Heritage Open Days in Nottinghamshire, 7-9 September 2017

Details of all 114 of this year's events and venues in Nottinghamshire are now available on the Heritage Open Days website. There are a very wide range of attractions open from a 'behind the scenes' tour of the Manuscripts & Special Collections department at Nottingham University to Mr Straw's house in Worksop.

The Great Nottinghamshire Local History Fair, 7 May 2017

Nottinghamshire History and Archaeology Day, Saturday 27 June 2015

The University of Nottingham Museum is holding the second Nottinghamshire History and Archaeology Day on Saturday 27th June.

The event is designed to display the wide and varied work taking place throughout Nottinghamshire by local history and archaeology societies, archaeological units, museums and other regional archaeological organisations. It will also include displays, handling of original material and talks.

The day is suitable for everyone including those with a general interest, people taking part in historical and archaeological work and those wanting to get involved.

Further details can be found on the Nottingham Lakeside Arts website.

The Great Nottinghamshire Local History Fair at Mansfield Library, 10 May 2015

The third Great Nottinghamshire Local History Fair will be held at Mansfield Library on Sunday, 10 May, 11am-3pm. 

It promises 'fun for all the family with craft demonstrations, local history displays from across the county, screenings of bygone Mansfield film footage and children’s activities PLUS meet real owls.'

Further information is available on the Our Nottinghamshire website.

EVENT: 'A Medieval Miscellany' on 21 March 2015 at Ravenshead

The next day school organised by The Nottinghamshire Local History Association will be 'A Medieval Miscellany' on the 21 March at the Village Hall in Ravenshead.

Speakers include Claire Taylor on King John and Magna Carta, David Crook on the Robin Hood legend and Nottinghamshire, Michael Jones on the White Book of Southwell and David Marcombe on the Green Men of Southwell.

Further details on the event are available on the NLHA website.

Archaeology Day in Southwell, 17 January 2015

I've only just found out about an Archaeology Day at the Minster School in Southwell tomorrow. The event is being run by the Researching Roman Southwell team and confirmed speakers are:

• Matt Beresford (MBArchaeology) - Roman Southwell
• Andy Gaunt (Mercian Archaeological Services) - King John’s Palace, Clipstone
• Rachael Hall (National Trust) - A Late Iron Age/Roman Coin Hoard from Derbyshire
• Kevin Winter (Civil War Centre) - National Civil War Centre, Newark

The Archaeology Day is, in fact, an afternoon event and starts at 2.30pm. There is a charge of £5.

Further information is available on the Researching Roman Southwell website.

Day school on life on the 'Home Front' in Nottinghamshire during the First World War, 25 October 2014

A joint Thoroton Society/Nottinghamshire Local History Association day school will be taking place on the 25 October at Ravenshead Village Hall.

The subject is life on the home front in Nottinghamshire during the First World War.

Further details and a booking form are available on the NLHA website.

Open day at King John's Palace, Kings Clipstone: 6th September

Mercian Archaeological Services are holding an OPEN DAY for their archaeological excavation at King John's Palace, Kings Clipstone in Nottinghamshire. The site is being excavated as part of their field training school and will be open between 11:00 and 16:00 on Saturday for the following: 

• Tours of the site discussing the designed medieval landscape of the palace,

• Tours of the standing ruins,

• Finds and Pottery handling,

• Results from the latest geophysical surveys,

• Display boards for the Sherwood Forest Archaeology Project and from Mercian Archaeological Services, and and news about the latest Sherwood Forest Bus Tours www.sherwoodbustours.com,

• Stalls hosted by local heritage groups including Friends of Thynghowe and the Spa Ponds Nature Reserve.

Visitors can also learn about the latest results and research from the project researching the heart of Sherwood Forest, find out about the latest news from Mercian's Edwinstowe Project and all the other upcoming fieldwork and opportunities coming soon. Further details and a map are available here: http://www.mercian-as.co.uk/fieldschool.html.

Past Lives Project in Nottingham

I've been contacted by Debbie Cooper who is coordinating the Past Lives Project in Nottingham over the next few months. The project is funded by the Arts Council and the Heritage Lottery Fund and is calling out for local cine film, photos and history featuring everyday lives of the region. Local film will be digitised for free to use within the project and the depositor will get a free digitised copy as well.

In 2012 the team worked with MACE to produce a film of the Midlands using cinefilm from 1930s to the 1970s, now they are doing the same for Nottingham. There is a short YouTube video showing how they work.

The project will be organising archive days, memory events, cine film viewing and digitisation.

The first event will be a photo and cine film heritage day on 9th August, 1-4pm.

See the Past Lives Project flier for further information.

D H Lawrence Festival 2014, 5-25 September

This year's D H Lawrence Festival will run from 5th-25th September. According to the organisers, 'the programme is packed with events celebrating both the life and work of D.H. Lawrence and the rich heritage and culture of this part of Nottinghamshire where he was born and raised, and which so influenced his work' and will include:

• Creative workshops
• Drama
• Exhibitions
• Film screenings
• Guided tours and walks
• Lectures
• Open days
• A Mining Heritage Day
• Music
• Reading groups

Download the Festival wall planner for further details.

The Hucknall Byron Festival, 28 June - 6 July 2014

The Byron Festival in Hucknall has only just come to my attention - not sure how that managed to fly under the radar! The programme is interesting and varied, including a 'Byron Afternoon Tea' at Colwick Hall (with a lecture by Prof John Beckett on Mary Chaworth and Colwick Hall), and various tours, lectures and performances.
The full programme is available on the International Association of Byron Societies' website.

Archaeological news (May 2014)

Several archaeological projects are taking place in Nottinghamshire this year.

'Toton Unearthed' is a community archaeology project between the Friends of Toton Fields Group and Broxtowe Borough Council, funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund. The archaeological work is being carried out by Trent & Peak Archaeology who are based in nearby Chilwell. The project aims to locate the mills and manor house in Toton by carrying out non-intrusive surveys, digging of test pits, and excavation over three phases. Further details from the Toton Unearthed website.

Attenborough & Erewash Heritage Rescue: In partnership with the Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust, TPA are also working on a new community archaeology project based at the Attenborough Nature Reserve. Volunteer 'explorers' are tracking down 'lost' artefacts that were extracted from the reserve during quarrying activity over the last century and are now scattered across various museums and collections. "By creating a photographic catalogue and working with maps and records, they will weave the artefacts into an accessible narrative detailing Attenborough's past that will be presented in an exhibition as part of Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust’s 50 year celebrations". The exhibition will be held on the 10th-11th May at the Attenborough Nature Centre. Anyone wishing to take part should contact Genevieve Carter at TPA.

Mercian Archaeological Services are organising a week long Training Field School at King John's palace, Kings Clipstone, 25th-29th August 2014 or 1st - 5th September 2014. Participants will learn about all aspects of archaeological excavation and receive hands on training and learning from archaeological professionals. To book a place visit and for more information:  http://www.mercian-as.co.uk/fieldschool.html

Mercian AS are also running the Robin Hood's Village Dig in July. This forms part of the Festival of British Archaeology and the dig will run from the 14th - 26th of July with an open day on Saturday the 26th.

The free volunteer dig is being run in conjunction with the Edwinstowe Historical Society and will investigate the development of the village through test- pitting.

Free guided walk: 'In the Footsteps of the Chartists', 1 June 2014

New historical guides to walking and cycling in Nottingham

Chris Matthews has designed and written two historical guides to walking and cycling in the Nottingham suburbs of Aspley and Bilborough. These well produced and informative guides are freely available from most public libraries in the city or can be downloaded from his website (where you can also find Blog entries to accompany the guides):

• A New World: Blog & Booklet
• Garden City: Blog & Booklet

There is also a launch event at St John's Church in Bilborough on Saturday, 5th April (6-8pm), which will include a talk about the history of the area with 'specially sourced archive film footage'.

Nottinghamshire Local History Association Spring Day School, 'A river runs through it: the Trent and its communities since c.1750', 22nd March 2014

The Nottinghamshire Local History Association's Spring Day School is entitled 'A river runs through it. The Trent and its communities since c.1750' and will take place at the Village Hall, Ravenshead on Saturday 22nd March 2014.

The cost is £7 for NLHA members and £8 for non-members. Booking is not required but you can secure a place by contacting David Anderson (treasurer@nlha.org.uk).
Speakers:

• Philip Riden - Trade and traffic on the Trent since 1850: an overview. 
• Hywel Maslen - New sources for the recent history of the Trent at the Waterways Archives. 
• Wendy Freer - Life on board boats on the Trent in the 19th and 20th centuries. 
• Hes Kapur and Les Reid - The Newark Heritage Barge: achievements and plans.

The First Nottinghamshire Local History and Archaeology Day, 21 June 2014

The event will be held at the University of Nottingham Museum on Saturday 21 June, 11am–4pm. 

This event will bring together local history and archaeology societies from throughout the county along with archaeological units, museums and other regional archaeological organisations to display, examine and discuss current archaeological work being undertaken throughout Nottinghamshire. This exciting day can be enjoyed by everyone including those with a general interest in what is happening in their area, people actively taking part in archaeological work and those wanting to get involved.

11am-12.15pm – Short talks on local archaeological projects

Five local societies present their work. The session will be introduced by David Knight from Trent and Peak Archaeology who will also give a short overview of work in the region.

Recital Theatre (no. 3 entrance next to the Museum). Free but tickets need to be booked through the box office.

12-4pm – Stalls

Local history and archaeology societies and regional archaeological units and organisations will display and discuss their work. See the wide and varied work that is being done and find out about opportunities to join in. Practice Hall (no. 3 entrance next to the Museum). Drop in event.

12-4pm – Portable Antiquities Database and the Historic Environment Record for Nottinghamshire

Join the Finds Liaison Officer for Nottinghamshire and Nottinghamshire County Council to see what has been found in your area and bring objects for identification. Drop in event. Museum

12-4pm – Hands on Sessions with archaeological material from Nottinghamshire

Come and handle and find out more about a wide variety of archaeological material from Nottinghamshire including stone artefacts, pottery, coins, animal bones and environmental material dating from the Palaeolithic to the post medieval period. Angear Visitor Centre, Djanogly Gallery 2, Learning Studio (no.1 entrance next to the Museum). Drop in event.

This day is organised by the University of Nottingham Museum and supported by the Thoroton Society and the Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies.

Consultation event for project on Segelocum (Littleborough)

I was interested to see a flier on the Nottinghamshire County Council's Community Archaeologists' Facebook page inviting people along to a consultation meeting to discuss a bid for Heritage Lottery funding to investigate the Roman small town of Segelocum (Littleborough) in north Nottinghamshire.

The event is on 28th November at 7pm in the Sturton Hall Conference Centre, Brickings Way, Sturton le Steeple, DN22 9HY.

• Community Archaeology - Nottinghamshire County Council Facebook page

Film premiere: 'The Ice Age Journey', 14th November at Newark Town Hall

FARIArchaeology have been running a lottery funded project to study a prehistoric site at Farndon, near Newark. They have produce a short film of their discoveries which will be premiered at Newark Town Hall. See the poster below for further details.

 More information can be found on the project website.

Event: 'Stories of ordinary folk', 19th October 2013

'Stories of ordinary folk', the Nottinghamshire Local History Autumn Day-School, will be held at Ravenshead Village Hall on Saturday, 19th October 2013, 10 am – 4:15 pm.

"The man-in-the-street may not make the history books, but people in the past at least had their rites of passage recorded. If they fell by the wayside the workhouse was there to offer some relief and perhaps a form of escape. Other diversions included the village bands."

The speakers are:

• Valerie Henstock: Reading between the Lines - Stories from Parish Registers
• Peter Hammond: Joseph Woolley, the Diary of a Framework Knitter
• Victoria Preece: A Common Fate - People in the Workhouse
• Chris Weir: When the Bands Played On

Cost: £6.50 (members of NLHA) and £7.50 (non members).

There is no need to pre-book. For further information call 01509 820067

The Nottinghamshire Bibliography Online is launched

The Thoroton Society of Nottinghamshire held an event at Bromley House Library in Nottingham yesterday to launch The Nottinghamshire Bibliography Online. The Bibliography provides a single web-based means of access to bibliographic sources for the history of the city of Nottingham and county of Nottinghamshire.