I ‘d just like to draw attention to a couple of blog posts here for the benefit readers. I know I’ve plugged both of these authors recently, but to be quite honest, their work is blowing me away. We really are living in excellent times for local history – so many people are coming forward with their stories, unhindered by publishers and commercial pressure.

This is what the internet should be about. Creative people, inquisitively interacting with the world around them and their histories, then publishing their work free to others to enjoy, explore and read. Please check them out.

First up is a spectacular piece of work posted last night by top Lichfield Council geographic data boffin Gareth Thomas. Gareth has been pioneering collaboration with local blogs like mine, and has taken the cue and created a wonderful piece about a lost isolation hospital near Lichfield. There are, of course, echoes in my own work about the similar facility at Barracks Lane. I love the way Gareth has employed maps and material from disparate sources, and woven the whole thing together.

Wonderful use of historic source material really lights up an unknown story. Click on the image to visit Gareth’s post.

For a map geek like me, this is a masterpiece. It’ll blow your socks off.

Secondly, there’s another instalment from Susan Marie Ward’s Staffordshirebred blog about her family’s experiences in wartime Lynn, near Stonnall. Again, I covered a previous post on Susan’s blog last week,  but I can’t overstate the local significance of this material. The historical detail about the searchlight is worth it alone. The tale itself is wonderful and captivating.

Aunty Mary didn’t take any bull. Clcik on the image to visit Susan Marie Ward’s post at Staffordshirebred.

I want to grab the world by the collar and shout about how good this stuff is. That isn’t normal, is it?