Jeremy Benson

@jembenson

Adviser @aqaeducation.bsky.social, MAT and @RSPH.bsky.social trustee, ex-senior civil servant; classical music, #LCFC 🦊, England⚽️🏏, walks, photos, words; husband, father, generally curious 📍 Leicestershire, UK

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YouTube Website Bluesky

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Jeremy Benson@jembenson· Jul 13

To avoid the heat of the day yesterday I went for a walk in the ‘golden hour’.

A crop field with a path through the middle of it and a clear sky above

A tree whose branches and leaves frame the distant, parched field beyond. There is a wooden fence in the foreground.

It’s nearly sunset. A fence at the bottom of the picture. A tree to the left whose trunk is picked out by the light. A sense of languid calm.

Sunset makes the bottom of the sky glow orange. At the far end of a field a ragged line of trees on the horizon. Branches to the left of the picture.

Jeremy Benson@jembenson· Jul 13

Here’s one from a few years ago

Water paints an abstract picture of grey and blue

Jeremy Benson@jembenson· Jul 13

Golden hour stile, last night. @lakesstiles.bsky.social

A wooden stile in the warm glow of sunset framed by trees, with a field behind

Jeremy Benson@jembenson· Jul 12

A great tradition.

Salvador Dali’s ‘The Persistence of Memory’

Jeremy Benson@jembenson· Jul 11

Here’s the original poem. I wrote about writing poems here: jembenson.substack.com/p/poetic-sto...

Sonnet XXXI: Time’s Pages

Now time says turn a page: which slides, then peeks
ahead, and rustling, arches, moves us on,
announces change, like whirring, ancient creaks
of chimes preparing tolls for what has gone.

So dark ink dries, and soon will fade and blur
on pages closed with sighs: but footnotes chime
insistently, those little things-that-were
make poignant pangs, small glimpses lost in time.

The peaks to come will tower here: await
unwrittens shaped by imprints from the past,
as old-time’s echoes seep on pages straight
ahead, but covered up: the watch holds fast -

Till scratching pen and eyes that glisten fill
that life-bound future, ticking on, unstill.

(October 2021)

Jeremy Benson@jembenson· Jul 11

When my daughter went to university nearly five years ago I was in my @imcmillan.bsky.social inspired sonnet-writing phase, and I wrote a poem for her. And my son asked whether I’d write one for him too, and he’s just about to graduate, so I did.

Sonnet XLIX: Noon of Life

It’s twelve, the sun is overhead: so sound
the morning-ending chimes, and fly into
the afternoon! - go follow cables round
the world, and mix up skies of bold and blue…

You planted record roots, long routes of rail
replacements, chocolate buttons sounding sweet;
and every year, from flat to flat, your trail
of student vinyl never missed a beat…

Before the golden sunset, time to make
a noise, turn rainbows into earwaves: go
show Ronnie’s everything you know, and wake
up London, share that music’s timeless glow…

Now all is sound; each hour from here will bring
audacious colours: twist and let them sing…

(July 2026 - for Sam)

Jeremy Benson@jembenson· Jul 10

A picture a week for 2026: 28

The Coventry Canal near Atherstone. Horizontal lines of puffy clouds in an otherwise clear blue February sky are reflected in the clear waters of the canal, as is a tree bare of leaves. The opposite bank makes a mostly-green triangle across the middle of the picture.

Jeremy Benson@jembenson· Jul 10

#FingerpostFriday Hannington

An old-fashioned three-way signpost, with a square black and white striped pole and writing in sturdy black capital letters, at Hannington in Northamptonshire. There is a stone wall with a slate roof behind, and a low hedge beneath has been carefully cut round the signpost. The signpost has directions to Holcot, Brixworth, Northampton, Orlingbury, Isham, Kettering, Walgrave, Old and Lamport. There is also a modern addition to the sigpost, directing to a Pocket Park.

Jeremy Benson@jembenson· Jul 9

#AdoorableThursday

Six lichen-covered stone steps lead up to a small dark door covered in metal studs tucked away at the side of the church in Weldon, Northamptonshire.

Jeremy Benson@jembenson· Jul 8

Here’s a picture of Charles Jennens, Leicestershire landowner and patron and librettist for GF Handel, which is in the Foundling Museum in Brunswick Square, London.

Oil painting of Charles Jennens with a yellow wall behind. He looks how you would expect for an C18th landowner: seated with a stern expression, white wig and a thick blue coat.

Jeremy Benson@jembenson· Jul 5

93-4 off 14. #T20Worldcup

Jeremy Benson@jembenson· Jul 5

Australia have won the toss and will bowl. #t20worldcup

Jeremy Benson@jembenson· Jul 5

I’ll be going to my first ever World Cup Final today, at a sold-out Lord’s. England have been brilliant this tournament, and have won every game - but so have the formidable Australians. So while England are underdogs, and I’m not letting myself get too hopeful, we have a real chance. 🙏 🏏 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 🇦🇺

Clouds over the final group game at the Oval last weekend.

Jeremy Benson@jembenson· Jul 4

Lyveden New Bield in east Northamptonshire. Local recusant landowner Sir Thomas Tresham desgined it to symbolise his Catholic faith, but it remained unfinished at his death in 1605, and has been virtually unaltered since then. The symbols involved in his design remain unexplained.

Looking up at the unfinished walls inside Lyveden New Bield

Jeremy Benson@jembenson· Jul 3

A picture a week for 2026: 27

A group of trees silhouetted on the distant horizon, framed by brooding clouds. The bottom third of the picture - the land ahead - is completely dark.

Jeremy Benson@jembenson· Jul 3

Yes but look at the cathedral!

Jeremy Benson@jembenson· Jul 3

I’d say it gets in on the cathedral alone, like St David’s!

Jeremy Benson@jembenson· Jul 2

Here is the Hansard record of the exchange. I have two questions: 1. Was there a box note? 2. If the Minister had somehow got the score wrong, would it have been corrected in Hansard?

Extract from Lords Hansard:

…Environmental remediation, pension obligations and historic liabilities can amount to very substantial sums. The Government are using taxpayers' money, and Parliament should be able to scrutinise the liabilities assumed alongside the compensation and support provided. For those reasons, the amendments make a valuable contribution to transparency and accountability, and I look forward to the Minister's response.

Lord Leong (Lab)
My Lords, just to update the Committee, we are 2-1 up.

Lord Hunt of Wirral (Con)
It was Harry Kane.

Lord Leong (Lab)
Harry Kane, thank you.
The noble Lord, Lord Fox, has several amendments in relation to the compensation provisions in the Bill. I appreciate his careful attention to detail, which is a key aspect of this Bill, and will respond to the points raised in order. I will preface these points by noting that, if introduced, compensation regulations will be subject to the affirmative procedure, thereby providing opportunities for parliamentary scrutiny….

Jeremy Benson@jembenson· Jul 1

#LCFC

Jeremy Benson@jembenson· Jun 28

Yeah I came to the same conclusion when I wrote a thing about VAR last year, to try and work out what I thought: I started off the piece broadly favourable and ended up deeply sceptical… jembenson.substack.com/p/am-i-wrong...

Screenshot of a paragraph of my Substack piece about VAR, which reads:

‘And I was guilty of taking it as read that the most important thing about the laws of football is that they can be and are applied accurately and consistently. But I realise that’s not the case. They’re not criminal laws, so they don’t shape society or determine whether people go to prison. Football is not a matter of life and death. Our ambition should be for a game that is fair, competitive and entertaining, and the laws of football should be at the service of that; we should aim for accuracy in the application of the laws only to the extent that it supports that objective. The costs and complexities introduced to try and make VAR work have ended up out of proportion to the problem they were trying to solve.’

Jeremy Benson@jembenson· Jun 27

England win by 9 wickets. That was fun! Onto the semis… 🤞 🏏

Jeremy Benson@jembenson· Jun 27

England 138-1 after 15. New Zealand seem deflated.

Jeremy Benson@jembenson· Jun 27

Don’t want to tempt fate but England are making this look easy so far, with some powerful hitting: 65-1 after seven overs, well ahead of the rate. We’re off for rain though.

Jeremy Benson@jembenson· Jun 27

New Zealand now 126-5 in the 16th. They upped the scoring rate impressively but pegged back by two quick wickets, including an impressive direct hit runout.

Jeremy Benson@jembenson· Jun 27

New Zealand 74-3 off 11 overs. Which is not really good enough from their point of view. 🏏

Jeremy Benson@jembenson· Jun 27

The Oval, getting ready for World Cup cricket.

To the left, one of the Oval’s floodlights. To the right, the pavilion in early evening sunshine, taken from the opposite side of the ground

Jeremy Benson@jembenson· Jun 26

A picture a week for 2026: 26

The Grand Union canal at Foxton, from a bridge. Trees to either side, the towpath to the left, and the reflection of the morning sun in the canal makes a triangle in the middle of the picture.

Jeremy Benson@jembenson· Jun 26

#FingerpostFriday

A slightly shabby three-way signpost on a grass verge near Holcot in Northamptonshire. One or two of the letters are missing. It has directions to Brixworth, Northampton, Hannington, Orlingbury, Walgrave and Kettering.

Jeremy Benson@jembenson· Jun 26

End of an era today as I drive to Birmingham to help my son move out of a student flat for the last time. Since his sister started studying there nearly 5 years ago we’ve made countless such trips. Not saying I’ll miss the A38, but we have fond memories of a city that’s been a big part of our lives.

White van with open doors waiting in the sunshine to be filled with my son’s stuff yesterday. We’ll be back again today.

Jeremy Benson@jembenson· Jun 25

Every hometown’s got the ominous megastructure, what’s yours?