DNA analysis suggests that “Viking” was sometimes a job description: burial sites in the UK have uncovered individuals with no Scandinavian ancestry, while some people buried in Scandinavia had Irish or Scottish parents.
hypertextual.substack.com/p/13-things-...
My first map storytelling experiment. The 1905 Deptford murders that changed forensic science were hyper-local: killers, victims, arrest sites all within minutes of each other. Once I had the coordinates, the map idea was obvious.
deptford.org/001/fingerpr...
What the f...!
When humans switched to softer foods after agriculture spread, their jaws shrank and adults kept the slight overbite. Soon, that tiny shift made “f” and “v” sounds easy to produce, opening up a whole new world of words.
www.science.org/content/arti...
The result: deptford.org, with history, maps, data and stories from one of London's most impressive neighbourhoods. Have a look and share with a friend or ten.
2/2
In 2022, I moved to Deptford and got obsessed with its history. Three years and 100 walking tours later, I still can’t shut up about it.
1/2
Ghost signs of London, Greenwich edition.
28.02.2026 10:31 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
Brilliant reporting from @theguardian.com.
www.theguardian.com/media/2026/f...
“Fuck, fuck, fuck,” said one producer at the network.
Looks great though!
27.02.2026 15:43 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0
Ghost signs of London, Deptford edition.
27.02.2026 14:13 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0I covered the story behind this sculpture here: mtk.re/deptfordpeter/
26.02.2026 10:27 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
Vandals damaged the most questionable part of the Peter the Great statue in Deptford in 2022. It’s been in a crate ever since. I won’t pretend I missed it. Apparently, someone did, though: the dwarf is back.
26.02.2026 09:11 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 2 📌 0
The result: deptford.org, with history, maps, data and stories from one of London's most impressive neighbourhoods. Have a look and share with a friend or ten.
2/2
In 2022, I moved to Deptford and got obsessed with its history. Three years and 100 walking tours later, I still can’t shut up about it.
1/2
I love ghost signs as much as the next guy, but this one’s my favourite: “S” for shelter, arrow, “50 YDS”. Wartime wayfinding still on a Deptford wall decades after WWII. A perfect teaser for my new Deptford project. Stay tuned!
23.02.2026 16:24 — 👍 2 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
Layers of Deptford.
22.02.2026 11:34 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
Herons of Brookmill Park.
18.02.2026 19:02 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0
Ghost signs of Birmingham.
18.02.2026 09:13 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
“For too long, political parties without a vision for growth have allowed the Treasury tail to wag the political dog.”
Lib Dems would replace the Treasury and the Department for Business with a new Department for Growth to create a long-term economic vision.
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
Possibly the best pub name ever.
11.02.2026 09:14 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
Waiting for Shadowlands at Aldwych Theatre.
10.02.2026 19:22 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
Ghost signs of London, Limehouse edition.
10.02.2026 09:03 — 👍 2 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
“Some people will say, “Not another [general election]!”… I have some sympathy. I’ll need new trainers for door-knocking; the wetsuit will come out of storage; I’ll have to check my bungee guy isn’t already booked up for the summer.”
@eddavey.libdems.org.uk
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Pulled this tent out of the Ravensbourne during our regular river clean-up in Brookmill Park.
Dear Londoners, can we stop dumping tents in rivers? And, while we’re at it, everything else too.
Isn’t it ironic that Keir Starmer could lose his job because he and his “advisers” scrapped Tim Barrow’s appointment as the UK ambassador to the US?
He that mischief hatches, mischief catches.
Isn’t it ironic that Keir Starmer could lose his job because he and his “advisers” scrapped Tim Barrow’s appointment as the UK ambassador to the US?
He that mischief hatches, mischief catches.
Ghost signs of Birmingham.
31.01.2026 10:46 — 👍 3 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
Ghost signs of Birmingham.
25.01.2026 08:55 — 👍 4 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
I spent a week living in a traditional Dubai house in 2022. It was quite literally cool, despite the outside heat.
Now, working with the Architectural Heritage Society, our team put together a short piece explaining how these houses deal with heat.
special.mrdn.world/architectura...
I spent a week living in a traditional Dubai house in 2022. It was quite literally cool, despite the outside heat.
Now, working with the Architectural Heritage Society, our team put together a short piece explaining how these houses deal with heat.
special.mrdn.world/architectura...
Layers of Deptford.
13.01.2026 09:57 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0