Heating oil price spikes are hammering rural families. Crude oil is up 20% since the Iran war began, yet some North Norfolk households are suffering 80-100% increases. Last week, I asked Ed Miliband to act & he’s today agreed to raise it with the Competition & Markets Authority.

Natural England confirms tighter restrictions on gamebird releases on/near to Special Protection Areas in England. This includes no gamebird releases in the 'heartland' of the Breckland SPA in Norfolk/Suffolk. New blog ⬇️ raptorpersecutionuk.org/2026/03/09/n...

Incredible scenes here. Somehow it's March and somehow it's 5pm and SOMEHOW we're already on EPISODE NINE of 'How light is it in #Orkney at 5pm this week?' It's cloudy but we are striding headlong into glorious longer days And it is THIS LIGHT! 💡

One of the oddest features of the Coalition is that they delighted in criticising the civil service’s lack of skills whilst cutting back on civil service training. www.ft.com/content/3599... The UK’s public leadership pipeline has fallen into disrepair

Wow - nice to start the working week with the discovery of a previously unrecorded Roman marching camp in Ceredigion, only our 4th on Cardigan Bay 🤩 Potential campaign routes now start to fall into place..🤔 Spotted by a clever colleague in England who has eagle eyes👏 📷 (C) Angus McBride, Osprey

THIS. If you’re in central Glasgow tonight please close your windows; if you have to be out please wear the best mask you have available. If you can smell it, you’re at risk.

“By removing trial by jury, Keir Starmer & David Lammy are abolishing the ultimate guarantee of independence in our criminal justice system, & are placing extraordinary, unprecedented & untrammelled power into the hands of whichever politicians come after them” thesecretbarrister.com/2026/03/07/k...

Happy Gary Retrograde everyone! The next two weeks are the only two weeks out of the year when Gary Numan is older than Gary Oldman

Heating oil prices are surging & rural families are being hit first. I have joined colleagues in the Labour Rural Research Group to write to ministers calling for a four point action plan to protect off grid homes and businesses from unfair price spikes. Rural Britain must not be left exposed.

Not part of his Time Travelling Cat series but I'm very fond of this painting my dad did of Bridget up a tree at dusk during the present day.

Okay, so I am definitely going to have to go freelance, at least for a while. So, if anyone has any advice on actually building up and finding freelance policy and comms works, including providing media and advocacy training, campaign planning and strategy please let me know.

Sadly it is official, my current employment contract finishes at the end of March. It has been a fantastic three years at Migrant Voice. If you, or someone you know, knows of job opportunities for an experienced policy, advocacy and comms person, across multiple sectors, please do let me know.

Measles is a highly infectious disease. It can make children seriously unwell, especially young infants and those with weakened immune systems. The best way to protect your family is by ensuring you and your children are up to date with your MMRV jabs.

For people in the UK: less than a week left to contribute to the consultation about the BBC's future. We need to protect our BBC. The consultation closes just before midnight on Tuesday 10 March 2026. www.gov.uk/government/c... [Why does our daft government label it 'Britain's Story'?!]

I found this offered useful background to the government's BBC consultation: britishbroadcastingchallenge.com/our-mission/

Europe is the largest single market in the world, and it was an act of self-sabotage to leave the EU. Joining the single market would facilitate easier trade between the UK and the EU, and would remove the red tape that many British businesses are struggling with now.

(...) clean indoor air through ventilation and filtration, high-quality masks, testing, vaccination, and staying home when sick. When these protections are used together, they help reduce transmission and protect both individuals and communities. #LongCOVID #CleanAir #Ventilation #MaskUp

Every COVID infection adds risk, not protection. The more times someone is infected, the higher their risk of developing Long COVID. Reducing infections is one of the most important ways to protect long-term health. The Five Pillars of Protection help lower risk by layering prevention strategies:

This display, created for the @uniofexeterhass.bsky.social International Women's Day event on Monday, was made by students Jo, Lilian & Georgie. It focuses on the achievements of Lady Aileen Fox, lecturer here 1947-71, who was instrumental in founding the teaching of archaeology @exeter.ac.uk.

(1/) The twittering, wheezy song of Greenfinch can now be heard in many areas. It is sometimes combined with a display flight, where males fly around in circles whilst they deliver their song. @btobirds.bsky.social @jncc.bsky.social @rspbscience.bsky.social #Ornithology #CitizenScience

All that's left of the shrine of St Margaret of Scotland in the grounds of Dunfermline Abbey. The wooden shrine stood on this base of Frosterley marble. It was enclosed within a chapel, both destroyed at the Reformation.

The first tv series that shot up here, using mostly North East actors. It remains one of the few series to showcase my accent and history, without which I don’t think we’d have Auf wiedersehen Pet or the Catherine Cookson series ( where, like many, I had my first major role)

Yesterday’s Word Count = 660 WHEN THE BOAT COMES IN (1976) Continuing my voyage around mostly forgotten British TV series of the last century. youtu.be/jKUHsy0D_ho?... They didn’t have the title sequence so here’s episode one.

Surely not forgotten?. Groundbreaking and compelling series, with the wonderful James Bolam as the central character.

And another splendid March Book of Hours page. from the famous Tres Riches Heures du Duc de Berry created in the early 14th century. March events such as ploughing with oxen and pruning the vines with the Chateau de Lusignan in the background.

Lovely article about our Norfolk lost villages book in this month's KL Mag. Fab aerial photos, as ever, courtesy of @john-fielding.bsky.social 👇

This Labour Party is no-longer what we used to think Labour was about or for. It's more right wing than Heath's Tory government. No wonder people are so fed up with it.

Labour must stop channelling Reform and unite with progressives. That’s the lesson from Gorton and Denton | Sadiq Khan

We don't know what else to tell you but it's Monday night and it's 5pm so it's time for EPISODE EIGHT of 'How light is it in #Orkney at 5pm this week?' Today has been one of the nicest, lightest, brightest days of the year so far, and right now in Orkney it's THIS LIGHT 💡

The Rebellion! exhibition opens in June at Newcastle City Library and will be there for three months. It is an exploration of protest as an essential part of our cultural identity in the face of draconian anti-protest legislation.

🏆Congratulations @jk-viking.bsky.social, Associate Professor of #Viking #Archaeology, who has won the 2026 CA Award for Archaeologist of the Year! You can find out more about Jane in her staff spotlight interview 👇 www.arch.ox.ac.uk/staff-spotli...

Kent Greens: “The art depicts historic scenes from around the county and provides an excellent insight into Kent Life. This art should be treasured and put on display for the public good rather than being sold off to private collectors never to be seen again.” See: www.sworder.co.uk/auction/sear...

Over 100 works of art being put up for auction by (cash strapped) Reform-run Kent County Council. Kent Greens: "While the total financial value of the art is only around £35k, the historic and social value of the art, most of which depicts Kent, is far higher."

Hotel de Paris, Cromer, Norfolk Grand entrance to Hotel de Paris, remodelled by Norwich architect, George Skipper.1894 #MosaicMonday

Why is it vital for the Labour Party to pander to “legitimate grievances” about refugees, when the legitimate grievances of the actual majority of the population against privatised water and power services can be cheerfully ignored?

A medieval dragon for St. David’s Day - decoration from the 15th century chancel screen at Crowland Abbey in Lincolnshire. 📸 My own. #StDavidsDay #CrowlandAbbey

In the US, definitely NOT something we want here: #PrivateEquty buying into HOSPICE care. What an obscenity, to make profit from caring for the dying www.ft.com/content/24aa...

Dydd Gŵyl Dewi Hapus! Happy St David’s Day! In celebration of the feast day of the patron saint of Wales, please enjoy these photos of daffodils outside and inside some of our churches in Wales. 📷 St Mary's, Penllech, Gwynedd

an entrance passage. The hospital cared for the ill, the infirm, the poor, and the elderly. Images: hospital/passage and chapel, Timan2007 CC BY-SA 4.0 and undercroft, Tim Green, CC BY-SA 2.0 See Alts for more information and credits. #Medievalsky #York #Architecture #Undercroft

Once the largest medieval hospital in the North of England, St Leonards, York was built shortly after the Norman Conquest on the site of a previous hospital St Peters, founded by King Aethelstan. The remaining ruins include the undercroft, chapel, and

Clive Lewis MP says “We [the Labour government] have come across sounding like a Poundshop Reform Party”.

Labour MP Clive Lewis doesn’t hold back on the Gorton and Denton result in this interview with ITV

I don’t think Starmer understands Labour voters at all. We didn’t want a government that adopts Reform style rhetoric and policies on immigration, doesn’t tax the rich & cosies up to Trump. That’s without the McSweeney effect and the Mandelson debacle. Attacking the Greens makes him look desperate.

Here's the link to my remaining 2026 Birds calendars; www.carlbovis.com/2026-birds-c... 😊🙏🐦❤️

Q&A | Bidding farewell to the Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust As the site prepares to enter a new era, Ironbridge's collections team reflects on how the pioneering, community-led charity brought the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution to life

One of the best things about BBC productions of a certain vintage, especially for comedy, was the bodge it DIY practical effects. They’re made with love but also add a relatable crack-handed appeal. CGI could never

Never a big Narnia guy but this 6 seconds typifies everything I love about British television.