Mark Nelson
@sphericalsquare.bsky.social
CTO in ecommerce. Cycling & active travel at the weekends.
‘Tice said, however, that it was “not surprising no one reads the FT”, adding: “it’s so boring”.’ www.ft.com/content/4abf...
Reform repaid Tice loan on same day £1mn donated by mother of Farage aide Cottrell
Transactions fuel criticism of the party’s lack of transparency over its financing
ft.com
Seriously, viewer discretion is definitely advised on this latest one from Durham Police. The top comments are that it's the sort of thing that should be compulsory viewing in schools for 17 & 17 year olds, and I'm inclined to agree. www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYut...
"It was always going to happen." | Charlie's driving killed Abbie. It was her 18th birthday.
YouTube video by Durham Constabulary
youtube.com
Good News! The Government has announced it'll be much easier to contribute to the causes of drought and heatwaves and much quicker to escape the bits of the country that are on fire thanks to 100,000 extra ✈️ flights per year from one airport. 😶 www.gov.uk/government/n...
Gatwick to open second runway as government wins legal challenge
From 2030, Gatwick Airport's expansion is expected to enable up to 100,000 additional flights a year, increasing passenger choice and boosting airline competition.
gov.uk
It's always the cyclists making drivers break the speed limit 🙄
Jack Fifield@jackfifield.uk · 2d agoIf she had been driving slower she would have had more time to react to the "confusion"
Driver with 59 points on licence complains about being targeted by police. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Lincolnshire driver with 59 points on his licence avoids jail
Iain Ashmore, of Witham St Hughs, was caught driving on three occasions despite being disqualified.
bbc.co.uk
The sunniest July on record led to my best July solar generation so far and only 1kWh less than June this year. It meant about 9 days⚡more at my normal usage than my next best July, which was 2022. Good for small energy bills, but otherwise a little concerning.
Met Office - weather and climate@metoffice.gov.uk · 3d agoJuly 2026 was an exceptional month for the UK's climate statistics, with records challenged or broken for rainfall, temperature and sunshine. Read more in our press release ⤵️ www.metoffice.gov.uk/about-us/new...
Totally normal things to be doing to keep your reliable baseload power… reliable 💥
I cycled along some quiet, even for Northumberland, roads today. The section picture was great. I got a good 30 minutes of mostly flat, entirely car free, wind assisted riding with only a few sheep wondering what I was doing. Then I got to the café and had cake. Glorious.
Bordeaux, France, has now recorded more days above 40°C in 2026 alone than during the entire 105-year period from 1920 (when observations began) to 2025. This is deeply shocking.
Today a driver told me to cycle in the road before threatening to 'rip your f***ing head off' 😱 All I did was to politely point out they shouldn't be driving and parking in a protected cycle lane 🙄 Oddly, about an hour later I cycled past the perfect representation of the driver's mind 👇🏻
✅ Anybody who cycles through Heaton will be pleased to see the cycle symbols highlighting the cycle route through the modal filter on Spencer Street have been repainted. ❌This one is a little further forward than previously as the untaxed car still blocking the filter is over the original marking.
Public attitudes to infrastructure in a nutshell - everyone agrees water companies should invest. I am looking at a consultation response for a water company investing in a pipeline. Every single option is majority opposed. 'Things should be better but nothing should change'.
I'm visiting family in the south. The heat feels similar to that when getting off a plane at an airport in Greece, just with the extra allure that only getting off a bus at Milton Keynes can provide.
Why park in the available space when you can park 5 metres further back across a cycle lane and drop kerb? Had to deploy the 🔔 to get their attention away from their 📱.
This disingenuous commentary doesn’t help anyone. Frauds start unravelling pretty quickly. That you apparently cannot afford to put your oven or treat yourself is quickly undermined by the question “so why are you spending £50 per week on petrol?” Then, it turns out, she has an agent and /1
Ash@queerash.bsky.social · 2w agoElaine in this article "can't remember the last time she used her oven" but also spends £200 a month on petrol (so driving probably ~50 miles a day?) (she's also a professional old person; she was on Good Morning Britain last year, and then also at the Nov budget, and the year before lmao)
A fine example of why the BBC should not publish vox-pops (“‘Bus fare cut is no good for those who drive’ says Durham man” is literally the headline here) without challenge or context. Buses, famously the preserve of the managerial classes.
It good to see the Chronicle calling out the people in their Facebook comments. www.chroniclelive.co.uk/whats-on/wha...
Comments on Newcastle Chronicle's Facebook show why we need Pride more than ever
With Newcastle Pride now just days away comments on the Chronicle's Facebook show why we need to be celebrating it
chroniclelive.co.uk
This film, from 1951, includes councillors wanting the A1 upgraded, more roads demanded to easy congestion and hints at induced demand. Also "If you have a bike on Tyneside you are all right, there's a tunnel specially for you" Lots of change to end up the same. www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQes...
1958: The State of Britain's Roads | Second Enquiry | BBC Archive
YouTube video by BBC Archive
youtube.com
A new study from the Met Office and @uniofreading.bsky.social has revealed that a prolonged heatwave in the North Sea intensified impacts of Storm Babet by 9-20%. Get the details in our news release 👇 bit.ly/4fOk84j
Who wants to tell Trump he's wrong? Again. www.ft.com/content/d963...
Burnham to maintain ban on North Sea exploration licences
Decision criticised by oil and gas industry as well as trade union
ft.com
Heinz Brandenburg@heinzbrandenburg.bsky.social · 2w agoIf you know anything about Aberdonians, they don't do dancing in the streets.
I crossed the A1 at a similar junction further north this morning, though I did shorten my exposure by using a bit of pavement and a bus stop and being there at 7am on a Saturday helped. I'd not try it later in the day or in the week, and on a Bank Holiday the whole area is best avoided.
The Ranty Highwayman@rantyhighwayman.bsky.social · 3w agoI wonder if anyone has undertaken a proper safe systems approach to looking at the A1 here. I know folks have talked about average speed cameras, but safe speeds is only one piece of the jigsaw and even if it were taken down to 40mph, that's still a heck of a closing speed. 1/21
Was honoured to find a village had erected a monument to remember me* passing through today. No idea how they knew I was coming. *possibly another better known Nelson.
I spent 4 hours cycling in the the countryside this morning only to have a deer bound across the road in front of me while riding through a huge housing estate on the edge of town, next to the A1. I saw another one on the edge of the city centre on the way to the station earlier too.
I misinterpreted the weather forecast today. I though "isolated showers" meant I might get briefly wet. What it actually meant was "it will start raining the moment you get off the train and continue for the exact length of your bike ride before stopping the moment you get home".
The driver must have been distracted by the 'School Safety Zone. Drive Carefully.' sign they passed just behind that tree.
ChronicleLive - The Chronicle@chroniclelive.co.uk · 3w agoThe incident on Station Road took place at around 3.20pm on Thursday
Man who was driving when he shouldn't have been told "I know that you'll take great care to make sure you only drive when it's safe to do so." by court. "he had no previous convictions" = hadn't been caught driving when he shouldn't have been prior to causing a four vehicle crash.
ChronicleLive - The Chronicle@chroniclelive.co.uk · 3w agoNeil Humphries failed to notify the DVLA about his condition
Enjoyed a night of drama at the People's Theatre tonight for a performance of The Girl On The Train. On till Saturday. Highly recommended. No extra hydration breaks, and won't leave you disappointed at the end.
How do we track a changing climate? Among all the charts on our site, the one here reaches further back in time than almost any other: the concentration of CO₂ in Earth’s atmosphere over the last 800,000 years.
