If anyone knows of any part time writers jobs, preferably in transport or railawys, going which would be suitable for a Chronically long-hauler with variable energy levels and a mushy brain, let me know please.

I think one of the most frustrating things for many neurodivergent people is that we cannot understand why people don’t give a fuck about things that could make the world a better and kinder place - that’s what happens when your emotional circuitry doesn’t work “effectively”

Rather humbling to be accosted - is that the right word? - by over-excited fans if my YouTube and books this weekend. Never been asked for an autograph before. Eeep!

Burns Night Service. Broken organ and the replacement gizmo was playing a fifth too high! My poor vocal chords. Alas no piper nor uniformed orgs but in addition to Burns we enjoyed some words from William McGonagall as well.

Activate cloaking field!

The psalms at Mattins were 27, 63, and 150, and after a night and morning of distressing and angering news, they were very much what I needed. ⚓️

A fun if long and chilly day in Bury playing Brunel Vs @andysdrawings.co.uk as Bramwell Brontë. More tomorrow.

I got some more wagons. I don't have a problem. What I have is a solution.

Burns night. Joy of Joys. The organ blower has conked out - it's 86 years old and lives in a damp cellar, so amazing it's kept going so long. Friendly Bagpiper who I'd booked to play has a chest infection. And the kids organisations can't confirm any of them will turn up. Ministry life, such fun

This is delightful. Not heard of Alexander Därr before. It came up on Facebook Reels. So lovely.

While January is about 3 months long, it will soon be LGBTQ+ history month, and if you'd like a speaker for a work or community event, I can help! I specialise in bringing 'history' into the everyday culture, living memory and filling in the gaps of Queer history. emilygarside.com

For your midweek delectation: youtu.be/Nk3E3-mOr9U

Introduce yourself with five gigs you've been to: Muse Offspring Idlewild LinkinPark Chesney Hawks

New Video Klaxon! I wonder what it might be on?🤔

"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly." —MLK Jr.

Martin Luther King Jr. devoted his life to fighting for justice and equality. Today, as divisions in our world deepen, his vision is not just inspiring, it is urgent. The work he began continues, and it is up to all of us to carry it forward.

Gut wrenching news coming out of Spain - the death toll has climbed even while I've been reading all I can on it. Absolutely no clarity as to what's happened yet, so ignore anyone saying otherwise.

Is having a distinctly Lefebure-Wely morning. Deeply unfashionable I know, and often considered 'fair ground' music, it has a period charm (Second Empire) to it. When he's fun he's fun but when he's trying to be serious, he takes it too far and it's just dull. Still it's charming and oh so French. 🇫🇷

Thanks to @garethdennis.uk for both radicalising me on the Treasury, as well as the line about being 2 years old when the first mass transit proposal was made. It is true of me too, but it was a line I borrowed from him

Recording Audio for next week's video, ably and vocally, assisted by Ginger T Cat. Should he be the co-host?

Not usually a fan of Wolmar, I've been reading his history of BR. Time and time again its a case of history repeating itself. Seeing public transport not as something for the public good, but purely - thanks to the Treasury - in economic terms: money in vs money out. Govt viewing transport not as a

New screenshots of Project Century engines and rolling stock. Still very WIP but it's coming along

How delightful! Well restored, a bit Hollywood but charming.

Nice to see this returned to Store Street/London Road/Piccadilly. George Watson Buck was a Quaker. His assistant was Gustav Theodore Stieler, a Swede who designed most of the bridges; the hydraulic lifts at Piccadilly; and was also the "soul mate" of Charles Beyer of Beyer Peacock.

We're on! Come & see the Railway Work, Life & Death project's contribution to the Tracks through Time exhibition at #Crewe station today. Part of the #Railway200 Inspiration exhibition train stop. We've researched staff stories from the area, working with New Vic Borderlines.

Politicians: don't use AI to make your maps.

The original Manchester & Birmingham Railway was nearly strangled at birth by vested interest of the canal and rival railway companies. In fact it only got as far as Crewe! So this is bang on the money historically speaking.

When I was a freelance BBC science presenter, I wrote in support of Professor Dorothy Bishop and was then told I should not be critical of the Royal Society. Now I’ve resigned, so I can say I think @profrachelgan.bsky.social is making an important point here.

Today's announcement is the opposite of what it says it is. It's the formal cancellation of the high speed line across the Pennines. What's left - additional TRU scope - is a good idea but should be delivered as a business as usual enhancement in 2027, not some far off fanfaron.

Oh no! The Railway Hobbit has been left unsupervised near a recording booth again. youtu.be/8fhYOJvBpX8

von Däniken relied on the JAQ (just asking questions) method to promote racist ideas through pseudoarchaeological narratives. These ideas permeated all of his books, were broadcast to and normalized through enormous audiences over decades, and have even found homes in far-right places.

Further Mari Lwyd action this morning with their appearance at the Gellionnen Chapel Hen Galan (Old New Year) Service, as the Gwaun Valley residents resisted the calendar change of 1752 from Julien to Gregorian. Happy New Year again..!

If we claim to be Christian, we must constantly ask ourselves - Am I worshipping Jesus or Herod? Is my ultimate loyalty to the kingdom of God or to the empires of this world?

A very happy sound in my happy place!

"There is indeed no better medium for moral teaching than the good fairy-story (by which I mean a real deep-rooted tale, told as a tale, and not a thinly disguised moral allegory)." - Tolkien (Sir Gawain and the Green Knight)

"Quakers report being arrested during peaceful witness, silenced in court, and deterred from giving ministry or exploring moral questions during worship. These experiences undermine democratic participation and Quakers’ ability to practice their faith freely." www.quaker.org.uk/news-and-eve...

A recent acquisition to my social history collection. It looks innocuous enough. A late C19th cocoa tin. Thanks to the Temperance movment, cocoa became a popular breakfast drink - as in France today drunk from a bowl or basin. And cocoa was really popular amongst railway workers. So whats different?

Jesus rode a donkey into Jerusalem and proclaimed peace. Christian nationalists brought riot gear and proclaimed power. These are not the same Gospels.

#OTD 7 January 1792, Mary Wollstonecraft's Vindication of the Rights of Women was published. This text was hugely influential and is regarded as one of the earliest works of feminist philosophy. #WomensHistory #GenderHist

@profaliceroberts.bsky.social !! I know you said there was a spectacular Iron Age fund, but you could have warned us!!! @theduncanmackay.bsky.social and me are going to be fit for nowt today!! 🤣🤣🤣🤣 www.theguardian.com/science/2026...

“They shall see who have never been told of him, and they shall understand who have never heard of him.” Epiphany always seems to me one of the strangest and most mystical of all Christian festivals, and I’m sad to leave it behind for another year

The Railway Hobbit has the flu and a sprained right shoulder. Despite this, he has made peer review corrections to an academic paper on railway uniform. And negotiated a book contract. He shouldn't have. As he is ill. Please stop him trying to work by sending pictures of trains or kittens.

Fun with Lego trains. Well, until the batteries went flat! Orient Express, Crocodile, and a wee English Electric shunter like I used to drive at MOSI.

Epiphany at Hyde Chapel. We answered Joan Osbourne's 1995 question "what if God was one of us?" In the affirmative. God absolutely was, and, is one of us. That is the Eureka! Epiphany moment which is experienced not onc, but countless times. The realisation of Immanuel. God with us.

Why the heck has my ear worm all morning been the Opening Ode?

Why has Trump attacked Venezuela? Oil have to have a think about that..