Last Friday saw the launch and a private viewing of our Routes, ruins and reconnaissance exhibition in collaboration with the @rgs.org at their home in London. The exhibition is open Monday - Friday until August 24th. Find out more and how to visit: www.rgs.org/events/upcom...

Update: Mystery solved. This is Ashbrooke Sports Club in Sunderland. Presumably it was used a neutral venue for the match.

Newcastle Uni Special Collections & Archives@ncllibspeccoll.bsky.social · 7d ago

For #ThrowbackThursday this week here's a look back at a rugby match between Durham and Newcastle Universities in March 1969 from our University Archive. However there's a bit of an #archivalMystery as we can't work out the venue! Can you help us identify this 1960s sports ground? [ref.NUA/060791]

Our new exhibition produced in collaboration with the Royal Geographical Society @rgs.org, hosted at their London venue is now open! Routes, Ruins and Reconnaissance explores the archaeological and geographical work of Gertrude Bell and her relationship with the RGS, and is open until 24th August.

Routes, ruins and reconnaissance | Exhibition

Exhibition at the Society in London created in conjunction with Newcastle University on the life and career of Gertrude Bell FRGS. Open to all.

rgs.org

Anyone else wondered how to make their own 19th Century bicycle? 'Velocipedes, Bicycles and Tricycles: How to Make and How to Use Them' published in 1869, part of our 19th Century seems to have the answers! No doubt perfect for a summer weekend exploring the countryside! [19thC.Coll. 629.227 VEL]

For #ThrowbackThursday this week here's a look back at a rugby match between Durham and Newcastle Universities in March 1969 from our University Archive. However there's a bit of an #archivalMystery as we can't work out the venue! Can you help us identify this 1960s sports ground? [ref.NUA/060791]

If you're planning a research project this summer, why not start with our Collections Guide? Browse hundreds of archive and rare book collections by subject, people, organisations or keyword, and discover unique primary sources waiting to be explored. Start your search: specialcollections.ncl.ac.uk

Did you know? Newcastle University Special Collections & Archives cares for rare books, archives and unique historical collections spanning centuries. Whether you're researching, teaching or simply exploring, there's something waiting to be discovered. Find out more: www.ncl.ac.uk/library/spec...

#ThrowbackThursday Who remembers the days of Thorne's bookshop and Inventions (now The Crows Nest)? This photo, from our University Archive, shows part of Percy Street as it was in 1987. [Ref. NUA/193478].

We're proud to welcome the remarkable loan of the AmberSide Collection to our collections. More than 20,000 photographs, 100 films and decades of documentary history will now be preserved and made more accessible for research, teaching and public engagement. Read more: www.ncl.ac.uk/press/articl...

New future secured for AmberSide Collection

One of the UK’s most significant documentary photography and film collections is on loan to Newcastle University’s Special Collections, thanks to National Lottery funding.

ncl.ac.uk

As the school summer holiday season is almost upon us here's a #FlashbackFriday look back to 1898 and the family summer holiday of the Trevelyan family of Wallington, who visited Seaview on the Isle of Wight for their summer break. Photos are from our Trevelyan family photo albums. [Ref. CPT/PA/28]

From Monday 3 Aug 2026 - Monday 24 Aug 2026, don’t miss the exhibition, Routes, Ruins & Renaissance, at the Royal Geographical Society in London. Discover Gertrude Bell’s newly digitised maps, notebooks, photographs & archives in this free exhibition. More info: www.rgs.org/events/upcom...

Routes, ruins and reconnaissance | Exhibition

Exhibition at the Society in London created in conjunction with Newcastle University on the life and career of Gertrude Bell FRGS. Open to all.

rgs.org

This month marks the centenary of Gertrude Bell's death. If you're in Newcastle, don't miss Letters from Baghdad at Tyneside Cinema—a compelling portrait of the North East-born traveller, archaeologist and political figure whose legacy remains deeply debated. tynesidecinema.co.uk/event/letter...

Letters from Baghdad | Tyneside Cinema

Watch the acclaimed documentary Letters from Baghdad at Tyneside Cinema. Discover the extraordinary story of Gertrude Bell, voiced by Tilda Swinton.

tynesidecinema.co.uk

As #NCLGraduation2026 gets underway, we're looking back at an earlier generation of @newcastleuni.bsky.social congregations. This photograph captures the excitement & ceremony of graduation day in 1958. Congratulations to the Class of 2026! collectionscaptured.ncl.ac.uk/digital/coll... #WeAreNCL

If you're near Bradford tomorrow you can catch a screening of Letters From Baghdad as part of Bradford Literature Festival. The screening will be followed by a panel discussion featuring our very own Gertrude Bell archivist Valentina Flex. Find out more: www.bradfordlitfest.co.uk/event/screen...

Screening: Letters from Baghdad + Q&A | Bradford Literature Festival

Voiced and executive produced by Academy Award winner Tilda Swinton and directed by Zeva Oelbaum and Sabine Krayenbühl, this acclaimed documentary explores Gertrude Bell’s extraordinary life as a…

bradfordlitfest.co.uk

What do the frontispieces of Leviathan and The History of the Grecian War reveal about Thomas Hobbes' ideas on power, politics and conflict? Explore these remarkable books from Newcastle University Library's Special Collections in our Digital Showcase: digitalshowcase.ncl.ac.uk/showcases/co...

Connecting Collections – Leviathan and The History of the Grecian War | Digital Showcase

Thomas Hobbes (1588–1679) was an English philosopher, political theorist, and historian whose ideas shaped modern understandings of government, authority, and human behaviour. Living through the…

digitalshowcase.ncl.ac.uk

As the #WorldCup2026 captures the world's attention we're looking back at another footballing moment from the past This page from the Trevelyan photograph album shows Geoffrey Trevelyan with his football team at Oldfield School, 1931 Explore the album: collectionscaptured.ncl.ac.uk/digital/coll...

Trevelyan (Charles Philips) Archive

Photographs of Pat and Geoffrey on the beach, Geoffrey with his football team at Oldfeld, the landscape and a cottage ar Kirk Fenwick, and a newspaper cutting regarding Sir Francis D. Blake being…

collectionscaptured.ncl.ac.uk

Lord Petre's Gradual (c.1370) is a richly illuminated service book that was almost certainly used by the Renaissance composer William Byrd. Discover its remarkable journey and explore it in our Digital Showcase: digitalshowcase.ncl.ac.uk/showcases/lo...

Lord Petre’s Gradual | Digital Showcase

ROB 405 is a very fine late-medieval illuminated service book, in an unidentified hand, containing ecclesiastical chants for services throughout the year and added polyphonic pieces that…

digitalshowcase.ncl.ac.uk

Between 1915–1919, Prof Pybus recorded 1,364 operations @ the First Northern General Hospital. His handwritten logbook offers an insight into treating wounded servicemen and the realities of surgery on the home front during #WW1. Explore the showcase: digitalshowcase.ncl.ac.uk/showcases/fi...

First World War Surgical Logbook | Digital Showcase

As part of Newcastle University’s experience during the First World War, the major buildings of Armstrong College (1904 – 1937), a forerunner of Newcastle University, were requisitioned to form the…

digitalshowcase.ncl.ac.uk

As its Hoppings week in Newcastle here's a #FlashbackFriday look back to the 1972 edition of the annual fair on Newcastle's Town Moor. These 3 aerial photographs of the fair were taken by former history professor Norman McCord and show how much (or little) has changed. [Ref: NUA/083025]

Whilst it is one of the hottest days of the year outside, in one of our temperature controlled stores it is not!

What happens when a 16th-century war of words goes viral? Have with You to Saffron-Walden captures the climax of Thomas Nashe’s long-running feud with Gabriel Harvey. Explore the Digital Showcase & discover how rivalry, satire & print collide digitalshowcase.ncl.ac.uk/showcases/co...

Connecting Collections – Have with You to Saffron-Walden | Digital Showcase

Also titled Gabriell Harveys Hunt is Up (1596), is a rare and outspoken pamphlet by Thomas Nashe (1567–1601), a Cambridge-educated writer known for his sharp wit and confrontational style. Nashe was…

digitalshowcase.ncl.ac.uk

The a-n Archive preserves the history of one of the UK's most influential artist networks, documenting decades of advocacy, collaboration and creative practice. Browse the archive online specialcollections.ncl.ac.uk/an

We're still getting over how many people we met at our Discover Festival stand last Saturday. Over 170 of you crafted your own colour scheme for a locally built ship represented in our collections. Explore the original plans at CollectionsCaptured: collectionscaptured.ncl.ac.uk/digital/coll...

As England played their first match at the football World Cup yesterday today is the perfect time for a #ThrowbackThursday look back at some 20th Century Newcastle University football team photos we've found in our University Archive. [Ref. NUA/075603]

We've been busy preparing for tomorrow's @newcastleuni.bsky.social Discover Festival today. Come and find us in the Lindisfarne Room between 10 and 4 tomorrow to have some crafty fun designing your own ship livery and learn about some of the historic ships built on the Tyne and Wear rivers.

Have you visited our current exhibition yet? If not here's a peak at 'When Britain Stood Still, The General Strike at 100', which is open and free to all, on Level 2 of the Philip Robinson Library.

#Discover A blueprint of Tyneside's shipbuilding power: This site plan shows the scale of Swan, Hunter & Wigham Richardson's Wallsend and Neptune shipyards, revealing the infrastructure behind one of Britain's great shipbuilding firms. collectionscaptured.ncl.ac.uk/digital/coll...

Marine Technology Special Collection

Site plan showing the layout of the shipbuilding complex.

collectionscaptured.ncl.ac.uk

From next week our Reading Room will be moving temporarily while YourSpace on Level 1 of the Philip Robinson Library gets a makeover. Don't worry, we'll still be open, but we'll be on Level 4 instead. Remember to request your items in advance as normal!

The poem, from our Broadside Collection, was written for the closing of the Corinthian Society's year, #OTD in 1827. The sentimental ode to the parting of ways is a sentiment that's likely echoing around University corridors as students end their studies for the year. [ref: Broadsides1/7/34]

#Discover Stained glass artist & designer Leonard Evetts who notably contributed to Newcastle Cathedral (the Cathedral Church of St. Nicholas) by creating designs for stunning memorial windows, including the Ascension Chapel window installed 1962 collectionscaptured.ncl.ac.uk/digital/coll...