Dr Pierre Botcherby FHEA

Research Interests

My PhD thesis - Community, de-industrialisation, and post-industrial regeneration in a Merseyside town: St. Helens, 1968-2018 - examined the impact of de-industrialisation and urban regeneration on (working-class) communities in 20th/21st century England. In 2024, I wrote a first article based on my thesis in the journal Urban History about environmental post-industrial regeneration in St. Helens/Merseyside; I will present on this theme to the Merseyside Historical Association at Liverpool John Moores University in September 2025.

Alongside my thesis, I worked, in conjunction with Warwickshire Wildlife Trust, on a community oral history of Binley colliery in Coventry. I published an article about this project in the Oral History journal in 2024 and was invited to speak about it by the organisers of the Remembering Coal conference at the University of Birmingham in 2025.

Since finishing my thesis, I have developed work in the area of sports history. A piece on the links between rugby league and community was published in 'The British Working-Class: Identity(-ies), Representations, (Re)definition', a 2024 special edition of the Université Côte d'Azur's Etudes Anglophones journal, Cycnos.

Linked to my thesis research, interest in oral history, and previous work at the Modern Records Centre, meanwhile, I have written an article about labour history archives for the Historical Studies in Industrial Relations journal, titled 'For research purposes and for posterity: the founding and early development of the Modern Records Centre'.

I have also published about pedagogy, regarding the experiences of postgraduates who teach and the concept of student archives. I have led research projects on the history of the Arts Faculty at Warwick and on the development of Active Bystander training for PGRs who teach. I was part of the initial team behind the Warwick Postgraduate Teaching Community. This project has been recognised internally with a collaborative Warwick Award for Teaching Excellence in 2022 and nationally with an AdvanceHE CATE award in 2024.

Selected Publications

As sole author

Articles

• 'For research purposes and for posterity: the founding and early development of the Modern Records Centre', Historical Studies in Industrial Relations, 45 (2024), 147-175.
• 'Building community through environmental regeneration: Operation Groundwork', Urban History (2024).
  Currently available online; coming soon in the journal's print edition.
• 'Coal and community: an oral history of Binley colliery', Oral History, 52:2 (2024), 121-132.
  Read a pre-publication version of the manuscript. 
• '"It's a good job that we've got a damn good rugby team, otherwise we'd have nothing to be hopeful about": rugby league and working-class community in de-industrialising England', Cycnos, 39:1 (2024), 99-124.
  See a preview on the publisher's website.
• 'There's no 'I' in Teams: creating community in the online classroom', Journal of PGR Pedagogic Practice, 1 (2021), 33-39.
• 'Best practice versus reality: Arts at Warwick, coronavirus, and remote interviewing in oral history', ExchangesLink opens in a new windowLink opens in a new window, 8:4 (2021), 113-125.
• 'Strike at Pilkingtons: 50 years on', North West Labour History, 45 (2020), 53-59.
• 'Queens of the coal age: Lancashire Women Against Pit Closures and the Parkside Pit Camp, 1992-94', North West Labour HistoryLink opens in a new windowLink opens in a new window, 44 (2019), 12-16.

Blogs

• 'Learning and teaching in the archives', SMLC Blog (December 2024)
• 'Coal and community: an oral history of Binley Colliery', Oral History Society Blog (April 2022)
• 'Town centre regeneration, community, and the involvement of local residents'Link opens in a new windowLink opens in a new window, Centre for the History of Retail and Distribution (CHORDLink opens in a new windowLink opens in a new window) Conference Blogs (University of Wolverhampton, 2019)

I have also written a selection of pieces about PhD Life for the University of Warwick Library's blog.

Book reviews

• 'Review of Oral History at a Distance' (Oral History Society, 2025, by invitation)
• 'Review of La prison des pauvres: l'expérience des workhouses en AngleterreLink opens in a new windowLink opens in a new window' (IHR Reviews in History, 2018)

As co-author

Articles & Chapters

• 'The Modern Records Centre: fifty years on', Exchanges, 11:4 (2024), 1-13 (with Rachel MacGregor)
• 'The opportunities and challenges of the student archive: Then&Now: Arts at Warwick', 77-104 in: Lorenzo J. Torres Hortelano, Maida Gruden, Andrija Stojanovic (eds.), They:Live. Exploring Student Lives Through Photography, Oral History, and Context-Based Art, (Tirant Humanidades, Valencia, 2024) (with Dr. Josh Patel, Lauren Sleight, Dr. Kathryn Woods)
• 'From pit head to wildlife haven: Binley Colliery and Claybrookes Marsh nature reserve (Coventry)', Northern Mine Research Society Newsletter, (February 2022), 4-5 (with Daniel Loveard, Warwickshire Wildlife Trust)
• 'Then & Now: Arts at Warwick student project: co-creation in the Covid-19 crisis', ExchangesLink opens in a new windowLink opens in a new window, 8:4 (2021), 55-75 (with Dr. Kathryn Woods)
• 'Then & Now: Arts at Warwick introduction', ExchangesLink opens in a new windowLink opens in a new window, 8:4 (2021), 1-8 (with Dr. Kathryn Woods)

Other

• 'Memories of Binley Colliery: An Oral History Project', (2021), 16pp., with Daniel Loveard (Warwickshire Wildlife Trust), Dan Smith, Fu Ge Yang, Kiera Evans, Amy Halliday (University of Warwick)

As (co-)editor

• 'Special Issue: MRC@50', Exchanges, 11:4 (2024)
• 'Pilot launch issue: postgraduate pandemic pedagogies', Journal of PGR Pedagogic Practice, 1 (2021)
• 'Special Issue: Then & Now: Arts at Warwick', ExchangesLink opens in a new windowLink opens in a new window, 8:4 (2021)

Selected Conferences and Presentations

By invitation

• 16 June 2025, 'Memories of Binley Colliery', Remembering Coal: Legacy, Memories, Heritage (University of Birmingham)
• 6 March 2024, 'Interdisciplinary publishing: what is it?!', panel discussion for the Institute of Advanced Study (University of Warwick)
• 4 July 2022, 'People have the power? Public participation and urban regeneration in St. Helens', Society for the Promotion of Urban Discussion (SPUD) XVI

As speaker

• 16 January 2023, 'De-industrialisation, community, and sport in the 20^th and 21^st centuries’, History Department Work-in-Progress Series (University of Warwick)
• 16 December 2022, ‘Rugby League and working-class community in St. Helens and England in the 20^th and 21^st centuries’, The British Working-Class Since the 18^th Century: Identity(-ies), Representations, (Re)definitions (Université Côte d’Azur, France)
• 24-26 August 2022, 'This sporting life: community, de-industrialisation, and Rugby League in St. Helens', - British Society for Sports History (De Montfort University)
• 30 August-3 September 2021, 'Community involvement in post-industrial environmental regeneration in St. Helens, the North-West, and England: Operation Groundwork', ELHN-WORCK Joint Conference (University of Vienna/online)
• 10 May 2021, 'Connecting a Teaching Community: PGR Digital Teacher Hub' (with Sara HattersleyLink opens in a new window, Josh Patel,Link opens in a new windoMateo MazzamurroLink opens in a new window, Matt HarwoodLink opens in a new window), TEALFestLink opens in a new window (Technology Enhanced Active Learning Festival, University of Warwick)
• 7-8, 14-15 November 2020, 'Community After Closure: A Case Study of St. Helens, Merseyside', North American Conference on British Studies 2020 (online)
• 23-25 September 2020, 'Building community through regeneration in St. Helens, Merseyside', Building Welfare States: New Approaches to Architecture, Community, and Planning in Twentieth Century Britain (University of Warwick/online)
• 5-6 July 2019, 'A tale of two ranches? From John Wayne to JR Ewing: de-industrialisation and changes to work in St. Helens, Merseyside', Oral History@Work: Recording Change in Working Lives (Oral History Society Annual Conference, Swansea University)
• 27 June 2019, 'Building communities? Urban development in industrial and post-industrial St. Helens', - Urban Identities: Past and Present (Humanities Research Centre, University of Warwick)
• 9 May 2019, 'Representing local interests in post-industrial town centre regeneration: a case study of St. Helens, Merseyside', Retailing and Community: The Social Dimensions of Commerce in Historical Perspective (Centre for the History of Retailing and Distribution, University of Wolverhampton)
• 25-26 October 2018, 'Seeking continuity in a period of change: resisting industrial decline and post-industrial regeneration', The Pursuit of Legitimacy Power and its Manifestations in Political History (Leiden University, Holland)
• 31 May-1 June 2018, 'Resisting de-industrialisation through memory: a case study of St. Helens, Merseyside', History Postgraduate Conference (University of Warwick)
• 23 May 2018 'Oral history: a chorus of disciplines', Questioning the Disappearance of Disciplinary Boundaries (Annual PG Symposium of the School of Modern Languages and Cultures, University of Warwick)

As (co-)organiser

• 20 September 2023, The MRC at 50: Research Informed and Inspired by the Modern Records Centre, organiser (University of Warwick)
• 7 April 2022, Creating and working with oral historical sources, workshop chair and co-organiser (University of Leicester/Midlands4Cities)
• 1 December 2021, 'Memories of Binley Colliery' (with Daniel Loveard, Dan Smith, Fu Ge Yang, and Kiera Evans), Warwick Oral History Network Research Seminar (University of Warwick)
• Ongoing co-organiser of the Warwick Oral History Network Reading Group (run jointly with colleagues at MONASH).

I have also acted as a panel chair for reading groups for the Warwick Modern History Reading Group and Queer History Warwick, and as a panel chair for the Politics of Sedition in the Long Nineteenth Century.

Qualifications

• 2022, DPhil, History, University of Warwick
• 2017, MA (Bac+5), Etudes Anglophones, Université Nice-Sophia-Antipolis
• 2015, BA(Hons), French & History, University of Warwick

Previous Positions

• 2023, Outreach & Widening Participation Officer, Modern Records Centre
• 2022-23, Doctoral Training Manager, Faculty of Arts, University of Warwick
• 2021-22, Postgraduate Development Officer, Doctoral College, University of Warwick