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Bought a set of Tiger & Bunny trade figures.
They're pretty awesome little doods!
Taken with my Samsung Vibrant.
My brother and I went to the ABC in Ultimo be be in the studio audience for Q and A. This guitarist was entertainment for the crowd while we waited to be admitted to the studio.
He cut a lonely figure as he played on while everyone left to watch the show, but he never missed a beat nor even looked up from the fret board. His world was his own.
Getting my wife to smile in a photo is a challenge. Usually, she is saying, "Noooo...", so this was a victory for me and my attempts to capture her with something other than an "ooooh" look on her face. This is from our road trip to Spokane, Washington in May 2011. This third day of driving took us over White Pass on US-12,( the White Pass Scenic Byway), en-route to Rimrock, WA to visit our cousin. We are at one of several vista point stops on that beautiful highway. A few miles ahead at the White Pass Ski Resort, the landscape would be covered with six to eight feet of snow and the temp would dip into the 30s.
Arm's Length self-portrait with the trusty Canon G11 and its pivot-able display screen, perfect for this type of shot..
Photograph by Jeffrey Bass -- All Rights Reserved
National Nurses Week is celebrated annually from May 6, also known as National Nurses Day, through May 12, the birthday of Florence Nightingale, who is considered the founder of modern nursing.
To help say mahalo to all of our nursing staff and to highlight the important role they play in healthcare and the Army, Tripler held a number of educational, training and social events throughout the week.
Learn more about the U.S. Army Nurse Corps at armynursecorps.amedd.army.mil/.
On Tuesday, Nov. 12, the Destin Area Chamber of Commerce held its first Holiday Shop & Dine, as part of its Leaders In Business Lunch. The event showcased Design Avenue, J Miller's Furniture, Mary Kay Cosmetics, Me Deux, Miller's Ale House of Destin, and Silver Sands Premium Outlets. Members networked, shopped, and learned about some trendy holiday gifts. As always, the Chamber reiterated the message that we can all help better our local economy by shopping with local businesses.
LUMBINI NEPAL
Lumbinī (Nepali and Sanskrit: लुम्बिनी listen (help•info), "the lovely") is a Buddhist pilgrimage site in the Rupandehi District of Nepal. It is the place where, according to Buddhist tradition, Queen Mayadevi gave birth to Siddhartha Gautama in 563 BCE.[1][2] Gautama, who achieved Enlightenment some time around 528 BCE,[3][4] became the Buddha and founded Buddhism.[5][6][7]Lumbini is one of many magnets for pilgrimage that sprang up in places pivotal to the life of the Buddha.
Lumbini has a number of temples, including the Mayadevi Temple and several others which are still under repair. Many monuments, monasteries and a museum, the Lumbini International Research Institute, are also within the holy site. Also there is the Puskarini, or Holy Pond, where the Buddha's mother took the ritual dip prior to his birth and where he had his first bath. At other sites near Lumbini, earlier Buddhas were, according to tradition, born, then achieved ultimate Enlightenment and finally relinquished their earthly forms
In the Buddha's time, Lumbini was situated in east of Kapilavastu and southwest Devadaha of Shakya kingdom of Nepal.[8][9] It was there, that the Buddha was born.[10] A pillar discovered in 1896 (and erected thereafter at Rummindei) is believed to mark the spot of Ashoka's visit to Lumbini. The site was not known as Lumbini before the pillar was discovered.[11] According to an inscription on the pillar, it was placed there by the people then in charge of the park to commemorate Ashoka's visit and gifts.[12] The park was previously known as Rummindei, 2 mi (2 mi (3.2 km)) north of Bhagavanpura.
The Sutta Nipáta (vs. 683) states that the Buddha was born in a village of the Sákyans in the Lumbineyya Janapada. The Buddha stayed in Lumbinívana during his visit to Devadaha and there preached the Devadaha Sutta.
In 1896, Nepalese archaeologists (led by Khadga Samsher Rana and assisted by Alois Anton Führer) discovered a great stone pillar at Lumbini, according to the crucial historical records made by the ancient Chinese monk-pilgrim Xuanzang in the 7th century CE. Führer postulated that the pillar was placed at the site by Ashoka (emperor of the Maurya Empire) circa 245 BCE. Records made by another ancient Chinese monk-pilgrim Faxian in the early 5th century CE, were also used in the process of identifying this religiously acclaimed site.
Recent excavations beneath existing brick structures at the Mayadevi Temple at Lumbini have uncovered evidence for an older timber structure beneath the walls of the newer brick Buddhist shrine, which was constructed during the Ashokan era. The layout of the Ashokan shrine closely follows that of the earlier timber structure, which suggests a continuity of worship at the site. The pre-Mauryan timber structure appears to be an ancient bodhigara (tree shrine), consisting of postholes and a wooden railing surrounding a clay floor containing mineralized tree roots that appears to have been worn smooth by visitors. Radiocarbon dating of charcoal from the wooden postholes and optically stimulated luminescence dating of elements in the soil suggests human activity (possibly pre-Buddhist tree worship) began at the site around 1000 BCE, followed by the development of a Buddhist monastery-like community by approximately 550 BCE
Lumbini is 4.8 km (3 mi) in length and 1.6 km (1.0 mi) in width. The holy site of Lumbini is bordered by a large monastic zone in which only monasteries can be built, no shops, hotels or restaurants. It is separated into an eastern and western monastic zone, the eastern having the Theravadin monasteries, the western having Mahayanaand Vajrayana monasteries.
The holy site of Lumbini has ruins of ancient monasteries, a sacred Bodhi tree, an ancient bathing pond, the Ashokan pillar and the Mayadevi Temple, where the supposed place of birth of Buddha is located. From early morning to early evening, pilgrims from various countries perform chanting and meditation at the site.
A non-governmental organization named Samriddhi Foundation started in 2013 working extensively in the field of education and health specially in government schools of the area where underprivileged children study. A non-governmental organisation called "Asia Pacific Exchange and Cooperation Foundation" (APECF) backed by chairman of the Unified Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist)and then Prime Minister Prachanda, the Chinese government and a UN group called "United Nations Industrial Development Organization" (UNIDO) signed a deal to develop Lumbini into a "special development zone" with funds worth $3 billion.[15] The venture was a China-UN joint project. A broader 'Lumbini Development National Director Committee' under the leadership of Pushpa Kamal Dahal was formed on 17 October 2011.[16] The six-member committee included Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist) leader Mangal Siddhi Manandhar, Nepali Congress leader Minendra Rijal, Forest Minister Mohammad Wakil Musalman, among other leaders. The committee was given the authority to "draft a master plan to develop Lumbini as a peaceful and tourism area and table the proposal" and the responsibility to gather international support for the same.
By Kailash Mansarovar Foundation Swami Bikash Giri www.sumeruparvat.com , www.naturalitem.com
Mark & Judy, Mary & Jack, and myself went to Chena Hotsprings on 5/12. The temp was 50+ when we left Fairbanks but it was about 43 when we left. I wansn't into getting wet - so I played photographer! The rock pool is set up just right - I was still able to converse and be close to all by following them around the pool and setting on the nearby rocks!
WPC 2018, Rabat, October 27 - Jean Pisani-Ferry, European University Institute, Tommaso Padoa-Schioppa chair ; Olivier Blanchard, Fred Bergsten Senior Fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics ; Ashoka Mody, Charles and Marie Robertson Visiting Professor in International Economic Policy at the Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton University ; Jean-Claude Trichet, President of Bruegel
The #USACE Japan District held its annual Safety Day June 12. The half day event was geared towards educating district employees on a variety of safety related issues. Representatives from throughout the U.S. Army Garrison Japan provided sessions on a variety of safety related topics, including healthy eating, hearing conservation awareness, choking, substance abuse and suicide awareness, metabolic testing and mental health and stress control. Additionally, this year the Japanese Industrial Safety and Health Association (JISHA) also provided two briefings in Japanese.
On Monday, September 12, the International Graduate Mentoring Program's (IGMP) hosted its first "Monday Night Tea” at One Wheelock. Traditional teas and desserts from different countries were served to all attendees.
In 1987, World War II veteran Roger Durbin approached Representative Marcy Kaptur, a Democrat from Ohio, to ask if a World War II memorial could be constructed. Kaptur introduced the World War II Memorial Act to the House of Representatives as HR 3742 on December 10. The resolution authorized the American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC) to establish a World War II memorial in "Washington, D.C., or its environs", but the bill was not voted on before the end of the session, so it was not passed. Two more times, in 1989 and 1991, Rep. Kaptur introduced similar legislation, but these bills suffered the same fate as the first, and did not become law.
Kaptur reintroduced legislation in the House a fourth time as HR 682 on January 27, 1993, one day after Senator Strom Thurmond (a Republican from South Carolina) introduced companion Senate legislation. On March 17, 1993, the Senate approved the act, and the House approved an amended version of the bill on May 4. On May 12, the Senate also approved the amended bill, and the World War II Memorial Act was signed into law by President Bill Clinton on May 25 of that year, becoming Public Law 103-32.
The U.S. National World War II Memorial is a National Memorial dedicated to Americans who served in the armed forces and as civilians during World War II. Consisting of 56 pillars and a pair of arches surrounding a plaza and fountain, it is located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., on the former site of the Rainbow Pool at the eastern end of the Reflecting Pool, between the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument.
It opened to the public on April 29, 2004, and was dedicated by President George W. Bush on May 29, 2004, two days before Memorial Day.[1] The memorial is administered by the National Park Service under its National Mall and Memorial Parks group.[2] As of 2009, more than 4.4 million people visit the memorial each year
Mizzou K-12, the parent program of the University of Missouri High School, is part of the University of Missouri’s College of Education. More than 110 Mizzou K-12 students from Brazil traveled to MU in July. The trip focused on introducing the students to different careers. During their time at MU, they stopped at the Sorenson Estate and the South Farm Research Center.
This picture features Kent Shannon at the Sorenson Estate.
Photo by Logan Jackson | © 2017 - Curators of the University of Missouri
Windows 10-12 The twelve apostles beneath the articles of the creed: note the Prince of Wales feathers in the small lights.
Window 12.
4 lights. Left to right:-
1 - An apostle, intended to be St Matthew, with cross-staff.
Note - the lights were restored about 1861.
Fairford Church Windows
Text taken from 'St Mary's Church, Fairford, Gloucestershire'. 4th ed 2001. Revised by Geoff Hawkes and Kenneth Munn.
Since 1986 there has been a programme of restoration of the windows by the Barley Studio in York.
The twenty-eight windows have been used to express and teach by pictures the Christian faith for nearly 500 years. No other parish church in the land has retained a complete set of late medieval glass. The plan of these windows illustrated the Christian faith as in the pages of a picture book. Opposite to the twelve prophets, who foretold the faith, stand twelve apostles, each beneath a sentence of the Apostles' Creed, which expresses the faith. Four evangelists, who recorded the faith, are opposite four doctors of the Church, who expounded the faith. Above stand twelve martyrs, or confessors, who suffered for the faith; opposite are twelve enemies of the faith. Within the chancel screens is shown, in the Life of Christ, the foundation of our faith. In the bottom centre panel of the East window stands Our Lord being judged by Pilate. In the West Window is shown Christ judging the whole world.
CAMP BUTNER, N.C. -- Selected Soldiers assigned to the 518th Sustainment Brigade, 143rd Sustainment Command (Expeditionary) compete in the brigade's Best Warrior Competition, here January 9 through 12. The competition consists of physical fitness, marksmanship, land navigation, and other events to determine the winner. (Photo by U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Cooper T. Cash, 319th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment)
Get it? Sydney Opera House? Fat Lady sings? Nevermind...and we ain't fat either! I'm slim as! True story!
Today I took the Shakedown chronicles into the city with Rommel. The original plan was to take a bunch of photos of the people waiting in line at the Apple store for the new iPad 3, but when we got there, it was really nothing spectacular, so we changed directions and headed to the water. We ended up at The Opera House. I haven't been to the waterside of the Opera House since I was a kid, so we headed there and took this pic. Thanks Romz, for showing me around your hood!
Taken by Adam, age 12.
The mission of Parks in Focus is to connect underserved youth to nature through photography, yet during our action-packed excursions to awesome public lands, we’re able to do so much more. Visit us!
To support us, go here: pif.udall.gov/donate.asp.
Soldiers assigned to the 3d U.S. Infantry Regiment (The Old Guard), trained the SPDHG on memorial affairs, Apr. 8-12. The police officers, who traveled nearly 3,000 miles, learned the details of flag folding, casket carrying and the duties of a firing party during the five-days of instruction on Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall, Va.
Here's the thing.
I take part in a music quiz each Friday, and I made friends with Keithy Baby, erstwhile foil of Danny Baker back in his radio days.
Keith helped at a whole food stall on St Albans market, and the plan was to meet up, look at the cathedral, have some beers and have a chat.
But.
Keith's family moved to Bristol, and Keith had been waiting for closure on the sale on his house, which went through a couple of weeks back.
So, no Keith.
But the cathedral was still there.
So, we went anyway.
I called a fellow GWUKer to see if he fancied a trip, and he did.
Waiting at Dover Priory, a heavily graffitied Electrostar came rolling in on the opposite platform.
We caught the ten to eight train to London from Dover, meeting Graham in the undercroft at St Pancras, before going down to the Thameslink platforms to get a train to St Albans, which came after just a minute.
A 15 minute walk from the station, or would have been had we not been jumped by a greasy spoon, so we had a hearty breakfast, before walking through the town centre to the market square, and down through an alleyway to the cathedral.
It is one of the oldest cathedral in Britain, or parts of it are. We saw Roman brick, Tudor brick, knapped flint and puddingstone blocks.
And that was just outside.
Inside there were surviving wall and column paintings, tiles, icons, tombs and windows of wonder.
We spent an hour or so walking round, snapping.
Staff were friendly, welcoming and interested in our story, as well as us interested in theirs.
The tower is the oldest Cathedral tower in England. And here it is, looking up.
We spent an hour inside before having taken nearly 500 shots. I decided that was probably enough. For now.
Hard to say what the highlights were. I suppose the paintings on the columns in the Nave, mostly on the northern pillars and all of the Crucifixion. But the Shrine to St Alban was a surprise, the amber and white stones at the top of arches, reminding us very much of Spain.
We found Jools, then retraced our steps back to the market square, and hence to a pub for some liquid refreshment while sitting out on tables beside the street.
The day had turned very warm and humid, two pints of Abbot Ale went down well.
Graham had to get back to London, as did we as there was to be a family meal later, so we wandered down the long road to the station, then onto platform 3 to wait for the express service to Three Bridges and the first stop being St Pancras.
We had missed the train to Dover by two minutes, meaning we had 58 minutes to wait for the next one, so we found a seat and people watched, as you would expect us to.
As time drew near for the departure, we went onto the platform to wait, and for me to watch trains arriving and departing. A Eurostar left for Paris from the adjoining platform, accelerating quickly out of the station.
Our train arrived, and after those on it, got off, we all piled on so to get a seat, meaning the train was so packed when it left, people were standing down the whole length of the carriage, and folks at Stratford not able to get on.
Wow.
As the train travelled into Kent, stopping at Ebbsfleet and then Ashford, more and more people got off, even then it was pretty busy, but then on the Friday of a Bank Holiday the day before a strike which will mean no rail services in Kent at all. So, we should have expected it, I guess.
We were among the last off at Dover, the ticket barriers up meaning we had a ten minute wait to get out as those with bikes blocked the entrance hall, trying to get through.
We did get through, of course, so walked to the car, then out onto Townwall Street and up Jubilee Way to home. Where there was a feline waiting committee waiting for us, telling us it was dinner time.
Back out at six to pick up a Chinese takeaway before heading to Jen's where she, John, Mike, George and Trinny were waiting to help us eat and to help celebrate my big day.
We eat well and lots, hen Jen only brings out a cake with candles for me to blow out.
No real time for cards, Mike, George and Trinny left as they had an early start as they are driving to Kings Lynn for some banger racing action, and John left saying he wanted to get home before dark. Leaving Jen, Jools and I.
So we left too, Jools drove us back home along the A2, still busy with holiday traffic, and home in time so I could watch the second half of the Chelsea v Luton game.
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St Albans Cathedral, officially the Cathedral and Abbey Church of St Alban[5] but often referred to locally as "the Abbey", is a Church of England cathedral in St Albans, England.
Much of its architecture dates from Norman times. It ceased to be an abbey following its dissolution in the 16th century and became a cathedral in 1877. Although legally a cathedral church, it differs in certain particulars from most other cathedrals in England, being also used as a parish church, of which the dean is rector with the same powers, responsibilities and duties as that of any other parish.[6] At 85 metres long, it has the longest nave of any cathedral in England.[2]
Probably founded in the 8th century, the present building is Norman or Romanesque architecture of the 11th century, with Gothic and 19th-century additions.
According to Bede, whose account of the saint's life is the most elaborate, Alban lived in Verulamium, some time during the 3rd or 4th centuries. At that time Christians began to suffer "cruel persecution".[7] The legend proceeds with Alban meeting a Christian priest (known as Amphibalus) fleeing from "persecutors", and sheltering him in his house for a number of days. Alban was so impressed with the priest's faith and piety that he soon converted to Christianity. Eventually Roman soldiers came to seize the priest, but Alban put on his cloak and presented himself to the soldiers in place of his guest. Alban was brought before a judge and was sentenced to beheading.[7] As he was led to execution, he came to a fast flowing river, commonly believed to be the River Ver, crossed it and went about 500 paces to a gently sloping hill overlooking a beautiful plain[7] When he reached the summit he began to thirst and prayed that God would give him drink, whereupon water sprang up at his feet. It was at this place that his head was struck off. Immediately after one of the executioners delivered the fatal stroke, his eyes fell out and dropped to the ground alongside Alban's head.[7] Later versions of the tale say that Alban's head rolled downhill and that a well gushed up where it stopped.[8] St Albans Cathedral stands near the supposed site of Alban's martyrdom, and references to the spontaneous well are extant in local place names. The nearby river was called Halywell (Middle English for 'Holy Well') in the medieval era, and the road up to Holmhurst Hill on which the Abbey now stands is now called Holywell Hill but has been called Halliwell Street and other variations at least since the 13th century.[8] The remains of a well structure have been found at the bottom of Holywell Hill. However, this well is thought to date from no earlier than the 19th century.[9]
The date of Alban's execution has never been firmly established. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle lists the year 283,[10] but Bede places it in 305. Original sources and modern historians such as William Hugh Clifford Frend and Charles Thomas indicate the period of 251–259 (under the persecutors Decius or Valerian) as more likely.
The tomb of St Amphibalus is in the cathedral.
A memoria over the execution point holding the remains of Alban existed at the site from the mid-4th century (possibly earlier); Bede mentions a church and Gildas a shrine. Bishop Germanus of Auxerre visited in 429.[12] The style of this structure is unknown; the 13th-century chronicler Matthew Paris (see below) said the Saxons destroyed the building in 586.
Saxon buildings
Offa II of Mercia, is said to have founded a double monastery at St Albans in 793. It followed the Benedictine rule.[13] The Abbey was built on Holmhurst Hill—now Holywell Hill—across the River Ver from the ruins of Verulamium. Again there is no information to the form of the first abbey. The Abbey was probably sacked by the Danes around 890 and, despite Paris's claims, the office of abbot remained empty from around 920 until the 970s when the efforts of Dunstan reached the town.
There was an intention to rebuild the Abbey in 1005 when Abbot Ealdred was licensed to remove building material from Verulamium. With the town resting on clay and chalk, the only tough stone is flint. This was used with a lime mortar and then either plastered over or left bare. With the great quantities of brick, tile and other stone in Verulamium, the Roman site became a prime source of building material for the Abbey and other projects in the area.[14] Sections demanding worked stone used Lincolnshire limestone (Barnack stone) from Verulamium; later worked stones include Totternhoe freestone from Bedfordshire, Purbeck marble, and different limestones (Ancaster, Chilmark, Clipsham, etc.).
Renewed Viking raids from 1016 stalled the Saxon efforts and very little from the Saxon abbey was incorporated in the later forms.
Much of the current layout and proportions of the structure date from the first Norman abbot, Paul of Caen (1077–1093).[16] The 14th abbot, he was appointed by his uncle, the new Archbishop of Canterbury, Lanfranc.
Building work started in the year of Abbot Paul's arrival. The design and construction was overseen by the Norman Robert the Mason. The plan has very limited Anglo-Saxon elements and is clearly influenced by the French work at Cluny, Bernay and Caen, and shares a similar floor plan to Saint-Étienne in Caen and Lanfranc's Canterbury—although the poorer quality building material was a new challenge for Robert and he clearly borrowed some Roman techniques, which were learned while gathering material in the ruins of Verulamium.
To take maximum use of the hilltop the Abbey was oriented to the south-east. The cruciform abbey was the largest built in England at that time, it had a chancel of four bays, a transept containing seven apses, and a nave of ten bays—fifteen bays long overall. Robert gave particular attention to solid foundations, running a continuous wall of layered bricks, flints and mortar below and pushing the foundations down to twelve feet to hit bedrock. Below the crossing tower special large stones were used.
The tower was a particular triumph—it is the only 11th-century great crossing tower still standing in England. Robert began with special thick supporting walls and four massive brick piers. The four-level tower tapers at each stage with clasping buttresses on the three lower levels and circular buttresses on the fourth stage. The entire structure masses 5,000 tons and is 144 feet high. The tower was probably topped with a Norman pyramidal roof; the current roof is flat. The original ringing chamber had five bells—two paid for by the Abbot, two by a wealthy townsman, and one donated by the rector of Hoddesdon. None of these bells has survived.
There was a widespread belief that the Abbey had two additional, smaller towers at the west end. No remains have been found.
The monastic abbey was completed in 1089 but not consecrated until Holy Innocents' Day (28 December), 1115, by the Archbishop of Rouen. King Henry I attended as did many bishops and nobles.
A nunnery (Sopwell Priory) was founded nearby in 1140.
Internally the Abbey church was bare of sculpture, almost stark. The plaster walls were coloured and patterned in parts, with extensive tapestries adding colour. Sculptural decoration was added, mainly ornaments, as it became more fashionable in the 12th century—especially after the Gothic style arrived in England around 1170.
In the current structure the original Norman arches survive principally under the central tower and on the north side of the nave. The arches in the rest of the building are Gothic, following medieval rebuilding and extensions, and Victorian era restoration.
The Abbey was extended in the 1190s by Abbot John de Cella (also known as John of Wallingford) (1195–1214); as the number of monks grew from fifty to over a hundred, the Abbey church was extended westwards with three bays added to the nave. The severe Norman west front was also rebuilt by Hugh de Goldclif—although how is uncertain; it was very costly but its 'rapid' weathering and later alterations have erased all but fragments. A more prominent shrine and altar to Saint Amphibalus were also added.[13] The work was very slow under de Cella and was not completed until the time of Abbot William de Trumpington (1214–1235). The low Norman tower roof was demolished and a new, much higher, broached spire was raised, sheathed in lead.
The St Albans Psalter (c. 1130–1145) is the best known of a number of important Romanesque illuminated manuscripts produced in the Abbey scriptorium. Later, Matthew Paris, a monk at St Albans from 1217 until his death in 1259, was important both as a chronicler and an artist. Eighteen of his manuscripts survive and are a rich source of contemporary information for historians.
Nicholas Breakspear was born near St Albans and applied to be admitted to the Abbey as a novice, but he was turned down. He eventually managed to be accepted into an abbey in France. In 1154 he was elected Pope Adrian IV, the only English Pope there has ever been. The head of the Abbey was confirmed as the premier abbot in England also in 1154.
An earthquake shook the Abbey in 1250 and damaged the eastern end of the church. In 1257 the dangerously cracked sections were knocked down — three apses and two bays. The thick Presbytery wall supporting the tower was left. The rebuilding and updating was completed during the rule of Abbot Roger de Norton (1263–90).
On 10 October 1323 two piers on the south side of the nave collapsed dragging down much of the roof and wrecking five bays. Mason Henry Wy undertook the rebuilding, matching the Early English style of the rest of the bays but adding distinctly 14th-century detailing and ornaments. The shrine to St Amphibalus had also been damaged and it was remade.
Richard of Wallingford, abbot from 1297 to 1336 and a mathematician and astronomer, designed a celebrated astronomical clock, which was completed by William of Walsham after his death, but apparently destroyed during the Reformation.
A new gateway, now called the Abbey Gateway, was built to the Abbey grounds in 1365, which was the only part of the monastery buildings (besides the church) to survive the dissolution, later being used as a prison and now (since 1871) part of St Albans School. The other monastic buildings were located to the south of the gateway and church.
In the 15th century a large west window of nine main lights and a deep traced head was commissioned by John of Wheathampstead. The spire was reduced to a 'Hertfordshire spike', the roof pitch greatly reduced and battlements liberally added. Further new windows, at £50 each, were put in the transepts by Abbot Wallingford (also known as William of Wallingford), who also had a new high altar screen made.
This century was marked with a number of repair schemes. The Abbey received some money from the 1818 "Million Act", and in 1820, £450 was raised to buy an organ—a second-hand example made in 1670.
The major efforts to revive the Abbey Church came under four men—L. N. Cottingham, H. J. B. Nicholson (Rector), and, especially, George Gilbert Scott and Edmund Beckett, 1st Baron Grimthorpe.
In February 1832 a portion of the clerestory wall fell through the roof of the south aisle, leaving a hole almost thirty feet long. With the need for serious repair work evident, the architect Lewis Nockalls Cottingham was called in to survey the building. His Survey was presented in 1832 and was worrying reading: everywhere mortar was in a wretched condition and wooden beams were rotting and twisting. Cottingham recommended new beams throughout the roof and a new steeper pitch, removal of the spire and new timbers in the tower, new paving, ironwork to hold the west transept wall up, a new stone south transept window, new buttresses, a new drainage system for the roof, new ironwork on almost all the windows, and on and on. He estimated a cost of £14,000. A public subscription of £4,000 was raised, of which £1,700 vanished in expenses. With the limited funds the clerestory wall was rebuilt, the nave roof re-leaded, the tower spike removed, some forty blocked windows reopened and glazed, and the south window remade in stone.
Henry Nicholson, rector from 1835 to 1866, was also active in repairing the Abbey Church—as far as he could, and in uncovering lost or neglected Gothic features.
In 1856 repair efforts began again; £4,000 was raised and slow moves started to gain the Abbey the status of cathedral. George Gilbert Scott was appointed the project architect and oversaw a number of works from 1860 until his death in 1878.
cott began by having the medieval floor restored, necessitating the removal of tons of earth, and fixing the north aisle roof. From 1872 to 1877 the restored floors were re-tiled in matching stone and copies of old tile designs. A further 2,000 tons of earth were shifted in 1863 during work on the foundation and a new drainage system. In 1870 the tower piers were found to be badly weakened with many cracks and cavities. Huge timbers were inserted and the arches filled with brick as an emergency measure. Repair work took until May 1871 and cost over £2,000. The south wall of the nave was now far from straight; Scott reinforced the north wall and put in scaffolding to take the weight of the roof off the wall, then had it jacked straight in under three hours. The wall was then buttressed with five huge new masses and set right. Scott was lauded as "saviour of the Abbey." From 1870 to 1875 around £20,000 was spent on the Abbey.
In 1845 St Albans was transferred from the Diocese of Lincoln to the Diocese of Rochester. Then, in 1875, the Bishopric of St Albans Act was passed and on 30 April 1877 the See of St Albans was created, which comprises about 300 churches in the counties of Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire. Thomas Legh Claughton, then Bishop of Rochester, elected to take the northern division of his old diocese and on 12 June 1877 was enthroned first Bishop of St Albans, a position he held until 1890. He is buried in the churchyard on the north side of the nave.
George Gilbert Scott was working on the nave roof, vaulting and west bay when he died on 27 March 1878. His plans were partially completed by his son, John Oldrid Scott, but the remaining work fell into the hands of Edmund Beckett, 1st Baron Grimthorpe, whose efforts have attracted much controversy—Nikolaus Pevsner calling him a "pompous, righteous bully."[citation needed] However, he donated much of the immense sum of £130,000 the work cost.
Whereas Scott's work had clearly been in sympathy with the existing building, Grimthorpe's plans reflected the Victorian ideal. Indeed, he spent considerable time dismissing and criticising the work of Scott and the efforts of his son.
Grimthorpe first reinstated the original pitch of the roof, although the battlements added for the lower roof were retained. Completed in 1879, the roof was leaded, following on Scott's desires.
His second major project was the most controversial. The west front, with the great Wheathampstead window, was cracked and leaning, and Grimthorpe, never more than an amateur architect, designed the new front himself—attacked as dense, misproportioned and unsympathetic: "His impoverishment as a designer ... [is] evident"; "this man, so practical and ingenious, was utterly devoid of taste ... his great qualities were marred by arrogance ... and a lack of historic sense".[citation needed] Counter proposals were deliberately substituted by Grimthorpe for poorly drawn versions and Grimthorpe's design was accepted. During building it was considerably reworked in order to fit the actual frontage and is not improved by the poor quality sculpture. Work began in 1880 and was completed in April 1883, having cost £20,000.
Grimthorpe was noted for his aversion to the Perpendicular—to the extent that he would have sections he disliked demolished as "too rotten" rather than remade. In his reconstruction, especially of windows, he commonly mixed architectural styles carelessly (see the south aisle, the south choir screen and vaulting). He spent £50,000 remaking the nave. Elsewhere he completely rebuilt the south wall cloisters, with new heavy buttresses, and removed the arcading of the east cloisters during rebuilding the south transept walls. In the south transept he completely remade the south face, completed in 1885, including the huge lancet window group—his proudest achievement—and the flanking turrets; a weighty new tiled roof was also made. In the north transept Grimthorpe had the Perpendicular window demolished and his design inserted—a rose window of circles, cusped circles and lozenges arrayed in five rings around the central light, sixty-four lights in total, each circle with a different glazing pattern.
Grimthorpe continued through the Presbytery in his own style, adapting the antechapel for Consistory Courts, and into the Lady Chapel. After a pointed lawsuit with Henry Hucks Gibbs, 1st Baron Aldenham, over who should direct the restoration, Grimthorpe had the vault remade and reproportioned in stone, made the floor in black and white marble (1893), and had new Victorian arcading and sculpture put below the canopy work. Externally the buttresses were expanded to support the new roof, and the walls were refaced.
As early as 1897, Grimthorpe was having to return to previously renovated sections to make repairs. His use of over-strong cement led to cracking, while his fondness for ironwork in windows led to corrosion and damage to the surrounding stone.
Grimthorpe died in 1905 and was interred in the churchyard. He left a bequest for continuing work on the buildings.
During this century the name St Albans Abbey was given to one of the town's two railway stations.
VICENZA, Italy - Cast members of “Sister Act,” A Divine Musical Comedy, perform during a dress rehearsal at Soldiers’ Theatre on Caserma Ederle March 2, 2023. The show - directed by Jerry Brees – was performed for two weekends March 3-12. The show is an official entry in the 2023 IMCOM-Europe Tournament of the Festival of Plays.
Photo by Laura Kreider/USAG Italy Public Affairs
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The Riverside, Lechlade is situated on the banks of the Thames and provides Beer, Food, Accomodation, Boat Hire and much more.
Now owned by Arkell's Brewery from Swindon, there is a good selection of Arkells real ale on tap.
Lockheed SR-71A
61-7951 (MSN 2002) Assigned to NASA Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards AFB, CA as YF-12C and assigned a spurious serial number 60-6937 (which had been assigned to a CIA A-12).
The reason for this bit for subterfuge lay in the fact that NASA, while flying the YF-12A interceptor version of the aircraft, was not allowed to possess the strategic reconnaissance version for some time. But the existence of the A-12 remained classified until 1982. The tail number 06937 was selected because it followed in the sequence of tail numbers assigned to the three existing YF-12A aircraft: 06934, 06935, and 06936.
Now on display at Pima Air and Space Museum, T
A Darlington corner is thwarted
PIctures taken at the New Lawn during FGR v Darlington 21/04/12. The gaeme finished in a 2-0 victory for Forest Green
Held at the Richmond KPU Campus on April 12, the Foundations in Design Year End Show, is an exhibition of select work from the Foundations in Design program, and a celebration of the students' achievements over the last eight months.