In the century leading up to 1975, nearly 6000 freighters went down in the Great Lakes. The Edmund Fitzgerald was the last. The last. In 50 years, not a single commercial freighter has been lost in the Great Lakes. Why? It's NOAA. Of course it's NOAA.

🚨ONE MONTH'S TIME!🚨 Railway Work, Life & Death project co-lead Mike is privileged to give the 2025 @balhnews.bsky.social Dymond Lecture! ‘Heads – you lose!’ Working for the railways in Britain before 1939 Thursday 11 December 2025, 7pm, online #LocalHistory #Railway200 www.balh.org.uk/dymond2025

Ahead of 11am, a re-post for 1 of the Railway Work, Life & Death project's blog posts about railwaymen who fought & died in the #FirstWorldWar. #ArmisticeDay #Remembrance #Railway200 #RailwayHistory The post looks at TH Stearn's life & death:

Well worth coming along to this public lecture if you can make it - from my @uophistory.bsky.social friend & colleague, @karlbell.bsky.social! 👇

Great to be working on the new @uophistory.bsky.social 2nd year module 'Age of Crisis'! Had a good team meeting yesterday, with the excellent @robtjames.bsky.social @karlbell.bsky.social & @drmseiter.bsky.social. It's a pleasure to co-teach with them - we've got lots to share with our students!

🚨 DON'T MISS IT 🚨 Our #Railway200 exhibition, 'Finding the south coast's forgotten railway workers', is on at the University of Portsmouth - till 17 December. Pop into Park Building (King Henry I Street) - free, whenever the building is open: www.railwayaccidents.port.ac.uk/finding-the-...

🚨 DON'T MISS IT 🚨 Our #Railway200 exhibition, 'Finding the south coast's forgotten railway workers', is on at the University of Portsmouth - till 17 December. Pop into Park Building (King Henry I Street) - free, whenever the building is open: www.railwayaccidents.port.ac.uk/finding-the-...

1/ The US Government has quietly removed a memorial to Black soldiers who died in World War II from the Netherlands American Cemetery in Margraten, South Limburg. The move follows a complaint from the right-wing Heritage Foundation to the American Battle Monuments Commission. ⬇️

I wish the North East had another municipal maritime museum alongside Hartlepool, but this is why. The amount of funds it would even take to keep static ships afloat would be a pain in the arse. Never mind getting them here in the first place. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Really powerful writing from @cathfeely.bsky.social - an interesting #FamilyHistory story, but so much more than that. The interweaving of the personal & professional is complex, and makes this even more salient.

This looks like it might be really useful for anyone interested in building history and recording buildings.

Ahead of #RemembranceDay, some of our Railway Work, Life & Death blog posts touch upon the impact war had upon the railway industry & railway workers. We've posted about the impact of the First World War here: www.railwayaccidents.port.ac.uk/tag/first-wo...

Came to us via @signsthereading.bsky.social - much appreciated. Always interested in graves of railway staff accidentally killed, especially where the incident is mentioned on the headstone/grave site.

#BoatFamilies and the First World War - finding these young men who served is proving difficult but so far I have found 20 young men who made the ultimate sacrifice. Their stories will be told, for now I'm just remembering their names. #OnePlaceStudies #RemembranceSunday

#ICYMI The next in the @ihr.bsky.social Transport & Mobility History seminar series - Thursday 20 November, 5.30pm. Free to attend (online or in person) - follow the link below to register! #Railway200 #TransportHistory #RailwayHistory

Ahead of #RemembranceDay, some of our Railway Work, Life & Death blog posts touch upon the impact war had upon the railway industry & railway workers. We've posted about the impact of the First World War here: www.railwayaccidents.port.ac.uk/tag/first-wo...

Ahead of #RemembranceDay, some of our Railway Work, Life & Death blog posts touch upon the impact war had upon the railway industry & railway workers. We've posted about the impact of the First World War here: www.railwayaccidents.port.ac.uk/tag/first-wo...

🚨2 DAYS LEFT!🚨 FREE access to 17 brilliant #RailwayHistory articles from the Journal of Transport History - AVAILABLE NOW! For #Railway200 the JTH has put together a virtual collection of articles - & until 10 November they're free! #JTH journals.sagepub.com/topic/collec...

Looking forward to today's @uophistory.bsky.social open day! It's great to be able to share our excellent degree programmes (History; History & Politics; English & History) & talk to guests. Do come along - & you can see our project exhibition in the Park Building display area!

Pleased to see project research featured in this week's 'Petersfield Post'! It looks at the life of signalman Arthur Churchill, from time in the LSWR orphanage to his work on the railway & his family. The best bit is it was co-written with Arthur's son, Gordon! #Railway200

As the T2M annual conference draws to a close, a reminder for those attending - & those not able to make it! - that free access to the Journal of Transport History's #Railway200 article collection is available until Monday 10 November! #JTH #RailwayHistory 👇 bsky.app/profile/rwld...

This looks like a great resource for anyone with Irish #TransportHistory interests! A brilliant archive catalogue for CIÉ, covering the 1830s-1970s, railways & more, with more being added. Well worth exploring! #Ireland #RailwayHistory

I am hearing that @uniofnottingham.bsky.social is suspending (i.e shutting down) *all modern language courses* in 2026-27. One of the largest departments in the UK. A shocking short sighted move that damages regional and national prospects @britishacademy.bsky.social @hetanshah.bsky.social

Which one is more English?

I honestly didn't know about this when I posted this about the Tees Transporter Bridge this morning 😱. It was the mist/fog in the shot that made me choose it. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Wow! 😮🤩 There's a new interactive map of Every Known Road in the Roman Empire!! 🤓 itiner-e.org We might have to have a lie-down.

One for #GenHour - a brilliant archive catalogue for CIÉ (Ireland's transport provider), covering the 1830s-1970s, railways & more, with more being added. Well worth exploring - not least as they've included a specific section for genealogy! #FamilyHistory #Ireland

Looking forward to Saturday's @uophistory.bsky.social open day! I'll be on hand to deliver course talks for our excellent History, History & Politics, and English & History degree programmes, & talk to guests. Lovely that it coincides with the project exhibition - will direct people to it!

📣Out now on #firstview! David Andress (@uophistory.bsky.social) on 'The Language of confiance and the French cahiers de doléances of 1789' #Revolution #Emotion #Trust #Agency #France #Digital 18thc 🗃️📜 👉Open access: www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

NEW SEMINAR! 'The Station Master’s Railway: Self-Representation & the Moral Life of Infrastructure' Nirali Joshi (Åbo Akademi University) 20 November 2025, 17.30 UK; hybrid Part of the @ihr.bsky.social Transport & Mobility History seminar series Free; book here: www.history.ac.uk/news-events/...

Half-way through! But you've still got time to download & read the Journal of Transport History #Railway200 virtual collection of articles - until Monday 10 November. 17 prime articles about railway pasts in Britain & beyond - available FREE: get them now! #JTH bsky.app/profile/rwld...

THIS IS TOMORROW! IF YOU LIKE THAT SORT OF THING!

Extremely grateful to the University of Portsmouth's excellent IT team, who today recovered c.500GB of data from a corrupted disk. Have been having kittens about this for the last couple of weeks. Super grateful (& will manage data better in future!) - thanks to Chris, esp!

Having to miss the Journal of Transport History Editorial Board meeting today because of a clashing commitment - a shame, as it's great to catch up with colleagues & friends & continue to shape our journal! There's more about the #JTH here: journals.sagepub.com/home/jth

For those attending the Heritage Railway Association Autumn Conference at the moment, you might be interested in the articles in the Journal of Transport History #Railway200 virtual collection. 17 articles - free until 10 November - about Britain's railway pasts: bsky.app/profile/rwld...

All set up and ready to go for the Heritage Railway Association Autumn conference in Southampton! Feels sneaky to be taking @uophistory.bsky.social up the coast - but great to be sharing some of project co-lead Mike's students' work with attendees! #Railway200 #RailwayHeritage

As the annual T2M conference starts in Eindhoven, the Journal of Transport History has made its #Railway200 virtual collection freely available. 17 key articles for #TransportHistory #MobilityHistory #RailwayHistory, free, until 10 November: bsky.app/profile/rwld...

Looking forward to being part of the Heritage Railway Association Autumn Conference in Southampton tomorrow! If you're going, come along to the Railway Work, Life & Death project stand. Find out more about how we can help you, & see how we're currently working with heritage railways.

🚨ITS BACK!🚨 FREE access to 17 brilliant #RailwayHistory articles from the Journal of Transport History - AVAILABLE NOW! For #Railway200 the JTH has put together a virtual collection of articles - & until 10 November they're free! #JTH journals.sagepub.com/topic/collec...

It frustrates me that fields such as history are increasingly becoming something of a free-for-all. Imagine the reverse, in which a bona fide history professor publishes a polemic book claiming to ‘lift the veil on secrets’ of, say, structural engineering. It’d be considered absurd, and rightly so.

As @cathamclarke.bsky.social said to me the other week; it’s clear there’s a NEED for history - just look around you. But there’s a disconnect between that and the realisation that there’s a need to train historians.

In 1928 The River Thames flooded with devastating effect killing 14 Londoners including 4 sisters from one family - read their harrowing story here chiddicksfamilytree.com/2025/03/14/t... #Genealogy #History #Thames #London #Flood #Disaster #TateGallery #Embankment

If you've just heard me on BBC Radio 5 Live, here's the link to nominate a brilliant history teacher in the UK for the Inspiring History Teaching Awards - they can be primary/secondary/SEN etc, and don't have to be history specialists. The awards are run by HRP www.hrp.org.uk/schools/insp...

#ICYMI we've just shared Arthur Churchill's story. From the family home to a railway orphanage, then into the railway industry & his own family - it's a fascinating life story, told with the help of Arthur's son, Gordon. #Railway200 #FamilyHistory Find out more 👇 bsky.app/profile/rwld...

It's #Halloween, so time for some eerie railway content ... First up, a mysterious man and a premonition in the shape of a rabbit, foretelling the death of driver Patrick Tyrrell in 1905: www.railwayaccidents.port.ac.uk/halloween-a-...

Check out this piece on a train song I wrote, which touches on a series of tragedies along the Western NC RR and bridges my 1st and 2nd (forthcoming) @uncpress.bsky.social books. All part of a band w/friends that really cohered in the aftermath of Helene: uncpressblog.com/2025/10/30/o...

Just had the loveliest comment from someone we've been working with: 'When folk like me pass on, the railway history would have been lost had it not been for your delving into the past & being able to make links with the present.' Wow. That means a lot. #Railway200

A spooky story from the Victoria County History archive (or is it...?). A tribute to M R James and the world of the early VCH, which I first shared on 31 October last year - I hope you enjoy it. #Halloween @vch-home.bsky.social blog.history.ac.uk/2024/10/vch-...

It's #Halloween, so time for some eerie railway content ... First up, a mysterious man and a premonition in the shape of a rabbit, foretelling the death of driver Patrick Tyrrell in 1905: www.railwayaccidents.port.ac.uk/halloween-a-...