bthec.bsky.social
@bthec.bsky.social
Thoughts of Wallace Stevens and his Sea Surface Full of Clouds - though the sea is still a long way off, and we're actually looking at the reflections of clouds on the surface of the canal at Splatt Bridge. Curlews, out of sight, are crying in the fields over towards the Severn.
November 16, 2025 at 7:51 AM
Thoughts of Wallace Stevens and his Sea Surface Full of Clouds - though the sea is still a long way off, and we're actually looking at the reflections of clouds on the surface of the canal at Splatt Bridge. Curlews, out of sight, are crying in the fields over towards the Severn.
Fantastic to see the Thekla in Bristol Harbour quite literally (I mean that: it is a boat after all) packed to the gunwales for the Momma gig. Yes, there is a lot of grunge going on in those riffs and harmonies, but Etta and Allegra add a very distinctive pop sensibility of their own. We loved them!
November 9, 2025 at 10:55 PM
Fantastic to see the Thekla in Bristol Harbour quite literally (I mean that: it is a boat after all) packed to the gunwales for the Momma gig. Yes, there is a lot of grunge going on in those riffs and harmonies, but Etta and Allegra add a very distinctive pop sensibility of their own. We loved them!
On a mossy tree trunk by the old canal in Chalford, a family of gnomes has quietly settled in for the autumn, amid a tangle of ivy, and fallen leaves, and bright red toadstools. Someone has kindly left them a twenty pence coin, though I suspect our money holds little interest for them.
November 7, 2025 at 7:18 AM
On a mossy tree trunk by the old canal in Chalford, a family of gnomes has quietly settled in for the autumn, amid a tangle of ivy, and fallen leaves, and bright red toadstools. Someone has kindly left them a twenty pence coin, though I suspect our money holds little interest for them.
What a treat to have the incomparable John Kirkpatrick at the Minchinhampton Market House last night! Incredible box-playing, of course, and the voice is strong and firm as ever. I remember how thrilled I was in the seventies listening to those earwormy morris tunes on Plain Capers!
October 12, 2025 at 2:31 PM
What a treat to have the incomparable John Kirkpatrick at the Minchinhampton Market House last night! Incredible box-playing, of course, and the voice is strong and firm as ever. I remember how thrilled I was in the seventies listening to those earwormy morris tunes on Plain Capers!
Although Malmesbury Abbey is the burial site of Athelstan, first king of all England, it's another grave in the churchyard which tends to grab the attention of visitors. For obvious reasons. Poor Hannah. And poor Tyger, pent up so far from home.
September 30, 2025 at 9:03 AM
Although Malmesbury Abbey is the burial site of Athelstan, first king of all England, it's another grave in the churchyard which tends to grab the attention of visitors. For obvious reasons. Poor Hannah. And poor Tyger, pent up so far from home.
Another striking canvas by young British artist, Sahara Longe, now on display at the Arnolfini in Bristol. This is Spanish Man, painted this year. The forms and lines might look highly simplified, but there's so much going on here!
September 13, 2025 at 2:07 PM
Another striking canvas by young British artist, Sahara Longe, now on display at the Arnolfini in Bristol. This is Spanish Man, painted this year. The forms and lines might look highly simplified, but there's so much going on here!
There are two superb exhibitions at the Arnolfini in Bristol at present. This luscious, enigmatic oil is by the young British artist, Sahara Longe. There is real intelligence and ambition here. There are echoes of Gauguin and Matisse and Milton Avery, but you sense a very individual talent at work.
September 13, 2025 at 1:54 PM
There are two superb exhibitions at the Arnolfini in Bristol at present. This luscious, enigmatic oil is by the young British artist, Sahara Longe. There is real intelligence and ambition here. There are echoes of Gauguin and Matisse and Milton Avery, but you sense a very individual talent at work.
Tonight's moon, waxing gibbous, beneath the branches of a rowan in Minchinhampton's churchyard. There's a new nip in the air now so it's on with jackets for evening walks.
September 4, 2025 at 7:31 PM
Tonight's moon, waxing gibbous, beneath the branches of a rowan in Minchinhampton's churchyard. There's a new nip in the air now so it's on with jackets for evening walks.
I can't quite grasp why, in several trips to Southwold over many years, we've somehow managed to miss the breathtaking church of St Edmund. Crazy! It was a late 15th century new build, so all-of-a-piece English perp. The sunlight just pours in through huge windows! Glorious.
August 31, 2025 at 9:06 AM
I can't quite grasp why, in several trips to Southwold over many years, we've somehow managed to miss the breathtaking church of St Edmund. Crazy! It was a late 15th century new build, so all-of-a-piece English perp. The sunlight just pours in through huge windows! Glorious.
"O plumy tamarisk," in Laurence Binyon's perfectly precise and evocative phrase. This beauty in a neighbour's garden at the edge of Minchinhampton Common. Plumy's the word.
August 24, 2025 at 4:14 PM
"O plumy tamarisk," in Laurence Binyon's perfectly precise and evocative phrase. This beauty in a neighbour's garden at the edge of Minchinhampton Common. Plumy's the word.
One of the great highlights of the year in Minchinhampton: the arrival of the one and only Giffords Circus! The cows on the common can't resist coming over to see what the heck's happening on their patch...
August 22, 2025 at 11:18 AM
One of the great highlights of the year in Minchinhampton: the arrival of the one and only Giffords Circus! The cows on the common can't resist coming over to see what the heck's happening on their patch...
Gosh, those late landscapes at Tate's Edward Burra exhibition! I first saw them decades ago, and they haven't lost one iota of their magic. I love the way these hills near Whitby vanish into the mist. A touch of the Turner...
August 22, 2025 at 8:20 AM
Gosh, those late landscapes at Tate's Edward Burra exhibition! I first saw them decades ago, and they haven't lost one iota of their magic. I love the way these hills near Whitby vanish into the mist. A touch of the Turner...
The current Edward Burra exhibition at Tate Modern is a treat. You can listen to gems from Burra's record collection whilst enjoying works from the thirties like this one - the Minuit Chanson record shop in Paris where he made many of his purchases. What a snazzily-dressed clientele!
August 21, 2025 at 7:04 PM
The current Edward Burra exhibition at Tate Modern is a treat. You can listen to gems from Burra's record collection whilst enjoying works from the thirties like this one - the Minuit Chanson record shop in Paris where he made many of his purchases. What a snazzily-dressed clientele!
Are there other Derbeians out there who remember this record shop that stood at the end of the Strand Arcade? This ancient bag turned up during yesterday's spare room clear-out. I remember buying Wendy Carlos's Sonic Seasonings there, and a Berwald symphony, and Le Marteau sans maître. Heady times!
August 21, 2025 at 6:55 PM
Are there other Derbeians out there who remember this record shop that stood at the end of the Strand Arcade? This ancient bag turned up during yesterday's spare room clear-out. I remember buying Wendy Carlos's Sonic Seasonings there, and a Berwald symphony, and Le Marteau sans maître. Heady times!
It's easy to miss the entrance to the room at V&A East Storehouse where the front cloth from Le Train Bleu is hung. We had to ask for directions and were very glad we did! It's a copy of a Picasso, but so faithful that the man himself was happy to sign it. Created for the Ballets Russes in 1924.
August 11, 2025 at 2:08 PM
It's easy to miss the entrance to the room at V&A East Storehouse where the front cloth from Le Train Bleu is hung. We had to ask for directions and were very glad we did! It's a copy of a Picasso, but so faithful that the man himself was happy to sign it. Created for the Ballets Russes in 1924.
Herbaceous heaven at the 'Oudolf Field' at Hauser & Wirth in Somerset. What a master of shape and colour and texture Piet Oudolf is! Much of this can be scaled down, too, so plenty of ideas to pinch for smaller gardens.
August 9, 2025 at 8:38 AM
Herbaceous heaven at the 'Oudolf Field' at Hauser & Wirth in Somerset. What a master of shape and colour and texture Piet Oudolf is! Much of this can be scaled down, too, so plenty of ideas to pinch for smaller gardens.
I first visited the old shipbuilding hamlet of Bucklers Hard on a rare outing in the sixties from Holy Cross Primary School in Eastleigh. The place has never lost its magic or charm. I still find it hard to imagine huge ships for Nelson's navy being built at the end of this single, lovely street.
August 7, 2025 at 6:00 PM
I first visited the old shipbuilding hamlet of Bucklers Hard on a rare outing in the sixties from Holy Cross Primary School in Eastleigh. The place has never lost its magic or charm. I still find it hard to imagine huge ships for Nelson's navy being built at the end of this single, lovely street.
If there’s one place where you can bank on finding slices of delectable Victoria sponge, it's in the tearooms of English gardens. These fine specimens rounded off a visit to the beautiful Arts and Crafts garden at Rodmarton Manor in Gloucestershire. Perfection - both garden and sponge.
August 7, 2025 at 5:48 PM
If there’s one place where you can bank on finding slices of delectable Victoria sponge, it's in the tearooms of English gardens. These fine specimens rounded off a visit to the beautiful Arts and Crafts garden at Rodmarton Manor in Gloucestershire. Perfection - both garden and sponge.
This year's Clifton and Hotwells Open Gardens ('Green Squares and Secret Gardens') was another triumph. What a fantastic effort the residents make! Something for most tastes in the choral singing, too, from The Hippopotamus Song to Smells Like Teen Spirit. Yes, really!
June 9, 2025 at 3:10 PM
This year's Clifton and Hotwells Open Gardens ('Green Squares and Secret Gardens') was another triumph. What a fantastic effort the residents make! Something for most tastes in the choral singing, too, from The Hippopotamus Song to Smells Like Teen Spirit. Yes, really!
John was the UK's first Green Party councillor and mayor. His full list of achievements is truly humbling. He will be sorely missed by family, friends and colleagues. But we'll never forget his humanity and commitment to seeking a better world for all.
June 2, 2025 at 3:34 PM
John was the UK's first Green Party councillor and mayor. His full list of achievements is truly humbling. He will be sorely missed by family, friends and colleagues. But we'll never forget his humanity and commitment to seeking a better world for all.
Such a privilege to attend John Marjoram's funeral in Stroud today. What an inspirational man, utterly committed to public service - and such fun to be with! Life always felt better with John there. Well done, Stroud, for giving John the send-off he deserved.
June 2, 2025 at 2:06 PM
Such a privilege to attend John Marjoram's funeral in Stroud today. What an inspirational man, utterly committed to public service - and such fun to be with! Life always felt better with John there. Well done, Stroud, for giving John the send-off he deserved.
That startling (horrific!) footage of this year's Cooper's Hill cheese rolling took me back to this brilliant scene in Mason & Dixon where Pynchon turns the tables and has a giant cheese chasing Mason down the hill. 'Cheese malevolent' - perfect new indie band name.
June 1, 2025 at 9:16 AM
That startling (horrific!) footage of this year's Cooper's Hill cheese rolling took me back to this brilliant scene in Mason & Dixon where Pynchon turns the tables and has a giant cheese chasing Mason down the hill. 'Cheese malevolent' - perfect new indie band name.
Sheer floral self-indulgence at Westonbirt Arboretum. Still taking a while for the brain to adjust to this richness and intensity after the long drab months of that last winter!
June 1, 2025 at 9:06 AM
Sheer floral self-indulgence at Westonbirt Arboretum. Still taking a while for the brain to adjust to this richness and intensity after the long drab months of that last winter!
Those strainer arches in Wells Cathedral! Alec Clifton-Taylor was very rude about them, but the audacity of this fourteenth century solution to a structural problem continues to astound me. The decision to invert a gothic arch feels such a modern, or postmodern, idea. Any precedents, I wonder?
May 8, 2025 at 11:18 AM
Those strainer arches in Wells Cathedral! Alec Clifton-Taylor was very rude about them, but the audacity of this fourteenth century solution to a structural problem continues to astound me. The decision to invert a gothic arch feels such a modern, or postmodern, idea. Any precedents, I wonder?
What are our younger composers making for the symphony orchestra? Something extraordinary in this case, I think. Tom Coult has created a mini-symphony that whisks us from Sibelian forests, through festive Mediterranean streets, to something both funereal and bluesy. I simply can't stop listening!
April 24, 2025 at 2:18 PM
What are our younger composers making for the symphony orchestra? Something extraordinary in this case, I think. Tom Coult has created a mini-symphony that whisks us from Sibelian forests, through festive Mediterranean streets, to something both funereal and bluesy. I simply can't stop listening!