The Land Rovers Podcast

This week we go in search Suffolk’s famous railway to nowhere - The “Middy”.

Started in 1903, the Mid Suffolk Light Railway was a grand project intended to connect rural communities, but ran out of money and was abandoned just 4 years later, half finished. These days it’s just a great scar on the landscape - a raised ridge dotted with modern ruins - and it ends abruptly in the middle of a field that just so happens to contain echoes of an ancient and medieval past as well.

So with tales of the prisoners of war who worked on the line alongside rumours of Roman settlements and lost Medieval buildings filling our heads, we set off to see if we could uncover some secrets of The Middy…

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Hidden away near the source of the River Deben lies a mysterious stone steeped in centuries of folklore.

Legend has it that when the church clock strikes midnight, the Groaning Stone turns over and lets out an terrible, eerie groan. And there are two other incredible legends linked to this prehistoric remnant of the Ice Age. First, that it's history might stretch back over 2000 years to a time when Iron-Age leaders used it to elect their leaders, and secondly, that it lies close to the site of a missing Medieval church that was mysteriously swallowed by the earth whilst full of parishoners. Perfect for Halloween we thought. So we hit the fields to find signs of Celtic tribes and forgotten Anglo Saxon communities.

For images and videos of everything we discuss and discover, head to our instagram:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thelandroverspodcast

And find links to us on all the podcast platforms by visiting our website:

https://shows.acast.com/the-land-rovers-a-history-hunting-podcast

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hi Everyone -

A little message from us to say SORRY!

No episode this week - the storms have played havoc with our adventuring - we'll be back next Tuesday with the story of a lost church, a haunted stone, and an area where history refuses to stay buried...

Thanks for all your support!

George & Paul

In the meantime please do subscribe wherever you get your podcasts - and leave some 5 star reviews there too.

The follows and reviews bring us to the attention of Spotify or Apple and they might consider including us in their editorial lists - which would be amazing!!

For images and videos of everything we discuss and discover, head to our instagram:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thelandroverspodcast

And find links to us on all the podcast platforms by visiting our website:

https://shows.acast.com/the-land-rovers-a-history-hunting-podcast

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We're back around Kenton Hall this week, a glorious Tudor fronted manor house with more than a few secrets scattered around the tumbling landscape that surrounds it.

Not too long ago extensive field walking turned up hundreds of sherds of Roman pottery in and around the moat itself, and what was clear from wider archaeology was that the hall was the very heart of a wider Roman rural landscape. It stayed the heart of this community for centuries, with layer upon layer of history cradled by the silty water and surrounding clay.

Then, in 1919, disaster struck: the hall burned to the ground, leaving just the grand Tudor facade that greets us today, and another layer of history was engulfed by the moat. But this year, following the extraordinary summer we've had, the water is so low there's a once in a generation chance to walk the banks and unearth some of those secrets.

And we simply couldn't say no!

Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts - our 50th episode is coming up and you won’t want to miss it!

For images and videos of everything we discuss and discover, head to our instagram:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thelandroverspodcast

And find links to us on all the podcast platforms by visiting our website:

https://shows.acast.com/the-land-rovers-a-history-hunting-podcast

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Just outside the village of Debenham the undulating slopes of Suffolk hide a potentially bloody secret. Around here sits the Blood Landscape - a whole host of ancient plots hinting at something terrible and gruesome: Little Blood Field, Great Blood Field, Blood Hall, Blood Hall Way, Blood Wood, all circling Blood Hill, which stands guard at the top of the valley.

Locals tell the story of a ferocious battle being fought here in 869 between King Edmund's Anglo-Saxon forces and the great Viking Heathen Army of Ivar the Boneless. It could even be the mythical Haegilisdun, the lost site of Edmund's death and miraculous, Saintly recovery.

Fanciful, isn't it? Except that in the 1800's ancient weapons, bones and iron fittings were ploughed up and the assumption was that it was this discovery that gave the landscape its bloody name. So, naturally, we were giddy at the prospect of recording our 50th episode here, telling this story, and exploring whether any further clues lie under the clay...

...and that was BEFORE we discovered a whole load of new mind-boggling clues about the age of this landscape.

We weren't about to solve one of history's greatest mysteries, were we...?

If you enjoy this episode, you might like to check out these as well:

Episode 39. King Rædwald's River.

Where we explore the river Deben, home to the great Anglo-Saxon treasures of Sutton Hoo.

https://open.spotify.com/episode/58HvSavPcdSXkWSkth9s4V?si=siKDF6ncR-OBFYniys3E5w

https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/king-r%C3%A6dwald-s-river/id1794754013?i=1000778644546

Episode 40. A Pilgrim's Treasure.

Where we unearth one of the most incredible medieval artefacts we've ever seen.

https://open.spotify.com/episode/2J7a3cRG9LH07hsBx1tlfC?si=yIx4dxIBRyOgxqJ7foSQDA

https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/a-pilgrims-treasure/id1794754013?i=1000779813903

Please leave 5 star reviews and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts!

For images and videos of everything we discuss and discover, head to our instagram:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thelandroverspodcast

And find links to us on all the podcast platforms by visiting our website:

https://shows.acast.com/the-land-rovers-a-history-hunting-podcast

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Suffolk is dotted with Medieval moated sites - echos of a building boom in the 13th and 14th centuries that has left the ghosts of these structures in the landscape. We've got one in a field we keep being drawn back to that we've never fully explored, but today's the day! And, boy, are we pleased we finally got round to it.

Well, one of us is. There's gold, silver and bronze under the clay for one of us. And for the other?

A terrible ancient curse caused by pulling an old fork out of a tree trunk.

Don't believe us? Just listen...

Here are the links to the other episodes we mention in this one. Check them out:

Episode 45. Medieval Purse Spill

https://open.spotify.com/episode/2qdLz9HptPnBQ9h8hgvviq?si=apxU4BTeSeu2etjG-7owkQ

Episode 31. Iron Age Gold

https://open.spotify.com/episode/6vNc8OO5aFLill5NdUCw7I?si=2FtA39JdRRy5S1CA_gtcyA

Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts - our 50th episode is coming up and you won’t want to miss it!

For images and videos of everything we discuss and discover, head to our instagram:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thelandroverspodcast

And find links to us on all the podcast platforms by visiting our website:

https://shows.acast.com/the-land-rovers-a-history-hunting-podcast

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We’re back out in glorious early autumn Suffolk, sun a little lower in the sky, the clay furrowed and inviting.

We’re out exploring a really bonkers landscape this episode - and it starts with a one-of-a-kind church missing its village. So where was the original medieval village of Crowfield?

The clues lie in the huge abandoned medieval moated manor just behind the church, and hopefully under those earthy furrows too…

Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts - our 50th episode is coming up and you won’t want to miss it!

For images and videos of everything we discuss and discover, head to our instagram:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thelandroverspodcast

And find links to us on all the podcast platforms by visiting our website:

https://shows.acast.com/the-land-rovers-a-history-hunting-podcast

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hi Everyone! We still haven't managed to get out together, hit the fields, and uncover new lost stories. Paul, like a Medieval peasant, is still struggling with plague (Covid), and George has been in Devon fossil hunting... BUT, again, we don't want to leave you empty handed so we've given episode 2 the same treatment as last week.

And we've picked this one because it was already a cracker of an episode, and then, when we went back to the recordings, we realised that we'd left so much out! So here is a revamped Storm Severus for you, featuring one of the most incredible Roman coins we've ever seen...

And it made us think - if you're new around here, then first up - Welcome!

All our previous episodes stand alone, please do go digging in our back catalogue and listen to some of them, there's some amazing stories, landscapes and history beneath our feet.

To start with try:

Episode 18.

Medieval Madness where we uncover a lost medieval market, unearth two gorgeous silver coins and prove the site dates back even further when we discover a Roman brooch.

or

Episode 8.

The Horlicks Hoard. A dried up pond and a lost Victorian lunchbox and toolkit make this one of our most memorable episodes.

Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts!

For images and videos of everything we discuss and discover, head to our instagram:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thelandroverspodcast

And find links to us on all the podcast platforms by visiting our website:

https://shows.acast.com/the-land-rovers-a-history-hunting-podcast

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hi everyone. All the recent talk of plagues has brought one down on our own heads - Paul caught COVID and we haven't been able to hit the fields. But don't fear - we've done something we have been meaning to do for a while and re-cut our very first episode.

BUT this isn't just a re-edit and sound improvement job - we've added a load of extra content you haven't heard before! So, almost 7 years to the day that George found the Helmingham Hoard, and almost 2 years to the day that we found that gorgeous Iron Age gold stater while recording this very first episode, we hope you enjoy this new and improved version of the story.

Now with added Gold! And added Alice! Added history, and windy fields!

We'll be back soon when the plague has passed...

Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts!

For images and videos of everything we discuss and discover, head to our instagram:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thelandroverspodcast

And find links to us on all the podcast platforms by visiting our website:

https://shows.acast.com/the-land-rovers-a-history-hunting-podcast

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Armed with two contrasting but incredible sources - Julius Caesar's account of his invasions of Britain and a recent archaeological report about a modern housing estate - the boys hit some new land right next to the site of a once flourishing Iron Age settlement.

But, as ever, the story the landscape has has to tell takes them in a completely different direction - out of the smoke filled Romano-British roundhouses and firmly into the 1300's.

And it does so in the most spectacular way possible with one of the most incredible moments on the pod so far...

Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts!

For images and videos of everything we discuss and discover, head to our instagram:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thelandroverspodcast

And find links to us on all the podcast platforms by visiting our website:

https://shows.acast.com/the-land-rovers-a-history-hunting-podcast

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.