0:00:07 > 0:00:12Button to Inside Out north-west, with me, Dianne Oxberry. As gun
0:00:12 > 0:00:16crime doubles on Merseyside, we investigate why so many victims of
0:00:16 > 0:00:21fatal shootings are teenagers.I have always associated guns that
0:00:21 > 0:00:27hardened criminals, not children. This is the alive.50 years after
0:00:27 > 0:00:31landmark legislation, we ask if it is still comfortably gay in rural
0:00:31 > 0:00:38communities than in cities.What now is classed other normal, it just
0:00:38 > 0:00:45didn't really seem right to be gay and a farmer at the time.We examine
0:00:45 > 0:00:49the mystery of two skeletons found side by side at an archaeological
0:00:49 > 0:00:53dig at Halton Castle. Why are they here are? You don't get many
0:00:53 > 0:00:59skeletons in Cassells. And they are really quite rare.
0:01:05 > 0:01:07Ten years after the shocking murder of 11-year-old Rhys Jones,
0:01:07 > 0:01:10young people are still being shot and killed in Liverpool.
0:01:10 > 0:01:13Five of the most recent fatal shootings on Merseyside have been
0:01:13 > 0:01:17teenagers aged 18 or younger.
0:01:17 > 0:01:21I've been to investigate the rise in gun crime in the area and ask why
0:01:21 > 0:01:26the victims are so young.
0:01:26 > 0:01:31This is another family devastated by gun crime in Liverpool -
0:01:31 > 0:01:41a mother now grieving for the loss of her 18-year-old son.
0:01:50 > 0:01:53Every day I'm crying.
0:01:53 > 0:01:57Every day I can't sleep because of what happened to Yusuf.
0:01:57 > 0:02:00Poor Yusuf.
0:02:00 > 0:02:05A handsome boy, somebody just kill him just like that, very bad.
0:02:05 > 0:02:09God help me.
0:02:09 > 0:02:11Yusuf Sonko was one of a growing number of young people
0:02:11 > 0:02:14shot dead on Merseyside.
0:02:14 > 0:02:19The student was killed nearly five months ago on the 2nd of June.
0:02:19 > 0:02:21He was due to sit his final A-Level exam and had hoped
0:02:21 > 0:02:24to go to university.
0:02:24 > 0:02:30His killer has not been found.
0:02:30 > 0:02:32In the year 2015/2016, Merseyside police recorded 61
0:02:32 > 0:02:38shooting incidents resulting in two deaths.
0:02:38 > 0:02:40One year later, the number of shootings has increased
0:02:40 > 0:02:46by 50% and the number of fatalities has doubled.
0:02:46 > 0:02:49Injuries too are on the rise.
0:02:49 > 0:02:52And with five months still to go, the next set of figures has already
0:02:52 > 0:02:57just about matched those from two years earlier.
0:02:57 > 0:03:00So we are in Sefton Park - how far away is that
0:03:00 > 0:03:01from where Yusuf was killed?
0:03:01 > 0:03:05It's just about half a mile away from Lodge Lane.
0:03:05 > 0:03:07It's quite a contrasting environment though?
0:03:07 > 0:03:10It is, we've got this beautiful park, well used.
0:03:10 > 0:03:14It does contrast, I guess for us, the park can be a place
0:03:14 > 0:03:17Tracey Gore organised a community march following Yusuf's death.
0:03:17 > 0:03:21I've always associated guns with hardened criminals not children.
0:03:21 > 0:03:23You're horrified but are you surprised as it's something
0:03:23 > 0:03:26that we seem to be seeing more and more?
0:03:26 > 0:03:30What I don't want is for our city or for our country to become a place
0:03:30 > 0:03:34where having guns and people being shot is normalised.
0:03:34 > 0:03:38When Yusuf Sonko was shot - people were really shocked.
0:03:38 > 0:03:40It was 8:30 of an evening, a summer's evening,
0:03:40 > 0:03:43it was still light, the area where it was on Lodge Lane,
0:03:43 > 0:03:47a really bustling street...and for somebody to be shot in that
0:03:47 > 0:03:54broad daylight was just shocking.
0:03:54 > 0:03:57It was the residents and community members who asked for that march -
0:03:57 > 0:04:00they wanted to show the community itself that actually guns and knives
0:04:00 > 0:04:08were not acceptable on the streets.
0:04:08 > 0:04:10The family of Yusuf Sonko pleaded at the march
0:04:10 > 0:04:18for witnesses to come forward.
0:04:18 > 0:04:22I beg you, everyone, anyone who knows the Keller, the police are
0:04:22 > 0:04:24here. Everyone is crying for Yusuf.
0:04:24 > 0:04:26You both strongly believe that somebody has information,
0:04:26 > 0:04:28somebody's withholding information?
0:04:28 > 0:04:29Yes.
0:04:29 > 0:04:32Definitely.
0:04:32 > 0:04:36Somebody out of there seen something, they know something.
0:04:36 > 0:04:38But nobody out of there is prepared to say anything
0:04:38 > 0:04:40at the moment to the police.
0:04:40 > 0:04:42That's what worries me a lot.
0:04:42 > 0:04:47And Yusuf seemed to be in the wrong place at the wrong time?
0:04:47 > 0:04:51Yes, he was in the wrong place at the wrong time.
0:04:51 > 0:04:52And does it concern you that this tragedy
0:04:52 > 0:04:54could happen to another family?
0:04:54 > 0:04:56After my son had been killed, another little boy
0:04:57 > 0:05:00was killed in Huyton.
0:05:00 > 0:05:03And that will continue until we all come together to say
0:05:03 > 0:05:06you know, enough is enough, let's try and stop these
0:05:06 > 0:05:09guns on the street.
0:05:09 > 0:05:15Let's make the children believe there is a better life for them.
0:05:15 > 0:05:18To combat a rise in gun crime on Merseyside this year,
0:05:18 > 0:05:20police have carried out gun amnesties, raids on properties
0:05:20 > 0:05:23and have driven a large convoy of their vehicles
0:05:23 > 0:05:27through Liverpool city centre.
0:05:27 > 0:05:29These tactics are designed to provide a show of strength
0:05:29 > 0:05:32and are all are part of an "extensive disruption plan"
0:05:32 > 0:05:42targeting tthose suspected of gun crime.
0:05:42 > 0:05:45For me the statistics only tell part of the story really,
0:05:45 > 0:05:49because actually one firearms discharge is one too many.
0:05:49 > 0:05:51That is the mantra we go by.
0:05:51 > 0:05:54We want to reduce that number to zero.
0:05:54 > 0:05:57So far this year Merseyside Police have recovered 74
0:05:57 > 0:06:00firearms from its streets.
0:06:00 > 0:06:03That's nearly double the amount from the year before.
0:06:03 > 0:06:05There are firearms available on the streets right
0:06:05 > 0:06:09across our country.
0:06:09 > 0:06:15Some are coming from Eastern Europe, some from mainland continental
0:06:15 > 0:06:18Europe and we have seen a slight shift towards more handguns
0:06:18 > 0:06:19used on the streets.
0:06:19 > 0:06:22But that is a fluctuating picture based on supply and demand coming
0:06:22 > 0:06:24from the criminal networks.
0:06:24 > 0:06:27I think we all would have imagined that the murder of Rhys Jones
0:06:27 > 0:06:31would have been a watershed moment.
0:06:31 > 0:06:34And I think for a moment we all believed that it was.
0:06:34 > 0:06:35But recent events seems like we're going back,
0:06:35 > 0:06:36we're not moving forward.
0:06:36 > 0:06:39There seems to me more guns, there seems to be more firearms
0:06:39 > 0:06:40discharges on the street.
0:06:40 > 0:06:42It should have been a watershed moment.
0:06:42 > 0:06:45In communities like Croxteth and Norris Green, we have seen
0:06:45 > 0:06:46huge strides forward, since the tragic death
0:06:46 > 0:06:52of Rhys Jones over ten years ago.
0:06:52 > 0:06:56Yusuf's family are still seeking justice for their son's murder.
0:06:56 > 0:07:01They want more people to speak out and end the 'no grass' culture.
0:07:01 > 0:07:04We need to come together, we need to come together and we need
0:07:04 > 0:07:07to fight this and we need to speak to our children, we need
0:07:07 > 0:07:10to say this is no good, this is not allowed.
0:07:10 > 0:07:12You don't have to do that.
0:07:12 > 0:07:15Because it can happen to them.
0:07:15 > 0:07:20Yusuf Sonko was killed on a summer evening at 8.30 in the evening.
0:07:20 > 0:07:22You know in High Street.
0:07:22 > 0:07:26That seems incredible doesn't it, that that can happen.
0:07:26 > 0:07:30It's a shocking reality of what can happen and we've got a number
0:07:30 > 0:07:32of instances where people feel comfortable and able to go out
0:07:32 > 0:07:37in broad daylight and do that.
0:07:37 > 0:07:43So there is a complete recklessness by some of the cowardly individuals,
0:07:43 > 0:07:46a total disregard for the law abiding citizens who are just
0:07:46 > 0:07:50going about their business.
0:07:50 > 0:07:53James Riley was a probation officer for 18 years in Liverpool,
0:07:53 > 0:07:56working across some of the most high profile cases of urban street gangs
0:07:56 > 0:08:06and organised crime.
0:08:10 > 0:08:14Reid they are calling young people into thinking they will have the
0:08:14 > 0:08:17lifestyle of a footballer, when actually they are going to head up
0:08:17 > 0:08:18in prison or seriously hurt.
0:08:18 > 0:08:21He now delivers an educational programme in schools to try
0:08:21 > 0:08:24and change the type of language used in the community and empower more
0:08:24 > 0:08:28people to speak out in the city.
0:08:28 > 0:08:30You've got young people who are using this word grass
0:08:30 > 0:08:33and snitch and they come out with the phrases snitches get
0:08:33 > 0:08:35stitches and I'm trying to challenge that - that attitude
0:08:35 > 0:08:36and that culture.
0:08:36 > 0:08:42Because I say to young people that the brave
0:08:42 > 0:08:43If
0:08:43 > 0:08:46nobody spoke up - it means that our street are
0:08:46 > 0:08:47becoming more dangerous.
0:08:47 > 0:08:49You're out delivering this message into schools and into the wider
0:08:49 > 0:08:53community - how do you feel when you put the news on or you look
0:08:53 > 0:08:56at social media and another young man in Liverpool has been shot?
0:08:56 > 0:08:58It provides motivation because it means I need to get
0:08:58 > 0:09:00to more young people.
0:09:00 > 0:09:05I'm dealing with people from year six so it's ten, 11 upwards.
0:09:05 > 0:09:15My work is all around prevention, Prevention is better than the cure.
0:09:15 > 0:09:20That I can turn just one way, I have achieved everything I said how to
0:09:20 > 0:09:24achieve, because I have stopped them from committing a crime becoming
0:09:24 > 0:09:27another victim.
0:09:27 > 0:09:30The "Get Away and Get Safe programme has gained the support
0:09:30 > 0:09:32from a few famous sporting faces, including Liverpool first team
0:09:33 > 0:09:34player Trent Alexander-Arnold.
0:09:34 > 0:09:36He's a Liverpool footballer, but he's also a local lad,
0:09:36 > 0:09:38he's a Liverpool lad who's done fantastic for himself
0:09:38 > 0:09:42and I brought Trent along to show and share my message of get away
0:09:42 > 0:09:45and get safe - but also this is what happens when you work hard
0:09:45 > 0:09:47because Trent has worked hard to get where he is.
0:09:47 > 0:09:49Inspired by success stories like this, James hopes
0:09:49 > 0:09:52a new generation can reject the gang and gun lifestyle, learning lessons
0:09:52 > 0:10:02from Liverpool's past.
0:10:03 > 0:10:06Ten years after the murder of Rhys Jones, we still have young
0:10:06 > 0:10:11men shooting at and killing other very young men -
0:10:11 > 0:10:17that's a terrible thing for the city to go through again isn't it?
0:10:17 > 0:10:20We are in a very difficult situation at the moment.
0:10:20 > 0:10:23I'd love to sit here and be able to say that it's not
0:10:23 > 0:10:30Diana going to happen again and again, sadly it probably will.
0:10:30 > 0:10:33It's not a video game, this is real life and its ending
0:10:33 > 0:10:38somebody's life and it's ending their life.
0:10:38 > 0:10:41If you use a gun, you don't know if it's going to ricochet,
0:10:41 > 0:10:45you don't know if it's going to kill somebody and you will spend
0:10:45 > 0:10:48a significant amount of time behind bars.
0:10:48 > 0:10:48Have
0:10:48 > 0:10:56Two families are torn apart when a shooting happens.
0:10:56 > 0:11:01For Yusuf's family the pain continues.
0:11:01 > 0:11:04All of these months down the line, how does it feel that no
0:11:04 > 0:11:11one has been charged with your son's murder yet?
0:11:11 > 0:11:15Very painful.
0:11:15 > 0:11:25We are not going to have a rest and my family are not going to be
0:11:32 > 0:11:32goals
0:11:32 > 0:11:3550 years ago we saw the start of a social revolution
0:11:35 > 0:11:37when legislations decriminalizing homosexual acts between men
0:11:37 > 0:11:39in England came into effect.
0:11:39 > 0:11:42Since then we've celebrated same sex civil partnerships and marriage.
0:11:42 > 0:11:52But has everywhere embraced change so readily?
0:12:01 > 0:12:04have the local paper in 1959 has a scoop.
0:12:04 > 0:12:06This court report shocked the Cumbrian town.
0:12:06 > 0:12:0713 men in the dock.
0:12:07 > 0:12:09The paper published their names and addresses -
0:12:09 > 0:12:11they would lose their jobs and face disgrace.
0:12:11 > 0:12:12And their crime?
0:12:12 > 0:12:15The men - some of whom were married- were gay.
0:12:15 > 0:12:18Arrested on charges of gross indecency.
0:12:18 > 0:12:21The impact upon on the men would be huge - one man,
0:12:21 > 0:12:24a year off retirement faced losing his pension.
0:12:24 > 0:12:26Even the judge was sympathetic.
0:12:26 > 0:12:28Listen to what he said.
0:12:28 > 0:12:31"If there was anything I could do to put right that injustice-
0:12:31 > 0:12:35and I repeat the word injustice I would do it.
0:12:35 > 0:12:44I am satisfied you have suffered more than you deserve.
0:12:44 > 0:12:47Despite that sense of injustice, it would be nearly another decade
0:12:47 > 0:12:51before the Sexual Offences Act freed men to be open about
0:12:51 > 0:12:51Of
0:12:51 > 0:12:58their relationships.
0:12:58 > 0:13:00But there's lingering suspicion that it's still tougher to be
0:13:00 > 0:13:02gay in rural England than in our big metropolitan cities.
0:13:03 > 0:13:03True?
0:13:03 > 0:13:12I'm going to find out.
0:13:12 > 0:13:17they pack some punch.They do.I am quite surprised by just how physical
0:13:17 > 0:13:23they are.It is like giving children medicine.That is easier than this.
0:13:23 > 0:13:26Have you ever had a good boot off one?Yes.
0:13:26 > 0:13:27Simon farms up in the northern Pennines.
0:13:27 > 0:13:30The farm has been in the family for generations and he chose
0:13:30 > 0:13:37a family occasion to come out.
0:13:37 > 0:13:44Had you plan to make this part of your 21st birthday?Not really. I
0:13:44 > 0:13:47had started dating somebody had I thought, well, the whole family is
0:13:47 > 0:13:51here, I would be better telling everybody. Despite did they know you
0:13:51 > 0:13:58are dating someone?I hadn't said anything to my father.Pace but my
0:13:58 > 0:14:09dad the day after, feeling a bit better. After the hangover. We spoke
0:14:09 > 0:14:15about it, and they said I would come out when I was ready. Kiss have you
0:14:15 > 0:14:20had any hostility directed to you because you are gay? Yes, neighbours
0:14:20 > 0:14:27and staff. Telling other neighbours about as, and unfortunately --
0:14:27 > 0:14:30fortunately they already knew and were fine. Ed gets back to what they
0:14:30 > 0:14:37say and think. That is just the way they are, natty people. Ed Nash the
0:14:37 > 0:14:38people.
0:14:38 > 0:14:40Cumbria Pride, the county's biggest LGBT event in
0:14:40 > 0:14:44the calendar is under way.
0:14:44 > 0:14:52Billie has been a Cumbrian drag queen for more than 30 years.
0:14:52 > 0:14:57This is the imperial crown. That is very heavy to well. I am not wearing
0:14:57 > 0:15:02it today, I am wearing the much lighter one here. It has got a bit
0:15:02 > 0:15:04of movement. It is a nice one.
0:15:04 > 0:15:08And it was a long time before he ever admitted being gay.
0:15:08 > 0:15:13It was difficult in those days, got when I used to do some of the clubs,
0:15:13 > 0:15:19people used to say, are you gay? I would say, no, no, I am married with
0:15:19 > 0:15:25two kids. Once you start that, you have to remember you have told that
0:15:25 > 0:15:29alive.Why did you need to tell the light?Because they would have taken
0:15:29 > 0:15:35offence to the fact that you were gay, and you were wearing a frock.
0:15:35 > 0:15:39You are being judged?Yes, in those days. Even nowadays, there is still
0:15:39 > 0:15:43a lot of homophobia.
0:15:43 > 0:15:45But today in the city, it's a chance for everyone
0:15:45 > 0:15:49to express who they truly are.
0:15:49 > 0:15:56Mike, another farmer, wishes he'd done so years ago.
0:15:56 > 0:16:01Crane I got married at the age of 21, had both my kids at the age of
0:16:01 > 0:16:0825.Pincer player I was living the life, really.Do you think you
0:16:08 > 0:16:14continued with Eli because you lived in a rural community?Definitely.
0:16:14 > 0:16:21Going to the action and seeing what they classed as the norm, it just
0:16:21 > 0:16:26didn't really seem right to be gay and a farmer.
0:16:26 > 0:16:34Simon has finished farming for the day and is helping out back stage.
0:16:34 > 0:16:38It has been really good, the weather hasn't been too bad.Everything has
0:16:38 > 0:16:43run smoothly. More than happy.
0:16:43 > 0:16:46Every year the Home Office collates figures setting out the number
0:16:46 > 0:16:49of reported hate crimes against the LGBT community.
0:16:49 > 0:16:52In Cumbria it's not comfortable reading.
0:16:52 > 0:16:56If you're gay here you are twice as likely to experience a hate crime
0:16:56 > 0:16:58as the national average.
0:16:58 > 0:17:06In fact, proportionally that's the highest in England and Wales.
0:17:06 > 0:17:09Just last week a man was sentenced to over two years in prison
0:17:09 > 0:17:16for a homophobic attack on two women in Penrith.
0:17:16 > 0:17:20Any hate crime against anyone is unacceptable. No questions. We have
0:17:20 > 0:17:26to act on that. I am reassured that our LGBT community feel confident to
0:17:26 > 0:17:32come forward and report, and I want them to do that. In some ways, I am
0:17:32 > 0:17:37not concerned that the incident that people report is necessarily the
0:17:37 > 0:17:40problem, that shows they are coming forward and telling us about it and
0:17:40 > 0:17:43we can do something about it.
0:17:43 > 0:17:46I've heard from two farmers and the attitudes of people
0:17:46 > 0:17:47more than 30 years ago.
0:17:47 > 0:17:56So what's it like for young people coming out today?
0:17:56 > 0:18:05Do you know that I am gay?No.No. You do now.Yes.You never had any
0:18:05 > 0:18:10suspicions? No. I use your?May be.
0:18:10 > 0:18:13In Millom, Ross who's 19 is part of the You Tube generation,
0:18:13 > 0:18:15so he decided to film telling his parents
0:18:15 > 0:18:19for a documentary.
0:18:19 > 0:18:30Miramax is fine? It is a life choice, that is all it is.I never
0:18:30 > 0:18:31see another gay person around where I live.
0:18:31 > 0:18:34Ross decided to come out just as he was leaving home to start
0:18:34 > 0:18:36University in Salford.
0:18:36 > 0:18:41I never thought there would be such a big reaction online. I wasn't
0:18:41 > 0:18:43expecting the town to come together and show their support.
0:18:43 > 0:18:47And that wasn't all.
0:18:47 > 0:18:51One of the best outcomes of the documentary was getting into a
0:18:51 > 0:18:54relationship with someone from my town which is quite unlikely,
0:18:54 > 0:18:58because growing up I thought there was hardly any gay people in my
0:18:58 > 0:19:01town, and I am in a relationship with that person because he saw that
0:19:01 > 0:19:05I had come out and then he misses me asking what it was like and if we
0:19:05 > 0:19:13could meet up to talk about it. Things developed from there.
0:19:13 > 0:19:15This is a real celebration of Cumbria's diversity - proof
0:19:15 > 0:19:18of how far we've come since those court reports from the fifties.
0:19:18 > 0:19:21But the people I've met in Cumbria today tell me that so long
0:19:21 > 0:19:24as you can still hear stories of hostility and downright
0:19:24 > 0:19:27discrimination here as elsewhere - it's important to stand up and be
0:19:27 > 0:19:37counted.
0:19:45 > 0:19:48A couple of years ago anyone call and they found something very
0:19:48 > 0:19:51unusual, and since then they have been trying to work out what it
0:19:51 > 0:19:56meant.This summer they organised a new date in an attempt to solve the
0:19:56 > 0:20:03mystery, so we set along local lad Tony Snell to see how they got on.
0:20:03 > 0:20:06You know what they say - you never ever visit places
0:20:06 > 0:20:07on your own doorstep.
0:20:07 > 0:20:10I've lived in Runcorn for over 20 years and I've never ever visited
0:20:10 > 0:20:20Halton Castle, until today.
0:20:22 > 0:20:26And what a day to visit - the place is a hive of activity.
0:20:26 > 0:20:28An archaeological dig is taking place in what were
0:20:28 > 0:20:30the grounds of the old castle.
0:20:30 > 0:20:34and there seems to be one thing on everyone's mind.
0:20:34 > 0:20:37I'd like to find a person.
0:20:37 > 0:20:41A skeleton like they did a couple of years ago.
0:20:41 > 0:20:44I think it would be nice to find further skeletons -
0:20:44 > 0:20:48there were a couple of skeletons found here in 2015.
0:20:48 > 0:20:49Sounds very interesting.
0:20:49 > 0:20:52What they need here is a specialist in the archaeology
0:20:52 > 0:20:54of historic buildings.
0:20:54 > 0:20:57And of course, they've got one.
0:20:57 > 0:21:00Well we were here in 2015 when we found two skeletons -
0:21:00 > 0:21:03one of which is now on display in Norton Priory museum
0:21:03 > 0:21:06so we've come back this year because we want to put some context
0:21:06 > 0:21:09around those skeletons.
0:21:09 > 0:21:13The bodies actually date to a period of time where the castle was in use
0:21:13 > 0:21:16as an admin centre so we wanted to know if these were people who had
0:21:16 > 0:21:19perhaps been tried in the court and maybe buried on site;
0:21:19 > 0:21:21whether these were people who are working in the castle
0:21:21 > 0:21:24and this actually the site of a chapel and perhaps this
0:21:24 > 0:21:26is consecrated burial ground.
0:21:26 > 0:21:29So it's possible we might have a specific burial ground
0:21:29 > 0:21:34for one reason or another in a castle which is quite strange.
0:21:34 > 0:21:35Why are they here?
0:21:35 > 0:21:37You don't get many skeletons in castles -
0:21:37 > 0:21:39they're really quite rare.
0:21:39 > 0:21:42That's been a real mystery for us.
0:21:42 > 0:21:45It does sound like they've got a first class mystery on their hands.
0:21:45 > 0:21:53And I do like a mystery - especially when it involves skeletons!
0:21:53 > 0:21:59There's only one place to go next.
0:21:59 > 0:22:01Now Mike said that one of the skeletons they found
0:22:01 > 0:22:04at the castle in 2015 is on display here at Norton Priory museum.
0:22:04 > 0:22:06Another place I don't visit often enough.
0:22:06 > 0:22:08Come to think of it, my knowledge of Runcorn
0:22:08 > 0:22:17history is pretty ropey!
0:22:17 > 0:22:20Most people think of Runcorn as being one of the new towns
0:22:20 > 0:22:22- a 1970s new town - but the history of
0:22:22 > 0:22:25the area goes way back.
0:22:25 > 0:22:25If
0:22:25 > 0:22:28Particularly for what we now call Halton Castle, we don't have any
0:22:28 > 0:22:31evidence for it but it's quite likely that it would have been
0:22:31 > 0:22:34an iron age promontory hill fort and that's really down
0:22:34 > 0:22:37to the geography cos when you stand up at Halton Castle you can see
0:22:37 > 0:22:42at least five different counties and shires.
0:22:42 > 0:22:44We know it was used in the civil war.
0:22:44 > 0:22:47And as you move forward in time the archaeology tells us it
0:22:47 > 0:22:51would have been acted as an administrative centre.
0:22:51 > 0:22:53There were courts there in 1700 so it's always had some
0:22:53 > 0:22:58sort of significant role in the local area.
0:22:58 > 0:23:02Thanks to the Barons that lived there, Norton Priory was founded.
0:23:02 > 0:23:02the
0:23:02 > 0:23:06So the history of the two sites is pretty much inextricably linked -
0:23:06 > 0:23:08you can't tell the history of Norton Priory without
0:23:08 > 0:23:12the history of Halton Castle.
0:23:12 > 0:23:15Funnily enough, there are a number of skeletons on display right next
0:23:15 > 0:23:17to where we were talking but these were found -
0:23:17 > 0:23:22not in the Castle, but in the Priory.
0:23:22 > 0:23:31What is it about Runcorn and skeletons!?
0:23:31 > 0:23:35it will be good to finally see one of these for myself. It has been
0:23:35 > 0:23:38established that one is male and the other is female. The one on display
0:23:38 > 0:23:49if the mail.
0:23:52 > 0:23:55When they were first found we were thinking, 17th century date,
0:23:55 > 0:23:57perhaps related to the civil war when perhaps unusual things happened
0:23:57 > 0:24:00but we've had this chap carbon dated to the 15th century,
0:24:00 > 0:24:03the female skeleton a bit later, maybe even 100 years later.
0:24:03 > 0:24:05Again that just asks more questions than it answers...
0:24:05 > 0:24:07You can see in this picture here, they were also buried
0:24:07 > 0:24:10on an east-west alignment, that's a very typical Christian
0:24:10 > 0:24:11burial right the way through the middle-ages.
0:24:11 > 0:24:13Everything about it screams this was a normal burial,
0:24:13 > 0:24:15possibly a shroud around them as well.
0:24:15 > 0:24:16So why?
0:24:16 > 0:24:19There's nothing that marks them out as unusual except that context.
0:24:19 > 0:24:20They don't seem to be aristocracy.
0:24:20 > 0:24:22They don't seem to be murdered in anyway.
0:24:22 > 0:24:24It just makes no sense at all.
0:24:24 > 0:24:26Hopefully this dig this year will try and uncover why exactly
0:24:26 > 0:24:31they were buried here.
0:24:31 > 0:24:34One week into the dig and they've found all sorts
0:24:34 > 0:24:37of interesting stuff.
0:24:37 > 0:24:40We've actually found four big square features.
0:24:40 > 0:24:43We've no idea what they are- they're quite unusual.
0:24:43 > 0:24:46So we're just in the process of trying to excavate them and find
0:24:46 > 0:24:47out what they might be.
0:24:47 > 0:24:50But there's been lots of medieval pottery come out of that area
0:24:50 > 0:24:53and in fact lots of medieval pottery from all over the site
0:24:53 > 0:25:03really which is quite nice.
0:25:04 > 0:25:08But no skeletons?
0:25:08 > 0:25:18So far we haven't found a great deal in terms of skeletons.
0:25:20 > 0:25:22We haven't got those skeletons, that doesn't mean it is wrong, it just
0:25:22 > 0:25:26means we have a bigger mystery and we have to think, well, what does
0:25:26 > 0:25:42that mean in terms of Halton Castle spar importers? -- importance.
0:25:47 > 0:25:50It's now a month since I was last here and there's been time
0:25:50 > 0:25:52to evaluate what was found and for some of the skeleton
0:25:52 > 0:25:53theories to take shape.
0:25:53 > 0:25:56Some of the key members of the team have assembled
0:25:56 > 0:25:57for a post-dig inquest.
0:25:57 > 0:25:59Well Mike we didn't find any skeletons but we found
0:25:59 > 0:26:00a fair bit of stuff.
0:26:00 > 0:26:02We did.
0:26:02 > 0:26:05We have got quite a lot of material here that is pretty much covering
0:26:05 > 0:26:06the life of the castle.
0:26:06 > 0:26:08We have got 13th century halfpenny right through to
0:26:08 > 0:26:091980s soft drink cans.
0:26:09 > 0:26:12But there are some one or two really interesting pieces in here,
0:26:12 > 0:26:15not least got some kiln furniture, which we didn't expect.
0:26:15 > 0:26:16That's probably from a pottery kiln.
0:26:16 > 0:26:19We have also got some more material from the 17th century,
0:26:19 > 0:26:20and some late medieval material.
0:26:20 > 0:26:22No skeletons but this does tell us something
0:26:22 > 0:26:23more about the context of those skeletons.
0:26:23 > 0:26:26And look at this - the OTHER skeleton, found in 2015,
0:26:26 > 0:26:29and taken out of storage especially for me to see.
0:26:29 > 0:26:30Wow!
0:26:30 > 0:26:31What a bonus this is.
0:26:31 > 0:26:37This is 'Miss Mystery' - tell me about this lady.
0:26:37 > 0:26:40She is a lovely skeleton.
0:26:40 > 0:26:43You know, she is a female skeleton, 30 to 34 years of age
0:26:43 > 0:26:44at the time of death.
0:26:44 > 0:26:46And she is actually quite a tall individual,
0:26:46 > 0:26:47she is about five foot seven.
0:26:47 > 0:26:50However it seems that for once, science may have let us down
0:26:50 > 0:26:52and helped create some of the confusion around
0:26:52 > 0:26:53the Runcorn skeletons.
0:26:53 > 0:26:56We did have her subjected to radiocarbon dating and she has
0:26:56 > 0:26:58quite a long date range unfortunately, from the early 1500s
0:26:58 > 0:27:00right through the early 1600s.
0:27:00 > 0:27:03So it's a good hundred year date range which covers towards the end
0:27:03 > 0:27:05later medieval right through to the civil war.
0:27:05 > 0:27:09So because this is such a wide range we actually gonna do re-analysis
0:27:09 > 0:27:14on her to maybe find a shorter time frame for her.
0:27:14 > 0:27:16We want to know whether those skeletons are buried
0:27:16 > 0:27:17at the same time.
0:27:17 > 0:27:23They look as if they might be but the dates we have at the moment
0:27:23 > 0:27:25are 100 years apart.
0:27:25 > 0:27:26Now radiocarbon dates are funny things.
0:27:26 > 0:27:29You really need more than one sample from each.
0:27:29 > 0:27:31So if we can do that we can answer definitively
0:27:31 > 0:27:33were they buried at the same time?
0:27:33 > 0:27:35If they were then that's a whole series of other questions.
0:27:35 > 0:27:36Who were they?
0:27:36 > 0:27:38Why were they buried at the same time?
0:27:38 > 0:27:41Either way we are looking at exceptional activity in the outer
0:27:41 > 0:27:42bailey at Halton castle.
0:27:42 > 0:27:45Right I am gonna put you on the spot now.
0:27:45 > 0:27:46What is your theory, Mike?
0:27:46 > 0:27:50If we can prove that the bodies are the same date, I think
0:27:50 > 0:28:00they will be from the civil war siege in the 1640s.
0:28:01 > 0:28:07If they are not, if they are still 100 years apart, haven't got a clue!
0:28:07 > 0:28:10You know when we started this I said, "You never visit places
0:28:10 > 0:28:12on your own doorstep"?
0:28:12 > 0:28:14I am so glad I did, I've learned so much -
0:28:14 > 0:28:18as for the mystery of the skeletons, maybe not this time but once
0:28:18 > 0:28:27that carbon dating comes back, I'll be back.
0:28:28 > 0:28:32'SI love a good mystery. That is all from us for this week, but
0:28:32 > 0:28:43Inside Out is back next Monday. Until then, goodbye. Next week,
0:28:43 > 0:28:46former athlete Diane Nadal discusses how sports stars cope with
0:28:46 > 0:28:51retirement.I lost my job, our family house, had her two young kids
0:28:51 > 0:28:57and a wife that I could not support that is the depression started. --
0:28:57 > 0:29:01when the depression.