Heritage Quay: University of Huddersfield Archives

SERVICE UPDATE: Our research room and enquiry service are now closed until Tuesday 30 June. This is to allow the team to undertake vital collections work.

Our exhibition: Here if You Need: 100 Years of England Netball https://heritagequay.org/2026/02/here-if-you-need-100-years-of-england-netball/ is open as usual Monday-Friday 9am-5pm.

Whilst you wait, why not visit our website and pick some archives to come and explore www.heritagequay.org/archives when we are open again?

Happy Earth Day! 🌍

The Archive Assistants came across this beautiful illustration of the Northern Lights while cataloguing this week✨

The Forces of Nature: A Popular Introduction to the Study of Physical Phenomena was first published in 1873 and includes sections on gravity, sound and light (reference number: TAY/751). The illustration of Polar aurora borealis was done from an observation on 7:40pm on 19 January 1839.

You can explore more of the fantastic books in our collections by clicking the link in our bio.

The closing date of 12 April is fast approaching for the England Netball Project Archivist role, so get your applications in soon!

Find out more and apply here:
https://everyday.elementsuite.net/portal.php?site=vacancies&page=englandNetball&undefined=&vacancy=0d785c14-a74d-4976-aed6-90fc2f91074c&hideTileMenu=true

Looking for free activities to do with your netball-mad kids this week? Why not visit Heritage Quay to see our exhibition 'Here If You Need: 100 Years of England Netball'. Free to visit and open 9am-5pm.

Find our more here: https://heritagequay.org/2026/02/here-if-you-need-100-years-of-england-netball/

Over the next few months we are carrying out essential collections moves and making improvements to our online catalogue.

This means we are temporarily amending our enquiry and research room service.

Researchers should visit https://heritagequay.org/2026/03/amended-enquiry-and-research-room-service-spring-summer-2026/ or scan the QR code for up-to-date information.

Our exhibition and exploration spaces, including 'Here if You Need: 100 Years of England Netball' remain open as usual.

If you have any questions please don't hesitate to get in touch via any of our channels.

Incredible news! Our partners Netball have been awarded a grant from The National Lottery Heritage Fund to support the celebrations this year https://www.englandnetball.co.uk/news/england-netball-awarded-heritage-fund-grant-to-celebrate-and-preserve-the-heritage-of-netball 🎉

Part of the funding is for an archivist to work on the England Netball collection stored
at Heritage Quay. Applications are now open for the role, find out more here: https://everyday.elementsuite.net/portal.php?site=vacancies&page=englandNetball&undefined

This International Women's Day we are so inspired by the sporting women whose stories we have been honoured to help tell over the past year.

From the pioneering players and administrators of Women In Rugby League (https://womeninrugbyleague.org.uk/) and their inspirational champion Julia Lee, to the incredible inventors and custodians of England Netball we continue to be amazed by their achievements, tenacity and imagination.

If you want to have the same experience you can visit our exhibition https://heritagequay.org/2026/02/here-if-you-need-100-years-of-england-netball/, read about the founders of England Netball https://heritagequay.org/founders-of-england-netball/ and check out Women In Rugby League's huge bank of interviews and objects on their website.

Or better yet, book an appointment to look in the boxes yourselves!

Happy World Book Day! 📚

Heritage Quay holds a variety of books, from poetry to political history

These books are from the Arthur Gardiner Library [collection reference: AGD/LB]. Gardiner was a conscientious objector during the First World War and later the Mayor of Huddersfield. While the majority of Gardiner's library consists of books about history and politics, he appeared to enjoy a literary classic or two.

Have you read any of these books?

A national exhibition to celebrate the 100th anniversary of netball has opened at the University of Huddersfield - Huddersfield Hub The netball archive at Heritage Quay at the University of Huddersfield is the largest women-only sporting archive in the UK