Well that's that one out of the way... Happy New Year 2026!

Question for anyone with past connections to St Winefrides Convent, #Shrewsbury: When did the school year begin, 1970 era - Easter or September? I was told Easter as it was a Catholic private school, but school fee receipts I have found begin for the September term. 📷 1970, summer uniform.

The epitaph of Naseby is usually overlooked by most commentaries: The Farndon Massacre should not be forgotten, and surely there should be a memorial in the likely location? #Naseby #EnglishCivilWar #Warsof3Kingdoms #BritishCivilWars www.keepyourpowderdry.co.uk/2024/05/the-...

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The Daughter & Myself decided a SERIOUS book safari was required! So was a shopping trolley 😆 Mine & hers...

More BCW Project news! The Regimental Wiki is mostly back online (still sorting a few formatting issues). Link from front page needs amending (a job for another day). In the meantime you can find it at wiki.BCW-project.org.uk #Warsof3Kingdoms #BritishCivilWars #EnglishCivilWar

Who Filled An Army’s Ranks? ⚔️ Armies of the English Civil Wars were made up of a range of experience and ages. While young apprentices flocked to join Parliament’s cause at the outbreak of the wars, soldiers that had fought overseas in the Thirty Years War were also sought after. 📷: Wendy Williams

It's back! bcw-project.org.uk At the moment the Project part of the site is back up and running, a few bits have been turned off for now (you can't donate to the running of the site, or contact us yet). The Wiki might take a bit longer I'm afraid. 1/3

🎉 We’re delighted to unveil the speakers for the inaugural Stuart History Festival. It’s going to be a celebration of (what we believe is) the most dramatic, dazzling, and divisive period in British history! 📅 5-6 July, The Old Palace, Worcester ....

My book with @reaktionbooks.bsky.social is now on their website and is available to pre-order! So excited to see this 🌟 reaktionbooks.co.uk/work/voices-... #earlymodern #earlymodernwomen

Those churches built on hollow hills, built next to old paths, cannot help but exude a sense of the pagan. They sit uneasily in the land, become ghost generators, sanctuaries for strange stories. They try to present themselves as nexus of community life, but death is in their stones. – #DAKilroy

Here's an unusual new acquisition, as it's a bit of our own history. A copy of our earliest guidebook, produced a few months after we first opened in October 1962. It's fascinating to see how our collection has developed, expanded and improved since then! #ObjectOfTheWeek

🎙NEW EPISODE 🎙 The latest episode of The Shropshire Witches Podcast discusses the fascinating world of pirates! From medieval sea thieves to men like blackbeard. Sail away with us as we explore pirate fact and pirate fiction ☠️ media.rss.com/the-shropshi... #Pirates #History #Folklore #Pirate

✨️NEW POST✨️ My latest blog post discusses the complex story of Emma Davies, who was at the centre of 'The Shropshire Hoax' in 1883. Though not a traditional ghost story, I believe her story is important. nearlyknowledgeablehistory.blogspot.com/2025/05/the-... #Shropshire #History #Folklore #ghosts

⚔️#OTD 1643, Battle of Stratton. Despite being outnumbered 2 to 1, Ralph Hopton's royalists battle up a steep hill for hours & rout the Earl of Stamford's 6000 parliamentarians. Hopton captures 1700 prisoners, 13 artillery pieces & secures #Cornwall.

The top of the reading heap has taken an interesting detour...

#EarlyModern #17thC

Tickets are on sale now for our spring online lecture series, starting in May. Four top historians over successive weeks on aspects of the 1600s, this time covering subjects from radical republicans, religious groups and the outbreak of the civil war... www.cromwellmuseum.org/events/cromw...

Apparently this is on YouTube in all its 1974 finery. It was my favourite programme at the time. Off to relive memories go I! This inspired me to spend 6 months dressed as the Kaiser. (No cosplay this time round though, the Kaiser & I had a bit of a falling out over a few matters 🧐)

"Reverend Mother, I have sinned."

#OnThisDay 2 April 1649 a petition signed by 80,000 people (a huge number for the time), calling for the release of the Leveller John Lilburne and his associates accused of treason, was presented to the Council of State. #17thCentury #OTD #Levellers

Crispy book time!!! A History of Shropshire, 1825, with a whole history of its own to delve into by the looks of it. With MANY thanks to the Raven Bookshop - to be found on FB & Instagram, & the Market Hall Shrewsbury if you wish to pay a visit in person. #Shrewsbury #ShrewsburyBookshops

During the civil wars, Lord & Lady Brooke made Warwick Castle a stronghold for Parliament and withstood a Royalist siege. The new TWTUD explores the lives of the men & women revealed in the household accounts of Lord & Lady Brooke between 1640 and 1649 www.worldturnedupsidedown.co.uk/podcast/a-fa...

I grew up hearing about the ghost railways of old Shropshire... (the interpretation of a small child whose mother travelled to school on the Severn Valley 😉) Disused tracks & ruined bridges from the railway's demise in 1963. It was already under threat of closure. We got the M54 in exchange...

Yes I have thoughts @muinchille.bsky.social, which I can express here as I am 🔒on X. What is described is PART of a bigger system which included other social reforms & opportunity for emigration, so if used in its entirety would possibly be detrimental to Ireland at the time.

What was ‘slighting’ a castle? 🏰 Despite their victory, many Parliamentarians feared Royalist uprisings, and so the decision was taken to dismantle, or ‘slight’, many castles across England to ensure they could not be used for military action again. 📷: Michael Molcher

New blog for @HistParl - does Oliver Cromwell’s ‘Other House’ offer some lessons for those looking to reform the House of Lords? historyofparliament.com/2025/03/25/o...

24 Mar 1663: The Province of Carolina granted #otd to eight Lords Proprietor by Charles II in gratitude for their help in his Restoration (British Museum) ...How do I thank my friends? I know, I’ll ‘give’ them a chunk of North America...

24 Mar 1661: The Mayor of #Youghal, #Cork, Richard Myre, authorises the arrest of Florence Newton for alleged withcraft #otd A notorious & sensational case at the time.

24 Mar 1607: b. Michiel de Ruyter, future Lieutenant-admiral general of the United Provinces #otd at Vlissingen. #Dutch hero of the Anglo-Dutch wars

#Stuart400 To mark the 400th anniversary of King Charles I's accession, I'm giving a new & free online talk about the man who raised Charles - his tutor, Thomas Murray. Q&A afterwards. Find out how the Scotsman shaped Charles's character. 🎟️https://eventbrite.co.uk/e/1298653560759?aff=oddtdtcreator

A very old hot cross bun, on display in the Tudor House museum in Southampton. It was once rumoured to have been carried on board the Mayflower, apparently #hotcrossbun #mayflower #medieval

That’s not a cow! That’s a bear! 🐻

🚨 THIS WEEK🚨 Forget the myths—Cromwell and the Levellers weren’t on the same page. @1642author.bsky.social explains how this political movement sought more radical changes than even Cromwell wanted. 🎧 #Levellers #CivilWarHistory Listen now 🎧 pod.fo/e/2b957f #Histor#Levellers#CivilWarHistory#History#Podcast

Goodnight from Sara Nunn, nursing her newborn and whispering charms against Faery theft. Goodnight from Jenna Swallow, feeling the crush of ghosts at Hook railway station despite the fact she’s the only one waiting for the milk train to London. Goodnight from Hookland.

Madison Square Garden has a notable history of being used as a location for mass meetings of far-right and overtly racist political movements in U.S. history.

This is literally Neo-Nazi propaganda. Textbook ethno-nationalist ideology that aligns with every far-right movement in Europe.

Somewhere between What Did the Romans Do For Us & the 20th Century pre bypasses...

Always ends up getting her own way. #PlaymobilInfestation

👻New Episode 👻 In our latest episode we take a deep dive into supernatural hoaxes. What makes a ghost a ghost? Why do people pretend to see ghosts? What can we learn from these pretend spirits? We hope you enjoy! media.rss.com/the-shropshi... #Paranormal #Shropshire #ghosts #folklore

Silver seal thought to have been used by parliamentarian Sir John Bourchier in 1649 to seal the death warrant of Charles I.

23 Mar 1649: Sir Abraham Reynardson Lord Mayor of #London refuses #otd to proclaim the Act Abolishing the Kingship - subsequently imprisoned on foot of a Commons order.

23 Mar 1674: d. Henry Cromwell, Oliver's son, Lord Lieutenant of #Ireland 1655-59 (BM) #otd

23 Mar 1660: Samuel Pepys #diarist goes to sea #otd on The Swiftsure to collect Charles II for his return to #England

24 June 1649: Fr Mercure Verdier writes to Rome about the Irish Jesuits. Among other things, he notes that each owns a watch 'and spends much time on it' Love of devices is nothing new. Watch with alarm, calendar and case. Made in #London 1645-1648 by Sampson Shelton (BM)

23 Mar 1649: Oliver Cromwell outlines his strategy for #Ireland #otd - especially touching the "redistribution" of lands.

We don't realise the importance of a good early years education programme until we cannot access it. The issues would include a fair degree of SEN assistance which was also inaccessible during the period.

"Well, boys, you have done your work, now you may go and play—if you don't fall out among yourselves." Jacob Astley, 21st March 1646 The ghost of Lord Astley denies all knowledge of recent politics & is not on social media.

Happy St Gertrude's Day... 🐀🐀🐀👈🏽

🚨 THIS WEEK🚨 Discover the real driving forces behind the English Civil Wars with historian @1642author.bsky.social . It wasn't about democracy—it was a battle for power, deeply rooted in religion. 🎙️ #HistoryUncovered Listen now 🎧 pod.fo/e/2b957f #Histor#HistoryUncovered#History#Podcast