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dracos.co.uk
Matthew Somerville
@dracos.co.uk
2K followers 98 following 1.1K posts
I help people report broken street lights, find out their bin day, plan train travel, manage an orchestra, locate the nearest postbox, research old theatre productions, keep time in a choir, and occasionally play board games | https://dracos.co.uk
dracos.co.uk
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dracos.co.uk
Matthew Somerville @dracos.co.uk · 4m
A domain is for life, not just for Christmas.

This is why I mostly use subdomains for my things (apart from a couple of obvious ones), and keep memorial pages on our removed services.

If I were a publisher, I’d say all links had to go through my site. But then I know I’d be able to maintain that!
Spy Dog: Children's books pulled over explicit weblink
Schools have issued a warning to parents after a URL directed readers to inappropriate content.
www.bbc.co.uk
dracos.co.uk
Matthew Somerville @dracos.co.uk · 1d
Meh, it’s always been crowded and have problems, it’s bad but it’s not like it was ever a lot better.
(I’ve *never* had to buy a new ticket if a train is cancelled, you can just explain to the person on the next train; maybe I should run courses!)
Plenty of options to get to Dorchester :)
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dracos.co.uk
Matthew Somerville @dracos.co.uk · 1d
I am the only one in my house who likes trifle, I hardly ever get to have it :(
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dracos.co.uk
Matthew Somerville @dracos.co.uk · 1d
If you want a much more positive story, we took ours at 4 months to the Isle of Wight on holiday on the train and boat :)
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dracos.co.uk
Matthew Somerville @dracos.co.uk · 1d
Alma played second violin with me in South Birmingham Sinfonia for 18 years, after taking up the violin in retirement; she was looking forward to our next programme. She was also in a wide array of other ensembles, from choir to folk. I went to her funeral today, and it was standing room only. RIP.
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Reposted by Matthew Somerville
juliacushion.bsky.social
Julia Cushion @juliacushion.bsky.social · 1d
this short and sweet blog from @dracos.co.uk is worth two mins of your time, it's important to us to be able to support other good bits of the internet, and it's important to me that everyone is reminded of this classic @xkcd.com
A cartoon from XKCD which is a stack of different sized boxes, all labelled 'all modern digital infrastructure'. One of the bottom tiny boxes holding up the whole pile is labelled 'a project some random person in nebraska has been thanklessly maintaining since 2003'
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Reposted by Matthew Somerville
societyworks.org
SocietyWorks @societyworks.org · 1d
Along with our parent charity @mysociety.bsky.social, we're pleased to now formally sponsor OpenStreetMap and MetaCPAN – two key external pieces of digital infrastructure that help us to run our services.

www.societyworks.org/2025/10/07/w...
We are now sponsoring OpenStreetMap and MetaCPAN
Along with our parent charity mySociety, SocietyWorks is now formally sponsoring OpenStreetMap and MetaCPAN – two key external pieces of digital infrastructure that help us to run our services.
www.societyworks.org
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dracos.co.uk
Matthew Somerville @dracos.co.uk · 2d
Moon over Cadbury
The Cadbury factory from across the cricket ground, with the moon and some wispy clouds above
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dracos.co.uk
Matthew Somerville @dracos.co.uk · 2d
The only issue I have with this, is that the spirit of gungeing is still very much with us every Saturday morning on Saturday Mash-up, where they now called it getting slimed: www.youtube.com/watch?v=V2PS...

Umm, and get your dog poop flags from www.fixmystreet.com/about/posters ;-)
sofiejenkinson.bsky.social
Sofie Jenkinson @sofiejenkinson.bsky.social · 2d
As I was speaking on panels at Labour conference last week I began to describe the Britain I know exists and love. In the end I gave it a name: Mr Blobby Patriotism

And I’ve written about it for @renewaljournal.bsky.social here bsky.app/profile/rene...
renewaljournal.bsky.social
Renewal @renewaljournal.bsky.social · 2d
"Most of us basically love our country, even if begrudgingly – not the version we’re told to, or even presented with, but the one we really see and live in every day. Silly Sausage Britain is the Britain most of us reside in, and love."

@sofiejenkinson.bsky.social on "Mr Blobby patriotism"
dracos.co.uk
Matthew Somerville @dracos.co.uk · 2d
The best thing about the Metrolink is being able to press the door buttons in advance of getting to the station
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dracos.co.uk
Matthew Somerville @dracos.co.uk · 3d
I am reminded of the graphs I made some months ago:
bsky.app/profile/drac...
A graph showing Kent’s net outgoings (not including central grants) over the past 9 years, and the percentage that has been spent on adult social care, children, growth/environment/transport, strategic/corporate and financing. A majority of the budget is spent on adult social care and children, rising from 63% of £933m in 2017-18 to 72% of £1,531m in 2025-26. A graph showing gross expenditure of Kent by directorate, 2018 to present day. Adult social care and children take up over three quarters of the expenditure now, as opposed to two thirds back in 2018-19
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dracos.co.uk
Matthew Somerville @dracos.co.uk · 3d
Home (well, childhood home) from seeing @caimhmc.bsky.social and friends with mum at the launch of the fifth Stranger Times book – thestrangertimes.co.uk/ring-the-bel... – including a short play, Q&A, and fake news quiz, after a walking tour round Hulme (near where I went to school) earlier
Ring The Bells - The Stranger Times
Book 5 of the award-winning The Stranger Times series Ring The Bells is coming soon
thestrangertimes.co.uk
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dracos.co.uk
Matthew Somerville @dracos.co.uk · 3d
I’m from Manchester :) I’ve had worse. Taking my mum to the launch party for the new Stranger Times novel
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dracos.co.uk
Matthew Somerville @dracos.co.uk · 3d
Sitting in The Allotment, opposite Manchester Cathedral, listening to the change ringing, drinking a nojito, waiting for some tapas
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dracos.co.uk
Matthew Somerville @dracos.co.uk · 3d
There are weekly, if not daily, criminal offences occurring at every pelican and zebra crossing I use around me, more dangerous (and indeed, occasionally terrifying) than holding a placard, and yet I never see a police presence at any of them
"Mahmood rejects suggestion police should just ignore people holding placards saying they support Palestine Action Mahmood says she has “no truck” with the argument that people should not be arrested for holding up signs saying they support Palestine Action (a proscribed group – which means just holding a sign in public saying you support them is an offence). She says: "I have no truck with this argument that suggests that merely holding up a placard somewhere in central London somehow shouldn’t have a police response. If you’re supporting a proscribed organisation, you are breaking the law of our land. That organisation has been prescribed. It is an offence to show support for that organisation. People might not like that decision. They might have questions about the way that the anti-terror laws work in this country. But there is no excuse for holding up placards supporting a banned organisation. That will always be met with a police response.""
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dracos.co.uk
Matthew Somerville @dracos.co.uk · 4d
Thanks; yeah, I guess its location means that it covers a lot of family houses in Kings Heath/Moseley
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dracos.co.uk
Matthew Somerville @dracos.co.uk · 4d
I’ve put the map up on the site now – you were well within the year before, looks like? It’s so variable depending on numbers, where others live, etc. You’ve got a few years, but I can’t talk, I only looked these up for information, I wasn’t going to move for anything :)
dracos.co.uk
Matthew Somerville @dracos.co.uk · 4d
Ah, sorry, had to tidy it up a bit, have added link to the main page now
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dracos.co.uk
Matthew Somerville @dracos.co.uk · 4d
All these schools fill up by distance from the school, so the circle isn’t a predefined area, it’s just the limit as to where the last accepted kid lived that year. So it changes every year, and won’t be the same this year
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dracos.co.uk
Matthew Somerville @dracos.co.uk · 4d
Made this map of the previous years’ catchment areas for various secondary schools in South Birmingham
A map of South Birmingham showing the catchment circles for last year for a variety of secondary schools
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dracos.co.uk
Matthew Somerville @dracos.co.uk · 4d
I can check next time I’m heading to the station, but I can say the diseased trees near us (I think they’re all of an age) were replaced with new baby trees, yes :) And you can still smell chocolate on the breeze when walking past the factory
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dracos.co.uk
Matthew Somerville @dracos.co.uk · 4d
That has also changed in the last 30 years, yes :-) And the Three Horseshoes is now the Bournbrook Inn and has rooms my parents stay in. Still the same car issues, but that’s not Stirchley specific. Getting our own new railway station in the next few months, been promising that since I moved here :)
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dracos.co.uk
Matthew Somerville @dracos.co.uk · 4d
Sadly the freehold got bought by Lidl, who knocked down the bowling alley/gym, did nothing for some years, and now has finally built a Lidl even though in the years inbetween an Aldi got built just down the road. I’d been looking forward to taking the kid there
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dracos.co.uk
Matthew Somerville @dracos.co.uk · 5d
CrossCountry only have delay repay from 30 minutes :-(
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dracos.co.uk
Matthew Somerville @dracos.co.uk · 5d
Arrived into Manchester 29 minutes late, the worst possible arrival time
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