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James Handscombe

@jameshandscombe.bsky.social
1.8K followers 1.4K following 4.3K posts

Executive Principal, Mathematician, Teacher, Wordsmith not necessarily in that order.

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James Handscombe @jameshandscombe.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
The light this morning is incredible, a rosy glow that would make you think you were walking into fairyland if you weren’t, in fact, pacing the endless suburban sprawl of southeast London. (The horse chestnut tree, pictured, is an old friend and fellow-traveler dreaming of the feywild)
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James Handscombe @jameshandscombe.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Thirty six fascinating pages on borderlands and liminal spaces just to set up this joke. Is @lewisbaston.bsky.social the successor to Terry Pratchett?
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James Handscombe @jameshandscombe.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
It's been a busy week - my letter to The Times got published on Tuesday and I've only got round to it today:
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James Handscombe @jameshandscombe.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
What’s the worst that can happen?
The Gaulish village of Asterix
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James Handscombe @jameshandscombe.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
Those of us in authority need to be better at making sure there’s no truth in this (otherwise what’s the point?)
Authority was someone telling you there was nothing they could do to help but they were sorry.
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James Handscombe @jameshandscombe.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
Just finished reading Baricco’s An Iliad (strongly recommend) and enjoy this post-hoc musing on the interminable discussions.
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James Handscombe @jameshandscombe.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
imgs.xkcd.com/comics/stand... Every time you reform the curriculum, schools invest a huge chunk of energy in thinking about how to teach the new version well and that energy is not spent on thinking about how to teach children better.
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James Handscombe @jameshandscombe.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
Bergen memorial (not sure what to) - really loving the collection of chaps they’ve assembled (that’s a very heroic stance that guy on the left has got).
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James Handscombe @jameshandscombe.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
Ferryboat across the fjords.
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James Handscombe @jameshandscombe.bsky.social · 27/07/2026
It did not dry up as we walked, but the waterfalls were suitably splendid.
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James Handscombe @jameshandscombe.bsky.social · 27/07/2026
We’re waiting for the ferry to take us to the start of the hike. It’s trifling damp.
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James Handscombe @jameshandscombe.bsky.social · 27/07/2026
This has just won the prize for most disgusting breakfast ever. Looks like ginger cake - is actually “old cheese” - prized by Vikings for tasting no worse after three months at sea than it did before setting out. Norwegian friends - is this a big prank following the World Cup?
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James Handscombe @jameshandscombe.bsky.social · 26/07/2026
Fairytale landscape
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James Handscombe @jameshandscombe.bsky.social · 26/07/2026
Very nearly sunshine.
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James Handscombe @jameshandscombe.bsky.social · 26/07/2026
Rainy view across the fjord
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James Handscombe @jameshandscombe.bsky.social · 25/07/2026
Perfect day for a dip
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James Handscombe @jameshandscombe.bsky.social · 21/07/2026
Of course, some people go both ways.
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James Handscombe @jameshandscombe.bsky.social · 21/07/2026
Now Taylor is duetting with Robert Baden Powell
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James Handscombe @jameshandscombe.bsky.social · 20/07/2026
In today’s picture spin quiz we have a giant of literature for you to name
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James Handscombe @jameshandscombe.bsky.social · 20/07/2026
New Orwell/Swift Collab just dropped.
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James Handscombe @jameshandscombe.bsky.social · 07/07/2026
Kadleroshilik Pingo in Alaska is the tallest Pingo in the world - 54m high (and 4m taller than Ibyuk). If you want to go Pingo hunting (don't harm the Pingos) you should visit Tuktoyatuk in Canada (see picture) which has the largest number of Pingos. Tibet has the highest altitude Pingos.
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James Handscombe @jameshandscombe.bsky.social · 07/07/2026
Today I invite you to join with me in delighting in the Pingo (see picture). Pingos are landforms that can only exist in permafrost conditions (water beneath the surface freezes and expands, forcing the land into joyful hills). The picture shows Ibyuk Pingo, tallest Pingo in Canada.
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James Handscombe @jameshandscombe.bsky.social · 04/07/2026
TIL that ”dyr” is Norwegian for expensive and look forward to finding out that if I just channel the dialect of Leeds I’ll get by in Bergen.
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James Handscombe @jameshandscombe.bsky.social · 29/06/2026
This is one of those days when I come out of school late, hungry and grumbling about my extensive commute only to look up and check my privilege.
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James Handscombe @jameshandscombe.bsky.social · 27/06/2026
This is a brilliant game - really enjoying it (Tolkien geek, game player) with family members A (not Tolkien geek, fantasy nerd, quite likes games) and B (knows Tolkien, likes pretty games but not war ones or things that get unpleasantly competitive). Strong recommend.
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James Handscombe @jameshandscombe.bsky.social · 17/06/2026
Very exciting - my little book on teachjng has been delivered in bulk to a school that has ordered it for all staff.
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James Handscombe @jameshandscombe.bsky.social · 04/06/2026
Icelandic fairytale - very @welcometowillerby.bsky.social
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James Handscombe @jameshandscombe.bsky.social · 04/06/2026
Icelandic proverbs collected by WH Auden? The world is full of delights. I particularly enjoy “Love your neighbour but let his gate stand still,” and ”only those who have it can splash the skyr about.”
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James Handscombe @jameshandscombe.bsky.social · 27/05/2026
Walk 👍 Paddle 👍 Pooh Sticks 👍 Beautiful little village 👍 Time to find a tea room
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James Handscombe @jameshandscombe.bsky.social · 25/05/2026
I found some friends this evening.
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James Handscombe @jameshandscombe.bsky.social · 19/05/2026
This is a remarkably well-written and challenging book. I recommend it to anyone who is interested in the future of the planet and isn’t actively angered by thoughts of religion (The Christian content is gentle and well thought-through but appropriately uncompromising).
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James Handscombe @jameshandscombe.bsky.social · 08/05/2026
Reading Sapiens and there are a few throw away lines that are jarring. The claim here is that Jesus was wrong when he said there would always be poverty because we now have a welfare state and NGOs that mean that most of the time in many countries people don’t actually starve to death.
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James Handscombe @jameshandscombe.bsky.social · 07/05/2026
Taking my voting card for a walk in the evening sunshine - what a day to be alive!
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James Handscombe @jameshandscombe.bsky.social · 04/05/2026
First challenge, the road from Kona to Hilo across Owhyhee, the big island (in real life this would be even more of a challenge - that's a fairly hefty hill you go over in the middle of the thing)
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James Handscombe @jameshandscombe.bsky.social · 25/04/2026
I like big buttresses and I cannot lie.
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James Handscombe @jameshandscombe.bsky.social · 25/04/2026
Forging links between The West Wing and Taylor Swift we have a very well-chosen birthday present. Now I just need to find a new CD player…
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James Handscombe @jameshandscombe.bsky.social · 22/04/2026
I have not only a copy of the long-lost second edition (the tupenny blue of Willerby books) but also some Ephemera!
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James Handscombe @jameshandscombe.bsky.social · 08/04/2026
Lots of ascent today.
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James Handscombe @jameshandscombe.bsky.social · 08/04/2026
Portuguese sea deity has views on current events.
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James Handscombe @jameshandscombe.bsky.social · 05/04/2026
A couple of months too late, but I’m delighted with this achievement - never got close before.
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James Handscombe @jameshandscombe.bsky.social · 04/04/2026
it’s all a waste of time anyway because the Easter beagle does all that.
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James Handscombe @jameshandscombe.bsky.social · 04/04/2026
Do not bake or fry or waffle or toast the eggs.
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James Handscombe @jameshandscombe.bsky.social · 03/04/2026
Today is also a new socks day
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James Handscombe @jameshandscombe.bsky.social · 03/04/2026
Today is a day of excitement for look what has come through the post!
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James Handscombe @jameshandscombe.bsky.social · 28/03/2026
It’s difficult to express how harmful the country’s current approach to sixth form education is, that at the moment of greatest impact we stop investing in the productivity of our young people and encourage them to see themselves as part-timers, only partially involved and included.
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James Handscombe @jameshandscombe.bsky.social · 27/03/2026
Eric Williams’ Capitalism and Slavery is compelling, thorough and, in the best traditions of scholarship, niche, nerdy and nuanced. Now to find Seymour Drescher’s refutation!
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James Handscombe @jameshandscombe.bsky.social · 09/03/2026
Sathnam says I should read this so it is muscling past two other half-read books.
Capitalism and Slavery by Eric Williams
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James Handscombe @jameshandscombe.bsky.social · 07/03/2026
Ice hockey time! Steelers v Blades (we’re supporting the home team)
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James Handscombe @jameshandscombe.bsky.social · 07/03/2026
Just in Sheffield to check out the new water-fountain (whose social-media campaign went semi-viral with commentators raising such concerns as the risk of drongos using it as a urinal.) During my inspection I saw no such drongos.
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James Handscombe @jameshandscombe.bsky.social · 06/03/2026
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