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Reposted by John Angus Spencer-Barnes 🏳️‍🌈

Russ Jones @russincheshire.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Saying isn't doing. But Burnham lifted the omertà on: Electoral reform Wide-scale nationalisation Triple lock pension Brexit So now they're all in play. And that's all positive

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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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Reposted by John Angus Spencer-Barnes 🏳️‍🌈

Dave Spencer-Barnes 🏳️‍🌈 @davespenceruk.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Paddington says hello.

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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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James O’Brien @mrjamesob.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

Cowardice versus Courage Cruelty versus Compassion Fascists versus RNLI volunteers podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/t...

podcasts.apple.com

They terrorised lifeboat volunteers for saving lives

Podcast Episode · James O'Brien Daily · 18 September · 1hr 3min

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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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Dave Spencer-Barnes 🏳️‍🌈 @davespenceruk.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

We’ve somehow ended up at the first Millport Pride on tiny Great Cumbrae Island off the west coast of Scotland. What a marvellous day.

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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 · 01/09/2026

Don’t give me this meteorological Autumn nonsense. Autumn starts on September 23rd. Have another three weeks of Summer on me.

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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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Dave Spencer-Barnes 🏳️‍🌈 @davespenceruk.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

We’ve had the car serviced and had new brake pads and discs fitted today which gave us time for a long walk along the River Lune to the remarkable Lune Aqueduct. It’s a Grade I listed building and carries the Lancaster Canal over the river.

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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

The Jubilee Tower is just a couple of miles up the road from our place.

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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

It was a little unusual after such a long time, but I have read regular national network bulletins on the station from elsewhere.

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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

Yes it is. My official title is Town Crier and Bellman.

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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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