Bob Melling
@bobmelling.bsky.social
Low Salience, Huddersfield
Proverbs 7:7
Proverbs 7:7
Reposted by Bob Melling
Fascinating essay on *why* some cultures are terrified of reheating rice and others just...do it every day.
The justification cycle - racialised thinking, call to science, appeal to long past and/or 'traditional' wisdom - seems universal for this sort of food story #histFood
The justification cycle - racialised thinking, call to science, appeal to long past and/or 'traditional' wisdom - seems universal for this sort of food story #histFood
Grain of Terror
Why is the Western world so afraid of reheating rice? Joe Zadeh reports. Illustration by Ibrahim Rayintakath
open.substack.com
January 19, 2026 at 6:58 PM
Fascinating essay on *why* some cultures are terrified of reheating rice and others just...do it every day.
The justification cycle - racialised thinking, call to science, appeal to long past and/or 'traditional' wisdom - seems universal for this sort of food story #histFood
The justification cycle - racialised thinking, call to science, appeal to long past and/or 'traditional' wisdom - seems universal for this sort of food story #histFood
Reposted by Bob Melling
Most conscious American:
January 19, 2026 at 12:33 PM
Most conscious American:
Good to know that in the post-apocalypse dystopian London of Afterburn someone from TfL still does the rounds keeping the bus stop flags nice and clean.
January 18, 2026 at 11:27 AM
Good to know that in the post-apocalypse dystopian London of Afterburn someone from TfL still does the rounds keeping the bus stop flags nice and clean.
Reposted by Bob Melling
S106 just shouldn’t exist. Symptom of broken discretionary planning system. MSA MDCs and/or Master Developers should be buying the land for new towns/extensions, zoning for growth, sorting out the master plan, building the roads/sewers etc and selling off the plots. Allocates risk so much better.
January 17, 2026 at 11:44 AM
S106 just shouldn’t exist. Symptom of broken discretionary planning system. MSA MDCs and/or Master Developers should be buying the land for new towns/extensions, zoning for growth, sorting out the master plan, building the roads/sewers etc and selling off the plots. Allocates risk so much better.
Reposted by Bob Melling
Councillors reject their own council’s proposals for a Garden Village on empty fields next to TWO train stations on a line with 2tph into Manchester Picadilly (journey time 17m).
Uncertainty clouds Godley Green aspirations - Place North West
An amended application for Tameside’s proposed 2,150-home garden village has been rejected by councillors, throwing the flagship project off track.
www.placenorthwest.co.uk
January 17, 2026 at 10:11 AM
Councillors reject their own council’s proposals for a Garden Village on empty fields next to TWO train stations on a line with 2tph into Manchester Picadilly (journey time 17m).
Reposted by Bob Melling
That takes me back. www.elegantthemes.com/blog/tips-tr...
January 16, 2026 at 10:31 AM
That takes me back. www.elegantthemes.com/blog/tips-tr...
Reposted by Bob Melling
2/2 ...and natural flood management to benefit our customers and local communities. We are delighted to be working with Moors for the Future Partnership to achieve our shared vision for the next 5 years".
Read the press release: www.moorsforthefuture.org.uk/the-latest
Read the press release: www.moorsforthefuture.org.uk/the-latest
The Latest | Moors for the Future
News and events | Moors for the Future
www.moorsforthefuture.org.uk
January 16, 2026 at 8:27 AM
2/2 ...and natural flood management to benefit our customers and local communities. We are delighted to be working with Moors for the Future Partnership to achieve our shared vision for the next 5 years".
Read the press release: www.moorsforthefuture.org.uk/the-latest
Read the press release: www.moorsforthefuture.org.uk/the-latest
Reposted by Bob Melling
1/2 We're working in partnership to achieve a shared vision for our biggest programme yet, Moor Resilience 2030. United Utilities is one of the programme partners.
James Airton, Estates and Land Manager for UU said: "We are committed to investing in better water quality, biodiversity...(con't)
James Airton, Estates and Land Manager for UU said: "We are committed to investing in better water quality, biodiversity...(con't)
January 16, 2026 at 8:25 AM
1/2 We're working in partnership to achieve a shared vision for our biggest programme yet, Moor Resilience 2030. United Utilities is one of the programme partners.
James Airton, Estates and Land Manager for UU said: "We are committed to investing in better water quality, biodiversity...(con't)
James Airton, Estates and Land Manager for UU said: "We are committed to investing in better water quality, biodiversity...(con't)
Rename NPR as S(uper)TRU.
Gift for headline writers, the government can STRU money about the North of England.
Gift for headline writers, the government can STRU money about the North of England.
Agree largely. A 20yr, ~£2.2bn/yr enhancement fund for railways in the North has the best chance of improvements to supply chains to deliver as well as avoid risk of cuts/delays that HS2 scale annual budget bulges (£7bn this year) create. A rolling, expanded TRU fund under local influence is good.
Britain’s HS2 rail project was appallingly managed. But the basic idea was sound. The government seems to have learned from past errors with its latest strategy
January 16, 2026 at 10:35 AM
Rename NPR as S(uper)TRU.
Gift for headline writers, the government can STRU money about the North of England.
Gift for headline writers, the government can STRU money about the North of England.
Reposted by Bob Melling
‘War for Greenland is boring, let’s talk about the Tories’ is genuinely the weirdest thing for a former ambassador *to Denmark* to say, apart from anything else
This intro to David Frost's Telegraph column sums up so much that is wrong with British politics.
January 16, 2026 at 9:37 AM
‘War for Greenland is boring, let’s talk about the Tories’ is genuinely the weirdest thing for a former ambassador *to Denmark* to say, apart from anything else
Reposted by Bob Melling
Captain Brewer, the paynter, tells me how highly the Presbyters do talk in the coffeehouses still, which I wonder at.
January 16, 2026 at 8:00 AM
Captain Brewer, the paynter, tells me how highly the Presbyters do talk in the coffeehouses still, which I wonder at.
Reposted by Bob Melling
The next person who complains that "Kirklees was never part of Huddersfield" can go suck on the fact that the voters of Clifton (inc. Sir George Armytage of Kirklees) were within the 1848 Huddersfield Polling District 😜
January 15, 2026 at 3:15 PM
The next person who complains that "Kirklees was never part of Huddersfield" can go suck on the fact that the voters of Clifton (inc. Sir George Armytage of Kirklees) were within the 1848 Huddersfield Polling District 😜
What arrangement of dust in your skull leads you to accuse a journalist who has been covering this for so long, and so well, of ripping off someone else's work?
January 15, 2026 at 10:46 AM
What arrangement of dust in your skull leads you to accuse a journalist who has been covering this for so long, and so well, of ripping off someone else's work?
UK infrastructure projects really connect you to a sense of your own mortality.
January 15, 2026 at 10:36 AM
UK infrastructure projects really connect you to a sense of your own mortality.
Reposted by Bob Melling
After years in limbo since Rishi Sunak cut HS2 in 2023, NPR is finally properly defined again.
The government has committed £45bn across three phases, with backing from Northern mayors.
With the right planning and work, this should be a foundation for real action.
2/9
The government has committed £45bn across three phases, with backing from Northern mayors.
With the right planning and work, this should be a foundation for real action.
2/9
January 15, 2026 at 8:59 AM
After years in limbo since Rishi Sunak cut HS2 in 2023, NPR is finally properly defined again.
The government has committed £45bn across three phases, with backing from Northern mayors.
With the right planning and work, this should be a foundation for real action.
2/9
The government has committed £45bn across three phases, with backing from Northern mayors.
With the right planning and work, this should be a foundation for real action.
2/9
Reposted by Bob Melling
Yesterday's Northern Powerhouse Rail announcement is a big deal for the North of England – with a new Northern Growth Strategy and £45bn for rail attached. I’ve looked into the plan, some history and why it matters below.
🧵 THREAD
1/9
🧵 THREAD
1/9
January 15, 2026 at 8:59 AM
Yesterday's Northern Powerhouse Rail announcement is a big deal for the North of England – with a new Northern Growth Strategy and £45bn for rail attached. I’ve looked into the plan, some history and why it matters below.
🧵 THREAD
1/9
🧵 THREAD
1/9
Middle of a good thread "and TPU, who DID NOT DIE!"
What remained was an isolated promise to Liverpool and Manchester mayors that they could have £17bn of HS2 money to connect their cities. Plus the Transpennine Upgrade - a v important project predating NPR that had drifted for years, but did FINALLY get off the ground - and Bradford station
January 15, 2026 at 8:25 AM
Middle of a good thread "and TPU, who DID NOT DIE!"
Reposted by Bob Melling
Lots of new coverage for the NPR announcement today.
The Policy Paper behind it is worth a read for an understanding of the framework the government is using to think about how to support growth in places across the country.
www.gov.uk/government/p...
The Policy Paper behind it is worth a read for an understanding of the framework the government is using to think about how to support growth in places across the country.
www.gov.uk/government/p...
Northern Growth Strategy: Case for change
www.gov.uk
January 14, 2026 at 4:11 PM
Lots of new coverage for the NPR announcement today.
The Policy Paper behind it is worth a read for an understanding of the framework the government is using to think about how to support growth in places across the country.
www.gov.uk/government/p...
The Policy Paper behind it is worth a read for an understanding of the framework the government is using to think about how to support growth in places across the country.
www.gov.uk/government/p...
Reposted by Bob Melling
Is great that the government has published plans for a new Northern Growth Strategy alongside their £45bn commitment to rail infrastructure.
Transport is important - but what goes on around it is probably more important - whether it’s housing, education or more!
www.gov.uk/government/c...
Transport is important - but what goes on around it is probably more important - whether it’s housing, education or more!
www.gov.uk/government/c...
Northern Growth Strategy
News, documents and guidance relating to the government’s Northern Growth Strategy.
www.gov.uk
January 14, 2026 at 1:05 PM
Is great that the government has published plans for a new Northern Growth Strategy alongside their £45bn commitment to rail infrastructure.
Transport is important - but what goes on around it is probably more important - whether it’s housing, education or more!
www.gov.uk/government/c...
Transport is important - but what goes on around it is probably more important - whether it’s housing, education or more!
www.gov.uk/government/c...
Reposted by Bob Melling
This is daft of the provincial mayor, but the annoying underlying point is that the DfT didn't provide every local official (of all parties) with a personalised media kit for their region to use, and that Labour HQ didn't do the same with partisan messaging. Sheer, non-ideological, incompetence.
January 14, 2026 at 12:55 PM
This is daft of the provincial mayor, but the annoying underlying point is that the DfT didn't provide every local official (of all parties) with a personalised media kit for their region to use, and that Labour HQ didn't do the same with partisan messaging. Sheer, non-ideological, incompetence.
Reposted by Bob Melling
PM Starmer tells Emily Darlington MP he has been informed this morning that "X is now acting to to ensure full compliance with UK law". He welcomes this, if true,
That may/may not turn out to be true re Grok stripping women without consent.
This is demonstrably untrue on racist hate crimes on X
That may/may not turn out to be true re Grok stripping women without consent.
This is demonstrably untrue on racist hate crimes on X
January 14, 2026 at 12:44 PM
PM Starmer tells Emily Darlington MP he has been informed this morning that "X is now acting to to ensure full compliance with UK law". He welcomes this, if true,
That may/may not turn out to be true re Grok stripping women without consent.
This is demonstrably untrue on racist hate crimes on X
That may/may not turn out to be true re Grok stripping women without consent.
This is demonstrably untrue on racist hate crimes on X
My real take on NPR is that as the original form of NPR is cancelled (new LDS - BFD - MNC line) and the plan looks like fast trains from Bradford via Huddersfield, then how do you deal with capacity constraints between Huddersfield and Stalybridge?
January 14, 2026 at 12:01 PM
My real take on NPR is that as the original form of NPR is cancelled (new LDS - BFD - MNC line) and the plan looks like fast trains from Bradford via Huddersfield, then how do you deal with capacity constraints between Huddersfield and Stalybridge?
What the Hell is this map?
January 14, 2026 at 11:02 AM
What the Hell is this map?
Which way West Yorkshire man?
January 13, 2026 at 1:12 PM
Which way West Yorkshire man?