NCS News

A happy Burns’ Nicht tae ane an’ a.’ We’re looking forward tae oor haggis and champit neeps and tatties and we hope you can join in too. If none of this makes any sense to you, may we recommend a visit to the online Scots dictionary. And if that rouses your interest in things Scottish, [...]

[Read more →]

The biggest ever horde of anglo saxon gold has been found in a field in Staffordshire. Metal detectorist Terry Herbert discovered the 5kg of gold and 2.5kg of silver. The find is treasure trove and will now be valued. Mr Herbert and the land owner can expect a substantial reward.
Leslie Webster, former keeper at the [...]

[Read more →]

The BBC’s “Who Do You Think You Are” begins a new series tonight, with an investigation into the family history of presenter Davina McCall. This series will guide celebrities through their family trees, delving into history as we go.
If it puts you in the mood for finding some ancestors, why not try our History and [...]

[Read more →]

 
You can learn all about researching your family history with Kathryn Senior on the NCS course Family History Begins at Home. Now, here’s another facet of your family’s history, researching the history of your house.
 
Using a combination of census records, old maps and other documents, you can find out all about the previous residents and owners [...]

[Read more →]

 
Scotland’s most valuable history award has been won by Dr Douglas Watt, author of “The Price of Scotland: Darien, Union and the Wealth of Nations.” The Hume Brown Prize commemorates Prof Peter Hume Brown, first incumbent of the Sir William Fraser Chair of Scottish History and Palaeography in the University of Edinburgh, and is worth £4000 [...]

[Read more →]

The New Curiosity Shop has just launched a new kind of course. A mix between a science course and a history course, The Story Of Apollo will take learners back to the cold war era to examine the cultural factors and the engineering that made possible the US moon missions and the eventual landing of [...]

[Read more →]

How do you qualify to be a student in the UK? Ideally, you need to be under 25 and looking for a vocational course. Only 1% of the UK education budget is available for older students. This in the face of demographic change which sees 11 million people of pensionable age, many of whom will [...]

[Read more →]

Today, President Barack Hussein Obama starts the job of leading the western world. A great deal of hope has been invested in this man and, clearly, one man cannot save the world. However, a good leader can inspire the rest of us to pull together and then, just maybe, we can all try to save [...]

[Read more →]

The Portable Antiquities Scheme has just released its Treasure Annual Report at a special event in the British Museum. The scheme coordinates a network of Finds Liaison Officers who take reports from people who find ancient artifacts on their land or while out walking or metal detecting and, this year, they have 1,257 archaeological finds [...]

[Read more →]

In the wake of the release of a new film and book about the 1950 theft and subsequent recovery of the  Stone of Destiny, Scotland’s First Minister, Alex Salmond, has claimed that that particular Stone is a fake and that the original has been lost for 700 years.
The Stone, on which Scotland’s kings were traditionally [...]

[Read more →]