SBlandfo

@sblandfo

Poet. Nature, conservation, history, archaeology, art, architecture, politics & the pleasures of reading. Doyenne of #IronworkThursday. Still #yallmasking

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SBlandfo@sblandfo· 14d

Dear @romanpalace.bsky.social - it’s been 2 months now, don’t you think it’s time you started putting out that “new content” you promised us? (You had a great social media account and loads of happy followers - and it looks like you threw it all away?)

Hoard of Roman coins spilling out of a broken ceramic vessel, a hoard found at Fishbourne.

SBlandfo@sblandfo· 17d

The new venue for #Womad Festival at Neston Park in #Wiltshire is beautiful - a spacious site of gently rolling grassland dotted with woodland. And a sunflower field…

Close up of large sunflower in a field of sunflowers and other plants, with the blue and white Big Top tent and trees in the background.

A huge and beautiful mature oak tree towers over the Big Top tent against a bright blue sky dotted with cloud.

SBlandfo@sblandfo· 19d

#Poet Simon Armitage was on great form at #Womad this afternoon and drew a large crowd. #poetry #AltText

Poet Laureate Simon Armitage stands at the microphone in a green floral shirt and shorts in front of a bunting-decked tent as a crowd of festival goers look on attentively.

SBlandfo@sblandfo· 20d

Do you think this is a worked flint? It is about 6cm long. #archaeology #FindsFriday

Two faces of a shaped piece of flint in cream to chocolate colours.

SBlandfo@sblandfo· 27d

Focus isn’t too great but this #robin was singing its heart out. #BlueSky #BirdOfTheDay #AltText

SBlandfo@sblandfo· Jul 3

Detail of the #font in St James’s Church in #Avebury #Wiltshire described there as “an old #Saxon tub of C8th or C9th originally plain sided but about 1120AD carved by a very rustic sculptor from Normandy and shows Christ trampling on dragons, a common medieval depiction”. #FontsOnFriday

The grey stonework is quite deeply carved and shows stylised foliage and indistinct creatures. From traces of paint found on it, it was reportedly painted in bright colours. The flat wooden cover is modern, made in 1942.

SBlandfo@sblandfo· Jul 3

I defy any normal person to work this out for their household. Even an accountant or economist might struggle. #Water companies are simply making it impossible for people to get help! (Click to see whole image or see ALT text.)

Definition of Equivalised

Equivalised refers to the adjustment of household income to account for differences in household size and composition. This adjustment allows for a more accurate comparison of living standards among different households.

How Equivalisation Works

Weighting System

Household members are assigned different weightings based on their age and relationship to the household. The most commonly used scales include:

Calculation Process

1. Sum Incomes: All disposable incomes from household members are added together.

2. Apply Weightings: The total income is divided by the sum of the weightings assigned to each member.

3. Result: This results in an equivalised income that reflects the economic resources available to the household, adjusted for size and composition.
Household Member
Weighting Value

First adult (14+)
1.0

Additional adults (14+)
0.5

Children (under 14)
0.3

SBlandfo@sblandfo· Jun 30

For #TilesOnTuesday, this mural about the Mediaeval Marketplace in Abergavenny, #Wales - it reads “Thanks to pupils of Gilwern Primary School for assisting with the research and the 18 anonymous medieval artists and tile makers for creating the original images. Ceramic by Ned Heywood”

A panel of 9 square tiles in a block of 3 by 3 with a wider rectangular green tile below with the text quoted in the post. The square tiles are decorated in yellow and grey against a very dark brown background. They show scenes of mediaeval daily life, particularly farming, including beekeeping.

SBlandfo@sblandfo· Jun 28

“Fear no more the #heat o' th' #sun Nor the furious winters' rages; Thou thy worldly task hast done, Home art gone, and ta'en thy wages”. “Cymbeline” Act 4, scene 2, l. 258 (1609-10) #ShakespeareSunday

SBlandfo@sblandfo· Jun 28

Here is the little Anglican Church in Foochow (Fuzhou) in Fukien province, China, and its churchyard where her original tombstone - beautifully depicted on the brass memorial in Clapham - presumably stood. I wonder if it survives…

Detail cropped from a black and white photograph taken by John Thomson in 1870/1871. The small stone church perched on a hill is built in traditional nineteenth-century and very English-looking architecture. A Chinese house with a low wall round its grounds is just to one side. Image in the Public Domain, via the Wellcome Collection.

SBlandfo@sblandfo· Jun 28

Given that Florence was the Lamb’s eldest daughter, do you think this Benjamin Lamb born just two years later is her brother, named Benjamin after his father? (Image (c) findagrave.com )

Monochrome screen grab from website lists basic genealogical data for a Benjamin Lamb born in Selby, North Yorkshire, in 1876. He died in 1939, aged 63, still in Yorkshire.

SBlandfo@sblandfo· Jun 28

This is a fascinating memorial - so interesting about this young woman’s work with the Zenana #Missionary Society. I wonder if the Sharp Peak where she drowned was this beautiful one in Hong Kong? (photo (c) Yuk Kwan Kenny Chiu)

Looking down across steep grass land and forest from Sharp Peak to a beautiful white sand beach in an unspoilt bay below. No roads or houses in sight.

SBlandfo@sblandfo· Jun 26

Not strictly a #FingerPost - more of a #RoadSign - but I feel the terse but heartfelt “Ignore your Satnav” someone has added could qualify it for #FingerPostFriday

In a tangled woodland with no sign of an actual road stands an official black and white road sign saying “No through road for motor vehicles”. Underneath, someone has added a professionally printed but unofficial blue and white sign saying in capital letters “Ignore your SatNav”.

SBlandfo@sblandfo· Jun 14

For #SuperSeabirdSunday my best image is this gull who photobombed me above the #Roman Forum - I think it’s a yellow-legged gull, but I’d welcome others’ advice.

Close-up of a beautiful white gull with black-tipped wings and white tail fully deployed for imminent landing, just as it discovered I was standing there taking a panorama on my mobile phone. We were both very startled.

SBlandfo@sblandfo· Jun 8

My phone does now have a sneaky “clean-up” function for getting rid of annoying notices etc

Detail of door at King’s Manor from original post, now with small but noticeable white notice card digitally removed

SBlandfo@sblandfo· Jun 5

The font (“probably late 12th Century”) in #Wimborne Minster, the parish church of Wimborne, #Dorset, for #FontsOnFriday

The font consists of dark grey shallow octagonal stone bowl simply decorated with blank round-headed niches in pairs on each face, supported on a slender stone pillars flanking a central fluted stone column. The font sits on a stone and tiled floor.

SBlandfo@sblandfo· Jun 4

Remember to post your favourite #metalwork images, historical or modern every Thursday to celebrate #IronworkThursday

The sculptor Francis Bird, responsible for several works adorning St Paul's Cathedral, created in 1706 the gilded metal statue of Queen Anne that stands on the facade of the Market House in Kingston-upon-Thames.

SBlandfo@sblandfo· Jun 3

Posting this memorial from the churchyard of Church in Handsworth #Birmingham for Gypsy, Roma and Traveller History Month 2026 #GRTHM26

A polished red marble stone with an engraved depiction in white and red of a traditional Romany camp says ”This stone commemorates the 35 known Romany Gypsies from the Black Patch Enclave that were buried in St Mary’s Churchyard Handsworth between the years 1889 and 1915. They Include Esau Smith (King) laid to rest 11th March 1901 aged 92 and Sentinia (Henty) Smith (Queen) laid to rest 11th January 1907 aged 98. Rest In eternal peace”. At the base are the words “Birmingham Romany Memorial Review Group 2016”.

SBlandfo@sblandfo· Jun 3

Absolutely right! “Excavations on Castle Rock [the site of #Edinburgh #Castle ] have produced material evidence of human occupation from Late #BronzeAge. By the #IronAge, around 600 BC, a recognisable hill fort had been built on the summit” (c) Edinburgh Tourism. #HillfortsWednesday

The buildings of Edinburgh Caste shown perched on the huge upthrust of bedrock that creates a precipitous drop to the valley beneath. This would have formed the protection of the original Iron Age hillfort.

SBlandfo@sblandfo· May 25

St Peter with his key features on this manhole cover from the #German City of #Trier for #ManholeCoverMonday

A well-maintained square manhole cover has a wheel-shaped design in the centre punctured with a ring of small ventilation holes and, in the centre, an attractive depiction of St Peter in a shield shape with the words Stadt Trier below it in capitals.

SBlandfo@sblandfo· May 25

Detail of colourful late C1st to early C2nd AD #Roman #mosaic from Bologna. Details in #AltText #MosaicMonday

Polychrome mosaic from Bologna, excavated in 1928, from the end of 1st century AD to the beginning of the 2nd. Black and white diamond-shaped and rectangular frames enclose a group of cream, reddish-brown, green and blue-black diamonds. Museum caption states that “It represents one of the most valuable floors of Bononia, due to the refined composition and use of polychromy. It was the central carpet of one of the two large triclinia that adorned an extremely rich villa. The villa was placed in the centre of a large agricultural farming estate, extended a few kilometers outside of the city. It was divided into two sections, one devoted to farming activities, the other to residential purposes of the wealthy owners, to which also private baths were attached.”

SBlandfo@sblandfo· May 22

Is this metal object from the hills beyond #Lambourn in Berkshire a possible Trig Point? It seems to have some of the characteristics of one. (Or maybe it’s just an upturned cattle trough.)

Curious cast metal object about a metre high with a rhomboid top and elongated hexagonal sides. It is standing on a dry patch in the surrounding pasture by a wooden fence post.

SBlandfo@sblandfo· May 22

This sign points to Lichfield’s twin cities. #Lichfield was twinned with both Limburg an der Lahn in #Germany and Sainte Foy les Lyon in #France in 1992. These communities were themselves twinned back in the late 1960s in an act of post-WW2 reconciliation. #FingerpostFriday

The blue sign post with two arms and a rounded on top is set against a pale blue sky. Lichfield’s official website says:

“We are proud of our French and German links. Twinning became popular following the Second World War and was encouraged as a means of redeveloping links with other countries and communities.

The process was encouraged to break down barriers and prejudices between nations with the aim that this could help prevent another global conflict.

The three cities twinned together is known as a ring twinning.

Further information on twinning and the cities twinned with Lichfield can be found on the Lichfield City Council website.”

SBlandfo@sblandfo· May 21

As the article says that recent research “has shone compelling new light on the sitters” why not do the same for Boston Jersey himself?

I have cropped the portion of the very dark and indirect portrait in the article and lightened and brightened it so that Boston Jersey, the boy featured in the article, is properly visible.

SBlandfo@sblandfo· May 18

What was that imitation #cat language people used to use a lot on #OldTwitter? And is it still a Thing? #ProofOfCat

Grey cat with a white nose stalks its prey at the foot of a churchyard hedge.

SBlandfo@sblandfo· May 15

I still vividly remember - nearly 50 years ago now (gulp!) - writing textual analysis of this poem by Keats and hoping it (and all the other papers) would be good enough to win me a uni place… [copyright: The Poetry Society]

In drear nighted December by John Keats

In drear nighted December,
Too happy, happy tree,
Thy branches ne'er remember
Their green felicity—
The north cannot undo them
With a sleety whistle through them
Nor frozen thawings glue them
From budding at the prime.

In drear-nighted December,
Too happy, happy brook,
Thy bubblings ne'er remember
Apollo's summer look;
But with a sweet forgetting,
They stay their crystal fretting,
Never, never petting
About the frozen time.

Ah! would 'twere so with many
A gentle girl and boy—
But were there ever any
Writh'd not of passed joy?
The feel of not to feel it,
When there is none to heal it
Nor numbed sense to steel it,
Was never said in rhyme.

SBlandfo@sblandfo· May 11

I love this #Seattle City Light manhole cover reflecting the style of Northwest Coast #FirstNations art traditionally created by Haida, Tlingit, and Kwakwaka'wakw artists. #ManholecoverMonday

This elegant stylised design may include traditional motifs like ravens or whales - it’s quite hard to interpret. Wikipedia says “Northwest Coast First Nations art is a highly stylized, renowned tradition featuring complex "formline" motifs… to honor animal and supernatural spirits”.

SBlandfo@sblandfo· May 8

18 species? That’s amazing. Are these tiny creatures some kind of #ladybird too? (Standard-sized dandelion, #insects about 2-3mm.)

Close-up of dandelion flower with two tiny yellowy-orange insects with minuscule brown spots at the centre.

SBlandfo@sblandfo· Apr 21

Reposting these handsome #tiles with #AltText (as my automatic reminder to add it to images had accidentally been turned off).

Worn floor tile broken into several pieces but re-assembled and still showing an attractive geometrical design of diamond shapes in brown and cream against a warm terracotta orange background.

SBlandfo@sblandfo· Mar 22

Ring-necked parakeet, maybe?