A fab day with Up An' At 'Em History at #Blaenavon for all things early #WW2 and #HomeFront - looking forward to a splendid day with great folks!

In case you're near the capital tomorrow and want to get your hands on some history, why not join me in Greenwich Park for their #Archaeology Welcome Day where I shall be #Roman all over the place... www.royalparks.org.uk/wha.../archa...

It's been a fabulous day at the majestic Laugharne Castle for Cadw presenting a #Tudor tournament with Up An' At 'em History - I sadly lost today, so am feeling a bit blue...

Having a lovely day supporting a Primary History Workshops #WW2 workshop...we are keeping the kids in line (by providing exciting hands-on activities) with a fab afternoon to look forward to! #Learning #PrimarySchool

Off to Leicester this weekend for the #Siege380 event...but what should I wear? Tis such an issue when one has a larger c17th wardrobe than a modern day one...

Looking back over last year's #Tudor tournament at @nationaltrust.org.uk Igtham Mote in preparation for next month's outing at Cadw's Laugharne Castle - note to self, make sure to break his spear early on, it is quite the advantage of reach!

Almost ready to head to the Bosworth Battlefield tomorrow for a day of #Vikings with some histories and stories, shield walls and spears. From Lindisfarne to Stamford Bridge it should be a lot of fun!

I am a very lucky sausage - not only do I deliver loads of school workshops, but I get to bring the past alive at amazing museums and fabulous historic sites across the country! Its #InternationalMuseumsDay today so please consider supporting your local museums - which is your favourite?

This!

This late 15th-century armor for jousting in the Worcester Art Museum shows how helmets were devised this way to deflect lance blows. This guy caught many, and lingering dents tell a story of tournaments in steel. Pretty amazing to see today.

Fellow #Renaissance #earlymodern #bookhistory #rarebooks #skystorians, what would you list as the key highlights of early modern book history? Think printing innovations, landmark publications, shifts in literacy, censorship etc. Curious to hear your (especially lesser-known) takes! 💙📚📜

It's #Victorians at Cadw Blaenavon Ironworks, with a fabulous site and lovely folks - including the delicious Ragged Victorians - it's well worth a visit!

Fun day teaching year 3s about #RomanBritain, with many recruited for the Legions... I got to take part in the Making Marvellous Mosaics session too - and made a mini Marcus! What do you think? Should I stick to the day job, or is there a possible career in mosaic making ahead?

It's #Vikings with Primary History Workshops today, so lots of object handling, storytelling, games, runes, and most important of all is lists of hands-on fun!

We have completed two of three runs of @thekeyofdreams.co.uk and before I reset ready for the third and final show this month I thought it right to introduce, very briefly, two important characters among our cast and in our stories...

Ready for the second run of the Key of Dreams - the first run was just fab, with super guests and stories aplenty, so looking forward to finding out what the next twenty four hours will bring...

On Tuesday I was lucky enough to be invited to take a journey through the #Brumhole to talk with folks from other Birminghams across the world to promote Joe Lycett's #TheUnitedStatesOfBirmingham Always lovely to promote Aston Hall, and it was just a lovely day!

Not only this — and this is a big deal — but how on earth will the police ensure that male officers won’t be allowed to search cis women who look a bit butch and can’t prove they’re women?

Stronghold Reenactment will be visiting Avoncroft Museum of Buildings for a #MedievalMayDay so join them at my sometimes-workplace on Sunday 4th and Monday 5th May - tickets available on the door, or order in advance (also the tearoom does amazing cake). avoncroft.org.uk/product/may-...

I'm gearing up for a return to Wales for a fortnight at Treowen with the #KeyOfDreams - we've three runs this time (I think there are a couple of last minute tickets available still), and I'm looking forward to meeting up with some really fab folks!

It's food with a sixteenth century bent at Hasland Village Hall for Chesterfield 'museum on the move', with Up An' At 'Em History - lovely and tasty stuff!

Dire: historians of 17th century absolutism “please don’t make our expertise relevant!”

It's the last #ThreeLittlePigs storytelling and buildings day for this month at Avoncroft Museum of Buildings and it's a beautiful day with a great school. Up the windmill this afternoon!

What was a Yeoman Warder of Henry VIII doing at Raglan Castle? Now there is a very good question - what does a unique castle in Wales have to do with the Tudor dynasty - and why was it raining on the day I was there?!

Women played an important role in policing 13th-century England. Women couldn't be in frankpledge or sit on juries, but they were still required to raise the hue & cry, they chased criminals when need be, and were required to attend trials when they witnessed crime or discovered bodies. 🧵1/5

Yay, annual @alcs.co.uk payment time! If you’ve published a book or an article in the UK - sign up! It only takes a few mins and it’s more important than ever to recognise the rights of authors. Plus it’s such a nice surprise every year to get the payout! 📚

It's our field to loaf school workshop today, so exploring every stage of bread making at Avoncroft Museum of Buildings. Lovely!

It's some photography for Stronghold Reenactment's Medieval May Day at Avoncroft Museum which is going to be a lot of fun! Lovely to be in period kit in period places!

Needs a little touching up, some looking/pulling, and much worrying that the colours are somehow not right...but another world is mostly painted, ready for a #Viking workshop next week!

It is #InternationalDayOfHappiness today, so here are two things that have brought a smile to my face - my freshly painted buckler (no doubt end up much less pretty after use) and a note I was given from a pupil at a school I visited. No prizes for guessing the subject though...

Just spotted this #HorribleHistories video which I was in...can you see my first foray into Roman things? youtu.be/Zxuc9WVZOVM?...

It has been a lovely weekend for some shopping - two reenactment markets means more spending than is wise, but plenty added to my Roman impression, plus material for a new tunica and cloak, along with more medieval kit, some pocket fillers, and even a new rapier hanger. New armour not pictured...

It's a photo shoot day at Warwick and it's the #Tudor period.... What do you think?

Can't join us live on 19 March? 📽️ Don't panic - we'll be recording the session, and we'll upload it afterwards to our YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/@MaterialWills 🧵3/3 #citizenscience #earlymodern @uoearchhist.bsky.social @leverhulme.bsky.social @zooniverse.bsky.social @cemsexeter.bsky.social

It's adult education today, and we are making hazel hurdles at Avoncroft Museum which is going splendidly. It's brisk and bright, dry and just lovely, so it's a really lovely day so far!

I'm doing a little promotional filming at @birmingham_mag for the only UK stop of the #Rembrandt watching exhibition. It's going well so far, and all looking just stunning!

It's back to the first century and another day of #Romans (they go the house?), so far so fun! Lots of smiles, a few wrinkled noises at how to clean your bottom, but the skies are blue and I'm having a lovely time. Hope you are too!

It's a #Tudor day today, taking a year two primary class from Bosworth Field to James the VI &I, so wish me luck for a high energy day!

On 8–10 October 2025, LUCK will organise the second international History of Knowledge Conference. Our Call for Papers/Panels has now been published and we encourage you to submit an abstract: newhistoryofknowledge.com/2025/02/17/t...

If you're able to vote in this year's #hugoawards, please vote for The Key of Dreams in best interactive or game category 💛🙏💛 www.thekeyofdreams.co.uk/blog/hugo-nominations #immersivetheatre #weirdfiction #worldconglasgow2024 #worldconseattle2025 www.thekeyofdreams.co.uk/blog/hugo-nominations

Happy 14th February, and Saint #ValentinesDay But...who is Saint Valentine, and what does he have to do with love?? A third-century martyr. Patron saint of engaged couples, marriage, bees and beekeepers, the island of Lesbos, epilepsy, the plague...and love! www.youtube.com/watch?v=IhGY...

Tis the #ThreeLittlePigs at Avoncroft Museum of Buildings and it's a delightful, high spirited, and just adorable class of reception kids today. They've worn me out and after eating luck, so time to get everything away and regret not bringing a sandwich!

I'm visiting splendid Aston Hall and having a lovely day taking civil war, doing some light object handling, and just being in one of my favourite places. Great to be back!

Earlier this month I was lucky enough to be part of a contingent from Stronghold Reenactment who were invited to do some filming for @saxonofficial747.bsky.social - a touch of the year of 4 English kings, Godwinson, the Conqueror, and a lot of mud! Can you spot me? www.youtube.com/watch?v=-QOR...

🙌Funded PhD Opportunity!🙌 Please do share widely. The DCU School of History and Geography is currently advertising paid PhD opportunities esp in Medieval Ireland, the history of Irish towns and cities, legal history and women’s and gender history www.dcu.ie/historygeogr...

Turns out I'm not the only one who thinks our work on the @KeyOfDreams is good...

Having just come from the back of an excellently fun run of the #KeyOfDreams - very different people, very good fun for me! So...if you can vote in this year's #HugoAwards please vote for us for best interactive or game category. Make Wyn smile! www.thekeyofdreams.co.uk/blog/hugo-no...

Hello to all new followers! I post eclectic #earlymodern and medicine research snippets I find fun and endearing. Below Charles II's coat of arms on Salvator Winter's commercial flier from 1679 - my fave #17thC 'quack'. Giving a small talk about him this week: 'Charles II's Catholic Quack'...