The village pond

I’ve been working on an article for the past four days. It’s just not hanging together - the argument doesn’t work. So I’m giving up on it. It’s the first time I’ve abandoned a piece of writing.

Present from No.1 grandsprog, which I’m extraordinarily pleased with ☺️

Exciting‼️Our article on the implications of predictive analytics for families is free to access through to Sept 2026, as part of @brisunipress.bskyb.social 💻 Student Reading List collection of social work scholarship: bristoluniversitypressdigital.com/subject/Jour... ⬇️

Journal highlights Sociology

Journal highlights Sociology

bristoluniversitypressdigital.com

Exciting‼️Our article on the implications of predictive analytics for families is free to access through to Sept 2026, as part of @brisunipress.bskyb.social 💻 Student Reading List collection of social work scholarship: bristoluniversitypressdigital.com/subject/Jour... ⬇️

Journal highlights Sociology

Journal highlights Sociology

bristoluniversitypressdigital.com

A wonderful slab preserving hundreds of ammonites of different sizes. #Paleontology #Fossils #Ammonites

Hhaaa haa haa . . . wheez. . . Haaha haa haaa (Click on 'more replies' to read to the end)

Tom Cox@dj-acid-reflux.bsky.social · last wk.

THREAD. In today's exclusive newspaper interview the actor, influencer and designer Philippa Islington-Smythe (pictured) discusses the price of fame, her controversial new perfume, working with Margot Robbie and how becoming a parent changed her perspective on the world... (more in alt text)

When my wife did chemo and radiation, she would go outside once or twice a day and shed the hair as it all fell out. Today, seven months later, we just found a nest a bird (likely a wren) made out of her hair.

This is my gas stove. It’s around 70 years old. It’s cost £55 new. And it’s still good to cook on.

I’ve been standing stock still in this wood for about 10 minutes while I mess about with a photo on my phone. I look up, notice the shape, and slowly crouch down to film This has made me so happy I feel I could cry. It’s as close to magic as I hope to get.

The fight for the first rural council housing in England (in 1894) - led by FD Perrott, the 'Radical Vicar of Ixworth' and the Ixworth Agricultural Labourers’ Association. municipaldreams.substack.com/p/stow-road-...

Morning by the Ouse

What are the challenges of carrying out a research project over a period of 50 years? Charlotte Faircloth and co-authors @sriucl.bsky.social on motherhood, ethics and the intersection between research practices and social context. #OpenAccess @journals.sagepub.com buff.ly/3Z1i2Rw

I'm (briefly) discussing the idea of Transgenerational Epigenetic Inheritance in my new book and when it comes to human beings, this blogpost from 2018 still stands... www.wiringthebrain.com/2018/05/gran...

Grandma’s trauma – a critical appraisal of the evidence for transgenerational epigenetic inheritance in humans

Can molecular memories of our ancestors’ experiences affect our own behaviour and physiology? That idea has certainly...

wiringthebrain.com

Excited to share the conference webpage (plus provisional programme) for "Belonging to the Victorians? — Community, Collections, and Care" on 4 September 2026 at Wilton's Music Hall: belongingtothevictorians.uk Its free to attend and there are some spaces available to delegates not presenting!

Lucy Telles (1870-1956) with grandchild, basket weaver of Yosemite Miwok and Mono Lake Paiute descent #WomensArt

Annie French, Scottish painter, engraver, illustrator, and designer associated with the Glasgow School #WomensArt

Photographer Anna Boyiazis documented the Panje Project enabling Zanzibari girls to learn to swim despite limitations placed on females #womensart

'Cultivating the cosmic tree' by Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179) German Benedictine abbess, artist, writer, composer, philosopher #WomensArt

I love how nature and architecture can create their own frames. Here, the darkness of the tunnel surrounds a London Overground train as it departs Stoke Newington station.

This half-time break is going to be so long they’d almost be time to login to Manuscript Central.

For your convenience, the Pride and Prejudice live-posting super-thread 📚

Trung Le Nguyen@trungles.com · 2mo ago

So I’ve started Pride and Prejudice, and already I feel bad for Mrs Bennet.

#OtD 16 Jul 1978 a mass anti-racist sit-down protest occurred on the corner of Brick Lane and Bethnal Green Road in London's biggest Bengali community in an attempt to prevent fascist National Front literature from being sold stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/8792...

Morning Puffins :)

My adorable Mac Air is now in its teens (13 yrs old). Still use it.

From 'The writing in the sand' series by photographer Sirkka-Liisa Konttinen, documenting life on the beaches in the North East of England, 1973-1998 #WomensArt

The arm on NBA star Kelsey Plum, who throws a rolled-up jersey to her dad sitting in the upper bleachers. www.reddit.com/r/AbsoluteUn...

How to stay cool in a heatwave: advice from a mushroom 1. Lurk in the dark 2. Avoid direct sunlight 3. Avoid indirect sunlight 4. Okay just avoid all sunlight 5. Remember the lurking

In Brighton’s Open Market. Out of place and intriguing. Cabinets of Curious Stories Exhibition.