View allAll Photos Tagged Conceal
always nice to find some shade when the sun beats down on Edmonton 😎
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© VanveenJF Photography
113in2013 21 - Hidden/Concealed.
ODC February 14 - At The Bottom.
TMSH 2/13/sh15 - Anything That Starts With "F" - Fish.
flickrBingo2 Week 14 - N34 Three Worlds.
Explored
“And above all, watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places. Those who don't believe in magic will never find it.”
― Roald Dahl
First there is the world above all the rest. Then there is the world of shadow. Beneath them all lies a world concealed and there you'll find fish hidden.
The more I shoot these domes, the more personified they become. I'm sure this one was plotting something. Check out the series so far and stay tuned for more this week.
Sigma 10-20mm @ 15mm. ISO200 and f/22 (heavily streetlit area). Produced entirely in camera, watermarked but no other manipulation.
For anyone who's interested, AndWhyNot now has added facebookness.
And I've got me some of that twitter too, @longexposures - next stop, start tweeting :)
This was their favorite shot from their wedding. There’s a long story behind it but what matters is that this is private property that I actually asked permission (on the spot) to photograph. This is the same property that has this barn dip shot. The owner invited us to use his gazebo which shows the friendliness of the mid-west. Here in California this would NEVER happen.
I got a call today from the lady that runs the Photography division at the Ventura County Fair asking if I would consider hosting a photography event at the fair this year. Basically there has been a lot of interest in photography in the county and the director of the Photography Dept. wants me to host a panel discussion open to the public to discuss technology & trends in digital photography. This is a great honor and almost a little uncomfortable since I’m still entering the contest as an amateur. Last year I had complaints about me entering as an amateur both on Flickr as well as directly to the Photog dept too. I made sure from the director herself that since I don’t make my livelihood with photography that I’m still considered an amateur, and will only submit photos I took for fun. I was going to enter as a pro this year, but they are no longer hosting a pro division.
And I also found out I’m going to be going up against some of the students I teach in my Park & Rec class. It would be such an honor to see them win!
No deep diatribe today, but I just can’t get this song out of my head. It’s going head-to-head with my favorite from last week
You’ll thank me. Or hate me.
Strobist - Vivitar 285HV about 5' from them hidden with the gazebo post fired remotely with Phottix PT-04II remote trigger from ebay
© Darlene Bushue - All of my images are protected by copyright and may not be used on any site, blog, or forum without my permission.
This young bull was hiding out behind the trees, standing very still like no one could see him. I managed to position myself in just the right spot to capture his eye through the branches and did have the good fortune to photograph him out in the open several other times during our adventures in Denali.
Have a fabulous weekend....and go Cardinals!!!!!! As always, I appreciate all your visits and comments :-)
Words, like nature, half reveal, half conceal the soul within.
-Alfred Lord Tennyson
(experimenting with scanner photography...)
I guess with Chicago Botanical Gardens having their orchid extravaganza this month, the Garfield Park Conservatory brought on its own effort. Here are some shots of the various beauties within the conservatory using some vintage lenses. This batch of orchids were placed behind some larger plants, their stark beauty was not easily contained by its neighboring foliage!
one of my pieces in the Made in Polaroid 50/50/50 exhibition
All rights reserved ©
35 polaroids making one image..
7th -13th sept @ Phillips de pury and company 450 west 15th st NY. any one in ny please stop by! thank you!
more about the show here... www.polaroid.com/en/505050
mb
Concealed Storage - harvesting unused space
Photo Inside of home office 2 under the floating Mondrian desk are concealed trap doors in the floor are open by a food pedal revealing a hidden storage room. The doors opens up in sections using the same pneumatic arms that hold open car hoods. The doors swing clear under the desk which hangs from the ceiling n threaded rods. Stairs descend 5 feet below to the storage area, wich doubles as a nucear fall out shelter. Okay, now I'm just making things up.
01_V_2
Jeremy Levine Design
I lovee my neww cameraa!
Haha, I'm still uploading my pictures from California, but I HAD to do this one.
I really like it, it's a bit dark, and different, but I don't know...
I hope you enjoy it :)
A gown exemplary of the late 1880s, complete with asymmetric draping, high collar, and ribbon ornament. Not being an ostentatious display of wealth, this dress was made to conserve fabric though forgoing a train, limiting drapery, and choosing a color, a lovely blush pink, that could be worn in other contexts.
The bodice is lined with light brown twill, structured with five bone, and secured with a waist tape. One degraded dress shield remains. It has sleeves set very high on the shoulder, gathered lightly at the sleeve head and shirred at the lower arm. It is also shirred at the lower back. The bodice closes at center front with 7 sets of buttons, hooks, and eyes, the closure concealed by a false front. This achieves a wrapped effect. The chest is overlaid with pleated pink crepe, and the collar is of crepe and lace. The waistline is pointed front and back, and defined by a ribbon sash.
The skirt is fully lined with brown cotton, faced with bias-cut linen canvas, and faced with tape. It is knife pleated at the side, and achieves fullness at the back with a separate panel containing two six-layered box pleats. A small pouf, skewed to the right, is overlaid with a ribbon sash, ending in a bow at the right side. It closes with two pairs of hooks and eyes.
Worn by Callie Linskill at her wedding to John Mainwaring, 1887, in Wilkes Barre, PA.
ACC# 94.24 a&b
Gift of Callie Stone, granddaughter and wife of Congregational Minister in Madison in the 1980s.
See more vintage apparel at flic.kr/s/aHskTjUcgr. Described & mounted by Clare Barnett.
(Photo credit - Bob Gundersen www.flickr.com/photos/bobphoto51/albums).
I did intend to go out tonight but was stopped by a storm- so I though I would post a picture of last Thursdays storm instead. Fingers crossed for better weather tomorrow and on the weekend.
I like this shot as there is a wave on the horizon which provides a nice line between sky and sea. Also I like the way the cloud is rising up over the headland to the left. Got reflections an movement- either or would be nice so the effect was enhanced.
Nikon D40, 18-55, ND4, ND8 grad, f/22 and exp = 5sec
These paintings express a personal need to delineate images and fantasies abundant with color and emotional explosion. Signs, lines and the materials appear of their own volition
and develop as an external language bridging the eye, the hand and the painted surface.
During the making of a painting the power of the shapes emanate from an unconscious and concealed inner dimension.
Ami Steinitz
Line by line, painting after painting while repeating shapes and patterns, a creation evolves into new shapes and patterns. With a determination that reaches obsession, Mirit
Ben-Nun keeps on returning to her art of meticulous decoration. A strong presence of primitive ornamentation provides the artwork with a tribal facet on one hand and a
feminine touch on the other, encompassing embroidery, bead threading and weaving among others. Ben- Nun’s beautifying urge carries within it an archetypal strata, mythic
at times, which empowers her authentic expression.
Dr. Gidion Ofrat
I guess with Chicago Botanical Gardens having their orchid extravaganza this month, the Garfield Park Conservatory brought on its own effort. Here are some shots of the various beauties within the conservatory using some vintage lenses. This batch of orchids were placed behind some larger plants, their stark beauty was not easily contained by its neighboring foliage!
St Albans Cathedral, also known as the Cathedral and Abbey Church of St Alban, is a Church of England cathedral church within St Albans, England. At 84 metres (276 ft), its nave is the longest of any cathedral in England. With much of its present architecture dating from Norman times, it was formerly known as St Albans Abbey before it became a cathedral in 1877. It is the second longest cathedral in the United Kingdom (after Winchester). Local residents often call it "the abbey", although the present cathedral represents only the church of the old Benedictine abbey.
The abbey church, although legally a cathedral church, differs in certain particulars from most of the other cathedrals in England: it is also used as a parish church, of which the dean is rector. He has the same powers, responsibilities and duties as the rector of any other parish.
Alban was a pagan living in the Roman city of Verulamium, now Verulamium Park, in St Albans, in Hertfordshire, England, about 22 miles (35 km) north of London along Watling Street. Before Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire, local Christians were being persecuted by the Romans. Alban sheltered their priest, Saint Amphibalus, in his home and was converted to the Christian faith by him. When the soldiers came to Alban's house looking for the priest, Alban exchanged cloaks with the priest and let himself be arrested in his place. Alban was taken before the magistrate, where he avowed his new Christian faith and was condemned for it. He was beheaded, according to legend, on the spot where the cathedral named after him now stands. The site is on a steep hill and legend has it that his head rolled down the hill after being cut off and that a well sprang up at the point where it stopped.
A well certainly exists today and the road up to the cathedral is named Holywell Hill. However the current well structure is no older than the late 19th century and it is thought that the name of the street derives from the "Halywell" river and "Halywell Bridge", not from the well.
The date of Alban's execution is a matter of some debate and is generally given as "circa 250"—scholars generally suggest dates of 209, 254 or 304.
History of the abbey and cathedral
A memoria over the execution point and holding the remains of Alban existed at the site from the mid-4th century (possibly earlier); Bedementions a church and Gildas a shrine. Bishop Germanus of Auxerre visited in 429 and took a portion of the apparently still bloody earth away. The style of this structure is unknown; the 13th century chronicler Matthew Paris (see below) claimed that the Saxons destroyed the building in 586.
Saxon buildings
Offa II of Mercia, who ruled in the 8th century, is said to have founded the Benedictine abbey and monastery at St Albans. All later religious structures are dated from the foundation of Offa's abbey in 793. 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 Dunstanreached 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 abbeys, and other projects in the area, up to the 18th century. 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.
The nave. The north wall (left) features a mix of Norman arches dating back to 1077 and arches in the Early English style of 1200.
Norman abbey
Much of the current layout and proportions of the structure date from the first Norman abbot, Paul of Caen (1077–1093). The 14th abbot, he was appointed by 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 and Lanfranc's Canterbury—although the poorer quality building material was a new challenge for Robert and he clearly borrowed some Roman techniques, learned while gathering material in 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, 1115, (28 Dec) 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 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 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. The work was very slow under de Cella and was not completed until the time of Abbot William de Trumpington (1214–35). The low Norman tower roof was demolished and a new, much higher, broached spire was raised, sheathed in lead.
The St Albans Psalter (ca. 1130–45) 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.
13th to 15th centuries
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 was remade.
Abbey Gateway, now part of St. Albans School.
Richard of Wallingford, abbot from 1297 to 1336 and a mathematician and astronomer, designed a celebrated 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 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 transept by Abbot Wallingford (also known as William of Wallingford), who also had a new high altar screen made.
Dissolution and after
After the death of Abbot Ramryge in 1521 the abbey fell into debt and slow decay under three weak abbots. At the time of the Dissolution of the Monasteries and its surrender on 5 December 1539 the income was £2,100 annually. The abbot and remaining forty monks were pensioned off and then the buildings were looted. All gold, silver and gilt objects were carted away with all other valuables; stonework was broken and defaced and graves opened to burn the contents.
The abbey became part of the diocese of Lincoln in 1542 and was moved to the diocese of London in 1550. The buildings suffered—neglect, second-rate repairs, even active damage. Richard Lee purchased all the buildings, except the church and chapel and some other Crown premises, in 1550. Lee then began the systematic demolition for building material to improve Lee Hall at Sopwell. In 1551, with the stone removed, Lee returned the land to the abbot. The area was named Abbey Ruins for the next 200 years or so.
In 1553 the Lady chapel became a school, the Great Gatehouse a town jail, some other buildings passed to the Crown, and the Abbey Church was sold to the town for £400 in 1553 by King Edward VI to be the church of the parish.
The cost of upkeep fell upon the town, although in 1596 and at irregular intervals later the Archdeacon was allowed to collect money for repairs by Brief in the diocese. After James I visited in 1612 he authorised another Brief, which collected around £2,000—most of which went on roof repairs. The English Civil War slashed the monies spent on repairs, while the abbey was used to hold prisoners of war and suffered from their vandalism, as well as that of their guards. Most of the metal objects that had survived the Dissolution were also removed and other ornamental parts were damaged in Puritan sternness. Another round of fund-raising in 1681–84 was again spent on the roof, repairing the Presbytery vault. A royal grant from William and Mary in 1689 went on general maintenance, 'repairs' to conceal some of the unfashionable Gothic features, and on new internal fittings. There was a second royal grant from William in 1698.
By the end of the 17th century the dilapidation was sufficient for a number of writers to comment upon it.
In 1703, from 26 November to 1 December, the Great Storm raged across southern England; the abbey lost the south transept window which was replaced in wood at a cost of £40. The window was clear glass with five lights and three transoms in an early Gothic Revival style by John Hawgood. Other windows, although not damaged in the storm, were a constant drain on the abbey budget in the 18th century.
A brief in 1723–24, seeking £5,775, notes a great crack in the south wall, that the north wall was eighteen inches from vertical, and that the roof timbers were decayed to the point of danger. The money raised was spent on the nave roof over ten bays.
Another brief was not issued until 1764. Again the roof was rotting, as was the south transept window, walls were cracked or shattered in part and the south wall had subsided and now leant outwards. Despite a target of £2,500 a mere £600 was raised.
In the 1770s the abbey came close to demolition; the expense of repairs meant a scheme to destroy the abbey and erect a smaller church almost succeeded.
A storm in 1797 caused some subsidence, cracking open graves, scattering pavement tiles, flooding the church interior and leaving a few more arches off-vertical.
19th century
The Wallingford Screen of c. 1480—the statues are Victorian replacements (1884–89) of the originals, destroyed in the Dissolution of the Monasteries, when the screen itself was also damaged. Statues of St Alban and St Amphibalus stand on either side of the altar.
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, Rector H. J. B. Nicholson, and, especially, George Gilbert Scott and Edmund Beckett, first 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 Scottwas appointed the project architect and oversaw a number of works from 1860 until his death in 1878.
Scott began by having the medieval floor restored, necessitating the removal of tons of earth, and fixing the north aisle roof. From 1872–77 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 1870–75 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. The then Bishop of Rochester, the Right Revd Dr Thomas Legh Claughton, 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 Lord Grimthorpe, whose efforts have attracted much controversy—Nikolaus Pevsner calling him a "pompous, righteous bully." 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.
1805 engraving of the west front of the abbey showing the lost Wheathampstead window.
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". 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.
The Lady Chapel at the east end of the cathedral.
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, first 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 railway stations.
20th century
John Oldrid Scott (died 1913) (George Gilbert Scott's son), despite frequent clashes with Grimthorpe, had continued working within the cathedral. Scott was a steadfast supporter of the Gothic revival and designed the tomb of the first bishop; he had a new bishop's throne built (1903), together with commemorative stalls for Bishop Festing and two Archdeacons, and new choir stalls. He also repositioned and rebuilt the organ (1907). Further work was interrupted by the war.
A number of memorials to the war were added to the cathedral, notably the painting The Passing of Eleanor by Frank Salisbury (stolen 1973) and the reglazing of the main west window, dedicated in 1925.
Following the Enabling Act of 1919 control of the buildings passed to a Parochial Church Council (replaced by the Cathedral Council in 1968), who appointed the woodwork specialist John Rogers as Architect and Surveyor of the Fabric. He uncovered extensive death watch beetledamage in the presbytery vault and oversaw the repair (1930–31). He had four tons of rubbish removed from the crossing tower and the main timbers reinforced (1931–32), and invested in the extensive use of insecticide throughout the wood structures. In 1934, the eight bells were overhauled and four new bells added to be used in the celebration of George V's jubilee.
Cecil Brown was architect and surveyor from 1939 to 1962. At first he merely oversaw the lowering of the bells for the war and established a fire watch, with the pump in the slype. After the war, in the 1950s, the organ was removed, rebuilt and reinstalled and new pews added. His major work was on the crossing tower. Grimthorpe's cement was found to be damaging the Roman bricks: every brick in the tower was replaced as needed and reset in proper mortar by one man, Walter Barrett. The tower ceiling was renovated as were the nave murals. Brown established the Muniments Room to gather and hold all the church documents.
In 1972, to encourage a closer link between celebrant and congregation, the massive nine-ton pulpit along with the choir stalls and permanent pews was dismantled and removed. The altar space was enlarged and improved. New 'lighter' wood (limed oak) choir stalls were put in, and chairs replaced the pews. A new wooden pulpit was acquired from a Norfolk church and installed in 1974. External floodlighting was added in 1975.
A major survey in 1974 revealed new leaks, decay and other deterioration, and a ten-year restoration plan was agreed. Again the roofing required much work. The nave and clerestory roofs were repaired in four stages with new leading. The nave project was completed in 1984 at a total cost of £1.75 million. The clerestory windows were repaired with the corroded iron replaced with delta bronze and other Grimthorpe work on the clerestory was replaced. Seventy-two new heads for the corbel table were made. Grimthorpe's west front was cracking, again due to the use originally of too strong a mortar, and was repaired.
A new visitors' centre was proposed in 1970. Planning permission was sought in 1973; there was a public inquiry and approval was granted in 1977. Constructed to the south side of the cathedral close to the site of the original chapter house of the abbey, the new 'Chapter House' cost around £1 million and was officially opened on 8 June 1982 by Queen Elizabeth. The main building material was 500,000 replica Roman bricks.
Other late 20th-century works include the restoration of Alban's shrine, with a new embroidered canopy, and the stained glass designed by Alan Younger for Grimthorpe's north transept rose window, unveiled in 1989 by Diana, Princess of Wales.
Modern times
The Bishop is the Right Reverend Alan Smith, installed in September 2009. The Venerable Jonathan Smith is Archdeacon of St Albans, installed in October 2008. On 2 July 2004, the Very Reverend Canon Dr Jeffrey John became the ninth Dean of the Cathedral.
Robert Runcie, later Archbishop of Canterbury, was bishop of St Albans from 1970 to 1980 and returned to live in the city after his retirement; he is commemorated by a gargoyle on the Cathedral as well as being buried in the graveyard. Colin Slee, former Dean of Southwark Cathedral, was sub-dean at St Albans under Runcie and then Dean, Peter Moore. The bishop's house is in Abbey Mill Lane, St Albans, as is the house of the Bishop of Hertford. The Reverend Canon Eric James, Chaplain Extraordinary to HM the Queen, was Canon at St Albans for many years.
Chezala privatella
Family: Oecophoridae (Concealer Moths)
Order: Lepidoptera
A small inconspicuous brown-coloured moth that, like others in this family, relies on its camouflage as protection.
It is native to the eastern coast of Australia.
DSC04653 _DSC04655
Wrapped in some overly fake bear type fur with a sugar skull scarf trimmed gold. Getting dramatic with it... New Tokina M100 lens, albeit I have to use manual focus I think I will keep it and use for macro primarily. I had hopes of rockin it as a great portrait lens but in certain lighting scenarios I think I will have challenges getting that tact sharpness dialed in.
Fort Lytton, a pentagonal earthwork fortification located at the mouth of the Brisbane River, was constructed in 1880-82 by the Queensland government on advice from British military engineers Col. Sir WFD Jervois and Lt. Col. PH Scratchley. The fort contributed to the coastal defence of Queensland until the end of the Second World War. In 1990 the site was gazetted as an Historic National Park.
Prior to the 1860s, defence of the Australian colonies had been solely the responsibility of the Imperial government. Britain considered that the Imperial Navy would always provide the first line of defence in any threat to her colonial empire, but from 1863 required the Australian colonies, by then self-governing, to contribute toward the costs of maintaining Imperial garrisons on colonial soil, and encouraged the colonies to provide for their own military infrastructure such as fortifications and barracks. Queensland, which had separated from New South Wales in December 1859, could not afford to contribute to Imperial defence, and so Imperial troops were gradually withdrawn from the colony - the last had left by 1870. In the 1860s Queensland established a number of volunteer defence units, based on the British model, but their effectiveness was severely impaired by a lack of armaments and ammunition.
By the 1870s the Australian colonies were developing rapidly and were concerned with potential threats from colonial powers such as Russia and France [the latter had annexed New Caledonia in 1873]. In 1877 the colonial governments of New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria and South Australia, anxious to secure the land defence of their coastlines, jointly invited British Royal Engineers Colonel Sir William Francis Drummond Jervois and Lieutenant-Colonel Peter H Scratchley, to inspect existing defence installations and make recommendations as to how these might be improved. Scratchley's particular expertise was in the design and construction of deterrent coastal fortresses.
Jervois and Scratchley identified maritime attacks as the greatest threat to Australia, and recommended that coastal defences be developed for all the mainland colonies. Despite being physically closer to the source of most threats, Queensland, with its sparse population and limited resources, was not considered to be greatly at risk. In his August 1877 preliminary report on Queensland coastal defences, Jervois identified the principal threat to Queensland security as an attack from the sea on the major ports [Brisbane, Rockhampton and Maryborough], in the form of city bombardment to secure supplies and coal, rather than for permanent occupation. Sea-power would prove the first line of defence, but recommended that Brisbane, as the capital and principal port of Queensland, be defended with the construction of a fort at Lytton, at the mouth of the Brisbane River. Moreton Bay, with its myriad of islands on which enemy forces might establish bases from which to raid the mainland, could not possibly be defended. However, sandbars at the mouth of the Brisbane River, which restricted the size of up-river vessels to a 4.8 metre draught [unarmoured gun boats], provided a natural defence which could be enhanced with the construction of a fort at the river mouth, supplemented by sub-marine mines located so as to force shipping within range of the guns located at the fort.
In late 1878, despite initial opposition to the cost of Jervois' scheme, the Queensland Parliament sanctioned the construction of Fort Lytton. Early in 1879 Scratchley fixed the position of the battery, and Colonial Architect FDG Stanley, in consultation with Scratchley, commenced work on plans for the barracks, magazines and gun emplacements, which were to be constructed in brick and concrete. Excavation and earthworks for the Lytton battery commenced in August 1880, tenders for construction of barracks, magazine, etc were called in September 1880, and the main battery was completed by mid-1882. The contractor for the whole was John Watson of Bulimba. In 1882 the firing of two 64-pounders signalled the commencement of operations at Fort Lytton.
The fort was constructed at an initial cost of £10,000, and comprised four gun emplacements protected by a closed earthwork parapet surrounded by a water-filled moat, which extended a quarter of a mile around the perimeter, enclosing some 900 square yards of ground. Within the moat was a narrow berm, beyond which was an earthen mound or parapet, turfed to reduce the risk of erosion and to improve the camouflage of the site - the object being to conceal the fort from ships entering the river. The mound formed an irregular pentagon, and within the parapet were set four gun-bays to house the larger 64-pounder RML guns. Gun positions 1 and 2 protected the seaward approach to the fort, and positions 3 and 4 covered the mined area within the river mouth. [In 1893 the 64-pounders in gun positions 3 and 4 were replaced with 6-pounder QF guns, and gun positions 5 and 6 were constructed to house the RML guns removed from positions 3 and 4.] The landward side was to be defended by field guns. Inside the fort were barracks, powder magazine and shell room, with brick-lined passages connecting the magazines to the gun emplacements. Lifting tackle was installed on rails to facilitate the handling of ammunition. Special accommodation was provided for the electrical connections associated with the submarine explosive devices which were strung across the river. The rear parapet sheltered timber buildings to house the officers, guards, cook-house and ablutions areas. The entry was provided with a timber bridge and the entry passage was reinforced with timber blocks bolted together. A wooden gate reinforced with iron sheeting protected the entry. Scratchley also arranged for prickly plants, trees and buffalo grass to be planted over the battery, to supplement the defences. In addition, a boys' reformatory was established on nearby Lytton Hill in 1880-81, the buildings to serve a dual function as part of a Redoubt commanding Fort Lytton. The Redoubt was not completed until 1885.
Even as Fort Lytton was under construction, attitudes towards colonial defence were changing. Military experts were supporting the implementation of more mobile defence forces, as opposed to fixed facilities such as the Lytton battery. Technology was changing rapidly, both for weaponry and shipping, such that techniques for defence against maritime attack were under constant review. Despite this, Fort Lytton was maintained and contributed to Queensland's defences until the mid-20th century. It also served as a semi-permanent military camp from 1881 until the early 1930s, principally during the annual Easter Encampments at which militia from all over Queensland gathered at Lytton for manoeuvres.
Following the passage of Queensland's Defence Act 1884 under which a core defence force of 150 men was established, supplemented by militia groups, "A" Battery Queensland Artillery was garrisoned at Fort Lytton. During the 'Russian scare' of March 1885 [generated by British-Russian mobilisation along the Afghanistan border], 20 men from "A" Battery, and 200 troops raised from militia units, were mobilised at Fort Lytton to defend Brisbane; the force was stood down in May when the border dispute was submitted to arbitration.
Following the 'Russian scare' a series of improvements to the Lytton battery were approved in 1887. These included the provision of casemates, and an engine shed to accommodate dynamo, two boilers, and duplicate engines. An underground tank to hold 10,000 gallons of water was also constructed. Queensland's muzzle-loading guns were sent to England for conversion to breech-loading and new hydro-pneumatic carriages were provided. The slope of the embankments at Fort Lytton was eased to provide a deflection surface or glacis for enemy shells. Further improvements occurred as funds became available.
When the Lytton Defence Reserve of 120 acres [48 hectares] was finally gazetted late in 1887, it included Reformatory Hill, Fort Lytton, and possibly part of the Customs Reserve. By 1901 the Defence Reserve had been extended to 640 acres [259 hectares] following the resumption [in two stages: 1891 and 1900] of Lytton township for defence purposes.
The severe economic depression of the early 1890s restricted expenditure on Fort Lytton, but by 1897 money was once again being spent on the facility. A shed was provided for artillery stores and a new smithy, fitters' and carpenters' workshops and a large new store were constructed. Additional storage was provided in 1900.
In 1901 the Queensland Defence Force was amalgamated into the new Commonwealth defence force, and Fort Lytton was transferred to Commonwealth ownership. Various small improvements were made to the fort during the early 1900s. In 1903 a new concrete base was provided for the search light which had been installed in 1892. Culverts, roads and wharf structures were repaired and improved. A new bridge was provided over the moat in 1907 as well as new ablutions areas, gates and kitchen facilities. In the years immediately prior to the First World War [1914-18] yards for horses were provided and major repairs were made to the wharf servicing the fort. With the outbreak of war, new barracks and cook-houses were erected [1914-15] and water supplies and drainage were improved. A new forage barn was built in 1916 and a dermatological hospital was constructed on Lytton Hill in 1917. The fort fired in anger only twice during the First World War - on both occasions a round was fired across the bows of civilian craft which ignored procedures for approaching the river mouth during war time.
In 1913-14 a quarantine station was established on land adjacent to the fort. This accommodated newly arrived immigrants and persons considered to be at risk of causing infection to the general population. The quarantine station buildings at various times also provided accommodation for persons stationed at the fort. Fort Lytton also played a role in the function of the quarantine station, controlling ships attempting to enter the Brisbane River without appropriate health clearances.
By the end of the First World War the inadequacies of Fort Lytton as a defensive base were clearly apparent. Expenditure was kept to a minimum during the interwar period and in 1932 the wharf at Fort Lytton was closed, with the battery relying on the berthing facilities at the quarantine station. In 1938 training walls and revetments were installed along the river banks to improve navigation and flood control.
The Second World War [1939-45] brought a major change in the role which Fort Lytton served in the defence of Australia. The longer-ranging capabilities of modern armaments made real the threat of shipping and aircraft strikes. In response, outer defences were established on Moreton and Bribie Islands and anti-aircraft installations were provided at Lytton, Colmslie, Hemmant, Balmoral, Hendra Park, Mount Gravatt, Archerfield, Amberley and on the islands in Moreton Bay. Fort Lytton provided an important coastal communication link and was pivotal to the coastal defence of the Brisbane River. Boom defences against submarine invasion were placed in the river at Lytton, and the fort was adapted to defend these: gun position 4 was altered to accommodate a modern 4.7 inch QF gun; gun position 7 was installed to house a 6-pounder QF gun; and a forward command post was constructed to provide a better viewing position than was available previously. A signal station was established on Lytton Hill and an anti-aircraft facility was established on land between the fort and the hill.
Fort Lytton's role as a defensive facility ceased in 1946 when all fixed coastal defensive positions in Australia were decommissioned, but military authorities maintained Fort Lytton as a communications base until the 1950s. In the early 1960s the land was acquired by Ampol for the establishment of an oil refinery. During the construction of the refinery fill was deposited in the moat, and the timber bridge across the moat, which the military had damaged by fire in the 1950s, was replaced by a permanent causeway.
By the 1970s various community-based historical groups were lobbying for the protection and restoration of the area and in 1988 the Department of Environment, Conservation and Tourism, through the National Parks and Wildlife Service, took over the management of the former fort. In 1990 Fort Lytton was declared an Historic National Park, and during the last decade of the 20th century the site was recorded and the framework of the fort restored. In 1994 minor preliminary works in anticipation of the stabilisation of some concrete roofs and retaining walls, and the restoration of existing drainage pipes, was undertaken. The bitumen roofs over the Engine Room and casemates 1 and 2 were resurfaced. In 1996 a restored hydro-pneumatic gun was installed in gun pit No. 1. A military museum has been established in a former artillery store, and various military history groups conduct annual pageants at the fort, reminiscent of the Queensland militia's annual Easter encampments. In 1999, Fort Lytton National Park was extended with the incorporation of part of the adjacent former Lytton Quarantine Station. The buildings on this site have been occupied and managed by the Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service since 1988, and serve as the administration centre for Fort Lytton National Park.
Besides its defence and communications functions, the Lytton battery also acquired a ceremonial role. In May 1901 it was the venue for His Royal Highness, the Duke of York, to present medals to Lytton-trained troops who had served in the South African War [1899-1902]. In 1963 a 21 gun salute from the Lytton guns welcomed Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II in the Britannia as she sailed up the Brisbane River. In April 1991 the muzzle-loading cannon at the fort were fired to greet soldiers returning from the Gulf War.
Source: Queensland Heritage Register.
At 4:00 AM I awoke with an epiphany. I am going to obtain a license to carry a concealed carp. It makes sense. With everybody else packing, I should be prepared. Alone in my office, I am vulnerable. But with my concealed carp, it’s a simple matter of deftly reaching into my back pocket, drawing my carp, and attacking the would-be assailant. It might well save my life, and most certainly it will change the way I live it. I shall need to be vigilant. Stay focused. Be wary of strangers. For having a concealed carp will do no good unless I get the drop. No worries. I trained in Mindfulness and can maintain pinpoint concentration. Moreover, I intend to trick evil-doers by posting a sign on my office door: “No Concealed Carp Allowed.”
from my feature in SPLEEN magazine issue 01
issuu.com/spleenmagazine/docs/spleenmagazine_01
The MTA prepares us psychologically for the new track at the Lexington-63rd Street Subway Station built for the Second Avenue Subway
Lexington-63rd Street Subway Station, Manhattan
Yup, that's right, Phyllis is the name of my Rapier - as we all know, all good swords deserve a name! ^_^
Model, Styling & Sword: The Druidess Of Midian
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Make Up Artist: Dawn Holdbrook MUA
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Photography & Edit © Morbidly Inclined
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Strobist: SB600 on camera right, SB800 behind subject with plexiglass diffusor. Flashes on 1/64th power.
About the noon we reached the second BC, which was about 8km away from the first one. The scene there was spectacular, the Qomolangma was so grand and just right in front of you. It was a breathtaking moment when you get the top of a hill and the glory peak just directly jump into your sight. Your know it was the top of the world, and it was so closed to you. However, staying at The second BC was only permitted to those professional climbers. Without the special license, you can't even walk closed to their tents and have a look. So there was no hotel near the second BC. But we wanted to photograph there at night. The wind was roaring, how to stay there without any shelter at night? We have to get back to the first one with frustration. When night fell, after getting some photos near our tent dissatisfiedly, Jeff and I made a crazy plan to walk to the second BC. It means I have to walk for 1.5 hours with 7.5Kg loads, at an elevation about 5000m. Eek, I still think it is crazy now!
We backpacked all the gears and started to walk (with a gloomy mood I think, it's just literally unreachable). Just few minutes later, a beam of light broke into our eyes. A motorbike passed. I waved to it and it was stopped, we asked the rider if we could get a lift. He agreed without any hesitation. Then we got on his scooter, squashed up with a funny pose: I held two tripods and equatorials, Jeff packed on all the bags, and the rider held the handlebar.
Suffered from a bumpy ride, we finally got the second BC. The milkyway was just about the mountain slope. Meanwhile, the rider Tian found that there was no hotel, he realized he had to get back to the first one( I confess we are bad, we didn't talk him much about the 2nd BC). To conceal him, Jeff took a photo of him---the lonely rider riding towards the Everest with stars, hmmm...I bet that it is the coolest photo in his life : D
getting back to the tent-inn, still palpitated, hearing smashing pumpkin's Tonight Tonight, thought that finally found an appropriate scene for this song.
The brisk wind drove us leave soon. On the way back, though I wear a pair of mitt, I can't feel my fingers while my hands were blowing in the wind. It was just so frozen. When we reached our hotel, I even fell off from his motorbike. But anyway we almost laughed all the way, such a lifetime adventure! We exchanged contact information, the rider Tian lives in the same city as me! In latter days, I know he went on his journey across Qinghai and Sichuan with his motorbike. And yesterday he reached Chengdu safely. Congrats to him~