Jane Donaldson
LightNews LightNews
banner
janeydonald.bsky.social
Jane Donaldson
@janeydonald.bsky.social
1.3K followers 1K following 200 posts
Archivist at Co-op Archive based in Manchester. Volunteer for Manchester Digital Music Archive. Bike Pootler. Likes moles.
Posts Replies Media Videos
janeydonald.bsky.social
A weekend up North with my sister looking after parents in the Autumn of their lives.
We are so lucky to be able to stay here but as caring demands increase, the lack of public transport in rural areas is really highlighted.
North Yorkshire garden in Autumn with Penhill in the distance
November 9, 2025 at 6:12 PM
Reposted by Jane Donaldson
kevinkosullivan.bsky.social
Very excited about the second workshop in our 'Sites of Fracture' project (funded by AHRC), starting tomorrow in east Cork. It's also our first site-specific workshop. The impetus for the project came from our desire to explore those spaces where challenges to totalising capitalism surfaced.
Sites of Fracture Twentieth Century Ireland at the Margins of Capitalism WORKSHOP 2 Greywood Arts Centre & Glenbower Wood Killeagh, Co. Cork 6-8 November 2025 [Photo of the River Dissour, running through Glenbower Wood] Workshop Overview In our present moment of extraordinary ecological and economic challenges, there is a global search for alternatives to models of extractive capitalism. While these alternatives offer critiques of the global reach and power of modern economic processes, they are often profoundly local in their application, such as housing collectives, agricultural cooperatives, or alternate forms of energy provision. These schemes, while seeking to create alternate spaces of cooperation and community, have resided alongside or in opposition to global capitalist formations, with particular local repercussions. We define these as ‘sites of fracture’, where messy, complex interactions between global capitalism and local alternative forms of organisation existed and produced particularly rich seams of memory and evidence. This workshop brings our research to one such site: Killeagh, east Cork. Our walk on Day 1 will challenge us to think about how engaging with physical landscapes makes us to reflect differently on how centuries of capitalist extraction have re-shaped the landscapes of rural Ireland. Our conversations on Day 2 will reflect on how collaborative and situated research can help us to understand and share the layers of global, local, and more-than-human experience of capitalism and its alternatives over the course of the twentieth century. What sources are available to scholars and communities interested in investigating Irish economic and environmental history? What expressive tools can we draw on to enable communities to engage with their histories of life at sites of fracture? What methods can we use to chart and assess the collisions of human and more-than- human aspirations in sites defined by globalised extraction?
November 5, 2025 at 10:50 AM
Reposted by Jane Donaldson
fairlibraryjobs.bsky.social
This is a brilliant post that everyone hiring or job hunting in libraries should read. It reflects the ethos behind Fair Library Jobs: the process of job applications does not need to be this horrible. Things can and should be better for everyone.
May 18, 2025 at 3:19 PM
Reposted by Jane Donaldson
anthonyburgess.bsky.social
📚NINETY-NINE NOVELS IS BACK! 📚

Series five is starting with an exploration of TITUS GROAN by Mervyn Peake, one of the key fantasy novels of the twentieth century. Editor of Peake's poems, Rob Maslen, joins us to talk all things Gormanghast.

Find us here: www.anthonyburgess.org/podcasts/nin...
Ninety-Nine Novels, new podcast episode on Titus Groan by Mervyn Peake.
October 8, 2025 at 9:51 AM
janeydonald.bsky.social
Latest blog post on Worker Co-ops and iconic Manchester store and cafe available on the Co-operative Heritage Trust website

www.co-operativeheritage.coop/blog/on-the-...
On the Eighth Day
A post about Manchester's iconic food shop and café On the Eighth Day and the history of Worker Co-operatives
www.co-operativeheritage.coop
October 1, 2025 at 7:41 AM
janeydonald.bsky.social
Latest blog post at the Co-operative Heritage Trust website celebrating 55 years of iconic Manchester food and cafe On The Eighth Day and Worker Co-ops. www.co-operativeheritage.coop/Blog/on-the-...
On the Eighth Day
A post about On the Eighth Day and the history of Worker Co-ops
www.co-operativeheritage.coop
October 1, 2025 at 5:04 AM
janeydonald.bsky.social
There may be a turn by the Co-op Archive volunteers! Not to be missed! (No idea what it will be but scouring the plays and songs in the collections).
September 29, 2025 at 3:24 PM
Reposted by Jane Donaldson
rickardsisters.com
Book your place!

🔥 TROUBLE AT MILL 🔥

Saturday 8th November at Queen Street Mill textile museum - loudly celebrating Ethel Carnie Holdsworth’s This Slavery with riotous fun and steam engines and art and theatre and music and snacks

RickardSisters.com/trouble
Event poster for TROUBLE AT MILL: The Radical World of Ethel Carnie Holdsworth. The illustration is of a huge cotton mill on fire, with the townspeople watching. Launch of THIS SLAVERY graphic novel by the RICKARD SISTERS featuring THE COMMONERS' CHOIR JENNIFER REID • BURNLEY YOUTH THEATRE CLARION CHOIR • JULES GIBB • JENNY HARPER SATURDAY 8 NOVEMBER ENGINE IN STEAM FROM 12 NOON • PERFORMANCES 1pm & 2•30pm QUEEN ST MILL TEXTILE MUSEUM Harle Syke, Briercliffe, Burnley BBIO 2HF Tickets £ 12
September 23, 2025 at 2:27 PM
Reposted by Jane Donaldson
anthonyburgess.bsky.social
In this week’s newsletter, we celebrate the life of Josephine Baker, the groundbreaking performer who captivated Anthony Burgess (author of A Clockwork Orange). In his own words, he explains what made her special

Subscribe for FREE weekly posts: anthonyburgessfoundation.substack.com/p/la-grande-...
September 19, 2025 at 8:45 AM
janeydonald.bsky.social
In July, the project ‘Sites of fracture: 20th century Ireland at the margins of capitalism’ held the launch day ‘Useful histories at the Co-op Archive’. It was during this year’s UN International Year of Co-operatives.

A report can be found on the project website.

tinyurl.com/5n8pnuff
At the margins of capitalism: useful histories at the Co-op Archive - University of Birmingham
Jade Burnett reports on the 'Sites of fracture' launch event held in Manchester on 1 July 2025.
tinyurl.com
September 16, 2025 at 4:08 PM
Reposted by Jane Donaldson
lucydelap.bsky.social
Museum of Cambridge are looking for a #Disability Heritage Research Volunteer, to work remotely, creating histories of people with disabilities in Cambridgeshire. www.museumofcambridge.org.uk/wp-content/u...
September 9, 2025 at 3:00 PM
janeydonald.bsky.social
Thank you On the Eighth Day Co-operative for inviting me to your 55th birthday. A fabulous event at the cafe and a brilliant exhibition too.

Anna and Nico came to visit the Co-op Archive to look through the collection to find exhibition material from the Worker’s Co-ops collections
A green iced cake on a table with other palates of food around
September 7, 2025 at 6:07 PM
janeydonald.bsky.social
Super Chartism Day in Huddersfield. A great set of speakers and subjects.

PhD student dnhamilton.bsky.social worked over the summer at the Co-op Archives and produced an extensive subject guide on Chartism available on the website. www.co-operativeheritage.coop/collection-2
Special Collections Subject Guides and Articles
A series of subject guides and links to articles
www.co-operativeheritage.coop
September 6, 2025 at 8:33 PM
janeydonald.bsky.social
Nearly time for this year’s Chartism Day being held in Huddersfield. It’s where my Grandma lived. I’ll pick up some Yorkshire Mixture and Pontefract cakes for my dad.

If you are going via Manchester I may see you on the replacement bus!

sslh.org.uk/2025/07/17/c...
Chartism Day 2025: book now
Chartism Day 2025 will take place on Saturday, 6 September at Heritage Quay, University of Huddersfield. Book your ticket now on Eventbrite Click to download as an A4 poster (PDF). Please share wid…
sslh.org.uk
August 29, 2025 at 6:30 AM
janeydonald.bsky.social
New blogpost at the Co-operative Heritage Trust from one of the volunteers who became interested in finding out more about the National Labour Exchange established by Robert Owen in 1832. tinyurl.com/3dzdfyen
The National Equitable Labour Exchange
A blog post by volunteer Verity Chapman Gibbs
tinyurl.com
August 28, 2025 at 7:25 AM
Reposted by Jane Donaldson
markcrail.bsky.social
Still just about time to book your ticket for Chartism Day
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/chartism-d...
August 28, 2025 at 6:18 AM
Reposted by Jane Donaldson
anthonyburgess.bsky.social
On the newsletter this week, find out how Anthony Burgess’s most famous novel, A Clockwork Orange, has been represented by cover artists over the years.

Subscribe for FREE for weekly posts about Anthony Burgess and more: anthonyburgessfoundation.substack.com/p/the-illust...
August 15, 2025 at 9:06 AM
janeydonald.bsky.social
A great time at this year’s #DCDC2025 conference at Durham this year. So many take homes and brilliant conversations to re-invigorate, re-connect, make new connections and learn from.
Also a mooch round a place I hadn’t visited before and a chance to see some brilliant buildings and exhibits.
Three women, 2 sitting down and one standing behind a table which has a laptop and promotional material on it. There are two pop up banners either side to promote Manchester Histories and the Co-operative Heritage Trust A picture taken at night of a lit up church exterior the exterior of Bill Bryson library at Durham University with lots of white carrot flower blooming in the front The exterior of Durham Cathedral taken from across the Green
August 1, 2025 at 6:26 AM
Reposted by Jane Donaldson
anthonyburgess.bsky.social
PRE-ORDER NOW: A Shorter Ulysses, edited by Anthony Burgess is coming in September. It's a companion piece to Burgess's A Shorter Finnegans Wake, and includes Blooms of Dublin, his musical based on Ulysses.

Pre-order at the Burgess Foundation's shop: uk.bookshop.org/a/15106/9781...
The cover of A Shorter Ulysses by James Joyce, edited by Anthony Burgess
July 31, 2025 at 9:18 AM
janeydonald.bsky.social
Manchester Digital Music Archive have been helping Paul Banks (@mcrscenestories on Instagram) and the videos of interviews about all aspects of the Manchester Music Scene can be found on the website.

Enjoy your Friday!

tinyurl.com/5t3ekjvz
Manchester Scene Stories – Manchester Digital Music Archive
Welcome to Scene Stories!Step into the heart of Manchester’s vibrant music and club culture. From the rebellious punk days to the rise of acid...
tinyurl.com
July 25, 2025 at 6:31 AM
Reposted by Jane Donaldson
municipaldreams.bsky.social
🚨 New blog post: 'A History of Council Housing in Rochdale: Part II, from 1945 to 1966' looks at the town's new 'neighbourhood unit' created in the 1950s and two innovative but troubled projects of the 1960s:
municipaldreams.wordpress.com/2025/07/15/a...
A History of Council Housing in Rochdale: Part II, from 1945 to 1966
Although Rochdale had built on a large scale in the interwar period, as we saw in last week’s post, and although it had suffered little direct damage during the war itself, peacetime brought renewe…
municipaldreams.wordpress.com
July 15, 2025 at 7:01 AM
Reposted by Jane Donaldson
nlandarchives.bsky.social
We are recruiting!

Are you a qualified archivist who is looking for an 18-month, full-time position?

Would you like to work in a stunning location with a wide range of collections? Enjoy being part of a team and talking up archives to a wide audience?

www.northeastjobs.org.uk/job/Archivis...
a cartoon of homer simpson and bart simpson sitting on a couch with the words join us above them .
ALT: a cartoon of homer simpson and bart simpson sitting on a couch with the words join us above them .
media.tenor.com
July 14, 2025 at 9:10 AM
Reposted by Jane Donaldson
municipaldreams.bsky.social
Part I of my housing history of Rochdale (HT @wellcomecollection.bsky.social for its great collection of online resources) looks at housing conditions and housing reform before World War II. (Part II looking at post-war housing on Tuesday.)
municipaldreams.wordpress.com/2025/07/08/a...
Sketch illustrating one-roomed dwelings Sketch illustrating court and privies
July 13, 2025 at 7:53 AM
Reposted by Jane Donaldson
luciejones83.bsky.social
#skyhistorians We are looking forward to our Divergent Minds in the Archive workshops in Cardiff (29 July) & Liverpool (14 Aug). There’s still time to sign up & we are looking for a broad group of archive users! We have travel bursaries & can if needed help with hotel accommodation. More details👇
Neurodivergent experiences of archives – call for workshop participants Are you a (UK-based) neurodivergent researcher who has used archives in your work? Or an archive, library, or collections professional who would like to inform discussions on neurodivergent user access? Or a neurodivergent archive, library, or collections professional who can offer insights into accessibility? As part of the EDI Caucus funded project ‘Divergent Minds in the Archive’ , we, a group of neurodivergent humanities academics, will be running a series of research and knowledge exchange workshops at archives around the UK, and online, in summer 2025. These workshops will bring together archive users and professionals to share archive experiences, identify potential barriers for neurodivergent users, and creatively ‘re-imagine’ archival spaces through zine-making. We can fund limited travel expenses for participants to workshops, including support worker travel and overnight accommodation where necessary. Please apply for one workshop only. We are currently recruiting participants for the following workshops, to be hosted by: ● ● Glamorgan Archives, Cardiff, Tuesday 29 July, 10am-4.15pm. Liverpool Records Office, Liverpool, Thursday 14 August, 10am-4.15pm. Please apply by Monday 21st July, or as soon as possible if you need travel support. If you cannot make these events, but would like to hear more about the project, sign up to our mailing list for more information in due course. Please feel free to get in touch with further questions at divergentmindsarchive@gmail.com. All the very best, Ria, Lucie, and Ann-Marie The project is led by Dr Ria Cheyne, Liverpool John Moores University; Dr Ann-Marie Foster, Robert Gordon University/Imperial War Museums; and Dr Lucinda Matthews-Jones, Liverpool John Moores University. Our partners are Glamorgan Archives, Gwent Archives, History UK, Imperial War Museums, Liverpool Record Office, Scottish Council on Archives,
July 14, 2025 at 11:38 AM
Reposted by Jane Donaldson
dohertyta.bsky.social
Available online (or in London HQ) an exhibition on history of prison nursing from our @rcnhistory.bsky.social and @rcnnjf.bsky.social forums with @rcnlibraries.bsky.social

#HIstNursing #HistMed

Link🔗 www.rcn.org.uk/library-exhi...
May 7, 2025 at 4:04 PM