I often retweet links on Twitter and other social media that look interesting and here is a mix from the latest newsletter and recent past issues.
These are typically in the areas of history, wildlife and the environment. For more ideas, if you wish you can follow me on Twitter at @meteowriternews and/or Instagram at the same address. I’d also be happy to know if any links are no longer valid.
October 2020 newsletter
1. I recently stumbled across the Terrible Maps Twitter feed, which is fun to dip into occasionally. It contains a mixture of the absurd and informative, as shown by these examples:
2. If you are interested in geology, landscape, and human influences, you may like this site, which gives ideas for getting out and about to find out more.
3. On that theme, and spotted by @DustyTeapot, this is a great idea from the Museum of Liverpool, namely an interactive map allowing you to explore Liverpool’s medieval past.
4.These Low Tide Trails from Citizan are another great idea, with two in Merseyside so far, on Liverpool Docks and New Brighton. There are others too, such as from Kent, Humberside and Devon.
5. Can a bird really fly 12,000km non stop in 11 days? Well, the answer is yes and you can occasionally see this species along the north Wirral shores:
6. If you are interested in the Mersey’s tidal bore, this is one of the best videos that I’ve seen of it. It occasionally occurs on the highest tides between Hale Head and Warrington:
September 2020 newsletter
Here is this month’s choice of articles; there is no particular theme other than that they seemed interesting or extraordinary in some way:
1. Some footage of an extraordinary trial by the Great North Air Ambulance Service for paramedics to use a jetpack to reach casualties in the Lake District fells. There’s a video at the end of the article.
2. Could fusion power be just around the corner, and a solution to many of our environmental problems?
3. With some fabulous sightings of the Northern Lights this month (see @WallaseyYachtC for example), even at our latitude, this BGS site gives space weather forecasts as a guide to when they might occur.
4. and this one from Lancaster University does too.
5. During the current crisis, some city authorities are taking the chance for a radical change to how people live, hopefully for the better.
6. Liverpool Cathedral, the largest in the UK and the fifth largest in the world, is in the top 10% of tourist attractions worldwide.
7. Liverpool’s Overhead Railway, opened in the 1890s and closed in the 1950s, was the first overhead electric railway in the world, and the first with a passenger escalator at a railway station
August 2020 newsletter
I find it fascinating to see old images of life in the past and the first photographs and moving images were made well over a hundred years ago. Paintings and engravings can date back even further.
Here is a selection of sites which include images from Liverpool and Wirral and there are more which I’ll collate for a future blog post.
1. The Williamson Art Gallery & Museum has recently been posting images on Twitter of some wonderful old paintings and engravings of life in Birkenhead and the Wirral in the 1800s:
Williamson Art Gallery & Museum
I’ve retweeted several myself.
2. From a recent Channel 5 documentary, I learnt that French cinematography pioneers, the Lumiere Brothers, took the first known moving picture images of Liverpool in the 1890s, including of Lime Street station and the Port of Liverpool. Here is one example from a catalogue of their work and you can find more from an online search:
3. Historic England’s Britain from Above website has many fascinating copyrighted images from the early to mid 1900s of areas around the Mersey Estuary, including of New Brighton’s former tower, the former transporter bridge at the Runcorn Gap, and of other now long gone sights at the Port of Liverpool:
4. Some other good places to look for historic photos of Liverpool, Wirral and the Mersey include the Twitter feeds of the following people: @YOliverpool, Liverpool: Then and Now (@keithjones84), @liverpool1207, The Corn Poppy (@phil_oates), Liverpool Fragments (@Waite99D), @thedustyteapot, @angiesliverpool and @oldpicposter.
July 2020 newsletter
1. An article on efforts to secure the marine environment of the Dee and Mersey estuaries: Cheshire Wildlife Trust, spotted on Twitter by Wallasey Yacht Club.
2. Peat mosses were once common in northwest England, such as between Manchester and Warrington and around Morecambe Bay. This interesting article by Ann Lingard describes efforts to restore those around the Solway Firth.
3. A really interesting Twitter thread from Yo! Liverpool Pics about walking the original seven streets of Liverpool laid out in the 13th century.
4. A great article about taking the day off in New Brighton on the Wirral from one of my favourite blogs: A Sense of Place by Ronnie Hughes
5. This tale of an early balloon flight in Liverpool was spotted by Liverpool_1207 and remarkably took place in 1785.
6. A fascinating article on how the Museum of Liverpool was only completed once the first exhibit had been installed: a motor coach from the overhead railway that once ran alongside the docks and was a huge innovation for its time.
7. A link to Mersey Waves, a series of podcasts from Liverpool City Council that ‘dive in to a variety of topics – from music and film, culture and climate change right though to history, heritage and health.’
8. A virtual Low Tide Trail of Liverpool Docks, which is a great idea for bringing history to life which was spotted by Martin Greaney, and created by Chris Kolonko, a CITiZAN North Community Archaeologist.
9. And finally, this short video with more than a million views was from a sports commentator who thought that he might as well put the notes he planned to use at the Olympic Opening Ceremony to good use.
June 2020 newsletter
1. The pleasure tower once at New Brighton at the mouth of the Mersey Estuary, which was higher than Blackpool Tower: New Brighton Tower
2. A stray vulture spotted in the west Midlands! Vulture
3. Chairs of three agencies advocate a green recovery: Green recovery
4. Names for people who read a lot: Book readers
5. Historic travel posters from Merseyside Maritime Museum: Travel posters
6. Skiing on the longest day of the year: Skiing video
7. How the coronavirus may reshape architecture: New York Times article
8. Salmon and trout can now swim as far as Accrington: Video
9. A 2,800 mile footpath due soon: Coastal footpath
10. Timelapse of the UK’s only named wind: Helm wind
11. Missing Roman forts identified during drought: Roman forts
May 2020 newsletter
1. Although we can’t go to the cinema for now, here’s another idea that’s being floated: Drive-in cinemas
2. For museums, perhaps the best time to document an event for future generations is as it happens: How communities are responding
3. Wastewater monitoring provides a possible way to track the spread of the virus, with trials worldwide: Wastewater testing
4. David Attenborough is going to publish a witness-statement on the climate crisis: David Attenborough
5. Ten suggestions for the best books about mountains for a virtual climb:
Mountain books
6. A new short film which asks six walkers, runners and climbers to recall a special day in the hills: Six special days in the hills
7. Suggested back catalogues of some of the world’s greatest popular musicians: Greatest musicians
8. Using drones to estimate wildlife numbers: Drones and wildlife
9. The return of the pine martin: Pine martin return
10. Exploring the links between coast and sea, loch, river, mountain and shoreline: Land and water
11. Helping to understand climate change from photographic, social media and other archives: iEcology
12. Some of the best wildlife live streams to watch from around the world: Wildlife livestreams