Can we remind researchers that up to £2000 is available for people undertaking research into Nottinghamshire history. This is thanks to Geoffrey Bond’s generous grant of £1000 together with another £1000 from Thoroton funds. Applications are invited from individuals or societies which will need to be sent to the Honorary Secretary of the Thoroton Society by 1^stSeptember 2018 at barbaracast@btinternet.com

Details of the terms and conditions are available on the Thoroton website at www.thorotonsociety.org.uk or contact Barbara Cast as above.

In 2017 awards were made to Southwell Community Archaeology Group for its community archaeology project to research, compare and document the wall-paintings in the Saracens Head, Southwell, and also to Bassetlaw Christian Heritage for its project to identify, research and document information on the unique part the Bassetlaw area played in Christian history and which is held in document form in archives and churches, and also orally.

It is hoped that more individuals and groups will apply for this useful financial support for their research in 2018 and we would urge all researchers to consider whether they could be helped in their endeavours by a grant.

Saturday 14th – Sunday 29th July 2018

We invite you to join in the 2018 Festival of Leicestershire and Rutland Archaeology – a chance to discover more about the rich and diverse heritage of Leicestershire and Rutland. The Festival has a fascinating range of events, talks and guided tours from some of the county’s archaeological and historical experts. Local groups will show you their own discoveries and invite you to become involved in making the next great discovery! For an online version of the leaflet and to keep up to date with the latest events go to Leicestershire Fieldworkers website below. Please always check for latest updates and news in case of last minute additions and changes.

http://leicsfieldworkers.co.uk/festival-of-archaeology

Write for us: Share your stories about the local consequences of the Great War

The January 2019 ‘bumper’ edition of East Midlands History and Heritage will be dedicated to the centenary of the end of the Great War. To remember and reflect on the days, months and years after November 1918, we would like you to share your stories and pictures with us.

We are particularly interested in the lasting consequences of the war on the local life in villages, towns and cities across our region.

• Did the Armistice raise expectations for a better tomorrow?
• How did communities choose to commemorate?
• What were the lasting social, physical, and mental impacts on families and individuals?

Articles should normally be around 1000-2000 words long, with a strong local/regional connection. We’d like contributions by 15th November 2018.

Fell free to contact us with any questions, or for help and advice at emhist@virginmedia.com

Visit us at www.eastmidlandshistory.org.uk

Heritage Open Days is England’s favourite heritage festival!  Every September some 40,000 volunteers across England organise 5,000 events to celebrate our fantastic history and culture. It’s your chance to see hidden places and try out new experiences – all of which are FREE to explore. The dates of the festival this year are 6-9 & 13-16 September 2018.

Organised in partnership with Nottinghamshire County Council, this free training session is aimed at heritage sites and providers in and around the Nottinghamshire area. It will introduce you to Heritage Open Days and why it’s a good idea to get involved.

The workshop will cover:

An Introduction to HODs

• Background on Heritage Open Days
• The yearly cycle and key dates
• Top tips for registering an event
• An introduction to marketing an event
• How to get the most out of your local & national HODs team

Introduction to programming

• Some top tips on how to create and organise incredible events
• How to make your event more family friendly
• The themes for the year and how to create events around them
• A Q&A, as well as a general discussion to share past successes and lessons learnt

You can also hear first-hand what HODS did for the William Booth Birthplace Museum and get a briefing about the Mayflower 400 project.

This year the Tour of Britain, the biggest event in British cycling and UK’s largest free-to-watch sporting event, will pass through Nottinghamshire on the same weekend as Heritage Open Days. Find out more on how you can benefit from both.

The day will conclude with an optional tour of the Bestwood Winding Engine. Refreshments are provided but participants should provide their own lunch.

Booking can be done through this Eventbrite link:

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/heritage-open-days-and-programming-training-2018-tickets-46653828858

Prison History www.prisonhistory.org is a database which contains information on nearly 850 penal institutions which existed in 19th century England, including around 420 local prisons and 380 lock ups. For each institution, there is information about its operational dates, jurisdiction, location, population statistics, the primary and secondary sources which mention it, and a list of all the relevant and surviving archival documents which we have been able to find in repositories based in England. On accessing Prison History, users can either search for specific prisons or various types of prisons, or browse the lists of archival materials that we recovered.

One of the core aims of Prison History is to emphasise the importance of the local prison (and lock ups) in nineteenth-century society. It is an institution that has been largely neglected in the major studies of nineteenth-century imprisonment and it is time to redress the imbalance. To do that help is needed from local historians. The hope is that Prison History will be a useful resource for local historians, and also that local historians will want to get involved with this project, to help make the database an even better tool for local history, and, through emphasising the importance of prisons within nineteenth-century communities, to demonstrate the importance of local history research.

Launch date is 6 July, there is also a survey and the opportunity to provide feedback at https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/HR3CNLH

Prison_History PDF

Prison History Launch Programme PDF

Entries are now invited for the increasingly popular and prestigious HARRY JOHNSON AWARD 2018 – run every alternate year jointly by the Nottinghamshire Building Preservation Trust and the Nottingham Branch of the Campaign to Protect Rural England, both energetic guardians of Nottinghamshire’s heritage.

Projects should have been completed within three years prior to the application deadline of 30th June 2018. The support of the building owners is, of course, essential for the provision of detailed information and co-operation with the judges to arrange a visit.

Previous award-winners have included:

• 2010 Restoration. The Coach House, Orston. New. Thomas Cranmer Centre, Aslockton.
• 2012 Restoration. The Old Pumphouse, The Ropewalk, Nottingham. New. Healy’s Wharf, Newark.
• 2014 Restoration. Orchard Cottages, Epperstone. New. The Court, Epperstone.
• 2016 Restoration. Turncroft Farm, Edingley. New. Wright’s Place, Keyworth.

A nomination form is available from the Nottinghamshire Building Preservation Trust, Minster Chambers, Church Street, Southwell NH25 0HD and via e-mail nbpt@ntclick.com A modest entry fee of £25 is required to cover the costs of administration and the Award certificates. Judging is scheduled for July / August 2018.

Nottingham Trent University’s Postgraduate History Conference team are pleased to announce this year’s conference, to be held on Thursday 12th July. This theme aims to address and facilitate the discussion of concepts of Identity and Community, broadly defined. Researchers may choose to consider what is defined as community, people’s relationships with their locale, and how identities are formed.

Possible themes may include, but are not limited to:

1. National and local identities
2. Physical, metaphysical and emotional communities
3. Immigration and communities built around ‘the other’
4. The construction of imagined communities

We would like to invite papers from postgraduate researchers not only from History and Heritage, but from a variety of disciplines, from universities across the East Midlands. Papers may address any time period or region, and should be no longer than 20 minutes.

We also welcome proposals for themed panels, either from one specific subject area, or from individual institutions. Additionally, we invite MA and MRes students to submit proposals – these can either be 20 minute papers, or they may choose to propose shorter 10 minute papers, which will be grouped as a single panel.

Abstracts of 200 – 250 words should be sent to the Conference Team at ntuhistpg@outlook.com by Wednesday 6th June 2018

If you have any questions regarding the conference, please do not hesitate to contact the Conference Team at the email address above.

We are preparing for the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) and we need to make a few changes regarding how we use and manage subscribers personal data.

From 25 May 2018 without specific permission we will no longer be able to send out our newsletter via email.

We we want to keep you updated to make sure you don’t miss out on information that may be of interest to you.

Giving your consent for us to use your personal details to allow us to distribute our newsletter does not affect any other rights or consents you may have with NLHA but only relates to our newsletter.

You can withdraw your consent at any time by emailing chairman@nlha.org.uk

Our data protection statement will be available on our website in due course.

Please update your details on our web page at nlha.org.uk/newsletter-subscribers/

Nottingham City Museums and Galleries are pleased to present an exciting opportunity to explore Nottingham’s largest cave system, which has not been open to the public in many years.

Rouse’s sandmine off Mansfield Road was created between around 1780 and 1810 and has many fascinating original features created by James Rouse, as well as its later uses as a Victorian and early 20th century tourist attraction, and Second World War air raid shelter.

Nicknamed the Mammoth Cave because of its vast size and winding passages, which make this cave system a labyrinth, this is a unique experience unlike any other cave tour in the city.

Nottingham’s City Archaeologist, Scott Lomax, will lead tours of this cave system and will provide a fascinating history of the caves, revealing many little-known facts and anecdotes.

The tour will last approximately one hour, with an additional twenty minutes safety induction prior to entering the cave.

It is essential that all participants wear suitable, flat-soled footwear with good tread. Warm clothing is also recommended due to the slightly cool temperature within the cave. Hard hats and torches will be provided. The cave is entered via concrete steps and is not suitable for those with limited mobility. If you have any concerns regarding whether any medical condition could be a problem, please contact Scott Lomax at scott.lomax@nottinghamcity.gov.uk

This tour is not suitable for anyone aged under 12. Those aged under 16 must be accompanied by an adult.

To book please visit: https://www.gigantic.com/cave-city-underground-festival-peel-street-caves-2018-05-11-11-00