Matt Wardman

@mattwardman.bsky.social

946 Followers 3612 Following

Active travel, sometimes walking / cycling, politics & a miscellany.

A graphic put out by something called "British Unity", showing a figure made out of a Union Jack (correct way up for once) taking a kick at a figure made out of the Pride rainbow colours. The graphic carries the slogan, "The only pride we celebrate is British pride."
A nighttime photo of an anti-wheelchair A-barrier with a fence blocking the entrance to a mobility track and casting a sinister shadow. A prominent "pedestrian/cycling" sign glows a blood-red colour, whilst streetlamps show a ghostly halo in the dark.
A clip from Google Maps showing a pickup truck blocking the entry to a housing estate footpath/cycleway.
A very short video looking at a beautiful cycling/walking track, and an A barrier which excludes mobility aid users.
The photo shows a view across a reservoir to a hospital in the distance, with a blue cloudy sky and a row of skeletal trees at the far side. In the reservoir are a row of weed and grass covered platforms, with nesting and resting geese. These are the tops of heat condensers of the heat pump system that supplies all of the cooling and a big chunk of the heating required by my local (600 bed) hospital, Kings Mill.
An empty Judge's Wig making a xenophobic speech via the dummy Robert Jenrick.
This is from the former parish hall of All Saints, Monkwearmouth. It was a place where the Pentecostal Movement in the UK started, triggered by the Vicar of the parish, a chap called Rev Alexander Boddy. The LH plaque refers to the events in 1907 "when the fire fell" (normal Pentecostal language out of the Book of Acts). "Burnt up the debt" is an allusion to the theological redemption of the debt of sin etc, and also to that that was the point when they paid off the debt on the building. The plaque on the Right refers to the building being purchased for cash by an Elim Pentecostal church in the 1990s. It was Boddy's wife (no sexism here in that respect) who got one of the key early figures in British Pentecostalism, Smith Wigglesworth (first name "Smith") started. Here's an account of events from "The Revival Library" website, in the vigorous house style from September 1907. https://revival-library.org/histories/1907-how-pentecost-came-to-britain/
A Venn Diagram showing the non-overlapped sections as "What on earth" and "Are you talking about?" A great illustration of how miscommunication happens, to reflect upon.
A logo - Lolcat - for George Galloway's new brand of dried grapes.
A photograph showing the Reform UK MP Sarah Pochin posing with a mug with a picture of Keir Starmer's face photoshopped to appear to be wearing a Hijab (Muslim head covering) with the slogan "Two Tier Kier". Sarah Pochin is wearing a Reform UK Party rosette.
Both UK and Europe are playing a twin-track game, and I'd say Starmer and also Macron have been doing a very good (not quite excellent) strategic job, including working alongside Zelensky. The perspective is subtly different from USA-Canada. For Europe Trump is a strategic threat, but EU + the rest are big enough to face him down in time and be the core of a new world trading system where international law still rules and the USA is marginalised - unlike Trump's desired free for all. UK is pivoting back to a closer position with the EU, more like Norway. OTOH we have a far more intimate relationship with the US than most of Europe, via Five Eyes and so on; in that respect the UK is more like Canada. Starmer has a couple of very experienced hands in Peter Mandelson and Jonathon Powell in key positions. He's been weaker domestically. The need is to keep the USA onside (ie avoid Trump tantrums) whilst moving Europe to a position where it can deal with Ukraine / Russia without needing the USA very much, and halting Trump's aim of creating a 3 polar USA / Russia / China world with Europe as meat to be carved up, whilst not having Trump pull out NATO and Europe in a short time. That means strategic autonomy - which imo France is now shown as having been better prepared for than the UK.
A sign for a cycle route pointing up a fight of steps in Skegby, Notts. The route is the "Teversal Trail".
A screenshot of a posting by Reform UK candidate Howard Rimmer expressing support for Right Wing extremists Stuart Yaxley-Lennon and Anne-Marie Walters. Rimmer posted "Batley needs these people."
Robert Jenrick running his Conservative Party leadership campaign, photographed between two men wearing "We want BobbyJ" baseball hats.
Graphs showing that travel from Austria, Denmark, Germany, Norway, Spain and Sweden has fallen by 10-30% from last year's levels. The fall in Iceland is under 10%.
A trolling article in the Daily Telegraph, by Ben Wilkinson, containing not a shred of evidence to support he claim made. The headline and standfirst say: Ben Wilkinson Rich cyclists are getting brand new bikes – courtesy of you, the taxpayer Middle-class men on six-figure salaries are shamelessly exploiting Gordon Brown’s tax freebie
A post online from Donald Trump. Strange ideas about tariffs and Canada. Text is below: Based on Ontario, Canada, placing a 25% Tariff on "Electricity" coming into the United States, I have instructed my Secretary of Commerce to add an ADDITIONAL 25% Tariff, to 50%, on all STEEL and ALUMINUM COMING INTO THE UNITED STATES FROM CANADA, ONE OF THE HIGHEST TARIFFING NATIONS ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD. This will go into effect TOMORROW MORNING, March 12th. Also, Canada must immediately drop their Anti-American Farmer Tariff of 250% to 390% on various U.S. dairy products, which has long been considered outrageous. I will shortly be declaring a National Emergency on Electricity within the threatened area. This will allow the U.S to quickly do what has to be done to alleviate this abusive threat from Canada. If other egregious, long time Tariffs are not likewise dropped by Canada, I will substantially increase, on April 2nd, the Tariffs on Cars coming into the U.S. which will, essentially, permanently shut down the automobile manufacturing business in Canada. Those cars can easily be made in the USA! Also, Canada pays very little for National Security, relying on the United States for military protection. We are subsidizing Canada to the tune of more than 200 Billion Dollars a year. WHY??? This cannot continue. The only thing that makes sense is for Canada to become our cherished Fifty First State. This would make all Tariffs, and everything else, totally disappear. Canadians' taxes will be very substantially reduced, they will be more secure, militarily and otherwise, than ever before, there would no longer be a Northern Border problem, and the greatest and most powerful nation in the World will be bigger, better and stronger than ever — And Canada will be a big part of that. The artificial line of separation drawn many years ago will finally disappear, and we will have the safest and most beautiful Nation anywhere in the World — And your brilliant anthem, "O Canada," will con…
It's complicated - I'm sorry. Liz Truss has come out with a statement that President Chump's little helper JD Vance is correct, rather than a lying toerag lying his head off. So Lib Dem Tim Farron is joking about activating her as a sleeper agent to destroy Trump, just as she singlehandedly sunk the Conservatives. The keywork is "Pork Markets". So I'm tweeting it. This pic is a screengrab of Tim Farron's thread.
Mrs Thatcher, campaigning in 1975 for entry to the European Economic Community, wearing a jersey made up of European flags.
A statue of a calf-idol at Trump's Mar-a-Lago hideout, pasted with fake $100 bills featuring Donald Trump - "In Trump we Trust".
Nigel Farage, wearing Black Shorts like Spode from Bertie Wooster.
A baseball cap with the slogan "Make America Great Britain Again".
This photo shows a Freestyle Libre continuous blood glucose sensor, and an Omnipod 5 insulin pump, held by adhesive patches onto the upper arm of a Type One diabetic. The sensor is a white disk about 25mm in diameter and 3mm thick. The insulin pump is a small white podule approximately 50mm x 40mm x 15mm thick.
A graph showing an uptick in "likes" no Bluesky over the last several days up until 8/1/2025.
A picture of a dog riding in a bicycle trailer.
A photo of a shelf of Easter Heggs for 2025 before Christmas 2024. Credit: @libertylester on Twatter.
A selection of recent video titles from the BlackBeltBarrister channel. It has become obsessively anti the New UK Government, imo, and very clickbaity. "Which of these is worse?" with pictures of Starmer and Lammy. "This could bring them down!" (TV licensing) "None of this adds up" (Reeves) "I was right" (Starmer) "This must be EMBARASSING" (Reeves) "How many will it take" (Starmer)
Photo of a one cup coffee filter with "ears" that support it by hanging over the rim of the cup.
Daily Telegraph front page top bar headlines for 11/12/2024 1 - How wokeness turned a 'killer' into a pin-up. 2 - Middle-class women are hooked on fairy-porn.
The Buffer extension
A statement from Derbyshire CC that they have no policy on compliance with LTN 1/20, as there officers will take it into account as a matter of course.
A physical chicane barrier which is present on the Erewash Canal. It is a 3 sided fenced enclosure, with a chunky steel hoop forcing the pedestrian to go round a u-shaped route. From the design, it is probably vintage 1980s. Photo by @MattWardman / @BashtheBarriers. May be reused non-commercially with attribution to mattwardman.bluesky.social
A screenshot of the header of the Bluesky account of Mark Park, demonstrating that his avatar is now a yellow wheeliebin.
An aerial photo of a Nottingham junction in mid-transformation from Traffic Island to T-Junction. You can see how the existing traffic flows are maintained for as long as possible. Source: BBC