For LGBTQ+ History Month, Cambridge Central Library will be hosting the BFI on Saturday 28th February 2-3:30pm - come along to their screening and mini zine workshop. You can book your ticket on Eventbrite at www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/black-quee...

It's Arbury Day today - celebrating the 60th birthday of Arbury Court library. We're here till 2pm!

Despite recent challenges, our UK Web Archive team remains dedicated to safeguarding the nation’s online heritage. Find out more about UK Web Archive recovery in this latest blog post here: link.bl.uk/aaq

Genizah Fragment (Or.1080 J23): a late 12th century love letter. Perahya is in Cairo and misses his wife, Umm Thana: “Of late my yearning has become so strong that I am not able to bear it anymore." He invites her to join him, promising she can choose her own carpets. 🤔 https://loom.ly/h2W1pMI

The study points to using libraries and visiting museums as bringing these enormous brain health benefits ... who would have thought? Well, librarians and museum folk for a start ... www.theguardian.com/society/2026...

Well talk went well and I enjoyed the chance to look round Ely market. Glad to see the pride flag flying. Off for a week annual leave now.

This weekend, Saturday 14 & Sunday 15 February, discover the astonishing high end fashion of the 17th century with our Royal Fashion event. On Saturday, learn about the clothing of the early 1600s, Sunday that of the Restoration & 1660s. Details at: cromwellmuseum.org/events/royal...

@alanakeroyd.bsky.social definitely one for your personal archives (sorry that’s such a bad joke!) Such a wonderful way to see you and the work of your team recognised! #CambridgeshireCountyCouncil #ProudCEO

Hey it's February already and my lovely desk calendar now shows Sidney Inskip Ladds (1867-1950), an architect who was one of the small but very busy group of Huntingdonshire antiquarians back in the early 20th century. Ladds designed the Norris Museum in St Ives, where his papers are now kept

"average archivist eats 3 documents a year" factoid actualy just statistical error. average archivist eats 0 documents per year. Documents Georg, who lives in the strongroom & eats over 10,000 each day, is an outlier adn should not have been counted

Thanks to @thefnl.bsky.social this exceptionally rare Tudor map of Kingsbridge in Devon has been acquired for public research at the Devon Heritage Centre, after more than four centuries in private hands.

Fantastic! Nothing better than the history of local government 😀

Great to see a full page and a half about Cambridgeshire Archives in the Cambridge Independent this week. You're famous @alanakeroyd.bsky.social!

Delighted our grant enabled Dorset History Centre to acquire this fascinating manuscript. Dr Giles Roberts (1766-1834) was a key personality in Bridport's history. In 1807 he was appointed Medical Attendant there and campaigned for better hygiene and public health. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Veiling the Holy: Textiles in Ethiopic Manuscripts, from @visithmml.bsky.social hmml.org/stories/seri...

The Garth Gold Mine in Cilcain was thought to be the richest goldfield in Wales upon its discovery in 1889! This map held at North East Wales Archives shows the area that brough wealth and fortune to the Welsh economy, and where many thought X marked the spot! @newalesarchives.bsky.social

Today is #NationalPieDay , to celebrate we have a 18thc recipe for Chicken pie from the Bulwer collection. Could this be the earliest reference to 'pulled chicken'? #recipes #NorfolkHistory

A hydroplane near Huntingdon in 1913. This is one of a recent accession of stereo photos received at #huntingdonshirearchives, and the collection includes the handheld viewer too, so searchers who visit us in person can get the full stereo effect. More info in the Alt #randomdocument

Oh, the skill, the craftspersonship! Back at the Bodleian Treasures exhibition to marvel at this 15th or 16thC Qur’an (MS Ouseley Add. 178) and the 8thC MacRegol Gospels (MS Auct. D.219) with its Old English glosses.

We have been accredited by TNA for another three years! Thank you so much to the Cambridgeshire County Council archives team whose hard work and dedication has achieved this recognition www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/news/cambrid... #cambridgeshirearchives #huntingdonshirearchives #cambridgeshire

One of the prettiest and most interestingly-detailed church doors I have seen…the 17th century north door (set in 14th century doorway) at St. James’ Church, Croxton, Cambridgeshire 😍 Detail in comment below…

Looking to boost your historical research skills in 2026? Check out our range of research training and short courses. More coming in Term 3! www.history.ac.uk/study-traini...

Back at work today and my new desk calendar shows Rev Evelyn-White, rector of Rampton and dedicated local antiquarian. In 1900 he left the Cambridge Antiquarian Society to form his own group, the Cambs and Hunts Archaeological Society. Splitter!

I've done very well in the work Secret Santa this year - this is the Official Huntingdonshire Archivists and Antiquarians Calendar 2026, only one of it has been printed, and it's for me! - I feel so honoured. Thank you to Esther and the team! We'll see who the pictures show as the months roll by 😀

At the outbreak of the war, physicist James Chadwick had been studying beta radiation in Berlin. He was later held as a civilian Prisoner of War at the Ruhleben camp. In the Chadwick papers, we hold the postcards that James sent to his mother in Christmas 1915 and 1916.

Thrilled to have been able to purchase this document from a private owner in South Africa, thanks entirely to the generosity of the Friends of the Nations' Libraries. Thank you @thefnl.bsky.social! #cambridgeshirearchives www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/news/cambrid...

This Thursday sees the second of our online lectures, with Edward Davis giving a different perspective from his new biography on the military career of the Second Earl of Manchester during the Civil Wars. More details at: www.cromwellmuseum.org/events/cromw...

Inside a 250 year old French Violin by Augustin Chappuy. #music #art #photography #instruments

No getting away from archive displays even at the airport - flight logs and other items at Newcastle. Approve the book rest!

This Thursday sees the first of our autumn online lecture series; 4 top historians on aspects of the 1600s, the first being Dr David Smith on how Cromwell and the Civil Wars have been depicted in films and TV drama. Book now at: cromwellmuseum.org/events/cromw...

Cambridgeshire Archive Assistants Yaye and Jayne at the IHR History Fair today #cambridgeshirearchives #huntingdonshirearchives #HistDay25

Cambridgeshire Archives is there today too! 😀 #cambridgeshirearchives #huntingdonshirearchives #HistDay25

County boundaries weren't always as neat as we'd like them to be. The area around Meppershall in Bedfordshire was particularly complicated giving rise to this cartographical equivalent of a shrug of the shoulders: HARTFORD SHIRE intermixed with BEDFORD SHIRE The Limits uncertain #MappyMonday

It has just been announced that there will be an increase in fees for Principal Probate wills from 17 November 2025. The fee for a copy of the will rises from £1.50 to £16 per document. Over a 1000% rise. Any wills you have been thinking of getting copies of now is the time!

#ICYMI - we are celebrating the publication of our 250th #BigRedBook, and our first publication for the historic county of #Westmorland. In September we had an event to mark this and to place the volume in the context of the series and to showcase the extraordinary work behind it. #Skystorians

We're off to Barrington today, to their cement works in the 1960s. It is famous for having the last standard gauge quarry railway, which ran until 2005. Barrington was the last cement working in Cambridgeshire before closing in 2008.

On the way back from a very enjoyable trip to The National Archives with work. Great to see behind the scenes.

#cambridgeshirearchives is being spruced up! - Property colleagues will be doing various jobs around the building over the next few weeks. The scaffolding you can see here is so they can reach into the roof gutters and clean them all out.

Today was my turn in the bake off! - I made some lemon tarts, using a 1950s recipe from the Chivers collection. "Bake in a moderate oven" was all it said, so the baking time was complete guesswork. The team have all been very kind and said how much they liked them 😀 #bakeoff #cambridgeshirearchives

Good to see the importance of local authority archive services mentioned in a national newspaper, even if only briefly. "Both discoveries show the crucial role of county council archives and their staff in preserving this musical heritage"

With Betjeman here (though Fens headwinds can sap a cyclist's soul).

Richard Vinen, Professor of History at King’s College London, will be giving a free lecture at Churchill College on 21st October, titled ‘De Gaulle is France. Not a bastard.’ Churchill in the shadow of de Gaulle. No need to register, the event is free and open to all buff.ly/2gTriyk

Had a great time at Cambridge University Library on Wednesday afternoon - I was being an actual researcher (!) consulting the 1662 court records for the Isle of Ely. Huge thank you to the very kind and lovely staff of the @theul.bsky.social manuscripts reading room

We're having a drop in session sharing South Asian memories of the Second World War together with the Imperial War Museum on 14th October 1-5pm in our new Everyspace area on the third floor of Cambridge Central Library. See www.eventbrite.com/e/sharing-so... for more details and do spread the word!

I'm off to Soham tomorrow to talk about the history of transport in Cambridgeshire. It'll be 10-11am at Soham Library. Here's Soham Bapist Sunday School on an outing in 1923, with a steam traction engine pulling 5 waggons of children down the High Street.

This is a slightly strange title to see on the cover of a document. Don't Look Within would be even more tempting

Cambridgeshire Archives' bake off starts again this week, in which we bake using actual recipes from historical documents that we hold, keeping to the ingredients and method of cooking as much as possible. Which member of the team will win this year? #bakeoff www.facebook.com/Cambridgeshi...

Nice wallpaper! One of our searchers has had a huge copy of our 1604 map of the Fens printed for the wall of their office #cambridgeshirearchives #oldmaps #fens #fenland www.facebook.com/oxwillow/pos...

🔍 Did you know that we have a searchable dataset that draws on records of Londoners of African, Caribbean, Asian and Indigenous heritage in our parish registers from 1561-1840? The project started in 2000 and, thanks to our staff and volunteers, now has records of 2600 Londoners! #SwitchingTheLens

#Medieval tile pavement Burton Lazars, #Leicestershire c. 1450-1525 From the master house of the Order of St Lazarus of Jerusalem - a leper hospital. It includes heraldry & a merchant’s mark, suggesting one donated to the hospital. Now #BritishMuseum #London #TilesOnTuesday