Keep it Local audio tour of Newstead Abbey

The CHAD newspaper has launched the first in their 'Keep it local' audio tours and it's a guided tour of Newstead Abbey by Stephen Thirkill.

Listen to it on the CHAD website:

http://www.chad.co.uk/keepitlocal/Keep-it-Local-Audio-Tour.5501382.jp

Nottingham Castle: 'Walk with Me' binaural audio tour

Artist Lucy Stevens has produced a 'surround sound' audio tour of Nottingham Castle. The walk "encompasses the history of the castle [and she has] selected dates and events from 1212 to the present day." The tour is available to listen to on the Walk with Me blog:

http://castlewalkwithme.blogspot.com/

In the footsteps of Lord Byron

The actor Rupert Everett is presenting a two-part documentary on the travels of Lord Byron. The first episode is tonight (27 July) at 9pm.

The Channel 4 website describes Lord Byron as a "sex explorer, celebrity, and the original 'mad, bad and dangerous to know' hero of the Romantic movement" so it should arouse some interest!

Further information is available here:

http://www.channel4.com/programmes/the-scandalous-adventures-of-lord-byron

New publication: Nottinghamshire coal mines remembered

AD Newspapers has recently published "Coal mines remembered", subtitled "a special souvenir picture book of local coal mines with 20 pages devoted to the Hucknall collieries story." The book is full of fascinating stories from the coal industry and is richly illustrated with photographs. The book concentrates on Nottinghamshire collieries but also includes a small number from Derbyshire and Leicestershire.

It is priced at £12.99 and can be bought from newsagents around Hucknall, Selston and Eastwood.

AD Newspapers can be contacted at PO Box 7196, Kirkby-in-Ashfield, Nottingham NG17 9AA.

New Southwell heritage trail

Nottinghamshire County Council have published a new leaflet, 'Bramley Apple Heritage Walk', in honour of the 200th anniversary of the world-famous Bramley Apple. Download a PDF version of this leaflet and the other Southwell Heritage Trails here:

http://www.southwellcouncil.com/Southwell-Heritage-Trails

Evening lectures at Cresswell Crags

Saturday 25th July 2009: 'An evening with Dr Paul Bahn'
Archaeologist and writer Dr Paul Bahn will be giving an evening lecture on Britain's only Ice Age Rock Art, discovered at Creswell Crags in 2003.

Sunday 26th July 2009: 'Are you an archaeologist?'
Dr Patrick Clay, Director of University of Leicester Archaeology Services, talks about working in a professional archaoelogical unit.

Both lectures start at 7.30 and tickets cost £4 (£3 concessions)

http://www.creswell-crags.org.uk/Whats-On/Events.aspx

New archive resource: Ancient Petitions (Henry III - James I)

The July edition of BBC History Magazine includes a useful article on a rich archival resource recently made available online by National Archives. Ancient Petitions (covering the reigns of Henry III to James I) were "addressed to the king, to the king and council, to the king and council in parliament, to the chancellor, and to certain other officers of state. The petitions include detailed information about the circumstances of the parties involved, and the conditions of the locality." There are two categories of petitions: one set ask for the redress of grievances which could not be resolved at common law; the others are straightforward requests for a grant of favour.

All 17,000 petitions have been catalogued and scanned so you can search for places and people of interest and download a PDF version of the originals for free! Approximately 450 petitions relate to Nottinghamshire. Quite a number are complaints about violence: for example, in 1319 Walter de Toutheby claimed that John, son of William de Gaitford, attacked him and his men near Worksop, and beat and wounded his men even after they surrendered to him, so that some of them will never recover. Medieval Nottinghamshire was clearly a very violent place!

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documentsonline/petitions.asp

Laxton. Farming in an open field village exhibition

A fascinating exhibition on the open field village of Laxton is running at the Weston Pavilion at Nottingham University until 16 August. The exhibition draws on the Manvers collection of estate records along with manorial records from the Tallents archives.

There has been a series of lectures on aspects of the village. The next one, on Wednesday, 15 July, is by Professor John Beckett and is entitled "Why has Laxton survived?"

Further information (including PDFs of the display boards, slides from the earlier lectures and a video podcast) available on the university website:
http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/mss/about/news/exhibitions.phtml