Skinheads and punk rockers, 1983, Merthyr Tydfil, photo by Walter Waygood, Welsh photographer.

Welsh HE needs radically restructuring but I'm not sure downgrading a key part of the nation's research and development capabilities are an answer to anything.

Had a great day at the National Army Museum. A fantastic museum and archive.

Why is the universities crisis being ignored? Essential piece by @gsoh31.bsky.social for Arguably on the “grim dribbling away of one of Britain's great triumphs and economic advantages” – and why so few politicians seem to care. www.arguably.uk/p/the-quiet-...

The Monumental Welsh Women group deserve great credit for what they have achieved in the last few years. Statues matter.

🧵/ How Wales voted at the 2026 Senedd election: our new study based on reanalysing the data behind our successful pre-election MRP identifies the key demographic and political divides behind the new Welsh party system yougov.com/en-gb/articl...

'Too many children leave school with "at best limited knowledge and understanding of the history of their own nation," many of Wales' leading academics write in an open letter to the Welsh Government.' Letter in full available at end of article. 1/3

Three leading Welsh academics, supported by Welsh historians, educationalists and public figures have written an open letter to the Welsh Government's new Minister of Education calling for Welsh history to have a more prominent place in the Welsh school curriculum

Very sorry to hear of the passing of Prof Huw Bowen. Huw was a leading historian of the East India Company and a champion of the discipline more broadly, especially in Wales. He was a huge personal and professional influence on many of us.

Townscape, painting by Yorkshire artist Clare Shotter.

Beautiful day in Swansea but there's hardly any students around. We need to offer students the opportunity to do 2 year degrees. Long summers work for some students but not all. Reduce student debt by letting students study through the summer if they want to

Just marked a dissertation on Attlee. A nice reminder that what you do in office ultimately matters far more than public perceptions of your personality or style. Labour's problem isn't that its leader isnt appealing. The problem is the lack of action.

Listening to someone from Reform talk about how he stood for the Senedd because of all the scandals in politics. Pity the interviewer never pointed out a previous Welsh Reform leader is in prison for taking Russian bribes.

Carmarthen result shows stupidity of new system. Plaid 43% means 3 seats. Reform 32% means 3 seats.

8 May 1945 Europe celebrated VE day and the defeat of fascism. They also remembered the millions of lives lost in that war. 81 years on a chunk of the electorate seem to have forgotten what the politics of hate and grievance can lead to.

Rhywbeth i’w ddarllen tra'n aros am y canlyniadau, efallai. @richardwynjones.bsky.social @danieljhartley.bsky.social @jasminedonahaye.bsky.social nationtimecymrusydd.wordpress.com/2026/05/07/i...

The bookies at least are certain.

One way to interpret these data (there are alternative interpretations) is that universities, financially desperate to raise NSS scores & (in England) ditto TEF scores, are so desperate to please students by dropping deadlines & attendance requirements that they are lowering their employability. 1/2

Wrote this a few years ago about election day. (The electoral system is now better but still a bit rubbish.) martinjohnes.com/2019/12/12/i...

Next preview! New ‘Gilded Nightmare’ Shadows Over Cymru: Uncanny Stories of the Welsh Weird. Edited by Aaron Worth. Surely one of the prettiest jackets yet! & check out that contents list. Publishing 26/05.

A new oral history project celebrating Cardiff's live music scene is inviting young people to record their best music memories

Cardiff Waterstones, Thursday at 7pm: I'm interviewing Will Hayward about his new book about the economic and political problems Wales faces. www.waterstones.com/events/who-c...

Nice reminder of pitfalls in the digitisation of historical documents.

Do councils tell people when their application to be on the electoral register has been processed? I've spoken to a number of students who registered but have no idea if they are actually able to vote.

We don't teach as much Welsh history as we should in our schools. This short essay is about why Welsh history matters. martinjohnes.com/2026/04/23/w...

Fully-funded AHRC PhD scholarship at Swansea: the history of the Anti-Apartheid Movement in Wales, 1945-1994. www.swansea.ac.uk/postgraduate...

Just finished this by @willhaycardiff.bsky.social It's passionate, lively, informed and provocative. Wales needs radical change and this book explains why.

Nice 1914 addition to my collection of Welsh history school books.

no one likes historians because every time someone says “oh this is unheard of” historians are all like “well actually” and fundamentally it just doesn’t sound as impressive if you have to say “in these slightly precedented times”

Has anyone written anything on how devolving UKRI funding would work in practice?

Fully-funded AHRC PhD scholarship at Swansea: the history of the Anti-Apartheid Movement in Wales, 1945-1994. www.swansea.ac.uk/postgraduate...

Rhondda Valley, south Wales, 1957, photo by Philip Jones Griffiths.

"Young people leave school knowing little about the story of Wales". Article in the Western Mail by myself and David Eagan calling for a new approach to Welsh history in the Curriculum for Wales. www.walesonline.co.uk/news/educati...

I'm interviewing Will about his new Welsh politics book at Swansea Waterstones on 22 April.

Gutted but at least there's no moral dilemma about whether to visit Trump's America this summer.

Saw the Cross of Conbelin today. A thousand years old and stunning.

Peter was a great historian, great company, and possibly the only person ever to be simultaneously a season-ticket holder at Cardiff City and Swansea City.

Man at a bus stop with a teddy bear, Cardiff, 1973, photo by David Hurn, Magnum agency photographer.

We’re hosting a postgraduate conference on Welsh history with colleagues at Cardiff University. Featuring presentations, workshops, and space to share ideas about researching the Welsh past. 📲 Sign up via the QR code!

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿Meanwhile, if you want to learn about St David's Day, Welsh traditions, how we celebrate our patron saint's day both now and in the past and, of course, about Dewi Sant himself, I wrote this lengthy article last year. nathenamin.substack.com/p/dydd-gwyl-...

A piece by me on why the Curriculum for Wales needs to change if we want more Welsh history to be taight in our schools. nation.cymru/opinion/if-w...

A piece by me on why the Curriculum for Wales needs to change if we want more Welsh history to be taight in our schools. nation.cymru/opinion/if-w...

An event to bring together current, recent and future Welsh History postgrads in Swansea. Any queries just let me know! Signup here: forms.office.com/e/jBcZ05m2TR

Fully-funded AHRC PhD studenship at Swansea on Childhood, Play & Policymaking in Wales, 1945 to the present www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DQM758/p...

An event to bring together current, recent and future Welsh History postgrads in Swansea. Any queries just let me know! Signup here: forms.office.com/e/jBcZ05m2TR

I'm speaking at this charity event in Cardiff about how to write history.

Today i examined a brilliant PhD on Welsh fishing heritage, chatted to tutees about skills & their futures, looked over illustrations for a kids book I've written, & plotted research ideas with colleagues. Unis are rubbish places to work at the moment but there are good days.

In the 17th and 18th centuries combing your hair with your hand was called using a Welsh comb, presumably a prejorative reference to Welsh poverty. greensdictofslang.com/entry/v3qaxka

Workers’ Cafe, Salford, 1957, photo by Neil Libbert.