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Reposted by Oliver Betts

OldRailwayAccidents @rwldproject.bsky.social · 11d

If #Railway200 has sparked or rekindled your interest in #RailwayHistory, and you fancy study at Masters or PhD level - then come & study with Dr Mike Esbester at the University of Portsmouth!

An expert in railway, transport & mobility history:

www.port.ac.uk/about-us/str...

Mike Esbester

www.port.ac.uk

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Reposted by Oliver Betts

OldRailwayAccidents @rwldproject.bsky.social · 12d

🚨What's that?🚨

You want FREE access to 17 brilliant #RailwayHistory articles from the @jtransporthist.bsky.social?

All yours!

For #Railway200 the JTH has put together a virtual collection of articles, & until 15 October they're free!

Download & read now: journals.sagepub.com/topic/collec...

Cover of the Journal of Transport History. A dark blue background, white sans-serif text, with 10 small images of various forms of transport & mobility – an airship, a bridge, a compass, a shoe, a propeller aeroplane, an early pneumatic tyre, bicycle gears, a steam locomotive boiler, a tunnel and a late pneumatic tyre.

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Oliver Betts @drolibetts.bsky.social · 22d

It might be worth asking @rs4vp.org for a retweet, as someone there might recognize it!

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Oliver Betts @drolibetts.bsky.social · 22d

Just a little memory nudge for kids of a certain age...

🎶See, I reckon you're about an eight or a nine
Maybe even nine and a half in four beers' time🎶

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Reposted by Oliver Betts

Noor Hashmi (she/her) @noorhashmi.bsky.social · Aug 28

Hi everyone!

I am beginning my search for prospective PhD supervisors for a September 2026 start. If you specialise in Caribbean slavery and/or the East India Company, and are interested in supervising my doctoral research, I would be delighted to hear from you! #Skystorians #AcademicSky

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Oliver Betts @drolibetts.bsky.social · Aug 28

“So, it’s science. It’s not only speculation.”

Deep, horrified, screaming!

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Reposted by Oliver Betts

Mike Sanders @bronterre1.bsky.social · Aug 28

Please forgive the shameless self-publicity, but a collection of essays on transnational working-class literature which I helped to co-edit (and also contributed to) has been published today! See the link below for details & ask your library to order a copy!
link.springer.com/book/10.1007...

Transnational Working-Class Literatures

This book addresses an urgent need for a study which brings together the national, transnational and international dimensions of working-class literatures.

link.springer.com

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Reposted by Oliver Betts

German Historical Institute London @ghilondon.bsky.social · Aug 27

As we commemorate the bicentenary of modern railways in 2025, what narratives are we leaving out? 🚂
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Oliver Betts @drolibetts.bsky.social · Aug 22

Such an amazing story, thank for sharing!

I'd come across her because one of the many things she did was pioneer early railway computing in the UK, but hadn't appreciated how huge and varied her career was.

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Oliver Betts @drolibetts.bsky.social · Aug 19

Just because you weren't successful doesn't mean you or your work were somehow lacking.

They were good applications in a very tough funding landscape.

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Oliver Betts @drolibetts.bsky.social · Aug 8

You've heard about Rail200 this year, but what about Braille200?

Our amazing WROCAH placement student @tillyguthrie.bsky.social explains the dual history of Braille and the Railways in Britain:

blog.railwaymuseum.org.uk/braille-200/

Braille 200 - National Railway Museum blog

PhD researcher Tilly Guthrie highlights that this year marks not only 200 years of the railways, but also of the invention of Braille.

blog.railwaymuseum.org.uk

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Oliver Betts @drolibetts.bsky.social · Aug 8

You've heard about Rail200 this year, but what about Braille200?

Our amazing WROCAH placement student @tillyguthrie.bsky.social explains the dual history of Braille and the Railways in Britain:

blog.railwaymuseum.org.uk/braille-200/

Braille 200 - National Railway Museum blog

PhD researcher Tilly Guthrie highlights that this year marks not only 200 years of the railways, but also of the invention of Braille.

blog.railwaymuseum.org.uk

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Reposted by Oliver Betts

Dr Nicola Clark @nikkiclark86.bsky.social · Aug 7

Do I, or any of you, know anybody who has worked or is working on the household of Juana of Castile (1479-1555)?

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Oliver Betts @drolibetts.bsky.social · Aug 6

Wasn't sure we were allowed to do that as historians... 🤣

From Frank Pick's Oxford DNB page

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Oliver Betts @drolibetts.bsky.social · Aug 6

A historiography day...

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Oliver Betts @drolibetts.bsky.social · Aug 4

Introduced my children to Willow over the weekend and glad to report its held up 100% (at least for me!)

Its on ITV player right now if you fancy a catch up.

Oliver Betts @drolibetts.bsky.social · Jul 30

What a fascinating, but sad, story!

Having had a look at the Science Museum object, my guess (without checking the records) is that the rope probably came from Madame Tussaud's Chamber of Horrors which often featured famous murderers and objects associated with them!

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Derbyshire Record Office @derbyshiredro.bsky.social · Jun 19

Do you have any traveller ancestors? We have a handy guide to researching people from travelling communities in Derbyshire: recordoffice.wordpress.com/2023/06/01/t...

Travelling Communities Research Guide

For centuries, nomadic people and family groups have travelled through Derbyshire. These groups include Irish Travellers, Romany Gypsies, showpeople (travelling with fairgrounds and circuses) and c…

recordoffice.wordpress.com

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Oliver Betts @drolibetts.bsky.social · Jul 22

According to the newspaper "The public would not believe the statements of officials that the wreath was nowhere about" and even forced their way into the Lord Mayor's private apartments hunting for it.

It took Town Hall staff, police, and Hackney Cab inspectors (!) to finally disperse them.

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Oliver Betts @drolibetts.bsky.social · Jul 22

I thought you'd like to know that the crowd to see Manchester's funeral wreath arrangement for Queen Victoria was so big it blocked traffic for hours.

Officials told the crowd it would be moved to the Town Hall, and a huge group pushed inside looking for it even though it hadn't yet been moved.

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Oliver Betts @drolibetts.bsky.social · Jul 21

Honestly who wrote the second season of The Night Agent?!

The first series was fun and compelling. This is just a mess of people wandering onto screen announcing their motivations and blundering about!

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Reposted by Oliver Betts

Borthwick Institute for Archives @uoyborthwick.bsky.social · Jul 21

We have a brand new catalogue online to start a brand new week! The archive of multi-talented actress and writer Yvonne Mitchell is now available to search on Borthcat: borthcat.york.ac.uk/ymit

four black and white photographs of Yvonne Mitchell.

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Oliver Betts @drolibetts.bsky.social · Jul 17

Honestly sometimes the only thing that keeps me in this job is how lovely it is to work with the team of colleagues here.

Also the PhD students

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Oliver Betts @drolibetts.bsky.social · Jul 15

Its maternity cover, so fixed-term, but this looks like a fun (and potentially remote-working) job:

www.english-heritage.org.uk/about/our-pe...

Very happy to talk to anyone interested in coming into the Heritage world and would like advice on applying 😀

Curator of Gardens and Landscape History (maternity cover)

Heritage is for everybody, and we are here for heritage.

www.english-heritage.org.uk

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Reposted by Oliver Betts

misssarahwise.bsky.social @misssarahwise.bsky.social · Jul 9

Free, on Friday, online: conference on the impact of the landmark 1885 Criminal Law Amendment Act. Hosted by the Open University.
I'll be talking on how the 1913 Mental Deficiency Act was used to police sexual behaviour www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/1885-and-i...

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