English Heritage

One in four people consider scrolling through social media a genuine hobby - but many yearn to break the digital fix

Retrieved on:

Tuesday, March 5, 2024

Social media, Research, National Trust, Wembley Stadium, National lottery, Friends, News, Screen time, Hobby, Opinium Research, Life, Gamble Rogers, RSPB, New Year's resolution, Family, National Lottery (United Kingdom), Royal Shakespeare Company, English Heritage, Instant

Yet one out of four (24%) UK adults consider staying indoors scrolling through social media to be a genuine hobby[1].

Key Points:

Yet one out of four (24%) UK adults consider staying indoors scrolling through social media to be a genuine hobby[1].
Yet the nation is yearning for more as many wish to break free from their digital habit, with three out of five adults (59%) harbouring hidden desires to try something new.
A third (34%) even admit that if they didn't have social media, they would opt to spend their time on new pursuits.
A quarter (23%) are considering getting rid of all their social media in a bid to pursue more diverse interests.

The strange history of ice cream flavours – from brown bread to Parmesan and paté

Retrieved on:

Monday, August 7, 2023

English Heritage is now selling what it calls “the best thing since sliced bread” at 13 of its sites – brown bread ice cream, inspired by a Georgian recipe.

Key Points:

English Heritage is now selling what it calls “the best thing since sliced bread” at 13 of its sites – brown bread ice cream, inspired by a Georgian recipe.
The announcement of the flavour mentions several more outlandish Georgian flavours trialled by English Heritage before it landed on brown bread, such as Parmesan and cucumber.
In Edinburgh, the National Trust for Scotland’s Gladstone’s Land features an ice cream parlour linked to the dairy which stood there in 1904.

The history of ice cream

From the 1820s, however, ice was imported to Britain from Europe and then the US and stored in ice wells and warehouses.
It would be a long time until ice was easily produced within the home, but cheaper ice made ice cream more readily available and implements were devised so it could be made at home.
Equipped with such a freezer (and perhaps Marshall’s patent Ice Cave, for storing the ices), middle-class housewives could produce ice cream in their own kitchens.

Ice cream and leisure

Whether it is a “99”, an “oyster” enjoyed at the beach, or the nearing jingle of an ice cream truck, ice cream has clear cultural and emotional links to recreation and enjoyment.
It is the portability of ice cream, as well as its culinary appeal, that has led to its lasting place in our leisure time – a delicious treat that can be enjoyed, one-handed, as part of a larger experience.
The act of eating ice cream prepared from a Georgian or Victorian recipe therefore connects today’s visitors to a long tradition of enjoying ices recreationally.
From ice cream, we can learn about technological developments, changing attitudes towards sanitation, global travel, the availability of ingredients throughout time, trends, fashion and leisure habits.

'A weather-map of popular feeling': how Mass-Observation was born

Retrieved on:

Thursday, July 27, 2023

What if some people, even lots of people, were tensely watching “the racing news and daily horoscope”?

Key Points:

What if some people, even lots of people, were tensely watching “the racing news and daily horoscope”?
This is the question posed by Mass-Observation at the start of the 1939 book, Britain.
I first came across Mass-Observation while doing my doctoral research in the 1990s and became a trustee in 2022.
But unlike social media, Mass-Observers – as the project’s voluntary contributors are known – write with posterity in mind, and write at length, anonymously and with candour.

Candour and idiosyncrasies

To this end, people were invited to volunteer to answer directives, to write diaries on specific days and to observe and describe the world around them.
The first Mass-Observation material I worked on, in the 1990s, was a microfiche file entitled Bad Dreams and Nightmares.
These accounts had been collated a few months before the start of the second world war, in an attempt to gauge social anxiety.
Reading the 66 reports that observers had sent in, however, had a cumulative effect of gnawing unease.

Archive of feelings

By the mid-1950s, it had stopped using a national panel of voluntary writers and slowly shut up shop.
Mass-Observation found a new lease of life in the mid-1970s when Harrisson bequeathed the archive to the University of Sussex, for safekeeping and public use.
It represents an invaluable archive for future historians.
Mass-Observation is a growing archive of feelings.

A brief history of British lidos – and new hope for their return to glory

Retrieved on:

Monday, July 3, 2023

Sport, Optimism, Public, Policy, COVID-19, English Heritage, Radley, History, Thirties, Sport England, Farewell, Community, Swimming, Diving, Collection, Lido, Weather, Blur, Health, Grade, Ballad, Entertainment, Tourism

While indoor pools had been gender segregated, public lidos were deliberately mixed and became synonymous with fun and socialising.

Key Points:

While indoor pools had been gender segregated, public lidos were deliberately mixed and became synonymous with fun and socialising.
Some of the most iconic lidos are the magnificent art deco sites in Saltdean, Plymouth and Penzance in the south of England.
Lidos were grand constructions and monuments of civic pride, both for those who created them and for those who frequented them.
At their peak, there were more than 300 active public outdoor pools in the UK, with 11 in Liverpool and 68 in London.

Lidos closures

The same year, a heart-warming novel, The Lido by Libby Page, beautifully captured the community spirit, history and value of lidos.
Photographer Christopher Beanland paid homage to lidos in 2020 through a global collection of outdoor pools and their stories.
If Sport England’s policies can recognise the diverse value of lidos to public health and leisure, the next decade could see a further resurgence in restorations.
Even more lidos could soon be making a welcome return across Britain, allowing more access to outdoor swimming – whatever the weather.

How archaeologists reconstructed a Roman gateway to tell the story of Britain's invasion

Retrieved on:

Tuesday, May 2, 2023

Carrara, Castra, Horse, English Heritage, River Wantsum, Element, Wind, Man, Acquisition, Soil, Isle, Wantsum Channel, Erosion, Brancaster, AD, Bridge, Canal, Tunnel, Tourism, Britannia, Claudian, Richborough

Visitors to Richborough Roman fort near Sandwich in east Kent will now find a major new addition to the site: a reconstructed Roman fort gateway in timber, flanked by stretches of an earthwork rampart.

Key Points:

Visitors to Richborough Roman fort near Sandwich in east Kent will now find a major new addition to the site: a reconstructed Roman fort gateway in timber, flanked by stretches of an earthwork rampart.
The gate has been built on the site of an actual Roman gateway, thought to date to the invasion of Britain in AD43 under the emperor Claudius.
Recent re-excavation revealed the emplacements of the post-holes housing the uprights of the gate, inside a pair of north-south defensive ditches.

What was the purpose of the gateway and defences?

This force consisted of four legions of heavy infantry (some 20,000 men) along with a probably equivalent number of auxiliary troops, cavalry and light infantry.
Richborough lay on the Kentish shore of the Wantsum, with a sheltered area for an anchorage or for beaching ships at the bottom of the sea cliff.
The monument was decorated with scenes showing the campaigns, with one showing Roman soldiers building a fort.
An enclosed, boarded structure would have been much more conducive to military effectiveness.

Understanding Richborough’s significance

Remains from nearly four centuries are now visible at the site, making it difficult for visitors to understand.
Originally sheathed in white Carrara marble from Italy (only fragments survive), it has an inscription in gilt bronze letters.
After the army moved on, Richborough became a major port with, among other things, an amphitheatre, also recently excavated.

FS50835063

Retrieved on:

Wednesday, August 7, 2019

English Heritage, Trust law, Law, South African law, England, Legal systems, Information privacy

The complainant made a request to the English Heritage Trust (the Trust) for information about filming at English Heritage properties for the television series ‘The Crown’. The Trust refused the request under the section 43(2) (commercial interests) exemption. The Commissioner’s decision is that section 43(2) was correctly applied and the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosure. The Commissioner requires no steps to be taken.

Key Points:

The complainant made a request to the English Heritage Trust (the Trust) for information about filming at English Heritage properties for the television series The Crown.
The Trust refused the request under the section 43(2) (commercial interests) exemption.
The Commissioners decision is that section 43(2) was correctly applied and the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosure.
The Commissioner requires no steps to be taken.