July 24th 2011 - Machu Picchu , Lost City of the Incas is now one of the world's 'must do before I die ' tourist destinations and a World Heritage site. One hundred years ago the American academic Hiram Bingham first set his eyes on the ruin - a year later he gave the first account in Harper's Magazine, New York. Then in 1913 the National Geographic Magazine devoted an entire issue to Bingham's work and in 1922 he wrote a book Inca Land and another followed in 1930. The lighter, easier reading Lost City of the Incas was first published in 1948. Films, television and now the popularity of the 'Inca Trail', a path through spectacular mountain scenery guarantees over 2000 visitors a day. Machu Pichu is often so crowded that UNESCO and the local guardian body the INC [Intstuto Nacional de Cultura - National Cultural Institute] are anxious that the wave of human traffic will damage the ancient stones. They close the gates at 2,500 visitors per day. When the members of the University of Bristol Trans-Continental Expedition team arrived at the ruins by steam train in June 1961 they found just a handful of visitors. Wealthy tourists stayed in the small almost rustic state-run hotel and others like the Expedition team simply camped in the ruins. Entry was informal and paid at the hotel. How lucky .. We spent spent two days at Machu Picchu and by camping we saw the dawn in near solitude. The only sounds came from the insect and birdlife drifting upwards from the tropical valley 2000 feet [610m] below by a stretch of an ear we heard the sound of the Urubamba river tumbling over rocks. Two more years passed and I was back with Mark Howell making a professional film for BBC TV and then a year later searching for another lost city; also for BBC TV. Altogether I made five television films with sequences at Machu Picchu, largely because the excutive producers always said " be sure to get that old city in the mountains ... Machoo something or other, I can't remember the name." I was not the only producer of Machu Picchuana and by the 1980's it was common to see units from several countries all trying to keep ' out of shot' of another camera. Fifty years on Now any Machu Picchu story makes world news and the argument of who discovered the site rolls on and on. What is certain is that Bingham was not the first to get to the ruins. In his book Inca Land on page 324 he says he saw the name 'Lizarraga 1902' scrawled on one of the walls. He overlooked this little matter when writing Lost city of the Incas now in its zillionth paperback. Agustín Lizarraga lived in the Urubamba valley below Machu Picchu and though he left his mark was almost certainly not the first to get there. Watch this site for some ideas - Tony Morrison READ The original book Inca Land 1922 by Hiram Bingham in which he describes how he was led to the site [page 314]. This book is in the Internet Archive INCA LAND READ Malcolm McKernan - Looking down on the 'Lost City of the Incas' for the Western Daily Press, Bristol - August 1961 PRESS WATCH The classic TV footage filmed in June 1961 by Tony Morrison February 2011, Cheddar Man. A BBC TV series A History of Ancient Britain led to the resurgence of interest in a skeleton found 1903 in Gough's Cave Cheddar, Somerset England. Gough's Cave is in a limestone rock formation in the Mendip Hills approx 13 miles (23 kms ) south of Bristol. The find was made by Arthur and William Gough and following extensive research has since been recognised as the oldest complete human skeleton known in Britain. It dates from 7,150 BC and is kept at the Natural History Museum in London where it is not on public display. The skull was seen on the television programme and other research also seen on television in the 1990s employed mitochrondial DNA testing. Links were discovered between some residents in the local Cheddar village - details are available on the web. One of the best accounts of the discovery and early work is in the Proceedings, University of Bristol Spelæological Society. The UBSS is often known as the Caving Society despite its long tradition of academic study History and Literature of Pleistocene Discoveries at Gough's Cave, Cheddar, Somerset by R.M Jacobi, Proceedings 1985 [PDF 4.5 MB read and download] The skeleton displayed in the Gough's cave museum today is a replica. But back in 1957 before the original was moved Tony Morrison was asked to take a series of photographs of which four were sent to the British Museum. At the time two eminent men from the UBSS were studying the remains: Dr.Oliver Cromwell Lloyd [right] a pathologist and senior lecturer usually known as 'Oliver' and Professor E.K Tratman [left] usually known as 'Tratty', a retired professor of dentistry and at the time the UBSS Society's President. The two specialists had medical as well as archaeological interest in the skeleton. Prof.Tratman wrote several papers including Problems of The "Cheddar Man", Gough's Cave, Somerset. Proceedings, [PDF read and download 4.5 MB ] The paper comments on the discovery and early research. Here for the first time Nonesuch News publishes the original photos of the original skeleton. When found in pieces it was complete apart from parts of the hands - those seen in the photo below are replicas   July 19th 2010 SS GREAT BRITAIN, Bristol, England. The Fortieth Anniversary Celebrations for the return of the Great Britain. It was forty years ago to the day that Isambard Kingdom Brunel's iron ship Great Britain was returned to the dock where she was launched in 1843. The historic launch is more correctly described as a 'floating' because the dock was empty of water for the building and was then filled for the launch. The story of the Great Britain is on this site. Originally designed as a steamship the SS Great Britain has been restored magnificently. A celebration 'tea party' held in the grand First Class Saloon was attended by many of the people involved with the salvage in 1970 Ray Sutcliffe, Marion and Tony Morrison meet again below the decorated stern of the restored SS Great Britain / Photo David Elkington Cole. In 1970 Ray was a producer for the BBC Archaeology and History unit and Tony and Marion were film-makers and writers then based in South America. Marion reported the salvage for the Observer, London. David a long time friend and colleague who took the photo is no newcomer to Bristol and its special occasions.

Ray Sutcliffe's classic documentary The Great Iron Ship for the Chronicle series can be seen on BBC Archive iPlayer - a web service unfortunately at present viewable only in the United Kingdom. The film includes a short history of the ship and unique footage of the salvage filmed by Tony and Marion. [50 minutes.] For historic 8mm colour footage of the departure from the Falkland Islands and some actuality audio see this site for Saving The Great Britain To read about the stern decoration - on this page /July 2005   To read Marion's account for the Observer Magazine 21st June 1970 Ray - left and Tony filming in Sparrow Cove , Falkland Islands in 1970 Tony and Marion in Stanley, Falkland Islands 1969   For the fashion conscious - Marion took her Mary Quant, King's Road, London raincoat to Stanley. She says ' In the 1960's few people had little or no idea of what clothing was suitable for life in the island's tiny capital.'

March 1st 2010 MARGARET MEE The first of a series of short video clips of Margaret Mee was launched on this site - see the menu / index - left

November 11th 2009 MARGARET MEE, Rio de Janeiro. Brasil. An exhibition marking the Margaret Mee's One Hundred Years opened at the Centro Cultural dos Correios de Rio de Janeiro, a modern exhibition space set in the old Post Office building built in 1922. The date of the exhibition does not quite match the day when she would have been 100 - that was on May 22nd but the show arranged by Sylvia de Botton Brautigam contains a stunning display of paintings, photographs, personal memorabilia and video. Sylvia was one of the original team that established the now defunct Fundação Botânica Margaret Mee in 1988. [see left: Margaret Mee's Amazon , Trust Part 2] But it is wonderful to see how Margaret's ideals and inspiration are being remembered. Also it is worth recalling how examples of Margaret Mee's work appeared in a set of Brasilian postage stamps in 1992.

The stamps were issued at the time of an another exhibition in the same building and focused on the environment. The timing was chosen to coincide with the major United Nations Conference on the Environment and Development [UNCED] known as informally as the Earth Summit or Rio 92 and this is inscribed on the left side of each stamp. At the bottom of each is written Homage to Margaret Mee. The flowers depicted are - left to right - Canistrum cyathiforme, Nidularium rubens, Canistrum exiguum, and Nidularium innocentii

The cover for the exhibition catalogue uses a painting dated May 1988 from the Rio Negro the year she was taken there by Nonesuch Expeditions/ South American Pictures. The 1988 journey also known as her Fifteenth to Amazonia was dedicated to a search for the Moonflower cactus [Selenicereus wittii] Details are on the Menu / index - left

The flower is a Loranthaceae, a parasitic plant of the igapos / flooded forest the painting is from a private collection.

November 3rd 2009 Dr. FRANZ RESSEL , known to friends as 'Pancho' died aged 80 in Santa Cruz, Bolivia. Franz Ressel was an enthusiastic supporter of Nonesuch Expeditions with a close friendship dating back almost fifty years. In 1961 he met the Bristol University Trans-Continental Expedition team when they were in Bolivia. An account of Franz' help and encouragement given liberally in so many ways will appear on this site in 2010.

Isambard Kingdom Brunel, the genius engineer of the Victorian era.

July 19th 2009 The Incredible Journey Is an Oral History Project from the SS Great Britain team in Bristol. Tony and Marion Morrison who were on the spot filming in the Falkland Islands / Islas Malvinas are contributing memories from the time in 1969, when the bowsprit was raised from the bed of Sparrow Cove. And then again from the following year 1970 when they covered the actual salvage.. They will be adding photographs and sound recordings from their collection. The project will be completed in 2010 , forty years after the SS Great Britain was saved and towed back to Bristol

April 2009 After a break of three years Nonesuch News returns on a new site ready to contribute to three special anniversary years. This Nonesuch Expeditions site takes over all the pages from Nonesuchinfo and Margaret Mee's Amazon and will contain more information. It will continue the story of Brunel's SS Great Britain now restored in Bristol and will cover our special contribution to the 'Salvage' project being prepared for 2010 - forty years on from the actual salvage in the Falkland Islands / Islas Malvinas. Other pages will be devoted to the University of Bristol Trans-Continental Expedition almost fifty years since its departure for India and South America in 1960. And the News will be remembering that 2009 is the Centenary Year of the University.

April 2006       THE 200TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE BIRTH OF ISAMBARD KINGDOM BRUNEL the visionary and brilliant engineer who conceived the idea of the Steamship Great Britain and much more. As a contribution to the celebration of the life of Brunel Nonesuchinfo is launching three Features about the Steamship Great Britain, designed by Brunel, and launched in Bristol, England in 1843. It is with thanks to the foresight of marine engineering consultant Dr. Ewan Corlett and an extraordinary salvage operation in 1970 that the Steamship Great Britain was saved . It is now one of the most fascinating museums in the United Kingdom

ISAMBARD KINGDOM BRUNEL AND THE STEAMSHIP GREAT BRITAIN

August 2005 REVEREND Dr. EWAN CORLETT It is with immense sadness that Nonesuch News learnt of the death of Ewan Corlett on Monday August 8th 2005. The Reverend Dr. Ewan Corlett as he became known in his retirement was responsible for the first steps towards saving the Victorian Steamship Great Britain.

WITH GREAT CARE The restoration has been made with great care for detail that gives some idea of the grand design created by Brunel in the early years of Victorian enterprise.

Here the restored stern with gallery windows is under the gilded Coat of Arms [armas / escudo] of the City of Bristol. The emblem dating from the 16th century links a flourishing maritime tradition with the strength of the city. The central image is flanked by two unicorns and depicts a sailing ship leaving the safety of Bristol castle.

Unicorns are legendary beasts with the body of a horse bearing a single, long, straight horn. They were reputed to have medicinal properties

June 2005  A BRISTOL ROAD IN INDIA   Pusegaon, Maharashtra State, INDIA  A new road in the small town of Pusegaon has been named "THE BRISTOL ROAD" to commemorate the historic reunion in late 2000 of three members of the team of six graduates from the Bristol University Trans-Continental Expedition [1960-1961]  England and friends they made in Pusegaon in 1960. Back in Bristol the University Vice Chancellor was Chairman of the Finance Committee and The Rt. Hon The Lord Mayor of Bristol was the expedition Patron so support from the City was exceptional.

Apart from studies in India and later in Bolivia the team had a mission to carriy the Bristol name to many countries around the world . The recently named Bristol Road in Puseagon is close to the traditional 'Government Bungalow' where the team lived for two months late in 1960. As Balasahib Jadhav a member of the Reunion 2000 Steering Committee in India said when he sent the picture ' you wouldn't recognise the old road today'.

October 1960  PUSEGAON, MAHRASHTRA, INDIA Here some of the team are in the garden of the   Government Bungalow with three students from the High School. The students were fascinated by one of the two Expedition vehicles, an Austin Gipsy provided by an agent in Bristol. Malcolm McKernan is typing notes [seated left], Peter Krinks is explaining the route from Bristol to India and Mark Howell [right] is recording the conversation for a TV film backed by TWW [Television Wales and West] the regional Independent Televison producer at the time. The Puseagon Pages have the story of the Reunion 2000 and copies of the reports Malcolm McKernan sent to the Western Daily Press in Bristol [England]

The team left Pusegaon late in December 1960 and drove south before crossing to Sri Lanka [then also known as Ceylon] and continuing by sea to Singapore