Interesting analysis from the excellent pollster and analyst @sundersays.bsky.social

Sunder Katwala (sundersays)@sundersays.bsky.social · 9mo ago

I seem to be the main psephologist of this unsuccessful attempt to make electoral capital from this culture war skirmish in the tea rooms of the National Trust, despite its value as a political science case study bsky.app/profile/sund...

A sweet twist to this tale: when Husband started to flag our 18 year old son, who spent a childhood on & off the GOSH blood cancer ward, ran alongside his dad, in jeans and anorak, & kept him running until he saw the finish. I feel like a non-elite version of the Brownlees’ Mam.

Celia Richardson@celiarichardson.bsky.social · 11mo ago

Husband just did a marathon for Great Ormond St. They saw one of our sons through aggressive leukaemia & the other through complications of extreme prematurity. Legends. As is he, for doing it in 3h17 at his age. Nice to see London streets being pounded for good causes today.

Can I just say thanks to everyone here who lets me know when they’ve had a good scone or bit of cake at a National Trust place (apparently Winkworth’s sausage rolls are enjoying an epochal moment). It’s v reassuring, especially on bleak weekends. There’ll always be an England 🫡

Husband just did a marathon for Great Ormond St. They saw one of our sons through aggressive leukaemia & the other through complications of extreme prematurity. Legends. As is he, for doing it in 3h17 at his age. Nice to see London streets being pounded for good causes today.

Telegraph headline this morning: ‘National Trust branded a ‘disgrace’ for tearing down flag.’ What is disgraceful about protecting the nation’s monuments from harm? They belong to past, current and future generations. They are protected from alteration and damage by law.

Also. FAO Daily Telegraph: this is the Penshaw Monument, not the Pembroke Monument. Penshaw is in the North East of England. Pembroke is in West Wales. They’re about 350 miles apart.

Celia Richardson@celiarichardson.bsky.social · 11mo ago

Telegraph headline feels inflammatory - there's no tearing, just careful removal of a flag from a grade 1 listed historic monument that belongs to the nation.

Telegraph headline feels inflammatory - there's no tearing, just careful removal of a flag from a grade 1 listed historic monument that belongs to the nation.

Steve isn’t just any beaver. He’s a National Trust beaver 🦫 www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Beaver wild releases in England follow Steve's Great Escapes

As England begins wild releases of beavers, some animals just cannot wait for freedom - or love.

bbc.co.uk

Something to warm the hearts of all those who like a gentle walk, a warm scone, a kindly atmosphere and a nice sit down: the young people are coming National Trust heartened by surge in young members www.thetimes.com/article/7cd8...

National Trust heartened by surge in young members

Some 40,000 people aged 18-25 signed up in the past year as research suggests young adults are showing more interest in culture, heritage and history

thetimes.com

Thank you for all the suggestions for attracting more hot men to the National Trust. My favourite so far was getting Hot Priest to come and hide out in some of our priest holes. If anyone knows Andrew Scott please can you raise the idea with him - just casually.

Celia Richardson@celiarichardson.bsky.social · 11mo ago

Customer feedback this week; ‘Please can you get some more diversity at the National Trust by encouraging more hot men to visit.’ Ideas for how we do this v welcome. Nothing too racy please - we are the National Trust not the National Tryst.

Customer feedback this week; ‘Please can you get some more diversity at the National Trust by encouraging more hot men to visit.’ Ideas for how we do this v welcome. Nothing too racy please - we are the National Trust not the National Tryst.

Of the many things one might agree with Winston Churchill about, booze and jumpsuits are near the top for me. I’m delighted that the National Trust looks after this fabulous velvet number at his home in Kent. Chartwell is a great day out.

This week on Instagram the National Trust launched a good news account. According to our sources millions of us urgently need it. Our first good news is about seahorses. And then there’s the kestrels. Pop across there and looks cos there’s also guillemots. Honestly.

The warm feeling when you don’t see a very old friend as much as you used to and then he asks you to be emergency contact for his cocker spaniel. (And then you work out it’s your husband he actually trusts in emergencies).

Ladies is there anything nicer than sharing a hotel room with your dearest sisters and getting ready together?

“People were worried it would be sold to developers. It was so touching that local people came and donated, some just coins or a fiver. It meant so much to them.” How the British coast was kept accessible to all, by thousands of ordinary people. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

National Trust celebrates 60 years of coastal project Enterprise Neptune

Campaign has raised more than £114m since 1965 to protect sites such as Wembury Point in Devon

theguardian.com

Uh oh. Big screen in the National Trust office is now streaming PuffinCam. You can watch all the live action on the Farne Islands from a desk in Swindon. How are we supposed to work with this going on? It’s like Oscars night on a loop, but with better outfits and manners.

I woke up in a Sussex hotel and this was outside my window. It felt like home

You’ve got to hand it to Tupperware. So versatile. National Trust rangers do this year’s puffin weigh-in on the Farne Islands

When the Sycamore Gap tree was cut down in 2023 it felt inevitable that the Daily Telegraph would publish this headline. You can publish anything if you add ‘locals say.’

This By Mark Brown

No matter how busy you are, you should always take 5 minutes to stop and watch a nest of great-tits leaving home. With the Mam frantically shouting instructions and everyone bumping into things. What a privilege and a joy.

The analysis by Whitehall officials provides no data or research to back up the government’s central argument that it is environmental legislation that holds up building. www.theguardian.com/environment/...

UK government admits almost no evidence nature protections block development

Whitehall analysis provides no data or research to support the government argument that environmental legislation holds up building

theguardian.com

I have just learned that today is Sauvignon Blanc Day. I can’t believe the National Trust doesn’t celebrate this in some way 🧐

Oh! Nigel Havers is also a Londoner who taps on people’s car windows and asks them to switch off their engines and gets told to fuck off. I no longer feel alone. I am among the stars www.theguardian.com/film/2025/ap...

‘I hum the Chariots of Fire theme all day, every day’: Nigel Havers on beach-running, playing Michael Caine’s son and hating his name

The quintessential English actor answers your questions about being posh, appearing on I’m a Celebrity, and asking parked motorists to turn off their engines

theguardian.com

Financial independence among civil society organisations is paramount when they come under pressure. Many good ones in the UK have found themselves unable to resist pressure cos of finance. A lesson for our sector - take care of your fundraisers & commercial teams www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

How Harvard’s pushback against Trump may embolden more US resistance

It may be a turning point in the White House’s attempt to gut allegedly liberal universities and punish law firms

theguardian.com

That episode of Friends when Monica’s credit cards are stolen and the bills show that the thief has a better social life than her. Well my air pods were stolen recently. I keep checking them on findmy. Right now they’re out on Great Titchfield Street while I’m home reading.

Overseas pressure groups targeting civil society in the UK is something that urgently needs more scrutiny. The National Trust has frequently been campaigned against via a group whose directors and funders are thousands of miles away. www.theguardian.com/books/2025/a...

Librarians in UK increasingly asked to remove books, as influence of US pressure groups spreads

Anecdotal evidence suggests a rise in requests to take books off shelves, particularly LGBTQ+ titles

theguardian.com

I’m being offered ‘a bunch of fresh perspectives’ by the Telegraph. I almost spat out my morning cup of wokery and licence fee rage. .

Yep. Depressing. You’d think we could at least have sovereignty over our own astroturf.

The Dreaded Lurgy@thedreadedlurgy.bsky.social · last yr.

It's broadly the same people funding that on both sides of the Atlantic.