We're delighted to share a new project from our VCH colleagues. The most recent (and only) VCH red book on Devon was published in 1906!

Join us on 20 July (1pm) for the second online session from the recently launched Inclusive Archival Practice Network! This webinar will focus on the importance of advocating for inclusive practice within your organisations: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/inclusive-...

🚨 Places are filling fast for our Sustainability Action Planning workshop on 9 July (10am – 12pm): www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/sustainabi... This practical and engaging workshop, led by Lorraine Finch, will empower you to create an effective plan for your own archive!

Hopefully exciting news for anyone interested in medieval religious communities in general and in Devon in particular. Paging @lsangha.bsky.social, @westgarthdes.bsky.social, @graffitiginger.bsky.social, @balhnews.bsky.social. #Skystorians

We are delighted to share the news that the latest new VCH project is live. We have published only one volume for #Devon to date, and now Professor Nicholas Orme has begun the process of developing text on the county's medieval religious houses. The first drafts are now available. #Skystorians 1/3

Today the government repealed the 1824 Vagrancy Act. The focus has been on rough sleeping but the government has also accidentality repealed one of the most anti-Romani pieces of legislation. I've been researching the act and here's why its interesting www.gov.uk/government/n... 1/5

You might wonder - since our predecessors completed entries for the entire county of Buckinghamshire, and between the wars (though much of the research was before 1914), there was something of a focus on estates and houses - what we had to say about this place, right? #Skystorians

Extensively and knowledgeably edited by John Chandler after I left the project, my research on local and national politics in Chippenham borough can be found within, just a small part of the wider work. Congratulations all who saw this volume through.

We have finally braved the heat and retrieved our copy of our latest #BigRedBook! Wiltshire vol. 20, Chippenham and Environs will soon be available from @boydellandbrewer.bsky.social and a copy is already available @ihrlibrary.bsky.social. #Skystorians

It’s been an amazing week the @vch-home.bsky.social volume I have worked on since 2018 is in my hands, the exhibition @chippenhammuseum.bsky.social I curated with @anecdotalksb.bsky.social has launched, I’ve recorded a women’s history podcast & shot a video with @paulwhitewick.bsky.social! 😁

A privilege & delight to watch @johnhchandler.bsky.social & @lrylandepton.bsky.social unwrap the the product of all their hard work - the latest volume from @vch-home.bsky.social @wiltshistory.bsky.social👏 Formal launch in July. #chippenham #wiltshire #history #skystorians #newbook

A week to go! #SeasideHeritage

Our copies are, apparently, somewhere in the vicinity of either a mail van or the university Post Room. It is too hot to enquire, but we're beyond pleased to see that @lrylandepton.bsky.social has her authorial copy of the latest @wiltshistory.bsky.social volume, 20, on Chippenham and its area. 🗃️

Ottery St Mary 1903. While this is the childhood home of Samuel Taylor Coleridge (again we are reminded how impossibly rich these islands are in terms of creative output. Every hamlet seems to have birthed a… Hamlet… or similar!), the ecclesiastical history of the area is the focus of our map today.

So proud to have been on the team that produced 👇. It is a great exhibition even if I say so myself. 😁

🚨 Brand new post: Bedford, Part I to 1945: Controversy and Construction - Bedford was the only town found in default of the 1919 Housing Act's mandate to build 'homes for heroes'. But it went on to build over 1100 council homes by 1939. municipaldreams.wordpress.com/2026/06/16/b...

Join us tomorrow to learn more about Thomas More and suburban London! Find out more: www.balh.org.uk/event-balh-t... #WeAreLocalHistory #LocalHistoryForAll

This reconstruction of a carnyx is truly incredible! If you want to see an original, the 'Norfolk Carnyx' in Norwich Castle Museum featured as a frontispiece in our April #AntiquityEditorial Read it 🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...

If you are feeling that you are missing out on the London International Palaeography School, it is not too late to book for Birmingham…

This history of elements of modern #Loughborough is another of our forthcoming attractions. It will include the amazingly involved branches of protestant nonconformity, the cultural expressions of the town's many migrant communities, druids, and - of course - sport. Lots of sport. #Skystorians

Like maps? art? Combine the two at this workshop! 31 July, 3:30-5pm, @rgs.org and led by Steph Morris and #FREE to all! (registration required). #skystorians 🗃️

Have used the Victoria County History for decades. Any opportunity to bring its excellent work to people’s attention. Not on the payroll - just a fan.

This fascinating preview of our next #BigRedBook on Yorkshire's East Riding shows how we can connect the built environment with the documented history of a region, in this case, the Yorkshire Wolds at Nunburnholme. 🗃️

Huge thanks to @pstafford.bsky.social for this (unsolicited, we promise), praise. #Skystorians

Did you know archives are about much more than family and house history? Archives are vital for holding governments and organisations to account, proving citizen rights, preserving community memory and contributing to the wellbeing of individuals and society. #IAW2026 #ArchivesforJustice

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

Now discounted in our summer sale! Were place-name clusters in Mercia strategic? Sarah J. Wager questions the evidence and offers new insights. #Mercia www.herts.ac.uk/uhpress/book...

Join us tomorrow for our free talk by the City Archivist, Industrial River: The photographs of William Jackson. Explore Hull's maritime scenes from the 1930s-40s and share your memories too! Hull History Centre, 12:30pm @hulllibraries.bsky.social @hullcitycouncil.bsky.social

Good Morning Historians, Archivists and allied trades! Want to develop your #Latin? Improve your #Palaeography? Be able to understand the documents you want to use (for whatever purpose), more readily? Available at the end of July? Then can we recommend a #SummerSchool for you! #Skystorians

This sounds like an absolutely fascinating conference. #Skystorians #EnvironmentalHumanities

Delighted to be talking about #JohnAubrey so near his birthplace this Saturday in his 400th anniversary year. 😁 On the menu 🐉🐚👻🌍🌱💍🧙‍♀️🌩️

Still time to book for the 49th Palaeography Summer School in Birmingham this July! #Skystorians #SkillsForHistory

📣 The deadline for taking part in the annual UK archive sector survey has been extended to Friday 12 June We need significant response levels from every part of the sector so we can use this data to advocate for archives nationwide! Take part today: www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/archives-sec...

Still time to book for the 49th Palaeography Summer School in Birmingham this July! #Skystorians #SkillsForHistory

It’s 100 years since the first Birmingham School of Printing publication under the direction of typographer and printer, Leonard Jay. Kathyrn, one of our Archivists looks further: theironroom.wordpress.com/2026/06/01/l... Ref: E 094/BIR/1927 #LibraryofBham @unibirmingham.bsky.social

If this sounds (for those of a certain age), like the history equivalent of 'Time Team', then...

Ahead of next week's #MBS26 conference, our website is now live! Check out our new blog series, Histories from Here, and our plans for prizes and conferences in Modern British Studies modbritstud.org.uk

We still have a few remaining tickets for our STAR workshop on Wednesday, book your ticket below 👇

New on Substack, my post on municipal Saltash - a borough church, Corbusian library, and a council house doorway dating to 1584: municipaldreams.substack.com/p/municipal-...

We're delighted to be in this Starter Pack (and thank you for the follows). #Skystorians

We can't help but notice that National Tea Day was the other week.

Our Lost Victorian Voices exhibition is currently on display at Buckingham Library! This was made as part of a National Lottery funded project that explored the hidden histories of LGBTQ+ individuals in our archive during the 19th century.

We love a project archive (not least because we have one of our own), this is facinating. #Skystorians

It's Friday, the kettle is on, and it has been HOT. Now, it is more temperate that tea will have at least one biscuit with it.

The Saffron Walden Historical Society has announced the relaunch of its long-running Historical Journal, with a redesigned full-colour edition due to return in spring 2026. Find out more: www.balh.org.uk/news-relaunc... #WeAreLocalHistory #LocalHistoryForAll

#ICYMI: The Kent Archaeological Society is inviting applications to the Allen Grove Local History Fund for 2026. Find out more: www.balh.org.uk/news-allen-g... #WeAreLocalHistory #LocalHistoryForAll

One of our latest #TenMinuteTalks is from Jo Burnham, who discusses the history of GH Hackett Builders of Park Gate, an important family building business operating in Hampshire during the 19th and 20th centuries. Listen to our full catalogue: www.balh.org.uk/ten-minute-t... #WeAreLocalHistory

Join us on 3rd October for a one-day conference exploring the maritime and local history of Watchet and West Somerset. This conference is in partnership with the South West Maritime History Society and the Somerset Industrial Archaeology Society; find out more: www.balh.org.uk/event-balh-m...