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Are you ready for a peek at a collection that looks back at you? Welcome to the world’s oldest museum of optometry! Find out what that is and discover some of the curious devices created to aid our vision (and more) with this introduction from its curator, Dr Neil Handley. (P.S. – Watch out for stories of augmented reality, football fans and student practical jokes along the way!)

The National Trust has an incredible collection of places, objects, and most importantly, stories. A collaborative research project has helped them highlight more of these from under-represented groups. Members of the project team introduce their work here and share three of the stories – discover the celebrated miniaturist who painted with her mouth and shoulder and the much loved sister who learnt to speak again after an accident.

Heritage is about everything that makes us who we are; this means it weaves an incredibly rich, varied and powerful tapestry. Sadly though, not all of its amazing colours and strands get included in every weaving. This can leave people whose story threads are missing feeling invisible, and the general tapestry is dimmer, even misleading for the gaps – like trying to read a story with several chapters missing. Earlier this year we attended a powerful workshop run by a project in Sheffield who are leading the way in working with communities to address these issues. We’re delighted to introduce you to them and their work here.

From Roman soldiers to a Regency era ferryman, the rich history of African people in our country is a long one. A project in the North East has been researching these stories, sharing them through a range of resources and events – including a taster walk over our festival. As we couldn’t attend the walk we asked them to share a few stories here, highlighting the wonderful work they do and resource they are creating.

Family. We can’t explore Routes-Networks-Connections without looking at this! One family history group that participate in our festival is particularly special – helping people overcome barriers to explore their links to Travelling people, whose stories can be hard to trace, but have contributed much to our histories. To celebrate Gypsy, Roma & Traveller History Month we invited them to share their work, and some stories with us - including talented craftspeople and the origins of Blackpool’s Pleasure Beach!

Throughout history people have travelled the globe spreading ideas and sharing their talents. We’re celebrating their stories this year as part of our Routes-Networks-Connections theme. So of course we had to chat to the Migration Museum, whose touring exhibition has just won a coveted Museums+Heritage Show award. Here they share some of the extraordinary stories highlighted in that exhibition.

For over a century thousands of extraordinary women across the country have been meeting up and causing a stir. Not just stirring the ingredients for a cake to share with friends or sell on a stall, but stirring up conversations that lead to long term change. As they announce exciting plans for their AGM we invited the brilliant WI (Women's Institute) to tell us their story for Women's History Month.

A knight swirls to victory in a skirt; a queen rules with a fist clad in iron. What we choose to wear says a lot about us, and how we want, or need, to be seen. Intricate, powerful, stories like these are connected to perhaps surprising objects in an iconic collection. The current exhibition and self-guided object trail at The Royal Armouries, Leeds, was created by volunteers and researchers who identify under the LGBTQIA+ umbrella to showcase diverse voices and hidden histories. Get a taster of their brilliant exhibition and trail with these highlights.

Think of a Victorian mill working at full tilt - it's big, noisy, terrible working conditions that damaged the health of workers. But look closer at those workers, and we find examples of how disabled people have always been a valued part of the team.  A brilliant exhibition at Leeds Industrial Museum explores these histories, shining a light on overlooked voices from the past, and inviting disabled artists today to respond to them.  Read on for a taster, then explore more at the museum, or through their website.

Actors, choral singers, circus owners and steel pan musicians; all part of our rich creative story. This year we’ve been unwrapping the history of creativity and for Black History Month wanted to share a snapshot of just some of the stories to be found across England.

Born to french aristocracy, scammed into poverty, and bouncing back to face all critics, including the British Admiralty – Celeste Sinibaldi was clearly an enterprising, charismatic woman. Her extraordinary tale is one of the stories that surfaced from a special project run as part of our New Wave cohort last year. We’re delighted not only to share this story with you now, but also to congratulate the Thames Discovery Team for their recent special commendation in the Heritage Alliance’s Heritage Storyteller Awards.

Flowers - beautiful, cheering (hello 1st snowdrops!)…. and fascinating. Yes, blooms too have tales to tell! Last year, we heard how they can be considered ‘Astounding Inventions’. This year we’re exploring the history of creativity and, well, flowers have been used for display since humans first found them! As it is LGBTQ+ History month, we’ve invited Ian Giles to tell us about some of their queer connections. He ran a fantastic flower arranging workshop for the festival last year with Celebrating Hidden Middlesbrough. Take 5 with us to smell the roses and make a statement, which petals would you pick for a posy?

How much do you know about where you live? The best thing about Heritage Open Days is discovering the extraordinary stories as well as beautiful places that are all around us. For residents of Dewsbury in Yorkshire, that has included uncovering that two remarkable people visited in the 19th century to raise their voices and generate funding and support in the fight to end slavery. Librarian, Jude Lynn is here to tell us how she first found this story, and what they've been doing to share it, continuing to bring people together and raise awareness.

The biggest cheer at the recent Museums + Heritage Show was surely for the Queer curators panel, led by Dan Vo, Project Manager of the Queer Heritage & Collections Network. Riding high from the very rock 'n' roll launch of the fantastic new Queer Britain museum they called for curators to be bold and explore more stories of our endlessly diverse heritage. And they're here to help. Here's Dan to introduce your 'very queer, very friendly' team...

Do you remember using one of those special guillotines to cut paper at school? Do you still use one?! Did you know they were invented by a woman? It's women's history month and we're all about Astounding Inventions this year so we've been chatting with our friends at the Women's Engineering Society. Heritage Officer, Helen Close is here to share a few highlights from their records and ask if you can help celebrate more of these extraordinary women.

This painting has more to tell than a first glance shows. Benjamin Britten & Peter Pears - individually great musicians, but together simply extraordinary. Their partnership was celebrated on stage but had to be hidden off it. The rich symphony of that love story though is now told at their beautiful home with its extensive collection. Drawing on photographs and notes, but also the details hidden in receipts, bookplates, and this painting, Dr Christopher Hilton, Head of Archive & Library, is here to tell us more about their 40 year duet.

We're always on the look out for interesting, often unsung, stories here at HODs, so when I saw mention of Pablo, a popular and skilled circus owner, whilst processing the festival event entries I had to find out more! Pablo's story is just one of the fascinating tales of Norwich's past residents and associates that tour guide Paul Dickson researched during lockdown. The tours are running again this month, but if you can't get to Norwich here's a taster of Paul's favourite stories...

You might want to grab an ice cream for this one as we're headed to the seaside for the story behind an exhibition with a difference. Staff from Brighton's Royal Pavilion & Museums Trust collaborated with members of their local community to co-create ‘Queer the Pier’. Two members of the team are here to share their experience. It's a tale of trying to find history (from drag queen wigs to iconic typewriters!), then going beyond the research to get stuck in with upholstery pins, latex gloves and deep freeze! A tale of having the courage to be bold, and the joy and pride that can come from that.

From stewardesses who survived the Titanic, to the engineer who helped her ship out run an enemy plane. The remarkable lives of pioneering working women who went to sea during the first half of the 20th Century have been largely unrecorded until recently. The latest book by Siân Evans, Maiden Voyages, tells their stories - tales of adventure, steadfast courage, camaraderie and conflict. For International Women’s Day she’s giving us a taste of some of them – so grab a cuppa and let the armchair travels begin…

Digging into the past can be a muddy job, and not just for the archaeologists! Untangling the threads of who wrote what, and what each object means, how that may have changed, and also, crucially, what’s missing? Well, it's... complicated, to say the least - it takes a lot of detective work to illuminate our kaleidoscopic story. The more pieces we uncover though, the richer that story becomes. So as we celebrate LGBTQ+ History Month, I’m delighted to introduce Timothy Allsop from a new project looking into the often hidden histories of Queer Rural Connections, and how important they are to us today.