLACE to move away from the raft and then ordered "all stop". The tell-tale wake subsided and the ship lay quietly in the soft darkness.
The sound of the aircraft grew louder until the next thing was the scream of falling bombs, but at some distance. As Prince Philip had hoped, the German plane was fooled into attacking the burning raft while HMS WALLACE sailed to safety under cover of darkness, saving the ship and her crew.
"I thought it was a frightfully good wheeze," he later said.
Prince Philip’s war record:
WW2
Battle of Crete
Battle of Cape Matapan
Allied invasion of Sicily
Operation Dragoon
Operation Robson
Operation Lentil
Battle of Okinawa
Awards
Mentioned in Dispatches (MiD)
Croix de Guerre with Palm
Greek War Cross
Happy Mother's Day to humanity's grandmother, 'Mitochondrial Eve'! Living some time 140–200,000 years ago, she's the most recent woman from which all people on the planet descend. This date is calculated from mtDNA, which mutates at a fixed rate and passes from mother to child.
Ladies, if he:
- loves breeding ducks
- loves designing trains and loves naming them after ducks
- gets a knighthood for his duck trains
He's not your man. He's Sir Nigel Gresley and he's got a cracking statue at King's Cross Station in London 🚂
Check it out:- https://zcu.io/nrvr
History can be hidden in modern place names of town, villages or cities!
For example, in Anglo Saxon England, Wīcs were trading towns. Often coastal, these centres that formed part of a growing trade network in post-Roman Europe.
As well as archaeological evidence, these Wīcs can be seen in the placenames of modern towns with the suffix '-wich'. Places such as Norwich, Ipswich, Hamwic (Southampton) or Jorvik (York) grew from these beginnings, but there are many more! Look out for Wīcs near you!
This is an actual Imperial French Eagle! It belonged to the 82nd French Regiment and was taken by the Royal Welch Fusiliers (RWF) during the capture of Martinique on the 24th February 1809.
Five Imperial Eagles, in total where captured during the campaign that made Sir Arthur Wellesley a household name. Three of these eagles are on display in the UK.
And of course my fascination with them started the 1st time I watched - Sharps Eagle!
The Imperial Eagle standard was created to create pride and loyalty in the backbone of the French army. Each standard was touched by Napoleon during a special ceremony on the 5th December 1804. Napoleon gave a powerful emotive speech that stipulated that the Eagles were to be defended to the last man. Meaning that to capture an Eagle was an incredible feet. Its unclear exactly how many in total where captured but the figure is somewhere between 20 and 13.
Three Eagles from the Martinique campaign can be found at the Royal Hospital Chelsea, the Royal Welch Fusiliers Museum in Caernarvon North Wales (where this picture was taken) and the Royal Fusiliers Museum at the Tower of London.
On the 16th February 1923, Howard Carter enters the sealed burial chamber of King Tutankhamen.
Carter had arrived in Egypt in 1891 at a time when archaeologists from all over the world where searching for evidence of the Egyptian dynasty. Many tombs where found but all had been broken into and robbed. Despite this Carter was convinced that there must be at least one tomb left that had not been broken into and started searching. And nearly over ten years later he was proven right when in November 1922 found a set of steps leading to a new tomb while clearing away the entrance to another tomb. On the 26th November, Carter & Lord Carnarvon (his finical backer) entered the interior chambers and realised that King Tutankhamen tomb had not been broken into.
Three months later and after 3,000 years since it was sealed the tomb is opened to reveal once the greatest treasures of all time. The description of this monumental moment is best left to Carter….
“There before us lay the sealed door, and with its opening, we were to blot out the centuries and stand in the presence of a king who had reigned 3,000 years ago. My own feelings as I mounted the platform were a strange mixture, and with trembling hand I struck the first blow….We were astonished by the beauty and refinement of the art displayed by the objects surpassing all we could have imagined – the impression was overwhelming.”
Colchester (Roman Camulodunum) is the oldest recorded town in Britain, once serving as its Roman capital. Within its impressive walls, it housed three theatres, the only chariot racing circus on the island, bath houses, temples and so much more. It was a real slice of Rome in Britain.
In 60AD, Boudicca began her rebellion here in defiance of Roman occupation and interference with her position as Queen of the Iceni. Along with her Briton army, Boudicca burned the town to the ground, massacring its inhabitants. When archaeologists look at the stratigraphy across the city, 60AD is marked by a thick black destruction layer, often referred to as the Boudicca layer, such was the level of her destruction. However, so many elements of the ancient town remain and can be explored today.
Learn more at Visit Colchester and explore the town: https://zcu.io/uKgM and this is a YouTube video all about the Roman Circus in Colchester the only one ever found in the UK: https://zcu.io/Znhq
One of my (Kieran) historical hobbies is collecting out of print books about the 2nd world war that where written either during or shortly after the war by the people who were there. You can’t beat the detail, the stories and the insights they offer. The other bonus is that they are usually cheap to find in any 2nd hand-book shop. Just look for the really old and battered ones that everyone else is ignoring!
These are some photos from a comically inspired moral boosting book from 1944 about the Chindits and Burma called “Jungle, Jungle, Little Chindits”. Written by two serving Chindits Major Patrick Boyle (The Cameronian (Scottish Rifles)) & Major Jon Musgrave-wood (The Burma Rifles). The book is a mixture of textual description and cartoon sketches and provides an fascinating glimpse into day-to-day life of those that fought in Burma.
The war in Burma was largely forgotten, despite the 14th Army being the largest army ever formed, but thanks to the VJ celebrations & the support for Capt Sir Tom Moore (a 14th Army Veteran) its role in helping the allies beat the Japanese is better understood. However, it’s still the case that a huge amount of focus has been placed on the US and their Island hoping campaign but on their left flank a horrendously fierce fight was being fought in Burma.
The book opens with an emotional and humours tribute to the Chindits from the two authors.... “This book is dedicated to all the Chindits, not only to those who are able to see the benefits reaped by their efforts but especially to those who will for ever patrol the Jungles of Burma in ghostly silence… One particular remark made by a Chindit gave us the general theme of this book; a remark both amusing and profound in its elucidation – “well, all this ruddy Chindit training seems screwy to me, but if it’ll win the ------ war let’s ‘ave a do!”
On the 7th February 1991, the IRA carried out one of their most ambitious attacks in London. The objective was to assassinate the UK Cabinet who were meeting in 10 Downing Street to discuss the developing conflict in the Gulf.
The plan was to fit a white transit van out with three homemade mortars and fire them into the government buildings. The planned failed but four people were injured and for many it signified the peak of IRA’s bombing campaign in London.
You can read all about the attck on the HH app and Website here – https://zcu.io/ATvQ
And the news report from that day is an incredible piece of history - https://zcu.io/I6Wx
in 1928, Palaeoanthropologist Davidson Black reports finds of ancient human fossils at Zhoukoudian, near Beijing, in the journal Nature.
He identifies them as a new species, which he names 'Sinanthropus pekinensis', nicknamed 'Peking Man'. However, these fossils (and others found through further extensive excavation at the site) are now known to belong to Homo Erectus. 2009 dating suggests an age range for the fossils of 680,000 to 780,000 years old.
Unfortunately, the 'Peking Man' fossils were lost during WW2 and, despite many attempts to locate them, only four teeth remain.
The 'Peking Man Site' at Zhoukoudian is registered as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and investigations continue, with excavations as recently as 2009.
During the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, Catholic priests were forced into hiding for fear of persecution. Old Catholic families constructed 'Priest Holes' in their homes to hide priests when search parties and 'Priest hunters' would come knocking.
Luckily, they were often so cleverly hidden, with secret entrances or double compartments, that the priest evaded capture - even when Priest Hunters would start ripping up floorboards!
Unfortunately, however, some priests are known to have died of starvation or oxygen deprivation when they were concealed inside for too long.
Learn more at the National Trust website, and see if there's any near you to visit: https://zcu.io/JMfB
Elizabeth Siddal was a artist and poet in the 19th. Siddal's beauty saw her model for numerous Pre-Raphaelite artists, including her husband, Dante Gabriel Rossetti. She famously acted as the model for John Everett Millais's painting in, Ophelia..
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Elizabeth was 19, when she posed for the painitng 1852. The painting was actually done in stages with the background & landscape being painted first followed by Elizabeth in the water. And this image was captured by Elizabeth getting into a bathtub fully clothed. You can see the painting today in the Tate Britain.
It’s ! The word ‘hug’ is rooted in the Old Norse ‘hugga’, meaning ’to comfort’. While the origin of the hug itself is difficult to trace, we love it’s etymology!
in 1919, the revolutionary government declared Ireland to be independent from British rule at their first meeting at Mansion House, Dublin. Independence would not be internationally recognised until 1922 when the Irish Free State was formed.
The full text of the declaration is fascinating to read. You can see the legacy of years of struggle and the catalyst the 1st World War had in making the declaration possible.
THE PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENT OF THE IRISH REPUBLIC TO THE PEOPLE OF IRELAND
IRISHMEN AND IRISHWOMEN:
In the name of God and of the dead generations from which she receives her old tradition of nationhood, Ireland, through us, summons her children to her flag and strikes for her freedom.
Having organised and trained her manhood through her secret revolutionary organisation, the Irish Republican Brotherhood, and through her open military organisations, the Irish Volunteers and the Irish Citizen Army, having patiently perfected her discipline, having resolutely waited for the right moment to reveal itself, she now seizes that moment and supported by her exiled children in America and by gallant allies in Europe, but relying in the first on her own strength, she strikes in full confidence of victory.
We declare the right of the people of Ireland to the ownership of Ireland and to the unfettered control of Irish destinies, to be sovereign and indefeasible. The long usurpation of that right by a foreign people and government has not extinguished the right, nor can it ever be extinguished except by the destruction of the Irish people. In every generation the Irish people have asserted their right to national freedom and sovereignty; six times during the past three hundred years they have asserted it in arms. Standing on that fundamental right and again asserting it in arms in the face of the world, we hereby proclaim the Irish Republic as a Sovereign Independent State, and we pledge our lives and the lives of our comrades in arms to the cause of its freedom, of its welfare, and of its exaltation among the nations.
The Irish Republic is entitled to, and hereby claims, the allegiance of every Irishman and Irishwoman. The Republic guarantees religious and civil liberty, equal rights and equal opportunities to all its citizens, and declares its resolve to pursue the happiness and prosperity of the whole nation and of all its parts, cherishing all the children of the nation equally, and oblivious of the differences carefully fostered by an alien Government, which have divided a minority from the majority in the past.
Until our arms have brought the opportune moment for the establishment of a permanent National Government, representative of the whole people of Ireland and elected by the suffrages of all her men and women, the Provisional Government, hereby constituted, will administer the civil and military affairs of the Republic in trust for the people.
We place the cause of the Irish Republic under the protection of the Most High God, Whose blessing we invoke upon our arms, and we pray that no one who serves that cause will dishonour it by cowardice, inhumanity, or rapine. In this supreme hour the Irish nation must, by its valour and discipline, and by the readiness of its children to sacrifice themselves for the common good, prove itself worthy of the august destiny to which it is called.
Signed on behalf of the Provisional Government:
THOMAS J. CLARKE
SEAN Mac DIARMADA
P. H. PEARSE
JAMES CONNOLLY
THOMAS MacDONAGH
EAMONN CEANNT
JOSEPH PLUNKETT
London
The Hidden History mobile app is available on both Android and Apple devices.
On the App you will find...
1. Original content thats been written by our team of dedicated historians who provide you with the real story.
2. Free to access in-depth articles on key historical events such as the Suffragette movement, Jack the Ripper, the IRA’s bombing campaign, The Krays, London’s Plague pits & the Windrush Generation.
3. Three preimum audio walking tours covering Jack The Ripper, The Great Fire of London and Shopping, Style and Suffrage that enable you to independently explore London.
4. Interactive GPS map to help you find over 200 individual historical locations.
5. Museums to visit with reviews and visitor information from across London including Freemasons Hall, the National Army Museum, and the Museum of London.
6. Available in London, Edinburgh, Liverpool & York alongside another 60 sites outside of the major cities.
7. Public toilets are available in London and will be added to the other cities as we expand.
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COMPETITION winners announced. Congratulations to @crazy_peg & @marcus_cribb!
*** NEW RELEASE *** This is the biggest one yet and for the 1st time we are finally getting outside of London! Forty new locations for you to find, six new in-depth historical articles for you to enjoy and four new museum reviews to give you ideas for your next adventure.. All of this is completely FREE to access so please download the app in the Apple or Google store and if your happy to a review would be a huge help.
*** NEW RELEASE *** This is the biggest one yet! A huge thank you for all the support, the reviews and the ideas. Together we are building a new way for all of us to enjoy the past. Thank you Kieran.
Using 3D modelling of prehistoric Maltese architectural techniques to show the masterful construction and how removing just one block can send the whole thing tumbling to the ground. These kind of programmes can be so useful in understanding the formation of ruins! (They're also a lot of fun).
And now for an update from our founder, Kieran! Updates on content launches, celebrating 1000 (!!) followers and congratulations to our giveaway winner! This project is growing at a fast pace and we couldn't be more excited 🙌
Oh BOY do we have exciting stuff coming your way this month! Our founder, Kieran, and Head of Museums, Elisha, set out to film an announcement video but soon learned that it wasn’t as easy as the TV historians make it look… We’re sure they'll become naturals in no time! 👀
Hidden History is a mobile app that turns the streets you walk along into the museum you never knew existed.
Hidden History uses technology, design and creativity to tell historically meaningful stories in a factual, dynamic and engaging manner. We believe that by enabling everyone to form a connection with the events, the places and the people impacted by those events we can play a small part in helping protect the future.
We will be using this Facebook group to share with you engaging historical content and to provide updates on the new app releases. We look forward to hearing from you and seeing how HH is helping you discover the past.
Thank you
Kieran
Download the app today at....
Apple - https://apple.co/2AUwKnH
Android - https://bit.ly/2VKBCol
Bents & Stoneyburn Village Project
Bathgate EH478BAFriends of Macclesfield Silk Heritage
Macclesfield SK116TJCanolfan Dreftadaeth Cemaes Heritage Centre
Stryd Fawr, Cemaes
London Museum of Water & Steam
Green Dragon Lane
The Royal Air Force Museum London
Grahame Park Way
The Royal Air Force Museum - RAFM, RAF Museum
Grahame Park Way
The London Bridge Experience & London Tombs
Tooley Street