Keith Hann

I got asked if I had a senior railcard at a station ticket office when I was 42.

Nitpicking again!

News reports describe #WHSmith as a 'staple of UK town centres since the Victorian era'.

Not quite. The first branch shop (as opposed to railway bookstall) opened in Clacton in 1902. Here it is!

I'm experimenting with how many apples I need to eat a day to keep EVERYONE away, whatever their profession.

Many people think Americans are stupid.

I have long tried to argue against this.

Americans (specifically the GOP) make this REALLY hard.

Donald is so ignorant. There isn't a large ocean between the United States and Russia. America and Russia are 2.4 miles apart, between Big Diomede Island and Little Diomede Island.

I did! Enjoy, that is.

Virgin Money chatbot scolds customer who typed ‘virgin’ UK banks are racing to roll out generative AI tools to personalise consumer services

Virgin Money chatbot scolds customer who typed ‘virgin’

https://www.ft.com/content/670f5896-1fe5-4a31-b41f-ad4f5b91202f

Stockport station renamed Scottport to mark Scott Mills’ new radio show Signage and screens changed for 24 hours to welcome veteran BBC presenter to Radio 2 breakfast show

This is... ridiculous, no?
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

Mapped: Britain's "trap-bath" split, also known as whether or not you use a long 'a' in words like "bath"

The split is most common in Essex, where 82% use a long 'a' in "bath" but not "trap", and least common in Northumberland, where 91% use a short 'a' for both words

yougov.co.uk/society/arti...

A particularly classic bit of Johnson journalism in that Trump’s hand didn’t touch the Bible

In 1973, at Nixon’s second inaugural, flags were at half-mast for Harry Truman. Nixon did not raise them as they were still within the 30-day mourning window (Truman had died on Boxing Day - so it was near the end).

So less classy than Nixon

Secret diary with extraordinary insights into Hitler's private life In a world publishing coup, decades after being lost, the discovery of the intimate and horrifying leather-bound journal by the Mail is set to cause a global sensation.

Anyone know a medium who could organise a seance with Hugh Trevor-Roper?

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article...

Ex-convicts ‘just as reliable’ as other staff, says prisons minister Lord Timpson, who has campaigned for radical reform of the prison system, stuck by his claim that two thirds of ex-prisoners should never have been jailed

🔺 EXCLUSIVE: The prisons minister has urged more companies to hire ex-criminals, saying they are just as likely to be reliable, honest and good as any other candidate

Actually, this change to NFU’s terms and conditions might just be a deal-breaker. I can’t even begin to imagine driving around without a stash of nitro-glycerine and/or dynamite in the back of the car.

Ending the year on a suitably downbeat note, I have just received our home and motor insurance renewal quote for 2025. A stiff drink definitely seems in order!

Good evening.

A xmas wish for @RachelReevesMP from a small business owner. The economy is like a rescue dog. It’s a living breathing thing in need of love & attention. No one cares why it’s in the condition it is. What matters is how the new owner cares for it.

Every time I hear about the Czech now in the post, I can't help recalling my favourite stamp.

Save billions on Christmas stamps this year by falling out with all your friends who live further than walking distance

Of course first cousin marriage should be banned. My parents were second cousins, and I can tell you from bitter experience that the genetic consequences of that are quite bad enough!

YouTube video by Iceland Foods The Iceland Food Club

The Iceland Food Club is back. Please watch this short film which explains why our partnership with ethical lender Fair For You is so important this Christmas and into 2025:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=bnGF...

Terrible news about inveterate Middle-East-Tweeter Jeremy Corbyn losing his phone, leaving him unable to comment on events in Syria.

When I looked up Gregg Wallace’s insta account the algorithm suggested I might like to follow Philip Schofield and captain Tom Moore’s daughter

I am once again asking TV producers to remember there are dynasties and royal courts where you can set great drama other than the TUDORS

Gregg Wallace had to spend a lot of time opening his mouth for forkfuls of food.
He needs to keep his mouth shut right now and open his ears

Yet one more of the apparently permanent fixtures of the Newcastle I grew up in goes for good.

Very fondly remembering the world's best aunt on what would have been her 100th birthday.

Black Friday self-indulgence.

Half-timbered house, outside which stand mannequins of a man and woman in 17th-century clothing. Christmas lights are hung in the windows and along the roofline.

Oliver Cromwell's house festooned with Christmas lights. The man would be spinning in his grave, if he hadn't already been exhumed and dismembered.