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Revealing Secrets title
     
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The stories on Revealing Secrets don't always reach a tidy conclusion on screen. Here you will find updates on stories that continued to unfold after the credits rolled …



Musical detective work in York  New Item

An old book with a split spine. The hands of a restorer hold the leaves of the book open, and one hand also wields a scalpel. Recently we reported on the remarkable musical detective work being carried out in York, after restorers discovered - hidden in a book dating from 1560 - strips of paper carrying musical notes and Latin text. We were able to speculate as to the identity of the composer/author.

Five strips of paper showing early music notation and words. Since we recorded the programme, music researcher Lisa Colton has been able to piece together three complete lines of the music. By comparing these with other surviving works from the period, she has identified the music as a fragment of Gloria No. 5. It is one of 40 'glories' - hymns of praise to God, which are part of the Latin Mass - written around 1400.




Oberammergau lantern slides  New Item

Hand-coloured glass slide held between someone's thumb and  forefinger. The slide depicts a woman as the Virgin Mary, dressed in a blue robe, holding a bearded young man as the crucified Christ, with blood running down his forehead. We've also solved a mystery for Billy Price of Middlesbrough. He wanted to know the story behind a set of lantern slides found in an attic. He thought they were just random holiday slides showing a performance of some kind of religious play. Germanic names in some of the pictures led us to Oberammergau, the village in south Germany famous for the epic renditions of its Passion play every 10 years.

After placing advertisements in German newspapers, we were contacted by Tony Meyer, grandson of Johann Schwink, one of the most notable faces in the slides. Plans are now afoot for Billy to visit Oberammergau and return the slides.



Resurgam  New Item

Recently we investigated a set of transparencies found in an attic by a young viewer on Merseyside. They showed Resurgam, the world's first powered submarine, designed by George Garrett, a pioneering clergyman. We found out that, after the submarine sank off North Wales on its maiden voyage in 1880, its inventor left to begin a new life in the United States. However, the dream continues …

Bill Garrett, George's American great-great-grandson, recently crossed the Atlantic to view the wreck. It is his dream that the Resurgam will live up to its Latin name and rise again. However, the cost of raising and then preserving the wreck would be enormous and, so far, attempts to achieve the necessary seven-figure sum have failed. The submarine's future may be uncertain, but in its day, it was one of the first to turn science fiction into fact.
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Hydrotherapy diaries

Following our recent programme featuring an item about a diary written at a hydrotherapy centre, we were contacted by a relative of the man who wrote it.

The diary gives details of the time Mr Wheeler and his wife spent at a hydrotherapy hotel in Harrogate. Beautifully penned and containing a number of pictures related to their break, the diary led the Revealing Secrets team to discover the identity of the writer and to learn more about his life in Middleton in Manchester.

Revealing Secrets was then contacted by one of Mr Wheeler's descendants. Recounting his last years, the relative was able to give us the missing pieces of the puzzle, including information about several more children Mr Wheeler fathered in later life!



Paintings behind portraits

Following our story about the paintings behind the portraits, Revealing Secrets were contacted about some signed portraits that look almost identical to those featured on the show.

Could these portraits have been painted by the same artist?

The Revealing Secrets team is investigating further. We'll bring you more news soon!



Stone coffin

In the first week of the series, the Revealing Secrets team cast light on a curious object for Hampshire pub landlord Trevor Lamb. Unbeknownst to Trevor, the oblong stone object he'd being using for years as a plant pot was actually a Roman sarcophagus.

The team satisfied Trevor's curiosity about Roman burials, but one question remained - why would this coffin be in Cadnam? Was Trevor's pub actually built on a Roman settlement or cemetery?

Dissatisfied with the tale's lack of closure, the Revealing Secrets team has continued to conduct research into the stone coffin.

We will be returning to Cadnam in the next couple of weeks to give Trevor Lamb an update on our discoveries. And, with the help of archaeologists and computer-aided design, we hope finally to uncover the mystery that has been lying dead and buried for years.



The Dallas letters

Following the broadcast of the 'Dallas letters' story in the week of 26-30 March, Don Dallas from Scotland contacted Revealing Secrets. Don's sister had watched the show and subsequently phoned her brother to tell him about the story, which featured the history of the affluent Dallas family.

Don and his sister are curious to find out if there could be a family connection.

The Revealing Secrets team are currently trawling through records to find out if Don Dallas is a descendant of Colonel Alexander James Dallas - we'll keep you posted.