There is still time to apply for one of our 50+ Visiting Fellowships @bodleian.ox.ac.uk for the 2026-27 academic year! A vibrant interdisciplinary research centre in the heart of one of the world’s great libraries!

All true. You don't even need to aspire to more Shakespeares, Austens and Orwells. Music in schools would be a good start. Local libraries. Offering a taste of art in all its forms, not just to those already marked as talented, but to those who don't yet know what to aspire to

'Incendiaries' (1940-1945) by Paul Lucien Dessau (Museum of London)

I’m giving an online talk on Thursday evening at 8pm (UK time) about Birds & Flight. It’s free to RSPB members but anyone can join for a donation. www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/talk-by-le...

November 1918. The armies go home, leaving a devastated land behind them. Looking forward to reading Hugh Clout's "After the Ruins" on the restoration of the countryside of Northern France after four years of war 1/3

Near Thiepval OTD in 2016

November 1918. The armies go home, leaving a devastated land behind them. Looking forward to reading Hugh Clout's "After the Ruins" on the restoration of the countryside of Northern France after four years of war 1/3

'Evening Quarters: The Lookout at Cannon Street Anti-Aircraft Station' (1917) by Ronald Gray (Imperial War Museums)

Reflections on the river

Homeward bound

It is early in the morning, and there are few people about in this 1919 work by William Nicholson of the Cenotaph in London. It is the original white-painted wood and plaster structure designed by Edward Lutyens, it stands out in stark relief against the Foreign Office.

Sunset over Keble College Chapel

Colours by the canal

A brief break from worrying if the grandson has fallen in the water, or if the dog has dropped his ball, to look up at the trees and sky.

With an iPhone on Port Meadow at sunrise at 04:42 on a June morning

The most incredible library in the world, @bodleian.ox.ac.uk opened to OTD 1602, through the energy, money & commitment of Sir Thomas Bodley. It began with 5k books, & now more than 22m, with 2m+reader visits a year, & multi-million online users across the globe. Privilged to be its 25th librarian!

Thames treeline at the end of the day.

Recent new visitors - a sparrowhawk in the garden and three parakeets at the end of the street. Perhaps we could introduce them to each other in the hope that the sparrowhawk finds parakeet tastier than the sparrow whose feathers lie around it in this picture..

Recent new visitors - a sparrowhawk in the garden and three parakeets at the end of the street. Perhaps we could introduce them to each other in the hope that the sparrowhawk finds parakeet tastier than the sparrow whose feathers lie around it in this picture..

The RSPB’s Otmoor reserve is to get a 21-hectare extension, funded by developers. A former agricultural site will be transformed into a floodplain grazing marsh, with wetland features such as scrapes and footdrains.

Early November 2021 down by the river. It felt as if winter had arrived.

Don't worry, old dog. I'm sure you and my feet can find a way of sharing the space under my desk till the fireworks have gone.

There was a bagpiper out there this evening, alone with his dog in the middle of the meadow.

Sounds great, and could be done with care and planning. What we'll get is acres of shoddy boxes built on the cheap by spiv developers, approved by planners who couldn't tell the qualitative difference between a Queen Anne rectory and a Nissen hut.

Lots of midges and ticks on Rum, and quite a hike to the butcher and deli, so no thanks www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/1...

OTD in 2023 Port Meadow was largely under water. This year I can walk down to the river bank (roughly where the cormorant is flying). The water levels fluctuate from year to year.

Last night, Peers voted against Swift bricks: rejecting a simple, proven way to help one of our fastest declining birds recover. ❌ We share @hannahbournetaylor.bsky.social's disappointment & frustration. The vote came late, but with government refusing to back it, its fate was already sealed.

Paddington Station at night, this week in 2023

James/Jan Morris said of the New Bodleian that "it looks like a well-equipped municipal swimming bath, and replaced a nice corner of jostling old houses in the late 1930s.” Article and photographs here: oxfordhistory.org.uk/broad/buildi...

Freuds in Oxford's Jericho. Built as a church in 1836, latterly an entertainment venue, long closed. Standing outside in the dark, I thought I heard ghostly music.

The rental bikes gather beneath the trees to chatter and charge before tomorrow's travels.

Freuds in Oxford's Jericho. Built as a church in 1836, latterly an entertainment venue, long closed. Standing outside in the dark, I thought I heard ghostly music.

Phone operators can hike prices as they wish and Ofcom will sleep through it. You can move to another provider but they are all the same. There's an easy win for Starmer here - a no-cost way of bringing a tangible improvement to nearly everyone by controlling how these companies operate.

Demolishing 1 Silk Street would waste carbon and damage local character. A retrofit could save both. We’ve objected to the plans, now it’s time to rethink how we treat our existing buildings. Why demolish when we can refurbish? Reuse saves heritage, carbon, & character. 👉 shorturl.at/VjnpU

Calling DPhils! 📣 The Bodleian Libraries are offering an exclusive free guided tour of the Treasured exhibition on Wednesday 26th November. You'll also have the chance to meet fellow DPhil students and library staff over a mince pie. Spaces are limited! Book here: forms.office.com/e/jibkwGNjvz

It's time for another expedition to the Cotswold Wildlife Park

Land grabbers’ charter. Let’s hope the Lords throw it out.

The railway line at sunset

A present today - "Weekly Diary of World Events...1940-1943". At 1,725 pages, a book for dipping into rather than reading, but fascinating stuff

Who needs Christmas lights when there are railway sidings nearby?

Binsey in autumn colours beyond the river.

Egret and leaves

Egret and leaves

📸 Kurt Otto-Wasow. La Tour Eiffel vue des toits. 1957. Paris

Leaves after the rain

I didn't intend to be up for sunrise, but I didn't mind that I was.

Morose heron watches rowers go by as the sun rises.

I'm usually not one for early mornings, but it was rather fine just before 7:00 today..

It's all very still despite the fluttering flags and pennants in Georges Seurat's Port-en-Bessin, a Sunday (1888, Kroller-Müller Museum) in the terrific Neo-Impressionism exhibition at the National Gallery in London. Read about the show on our blog: art-exhibitions.blogspot.com/2025/10/stan...

That kind of day on here.