Hellen Pethers

In the 50p charity bookstall - would
have been rude not to.

#WorldWarTwo #Gardening #BuySecondhand #Books

A large blue whale skeleton suspended from the ceiling. Under the whale, there’s text saying, ‘The Natural History Museum will be closed on 3 October 2025’. Behind the skeleton, there are three large arched windows and highly decorated architectural details.

Our South Kensington Museum, including our gardens, will be closed on 3 October 2025 as we are hosting a charity gala. 🦖

We’re sorry for any inconvenience this may cause and look forward to welcoming you another time.

An old finger post where all the destinations are country pubs. (Singleton, Sussex)

The original local pub crawl guide!

It's #WorldEchidnaDay so here's a drawing by Joseph Wolf (1820-1899) of this extraordinary egg laying mammal. It was published by Richard Owen in the Philosophical Transactions (Pl.39, 1865). If you look closely, you can see a young baby in the pouch and a small outline sketch of it! buff.ly/8ErERyK

Some birthday facts and faces of Sir Richard Owen, founder of the Natural History Museum, London who was born #OTD in 1804. A very Happy Birthday to anyone else with a birthday today! #NaturalHistoryMuseum #Palaeontology

Alt text: Reel of portraits of Professor Richard Owen [has sound]

You can also now see it as part of the Richard Owen: A Natural Legacy display in the @nhm-london.bsky.social ‘s free Images of Nature gallery alongside other original #illustrations from Owen’s fascinating drawings collection #naturalhistory #art #gallery #echidna #anatomy

Reverend J. G. Wood, born #OTD in 1827, published dozens of popular books on natural history. To celebrate his 198th birthday, here are a few of our favourites... #Bookbindings, #IllustratedBindings, #Victorian, #SpecialBooks, #TradeBindings

Alt text: Reel of Victorian bookbindings [has audio]

External shot of ted brick Victorian building.

Interior of Victorian building. In the ceiling is a large glass dome.

Victorian marble staircase.

Interior of Victorian building.

Alfred Waterhouse, architect of the #NaturalHistoryMuseum also designed the Kimpton Clocktower Hotel, Manchester (formerly Refuge Assurance Building), along with his son, Paul.

I went and took a look today. Beautiful!

Large very old Manor House.

Decorative pond with statue of a woman, in front of a Manor House.

Grand gates leading to grassland.

Person standing in front of a chalk board with ‘Hellens’ written at the top.

Hellen needed to visit ‘Hellen’s Manor’ - my retirement pad?! #Herefordshire #HellensManor

Advert for Bovril.

Advert for Sutton Seeds.

Page from a journal showing an advert.

I spent some time studying the Cyprus Agricultural Journal in our collections today, from the early 1930s.

#Journals #Science #ModernCollections #Travel #Tourism #Advertising #Marketing

Title cover of the Cyprus Agricultural Journal.

Page from a journal.

Image of two pages showing adverts.

Journals contain lots of information for those who love history, not just in the articles.

The adverts can tell us a lot about businesses, the history of brands / products, and life at that time.
#NaturalHistoryMuseum #NHMLibrary

A group of eleven people sitting round an oblong table, eating a meal and smiling at the camera.

The back of a red clipboard that reads ‘Team Red Steg’, with the cartoon of a fossil Stegosaurus.

My favourite ‘other job’ for the last 11 years - Team leader for the NHM Kids Dinosnore sleep overs @nhm-london.bsky.social 😍

Although it is very warm in the museum for this one!

Oh I did enjoy making this one 🤣😂

Two photos side by side showing the front and back of a pub sign for the ‘King Charles I’ pub, which are different.

I love spotting these double sided pub signs!

King Charles I (Northdown Street N1 9BL)

Exhibition room with glass cases and items displayed.

Label and object displayed in glass case.

12th century plant book showing images of plants and text.

16th century book opened.

Interesting exhibition at the British Library ‘Unearthed: the power of gardening’.

Lots of items: books (old and new), manuscripts, ephemera and objects.

Some familiar items and people connected to the collections at the NHM and lots of interesting things to learn.

Made my own insect house - rather chuffed! It started life as half a wooden wine box.

A New Future for the Biodiversity Heritage Library The Biodiversity Heritage Library (BHL) is the world’s largest open access digital library for biodiversity literature and archives. A global consortium of over 660 contributors, BHL has made more …

NEWS! The future of Biodiversity Heritage Library #BHL have your say and spread the word 📢📢 #ILOVEBHL

blog.biodiversitylibrary.org/2025/04/new-...

A little green spider sitting on a lilac flower.

A little green spider sitting on a lilac flower.

A lilac bush.

I love the lilac in my garden. At this time of year, I start my day with a cup of tea in my hand and lilac before my eyes. 😍

There’s something fishy about these Easter bunnies! 🕵️🐰

From Hortus Sanitatis (1491) a herbal compiled by Jacob Meydenbach.

#SpecialCollections #NaturalHistoryMuseum #BookSky #Easter #EasterBunny #Herbals

Image: An illustration from an early book depicting three long eared creatures in water.

Eighteenth-Century Knowledge Work in the Harleian Collection

Fully funded (4 year) PhD studentship supervised across Keele Univ. and the British Library: "Eighteenth-Century Knowledge Work in the Harleian Collection". You'll generate your own project focused on how this unique collection was created and used: www.keele.ac.uk/study/postgr...

Ok so that’s me re-subscribed for a month then!
@netflix.com
#Pangolin #TeamPangolin

Yeah, sure, I have a pangolin corner in my home 😜

#TeamPangolin #Pangolin #EndangeredAnimals

@kneppwilding.bsky.social

We have TWO new podcast episodes!

In Ground Control to Ranger Tom, Penny speaks to Knepp woodsman @therusticranger.bsky.social about Knepp's ancient trees.

In Dam Good News for Beavers, Penny chats with Knepp's new lead ecologist @mostlyscarce.bsky.social

🔊https://knepp.co.uk/wildland-podcast/

So happy that Knepp isn’t far from me.

I love a late evening walk in the calming hug Knepp gives.

A lovely late afternoon walk around #Knepp.

✔️Bee flies
✔️Nesting storks
✔️Storks on the ground
✔️Wild ponies
✔️Longhorn
✔️Wildflowers
✔️Green woodpecker
✔️Spotted woodpecker
✔️Treecreeper

A monochrome photograph of a group of suffragettes dressed in mock prison garb, standing and waving inside a bus. The bus has a poster from the Women's Social and Political Union displayed on the front.

We’ve launched our new look LSE Digital Library!
Take a look digital.library.lse.ac.uk

The sound of birds and bees.
My happy place 😍
#MyGarden #Gardening #Blossom #Spring

Spring blue sky mornings are my favourite walks to work. You never know what you’ll see! #LondonStreets #Spring

Detail on a terracotta building. A female face.

A blue historical plaque high up on a terracotta building. Reads ‘Lillie Langtry 1852-1929 actress love here.’

A blue historical plaque high up on a terracotta building. Reads ‘Lillie Langtry 1852-1929 actress love here.’

Never stop looking up! Same route to work for 20 years and still I spot new things on the streets of London.

Appears to be an elf!! 🤣😂

Wow she sounds fascinating! She’d be on the fantasy dinner party list!