From the 26th to the 31st August Afton Down on the Isle of Wight was home to one of the largest rock festivals the world has ever seen. With an attendance that surpassed Woodstock the previous year; it is estimated that between 600,000 to 700,000 people flocked to the 1970 Isle of Wight Festival.With such large numbers in attendance, all did not go as planned, much like the revival of Woodstock in 1999. The festival was marred by petty theft, gate-crashers, and looting,…

‘Sea shanties are having a great vogue right now,’ reports the Leeds Mercury in January 1927. The writer may well have been describing the sea shanty trend of the present day, as the haunting harmonies of traditional sea shanties once again have captured the popular imagination.And one hundred years ago, during the 1920s, sea shanties were also incredibly popular. You could listen to them on the radio, or on your gramophone, and they were even performed by MPs.Sailors turn…

October is Black History Month, and to celebrate, here at The Archive we are uncovering the amazing stories of Black British figures from history. In this first of a series of special blogs, we begin by celebrating the work of five Black British musicians, and highlighting their amazing legacies, using newspapers taken from The Archive.Register now and explore The ArchiveSo read on to discover more about child prodigy George Bridgetower who took the courts of Europe by storm…