Justin Parkes
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justparkes.bsky.social
Justin Parkes
@justparkes.bsky.social
650 followers 440 following 140 posts
Museum curator | travel | industrial history | art | photography | views mine
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justparkes.bsky.social
Justin Parkes @justparkes.bsky.social · Nov 15
I like this as a way for museum folk to introduce themselves. Your last 4 museum visits

Wellington Museum, Waterloo
Discovery Point, Dundee
National Gallery of Indonesia, Jakarta
Louvre Abu Dhabi
A blue wall room with red tiles on the floor there is a couch on the left and ol artwork on the wall walls. In the centre a mannequin sit at a desk holding a quill pen. A few looking up from the floor of a dry dock at a large sailing ship. About a dozen people in heart hats stand around the ship. A few inside a white world, modern gallery space with paintings and text on the walls. In the centre foreground a series of sculptural busts stand on white rectangular plinths. On the right and elaborate Rodan sculpture in bronze stands beside a large window. Outside is a large courtyard space covered by immense metal dome made of geometric shapes. There are Museum visitors standing in the shade of the dome.
justparkes.bsky.social
I love this picture postcard view of the works www.instagram.com/p/CQBIBHcDEW...
A sepia tinted pictorialist photo of an ironworks with tall blast furnaces and even taller industrial chimneys under a dramatic sky with the sun behind a dark cloud.
February 11, 2026 at 7:44 PM
Reposted by Justin Parkes
handhyorkshire.bsky.social
A photograph courtesy of of Leeds Museums and Galleries of the city's Steel Works in the Hunslet area dating to March 1921 when a strike was taking place. The site opened in 1889 and was at one time Britain's largest producer of steel tram tracks. 1/3
This image shows the Hunslet Steel Works in Leeds, England, which operated between 1889 and 1935. Located between Balm Road and Pepper Road, the works covered 25 acres and was a major industrial centre. At its peak, the foundry employed 1,400 to 1,500 people and was a significant manufacturer of steel tram tracks. The area was characterised by extreme industrial pollution, with estimated soot fall-out of 45 tons per square mile annually in the early 20th century. The site was serviced by the Midland Railway, allowing for the transport of raw materials and the export of finished products worldwide.
February 11, 2026 at 6:14 PM
Reposted by Justin Parkes
sogorg.bsky.social
Explore the career of 19th-century engineer George Harrap with @scientistsoph.bsky.social. Learn how to reconstruct a Victorian engineer’s life using professional registers, patents & industrial records.
📅 12 Feb 2026 | 13:30–14:30 | Online via Zoom
Book your place: portal.sog.org.uk/Event/view/1...
February 10, 2026 at 7:06 PM
Reposted by Justin Parkes
sticknetwork.bsky.social
North Lanarkshire Council Museums are looking for a full-time Site Supervisor

The post is based at Summerlee Museum in Coatbridge, closing date is 17 February
February 10, 2026 at 10:12 AM
justparkes.bsky.social
Wow, what a great photo!
February 9, 2026 at 8:18 PM
Reposted by Justin Parkes
nlheritage.bsky.social
New on our museum collections website is a 1st hand account of the operation to rescue 135 miners trapped underground following the 1950 Knockshinnoch Colliery Disaster

It was written by James Lillie of the Coatbridge Mines Rescue Brigade www.culturenlmuseums.co.uk/story/rescue...
A photograph of a training exercise in a mock-up mine at Coatbridge Mines Rescue. 5 men in miner's gear with helmets and breathing apparatus tend to an unconscious man on the ground.
February 9, 2026 at 12:27 PM
Reposted by Justin Parkes
roseteanby.bsky.social
4 weeks today we will be celebrating #InternationalWomen’sDay with our 2026 online Women of Photography conference-athon on 8th March.
Join 72 speakers over 24 hours travelling across the world beginning with photography of Antarctica. Registration is open and free.
womenofphoto.com
Women of Photography
Join us to celebrate the contributions of women practitioners to the history and living present of photography.
womenofphoto.com
February 8, 2026 at 8:33 AM
Reposted by Justin Parkes
ncdominie.bsky.social
A few days ago in the Ramshorn Kirkyard, the sun was picking out an unexpected piece of Glasgow industrial history at the base of a mortsafe.
Part of an iron mortsafe, with the cast letters "W Fulton & Sons" visible.
January 31, 2026 at 5:53 PM
Reposted by Justin Parkes
nlheritage.bsky.social
We are recruiting for a Site Supervisor for North Lanarkshire Council Museums. Closing date: 17 February 2026
myjobscotland.gov.uk/councils/nor...
Site Supervisor - REQ05293 - 458024 | North Lanarkshire Council | myjobscotland
View details and apply for this arts / museums / libraries role in Coatbridge with North Lanarkshire Council on myjobscotland
myjobscotland.gov.uk
February 6, 2026 at 12:59 PM
Reposted by Justin Parkes
mainlymuseums.bsky.social
If you like old trams and trains - and seriously, who doesn’t - then you need to have a wander through Summerlee.
#museums #museumfromhome #Scotland
mainlymuseums.com/post/916/sum...
Summerlee Museum of Scottish Industrial Life
mainlymuseums.com
February 5, 2026 at 10:39 PM
Reposted by Justin Parkes
rpshistgroup.bsky.social
Still time to register for our next online talk ...

'Exchanging Stereoscopic Views' on Tuesday 10th February 2026 (1900 GMT) with Rebecca Sharpe (Brian May Archive of Stereoscopy) and Julie Gibb (National Museums of Scotland).

Register via the link ...

events.rps.org/en/historica...
February 5, 2026 at 7:20 AM
Reposted by Justin Parkes
mikeyashworth.bsky.social
Some good heritage news - the restoration of Maritime Hull's Scotch Derrick crane. There are many things to go and see in Hull - a rather underrated city well worth a visit. @c20society.bsky.social @simonhickman.bsky.social

youtu.be/qQbm7qLyRKY?...
Restoration of Hull's last remaining Scotch Derrick Crane
YouTube video by Maritime Hull
youtu.be
February 4, 2026 at 8:09 PM
Reposted by Justin Parkes
rhiggitt.bsky.social
Exciting job opening @ntlmuseumsscot.bsky.social Library and Archives Manager. Details here careers.nms.ac.uk/job/827960 #museumjobs #libraryjobs 📜
Library and Archives Manager
careers.nms.ac.uk
February 4, 2026 at 3:09 PM
justparkes.bsky.social
Thanks, I hadn’t even considered Montagu House
February 3, 2026 at 9:57 PM
justparkes.bsky.social
Is there a physical reason the British Museum can’t build an underground entrance in the forecourt like the Louvre, Mauritshuis, National Galleries of Scotland, etc? apple.news/AzZCuRRWyQP-...
Row breaks out over planned British Museum security blocks 'like a wine bar' — The Standard
The landmark Bloomsbury museum wants to replace its controversial anti-terrorism marquees with two new temporary blocks
apple.news
February 3, 2026 at 9:03 PM
Reposted by Justin Parkes
ninabake2.bsky.social
#History
My book is now out. All about the women merchant navy seafarers who died due to enemy action in the two world wars.
www.lulu.com/shop/nina-ba...
If any museums or other shops are interested in selling this, DM me for wholesale price.
“Supposed Killed or Drowned by Enemy Action at Sea”
This book is the first complete list of the women professional seafarers in the United Kingdom’s Merchant Navy who lost their lives due to enemy action. Detailed profiles have been researched for thos...
www.lulu.com
February 1, 2026 at 8:54 PM
Reposted by Justin Parkes
daveproudlove.bsky.social
ICYMI: are we going far enough on the Potteries heritage emergency?

open.substack.com/pub/thefootb...
Responding to the Potteries Heritage Emergency
Are we going far enough?
open.substack.com
February 1, 2026 at 10:29 AM
Reposted by Justin Parkes
neheritagelib.bsky.social
Utterly delighted to share our new look Shipbuilding Archive pages - the last of our archives to get the 2026 treatment 🥳

Interactive and intuitive with the full database. I'm so bloody proud of it, and the stepping stone to more features in the future.

Link below.
January 28, 2026 at 12:11 PM
Reposted by Justin Parkes
literaturegeek.bsky.social
A zine documenting the National Park Service’s “Life Under Slavery at George Washington House” exhibit—removed by the government January 22, 2026 in an act of censorship (zinebakery.com/bakeshop/cen...)
Screenshot of cover of the PDF of the zine "read censored history, thwart fascists." It has a minimal black and white tyopgraphy-heavy cover with the words "censored history" in green and the rest of the text in black; the other text says "A zine documenting the National Park Service’s “Life Under Slavery at George Washington House” Exhibit —removed by the government January 22, 2026 in an act of censorship. Exhibit, text by the National Park Service; photos of exhibit by Stan Horowitz, NPS, & Michaela Althouse/PhillyVoice Zineification by Amanda Wyatt Visconti". There is a small version of a photo of the censored brick wall that used to hold the exhibits, from the Philly Voice.
January 27, 2026 at 10:05 AM
justparkes.bsky.social
Absolutely loved the Lee Miller exhibition at Tate Britain. It has a tighter focus than the Edinburgh show 25 years ago & emphasises her collaboration with Man Ray rather than a muse. Here is Miller’s war correspondent’s uniform & Rolleiflex (a c1937 Automat 1) #Photography
A 2nd World War US female war correspondent’s uniform of jacket & shirt displayed with a Rolleiflex TLR camera in a glass case in an exhibition. A view of a photographic exhibition in a high ceilinged museum gallery.
January 26, 2026 at 10:04 PM
Reposted by Justin Parkes
urbanprehistorian.bsky.social
It’s a new #UrbanPrehistory blog post for Sunday evening. ‘For the delectation of posterity’ explores some materials from my personal Ludovic Mann collection pertaining to the Druid Temple, Clydebank.
theurbanprehistorian.wordpress.com/2026/01/25/f...
For the delectation of posterity
One of the most remarkable episodes in British archaeology was played out in the summer of 1937 in Clydebank, near Glasgow. For a short while, the Druid Temple, or Knappers, was the hottest ticket …
theurbanprehistorian.wordpress.com
January 25, 2026 at 9:14 PM
justparkes.bsky.social
The new V&A East (which opens later this year) has more than a touch of Libeskind’s Spiral about it en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victori...
A modernist museum building that is taller than wide & is made up of multiple fscets.
January 24, 2026 at 5:39 PM
Reposted by Justin Parkes
nlheritage.bsky.social
Love to see the new illuminated 'Corporation Transport' lettering on 1930s Glasgow tramcar 1245 which is being restored by our amazing volunteers at Summerlee Museum

1245 was the last Glasgow tram to run before the power was turned off. See the Glasgow's Last Tram Group website glasgowslasttram.net
A detail of the side of a double decker tram which has orange paint below the lower windows and a band of green paint above. Immediately above the lower windows are narrow illuminated glass signs with red lettering reading, 'CORPORATION TRANSPORT'. An oblique view of one end of the tram which is painted cream, green and orange. There are thre lights in the front and arrow-shaped indicators. On the front of the top deck are route and destination indicators reading, '15', 'COATBRIDGE' and 'FOOTBALL MATCH'.
January 23, 2026 at 11:06 AM
Reposted by Justin Parkes
sidegallery.bsky.social
🛠️ Most people today encounter Dunston Staiths as a quiet heritage site. In the 1970s, it was a dangerous place of work.

A new film by Sirkka-Liisa Konttinen and Peter Roberts brings that history back into view → sidegallery.co.uk/blog/coal-staiths-of-the-river-tyne

Commissioned by Tyne Derwent Way
January 18, 2026 at 12:53 PM
Reposted by Justin Parkes
loganjaffe.bsky.social
Look at this: @inquirer.com has digitally preserved the interpretative signage removed by NPS, and used annotations to explain what specifically was flagged before removal. This keeps the content publicly accessible (for now) while doing newsworthy reporting
www.inquirer.com/news/philade...
Here are the signs the Trump administration removed from Independence Park
Following last year’s review, every sign has been removed from the President’s House site.
www.inquirer.com
January 23, 2026 at 2:51 AM