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Chris Lines @chrislines.bsky.social · 10/10/2026

Lovely circular walk in the chilled autumnal air. Starting from Cwrt-y-Gollen with a stop-off in Llangenny.

Chris Lines @chrislines.bsky.social · 10/10/2026

Robert Bolt's play #AManForAllSeasons, like all great stories, has a timeless relevance. The excellent production we saw at Cardiff's New Theatre coincides with the proposed live streaming of an execution in the US.

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Chris Lines @chrislines.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

"Ladies and Gentlemen, yeah." An evening of laughter and thinking (in that order) is how Andy Parsons hoped his Abergavenny gig would be remembered.

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Chris Lines @chrislines.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

A film about meteorology, drawing lines on charts, data analysis and answering the telephone, #Pressure is a film which races along and had me gripped from start to finish. #AndrewScott was very good indeed but I doubt he'll be typecast as a weather forecaster.

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Chris Lines @chrislines.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

In the same way that you can sometimes see something new in a familiar view, so my eyes have been opened again to the history of coal in south Wales. The history is such a constant and so visible that you need the occasional jolt to remember its enormity and cruelty.

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Chris Lines @chrislines.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

The author Robert Harris described himself as a "social hermit" when speaking about his new book, Agrippa, in Penarth tonight. The former Observer political editor left a highly social career to become the "hermit-like" writer of 16, soon-to-be 17, best-selling books!

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Chris Lines @chrislines.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

The latest in this year's summer's reading - as with every year - is Wisden, Cricketers' Almanack. Not that I read every one of the 1,522 pages in this, the 163rd edition.

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Chris Lines @chrislines.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

A Pakistani man's monologue, The Reluctant Fundamentalist, gives his account of a conversation he's having with an unnamed American in a Pakistani city. The story covers the period before and after 9/11.

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Chris Lines @chrislines.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

James tells the story an enslaved man on the run with the young Huck Finn. They travel down the Mississippi, meeting challenges at every turn in a fast-moving story which made me both laugh and wince.

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Chris Lines @chrislines.bsky.social · 12/08/2026

We missed out on the glasses so Clare held up a giant colander so we could view the eclipse on the back of our house.

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Chris Lines @chrislines.bsky.social · 09/08/2026

To Kill a Mockingbird was enjoyable with the fast-paced dialogue you'd expect of Sorkin but I was unconvinced by the children being played by adult actors; irritated by the trundling of constant scene changes; and both confused and disappointed by the ending's lack of depth and clarity.

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Chris Lines @chrislines.bsky.social · 09/08/2026

After a walk through the magnificent but scorched Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park, and an excellent Sri Lankan meal at Hoppers Soho, we watched Aaron Sorkin's To Kill a Mockingbird.

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Chris Lines @chrislines.bsky.social · 09/08/2026

Then on to the challenging and beautiful Kyotographie photography exhibition at The Japan Centre. It featured work on the atomic bomb at Hiroshoma by Kawadi Kikuji and Iawne Ai on cherry trees.

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Chris Lines @chrislines.bsky.social · 09/08/2026

A tourist's day in London exploring Japanese, Sri Lankan and US culture. Starting with a mooch along Portobello Road, we walked to see the Fukishima and Kyoto Gardens in Holland Park - both donated by Japanese cities with considerable corporate donations.

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Chris Lines @chrislines.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

A joyful and highly emotional day! Justin has married Ayesha at Chelsea Old Town Hall.

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Chris Lines @chrislines.bsky.social · 04/08/2026

Viewing the violent and turbulant history of a country through the lives of people working and staying in a hotel is an original idea. And Lyse Doucet, or LyseDoucet as she is known by many in Afghanistan, makes it work.

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Chris Lines @chrislines.bsky.social · 01/08/2026

A train ride to #ChurchStretton with a day's walking in perfect conditions on #LongMynd before a train home. A pretty good way to spend a day.

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Chris Lines @chrislines.bsky.social · 29/07/2026

The Odyssey is pure Holywood. Brilliant screenplay and cinematography but with actors who couldn't get beyond their own star status. They whispered a lot in dark places and shouted loudly in big battles.

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Chris Lines @chrislines.bsky.social · 20/07/2026

We only met two other walkers on the Offa's Dyke Path despite great sign-posting, perfect weather and the start of the school holiday. It's farming country and, apart from a couple of combine harvesters, we didn't really see any human life. Even Presteigne afterwards was open but without people.

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Chris Lines @chrislines.bsky.social · 09/07/2026

The biggest disappointment of devolution has been the Welsh Government's running down of the arts. So said Andrew Green, the author and former head of the National Library of Wales, in tonight's Conversation at the Chapel with Peter Wakelin.

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Chris Lines @chrislines.bsky.social · 11/06/2026

An interview about interviews with one talking too much and the other too little - a Conversation in the Chapel with Peter Wakelin interviewing Francine Stock. Questions from the audience weren't too good either, including mine.

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Chris Lines @chrislines.bsky.social · 07/06/2026

The answer? Glasses straps! Do you think they make me look learned?

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Chris Lines @chrislines.bsky.social · 06/06/2026

The author of We should more interesting than the book itself. Yevgeny Zamyatin was a Bokshevik exiled to Siberia by the Tsarist regime. He supported the revolution in Russia but, while remaining a Marxist, he was quickly disillusioned by the Communists and the ways they limited creative freedom.

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Chris Lines @chrislines.bsky.social · 22/05/2026

Three Hours is a real page turner, a thriller of a book about a seige in a school. The tension in the police command room gripped me in particular. The book's perspectives on life as a refugee and the radicalisation of young men felt raw and real but I found the ending almost laughable.

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Chris Lines @chrislines.bsky.social · 16/05/2026

A good circular walk, starting at #Arthur'sStone, up to #MerbachHill then back via #Bredwardine, much of it following a Drovers' route. Quite a lot of chat along the way.

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Chris Lines @chrislines.bsky.social · 14/05/2026

An enjoyable, interesting and well-attended Conversation in the Chapel with Dai Smith talking to Peter Wakelin about Raymond Williams and his biography of him, A Warrior's Tale. Abergavenny doesn't do enough to celebate Raymond Williams. Until tomorrow...

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Chris Lines @chrislines.bsky.social · 28/04/2026

A gripping and fast-moving story, well directed and produced and with an excellent performance by Tony Turner as George Smiley. Disappointingly, however, the central performances in 'The Spy Who Came in from the Cold' lacked conviction.

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Chris Lines @chrislines.bsky.social · 15/04/2026

Of the 40,000 UK slave owners who sought compensation for their loss of income following the abolition of the slave trade, 14 were from Monmouthshire and three from Abergavenny. Facts from another fascinating lecture courtesy of Abergavenny Local History Society. The lecturer was Roger Evans.

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Chris Lines @chrislines.bsky.social · 18/03/2026

Rembrandt's house provided great incite into his life and character - a difficult man at best. The audio commentary was perfectly judged and the interpretative material explaining how Rembrandt painted was fascinating. Even the member of staff in the shop was great fan!

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Chris Lines @chrislines.bsky.social · 17/03/2026

Yet more art in Amsterdam, this time at the Stedilijk Museum for modern and contemporary art. Some was outstanding but I doubt whether it will all stand the test of time. Either way, the galleries provoked emotion and much thinking. And I came out feeling much better than at the start of the day.

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Chris Lines @chrislines.bsky.social · 16/03/2026

The #Rijksmuseum, #Amsterdam. In seven hours, we covered two floors out of four and 150 out of a thousand years of Dutch art. At times it wasn't so very different from scrolling on your phone.

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Chris Lines @chrislines.bsky.social · 15/03/2026

Visiting the house where Anne Frank wrote her diaries was as upsetting as it should be. I am confident that visitors find the actions of the Nazis horrifying, unjustifiable and inexplicable - never to be repeated. Yet, two days ago, there was an attack on a Jewish school in Amsterdam.

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Chris Lines @chrislines.bsky.social · 14/03/2026

Vincent van Gogh. The Amsterdam museum in his name tells his story as a painter. And helps you imagine his passion.

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Chris Lines @chrislines.bsky.social · 13/03/2026

Nick Clegg's time as Deputy Prime Minister and when working at Meta may be controversial, but his experience is unique. It qualifies him to write about the future of the internet Realpolitik is the watchword but Clegg writes optimistically.

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Chris Lines @chrislines.bsky.social · 11/03/2026

"Not derelection but history. Not shame but pride." Peter Wakelin concluded his talk about how #Blaenavon became a #WorldHeritageSite emotionally and with a tear. Another great event from the #Abergavenny Local History Society enjoyed by more than a hundred of us.

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Chris Lines @chrislines.bsky.social · 04/03/2026

Five blokes walk into a bar carrying a book called Flesh. It's not a dirty joke but how our book club started - uncomfortably - this week. The Booker Prize winning book, by David Szalay, got the thumbs up.

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Chris Lines @chrislines.bsky.social · 02/03/2026

The National Trust's Chartwell is a very enjoyable and stimulating day out. Sadly though, the interpretation and presentation of Churchill's life was more of a hagiography without reference to his political controversies, drinking or depression. None-the-less, highly recommended.

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Chris Lines @chrislines.bsky.social · 27/02/2026

From 2000BC to the present day, from every continent and from the tiny to the enormous, the Sainsbury Centre for the Visual Arts presents an extraordinary collection of art. Curated to juxtapose cultures and eras, what comes across is a common humanity and a common inspiration in what we see.

A sculpture of a grey builder carrying two buckets.

A small, clay sculpture of a seated man with one hand holding his head.

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Chris Lines @chrislines.bsky.social · 25/02/2026

My kind of pub. There are old copies of Hansard to browse over a pint.

A copy of Hansard open on a table next to a half full pint of beer and an old bottle with a candle in it.

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Chris Lines @chrislines.bsky.social · 11/02/2026

The 1902 plans for the Newport Transporter Bridge placed it in Angleterre, as Monmouthshire was then. It was designed by a French engineer and, despite the total absence of hard hats and hi-viz jackets on the people doing dangerous work, not a single life was lost in its construction.

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Chris Lines @chrislines.bsky.social · 03/02/2026

The Book Club gave it a thumbs up. The Place of Tides is a beautifully written book about strong women in a patriarchal world and the value of old ways of living battling against the economics of a modern world.

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Chris Lines @chrislines.bsky.social · 27/01/2026

With a performance of Prince otherwise known as the Prince of Denmark, the #NationalTheatreLive #Hamlet was stylish and thoroughly enjoyable. I only wish that I'd watched it before seeing #Hamnet with an N at the cinema.

The actor Hiran Abeysekera playing Hamlet holding a skull and looking at the camera while sitting in a theatre.

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Chris Lines @chrislines.bsky.social · 26/01/2026

"He Banged The Leather for Goal" is the title of the first recorded football chant. It was written specially for Wolverhampton Wanderers fans by Edward Elgar no less. Elgar used to ride his bike from Worcester to Wolverhampton and back to see his side. From 'We Lose Every Week' by Andrew Lawn.

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Chris Lines @chrislines.bsky.social · 25/01/2026

With another #BigGardenBirdWatch completed, I can report that we saw one blackbird, one blue tit, two house sparrows, one robin, three woodpigeons, three crows and a common gull. There were fewer tits around this year. Perhaps they've been eaten by our tawney owls.

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Chris Lines @chrislines.bsky.social · 17/01/2026

You won't see a better table tennis heist movie but the film #MartySupreme presents the same overconfident swagger as its lead character. Despite its fast-moving plot and fast-talking dialogue, by the second half I found myself un-invested in any of the characters.

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Chris Lines @chrislines.bsky.social · 14/01/2026

Another excellent talk at Abergavenny Local History Society. Simon Maddison described the evidence for a Roman bridge at Chepstow. The archeology involved wallowing in mud for the couple of hours available at low tide together with carbon dating, tree ring dating and Lidar, using light rays.

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Chris Lines @chrislines.bsky.social · 11/01/2026

Swansea City 2 West Bromwich Albion 2 (6-5 on penalties). Very unusually, I watched the game from the first row rather than the back of the stand. The perceived faster pace and congested space add to the excitement. I have no idea how managers follow the game from the touchline.

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Chris Lines @chrislines.bsky.social · 09/01/2026

As the credits rolled, nobody in the cinema moved. That was the emotional punch of #Hamnet - an extraordinary film with an astonishing performance from Jesse Buckley. If I woz more cleverer I'd have understood a lot more than I did. None-the-less it still gripped me and generated a tear or two.

Jesse Buckley as Agnia Hathaway standing before the stage at the Globe Theatre sadly watching Hamlet with the rest of the audience around her.

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Chris Lines @chrislines.bsky.social · 07/01/2026

After nearly 40 years living here it was time to see a film at the oldest film club in Wales, Abergavenny's no less. Santosh was both gripping and repulsive, telling the story of a corrupt and violent police force. The film captured conflict and tensions brilliantly.

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