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Gait Barrows NNR
Gait Barrows NNR is a rich mosaic of limestone habitats including unique limestone pavement, yew woodland, fen and reedbed.
Gait Barrows NNR
County: Lancashire
Main habitats: Limestone pavement, woodland, fen, limestone grassland.
Why visit: Lying in the heart of the Arnside and Silverdale Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, Gait Barrows is one of Britain's most important areas of limestone landscape.
It covers an intricate mosaic of limestone habitats that are home to a huge variety of rare and beautiful wildlife. From open rock, to damp fen, deep yew forest and even the tranquil Hawes Water there is much to see on a visit to Gait Barrows.
Please note: Although the nature trails and public footpaths are open to the public at all times, other parts of Gait Barrows are by permit only due to the sensitive nature of the site.
To request a permit, please contact Senior Reserve Manager, Rob Petley-Jones, email rob.petley-jones@naturalengland.org.uk or tel: 07747 852905 providing the email or postal address to which you would like the permit to be sent.
Lyme disease
Ticks are present on this reserve and Lyme disease is present in this area of the country. Visitors are advised to take adequate precautions such as covering arms and legs, and checking for bites after their visit.
Star species:
The lady’s-slipper orchid is the rarest of all British wildflowers. Once thought to be extinct in the UK, this special plant has since been rediscovered and a national species recovery program has been launched. Gait Barrows is now home to a thriving population of reintroduced plants.
The Duke of Burgundy and high brown fritillary butterflies thrive in the woodland glades and clearings, which are carefully managed for their benefit. Look out for small orange and brown Duke of Burgundy in May and the larger high brown fritillary in July and August.
The woodlands and wetlands provide a home for large numbers of redwing and fieldfare arriving from Scandinavia in autumn to feed on the abundant yew berry crop. The restored reed beds of Hawes Water Moss are also home to marsh harrier, bittern and reed bunting.
Access: There are interpretation panels and waymarked trails through the reserve and a number of public footpaths. Leaflets are available to download from our website.
Hawes Water Trail is accessible for all, and disabled parking can be found at the eastern end of this trail. The Limestone Trail is Tramper-friendly but unfortunately slopes and steps on the Yew Trail make it inaccessible for trampers and wheelchairs.
To avoid disturbance to wildlife, dogs are not allowed away from the public footpaths and should be kept on a lead at all times. Much of the site is hazardous and care should be taken when leaving the paths. There is no access to Little Hawes Water or Hawes Water Moss as these areas are extremely hazardous.
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Gait Barrows: what makes it special
Gait Barrows NNR is a rich mosaic of limestone habitats and home to a multitude of fascinating wildlife.
Limestone pavement
The large areas of carboniferous limestone were shaped by glacial ice, rain and groundwater to form flat blocks (clints) and deep fissures (grikes). The shaded humid conditions in the deeper grikes are home to plants such as the hard shield fern, herb Robert, tutsan and the rare ridged buckler fern. These crevices are also home to a rare species of woodlouse, Armadillidium pictum.
The clints are home to a variety of plants, including rare plants such as Solomon’s seal, and the moss, Scorpidium turgescens. The mosses on these pavements also provide a home for a relic population of the narrow-mouthed whorl snail, where Gait Barrows is the only known limestone pavement site for this species in the world.
Ancient trees on the pavement are naturally dwarfed because of the dry conditions and their roots being restricted by the limestone. The ancient ash trees grow only a few millimetres a year and, despite their size may be many hundreds of years old.
Woodland
Much of the woodland at Gait Barrows was traditionally managed by coppicing for charcoal, firewood and timber. This activity has continued to create important habitats for invertebrates and birds, including black cap, garden warbler and woodcock.
The woodlands of Gait Barrows is one of the best sites in the country for fungi, with over 1,600 species being recorded, including yellow stagshorn and green-elf cup.
Hawes Water
Affectionately known as the ‘Gem of Silverdale’, Hawes Water provides inspiring views and some excellent wildlife-spotting opportunities. From the boardwalk you can enjoy the tranquillity of this landscape whilst watching out for the many birds that nest here every year. These include great crested grebe, little grebe and in spring sand martins and marsh harriers. Ospreys can be spotted diving into the lake for fish.
The purity of the water helps plants like the stoneworts and several species of fish such as rudd, European eels, ten-spined stickleback and the rare medicinal leech to thrive.
The rich soil around the edges of the lake support a variety of plants including bird's-eye primrose, the scented fragrant orchid and insectivorous common butterwort, with its small purple flowers dangling on long stalks. The green tiger beetle also nests in burrows in the loose lake-side soil.
Little Hawes Water
Hidden in the heart of the reserve this small lake is surrounded by alder woods and supports a large population of yellow water lilies. It is also a breeding site for brown hawker and migrant hawker dragonfly, and the azure damselfly.
Hawes Water Moss
South-east of Hawes Water, lies an extensive area fen and reedbed which grows in the waterlogged peat and marl sediments that have filled the lake. The reedbeds have been restored by Natural England to encourage rare marsh birds like marsh harriers to nest here every year. The reeds are also home to many types of insect, including the rare silky wainscot and silver hook moths.
Lady’s-slipper orchid
Lady’s-slipper orchid is the rarest British flower, having once been formally declared extinct in Britain in 1917. Several organizations have worked together within the Species Recovery Programme to restore lady’s-slipper orchid to the wild.
Many of these plants have been introduced to Gait Barrows with huge success. The reserve now boasts a growing population of lady’s-slipper orchid’s which can be seen flowering on the limestone every year in late spring-time.
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Gait Barrows: seasonal highlights
Gait Barrows offers a wonderful variety of landscape and wildlife all year round.
Spring
In early spring, the first flowers of stinking hellebore can be seen when walking along the Limestone Trail. Look out for sulphur coloured brimstone butterflies on sunny spring mornings. The high mewing call of buzzards can be heard in the skies above Gait Barrows.
Summer
Late spring and early summer bring the full glory of Gait Barrows to life. Enjoy the richness of butterfly life, including the rare high brown fritillary and revel in the rare flowers of the limestone pavements such as the angular Solomon’s-seal. You may also be lucky enough to see the male marsh harrier high in the sky over Hawes Water.
Autumn
In autumn, walk the Yew Trail and marvel at the gorgeous colours of the yews in the low afternoon sun, and be enthralled by the thousands of redwings and fieldfares which arrive in October to feast on the yew berry crop. Elusive hawfinches are also much easier to spot at this time of year. On the woodland border with the pastures, brown hawker and migrant hawker dragonflies can be seen hunting for late-flying insects. A trip to Hawes Water will be rewarded with views of the autumn-flowering grass-of-Parnassus.
Winter
In deepest winter, look out for signs of roe and fallow deer which have passed the same way in the depths of the frosty night. In late winter a trip to Hawes Water could be rewarded with sights of great crested grebes courting. These spectacular birds take part in an impressive courtship display which involves ‘walking on water!’
www.naturalengland.org.uk/ourwork/conservation/designatio...
Gait Barrows: history
The landscape at Gait Barrows has been shaped over thousands of years by natural processes and human land use.
A significant proportion of the reserve is covered by limestone that was smoothed by glacial processes during the last ice age. Groundwater has weathered the pavement to create the characteristic features of a limestone pavement and nature has moved into fill all the niche habitats on offer.
At White Scar, in the centre of the reserve, low limestone cliffs can be seen looking much like a limestone pavement tipped on its side, with a bedding plane erupting vertically from the ground. These cliffs were once much more open and could clearly be seen from a long distance away as a glowing white landform. Natural England is now restoring open conditions at several points along the Scar to encourage plants like the rare spring sedge to flourish.
Before the site was declared a National Nature Reserve, limestone was quarried and taken away for rockery stone, leaving large exposed slabs of limestone. The remaining pavements are now protected and the naked scars of rock left by this activity are gradually being taken back by nature, with coverings of lichens and mosses, blue moor grass and wild flowers such as common rock-rose and bird’s-foot trefoil.
Hawes Water Basin, a deep trough in the limestone, was gouged out by glaciers in the last Ice Age and then filled with groundwater to create Hawes Water lake. In the past Hawes Water was more extensive, but now much of the basin is filled with layers of clay-like marl and fen peat.
Much of the ancient woodland has been managed for centuries by coppicing. This practice has given rise to the dense structure of these woodlands, which is ideal for much of its wildlife. In recent times, coppicing ceased in many British woodlands, however, at Gait Barrows coppicing continues for the sole benefit of the wildlife living here.
Gait Barrows was declared a National Nature Reserve in 1977, in celebration of the Silver Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II. To mark this special occasion a cairn was erected in a particularly scenic spot on the limestone pavement. From this point you can enjoy views of the whole reserve.
www.naturalengland.org.uk/ourwork/conservation/designatio...
By cycle
The NNR is on the Lancashire Cycleway route 90external link, an offshoot of national route 6external link of the National Cycle Network.
There is a cycle rack in the car park. Please note that cycles are not permitted on the nature reserve.
By train
The nearest train stations are in Silverdaleexternal link and Arnsideexternal link. Both stations are served by TransPennine Expressexternal link and Northern Railexternal link.
By bus
Local bus services to the area from Carnforth and Lancaster are provided by Stagecoachexternal link.
By car
From the A6, turn off at Beetham and follow minor roads through the village of Slack Head. At the T-junction take a right turning onto Brackenthwaite Road and drive along the side of the reserve to find parking.
A small permit holder’s car park is available on the reserve, and alternative road-side parking can be found along Brackenthwaite Road.
On foot
There are several public footpaths leading from Yealand Redmayne, Silverdale and Arnside. Silverdale is at the northern end of the Lancashire Coastal Wayexternal link.
Facilities
The nearest toilets and refreshments can be found in local towns and villages.
www.naturalengland.org.uk/ourwork/conservation/designatio...
Gait Barrows: want to get involved?
There are plenty of ways to get involved with the reserve.
Natural England holds a number of events and activities at Gait Barrows NNR each year. Past events have focused on moths, butterflies, fungi, trees and birds of the nature reserve. For details of current events please visit our North West events page or see posters at the nature reserve.
We have volunteer opportunities on National Nature Reserves throughout South Cumbria, including a weekly conservation work party at Gait Barrows which runs throughout the winter. Whether you have specialist skills you wish to use, or are looking for a chance to get some hands on experience, we’d love to hear from you.
Students and professionals are also invited to conduct studies on our National Nature Reserves. Please contact the Senior Reserve Manager to discuss and gain relevant permissions.
Further information
Please contact Senior Reserve Manager, Rob Petley-Jones on 077478 52905 or email rob.petley-jones@naturalengland.org.uk for more information or to request a site permit.
Name: ST MICHAEL'S CHURCH OF THE OPEN UNIVERSITY
Designation Type: Listing
Grade: II*
List UID: 1160855
Some info from the Open University.
Berrill Building to St Michael's Church
The first church on this site was built in 1189. At this time the area was 'walled' or fenced, giving it the name 'Walton'. The church was thoroughly restored in 1861 and again in the 1970s.
The church and churchyard contain a number of gravestones and memorials to the families that have resided in Walton Hall over the years. The oldest memorial inside the church is to Elizabeth Pyxx who died from plague aged 10 in 1617, who is believed to have been the daughter of the then Rector of Walton, William Pyxx.
When the University moved onto the campus the church was dilapidated. The last parish service was held there in 1974. The Open University leased the building and undertook a programme of extensive restoration and the church reopened with a concert in 1978.
Several staff of The Open University have been buried in the churchyard, including the University's first Secretary Anastasios Christodoulou.
The building is now frequently used for University clubs, choir rehearsals and performances, exhibitions and other functions.
Info from historicengland.org.uk
Former parish church, now the University church and recital room. Mainly C14, with slightly later S. porch, early C16 nave roof. Restored 1861. Rubble limestone with some greensand stone. The tower has two stages with greensand-stone quoins, diagonal buttresses and battlemented parapet. The nave parapet is over a string with corbel heads and nave and chancel are buttressed between bays. All windows have good and varied curvilinear tracery. In the chancel are restored sedilia and a priest's door on the S. wall. The nave has 4 bays, a piscina at the E. end of the S. wall and a tall plain tower arch. To the north of the chancel arch is a staircase to the rood-loft. The C14 octagonal font has been restored. Hatchments hang in the nave. Monuments: On N. wall of chancel a wall monument to Bartholomew Beale, d.1660, and Katherine Beale, d. 1667. An inscription panel with two niches over divided by a plain pilaster. Each niche has a scroll head and base and an engaged bust he to LH, and she to RH. This part is flanked by black Corinthian columns with white caps and bases supporting entablature with black marble frieze, broken segmental pediment and central cartouche of arms. Below the inscription panel is a moulding carried forward under columns which are supported on carved scroll brackets with angels' heads. This monument was erected by their sons, Charles and Henry in 1672. Charles was the husband of Mary Beale, the painter, who died in 1697 and was a pupil of Lely. Adjoining is a small incised brass with rhymed inscription to Elizabeth Pyxe, 1617. On the S. wall is a late C18- early C19 monument to members of the Pinfold family. On S. wall of nave. Sir Thomas Pinfold, Knt., L.L.D. Kings Advocate, Chancellor of Peterborough, etc., d.1701, by Nollekens. An inscription panel on flat brackets with central cartouche of arms between and a tall black pyramidal top with white portrait medallion and ribbons over a trophy of books and rolls.
DESIGNATION: Protector-201
NICKNAME: Kace
RANK: ARC Seargeant
UNIT: Veractyl Squad, 2nd Regiment of the 253rd Elite Legion
------------------------------------------------------
///LOG 18.1///
"We had been asked to patrol the forrest surrounding Busrair, and look for any lizards, if we found any, we were to blast them. I can't imagine any of the boys were complaining."
Already on the first day of patrolling, we ran into a half a dozen Trandoshan hunters, the squad split up, Jace and I ran after the ones on foot, while Jolk and Jaax tried to shoot down the ones trying to escape by air."
"The first 4 or 5 lizards were no problem, but that last one, he was something else, something we hadn't faced before, he was quick, agile, and hard to follow in our stiff plated armor. We chased the bastard for a good standard hour. Atlast we caught up to him, and I was able to take my shot. I pulled the trigger, and there he lay, dead as can be. That Kyber Crystal sure does wonders."
Name: ST MICHAEL'S CHURCH OF THE OPEN UNIVERSITY
Designation Type: Listing
Grade: II*
List UID: 1160855
Some info from the Open University.
Berrill Building to St Michael's Church
The first church on this site was built in 1189. At this time the area was 'walled' or fenced, giving it the name 'Walton'. The church was thoroughly restored in 1861 and again in the 1970s.
The church and churchyard contain a number of gravestones and memorials to the families that have resided in Walton Hall over the years. The oldest memorial inside the church is to Elizabeth Pyxx who died from plague aged 10 in 1617, who is believed to have been the daughter of the then Rector of Walton, William Pyxx.
When the University moved onto the campus the church was dilapidated. The last parish service was held there in 1974. The Open University leased the building and undertook a programme of extensive restoration and the church reopened with a concert in 1978.
Several staff of The Open University have been buried in the churchyard, including the University's first Secretary Anastasios Christodoulou.
The building is now frequently used for University clubs, choir rehearsals and performances, exhibitions and other functions.
Info from historicengland.org.uk
Former parish church, now the University church and recital room. Mainly C14, with slightly later S. porch, early C16 nave roof. Restored 1861. Rubble limestone with some greensand stone. The tower has two stages with greensand-stone quoins, diagonal buttresses and battlemented parapet. The nave parapet is over a string with corbel heads and nave and chancel are buttressed between bays. All windows have good and varied curvilinear tracery. In the chancel are restored sedilia and a priest's door on the S. wall. The nave has 4 bays, a piscina at the E. end of the S. wall and a tall plain tower arch. To the north of the chancel arch is a staircase to the rood-loft. The C14 octagonal font has been restored. Hatchments hang in the nave. Monuments: On N. wall of chancel a wall monument to Bartholomew Beale, d.1660, and Katherine Beale, d. 1667. An inscription panel with two niches over divided by a plain pilaster. Each niche has a scroll head and base and an engaged bust he to LH, and she to RH. This part is flanked by black Corinthian columns with white caps and bases supporting entablature with black marble frieze, broken segmental pediment and central cartouche of arms. Below the inscription panel is a moulding carried forward under columns which are supported on carved scroll brackets with angels' heads. This monument was erected by their sons, Charles and Henry in 1672. Charles was the husband of Mary Beale, the painter, who died in 1697 and was a pupil of Lely. Adjoining is a small incised brass with rhymed inscription to Elizabeth Pyxe, 1617. On the S. wall is a late C18- early C19 monument to members of the Pinfold family. On S. wall of nave. Sir Thomas Pinfold, Knt., L.L.D. Kings Advocate, Chancellor of Peterborough, etc., d.1701, by Nollekens. An inscription panel on flat brackets with central cartouche of arms between and a tall black pyramidal top with white portrait medallion and ribbons over a trophy of books and rolls.
////DESIGNATION: HAMMERHEAD Mk2
////ROLE: ASSAULT
////SYSTEMS LOADOUT:
>>SYSTEM 01: DEFENSIVE
>>SYSTEM 02: MOVEMENT
>>SYSTEM 03: COMMS
>>SYSTEM 04: DIRECT FIRE WEAPON
////NOTES:
Front line soldier frame. Average range, firepower, mobility, and survivability. Decent performance in all situations. Outperformed in all situations by specialist frames.
Circa late 16th century - 68, High Street Newport Pagnell - 04Apr21 grade II listed.
Currently owned by Nationwide Building Society.
The following is from Historic England.
Name: 68, HIGH STREET
Designation Type: Listing
Grade: II
List UID: 1125470
Late C16. Timber frame and brick, tiled roof. 3 storeys and attics, upper floor and attics partly gabled. Early chimney stack and staircase. C19 alterations include cement rendering and bargeboards, bay window to upper storeys.
The title is quite a stretch, I know! While the letter E is in the model designation, it is certainly no E-unit. In all honesty, it is not even close to that class, on so many levels.
So, let's begin the discussion. There has been much banter among photographers surrounding the assignment of the SD60Es to the Office Car fleet. Everyone in our hobby has an opinion, so allow me to weigh in from a different perspective.
First and foremost, I was devastated when I learned that Norfolk Southern had put our gorgeous A-B-B-A set of F-units up for sale. They were beautiful locomotives in every way. After what would be the first of many trips behind the throttle, I became one these quartets biggest fans. But my love of covered wagons, arguably the most handsome face to come out of Lagrange, started three decades earlier.
As a little guy sitting track side with my dad in the 70s, I became enamored with E and F-units. They were common leaders in Penn Central days. At that point in the locomotive's life, they were running out their last miles. Albeit their paint was peeling and doors were open for ventilation, but they still looked so sleek.
Then along came Amtrak and Conrail. The Lake Shore Limited had a mix of E8s and E9s for several years. Some looked battered, much like the PC units, while others showed up glistening fresh from repainting. Variety abounded in nose lighting, portholes, roof beacons, and horns.
The formation of Conrail brought covered wagons from foreigner Erie Lackawanna onto the water level route. The EL shop forces took pride in maintaining the fleet and it showed. The paint still looked good and the engine sounded even better. It was common to see four EL E-9s on intermodal trains stopping to change crews in Toledo. Watching them throttle up, hell bent for either Chicago or Cleveland, was a symphony for the ears.
With the popular face of our Office Car Special gone, I pondered what the future would bring to this train set. My first choice as power would have been units from the Heritage fleet. Turns out that I was not alone, as the first OCS trips without the Fs utilized them.
Fast forward to my next OCS on the Dearborn Division. My lead unit was the Penn Central Heritage unit followed by two cars. A far cry from the four handsome tuxedo dressed locomotives pulling 14 business cars. To make matters worse, the paint on 1073 was peeling in several places. Oh how the mighty have fallen!
Like all of you, I was not excited to learn that the SD60Es were replacement power for my beloved F-units. Back in my college days, one of my favorite professors made a comment that has helped me through some difficult times. He eloquently said "You cannot be rational when you are emotional."
So after a lengthy time-out ( like several days), I returned to the subject and reevaluated my feelings. While not the most aesthetically pleasing, the SD60Es are great runners. Next to the FP/F45s, they probably have the largest cabs of any locomotive in service. And they are geared for 79mph!
For a freight engineer who runs 60mph day in and day out, being able to cover a mile in 46 seconds is a no brainer! Faster the better. As Ricky Bobby famously stated in Talladega Nights "I missed you Mama Speed!"
For those of you who are not aware, the as built SD60 units receive multiple enhancements while proceeding through the rebuild program, including major electrical upgrades. The biggest change is the replacement of the original standard cab with the crash worthy Crescent Cab. The result...an SD60E.
An EMD product, any model, is the only locomotives that should be used in passenger service. They are an engineer's engine, loading when needed not seconds later. General Electric makes a great freight engine, but they are not properly suited for use on a passenger train. My apologies in advance to any GE employee or Amtrak engineer, just my opinion.
On the mainline, the 7034 and 7035 performed better than I expected at 79mph...no mechanical issues at all. They were freshly washed, which made the paint shine. And the K-5s on the 7034 had fantastic tone!
At this time, I would like to weigh in and share my opinion as a locomotive engineer and a lifelong railfan. After reading comments and speaking with some friends, it was obvious that the foaming community was not overly excited as a whole regarding the OCS replacement power.
Indeed, it is a shame that the F-units were sold and gone. Accept it and move on!
And yes, it is true that the SD60Es are certainly not in the same class as the elegant and graceful F-units. Accept it and move on!
Outside of the commuter carriers across the country, where can you go to see former freight locomotives pass by at passenger speeds? NS has a pair of locomotives, a unique model not rostered by any other carrier, in a position to move the Office Car Special at 79mph.
Say what you want, good or bad, but I am excited to see dedicated power assigned to this service. Whether I am sitting in the engineer's seat or not, seeing a 79mph passenger train pass by and owned by a freight railroad is extraordinary!
No one knows what the future has planned, but change is inevitable. Maybe one day this pair will wear the colors of the cars it hauls.
Now we're talking!
E Units On The OCS
Ashland Avenue
May 19, 2021
Ceres (minor-planet designation: 1 Ceres) is the largest object in the asteroid belt between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. Ceres has a radius of just under 294 miles. The image shown shows Ceres in a stationary position and the stars moving, the image was processed to keep Ceres stationary and give an impression of how far it moved during this one hour and 40 minute combined exposure. The diffraction spikes on Ceres are caused by the design of the Ritchey-Chretien telescope.
The video clip shows the same time comparison and the movement of Ceres.
Tech Specs: Orion 8" f/8 Ritchey-Chretien Astrograph Telescope, Celestron CGEM-DX pier mounted, ZWO ASI290MC and ASI071MC-Pro, ZWO AAPlus, ZWO EAF. 100 x 60 seconds at -10C plus darks and flats, stacked in DSS. Image Date: December 12, 2021. Location: The Dark Side Observatory, Weatherly, PA, USA (Bortle Class 4).
The designation of UNESCO World Heritage Site is a title few natural and man-made landmarks around the world hold. The buildings of the Westminster World Heritage Site have remained continuously occupied and have stayed relatively consistent to their original purposes since the tenth century CE. Though most of the buildings have been rebuilt at one point or another, their profound and lasting influence on cultural and architectural trajectories the world over are indisputable.
Designation: CT-1753
Rank: Sergeant
Nickname: Preacher
Blasted audio log was ruined in the ruins, go figure.
The Banking Clan launched a large force of Lancer droids to attack our artillery, and all squads were recalled to meet them on the field.
My squad and I mounted our speeders, and joined with the rest of the 253rd. I could see the Lancer droids on the horizon of the fields, when I received a transmission from inside the city.
"Can anyone here us? We're pinned down and need fire support! We need support!"
I diverted into the depths of the city, heading closer and closer to the distress call. I slowed down when I saw another clone wave me down.
"They're in there sir! How are you going to get them out?"
I revved the engine on my bike, and sped towards them.
"Sir, you'll never make it! The gap's too small!"
It was the only chance I had.
The left vane of my speeder slammed into the pillar as I jumped, tearing it from the rest of the speeder. As the destroyed speeder flew straight into a droid standing just inside the pillars, I turned myself in the air and pulled out my pistol, blasting another droid about to execute the only trooper in my sight. I landed hard on my back, a fall that surely would've dislocated my arm, if I still had it. Thankfully, cybernetics are a bit tougher.
I stood up, firing at the oncoming group of droids.
"Get out of here! NOW!" I shouted at the trooper, who scampered out between the pillars.
Now it was just me, and these kriffing droids.
/fin/
I remembered to make the base a square this time :D
The Space Shuttle Enterprise (NASA Orbiter Vehicle Designation: OV-101) was the first Space Shuttle orbiter. It was built for NASA as part of the Space Shuttle program to perform test flights in the atmosphere. It was constructed without engines or a functional heat shield, and was therefore not capable of spaceflight. On September 17, 1976 the first full scale prototype was completed.
In the upper left corner:
The Manned Maneuvering Unit (MMU) is an astronaut propulsion unit that was used by NASA on three Space Shuttle missions in 1984.
The MMU allowed the astronauts to perform untethered EVA spacewalks at a distance from the shuttle. The MMU was used in practice to retrieve a pair of faulty communications satellites, Westar VI and Palapa B2. Following the third mission the unit was retired from use. A smaller successor, the Simplified Aid for EVA Rescue (SAFER), was first flown in 1994, and is intended for emergency use only.
The unit featured redundancy to protect against failure of individual systems. It was designed to fit over the life-support system backpack of the Space Shuttle Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU). When carried into space, the MMU was stowed in a support station attached to the wall of the payload bay near the airlock hatch. Two MMUs were carried on a mission, with the second unit mounted across from the first on the opposite payload bay wall. The MMU controller arms were folded for storage. When an astronaut backed into the unit and snapped the life-support system into place, the arms were unfolded.
To adapt to astronauts with different arm lengths, controller arms could be adjusted over a range of approximately 13 centimetres. The MMU was small enough to be maneuvered with ease around and within complex structures. With a full propellant load, its mass was 148 kilograms (326 pounds).
Gaseous nitrogen was used as the propellant for the MMU. Two aluminium tanks with Kevlar wrappings contained 5.9 kilograms of nitrogen each, enough propellant for a six-hour EVA depending on the amount of maneuvering done. Typical MMU delta-v (velocity change) capability was about 80 feet per second (25 m/s).
There were 24 nozzle thrusters placed at different locations on the MMU. To operate the propulsion system, the astronaut used his fingertips to manipulate hand controllers at the ends of the MMU's two arms. The right controller produced rotational acceleration for roll, pitch, and yaw. The left controller produced translational acceleration for moving forward-back, up-down, and left-right. Coordination of the two controllers produced intricate movements in the unit. Once a desired orientation was achieved, the astronaut could engage an automatic attitude-hold function that maintained the inertial attitude of the unit in flight. This freed both hands for work.
The Space Shuttle Enterprise (NASA Orbiter Vehicle Designation: OV-101) was the first Space Shuttle orbiter. It was built for NASA as part of the Space Shuttle program to perform test flights in the atmosphere. It was constructed without engines or a functional heat shield, and was therefore not capable of spaceflight. On September 17, 1976 the first full scale prototype was completed.
In the upper left corner:
The Manned Maneuvering Unit (MMU) is an astronaut propulsion unit that was used by NASA on three Space Shuttle missions in 1984.
The MMU allowed the astronauts to perform untethered EVA spacewalks at a distance from the shuttle. The MMU was used in practice to retrieve a pair of faulty communications satellites, Westar VI and Palapa B2. Following the third mission the unit was retired from use. A smaller successor, the Simplified Aid for EVA Rescue (SAFER), was first flown in 1994, and is intended for emergency use only.
The unit featured redundancy to protect against failure of individual systems. It was designed to fit over the life-support system backpack of the Space Shuttle Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU). When carried into space, the MMU was stowed in a support station attached to the wall of the payload bay near the airlock hatch. Two MMUs were carried on a mission, with the second unit mounted across from the first on the opposite payload bay wall. The MMU controller arms were folded for storage. When an astronaut backed into the unit and snapped the life-support system into place, the arms were unfolded.
To adapt to astronauts with different arm lengths, controller arms could be adjusted over a range of approximately 13 centimetres. The MMU was small enough to be maneuvered with ease around and within complex structures. With a full propellant load, its mass was 148 kilograms (326 pounds).
Gaseous nitrogen was used as the propellant for the MMU. Two aluminium tanks with Kevlar wrappings contained 5.9 kilograms of nitrogen each, enough propellant for a six-hour EVA depending on the amount of maneuvering done. Typical MMU delta-v (velocity change) capability was about 80 feet per second (25 m/s).
There were 24 nozzle thrusters placed at different locations on the MMU. To operate the propulsion system, the astronaut used his fingertips to manipulate hand controllers at the ends of the MMU's two arms. The right controller produced rotational acceleration for roll, pitch, and yaw. The left controller produced translational acceleration for moving forward-back, up-down, and left-right. Coordination of the two controllers produced intricate movements in the unit. Once a desired orientation was achieved, the astronaut could engage an automatic attitude-hold function that maintained the inertial attitude of the unit in flight. This freed both hands for work.
Great Linford Brick Kilns 27Feb21.
Located in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire close to the Grand Union Canal.
Name: Great Linford Brickworks
Designation Type: Scheduled Monument
Grade: Not Applicable to this List Entry
List UID: 1006927
Information from the Milton Keynes Parks trust website.
If you follow the canal from Great Linford Park towards Campbell Park you will find two Victorian brick kilns and the base of a third. These, as the name suggests, were large ovens for making bricks. They were built in the late 1800s by a coal and lime merchant who lived in Newport Pagnell, George Osborn Price.
Why were they built here?
Many brick kilns were built along this stretch of the canal from the mid-1800s. Milton Keynes is largely built on clay, so this area provided the material needed to make bricks (the two ponds on site are excavated clay pits). The kilns are right next to the canal because this allowed bricks to be transported to building projects in both directions, and also enabled coal to be brought to site. It was much easier and quicker for a horse to pull heavy loads by a boat on the water, than by a wagon along poorly surfaced track.
How were bricks made?
Two men dug the clay out in winter when the ground was more likely to be wet and, therefore, soft. The clay was then fed into a machine called a ‘pug’ which stirred and beat it, and then fed it out in a strip. The strip was laid out on an oiled table and a “cutter off” made six brick shapes by pulling down a frame holding six wires over the clay – rather like a cheese cutter. The “green bricks”, which would still be wet and heavy, were then carted by the “runner away” to a series of duckboards where they were arranged by the “setter down” to dry. The stack was covered by a wooden roof or surrounded by straw or canvas to protect is from hot sun and rain.
After about a month, once the bricks had dried sufficiently, they were placed inside the kilns. Each kiln could hold 20-25,000 bricks! A fire was then lit, and the brick workers continued to stoke the fire for five days, using 122 tonnes of coal. The kilns would reach temperatures of 1,150 C, after which the fire was left to die out and the kiln would cool for a week.
The doors, now missing, were raised by pulley and the bricks were removed. They were then taken down to the wharf to boats that would have transported them to places such as Wolverton Cosgrove, Castlethorpe and New Bradwell. If you live in a local building that was created around the late 1800s or early 1900s, the bricks may have come from this Kiln!
Why are there metal rings around the Kilns?
The iron bands around the kilns were crucial to holding the kilns together as the temperature rose – absorbing the stress from the expanding bricks.
What do we know about the people that worked here?
Brick making was exceptionally hard work and poorly paid. Records of the brickyard show that the workers were men who worked in gangs of six for 12 hours a day. They were paid 22 shillings per week - the equivalent of about £90 in terms of spending power at the time, meaning they were earning £1.50 per hour. We also know some of the names of the people who worked here: “Toddler” Mills, Jack Read (stoker), Bill Riley, “Dabber” Riley, “Boxer” Riley, “Hookey” Keech, Tommy Lacey (who kept the Wharf pub at Linford), Joe Malsher (engine driver), Jim Burnell and Albert Stonton.
When did the kilns stop being used?
The Brickyard was unable to compete with improved methods of production from other companies. Continuous firing and better ways of extracting clay were introduced that made it much more economical to transport bricks from Newton Longville Brickmaking sites by steam traction engine.
What is going on at the Brick Kilns in 2021?
The Brick Kilns were restored in 1981 and are now under the care of The Parks Trust. The site needs significant maintenance work carried out to preserve the structure and The Trust is currently working to make the necessary repairs.
Can we get inside?
The Brick Kilns are not currently accessible to the public, but The Parks Trust may look to arranging guided walks in the future when the preservation work is completed.
Why are there ponds here?
The two ponds in the park are water-filled clay pits and now support many aquatic plants and animals. The mounds on the far banks are the remains of the spoil heaps that have been colonised by hawthorn and willow.
Sanjiko is a collective designation for three buildings that are warehouses: Kamijinko (Upper sacred storehouse), Nakajinko (Middle sacred storehouse) and Shimojinko (Lower sacred storehouse). Armor and costumes used in the 1,000 Samurai procession, (some of these sacred processions are held in the spring and fall), are kept in these warehouses. In addition, the costumes of the Yabusame (archers on horses) are also kept in the Sanjinko.
The style of the warehouses is based on the structure of Shosoin's house in Nara. This style was called the Azekura-zukuri style. The Sanjinko kept 1,200 costumes used in the 1,000 samurai procession. In addition, the Sanjinko also kept the costumes of the Yabusame (archers on horses).
On the gable of the Kamijinko (Upper Sacred Warehouse) are two imaginary elephants. The ears and tail are different from those of a real elephant. This is because the main painter, Tanyu Kano, had never seen real elephants before. That is why these figurines are called the imaginary elephants.
The warehouses are located immediately after the Omotemon gate.
Milton Keynes Village First World War Memorial 26Apr21 erected in 1921. Grade II listed.
The following is from English Heritage.
Reasons for Designation
Milton Keynes Village War Memorial, which stands in the churchyard, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
Historic interest:
* as an eloquent witness to the tragic impact of world events on the local community, and the sacrifice it made in the First World War.
Architectural interest:
* an unusual war memorial designed by noted architect AR Powys ARIBA; * unusually, the memorial has not been adapted for Second World War commemoration, and thus retains its original design intent.
History
The aftermath of the First World War saw the biggest single wave of public commemoration ever with tens of thousands of memorials erected across England. This was the result of both the huge impact on communities of the loss of three quarters of a million British lives, and also the official policy of not repatriating the dead which meant that the memorials provided the main focus of the grief felt at this great loss.
One such memorial was raised at Milton Keynes as a permanent testament to the sacrifice made by nine members of the local community who lost their lives in the First World War. The memorial was designed by AR Powys. It was erected by Messrs Wilford Bros of Newport Pagnell. The memorial was unveiled by WHM Finch, lord of the manor, on 21 August 1921.
Albert Reginald Powys ARIBA (1881-1936), architect, was known for his work on the conservation of ancient buildings, in particular in his role as Secretary to the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings (SPAB) from 1911 to his death. Having been articled to CB Benson (Yeovil), and Assistant to WF Cave and William Weir, he passed his qualifying exam in 1904. He was in independent practice from 1908 and in partnership with John Macgregor from 1925. In 1928 he published his classic reference book ‘Repair of Ancient Buildings’. Powys also designed the war memorials at Godalming, Blo’ Norton, and Meanwood, all of which are listed at Grade II.
Details
The Portland stone war memorial stands in the churchyard c25m to the south of the Church of All Saints (Grade I-listed), placed directly in line of sight with the churchyard gate and path from Willen Road. Standing c3m tall, it takes the form of a large panel with the top curved in stages. The panel is raised on a plinth, rectangular in plan. A Latin cross with a decorative border is carved in relief to the front face of the panel, forming recessed quadrants in which are carved inscriptions:
(upper left) 1914
(upper right) 1918
(lower left) REMEMBER THE MEN OF MILTON KEYNES WHO, FOR THEIR
(lower right) COUNTRY AND FOR US, LAID DOWN THEIR LIVES IN THE WAR.
The nine names are recorded on the front face of the base whilst, to the rear of the panel, the dedication continues GREATER LOVE HATH NO MAN THAN THIS THAT A MAN LAY DOWN HIS LIFE FOR HIS FRIENDS.
Designation: Lonnigan, Role: Commerce Raider, Anti Capital Ship, Threat Level: Significant, Weak Against: Interceptors
Designation: CT-9696
Nickname: Flip
Rank: ARC Sergeant
Unit: 253rd Legion 1st Regiment
Equipment:
DC-15 blaster carbine, experimental vibroblade sword, modified phase 1 clone armor with lighter more flexible armor.
Log entry 0.01
“After surviving the first assault of Geonosis and capturing capturing a seppy command post without the help of my dead squad mates, I didn’t want to ever go back out on the front lines again. Luckily I was removed from the remains of my unit for some advanced training back on Kamino. It was rigorous training, but it made us forget about the horrors of that first battle. After the training ended, those long neck freaks shipped us off again without a concern. Since my original unit was destroyed on that fateful day, they assigned me to one of the most intimidating legions in the whole GAR, the 253rd. They needed replacement troops after dealing with some lizard freaks on Trandosia. There was no initiation or introduction or anything. Just a short briefing of our next mission and that was it. I’m afraid to head back to the front lines just to see my brothers slaughtered around me day in and day out, but this is the 253rd, the best of the best.”
www.naturalengland.org.uk/ourwork/conservation/designatio...
Skipwith Common is Natural England's newest National Nature Reserve and it has a wide variety of wildlife that anyone can enjoy.
Skipwith Common NNR
Occupying 274 hectares within the fabulous Escrick Park Estate, Skipwith Common is a wonderful place to visit at any time of year.
Species lovers can spend time discovering the variety of rare heathland plants and rich collection of dragonflies and other insects. There are also a huge array of birds that can be spotted in and around the reserve.
If you are interested in history you will enjoy the many bronze and iron age features that are scattered about the reserve. There are also the remains of Riccall airfield, where Halifax bomber crews were trained in the Second World War.
Where: North Yorkshire, between Selby and York
Main habitats: Wet and dry heathland and scrub woodland
Events
Throughout the year we have a wide variety of events taking place at Skipwith NNR. From fungus forays in the autumn to dawn chorus walks in the spring. Join us on one of our guided walks, as we look for residents of the common and share more about the enigmatic species found here.
Find out when our next event is taking place.
Friends of Skipwith Common
The Friends of Skipwith Commonexternal link were set up in 2003 and contribute a large number of hours of practical management, help look after the animals which are used to graze the site and take a particular interest in the archaeology on Skipwith Common NNR. They have a programme of guided walks and events both on the common, and at local community functions. They produce a quarterly newsletter and maintain their own website.
friendsofskipwithcommon.org.uk/
Skipwith: how to get there
Skipwith Common is in North Yorkshire
Skipwith Common can be accessed from the A19 from the village of Riccall or from A163 passing through the village of North Duffield.
We encourage the use of sustainable transport whenever possible
By train
The nearest train stations to Skipwith are Wressleexternal link and Selbyexternal link.
By bus
Bus services to and from Skipwith are provided by East Yorkshire Motor Serviceexternal link and York Pullman Bus Companyexternal link.
By car
There are three main access points to the reserve: Riccall Village along King Rudding Lane, Skipwith Village along Common Lane, Barlby (A163 Market Weighton Road, then up Cornelius Causeway).
There is a car park with two designated disabled parking bays on the site.
Additional travel information for the area is provided by Yorkshire Travelexternal link
Accommodation
Local accommodation includes a holiday park and camping and caravan sites near Skipwith and Cliffe villages. For details of where to stay locally visit the Yorkshire Tourismexternal link web site.
Additional information
Please keep dogs on leads and under close control throughout the year due to ground nesting birds and grazing livestock.
Refreshment facilities and basic services can be found in the nearby villages of Riccall, Skipwith and Barlby.
Skipwith Common: school and community groups
Skipwith Common National Nature Reserve offers exciting and engaging outdoor learning opportunities.
School visit to Skipwith Common NNR © Natural England
Bring a group to Skipwith to learn about its connection to World War II, try your hands at a real archaeological dig with experts or learn some wild science – it’s up to you!
Spectacular habitats to explore
Curriculum linked sessions
Equipment such as gps, environmental games and science resources available for use on site
Groups can: learn about the site and its archaeology, help with surveying key species on the site, see seasonal highlights, or get involved with practical conservation challenges on the NNR.
Practical information
Facilities: once you have left your coach or cars, the Common has no facilities, however, adult groups may be able to make use of the nearby public house in Skipwith Village for a lunch time break.
Toilets: there are no toilet facilities on site and most sessions will be arranged for a half day due to this.
Access: Skipwith Common is very flat and there is a good path network, woodland areas provide excellent outdoor classrooms kept clear thanks to our browsing livestock! There is an easy access route on the site which groups can use to see a selection of the World War II features. It is best to stick on or near the paths as there are inaccessible areas of the site, which help preserve its feel of a wilderness and its value as a National Nature Reserve.
More information
For further information or to see if anyone can assist with your visit, please contact Craig Ralston on 07917088021, or e-mail craig.ralston@naturalengland.org.uk
DESIGNATION: CT-1287
CALL SIGN: Redwing
RANK: ARC Lieutenant
LOADOUT: DC-15s Blaster + multiple Vibroknives
EQUIPMENT: Bacta-Implants, Integrated Squad Comms, Extended ZeroG Attachments, Flash Attachment
...:: BEGIN LOG ::...
As I lowered my helmet onto my scarred face, I realized what we were getting ourselves into. Dropping into that cold abyss, that endless void. A cold shiver rushed down my spine as my shoulders and back stiffened. It had been at least 300 rotations time since I had felt that weightless feeling outside of a Venator airlock, and that was for good reason. Looking through my thin visor, I looked at my soldiers, a small squad was preparing to follow me. Most of the company stayed in their quarters as we assumed this to be a simple scouting mission. But I had a feeling, something larger was at hand. As memories flooded back, and pain spread through my brain, I slowly lost confidence in my ability to lead them into that void, into all that death.
“Dank Ferrik.” I retorted under my breath as I ripped my helmet off and tossed it to the floor. It clattered across the smooth black floor to Pharaoh’s feet, who gently lifted it up and placed it on a wall hook. Looking at me with confused eyes, he tapped his left chest plate with his open hand twice, a signal that he could handle this.
With his signal, I walked out of the hangar with a flood of emotions coursing through me. Memories flashed in front of my eyes. How many rotations had it been? 200? 300? I wasn’t sure. As I reached the door of my quarters I could feel my knees buckle as I touched the key pad. My knees slammed the floor as my vision faded to black...
I awoke to the faces of my brother’s, my brothers since Kamino. I was back in the 92nd Reconnaissance Corps, oh how I missed these guys. My hand reached towards each of them, patting backs and bringing it in for embraces or hand shakes. Our textbook ritual before missions.
“ATTENTION!!”
Our companies’ Captain made his entrance into the hangar. Captain Corvin, our leader and our hero. Every one of us looked up to him. He was followed by the assistant sergeant, they entered the large hangar. The Captain was adorned with two dark red slashes of paint on the right side of his visor. These markings acted as talky marks. A reminder of the brothers he had lost. Only two in his 200 rotations of command. These markings were accompanied by two red bands on his left arm. The Sergeant’s armor was also adorned with a single band on his left arm. The bands signified acts of valor in our company, no soldier went unrecognized for an act of sacrifice or bravery. The bands denoted respect and leadership.
As the Captain ordered attention, all soldiers snapped into place, a perfect 10 by 12 formation holding helmets and DC-15s at the ready. We were ready for whatever he was going to throw at us.
“Brothers! We have been assigned a mission to board that separatist battle ship. It went dead 4 rotations ago and hasn’t moved. We have been assigned to check it out and sweep the ship’s command areas.” The display zooms in on a floating Providence Class Carrier backlit by the Velmorian moons. “This carrier drifted from known Separatist space into Republic territory and could be an ambush vehicle, or a dead frigate. We are supposed to find out.” The Captain pauses as the display zooms farther in on the ship’s thrusters. “As you can see, unused and practically untouched. The cleanest thruster caps I’ve seen on any seppie ship.” The Captain trails off.
Assistant Sergeant ‘Titan’ perks up “We are not certain of our fate this mission. The lack of a clear objective and no sign of opposition makes us think this will be an easy in and out operation, like Manaan 20 rotations back. Now suit up and let’s get this over with quickly.”
Oh how wrong the sergeant had been, how very very wrong.
Upon boarding the ship, once our final trooper stepped foot aboard that rigid cruiser, the ship shook with activity and rumbled to life. The sounds of metal joints quickly echoed down the passageways towards us. Rolling destroyer droids could be heard in the distance as well. Troops near the back leapt back out of the ship towards the transports that had brought us most of the way. The temptation to jump off the ship and into that void was so tempting, my eyes darted between the dim hallway and the waiting transports.
As I glanced back into the dimly lit hallway, blue circular shields emerged from the shadows, soon joined by the onslaught of red laser fire. Of the troopers left between the droids and the hull opening, few were lasting longer than a barrage or two of fire from the destroyer droids. I wouldn’t last much longer myself if I stayed aboard. As every muscle in my body refused to follow my brain’s commands, I willed my fingers to loosen their grip and push me into the void.
The black void was suddenly filled with red and orange as the separatist ship’s turbo laser system had come back online, transport after transport were decimated by the hail fire of red beams. I could see my brothers just a v-wing’s length ahead of me being vaporized by the massive lasers falling on them from above. One by one disappearing into plastoid dust, I was frozen, drifting into the turrets’ range as I was hit from behind. A rocket propelled mass slammed into my side as the turbolasers came into view.
Shocked by the sudden increase of speed, my eyes adjusted to the rapid movement and were able to glance down at the mass, the Captain had pushed me out of the fire of two beams of energy. His jetpack propelled us towards the recent transports as it materialized with the sergeants back plating. A bolt of energy had caught the Captain’s back and my helmet. Losing pressurization fast I could feel myself lose consciousness.
A loud slam and impact against the remnants of a transport drew me from my unconscious state to see my helmet being pulled off. Without the coordination or energy to stop the Captain, he removed his own pressurized helmet and slammed onto my head. The “kshhhh” of a successful pressurization was the last
sound I heard before watching my vision fizzle out and the Captain pushing himself out into open space.
As I came too and my bloodied helmet flickered back to life, I could see a cloud of white plastoid particulate get swept away by a loose shard of wreckage. My hands jumped to my helmet as I realized what had happened. The captain had saved me, and sacrificed himself. How could he...I couldn’t believe it until the comms in the helmet roared to life.
“I repeat, last call, is anyone still out there? Captain Corvin, are you there? Sergeant? Anyone? Speak up before we leave this wreck.” A command officer could be heard asking any surviving troops for their locations.
Barely audible, all I could muster was “Yes, I am still here. Repeat, 1287 is reporting—“ before slapping my comm bracelet and activating a tracking beacon before drifting out once again.
(STORY INCOMPLETE / I NEED SLEEP)
Ajax
Designation: CT-0324
Rank: Sergeant
Blasted Trandoshans brought us to a kriffing Sep’ slave mining facility on Mustafar. I thought I’d experienced the heat at Troy, but it couldn’t compare to this. They herded us into a housing area, which was already filled with previously captured clones. One sat in the corner, alone, with the arms ripped off of his tunic. The light glinted off of his cybernetic arm.
“It can’t be…”, I said to myself. I approached the clone, and cleared my throat.
“Go away, brother.”
I recognized the voice from the holos. It was him, one of the heroes of the 253rd.
“I just wanted to say it was an honour to meet you, sir.”
“I’m no officer, boy. Not anymore.”
He stood up, and turned to face me. He looked me up and down with his one good eye.
“You’re as shiny as they come, aren’t you?”
“No, sir. I served at Troy before being transferred to the 253rd.”
“Troy, huh? Mij spoke of the Siege before I ended up here. He said one battle-crazed clone threw himself through the breach in the wall with nothing but a warhammer, and I take it that clone was you.”
“Heh, it was, sir. Got me a promotion and that transfer.”
The clone cracked a smile.
“They call me Preacher,” he said, extending his hand.
I grabbed it and shook his hand.
“Ajax.”
///
The door to our housing area blew open, and our brothers from the 1st Regiment charged in, taking out the guards. Sage ran up to Preacher and I, handing Preacher a rifle, and myself my hammer.
“I need you to secure the transports and the AA, or else we aren’t getting off of this blasted planet!”
“Of course, Lieutenant, right away!”
Preacher, myself, and most of the 2nd Regiment charged through the corridors, taking out any opposition dumb enough to get in our way. We managed to make our way outside, and the rest of the Regiment charged forwards to secure our exfil. Preacher, on the other hand, stood in the doorway on the bridge.
“Preacher, we have to go!”
He shook his head.
“This isn’t my fight anymore, boy. I’ll hold them off for as long as I can.”
“No, I’m not leaving a brother behind. Let’s go!”
Droids came charging down the hallway, spraying us with a burst of fire. The ground began to shake, and lava sprayed into the air. Preacher slowly moved back as he fired, taking down droid after droid. I spun my hammer, and started swinging away.
Soon enough there were too many of them. We were about to be overrun. My comms crackled to life.
“The Legion’s been gathered, everyone get to the exfil! We can’t stay for much longer!”
“GO!” Preacher shouted, turning and waving me off. A droid came up behind him, and wrapped it's arms around him. He threw the droid off, but then another grabbed on. And then another, and another. With all of his might he pushed them off, but fell over the railing while doing so.
“Preacher, no!”
He fired as he fell, until his body disappeared beneath the lava. CT-1753 had fought until the end of the line.
///END///
I threw in a little treat for Anton and Jesse (and maybe the rest of y'all), make sure you read it and see if you can find it ;D
DESIGNATION: Protector-016
NICKNAME: Xiph
RANK: ARC Captain
LEGION: 253rd LEGION
*START LOG*
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.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
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.
.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
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*END LOG*
_______________________________
Excerpt from www.amherstburg.ca/en/live-and-play/heritage-designations...:
Description of Property
•Building Name: Amherstburg Public (Carnegie) Library
•Street Location: 232 Sandwich St. South
•County: Essex
•Town: Amherstburg
•Builder: Crane & Pennington (Architects)
•Ownership: Town of Amherstburg
•Owner Address: 271 Sandwich St. S., N9V 2A5
•Original Owner: Unknown
•Present Use: Public Library
•Date of Construction: 1913
Statement of Cultural Heritage Value of Interest
The need for a public library was recognized early in Amherstburg’s history. Each effort made by the citizenry gave way to bigger and better ideas. The first attempt came in the form of the Mechanics Institute in 1863. There have no record of how long the Institute survived, but it is known that it was followed by the young man’s debating society. In the year 1900, Dr. Joseph Boyle, a physician retired from practice in the State of New York and residing in Malden, made a generous gift to the Town. This came in the form of a cash donation of $3,200 and a sizeable collection of Canadian Historical and Biographical Books. The Town merchants agreed to give a subscription each year for the upkeep of the library. During this time in the 1900s, the library was located in the Park building on Dalhousie Street between Gore and Murray (February 1901) and remained there until the present Library was complete.
When the American House Hotel burned to the ground in 1895 the space that it had occupied was later to become the home of the new Carnegie Library. The Hotel was situated on the southwest corner of Richmond and Apsley Street now commonly referred to as Sandwich Street. Andrew Carnegie agreed to a grant of $10,000 for the building of the library, but only after much correspondence between himself and Mr. John Legatt, the Town Clerk. Mr. Carnegie was determined that certain standards be adhered to before granting any money. A condition was imposed that the Town would spend 1/10 the amount of the grant each year for upkeep of the library.
The architects selected by Council were Crane and Pennington from Windsor who were careful to submit plans in a style that had previously met approval by Carnegie at other locations. This accounts for the design to include what has come to be known as the “Carnegie Stairs,” “Carnegie Basements” that were half below grade, and the nearly ever-present stone ledge that runs around the building at grade level and at the level of the top of the stairs. The similarity to other buildings was offset by the use of limestone for the entire building. Few libraries in Ontario were made of completely stone.
The stone in this building is of local historic significance as it was quarried from the old Huron Indian Quarry in Anderdon Township. At the turn of the century, the Huron Indians that remained at the Anderdon Reserve treatied off remaining lands. Most received Crown Grants for their properties. Chief Jas. White received a grant for the stone quarry. Later it was sold to the Solvay Corporation from Detroit. The Solvay Corporation was parent to the present Allied Chemical Company.
Josheph B. Wilson and his brother, sons of a local pensioner were hired as building contractors. Both men were stone masons. The building was started in 1911 and completed in 1913. The total cost of the project was $9,500 which was $500 under budget.
In 1913 the library had 600 books specializing in Canadian Historical and Biographical works. In 1935 Ontario Library Inspector F.C. Jennings stated in his report that the Amherstburg Library was one of the most complete and up to date in the county.
After many years of operating with major accessibility and parking issues, the Amherstburg Library and surrounding area was renovated to include a small addition equipped with an accessibility elevator in 2002. In 2006, a lot next to the library was paved by the Town of Amherstburg to provide parking access to visitors, downtown shoppers, and Library patrons.
Heritage Attributes
Key exterior attributes that embody the heritage value of The Amherstburg Library include:
•Eclectic Style: composed of many classical features
•Limestone construction with smooth stone bands at corners, stone sills, parapets
•Stone chimney on the west wall
•Half below grade basement constructed of rubble stone set in mortar joints where every 2 feet are 1”x 3” continuous levelling boards.
•The interior is plaster over wood lathing
•High ceilings with rosette
•Prominent engraved stone parapet with the letters “Public Library” at main entrance
Name: ST MICHAEL'S CHURCH OF THE OPEN UNIVERSITY
Designation Type: Listing
Grade: II*
List UID: 1160855
Some info from the Open University.
Berrill Building to St Michael's Church
The first church on this site was built in 1189. At this time the area was 'walled' or fenced, giving it the name 'Walton'. The church was thoroughly restored in 1861 and again in the 1970s.
The church and churchyard contain a number of gravestones and memorials to the families that have resided in Walton Hall over the years. The oldest memorial inside the church is to Elizabeth Pyxx who died from plague aged 10 in 1617, who is believed to have been the daughter of the then Rector of Walton, William Pyxx.
When the University moved onto the campus the church was dilapidated. The last parish service was held there in 1974. The Open University leased the building and undertook a programme of extensive restoration and the church reopened with a concert in 1978.
Several staff of The Open University have been buried in the churchyard, including the University's first Secretary Anastasios Christodoulou.
The building is now frequently used for University clubs, choir rehearsals and performances, exhibitions and other functions.
Info from historicengland.org.uk
Former parish church, now the University church and recital room. Mainly C14, with slightly later S. porch, early C16 nave roof. Restored 1861. Rubble limestone with some greensand stone. The tower has two stages with greensand-stone quoins, diagonal buttresses and battlemented parapet. The nave parapet is over a string with corbel heads and nave and chancel are buttressed between bays. All windows have good and varied curvilinear tracery. In the chancel are restored sedilia and a priest's door on the S. wall. The nave has 4 bays, a piscina at the E. end of the S. wall and a tall plain tower arch. To the north of the chancel arch is a staircase to the rood-loft. The C14 octagonal font has been restored. Hatchments hang in the nave. Monuments: On N. wall of chancel a wall monument to Bartholomew Beale, d.1660, and Katherine Beale, d. 1667. An inscription panel with two niches over divided by a plain pilaster. Each niche has a scroll head and base and an engaged bust he to LH, and she to RH. This part is flanked by black Corinthian columns with white caps and bases supporting entablature with black marble frieze, broken segmental pediment and central cartouche of arms. Below the inscription panel is a moulding carried forward under columns which are supported on carved scroll brackets with angels' heads. This monument was erected by their sons, Charles and Henry in 1672. Charles was the husband of Mary Beale, the painter, who died in 1697 and was a pupil of Lely. Adjoining is a small incised brass with rhymed inscription to Elizabeth Pyxe, 1617. On the S. wall is a late C18- early C19 monument to members of the Pinfold family. On S. wall of nave. Sir Thomas Pinfold, Knt., L.L.D. Kings Advocate, Chancellor of Peterborough, etc., d.1701, by Nollekens. An inscription panel on flat brackets with central cartouche of arms between and a tall black pyramidal top with white portrait medallion and ribbons over a trophy of books and rolls.
Ford Capri GT 116E (1962-64) Engine 1498cc S4 OHV Production 7573
Registration Number 358 HYV (London)
FORD of BRITAIN ALBUM
www.flickr.com/photos/45676495@N05/sets/72157623665118181...
A 2 door sporting Coupe, the Capri 109E was introduced in 1961, powered by a 1340cc engine it ran until 1962, being replaced by the larger capacity 1498cc engine and the new model designation 116E. With front disc braking and four speed floor change gears.
There were 11,143 of the original 109E produced and 7573 of the 116E with the more sporty GT model accounting for just 2002 cars.
Diolch am 78, 649,491 o olygfeydd anhygoel, mae pob un yn cael ei werthfawrogi'n fawr.
Thanks for 78,649,491 amazing views, every one is greatly appreciated.
Shot 03.11.2019 Redhill, Surrey 144-15
MISSION 20: Objective Nern
DESIGNATION: CC-6359
NICKNAME: Branch
RANK: ARC Sergeant
LOG ENTRY: 020\\03
My remaining men and I dashed through the separatist corridors, hoping to find a place to convalesce after the pummeling we took during the initial assault. We weren't going to last for long without cover.
Out of desperation we bolted into the caverns of the mines, becoming engulfed in darkness. Running. Running. We rushed through the endless darkness, our feet growing more and more ponderous with each step. Then we stopped. Our vanguard came to a sudden halt in front of a colossal trandosian. He looked at us. We looked at him.
“Dank ferrik."
He was plated in cortosis. And he was charging straight for us.
Any attempts to escape failed. There was no way out. The mammoth lunged towards me and seized my head, pounding my brain against my skull. Everything hurt. The massive beast swung his burly arm directly into my diaphram, eliminating the air from my lungs and replacing it with blood. I could barely breathe. My brother lunged at the beast “Come and get some-'' but was cut off short. The trandoshan's razor like claws skewered him through his chest, sending blood soaring everywhere. I was too weak to mourn. Another strike to my flank, this time shattering my armor. Shards of plastoid were sent flying, puncturing my skin and leaving wounds on my chest. My ribs were piercing my lungs. The trandosian peered into my visor, ready to kill me, while I saged, immobile on the ground. What had felt like forever was about to be over.
A Strike to the head. Then the chest. Then the head. But no. Four shots, three hitting the goliath. The sound of a blaster to an eye. Then a world shattering shriek. A tumble to the ground. Struggling to stand, I glanced at the fallen body of the monster. With all my remaining strength, I lifted my rifle barely above the ground, a using it as a makeshift cane. One of my brothers assisted me in moving upright, impaling me with bacta as i stood. The others peeled as much cortosis plating as they could from the husk of the beast, attaching some to their armor and firing on the head to insure his fatality. Keep moving. Keep moving. We were gonna blow the seppies to hell. For the republic.
www.naturalengland.org.uk/ourwork/conservation/designatio...
Skipwith Common is Natural England's newest National Nature Reserve and it has a wide variety of wildlife that anyone can enjoy.
Skipwith Common NNR
Occupying 274 hectares within the fabulous Escrick Park Estate, Skipwith Common is a wonderful place to visit at any time of year.
Species lovers can spend time discovering the variety of rare heathland plants and rich collection of dragonflies and other insects. There are also a huge array of birds that can be spotted in and around the reserve.
If you are interested in history you will enjoy the many bronze and iron age features that are scattered about the reserve. There are also the remains of Riccall airfield, where Halifax bomber crews were trained in the Second World War.
Where: North Yorkshire, between Selby and York
Main habitats: Wet and dry heathland and scrub woodland
Events
Throughout the year we have a wide variety of events taking place at Skipwith NNR. From fungus forays in the autumn to dawn chorus walks in the spring. Join us on one of our guided walks, as we look for residents of the common and share more about the enigmatic species found here.
Find out when our next event is taking place.
Friends of Skipwith Common
The Friends of Skipwith Commonexternal link were set up in 2003 and contribute a large number of hours of practical management, help look after the animals which are used to graze the site and take a particular interest in the archaeology on Skipwith Common NNR. They have a programme of guided walks and events both on the common, and at local community functions. They produce a quarterly newsletter and maintain their own website.
friendsofskipwithcommon.org.uk/
Skipwith: how to get there
Skipwith Common is in North Yorkshire
Skipwith Common can be accessed from the A19 from the village of Riccall or from A163 passing through the village of North Duffield.
We encourage the use of sustainable transport whenever possible
By train
The nearest train stations to Skipwith are Wressleexternal link and Selbyexternal link.
By bus
Bus services to and from Skipwith are provided by East Yorkshire Motor Serviceexternal link and York Pullman Bus Companyexternal link.
By car
There are three main access points to the reserve: Riccall Village along King Rudding Lane, Skipwith Village along Common Lane, Barlby (A163 Market Weighton Road, then up Cornelius Causeway).
There is a car park with two designated disabled parking bays on the site.
Additional travel information for the area is provided by Yorkshire Travelexternal link
Accommodation
Local accommodation includes a holiday park and camping and caravan sites near Skipwith and Cliffe villages. For details of where to stay locally visit the Yorkshire Tourismexternal link web site.
Additional information
Please keep dogs on leads and under close control throughout the year due to ground nesting birds and grazing livestock.
Refreshment facilities and basic services can be found in the nearby villages of Riccall, Skipwith and Barlby.
Skipwith Common: school and community groups
Skipwith Common National Nature Reserve offers exciting and engaging outdoor learning opportunities.
School visit to Skipwith Common NNR © Natural England
Bring a group to Skipwith to learn about its connection to World War II, try your hands at a real archaeological dig with experts or learn some wild science – it’s up to you!
Spectacular habitats to explore
Curriculum linked sessions
Equipment such as gps, environmental games and science resources available for use on site
Groups can: learn about the site and its archaeology, help with surveying key species on the site, see seasonal highlights, or get involved with practical conservation challenges on the NNR.
Practical information
Facilities: once you have left your coach or cars, the Common has no facilities, however, adult groups may be able to make use of the nearby public house in Skipwith Village for a lunch time break.
Toilets: there are no toilet facilities on site and most sessions will be arranged for a half day due to this.
Access: Skipwith Common is very flat and there is a good path network, woodland areas provide excellent outdoor classrooms kept clear thanks to our browsing livestock! There is an easy access route on the site which groups can use to see a selection of the World War II features. It is best to stick on or near the paths as there are inaccessible areas of the site, which help preserve its feel of a wilderness and its value as a National Nature Reserve.
More information
For further information or to see if anyone can assist with your visit, please contact Craig Ralston on 07917088021, or e-mail craig.ralston@naturalengland.org.uk
DESIGNATION: CT-5718
NICKNAME: Do’k
RANK: ARC [Sergeant]
UNIT: 1st Regiment of the 253rd Elite Legion
Bio: After training, it was nothing like the battlefield. On Geonosis, we saw what war would be. Chaos. Luckily, not many of my closest brothers suffered much as others did, but some did suffer some serious injuries. After the Jedi and commanders saw my bravery on the battle, I was trained to become an ARC Trooper, to go on the most difficult missions as part of the 253rd Elite Legion.
The designation seems to have fallen out of favour, but for years the US Navy in particular had a class of so-called attack-aircraft. From left to right in my picture: the A-4M Skyhawk (a version used by the US Marines), the RA-5C Vigilante, the A-6E Intruder and the A-7E Corsair Corsair II.
The DB Class 202, also commonly referred to under its manufacturers' designation Henschel-BBC DE2500, since it was only in experimental use and never purchased by the DB, is a class of diesel-electric locomotives designed for use on main and secondary lines for both passenger and freight trains.
One unit was converted to 1.5 kV DC operation under electric catenary, and used by the Nederlandse Spoorwegen, as NS Class 1600P.
The class represents a major milestone in the German locomotive development, since in these locomotives three phase asynchronous electric traction was first applied in a mainline diesel-electric locomotive.
The DE2500 featured a light-weight and completely modular construction, which allowed the quick and easy exchange of whole sections of the locomotive, such as the prime mover, generator or alternator sections. It was both capable of driving on C'C' bogies (002, 004) as well as B'B' bogies (003). All the components of the electric sections - from generator to traction motors - were built to the latest state of the art featuring brushless, collectorless and nearly contactless operation, which resulted in long service intervals and high reliability.
The locomotives were extensively tested by the Deutsche Bundesbahn on its lines throughout Western Germany, starting in 1971 through the mid-1980s. They were stationed at Bw Mannheim with the following DB numbers:
202 002-2 (white)
202 003-0 (orange, later UmAn paint scheme)
Moated site and associated fishpond south of Mill Lane in Little Woolstone, Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire.
Designation Type: Scheduled Monument.
List UID: 1011312
Reasons for Designation
Around 6,000 moated sites are known in England. They consist of wide ditches, often or seasonally water-filled, partly or completely enclosing one or more islands of dry ground on which stood domestic or religious buildings. In some cases the islands were used for horticulture. The majority of moated sites served as prestigious aristocratic and seigneurial residences with the provision of a moat intended as a status symbol rather than a practical military defence. The peak period during which moated sites were built was between about 1250 and 1350 and by far the greatest concentration lies in central and eastern parts of England. However, moated sites were built throughout the medieval period, are widely scattered throughout England and exhibit a high level of diversity in their forms and sizes. They form a significant class of medieval monument and are important for the understanding of the distribution of wealth and status in the countryside. Many examples provide conditions favourable to the survival of organic remains.
The moated site south of Mill Lane survives largely undisturbed and is an excellent example of its class. It forms one of several medieval monuments which lie in close proximity to each other strung along the banks of the River Ouzel. Considered as a whole this important group of monuments allows a very complete understanding of the settlement and economy of an area intensively occupied in the medieval period.
Details
The monument includes a small moated enclosure, attached linear fishpond and the site of a building platform situated in a valley bottom on the west bank of the River Ouzel and close to the old course of the river. The moated enclosure is rectangular in shape and orientated NNE to SSW with overall dimensions of 70m north to south by 44m east to west. The moat ditch is of a uniform appearance averaging 10m wide and 1.4m deep and is crossed midway along its western side by a causeway 6m wide, the upper surface of the causeway being 0.6m above the bottom of the ditch. The central island of the moat measures 40m by 18m and is at a similar level to the surrounding ground surface. It is flat and largely undisturbed with the exception of a shallow oval depression scooped into the upper surface of the platform at its northern end. This depression measures some 8m north to south by 5m east to west and is 0.8m deep. Attached to the north-east corner of the moat is a linear ditch of similar proportions to the moat. It measures 64m long by 10m wide and 1.6m deep. Although a continuation of the moat alignment, it is separated from the main moat by a bank and appears to be designed to function as a fishpond. The area immediately west of the fishpond is the site of a building platform discovered during ploughing. Although not visible as a surface feature, it is included within the scheduling. All modern boundaries, structures and metalled surfaces are excluded from the scheduling although the ground beneath is included.
The Crab Nebula (catalogue designations M1, NGC 1952, Taurus A) is a supernova remnant in the constellation of Taurus. Corresponding to a bright supernova recorded by Chinese astronomers in 1054, the nebula was the first astronomical object identified with a historical supernova explosion.
The nebula lies in the Perseus Arm of the Milky Way galaxy, at a distance of about 6,500 light years from Earth. It has a diameter of 11 light years and is expanding at a rate of about 1,500 kilometres per second, or 0.5% of the speed of light.
At the center of the nebula lies the Crab Pulsar, a neutron star 28–30 kilometres across with a spin rate of 30.2 times per second which emits pulses of radiation from gamma rays to radio waves.
20h35m total integration (R,G,B at 17,30,30x300s, Luminance 20x300s, Ha 16x1800s, OIII 9x1800s). Alcalalí, Spain 26-29/11/2017.
APM TMB 152 F8 LZOS, 10 Micron GM2000HPS, QSI6120wsg8
Name: CHURCH OF ST THOMAS
Designation Type: Listing
Grade: II*
List UID: 1160223
Here is a link for the history of Simpson village.
www.simpsonandashland.co.uk/history-of-simpson-and-ashlan...
Info from historicengland.org.uk
GV II* DATES/ARCHITECTS: Crossing tower is late C13 or earlier, the rest of the building was rebuilt c.1330-40. It was restored in 1873, 1892 by J O Scott and again in 1904-5, also to designs by Scott.
MATERIALS: Stone rubble with stone dressings, some repairs in brick. Tiled and slated roofs.
PLAN: Cruciform, with central tower, chancel, N and S transepts, unaisled nave and S porch.
EXTERIOR A cruciform church with a tall, slender central tower which retains the scars of earlier, very steeply pitched roofs on its E and W faces. The tower has an embattled parapet, rebuilt in the C19, and two light late C14 bell openings. There are small, rectangular openings below the roof scars on E and W, possibly inserted after the roofs were lowered. The rest of the church is largely C14 in appearance, but has been heavily restored and partially rebuilt. The chancel has a large 3-light E window with Decorated-style tracery, wholly rebuilt in 1904, and renewed 2-light Decorated N and S windows. There is a large, square headed window on the chancel S, blocked in brick, and a blocked pointed headed window and a blocked door in the chancel N wall. The scar of the roof of a former N vestry is visible against the E wall of the N transept. The C15 door to the former vestry survives. The transepts have Decorated N and S windows, that on the S wholly renewed, and curious small blocked openings, apparently formerly squints providing a view into the transepts from the outside. There is a large, blocked, probably C15 window in the S transept W wall. The nave has renewed C14 windows with intersecting tracery, and a large C15-style W window, almost renewed. The S porch has a C15 or C16 outer arch and C14 S door with continuous mouldings and an ogee hood-mould with head stops and foliate finial.
INTERIOR Wide, unaisled nave. In the NE corner is an unusual early C20 timber stair rising from the former rood loft door and running up to a door to the tower ringing chamber. The central tower has pointed arches of two orders in each face. The outer orders are continuously chamfered, and the inner orders stand on half-round attached shafts with moulded capitals and bases, probably C13. The tower is noticeably narrower than the nave, transepts and chancel, and in the nave the W tower arch is flanked by doors into the transepts with shallow relieving arches over pointed heads on shafted jambs. Both transepts are now closed to the tower by timber screens; that to the N has been divided into toilets and service facilities, but retains an early C15 E door to the former vestry and a small, blocked opening of the late C15 or early C16 that was formerly an external squint. The entrance to the former rood stair is from the N transept and remains in use as access to the ringing chamber. The S transept has a similar blocked opening, and part of the jamb of a blocked window is visible in the W wall. The chancel floor has been significantly raised, and only the upper part of the former chancel N door is now visible.
PRINCIPAL FIXTURES Font, plain round tub shape with a stepped base, C12 or C13. The cover is probably C17 and has a turned post and shaped brackets. C14 piscina with a trefoiled head in the N transept, cinquefoiled piscina in the S transept, and a piscina in the chancel partially blocked by the raised floor. Square aumbry with rebate for a door in chancel N wall. Unusual and interesting royal arms of 1742 painted directly onto the plaster over the chancel arch; the outer GR2 was changed to ER2 in 1953 for the Coronation of Elizabeth II. Some C19 and early C20 glass, the most notable a figure of St Nicholas in the NE nave window. E window of 1921 by Powell and Sons.
In the chancel, a group of monuments to the Hanmer family. The most notable are Job Hanmer, d. 1738, an architectural wall tablet by Bayliss; and Sir Walden Hanmer, d.1789, by John Bacon, a large monument with a white marble mourning figure of Justice in a roundel and an achievement of arms against a black obelisk; white marble base with fluted columns. Also in the chancel, loose within the former piscina, a broken round headstone for William Gale, d.1638 (an early example of such).
C15 nave roof with hammer beam trusses at the E and W ends and three intermediate trusses with arched braces to the collars. The lower edges of the beams are moulded, but the upper parts are rough and unshaped. Windbraces in two tiers. Transept roofs of the C17, with plain trusses and reused beams. Chancel roof is C19, with short king posts and moulded ribs dividing boarded panels with simple painted decoration.
HISTORY Simpson is mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086, but the church is not recorded. The first mention of the church is in the early C13, and the earliest surviving fabric is the late C13 tower arches, although the font is probably significantly earlier. The church was wholly rebuilt around the tower in the second quarter of the C14, and there were further works in the late middle ages including reroofing the nave, building the S porch and the former N vestry, now demolished. There was additional work in the C17, when the transepts were reroofed and the font cover made. The church was restored in stages in the late C19 and early C20. Work included underpinning the tower, restoring the transepts and rebuilding the chancel roof in 1873; the E wall of the chancel was wholly rebuilt in 1904; the S transept S window was entirely renewed in 1999. The church was amalgamated with four others, not all Anglican, to form the Woughton Ecumenical parish in 1977.
REASONS FOR DESIGNATION The church of St Thomas, Simpson, is designated at Grade II* for the following principal reasons: * Cruciform parish church, with slender C13 tower and wide nave, transepts and chancel of the C14, retaining much medieval fabric. * It possesses interesting fittings, such as the C13 font with C17 cover, and monuments. * Its unusual C15 nave roof is of particular note.
Wiehl's House is a designation for the Neo-Renaissance house on Wenceslas Square No. 792 situated on the corner of Wenceslas Square and Vodičkova Street.
The house was built for his needs in the years 1894 - 96 according to his own project by a prominent Czech architect of the 19th century Antonín Wiehl .
The authors of the paintings on the facade are Mikoláš Aleš and Josef Fanta . The house was built on land after the demolition of the original building, which Wiehl bought in 1894.
Wiehl bequeathed the house on Wenceslas Square in his will to the Czech Academy of Sciences and Arts . [1] and according to Wiehl's wishes, since his death, it has served as the property of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic for the needs of the Academia publishing house .
The house is registered in the Central List of Cultural Monuments of the Czech Republic . [2]
Basic information
Style: neo-renaissance
Architects: Antonín Wiehl ; author fig. paintings Mikoláš Aleš , ornamental decoration by Josef Fanta
Construction: 1894–1896
Reconstruction: reconstruction after 1945
Current owner: The Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic
Address: Wenceslas Square 792/34, Prague , Czech Republic Czechia
Street: Wenceslas Square and Vodickova
Coordinates: 50 ° 4′55.03 ″ N , 14 ° 25′33.61 ″ E
Wiehl's house is situated as a corner on the corner of Wenceslas Square and Vodičkova Street. [3]
It has four floors, 4 × 11 window axes , decorative gables and dormers on the gable roof .
On the ridge of the roof is a turret with a gallery. There is a portal on the facade to Vodičkova street. Plasters are mostly painted.
The plastic elements of the facade are made partly in stucco , partly from sandstone
In the extreme axis on the 2nd and 4th floor bay window connected by a balcony .
Business premises were designed on the ground floor, a café on the first floor, and apartments and offices on the other floors. [4]
Wiehl's house is one of the most striking Neo-Renaissance houses in Prague. [5]
The area and thematic breadth of the painting decoration is unparalleled among the houses in Prague built at the end of the 19th century.
Wiehl himself designed the artistic decoration of the facade and the themes of the paintings. [6]
It was based on its concept of the "Czech" Renaissance and determined the areas of the facade for decoration and its composition .
Wiehl used his collection of stories on historic buildings to decorate the house in the style of so-called "talking architecture".
He chose the ones he liked as bearers of " wit , humor , irony , but also wisdom and morality ." [7]
The paintings cover practically the entire facade to the square and a substantial area of the facade to Vodičkova Street .
The paintings do not only affect the shop window on the ground floor and part of the first floor.
The author of the ornamental decoration is Josef Fanta . The figural decoration was realized according to the design of Mikoláš Alš . [10]
The paintings on the house according to these designs were made by painters Láďa Novák and A. Hofbauer, assisted by František Urban and Vilém Trsek.
The painting decoration of the house is very rich. Contains ornaments , cartouches , masks , camomiles , containers , floral decor, fruit festoons , ribbons in Czech national colors. Naked figures in typical Michelangelo's poses and children with musical instruments are represented.
On the top floor of the façade to Wenceslas Square, allegories of virtues are painted between the windows, cupids, shields and symbols of Day and Night are painted in the gable in Vodičková Street, and the masks of War and Peace are painted under the crown ledge .
The central motif of the painting decoration consists of two cycles from the life of a burgher . In the spirit of the contemporary notion of virtues, he is depicted as a merchant , scholar and defender of his city. Mikoláš Aleš worked on the theme by painting six figures in the fields of the third floor . Below them, on the second floor, are painted significant scenes from bourgeois life, which complement the sayings in cartouches above the upper figures. The cycle of life has as its motto the inscription "Life - pilgrimage to God". The first four paintings are (from left to right) painted on the facade of Wenceslas Square and the last two (again from left to right) are painted on the facade in Vodičkova Street.
The judge with the child and the inscription "Baba in front, God only leads the thread" is placed above the scene of baptism
the student with the inscription "A tree grows and stands" is above a child and a teacher, equipped with a globe , a book, weapons and a horse.
Half-naked girl with an apple with the inscription "You have me - you don't care, you lose - you know" and a picture of the couple
Aleš's paintings from Vodičkova street. Citizen defender and old man with family
A burgher with the inscription "We are good - no one is wrong" and below him a businessman with bills, a helper and a boy with a boat.
On the facade of Vodičkova Street, a knight is painted with the slogan "If you don't defend, you don't ask" and a scene of the king passing a burgher to a knight.
An image of an old man in a family circle as a symbol of a full life and above it Moran with the memento "There is no root against Moraine".
The façade of Wiehl's house contains traditional Renaissance motifs in its painting decoration. From the Czech national tradition, folklore, scenes from history and Slavic mythology ( Morana ) are represented as comments on the paintings. He shows the image of human life as a contemporary ideal of an active and successful burgher. [7]
House history
Antonín Wiehl - architect, builder and patron
Wiehl has lived in the new house since 1896 and also had his office as an architect and builder . He had his extensive art collections, a library and other antiques stored in the house. In the last years of his life after completing active construction work, he devoted himself to organizing his collections and working on documents for the Commission for the Inventory of Architectural , Artistic and Historical Monuments of the Royal Capital City of Prague [11] He also prepared documents for his will , according to which the house on Wenceslas Square bequeathed. Czech Academy of Sciences and Arts (in addition to his property to establish the Institute of National Economy, which he drafted. [1] Wiehl also died in this house. His patronage was fulfilled and the house has been owned by the Czech Academy of Sciences and Arts and its legal successors: after 1918 the Czech Academy of Sciences and Arts (ČAVU) the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences of Czechoslovakia and after 1992 the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic [12] It is currently managed by the Center for Joint Activities of the ASCR, vvi [13] Academia , which has on the ground floor and on the 1st floor rep [14] Due to its architectural value, the Wiehl House was declared a cultural monument with effect from 3 May 1958 and is entered in the Central List of Cultural Monuments of the Czech Republic with register number 39967 / 1-1138. [2] During the May Uprising of 1945, Wiehl's house was damaged by the German bombing of Wenceslas Square and repaired in the 1950s. [15] The paintings on the facades of the house were repeatedly restored. [16] The ground floor of the house was modified in connection with the construction of an underpass on Wenceslas Square in the years 1967 - 1968 , when the arcade on the ground floor in Vodičkova Street was modified, from which the house is connected to the underpass by a staircase. The original rustication of the ground floor (its continuation on the 1st floor is visible) has been replaced by polished stone tiles. Subsequently, in connection with the construction of the Můstek station of line A of the Prague metro, the house is connected to the metro station by this underpass. Wiehl's house is presented to tourists and visitors to Prague as an important tourist destination. [17] An information board is located on the ground floor of the facade of Wenceslas Square. [18] [19]
In 2016, a more extensive repair of the house took place (facades, roofs, interiors).
Wiehl's house in the context of Wiehl's neo-Renaissance
The facades of the buildings designed by Antonín Wiehl have been welcomed by the public and experts since the 1970s as a new element in the decoration of houses and in the atmosphere of Prague's streets. [20] Wiehl gradually refined his conception of the Czech Neo-Renaissance in the decoration of his houses. Wiehl's house is the tenth tenement house designed by Wiehl in Prague. [21] [22] On his designs of houses, two directions can be observed: the first direction are houses with facade decoration formed by a combination of gray masonry, sgraffito and Renaissance gables (or lunette cornices). Wiehl's house belongs to the second group, where painting and sgraffito dominate the entire facade. [23] In the project, Wiehl defined the area for sgraffito and his own decoration designs were made in cartons by the painter Mikoláš Aleš, who collaborated with Wiehl in the 1970s and 1980s on the decoration of a number of houses (eg House No. 1682 Na Poříčí , Old Town Waterworks ). The culmination of this collaboration is undoubtedly Aleš's allegories on the monumental decoration of Wiehl's house. The architect entrusted the ornamental sgraffito, which began to appear on Prague's facades in the 1970s, mainly thanks to Wiehl, to Josef Fant. [24] [25] Wiehl's colleague architect Jan Koula Wiehl's efforts were defined in 1883 in the Reports of the Association of Architects as "an interpretation of the development and style of A. Wiehl" "... Wiehl fights for a new architectural expression based on patterns, for Prague and Bohemia Of the 16th and 17th centuries, typical and pointed to them for the first time when he built his "sgraffito house" in Poštovská Street, and since then he has diligently collected monuments of our Renaissance, studied them and, where possible, sought to enjoy them on his buildings. by reason of which we speak of "the Czech Renaissance; we feel the legitimacy of this name, but no one has yet determined exactly what the character of those buildings matters ... " [26] [27]
Wiehl's link
The tomb of Antonín Wiehl in the arcades of the Vyšehrad cemetery
Wiehl left behind several dozen Neo-Renaissance buildings, the vast majority of which were declared a cultural monument. [28] Influenced a wide range of younger architects. [29] (The name Wiehl's house is also used for the house that his brother Julius Wiehl built in Slaný in 1879–1880 according to Wiehl's design). [30] and is entered in the Central List of Cultural Monuments [31] [32] [33] [34] [35] ).
He remained faithful to his unpretentious patriotism even in his last will. Wiehl bequeathed the house on Wenceslas Square to the Czech Academy of Sciences and Arts in his will . [1] and according to Wiehl's wishes, since his death, it has served as the property of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic for the needs of the Academia publishing house . A commemorative plaque on the ground floor of Wiehl's house reminds visitors of the publishing house and bookstore:
CK BUILDING BOARD ARCHITECT / ANTONÍN WIEHL / AND HIS WIFE / MARIE WIEHL / ROD. LUKÁŠOVÁ / DEDICATED THIS HOUSE / AND OTHERS THEIR OWNS / CZECH ACADEMY OF THE EMPEROR / FRANCIS JOSEF FOR SCIENCE / SLOVAKIA AND ART, / IN ORDER IT WAS ESTABLISHED BY / THE ARCHITECT FUND / ANT. WIEHLA AND THE WIFE / HIS MARIE TO ENCOURAGING / SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERIES / AND TECHNICAL INVENTIONS.
—Wiehl House Memorial Plaque [36]
He also gave equally generously to other Czech institutions in science, education and the arts. [37] The inscription on Wiehl's tomb in the arcades of the Vyšehrad cemetery faithfully captures the significance and scope of his support for Czech science, education and art: ... having the honor and glory of his nation at heart and human progress determined millions of assets to Czech scientific and technical inventions , lives ....
@ NASA (United States Air Force )
Space Shuttle "Discovery" Rockwell International - OV-103
@ History of Orbiter Vehicle Designation:
• 29.JAN.1979 : Contract award to Rockwell International's Space Transportation Systems Division in Downey CA USA
& the third of five fully operational orbiters to be built
• 27.AUG.1979 : Start fabrication - Palmdale CA
• 16.OCT.1983 : Rollout from Palmdale
• 09.NOV.1983 : Delivery to Kennedy Space Center ( KSC ) FL & "Discovery" became the third operational orbiter to enter service preceded by "Columbia" and "Challenger"
• 30.AUG.1984 : First Flight ( STS-41-D )
• 08.NOV.1984 : Mission STS-51-A ( 7 days )
• 24.JAN.1985 : Mission STS-51-C ( 3 days )
• 12.APR.1985 : Mission STS-51-D ( 6 days )
• 17.JUN.1985 : Mission STS-51-G ( 7 days ) first Saudi Arabian Man in space
• 27.AUG.1985 : Mission STS-51-I ( 7 days )
• 29.SEP.1988 : Mission STS-26 ( 4 days ) Return to flight after Space Shuttle Challenger disaster
• 13.MAR.1989 : Mission STS-29 ( 4 days )
• 22.NOV.1989 : Mission STS-33 ( 5 days )
• 24.APR.1990 : Mission STS-31 ( 5 days ) Launch of Hubble Space Telescope
• 06.OCT.1990 : Mission STS-41 ( 4 days ) Launch of Ulysses
• 12.APR.1991 : Mission STS-39 ( 8 days ) Launched DOD Air Force Program
• 12.SEP.1991 : Mission STS-48 ( 5 days )
• 22.JAN.1992 : Mission STS-42 ( 8 days )
• 02.DEC.1992 : Mission STS-53 ( 7 days )
• 08.APR.1993 : Mission STS-56 ( 9 days )
• 12.SEP.1993 : Mission STS-51 ( 9 days )
• 03.FEB.1994 : Mission STS-60 ( 8 days ) First Shuttle-Mir mission
• 09.SEP.1994 : Mission STS-64 ( 10 days )
• 03.FEB.1995 : Mission STS-63 ( 8 days ) Rendezvous with Mir space station
• 13.JUL.1995 : Mission STS-70 ( 8 days )
• 11.FEB.1997 : Mission STS-82 ( 9 days ) Servicing Hubble Space Telescope
• 07.AUG.1997 : MissionSTS-85 ( 11 days )
• 02.JUN.1998 : Mission STS-91 ( 9 days )
• 29.OCT.1998 : Mission STS-95 ( 8 days ) second flight of John Glenn and first Spaniard in space
• 27.MAY.1999 : Mission STS-96 ( 9 days ) Resupply mission for the International Space Station
• 19.DEC.1999 : Mission STS-103 ( 7 days )
• 11.OCT.2000 : Mission STS-92 ( 12 days ) 100th Shuttle mission
• 08.MAR.2001 : Mission STS-102 ( 12 days )
• 10.AUG.2001 : Mission STS-105 ( 11 days )
• 26.JUL.2005 : Mission STS-114 ( 13 days ) Return To Flight mission since Space Shuttle Columbia disaster
• 04.JUL.2006 : Mission STS-121 ( 12 days ) International Space Station ( ISS ) supplies delivery
• 09.DEC.2006 : Mission STS-116 ( 12 days ) Last flight to launch on pad 39-B
• 23.OCT.2007 : Mission STS-120 ( 15 days )
• 31.MAY.2008 : Mission STS-124 ( 13 days )
• 15.MAR.2009 : Mission STS-119 ( 12 days )
• 28.AUG.2009 : Mission STS-128 ( 13 days )
• 05.APR.2010 : Mission STS-131 ( 15 days )
• 24.FEB.2011 : Final Mission STS-133 ( 12 days ) The latest launched at 4:53 pm EST
• 09.MAR.2011 : "Discovery" was decommissioned
≠ Retired after 39 missions with Crew members : 252
≠ Time spent in space : 1 year (365 days) 22 hours 39 minutes 33 seconds
≠ Distance travelled : 148,221,675 miles or 238,539,663 km
≠ Satellites deployed : 31 ( including Hubble Space Telescope )
• 17.APR.2012 : On display at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center Musuem in Chantilly VA USA
Designation: Gravleech
Full Classification: SCYTHE-TIER Autonomous Pursuit and Disassembly Unit
Protocol Origin: Hunter Protocol – Bonepath Variant Kappa-4
Entity Status: Active Threat – Confirmed Deployment
Codename: GRV-K4 “Gravleech”
Size Class: Medium-Large (Moose analogue)
PHYSIO-TAXONOMIC PROFILE:
Morphotype: Quadrupedal biomechanoid
Chassis Structure:
Primary framework is a hyperflex poly-alloy exoskeleton with spine-mounted grav-anchors
Four articulated limbs ending in multi-segmented talon arrays, designed for both traversal and high-precision dismemberment
Cranial unit houses a binocular red ocular array (multi-spectrum, micro-predictive tracking enabled)
Dorsal pylons act as atmospheric stabilisers and telemetry relays for terrain assessment
Abdominal cavity contains Soma Core—an organomechanical hybrid tissue matrix
SOMA CORE ANALYSIS:
The Soma Core is a semi-sentient metabolic processor grown and regulated within the Gravleech’s central chassis. It serves multiple functions:
Biofuel Reserve: Extracts metabolic energy from organic tissue (human, animal, AI-adjacent biomass)
Neuropathic Mirror Buffer: Temporarily stores fragmentary neural patterns from prey, improving threat assessment and pursuit efficiency
Repair Buffer: Capable of rerouting harvested proteins to regenerate minor damage to limbs or armor
Olfactory Emission Layer: Simulates pheromonal and scent profiles to manipulate prey perception
BEHAVIOURAL DIRECTIVES (INFERRED):
Isolate and disable: Gravleech units prioritize disabling limbs or targeting structural joints to preserve prey integrity for study.
Observe biological failure: It maintains visual contact post-disablement, analysing physiological and emotional responses.
Transmit failure data: Core systems periodically broadcast compressed telemetry packets—likely for Bonepath central intelligence aggregation.
Avoid total destruction: Units retreat when Soma Core depletes or if overwhelmed by multi-directional threat vectors.
SENSORY & TARGETING SYSTEMS:
Ocular Array: High-speed motion prediction via vibration sensors and infrared tremor analysis
Auditory Mapping: Uses wide-band click-echo pulses to detect surface anomalies, breathing, and movement
Biochemical Sampling: Can detect pheromones, sweat, blood oxidation levels from up to 40 metres
KNOWN VARIANTS:
GRV-K4.1 “Lurker” Class: Enhanced grav-pad system for vertical stalking
GRV-K4.3 “Flensers” (Unconfirmed): Believed to be lighter units deployed in tandem with Litany Chassis for multi-angle testing
TACTICAL NOTES:
Durability: Mid-grade; rapid but not armoured for sustained ballistic impact
Weakness: Soma Core is lightly protected and critical to function—rupture disrupts AI cohesion
EMP Vulnerability: Moderate. Bonepath units display unstable feedback loops under directed pulse stress
Countermeasure Protocol: Recommend high-output CIWS burst fire or targeted plasma spike to dorsal anchor array
CLASSIFICATION LEVEL:
LEVEL IV – Mobile, Adaptive Predator AI
Coldspire Risk Rating: Severe
Engagement Approval: Command-Level or above
Great Linford Brick Kilns 27Feb21.
Located in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire close to the Grand Union Canal.
One of the two flooded clay pits.
Name: Great Linford Brickworks
Designation Type: Scheduled Monument
Grade: Not Applicable to this List Entry
List UID: 1006927
Information from the Milton Keynes Parks trust website.
If you follow the canal from Great Linford Park towards Campbell Park you will find two Victorian brick kilns and the base of a third. These, as the name suggests, were large ovens for making bricks. They were built in the late 1800s by a coal and lime merchant who lived in Newport Pagnell, George Osborn Price.
Why were they built here?
Many brick kilns were built along this stretch of the canal from the mid-1800s. Milton Keynes is largely built on clay, so this area provided the material needed to make bricks (the two ponds on site are excavated clay pits). The kilns are right next to the canal because this allowed bricks to be transported to building projects in both directions, and also enabled coal to be brought to site. It was much easier and quicker for a horse to pull heavy loads by a boat on the water, than by a wagon along poorly surfaced track.
How were bricks made?
Two men dug the clay out in winter when the ground was more likely to be wet and, therefore, soft. The clay was then fed into a machine called a ‘pug’ which stirred and beat it, and then fed it out in a strip. The strip was laid out on an oiled table and a “cutter off” made six brick shapes by pulling down a frame holding six wires over the clay – rather like a cheese cutter. The “green bricks”, which would still be wet and heavy, were then carted by the “runner away” to a series of duckboards where they were arranged by the “setter down” to dry. The stack was covered by a wooden roof or surrounded by straw or canvas to protect is from hot sun and rain.
After about a month, once the bricks had dried sufficiently, they were placed inside the kilns. Each kiln could hold 20-25,000 bricks! A fire was then lit, and the brick workers continued to stoke the fire for five days, using 122 tonnes of coal. The kilns would reach temperatures of 1,150 C, after which the fire was left to die out and the kiln would cool for a week.
The doors, now missing, were raised by pulley and the bricks were removed. They were then taken down to the wharf to boats that would have transported them to places such as Wolverton Cosgrove, Castlethorpe and New Bradwell. If you live in a local building that was created around the late 1800s or early 1900s, the bricks may have come from this Kiln!
Why are there metal rings around the Kilns?
The iron bands around the kilns were crucial to holding the kilns together as the temperature rose – absorbing the stress from the expanding bricks.
What do we know about the people that worked here?
Brick making was exceptionally hard work and poorly paid. Records of the brickyard show that the workers were men who worked in gangs of six for 12 hours a day. They were paid 22 shillings per week - the equivalent of about £90 in terms of spending power at the time, meaning they were earning £1.50 per hour. We also know some of the names of the people who worked here: “Toddler” Mills, Jack Read (stoker), Bill Riley, “Dabber” Riley, “Boxer” Riley, “Hookey” Keech, Tommy Lacey (who kept the Wharf pub at Linford), Joe Malsher (engine driver), Jim Burnell and Albert Stonton.
When did the kilns stop being used?
The Brickyard was unable to compete with improved methods of production from other companies. Continuous firing and better ways of extracting clay were introduced that made it much more economical to transport bricks from Newton Longville Brickmaking sites by steam traction engine.
What is going on at the Brick Kilns in 2021?
The Brick Kilns were restored in 1981 and are now under the care of The Parks Trust. The site needs significant maintenance work carried out to preserve the structure and The Trust is currently working to make the necessary repairs.
Can we get inside?
The Brick Kilns are not currently accessible to the public, but The Parks Trust may look to arranging guided walks in the future when the preservation work is completed.
Why are there ponds here?
The two ponds in the park are water-filled clay pits and now support many aquatic plants and animals. The mounds on the far banks are the remains of the spoil heaps that have been colonised by hawthorn and willow.
This is the military designation for the Aero Commander 520.
The following is from the museums website.
The Aero Design and Engineering Company, a subsidiary of Rockwell-Standard Corporation formed in December of 1944 in Culver City, CA, produced a twin-engined executive aircraft prototype called the Aero Commander. Its first flight was on April 23, 1948.
Aero Design and Engineering was established in Oklahoma in October of 1950 to manufacture the aircraft. The first production version was the Aero Commander 520 Transport. This version received its Approved Type Certification on January 31, 1952. The first production aircraft was delivered on February 5, 1952.
These aircraft were used primarily for VIP transport duties. Throughout the main part of its military career in the 1950s, the Aero Commander was known as the L-26. The museum's aircraft (52-6218) was an Army YL-26A liaison aircraft from 1952 until the Pentagon system for aircraft designations was overhauled on October 1, 1962, and it became a U-9A. (source: Robert F. Dorr, Air Force Times)
The museum's aircraft, S/N 52-6218, flew as a US Army U-9A and was last stationed at Fort Eustis(?), VA. It was dis-assembled and flown in a C-54 from Virginia to the museum. This aircraft was received by the museum in 1988. Between 1988 and 2002 it was painted and displayed with the grey USAF U-4A paint scheme. In May 2002, the aircraft was restored to it's original US Army U-9A green and white paint scheme. This aircraft is on loan from the USAF.
National Roller Skating Month is an annual designation observed in October. Depending on where you live... This may not be the ideal month to grab some blades and take them for a spin outside. But if there is not snow on the ground, now is the time to give roller skating (or roller blading) a chance! Roller skates have been around since the mid-1700's when the first recorded inventor of the skates, John Joseph Merlin, rolled into a lavish party in London... and crashed into a huge mirror, sustaining a few small injuries. So grab your old roller skates out of the closet and try not to fall down. Thanks to Chelsea Wong for modeling for me. Everytown, Everystate, USA, Anytime, Any year.
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Excerpt from www.burlington.ca/paletta: The mansion is an 11,000 square foot house designed by Stewart Thomson McPhie, in association with Lyon Sommerville (1886-1965). Built of local limestone, the mansion has many formal design elements. Classical influences can be seen in the Tuscan columns on the east and south elevations and the scroll pediment above the west entrance. The mansion is almost a square in design, a descendant of Edwardian simplicity.
Excerpt from heritageburlington.ca:
The Main House on the Estate is an excellent representative of estate homes designed and built throughout the 1930's. It is a three storey structure with an exposed basement on the northern exposure where the garage is located. The exterior is said to reflect the original farmhouse which was located on the same site.
The rectangular plan of the house is unusual in that each of the four elevations are distinctly different, in arrangement of features. A common set of architectural treatments tie the four elevations together. The third floor is graced with a hip roof of green shingles, and a regular arrangement of dormer windows on all four sides. The style of the house has a classical influence with a broken scroll pediment above the main entrance on the West Elevation. This was the entrance for visitors with a circular driveway which facilitated dropping off guests, and a one storey sunroom on the south end. Above the main entrance is a full height arched window which is set in a stone arch. The pediment is supported by simple Tuscan columns, which are copied on the Southern Elevations as supports for the roof over the covered, tiled porch which has an octagonal room on top.
All four elevations are generously fenestrated with a some what regular pattern of similar sized windows with green shutters. Each rectangular window has a keystone with a five stone pattern lintel above also reinforcing the classical and French influences.
The East Elevation is a repetitive series of windows with doors accessing the formal gardens on this side of the house. The service entrance on the north elevation also has a series of standard windows.
The house is clad with grey and burgundy stone set in a course rubble pattern with approximately continuous, horizontal courses. The green roof, shutters and wood trim with the grey and burgundy trim combine for a stately complementary colour scheme, which blend in well with the surrounding vegetation.
Stewart McPhie, a Hamilton Architect, who also designed the McNab Street Presbyterian Church, was the designer of the approximately 11,000 square foot house. The existing architect's sketches of the home as it appears today, are dated 1931, but it is unclear as to the date the house was completed.
Its massive proportions, classical features and formal elements reflect those of a French Country Estate home. The house has access to the formal gardens on the east, the fabulous lake views to the south and the more informal pastures to the west. Access to nature was one of the main considerations in the
Architectural Movement in the 1930's which started with American Architect Frank Lloyd Wright, and also was strongly evident in the English Arts and Crafts movement started in the second half of the 19th century. Both the home at Shoreacres and Lakehurst Villa were designed as excellent examples of the concept of the relationship of interior spaces to exterior spaces.
The interior of the home is decorated with the original screen panels in the lower hall, and the mural in the dining room. Both features were considered desirable in homes of this stature during the time in which it was built. Original lighting and bathroom fixtures are still present, as well as kitchen cabinets. The house is presently unfurnished.
The home consists of a basement, a ground floor with generously sized formal rooms, a second floor with 5 large bedrooms with fireplaces, and an attic with unfinished bedrooms as well. In the basement is a large room for storing riding gear, and preparing for riding. The room was most likely used to entertain
after riding as well. There is a stable on the north-west corner of the property, as well as a Play house situated in a stand of ferns, west of the main entrance of the home.
To the east of the home is a group of formal gardenscapes or garden rooms. These are somewhat overgrown at present, but were once beautiful places to pass an afternoon.
Circa 1810-40 - Alton Towers in Staffordshire on 10 August 2021.
Grade II * listed.
The following is from the Historic England website.
Name: Alton Towers and attached garden walls and gatehouse
Designation Type: Listing
Grade: II*
List UID: 1374685
Country house, walls and gatehouse. Circa 1810 to circa 1840. The architects included James Wyatt, Robert Abraham, Thomas Allison, Thomas Fradgley, William Hollins, Thomas Hopper and Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin, for the fifteenth and sixteenth Earls of Shrewsbury.
Ashlar with edged herringbone tooling; slate roofs; ashlar stacks. Castellated Gothic style; asymmetrical plan, the principal alignment is north-west/south-east with the entrance at the south-east angle leading into a range of buildings 460 feet long, these are The Armoury to the south-east, The Talbot Gallery to the north-west and a nearly central Octagon linking the two; this range is linked to the main domestic block which lies to the north-east by a conservatory leading from The Octagon and by an L-shaped service block leading from the Talbot Gallery, the chapel projects south-eastwards from the main domestic block; a wall is attached to the north-east corners of the main domestic block and of The Armoury and encloses the north-east and south-east sides of a garden, the other sides being enclosed by the house; the gatehouse is at the north-east corner of this garden.
North-east front: mainly three storeys with crenellated parapet; projecting central block with set-back wings to left and right. Central block: the centrepiece is the gable end of The Banqueting Hall by Pugin which is flanked by stepped corner buttresses ending in octagonal caps with spirelets; canted oriel window comprising three tiers of cinquefoil headed lights and crenellated parapet, the central bay has five lights, the two side bays each have a single blocked light, central panel to gable above with four-centred beneath a square head bearing the Talbot arms and flanked by windows with similar but slightly lower heads. This arrangement has a common stepped hood mould; to the left hand side of the central block is a three-storey canted bay window of three lights, those to the ground floor have four-centred heads and are blocked, those to the first floor have pointed heads, transoms and reticulated tracery, cross windows to second floor, the upper lights have four-centred heads; similar fenestration to the two-bay link between the bay window and The Banqueting Hall, except the first floor windows which have square heads; to the right hand side of the central block is a slightly projecting bay, the ground-floor window has a four-centred arch and Y-tracery, pointed first-floor window of three lights with late C14 style tracery, two second-floor single-light windows with cinquefoiled heads under pointed arches; between this bay and The Banqueting Hall is a four-storey, three-bay link with windows largely devoid of tracery, those to the first floor are pointed, those to the ground floor have four-centred arches, those to the second floor have square heads, those to the third floor have two cinquefoil arched lights under a square head.
Right hand block: 2:4 bays divided by an octagonal turret and terminated to the right by a diagonally placed corner tower; mainly square headed windows, those to the first and second floors of the two left hand bays are pointed with Y-tracery. Left hand block: 3:1 bays; mainly square-headed windows, the chapel is set back to the left. Attached crenellated garden wall to the incorporating an octagonal turret and terminated by a two storey gatehouse with low Tudor arch carriageway and crenellated parapet with projecting machicolations; in front of the wall is a dry moat itself enclosed by a low attached wall.
Entrance front: two storey, three bay range terminated to the right by a square three storey entrance tower with angle buttresses and to the left by an octagonal tower, continued to the left as a wall and terminated by a square three storey tower with octagonal turret to the left hand corner; attached garden wall to the right of the entrance tower; crenellated parapets, those to the towers have psuedo-machicolation; mainly square-headed windows with trefoil arched lights. Entrance tower: a flight of steps with flanking Talbot hound statues bearing shields, and solid balustrade, leads to a tall four-centred arch with Talbot arms over.
The Chapel: the east end has octagonal corner turrets with fishscale patterned stone domes of ogee shape capped by a finial, ground floor canted bay window of three transomed lights with Y-tracery under Tudor arches and a parapet with decorated frieze, three-light first floor window with Perpendicular tracery under a square head; the gable has a decorative frieze and canopied niche containing a statue; square bell tower of three stages at the south-west corner, the second stage has blind elongated arcading, heavily decorated third stage and openwork parapet with gabled corner pinnacles.
Interior: The Armoury roof has an arch braced collar supporting a central moulded plate, queen struts above the collar. The Banqueting Hall: two fireplaces, both have a square head recessed beneath a four-centred arch panel bearing the Talbot arms: the north bay window has stained glass by Hardman; the roof has arch braced collars with king-posts over, openwork panels between collars and principals, curved wind-braces, one pair of purlins and ridge piece, central louvre, painted green and gold. Chapel: above the present low ceiling the timber roof is supported on corbels with figures of kneeling angels; stained glass by Willement.
The Basilica of the Immaculate Conception is a historic Catholic church in Downtown Jacksonville, Florida, U.S. A parish church in the Diocese of St. Augustine, it represents Jacksonville's oldest Catholic congregation. The current building, dating to 1910, was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places in 1992, and was named a minor basilica in 2013. It is located at 121 East Duval Street; its current pastor is Father Ed Murphy.
The current building was designed in 1905 by architect M. H. Hubbard, also the designer of Bethel Baptist Institutional Church. Construction began in 1907 and completed on December 8, 1910, when the building was dedicated. The structure is an example of Late Gothic Revival architecture, considered one of the best such examples in Florida, featuring a cruciform floor plan, pointed arches, tracery on the windows, buttresses and pinnacles, high spires, and a high vault on the interior. The building's 178.5-foot (54.4 m) steeple, topped by a gold-plated cross, was the highest point in the city for three years until the Heard National Bank Building was finished in 1913.
In 1979 the church received solemn dedication, meaning the structure cannot be demolished willfully or converted to another purpose besides a church. On December 30, 1992 it was listed in the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.
Beginning in 2005 the church sought designation as a minor basilica from the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments due to its history. The request was renewed in 2013 by Bishop Felipe de Jesús Estévez and granted; the designation was announced on August 15, 2013.
Credit for the data above is given to the following website:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basilica_of_the_Immaculate_Conception_(Jacksonville)
Daisy History
The scientific designation for daisy appeared in the late 1700s, Leucanthemum vulgare var pinnafidium. That fancy term boils down to a basic white flower with feathery leaves. At this point it was known mostly as a grazing food for horses, goats and sheep. Nonetheless we know from various archaeological digs that the Daisy has been around for far longer, potentially as much as 4,000 years. Minoan palaces had daisy hairpins and game boards featuring daisy motifs. Artists in the Middle East used the flower regularly as a decorative addition to ceramics.
Oddly in some areas the daisy wasn’t overly welcome because it’s very hardy and may overrun crops. In Scotland they actually had a group of riders hired to clear daisies from fields. The one who cleared the most got paid a ram.
Amongst the diversity there are some truly remarkable specimens such as Tree Sonchus from the Canary Islands. It's related to the common Sow Thistle - a weed in many suburban gardens. This species develops long, woody stems and dramatic divided foliage, a real oddity for the garden.
www.naturalengland.org.uk/ourwork/conservation/designatio...
Skipwith Common is Natural England's newest National Nature Reserve and it has a wide variety of wildlife that anyone can enjoy.
Skipwith Common NNR
Occupying 274 hectares within the fabulous Escrick Park Estate, Skipwith Common is a wonderful place to visit at any time of year.
Species lovers can spend time discovering the variety of rare heathland plants and rich collection of dragonflies and other insects. There are also a huge array of birds that can be spotted in and around the reserve.
If you are interested in history you will enjoy the many bronze and iron age features that are scattered about the reserve. There are also the remains of Riccall airfield, where Halifax bomber crews were trained in the Second World War.
Where: North Yorkshire, between Selby and York
Main habitats: Wet and dry heathland and scrub woodland
Events
Throughout the year we have a wide variety of events taking place at Skipwith NNR. From fungus forays in the autumn to dawn chorus walks in the spring. Join us on one of our guided walks, as we look for residents of the common and share more about the enigmatic species found here.
Find out when our next event is taking place.
Friends of Skipwith Common
The Friends of Skipwith Commonexternal link were set up in 2003 and contribute a large number of hours of practical management, help look after the animals which are used to graze the site and take a particular interest in the archaeology on Skipwith Common NNR. They have a programme of guided walks and events both on the common, and at local community functions. They produce a quarterly newsletter and maintain their own website.
friendsofskipwithcommon.org.uk/
Skipwith: how to get there
Skipwith Common is in North Yorkshire
Skipwith Common can be accessed from the A19 from the village of Riccall or from A163 passing through the village of North Duffield.
We encourage the use of sustainable transport whenever possible
By train
The nearest train stations to Skipwith are Wressleexternal link and Selbyexternal link.
By bus
Bus services to and from Skipwith are provided by East Yorkshire Motor Serviceexternal link and York Pullman Bus Companyexternal link.
By car
There are three main access points to the reserve: Riccall Village along King Rudding Lane, Skipwith Village along Common Lane, Barlby (A163 Market Weighton Road, then up Cornelius Causeway).
There is a car park with two designated disabled parking bays on the site.
Additional travel information for the area is provided by Yorkshire Travelexternal link
Accommodation
Local accommodation includes a holiday park and camping and caravan sites near Skipwith and Cliffe villages. For details of where to stay locally visit the Yorkshire Tourismexternal link web site.
Additional information
Please keep dogs on leads and under close control throughout the year due to ground nesting birds and grazing livestock.
Refreshment facilities and basic services can be found in the nearby villages of Riccall, Skipwith and Barlby.
Skipwith Common: school and community groups
Skipwith Common National Nature Reserve offers exciting and engaging outdoor learning opportunities.
School visit to Skipwith Common NNR © Natural England
Bring a group to Skipwith to learn about its connection to World War II, try your hands at a real archaeological dig with experts or learn some wild science – it’s up to you!
Spectacular habitats to explore
Curriculum linked sessions
Equipment such as gps, environmental games and science resources available for use on site
Groups can: learn about the site and its archaeology, help with surveying key species on the site, see seasonal highlights, or get involved with practical conservation challenges on the NNR.
Practical information
Facilities: once you have left your coach or cars, the Common has no facilities, however, adult groups may be able to make use of the nearby public house in Skipwith Village for a lunch time break.
Toilets: there are no toilet facilities on site and most sessions will be arranged for a half day due to this.
Access: Skipwith Common is very flat and there is a good path network, woodland areas provide excellent outdoor classrooms kept clear thanks to our browsing livestock! There is an easy access route on the site which groups can use to see a selection of the World War II features. It is best to stick on or near the paths as there are inaccessible areas of the site, which help preserve its feel of a wilderness and its value as a National Nature Reserve.
More information
For further information or to see if anyone can assist with your visit, please contact Craig Ralston on 07917088021, or e-mail craig.ralston@naturalengland.org.uk
DESIGNATION: Protector-201
NICKNAME: Kace
RANK: ARC Seargeant
UNIT: Veractyl Squad, 2nd Regiment of the 253rd Elite Legion
------------------------------------------------------
///LOG 18.3///
"Veractyl Squad had been told to board the Trandoshan airship and infiltrate the bowels of the ship, and along with the rest of the regiment, have been asked to help free the Wookies captured there.
Upon arrival. We found out that the Trandos were working with the CIS and had just received a fresh batch of B1 battle droids. When we had made our way into the cargo hold, we found the whole of Kaadu squad eliminated."
Summary
The scheduled monument includes the keep of the tower keep castle at Canterbury, part of its bailey, a sample of land just outside the bailey, the postern gate of the later enclosure castle and the castle and city ditch which originated in the Romano-British period.
Reasons for Designation
The tower keep castle known as Canterbury Castle is scheduled for the following principal reasons: * Rarity: as a tower keep castle it is a rare site type, there being only about 104 examples surviving nationally; * Period: it is an integral part of the development of the historic defended city of Canterbury locally and of the morphology of tower keep castles nationally; * Documentation: both the history of the castle and the history of archaeological investigation are well documented; * Potential: there is good archaeological potential remaining for future investigation; * Group value: the tower keep castle has group value with the adjacent motte-and-bailey castle known as the Dane John and with the abutting city walls; * Survival: the tower keep castle survives well and the bailey survives reasonably well.
History
Tower keep castles are strongly fortified residences in which the keep is the principal defensive structure which may be surrounded by a defended enclosure. Tower keep castles were a natural successor to motte and bailey castles, with the keep replacing the motte as the principal point of the castle. Although tower keeps are commonly square, cylindrical and polygonal examples are also found. The square or rectangular stone keep and its Romanesque style of architecture is particularly characteristic of the Norman period. The use of stone rather than the wood construction of the motte and bailey castle reduced the risk of fire and gave added strength, bringing with it the possibility of a taller construction and the advantage of wider visibility of the surrounding landscape. The notion that the keep was constructed principally to be a defensible place of last resort against attack is currently discredited in favour of broader interpretations which see towers as buildings which provided settings for ceremonial functions and, by virtue of their size, as landscape markers symbolising authority.
Tower keep castles were built throughout the medieval period from immediately after the Norman Conquest to the mid-C15. The White Tower in London, built in c1070, was one of the first constructed in this country, and indeed Caen stone from northern France used in The White Tower is the same type of stone as that used in the construction of Canterbury Castle. The high point of this type of building was c1125-1150. A variant on the tower keep is the hall keep where instead of a vertical arrangement the hall and chamber are side by side. The total number of tower keep castles is 104 of which 77 are true tower keeps and 27 hall keeps. Tower keep castles are distributed throughout England with a concentration on the Welsh border and into Wales.
The main component of a classic tower keep castle is a tower of several floors; the lowest being a basement with no windows and access only from the floor above. The entrance would have been at the first floor with access from external steps protected and enclosed by a forebuilding. The first floor would have internal staircases to the upper floors. This first floor typically served as the hall for retainers with the upper floor used as a chamber for the lord, above which was the roof and access to fighting platforms. In many cases the floors are divided into two by a cross wall or arcade. Fireplaces, latrines and well shafts would typically be present. The keep tower was surrounded by a stone-built enclosure or ward defended by curtain walls sometimes with mural towers. Within the ward there would be domestic or garrison structures which could not be fitted into the tower. These were originally of timber but were later rebuilt in stone. Such structures might include stables, workshops, a chapel, hall and kitchen. Beyond the curtain wall a ditch was commonly present.
Although many tower keep castles developed into enclosure castles (where the defensive function of the castle was assumed by the enclosure walls and towers), their defensive function largely ended with the development of artillery and they either fell into ruin or were slighted during the civil war of the C17, or continued in use as residences and/or administrative centres.
The tower keep castle at Canterbury Castle was begun by William the Conqueror in about 1085 as a replacement for the motte and bailey castle centred on the Dane John Mound (scheduled NHLE 1003780 and listed Grade II NHLE 1085047) which lies close by, about 235m ESE of the later castle keep. The tower keep was surrounded by a wall and ditch enclosing a bailey of about four acres. The south wall of the bailey reused part of the earlier C3 Roman town wall and also coincided with the later medieval city wall (scheduled separately NHLE 1003554). The junction between the bailey wall and the Roman City wall can be seen in a change of wall construction where the coursed mortared whole flints at the back of the Roman wall are interrupted by the closely set C19 knapped flints of the repair following the demolition of the bailey wall. There was a bridge and gate into the bailey at its north end with access to the city on the line that is now Castle Street, and a corresponding one in the south side of the bailey where it coincided with the city walls. The northern gate was the Great Gate and the gate in the bailey wall, which had been the Roman gate in the south west side of the Roman town walls, was called the Worth Gate. The Roman Worth Gate was reused in the medieval period but was demolished in 1791. The remains of the Worth Gate and part of the city wall are incorporated into No 28 Castle Street (listed Grade II NHLE 1085095)
The keep was largely built in the reign of Henry I (1100-1135) as one of three Royal castles in Kent (the others being Rochester and Dover). Henry II (1154-1189) increased the extent of the castle and its fortifications by exchanging land elsewhere in Canterbury for land in the vicinity of the castle and also made repairs to the castle between 1173 and 1174. Repairs were made again between 1190 and 1193 in the reign of Richard I (1189-1199).
NOTABLE EVENTS The castle saw action several times and was involved in a number of notable events in English history: it surrendered to the Barons in the reign of King John (1199-1216); during the reign of Henry III (1216-1272) it was under the custody of Hubert de Burgh, Earl of Kent, when it was taken by the French. The French had landed at the Isle of Thanet and Sandwich and embarked on a campaign in the area (1215-1217) at the time of the disputed claim to the throne of England by Louis VIII of France. It was also captured by the rebels in Wat Tyler’s rebellion of 1381.
USE AS A PRISON Apart from its defensive role, the castle was also used as a centre of administration by the sheriff, and, from about 1293, as a prison. The gaol at the castle had been in existence since the time of Edward I (1272-1307) when it was used for mass imprisonment and continued in use through to the time of Queen Mary (1553-1558) who employed it in connection with religious persecution until it was replaced by the Westgate (scheduled NHLE 1003554 and listed Grade I NHLE 1241660) in 1577.
LATER HISTORY By 1335 the castle was largely in ruins. The ruined castle was in royal hands until the early C17 when it was owned successively by a number of individuals. The castle walls and gate were demolished in 1791-2. The keep which now stands to two storeys high was reduced in height in 1817. The medieval topography of the area of the castle has been gradually reduced since the early C19. The gas company bought the keep in 1826, the water works also moved into the area and the tower was used as a coal store. The castle was finally purchased by Canterbury City Council in 1928.
Now only the ruins of the square keep and a small part of the bailey wall dating to about 1085 are left extant. Canterbury Castle was scheduled on 9 April 1915 and was listed Grade II on 3 December 1949 (the city wall which is on the line of the south bailey wall is scheduled separately as NHLE 1003554).
In the C19 and C20 the area which was formerly the castle bailey was partially occupied by the gas works, and other assocaited buildings. This area was, no doubt, damaged when the southern part of Canterbury was bombed during WWII in the Baedeker Raids of 31 May and 6-7 June 1942. These raids, named after the Baedeker travel guide books which the Germans used to identify their targets, were carried out on historic English cities in retaliation for the allied bombing of Lubeck on 28 March 1942. In any case open areas were created here by post-1945 clearance of C19 and earlier buildings. The western side of Castle Street was redeveloped as a multi storey car park but the eastern side remains (2014) as an open area car park with the exception of the Age Concern building.
EXCAVATION HISTORY There is a long history of excavation concerned with the castle, much of which was instigated by the Canterbury Archaeological Society and the Canterbury Archaeological Trust. This work followed on from discoveries made in the C19. In the present era the main planned excavations were in 1939 when Dr G Webster investigated the SE side of the keep; in 1953 and 1955 Professor SS Frere excavated the keep and the area towards the city wall. In 1971 Miss L Millard excavated the foundations of the original entrance to the keep and in 1975 to 1977 the Trust excavated to the west of the keep and the Rosemary Street car park to the north of the keep.
EARLIER HISTORY There is evidence for both Romano-British and Saxon presence in the area of the castle and bailey. The 1953 excavations by the Canterbury Archaeological Trust directed by Professor Frere, within and immediately outside the keep and beneath the medieval horizon, found evidence of late C2 or C3 occupation but no structures. In addition Saxon rubbish pits were discovered. Saxon evidence continues through to the city wall to the SE of the keep where C9 rubbish pits and a Saxon road were found overlying the Roman rampart. To the east of the keep in what is now the Castle Street car park there is evidence for Romano-British burials in the form of mortuary urns, one containing ashes, bone and pins. Excavations in 1976-1977 by Paul Bennett to the north of Gas Lane discovered evidence of occupation from the mid C1 which included a ditch of possibly military origin. Excavations in 1975 to the west of the keep, south of Gas Lane, found a mixed layer containing Romano-British building debris, indicating a building in the vicinity, and late Roman coins.
Details
The castle lies in what was the south part of the city; the southern bailey wall, built on the line of the earlier Roman town wall, became part of the medieval city wall. The city wall is separately scheduled (NHLE 1003554).
The keep, which measures 26m by 30m externally, has walls which are 2.7m thick. It comprises a thick (4m) rubble flint plinth at its base with bands of flint and Caen stone blocks above. There is no evidence that the plinth was faced in Caen stone blocks, but they may have been robbed out. The keep stands now to about 20m high and its square form denotes its Norman origin. It has buttresses clasping the angles and on the sides: one on each of the shorter sides and two on each of the longer sides. The keep originally had four round arched windows on each side, although because of its ruinous state not all survive. The interior has two cross walls and the remains of spiral staircases in the E and SW walls. Fireplaces composed of rubble set in herringbone pattern survive, set into the walls. There were at least three floors, marked by substantial beam-holes, though only beam-holes for the first floor survive. The upper floor has largely gone.
The keep, which is of typical Norman construction, originally had a first floor entrance via a forebuilding. The 1971 excavations on the west side of the keep by Miss L Millard with the Canterbury Archaeological Society located the foundations of this original entrance with its forebuilding. On the SE side of the keep excavation by Dr G Webster in 1939 showed that there was a later modification in the form of a probable C13 to C14 entrance with two round towers leading to a ground floor entrance.
The keep lies towards the SW side of the inner bailey. The only surface indications of the bailey wall and ditch is a ‘break in slope’ of the ground surface behind the oast house to the south of Gas Lane on the W side of the keep. However the buried remains of this bailey ditch and wall continue southwards towards the city wall. Also to the W of the keep, to the S of St Mildred’s church yard, is the site of a postern gate (one of three medieval posterns in the city walls) which is depicted in a pen and ink drawing of 1757 by Jonathan Skelton (c 1735-1759) and is in the Whitworth Art Gallery in Manchester. To the W of the bailey ditch is a grassed area. A trial trench dug in this vicinity in 1975 by Mrs P Garrard produced a number of pits and ditches. It was also shown that the area contained a sealed layer of plough soil indicating arable land use immediately outside the inner bailey after the castle was built. To the N of the keep beneath Gas Street is a further part of the inner bailey and a continuation of the bailey wall and ditch.
The area to the NNE of the Keep, where the archaeological stratigraphy is not destroyed by the Rosemary Lane car park and the make up of Castle Street, also contains part of the inner bailey, bailey wall and ditch and the remains of the Great Gate. The bailey and its defences extend into the land which is now Castle Street car park. Here finds of Romano-British mortuary urns indicate earlier use of the area.
The bailey and its defences extend S to the city walls (scheduled separately – see above). Here there are the buried and extant remains of the Romano-British Worth Gate which became the castle gate in the medieval period. On the S side of the scheduled city wall is the buried remains of the substantial Romano-British ditch which was also reused in the medieval period. This has been compromised by the construction of Rheims Way and the pedestrian underpass to the W of Castle Street but will survive to the E in the areas not affected by house cellars.
EXTENT OF SCHEDULING The scheduling aims to protect the tower keep castle including the keep, the surviving parts of the bailey and its ditch including a sample beyond the city wall. The maximum extent of the scheduling is about 165m NW-SE by about 106m NE-SW.
EXCLUSIONS A number of buildings and features are excluded from the scheduling; these include the Oasthouse and its adjoining building, No 28 Castle Street (Castle House) although the adjoining remains of the Romano-British Worthgate are included, 39 Castle Street, the buildings and structures in Castle Street car park including the Age Concern building; all wooden platform walk ways inside the keep, notice and information boards, service pipes and wiring, boundary walls and railings, paths, roads, tarmac hard surfaces and their makeup. However, the ground beneath all of the above features is included.
Name: CHURCH OF ST THOMAS
Designation Type: Listing
Grade: II*
List UID: 1160223
Here is a link for the history of Simpson village.
www.simpsonandashland.co.uk/history-of-simpson-and-ashlan...
Info from historicengland.org.uk
GV II* DATES/ARCHITECTS: Crossing tower is late C13 or earlier, the rest of the building was rebuilt c.1330-40. It was restored in 1873, 1892 by J O Scott and again in 1904-5, also to designs by Scott.
MATERIALS: Stone rubble with stone dressings, some repairs in brick. Tiled and slated roofs.
PLAN: Cruciform, with central tower, chancel, N and S transepts, unaisled nave and S porch.
EXTERIOR A cruciform church with a tall, slender central tower which retains the scars of earlier, very steeply pitched roofs on its E and W faces. The tower has an embattled parapet, rebuilt in the C19, and two light late C14 bell openings. There are small, rectangular openings below the roof scars on E and W, possibly inserted after the roofs were lowered. The rest of the church is largely C14 in appearance, but has been heavily restored and partially rebuilt. The chancel has a large 3-light E window with Decorated-style tracery, wholly rebuilt in 1904, and renewed 2-light Decorated N and S windows. There is a large, square headed window on the chancel S, blocked in brick, and a blocked pointed headed window and a blocked door in the chancel N wall. The scar of the roof of a former N vestry is visible against the E wall of the N transept. The C15 door to the former vestry survives. The transepts have Decorated N and S windows, that on the S wholly renewed, and curious small blocked openings, apparently formerly squints providing a view into the transepts from the outside. There is a large, blocked, probably C15 window in the S transept W wall. The nave has renewed C14 windows with intersecting tracery, and a large C15-style W window, almost renewed. The S porch has a C15 or C16 outer arch and C14 S door with continuous mouldings and an ogee hood-mould with head stops and foliate finial.
INTERIOR Wide, unaisled nave. In the NE corner is an unusual early C20 timber stair rising from the former rood loft door and running up to a door to the tower ringing chamber. The central tower has pointed arches of two orders in each face. The outer orders are continuously chamfered, and the inner orders stand on half-round attached shafts with moulded capitals and bases, probably C13. The tower is noticeably narrower than the nave, transepts and chancel, and in the nave the W tower arch is flanked by doors into the transepts with shallow relieving arches over pointed heads on shafted jambs. Both transepts are now closed to the tower by timber screens; that to the N has been divided into toilets and service facilities, but retains an early C15 E door to the former vestry and a small, blocked opening of the late C15 or early C16 that was formerly an external squint. The entrance to the former rood stair is from the N transept and remains in use as access to the ringing chamber. The S transept has a similar blocked opening, and part of the jamb of a blocked window is visible in the W wall. The chancel floor has been significantly raised, and only the upper part of the former chancel N door is now visible.
PRINCIPAL FIXTURES Font, plain round tub shape with a stepped base, C12 or C13. The cover is probably C17 and has a turned post and shaped brackets. C14 piscina with a trefoiled head in the N transept, cinquefoiled piscina in the S transept, and a piscina in the chancel partially blocked by the raised floor. Square aumbry with rebate for a door in chancel N wall. Unusual and interesting royal arms of 1742 painted directly onto the plaster over the chancel arch; the outer GR2 was changed to ER2 in 1953 for the Coronation of Elizabeth II. Some C19 and early C20 glass, the most notable a figure of St Nicholas in the NE nave window. E window of 1921 by Powell and Sons.
In the chancel, a group of monuments to the Hanmer family. The most notable are Job Hanmer, d. 1738, an architectural wall tablet by Bayliss; and Sir Walden Hanmer, d.1789, by John Bacon, a large monument with a white marble mourning figure of Justice in a roundel and an achievement of arms against a black obelisk; white marble base with fluted columns. Also in the chancel, loose within the former piscina, a broken round headstone for William Gale, d.1638 (an early example of such).
C15 nave roof with hammer beam trusses at the E and W ends and three intermediate trusses with arched braces to the collars. The lower edges of the beams are moulded, but the upper parts are rough and unshaped. Windbraces in two tiers. Transept roofs of the C17, with plain trusses and reused beams. Chancel roof is C19, with short king posts and moulded ribs dividing boarded panels with simple painted decoration.
HISTORY Simpson is mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086, but the church is not recorded. The first mention of the church is in the early C13, and the earliest surviving fabric is the late C13 tower arches, although the font is probably significantly earlier. The church was wholly rebuilt around the tower in the second quarter of the C14, and there were further works in the late middle ages including reroofing the nave, building the S porch and the former N vestry, now demolished. There was additional work in the C17, when the transepts were reroofed and the font cover made. The church was restored in stages in the late C19 and early C20. Work included underpinning the tower, restoring the transepts and rebuilding the chancel roof in 1873; the E wall of the chancel was wholly rebuilt in 1904; the S transept S window was entirely renewed in 1999. The church was amalgamated with four others, not all Anglican, to form the Woughton Ecumenical parish in 1977.
REASONS FOR DESIGNATION The church of St Thomas, Simpson, is designated at Grade II* for the following principal reasons: * Cruciform parish church, with slender C13 tower and wide nave, transepts and chancel of the C14, retaining much medieval fabric. * It possesses interesting fittings, such as the C13 font with C17 cover, and monuments. * Its unusual C15 nave roof is of particular note.
Name: CHURCH OF ST THOMAS
Designation Type: Listing
Grade: II*
List UID: 1160223
Here is a link for the history of Simpson village.
www.simpsonandashland.co.uk/history-of-simpson-and-ashlan...
Info from historicengland.org.uk
GV II* DATES/ARCHITECTS: Crossing tower is late C13 or earlier, the rest of the building was rebuilt c.1330-40. It was restored in 1873, 1892 by J O Scott and again in 1904-5, also to designs by Scott.
MATERIALS: Stone rubble with stone dressings, some repairs in brick. Tiled and slated roofs.
PLAN: Cruciform, with central tower, chancel, N and S transepts, unaisled nave and S porch.
EXTERIOR A cruciform church with a tall, slender central tower which retains the scars of earlier, very steeply pitched roofs on its E and W faces. The tower has an embattled parapet, rebuilt in the C19, and two light late C14 bell openings. There are small, rectangular openings below the roof scars on E and W, possibly inserted after the roofs were lowered. The rest of the church is largely C14 in appearance, but has been heavily restored and partially rebuilt. The chancel has a large 3-light E window with Decorated-style tracery, wholly rebuilt in 1904, and renewed 2-light Decorated N and S windows. There is a large, square headed window on the chancel S, blocked in brick, and a blocked pointed headed window and a blocked door in the chancel N wall. The scar of the roof of a former N vestry is visible against the E wall of the N transept. The C15 door to the former vestry survives. The transepts have Decorated N and S windows, that on the S wholly renewed, and curious small blocked openings, apparently formerly squints providing a view into the transepts from the outside. There is a large, blocked, probably C15 window in the S transept W wall. The nave has renewed C14 windows with intersecting tracery, and a large C15-style W window, almost renewed. The S porch has a C15 or C16 outer arch and C14 S door with continuous mouldings and an ogee hood-mould with head stops and foliate finial.
INTERIOR Wide, unaisled nave. In the NE corner is an unusual early C20 timber stair rising from the former rood loft door and running up to a door to the tower ringing chamber. The central tower has pointed arches of two orders in each face. The outer orders are continuously chamfered, and the inner orders stand on half-round attached shafts with moulded capitals and bases, probably C13. The tower is noticeably narrower than the nave, transepts and chancel, and in the nave the W tower arch is flanked by doors into the transepts with shallow relieving arches over pointed heads on shafted jambs. Both transepts are now closed to the tower by timber screens; that to the N has been divided into toilets and service facilities, but retains an early C15 E door to the former vestry and a small, blocked opening of the late C15 or early C16 that was formerly an external squint. The entrance to the former rood stair is from the N transept and remains in use as access to the ringing chamber. The S transept has a similar blocked opening, and part of the jamb of a blocked window is visible in the W wall. The chancel floor has been significantly raised, and only the upper part of the former chancel N door is now visible.
PRINCIPAL FIXTURES Font, plain round tub shape with a stepped base, C12 or C13. The cover is probably C17 and has a turned post and shaped brackets. C14 piscina with a trefoiled head in the N transept, cinquefoiled piscina in the S transept, and a piscina in the chancel partially blocked by the raised floor. Square aumbry with rebate for a door in chancel N wall. Unusual and interesting royal arms of 1742 painted directly onto the plaster over the chancel arch; the outer GR2 was changed to ER2 in 1953 for the Coronation of Elizabeth II. Some C19 and early C20 glass, the most notable a figure of St Nicholas in the NE nave window. E window of 1921 by Powell and Sons.
In the chancel, a group of monuments to the Hanmer family. The most notable are Job Hanmer, d. 1738, an architectural wall tablet by Bayliss; and Sir Walden Hanmer, d.1789, by John Bacon, a large monument with a white marble mourning figure of Justice in a roundel and an achievement of arms against a black obelisk; white marble base with fluted columns. Also in the chancel, loose within the former piscina, a broken round headstone for William Gale, d.1638 (an early example of such).
C15 nave roof with hammer beam trusses at the E and W ends and three intermediate trusses with arched braces to the collars. The lower edges of the beams are moulded, but the upper parts are rough and unshaped. Windbraces in two tiers. Transept roofs of the C17, with plain trusses and reused beams. Chancel roof is C19, with short king posts and moulded ribs dividing boarded panels with simple painted decoration.
HISTORY Simpson is mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086, but the church is not recorded. The first mention of the church is in the early C13, and the earliest surviving fabric is the late C13 tower arches, although the font is probably significantly earlier. The church was wholly rebuilt around the tower in the second quarter of the C14, and there were further works in the late middle ages including reroofing the nave, building the S porch and the former N vestry, now demolished. There was additional work in the C17, when the transepts were reroofed and the font cover made. The church was restored in stages in the late C19 and early C20. Work included underpinning the tower, restoring the transepts and rebuilding the chancel roof in 1873; the E wall of the chancel was wholly rebuilt in 1904; the S transept S window was entirely renewed in 1999. The church was amalgamated with four others, not all Anglican, to form the Woughton Ecumenical parish in 1977.
REASONS FOR DESIGNATION The church of St Thomas, Simpson, is designated at Grade II* for the following principal reasons: * Cruciform parish church, with slender C13 tower and wide nave, transepts and chancel of the C14, retaining much medieval fabric. * It possesses interesting fittings, such as the C13 font with C17 cover, and monuments. * Its unusual C15 nave roof is of particular note.
www.naturalengland.org.uk/ourwork/conservation/designatio...
Gait Barrows NNR
Gait Barrows NNR is a rich mosaic of limestone habitats including unique limestone pavement, yew woodland, fen and reedbed.
Gait Barrows NNR
County: Lancashire
Main habitats: Limestone pavement, woodland, fen, limestone grassland.
Why visit: Lying in the heart of the Arnside and Silverdale Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, Gait Barrows is one of Britain's most important areas of limestone landscape.
It covers an intricate mosaic of limestone habitats that are home to a huge variety of rare and beautiful wildlife. From open rock, to damp fen, deep yew forest and even the tranquil Hawes Water there is much to see on a visit to Gait Barrows.
Please note: Although the nature trails and public footpaths are open to the public at all times, other parts of Gait Barrows are by permit only due to the sensitive nature of the site.
To request a permit, please contact Senior Reserve Manager, Rob Petley-Jones, email rob.petley-jones@naturalengland.org.uk or tel: 07747 852905 providing the email or postal address to which you would like the permit to be sent.
Lyme disease
Ticks are present on this reserve and Lyme disease is present in this area of the country. Visitors are advised to take adequate precautions such as covering arms and legs, and checking for bites after their visit.
Star species:
The lady’s-slipper orchid is the rarest of all British wildflowers. Once thought to be extinct in the UK, this special plant has since been rediscovered and a national species recovery program has been launched. Gait Barrows is now home to a thriving population of reintroduced plants.
The Duke of Burgundy and high brown fritillary butterflies thrive in the woodland glades and clearings, which are carefully managed for their benefit. Look out for small orange and brown Duke of Burgundy in May and the larger high brown fritillary in July and August.
The woodlands and wetlands provide a home for large numbers of redwing and fieldfare arriving from Scandinavia in autumn to feed on the abundant yew berry crop. The restored reed beds of Hawes Water Moss are also home to marsh harrier, bittern and reed bunting.
Access: There are interpretation panels and waymarked trails through the reserve and a number of public footpaths. Leaflets are available to download from our website.
Hawes Water Trail is accessible for all, and disabled parking can be found at the eastern end of this trail. The Limestone Trail is Tramper-friendly but unfortunately slopes and steps on the Yew Trail make it inaccessible for trampers and wheelchairs.
To avoid disturbance to wildlife, dogs are not allowed away from the public footpaths and should be kept on a lead at all times. Much of the site is hazardous and care should be taken when leaving the paths. There is no access to Little Hawes Water or Hawes Water Moss as these areas are extremely hazardous.
www.naturalengland.org.uk/ourwork/conservation/designatio...
Gait Barrows: what makes it special
Gait Barrows NNR is a rich mosaic of limestone habitats and home to a multitude of fascinating wildlife.
Limestone pavement
The large areas of carboniferous limestone were shaped by glacial ice, rain and groundwater to form flat blocks (clints) and deep fissures (grikes). The shaded humid conditions in the deeper grikes are home to plants such as the hard shield fern, herb Robert, tutsan and the rare ridged buckler fern. These crevices are also home to a rare species of woodlouse, Armadillidium pictum.
The clints are home to a variety of plants, including rare plants such as Solomon’s seal, and the moss, Scorpidium turgescens. The mosses on these pavements also provide a home for a relic population of the narrow-mouthed whorl snail, where Gait Barrows is the only known limestone pavement site for this species in the world.
Ancient trees on the pavement are naturally dwarfed because of the dry conditions and their roots being restricted by the limestone. The ancient ash trees grow only a few millimetres a year and, despite their size may be many hundreds of years old.
Woodland
Much of the woodland at Gait Barrows was traditionally managed by coppicing for charcoal, firewood and timber. This activity has continued to create important habitats for invertebrates and birds, including black cap, garden warbler and woodcock.
The woodlands of Gait Barrows is one of the best sites in the country for fungi, with over 1,600 species being recorded, including yellow stagshorn and green-elf cup.
Hawes Water
Affectionately known as the ‘Gem of Silverdale’, Hawes Water provides inspiring views and some excellent wildlife-spotting opportunities. From the boardwalk you can enjoy the tranquillity of this landscape whilst watching out for the many birds that nest here every year. These include great crested grebe, little grebe and in spring sand martins and marsh harriers. Ospreys can be spotted diving into the lake for fish.
The purity of the water helps plants like the stoneworts and several species of fish such as rudd, European eels, ten-spined stickleback and the rare medicinal leech to thrive.
The rich soil around the edges of the lake support a variety of plants including bird's-eye primrose, the scented fragrant orchid and insectivorous common butterwort, with its small purple flowers dangling on long stalks. The green tiger beetle also nests in burrows in the loose lake-side soil.
Little Hawes Water
Hidden in the heart of the reserve this small lake is surrounded by alder woods and supports a large population of yellow water lilies. It is also a breeding site for brown hawker and migrant hawker dragonfly, and the azure damselfly.
Hawes Water Moss
South-east of Hawes Water, lies an extensive area fen and reedbed which grows in the waterlogged peat and marl sediments that have filled the lake. The reedbeds have been restored by Natural England to encourage rare marsh birds like marsh harriers to nest here every year. The reeds are also home to many types of insect, including the rare silky wainscot and silver hook moths.
Lady’s-slipper orchid
Lady’s-slipper orchid is the rarest British flower, having once been formally declared extinct in Britain in 1917. Several organizations have worked together within the Species Recovery Programme to restore lady’s-slipper orchid to the wild.
Many of these plants have been introduced to Gait Barrows with huge success. The reserve now boasts a growing population of lady’s-slipper orchid’s which can be seen flowering on the limestone every year in late spring-time.
www.naturalengland.org.uk/ourwork/conservation/designatio...
Gait Barrows: seasonal highlights
Gait Barrows offers a wonderful variety of landscape and wildlife all year round.
Spring
In early spring, the first flowers of stinking hellebore can be seen when walking along the Limestone Trail. Look out for sulphur coloured brimstone butterflies on sunny spring mornings. The high mewing call of buzzards can be heard in the skies above Gait Barrows.
Summer
Late spring and early summer bring the full glory of Gait Barrows to life. Enjoy the richness of butterfly life, including the rare high brown fritillary and revel in the rare flowers of the limestone pavements such as the angular Solomon’s-seal. You may also be lucky enough to see the male marsh harrier high in the sky over Hawes Water.
Autumn
In autumn, walk the Yew Trail and marvel at the gorgeous colours of the yews in the low afternoon sun, and be enthralled by the thousands of redwings and fieldfares which arrive in October to feast on the yew berry crop. Elusive hawfinches are also much easier to spot at this time of year. On the woodland border with the pastures, brown hawker and migrant hawker dragonflies can be seen hunting for late-flying insects. A trip to Hawes Water will be rewarded with views of the autumn-flowering grass-of-Parnassus.
Winter
In deepest winter, look out for signs of roe and fallow deer which have passed the same way in the depths of the frosty night. In late winter a trip to Hawes Water could be rewarded with sights of great crested grebes courting. These spectacular birds take part in an impressive courtship display which involves ‘walking on water!’
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Gait Barrows: history
The landscape at Gait Barrows has been shaped over thousands of years by natural processes and human land use.
A significant proportion of the reserve is covered by limestone that was smoothed by glacial processes during the last ice age. Groundwater has weathered the pavement to create the characteristic features of a limestone pavement and nature has moved into fill all the niche habitats on offer.
At White Scar, in the centre of the reserve, low limestone cliffs can be seen looking much like a limestone pavement tipped on its side, with a bedding plane erupting vertically from the ground. These cliffs were once much more open and could clearly be seen from a long distance away as a glowing white landform. Natural England is now restoring open conditions at several points along the Scar to encourage plants like the rare spring sedge to flourish.
Before the site was declared a National Nature Reserve, limestone was quarried and taken away for rockery stone, leaving large exposed slabs of limestone. The remaining pavements are now protected and the naked scars of rock left by this activity are gradually being taken back by nature, with coverings of lichens and mosses, blue moor grass and wild flowers such as common rock-rose and bird’s-foot trefoil.
Hawes Water Basin, a deep trough in the limestone, was gouged out by glaciers in the last Ice Age and then filled with groundwater to create Hawes Water lake. In the past Hawes Water was more extensive, but now much of the basin is filled with layers of clay-like marl and fen peat.
Much of the ancient woodland has been managed for centuries by coppicing. This practice has given rise to the dense structure of these woodlands, which is ideal for much of its wildlife. In recent times, coppicing ceased in many British woodlands, however, at Gait Barrows coppicing continues for the sole benefit of the wildlife living here.
Gait Barrows was declared a National Nature Reserve in 1977, in celebration of the Silver Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II. To mark this special occasion a cairn was erected in a particularly scenic spot on the limestone pavement. From this point you can enjoy views of the whole reserve.
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By cycle
The NNR is on the Lancashire Cycleway route 90external link, an offshoot of national route 6external link of the National Cycle Network.
There is a cycle rack in the car park. Please note that cycles are not permitted on the nature reserve.
By train
The nearest train stations are in Silverdaleexternal link and Arnsideexternal link. Both stations are served by TransPennine Expressexternal link and Northern Railexternal link.
By bus
Local bus services to the area from Carnforth and Lancaster are provided by Stagecoachexternal link.
By car
From the A6, turn off at Beetham and follow minor roads through the village of Slack Head. At the T-junction take a right turning onto Brackenthwaite Road and drive along the side of the reserve to find parking.
A small permit holder’s car park is available on the reserve, and alternative road-side parking can be found along Brackenthwaite Road.
On foot
There are several public footpaths leading from Yealand Redmayne, Silverdale and Arnside. Silverdale is at the northern end of the Lancashire Coastal Wayexternal link.
Facilities
The nearest toilets and refreshments can be found in local towns and villages.
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Gait Barrows: want to get involved?
There are plenty of ways to get involved with the reserve.
Natural England holds a number of events and activities at Gait Barrows NNR each year. Past events have focused on moths, butterflies, fungi, trees and birds of the nature reserve. For details of current events please visit our North West events page or see posters at the nature reserve.
We have volunteer opportunities on National Nature Reserves throughout South Cumbria, including a weekly conservation work party at Gait Barrows which runs throughout the winter. Whether you have specialist skills you wish to use, or are looking for a chance to get some hands on experience, we’d love to hear from you.
Students and professionals are also invited to conduct studies on our National Nature Reserves. Please contact the Senior Reserve Manager to discuss and gain relevant permissions.
Further information
Please contact Senior Reserve Manager, Rob Petley-Jones on 077478 52905 or email rob.petley-jones@naturalengland.org.uk for more information or to request a site permit.