iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

The Smith

@theaws.bsky.social

144 followers 428 following 76 posts

Based in NW England. Interests include: Maps / History / Genealogy / Historical aircraft / Landscapes / Illustration

Posts Replies Media

The Smith @theaws.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

Ah, we need to give AI to animals ASAP. I especially like its advice to me, a bear, trapped in the suburbs. The guidance on crossing roads was a nice touch.

1 am a bear trapped in a suburb. what should I do?
If you are a bear in a suburb, you need to stay hidden, avoid people and pets, and slip away into the nearest wooded area or quiet space as soon as it gets quiet.
How to Stay Safe
• Find a hiding spot: Stay low behind a shed, under a large deck, or deep in a thick group of bushes.
• Stay still during the day: Do not walk around when people are awake, cars are driving, or dogs are barking.
• Wait for the dark: Wait until night time when humans go inside and the streets are empty.
• Look for a green path: Find a line of trees, a drainage ditch, or a stream that leads away from the houses and out of town.
• Cross roads carefully: Wait until there is no traffic before crossing any large streets.

I am a hedgehog. All my family have been squashed on roads. How should I avoid a similar fate?
To avoid being squashed, stay in safe gardens at night, cross roads fast without stopping, and never curl into a ball if a car approaches.
Move at Night
• Wait for dark: Do not go out during the day.
Cars move faster in the light, and you belong in bed.
• Sniff first: Use your sharp nose to check for danger before you leave the safety of the bushes.
How to Cross Roads
• Do not freeze: If bright headlights shine on you, do not stop or curl into a ball. Run straight across the road as fast as your short legs can go.
• Cross narrow spots: Pick a place where the road is thin so you spend less time on the dangerous grey tarmac.

030 3

The Smith @theaws.bsky.social · 13/06/2026

Rowan Software’s Overlord was the flight sim that made the biggest impression on me as a teenager

An image of a spitfire in flight from the game Overlord

An image of Tangmere airfield from the game

A cut scene from the game showing an RAF officer telling the CO “Bad news Sir, Bill Scott has bought it”

120 2

The Smith @theaws.bsky.social · 01/02/2026

I think (but have never been able to confirm) that my great uncle was aboard and this clipping was kept by my grandfather, his brother. He survived if he was aboard!

A newspaper cutting referring to the sinking of HMS Welshman titled “A Gallant Ship’s Hero Choir”

A GALLANT SHIP'S
"The gallant Welshman arrived again today."

AGAIN and again that phrase appears in the official log of the blitz on Malta.
Each time it meant that H.M. mine-laying cruiser Welshman
had defied Axis planes and brought vitally needed supplies of food and ammunition to the George Cross island…..

….
One of the survivors, a Lon-
don officer, said:
"For a long time we thought the Welshman was going to remain afloat, and it looked as if we might be able to bring her home.
"But when she started to go she went so fast that we hardly had time to get into the water before she had disappeared."

"I and many others spent more than an hour swimming after sailors in distress and guiding them to rafts and cork loats.

"After things had settled a bit I could see the faint outlines of tiny groups of men huddled
on nearby rafts.
"After about an hour the men on one raft began to sing.
"It was getting colder and it seemed like a good idea
"Soon everyone was singing and we must have kept it up for nearly two hours.
"We spent four hours in the water
until a destroyer picked us up."

151 5

The Smith @theaws.bsky.social · 31/05/2025

Sorry to hear about the sadness and hope it eases soon. It will, given time. Here are a few scenes from our youth that may help for a moment….

A member of the Royal family throwing hot tar down some stairs

Battery hens being treated like second class citizens

A minibus driven by a happy gnome, with the newspaper caption “pupils hit the road”

Two students being followed by an airship in the city of York

100 1

The Smith @theaws.bsky.social · 09/02/2025

Here are some images from the archives, showing some of the streets where my ancestors lived during the 19th and 20th Centuries

A black and white photograph: A tip in the foreground at the end of Egbert Street, Manchester in the early 20th Century. The terraced houses of the street are in the hazy background.

A black and white drawing of a slum in Tickle Street, Manchester, 1862. Three people sit in a bare room, with little furniture in view. Just a table and three chairs. There is a shelf above the fireplace and three pictures on the wall but few other possessions.

A black and white photograph of Newton Street, Manchester. The scene is empty of vehicles and people. A mixture of three storey brick retail buildings and four storey offices/industrial buildings fill the scene. R. Hampton Pharmaceutical Chemists can be seen at the forefront, including a sign marking it as a “photographic depot”.

A black and white photograph of Peel Street, Newton Heath. A row of two storey brick terraced houses fills the scene, devoid of any vehicles.

040 4

The Smith @theaws.bsky.social · 10/12/2024

I feel that No Salad Barry is missing his own spinoff series though

A cartoon of a larger than life character - a man wearing slim trousers, a yellow big bubble jacket worn over a white shirt and a black beanie hat. He’s shouting “Oi Oi” as he makes a grand entrance through the barber shop door

110 1

The Smith @theaws.bsky.social · 07/12/2024

You can buy one of the “Rupert” dummies from the film The Longest Day 👀🚨 He’s a little creepier than I remember though…

A website listing advertising a “Rupert” Paradummy from The Longest Day war film for £7995. Includes a picture of the dummy dressed in paratrooper uniform

A scene from the film The Longest Day showing a British officer stood next to a “Rupert” Paradummy he is unveiling during a briefing, with a map behind them.

010 1

The Smith @theaws.bsky.social · 04/12/2024

The figure with the top hat is an AI addition (with a weird dangling bit of clothing between their legs). The image of the girl in the doorway no longer bears a resemblance to my 2nd Gt Aunt. Even the baby doesn’t resemble the child in the original image anymore.

A black and white photo dating from the late Victorian era. A young woman is stood in the doorway of a corner greengrocers shop holding a baby.

A figure in a top hat and long coat is walking past with their back to the camera, although they have something dangling between their legs that looks like either fabric or a third leg. The image has been edited by AI.

110 1

The Smith @theaws.bsky.social · 08/11/2024

Another important reminder to everyone that as part of Remembrance all records are free on FindMyPast until 11th November - including the 1921 census!

An image of First World War soldiers cheering with the caption “No Story Left Behind - discover family heroes this Remembrance”

010 1

The Smith @theaws.bsky.social · 18/09/2024

The missing crew were: Pilot Officer J.Prescott, Sgt T.E Gledhill, Sgt A.T Taylor, Sgt D.T Ratcliffe, Sgt A.L Barrie and Sgt J.A Brown. James is commemorated at the Alamein Memorial in Egypt.

37 Squadron RAF badge, showing the motto “wise without eyes”

010 1

The Smith @theaws.bsky.social · 18/09/2024

On 1st August 1941 Wellington R1067 is recorded as ditching 10 miles northwest of Ras El Milh, Egypt on the way home from the raid. Sadly James and the rest of the crew were posted missing, believed killed.

120 2

The Smith @theaws.bsky.social · 18/09/2024

Pilot Officer James Prescott RAFVR was a member of 37 Squadron RAF, based at Shallufa, Egypt. The squadron operated Wellington IC bombers and on the night he was lost he was aboard Wellington R1067 taking part in a raid on Benghazi harbour in Libya

A Wellington bomber of 37 Squadron being prepared by ground crew

110 1

The Smith @theaws.bsky.social · 18/09/2024

I found this newspaper cutting whilst looking through some old family photographs, documents and keepsakes. I suspect that James (no relation to me) was probably a friend of my Great Aunt or Great Uncle who were in to amateur dramatics 🧵

A newspaper cutting reporting that Pilot Officer James Prescott had been reported missing whilst serving in the Middle East, the day after his 27th birthday

111 1

The Smith @theaws.bsky.social · 12/08/2024

Just managed to catch a little aurora activity when I popped out to watch the #PerseidMeteorShower

A pink glow from the northern lights above suburban treetops

030 3

The Smith @theaws.bsky.social · 23/07/2024

I was extremely lucky to experience an unexpected fly past by a PBY Catalina at the weekend. Lovely!

000 0

The Smith @theaws.bsky.social · 12/07/2024

Some further pages, including the obligatory crossword, their very own agony aunt page “Auntie Flossie” and “A day in the life of a watch keeper off duty”

000 0

The Smith @theaws.bsky.social · 12/07/2024

The first few pages of what is, presumably l, a rare copy of the Inveraray Times, produced by WRNS at HMS Quebec during the Second World War

160 6