Blog

You’re never that far from some kind of waterway in England, so sailing has been important to us since our earliest days. A safe harbour and a practical dock are essential and with so much history behind them they have a wealth of stories to tell; from royalty to photography! A new initiative was launched this year to highlight these places and here, maritime historian, Cathy Shelbourne, shares some with us.

Are you ready for a peek at a collection that looks back at you? Welcome to the world’s oldest museum of optometry! Find out what that is and discover some of the curious devices created to aid our vision (and more) with this introduction from its curator, Dr Neil Handley. (P.S. – Watch out for stories of augmented reality, football fans and student practical jokes along the way!)

The National Trust has an incredible collection of places, objects, and most importantly, stories. A collaborative research project has helped them highlight more of these from under-represented groups. Members of the project team introduce their work here and share three of the stories – discover the celebrated miniaturist who painted with her mouth and shoulder and the much loved sister who learnt to speak again after an accident.

Heritage is about everything that makes us who we are; this means it weaves an incredibly rich, varied and powerful tapestry. Sadly though, not all of its amazing colours and strands get included in every weaving. This can leave people whose story threads are missing feeling invisible, and the general tapestry is dimmer, even misleading for the gaps – like trying to read a story with several chapters missing. Earlier this year we attended a powerful workshop run by a project in Sheffield who are leading the way in working with communities to address these issues. We’re delighted to introduce you to them and their work here.

From Roman soldiers to a Regency era ferryman, the rich history of African people in our country is a long one. A project in the North East has been researching these stories, sharing them through a range of resources and events – including a taster walk over our festival. As we couldn’t attend the walk we asked them to share a few stories here, highlighting the wonderful work they do and resource they are creating.

From a dazzling cloak to the portrait of a Curling Captain there is more to our sporting heritage than you might think. Sport is a huge part of our culture, but its place in our heritage has sometimes been overlooked. Earlier this year though we came across a brilliant network working to change that. As they lead us in celebrating National Sporting Heritage Day, their Founding Director is here to introduce their work and some amazing sporting heritage collections you can visit.

Over the festival, alongside managing the media channels and taking turns with 'helpdesk duty' it's really important for the team to see events in action. It helps us to support organisers locally and reconnect with the festival experience as visitors, to see where we might do more to help in future. From the pinkest event to pen nibs hidden in doors, here's a quick taste of where we went and what we discovered this year.

Where can you see beneath the soil, visit an Anglo-Saxon village, unveil hidden treasure, or explore a flying boat lifted from the water? Well, this summer, all these are on offer as part of the CBA’s Festival of Archaeology. One of their amazing team shares their story as they introduce us to this fantastic summer festival.

Ta Da! Your shiny new event directory is now LIVE! This is always a big moment, but particularly so this year as we are working from a brand new database and platform. Before you get searching though, take 5 with us and we’ll tell you what to look out for… and the other exciting things we’ve been up to behind the festival scenes!

Family. We can’t explore Routes-Networks-Connections without looking at this! One family history group that participate in our festival is particularly special – helping people overcome barriers to explore their links to Travelling people, whose stories can be hard to trace, but have contributed much to our histories. To celebrate Gypsy, Roma & Traveller History Month we invited them to share their work, and some stories with us - including talented craftspeople and the origins of Blackpool’s Pleasure Beach!

Throughout history people have travelled the globe spreading ideas and sharing their talents. We’re celebrating their stories this year as part of our Routes-Networks-Connections theme. So of course we had to chat to the Migration Museum, whose touring exhibition has just won a coveted Museums+Heritage Show award. Here they share some of the extraordinary stories highlighted in that exhibition.

“We demand the Wayfarer’s Dole!” intriguing words that link us to our ancestors across the centuries. Discover their reward and the different meaning of old and new wayfaring in this beautiful blog from Dawn at the British Pilgrimage Trust. Our landscape may have changed, often dramatically, over time, but this just makes the survival of, and our continued journeys along, ancient paths all the more special.

What a whirlwind! It’s been a VERY busy winter, but all the hard work is starting to blossom as our festival cycle kicks into gear with the Spring. Having moved office and built a new database on top of usual festival business, we are now emerging from our backstage bubble so it’s time to share some stories! Grab a cuppa and take 5 with us for an update.

For over a century thousands of extraordinary women across the country have been meeting up and causing a stir. Not just stirring the ingredients for a cake to share with friends or sell on a stall, but stirring up conversations that lead to long term change. As they announce exciting plans for their AGM we invited the brilliant WI (Women's Institute) to tell us their story for Women's History Month.

A knight swirls to victory in a skirt; a queen rules with a fist clad in iron. What we choose to wear says a lot about us, and how we want, or need, to be seen. Intricate, powerful, stories like these are connected to perhaps surprising objects in an iconic collection. The current exhibition and self-guided object trail at The Royal Armouries, Leeds, was created by volunteers and researchers who identify under the LGBTQIA+ umbrella to showcase diverse voices and hidden histories. Get a taster of their brilliant exhibition and trail with these highlights.

New Year is a time for lists, resolutions and honours; so reflecting on last year and thinking about what highlights lie ahead, we’ve come up with an alternative Honours list. To get you thinking about what catches attention, here are some events that proved firm favourites for the team and media in 2023…

Come closer, these images will be worth a second look! From a smoking urn to a hallway hiding in a cupboard, turns out you definitely shouldn't believe everything you first see! Two of the National Trust's curators have seven wonderful optical illusions to share from amongst their curious collections. Enjoy!

Think of a Victorian mill working at full tilt - it's big, noisy, terrible working conditions that damaged the health of workers. But look closer at those workers, and we find examples of how disabled people have always been a valued part of the team.  A brilliant exhibition at Leeds Industrial Museum explores these histories, shining a light on overlooked voices from the past, and inviting disabled artists today to respond to them.  Read on for a taster, then explore more at the museum, or through their website.

Think archives are just full of dusty old documents? Think again! Creaking open the door of their 'dark fortress' Callum from Buckinghamshire Archives is here to give us a peek at some of their treasures. From truly 'delicious' (?!) documents to delightful doodles, with some alarming discoveries and curious mysteries to boot - archives really are awesome!

Now that the bunting has been packed away, and the festival buzz has slowly subsided for another year it's the perfect time to take a step back and reflect on another fantastic festival and share some of our plans for the winter months. From filtering through feedback to future proofing our festival, go grab a cuppa, here's 5 things we've been working on behind the scenes over the last few weeks!