Family Historian

Retired HR Manager who loves family history, warm climes, London, Australia, F1 & Gallipoli, reTweet not = endorsement.

[Massimo @Rainmaker1973]

In the Netherlands, playgrounds and public spaces are being transformed with innovative “harvest walls”, vertical gardens filled with edible plants that children can pick and snack on while playing.

These living walls feature safe, kid-friendly crops such as strawberries, berries, herbs, and leafy greens. Designed in collaboration with food forestry experts and local communities, the plants are chosen for their safety, nutritional value, and ease of maintenance.

By integrating fresh, accessible food directly into play areas, sidewalks, and parks, the initiative encourages healthy snacking, teaches children where food comes from, and strengthens their connection to nature.

This creative approach reflects a broader Dutch commitment to sustainable urban design — turning everyday public spaces into living classrooms that promote nutrition, environmental awareness, and joy all at once.

[Wolf of X @WolfofX]

In 2003, 67-year-old Dorothy Fletcher from Liverpool suffered a heart attack on a flight from Manchester to Florida.

When the flight attendants asked if there were any doctors onboard, about 15 cardiologists stood up. They were traveling to a cardiology conference in Orlando.

The doctors used the aircraft’s emergency medical kit and treated her during the flight until the plane diverted to North Carolina, where she was hospitalized. She survived and later attended her daughter’s wedding.

[Family Historian @UKHRAdvisor]

@wesstreeting Your obviously thinking of yourself and not the country!

[Wolf of X @WolfofX]

Almost 5,000 people waited for hours in the rain at a swabbing event in Worcester, to get tested to see if they were a match to help save the life of a five-year-old boy fighting a rare cancer, after his parents asked for help

[Paul Lewis @paullewismoney]

SCAM ALERT 07576 164693 claims to be an alert about a refused payment on a Santander account. It isn't, it's from a thief. Do not answer. Report by message to 7726 and delete.

[Family Historian @UKHRAdvisor]

@Beno10_MFC D - the bowl is depressed into the bottom

[Allan Mallinson @allan_mallinson]

This and another disappeared from our village churchyard on Salisbury Plain a few years ago. Hitherto thought to be no photo record, until this discovered recently. Please repost. It’s just possible that…

[Artur Nadolny @ArturNadol7566]

HE PROTECTED 54,000 DOCTORS. THE @NHS PROTECTED ITSELF.

In January 2014, Dr Chris Day (@drcmday) was working overnight in the intensive care unit at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Woolwich. Two locum doctors didn't show up. The unit was running at double the patient load the national guidelines allow. He raised the alarm. He reported unsafe staffing. He linked the situation to two patient deaths.

That's what the NHS calls a whistleblower.

What followed was eight years of litigation, a legal battle all the way to the Court of Appeal, and over £700,000 of public money spent by Health Education England (@NHSE_WTE) and Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust (@LG_NHS) trying to stop his case being heard at all.

Here's the really elegant bit. HEE's opening legal argument wasn't that they'd done nothing wrong. It was that whistleblowing law simply didn't apply to them, because they didn't directly employ junior doctors. They were just the organisation that controlled the career progression of every single one of England's 54,000 junior doctors. Totally different thing.

Dr Day fought that argument to the Court of Appeal and won. The law was clarified. All 54,000 junior doctors below consultant grade in England now have statutory whistleblowing protection. One man, crowdfunding against three QCs, changed employment law for an entire profession.

No formal apology from the NHS. No reinstatement. No path back to a consultant career. He has worked as a locum A&E doctor ever since, doing overnight shifts while his opponents collected salaries, pensions, and the occasional glowing tribute to NHS transparency.

During the 2022 tribunal hearing, the communications director at Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust deleted up to 90,000 emails. The director whose entire NHS email archive was also deleted during live litigation happened to be the instructing legal client in the case. The tribunal described the conduct as extraordinary. Nobody was prosecuted. The trust issued a partial apology about a press release.

The system did exactly what it always does. It absorbed the cost, deflected accountability, and waited for the man it destroyed to run out of money or energy.

He hasn't.

Sources: The Guardian | @BBC | BMJ | Westminster Confidential @davidhencke | Protect @WhistleUK | @BylineTimes | @CrowdJustice

[G R I F T Y @GriftReport]

33-year-old Rebecca Davies was heartlessly mowed down by thieves in a white van after they raided her house clearance business in Oswestry Shropshire on Monday,

a neighbour spotted the raiders stealing items and alerted her so Rebecca and her husband Dan Brown jumped in their car and chased the van with foreign plates,

when the van stopped at a junction Rebecca got out and walked towards it to confront them but the driver suddenly accelerated and slammed straight into her knocking her to the ground,

shocking CCTV captured the moment she was left lying on the pavement as the heartless pair sped off in the hit-and-run,

Rebecca suffered bruises and scratches while Dan was left with a black eye and headache but both are expected to recover,

West Mercia Police are now hunting the two occupants and have appealed for witnesses or dashcam footage,

[Ajay Joe @joedelhi]

Left behind in Kabul. Alone. He waited 47 days.

K-9 Chaos was not a dog who did his job. He was a dog who had DECIDED, completely, permanently, without reservation, that Lieutenant Marcus Webb was coming back for him. No matter how long it took.

At Hamid Karzai International Airport, Kabul, on the morning of August 30th, 2021, a three-year-old Belgian Malinois sat in an empty aircraft hangar. The last American plane had left six hours ago. The evacuation was over.

Chaos had been left behind.

Not intentionally. The chaos of the withdrawal. The panic. The rush. Webb had been separated from Chaos during the final evacuation. Put on a different plane. Told Chaos would be on the next flight.

There was no next flight.

Chaos survived the first day alone. Waiting at the hangar where Webb had left him.

Chaos survived the first week. Scavenging food from abandoned military supplies.

Chaos survived 47 days in Taliban-controlled Kabul. Alone. Hiding. Waiting.

Because Chaos survived on the belief that Webb wouldn't leave him forever.

Back in the United States, Webb was losing his mind. Filed reports. Called congressmen. Contacted rescue organizations. Went on the news.

"I left my dog in Afghanistan," he said on CNN, his voice breaking. "I left my brother. And I'm going to get him back."

The military said it was impossible. Kabul had fallen. Taliban controlled the airport. No way to extract a dog.

Webb didn't care about impossible.

He contacted Pineapple Express, a veteran-run extraction operation. Gave them Chaos's last known location. Sent photos. Videos. Anything that could help.

For 47 days, Webb didn't sleep. Didn't eat properly. Just waited for news.

On October 16th, 2021, his phone rang.

"We found him," the voice said. "We found Chaos."

A rescue team had infiltrated Kabul. Used Webb's intel. Found Chaos still at the hangar. Still waiting. Forty-seven days later.

Chaos was emaciated. Dehydrated. Traumatized.

But alive.

The extraction took three days. Smuggling Chaos out of Taliban-controlled territory. Through checkpoints. Through danger.

But they got him out.

On October 19th, 2021, Chaos landed at Dulles International Airport. Webb was waiting on the tarmac.

When they opened the crate, Chaos didn't move. Stared at Webb like he was seeing a ghost.

"It's me, brother," Webb said, kneeling down. "I came back. I promised I'd come back."

Chaos stepped out slowly. Walked to Webb. Collapsed into his arms.

The reunion video went viral. Seventeen million views in three days.

But what people didn't see was what happened after.

For six months, Chaos wouldn't sleep unless Webb was in the room. Wouldn't eat unless Webb fed him. Wouldn't go outside unless Webb went first.

"He's terrified I'll leave him again," Webb said in an interview. "And I don't blame him. I left him once. In the worst place. At the worst time. He waited 47 days for me. And I'll spend the rest of my life making sure he knows I'm never leaving again."

Three years later, Chaos still sleeps with his head on Webb's chest. Still follows him everywhere.

Still making sure Webb doesn't disappear.

K-9 Chaos. Survived 47 days alone in Kabul. Extracted by heroes. Reunited with his handler. Home.
https://t.co/t4eYGPJPrk

#LostAndFound
#doglover #seniordogs #animalwelfare #militarydog #k9hero #dogrescue #Kabul #47Days #LeftBehind #BroughtHome

[Grifty @TheGriftReport]

Little girl whose 4th birthday was ruined when balaclava-clad teens smashed her egg stall gets swish new stall from Aldi,

four-year-old Maisie Willis had set up her own little stall in the family driveway in Essex selling boxes of eggs from her pet chickens for £2 each,

two balaclava-wearing teens completely destroyed it on her birthday, throwing all the eggs across the road and even stealing the stand,

her heartbroken mum Chelsea tracked the pair down and forced an apology but Maisie was left devastated and in tears,

Aldi saw the story and kindly gifted her a brand new wooden toy shop stall from their range so she can restart her little business,

Well done @AldiUK 👏👏

[ianVisits @ianvisits]

Background to the planning situation.

https://t.co/Q76Y75D6Jd

[smv @slimvnsn]

The woman who saved me in London was called Maureen and she had no business being kind.

I was standing outside a flat in Barking with 2 suitcases and a dying phone. The Airbnb I booked had vanished from the app. The listing was gone. The host number was disconnected. I had paid 6 nights in advance and arrived to nothing. Barking in the drizzle. Nigerian. Alone.

Maureen walked past me with her shopping trolley and a small dog that looked like a mop with eyes. She was maybe 68. She had the posture of someone who had been disappointed by life and refused to take it personally.

She stopped. Looked at the suitcases. Looked at my face. Then she looked at the door I was standing beside.

That one's empty, she said. Been empty since February. If someone rented it to you, they rented you a ghost.

I told her the situation. My phone was at 4%. My bank account had already been debited. I was in London for a cousin's wedding and my backup plan was a distant relative in Luton who hadn't answered his messages in 3 days.

She listened while the dog sniffed my left suitcase with suspicion. When I finished, she clicked her tongue and said what I needed was not a police report but a meal and a working phone.

Her flat was 3 doors down. She made me beans on toast without asking if I liked beans on toast. She said beans on toast was not about liking. It was about warmth and speed and 57 pence per tin. The economics of kindness.

Her flat was small and crowded with porcelain cats. Dozens of them. On the mantel. On the windowsill. On shelves she had put up herself. Different sizes. Different colours. All staring. Maureen said her late husband had given her the 1st one in 1974 and after he died she just kept buying them because they reminded her of the 1st one and the 1st one reminded her of him.

So the flat wasn't full of cats. It was full of reminders. Some people keep photos. Maureen kept porcelain.

I asked her why she let a stranger into her home. A man. A foreigner. Someone from the internet essentially.

She said fear takes too much energy. She said she had survived cancer and a terrible marriage and 42 years of factory work and she was not about to start being afraid of a boy with wet shoes and a dead phone.

Then she called a number. Her nephew. He worked in property. By 7pm I had an actual flat with an actual key in an actual building near Canning Town. 60 pounds a night. Real. Legal. The nephew even dropped by to check the locks.

I tried to pay Maureen for the food and the phone and the errand. She refused everything. So I bought her a porcelain cat from a charity shop on the high street. The ugliest one I could find. A ginger thing with 1 ear missing.

She named it Lagos. Put it right next to the 1st one her husband gave her. She sent me a photo later that year. Lagos was still there, one-eared and ridiculous, surrounded by British porcelain.

I visited her again before I left London. She took me to her local and introduced me to her friends. All women in their 60s and 70s. All with opinions about Nigerian men now. Maureen had told them I was polite and carried my own suitcases and didn't complain about beans.

That was her measure of a person. Carry your own weight. Eat what you're given. Don't complain.

I still send her a porcelain cat every Christmas. She sends back a card with a photo of her dog, the mop, who has now accepted me as a non threatening entity. 5 years of porcelain cats. 5 years of cards.

When my cousin asked me what London was like, I said London was drizzle and scams and bad Airbnb hosts. Then I said London was also Maureen. And Maureen outweighed everything.

1 stranger with a shopping trolley and a philosophy of beans. She didn't change my life with money or influence. She just refused to walk past. And that refusal made me somebody who refuses to walk past too.

Open your door. The stranger might be you later.

[The Ways of A Gentleman @Gentleman_Ways]

Basic manners lesson:

There are still places your phone doesn’t belong:

-Public restrooms
-At meals
-Checkout lines
-Museums & libraries

What would you add to the list?

[Seema Misra OBE @SeemaMisra_OBE]

5 years ago today, my wrongful conviction was overturned.But justice isn’t finished.
Many of us are still waiting for fair compensation. The delays are unacceptable—and the impact is ongoing. This is about accountability and making sure it never happens again.
#PostOfficeScandal

[NyanChuu🔮🇯🇵🍭 @tanpukunokami]

In Tokyo, there's a cleaning crew that does the impossible every 12 minutes.

They're called TESSEI. They clean the Shinkansen bullet trains at Tokyo Station.

When a train arrives, it stops for 12 minutes before departing again.

Two minutes for passengers to exit.
Three more for the next batch to board.

That leaves seven.

In those seven minutes, one person must:
- Clean 100 seats
- Wipe every tray table
- Vacuum the floor
- Rotate every seat to face the new direction of travel
- Replace all headrest covers
- Check the overhead bins
- Bow to incoming passengers

Seven. Minutes.

They do this hundreds of times a day.

Harvard Business School published a case study about them.
The New York Times called it "the 7-minute miracle."
Tourists now stand on the platform just to watch.

Before they start, they bow to the train.
When they finish, they line up and bow to the passengers.

They're paid by the hour. Many are in their 50s and 60s.

Japan didn't invent cleaning.
They invented the dignity of doing small things perfectly.

[🎶𝗖𝗹𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗠𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗱𝗶𝗲𝘀 ✨ @Old_But_Gold50s]

A stunning performance of “O Mio Babbino Caro” by soloist Anne Wilkins - earned a standing ovation, with not many dry eyes in the house.

ℹ���Blind Welsh soprano Anne Wilkins is an award-winning classical musician from Neath, South Wales. Born blind due to retinopathy of prematurity, she spent years with South Wales Police before becoming a full-time singer. She received a British Empire Medal (BEM), appeared on Michael McIntyre’s Big Show, and advocates for Braille music and charity work.

[Tansu Yegen @TansuYegen]

The definition of experience👏

[Furkan Gözükara @FurkanGozukara]

The sheer arrogance of Pete Hegseth is staggering. A top military reporter reveals Hegseth completely refused to even meet with the Army Chief of Staff to discuss personnel issues. Instead, he just fired him and leaked it to the press. Absolute amateur hour at the Pentagon.

[Out of Context Human Race @NoContextHumans]

The moment he realised he was being filmed 😭�