Matt Nicholas
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mattnic.bsky.social
Matt Nicholas
@mattnic.bsky.social
300 followers 350 following 450 posts
#Archaeologist. European. Likes music, non-ferrous metallurgy & left(ish) politics. Personal account not associated with anywhere you think I might work. Also interested in #running, #cycling & #ActiveTravel
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mattnic.bsky.social
Oof, Marathon Eryri was tough today with *all* the weather late October has to offer on display. Amazing experience though, and such lovely support along the route.
A bottle of Gower Gold beer on a Marathon Eryri finishers coaster. Two men in waterproof coats hold Marathon Eryri coasters in front of a logo wall for the race.
October 25, 2025 at 9:07 PM
mattnic.bsky.social
There’s loads of British food discourse on here about how bad the cuisine is, but it's all led by people who’ve never been to Nottingham's Goose Fair for mushy peas and a cock on a stick. Their loss.
Peas in a cup! Cocks on sticks: a Nottingham tradition Big fucking vats of mushy peas cooked over charcoal
October 5, 2025 at 6:10 PM
mattnic.bsky.social
The offending instrument
Some sort of instrument with a keyboard
August 19, 2025 at 3:32 PM
mattnic.bsky.social
A visitor to Cardigan Castle appears to have felt so strongly about the interpretation of an object they've hand edited the display text...
Interpretation at Cardigan Castle. The unedited English text reads: "This 1797 piano was part of the Castle Green furnishings during the 19th and early 20th century. In the 1960s it was sold to a local auction house and bought by the family of Alderman John Evans who recognised it as belonging to Castle Green. They took it back to their home in Cardiff and donated it to Cadwgan Trust after the house was restored."
August 19, 2025 at 3:00 PM
mattnic.bsky.social
It's been a glorious few days exploring the countryside around @greenmanfest.bsky.social, but now it's time for some music!
The Llangattock Escarpment, an impressive limestone scarp on the northern edge of Mynydd Llangatwg.
August 14, 2025 at 3:57 PM
mattnic.bsky.social
Stumbled upon Samson's Jack, a 3.2m Bronze Age standing stone, while walking the Gower last week. A piece of history almost swallowed by a Llanrhidian hedge.

coflein.gov.uk/en/site/305538

#StandingStoneSunday
August 3, 2025 at 6:22 PM
mattnic.bsky.social
Butt Close Lane in Leicester, so risqué that Google blurs the name in Street View
A street sign affixed to a brick wall reading "BUTT CLOSE LANE" A screenshot from Street View of the same sign, which Google found a little spicy and blurred out
July 17, 2025 at 11:12 AM
mattnic.bsky.social
Google photos reminding me of that time 13 years ago that @aliceforward.bsky.social and I were local diggers on a Time Team in Pembrokeshire—spending hours standing around, wondering why the site was even chosen... and if they were 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦   about to machine through that very obvious service trench
A cameraman and a sound guy film someone talking about old shit in Wales
July 5, 2025 at 8:05 PM
mattnic.bsky.social
Seven years living in Nottingham, and I'm only just discovering that the John Lewis café has some of the best views in the city
Nottingham city hall rises above the rooftops
July 5, 2025 at 2:33 PM
mattnic.bsky.social
as Julie Andrews definitely sang, a spoonful of μ-Ziq helps the medicine go down

youtu.be/5GHTDMMsCYY?...
The front cover of Secret Garden, a 2021 album by µ-Ziq and Mrs Jynx
July 5, 2025 at 10:40 AM
mattnic.bsky.social
The baby started nursery and immediately picked up and generously shared a cold. Kicking off Saturday coughing and vibing to Yu Su in an attempt to (gently) find some energy

youtu.be/O5fxER3neks?...
The cover of Yu Su's debut album from 2021 'Yellow River Blue'.
July 5, 2025 at 9:46 AM
mattnic.bsky.social
'We're just looking for someone who can juggle everything flawlessly, holds a PhD in archaeological science, and can bench press a 300lb scanning electron microscope'
Except from a University of Nottingham job advert, which reads: "Your role will be varied and involve communicating with a wide range of people across the School and University as well as externally and you will have: A flexible approach and the ability to build relationships and collaborate with others. A proactive approach to work, with excellent problem-solving and people skills. Good manual handling and lifting skills, as your role will involve storing and moving consumables and equipment."
June 27, 2025 at 12:04 PM
mattnic.bsky.social
Impressed at the lengths the cast go to for new Would I Lie To You? stories
A screenshot of a news headline, which reads: "David Mitchell convicted for covering road with potatoes and silt 22 hours ago - Huge loss of soil from potato field costs farmer over £40000 for polluting river, with potatoes and silt escaping into the road"
June 25, 2025 at 7:12 AM
mattnic.bsky.social
Google photos has decided to remind me of a drizzly day of campaigning nine years ago...
"I'm in" balloons outside Portsmouth station during the last day of the EU referendum campaign.
June 23, 2025 at 12:40 PM
mattnic.bsky.social
The fact that they make no mention on the info page, other than stating that user accounts won't be transferred, doesn't inspire much confidence, does it?
Text from the HES page about retiral of HES web services relating to Canmore Canmore Most content from Canmore has already been transferred to trove.scot. This includes content on Places (sites) and Archives, as well as the ability to browse our thesauri. Canmore URLs will continue to work, redirecting users to the relevant trove.scot page. We are currently developing trove.scot to enable user contributions. You don't need a user account to browse trove.scot, but will require one to place digitisation orders, obtain licenses for re-use and make contributions. This is also currently in development. User accounts from MyCanmore will not be transferred to trove.scot, so you will need to re-register in due course. Text and screenshot from the following page: https://www.historicenvironment.scot/about-us/news/retiral-of-hes-web-services/
June 22, 2025 at 1:24 PM
mattnic.bsky.social
Is #FenlandFriday a thing?
Blues sky over an arable fenland landscape
June 20, 2025 at 9:13 AM
mattnic.bsky.social
It really is quite an extraordinary place: squirrelled away on the edge of Portsmouth, you would never guess you were in the most densely populated city in the UK
A range of buildings inside Fort Cumberland A former garage, inside of which are the laboratories seen in the previous post A view of the coast from nearby the fort
June 14, 2025 at 10:38 AM
mattnic.bsky.social
It was great this week to get a chance to travel down to Portsmouth and see the newly reopened Historic England laboratories at Fort Cumberland
A group of people watch a demonstration of a new scanning electron microscope in the laboratories at Fort Cumberland A group of people stand in a lab space at Fort Cumberland
June 14, 2025 at 10:08 AM
mattnic.bsky.social
Commuting from Nottingham to Birmingham on a Tuesday increasingly feels like getting the tube, but at 10 times the cost. Good job we're getting the eastern leg of HS2 to relieve the pressure on this service.
A crowd of commuters wait to board a train at Birmingham New Street View from the toilet vestibule
May 20, 2025 at 4:00 PM
mattnic.bsky.social
Made sure to wear my @thegreenrunners.bsky.social badge, and traveled most of the way there by train 🙂
A red running backpack with a Green Runners badge safety pinned to the back and a medal from the Lap resting on top.
May 12, 2025 at 9:29 AM
mattnic.bsky.social
Experienced my first ultra on Saturday, dragging myself 75km around Windermere on The Lap.

There were moments I questioned the life choices that led me to this. Then I immediately started planning the next one.
May 12, 2025 at 7:30 AM
mattnic.bsky.social
While at Cannon Hill, I also took the opportunity to pop into The MAC, where I stumbled upon a brilliant exhibition by photographer Marcia Michael, featuring this extraordinary bronze necklace made from figures of the artist’s mother

macbirmingham.co.uk/exhibitions/...
Expressive bronze bodies are joined together to form a necklace. An information panel describing the exhibit. It reads: Me Remembering You, from the series The Object of My Gaze 2015-2025 Necklace, 2025, bronze Assembled by Ruby Taglight In acknowledging the strength of her family to survive and continue, Michael's necklace has been made to represent different times in history. Referencing the period of ancient Egypt, it is Michael's belief that somewhere in that Egyptian history, her ancestors' presence is felt. Though she may not know who they were or what they did, she is proof of their existence. The necklace, made from miniature cast bronze 3D-printed figures of Michael's late beloved mother, focuses on bringing these bronze bodies together as a lineage ensuring they are not forgotten. Connecting the images depicted in Egyptian Frescoes and their hieroglyphics, Michael acknowledges Zora Neale Hurston's (1934) observation on how people of African heritage think in pictorial symbols. Here, the necklace becomes tangible, a reminder that the body carries countless stories and ancestral language. Through Matrilineage, the artist recovers and reinterprets her maternal heritage, using embodied language passed down through her foremothers. This work becomes part of a reclamation of familial narrative, where stories are continuously retold and passed on.
May 7, 2025 at 8:05 AM
mattnic.bsky.social
Visited Cannon Hill Park in Birmingham today and stumbled upon a grand municipal relic: a miniature recreation of the Elan Valley Reservoirs. Once animated by pumps, it now lies still and neglected, quietly fading.
A scale model of the Claerwen dam rendered in 1960s municipal concrete The plaque reads: THIS MODEL OF THE ELAN VALLEY WATERWORKS WAS CONSTRUCTED TO COMMEMORATE THE COMPLETION OF THE FINAL STAGE IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE WORKS AND AS A TRIBUTE TO THE PIONEERS OF THE SCHEME COMMENCED 1892 INAUGURATED 1904 COMPLETED 1961 The Elan Valley, transported to the middle of Birmingham
May 6, 2025 at 8:18 PM
mattnic.bsky.social
Nothing to fear. Historically a very reassuring phrase.
A story from the Nottingham Post about the 2025 local elections. It reads: Reform UK have arrived at County Hall and say people have "nothing to fear" Three successful Reform councillors have now arrived at County Hall and in an interview with several journalists, they have said the people of Nottinghamshire have nothing to fear from them taking charge of the county council.
May 2, 2025 at 7:13 PM
mattnic.bsky.social
Pub gosling, heading for a pint by the canal in a very sunny Brum
It's a gosling, like the post said, in the sun and near a pub.
April 29, 2025 at 6:07 PM