A downpour in Leamington Spa! Bouncing off the road. 🌧️

🥇 Available now via #openaccess, the 2025 Midland History Essay Prize winner🥇 @rozedden.bsky.social shines a spotlight on the vital role played by Gloucester's district nurses in caring for their community during the 1896 smallpox epidemic Read online 👇 doi.org/10.1080/0047729X.2026.2707076

‘A Bright Spot in Their Poor City’: The Work of Gloucester’s District Nurses During the 1896 Smallpox Epidemic

This paper examines the response of the Gloucester District Nursing Society to a major epidemic of smallpox in the city at the end of the nineteenth century. Unable to cope with the high numbers co...

doi.org

Not working on country houses but themes of this great publication, East India Company at Home, have very much been of use to me.

Margot Finn@eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 2d ago

If the topics of the current exhibition and their wider historical context are of interest, you can download the East India Company at home book in full for free from @uclpress.bsky.social or as individual chapters (no subscription needed) from JSTOR. Very much enabled by @leverhulme.ac.uk . 3/4

Wish Osterley had been like this when I lived in Hounslow (many years ago). Look at those fabrics!

Margot Finn@eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 2d ago

Great to see Osterley House, National Trust engage again with the long legacy of the East India Company and its material cultures in Hounslow. Exciting to see another exhibition on this theme: Journeys: Wedding Shawls, Baghs and Phulkaris from the Karun Thakar Collection, open until 1 November. 1/4

This afternoon I wore a cardigan. It surprised me too.

Applications are invited for the position of Managing Editor in Foclóir Stairiúil na Gaeilge (FNG), a research programme of the Royal Irish Academy. Closing date: 15:00 on 31 August 2026 Visit our website for more information: www.ria.ie/about/career...

📢 We're hiring! Want to join our team? We're looking for a Scotland based, Regional Lead to join our Growing Together programme. Please head over to our website to find out more and apply! treecouncil.org.uk/who-we-are/j...

KLAXON! Calling Birmingham/Midlands independent historians. Come join us, and I'll see you at the Birmingham meet-up perhaps?

Independent Historians Network (UK)@indyhistnetwork.bsky.social · 7d ago

We don't want to bore you by mentioning this too much, but you can now sign up to be a member of IHN for just £10 a year. If you are a member you can come along to our meet-ups. Our next ones are Birmingham on 16th Sept and Leeds on 30th Sept Join up and join in! membermojo.co.uk/independenth...

After a shaky start pleased to see that my new rambler Francis E Lester has begun its journey up the pergola. It has one job. To be vigorous and cover it. www.rhs.org.uk/plants/91730...

We’ve had one visiting our garden for a few weeks. Moved on now though I think. It’s been a joy to watch. www.theguardian.com/environment/...

‘Grey lump with orange wings’: migrating moth descends on UK gardens

Boom in hummingbird hawk-moth sightings put down to hot weather, strong winds and food scarcity in Europe

theguardian.com

Right, bills weigh me, and the coffers are close to empty. Who needs some research done/archive records copied? I’m excellent and there‘s no project too big or small!

New additions to Preservica Universal Access include a Masters dissertation on the workbags created by members of the Birmingham Ladies Society for the Relief of British Slaves: birmingham.access.preservica.com/uncategorize... Ref: LP 21.851 #LibraryofBham

Park Life Reads is back, as we said a few days ago, and promises to be even bigger and better than before. In case you missed it, it’s taking place at Nuneaton’s beautiful Riversley Park on Saturday 1 August, between 10am and 4pm.

Park Life Reads

Join us at our free, family festival for a variety of fun activities and exciting stalls.

eventbrite.co.uk

I can recommend signing up for the Beth Chatto newsletter. Wise gardening advice into your inbox. www.bethchatto.co.uk/discover/our...

💥Midland History Essay Prize💥

Midland History Journal@midlandhistory.bsky.social · last wk.

✨ Just over 3 months until the deadline for the 2026 Midland History Essay Prize ✨ Submissions can be on any time period and any topic about the English midlands 📝 Max 10,000 words inc footnotes 💸 Best essay awarded £400 📗 Opportunity to publish 🗓️ Deadline 31st October More details 👇

Excellent opportunity to play a role in shaping the future of one of our #HeritageDevelopmentTrusts and to help drive positive change throughout Stoke-on-Trent through heritage-led regeneration. @re-formheritage.bsky.social is seeking new trustees to join its board. Find out more and apply: 👇

Re-Form Heritage@re-formheritage.bsky.social · 2w ago

Become a Trustee for Re-Form Heritage! Are you passionate about the heritage of Stoke-on-Trent? Do you want to join the Board of a leading regeneration charity with a proven track record at a time of exciting expansion? To find out more visit: re-form.org/careers/ #stokeontrent #charity #heritage

When I have another life I’m going to live somewhere where BBQs are banned. Entire house full of their smell early evening just as I was throwing everything open to let in cool air. Just cook it in the oven and then take outside to eat it. Bah!

Heart warming story from battered Gaza www.theguardian.com/world/2026/j...

Reclaiming stolen childhoods: swimming classes resume in Gaza after three years of war

In sea pools built with sandbags and rubble, Amjed Tantesh gives traumatised children brief respite from their daily lives

theguardian.com

Working in partnership with the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art, the Food Museum, the Glasgow Life Museum, the Hastings Museum & Art Gallery and the Museum of Free Derry, the Migration Museum (London) is seeking 10 Community Curators. Might this be you?

Migration Museum partners with museums and galleries to launch new UK-wide Community Curators programme

The Migration Museum is partnering with five museums and galleries across the UK to launch a new programme bringing diverse voices, lived experiences, and perspectives into the creation of a series of...

migrationmuseum.org

The Unlocking the Vaults exhibition is now open until November. Telling the story of Birmingham’s unique Municipal Bank! 🏛️ The Vaults at The Exchange, Centenary Square, Birmingham (opposite Library) 🕰️ Open Mon- Sat 9am- 4pm Free, drop in no booking required

Ooh, a summer offer on my good friend @drgavin.bsky.social's book on William Morris and his gardens.😍

Yale University Press London 📖@yalebooks.bsky.social · 2w ago

We're delighted to have a selection of our upcoming Art books included in @waterstones.bsky.social 'Coming Soon' offer on pre-orders! Browse the featured titles and enter SUMMER26 for 25% off. www.waterstones.com/campaign/jul...

It’s a job share!

Paul Brand@paulbrand.bsky.social · 2w ago

Ed Miliband and Shabana Mahmood both walking up to No10 at the same time. The new PM is keeping us guessing til the very end!

Ok. Off to watch the podium.

Loving the chance these slightly cooler mornings we have in South Warwickshire give me to coffee in the garden.

Exciting new job opportunity at one of our partner organisations. The Armitt Museum and Library, which is based at the foot of our Ambleside campus, are looking to appoint a new manager and curator (closing date for applications 7 August). www.museumdevelopmentnorth.org.uk/the-armitt-m...

💥2 jobs @universityofleeds.bsky.social posted💥

Jim Mussell@jimmussell.bsky.social · 2w ago

JOBS! We’re currently looking for two people to join us in the School of English @universityofleeds.bsky.social: Lecturer in Creative Writing jobs.leeds.ac.uk/AHCEN1086; Lecturer in English Language (with interests in DH) jobs.leeds.ac.uk/AHCEN1087 Both are FT ongoing appointments

Waiting patiently for the Proms half-time show.

That BBC thing was awful. Cringe-making.

I had no idea about this way of finding books. It will revolutionise my current life.

Naomi Alderman@naomialderman.bsky.social · 2w ago

Wait does everyone here know the life-changing secret re: finding books? You photograph your bookshelves/book piles and then you can text-search in the photos.

Daily visit of what I think is a hummingbird moth to the nepeta. Not seen before in the garden. 😍