Simon Naylor
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simonnaylor.bsky.social
Simon Naylor
@simonnaylor.bsky.social
Professor of Historical Geography, University of Glasgow, Scotland. My book, The Observatory Experiment: Meteorology in Britain and its Empire, is out now with Cambridge University Press.
Reposted by Simon Naylor
I know Glaswegians keep some unusual pets, but I've never come across an aerial quadropus before! If you see Nipsy on your travels around the city, please let their owners know. 😀

#glasgow #glasgowhumour #streetart #scottishhumour #keepglasgowweird #findnipsy
November 11, 2025 at 10:30 AM
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Excited for our oral history event on ‘Living and Working Along the Leen’ on Thursday 13 November at UoN Lakeside Arts. Made possible by @royalhistsoc.org Scouloudi Public History funding.

Come along to share your memories of Nottingham’s River!
www.lakesidearts.org.uk/event/living...
Living and Working Along the Leen
Explore historical archival photos and share your own memories, to examine how Nottingham River Leen's meaning for local residents has shifted over time.
www.lakesidearts.org.uk
November 10, 2025 at 9:56 AM
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November 9, 2025 at 9:05 PM
Another great geography-themed gaming session in our Creative Impact Lab. This time we played Pandemic: Rising Tide. Apologies Dutch friends, we failed to stop the sea!
October 31, 2025 at 5:52 PM
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In the past week I've taught 200+ first-year students in the "forgotten", "lost" map library at @uclgeography.bsky.social with the help of some great PGTAs.

Imagine what we could do with this collection if we could only find it! 🤔
October 23, 2025 at 5:13 PM
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Exciting list of speakers presenting in our Environmental History Research Seminar this term. If you happen to be in Dublin, come along. We'll meet on Mondays at 1 PM in the Trinity Long Room Hub #envhist

Thanks to @tlrhub.bsky.social for hosting us!
@historytcd.bsky.social
👇
September 17, 2025 at 7:58 AM
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This is a great little collection in Transactions on 'worlding geography' and area studies... rgs-ibg.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/toc/10.1... @rgs-ibghe.bsky.social
Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers | RGS Journal | Wiley Online Library
Click on the title to browse this issue
rgs-ibg.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
September 12, 2025 at 8:37 AM
Following @greenhouseuis.net @finnarne.me excellent example and played Finspan board game in our new Creative Impact Lab today @uofglasgow.bsky.social @stonemaiergames.com
September 10, 2025 at 3:14 PM
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On strike again.

We’ve had to do this for so long that our primary school kids who joined us on snow day picket lines are now students themselves.

Utterly ridiculous way to run a university.
September 8, 2025 at 7:28 AM
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Super proud of this research group! HGRG at the International Conference of Historical Geographers in China!
Next stop of the ICHG will be Rio de Janeiro in 2028, save the date 🗓️🌎
August 28, 2025 at 3:03 PM
Reposted by Simon Naylor
On the archaeology of Scottish skateboarding.
Scotland's first skatepark to be dug up by archaeologists
A University of Glasgow team will undertake excavation and survey work at the former Kelvin Wheelies park.
www.bbc.co.uk
August 20, 2025 at 6:22 AM
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Here we go: the first session of our „energy transition & energyscapes” organised by @melinabuns.bsky.social & @dudleymarianna.bsky.social .
#ESEH2025 #EnergyHistory #EnvHist
Really excited about this.
August 19, 2025 at 9:04 AM
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I just noticed that Metropolitan Science will be out in paperback - exciting news! Not available until next year, but can be pre-ordered for a relatively affordable £26.09 @jasminekt.bsky.social www.bloomsbury.com/uk/metropoli... #earlymodern #histSTM 🗃️
Metropolitan Science
Exploring distinctive practices in the artisanal, mercantile, and governmental sites of London, Metropolitan Science offers a new perspective on the development…
www.bloomsbury.com
August 4, 2025 at 11:26 AM
Beautiful plan of the proposed Forth & Clyde Canal in John Smeaton's 1767 Report to the Trustees for Fisheries, Manufactures and Improvements in Scotland.
June 20, 2025 at 11:00 AM
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Vol. 88 is out!

It is our 50th anniversary issue, and includes a special issue on ‘Archives as Worldmaking’ edited by @jakehodder.bsky.social and @snehakrishnan.bsky.social

sciencedirect.com/journal/journal-of-historical-geography/vol/88/suppl/C

Take a look at the contents below 🧵

1/31
June 16, 2025 at 2:12 PM
Reposted by Simon Naylor
Reposted by Simon Naylor
Crofters and cottars and lairds, oh my!

Co-organising this conference in July. Sign up to the mailing list for updates here ➡️ eepurl.com/i-Zqf2
June 6, 2025 at 4:23 PM
Lovely map of canals and their catchment basins from the 1907 Royal Commission on canals and navigable rivers
May 31, 2025 at 8:11 AM
We are running a 1-day workshop on historical geographies / environmental histories of water knowledge on Thursday 15 May. If you would like to attend online and haven't already signed up please contact me using the Contact link on the webpage: www.gla.ac.uk/research/az/...
University of Glasgow - Research - Research units A-Z - Away from the Water - EventsSearch iconClose menu iconMenu icon bar 1Menu icon bar 2Menu icon bar 3
www.gla.ac.uk
May 8, 2025 at 2:45 PM
Reposted by Simon Naylor
If you're in or around London on Thursday 29 May, join @jasminekt.bsky.social and me to celebrate the publication of Metropolitan Science. Big thanks to the Institute of Advanced Studies & @stsucl.bsky.social for supporting the event. Book a free ticket here: www.ucl.ac.uk/institute-of... #histsci 🗃️
IAS Book Launch: Metropolitan Science
Join authors Rebekah Higgitt and Jasmine Kilburn-Toppin for the launch of their book 'Metropolitan Science. London Sites and Cultures of Knowledge and Practice, c. 1600-1800'
www.ucl.ac.uk
May 8, 2025 at 2:21 PM
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‘I sometimes wonder whether my love of compost is a response to the dispiriting cleanness of modern life – the spray’n’wipe, the no-touch flush, the sanitisers and disinfectants.’

@frasermacdonald.bsky.social makes compost: www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
Fraser MacDonald · On Compost
I sometimes wonder whether my love of compost is a response to the dispiriting cleanness of modern life – the spray’...
www.lrb.co.uk
April 22, 2025 at 2:18 PM
Reposted by Simon Naylor
interested in weather, seasons, or climate mobilities? in this paper I unpack assumptions about Western, colonialist weather ideals that underpin seasonal employment and migration
March 24, 2025 at 9:46 PM
Workshop at University of Glasgow on 15th May 2025, titled Mapping the Histories and Geographies of Water Knowledge. Info here: www.gla.ac.uk/research/az/...
To register to attend please complete one of these forms: forms.office.com/e/ZDzNVeedvb (in person)
Or forms.office.com/e/vmJrvmgGSR (online)
University of Glasgow - Research - Research units A-Z - Away from the Water - EventsSearch iconClose menu iconMenu icon bar 1Menu icon bar 2Menu icon bar 3
www.gla.ac.uk
February 27, 2025 at 3:02 PM
Reposted by Simon Naylor
My recollection of Nan Shepherd is rather faint but I wrote about the quiet late life (and literary afterlife) of my mother’s friend and teacher, prompted by the new correspondence edited by @kerriandrewsuk.bsky.social
Fraser MacDonald · Diary: Remembering Nan Shepherd
The novels weren’t the point. The point of Nan Shepherd was herself. My mother described what a thrill it was to be...
www.lrb.co.uk
January 15, 2025 at 4:43 PM