Lizzie Speller
@l1zz1e.bsky.social
Tutor CW Cambridge. Ex Classicist.
Love poetry, water, ruins, churchyards.
Author,The Return of Captain John Emmett; At Break of Day, memoir, lyrics. Short-listed Forward Prize. Judge London Hellenic Prize.
Live Suffolk & Greek island.
Love poetry, water, ruins, churchyards.
Author,The Return of Captain John Emmett; At Break of Day, memoir, lyrics. Short-listed Forward Prize. Judge London Hellenic Prize.
Live Suffolk & Greek island.
Early morning mist rises from the Deben; the frost lingers, the tide is out but blue sky emerges. Sitting, having warm brunch by the river, looking across to Sutton Hoo and its long dead warriors behind the woodland.
November 26, 2025 at 6:57 PM
Early morning mist rises from the Deben; the frost lingers, the tide is out but blue sky emerges. Sitting, having warm brunch by the river, looking across to Sutton Hoo and its long dead warriors behind the woodland.
I loved this piece on architectural history and the very different map of ancient London. I never knew this chapel existed or its connection to the Savoy theatre or the Savoy hotel.
Today’s new post - The King’s Chapel of the Savoy. The story of a chapel, prison, hospital on the site of the Savoy estate at
alondoninheritance.com
alondoninheritance.com
November 23, 2025 at 10:55 AM
I loved this piece on architectural history and the very different map of ancient London. I never knew this chapel existed or its connection to the Savoy theatre or the Savoy hotel.
I had polio as a small child. Long convalescence. But one of the constant drawbacks for pre measles, mumps and chickenpox child experience was endless quarantine. If one child in class caught it we had weeks of school missed (delighted at the time!) Glad not in US and limited medical memories!
November 21, 2025 at 10:47 AM
I had polio as a small child. Long convalescence. But one of the constant drawbacks for pre measles, mumps and chickenpox child experience was endless quarantine. If one child in class caught it we had weeks of school missed (delighted at the time!) Glad not in US and limited medical memories!
Beautiful day, rich blue sky and sharp frost. Flowers collapsing and black - heliotrope especially (appropriately) has given up the plant ghost. But camellia buds make me smile and show the seasons all have things to offer.
November 21, 2025 at 10:38 AM
Beautiful day, rich blue sky and sharp frost. Flowers collapsing and black - heliotrope especially (appropriately) has given up the plant ghost. But camellia buds make me smile and show the seasons all have things to offer.
Reposted by Lizzie Speller
This is Link. His ball suddenly went missing and then reappeared trapped under his bed. He called his brother Otto in for backup, knowing they'd need all three of their collective brain cells to get it back. 12/10 for both (IG: thegoldenbruvs)
November 19, 2025 at 11:22 PM
This is Link. His ball suddenly went missing and then reappeared trapped under his bed. He called his brother Otto in for backup, knowing they'd need all three of their collective brain cells to get it back. 12/10 for both (IG: thegoldenbruvs)
Tom Gault has seen in my house and shame…..
November 18, 2025 at 9:01 PM
Tom Gault has seen in my house and shame…..
Reposted by Lizzie Speller
Sometimes I build Time Machines.…
November 16, 2025 at 8:19 AM
Sometimes I build Time Machines.…
Ran through the rain to The Choral, driven by the music and Ralph Fiennes (versatile as ever). Witty, sad, not sentimental. In some ways the background felt more like a stage than a film. And the audience stayed sitting through the credits until Elgar’s music ended.
November 15, 2025 at 6:16 PM
Ran through the rain to The Choral, driven by the music and Ralph Fiennes (versatile as ever). Witty, sad, not sentimental. In some ways the background felt more like a stage than a film. And the audience stayed sitting through the credits until Elgar’s music ended.
Reposted by Lizzie Speller
13th November 2019
One of only a few remaining gas street-lanterns in Cambridge ignites at dusk outside the Senate House.
Picture from my book 'Cambridge - Time & Space'. Available at cambridgebooks.co.uk/cambridge-ti... and all bookshops.
One of only a few remaining gas street-lanterns in Cambridge ignites at dusk outside the Senate House.
Picture from my book 'Cambridge - Time & Space'. Available at cambridgebooks.co.uk/cambridge-ti... and all bookshops.
November 13, 2025 at 8:52 AM
13th November 2019
One of only a few remaining gas street-lanterns in Cambridge ignites at dusk outside the Senate House.
Picture from my book 'Cambridge - Time & Space'. Available at cambridgebooks.co.uk/cambridge-ti... and all bookshops.
One of only a few remaining gas street-lanterns in Cambridge ignites at dusk outside the Senate House.
Picture from my book 'Cambridge - Time & Space'. Available at cambridgebooks.co.uk/cambridge-ti... and all bookshops.
Reposted by Lizzie Speller
In today's @theguardian.com country diary, @jensoilandpen.bsky.social meets the longhorns doing dune service.
#naturewriting #countrydiary
#naturewriting #countrydiary
Country diary: The strange sight of cattle on sand dunes | Rob Schofield
Sefton, Merseyside: These longhorns will be here till spring, roaming (almost) free, disturbing the ground, creating a foothold for native wildlife
www.theguardian.com
November 12, 2025 at 8:58 AM
In today's @theguardian.com country diary, @jensoilandpen.bsky.social meets the longhorns doing dune service.
#naturewriting #countrydiary
#naturewriting #countrydiary
The book I most hated reading to my children, so I love this.
November 11, 2025 at 10:59 PM
The book I most hated reading to my children, so I love this.
Went to a spa - a first for me. unexpected joy was after an outdoor hot tub when wrapped in dressing gown and, oddly, staying warm, I decided to lie on summer recliner. Simply watched the sky turn from blue to mauve as the afternoon passed, a few leaves floating to the grass. Perfect.
November 11, 2025 at 9:12 AM
Went to a spa - a first for me. unexpected joy was after an outdoor hot tub when wrapped in dressing gown and, oddly, staying warm, I decided to lie on summer recliner. Simply watched the sky turn from blue to mauve as the afternoon passed, a few leaves floating to the grass. Perfect.
Good question for any writer- a first-timer or a well-known winner:
What is ( and when was) the origin of your novel?
www.theguardian.com/books/2025/n...
What is ( and when was) the origin of your novel?
www.theguardian.com/books/2025/n...
‘I had a year to write it from scratch’: the 2025 Booker finalists on the stories behind their novels
A newspaper report about a missing girl, the memory of a midwinter emergency … Susan Choi, Andrew Miller, David Szalay and others on what inspired their shortlisted books
www.theguardian.com
November 8, 2025 at 10:19 AM
Good question for any writer- a first-timer or a well-known winner:
What is ( and when was) the origin of your novel?
www.theguardian.com/books/2025/n...
What is ( and when was) the origin of your novel?
www.theguardian.com/books/2025/n...
Fine article about the music itself. www.theguardian.com/music/2025/n...
From fiasco to feted: the story of the Dream of Gerontius, the revolutionary music of The Choral
The Choral depicts an amateur choral society in wartime Yorkshire taking on Elgar’s trailblazing and controversial work. But how much does Alan Bennett’s fiction reflect actual fact?
www.theguardian.com
November 7, 2025 at 9:38 AM
Fine article about the music itself. www.theguardian.com/music/2025/n...
Reposted by Lizzie Speller
“London and New York, two of the west’s largest, richest, and most diverse cities are now run by Muslim men, both of them elected on the ticket of left wing, pro-LGBT, pro-multicultural parties…The victory is a reminder of the fundamental weakness of Trumpism, Faragism, and the politics of hate.”
Mamdani shows a different way is possible
The New York mayor’s resounding victory is a warning to Trump and his own party’s old guard
www.thenewworld.co.uk
November 5, 2025 at 8:54 AM
“London and New York, two of the west’s largest, richest, and most diverse cities are now run by Muslim men, both of them elected on the ticket of left wing, pro-LGBT, pro-multicultural parties…The victory is a reminder of the fundamental weakness of Trumpism, Faragism, and the politics of hate.”
Sunday fireworks: sky dark & clear, waxing gibbous moon, bright constellations, our breaths condensing in the cold. But pizza and crépes, not incinerated sausages of childhood. Fireworks delicate beauty, not Catherine wheels falling off post after one rotation and rockets tipping over and going out.
November 4, 2025 at 7:30 AM
Sunday fireworks: sky dark & clear, waxing gibbous moon, bright constellations, our breaths condensing in the cold. But pizza and crépes, not incinerated sausages of childhood. Fireworks delicate beauty, not Catherine wheels falling off post after one rotation and rockets tipping over and going out.
“November”, Thomas Hood (b.1799)
No sun — no moon!
No morn — no noon —
No dawn — no dusk — no proper time of day.
No warmth, no cheerfulness, no healthful ease,
No comfortable feel in any member —
No shade, no shine, no butterflies, no bees,
No fruits, no flowers, no leaves, no birds! —
November!
No sun — no moon!
No morn — no noon —
No dawn — no dusk — no proper time of day.
No warmth, no cheerfulness, no healthful ease,
No comfortable feel in any member —
No shade, no shine, no butterflies, no bees,
No fruits, no flowers, no leaves, no birds! —
November!
November 1, 2025 at 7:38 AM
“November”, Thomas Hood (b.1799)
No sun — no moon!
No morn — no noon —
No dawn — no dusk — no proper time of day.
No warmth, no cheerfulness, no healthful ease,
No comfortable feel in any member —
No shade, no shine, no butterflies, no bees,
No fruits, no flowers, no leaves, no birds! —
November!
No sun — no moon!
No morn — no noon —
No dawn — no dusk — no proper time of day.
No warmth, no cheerfulness, no healthful ease,
No comfortable feel in any member —
No shade, no shine, no butterflies, no bees,
No fruits, no flowers, no leaves, no birds! —
November!
Reposted by Lizzie Speller
The Ghosts Of Cassiopeia!
It took 550 years for the light from these ghouls to travel through space to spook us today...
Happy Halloween, my friends!
It took 550 years for the light from these ghouls to travel through space to spook us today...
Happy Halloween, my friends!
October 31, 2025 at 2:27 PM
The Ghosts Of Cassiopeia!
It took 550 years for the light from these ghouls to travel through space to spook us today...
Happy Halloween, my friends!
It took 550 years for the light from these ghouls to travel through space to spook us today...
Happy Halloween, my friends!
Reposted by Lizzie Speller
Hang on a minute, did Ozymandias just become the new This Is Just to Say? Someday I want to write a whole article on the memeification of famous poems...
(tired: leaving notes on your fridge about the plums you have eaten
wired: meeting a traveler from an antique land)
(tired: leaving notes on your fridge about the plums you have eaten
wired: meeting a traveler from an antique land)
October 30, 2025 at 6:09 PM
Hang on a minute, did Ozymandias just become the new This Is Just to Say? Someday I want to write a whole article on the memeification of famous poems...
(tired: leaving notes on your fridge about the plums you have eaten
wired: meeting a traveler from an antique land)
(tired: leaving notes on your fridge about the plums you have eaten
wired: meeting a traveler from an antique land)
I’ll never again bore my children by saying ‘Halloween is really an American ritual’ now that I’ve bought a bread pumpkin from the bakery!
October 30, 2025 at 10:51 AM
I’ll never again bore my children by saying ‘Halloween is really an American ritual’ now that I’ve bought a bread pumpkin from the bakery!
Reposted by Lizzie Speller
Zohran Mamdani caught lying that he understood Plato’s allegory of the cave, yet when asked to explain it, he seemed to instead explain Baudrillard’s theory of Simulacra and Simulation where reality has been replaced by symbols and signs, which seems similar to Plato’s theory but is not the same
October 29, 2025 at 3:28 AM
Zohran Mamdani caught lying that he understood Plato’s allegory of the cave, yet when asked to explain it, he seemed to instead explain Baudrillard’s theory of Simulacra and Simulation where reality has been replaced by symbols and signs, which seems similar to Plato’s theory but is not the same
Reposted by Lizzie Speller
October Half term was always tatie (pitmatic, sounds like taytee) picking week. Back breaking work.
(Never picked. But my siblings raided fields for turnips)
Potato Pickers - Ernest Higgins Rigg (1868–1947), John Johnstone (b.1941), Jules Bastien-Lepage (1878), Frederick William Jackson(1859-1918)
(Never picked. But my siblings raided fields for turnips)
Potato Pickers - Ernest Higgins Rigg (1868–1947), John Johnstone (b.1941), Jules Bastien-Lepage (1878), Frederick William Jackson(1859-1918)
October 29, 2025 at 9:16 AM
October Half term was always tatie (pitmatic, sounds like taytee) picking week. Back breaking work.
(Never picked. But my siblings raided fields for turnips)
Potato Pickers - Ernest Higgins Rigg (1868–1947), John Johnstone (b.1941), Jules Bastien-Lepage (1878), Frederick William Jackson(1859-1918)
(Never picked. But my siblings raided fields for turnips)
Potato Pickers - Ernest Higgins Rigg (1868–1947), John Johnstone (b.1941), Jules Bastien-Lepage (1878), Frederick William Jackson(1859-1918)
Lego Museum break-in. Fortuitously timed Christmas present.
October 29, 2025 at 11:30 AM
Lego Museum break-in. Fortuitously timed Christmas present.