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Kate Bradley @katebradleyhistory.bsky.social · 12/10/2026

A partially-cooked crumble made its way home. The apples had been somewhat saucified, the crumble was uncrumbled. Explanation not given. Still, we finished it at home and it was very nice. And now I wait to get the next request after half-term, when I will have forgotten ALL about Food Tech…

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Dr Michelle Johansen @historitage.bsky.social · 12/10/2026

Before job centres existed, public librarians helped unemployed people find work by displaying the “situations vacant” columns inside their reading rooms or on noticeboards outside the library building. Ralph Hedley Seeking Situations (1904) On display at the Laing Gallery in Newcastle.

A painting showing men of various social classes clustered around newspapers on large wooden stands. A woman can also be seen looking at the stands. There is an impoverished-looking man, shabbily dressed, in the foreground. He is walking away from the stands, an air of desolation about him that suggests he has not found a suitable opening. The painting depicts the inside of the original New Bridge Street public library building in Newcastle.

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Kate Bradley @katebradleyhistory.bsky.social · 12/10/2026

This week, progress: informed about the apple crumble ingredients needed yesterday lunchtime, whilst out and close to a supermarket…

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Lesley A Hall @erinacean.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

Back from limbo! the relaunch of Hosprec, the Hospital Records Database, with which I was involved for so many years www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/professional... 1/2

nationalarchives.gov.uk

Re-launching HOSPREC, the Hospital Records database

Researchers Giorgia Tolfo and Laura Robson-Mainwaring reflect on the usefulness of the Hospital Records database and how we are making it more accessible.

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Will Tullett @willtullett.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

Next Wednesday in York come hear me and my wonderful friend and brilliant colleague @emiliekmmurphy.bsky.social talk about each other’s new books.

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Royal Historical Society @royalhistsoc.org · 07/10/2026

Today, the Society's President and members of Council are in Glasgow for a visit to historians at the University of Strathclyde and region. We'll be discussing teaching, research, interdisciplinary working, AI and history, and advocacy. We look forward to meeting all those attending #Skystorians

Image of building with logos for the Royal Historical Society and University of Strathclyde with text: 'Royal Historical Society Visit to the Department of the Humanities at the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, 7 October 2026.'

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Royal Historical Society @royalhistsoc.org · 07/10/2026

The day concludes with a Society guest lecture by Dr Meleisa Ono-George (Oxford) on 'Visualizing Difference: Amelia Newsham and the Art of Race-Making' bit.ly/4hGLz0z. Booking for in-person attendance remains open and all are welcome in Glasgow for the lecture and reception to follow #Skystorians

bit.ly

Visualizing Difference: Amelia Newsham and the Art of Race-Making

RHS Lecture with Dr Meleisa Ono-George at the University of Strathclyde

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Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Showcase of new PH research on migration and mobility in collaboration with History Lab, online and in person at the IHR, London. Free and open to the public Tuesday 6 October at 5:30-7:30pm. Please book in advance (booking statistics help build the case for UKRI core support).

history.ac.uk

History Lab x Migration and Mobility Seminar - PhD Research Showcase

Migration and Mobility Seminar | History Lab

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Municipal Dreams @municipaldreams.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

On the 90th anniversary of the Battle of Cable Street (in which Jewish, left-wing and trades union activists battled police to block a fascist march), here's the mural unveiled in 1983 designed by Dave Binnington on the former St George's Town Hall to commemorate the event.

The work is inspired by the social realism of Diego Rivera, and the likely was influenced by the Depression-era murals of Philip Guston. Using a fisheye perspective, it shows the violent confrontation between police and protesters, with protest banners, punches being thrown, a barricade of furniture and overturned vehicle, police horse, Hitler (who was not actually present) being pantsed, and a police autogyro overhead. It uses the same artistic devices as Goya's The Third of May 1808 to evince sympathy for the protesters, showing them full face but a back view of the police

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Kate Bradley @katebradleyhistory.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

14 days since last thought about the SS Richard Montgomery. The masts have been removed without incident… looking forward to seeing them in due course at Chatham Dockyard. Though the explosives remain out there… www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

bbc.co.uk

What is the SS Richard Montgomery that sank in the Thames Estuary?

People are again talking about the doomed WW2 ship that still contains 1,400 tonnes of explosives.

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Frances Ryan @francesryan.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

I volunteered for Childline for a decade at uni and I know firsthand a snapshot of how many lives Esther Rantzen changed. Her later years were known for assisted dying but her legacy will be giving vulnerable children someone to listen to and care. www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio...

theguardian.com

Esther Rantzen, TV presenter and Childline founder, dies aged 86

Rantzen announced lung cancer diagnosis in 2023 and became a vocal assisted dying campaigner

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Kate Bradley @katebradleyhistory.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

I’m v grateful for Owen for making this link! The panel I found washed up this morning is from the Cutty Sark - how & why it ended up here via the Thames & Medway rivers remains a mystery, though. #skystorians

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Kate Bradley @katebradleyhistory.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Came across this on my run this morning, washed up on the banks of the Medway in Rochester. No tea exhibits in the Dockyard (or tea imports when in use), so perhaps this is from the Cutty Sark or Museum of London Docklands. Any guesses?

A wooden interpretation board with the text “A premium for the fastest. The first of a new season’s tea arriving in London could be sold at a higher price. Between 1861 and 1866 an extra 10 shillings for every ton of tea was paid the owner of the first vessel home. This leas to intense rivalry which continued long after the premium ceased to be paid.” The image below is not clear but is a painting of Ariel and Taeping by Montague Dawson, showing two sail boats at sea.

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Baroness Floella Benjamin @floellabenjamin.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Today it’s 50 years since I first presented Playschool wearing my blue beads and silver heart. I adore bringing joy into the lives of my Playschool Babies during the 12 years I was on the programme. ❤️

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Kate Bradley @katebradleyhistory.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Shout out to everyone else who was told about an urgent need for Food Tech items for today at 8.30pm+ last night… … even more so if the fruits of the subsequent wild goose chase round the local Co-op came home this afternoon… untouched

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Royal Historical Society @royalhistsoc.org · 26/09/2026

This week the Society launched a new programme to support research bit.ly/4iFNuF0 The RHS / Social History Archive Partnership offers free access to resources in @socialhistarchive.bsky.social, published by DC Thomson. Applications for 6-month access to Archive content invited #Skystorians 1/2

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Society launches new programme for researchers, in partnership with The Social History Archive - RHS

The Society is pleased to launch a new programme for researchers, in partnership with The Social History Archive, published by DC Thomson. The Social History Archive is a comprehensive online archive ...

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Royal Historical Society @royalhistsoc.org · 26/09/2026

Glen's lecture opened the Society's autumn programme of lectures taking place in London, Glasgow and Bristol, and online. Further details of upcoming events, including lectures by Meleisa Ono-George, Sathnam Sanghera, Hanna Diamond and Amy Froide bit.ly/3VQUTYs 2/2

bit.ly

Autumn lecture programme from the Royal Historical Society - RHS

The Society's autumn lecture programme offers lectures by six leading historians working in British, European and world history. The autumn lecture programme begins on Friday 25 September and runs to ...

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Royal Historical Society @royalhistsoc.org · 26/09/2026

Our great thanks to Prof Glen O'Hara for his excellent RHS lecture yesterday evening: ‘In All Our Footsteps? Rights of Way and the Battle for the Land after the 1949 National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act’ Recordings now available bit.ly/4ySyB6W #Skystorians @gsoh31.bsky.social 1/2

bit.ly

Glen O'Hara gives latest RHS lecture on 'Rights of Way and the Battle for the Land' - RHS

On Friday 25 September the Society hosted the latest lecture in its 2026 programme. Our great thanks to Professor Glen O'Hara (Oxford Brookes University) who spoke on: ‘In All Our Footsteps? Rights of...

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Kate Bradley @katebradleyhistory.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

Job of the Week at my son’s school is “Historian”. In addition to looking at Unifrog, students are encouraged to “start career-related conversations with family or friend who work in this field to gain additional insights.” The silence has, so far, been deafening 🤣

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Kate Bradley @katebradleyhistory.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

So far, so good…??!! Fingers crossed. Days since last thought of the Richard Montgomery back to 0 etc etc

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Emilie K. M. Murphy @emiliekmmurphy.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

hello folks. i'm currently running my lil socks off to help fight dementia! (did 12k yesterday for the first time in 5 years and somehow i can still move today!!) if you can spare a couple of quid (really £2 is perfect!) then i'd be truly grateful 🙏 www.justgiving.com/page/emilie-...

justgiving.com

Emilie's fundraiser for Alzheimer's Society

Help Emilie Murphy raise money to support Alzheimer's Society

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Jeremy Benson @jembenson.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

Anyone struggling to get Bayeux Tapestry tickets might consider as a (free) alternative the Northern Line platforms at Charing Cross, where you can see David Gentleman’s 1979 mural telling the story of the building of the nearby Eleanor Cross that gives the area its name. It deserves a proper look.

Woodcut showing a tree being cut down and the frame of the cross being built

A woodcut showing a statue of Queen Eleanor being carved. A chap on the left, holding a drawing of the statue, is looking rather uncertain, or possibly nervous.

Woodcut showing a statue being halued into place. A bird flies overhead, unhelpfully.

A wooden wheel is being turned, presumably for a crane that is putting a statue into place on the cross.

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will pooley @willpooley.bsky.social · 04/08/2026

a messy post about a very sharp book. i think what I enjoyed most about Sam Knight’s Premonitions Bureau is that it doesn’t sacrifice the challenging ideas for mass appeal. it wraps them in his acute sense for a good story. wish i had half that talent williamgpooley.wordpress.com/2026/08/04/s...

williamgpooley.wordpress.com

Story Sense

Sam Knight’s Premonitions Bureau is one of those books that so many people recommended to me that I was beginning to dread reading it. Call it a foreboding. Which goes to show how powerful my…

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Kate Bradley @katebradleyhistory.bsky.social · 29/07/2026

Just had this year’s HbA1c results back, and it’s 🎉 YEAR TWO 🎉 of diabetic remission!! Type 2 is always going to be waiting for me, but any and all time in remission is just ace.

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Evan @evansmithhist.bsky.social · 28/07/2026

75 years ago the UK signed the UN Refugee Convention. However many had sought asylum in the UK, as well as in the British Empire, for many decades prior. @andrekosvarnava.bsky.social, @yiannicart.bsky.social and I edited this book on this history of exile and refuge. brill.com/display/titl...

Cover of Forced Migration: Exiles and Refugees in the UK and the British Empire, 1815–1949, edited by Andrekos Varnava, Yianni Cartledge, and Evan Smith. With the preamble of the Aliens Act 1905 as the cover image.

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Plashing Vole @plashingvole.bsky.social · 25/07/2026

My dept is about to be reduced to 3 people covering 3 separate disciplines. The 25 PhD students will be left bereft of adequate supervision numerically and in terms of expertise. The government has decided that they should have no recourse (music to my university’s ears).

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Mar Hicks @histoftech.bsky.social · 24/07/2026

I don’t have the energy to describe how corrosive this will be to a democratic society

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Ewan Gibbs @ewangibbs.bsky.social · 23/07/2026

My new book, An Injury to All: The Unmaking of the British Working Class, is coming out in October. You can preorder it from Waterstones with a 25% discount today and tomorrow! Place your order here ⬇️ www.waterstones.com/book/an-inju...

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Royal Historical Society @royalhistsoc.org · 16/07/2026

New article today in 'Transactions of the RHS': 'Men, Emotions and the Sickbed in a Sorcery Trial from Seventeenth-Century Germany', by Alison Rowlands bit.ly/453Xe3F A story and its meanings of illness, harmful magic and bewitchment in 1660s Rothenburg. Now available OA #Skystorians 1/2

Front page of new Transactions article: 'Men, Emotions and the Sickbed in a Sorcery Trial from Seventeenth-Century Germany', by Alison Rowlands. Full abstract:

"Some early modern Europeans believed that illness was caused by an act of harmful magic perpetrated against a sufferer by another person. This attribution of magical blame was not inevitable, however, although historians’ understanding of the social and emotional dynamics of the process by which illness might be linked to bewitchment remains patchy. This article deepens our understanding of this ‘witch-making’ process and how it was gendered through in-depth analysis of a seventeenth-century German sorcery trial involving two urban craftsmen. It explains how two men who had previously had a socially intimate relationship reached a point at which one began to suspect the other of bewitching him into ill-health. It also establishes when and why the moments of greatest social and emotional tension were reached between the men and their families. This article argues that the sickbed constituted a particularly important temporal stage and spatial context in this process. As a site of bodily suffering, caring expectations and practices, and intense emotions, it required visitors and caregivers to manage their interactions carefully to maintain peace between neighbours. In the trial examined here, those efforts failed."

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Royal Historical Society @royalhistsoc.org · 16/07/2026

We are very pleased to welcome 223 historians who join the Society today - as Fellows, Associate Fellows, Members and Postgraduate Members: bit.ly/3TEhyWM Our Fellows and Members teach, research, write and promote #history, within the UK and internationally, in and beyond education #Skystorians 1/2

bit.ly

Society elects 223 new Fellows, Associate Fellows, Members and Postgraduate Members - RHS

At its latest meeting on 1 July 2026, the RHS Council elected 82 Fellows, 44 Associate Fellows, 36 Members and 61 Postgraduate Members, a total of 223 people newly associated with the Society, from to...

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Kate Bradley @katebradleyhistory.bsky.social · 15/07/2026

Didn’t even make it 24 hours today before resetting the counter! I look forward to this being dealt with finally. Today’s reminder via @kentcurrent.news

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Kate Bradley @katebradleyhistory.bsky.social · 14/07/2026

The intervals between resetting the Last Thought of the SS Richard Montgomery counter are getting shorter… today 33, after 63 and 183 days previously. Argh!! www.kentonline.co.uk/sheerness/ne...

kentonline.co.uk

Bomb ship’s iconic masts to be sent to tourist attraction

A £9.5m plan to remove the masts of a notorious Second World War wreck will see the structures transferred to one of Kent’s top tourist attractions.

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Hetan Shah @hetanshah.bsky.social · 14/07/2026

So a key question now is whether the new @andyburnham.bsky.social led administration will take the higher education funding crisis seriously as a threat to his aspirations around regional growth and skills…

"Universities will be central to achieving the regional growth aspirations of our new prime minister, but they are suffering a major financial emergency," Shah said.
"The result is greater inequalities, fewer opportunities for students and the gradual erosion of the world-leading research our economy, democracy and global standing rely on.
«The alarm bells are ringing, and policymakers should treat these findings as a wake-up call before more lasting damage is done."

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Glen O'Hara @gsoh31.bsky.social · 09/07/2026

NEW from me... On 25 Sept I'll be giving a @royalhistsoc.org public lecture at the Institute of Historical Research in London. It'll be about rights of way and access to the countryside since the 1940s - all welcome, do come and have a listen! Booking below. 👇 www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/rhs-lectur...

eventbrite.co.uk

RHS Lecture: 'In All Our Footsteps?' with Professor Glen O'Hara IN PERSON

'In All Our Footsteps? Rights of Way and the Battle for the Land after the 1949 National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act' at the IHR

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Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 09/07/2026

'The total benefit of those who began their studies in the 2024-25 academic year has been estimated at £45.1 billion, the data produced by consultancy London Economics show.' 1/3

timeshighereducation.com

Fall in international student numbers ‘cost UK £2.9 billion’

Latest cost-benefit analysis finds overseas enrolments generate nearly 10 times more money for UK than they take away

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Prof Dave O'Brien @drdaveobrien.bsky.social · 06/07/2026

“The idea that DfE would be happy to put at risk something as uncomplicatedly valuable as nursing by publishing a late and unclear grant letter is not a comfortable one.”

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Andrew Defty @adefty.bsky.social · 01/07/2026

Yesterday 142 academic staff at the University of Lincoln were put at risk of redundancy including the entire Politics and International Relations team. This follows cuts since 2024 which have already seen over 500 people leave the university. This is the 'University of No Regrets'.

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Glen O'Hara @gsoh31.bsky.social · 03/07/2026

We are now moving from the chronic to the acute phase of the university crisis. The next few months will be vital in seeing what can be saved and what is too far gone. www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/news/stateme...

thebritishacademy.ac.uk

British Academy President: UK higher education crisis risks irreversible damage

As course closures, shrinking provision and widening regional inequalities threaten the future of UK higher education and research, President of the British Academy, Susan J Smith calls for an immedia...

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Hetan Shah @hetanshah.bsky.social · 03/07/2026

‘We urge the Government to prioritise this issue. Should this situation continue unchecked, the damage to the health of higher education, research and innovation will be profound and have long-lasting consequences.’ www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/news/stateme...

thebritishacademy.ac.uk

British Academy President: UK higher education crisis risks irreversible damage

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Lisa Smith @historybeagle.bsky.social · 03/07/2026

This is an excellent thread summarising the state of UKHE and why we should be angry. These intellectual losses have very real effects for UK society as a whole, making us less creative, less intelligent, less healthy, and altogether poorer.

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Kiran Mehta @kiranmehta.bsky.social · 02/07/2026

Such a lovely evening with the RHS last night. Thrilled to have won the First Book Prize! Thanks to my publishers @mcgillqueensup.bsky.social ; to @leverhulme.ac.uk @uniofleicester.bsky.social and @mpilhlt.bsky.social for support as I finalized the manuscript (1/2)

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Kate Bradley @katebradleyhistory.bsky.social · 02/07/2026

The apology was made today by Keir Starmer. I am sorry that both my birth and adoptive grandparents are no longer with us to hear it, and it certainly shouldn’t have taken this long. Forced adoptions 'a stain on our history' says Starmer as he gives formal apology www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

bbc.co.uk

Starmer says forced adoptions a 'stain on our history', as he gives formal apology

The practice saw thousands of babies taken from their mothers between 1949 and 1976.

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Dr Dave Hitchcock @davehitchcock.bsky.social · 30/06/2026

Many of us have pointed out for years now that the structural awfulness of all this was only being delayed by the expansionist behaviour of large Russells. The wolf was long at the door.

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Dr Dave Hitchcock @davehitchcock.bsky.social · 30/06/2026

I say this very gently, but no one should think they are 'safe' if they work in UK HE today. There might be 10-15 people working at a university who are safe by dint of the fact their job involves seeing redundancies through. Everyone else must understand the fundamentals here, and then organise.

timeshighereducation.com

‘I thought we were safe’: shock at Exeter’s humanities ‘gamble’

Leading department being in the firing line shows how changing student preferences are fundamentally reshaping universities

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Dr Cath Feely @cathfeely.bsky.social · 01/07/2026

Any gathering of historians that ends in someone keeping their chip shop open in order to serve our every whim is a good gathering of historians. Particular shout out for finally meeting @hagenilda.bsky.social after all these years.

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Urban History @urbanhistory.bsky.social · 30/06/2026

📣 We're looking for new members to join our International Advisory Board! 📣 🌍 We're particularly interested in recruiting board members with expertise in the following areas: urban history of Africa (any region); South Asia; China; Latin America & the Caribbean; Central and Eastern Europe

Call for new members of Urban History’s International Advisory Board.

Urban History seeks to appoint new members to its international advisory board.
This is an exciting opportunity to become involved with a world-leading journal for urban historical research. Urban History is published by Cambridge University Press and occupies a central place in historical scholarship, with an outstanding record of interdisciplinary contributions, and a broad-based and distinguished panel of referees and international advisors. Each issue features wide-ranging research articles covering social, economic, political and cultural aspects of the history of towns and cities and supplementary material including periodical reviews, thesis reviews and book reviews. Our growing submissions are becoming increasingly global and chronologically diverse and we seek to appoint an additional members of the international advisory board to reflect these developments and to further broaden our geographical range in Asia, Africa and Eastern Europe.
About the role
Members of the International Advisory Board are expected to promote the journal through their networks and to encourage high quality submissions in the field of urban history. Board members support the Editorial Team (Shane Ewen, Prashant Kidambi, Domenic Vitiello, Roey Sweet and Rosemary Wakeman) as requested on submissions that fall within their field, undertaking peer review where appropriate or providing suggestions for specialist reviewers within their field. All board members are expected to attend the annual meeting of the International Advisory Board (held online) where there are opportunities to provide advice and suggestions for the future direction of the journal.

We are particularly interested in recruiting board members with expertise in the following areas: urban history of Africa (any region); South Asia; China; Latin America and the Caribbean; Central and Eastern Europe.

Text continued in next slide

Essential qualities (to be used in shortlisting)
• Expertise in urban history or a cognate discipline (candidates with expertise in the areas listed above may be preferred)
• Evidence of active participation in urban history networks
We are happy to receive applications from individuals at different career stages and we welcome applications from historians and colleagues from cognate disciplines – working in any context – from under-represented groups, including those from minoritized ethnic groups, disabled people, LGBTQIA+ people, and those who are ‘first generation’ in Higher Education.

How to apply
Those interested in making an application to join the international advisory board should send to Roey Sweet (rhs4@le.ac.uk)
• a CV (no more than 3 pages)
• a summary of up to 500 words outlining your interest in the role and what you would bring to it.
Enquiries
Informal enquiries about the role can be made to: Professor Roey Sweet rhs4@le.ac.uk
Deadline
Deadline for applications: 5.00pm on Friday 11 September 2026
We expect interviews to take place in October 2026 and that the new board members will start their term of office from January 2027.

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Royal Historical Society @royalhistsoc.org · 26/06/2026

"The variety of historical evidence is nearly infinite. Everything that man says or writes ... can and ought to teach us about him. It is curious to note how many people, unacquainted with our work, underestimate the true extent of its possibilities." 'The Historian's Craft' (1949, trans 1954).

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