‘Hungry City’
If you are interested in how the food system works in the developed world, and how it could or should work, allow me to recommend Hungry City: How Food Shapes Our Lives. I was very hyped to read this book, and when I finally acquired my own (second-hand) copy, it was just as thought-provoking as…
Clarifying the Commonwealth, 2025 edit
This post, and the one before it about the monarchy, were originally written in 2021 as ‘how it IS because’ posts, but now, in 2025, they are ‘how it was’ and could use an update to reflect some recent changes. This time we address the Commonwealth, which has a new Head, one less Realm, and…
De-mystifying the Monarchy, 2025 edit
Back in 2021 I wrote two posts, one on the Monarchy and one on the Commonwealth, just clarifying and demystifying both subjects, because they are both widely misunderstood and spoken of in overly generalised terms, and I’m so tired of it. Four years on from those initial posts (not the first on those subjects!), I…
‘Having Fun Isn’t Hard When You’ve Got A Library Card’
Today is a miscellanea of food history, Anglo-Icelandic interactions, and a French law. What do they have in common? I learned about all of these things from books I decided to read for fun from the library. So, hurrah for libraries. Also, if you understand what the title of the post is a reference to,…
Chipping Away at Ignorance, One Word at a Time
As you will know if you have been reading this blog for a while, I am a defender of the monarchy and Commonwealth (to be clear, I mean the monarchy based in the UK). I understand how both institutions work in the present day and am continuing to refine that understanding, so that I can…
Emily’s Victoria
Have you ever heard of the artist Emily Carr? If you live outside Canada, there is a good chance you haven’t. She was a painter from Victoria, known for capturing the landscapes and indigenous culture of British Columbia’s coast. Her style was bold and untraditional, influenced by the time she spent training abroad, and later…
‘The New is in the Old Concealed, the Old is in the New Revealed’
The title of this post is a quote from St Augustine of Hippo; he was speaking about the Old and New Testaments when he said this, sometime around 400 AD, but it also appears in an unrelated context in the book I am going to talk about, and in fact sums up the message of…
[placeholder for now]
This is largely a placeholder post, to say that I have not abandoned the blog, just been busy with other projects this year. I have also read a lot, and it has given me a lot of ideas for new posts. I am currently going through the many notes I took on one of the…
Where Does the Food Come From?
You know I love that map of York from 1852. It has featured in, and often inspired, some previous posts on here. One day I’d like it in a big frame on my wall. Anyway, one of the things I kept noticing on the map, especially down around the Fishergate area, and just a little…
The Mystery Grave
The post before this one was all about York Cemetery, my favourite place in York. That one talked briefly about the history of the cemetery and the context for its establishment. This post is part two, about some of the points of interest within the cemetery (that I think are interesting, at least). The first…
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How It Was Because 