The Wild Animal Sanctuary is making a area for the Coyotes I thing they said. The trees are in the area where water will flow. The back section is for the Fox's which 7 are placed. Tree's, water flow, dirt mounds plus concret pip sections covcered with dirt, more than evough room for everyone.

The depressing sight of the small housing development in the village, which is creating a lot of mud, great heaps of the stuff and muddy, clay coloured water streaming down the road.

125 pictures in 2025 (63) muddy

Toronto

The west side of the island, near to Playa Blanca in Lanzarote. Much development stopped during the 2008 financial crash.

2012

LG Development’s HUGO masterplan includes the construction of mid-rise buildings at 751 N. Hudson Ave. and 411 W. Chicago Av. The two mixed-use structures will each stand 9 stories and will collectively house roughly 19,000 square feet of retail and 227 apartment units. The 751 N Hudson Avenue building will accommodate 134 residences; 411 W Chicago Avenue will house the remaining 93 units. Completion is scheduled for third-quarter 2023.

The two buildings replace parking lots and will be narrowly separated by 415 W. Chicago Ave, a masonry 1930 low-rise building. The seemingly vacant building is reminiscent of the building containing a cleaner (who owns it) and Bella Luna that remains at the south end of the One Chicago development because the woman refused to sell.

This B Series Leyland National was new as a Leyland development vehicle in 1978 and remained unregistered for over a year, it never leaving the confines of the Lillyhall factory.

It passed to Ribble once Leyland had finished with it and became their 686 and as it had never ventured on a public highway it gained a 'V' suffix registration.

The bus is seen here leaving Leigh bus station in 1990 bound for its home base of Bolton.

This is a massive development in Saanich, which is home to the Home Depot. This is the old Save on Foods grocery store that's been now torn down.

Fenix II development transforms old warehouse by stacking new apartments on top of the 100yr old building.

The Jaguar Mark IX (1958-1961) was the final development of the Jaguar Mark VII, which had been launched at the Earls Court motor show in October 1950, followed by the American launch at the Waldorf Astoria hotel in New York. It was specifically aimed at the American market, where it sold 500 cars in the first 3 days.

The Mark VII and its successors retained a separate chassis and used the XK engine, initially of 3.4 litres capacity, first seen in the low-volume XK120 sports car, introduced in 1948. The Mark VII was a large car by British standards but offered American buyers a traditional British interior of leather and walnut. The Mark VII was also one of the first British cars to offer automatic transmission, by Borg Warner, again reflecting American requirements.

The final version of this design, the Mark IX, was introduced in late 1958. It featured a larger engine, now of 3.8 litres capacity, disc brakes on all 4 wheels and power steering. Most featured a two-tone colour scheme but not the car shown here. Automatic transmission was still an option, although chosen by most buyers. A few Mark IXs (the number 30 comes to mind) were fitted out as limousines, with bench front seats, a division between front and rear and a cocktail cabinet in the back. I saw one of these, with chauffeur, parked near Fenchurch Street station in east London in 1963. It looked very smart and not at all shown up by a pair of Rolls-Royces parked alongside. The Mark IX was replaced by the all-new Mark X in late 1961.

trying some macro...

old beroflex AF 35-70mm lens from an old minolta dynax 3ix cam. as i don't have any adapter on my e-mount, i used some piece of toilette paper roll :).

proceed in darktable

Eddington - The North West Cambridge Development being built for the University of Cambridge aerial image

Is this an example of his development skills? Run out of fuel on busy main road.

This is a massive development in Saanich, which is home to the Home Depot. This is the old Thrifty Food liqueur store that's been torn down now.

The Porter Brothers arrived from Randsburg in 1905 with 18 wagon loads of merchandise and built a store. The HD & LD Porter Store was the leading merchant in Rhyolite, Nevada. Customers were able to purchase groceries and fresh vegetables, clothing and assessories, mining supplies, hardware, lumber, furniture, hay, grain, and Studebaker wagons from this store. The store also offered freight animals for rent. Their slogan was, "We handle all good things but whiskey." Their first store in Rhyolite was located at Main and Esmeralda and opened in June 1905. The concrete, one story with basement and huge store front windows, building located on Golden Street was built in 1906. It was opened for business in November 1906. The lot was purchased for $1,200 and estimated building construction is $10,000.

The company had warehouses located in Beatty and Rhyolite, selling both wholesale and retail goods.

Rhyolite is a ghost town in Nye County, in the U.S. state of Nevada. It is in the Bullfrog Hills, about 120 miles (190 km) northwest of Las Vegas, near the eastern edge of Death Valley. The town began in early 1905 as one of several mining camps that sprang up after a prospecting discovery in the surrounding hills. During an ensuing gold rush, thousands of gold-seekers, developers, miners and service providers flocked to the Bullfrog Mining District. Many settled in Rhyolite, which lay in a sheltered desert basin near the region's biggest producer, the Montgomery Shoshone Mine.

Industrialist Charles M. Schwab bought the Montgomery Shoshone Mine in 1906 and invested heavily in infrastructure, including piped water, electric lines, and railroad transportation, that served the town as well as the mine. By 1907, Rhyolite had electric lights, water mains, telephones, newspapers, a hospital, a school, an opera house, and a stock exchange. Published estimates of the town's peak population vary widely, but scholarly sources generally place it in a range between 3,500 and 5,000 in 1907–08.

Rhyolite declined almost as rapidly as it rose. After the richest ore was exhausted, production fell. The 1906 San Francisco earthquake and the financial panic of 1907 made it more difficult to raise development capital. In 1908, investors in the Montgomery Shoshone Mine, concerned that it was overvalued, ordered an independent study. When the study's findings proved unfavorable, the company's stock value crashed, further restricting funding. By the end of 1910, the mine was operating at a loss, and it closed in 1911. By this time, many out-of-work miners had moved elsewhere, and Rhyolite's population dropped well below 1,000. By 1920, it was close to zero.

Found a great development time for this film (Kodak 5222) developed in ID-11

1/7

ominous and beautiful by turns

1923: Mercantile Place, site of the Arcade Building.

The Los Angeles Theatre's crowd, 1944.

Conceptual Photoshop rendering for mixed-use development

All of the images are "tracings" and hail from various sources. The entry covers at least two or three days from last week and more or less reads from top to bottom.

this land used to be an informal settlement now reclaimed by the national government for development

Amsterdam is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands. Its status as the Dutch capital is mandated by the Constitution of the Netherlands, although Amsterdam is not the seat of the Dutch government which is The Hague. Amsterdam has a population of 802,938 within city limits, 1,560,414 in the urban region and 2,332,839 in the greater metropolitan area. The city is located in the province of North Holland in the west of the country. It comprises much of the northern part of the Randstad, one of the larger conurbations in Europe, with a population of approximately 7 million.

Amsterdam's name derives from Amstelredamme, indicative of the city's origin: a dam in the river Amstel. Originating as a small fishing village in the late 12th century, Amsterdam became one of the most important ports in the world during the Dutch Golden Age, a result of its innovative developments in trade. During that time, the city was the leading center for finance and diamonds. In the 19th and 20th centuries, the city expanded, and many new neighborhoods and suburbs were planned and built. The 17th-century canals of Amsterdam and the 19–20th century Defence Line of Amsterdam are on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

As the commercial capital of the Netherlands and one of the top financial centres in Europe, Amsterdam is considered an alpha world city by the Globalization and World Cities (GaWC) study group. The city is also the cultural capital of the Netherlands.] Many large Dutch institutions have their headquarters there, and 7 of the world's top 500 companies, including Philips and ING, are based in the city. In 2012, Amsterdam was ranked 2nd best city to live by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) and 12th globally on quality of living by Mercer. The city was previously ranked 3rd in innovation by 2thinknow in the Innovation Cities Index 2009.

The Amsterdam Stock Exchange, the oldest stock exchange in the world, is located in the city center. Amsterdam's main attractions, including its historic canals, the Rijksmuseum, the Van Gogh Museum, Stedelijk Museum, Hermitage Amsterdam, Anne Frank House, Amsterdam Museum, its red-light district, and its many cannabis coffee shops draw more than 3.66 million international visitors annually.

The earliest recorded use of the name "Amsterdam" is from a certificate dated 27 October 1275, when the inhabitants, who had built a bridge with a dam across the Amstel, were exempted from paying a bridge toll by Count Floris V. The certificate describes the inhabitants as homines manentes apud Amestelledamme (people living near Amestelledamme). By 1327, the name had developed into Aemsterdam

Amsterdam's founding is relatively recent compared with much older Dutch cities such as Nijmegen, Rotterdam, and Utrecht. In October 2008, historical geographer Chris de Bont suggested that the land around Amsterdam was being reclaimed as early as the late 10th century. This does not necessarily mean that there was already a settlement then since reclamation of land may not have been for farming—it may have been for peat, used as fuel.

Amsterdam was granted city rights in either 1300 or 1306. From the 14th century on, Amsterdam flourished, largely because of trade with the Hanseatic League. In 1345, an alleged Eucharistic miracle in the Kalverstraat rendered the city an important place of pilgrimage until the adoption of the Protestant faith. The Stille Omgang—a silent procession in civil attire—is today a remnant of the rich pilgrimage history

In the 16th century, the Dutch rebelled against Philip II of Spain and his successors. The main reasons for the uprising were the imposition of new taxes, the tenth penny, and the religious persecution of Protestants by the Spanish Inquisition. The revolt escalated into the Eighty Years' War, which ultimately led to Dutch independence. Strongly pushed by Dutch Revolt leader William the Silent, the Dutch Republic became known for its relative religious tolerance. Jews from the Iberian Peninsula, Huguenots from France, prosperous merchants and printers from Flanders, and economic and religious refugees from the Spanish-controlled parts of the Low Countries found safety in Amsterdam. The influx of Flemish printers and the city's intellectual tolerance made Amsterdam a centre for the European free press

The 17th century is considered Amsterdam's Golden Age, during which it became the wealthiest city in the world. Ships sailed from Amsterdam to the Baltic Sea, North America, and Africa, as well as present-day Indonesia, India, Sri Lanka, and Brazil, forming the basis of a worldwide trading network. Amsterdam's merchants had the largest share in both the Dutch East India Company and the Dutch West India Company. These companies acquired overseas possessions that later became Dutch colonies. Amsterdam was Europe's most important point for the shipment of goods and was the leading Financial Centre of the world. In 1602, the Amsterdam office of the Dutch East India Company became the world's first stock exchange by trading in its own shares.

Amsterdam lost over 10% of its population to plague in 1623–1625, and again in 1635–1636, 1655, and 1664. Nevertheless, the population of Amsterdam rose in the 17th century (largely through immigration) from 50,000 to 200,000

Amsterdam's prosperity declined during the 18th and early 19th centuries. The wars of the Dutch Republic with England and France took their toll on Amsterdam. During the Napoleonic Wars, Amsterdam's significance reached its lowest point, with Holland being absorbed into the French Empire. However, the later establishment of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands in 1815 marked a turning point.

The end of the 19th century is sometimes called Amsterdam's second Golden Age. New museums, a train station, and the Concertgebouw were built; in this same time, the Industrial Revolution reached the city. The Amsterdam-Rhine Canal was dug to give Amsterdam a direct connection to the Rhine, and the North Sea Canal was dug to give the port a shorter connection to the North Sea. Both projects dramatically improved commerce with the rest of Europe and the world. In 1906, Joseph Conrad gave a brief description of Amsterdam as seen from the seaside, in The Mirror of the Sea.

Shortly before the First World War, the city began expanding, and new suburbs were built. Even though the Netherlands remained neutral in this war, Amsterdam suffered a food shortage, and heating fuel became scarce. The shortages sparked riots in which several people were killed. These riots are known as the Aardappeloproer (Potato rebellion). People started looting stores and warehouses in order to get supplies, mainly food.

Germany invaded the Netherlands on 10 May 1940 and took control of the country. Some Amsterdam citizens sheltered Jews, thereby exposing themselves and their families to the high risk of being imprisoned or sent to concentration camps. More than 100,000 Dutch Jews were deported to Nazi concentration camps of which some 60.000 lived in Amsterdam. Perhaps the most famous deportee was the young Jewish girl Anne Frank, who died in the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. At the end of the Second World War, communication with the rest of the country broke down, and food and fuel became scarce. Many citizens traveled to the countryside to forage. Dogs, cats, raw sugar beets, and Tulip bulbs—cooked to a pulp—were consumed to stay alive. Most of the trees in Amsterdam were cut down for fuel, and all the wood was taken from the apartments of deported Jews.

The (reconstructed) bookcase that covered the entrance to the "Secret Annex" where Anne Frank hid from Germans occupying Amsterdam during World War II.

Many new suburbs, such as Osdorp, Slotervaart, Slotermeer, and Geuzenveld, were built in the years after the Second World War These suburbs contained many public parks and wide, open spaces, and the new buildings provided improved housing conditions with larger and brighter rooms, gardens, and balconies. Because of the war and other incidents of the 20th century, almost the entire city centre had fallen into disrepair. As society was changing, politicians and other influential figures made plans to redesign large parts of it. There was an increasing demand for office buildings and new roads as the automobile became available to most common people. A metro started operating in 1977 between the new suburb of Bijlmer and the centre of Amsterdam. Further plans were to build a new highway above the metro to connect the Central Station and city centre with other parts of the city.

The incorporated large-scale demolitions began in Amsterdam's formerly Jewish neighbourhood. Smaller streets, such as the Jodenbreestraat, were widened and saw almost all of their houses demolished. During the destruction's peak, the Nieuwmarktrellen (Nieuwmarkt riots) broke out, where people expressed their fury about the demolition caused by the restructuring of the city.

As a result, the demolition was stopped, and the highway was never built, with only the metro being finished. Only a few streets remained widened. The new city hall was built on the almost completely demolished Waterlooplein. Meanwhile, large private organisations, such as Stadsherstel Amsterdam, were founded with the aim of restoring the entire city centre. Although the success of this struggle is visible today, efforts for further restoration are still ongoing The entire city centre has reattained its former splendor and, as a whole, is now a protected area. Many of its buildings have become monuments, and in July 2010 the Grachtengordel (Herengracht, Keizersgracht, and Prinsengracht) was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List

see the whole thing here. it cuts off at the super dramatic part, haha. I promise it gets better, and there's only like 30 seconds more. go watch it!

I really don't blame you if this doesn't make sense to you. It was for school. But here it is anyway.

For my school project, I had to make an exhibit to go with a portfolio of writing. Instead of doing some sort of statue-creation-type thing like most kids, I decided to make a stop motion. It represents how I've 'come of age' as a reader, writer, and a person.

Model is Annie.

Big Developments:

Whilst we have been away from the spotlight for a while many new developments have taken place behind the scenes.

1. National Park park and rides:

For some time now we have been working with the national parks authority on trying to reduce emissions from road transport in the national park areas. Together we have found that the best solution is to create a series of park and rides outside National parks on their approaches, with attractive luxury vehicles and pricing to tempt more passengers. Over the past year existing park and ride sites have been extended and new ones created in strategic towns and cities near national parks. The first of these to be completed is the two for the Lake district National Park.

Two new park and ride sites have been created at Lancaster and Carlisle near to the motorway to tempt more travellers. There will be three services running through the park, each requiring 7 vehicles to keep up a 20 minute frequency. We have ordered Plaxton elite interdecks for these services as they provide wheelchair access with the luxury of a coach, however these are to the new shorter 13.8m length as on stagecoach’s X7 route in Scotland.

A new brand, called National Park Connect, has been created for what will eventually be a network of services that cover most national parks within the country, with the intention of linking these in time with Crosslinks services to the park and ride sites. One of the Elites is below.

Many thanks to Chris H for the net.

Cleaner Emissions for TFL

As part of TFL’s mission to reduce bus emissions by using new exhaust technology to clean up older vehicles, Sullivan’s are the next fleet to be retrofitted with the SCRT system for reducing particulates under the TFL programme. This will affect all vehicles built in 2001 to 2004, a significant proportion of the fleet. We have been assure that it will cost nothing to us and mean that the emissions of these vehicles are close to Euro 6 levels, however with other technologies we have been using (such as the GKN flyweel system) we believe emission may be well under that target one all modifications are completed.

Introduction of Eminox technology

Since last year we have been trialing the eminox fuel additive in the Crossways fleet. It saves around 1% of fuel used by a normal bus over the year. Although this may not sound like much, it is still on average a £500 per bus per year saving on fuel costs even when factoring in the cost of buying the additive.

Since trials have been successful, all fleets within the Crossways Group will now start to use the technology, potentially saving us £50,000 per year and further reducing our emissions. Crossways has already been using the technology (including the events fleet), however fleets affected by this will be the Cross Bristol, Sullivan Buses, Crosslinks, Rail Replacement and National Park Fleets.

The development where I live and also my church lost a great man this past Saturday. He was having a great time with friends at Dollywood, and when back to his hotel and passed away soon after his return. I will miss my fellow Astronomer enthusiast, and brother in Christ. Godspeed, Bill.

Theme: Guitar Tuesday

Year Sixteen Of My 365 Project

Working the Jasper housing development here in Prescott Valley along the Iron King Trail. PV is growing by leaps and bounds.

Prescott Valley, Arizona

January 3, 2018

The North Carolina Arboretum (434 acres) is an arboretum and botanical garden located within the Bent Creek Experimental Forest of the Pisgah National Forest at 100 Frederick Law Olmsted Way, southwest of Asheville, North Carolina near the Blue Ridge Parkway. It is open daily except for Christmas Day. There is no admission charge, but some parking fees do apply.

Although the idea for the arboretum stretches back to landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted in 1898, who wished to create an arboretum at the nearby Biltmore Estate, today's arboretum was established by the General Assembly relatively recently, in 1986, as a facility of the University of North Carolina. In 1989 the site was officially designated the North Carolina Arboretum.

The arboretum is still under active development. It includes many hiking and bicycling trails, a bonsai collection, a holly garden, a stream garden, etc., as described below. Its tree collection includes a fine set of Metasequoias planted in 1950, and now said to be the tallest in the south (over 100 feet (30 m) in height).

www.ncarboretum.org/

Some background:

After the space-worthy conversion of the CVS-101 Prometheus and the SLV-111 Daedalus carriers, these ships were docked with the SDF-1 Macross and it became clear that this new gigantic vessel required a specialized unit with a heavy armament for medium range defense.

The resulting Space Defense Robot (SDR) Phalanx was tailored to this task. Development of the Phalanx began in a hurry, during the already ongoing Space War I in July 2009. Its systems and structural elements were, to save time and minimize development risks, taken over from a pre-war Destroid standard mass production model. The "Type 04" biped chassis from 2001 was common to several Destroid types, including the Tomahawk medium battle robot and the Defender anti-aircraft robot. The main frame from the waist down included a common module which consolidated the thermonuclear reactor and ambulatory OverTechnology system, and for the Phalanx it was combined with a new, jettisonable torso that was suited to space operations and could also act as a rescue capsule with modest independent propulsion. Thanks to this dedicated mission profile, the Phalanx was the best adapted Destroid to space operations, with the best zero-G maneuverability of any Destroid type during Space War I.

However, Phalanx production only reached limited numbers, due to the type’s high grade of specialization and its inherent vulnerability in close combat - the Phalanx’ combat operation capability decreases substantially once the missile ordnance had been exhausted. Beyond the initial production on Earth, roughly 20 more Phalanx Destroids were also built aboard the SDF-1 Macross shipboard factories, and many of these were later updated from the Mk. XII to the Mk. XIII standard. Post-Space War I, Phalanx Destroids were deployed as part of defense forces on various military bases and used in the ground attack role as long-range infantry support artillery units, fighting from the second line of battle. Nevertheless, the Phalanx remained a stopgap solution and was quickly followed by the more versatile Destroid "Nimrod" SDR-04-Mk. XIV.

Technical Data:

Equipment Type: Space Defense Robot/heavy artillery

Accommodation: One pilot

Government: U.N. Spacy

Manufacturer: Macross Onboard Factories

Introduction: December 2009

Dimensions:

Height 12.05 meters overall (11.27 m w/o searchlight array)

Length 5.1 meters

Width 10.8 meters.

Mass: 47.2 metric tons

Powerplant:

1x Kranss-Maffai MT828 thermonuclear reactor, developing 2800 shp;

Auxillary Shinnakasu Industry CT 03 miniature thermonuclear generator, output rated at 970 kW.

Propulsion:

Biped, with limited zero-G maneuverability through many low-thrust vernier thrusters beneath multipurpose hooks/handles all over the hull.

Armament:

2x Howard SHIN-SHM-10 Derringer short-range high-maneuverability self-guided missile pods, one per arm, with 22 missiles each (missiles stored in two rows behind each other).

Production Notes:

The rather obscure Destroid Phalanx made its media debut in Super Dimension Fortress Macross, Episode 27, and it's actually the only occasion where it appears. Original mecha designer is/was Miyatake Kazutaka.

The kit and its assembly:

I have been pushing this build away from the workbench for a long time. I was – after building two conversions - missing a canonical Destroid Phalanx in my Macross mecha collection, and since I had one stashed away (you never know…) I tackled this project now. The kit is Bandai’s re-issue of Imai’s 1982 1:100 kit, a vintage “Matryoshka” construction (= build one element from two halves, place it between two more halves, etc.) which does not make the assembly process easy.

The kit was basically built OOB, but “under the hood” it received some mechanical mods and improvements. These primarily include scratched joints for the arms/launcher pods and the hip. The pods remained detachable through an internal styrene tube construction. An important improvement for the “04 chassis” is a completely now hip joint arrangement because the Phalanx’ OOB posture is pretty stiff, with the legs and feet facing straight forward. The mecha model is just supposed to just stand upright and with the model’s OOB joint options it is really hard to create a vivid poise at all, so that a 3rd dimension improves the posing options a lot. Furthermore, the bolts that hold the legs are prone to break off, even more so because the kit is from the 1st generation of mecha kits without vinyl caps and just a very tight joint fit to hold the appendages in place. My solution was the implantation of a new hip “bone”, made from plastic-coated steel wire, which is stiff in itself but can be bent in two dimensions. The thighs had to be modified accordingly, since the wire is much thinner than the original bolts, and it needs a rigid attachment point. Resulting gaps around the hip joints were filled with bits of paper tissue drenched in white glue.

Other visual improvements include launch tubes inside of the missile pods. These were made from thin plastic drinking straw material, they fill the (rather ugly and well-visible) blank space between the warheads. Additionally, the hollow “heels” were filled on their insides with putty.

While the kit itself is a pretty simple affair, fit is mediocre, and you have to expect PSR almost everywhere. A direly weak spot area is the shank’s rear: there’s a recession with a seam running right through, and there are side walls missing in the section, too. I tried to mend this through putty and decals.

Painting and markings:

Since I wanted to stick to the authentic OOB livery, I gave the model an overall basic color, a greenish-grey, dull beige (RAL 1019) from the rattle can. The canonical Phalanx also features some dark contrast highlights all over the hull, and these were created with RAL 7013 (Revell 46), an olive drab tone that looks, in contrast to the light beige, almost like a dull brown on the model. The box art suggests a very dark grey, but I found that this would not work too well with the overall light beige tone.

Strangely, the characteristic white trim on the lower legs that many Destroids carry was in this boxing provided with the decal sheet – other Destroid kits require them to be painted manually!

Otherwise there's hardly any other color on the Phalanx’ hull. The missile pod exhausts as well as the launcher interior were painted with steel metallizer (Humbrol 27003) and treated with graphite for a shiny finish, the inside of the launcher covers and the missile tips became bright red (Revell 332). The bellows in the knees became anthracite (Revell 06), later dry-brushed with a reddish brown.

Quite a challenge were the three search lights in the “head unit”, because they consist of massive molded opaque styrene. I simulated glass and depth through a bright silver base, with vertical stripes in thinned white and medium grey and a coat with white translucent paint on top of that. Finally, extra artificial light reflexes were added with opaque white paint and, finally, everything was sealed with glossy varnish, which also adds some visual depth.

The model was thoroughly weathered with a black-and-brown watercolor washing and a generous dry-brushing treatment with Hemp 168 (RAF Hemp). The decals came next, taken from the OOB sheet, the Bugs Bunny artwork on the lower right leg is a typical individual detail of many Destroids, taken from a WWII USAAF P-47D.

After some additional weathering with watercolors and some graphite rubbing around the many edges for a worn and beaten look, the model received an overall coat with acrylic matt varnish. After final assembly of the model’s elements, soot stains were added around the missile launchers’ openings as well as to the small thrusters, again with grinded graphite, and some mineral pigments were dusted onto the model with a soft, big brush, esp. around the lower areas.

A build that took some time because of the mediocre fit of the kit and the mechanical mods it IMHO requires. But I am quite happy with the outcome, “just a Destroid” in its gritty heavy ordnance look, and the dull beige suits the Phalanx well.

Ocean Blvd, Hampton Beach, NH

The Development of Armidale. What is so special about Armidale? Well it is a cathedral city with both Anglican and Catholic cathedrals; it is a wealthy city with a prosperous hinterland and many mansions; it is Australia’s highest city with a bracing English style climate; it is an education city with a university and several prestigious boarding schools; it was one of a number of sites considered for the Australian capital city site after Federation; it has been one of the centres wanting to secede from the rest of NSW; and it has an interesting history with a squatting phase, mining phase, agricultural phase etc. It is also a regional capital and has always been considered the “capital” of the New England region - a distinctive Australian region defined by rainfall, altitude, etc. And it has always been on the main inland route between Sydney and Brisbane but that is no longer of importance in this aviation transport era.

The origins of Armidale district go back to Henry Dumaresq when he squatted on land here and took out leaseholds on Saumarez and Tilbuster stations in 1834. He and other squatters soon displaced the local aboriginal people after a period of considerable violence. The turning point in terms of the city came in 1839 when George Macdonald was appointed Commissioner for Crown Lands for the New England District. He arrived with a small police force and he set about building a house and office headquarters. The site he chose is now Macdonald Park. NSW land regulations allowed the government to set aside reserves for future towns or to resume leasehold land for the creation of towns. Macdonald immediately surveyed the local landowners of which there were 37 in New England, giving it a population of 422 people. But this was the convict era of NSW and half of the population were assigned convicts. They provided the brawn to develop the stations, build the shepherd’s huts, dig the wells and dams, and fell the timber and clear the land. Of the original 422 people in New England only 10 were females, probably wives of shepherds or convict women who were cooks etc. Most stations had between 8 and 12 assigned convicts. Saumarez for example, had 11 convicts and 8 free male workers in 1839. In 1841 convicts still accounted for 42% of the population of New England and as they completed their seven year terms, many stayed on to become the founders of towns like Armidale. Transportation of convicts to NSW ceased around 1843 and so convict assignees gradually declined in the region, but ex-convicts remained.

Macdonald named the town site Armidale after the Armadale estate on the Isle of Skye. Macdonald had barracks built for the police men, stables, a store shed, his own house and he enclosed some paddocks for the growing of wheat and vegetables. His first years were often taken up with writing reports about Aboriginal massacres and deaths including the Bluff Rock Massacre on the Everett brothers’ run at Ollera near Guyra. Macdonald seldom investigated reports of Aboriginal deaths closely. He was a pompous little man, just 4 feet 10 inches tall with a deformed hunched back. But he was meticulous in most matters. In 1841 he was jilted just before his proposed wedding to a local woman. He remained in Armidale until 1848 overseeing the early development of the town.

By 1843 a small town had emerged with a Post Office and a Court House, blacksmith, wheelwright, hotel, general store etc. The town provided government and commercial services to the surrounding pastoral estates. But the town reserve included other lands that were sold or leased to farmers- agriculturists who grew wheat. By 1851 Armidale had two flour mills. The long transport route to Newcastle and on to Sydney meant all wheat had to be converted to flour before it was transported to the markets. The old dray route down to the coast was also used for the transport of the region’s major product- wool. The official town was surveyed and the streets laid out in 1849. Many of the early pastoralists were commemorated in street names – Beardy, Dumaresq, Dangar, Marsh, Faulkner and Rusden to name a few.

In 1851 Armidale also had local industries for the regional population- two breweries, general stores, chemist, butcher etc. In the early 1850s the churches began to erect their first buildings and the town became “civilised” with more and more women living there. Then gold discoveries near Uralla and towards the eastern escarpment boosted the town’s population and services. A newspaper was founded, a hospital was built and the population reached 858 in 1856. A gaol was built on South Hill in 1863, the town became a municipality in 1864, and the Robertson’s Land Acts (1861) were introduced throughout NSW to break up the big pastoral estates for ‘selectors” or small scale farmers on 320 acre blocks. This boosted the total population of the Armidale region but as noted elsewhere the pastoralists also used this era to buy up large lots of land freehold for themselves by the process of “dummying”- using relatives and employees to buy small parcels of land which they sold on to the large land owners. But the early years of growing wheat around Armidale collapsed in the 1870s as the wheat lands of South Australia opened up and cheap SA imports destroyed the New England wheat industry. Other forms of agriculture were then taken up in New England.

Another key factor in the growth of Armidale in the late 1870s and into the 1890s was its English style climate. In 1885 Armidale was proclaimed a city. It had a population of 3,000 residents - a remarkable achievement for a locale so far from the coast. This was of course boosted further with the arrival of the railway in Armidale in 1883. The line soon reached the Queensland border with a connection on to Brisbane. But the railway was not all good news as the city of Armidale could then receive beer and other supplies on the railway from Newcastle or Sydney and some local industries closed down with the arrival of the railway. By the 1880s the boom years were apparent as large mansions and prominent commercial buildings were erected in the growing city.

The fact that Armidale is equidistant from Sydney and Brisbane was one of the factors considered in its application to become the new Federal capital. The fact that Armidale had nearby reservoirs and a large water supply big enough for a large capital city was also an important consideration. The new Federal government was considering the site of the capital city after a long drought so access to water supplies was a major concern. As we known the site of Canberra near Yass was finally selected despite its lesser supply of water but it was closer to Sydney.

Regional Art gallery and Aboriginal Art Centre.

This gallery is one of the regional galleries funded by the NSW government. It is especially noted for its outstanding collection of Australia Art which was donated to the gallery by Howard Hinton (1867-1948.) Hinton was a company director and art collector. Despite poor eyesight he travelled the world looking at galleries and he befriended several artists. In Sydney he met and lived with noted Australian painter such as Tom Roberts, Arthur Stretton and Julian Ashton. He made his first donation of art to the National Gallery of NSW in 1914. Over the years he gave 122 paintings to that gallery. He was a trustee of the National Gallery of NSW from 1919-1948. He was knighted in 1935 for his services to art. In 1928 when the National Gallery of NSW refused some of his donations he decided to endow the relatively new Teachers’ College at Armidale with a collection of art. The Director of Education who was in charge of the College concurred with the idea and the first paintings were received in Armidale in 1929. He later gave over 1,000 paintings to the Teachers’ College and over 700 art books for its library. His collection illustrated the development of Australian art in particular from the 1880s through to the 1940s. The artist Norman Lindsey described the collection as the only complete collection of Australian art. A portrait of Howard Hinton is held by the former Armidale College of Advanced Education which is now part of the University of New England. The art collection has been transferred on to the Armidale Regional Art Gallery. The Hinton Collection is partially on display always. The Persian Love Cake in the Art Gallery café is to die for!

Teachers College and the Education Museum.

In the 19th century most school teachers were untrained but a few were trained in Fort Street Normal School in Sydney from 1848. The first teachers college was not established until 1912 in some temporary buildings. The college opened in new premises in 1920 which were not completed until 1924. But Armidale got the second teachers college in NSW in 1928 with its first proper building being constructed in 1930 at the height of the Great Depression. Why was this so? The answer is political. New England was in the midst of a secession movement in the late 1920s and New England was the home to several Country Party politicians with great influence. The Country Party came to power in NSW in 1927 and the new Minister for Education, David Drummond was the local member for New England. Drummond favoured a second teachers college because the staff at Sydney Teachers College had complained that country students coming to Sydney to be trained were being seduced by the ways of the sinful city and they seldom wanted rural school postings after a stint in Sydney! A Teachers College in Armidale would stop the debauchery! Although Armidale Teachers’ College was the first, the government made plans for additional teachers colleges in Bathurst and Wagga Wagga which eventually were established. The 1863 gaol in Armidale was closed in 1920 and was demolished to make way for the new teachers college building. As one commentator said at the time “a new Parthenon on the hill was to replace the penitentiary on the hill”!

The government appointed Cecil Bede Newling (1883-1975) as the principal of the new college. Today the old Teachers College building is named the Newling building. Newling had gone out as a probationary teacher in 1899 before attending courses at Fort Street Normal School from 1904. He later described his teacher training as dull. He was first appointed head teacher at Cootamundra in 1923, and then inspector at Broken Hill in 1925. He had a rapid rise in the Education Department. By 1925 he had also been awarded a BA and a MA from the University of Sydney. As first principal of the Armidale Teachers College he influenced everything. He had a forceful personality and took interest in all aspects of the College from the grounds and gardens to the curriculum and to the health of the students. During World War Two he became secret custodian of priceless art and written materials from the Mitchell Library and the National Gallery of NSW. He retired in 1947 with his “college on the hill” well established and valued. It is open weekday afternoons from 2 to 4 pm to members of the public.

Central Park Historical Walk and Nearby Structures.

The buildings of significance around Central Park are the old Wesley Methodist Hall and the now Uniting Church- just off the Park in Rusden Street; St. Paul’s Presbyterian Church and Hall; St. Peter’s Anglican Cathedral, Deanery and Parish Hall; and St. Mary’s Catholic Cathedral. Nearby along Faulkner Street is the Town Hall( just off Faulkner), the Post Office, the Court House, and the entrance to the Mall.

•Masonic Building. The Lodge here in Armidale purchased this land in 1860 and had a lodge built by a local builder Frederick Nott. A new severe classical style Lodge was erected in 1924 to replace the earlier one.

•Lindsay House is at 128 Faulkner Street and it dates from the mid 1920s. It is a mock Tudor house with exposed beams and woodwork on the exterior and stucco areas. This “English” style of house was popular in New England at this time. It is a typical “gentleman’s “house and it was built for a local doctor. In 1972 the former Armidale College of Advanced Education purchased the house for staff accommodation and they renamed it Lindsay House. Today it is a luxury bed & breakfast establishment.

•Southall is a fine 1888 residence at 88 Barney Street oppopsite Central Park. At one stage it was called Girrawheen Boarding House as it provided accommodation for the girls enrolled at New England Ladies College. This house was purchased in 1928 by the Armidale Teachers’ College for accommodation for female teaching students. It was linked to Smith House, next door, in 1960 and then became a university residential college but it is now a backpackers complex. Apart from wrought iron lace work it features two toned brick work on the quoins and the bricks are done in Flemish bond pattern.

•Catholic Cathedral and Convent. See next page.

•Anglican Cathedral and Deanery. See next page.

•St. Paul’s Presbyterian Church. The foundation stone dates the building to 1881. Its Gothic style, tall steeple, wrought iron decorations and lancet windows add considerably to the appearance of Central Park. The white painted masonry quoins, window surrounds etc contrast sharply with the dark coloured bricks.

•Old Wesley Methodist Hall and Church. The Old Wesley Church was erected in 1864 and is one of the oldest still standing churches of Armidale. It was replaced by a new Methodist Church in 1893 and it then became the church hall. The Old Wesley Church also has Red Cedar joinery inside.

•The Folk Museum. This is housed in the old School of Arts and Mechanics Institute building of 1863. Such places were crucial education centres in the 19th century. It was used as the town library for many years and is now a museum.

•Armidale Town Hall. This impressive structure was completed in 1883 just before Armidale became a city in 1885. It has many decorative features including pilasters (flat columns), scroll work, a central triangular pediment above the main entrance, a niche like entrance with a curved upper balcony and balustrade. In 1990 the City decorated the interior in Art Deco style!

•The Armidale Post Office. The first PO was established in 1843. This building was constructed in 1880. The beautiful arched veranda and upper balcony were added in 1897. It is still the city Post Office.

•Lands Board building now the Lands Office. This elegant building with its filigree lace work on the upper balcony and the lower veranda originally had a slate roof and slate chimney pots. The symmetry of this building is superb. It was designed by the same architect who did the government Post Office next door and the style would date it to the same period -1880.

•Opposite are the architectural plans for the amazing Imperial Hotel. It was built in 1890 William Miller who was of the original discoverer of gold at Hillgrove. He made his fortune on the gold fields and then erected the finest hotel in Armidale. It is noted for its proportions, classical style, ornate parapets along the roof line and filigree caste iron. The urns atop the “floating” triangular pediments are wonderful. It demonstrates how important the travelling public were to early hoteliers like William Miller. Miller began life as a poor farmer at Saumarez Ponds. It is run down today.

•On the opposite corner is the current Westpac Bank. It was formerly the Bank of NSW and it was put up in 1938 in classical style. The 1817 on the parapet refers to the founding of the Bank of NSW by Mary Reibey, a former convict, depicted on our $20 note. Along from this is the marvellous AMP building with its statute on top.

•Armidale Court House in the Mall. This imposing building with a classical Greek façade with columns, and wrought iron gates was built in 1859. It was extensively altered in 1870 when the two side wings were attached. The clock tower was added in 1878. Inside the joinery is all Australian Red Cedar. Note the cobblestoned courtyard. At the rear of the Court House is the original Sheriff’s Cottage (1870) which was originally a “lock up “for prisoners!

•Hanna’s Arcade in Barney Street. See the leadlight mural, wooden arcade, and fine department store.

Catholic Cathedral and building.

The first Catholic priest to arrive in Armidale came in 1853. He took services in a small wooden Catholic Church that had opened in 1848. The priest then built a parsonage which became part of De La Salle College, now O’Connor High School. It has since been demolished. In 1862 the Catholic Diocese of Armidale was established but it was 1869 before the first bishop, Bishop O’Mahony, settled in Armidale. He was consecrated as bishop in 1871 at the same time as the commissioning of the cathedral. It was dedicated in 1872 but replaced by the current cathedral in 1912. When Bishop O’Mahony left he was replaced by Bishop Torreggiani who was replaced by Bishop O’Connor in 1904.

The new cathedral of St. Mary and St. Joseph was built in Pyrmont stone from Sydney and Armidale polychrome (or multi- coloured) bricks. Such brick work was popular in the 1880s but out of fashion by 1912. Brown, cream and red bricks were used for the cathedral to highlight its architectural features. It is a much larger structure than the Anglican cathedral and dominates the townscape around Central Park. The brickwork was used for quoins, cross banding and other feature work. It was designed in Gothic style by Sherrin and Hennessy in Sydney and constructed by a local builder Frederick Nott. It has a turreted tower with a needle spire on top with louvre windows. It has the original slate roof and fine marble work inside and outside in the form of fine marble statues. The interior is also noted for its fine hammer beam ceiling. The pipe organ was made in 1900 in England and rebuilt here in 1912. Like the Anglicans, the Catholics divided the New England diocese in 1887 when the Diocese of Grafton was established.

Near the cathedral but further along Barney Street is the Merici House which was built as a Catholic School and convent very early in 1882. Angela Merici was the founder of the Ursuline Order of Nuns who began teaching at that school in 1883. The Ursulines arrived from London in 1882 to do missionary work in Armidale. Their order was established in Italy in 1534. The Ursulines in Armidale established their mother house here and sent nuns out to many other communities across NSW and Qld from Armidale. But in Armidale they set up St. Ursulines College from their small origins in Merici House near the Catholic Cathedral. It was erected as a fine two storey house for a local businessman in 1877. He sold it to the Ursuline Order in 1882. St. Ursuline College operated from 1882 until it merged with the Catholic boys’ school, La Salle College (established 1906 by Bishop O’Connor) in 1975. The amalgamated school was renamed O’Connor High School after Bishop O’Connor. O’Connor High School operates on a different site in the city of Armidale to the north east of the town.

Anglican Cathedral and associated buildings.

Bishop Broughton conducted the first Anglican service in Armidale in 1845 with the first church opening in 1850, followed by a parsonage for Rev. Tingcombe who was the first minister arriving in 1846. Armidale was part of the Diocese of Newcastle. Then in 1869 the diocese of Grafton and Armidale was established. The founding Bishop was James Turner from Norfolk, England. His diocese was the size of England! He started with 10 clergy and 21 churches. He appointed John Horbury Hunt to design and oversee the building of a suitable cathedral in Armidale. The foundation stone was laid in 1873 and the cathedral opened in 1875 as St. Peter’s. Hunt designed a relatively small cathedral of brick, his favourite building medium, rather than stone. Turner continued as Bishop until 1893. Before he left the diocese of Armidale he had the Christ Church Cathedral erected in Grafton in 1884 and a new Grafton diocese created. Bishop Turner also used John Horbury Hunt for cathedral that we saw in Grafton. By the time Turner left he had 2 diocese and 58 churches.

The Anglican Cathedral was made of Armidale blue bricks with clay taken from Saumarez station. The vestry was added in 1910 according to Hunt’s design (he died in 1903) and the tower, again according to Hunt’s design in 1936. The cathedral features Gothic arches, a square tower, small pyramids on top of buttresses, moulded bricks for special areas and interesting English bonds and patterns. Uralla granite was used for keystones and the foundations. The Deanery was also designed by Hunt and built of the same Armidale blue bricks in 1891. Hunt was known to make great demands on the brickies as he was a perfectionist and supervised all the intricate brickwork very closely. The result was an outstandingly fine cathedral. Note the band of green tiles above the main door included by Hunt. Note also the fine stained glass windows, and one is a memorial to Bishop Turner’s wife who died in 1879. The cathedral has a fine timber ceiling. Hunt even selected the pulpit and lectern to suit his design. The pulpit has an effigy of St. Peter carved in the sandstone. Some of Hunt’s original plans can be viewed in the Tower Room.

River Lea, East London, UK

watching the skies over the fens

エクトプラズム成長過程。手は途中で生える。

Angelica can be seen walking across the floor of an erosional feature called Devils Kitchen, east of Greybull Wyoming on the edge of the Shell Creek Valley. The varicolored, Early Cretaceous Cloverly Formation is exposed in the Kitchen inside the eroded center of a upfold or anticline called the Shell Creek Dome. Devils Kitchen is known for its badlands topography where soft, layered sedimentary rocks like sandstone, siltstone, shale and claystone get eroded into spires, towers and fanciful shapes. In this semiarid environment there is sparse vegetation and little soil development on these rock outcrops. Erosion caused by flash flooding from occasional thunderstorms carves this landscape with an assist from the other usual physical and chemical agents that weather and weaken the rock. The floor of "the Kitchen" is characterized by mounds of weathered claystone; silstone and shale which can be seen on either side of the gulley where Angelica is walking. To her front and right, there is a steel pipe sticking out of the ground. This dry hole marker is all that is left of a wildcat (exploratory oil well) that was drilled to test the oil and gas potential of the Shell Dome. It was a dryhole and the rusty pipe marker is all that remains of the venture.