The walk from Etruria Locks down to Hanley Park is a little gem too.

Popped down to the #sot100 People's Parade. The axolotl breaking out of the Sideway Incinerator - which I loved - was apparently the brainchild of some Haywood High School students 👌

I went to some cricket. It lasted nine balls before a dispute about the pitch stopped play. What kind of idiot invents a sport this delicate for an English summer anyway? Reader, we went to The Congress instead = result.

Never loved a support band more than BIG SPECIAL, though they are kind of like Walsall (A) in musical form

Yesterday was a good day! 😁 #pvfc

Went to Tarragona for a couple of days: fabulous, and erupting with Roman stuff too.

An oldie but a goodie, for anyone looking for a book with something to say about how we ended up with this version of America.

Spent an afternoon pottering about in Cambridge on the offspring's NUS card. And just like that, a boy raised in Burslem became a little bit blasé about ceiling and bosses and bridges of sighs.

As I exit my workplace I bid thee good evening from the apocalypse.

Definition of contraband: sneaking a load of pomegranate seeds into Vale Park and daring the pie munchers to say something / anything to my face 😘

A recent meeting of the Rhys Walters Appreciation Society.

Decent day out on the Fylde Coast yesterday with #pvfc, salvaged by a late penalty 👌

Also me, when I call up the #pvfc starting XI

The translucent millenials are comin' for ya, Burslem. Keep your wits about you!

I do support more trees, and also nice pavements. No-one is seriously pretending that Burslem doesn't have bigger challenges.

But I would also like a job with fuzzy-felt streets and unnaturally blue skies 🤗

Enjoyable trip down to Swindon a few days later with @officialpvfc.bsky.social too. So much globetrotting, so little time - and actually Swindon had some strong Hanley vibes, and little like Gillingham reminded me of Tunstall High St. Perhaps a reminder that the North- South divide isn't so simple.

Nie wieder: It was also good to see how both clubs were memorialising the Holocaust in their respective, different, respectful moods. And what a town, btw.

Went with a friend to @fcstpauli.com last week - sure, they attract some mockery from holier-than-thou types for commodifying their causes, but for my money (€16 btw) it's good to know that football too can be sometimes be a place for humane principles, an inclusive welcome, and like-minded souls.