Yorkshire Times Poem of the Week: 'The las train' by Vidyan Ravinthiran @bloodaxebooks.bsky.social @poems-not-opinions.bsky.social yorkshiretimes.co.uk/article/Poem...

💩Thames Water wants Ofwat to let them carry on pouring sewage into our rivers beyond the next general election. 😡And the one after that. 😡😡And the one after that. ✍️Sign our petition today and tell Ofwat this cannot happen! vist.ly/4a9yj

Solo trip to York Gate Garden, north Leeds today. A small selection of photos. Mild October day. Finished off with cream cheese & chutney & cheese scone. And lovely coffee.

Ctoss posting from my Threads feed. Enjoy. A visit to a friend's garden showing an acer with autumn tones, and West Yorkshire hilly backdrop.

⚠️The writing's on the wall for Thames Water. Government is stepping up plans for temporary nationalisation. It's starting to look inevitable. MPs need to pledge that they will 'Make Thames Water Public' & fight against any discounted sell-off back to the private profiteers. Email your MP today 👇

Postbox - Scotland's International Short Story Magazine - have published my story 'The Tarn' in issue 11, Spring 2025. A cornucopia of short fiction to read, in a lovely, professionally produced, magazine. www.redsquirrelpress.com

Walking in Skipton. Rain from Floris has passed; wind remains this afternoon. #northyorkshire

For Leeds history lovers. Thanks to the Leeds libraries' newsletter for alerting me to this. open.substack.com/pub/burythel...

False economist. Please sign.

Vote here.

G, by Zaffar Kunial

A powerful, and gripping, read. Available to borrow in Leeds libraries. Of course you could buy it if you have the spondulicks.

A Bluesky anthology of poems collated in these posts. A varied read 🙂

I've just signed the @weownit.org.uk petition to say NO to private finance deals for Neighbourhood Health Centres. Will you join me? weownit.org.uk/act-now/no-n...

An overreaching state. The arguments set out clearly & concisely: www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

This dryer than usual spring has done wonders for Yorkshire blossom, including the garden alstromeria. So many in the last week, 3 bunches for me, 4 bunches for neighbours! #alstromeria

OK, so this week's optional #writingprompt (submit your regular stories as normal) - and I'll aim to put a winning entry on each following weekend is MIRROR. paragraphplanet.com/submission.php #writingcommunity #amwriting #writingtools

Walking in Skipton yesterday, in ice-cream weather. Tough but lovely. #northyorkshire

🚨URGENT: Sign and share our petition. ❗KKR, the predatory US private equity firm lined up to rescue Thames Water, has pulled out. Thames Water is back in crisis. It's time for Steve Reed to cut the 💩and bring it into public hands. vist.ly/3n529qc

First of my garden cut flowers this season. Astrantia, rosemary, sage, toadflax (self-seeded)

✍️ Letter to Keir Starmer Once strangers at university, now divided by politics – one writer asks Keir Starmer: how did you become complicit in Gaza’s suffering? By Steve Pottinger @bigstevepoet.bsky.social

The public wants services that work for the public, not for profit. 🦸‍♀️Are YOU the campaigning superhero that can help make that happen?🦸 We’re looking for a dynamic, driven Lead Campaigner to join our team. ⁠ Applications deadline is ⁠Sunday 18th May. vist.ly/3m2w3mc

I just signed Budapest's petition with All Out that could really change things for LGBT+ people. Add your name and join me in the fight for LGBT+ rights! a.allout.org/s/WY8xL/

This morning's group walk in Middleton Woods, Ilkley, in lovely sunshine. 1. On the bus leaving Otley. 2. Cherry blossom framing Ilkley Lido 3. & 4. Carpets of bluebells in Middleton Woods, Ilkley. My first visit. A lovely place to walk, though some steep-ish slopes to navigate. A stick = essential

NO WAY will Reform look after working people.

It's only March in northern England, and already the cat has escaped the hot sun, shining through the window, indoors. #catsofbluesky

Cancel this dictator's visit to the UK- sign the petition.

Almost 1 in 5 people claiming Universal Credit and disability payments have used a food bank in the last month. Proposed cuts to disability support risk driving more people to food banks. As my MP @katiewhitemp.bsky.social, will you ask the PM to rethink these cuts?

What, ANOTHER gig? Oh yes! Come see me and singer-songwriter Andrew Metheven at the Purple Room. St John's in Ben Rhydding (just outside Ilkley). Saturday 8 March at 8pm. www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-purple...

Always good to hear and see.

It's not so long ago that this kind of thing was used to discriminate against lesbians and gay men. Stop it happening now.

There are many takes on the William Carlos Williams original of this poem but this one sounds most like it is being spoken by someone from Leeds.

If you are able, please do support Indy bookshops. The near monopoly of an online giant is skewering the industry. Without Indies, we simply wouldn't be here. @bookcornerhx.bsky.social @serenitybookshop.bsky.social @trumanbooks.bsky.social @drakebookshop.bsky.social @forumbooks.bsky.social

ONE WEEK LEFT to submit your story up to 4,000 words for the Bristol Short Story Prize! Full details: bssp.blogs.bristol.ac.uk . Please share!

Jeremy Clarkson is scapegoating badgers for bTB and has reportedly slaughtered them all on his land. This is disgusting, cruel, and ignorant. You know what he’d really hate? If you shared this and signed the petition to end the badger cull. Let’s do it petition.parliament.uk/petitions/70...

Paragraph Planet is always seeking your 75-word #stories. One has been published every day on the home page since 2008. Submit today! paragraphplanet.com/submission.php - Oh and please RT/repost to spread the word to other writers.

I'm having SO MUCH FUN planning my Jan Unbox Your Words writing exercise/prompt/provocation - something to counteract New Year pressure to be brilliant and those end-of-year 'Best Of' lists! If you'd like to join, slip your email in here & it'll arrive in your Inbox on Fri taniahershman.substack.com

Dear fans – sincere THANKS for your orders and keeping the Salty ship afloat! We still need your help! Do please share this post – as post-Brexit prices and red tape continue to hit us, we need to ride out the financial storm. Do please buy #JustOneBook from us today. Prices start from just £1.99.

Today's post brought my namesake's new book of short fiction. I've already read the first title story and it lives up to previous writing by @rosiegarlandwriter.bsky.social Smashing!!

Dodging the Snow for this festive season. My two poems here. Thanks to the editor. dodgingtherain.com/2024/12/26/m...

Witch hazel brightened up a grey day at RHS Harlow Carr today. Whatever season, it's a great Yorkshire garden to take a walk round.

Last episode of 'Mirror & the Light had me welling up, which just shows what a fantastic production and superb acting can do to a woman who has limited welling-up powers. And she is deeply satisfied too.

Mick Lynch "Nigel Farage is a racist." RT if Mick is right.

So now it's time to post Seamus' fur pattern 😁

Always a lovely and quality event. Zoom away 😃

My online webzine The Fig Tree has a call for submissions for a special issue with poems about Coal Mining - mining, miners, the communities and the 84-85 strike - submission guidelines are here figtreepoetry.substack.com/p/submission... Please share!

Please put in your penn'orth. Template provided if you want to use it.

Superb, well-researched programme. And damning. www.channel4.com/programmes/t...

My recent collection www.serenbooks.com/book/youll-n...