The Roman Running Club. A Willerby Story. Jamal runs in the mornings with three timeslipped legionnaires. willerby.substack.com/p/the-runnin...

you know what would be a genuinely useful site? "Was It Better or Were You Younger?" just take various elements of life and look at the actual facts of the past. because it is true of some stuff! but generally much less than nostalgia and aging leads us to believe

Peter Hook & Ian Curtis during Joy Division’s performance at August 1979’s Leigh Festival, by the great Kevin Cummins.

Samuil Kaplan (Ukrainian, 1928–2021) "Pecherskyi Ice Rink. Kyiv", 1979. Oil on Canvas. Private Collection. #art #painting #artist #BlueSkyArt

Join us in wishing @michaelstipe.bsky.social a very happy birthday today! 🎉

Anna Akhmatova (from “Requiem” tr. by D.M. Thomas)

If you know spooky Midlands villages like I know spooky Midlands villages...you'll want to investigate Willerby....

Reader comment. Only 48 left now.

Jack's Pool. The very first Willerby Story and a good introduction to the village. Jack-in-the-Pond, our dark spirit of blood and water is woken by two newcomers who don't know better. willerby.substack.com/p/jacks-pool

Reader comment. 52/100 sold now.

Those of us who grew up in 1970s Britain didn’t have mobile phones or computer games. But we did have fantastic children’s TV programmes. Like Rentaghost. Here’s my tribute to a wonderful BBC show that was born 50 years ago. #Rentaghost

Shortcuts. A Willerby Story. Stay on the road. Stick to the paths you know. Don't get lost. willerby.substack.com/p/shortcuts

Happy new year! I love sharing this poem by @maggiesmithpoet.bsky.social. I’m reminded this year of Audre Lorde: “These places of possibility within ourselves are dark because they are ancient and hidden; they have survived and grown strong through darkness.”

Robert Abele ~ Stick of Gold, 2025

#FridayFive 1. Good luck - Basement Jack 2. Great Things - Echobelly 3. The Best is Yet to Come - Tony Bennett & Diana Krall 4. Autobahn - Kraftwerk 5. Going for Gold - Shed Seven

#FridayFive. New year, more beginnings etc. Just the vibe is fine. 1. Wide Open Spaces. The Chicks. 2. Back to Livin' Again. Curtis Mayfield. 3. Finest Worksong. REM. 4. Unwritten. Natasha Bedingfield. 5. So fresh so clean. Outkast.

We had a thread recently about quotes from movies that we use regularly. (@missmc.bsky.social @bethgg.bsky.social - was it you?) Anyway, Mr R has just cleaned the glass splashback til it squeaks, and I’ve asked, “Is there a Mr Gump, Mrs Gump?”

Welcome to Willerby. A haunted village somewhere in the midlands. Over fifty free uncanny stories that can be read in any order. Original music and art. This year, come find us. www.welcometowillerby.co.uk Three good stories to start with in the thread below.

happy birthday to @eliotcardinaux.bsky.social, who wrote this perfect poem

Jane Kenyon

happy last #smallpoemsunday of 2025! 💜 feel free to share small poems you wrote and/or small poems you love by someone else :) here’s W. S. Merwin, from “Song of Three Smiles”~

The Tapestry. A Willerby Story. A party of New Year's Eve revellers open a sealed room in old Willo House and find a strange tapestry. willerby.substack.com/p/the-tapestry

💙💛 People stand in line for a drinking water in Kyiv on December 27, 2025. Russian strikes caused fires, damaged residential buildings and critical infrastructure, and disrupted electricity, heating and water supply systems.

First cruise missiles fired from TU bombers entered Ukrainian airspace and are moving to our direction There's an information about takeoff of TU in the area of the Black Sea The combined massive attack of Kyiv is ongoing Explosions don't stop

Half an hour to go!

We're really liking how many people are recording our stories. We're going to put a new page on our website to host them. If you'd like to record a story let us know.

Perfect for these liminal inbetween days...

Far Side

I Wish It Could Be Christmas Every Day. A Willerby Story read by @hauntedukfiction.bsky.social Cathy is haunted by her tree. open.spotify.com/episode/5oZH... Text version here: willerby.substack.com/p/i-wish-it-...

I Wish It Could Be Christmas Every Day. A Willerby Story. Out now on @hauntedukfiction.bsky.social open.spotify.com/episode/5oZH...

a love that dares rip / open the chest to see what goes on singing. Dean Young

This might be the most loved of all our stories. We get more comments and messages about this than any other. If you're curious about Willerby but haven't read a story yet this might be a good first visit.

Don't miss this story of messages from much-missed people.....

A Year in Willerby. Twelve of our most loved stories bound with original lino cut prints. Only 100 individually numbered copies printed. Available now for £20 plus delivery. www.etsy.com/uk/listing/4...

Our book A Year in Willerby is out now. Twelve of our most loved stories illustrated with beautiful original lino cut prints like this. 100 copies only. Already selling fast. See here for how to order. willerby.substack.com/p/a-year-in-...

💙💛 Widows and veterans head to the Chernobyl memorial in Kyiv #OTD 14 December 2006 to attend a ceremony marking the Day of Liquidators, who worked on the plant following the world's worst nuclear accident in 1986.

It’s good to see papers start to address LLMs as structural plagiarism — provenance, more hidden than the original words or training data. www.nature.com/articles/s42...

The Tapestry. A Willerby Story. A locked room is opened on New Year's Eve. willerby.substack.com/p/the-tapestry

TIL about a memorial ceremony in Iceland in 2019 to mark the end of a glacier, changing the place name from Okjökull to Ok (jökull = glacier). Uncompromising wording on the bronze plaque: "This is to acknowledge that we know what is happening and what needs to be done. Only you know if we did it".

*cough* If you're gift shopping for anyone interested in how the world works, do consider these. Storm in a Teacup is all about the physics of everyday life and Blue Machine is all about how the ocean works - the water itself, which is the biggest story on Earth. Share the joy of nature & science!

the last line of Zakalwe’s Song from Use of Weapons by Iain M. Banks: ‘The bomb lives only as it is falling.’ That line has haunted me for decades. Love it.

happy #smallpoemsunday! 💜 feel free to participate by posting small poems you wrote, +/or small poems you love by somebody else :) here’s one by John Wieners, from Behind the State Capitol: Or Cincinnati Pike (an absolute marvel of a book freshly reissued by @thesongcave.bsky.social)~

One of my neighbors has been putting up these fish facts posters. All kinds of different fish, marine, freshwater, deep, shallow, all kinds. This is a good one. “Stg this real fish” took me out. Good work, neighbor.

How to help an author? Read us, review us, put us on your wishlists, in your carts, heart us, add us to your Goodreads TBR, pop into your local bookstore and have them place an order, make a library request.

I’m 38 and have never heard an LCD Soundsystem song before, even though it’s supposedly the music for people my age. Is it just nostalgia or would it work properly if I hear it for the first time now?