simon blackbourn
@simonblackbourn.net
plymouth // photographer // serial wanderer // ancient stone botherer // co-founder + zine designer at dartmoor collective // job: freelance wordpress developer
Dartmoor yesterday afternoon. Soggy, squelchy, shrouded, silent.
November 16, 2025 at 11:11 AM
Dartmoor yesterday afternoon. Soggy, squelchy, shrouded, silent.
Get to know your mutuals. 10 random things I like in no particular order.
1 Dartmoor in the fog
2 The Cure
3 My orange jumper
4 Giving standing stones a friendly little pat
5 Aki Kaurismäki films
6 Multi-storey car parks
7 Waking up in a tent
8 Finding hagstones
9 My Ricoh GRiii
10 Persian food
1 Dartmoor in the fog
2 The Cure
3 My orange jumper
4 Giving standing stones a friendly little pat
5 Aki Kaurismäki films
6 Multi-storey car parks
7 Waking up in a tent
8 Finding hagstones
9 My Ricoh GRiii
10 Persian food
Get to know your mutuals. 10 random things I like in no particular order.
1. Dogs
2. Dartmoor
3. Versa est in luctum by Lobo
4. The Lord of the Rings
5. Big tweedy winter coats
6. Compassion
7. Walking
8. A good flat white
9. Blue cheese
10. Ironing a pile of bed linen
1. Dogs
2. Dartmoor
3. Versa est in luctum by Lobo
4. The Lord of the Rings
5. Big tweedy winter coats
6. Compassion
7. Walking
8. A good flat white
9. Blue cheese
10. Ironing a pile of bed linen
Get to know your mutuals. 10 random things I like in no particular order.
1. Scenery; trees, sea, hills
2. Hikes, walks
3. Decent coffee
4. A good read
5. Renovating
6. Hygge
7. Crochet, knitting
8. Rugby
9. Classic sports cars
10. Gardening, landscaping
1. Scenery; trees, sea, hills
2. Hikes, walks
3. Decent coffee
4. A good read
5. Renovating
6. Hygge
7. Crochet, knitting
8. Rugby
9. Classic sports cars
10. Gardening, landscaping
November 16, 2025 at 10:53 AM
Get to know your mutuals. 10 random things I like in no particular order.
1 Dartmoor in the fog
2 The Cure
3 My orange jumper
4 Giving standing stones a friendly little pat
5 Aki Kaurismäki films
6 Multi-storey car parks
7 Waking up in a tent
8 Finding hagstones
9 My Ricoh GRiii
10 Persian food
1 Dartmoor in the fog
2 The Cure
3 My orange jumper
4 Giving standing stones a friendly little pat
5 Aki Kaurismäki films
6 Multi-storey car parks
7 Waking up in a tent
8 Finding hagstones
9 My Ricoh GRiii
10 Persian food
I thought this was going to be one of those godawful swing jazz covers, but it's actually very good
www.youtube.com/watch?v=cHLb...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=cHLb...
Orkestra Obsolete play Blue Monday using 1930s instruments - BBC Arts
YouTube video by BBC
www.youtube.com
November 14, 2025 at 2:45 PM
I thought this was going to be one of those godawful swing jazz covers, but it's actually very good
www.youtube.com/watch?v=cHLb...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=cHLb...
I am happy to inform you that marmalade consumption in my house is most definitely not plummeting.
I regret to inform you, but marmalade consumption continues to plummet in the UK.
Back in 1974 each adult, each week, ate on average 27g. It was a mere 4g in 2024 (down from 6g in 2023).
Honey, by contrast, has gone from 5g in 1974 to 9g last year.
Back in 1974 each adult, each week, ate on average 27g. It was a mere 4g in 2024 (down from 6g in 2023).
Honey, by contrast, has gone from 5g in 1974 to 9g last year.
a dog with a peanut butter and cheese sandwich on its head
ALT: a dog with a peanut butter and cheese sandwich on its head
media.tenor.com
November 13, 2025 at 7:07 PM
I am happy to inform you that marmalade consumption in my house is most definitely not plummeting.
Hello photographers - sign up for this, it's great! You send one postcard a month and you receive one. You don't know what you'll get or where it's going to come from. I've received some beautiful ones, including handmade cyanotypes and prints, and my photos have gone to UK, Australia and America.
📸
📸
Hey there photography friends! I'm looking to recruit more people to participate in my photography postcard swap each month! If you like fun mail sign up! You only have to send 1 postcard each month. Check out my website for more details. postcardsfromafar.org
Postcards From Afar
Sending postcards of our photography around the world.
postcardsfromafar.org
November 11, 2025 at 10:07 PM
Hello photographers - sign up for this, it's great! You send one postcard a month and you receive one. You don't know what you'll get or where it's going to come from. I've received some beautiful ones, including handmade cyanotypes and prints, and my photos have gone to UK, Australia and America.
📸
📸
Reposted by simon blackbourn
Charli xcx - House featuring John Cale (Official Video)
YouTube video by Charli xcx
youtu.be
November 10, 2025 at 5:28 PM
This is spot-on about what's being done to the BBC. The staggering hypocrisy of the people leading the attack is, well, staggering.
iandunt.substack.com/p/extra-edit...
"Why do they hate the BBC? It’s not for the reason they give... They do not hate its bias. They want it to adopt their bias."
iandunt.substack.com/p/extra-edit...
"Why do they hate the BBC? It’s not for the reason they give... They do not hate its bias. They want it to adopt their bias."
Extra edition: The populist assault on the BBC
Johnson, Gibb and the Telegraph are trying to turn the BBC into GB News.
iandunt.substack.com
November 10, 2025 at 4:26 PM
This is spot-on about what's being done to the BBC. The staggering hypocrisy of the people leading the attack is, well, staggering.
iandunt.substack.com/p/extra-edit...
"Why do they hate the BBC? It’s not for the reason they give... They do not hate its bias. They want it to adopt their bias."
iandunt.substack.com/p/extra-edit...
"Why do they hate the BBC? It’s not for the reason they give... They do not hate its bias. They want it to adopt their bias."
A subdued autumnal day, a hint of mist in the air, all the sharp edges softened
November 6, 2025 at 8:19 PM
A subdued autumnal day, a hint of mist in the air, all the sharp edges softened
This really is very terrific indeed. Amazing rapping, beautiful piano and singing, an appearance by Kid Koala, and a percussion section made from a cardboard box, pieces of tinfoil and a thermos flask.
November 6, 2025 at 6:46 PM
This really is very terrific indeed. Amazing rapping, beautiful piano and singing, an appearance by Kid Koala, and a percussion section made from a cardboard box, pieces of tinfoil and a thermos flask.
Reposted by simon blackbourn
Wonderful to hear that this beautiful photo by Jaiyana Chelikha, which is featured in our current Flow zine, has been shortlisted for the British Journal of Photography's Portrait of Britain.
Many congratulations Jaiyana!
pob25shortlist.1854.photography#gallery-2-101
Many congratulations Jaiyana!
pob25shortlist.1854.photography#gallery-2-101
November 6, 2025 at 2:29 PM
Wonderful to hear that this beautiful photo by Jaiyana Chelikha, which is featured in our current Flow zine, has been shortlisted for the British Journal of Photography's Portrait of Britain.
Many congratulations Jaiyana!
pob25shortlist.1854.photography#gallery-2-101
Many congratulations Jaiyana!
pob25shortlist.1854.photography#gallery-2-101
I'll be quite happy seeing out the apocalypse down here in Devon/Cornwall if this is an accurate prediction.
A Map Of Britain After The 2029 Technology Crash, by me and my dad.
November 5, 2025 at 3:34 PM
I'll be quite happy seeing out the apocalypse down here in Devon/Cornwall if this is an accurate prediction.
We can't access most of the countryside and rivers because a few landowners want to keep an archaic feudal system that has no place in a modern democracy. Great to see @righttoroam.bsky.social trespassing on the River Dart yesterday as part of a campaign to change this www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Walkers protest over riverbank access
Campaigners take to the banks of the River Dart, calling for the right to access all English rivers.
www.bbc.co.uk
November 3, 2025 at 10:50 AM
We can't access most of the countryside and rivers because a few landowners want to keep an archaic feudal system that has no place in a modern democracy. Great to see @righttoroam.bsky.social trespassing on the River Dart yesterday as part of a campaign to change this www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Can confirm this is a fantastic album. Really looking forward to the album launch party in Drewsteignton on 22nd Nov (tickets from www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/dominie-ho...).
October 31, 2025 at 6:22 PM
Can confirm this is a fantastic album. Really looking forward to the album launch party in Drewsteignton on 22nd Nov (tickets from www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/dominie-ho...).
Spent the afternoon with an old friend who has lived an extraordinary life. Amongst other things, he met Charlie Chaplin just before he died, went on a bonkers road trip with William Burroughs from NY to Florida, and slept through a gunfight between Somalian bandits and locals in northern Kenya.
October 29, 2025 at 7:56 PM
Spent the afternoon with an old friend who has lived an extraordinary life. Amongst other things, he met Charlie Chaplin just before he died, went on a bonkers road trip with William Burroughs from NY to Florida, and slept through a gunfight between Somalian bandits and locals in northern Kenya.
"A tool that cannot imagine or feel cannot participate in happenstance. It cannot be startled. It knows nothing of standing in the wrong place at the right time and seeing something strange that shouldn’t exist and yet does."
- @mwriston.bsky.social michaelwriston.substack.com/p/and-still-...
- @mwriston.bsky.social michaelwriston.substack.com/p/and-still-...
And still the world dreams!
On happenstance, conceit, and the manufactured image
michaelwriston.substack.com
October 28, 2025 at 7:49 AM
"A tool that cannot imagine or feel cannot participate in happenstance. It cannot be startled. It knows nothing of standing in the wrong place at the right time and seeing something strange that shouldn’t exist and yet does."
- @mwriston.bsky.social michaelwriston.substack.com/p/and-still-...
- @mwriston.bsky.social michaelwriston.substack.com/p/and-still-...
Went to the charity shop. Gave myself a little talking to about not needing any more books. Bought three books.
October 22, 2025 at 12:44 PM
Went to the charity shop. Gave myself a little talking to about not needing any more books. Bought three books.
Reposted by simon blackbourn
You can order your copy via the link below.
We really hope you enjoy it...
dartmoorcollective.org/product/flow...
(3/3)
Image by: @simonblackbourn.net
We really hope you enjoy it...
dartmoorcollective.org/product/flow...
(3/3)
Image by: @simonblackbourn.net
October 20, 2025 at 10:34 AM
You can order your copy via the link below.
We really hope you enjoy it...
dartmoorcollective.org/product/flow...
(3/3)
Image by: @simonblackbourn.net
We really hope you enjoy it...
dartmoorcollective.org/product/flow...
(3/3)
Image by: @simonblackbourn.net
Was going to do a bunch of boring jobs from my to-do list, but curling up on the sofa with this for a few hours is far more appealing
October 18, 2025 at 8:41 AM
Was going to do a bunch of boring jobs from my to-do list, but curling up on the sofa with this for a few hours is far more appealing
Inexplicably woke up at 3am with 'Respectable' by Mel & Kim on repeat play in my head
October 17, 2025 at 9:25 AM
Inexplicably woke up at 3am with 'Respectable' by Mel & Kim on repeat play in my head
Reposted by simon blackbourn
The first batch of pre-orders of the Flow zine will be heading out in the post later today and landing on doorsteps in the next few days.
A huge thank you to everyone who has ordered already - if you'd like to get your own copy then follow the link below:
dartmoorcollective.org/product/flow...
A huge thank you to everyone who has ordered already - if you'd like to get your own copy then follow the link below:
dartmoorcollective.org/product/flow...
October 16, 2025 at 11:50 AM
The first batch of pre-orders of the Flow zine will be heading out in the post later today and landing on doorsteps in the next few days.
A huge thank you to everyone who has ordered already - if you'd like to get your own copy then follow the link below:
dartmoorcollective.org/product/flow...
A huge thank you to everyone who has ordered already - if you'd like to get your own copy then follow the link below:
dartmoorcollective.org/product/flow...
Reposted by simon blackbourn
In case you missed it over the weekend, we were thrilled to have Kirsteen McNish's introduction of Flow featured by @caughtbytheriver.bsky.social.
There's still some free tickets available for the launch on Thursday evening if you'd like to come along, and pre-orders are now live on our website.
There's still some free tickets available for the launch on Thursday evening if you'd like to come along, and pre-orders are now live on our website.
Kirsteen McNish introduces 'Flow' — a zine made in collaboration with @dartmoorcollective.org, contemplating the movement and flux which has taken place on the moor over hundreds of thousands of years www.caughtbytheriver.net/2025/10/flow...
Image: Jaiyana Chelikha
Image: Jaiyana Chelikha
October 13, 2025 at 8:12 AM
In case you missed it over the weekend, we were thrilled to have Kirsteen McNish's introduction of Flow featured by @caughtbytheriver.bsky.social.
There's still some free tickets available for the launch on Thursday evening if you'd like to come along, and pre-orders are now live on our website.
There's still some free tickets available for the launch on Thursday evening if you'd like to come along, and pre-orders are now live on our website.
How did I not know there's a 12" remix of She's In Parties by Bauhaus that turns into an extended dirty dub reverb version with Peter Murphy singing "happy days are here again"?! One of the best bands ever just got even better nearly 40yrs after I first heard them 🖤 www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-kT...
Bauhaus "She's in Parties" (12" mix)
YouTube video by SoulStylistJukeBox
www.youtube.com
October 2, 2025 at 5:50 PM
How did I not know there's a 12" remix of She's In Parties by Bauhaus that turns into an extended dirty dub reverb version with Peter Murphy singing "happy days are here again"?! One of the best bands ever just got even better nearly 40yrs after I first heard them 🖤 www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-kT...
@onlyindevon.co.uk On the subject of all-time great basslines, this was just on 6Music (although annoyingly they played over that lovely little bass bit at the end) www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qxqq...
Bauhaus - She's In Parties
YouTube video by Beggars Banquet Records
www.youtube.com
October 2, 2025 at 4:38 PM
@onlyindevon.co.uk On the subject of all-time great basslines, this was just on 6Music (although annoyingly they played over that lovely little bass bit at the end) www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qxqq...
Reposted by simon blackbourn
Perfect demonstration of "AI" being a marketing term, not an accurate description of the technology.
October 1, 2025 at 1:29 PM
Perfect demonstration of "AI" being a marketing term, not an accurate description of the technology.