iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Andrew Beaven @andrewbeaven.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

Newly refurbished carriages on #TfL #CentralLine this morning. On-train announcements & digital information screens. New seat covers - red, black & grey, roundels & diamonds (referring back to historic Underground logo?). Same old broken seat cushions underneath!

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Andrew Beaven @andrewbeaven.bsky.social · 25/05/2026

#TenMinMerlin #TenMinuteMerlin from yesterday — Hainault Forest Country Park, Greater London…but right on the Essex border, so birds might not be Londoners… Common chaffinch Eurasian blue tit European robin Eurasian blackcap Eurasian jackdaw Eurasian blackbird Ring-necked parakeet 1/2

Screenshot from Merlin ID
May 24- Greater London, England
List of 14 birds identified by the app, with small thumbnail image.

Common chaffinch
Eurasian blue tit
European robin
Eurasian blackcap
Eurasian jackdaw
Eurasian blackbird
Ring-necked parakeet
Eurasian wren

(screenshot too short to include full list!)

Long-tailed tit
Common chiffchaff
Great spotted woodpecker
Garden warbler
Song thrush
Great tit

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Andrew Beaven @andrewbeaven.bsky.social · 21/05/2026

“…some of the most valuable human work lies not in making things new, but in the patient, humble, disciplined practice of helping what matters to endure.” Now there’s a line to live by!

theconversation.com

Should you embrace your inner stonemason? Why our constant desire for change needs a rethink

In a society obsessed with reform, change and progress, we often overlook the essential work of maintenance.

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Andrew Beaven @andrewbeaven.bsky.social · 17/05/2026

How a Spitalfields blog became bigger than Keanu Reeves. And why, if you want to know London, you need to know @thegentleauthor.bsky.social Wonderful tours (literally, full of wonder), wonderful cake! www.the-londoner.co.uk/how-a-spital...

the-londoner.co.uk

How a Spitalfields blog became bigger than Keanu Reeves

Plus: a must-see Spanish master and a West End strike in our new culture edition

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Andrew Beaven @andrewbeaven.bsky.social · 14/05/2026

I did enjoy Jef Page’s presentation on schools in Ilford for @ilfordhistory.bsky.social My grandmother had aviaries in her garden (Lockwood, then Belmont Rd) where she raised birds (e.g. budgerigars) for sale and shows - I have vague memories of going to shows at the Thompson Rooms in mid-1960s.

ilfordhistory.bsky.social

Ilford Historical Society (@ilfordhistory.bsky.social)

The Bluesky account for the Ilford Historical Society. Posts by @ColinRuneckles Website: https://ilfordhistoricalsociety.weebly.com/

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Andrew Beaven @andrewbeaven.bsky.social · 03/05/2026

To the rather wonderful #GardenMuseum in Lambeth this afternoon. Many interesting exhibits, but I was taken by a copy of "Rus in Urbe: or, Flowers that thrive in London gardens and smoky towns", an 1886 gardening book by author and artist Mary Eliza Haweis.

Looking up at a medieval church tower standing beside a tall green-leaved tree, set against a bright blue sky with thin white clouds.
Tower of the deconsecrated St Mary-at-Lambeth (next door to Lambeth Palace and across the Thames from the Houses of Parliament), now home of the Garden Museum, viewed from the window of the museum café.

Book cover
Rus in Urbe: or, Flowers that thrive in London gardens and smoky towns.
By Mrs Haweis

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Andrew Beaven @andrewbeaven.bsky.social · 29/04/2026

From my Google feed, today, a provocatively truncated quote from an article in The Economic Times. - Chinese proverb of the day: 'It's better to walk thousands of miles than to read thousands of...' #ThoughtForTheDay #FillInTheGap"

Screenshot from Google feed
Beneath an image of an open book, in front of a lake, the text reads
"Chinese proverb of the day: 'It's better to walk thousands of miles than to read thousands of...'
...
- The Economic Times"

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Andrew Beaven @andrewbeaven.bsky.social · 27/04/2026

#TenMinuteMerlin from yesterday — Hainault Forest Country Park, Chigwell, Essex. Merlin did not pick up the pheasant, calling from the copse on the adjoining golf course, the green woodpeckers on the grasslands on the other side of the woods, nor could it ID the biplane from the local airfield!

Screenshot from Merlin Bird ID app
Apr 26 - Greater London, England (location strictly correct, but the site is less than 20 minutes from the London/Essex border, and more “County” than East London!)

List of birds heard in 10 minutes (part 1)
Common chiffchaff
Eurasian blackcap
European robin
Eurasian wren
Great tit
Eurasian blue tit
Eurasian blackburd
Song thrush
…

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Andrew Beaven @andrewbeaven.bsky.social · 22/04/2026

Great day on the #QueenElizabethOlympicPark #QEOP today, volunteering with the #ParkChampions. Met an original calypsonian who sang with Lord Kitchener, a former motorcycle #speedway racer, and the widow of a Hollywood great. And the sun shone all day!

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Andrew Beaven @andrewbeaven.bsky.social · 15/04/2026

The Government has a duty to protect people from legal bullying. The first step? A clear commitment to stamping out SLAPPs in the King’s Speech. Silence helps abusers. Action protects us all. #StopSLAPPs

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Andrew Beaven @andrewbeaven.bsky.social · 01/04/2026

Shout out to a couple of wonderful #IndependentBookshops we visited during a recent trip to Cornwall. 1/3

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Andrew Beaven @andrewbeaven.bsky.social · 22/03/2026

Not rare, especially in the fields & hedges near me, but I do love the first proper showing of the spring of blackthorn under a sunny sky. #wildflowerhour #HainaultForest

Blackthorn flowers, in close-up.
Five-petal white flowers, with multiple long stamen (longer than the petals), each stamen tipped with a bright yellow anther.
In bright sunshine, the stamen cast shadows across the petals.
White buds, not yet opened, on the same stem.

Blackthorn stem, smothered in small white flowers & buds, against a bright blue sky.

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Andrew Beaven @andrewbeaven.bsky.social · 19/03/2026

If it takes 4 hours for a ranger and three volunteers to construct 8m of dead hedge, how long will it take for someone to pull it apart… Hedge building at #FairlopWaters with #VisionRedbridge Nature Conservation.

Dead hedge: 1.2m tall stakes, set 1.5m apart, with smaller branches stacked between them to create a barrier. Behind that, a blackthorn hedge with a few early blossoms; above, a bright blue sky.

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Andrew Beaven @andrewbeaven.bsky.social · 18/03/2026

Back at the Olympic Park - first day this year that has properly felt like spring! #ParkChampions #QEOP

ArcelorMittal Orbital, Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park

Towrr of red steel pipes & girders set against a clear blue sky.

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Andrew Beaven @andrewbeaven.bsky.social · 28/02/2026

An important read from Dr Amanda Cole, for anyone who wants to understand #Tourettes 🫶

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Andrew Beaven @andrewbeaven.bsky.social · 17/12/2025

“War has always been a test of human skill and courage, not of gender. A bullet doesn’t care which body it shatters and nor should history.”

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Andrew Beaven @andrewbeaven.bsky.social · 12/11/2025

"Otters in the Roding Otters (says a London correspondent) are more numerous than many people imagine. They work the River Roding, for instance, as close to London as Buckhurst Hill and Wanstead Park." - Ilford Recorder, April 27th, 1906 🦦 @paulpowlesland.bsky.social @wrenwildlife.bsky.social

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Andrew Beaven @andrewbeaven.bsky.social · 25/10/2025

Between 3–5am in the morning, before the tube opens, tens of thousands of Londoners are already commuting to and from work. Who are they? Fascinating piece from Katharine Swindells for @londonermag.bsky.social

the-londoner.co.uk

Meet London's earlybirds

Between 3–5am in the morning, before the tube opens, tens of thousands of Londoners are already commuting to and from work. Who are they?

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Andrew Beaven @andrewbeaven.bsky.social · 14/10/2025

Brilliant talk today from @lucytsmith.bsky.social for @fovm.bsky.social . Fascinating insight into the process of creating the illustrations, many for @rbgkew.bsky.social

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Andrew Beaven @andrewbeaven.bsky.social · 21/09/2025

Walking #StCuthbertsWay, Melrose, Scottish Birders to Holy Island, Northumberland. Despite the claim on the notice, Wideopen Hill is _not_ the midway point of the walk (although the summit is the highest point).

Sign post on St Cuthbert’s Way, Scottish Borders.

“St. Cuthbert's Way
Wideopen Hill
1207ft/368m
This is the highest point of the Way and also the halfway point between Melrose and Lindisfarne.”

Strictly, the summit of Wideopen Hill is _not_ the halfway point of St Cuthbert’s Way, which is at Kirk Yetholm.

Selfie - author & wife on top of Wideopen Hill, Scottish Borders; walking St. Cuthbert’s Way.

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Andrew Beaven @andrewbeaven.bsky.social · 18/09/2025

To the #MiningArtGallery at the #AucklandProject in Bishop Auckland, County Durham. aucklandproject.org/attraction/m... The Pit Road paintings of Norman Corrnish were especially evocative normancornish.com

Coming Home

The colliery lies in the background as three miners head home along the pit road. We can almost hear their conversation. There appears to be a little more spring in their step compared to miners trudging towards the colliery, often lost in thought.

Painting by Norman Cornish

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Andrew Beaven @andrewbeaven.bsky.social · 31/08/2025

for #wildflowerhour #fruits — guelder rose, rose hips (dog rose), haws & sloes. Local blackberries already gone over — we have been eating them since June, and those that are left are mostly dry & shrivelled!

Guelder rose.
Cluster of bright red berries against green leaves.

Sloes, spherical purple fruit of the blackthorn.

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Andrew Beaven @andrewbeaven.bsky.social · 30/06/2025

Are there any #typewriter #skystorians on here? Saw this beauty yesterday, and wondered who needed the special keys at the top of the keyboard — £1/1d; £19/10d; £100/.; £1000/1s; £10,000/10s. Google Picture search suggests it is a Royal, but has not helped with the currency keys.

Old mechanical typewriter.
Dusty, black metal. Round keys in QWERTY format, with additional set of 5 GB currency (sterling - £sd) keys above.

5 Round keys on old typewriter, labeled successively: £1/1d; £19/10d; £100/.; £1000/1s; £10,000/10s.
Looking rather like an old-style cash register.

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Andrew Beaven @andrewbeaven.bsky.social · 26/05/2025

Visit to #EssexWildlife #FingringhoeWick. Highlight was nightingale, cuckoo, and turtle dove all calling at the same time. Shame we can’t post audio files, yet. 🎶

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Andrew Beaven @andrewbeaven.bsky.social · 30/04/2025

A slightly ragged winged green hairstreak, Callophrys rubi — looked like a walking leaf when I first spotted it —demonstrating how that green underwing coloration is produced by diffraction of light falling onto the intricate wing scales.

Green hair streak butterfly, Callophrys rubi, sat on a blade of grass. A small (less than 1”) butterfly, with wings held upright, iridescent green coloration on underwing, paler towards the ragged outer edges.

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Andrew Beaven @andrewbeaven.bsky.social · 13/04/2025

Willows at Fairlop Waters Country Park - I think one goat/pussy willow, one white/weeping…or something else? #TreeFlowers #WildflowerHour

Flowers on willow tree - pale green flowes in a spike.
white willow, Salix alba (?)

Willow flowers, or catkins.
Male (?); goat willow, Salix caprea(?)

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Andrew Beaven @andrewbeaven.bsky.social · 07/04/2025

Such an important initiative to create a more nature-literate nation. And a simple mantra: Notice, Name, Nurture. Spent a few hours yesterday at #HainaultForestCountryPark doing the first two. Lots of bee flies over blackthorn hedges.

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Andrew Beaven @andrewbeaven.bsky.social · 01/04/2025

In a forest at the weekend…#HainaultForest, #WoodlandTrust, that is.

Extraordinary “ordinary” moss — green spore capsules on red-brown stems sprouting from a mass of light green stems with finely toothed edges.

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Andrew Beaven @andrewbeaven.bsky.social · 01/04/2025

Visit to #EssexWildlifeTrust Thameside Nature Discovery Park yesterday. Teal, redshank & moorhens in the inlets (before the tide came in); little egret landing on the mudflats beyond; kestrel hanging over the picnic area. But we probably spent as long looking at the early spring flowers!

Brilliant white blackthorn flowers & buds, in front of a wall of white blooms.

Creamy white blackthorn flowers & buds in spring sunshine.

Tiny blue speedwell (?) flower - 4 petals, pale blue with darker veins, prominent stamen (pair) - set against a green leafy background.

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Andrew Beaven @andrewbeaven.bsky.social · 09/03/2025

First blackthorn in bloom (that I have noticed) of the year! #WildFlowerHour #NotYellowFlowers

Blackthorn flowers in spring sunshine.
5 White petals, with long stamen, tipped with yellow.

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Andrew Beaven @andrewbeaven.bsky.social · 23/02/2025

Notes on #bluesky From my post history it would appear that I have been on bluesky (here and as @theteesra.bsky.social) for a little over a year, now. I have been making more use of this site recently, especially since finally leaving the other place back in January a month ago. 1/4

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Andrew Beaven @andrewbeaven.bsky.social · 22/02/2025

Very enjoyable few days in Durham (that’s Durham, County Durham). The Durham Castle and Cathedral @UNESCO.org #WorldHeritage site has so much to see, but for us the highlight has to be Cosin’s Library. 1/3

durhamworldheritagesite.com

Welcome – Durham World Heritage Site

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Andrew Beaven @andrewbeaven.bsky.social · 08/02/2025

Wonderful museum “double bill” yesterday for my wife’s birthday. Wildlife Photographer of the Year @nhm-london.bsky.social in the morning, followed by @sciencemuseumldn.bsky.social for Versailles: Science and Splendour. 1/4

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Andrew Beaven @andrewbeaven.bsky.social · 05/02/2025

“…the men of ritual and the men of barbarism are capable of shutting up the men of science and of silencing them forever.” Just finished reading “It Can’t Happen Here” by Sinclair Lewis. “Eerily prescient” — The Guardian (of a stage adaptation in 2016). en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/It_Can'...

Front cover of “It Can’t Happen Here” by Sinclair Lewis (Penguin Modern Classics edition, 2017)

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Andrew Beaven @andrewbeaven.bsky.social · 14/01/2025

Images from a frosty Sunday morning, already a fading memory of a brief cold snap.

Bare trees silhouetted against a brightening sky.

Turkey oak acorn cup - cup with “Medusa curls” on the outside — with ice crystals.

Turkey tail mushroom — concentric rings of cream and orange/ochre with a white ring around the edge — touched with ice crystals.

Small, pale brown mushroom fruiting body on a thin stem amongst oak leaf litter, all speckled with ice crystals.

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Andrew Beaven @andrewbeaven.bsky.social · 03/01/2025

Lovely old building. Hearing that there might now be plans to renovate.

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Andrew Beaven @andrewbeaven.bsky.social · 15/12/2024

Having been told about the pending emergence of tiny female flowers on hazel trees at an inspiring “Nature Corner” event hosted by Beth of the #WoodlandTrust we didn’t expect to see any until the New Year…then spotted this growing on a hazel hedge at Hainault Forest Country Park! #WildflowerHour

Hazel in flower(s) - tiny reddish female flower above a much larger male catkin.

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Andrew Beaven @andrewbeaven.bsky.social · 19/11/2024

The medusa of #HainaultForest. Actually, a turkey oak acorn cup.

Turkey oak cupule - the acorn cup covered in snake-like growths.

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Andrew Beaven @andrewbeaven.bsky.social · 15/11/2024

To Poppy Fields at the Tower yesterday - a very moving experience, and very clever use of an always impressive space.

Projection of bright red poppies on the walls of the Tower of London, Poppy Fields at the Tower 2024

Projection of a WW1 soldier’s face on a wall at Poppy Fields at the Tower of London 2024

Projection of falling leaves across the front of a building.
Poppy Fields at the Tower of London 2024

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