susan_cartw_smith

I'm a #readingambassador for @Literacy_Trust and as it is #NationalStorytellingWeek it seems a good reason to remind everyone about my #childrensstory which is brilliant to read aloud and has places to add your own #MONSTERS #stories #readmeastory #GoAllIn

Does anyone else think Stephen looks like a young Patrick Grant? #patrickgrant @sewingbee #TheTraitors

Bram Stoker was born #OTD in 1847. He is best known for his 1897 novel 'Dracula,' a landmark in vampire literature. What is your favourite quote from the novel? #BookWormSat

gothike.wordpress.com I've got a new blog post up for the first time in ages. #writing #nature #flashfiction #horror #folkhorror

Had a good catch up with @gailystanley today before a chilly dip in #derwentwater also found a hefty tome of Irish poetry edited by my old lecturer #DrPatrickCrotty #gooddays

nawg.co.uk/competitions The #flashfiction competition is back on 31st January! Prize £25 give it a go! #writing #writerscommunity #fiction #shortstory

Jo is the visualisation of the word wazzock #TraitorsUK #TheTraitorsUK

The most ancient of trees, the Yew symbolises #Saturn & death, but also the rebirth of light at the winter solstice. It is Old Magic, dark dreams, Otherworld journeys & connection to ancestors. It is perseverance leading to transformation. It is renewal. #FairyTaleTuesday

@cumbriawildlife Sneaky beast!

'Twas the night before Christmas and all through the [Gosling Sike seed nursery], not a creature was stirring, [except this mouse tucking into some of our neatly potted acorns possibly destined for #SkiddawForest] 🤦😄

Even in winter, the wood calls out to be walked. Its paths tell your boots to ignore the mud. Its occulted roots whisper to your bones with promises of clearings you've never encountered before. The way into it is a seduction that makes even the oldest of us young again.

Skiddaw purchase complete! 🙌 While you lovely, fantastic people helped to raise the money for #SkiddawForest back in October, there were still a few things to sort out before it was truly ours. But we can finally say...WE'VE BOUGHT A MOUNTAIN! (1/3) 🎥 @aerialartwork

Jeremy Corbyn is suing Nigel Farage. RT if you can’t wait to see Nigel Farage bankrupt

@SStarmeroid @AtHomeOnTheMoor @Peston My husband is a teacher. Nowhere near being able to retire at 51, certainly don't have any "surplus" salary- we are watching the bank balance each month as payday gets near and we decide what to do without this month.

1. It is a like for like education / qualifications comparison 2. It includes ‘perks’ such as pensions (which are substantially lower in private sector even after 2008 education pensions reforms) 3. My husband was a teacher and used to buy things for school- it is a choice and indicates salary surplus to needs. (His salary at ‘retirement’ at 46 as subject lead inner London put him in the top 6% of UK earners on the IFS calculator 4. Workload: teachers in most state schools in England are legally required to be at work and available for work for a maximum of 1,265 hours over 195 days of the year – lower than the requirements for any other developed nation which provided data to the OECD, except for Luxembourg.

There are two reasons why teachers’ unions are deeply unhappy at the government’s recommendation to the statutory review body that this year’s pay settlement should be 2.8%. The first is that it will probably mean teachers’ pay lagging private sector pay for something like the 15th consecutive year. And will not make good the inflationary erosion of the last two years, even after this summer’s 5.5% award. There is very little chance, on a settlement of that magnitude, that the chronic shortage of teachers and teaching assistance will be remedied. Union leaders are already muttering about probable industrial action. Sorry parents. The second cause of teachers’ concern is that any settlement will have to be funded by making cuts to school budgets. There will be no additional money for salary increases. So where does Bridget Philipson, the education secretary, think there is fat in schools that can be eliminated? Well last night she met union leaders as a courtesy, to forewarn them about her submission to the pay review body. She told them she did not want or expect them to find the money by eliminating core education provision. Instead she suggested they find the money by moving energy suppliers or finding a new bank. It’s what you might call the Uswitch approach to increasing public sector productivity. And I cannot find a single union rep who thinks it’ll avoid the need for redundancies. In a nutshell, this is not what teachers - who overwhelmingly voted for Labour - expected from this government.

I found this talk wonderful - sad that the correspondence book had sold out but had to sneak round,booklets to say I enjoyed it. And I had been ##openwaterswimming- the room wasn't THAT cold!

"Brexit has ruined this country, and now the majority of Britons thinks so too." RT if you are that majority.

@GarethDavies007 You've got a Welsh name, boyo.

I’m an Englishman living in England which is still 73% white Yet when I turn on my tv to watch the BBC 6pm news I am greeted by this guy His parents are Jamaican How often to do white hosts appear on Jamaican tv news programs I’ll wager not often if at all Stop this racism

This is the lovely Jeremy Clarkson. He’s used his show ‘Clarkson’s Farm’ to vilify Badgers as responsible for the spread of bTB and has shot all the Badgers on his farm He’d hate it if people ‘RT'd’ this and signed the petition to end the Badger cull.. petition.parliament.uk/petitions/7003…

@ScarredForLife2 The tarring and feathering scene in Huckleberry Finn. I didn't really understand it at the time but the looks of terror and anguish on the scalded men stayed with me a long time.

WE WANT YOUR MEMORIES! Recording has begun on the second series of our podcast, and we need lots and lots of lovely Listener's Scars! What scarred you for life as a kid? No emails or DMs, please - drop them in the replies below. The best ones will be read out in the podcast.

Our Skiddaw virtual tour is here! See the vast scale of the site, find out about what's already there and learn more about what we're hoping to achieve. You'll also see some cracking views of the Lake District, as you'd expect ⛰️ (1/2) #SkiddawForest #LakeDistrict #Cumbria

If I haven't found you, can you find me @circlecross73.bsky.social #folk #traditions #poetry #dancing #morrisdancing #clogdancing