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Stephen Lowe Watson

@stephenlowewatson.bsky.social
881 followers 591 following 1.5K posts

Ex-NHS IT guy. Wildlife, trees, Sussex downs, climate. Environmental fantasy novel: 'Root Rage'. I amuse myself by twiddling on a concertina. Born at 316ppm

PostsRepliesMedia
Stephen Lowe Watson @stephenlowewatson.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
For #WorldRiversDay, a music video by my late brother Andrew (1958 - 2021): A journey through history along the Thames, in three parts. 1/3 youtu.be/4RlPnLpEQqA
youtu.be
Thames Part One - Source to Eton
YouTube video by Andrew Lowe-Watson
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Stephen Lowe Watson @stephenlowewatson.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
"Our models took actions we did not intend" could be an epitaph. Ideally the epitaph of the AI industry, not of humanity.
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Stephen Lowe Watson @stephenlowewatson.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
We're ever so proud of our Wilfrid
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Stephen Lowe Watson @stephenlowewatson.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
Anger and grief at suspected arboricide unites Korean community."It was the only tree in the neighbourhood that belongs to everyone ... the campaign to keep it alive has brought the people of Buam-dong closer together." www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
When a beloved tree began withering away, locals suspected a killer in their midst
A neighbourhood’s fight to save a cherished ginkgo pits them against an unlikely foe.
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Stephen Lowe Watson @stephenlowewatson.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Ivy flowers are opening and it's literally buzzing with bees - ivy bees and honey bees, I think
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Reposted by Stephen Lowe Watson
Lewes Urban Arboretum @lewesarboretum.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
Following the good news that the Rights of our Trees motion was approved by Lewes Town Council last night, here is a celebratory decorated version of the Tree Charter for Lewes. It was designed by the talented Lynda Durrant, fullcircle-design.co.uk
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Andrew Knights @andrewknights.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
One of two pairs of Willow Emerald Damselflies in the garden this afternoon. Six individuals seen at once. Sawston, Cambs. @britishdragonflies.bsky.social
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Stephen Lowe Watson @stephenlowewatson.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
I suspect these replacements for the old-style formal bedding on Eastbourne sea front will be great for birds, as well as being low maintenance and sustainable. I like it! www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
Eastbourne residents in favour of keeping new sustainable flowerbeds
Nearly 70% of those surveyed preferred the more eco-friendly look of Eastbourne's Carpet Gardens.
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Stephen Lowe Watson @stephenlowewatson.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
Today's #BirdOfTheDay theme from @helenbennett.bsky.social is #BirdsInAbstract A collared dove perches at the centre of our local web
Silhouetted dove perched on one of many wires radiating out from a pole, against a banded blue-grey sky
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Melanie Mitchell @melaniemitchell.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
Hey @ericlipton.nytimes.com 👋 AI is not “evolving” on its own. *People* are choosing how to build it. *People* are choosing how to train it. *People* are choosing how to run it. Maybe the problem is that they are the *wrong people* to make these choices.
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Stephen Lowe Watson @stephenlowewatson.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
Large scale rewilding in Northumbria sounds an interesting project, but surprised to hear about it from a Google link to the Times of India. share.google/vfPfBJmpXYFJ...
share.google
A company bought 7,500 acres of England for £8.5 million to create ‘Britain’s Yellowstone’; after investors are repaid, it plans to give the land to a community or charity
A nature restoration company has bought 7,500 acres of Northumbrian moorland for £8.5 million, starting a large rewilding project that aims to eventually hand the land to a charity or local community ...
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George Monbiot @georgemonbiot.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
I didn't mean to turn this into a thread, but the issue has got me properly triggered (again). Read on for how this approach has been embedded in every aspect of government, who has driven the process and how it works.
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Simon Knott @simonknott.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
The war poet Siegfried Sassoon died #OTD 1967. His poem 'At The Cenotaph' begins: 'I saw the Prince of Darkness, with his staff, Standing bare-headed by the Cenotaph...' You can read the full poem in the alt text to the photo, which is of the War memorial at Polstead, Suffolk.
'I saw the Prince of Darkness, with his staff,
Standing bare-headed by the Cenotaph:
Unostentatious and respectful, there
He stood, and offered up the following prayer.

'Make them forget, O Lord, what this Memorial
Means; their discredited ideas revive;
Breed new belief that War is purgatorial
Proof of the pride and power of being alive;

Men's biologic urge to readjust
The Map of Europe, Lord of Hosts, increase;
Lift up their hearts in large destructive lust;
And crown their heads with blind vindictive Peace.'

The Prince of Darkness to the Cenotaph
Bowed. As he walked away I heard him laugh. '

(Siegfried Sassoon, 'At The Cenotaph')
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Stephen Lowe Watson @stephenlowewatson.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
Our garden sparrows have been having quite a party, gorging on pyracantha berries #BirdsUpClose #BirdOfTheDay #Birds
A small brown bird (female house sparrow) on top of a branch with green leaves and bright orange berries. She has a berry in her bill.Small bird with grey, black and chestnut plumage (male house sparrow) surrounded by green leaves and bright orange pyracantha berriesTwo small fluffy brown birds (immature house sparrows) on top of a pyracantha bush covered with orange berries
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Stephen Lowe Watson @stephenlowewatson.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
South Downs sunrise
Sunrise over a
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Stephen Lowe Watson @stephenlowewatson.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
A couple of shots of this morning's partial lunar eclipse, just before dawn
Partially eclipsed moon, rusty brown with a bright strip top left.Partially eclipsed moon setting over wooded landscape in a deep grey-blue dawn sky. Only the sunlit portion is visible, giving the appearance of an upside-down crescent moon
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Dr. Genevieve Guenther (she/they) @doctorvive.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
In honor of the death of eternal legend Dolly Parton, here’s her 2023 #ClimateChange anthem “World on Fire.” “Liar, liar, the world’s on fire / What’cha gonna do when it all burns down … Still got time to turn it all around.” 😭💚🙏 m.youtube.com/watch?v=0QJX...
m.youtube.com
Dolly Parton - World On Fire (From The 58th ACM Awards)
YouTube video by DollyPartonVEVO
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Stephen Lowe Watson @stephenlowewatson.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
Weirdly, @bsky.app this morning showed 30+ notifications on the bell, but there were none.
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Stephen Lowe Watson @stephenlowewatson.bsky.social · 15/08/2026
A song for navy sailors longing to get home, on the Abraham Lincoln or any other ship. @thelongestjohns.bsky.social sing Cyril Tawney's Grey Funnel Line youtu.be/P7TuLmyWA5k?...
youtu.be
The Grey Funnel Line
YouTube video by The Longest Johns - Topic
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Stephen Lowe Watson @stephenlowewatson.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
Introduce yourself as what almost killed you. It's 2nd Jan 1976. I'm the wood & asbestos roof of a piggery blowing in a hurricane force gale across a field towards a road. I strike a family car side on, smash the windscreen, dent the doors but manage to miss coming in through the side windows.
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Stephen Lowe Watson @stephenlowewatson.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
A comparison of binoculars versus a cullender for partial eclipse viewing.
Two U shaped crescents form a double image of the sun at partial eclipse maximum. The hourglass is an artifact caused by the light passing between the binocular tubes.Multiple U shaped crescents formed by light passing through a cullender on to a white card at partial solar eclipse maximum.
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Stephen Lowe Watson @stephenlowewatson.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
Lewes Castle photographed during this evening's partial solar eclipse. You can just about see the people eclipse-watching at the top of Mount Caburn behind it. #Sussex #SouthDowns
A rounded hill (Mount Caburn), mostly parched yellow-brown due to the drought; a white cliff at its foot, and in front the flint keep of Lewes Castle, on a mound surrounded by trees. A row of white houses at bottom right. Figures can be seen on the Iron Age hillfort at the hill.
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Stephen Lowe Watson @stephenlowewatson.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
A little mist drapes the Ashdown Forest ridges in the Sussex Weald at dawn
Yellow and orange sky over misty wooded hills, dim fields in the foreground
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Stephen Lowe Watson @stephenlowewatson.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
The old moon rose before sunrise this morning. Taken from the parched South Downs above Lewes looking towards Ashdown Forest. A late bat was still flitting around.
A thin crescent moon in a deep blue sky shading below through greens, yellows and orange over a dark landscape.  The moon's Earth-lit disc is barely visible (the new moon in the arms of the old)
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Stephen Lowe Watson @stephenlowewatson.bsky.social · 02/08/2026
Rhapsody in Blue: a Holly Blue butterfly feeding on borage. The bees kept buzzing it away but it persisted. We watched it land on top of the flower and then climb round to the underneath to get the nectar. Photos: Zoë Watson @savebutterflies.bsky.social @sussexwildlife.bsky.social
Butterfly, pale silvery blue underwings with black spots resting on the back of a downward facing hairy blue borage flower.Butterfly, pale silvery blue underwings with black spots clinging to the underside of a downward facing blue borage flower, with its proboscis inserted into centre of the flower. Light shining through the translucent petals makes them appear silver spotted.
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Stephen Lowe Watson @stephenlowewatson.bsky.social · 01/08/2026
Home grown tomato season is reaching its peak #gardening
Tomatoes in a wicker basket: yellow (Golden Sunrise), purple/red (Indigo Cherry Drops) and small red ones (Irish Gardeners Delight from Real Seeds.
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Stephen Lowe Watson @stephenlowewatson.bsky.social · 30/07/2026
The 'Cock Linnet Song' (Don't Dilly Dally on the Way), made famous by Marie Lloyd whose poster we've adapted. We're in pearly costumes Zoë made for the Lewes Bonfire celebrations, paying homage to the cockney Pearly Kings and Queens. #MusicHall @musichallsociety.bsky.social youtu.be/llDIT7cFdh8
youtu.be
The Cock Linnet Song (Don't Dilly Dally on the Way)
YouTube video by Stephen Lowe Watson
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Stephen Lowe Watson @stephenlowewatson.bsky.social · 24/07/2026
The caw of a crow is a 'harmonic stack', apparently. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
Secrets of birdsongs' 'spectacular diversity' revealed
A scientific study has revealed the acoustic secret that connects all birdsong - and it is surprisingly simple
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Stephen Lowe Watson @stephenlowewatson.bsky.social · 15/07/2026
Now reading: King Arthur's Place in Prehistory by W. A. Cummins (1992). His thesis: Arthur & Merlin were folk memories of a Bronze Age king and his architect, responsible for the final phase of Stonehenge. #books #legends #archeology #prehistory
Book cover: King Arthur's Place in Prehistory
The Great Age of Stonehenge
W. A. Cummins
14th illustration showing Merlin setting a lintel stone
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Stephen Lowe Watson @stephenlowewatson.bsky.social · 11/07/2026
Up at 5am to admire sunrise over the Sussex weald before watering the allotment, harvesting courgettes and picking blackberries for breakfast in the cool of the day
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Stephen Lowe Watson @stephenlowewatson.bsky.social · 08/07/2026
Stealing from a supermarket will not materially influence their revenue, but I don't think that argument would stand up in court. Every little hurts. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
Jackdaw owner says gas field will 'not materially influence' climate change
The new assessment was required by the industry regulator, after it found several areas had not been adequately addressed in a previous submission.
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Stephen Lowe Watson @stephenlowewatson.bsky.social · 04/07/2026
I imagine that Tom Paine would have some pithy things to say about the present US administration. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
The Sussex man who 'changed the world'
Thomas Paine, who lived in Lewes, wrote a text that helped spark US independence from Britain.
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Stephen Lowe Watson @stephenlowewatson.bsky.social · 02/07/2026
The Met Office sticking their heads above the parapet youtu.be/YXwk3Eqa8l8?...
youtu.be
A heatwave in the summer of 2056 - Met Office future forecast UK
YouTube video by Met Office - UK Weather
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Stephen Lowe Watson @stephenlowewatson.bsky.social · 30/06/2026
Our kids played on Newhaven West Beach when they were tiny - then the privatized port closed it to avoid having to fix the crumbling wall and steps. The only sandy beach in the area has been frustratingly out of bounds since 2008. c.org/PBhLJYYGH2
c.org
Sign the Petition
Reopen Newhaven’s West Beach to the public
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British Music Hall Society @musichallsociety.bsky.social · 27/06/2026
Ev'rybody slips a little, now and then… there's a stumbling step in the best of us, that should keep us from blaming the rest of us. So be very, very careful when you condemn…
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Stephen Lowe Watson @stephenlowewatson.bsky.social · 22/06/2026
Sunrise over the Sussex Weald this morning, looking northeast from Landport Bottom, Lewes @southdownsnp.bsky.social @southdownsfans.bsky.social
Orange sky with light clouds over a misty landscape. Darker treetops in the foreground.
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Stephen Lowe Watson @stephenlowewatson.bsky.social · 20/06/2026
Today is #ShowYourStripes day - a day to show your climate stripes to raise awareness. These are for Brighton, the nearest available to use here in Lewes. You can get your stripes here: showyourstripes.info
A bar chart showing the rise in average temperature over the past century and more for Brighton, the nearest large town to my home. At the left the stripes are blue, showing cooler temperatures, at the right red for hotter ones.
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Stephen Lowe Watson @stephenlowewatson.bsky.social · 18/06/2026
I never had the privilege of meeting this grand old tree, but I mourn its passing.
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Stephen Lowe Watson @stephenlowewatson.bsky.social · 18/06/2026
Told to expect a parcel delivery between 13.18 and 14.18. Is there a word for overly precise imprecision?
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Stephen Lowe Watson @stephenlowewatson.bsky.social · 05/06/2026
A male Large Red Damselfly (Pyrrhosoma nymphula) for #WorldEnvironmentDay
Damselfly with a mainly red body and eye perched on a blue-green cluster of flower buds (lavender)
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Claire Laila Dines @freedomtodoubt.bsky.social · 02/06/2026
DECAY Most humans shy away from it; ecologists understand its importance; for mycologists/bacteriologist it's the lifeblood of their passions. That last irony apart, decay is not just fascinating, it's vital 2 all life. It is the most important step in any food chain! Without decay of 🧵 1/14
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Stephen Lowe Watson @stephenlowewatson.bsky.social · 02/06/2026
@metoffice.gov.uk Would you like to comment on possible implications of for UK weather?
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Tibor Hartel @thartel.bsky.social · 30/05/2026
It’s the weekend, and a bear is preparing its resting place and enjoying a well-deserved siesta. Wishing you a wonderful weekend!
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Stephen Lowe Watson @stephenlowewatson.bsky.social · 30/05/2026
Just back from the allotment. The squash are looking perky and hopefully I'm not too pinky.
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Stephen Lowe Watson @stephenlowewatson.bsky.social · 23/05/2026
I don't think I've ever seen a nasturtium flower this early #gardening #climate
Orange-red nasturtium flower and part of leaf
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National Emergency Briefing @nebriefing.bsky.social · 21/05/2026
In little over 24 hours, the petition for government to stage a UK-wide briefing on the climate & nature crisis has passed the 10,000 milestone. Please help us get this to 100,000 to secure a parliamentary debate - by sharing widely. #NationalEmergencyBriefing #TimeToStepUp
petition.parliament.uk
Petition: Hold a UK-wide briefing on climate and nature risks
The UK faces growing risks from climate and nature breakdown - from extreme weather to economic disruption and national security threats. Yet the public has never been given a clear national briefing ...
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Stephen Lowe Watson @stephenlowewatson.bsky.social · 22/05/2026
Attempting to navigate the bureaucracy involved in claiming a guaranteed annuity from Phoenix Life, who insist that I go via a third party, Hub Financials, who only communicate via booked phone calls where they call me, and don't want to put anything in writing (it's their policy, they say).
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Stephen Lowe Watson @stephenlowewatson.bsky.social · 21/05/2026
Fascinating thread about the purpose of royal portraiture throughput history
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Folk on Foot @folkonfoot.com · 15/05/2026
🆕 New episode out now: A Robin Hood Pilgrimage with Guy Hayward. 🌳 Join us in Sherwood Forest as the @pilgrimtrust.bsky.social founder and former Cambridge choral scholar shares songs and stories about Robin Hood, extols the joys of pilgrimage. 🎧 Listen now: pod.fo/e/4160e6
Guy Hayward singing in Sherwood Forest
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Stephen Lowe Watson @stephenlowewatson.bsky.social · 16/05/2026
"Feed me!" - robin fledgling this morning #birds
Small speckled brown young bird (fledgling European Robin) on garden table with wings fluttering and gape wide open
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