Richard Sims
@simsre.bsky.social
Railway and Industrial Historian, especially the sailcloth, twine and netting industry of S Somerset and W Dorset.
Pinned
The harbour, West Bay today at low tide. The sand bar grows every year needing dredging later in the year.
The sand accumulates as a result of longshore. A chart of 1767 shows a bar there at that time. The harbour has sluice gates that used to help remove the sediment using water from the river.
The sand accumulates as a result of longshore. A chart of 1767 shows a bar there at that time. The harbour has sluice gates that used to help remove the sediment using water from the river.
January 22, 2026 at 9:38 PM
The harbour, West Bay today at low tide. The sand bar grows every year needing dredging later in the year.
The sand accumulates as a result of longshore. A chart of 1767 shows a bar there at that time. The harbour has sluice gates that used to help remove the sediment using water from the river.
The sand accumulates as a result of longshore. A chart of 1767 shows a bar there at that time. The harbour has sluice gates that used to help remove the sediment using water from the river.
Reposted by Richard Sims
January 20, 2026 at 12:23 PM
@simonhickman.bsky.social
Plans to refurbish the wool drying stove at Lyme Regis, a rare survivor of the West Dorset woollen industry
planning.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk/plandisp.asp...
Plans to refurbish the wool drying stove at Lyme Regis, a rare survivor of the West Dorset woollen industry
planning.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk/plandisp.asp...
planning.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk
January 20, 2026 at 8:09 AM
@simonhickman.bsky.social
Plans to refurbish the wool drying stove at Lyme Regis, a rare survivor of the West Dorset woollen industry
planning.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk/plandisp.asp...
Plans to refurbish the wool drying stove at Lyme Regis, a rare survivor of the West Dorset woollen industry
planning.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk/plandisp.asp...
This post on the harbour wall at West Bay has weathered to show the formed branches which sprung from its trunk
January 15, 2026 at 11:41 AM
This post on the harbour wall at West Bay has weathered to show the formed branches which sprung from its trunk
Reposted by Richard Sims
Following up on my recent post about #SeaLevelRise in Key West FL, here is the similar chart for San Francisco CA, home of the country's longest consecutive tide gauge record.
Although monthly tide data go back to 1854, hourly data used for these calculations begin in 1898. Impressive! 🧪🌊
[1/2]
Although monthly tide data go back to 1854, hourly data used for these calculations begin in 1898. Impressive! 🧪🌊
[1/2]
January 13, 2026 at 9:47 PM
Following up on my recent post about #SeaLevelRise in Key West FL, here is the similar chart for San Francisco CA, home of the country's longest consecutive tide gauge record.
Although monthly tide data go back to 1854, hourly data used for these calculations begin in 1898. Impressive! 🧪🌊
[1/2]
Although monthly tide data go back to 1854, hourly data used for these calculations begin in 1898. Impressive! 🧪🌊
[1/2]
Today marks 50 years of living in West Dorset. I moved to Maiden Newton on New Years Eve 1975/6, living there for 20 years. We then moved to the other end of the branch, which passes 100m from the house. We have walked the trackbed over those years, with pub lunches often on the menu.
January 1, 2026 at 8:54 AM
Today marks 50 years of living in West Dorset. I moved to Maiden Newton on New Years Eve 1975/6, living there for 20 years. We then moved to the other end of the branch, which passes 100m from the house. We have walked the trackbed over those years, with pub lunches often on the menu.
Reposted by Richard Sims
Sorry kids, revolution’s off.
December 30, 2025 at 6:31 PM
Sorry kids, revolution’s off.
Reposted by Richard Sims
So why can't we do this with detecting?
Why not a license required to own a detector and an online test (to check knowledge of the law and Code of Practice) to be completed before license granted...?
#Archaeology #Detecting 🏺
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Why not a license required to own a detector and an online test (to check knowledge of the law and Code of Practice) to be completed before license granted...?
#Archaeology #Detecting 🏺
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Many new UK drone users must take theory test for outdoor use
The Civil Aviation Authority reckons up to half a million people in the UK may be impacted by its new requirements.
www.bbc.co.uk
December 29, 2025 at 11:11 AM
So why can't we do this with detecting?
Why not a license required to own a detector and an online test (to check knowledge of the law and Code of Practice) to be completed before license granted...?
#Archaeology #Detecting 🏺
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Why not a license required to own a detector and an online test (to check knowledge of the law and Code of Practice) to be completed before license granted...?
#Archaeology #Detecting 🏺
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Reposted by Richard Sims
NEW: Organ tuners have been leaving temperature and humidity records in little-known books for decades. 🎹
They reveal how temperatures inside churches have changed over time due to climate change and increased heating.
A new scoop for The Reengineer!
www.thereengineer.pro/p/church-org...
They reveal how temperatures inside churches have changed over time due to climate change and increased heating.
A new scoop for The Reengineer!
www.thereengineer.pro/p/church-org...
Church organ tuning records mirror our warming climate
The records appear to reflect climate change, as well as the increased heating of churches in winter
www.thereengineer.pro
December 22, 2025 at 12:13 PM
NEW: Organ tuners have been leaving temperature and humidity records in little-known books for decades. 🎹
They reveal how temperatures inside churches have changed over time due to climate change and increased heating.
A new scoop for The Reengineer!
www.thereengineer.pro/p/church-org...
They reveal how temperatures inside churches have changed over time due to climate change and increased heating.
A new scoop for The Reengineer!
www.thereengineer.pro/p/church-org...
Reposted by Richard Sims
"A positive observation is that the Club has been producing more young players than they can sustain in their squad"
The first in a series of guest blogs this Christmas, Vic Marks discusses the Somerset Pathway 🤝
➡️ somer.st/VicBlog
#YouAreSomerset
The first in a series of guest blogs this Christmas, Vic Marks discusses the Somerset Pathway 🤝
➡️ somer.st/VicBlog
#YouAreSomerset
Christmas Guest Blogs: Vic Marks on the Somerset Pathway - Somerset
Vic Marks is one of Somerset’s most celebrated players. In the first of our series of Christmas guest blogs, he...
somer.st
December 21, 2025 at 12:45 PM
"A positive observation is that the Club has been producing more young players than they can sustain in their squad"
The first in a series of guest blogs this Christmas, Vic Marks discusses the Somerset Pathway 🤝
➡️ somer.st/VicBlog
#YouAreSomerset
The first in a series of guest blogs this Christmas, Vic Marks discusses the Somerset Pathway 🤝
➡️ somer.st/VicBlog
#YouAreSomerset
Reposted by Richard Sims
If you want to buy the spuds or parsnips in discount supermarkets as 5p Christmas loss leaders then for ahead, but please spend your normal sum at local greengrocers, on high margin goods. You need that shop, it's important, and they need you.
December 20, 2025 at 8:13 AM
If you want to buy the spuds or parsnips in discount supermarkets as 5p Christmas loss leaders then for ahead, but please spend your normal sum at local greengrocers, on high margin goods. You need that shop, it's important, and they need you.
@simonhickman.bsky.social @markannand.bsky.social Kineton tramway planned along the south side of the Somerton–Castle Cary road to link the quarries with the railway at Castle Cary. Under an Act of 1893 work started on laying tracks beside the road in East Lydford parish. evidence from OS 1in map
December 18, 2025 at 9:41 PM
@simonhickman.bsky.social @markannand.bsky.social Kineton tramway planned along the south side of the Somerton–Castle Cary road to link the quarries with the railway at Castle Cary. Under an Act of 1893 work started on laying tracks beside the road in East Lydford parish. evidence from OS 1in map
Reposted by Richard Sims
"In 'The Sea Captain’s Wife,' Tilar J. Mazzeo tells the thrilling story of Mary Ann Patten, the first female captain of a merchant clipper ship."
#booksky #MaritimeHistory #WomensHistory
#booksky #MaritimeHistory #WomensHistory
Read the review for the book’s sake, but also for what may be the most beautiful epitaph ever written 😭
Triumph, Tragedy and a Heroine of the High Seas
www.nytimes.com
December 13, 2025 at 4:21 PM
"In 'The Sea Captain’s Wife,' Tilar J. Mazzeo tells the thrilling story of Mary Ann Patten, the first female captain of a merchant clipper ship."
#booksky #MaritimeHistory #WomensHistory
#booksky #MaritimeHistory #WomensHistory
Reposted by Richard Sims
The algorithms are making it a lot harder to spread the word about these online talks. Although numbers are still reasonable, it would be a great help if folk were able to give the 30 December event a quick share 🙂
Booking available here:
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/buildings-...
Booking available here:
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/buildings-...
December 11, 2025 at 8:03 PM
The algorithms are making it a lot harder to spread the word about these online talks. Although numbers are still reasonable, it would be a great help if folk were able to give the 30 December event a quick share 🙂
Booking available here:
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/buildings-...
Booking available here:
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/buildings-...
Reposted by Richard Sims
The final part of this incredible long-read from @garius.bsky.social is genuinely epic.
Out now for all to read for free — but you can support our work bringing you more incredible stories like this by subscribing for the price of a couple of coffees a month!
theupfront.media/bringing-her...
Out now for all to read for free — but you can support our work bringing you more incredible stories like this by subscribing for the price of a couple of coffees a month!
theupfront.media/bringing-her...
Bringing her home: The remarkable journey of the California Clipper, Part 5
The crew of the California have to deal with their biggest challenges yet: African rivers, and a flight longer than their flying boat was ever designed to make.
theupfront.media
December 9, 2025 at 10:12 AM
The final part of this incredible long-read from @garius.bsky.social is genuinely epic.
Out now for all to read for free — but you can support our work bringing you more incredible stories like this by subscribing for the price of a couple of coffees a month!
theupfront.media/bringing-her...
Out now for all to read for free — but you can support our work bringing you more incredible stories like this by subscribing for the price of a couple of coffees a month!
theupfront.media/bringing-her...
This Austin 7 was parked in a Bridport car park yesterday. It makes you realise just how small older cars used to be!
December 2, 2025 at 8:25 AM
This Austin 7 was parked in a Bridport car park yesterday. It makes you realise just how small older cars used to be!
The Christmas tree has gone up at West Bay, reflecting its maritime heritage. The building behind to the right was a sail loft until 1863, becoming St Andrews Mission Church, often called The Little Upper Room. It closed when St John’s church, which stands a few yards away, was dedicated in 1939
November 30, 2025 at 12:51 PM
The Christmas tree has gone up at West Bay, reflecting its maritime heritage. The building behind to the right was a sail loft until 1863, becoming St Andrews Mission Church, often called The Little Upper Room. It closed when St John’s church, which stands a few yards away, was dedicated in 1939
Reposted by Richard Sims
One of the most beautiful bits of english eccentricity and glorious design is coming back to Sotheby’s and should be bought by a musuem (or me) for THE NATION. www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home...
Jewelled golden hare that sparked national treasure hunt set for auction
Artist and author Kit Williams hid a golden hare with clues to its precise location given in his 1979 book
www.independent.co.uk
November 27, 2025 at 9:18 AM
One of the most beautiful bits of english eccentricity and glorious design is coming back to Sotheby’s and should be bought by a musuem (or me) for THE NATION. www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home...
Reposted by Richard Sims
📅Nov 10 1903: Mary Anderson patented the windshield wiper. Automakers rejected it, claiming drivers would be “too distracted” to use it. Her so-called distraction became mandatory on every car, yet she never earned a cent from her invention. #WomenInHistory #WomenInSTEM
tinyurl.com/yxh5w584
tinyurl.com/yxh5w584
November 10, 2025 at 3:14 PM
📅Nov 10 1903: Mary Anderson patented the windshield wiper. Automakers rejected it, claiming drivers would be “too distracted” to use it. Her so-called distraction became mandatory on every car, yet she never earned a cent from her invention. #WomenInHistory #WomenInSTEM
tinyurl.com/yxh5w584
tinyurl.com/yxh5w584
Came back this afternoon to find a young deer grazing on our communal land, just 20m away. It may be the same one who visited some months ago.
November 25, 2025 at 6:27 PM
Came back this afternoon to find a young deer grazing on our communal land, just 20m away. It may be the same one who visited some months ago.
@durotrigesdig.bsky.social
Forget Stonehenge? At Loders we have the sun shining through 13 pylons on the 28/9 October!
Forget Stonehenge? At Loders we have the sun shining through 13 pylons on the 28/9 October!
November 23, 2025 at 2:33 PM
@durotrigesdig.bsky.social
Forget Stonehenge? At Loders we have the sun shining through 13 pylons on the 28/9 October!
Forget Stonehenge? At Loders we have the sun shining through 13 pylons on the 28/9 October!
Researching the book on Coker Canvas we found probably the only surviving example of the cloth. Treatment of the yarn before weaving meant that it lasted twice as long as normal canvas but was more expensive. When Ld Dundonald carried out his experiments he showed that it had a lower life time cost.
November 21, 2025 at 9:08 AM
Researching the book on Coker Canvas we found probably the only surviving example of the cloth. Treatment of the yarn before weaving meant that it lasted twice as long as normal canvas but was more expensive. When Ld Dundonald carried out his experiments he showed that it had a lower life time cost.
Reposted by Richard Sims
Here’s the Nature paper: www.nature.com/articles/d41...
What Rosalind Franklin truly contributed to the discovery of DNA’s structure
Franklin was no victim in how the DNA double helix was solved. An overlooked letter and an unpublished news article, both written in 1953, reveal that she was an equal player.
www.nature.com
November 8, 2025 at 8:45 AM
Here’s the Nature paper: www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Reposted by Richard Sims
LANCASTER BOMBER POPPY GOODNESS
Local church is carpet bombing poppies for Jesus @remembrancewatch.bsky.social
November 1, 2025 at 5:15 PM
LANCASTER BOMBER POPPY GOODNESS
Reposted by Richard Sims
My reconstruction of Allen Smelt Mill (2017) is a good contender for being among my most challenging visualisation projects. It required months of effort, research, and problem-solving with the aid of 3D models. I wrote an article about the experience.... bob-marshall.blogspot.com/2018/01/reco...
November 1, 2025 at 8:02 AM
My reconstruction of Allen Smelt Mill (2017) is a good contender for being among my most challenging visualisation projects. It required months of effort, research, and problem-solving with the aid of 3D models. I wrote an article about the experience.... bob-marshall.blogspot.com/2018/01/reco...