iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

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Dave Griffiths @nebogeo.post.lurk.org.ap.brid.gy · 03/10/2026

New release: Radyo kristal kernewek Following a few months investigating cutting edge 1920s crystal radio technology, exploring new mines, trying out exotic new semiconductors, developing new circuits for them and recording loads of sound thanks to an Arts […] [Original post on post.lurk.org]

A 1920s "Junior" crystal radio, made of a varnished wooden box with a tuning dial, thumb screw connectors and a cat's whisker/crystal diode detector - sits on a desk next to a breadboard, wires, resistors and bits of tin foil. 1920s era crystal tins sit in the background.

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Then Try This @thentrythis.social.thentrythis.org.ap.brid.gy · 02/10/2026

Cornwall Exchange prototyping is done and we're starting the main build... Crystal Maze and Dr. Who inspired shenanigans for including younger people into local democracy and planning. And nope, they won't recognise the references :) […]

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Then Try This @thentrythis.social.thentrythis.org.ap.brid.gy · 02/10/2026

Free moth making with Jasmine Saunders - the second of the Cocoon Residency events as part of our collab with the UK Moth Virome Project (University of Exeter and Butterfly Conservation, led by @b_longdon, funded by NERC) These are free drop in events […] [Original post on social.thentrythis.org]

Illustration of moths connected by curved and straight lines, with text that reads - free ceramic moth workshop, Fri 16th/Sat 24th Oct, 11-2pm drop in in the greenhouse at potager garden

Illustration of lots of moths with a few connecting lines between them, logos for University of Exeter, Then Try This, and NERC, with text reading - Join our collaborative sculpture inspired by moth research, led by Cocoon Resident Jasmine Saunders

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Then Try This @thentrythis.social.thentrythis.org.ap.brid.gy · 18/09/2026

Lovely week with the first Cocoon resident, Melanie Hyo-In Han, working with us and the UK Moth Virome Project gang led by @ben. Mel ran a moth poetry workshop (and one participant instantly recruited her to run another a few days later). We also had a […] [Original post on social.thentrythis.org]

Poetry workshop in a greenhouse with people sat around a long wood table. A small black dog is also seated at the table.

Three residents and moth expert crouched down, and various other people, around a very bright light at night, looking at moths

Mel with her first ever moth she caught, with another person in a head torch and a young person with their back to the camera

Mel's Instagram post with a photo of her first moth - which is called a Snout moth because it has a long nose

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Ben Longdon @blongdon.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

Lots of pizza and quite a lot of moths as part of the Cocoon artist residencies on our moth virome project with @thentrythis.social.thentrythis.org.ap.brid.gy

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Then Try This @thentrythis.social.thentrythis.org.ap.brid.gy · 12/09/2026

Our first Cocoon resident, Melanie Hyo-In Han, has arrived in Cornwall and is getting ready to run a poetry workshop on Monday. We'll all be brilliantly out of our comfort zones attempting poetic wordplay on moths and migration, with participants […] [Original post on social.thentrythis.org]

Inside a big greenhouse with a table and seats under a large wisteria plant that forms a canopy. The evening light is casting some long shadows inside.

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Then Try This @thentrythis.social.thentrythis.org.ap.brid.gy · 07/09/2026

Meet the newest member of our studio! Lucy is joining the @alpaca project for a couple of years, helping to figure out the best ways to share the research online, with a focus on community building and marginalised groups. This is part of @yaxu's […] [Original post on social.thentrythis.org]

Text says Welcome to the Then Try This gang: Lucy Cheesman, alongside a photo of a person smilling

Text reads: Lucy Cheesman has joined us to work part-time on the UKRI funded Alpaca project. She'll be looking at better ways to share research online, informed by permacomputing principles.

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Then Try This @thentrythis.social.thentrythis.org.ap.brid.gy · 08/08/2026

Hidden Worlds: Art, Insects and Ecological Citizenship Very late notice for a free workshop we're doing tomorrow at United Downs Raceway with Falmouth University. We're going to be making art with insects in various ways, listening to them and making […] [Original post on social.thentrythis.org]

"Hidden Worlds: Art, Insects and Ecological Citizenship"

"Free workshop! Make art with insects this Sunday at United Downs Raceway with us and Falmouth University."

"A machine for listening to six ants' nests simultaneously"

A photo of a small mixer with headphones connected to six coiled cables with contact microphones on the end, all sat on wood chip planting bed with plants in the background.

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Alex McLean @yaxu.post.lurk.org.ap.brid.gy · 14/07/2026

UK non-academic researchers! UK Research and Innovation have one research funding programme - 'Future Leaders Fellowships' - which allow and support applications from non-academic researchers, i.e. those hosted by business including non-profits. It's well funded, over 4 years, extendable to 7 […]

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Then Try This @thentrythis.social.thentrythis.org.ap.brid.gy · 10/07/2026

We can now say that our studio has an in-house longlisted artist for the World Illustration Awards 😎 🌟

Isometric tetrapak print of a stack of books with titles 'very serious book', 'complicated', 'things and stuff', and 'heavy topics'. Under them there are two little human legs sticking out, from a squished person.

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Then Try This @thentrythis.social.thentrythis.org.ap.brid.gy · 10/07/2026

Dig for Dirt has gone live 🌱 We're looking for growers and farmers to collectively find out more about the microbes under our feet. Soil bacteria can help clean up the toxic pollution that is the legacy of mining in our area, but very little is known […] [Original post on social.thentrythis.org]

Dig for Dirt is ready for you! With an isometric illustration of crop plants on one layer and soil bacteria on a lower layer

Do you grow food, flowers or keep livestock in the South-West UK? This could be in a garden, an allotment, a smallholding, or a commercial farm of any scale.

With a simple illustration of some kale.

Can you provide a small soil sample to help understand how bacteria clean up mining pollution? You'll get a simple sampling pack from us for collecting some soil, with the return post paid for.

With a simple illustration of a trowel in some soil.

In return for your time you will have access to your own soil bacteria
results, and see how they compare to others in the South West. You will also receive a beautiful printed photograph of your soil bacteria!

With a simple illustration of an old mine engine house.

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Reposted by Then Try This

Dave Griffiths @nebogeo.post.lurk.org.ap.brid.gy · 25/06/2026

New release & free download! Live at Pattern Club Sheffield The live rig included the 1920s galena point contact diode in the circuit, probably quite close to where it was mined, so a sort of local guest collaborator along with all the Cornish minerals. I've […] [Original post on post.lurk.org]

Two semiconducting crystals (both pyrite I think, one from Carharrack mine, the other from Nangiles mine, both in the Gwennap area of Cornwall) partly wrapped in aluminum foil and held by crocodile clips. They are both being tickled by cats whisker wires made of sterling silver.

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Dave Griffiths @nebogeo.post.lurk.org.ap.brid.gy · 29/06/2026

Working on a new pattern language as part of @alpaca for understanding tablet weave draft patterns. I'm basing it's logic on underlying methods you can see used in Iron Age patterns like the Hallstatt textiles. If I'm reading them right - everything seems […] [Original post on post.lurk.org]

A text display of a sort of staggered staircase like pattern

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Then Try This @thentrythis.social.thentrythis.org.ap.brid.gy · 01/06/2026

Cornish Semiconductor Corporation is now supported using public funding by Arts Council England. Dave got a Research and Development grant for individuals grant to make noise with mine waste. More info here […] [Original post on social.thentrythis.org]

Crystals in crocodile clips with diy circuits underneath and a synthesiser (a SH101) in the foreground.

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Dave Griffiths @nebogeo.post.lurk.org.ap.brid.gy · 27/05/2026

Gig coming up on the 14th with some amazing people at the famous @patternclubsheffield www.tickettailor.com/events/pattern… The background photo is a new circuit for taming 4 Cornish crystal sounds, loosely based on the Buchla 'low pass gate' design from the 60's.

Live at Pattern Club Sheffield
Rian Treanor
Cornish Semiconductor Corporation
Dundass
Sunday 14th June 2026 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM
patternclub.org/sheffield

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Dave Griffiths @nebogeo.post.lurk.org.ap.brid.gy · 25/05/2026

Last year Ioana Vreme Moser and I participated in perhaps the first arsenic export from Cornwall in a hundred years or so. The paperwork was tricky and it cost more than expected, but the samples of arsenopyrite shown here from Wheal Fortune in Gwennap would […] [Original post on post.lurk.org]

Part of Ioana's installation with early radio documents and apparatus, custom audio circuits and a lump of arsenopyrite

Part of Ioana's installation with early radio documents and apparatus, custom audio circuits, lipsticks and a lump of arsenopyrite in a makeup box

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Then Try This @thentrythis.social.thentrythis.org.ap.brid.gy · 12/05/2026

A little while ago we were interviewed by the lovely Matt Dowse, a researcher on community technology. That research has now been published! It's a bit rare that people really just 'get' what we do and why, but we felt 100% understood this time, and he explains it better than we ever can […]

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Dave Griffiths @nebogeo.post.lurk.org.ap.brid.gy · 10/05/2026

A new release out now on bandcamp! Arsenic labyrinth & live at stones drones and noise club: making noise with mine waste. Digital and cassette. cornish-semiconductor.bandcamp.com/… Side A is made using a new diode ladder filter […] [Original post on post.lurk.org]

cover image:
arsenic labyrinth & live at stones drones and noise club
making noise with mine waste
cornish semiconductor corporation

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Then Try This @thentrythis.social.thentrythis.org.ap.brid.gy · 08/05/2026

If you're in Bristol, Dave will be taking part remotely in a panel discussion today at the Centre for Creative Technologies Showcase, talking about Then Try This. It's free entry and happening at 1PM: Bristol Digital Futures Institute, University of […] [Original post on social.thentrythis.org]

Showcase programme 8TH MAY BRISTOL DIGITAL FUTURES INSTITUTE
[Temple Quarter]

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Then Try This @thentrythis.social.thentrythis.org.ap.brid.gy · 26/03/2026

Meet our Cocoon residents, who will be joining us in autumn! Selected from a whopping 274 applications, the three residents will be exploring moths and the viruses that infect them... thentrythis.org/notes/2026/03/26/co…

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Announcing the Cocoon Residents

Introducing the three selected Cocoon residents and their projects.

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Then Try This @thentrythis.social.thentrythis.org.ap.brid.gy · 26/03/2026

Deadline 6 April for our open call for local live coders to take part in a low-intensity residency... It’ll happen over a weekend per month from May ‘til August, finishing with a public event early September. If you’re unsure whether you’ll fit in, or feel like an ‘imposter’, you are especially […]

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Then Try This @thentrythis.social.thentrythis.org.ap.brid.gy · 26/03/2026

Last winter, we ran a winter school as part of the Algorithmic Pattern project, in collaboration with Ray Morrison and Lucy Cheesman. With participants with diverse practices brought together via an open call, we explored patterns in origami, dance, music and video animation, taking an embodied […]

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Then Try This @thentrythis.social.thentrythis.org.ap.brid.gy · 16/03/2026

An essay on illustrating complex information, from graphs to graphic novels thentrythis.org/notes/2026/03/16/il…

ink print of people sitting on and leaning against a 3d bar graph, which is floating in a dark void

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Then Try This @thentrythis.social.thentrythis.org.ap.brid.gy · 18/02/2026

Little workshop this weekend in Falmouth on behalf of The Poly. Come play with Andean/Inca knotted string records (called Khipu), and walking robots made from braided textiles which you can control with more knots […] [Original post on social.thentrythis.org]

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Then Try This @thentrythis.social.thentrythis.org.ap.brid.gy · 18/02/2026

Deadline is just over 2 weeks away for our funded Cocoon residencies. You can be from any background, and these are themed on moths and the viruses that infect them, very niche, but you can take it in any direction you like. 1-4 weeks long, up to […] [Original post on social.thentrythis.org]

Part of a riso print of moths, and a dna strand, in greeny yellows.

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Amber Griffiths @amberfirefly.mastodon.green.ap.brid.gy · 09/02/2026

Bit of a long shot this - but I'm looking for science/social science researchers who might be willing to give some thoughts on how their field of research might have shaped their views on life, death and grief. I've made a short survey here which can be done […] [Original post on mastodon.green]

tetrapak print in black linseed oil-based ink of a pile of books with a little pair of legs sticking out underneath, the person has been squished under the books with titles 'very serious book', 'complicated', 'things and stuff', and 'heavy topics'.

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Then Try This @thentrythis.social.thentrythis.org.ap.brid.gy · 26/01/2026

Refurbishing this pattern matrix for Ellen Harluzius-Klück, who we worked with on her Penelope project. Getting it working with the browser based warp weighed loom simulation. #weaving

16 coloured wooden disks representing a weaving pattern on a felt base with wires and circuits

A weaving draft pattern and the resulting weave

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Then Try This @thentrythis.social.thentrythis.org.ap.brid.gy · 21/01/2026

⭐ Cocoon Residences - Open Call ⭐ We have funded residencies for autumn, themed on moths and their viruses. These are based at our studio in Cornwall, with our support, and working with our long-term collaborator @b_longdon We have tried to make the […] [Original post on social.thentrythis.org]

Riso printed image of a hawkmoth cocoon surrounded by different types of moth facing in towards it. There is a strand of DNA twirling behind, and some stars. The text reads 'Cocoon Residencies, Open Call, Deadline 6 March'.

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Alex McLean @yaxu.post.lurk.org.ap.brid.gy · 19/01/2026

"On being formal: communal informatics, khipu technologies, extractivism, and debt." Research workshop of the Epistemic Media Research Group (Institute for Music and Media) with @Khipumancer, @nebogeo, @julian and myself coming up in-person in Düsseldorf on […] [Original post on post.lurk.org]

Montage of knotted strands of Andean khipu and diagrams of Cornish mines

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Amber Griffiths @amberfirefly.mastodon.green.ap.brid.gy · 19/01/2026

Riso print made today for @thentrythis project which should be launching this week ✨

4 colour riso print with a cocoon in the centre surrounded by different types of moths all facing in towards it, a strand of DNA twists behind them all and a few little stars are dotted around the cocoon. The print was made with aqua, yellow, kelly green and federal blue inks.

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Then Try This @thentrythis.social.thentrythis.org.ap.brid.gy · 19/01/2026

We (@Khipumancer, @yaxu, @julian and @nebogeo) are running a workshop at the Institute for Music and Media Düsseldorf, 31 January: "On being formal: communal informatics, khipu technologies, extractivism, and debt." A convergence of two areas of […] [Original post on social.thentrythis.org]

A mixup of copy pasted khipu strings with knots, tied and untied and a map of lodes in a Cornish mining area, a verticle sliced of the earth from top to bottom.

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Dave Griffiths @nebogeo.post.lurk.org.ap.brid.gy · 15/01/2026

I forgot I had an "AI project", it ran on ZX Spectrum, I should perform it some time: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pt7JqoPInlg

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Then Try This @thentrythis.social.thentrythis.org.ap.brid.gy · 19/12/2025

Our annual review of projects in 2025 is ready! You can download it below, or if you'd like a hard copy for yourself, or a few for your institution/organisation let us know 💚 gitlab.com/then-try-this/administra…

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Then Try This @thentrythis.social.thentrythis.org.ap.brid.gy · 19/12/2025

Final mailout of the year is set to go out at noon UK time, get yourself on there if you fancy receiving (roughly quarterly) studio news and info on open calls as and when they happen 💫 view.flodesk.com/pages/63c07d7c2fd9…

view.flodesk.com

New projects, events and opportunities - not too often, just when we have things you might be interested in.

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Then Try This @thentrythis.social.thentrythis.org.ap.brid.gy · 18/12/2025

In case anyone uses our SmogOff air pollution documentation/design, we've had to make a small update as during community testing the waterproof seal on the boxes we used failed quite quickly for all three sensors. At a whopping £60 for a plastic box, this is a total pain, and it's not a problem […]

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Alex McLean @yaxu.post.lurk.org.ap.brid.gy · 16/12/2025

A new epistemic tool has arrived in the @patternclubsheffield lab!

A wooden, an eight-shaft table loom waiting to be warped up, with miscellaneous audio gear in the background

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Dave Griffiths @nebogeo.post.lurk.org.ap.brid.gy · 16/12/2025

!!!Album release!!! "220 under adit (techno from mine waste)" All proceeds will go to the Panzi Foundation, supporting victims of sexual violence in conflict mining areas in the Democratic Republic of Congo, an illegal exploitation that ends up filling our laptops and mobiie phones. Please […]

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Dave Griffiths @nebogeo.post.lurk.org.ap.brid.gy · 06/12/2025

I'm calling the prototype crystal 'log synth' done. Three natural semiconductor voices, each with their own filters, 4 vactrol sequencers and 3 single transistor gates with their own sequencer - actually quite a lot packed in here I realise... Tested in the […] [Original post on post.lurk.org]

A block of wood with circuit boards and wires connecting them on a rocky piece of ground.

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Then Try This @thentrythis.social.thentrythis.org.ap.brid.gy · 10/11/2025

Finally got a hold of this record made with samplebrain! Brain Mutants by DMX Krew. A liberal application of disco records and TR 101 samples in quite a full on record... ara-u.bandcamp.com/album/brain-muta… gitlab.com/then-try-this/samplebrain

A green record sleeve propped up next to a record on a turntable

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Then Try This @thentrythis.social.thentrythis.org.ap.brid.gy · 10/11/2025

Our new studio looking exactly as cosy as it is this evening

Single storey shed like building with glowing lights from inside, a tree with fairy lights in it, and a bigger tree shadowed against the sky

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Then Try This @thentrythis.social.thentrythis.org.ap.brid.gy · 06/11/2025

In September we took over Sheffield's Wintergarden with knots and woven robots with @Khipumancer and @yaxu as part of the @alpaca Festival You could create knot patterns based on Inca/Andean Khipu technology that would program the robots remotely, and […] [Original post on social.thentrythis.org]

Three children play with woven robots, with scattered cushions on the ground

A group of people manipulating knots on a table

One person examines an knot while children play with robots in the background.

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Then Try This @thentrythis.social.thentrythis.org.ap.brid.gy · 03/11/2025

Lovely to see our Sonic Kayaks project cited in this nice paper... 'Bridging worlds: exploring synergies between the arts and biodiversity conservation' 🌟 esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com…

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Then Try This @thentrythis.social.thentrythis.org.ap.brid.gy · 23/10/2025

We had a lucky break in the weather yesterday morning to get out with Cornish artist Libita Sibungu to Nangiles mine with our DIY mineral sound recording rig (contact mics and a electromagnetic sensor). As well a sounds, we collected lots of minerals […] [Original post on social.thentrythis.org]

Libita Sibungu surrounded by rocks listening to sounds we had just recorded while examining a mineral sample. Also visible are recording equipment, rock hammers and an orange bucket.

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Then Try This @thentrythis.social.thentrythis.org.ap.brid.gy · 17/10/2025

We've built a special type of loom designed by Peter Collinwood to create the amazing illustrations in his book "The Techniques of Tablet Weaving". This is to help us closely examine the patterns and mathematics behind this weaving technique on the […] [Original post on social.thentrythis.org]

A row of wooden pegs in holes in a wooden board, with black and white cord woven between them.

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Then Try This @thentrythis.social.thentrythis.org.ap.brid.gy · 14/10/2025

Organised Atoms Fun Palace 2025! We smashed rocks, found crystals and raved out in the rock lab. Thanks go to the Royal Society of Chemistry for supporting this kind of thing! thentrythis.org/notes/2025/10/08/or…

Three people with protective googles surrounded by mine waste and concrete structures

Two people playing music on a synth made from a bunch of circuits mounted on a plank of natural wood with a smaller volca modular synth wired up to it.

Two people looking at a microscope image on a monitor with scattered rocks and e-waste on the table.

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Then Try This @thentrythis.social.thentrythis.org.ap.brid.gy · 02/10/2025

Pre-pre-pre-announcement that around the end of the year/early spring we'll be announcing some new funded residencies, based at our new studio in Cornwall to run around Aug/Sept 2026. The theme this time is moths and their viruses - as part of a bigger research grant on how viruses and their […]

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Amber Griffiths @amberfirefly.mastodon.green.ap.brid.gy · 30/09/2025

Kind of interesting list of 'endangered' crafts categorised by riffing on the conservation redlist of wildlife www.heritagecrafts.org.uk/categorie…

heritagecrafts.org.uk

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Then Try This @thentrythis.social.thentrythis.org.ap.brid.gy · 27/09/2025

Write up on our first #OrganisedAtoms workshop of 2025: thentrythis.org/notes/2025/09/27/or… Two more (free events) coming up next weekend as part of Fun Palaces - see booking info here if you are near us and want to give it a go […]

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