Sign in

Sue Wilkes

@suewilkesauthor.bsky.social
10K followers 7K following 8K posts

FRHistS. Europhile. Author of Regency Spies, A Visitor's Guide to Jane Austen's England, and more. Young Workers of the Industrial Age, out now! Please be kind. www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/Sue-Wilkes/…

PostsRepliesMedia
Reposted by Sue Wilkes
David Higham @oldtrotter.bsky.social · 9h
Archer is yet another example that there are no penalties for failure in British public life.
But his time behind bars and his political disgrace did not terminate his career at Westminster, and he returned to the red benches of the House of Lords, until he retired in 2024.
1212337
Reposted by Sue Wilkes
Kate Watson @loreandordure.com · 1h
THAT IS NOT THE ONLY THING EDUCATION IS FOR! IT ISN’T EVEN THE MAIN THING!
1726794
Reposted by Sue Wilkes
Kate North @curatorkate.bsky.social · 1h
Gorgeous Normanton Chapel, on the shores of Rutland Water 😍 Built on the foundations of a medieval church, this building was constructed in the C19, but in classical style. When the reservoir was created in the 1970’s, the lower level was filled with rubble and concrete to save the rest of it.
1304
Sue Wilkes @suewilkesauthor.bsky.social · 8h
@romgothsam.bsky.social Hi, is this Rise of the Gothic course still going ahead tomorrow? I've tried emailing ContEd but haven't had a reply yet.
111
Reposted by Sue Wilkes
Brian Groom @groomb.bsky.social · 10h
The Great Fire of Newcastle and Gateshead began on this day 1854, leading to 53 deaths and hundreds injured. At least 800 homes and businesses were lost. Caused by explosion at worsted yarn factory owned by Wilson and Sons in Hillgate, Gateshead. (Pic: Illustrated London News.)
05920
Reposted by Sue Wilkes
David Higgins @davidhiggins.bsky.social · 10h
Without wanting to let poor management off the hook, this is at least partly a result of HE policy from successive governments, which can be summed up as “let’s starve unis of funds and see what happens”
0183
Reposted by Sue Wilkes
Ed Henderson @dredhenderson.bsky.social · 10h
Not the thickest trunk but quite thick for a rowan. This rowan and its hawthorn mates have been pushed sideways by years of living with westerly winds at Hole House near Skiddaw in Cumbria. #ThicktrunkTuesday
1293
Reposted by Sue Wilkes
Ursula K. Le Guin Bot @leguinbot.bsky.social · 10h
The Earth is also terrible, and dark, and cruel. The rabbit shrieks dying in the green meadows. The mountains clench their great hands full of hidden fire. There are sharks in the sea, and there is cruelty in men’s eyes.
010029
Reposted by Sue Wilkes
NationCymru @nation.cymru · 10h
A packed festival in a Welsh city will take place this autumn as a major celebration of political history and working-class activism
wp.me
Historic festival returns this autumn to mark 187 years since Chartist Rising
Amelia Jones A packed festival in a Welsh city will take place this autumn as a major celebration of political history and working-class activism. Newport Rising Festival 2026 will run from 28 October...
0138
Reposted by Sue Wilkes
Helen Day @lbflyawayhome.bsky.social · 10h
Rest Harrow, Cross-Leaved Heath, Heather, Harebell Artists: Edith Hilder, Rowland Hilder (Wild Flowers, 1957)
The wildflowers are set in the foreground of the illustration, in front of a lake and distant mountain 
023927
Reposted by Sue Wilkes
AFP News Agency @en.afp.com · 10h
AI chatbots have made large-scale cheating among students -- what some educators call "homework scams" -- easier than ever. But studies show AI text detectors are often unreliable, generating false positives that can erode trust between instructors and students u.afp.com/S9jS
054
Reposted by Sue Wilkes
Orkney Library & Archive @orkneylibrary.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
a short poem name like when we meet a bovine and we say 'hi coo' #NationalPoetryDay #Haiku
A black and white archive photograph of a cow standing beside a track leading down to a mill. The cow is looking at the camera.
1543692
Reposted by Sue Wilkes
Orkney Library & Archive @orkneylibrary.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
On a dark dark hill there was a dark dark town. In the dark dark town there was a dark dark library. And in the dark dark library... there was a big skeleton, a little skeleton and a dog skeleton! Stromness Library is ready for #Halloween with Steph's fabulous #Funnybones art!
A window decorated with characters from Funnybones
A window decorated with characters from Funnybones
422019
Reposted by Sue Wilkes
Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 10h
'The job cuts are one of the highest figures seen in a sector which has seen an estimated 30,000 cut in recent years as universities battle a financial crisis caused by declining international enrolments, rising costs and a long fee freeze.'
14011
Reposted by Sue Wilkes
Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 10h
'The University of Nottingham has confirmed that it will close its music and languages departments as it presses ahead with more than 500 job cuts despite widespread opposition from staff and students.' A blight on East Midlands and UK higher education.
timeshighereducation.com
Nottingham confirms course closures with hundreds of jobs affected
Languages and music departments to close despite strikes and protests but university insists it has addressed staff concerns in revised plans
6206169
Reposted by Sue Wilkes
Kevin Wilbraham @kpw1453.bsky.social · 11h
An altar dedicated to Jupiter from the Roman fort at Maryport in Cumbria which was set up by Marcus Maenius Agrippa, Tribune and Commander of the First Cohort of Spaniards. Now part of the collections at Senhouse Roman Museum in Maryport. 📸 My own. #EpigraphyTuesday
315027
Reposted by Sue Wilkes
Dr Jo Ball @drjeball.bsky.social · 23h
Beware of the dog! The Cave Canem entranceway from #Pompeii is such a timeless #Roman mosaic; the dog still symbolically protects his owner's house, nearly 2000 years after it was destroyed when Mt Vesuvius erupted in AD 79 🐶 #Archaeology #MosaicMonday #AncientBlueSky
919334
Reposted by Sue Wilkes
Alison Fisk @alisonfisk.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
This ancient Greek figure from the 2,500 year-old Douris Cup looks uncannily like someone working on a laptop! 😲 💻 He’s actually writing with a stylus on a hinged wax writing tablet! The technology has changed, the posture has not! 😂 Altes Museum, Berlin 📷 by me
My photo shows detail from an ancient Greek red-figure kylix (drinking cup) of a young man shown in profile seated on a stool facing right. He wears a knee length cloak (himation) over his left shoulder, which is shown in folds around his waist and upper legs. His right shoulder, chest, and arms are bare. His dark hair is short, and he wears a band around his head. He is looking down at an open rectangular wax writing tablet which he is supporting in his left hand above his lap. In his right hand he holds a metal stylus pen poised over the writing tablet. The wooden writing tablet is hinged like a book and, from this angle, resembles a modern laptop. The figure is part of a scene depicting school lessons in ancient Athens, painted by Douris around 480 BC. On display at the Altes Museum in Berlin.
311263309
Sue Wilkes @suewilkesauthor.bsky.social · 10h
www.chesterstandard.co.uk/news/2660768... #chester
chesterstandard.co.uk
Much loved museum in Chester gearing up to mark 140th anniversary
Chester’s Grosvenor Museum celebrates 140 years with exhibitions, activities and online content throughout October, inviting residents to share memories.
092
Reposted by Sue Wilkes
Dr. Peter Paul Rubens @peterpaulrubens.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Pensive Mary quietly rests and feeds her baby on the way to Egypt, before a completely amazing landscape that includes lots of thwarted idolatry & miracles! By Joachim Patinir of Antwerp, whose day is today.
211314
Reposted by Sue Wilkes
JSTOR @jstor.bsky.social · 22h
For LGBTQ+ History Month, explore the stories and publications that document LGBTQ+ communities, activism, and culture. Find more in @jstordaily.bsky.social’s reading roundup: bit.ly/3rt5I0o
Orange cover of the first issue of The Lesbian Tide, dated August 1971. A black line drawing shows a woman with long hair resting her head on her arms, with a smaller face appearing above her head. Text curves around the illustration: “And God created woman in her own image.” The bottom reads, “a publication of Daughters of Bilitis, Los Angeles, Calif.”
181
Reposted by Sue Wilkes
The Devil's Porridge Museum @devilsporridge.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
We're celebrating #ScottishMuseumsDay by taking part in a special #ABCofScottishMuseums. Our letter is P for Porridge Pot - an informal term for the nitrating pans used at HM Factory Gretna. These stoneware basins were used to mix nitroglycerin and cotton waste in the cordite munitions making.
2165
Reposted by Sue Wilkes
Claude Monet @monet.bsky.social · 22h
Camille Monet and a Child in the Artist’s Garden in Argenteuil - 1875 botfrens.com/collections/41/content…
01158
Reposted by Sue Wilkes
Simon Knott @simonknott.bsky.social · 22h
I found my visit to Manchester Jewish Museum this morning very moving, especially the recordings made in the 1970s and 1980s of the last surviving 1st and 2nd generation arrivals.
3495
Reposted by Sue Wilkes
The Labor Radio Podcast Network @laborradionet.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
WCL15: Literature of the 1926 General Strike As part of our work to mark the centenary of the UK's 1926 general strike, we sat down with with Charles Ferrall and Dougal McNeill, authors of the excellent Writing the 1926 General Strike: Literature, Culture, Politics to talk about some of the liter
workingclasshistory.com
WCL15: Literature of the 1926 General Strike
As part of our work to mark the centenary of the UK's 1926 general strike, we sat down with with Charles Ferrall and Dougal McNeill, authors of the excellent Writing the 1926 General Strike: Literature, Culture, Politics to talk about some of the literature texts produced in response to the strike, both from established authors and emerging working-class writers. Our podcast is brought to you by patreon supporters of both Working Class Literature and Working Class History. Our supporters fund our work, and in return get exclusive early access to podcast episodes, bonus episodes, free and discounted merchandise and other content. Join us or find out more at patreon.com/workingclasshistory In our discussion, Charles Ferrall and Dougal McNeill explain why they wrote their book and what they mean when they say the strike was “a literary event.” We also discuss the works of a number of different working-class authors responding to the strike, not to mention those of more famous authors that were also affected by the strike, in particular Lady Chatterley’s Lover (1928) by DH Lawrence and To the Lighthouse (1927) by Virginia Woolf. Further reading and a transcript available on the webpage for this episode: https://workingclasshistory.com/podcast/wcl15-literature-of-the-1926-general-strike/ Acknowledgements Thanks to our Patreon supporters for making this podcast possible. Special thanks to Jazz Hands and Fellow Worker.Our theme tune for this episode is Montaigne’s version of ‘When the Coal Comes from the Rhonda’, a folk song originating from Welsh miners in the early twentieth century and sung during the general strike. Download the song here. More from Montaigne: website, Instagram, YouTube.Edited by Jesse French
1123
Reposted by Sue Wilkes
Frédéric Moreau @goodclimate.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Toilets of the river Senne, 1867.
1232
Reposted by Sue Wilkes
Durotriges Dig @durotrigesdig.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Sassy snake A rather cheeky red-crested serpent on a mid 4th century AD #Roman mosaic floor Found in Durngate Street, Dorchester in 1905, he's now safely housed in Dorset Museum 📷 Sept 2026 #MosaicMonday
A crested red and white checkered snake facing right on a Roman mosaic floor
721149
Reposted by Sue Wilkes
The Empty City @davidallengreen.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
A long tapestry (or embroidery) should be made of the queue for the Bayeux Tapestry. Showing someone starting off and getting lost, making an oath midway, praying for divine intervention, and then getting something in their eye at the crucial moment. www.theguardian.com/culture/2026...
theguardian.com
Mary Beard suggests ‘tweaks’ to British Museum’s handling of queues to see Bayeux tapestry
Classicist and museum trustee visited the line after people complained of waiting for hours, with some turned away
1314817
Reposted by Sue Wilkes
Dave Andress @davidandress.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Imagine a country which had not only abolished the snobbery of private education, but also the snobbish delusion that you get a better education at a “prestigious” university.
1156
Reposted by Sue Wilkes
UCL Institute of Archaeology @uclarchaeology.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
⏰ This week! From Mine to Masterpiece: A workshop-centred Perspective on Great Shang Bronze Production Join us for this year's Beno Rothenberg Memorial Lecture, given by Dr Siran Liu, Associate Professor at the University of Science and Technology Beijing. Booking required 👇
ucl.ac.uk
Beno Rothenberg Memorial Lecture 2026: From Mine to Masterpiece
Join us for the in-person event on 'From Mine to Masterpiece: A Workshop-Centred Perspective on Great Shang Bronze Production' by Dr Siran Liu (University of Science and Technology Beijing).
021
Reposted by Sue Wilkes
Open Culture @openculture.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
300 Years Before ChatGPT, Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels Imagined Machines Writing Books and Producing Knowledge (1726)
openculture.com
300 Years Before ChatGPT, Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels Imagined Machines Writing Books and Producing Knowledge (1726)
The printing press was invented in the middle of the fifteenth century, and it's been downhill for the written word ever since. Even before then, arguments that the volume of writing being done far ou...
12010
Reposted by Sue Wilkes
Museum Stories @museumstories.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
A snuff box. 3 1/4 inches long, for powdered tobacco you pinched and inhaled. Gold and enamel, made in 1768 by the goldsmith Pierre-François-Mathis de Beaulieu. The portrait on the lid, Marie Antoinette in watercolor on ivory, is the work of miniature painter François Dumont.
1132
Reposted by Sue Wilkes
The Public Domain Review @publicdomainrev.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Over 150 yrs ago, George Perkins Marsh urged his readers to consider the disastrous environmental effects of deforestation, over-mining, and other human actions. Read more about this remarkable thinker and his extraordinary book, Man and Nature (1864) publicdomainreview.org/collection/m...
06011
Reposted by Sue Wilkes
Brian Groom @groomb.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
The Jarrow Crusade, in which 200 unemployed men marched to London calling for government intervention to restore jobs, began on this day 1936. Unsuccessful at the time, but helped to shape postwar attitudes to employment and social justice.
617247
Reposted by Sue Wilkes
Brian Groom @groomb.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Wallsend, Tyneside, 1963, photo by Colin Jones.
527342
Reposted by Sue Wilkes
Brian Groom @groomb.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Girl on a Bradford street corner, 1969, photo by Nick Hedges.
211245127
Reposted by Sue Wilkes
Brian Groom @groomb.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
View of Cyfarthfa Ironworks, Merthyr Tydfil, south Wales, painting by Penry Williams (1802-85), Welsh artist.
110415
Reposted by Sue Wilkes
Suzanne Karr Schmidt @drkarrschmidt.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Les Loisirs des Bords Du Loing, 1784, nearly the entire book is printed on rose colored paper! @newberrylibrary.bsky.social (Case Wing Z 30548 .671)
Title page on rose colored paper.
3102
Reposted by Sue Wilkes
Medievalist.net @medievalists.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Medieval Fortifications Discovered at Polish Windmill Site www.medievalists.net/2026/10/medi... #medieval #Poland
medievalists.net
Medieval Fortifications Discovered at Polish Windmill Site - Medievalists.net
Archaeologists in Poland have uncovered possible medieval fortifications surrounding a 15th-century windmill, along with stone cannonballs.
0146
Reposted by Sue Wilkes
The Alpine Club @alpineclub.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
We have up to £3,000 in funding available for academics, writers and other creatives carrying out research into alpinism, mountaineering and the mountain environment in 2027. Applications close on 1 December, so you have just 8 weeks to submit your application. Details here ➡️ tinyurl.com/5cxa9hyc
0613
Reposted by Sue Wilkes
Lucy Worsley @lucyworsley.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
The letter that gave us the name ‘Jack the Ripper’ was almost certainly written by a journalist. But when we filmed it at the National Archives, a criminologist asked me a very good question. His answer couldn't be included in our documentary, but here it is! lucyworsley.substack.com/p/what-reall...
lucyworsley.substack.com
What really happened to Jack the Ripper
Revealed here slightly against my better judgement
3735
Reposted by Sue Wilkes
Dave Andress @davidandress.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
It does seem as if someone is on a mission to take every useful diagram on the internet, and produce five different AI versions of it that are all wrong, three of which are physically impossible.
0127
Reposted by Sue Wilkes
Westminster Abbey @westminsterabbey.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Today's #31DaysofGraves theme is #Vehicle so we're looking at our memorial to Thomas Tynne, murdered in 1681 on the orders of Count Karl Johann Konigsmark, a jealous suitor of his wife. The killers waylaid Thynne's coach in London's Haymarket and fired into it - a scene depicted on the memorial.
A large white marble memorial to Thomas Thynne in Westminster Abbey. The figure of Thynee reclines above a relief depicting the ambush of his carriage in which he was murdered.
05211
Reposted by Sue Wilkes
Anthony Majanlahti @anthonymajanlahti.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
For #MosaicMonday, a c. 60-50 BCE #mosaic floor from the basis villæ, the Late Republican core of Hadrian's Villa. If his wife Vibia #Sabina inherited this estate, her Antonine relatives held a 200-year connection to these local stones, unified by descent rather than adoption. #AncientBluesky 🏺
GEOMETRIC MOSAIC FLOOR, C. 60-50 BCE. BASIS VILLÆ, HADRIAN'S VILLA

A Late Republican mosaic floor in the basis villæ, the original nucleus of Hadrian's Villa, an area long closed to the public. The floor features a tricolour geometric pattern creating a woven trompe l'oeil effect. Rectangular blocks of reddish-brown stone tesseræ are arranged symmetrically around small squares of white stone, sharply delineated by rows of dark grey tesseræ. Dating to c. 60-50 BCE, this elegant mosaic floor in tesseræ of local materials contrasts with Hadrian's C2 expansion that embellished the estate with polychrome marble from across the empire. A widely-held theory suggests Hadrian chose this site because his wife, Vibia Sabina, inherited this older villa. Her mother Matidia, niece of Trajan, was the ancestress of the Antonine dynasty, and if the inheritance of this villa passed through her, then all the emperors from Hadrian to Commodus could claim this as a family property stretching back over two centuries.
210623
Reposted by Sue Wilkes
Simon Knott @simonknott.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
19th Century sampler in memory of the 1819 Peterloo Massacre in Manchester. People's History Museum.
0181
Reposted by Sue Wilkes
Simon Knott @simonknott.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
'Domestic work is varied and pleasant' A 1930s poster produced by the National Employment Exchange Service, in the People's History Museum, Manchester. At the time, roughly a fifth of the female workforce was employed in poorly paid service positions in private homes.
2293
Reposted by Sue Wilkes
Simon Knott @simonknott.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
The People's History Museum, Manchester.
2543
Reposted by Sue Wilkes
STEMfem @stemfem.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
10/5/1932 — b. June Almeida, Scottish virologist. Discoverer of the first #coronavirus; a pioneer in virus imaging, identification, and diagnosis. Her skills in electron microscopy earned her an international reputation #womenshistory #WomenInSTEM #SciSky #HIstSci #BioSky #virology #covid #viruses
June Almeida seated at microscope with two men standing behind her
33114
Reposted by Sue Wilkes
David Blanchflower BSc @davidbflower.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Plaque honours Mars mission scientist. 🔭 🧪 www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
Plaque to honour Bristol scientist who led Beagle 2 Mars mission
The tribute recognises Colin Pillinger who led the 2003 probe mission to Mars.
24612