Ruth Butler
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ruthdotbutler.bsky.social
Ruth Butler
@ruthdotbutler.bsky.social
220 followers 350 following 120 posts
Day job in heritage education & public engagement with #archives + volunteer roles focusing on #history #heritage & #culture inc #SarumChronicle & City Livery. Views my own.
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ruthdotbutler.bsky.social
Rain clouds cleared & @salisburycathedral.bsky.social bathed in late afternoon #autumn sunshine.

#stormhour #autumncolours
Salisbury Cathedral bathed in late afternoon sunshine, with autumnal trees and grass in foreground & row of trees with orange brown leaves in mid ground. View of Salisbury Cathedral's west end bathed in late afternoon sunshine. Shadows cast across the grassy foreground. Background of blue sky with fluffy white grey clouds.
October 25, 2025 at 5:28 PM
ruthdotbutler.bsky.social
Wiltshire #bigsky at its best on my drive home with #moonrise over Roundway Down & #sunset over Bromham. Beautiful.

#Wiltshire #fullmoon
October 6, 2025 at 11:35 PM
ruthdotbutler.bsky.social
Most enjoyable day prepping & then working with these enthusiastic young people at the start of their #media course at Wiltshire College.

#mediastudies #heritageeducation
heritagewshc.bsky.social Wiltshire & Swindon History Centre @heritagewshc.bsky.social · Oct 6
A great afternoon with #media students from #WiltshireCollege (Chippenham campus) and their tutor Kate Samways. The young film makers were learning about research methods & using the many #localstudies, #archive & #ephemera resources available at the History Centre.

#archives #ExploreYourArchive
Four students - two partially hidden - filming with digital cameras on tripods, looking at newspaper pages on microfilm readers. Watched by their tutor, foreground right. In the background are rolling stacks - shelves - of the Performing Arts Library. Close-up image on the left of a student's hands adjusting a digital camera to film a microfilm reader showing the front page of The Wiltshire Times newspaper. From the right is the hand and arm of another student adjusting the microfilm reader.
October 6, 2025 at 7:45 PM
ruthdotbutler.bsky.social
A much needed day off. A spot of #mindful wandering around my happy space - the Cathedral Close @salisburycathedral.bsky.social Popped into @salisburymuseum.bsky.social for another look at the #ElizabethFrink exhibition. Still time to catch the last few days.
#wellbeing #salisbury
View of Salisbury Cathedral from the north including north porch, north transept with spire towering above. Deep blue sky. In the foreground green grass, lamppost & solitary jackdaw. Foreground of white building eaves with chimneys on rooftops. Silver Street, Salisbury. St Thomas's Church tower in the background showing south and east sides of the tower, including the clock at 1pm. Wind vane atop the tower with a St George's flag flying from flagstaff. Elizabeth Frink bronze sculpture of a head and shoulders. Background deliberately blurred. Sculpture part of the Frink exhibition at The Salisbury Museum.
September 23, 2025 at 6:39 PM
Reposted by Ruth Butler
historymalc.bsky.social
Parking attendant today at my third talk of the week, this one at Dauntsey under the glorious Doom there. Previous talks in Malmesbury for the museum on the Reformation and then on Last Judgement Art. Similar talk planned in November for Sarum Chronicle annual lecture.
We’re DOOMED!
September 21, 2025 at 5:07 PM
ruthdotbutler.bsky.social
As well as great #archives on display, we have our pop-up Heritage Café plus experts galore to chat about archives, #househistory, #familyhistory, #archaeology & conservation. Join us tomorrow 20th from 10am.

#exploreyourarchive
heritagewshc.bsky.social Wiltshire & Swindon History Centre @heritagewshc.bsky.social · Sep 19
Sir Christopher Wren, Arts & Crafts #architect Detmar Blow, Augustus Pugin & James Wyatt - aka 'Wyatt the Destroyer' - all feature in our displays for #HeritageOpenDay tomorrow Saturday 20th @heritagewshc.bsky.social Join us from 10am to celebrate all things #architectural

#architecture #archives
Poster for the free open day at Wiltshire & Swindon History Centre which runs from 10am to 4pm Saturday 20th September. Conservation Labs also open from 10am to 1pm. Other attractions include displays of architectural themed items from the archive & local studies collections. There is also a pop-up Heritage Cafe. A photo of St Paul's Cathedral in London showing the dome and the south side of the building. A photograph of the west end of Salisbury Cathedral on a sunny day with a cloudless blue sky in the background and shadows on the grass in the foreground from trees. Postcard showing Stonehenge from the early 1900s when it was undergoing repairs. Some of the stones are propped up and there are people standing around the stones.
September 19, 2025 at 2:23 PM
ruthdotbutler.bsky.social
Definitely worth a visit across Salisbury Plain to check out the treasures at this year's #HeritageOpenDay @heritagewshc.bsky.social
heritagewshc.bsky.social Wiltshire & Swindon History Centre @heritagewshc.bsky.social · Sep 16
Join us this Saturday 20th for our annual #heritageopenday this year celebrating all things architectural from our #archives & #localstudies collections. Meet the experts on #househistory & #familyhistory and why not drop in for a cuppa at our pop-up Heritage Café. See poster for more details.👇
Poster for Wiltshire & Swindon History Centre’s “Architecture in the Archives” Open Day on 20 September, 10am–4pm. Includes event details: archive displays, behind-the-scenes tours, conservation lab visits (10am–1pm), and a pop-up café. Poster includes photo of the History Centre plus logos for Wiltshire Council, Heritage Open Days, and Swindon Borough Council. A pink banner reads “FREE TO EXPLORE.”
September 16, 2025 at 1:57 PM
ruthdotbutler.bsky.social
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Wordle 1,537 6/6

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September 3, 2025 at 10:23 AM
Reposted by Ruth Butler
corinnefowler.bsky.social
3 project reports now available for our Leverhulme-funded Rural Racism project. A film below reflecs just 3 of our 135 in-depth interviews. These supplement statistics, gaining insights into the human experience of racism in the countryside, where only 4% of the population is from a minoritised gp
September 1, 2025 at 9:10 AM
ruthdotbutler.bsky.social
Step back and take it in: the US is entering full authoritarian mode | Jonathan Freedland www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Step back and take it in: the US is entering full authoritarian mode | Jonathan Freedland
Trump’s dictator-like behaviour is so brazen, so blatant, that paradoxically, we discount it. But now it’s time to call it what it is, says Guardian columnist Jonathan Freedland
www.theguardian.com
August 29, 2025 at 6:16 PM
Reposted by Ruth Butler
robertsaunders.bsky.social
A courteous but very impressive rebuke to Nigel Farage from the Bishop of Oxford.

"I heard no compassion in what you said...".

"I disagree profoundly with your attempts to ... increase fear of the stranger in our communities".

Do read.
blogs.oxford.anglican.org/an-open-lett...
An open letter to Nigel Farage - Bishop Steven's Blog
Bishop Steven writes an open letter in response to Nigel Farage MP's immigration policy which was launched in Oxford this week.
blogs.oxford.anglican.org
August 28, 2025 at 9:17 PM
ruthdotbutler.bsky.social
A lovely looking sky earlier this evening (Tuesday), but wispy #cirrus #clouds a sure sign rain is on its way. How much rain is another matter.

#stormhour #cloudscape #summer #weather
Evening sky showing blue sky and high, wispy cirrus clouds.
August 26, 2025 at 11:21 PM
ruthdotbutler.bsky.social
Don't be alarmed dear reader @telegraphnews.bsky.social but pro-pedstrian Wilts Council was Tory-led when it received a Tory Govt grant for the Fisherton Gateway improvement scheme.
P.S @salisburyjournal.bsky.social stop with the "killer kerb". I know it's the silly season, but please...
#Salisbury
jamesward81.bsky.social James Ward @jamesward81.bsky.social · Aug 18
Forget coffee. I'm starting my day drinking the salty tears of drivers in Salisbury who are shocked - SHOCKED! - to learn that the consequences of their bad driving are in fact theirs to pay for. #motonormativity

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/08...
‘Killer kerb’ that wrecks cars installed by pro-pedestrian council
Furious motorists complain over 13-inch high construction introduced by Lib Dem-led local authority
www.telegraph.co.uk
August 18, 2025 at 5:52 PM
ruthdotbutler.bsky.social
Love the print. And the idea of a wine market. Definitely think we need more appreciation of all things #casks #barrels #coopers #coopering

#barrel #cask #tradeguilds #cityliveries #heritage #heritagecrafts
jdmccafferty.bsky.social John McCafferty @jdmccafferty.bsky.social · Aug 7
Autumn: the #wine market in #Strasbourg, Wenceslaus Hollar, 1628-29. That would have been a very nice place to be. (National Gallery of Art, Washington)
August 7, 2025 at 9:18 PM
ruthdotbutler.bsky.social
Read my latest blog for @heritagewshc.bsky.social
I'm so privileged to work at the History Centre & to be a #volunteer guide @salisburycathedral.bsky.social so I can share my enthusiasm for #medieval #history

#magnacarta
August 5, 2025 at 11:12 PM
Reposted by Ruth Butler
richardckeller.bsky.social
AI will never locate a new archive. It will never uncover a new source. It will never find a small, privately held collection of papers that can upend what we think we know about the past. It can never work with undigitized sources. It can never do real oral history or ethnography.
jokenty.bsky.social Joanna Kenty @jokenty.bsky.social · Aug 5
AI can only replace historians in the sense that it can spit out mediocre, plagiarized narrative that vaguely resembles history. It will never replace *good* historians. Unfortunately, many university presidents and CEOs don’t seem to care about the quality of work being done, only the quantity- 1/2
disabilitystor1.bsky.social Aparna Nair @disabilitystor1.bsky.social · Aug 4
Just a reminder this list is drawn from a piece written by four researchers for MICROSOFT (data scientists, CS people, economists) who have never stepped foot in an archive/never taken an oral history/studied material culture, by their CVs.
Unlike them, I do my research, and don't talk out my ass.
August 5, 2025 at 2:58 PM
ruthdotbutler.bsky.social
Great 'in conversation' event with @alanlester.bsky.social & @sathnam.bsky.social @salisburycathedral.bsky.social Every day a learning day & so relevant to my day job with #archives & as a #volunteer guide at the Cathedral.
August 1, 2025 at 7:10 PM
ruthdotbutler.bsky.social
Go England. What a result. Amazing team effort. And congrats to Michelle Agyemang on being named Young Player of the tournament.
#lionesses #kcl #reggie #kingscollegelondon
July 27, 2025 at 7:44 PM
ruthdotbutler.bsky.social
Running a few errands in town but had time to pop into @salisburymuseum.bsky.social to see the Frink #exhibition (for the third time). Lovely to just sit, look & contemplate.
#elizabethfrink @wessexmuseums.bsky.social
Foreground shows a sculpted head called Tribute III. In the background is a large photo of sculptor Elizabeth Frink working on one of her large scale figures. Background shows image of Elizabeth Frink with three prints. Front right is Tribute III - a large sculpted head. Background right, a smaller sculpted head. View of Elizabeth Frink exhibition gallery including prints on the walls plus six sculptures on plinths. A horse & dog on the right; a group of figures and a large head on the left; another head plus a cockerel centre back.. Photo of Salisbury Cathedral from Salisbury Museum. Gravel footpath in the foreground with border of flowers. Behind are umbrellas & tables. Cathedral in the background.
July 13, 2025 at 2:19 PM
ruthdotbutler.bsky.social
An afternoon indoors in the cool @salisburycathedral.bsky.social

#volunteering #volunteers #heatwave #summersun
July 12, 2025 at 12:31 PM
ruthdotbutler.bsky.social
Where #Roman, #Medieval & modern London meet. St Alphage Garden by London Wall is one of my favourite City spots.

#cityoflondon #citylivery #history #heritage
June 3, 2025 at 8:16 AM
ruthdotbutler.bsky.social
No need for the gym when you've moved 42 boxes of books weighing in at 530kg! Something special about opening those first boxes to see fab looking *Churches of Salisbury & District*. See website for pre-launch offer & order form.👇
sarumchronicle.wordpress.com/churches/

#sarumchronicle #churches
A pile of brown labelled boxes on a wooden pallet with two boxes open to show books titled Churches of Salisbury & District. The book cover shows Salisbury Cathedral & 3 other churches. 3 brown boxes on a sack trolley with a pile of boxes behind, stacked on a wooden pallet & covered in plastic. Piles of boxes and books in a storage unit.
June 1, 2025 at 5:03 PM
ruthdotbutler.bsky.social
They've arrived.🎉 Tad later than expected... but they're here. All 750 copies of *Churches of Salisbury & District*. See website for offer price & order form which downloads automatically.
sarumchronicle.wordpress.com/churches/

#salisbury #churches #history #architecture #sarumchronicle
May 30, 2025 at 8:17 PM
ruthdotbutler.bsky.social
Ready & waiting, & eagerly anticipating the arrival of the churches book this morning - all 750 copies! #SarumChronicle
historymalc.bsky.social Malcolm Sinclair 💀✍️ @historymalc.bsky.social · May 22
First copies of the book have arrived. Hardback and softback. 750 more to follow in a couple of weeks. Rather fine though I say so myself 😊
sarumchronicle.wordpress.com/churches/
May 30, 2025 at 8:11 AM
ruthdotbutler.bsky.social
Churches of Salisbury & District is on its way.🎉 Proof copies signed off & delivery imminent. Get your pre-launch order in. A must have volume for anyone interested in #localhistory #churches #architecture Inc photos, maps & suggested tours of 65 churches.

sarumchronicle.wordpress.com/churches/
Churches
Churches of Salisbury and District We are pleased to announce a new publication from Sarum Chronicle. This new edition, entitled Churches of Salisbury and District, is a book devoted to the rich va…
sarumchronicle.wordpress.com
May 25, 2025 at 8:22 PM