"Special operations"...

Putin has introduced draconial penalties - up to 15 years in jail - for Russian citizens who dare to criticise the invasion of Ukraine. He has even banned the use of the words ‘war’ and ‘invasion’ - preferring ‘special operations’ - while insisting Russian forces are ‘liberating’ Ukraine (some captured Russian soldiers have expressed surprise at not being ‘welcomed’ with open arms as they marched into Ukraine). Putin has also limited access to news websites, including the BBC and Radio Free Europe. It’s a small crumb of comfort to know that the BBC is held in high regard around the world - though not in the Kremlin - as a source of (relatively) unbiased news.

Licenced today: cricket in Taunton...

Lockington...

Houses in the village of Lockington...

Sea-fishing...

Sea-fishing at the weekend, on the beach at Hornsea...

Staveley...

Licenced today: the village of Staveley, overlooked by Reston Scar, in South Lakeland… 

The City and Country...

Licenced today in the ‘end of month’ rush: the Wetherspoon pub - the City and Country - in Goole. This roundabout, topped with a clock-tower, is where six roads meet. Goole was a planned town, built on a grid system, though a lot of the more interesting buildings have either been demolished or repurposed (the pub used to be a bank). Goole has an interesting past and, no doubt, a prosperous future, because of the new industrial zone being built between the town and the motorway. Today, though, it’s just another defeated northern town with a hollowed-out high street…

The Butchers Dog...

Saw a guy waiting for this Driffield pub to open, at noon today, so, after I got my pic, we had a couple of beers... and talked about all the other great pubs we'd visited over the years...

Ukraine...

According to a report in the Guardian, a witness in Ukraine said today: “There is no reason for Russian troops to be in our country, beyond the terrifying whim of an ageing autocrat”. Even captured Russian soldiers “don’t know why they are here”. The best hope, for halting the invaion of Ukraine, may lie with sheer weight of numbers: people all around the world who raise their voices in calling Putin to account.

Sanctions, yes. Closing Russian embassies, yes. Freezing the accounts of Russian oligarchs, who launder stolen money in London, yes. Even moving the Champion’s League final from St Petersburg to Paris, and Poland refusing to play Russia in the World Cup play-offs - done, and done - will contribute to the drip, drip, drip effect of concerted opposition to Russian expansionism. Putin and his cronies must be isolated and made aware that the whole world is horrified by what they're doing. 

A pic taken yesterday of the Yarborough Hunt, a characterful pub dating back to the 17th century, in Brigg, North Lincolnshire. If the building has an almost industrial facade, that’s because it used to be a brewery…