iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by Julia Abel Smith

Cambridge Assistant Library Staff Forum @alsfcam.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Spectacular views from Selwyn for the lucky attendees on the library tour! #ALSF2026

A view of Cambridge including some college buildings with blue sky and trees.

A view of Cambridge with the University Library tower.

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Julia Abel Smith @juliaabelsmith.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Ancient carving showing up gently in the western sun at #Lavenham Church

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Kate Strasdin @katestrasdin.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

An injection of yellow like a fizz of sherbet fountain to cheer the end of the week with this #1750s striped robe à la française. Bright and breezy and sunny perfect for welcoming the weekend #coraginsburg #FashionHistory 🗃️🪡

Back view of a bright yellow and white striped silk satin gown with deep central Watteau pleat and fitted elbow length sleeves

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Reposted by Julia Abel Smith

Andrew Shore @andrewshore.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

And here’s Whistlejacket in cake form, baked and painted by my wife! More #BakeOff art here artuk.org/discover/sto...

A cake designed to look like a framed painting of a horse, facing right, slightly rearing up, mocked up with two Playmobil figures looking at it as if it were in a gallery

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Sophia McDougall @sophiamcdougall.bsky.social · 22/08/2026

If you are or know someone looking to adopt a kitten in London, please get in touch. She's scared but nevertheless already very friendly and likes to sit on laps.

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Reposted by Julia Abel Smith

Munnings Art Museum @munningsartmuseum.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

Two new tea towel designs have hit the shelves of our shop, and online shop! 🐴 Shop online www.munningsmuseum.org.uk/product-category/tea-towels/ Suffolk Horse, Lavenham Two Lady Riders Under an Evening Sky

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Julia Abel Smith @juliaabelsmith.bsky.social · 05/08/2026

Brading, #IsleofWight, has one of the prettiest and cohesive churchyards anywhere: headstones are all of the lovely island stone. Inside are the famous recumbent Oglander tombs.

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Reposted by Julia Abel Smith

Martin Lewis @martinlewis.moneysavingexpert.com · 23/07/2026

Pls spread word. Three digits can help protect you from scams: 159. If you're suspicious of a 'call from your bank', politely hang up and dial 159. It connects you to a switchboard that puts you through to your bank's real number. Watch the video for why its extra protection

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Reposted by Julia Abel Smith

Munnings Art Museum @munningsartmuseum.bsky.social · 13/06/2026

Join our Curator’s Tour on Wednesday 24th June 🐴 11am to 12.30pm £17, concessions available Buy tickets online www.munningsmuseum.org.uk/product/cura...

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Reposted by Julia Abel Smith

British Association for Local History @balhnews.bsky.social · 21/05/2026

The Saffron Walden Historical Society has announced the relaunch of its long-running Historical Journal, with a redesigned full-colour edition due to return in spring 2026. Find out more: www.balh.org.uk/news-relaunc... #WeAreLocalHistory #LocalHistoryForAll

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eastlondongroup.bsky.social @eastlondongroup.bsky.social · 15/04/2026

Continuing our Kent theme this week, here's a little watercolour of "The Harbour Master's Office, Ramsgate" by Elwin Hawthorne from c.1931/32 along with a wood-block image of the view (which is reversed), preparatory sketch (right way round) & his archive photo of the scene. #ElwinHawthorne #Kent

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Munnings Art Museum @munningsartmuseum.bsky.social · 12/04/2026

In the 250th anniversary year of the birth of John Constable a second exhibition explores the influence of Constable on the life and work of Sir Alfred Munnings.

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Friends of Friendless Churches @friendlesschurches.bsky.social · 30/03/2026

From ruined church to stained-glass workshop, St Peter’s, Wickham Bishops in Essex is one of our greatest success stories. 1/12 📷 © Adrian Powter

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Friends of Friendless Churches @friendlesschurches.bsky.social · 30/03/2026

Ben has also produced four other windows for St Peter’s, which depict St Helena, St Cedd, St Peter and St Bartholomew. In the window, St Cedd holds the chapel of St Peter-on-the-Wall, which is one of the oldest church buildings in England. 10/12 📷 © Chris Parkinson

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Brigitte Webster @tudorfoodrecipe.bsky.social · 24/03/2026

Flower arrangement inspired by Michael Wolgemut’s Virgin and Child with St. Anne (before 1510) at the Germanisches Nationalmuseum in Nuremberg.

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eastlondongroup.bsky.social @eastlondongroup.bsky.social · 24/03/2026

Here's another one that I haven't shown for a very long time! This is "Stoke by Nayland" by Harold Steggles from 1933. It seems to me to be a bit of an "outlier" where Harold's work is concerned but it is lovely, nonetheless. #HaroldSteggles #EastLondonGroup

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Julia Abel Smith @juliaabelsmith.bsky.social · 17/03/2026

Joseph Wright of Derby depicts children with sympathy and affection: his exhibition at the National Gallery is a delight

Two young children watch a demonstration of an orrery , the little girl with her arm around a younger boy

Three little children wait while a horseshoe is made at the blacksmith’s - the younger girl peeps out from the elder’s apron

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Worn On This Day @wornonthisday.bsky.social · 23/02/2026

Boots, breeches, dusters, and neckties worn #onthisday in 1927 by three women from the East Anglia Institute of Agriculture at the Essex Pig Show and Sale in Chelmsford, UK. #OTD @gettyimages.com

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Reposted by Julia Abel Smith

Munnings Art Museum @munningsartmuseum.bsky.social · 06/02/2026

Trustee of the museum, Hugo Parker later commented “Our volunteers are buzzing after the visit and it is so good to see.”

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Reposted by Julia Abel Smith

Munnings Art Museum @munningsartmuseum.bsky.social · 06/02/2026

Following the tour of the pictures, Their Majesties viewed the newly restored Garden-Room at Castle House, for which they later unveiled a commemorative plaque, and spoke with a number of artists involved in the museum’s activity programme.

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Munnings Art Museum @munningsartmuseum.bsky.social · 06/02/2026

Their Majesties also looked at pencil studies, done at various racecourses on the backs of racecards, and letters and photographs from the museum’s large archive of personal ephemera.

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Reposted by Julia Abel Smith

Munnings Art Museum @munningsartmuseum.bsky.social · 06/02/2026

On Thursday afternoon, The King and Queen took a tour of the Munnings Art Museum in Dedham, Essex. The museum is at Castle House, the former home of the East Anglian artist Sir Alfred Munnings (1878-1959) and is celebrating its 65th anniversary in 2026.

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Reposted by Julia Abel Smith

John Vigar FSA @johnevigar.bsky.social · 22/01/2026

In November 1959 Jean Cocteau spent a week decorating a side chapel in the Church of Notre Dame de France just off Leicester Square in London. The subjects are The Annunciation, Crucifixion and Assumption

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ande91.bsky.social @ande91.bsky.social · 27/12/2025

St John's Episcopal Church in Edinburgh, Scotland

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Robert Fletcher @fryerningframe.bsky.social · 16/12/2025

Should mention another one erected at the same time as part of the Essex Women's Commemoration Project. #SmashingRockSisters #EWCP A #Sherrin double

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Julia Abel Smith @juliaabelsmith.bsky.social · 01/10/2025

Doctors’ monuments at Holt in Norfolk

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Reposted by Julia Abel Smith

Munnings Art Museum @munningsartmuseum.bsky.social · 17/09/2025

Castle House is beginning to look beautifully autumnal 🍂 Just over two months to visit our 2025 displays & current special exhibition ‘A Long, Glittering Line’ which marks the centenary of Sir Alfred Munnings painting the Royal Procession to Ascot, a commission from Queen Mary in 1925 👑

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Munnings Art Museum @munningsartmuseum.bsky.social · 01/09/2025

It’s the first day of September! How could we not post ‘September Afternoon’ 🛶 The son of a miller, Munnings was captivated by the sights and sounds of the river. ☂️ September Afternoon on the Stour, 1939, Oil on canvas

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Reposted by Julia Abel Smith

Simon Knott @simonknott.bsky.social · 01/09/2025

Ickworth House, Suffolk, seen from the sky yesterday.

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Sarah Elizabeth Cox @oispooky.bsky.social · 20/08/2025

Clacton Library (built 1967) is getting knocked down soon because of fools, more fools, and the University of Essex. Look how delicious it is. A little extension on a less sexy side would have been fine. Sad.

One end of Clacton Library, a 1960s concrete building, long thin windows run along the top half, geometric concrete shapes on the bottom.

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Reposted by Julia Abel Smith

Simone @monalunasimone.bsky.social · 15/08/2025

There were so many shelves with a variety of fashion accessories in this museum. My eye was quickly drawn to what looks like to me the iconic early #19thc pineapple reticule! (cc: @julieinstitches.bsky.social @nemgarrett.bsky.social) #RegencyFashion #dresshistory

Lighting was anything but optimal. Tried to edit this pic to at least get some of the colours to show, but the result is middling. But it clearly is pineapple shaped, and to me it looks like the iconic reticule, but I’m no expert!

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Reposted by Julia Abel Smith

Munnings Art Museum @munningsartmuseum.bsky.social · 05/08/2025

August in full bloom 🌳🌲 “I write this out of doors on an August evening. Not a breath of wind. Already one of the robins which keep me company is singing his bright song in the wellingtonia, proclaiming that summer is on the wane, that autumn is near.” Sir Alfred #Munnings in his Autobiography

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John Constable RA @johnconstablera.bsky.social · 05/08/2025

Good Day! The Pant Valley, Summer 1960, 1963 by John Aldridge RA Oil on Canvas (The Royal Academy)

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Jacob Gifford Head @giffordhead.co.uk · 21/07/2025

I agree with this. I also think it applies to civic architecture more generally. Even something modest like a Victorian market-town County Court showed that local justice was taken seriously. In the same way a modern County Court—a rented floor in a mixed use block—also says something, too.

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Reposted by Julia Abel Smith

Munnings Art Museum @munningsartmuseum.bsky.social · 16/06/2025

🕥 Grounds open 5.45pm Performance starts 7.30pm Bring your own food or pre-order via the Tea Room ☕️ @tearoom_munnings_art_museum ✉️ tearoom@munningsmuseum.org.uk

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Julia Abel Smith @juliaabelsmith.bsky.social · 07/06/2025

The joy of glorious fan vaulting at #Peterborough Cathedral counteracts a rainy morning.

Fan vaulting at Peterborough Cathedral with blue light from the north windows

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Reposted by Julia Abel Smith

Munnings Art Museum @munningsartmuseum.bsky.social · 30/05/2025

What a glorious day for day one of our ‘Paint Up: Conspirators in Dark Avenues’ 🐴🎨 There is still time to book for day two tomorrow 🎟️: the-munnings-art-museum.arttickets.org.uk/the-munnings...

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Munnings Art Museum @munningsartmuseum.bsky.social · 24/05/2025

We are open EVERYDAY over this Bank Holiday Weekend 🐴 including Monday 26th May! 🖼️ Museum open 1.30pm to 4.30pm ☕️ Tea Room open 10am to 4.30pm

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Dr Jill Whitelock @jillwhitelock.bsky.social · 20/05/2025

Wonderful view of @theul.bsky.social! It shows the World War II staff allotments at the back of the Library, which remained in use until 1950. specialcollections-blog.lib.cam.ac.uk?p=21626

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Dinah Winch @dinahw.bsky.social · 17/05/2025

I caught the Tirzah Garwood show at Dulwich Picture Gallery which closes next weekend - as well as paintings, prints, embroidery & a patchwork quilt, there is a fabulous group of marbled papers that she made in the 30s & sold commercially for book binders, and interior design uses like lampshades.

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eastlondongroup.bsky.social @eastlondongroup.bsky.social · 16/05/2025

This is "Ascona" by John Cooper from 1931. It was painted whilst he was on honeymoon with his new wife, Phyllis Bray as they toured that part of Europe. The trip produced several paintings for both artists, at least two of which are still known to survive. #JohnCooper #EastLondonGroup #FridayMorning

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Julia Abel Smith @juliaabelsmith.bsky.social · 13/05/2025

Beautiful example of opus sectile work in Cromer parish church. No mention in my edition of Pevsner but must be from the Powell workshop? @simoninsuffolk.bsky.social @johnevigar.bsky.social

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Julia Abel Smith @juliaabelsmith.bsky.social · 08/05/2025

Looking through my grandfather’s papers, my brother and I found this very moving message from Montgomery to his troops. #VEDay

Personal message from Montgomery to his troops in May 1945

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Julia Abel Smith @juliaabelsmith.bsky.social · 08/05/2025

No better way of spending a sunny Wednesday in May than visiting 4 historic churches @johnevigar.bsky.social Unspoilt Bradwell would make a superb film location. #FriendsofEssexChurches

15th century panelled screen with Charles II coat of arms at Bradwell-juxta-Coggeshall

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Reposted by Julia Abel Smith

John Vigar FSA @johnevigar.bsky.social · 05/05/2025

Sign on a chair in Leicester Guildhall

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