English Heritage, in association with the History Channel, has launched EHTV. There is a variety of subjects and time periods covered and you can also subscribe to it as a video podcast.

From the BBC:

People are being given the chance to bid for exclusive tours around some of London’s historic palaces.

A look around the hidden areas of the Tower of London or a roof top walk on Hampton Court Palace are being offered.

The money raised from the auction on the website eBay will go to the upkeep and restoration of the palaces.

Full article

More information from the Historic Royal Palaces website

I’m not sure if I should thank Kathy for sending this along or not… I’ll be totally jealous of the people who get to do this!

To mark the 400th anniversary of the death of Bess of Hardwick, the public is being given the chance to see areas of her famous building. I’d love to be able to see it myself!

From The Yorkshire Post:

As part of the events to mark the 400th anniversary of the death of Bess of Hardwick, Hidden Hardwick tours will take place at the hall, near Chesterfield, on May 13 and 19.

They are an opportunity not only to have a tour of the hall with an experienced guide but also to go off the normal visitor route and explore previously hidden areas.

“From the hidden floor which cannot be seen from the outside to the secret door between the High Great Chamber and the Long Gallery, visitors love the fact they are in places that others are not normally allowed into.”

The tour will also include areas of the roof space where visitors will be able to see the timber frame with the wattle and daub lining of the rooms and the secret servants’ floor.

Full article

Harwick Hall’s page at the National Trust

I’ll be on the road most of the day tomorrow and then visiting with friends and family for a while, so updates may be sparse and slow. So, if I don’t get a chance to post again until the new year, I just wanted to wish everyone a happy holiday season, no matter what you celebrate this time of year! Here’s to a great 2008!

First up, it looks like Showtime will be re-playing the first season of “The Tudors” in January [schedule], possibly as a lead-up to season two. Since the first season started at the first of April last year, I’m guessing the second season will run about the same time. Also, there have been stories floating across my news alerts that CBS is considering running edited versions of Showtime shows on the network, including Dexter, Weeds and The Tudors.

Next up was another thing that I kept seeing on my news alerts but I was dragging my heels about posting it (because I’m going to be green with envy for anyone who gets to do this!). Superbreak.com is offering a couple of Private Tours of Hampton Court Palace. You can find out more here (use the pull down menu to select the Hampton Court tour… there are two different date options right now).

It looks like things are gearing up for the celebration of the 500th anniversary of Henry VIII’s succession to the throne, so there will probably be a lot more announcements of cool Tudor exhibits and things to do over the next couple of years!

I just wanted to let folks know that I’m going to be traveling for work through Sunday, so I won’t be answering emails or making blog posts in that time period. I’ll have internet access, but I don’t think I’ll have a lot of time to deal with non-work stuff!

Hello all! I’m going to be out of town for the weekend and Monday, and back in the office around lunchtime on Tuesday. There might be a delay on replies to email, posting questions or approval of blog comments. I have no idea what to expect in the way of internet access for the next three days, so some stuff might not get done until Tuesday.

Hello all! I just wanted to let everyone know that I’m back and I’m still catching up on email and news articles. I should have some news up tomorrow or the day after. And for those of you expecting email replies, they will be coming by the end of the week, I promise!

I’ll be on vacation for the next three weeks. I’ll have access to the internet on and off so I’ll probably be able to post any interesting news articles that show up, but there might a delay.

I’m hoping to write and and post pictures over on my personal blog, if anyone is interested.

I’ll be traveling one the above dates, but I will have internet access most of the time. I’ll try to post any interesting articles that may come along during that time, but there might be some delays. Gotta get that present shopping finished too…

We had a great time in Maine, relaxing, shopping and various other activities. One place we went was to Big Chicken Barn Books and Antiques , where I found some Tudor related books at some great prices. I’ve been looking for a color version of the full-length portrait of Margaret Tudor (the one at Holyrood) for years, and who knew I’d finally find it in a $3 book in a chicken barn in Maine.

I’ve updated the pen pal messags and query submissions that came in while I was out, and hopefully I’ve now responded to all the emails that I needed to. If I’ve missed one, my apologies!

I’m trying to cover all the bases with my vacation notice, so I thought I would add one here too. I’ll be on a small island off the coast of Maine (northeastern-most part of the US, for those in other countries who aren’t familiar with our states) for two whole weeks! (Can you tell I’m really in need of a vacation??) I’ll probably only check email once or twice during that time, and I probably won’t be answering any email at all. I’ll update things as soon as I can when I get back, but it will probably take a few days to catch up on everything.

I’m taking a few Tudor-ish books along, so I might work on the site some, especially days when the weather isn’t cooperating with boating, hiking, etc. =)

Hello all! I’m back! Had a great time in England and Wales. I’ll be posting some of the photos eventually, along with a write-up of the Elizabeth exhibition at Greenwich (which was fabulous!).

Sorry there haven’t been a lot of updates here lately. It’s my same old excuse: life just keeps getting in the way. First it was work, then it was illness, and now it’s work again. At least I’ve managed (so far) to avoid the flu bug that’s been going around!

Some good news though: I’m going back to England this year! I’m also going to be visiting North Wales and Edinburgh, Scotland. Hopefully I’ll get lots of good pictures of Tudor associated places to add here this summer!

I’m baaaccckkkk! I had a great trip, even if I did catch a cold on my way out of London… I just got my pictures back yesterday and I’ll start scanning as soon as I can. I had some problems with lens flare (I think the sun just wasn’t where I’m used to it, since England is 20 degrees further north than Austin, Texas) so some of my pictures didn’t come out as good as I had hoped. I did get some nice guidebooks and postcards though.

I have some news about upcoming Tudor-related movies and books in the news section. I picked up a copy of Alison Weir’s latest contribution to Tudor history: Elizabeth the Queen. It’s pretty good so far!

As part of my New Year’s Resolutions, I’ve decided that come heck or high water, I’m going to England !!!!! Right now, the plan is to leave on May 12th and return the 23rd. It’s not near enough time for me to do and see everything that I want to, but since I haven’t won the lottery, (yet… I’ve got to keep some optimism) I have to come back to Texas and work for a living! I plan on making the rounds of museums and of course the Tudor must-sees. Hopefully I’ll be able to replace a lot of the photos of castles and monuments with my own, and therefore completely avoid any possible copyright violations. : )

In the process of preparing for the trip, I’ve purchased several guides to London and Great Britain. One of the ones that I really like are the “Let’s Go” series. I’ve used them for travels in the US and I’ve found them quite useful. So, you can imagine how disappointed I was to find the following sentence in the history section of the London guide:

Referring to Henry VIII: “Despite eight marriages, Henry would never be blessed with a male heir.”

Well, I’m sure all of you can see the problems with this… I plan on writing them a little note to set them straight! After all, they do ask for reader feedback and corrections, and I feel it is my Tudor duty to let them know that they goofed!