Charlie Holland
@charlieholland.bsky.social
19th century Circus and Music Hall history (esp. acro, aerial & juggling) & Contemporary Circus. Co-organiser of European Circus History Conference (circusconference.org), British Music Hall Society Conference, London Juggling & Flow Arts Festival.
Reposted by Charlie Holland
Brilliant piece by @mjrobbins.com on the Oxfordshire rubbish dump - and what it says about the failure of state institutions and rising sense of lawlessness.
martinrobbins.substack.com/p/rubbish-mo...
martinrobbins.substack.com/p/rubbish-mo...
December 2, 2025 at 1:29 PM
Brilliant piece by @mjrobbins.com on the Oxfordshire rubbish dump - and what it says about the failure of state institutions and rising sense of lawlessness.
martinrobbins.substack.com/p/rubbish-mo...
martinrobbins.substack.com/p/rubbish-mo...
Reposted by Charlie Holland
It's #MuseumShopSunday weekend! 🎉
Celebrate by taking 20% off your new individual membership – you could join us and get all our great benefits from as little as £3.84 per month 💸
Just use code MUSSHOP20 by Monday 1 December to grab the deal 👉 https://ow.ly/h2ch50XyViE
Celebrate by taking 20% off your new individual membership – you could join us and get all our great benefits from as little as £3.84 per month 💸
Just use code MUSSHOP20 by Monday 1 December to grab the deal 👉 https://ow.ly/h2ch50XyViE
November 28, 2025 at 9:00 AM
It's #MuseumShopSunday weekend! 🎉
Celebrate by taking 20% off your new individual membership – you could join us and get all our great benefits from as little as £3.84 per month 💸
Just use code MUSSHOP20 by Monday 1 December to grab the deal 👉 https://ow.ly/h2ch50XyViE
Celebrate by taking 20% off your new individual membership – you could join us and get all our great benefits from as little as £3.84 per month 💸
Just use code MUSSHOP20 by Monday 1 December to grab the deal 👉 https://ow.ly/h2ch50XyViE
Reposted by Charlie Holland
I've realised what "See it, say it, sorted" is advertising: driving
I'm at a station and there's a constant barrage of announcements about danger. *See it say it... Transport Police... Mind the gap... For your own safety..." You know what doesn't constantly tell me I'm in danger? My car
I'm at a station and there's a constant barrage of announcements about danger. *See it say it... Transport Police... Mind the gap... For your own safety..." You know what doesn't constantly tell me I'm in danger? My car
"See it, say it, sorted" is annoying because it's obviously a marketing slogan. I'm just not sure what they're selling. Fear of public spaces?
November 22, 2025 at 4:45 PM
I've realised what "See it, say it, sorted" is advertising: driving
I'm at a station and there's a constant barrage of announcements about danger. *See it say it... Transport Police... Mind the gap... For your own safety..." You know what doesn't constantly tell me I'm in danger? My car
I'm at a station and there's a constant barrage of announcements about danger. *See it say it... Transport Police... Mind the gap... For your own safety..." You know what doesn't constantly tell me I'm in danger? My car
Reposted by Charlie Holland
The footway parking ban in England consultation closed 5 years ago tomorrow. The Tories' inaction is now Labour's inaction.
www.gov.uk/government/c...
www.gov.uk/government/c...
Pavement parking: options for change
www.gov.uk
November 21, 2025 at 7:21 AM
The footway parking ban in England consultation closed 5 years ago tomorrow. The Tories' inaction is now Labour's inaction.
www.gov.uk/government/c...
www.gov.uk/government/c...
Reposted by Charlie Holland
New research article: 'Capital Entertainment: The London Pantomimes of Nelson Lee, c.1830–1870', by Stephen Ridgwell: www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1...
November 20, 2025 at 11:04 AM
New research article: 'Capital Entertainment: The London Pantomimes of Nelson Lee, c.1830–1870', by Stephen Ridgwell: www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1...
Reposted by Charlie Holland
BREAKING: The Supreme Court has ruled in favour of a Belfast-based non-religious father and his child that the exclusively Christian teaching of Religious Education and mandatory Christian collective worship in Northern Ireland are discriminatory under human rights law.
November 19, 2025 at 10:03 AM
BREAKING: The Supreme Court has ruled in favour of a Belfast-based non-religious father and his child that the exclusively Christian teaching of Religious Education and mandatory Christian collective worship in Northern Ireland are discriminatory under human rights law.
Reposted by Charlie Holland
The real BBC bias story, narrated by Anna Ford
November 19, 2025 at 12:12 PM
The real BBC bias story, narrated by Anna Ford
Reposted by Charlie Holland
Gustav Klimt portrait sells for $236.4m, making it the second most expensive artwork ever sold at auction
Gustav Klimt portrait sells for $236.4m, making it the second most expensive artwork ever sold at auction
Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer, which was looted by the Nazis and nearly destroyed in a fire during the second world war, sells at Sotheby’s auction
A painting by Gustav Klimt has sold for a record-breaking $236.4m (£179.7m, A$364m) with fees, making it the second most expensive artwork ever sold at auction and the most expensive work of modern art sold at auction.
The six-foot-tall painting, titled Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer, was painted by the Austrian painter between 1914 and 1916 and shows Lederer, a young heiress and daughter of Klimt’s patrons, draped in a Chinese robe. Continue reading...
www.theguardian.com
November 19, 2025 at 2:28 AM
Gustav Klimt portrait sells for $236.4m, making it the second most expensive artwork ever sold at auction
Reposted by Charlie Holland
This is a vital essay by @johnspringford.bsky.social & @acjsissons.bsky.social - diagnosing the British malaise and providing a set of clear policy solutions. You will be much better informed for having read it getting-out-of-the-hole.uk
Getting Britain out of the hole
A plan for the UK economy
getting-out-of-the-hole.uk
November 17, 2025 at 1:04 PM
This is a vital essay by @johnspringford.bsky.social & @acjsissons.bsky.social - diagnosing the British malaise and providing a set of clear policy solutions. You will be much better informed for having read it getting-out-of-the-hole.uk
Reposted by Charlie Holland
This perfectly encapsulates why we need the BBC
November 13, 2025 at 2:12 PM
This perfectly encapsulates why we need the BBC
Reposted by Charlie Holland
I've decided to become a thinktank.
This is how thinktanks work. They decide to become a thinktank, declare themselves thinktanks and then because they're thinktanks, they can be quoted as newsworthy.
I can now spout any bollocks I like, and can be used in any news piece that it suits.
This is how thinktanks work. They decide to become a thinktank, declare themselves thinktanks and then because they're thinktanks, they can be quoted as newsworthy.
I can now spout any bollocks I like, and can be used in any news piece that it suits.
November 15, 2025 at 9:52 PM
I've decided to become a thinktank.
This is how thinktanks work. They decide to become a thinktank, declare themselves thinktanks and then because they're thinktanks, they can be quoted as newsworthy.
I can now spout any bollocks I like, and can be used in any news piece that it suits.
This is how thinktanks work. They decide to become a thinktank, declare themselves thinktanks and then because they're thinktanks, they can be quoted as newsworthy.
I can now spout any bollocks I like, and can be used in any news piece that it suits.
Reposted by Charlie Holland
NEW
The letter the BBC could send back to Trump
A proposal for a reply to his $1bn claim
By me. Enjoy.
emptycity.substack.com/p/the-letter...
The letter the BBC could send back to Trump
A proposal for a reply to his $1bn claim
By me. Enjoy.
emptycity.substack.com/p/the-letter...
The letter the BBC could send back to Trump
A proposal for a reply to his $1bn claim
emptycity.substack.com
November 12, 2025 at 12:00 PM
NEW
The letter the BBC could send back to Trump
A proposal for a reply to his $1bn claim
By me. Enjoy.
emptycity.substack.com/p/the-letter...
The letter the BBC could send back to Trump
A proposal for a reply to his $1bn claim
By me. Enjoy.
emptycity.substack.com/p/the-letter...
Reposted by Charlie Holland
Reposted by Charlie Holland
In a celeb-obsessed world, someone thought what could be better than three famous artists collaborating in a new exhibition. As it turns out, the answer is almost anything else could be better.
www.ianvisits.co.uk/articles/tri...
www.ianvisits.co.uk/articles/tri...
Triple Trouble: When three art giants combine to create one giant yawn
In a celeb-obsessed world, someone thought what could be better than three famous artists collaborating in a new exhibition. As it turns out, the answer is almost anything else could be better.
www.ianvisits.co.uk
November 10, 2025 at 12:02 PM
In a celeb-obsessed world, someone thought what could be better than three famous artists collaborating in a new exhibition. As it turns out, the answer is almost anything else could be better.
www.ianvisits.co.uk/articles/tri...
www.ianvisits.co.uk/articles/tri...
Reposted by Charlie Holland
The Varieties (Variety Theatre or Harwood’s Hall) in Pitfield Street, Hoxton, a short distance from Shoreditch church, was built in 1869 behind the White Horse pub. It was designed by the leading theatre architect, C. J. Phipps, who probably devoted more attention to the pub facade t
November 10, 2025 at 2:24 PM
The Varieties (Variety Theatre or Harwood’s Hall) in Pitfield Street, Hoxton, a short distance from Shoreditch church, was built in 1869 behind the White Horse pub. It was designed by the leading theatre architect, C. J. Phipps, who probably devoted more attention to the pub facade t
Delighted to pick up The Hanlon Volta Waltzes, 1885 sheet music composed by Charles Seaton who had a stall at Crystal Palace where the five strong aerial troupe performed.
November 9, 2025 at 4:24 PM
Delighted to pick up The Hanlon Volta Waltzes, 1885 sheet music composed by Charles Seaton who had a stall at Crystal Palace where the five strong aerial troupe performed.
Reposted by Charlie Holland
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 Charlie Holland
1/ The US Government has quietly removed a memorial to Black soldiers who died in World War II from the Netherlands American Cemetery in Margraten, South Limburg. The move follows a complaint from the right-wing Heritage Foundation to the American Battle Monuments Commission. ⬇️
November 9, 2025 at 9:23 AM
1/ The US Government has quietly removed a memorial to Black soldiers who died in World War II from the Netherlands American Cemetery in Margraten, South Limburg. The move follows a complaint from the right-wing Heritage Foundation to the American Battle Monuments Commission. ⬇️
My review of the scratch cabaret by alumni of the National Centre for Circus Arts is online thecircusdiaries.com/scratch-caba...
'Scratch Cabaret 2025', by National Centre for Circus Arts - The Circus Diaries
Review from: Underbelly Boulevard, London; 3rd November 2025 This is the fourth year that the NCCA has presented scratch cabaret[…]
thecircusdiaries.com
November 7, 2025 at 12:58 PM
My review of the scratch cabaret by alumni of the National Centre for Circus Arts is online thecircusdiaries.com/scratch-caba...
Reposted by Charlie Holland
🎬 The arts aren’t a luxury - they’re an export.
At #Lab25, @aiannucci.bsky.social reminds us that the UK’s Creative Industries make up 6% of our economy and 7% of our workforce - the GDP equivalent of oil + car industries combined.
🎥 Watch more clips from the Creative UK Pavilion hubs.ly/Q03QVhV90
At #Lab25, @aiannucci.bsky.social reminds us that the UK’s Creative Industries make up 6% of our economy and 7% of our workforce - the GDP equivalent of oil + car industries combined.
🎥 Watch more clips from the Creative UK Pavilion hubs.ly/Q03QVhV90
November 5, 2025 at 4:58 PM
🎬 The arts aren’t a luxury - they’re an export.
At #Lab25, @aiannucci.bsky.social reminds us that the UK’s Creative Industries make up 6% of our economy and 7% of our workforce - the GDP equivalent of oil + car industries combined.
🎥 Watch more clips from the Creative UK Pavilion hubs.ly/Q03QVhV90
At #Lab25, @aiannucci.bsky.social reminds us that the UK’s Creative Industries make up 6% of our economy and 7% of our workforce - the GDP equivalent of oil + car industries combined.
🎥 Watch more clips from the Creative UK Pavilion hubs.ly/Q03QVhV90
Reposted by Charlie Holland
It's been a while...my much neglected blog actually has a new post. A lovely follow up to a story I wrote way back in Feb 2017, Panic at the Newport Empire #MusicHall #blog
musichallalice.wordpress.com/2025/11/05/p...
musichallalice.wordpress.com/2025/11/05/p...
Panic at the Newport Empire – a follow up
One of the great joys of writing this blog is the emails I receive from readers for whom a name or reference has sparked a memory or connection with the people in these stories. I was particularly …
musichallalice.wordpress.com
November 5, 2025 at 2:10 PM
It's been a while...my much neglected blog actually has a new post. A lovely follow up to a story I wrote way back in Feb 2017, Panic at the Newport Empire #MusicHall #blog
musichallalice.wordpress.com/2025/11/05/p...
musichallalice.wordpress.com/2025/11/05/p...
As I expected, the NCCA’s scratch cabaret at the Underbelly Boulevard by graduates since 2019 was a succession of solo female single-point aerialists (nine in total) moving competently to backing tracks, plus a female hula-hoopist.
November 4, 2025 at 11:56 AM
As I expected, the NCCA’s scratch cabaret at the Underbelly Boulevard by graduates since 2019 was a succession of solo female single-point aerialists (nine in total) moving competently to backing tracks, plus a female hula-hoopist.
@hackneycyclist.bsky.social have you a council contact please to get the Hoxton Market cycle parking decluttered of dead bikes?
November 3, 2025 at 5:19 PM
@hackneycyclist.bsky.social have you a council contact please to get the Hoxton Market cycle parking decluttered of dead bikes?
Reposted by Charlie Holland
'During a performance for a Shriners convention, a Sky Dancer aerialist skips rope on a small platform high (at least 20 stories) above the streets of downtown, Chicago'
John Dominis, 1955
John Dominis, 1955
November 1, 2025 at 8:11 AM
'During a performance for a Shriners convention, a Sky Dancer aerialist skips rope on a small platform high (at least 20 stories) above the streets of downtown, Chicago'
John Dominis, 1955
John Dominis, 1955
Reposted by Charlie Holland
I wrote a piece about London music halls for The Times ahead of an exhibition at The London Archive. @victorianlondon.bsky.social was among the contributors. www.thetimes.com/uk/london/ar...
London’s music halls back in the spotlight at new exhibition
Bawdy and sentimental, these venues are hiding in plain sight — but their initial purpose is long gone. A new exhibition tells their story
www.thetimes.com
October 29, 2025 at 1:17 PM
I wrote a piece about London music halls for The Times ahead of an exhibition at The London Archive. @victorianlondon.bsky.social was among the contributors. www.thetimes.com/uk/london/ar...