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Jeremy Benson @jembenson.bsky.social · 44m

#AdoorableThursday

A large, dark, imposing door to the Minshull Street Crown Court in central Manchester. It is decorated slightly forbiddingly with squares and rivets. It has a large stone arch above, intricately decorated columns on either side and steps leading up to it.

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Jeremy Benson @jembenson.bsky.social · 10h

It does…

Jeremy Benson @jembenson.bsky.social · 10h

Fascinating talk this evening for the Market Harborough Historical Society by Helen Sharp, curator of archaeology for Leicestershire CC museums, about the recreations of the Hallaton helmet. It needed a huge amount of patience to decide what the pieces that had been dug up might have looked like.

Recreation of the Hallaton helmet, discovered in 2000, on display at Harborough museum.

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Jeremy Benson @jembenson.bsky.social · 10h

There’s more about Helen Sharp and her work here.

Helen and the Hallaton Treasure

Hello everyone, my name is Helen Sharp, the Curator of Archaeology for Leicestershire County Council Museum Collections. I work across all of our Heritage sites, museums and collections stores. I star...

www.leicestershire.gov.uk

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Jeremy Benson @jembenson.bsky.social · 10h

Thank you! (Being pedantic, the Duke of York was not - quite - Richard III yet when he had Hastings executed)

Jeremy Benson @jembenson.bsky.social · 10h

Tom Stoppard was unavailable for comment…

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Jeremy Benson @jembenson.bsky.social · 10h

Fascinating talk this evening for the Market Harborough Historical Society by Helen Sharp, curator of archaeology for Leicestershire CC museums, about the recreations of the Hallaton helmet. It needed a huge amount of patience to decide what the pieces that had been dug up might have looked like.

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Jeremy Benson @jembenson.bsky.social · 11h

Here it is from the ground.

Kirby Muxloe castle, silhouetted against a winter sunset with the moat in the foreground.

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Jeremy Benson @jembenson.bsky.social · 14h

I think you need to draw a diagram with two overlapping circles to explain that.

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Jeremy Benson @jembenson.bsky.social · 14h

Sorry this happened Ben. And thanks for sharing in such a thoughtful way.

Jeremy Benson @jembenson.bsky.social · 15h

This.

So farewell then, X-Twitter

On 1 January 2025 I pinned a post on Twitter (now rebranded for some reason as ‘X’): ‘Happy new year!

jembenson.substack.com

Jeremy Benson @jembenson.bsky.social · 1d

[a crow weeps silently, realising that its conceptual genius has still not been recognised]

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Jeremy Benson @jembenson.bsky.social · 1d

Late stroll. An enigmatically shouted ‘OR’ is painted on the pavement. The silent aeroplane above winks meaningfully. Mud footprints on the path tell a moving story. A skateboard scrapes past, heading noisily into the world. The moonsmudge watches us all, and ponders.

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Jeremy Benson @jembenson.bsky.social · 1d

Trying to think of an appropriate response incorporating the phrase ‘crowing about it’ to make you feel better but I can’t, sorry

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Jeremy Benson @jembenson.bsky.social · 2d

More here…

Jeremy Benson @jembenson.bsky.social · Oct 26

269. Woodhouse, south of Loughborough, developed from the C13th in part to serve the Beaumanor Estate. The current Beaumanor Hall, built in the mid-C19th, was a WW2 listening station; intercepted signals were taken to Bletchley Park by motorcycle. It is now used as an education & conference centre.

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Jeremy Benson @jembenson.bsky.social · 2d

Late stroll. A rust-shadow marks the spot where a skip once collected unwanted dreams and stuff. I wonder how and why that conker climbed onto a high wall. The streetlights waited for me to arrive before twinkling on in turn. A radiator leans nonchalantly against a wall.

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Jeremy Benson @jembenson.bsky.social · 3d

I’m not in any way a gardener, but this is the third batch of the year of stewed apples from our tree (and could have been more if I’d been more organised). In response to our benign neglect, the tree has good and bad years, and this has been an amazingly good year. And yes, they taste good…

A saucepan half full with chunked-up apples ready for stewing.

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Jeremy Benson @jembenson.bsky.social · 3d

Late stroll. The crocodile-cloud inexorably guzzles the moon. A crowd of silhouetted chimneys gossip against a fading western sky. The roundabouting headlights vigilantly sweep the dark carpark. A lost hubcap is a mulling mini-UFO on the verge, preparing to disembark.

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Reposted by Jeremy Benson

Miranda Keeling @mirandakeeling.com · 3d

A little boy on the train plays ‘Rock Paper Scissors’ with his grandmother in what I think is Korean. They match more than they differ, which keeps making them break into giggles.