iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Simon Briercliffe @simonbriercliffe.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

My favourite is Kyrgyzstan, which is the sun seen through the opening at the top of a yurt.

Simon Briercliffe @simonbriercliffe.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

Two fun arrivals in the post today: the new edition of @historyireland.bsky.social with an article by yours truly about an Irishman abroad; and a textbook for my next year of @cnagaeilge.bsky.social Irish study in Brum.

A page of History Ireland magazine featuring an article entitled 'An Accidental Celebrity - James Francis Egan'

The cover of a textbook: Colloquial Irish 2

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Simon Briercliffe @simonbriercliffe.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

I have a few spaces available to attend a study day I'm running with @marccollinson.bsky.social @midlandhistory.bsky.social at the Black Country Living Museum on Sat 12th September. If you're into Black Country/West Mids history, or the local/national/global relationship, please get in touch!

Schedule of study day
Programme
10am Introductions (Simon Briercliffe and Marc Collinson)
10:15am Dr Elizabeth Thomson: ‘Beautiful Black Country Bricks: All the Colours of a Persian Carpet’
10:45am Jack Price, ‘Francis Brett Young, the Black Country, and Britain’s Experience of the First World War’
11:15am Break
11:30am Dr Esther Asprey, ‘Regional accents and some ‘Notes on Pronunciation’ at Walsall Grammar School in the 1960s – an evaluation of standard language ideology and the fight to reduce accent variation’
12:00pm Dr Judith Davies: ‘Anti-Catholicism in Dudley, Worcestershire in the middle decades of the nineteenth century’
12:30pm Lunch
1:15pm Tour of new developments at the Black Country Living Museum (Simon Briercliffe and Nadia Awal)
2:15pm Break
2:30pm Dr Savita Vij: ‘Transnational and national radical political networks, explored through the Indian Workers Association in the 1960s’
3:00pm Dr Matt Stallard – title tbc
3:30pm Dr Malcolm Dick: ‘Slavery, the slave trade, anti-slavery and the black presence in the Black Country c. 1700 to 1838’
4pm End

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Simon Briercliffe @simonbriercliffe.bsky.social · 04/07/2026

Tá cúpla focal agam, go hoifigiúil

A certificate in English and Irish, plus a badge, confirming that the poster has been awarded the "cúpla focal fáinne", the very beginners level oral test in the Irish language.

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Simon Briercliffe @simonbriercliffe.bsky.social · 09/06/2026

I hope this wasn't the cause of it, but excited to note that the Telegraph (and a verbatim repeat in GBNews) have now discovered our disclaimers and are reacting totally normally

Daily Telegraph screenshot, with headline "Museum puts trigger warning on Janet and John children's book"

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Simon Briercliffe @simonbriercliffe.bsky.social · 28/05/2026

It's not really spring until Lady Emma Hamilton is out

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Simon Briercliffe @simonbriercliffe.bsky.social · 26/05/2026

Dudley High Street, looking towards St Thomas (better known as Top Church)

A black and white photo of Dudley High Street

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Simon Briercliffe @simonbriercliffe.bsky.social · 18/05/2026

Found one abandoned and one occupied nest in a Cistercian abbey

A stone ceiling with a swallow sitting in its nest in the eaves

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Simon Briercliffe @simonbriercliffe.bsky.social · 16/05/2026

I didn't get great photos, but we must've had hundreds through yesterday to see Cakeboi's homage to 1960s drag. There's little time for much nuance in a festival-style event, but they all went away knowing a little LGBTQ+ history and experiencing it as joyful, so I'm very proud of our club.

A selfie of the poster in 1960s costume, under a sparkly sign reading "The Gay Flamingo Club"

An interior photo of a hall decorated as a 1060s LGBTQ+ friendly social club, with crowds of visitors watching a drag artist perform.

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Simon Briercliffe @simonbriercliffe.bsky.social · 15/05/2026

Today, it's been dressing our recreation of Wolverhampton's first gay club for our 1960s night tonight - actually originally on the same site as yesterday's Irish club.

Open door into a wooden building with a sign stating "The Gay Flamingo"

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Simon Briercliffe @simonbriercliffe.bsky.social · 05/05/2026

Also spotted on the Common: sheep attempting radical reappropriation of our chippy lunch.

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Simon Briercliffe @simonbriercliffe.bsky.social · 05/05/2026

I've been reading @katrinanavickas.bsky.social Contested Commons recently (including about how the National Trust is itself an encloser of land), and what do I find up the Long Mynd?

Image of a sign with the Shropshire Hills in the background. The sign is entitled "I am a Commoner" and describes the life and history of the the Long Mynd Commoners.

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Simon Briercliffe @simonbriercliffe.bsky.social · 29/04/2026

I have to share my birthday present from my work gang: an egg-stamping kit! Our girls' output is now branded.

An egg in an egg cup, stamped with "Simon's Happy Hens"

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Simon Briercliffe @simonbriercliffe.bsky.social · 27/04/2026

I often think of this scene from King Ralph

A still from the film King Ralph showing the entire British royal family being electrocuted due to a camera setup being left in water.

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Simon Briercliffe @simonbriercliffe.bsky.social · 26/04/2026

Birthday trip out, mostly to see the baby animals at Acton Scott heritage farm. If you get the chance, I thoroughly recommend a visit, it's incredibly peaceful and interesting.

Sheep and lambs in a field, in front of a grand house

A pig asleep on straw, with several tiny piglets behind her.

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Simon Briercliffe @simonbriercliffe.bsky.social · 22/04/2026

Gorgeous! Their milk dairy was in Wolverhampton still - so nice looking even JB Priestley praised it! I didn't know the ice cream factory was in Brum though.

A black and white photo of a large art deco dairy

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Simon Briercliffe @simonbriercliffe.bsky.social · 25/03/2026

I've been trying (and so far failing)to get back to doing something with my PhD research for ages, but I've been asked to do a talk for my Irish language class on the diaspora in the West Midlands, and I've finally been able to get some books back out.

A pile of books: A survey of the Irish in England; The Irish in Britain 1815-1914; The Irish Diaspora; Birmingham

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Simon Briercliffe @simonbriercliffe.bsky.social · 16/03/2026

We had people who used the library as children, former librarians, and community members who campaigned for BCLM to save the library from its derelict state. It was blooming lovely.

An interior of a historic library, filled with visitors.

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Simon Briercliffe @simonbriercliffe.bsky.social · 13/03/2026

I can't help but read this like it's a seventeenth-century Puritan preacher.

A tub of stuff treats called "Cheese Little Bones"

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Simon Briercliffe @simonbriercliffe.bsky.social · 13/03/2026

They really called it Gabbo? These people have no sense of subtlety.

A screenshot from the Simpsons, showing Gabbo saying "that ought to hold the little SOBs"

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Simon Briercliffe @simonbriercliffe.bsky.social · 05/03/2026

Finally getting round to a talk on these with my linguist pal Esther Asprey, at University of Birmingham next Weds. Still keen to hear any thoughts about this kind of source! They're generally very apolitical, but occasionally a bit creeps through. I really like "Not you Mosely, sit down."

A hand-drawn cartoon of a man in a cap labelled "The King's Message". He is saying "Carry on diecasting and don't make (s)crap. Not you Mosely sit down."

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Simon Briercliffe @simonbriercliffe.bsky.social · 03/03/2026

I'm hoping for an upcoming chapter specifically on "no golf" signs

Green area with green sign stating "no golf"

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Simon Briercliffe @simonbriercliffe.bsky.social · 28/02/2026

Maude playing in the puddles at Gregynog.

A large, decorated house with a garden and path in front. A small black dog is playing in the puddles.

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Simon Briercliffe @simonbriercliffe.bsky.social · 13/02/2026

Our current project at @bclivingmuseum.bsky.social is a rather beautiful library, to be set in 1963. We've had thousands of books donated by the local community. I've been shelving history this morning and there's some classics.

An open book - History On The Ground by Maurice Beresford

A book on a shelf - Chartist Studies by Asa Briggs

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Simon Briercliffe @simonbriercliffe.bsky.social · 11/01/2026

Post a pic of the venue where you saw your first concert and the band or artist. Ten points if you can guess either.

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Simon Briercliffe @simonbriercliffe.bsky.social · 08/01/2026

If you see this, post a vampire that isn't Dracula.

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Simon Briercliffe @simonbriercliffe.bsky.social · 04/01/2026

Unexpected new skill: bathing chickens

An angry chicken having an Epsom salt bath.

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Simon Briercliffe @simonbriercliffe.bsky.social · 31/12/2025

One last walk in the Shropshire countryside before starting all over again in 2026 tomorrow. This is from Barrington, looking over towards the Stretton Hills and the setting sun.

A country landscape with hills in the distance, green fields in the foreground, and a late afternoon sun illuminating the clouds.

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Simon Briercliffe @simonbriercliffe.bsky.social · 28/12/2025

Bit of a busman's holiday, but I don't often get the chance to come to the office as an actual visitor so I had a lovely day showing Maude the full @bclivingmuseum.bsky.social experience.

A small black dog in a jumper standing in front of a recreated 1940s-1960s street

A small black dog in a jumper watching a demonstration of chainmaking

A small black dog in a jumper in front of a canal

A small black dog in a jumper in front of a recreated army surplus shop

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Simon Briercliffe @simonbriercliffe.bsky.social · 27/12/2025

You can learn a lot about a person based on who their favourite Muppet is.

Oscar the Grouch holding a sign reading "Scram"

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Simon Briercliffe @simonbriercliffe.bsky.social · 17/12/2025

I think I might make a copy of this for parties and/or public transport.

A label placed on a cushion: "I'm Very Old. Please find somewhere else to sit. Thank you."

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Simon Briercliffe @simonbriercliffe.bsky.social · 15/12/2025

I'm sure a lot of historians idly wonder what they'd do if they had a time machine. Me, I'd go back to whoever owned our house c1980s and explain that if you have damp in an old house, textured wallpaper with polystyrene behind it and woodchip everywhere Will Not Help. Nice orange underneath though.

A stairway in the process of being redecorated

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Simon Briercliffe @simonbriercliffe.bsky.social · 14/12/2025

We were at the opposite end of Stiperstones! Bit murkier in the woods.

An old brick and stone industrial chimney

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Simon Briercliffe @simonbriercliffe.bsky.social · 30/11/2025

I wonder if five lodgers would cover the mansion tax?

Eimear Murphy has voted for Labour all her life. But today, sitting in the front room of her six-bedroom North Kensington home, she is unequivocal: I would not vote for them again. The 88-year-old is caught up in the chancellor's mansion tax raid, an annual levy that will be applied to homes worth over £2 million from April 2028.

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Simon Briercliffe @simonbriercliffe.bsky.social · 27/11/2025

Three of our girls working on their album cover

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Simon Briercliffe @simonbriercliffe.bsky.social · 25/11/2025

This reminds of the wonderful illustrations in Tangye's centenary publication in 1957. www.tangye.org/tangye_hist7...

A colour illustration from a 1957 book of Tangye's works, showing a factory with a powered transport riding in front of it. The word "Tangye's" is picked out in red neon.

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Simon Briercliffe @simonbriercliffe.bsky.social · 25/11/2025

I wonder if any Irish historians on here can help me identify any of the people in this picture? Early 1900s probably in Dublin, it's Tom Clarke in the middle and I think I know who it is on the left of the image. Any of the others though?

An old black and white photo showing five men in Edwardian clothes, all wearing hates, standing in front of woods.

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Simon Briercliffe @simonbriercliffe.bsky.social · 20/11/2025

Wow what could go wrong with denying people access to services based on their physical appearance www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

"Evidence of such concern might include the individual's physique or physical appearance, behaviour or concerns raised by other service users," the guidance says.

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Simon Briercliffe @simonbriercliffe.bsky.social · 17/11/2025

What I was probably actually listening to.

Cover of Lets Talk About Feelings by Lagwagon

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Simon Briercliffe @simonbriercliffe.bsky.social · 17/11/2025

What perfect album came out the year you turned 16? I definitely wasn't cool enough to be listening to this at the time, but In The Aeroplane Over The Sea is definitely the 1998 album I've listened to most since.

Cover of In the aeroplane over the sea by Neutral Milk Hotel

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Simon Briercliffe @simonbriercliffe.bsky.social · 06/11/2025

Back onto historic pub interiors today. Here's one of my favourites, the Seven Stars in Smethwick in 1964, showing the reality of life beyond the headlines in that year: drinkers quietly getting on together. Most pubs in the town had a colour bar, but not this one.

Black and white photo of the interior of a pub in 1964 - image from the Birmingham Post archive.

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