Neill Roberts
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robbo59.bsky.social
Neill Roberts
@robbo59.bsky.social
92 followers 180 following 170 posts
Retired teacher of English. Busy doing stuff. 📚 🇺🇦 🇪🇺
Full disclosure: no interest in pets, crypto and sport. Or Halloween. Or Christmas.
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robbo59.bsky.social
Two musical offerings.
A clavichord once played by Mozart; and a piano owned by Beethoven and subsequently Liszt.
Both in the wonderful National Museum in Budapest.
#Beethoven
#Liszt
#MusicSky
#ClassicalSky
A clavichord, once played by Mozart, in a glass case in the National Museum, Budapest. A piano, once owned by Beethoven and subsequently by Liszt at the National Museum, Budapest.
November 11, 2025 at 2:54 PM
robbo59.bsky.social
Now, more than ever.
Image that simply says, “BACK THE BEEB.”
November 11, 2025 at 9:30 AM
robbo59.bsky.social
“This week oi ‘ave been mostly vibe coding.”
#Words
#EnglishLanguage
Mark Williams as Jesse in ‘The Fast Show.’ (BBC television.)
November 9, 2025 at 8:49 PM
robbo59.bsky.social
Budapest trams do Shakespeare.
#Shakespeare
#LiterarySky
Two Budapest trams, one the 2B service and the other the 2 service. 2B or not 2 …
November 9, 2025 at 5:05 PM
robbo59.bsky.social
A couple of weeks ago I was reading the book. Now - on a trip unplanned at the time - I find myself in the National Museum in Budapest looking at this display of items relating to the events of ‘The Picnic.’ My wife says Fate; I say coincidence. Either way, incredible!
#HistorySky
#ThePicnic
Items on display at the National Museum in Budapest, Hungary, relating to the breaching of the Iron Curtain fence in 1989 - and the Paneuropai Piknik in particular.
November 8, 2025 at 6:13 PM
robbo59.bsky.social
A terrific read. Not just as the history of a key moment; but as a timely reminder that the worst oppression can be overcome through courage, hope and no small amount of cunning. And when enough good people come together to do the right thing.
#HistorySky
#BookSky
#MatthewLongo
#ThePicnic
#ColdWar
The front cover of the UK paperback edition of ‘The Picnic’ by Matthew Long. Photo shows elated people (probably East German?) breaching the border between Hungary and Austria in 1989.
October 30, 2025 at 11:43 AM
robbo59.bsky.social
Very excited about going to see some of these pieces being performed by the Hallé Orchestra later this week, conducted by none other than the composer himself.
#JohnAdams
#HalléOrchestra
#MusicSky
#ClassicalSky
CDs containing ‘Slonimsky’s Earbox’, ‘Harmonium’ and ‘Nixon in China’ by John Adams.
October 27, 2025 at 10:08 AM
robbo59.bsky.social
Autumn is the most beautiful season. The clocks go back tonight, but it’s not winter yet.
#NationalTrust
#QuarryBank
#nature
#Autumn.
Multi-coloured trees at Quarry Bank, a National Trust property in Cheshire. Green, gold, orange, white red. Beautiful.
October 25, 2025 at 8:02 PM
robbo59.bsky.social
Beckham and Farage Ltd: rural cosplayers. By appointment.
Nigel Farage dressed as a farmer. Convincing nobody.
October 24, 2025 at 5:31 PM
robbo59.bsky.social
This book contains recipes (which should NOT be followed.) Mix equal measures of history, folklore, hagiography, mystery, tragedy, comedy - and you get a wonderful, heady feast.
#OlgaTokarczuk
#AntoniaLloyd-Jones
#HouseOfDayHouseOfNight
#FitzcarraldoEditions
#BookSky📚
#LiteratureInTranslation
Cover of UK paperback of ‘House of Day, House of Night’ by Olga Tokarczuk. White lettering on the blue background used for works of fiction by the publisher, Fitzcarraldo.
October 24, 2025 at 6:54 AM
robbo59.bsky.social
Where are rainbows made? In The Cage at Lyme Park.
#LymePark
#NationalTrust
#Cheshire
#photography
#rainbows
A rainbow appears to be beamed out of the Cage at Lyme Park, Cheshire. In her bright yellow coat, my wife is pot of gold hunting.
October 21, 2025 at 4:43 PM
robbo59.bsky.social
Currently playing.

“Petty’s finest hour.” Discuss.
#TomPetty
#WildflowersAndAllTheRest
#MusicSky
Four CD expanded version of ‘Wildflowers and All the Rest’ by Tom Petty.
October 16, 2025 at 2:27 PM
robbo59.bsky.social
Let’s hear it for secondhand/pre-loved bookstores. The chance of a rare find combined with a bargain … who can resist? And in many, like this one, a purchase is a charitable donation.
#BookSky📚
#SecondhandBooks
#NationalTrust
#QuarryBank
The front of the pre-loved bookshop at Quarry Bank/Styal Mill in Cheshire. A nineteenth century brick building with tables and chairs outside.
October 16, 2025 at 1:49 PM
robbo59.bsky.social
If that was the highlight, I’m happy to be in the 60+ million not watching.
BBC website headline: ‘Celia Imrie’s fart steals the show on Celebrity Traitors.’
October 16, 2025 at 11:22 AM
robbo59.bsky.social
Something to remember.
Photo of George Orwell with the quotation, “However much you deny the truth, the truth goes on existing.”
October 14, 2025 at 2:23 PM
robbo59.bsky.social
One of my favourite places.
#WestBay
#Dorset
#JurassicCoast
Photo of the beach and cliffs at West Bay, Dorset. Gold/orange cliffs to the left, with evidence of recent rockfalls below. I am in the distance at the end of a long line of footsteps in the sand. I’m treading a thin line between the incoming tide and the next rockfall. No visual metaphor implied.
October 10, 2025 at 8:04 AM
robbo59.bsky.social
I’ve been looking forward to this.
#LouiseErdrich
#TheMightyRed
#BookSky📚
Cover of the UK paperback version of ‘The Mighty Red’ by Louise Erdrich. Design involves vertical swirls of various shades of blue and purple, with fish swimming.
October 6, 2025 at 3:58 PM
robbo59.bsky.social
If you haven’t read anything by Jenny Erpenbeck yet, treat yourself. A wonderful writer. And her work is served by an outstanding translator.
#BookSky📚
#JennyErpenbeck
#SusanBernofsky
#GoWentGone
#FictionInTranslation
The cover of the UK paperback version of ‘Go Went Gone’ by Jenny Erpenbeck.
September 29, 2025 at 5:56 PM
robbo59.bsky.social
Well … that was fun! Looking forward to the sequel already.
#SusieDent
#GuiltyByDefinition
#BookSky
Cover of the UK hardback edition of Guilty by Definition’ by Susie Dent. A book lies open on a rest; monochrome photo with gold lettering and border.
September 28, 2025 at 7:22 PM
robbo59.bsky.social
The Cage at Lyme Park, Cheshire. A Tudor-era hunting lodge, subsequently remodelled. Not a large building, but somehow visible for miles around.
#LymePark
#Cheshire
#NationalTrust
A low-angle photograph from one of the corners of Lyme Cage, Lyme Park, Cheshire. Square stone building on a grassy hill with blue sky and clouds above. Many windows and projecting stones.
September 27, 2025 at 8:24 AM
robbo59.bsky.social
Sunlight, symmetry and seven swimming cygnets (OK, juveniles. And Mum.) at
#PoyntonPool
#Cheshire
A successful breeding season, it seems.
A photograph of Poynton Pool, Cheshire, showing seven juvenile swans swimming in line, Swan, trees and clouds are reflected in the water.
September 23, 2025 at 5:00 PM
robbo59.bsky.social
Dark clouds hang over Old Trafford cricket ground Manchester, home of Lancashire CCC, on the last home day of the 2025 County Championship season. Sadly, the people who run cricket and this club don’t seem to care enough about the traditional game. I won’t be back next season.
#cricket
#Lancashire
Dark grey clouds over the pavilion at Old Trafford cricket ground, Manchester. A few undervalued members sit through the last home day of the season. A historic ground - one that deserves far better than Lancashire County Cricket Club currently provides.
September 18, 2025 at 12:26 PM
robbo59.bsky.social
Yes, we bought one years ago.
Yes, it’s had a long period of unintentional exile at the back of a kitchen cupboard.
And now it’s back. And busy.
Cheese and pickle, if you’re asking.
#SandwichToaster
#FoodSky
Breville sandwich toaster, dark blue model, in open, cooling mode.
September 16, 2025 at 4:01 PM
robbo59.bsky.social
One of the joys of life: finding a book by one of your favourite authors in a secondhand bookstore. And not just any book - an obscure rarity.
#HenryJames
#TheOutcry
#BookSky
#Literature
#SecondhandBooks
Cover of the Penguin edition of ‘The Outcry’ (1911) by Henry James. Against a deep blue background is a portrait of Christina of Denmark, Duchess of Milan by Hans Holbein the Younger (courtesy of the National Gallery, London.) The portrait is full-length, showing a woman in a floor-length gown, trimmed with fur, and wearing a cap that conceals her hair. Her facial expression is … enigmatic.
September 16, 2025 at 10:50 AM