Catherine Duigan
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cduigan.bsky.social
Catherine Duigan
@cduigan.bsky.social
1.6K followers 2.2K following 380 posts
Environmental consultant, researcher & non-fiction writer; water & nature; heritage & natural history; women in science; biographer of Dr. Kathleen Carpenter; Ireland & Wales connections; accepts commissions.
https://catherineduigan.co.uk/
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cduigan.bsky.social
The 4 seasons #Wales - In the smoking room at @insolecourt.bsky.social #spring #summer #autumn #winter by romantic revivalist Fred Weekes

#WelshArt 🎨 #weather #climate #agriculture #apples #lambs #snow #Christmas #envhist #FlashbackFriday #Cardiff #history #heritage
Mosaic of 4 seasonal scenes; child holds lamb in springtime; sitting woman with flowers in summer; woman catches apples in her apron in autumn; collecting and burning firewood in winter.
December 5, 2025 at 3:09 PM
cduigan.bsky.social
A shared #heritage - #OTD 4 Dec 1922 - in a railway sleeping car at #Holyhead #Wales, President Cosgrave met newly appointed Governor General Healy enroute to #Ireland.

"Had I but known that I was to be greeted by Mr. Pres. Cosgrave I would have more quickly donned my collar."
#history #politics
Newspaper headline about meeting; Black and white portrait photographs of Cosgrave and Healy
December 4, 2025 at 1:13 PM
cduigan.bsky.social
From #CoP30 to #Cymru - Huge privilege to hear Mrs Mary Robinson speak about the importance of having stories about the reality of #climate change & its impact on #nature. #science #evidence #Shero #Ireland #Wales
Diolch yn fawr - Consulate General of Ireland #Cardiff &
@futuregencymru.bsky.social
Mrs Mary Robinson in conversation with Derek Walker, Future Generations Commissioner of Wales on stage at Chapter Arts Centre, Cardiff, 24 November
November 25, 2025 at 9:45 AM
cduigan.bsky.social
A doorway for the imagination - #AdoorableThursday
Canterbury Cathedral
@cburycathedral.bsky.social
Small wooden doorway inset in carved stone above groundlevel; very ornate metal hinges and keyhole decorations.
November 20, 2025 at 10:46 AM
cduigan.bsky.social
"I have looked upon those brilliant creatures,
And now my heart is sore." #WBYeats

Now silent at the top of the stairs, encased with rocks & reeds, tucked wings redundant, looking.

Whooper #swan from the #taxidermy collection of Captain Vivian Hewitt, Cemlyn Bay #Wales @northwaleswt.bsky.social
November 19, 2025 at 7:16 PM
cduigan.bsky.social
"a Hurricane. Torrents of Rain accompanied with Violent Lightening all night...Mountains covered with Snow..."
Eleanor Butler #Llangollen
17 Nov. 1784 #OTD

#weather #Wales #Ireland @sarahdavies.bsky.social
River Dee in flood at Llangollen; historic image of The Ladies of Llangollen.
November 17, 2025 at 10:06 AM
cduigan.bsky.social
"The hills are fine, of course,
Bearded with water to suggest age..."
#RSThomas @rsthomaspoet.bsky.social

#Wales - blessed by an abundance of rain and some superb #waterfalls #AberFalls #Eryri #walking #wellbeing #nature #poetry
River emerging from rocky base of sinuous waterfall producing spray; autumnal colours surrounding.
November 16, 2025 at 4:38 PM
cduigan.bsky.social
A reward for walking in the rain - #RiversOfWales reaching #flood levels as #StormClaudia takes hold #Wales #Heron #BlueHeron #cascade #waterfall #river #Cefni
Blue heron full profile standing on rocky cascade of flowing water
November 14, 2025 at 2:06 PM
cduigan.bsky.social
the fag end of creation - Fascinating insights into value/use of #water as #landscape feature & as part of development of the #Penrhyn Estate #Eryri #Ogwen #heritage Annual Archives & Special Collections Lecture by @alexjioannou.bsky.social
#envhist @ystadaucymru.bsky.social @archpbu.bsky.social
Historic black & white engraving of waterfall, cascading river under bridge in rocky landscape with goats; Fall of the Ogwen, in Nant Frangon Caernarvonshire by Gastineau, Henry G. 1791-1876
November 12, 2025 at 8:07 PM
cduigan.bsky.social
"Time is like a #river; you never step into the same river twice"

A #sundial measuring #time on the ancient "Bridge of Pearls" (1636) over Afon #Conwy #Llanrwst #Wales #FWPM #RiversOfWales #envhist #weather #bridge #autumn #history #heritage #architecture #clock #bluesky 🌞
Sun above simple metal sundial on wall of bridge with river visible in the background.
November 8, 2025 at 5:48 PM
cduigan.bsky.social
The moody mouth of the #Menai Strait
#autumn #weather #Wales #IrishSea #Anglesey
Overcast sky with clouds over sea; sun attempting to break through; framed by coastline.
November 6, 2025 at 9:23 AM
cduigan.bsky.social
Defined by #rivers - Cambriae Typus 1606 by Humphrey Llwyd - 1st printed map to show #Wales as a country #dyddllunymap #mapmonday #geography #envhist #cartography #placenames #language
Historic colourful map of Wales with prominent network of river systems.
November 3, 2025 at 10:18 AM
cduigan.bsky.social
A sturdy practical Welsh farmhouse door closed for the winter - Tý Mawr Wybrnant - Birthplace of Bishop William Morgan #AdoorableThursday #history 📖 #heritage #Bible #StormBenjamin @nationaltrust.org.uk #Wales
www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/wales/...
Wooden plank unpainted door with large metal hinges; stone lintel and rough stone walls; rock slabs leading to doorway.
October 23, 2025 at 12:54 PM
cduigan.bsky.social
So many abstract and beautiful diatoms available to inspire Gofod Glas art in #Diatom #Flora of #Britain and #Ireland database at Amgueddfa Cymru #freshwater #algae #sciart naturalhistory.museumwales.ac.uk/diatoms/
SEM of perforated silica valve of Cocconeis pseudolineata Diatom - microscopic algae
October 19, 2025 at 5:01 PM
cduigan.bsky.social
Diatom dialogues - like a flag for #freshwater #ecology, @freshwaterbio.bsky.social sampling net outside Oriel #Machno - lovely to meet Gofod Glas artist Katharina and talk about importance of #diatoms in environmental history of #Wales @northwaleswt.bsky.social #acidrain #sciart
www.gofodglas.org
Sampling net with orange rim leaning against red brick and stone wall near large window and below sign.
October 19, 2025 at 4:40 PM
cduigan.bsky.social
Gofod Glas creating a space where curiosity about water can flow freely – connecting people, sparking #creativity, and inspiring sustainable futures for Dyffryn #Conwy and beyond.
Autumn Events:
www.gofodglas.org/blog/brb4kze...
@esmeefairbairn.bsky.social @northwaleswt.bsky.social
#Nature #Wales
Old stone 3 arched bridge over river with sun peaking through clouds.
October 16, 2025 at 4:58 PM
cduigan.bsky.social
A shared heritage - "Irish Lumper" #potato leaf with #Phytophthora infestans #blight @rbgkew.bsky.social collected 1847 during an Gorta Mór - Great #Famine - used to illustrate monoculture risks in Future of Food exhibition, Science Museum #London
#historyofscience #Empire #Ireland #envhist #botany
Two herbarium sheets with fragments of three potato leaves and associated record cards.
October 14, 2025 at 10:58 AM
cduigan.bsky.social
#SundayMorning #SundayVibes
#reading 📚
#Canterbury
Sculpture of male bearded figure reading book, with hands resting on open book; stained glass window in background.
October 12, 2025 at 9:41 AM
cduigan.bsky.social
Of course Kathleen Carpenter, #freshwater ecologist, signed The Welsh Womens #Peace Appeal, clearly & confidently with her best fountain pen, as a testament to her loyalty & humanity.
New permanent exhibition at Llfrygell Genedlaethol Cymru National Library of Wales
www.wcia.org.uk/academi-hedd...
Background of handwritten names, with inset photograph of young woman in Edwardian clothing; white blouse; patterned neck scarf; coils of hair on her head Large wooden chest with background image of 4 well dressed women in early 1900s coats and hats; one woman holding open a document.
October 9, 2025 at 9:11 AM
cduigan.bsky.social
A real but almost surreal #Antarctic sea #anemone by Thomas Alan Stephenson @aberdlsagb.bsky.social @aberuni.bsky.social from Terra Nova Expedition 1910 #historyofscience #Wales #taxonomy #sciart #envhist 🎨
@aberuniarchives.bsky.social
Morphological drawing with water colours of Antarctic sea anemone
October 8, 2025 at 5:34 PM
cduigan.bsky.social
#OfficeToday
Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru
The National Library of Wales
- a cathedral to Welsh literature, language & culture.
#histenv #historyofscience #Wales #Aberystwyth
Library reading room with three levels of bookcases.
October 8, 2025 at 1:40 PM
cduigan.bsky.social
Under Cadair Idris - plant pigments change and breakdown creating a tapestry of rich colours to enjoy 🍂
#Wales #autumn #Colours #landscapes #Valley #Uplands #mountains #nature
Rocky dark blue mountain ridge above grey scree and layer of rich brown bracken; foreground of green fields and yellowing oak tree along hedge line. Overcast sky. Rocky dark blue mountain ridge above grey scree and layer of rich brown bracken; intruding block of dark green coniferous trees on left; overcast sky.
October 7, 2025 at 5:12 PM
cduigan.bsky.social
Fordwich #Trout: "the rarest of fish; many of them near the bigness of #salmon, but known by their different colour; and in their best season they cut very white…”
Izaak Walton, The Compleat Angler, 1653

At the Beaney Museum #Canterbury

#RiverStour #FishFriday #Kent #envhist #fishing #rivers
Simple painting of fish; brown dorsal surface and fins; silvery ventral surface, with informative text above and below image.
October 3, 2025 at 10:01 AM
cduigan.bsky.social
A shared #heritage - constructed circa 1400 from Irish #Oak, the Wagon Roof of the Chapter House of Canterbury Cathedral #Ireland #England #religion #architecture #wood #envhist #colonisation #history #nature #botany #Quercus
@cburycathedral.bsky.social

www.canterbury-archaeology.org.uk/wagon-roof
October 1, 2025 at 4:01 PM
cduigan.bsky.social
The weeping brook without #Ophelia - The Great Stour

#chalkstream #nature #Canterbury #aquatic #macrophyte #rivers #plants #Shakespeare #envhist
Range of green submerged plants in flowing clear water
October 1, 2025 at 7:51 AM