Ruth is Stranger Than Fiction Ruth McPhee

It’s time to finish the story of Howard Carter. When we left him at the end of Part 1, Carter had just made the acquaintance of the Earl of Carnarvon: a fateful meeting that was to lead to one of the most astonishing archaeological discoveries of the 20th century. In Part 2, we hear about the unearthing of the final great tomb of the Valley of the Kings, drink a future explorer’s drink, and discuss the question of the curse of the pharaohs.

We’re back! This episode begins the story of the most famous Egyptologist there has ever been. His name? Of course it’s Mr Howard Carter, the discoverer of the glorious tomb of Ancient pharaoh Tutankhamun. In part one we cover his childhood and early career. How did this son of an artist from Swaffham, Norfolk, end up in the necropolises of Egypt? Along the way we hear about the lost treasures of Didlington Hall, Egyptomania, and the rather suspect phenomenon of mummy unwrapping parties.

It’s Christmas Eve and time for the last advent episode - a spooky tale of a remote and isolated farmstead with a murky past. Happy Christmas to all our listeners, see you in 2024!

It’s time for the third advent episode, and in some ways it’s a cautionary tale about the perils of day drinking. One morning in the village of Doddington, farm workers were surprised to come across a man, naked and bloody among their ploughs. A strange find indeed. But the story that the man had to tell was stranger still…

It’s Advent Sunday no. 2 and time for one of the titans of East Anglian folklore - Black Shuck himself! The phantom devil hound bounds about the countryside, terrifying all who see him with his slavering jaws and blazing eyes. And what of Shuck’s smaller and more mournful relative, the Shug Monkey? We shall hear about him too.

The first of our Sunday advent episodes is here! And what better way to count down to Christmas than to hear about a grisly explosion that happened in the middle of the summer. In July 1943, the town of Rayleigh in Essex was shocked when a loud kaboom! broke the peace of the day. At the source of the explosion, all that could be seen was a mangled pile of metal and flesh. What on earth had happened?