It's is terrific to have a major international event in the parish, so to speak, but I'm especially chuffed to discover that the day two route seems to include a short length of our #StHelens #BeatingTheBounds route, in Billinge. Shucks. www.letour.fr/en/the-race/...

English Bridge and the United Reformed Church, #Shrewsbury. The bridge is the historic eastern route into and from the city, with the Benedictine Monastery (of #Cadfael fame, now Shrewsbury Abbey) a few hundred yards down the road to the right. #SteepleSaturday #RiverSevern #Shropshire 📷 My own

This 1891 photo (via #NorthwichGuardian) shows The Bee-Hive as new in 1891. Note how much lower the street level was then than now (see quoted post pic): several layers of #archaeology have been created by successive repairs to the road over the intervening 135 years. #ThenAndNow #LostPubs #Cheshire

The former Bee-Hive, on #Northwich High Street. 'The Waterloo' was opened here in 1816, but fell victim to salt mining subsidence (a common problem locally) and was demolished in 1891. This handsome replacement was built soon after, but closed in 2013. #PubFrontFriday #LostPubs #Cheshire 📷 my own

In the run-up to 1914, negotiations about the size of the potential British deployment to France in the event of war led a French rep. to request 'a single soldier - and we shall take good care that he is killed'. I paraphrase (& poss. apocryphal), but the point stands.

The view south west from inside Great Chesters fort on #HadriansWall, under the big #Northumberland sky. The remains of walls & sundry structures nose through the turf, hinting at what lies beneath. Pic my own from late in the other-worldly Summer of 2020. #RomanFortThursday #RomanBritain

Just 2 weeks to go until the next Triskele Heritage online talk: The Mediaeval Traveller - a journey into life on the road & the observations of mediaeval wayfarers. Takes place at 7pmGMT on Wed 28 Jan. Booking & more info, here: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-mediae... 📸: British Library

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

The b&w pic shows Helsby Hillfort (top left) in 1938. It is the promontory type, with its n & w protected by steep cliffs & the other sides by ramparts that once stood to 2.5m. It commands extensive views north over the Mersey & beyond, as shown on the aerial view. #HillfortsWednesday #Cheshire

The Abbey Church of St. Mary, #Tewkesbury, formerly a Benedictine Abbey church. The fine crossing tower is 12th century, and one the best surviving examples. It used to have a wooden spire, but it blew down. #TowerTuesday #Gloucestershire #ChurchCrawling 📷 my own, from 2019

The crest of my home town #StHelens in mosaic form in our German partnerstadt #Stuttgart. We @sthelenstownafc.bsky.social are hosting our partner club TSV Uhlbach this June, the third in our series of exchange visits established in 2019. International friendship is a wonderful thing. #MosaicMonday

Even @btfstills.bsky.social knows it is Monday morning. 🫣

Memorial window to the South #Lancashire Regiment in the Second World War, #Warrington Parish Church (St. Elphin's). They are by noted artist Hugh Easton, who contributed works to Westminster Abbey, among many others. #StainedGlassSunday #WarMemorials #SWW Historic England Archive HE0597_096

The steeple of the Church of St. John Divine, #Preston, photobombing my innocent snapshot of The Old Bull hotel, as if to remind me that it is 'Church Street', after all. This is the third church building on that site since the pub was built in the 18th century. #SteepleSaturday #Lancashire

My go-to classic comedy florist in #Ulverston, 'Floral & Hardy'. The town rightly celebrates being Stan Laurel's birthplace, and maintains a strong sense of its historic place in #Lancashire Beyond the Sands. It is characterful, and well worth a visit. #LaurelAndHardy #ShopFrontFriday 📷 my own

Surviving foundations for the granaries at #RIbchester Roman Fort, #Lancashire. The central stones supported a raised floor intended to help keep the grain dry. There is evidence that the buildings were burned when the Romans abandoned the fort. #RomanFortThursday #RomanBritain 📷 my own, 2024

It’s worth a 5 minute walk west of the village car park in #Corbridge to see the Roman bridge stones which carried Dere Street over the river Tyne. The stones have been moved from their excavation site to better protect and display then. #HadriansWall #archaeology

Part of the 'golden mile' section of the GWR at #Coalbrookdale (1862-64), so called because of the colossal cost of building an elevated railway on a sloping curve, over a large pool, larger works & around. It is quite a sight. #WallsOnWednesday #IndustrialHeritage #Shropshire 📷 My own

A crew of 'tributary princes' (elsewhere 'kings') rowing King Edgar on the #RiverDee at #Chester in 973, as imaged by a Victorian artist, in the side entrance to the Bull & Stirrup Hotel. Based on C12 accounts, it is fanciful, but Edgar's power was real enough. #TilesOnTuesday #Cheshire 📷 my own

A close look at Castle Hill, Newton-le-Willows. Excavations in the 80s were inconclusive, partly thanks to the construction of the nearby M6 having disturbed the surrounding topsoil. Maybe a Motte, perhaps on an earlier burial mound. Inconclusive, sadly. #MotteMonday #Castles #Lancashire 📷 my own

The scene in the street light, just now. #Cheshire #Snow

The magnificent 9th century #Sandbach Crosses, dominating the market-place. Originally erected somewhere else (but presumably nearby), they were moved there in the C16, broken up in the C17 & reassembled in the C19. #Cheshire #StandingStoneSunday #StoneworkSunday #SaxonSunday 📷 my own

The next online talk will look at life on the road in the mediaeval period. What was it like to travel, who could be found on the road, and what observations did they leave us? I'll be live online at 7pmGMT on Wednesday 28 January. Booking & more info: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-mediae...

St. Oswald's, Winwick, #Lancashire. It stands by the modern A49, a major route since at least the Roman period, just three miles north of the historic crossing of the #RiverMersey at #Warrington. The church featured in the 1648 Battle of Winwick Pass. #SteepleSaturday #ChurchCrawling 📷 my own

Time Team's return has been one of the few pure pleasures in the 2020s. I recall watching the first new ep. whilst away working on a difficult project: my stresses dissolved at first contact with the theme tune alone. Long may it contine. #TimeTeam #Archaeology www.theguardian.com/science/2026...

The 1st century Hawkedon Helmet (plus reconstructed face-guard), for a 'provocator' class of gladiator. It is one of the highlights of the #GladiatorsofBritain exhibition at the Grosvenor Museum in #Chester, open until Jan 25th. Recommended. #RomanBritain #Gladiators 📷 mine

For my first post & first #AdoorableThursday of the year, here's the view from the reconstructed Roman villa at #Wroxeter: it looks out onto what was the forum and across the road to the bath house. You can just see the Wrekin in the distance. All the best for 2026! #RomanBritain #Shropshire 📷 mine

Shucks. I lack lackeys.

I'm proud to have been part of such a good year for the club, along with everyone else - we're nothing without teamwork. We'll have more teamwork next year. All the best! #StHelens #NonLeague

The outer bailey walls and gatehouse at #BeestonCastle, built onto the ramparts of an earlier hillfort. The mediaeval works disrupted the prehistoric, though evidence of the earlier banks and ditches remains. #HillfortsWednesday #Cheshire #Castles 📷 my own

One last chance to win one of my hand-painted Trail related items, coming soon. Not doing anymore, due to lack of interest. Answer to my easy question about Portgate to Heavenfield section of Trail will be pinned to my profile. #hadrianswall #followtheacorn

The remains of #Bridgnorth Castle keep, #Shropshire. It was built in the 12th century & blown up/down by Parliamentarian troops following a three week siege in 1646. It makes one hell of a feature in the town park. #Castles #TowerTuesday 📷my own

Feb 2020: the Museum of the Gorge, #Ironbridge about to be flooded again, whilst still recovering from the previous flood. Seeing it happen in person was a start reminder of the increasing threat water ingress poses to historic buildings. #MuseumMonday #RiverSevern #Flooding #Shropshire 📷 my own

Thank you to @raypurvis.bsky.social for this terrific hand-painted Hadrian's Wall Path National Trail acorn - and for all his volunteer work on the trail. Volunteers make such a difference to it. #HadriansWall #RomanBritain

The Beast of Moreton Corbet: one of several mythical creatures decorating features of the castle, in this case a ground floor corner of the 16th century extension. Well worth a detour from the A49 or A53, close to RAF Shawbury. #Shropshire #StoneworkSunday #Castle 📷 my own

St. Mary's, #Stamford, viewed across the #RiverWelland on an autumnal day. The tower is early 13th century, the spire a little later. St. Mary's is one of of twelve historic churches in the town, which is one of the loveliest in the country. #SteepleSaturday #Lincolnshire #ChurchCrawling 📷 my own

Bloody Christians, banning #Christmas.

Merry Christmas, friends, illustrated with the card used by the 5th Battalion South #Lancashire Regiment 107 years ago. Thankfully, most of us are enjoying the season at peace, though I'm conscious that not everyone is so fortunate. Thinking of them, and hoping for a brighter future.

Welcome news from Historic England re. Winstanley Hall. #Wigan #Lancashire www.placenorthwest.co.uk/historic-eng...

Mediaeval tile pieces relaid together to form a fragment pavement, at #WenlockPriory. It has several areas like this. #TilesOnTuesday #Shropshire #Medieval 📷 my own.

🫣

Whilst researching the movements of a particular infantry brigade during the First World War, I happened upon original letters from Conan-Doyle attempting to persuade a senior officer to send him files off the record. Rabbit hole ahoy! #Archives #FWW

Leon Rosselson's song covered here by Bragg: youtu.be/apWE0puBAPY?...

'The Earth Was Made a Common Treasury for All'. Memorial to Gerrard Winstanley, founder of The Diggers, in #Wigan. A radical reformer who believed in direct action, he founded short-lived 'colonies' in 1649-50. He is celebrated locally w. an annual festival. #MosaicMonday #Lancashire 📷 by me.

'From the rising of the sonne...to the setting of the same.' Excerpt from Psalm 113 on the beautiful early 17th century (note the clothing) painted ceiling at the church of St. Peter & St. Paul, Muchelney, #Somerset. #CeilingsOnSunday #ChurchCrawling 📷 my own

The complete Bayeux Tapestry has finally been released and proves that Bishop Odo had absolutely nothing to do with the illegal Norman invasion of England.

The grand staircase at the Grand Hotel, #Tynemouth. Built in 1872, lots of actors performing up the river in Newcastle stayed there - famously including repeat visitors Laurel and Hardy. That fact lent my visit the air of a pilgrimage. Shucks. #StaircaseSaturday #Northumberland 📷 my own, 2024.

Ryknild Street (18a), just west of Bourton-on-the-Hill, w. Bourton Hill Farm in the centre of the shot. Clear as day from above in 1977. #RomanRoadsFriday #Gloucestershire #RomanBritain Photo via Cambridge Air Photos, CUCAP CCF52

Nobody is going to look at your AI generated images 60 years from now and say “wow!”

The River Croal flowing over the weir at Moses Gate Country Park, earlier today. It was constructed in the C19 to provide water for nearby paper mills, & remains - #industrialheritage awash with the most natural of substances. The river flows into the Irwell at Nob End. #Bolton #Lancashire #Rivers