Opens random cupboard in museum Closes random cupboard* *decides that’s a job for next week 🐊☠️

Saw a web design agency today advertising affordable prices because “we keep our wages low” and that is a definite no from me.

Did Victorians believe heavy drinking caused spontaneous human combustion? Dr Pam Lock @pamplemoussepam.bsky.social is going to enlighten us on this rather unusual subject, on Thursday 16th October at Glenside Hospital Museum, and we can't wait! Tickets here: glensidemuseum.org.uk/introducing-...

Afternoon wanderings in Gloucester.

Settling in for another day at Gloucester History Festival in the wonderful Blackfriars Priory, and great to finally meet @eckerusla.bsky.social in person!

Eating a magnificent Welsh cake outside @gloucestercathedral.org.uk

Lunchtime walk, Friday sunshine edition.

Cafe at Llandudno Junction Station has an incredible ‘Passenger’s Pets’ wall of fame. Highly recommend, but WHO is travelling the rail network with a Cockatiel!?

“For anyone reading this and wondering why you can’t have the same system where you live, I’d say - you can… We don’t need permission, the secret ingredient is only imagining that it’s possible to do things differently.” This is great from @crappyliving.bsky.social on @amplifystroud.com.

“Reform UK have spotted what you could call a ‘gap in the market’, and it's not a good one”, writes Labour MP Dr @simonforstroud.bsky.social 🗣️ Reform UK’s vaccine crankery is a dangerous threat to our national security www.politics.co.uk/mp-comment/2...

Hi #MentalHealth #HistPsych experts...we need a little help y'all! Any idea what the words are after 'Supposed Cause'. One of our volunteers looking into the people admitted to the asylum has transcribed it as 'P.A.F.P. Drink'. We can't see anything in Hack Tuke's Dictionary...

A gorgeous example of a mosaic gravestone in Broseley Cemetery, Shropshire.Though fairly rare in the wider Telford area, they reflect the influence of the tile work industry in the Severn Valley and the skills its artisans possessed. I think this is particularly beautiful. 💚 #history #taphophile

The richest man in the world giving a speech to a mostly working class anti-migrant protest to tell them to hate migrants more is quite an on-the-nose demonstration of how racism was invented by the elite in order to serve elite interests.

I love churchyards and cemeteries, I love exploring them, and I love the ways in which they can be managed to promote biodiversity… but I was not expecting to find a vegetable patch in one…

The solar revolution means that power can be decentralized, democratized, distributed far more justly. So it makes perfect and hideous sense, given the nostalgia of authoritarians for a golden age (of exclusion, exploitation, and inequality ), to tie themselves to all fossil fuel's problems.

I'm mad as hell, and I'm not going to take it anymore. So I wrote a blog about ten things you can do *right now* to help defeat Farage, Musk, and rightwing populism. From scrutinising Reform councillors to demanding the UK Govt leave X - get involved: guyshrubsole.substack.com/p/ten-things...

'There could scarcely be a better illustration of how difficult it has become for Britain to invest in infrastructure.' With my green policy wonk hat on, I've written about the initiative no one talks about: community energy projects.

Last call for James Rebanks 'The Place of Tides'. 'If we are to change the world we have to start somewhere'. James is in conversation with Marchelle Farrell tomorrow evening (Thursday 18th) at Stroud's Sub Rooms. There are a handful of tickets left. Booking and more info: ylbevent.link/rebanks

Made a visit to Kingshill House in Dursley this morning to see the Mill Voices exhibition celebrating the women workers of Cam Mills through audio, photos, and community art. It’s been lovely to be involved in the project in a small way. Open daily until Sunday 21 September, 9:30am to 2:30pm.

Braved the rain yesterday and took a little trip down the road to Berkeley Castle to see the family private chapel and the cell in which Edward II was reputedly held captive prior to his (debatable) murder, neither of which are usually open to the public so that was a bit of a treat.

Interesting to see that Farage has a history with Malhotra dating several years and Malhotra also spoke at a fringe event as well as the main event at the Reform conference so Farage has more questions to answer about platforming a known anti-vaxer

‘The anti-vax movement isn’t simply a grassroots network of concerned parents. It’s an industry. … It operates on a simple premise: if you’re not vaccinating your kids, you need to protect them somehow, and here’s a bunch of things you can buy to do that.’ Excellent writing in @macleans.bsky.social

💫New Workshop #CfP💫 'Object Stories in Health and Medicine, 1700-1900', 5 December, online, organised by the very fabulous @annafranjam.bsky.social & @rebeccawhiteley.bsky.social. #HistMed #HistSTM #HistPsych #DisHist #HistNursing #MatCult #MaterialCulture #MedHums #Skystorians🗃️

History is powerful—we can overcome. Join me in #UK to talk about #transrights and #transgender history, the #Weimar, feminist action for body autonomy, #science and #medicine 🧪🗃️

It's so crazy that you can monger both war and fish.

This month's Cheese of the Month: Single Gloucester: bit.ly/SingleGloucester

Voices Amplified: Black History Month Poetry & Spoken Word stroudbrewery.com/products/voi...

Excited to be at Bristol Old Vic for a preview of Starter For Ten tonight. An eighties musical, what a treat!

“Why should we fix our eyes on this spot only?” A little piece I wrote last month inspired by Edward Jenner’s response when asked about the impact of anti-vaccination activism about how the history of vaccination should give us hope in the face of current challenges.

'"Mother is so famous, but they do not take any follow-up of Mom to know whether she is in a good or bad state"' I'd often wondered what came next for Rahima Banu, the last person to be naturally infected with Variola major, so this is really interesting from @celinegounder.com.

Chomp! Love this little guy taking a bite out of the gastronomy map of France (Cours gastronomique, ou, Les diners de Manant-ville, c.1809) 😋

Great to visit The Amelia in Tunbridge Wells for the first time at the weekend. Tunbridge Wells Museum (as was) gave me my first ever museum job many years ago and it was so lovely to be back and see the changes that have brought museum, library, and council services into the same space.

Flowers, art, good food... the things that bring us joy shouldn't only be available to people on higher incomes, so we're always glad to stock up our Community Pantry with little extras. Bread and roses, quite literally. Thank you Clare for making this possible.

It's Thank You Thursday, the time of the week when we celebrate all the many ways in which people give to GL11 Community Hub and our local area. Today we're saying thanks to Clare who comes in every week with beautiful freshly cut flowers that we make available to people using our Community Pantry.

My car needs some extensive (and expensive) work, so I’m holed up at my favourite cafe table in Stroud drinking tea I can no longer afford.

My friend has gifted me this historic postcard of the hut in Edward Jenner’s garden where he offered free vaccination (the “Temple of Vaccinia” as he knew it), a building that I know very well and, as I’ve argued before, one of the most radical buildings in the history of public health.

Please take a moment to appreciate this lovely flower stall from my walk at the weekend.

The Reform party conference has been told that Covid vaccines are the probable cause of cancer for the King and the Princess of Wales The party chose to platform Dr Aseem Malhotra, a prominent ally of RFK Jr in their dangerous maverick campaigns against vaccines www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/202...

“Having a smallpox vaccine scar is like walking around with the moon landing and the Sistine Chapel on your upper arm.” — @angus.bsky.social, once on Twitter.

i cannot overstate how extraordinary it is for federal civil servants to do this

Beheadings! Bloodletting! Bodysnatching! @tealcartoons.bsky.social & I have a new kids' book out on Oct 14. DEAD ENDS is about medicine's biggest failures, and how failure often leads to scientific breakthroughs. You can preorder SIGNED copies from @mysteriousbookshop.com: shorturl.at/Ji1UEr

Engaged in some self-care after a pretty full on couple of days (Clear Head IPA since it’s a school night)

🌈✨ Celebrate Trans Visibility at Pride Gloucestershire! ✨🌈 📅 Date: 13th September 2025 📍 Location: Gloucester Cathedral – March kicks off at 11:15 am. Gloucester Park from 12 Noon. 🟣 Trans‑cendence Terrace. 🚻 Changing Rooms & Guidance 👣 Join the March! 🏳️‍🌈 Get a Supporter Wristband

ICYMI: From January 2026, a free #chickenpox vaccination programme will protect around half a million children each year. Eligible children will get an #MMRV vaccine to protect against #measles, #mumps, #rubella and chickenpox. Read the full story here: https://bit.ly/4lZ14Bp

Really looking forward to this event at Bristol Museum. www.bristolmuseums.org.uk/whats-on/bri...

For what it's worth, I'd be quite happy if asylum seekers moved into my road.

Really pleased to announce Meeting the Moment on 26 Nov - a one day event for culture leaders about speaking up in troubled times www.watershed.co.uk/news/standin...

The Museum of Broken Dreams opens today in Parliament. An exhibition of community-led projects that could have transformed Britain. The Museum reveals the depth of wasted potential in our country & makes the case for more #CommunityPower. View the exhibition: arcg.is/0K9SvG1

✨ New Book - Oct 22nd ✨ Delighted to share with you the cover for my new book, ‘Creatures of Darkness’. Wildlife fans, come join me on the dark side as I introduce you to a wonderful and weird cast of 100 creatures that all depend on darkness 🌌 Available for pre order in all local shops

There's so much bad news in the world. So, here's some wrapping paper designed by Japanese artist Ippei Tsujio that turns everything into bread. A delightful (delicious?) distraction. More info: spoon-tamago.com/bread-wrappi...