One Day in History

History Matters, an initiative from heritage organisations in England and Wales (including the National Trust) has created One Day in History which it describes thus:

Make history with us on 17 October by taking part in the biggest blog in history. ‘One Day in History’ is a one off opportunity for you to join in a mass blog for the national record. We want as many people as possible to record a ‘blog’ diary which will be stored by the British Library as a historical record of our national life.

Write your diary here reflecting on how history itself impacted on your day – whether it just commuting through an historic environment, discussing family history or watching repeats on TV.

One can argue until the cows come home about their misuse of the word blog, but I love the sentiment here. I find the practical, mundane aspects of history fascinating, which is why Samuel Pepys’ diary is so compelling with his details of pub lunches, hangovers, legal wranglings and dance lessons.

I’ll be adding a snapshot of my glamourous life tomorrow, and if you’re based in England or Wales hopefully you will too. Maybe one day historians will find it a fascinating record of a day in the life of ordinary folk. [You may like to read Tim Beadle’s take on the copyright issues first]

And talking of a day in the life, last Thursday I started to take a photo a day for the next year. It’s not exactly an original undertaking and I’m not even the only person to start such as project in the past few days, but hopefully I’ll get something out of it. At the very least it’s a good excuse to play with the new camera.