Polychaete Bob

Nearly 30 years studying this family, and have described or redescribed over 50% of known species #wormwednesday

Amgueddfa Cymru seeks a new Head of Zoology to lead an experienced curatorial team driving forward innovative research and public engagement programmes. Application Deadline - 02 November 2026 nmw.ciphr-irecruit.com/applicants/v...

Last stop on the way home was Basildon Park, rescued from demolition in 1952 by Lord and Lady Iliffe. So many films and TV shows have been filmed there. I was fascinated with the draft illustrations by Graham Sutherland for the tapestry in Coventry Cathedral and the shell room.

On our way home we stopped to visit the Air Forces Memorial at Runnymede. A really poignant place, so many tributes to over 20,000 men and women who died in operations in northern and Western Europe and have no named grave.

A visit to Ham House, Surrey, featured in Series of 4 of Bridgerton. The house was gifted to William Murray by Charles I. During the English civil war the house was retained by the family by passing the property to the couple’s daughter. As a Scot, she was entitled to own the estate in her own right

Really enjoyed Windsor Castle. Although, I have been before, I think it was before they opened the state apartments in 1993. The restorations following the fire are amazing. The audio tour was great. Really enjoyed the Queen Mary Dolls House and the Venus Gardens.

One from Maddy’s Bucket list today and a trip to Hampton Court Palace. Really enjoyed both the palace and gardens. It’s a shame that the gardens are suffering in the heat waves but even so you can tell how great they are.

Lovely day doing Go Ape at Margam Park, followed by Go Karting at Teamsport Cardiff

Something a little different on our way home, a visit to Bletchley Park. What a fascinating place and you really get a sense what it was like to be there during the Second World War. Can’t believe that there were 9000 people working there at the height of code breaking. Great to see Turing’s office

We did enjoy the butterfly 🦋 house at Blenheim Palace

Lovely day at Blenheim Place. Magnificent building and interiors. Difficult to get a full picture of what it was like due to restoration work. All in all a good day out. Great to be able to take photos inside apart from the private rooms. Applaud their efforts for reusable cups.

Will miss waking up to these crazy squirrels, so playful

A lovely day yesterday in Oxford. We headed to Oxford Castle and Prison.L ovely views from the top of St George’s Tower which dates back to the late 12th or early 13th century and played a major part in the Anarchy, a civil war between England and Normandy.

A lovely day yesterday in Oxford. Took a bus tour around the city

A lovely day yesterday in Oxford. Climbed the tower of St Mary the Virgin to get amazing views of the city and the Radcliffe Camera.

Lovely trip to Waddesdon today, a French Renaissance-style château built by Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild in 1874 to entertain and to house his collection of fine art.

West Wycombe, home of the Dashwood family. The house was created by the 2nd Baronet, Sir Francis Dashwood, former Chancellor of the Exchequer and founder of the infamous Hellfire Club. It’s the set for numerous shows/films including Cranford, Downtown, Bridgerton and Labyrinth

Hughenden, former home of Victorian Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli. It was the base of the top-secret WW2 operation code named ‘Hillside’ to produce maps for the RAF. They had an exhibition on the photographic images of the 1875 Polar expedition of HMS Alert and HMS Discovery.

A jam packed day at The Waterfront yesterday for Gŵyl y Môr Abertawe hosted by AmgueddfaCymru in conjunction with Swansea Council. It was a wonderful event and we were able to showcase some amazing specimens from the colllections & talk about marine creatures from around Wales

A few photos from last week's IPC15 conference in Frankfurt. Many thanks to Carly for capturing them

The chromosomal genome sequence of a shovel-head worm, Maea johnstoni (Fiege, Licher & Mackie, 2000) (Spionida: Magelonidae) and its associated microbial metagenome sequences wellcomeopenresearch.org/articles/11-... @chemamd.bsky.social @sangerinstitute.bsky.social

The final thing we did before leaving Frankfurt yesterday was to visit Palmengarten. Was really beautiful and lovely to finally see some rain.

And to wrap up an amazing and very successful conference, IPC15 delegates dinned and danced with dinosaurs, and dazzled with amazing salsa moves! Many thanks once again to @etilic.bsky.social, @madamverm.bsky.social and the whole team who produced an amazing conference

The afternoon of Day 5 of IPC15 Frankfurt saw the general assembly, election of council members and president, selection of next conference, student prizes and thanks to the amazing team. It was also a chance to remember members of our polychaete family who are sadly no longer with us.

The final day of IPC15 was a fascinating insight into the world of EvoDevo & genomics. Two invited speakers Elaine Seaver and Toru Miura provided a backdrop for a series of fascinating talks.

Worm tattoos courtesy of IPC15

Well day 4 at IPC15 in Frankfurt certainly started with a smoking topic, and the underworld of Hydrothermal vents. This set up for a great set of talks on ecology, biodiversity and conservation.

A fantastic mid conference trip to the UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Messel Pit, a former oil shale quarry full of amazingly preserved fossils from the Eocene. Followed by an excursion to Lohrberg, a great opportunity for conference participants to get to know each other and chat about polychaetes

Another fantastic day at IPC15 in Frankfurt. Day 2 focused on taxonomy, systematics and phylogenomics. Interestingly it started and finished with the renowned sand striker worms, with the fascinating story of Walter.

A fantastic first day of IPC15 in Frankfurt, so many great talks and posters. Our hosts are looking after us so well too.

Fascinating five hours looking around Senckenberg Museum in Frankfurt today. Some amazing collections on display. @sgn.one

Getting back to the drawing board today. Drawing three species from West Africa ready to finish off a paper with the team in Bergen. Looking forward to completing this paper

A few snaps of Hoglet number 2

Great to see Luke Jerram’s Helios at Amgueddfa Genedlaethol Caerdydd - National Museum Cardiff. Well worth a visit

Juvenile female green woodpecker visiting the garden the other day. There was an adult female there too, but the photo was rubbish

Hedgehog diaries update 🦔🦔🦔🦔 It was lovely to see Mum and one of the hoglets in the garden the night before last. Mum seems to favour one more than the other, or at least tolerate one more than the other. Both of them thought it was a good idea to sit in the water bowl to cool off a little.

Great day for a PhD graduation @bangoruniversity.bsky.social @sosbangor.bsky.social

It’s a polychaete jewellery kind of day ❤️🪱

Look what arrived in time for International Polychaete Day yesterday 🎊🎉🙌

Really interesting day at the National Botanic Gardens. Immediately probably not the best day to go in the middle of a heat wave, but a beautiful place and well worth a visit. Can’t believe I haven’t been since just before Maddy was born.

There’s something very special about listening to a curator talking about a collection. Yesterday I was lucky enough to go on a tour of the historic buildings at St Fagan’s National History Museum. It was amazing to hear about the site, so much passion and knowledge.

Had completely forgotten about these photos, had left them on the camera and not done anything with them.

With such an historic season, all three teams gaining promotion and with two teams winning their respective leagues, there was a lot to celebrate with our senior presentation last night. Well done to everyone who has played for our senior sides this year in such an epic season.

Brave Blues Fall Late in the Valleys Bridgend C produced a spirited, disciplined, & often heroic performance, but a late surge from Gwendda denied them a deserved point in a fiercely contested clash in the wet and windswept Taff Valley.

Great to be back in one of my favourite places in the museum imaging these amazing worms @amgueddfacymru.bsky.social

Enjoyed photographing this today