THIS WEEK IN 1985: Why is there a hole in my bucket?

Divers stumbled across a relic near the orlop deck of the 18th century Portsmouth shipwreck HMS Invincible '“ and it left them scratching their heads.

By The Newsroom

Published 27th Sep 2017, 07:00 BST

retro september 2017 Bucket - Simon Aked, conservation director of the Invincible project, is seen here with the mystery bucket

They brought up the well-preserved remains of a Georgian bucket.

The only trouble was it had a hole in the middle, and they didn’t know why.

One theory was it could have brought a bit of relief to the seamen who were cut short on deck.

The oak bucket was brought to the surface in pieces, and was re-assembled by Simon Aked, the Invincible project’s conservation director.

‘It certainly started out life as a bucket, but whether it was converted to something else we are not quite sure,’ Mr Aked said.

Invincible sank three miles off Eastney in 1758, along with hundreds of treasures.