Andrew Bradford
@andybradford.bsky.social
Son of polio survivors, writer of family memoirs. Aged 78, I graduated with a BA in History from Birkbeck when I was 73. Likes reading, gardening and roots music. Bishop's Stortford, England. Former chair of trustees of Face Front Inclusive Theatre.
I've just seen James Graham's new play about the life and loves of John Maynard Keynes. Thoroughly recommend it.
October 7, 2026 at 9:41 PM
I've just seen James Graham's new play about the life and loves of John Maynard Keynes. Thoroughly recommend it.
Reposted by Andrew Bradford
Apparently it’s Do Something Nice Day.
So today, do one small kind thing. Send a message. Make a cuppa. Make someone laugh. Check on someone who’s quiet.
You may never know how much it meant.
And feed a ginger cat.
Obviously.
So today, do one small kind thing. Send a message. Make a cuppa. Make someone laugh. Check on someone who’s quiet.
You may never know how much it meant.
And feed a ginger cat.
Obviously.
October 5, 2026 at 10:22 AM
Apparently it’s Do Something Nice Day.
So today, do one small kind thing. Send a message. Make a cuppa. Make someone laugh. Check on someone who’s quiet.
You may never know how much it meant.
And feed a ginger cat.
Obviously.
So today, do one small kind thing. Send a message. Make a cuppa. Make someone laugh. Check on someone who’s quiet.
You may never know how much it meant.
And feed a ginger cat.
Obviously.
Reposted by Andrew Bradford
Support the National Trust by voting for Council members by 11:59pm on 30 October 2026.
Quickvote is convenient if you're short of time or worried about inadvertently voting for Restore Trust's Bonigala, Cristea, Goldman, Mealing or Omrani.
In our often bad times, the Trust's doing good things.
Quickvote is convenient if you're short of time or worried about inadvertently voting for Restore Trust's Bonigala, Cristea, Goldman, Mealing or Omrani.
In our often bad times, the Trust's doing good things.
Today marks three years since the iconic Sycamore Gap tree was illegally felled.
We're pleased to bring you new images which reveal how the stump is growing, a sure sign that the tree is in recovery.
We're pleased to bring you new images which reveal how the stump is growing, a sure sign that the tree is in recovery.
October 4, 2026 at 11:41 AM
Support the National Trust by voting for Council members by 11:59pm on 30 October 2026.
Quickvote is convenient if you're short of time or worried about inadvertently voting for Restore Trust's Bonigala, Cristea, Goldman, Mealing or Omrani.
In our often bad times, the Trust's doing good things.
Quickvote is convenient if you're short of time or worried about inadvertently voting for Restore Trust's Bonigala, Cristea, Goldman, Mealing or Omrani.
In our often bad times, the Trust's doing good things.
2/2 Johnny Longstaff was a teenager from Stockton who took part in the hunger matches, the Battle of Cable Street and volunteered in the Spanish Civil War
October 4, 2026 at 10:54 AM
2/2 Johnny Longstaff was a teenager from Stockton who took part in the hunger matches, the Battle of Cable Street and volunteered in the Spanish Civil War
Yesterday we celebrated the 90th anniversary of the Battle of Cable Street by listening to the Young'uns Trio singing the Ballad of Johnny Longstaff atSt. George-in-the East, Stepney. Really moving music, mostly accapello 1/2
October 4, 2026 at 10:51 AM
Yesterday we celebrated the 90th anniversary of the Battle of Cable Street by listening to the Young'uns Trio singing the Ballad of Johnny Longstaff atSt. George-in-the East, Stepney. Really moving music, mostly accapello 1/2
Really great essay. Thanks for sharing
"Last night on ITVX, a boy brought up on a rural Yorkshire farm who became a nuclear fusion scientist spoke about his life, three days before his death." After the last episode of 70 Up, I woke up today with a fire in my belly desperate to review it and write about it...
September 27, 2026 at 4:33 PM
Really great essay. Thanks for sharing
Reposted by Andrew Bradford
My attention was drawn to this sagacious little poem by @michaelrosenyes.bsky.social
Fascism enters our lives respectably, piecemeal, until it's unstoppable. Stand against it NOW!
michaelrosenblog.blogspot.com/2014/05/fasc...
Fascism enters our lives respectably, piecemeal, until it's unstoppable. Stand against it NOW!
michaelrosenblog.blogspot.com/2014/05/fasc...
Fascism: I sometimes fear...
I sometimes fear that people think that fascism arrives in fancy dress worn by grotesques and monsters as played out in endless re-...
michaelrosenblog.blogspot.com
September 19, 2026 at 8:10 AM
My attention was drawn to this sagacious little poem by @michaelrosenyes.bsky.social
Fascism enters our lives respectably, piecemeal, until it's unstoppable. Stand against it NOW!
michaelrosenblog.blogspot.com/2014/05/fasc...
Fascism enters our lives respectably, piecemeal, until it's unstoppable. Stand against it NOW!
michaelrosenblog.blogspot.com/2014/05/fasc...
Reposted by Andrew Bradford
my brilliant colleague @robertshrimsley.bsky.social on the threat from Elon Musk’s X platform
www.ft.com/content/f270...
www.ft.com/content/f270...
September 18, 2026 at 10:54 PM
my brilliant colleague @robertshrimsley.bsky.social on the threat from Elon Musk’s X platform
www.ft.com/content/f270...
www.ft.com/content/f270...
Another day, another headline about AI gone rogue. It's why I've signed a new petition calling for the UK Gov to introduce an AI Rights Bill - with REAL rules, regulations and guardrails to protect us from AI gone rogue. Join me: 38d.gs/5roa
Put an AI Rights Bill in place NOW, before it’s too late
Another day, another headline about AI gone rogue. It's why I've signed a new petition calling for the UK Gov to introduce an AI Rights Bill - with REAL rules, regulations and guardrails to protect us...
38d.gs
September 14, 2026 at 4:17 PM
Another day, another headline about AI gone rogue. It's why I've signed a new petition calling for the UK Gov to introduce an AI Rights Bill - with REAL rules, regulations and guardrails to protect us from AI gone rogue. Join me: 38d.gs/5roa
Reposted by Andrew Bradford
If you would like to add your voice to tens of thousands of people thanking RNLI volunteers for their work, 38 Degrees have organised this open letter to express public support (at a time when a hateful fringe have been intimidating & abusing RNLI volunteers)
act.38degrees.org.uk/act/rnli-tha...
act.38degrees.org.uk/act/rnli-tha...
An open letter in support of the volunteers and staff at the RNLI
This is a disgrace. Brave RNLI volunteers being called scum for risking their lives to save others at sea is just plain wrong. So I've signed an open letter of thanks for the RNLI letting them know th...
act.38degrees.org.uk
September 8, 2026 at 4:37 PM
If you would like to add your voice to tens of thousands of people thanking RNLI volunteers for their work, 38 Degrees have organised this open letter to express public support (at a time when a hateful fringe have been intimidating & abusing RNLI volunteers)
act.38degrees.org.uk/act/rnli-tha...
act.38degrees.org.uk/act/rnli-tha...
Today I got to spend the day with my entire family at the Gloucestershire and Warwickshire Steam Railway
August 30, 2026 at 4:24 PM
Today I got to spend the day with my entire family at the Gloucestershire and Warwickshire Steam Railway
This year we've lost both #DavidHockney and #DollyParton. Difficult to think of any other two people who've brought so mich pleasure to so many.
August 28, 2026 at 7:47 AM
This year we've lost both #DavidHockney and #DollyParton. Difficult to think of any other two people who've brought so mich pleasure to so many.
Reposted by Andrew Bradford
I too wish Harry and whats-her-name hadn't come back, because it would have protected us from all the most tiresome twats in the world droning on about it.
August 21, 2026 at 12:01 PM
I too wish Harry and whats-her-name hadn't come back, because it would have protected us from all the most tiresome twats in the world droning on about it.
Reposted by Andrew Bradford
“Your call is important to us…”
The bad news is the receptionist has fallen asleep across the telephone.
The bad news is the receptionist has fallen asleep across the telephone.
August 17, 2026 at 2:18 PM
“Your call is important to us…”
The bad news is the receptionist has fallen asleep across the telephone.
The bad news is the receptionist has fallen asleep across the telephone.
Reposted by Andrew Bradford
Farage and Jenrick’s latest attack on a minority - aiming at autistic and disabled people - is grotesque. A pair of rich & privileged men attacking some of society's poorest and most marginalised people to divert attention from financial sleaze
My @theipaper.com column inews.co.uk/opinion/fara...
My @theipaper.com column inews.co.uk/opinion/fara...
Farage and his sidekick Jenrick's latest attack on the most vulnerable is grotesque
Ian Birrell: They want to open a fresh front line in the culture wars
inews.co.uk
August 17, 2026 at 7:56 AM
Farage and Jenrick’s latest attack on a minority - aiming at autistic and disabled people - is grotesque. A pair of rich & privileged men attacking some of society's poorest and most marginalised people to divert attention from financial sleaze
My @theipaper.com column inews.co.uk/opinion/fara...
My @theipaper.com column inews.co.uk/opinion/fara...
Birkbeck, 2018-21. None
A question for every commentator on race at Cambridge or UK higher education
How many of you university lecturers in the UK were Black?
I'll start: zero
How many of you university lecturers in the UK were Black?
I'll start: zero
August 16, 2026 at 5:52 PM
Birkbeck, 2018-21. None
We need to show rightwing newspapers that actions have consequences. Add your name: goodlawproject.org/s/abb8a1
Jason Arday: Demand a public inquiry now | Good Law Project
Commission an immediate public inquiry into how to ensure a responsible press given its contribution to Dr Arday’s tragic death.
goodlawproject.org
August 15, 2026 at 5:43 PM
We need to show rightwing newspapers that actions have consequences. Add your name: goodlawproject.org/s/abb8a1
Reposted by Andrew Bradford
Surely the best history programme on the television. Long may it reign.
My latest article, on the new series of A House Through Time, staring tomorrow on BBC Two at 9m. Set in the amazing, beautiful, gothic city of Edinburgh.
‘Houses with long histories are magical’: David Olusoga on the home history show that’s gripped the UK
At first, I worried that only historians would find A House Through Time compelling. But its appeal is so enduring that fans of the show stop me in the street to ask when they can watch more
www.theguardian.com
August 14, 2026 at 8:54 AM
Surely the best history programme on the television. Long may it reign.
@profdavidturner.bsky.social 2/2 When I was a small boy in the 1950s I used to go to ITA social events with my mum and dad. Here is a picture of an ITA coronation party in 1953
August 4, 2026 at 4:20 PM
@profdavidturner.bsky.social 2/2 When I was a small boy in the 1950s I used to go to ITA social events with my mum and dad. Here is a picture of an ITA coronation party in 1953
@profdavidturner.bsky.social 1/2 Look what I found in my local Waterstones! Really looking forward to reading it. In the shop the book fell open at the page about O A Denly & the Invalid Tricycle Association. My parents (both polio survivors) were ITA members and knew Denly.
August 4, 2026 at 4:17 PM
@profdavidturner.bsky.social 1/2 Look what I found in my local Waterstones! Really looking forward to reading it. In the shop the book fell open at the page about O A Denly & the Invalid Tricycle Association. My parents (both polio survivors) were ITA members and knew Denly.
Reposted by Andrew Bradford
Polio is preventable, but only if we keep vaccination rates high. Protect your child from a disease that can cause lifelong paralysis. Keeping up with recommended #polio vaccinations helps protect your family & community #VaccinesWork #PolioPrevention
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c0qvlw2dd0no
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c0qvlw2dd0no
The real reason child vaccination rates are falling
As child immunisation rates fall across the UK, one clinic in west Yorkshire is taking aggressive steps to boost immunisations
www.bbc.co.uk
August 4, 2026 at 11:25 AM
Polio is preventable, but only if we keep vaccination rates high. Protect your child from a disease that can cause lifelong paralysis. Keeping up with recommended #polio vaccinations helps protect your family & community #VaccinesWork #PolioPrevention
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c0qvlw2dd0no
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c0qvlw2dd0no
Reposted by Andrew Bradford
If I were Nigel Farage, I’d dip into that £5 million crypto gift just to fund a video that can compete with this! 🤣 HILARIOUS ⬇️
July 11, 2026 at 11:39 AM
If I were Nigel Farage, I’d dip into that £5 million crypto gift just to fund a video that can compete with this! 🤣 HILARIOUS ⬇️