Author: Joel Griffett
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Research trip to Seville (part two)
The following day I continued my research trip to Seville, a truly beautiful city full of history with the more modern streets wide enough for me to weave among ambling pedestrians. I usually stay at the Black Swan hostel for its modern dorms, huge communal area and the massive rooftop terrace, however the price of…
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Research trip to Seville, Spain
Notes from my research trip to Seville and the Archivo General de Indias. In search of documents relating to the lost mine of Cajatambo.
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Upcoming Talks
If you would like to schedule a talk please leave a comment on this post or email me at joelgriffett@gmail.com.
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Feb 2026: REFLECTING ON MY FIRST BOOK AND FUTURE PLANS
Having sold all the copies of my first book Long Road to Nowhere it feels only right to reflect on it now, over eighteen months after it was published. With the joy of hindsight, it was probably not the best style of book to begin with, given the subject matter and the target audience. If…
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THIS IS MY NEW WEBSITE
I have a new website. I couldn’t think of a catchy title so I decided to just use my name. Most people can’t spell my surname but it’s easier to spell than ‘Trevithick’
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ANOTHER UPDATE
Nothing has been written here for a while and all I seem to do is post updates periodically, but nevertheless, that doesn’t mean I haven’t been a busy boy. I am currently in the USA (Bloomington, Indiana) having won the Mendel Visiting Fellowship at Indiana University to undertake research in the Lilly Library, where a…
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Richard Trevithick in London: A Tour
Picking perhaps the most foul day of the month to do so, I ventured out and about across the capital following the trail of Richard Trevithick in London. Like any ambitious person, he moved to London to try and make it big, started countless projects that fizzled out and eventually went bankrupt and fell so…
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Return to Lima
I cannot hear a word this man is saying; he is selling fruit on the street corner from a cart impossibly large for him to shift and I am trying to buy a papaya bigger than my head, but amidst the roar of traffic behind him, the incessant blaring of horns that Lima drivers use…
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The Search for Chilean Silver: Juan Godoy and the Alicanto
Back near Copiapó, at the southern edge of the Atacama, a man named Juan Godoy would suffer a similar fate. He lacked the inventive prowess and general brilliance of Trevithick but made an important discovery nonetheless
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The Lagoon of Guatavita: Home of El Dorado?
Just a few hours north-east of Bogota is where the very myth of El Dorado lies: the lagoon of Guatavita. The ultimate and most intriguing idea that South America is full to the brim with immense treasures. The hills and the deserts are rightfully rich in gold, silver, copper and even other things like guano…