Martin Johnes | Lightnews

Martin Johnes @martinjohnes.bsky.social · 1d

There are 3 fully-funded AHRC PhD studentships in Welsh History coming up at Swansea. Topics:
play since 1945; anti-apartheid movement; Patagonia. All include placements with external bodies. Feel free to contact me if you're interested.

Brian Groom @groomb.bsky.social · 3d

Maliphant Street, Hafod, Swansea (study), 1956-7, painting by George Little, 1927–2017 (Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru / The National Library of Wales).

Martin Johnes @martinjohnes.bsky.social · 3d

I've signed this, although GCSE isn't the real problem.
We need a compulsory "Our Wales" course taken at the old keystage 3 (ages 11-14). It should cover Welsh history, how the Senedd & Welsh democracy works, and key creative writers in both languages.

NationCymru @nation.cymru · 3d

A Senedd Cymru petition has launched, calling on the Welsh Government to 'put a much greater focus on Welsh history' in the GCSE (Curriculum Wales) course

Petition calls for 'much greater focus on Welsh history' in schools

Stephen Price A Senedd Cymru petition has launched, calling on the Welsh Government to ‘put a much greater focus on Welsh history’ in the GCSE (Curriculum Wales) course. The petition, created by Elfed...

nation.cymru

NationCymru @nation.cymru · 3d

A Senedd Cymru petition has launched, calling on the Welsh Government to 'put a much greater focus on Welsh history' in the GCSE (Curriculum Wales) course

Petition calls for 'much greater focus on Welsh history' in schools

Stephen Price A Senedd Cymru petition has launched, calling on the Welsh Government to ‘put a much greater focus on Welsh history’ in the GCSE (Curriculum Wales) course. The petition, created by Elfed...

nation.cymru

Martin Johnes @martinjohnes.bsky.social · 4d

Llewelyn Kenrick, a wealthy Ruabon solicitor and player for Druids and Shropshire Wanderers, was the driving force behind the FAW. He lived at Wynn Hall and was from a wealthy family who traced their lineage back to medieval Welsh lords. He played in the 1st Wales team to beat England in 1881.

Martin Johnes @martinjohnes.bsky.social · 4d

They passed 1 motion - to accept a challenge to play a match against Scotland the following month. 3 days later this notice appeared in the press. The third oldest football association in the world was born - a product of the emerging game & the Victorian renaissance in Welsh national identity.

Martin Johnes @martinjohnes.bsky.social · 4d

150 years ago today, 4 men (a solicitor, insurance clerk, stonemason and another) met at the Wynnstay Arms in Wrexham for the first formal committee meeting of the Football Association of Wales. (An earlier plan to call it the Cambrian Football Association was quietly dropped.)

Brian Groom @groomb.bsky.social · 5d

Workers’ Cafe, Salford, 1957, photo by Neil Libbert.

Martin Johnes @martinjohnes.bsky.social · 7d

Recycling is probably the only policy area where Welsh Government has been successful and effective. I don't know why this is but there must be some lessons for other policy areas.

NationCymru @nation.cymru · 8d

Recycling has increased again as Wales continues its journey towards being a zero-waste nation

New stats show another increase in recycling in Wales

Recycling has increased again as Wales continues its journey towards being a zero-waste nation. Local authority municipal waste figures released today, Thursday 29 January, show the recycling rate has...

wp.me

Martin Johnes @martinjohnes.bsky.social · 8d

A perceptive essay. Well worth a read.

NationCymru @nation.cymru · 8d

Both Welsh Labour and the WRU trade heavily on their pasts while struggling to articulate futures that feel authentic to the people they represent. Both invoke history while neglecting the values that once gave it meaning ✍️Nye Davies

Rugby, Labour and the Crisis of Welsh Institutions

Nye Davies Sport can often reflect a nation. In Wales, rugby has played a prominent role in the formation of a national consciousness, or at least a shared perception of what it means to be Welsh.…

buff.ly

NationCymru @nation.cymru · 8d

Both Welsh Labour and the WRU trade heavily on their pasts while struggling to articulate futures that feel authentic to the people they represent. Both invoke history while neglecting the values that once gave it meaning ✍️Nye Davies

Rugby, Labour and the Crisis of Welsh Institutions

Nye Davies Sport can often reflect a nation. In Wales, rugby has played a prominent role in the formation of a national consciousness, or at least a shared perception of what it means to be Welsh.…

buff.ly

NationCymru @nation.cymru · 8d

Recycling has increased again as Wales continues its journey towards being a zero-waste nation

New stats show another increase in recycling in Wales

Recycling has increased again as Wales continues its journey towards being a zero-waste nation. Local authority municipal waste figures released today, Thursday 29 January, show the recycling rate has...

wp.me

NationCymru @nation.cymru · 8d

A Plaid Cymru MS has called for the Welsh Government to take "urgent action" to protect the higher education sector in Wales ✍️Ella Groves

Plaid Cymru MS calls for "urgent action" to protect the higher education sector in Wales

Ella Groves A Plaid Cymru MS has called for the Welsh Government to take “urgent action” to protect the higher education sector in Wales. The call follows announcements that another redundancy round h...

nation.cymru

Martin Johnes @martinjohnes.bsky.social · 29d

Terry Yorath was a giant of Welsh football and key to my own relationship with it. His picture always jumped out at me in 70s Shoot albums. He was Swansea manager when I first started going to matches. He managed the 1st Wales team I cared about. A real hero.

Martin Johnes @martinjohnes.bsky.social · 29d

Swansea Copper: A Global History (2020) by Evans and Miskell.

Martin Johnes @martinjohnes.bsky.social · Jan 7

From a 1902 letter complaining that Welsh choirs are becoming too English in style.

Martin Johnes @martinjohnes.bsky.social · Dec 11

Hard not to interpret the 60% of environment coming from institutional statements as an attempt to protect the largest HEIs. It means small units doing a lot to foster a subject and people will be undervalued.

Martin Johnes @martinjohnes.bsky.social · Dec 2

A short essay by me on the history of advent calendars in the UK. martinjohnes.com/2020/12/01/a...

A brief history of Advent calendars in the UK

Advent calendars, like so many British Christmas traditions, have their roots outside the UK. They are an evolution of a practice found in Germany of counting down through the Christian festival of…

martinjohnes.com

Martin Johnes @martinjohnes.bsky.social · Nov 22

Instead of just taking Welsh Government statements at face value why not run an investigative piece on Welsh history in schools? Why not also look at how funding issues are undermining Welsh history in musuems and universities? That would be more productive than another swipe at the English.

Martin Johnes @martinjohnes.bsky.social · Nov 22

Despite being a requirement in Wales since roughly 1990, we haven't even managed to get it properly taught here. The new curriculum isn't going to result in signifcant change and the new GCSE is going to result in less modern Welsh history not more.

Martin Johnes @martinjohnes.bsky.social · Nov 22

Like us, Northern Ireland is an independent football nation. Show them some respect.

Mike Galsworthy @mikegalsworthy.bsky.social · Nov 21

"The Labour-led Welsh Government loves to highlight the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015.

So why is it so comfortable in underfunding, belittling the staff of, and destroying our world-renowned national institutions?"

Cultural austerity: why is Welsh Labour failing future generations?

Museums, libraries, and other national assets are our investments and inheritance. We owe it to our future generations to pass them on

bylines.cymru

Martin Johnes @martinjohnes.bsky.social · Nov 20

Wales 7 North Macedonia 1. OK, it was only this week but I suspect my answer will be the same in 20 years.

Modern Records Centre, University of Warwick @mrcwarwick.bsky.social · Nov 20

Call for papers #CFP

Blood is the Price of Coal: Coal Communities, Health and Welfare in Britain and Beyond from the 19th Century to the Present

18 June 2026: 1 day conference + NUM archive exhibition

Submit abstracts / express interest at warwick.ac.uk/services/lib...

Deadline: 25 Jan 2026

Blood is the Price of Coal: Coal Communities, Health and Welfare in Britain and Beyond from the 19th Century to the Present

When and where:
University of Warwick, Coventry, on Thursday 18 June 2026.

Conference summary:
This free one day conference aims to bring together researchers from higher education, community and campaign groups to explore the history of health and welfare in Britain’s coal mining industry.

Held jointly by the University of Warwick's Centre for the History of Medicine, Science and Technology, and Modern Records Centre, the event will run alongside an exhibition which will explore some of the themes covered by the speakers through the National Union of Mineworkers' archives.

We welcome contributions from new and established researchers, working inside and outside higher education.

Confirmed participants include:

- Jörg Arnold (University of Augsburg / Institute for Contemporary History Munich - Berlin), author of The British Miner in the Age of DeIndustrialization

- Keith Gildart (University of Wolverhampton), Principal Investigator on research project On Behalf of the People: Work, Community and Class in the British Coal Industry 1947-1994 and former miner

- Quentin Outram (University of Leeds), Secretary of the Society for the Study of Labour History and co-editor of Coal in Victorian Britain

Conference themes:

Subjects that could be addressed include but are not limited to:

The human cost of coal, including:
- Mining disasters, their contemporary impacts and later memorialisation.

- Industrial accidents, industrial diseases and workers’ compensation.
- Mine safety and the improvement of conditions.
- Mining and mental health.

Industrial health and welfare, including:
- Pre-nationalisation provision in and beyond the colliery.
- National Coal Board provision, including the NCB Medical Service, housing and the Coal Industry Social Welfare Organisation.
- Trade union campaigns and benefit schemes.
- Sport and social provision as mining welfare.

Coal and community, including:
- Environmental impact.
- Mining families and the intergenerational effects of the mining industry.
- Impacts of the industry with particular reference to gender, race and ethnicity.
- Coalfield communities after coal: the effects of deindustrialisation.

Submission guidelines

We wish to make space for dialogue between academic and community-based researchers, and welcome involvement from mining heritage and local history groups / researchers from former coalfield communities. We welcome and encourage alternative presentational styles. Possible formats for contributions could include:

- 15-20 minute papers.
- 5 minute lightning papers (for example showcasing a particular object or archival source, or highlighting a particular place, event, individual or experience).
- Round table discussions.
- Posters or displays.

Submission deadline: 25 January 2026.

Limited funding for travel support will be available, with priority given to early career researchers or participants who cannot draw upon institutional funding.

For additional enquiries, please contact the conference organisers at archives@warwick.ac.uk

Martin Johnes @martinjohnes.bsky.social · Nov 18

I can remember nothing about 99% of football matches I've been to, but I'll never forget this one.

Martin Johnes @martinjohnes.bsky.social · Nov 17

A powerful piece about the lack of criticism in Welsh culture.
llinos.substack.com/p/the-villag...

The Village That Forgot How to Argue: Wales and the Crisis of Critique

When a bad review becomes news, it’s not about the art - it’s about a nation that’s mistaken conformity for care.

llinos.substack.com

Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · Nov 10

If Britain is 'sliding "into economic crisis over £85bn sickness bill', what can UK Arts, Humanities & Social Science research tell us about alternative pathways?

Swansea University historians have some excellent answers. 1/4

@torstenbell.bsky.social @bphillipsonmp.bsky.social

Britain sliding 'into economic crisis' over £85bn sickness bill, ex-John Lewis boss warns

The number of people who are out of work for health reasons has grown by 800,000 since 2019.

www.bbc.co.uk

Martin Johnes @martinjohnes.bsky.social · Oct 29

Wales really should just opt out of REF. There are far easier, and considerably cheaper, ways of distributing QR funding.

John Morgan @johnmorgan3.bsky.social · Oct 29

A two-track REF 2029, seen as increasingly likely prospect, "could create a two-tier research ecosystem with major long-term—and unnecessary—negative consequences", one sector body warns.

@francesjones.bsky.social @fionamcintyre.bsky.social report www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-r...

Fears mount over looming ‘twin-track’ REF - Research Professional News

Model under which some institutions would not need to submit returns seen as gaining ground

www.researchprofessionalnews.com

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