Algeria – a crossing point of cultures It is always special to visit a new country, especially one as interesting as Algeria.  So, just back from two weeks touring the major archaeological sites of Northeast Algeria I wanted to sha…

With the Pope in Algeria this week I wanted to share some reflections on a this special and little visited country.
ybrumro.wordpress.com/2026/04/14/a...

Over the last couple of months I have been delighted to become a member of the Board @powertochange.org.uk and get involved in its mission to develop community business in England. Here's the blog piece I've written on my visit to the Heeley Trust in Sheffield.

The Roman town of Cuicul (modern Djemila in Algeria). One of the most spectacular sites you can visit anywhere, both its setting and the level of preservation of its buildings.

Thamugadi(modern Timgad in Algeria ) has been a spectacular Roman site. Like Pompeii but with a fraction of the crowds. Possible to get a real sense of the ancient site.

The wonderful Roman hilltop site of Tiddis in Algeria. Birthplace of Q Lollius Urbicus one time governor of Britain and builder of the Antonine Wall.

A reconstructed Roman theatre at Guelma in Algeria. A superb public space with a brilliant acoustic.

Some spectacular items on a display at the museum at Hippo Regis (modern Annaba in Algeria) including a late Republican trophy and a spectacular 4th century mosaic of a hunt for wild animals.

And this magnificent 3rd C mosaic of the Labours of the Field from a domes in Cherchell. Such splendid detail.

A wonderful collection of Roman statues at Cherchell Museum in Algeria. Cherchell was the capital of the client king Juba II and his wife Cleopatra Selene (Cleopatra’s daughter).

Beautiful.

Now that would be boasting – the music of JS Bach In the 1970s, the scientist Carl Sagan chaired a panel to select the distinctive sounds of human life which could be sent into deep space on the Voyager 1 spacecraft. In response, the eminent bio…

Born on this day in 1685 a tribute the greatest musical talent in history. ybrumro.wordpress.com/2019/03/30/n...

😀😀😀

My photo shows a small clay aryballos (oil flask) in the form of a hedgehog. It has a rounded, squat body with a long pointed snout. At the top of the body is a small spout for filling with oil. Sculpted details include eyes and ears ears. The light tan surface is painted with dark spots representing the hedgehog’s spines. It measures 4.8 cm in length and 3 cm in height. Dated circa 550 BC. From Naucratis, Egypt.

Tiny terracotta aryballos (oil flask) in the form of a hedgehog.

East Greek from Naucratis, Egypt, 550 BC.

British Museum 📷 by me

#Archaeology

Very moving.

Who was St David? When I was young, I was very proud that Wales was the only one of the four home countries which had a patron saint who had been born in the country he represented.  But who really was St David…

Who was St David? A blog I wrote for St David's Day on what we really know about the life of Wales's patron saint. ybrumro.wordpress.com/2026/03/02/w...

The government needs a new high streets strategy. Here’s what it should do. - Power to Change Britain’s high streets are in visible decline, and the government needs a strategy that sets out a bold new vision. By addressing the physical, economic and ...

And @jesscraig.bsky.social sets out what any successful high street strategy should include to address the physical, economic and structural challenges holding high streets back 👉️ buff.ly/wl8ZagX

Stay tuned for more think pieces on community-led transformation of our high streets 🏢

A lively outdoor event with people in colorful outfits blowing bubbles. In the background, there are bunting decorations and market stalls. Text overlay reads, "Why the government should articulate a clear vision for the high street." The Power to Change logo is visible.

Britain’s high streets can be engines of renewal - our policy team saw that first‑hand on last week's visit to Nudge in Plymouth.

@lucysym.bsky.social breaks down why community‑led power is already transforming places & why a clearer national vision is long overdue 👉 https://bit.ly/4kKuKmI

'Labour’s quiet quest for democratic renewal' - LabourList A Labour government bold enough to communities lead could make huge strides towards restoring trust in our democracy and redistributing power.

Support is building for community‑led models of neighbourhood governance. Labour councillor Sam Dalton shares why locally rooted decision‑making must be central to the UK’s democratic renewal 👇 @right-here.org

A big shout out for the community café in St Helens Church Wheathampstead which welcomed us on our walk on Saturday. Also the lovely Crinkle Crankle community garden behind the church. #communitybusiness @powertochange.org.uk

What a brilliant little window on the past.

A Northern Town in Winter, painting by Phil George, b.1960.

Description from auction house: “Roman, Early Imperial Period, possibly from Roman Tunisia, ca. 1st to 2nd century CE. An impressive, lifelike mosaic depicting a rooster, his body clearly modeled from life, with comb, hackle, feathers, and claws all nicely depicted. Red, pinks, greys, blacks, and pale yellows provide shading and shadow, contributing to the realistic look of the animal. He stands proudly on a grey parallelogram, placed to give the impression of depth, against a cream-colored background and within a black border.”

✨A Roman rooster ✨

This #MosaicMonday we celebrate the majesty of the rooster who is looking rather snappy in this mosaic. The provenance is unknown, though thought to be Tunisia. What can’t be overlooked is his confident pose.

#AncientRome #History #Rooster

Over on ‘All Old Strange Things’ I’ve written about the affair of the Bury St Edmunds hoard - and what this find may tell us about the Lark Valley in the late Iron Age open.substack.com/pub/drfranci...

Birthplace of hymn Cwm Rhondda saved by fundraising drive Supporters raise £73,000 to secure future of Welsh valleys chapel where beloved hymn was first sung

Am so pleased this has come off. The Rhondda and community organising at its best. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...

A Generous Talent- the life of Felix Mendelssohn In my Bach pilgrimage to Leipzig, last April, there was an opportunity to honour another musical hero, Felix Mendelssohn who was Director of its famous Gewandhaus Orchestra and who died in the city…

The composer Felix Mendelssohn was born OTD in 1809 in Hamburg. A child prodigy he produced some brilliant music as well as reviving that of others including JS Bach. Reviled by the Nazis he became the symbol of anti-Semitism in music. ybrumro.wordpress.com/2023/02/03/a...

Spent part of the weekend rereading Crossley’s (@jc01229.bsky.social) Why Christianity Happened and remembered how much it shaped me.

It was one of the first books in grad school that made me understand how historical materialism & social history could be applied to biblical studies +

Visited a very moving exhibition at Ely Cathedral of icons painted by Ukrainian artists Sofia Atlantova and Oleksandr Klymenko on ammo boxes. Another reminder of the the horror of a war which has now been going on for 4 years.

Thomas Telford's magnificent Menai Suspension Bridge, opened this day two hundred years ago in 1826.

What’s changed? It’s one of the privileges of my life that I had the chance as a child to spend so much time with my grandmother.  Born in 1891 she connected me with the Victorian Age, a world very different …

My grandmother was born OTD in 1891. I wrote this blog as a tribute to the time I spent with her as a teenager reflecting on what had changed in lifetime and now in mine. ybrumro.wordpress.com/2024/02/08/w...

Both the level of poverty and destitution in this country and the lack of political will to do anything meaningful about it are profoundly unacceptable.