Well, much to my surprise I was successful in the election for the Board of Trustees for Exeter City Supporters' Trust! To everyone who stood for election, and to those who voted, thank you for contributing to a great campaign. The hard work starts now!

I am standing for election to the @ecfcst.bsky.social Trust Board, and voting is open to members until Friday 7th November. My manifesto can be found on this webpage: www.weownexetercityfc.co.uk/candidates-2... If you are an #ecfc Trust member, please give it a read, and vote for me!

POND WATER (a text from my mum, that I have turned into a poem) Bridget was round my neck All night I thought It was affection But I see from the weather That she was just Sucking the warmth from me She smelled Just like pond water We have the plumber Coming To fit a new shower

I read about an owl sanctuary that took in an young injured male owl and after it was released it would drop by semi-regularly with mice and shrews for the owls being cared for there

Almost certainly the best thing I was ever told about owls was when I met an owl handler at an owl sanctuary and he told me that the wild owls who lived near the sanctuary worried about the tame show owls there and sometimes stopped by to leave them shrews and mice as presents.

Here, @westcountryvoices.bsky.social have compiled my thread on the utterly bonkers mismanagement of Dartmoor into an easy-to-read article: westcountryvoices.co.uk/prepare-your...

Someone on Threads noticed you can type any random sentence into Google, then add “meaning” afterwards, and you’ll get an AI explanation of a famous idiom or phrase you just made up. Here is mine

Guys I’ve invented a proverb and on consideration it’s mildly problematic

In the Comic Timing dep't, feline division... (via @cosmonautroger on Tumblr)

Useful map within this article enabled me to confirm the blindingly obvious that St Leonards is Exeter's smoke hotpot. Some winter nights, it can be like stepping out into a Dickensian novel in my street. We have clean air legislation for a reason, it is time to strengthen and enforce it.

The first few bees have hatched - about a week or so earlier than usual. Probably due to the warmer weather.

House martin heard in Exeter (Devon UK) today. Summer on the way. #birds

Springtime in Exeter (Devon, UK), and the waiting game now starts for the solitary bees in my garden. It has been a fairly cold start to the year, so it could be another 3-4 weeks. I have a bit of an accommodation issue if they all hatch.

It's hard to believe this is happening. The Dartington Trust, here in South Devon, is behaving like Donald Trump: it seems to have no conception of the value it is destroying. This is its latest act of mindless vandalism. What the hell is going on? www.agroforestry.co.uk/save-darting...

This was us sixty years ago! A lot has changed since the 1960s but we're still here providing a safe, warm community hub full of culture & learning for the community of Exeter. To learn more about the history of the library, see our blog - Sleuthing in the Stacks: tinyurl.com/yc7khywb

Fisherman's Arms, Plymouth pub cat #pubcat

Had a fun evening down in the away end at Plymouth this evening!

Makes me feel old thinking about how long ago it was that I went to Leicester's old ground for that match. (And the matches after that, as we got to the quarters that season).

4th round here we come. #ecfc

The "Magic of the FA Cup". So far. #ecfc

Wordle 1,290 1/6 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 It had to happen one day.

Good to see Crama back and Jake Richards starting. Chance for Bird to impress, but not sure he'll take it #ecfc

Another pre-match pint in the Bowling Green. This time, a pint of Salcombe "Belgica", a kind of malty Beligian style beer. Very drinkable, but at 5%, I couldn't have too many. #ecfc

The most hopeful chart in the world - and its evil twin edconway.substack.com/p/the-most-h...

Pre-match pint in the Bowling Green today. #ecfc

This pub has a "wall of fame" for customers' dogs. More pubs should do this.

Well, so far, so good. Game is on, and spoilt for choice of pubs in Stockport. #ecfc

Turf Moor, Burnley. Proper Floodlights.

Subject to #StormDarragh, I should be at Stockport tomorrow for the Grecians' match there #ecfc. But ahead of that, am already in the north-west for Burnley - Middlesbrough.

This grey day is a good time to remember there are just 13 million seconds* till the swifts get back *give or take

Lewes FC v Canvey Island coming up with the goods yesterday

Very pleased to get one of these. Looks great, and I am a fan of @grindrod.bsky.social. Also, I once managed the Highways Agency's relationship with the service area operators, and it was one of the more enjoyable and unexpectedly interesting parts of the job.

ON OUR RADAR // St Leonard’s Christmas Fair 2024 🎄🛍️ Community-run market returns for thirteenth year with festive food, music and gifts. 🗓️ Sun 7 December 🕑 2-6pm 📍 Magdalen Road exeterobserver.org/2024/11/15/m...

Devon sent: a short, epic train ride into the wintry wonders of the Exe estuary. It's a lovely stretch of railway and a great cycle ride. #devon #exeter - #topsham - #exmouth www.theguardian.com/travel/2024/...

Another night under the lights at SJP. Tough task tonight #ecfc

Always love swinging by the museum in Exeter to have a look at the Seaton Down Hoard display, which just so happened to be discovered by my Dad and his metal detector! 22888 Roman coins, the largest hoard found in Devon, and the third largest found in Britain!

Here’s a short story about who wins and loses from the status quo of our inheritance tax rules - and about, what you might politely call ‘sub-optimal’ journalism🧵

Bluesky is quadrupling the size of its moderation team. It plans to grow the team to 100 to oversee its community of 22M+ users. www.platformer.news/bluesky-grow...

reindeer mode

For too long fossil fuel giants have had largely unlimited budgets to greenwash their dirty reputations - they’ve spent over £4 billion on sports partnerships alone . lovera.ge/ban-ffa

Scottish wildlife

New Substack: on corrupt architect John Poulson’s banned memoir, my new motorway services themed pamphlet, and some Couch to 100k non fiction writing tips johngrindrod.substack.com/p/1974-and-a...

It has snowed in Chicago and YOU KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS! Time to remind everyone that we light our train tracks on fire to prevent the switches from freezing.

“Bluesky is an echo chamber!” Our Reply: Echo chamber? Nah, we prefer to call it surround sound for facts.

Readership of my Substack is up by a third since switching over here, in case you were wondering how it's working out, engagement-wise.

Thinking about those on the streets right now. Help rough sleepers by donating to the amazing St Petrock's below..... #exeter #homelessness

My 3 year old yesterday: when will it snow? Me: Sweetie, it doesn’t really snow in Exeter. Maybe once every 5 years. Today…😳

Lavender update #UKsnow