I’m at Portman Road for Ipswich Town vs Le Havre - a preseason friendly…

And so, I have something new to do as a member of the @libdems.org.uk Rural Communities policy working group. Here’s how it happened… liberalbureaucracy.blogspot.com/2026/07/rura...

It’s been a long time since I last worked alongside @aaemmerson.bsky.social and it’s probably fair to say that it’s a long way from Liberal Youth to a policy working group on Rural Communities, but there you go…

Farewell, Parish Council sector, hello… what, exactly?… liberalbureaucracy.blogspot.com/2026/07/a-tr...

Just to prove that I, and my blog, are still alive, I thought that I’d take a look back to 1989. It’s relevant, honest… liberalbureaucracy.blogspot.com/2026/07/long...

Reform UK want to waste your Council Tax money to delay the new Unitaries, sign up here to tell them no… www.southsuffolklibdems.org.uk/stopreformuk...

Back to my travels, as I relate a journey across Denmark… liberalbureaucracy.blogspot.com/2026/05/inte...

#interrail2026: day 3 - I'm sure that Denmark's lovely, but...

Flensburg lies at the head of an long inlet of the Baltic Sea, just south of the Danish border with Germany, and is probably most famous for...

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So, I’m no longer the Chair of Creeting St Peter Parish Council. That’s not to say that I’m not still busy… liberalbureaucracy.blogspot.com/2026/05/cree...

Creeting St Peter: putting the administrative stuff to rights, one task at a time...

In my eight years as Chair of the Parish Council, I've held a number of roles. At one point, I was Chair, Acting Clerk and Responsible Finan...

liberalbureaucracy.blogspot.com

So, trans people are going to be punished for what they are rather than what any individual does. It’s a reminder to the rest of us minorities that our rights aren’t necessarily secure and, that if we don’t conform, they could be taken away. Canary in the coal mine, anyone? 🏳️‍⚧️

I’ve rather failed to report back on my trip across Europe, and so it’s time to catch up with Antwerp to Flensburg, in which I reminisce about my youth, miss connections and walk… liberalbureaucracy.blogspot.com/2026/05/inte...

#interrail2026 - day 2: across the Low Countries to Schleswig Holstein

It's time to catch up with the trip now that I'm back, so le t's do just  that...   Early morning, Antwerp, and my first intention was to de...

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It’s apparently World Bee Day today, so here’s a photograph of a bee from my archive….

Creeting St Peter Parish Council meets, no injuries reported… liberalbureaucracy.blogspot.com/2026/05/cree...

Creeting St Peter: like Frank Sinatra, I’m doing it my way…

As I noted a few months ago, 2026 is a bit of a transitional year for this bureaucrat. I’m gently stepping back from the world of Parish Cou...

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After eight years, I am no longer the Chair of Creeting St Peter Parish Council. I am, in parts, sad, relieved and proud. It has been one of the greatest honours of my life to hold the position but, whilst it might seem irrelevant to some, I’ve made a difference, and not everyone can say that.

And…

And to celebrate my final stop on this possibly crazy journey… I am, I think, worth it… #interrail2026

Und so… welcome to German-speaking Belgium, where I have stopped on my way from Eindhoven to Brussels. I’m in Eupen, the “capital” of the German Community in Belgium, which has its own rather tasteful looking Parliament. #interrail2026

Well, this is amusing. My ICE train from Frankfurt to S’Hertogenbosch was due to stop at Moenchengladbach about 35 minutes ago, where it would then reverse before continuing its journey towards Amsterdam. However, we’re so late that we’ve stopped at Viersen, about four miles away,

A slight detour to reminisce… #interrail2026

Good morning, everyone, and greetings from Strasbourg! #interrail2026

And so, I’m on another train, leaving Linz for München. This is my seat for the next three hours or so… #interrail2026

So, I was supposed to be on a train to Feldkirch this morning, and yet, here I am, still in Linz, on a bridge over the Danube instead. #interrail2026

So, I’ve done the tour of the Budvar brewery here in České Budějovice, drunk the unfiltered, unpasteurised beer, seen the factory and even its little shunting locomotive.

So, what am I touring, and why was it worth a four hour, fifteen minute journey by train, rail replacement bus and another train?

And so, having left my luggage at the station, the true purpose of my visit to České Budějovice can be told. This train is taking me one stop, to České Budějovice severní zastávka for, hopefully, a tour.

The train to České Budějovice is described on the Interrail planning app as “Fast Train”. This is not strictly accurate, in that we switched to a rail replacement bus at Třebíč and reached Horní Cerekev before the train was scheduled to arrive there. #interrail2026

And so, another day begins, this time in **** (as @helenbelcherobe.bsky.social noted last year, we don’t talk about it), and here I am, after a leisurely breakfast, on the 9.44 České dráhy service to České Buděnovice. #interrail2026

Train beer! #interrail2026

Hmmm… we’ve crossed the border into the Czech Republic but our train has turned west towards Ostrava after Chalupki, instead of east towards Bohumin, as it is supposed to. I wonder what happens now? #interrail2026

I did wonder why a EuroCity train didn’t have first class, and now I know… EC307 from Wroclaw Glówny to Graz Hbf has just two aged carriages… #interrail2026