Rory and Paul begin their pub dig journey at the Command House pub in Chatham, Kent, digging through 400 years of naval history in search of Henry VIII’s lost Tudor docks and relics from the time of Nelson and the British Empire. Surprisingly, no one has dug here before, so this is completely unchartered territory.
As the team begin to dig, they come down on the foundations of a huge Georgian storehouse, once filled with the cannon that armed ships like Nelson’s ‘Victory’. These were the weapons that helped turn the map of the world pink, and Rory and Paul deafen themselves by trying out a surviving example.
But the ultimate aim is to find archaeology from the time when Henry VIII and Elizabeth I ruled Britain. Finding the lost dockyard would be a major discovery, as it was where the fleet that destroyed the Spanish Armada in 1588 was based. Will they uncover what they're looking for?
But it's not all work: while the trenches are being deepened, Rory and Paul make a bucket load of grog and sample it – all in the interests of historical accuracy, of course!
Comments (23)
1 year ago
Jackie
I agree, Ellen, I live on the Isle of Wight too :) And the background music was unneccessary & intrusive - makes me think this was made for American TV...
1 year ago
ellen
i was totally shocked about the map showing where they were digging. they feel they can put in france but miss out the isle of wight which i find totally disrespectful to the people that live there. we are part of the uk is it that hard to be represented on programmes now??
1 year ago
mike h
Please make these downloadable. I can't watch them on my PC otherwise. Not everyone had cable/fibre optic broadband.
This comment was removed by a moderator
1 year ago
Nobby
I got through about 11 minutes of this after initial repeated failures of adverts to play and the program to start. Came back to it an hour later and couldn't get it started again. Its some problem with the adverts not playing Adverts. Why so many adverts anyway? Try harder next time.
1 year ago
Gill
Very enjoyable programme,we're looking forward to the next one at Alfriston.Will make a visit to Chatham and the Command House Pub.
1 year ago
Cherry Aldris
Nothing goes wrong when the adverts are on but as soon as the programme comes on it just keeps stopping?
1 year ago
PaulCJCross
Eventually it moved on until the next set of adverts then it just hung again. Is this an Easter Egg???
1 year ago
PaulCJCross
Why is this program being interrupted by non-existent adverts? And then it just hangs and does nothing!
1 year ago
Robyn
programme which is similar to another programme in which a team have just x days to discover the history of the area.....but this one is with alcohol lol.nice to know that one can make an asumption based on a brick they dug up....
1 year ago
Henry Jones Jnr
Good fun, but no coverage of survey/geophysics - ie WHY they decided to site trenches in that particular location. The process of archaeology is getting a little bit lost... still, any archaeology on TV is a good thing..
1 year ago
Jonte Thomson (AKA John Thomson)
I ran the Command House till 1992, I met my partner there and we are still together, great memory's
1 year ago
Jonte Thomson (AKA John Thomson)
Wow I ran the Command House for a number of years, leaving in 1992. Brought so many happy times, I met my partner there and we are still together John Thomson
1 year ago
mel
I didn’t have any ads which was a pity because they may have improved a very boring prog.
1 year ago
Frank Withers
If any body is interested in the history and archeology of the Hoo peninsular you might be interested in this website: http://www.cliffehistory.co.uk/home.html
1 year ago
Frank Withers
Marmit - not heard of that before. What info do you have on it?
1 year ago
john
it doesnt work properly
1 year ago
Swanny Lake
This program brought back memories. I was based in Chatham in 1981 on HMS ACHILLES and would often go to the Command House and leave worse for drink. Chatham was a great place to be based. Still in the Andrew 30 odd years later.
1 year ago
chris gulliford
enjoyable like time team meats the pub,good stuff right amount of information and humour,
1 year ago
julie stevenson
i ran the command house for 6 years from 1998. The building is amazing, and we were told about a secret tunnel in the cellar bar, i hope they look into finding that.
1 year ago
Marmit
There digging on the wrong side of the river, Henry 8th's boats were re-fitted, corked etc. on the other side of the river, White Wall Creek.
This comment was removed by a moderator
1 year ago
Richard
The unit firing is the Royal Foot Artillery based at Fort Amherst in Chatham. Their website is http://www.royalartillery1815.co.uk if anyone is interested