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Matt Nicholas

@mattnic.bsky.social
385 followers 436 following 560 posts

#Archaeologist. European. Likes music, non-ferrous metallurgy & left(ish) politics. Personal account not associated with anywhere you think I might work. Also interested in #running, #cycling & #ActiveTravel

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Reposted by Matt Nicholas
Marie Le Conte @youngvulgarian.marieleconte.com · 09/10/2026
what a grim and mean little quote
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Matt Nicholas @mattnic.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
(fyi Herndon's album is a cracker of you've not heard it) youtu.be/r4sROgbaeOs?...
youtu.be
Holly Herndon - Eternal (Official Video)
YouTube video by Holly Herndon
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Matt Nicholas @mattnic.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
I guess the problem is you have to be a really good artist to begin with to use it successfully as a tool to create anything interesting, and most people who tout it just want a shortcut that skips the hard work.
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Matt Nicholas @mattnic.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Interesting discussion here. I was thinking the other day that it's noticeable that, apart from Holly Herndon's 2019 album Proto, it feels like there's been a dearth of attempts to use AI to create interesting music.
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Matt Nicholas @mattnic.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
The sector's reward for this breakthrough will be to be told it's full of overeducated blockers by people who think proper work only counts if it involves a hard hat, but not 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 hard hat.
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Matt Nicholas @mattnic.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Hot take: professional archaeology in the UK accidentally invented the perfect modern career path. Break your back digging holes in your 20s and 30s, then spend the rest of your working life squinting at sherds and planning documents from behind a desk.
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Duncan Hothersall @dhothersall.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
If attendance at a major women's conference was down 80% due to a boycott fighting against trans *inclusion*, it would be all over the Times, Telegraph, Mail etc. This last weekend, attendance at a major women's conference was down 80% due to a boycott fighting against trans *exclusion*. Crickets.
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annacycles.bsky.social @annacycles.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
I ran Ealing half marathon today dressed as a plane to protest against the race being sponsored by Wizz Air. Airlines shouldn’t be sponsoring running events. They really are taking the wizz. (As opposed to these guys, who are taking a wizz)
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Sunder Katwala (sundersays) @sundersays.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Retain & explain in Edinburgh where Henry Dundas sits 150 foot high on the Melville Monument, now contextualised, albeit not without controversy, over his role
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Marion Page @marionpage.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
The new Heritage Gateway is now live, giving access to more than a million English heritage records. And more is to come....Try it out Heritage Gateway | Historic England share.google/LemczW9XclS1...
share.google
Heritage Gateway | Historic England
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Matt Nicholas @mattnic.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
And it wasn't just funding. Friends groups collapsed, staff moved on, and the reputational damage was significant (if you're a museum professional, a place stripped of accreditation isn't an especially attractive place to build a career). Speed of the fallout probably made other councils think twice
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Matt Nicholas @mattnic.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
In 2013-14, Croydon sold a ceramics collection and Northampton an Egyptian statue. Both decisions had serious consequences: museum accreditation was withdrawn by ACE, leading to the loss of significant funding and support www.yourlocalguardian.co.uk/news/1055594... www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-engl...
yourlocalguardian.co.uk
Council warned it could lose £1m of proposed Riesco art sell-off
Nearly a million pounds could be clawed back from Croydon Council's controversial proposed sell-off of precious artworks.
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Stephen Bush @stephenkb.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
Time for Andy Burnham to appoint a Culture Secretary.
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Alastair MacIntosh @alastairmac.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
Cowardice, if not complicity. Why did Burnham spend all that time sleazing his way into no 10 if it wasn't to act like a prime minister and stand up to the enemies of our democracy? Was it simply vanity?
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road.cc @roadcc.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
“People who cycle should not have to fear for their lives every time they use the roads”
road.cc
“A car is also a weapon”: Calls for mandatory lifetime bans for “killer motorists” as driver charged with murder following cyclist’s death
1,500 cyclists attended a protest calling for mandatory lifetime driving bans for “killer motorists”, after a driver was charged with murder following a shocking hit-and-run collision which killed a c...
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Matt Nicholas @mattnic.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
Men wait for train at station with limited facilities
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Matt Nicholas @mattnic.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
Well, that was an amazing book. Loved it so much that I picked up a paperback copy for my wife from @book-ish.bsky.social in Crickhowell while we were on holiday.
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Matt Nicholas @mattnic.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
Even with a few threatening rain clouds (in fact after this summer *especially* with some threatening rain clouds) I don't think there's a more beautiful festival setting than Green Man, nestled away in the folds of Bannau Brycheiniog
The view from the hills above Greenan Festival The view from the hills above Greenan Festival. The festival site can be seen in the bottom of the valley in the centre of the frame.
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The Green Runners @thegreenrunners.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
🎤🎧 New episode drop alert Many members have shown an interest in either joining or leading their own Local Meet Up. LMU founder Kev chats with Laura about just that & explained how simple & rewarding it is to connect with fellow members. Watch on YouTube, or listen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts
thegreenrunners.com
Kevin Bowen: The Grassroots Trail Blazer - The Green Runners CIC
Everything you always wanted to know about Local Meet Ups, but were afraid to ask: join host Laura Briggs as she chats with seasoned endurance runner and super volunteer Kevin Bowen, founder of the or...
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Matt Nicholas @mattnic.bsky.social · 16/08/2026
Good job incisive intervention is Lisa Nandy's middle name!
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Matt Nicholas @mattnic.bsky.social · 16/08/2026
Not sure how I feel about that prospect!
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Matt Nicholas @mattnic.bsky.social · 16/08/2026
It was the lead item on the 6music news this morning, so I rapidly tuned into an internet station with no news breaks. They need to be careful, coverage like this is damaging the good bits of the bbc.
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Matt Nicholas @mattnic.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
Oooh, and only 99p on Kobo! Will have to give this a read.
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Reposted by Matt Nicholas
General Boles @generalboles.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
If only we had a Culture Secretary to address this www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
European Athletics Championships: Criticism as thousands of empty seats in Birmingham
Nearly 10,000 seats were empty at Birmingham's Alexander Stadium on Monday.
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Matt Nicholas @mattnic.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
Yeah, I think the marketing for this must've gone wrong somewhere. I work in the centre of Brum one day a week (travelling in on the train) and had absolutely no idea this was happening until today. You think I'd have passed a billboard or something advertising it!
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Matt Nicholas @mattnic.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
(How did people cope with the trauma of half their village dying? Presumably shrugged and pretended everyone had simultaneously felt the same sudden, irresistible urge to go on a really long pilgrimage)
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Matt Nicholas @mattnic.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
Yup. As an archaeologist I can't help but look at the black death etc. in a very different way now
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Matt Nicholas @mattnic.bsky.social · 23/07/2026
This one? web.archive.org/web/20260703...
web.archive.org
speech-29-june — Andy Burnham
Official website of Andy Burnham
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Matt Nicholas @mattnic.bsky.social · 23/07/2026
Ooh, also just remebered: www.thetrentvalley.org.uk/projects/ttt... Am struggling to find the final report for that on the ADS, but if you search the grey lit archive for COSMIC+ (Conservation of Scheduled Monuments in Cultivation) you'll probably get similair interesting examples farily easily
thetrentvalley.org.uk
Transforming the Trent Valley
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Matt Nicholas @mattnic.bsky.social · 23/07/2026
Whilst I'm at it, this volume published last year might be of interest as includes examples of monitoring and conservation assessments undertaken in the 2000s in response to Countryside Stewardship applications: heritagelincolnshire.org/shop/buy/ebb...
heritagelincolnshire.org
EBB AND FLOW The Archaeology, Environment and History of the River Witham • Heritage Lincolnshire
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Matt Nicholas @mattnic.bsky.social · 23/07/2026
I'm not sure how active he is on here, but someone like @marshmanij.bsky.social might be able to point you in the right direction of some interesting examples
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Matt Nicholas @mattnic.bsky.social · 23/07/2026
Worth having a comb through the work Natural England has published over the years, e.g.: Effectiveness of historic environment options within the Countryside Stewardship scheme eu-cap-network.ec.europa.eu/publications...
eu-cap-network.ec.europa.eu
Effectiveness of historic environment options within the Countryside Stewardship scheme | EU CAP Network
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Matt Nicholas @mattnic.bsky.social · 22/07/2026
Must be lingering memories of the Great Heathen Army sailing up the Trent.
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Stephen Bush @stephenkb.bsky.social · 20/07/2026
I genuinely cannot understand how the Labour government has now had two, genuinely cultured prime ministers who both looked at Lisa Nandy’s record there and went “I’m pleased with this. I want this to continue.”
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Ollie Randall @ollie-randall.bsky.social · 18/07/2026
This morning I'm genuinely dismayed by Team Andy's contention that "the reason our country is in a mess and Labour's base hates the government is that we weren't drilling for oil enough, pensioners need tax cuts, and Mahmood wasn't given enough levers to stop immigration"
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Ben Goldacre @bengoldacre.bsky.social · 12/07/2026
SUVs are higher at the front and three times more likely to kill a child when they hit them. SUV drivers drag the child under their vehicle, and then they crush the child to death. It's incredible that SUVs don't have higher tax, and why not lower speed limits. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
theguardian.com
Britain’s cars and SUVs are growing bigger – but there is a way to stop this deadly ‘carspreading’ | Christian Wolmar
Larger vehicles crowd our roads and are far more dangerous to pedestrians. Let’s curb them before they do even more damage, says says transport commentator Christian Wolmar
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Matt Nicholas @mattnic.bsky.social · 11/07/2026
This one is a regular near my kid's nursery 🙄
A Royal Mail van parked on a pavement adjacent a pedestrian crossing
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Nick Covington @covingtonedu.bsky.social · 09/07/2026
Proclaiming an illiteracy crisis has become a cottage industry in its own right, and it's created a feedback loop of clickbait headlines that has, ironically, short-circuited our ability to critically examine the claims and construct a working definition of literacy itself.
YouTube video recommendation titled America's Literacy Crisis featuring a thumbnail of someone looking at their phone with the words CAN'T READ
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Matt Nicholas @mattnic.bsky.social · 05/07/2026
Tarot Sport is such a corker of an album
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Reposted by Matt Nicholas
Dr Tom Elliot @t-elliot.bsky.social · 04/07/2026
Week 1 over here at #ArthursStone, #Herefordshire, and we already have some exciting prospects on the stone circle showing up, as well as another large feature appearing on the other side of the avenue. @englishheritage.bsky.social
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Matt Nicholas @mattnic.bsky.social · 03/07/2026
I reckon they're all on Facebook rather than Bluesky, so I should be safe...
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Matt Nicholas @mattnic.bsky.social · 03/07/2026
My niche local government reorganisation wish is for Southwell to be formally incorporated as an exclave of Nottingham. Failing that, if the locals object too loudly, then cathedral status should be taken from the Minster and handed to St Mary's instead.
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Matt Nicholas @mattnic.bsky.social · 02/07/2026
Hopefully, some of DCMS' sponsored ALBs who've shamefully remained on X will now follow suit
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David Higham @oldtrotter.bsky.social · 02/07/2026
Further evidence that the Coalition was an immensely destructive force in so many areas.
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Matt Nicholas @mattnic.bsky.social · 30/06/2026
The Walker Art Gallery (near the station) is worth a visit. It has a brilliant collection of medieval and renaissance art, including the best surviving version of Holbein's Portrait of Henry VIII www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/collections/...
liverpoolmuseums.org.uk
Walker Art Gallery collections
The Walker Art Gallery is famous for the world-class quality and variety of its collections. From Rossetti to Hockney, there is a diverse range of art on display including contemporary art and work fr...
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Matt Nicholas @mattnic.bsky.social · 29/06/2026
But do they actually live in Nottingham, or are they really in West Bridgford, a suburb that has spent decades pretending it is not part of Nottingham (and, with the help of Ken Clarke, went out of its way to stop the tram coming anywhere near it)?
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Matt Nicholas @mattnic.bsky.social · 28/06/2026
Thanks to @samuelshoesmith.uk and all the wonderful marshalls for a brilliant day!
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Matt Nicholas @mattnic.bsky.social · 28/06/2026
The kid and I took advantage of the glorious weather to join in with Nottingham #KidicalMass this morning. What an absolutely joyous event. We'll definitely be doing this again!
Children on a Kidical Mass bike ride in Market Square, Nottingham.Children on a Kidical Mass bike ride taking back the streets beneath Nottingham Castle. The kids are sheltered by large trees, waiting at a junction to cross to a cycle path on the opposite side of the road.
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Alison Stenning @alisonstenning.bsky.social · 27/06/2026
North Tyneside Council spent a big Historic England grant on restoring Georgian Northumberland Square in North Shields - it looks good, but is often completely empty, so it was lovely to see of full of people today, playing, chatting, listening to music, and finding out about local community groups.
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Ian McMillan @imcmillan.bsky.social · 26/06/2026
BEATNIK ARCHEOLOGISTS ON A FIRST DATE I dig you I dig you too, you dig? I dig
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