Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Alan Akeroyd @alanakeroyd.bsky.social · 11h

Today was my turn in the bake off! - I made some lemon tarts, using a 1950s recipe from the Chivers collection. "Bake in a moderate oven" was all it said, so the baking time was complete guesswork. The team have all been very kind and said how much they liked them 😀 #bakeoff #cambridgeshirearchives

The tarts on a baking tray about to go into the oven

Ingredients all lined up before starting

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Alan Akeroyd @alanakeroyd.bsky.social · 1d

Good to see the importance of local authority archive services mentioned in a national newspaper, even if only briefly. "Both discoveries show the crucial role of county council archives and their staff in preserving this musical heritage"

Dr Ian McCormick @wokestudies.bsky.social · 1d

GOOD NEWS !
"A team of musicologists has unearthed the printed score of a previously unknown Purcell song, as well as the original manuscript for various keyboard compositions."
#baroque #music
www.theguardian.com/music/2025/o...

‘Almost unheard of’: experts find more music by English composer Henry Purcell

Printed score and keyboard manuscript by Purcell, who died in 1695, unearthed in Worcestershire and Norfolk

www.theguardian.com

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Reposted by Alan Akeroyd

Christopher Hilton @chilton-bb.bsky.social · 1d

With Betjeman here (though Fens headwinds can sap a cyclist's soul).

Andy Marshall @fotofacade.bsky.social · 1d

🚴John Betjeman said that it was worth cycling 40 miles in a headwind to see them.
🪽The early C16th Angel Roof at St Wendreda in Cambs is adorned with over 100 oaken angels.

View along the nave of St. Wendreda’s Church, March, showing the magnificent medieval angel roof with carved wooden angels soaring above the slender stone arcades.

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Reposted by Alan Akeroyd

Churchill Archives Centre @chuarchives.bsky.social · 2d

Richard Vinen, Professor of History at King’s College London, will be giving a free lecture at Churchill College on 21st October, titled ‘De Gaulle is France. Not a bastard.’ Churchill in the shadow of de Gaulle. No need to register, the event is free and open to all buff.ly/2gTriyk

De Gaulle and Churchill shaking hands during a state visit in 1960. They are surrounded by other people, including Clementine Churchill near the back of the image

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Alan Akeroyd @alanakeroyd.bsky.social · 5d

Had a great time at Cambridge University Library on Wednesday afternoon - I was being an actual researcher (!) consulting the 1662 court records for the Isle of Ely. Huge thank you to the very kind and lovely staff of the @theul.bsky.social manuscripts reading room

Isle of Ely recognisances, 1662. A bundle of thin parchment strips tied at one end. They are written in Latin

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Reposted by Alan Akeroyd

Mary Burgess @cambliblife.bsky.social · 5d

We're having a drop in session sharing South Asian memories of the Second World War together with the Imperial War Museum on 14th October 1-5pm in our new Everyspace area on the third floor of Cambridge Central Library. See www.eventbrite.com/e/sharing-so... for more details and do spread the word!

Sharing South Asian Voices in the Second World War

Come and have a chat with the Imperial War Museums

www.eventbrite.com

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Reposted by Alan Akeroyd

Mary Burgess @cambliblife.bsky.social · 7d

I'm off to Soham tomorrow to talk about the history of transport in Cambridgeshire. It'll be 10-11am at Soham Library. Here's Soham Bapist Sunday School on an outing in 1923, with a steam traction engine pulling 5 waggons of children down the High Street.

A black and white photograph of a steam traction engine pulling five waggons of children down the High Street in Soham. Various boys are either walking or cycling alongside.

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Alan Akeroyd @alanakeroyd.bsky.social · 19d

We used to have that challenge at Cambridgeshire! In the 1960s they knew how to pack boxes efficiently. By the 1990s 'the knowledge' had been lost and we were often stumped how to arrange the contents to make the lids fit. Since then we have reboxed everything in nice new boxes 😀

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Alan Akeroyd @alanakeroyd.bsky.social · 20d

That's a very nice photo of you Mary

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Alan Akeroyd @alanakeroyd.bsky.social · Sep 5

Hi Mary! Just lists of things, mainly alcohol licenses but occasionally other things too, such as village post delivery times, a list of police officers who owned a bicycle, even a list of police officers who can skate. Seems to be 1905 and thereabouts

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Alan Akeroyd @alanakeroyd.bsky.social · Sep 5

This is a slightly strange title to see on the cover of a document. Don't Look Within would be even more tempting

The cover of an early 20th Cambridgeshire Constabulary licensing and general info register, held at Cambridgeshire Archives. The cover says LOOK WITHIN in gold leaf letters on a black background. Document reference K1360/OC/4/7

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Alan Akeroyd @alanakeroyd.bsky.social · Sep 1

Cambridgeshire Archives' bake off starts again this week, in which we bake using actual recipes from historical documents that we hold, keeping to the ingredients and method of cooking as much as possible. Which member of the team will win this year? #bakeoff
www.facebook.com/Cambridgeshi...

Cambridgeshire Archives Service

The Great Archive Bake-Off 2025 #GBAB In celebration of the return of the Great British Bake Off tomorrow, we at the archives are also returning to our Great Archives Bake Off (you may remember our....

www.facebook.com

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Alan Akeroyd @alanakeroyd.bsky.social · Sep 1

Nice wallpaper! One of our searchers has had a huge copy of our 1604 map of the Fens printed for the wall of their office #cambridgeshirearchives #oldmaps #fens #fenland
www.facebook.com/oxwillow/pos...

Oxwillow

A big thank you to Cambridgeshire Archives Service and The Cambridge Sign Company for helping us turn our vision for the office into reality. We now have a stock of maps digitalised for use in our.....

www.facebook.com

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Reposted by Alan Akeroyd

The London Archives @thelondonarchives.bsky.social · Aug 21

🔍 Did you know that we have a searchable dataset that draws on records of Londoners of African, Caribbean, Asian and Indigenous heritage in our parish registers from 1561-1840?

The project started in 2000 and, thanks to our staff and volunteers, now has records of 2600 Londoners!

#SwitchingTheLens

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Reposted by Alan Akeroyd

Malcolm Stoneman @malcolmstoneman.bsky.social · Aug 12

#Medieval tile pavement
Burton Lazars, #Leicestershire
c. 1450-1525

From the master house of the Order of St Lazarus of Jerusalem - a leper hospital.

It includes heraldry & a merchant’s mark, suggesting one donated to the hospital.

Now #BritishMuseum #London

#TilesOnTuesday

Various tiles arranged exactly as found.

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Alan Akeroyd @alanakeroyd.bsky.social · Aug 12

Huntingdon Town Hall is one of my favourite buildings in the whole county, a definite hidden treasure. The ballroom includes portraits by #JoshuaReynolds and #GainsboroughDupont

The Cromwell Museum @cromwellmuseum.bsky.social · Aug 12

For Heritage Open Days, explore historic Huntingdon Town Hall on Saturday 13 September with a free curator-led tour of the 18th century assembly rooms and courts. Book now to avoid disappointment! More details at: www.cromwellmuseum.org/events/hunti...

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Alan Akeroyd @alanakeroyd.bsky.social · Aug 11

New Orleans court officials have been searching for records dumped in a landfill by City workers
www.nola.com/news/landfil...

New Orleans court officials search landfill for records tossed by City Hall, clerk says

The Orleans Parish Clerk of Criminal Court has called for an investigation into the "catastrophic failure" of removing records.

www.nola.com

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Alan Akeroyd @alanakeroyd.bsky.social · Aug 8

Upcoming talk alert! Former Cambs Archives team member Laura Housden will be giving a talk at the Museum of Cambridge on 14 August about the files of the Cambridge Charity Organisation Society, formed in 1879 to relieve distress of the ‘deserving poor.’
www.museumofcambridge.org.uk/event/mappin...

Talk: Mapping Relief: The Files of the Cambridge Charity Organisation Society

Cambridge Charity Organisation Society (CCOS) formed in 1879 as a successor of the Cambridge Mendicity Society founded in 1818/1819. It aimed to relieve distress of the ‘really deserving poor…

www.museumofcambridge.org.uk

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Reposted by Alan Akeroyd

Cambridge UL Special Collections @theulspeccoll.bsky.social · Aug 6

Archbishop Matthew Parker was born #OTD in 1504. He left the bulk of his collection to @parkerlibcccc.bsky.social but in 1574 gave us 100 books, including this new edition of the Gospels in Anglo Saxon type (1571). The notes are by Abraham Wheelock, first Cambridge Professor of Arabic. CUL 1.24.9.

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Alan Akeroyd @alanakeroyd.bsky.social · Aug 6

This photo could almost have been taken 380 years ago 🙂

The Cromwell Museum @cromwellmuseum.bsky.social · Aug 6

Our Civil War Soldiers are on Market Square in Huntingdon until 3pm today! Drop by to say hi, try on replica armour, and take part in training and craft activities before being recruited into the New Modelled Army.

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Reposted by Alan Akeroyd

Liz Rees @lizarees.bsky.social · Aug 4

Other papers of Alice Thornton & her wider family are at North Yorkshire County Record Office & @thorntonsbooks represents the project

Brian Groom @groomb.bsky.social · Aug 4

Woman’s memoirs give fascinating insight into life in 17th-century northern England. www.theguardian.com/culture/2025...

Woman’s memoirs give fascinating insight into life in 17th-century northern England

Newly reunited manuscripts by Alice Thornton show how she navigated personal crises during tumultuous events such as the civil war

www.theguardian.com

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Alan Akeroyd @alanakeroyd.bsky.social · Jul 31

#randomdocument 20: "Bennet is punish’t Sixpence for pocketing the Cucumber & one Shilling for Blotting the Book." Always nice to see justice done for cucumber pocketing. From the Society of Cambridge Youths account book for 1764 #cambridgeshirearchives

A large and indeed rather deliberate-looking ink splot all across an 18th century account book page. From the Society of Cambridge Youths account book, reference CA 2675/2/1. The Society was formed in 1724 to ring the bells of Great St Mary's church in Cambridge; they still exist today.

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Reposted by Alan Akeroyd

Derbyshire Record Office @derbyshiredro.bsky.social · Jul 31

Here's a fabulous train going up the Hopton Incline of the Cromford and High Peak Railway, near Middleton, in 1950. This is now part of the High Peak Trail, a 17 mile trail for walkers and cyclists, from High Peak Junction near Cromford to just south of Buxton.

#Railway200 #trains #history

A black and white photograph of a train travelling up an incline, with dry stone walls and fields in the background. In the background can see that the railway line has passed along an embankment. To the right can be seen a wooden telegraph pole and a road.

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Reposted by Alan Akeroyd

Churchill Archives Centre @chuarchives.bsky.social · Jul 28

Sophie Bridges, one of our archivists, will be presenting on ‘Responsibility without authority’: Angela Raspin and Churchill Archives Centre’ at the Women's History Network conference this September.

You can register to attend online at the link below ⬇️

#WomensHistory #Archives

Women's History Network @womenshistnet.bsky.social · Jul 7

📢 Just announced! The programme & booking is now live for our Annual Conference 2025.

🗓️ Join us online & free on 4–5 Sept for Hidden in Plain Sight: Women in Archives, Libraries, Museums & Personal Collections.

🔗 womenshistorynetwork.org/the-womens-h...
#WHN2025 #WomensHistory #Archives #Heritage

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Alan Akeroyd @alanakeroyd.bsky.social · Jul 25

The Internet Archive (which I've used quite a lot to research Cambridgeshire CC's committee and sub-committee history) is now a US federal deposit library
www.kqed.org/news/1204942...

SF-Based Internet Archive Is Now a Federal Depository Library. What Does That Mean? | KQED

The Internet Archive, thanks to its designation by California Sen. Alex Padilla, joins a network of over 1,100 libraries that make government documents accessible to the public.

www.kqed.org

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