Mark Hailwood

Thanks Kevin!

Is Walking Research? A Methodological Ramble Mark HailwoodI needed to try something to get me writing again. Blessed with a period of research leave to resume work on my book – Everyday Life in the Seventeenth Century English Village &#…

'I would set off, with some sense of what I might be looking for, and see what I stumbled across...'

Is going for a walk a valid methodology for a historian? And if so, how much theory do you need to read before you start?

Some thoughts in my latest blog post:
manyheadedmonster.com/2026/02/10/i...

Boydell are doing a sale on paperbacks, so you can get *Alehouses and Good Fellowship in Early Modern England* for about £16, with the code LOVE40.

If you like history, and pubs, and discounted paperbacks, it could be your thing...

boydellandbrewer.com/book/alehous...

Yes, I read and very much enjoyed your posts! I live in Devon, so that was an added layer of interest. Would be happy to discuss further sometime!

Screenshot of the first page of Violent Waters book.

Cover of 'Violent Waters: Environmental Politics in Early Modern England' by Elly Robson Dezateux

*Violent Waters: Environmental Politics in Early Modern England*

An important new book from @ellydezateux.bsky.social shows 'how environments were politically constructed and contested, and how environmental concerns inflected politics'. 🗃️

Cambridge UP: www.cambridge.org/core/books/v...

This post, the dicussion arising from it, and the blog post it links to, are well worth a read on #OnePlaceWednesday!

#WomensWork

Great, thanks. Makes me think of William Cronon's 'The Trouble with Wilderness' in an American context. I briefly encountered Tom as a lecturer when I was at UEA doing my first degree...

I really like that abandoned industrial remains idea. Plenty of those to be seen too when walking in supposedly 'unspoilt' or 'natural' rural landscapes of course...

Our ground is pasture land during the winter, and we only get it back for the summer. It doesn't make for a great outfield.

What came out from the walk was that it made me think more about the relationship between the academic literature, local history, my own experiences growing up, and what the landscape looks like now.

[I think this is partly because of the introduction of a tidal mill in the 18thC, which made the valley floor much wetter and perhaps not suitable for much pasture, and that was reflected in what earlier historians had written] In the 17thC and earlier though it was indeed a valued resource.

Thanks Adam. It was interesting because I knew the importance of/contest over pasture land in the period from the literature. But I also had perceptions based on living in Portishead, and on its own history books (from late 18thC and early 20thC) which made me perceive of it is 'marginal' marshland

Haha! But what about the theory question...?

Thanks Lauren. I was/am wary of historians getting excited about approaches to research because we find them enjoyable. I'd say we need to be extra careful to think critically about their value in such cases so we don't just fetishise our personal enthusiasms. I'll be interested to read your piece!

Is Walking Research? A Methodological Ramble Mark HailwoodI needed to try something to get me writing again. Blessed with a period of research leave to resume work on my book – Everyday Life in the Seventeenth Century English Village &#…

'I would set off, with some sense of what I might be looking for, and see what I stumbled across...'

Is going for a walk a valid methodology for a historian? And if so, how much theory do you need to read before you start?

Some thoughts in my latest blog post:
manyheadedmonster.com/2026/02/10/i...

Thanks Tracey - I really like that phrase 'thwarted proximity'! That is as good as far as a 'research walk' is ever likely to get you I think...

Interesting, thanks Francis. I guess that chimes with my point that any researcher would take something different away from a walk - including nothing!

Thanks Catherine - I found your 'Not Walking' post really interesting, and not least for putting me on to the Trevelyan essay

Is Walking Research? A Methodological Ramble Mark HailwoodI needed to try something to get me writing again. Blessed with a period of research leave to resume work on my book – Everyday Life in the Seventeenth Century English Village &#…

“Does being in a landscape automatically imbue us with a greater understanding of it?
…
We all find our own way, and notice different things as we go.”

@markhailwood.bsky.social

manyheadedmonster.com/2026/02/10/i...

🗃️

Yep, it's still going strong - now run by the community rather than the council, who were going to close it about 10 years ago.

Thank you!

I've written a first draft of the post - in the end I've argued that it has value in a number of ways, absolutely, and I think we can also call it a methodology... I'll be keen to see what you think!

Ha - you might even have been at the pool at the same time as my parents: it was where they first met!

Thanks Janet!

Thanks Emilie!

🚨History Job: Assistant Professor in Early Modern British History (Permanent) 🗃️

Come work with us at Warwick! You will join a group of excellent early-modernists and one of the nicest bunches of historians around!
👇👇👇

@uni-of-warwick.bsky.social

warwick-careers.tal.net/vx/lang-en-G...

Yep, container ships are a frequent sight - I think technically most of them are going to Portbury rather than Avonmouth, as the former was built later to accommodate growing ship sizes. Lots of cars shipped into Portbury too.

I was hoping for a giant container ship, but had to settle for this...

Thanks Rebecca! I need to come up with some new routes so I can keep doing them...