Black History Month Read-along: Francis Williams
Portrait of Francis Williams, circa 1745. This image courtesy of Wikimedia; original portrait is held by the V&A. Welcome to a special read-along in celebration of Black History Month throughout…
History On My Doorstep, Part 2
This is the conclusion of the second piece from Di Murrell and the last of her guest blogs. If you missed the first part of History On My Doorstep, catch…
History On My Doorstep, Part 1
Welcome to the second of the guest pieces by Di Murrell in celebration of Know Your Place Festival 2021. In the first part of this piece, Di discovers some intriguing…
Custard Tarts – Their Chequered Past, part 2
This is the conclusion of Di Murrell's first guest essay for Know Your Place. If you missed Part 1, catch up here. Whatever the truth of the tarts’ earlier history,…
Custard Tarts – Their Chequered Past, part 1
The town of Richmond-upon-Thames has long been associated with pleasure, with prosperity, as a pleasure ground of the gentry, the rich and the famous. Plenty of signs of wealth up…
Know Your Place 2021: guest blogs by Di Murrell
September in Richmond is Know Your Place month, where we celebrate the rich history of our Borough through talks, workshops, quizzes - and blog pieces. This year, we're very lucky…
Fire and flood: the saga of Richmond Lending Library
As those who use it know, Richmond Lending Library is currently closed for repairs. All of our library buildings need upkeep, and buildings sometimes close for longer to allow for…
Richmond Read-along: Shakespeare and St George
Today (23rd April) marks both St George's Day and the anniversary of Shakespeare's death. It's also widely believed to be Shakespeare's birthday, although we don't know for certain what day…
Why do I need the library?
Do you use your library? While we have plenty of dedicated users, we know there are people out there who don't think the library is for them. In this post,…
Pulp Fiction: sex sells
Welcome to our new series on pulp fiction - the literature, not the film. To end LGBTQ+ History Month, today we're looking at gay, bisexual, trans, and particularly lesbian pulps.…