I’ve been working on the idea of the park as an enclosed space, and had an idle thought about the introduction of rhododendrons to the UK in the 19th century. How does such a ubiquitous plant, which I always associate with Victorian
I was interviewed by Prof James Tilley for BBC Radio 4 Analysis programme, ‘What’s the point of street protest?’ on Monday 4 October. You can listen again here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001cpkk
Courtesy of Prof Laura Vaughan of UCL, with my own additions: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10056449/2/Mapping-Society.pdf https://alondoninheritance.com/?s=limehouse Goad Fire Insurance Plans for the area – try https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Insurance_Plan_of_London_East_Vol._G;_sheet_2_(BL_152677).tiff, or one of the adjacent ones (see https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?search=goad+fire+insurance+plans+of+london+east&title=Special:MediaSearch&go=Go&type=image) Old maps portal: https://www.oldmapsonline.org/en/Tower_Hamlets#bbox=-0.03921728991699221,51.5091398980077,-0.02888728991699216,51.51579463880361&q=&date_from=0&date_to=9999&scale_from=&scale_to= Layers of London – Tower Hamlets collection: https://www.layersoflondon.org/map/overlays/tower-hamlets?overlayGroups=eyJlbmFibGVkIjpbInRvd2VyLWhhbWxldHMiXX0%3D O’Day, R. and
This year at Womad festival, I was privileged to chair a panel of authors from Comma Press’s collection, The Cuckoo Cage. Courttia Newland, Bidisha and Irfan Master read from their short stories about contemporary protest drawn from historical “proto-heroes”: Captain Pouch and
The online exhibition that I’ve done showcasing my favourite Open Spaces Society lantern slides at The Museum of English Rural Life is now online: https://merl.reading.ac.uk/explore/online-exhibitions/lantern-slides-of-the-open-spaces-society/
As part of the Working Class Movement Library’s series of events commemorating the Mass Trespass of 1932, I gave the annual Frow lecture. My topic was ‘trespass before Mass Trespass’, and I outlined my definitions of enclosure and trespass. Thanks to Belinda,
The history of privacy generally falls into two approaches: 1. the intrusion of the state into controlling personal information about the individual 2. changing family/domestic arrangements in the home. Definitions of privacy generally revolve around ‘the right to be left alone’, and
Primary sources: George Scharf, sketches of laying gas mains in London streets, 1834: https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/P_1862-0614-304- Scharf, sketch of children clearing snow, 1843: https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/P_1862-0614-79 The Architect magazine, e.g. https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/The_Architect/z92t3Fl8pGkC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=pavements%20streets%20pedestrians&pg=PA194&printsec=frontcover TNA: MEPO – Met Police records – obstruction and nuisance Key texts: David Rooney, ‘Keeping
I’ve reviewed Historic England’s new guide to Stevenage Town Centre buildings for Tribune magazine, winter 2022 edition: https://tribunemag.co.uk/issue/winter-2022
I’m on Dan Snow’s popular podcast HistoryHit, on the history of enclosures in England and Wales: Link to the podcast here: https://podfollow.com/1042631089/episode/13ee7d03c66a922fc552b292897a4cb33bdac080/view