If the Unlucky Mummy is about 3000 years old, it's likely that the majority of people who have had anything to do with it have come to some form of end by now.
@@ZGryphon well, the thing with nightmares is, is that you wake up and everything is okay. Well, as okay as they were before you went to sleep ofcourse... Nothing in the real world changes during a nightmare. So that's a good thing. Rose was also a good thing -not in a sexist way. I liked Rose.
Egypt: *Return the coffin, or suffer my curse* The British: What's your offer? Courage the Cowardly Dog was a show ahead of its time. As sad as the sinking of the Titanic was, it was also the same exact day that my grandpa was brought into this world as a shining beacon of hope in what was a Korea forcibly occupied by the Japanese.
Ancient Egypt buff! Yes, Amun-Ra wasn't an actual person but the chief deity of the Egyptian Empire. The Egyptians believed he created the whole universe. In the early days of their civilization, they worshipped him as two separate gods. Amun, god of air. And Ra, god of the Sun and light. When Amun became popular during the Empire/New Kingdom period, he fused with Ra.
@@arthurfarrow Before the New Kingdom period, yes. During, no. Ancient Egyptian text described Amun-Ra as "Lord of truth, father of the gods, maker of men, creator of all animals, Lord of things that are, creator of the staff of life". He was so popular, even Akhenaten was jealous
I personally think Holborn is a poor choice as "the" British Museum underground stop. If You're a super familiar with all the small streets in Holborn, which most visitors will not be, it's easy to get lost. For me, Russel Square is a better and far nicer route. Easier to give directions for, Just left out the station, Diagonally across the quare, then to the end of Montague St, the Museum is in plain sight from there. It is a more scenic route and if Google is correct it takes one minute longer.
Used to use Holborn station to visit Beauties model shop, remember them, we, Royal Doulton,had a London showroom in Hatton garden back in the 80s and I had to check every couple of months the displays/ merchandising/ branding etc, a nice day out from Stoke. We need some updates from tales of your railway modelling adventures methinks.
In its last years before demolition the station building was a cafe. I did make sure to go in there and while I was in there, use the toilets. Which were downstairs. So I presumably did go into the station proper.
Jago : _There Is An Artifact Known As The Unlucky Mummy Which Is Incorrect Because It's Not A Mummy At All, It's A_ ..... Daddy .... I really was hoping Jago was going to say that.
In the Sixties, when I was a student in Central London, many of us patronised one of the shops in the old British Museum station building (I think called Jackatex), which sold cheap jeans, tee shirts and the like. You had to wash them a few times before wearing them as the dye came out. In the summer, I have taken off a tee shirt to find I had orange-coloured armpits. Then, I had no idea that the shop was in an old station, nor had I heard of the British Museum station.
@@ianthomson9363 in the late 70’s on a school trip to the museum most of the boys went into the joke shop we all got canned for going in there the next day
Hadn't realised that the plan to combine the two stations dated back as far as 1913. There's a possible mundane explanation for the noisy mummy, shared by other locations; late night tube maintenance men were worried to hear sounds of trains approaching or screeching wheels, but they then died away - they were on the nearby Post Office Railway that worked through the night. And wheel screech can transmit a long way down the tunnels anyway.
@@TalesOfWar If they didn’t move the items to the Museum, the people living there would have destroyed their heritage. Burn marble anyone ? A change in religion ?
The British archaeologists knew full well that people will destroy their own heritage, because they had the example of all the Dissolution of the Monasteries in England to look back to, and all the post-Tudor buildings built using stones "recovered" from those unwanted monastic buildings, which of course was just the British doing what peoples throughout history have done to obtain expensive building materials: nick them from unused and unwanted old buildings. I'm not sure what the German and French archaeologists were using as their justification, or why the return campaigners seem to ignore the "stolen" heritage in French and German museums. And they really don't want to know where Russian museums got their stuff from! Of course, all those archaeologists had eyes in their heads to see what the locals were doing with the heritage which today's campaigners claim was so desperately important to them back then that the locals weren't selling it to anyone with money, oh no, and more recently we got to see Islamic State destroying religious heritage across the lands they occupied just because it didn't fit into their specific view of their religion, which doesn't exactly help the arguments of "heritage must be returned to the land of origin regardless of the stability or corruptness of that land today". The whole thing's far too messy to be reasonably handled in the media, which is why it's all devolved down to "Give us back the things you stole from us when we sold them to you!" 😕
Way back in '85, I stayed briefly at a hostel next to the BM in Montague St. My only curse was that the museum was under renovation so I never got to see the scary scarcophagi.
The Northern Line was once called TootingCamden following Howard Carter discovering Tutankhamen’s Tomb in 1922. Without people knowing it, Mummies, Pharaohs and Scarabs haunt the Northern Line especially when Halloween comes without the line needing stoppage at the British Museum.
Thanks, now I know where the station building was. The Central Line had all the interesting places (Trafalgar Square and The Tower excepted) Post Office, Marble Arch, British Museum, Bank. could not be more London if it tried
Went on a school trip to the British Museum once, and we took the Northern line from Waterloo to Goodge Street. It wasn't far from there to the Museum. I was intrigued by the old lifts at Goodge Street.
And possibly by the 'secret' citadel under it,(Used by General Eisenhower in the last war). So secret, in fact, it was part of the plot of the 1968 Doctor Who story, 'The Web Of Fear'. LU forbade the BBC to film on the underground, so the Doctor Who production team built extremely realistic sections of tube tunnels and platforms, modular, so they could be endlessly reconfigured. So realistic were they, that, after the story was broadcast, LU accused the BBC of breaking in at night, and filming. Not much remains of the original series, but it is wonderfully claustrophobic.
My first trip into London for two-and-a-half years,and also my first use of public transport in approximately that same time period,was to meet my sister and niece (visiting from Canada) one hot Tuesday in the middle of last May at Euston and,among several other things visit the British Museum,where the mummies were what they wanted to see the most. Some of them are placed so that they tower over you,and leaned forward slightly to make them even more imposing.
I think the 'connecting passage' myth comes from a 1930's comedy thriller movie, 'Bulldog Jack', where a secret passage leads from a sarcophagus in the museum to the station (called 'Bloomsbury' in the movie).
Though I am not that old, there was a 1935 film set in "Bloomsbury Station" a spoof of the Bulldog Drummnd stories starring Jack Hulbert called "Bulldog Jack" and it is clearly intimated it was supposed to be British Museum: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bulldog_Jack It also starred Kay Wray famous for screaming her way through "King Kong" 2 years earler. By the way, in the late 1960s I used to have to use the Central Line every day, and I clearly remember if you looked out of the right hand window Westbound you could see the remains of the British Museum platform, including period adverts. Bulldog Jack is very dated and if you want to see a Bulldog Drummond I'd recommend the 1951 effort with Walter Pidgeon and Margaret Leighton
The thirties version has some very good fast patter....apparently in the early days of the 'talkies' there was a shortage of actors who could speak so many music hall and theatre actors transferred to the silver screen bringing the fast music hall rapid patter with them. The scene with the villain driving the tube train is a classic
@@kangaroogroundboy Strangely I was watching part of Bulldog Jack last night (from the removal of the jewels to the end on the train) the speed of dialogue was indeed rapid.
Toronto's Museum subway station's decor is similar to Holborn's, but more spectacular, because its "ancient" columns, sarcophagi, etc. aren't just images, but acual sculptures.
The real story is that the Unlucky Mummy has lost its Oyster-shell cartouche and therefore is condemned to ride the Central Line without means of exit.
I'd like to know why all ghost-hunters do so at night with all the lights turned off and only use small torches. I think they've got ghosts and vampires confused.
@@johndododoe1411 You have this back to front. It is people who say ghosts exist that must provide evidence for their extraordinary claim. If credible evidence is provided then I will accept it. I am under no obligation to prove that supernatural beings do *not* exist. In fact, it's a meaningless and disingenuous demand as non-existence of anything cannot be proven anyway. Also, to save you dragging it out again, I'm an atheist. I regard all religions as constructs of superstition, ignorance, and tyranny.
I once a heard a variation of the haunted station story about 25 years ago which goes that the British Museum has a basement storage area which is just the other side of the wall of the station and contains at least one Egyptian mummy/sarcophagus. There is a legend that the museum has certain artefacts which have had so many odd incidents happening around them that they are never put on public display. There are supposed to be reports of figures being seen standing on the abandoned platforms by the driver of passing trains.
There are a lot of odd museums in London. About 20 years ago I phoned the curator of the British Radio Museum near Crystal Palace F.C. We were getting on like two autistics with a passion, until I told him that I'd be writing up my visit for 'The Football and Real Ale Guides'. He shouted that he did not want any publicity, and put the phone down.
@@michaelmiller641 I can remember the conversation, but not the man's name. I'll look up Gerald Wells Radio Museum when I am sober. Like I said: we were getting on like radio hams a hemisphere apart, until I said I was writing a review for 'The Football and Real Ale Guides'. He didn't care what I was writing for, he just didn't want anyone he didn't know coming to his museum.
I’ve sometimes thought it would be interesting, if not particularly photogenic, to hear more about the bits of abandoned / disused tunnels around the tube. We hear about abandoned stations from time to time, but not so much the tunnels. Just a thought.
Speaking of coffins in the British Museum! A couple weeks ago a friend of mine and two friends of hers and I were touring the Greek exhibits when we happened upon a GIGANTIC vase that was roughly four feet and change tall and three feet in diameter at its widest point. The other three joked that I could probably fit inside it, as I'm only 5'7...until they read the description. Turns out it's not a vase. It's a coffin, used for children or young adults.
Back in late 70's I have a fond memory of Charlie Drake telling us kids on a school trip to the museum to "eff" off as we kept mugging his shots doing bunny ears behind his head and just annoying the heck out the poor chap, teacher got affronted so ol' Charlie told him to go do one and gave him 10 minutes of very rude words without repeating himself and our teacher retreated under the barrage of vitriol from someone we all thought was considered quite a clean chap.
As your still photo shows, the old station was the site of the most wonderful Aladdin's cave of photographic gear, Brunnings. We photographic students haunted the place (!). David Brunning, the proprietor once showed us down the back stairs which led down to track level!
I used to pass the Museum on my motorbike heading to the LSE, so I always thought it was quite far from High Holborn. It's actually about 350 metres as the crow flies, which is eminently walkable. Another interesting thing learned from Jago. Thanks!
Are the Dutch viewers proud to see a Dutch pancake house on the site of the former Tube station? EDIT: Looks like My Old Dutch Pancake House is next door. Close enough, though.
Press Like to dissolve the curse on yourself. And also inform Tom Cruise, since he is the one who have the curse (the Mummy in the London Museum is supposed to be Ahmanet, which was mistaken as Amon Re)
On the subject of hauntings by Egyptian Mummies, Great Yarmouth supposedly had one. It was apparently donated to a school round 1900 and sat in one of the science rooms, at least until it stunk the place out and the decision was made to bury the occupant in a nearby churchyard. Things were ok for a while until the stink returned and nearby residents to the churchyard reported knocks on their doors late at night (might've been a possible sighting). Upon checking the sarcophagus, turned out that one of the Mummy's hands was still in it and the said hand was reunited with it's owner.
I supposed a ghost that has been around for aprox. 3000 years must be bored to Osiris and back if they consider Bored Apes to be worth stealing... Then again, their worth is probably as imaginary as the curse.
Thanks Jago. - Many years ago my dad would work in the B.M. on occasion. As a kid I had heard and read stories about the station,we had a fun afternoon discussing the tall tales and the truth. - If memory serves me,there is a least one (not Conan Doyle), Sherlock Holmes book featuring the station,and I think a couple of rather strange comics inspired by it too.
I have heard that the British Museum once had its own railway station on another video I’ve watched ages ago or it might of been on telly that I was watching with my mum and it was fascinating to watch. Still I do like your videos and content you always upload since I’ve subscribed to your channel.
Oooh, terrific tale from the tube. And, maps ! I realise we have sarcophagi, mummies, abandoned stations, and the Titanic . It's begging for an Agatha Christie style motif to tie it all together - your copyright, of course.
More details about the 1935 film Bulldog Jack. It's a marginally funny spoof of Bulldog Drummond starring Jack Hulbert. It is largely set in the abandoned British Museum station where a gang of thieves (lead by Ralph Richardson) have set up a base to allow them steal a necklace from the British Museum. There's rather a good fight in the Museum The climax of the film is a fight on a runaway underground train. It also stars King Kong's Fay Wray. I love the film but I'm not going to claim it as a masterpiece. It is, however, ESSENTIAL viewing for anyone interested in the London Underground
I took a photo of that coffin lid and my camera's micro SD card started getting corrupted files around that day, I always wondered why I lost all photos from that day specifically
Well, back in the 1980s, in rush the hour, East bound trains often stopped at British Museum waiting for the trains ahead. I distinctly remember often staring through the window to try and make out details in the very dim light, on the wall. I seem to remember seeing various items. Posters, notices etc.
I very rarely took the Central line for any reason in my student days (early 1980s). My bedsit was on the Northern line or the Piccadilly line, depending upon the year, and my classes were on the District line. I cannot for the life of me remember why I was on the Central line, but I remember slowing down, coming to a brief stop, and seeing light. For some reason, the British Museum stop was brightly lit, as if awaiting passengers to alight. There were a couple of tracks between us and the lit station; ancient posters were still up and a few items -- probably just detritus -- were in the vitrines. Before that day, I had no idea that stop existed. I never knew why we stopped and returning through a few hours later there was no light to show it was there. The station has fascinated me ever since.
Back in the 1990's when I was using the Central line, in evening rush hour, the train would sometimes pause in the section of tunnel where Museum Station used to be. Although the platforms are not there, you can see some of the tiling and of course the drastic widening of the tunnel at that point.
H'mmm No passage from the BM to Museum Station, you say? Odd, because (supposedly) in WW2 valuable, flammable items were packed and moved through this non-existent tunnel to safe storage in locations outside central London. And if you used the BM shooting range in the late 1970s to early 80s there was a large heavy metal door of the type used to seal Underground station passageways. The shooting range was in the 3rd basement under the (now demolished) south eastern(?) stacks (book storage for the Library
If one encounters a ghost of an ancient Egyptian holy person, surely the thing to do is to look out for pro tips for getting / keeping one's Ba lighter than a feather in advance of meeting Anubis, rather than make ridiculous curse claims. Honestly!
@@greatscot I would get the H&C to Liverpool Street and get the Central Line to Holborn or get the Elizabeth Line or Central Line to Tottenham Court Road
I’ve been to the site of British Museum for work. The dead-end of the siding has a staircase down to an adit joining the running tunnels and a MASSIVE vault door in the wall. Perfect sort of door for an Ancient Tomb 👻
