Matt Bristow

Another day of rain, another set of cancelled youth football fixtures. Our U11 team haven’t played a match on grass since 30th November and only played twice in total since then. More rain this week and little hope that the pitches will be anything other than flooded.

Leopards I think.

Any views @vch-home.bsky.social?

In the case of Braverman and Jenrick, the thing they find objectionable is that they were both roundly rejected by the membership and their fellow MPs in the respective leadership bids.

I suspect that if you spent a month in the desert wearing a tweed suit, by the time you return, that wouldn’t fit either 😂

Does that mean we can’t be friends? 😂 How deep does the Decemberists schism run?

No Cavalry Captain? Denied!

This guy!

Don’t forget Danny Kruger. Political Secretary to Bozzo as PM and a member of the shadow cabinet at the point of his defection. To be fair to you, it is easy to lose count.

Seeing Ivor Emmanuel’s name up there has brought back a memory of Christmas’s long gone. My grandad, who knew him from their time together in the D’Oyly Cart Opera Company, shouting at the tv ‘For Christ’s sake Ivor, sing something they know’ when ‘Men of Harlech’ failed to quell the Zulu attack. 😂

One of THE great threads. Read it, lol, rolf, print it out to show your friends 😂

The glory days when a highly paid international footballer was happy to have a little bit of fun at their own expense all in the name of a silly tv link. Can’t think of many now who’d be up for it.

Amazing! Looks like the setting for a hostage ‘proof of life’ video.

Fickle things kids. No. 3 has a Christmas list stuffed with gadgets and digital stuff, but still gets the most joy from this plywood castle and siege engines my dad made for him.

In a nice end to the year, I can draw your attention to this short (ish) report on the
earthwork survey of Cockroad Wood Castle in Somerset which I led this year. A fascinating, if slightly enigmatic site. historicengland.org.uk/research/res...
. One for @castlestudies.bsky.social

Did result in much hilarity when no.1 son, having been appraised of what it was and why I have it, returned from the study with Somerset vol 12 to read the little ones a bedtime story. Sadly, rather than choosing one of the many fascinating sections, he selected the acknowledgments and preface 😂😂😂

Assume all other archaeology and local history types have a tree like this @vch-home.bsky.social.

Nativity (only the first one) always gets an annual viewing. Funny and with a stellar Brit cast. Without igniting a Die Hard style debate, I’ve always viewed Gremlins as a Christmas movie and that gets an airing. Also, tripe though it is, I love Jingle all the Way.

We Brexiteers must acknowledge the costs of leaving Europe Breaking free from the EU has undoubtedly deepened the UK’s malaise, and it’s no use denying it

Feels like a significant moment @mrjamesob.bsky.social. When those who sold the Brexit con are openly admitting that it has made the country poorer, it opens the door for the government to do something about it. www.thetimes.com/business/eco...

Listening to @mrjamesob.bsky.social discussion the Reith lecture edit with @rutgerbregman.com it strikes me this might be the greatest ever example of the Streisand Effect. How many more people have now heard the line about Trump who wouldn’t have done had it simply been broadcast as recorded?

It’s climate change filth that’s what it is….

Well, well, well @mrjamesob.bsky.social. Thanks to the Yuka app, I now know that it is far healthier for me to have a full sugar cab of appletiser than it is to have to bottle of freshly pressed apple juice by a well known brand who trade off how unadulterated their product is.

Sorry 617 Squadron, sorry Barnes Wallis, sorry Operation Chastise. Y'all just aren't on Trump's level 🙄

Some 100 private jets will fly to Venice for Jeff Bezos' wedding, and I recycle yoghurt cup lids.

Fun fact, the text book for that GCSE History of Medicine module was written by the late Ian Coulson of Kent VCH. There’s always a VCH link if you look hard enough.

Ironically, if that happens, I then need to cheer for a Chelsea win in the Europa Conference final. It’s a funny old game 😂

Know that feeling. Keeping everything crossed for a Forest win today to keep Chelsea in 7th

A couple of pics from our visit to the Devil’s Arrows this week. #standingstonesunday

I'm not a huge consumer of podcasts, but this one is excellent. If you're into 20th century urban planning and the more 'out there' proposals for the post-war reconstruction of Britain, this is likely to be very much your thing!

I'm the first guest on an excellent new podcast series by Ewan Cameron on utopian design. I'm chatting about Geoffrey Jellicoe's provocative Motopia scheme.

You can find Brave New Worlds on any podcast platform, and here it is on Spotify:
open.spotify.com/episode/7n99...