UKCasual

Some 10,000 people gather at the ancient site to mark the start of the longest day of the year.

Who's winning at life this week? Do you have a discount code for Greggs? Found some hedge porn?

What's happening that's making you smile?

In [email protected] we have a list of other UK communities in the sidebar. It might be nice if we can get a comprehensive list of the other UK based communites too, so if you run one or know of one, drop a link here. Make sure it's in the remote format so that they can be reached from any instance - this is !<communityname>@<instanceurl>. I don't think hyperlinking works properly yet, but there are active issues raised on the github to get it functional.

New clues from an ancient plague are pushing us to rethink where Britons were ‘really’ from – and the answer is complicated

We had a thunderstorm and it's still too hot

Anyone in, from or interested in Greater Manchester?

I guess this will be more difficult now that the Reddit sub is back online but I've set up a Manchester group at [email protected] - please feel free to come along, post stuff and have fun!

You might notice it's on a Manchester-based instance too (mcr.town) - feel free to join that too. It's a sibling site to our small (but active enough) Mastodon site (mcr.wtf) which is also open to new people

TV: what have you been watching? Binged a great series that we should all see? Been to see anything at the pictures?

Tunes: what's your current earworm?

They seem to be on sale everywhere in Scotland, but I think they're the worst crisps I've ever tasted. I bought some the other day because I fancied some crisps with my sandwich and they were the only brand the cafe had. They went in a bin about 10 minutes later. Just awful, like eating compressed dust.

Monday is here again, which means back to work for most of us.

Has it rained yet where you are? What's happening this week?

My first year going very excited Woooooo

They were heckin' cute as well, let me tell you.

Just curious how spread out we are. I'm up in West Yorkshire myself.

Edited to add: Hi /all! Please remember this is a UK-based community, just in case you're confused. But you are of course welcome. :)

(Please remember that anything you post on the Fediverse might stay on other instances forever, even if you delete it from yours. I'd recommend you not get any more specific than county or local authority level.)

[Lifted from the Other Place, where I made this post last year in preparation for driving the route...]

Various bypasses n' such mean its path has changed over time: SABRE have the "original" route as of 1923 but no directional navigation.

I had some time this weekend, so I've done the legwork, as far as it's possible to match the original route thanks to pedestrianised zones and one-ways. In three parts:

Manchester to Loughborough (Google doesn't want to route you down the A5004 to Buxton, so turn right instead of left at Whaley Bridge)

Loughborough to Bedford

Bedford to the end of the A6, Chipping Barnet

~~I'd say "enjoy", but it's like a 7-hour drive apparently. I'll find out just how long it takes next week.~~

I did end up driving this whole route, stopping for lunch in Leicester and supping at the KFC in South Mimms. Got lost trying to find a way down the A5004, not realising it had been washed away, and had to backtrack onto the current route of the A6.

Most boring section? Bedford to Luton, of course. More or less a straight line with no distinguishing features.

If any of you feel like trying it, budget for 9 hours. It was fun, but it was much quicker coming back up the motorways.

It's Sunday! I'm up early as our bedroom is currently five thousand degrees.

Happy Father's Day for those celebrating. Happy International Picnic Day for those that aren't.

Pop in for a chat.

Edit: 2000 subscribers! Welcome, everyone 🙂

A man who takes his snakes to his local public park sparks a debate about what animals are acceptable in public spaces.

The amount of gravitational pull you feel is partly offset by centrifugal force, which varies depending on how close you are to the equator, and on how far you are above sea level. According to your bathroom scales, you weigh more in Edinburgh than in London.

The person choosing pictures for the BBC articles is on form again. Just look at the joy on those faces!

Also, anybody else getting Narnia vibes from that pic?

There's loads of archive footage of London uploaded to YouTube. We'll play you a random one, starting at a random moment. Your challenge? Guess what year it is.

We all love a good cuppa, what's your favourite cup or mug?

The grids are designed so cyclists do not have to get off their bikes when crossing.

What has everyone got for their dad's, who are usually particularly hard to buy for?

Also, to add a caveat, totally fine to have a complicated relationship with your dad. If this is the case, please be kind to yourself and ignore this post!

The weekend, and the rain, has arrived.

What are we all up to? Mourning the lack of sun? Happy for the rain? Still playing Tears of the Kingdom with the curtains closed?

I’m trying to get back into crumpets and wanted some inspiration. What is your favourite crumpet topping? preferably vegetarian.