Phil @philoates.bsky.social · 20/09/2026Picture this. It is September, 1856. Southport, Lancashire, Nathaniel Hawthorne is walking along the prom. “Yesterday, a man stark naked was seen dipping a lady. Oh, decorous English!” 130
Phil @philoates.bsky.social · 26/08/2026Thanks that was very helpful. Roger Eagle didn't have a complete downer on the Beatles. He hired out the club on August Bank Holiday weekend Sunday 28th/Monday29th for a Beatles Convention. 020
Phil @philoates.bsky.social · 22/08/2026My trip to Boston, the epicentre of US literature in the mid 19th century, inspired me to write a.poem There once was a lightship from Nantucket She was really a floating rust bucket I can't think of a rhyme For the next line So I'll have to stop here 130
Phil @philoates.bsky.social · 05/08/2026Voltaire (or possibly her sister, Vandyck) at Princes Landing Stage, 1930s 151
Phil @philoates.bsky.social · 29/05/2026Sitting on the porch playin' Townes van Zandt, Play guitar to burn off the hours Till we climb the fences at the edge of town And paint our names on the water tower Josh Ritter, Me & Jiggs 010
Phil @philoates.bsky.social · 08/05/2026The Reflecting Pool on Election Day 2024. Looks fine to me. 010
Phil @philoates.bsky.social · 04/04/2026In 1857 Manchester held its Arts Treasures Exhibition - the biggest in the world, then and now. It was so good that Nathaniel Hawthorne visited it over a dozen times. Read all about it Hawthorne’s Art Treasures, 1857 share.google/sYKPiMEl68DD... 041
Phil @philoates.bsky.social · 04/04/2026About 15 years ago Michael Weston King and I curated an album of TVZ covers to raise funds for the charity that I managed. It's very good! Today MWK's new album is released - give it a listen - it's also excellent open.spotify.com/track/3X8M2I... 110
Phil @philoates.bsky.social · 15/03/2026The owl in the crest represents wisdom. It is a sea owl with the lower part of the body represented as a fish, a traditional heraldic convention used to symbolise a maritime connection. (Wikipedia) 121
Phil @philoates.bsky.social · 18/02/2026I wasn't expecting this until March. Arrived this morning. Even if @pennykiley.bsky.social did call Dead Trout unlistenable, I'm looking forward to getting stuck in. 130
Phil @philoates.bsky.social · 15/01/2026Not as busy as in this totally realistic.sketch by Ackerman 1847 230
Phil @philoates.bsky.social · 12/01/2026Next Tuesday, 20th January, I'm doing a talk on Herman Melville and Nathaniel Hawthorne at the Adelphi, Liverpool. Tickets available from Liverpool History Society website. Or just turn up on the day. 252
Phil @philoates.bsky.social · 08/12/2025RMS Queen Mary in Southampton 4th March 1967 Photo by Alan Spedding 142
Phil @philoates.bsky.social · 08/12/2025Queen Mary, last trip from Southampton, March 1967. Photo by Alan Spedding 241
Phil @philoates.bsky.social · 29/10/2025Incidentally, Empress of Britain entered service in 1957, when Sam JM Brown was 80. 110
Phil @philoates.bsky.social · 29/10/2025What a treasure! Samuel John Milton Brown also worked in watercolours . . . 4102
Phil @philoates.bsky.social · 24/07/2025Andes pictured Berth 106, Southampton in the 1960s. She trade between Southampton and Rio. The luggage tug in the foreground is, I think, the Calshot, built in 1912 and is till around 141
Phil @philoates.bsky.social · 24/07/2025Jeff Young, @wildtwin.bsky.social, accepting the #AckerleyPrize last night. He knows how to combine the words. 172
Phil @philoates.bsky.social · 29/05/2025This one from the Washington Plaza appears to have been the same since the '70s 000
Phil @philoates.bsky.social · 14/05/2025Happy Dylan in Dublin Street Day, to all who celebrate. #maythefourteenthbewithyou 010
Phil @philoates.bsky.social · 07/05/2025In 1839 Herman Melville visited Liverpool. Afterwards he wrote a semi autobiographical novel called Redburn based on his visit. He returned to Liverpool in 1856 and met up with Nathaniel Hawthorne. You can read all about it here redburnsliverpool.blogspot.com 4117
Phil @philoates.bsky.social · 04/04/2025Yes, and to think a couple of hours ago he looked like this 110
Phil @philoates.bsky.social · 29/03/2025I've been messing with Meta AI. I asked it if Trump's assertion that there were Chinese ships all over Greenland's waterways was a lie. After a lot of to-ing and fro-ing, this was the response. 000
Phil @philoates.bsky.social · 21/03/2025You've got to admit, it's a thing of exquisite beauty (enlarge the pic for detail) 151
Phil @philoates.bsky.social · 07/02/2025Amelia Earhart, by Tony Day. Part of a series entitled Above Us Only Sky See alt next for more 121
Phil @philoates.bsky.social · 29/01/2025The sweet pretty things are in bed now of course The City Fathers are trying to endorse The reincarnation of Paul Revere's Horse But the town has no need to be nervous Tombstone Blues #BobDylan 010
Phil @philoates.bsky.social · 26/01/2025I, for one, am totally behind Trump's commitment to Free Speech. Now all those banned books can return to schools and libraries. 021
Phil @philoates.bsky.social · 18/12/2024There's another Lusitania prop outside the Liverpool Maritime Museum 021
