There’s no wind like an Orkney wind…💨 Long-awaited visit to the Comet Stone this weekend, a nearly 2-metre high Neolithic monolith 140 metres southeast of the Ring of Brodgar, or Temple of the Sun, in Orkney, Scotland. The lichens glowing in the smirr.
#StandingStoneSunday
Heading up to Orkney and Skara Brae with my lenses for a spot of book-related lichenology accompanied by this rather wonderful companion by @jeffreyjcohen.bsky.social. I’m all in on this creaturely mineral ride.
We are hiring! Postdoctoral Research Assistant in lithium behaviour in volcano-sedimentary systems
The deadline for applications is 18th May 2026
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What a wonderful act of symmetry :)
Fresh from my talk at the British Lichen Society AGM in Carlisle; a short trip over to Keswick to see Castlerigg Stone Circle. A light shower meant the lichens got a glow up, with the Rhizocarpon Geographicum (Map Lichens) present truly luminous!
#StandingStoneSunday #CastleriggStoneCircle #lichens
The British Lichen Society’s AGM 2026 is in full swing. After a day of productive meetings, we are now so lucky to have our keynote speaker, Dr. Nicholas Carter to share with us his work on the lichens of Blenheim Palace. Great turn out for this fascinating talk. #lichens
@neacarter.bsky.social
Thank you so much @britishlichensociety.org.uk for the invitation - the honour was all mine #lichens
Birth of the Gurdy Stone, 29th April, 2023, near Lewes, East Sussex. Awestruck, I wondered what lichens would eventually find it? Would this two-tonne tower of Welsh slate attract ones otherwise absent, the Stone a new island, a hillside beacon of biodiversity? Time will tell. #StandingStoneSunday
Such important work :)
Christmas Day 2025, Port Meadow, Oxford
A little charity shop find… a merry festive season to all and a joyful winter solstice to boot. Managed to capture the light and eventually lined it up between the stones 🪨🌞🪨
#StandingStoneSunday
#Stonehenge
Other references include maypoles used in Celtic solar festivals; the nine planets of astrology; the Tree of Life; and the opal as a symbol linking animal, vegetable and mineral worlds (3/3)
The women inside the stones transform into spindles of swirling energy that connect to channels radiating from the earth.
In the background are two tall stones located near the Merry Maidens, known as The Pipers (2)
I was thrilled to attend the final day of the Ithell Colquhoun exhibition at Tate Britain in London recently. This stunning painting is called ‘Dance of the Nine Opals’ and is inspired by the Merry Maidens stone circle near Lamorna, Cornwall (1)
#StandingStoneSunday
The Memory Stones on the Isle of Portland in Dorset have been positioned for the sun to cast shadows throughout the year, marking the equinoxes and the solstices. The nearby ‘One Island Many Visions’ exhibition celebrates them in sculpture and light.
#StandingStoneSunday
Please do share with others you think might be interested. Thank you so much for your help! (6)
#NationalLiteracyTrust #TheReadingAgency #bookmarkreadingcharity @booktrust.org.uk @authorfy.bsky.social @worldbookdayuk.bsky.social
@uklitassociation.bsky.social
@teresacremin.bsky.social
If you are a teacher or educator or professional working with young people, we'd be hugely grateful if you could ask them for their recommendations, collate them, and let us know what they are by interacting with this post here or @oxfordgeography.bsky.social by December 19th… (5)
We're hoping the list will encourage not just a lifelong love of reading but also of the planet… (4)
We’d be hugely grateful for recommendations of poetry, fiction, non-fiction, graphic novels, magazines and everything in between. Perspectives from different countries, different cultures, different times, different viewpoints would be most welcome… (3)
As a result, we are compiling a list of Geography texts for young people in Year 9 upwards to aid ‘Reading for Pleasure’; reads that inspire and entertain and inform about people, nature, the Earth, the wild, the land, the city, the climate and so on… (2)
National Year of Reading 2026: Oxford Geography
We @oxfordgeography.bsky.social are ready to GO ALL IN (www.goallin.org.uk ) and will be publishing a list of essential Geography reads on our website in preparation for the National Year of Reading 2026… (1)
I'm thrilled that Upon A White Horse is going to be Radio 4's Book Of The Week. The first episode, which is on Stonehenge, will be on December 8 at 11.45am – and then there will be a reading from a different part of the book every day up to and including December 12. I hope you'll enjoy listening.
It’s said that two stone circles stood either side of Easton Lane on the Isle of Portland in Dorset until they were removed by workmen and built into the walls along the road. I took these photos whilst on a field trip with my students recently. #StandingStoneSunday
Now on the ‘to visit’ list! Thank you!
Thank you!
Joy oh joy! #whenyouknowyouknow
@stoneclub.bsky.social
Had a lovely time chatting to Ellie, The Curious Geographer, about stone lichens and how they challenge our thinking about the natural world and our cultural heritage @britishlichensociety.org.uk @oxfordgeography.bsky.social
youtu.be/9tO_5yBvQmw
New Nature Energy @nature.com study shows the UK can reach net zero faster, cheaper & with fewer risks by cutting energy demand.
ECI’s Prof Christian Brand @profchristianbrand.bsky.social led the transport analysis in this unique gov–research collaboration.
➡️: www.eci.ox.ac.uk/news/less-en...
👋 Welcome to the School of #Geography & the Environment @ox.ac.uk!
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Follow us + @ecioxford.bsky.social @tsuoxford.bsky.social @oxfordsmithschool.bsky.social for updates from our SoGE community. 🌍
Thank you, Martin!