iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Susannah Walker @susannahwalker.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Further question. Who benefits most from these routes? Women's travel is less likely to follow the traditional centre-periphery commute, so....

The periphery to centre links of the new Oxford Greenways

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Susannah Walker @susannahwalker.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

This is the image in the Clarion article, for example. Even in cities, women would rather cycle on main roads than use safer paths through quieter areas; very few women would use this path after dark.

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Susannah Walker @susannahwalker.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Here is one visualisation, which is so far from oversight and other people that it's impossible to think that women will use this after darker

drawing of a cycle path with lovely rivers and nature and woodland edge planting that would never feel safe for women

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Susannah Walker @susannahwalker.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

This does not look like a cycle path which women will use for commuting, for example.

A drawing of a cycle path designed to be so far from human oversight that it is unlikely to feel safe for women and girls after dark

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Susannah Walker @susannahwalker.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

So, for nearly a year I've been working with @ategov.bsky.social on designing better active for women and girls. And now it's out. There's guidance on design and engagement, and me talking about it all in a seminar to boot. www.activetravelengland.gov.uk/resources/ac...

An illustration of what an urban space might look like if it were designed to be welcoming for women and girls, with cafes, safe bike parking, greenery, separated bike lanes and play facilities for teenage girls - and food carts.

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Susannah Walker @susannahwalker.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

This is the moment when we lost control of the worktops to Ottoline

A small tabby and white kitten sits on a kitchen worktop, staring a green water pistol down without flinching

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Susannah Walker @susannahwalker.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

Hello, yes, this is Somerset. All completely normal, nothing odd going on here at all.

An emergency warning sign which says:
"ATTENTION ALL ROAD USERS!
ABNORMAL CARNIVAL VEHICLES WILL BE OUT ON THE ROADS OVER THE COMING WEEKS AND MONTHS:
IN THE DEVON AREA FROM SAT 5TH SEPTEMBER 2026.*
IN THE DORSET/SOMERSET/WILTSHIRE AREA FROM SAT 12TH SEPTEMBER 2026.*
WE KINDLY ASK FOR YOUR PATIENCE IF YOU COME ACROSS ANY ON YOUR TRAVELS. PLEASE SLOW DOWN, PULL OVER TO THE LEFT AND GIVE THEM AS MUCH ROOM AS POSSIBLE TO PASS SAFELY.
ALWAYS TREAT THE ESCORT TEAMS WITH RESPECT AND LISTEN TO ANY INSTRUCTIONS GIVEN. THEIR ROLE IS TO ENSURE THE SAFETY OF ALL ROAD USERS AND TO KEEP INCONVENIENCE DOWN TO A MINIMUM.
PLEASE ALLOW EXTRA TIME FOR YOUR JOURNEYS IF YOU CAN.
* UNTIL SUNDAY 22ND NOVEMBER

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Susannah Walker @susannahwalker.bsky.social · 22/08/2026

Post a picture that should be an album cover

Dusk in a field. A screen made of string has a warm summer evening projected onto it. The sky scuds with blue clouds above this

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Susannah Walker @susannahwalker.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

Without downloading any new pics, where are you at mentally?

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Susannah Walker @susannahwalker.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

Geeky planning celebration time. The new #NPPF is out and it mentions designing in the safety of women and girls not once but THREE WHOLE TIMES> This is amazing. I am one happy campaigner...

Text which reads: Public Space: include spaces that are safe, secure, inclusive, and accessible for all
ages and abilities, including for groups such as women and girls; and which facilitate
and encourage social interaction, play and healthy lifestyles (for example by providing
high quality, clear and legible pedestrian and cycle routes,

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Susannah Walker @susannahwalker.bsky.social · 15/08/2026

I had one of these and you could put one or both sides of a record on permanent loop. So I did, a lot

A Sharp music centre from the 1980s with vertical record player

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Susannah Walker @susannahwalker.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

Cycling people. Can you point me at any research - either academic or surveys - which looks at the gender split in cargo bike usage? Ideally UK but also Europe is good. Thank you!

A woman in holland carries a young child in a cargo bike

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Susannah Walker @susannahwalker.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

Yesterday I met a cat who runs a motorbike repair shop

A very fluffy tabby cat stands in the sun at the entrance to a bike repair shop

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Susannah Walker @susannahwalker.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

It's positive thread time, and in response to a conversation yesterday, here is a list of just some of the organisations doing great work in making places better and more equal for women and girls - so more than just safety, although there is a lot of that too.. 🧵

One girl is on a swing in a park, two more are pushing her

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Susannah Walker @susannahwalker.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

Well then there's a job for my Friday afternoon. I do also need to say that Hodgepodge is the name of one of our cats, on account of her having been apparently assembled from spare bits of several cats...

A cat sits on a wooden bedhead in a square of sunlight, with a bright green wall behind. The cat has apparently been assembled from a range of different bits of tabby, tortoiseshell and white cats, and her front leg is entirely ginger. Hello Hodge.

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Susannah Walker @susannahwalker.bsky.social · 29/07/2026

For all those who think that neurodiversity is a pesky modern innovation, I'd like you to meet my great-great-grandfather John Jenkins. 🧵 To start with, he was an engineer, and a very successful one, and his only hobbies "work and the affairs of the town".

An engraving of an almost archetypal Important Victorian Man who has a white beard and is sitting at a desk holding a piece of paper while wearing some kind of mayoral chain.

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Susannah Walker @susannahwalker.bsky.social · 23/07/2026

Much more here vintageposterblog.com/2010/07/09/a...

Royston Cooper poster for Mystery Tours featuring two red owls and a red sun behind; the bottom half of the poster is yellow

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Susannah Walker @susannahwalker.bsky.social · 23/07/2026

After this, I did another post and lots of people remembered Royston Cooper with enormous joy.

Royston Cooper Go Shopping by bus poster with lots of presents emo a bus

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Susannah Walker @susannahwalker.bsky.social · 23/07/2026

After three weeks of heat, we are all here right now. Apologies for the quality.

A 1960s graphic of a bus covered in flowers with a man who is wearing a suit jacket and flowery shorts lounging on top. The text says tours and excursions.

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Susannah Walker @susannahwalker.bsky.social · 23/07/2026

I may have found my new identity in life

A lovely graphic of a book, called Country Walks via London Transport, going for a walk in the country. Its head is the London Transport roundel.

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Susannah Walker @susannahwalker.bsky.social · 22/07/2026

These plums are lovely and fortunately not mine

Plums on a branch in the sun, still a bit Green

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Susannah Walker @susannahwalker.bsky.social · 22/07/2026

This morning I realised that beanageddon is imminent.

Runner bean plants at the top of their canes against the blue sky. So many flowers. Can I interest any of you in some spare beans? Quite a lot of beans

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Susannah Walker @susannahwalker.bsky.social · 20/07/2026

I was looking up a detail in the government's recent VAWG strategy today, and within hours of Burnham arriving it's already been labelled as a legacy document. So the Civil Service can move fast sometimes...

Screenshot of a web page which lists details of the government's VAWG strategy and then says in a box underneath "This was published under the 2024 to 2026 Starmer Labour government"

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Susannah Walker @susannahwalker.bsky.social · 17/07/2026

I have a question. Do we need to think more broadly about active travel - and in particular why don't we encourage people to 'go for a bike ride' in the way that so many of us go for walks - not racing ,with no particular purpose and stopping to look at the views on the way?

An Edwardian poster for Kynoch Cycles, in which a woman is cycling on a lane in open countryside, she is wearing a skirt and floppy hat and has a bunch of flowers on the handlebar

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Susannah Walker @susannahwalker.bsky.social · 16/07/2026

Over 99% of Umeå's residents feel safe during the day. More impressively almost 90% of women feel safe walking alone at night. To compare, figures vary, but some surveys put this as low as 12% in the UK. But what Umeå tells us is that we can change this, so let's do it.

A graphic says that 89% of women feel safe at night

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Susannah Walker @susannahwalker.bsky.social · 16/07/2026

There is so much more - for example this statue sits directly outside the main town hall and represents the MeToo movement. It's called Listen. But what's really impressive is that it works.

A red metal puma statue sits on a metal plinth outside a red brick town hall with a clock. The puma is roaring.

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Susannah Walker @susannahwalker.bsky.social · 16/07/2026

They've even gone experimental - this bus stop gives shelter (v important in their cold winters) but also allows women to see who else is waiting. And everyone gets the choice about whether they want to be social or not. And, again, it looks amazing.

Station of being experimental bus stop made of wooden pods which are lit up at night in the snow - like a table with insects hibernating beneath

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Susannah Walker @susannahwalker.bsky.social · 16/07/2026

They've made women feel at home in other ways as well

A road crossing sign showing an icon of a woman using the crossing

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Susannah Walker @susannahwalker.bsky.social · 16/07/2026

But we should remember that safety - not being raped or murdered - is quite a low bar. Women also need a city where they feel they belong. So their bus station has great sightlines but also looks fantastic as well.

Vasaplan bus station in Umea which is built out of wood; you can see straight through so it is safe but the wooden roof is also very beautiful

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Susannah Walker @susannahwalker.bsky.social · 16/07/2026

Like many cities, Umeå has a large hospital in the suburbs. As with many hospitals there are a large number of women staff, who often work anti-social shifts. So the city understood that the station which served that line needed to be very safe indeed.

Interior of Ostra station showing that it is very transparent and clear with good sightlines - and that it is also a very well designed space which feels good

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Susannah Walker @susannahwalker.bsky.social · 16/07/2026

But what I admire most is their thinking. Because it's not just about small changes, but understanding where they have the most impact. Take the Ostra station for example, this has been designed to be the safest one on the network. But why?

Glass exterior frontage of Umeå Ostra station, showing the transparency

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Susannah Walker @susannahwalker.bsky.social · 16/07/2026

Which is great, but that's just a small part of what they've done around the city. The main underpass in front of the station got a massive upgrade for safety, with better sightlines, extra exits and an artwork which lights up at night

Lev underpass in Umeå, showing the sightlines and artwork - and of course because this is Sweden it's for bikes as well as people

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Susannah Walker @susannahwalker.bsky.social · 16/07/2026

As ever, whenever I have done a complaining thread, I try to post something positive. This time, it's all about Umeå, a city in the N of Sweden which has made incredible strides in terms of safety for women and girls. In the last thread, I posted their co-designed space for teenage girls.

Two teenage girls sit on a kind of swing seat in a lit structure like an open flying saucer with stained glass insets overlooking the city at dusk. This is Frizon, which was co-designed by girls and has absolutely worked as an intervention. They love it.

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Susannah Walker @susannahwalker.bsky.social · 15/07/2026

And this matters. Girls see what this means. One of the other pieces of feedback from that engagement just said "Boys get what they want but girls don't get what they want". Are we going to let that happen all over again?

A post it note which reads " "Boys get what they want but girls don't get what they want" and then at the bottom says "mum's life"

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Susannah Walker @susannahwalker.bsky.social · 15/07/2026

You may have seen a campaign recently about taking down "no ball games" signs in housing estates. Which sounds great, but we need to have a think about who benefits - and so a thread. This comes from girls in a school where boys used football to take over the playground. 🧵

A piece of cream paper which says in teenage handwriting "More spaces where male species isn't playing football"

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Susannah Walker @susannahwalker.bsky.social · 06/07/2026

Also, the joy of great suppliers: Whiterow farm shop who knew how to cut a joint exactly right for porchetta without me even explaining (tell me you live in a poncy place, etc...) and Lievito Bakery who provided the bread

Five glorious rosemary focaccia in a box. There were also ciabatta

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Susannah Walker @susannahwalker.bsky.social · 06/07/2026

This weekend's achievement unlocked: porchetta. Via a very hot wood fired oven. Am not posting the before pictures because it looks unsettlingly as though I have stuffed two human legs. But they fed thirty with leftovers.

A round of herby porky goodness which surprised even me. it sits on a wooden chopping board with a knife beside it.

A wood fired pizza oven with a fire roaring and two red peppers roasting in front. A gun thermometer in front reads 974F

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Susannah Walker @susannahwalker.bsky.social · 03/07/2026

Because I have just sent this to someone, you can have it too. Barbara Jones, being right. We all need to look at things properly.

Back cover of a BBC Schools booklet designed by Barbara Jones. A fantastic illustration in yellow red and black with a cat looking at a mousetrap, an owl looking at a torch and a snail staring at a roller skate

Same as before, but over the animals (no props this time) it says Looking At Things in ornate Victorian text, with BBC BROADCASTS TO SCHOOLS AUTUMN 1954 in between.

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Susannah Walker @susannahwalker.bsky.social · 02/07/2026

Wiveliscombe showing itself off delightfully in the sun at lunchtime. A lot of England really deserves looking at. Be more John Piper (and a bit more John Betjeman, but only parts of him...)

Apparently this is Wiveliscombe court house; it is Tudor but with red brick tiles on its front rather than half timbering and some amazing carved dark wood oriel windows on the first and second floor. Scrubbing up well in the sunshine

An old enamel sign which says HARDWARE and the image of a key, in a rusting but ornate metal frame; blue sky behind

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Susannah Walker @susannahwalker.bsky.social · 29/06/2026

Yet another app for women's safety. But is this what women want? Short answer no, unless it's "a tracking app ‘that sees where predatory men are’. Instead it's just another way of making women take responsibility for safety, instead of men... Full rant here: www.inherplace.co.uk/post/it-ll-m...

A graphic produced to advertised a safety app which will alert someone if you scream or press the power button a lot. It is red and ugly.

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Susannah Walker @susannahwalker.bsky.social · 23/06/2026

The only thing to be said for today's weather is that a feather duvet dries in an hour and a half...

A duvet, hangs on a washing line stretched across a patio. it is drier than the Sahara desert

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Susannah Walker @susannahwalker.bsky.social · 22/06/2026

Ah yes, the heatwave. Somerset under an amber warning

A garden in driving rain and strong wind

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Susannah Walker @susannahwalker.bsky.social · 18/06/2026

And now the story of Antony Hippisley Coxe and his performing cats... He was a general man about town in the 1930s, then worked on the Festival of Britain and in PR as well as writing books about ghosts, the circus and sausages, but we are here for his feline sideline. 🧵

There are no pictures of Hippisley Coxe's cats so have Ottoline (a tabby and white kitten) having no fear while being threatened with a green water pistol. The moment she got the upper hand

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Susannah Walker @susannahwalker.bsky.social · 16/06/2026

Also, check the National Cycle Network. I can cycle right past the front of Longleat for free. Was amazing in lockdown as cars and pedestrians weren’t allowed in, just bikes. Most of the time I was the only person there

Longleat house in the sun, at the end of a long drive. The shadow of a cyclist looms in the foreground

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Susannah Walker @susannahwalker.bsky.social · 01/06/2026

This is a cat check point. Relinquish your most recent cat picture on your phone

A soft toy Mog sits on an old stone wall by a graveyard

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Susannah Walker @susannahwalker.bsky.social · 27/05/2026

And here it is on the old 25 inch OS Map, named as Roddenbury. You can cycle nearby but not climb it so I don't know what the views are like, but it's quite close to the hillfort on Cley Hill. Anyone know anything more?

OS map of Roddenbury Hill, wooded with the castle site above.

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Susannah Walker @susannahwalker.bsky.social · 27/05/2026

I did have another #HillfortsWednesday thought, because there is a stealth hillfort near me that never gets mentioned, because it is both in the grounds of Longleat and totally covered in trees. Here it is on Lidar, with a motte and bailey site above.

A LIDAR radar survey of a large hill which has a triangular hill fort on it, and a circular castle site above. Longleat house sits by the water on the right.

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Susannah Walker @susannahwalker.bsky.social · 26/05/2026

I talked to about 50 girls, and got several versions of this. Plus I went round the school during break and the girls were all squashed into the corners. Here is a diagram from a Barcelona school. Spot the football pitch

A diagram showing boys and girls use of s school playground in Barcelona. Boys dominate the space; girls are literally marginalised

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