Hugh Pumphrey
@hughpumphrey.bsky.social
Retired from Sch. of GeoSciences, Uni. of Edinburgh, UK. Still works a bit on https://mls.jpl.nasa.gov/ . Walking, singing, Linux, bellringing, astronomy, geology, geophysics and meteorology. Dislikes extreme right or leftwing politics and nationalism.
River Tyne in Haddington as flat as a mirror last night. (I was there at dinner time to run the ringing for the installation of the new minister at @stmaryskirk.bsky.social .)
I have lived in several counties. Cambridgeshire: Cyclotron or other particle accelerator. Midlothian: The 1pm gun off of #Edinburgh castle. Cheshire: Spud gun firing local new potatoes. East Lothian: Trebuchet.
Guy Bloux@guyroux.bsky.social · 2d agoBritish people: what should be designated as the state weapon of your county?
I am British, but I am also an @olemiss.bsky.social graduate so I am now continually refreshing apnews.com/projects/ele... to see which way the Mississippi senate race is going to go. Waffer theen as a waffer theen mint.
2026 Midterm Election Results: Senate, House and Governor Races
Live results for the 2026 midterm election. Track U.S. Senate, House, and governor races with real-time vote counts, maps and race calls from AP.
apnews.com
As a long-time armchair #liverpool fan (who is therefore contractually obliged to dislike ManU intensely) I find myself very much endorsing this post. #lfc #redsky
Steven Rajam@stevenrajam.bsky.social · 3d agoI spent the 90s hating Man Utd so it's quite discombobulating to find myself genuinely admiring how this absolute exploding clown car of a football team has just abruptly whizzed off down the motorway on three wheels at 100mph, exhaust farting away, outrunning a Ferrari
Normally I can't be bothered posting food that I cooked, but I am moderately smug about how this tarte tatin turned out.
Definitely worth a read. (Thanks to @oddthisday.bsky.social and others for the pointer.) lucyallengoss.substack.com/p/we-are-not...
We are not the granddaughters of the witches you couldn't burn: why the myth of 'lost women's healing knowledge' needs to go.
It is Halloween, and I am seeing a whirl of posts about witches, so here’s a quick post.
lucyallengoss.substack.com
One compensation of this time of year is the parade of splendid sunrises, at a time of day when I am awake to photograph them.
Hugh Pumphrey@hughpumphrey.bsky.social · last wk.Five days later and the sunrise has moved about 7 solar angular diameters away from the lighthouse. (Photos taken on 24 and 29 October.) Next obvious landmark: the nuclear power station.
It is that time when the last few fruits are harvested from the garden. (🧵) These tomatoes came out of the greenhouse yesterday and there are likely to be only a few more.
Mr Wren disapproves of this development VERY LOUDLY.
Jon Dunn@dunnjons.bsky.social · 7d agoNo no no no NO! Just seen the 2026 AviList updates. Wren has been changed from Troglodytes troglodytes to 'Nannus troglodytes'. Nannus? I don't bloody think so. Forever Troglodytes. And this is the hill I will die on.
I like big butts and I cannot lie, You Georgian ladies can't deny. (Srsly, hit the "quotes" link and read all of the other quote-posts; some of them are gold.)
The Independent@the-independent.com · last wk.Netflix’s Pride and Prejudice hands Jane Austen’s iconic line to one of its characters for the first time
Lighting becomes cheaper due to John Healey's budget . . .
Royal Institution@rigb.org · last wk.If you're ever in a pickle and need to fashion a light source, consider this: a gherkin lamp 🥒 Dan from the Ri Demo Team shows us how the sodium in a pickled gherkin glows in a warm orange light when electricity runs through it. Watch the full talk:https://youtube.com/watch?v=5XOQ-wFF_P4
Five days later and the sunrise has moved about 7 solar angular diameters away from the lighthouse. (Photos taken on 24 and 29 October.) Next obvious landmark: the nuclear power station.
Hugh Pumphrey@hughpumphrey.bsky.social · 2w ago20 days later and the sunrise has moved round as far as the lighthouse (visible in the image in the quoted post to the right of the telegraph pole and below the wires). Winter is settling in 🙁.
Massive round of applause for referring to the loathsome Mr. Yaxley-Lennon as "Ewok Powell". 👏👏👏👏👏👏👏
Marlowe_UK@irishdreamer.bsky.social · last wk.Ewok Powell found guilty. Hopefully he’s facing a long stretch in one of His Majesty’s HMO’s.
Slightly-past-full moon setting into the Earth's shadow and a faint belt of Venus.
This from @carolecadwalla.bsky.social is worth a read. But if you are going to cough up for a wind-up radio, you had better make sure that it receives DAB and preferably DAB+ as well, because the BBC is closing down the AM transmitter network. (1/3)
Carole Cadwalladr@carolecadwalla.bsky.social · 2w agoNEW: Trump is a Russian asset. And the UK government is finally waking from its decade-long slumber Read this. And order a wind-up radio. broligarchy.substack.com/p/the-dark-t...
20 days later and the sunrise has moved round as far as the lighthouse (visible in the image in the quoted post to the right of the telegraph pole and below the wires). Winter is settling in 🙁.
Hugh Pumphrey@hughpumphrey.bsky.social · last mo.Sunrise has now definitely moved south of that roof and is visible from the bedroom window. By midwinter it will be well off the right edge of the picture, behind the cement works.
This is presumably good news. But why did anyone want a golf course out here? There are courses near far greater centres of population which are closing due to too few golfers (e.g. Whitekirk, East Lothian and Frodsham, Cheshire). There are already courses at nearby Brora, Golspie and Dornoch.
Ramblers Scotland@ramblersscotland.bsky.social · 2w ago📣 Coul Links is saved! We're hugely relieved that Scottish Ministers today turned down a bid to turn these globally-protected Highland dunes into an 18-hole golf course. Up to 7 holes would have crossed the John o' Groats Trail, and it would have permanently harmed the experience for walkers.
Saw this fat boy at Fort George near Inverness and thought @arsecannonpics.bsky.social might like it. (Not an Arsenal fan but I do enjoy the long series of cannon photos.)
Here is the promised thread. We drove the 500 anti-clockwise, staying at Strathpeffer, Gairloch, Kinlochbervie, Wick and (on the way home) at Carrbridge. No roadside pooping was done.
Hugh Pumphrey@hughpumphrey.bsky.social · 2w agoNC500? Completed it, mate. Weather kinda like this 3 days out of 4. Expect a thread of photos when I have time to sit at my computer. (Photo looking W from Knockan Crag, just N of Ullapool.)
NC500? Completed it, mate. Weather kinda like this 3 days out of 4. Expect a thread of photos when I have time to sit at my computer. (Photo looking W from Knockan Crag, just N of Ullapool.)
Go to your camera, search for "boat" and post one that you like. I snapped this handsome tug some time ago, in San Francisco.
Jo Kibble (Political Animal)@politicanimal.bsky.social · 3w agoGo to your camera and search ‘boat’ and post one that you like. #photography
This. I disagree with @snp.org on almost everything, but even they are right sometimes. They are right on this; other Scottish and UK parties should follow their lead.
James Alexander@jmsalxdr.bsky.social · 3w agoI’m not a fan of the Scottish Nationalist Party, but voting in favour of removing themselves and the Scottish Government from Musk’s X is undeniably a good thing.
Check this out from @rhiannongiddens.bsky.social --- it is utterly charming. For some reason it is making my eyes water in the way that a passing steam train does, but actual sad things don't.
Barbara Waxer 🌈 @barbara-waxer.bsky.social · 3w agoWhen Grammy-winning musician Rhiannon Giddens begins playing “Old Corn Liquor,” a traditional Black American folk tune, acclaimed Chinese pipa virtuoso Wu Man recognizes similarities to Chinese pentatonic music and spontaneously joins in. The joy on their faces says it all.
This whole thread . . . (41 years ago I was in the last year of my degree at @jesuscollegecam.bsky.social with very little access to TV; I had not seen the video until I went to look at it on YouYube just now.)
Odd This Day@oddthisday.bsky.social · 3w agoMy apologies to anyone else who’s old enough not to want to be reminded just how fucking long ago it was, but: today is the 41st anniversary of the release of Cloudbusting—so it must be time to tell you about Wilhelm Reich and his orgasmatron...
Maybe have a go at rip-off public transport fees to airports too? Edinburgh trams cost £2.40 for a single anywhere on the line except for the last 500m to the airport. A ticket including the airport is £7.90. (Devolved, so it is @snp.org 's job, but I bet there are similar cases in England.)
Chris Dale@chrisdaleoxford.bsky.social · 3w agoEasy win for Burnham if he takes on the airport parking shysters. But why have a 12-month review? Start tomorrow with a £1 an hour cap and give them a year to make the case for more.
It is worth using 85 seconds of your time to watch this.
GylesNaMopaleen@gylesnamopaleen.bsky.social · 3w agoThis is quite extraordinary. I don't think I have heard a more coherent, articulate and accurate deconstruction & demolition of Nigel Farage's ReformUK, Tory & Restore policy than this. In under 85 seconds! @rafaelbehr.bsky.social is on here folks and worth a follow.
F**k me that's clever. And bang on the nose.
Megan Herbert@meganjherbert.bsky.social · 3w agoBrilliant work by @mackinnonart.bsky.social
Made it to the summit of Scafell Pike on Sunday. My 62yo leg muscles and cardiovascular system got me to the top with no trouble, but my 62yo knees protested horribly about getting me down again. A 🧵of photos because it is a long time since I was last up; longer since I got a clear view (1/8)
This, but also: stop using Twitter aka X. And I am talking to the UK govt, parliament ( @houseofcommons.parliament.uk , @houseoflords.parliament.uk ) and political parties. ( @libdems.org.uk are at least on here; where are Labour and Tories?)
4fuxake@blueheartedly1.bsky.social · 4w agoThis 👇
