This was such an unexpected uplift, the 3rd from readers in as many days, & I can’t tell you what it means to writers. Ghosts of the Farm was a wild thing to write, a real obsession & a proper haunting. I took risks in writing it (as I did with the last, but different ones.) I am so glad I did…

Back with a great chat with Anahita Harding. Enjoy!

Absolute Units returns! Listen to our latest episode with artist and disability rights activist Anahita Harding, exploring disability in museum spaces and collections. Plus, how we can shape a future that better includes and represents people with disabilities. merl.reading.ac.uk/explore/abso...

Into folk culture and film? Come see Peter Treherne's 'Matter of Britain' at @uniofreading.bsky.social on Monday evening! The film documents an English country village’s performance of the Holy Grail myth. Stuff of legend. www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/screening-...

Tickets are now available for our Summer Late (17 June, 6pm-9pm), and they're free thanks to a @uniofreading.bsky.social centenary grant! Come and discover our galleries in a whole new light, with drinks, crafts, talks, tours and more. merl.reading.ac.uk/whats-on/sum...

Today sees the launch of a new campaign by Dartmoor Nature Alliance to bring back Dartmoor’s rainforests 🌳🌿 Last night we gathered at Black Tor Copse to call for its restoration - and to double the area of rainforests on Dartmoor’s commons. Get involved: www.dartmoornature.org.uk/rainforests

A poem for World Bee Day.

Great evening watching the superb documentary, Gentle Angry Women, and the Q &A about the legacy of Greenham women.

On my way to @themerl.bsky.social and Reading Biscuit Factory for a documentary screening about Greenham Common. I'm hosting the Q & A.

Latest episode finally out!

Absolute Units returns - again! In the episode we meant to release last Thursday (lol), we pick up once more with @guyshrubsole.bsky.social to continue exploring the land ownership and access in rural England. This time, with a specific focus on hunting. merl.reading.ac.uk/explore/abso...

A poem from this weekend. Written following a dermatology appointment to get a mole checked.

Why not go digging with the brilliant @hillfortian.bsky.social?!

Scope for a 90s electronic music trail of @themerl.bsky.social? Firestarter - The Prodigy Little Fluffy Clouds - The Ord Texas Cowboys - The Grid Justified & Ancient - KLF Or perhaps a performative reworking of @nicolawriting.bsky.social’s writing for the dance tent?!

We’re appointing a writer-in-residence! Join us to respond to our holdings related to the Bloomsbury Group (including the archives of Leonard and Virginia Woolf’s Hogarth Press) ahead of a major exhibition in 2027. Applications close 19 May. Best of luck! collections.reading.ac.uk/news-and-vie...

Thank you @nicolawriting.bsky.social!!

Want your own folk giant? Now’s your chance! Old Crockern gets a shout out here. You can see him @themerl.bsky.social @uniofreading.bsky.social until 24th May. www.theguardian.com/2026/may/14/...

"For those that don’t have a large voice or who feel lost or helpless, giants can show our collective desires and strength... putting on a mask lets us behave differently and say the unsayable in the folk world – a processional creature has the same effect." Great piece on the Goliath revival.

Folks: if you're a regular listener to our podcast and you've downloaded our latest episode with @guyshrubsole.bsky.social, it might give you a sense of déjà vu. That's because ...we just realised we accidentally uploaded the same episode as last time.

Come all you rural changemakers, space & access creators & housing innovators; come all you quietly radical countryside champions, apply! Nominate! Let us shout about you! #CPRE100

Excited to be judging @cprecountryside.bsky.social’s Centenary National Awards, for Best Green Space Project. So much good stuff is happening & we want to hear about it! There are 6 Awards in all, from countryside changemakers, to access & housing. More here: www.cpre.org.uk/cpre-nationa... 1/2

The countryside has always needed people, communities, collaboration & innovation to keep it the vibrant place we love, no more so than now. Nominate yourself or others, individuals or groups by noon, 24th June. There is so much good stuff happening for our #FutureRural, let’s celebrate it!

so great to have you all with us!

So chuffed too! In awe of everyone there, tbh!

Dead chuffed to be part of @themerl.bsky.social’s ‘Radical Rural’ gallery trail, with my books featured alongside the work of @righttoroam.bsky.social, the inspiring writing of @nicolawriting.bsky.social, the songs of @threeacresacow.bsky.social & many other rural rebels!

what an amazing evening 😻 even if I was forced to do physical labour, marring my delicate townie hands 😹 still thinking about century-long transitions from liberation (of economic energies) to control, now time for sharing? Radical Rural runs until the 24th May 👇🏽 merl.reading.ac.uk/whats-on/rad...

We have a very exciting opportunity for someone to become our new Community Partnerships Curator! You'll lead on the co-creation of a major public exhibition, exploring and reimagining Britain’s relationship with displaced communities. Find out more and apply: jobs.reading.ac.uk/tlive_webrec...

In case people haven’t spotted it this appears to be an attempt to block the annual Kinder trespass event next year. Screenshots sent to me today by a concerned local who wants to remain anonymous. @righttoroam.bsky.social @jon-moses.bsky.social @guyshrubsole.bsky.social

Just landing back from our first spring tour... here are some nice memories from Hull, Scarborough, Hexham and York. threeacresandacow.co.uk/shows/ Next shows along south coast - Southampton, Portsmouth, New Forest, Worthing, Salisbury, Farnborough, Sullington and Andover.

Momentum building for Scottish-style access rights in England, says film OUR LAND, an amazing new film that interviews both landowners & members of the @righttoroam.bsky.social campaign, is out in cinemas from 8th May. Be sure to see it - and tell your MP to go! www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Honoured to write a chapter for FUTURE RURAL, a new book out this week to mark CPRE's centenary My chapter, 'In defence of scrub', is about Britain's most unfairly maligned habitat. Derided by pundits & politicians, it's in fact a gorgeous home for wildlife... www.littletoller.co.uk/shop/books/l...

Fantastic launch for @cprecountryside.bsky.social & @littletollerbooks.bsky.social’s anthology Future Rural @dauntbooks.bsky.social in Marylebone. Many gathered voices from diverse angles, addressing the past, present, & reimagining the future of the countryside for CPREs centenary. Fun was had!

This was fun. Also a chance to mingle with @musethnogroup.bsky.social folks for the first time in years. Old faces and new.

Read more about our new Radical Histories book series in our blog post @manchesterup.bsky.social manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/blog/2026/04...

Today’s poem is called ‘An Invention of Collective Nouns’.

As the son of a borders farmer-poet who himself sometimes writes a few lines of poetry, and also as a Teri (a person born in Hawick) I endorse this excellent poem and its Hawick reference on several fronts!

New Absolute Units is out now! We're joined by the fantastic author and campaigner @guyshrubsole.bsky.social to explore the question: who owns England? We travel as far back as the Norman conquest, through to the Tudors, Brexit, and right up to the present day. merl.reading.ac.uk/explore/abso...

It’s Tutti Day (Tithing Day) or Hocktide in the partially-independent little town of #Hungerford. The last place in England this ancient (& for us, necessary) agricultural rite & right is undertaken. There is a blacksmith shoeing newcomers … #Commons. More below…

Anyone who hasn’t seen this show should see this show. It’s brilliant.

Good morning world. The mountain was on fire last night. Glad to see the only fire is in the sky today.

Pod pause, peeps.

Quick pod update: we're closed tomorrow for a long Easter weekend (which is when we'd usually drop a new episode). So we're going to have a quick podcast hiatus and then we'll be back to regular programming in 2 weeks' time! Explore previous episodes: merl.reading.ac.uk/explore/abso...

MASSIVE numbers on the Together march against the far right today. Right to Roam has been marching with the Folk Against Fascism bloc - Morris dancers reclaiming rural English traditions from the far right The countryside is for everyone!

If you weren’t up at sparrow’s fart you may have missed me on Farming Today this morning, talking about interventive farming policy during WW2. www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

That was just the sheep I used for the video, because I couldn't get the rights to the one I really wanted. The sheep that looks like bread:

Do you mean this celebrated ewe? collections.britishart.yale.edu/catalog/tms:...

Absolute Units turns 1! Thanks to everyone who has listened in, supported us, and joined us in the booth in these past 12 months. Here's our special anniversary episode, answering many of the questions you very good people sent us yesterday. merl.reading.ac.uk/explore/abso...

This is going to be great.

Pigeon milk! The niche @themerl.bsky.social @londonmuseum.bsky.social collab we’ve all been waiting for!

Leaving aside the distasteful way the Countryside Alliance refers to mere licensing of commercial shoots as a "declaration of war", a number of things about it's current stance on shooting make no sense. 1/ www.thetimes.com/uk/environment/article/labour-pheasant-shooting-50v6v8zf5