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Sarah Jane Butler

@sarahjanebutler.bsky.social
1.3K followers 1K following 189 posts

Reclaiming rivers for all of us. Next book, River Time, due soon. River campaigner, story gatherer, wanderer and swimmer My novel, Starling, published by @Fairlightbooks she/her; pwME linktr.ee/sarahjanebutler

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Reposted by Sarah Jane Butler
UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (UKCEH) @ukceh.bsky.social · 17/07/2026
Looking back at last year's drought, spring and summer 2025 combined saw less than 40% of 1991–2020 average rainfall in the driest areas. The total flow of rivers in England in Mar-Aug 2025 was the 2nd lowest since 1961, lower than several summer droughts except 1976. 🔗 tinyurl.com/yhhsymy8 2/
Bar chart showing Mean outflows from England for the six-month period March to August from 1961 to 2025 in m3/s. The y-axis is on a logarithmic scale to emphasize the lower outflows.
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Juliet Wilson (Crafty Green Poet) @craftygreenpoet.bsky.social · 05/07/2026
Not content with cancelling Autumnwatch a few years ago, the BBC now want to get rid of Winterwatch! Don't let them do it! Please sign the petition! you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/pr...
you.38degrees.org.uk
Tell the BBC: Save Winterwatch!
The UK is losing its wildlife, and shows like Winterwatch are vital for connecting us to nature. The BBC's decision to cancel it makes no sense. Let's ask them to rethink this! Add your name here:
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Sarah Jane Butler @sarahjanebutler.bsky.social · 05/07/2026
So many stories about our rivers are grim (I’m as guilty as anyone) but this day with ceramic artist Laurie Jeanne was magical. Her work involves bringing clay, river and artist together to make an unpote - this, a vessel for the pilgrims of Friends of the River Medway to carry later this month
A finger pointing at a sphere of clay in which are faint scrape marks
A hand holding a flattened sphere of clay with a large dent - in the background a riverA small river - silty in colour - seen through grasses with trees behind
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WATERSHED Investigations @watershed-i.bsky.social · 30/06/2026
England is predicted to have a 5bn litre a day shortfall of water supply within the next 3 decades. Currently, we're losing 3bn litres a day in leaks - fixing that would take us a long way toward water security. 🧵
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Deborah @deborahzafer.bsky.social · 21/06/2026
Midsummer, Louise Glück www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazi...
poetryfoundation.org
Midsummer
On nights like this we used to swim in the quarry, the boys making up games requiring them to tear off the girls’ clothes and the girls cooperating,…
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Carole Cadwalladr @carolecadwalla.bsky.social · 15/06/2026
This morning scrolling Bluesky, there is nothing at all in my feed about Putin’s barbaric attack on the Ukraine’s holiest site, the UNESCO protected Lavra so I’m posting this here.
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Sarah Jane Butler @sarahjanebutler.bsky.social · 08/06/2026
I just love to watch the Beautiful Demoiselle dragonflies partying on down around my local stream - total gorgeousness, and a sign of another year’s life to come
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Susan E Barsby @susanebarsby.bsky.social · 26/05/2026
Standing in Kent right now. My 76-year old mother's house has no running water but you get your priorities straight, eh? It's not like it's hot here at all.
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Lorna @florilegia.bsky.social · 21/05/2026
This is an utterly, pointlessly cruel policy and cis folks need to do whatever we can stand up against it. Solidarity with our trans and NB siblings 🏳️‍⚧️ 🏳️‍🌈
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Sarah Jane Butler @sarahjanebutler.bsky.social · 21/05/2026
Fairlight published my first novel - and they’re totally lovely. Not only that, they love to hear from unagented authors of literary fiction (and it doesn’t have to be super high lit, whatever that is)
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Sarah Jane Butler @sarahjanebutler.bsky.social · 21/05/2026
I’ve been away for a while, writing a book about rivers and people through time, and how we’ve lost and can regain our vital connections to rivers. It took six years so this is me recovering for a week in France by the Cernon. It was cold! And glorious! And clean!
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chloelewis.bsky.social @chloelewis.bsky.social · 17/05/2026
Charity collecting donations for refugee charities for every metre walked by Yaxley-Lennon + his thugs yesterday has already raised £149,000 + rising. Link to donate in article: www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news...
mirror.co.uk
Tommy Robinson march to raise money for refugees - without far right knowing
Around 4,000 police will take a 'zero-tolerance approach' during anti-Islam activist Tommy Robinson's hate-filled march, but the rally has already raised over £100,000 for refugees
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Buckinghamshire Archives @bucksarchives.bsky.social · 02/04/2026
Some relationship advice from this early 20th century postcard: Don't keep telling her about how much you love tomatoes dude she's clearly over it.
An early 20th century postcard depicting a man walking after a woman in a forest who is giving him some terrible side-eye. He has his arms outstretched pleadingly towards her. A sliced tomato is above him in circle. The text at the bottom of the image reads  'The Language of Vegetables / Tomatoes / An Acquired Taste. Wait! Love will come.'
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Nina Willburger @drnwillburger.bsky.social · 01/04/2026
WOW, I just hit 19k followers! When I joined Bluesky in July 2023, I never imagined things would take off like this. The exodus from X was clearly waiting to happen, I’m so glad it did. It’s great to see such a large community of archaeology enthusiasts here! Thank you all! This figurine...🧵1/2 📷me
Amber figurine of a bear on a small metal stand, viewed from the side, with warm orange translucent tones and a softly blurred indoor background.
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Sheaf Poetry @sheafpoetry.bsky.social · 25/03/2026
"Sheaf is the river that flows through the side of Sheffield where I live; it’s brimming with wildlife, herons and kingfishers and dippers. It’s also gathered wheat, or gathered paper..." 'The Story of Sheaf' by @suzannahevans.bsky.social suzannahevans.substack.com/p/the-story-...
suzannahevans.substack.com
The Story of Sheaf
the life and death and then a bit of life and then death and then maybe life idk of a poetry festival
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Justsmudge @justsmudge.bsky.social · 25/03/2026
🌿☕ Celandine (the yellow ones) are mentioned in C. S. Lewis’ The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe. When Aslan returns, the woodland turns from winter to spring, the ground covered in all directions with 💛 celandine flowers 📸 Taken on a walk around Battledown, Cheltenham. No lions were however seen..🌿
Pink/purple cyclamen in foreground with bright yellow celandines along a road verge in the spring sunshine.
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Gaia Vince @wanderinggaia.bsky.social · 24/03/2026
Good to see this no-brainer policy finally. Imagine if it happened a decade ago…
bbc.co.uk
Heat pumps for all new homes and plug-in solar in green tech drive
Solar panels that can be plugged in at home could be available to buy in supermarkets in the coming months.
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BladeoftheSun @bladeofthes.bsky.social · 20/03/2026
The Green Party doesn't believe pensioners holding signs are terrorists. Nor does about 80% of the UK. The Telegraph try to portray this as being 'soft on terrorists'. No it is just not being a terrorist.
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Sarah Jane Butler @sarahjanebutler.bsky.social · 21/03/2026
A UK state school is banning books in its library based on ignorance and AI. Totally appalling and - it seems - allowed??? www.indexoncensorship.org/2026/03/scho...
indexoncensorship.org
School book banning escalates in the UK as Greater Manchester secondary school censors scores of books - Index on Censorship
A school librarian faced a disciplinary hearing and scores of books were removed from her school library after she stocked Laura Bates’ Men Who Hate Women
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Brian Groom @groomb.bsky.social · 20/03/2026
Early Morning Shift, 1959, painting by Tom McGuinness, 1926-2006, County Durham coal miner and artist (Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art).
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Peter McSweeney @petermcsweeney.bsky.social · 15/03/2026
As its not on today's theme, I'm going early with #bsbi #wildflowerhour. These are completely native daffs in a small reserve in Gloucestershire in the golden triangle, which was stunning yesterday. One person seeing this was nearly in tears...
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Zack Polanski @zackpolanski.bsky.social · 05/03/2026
Dear Shabana, Let's clear some things up around migration and remember we're talking about people's lives.
Dear Shabana,
I notice today that you referred to me in your speech on immigration at the IPPR think tank.
You said: “A party leader should not be on the beaches of France encouraging people to
make a perilous crossing on small boats.”
I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised especially after the hateful Labour campaign in Gorton
and Denton, but this is just the latest in a string of lies peddled by a discredited Government
who intentionally fan the flames of racism and division.
When I went to Calais, I was not there to encourage people to travel to the UK. I was there
to see at first hand the suffering your Government and successive Governments have done
in demonising migrants in a pathetic bid to pander to the base instincts of Reform and the
flawed strategy of Morgan McSweeney.
As you will know, if you even bothered to research my visit instead of taking Reform talking
points, I was there to witness the brutality of families living in tents in freezing temperatures. I
filled water tanks and picked up litter.
What that visit did do is confirm my belief that if we are to smash the boat gangs and stop
the boats, we need to offer safer and managed routes for migrants to come to this country.
Showing compassion as a politician is not a crime. In fact, we need to see much more of it.
It reminded me of a young MP who in October 2015 spent three days in Lesbos helping
migrants fleeing war-torn Syria. She posted videos on X, talked about handing out water and
croissants to refugees and food parcels.
When she returned to the UK, she wrote a very moving piece in the New Statesman. She
said “we have to work with our European partners and create new, safe, and legal routes for
refugees to get to Europe. We cannot abandon them to their fate, left as prey for smugglers
whilst risking death on the seas.”
She said “maybe we can make ourselves feel better by saying no-one is making them get on
the boats. And again, the Home Secretary is not entirely wrong when …
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Briony Neilson @brionyneilson.bsky.social · 04/03/2026
TIL that hair shaved from the heads of convict women incarcerated at the Parramatta Female Factory in the 19th century was used as a binding agent in the mortar in the building's stonework. Convicts often had to build their own prisons, but the corporeal aspect of this is particularly poignant.
colour photograph of a sandstone building with lawns in front and a low sign reading 'Parramatta Female Factory' in the foreground
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Taylor Lorenz @taylorlorenz.bsky.social · 03/03/2026
1908: the Lancet, one of the most respected scientific journals, calls for 18 age limit on reading in bed amidst a moral panic surrounding children becoming "addicted" to novels, which were "designed to keep kids hooked" and destroy their attention/mental health
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Sarah Jane Butler @sarahjanebutler.bsky.social · 01/03/2026
I’m going to be looking out for a shoe shop that sells cheese now (department stores don’t count - you have to pass the awful makeup counters) but this is great wisdom from Naomi’s therapist
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Sarah Jane Butler @sarahjanebutler.bsky.social · 21/02/2026
Pepys clambers over fences to escape arrest - never a dull day for Sam!
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MꙬse Allain @mooseallain.bsky.social · 12/08/2023
Aw, how lovely! A rare sighting of a telegraph pole with its young.
Photo of small rounded wooden poles poking out above a wall, next to a telegraph pole.
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Emily Brand @emilybrand.bsky.social · 12/12/2024
A brief escape to the 17th century, where one writer is giving his suggestions for heartfelt inscriptions on poesy rings to a lover Truly a lost golden age of roman-... oh wait no never mind #17c
Book page showing suggested ring inscriptions, including ‘Île ring thy thumb, then clap thy bum’
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Alison Fisk @alisonfisk.bsky.social · 03/02/2026
Artists have always loved to sketch! Sketch of a sparrow from Egypt dated c. 1479–1458 BC. Some 3,500 years ago in Egypt, artists used flakes of limestone as sketchpads! MMA excavations 1922-23, Deir el-Bahri. 📷 The Met www.metmuseum.org/art/collecti... #Archaeology
Met Museum photo of an Ancient Egyptian artist’s painting of a swallow on a flake of limestone, dated to the New Kingdom, Dynasty 18, joint reign of Hatshepsut and Thutmose III, c. 1479-1458 BC. 

The sparrow stands in profile with head to the right. It is delicately painted with a pinkish body. The outline and details are highlighted in a reddish/brown pigment. Its legs, eye, and beak are painted black. Limestone flake dimensions Height 6.6 cm x Width 10.6 cm.

This may have been a practice drawing of the sparrow hieroglyph which was used for words meaning ‘small’, ‘poor’, or ‘bad’.

Egyptian artisans who decorated tombs and temples made practice sketches on flakes of limestone which are known by egyptologists as ostraca (singular: ostracon). Sometimes the drawings were used as a template when transferring an image to the wall of a tomb or a temple. Limestone flakes were readily available for this purpose as by-products of the construction of temples and rock-cut tombs. A number of ostraca were recovered at Deir el-Bahri during the 1922-23 MMA excavations.
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Abdohassan @abdohassan.bsky.social · 30/01/2026
Hannah is the Green Party candidate for Gorton and Denton. She is also a plumber and dog rescuer🐕💪
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Steve Chambers @planningtransport.co.uk · 30/01/2026
1903: Don't build a fire station! It will arouse desire for a library.
Hornchurch Local Government.
The ratepayers of Hornchurch have rejected the resolution of the Parieh Council to build a new fire station and Council offices, at a cost of about £1,500. The opinion was expressed that a lavish ontlay would arouse a desire for a public library and a swimming bath. The idea of having public buildings seemed to meet with very little farour. A small outlay, it was considered, would put the fire station into good repair; and the village schoolroom was thought to be sufficiently conveient for the • Parish Council deliberations.
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Kiera Chapman @kierachapman.bsky.social · 27/01/2026
First up - let me tell you about this event tomorrow night with @thelrm.bsky.social I'm like the Ancient Mariner about this book - grasping people by the arm, and telling them with a glittering, paranoid, neurotic eye that THEY MUST READ IT!
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Journal of Applied Ecology @jappliedecology.bsky.social · 22/01/2026
🔎 High-resolution multi-sensor technology reveals low collision risk to seabirds in offshore wind farms These results highlight the need to revise collision risk assessments by applying high meso-avoidance rates and very high micro-avoidance rates for seabirds🕊️ 🌍 Read more:https://buff.ly/VmQ7gGC
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ℳatt @matttomic.bsky.social · 20/01/2026
Italian voice actor Carlo Bononi was the voice of all of the characters on Pingu. A trained clown by trade, he used a theater technique called grammelot, which consists of "speaking" in a mix of babbled gibberish noises. He improvised all the voices live and unscripted.
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Lorraine Wilson @rainewilson.bsky.social · 21/01/2026
I am braving the horrors of rail replacement buses to get to this, so please come 😆
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chloelewis.bsky.social @chloelewis.bsky.social · 20/01/2026
It's St Agnes Eve - traditionally the coldest night of the year. Here's to warmth + hope to come, & the promise that ice will melt.
Painting of Saint Agnes with a lamb and small child, by Domenichino.
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Sarah Jane Butler @sarahjanebutler.bsky.social · 20/01/2026
Excellent discussion of native vs non-native garden plants for wildlife from @katebradbury.bsky.social open.substack.com/pub/katebrad...
open.substack.com
Should we grow native or non-native plants for wildlife?
Hello :)
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Kit Whitfield - fantasy writer @kitwhitfield.bsky.social · 17/01/2026
Had an intriguing editorial discussion recently: how did people in the past talk about 'minutes' when they didn't have watches or standardised times? How does that affect your thinking? Come down an Elizabethan/Jacobean rabbit hole with me. 1/
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RSPB @rspb.bsky.social · 15/01/2026
Not long to go… have you signed up for the #BigGardenBirdwatch yet? 👀 www.rspb.org.uk/whats-happen... 👈
Two plump Woodpigeons sit close together on a wooden fence, one leaning towards the other in a gentle, reassuring pose. Above them is the caption:
“You look lovely dear, stop fretting. No, I’m sure they won’t write ‘feral pigeon’ this year.”
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WATERSHED Investigations @watershed-i.bsky.social · 14/01/2026
If fracking were to be permitted in the UK, as proposed by Reform, some of the country's most exquisite countryside would be impacted, as shown in the British Geological Survey diagram below: share.google/4iPmjendxnR7...
Map of areas with potential for fracking exploration, UK, British Geological Survey
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NPR @npr.org · 13/01/2026
The White House says the Smithsonian Institution must submit materials about current and upcoming exhibitions and events for a review that will determine whether they express "improper ideology." n.pr/4583d8f
n.pr
Today is the Smithsonian's deadline to give thousands of documents to the White House
The White House says the Smithsonian Institution must submit materials about current and upcoming exhibitions and events for a review that will determine whether they express "improper ideology."
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Dr Susan Greaney @suegreaney.bsky.social · 10/01/2026
Watery pleeps
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Rónán Hession @ronanhession.bsky.social · 08/01/2026
Interview with Paul from the Chuckle Brothers in the Guardian asks if he'd ever like to do Shakespeare. He says, "To me, or not to me, that is the question."
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Natalie Haynes @nataliehaynes.bsky.social · 05/01/2026
🚨 BE IN THE AUDIENCE for Natalie Haynes Stands Up for the Classics S12! Ticket application is NOW OPEN for our February 4th recording. Good luck, everyone! www.bbc.co.uk/showsandtour...
bbc.co.uk
Natalie Haynes Stands Up for the Classics | Shows and tours
Join Natalie Haynes for an evening of comedy and the classics.'Rockstar mythologist' Natalie Haynes is the best-selling author of Divine Might, Stone Blind, and A Thousand Ships as well as a reformed ...
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Social Media Lab @socialmedialab.ca · 13/12/2025
"‘It’s surreal’: US sanctions lock Intl Criminal Court judge out of daily life. Canadian judge Kimberly Prost is unable to use credit cards or access everyday services (Uber, Alexa, Ticketmaster...) in what she calls an attack on the independence of the judiciary." www.irishtimes.com/world/us/202...
irishtimes.com
‘It’s surreal’: US sanctions lock International Criminal Court judge out of daily life
Canadian judge Kimberly Prost is unable to use credit cards, transfer money or book everyday services in what she calls an attack on the independence of the judiciary
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Caught by the River @caughtbytheriver.bsky.social · 03/01/2026
‘The potato’s imprint became a waxing moon, a row of beans, a set of scans, the inside of a skull. One single potato which held so much.’ In 2025, for Annie Lord, love and grief took the shape of wreaths, potato prints and frost flowers www.caughtbytheriver.net/2026/01/shad...
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Sarah Jane Butler @sarahjanebutler.bsky.social · 02/01/2026
Writers, send me all your energies - I’m diving into my huge draft and have two months to turn it into the finished book I’ve been planning for five years. Lucky I love editing!
Confession time. I meant to be editing this messy draft a month ago. Two months, ideally. But every time I tried to set my notebooks aside I found gems I really didn’t want to lose. And I needed to find out what I knew, and what I thought about the ways people have lived with rivers throughout human time. To do that I needed to write it down - writing is how I think best. But now I have to shape, polish and cut because the draft’s far too long. But that’s ok. Next week, I start editing. I’ll read, strike out, make brutal edits, find the joy and the stories I’ve found myself pressing on family, friends, fellow river enthusiasts, and total strangers over the last five years, and the book I have wanted to write for so long. Wish me luck! 
Image: a manuscript, a pen, post-it notes and a brown leather weight. Written on the top page: word count 161,700, and target 300 pages.
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Sarah Jane Butler @sarahjanebutler.bsky.social · 01/01/2026
A quiet happy new year to all from my favourite hill, looking out over the Sussex High Weald last night. In moonlight so bright we needed no torches, we found a perfect waiting moment for the turn of the year. I wish you all stillness and peace this mid winter.
Leafless oak tree silhouetted against clear night sky and starsExtremely faint face of woman in glasses in darknessMoon-shadows of tree branches on a leaf-strewn path late at night
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Sarah Jane Butler @sarahjanebutler.bsky.social · 01/01/2026
Oh yes please to long, quiet, serious documentaries where we’re allowed time to absorb complex and surprising things without some bouncy narrator leaping from rock to rock and emoting about how amazing This Fact is for a second before rushing off
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