#englandculture — Public Fediverse posts

BBC: Thousands of textile treasures preserved in new project. “A treasure trove of thousands of items in storage for decades at a mill museum in Lancashire are being checked for the first time and added to a new database. Helmshore Mills Textile Museum has helped preserve Lancashire’s textile industry history for the past 40 years. As textile firms collapsed in the 1960s and 70s, many contents […]

BBC: Rare ‘fragile’ recordings saved before they disappear. “Hundreds of recordings capturing the voices, accents and memories of people across the South West are being rescued before fragile tapes deteriorate beyond repair. Archivists say some are at risk of being lost forever as ageing cassette and reel-to-reel tapes begin to break down. The Sounds of the South West project is digitising […]

About Manchester: Queer Up North Digital Archive launches. “An extraordinary new digital archive documenting the history of Queer Up North (1992-2002) has launched The archive reveals stories about the people, performances, club nights, cabaret, comedy and art that helped to shape queer culture in 90s Manchester, bringing together objects from the festival’s colourful history and making them […]

Museums Journal: Record number of museums awarded Designated status. “A record nine museums, libraries and archives have been awarded Designated status for their collections – which span film memorabilia, the archive of a medieval monastery and documents detailing the design, construction and operation of the world’s first underwater tunnel. The Designation scheme was first launched in 1997 […]

BBC: Shipbuilding archive aims to preserve memories. “…people across north-east England have been asked to sit down with loved ones who once worked in the shipyards to contribute to the Shipyard Heritage Museum’s online living archive. The archive is open to stories from the rivers Tyne, Wear and Tees.”

Border Telegraph: Over 100 tales of the River Tweed collected for new archive. “More than 100 personal stories have now been gathered as part of the Tweed Stories project, which is part of the broader Destination Tweed initiative. The project aims to gather and preserve memories, histories, and legends connected to the river, creating a lasting archive for future generations.”

Manchester’s Finest: Queer Up North archive and events celebrate Manchester festival’s legacy. “The history of Manchester’s influential Queer Up North festival is being preserved through a new digital archive and a programme of exhibitions, talks, screenings and performances. Produced with Manchester Histories, the heritage project explores the festival’s first decade, from 1992 to 2002, […]

BBC: Condoms and love letters all in a castle’s secrets. “Nineteenth Century condoms, love letters, and the tale of a servant pilfering a lady’s Easter egg are among unexpected discoveries made by archivists collating Warwick Castle’s records. A new online catalogue, charting 800 years of maps, letters and legal documents, shines a light on previously hidden stories, including those of the […]

BBC: Victorian poet’s archive made available online. “Dorset dialect poet William Barnes bequeathed his writings, woodcuts and engravings to the county museum that he co-founded in 1846. The William Barnes Society raised £35,000 to catalogue the collection so it could be accessed anywhere in the world.”

UK Government: The Queen Elizabeth Digital Memorial marks major milestone with new features. “Memories of the Late Queen Elizabeth shared by members of the public and those who knew her are now live as part of a milestone digital archive into her life, and can be viewed at http://www.queenelizabeth.com. Also launching today is a fully digitised version of the Court Circular (Queen Elizabeth’s […]

Ian Visits: Gandhi autograph and suffragette protests among treasures in new London archive. “London has gained a free history archive after more than 200 years of records, photographs, films and artefacts were uncovered and catalogued during the restoration of Union Chapel’s Sunday School building.”

York News Focus: York’s past at your fingertips: Explore York launches new digital archive. “York’s history just became much easier to explore. A newly expanded digital archive catalogue has gone live at Explore York Libraries and Archives, opening up centuries of local stories, records and images to anyone with an internet connection.”

Oxford Mail: Blenheim Palace digitises centuries-old archive collection. “The Blenheim Archives has finished cataloguing and digitising a collection of material never before seen by the public. The project has brought to light more than 200 documents and revealed fresh detail about life in the villages of Wolvercote, Cutteslowe, and Godstow.”

Cornish Times: Mazed Tales launches Cornwall-wide story map. “What began as a project rooted in Cornish Times country is now a Cornwall-wide digital archive of more than 150 folk tales, each pinned to the landscape that shaped it. The expanded website was unveiled at the historic Morrab Library in Penzance, marking a major milestone for the storytelling initiative that started life in the east […]

City of London England: New online archive launched to celebrate more than 20 years of the Liberty Festival and the UK’s disability arts scene. “Now, for the first time, materials relating to the festival’s history are available in one place, offering a rich resource for audiences, researchers, and future cultural innovators. The digital guide is accessible by design, including features […]

https://rbfirehose.com/2025/12/05/city-of-london-england-new-online-archive-launched-to-celebrate-more-than-20-years-of-the-liberty-festival-and-the-uks-disability-arts-scene/

Ian Visits: From snails to street signs: Soho’s history revealed on a new digital map. This is Soho London, not SoHo NYC. “For the past year, nearly 700 heritage assets have been catalogued as part of a detailed street audit commissioned by the Soho Neighbourhood Forum. The survey… recorded a rich variety of features — from long-standing businesses and historic façades to plaques, street […]

https://rbfirehose.com/2025/10/16/ian-visits-from-snails-to-street-signs-sohos-history-revealed-on-a-new-digital-map/

Historic England: Historic England Launches Local Heritage Hub to Unlock Hidden Histories. “Coinciding with this year’s Local History Month, Historic England has launched a new Local Heritage Hub. With nearly 400 locations, every county, city, district, major town, and national park in England now has a dedicated digital page that uncovers its rich and layered history.”

https://rbfirehose.com/2025/05/22/historic-england-historic-england-launches-local-heritage-hub-to-unlock-hidden-histories/

Industrial Heritage Support: Historic England Snapshot Survey on the Collection of Developer-Funded Archaeological Archives Published. “Historic England’s Snapshot Survey on the Collection of Developer-Funded Archaeological Archives has now been published as a Historic England Research Report. Conducted as part of the Future for Archaeological Archives Programme, the survey gathered data on […]

https://rbfirehose.com/2025/04/13/industrial-heritage-support-historic-england-snapshot-survey-on-the-collection-of-developer-funded-archaeological-archives-published/

University of Cambridge: Modern Magic Unlocks Merlin’s Medieval Secrets. “A fragile 13th century manuscript fragment, hidden in plain sight as the binding of a 16th-century archival register, has been discovered in Cambridge and revealed to contain rare medieval stories of Merlin and King Arthur…. the digital results of the project are now available for everyone to explore online via the […]

https://rbfirehose.com/2025/03/29/university-of-cambridge-modern-magic-unlocks-merlins-medieval-secrets/

Historic England: Historic England Acquires World-Class Collection Featuring Earliest and Finest Photographs of England. “The Rosing Collection includes over 8,000 original black and white photographs of English architecture, landscapes and maritime history from the mid-1800s to the early 1900s, when England was undergoing large-scale changes powered by industrialisation, urbanisation and […]

https://rbfirehose.com/2025/02/22/historic-england-historic-england-acquires-world-class-collection-featuring-earliest-and-finest-photographs-of-england/

Manchester City Council: 90,000+ images on Manchester’s new local image website. “Thanks to a £100,000 funding award from the National Lottery Heritage Fund in January 2024, Manchester Libraries has been able to develop the new Manchester Image Archive and to hire a project manager to oversee it. Currently hosting more than 90,000 images, the upgraded website features a much larger archive […]

https://rbfirehose.com/2025/02/07/manchester-city-council-90000-images-on-manchesters-new-local-image-website/