Helen Gittos

The destruction of of Kent's cultural heritage by successive councils in recent years is hard to bear.
George Newson, Man of Kent I

Chris Shore, The Red Carpet

The Black Line Around England by Benito Beamand...

... including Via Appia by Alan Sorrell.

What's the word for the joyful pride of a mamma listening to her teenage son, cans on, singing the songs that were once new to us: Here we are now, entertain us... 💖

Oxfordshire’s maternity care Many Clarion readers will have passed through the maternity ward of the John Radcliffe Hospital, whether as an infant or a parent. It is a place with which Oxfordshire, literally, has a familial bond....

🚨Long read klaxon🚨
Last week, Baroness Amos published her interim report into maternity & neonatal care in England. Vocal campaigners have catapulted Oxford University Hospitals Trust to the top of the investigation's agenda. We took a look at Oxfordshire's maternity care, the data, and the claims.

A small square book with pink binding that says Saints and The National Gallery on the cover.

The title page, with my name

📣 New Book Day! 📣

Delighted to share a sneak peek at Saints, my new picture book for grown ups. She’s a beauty, written with everyone who‘s ever wandered round the NG with me in mind

Coming this June to the NG shop and online, but available for preorder now:

yalebooks.co.uk/book/9781857...

There will be a memorial service for Prof. Stephen Baxter @oxhistoryfaculty.bsky.social on Saturday 13 June, 2.30pm in St Peter's College chapel. www.spc.ox.ac.uk/events/memor...

Congratulations @jk-viking.bsky.social of @unioxarchaeology.bsky.social on being crowned @currentarchaeology.bsky.social's Archaeologist of the Year!

Diver finds his second Crusader sword in 5 years off Israel’s coast 800-year-old, meter-long artifact discovered off Dor Beach, undergoes a CT scan at the Medica Elisha Hospital

Medieval european Crusader-period sword found on the sea bed north of Caesarea, Israel.
www.timesofisrael.com/diver-finds-...

'Yeovil was one of my first units I was asked to go & investigate... Within a month… I was appalled... a death that shouldn't have occurred... a lady who... was lucky to have survived'. Not enough consultant oversight, institutional defensiveness, regulatory cosiness, punishment of whistleblowers...

Enhanced image of palimpsested page, original writing in red; a large illuminated 'E' can be seen in bottom right quadrant.

Somehow, an 8th-c. English liturgical manuscript ended up in Mount Sinai (where it was palimpsested and written over by a Christian Arabic scribe). For more info: Michelle Brown, austriaca.at/0xc1aa5572%2...

Whistleblower says her Yeovil maternity concerns were ignored A whistleblower says she was not listened to when she raised concerns about standards of care.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

There's a discussion about the Amos review with @alijanemoore.bsky.social on this week's @hsj.co.uk podcast: bsky.app/profile/alij...

I was transferred mid-hysterectomy after 'touch and go' C-section Women share their trauma of giving birth at Yeovil District Hospital, which is currently under investigation.

I spent the whole of my pregnancy with Harriet looking for somewhere safe to give birth - & knew I hadn't found one. Among the places I considered was Yeovil, my parents' local hospital, but I could see then it was no safer. #weneedchangefast
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Racism and staffing issues factors in 'failing' maternity care, report finds The interim report has identified problems

The final report of the Amos Review will need to be a whole lot more incisive than this.

Deeply upsetting to be back in Kent yesterday to talk with the Amos team & hear from families with horrendous recent experiences.
www.matneoinv.org.uk/updates/inde...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

I was transferred mid-hysterectomy after 'touch and go' C-section Women share their trauma of giving birth at Yeovil District Hospital, which is currently under investigation.

I spent the whole of my pregnany with Harriet trying to find somewhere safe to give birth - & knew I hadn't found one. Among the places I consdered - & rejected - was my Yeovil, my parents' local hospital, but it was clear then that wasn't any safer. #weneedchangefast www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Uncover the extraordinary results of archaeological investigations at Rendlesham, Suffolk, which offer new perspectives on early English society and the origins of the English kingdoms. Pre-order your copy of this royally good read ➡️ bit.ly/4bareyK

Late back last night from an afternoon in Canterbury to talk with the Amos team... I so badly want meaningful change to come from this but it's hard to be positive in the face of that interim report, esp. with its focus on staffing & estate.

... and that it is through getting to know such data well that you often work out/ think through what the questions are... not doing so risks simply, banally bringing preconceived ideas to it.

Tutorial Fellowship in History, and Associate Professorship (or Professorship) of Medieval British and European History at University of Oxford Explore an exciting academic career as a Tutorial Fellowship in History, and Associate Professorship (or Professorship) of Medieval British and European History. Don't miss out on other academic jobs....

We are hiring ....
Because John Nightingale is retiring...
for a Tutorial Fellowship in European History 400-1000...

www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DQP650/t...

This has been a slog but I’m pleased to day that I’m currently checking the proofs, which means this book will soon be out in the wild!

Bones of St Francis of Assisi go on public display in Italy The remains of Italy's patron saint have only been seen in public once before - for one day in 1978.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Rather than telling ourselves that we have to “catch up” to some imagined goal of normalized AI use in higher education, Columbia should take advantage of its prominence as a university to propose something better, like classrooms free of screens, oral examinations, and an end to slippery, relativistic standards on AI use from university administrators. Our response to AI is an opportunity to distinguish Columbia as a reservation where minds are developed without the crutch of a chatbot. As incoming University President Mnookin begins to navigate Columbia’s many financial and political threats, she should reassert the true value of a liberal arts education: learning for learning’s sake

The administrators might have been conned by the AI hucksters, but the students, my friends, are all right.

(The author is a history and economics major, I'll note.)

www.columbiaspectator.com/opinion/2026...

The opportunity it presents to force us to think hard about what we're trying to assess is exciting. Am intrigued by how much the answer is process more than product - & the implications that has for the assessments we might create rather than return to. Would love some focused discussion of that.

The contractions continue.
bsky.app/profile/oxfo...

'In a world increasingly obsessed with hyper-connectivity, same-day shipping, and pinging devices, Pharaoh’s Island stands as a quiet rebellion.'

... but when you ask publishers, they tend to say they've been encouraged to do it by the ALDL...

There is a public perception that copyright libraries have copies of everything published in the UK. That's never been the case. But things are rapidly getting desperate. These are among the publishers who now no longer routinely deposit print copies of their books.

Hints that there may have been a continental military unit stationed at Richborough at the end of the C4th (p 219)?