Owen Massey
LightNews LightNews
banner
bookllyfr.bsky.social
Owen Massey
@bookllyfr.bsky.social
1.1K followers 650 following 760 posts
/'əʊɪn 'mæsiː/

No longer receiving DMs

librarian・pedestrian・own views・they/them・Net Zero・Vision Zero・pro-trans・pro-trains・not my king・no gods・no masters・no borders・no statues・no heroes・❄️
Posts Replies Media Videos
Pinned
bookllyfr.bsky.social
Owen Massey @bookllyfr.bsky.social · Apr 30
Safe streets in Oxford … with accompanying quotes from a car-loving councillor. Please share!
Two elderly people hold hands as they cross a road junction, one using a walking stick. Caption: ‘… a few indulged individuals can enjoy a quiet road that was never an expectation when they happily moved into their homes.’ Children and adults cycling through a Low Traffic Neighbourhood with a green ‘ROAD OPEN’ sign Caption: ‘they continue to ignore the devastation and misery this has brought to so many.’
Reposted by Owen Massey
librarycolleen.bsky.social
"Festival of Floppies" and "Copy that Floppy" are such good titles for outreach events, I can't get over it.
www.lib.cam.ac.uk/future-nosta...
Future Nostalgia: Safeguarding the knowledge of floppy disks
Funded by British Academy/ Leverhulme Trust Small Grant
www.lib.cam.ac.uk
November 10, 2025 at 4:26 PM
Reposted by Owen Massey
helengittos.bsky.social
A library of stone in Alex Wenham's studio. I really can't explain how much I love stone - and the people who work it.
April 28, 2025 at 8:03 AM
Reposted by Owen Massey
oxfordclarion.bsky.social
Folks for our Tuesday edition we would like to feature a Remembrance Day header image. If you have one, and are able to share it, we would be grateful. Full credit, of course. #WearealltheClarion #oxfordshire #LestWeForget
November 9, 2025 at 9:50 AM
Reposted by Owen Massey
louiselocock.bsky.social
If you're fed up with the co-option of red poppies by right wingers, this is what the Peace Pledge Union white poppy represents:
Remembrance of all victims of war, civilian and military, from ALL nations
Challenging war & its glorification
Commitment to peace and non-violent solutions to conflict
November 8, 2025 at 12:59 PM
Reposted by Owen Massey
greenpartyemma.bsky.social
Everyone in Oxfordshire loves Tolkien and traffic debates, right? 😉

Here's my full speech:
I agree with Councillor Walker that it is positive to have this debate here AND I will be voting against this motion. Oxford has struggled with traffic and private cars for decades. This congestion charge isn’t perfect for everyone - no transport policy ever is - but it is a significant step forward. There are changes I think should be made including 1) charging larger cars more than smaller cars, 2) allocating permits per adult rather than per car to avoid incentivising households to own more than one car - as we heard from Lydia this morning, 3) using funds generated to benefit public transport for everyone, rather than prioritising free park and ride buses for those who already own cars. Nonetheless, we should support the temporary congestion charge, perhaps particularly the Conservative Group. UK transport is our sector with the largest greenhouse gas emissions, driving runaway climate change and flooding in Oxford which block roads and ruin homes. Theresa May introduced landmark legislation to get the UK to Net Zero by 2050 and I applaud her for that. Margaret Thatcher was warning the UN about the huge dangers from global warming back in 1989 - the year I was born. Congestion charges - and using revenues to subsidise public transport - are the most effective way to reduce car journeys in cities, and therefore cut greenhouse gas emissions. References: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/pm-theresa-may-we-will-end-uk-contribution-to-climate-change-by-2050 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-22069768 https://theconversation.com/12-best-ways-to-get-cars-out-of-cities-ranked-by-new-research-180642 One of Oxford’s most famous writers - JRR Tolkien - wrote a satirical essay in the 1960s about how car traffic was destroying Oxford. It was published for the first time this year and I really recommend reading it. The problems he was describing 60 years ago are still far too relevant today: congestion, road rage and noise pollution. I will read a few extracts. “There were many citizens [who were] no longer amused, saying openly that these motors were ruining the city” “But as for speed: before long the Via Maxima [High Street] was packed with an unceasing stream of motors crawling so slowly from halt to halt that a man on foot could (like an animal) walk its whole length and back to find a mounted [driving] friend only ten yards further on his way, while the horn of his motor trumpeted in vexation.” “Nevertheless, the constipation of the highways did not mitigate the noise and stench in the city; for if halted the Motors belched the more, while they drummed and throbbed inwardly in thwarted rage.” “There came at last a day when every street, every road, lane, alley, court and byway was blocked: nothing could move either forward or backward. All motors stopped dead. Silence fell. The silence of a tomb.” Tolkien was a Conservative and self-described anarchist who hated state interference. And he could see and wrote eloquently how cars will take over and strangle a city without regulation. It would be fantastic if we could have fast and frequent buses and safe walking and wheeling WITHOUT disincentives and restrictions for parking and driving - but that simply never happens. ¬¬ Let’s support policies to free up Oxford, let’s vote against this motion.
November 4, 2025 at 6:16 PM
bookllyfr.bsky.social
It is of course impossible to carry a pen on a bus.
oxfordclarion.bsky.social Oxford Clarion @oxfordclarion.bsky.social · 6d
Paul Major, owner of Pens Plus on the High, “an icon of Oxford for over 65 years”. “We’ve seen a 15% growth year-on-year for three years. In the first five days of the congestion charge we were 52.8% down in revenue. Who in their right mind introduces such a scheme so close to Christmas?”
November 4, 2025 at 11:29 AM
Reposted by Owen Massey
oxfordclarion.bsky.social
Buses are getting around Oxford faster as a result of the congestion charge, according to Oxford Bus Company. MD Luke Marion said “We’ve already seen encouraging improvements to traffic flow and bus journey times in the scheme’s first week.”
Speedy bus (photo: Roger Close)
November 4, 2025 at 10:53 AM
Reposted by Owen Massey
lizmorrish.bsky.social
I hope it is now obvious why pillars of democracy like universities, the law, public broadcasting should be funded so that they are beyond the reach of financial coercion by hostile agents.
November 3, 2025 at 7:01 AM
Reposted by Owen Massey
snellarthur.bsky.social
Until a white Anglo-Saxon Christian with a private education runs amok, there’ll be people willing to blame minorities for every crime. And when the posh bloke does it they’ll say he was pushed into it by VAT on school fees.
sundersays.bsky.social Sunder Katwala (sundersays) @sundersays.bsky.social · 8d
Grimes said the attackers should never have set foot in this country, suggesting he assumed that they must have been migrants to the UK. The police say that the two men arrested are black British-born men in their 30s.
November 2, 2025 at 12:03 PM
Reposted by Owen Massey
woolfianjosh.bsky.social
Tired: Greater Oxford
Wired: Oxfordshire unitary
Inspired: Abingdominion
oxfordclarion.bsky.social Oxford Clarion @oxfordclarion.bsky.social · 10d
Oxfordshire County Council and Oxford City Council have each published their detailed proposals for council reorganisation today. The County’s proposal envisages one council for the whole of Oxfordshire, while the City proposes three councils (Greater Oxford, North, Ridgeway).
October 31, 2025 at 5:53 PM
bookllyfr.bsky.social
Good to see that Sustrans dropping ‘trans’ from their name doesn’t mean dropping support for trans women who just want to ride a bike
walkwheelcyclet.bsky.social walkwheelcyclet.bsky.social @walkwheelcyclet.bsky.social · 12d
The campaign is inclusive of trans and intersex women and girls, as well as non-binary and gender fluid people who are comfortable in a space that centres the experience of young women.
Text reads: Strategic goal 2 - connecting. And She Cycles encourages more teenage girls to cycle for everyday journeys celebrating the mental, physical and environmental benefits of cycling. While cycling provides clear advantages, teenage girls have reported they choose not to cycle because of negative stereotypes, a lack of role models and low levels of confidence. Teenage girls benefit from the bonds formed from cycling with friends, which supports their mental wellbeing. Interactive workshops were held for teachers and youth group leaders to help guide teenage girls and young women to shape and influence their own local campaign and develop their own action plans. Walk Wheel Cycle Trust.
October 29, 2025 at 5:19 PM
Reposted by Owen Massey
oxfordclarion.bsky.social
An Oxfordshire man has been named Gravedigger Of The Year for the second time. Jonny Yaxley, from Drayton, has been digging graves around the county for more than 20 years. He told the Diocese of Oxford that “I view what I do as an honour, as if you are putting people to bed for the last time.”
Jonny Yaxley, Gravedigger Of The Year 2025
October 29, 2025 at 12:03 PM
Reposted by Owen Massey
oxfordclarion.bsky.social
Waterstones’ new Oxford bookshop is lining up a 24 November opening date. The store on Queen Street, in the former Topshop premises, will replace their former premises at the junction of Cornmarket and Broad Street. The parent company also owns Oxford booksellers Blackwells.
The site of the new Waterstones store before rebuilding started
October 29, 2025 at 11:16 AM
Reposted by Owen Massey
holybollards.bsky.social
Happy congestion charge launch day, Oxford. Enjoy the new bus services. 🚌🫶
October 29, 2025 at 7:48 AM
Reposted by Owen Massey
zoejardiniere.bsky.social
Asylum seekers, housed in hotels in Manchester, are reaching out in their own words to address the concerns of the local community.

Please take a minute to read their letter, & share it with the people in your life who need to hear the truth about the people they are protesting.
October 27, 2025 at 11:41 AM
Reposted by Owen Massey
demontomatodave.bsky.social
Every even-numbered thing you read about AI is "they've checked yet again and it turns out everything it says is wrong" and every odd-numbered thing you read about AI is "they've given OpenAI a new contract to decide who goes to prison and it has all your names to pick from"
October 26, 2025 at 5:55 PM
Reposted by Owen Massey
ceebarnacles.bsky.social
The risible wages are well-known in the wider field of the library, museum, gallery and archive world. I’d like to think public opinion is with the people who make the place click day-in-day-out; they deserve better.
Knowledge may be free but labour isn’t: spread the wealth and pay the workers!
PCS union poster showing the calendar for the pickets and rallies at the upcoming strike for decent wages by library workers at the British Library.
October 26, 2025 at 8:00 AM
Reposted by Owen Massey
bethanyblack.bsky.social
The only decent argument I ever heard from anyone saying they don’t like being called “cis” was a friend who was a classicist saying they didn’t like it because it’s Latin and in Latin that C should be pronounced K
October 24, 2025 at 6:16 PM
Reposted by Owen Massey
loreandordure.com
The Esparto Paper book is more surprising and arguably (to me anyway) more interesting: it’s a bound book of paper samples from 1956. It is mostly unprinted with occasional example printed pages.
Inner title page printed: ESPARTO PAPER Presented by THE ASSOCIATION OF MAKERS OF ESPARTO PAPERS NEWMAN NEAME 1956 A fan spread of wove tinted papers. A short biography of Eric Gill printed on light pale cream paper. A short biography of Frederic Gouda printed on metallic gold paper.
October 24, 2025 at 1:42 PM
Reposted by Owen Massey
emilykerr36.bsky.social
EXCITINGLY YET MORE BUSES IN OXFORD!! Stagecoach now sharing their new bus routes (Ox Bus Company already did).

Again, this is a result of the Congestion Charge. Reduce private cars and congestion and there's space for better bus services. Tell all the politicians you know this one simple trick. ❤️🚌
October 23, 2025 at 12:18 PM
bookllyfr.bsky.social
Yes, 'calligrapher': it's hard to see from the photo in the Clarion's report but Esther Inglis wrote this book by hand:

digital.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/objects/9c90...
October 22, 2025 at 3:20 PM
Reposted by Owen Massey
oxfordclarion.bsky.social
Oxfordshire’s new gritters are to be named by public vote. With 30 new gritters added to the fleet, the County Council is looking for “creative” names, though “submissions will be reviewed to ensure they’re appropriate”. Entries close on 5 November. letstalk.oxfordshire.gov.uk/name-oxfords...
Name Oxfordshire’s new gritters!
Spreading smiles - and salt - across Oxfordshire! Last winter, 30 brand-new gritters joined Oxfordshire’s fleet, ready to hit the roads whenever temperatures drop below freezing. These vehicles play a...
letstalk.oxfordshire.gov.uk
October 22, 2025 at 2:29 PM
bookllyfr.bsky.social
the alt text
possumacquainter.bsky.social Gregory Possum-Friend @possumacquainter.bsky.social · 19d
got this ad on reddit and yeah thank you AI, this is absolutely my wildest fantasy. cant wait to live this thrilling dream at last
AI fantasy image of 50-something-year-old guy with Thing from Addams Family on his shoulder, but if Thing had four fingers instead of five. Unclear whether Thing is just hanging out like a parrot sidekick to a pirate, or if its placement on the man's shoulder suggests an intimacy, possibly even an erotic component. Also the man has an American flag lapel pin, suggesting he may be a senator or something? The best i can offer is that they are both former veterans and Thing lost a finger (roughly ten percent of its body, by weight) in the Iraq War, and now the man has ridden his veteran story to victory in the political sphere, simultaneously trying to appease Thing as a result of an old promise made to "make sure he's taken care of, after all this over, if we both get out alive" and desperately hoping no one ever uncovers the truth, that he and Thing, alone in the desert and lacking their normal choice of companionship, may have idled away some aroused hours with - you guessed it, say it with me now - "Hand Stuff"
October 22, 2025 at 11:51 AM
Reposted by Owen Massey
oxfordclarion.bsky.social
Bus campaigners say that Oxford station needs a bus interchange – not a multi-storey car park. Oxon4Buses has launched a petition calling for Network Rail to ensure any redevelopment includes “a bus hub, physically and visually linked to the rail station”. www.change.org/p/sign-for-a...
Passenger heading for buses at Oxford station bus rank
October 22, 2025 at 8:19 AM
Reposted by Owen Massey
oxfordpedestrians.bsky.social
500 signatures already! Please add your name to the Oxon4Buses petition at www.change.org/p/sign-for-a...

www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/2556059...
Growing calls to include bus station in plans for Oxford Rail Station
There are growing calls for a new bus station to be part of major plans to redesign Oxford Railway Station.
www.oxfordmail.co.uk
October 22, 2025 at 6:49 AM