BEAM ME UP SCOTTY....

It was with a heavy heart but with not much surprise that I read the results from a survey on British nautical history conducted on the UK's schoolchildren. It was a small sample of school kids granted, but the research seems to show that our nation's bright young things are pretty clueless when it comes to our great nautical history. Brace yourself for some of the statistics found from the survey...


Most children thought the Spanish Armada was a tapas dish. 
..most thought Walter Raleigh invented the bicycle.
...14% thought that 18th century explorer Captain Cook was at the helm of the Starship Enterprise.  
...some thought Horatio Nelson captained the French football team 
...and that the Battle of Waterloo was held at a London railway station. 
...75% though that Trafalgar Square was in EastEnders.
...1 in 10 thought that a picture of Bluebeard was Johnny Depp from Pirates of the Caribbean.
Perhaps rather amusingly, 1 in 6 thought that Nelson's Column commemorates Mandela's release from captivity. I love that.


The research was carried out to mark Trafalgar Day which commemorates Nelson's defeat of the French and Spanish 205 years ago. Perhaps the worrying thing from the survey is how blissfully ignorant British schoolchildren are of our nation's rich maritime history and heritage. Sadly, many of the children questioned hadn't been on a boat, many couldn't remember the last time they had been to the seaside or seen a lake, and 5% had never taken a step in the sea.  


Do children not read books any more? Is our nation's history getting taught in schools these days? Should this worry you? It does me. 

HISTORY COLD CASE

  History Cold Case on BBC2 is a gem of a programme. It shows Professor Sue Black and her team of forensic experts from Dundee University uncovering the secrets from the skeletons and mummified remains from history. It's Time Team meets Silent Witness and it's fascinating.

Tonight, the team applied their expertise on a mummified child dating from the early 19th century. The body had been used for anatomical displays and included wax-filled arteries and blood vessels to preserve a visual effect for medical students. Bones and cells were tested for DNA and dietary intake to help detect whether the child was from the poor workhouses as was usual for the day. 

Sadly, after much testing and research, it was found that big money could be made in grave robbing and latterly even more money could be made in freshly murdered corpses and in this case, the little boy was likely to have been murdered. A likely scenario was that the boy was picked up, taken to a pub and plied with drink before being taken to a well to be drowned. The body would be taken directly to St Bartholomews ready for following morning's dissections.  

 Yes, it's macabre yet fascinating at the same time. The final part of the programme when a scientist brings the corpse's face to life using CGI technology taken from skull measurements is stunning. Seeing the little boy's face come to life after 200 years was brilliant and sad in equal measures. The final word went to Prof Sue Black who claimed that science was all very well yet bodies used in anatomy displays was bordering on immoral and therefore the little body would be buried with the dignity he deserved. I think that's the right thing to do....