David Underdown

Why we're turning North Sea wind turbines into luggage Revolutionary recyclable blades at Dogger Bank offshore wind farm are a UK first.

'"The factory is 9 years young & we've continued to grow. We've got the skill & the competency here to produce this fantastic product."
Mr Sykes praised the "pioneering spirit" of the team in Hull. "This is just another thing we can be incredibly proud of"'
#AbPoli #CdnPoli #FUCP #UnlockRenewables

The Pushkin job: unmasking the thieves behind an international rare books heist The long read: Between 2022 and 2023, as many as 170 rare and valuable editions of Russian classics were stolen from libraries across Europe. Were the thieves merely low-level opportunists, or were bi...

Whoa 📚 🏴‍☠️ www.theguardian.com/books/2025/o...

#UnconfinedWalks back on the bike today

When I was doing some research before moving to my current flat I found various articles bemoaning the original introduction of the 30 mph speed limit with many of the same arguments used about 20 mph limits today (eg means driving with eyes on speedo not road).

‘Almost unheard of’: experts find more music by English composer Henry Purcell Printed score and keyboard manuscript by Purcell, who died in 1695, unearthed in Worcestershire and Norfolk

Exciting! Congrats @musicheritageplace.bsky.social #earlymodern 🗃️ www.theguardian.com/music/2025/o...

I quite like:

Services: the mountains, the big promises an organisation makes.

Experiences: the paths people walk to access those services.

Capabilities: the tools, processes, and functions that make it possible.

Foundations: the bedrock: IT, data, infrastructure, governance.

Paging #digitalpreservation and #databases. #digipres

gold-plated FOMO in action

View along the nave of St. Wendreda’s Church, March, showing the magnificent medieval angel roof with carved wooden angels soaring above the slender stone arcades.

🚴John Betjeman said that it was worth cycling 40 miles in a headwind to see them.
🪽The early C16th Angel Roof at St Wendreda in Cambs is adorned with over 100 oaken angels.

He was a big lad and there were several young pretenders around to deter

#UnconfinedWalks also the rut in progress

#UnconfinedWalks an actual walk as I wasn’t feeling 100%. The sugar maples commemorating the Canadian use of Richmond Park during the Second World War (first two photos) and then sunset

Logo of the Catalyzing African archives for social good project. project name on the left with yellow purple and green colour blobs on the right hand side.

If you are looking for easy to understand digital preservation training resources then look no further than our next #DPClinic. The resources produced by this project are second to none and of particular relevance to community groups.
www.dpconline.org/events/event...

#UnconfinedWalks coming home through Richmond Park a little while ago

Letters found on eBay cast light on UK families who benefited from slavery Researcher Malik Al Nasir bought historical documents while investigating his family history – and began building an archive

'Documents detailing the affairs of 19th-century families linked to Sandbach, Tinne and Company, a business that dealt in enslaved people, cotton, sugar and coffee, were being traded online by collectors of rare stamps and postmarks.' 1/2

Anthony L'Abbé, The Princess Anna: a new dance for his Majestys birth day 1716 (London, 1716) These diagrams record dance steps in a specialised eighteenth century notation ('Beauchamp-Feuillet') which translated steps and turns into symbols and patterns on the page. The two dances shown here are taken from a set called the 'Princess Anna', composed in 1716 by Anthony L'Abbé for Anne, Princess Royal, the second child and eldest daughter of George II. L'Abbé had been appointed as the royal dancing master in 1715. Anne was a musician herself, and was taught singing, harpsichord, and composition by George Friedrich Handel. Sion G84.3/L11 02, pp. 1-2 (facsim.)

View (through window) of the pond just outside Lambeth Palace Library. It’s lined with reeds and has lily pads in it

On the left a Lutheran hymn book with wood cuts and hymns with music. On the right one of only two known surviving copies of John Wesley’s second published collection of hymns (words only)

The Arundel Choirbook, open at the Sanctus of a Mass by Thomas Fayrfax. Illuminated Ss (3 on the left leaf and 2 on the right) mark the start of each line of the 5 part polyphony

#UnconfinedWalks to @lampallib.bsky.social for the “Sing Joyfully” exhibition marking the (probable) 500th anniversary of the Arundel Choirbook, plus other music from the library collection

Other reports suggest the two hit by police bullets were inside the synagogue holding the doors against the attacker

A wet road and gravel track meet in the middle of the foreground, diverging to left and right. Grass and bracken, along with trees further back, below a cloudy sky with small blue patches

#UnconfinedWalks somehow a dry one at the time I needed to cross town

Closing Central Madrid To Cars Resulted In 9.5% Boost To Retail Spending, Finds Bank Analysis City of Madrid significantly boosted the takings of its shops and restaurants last Christmas by banning cars from the CBD, finds an analysis by Spain's second largest bank.

Keep this in mind when people claim cars mean business — closing Central #Madrid to cars over holidays resulted in a 9.5% boost in retail spending on its main shopping street: STUDY.

There was also a 71% drop in air pollution.

Via @carltonreid.com in @forbes.com. #citymakingmath #citiesforpeople

A few trees (and a couple of other cyclists) hazily visible

#UnconfinedWalks a foggy one this morning

"Effectively decriminalising bike thefts": Bikes stolen from train stations that were left for more than two hours will not be investigated, says British Transport Police CCTV footage will not be looked at outside a two-hour timeframe

The British Transport Police won't investigate bike thefts if the bike was left for more than two hours.

road.cc/content/news...

When saving becomes loss: Archival memory in the digital age Explore archival memory, data loss, and attempts to preserve the past in the digital age at this year’s Annual Digital Lecture.

Join us on 20 November for the Annual Digital Lecture, a partnership between The National Archives, UK and the School of Advanced Study. The wonderful @nannathylstrup.bsky.social will be speaking about ‘When saving becomes loss: archival memory in the digital age’. Free to register!

#UnconfinedWalks last evening Moloko laps of the year (plus tacos)

This is a great thread and I’m not sure I have anything to add to the excellent contributions already - but I am mulling it over now in my head and might be seeing what it means to my #MidiPres colleagues 🤔 #digipres

#unconfinedWalks video should have been with previous skeet

#UnconfinedWalks another lovely evening, the rut hotting up even as the temperatures dipped with the sun

Loose memoranda roll

Loose memoranda roll

Loose memoranda roll found in a loft. "Washed but not mended" [TNA E 160/17]

Illuminated manuscript book

Cover of a 15th century book

Illuminated page from the 15th Century

One of the best parts of the day job is putting on document displays. Today, I got to show off this gorgeous 15th-century illuminated statute book [TNA E 164/10] #LegalRecords

#UnconfinedWalks foggy in the morning but clearing nicely by lunchtime. Stags definitely starting to gather groups of hinds

Rain drifting in over grassland

Sunset over an urban scene, mist rises from trees among the houses after earlier rain

#UnconfinedWalks didn’t get round to photos yesterday. Today got rather wetter than I’d anticipated, though it cleared quite nicely later