// Latest Posts

4 December – what’s the story behind door number four?

Food for thought – how accurate are our bathroom scales! In March physiology experts in the Division of Medical Sciences and Graduate Medicine helped BBC TV’s The One Show solve a domestic mystery – how accurate are our bathroom scales? Dr Beth Phillips agreed to help presenter Dominic Littlewood investigate five different, newly bought domestic bathroom scales, …

3 December 2016 – what’s the story behind door number three?

Claudia’s cause – a story that captured our hearts in February 2016. On what would have been her 10th birthday, researchers at the Children’s Brain Tumour Research Centre at The University of Nottingham gave their thanks to Claudia Burkill’s fundraising which has raised a staggering £250,000 to fund research into the disease that claimed her life. Claudia …

2 December – what’s the story behind door number two?

Celebrating 80 years of a Nottingham-born beauty brand In January 2016 Lakeside Arts celebrated the 80th anniversary of the iconic Nottingham-born beauty brand No 7. ‘Inspiring Beauty. No 7 – 80 years of making up the modern woman‘ was the most popular exhibition staged in the Weston Gallery.  It showcased previously unseen material from the Boots …

1 December 2016 – what’s the story behind door number one?

Trust me I’m  a press officer! Back in January 2016 Emma Rayner decided to go the extra mile and volunteer herself for the BBC’s flagship TV health programme ‘Trust Me, I’m a Doctor’. BBC had asked our researchers in musculoskeletal ageing over at the Royal Derby Hospital to set up a small study for their first programme of …

Advent Calendar 2016 – artcodes take the advent calendar into the digital age

It’s a long time since children were satisfied with a printed picture when they prized open the doors of their advent calendar. They have grown to expect some kind of treat – a sweet or toy – as well. But the advent calendar has moved on again – into the digital age. Computer scientists at …

25 December: Season’s Greetings from the Vice-Chancellor

I hope you have enjoyed the daily blog posts from the e-Advent Calendar over the last 25 days. The daily posts have been an excellent way to showcase the richness and diversity of material within the University’s Manuscripts and Special Collections.  From our extensive DH Lawrence collections through to old recipes and beautiful illustrations, there …

24 December: The Wollaton Antiphonal

The Wollaton Antiphonal is a large church service book made in around 1430. Its purpose is illustrated in this illuminated initial which shows three clerics singing. The Antiphonal was made for Sir Thomas Chaworth, who was the richest man in Nottinghamshire at the time, and no expense was spared. When Chaworth died it was bought …

23 December: Wintry scenes and watery landscapes

While severe winters are relatively unusual in the UK, last winter’s dramatic cold weather reminded us how lucky we’ve been in recent years. The e-Advent calendar blog has already featured Victorian ice-skaters on the River Trent from one particularly cold winter and today’s entry is inspired by this photograph of the River Idle in Nottinghamshire. …

22 December: Father Christmas

Father Christmas, Santa Claus, St Nicholas – whatever you call him, he’s an essential part of today’s Christmas festivities.  This image from the Briggs Collection is entitled ‘Old Father Christmas’ and is from E Bond’s Leaves from a Christmas Bough (London, 1897). While this illustration may be instantly recognisable as the Santa we know today, …

21 December: Christmas Day weather forecast

This weather chart from Christmas Day 1951 was drawn using recordings from outside of the University’s School of Geography. The reason that the report caught our eye is not because it was a white Christmas that year, but because the chart has been given a truly festive feel with holly around the edges and a …