As part of their second-year module, Working with the Past, second-year history students have been involved with Liberation Route Europe producing the first UK trails for LRE, including one in Portsmouth, highlighting Second World War remembrance sites and stories. This went live over the summer, and was featured by the BBC and Radio Solent. The Community in War-Scarred Portsmouth Route takes in a number of sites in Portsmouth including the Royal Garrison Church.
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National Archives podcast – People of the Railways
As part of the nation-wide series of events to mark two hundred years of the railways, The National Archives of the UK ‘On the Record’ railway-focused podcast invited our own Dr Mike Esbester in as an expert. Together with archivists, Mike drew on his research and 25 years of using The National Archives to discuss early railway travellers and their experiences, and railway accidents, drawing on Mike’s work for the Railway Work, Life & Death project. The podcast is available here.
Portsmouth history graduate is Record Keeper of the Year
Portsmouth history graduate Chloe Anderson-Wheatley has been awarded the title of Record Keeper of the Year award by the Archives & Records Association, to recognise the extensive contribution she has made to record keeping for the Falkland Islands Government. Over the past eighteen months Chloe has significantly raised the profile of the Island’s National Archives service, increased local and international engagement and awareness with the collections, and has built new partnerships. Having been a volunteer archivist as a teenager, Chloe gained a history degree at the University of Portsmouth, before completing an MA in Archives & Records Management from University College London, returning to the islands to become their first […]
Portsmouth history students launch interactive children’s trail at Portsmouth Cathedral
History students from the University of Portsmouth have collaborated with Portsmouth Cathedral to develop an innovative children’s visitor trail. The interactive trail, which is available to the public during cathedral visits, invites children and their families and friends to explore the cathedral through a series of engaging clues based on real memorials and historical features. Visitors following the trail will have the opportunity to discover stories of the people commemorated there, such as the unknown sailor from the Mary Rose and the Duke of Buckingham, while learning how the cathedral has evolved over time. Read More
Researching the life stories of our local railway workers
In a project sponsored by the university’s Heritage Hub, Dr Mike Esbester has been working collaboratively with members of the Havant Local History Group on the Portsmouth Area Railway Pasts project. This researches the life stories of ten local railway workers from the 1870s to 1939 and relates to the wider Railway Work, Life & Death project database of accidents to railway workers, so this coproductive project has been about taking the accident or mention in the RWLD database as a starting point and going beyond it. In cooperation with The Community Rail Partnership (Hills to Harbour) and the community organisation Creating Chaos they have recently installed interpretation posters at […]
From a Portsmouth history degree to conserving historic buildings at York
Mature student Mandy Wrenn was a great influence on the younger students while studying history at Portsmouth, and is still in touch with many of them. We still use her blog on urban football as a model for students on the Underworlds model thinking about how to analyse sources for their document commentary assignment. Below she describes how she went on to study (and gain a distinction) for a Masters degree in conserving historic buildings at the University of York. Figuring out what to do after a history degree isn’t always straightforward. Some people have a plan, but for many, it’s a case of working out how their skills fit […]