Four beautiful pieces of 7th century gold & garnet jewellery, found in #NorthYorkshire and #Derbyshire, now in Weston Park Museum, #Sheffield. The idea that the age was 'dark', is bemusing - apart from in the sense that it isn't illuminated by many written sources. #FindsFriday #AngloSaxon 📷 mine

St. George doing The Dragon a spot of no good, in the Chapel (15th century) at Farleigh Hungerford Castle, #Somerset. The pink shade is due to misguided conservation attempts to bring up the red pigments from the background layer. #StGeorgesDay #Castles 📷 my own, from 2019

...and the view from the eastern entrance at #Eddisbury, 180 degrees from the view in the quoted post. Even on a murky day, the view is extensive. (The immediate drop beyond the entrance is much steeper than this makes it look.) #HillfortsWednesdsay #Cheshire 📷 my own

St. Sepulchre Without Newgate, City of #London. 15th century, with later alterations. #TowerTueusday #ChurchCrawling 📷 my own, 2017

Good morning from the River Weaver, near #Northwich. #Rivers #Cheshire

Pebble mosaic of 'King Canute', at #Knutsford. Local tradition is that the place is named for him, though that only goes back the the C17; it could be from the Old English 'cnottan-ford', 'ford at a hillock'. #MosaicMonday #Cheshire 📷 Mine, placename info from Watts. Mosaic info in alt text.

@mike-critchley.bsky.social I can confirm The Book Shop has it - looks great! I look forward to reading it. Congratulations again.

Shrine to the goddess #Minerva, Edgar's Field, #Chester. Second century (with modern surround), carved on a quarry wall; the only one to survive in situ in Britain. You can find it in Handbridge, just across the Old Dee Bridge from the city centre. #RomanSiteSaturday #Cheshire #RomanBritain 📷 mine

P.S. I should mention, given recent events, that Manchester Museum acquired it at auction.

Iron Age torc made from twisted gold, unearthed by ploughing at Cliviger, #Burnley in 1802. The area isn't a hot spot for prehistoric finds, so it is quite something. Manchester Museum acquired it in 1960. 📷 mine, from the recent 'Treasure...' exhibition in Liverpool. #FindsFriday #Lancashire

A simple, attractive side-door at the church at Kloster Andechs, #Bavaria. The Heilige Berg was pleasantly quiet last week, but in the summer months it attracts large crowds that make contemplation - of eternity or doors - near impossible. #AdoorableThursday #Bayern #ChurchCrawling 📷 mine

The most egalitarian of pitches, on the edge of #StHelens town centre. #WallsOnWednesday #Football #Lancashire 📷 mine, 2024

The church at Kloster Andrechs, Bavaria, yesterday. 15th century on a hilltop site (Heilige Berg) with a much longer history, and famous for its collection of relics (and brewery 🙂). #ChurchCrawling #Bayern 📷 mine

The last in the series of Triskele Heritage online talks will be in 3 weeks - a look at The Surprising Secrets of Ancient Corridors... More info & bookings: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-surpri...

Is this pointing, or inviting the viewer to erm, well...? #Castles With thanks to @moleymole.bsky.social, who knows a thing or two about soil.

Looking out from the arena into one of the two entrances in the excavated part of #Chester #amphitheatre. Doorways prompt thoughts of those who passed through before like few other features. #AdoorableThursday #RomanFortThursday #Cheshire 📷 mine

Castercliff hillfort, #Lancashire. It is just a few hundred yards from the eastern outskirts of Nelson, & quite prominent, w. three concentric ramparts. #HillfortsWednesday Image via Google maps.

The Priory Tower, at Much Wenlock. Thirteenth century, probably part of an entrance gateway to the monastic precinct (though this is sometimes debated). GII Listed. #TowerTuesday #Shropshire 📷 My own, 2022.

'Christ from the Bewcastle Cross', from the Millennium window at St. Cuthbert's Church, Bewcastle; designed in homage to the magnificent 7th/8th century decorated cross in the churchyard. A Happy Easter, to all who celebrate. #StainedGlassSunday #Easter #ChurchCrawling 📷 My own

Hello, we're the Durotriges Project 👋 If you're here for archaeology and updates on Iron Age and Roman Dorset / Britain, we hope you'll find something of interest Follow #Durotriges26 for this year's dig ⚠️ warning: may contain random references to #DoctorWho and #HypocaustGate

The #amphitheatre at #Cirencester, (Corinium Dobunnorum). Built in the 2nd century on the site of a quarry, estimated to have held up to 8,000 people. Even after 1,500+ years of erosion (since it was abandoned), the earthworks are monumental. #RomanSiteSaturday 📷 My own

I recall taking bandmates into the National Gallery especially to see this, when at a loose end (and hungover) the morning after gigs in Soho. They were thrilled, as you would expect.

The halfway point on Offa's Dyke Path #NationalTrail, near Newcastle on Clun, #Shropshire. The world feels a long way away, there. #FingerpostFriday #OffasDyke 📷 My own

This sundry #StHelens house might not look much, but the details tell stories spanning several lifetimes: original detail on the lintels; Second World War hydrant #GhostSign, later rendered over; main window reduced in size; and preparation for re-rendering. #AdoorableThursday #Lancashire 📷 My own

Mam Tor, viewed from the south east in 1975. Signs of occupation are visible, terraced into the slope away from the prevailing westerly. The A625 is just out shot at the bottom right - it closed four years later. #HillfortsWednesday #Derbyshire 📷 Cambridge Air Photos CUCAP BWG84

Step inside two of Chester’s historic towers this weekend 🏰 🗓 Saturday 4 April King Charles’ Tower | 11:00–13:00 Bonewaldesthorne’s Tower | 11:15–13:15 🗓 Sunday 5 April King Charles’ Tower | 11:00–15:00 Bonewaldesthorne’s Tower | 11:15–15:15 Come along and discover more!

Castell Coch - a corking monument to Victorian wealth, on a genuinely historic site. (And it is good to see @btfstills.bsky.social joining in #TowerTuesday.) #Castles

The Great Tower, #Ludlow Castle, viewed across the outer bailey through the gatehouse. The tower was originally a gatehouse itself, part of an enclosure castle; it was enlarged & later rebuilt, & the outer bailey added. 📷 My own #TowerTuesday #Shropshire #Castles

Or even England! That is ace.

The Great Tower at #WarkworthCastle, atop its substantial motte - this is the face it shows the town, stretching down the hill behind the camera. The tower is late C14, of unusual and fascinating design, substantially complete; the motte is earlier, naturally. #MotteMonday #Castles 📷 My own, 2024

An unusual view of the elegant spire at St. Elphin's, #Warrington: at 281 feet, one of the tallest in an English parish church. Mediaeval origins, C19 restoration. The tower to the right is at St. Mary's, formerly Benedictine, now a 'shrine'. #SteepleSaturday #Lancashire #ChurchCrawling 📷 My own

The road into the fort at #Maryport (Alavna), passing through the vicus, viewed from the north in 1949. The artillery drill hall (now home to Senhouse Roman Museum) is top right, above the old gasworks at the bottom of the cliff. #RomanRoadsFriday #Cumberland 📷 Cambridge Air Photos CUCAP DL25

Getting into the decorated tombstone spirit, this painted replica is to Flavinus, a standard bearer in a Roman cavalry unit. This is in the site museum at #Corbridge Roman Town (the original is in #Hexham Abbey). #RomanFortThursday #RomanBritain #Northumberland 📷 My own, 2024

If you're going to tap a sign, it might as well be a jolly old Ministry of Works sign. (This particular example is at #Lindisfarne Priory.) #HolyIsland #WallsOnWednesday #Northumberland 📷 My own, 2024

What @marcmorris.bsky.social said. (And thanks to him for mentioning that I brought the point up - very civil indeed. 👍) #Hastings960

Howden Minster's 15th century tower, looming over Vicar Lane. #TowerTuesday #Yorkshire 📷 My own, 2024

A mural in the former 'The Way We Were' museum at #WiganPier, snapped on a study tour in 2019. The museum opened in '86 &I visited on a school trip the year after. I recall well the terrifying Victorian school experience. 😐 Closed in '07, sadly. Redevelopment ongoing. #MuseumMonday #Lancashire

Given the debate prompted by recent bold assertions that King Harold sailed to/from York in 1066, this is a good time to mention that I will again be walking from #York to Battle this Oct., for the 960th anniv. of the Battle of Hastings (as I did for 950th). Details in due course. #Hastings960

I finally made it to 'Treasure: History Unearthed' @ Museum of #Liverpool. There are many highlights, but the Mold Gold Cape is something else - a genuine Bronze Age wonder. Wow. Congratulations & thank you to @voakden.bsky.social & colleagues for 1st class exhibition ('til 28 March - go!). #Museums

Did King Harold Really Sail to the Battle of Hastings? I'm not convinced... www.marcmorris.org.uk/2026/03/did-...

The historic #RiverMersey crossing point at Fiddler's Ferry, on the #Lancashire bank, looking downstream. Norton Priory, on the #Cheshire bank, once generated a substantial income from controlling the crossing. It remains an atmospheric spot (& I fully recommend the pub). #SkySunday 📷 My own, 2021

Funny how easy it is to construct theories when sources are readily available and publicly accessible, isn't it?

I've just realised where I've heard of Prof. Licence before. Dear me. There are lots of bold assertions in the full UEA release, many of which don't flow from a new interpretation as to whether the fleet disbanded or went to London. Let's wait for the full paper. www.uea.ac.uk/about/news/a...

Prof. Licence is plainly trying to undermine my #Hastings960 commemoration walk.* I may have to hire a pedalo. *More on that soon. www.theguardian.com/culture/2026...

The Roman Road between #Doncaster & #Lincoln (Margary 28a, angling top left to mid right), crossing the River Trent at Littleborough (Segelocum). The nearest road crossings are now 4 miles downstream at #Gainsborough and 5 miles upstream at #Dunham. #RomanRoadsFriday #RomanBritain 📷 Google

The dastardly section of the #RiverRibble that eroded away the south east corner of the fort at #Ribchester (Bremetennacum). Harrumph. #RomanFortThursday #Lancashire 📷 My own, 2015.

Good morning from the #RiverWeaver, near #Northwich. #Cheshire

We'll only take one day to beat the bounds of #StHelens Borough - Sunday 14 June. There *will* be good ale, though, and possibly cakes. Further details in due course. #BeatingTheBounds

Earthworks at Uffington Castle, #Oxfordshire. Daughter and sheep for scale. #HillfortsWednesday 📷 My own, 2017.

Most of us walk across layers of history every day without realising it. Not just famous landmarks, but ordinary places. Fields. Streets. What stories do these places hold? Who or what was here before us? The answer is out there, sometimes all it takes is knowing where to look.