Madman or wrong’un

A while back Historic England asked for my opinion on which was the oldest pub in London. The result is a new online article that outlines the variables, busts some myths, and points to a couple of genuinely ancient pubs in and around the city... heritagecalling.com/2025/09/25/w...

Want to know how the new digital ID system will work? Good news! I’ve explained how it will almost certainly work here: takes.jamesomalley.co.uk/p/britcard

Notts have just secured the County Championship title. Deserved it, too. It means Peter Moores has just become the first man to win the Champ title as head coach with three different first-class counties.

Medical science: humanity's greatest gift to itself.

Privileged to have written Dickie Bird’s obituary for The Guardian. An eccentric innocent treasured by so many. Every time I met him it was an invitation to rediscover my inner child. www.theguardian.com/sport/2025/s...

(not getting likes because my posts are Bad) there must be an upstream network problem impacting almost all Bluesky network services

Some really briliant genomic medicine may offer a huntington's treatment. It seems like their actually blocking the translation of mutated HTT gene, seemingly slowing disease progress...

Evocative piece on Polish architecture and the moving boundaries of the country. I spent a while in Wrocław 20 odd years ago, where an American friend at the time kept referring to it as ‘greater Germany.’

MAYOR: Did you do that sculpture solemnly honouring our civil war dead SCULPTOR: Sure thing boss, real sexy just like you asked MAYOR: What

PS: if you want to cancel me, cancel me for this. The Whip. A full-time carer decides to put together a team to bring down the government. Watch it here for free. While you can. www.youtube.com/watch?v=vboU...

🏏 New County Cricket Newsletter. Pls share & enjoy 🟣 The Championship deciders - previews 🍐 Emotional Pears lift Metro Bank Cup 🟠 Surrey's record Champ crowds 🔴 Schedule set for confirmation? 🔵 Cricket is UK most elitist sport 🟡 Dickie Bird RIP

Anybody in the Stevenage area have available an accessible room or studio flat to rent? My daughter is starting a PhD next week and the flat that we hoped she be in by now looks like it is going to fall through. Thanks

N E W ! What happened on my birthday date? zoubisoudotblog.wordpress.com/2025/09/23/f...

i muted the word rapture and most of my timeline disappeared, which is a sort of rapture in and of itself

I ran out of characters on the last post. And now the world has lost another character. Dickie was an eccentric and one of life's true innocents. Everytime I met him it was if my childhood had returned. Universally treasured in Yorkshire where we do not always agree on everything. RIP old mate.

for those requesting a gift link, this is limited to 300 on.ft.com/46gBWBq

The last time I met Dickie Bird 😔: How are you Lad? Very good Dickie Are you still working? A bit. I’ve written your obit for The Guardian. Will I like it? You’ll be dead won’t you? So you'll never know. (To passing strangers, loudly ) I’ll have to trust him won’t I? I’ll have to trust him won’t I?”

It is with profound sadness that The Yorkshire County Cricket Club announces the passing of Harold Dennis “Dickie” Bird MBE OBE, one of cricket’s most beloved figures, who died peacefully at home at the age of 92. Read more: yorkshireccc.com/news/harold-...

This is v clear on why Resolution's NI/income tax switcheroo (which govt has already ruled out) makes sense - "ensuring that lawyers and landlords pay a similar rate of tax to their clients and tenants".

Nice thread, to take you away from all this, over there to all that.

Worth reading on wine and labour availability.

Thread

BBC Sounds has now been switched off outside the UK. It’s just the latest loss—the BBC has been cut by more than 30 per cent since 2010.

Welcoming autumn with ‘Autumn March’ by Igor Balakirev youtu.be/ss_0zdxfG1Q

I loved this book and so did my Dad when I sent him a copy immediately after finishing it, absolutely recommended as a gift for the dad in your life

'In the Pub.' (c1950) Robert Taylor Carson documented a well travelled life in paint, from his early years in Belfast to travelling Ireland and to Europe. His subject matter is wide-ranging but an interest in people and their way of life is a common thread throughout his career.

My latest cricket blog, featuring @gloscricket.bsky.social v @northamptonshire can be found by clicking on the link below rainstoppedplayinspectionat3.wordpress.com/2025/09/22/s...

Since it's the equinox again... Seasons lag. This is why

Remembering Arthur Lowe, born this day in 1915.

If Red Bull would like to appoint me to a big job and pay me off to leave it I would be open to discussing this.

From @dkthomp.bsky.social who doesn’t post much on here. A year’s worth of thoughts on all sorts, including why we should drink more- Alcohol makes me less neurotic, more agreeable, and more extroverted. ‘ substack.com/@derekthomps...

One of my favorite moments in the history of free speech: Larry Flynt publishing a satirical Campari ad featuring Jerry Falwell Sr. as an incestuous drunk who first had sex with his mother in an outhouse. Falwell sued. In a unanimous decision, the Supreme Court found that satire is protected speech.

Wikipedia is what the internet was meant to be and one of the few online places that hasn’t got worse. It’s a miracle

The world was a better place when we didn't know what was on everybody's mind.

What is, or was, the middle-distance poem? Where did it go? And why are there so many trains involved? substack.com/home/post/p-...

Why not come spend next Friday evening with myself and three other excellent musicians at The Book and Record Bar in West Norwood, London? Americana, Folk, Roots, Books, Records and a real good time. Plus, I'm launching my new single. 🎵📚🎶🎸💿 #MusicSky #LiveMusic www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/ciro-rey-d...

BBC coverage of research using Northampton General Hospital's archive: Child hospital care dates from 18th Century: www.bbc.co.uk/news/article... The study itself is #OpenAccess: www.cambridge.org/core/journal... #History #MedicalHistory

Tired: Great Fire of London. Wired: Great Fire of #Northampton. "The Great Fire of Northampton destroyed 700 out of 850 buildings and claimed 11 lives within hours of starting on 20 September 1675." https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c4gqdpgz06wo

If you heard this week's #GreatLives on #DerekBailey, selected by #StewartLee, you might be interested in this conversation I had in 2022 with @greavesian.bsky.social (also a contributor to the programme) as part of my textcast #FirstLastAnything. firstlastanything.co.uk/2025/05/20/f...

There’s been some amusing and fair criticism of Great Lives on here recently. So may I bring your attention to this episode, on the eccentric Northamptonshire genius, JL Carr. www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

they can't touch you

Lib Dems: We have 12x Reform's MPs, can we have the same coverage? BBC: But Reform has 2x your poll rating. If there were an election tomorrow, they'd be running the country. Lib Dems: So you're putting their people and policies under scrutiny, right? BBC: Lib Dems: Right?

We'll always hate Parris.

Never mind… I’m just gonna seize tomorrow.

Electing loons never works out well, however desperate the circumstances.

Ah, 20th September: 111th anniversary of the birth of Kenneth More: beloved, solid, respectable, silver-screen embodiment of British heroism – whose first job in showbusiness was stopping people wanking in a nudie theatre

Well done to the Friends of Brixworth Church on hosting their Heritage Day. The beauty and multilayered history of Brixworth Church never ceases to amaze, with its origins in 680AD and the use of reclaimed Roman tiles as part of its structure. A parish church with an origin story as a monastery.

'Flapper.' (1928) In 1904, Margaret Preston travelled to Europe from Australia and sought out the work of artists including Matisse, Cézanne, and the influences of oriental aesthetics. During this period she developed the ‘decorative’ style she carried through her entire career.