iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

John Angus Spencer-Barnes 🏳️‍🌈 @johnbarnes.org · 27/09/2026

I always enjoy trying on new hats. Much respect from the Preston Bellman to the team from Lancashire Police at Preston Pride.

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John Angus Spencer-Barnes 🏳️‍🌈 @johnbarnes.org · 26/09/2026

It was wonderful to lead the Preston Pride parade today as the Town Crier and Bellman of the city and to make the opening proclamation. Love is love my friends.

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John Angus Spencer-Barnes 🏳️‍🌈 @johnbarnes.org · 23/09/2026

It was marvellous to see my dear friends: Jim, the town crier of New Glasgow in Nova Scotia, and Adrian, the town crier of Lichfield in Staffordshire, at the World Town Crier Tournament in Chester.

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John Angus Spencer-Barnes 🏳️‍🌈 @johnbarnes.org · 15/09/2026

I’m a terrible piper, but I couldn’t resist the opportunity to play on Piper's Brae at Culzean Castle on the Ayrshire coast. It’s linked to the story of a ghostly piper who, on wild and stormy nights, can be heard playing his pipes from the caves under the cliff-top castle.

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John Angus Spencer-Barnes 🏳️‍🌈 @johnbarnes.org · 13/09/2026

Brodick Castle, on the Isle of Arran off the west coast of Scotland, looks magnificent in the late summer sunshine.

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John Angus Spencer-Barnes 🏳️‍🌈 @johnbarnes.org · 09/09/2026

It was marvellous to see the Pride-themed stained-glass window inside Belfast City Hall. It was unveiled last year by the Lord Mayor of Belfast, Councillor Micky Murray, the city’s first openly gay mayor.

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John Angus Spencer-Barnes 🏳️‍🌈 @johnbarnes.org · 08/09/2026

Hello from Dublin. It’s always good to be back in the city.

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John Angus Spencer-Barnes 🏳️‍🌈 @johnbarnes.org · 07/09/2026

We’re heading down to Dublin today on the Enterprise train. It’s the first time we’ve been to the new(ish) Belfast Grand Central Station, which has a somewhat different feel to the old station at Great Victoria Street.

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John Angus Spencer-Barnes 🏳️‍🌈 @johnbarnes.org · 04/09/2026

We had the world-renowned 'Pipe Major's Breakfast' this morning at the Pipers' Tryst Restaurant inside the National Piping Centre in Glasgow. I intended to get some new drone reeds for my bagpipes but couldn’t resist getting a 'Chanter McDuck' while we were there.

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John Angus Spencer-Barnes 🏳️‍🌈 @johnbarnes.org · 03/09/2026

The marble statue “Eve”, by the Italian artist Scipione Tadolini, sits inside the Kibble Palace glasshouse at the Glasgow Botanic Gardens. It was moved here after previously being housed at the Kelvingrove Museum. There’s no better place to visit than the gardens for a free day out in Glasgow.

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John Angus Spencer-Barnes 🏳️‍🌈 @johnbarnes.org · 31/08/2026

Today is the 29th anniversary of the greatest apology in the history of journalism.

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John Angus Spencer-Barnes 🏳️‍🌈 @johnbarnes.org · 23/08/2026

I ran into Daniel from the Thaxted Morris Men while I was shouting at the Saddleworth Rushcart. He was impressed by my beard, and I felt the same about his, so I guess that’s pretty much a draw. You meet the most marvellous people at Rushcart, and the quality of the beards is second to none.

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John Angus Spencer-Barnes 🏳️‍🌈 @johnbarnes.org · 22/08/2026

I’ve been doing some shouting at the Saddleworth Rushcart, and it was good to run into my old friend Lewis, who was dancing with Rutland, and his chum Joe who was dancing with Cambridge.

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John Angus Spencer-Barnes 🏳️‍🌈 @johnbarnes.org · 17/08/2026

A bellow or a shout of town criers and bellmen in Knaresborough, North Yorkshire - though I’ve heard a “headache” is a more appropriate collective term.

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John Angus Spencer-Barnes 🏳️‍🌈 @johnbarnes.org · 15/08/2026

It’s been a really excellent day at the Morecambe Maritime Festival. It was good to see so many friends from the volunteer rescue and sea shanty communities from right around the Lancashire coast.

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John Angus Spencer-Barnes 🏳️‍🌈 @johnbarnes.org · 12/08/2026

Dave getting ready to view the eclipse by the Jubilee Tower in the Forest of Bowland. We had a panoramic view right across the coast to Morecambe Bay in the west. It was a pretty special experience for both of us.

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John Angus Spencer-Barnes 🏳️‍🌈 @johnbarnes.org · 11/08/2026

Well, this was a little unexpected. I’ve been back on BBC Radio Lancashire for the first time since 2020. It’s 26 years since I first arrived in Blackburn to work at the station.

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John Angus Spencer-Barnes 🏳️‍🌈 @johnbarnes.org · 10/08/2026

The remains of Ribchester’s Roman bathhouse beside the River Ribble in Lancashire. The medieval St Wilfrid’s Church stands on part of the site of the Roman fort of Bremetennacum, while the porch of the nearby White Bull pub is supported by four stone columns that are said to be Roman.

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John Angus Spencer-Barnes 🏳️‍🌈 @johnbarnes.org · 09/08/2026

We had a bimble along the River Ribble to the beautiful St Wilfrid's Church in Ribchester. The building dates from the 13th century and is sited next to the Roman fort of Bremetennacum.

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John Angus Spencer-Barnes 🏳️‍🌈 @johnbarnes.org · 05/08/2026

It’s going to be a busy one today, and it will begin with a blood test at the University Medical Practice.

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John Angus Spencer-Barnes 🏳️‍🌈 @johnbarnes.org · 03/08/2026

Dave has done an amazing job with our hanging baskets this year.

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John Angus Spencer-Barnes 🏳️‍🌈 @johnbarnes.org · 02/08/2026

Greetings from Preston Town Hall, from the new City Bellman.

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John Angus Spencer-Barnes 🏳️‍🌈 @johnbarnes.org · 01/08/2026

I’ve performed my first official cry as the new Town Crier and Bellman of the City of Preston. It was lovely to be joined at the Wallace and Gromit bench by John and Gina, who I used to work with in the wild world of Lancashire radio.

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John Angus Spencer-Barnes 🏳️‍🌈 @johnbarnes.org · 31/07/2026

I’m heading to the local Spar in Maybole in a thoroughly overdressed fashion. I guess you need to keep up appearances.

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John Angus Spencer-Barnes 🏳️‍🌈 @johnbarnes.org · 29/07/2026

The ruins of Crossraguel Abbey, near Maybole in Ayrshire, viewed from the intact four-storey Abbot’s Tower House. A special shout-out to Paul from Historic Scotland for his awesome beard and for being a thoroughly nice guy.

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John Angus Spencer-Barnes 🏳️‍🌈 @johnbarnes.org · 27/07/2026

I finally got the Chameleon Circuit in my TARDIS working. Did you know that police boxes in Glasgow were painted red, in contrast to the blue used elsewhere in the UK?

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John Angus Spencer-Barnes 🏳️‍🌈 @johnbarnes.org · 26/07/2026

I’ve finally got to see the mural of St Mungo in Glasgow. The image depicts the city’s patron saint in modern clothing as a homeless man holding a robin, in a reference to one of his four legendary miracles.

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John Angus Spencer-Barnes 🏳️‍🌈 @johnbarnes.org · 25/07/2026

The Glasgow Necropolis is an astonishing Victorian cemetery on a hill near St Mungo's Cathedral in the city. Fifty thousand people are buried here in what’s been described as a city of the dead.

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John Angus Spencer-Barnes 🏳️‍🌈 @johnbarnes.org · 22/07/2026

We always love visiting the Danny DeVito-themed Poppin’ Pizza in Irvine for their amazing chicken burgers.

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John Angus Spencer-Barnes 🏳️‍🌈 @johnbarnes.org · 21/07/2026

We’re back in Dundee, which is one of my favourite cities. The Desperate Dan statue on the High Street celebrates Dundee’s heritage as the home of DC Thomson, the creators of the Dandy comic, where Dan first appeared in 1937.

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John Angus Spencer-Barnes 🏳️‍🌈 @johnbarnes.org · 17/07/2026

The very essence of the spirit of Scotland in one image.

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John Angus Spencer-Barnes 🏳️‍🌈 @johnbarnes.org · 16/07/2026

It’s good to get in some kilt time in the sunshine at Culzean Castle on the Ayrshire coast. The house served as the exterior location for Lord Summerisle’s mansion in the 1973 cult horror classic “The Wicker Man”.

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John Angus Spencer-Barnes 🏳️‍🌈 @johnbarnes.org · 15/07/2026

The harbour and town at beautiful Portpatrick, on the Rhins of Galloway peninsula in Dumfries and Galloway, on the far south-west coast of Scotland. Turn around and you can see the coast of Northern Ireland, which has me salivating at the thought of Tayto crisps and Club Rock Shandy.

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John Angus Spencer-Barnes 🏳️‍🌈 @johnbarnes.org · 14/07/2026

We’re in Thurso for our epic return journey from Scotland’s northernmost railway station to its southernmost, at Stranraer. We have changes at Inverness, Perth, Glasgow, and Kilmarnock. It should take almost exactly twelve hours-if it all goes to plan.

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John Angus Spencer-Barnes 🏳️‍🌈 @johnbarnes.org · 13/07/2026

The MV Hamnavoe docked in Stromness Harbour on the Orkney Islands, ready to take us across the Pentland Firth to Scrabster on the Scottish mainland. I’ve always loved NorthLink Ferries’ brand identity, featuring “Magnus the Viking” with his outstretched hand.

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John Angus Spencer-Barnes 🏳️‍🌈 @johnbarnes.org · 12/07/2026

The interior of St Magnus Cathedral at Kirkwall in the Orkney Islands is a stunning example of Romanesque architecture. It’s the UK’s most northerly cathedral and was founded in 1137 by the Viking Earl Rognvald in honor of his uncle, Saint Magnus.

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John Angus Spencer-Barnes 🏳️‍🌈 @johnbarnes.org · 11/07/2026

The monument to the great 19th-century Arctic explorer Dr John Rae at St Magnus Cathedral in Kirkwall on the Orkney Islands. The physician mapped extensive stretches of the Arctic coastline and discovered the final navigable link in the Northwest Passage. He’s buried in the cathedral’s graveyard.

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John Angus Spencer-Barnes 🏳️‍🌈 @johnbarnes.org · 10/07/2026

Hello from Kirkwall in the Orkney Islands. Thank you to Cameron Stout for showing us around BBC Radio Orkney. You might remember Cameron as the winner of Big Brother back in 2003.

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John Angus Spencer-Barnes 🏳️‍🌈 @johnbarnes.org · 08/07/2026

We made it all the way to Thurso, and what better way to celebrate than by visiting what is reputedly the northernmost mainland fish and chip shop in the United Kingdom?

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John Angus Spencer-Barnes 🏳️‍🌈 @johnbarnes.org · 07/07/2026

It’s our big Scottish railway adventure today. We’re travelling from the most southerly station in the country at Stranraer to the most northerly at Thurso. We have changes at Ayr, Glasgow and Inverness and with any luck it should take around 11 hours.

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John Angus Spencer-Barnes 🏳️‍🌈 @johnbarnes.org · 04/07/2026

It’s always good to be back reading the national news at BBC Radio 5 Live.

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John Angus Spencer-Barnes 🏳️‍🌈 @johnbarnes.org · 23/06/2026

The iconic Carnforth Station clock, which was made famous by the 1945 film Brief Encounter, has returned to its home on the station platform in Lancashire following an extensive restoration. It was manufactured in 1895 by Joyce & Co. of Whitchurch in Shropshire.

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John Angus Spencer-Barnes 🏳️‍🌈 @johnbarnes.org · 06/06/2026

A small win for me today. I’m no longer morbidly obese as my BMI has gone down from 54.8 to 29.8. I’m now just merely overweight. I’m down from 25 stone (350 pounds) to 13 stone 8 pounds (190 pounds). I won’t be having cake to celebrate, as there’s still more work to be done.

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John Angus Spencer-Barnes 🏳️‍🌈 @johnbarnes.org · 27/05/2026

20 years ago today, we got married on the Royal Mile in Edinburgh. We walked through this door in our kilts to the sound of bagpipes and the smiling faces of our family and friends. The old registry office is now the luxurious Virgin Hotels Edinburgh. It’s really good to be back in the city.

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John Angus Spencer-Barnes 🏳️‍🌈 @johnbarnes.org · 26/05/2026

Today I turn 65, standing on a beach in the west of Scotland in my kilt. My father was born and spent all his life just up the coast from here. Today, more than ever, I’m grateful for my husband, my family, and my friends. Much love to you all.

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John Angus Spencer-Barnes 🏳️‍🌈 @johnbarnes.org · 25/05/2026

It’s been a while since I walked Scotland visiting lighthouses, but I’m putting that right this week. Turnberry Lighthouse is operated by the Northern Lighthouse Board and is a conspicuous landmark on the South Ayrshire coast. It was designed by David and Thomas Stevenson, and completed in 1873.

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John Angus Spencer-Barnes 🏳️‍🌈 @johnbarnes.org · 24/05/2026

I love my new town crier livery. It was made by Michael Jay Tailoring who are a civil and military tailors based at Stowmarket in Suffolk. I’m really impressed by their work.

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John Angus Spencer-Barnes 🏳️‍🌈 @johnbarnes.org · 23/05/2026

There are some marvellous pictures from the historic opening of the new Tram Bridge in Preston. It was wonderful to be involved in such a spectacular community celebration and to lead the civic procession over the bridge in the spring sunshine.

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John Angus Spencer-Barnes 🏳️‍🌈 @johnbarnes.org · 22/05/2026

I chose the hottest day of the year to get back into the town crier business. It was marvellous to make the proclamations for Preston City Council at the opening of the new Tram Bridge over the River Ribble. It was a pleasure to spend time with Councillor Nweeda Khan, the 698th Mayor of the city.

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