A particular problem in Welsh history. Is there anyone under 40 teaching Welsh history in a university on a permanent contract?

Royal Historical Society@royalhistsoc.org · 3w ago

In addition to today's data on staffing in UK HE, @britishacademy.bsky.social has produced several briefings, including one on the very significant decline in early career academics, 2012-24: bit.ly/4wGBTcl History has seen a 32% decline in early career staff numbers since 2012/13 #Skystorians 1/2

Skinheads and punk rockers, 1983, Merthyr Tydfil, photo by Walter Waygood, Welsh photographer.

Welsh HE needs radically restructuring but I'm not sure downgrading a key part of the nation's research and development capabilities are an answer to anything.

Research Professional News@resprofnews.bsky.social · last mo.

Some Welsh universities may lose research focus, says minister. Plaid Cymru’s Cefin Campbell says “nothing is off the table” in review of higher education. www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-p...

Had a great day at the National Army Museum. A fantastic museum and archive.

Why is the universities crisis being ignored? Essential piece by @gsoh31.bsky.social for Arguably on the “grim dribbling away of one of Britain's great triumphs and economic advantages” – and why so few politicians seem to care. www.arguably.uk/p/the-quiet-...

The quiet collapse of British universities

One of our great triumphs and economic advantages is fading away

arguably.uk

The Monumental Welsh Women group deserve great credit for what they have achieved in the last few years. Statues matter.

NationCymru@nation.cymru · 2mo ago

A statue to honour women’s and children’s rights champion Elizabeth Andrews is being unveiled at a Welsh Heritage Park Museum on Thursday, 25 June following a campaign by the Monumental Welsh Women group

🧵/ How Wales voted at the 2026 Senedd election: our new study based on reanalysing the data behind our successful pre-election MRP identifies the key demographic and political divides behind the new Welsh party system yougov.com/en-gb/articl...

'Too many children leave school with "at best limited knowledge and understanding of the history of their own nation," many of Wales' leading academics write in an open letter to the Welsh Government.' Letter in full available at end of article. 1/3

Leading academics write open letter with challenge to Wales on our history

Several of Wales' most prominent historians are urging the Welsh Government to act

walesonline.co.uk

Three leading Welsh academics, supported by Welsh historians, educationalists and public figures have written an open letter to the Welsh Government's new Minister of Education calling for Welsh history to have a more prominent place in the Welsh school curriculum

Academics call for Welsh history to have 'greater prominence' in school curriculum

Stephen Price Three leading Welsh academics, supported by Welsh historians, educationalists and individuals prominent in public life in Wales have written an open letter to the Welsh Government’s new ...

nation.cymru

Very sorry to hear of the passing of Prof Huw Bowen. Huw was a leading historian of the East India Company and a champion of the discipline more broadly, especially in Wales. He was a huge personal and professional influence on many of us.

Townscape, painting by Yorkshire artist Clare Shotter.

Beautiful day in Swansea but there's hardly any students around. We need to offer students the opportunity to do 2 year degrees. Long summers work for some students but not all. Reduce student debt by letting students study through the summer if they want to

Just marked a dissertation on Attlee. A nice reminder that what you do in office ultimately matters far more than public perceptions of your personality or style. Labour's problem isn't that its leader isnt appealing. The problem is the lack of action.

Listening to someone from Reform talk about how he stood for the Senedd because of all the scandals in politics. Pity the interviewer never pointed out a previous Welsh Reform leader is in prison for taking Russian bribes.

Carmarthen result shows stupidity of new system. Plaid 43% means 3 seats. Reform 32% means 3 seats.

8 May 1945 Europe celebrated VE day and the defeat of fascism. They also remembered the millions of lives lost in that war. 81 years on a chunk of the electorate seem to have forgotten what the politics of hate and grievance can lead to.

Rhywbeth i’w ddarllen tra'n aros am y canlyniadau, efallai. @richardwynjones.bsky.social @danieljhartley.bsky.social @jasminedonahaye.bsky.social nationtimecymrusydd.wordpress.com/2026/05/07/i...

In the Wake of 1997: Event or Process?

Ron Davies, the Labour Secretary of State who oversaw Welsh devolution, famously insisted that devolution was “a process, not an event.” Yet the retirement this week of Dewi Llwyd, the beloved broa…

nationtimecymrusydd.wordpress.com

The bookies at least are certain.

One way to interpret these data (there are alternative interpretations) is that universities, financially desperate to raise NSS scores & (in England) ditto TEF scores, are so desperate to please students by dropping deadlines & attendance requirements that they are lowering their employability. 1/2

Employers fear graduates lack adaptability as AI reshapes work

Concerns that UK universities not preparing students adequately as annual survey shows big rise in performance-related issues among recent hires

timeshighereducation.com

Wrote this a few years ago about election day. (The electoral system is now better but still a bit rubbish.) martinjohnes.com/2019/12/12/i...

I like voting

I like voting. I like the walk to the polling station, even if it’s raining. I like seeing others heading the same way. I like wondering who they’re voting for. I like how serious their…

martinjohnes.com

Next preview! New ‘Gilded Nightmare’ Shadows Over Cymru: Uncanny Stories of the Welsh Weird. Edited by Aaron Worth. Surely one of the prettiest jackets yet! & check out that contents list. Publishing 26/05.

A new oral history project celebrating Cardiff's live music scene is inviting young people to record their best music memories

Cardiff music fans invited to share gig stories ahead of major heritage exhibition

A new oral history project celebrating Cardiff’s live music scene is inviting young people to record their best music memories. Cardiff’s ever evolving live music scene – from legendary nights at the ...

wp.me

Cardiff Waterstones, Thursday at 7pm: I'm interviewing Will Hayward about his new book about the economic and political problems Wales faces. www.waterstones.com/events/who-c...

Nice reminder of pitfalls in the digitisation of historical documents.

David Storey@davidstoreygeog.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Letter to @irishtimes.com - The 1926 Irish census and a profession that is sadly still with us!

Do councils tell people when their application to be on the electoral register has been processed? I've spoken to a number of students who registered but have no idea if they are actually able to vote.

We don't teach as much Welsh history as we should in our schools. This short essay is about why Welsh history matters. martinjohnes.com/2026/04/23/w...

Why Welsh history matters

History is not easy. It’s not about learning dates and facts; it’s about understanding, understanding why things happened, what they meant, what they led to. This isn’t straightforward. It can requ…

martinjohnes.com

Fully-funded AHRC PhD scholarship at Swansea: the history of the Anti-Apartheid Movement in Wales, 1945-1994. www.swansea.ac.uk/postgraduate...

History: AHRC Collaborative Doctoral Partnership Studentship in History with Museum Wales (RS949) - Swansea University

We offer a wide range of funded and fully funded research scholarships in all subject areas. Explore your options and apply now.

swansea.ac.uk

Just finished this by @willhaycardiff.bsky.social It's passionate, lively, informed and provocative. Wales needs radical change and this book explains why.

Nice 1914 addition to my collection of Welsh history school books.

no one likes historians because every time someone says “oh this is unheard of” historians are all like “well actually” and fundamentally it just doesn’t sound as impressive if you have to say “in these slightly precedented times”