There are not many surviving interiors designed by #Victorian architect Owen Jones (1809-74) so it's always a thrill to visit St Bartholomew's at Sutton Waldron in #dorset. I wrote my PhD on Jones and to see his favourite primary colours yesterday, singing out after recent restoration, is wonderful
Two churches today for #SteepleSaturday
Both built for the local squire William Fortrey by the Wing family of architects.
Gaulby with its completely bonkers pinnacles was built by John Wing Snr in 1742 and Kings Norton with its infinitely more serious gothic tower by his son, also John in 1761.
Obligatory
I think this is one of the most heart rending stories about the war that I’ve read. The quiet courage and consideration of the soldier’s mother..
#WW1
Serious moment: I know at least one vast archive of incredible photos of East London's bus and tram history that are lost forever. Because the guy who lovingly took them over decades died without a will and no relatives.
Whole collection lost to house clearance. Probably just binned.
Stamford Bridge is open for transit, English king Harold Godwinson said. “The only thing prohibiting transit across the bridge right now is a huge Norwegian berserker hacking people to pieces with an axe,” he said. “It is open for transit should the beserker not do that.”
"Thomas, the President of the United States has caused confusion and delay..."
On a walk around #Conwy yesterday, I spotted something I hadn't noticed before. This magnificent #Gothic railway arch, built in 1840, through the #Medieval walls. It even continues the castellated parapet! Zoom in, and you can see where bits were chipped away as trains got bigger! #photograph #photo
Hey stop doomscrolling social media and watch this right now, matey
Do you (or have you ever) worked with natural history collections? Are you trans or non-binary? If you said "yes" to both of those, @rin-krichilsky.bsky.social and I want to hear from you! Please consider filling out our survey and please share with others! 🏳️⚧️ 🐛🦕🦴🌿 docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
bonus Discworld QOTD, from The Shepherd's Crown
"FOR I CAN SEE THE BALANCE AND YOU HAVE LEFT THE WORLD MUCH BETTER THAN YOU FOUND IT, AND IF YOU ASK ME, said Death, NOBODY COULD DO ANY BETTER THAN THAT…"
The Surname Society’s 2026 AGM & Conference looks likely to be of interest to researchers of #OnePlaceStudies as well as #SurnameStudies! The theme this year is Poverty, with talks on Poor Law archives, workhouses, Victorian social history and British Home Children research. #OnePlaceWednesday
I really think that Trump thinks that he will just. decide the war is over when he’s bored of it next week, and then everything will snap back to how it was re: oil, defence, global relations etc, just with a new Ayatollah. I really think he thinks that’s how it will work
Dear everyone,
As per the post from the Bodleian librarian below, AI bots and scrapers are putting just about every website under great pressure, British History Online included.
A lot of excellent tech staff are working hard to keep everything working, but outages and siruptions are inevitable.
another library buckling under the toll of an essentially unregulated internet.
Bit of a call out to fellow historians!
Anyone with suitable interest/expertise available on Monday and up for recording a podcast with me on "Rat Lines" - the post-war efforts to help Nazi's escape to South America and elsewhere?
Unfortunately my planned guest had to drop out #skystorians
The intensity and vividness of the colours in this window were achieved through the emulation of medieval techniques.
10/11
‘Many women almost regard their washhouse as their club’.
This is such a fascinating documentary of a Liverpool public wash house from 1959 from the women carrying clothes bundles on their head, to the dolly to the new machines, the drying cupboards &their cafe.
m.youtube.com/watch?v=cxpA...
Cover of The Caretakers: War Graves Gardeners and the Secret Battle to Rescue Allied Airmen in World War II by Caitlin Galante DeAngelis sepia cover with black and white images of gardeners' mugshots and a cemetery decorated with flowers
Happy birthday to my book, which is out today in the US!
rowman.com/ISBN/9781633...
I was about to post saying I definitely remember doing first aid as part of PE lessons in the late 90s and early 00s. I think Brownies and Guides went into it in greater detail, PE was focused more on CPR and recovery position, but that might be wrong.
Mademoiselle Adelaide Basset, a carte visite photograph of a young woman, dressed rather daringly in shorts and a long-sleeved top, with stockings. This picture was probably taken in 1894 or 1895.
For International Women's Day, I want to talk about this woman.
Despite the name on the photo, this woman was born Ann Amelia Chaplin in 1863, in Bromley.
This is Felicia Skene (1821-1899), a pioneer social worker who supported Oxford's homeless and women fleeing sex work. She became the first female visitor allowed into prisons in England and advocated for prisons to be places of reform instead of punishment.
#IWD2026 #GiveToGain
Never mind the endless Jane Austen adaptations, here's a period drama I'd watch:
Prison Break, except it's 1740s London & the hero is a 5 ft 4 Herefordshire woman called Elizabeth, with massive hands & massive feet
Come on @netflix.com it's what we all want
I was very kindly sent an advanced proof of Mary Boleyn: The Queen’s Slandered Sister by @sylviabso.bsky.social My comments are below:
#maryboleyn #theotherboleyngirl #anneboleyn #boleyns #henryviii
The Women’s Suffrage Movement was a popular cause in Yorkshire. Leeds-born activist Leonora Cohen (nee Throp) OBE made a high profile protest in February 1913. She smashed a display case in the Jewel House of the Tower of London with an iron bar. She was a passionate campaigner all her life eventually receiving an OBE.
The Women’s Suffrage Movement was a popular cause in Yorkshire. Leeds-born activist Leonora Cohen (nee Throp) OBE made a high profile protest in February 1913. She smashed a display case in the Jewel House of the Tower of London with an iron bar, below, which I believe is part of the
Happy international women's day to all women tall or short, thick or thin, cis or trans! #iwd #international #womens #day
When men's workload is automated, it's genius; when women's workload is automated it's a character flaw and morally questionable.
I'd also like to nominate "SPECS OFFENDERS". Thank you, I yield my time.
Pigeons, as charming as they can be, aren't ideal neighbours for a Norman keep as their droppings damage stonework. Barney's presence persuades them to relocate without harm. It's an age-old solution that happens to be remarkably effective and considerably more elegant than netting or spikes.
This is a good analogy. Very useful in carefully controlled settings for specific usages, but unfortunately being widely inserted into everything and used without training or PPE and poisoning a lot of things and people and we’re going to pay a tonne of money to remove it safely in the future
