This week we've had Work Experience student Bethany with us cataloguing the Berkshire Local History Recording Scheme papers! Most interesting find has been this story about raining frogs 🐸 We're glad the frogs survived!

We have a new activity for you to try! This month we've uploaded the colouring sheet featured in our exhibition, Fallen: The House of Mercy, Clewer. Why not give it a try, and show us your creations! (Design from D/EX1675/7/1/12) bit.ly/3QX938h

We have a mystery we hope someone can help us solve!🕵An enquirer is looking for more information about this photograph of their great grandmother, a member of the ATS in Reading. We're keen to identify the man marked with a cross above his head. Can you help? Comment below if so!

#OnThisDay in 1897, Oscar Wilde was released from Reading Gaol. Find out about some of the other inmates he was incarcerated with in our latest Imprisoned with Oscar blog:

What is this boy about to do? It’s part of an artwork of cartwheeling boys. The drawing is a design for the sculpture, a gift from the twin town of Dusseldorf commemorating the friendship between the two towns. Cartwheeling is traditional in Dusseldorf. See it outside the Civic Centre. #FridayFinds

Archives, not such a dusty place after all...😉 #EYADustbusters

Eagle eyed Reading residents may have seen the cartwheeling boys sculpture in its new home on the side of the Civic Centre. Here at the RBA we hold a video showing how the original sculpture was made by Brain Slack & is featured in this month's highlight: bit.ly/4uypKVT

Happy International Nurses Day 😊 Find out more about new additions to our collections by reading the latest Just Catalogued blog, including a new collection of the papers of Mary Macintyre, nurse at Fair Mile Hospital. Included is a first draft of her fascinating memoir.

#Onthisday in 1926, millions of workers across Britain were taking part in the General Strike in solidary with miners facing wage cuts. This included workers in Berkshire with publications like 'The Reading Citizen' encouraging both men and women to continue supporting the strike. 📸 D/EX1485/10/2/2

Tomorrow is Godric's second birthday! 🎈 🥳 To celebrate, we've had some of this lovely cake on our tea break 🍰 We so love having him here at the archive, he brings our spirits up just by being around, and is always happy to get involved in our silly ideas!

We wanted to join the celebrations and wish Sir David Attenborough a very happy 100th birthday 🥳 We have been looking through our collections and found this wonderful wildlife series of prints made by the Berkshire Printing Company! We hope that Sir David would enjoy these as much as we do ☺️

Have you been to @readingmuseum.bsky.social to see the original 13th century manuscript of 'Sumer is icumen in' yet? You've only got a couple of days left to see the work that has inspired many other works, including this lovely illustration by the Berkshire Federation of Women's Institutes.

Good luck to everyone starting GCSE and A-Level exams over the next few weeks! 🧠 Not sitting exams this year and feeling slightly left out? Why not have a go at this algebra paper set for pupils of Lambrook School back in December 1919 📐 Let us know how you get on! 📸 D/EX1832/9/5/8

Last month we got the opportunity to visit the University of Reading Special Collections and @themerl.bsky.social, and were given a tour of their archive and museum area! Godric had a lot of fun, and has made a new friend in this 'absolute unit' of a sheep 😉

We love this trend, and had to put a little archival spin on it ✨

A poetic ode to archives for #WhyArchives this year (with thanks to O'Shaughnessy). #Archive30

Our #ArchiveFuture looks bright, we will be starting work on our extension in earnest very soon, hoping to get it finished by the end of 2027 and ready to take in even more records in 2028! #Archive30

Did you know we can give talks for local groups and societies? Get in touch if you’re interested in booking a talk. Topics we cover include Reading Gaol, the River Thames, and local and family history sources. #ArchiveOutreach #Archive30

In the beginning, there was only an Accessions Register. Our #ArchiveBeginnings began even before there was an archive! BCC took in the first 80 accessions, and our first accession as a record office was number 81, D/EX827/1, an account of expenses from a stay at the Bear Inn in 1832. #Archive30

Whether it’s milk or dark, a bar or a box, everyone likes a bit of chocolate! For #ArchiveFoodandDrink we’re sharing the results of this chocolate eating survey, completed by Reading Festival Chorus members in 1997 🍫 Happy chocolate eating! 📸 D/EX1225/10/12/5 #Archive30

We’re very grateful for our #ArchiveVolunteers, and all the work they do! #Archive30

We hold many #BusinessArchives. One of our favourites is Plenty & Son Ltd, engineers of Newbury. They made agricultural equipment, steam engines, lifeboats, & much more! William Plenty’s lifeboat design was so popular that most of the boats in the newly formed RNLI were made by Plenty’s. #Archive30

You may have come across a couple marrying by license in your family history research, and wondered what this means. Read our latest blog now to find out more about marrying by license, and get top tips about where to find them! bit.ly/3Ojh32l #ArchivePeople #Archive30

Happy Earth Day! We are celebrating with #SoundAndVision by taking a listen to Sister Moira of the CSJB talk about the garden space girls could have at the London House of Mercy. Hear more from her at our exhibition, now on! (Extract from D/EX1675/1/30/56/1) #Archive30 #EarthDay

Happy National Tea Day! To celebrate, we're sharing this lovely poster showcasing a variety of tea boxes, created by the Berkshire Printing Company. 🫖

A glimpse behind the scenes 👀 Check out some of our #ArchivePlan(s) carefully rolled up and stored on shelves in our strongroom! #Archive30

Ever wondered what happens when we receive two identical items? We recently received these booklets about the Thames and had to decide which to retain. This involved comparing both copies and assessing their quality and long-term durability. So, which would you choose to keep? #AboutAppraisals

Did you know some of our records are available to view online? Alongside our own digital repository, you can find electoral registers, 1840-1965, and WWII records on ancestry; whilst our school admission registers, 1870-1914, are on Find My Past. Free access to both available onsite #DigitalArchives

Here's our #ArchivePresent alongside our archive past! A little glimpse into how Coley Avenue looked then versus now. We can't help wishing the old gates were still standing today! #Archive30 📸 D/EX1638/64/10

It ain't much, but it's home 🫶 We love seeing other strongrooms on the timeline!

#Throwback Friday anyone? This video shows the amount of #ArchiveStorage boxes we used for our Bracknell District Council collection! We re-organised the whole collection in early March 2020 to make access for visitors easier. #Archive30

Come see the famous and spectacular Sumer is Icumen in manuscript, back in Reading for the first time in over 750 years. On loan from @britishlibrary.bsky.social, supported by the Dorset Foundation, in memory of Harry M Weinrebe. With thanks to @blmedieval.bsky.social (Harley MS 978)

Berkshire is home to many myths and legends. The newly received records of the Berkshire Local History recording scheme from the 1940s include many. One of our favourites is about the Treasure Tree in Baulking. Let us know your favourite Berkshire myth? #ArchiveMyths #Archive30

Here is a before and after of a document our #ArchiveConservation team worked on recently! The paper was so delicate, touching it made it turn into dust, but the team stabilised this record, making it available for researchers to use again. #Archive30

Here’s an unusual thing to find in an archive, an artefact! We do not usually accept artefacts but on this occasion, we accepted a Holy Communion host cutting machine from the parish of Clewer St Andrew. #Archive30 #UnusualArchives

We have been told this link has expired, so here is a new link! jigex.com/Dnt91

For #ColourfulArchives we thought we'd share this lovely piece of embroidery, stitched by Kathleen Barnes during her time at Cholsey Board School, 1932. 🪡 🌈 #Archive30 📸 D/EX2821/3

For #SomethingBig we’re sharing these weights and measures which belonged to Berkshire County Council. We're thankful that these items are rarely requested as moving them around is quite the workout!🏋🏻 #Archive30

This month we’re celebrating the launch of our exhibition on the #CommunityArchives of the House of Mercy, Clewer! We’ve created a puzzle for you to try, let us know how long it took you to complete!

We’ve been #CataloguingCollections! Have a read of April’s Just Catalogued to find out more! bit.ly/4v52UpO #Archive30 📸 D/EX3030/1

You may remember a highlight from last year about the 1908 Reading marathon race that almost didn't happen. The race was won by Lewis Southwell. A relative has been in touch & shared this lovely photo of him which has been added to the article. Read it here: bit.ly/4eKhJqe #SportArchives #Archive30

We’ve done a lot of growing and changing over the years, and for #ArchivePast we’ve been remembering our old offices, and reminiscing on the move into the archive as we know it today, opened by Princess Anne

We have so many #ArchiveAnimals in our collections that it was hard to choose which to feature today. In the end we went with Dorothy Kaminski's cat and kittens as they were too cute to resist 😍 #Archive30 📷 D/EWN/F99

For #SomethingSmall we’re sharing this tiny photograph from the Underhill collection. Frederick Maitland Underhill's collection is full of interesting finds from photographs like these to 18th century chapbooks! #Archive30

The love for Godric has gone to his head and he now believes he is our most #PopularItem! He’s also been studying our collections so believes he knows what it will take to make you popular… #Archive30 Music: “Popular” Performed by Ariana Grande From Wicked - Music & Lyrics By Stephen Schwartz

This month’s highlight explores the #UntoldStories of the Cope family, exploring what an extremely thorough inventory can tell us about every day life for the wealthy in early-Edwardian England. #Archive30

Godric has been very busy this week trying on a myriad of outfits from history, but he's a little shy about it. Tell him how good he looks! 🙂‍↕️ #ArchiveFashion #Archive30

The Royal Berkshire Archives wishes everyone a Happy Easter! The office is now closed until 9am Tuesday 7th April, please note any enquiries sent over the Easter weekend will not be processed until then.

Ever wondered who was imprisoned in the #ArchiveBuildings at Reading Gaol alongside Oscar Wilde? Our new blog series, 'Imprisoned with Oscar', seeks to answer this question. The first blog about Michael Ostrog is available to read now bit.ly/4bL0rYZ #EYACrime #Archive30

#Archive30 begins today! Throughout this month, we'll be sharing daily posts inspired by 30 hashtags as part of the campaign hosted by ARA Scotland. Today, we're kicking things off with #YourArchive and sharing this lovely photo of the RBA in the sun ☀️ Stick around for more!