Paul Schoon
@paulschoon.bsky.social
Moderately crumbly English local history freak. A Yorkshireman researching early modern social structures and networks in Bedfordshire. Kellogg College, Oxford. I’m here for fun, knowledge and respectful debate, so be nice. Keyboard warriors get blocked.
Watching the luge on the Olympics and Mrs S asks if I’d like to give it a try. Little does she know that I when I was 12 I was an expert, weaving downhill through the trees at Beckett’s Park in the days it snowed every February half term.
February 7, 2026 at 6:11 PM
Watching the luge on the Olympics and Mrs S asks if I’d like to give it a try. Little does she know that I when I was 12 I was an expert, weaving downhill through the trees at Beckett’s Park in the days it snowed every February half term.
We’ve a local pub that claims it was established in 1731 - in fact the date is painted above the entrance. Today I was looking at something unrelated and found a will dating to 1725 in which the pub was a bequest, pushing back its origin 6 years. I wonder if I’ll qualify for free beer for life.
February 4, 2026 at 4:17 PM
We’ve a local pub that claims it was established in 1731 - in fact the date is painted above the entrance. Today I was looking at something unrelated and found a will dating to 1725 in which the pub was a bequest, pushing back its origin 6 years. I wonder if I’ll qualify for free beer for life.
If quantum computers are so much more powerful than what we use currently, then I suspect they are going to be a criminals best friend. Our bank accounts and our personal data are going to compromised more than ever.
January 29, 2026 at 4:43 PM
If quantum computers are so much more powerful than what we use currently, then I suspect they are going to be a criminals best friend. Our bank accounts and our personal data are going to compromised more than ever.
Reposted by Paul Schoon
I wrote this song on Saturday, recorded it yesterday and released it to you today in response to the state terror being visited on the city of Minneapolis. It’s dedicated to the people of Minneapolis, our innocent immigrant neighbors and in memory of Alex Pretti and Renee Good.
Stay free
Stay free
Bruce Springsteen - Streets Of Minneapolis (Official Audio)
YouTube video by Bruce Springsteen
youtu.be
January 28, 2026 at 5:02 PM
I wrote this song on Saturday, recorded it yesterday and released it to you today in response to the state terror being visited on the city of Minneapolis. It’s dedicated to the people of Minneapolis, our innocent immigrant neighbors and in memory of Alex Pretti and Renee Good.
Stay free
Stay free
The new operating system for my Mac is 90gb and the essential apps are 12gb. That’s over 40 percentage of the advertised storage gone before I even start. *grumbles about misrepresentation*
January 28, 2026 at 5:06 PM
The new operating system for my Mac is 90gb and the essential apps are 12gb. That’s over 40 percentage of the advertised storage gone before I even start. *grumbles about misrepresentation*
Trawling through 130 Bedfordshire parishes registers between 1660-1760, I have come across rare references to black people in the rural community, but this 1761 notice about a runaway slave in Roxton is like a slap in the face. It reads like something from the Deep South just prior to the civil war.
January 22, 2026 at 11:50 AM
Trawling through 130 Bedfordshire parishes registers between 1660-1760, I have come across rare references to black people in the rural community, but this 1761 notice about a runaway slave in Roxton is like a slap in the face. It reads like something from the Deep South just prior to the civil war.
Global politics is moving at a dizzying pace, but Trump now seems obsessed with Iceland. What on earth has a frozen food store got to do with anything?
January 21, 2026 at 6:30 PM
Global politics is moving at a dizzying pace, but Trump now seems obsessed with Iceland. What on earth has a frozen food store got to do with anything?
I have decided that Victoria Coren Mitchell is a national treasure. I’m not sure how I’ll cope when Only Connect finishes.
January 19, 2026 at 10:14 PM
I have decided that Victoria Coren Mitchell is a national treasure. I’m not sure how I’ll cope when Only Connect finishes.
I have all my best ideas in the shower, but unfortunately it only lasts five minutes a day. If only I could devise a way to have a 24 hour shower, I would be Albert Einstein. The computer might get wet though.
January 19, 2026 at 10:21 AM
I have all my best ideas in the shower, but unfortunately it only lasts five minutes a day. If only I could devise a way to have a 24 hour shower, I would be Albert Einstein. The computer might get wet though.
At a time when journals are winding up all over place (at least the ones I subscribe to!), it’s wonderful to see a new local history journal. This one is the research journal of the Bedfordshire Gardens Trust and it focuses on all aspects of gardens and the people who worked in them. Top effort.
January 18, 2026 at 9:19 PM
At a time when journals are winding up all over place (at least the ones I subscribe to!), it’s wonderful to see a new local history journal. This one is the research journal of the Bedfordshire Gardens Trust and it focuses on all aspects of gardens and the people who worked in them. Top effort.
Some new research suggests that 58% of football fans think it is socially acceptable to stream matches illegally. When you consider that to watch all the games broadcast you would need to subscribe to ten different services, it is little wonder.
January 17, 2026 at 9:49 AM
Some new research suggests that 58% of football fans think it is socially acceptable to stream matches illegally. When you consider that to watch all the games broadcast you would need to subscribe to ten different services, it is little wonder.
I’m not surprised there was a Jacobite rebellion. If I was first in line to the throne but then usurped by some German chap, who’s 55th in line, I suspect I’d be pretty cheesed off too.
January 15, 2026 at 8:47 PM
I’m not surprised there was a Jacobite rebellion. If I was first in line to the throne but then usurped by some German chap, who’s 55th in line, I suspect I’d be pretty cheesed off too.
Another iPhone operating system upgrade, another set of gimmicky features that I just don’t have to will to use. If they have to change the functionality of certain features, I wish they’d just leave everything in the same place, looking the same. Signed I.M.A. Luddite Esq.
January 14, 2026 at 1:01 PM
Another iPhone operating system upgrade, another set of gimmicky features that I just don’t have to will to use. If they have to change the functionality of certain features, I wish they’d just leave everything in the same place, looking the same. Signed I.M.A. Luddite Esq.
Apparently tomorrow is New Year’s Day, or at least it would be if the state hadn’t stolen those days from us back in 1752.
January 13, 2026 at 6:39 PM
Apparently tomorrow is New Year’s Day, or at least it would be if the state hadn’t stolen those days from us back in 1752.
Today’s name of the day comes from a Bedfordshire Will dating to 1700 and is the seasonally appropriate Mr. Praise Noel.
January 9, 2026 at 3:39 PM
Today’s name of the day comes from a Bedfordshire Will dating to 1700 and is the seasonally appropriate Mr. Praise Noel.
Some Victorian gardeners protected their salad crops by building shelters at either end of a border and fixing a wire between the two, to which they would attach a poor cat by a collar and chain. Moggie would spend its life patrolling the valuable beds and protecting them from birds and mice.
January 9, 2026 at 3:11 PM
Some Victorian gardeners protected their salad crops by building shelters at either end of a border and fixing a wire between the two, to which they would attach a poor cat by a collar and chain. Moggie would spend its life patrolling the valuable beds and protecting them from birds and mice.
news.sky.com/story/former...
He seems such a nice man, and in retrospect was a quality player, but as an eight year old I couldn’t abide him, for no other reason that he played for Spurs and not Leeds. Time has mellowed me. Another childhood great gone.
He seems such a nice man, and in retrospect was a quality player, but as an eight year old I couldn’t abide him, for no other reason that he played for Spurs and not Leeds. Time has mellowed me. Another childhood great gone.
Former Spurs and England footballer Martin Chivers has died
The forward scored 13 goals in 24 appearances for England, won two League Cups and a UEFA Cup, and helped Spurs dominate in the 1970s.
news.sky.com
January 8, 2026 at 8:39 AM
news.sky.com/story/former...
He seems such a nice man, and in retrospect was a quality player, but as an eight year old I couldn’t abide him, for no other reason that he played for Spurs and not Leeds. Time has mellowed me. Another childhood great gone.
He seems such a nice man, and in retrospect was a quality player, but as an eight year old I couldn’t abide him, for no other reason that he played for Spurs and not Leeds. Time has mellowed me. Another childhood great gone.
I found this little beauty in an Oxfam shop. Original dust cover, in perfect nick despite being 52 years old, and smells of old book.
January 7, 2026 at 9:54 PM
I found this little beauty in an Oxfam shop. Original dust cover, in perfect nick despite being 52 years old, and smells of old book.
Suddenly nobody is talking about the Epstein files.
January 5, 2026 at 11:00 PM
Suddenly nobody is talking about the Epstein files.
If it’s now legal to bomb a country, and then arrest the president for some infraction, I am looking forward to the Dutch landing in Washington DC and dragging the Great Orange Pumpkin off to The Hague.
January 3, 2026 at 9:45 AM
If it’s now legal to bomb a country, and then arrest the president for some infraction, I am looking forward to the Dutch landing in Washington DC and dragging the Great Orange Pumpkin off to The Hague.
Stuart Ramsay on Caracas explosions
news.sky.com/video/share-...
A week ago it was Nigeria; yesterday it was Iran; today it is Venezuela. I hope someone from the government has enough spine left to tell this hoodlum that enough is enough. I felt more confident about world peace in the Cold War.
news.sky.com/video/share-...
A week ago it was Nigeria; yesterday it was Iran; today it is Venezuela. I hope someone from the government has enough spine left to tell this hoodlum that enough is enough. I felt more confident about world peace in the Cold War.
Stuart Ramsay on Caracas explosions
Sky's Chief Correspondent Stuart Ramsay gives the latest after explosions heard in Caracas
news.sky.com
January 3, 2026 at 8:15 AM
Stuart Ramsay on Caracas explosions
news.sky.com/video/share-...
A week ago it was Nigeria; yesterday it was Iran; today it is Venezuela. I hope someone from the government has enough spine left to tell this hoodlum that enough is enough. I felt more confident about world peace in the Cold War.
news.sky.com/video/share-...
A week ago it was Nigeria; yesterday it was Iran; today it is Venezuela. I hope someone from the government has enough spine left to tell this hoodlum that enough is enough. I felt more confident about world peace in the Cold War.
Now starts the annual battle of arguing that I should be allowed to go to bed at 10:30 pm to read my book, while everybody else insists that I stop up to see in the New Year while watching absolute rubbish on TV.
December 31, 2025 at 4:31 PM
Now starts the annual battle of arguing that I should be allowed to go to bed at 10:30 pm to read my book, while everybody else insists that I stop up to see in the New Year while watching absolute rubbish on TV.
I can’t believe I’ve been overlooked for a knighthood again!
December 29, 2025 at 10:49 PM
I can’t believe I’ve been overlooked for a knighthood again!
List of essential tasks written. All that remains is to work my way through them and then Christmas can begin. I estimate 17 February.
December 22, 2025 at 6:07 PM
List of essential tasks written. All that remains is to work my way through them and then Christmas can begin. I estimate 17 February.
www.bbc.com/news/article...
Here’s a radical idea: if you want to claim an academic qualification, do the bloody work!
Here’s a radical idea: if you want to claim an academic qualification, do the bloody work!
King's Foundation chair and nominee peer admits 'misleading' doctorate claim
Dame Ann Limb tells the Sunday Times she did not complete a doctorate previously listed on her CV.
www.bbc.com
December 21, 2025 at 9:18 PM
www.bbc.com/news/article...
Here’s a radical idea: if you want to claim an academic qualification, do the bloody work!
Here’s a radical idea: if you want to claim an academic qualification, do the bloody work!