Sally

The photo shows an intricately designed glass figurine in the shape of a stylized fish. The fish is made of transparent, slightly yellow-tinted glass and features numerous decorative details. Its body is adorned with curved elements, including a blue wavy line above a black, round eye. The fins and tail are elaborately shaped, with the tail appearing broad. In the background, another glass figurine resembling an animal is visible. The image has taken in a exhibition setting.

Fascinating world of ancient #glass: This #Roman flask in the form of a fish was found in Cologne, 3rd c. AD. 🐠🐟
We don't know what is was used for, maybe the shape relates to the content (fish sauce), maybe it was used to hold oil.

📷 🏺

I found this deeply reassuring

Me too !

Sagrada Família in Barcelona, Spain

The breathtaking interior view of the Sagrada Família in Barcelona, Spain, looking up from the floor toward the vaulted ceiling.

St John the Baptist's, Matlock Dale is one of several charming Arts and Crafts churches that we care for across England and Wales.

Read the rest of this threat to find out more about this chapel and the Arts and Crafts style.

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Loved this 🇸🇪🏒👇

A sailing boat sales on a calm sea at dusk. The sunset reflects in the water with an orangey glow and mountains are dark in the background.

Today is Candlemas - which is a beautiful name. A chance to celebrate 'the return of light'

Artist: Roger Hall

Treasures found on HS2 route stored in secret warehouse Archaeological finds from the planned HS2 train line have been shown exclusively to the BBC.

Treasures found on HS2 route stored in secret warehouse www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Bad news for WASPI women who definitely deserve better, but also good news for those of us looking forward to seeing Labour collapse at the forthcoming elections because they've entirely alienated their core vote.

Dear Emma, We are writing to invite you to meet with us, cross-party MPs in the River Wye catchment, to discuss how we can make progress in restoring the Wye and tackling flooding. The Wye has been in the headlines since 2020 as a leading victim of river pollution, and also for its increasingly regular and severe floods. Cleaning up the river and reducing flooding are serious challenges which require political leadership, and this is why we’re appealing for your help. The long-awaited Diffuse Water Pollution Plan for the River Wye, produced late last year by the Environment Agency, makes clear that current and projected actions will fall far short of reducing pollution to the necessary levels. It says, especially in the Arrow/Lugg/Frome part of the catchment, that we need to reduce pollution from agriculture by 85%. It models various scenarios which show that even if we had a 100% uptake of regulatory measures, plus 100% uptake of voluntary measures, and converted 30% of arable land to zero-input grassland - we would still only get to a 60% reduction in pollution. And there’s no plan to even get that far, with no timeframe or targets offered. We can’t stand by whilst the Wye continues to decline, without any plan to prevent the pollution or restore the river. We believe the option of a Water Protection Zone (WPZ) ought to be fully evaluated, especially in relation to the worst-affected parts of the catchment, because the issues on the Wye evidently can’t be resolved without special measures. We need catchment-specific regulatory action. We need to ensure this happens across the entire catchment, encompassing Wales as well as England. For example, a WPZ could mandate larger river buffers, stop high-risk activities on high-risk land to prevent extreme soil loss, implement a moratorium on emissions from intensive livestock units, and require authorities to issue penalties when rules are breached. One of the key threats to the Wye is soil run-off. Soil entering the…

practices which are exacerbating flooding, rather than mitigating it. There is a real win-win opportunity to address both flooding and river pollution with one suite of actions which would keep soil on the land, bolstering our food security at the same time. There would also be a significant local financial benefit to supporting farmers to take action to reduce flooding, especially considering the economic costs currently being borne by flooded homes, businesses and infrastructure. We are very keen to meet with you to discuss these matters. Please could you suggest a date and time for such a meeting? We would also appreciate an update on several other related matters: 1: What is happening with the promised £1 million to fund research on the Wye? 2: Why is DEFRA enabling the government to withdraw from Landscape Recovery projects with one year’s notice, when these schemes are intended to be 20-30 year schemes? We have two potential Landscape Recovery schemes on the Wye - Wyescapes and Ridge to River - and this exit clause in the contract is undermining trust for farmers and confidence for investors and risks threatening the viability of the whole scheme. 3: Why is there still no meaningful enforcement of environmental regulations and no consequences for polluting practices? The Environment Agency say they carried out 183 farm inspections in the Wye during 2024/25, of which 78 received "enforcement responses" all of which were either warning letters or site warnings. There were no penalties given out for breaches of environmental regulations, so there is still no meaningful deterrent for polluters. Thank you for your time and consideration. We are grateful for the time you’ve already spent on the Wye, and look forward to working with you to accelerate progress on such efforts. We look forward to your reply. Yours sincerely Dr Ellie Chowns MP Member of Parliament for North Herefordshire Jesse Norman MP Member of Parliament for Hereford and South Herefordshire Dav…

Together with cross-party MPs in the River Wye catchment, I wrote to the Minister for Water and Flooding to request a meeting to discuss how we can make progress in restoring the Wye and tackling flooding.

We cannot stand by whilst the Wye continues to decline.

Wall of glass Stairway to heaven. Our next finalist ....

The term ‘wall of glass’ is overused today, but at Gloucester it is a medieval reality. Between 1345 and 1355 the quire of St Peter’s Abbey (now Gloucester Cathedral) was remodelled to make it a fit resting place for King Edward II.

Photograph from 1911 taken by Herbert Ponting whilst with Scott's Antarctic Expedition The monochrome photo is taken from within a cave. The walls of the cave are made of ice. The cave entrance is in the mid distance with two figures standing looking out towards a distant ship. Between them and the ship there is first a 'beach' of ice before the sea itself. The ship could be up to 800 metres away What makes the photo so special is that where the figures are at the cave entrance there is a band of very white snow and ice (contrasting with the comparatively dark inside of the cave) that creates a stark framework in which the men and the ship are captured. It is made even more dramatic by the fact that the cave entrance is at least 30 metres high and is in the shape of a distorted elipse with the tail sloping off to the right at the top of the elipse The photo being in monochrome in a largely white environment makes the photographers skill all the more laudable

This photo was taken in 1911 using glass plate technology by Herbert Ponting who was part of Scott's Antarctic expedition,

The composition and detail are exquisite with the band of white snow/ice creating a perfect frame around the two people and the ship in the distance

Iconic imo

Questionnaire about AI and loneliness for my daughter's psychology dissertation

Hi everyone.. I need a big favour please! ❤️
Could you please complete this survey for my daughter's psychology dissertation. 🙏
I've done it, it's easy, multiple choice answers & click submit at the end! 😊
It only takes a couple of minutes.
Here;
app.onlinesurveys.jisc.ac.uk/s/plymouth/d...

If you’re feeling down, stressed, anxious or frightened about the situation take a walk with me up my farm track. Every year the foxgloves are full of bees living their best lives. Drink it in and give yourself a break, being you is enough! Nature is the best medicine 🩷🩷🩷

The Denny windows at Tewkesbury Abbey aren’t just windows – they are emotion, filtered through light.

I was lucky enough to photograph Tom Denny at work in his home studio. More here: www.digest.andymarsh...

In Australia, after his team won the championship,
the football captain went into the stands to bring Sammy,
their waterboy who has Down's Syndrome, to celebrate with them.

Snow in the North, painting by Emmanuel Levy, 1900-86 (Danum Gallery, Doncaster).

Inhale

Stockbridge Village Christmas Support | Collctiv Knowsley food aid organisations have been badly hit by the demise of the Knowsley Foodbank distributer. We are raising ££ to help the Stockbridge Village pantry give people a nicer Christmas.

Thank you for your kind donations to help out the Stockbridge Village pantry & food bank affected by the Big Help/ Knowsley Food Bank scandal. Be super grateful for reposts. pay.collctiv.com/stockbridge-...

Okay, here we go.

Health & care staff are no longer allowed a Covid booster, but they're still expected to look after COVID+ patients.

NHS/govt is reneging on its duty of care. Staff will become unwell, and patients too will suffer.

You know what to do
👇✍️
petition.parliament.uk/petitions/74...

Say no to bullying of NHS staff Treatment of striking NHS staff This helps to explain the treatment of NHS workers on strike in Gloucestershire in recent months.  A small but mighty group of workers have been on strike since...

I just learnt that over £100,000 of NHS funds have been wasted on defending bullying instead of paying frontline staff fairly.

Sign the petition to demand that Gloucestershire Hospitals Trust investigate how their CEO, Kevin McNamara, treats NHS staff. www.megaphone.org.uk/petitions/sa...

I think Australia would be more successful if they tried using their bats rather than their elbows.

@tonynicol3.bsky.social

Petition: Taking refugees’ jewellery: stop the cruelty I’ve just signed to support this campaign – join me

The plan to take jewellery from refugees is a new low for the Labour government. Sign the petition: r.ippl.es/refugees-jew...

Just a heads up on what your local foodbanks would love to collect for the Christmas parcels x

The 12 photos that make up my 2026 botanical calendars-looking at each image is very likely to alleviate anxiety & lift mood

There are still a few of my '26 calendars left in this final printrun.I create each of my 📷s using recent research into the beneficial effects on the brain of looking at plants & items arranged neatly.
Each calendar's 12 high quality frameable prints-make smashing gifts:
www.etsy.com/uk/shop/silv...

Clear out toys now!

Love being reminded to do this every year. It's a win/win all round

Save NHS dentistry now! I just signed the 38 Degrees petition calling on the Government to properly fund NHS dentistry. Millions of us are still struggling to access affordable dental care, so now the Government needs to stu...

Millions of us are still struggling to access affordable NHS dental care. I’ve signed 38 Degrees’ petition demanding Keir Starmer properly funds NHS dentistry now, will you join me? you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/fu...