Hellen Pethers
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ohreallyhells.bsky.social
Hellen Pethers
@ohreallyhells.bsky.social
1.5K followers 390 following 120 posts
Researcher Services Librarian
nhmlibraryarchives.bsky.social
🏛️ Natural History Museum, London.

❤️ paper, ephemera, pangolins, cats, genealogy, social media & serendipity!
Very proud Mum & Auntie. West Sussex.
MY VIEWS

Previously on Twitter @ohreallyhells
Posts Replies Media Videos
Reposted by Hellen Pethers
nhmlibraryarchives.bsky.social
🔎Discovering the Okapi
🌍The Museum: creating advocates for the planet - the history of exhibitions and galleries at the NHM, and the way these have helped to develop a knowledge and appreciation of the natural world
🐋 Whales, Science and Conservation
🌱Ordering and Naming Nature

#Archives #Art
Group of people looking at a table display of artwork and photographs, surrounded by bookshelves.
November 27, 2025 at 10:12 AM
Reposted by Hellen Pethers
nhmlibraryarchives.bsky.social
Visitors to the Museum will have the exciting opportunity to enter our beautiful Earth Sciences Library.

A rare occasion to see treasures from the collection and learn about the Museum’s work as shown through the collections we care for.

#NaturalHistoryMuseum #SpecialCollections #MuseumArchives
An event advert. The image is a mash up of five images including artwork, a photograph and sketch. The wording reads: Library & Archives Open Day, free, 5 December 2025 10.00 - 16.00. Location: Lasting Impressions Gallery (Red Zone).
November 27, 2025 at 10:12 AM
ohreallyhells.bsky.social
Yesterday, 11/11 in the post came a medal I saw a year ago on a dealers website. It’s not rare or special medal.

But it’s important to me - awarded posthumously to mum’s Grt Uncle, Jabez Buckley (1886-1915), we know little about and have no photo of, he stepped off a ship in Gallipoli and died.
A World War One medal with a red/white/blue ribbon is held by two hands.
November 12, 2025 at 6:58 AM
ohreallyhells.bsky.social
#Ephemera #PrintedEphemera
guildhalllibrary.bsky.social Guildhall Library @guildhalllibrary.bsky.social · 17d
A new Lady Mayor of the City of London was celebrated this weekend in all its grandeur. A look into our collections at Guildhall Library has revealed this beautiful & elaborate Victorian invitation to the event from 1882 (S PAM 851)
An invitation card to the Lord Mayor's Show from 1882 with elaborate Victorian decoration and lettering.
November 10, 2025 at 5:11 PM
ohreallyhells.bsky.social
@tomrosenthal.bsky.social thank you another completely moving, gripping and heart warming one 😍

Yesterday at a Remembrance parade I noticed a man with a long line of medals, shedding a tear. It is your influence that made me say hello & ask him to tell me about his medals & we chatted for 15mins x
November 10, 2025 at 4:50 PM
ohreallyhells.bsky.social
Museums allow family historians like me to feel close to their ancestors.

My 3x great grandfather Anthony Holland Sodar (1817-99) went from driving a stage coach, to mail cart to omnibus. With little info about him, the London Transport Museum allows me to sit in a real omnibus and feel connected.
Side on photo of a large wooden omnibus on display in a museum gallery. The main body is painted dark green, with a yellow border and large wooden wheels painted yellow. It has the words ‘omnibus’ painted yellow along the side. A selfie of a person standing in front of a large wooden omnibus. It is painted dark green, with the words ‘omnibus’ painted in large yellow letters along the side. The rear view of a wooden omnibus with its door open and two steps leading up into it. The steps are painted yellow and the main body of the vehicle is a dark green. You can just see two seated mannequins inside. Selfie of a person sitting inside a wooden omnibus. The interior is dark, but you can just about see a long velvety bench and mannequin of a woman dressed for the 19th century in the background.
October 23, 2025 at 3:56 PM
ohreallyhells.bsky.social
When your pangolin wardrobe choice aligns with a reading room visitor requesting to see a volume of bound artwork, which includes a pangolin 😍

#NaturalHistoryMuseum #SpecialCollections #Artwork #TeamPangolin
Person wearing a jumper with ‘protect the pangolins’ written on it, stands in a library behind a large bound volume of artwork on a table. The volume is open at an image of a pangolin.
October 16, 2025 at 3:35 PM
ohreallyhells.bsky.social
I’m not a huge Christmas decoration person, but Festive Dippy tugged on my heart strings 😍
October 14, 2025 at 7:58 PM
Reposted by Hellen Pethers
mattpope.bsky.social
Awful news from Wales, the St Fagan's Museum has been broken into and prehistoric goldwork has been taken. Its painful to think what objects might now be at risk. Thoughts with the museum team who must be devastated, all speed to the police and a curse on the crooks.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
St Fagans: Bronze Age gold jewellery stolen from musuem
Police are investigating a burglary at St Fagans museum in the early hours of Monday morning.
www.bbc.co.uk
October 7, 2025 at 6:24 AM
ohreallyhells.bsky.social
I love the beauty, colour and texture of autumn 🍂 ❤️
Very lucky to have Nymans National Trust next door. #NymansNT @nationaltrust.org.uk
Small white autumn flowering crocus. Yellow and red flowers. Large clump of pampas grass in the foreground, with tall trees in the background. Close up of the tops of grasses with blue sky behind.
October 7, 2025 at 6:55 AM
Reposted by Hellen Pethers
nhmlibraryarchives.bsky.social
Library & Archives Open Day (free)
19 September 2025

When: 10.00 - 16.00
Where: Lasting Impressions Gallery (red zone)

Our team have developed four themed displays:
🐋 Whales, science and conservation
🌱 Ordering and naming nature
✏️ Writing from the field
❄️ Polar expeditions

#NaturalHistoryMuseum
Image of people standing round a table displaying library and archives material
September 12, 2025 at 9:06 AM
ohreallyhells.bsky.social
Library & Archives Open Day (free)
19 September 2025

When: 10.00 - 16.00
Where: Lasting Impressions Gallery (red zone)

Our team have developed four themed displays:
🐋 Whales, science and conservation
🌱 Ordering and naming nature
✏️ Writing from the field
❄️ Polar expeditions

#NaturalHistoryMuseum
Group of people standing round a table displaying artwork and photographs.
September 12, 2025 at 9:37 AM
ohreallyhells.bsky.social
Well that was a fun evening watching David O’Doherty and Max Rushden recording their podcast ‘Who Did You Do Yesterday’. Special (return) guest Nish Kumar. One of my favourite podcasts 😍

A lot of laughter! Shared box for 3 strangers, we all had a fab time!

#WhatDidYouDoYesterday #HackneyEmpire
Three chairs on a theatre stage with a large screen behind them. View of a theatre stage from a box with two seats. View from a box of the audience seating ornate Hackney Empire Theatre.
September 11, 2025 at 8:34 AM
Reposted by Hellen Pethers
museumbums.bsky.social
Remember gang, it's the same rule for museum objects and artworks as it is for people: no touching without consent! 👍🏛️🍑 #MuseumBums

Gaston Lachaise' "Standing Woman", 1932, undergoing some conservation work at @moma.bsky.social 😁
A photo of a conservator cleaning a bronze statue's upper thigh
August 27, 2025 at 6:31 AM
ohreallyhells.bsky.social
In the 50p charity bookstall - would
have been rude not to.

#WorldWarTwo #Gardening #BuySecondhand #Books
August 9, 2025 at 2:14 PM
Reposted by Hellen Pethers
nhm-london.bsky.social
Our South Kensington Museum, including our gardens, will be closed on 3 October 2025 as we are hosting a charity gala. 🦖

We’re sorry for any inconvenience this may cause and look forward to welcoming you another time.
A large blue whale skeleton suspended from the ceiling. Under the whale, there’s text saying, ‘The Natural History Museum will be closed on 3 October 2025’. Behind the skeleton, there are three large arched windows and highly decorated architectural details.
August 6, 2025 at 9:03 AM
ohreallyhells.bsky.social
An old finger post where all the destinations are country pubs. (Singleton, Sussex)

The original local pub crawl guide!
August 5, 2025 at 9:05 PM
Reposted by Hellen Pethers
nhmlibraryarchives.bsky.social
It's #WorldEchidnaDay so here's a drawing by Joseph Wolf (1820-1899) of this extraordinary egg laying mammal. It was published by Richard Owen in the Philosophical Transactions (Pl.39, 1865). If you look closely, you can see a young baby in the pouch and a small outline sketch of it! buff.ly/8ErERyK
July 19, 2025 at 2:34 PM
Reposted by Hellen Pethers
nhmlibraryarchives.bsky.social
Some birthday facts and faces of Sir Richard Owen, founder of the Natural History Museum, London who was born #OTD in 1804. A very Happy Birthday to anyone else with a birthday today! #NaturalHistoryMuseum #Palaeontology

Alt text: Reel of portraits of Professor Richard Owen [has sound]
July 20, 2025 at 10:50 AM
Reposted by Hellen Pethers
andreahart.bsky.social
You can also now see it as part of the Richard Owen: A Natural Legacy display in the @nhm-london.bsky.social ‘s free Images of Nature gallery alongside other original #illustrations from Owen’s fascinating drawings collection #naturalhistory #art #gallery #echidna #anatomy
July 19, 2025 at 3:57 PM
Reposted by Hellen Pethers
nhmlibraryarchives.bsky.social
Reverend J. G. Wood, born #OTD in 1827, published dozens of popular books on natural history. To celebrate his 198th birthday, here are a few of our favourites... #Bookbindings, #IllustratedBindings, #Victorian, #SpecialBooks, #TradeBindings

Alt text: Reel of Victorian bookbindings [has audio]
July 21, 2025 at 2:07 PM
ohreallyhells.bsky.social
Alfred Waterhouse, architect of the #NaturalHistoryMuseum also designed the Kimpton Clocktower Hotel, Manchester (formerly Refuge Assurance Building), along with his son, Paul.

I went and took a look today. Beautiful!
External shot of ted brick Victorian building. Interior of Victorian building. In the ceiling is a large glass dome. Victorian marble staircase. Interior of Victorian building.
July 17, 2025 at 10:07 PM
ohreallyhells.bsky.social
Hellen needed to visit ‘Hellen’s Manor’ - my retirement pad?! #Herefordshire #HellensManor
Large very old Manor House. Decorative pond with statue of a woman, in front of a Manor House. Grand gates leading to grassland. Person standing in front of a chalk board with ‘Hellens’ written at the top.
July 16, 2025 at 5:08 PM
ohreallyhells.bsky.social
Journals contain lots of information for those who love history, not just in the articles.

The adverts can tell us a lot about businesses, the history of brands / products, and life at that time.
#NaturalHistoryMuseum #NHMLibrary
Title cover of the Cyprus Agricultural Journal. Page from a journal. Image of two pages showing adverts.
June 21, 2025 at 10:23 AM
ohreallyhells.bsky.social
My favourite ‘other job’ for the last 11 years - Team leader for the NHM Kids Dinosnore sleep overs @nhm-london.bsky.social 😍

Although it is very warm in the museum for this one!
A group of eleven people sitting round an oblong table, eating a meal and smiling at the camera. The back of a red clipboard that reads ‘Team Red Steg’, with the cartoon of a fossil Stegosaurus.
June 21, 2025 at 4:53 AM