Jeremy Benson
@jembenson.bsky.social
Adviser @aqaeducation.bsky.social, MAT and @RSPH.bsky.social trustee, ex-senior civil servant; classical music, #LCFC 🦊, England⚽️🏏, walks, photos, words; husband, father, generally curious https://substack.com/@jembenson 📍 Leicestershire, UK
Late stroll. Twelve legs pass me, pushing the path behind them as they effort up the hill. An archipelago of rust is mapped on top of the bin. A group of pine cones has jumped to the ground & wonders what to do. The cooling air briskly sweeps up the last of the day. @imcmillan.bsky.social
2 September 1752. Britain replaced the Julian calendar with the Gregorian one which was used at the time in most of Europe. The following day was 14 September 1752, meaning 11 days were cut from the 1752 British calendar. These days simply never existed.
That strange, unfamiliar feeling of *winning a game*. It’s nice. We should try doing it more often… #LCFC 🦊💙
Matchday. Maybe today will be the day that the #LCFC season finally clicks into gear, and Russell Martin manages to get his players to win while playing within his tactical approach. Then again, maybe it won’t. 🦊💙
The stones my Grandfather knew: reflections on Herefordshire and its surrounds.
The stones my Grandfather knew
Some reflections on Herefordshire and the surrounding area, where my Dad grew up.
jembenson.substack.com
Late stroll. A backpack baby enjoys a juicy stream of fresh-picked blackberries from nowhere. Bright evening sun draws jagged long shadows with each ground-leaf. I am looked up and down sternly from a pushchair. A distant mountain-cloud pretends to loom. Autumn sidles. @imcmillan.bsky.social
With some villages there’s more to say than can be fitted in a post. So to exapnd a bit, Alice Wimborne - to whom Walton dedicated his (wonderfully lyrical) Violin Concerto - was the estranged wife of Viscount Wimborne, who commissioned Lutyens to work on the house & other buildings in the village.
Jeremy Benson@jembenson.bsky.social · 4d ago8. Ashby St Ledgers, N of Daventry. St Ledger (Leodegarius) was a C7th French martyr. Robert Catesby, whose family owned the manor, planned the Gunpowder Plot here. Architect Edwin Lutyens worked on the manor house. William Walton composed music at the manor, as his lover Alice Wimborne lived there.
The church spire at Little Brington seems to be, I don’t know, missing something…
The stones my Grandfather knew: reflections on Herefordshire and its surrounds.
The stones my Grandfather knew
Some reflections on Herefordshire and the surrounding area, where my Dad grew up.
jembenson.substack.com
With some villages there’s more to say than can be fitted in a post. So to exapnd a bit, Alice Wimborne - to whom Walton dedicated his (wonderfully lyrical) Violin Concerto - was the estranged wife of Viscount Wimborne, who commissioned Lutyens to work on the house & other buildings in the village.
Jeremy Benson@jembenson.bsky.social · 4d ago8. Ashby St Ledgers, N of Daventry. St Ledger (Leodegarius) was a C7th French martyr. Robert Catesby, whose family owned the manor, planned the Gunpowder Plot here. Architect Edwin Lutyens worked on the manor house. William Walton composed music at the manor, as his lover Alice Wimborne lived there.
Getting into the training for my new job, I came across a stile which has to be kept behind bars… @lakesstiles.bsky.social
Introduce yourself with 10 acts you’ve seen live: Cory Wong George Benson John Scofield Herbie Hancock Larry Adler Marcus Roberts Pat Metheny Patrick Bartley Take That Vulfpeck (Which doesn’t quite capture my musical taste, in truth, but an interesting list to compile, mostly inspired by my son)
Simon Knight@simonknight100.bsky.social · 4d agoIntroduce yourself with 10 acts you’ve seen live: Amy Winehouse Gorillaz Belle and Sebastian Stormzy Stornoway Dave Kendrick Lamar Koop Little Simz Nouvelle Vague
The church spire at Little Brington seems to be, I don’t know, missing something…
Ten years ago today I was at Trent Bridge for a record-breaking ODI against Pakistan: England reached 444-3 (including 43 4s and 16 6s), then the highest ever ODI score, with Alex Hales getting 171. Pakistan reached a creditable 275ao - Amir’s 58 remains the highest ODI score by a number 11. 🏏
To Bleddfa in Powys today for what’s turning into an annual visit to the Presteigne Festival. Looking forward to hearing the HearAndNow Collective play string quartets by Bacewicz, Robert Peate (who I’ve not come across before) and Beethoven. 🎶
Jeremy Benson@jembenson.bsky.social · last yr.I’m going to a concert at the #Presteigne Festival for the first time next week. My grandfather (who died before I was born) was the vicar there in the 1950s, and I wrote this after visiting the church and sitting there alone awhile a few years ago. @georgevass.bsky.social
Late stroll. After a festival of trimming, a memory of hedge lies on the path. In the car-park, rows of white lines are neatly parked, perfectly spaced. From here, that goal is a trio of triangles. A family of sunflowers poses for a still-life, ready for summer’s end. @imcmillan.bsky.social
This looks like some sort of optical illusion. It’s not. It’s just a tiny door. If anyone has any idea what it’s for, I’d be intrigued to know.
Jeremy Benson@jembenson.bsky.social · 7d ago#AdoorableThursday Cold Higham
Five years+a few days ago, I set off on a 24-hour bus odyssey that would turn out to be the first of many occasional public transport challenges. (Origin story here for newbies www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-engl...) Well, I couldn’t let that milestone pass without a new bus jolly. From 4pm, it’s #BusCity24
London council worker's bus odyssey sparks Twitter storm
Jo Kibble got from London to Morecambe in a day on public buses - "a great way to see the country".
bbc.co.uk
Long timpani-rolls of distant thunder here, never quite ready to finish, portending a day of welcome rain. Thankfully I am wfh and can enjoy it all through an open window. 🌧️
Tbf I’ve been at human football matches not that different from this.
Ian Dunt@iandunt.bsky.social · last wk.If you worry alot about AI, China's Robot Olympics is here to reassure you that things are going to be OK.
Late stroll. A sunset plays for me. The park is poignantly dark and empty; warm weeks ago it was bright and full. A cat silhouette struts and frets, its lit house a theatre for the gloomy pavement stalls before the curtain falls. A shadow wind-shudders on the path. @imcmillan.bsky.social
Dolly Parton's Imagination Library gifted more than 332,000,000 books since it was first created 31 years ago.