iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

A punk Irish-inspired French duo in a converted chapel in a Cotswold stone village. Support live music folks, you never know what adventures it will take you on.

Two musicians, one with a violin and the other with an acoustic guitar, performing in front of a backdrop which reads Grumpy O’ Sheep.

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Museums Association @museumsassociation.org · 08/10/2026

Congratulations to: • @bradfordmuseums.bsky.social • Cornwall Council Museum Development • Gwella (Flintshire Museums) • Manchester City Galleries • Manchester Museum • National Museums NI • Norfolk Museums Service • @northeastmuseums.bsky.social • @scotmaritimemuseum.bsky.social Find out more 👇

museumsassociation.org

Health and Wellbeing in Museums Fund: 2026 grantees - Museums Association

We're pleased to announce nine new grants to develop and continue groundbreaking health and wellbeing programmes

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Kat @byekitty.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

I do enjoy people sending a "high importance" email about a manuscript entry from 1317

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Dr Lindsey Fitzharris @drlindseyfitz.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

US BOOK TOUR ANNOUNCEMENT! I've put off this announcement for too long as I'm in deep denial that this book is nearly out! But here's the details. I'd love to see you out there. First up, CHICAGO on Oct 21 with the great @danielkraus.com. Tickets here: drlindseyfitzharris.com/events/

A tour card listing all the events on Lindsey's book tour

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Edward Appleyard @edwardappleyard.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

An exciting day for team Thackray! Thackray Museum of Medicine announces significant new funding and new season of events to mark 30th anniversary in 2027 www.bbc.co.uk/news/article... @museumsassociation.org @nmdcnews.bsky.social @artscouncilengland.bsky.social

bbc.co.uk

Thackray Museum of Medicine gains funding ahead of 30th anniversary

Leeds' Thackray Museum of Medicine says the grant will help it plan for the next three decades.

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Owen Gower @owentg.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

Tradition in the Vale is that an autumnal abundance in the hedgerows foreshadows a harsh winter. I’ll be hunkering down with some good jams and jellies at least.

Many haws on a hawthorn in golden sunlight.

An abundance of rosehips in golden sunlight

Sloes on a blackthorn in dappled sunlight

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Owen Gower @owentg.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

Audio on vintage iPods, ancient conservation freezers, dodgy lighting and 'make do and mend' exhibitions take me right back to my days working in museums, so it was interesting to read how the Museum of Vancouver's Austerity Tours are attempting to challenge the status quo of arts + culture funding.

theartnewspaper.com

From ailing cooling systems to toxic chemicals, a museum tour shines a light on the effects of austerity

To drive home the impact of stagnant support for arts and culture, the Museum of Vancouver is offering “austerity tours” of its aging campus

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Owen Gower @owentg.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

I’m running out of space on my to be read shelf, but another book can’t hurt can it? Tales of the Peasants’ Revolt were a recurring theme in my south London childhood (I spent a lot of time on Blackheath, even celebrated the millennium there) so I’m looking forward to revisiting.

My hand holding a hardback copy of Doom Painting by A.K. Blakemore outside of Topping & Company in Bath

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Elise A. Mitchell @bydreamphd.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

It’s an honor every time. I hope more medical schools continue to find ways to include diverse medical histories (by historians not just practitioners) in their curriculum. The students get so much out of it and we historians are so happy when our work reaches them.

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Elise A. Mitchell @bydreamphd.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Every year for the last 3 years I’ve gotten to give a lecture about the Black Atlantic history of smallpox inoculation to medical students at Jefferson. This year the talk was so popular we ran out of seats!

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Royal Historical Society @royalhistsoc.org · 02/10/2026

At 6pm on Tuesday 3 November we welcome Sathnam Sanghera to give the 2026 RHS Public History Lecture @greshamcollege.bsky.social. Sathnam's lecture is entitled 'What History is NOT'. In-person booking at Gresham opens tomorrow (3 October) bit.ly/4xURpl1 Online booking is also available #Skystorians

bit.ly

What History is NOT

In the past, history was presented to us as a settled story: a pile of dates to memorise, a handful of “great men” to admire, a heritage of statues and plaques to defend from “erasure”. In the 21st ce...

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RCP museum @rcpmuseum.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

😍Exhibition 'Patient voices' is open to visit! We celebrated with a private view featuring speeches from the patient advocacy group who helped develop the exhibition, senior curator Liz Douglas & musical performances of baroque pieces evoking the experience of a patient. 🎼 Photos Saul Perryman

Visitors on the gallery explore the exhibition

A violinist, harpist and narrator perform on a stage in the Dorchester Library.

A visitor listens to oral history interviews in the exhibition

Diary of Augusts d’Este the earliest documented account of multiple sclerosis in the exhibition.

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Anna Cusack @annacusack.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Thrilled to see this out and open access! I was lucky enough to help Mark with some of the research for this piece. It's a fantastic read. What’s in a Name? The Inoculation of Smallpox in Early Eighteenth-Century Britain academic.oup.com/shm/article/...

academic.oup.com

What’s in a Name? The Inoculation of Smallpox in Early Eighteenth-Century Britain

Abstract. The translation of smallpox inoculation from the Ottoman Empire to Britain is typically said to have depended upon social and medical luminaries—

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Owen Gower @owentg.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

There’s a picture of the very same exhibit on this website, about halfway down the page. Wonder how it ended up on the banks of the Medway? www.worldwidewriter.co.uk/history-of-t...

worldwidewriter.co.uk

Exploring The History Of The Cutty Sark, Greenwich

Exploring the long and varied history of the Cutty Sark, Greenwich. It was originally a tea clipper, and one of the fastest sailing ships of its time.

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Owen Gower @owentg.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

I’m pretty sure that’s from Cutty Sark, I can picture the tea chests stacked up with interpretation text printed on them. Although it must have been ~10 years since I last visited.

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Owen Gower @owentg.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

A great evening celebrating Nick Hayes’ new book The Medicine Tree. I can’t wait to read it.

My hand holding a copy of The Medicine Tree by Nick Hayes in front of an illuminated shop front full of books

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Owen Gower @owentg.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Fortunately my manager was very understanding of my need to rearrange my working days this week so that I could take a day to read and drink tea.

Round side table containing a blue mug on a coaster and a copy of Rebecca Tamás’s book The Book of Mysteries.

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Kirsty Hartsiotis @stroudstory.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Always a thrill to see a Thomas Denny window; even if you've seen it many times before, you'll still see something new... #StainedGlassSunday Tewkesbury Abbey, #Gloucestershire

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Spitalfields Life @thegentleauthor.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Last roses of summer from Columbia Road market this morning

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Guy Shrubsole @guyshrubsole.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

2/ These are community projects in pretty well-off, middle-class, green, lefty communities - where there are plenty of folks with time & money to try to make them happen. If even *these* folks get overridden by developers & councils, what hope for communities lacking such resources?

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Guy Shrubsole @guyshrubsole.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Awful. Capital overrides communities once again. Frome's bid for a community-led housing & regeneration project at Saxonvale lies in tatters: the council's agreed a deal with a London-based real estate company instead. Similar story in Totnes with Atmos project www.theguardian.com/society/2026...

theguardian.com

‘Devastating’: council rejects Frome residents’ bid for regeneration project

Locals raised £1m for Mayday Saxonvale scheme involving homes and park but Somerset officials agreed deal with London-based real estate company

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Owen Gower @owentg.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

The world felt a little noisier today going back to work!

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Owen Gower @owentg.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

A week on Exmoor, camping in a lush green valley, falling asleep to the gentle burbling of the River Exe, first cup of tea serenaded by a robin, wandering the coast path in saturating drizzle, heading out across heather, gorse and moss in search of ancient barrows, eating far too much clotted cream.

A vast expanse of moorland with clumps of heather and wild Exmoor ponies grazing in the background.

Standing on rocks at the edge of a river, surrounded by trees.

A stone bridge crossing a calm river, the arches of the bridge reflected in the water.

A giant scone with pots of jam and clotted cream.

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Kate McAllister @katemcal993.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

Last week was World Suicide Prevention Day. I saw lots of well meaning posts elsewhere on social media, about how ‘asking someone if they are okay’, or ‘sending them a song because it reminded you of them’, is suicide prevention. But it’s really not and it’s dangerous to pretend it is

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Owen Gower @owentg.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

Rounding off a day at Gloucester History Festival with a walk around the glorious Gloucester Cathedral. I mean, it’s got to be up there with your favourite cathedrals hasn’t it?

Exterior of Gloucester Cathedral looking west towards the setting sun.

High altar and east window of Gloucester Cathedral.

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Owen Gower @owentg.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

Hope it was as tasty as it looks!

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Owen Gower @owentg.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

End of day over Berkeley Town Hall.

Berkeley Town Hall, a two storey stone building sitting beside a road junction, with fiery skies behind

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Owen Gower @owentg.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

It’s just magic to be in the place where something really special happened. Never got tired of it all the years I worked there!

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Owen Gower @owentg.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

I know it’s still 21 degrees and it’s going to get hotter again at the weekend, but I’ve decided to commit to autumn now.

Glass dish of apple and blackberry crumble, some of which has been removed by a metal spoon which now rests in the dish

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Owen Gower @owentg.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

An evening stroll along the churchway, our equivalent to Dartmoor’s famous Lych Way, edging around Berkeley Castle and then out across open fields to Newport. Walking in the footsteps of seven hundred years. Home via my favourite tree.

The squat church of St Mary the Virgin, Berkeley, amongst tombs and long grass

A path emerging under the canopy of a tree and leading downhill

A sloping field edged with trees, with a rough footpath heading down one side and a stone wall on another

The tree I always take photos of, sitting at the edge of a field with a river to one side and the evening sun behind

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We're Right Here @right-here.org · 03/09/2026

One year of touring the Museum of Broken Dreams around the UK! The exhibition tells the story of community-led projects that could have transformed Britain – but failed because the power to decide whether their vision materialised lay elsewhere. 💔 See it here: storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/3659...

Museum of Broken Dreams in Parliament. Credit: Alex Brenner

Museum of Broken Dreams at Stretford Public Hall.

Two people sit outside next to a banner from the Museum of Broken Dreams exhibition. Photo credit: Jørn Tomter / UCL Policy Lab

People chat around a table at the Britain Renewed Conference, where the Museum of Broken Dreams was exhibited. Photo credit: Jørn Tomter / UCL Policy Lab

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JLM Morton @jlmmorton.bsky.social · 23/08/2026

Excitement building for Stroud's inaugural poetry festival (well, to nitpick, first for 35 years!) - if you'd like to support poets and all that they give, check out the programme here... www.dobunnipoetryfestival.co.uk/events

dobunnipoetryfestival.co.uk

Event Tickets in Stroud Gloucestershire — Dobunni Poetry Festival

Book event tickets for the Dobunni Poetry Festival. The festival is organised by Dialect in partnership with the Gloucestershire Poetry Society and supported by Stroud Arts Festival.

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Owen Gower @owentg.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

I’ve really enjoyed seeing this door, with its layers of history, on my walks recently #AdoorableThursday

Wooden front door stripped of paint with traces of previous paintwork scattered across it

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Hannah Valerie @eckerusla.bsky.social · 15/08/2026

The Speech House Lake waterlilies are back and they're beautiful! So pleased I correctly timed my visit to try and see them. 🪷 #ForestOfDean

Landscape: lily pads and pink waterlilies on a lake, with a blue sky overhead and fir trees on the far bank

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Owen Gower @owentg.bsky.social · 15/08/2026

There’s something really special about these Severnside sunsets

Side view of Berkeley church overlooking chest tombs, all bathed in golden evening light

Shell keep and inner gatehouse of Berkeley Castle overlooking surrounding countryside, all glowing in evening light

West end of Berkeley church with yew tree in evening light

A field with trees and a river running alongside it with sunset behind

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Katrina Navickas @katrinanavickas.bsky.social · 12/08/2026

The eclipse felt joyous because everyone went out onto their local parks and commons. It was after work time. A balmy warm evening with no clouds. It did bring everyone together in open spaces for free.

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Matthew Teller @matthewteller.com · 12/08/2026

For the last 2 years, I've been directing a secret project, helping Raja Shehadeh safeguard the diaries he has written daily since teenage - literally millions of words, going back six decades. It's quite a story. Join us: > Thu 3 Sep > 3pm UK time > Free to register: llc.ed.ac.uk/raja-shehadeh

llc.ed.ac.uk

From Palestine to Scotland: Celebrating the Raja Shehadeh Archive | Centre for the Study of Islam in the Contemporary World | Literatures Languages and Culture

Join internationally acclaimed Palestinian writer, lawyer and activist Raja Shehadeh on 3 September 2026 as he marks the accession of his extraordinary personal archive to the University of Edinburgh'...

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Owen Gower @owentg.bsky.social · 12/08/2026

No colanders in the churchyard tonight, but cardboard boxes, pinpricks in sheets of paper and some glasses that someone had managed to procure. Curious light.

Berkeley churchyard, tombstones surrounded by grasses and wildflowers, with the church in the background all bathed in golden light

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Alice Lilly @aliceolilly.bsky.social · 12/08/2026

Somebody in this field has sent just someone back to their house round the corner to gather colanders with the exhortation: AS MANY AS POSSIBLE, CHECK THE WENDY HOUSE

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Owen Gower @owentg.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

A hurried walk back from the supermarket to catch the sunset over the water meadows. A dog walker with a glass of rosé in her hand. Heat building on the walk back in to town, radiating from the stone walls. How can it be the start of a new heatwave if the previous ones never truly stopped?

A tree stands in a field silhouetted against the sunset

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Owen Gower @owentg.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

In celebration of Afternoon Tea Week, an excellent scene from my great-grandparents’ postcard collection.

Three women in Welsh traditional costume sitting having afternoon tea outside a building with a slate roof. The caption reads “Welsh women at afternoon tea”.

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Simone Cuff @simonecuff.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

Just got back from getting MenB Vax for kid#2, and they vaxxed kid#3 for HPV at the same time. Overheard from the nurse "...and the cervical cancers. They're just gone! There are none in vaccinated girls! It's a modern miracle!" Immunology for the win. Hell yeah! #BSI #Vaccines

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Paddy Tracey BBC Gloucestershire @paddytracey.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

A truly lovely thing happening every Wednesday in the heart of our city Gloucester Cathedral Gardening group brings people together Read more here👇

bbc.co.uk

Gloucester Cathedral's gardening group 'bringing smiles' to city

The gardening group is going to start work on a sensory garden after receiving funding.

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Prospect Union @prospectunion.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

Our members at Royal Museums Greenwich are out on strike today and tomorrow over terms and working conditions. Solidarity with everyone taking action ✊💚

Prospect members on strike at Royal Museums Greenwich

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Owen Gower @owentg.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

This has reminded me of the weather diary of Thomas Hughes, an eighteenth century apothecary-surgeon from Gloucestershire, which has long been used for temperature data but has recently been reassessed by meteorologist Prof Giles Harrison and the late historian Barry Harrison.

centaur.reading.ac.uk

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Rebecca Rideal @rebeccarideal.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

What can Elias Ashmole tell us about the weather? And, what does he accidentally tell us about himself? I’ve started writing things again rebeccarideal.substack.com/p/elias-ashm...

rebeccarideal.substack.com

Elias Ashmole: A 17th-century weatherman?

“Observations of the Weather, made at my house at South-Lambeth"

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Owen Gower @owentg.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

FWIW I think it's most likely to be part of Denys Eyre Bower's collection. I'd not be overly surprised if Denys put it there himself to be honest, but also a lot of things went missing whilst he was in prison (long story) and it's not inconceivable that the odd object may have ended up in the lake.

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