Two GPL Librarians in England, Post #6: Avebury, Glastonbury Tor, Bath, and Tintern Abbey

It’s a long trip by car — about four hours — from Haslingden to the region around Bath where we headed next.  Leaving first thing in the morning following our wonderful excursion the day before into the Yorkshire Dales, Gareth had to navigate through the snarls of traffic around Manchester and then Birmingham — the [...]

Two GPL Librarians in England, Post #4: Robin Hood’s Bay, Whitby, and York

Sunday morning we woke up in a bed and breakfast called the Grosvenor in the romantic, seaside Yorkshire village of Robin Hood’s Bay, the situation of which is truly superb, nestled as it is on the side of a cliff near the sea. Just after sunrise and before eating pretty close to the full English breakfast (i.e., save for [...]

Two GPL Librarians in England, Post #3: Humber Bridge, Wilberforce House and Rudston Monolith

Frank and I have now made our way to the North Sea Coast, thanks to our able companion and guide, Heidi’s husband, Gareth Schachtschneider-Williams. Our first stop Saturday was to see the port city of Hull’s Humber Bridge, said to be the fifth largest single-span suspension bridge in the world.  If you’re also interested in [...]

New Discoveries at Sagalassos

Back in the late 1980s there was a wonderful archaeology series on TV’s Arts and Entertainment Network called Footsteps. In each episode, presenter David Drew followed in the footsteps of a bold traveler or great archaeologist of the past, such as Alfred P. Maudslay, who investigated the Mayan site of Tikal in Guatemala in the 1880s, and Johann-Ludwig Burckhardt, [...]

Important Franklin Expedition Discovery?

We have previously posted a couple of times on the famous lost expedition of Sir John Franklin, including this summer when Parks Canada made yet another attempt to find Franklin’s vessels, the Erebus and Terror. Though August’s Parks Canada effort failed to locate them, there is now word from the Montreal Gazette that a television personality named Bear Grylls may have found [...]

Grand Openings for McGirt-Horton Branch Library and Greensboro Historical Museum’s “Voices of a City” Exhibit

Just in case you don’t know, Summer 2010 has witnessed two very important events for the Greensboro Public Library system.  First, just this past week our McGirt-Horton branch library moved into a beautiful new building.   Just a bit of history:  In 1986 the McGirt-Horton Branch Library opened as a one-room community reading station in Claremont Courts. [...]

Site of Lost Civil War Prison Found in Georgia

Most everyone has probably heard of the infamous Andersonville prison camp where thousands of captured Union soldiers died of starvation and disease during the Civil War.  Andersonville’s Confederate commander, Henry H. Wirz, was later tried and convicted for war crimes.  But probably few have heard of the prison which replaced it, Lawton Camp.  And now that [...]

More on the Lost Ships of the Franklin Expedition

Nearly a year ago we blogged on how rising temperatures and the melting Arctic ice meant a race was on to find the HMS Erebus and Terror, the lost ships of Sir John Franklin’s expedition, which became ice-bound during a search for the Northwest Passage in the 1840s. As I wrote last September, For those unacquainted with the [...]

Brown University Expedition Locates Tomb of Mayan Ruler

In the jungles of Guatemala, a Brown University expedition has discovered an extraordinary tomb of a Mayan ruler believed to be 1,600 years old, it was reported on Monday.  Here’s a link to another good article on the find.  Led by archaeologist Stephen Houston, the Brown team’s find is being compared to that of King  Tutankhamen, [...]

Remains of 18th Century Ship Found on WTC Site

The site of the future World Trade Center (WTC) in New York City was back in the news this week when workers Tuesday stumbled upon the hull of an 18th century ship.   Here’s another link with a lot of pictures from Reuters. Found during an excavation for an underground vehicle security center, the thirty-foot vessel was probably buried [...]