Robert Poole @robertjrp.bsky.social · 14hRussell Square is my favourite place because, I think, everyone has *chosen* to be here - is that true anywhere else? The wobbly paths impel a slight detour, rewarding in all seasons. It’s better still in light rain, from the shelter of the ever-glorious Cafe Tropea. Bring me here to die happy. 231
Robert Poole @robertjrp.bsky.social · 28/09/2026Fans of the 2026 Cloud House (on 'Grand Designs' last week) might appreciate the house in 'Mon Oncle', Jacques Tati's 1958 satire on modernist pretence (cultural advisory: JOKE). The link to the architects' website says 'there has been a critical error'. You can say that again. 020
Robert Poole @robertjrp.bsky.social · 23/09/2026A shelf of classic labour history at Manchester Central Library yesterday (albeit a little weighed down by Bolshevik ideology). Independent scholars need real books as e-book access at university libraries is barred to guest readers, while the British Library lost most of theirs in the hack. 011
Robert Poole @robertjrp.bsky.social · 22/09/2026The hush of anticipation: History section, Manchester University Library, ship-shape and awaiting students. Lets hope they keep coming. Good wishes for 2026-7 to all historian friends and colleagues - past, present, and future. 031
Robert Poole @robertjrp.bsky.social · 10/09/2026Thinking primates. The evolution gallery at the Musée des Confluences, Lyon, has a chimpanzee posing as Rodin's thinker. Meanwhile, at the Musée de l'Homme in Paris, homo sapiens is represented among the primates by the skull of Descartes. 000
Robert Poole @robertjrp.bsky.social · 05/09/2026One day you watch De Gaulle part 1 (recommended!), the next day this turns up in the street. It’s Liberation Day in Lyon (a couple of weeks after Paris) and this is a wartime vehicle, beautifully restored, with De Gaulle’s Free French symbol added in magnetic tape. 021
Robert Poole @robertjrp.bsky.social · 02/09/2026'How do you ask for asylum in this crazy world?' Old quarter, Lyon, today. More on the art of asking the right question from La Dactylo here: ladactylo.com 011
Robert Poole @robertjrp.bsky.social · 28/08/2026I never thought of Thunderbirds, Stingray etc from the 1960s as environmental, but there are a lot of big tech disasters, and this issue of TV21 was prophetic. The 54321Fab! exhibition about the magnificent Andersons is at Worcester Museum until 6 Sept. www.museumsworcestershire.org.uk 010
Robert Poole @robertjrp.bsky.social · 24/08/2026As Caligula's Complex rises on the ruins of the east wing, no-one can say we weren't warned: here's Doonesbury contemplating a Trump candidacy as long ago as 1987. 032
Robert Poole @robertjrp.bsky.social · 20/08/2026The Odyssey: viewing notes. 1. Uproar bearable with noise-cancelling headphones, but they don’t work for earthquakes (frequent). 2. IMAX 70mm is not widescreen but a 70mm square neckache: too many blurry close-ups. 3. Finale: superb tension, ending in a confused wild west brawl.static.klipy.comOdysseyALT: Odyssey 110
Robert Poole @robertjrp.bsky.social · 20/08/2026The Odyssey in 240 characters. ‘We are the sea peoples’ (the aliens are us). Helen was a pretext: ‘the war was about trade routes’. What’s gone wrong with the gods? ‘We have broken the sacred laws’ - our civilization will fall. When the dark ages are over, we will become a terrible myth.static.klipy.comTurning And Facing You AgamemnonALT: Turning And Facing You Agamemnon 132
Robert Poole @robertjrp.bsky.social · 17/08/2026'Lets all just be normal': seen recently on a converted warehouse in Copenhagen. I suppose you can take this either way, but personally I read it as an assertion of diversity. 'We are normal and we want our freedom' sang the Bonzos, avant-garde as ever. 051
Robert Poole @robertjrp.bsky.social · 10/08/2026The 2026 Peterloo event also commemorates the Tiananmen Square massacre. Sean Cooney will also be there, with a song from his excellent St Peter's Field musical drama. Gather at the Peterloo memorial behind the Midland Hotel, Manchester, from 12:30 for a 13:00 start on Sunday 16 August. 111
Robert Poole @robertjrp.bsky.social · 06/08/2026For Hiroshima day, two B29 Superfortresses: A. displayed at the National Air & Space Museum, Washington, 'Wingspan 43m, top speed 546 kmh, ordnance "Little Boy" atomic bomb', B. crashed 1948 in the English Peak District, still slightly radioactive from a flight near the first Bikini A-bomb test. 031
Robert Poole @robertjrp.bsky.social · 05/08/2026Farewell Livesey House, University of Lancashire (1970s ex-DSS).'If AI devastates universities the way deindustrialisation hollowed out shipbuilding, I wouldn't want to live next to my former workplace, giving guided tours of a now obsolete lifeform.' Susan Pedersen, LRB, 23 July 2026. 031
Robert Poole @robertjrp.bsky.social · 28/07/2026A rare victory for heritage over skyscrapers in Manc-hattan. This absurd pair of blocks, jacked up on slivers of land, would have dwarfed the historic Peterloo pub and blocked nearly all the light from its beer garden. Democracy: the Britons Protection! www.placenorthwest.co.uk/controversia...placenorthwest.co.ukControversial Manchester tower pulled - Place North WestThere has been radio silence on Arrowsmith Management’s plans for a 26-storey residential scheme next to the Britons Protection pub since they were lodged in 2022. Four years on, the proposal has been... 132
Robert Poole @robertjrp.bsky.social · 27/07/2026This is awful news, and not just for science. When Greenwich Observatory closed in 1998 the site and museum were retained, but how do you maintain a redundant radio telescope? We will lose a major visitor attraction and a huge regional landmark - surely not? www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...bbc.co.ukJodrell Bank's Lovell telescope faces axe in science cuts, BBC understandsAstronomers warn it would tear the heart out of UK science, and leave a generation untrained. 152
Reposted by Robert PooleRobert Poole @robertjrp.bsky.social · 27/07/2026Yes, very rare! A similar map published in the Manchester Observer (see p.66 of link below) added time-lapse images to document visually what happened. It's all in a single frame, but - is this the world's first comic strip? www.manchesterhive.com/view/journal... 122
Robert Poole @robertjrp.bsky.social · 26/07/2026A new Peterloo jug is news, because all known examples are printed over a leftover batch commemorating an admiral. This one is part of a new batch on a purpose-made jug, indicating sustained demand. On display soon at the People’s History Museum. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...bbc.co.ukPeople's History Museum to display rare Peterloo massacre jugThe jug commemorating the 1819 Peterloo massacre will be displayed at the People's History Museum. 320467
Robert Poole @robertjrp.bsky.social · 20/07/2026I hadn't noticed before, but at the centre of Joseph Wright's magnificent painting of the orrery are children gazing down upon the Earth. The splendid 'From the Shadows' exhibition has moved from London to Derby Museum, in much better conditions, and free. Derby's good too. derbymuseums.org 052
Robert Poole @robertjrp.bsky.social · 16/07/2026Heritage corner 1. Victoria Street in Edinburgh, claimed to be the model for Diagon Alley, is turning into a Harry Potter film set. Meanwhile Oxford University, where scenes were filmed, is morphing into Hogwarts as the souvenir shops cast Harry Potter as Oxford's most famous son. 000
Robert Poole @robertjrp.bsky.social · 10/07/2026Lunch with the heavy roller. Shh - don’t wake it up …. 130
Robert Poole @robertjrp.bsky.social · 10/07/2026Moving line-up of veteran players from 50+ years ago to inaugurate (at long last) the first women’s test match at Lord’s. ‘Lord’s is for everyone’ read the regular notices round the ground. It is now. 041
Robert Poole @robertjrp.bsky.social · 10/07/2026On the train to London I always look out for the Ovaltine factory, on the right just before Watford. It’s hard to photograph but one winter day the train slowed down … 030
Robert Poole @robertjrp.bsky.social · 08/07/2026Politics in trouble, British humour to the rescue. I am looking forward to this epic bye-election battle. 121
Reposted by Robert PooleCount Binface @countbinface.bsky.social · 07/07/2026On my way, Clacton. 579152893460
Robert Poole @robertjrp.bsky.social · 07/07/2026Neglecting routine maintenance can create problems in the longer term. On the other hand, good to see Trafford edging ahead of Cambridge in biotechnology... 031
Robert Poole @robertjrp.bsky.social · 06/07/2026Spaceballs? Mel Brooks should be alive now! Hang on …. Mel Brooks IS alive now …. Of all the techno-prophets of the 20th century, it turns out to be the comedian who was closest to the truth. www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...theguardian.comLikely origin of mysterious ‘space balls’ found on Queensland beaches revealed by Australian Space AgencyOrganisation says objects consistent with ‘debris from a foreign rocket body that recently re-entered the atmosphere’ 011
Robert Poole @robertjrp.bsky.social · 30/06/2026As Royal Mail progresses towards oblivion, could Andy Burnham please consider a leveraged takeover by the wonderful Trafford Guerilla Crochet Popular Front? 001
Robert Poole @robertjrp.bsky.social · 27/06/2026... down among the barley, a pair of skylarks is singing. 011
Robert Poole @robertjrp.bsky.social · 23/06/2026Constitutional changes usually require supermajorities, but Brexit squeaked through 51-49 during a brief window when the opinion polls crossed. In France the anniversary is marked by this new graphic novel, 'Thatcher: la Sorcière qui a changé le Monde'. 111
Robert Poole @robertjrp.bsky.social · 22/06/2026Burnham at the (Finland) Euston station 👍 The big question: can he fix the ugliest railway gateway to any European city? Tory governments demolished the Euston arch, wielded the Beeching axe, and trashed the remaining neighbourhood for HS2. The north needs a better gateway! 011
Robert Poole @robertjrp.bsky.social · 22/06/2026'Beneath the paving stones, the beach' was a slogan of May 1968 in Paris. In June 2026 the Pont Neuf is wrapped to look like limestone: 'beneath the buildings, the quarry'. The 'society of the spectacle' has arrived. Armed police at the exit complete the spirit of '68. 011
Robert Poole @robertjrp.bsky.social · 17/06/2026How much is Elon Musk worth? Answer: nothing. Elon Musk is a net liability to planet Earth. 051
Robert Poole @robertjrp.bsky.social · 10/06/2026Are you a cyborg? Find out by using this questionnaire, given by the NHS in Manchester to people about to have an MRI scan. 000
Robert Poole @robertjrp.bsky.social · 09/06/2026Adieu and homage to Marjane Satrapi of ‘Persepolis’ fame, graphic novelist and Iranian feminist, died (understandably) of a broken heart. But what a life! I hope she features in this canon: www.kickstarter.com/projects/tom...kickstarter.comLOOSE CANNONS: a history of freethinking humanist rebels!A vivid, illustrated biographical romp through the lives & ideas of freethinking humanist icons who shook the world by Polyp & Goodall 110
Robert Poole @robertjrp.bsky.social · 03/06/2026This statue of Stockport’s Cockleshell Hero is my kind of history: it’s done in public, neatly captures the essentials, and appears like magic, but on inspection it's firmly anchored in text and footnotes. And it's relevant: Ukraine’s smart citizen heroes are today combatting oppression at sea. 101
Robert Poole @robertjrp.bsky.social · 29/05/2026That video of Newtonian mechanics is the perfect answer to anyone who thinks that simple laws and principles can't explain complex effects. 000
Reposted by Robert PoolePeter Coles 🏳️🌈 🏳️⚧️ 🇮🇪 @telescoper.bsky.social · 29/05/2026As you can see, Newtonian Mechanics is very simple... 71836172
Robert Poole @robertjrp.bsky.social · 29/05/2026Wandered in bank holiday heat round the rich ruins of Buildwas Abbey. They have lasted 800 years longer than the cooling towers of the nearby power station, sadly demolished in 2019. At the time, someone asked: 'How will they keep Telford cool now?' He had a point. www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-e...bbc.co.ukPower station's four cooling towers demolishedHundreds of people gather to watch as a former power station's cooling towers are brought down. 010
Robert Poole @robertjrp.bsky.social · 26/05/2026Not a Dutch still life, but still... A laundry bag, deftly placed by the lovely cleaner at the Gaskell Arms, Much Wenlock, on Spring Bank Holiday morning. Welcome to a beautiful world, baby Mochi. 120
Robert Poole @robertjrp.bsky.social · 21/05/2026History departments also go off pop, but not unnoticed. Hertfordshire, top in the UK for research impact in 2014, closed in 2026. Who was responsible: A. The great people who work there, or B. the entities who pushed half of them out? Discuss ... c.org/WsstTdKmmNc.orgSign the PetitionSave the Humanities at the University of Hertfordshire 011
Robert Poole @robertjrp.bsky.social · 19/05/2026‘It is a solemn thought that after the expenditure of so many years to evolve technological communities may be going off pop in different parts of the galaxy, without ever knowing their neighbours, at the rate of one or two a year.’ Ronald Bracewell 1962. Ooh look... 000
Reposted by Robert PooleAstropierre @astropierre.com · 19/05/2026Il y a 40 millions d'années, une étoile massive a explosé dans la galaxie NGC 5907, dans un énorme déferlement d'énergie. Pendant 40 millions d'années, la lumière de cette explosion a traversé l'univers, pour arriver sur Terre... la semaine dernière. #supernova www.star.ucl.ac.uk/~apod/apod/a... 916943
Robert Poole @robertjrp.bsky.social · 17/05/2026The Sphinx of Calderdale, with thanks to the wonderful MADwalkers. Is there anything better than lunch with new friends, sheltering from the rain under a rock with a panoramic view before? 130
Robert Poole @robertjrp.bsky.social · 14/05/2026To be honest, I never found Eric Morecambe that funny - more like a cheesy uncle with too many catch phrases. But here he is listening to the fireworks in Morecambe in August 1998. 110
Robert Poole @robertjrp.bsky.social · 11/05/2026Happy Mondays, Manchester style (Ancoats, early 2026). 111
Robert Poole @robertjrp.bsky.social · 08/05/2026Coffee time at the Natural History Museum, where quiet corners can still be found. When I was small David Attenborough would turn up on black & white children's TV, handling small creatures and telling tales of dragons. One day he may face Darwin across the great hall, as trays float on floodwater. 110