Will Webster
@willwritesword.bsky.social
Lover of history, geography, bad jokes and lists. I write about most of them in rockpeoplerivers.substack.com.
Here to share the best bits I learn along the way – and do a lot of learning in return.
Here to share the best bits I learn along the way – and do a lot of learning in return.
Being able to react to an email with an emoji is one of the all-time great tech time savers.
Right up there with that phone feature that lets you automatically fill in verification codes.
Right up there with that phone feature that lets you automatically fill in verification codes.
September 30, 2025 at 12:56 PM
Being able to react to an email with an emoji is one of the all-time great tech time savers.
Right up there with that phone feature that lets you automatically fill in verification codes.
Right up there with that phone feature that lets you automatically fill in verification codes.
Earlier this year, my very talented wife had the opportunity to do a TEDx Talk.
She decided to lay herself bare and talk about the most challenging, traumatic event in her life.
I may be very biased, but I think there’s lessons for us all in what she shared!
m.youtube.com/watch?featur...
She decided to lay herself bare and talk about the most challenging, traumatic event in her life.
I may be very biased, but I think there’s lessons for us all in what she shared!
m.youtube.com/watch?featur...
How losing my sight helped me see productivity differently | Caitlin Rozario | TEDxBeckenham
YouTube video by TEDx Talks
m.youtube.com
September 29, 2025 at 5:53 PM
Earlier this year, my very talented wife had the opportunity to do a TEDx Talk.
She decided to lay herself bare and talk about the most challenging, traumatic event in her life.
I may be very biased, but I think there’s lessons for us all in what she shared!
m.youtube.com/watch?featur...
She decided to lay herself bare and talk about the most challenging, traumatic event in her life.
I may be very biased, but I think there’s lessons for us all in what she shared!
m.youtube.com/watch?featur...
Reposted by Will Webster
St John's church, Glastonbury peering out of the mist. Photograph taken this morning from Glastonbury Tor on Michaelmas day.
September 29, 2025 at 9:48 AM
St John's church, Glastonbury peering out of the mist. Photograph taken this morning from Glastonbury Tor on Michaelmas day.
We should all be allowed to hope that, like Robert Redford, when we eventually leave this world we’re remembered as:
1. Good
2. An owner of ‘weapons-grade good looks’*
*Stolen from my favourite obituary so far
1. Good
2. An owner of ‘weapons-grade good looks’*
*Stolen from my favourite obituary so far
September 17, 2025 at 11:49 AM
We should all be allowed to hope that, like Robert Redford, when we eventually leave this world we’re remembered as:
1. Good
2. An owner of ‘weapons-grade good looks’*
*Stolen from my favourite obituary so far
1. Good
2. An owner of ‘weapons-grade good looks’*
*Stolen from my favourite obituary so far
Is ‘did this need to be a book?’ the new ‘did this need to be a meeting?’
September 4, 2025 at 8:20 AM
Is ‘did this need to be a book?’ the new ‘did this need to be a meeting?’
It’s said you’re either a beach person or a mountain person.
Well, I say you can also be a Kerry person and have both.
Well, I say you can also be a Kerry person and have both.
September 3, 2025 at 11:14 AM
It’s said you’re either a beach person or a mountain person.
Well, I say you can also be a Kerry person and have both.
Well, I say you can also be a Kerry person and have both.
On our honeymoon in Kerry, my wife (still odd to say) and I accidentally stumbled on the Gap of Dunloe – the coveted mountain pass through Ireland’s ceiling.
Naturally, I got home and started writing about it substack.com/@willwritesw...
Naturally, I got home and started writing about it substack.com/@willwritesw...
Taking the Ancient Pass Through Ireland’s Highest Peaks
A short history of the famous shortcut.
substack.com
September 2, 2025 at 3:17 PM
On our honeymoon in Kerry, my wife (still odd to say) and I accidentally stumbled on the Gap of Dunloe – the coveted mountain pass through Ireland’s ceiling.
Naturally, I got home and started writing about it substack.com/@willwritesw...
Naturally, I got home and started writing about it substack.com/@willwritesw...
Is VAR football’s Brexit?
It’s made everything worse, most don’t want it anymore and yet we’re seemingly stuck with it forever 😐
It’s made everything worse, most don’t want it anymore and yet we’re seemingly stuck with it forever 😐
August 30, 2025 at 12:08 PM
Is VAR football’s Brexit?
It’s made everything worse, most don’t want it anymore and yet we’re seemingly stuck with it forever 😐
It’s made everything worse, most don’t want it anymore and yet we’re seemingly stuck with it forever 😐
Tree of the day – at South London’s best kept secret, Beckenham Place Park.
August 17, 2025 at 11:12 AM
Tree of the day – at South London’s best kept secret, Beckenham Place Park.
Would recommend reading this twice…
If you can go and see the Jenny Saville exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery, go go go: it ends on 7 September and it’s really great.
August 4, 2025 at 1:08 PM
Would recommend reading this twice…
Reposted by Will Webster
*30 seconds into the book title brainstorm
"Yeah, that'll do."
"Yeah, that'll do."
July 23, 2025 at 4:12 PM
*30 seconds into the book title brainstorm
"Yeah, that'll do."
"Yeah, that'll do."
2025 has taught me that rain hits different when you have a garden.
July 20, 2025 at 2:54 PM
2025 has taught me that rain hits different when you have a garden.
Perhaps the greatest present a boy could get on his 32nd birthday
July 18, 2025 at 8:45 AM
Perhaps the greatest present a boy could get on his 32nd birthday
A pride of cats!
Or technically – as I’ve just learned – a ‘clowder’
Or technically – as I’ve just learned – a ‘clowder’
July 15, 2025 at 7:15 AM
A pride of cats!
Or technically – as I’ve just learned – a ‘clowder’
Or technically – as I’ve just learned – a ‘clowder’
It’s cool that Vienna and Belgrade began life as Roman settlements, when the empire used the Danube as its northern frontier.
It’s cooler that, if you look at a map today, both modern cities still mostly sit on the river's southern bank – just like the Roman sites they grew from.
It’s cooler that, if you look at a map today, both modern cities still mostly sit on the river's southern bank – just like the Roman sites they grew from.
July 13, 2025 at 2:30 PM
It’s cool that Vienna and Belgrade began life as Roman settlements, when the empire used the Danube as its northern frontier.
It’s cooler that, if you look at a map today, both modern cities still mostly sit on the river's southern bank – just like the Roman sites they grew from.
It’s cooler that, if you look at a map today, both modern cities still mostly sit on the river's southern bank – just like the Roman sites they grew from.
The Danube starting in the Black Forest and ending at the Black Sea is such a neatly-named journey.
Made even better by there being absolutely no reason for it.
Made even better by there being absolutely no reason for it.
July 9, 2025 at 8:19 AM
The Danube starting in the Black Forest and ending at the Black Sea is such a neatly-named journey.
Made even better by there being absolutely no reason for it.
Made even better by there being absolutely no reason for it.
If you've ever been lucky enough to travel north through Scotland, you'll know that eventually, the landscape shifts into something far wilder.
It feels like the ground beneath you has changed altogether.
That's because it really has!
It feels like the ground beneath you has changed altogether.
That's because it really has!
July 6, 2025 at 9:37 AM
If you've ever been lucky enough to travel north through Scotland, you'll know that eventually, the landscape shifts into something far wilder.
It feels like the ground beneath you has changed altogether.
That's because it really has!
It feels like the ground beneath you has changed altogether.
That's because it really has!
Reposted by Will Webster
A 🆕 geography quiz! Can you name the bodies of water 🌊 in the Middle East 🐪 region? For example, where is the Strait of Hormuz?
Test yourself: geographyquiz.app/quiz/middle-...
#geography #quiz
Test yourself: geographyquiz.app/quiz/middle-...
#geography #quiz
July 4, 2025 at 9:45 AM
A 🆕 geography quiz! Can you name the bodies of water 🌊 in the Middle East 🐪 region? For example, where is the Strait of Hormuz?
Test yourself: geographyquiz.app/quiz/middle-...
#geography #quiz
Test yourself: geographyquiz.app/quiz/middle-...
#geography #quiz
The topic of accents is messy, complex and completely fascinating.
And geography is partly responsible – as I learned writing this!
rockpeoplerivers.substack.com/p/how-hills-...
And geography is partly responsible – as I learned writing this!
rockpeoplerivers.substack.com/p/how-hills-...
How Hills, Rivers and Terrible Weather Preserved England’s Accents
And why others weren't so lucky.
rockpeoplerivers.substack.com
July 4, 2025 at 9:46 AM
The topic of accents is messy, complex and completely fascinating.
And geography is partly responsible – as I learned writing this!
rockpeoplerivers.substack.com/p/how-hills-...
And geography is partly responsible – as I learned writing this!
rockpeoplerivers.substack.com/p/how-hills-...
Is there anything more British Summer Time than scorched earth scenes like this?
July 2, 2025 at 3:25 PM
Is there anything more British Summer Time than scorched earth scenes like this?
What/who started your love of history?
I'll go first 👇
I'll go first 👇
June 30, 2025 at 7:58 AM
What/who started your love of history?
I'll go first 👇
I'll go first 👇
In mid-20th Century Britain, George Dow is making a name for himself as a man of many train-related talents.
He was first and foremost a long-serving railway employee, plus a writer, historian and drafter.
He even pioneered a design style that inspired Harry Beck’s iconic London Underground map.
He was first and foremost a long-serving railway employee, plus a writer, historian and drafter.
He even pioneered a design style that inspired Harry Beck’s iconic London Underground map.
June 27, 2025 at 7:40 AM
In mid-20th Century Britain, George Dow is making a name for himself as a man of many train-related talents.
He was first and foremost a long-serving railway employee, plus a writer, historian and drafter.
He even pioneered a design style that inspired Harry Beck’s iconic London Underground map.
He was first and foremost a long-serving railway employee, plus a writer, historian and drafter.
He even pioneered a design style that inspired Harry Beck’s iconic London Underground map.
