iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Natasha Anson @natashaanson.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

Glorious week in Romania for the Association of European Open Air Museums conference - gave a paper, delivered a workshop, and was nominated as a fellow! Off for a big nap now 😴 #AEOM2026

White woman with brown hair in a green dress stands at a podium, with bookshelves behind. On the screen is a slide titled 'nostalgia can bridge gaps between past and present'

Group of conference participants at a round table in the middle of a fresh setting, a wooden building behind is labelled 'astra poetic'

Group of 7 conference attendees with one on the stairs behind. They are in front of a large blue screen that says AEOM 2026

White woman with wavy brown hair and blue floral dress holding a microphone, smiling and looking off to the side. To the right are two other women.

040

Natasha Anson @natashaanson.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

Over the moon that my love @liamtemple.bsky.social and I became Dr & Dr on Saturday at St Mary's Cathedral in Newcastle - what a week!! Maximising our joint academic slay 🥰 it really was simply the best day and I wish I could do it all again

White couple - man in olive green suit, woman in white wedding dress with square neck and a line skirt - surrounded by guests throwing confetti, in front of stone and brick building. Everyone is smiling.

261

Natasha Anson @natashaanson.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

*Thrilled* to say I passed my viva a week ago today - thanks so much to Christian Liddy for chairing, Siân Jones as my external and @liamliburd.bsky.social as internal examiner. Although I was super anxious going in, it was an enjoyable experience and a productive discussion!

150

Natasha Anson @natashaanson.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

My phone served me this photo from on this day in 2022 and I'm thankful that, whatever else I've been doing in today's heatwave, at least I wasn't doing it in full Georgian costume - this was the summer version too 🫠

White woman in floor length orange dress and white undershirt, in front of a gazebo with three large silhouette pictures on stands. To the right is a poster for Beamish Museum with pictures of exhibits and engagers.

030

Reposted by Natasha Anson

Lee Savage @leesavage.bsky.social · 20/07/2026

Kevin Keegan: he hated fascists

211892591

Natasha Anson @natashaanson.bsky.social · 16/07/2026

Continued my series of On Brand experiences last weekend by starting my hen do at the Derwent Pencil Museum and making my friends do the trail so we all got a free pencil and pen, 100% recommend (but perhaps not in 30 degree heat)

White woman with white dress, brown hair and 'bride' bag posing next to an extremely large pencil at the Derwent Pencil Museum

Series of women, mostly white, mostly with brown hair, with clipboards following a museum trail; they are looking at the information boards to try and answer the questions.

020

Natasha Anson @natashaanson.bsky.social · 21/06/2026

Saturday night on the Chippy Train between Bolton Abbey and Embsay, a very on brand experience

White woman with brown curly hair and sunglasses in a dress, sitting in the first class carriage on a heritage railway. She has a box of fish and chips and a J20 in front of her.

View inside the carriage of blue seats with a leaf print, brown interior and green fields outside the window.

040

Natasha Anson @natashaanson.bsky.social · 12/06/2026

lovely to be back on site at Beamish today sharing some preliminary takeaways from the PhD, featuring one of my top 3 favourite historical Beamish posters - so bad it's brilliant, and it comes in lifesize form in the archive!

White woman in a stripy top and black jeans on a cobbled street, holding a poster clearly inspired by Gone with the Wind that says "Beamish presents 1913, the epic story of the North East and its people" and dramatic figures of the school teacher, dentist and a couple in an embrace

140

Reposted by Natasha Anson

Michelle @catfi9ht.bsky.social · 17/02/2026

You can completely uninstall/disable copilot on Windows. Your system and local search will run faster afterward. www.howtogeek.com/how-to-rip-o...

howtogeek.com

Microsoft keeps reinstalling Copilot, so I found a way to rip it out of Windows for good

You can get rid of all those stubborn AI components for better privacy and performance.

193815305

Natasha Anson @natashaanson.bsky.social · 29/05/2026

submitted my thesis this morning, took a selfie with the printed copy I've been proofing to celebrate the occasion

A Polaroid picture of a white woman holding a wedge of paper, on the front of which is a 1980s poster for Beamish. In the background is a laptop with a white screen.

250

Natasha Anson @natashaanson.bsky.social · 16/04/2026

Made the mistake of opening LinkedIn and it turns out I've been wasting my time on these final thesis edits; will be instead applying for an honorary doctorate in my own Passionate Skill (exact skill tbc: ice cream consumption, perhaps)

A LinkedIn advert which promises the ability to add Dr before your name and receive an honorary doctorate in 'your own Passionate Skill'. It is accompanied by an image of an older white man in academic dress holding a scroll.

030

Natasha Anson @natashaanson.bsky.social · 02/04/2026

Having run a Beamish and a Durham Microsoft account on the same computer for 3.5 years, I feel this deeply in my soul

130

Natasha Anson @natashaanson.bsky.social · 04/03/2026

this looks like a fab PhD! can personally attest to a CDA with an open air museum being a great way to do PhD research too

010

Natasha Anson @natashaanson.bsky.social · 26/01/2026

big up the Derwent Pencil Museum for real (nice to see open-air museums get some love too!)

010

Natasha Anson @natashaanson.bsky.social · 07/01/2026

Emerging from thesis-writing exile to share my sister's fundraiser for The Brain Tumour Charity, who have helped our family so much over the last five years, but especially after her second craniotomy a year ago. Any amount really does help; www.justgiving.com/page/sophie-...

justgiving.com

Sophie's fundraiser for The Brain Tumour Charity

Help Sophie Anson raise money to support The Brain Tumour Charity

111

Natasha Anson @natashaanson.bsky.social · 11/11/2025

Copilot button has appeared in Word and I have no way of disabling it, not even with the admin help of the IT support people, so it's just going to be there, hovering menacingly over my thesis draft like evil version of the paperclip 🥺

130

Natasha Anson @natashaanson.bsky.social · 08/10/2025

Keeping it Clean and Tidy with a Victorian School Experience at St Fagan's for #Museums2025

Lifebuoy with a label, "am I clean and tidy?" mirror in the centre, with a selfie by a white woman with long brown hair.

Inside of a Victorian classroom, light green walls, panelling. The teacher is at a blackboard in the far left corner, and in front of her is a row of museum delegates. On the wall is a map of Wales

030

Reposted by Natasha Anson

Charlotte Lydia Riley @lottelydia.bsky.social · 24/07/2025

All famines are man-made, all famines are political. Historians of empire and humanitarianism have known this forever. Gaza is not starving, Gaza is being starved, by Israel, and this starvation is enabled by our government and by every other government that does not step in to force food and aid.

3122041020

Natasha Anson @natashaanson.bsky.social · 09/07/2025

Back from a wonderful few days #SHSconf2025 - maybe the friendliest conference I've been to and a real beacon of light (apart from, of course, underground in the VERY DARK mine) - cheers @socialhistsoc.bsky.social for the opportunity to present, BCLM for being a fab venue, and to new friendships 🎠

A poster with a milk and baby reminder so you know how much you need, measured in loaves and pints

A view of a street of brick buildings at the black country living museum, with red white and blue bunting across the street

Mine entrance - a brick building with green double doors which are closed

Sign which reads Happy Mother, Happy Baby, Happy Home, and a bookcase filled with children's toys including dolls, a dolls house and push along dogs

0172

Natasha Anson @natashaanson.bsky.social · 08/07/2025

Lovely to be on such an inspiring panel on open-air museums #SHSconf2025 (thank you to @meg-sch.bsky.social for putting our panel together!!) although I never realised *quite* how much I talked with my hands until I saw it in pictures...

White woman with brown hair and navy dress stands at a lectern, gesturing at an image of a man working a machine with the words "men" and "coal"

3110

Natasha Anson @natashaanson.bsky.social · 07/07/2025

All conferences henceforth will need to have pints and fairground rides as evening activities, I'm afraid - a cracking first day #SHSconf2025 @ BCLM topped off by winning the pub quiz 🍻

A pint of scrumpy cider held in front of a pub with green and cream tiled frontage

0120

Natasha Anson @natashaanson.bsky.social · 17/06/2025

Called into the @cursedobjectsuk.bsky.social exhibition while in Bloomsbury today with my sister and thoroughly enjoyed it - even a Beamish cameo!

A white enamel mug with 'the floggings will continue until morale improves' in purple. Label with 'floggings will continue mug, Beamish Living Museum, £12.99'

Art gallery with wooden flooring, small black shelving with objects and a white museum display case with glass top. Sign on left wall says Tat, on right wall Café.

000

Reposted by Natasha Anson

Christyn Parkes @parkesland.bsky.social · 01/05/2025

OPEN LETTER: HISTORIANS FOR TRANS RIGHTS Are you a historian in the UK or working on UK history fed up at seeing the history of LGBTQIA+ discrimination repeat itself? Sign this open letter to MPs demanding they stand up for trans rights now! Letter: tinyurl.com/879vuver Sign: tinyurl.com/4p7wktrn

tinyurl.com

Historians for Trans Rights - Open Letter to MPs

In light of the recent and incessant attacks on the trans community in the UK by the UK government and legal system, a group of UK-based historians have drafted the letter linked below. Our aim is to ...

7784531

Reposted by Natasha Anson

Liam Temple @liamtemple.bsky.social · 23/04/2025

New from me! How did the papacy of #popefrancis reflect Franciscan values? A retrospective on the Jesuit with the heart of a Franciscan: youtu.be/_BEK1VNXNHI #francisofassisi #franciscan #skystorians #papacy #catholicism #catholic

youtu.be

Pope Francis and Saint Francis

YouTube video by Dr Liam Temple

003

Reposted by Natasha Anson

Charlotte Lydia Riley @lottelydia.bsky.social · 16/04/2025

Trans women are women and no court judgement can change that. Without wanting to diminish the negative effect that legal oppression has on trans lives, there is no reason why lawyers and judges are qualified to make this argument over actual experts in the field.

5533165

Reposted by Natasha Anson

Alison Atkin @alisonatkin.bsky.social · 24/03/2025

at what point does history comfortably become novelty? (allowing for the fact that sometimes the answer is never)

0114

Natasha Anson @natashaanson.bsky.social · 20/03/2025

v excited to be speaking at SHS this year on regional identity in open-air museums, and to be heading back to BCLM - looking forward to seeing the recent additions!

040

Natasha Anson @natashaanson.bsky.social · 17/03/2025

Picking up some apt reading in the library tonight 🖤🤍🖤🤍 #geordies

Image of a book in front of a bookshelf. It is "Geordies" by Robert Colls and Bill Lancaster. The front cover features a drawing of a variety of people, most of whom are pulling a rope.

020

Natasha Anson @natashaanson.bsky.social · 14/03/2025

Squeezing as much as possible into the DFDS mini-cruise to Amsterdam with the Oude Kirk, Basilica and the amazing Our Lord in the Attic hidden Catholic Church today!

Hidden house church. There are pink barriers for the upstairs seats, with replica candles, and a row of individual seats in front of a small altar.

Interior of the Basilica. Three stained glass windows and two plain windows, black and gold walls, and altar.

Interior of the Oude Kirk. Plain walls, with a painting just visible on the wooden roof, and tombstone flooring.

010

Natasha Anson @natashaanson.bsky.social · 16/02/2025

Lovely Sunday afternoon in Seaham searching for sea glass with a very extravagant hot chocolate as a reward - I love how much history is still washing up on the shore every day

View from Seaham beach of the pebbled beach, receding tide and horizon and grey sky.

A hot chocolate mug on a grey table. The saucer is drizzled with chocolate sauce, the mug has cream, chocolate sauce, chocolate pieces and a wafer.

000

Natasha Anson @natashaanson.bsky.social · 23/01/2025

Spent a v lovely day in the archives at The Story in Durham, accompanied by an accidentally 99% liquid (delicious) lunch - will definitely be back for more of both 🙌🏻

Museum display of important industries anf making a living, red panel with white text and interactive screen

Can of pop, cup of tea and bowl of soup on a tray on a table with garden view

010

Natasha Anson @natashaanson.bsky.social · 10/01/2025

Learning a new social media platform in my 30s and in my third year of my PhD; what could possibly go wrong?

020