Join us tomorrow (Fri 8th) 8pm, at Wade Street church in Lichfield when Nadia Awal joins us to talk about the Black Country Living Museum's ambitious Forging Ahead project which saw the museum transformed with the addition of a 1940s-60s Black Country town. £3 on the door for non-Member visitors.

Excited to be delivering the keynote at this years @midlandhistory.bsky.social conference at Newark Civil War Centre on 6th June!

Applications are now invited for the Society's 2026 Funded Book Workshops - for historians currently writing a 2nd or 3rd monograph bit.ly/4uwep8C. Grants enable authors to hold a day workshop with upto 6 specialist readers to discuss a MS in detail before submission to a publisher #Skystorians

🌟Public event 🌟 at Dudley Archives The Linguistic Heritage of the Black Country – How Do We Make a Dialect Dictionary? 📆Tues 26 May 2 sessions available 10:00-12:30 or 1:30-4:00 All welcome! @estherinwolves.bsky.social @blackcountrysoc.bsky.social

Looking forward to giving my second talk for the Lichfield Waterworks Trust - this time looking at the development of urban waste management systems and better sanitation to address public health issues Mon 11 May

We've got a very old fire engine and a riveting machine if that sweetens the deal

#BMAG Birmingham Media Archive Project: The First Decade 1982–1992 explores the city’s neglected media heritage through the work of the organisations who were active in that period - www.birminghammuseums.org.uk/exhibitions/... #LibraryofBham #BM_AG

For this week’s blog, John Townley from FoBAH explains what the organisation does to support us in making the documents held here more accessible to you. theironroom.wordpress.com/2026/05/04/w... Do get in touch if you’re thinking of joining: [email protected] #LibraryofBham #FoBAH_Org

This month's Walk Midlands Newsletter was sent to subscribers this morning Ft. new walking routes in Warwickshire, West Midlands and Worcestershire Check it out and subscribe👇 walkmidlandsnewsletter.substack.com/p/walk-midla...

Join us for the inaugural Malcolm Dick OBE Annual Lecture in Midlands History ⚔️ Warwick Castle During the English Civil War by Professor Andrew Hopper ⚔️ When: 21 May, 16:30 (followed by drinks reception) Where: University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Alan Walters Building, Room G11 Everyone welcome!

Joined a packed house for @birminghamdispatch.bsky.social first ever Hustings #Birmingham Yes the bins but questions/topics from audience included flags, addressing 18-24 year old unemployment (particularly those with disabilities), council tax increases & seeking refund of overpaid pension funds

2 #FoxofTheDay showing teamwork (one to keep watch to see when breakfast is coming while the other has a nice nap on the patio) 🦊🦊

Enjoyed a visit to @nationaltrust.org.uk Coventry Charterhouse - site of Carthusian priory of St Anne founded in 1381 - only a few buildings remain with wall painting finished in 1417 -learnt so much from the volunteer guides

Happy Earth Day! 🌍 Earth Day was first celebrated in 1970 to demonstrate worldwide support for environmental protection. The HA supports the teaching of climate histories and you can explore the environmental themed editions of our journals on our website. www.history.org.uk/primary/cate...

The Department of Art History, Curating and Visual Studies at University of Birmingham is looking to appoint a full-time teaching fellow Fixed term until June 2027

Dr Caroline Archer–Parre explores eighteenth-century typeface punches and how a three-year funded project by BCU and Cambridge scholars is reshaping our understanding: theironroom.wordpress.com/2026/04/20/t... Ref: WK/B11/1140 #LibraryofBham @typetweets.bsky.social @Baskerville1707

Today we also open the call for applications to our 2026-27 Master's Scholarships programme: bit.ly/4dTHmXe Scholarships of £5000 are for students from groups currently underrepresented in academic history to study for an MA in history or a related subject. Closing date: Friday 5 June #Skystorians

The event is open to everyone and it is free to attend, but you must register on Eventbrite. Tickets are going fast, so please sign up asap to avoid disappointment www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/every-monu...

Birmingham-based peeps, there are still tickets available for this in-person event organised by BRIHC at @unibirmingham.bsky.social! A unique opportunity to hear @profdanhicks.bsky.social reflect on his work on heritage, memory and conflict in conversation with @corinnefowler.bsky.social

It's a month until the 2026 Midland Viking Symposium on 15 May. Sign up here! This year it's free, it's online and it's on a Friday. Please share. www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/sagas-the-...

#Birmingham Market Hall was a municipal hall based on the design of Charles Edge from 1835 until 1940 - the interior and roof were destroyed by bombing. The shell of the hall was occupied until demolition in the 1960s. Ref – WK/B11/3493 #LibraryofBham #bhamwsmkt

Francis thinks this sort of bold revamp sets the standard for Station Street, that they don't need to settle for faceless blocks of housing. We got experts to appraise the plans - they approved. But to succeed, Francis needs momentum from the public, or Glenbrook to agree. Can he do it?

#OuterCircle today marks the 100th anniversary of the start of the Outer Circle (Number 11) bus route. Here’s an illustrated description of the route and places of interest from 1927. Ref - Birmingham Guides C/2 (347423) #LibraryofBham

Join us on 17 October in Sherborne to learn about six centuries of protest. From the Peasants' Revolt to the "Wildcat" strikes, the conference will explore how these events have shaped communities and identities. Find out more: www.balh.org.uk/dorset26 #WeAreLocalHistory #LocalHistoryForAll

#MoseleySociety wish to appoint an Archivist to re-catalogue their collections. If you are interested please email them at [email protected] for further details #LibraryofBham @themoseleysociety.bsky.social

#BritishAsianHistory Home Away From Home looks at women's journeys from Mirpur, Pakistan to Birmingham. Interviews tell the stories of the women making new lives in the city. Women’s Lives in the Archives: tinyurl.com/JourneysFrom... Ref: MS 4760/35 #LibraryofBham #raqsartstudio

An exhibition marks 200 years of the University of Birmingham Medical School. Medical historian Jonathan Reinarz introduces some collection highlights in this short video @reinarz.bsky.social #histmed

📣Registration is now open 📣 for #SSHM2026 The Society's biennial conference In/Out will be held at University of Leeds 30 June -3 July 2026 #histmed

📣New initative for 2026 📣 The AWM Member Development Fund willl offer an opportunity to promote collaborative working across the region. Modest grants, open to #ArchivesWM membership, to support innovative or project-based work to develop and/or extend their service offer. More details soon!

There's just over a week left to submit your abstract for the New Voices in Midland History Conference before the 31 March deadline. Join us on Saturday 6 June at the National Civil War Centre in Newark to share your research about the history of our region. More details 👇

Meanwhile, for listings of local history societies in the UK, @balhnews.bsky.social has this helpful guide: www.balh.org.uk/societies-az #Skystorians

This week we released a select listing of 100 national history societies active in the UK & Ireland bit.ly/4rANJ52. These subject specialist societies enable research and promote the value of historical knowledge. Many are membership organisations and invite historians to join them #Skystorians

22 March is #WorldWaterDay ‘2.1 billion people living without access to safe water’ The theme Water and Gender ‘underrepresentation, funding, inadequate infrastructure, gender roles, restrictive social norms, and inequalities can cause women and girls to be impacted by water-related challenges’.

Great evening at The Exchange for public launch of the amazing Helios by @lukejerram.bsky.social and ‘Seeing the Sun’ exhibition. Informative Q&A with the artist and Prof. Bill Chaplin chaired by @profaliceroberts.bsky.social If in #Birmingham do visit and experience art and science until 1 Nov 🌅

A fantastic paper I encourage people to watch if they missed it

Did you know you can choose to publish #openaccess with Midland History 📖 Read open access articles on early modern printing by Caroline Archer-Parré and Victorian furniture trends by Roseanna Romaine Smith in our latest special issue on the Midlands Metal Trades 👇 tandfonline.com/toc/ymdh20/50/3

Consider submitting a proposal for this upcoming hybrid conference on Archives and Ethics! Experts from all fields are welcome! padlet.com/dturner2_23/... @astonuniversity.bsky.social @astonpress.bsky.social

Call for Papers: Archives and Ethics Conference - deadline 13 April. Experts from all fields welcome! padlet.com/dturner2_23/...

Would you or one of your service users/stakeholders relish the opportunity to join an ambitious, friendly network, helping to shape the future direction of #ArchivesWM, supporting #archive services across the West Midlands? The Board has 3 trustee vacancies from September 2026 - to learn more 👇

How Birmingham's torrid love affair with high-rise ended in tears. My concluding post looks at how and why the city's obsession with high-rise housing came to fail: municipaldreams.substack.com/p/post-war-h...

Submissions open for the @jofvictculture.bsky.social Graduate Student Essay Prize, 2026!! 📄 This is open to anyone either currently registered for a higher research degree or awarded one within past 3 years. Deadline October 1st 2026. Please share widely!! 🌟 academic.oup.com/jvc/pages/es...

#ICYMI: Save the date for our one-day conference, in association with Somerset and Dorset Notes and Queries, where we'll be looking at rebellion and protest across six centuries. Find out more: www.balh.org.uk/dorset26 #WeAreLocalHistory #LocalHistoryForAll

This week's new walking route is: Stone - Stafford 9.1 miles through the mid-Staffordshire countryside, and across Stafford Common, a large rare surviving example of town common land, still partially used for grazing animals Check it out👇 walkmidlands.co.uk/2026/03/12/s...

🚨 New on Substack: In 1971, Birmingham City Council owned 464 tower blocks, built in the preceding twenty years. By 2001, through transfer or demolition, only 305 remained. This first of a three-part post begins that story. municipaldreams.wordpress.com/2015/05/19/s...

🚨 New on Substack: the big buildings, large personalities and rampant corruption that marked Birmingham's high-rise council housing boom if the 1960s: municipaldreams.substack.com/p/post-war-h...

'A very nice chap, but ... a perfectionist' replaced by 'an appalling mediaeval baron of an architect, a man of zero architectural quality, a primeval creature'. How Birmingham sacrificed housing quality for quantity in its 1960s high-rise boom ... municipaldreams.substack.com/p/post-war-h...

I've loved my time with #ArchivesWM! We're a friendly, supportive group and are looking forward to welcoming some new trustees later this year.

... and in Jennifer Aston's prize winning essay on female business owners in late nineteenth-century Birmingham 👇 Check out our archive for these and many more histories of women in the Midlands. www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

... in Diane Strange's work on how widows had to fight for custody of their children in the early 17th century 👇 www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....