Celia Kitzinger

Miles Hewstone - once a respected and influential social psychologist (and editor of the British Journal of Social Psychology).

www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...

It's 30.5 boots-on hiking miles for me since I last posted for #nhs1000miles
Here are a few more pics from this week's snow in the #LakeDistrict (Tewet Tarn x2, view towards Clough Head & the Dodds, Castlerigg Stone Circle)
@kitzingercelia.bsky.social

Four delightfully cute snail sculptures made from iron in a forge. Behind them is a glowing hot fire.

Today is St Clement's Day, the patron saint of blacksmiths and metal workers.

At Finch Foundry in Devon, blacksmiths will gather to show their skills and complete in the annual snail race. Not what you might immediately think of, the race is to create an iron snail sculpture!

📷 Mel Peters

Minus 4 degrees at Castlerigg stone circle this morning - and we had it to ourselves. (That's @kitzingercelia.bsky.social
in the red jacket.) Another fabulous snow day in the #LakeDistrict

Four views of #Skiddaw from this morning:
from #Portinscale; across Nichol End Marine; from Lingholm Kitchen (walled garden in foreground); and across #Derwentwater (greylag and canada geese under the trees)
#LakeDistrict @kitzingercelia.bsky.social

Just a scattering of snow on Causey Pike this morning...

Nestlé still are at it.

I haven't drunk Nestlé coffee for four decades because of the horrific baby milk scandal.

With a multinational the size of Nestlé, it is hard to avoid their products, but I do try because the company knows what it is doing, and does it anyway.

voxdev.org/topic/health...

Hoarding and best interests challenges for the Court of Protection By Claire Martin, 16th November 2025 The protected party at the centre of this case (P) is a man who has significant hoarding difficulties. The Local Authority wants him to leave his home – either …

The Local Authority want P to vacate the property voluntarily whilst his property is cleared. Failing that, they want P removed forcibly, using restraint if necessary.

Blog by @doccmartin.bsky.social

#NotSecretCourt

openjusticecourtofprotection.org/2025/11/16/h...

Extract from Dorothy Wordsworth's Grasmere journal of 3 Oct 1800, describing meeting the leech-gatherer

Extract from William Wordsworth's "Resolution & Independence", written 1802, published 1807 - reporting a conversation with the leech-gatherer

Aeriel view of Leech Tarn, on Lowick Common. (This is a still taken from Cumbria Wildlife Trust's Bluesky post on 7 November 2025 - about Leech Tarn and its inhabitants.)

Close-up of a medicinal leech, caught in a fishing net. (This is a still taken from Cumbria Wildlife Trust's Bluesky post on 7 November 2025 - about Leech Tarn and its inhabitants.)

Got all Wordsworthian seeing recent post from @cumbriawildlife.bsky.social about Lowick Common.
1st extract is from Dorothy's journal of 3 Oct 1800;
2nd is from William's "Resolution & Independence", written 1802, published 1807.
For more info, see: www.cumbriawildlifetrust.org.uk/nature-reser...

Sometimes, Curlew nest are so well hidden that even the other local wildlife gets a surprise! 😄

📷 James Wellock

Note: this Curlew nest was fenced off from grazing dairy cows

Judges set to decide fate of police chief constable guilty of contempt of court Exclusive: Ivan Balhatchet, Northamptonshire’s chief constable, could face up to two years in jail or a fine for repeated failure to obey rulings

This is an appalling judgment to read. Two Chief Constables found in contempt of court for misleading the court about the existence of video footage. But this was only discovered when the matter made it to the Court of Appeal. Incredible perseverance.

www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWC...

I didn't observe Cheshire West in the SC but people who did say it was a very different experience, with Lady Hale at the helm. I *did* observe another COP case in the SC (Re JB on capacity for sex) - a much better experience. This was IMO an exceptionally "detached" case as a Reference.

The judges (and some of the lawyers) need to know that they (unintentionally, I’m sure) displayed what many observers experienced as discourteous and uncivil attitudes to people with disabilities, and a rather cavalier approach to the day-to-day realities of these people’s lives, and the lives of their families and those who care for them. I hope that this blog post enable them to see themselves as other see them and thereby perhaps to generate for themselves some ideas about how to create a more positive image of the court in future.

Public observers disillusioned and dismayed by what they see in the Supreme Court. Not what judges hope for from open justice!

openjusticecourtofprotection.org/2025/11/10/w...

When open justice undermines public confidence: Scrutinising the Supreme Court Justice is not a cloistered virtue; she must be allowed to suffer the scrutiny and respectful, even though outspoken, comments of ordinary men

Open justice is supposed to enhance public trust + confidence in the justice system - but in this case it had the opposite effect.

What does the Supreme Court need to do differently to make sure COP observers have a better experience next time?

openjusticecourtofprotection.org/2025/11/10/w...

So cute!

This is what I'll be doing later today. Why not join us? It's not too late! Send an email to openjustice@yahoo.com and we'll send you the link. All welcome.

How to observe remote hearings in the Court of Protection, A one-hour seminar. Thursday 6th November 2025 at 5.30pm -6.30pm. Free and open to everyone. Email openjustice@yahoo.com to ask for the link.

Why not observe a hearing in the Court of Protection and learn more about the challenges faced by judges, lawyers, families and P when decision-making capacity is deemed lost. We tell you how to find a hearing, how to log on and what to expect. And we have a "buddy" system if you want support.

Extract from 'A North-Country Flood', in H.D. Rawnsley's 1902 book, 'A Rambler's Notebook at the English Lakes', page 115. The sexton of Crosthwaite Church tells how he got to the church, despite the floods, by walking along the railway embankment. (He speaks in Cumbrian dialect.)

Image of Crosthwaite Church, Keswick

Given current watery conditions here in Cumbria, I'm enjoying Hardwicke Rawnsley's account of the Keswick floods of 25 Oct 1888: '...when it siles down reet gaily, every road becomes a sike, and every sike a beck, and every beck a river'. Apparently the sexton of Crosthwaite church was undeterred:

So much to learn!

Lady Rose's James Wood Lecture, delivered at the University of Glasgow yesterday: supremecourt.uk/uploads/spee...

Nearly 150,000 aged 90 and above wait 12 hours in England’s A&Es each year Older people left in their own excrement and wet beds for hours and forced to watch others die, Age UK report finds

The utter disgrace of this.

Nearly 150,000 aged 90 and above wait 12 hours in England’s A&Es each year www.theguardian.com/society/2025...

29 miles this week - and that takes me over the #nhs1000miles goal (the earliest in the year I've ever met it)! My YTD is now 1021 boots-on hiking miles.
Pics are from mid-week in Martindale with the Skiddaw U3A Roamers. The ethereal blue is Angle Tarn.
@kitzingercelia.bsky.social

I observed a hearing in First Avenue House y'day after complaining about the missing lists and being sent them via email.

Then I discovered the hearing I wanted was wrong on the list: one digit was altered (from 2 to 4) making electronic search impossible

No wonder people think "conspiracy!"

Large stag approaching a muddy wallow

Large stag rolling in a muddy wallow

Deer-stalking in Martindale with the Roamers again today (other side of the valley from 2 weeks ago). Just as spectacular: the rut is still in full swing! Highlight was seeing this stag rolling in a wallow ... @kitzingercelia.bsky.social

Promoting Open Justice in the Court of Protection Post by @OpenJusticeCoP.

Day 2 of the Supreme Court Hearing reconsidering Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards, Tuesday 21st October

See our website for a summary of Day 1 and details of how to follow on the livestream:
openjusticecourtofprotection.org

Added 32 more boots-on hiking miles for #nhs1000miles this week. Highlights were THOSE #LakeDistrict inversions at the beginning of the week. (They lasted into Thursday for those who got high enough to be above the gradually-rising cloud layer.) Can't resist 4 (more) pix! @kitzingercelia.bsky.social

In London for a celebration. The Mary Beale arboretum looked gorgeous in the rain ... @kitzingercelia.bsky.social

Mine was cancelled today😩