Useful to note for online community of practice #COP facilitator roles.

📣 BREAKING: Lord Neil Kinnock calls for Proportional Representation!

The former Labour leader joins a growing number of voices pushing for voting system change.

A consensus is building: FPTP must go.

Watch a clip from his interview with @emmaburnell.bsky.social for LabourList and the Fabians👇

The shiny bucket of death ...

So, with the truce in place for the next two weeks, Parliament must surely now take the opportunity to debate and to vote on our relationship to the US and the use of UK bases.

Quote from Ed Davey which reads: “This is a grave and era-defining moment for the world. Donald Trump is making wilder and increasingly concerning threats by the hour. “If Trump follows through with this, Keir Starmer must immediately recall Parliament. The Prime Minister must also withdraw US access to UK bases now. “MPs must be given a chance to hold the Government to account and prevent the UK from being complicit in war crimes and breaches of international law.”

If Trump follows through with his wilder and increasingly concerning threats, Keir Starmer must immediately recall Parliament.

The Prime Minister must also withdraw US access to UK bases now.

This is a grave and era-defining moment for the world.

Quote from Ed Davey which reads: “This is a grave and era-defining moment for the world. Donald Trump is making wilder and increasingly concerning threats by the hour. “If Trump follows through with this, Keir Starmer must immediately recall Parliament. The Prime Minister must also withdraw US access to UK bases now. “MPs must be given a chance to hold the Government to account and prevent the UK from being complicit in war crimes and breaches of international law.”

If Trump follows through with his wilder and increasingly concerning threats, Keir Starmer must immediately recall Parliament.

The Prime Minister must also withdraw US access to UK bases now.

This is a grave and era-defining moment for the world.

There is definitely a strand of 'helicopter (now drone) shot of presenter striding across a landscape, and saying "I am on a mission/journey/quest to discover/reveal ..." that needs documenting.

I have written to the Prime Minister with Liberal Democrat colleagues to urge him to withdraw or severely limit US access to UK air bases.

If Trump is threatening attacks on civilian targets in Iran, Britain cannot allow our bases to be used to commit war crimes.

Donald Trump's latest shocking threats against Iran would amount to war crimes.

The UK cannot be complicit. Keir Starmer must withdraw US access to UK air bases now.

I fear you may be right Katrina. But what else is there we can do?

I have written a letter to the Defence Secretary urging for the immediate refusal of all strikes on Iranian civilian infrastructure. Trumps rhetoric on such a critical issue is abhorrent and I urge the government to ensure RAF Fairford is not used to break international law.

Letter from Lib Dem MPs to Keir Starmer today calling on him to withdraw US access to UK air bases.

Liberal Democrat MPs have written to Keir Starmer today calling on him to withdraw US access to UK air bases. Donald Trump's latest shocking threats against Iran would amount to war crimes. The UK cannot be complicit.

Petitions - UK Government and Parliament Official online petitions in response to issues of the day, listing the number that got a Government response, and those that have been debated in the House of Parliament

Please could you set this up as a petition on petition.parliament.uk so we can all show support?

It's my firmly held belief that the complexity of the human brain evolved to keep track of 'whose round is it?'. Writing it down was the next step.

One of my favourite parts of the Easter liturgy is the Exultet, when 'the work of bees' gets a mention.

A plate of sourdough bread toast with orange marmalade

I've brought forward my 9 o'clock toast by 1 hour to celebrate the start of BST .... British Summer Toast 🍞

Tories and Reform cheerleaded escalation in Iran, risking Britain being dragged into conflict.

We should lead diplomacy, not lose it.

@alpinkerton.bsky.social

Well I've always loved these charts, and today I learned what they are called 🙂. Thanks! (And this is a great example with the central section nicely conveying the sense of geographical constriction at the Strait of Hormuz).

Why Historic Environment Records Matter Historic Environment Records (HERs) are used to inform planning decisions, shaping the way places change and grow; they contribute to infrastructure and climate-adaptation…

Historic Environment Records: What are they? Why do they matter? How can you - as someone who is interested in where you live, or as local, family, or academic historians, archaeologists (or anyone!) - make use of them and the records they contain?

#Skystorians

Heritage and Humanities Online surveys is a powerful, easy to use tool for creating online surveys. Run by Jisc, online surveys is used by over 300 different organisations in the UK...

My brilliant former PhD student Isabel Gilbert (now Lecturer at Worcester) is doing a research project on what good collaboration between academics and heritage sector orgs/professionals looks like - please do fill in if you do this sort of work 😊 app.onlinesurveys.jisc.ac.uk/s/ucw/herita...

Human Range Expansion (Migration)

Finding humans spread in a time too short to be explained by biological evolution alone

Cultural evolution accelerated human range expansion by more than two orders of magnitude 🏺🧪
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

Results quantify culture’s distinctive role in driving rapid human ecological expansion

What are Historic Environment Records? Find out why Historic Environment Records (HERs) matter now more than ever. Historic England champions  the network of local HERs that capture millions of unique records about our shared past.

*News from our survey*
Today is the launch of two short films celebrating the network of Historic Environment Records run by 80+ local authorities and national parks across England. The History Before Us (2 mins) explains what an HER actually is. vimeo.com/1174819186?s...

An educational infographic titled "FINDS FEST presents ARCHAEOLOGY MENTORING PARTNERSHIP." The graphic features two primary sections on a grey background decorated with archaeological-themed bunting. The top section introduces Mentor David Griffiths, a pottery and CBM specialist with over 20 years of experience and a PhD from the University of Leicester. The bottom section introduces Mentee Gulfareen Kamran, an early-career finds analyst and independent researcher in Newcastle. Both profiles describe their backgrounds and goals for the mentorship in Roman pottery. The image includes two circular inset photos—one of an archaeological finds display and one of a stack of books—and is branded with the logos for Historic England and the CIfA Finds Group.

An educational infographic titled "FINDS FEST presents ARCHAEOLOGY MENTORING PARTNERSHIP" on a grey background with archaeological-themed bunting. The top section introduces Mentor Fiona Seeley, a prominent freelance Roman pottery specialist with 30 years of experience and a former tenure as Head of Finds at MOLA. The bottom section introduces Mentee Ieva Navickaite, a Cardiff-based Project Assistant for Rubicon Archaeology and recent graduate specializing in post-excavation studies. The text outlines their focus on Roman pottery typologies and inclusive historical narratives. The graphic features two circular inset images—one of a finds storage room and one of a stack of books—and displays the logos for Historic England and the CIfA Finds Group.

An educational infographic titled "FINDS FEST presents ARCHAEOLOGY MENTORING PARTNERSHIP." The top section introduces Mentor Imogen Wood, a premier ceramic and petrographic specialist with 30 years of experience in South West England and a PhD holder. The bottom section introduces Mentee Elle Norrish, an early-career archaeologist at South West Archaeology and University of Exeter alumna. The text describes their mentorship focus on prehistoric pottery analysis and high-quality report writing. The graphic includes circular inset images of an archaeological finds lab and a stack of books, with the Historic England and CIfA Finds Group logos at the bottom.

An infographic titled "FINDS FEST presents ARCHAEOLOGY MENTORING PARTNERSHIP" on a neutral grey background with archaeological bunting. The top green section features Mentor Lorraine Mepham, a nationally recognized finds specialist with 40 years of experience and President of the Medieval and Later Pottery Research Group (MLPRG). The bottom orange section features Mentee Jasmine Porter, a finds processing supervisor at Wessex Archaeology (North). The text details their partnership focus on post-medieval pottery, glass, and clay pipes. The graphic includes circular insets of a finds lab and a stack of books, with the logos for Historic England and the CIfA Finds Group at the bottom.

Meet some of the specialist pairings in Historic England Archaeology Mentoring Partnership!

From Roman pottery to worked stone, these teams are bridging the skills gap and preserving expert knowledge across the UK.

Check out the threads below to meet the mentors and mentees!

Why Historic Environment Records Matter Historic Environment Records (HERs) are used to inform planning decisions, shaping the way places change and grow; they contribute to infrastructure and climate-adaptation…

Why Historic Environment Records Matter
Historic Environment Records (HERs) are used to inform planning decisions, shaping the way places change and grow; they contribute to infrastructure and climate-adaptation plans, and support community wellbeing.

vimeo.com/1174722048

Historic Environment Records (HERs) | Historic England This is a brief guide to the wealth of information on archaeology and the historic built environment held in Historic Environment Records.

📢New film explaining what Historic Environment Records (HERs) are📢
If you ever wondered what HERs do, please watch and you will see why they matter so much for the heritage around us…..
🎥 historicengland.org.uk/advice/techn... 🎥

Bright orange and yellow Californian poppies growing in a gravel garden, near a fence. Too near, as a cow in the next field was able to reach through and eat them.

Had these wonderful Californian poppies in my Gloucestershire UK garden last year. Sadly next doors cow ate them.

Though of course I might have instead joined the army to fight aliens ... "Chap with the wings there, five rounds rapid" ...

Dr Who 'The Daemons' from 1971 was definitely an influence on me choosing to study archaeology, so thank you to all in Aldbourne who took part 🙂 🏺
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_D%C...

Government response 'we're content with the voting system used in general elections'. This is shockingly complacent given the shortcomings of First Past The Post voting in a multiparty country. #ProportionalRepresentation

Did you go to see 'Interstellar'? I thought it one of the best 'realistic' SF films of recentish years. And good to see a father / daughter relationship centred, which is rare in films.