Newcastle Uni Special Collections & Archives

For today's #ArchiveAdventCalendar #Star theme we've found this hand made poster for a family play 'starring' the Treveylan and Richmond families in one of our Trevelyan family photo albums.

Find all our digitised Trevelyan albums on our Digital Showcase: digitalshowcase.ncl.ac.uk/showcases/tr...

For the final #ExploreYourArchive Week theme of #YourArchive these photos show the formal opening of our Reading Room in 1997.

The room may still be in the same place, but lots has changed, including the bookcases!

Find out more about us on our website: www.ncl.ac.uk/library/spec...

For today's #ArchiveAdventCalendar theme of #WinterSports here's a scene of what certainly looks like a competitive snow ball throwing competition on the lawn outside the Student's Union, from our University Archive.

[Ref. NUA/264918/03]

Photograph of Gertrude Bell's grave in Baghdad.

Looking ahead to next year for today's #ExploreYourArchive #Anniversaries theme, 2026 marks 100 years since the death of Gertrude Bell.

Her archive of photographs and letters of her travels and life in the Middle East are still used globally today.

Explore the archive here: gertrudebell.ncl.ac.uk

Photograph of the interior of a lounge with a decorated Christmas tree in the corner.

This part of December is often a time when people start decorating their Christmas trees.

Here's one decorated earlier, 1960 to be exact, in the lounge of Claremont House student accommodation, for today's #ArchiveAdventCalendar theme of #tree.

[Ref. NUA/020508/07]

First page of the July 1987 Issue of the CHE Tyneside Newsletter. Includes a large photograph of a banner reading Lesbian and Gay Pride '87.

Our Tyneside Campaign for Homosexual Equality Archive records the work of the group who fought for inclussion of excluded minorities in the North East through the latter half of the 20th Century.

Browse the catalogue here: specialcollections.ncl.ac.uk/che

#ExploreYourArchive #EYAInclussion

Title page of A Garland of Christmas Carols.

Page containing the words to the carol 'Glory in the Highest'.

This Chapbook, printed locally in Newcastle, contains the words to a variety of traditional Chritmas carols.

Perect for today's #ArchiveAdventCalendar theme of #ChristmasCarol

Find the whole chapbook on CollectionCaptured here: collectionscaptured.ncl.ac.uk/digital/coll...

These photos were taken at some point in 1974, so may be around the same time.

Black and white photograph of a crane lifting a box out the back of a van on Claremont Road.

Black and white photograph of a computer being craned into the basement of Claremont Tower. A group of three suited yong men are closely watching the action.

Photograph of men in boiler suits wheeling a new computer into the basement of the Claremont Tower.

Ever wondered what installing a new computer in your office looked like 50 years ago?

For today's #ExploreYourArchive theme of #EYADigital here are 3 digitised photos of the process of installing a new computer in our Claremont Tower from our University Archive.

All dressed in bows, these peg dolls from 'Lady Tabitha and Us' are playing drop the handkerchief. Find out more about these mischievous peg dolls on our blog blogs.ncl.ac.uk/speccoll/201... #boxesandbows #ArchiveAdventCalendar #Christmas @arascot.bsky.social

There's nothing better than #festivelights by the fire. Here's Joseph Swan & his wife sitting by the fire at their home in Warlingham c 1904 #ArchiveAdventCalendar #Christmas collectionscaptured.ncl.ac.uk/digital/coll... @arascot.bsky.social

Colour illustration of Tunsal Hill, near Sunderland

Black and white illustration of Caldron Snout in Teesdale.

Black and white illustration of High Force in Teesdale.

Black and white illustration of Lambton Peep.

Today's #ExploreYourArchive Focus Week theme is #EYABeauty.

Beauty can be found in many places in archives, here are a few illustrations from our Local Illustration Collection showing off some nearby naturally beautiful places.

[Refs. ILL/2/60, ILL/2/135, ILL/2/137, ILL/12/97]

Photograph of archival packaging material including acid free boxes, folders and envelopes, brass paper clips and unbleached cotton tape.

The first theme of #ExploreYourArchive Focus Week is #EYAConservation

To make sure archives are conserved they need to be properly packaged. To do this we keep our archives in protective acid free folders and boxes, like those pictured here, to make sure they stay safe into the future!

Front Cover of the pamphlet produced for the official opening of hte Stephenson Building.

Colour photograph showing the Kensington Wallk frontage of the Stephenson Building.

#OTD On the 28th November 1951 the Stephenson Building was officially opened by H.R.H. Prince Philip as a centre for engineering research and teaching.

Read the pamphlet produced for the event on CollectionsCaptured: collectionscaptured.ncl.ac.uk/digital/coll...

We're very excited that both our Gertrude Bell: Beyond the Margins and Marine Technology Special Collection projects feature in this report showcasing the last year in UK archives.

Title page of 'An Account of the Great flood in the River Tyne..'

First page of an account of the Great Flood of November 1771.

Did you know that in November 1771 there was a "Great Flood in the Rivers Tyne, Tease, and Wear"?

This pamphlet from our 19th Century Collection details the disasterous event and its aftermath.

Read the whole account on CollectionsCaptured: cdm21051.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/coll...

Here's another shout out to our Digital Showcase, where you can explore curated insights across our unique and distinctive collections.

Take a look online digitalshowcase.ncl.ac.uk

#Discover This manuscript written & illustrated by Joseph Crawhall with hand-drawn coloured shields & crests of the mayors & sheriffs of Newcastle upon Tyne (1588-1851) cdm21051.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/coll...

Illustration of skating on ice.

Front cover of Skating and Sliding, with an illustration of various well dressed boys skating on an icy surface.

POV: Our journey into the Special Collections office this morning.

If you also regretted not brushing up on your skating skills this morning we've got a handy Skating and Sliding guide in our 19th Century Collection!

Read about the origins of the book on our blog: blogs.ncl.ac.uk/speccoll/201...

Photograph of the University quadrangle with a light covering of snow on the ground.

It's not often we see snow in Newcastle in November. So here's a throwback to November 1993 and another snowy November morning in the @newcastleuni.bsky.social quadrangle!

#ThrowbackThursday
[Ref. NUA/264918/02]

Did you know the Education Outreach team gives school & college students the chance to work directly with our collections? For example, GCSE groups can handle real Renaissance anatomy texts during our Health and the People workshop!

Find out more digitalshowcase.ncl.ac.uk/showcases/th...

Crouch (Marcus) Collection Leaf no. 10, 'Cecilia the Babbler'.

#Discover on CollectionsCaptured 'Imagerie d'Epinal Album d' Images' - 60 lithographs printed and hand coloured in France collectionscaptured.ncl.ac.uk/digital/coll...

Leaf from a Gutenberg bible, printed in the 1450s.

Did you know we have a leaf from a Gutenberg Bible, printed in the 1450s, amongst the items in our collections.

See the digitised leaf, and find out how it came into our collections on our Digital Showcase here: digitalshowcase.ncl.ac.uk/showcases/gu...

[Ref ROB 430]
#EYAReligion

Aerial photograph of Swan Hunter Shipyard on the River Tyne.

Aerial photograph of multi-storey flats at Killingworth.

Do you recongise these aerial views of Tyneside past?

They were captured by former Newcastle University Professor Norman McCord, and are now part of our University Archive.

If you missed last weeks blog post on McCord and his photographic legacy read it here: blogs.ncl.ac.uk/speccoll/202...

New on the blog 'Rendezvous' plays and poems in loving memory of Poet and Playwright Julia Darling'. Well worth a read on this rainy Tuesday: blogs.ncl.ac.uk/speccoll/2025/11/11/rendezvous-plays-and-poems-in-loving-memory-of-poet-and-playwright-julia-darling/

Collection of CDs containing digital data, which needs to be carefully transferred and managed if it is to remain intact and accessible into the the future.

Laptops, potentially containing digital records which could be inaccessible to future generations of researchers without active management.

Black and white photograph of the unveiling of a new PC in the Agriculture Department in the 1980s.

Today is World Digital Preservation Day #WDPD2025

This year the theme is #WhyPreserve
For us the answer is that without actively preserving our digital records we lose all the evidence and history of our recent (and even not so recent) past and present, and lose the story of what we're doing now.

Bonfire Night isn’t just about Guy Fawkes. Thomas Percy of Northumberland was one of 13 conspirators in the Gunpowder Plot. Learn more about the #Northumberland connection here: blogs.ncl.ac.uk/speccoll/202... #BonfireNight #Fireworks

Don't miss out - The Town and Gown exhibition on Level 2 of the Philip Robinson Library has been extended to 7th December 2025, so still plenty of time to get along.

Find out more www.ncl.ac.uk/library/special-collections/exhibitions/town-and-gown/

In case you missed it, new #ontheblog 'The Aerial Photographs of Professor Norman McCord'.

Why not have a read blogs.ncl.ac.uk/speccoll/202...

Title page of "A Treatise of Specters" from our Robert White Collection.

Title page of the St Alb-ns Ghost, found in our 18th Century Collection.

A nightmare for every archivist: A pile of pieces of perished elastic band.

A ghostly shelfmark!

As it's #Halloween today we've had a hunt around our stores, and here are some scary things we've found lurking there! We hope you don't find them too scary!
@exploreyourarchive.bsky.social #EYAMonsters