Applause to whoever created this

Here’s something unexpected. Cadw reckons the stone wall surrounding the old clas site of St Gybi above Holyhead is 4th century, the former circuit of a Saxon shore fort. Probably not the door, though. Glad I stayed the night

Somehow it was a thing when I was a boy in Cardiff that we all had to be able to recite this piece of Victorian whimsy

Here's a #HigherEducationPostcard of @uniofhull.bsky.social Famously, poet Philip Larkin was the Librarian at the University I've lots of Hull cards so this will be #HullWeek If you like this image, I’d really appreciate a repost - remember, BlueSky has #NoAlgorithm

We'll be at the Festival of Nature in Bristol this weekend talking all things Ancient Woodland - we've updated the mapping for the West of England. Come and see us on Millennium Square.

Coming to you all, histories of dozens of English places from prehistory to the present, sometime early in 2027. #Skystorians #LocalHistory

The church of St James, Nunburnholme (East Riding) may look a bit on the ordinary side but it houses several symbolic mysteries, such as the imagery of its famous Anglo-Scandinavian cross pillar. But VCH East Riding Vol XI (in press) had to deal with another, its eccentric tower arch. 1/5

This is the wonderful and little-known chapel at Harswell, a DMV in the East Riding, sometime manorial chapel of the Silvain family, built within the surviving banks and ditches of the manorial precinct. Rebuilt 1871 using original materials. Still has an incumbent!

Why is this just so crazy to read from him. Explaining how the robots are not human. Just spelling it out

This isn't niche at all, sadly, it is typical of university management ignorance and recklessness that 'knows' the price of everything and the value of nothing.

Lovely sight. A pair of swans and a healthy brood of 5 cygnets, on the Barmston Drain south of Beverley Pastures

Cartularies are for various reasons one of my enthusiasms. I must have read every English, Irish and Northern French example, and found one from the 15th century that had been lost. But the oddest of a very odd MS genre is right on my doorstep, the so-called Constable family cartulary.

What does Humberside mean to us? Well, without it, we would have no project in Yorkshire's East Riding. Bear with us. Simply, the prospect of the East Riding being amalgamated into a trans-Humber local authority was reckoned a bit much... #Skystorians 1/3

A further problem with the suggestion that King Harold sailed his army to Hastings: www.marcmorris.org.uk/2026/03/king...

Please please read this from the archbishop of Chicago www.archchicago.org/statement/-/...

A familiar sigh for drivers heading south down the A614 towards Howden and the M62. All Saints Church on its hill above Holme-on-Spalding Moor. VCH has now commenced work on the beacon district to which it gives its name. The hill we've found had a medieval name, 'Arnesnest' (the eagle's nest) .

A much-anticipated publication—I had the privilege to read it in draft form—that will be immensely useful for teaching!

Trump shenanigans contributing to Iceland decision to hold a referendum on joining the European Union. It will be the 11th non-EU country to apply to join. If this continues, Britain will be almost alone in Europe in being outside the EU, isolated, poorer and weaker.

Following the controversy over the edited Trump speech, the BBC has been lambasted for its negative and biased portrayal of the leader of a prominent right-wing government… An Evening with Private Eye 2025, out now on YouTube.

The Guardian did not disappoint with its report of the Plaid Cyrmu (sic) victory in Caerphilly. In one thing constant ever Grauniad

On Thursday, the remarkable north porch door of Kilnwick Percy church. The dilapidated church was reconstructed in an elaborate neo-Romanesque style in 1864–5 to designs by J.B. & W. Atkinson for Arthur Duncombe, and this door was shifted from the south side to the new north porch facing the Hall.

The core role of the university in society is the generational transmission of knowledge and rare skills. This has been already long forgotten by administrators who have prioritised rebranding universities as publicly-funded job-training centres in recent decades.

Coming out this week, Lindy Grant's definitive revisionist biography of a Queen all too often obscured by literary and cultural myth.

Coming out this week, Lindy Grant's definitive revisionist biography of a Queen all too often obscured by literary and cultural myth.

*INDIANA JONES AND THE CLOSURE OF THE ARCHAEOLOGY DEPARTMENT*

BREAKING: Citizens of Heard and McDonald islands have issued a statement after trump's 10% tariff. ❤️🍁🇨🇦TEAM CANADA FOREVER🇨🇦🍁❤️ ❤️🍁🇨🇦VIVE LE CANADA 🇨🇦🍁❤️ #canada #canadastrong #elbowsup #markcarneyforpm #cdnpoli #voteliberal #tariffs #tradewar #neverpoilievre #never51state #buycanadian #supportlocal

Our open letter response to the #USCommerceDept and #POTUS

With its spotlight on the ‘manosphere’, Adolescence begs the question: how do we raise good men? Ours is not the first human generation to confront this dynamic. The Middle Ages constructed the ‘preudomme’ as the ideal to which a boy should aspire. Vide Ruth Karras’s marvellous *From Boys to Men*

😂 Joke outside a cafe in London.

St Peter’s church Woodmansey. Pass it most days and this weekend the door was open. Neat little church of around 1896 built by the local manorial lord. The font’s the surprise. Genuinely 14thC. Pevsner says ‘where is it from?’. Good question Sir Nikolas

Medieval-blaming is so very Guardian. Always when leasehold is condemned, it is as a 'feudal era' system. I wish someone would call this out. I know that quitrents turn up in 12th-century (urban) London. But full on leasing of parcels of land with entry fines and annual rents is quite late

Unbelievable. Donald Trump has been invited to a state visit to the UK. We should not be rolling out the red carpet to celebrate this man. Agree? Add your name to the petition today: you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/no...

An old favorite: Roses are red Gender’s performative Valentine’s Day Is heteronormative.

Bonus episode out now. @colinveach.bsky.social talks in more detail about the contemporary written sources justifying the 'Anglo-Norman Invasion' and we reflect on modern scholars' approaches to 12th century Irish history. Gerald of Wales, Laudabiliter & more! open.spotify.com/episode/5Zmp...

Very sad news. The eminent French medievalist, Martin Aurell died last night unexpectedly. His students and colleagues at Poitiers are in shock, unsurprisingly. Martin's contributions to Anglo-French history were enormous, and his generosity with advice and sources unbounding.

If you're working on Yorkshire's past (medieval or otherwise), please do consider submitting a paper for this year's @roysociety.bsky.social conference, held in the Concert Hall at Scarborough library on Friday 6th June. If you've got any questions, we're very happy to answer them!

For anyone who is interested in helping, there's a rare 6/7th c. garnet-inset gold dress accessory up for UK export very soon; if £4k is raised before the end of March, it will go to a burgeoning local museum in Pocklington, East Yorks. www.gofundme.com/f/save-a-poc...

One result of Methodism's great age in 19th-century Yorkshire was the number of Wesleyan schools founded in its towns. Methodist children could thus escape the compulsory catechism and church attendance enforced by Anglican National Society Schools. This is the Pocklington Wesleyan School (1852)

Graham Loud's new biography of Frederick is published on 1 February by Reaktion, and at the bargain price of £16.95. It's designed as an accessible teaching book rather than an academic 'door-stopper' as he puts it, which sets it apart from previous volumes. reaktionbooks.co.uk/work/frederi...

Well this sucks. Museum caves in in response to a hostile article in the local press written by a former Restore Trust director. If you’re gonna have these initiatives at your museum, you need to have some backbone too. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

After all, it was German people seeing their Jewish friends and neighbours being abused by the Nazis that led to an upsurge in pro-Jewish feeling and staved off what could have turned into a holocaust.

Living for this Cardiff Council gritter lorry’s name this evening. Da iawn, Caerdydd 👏

When and where was King John born? When is more easy to say than where. The year was either 1166 or 1167, according to which Angevin historian you read. Ralph Diceto, Dean of London, said baldly it was 1166, but one copy of the work of the annalist Robert de Torigny, listed it under 1167. 1/9

Not many people know this, but on the day the Black Death arrived everyone was sent a text message stating that feudalism had ended. This resulted in many people asking what feudalism was. They were told not to worry about it because it was over. This is why we know little about feudalism today.

How my city has changed in my absence. The old Customs House a footstool for a hotel chain. All in all though I don’t dislike the new streetscapes. And the preservation of the old shopping arcades is praiseworthy. Caerdydd am byth.

Heading west up the Humber for London and Wales, and thinking about Roger of Howden’s 1194 voyage down the same stretch of water to pick up his transport for Marseille to seek out King Richard. He was carrying a small barrel of silver as a bribe. Me, just carrying Xmas presents for family

Note that these plans also include a reduction in hours (and thus accessibility), of the city's excellent archives. 🗃️

A wonderful piece of Yorkshire eccentricity at Beverley Beck lock. Its owner (and builder) tells me it has kitchen bedroom and shower below. Sadly, it does not submerge, which disappoints a lot of local kids.