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Limestone Country walk with the Wainwright Society.Stainforth Force and the 17th c packhorse bridge. Smearsett Scar and images from the past. @pastpreservers.bsky.social @jenhenders.bsky.social @fellranger.bsky.social @johnmanningpct.bsky.social @christownsend.bsky.social @haggewoods.bsky.social

I know I post loads of stuff about how beautiful Norway is, buy there's just something about the English countryside in springtime. This is Teesdale, in the west of County Durham. Sunshine, fresh air, a village pub, and coffee and cake at the end... what's not to like? #Durham #England

🌟 Digging up the Past and Celebrating the Present! 🌟
Let's raise a (responsibly-sourced, ancient-style) toast to the fantastic Anthea Nardi! May your day be filled with all the treasures you deserve, and may your next dig be your most incredible yet!

A package of performance sheets

What exactly are ‘performance sheets’?

I love coming across an unexpected crypt in a church and I was delighted to find one today in La Cattedrale Metropolitana Di San Pietro in Bologna. In the crypt were the remains of two of the city’s martyrs, Saints Vitale and Agricola who were martyred in c. 304 CE.

It's 75 years since the #festivalofbritain so a great reason to discuss how it represented and influenced #seaside places in my next online talk on 13 May. These pics show the Seaside Section on the South Bank, in front of the Festival Hall. Tickets at www.ticketsource.com/kathryn-ferry

For #WorldHeritageDay a moody and misty view of the Anglo-Norman castle at Dunhill, Co. Waterford...

A huge, pharaoh-sized birthday shout-out to the incredible Dr. Mary-Ann Pouls Wegner! May your day be filled with pyramids of cake, rivers of good cheer, and joy older than the Sphinx! Cheers to another year of groundbreaking discoveries! 🎂🥳

177: How Can Appetites Be Shaped for the Future? with Alicia Kennedy — AnthroDish When it comes to thinking about the future of food, is it possible to re-imagine our individual and collective appetites around what we want it to be? Taste is subjective, but it’s also deeply embedde...

This week on the podcast, I speak with writer @aliciadkennedy.bsky.social about her new memoir, On Eating. We discuss her process for weaving personal & cultural histories of ingredients, and unpacking Western appetites through food labour considerations.

Listen! www.anthrodish.com/episodes/ali...

Good audience for my talk this evening and a productive afternoon in #worthing. The newly re-opened museum is looking great and the #1920s costumes on display from their extensive collection are gorgeous. Beach Pyjama fans will appreciate pic 2!

The people in this trailer (like @rory-stewart.bsky.social and @alexvont.bsky.social) are really first-rate, so I’m really pleased that they’ll be drawing people in to watch this documentary on Monday and Tuesday nights 9pm on @channel4.bsky.social @channel4docs.bsky.social @voltagetv.bsky.social

My #ThingThursday this week is a nice little find, a First World War era watch, it somehow still ticks if I wind it but doesn't keep time so I just leave it be. The strap claimed to be original but who knows, its certainly old.

A secret chamber is always intriguing, and this morning I visited ‘La Stanza Segreta’ beneath the Medici Chapels in Florence. It’s believed that Michelangelo spent three months in hiding in the tiny room, which has some astonishing drawings on the walls.

New episode of A Curious Appetite 🧡
I speak with chef and writer Emiliano Amore, who writes Britalian on Substack, about migration, identity, food memory, and “the liminal larder”- the space where ingredients, cultures, and cravings meet.
Listen now 🎧

open.spotify.com/episode/3yHe...

Really chuffed that my (sold out) talk for Lewisham Heritage went really well last night!! I’ve also heard that my talk at the Deepings Literary Festival on 1 May has also sold out!! 😄 But I am also speaking at the new Tewkesbury History Festival on Sat 20 June!! 😁 #househistories #househistory

Post a picture of yourself as a doctor.

Now in Florence, and I have ‘A Room with a View’!

Echoes in the Forest: In the Footsteps of the Norwegian Resistance During the Second World War, eastern Norway was criss-crossed by a secret network of trails used by those fleeing the Nazi occupation. Thousands crossed eastward through the forests of Østfold, riskin...

So this is what I was up to in #Norway last week... following in the footsteps of the Norwegian Resistance

justcuriousjane.com/echoes-fores...

Off to #Worthing tomorrow to talk about #sussex #piers and kursaals. The latter were entertainment venues named after the Continental 'cure halls' at spa towns. I give you Ostend, Worthing and Bognor kursaals. Talk details below:
sussexlocal.net/event/sussex...

A Room with a View is one of my favourite films and I’ve just finished rewatching it ready for my visit to Florence later this week.

Amateur Astronomer Helps Discover Tiny Star Group At The Limit Of What We Consider A Galaxy Large galaxies sometime have small hangers-on that are incredibly difficult to spot, but "wonderful discoveries are made possible by astronomy enthusiasts collaborating with professional scientists."

Worked on a really cool research story today: itty bitty galaxy (only 40 stars!!!) orbiting Andromeda discovered with the help of an amateur astronomer! 🧪🔭

www.iflscience.com/amateur-astr...

Stella is belly up beside me in a chair being used as a keyboard rest

Necessary Dog

This time the guest on my podcast is…me!

Coming from earthquake country, that space makes me very nervous.

Kate Garner's Vintage Songbook (promo) YouTube video by Kate Garner Music

Introducing ‘Kate Garner’s Vintage Songbook’ A music show with a story. Come along, sing along…and bring along your own memories too! TOUR DATES TO BE ANNOUNCED 🎵 youtu.be/rD_aroGzLuo?...

Two sprouting heads of lettuce in a bowl

Did you know you can regrow lettuce by putting the bottom part in some water? Follow me for more life hacks

Happy Birthday Butlin's! #onthisday 1936 the first #butlins holiday camp opened at #skegness🥳

I wrote the official history for the company's 80th anniversary so thought I'd share some other Butlin's books from Sir Billy's day and after. 'Mystery at Butlin's' is next on my reading list...

A still from a previous film with the text MAKE A FILM IN A WEEKEND THE SCI-FI-LONDON 48 HOUR FILM CHALLENGE

Could you make a sci-fi film in a weekend?

I’m supporting The SCI-FI-LONDON 48-Hour Film Challenge returns — 25–27 April 2026.

Write it. Shoot it. Deliver it. It’s free to take part anywhere on the planet!

Register now 👉 48hour.sci-fi-london.com

#SciFiLondon

Photo of a bound copy of nobody’s perfect the making of some like it hot with a pink highlighter pen

Lots of reading this weekend to get this little beauty ready. It’s out in August - eek.