almostanglia.bsky.social
@almostanglia.bsky.social
I like churches, folklore and the natural world. Librarian. Almost countryside dweller. Almost East Anglian.
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If you read four history books on the same topic, you will inevitably notice how the historians pick what makes it into their account and how they’re responding to other historians. Then you pick a favorite and begin to feel deep antipathy to the other chosen paths. Welcome. You are now an academic.
July 9, 2025 at 8:27 PM
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Holy shit, lads.
I've just seen this footage of Penelope Keith running away from the grassy knoll.
March 20, 2025 at 3:19 PM
Whilst church crawling today thoroughly enjoyed finding this very venerable looking chest with a Christmas tree shoved inside it for handy storage.
March 9, 2025 at 8:51 PM
Soon.
Ladybird Nature Corner.
‘Sallow and Blackthorn’
Trees, 1963
Artist : SR Badmin
March 7, 2025 at 7:57 PM
Happy pancake making witch of Toddington day for all who celebrate www.bedfordshirelive.co.uk/whats-on/str...
Pancake Day tradition sees kids gather on a Beds hill and listen for witches
Some children say they can still hear the witch frying her pancakes beneath the hill
www.bedfordshirelive.co.uk
March 4, 2025 at 9:17 PM
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You’ve got a friend in meeeeee #writing #reading
March 3, 2025 at 5:04 PM
I’m getting slightly obsessed with this red rusted tree. I assume the red is from a lichen or fungi but if anyone knows exactly what it is as I’m curious to know…
March 3, 2025 at 4:57 PM
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In Peterborough Cathedral there is a panel explaining that during the Reformation, when soldiers came to smash the monuments, steal the gold and burn the books, a monk managed to save just one book from the library, claiming to the illiterate soldiers that it was a bible that must not be burned.
February 26, 2025 at 5:24 PM
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Each catkin consists of 240 individual flowers on a dangling stem, & when fully ripe it only takes the slightest touch to release a cloud of microscopic pollen grains. These can be carried over a great distance on a favourable breeze in the hope of reaching a female Hazel flower. 📸 R Wilmshurst
February 26, 2025 at 7:31 AM
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The Romantic's Gothic revival lasted up until the mid-20th century when we see skyscrapers built in the Gothic style. A truly strange and beautiful monument to romanticism.

Follow and repost if you're enjoying this series on The Romantics. 10/10
February 25, 2025 at 5:39 PM
Feel like Kent and Somerset are winning here.
English County names literally translated.
February 26, 2025 at 10:03 AM
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Went into the ruins of Dudley Castle and checked out some creatures of the night...
February 24, 2025 at 4:19 PM
In related news, my Blythe obsession is getting out of hand and genuinely priced up buying every volume of his Church Times pieces the other day. There are 25 unread books by the side of my bed. This is not a sensible choice to make.
February 24, 2025 at 1:24 PM
I missed this lovely piece on Ronald Blythe, focussing on his faith. He captures the spirit of the good bits of the CofE. The rector of my childhood church used to have semi regular crises of faith that everyone just accepted as perfectly rational. Meeting other groups of Christians was a shock!
Who has more to say to wavering and would-be churchgoers?

The Anglican hierarchy? Or a “gay aesthete and naturalist born in dire poverty and sustained by a web of close friends”?

Boyd Tonkin makes the case for Ronald Blythe: www.prospectmagazine...
The religion of Ronald Blythe
The writer’s holy communion with the natural world was—is—an inspiration for believers and nonbelievers alike
www.prospectmagazine.co.uk
February 24, 2025 at 1:22 PM
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The holy trinity of English village life: pub, church, standing stones
Ancient and modern, in the beer garden of the Druid’s Arms, Stanton Drew #standingstonesunday
February 23, 2025 at 10:08 AM
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First #moth trap of the year here in Bedfordshire had a very respectable 19 moths of 6 species in it, including a couple of Small Brindled Beauties #TeamMoth
February 21, 2025 at 7:38 AM
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February 16, 2025 at 7:28 PM
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Paul Nash 'Landscape of the Megaliths',1937
February 8, 2025 at 10:01 PM
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Time to abandon my career, return to STEM, and propose the most ambitiously high-risk-of-mauling zoological research project of all time
The purr article on French Wikipedia has a chart that sorts cats into the groups "purrs," "uncertain," "probably purrs," and "no data"
February 5, 2025 at 7:57 AM
Incredibly atmospheric stained glass recalling the Manchester Blitz, in Manchester Cathedral. #windowsonwednesday
February 5, 2025 at 9:22 AM
🤣🤣🤣
February 5, 2025 at 9:11 AM
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LAND BENEATH THE WAVES is now available for pre-order: shorturl.at/LOt7x

Pre-order sales make a huge difference, so pls do take a look & share with other nature & place folk. Thanks so much. 💚

Benedict Macdonald: "An incredible journey, beautifully written, of nature's transformative powers."
Land Beneath the Waves: How the Natural World Helped One Woman Navigate Chronic Illness, Self-Acceptance and Belonging a book by Nic Wilson.
A moving, honest and revealing memoir of living with chronic illness, and an examination of the ways a relationship with the natural world can affect us, from debut author and nature writer Nic Wilson...
shorturl.at
February 4, 2025 at 12:48 PM
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I made shortbread yesterday for an Imbolc ritual last night. I wasn't paying attention and doubled the butter. They didn't rise right and took forever to cook, but they got eaten in minutes and it was declared "the exact right amount of butter" #imbolc #shortbread #butterisbetter #bakingfail
February 3, 2025 at 6:35 PM
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Bats or great-crested newts? "Neither because I want growth" is simply one of the stupidest, immoral and most dismal political answers ever. I'm #teambat #teamnewt #teamhuman #teamhabitableplanet and this story I wrote over the weekend has been cheering me up www.theguardian.com/world/2025/j...
Hope for Britain’s loneliest bat after second species member discovered
Greater mouse-eared bat was declared extinct in the UK but ecologists now believe population recovery is possible
www.theguardian.com
January 29, 2025 at 11:10 AM