If you have any news which you would like to share with other local historians, then please send it to us.

A new local history source that wows

For the first time ever, local historians and other users, regardless of their location, are able to explore over two million newspaper pages from forty-nine national and regional UK titles, all at the click of a button.

Turning the pages

Reviews of recent local history books.

Bringing the world to Birmingham in 1886: An exhibition about an exhibition

A new exhibition in Birmingham's Centenary Square will celebrate one of the most important public demonstrations of Birmingham’s commercial and industrial prowess in the 19th century.

Archives then and now: Local history in the digital age

John West, local historian, author of Village Records and Town Records among other titles, and a past contributor to Local History Magazine, has created a wonderful website which examines the merits and limitations of using the internet as a source of information for researching local history.

News in brief

Smaller news items, including the future of Heritage Open Days and the first international symposium for local historians.

What kind of future for our local waterways heritage?

British Waterways, which currently manages some 2,200 miles of canals and rivers in England and Wales, has launched a little publicised public consultation exercise which should be of interest to local historians.

King's Cross Voices

An exhibition which tells the stories of those who have lived and worked in King’s Cross, both past and present, can be seen at Camden Local Studies and Archives Centre from 15 June until 26 September 2009.

Webwatch

Websites we have found recently (10 June 2009), including the Bristol Radical History Group and a community heritage project in Newcastle.

Future Archives Policy: An opportunity not to be missed

A new consultation concerning archive services in England and Wales is underway and we urge local historians to take part.

News in brief

Smaller news items, including the free online magazine of the Society of Archivists and the founding of the Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire Labour History Society.

Night at the Museum — for real!

You can experience a night in a museum for real this coming weekend, 15–17 May, when over 100 museums, plus a few archives and libraries, are holding evening and late-night events across the country.

Local archives warm to self-assessment

The National Archives has recently published the 2008 results of the third local archives voluntary self-assessment exercise in three years, covering England and Wales.

Extended exhibition run for Leeds success

Such has been the success of 'A Lasting Moment: Leeds 1954' by Marc Riboud at Leeds City Museum that it will now run until 28 June 2009.

A history of Coventry cinemas

A book has been published about the history of Coventry's cinemas, of which there were 23 in 1940.

Webwatch

Websites we have found recently (20 April 2009), including mysterious photographs in Devon, Cumbrian war memorials and Picture Sheffield.

News in brief

Smaller news items, including a centenary history of the WEA in Leicester.

Turning the pages

Reviews of recent local history books and periodicals.

Smaller news items

Including the Young Historians' Award for Local History and an appeal from Fortified England.

Hadrian's Wall to come alive

Hadrian’s Wall will take centre stage for a major series of dramatic re-enactment events during the week after the Spring Bank Holiday (26–31 May 2009).

Professor Alan Everitt: An appreciation

Trevor James remembers an exceptional urban historian, scholar and teacher.

The online railway

A new website dedicated to the Rainhill Trials of 1829 which marked the birth of railways in Britain.

Images of a lost landscape

Roger Hampson's paintings of post-war Wigan are the subject of a new exhibition in Oldham.

Webwatch

Sites we have found recently (10 April 2009) including walking in England and milestones.

Bolton's Mass Observation success

Bolton Museum has a permanent display of photographs of Bolton taken by Stephen Spender in the 1930s.

Mission impossible? To find a good online history forum

We take a look at a number of local history online forums and find much less than we had hoped for.

In the midst of gloom comes hope

English Heritage is asking every local authority in England to fill in a questionnaire for each of their Conservation Areas as part of the first nation-wide census of the condition of this important element of our local heritage.

A hiccup and a vision for local history in Kent

Not for the first time in recent years, Kent History Federation had to announce the possibility of its imminent demise in order to ensure that it survived.

Council to close its third museum in eleven years

Nottingham City Council is about to announce its decision to close the popular Nottingham Industrial Museum, which is located in Wollaton Park.

Census money machine rolls out early

Part of the 1911 Census are made available earlier than usual, but you have to pay.

Back to the future Black Country style

Visit the Black Country Living Museum and get the chance to ride on a trolleybus.

 

Webwatch

Just a couple of sites we have found recently (16 February 2009), one from the National Library of Scotland about the Great Reform Act of 1832 and one about abandoned communities.

Are local history society web rankings a three card trick or lucky dip?

Ten more local history society websites which feature in Google's rankings.

Shared passions: remembering Bill Ainsworth

Our appreciation of an energetic and committed local historian and a lovely man.

 

Pulling in the visitors at Hebden Bridge using 'chicks' and other ploys

Hebden Bridge Local History Society is sixty this year, but still full of 'get up and go'.

Child refugees get to tell their story

A University of Southampton project to preserve the memories of children who arrived in Southampton over seventy years ago fleeing the Spanish Civil War has been awarded a £47,000 grant by the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF).

Small grant opportunities go begging

Grassroots Grants is an £80m three year programme aimed at local community groups, including those involved in local history and heritage related activities, which is funded by the Office of the Third Sector and overseen by the Community Development Foundation.

'Virtual seminars' and local history

The Interwar Rural History Research Group (IRHRG) has recently posted its first 'virtual seminar' and has plans for more.

Barton's new Wilderspin National School Museum attracts national acclaim

In the exhibition gallery at the newly opened Wilderspin National School Museum in Barton-upon-Humber, a 19th century schoolmaster sits in a very comfortable armchair, his head thrown back and fast asleep…

Richard III's last resting place?

What may be Richard III's coffin has been donated to the Battle of Bosworth Heritage Centre.