Wendy Pilmer
@wendypilmer.bsky.social
Trainer & consultant, supporting independent journalism around the world. I’m perched on the glorious Northumberland coast. Expect pictures of travels, big skies and hikes. 🌎🥾🧳
🙌 to the RNLI lifeboat station at Flamborough, with their miraculous “weather forecasting stone”
August 15, 2025 at 6:23 PM
🙌 to the RNLI lifeboat station at Flamborough, with their miraculous “weather forecasting stone”
… it used to be a potash mine; now it produces polyhalite which is used in fertilisers and rock salt. Half of Britain’s winter gritting salt comes from here 2/3
May 15, 2025 at 5:56 PM
… it used to be a potash mine; now it produces polyhalite which is used in fertilisers and rock salt. Half of Britain’s winter gritting salt comes from here 2/3
Day 17 of my England Coast Path walk brings me to Britain’s deepest mine (and Europe’s 2nd deepest): 4,600ft! Boulby’s hundreds of miles of tunnels extend below the idyllic coastal village of Staithes - and under the sea. However, it’s not a coal mine…. 1/3
May 15, 2025 at 5:56 PM
Day 17 of my England Coast Path walk brings me to Britain’s deepest mine (and Europe’s 2nd deepest): 4,600ft! Boulby’s hundreds of miles of tunnels extend below the idyllic coastal village of Staithes - and under the sea. However, it’s not a coal mine…. 1/3
Day 16 of my England Coastal Path walk brings me to Saltburn-by-the-Sea. Blimey, the beaches are sensational. And a proper pier, and a lift to bring me to the tea-shops up above! One of those un-talked-about gems of the English coast.
PS For the uninitiated - it’s just south of Redcar
PS For the uninitiated - it’s just south of Redcar
May 14, 2025 at 6:22 PM
Day 16 of my England Coastal Path walk brings me to Saltburn-by-the-Sea. Blimey, the beaches are sensational. And a proper pier, and a lift to bring me to the tea-shops up above! One of those un-talked-about gems of the English coast.
PS For the uninitiated - it’s just south of Redcar
PS For the uninitiated - it’s just south of Redcar
Finally spotted some news coverage of the Co-op supply chain issues today. Up till now, M&S has dominated headlines but the impact on customers - especially rural (and less posh!) ones - is arguably greater with the Co-op. Check out the shelves in Whitby just now 👀
May 14, 2025 at 4:27 PM
Finally spotted some news coverage of the Co-op supply chain issues today. Up till now, M&S has dominated headlines but the impact on customers - especially rural (and less posh!) ones - is arguably greater with the Co-op. Check out the shelves in Whitby just now 👀
Plus these wooden posts by the Tees Estuary - all that remains of the old houseboat community from a century ago.
March 18, 2025 at 6:43 AM
Plus these wooden posts by the Tees Estuary - all that remains of the old houseboat community from a century ago.
Other gems from an eventful day included: passing the former home of John Darwin in Seaton Carew (aka Canoe) - the man who faked his own death and hid next door for five years
March 18, 2025 at 6:40 AM
Other gems from an eventful day included: passing the former home of John Darwin in Seaton Carew (aka Canoe) - the man who faked his own death and hid next door for five years
Walked the #EnglandCoastPath from Hartlepool to Middlesbrough yesterday and couldn’t believe my eyes when this rose on the skyline… It turns out this is the Brent Charlie platform, now decommissioned and being recycled on Teesside - the largest rig ever to be towed to land
March 18, 2025 at 6:33 AM
Walked the #EnglandCoastPath from Hartlepool to Middlesbrough yesterday and couldn’t believe my eyes when this rose on the skyline… It turns out this is the Brent Charlie platform, now decommissioned and being recycled on Teesside - the largest rig ever to be towed to land
Hope I haven’t picked the wrong day to start reading this 🧐
February 23, 2025 at 10:41 AM
Hope I haven’t picked the wrong day to start reading this 🧐
Walking the #EnglandCoastPath, day 13: from Horden to Hartlepool. Great to arrive at the mouth of the mighty Tees where, among other things, we spotted a Carnegie library with fine inscriptions to remind us of the days when US oligarchs weren’t entirely a blight on the world 🧐
February 17, 2025 at 6:49 PM
Walking the #EnglandCoastPath, day 13: from Horden to Hartlepool. Great to arrive at the mouth of the mighty Tees where, among other things, we spotted a Carnegie library with fine inscriptions to remind us of the days when US oligarchs weren’t entirely a blight on the world 🧐
Walking the #EnglandCoastPath, day 12: Sunderland to Horden, aka the Coal Coast. Remarkable to think how it’s changed in my lifetime…
February 16, 2025 at 6:44 PM
Walking the #EnglandCoastPath, day 12: Sunderland to Horden, aka the Coal Coast. Remarkable to think how it’s changed in my lifetime…
A visit to #Speyer cathedral. Romanesque architecture, burial site of Hapsburg and other emperors, and a memorial to Edith Stein (the Carmelite St Teresa Benedicta of the Cross), who worshipped there and was murdered in Birkenau. A remarkable place.
February 8, 2025 at 6:10 PM
A visit to #Speyer cathedral. Romanesque architecture, burial site of Hapsburg and other emperors, and a memorial to Edith Stein (the Carmelite St Teresa Benedicta of the Cross), who worshipped there and was murdered in Birkenau. A remarkable place.
Another hotel in another Spanish mountain village means another vintage radio. Think I’ll tune to Beromünster this evening 🧐📻
January 15, 2025 at 4:24 PM
Another hotel in another Spanish mountain village means another vintage radio. Think I’ll tune to Beromünster this evening 🧐📻
Vintage radio of the day, complete with water stain. Come in Londres, over! 📻
January 14, 2025 at 4:11 PM
Vintage radio of the day, complete with water stain. Come in Londres, over! 📻
Good morning from a freezing beach in #Northumberland 🥶
January 8, 2025 at 9:10 AM
Good morning from a freezing beach in #Northumberland 🥶
Setting off for another day’s walking along the England Coast Path, I didn’t expect this: North Shields’ local hero… Hastings Banda 🧐
January 2, 2025 at 10:07 AM
Setting off for another day’s walking along the England Coast Path, I didn’t expect this: North Shields’ local hero… Hastings Banda 🧐
And to you my dear xx
January 1, 2025 at 5:39 PM
And to you my dear xx
A New Year’s Day aurora is fighting to appear from behind the clouds here on the Northumberland coast
January 1, 2025 at 5:27 PM
A New Year’s Day aurora is fighting to appear from behind the clouds here on the Northumberland coast
A #Northumberland sunrise - from the beach at Low Newton. Happy New Year 2025 - even if the sun is invisible!
January 1, 2025 at 9:00 AM
A #Northumberland sunrise - from the beach at Low Newton. Happy New Year 2025 - even if the sun is invisible!
We’re used to anti-tank blocks on our beach but this year’s storms have exposed barbed wire from #WWII and, fair play to @nationaltrust.bsky.social, they haven’t just safeguarded health & safety, they’ve provided some marvellous photos of the defences being built in the first place #northumberland
December 16, 2024 at 9:40 PM
We’re used to anti-tank blocks on our beach but this year’s storms have exposed barbed wire from #WWII and, fair play to @nationaltrust.bsky.social, they haven’t just safeguarded health & safety, they’ve provided some marvellous photos of the defences being built in the first place #northumberland
Day 10 of the #EnglandCoastPath today: Blyth to the Tyne. Today’s highlights: replica naval guns and the ship that spotted Antarctica as it rounded the Cape 200 years ago; plus wise advice to divers 👀
December 11, 2024 at 7:54 PM
Day 10 of the #EnglandCoastPath today: Blyth to the Tyne. Today’s highlights: replica naval guns and the ship that spotted Antarctica as it rounded the Cape 200 years ago; plus wise advice to divers 👀
And today’s highlight was Cambois, the heart of coal country. A proper place. One for @dannykellywords.bsky.social: I stopped for a cuppa at Charlton’s cafe and thought, only a stone’s throw from Ashington, must ask. Yes, it was owned by Big Jack’s son ⚽️
November 28, 2024 at 7:53 PM
And today’s highlight was Cambois, the heart of coal country. A proper place. One for @dannykellywords.bsky.social: I stopped for a cuppa at Charlton’s cafe and thought, only a stone’s throw from Ashington, must ask. Yes, it was owned by Big Jack’s son ⚽️
But the real highlight is the unexpected discoveries: for instance spooky Goswick Sands which was a strafing range for fighter bombers 1942-46. This concrete watch-tower was an observation post for ground attack exercises before D-Day.
November 28, 2024 at 7:53 PM
But the real highlight is the unexpected discoveries: for instance spooky Goswick Sands which was a strafing range for fighter bombers 1942-46. This concrete watch-tower was an observation post for ground attack exercises before D-Day.