So I (Cumbrian) have always heard it as “ootch” up but perhaps that just an additional working class h-dropping. But it was and still is used in my house. Also for pulling up rights/trousers that have slipped!

My car was hit while parked and the bounder drove off. So now this is classed as my fault and I’m classed as a high risk driver for five years according to my insurers. 😭😭😭😭

Lovely to see you. And all the congratulations on a brilliant set of poems!

It was such a brilliant day @litfest and I’ve come home laden with new books and pamphlets… can’t have too many books, right?! @almostasif.bsky.social

A fabulous day @litfest.bsky.social - all the poetry you can eat with @katiescribbles.bsky.social followed by the world’s greatest hotpot at The Merchants. Lancaster is great.

Great evening thanks to @litfest.bsky.social - always so grateful to have a brilliant festival so close. And after watching the Elizabeth Burns Memorial Prize event - the kids really are alright!

She’s brilliant in everything she’s in.

I find it utterly insufferable. The Joy actor sounded bemused. Though I actually enjoyed CC (Brian) leaning fully into it.

I’m so sorry some cyclists are such nobs

Obligatory picture of the insta-grotto, but from the outside

These beautiful #poetry books are all on SALE at just £7.99 each until the end of February, along with FREE UK postage across our shop.
Don't miss out on big book savings📚
ninearchespress.com/shop

a statue of a man with a beard is covered in ice ALT: a statue of a man with a beard is covered in ice

It’s fair to say I am very inexperienced when it comes to DIY of any kind. And now I realise why you don’t decorate in February

Book number seven of 2025 is Elizabeth Gifford’s The Lost Lights of St Kilda. I read it because of our upcoming Hebrides trip, but I really wanted a happy ending! A lovely last few chapters in front of the fire. #AmReading

Just back from “Ten Things to do in Small Cumbrian Town” - great theatre, very funny and a superb night out. Some of it so well observed I’m still laughing/cringing at my own life.

a penguin wearing a red shirt is standing in front of a sand castle and a shovel Alt: A cartoon penguin making a 'yay!' gesture by a sandcastle on the beach

I've worked on creating the north west section of this #NationalTrail with @naturalengland.bsky.social since 2015, alongside writing this guide - so it benefits from behind-the-scenes insight, and where short lengths of trail may not yet be open, link routes are mapped so there's no need to wait!

PRE ORDER - Ange Harker, Walking the King Charles III England Coast Path: North West: NATIONAL TRAIL - Cumbria, Lancashire and Merseyside Coast | Sam Read Bookseller Online Shop *Please note this title is not published until the 30th September 2025*A guidebook to walking the northwest section of the King Charles III England Coast Path between Gretna and Chester. Covering 590k...

If you can, please support indie bookshops like Cumbria’s amazing @samreadbookseller.bsky.social over the big chains ☺️

www.samreadbooks.co.uk/product/pre-...

Cover of a walking guidebook named 'Walking the King Charles III England Coast Path: North West', featuring a photo of the Duddon Estuary's sands, a houseboat on the shore, and the Lake District mountains in the distance, under fluffy clouds in a blue sky.

A group of walkers head along a footpath in a clifftop meadow on Walney Island in Cumbria, under a blue sky, with sea to the left and the large dome of Black Combe hill up ahead.

COVER REVEAL 🎉

Been a long time in the making but thank you #CiceronePress for commissioning me back in 2018 to write a guide to the brand new #KingCharlesIIIEnglandCoastPath in the north west: 367 miles from Scotland to Wales.

It's out on 30th September and you can pre-order now! ☺️

Really enjoyed meeting loads of other #Cicerone authors & publishing team this weekend - more news on my contribution to the portfolio soon but in the meantime was supercool to be able to present a little about how we use #GIS software at #NaturalEngland to create the #EnglandCoastPath #KCIIIECP 😊

Photo of a projected PowerPoint slide with a picture of the Brecon Beacons mountains and the caption ‘Cicerone Author Day 2025’

A little teaser of that thing that took over most of my 2024.
#Cicerone #BeenWriting

Indeed. @katiescribbles.bsky.social and I did a library book talk event today. It’s incredible how much more real the characters and the events of Katie’s book have become since it was published - in JULY!

I wasn’t sure who it was aimed at. As a long term (embarrassingly committed) listener I didn’t feel it added much to my knowledge or enjoyment. However, it was a nice reading diversion. Biggest shock - the cottages are THATCHED?!

I’m really pleased. Let me know what you think. Xx

Congrats Mike!

A good rule of thumb in Silverdale. Don’t go on the sands. App, map or anything else.

My favourite bit of the Lakes. I have the view from Chapel Stile up the valley above my fireplace.

Oh SWs, I appreciate you putting us out of the misery of Harrison and Fallon’s marriage!

A copy of The Archers Unseen and a black and white cat

Book number six of 2025; Julie Beckett’s The Archers Unseen. The fact I think I knew all but a couple of things in there makes me realise how much I like TA and how old I really am! I’ve been poorly all week so am under a blanket with my book and the cat. #TheArchers #AmReading

Ooh, Google tells me it’s still the same name! Defo not the same pub though, it closed for ages!
Just discovered you can’t post links on BSky!

It’s in Claughton. I can’t remember what it was called when GR objected to the square plates!

I often think about the pub between my village and my parents’ village where GR smashed the crockery in the car park. Closed not long after. Though it is a pub again now…for now.