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Mary Earnshaw

@maryearnshaw.bsky.social
1.4K followers 1.2K following 1.9K posts

Writer. Worrier. Tree whisperer. Lives on England's northwest coast. Has spent a lot of time in Zambia and Eswatini with her live-in archaeologist. Can cook for dozens over an open fire if bribed with wine. But would rather write poetry.

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Sameer Kankali Ⓥ☮✌🏼🌱💚🍉🐸🐮🐷📚📖♟️✊🏼 @sameerkankali.bsky.social · 18h
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Mary Earnshaw @maryearnshaw.bsky.social · 13h
Some weird coincidences with my husband's ancestry and Mary Mulholland' book about hers, 'Dodo stories ' - looking forward to talking to her about it at Poetry Pharmacy York later this month.
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Longbarrow Press @longbarrowpress.bsky.social · 13h
The elegance and glamour of small press publishing. This is what happens when your house is also a warehouse. Buy some books so that I can navigate a way out of this increasingly cramped space
Boxes upon boxes and furniture upon furniture
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Mary Earnshaw @maryearnshaw.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Nice to be able to understand this, a legacy of working for an international electronics company and living in a country where no one would let me speak their language because their English was always better! Anyway. Glad they're getting this translation of one of my favourite poets.
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Mary Earnshaw @maryearnshaw.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Authors. Writing biogs for yourselves. A master class. This is from 'When the Cat's Away ' by the late - 😥 - Kinky Friedman. I have his landline and cellphone numbers and foolishly never used them - am still tempted, his spirit might have access...
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Mary Earnshaw @maryearnshaw.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
A little love story as told by a bench in Hesketh Park, Southport
Across this lake in 1956 Tom proposed to Constance G. Latto married in 1957 in St James Birkdale passed on too soon in 2007Patk lake trees and fountain Glasshouses across park lake
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Jesse Locker @jessemlocker.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
A carved "pillar-biter" from the church of St. Bavo in Haarlem, from 1509-1517. With roots in Medieval iconography, pillar-biters represented hypocrisy and false piety. More here: www.leidenmedievalistsblog.nl/articles/dev...
A polychrome wooden carving of a man in pilgrim's garb with a priminent rosary grotesquely gnawing on a church column
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Mary Earnshaw @maryearnshaw.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Didn't know about this one @gbclarkson.bsky.social I shall seek it out on Alison's recommendation
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Mary Earnshaw @maryearnshaw.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
I do love to see people doing this - and while we're at it, dare I mention usage of sitting versus sat? No? Sigh.
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Yaroslava @strategywoman.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
In the summer of 2026 russian attacks destroyed 13 million books in Ukraine. Perhaps this line will make it into history books. Today, I saw the program aimed at supporting small Ukrainian publishers. Please read, and maybe you’ll become a donor too. foundation.kse.ua/en/projects/...
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Brian Groom @groomb.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Woman with geese, Lake District, by Joseph Hardman, 1893-1972 (Lakeland Arts).
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Brian Groom @groomb.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Liverpool MP Bessie Braddock dances with George Harrison at the Carl Alan Awards, March 24, 1964.
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Brent Toderian @brenttoderian.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
“Air pollution fell substantially as Paris restricted car traffic and made way for parks, people-streets and bike-lanes.” Better for the climate, better for health, better for livability and quality of life. Common sense. Such a no-brainer, it’s remarkable that more cities HAVEN’T done the same.
washingtonpost.com
Paris said au revoir to cars. Air pollution maps reveal a dramatic change.
Air pollution fell substantially as the city restricted car traffic and made way for parks and bike lanes.
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Stephen Collins @stephencollins.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

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Wide shot of the BRITISH MUSEUM. There are suggestions of fascism around the streets - tanks, barricades, an Orwellian 'Big Brother'-style poster on a wall. A voice of a TOUR GUIDE emanates from the museum:

TOUR GUIDE:
So the Tapestry tells acrucial chapter of our nation's history...

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[Cut to interior of museum. A long Bayeaux-style TAPESTRY is on display, and the Tour Guide is speaking to a tour group]

TOUR GUIDE [smiling]:
How modern fascist Britain was created. 

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TOUR GUIDE:
The Tapestry begins here with the 2008 Crash, then austerity, then the AI Crash...

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TOUR GUIDE:
...and by the end of the room it's just full-on fash. 

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CHILD IN TOUR GROUP [gesturing to the tapestry]:
What's this middle bit?

TOUR GUIDE:
This is the 2026 Battle of Legitimate Concerns 

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TOUR GUIDE:
[show a reporter standing next to the Dover protests]
Here's the media saying the government have got to do something about the legitimate concerns...

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CHILD:
...About the failure of capitalism?

TOUR GUIDE:
No about brown people on boats

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CHILD:
[pointing at boats crossing the sea on the tapestry]
Are these boats the mega-dinghies?

TOUR GUIDE:
Not all of them

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[we see one of the boats  is a giant yacht]
TOUR GUIDE:
That one's a superyacht,
carrying money from the American fascists to the British ones.

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TOUR GUIDE:
You see really it's as much a story of convergence as it is of conflict.

[An alarm sounds in the museum]
DING DING DING DING 

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TOUR GUIDE:
Ok, tour over everyone 

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TOUR GUIDE:
It's time for the Two Minute Hate!

[They all leave the museum]

[ends]
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Blue Oleta @blue-oleta.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
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Otto English @ottoenglish.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
In May of 1940 there was a mass panic in Britain - stirred up by the tabloid press - about 'fighting aged men' who had come to Britain as 'refugees' posing a threat to the women and children of this country - and essentially forming a 'fifth column' that could, at any moment rise up against everyone
static.klipy.com
WW2 Soldiers in Croatia: Ivan Janjic Storefront
ALT: WW2 Soldiers in Croatia: Ivan Janjic Storefront
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Mary Earnshaw @maryearnshaw.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Royal Mail: 18 August NHS appointment letter sent to me arrived today 16 September. Poetry book sent by @bloodaxebooks.bsky.social on 24 August arrived today 16 September. Until today we'd had no post since 6 September because none was 1st class. The rich man at the top should hang his head in shame
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Yaroslava @strategywoman.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Culture matters. The UK is a great example. Yesterday, the British Council announced £2 million in new funding over three years to support Ukrainian cultural organisations. The funding will go directly to them. Thank you 🇬🇧
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Ron Davies @rondavies.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Just arrived. Another beautifully packaged publication from @longbarrowpress.bsky.social The trio of pamphlets and postcards entitled “Have you always been here?” by Matthew Clegg @eyesfront.bsky.social Looking forward to reading.
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Tom Cox @dj-acid-reflux.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Publishers: “Short stories don’t sell and are impossible to market so we are not going to take the risk of publishing them.” Also publishers: “What can we publish to fit this era of reduced attention spans when people are reading fewer novels?”
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Mary Earnshaw @maryearnshaw.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
If this is a problem besetting you I suggest you follow Anti Reform on FB. Works wonders.
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Anne Applebaum @anneapplebaum.wsocial.eu · 14/09/2026
Your regular reminder: If the Russians stop fighting, the war ends. If the Ukrainians stop fighting, their land will be occupied, their leaders will be killed, their history and language will be erased, their children will be kidnapped to serve Russia.
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Fiona Chartres @chartresfi.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
There's no way you can walk into St Peter's, Tickencote, Rutland and not make a little sound of amazement when you first turn the lights on and see the stupendous 12thC chancel arch. #SundayStonework
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Janey Salisbury @serendipitysmith.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
People who think the triple lock should be abandoned should hang their heads in shame. Our state pension, even the maximum one, is pitiful. I'm not saying this on behalf of myself, I'm fine, but a lot of people aren't, and making it more pitiful by whatever means is a stepping stone to it ending.
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Mary Earnshaw @maryearnshaw.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
'Live acoustic and imperfect ' Sakari Oramo. BBC Proms. Last Night. Stunning evening.
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Mary Earnshaw @maryearnshaw.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
Well, what a Last Night of the Proms. I was dubious but I admit I'm enjoying it.
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martindvz.bsky.social @martindvz.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
When the media tells you the UK is overrun by foreigners or Muslims or immigrants , they are lying to you .
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Jonathan Calder @lordbonkers.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
Burnham has ignored uniformed fascists marching on our streets and foreign money subverting our politics, so good luck with this, guys.
theguardian.com
UK lawmakers urge Burnham to back ban on superintelligent AI after chilling warnings
Letter from 70 MPs and peers follows Anthropic employee’s claim new technology could wipe out humans
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Mary Earnshaw @maryearnshaw.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
Watch it on YouTube. Worth it.
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Liam Thorp @liamthorp.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
I’m baffled when people try to suggest that the BBC News is left wing or ‘woke’. Can you imagine someone presenting their flagship radio news programme who so brazenly exhibits and pushes left-wing views and talking points as much as Justin Webb does with those from the right?
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John Oxley @joxley.jmoxley.co.uk · 11/09/2026
🚨 NEW BLOGPOST 🚨 The last week has seen multiple incidents of masked mobs trying to subvert the power of the state. Their actions have been illegal and unpleasant. But the treatment has been weak. The police haven't dealt with it, and neither has govt. open.substack.com/pub/joxleywr...
open.substack.com
Stop the Louts
The tools exist. The will, so far, doesn't.
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Mary Earnshaw @maryearnshaw.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
@caroline-too.bsky.social Saw this and thought of you - re conversation yesterday bsky.app/profile/litb...
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Dmitry Grozoubinski @explaintrade.com · 10/09/2026
If you're in government watching criminal-led blackshirt thugs in balaclavas wage war on the RNLI and you're hedging your bets because you're not sure who the majority of the country will side with, why do you even want to be in government? Why would you WANT to lead people you think so little of?
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Liam Thorp @liamthorp.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
There are gangs of men in black balaclavas roaming around the country, intimidating people and blocking roads and access to buildings. Why are they not being arrested? Why is the PM not calling them out?
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Ed Wilson @eddwilson.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
Public Order Act 1936 "... any person who in any public place or at any public meeting wears uniform signifying his association with any political organisation or with the promotion of any political object shall be guilty of an offence..." www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Edw8an... #R4Today
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Ilikecaketoo (UK) @ilikecaketoo.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
Disgraceful that the RNLI have to say this today, but here we are 😞. If you would like to donate👇🏻. rnli.org/support-us/g... #RNLI #RNLISavesLives
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Merriam-Webster @merriam-webster.com · 09/09/2026
Not to brag, but our product has been foldable since 1828.
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Mary Earnshaw @maryearnshaw.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
What a relief, the current presenter on BBC Radio 3 (missed his name twice) has me back listening not switching off irked. Starting with Ravel's Dawn this morning was just perfect. Ahhh. The alchemy of sunlight turning the pines and birches, briefly, golden.
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Mary Earnshaw @maryearnshaw.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
Good morning beautiful world. It's not your fault we mess it up.
Massed clouds in dawning colours blushed by sunrise above a sliver of blue over dark silhouettes of trees.
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Mary Earnshaw @maryearnshaw.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
Open up the picture and you'll see she's smiling.
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James Ball @jamesrball.com · 09/09/2026
Did...not a single MP raise the issue of balaclava-clad far-right mobs on the streets over the weekend? I missed PMQs myself (am travelling), but I can't see any mention of it across the whole liveblog. Absolutely extraordinary if so.
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Mary Earnshaw @maryearnshaw.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
Getting tired and angry waiting
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Jonn Elledge @jonnelledge.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
I want the Prime Minister to look into a TV camera and say the RNLI are heroes, that we do not change policy by street violence in this country, and that he expects any criminal action to face the full force of the law. That's it. That's all he has to do.
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Helen Bennett 🌿 @helenbennett.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
For #MacroMonday A lovely Southern Hawker in our garden yesterday... after hunting, she weaved herself into a shrub before hanging under a leaf to avoid detection... took me a while to find her! 😊 📷️ 🌿 Wishing everyone a good day and new week ahead 👋 #Dragonfly #Nature #UKWildlife #Invert #ECK
A close-up photograph of a female Southern Hawker dragonfly that is seen clinging beneath a leaf, hidden within an Elaeagnus shrub.  She is in side profile with her head slightly shaded by the leaf but the light otherwise catching the corner of its eye and body.  The dragonfly is well camouflaged with her patterned brown and light blue abdomen, translucent veined wings, and greenish head blending in with her surroundings.  The leaves of the shrub blur out into a soft green-brown background behind her.
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Longbarrow Press @longbarrowpress.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
"For two years of lockdowns, my partner and I walked Sheffield's Rivelin Valley at dawn. Moss. Herons. Froglets. Treecreepers. Those walks became three poetry pamphlets and a way of paying attention again." Have You Always Been Here? Matthew Clegg Published today longbarrowpress.com/current-publ...
Three pamphlets by Matthew Clegg - Eyes Front, Crystals & Dust, The Living  - arranged on a garden table.
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Mary Earnshaw @maryearnshaw.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
The new season of poetry readings starts at Mecycle in Ainsdale, Southport, on October 7th - booking opens today at 1pm - tickets are free but don't delay, they go quickly! www.ticketsource.com/poets-corner...
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Joanne Harris @joannechocolat.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
This is just to say... I have stolen the work that you spent years creating and which you were probably hoping would pay your bills But online sharing doesn't count It's actually a compliment So fuck you BTW, I'm a fan
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Peter Smith @redpeter99.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
Might have missed it, but where is the condemnation and robust reaction from the government to masked thugs on the streets? Unlike, say, Stop Oil they're not demonstrating. Their schtick is intimidation. Spare us the "legitimate concerns" bullshit, too.
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Mary Earnshaw @maryearnshaw.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
And the encore 🥰
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Mary Earnshaw @maryearnshaw.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
Wow. Martha Argerich on the BBC PROMS playing Beethoven. ❤️
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