Richard Long
@rclongauthor.bsky.social
Full time dad and part time railway author. Winner of Third Prize Non-Fiction at the 2025 Isle of Wight Book Awards for “Upgrading the Isle of Wight’s Railway”.
https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/rclong
https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/rclong
Pinned
I don’t want to alarm you but Christmas is now just TWO MONTHS away. If you’re looking for a gift for the train nerd in your life my books about the Isle of Wight’s railways and the St Ives branch line are available now from all good bookshops and websites uk.bookshop.org/shop/rclong
Reposted by Richard Long
Happy birthday Anni-Frid Lyngstad of Abba (pictured here, second from left) who turns 80 today.
November 15, 2025 at 4:49 PM
Happy birthday Anni-Frid Lyngstad of Abba (pictured here, second from left) who turns 80 today.
Reposted by Richard Long
Far too early to be talking about Christmas jumpers, I realise, but for those planning ahead: Cycling Santa Christmas jumpers and t-shirts davewalkershop.com/christmas-co...
November 15, 2025 at 11:41 AM
Far too early to be talking about Christmas jumpers, I realise, but for those planning ahead: Cycling Santa Christmas jumpers and t-shirts davewalkershop.com/christmas-co...
Reposted by Richard Long
(Premium users can also converse with Satan.)
November 14, 2025 at 9:15 PM
(Premium users can also converse with Satan.)
Reposted by Richard Long
Rachel Reeves has renewed her commitment to making 'hard choices' on the economy, by making a new one every day
November 14, 2025 at 3:27 PM
Rachel Reeves has renewed her commitment to making 'hard choices' on the economy, by making a new one every day
Reposted by Richard Long
Happy Friday!
‘Gallant Old Engine’ (1962)
(Ladybird Artist John Kenney also illustrated for Rev. W. Awdry’s Railway Series)
‘Gallant Old Engine’ (1962)
(Ladybird Artist John Kenney also illustrated for Rev. W. Awdry’s Railway Series)
November 14, 2025 at 8:10 AM
Happy Friday!
‘Gallant Old Engine’ (1962)
(Ladybird Artist John Kenney also illustrated for Rev. W. Awdry’s Railway Series)
‘Gallant Old Engine’ (1962)
(Ladybird Artist John Kenney also illustrated for Rev. W. Awdry’s Railway Series)
Reposted by Richard Long
There were rolling bin strikes throughout the 70s which left the streets groaning under piles of rubbish.
November 14, 2025 at 9:33 AM
There were rolling bin strikes throughout the 70s which left the streets groaning under piles of rubbish.
Reposted by Richard Long
"What is certain, and felt instinctively by almost everybody, is that things cannot go on in their present way" – The Times, May 1975
“It is difficult to imagine a previous period when such an all-pervasive hopelessness was exhibited at all levels of British life” – Professor Stephen Haseler, 1975
“It is difficult to imagine a previous period when such an all-pervasive hopelessness was exhibited at all levels of British life” – Professor Stephen Haseler, 1975
November 14, 2025 at 9:13 AM
"What is certain, and felt instinctively by almost everybody, is that things cannot go on in their present way" – The Times, May 1975
“It is difficult to imagine a previous period when such an all-pervasive hopelessness was exhibited at all levels of British life” – Professor Stephen Haseler, 1975
“It is difficult to imagine a previous period when such an all-pervasive hopelessness was exhibited at all levels of British life” – Professor Stephen Haseler, 1975
Reposted by Richard Long
Queen at the Nene Valley Railway, England, in 1989, shooting the video for the single 'Breakthru'.
November 14, 2025 at 12:49 PM
Queen at the Nene Valley Railway, England, in 1989, shooting the video for the single 'Breakthru'.
Reposted by Richard Long
I try my hardest to stop buying books but sometimes it is just too difficult.
November 10, 2025 at 7:34 AM
I try my hardest to stop buying books but sometimes it is just too difficult.
Reposted by Richard Long
![[Scene is a kitchen - a middle aged woman called JANET is boiling peas at the stove. A younger more colourfully dressed woman named LIZ approached her.]
JANET:
Ugh...
LIZ:
What's up?
JANET:
I am so bored of cooking peas!
LIZ:
Have you tried...
AI peas?
JANET:
AI peas?
LIZ:
They're peas with AI!
[Liz holds up to us a packet of peas labelled: Pea-i AI - Peas with AI].
LIZ:
Al-powered peas harness the potential of your peas
JANET:
What
LIZ [Now a voiceover as we cut to a whizzy technology diagram of peas all connected by meaningless dotted lines]
Why not take your peas to the next level with Al Peas' new Al tools to power your peas?
[Show a techno diagram of a pea with a label reading 'AI' pointing to a random zone in it]
LIZ:
Each pea has Al in a way we haven't quite worked out yet but it's fine
[Show Janet and Liz now in a Matrix-style world of peas]
LIZ:
With Al peas you can supercharge productivity and make AI work for your peas!
JANET:
What
LIZ:
Shut up
LIZ:
Our game-changing Pea-Al gives you the freedom to unlock the potential of the power of the future of your peas workflow
From opening the bag of peas
to boiling the peas
to eating the peas
To spending millions on adding Al to the peas and then having to work out what that even means.
JANET:
Is it really necessary to-
LIZ [Grabbing Janet by the collar]:
THE PEAS HAVE GOT AI, JANET
[Cut to an advert ending screen, with the bag of peas and the slogan:
AI PEAS: Just 'Peas' for god's sake buy the AI peas.
[Ends]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:4m3we4apbjayclzcnhwe3pfp/bafkreiayqa37f7kik7l7s7fbtfp2sir5ckb662ry2lylinyjrfa2rkvvka@jpeg)
Reposted by Richard Long
Addendum: I quickly wrote something partially about the results, and the potential for misunderstanding, but also about history's profound irony.
open.substack.com/pub/arutherf...
open.substack.com/pub/arutherf...
November 13, 2025 at 8:33 AM
Addendum: I quickly wrote something partially about the results, and the potential for misunderstanding, but also about history's profound irony.
open.substack.com/pub/arutherf...
open.substack.com/pub/arutherf...
Reposted by Richard Long
Today is #RLSDay which marks the birthday of the Scottish writer Robert Louis Stevenson who would have been 175 today.
It's also a good day to remember that it is NOT actually his birthday because in 1891 he gave it away to a young girl because she didn't like her birthday. 🧵
It's also a good day to remember that it is NOT actually his birthday because in 1891 he gave it away to a young girl because she didn't like her birthday. 🧵
November 13, 2025 at 11:14 AM
Today is #RLSDay which marks the birthday of the Scottish writer Robert Louis Stevenson who would have been 175 today.
It's also a good day to remember that it is NOT actually his birthday because in 1891 he gave it away to a young girl because she didn't like her birthday. 🧵
It's also a good day to remember that it is NOT actually his birthday because in 1891 he gave it away to a young girl because she didn't like her birthday. 🧵
Reposted by Richard Long
November 12, 2025 at 11:52 PM
Reposted by Richard Long
The UK has paused ‘intelligence sharing’ with the US following concerns over American military strikes against boats in the Caribbean. In response the US has paused ‘intelligence having’
November 12, 2025 at 4:59 PM
The UK has paused ‘intelligence sharing’ with the US following concerns over American military strikes against boats in the Caribbean. In response the US has paused ‘intelligence having’
Reposted by Richard Long
Today marks the anniversary of the Sloane Square Underground station disaster when, on the night of 12 November 1940, 37 passengers & staff lost their lives during the London Blitz. Today, in remembrance, London Underground unveils a plaque to their memory. #london #history
November 12, 2025 at 9:10 AM
Reposted by Richard Long
Oddly the actual piece says it’s impossible for him to sue the BBC and win.
The Telegraph appearing to side with a foreign President over British licence fee payers
November 12, 2025 at 9:26 AM
Oddly the actual piece says it’s impossible for him to sue the BBC and win.
Reposted by Richard Long
Ah, Captain Archibald Maule Ramsay MP, BBC critic and (checks notes) a pro-Nazi who the wartime Churchill coalition interned.
February 1937 Tory campaign against BBC "bias". To be fair, if Captain Maule Ramsay was leading the charge, "left-wing" probably covered everything up to and including Mussolini...
November 11, 2025 at 3:47 PM
Ah, Captain Archibald Maule Ramsay MP, BBC critic and (checks notes) a pro-Nazi who the wartime Churchill coalition interned.
Reposted by Richard Long
An analysis of BBC news coverage over the last 4 years shows a shameless bias against Vladimir Putin, with BBC reporters insisting on calling the Special Military Operation in Ukraine “an invasion”
November 11, 2025 at 4:33 PM
An analysis of BBC news coverage over the last 4 years shows a shameless bias against Vladimir Putin, with BBC reporters insisting on calling the Special Military Operation in Ukraine “an invasion”
Reposted by Richard Long
The Ladybird look
The quilted anorak, 1973.
(Did we all have one?)
Artist: Martin Aitchison
The quilted anorak, 1973.
(Did we all have one?)
Artist: Martin Aitchison
November 10, 2025 at 8:22 PM
The Ladybird look
The quilted anorak, 1973.
(Did we all have one?)
Artist: Martin Aitchison
The quilted anorak, 1973.
(Did we all have one?)
Artist: Martin Aitchison
Reposted by Richard Long
The "When Was Britain's First Railway?" timeline updated, new version .. click for the download!
geofftech.co.uk/downloads/Fi...
geofftech.co.uk/downloads/Fi...
November 10, 2025 at 8:46 AM
The "When Was Britain's First Railway?" timeline updated, new version .. click for the download!
geofftech.co.uk/downloads/Fi...
geofftech.co.uk/downloads/Fi...
Reposted by Richard Long
Loving today's news that the mysterious "fedora man" outside the Louvre heist was actually a 15-year-old museum visitor who dresses like a 1940s French detective all the time, just because. apnews.com/article/louv...
Fedora man unmasked: Meet the teen behind the Louvre mystery photo
Fifteen-year-old Pedro Elias Garzon Delvaux has become an internet sensation after an Associated Press photo captured him outside the Louvre on the day of a crown jewels heist.
apnews.com
November 9, 2025 at 12:16 PM
Loving today's news that the mysterious "fedora man" outside the Louvre heist was actually a 15-year-old museum visitor who dresses like a 1940s French detective all the time, just because. apnews.com/article/louv...
Reposted by Richard Long
My annual post about how the Morning Star reported the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989
hatfulofhistory.com/2014/11/07/h...
hatfulofhistory.com/2014/11/07/h...
November 9, 2025 at 9:02 AM
My annual post about how the Morning Star reported the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989
hatfulofhistory.com/2014/11/07/h...
hatfulofhistory.com/2014/11/07/h...
Ever wondered what a transit system would look like if you built it somewhere else? No, me neither until now, but this site is great! wbholland.github.io/trainspose/
Trainspose
wbholland.github.io
November 8, 2025 at 1:15 PM
Ever wondered what a transit system would look like if you built it somewhere else? No, me neither until now, but this site is great! wbholland.github.io/trainspose/
Reposted by Richard Long
An Early Modern Way of Having Too Many Browser Tabs Open
An Early Modern Way of Having Too Many Browser Tabs Open
Also: some maps, dropped on other maps.
jonn.substack.com
November 8, 2025 at 10:36 AM
An Early Modern Way of Having Too Many Browser Tabs Open