Yes, this is a big point! Thank you Teresa.

So, part of my job is to see what people are making of the history of our Hospital. Bethlem partly exists in the gothic, horror-adjacent end of history, and so attracts a certain kind of presentation. Restraints, gore, electrodes, I thought I'd seen it all. Until... ...I stumbled onto this book.

Hmm, I wonder if anyone has ever asked them about the Aylesbury tunnels?

The first half of this was the funniest thing I've read this week (the governance shenanigans are amazing), but by the end it's clear that this is actually about the tragedy of a bunch of ideologues* totally failing to care properly for the young people in their charge. * Other words are available

This obviously flies in the face of my reading of the two Taytos, which is one of irreconcilable difference and entrenched hostility entirely incomprehensible to outsiders (like me).

Come & work with me! Senior Archivist (Military Records Project) at The National Archives (UK). £39.5k pa. Apply by Sunday 25 January. #ArchivesJobs www.civilservicejobs.service.gov.uk/csr/jobs.cgi...

🖼️ It's the last Saturday of the Bethlem Art Fair! There's still loads of gorgeous, one-of-a-kind, affordable art to be found: from sculpture to greetings cards, pottery to oil painting. Don't miss out! Open 9:30-5pm - entry is free #affordableart #bethlemmuseumofthemind Bethlem Gallery

Well, Matt certainly graduated from 'oh, who's he? The other Irish one?' in this episode.

I highly recommend @drsoandsoresearch.bsky.social - she transcribed the diary of Joseph Bell for me while I was writing SLEUTH-HOUND. I think she's the only person in the world who can read his atrocious handwriting! She's a brilliant researcher, and she just passed her viva (congrats, Dr. So!)

We're looking for a Level 3 Library, Information and Archives Services Assistant Apprentice to join the @newsukarchives.bsky.social team. Details here: www.newscareers.co.uk/vacancies/41... Please share with anyone who might be interested.

any UK archive friends interested in a small archive-adjacent project? paid and entirely remote. DM me

BBC running Ripper-adjacent Victorian murder mystery doc followed by a Titanic sinking reconstruction in one evening? Thoughts and prayers for my colleagues manning the enquiry services out there, it'll be a week.

‘Warm Spaces have also been set up again across the capital in libraries, churches and community spaces for people to get a hot drink and stay in the warmth during the day time.’ #libraries #homelessness

Only ONE week left to explore the Bethlem Art Fair! 🎨🖼️ Discover unique, affordable pieces and take home something truly special. Don’t miss out! Open today 9:30am-5pm. #bethlemgallery #bethlemartfair Bethlem Gallery #affordableart

Severe Weather Emergency Protocol activated in London ❄️ The temperature is due to drop below freezing tonight, and emergency accommodation is open across the capital for those sleeping rough. If you are sleeping rough or know someone who is, connect to support via StreetLink thestreetlink.org.uk

Just been reminded - through pretty shit family circumstances - that seven years ago I spent New Year's Eve with my dying grandmother. My sister and mother were measuring out drugs for a future that likely wouldn't come. I was on tea duty. It was a great night. We laughed. We cried.

My in-laws are Northern Ireland Catholic, and they regard this real-time validation of everything Republican politics has ever said about the UK both as extremely validating (for them) and a bit strange (in it's strategic stupidity).

I love it when the guys doing the work on the material I look after understand the issues around it.

How do we feel about licensing our databases so FMP/Ancestry can paywall them? I did a lot of work for FreeBMD before I ever went pro…

In case Christmas isn't a happy time for you or someone you know. Please share

are you bored at Christmas? want an opportunity to escape from your relatives because you are Making Valuable Contributions to Scholarship? can I interest you in looking at (labelled!) slides from the early 20th century, architecture and archaeology? all I need you to do is write down the label.

Reading a report that states that 'survey respondents reported frustration that innovation is frequently equated with technology alone' and yet has so far mentioned AI on every single one of its pages up till then. How long till Christmas?

Organising an event? Build in adequate breaks and PROTECT THE BREAKS. #1000SmallThings for a more inclusive HE

There was a really interesting thread about archive accessibility on here a few months back. Pre-FoI this sort of requirement was not untypical in Britain though, and given the trajectory of politics this sort of thing may yet return Hope someone can help William- maybe @willdalrymple.bsky.social

Can anyone who has used the National Archives of India recently explain what current entry requirements are? They seem to have changed from getting a letter of introduction from your consulate and institution to getting a 'character certificate': nationalarchives.nic.in/research-and...

Karen ftw.

If you randomly have this kids 2016 Barcelona kit in the back of your cupboard and can save Christmas in my house please get in touch 🤞

Didn't this chase Patrick McGoohan down the beach in the sixties?

Hello! I’m seeking volunteers to be interviewed for my PhD thesis on the cultural significance of the tailored suit within queer communities during the 1970s and 1980s. If you’re interested and would like more information, please contact me. Thank you, and feel free to share this with your networks!

To all Interrail fans: the 25% sale is on until 17 December! Pounce, my friends, pounce. Tickets valid for a year from the date of purchase. @tracelarkhall.bsky.social www.interrail.eu/en

should probably have used this to publicise the fact that I could really do with a bit of volunteer help on these (digitised) letters! collections.sal.org.uk/san.19.02 can promise you that 1. it's pretty straighforward and 2. one of them contains a very cute drawing. DMs are open

Looking forward to reading this, and great to see some familiar names amongst the authors.

History UK has today released its 'History UK Disability and History Report' (2025): bit.ly/44PH51Z The report aims to raise the profile of issues relating to disability and history in UK Higher Education. Its research and writing were co-funded by the Royal Historical Society. #Skystorians

It's only a tangential point, but a lot of my researchers looking at our records ask me a variation on 'how did this happen?' in regards to previous forms of mental health treatment. This is still the best answer I have.

Who has made this 🤣

Still stuck for gift ideas? We have #Christmas2025 bargains here at #Bexley Archives. ⭐️Bargains on our books, plus 3 for 2 on our Old Ordnance Survey maps. ⭐️And if you aren’t able to visit us to make your purchase, we are offering free postage to UK addresses until 18 December.

Don't just think about buying our new album

❓Question please for #Skystorians - has anyone come across examples of people being baptised in punch bowls in 17th and 18th-century England? We've found one in a will ... 🗃️

Can you still get BNA access via Caffè Nero?

Celebrating Museum Shop Sunday all week in our online shop! Find unique, meaningful gifts and support Bethlem Museum of the Mind! Link in bio 🎄🛍️🎁🎀 #BethlemMuseumOfTheMind #MuseumShopSunday @museumshops.bsky.social #museumshops #ShopWithPurpose #shoplocal #beckenham #westwickham #croydon #bromley

#Archives 📣 Please speak up for #Greenwich Archives - currently only available a few hours a month. It needs a new accessible home and this may be it! Pls encourage the council by completing this survey royalgreenwichplanning.commonplace.is/en-GB/propos...

In a recent conversation around health records there was the assumption that the record system was constructed for the convenience of staff and patients. I had to make the point that actually it's about the convenience of the administrative system. At its worst, that leads to this.

I enjoyed writing this, I hope others enjoy reading it! Thanks to Philip Milnes-Smith for the title, and more importantly for editing what I gave him into something readable. Lots more of this @bethlemmuseum.bsky.social

Great to see the St Bride Foundation get involved in this sort of thing, it's such a rich resource.

I met Neftalem at the weekend and was impressed with him and the importance of his research. Please help if you are able or encourage people you may know to help. (Reposts welcome.)

Ok so here’s the great thing - ANY of you can come and look at these. Yes they’re in York, but seriously, YOU can come and look at the script for your fave story, see how they were made into novels, dive in to how they came to be….for free! You can just come and do it! We need to do a list first tho

I should really go back and watch Time Team with my accumulated archive knowledge. Even as a kid the amount of times they seemed to ignore what people from the time had actually written down really bugged me. I bet it was all Mick's fault.

Really interesting meeting about healthcare records hosted by the DPC today. Going to take a while to digest all of it, but it seems that there's a totally different conception of how record keeping should work in relation to health out there.

@dannyheifetz.bsky.social @dannybkelly.bsky.social I think you guys will enjoy this...