Month: May 2021

An oral history study

by Dr Richard Harding

I am a retired GP interested in the history of medicine, and acquired an MA in history from the Open University. At the beginning of Lockdown, The Friends of Ludlow Museum asked me to do an oral history of the pandemic, and kindly funded a digital recorder.

Oral witness is, like a medical consultation, confidential, and requires the written permission of the witness. Written transcripts are crucial in case the recording becomes corrupted.

I selected 34 witnesses from various sources. Each gave a pair of interviews six months apart. The first set of interviews was between June and August 2020 and the second between November 2020 and February 2021.

Here are some quotations which illustrate certain themes.

Continue reading “Ludlow in Lockdown”

New website explores the ethical movement, its people and contribution to UK history

April 30^th marked the 125^th anniversary of Humanists UK.

In 1896 a small group freethinkers came together for their first meeting. The Union of Ethical Societies (now Humanists UK) joined together existing ethical societies for fellowship and the promotion and practice of morality without reference to theological ideas, emphasising a ‘purely human and natural’ basis for ethics and action.

To mark this milestone, Humanists UK has launched a new Humanist Heritage website that charts the UK’s rich and storied history of the humanist movement.

Hundreds of humanist campaigners, many of them women, have been profoundly under-recognised or simply excised from history. So too, the humanist motivations of many of our national heroes have often been overlooked. Humanist Heritage celebrates activists previously resigned to obscure archives, as well the humanist values of national heroes including figures like Alan Turing, Rosalind Franklin, and NHS founder Nye Bevan.

Explore the rich history and influence of humanism in the UK – learn more at www.heritage.humanists.uk