For once the cover blurb wasn’t overhyped with this superbly fast paced sci-fi novel. Finished it in a day and I could see it being made into a film or drama.

A walk between Handsacre and Alrewas and back on the Trent & Mersey Canal, Staffordshire. Loads of early canal buildings at Fradley Junction from the 1790s and industrial buildings at Kings Bromley Wharf including a later creamery serving local farms.

A walk through the Old Beaudesert Park woodland which has been used as a deer park since 1242 by the Bishops of Lichfield and then the Marquess of Anglesey.

The annual perambulation of the ramparts of Castlering hillfort, Cannock Chase and the remains of the stone medieval hunting lodge.

Out and about in Cannock Woods

Great to finally see the substantial earthwork moated site at Red Moor on Cannock Chase. It is thought to be the site of a royal hunting lodge built for Henry II in 1157-8 on the site of the 1141-55 Cistercian Radmore Abbey & later used as a private hunting lodge by the Bishops of Lichfield

Up on Cannock Chase for the pre-Christmas meal walk. Lovely day. Happy Christmas all 🎄🙂

Carols from Kings College on TV and a good glass of sherry - feels like Christmas now 🙂🎄🍷

Good, but appallingly muddy, 7 mile circular walk from Hanbury to Tutbury and back today. Lots to see on the route- old medieval alabaster and later gypsum mines, WWII explosives storage, Tutbury Castle (still closed) & the superb 12th century decorated doorways of St Mary’s Chuch, Tutbury

Lovely landscape/nature/culture artwork in here, well worth a look 👇

Watched Avatar:The Way of Water. It’s a bit twee and Disney and the environmental destruction by resource hungry humans message is too obvious throughout, but it’s pretty to look at…

My new favourite mince pies 😋 Normally I don’t get on with mince pies as the mince/spice gives me indigestion but these are fine 🙂

Lovely to spend 10 minutes with the Otter on the canal again today. It was arcing up to the surface hunting ahead of me and then as I followed the air bubbles on the surface it appeared just 2 metres from me and had a good look, seemingly unfazed by my presence or the dog, then continued south.

Ice feathers on the windscreen this morning

Enjoying Godless on Netflix set in 1884 Colorado. After a seemingly unconnected series of events at the start the story is coalescing nicely by the end of episode 1. Quite an interesting variation of the modern western genre with a great storyline & characters.

Curled up with her squirrel after the 10km circular walk this morning 🙂

Quick #lidar scan of one of the Holyhead Mountain Iron Age roundhouses using the iPhone 15 Pro lidar scanner

Revisited the Iron Age settlement on Holyhead Mountain near South Stack. Originally there were 50 round houses but now only 26 survive. They have been excavated and restored. Some have passage entrances and nearby oval or rectangular sunken stores. The site was occupied through to the 4th c. CE

The circa 1860+ gunpowder and explosives magazines for the stone quarry that produced stone for the Holyhead harbour breakwater. These are both located near the Breakwater Country Park

The 1901 William Wild & Sons silica brick works at Holyhead Breakwater Park which made heat resistant bricks and furnace linings.

The 1861 magazine for the earlier fog gun at North Stack fog station and the later 1895 electric fog siren that used a bank of 35 Tannoy Triple Frequency speakers that could send a chord siren over 6 nautical miles. It was disused in 1986.

Somehow missed the North Stack 1857 fog station on previous visits. You have to be on the more precipitous coastal path route to find it. Got the shock of my life when an old chap who looked just like a Victorian station keeper came out with an Alsatian dog - thought it was disused and empty.

Ahh, great season 2 of Fallout is back 🙂

The entrance to Caer y Twr hillfort on Holyhead Mountain. The white quartzite stone walls survive to over 2 metres in height in places. #HillfortsWednesday

Remains of the 1810 mail signal station on Mynydd Twr, Holyhead which was upgraded in 1841 into a telegraph station for the Holyhead to Liverpool Telegraph. A message could be sent in 5 minutes between these locations using this 2 flag system. It was disused in 1858 when electric systems took over.

Lola enjoyed the rock scrambling on Mynydd Twr today - flat out on the sofa 😁

Up with the Choughs on Holyhead Mountain and perambulating the white wall circuit of one of our favourite hillforts, Caer y Twr. Had to make the most of the sunshine ☀️ back to rain and gales tomorrow.

Playtime 🙂

BLOODY AI,a thread:so, I saw a picture online of the Towers of Perugia by a Renaissance artist, Benedetto Bonfigli whose other work I know a little bit. Here is the image 1/n:

Blimey 😧 I like historical dramas that are gritty and realistic but this series is on another level. Based on real events in Utah during to so-called Mormon War when the US govt sent in troops to quell a potential Mormon rebellion & investigate a Mormon massacre of settlers. It is very good but 😨

A classic and still relevant work from 1970. Everything from 1492 to 1860 is crammed into one very short chapter, but that’s probably because the native tribes had no recorded voice up to that point. From 1860 onwards it’s a tragic tale of massacre & movement & what we would call genocide now.

Picked up a copy of Aled Rhys Hughes Cwm Eigiau exhibition book of photographs from Offline photography magazine ahead of hopefully seeing the exhibition at Ffotogaleri y Gofeb in Machynlleth over the holiday. Still some copies available here.. offlinejournal.bigcartel.com/product/cata...

The daylight Moon looks like it has been blasted into disintegration in the cloud today

All of the Wagtails out feeding today, Long-tailed Tits flitting through the treetops and Meadow Pipits finding easy worms rising from saturated soil.

Sundown out the back

Christmas tree is up 🎄🙂 Got quite emotional putting it up as everything was packed away as Gill and I had left it 2 years back (didn’t put it up last year) and Gill always loved Christmas. I think she would be happy the tree is up again and the new warm copper coloured LEDs look great 🎄

Hania Rani playing live at Mexico City this year - full concert in HD quality on YouTube here youtu.be/k38hEIoJu8g?...

Soundtrack to the day is the scraggy imported pheasants at Rhysnant farm getting blasted 😕 At least they won’t be passing on any avian flu.

Landmark British photographer Martin Parr dies aged 73

Lola is a great fan of the Kingdom wildlife series - she can’t understand why her ears aren’t that big 😁

The Penrhos Feilw standing stones, Holyhead, Anglesey #StandingStoneSunday

Listening to Merope after seeing them live at the Unitarian Chapel in Shrewsbury last night. Beautiful modern interpretations of Lithuanian folk songs 🎶

Very wet out there but nice to get out of the house

Nooo, it’s too big…oh OK then 🤣

Enjoying a read of Elizabeth Alker’s Everything We Do Is Music on a rainy Saturday. Have to make the most of the quiet moments with a lively Border Collie 🙂

Lesser Back-backed Gulls dropping in for winter

A proper treat for you! 🎛️ New mini #BBCRadio3 series, every night this week 9.45pm #Electronicwomen From Daphne Oram to Laurie Anderson… only 15mins each night, before NightTracks kicks in HP x

Done my good deed for the day - there was a Blue Tit in distress with its wing glued to a sticky Horse Chestnut bud. I gently pulled the wing off the bud and it flew off 🙂 Haven’t seen that happen before.

Thought it odd that the Civilisations docu on Cleopatra last night failed to mention that Cleopatra’s 2 sons and daughter by Mark Antony survived and were taken to Rome. Her daughter, Cleopatra Selene, went on to become a queen in what is now Morocco/Algeria with Juba II and she had a son, Ptolemy.

Looking forward to seeing Merope play at the Unitarian Chapel in Shrewsbury on Saturday from 6.45pm. Only a few tickets left so if you want to hear some celestial folk/ambient/electronic reinterpretations of Lithuanian folk songs alongside Indre’s lovely vocals go here skiddle.com/deeplink?typ...