Hereford Cathedral for #StainedGlassSunday The subject of the window is the writings of Thomas Traherne (c1637-74) and his association with Herefordshire. www.thomasdenny.co.uk/hereford-cat...

Recommended reading. False history is dangerous.

Saint-Porchaire, Poitiers for #SteepleSaturday It projects into the Rue Gambetta so much that in the nineteenth century there were proposals to demolish it that were thankfully defeated.

St James, Bolam, Northumberland for #SteepleSaturday

St John the Baptist, Edlingham for #FontsFriday

Today in the lane: mega fungi. The larger one was about a yard across. Can anyone identify them please?

'Are you ready, Steve?' 'Uh huh' ...is the best intro to any song of any genre ever. IYKYK...

Today in the lane: West Somerset skies.

Yesterday in the lane...

Yesterday in the lane. A pair of trees.

Today in the lane. #LangleyMarsh #10ParishesFestival

Today in the lane...

Today in the lane...

Oh my. This is SO TOUCHING. Beautiful, poignant and wonderful. This is Britain’s at its best and I want more of it. Not the incessant Faragist cruelty and stupidity. More of this.

Today in the lane: got the timing a bit adrift. Sunny when I left the house, sunny when I got back, persisting down en route. I did eat lots of blackberries though!

Seen at Taunton on my way to work. Sadly I won't be driving one of these...

Misericords in All Saints church, Hereford. Various foliate and flowery characters. (The flower faces either side of the two dragons reminds me of Peter Gabriel in his Genesis days, but I guess that's just me showing my age!)

In the church of All Saints, Hereford, there is this rather splendid fellow. He's in one of the spandrels of the south aisle roof. The roof is probably 16th century, and I would say so is he, going by his hat. He might be apotropaic, to ward off evil, but he's definitely a bit of a surprise!

People with jobs that don't exist any more: Master of the Canons' Bakehouse. (Hereford Cathedral)

Really, really want... Mid 14th century book chest, beautifully carved, with three consecutively numbered locks for extra security. Absolutely gorgeous. (In Hereford Cathedral if anyone wants to get one made....)

In Hereford for the day. This is the island of Crete and the labyrinth of the minotaur as depicted on the Mappa Mundi. Not mentioned in the legend is the enormous compass hole at the centre of the labyrinth...

Today in the lane. Blackberries, elder berries and sloes. Autumn approaches...

There truly is a book for everyone. Currently online at Oxfam there's this beauty 😁

No photo from the lane today but there was a Spitfire flying overhead. (Any photo with my phone camera would have been rubbish!) Lots of sweet blackberries in the hedgerows and some inquisitive cows to speak to. And now it's time to go to work!

Looking down over the top of some vertical basalt columns into the canyon at Stuðlagil #Iceland in April 2023. #Geology #GeologyRocks #BasatlPorn

I'd love to hear this. What an incredible survival. www.theguardian.com/music/2025/a...

Posting this one again because I like it so much. Why? Because, in a nutshell, it's an oak tree.

Today in the lane: oak galls and acorns.

@castlestudies.bsky.social Hi I'd like to join the CSG. I've filled in the form online but there seems to be no way to send the fee. I've emailed the membership secretary but received no reply. Can you help please?

Was just at the British Library on my lunchbreak filming a thing about a murder and got distracted, as usual, this time by The Flintshire Observer having some brilliant end-of-column jokes and puns under all the 1885 cholera and massacre and political chat. For example:

and memory's a winding path shining in the rain to places where we parted and we shall not meet again - Oysterband, One Green Hill It saddens me beyond measure that I shall never hear them live again. Oysterband 1978 - 2025 youtu.be/riwZkKBRNoc?...

Today in the lane. Pink sky, green field, multicoloured cows.

Experiencing long barrows in the present and in the past. My introduction to long barrows was visiting West Kennet one Midsummer Solstice, where the passage and chambers were full of flowers. This was some 45 years ago now, but the experience has shaped how I think about long barrows ever since.

A medieval joke There aren't many jokes that translate well into the modern day, but there is one ... King Louis IX set out on campaign and en-route he stopped at a tavern where he ordered some chicken. He enjoyed his meal and his steward went to pay the landlord...

Behind this sign was a paddock with chickens, guinea fowl and peacocks, but it's probably a good metaphor for life.

I have been trying to find this book for such a long time... Published in 1923, it once belonged to Percy William Pegge, whose library label is inside the front cover. Thanks to the internet I bought this copy from a bookshop in San Francisco, so it's crossed the Atlantic at least twice in its life.

St Andrews, Bolam, Northumberland for #SteepleSaturday

Would have bought this but it was two deer. (Sorry.)

Today I start my research trip sailing down the River Seine from Paris to Honfleur (via a few stops) in a reconstruction of the Klåstad cargo ship built in 998. It’s the penultimate stage in the ship’s journey from Rome to London throughout the summer. I’ll post updates as we go #Saga25 #MedievalSky

Belsay Castle has been owned almost continuously by the Middleton family since it was built in the mid fourteenth century. Their emblem is a Wild Man, and it is he who stars in the introductory display projected onto the kitchen wall. It's very well done. I Am The Wild Man.

I love the details on the 13th-century oak door to St Peter's Church, Cound. You can't help but wonder who has crossed the threshold over the centuries. What did this place mean to them? It is so special to be able to follow in their footsteps ☀️ #churchcrawling #history #shropshire

Today in the lane. Slowly exploring the routes out of Wivey. These lanes are part holloway, part built (but who by, and when?) The top of Maundown Hill is a bit far for my regular walk so I'll have a go when I've got a bit more time.

Architect: We're renaming the project. It's now called Albert Mansions. Builder: Bugger. #AdoorableThursday

Was the Battle of Wakefield a battle at all, or was it a targeted ambush followed by an assassination? www.medievalists.net/2025/07/wars...

HST at Exeter St Davids this morning. Privileged to have worked these as a Guard (2+8 version) and a Driver (2+4 version). They've been called the train that saved Britain's railways, and I'd agree with that.

Today in the lane. Although I walked a different route today, climbed Jews Lane out of Wivey then walked along Greenway Lane. The cows were bothered by flies, so many of them!

First blackberries of the year eaten straight from this bramble, and they were delicious. To everything there is a season, and the season for feasting on blackberries has begun.

Just in time for #StainedGlassSunday St Andrew's, Bolam, Northumberland. Within the 14th century vesica in the south chapel has this stained glass by L.C.Evetts. In May 1942 a German Dornier 217 was under attack and jettisoned its bombs over Bolam. Cont'd...

Today in the lane. A right load of bullocks.

It's day three and still they suspect nothing.