Thinking back to when I was younger we only had Easter, Summer and Autumn terms. Certain institutions gave them different names but to my knowledge Winter wasn't one of them

Hopefully the BBC Concert Orchestra will be expanding its percussion section for the event to include at least three cowbell players

Today, 21 April 2026 Salford celebrates 100 years as a city. For 38 of those 100 I happily and proudly called myself a Salfordian. I still support Salford City FC and still have many fond memories of those years spent living there.
Happy 100th to Salford

An application for HMO has probably already been submitted

A return to Manchester yesterday and the weather was predictably "unsettled". The place has changed even in the four years since I moved to Thornton but there are still little surprises to be seen amid the post industrial decay and "regeneration".
Inverted commas were invented for Manchester 😃

Let's Imagine - A Branch Line Railway with John Betjeman John Betjeman examines the Evercreech Junction to Burnham-on-Sea railway in Somerset, providing a unique profile of a working steam branch line railway. First broadcast in 1963.

A mystery that has puzzled me for 12 years has finally been resolved.
It involved the song The Permanent Way from Big Big Train's English Electric Part 2 album and the spoken excerpts which I knew were by John Betjeman.
Those lines can be found in his narrative here:

www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/epis...

Another excellent walk with the Widowed and Walking Facebook group yesterday. This time it was from Sizergh Castle to Scout Scar and back on an unfortunately cloudy but fortunately dry day in the southern Lake District

Steven Wilson - Luminol (Binaural 'Headphone Dust' Mix) YouTube video by Steven Wilson

I'm a big fan of digital music- limited storage space in the bungalow demands it - and when the music sounds so crisp and BIG especially through my Grado Labs SR80 headphones it is bliss.
Go on, plug in your 'phones and let the sound on this fill your head for a while

youtube.com/watch?v=8g5C...

Tomorrow is the third of my organised walks for a Facebook group called Widowed and Walking. My previous two have been coastal walks but tomorrow's is a circular from Stanley Park, Blackpool to Marton Mere and back. Only five miles and the weather forecast is very promising. Shut-eye time..g'night

A wonderful first visit to Spitfire Hangar at Blackpool Airport on Monday. It was set up initially about ten years ago and has gradually expanded over time to include recreations of an airfield command room, a Naafi and so much more.
It's open Saturday to Tuesday throughout Spring and Summer

and I jump at any chance to revisit the city even for a day. As luck would have it my travel plans allowed me to get trains from Poulton to Manchester, then to Bristol Temple Meads and finally to Salisbury - lengthy but worth it. The Milford Hall Hotel was a short walk from both the station and

and I jump at any chance I get to spend a few hours walking around it, visiting the Cathedral or examining the surprises inside the city museum.
When the band Big Big Train announced a warm-up gig in Southampton before flying off to join Cruise To The Edge I decided to see them via Salisbury

Last weekend I spent one night, Friday in Salisbury before moving to Southampton for the next two. The purpose of my visit was a gig at The 1865, Southampton's small and popular venue on the edge of the old city.
Salisbury has been one of my favourite English cities since I was a teenager in the 70s

Tunisia in four photos: the arena/theatre at Dar Sebastian, Hammamet; the Moorish Café at Hotel Paradis; Roman mosaic at Pupput; a Tunisian sunset

After a run of three rather mundane 4s I managed to hit the ground running this morning and ruled out 6 common letters quickly. The rest was choosing what would fit from the remaining 18. Skill more than luck

Wordle 1,698 3/6

🟨⬛⬛⬛🟨
⬛🟩🟨⬛⬛
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Good morning fellow #Wordlers. Following my week's jollies in Tunisia with very hit-and-miss WiFi I recommenced my brain training again just now, used an old faithful starting word and landed a 2. 😊

Wordle 1,694 2/6

⬛⬛⬛🟨🟨
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Good morning fellow #Wordlers. Another of those fairly straightforward solutions once half the alphabet had been ruled out.
Good luck to you all

Wordle 1,685 4/6

⬛🟨⬛⬛⬛
⬛⬛🟩⬛⬛
⬛🟩🟩⬛🟨
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

'Found' not 'sound'. Blame the late night

36 Barrels YouTube video by Peter Rand

And finally for Day 31 a song with a number in the title:

youtu.be/zHK60aaDv8o?...

The Men They Couldn't Hang - The Green Fields of France - Peel Session YouTube video by ecthoranis

One from 1984:

youtu.be/FpEyu-TrL4A?...

Ali Farka Toure, Ry Cooder - Bonde YouTube video by World Circuit Records

One from 1994:

youtu.be/7pgFmNRvskg?...

Rich Man's War YouTube video by Steve Earle - Topic

As I'm going to be busy and with iffy wiffy...sorry Wi-Fi...over the coming days here are the rest of my contributions to #Davidsmonthofmusic starting with tomorrow, Day 28 a song from 2004:

youtu.be/QVEUqXe9UiQ?...

Grand Canyon YouTube video by Drive-By Truckers - Topic

#DavidsMonthOfMusic

Day 27: a song released in 2014.
I've been a fan of Drive By Truckers for a long long time and love the fact that they refuse to be shoved into a little pigeon hole with a genre label stuck to it.
This is from the English Oceans album

youtu.be/UhfRhmlfe_E?...

Waffle The waffle-shaped daily word game.

Good morning, a rare double 5 on #Wafflegame.net and #stackdown today. Chuffed.

#waffle1467 5/5

🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟩⭐🟩⭐🟩
🟩🟩⭐🟩🟩
🟩⭐🟩⭐🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

🔥 streak: 11
🥉 #wafflebronzeteam
wafflegame.net#stack322 5/5
🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
⏱️ 4m 2s
🔥 streak: 14
🏆 #stackdownelite
puzzlist.com/stackdown

Another 4 to index under the heading 'what two remaining letters will actually fit with the three I've sound so far' category.
Good night

Wordle 1,683 4/6

🟨⬛⬛⬛⬛
⬛⬛🟨⬛⬛
⬛⬛🟨🟨🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Good evening fellow #Wordlers
After two near shutouts I was clutching at straws with my third word.
The fourth was a pure fluke

Wordle 1,682 4/6

⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛
🟨⬛⬛⬛⬛
🟨🟨🟨⬛⬛
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Peter Gabriel - Zaar YouTube video by Peter Gabriel

#DavidsMonthOfMusic

Day 26: a song whose title contains the letter Z.

youtu.be/JZM6PejHMEY?...

Bon toutou ça ! 😆