Despite the fact that208Pb is probably the best example of a shell model nucleus, little is known about its high‐spin states and those of its nearest neighbours, primarily because of the experimental difficulties involved in populating neutron‐rich nuclei. The high‐spin states formed from the valence orbitals are important since they provide the building blocks from which more complex configurations can be calculated. The same orbitals are involved in particle‐octupole vibrational coupling which presumably evolves into octupole deformation in heavier nuclei. In this paper we present the results of recent measurements which have used a range of reaction techniques to access states in theN= 128 isotones,211Bi,212Po and213At. The results may contribute to the understanding of the structure of the &tgr; = 65 s isomer in212Po. The new states identified include aJ&pgr; = 492+, &tgr; = 65 &mgr;s isomer in213At which decays via an enhancedE3 transition whose strength is influenced by blocking. © 2003 American Institute of Physics