BrightAire
@brightaire.bsky.social
Outdoorser. Teacher. Educational Visits Champion. Tree-hugger. Bradfordian. Likes bikes and making stuff from sticks. Never satisfied.
Thought I'd have a go at carving a viking braid on my most recent #ShipleyAlder bowl. My carving is a bit heavy-handed but the overall impression is pretty pleasing. It passes the 6ft test.
November 27, 2025 at 8:34 PM
Thought I'd have a go at carving a viking braid on my most recent #ShipleyAlder bowl. My carving is a bit heavy-handed but the overall impression is pretty pleasing. It passes the 6ft test.
Feeling a bit adrift, demotivated ATM. I need to hatch some plans...
November 24, 2025 at 9:43 PM
Feeling a bit adrift, demotivated ATM. I need to hatch some plans...
Reposted by BrightAire
“Across this cloud-dappled sky skeins of wild geese are flying”
(What to Look for in Autumn, 1960)
Writer: EL Grant Watson
Artist: CF Tunnicliffe
(What to Look for in Autumn, 1960)
Writer: EL Grant Watson
Artist: CF Tunnicliffe
November 23, 2025 at 8:47 AM
“Across this cloud-dappled sky skeins of wild geese are flying”
(What to Look for in Autumn, 1960)
Writer: EL Grant Watson
Artist: CF Tunnicliffe
(What to Look for in Autumn, 1960)
Writer: EL Grant Watson
Artist: CF Tunnicliffe
Viking bowl #6 on the go. I'm calling them viking bowls because they're a bit rough and broadly Scandinavian. I might try a bit more finesse on this one.
Also a fun cloakroom hook whittled from a branch of cherry, which fell off a tree down my road in recent high winds.
Also a fun cloakroom hook whittled from a branch of cherry, which fell off a tree down my road in recent high winds.
November 23, 2025 at 2:50 PM
Viking bowl #6 on the go. I'm calling them viking bowls because they're a bit rough and broadly Scandinavian. I might try a bit more finesse on this one.
Also a fun cloakroom hook whittled from a branch of cherry, which fell off a tree down my road in recent high winds.
Also a fun cloakroom hook whittled from a branch of cherry, which fell off a tree down my road in recent high winds.
Another alder viking trinket bowl drops. Finished in "Salem red" milk paint milk paint and walnut oil. I got a little v-tool palm gouge which has made carving the lines a little neater than with my chip-carving knife.
November 23, 2025 at 10:40 AM
Another alder viking trinket bowl drops. Finished in "Salem red" milk paint milk paint and walnut oil. I got a little v-tool palm gouge which has made carving the lines a little neater than with my chip-carving knife.
They must have had a really well attuned sense of landscape. The sort of geology that yields ore and the topography that brings it close to the surface. It can't have been just walking around looking at what's at their feet. Real #NatureConnection
Landscape of the Early Bronze Age miners..⛏️
Driving home through Cwmystwyth valley yesterday in mid Wales, below the EBA mine on Copa Hill (out of picture, above right) it never fails to impress how a few true geniuses 4500 years ago managed to spot ores in these bleak hills
Incredible🤯
📷 My own
Driving home through Cwmystwyth valley yesterday in mid Wales, below the EBA mine on Copa Hill (out of picture, above right) it never fails to impress how a few true geniuses 4500 years ago managed to spot ores in these bleak hills
Incredible🤯
📷 My own
November 23, 2025 at 8:24 AM
They must have had a really well attuned sense of landscape. The sort of geology that yields ore and the topography that brings it close to the surface. It can't have been just walking around looking at what's at their feet. Real #NatureConnection
The Cotic Soul is ready to roll.
November 22, 2025 at 3:25 PM
The Cotic Soul is ready to roll.
This morning I felt like it. Cold, crisp and bright. Some wariness required around frost and, as ever, Bradford's drivers. Hot aches in my fingers on arrival at work. I need to review my glove game but this morning felt good. 🙂
Yep. Felt ropey on Monday, the weather took a turn & it's dark on my ride home. Cycling in Bradford can be tiresome, so I've not pedalled into work for a week & the weekends have been for other pursuits this month. I'll ride my bike when I feel like it.
@roadcc.bsky.social
road.cc/content/blog...
@roadcc.bsky.social
road.cc/content/blog...
The best thing I've done this winter is not riding my bike
After years of forcing myself out whatever the weather, I've hardly touched my bike in a month and it has been great
road.cc
November 21, 2025 at 9:25 AM
This morning I felt like it. Cold, crisp and bright. Some wariness required around frost and, as ever, Bradford's drivers. Hot aches in my fingers on arrival at work. I need to review my glove game but this morning felt good. 🙂
Support Bowling Park Community Orchard by signing the petition.
Do you live, work, or study in Bradford? Please visit the petitions page bd25climatefacts.net/elementor-pa... & sign it to secure a sustainable future for Bowling Park Community Orchard. Their future is threatened, their rent has increased from £148.50 to £1222.56
1/2
1/2
Sign a Petition – City of Climate Culture Bradford 2025
bd25climatefacts.net
November 20, 2025 at 9:19 PM
Support Bowling Park Community Orchard by signing the petition.
Yep. Felt ropey on Monday, the weather took a turn & it's dark on my ride home. Cycling in Bradford can be tiresome, so I've not pedalled into work for a week & the weekends have been for other pursuits this month. I'll ride my bike when I feel like it.
@roadcc.bsky.social
road.cc/content/blog...
@roadcc.bsky.social
road.cc/content/blog...
The best thing I've done this winter is not riding my bike
After years of forcing myself out whatever the weather, I've hardly touched my bike in a month and it has been great
road.cc
November 20, 2025 at 6:51 PM
Yep. Felt ropey on Monday, the weather took a turn & it's dark on my ride home. Cycling in Bradford can be tiresome, so I've not pedalled into work for a week & the weekends have been for other pursuits this month. I'll ride my bike when I feel like it.
@roadcc.bsky.social
road.cc/content/blog...
@roadcc.bsky.social
road.cc/content/blog...
Reposted by BrightAire
“The shepherd is looking up at a large skein of whooper swans which has come from colder climes. Like geese, they fly in V-formation”
(What to look for in Autumn, 1960)
Artist: CF Tunnicliffe
Writer: EL Grant Watson
(What to look for in Autumn, 1960)
Artist: CF Tunnicliffe
Writer: EL Grant Watson
November 19, 2025 at 8:15 AM
“The shepherd is looking up at a large skein of whooper swans which has come from colder climes. Like geese, they fly in V-formation”
(What to look for in Autumn, 1960)
Artist: CF Tunnicliffe
Writer: EL Grant Watson
(What to look for in Autumn, 1960)
Artist: CF Tunnicliffe
Writer: EL Grant Watson
Reposted by BrightAire
Ray Eames (1912 – 1988), US artist and designer who worked in a variety of media, including furniture and fabric design #Womensart
November 19, 2025 at 10:57 AM
Ray Eames (1912 – 1988), US artist and designer who worked in a variety of media, including furniture and fabric design #Womensart
First snow of the winter on Baildon Hill, this morning. 🌨
November 19, 2025 at 12:33 PM
First snow of the winter on Baildon Hill, this morning. 🌨
I can't be the only one who, on hearing the line "I'm just a cross-hair", in Franz Ferdinand's "Take Me Out" thinks of this lagomorph legend. #CrossHare #HartleyHare #Pipkins
November 17, 2025 at 5:57 PM
I can't be the only one who, on hearing the line "I'm just a cross-hair", in Franz Ferdinand's "Take Me Out" thinks of this lagomorph legend. #CrossHare #HartleyHare #Pipkins
Another couple of alder "viking" bowls on the go. Hewn from the #ShipleyAlder.
November 17, 2025 at 5:24 PM
Another couple of alder "viking" bowls on the go. Hewn from the #ShipleyAlder.
The garden craft hut now has a cloakroom.
November 16, 2025 at 4:14 PM
The garden craft hut now has a cloakroom.
More woody makings. A marigold yellow, alder, "viking" bowl, a riven alder shrink pot and a carved linden plaque inspired by Jögge Sunqvist's slöjd designs.
November 16, 2025 at 1:41 PM
More woody makings. A marigold yellow, alder, "viking" bowl, a riven alder shrink pot and a carved linden plaque inspired by Jögge Sunqvist's slöjd designs.
I went to Harrogate wood working show today. Among other goodies I picked up a nice spokeshave. The staff at Classic Handtools happily tolerated my drooling over their exotic (and pricy) offerings but pointed me towards this vintage model. An E. Preston & Sons adjustable mouth model.
November 16, 2025 at 12:00 AM
I went to Harrogate wood working show today. Among other goodies I picked up a nice spokeshave. The staff at Classic Handtools happily tolerated my drooling over their exotic (and pricy) offerings but pointed me towards this vintage model. An E. Preston & Sons adjustable mouth model.
Caught Lisa Nandy, on Radio 4 this morning, as SoS for DCMS, interviewed re: current BBC woes. The gulf of competence between Nandy and Nadine Dorries in the role is absolutely yawning.
November 14, 2025 at 4:20 PM
Caught Lisa Nandy, on Radio 4 this morning, as SoS for DCMS, interviewed re: current BBC woes. The gulf of competence between Nandy and Nadine Dorries in the role is absolutely yawning.
This is good on the UK's problems of shared identity and why it's important to protect the BBC from its attackers. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
There’s a missing link in British public life – and it underpins crises from the BBC to our prisons | Rafael Behr
A declining sense of collective identity is corroding trust in our institutions and undermining democratic politics, says Guardian columnist Rafael Behr
www.theguardian.com
November 12, 2025 at 7:28 AM
This is good on the UK's problems of shared identity and why it's important to protect the BBC from its attackers. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
This is why cyclists might "take the lane" and ignore painted-on cycle lanes.
“lanes between 3.25m and 3.9m should be avoided”
"...unprotected cycle lanes within standard traffic widths are unsafe, as advisory cycle lanes increased injury odds by 34 per cent".
road.cc/content/news...
“lanes between 3.25m and 3.9m should be avoided”
"...unprotected cycle lanes within standard traffic widths are unsafe, as advisory cycle lanes increased injury odds by 34 per cent".
road.cc/content/news...
Roads need to be narrower or wider to protect cyclists, says new government guidance
Active Travel England have released a report which states that cyclists are safest when roads are under 3.25m or over 3.9m wide
road.cc
November 12, 2025 at 7:03 AM
This is why cyclists might "take the lane" and ignore painted-on cycle lanes.
“lanes between 3.25m and 3.9m should be avoided”
"...unprotected cycle lanes within standard traffic widths are unsafe, as advisory cycle lanes increased injury odds by 34 per cent".
road.cc/content/news...
“lanes between 3.25m and 3.9m should be avoided”
"...unprotected cycle lanes within standard traffic widths are unsafe, as advisory cycle lanes increased injury odds by 34 per cent".
road.cc/content/news...
My daughter just described an animal, to us, as "that badger with the long nose". Answers on a postcard. 😆
November 11, 2025 at 9:19 PM
My daughter just described an animal, to us, as "that badger with the long nose". Answers on a postcard. 😆
Put a handle of wavy, rippled sycamore on my new Ash & Iron scorp and made a leather cover, for the blade, from someone's old sofa.
www.ashandiron.co.uk
www.ashandiron.co.uk
November 10, 2025 at 10:10 PM
Put a handle of wavy, rippled sycamore on my new Ash & Iron scorp and made a leather cover, for the blade, from someone's old sofa.
www.ashandiron.co.uk
www.ashandiron.co.uk
Whether youth facilities save the council money is a rubbish way to assess their worth.
Young people need places where they can express and discover interests, make friends and find support.
Their existence is a measure of a civilised society. One that values and actually likes young people.
Young people need places where they can express and discover interests, make friends and find support.
Their existence is a measure of a civilised society. One that values and actually likes young people.
This is a desperately sad story, one doubtless repeated across the country, but it’s also desperately stupid:
“an independent report … estimated the centre is saving the council more than £500,000 a year in costs that include services in mental health, youth justice and social care”
“an independent report … estimated the centre is saving the council more than £500,000 a year in costs that include services in mental health, youth justice and social care”
Last youth centre in one of England’s most deprived coastal areas faces closure
Pie Factory Music in Ramsgate, Kent, runs creative projects and provides a range of support services, but the building that houses the centre is due to be sold off in February
www.theguardian.com
November 9, 2025 at 6:53 PM
Whether youth facilities save the council money is a rubbish way to assess their worth.
Young people need places where they can express and discover interests, make friends and find support.
Their existence is a measure of a civilised society. One that values and actually likes young people.
Young people need places where they can express and discover interests, make friends and find support.
Their existence is a measure of a civilised society. One that values and actually likes young people.
A productive day at spoon club. Some things made, some given, some bought.
A shrink pot in alder & oak, another alder bowl in process and a tool handle from wavy sycamore. An end grain mug from ebonised alder (a gift from Dan) and a hand-forged scorp from Adam at Ash and Iron. www.ashandiron.co.uk
A shrink pot in alder & oak, another alder bowl in process and a tool handle from wavy sycamore. An end grain mug from ebonised alder (a gift from Dan) and a hand-forged scorp from Adam at Ash and Iron. www.ashandiron.co.uk
November 9, 2025 at 6:29 PM
A productive day at spoon club. Some things made, some given, some bought.
A shrink pot in alder & oak, another alder bowl in process and a tool handle from wavy sycamore. An end grain mug from ebonised alder (a gift from Dan) and a hand-forged scorp from Adam at Ash and Iron. www.ashandiron.co.uk
A shrink pot in alder & oak, another alder bowl in process and a tool handle from wavy sycamore. An end grain mug from ebonised alder (a gift from Dan) and a hand-forged scorp from Adam at Ash and Iron. www.ashandiron.co.uk