Three statements of local ambition stand in Halifax, West Yorkshire: the Town Hall, the Borough Market and the Piece Hall. Such monuments of civic pride still bear the names of farsighted local leaders from past generations. 🧵 1/13

Really nice afternoon playing at Saltaire festival. More of that #Bradford2025, thriving multicultural communities can't exist kind of vibe...😉

Very happy to hear Giles Peterson play this gorgeous track from the new album of Leeds band Ancient Infinity Orchestra. Have a listen. It is very beautiful. ancientinfinityorchestra.bandcamp.com/album/its-al...

Some warm and welcoming messages for Mr Trump at today’s Stop Trump protest in London.

No paywall - because everything is better without paywalls* *although I also need a paywall to keep going. But you know what I mean. open.substack.com/pub/nedboult...

We are opening our eco-renovated home today as part of Oxford Open Doors. @oxfordprestrust.bsky.social If you want to chat insulation, heat pumps, PV etc please join us. www.oxfordpreservation.org.uk/energy-savin...

I just spent a week in Budapest where Orban's family have bought up my favourite,slightly run down architectural gems (the Parisi, the Gelert etc) to turn them into 5 star hotels I'll never be able to afford. Here,grand hotels are bought and dragged further down. Not sure which is worse. Great piece

Entertaining Q&A and short performance between Boff and Colin Latter (Flux of Pink Indians) at the opening of his new exhibition in Otley. Enjoyable discussion of the connections between art schools and anarcho punk, which somehow concluded that Bloomsbury was just a posh version of Crass.

"My school saves thousands of pounds every year from those solar panels." The TUC directly takes on Reform, a party funded by the fossil fuel Industry. Posted on IG by tradesunioncongress

British NIMBYism is truly a sight to behold. “We are rejecting this solar farm, because one time I saw an electric vehicle on fire, which reminded me that decades ago a coal mining disaster killed lots of children”.

"If you want to understand what England will look like with a Reform government, just come to our town. Racists and thugs are acting with impunity, intimidating local residents and people of colour, who are living in fear." www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Burning ban on deep peat comes into force at the end of the month. Piece by Helena Horton. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

Oh good. The early morning light shows have started.

Really glad @katiewhitemp.bsky.social is now climate minister. When Katie was standing to be our local MP my take-away from our first conversation was her genuine, heart-felt and head-driven commitment to protecting & improving the environment & climate. www.wharfedaleobserver.co.uk/news/2544811...

Well this guy's never going to run a newspaper...

In Bradford for BBC Proms, African Symphony with Angelique Kidjo. Amazing. You can listen on Radio 3. #Bradford2025

Overheard conversation in the checkin queue. "Lucky with the weather in Budapest weren't we. Nice and warm for the time of year. Not much sign of global warming in Manchester. We must be further from the ozone layer." Okaaaay. More work to do on public engagement.

Hurray I'm done teaching and am on Budapest mooch about duty.

Tram. Maybe one day we'll have them again in Leeds.

Centre for Cities think tank highlights potential damage to local economies in provincial UK towns and cites

Good morning Budapest! It's been too long. Arrived at the Cypher Cost Action training school after a nice commute over the Danube.

Courtesy of a workshop I did at lunch time I found myself on stage playing percussion improv on a Sun Ra tune with the marvellous Ancient Infinity Orchestra. Hope we didn't ruin it. They formed on my old street in Leeds and have grown into a brilliant band and warm and generous people. Check em out.

Amazing story: one of the organisers of the group putting Union Flags up around Manchester previously did time for being part of a people smuggling gang. manchestermill.co.uk/manchester-f...

I am once again saying that clean energy is inherently cheap, and the reason we don't benefit from that is because the energy market doesn't let us. Great stuff here from my colleague @chrisgalpin.bsky.social www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Has the Modern Industrial Strategy delivered on Industrial Decarbonisation? Imogen Rattle and Peter Taylor examine the positive changes, though questions remain on delivery timelines, funding, and whether it will be sufficient to decarbonise the sector. ukerc.ac.uk/news/foundat...

One of those gorgeous, almost autumn mornings.

BREAKING: UK markets regulators have opened an investigation into Drax over the sustainability of its sourcing of wood for biomass pellets from 2022-24 This is potentially a much more serious investigation than ones conducted previously by MPs or by the energy regulator www.ft.com/content/368c...

Well we went to see Wedding Present the Musical and im not quite sure what just happened. As an 80s leeds student and Wedding Present fan I feel quite speechless and slightly traumatised. Let's just say it was a unique experience... and there may be a reason I go to more gigs than musicals!

Finalising my lectures for the CPYHER Cost action training school in Budapest next wk (pruning because I always write too much). Covering mechanism generation, ML in model development, uncertainty tracking & decomposition, & model reduction. Looking forward to it. chemkinlab.elte.hu/COST_Trainin...

Day 1 of my ID Buzz camper conversion. Exciting times.

Chicago. My favourite US city.

Well worth the wait. Carnival was born from rebellion. Stunning as always.

Waiting for the carnival parade. #Chapeltowncarnival

An excellent variety of flags up in Leeds. No not those ones. Its Chapeltown carnival weekend. Great atmosphere so far.

This is not good news for wildlife. Please try to save as much water as possible. www.bbc.com/news/article...

The results are indeed damning. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

Wait a minute, Gedge is not a Leeds maths graduate, as I thought, but a dropout? More rock and roll I suppose. Looking forward to seeing this next week. Could go either way I think! www.theguardian.com/stage/2025/a...

Cosmos. Taken a while because grown from seed but coming into their own now.

Now got to an interesting piece by Simon Armitage claiming that Ilkley Moor has more stone carved graffiti than almost anywhere in the Western world. A new carving has appeared recently but I couldn't possibly tell you how...

I'm reading through the broadsheet material that we took away from the exhibition (brill idea). I've never come across the idea of a Commonplace book before. Sounds great. A personal collection of useful or interesting information. Often transcribed. Maybe something we wouldn't give time to nowadays

Blackpool, July 1962, photo by Henri Cartier-Bresson.

Also on the textile theme, enjoyed a brilliant "site responsive" installation at Salts Mill today by American artist Anne Hamilton. We Will Sing, combines visual and sound installations using some of the old features of the mill itself. The loud speakers are from the weavers shed. I think...

Go and hear my friend Lisa talk about her new book "Threads of Labour" as part of Halifax Town Festival. If you can't you can buy the book. I'm half way through and it's a fascinating account of community action post deindustrialisation.

This sounds achingly familiar: not Gods but Mammon “Troy – a story of economic brilliance shadowed by lasting ecological cost. It is not merely a tale of innovation & success, but a cautionary one about overreach, exhaustion & the hidden costs of unchecked growth” theconversation.com/troys-fall-w...

Surely worth a few quid to help keep this important work in Yorkshire. hepworthwakefield.org/support/make...

Birkrigg Common looking across Morecambe Bay. One of the few remaining common grazing lands I should imagine. Might have said this before, but the sun always shines on Morecambe Bay. Lovely.

Day 2 nature recovery report. Whitbarrow in the South Lakes. Covered in wild flowers and wind swept trees. Beautiful and quiet. Blowing a gale of course.

Nature's recovery is amazing isn't it. St. Aidens is an old open cast colliery south of Leeds turned RSPB nature reserve. I just love it there. Huge range of wild flowers, birds, dragon flies seen this morning.

What an article. I take my hat off to you, Maxim Kelly! Factual and brilliant! #speirgorm

This is excellent. Yes, it will still need to draw from the grid, especially in winter. But having planned and integrated EV charging and local batteries, operating in combination as demand flexibility to prevent power use spikes, is the way forward to integrate local renewables.