This is a really good thread looking back on an important and evocative book, just over 90 years on. Good work Rob T. #JBPriestley

The main entrance to #Methodist Church, #Malton, #NorthYorkshire. It is quite the imposing treat, tucked down Saville Street, beneath the old parish church in the market square. GII* listed. #Churches #ChurchCrawling #AdoorableThursday 📷 my own

Backs to front, #StHelens. #WallsOnWednesday #GrimArt

Former winding gear from Bold Colliery, #StHelens, now forming a rather grand bridge features across a stream behind the miners' welfare institute playing fields. Once visible from far afield, the sight of the wheel still evokes strong memories. #CoalMining #IndustrialHeritage 📷 my own

A glorious evening in the South #Lancashire fields to mark 1,000 miles walked for the year, for the 10th consecutive year. It's good for the soul (if not the soles). #Walk1000Miles #Walking

The small 11th or 12 century motte at Newcastle on Clun, on the east bank of the River Clun just west of the village. Sometimes known as 'The Crugyn', it is in poor condition and isn't scheduled. #Shropshire #MotteMonday #Castles 📷 my own, from isolated wandering in the late Covid Summer of 2020.

Wow. #Shropshire

The Goddess Minerva surveying the scene at the corner of High Petergate and Minster Gates, #York - roughly the corner of the Via Pincipalis and Via Praetoria in the Roman fort. #RomanSiteSaturday #RomanBritain 📷 My own

Roman coins from the #RiddlesdenHoard, found in 2014 by a detectorist and now on display in the nearby Cliffe Castle Museum, #Keighley. There hoard consists of 110 coins from 78-235. They are believed to be part of a larger hoard found in the C18 and later lost. #FindsFriday #RomanBritain #Yorkshire

Mural in the museum at #Bewcastle, just north of Hadrian's Wall, showing the many phases of human activity there: from Roman (site of a six-sided fort!), through Anglian, Norman to modern (note the RAF on the horizon). It is a remote, captivating spot. #RomanFortThursday #Cumberland 📷 My own

Part of the town wall at Isurium Brigantum, #NorthYorkshire. It was once a large defended settlement, at the highest navigable point on the River Ure. Modern #Aldborough fits comfortably inside the walls. The nearby A1(M) feels far distant. #WallsOnWednesday #RomanSiteSaturday #RomanBritain 📷 My own

The #Manchester Word Square: a piece of Roman pottery with a Latin inscription that is part puzzle and potential Christian symbol. (See the Alt text for more.) Made circa 180, found in the city centre in 1978, now on display in Manchester Museum. #RomanBritain #MuseumMonday #Lancashire 📷 My own.

The tower and spire at the GII* church of St. Peter and St. Paul, #Ormskirk (looming rather like Hale and Pace as The Management). It is one of only three churches in the country to have both features, and the only one to have them both at the same end. #SteepleSaturday #Lancashire

The 'Roman Ridge' (RR28b) plainly visible in a field NE of Aberford, in a 1969 aerial & a modern satellite view. The old road is a constant in a changing landscape, now dominated by the A1(M) & A64. #RomanRoadsFriday #Yorkshire #RomanBritain

The entrance to the presbytery garden at St. James church (RC), Orrell. Rather a cracker, I think. #AdoorableThursday #Thursgate #Lancashire 📷 by me.

It is with heavy heart (and, unfortunately, deep affection) that I must reshare a snippet from the 1980s masterpiece “Yes, Prime Minister”, in relation to Russia’s drone attack on a NATO ally.

Detail from the #JervaulxAbbey Road screen, made circa 1506 by the Ripon School of Carvers. It was moved to St. Andrews at Aysgarth after the Abbot of Jervaulx was executed for taking part in the Pilgrimage of Grace. It is rather a beautiful survivor. #Woodensday #ChurchCrawling 📷 My own

✨ FREE tours of #Chester this weekend! Discover Chester's incredible 2000-year story with a free taster of The Chester Tour! Don't miss your chance, find out more and book your tickets today! 📆 Friday 12th September 👉 buff.ly/JP4n3Uw 📆 Saturday 13th September 👉 buff.ly/DBZ15yP #VisitChester

"KILLED BY LIGHTNING AT ASHFORD", Rifleman Edward Smith, 2/5th South #Lancashire Regiment. He is buried in Parr St. Peter's in #StHelens, very close to my childhood home. At a time when men from the 5th had already died at the front, this seems especially poignant. #Kent #EpigraphyTuesday #FWW

The mighty motte at #Pickering Castle, photographed in late November gloom a few years ago. Sadly, it is no longer possible to see it in these conditions, as it closes for the winter now. #MotteMonday #Castles #NorthYorkshire 📷 My own

Slightly diminish a book: A Tale of Two Large Towns.

Part of Harland Moor stone circle, #NorthYorkshire. It consists of 12 stones, some of which are out of shot and others obscured by growth. The landscape is bleak, but speaks, with extensive prehistoric, medieval and modern industrial remains. #StandingStoneSunday 📷 My own.

The oldest work of art found in what is now England: the Robin Hood Cave horse, from said cave at #CreswellCrags, #Derbyshire. On display until 14 Sept at #CliffeCastle museum in #Keighley, in the excellent #IceAgeArtNow exhibition (free entry), part of #Bradford2025. #FindsFriday 📷 my own.

An ornate internal door at GI listed #SmithillsHall, #Bolton, in a meeting room (note classic "civic function" chairs). The scenes depicted are intriguing, including one of what appears to be punting on an Egyptian reed boat. Any ideas? #AdoorbleThursday #Lancashire 📷 my own.

Maiden Castle promontory fort, Bickerton Hill, #Cheshire, 1946. You can see the impact of its use as a military training area, including on the double ramparts themselves (in the centre of the shot). The #SandstoneTrail passes through it now. #HillfortsWednesday (HE EAW000840)

Pitchside at half time in a DSC Arminia Bielefeld match a few years ago (I'm on the left). We were in town gigging and were guests at the game. It was a special day, one of many on the road abroad. Sadly, gigging out there is now rather more complicated. 🙄

William's Hill, #Middleham - the "old" castle, from circa 1086, viewed from the "new" one. It's a ringwork really, so not strictly for #MotteMonday, but sod it! Named for the bookie, I expect, given the place's association with horse racing. Ahem. From seven years ago today. #NorthYorkshire #Castles

Haigh Hall, #Wigan, during a lull in ongoing works as part of a major restoration scheme. Once home to the Earls of Crawford and Balcarres, who built a fortune from #Lancashire coal. The GII* gem has been closed since 2019, but is due to reopen in 2028. #HaighHall 📷 mine.

Now that, ladies and gentlemen, is quite an excavation.

This section of the Roman Road between Wilderspool (now part of #Warrington) & #Wigan (70b) at Haydock changed little for almost 2,000 years. Then the motorway came.... (I expect the Romans would have approved of the M6.) #RomanRoadsFriday #Lancashire #RomanBritain

One of many doorway delights in Bishop's Castle, #Shropshire. It is perhaps the most characterful small town I know (though I hear that Heineken have ruined The Three Tuns - ugh). #AdoorableThursday #BishopsCastle

Excellent stuff. I set up the #BeatingTheBounds walk in #StHelens in 2017 very much in this spirit. The differences are that ours is annual (next year will be the 10th), and much longer (43 miles, due to being around a post-1972 Local Government Act boundary).

One of the best views of #BeestonCastle - known for its C13 castle ruins, but also a hillfort with occupation in the Neolithic, Bronze Age and Iron Age - turns out to be from the pub cark park at The Shady. What a pity. #HillfortsWednesday #Castles #Cheshire 📷 my own.

A small section of mediaeval geometric tiled pavement at #RievaulxAbbey. Little of it survives in situ there (unlike at Byland), but the museum holds much more. #TilesOnTuesday #NorthYorkshire 📷 by me.

Mosaic in the main entrance to The Vines pub(known as "The Big House"), Lime St., #Liverpool. Built in 1907 for Robert Cain & Sons, it is a neo-Baroque wonder, one of the most striking pubs in the world. GII* listed. #MosaicMonday #Pubs 📷 My own

The Kirkdale Sundial, above the door in the porch in St. Gregory's Minster - my favourite church (see my cover photo). The inscription on this marvel dates it to the time of Earl Tostig, as in Godwinson, so 1055-65. See the alt text for full info. #StoneworkSunday #Sundial #NorthYorkshire 📷 My own

The remains of a fourth century #Roman signal station at #Scarborough Castle. It is one of at least five along that stretch of coast, built to warn against raids. Excavated in the 1920s, it is slowly eroding into the sea. #RomanSiteSaturday #RomanBritain #Castles #NorthYorkshire 📷 My own

The magnificent nose guard ('nasal') on the 8th century #York Helmet, found in 1982 during building work for the Coppergate shopping centre. It is one of six surviving Anglo-Saxon / early English helmets, and is on display at the #Yorkshire Museum. #FindsFriday #Helmet 📷 Mine

The former Bank of New Zealand building, Mangaweka. Built in 1908, it is by far the most imposing building in the tiny, characterful township. 'Broadway' was once part of State Highway 1, but that now passes by, leaving the main street high and dry. #AdoorableThursday #Aotearoa #NewZealand 📷 Mine

The tombstone of an Asturian Cavalryman, depicting him running down and impaling a local warrior, in classic 'Reiter' / 'rider' style. Found in the C19 in the River Ribble at #Ribchester. Now in the Roman Museum there. #RomanBritain #ReliefWednesday #Lancashire 📷 Mine

It is grand to see the #Chester Rows on the cover of the latest @archaeologyuk.bsky.social magazine, plus an in-depth article inside. (Excuse the dodgy pic - pastel shades in dark room on a gloomy day here!) The rows are such a magnificent feature of the city. #Archaeology

The former Minster View Hotel, #Howden. Though its pub days have gone, its marvellous decorative tile course and faux machicolations live on. #Yorkshire #TilesOnTuesday #LostPubs 📷 Mine, December 2024

Mosaic with Tudor rose details from the delightful south chancel chapel at St. Mary's, #Ellesmere. (More on the chapel another time.) #MosaicMonday #Shropshire #ChurchCrawling 📷 mine.

Eighty years ago today my great uncle, Thomas Lingard (Royal Marines), got drunk in Perth, #WesternAustralia. He'd sailed half way around with the world on HMS Glory to fight against Japan, only to arrive just in time for #VJDay. Many others weren't so lucky. Three cheers for peace. #VJDay80

The Heavy Petting Pistols. Banned from playing at municipal swimming pools, across the land.

This is terrific. Really well done by Phil. #RomanBritain

Covered slip no. 3 ("3 Slip") at #Chatham Historic Dockyard, a cathedral of wood. Built in 1838, it was the largest wide span timber structure in Europe at the time. This is taken from the mezzanine, which was added in 1904. 📷 My own. #Woodensday #Kent #RoyalNay

I'm going to #Chester again later (always a pleasure), so here's a pic of something there you may not have seen: St. Columba's Roman Catholic Church, built 1964-5 to serve the expanding NE suburbs. The design shows the influence of Vatican II. #ChurchCrawling #Cheshire 📷 My own

The entrance to a slice of heaven, on Friargate, #Preston. GII listed Robinson's pub and former hotel, it has a spectacular interior. Built 1898 and still going strong. #MosaicMonday #Pubs #Lancashire

For #SteepleSaturday, a snapshot of the tallest parish steeple in England: St. Walburge's, #Preston (viewed from the rear terrace of the Old Vic pub, across the railway lines - the steam partly obscuring the church is from a heritage loco). GI listed. #Lancashire #ChurchCrawling