Latest news with #Redesdale
CBS News
3 days ago
- Science
- CBS News
Archaeology student from Florida finds rare 9th-century gold during her first excavation in U.K.
An American archaeology student on her first-ever dig found a rare piece of 9th-century gold. Yara Souza, who is from Orlando, Florida, is an international student at Newcastle University in the U.K. She was part of a July excavation in Redesdale, Northumberland, in northeastern England when she made the discovery about 90 minutes into her excavation, the university announced. "I couldn't believe I'd found something so quickly into my first ever excavation," Souza said in a press release. "After I'd had to miss Birdoswald last year, it was amazing to discover something that hasn't been seen for more than a thousand years, I was really geeking out over it." Birdoswald Roman Fort is another excavation that Newcastle University students participated in last year. According to the university, the early medieval object – about 1.5 inches long with a decorative finial at one end – was buried close to the route of Dere Street, a major Roman road which ran between York, England and Edinburgh, Scotland. Dere Street was still used after the fall of the Roman Empire and went on to become part of the modern-day A68 highway. The archaeology students, alongside archaeologists from North East Museums, were investigating the location as it was the site of a chance discovery of a similar object in 2021. "This is an exciting find of exceptional quality," said Newcastle University archaeology professor James Gerrard. "We know that Dere Street continued to be a major thoroughfare long after the Romans and it's clear from this discovery that high status people were using it." According to the university, gold was considered high status and was only used by the elite. Experts involved in the excavation believe the object found by Souza and the one discovered in 2021 could have had a religious or ceremonial use. "It is possible that this pair of objects may have been deliberately buried," Gerrad added. The piece will be further analyzed and could eventually go on display at a local museum.
BBC News
11-08-2025
- Science
- BBC News
Northumberland dig students find 9th Century gold object
An international student discovered a piece of 9th century gold just 90 minutes into her first archaeological early medieval object was found by Newcastle University student Yara Souza at a recent excavation in Redesdale, was buried close to the route of Dere Street, a major Roman road which ran between York and Edinburgh and which eventually became part of the modern-day Souza, from Florida in the US, said: "It was amazing to discover something that hadn't been seen for more than a thousand years, I was really geeking out over it." The excavation took place in July following the chance discovery of a similar object by metal detectorist Alan Gray at the same location in Souza was working alongside her fellow Archaeology students and archaeologists from North East Museums to further investigate the site. The find is approximately four centimetres (1.5 inches) long and has a decorative finial at one was high status and only used by the elite and, as Dere Street connected two major religious centres at Jedburgh and Hexham, experts involved in the excavation think both objects could have had a religious or ceremonial James Gerrard said: "This is an exciting find of exceptional quality."We know that Dere Street continued to be a major thoroughfare long after the Romans and it's clear from this discovery that high status people were using it. "It is possible that this pair of objects may have been deliberately buried."The find will be further analysed and could eventually be displayed in the Great North Museum: Agate, the Portable Antiquities Scheme's finds liaison officer for North East England, said the project is "a great example of how metal detectorists and archaeologists can come together to add to our understanding of the past in Northumberland". Follow BBC North East on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram.
Mint
10-07-2025
- Business
- Mint
Thames Water Rejects Peer's Last-Ditch Offer to Fix its Finances
(Bloomberg) -- Thames Water dismissed a last-minute proposal from a British hereditary peer to fix its finances and fend off nationalization, opting instead to stick with the creditor-led rescue plan. Lord Rupert Redesdale, the former Liberal Democrat energy spokesman, has been working on a potential offer for the company from investment firm Muinín Holdings, the Financial Times reported earlier Thursday. The proposal envisages the issuance of new bonds from an investment vehicle to help stabilize the utility's finances in the short-term, while the existing debt would be shifted outside the regulated entity and into a new structure. Crucially, however, the proposal did not include an equity injection and the debt transfer could trigger significant writedowns. 'We have received a further bid which has little credibility or viability to recapitalize the business,' a Thames Water spokesperson said, in response to a question about the proposal. 'We continue to believe that a sustainable recapitalization of the company is in the best interests of all stakeholders and continue to work with our creditors and stakeholders to achieve that goal.' Muinín and Redesdale didn't immediately respond to a Bloomberg News request for comment. Britain's biggest water and sewage company decided to progress with the current bid after creditors — including the likes of Apollo Global Management, Elliott Management and Silver Point Capital — wrote to the company's board to say that the new proposal is unworkable, according to people familiar with the matter, asking not to be identified discussing confidential information. The creditor group now holds significant sway over Thames Water's future, having become its economic owners after previous shareholders walked away last year, deeming the business uninvestable. The emergence of new approaches to rescue the company from nationalization comes as the company forges ahead with negotiations with water regulator Ofwat and the creditors to approve a rescue plan that includes £5 billion ($6.8 billion) of fresh funds. Discussions on the way forward to restructure nearly £20 billion in debt and raise fresh equity, however, have been fraught. The government has rejected calls from creditors for special treatment on sewage fines, setting the stage for a showdown which could end with the company placed into special administration — a form of temporary nationalization. 'Ofwat has been engaging regularly with Thames Water as it has progressed its process to raise additional equity,' a spokesperson for the regulator said. 'Our focus is on ensuring that the company takes the right steps to deliver a turnaround in its operational performance and strengthen its financial resilience to the benefit of customers.' Redesdale told the Financial Times that their proposed bid will not require any exemptions from meeting regulator requirements or immunity from prosecution, which made it politically appealing, according to a separate person. Thames has suffered a calamitous few years, facing not only severe financial strain but broad criticism for its poor environmental record, which has landed it with hefty fines. The utility came close to running out of money several times before it started drawing on an emergency loan from creditors in March. As the company sank deeper into financial stress, US private equity giant KKR & Co. was picked as preferred bidder to invest in Thames earlier this year, but subsequently walked away. The utility has since received interest from potential investors including Castle Water and CK Infrastructure Holdings, but 'there is not a progressable proposal' from them, Thames Chairman Adrian Montague wrote in a letter to Parliament's Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee published Wednesday. The chairman also mentioned other alternative approaches, one from an entity called Titanium SPV and another from 'an individual connected with the water industry with an outline plan to recapitalize Thames Water by tokenization of debt,' which the FT said it was Redesdale's initial proposal. More stories like this are available on
Elle
23-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Elle
Missing 'Rivals'? Let 6-Part Period Drama 'Outrageous' Hailed As 'Perfection' By Viewers Fill The Void
Rivals may have recently started filming on its second season, but for those counting the days, hours and minutes before its small screen return, may we present to you a new mini series. that may well pique your interest: Outrageous, a six-part series depicting the lives of the infamous Mitford sisters. The series is based on the 1930s chapters of Mary S. Lovell's biography of all six sisters, The Mitford Girls: The Biography of an Extraordinary Family. It tells the story of the aristocratic Mitford family, who became notorious during the 1930s due to the six Mitford sisters — daughters of David Freeman-Mitford, 2nd Baron Redesdale, and his wife, Sydney Bowles, whom he married in 1904. Sydney was the daughter of publisher and politician Thomas Gibson Bowles, and David was the second son of Bertram, Lord Redesdale. FIND OUT MORE ON ELLE COLLECTIVE The couple had seven children — six girls and one boy — and their family homes were Asthall Manor and Swinbrook in Oxfordshire. Naturally, their lives were a continuous romp of fun and frivolity — that is until things took a turn for the worse, of course. This is everything you need to know about Outrageous. Anybody who was anybody in the 1930s would have been familiar with the Mitford family, most notably the half-dozen Mitford sisters, who all grew in six drastically different directions. (The only Mitford brother, Tom, died during World War II.) Of the sisters, one became a Nazi, another a socialist. All but one married; all but one divorced, and most of them lived long lives, except one sister, who died of suicide. Somehow, despite the sister's different social circles including everybody from John F. Kennedy and Cecil Beaton to Adolf Hitler, Winston Churchill, and Oswald Mosley, the sisters remained close for almost a century. All six episodes of Outrageous are adapted from Lovell's biography of the family. The series is told through the voice of Nancy Mitford, whose friendship group became known by the British tabloids as the 'Bright Young Things.' Nancy became a hit author, with her work subtly satirising the shenanigans of her family, most notably in her bestseller, The Pursuit of Love. The majority of Outrageous was filmed in a house 40 minutes from London where the team shot multiple scenes, including those set in Diana's magnificent townhouse and the Black Cat Club, and where they filmed during the summer. James Purefoy, who plays the Mitfords' father, who the Mitfords affectionately called Farv, said: 'They'd be mad not to, I think', per the Mirror, while the series' creator Sarah Williams suggested in an interview that she has already considered where the story could go in a second season. 'I think it's a really complicated set of reasons why people might be drawn in those directions. For these women, I think sibling culture plays a significant role. We have to ask, if Diana hadn't left Brian [Guinness, her first husband] and devoted her life to Lord Mosley, would Unity have gone to Germany and stalked Hitler? If Unity hadn't done that, would Decca have gone off to — which we would have her do in season two — join the Spanish Civil War and fight with the communists? There is a bit of, do they egg each other on, in a way,' Williams said, nodding to a potential second season. Outrageous is available to stream on BritBox now. ELLE Collective is a new community of fashion, beauty and culture lovers. For access to exclusive content, events, inspiring advice from our Editors and industry experts, as well the opportunity to meet designers, thought-leaders and stylists, become a member today HERE. Naomi May is a freelance writer and editor with an emphasis on popular culture, lifestyle and politics. After graduating with a First Class Honours from City University's prestigious Journalism course, Naomi joined the Evening Standard as its Fashion and Beauty Writer, working across both the newspaper and website. She is now the Acting News Editor at ELLE UK and has written features for the likes of The Guardian, Vogue, Vice and Refinery29, among many others.
