today's work is analysing individual taxpayers in the year 1327 in north Nottinghamshire - and seeing how well (or not well) this matches up with land-ownership in the area So far, I've found a trend of more payment from (likely) tenants of farms and a lower proportion of tax from the landowners

Retford and dist. Historical and Archaeological Society has completed it's 58th season of monthly talks - we now have our main open lecture with Lesley Smith as Anne Boleyn and our trips out to Morton near Gainsborough and out to Beverley still to come over the summer.

If you're near Winchester, I'm talking about Records of the Poor next month at Hampshire Archives. Tickets available via the link. #Genealogy #FamilyHistory #Hampshire shop.hants.gov.uk/products/rec...

today is a day of translating Latin from the Hundred Rolls of Nottinghamshire - the full words in Latin can be translated to a reasonable degree by translation tools - the Latin shorthand needing individual attention per word or short phrase

I've dipped into a couple of other of Sharon's books today - they're very good

I had been wondering where local church records could be found - this has given me the nudge to locate the ones relevant to my home county of Nottinghamshire Here is the University of Nottingham's Archdeaconry archive: www.nottingham.ac.uk/manuscriptsa...

I'm interested to talk a bit with people under 60 (anywhere in the UK) who are interested in and enjoy history but are not a member of a local history group I'd be really interested to know why it may be that local history groups are so often under-represented by the under 60s #localhistory

I've finished the first page of writing of my latest project - to see if I can put together a booklet on medieval Hayton, Nottinghamshire

Sharon is an excellent speaker - and for people local to me in Nottinghamshire who are interested in medieval history, both John of Gaunt and Katherine Swynford had landholdings within north Nottinghamshire in addition to Lincolnshire (and other places) - an interesting talk in a compelling location

Listening to Chris LeDoux singing a Bruce Springsteen song as I work on a talk on medieval Hayton, Nottinghamshire in preparation for January

tomorrow at 7pm at The Golden Ball, Worksop, Notts I shall be presenting my talk on Constance of Gringley - which charts how I found out who the original holder of a c.1300 medieval seal was (re-sky?, re-blue? (as in share) if one has Notts, Derbs or S Yorks history-interested followers followers ?)

I took up Ancestry's free trial this month. The wills were very interesting for someone who researches pre-1800 history. The baptisms, marriages, burials records fairly useful too. A bit of a downside on cancellation in that the first 'I wish to cancel' button does not cancel, this is bad practice

this morning I went over to Tuxford for one of Adrian Gray's talks - much information and entertainment contained - it was also good to see the monument to John White en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Nich...

an online talk/lecture tomorrow, 8-9.30pm, by James Wright on Cheshire author Alan Garner whose books are 'steeped in foklore, mythology and archaeology'

I have one of James' books at home (Nottinghamshire Castles) - and have benefitted from seeing his work in video form (at Tattershall Castle) as well

This last week, I've dedicated time towards looking into the typical types of employment people may have had in villages in the 18th century - agricultural jobs were the most numerous but non-agricultural work seems to have accounted for around between 1/3 and 1/2 of jobs (?) #OnePlaceStudies

this refers to Ordsall, Salford rather than Ordsall, Nottinghamshire but really interesting to this Nottinghamshire historian

"The reading rooms of the National Archives at Kew present a curious sight on any given afternoon. Imagine a care home for the massively over-educated and terminally under-employed ..." helionbooks.wordpress.com/2020/01/23/f... I have been interested in visiting the National Archives reading room 🙃

One of my favourite digital archives has become virtually unusable within the last month or so Attempts to access an item has a 3-min wait and can often return unavailable Is this the result of various AI data-grabbers ? I do hope archives can shut the door on bots from acting rather like locusts

definitely one to bookmark for myself, as I see wills pertaining to York are here and there are a few figures which are immediate interest to a couple of my projects :)

today I work on a script on some of Nottinghamshire's aristocracy which sees me reading Timothy Mowl's biography of Horace Walpole (1717-1797) - we've encountered the Arundel Marbles on p. 35 - and listening to #rococo composer Giovanni Battista Sammartini (c.1700-1775)

a couple of churches at or near to Retford in North Nottinghamshire are having anniversaries in 2027 I wonder if anyone might wish to start the second One Place Study within Nottinghamshire ? #OnePlaceStudy #Nottinghamshire #Bassetlaw #History

@oneplacestudies.bsky.social might there be a chance to add tags to One-Place Studies ? it'd be real ineteresting/useful to be able to filter by era or other aspects like industries - to see which studies say cover Tudor period, or which other villages have shoe, glass, salt etc industries going on

If my health improves a bit over the next 2 or 3 years, I'd like to do a shortish tour of west Scotland

linked quite strongly with the Mackenzie clan ? - if my relatively quick research is on the right lines - a beautiful picture of of beautiful west Scotland landscape

new book out from Sharon - I've attended one of her talks - she's very good - and her podcast 'A Slice of Medieval' with co-host Derek Briks is one of my regular evening listens

@vch-home.bsky.social - is the Nottinghamshire VCH project a project that is still ongoing ? My knowledge area is (particularly) 1066-1546 north Nottinghamshire, which may perhaps be useful if such a project is still ongoing ?

currently I am reading (and notetaking on) 'The Geography of Augustinian Settlement in Medieval England and Wales' by David M. Robinson (1980)

a question for the medieval historians (particularly Anglo-Saxon era ones) - why is 'beorg' meaning 'hill' not suggested anywhere near as much as 'fortification' is for places names that were spelled as 'burg' (or close variants of) within the Norman and later periods ? @historyfiles.bsky.social

Whilst I continue to work on an academic article charting the medieval history of Hayton, Nottinghamshire, I've been doing background reading on medieval Scotland (in general) as well as the era of Richard II of England

The Holles family - a prominent family in Nottinghamshire through the Tudor and Stuart eras - is the subject of the next Heritage and Horticultural Amble at Clumer Park - enjoy history and a stroll? - catch it at 11am on Mon 16 March www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/nottin...

On Saturday I got to see a talk Dr Richard Gaunt on the Hafod Estate (Cardiganshire, Wales) that was bought by the 4th Duke of Newcastle - a very good talk it was and I also picked up a book on Kirkby Castle (Kirkby in Ashfield, near Mansfield, Notts)

this is an interesting museum - it helps to show the variety of different handcarts that were once commonplace - excellent if you feel like stepping into a different era and imagining the bustle of people that would have accompanied many of the handcarts

tomorrow evening - Wed 10 Dec, the Retford & District Historical & Archaeological Society will be having a talk on 'A Victorian Christmas' by Jan Reade with Christmasy food and a chance to talk with fellow history lovers Talk starts at 7.30pm at Grove Street Methodist Church, Retford

*NEWS* Fundraiser launched to help buy land around Cerne Giant. NT Archaeologist, Steve Timms, said: “The acquisition will provide an opportunity for landscape scale research & investigation & help us manage the land in the most appropriate way.” www.nationaltrust.org.uk/services/med...

A recent ruling has re-opened a bridleway running beside the River Idle between Gringley on the Hill and Everton/Misson - I gather this is around the 'Barrier Bank' that is marked on Ordnance Survey maps (?) Let me know (if you can) if anyone has a better way of describing the location of it ?

It was excellent to get out to the Gringley History Club's December meeting - at the wonderful Blue Bell Inn, Gringley on the Hill. Some excellent historical and archaeological investigations going on

recently I have compiled a light analysis (4 pages) on the instances of people called Ulfkell in the Nottinghamshire Domesday entries (and some of those in Strafforth, South Yorkshire). My own 'best guess' is that these instances were probably multiple people, I would guess 5 or more different ones?

for the last month I've been working on a project looking to link up (to what extent I can) the Domesday holders of land in North Nottinghamshire with the landholders that were there in the 1200s #medieval #nottinghamshire #bassetlaw #domesday #medievalnotts

Next talk from Retford & District Historical & Archaeological Society: Elaine Perkins - 'Candlewax, Chickens and Cheese' Venue: Grove St Methodist Church Wed 12 Nov 2025 Talk starts 7:30pm talk schedule for this season available at: sites.google.com/view/bassetl...

New episode! In the latest edition of A Slice of Medieval, @derekbirks.bsky.social and I chat with Sara Cockerill about the life, times, loves and challenges of Eleanor of Castile, queen of Edward I @penandswordbooks.bsky.social #medievalsky #podcastsky bit.ly/47nr4kt

Michael Kirkby talked about the Battle of Waterloo and the particular parts that recruits from Nottinghamshire played - an excellent talk for the Retford & Dist. Historical & Archaeological Society yesterday evening (8 Oct 2025) - it's had me looking to find a good film to watch on the Napoleon era

‪Sharon Bennett Connolly's talk on 'Lincolshire's Tudor Heroines' for the Friends of Gainsborough Old Hall was really good - a number of very interesting figures - for myself, as someone connected with Clumber, hearing about early de Clinton family was handy - Sharon >> @thehistorybits.bsky.social

taking place tomorrow evening

The Retford and District Historical and Archaeological Society will have its second talk of the season this coming Wednesday 8 Oct 2025: Michael Kirkby will be giving the talk 'Nottingham to Waterloo' about local men recruited in the 1800s to the two main Nottinghamshire military regiments

Wed 15 Oct, 7.30pm - Talk by Adrian Griffiths - 'Gringley on the Hill - Life in the Past' - Gringley on the Hill Community Centre, Nottinghamshire The talk will be about the former trades, businesses and life in the village in former times.

Stuart Rose's talk on Laxton and the open-field system was very good to see and hear yesterday at Retford's Historical and Archaeological Society - Laxton's method of farming is unique and we may be the last generation to have this form of farming - unless new people get interested to keep it going

The first talk of the 2025-2026 season of the Retford Historical Society will be on Laxton including its notable three-field farming - the talk given by Stuart Rose Takes place at Grove Street Methodist Church, Retford, Notts Talk starts at 7.30pm, Wed 10 Sep 2025 sites.google.com/view/bassetl...

My next talk will be on Lincolnshire's Tudor Heroines. Renaissance women from writers and mistresses to martyrs, duchesses and queens. Including some with close links to Gainsborough Old Hall. 7 October 2025 at 7.30pm Venue: Gainsborough House, Parnell Street , Gainsborough (opposite the Old Hall)

Fundraising is taking place for archaeological excavations and a small museum at Littleborough in Bassetlaw, Nottinghamshire. The Segelocum Roman fort was sited at Littleborough near, or at, an important crossing of the River Trent. Find out more: www.life-publications.com/retford/comm...