Ben Castell @bencastell.bsky.social · 04/10/2026The lyrics have been going round in my head since seeing this post. Perfection. See also The Saturday Boy, Walk Away Renee, The Short Answer, Must I Paint You A Picture, A New England, Brickbat etc etc. Who else wrote about love like this? 110
Ben Castell @bencastell.bsky.social · 08/08/2026Are you saying Shaddap You Face isn’t an all-time great? 110
Ben Castell @bencastell.bsky.social · 25/07/2026It’s very possible that the view the other way is worse. 000
Ben Castell @bencastell.bsky.social · 19/07/2026“Not great to see” says Gabby about the fight at end, incorrectly. 031
Ben Castell @bencastell.bsky.social · 04/07/2026It’s a shame that Cape Verde went out before anyone on British TV learnt how to pronounce it. 010
Ben Castell @bencastell.bsky.social · 05/06/2026I hope you add England 2, Colombia 0, a splendid song from Kirsty MacColl’s final album. I have decided it must be set in the equally good Washington on England’s Lane NW3 as that was definitely the only decent football pub in leafy Belsize Park (of Kayleigh fame) in 1998. 010
Ben Castell @bencastell.bsky.social · 05/06/2026Have you got all of these, from today’s paper? www.theguardian.com/music/2026/j...theguardian.comSing when you’re winning: the 20 greatest songs about football – ranked!As World Cup fever begins, we go beyond terrace chants and team anthems to look at footy-mad songwriting, from Cardiff rap to Zimbabwean rumbira ... and Rod Stewart 110
Ben Castell @bencastell.bsky.social · 18/05/2026Must be a northern thing. When I try a runner’s nod in London I get very suspicious looks in return. See also saying hello to strangers on a walk. 010
Ben Castell @bencastell.bsky.social · 17/04/2026Also, has there been a serious travel show on TV since Travelog? youtu.be/p0ImdwIhUrM?...youtu.beTravelog - Kyrgystan, November 1996YouTube video by Andy Kershaw 000
Ben Castell @bencastell.bsky.social · 17/04/2026Sad to hear this. Uniquely talented and engaging music presenter. The best, for me. What a loss that the BBC was unable to give him a show for the last 20-odd years. His recent podcasts were a brilliant reminder but at times a hard listen. 110
Ben Castell @bencastell.bsky.social · 17/04/2026The answer: no, of course not. Dusting off one of Policy Exchange’s ‘greatest’ hits lacks credibility. I don’t mind this as an idea, but claiming 30,000 homes a year is embarrassing; maybe 300 tops. Report cites Croydon as evidence but that was something entirely different. Odd. 012
Ben Castell @bencastell.bsky.social · 11/03/2026North London planning latest: people who swim in Hampstead Heath’s ponds don’t want the staff to have a little wooden shed to shelter in. www.standard.co.uk/news/london/...standard.co.ukRow erupts over 'sheds from B&Q' planned for Hampstead pondsCampaigners argue that the designs for steward huts at the Heath’s much-loved swimming areas are out of keeping with the local environment 000
Ben Castell @bencastell.bsky.social · 17/02/2026Mostly brilliant, precisely because I was 17 for most of the year. 010
Ben Castell @bencastell.bsky.social · 06/02/2026I never noticed that she was but that was OK as she left it to Pennycook, who is. 010
Ben Castell @bencastell.bsky.social · 23/01/2026And I see people denigrating neighbourhood plans where 2500 citizens turn out for the referendum for lack of engagement. Levels of participation that local plans can only dream of. 010
Ben Castell @bencastell.bsky.social · 20/12/2025Wonderful, although clearly exposing the German audience’s shameful ignorance of South Essex geography. 020
Ben Castell @bencastell.bsky.social · 08/12/2025Hi Phil. Cycling is my most common mode when I go ‘central’. Love cycling down Oxford St much more than walking down it (hate cycling the unsafe parallel streets to the N). Pedestrianisation is decades overdue but I’d need convincing it can work if there are cyclists in the mix too. 100
Ben Castell @bencastell.bsky.social · 05/12/2025It’s at times like this awful/wonderful World Cup draw that I wish Twitter still existed. 010
Ben Castell @bencastell.bsky.social · 22/11/2025They should just give Cook the Countryfile gig now. 010
Ben Castell @bencastell.bsky.social · 22/11/2025Why can’t we just have the Aus commentary? Would certainly have more energy. Although didn’t they do that for the first Test last time then switch to a weird hybrid of Brit commentators watching on TV back home & Gower in the grounds? 100
Ben Castell @bencastell.bsky.social · 09/11/2025Mary Gauthier for us last night. Spellbinding in a lower key way. Interesting how sad songs make me happy. 110
Ben Castell @bencastell.bsky.social · 09/11/2025Is it possible to have fireworks that are beautiful and spectacular but don’t bang? Asking for my dog and sanity, 3 weeks after Diwali and 4 days after Bonfire Night. 020
Ben Castell @bencastell.bsky.social · 03/11/2025Was moaning about this all weekend. My daughter suggested The Woolympics. 000
Ben Castell @bencastell.bsky.social · 23/10/2025Because the there is no logical way of making any informed decisions! Almost nothing that happens means anything of consequence! The whole system is fatally flawed! 010
Ben Castell @bencastell.bsky.social · 26/09/2025Yes. Neighbourhood plans are bottom-up and resident/community led. This proposal is nothing of the sort. 000
Ben Castell @bencastell.bsky.social · 02/09/2025So annoyed. 16 Lovers Lane is exactly the music 15 year old me loved. I knew the band & taped the singles so why on earth did I never listen to the album until now? These songs should have been living in my head for the last 37 years. 1988 was the best year for music as it was the year I turned 16. 020
Ben Castell @bencastell.bsky.social · 21/07/2025Sounds good but is there a way of reading without a Times subscription? 000
Ben Castell @bencastell.bsky.social · 11/07/2025Maybe you were hearing Get It On on the Golden Hour. (This isn’t to say I have a problem with Noel using this brilliant riff from a brilliant old song on a brilliant new song - it’s a fantastic steal) 010
Ben Castell @bencastell.bsky.social · 07/07/2025The anti campaign, inc this meeting, led by Highgate Society, outside the proposed LTN area. At least 3 of the anti speakers live in LTNs already tho may not realise. Most resident groups within DP, & respondents to the online engagement, do strongly oppose btw - may or may not reflect wider views. 120
Ben Castell @bencastell.bsky.social · 15/06/2025“Yeah, that's why I can never understand any of those silly letters you send me." Brilliant. 000
Ben Castell @bencastell.bsky.social · 14/06/2025I’m just going to enjoy the song titles for a day before listening. 020
Ben Castell @bencastell.bsky.social · 13/06/2025The Bible revival starts here, @boohewerdine.bsky.social 110
Ben Castell @bencastell.bsky.social · 13/06/2025Email from EasyJet inviting me to check in. Any guesses which airport they, or presumably their AI, are calling London North? 110
Ben Castell @bencastell.bsky.social · 25/05/2025I’m not usually much of a hay fever sufferer, but having just ran from Highgate to Mayfair - and back! - on this blustery late spring day, I am sad to add the London Plane tree to noisy fireworks on the list of things that @london.gov.uk must ban! 000
Ben Castell @bencastell.bsky.social · 17/05/2025I am pledging £50 to charity if Crystal Palace score more goals in the Cup Final than the UK Eurovision entry gets points tonight. Fully expecting to be paying up. 000
Ben Castell @bencastell.bsky.social · 02/05/2025Already closed. Great for pedestrians & most likely traders. Note: impossible to cycle down - too many people - as was Parkway - too much stuck traffic, though that may be normal; in the end I got off and pushed bike on pavement. Arlington Rd also gridlocked, don’t know if that’s normal, guess not. 020
Ben Castell @bencastell.bsky.social · 21/03/2025You can try your #plantech if you like but don’t tell me a planning notice on a lamppost will never elicit pubic comment. 052
Ben Castell @bencastell.bsky.social · 22/02/2025Have heard Luton fans sing this at Cambridge. I guess that shitholery is in the eye of the beholder. 010
Ben Castell @bencastell.bsky.social · 20/02/2025I think a big part of it is the removal of party political games from national policy making. If only the same could happen at the local level. Linking planning to a raft of new elected mayors will not help this. 010
Ben Castell @bencastell.bsky.social · 10/02/2025This, by @rcka.co.uk for @camdencouncil.bsky.social in my area (a conservation area), shows how a bit more density shouldn’t be feared. Space is a nice cut-through, replacing awful unsafe alley. Flats lived in by refugees. Hope all community uses return soon. www.theguardian.com/artanddesign...theguardian.comHighgate Newtown Community Centre review – if you’re looking for design that humanises, here it isAn old Territorial Army drill hall has been transformed into an inspiring mixed-used development for local people that’s more than the sum of its parts 031
Ben Castell @bencastell.bsky.social · 22/01/2025It’s nothing to do with whether left or right, if they are still things, associates with certain architectural styles. But unfortunately there’s no getting away from this: pharos.vassarspaces.net/2020/02/20/n...pharos.vassarspaces.netNot Just Hitler and Mussolini: Neo-Nazis Love Neoclassical Architecture tooOn February 4th, 2020 Architectural Record reported on a leaked draft executive order from the Trump administration entitled “Making Federal Buildings Beautiful Again” that would require that “the cla... 000
Ben Castell @bencastell.bsky.social · 22/01/2025I imagine the built environment people still on Twitter are excited about this. 110
Ben Castell @bencastell.bsky.social · 04/01/2025It’s going to be a big year for planning and Matthew Pennycook is now on here : @matthewpennycookmp.bsky.social 054
