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Welcome to the third edition of the British Association for Local History’s new e-newsletter.
Whilst things progress in the outside world, so too do initiatives at BALH and in the world of local history. We hope that you continue to enjoy the resources, articles and news that BALH has to offer.
We’re excited to let you know about some of our latest updates and have included these below! The BALH team have collected some great stories and resources to share with you as a way of keeping you up-to-date with what’s happening on the local history scene. There are also some activities and projects that you may want to get involved in to enhance your knowledge of local history or keep developing your skillset.
We’re always keen to expand our BALH family and would love to hear from you about your local history interests. If you’d like to include a project, article or talks in our newsletter do please get in contact with us. For those wishing to become a BALH member, information about what BALH has to offer is available on our membership pages. Hope to hear from you soon!
Our AGM 2020 was hosted virtually – this is available online!
Meeting in person right now may not be on the cards but this didn’t stop our AGM 2020 going ahead. This year our AGM took place virtually on 12th September 2020 and we heard from multiple members of the BALH Committee, met our new Fellows and had a talk titled ‘What is Local History’ from Professor Catherine Clarke, Director of the Centre for the History of People Place & Community at the Institute of Historical Research. You can now watch both our AGM and Professor Clarke’s talk on our website.
Welcome to the BALH blog!
We’re always finding new ways to engage people with BALH initiatives, activities and events, as well as the world of local history. In our first ever blog post, Dr Daniella Gonzalez, our Social Media Fellow, writes about some highlights from and reflects on our virtual AGM 2020. Would you like to write about local history for BALH? Is there any research you’d like to share? Then why not submit a blog post to us?
Read more about submitting a blog post to us
Introducing our Social Media Fellow and Digital Engagement Fellow
September saw us welcoming both Dr Daniella Gonzalez (right) and Dr Claire Kennan (left) as our new Fellows. Daniella and Claire become part of the new BALH Digital Team, responsible for BALH’s digital output. Alongside Paul Carter, Website Manager, Daniella will be taking the lead on social media and Claire our digital engagement projects and online resources. Claire will also be working on the Teacher Fellow Programme. Both our Fellows are medieval historians and local history has been a key part of their research. Read more about Daniella and Claire
Ten-Minute Talks
We are now extending the call for Ten-Minute Talks to non-members who would like to share their knowledge of local history with us. These talks have been extremely popular and you are welcome to submit these as a video or in the format of a PowerPoint presentation with accompanying notes.
Our latest Ten-Minute Talk, ‘The railway and how it affected life in mid-nineteenth century Rillington’, was delivered by Pam Smith and is the first of our talks to be accompanied by a video. Our recent talks also include ‘Crockford’s Flock: Priest and Parish in a Wiltshire Valley’ by John Chandler and ‘Chedworth and The Great War: The people who went to war and the village they left behind’ by Mike Tovey.
If you would like to share a Ten-Minute Talk please do get in contact. Please see our Ten-Minute Talk guidelines also.
Book Published in Honour of BALH Editor
A new book of original essays has been published in honour of Dr Alan Crosby, Editor of The Local Historian. This festschrift, published by the Federation of Lancashire Local History Societies, contains several essays spanning centuries of Lancashire’s history and was presented to Dr Crosby in honour of his commitment to enhancing the importance of local history. To read more about this volume click here.
BALH/HA Local History Teacher Fellowship Programme
There’s still time to apply for our Teacher Fellowship Programme in Local History. It's an exciting opportunity to work with historians, archivists and educational specialists, who'll explore you the many different ways that local history can be taught to primary and secondary school students. Run in partnership with the Historical Association, the Teacher Fellowship Programme is open to both primary and secondary school teachers. Deadline for applications is Monday 2nd November 2020. Details are available online.
Colonial Countryside: Lessons Learned Insights Gained
The Institute of Historical Research’s ‘People, Place and Community’ seminar series will be hosting Professor Corinne Fowler, who will be giving a talk about the ‘Colonial Countryside’ project on Wednesday 14th October 2020 from 5:30pm to 7:30pm. ‘Colonial Countryside’ is a child-led history and writing project that examines the 100 children visited 11 Trust houses and explored their African, Caribbean and East India Company connections, which is funded by the HFL and ACE, in partnership with the National Trust.
Click here to find out more details about this talk and how to join.
Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic Histories – Education Resource
The National Archives Education team have been working hard and created an amazing educational resource on Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic Histories. This is a wonderful teaching resource, containing a hyperlinked list of TNA’s current resources for Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic histories on their website. This is an invaluable resource that will assist teachers in finding materials to teach a diverse curriculum.
Manorial Documents Survey
The National Archives is undertaking a survey to better understand English and Welsh manorial records and how these materials are used for research purposes. You can participate in this survey via the following link:
https://www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/VGKZ5V/
Bloomsbury Blues: Commemorative Plaques around the University of London – an online tour
Tune in on Wednesday 28th October 2020 from 5:30pm to 7:30pm to hear Howard Spencer, a senior historian at English Heritage, present a perambulation of commemorative plaques around the University of London. This talk forms part of the ‘People, Place and Community’ seminar series held at the Institute of Historical Research. Information about how to book a place is available online.
Free Online Palaeography Tutorial From Cheshire Archives
Need help with reading early modern scripts? Cheshire Archives have published a free online beginners' tutorial on 16th and 17th-century handwriting. The tutorial offers an introduction into palaeography and gives some top tips for reading early modern handwriting. Full transcripts of their documents are also available. To learn more about these tutorials click here.
Sussex Lund 2021 Grant Programme
Do you own or manage land in the High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB)? If you’ve spent time during lockdown thinking about how you could improve your corner of the High Weald for wildlife or scenic beauty, there may be funding - if needed - through the Sussex Lund 2021 grant programme. If you’re interested in applying, you can contact the AONB team to speak about your potential project. Further details about the programme are shared on the BALH website.
History Begins at Home campaign
Want to talk more with family and friends about the past? The History Begins at Home campaign sounds like just the thing for you! This campaign was started by the Chief Archivists in Local Government Group and the Archives for Wellbeing Network and highlights how archive collection connect us to the past. This campaign is held mostly on Twitter and there are several themes, like #HBAHNightsIn (12th – 25th October) and #HBAHHome (9th – 22nd November) taking place online over the next few months. To find out more visit their website.
‘Huddersfield, the town that bought itself' - Centenery Celebrations
Huddersfield is celebrating a hundred years since its Corporation agreed to buy the 4300-plus acres of the Ramsden estate — nearly half the land within the Borough boundary and the whole of the town centre — for £1.3 million. As part of these celebrations, there are several (virtual) events taking place and there will even be a book launch! Read more.
Connecting Small Histories: a Festival of Local Heritage
Taking place in March 2021, the Connecting Small Histories: A Festival of Local Heritage connects a variety of individuals, from volunteers and researchers to historians and local history groups, who are dedicated to promoting and uncovering local histories. The organisers are inviting proposals for talks, of which the deadline is 30th October 2020. Find out more about the Festival and their Call for Papers online.
More material is being added to our website all the time, so check back regularly!
The BALH Digital Team
digitalteam@balh.org.uk
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