Richard Fairhurst
@richardfairhurst.bsky.social
Building the world’s best bike directions at cycle.travel
Reposted by Richard Fairhurst
George Monbiot - "We should never underestimate the extent to which the BBC changed this country by giving endless airtime to Nigel Farage, other far right extremists and the Tufton Street junktanks, while shutting out progressive voices."
November 11, 2025 at 11:42 AM
George Monbiot - "We should never underestimate the extent to which the BBC changed this country by giving endless airtime to Nigel Farage, other far right extremists and the Tufton Street junktanks, while shutting out progressive voices."
Reposted by Richard Fairhurst
I really like the Oxford Clarion which doesn’t get enough mentions when people write about local news startups.
Oxfordshire County Council has clarified that the Ghostbusters hearse would not be exempt from the city’s Congestion Charge. A spokesperson told us “It’s not as simple as buying a hearse. In order to qualify for a permit, you must also be a funeral care business.”
November 11, 2025 at 2:15 PM
I really like the Oxford Clarion which doesn’t get enough mentions when people write about local news startups.
Pshaw. It’s biased in favour of a deeply regressive set of small-C social conservative views. It doesn’t have the imagination or the coherence to be either left-wing or right-wing.
New YouGov poll: Is BBC News politically biased? 50% of Britons say yes.
Biased in favour of left-wing views: 31%
Biased in favour of right-wing views: 19%
Not biased: 19%
Belief in bias by party
Reform: 73% biased to left / 4% biased to right
Con: 52% / 5%
Lib Dem: 19% / 22%
Labour: 16% / 31%
Biased in favour of left-wing views: 31%
Biased in favour of right-wing views: 19%
Not biased: 19%
Belief in bias by party
Reform: 73% biased to left / 4% biased to right
Con: 52% / 5%
Lib Dem: 19% / 22%
Labour: 16% / 31%
November 10, 2025 at 10:05 PM
Pshaw. It’s biased in favour of a deeply regressive set of small-C social conservative views. It doesn’t have the imagination or the coherence to be either left-wing or right-wing.
Reposted by Richard Fairhurst
Everything good that's happened in UK rail in my lifetime has been stuff that's occurred despite the resistance of the Department for Roads, and the thing that the GBR structure does is to consolidate total power over rail in the hands of those bastards
November 8, 2025 at 5:39 PM
Everything good that's happened in UK rail in my lifetime has been stuff that's occurred despite the resistance of the Department for Roads, and the thing that the GBR structure does is to consolidate total power over rail in the hands of those bastards
Very sorry to hear of the death of Terry Darlington, the endearing nutcase who took his narrowboat across the Channel (and various other entirely unsuitable places) as chronicled in ‘Narrow Dog to Carcassonne’.
November 9, 2025 at 3:48 PM
Very sorry to hear of the death of Terry Darlington, the endearing nutcase who took his narrowboat across the Channel (and various other entirely unsuitable places) as chronicled in ‘Narrow Dog to Carcassonne’.
Another thoughtful piece about Adventure Cycling’s travails in the bikepacking age. Some suggestions in the comments that “it’s a bit more complex than that” but the core is: long-distance TransAm cycling is a rapidly ageing market. theradavist.com/whats-next-f...
What’s Next for Adventure Cycling Association? – Hailey Moore
If you've been following the trajectory of Adventure Cycling Association, it's no secret that the non-profit has been facing challenges, including significant membership decline, underfunding, and a m...
theradavist.com
November 7, 2025 at 8:20 PM
Another thoughtful piece about Adventure Cycling’s travails in the bikepacking age. Some suggestions in the comments that “it’s a bit more complex than that” but the core is: long-distance TransAm cycling is a rapidly ageing market. theradavist.com/whats-next-f...
Welp. Turns out the kid I used to sit next to at school aged 10 is actually Lord Voldemort collider.com/harry-potter...
Harry Potter’s New Voldemort Actor Speaks Out on Taking on the Iconic Role
Harry Potter's new Voldemort actor, Matthew Macfadyen, speaks out on what it's been like taking on such an iconic role.
collider.com
November 5, 2025 at 10:28 PM
Welp. Turns out the kid I used to sit next to at school aged 10 is actually Lord Voldemort collider.com/harry-potter...
Reposted by Richard Fairhurst
Absolute scenes in Oxfordshire. LABOUR voting WITH TORIES and the car brained IOA to remove a traffic intervention designed to speed up buses, and was recommended by 74% in the citizens assembly THEY ASKED FOR, AND that has already been praised by the BUS companies, after SIX days.
The vote on Oxford’s Congestion Charge is taken and goes broadly along party lines.
For removing the charge: 22 (Con, Lab, Ind)
Against removing the charge: 36 (LibDem, Green, Henley)
Abstain: 2 (Will Boucher-Giles, LibDem for Chesterton; Emma Markham, Green for Shrivenham)
For removing the charge: 22 (Con, Lab, Ind)
Against removing the charge: 36 (LibDem, Green, Henley)
Abstain: 2 (Will Boucher-Giles, LibDem for Chesterton; Emma Markham, Green for Shrivenham)
November 4, 2025 at 4:53 PM
Absolute scenes in Oxfordshire. LABOUR voting WITH TORIES and the car brained IOA to remove a traffic intervention designed to speed up buses, and was recommended by 74% in the citizens assembly THEY ASKED FOR, AND that has already been praised by the BUS companies, after SIX days.
Given that our local River Learning Trust primary has got through five heads in five years, I’m not convinced they need any help from the congestion charge for staff to start leaving
October 29, 2025 at 10:46 AM
Given that our local River Learning Trust primary has got through five heads in five years, I’m not convinced they need any help from the congestion charge for staff to start leaving
The New Yorker wrote about the app I’ve spent most time in over the last 20 years: TextEdit, Apple’s bare-bones WYSIWYG text editor. Always works, never gets in the way. Less nonsense than Word 5.1, less nonsense than ChatGPT. Thank you, whoever maintains it. www.newyorker.com/culture/infi...
TextEdit and the Relief of Simple Software
The bare-bones Mac writing app represents a literalist sensibility that is coming back into vogue as A.I. destabilizes our technological interactions.
www.newyorker.com
October 24, 2025 at 9:46 PM
The New Yorker wrote about the app I’ve spent most time in over the last 20 years: TextEdit, Apple’s bare-bones WYSIWYG text editor. Always works, never gets in the way. Less nonsense than Word 5.1, less nonsense than ChatGPT. Thank you, whoever maintains it. www.newyorker.com/culture/infi...
KOM MAAR OP
Oxfordshire’s street design should be influenced by best practice in Amsterdam and Oslo, according to a new commission by the County Council. A revised Oxfordshire Street Design Code is being drawn up with the support of consultants Create Streets.
October 21, 2025 at 10:44 AM
KOM MAAR OP
Reposted by Richard Fairhurst
Café ride to test the upcoming version of the cycle.travel app ☕️
October 15, 2025 at 12:37 PM
Café ride to test the upcoming version of the cycle.travel app ☕️
Headed out on the Bike Friday to explore some bridleways around Oxford.
October 8, 2025 at 5:01 PM
Headed out on the Bike Friday to explore some bridleways around Oxford.
Reposted by Richard Fairhurst
The Bluesky theory of moderation is one of those “I’d really like to believe in this, but I am dubious”, but I will put that aside for the iconic reply to “people who have convinced themselves that they are the boss of people they don’t give any money to“, a curse of social media.
October 3, 2025 at 2:45 PM
The Bluesky theory of moderation is one of those “I’d really like to believe in this, but I am dubious”, but I will put that aside for the iconic reply to “people who have convinced themselves that they are the boss of people they don’t give any money to“, a curse of social media.
Even after 35+ years of Providing Free Stuff To Strangers Using Computers (late 1980s public domain software for the Amstrad 8-bits ftw), the sheer entitlement of 5% of those strangers never ceases to amaze me
October 3, 2025 at 4:57 PM
Even after 35+ years of Providing Free Stuff To Strangers Using Computers (late 1980s public domain software for the Amstrad 8-bits ftw), the sheer entitlement of 5% of those strangers never ceases to amaze me
Reposted by Richard Fairhurst
In one of those wonderful coincidences, the code to display cycle.travel’s app map yn Gymraeg was finished today just as the Welsh Government announced a project to crowdsource Welsh placenames for OpenStreetMap https://media.service.gov.wales/news/new-priorities-to-help-protect-welsh-place-names
September 30, 2025 at 1:52 PM
In one of those wonderful coincidences, the code to display cycle.travel’s app map yn Gymraeg was finished today just as the Welsh Government announced a project to crowdsource Welsh placenames for OpenStreetMap https://media.service.gov.wales/news/new-priorities-to-help-protect-welsh-place-names
Reposted by Richard Fairhurst
just bored and thinking about how Freud's, the cocktail bar in a defunct Grade II listed church in Oxford, has been closed since 2023 'for renovations' but they haven't applied for any listed building consent and now it's the last remaining real estate in Radcliffe Observatory Quarter
September 30, 2025 at 9:38 AM
just bored and thinking about how Freud's, the cocktail bar in a defunct Grade II listed church in Oxford, has been closed since 2023 'for renovations' but they haven't applied for any listed building consent and now it's the last remaining real estate in Radcliffe Observatory Quarter
Dobrinka Tabakova’s Truro Canticles are just full of gorgeous harmonies and you should listen to them, very very loud listeningproject.blog/2024/01/22/t...
Tabakova – Truro Canticles (2016)
Dobrinka Tabakova (b. 1980), a contemporary Bulgarian-British composer, has emerged as a distinctive voice in the classical music scene of the 21st century. Active during the same period as other c…
listeningproject.blog
September 26, 2025 at 9:28 AM
Dobrinka Tabakova’s Truro Canticles are just full of gorgeous harmonies and you should listen to them, very very loud listeningproject.blog/2024/01/22/t...
AI instant answers have their uses but “is it safe to cycle across Sudan right now” is probably not one of them
September 21, 2025 at 4:08 PM
AI instant answers have their uses but “is it safe to cycle across Sudan right now” is probably not one of them
Wait. The editor of Cotswold Life magazine was also lead vocalist in Inkubus Sukkubus? www.linkedin.com/posts/candia...
This isn’t the happiest of posts to write, but it’s just to let you all know I’ve handed in my notice as editor of Cotswold Life magazine.
After working for 23 years (this month!) on the magazine –… ...
This isn’t the happiest of posts to write, but it’s just to let you all know I’ve handed in my notice as editor of Cotswold Life magazine.
After working for 23 years (this month!) on the magazine – f...
www.linkedin.com
September 20, 2025 at 2:40 PM
Wait. The editor of Cotswold Life magazine was also lead vocalist in Inkubus Sukkubus? www.linkedin.com/posts/candia...
Reposted by Richard Fairhurst
Lol. How well did the last govt insulting load-bearing parts of their electoral coalition work out for them? Like they watched what the Lib Dems did to the home counties and wondered what it'd be like if the Greens did that to the two dozen largest university towns.
Right. My students working two part time jobs and/or having an hour and a half commute to uni because they have to live at home due to the cost of student accommodation lack drive and vigour. Sure thing, Peter. The UK Govt still haven't a clue about the realities of universities today.
September 19, 2025 at 9:20 AM
Lol. How well did the last govt insulting load-bearing parts of their electoral coalition work out for them? Like they watched what the Lib Dems did to the home counties and wondered what it'd be like if the Greens did that to the two dozen largest university towns.
what3words is pivoting to AI to save their floundering business model and it makes NO SENSE. If "AI voice chat" can book you an Uber to "///frog.eats.donuts", it can also book you an Uber to "my mate Darren's house" and cut out the intermediate step of w3w coordinates what3words.com/products/pro
September 12, 2025 at 11:26 AM
what3words is pivoting to AI to save their floundering business model and it makes NO SENSE. If "AI voice chat" can book you an Uber to "///frog.eats.donuts", it can also book you an Uber to "my mate Darren's house" and cut out the intermediate step of w3w coordinates what3words.com/products/pro
everybody talk about pop muzik
This is a huge step, with Oxford set to join a small but select number of cities which have implemented a congestion charge.
September 10, 2025 at 2:28 PM
everybody talk about pop muzik
Reposted by Richard Fairhurst
British NIMBYism is truly a sight to behold.
“We are rejecting this solar farm, because one time I saw an electric vehicle on fire, which reminded me that decades ago a coal mining disaster killed lots of children”.
“We are rejecting this solar farm, because one time I saw an electric vehicle on fire, which reminded me that decades ago a coal mining disaster killed lots of children”.
September 9, 2025 at 3:04 PM
British NIMBYism is truly a sight to behold.
“We are rejecting this solar farm, because one time I saw an electric vehicle on fire, which reminded me that decades ago a coal mining disaster killed lots of children”.
“We are rejecting this solar farm, because one time I saw an electric vehicle on fire, which reminded me that decades ago a coal mining disaster killed lots of children”.