johncolby.bsky.social
@johncolby.bsky.social
Retired, formerly Senior Lecturer at Birmingham City University
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... Can’t help thinking that these rabbit holes are getting deeper and more complex. Maybe I’ll get a Watership Down moment. ...

johncolby.wordpress.com/2026/01/08/p...
Postcards from the Past 2026-02 – source of stone – warping wood
Postcards from the Past 2026-02 – source of stone – warping wood Another (yet another) rabbit hole I’m disappearing down in my search is that of trying to find possible source quarries …
johncolby.wordpress.com
January 8, 2026 at 10:33 PM
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... Today has been weather dominated - I’ve stayed in. Age and physical instability say that venturing out on ice may have consequences that I don’t want to inflict on myself. The sofa has been hugging my bum ...

johncolby.wordpress.com/2026/01/07/p...
Postcards from the Past 2026-01 – six thousand years
Postcards from the Past 2026-01 – six thousand years When in was in the third form we had a history master who’s idea of teaching us history was to start at the top left hand corner of the bo…
johncolby.wordpress.com
January 7, 2026 at 10:01 PM
Blog.

... Epiphany: Primary school nativity play the Kings presenting gifts. Melchior: “Gold” … Balthazar: “Myrrh” … Caspar: “… and Frank sent this.” ...

johncolby.wordpress.com/2026/01/06/s...
Sounds of the Season 2025/26-38 Epiphany – timeline
Sounds of the Season 2025/26-38 Epiphany – timeline In the past few blogs I’ve been writing about the structural, construction and alteration history of St Peter’s Market Bosworth. This is an…
johncolby.wordpress.com
January 6, 2026 at 10:03 PM
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... More books arrived today. Another is due at the end of the week. As yet, no more have presented compelling reasons to buy. As yet! ...

johncolby.wordpress.com/2026/01/06/s...
Sounds of the Season 2025/26-37 – building and rebuilding – fashion – pride
Sounds of the Season 2025/26-37 – building and rebuilding – fashion – pride Looking at the possible precursor of the current church as we have been doing over the past few blogs a…
johncolby.wordpress.com
January 6, 2026 at 12:36 AM
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... I really should not be left alone without adult supervision - especially when it comes to buying books. Yes, more are on the way. ...

johncolby.wordpress.com/2026/01/04/s...
Sounds of the Season 2025/26-36 Second Sunday of Christmas – thirteenth century building
Sounds of the Season 2025/26-36 Second Sunday of Christmas – thirteenth century building In the story of High Medieval Market Bosworth there is now a lot of evidence of church building on the…
johncolby.wordpress.com
January 4, 2026 at 9:27 PM
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... this grade II, 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom, 1 reception residence is on the market for a tad under £400k, and, uncharacteristically has been for sale for some months. It is on the major corner of the road through the town so is certainly not quiet ...

johncolby.wordpress.com/2026/01/03/s...
Sounds of the Season 2025/26-35 – thatch
Sounds of the Season 2025/26-35 – thatch I’ve been looking at thatched buildings to get to the visualisation of how churches on the site may have looked. A prominent candidate for interpretin…
johncolby.wordpress.com
January 3, 2026 at 11:21 PM
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... It's that difficult time of the year between this New Year and next Christmas

Typing a database entry for the boss that arrived today. - Oxford Dictionary of Idioms became, after a hesitation and autocorrect, Oxford Dictionary of Idiots. ...

johncolby.wordpress.com/2026/01/02/s...
Sounds of the Season 2025/26-34 – back to the twelfth century – church roof structure – evidence
Sounds of the Season 2025/26-34 – back to the twelfth century – church roof structure – evidence Having bought books I’m reading them. Many at once. The area is getting crowded. G…
johncolby.wordpress.com
January 2, 2026 at 10:56 PM
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Reprise: New Years resolution was “Stop buying so many books!”

It lasted a tad over fourteen hours. ......

johncolby.wordpress.com/2026/01/01/s...
Sounds of the Season 2025/26-33 New Years Day – resolution progress – bolts
Sounds of the Season 2025/26-33 New Years Day – resolution progress – bolts Today has mostly been building toolracks for my workbench. One holdup was me not being able to find the bolts…
johncolby.wordpress.com
January 1, 2026 at 10:29 PM
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Happy New Year. May the twelve months ahead bring you what you want and need without too many complications...

johncolby.wordpress.com/2025/12/31/s...
Sounds of the Season 2025/26-32 – New Year’s Eve – analysis
Sounds of the Season 2025/26-32 – New Year’s Eve – analysis Today has been a waiting game – waiting for images to transfer to a connected drive. At first I tries transferring ever…
johncolby.wordpress.com
December 31, 2025 at 10:21 PM
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New Years resolution

Stop buying so many books!

(That’ll last as long as those of the other years)

johncolby.wordpress.com/2025/12/30/s...
Sounds of the Season 2025/26-31 – climate and history – honour
Sounds of the Season 2025/26-31 – climate and history – honour Coming up on one of my feeds today was this chart – it shows exactly what was happening over the past couple of thou…
johncolby.wordpress.com
December 30, 2025 at 9:40 PM
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... The illustration today is seasonal and is of the magi. I am in admiration. of the detail involved in creating these artworks. We do have what seems to be a black king, something that was not obvious until I looked at enlargements ...

johncolby.wordpress.com/2025/12/29/s...
Sounds of the Season 2025/26-30 –  Victorian magi – drone
Sounds of the Season 2025/26-30 –  Victorian magi – drone Progress on what was intended today was hampered by the arrival of more self-inflicted procrastination material in the form of …
johncolby.wordpress.com
December 29, 2025 at 11:39 PM
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... I do not have expert answers, Many texts concentrate on the chronological without a wider societal context. Can I do it? Don’t know, but I’ll try. This is, however, a very disorganised rabbit hole. ...

johncolby.wordpress.com/2025/12/28/s...
Sounds of the Season 2025/26-29 Feast day of St John Evangelist – today’s rabbit hole
Sounds of the Season 2025/26-29 Feast day of St John Evangelist – today’s rabbit hole Today’s rabbit hole has been about the great building activity of parish churches in the twelfth to fifte…
johncolby.wordpress.com
December 28, 2025 at 11:47 PM
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... Now that’s yet another rabbit hole. Soon I’ll have enough for a warren. ...

johncolby.wordpress.com/2025/12/27/s...
Sounds of the Season 2025/26-28 – fine carvings
Sounds of the Season 2025/26-28 – fine carvings Quite by chance today I’ve come across some pix I took in Oakham in July of the capitals of the arcade of Oakham church. They are all particula…
johncolby.wordpress.com
December 27, 2025 at 10:56 PM
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... it’s been a day of turning the turkey into more meals and reducing the carcass to soup status. ...

johncolby.wordpress.com/2025/12/26/s...
Sounds of the Season 2025/26-27 – Romanesque proxy – illustrating stuff that’s not there
Sounds of the Season 2025/26-27 – Romanesque proxy – illustrating stuff that’s not there In building the picture of history I’ve been looking at buildings in the area that could new twe…
johncolby.wordpress.com
December 26, 2025 at 11:41 PM
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... We’re calling him Nigel - any similarity to any person alive or dead  is purely coincidental. ...

johncolby.wordpress.com/2025/12/25/s...
Sounds of the Season 2025/26-26 – Renaissance – unexpected
Sounds of the Season 2025/26-26 – Renaissance – unexpected Was it really Thursday? It was only by looking at the on the Mac that I could really be sure. It felt like – dunno. Did …
johncolby.wordpress.com
December 25, 2025 at 11:41 PM
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... As I haven’t been using my poetic license enough recently, here’s a contribution by John Julius Norwich. ...

johncolby.wordpress.com/2025/12/24/s...
Sounds of the Season 2025/26-25, the eve of Christmas – don’t the years go quick? – flu decreasing
Sounds of the Season 2025/26-25, the eve of Christmas – don’t the years go quick? – flu decreasing It’s Christmas again. Where did that come from? Where did the year go?  Aside fro…
johncolby.wordpress.com
December 24, 2025 at 9:29 PM
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... This morning, not so much wrapping presents as crumpling paper around them. This afternoon went out to deliver. Now, apart from delivering to a neighbour in the morning, I’m at home until at least the weekend. ...

johncolby.wordpress.com/2025/12/23/s...
Sounds of the Season 2025/26-24 – O Emmanuel – searching for  dragons  but found teapots
Sounds of the Season 2025/26-24 – O Emmanuel – searching for  dragons  but found teapots In my search for stained glass in the area so that I can make comparisons, I’ve been looking at …
johncolby.wordpress.com
December 23, 2025 at 9:58 PM
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... I realised that I have forgotten to send any Christmas Cards - the ones I have are supposed to be stained glass magi - so I’m going to send them in time for Epiphany. ...

johncolby.wordpress.com/2025/12/22/s...
Sounds of the Season 2025/26-23 – Hosanna in Excel sheets Deo – Victorian terracotta typo
Sounds of the Season 2025/26-23 – Hosanna in Excel sheets Deo – Victorian terracotta typo A reminder came up on my Facebook page today. I’m reproducing it here because it’s a genuine ba…
johncolby.wordpress.com
December 22, 2025 at 8:46 PM
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... I also gave myself the dubious honour of the worst present wrapper in history as what I produced first time round was carp (anag). ...

johncolby.wordpress.com/2025/12/21/s...
Sounds of the Season 2025/26-22 O Oriens – more carvings
Sounds of the Season 2025/26-22 O Oriens – more carvings I really should not have restacked the books on my table this morning. Too much time was spent opening them and reading interesting st…
johncolby.wordpress.com
December 21, 2025 at 10:11 PM
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... Tomorrow is gift wrapping and starting on the delivery. I already have the white beard, but where did I put those reindeer antlers and that red nose? ...

johncolby.wordpress.com/2025/12/20/s...
Sounds of the Season 2025/26-21 – O Clavis David – shopping – trial website
Sounds of the Season 2025/26-21 – O Clavis David – shopping – trial website I have a working trial site which is slowly being populated with information. This is a trial site and …
johncolby.wordpress.com
December 20, 2025 at 10:55 PM
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... The O Antiphons - O Radix Jesse (O Root of Jesse), from 17th to 23rd December each year. Many composers have recently discovered their potential ...

johncolby.wordpress.com/2025/12/19/s...
Sounds of the Season 2025/26-20 – O Antiphons – O Radix Jesse
Sounds of the Season 2025/26-20 – O Antiphons – O Radix Jesse Just the antiphon today. Any photographs in this website are not normally enhanced in any way in production save for croppi…
johncolby.wordpress.com
December 19, 2025 at 10:57 PM
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... Tomorrow it’s the mega shopping (well, mega for me) I think I know what I’m intending to get everyone. Well, maybe….  -ish. ...

johncolby.wordpress.com/2025/12/18/s...
Sounds of the Season 2025/26-19 – O Adonai – flu – placeholders
Sounds of the Season 2025/26-19 – O Adonai – flu – placeholders There has been a slight reduction n flu positives, but  it’s still at a level where we can’t ignore it. Lookin…
johncolby.wordpress.com
December 18, 2025 at 10:28 PM
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... all this started because of a camera with a decent long lens, a torch that shone into dark places where people hadn’t poked a torch before, and people who saw the possibilities of what we found ...

johncolby.wordpress.com/2025/12/17/s...
Sounds of the Season 2025/26-18 – O Sapentia – top down – saint’s pets
Sounds of the Season 2025/26-18 – O Sapentia – top down – saint’s pets The thing about top down design is that forces you to plan. That’s the theory. They tell you that anot…
johncolby.wordpress.com
December 17, 2025 at 10:36 PM
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... It seems we may have a candidate for a benefactor of the fourteenth century church in John de Harcourt. I’ll need to do more work on this. ...

johncolby.wordpress.com/2025/12/16/s...
Sounds of the Season 2025/26-17 – Easter launch – possible identity of benefactor
Sounds of the Season 2025/26-17 – Easter launch – possible identity of benefactor I pleased to say that what I’m doing fits in with what others are doing. We have an Easter launch date …
johncolby.wordpress.com
December 16, 2025 at 8:59 PM
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... the website. Tomorrow sees me asking people what they think of it as I’m producing the schema for people for the morning. ...

johncolby.wordpress.com/2025/12/15/s...
Sounds of the Season 2025/26-16 – snow leopard – lords of the manor
Sounds of the Season 2025/26-16 – snow leopard – lords of the manor Sorting out the lords of the manor is turning into two subject areas: Who had the right to appoint rectors Who paid f…
johncolby.wordpress.com
December 15, 2025 at 10:37 PM