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
I went further afield than normal for a walk today: I started in Harby, the easternmost village in Nottinghamshire, where in November 1290 Eleanor of Castile, beloved wife of Edward I, died at the manor house belonging to Richard de Weston. The site of the manor is now a field behind the church. 1/3
Good piece on some of the diarist’s haunts from @londonist.com. We are left in no doubt about what kind of man he was: ‘…I did entertain myself with my perspective glass [a kind of telescope] up & down the church, by which I had the great pleasure of seeing & gazing at a great many very fine women…’
The London of Samuel Pepys
A guest post on the famous diarist's London haunts.
londonist.substack.com
This is worth a read (and if your first instinct is to save it for later, you really need to read it now…)
How Saving Replaced Reading
Save-for-later doesn't always turn into reading later.
cardcatalogforlife.substack.com
Late stroll. Tyre-tracks coming out of a gate are memories of past journeys dawning. A flattened plastic bottle is like a squashed cartoon character waiting to bounce back. Clouds like lava divert sunshine down sloping rays both ways, creating an isosceles in the sky. @imcmillan.bsky.social
A few days ago we had rain forecast here this week. Now there’s none due for another ten days. ☹️
I’m confident that Lev is too interesting to have many dull, mundane facts to list, but this theory needs testing hard. So please like his post.
Lev Parikian@levparikian.bsky.social · 2d ago1 like = 1 completely dull mundane fact about me
Late stroll. Parched grass has forgotten how to be green; warm wind whispers of autumn relief to come. A white feather dances alone in the gutter. The sun dazzles from behind its frosted cloud. A black snake along the path, where once was a trench. A rubber band ovals limply. @imcmillan.bsky.social
Late stroll. A black square with a yellow border has landed on the pavement. That TV aerial is hosting a pigeon conference. Parallel angled rays emerge from cloud-holes. A Give Way sign pops up surprised from a hedge. As I cross a road, the markings glide under me. @imcmillan.bsky.social
For women's music to stay in the repertoire, we don't just need recordings. We also need score publication, composer info & advocacy. So I'm delighted to announce the launch of UNHEARD HERITAGE, a recording initiative marrying research & performance leahbroad.substack.com/p/announcing...
The highest quality video of the moon was just released… this is simply so beautiful.💫💫💫
Matchday. After 3 months cooling off from last season’s calamity by ignoring #LCFC, I’ve cautiously had a look at how things have been going, and (at least on the pitch) it’s…not too bad? So this evening’s final pre-season friendly v (Serie A’s) Genoa will be intriguing, with lots of new faces. 🦊💙
Late stroll. A high-viz jacket on a carseat crosses its arms pensively. Shadows paint stripes on the yellow handrail, letting tigers hide. A small scooter carries a small person at big speed. Clouds with shadowed linings mess up the paleblue sky. An orange spiralpeel. @imcmillan.bsky.social
Son’s graduation today. I like graduation ceremonies - in a world of bad things they are an unapologetic celebration of something good: lots of people’s hard work and achievement. And today is also the definitive end of nearly 19 years when we’ve had offspring in full-time education… 👨🎓
UEFA spokesperson Dietmar Fumm said to reporters "This decision effectively signals that Gianni Infantino is an enemy of world football". tl;dr: FIFA "foe" - Fumm
Early stroll. A dropped bottle top, bright red. Time measured in cats running. An enigmatic teaspoon. Ghost hooves canter around the betting shop. The sky-high sky.
Late stroll: A wooden fence speeds backwards as I stroll forwards. A waiting room chair waits waitingly on a drive. A distant train swooshes. An ambulance wails past in anguish. A pale pink hat sits forlornly on a fence. A man walks into a lowhanging branch and grins. @imcmillan.bsky.social
ME: let's pretend to be composers ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER: okay, I shall portray Franz Lizst ME: do you know the trouble I've been to for this joke?
British democracy in action: the 34 candidates in the Clacton by-election.
The candidates standing in the Clacton by-election
The full list of candidates who have declared they intend to fight the Clacton by-election.
bbc.co.uk
Late stroll. Every branch of ivy gesticulates in the wind, like a crowd of silent declamators. A man is patiently loading Windows into a skip. The pride of orange-hatted bins lines the path, awaiting the next meal. A big rock on the verge seems to hide its face shyly. @imcmillan.bsky.social
Back to the Royal Albert Hall tonight to see the BBCSO and Sakari Oramo once more, this time in the UK premiere of Turnage’s Festen Suite (I was at the premiere of the opera last year), Britten’s Cello Symphony with Guy Johnston and Sibelius’s ever-popular (for good reason) Second Symphony. 🎶
