A conversion is the starting point of every spiritual journey. It involves a break with the life lived up to that point; it is a prerequisite for entering the kingdom: “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent, and believe in the gospel” (Mk 1: 15). It presupposes also, and above all, that one decides to set out on a new path: “Sell all that you have… and come, follow me” (Lk 18: 22). 2 Without this second aspect the break would lack the focus that a fixed horizon provides and would ultimately be deprived of meaning.

 

Because of this second aspect a conversion is not something that is done once and for all. It entails a development, even a painful one, that is not without uncertainties, doubts, and temptations to turn back on the road that has been traveled. The experience of the Jewish people after departure from Egypt is still prototypical here. Fidelity to the word of God implies a permanent conversion. This is a central theme in the teaching of the prophets.

 

On the other hand, the path of conversion is not one marked only by stumbling blocks; there is a growth in maturity. Throughout the gospels we are repeatedly told that after some word or deed of Jesus “his disciples believed in him.” The point of this statement is not that up to that point they had no faith, but rather that their faith deepened with the passage of time. To believe in God is more than simply to profess God's existence; it is to enter into communion with God and—the two being inseparable—with our fellow human beings as well. And all this adds up to a process.

-In the Company of the Poor Conversations between Dr. Paul Farmer and Father Gustavo Gutiérrez Edited by Michael Griffin and Jennie Weiss Block

 

   

If I were called in

To construct a religion

I should make use of water.

 

Going to church

Would entail a fording

To dry, different clothes;

 

My litany would employ

Images of sousing,

A furious devout drench,

 

And I should raise in the east

A glass of water

Where any-angled light

Would congregate endlessly.

 

Philip Larkin

GBRf's 'Charity Railtours' branded 66782 takes a very different route as it passes Barkby Thorpe with 6X55, the 12.25 departure from Beeston Sidings to Toton North Yard (entailing running round at Humberstone Road).

Con un kilo de barro en cada bota me planté en este punto de Villagonzalo-Pedernales para esperar la llegada del Tramesa. Llegar hasta aquí con ese incordiante sobrepeso es uno de los "déjà vu" del "Directo". Otro clásico es adelantarte a la llegada del tren por precaución y comprobar desolado cómo (por enésima vez) lo paran en Quintanapalla durante unos insufribles cuarenta y cinco minutos. Si no estás solo, al menos la espera es mucho más llevadera gracias al constructivo intercambio de juramentos que en ese instante surge espontaneamente con tu compañero de fatigas. Pero la de este día había sido una auténtica escapada en solitario, una de esas chaladuras totalmente improvisadas que me dan un par de veces al año. Sin embargo, embarrado y aburrido como estaba, lo que más me dolía era no haberme dado por satisfecho con la bonita foto que había hecho horas atrás en Calzada de Bureba. Podría haber vuelto a casa encantado de la vida y ahorrarme esa mala experiencia que estaba viviendo por mi mala cabeza. Así que mientras esperaba la llegada del tren me repetía una y otra vez como un mantra la siguiente frase: "En cuanto pase, me vuelvo a Bilbao como alma que lleva el diablo". ¿Y que es lo que hice cuando finalmente llegó el tren? Fotografiarlo (obviamente) para acto seguido "despeñarme" por una ladera para evitar el barro del sembrado y correr como un loco hasta el coche para adelantar al tren con el premio de hacerle una tercera foto en Oquillas.

Está claro que aunque los años pesan lo suyo, sigo sin cambiar y que esta maravillosa locura de afición escapa indemne al natural desgaste que conlleva el paso del tiempo. Y esto es algo que no puedo afirmar de igual manera en muchas de las facetas que integran mi vida.

 

With a kilogram of mud in each boot, I planted myself at this point in Villagonzalo-Pedernales to await the arrival of Tramesa´s steel freight. Getting here with that annoying overweight is one of the "déjà vu" of "El Directo". Another classic is to anticipate the arrival of the train as a precaution and see desolate how (for the umpteenth time) they stop it in Quintanapalla for an insufferable forty-five minutes. If you are not alone, at least the wait is much more bearable thanks to the constructive exchange of oaths that at that moment spontaneously arises with your partner in fatigue. But this day had been a real solo getaway, one of those totally improvised crap I get a couple of times a year. However, muddy and bored as I was, what hurt me the most was not being satisfied with the beautiful photo I had taken hours ago in Calzada de Bureba. I could have come home delighted with life and save myself that bad experience that I was going through because of my bad head. So while I waited for the train to arrive, I repeated the following phrase over and over again like a mantra: "As soon as it passes, I will return to Bilbao as a soul that the devil carries." And what did I do when the train finally arrived? Photographing it (obviously) and then "falling" down a slope to avoid the mud from the sown fields and running like crazy to the car to overtake the train with the prize of taking a third photo of it in Oquillas.

It is clear that although the years weigh a lot, I remain unchanged and that this marvelous hobby madness escapes unscathed from the natural wear and tear that the passage of time entails. And this is something that I cannot affirm in the same way in many of the facets that make up my life.

One of my pictures recently got me an award..... Here :

 

www.flickr.com/photos/kaipu/195202407/

 

and this shot got me the DCMag's "Photographer of the Year".......

 

This was my final submission on the theme - "Escape"

 

"Moksha" or "Soul Escaping the Body"........

  

"Moksha" means Freedom or Salvation, refers to liberation from the cycle of death and rebirth, in Indian Religion. It is an escape from all the sufferings and limitations entailed in embodied worldly existence goal - thus an escape for eternity.

 

Shot primarily for the final assignment.

Its a single shot and their is only one guy in it....

all made possible by 10 second exposure time....

For first 6 seconds he kept lying on the ground and than became the soul escaping hevanwards.....

The exposure time was 10 seconds with aperture set at 18

 

-----

 

My Website:

www.poraschaudhary.com/

 

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Well folks, in about 5 hours or so, I will be on the road, and on a much-needed vacation. This will entail absolutely no internet (i.e. Flickr) access for 10 whole days. I can feel the shakes coming on already. ;-)

 

Anyhoo, I plan on taking *lots* of photos, but in the meantime, feel free to browse through my stream or sets, and catch up, if need be. Later!

This is Tay House in Glasgow,

 

The Bridge to Nowhere is a nickname used to refer to various unfinished structures around the M8 motorway in the centre of Glasgow, Scotland. They were built in the 1960s as part of the Glasgow Inner Ring Road project but left incomplete for several years. One 'bridge', at Charing Cross, was completed in the 1990s as an office block. The Anderston Footbridge, a pedestrian bridge south of St Patrick's church, was finally completed in 2013 as part of a walking and cycling route.

 

A third 'Bridge to Nowhere' was created in 2008 following the demolition of a hotel a few blocks away from the M8 but its remains were finally removed in 2017.

 

The Charing Cross Podium with Tay House built on the structure is what I have pictured above.

 

The structure officially called the Charing Cross Podium, was always intended to have a development of some sort on the top level. However, the incomplete structure looked like a bridge and was often referred to as the 'Bridge to Nowhere'.

 

When the western flank of the inner ring road was being prepared for tender in the mid-1960s the designer, Scott Wilson & Partners, advised Glasgow Corporation to include the development as part of the motorway construction contract. This advice was ignored with the Corporation hoping that a developer would take on the project, along with the costs. The original masterplan for the area was devised by the architectural firm Richard Seifert & Partners, which entailed the construction of two large megastructures in the area - one of which was the Anderston Centre, the other being the Charing Cross Complex, the latter making use of the podium structure. In the end, the Charing Cross scheme was scaled back considerably in scope and size, and the result was the podium remained incomplete for over two decades, attracting much notoriety at a time when the entire M8 construction project was the subject of very divided public opinion. In the mid-1990s Glasgow District Council at last found an interested party, and a short time later an office block was built. Occupiers of the building known as Tay House include Barclays Bank and University of Glasgow.

The setting sun lit up the underside of the cloud with crespuscular rays a bright orange which I felt needed to be captured - the downside was the huge dynamic range between the bright sky and dark class 37s. This entailed taking two frames with wildly different settings and combining them in Photoshop - hence the very dark top to the mast at right. 37 424 arrived 26 October as a spare but has yet to turn a wheel. Perhaps with 37 425's oil contamination it may soon see service!

This theatre, first opened in 1920, as a Pantages theatre, has a long and interesting history.... Try searching the Mirvish Theatre on Wikipedia.

Links are a bit difficult on this iPad...copy and paste entails much frustration on my part!

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tower_Bridge

 

Tower Bridge is a combined bascule and suspension bridge in London, England, over the River Thames. It is close to the Tower of London, which gives it its name.Name[›] It has become an iconic symbol of London.

The bridge consists of two towers which are tied together at the upper level by means of two horizontal walkways which are designed to withstand the horizontal forces exerted by the suspended sections of the bridge on the land-ward sides of the towers. The vertical component of the forces in the suspended sections and the vertical reactions of the two walkways are carried by the two robust towers. The bascule pivots and operating machinery are housed in the base of each tower. Its present colour dates from 1977 when it was painted red, white and blue for the Queen's Silver Jubilee. Originally it was painted a chocolate brown colour.[1]

Tower Bridge is sometimes mistakenly referred to as London Bridge, which is actually the next bridge upstream.[2] A popular urban legend is that in 1968, Robert McCulloch, the purchaser of the old London Bridge that was later shipped to Lake Havasu City, Arizona, believed that he was in fact buying Tower Bridge. This was denied by McCulloch himself and has been debunked by Ivan Luckin, the seller of the bridge.[3]

The nearest London Underground station is Tower Hill on the Circle and District Lines.

The nearest Docklands Light Railway station is Tower Gateway.

In the second half of the 19th century, increased commercial development in the East End of London led to a requirement for a new river crossing downstream of London Bridge. A traditional fixed bridge could not be built because it would cut off access to the port facilities in the Pool of London, between London Bridge and the Tower of London.

A Special Bridge or Subway Committee was formed in 1876, chaired by Sir Albert Joseph Altman, to find a solution to the river crossing problem. It opened the design of the crossing to public competition. Over 50 designs were submitted, including one from civil engineer Sir Joseph Bazalgette. The evaluation of the designs was surrounded by controversy, and it was not until 1884 that a design submitted by Horace Jones, the City Architect (who was also one of the judges),[4] was approved.

Jones' engineer, Sir John Wolfe Barry, devised the idea of a bascule bridge with two towers built on piers. The central span was split into two equal bascules or leaves, which could be raised to allow river traffic to pass. The two side-spans were suspension bridges, with the suspension rods anchored both at the abutments and through rods contained within the bridge's upper walkways.

Construction started in 1886 and took eight years with five major contractors – Sir John Jackson (foundations), Baron Armstrong (hydraulics), William Webster, Sir H.H. Bartlett, and Sir William Arrol & Co.[5] – and employed 432 construction workers. E W Crutwell was the resident engineer for the construction.[6]

Two massive piers, containing over 70,000 tons of concrete,[4] were sunk into the riverbed to support the construction. Over 11,000 tons of steel provided the framework for the towers and walkways.[4] This was then clad in Cornish granite and Portland stone, both to protect the underlying steelwork and to give the bridge a pleasing appearance.

Jones died in 1887 and George D. Stevenson took over the project.[4] Stevenson replaced Jones' original brick facade with the more ornate Victorian Gothic style, which makes the bridge a distinctive landmark, and was intended to harmonise the bridge with the nearby Tower of London.[6] The total cost of construction was £1,184,000.[6]

The bridge was officially opened on 30 June 1894 by The Prince of Wales (the future King Edward VII), and his wife, The Princess of Wales (Alexandra of Denmark).[7]

The bridge connected Iron Gate, on the north bank of the river, with Horsleydown Lane, on the south – now known as Tower Bridge Approach and Tower Bridge Road, respectively.[6] Until the bridge was opened, the Tower Subway – 400 m to the west – was the shortest way to cross the river from Tower Hill to Tooley Street in Southwark. Opened in 1870, Tower Subway was the world's first underground ('tube') railway, but closed after just three months and was re-opened as a pedestrian foot tunnel. Once Tower Bridge was open, the majority of foot traffic transferred to using the bridge, there being no toll to pay to use it. Having lost most of its income, the tunnel was closed in 1898.[8]

Tower Bridge is one of five London bridges now owned and maintained by the Bridge House Estates, a charitable trust overseen by the City of London Corporation. It is the only one of the Trust's bridges not to connect the City of London to the Southwark bank, the northern landfall is in Tower Hamlets.

The bridge is 800 feet (244 m) in length with two towers each 213 feet (65 m) high, built on piers. The central span of 200 feet (61 m) between the towers is split into two equal bascules or leaves, which can be raised to an angle of 83 degrees to allow river traffic to pass. The bascules, weighing over 1,000 tons each, are counterbalanced to minimize the force required and allow raising in five minutes.

The two side-spans are suspension bridges, each 270 feet (82 m) long, with the suspension rods anchored both at the abutments and through rods contained within the bridge's upper walkways. The pedestrian walkways are 143 feet (44 m) above the river at high tide.[6]

The original raising mechanism was powered by pressurised water stored in several hydraulic accumulators.Hydraulics[›][clarification needed]

The system was designed and installed by Sir W. G. Armstrong Mitchell & Company of Newcastle upon Tyne. Water, at a pressure of 750 psi, was pumped into the accumulators by two 360 hp stationary steam engines, each driving a force pump from its piston tail rod. The accumulators each comprise a 20-inch ram on which sits a very heavy weight to maintain the desired pressure.

In 1974, the original operating mechanism was largely replaced by a new electro-hydraulic drive system, designed by BHA Cromwell House. The only components of the original system still in use are the final pinions, which engage with the racks fitted to the bascules. These are driven by modern hydraulic motors and gearing, using oil rather than water as the hydraulic fluid.[9]

Some of the original hydraulic machinery has been retained, although it is no longer in use. It is open to the public and forms the basis for the bridge's museum, which resides in the old engine rooms on the south side of the bridge. The museum includes the steam engines, two of the accumulators and one of the hydraulic engines that moved the bascules, along with other related artefacts.

During World War II, as a precaution against the existing engines being damaged by enemy action, a third engine was installed in 1942:[10] a 150 hp horizontal cross-compound engine, built by Vickers Armstrong Ltd. at their Elswick works in Newcastle upon Tyne. It was fitted with a flywheel having a 9-foot diameter and weighing 9 tons, and was governed to a speed of 30 rpm.

The engine became redundant when the rest of the system was modernised in 1974, and was donated to the Forncett Industrial Steam Museum by the Corporation of the City of London.

To control the passage of river traffic through the bridge, a number of different rules and signals were employed. Daytime control was provided by red semaphore signals, mounted on small control cabins on either end of both bridge piers. At night, coloured lights were used, in either direction, on both piers: two red lights to show that the bridge was closed, and two green to show that it was open. In foggy weather, a gong was sounded as well.[6]

Vessels passing through the bridge had to display signals too: by day, a black ball at least 2 feet (0.61 m) in diameter was to be mounted high up where it could be seen; by night, two red lights in the same position. Foggy weather required repeated blasts from the ship's steam whistle.[6]

If a black ball was suspended from the middle of each walkway (or a red light at night) this indicated that the bridge could not be opened. These signals were repeated about 1,000 yards (910 m) downstream, at Cherry Garden Pier, where boats needing to pass through the bridge had to hoist their signals/lights and sound their horn, as appropriate, to alert the Bridge Master.[6]

Some of the control mechanism for the signalling equipment has been preserved and may be seen working in the bridge's museum.

Although the bridge is an undoubted landmark, professional commentators in the early 20th century were critical of its aesthetics. "It represents the vice of tawdriness and pretentiousness, and of falsification of the actual facts of the structure", wrote H. H. Statham,[11] while Frank Brangwyn stated that "A more absurd structure than the Tower Bridge was never thrown across a strategic river".[12]

Architectural historian Dan Cruickshank selected the bridge as one of his four choices for the 2002 BBC television documentary series Britain's Best Buildings.[13]

Tower Bridge is still a busy and vital crossing of the Thames: it is crossed by over 40,000 people (motorists and pedestrians) every day.[14] The bridge is on the London Inner Ring Road, and is on the eastern boundary of the London congestion charge zone. (Drivers do not incur a charge by crossing the bridge.)

In order to maintain the integrity of the historic structure, the City of London Corporation have imposed a 20 miles per hour (32 km/h) speed restriction, and an 18-tonne weight limit on vehicles using the bridge. A sophisticated camera system measures the speed of traffic crossing the bridge, utilising a number plate recognition system to send fixed penalty charges to speeding drivers.[citation needed]

A second system monitors other vehicle parameters. Induction loops and piezoelectric detectors are used to measure the weight, the height of the chassis above ground level, and the number of axles for each vehicle.[citation needed]

River traffic

The bascules are raised around 1000 times a year.[15] River traffic is now much reduced, but it still takes priority over road traffic. Today, 24 hours' notice is required before opening the bridge. In 2008, a local web developer created a Twitter feed to post live updates of the bridge's opening and closing activities.[16]

A computer system was installed in 2000 to control the raising and lowering of the bascules remotely. Unfortunately it proved less reliable than desired, resulting in the bridge being stuck in the open or closed positions on several occasions during 2005, until its sensors were replaced.[14]

The high-level walkways between the towers gained an unpleasant reputation as a haunt for prostitutes and pickpockets and were closed in 1910. In 1982 they were reopened as part of the Tower Bridge Exhibition, an exhibition now housed in the bridge's twin towers, the high-level walkways and the Victorian engine rooms. The walkways boast stunning views of the River Thames and many famous London sites, serving as viewing galleries for over 380,000 tourists[citation needed] who visit each year. The exhibition also uses films, photos and interactives to explain why and how Tower Bridge was built. Visitors can access the original steam engines that once powered the bridge bascules, housed in a building close to the south end of the bridge.

In April 2008 it was announced that the bridge will undergo a 'facelift' costing £4m, and taking four years to complete. The work entails stripping off the existing paint and repainting in blue and white. Each section will be enshrouded in scaffolding to prevent the old paint from falling into the Thames and causing pollution. Starting in mid-2008, contractors will work on a quarter of the bridge at a time to minimise disruption, but some road closures are inevitable. The bridge will remain open until the end of 2010, but is then expected to be closed for several months. It is hoped that the completed work will stand for 25 years.[17]

The walkway section of the renovation was completed in mid 2009. Within the walkways a versatile new lighting system has been installed, designed by Eleni Shiarlis, for when the walkways are in use for exhibitions or functions. The new system provides for both feature and atmospheric lighting, the latter using bespoke RGB LED luminares, designed to be concealed within the bridge superstructure and fixed without the need for drilling (these requirements as a result of the bridge's Grade I status).[18]

In December 1952, the bridge opened while a number 78 double-decker bus (stock number RT 793) was on it. At that time, the gateman would ring a warning bell and close the gates when the bridge was clear before the watchman ordered the lift. The process failed while a relief watchman was on duty. The bus was near the edge of the south bascule when it started to rise; driver Albert Gunter made a split-second decision to accelerate the bus, clearing a three-foot drop on to the north bascule, which had not started to rise. There were no serious injuries.[19]

Main article: Hawker Hunter Tower Bridge incident

On 5 April 1968 a Hawker Hunter FGA.9 jet fighter from No.1 Squadron RAF, flown by Flt Lt Alan Pollock, flew under Tower Bridge. Unimpressed that senior staff were not going to celebrate the RAF's 50th birthday with a fly-past, Pollock decided to do something himself. Without authorisation, Pollock flew the Hunter at low level down the Thames, past the Houses of Parliament, and continued on to Tower Bridge. He flew the Hunter beneath the bridge's walkway, remarking afterwards it was an afterthought when he saw the bridge looming ahead of him. Pollock was placed under arrest upon landing, and discharged from the RAF on medical grounds without the chance to defend himself at a court martial.[20][21]

In May 1997,[22] the motorcade of United States President Bill Clinton was divided by the opening of the bridge. Thames sailing barge Gladys, on her way to a gathering at St Katharine Docks, arrived on schedule and the bridge was duly opened for her. Returning from a Thames-side lunch at Le Pont de la Tour restaurant, with UK Prime Minister Tony Blair, President Clinton was less punctual, and arrived just as the bridge was rising. The bridge opening split the motorcade in two, much to the consternation of security staff. A spokesman for Tower Bridge is quoted as saying, "We tried to contact the American Embassy, but they wouldn't answer the 'phone."[23]

On 19 August 1999, Jef Smith, a Freeman of the City of London, drove a "herd" of two sheep across the bridge. He was exercising an ancient permission, granted as a right to Freemen, to make a point about the powers of older citizens and the way in which their rights were being eroded.[24] However, this was a hollow gesture as the so-called right is to drive sheep across London Bridge into the City of London, and Tower Bridge does not have its northern landfall in the City.[citation needed]

Before dawn on 31 October 2003, David Crick, a Fathers 4 Justice campaigner, climbed a 120 ft (37 m) tower crane near Tower Bridge at the start of a six-day protest dressed as Spider-Man.[25] Fearing for his safety, and that of motorists should he fall, police cordoned off the area, closing the bridge and surrounding roads and causing widespread traffic congestion across the City and east London. The Metropolitan Police were later criticised for maintaining the closure for five days when this was not strictly necessary in the eyes of some citizens.[26][27]

On May 11, 2009, six persons were trapped and injured after a lift fell 10 ft inside the north tower.[28][29]

____________________________________________________________________________

  

"Although strong emergence is logically possible, it is uncomfortably like magic. How does an irreducible but supervenient downward causal power arise, since by definition it cannot be due to the aggregation of the micro-level potentialities? Such causal powers would be quite unlike anything within our scientific ken. This not only indicates how they will discomfort reasonable forms of materialism. Their mysteriousness will only heighten the traditional worry that emergence entails illegitimately getting something from nothing." (Bedau 1997)

_____________________________________________________________________________

 

Source: Emergence || "Central Relatedness" or "RedPixel" or "Tat Tvam Asi" or "Αα" ||

  

Hoodening (/ʊd.ɛnɪŋ/), also spelled hodening and oodening, is a folk custom found in Kent, a county in south-eastern England. The tradition entails the use of a wooden hobby horse known as a hooden horse that is mounted on a pole and carried by an individual hidden under a sackcloth. Originally, the tradition was restricted to the area of East Kent, although in the twentieth century it spread into neighbouring West Kent. It represents a regional variation of a "hooded animal" tradition that appears in various forms throughout the British Isles.

Doing a rare bump to the front of my photostream because WE WON 2ND PLACE at the 2017 Insight Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition in the People and Space category! How cool is that?

 

Sean Goebel and I embarked on a mission to shoot a night hike up the Cable Route of Yosemite’s incredible Half Dome. For us it entailed hiking some 110 lbs of gear and water between the two of us to the summit of Mount Watkins, a sculpted rocky mountain that forms a prominent point northeast of Half Dome on the other side of Tenaya Canyon. From Mount Watkins, we set up our 5 cameras for time lapse and stills while our friend Wade Meade made the ascent from Yosemite Valley to the summit lighting the trail with a small lantern and some bright headlamps. Luck prevailed and we had nearly clear skies to capture the movement of the stars above this incredible landscape. Wade had no trouble reaching the summit at night. For this particular view, we used a Sony A7r with Zeiss Milvus 100mm F2 macro EF lens at F2.8. The exposure 8x 8 minute exposures stacked together for a total of 64 minutes. The Zeiss was mounted to the A7r via a Metabones EF IV T adapter. Prints are available.

Hello, everyone, this February past, I reached a major personal milestone: three years of Moth Stories. To celebrate this achievement, the conclusion to the Daybreak arc and the run-up to the conclusion of the Moth Saga as a whole, I'm putting together a contest.

 

The pitch is "Misfits of the Multiverse:" Make a group of Elseworld Misfits- whether they're Noir-stylised, Gender Swapped, Nazis from Earth-X or from a different franchise altogether is up to you. It'd be nice if backstories were attached, but it's not a must. There is no set roster, so go crazy with it

 

The three figs here are some quick examples I put together:

- A world where Kitten took up the Killer Moth mantle

- A world where Herman Walker, an amalgam of Drury Walker and The Shocker, became the nefarious Hawkmoth

- A world where Charles Brown started his costumed career as a Superhero, not a petty thief.

 

The winner will be given an opportunity to feature in the final ever Moth issue. This will entail writing a short story, featuring a Moth character of your choice, which is to be included in the final epilogue.

 

Be sure to tag me in your entries! Closing date is July 5th!

As some of you may know, I have moved halfway around the world from my family. This means that all previous traditions are off the table and I have to make my own. This year that entails a delicious Deer & Beer Stew, a scary movie and tomorrow I leave for Miami, Florida. It’s going to be a week of Sun, Beaches, Art, Friends & Fun.

 

So, until Next Year!

 

Hair: Truth – Dariela

Skin: League – Isla

Body & Hands: Slink

Top: coldLogic – Butler

Skirt: coldLogic – Schiffer

Boots: Glamistry – Nemesia

 

www.vforveenya.com/2014/12/24/happy-holidays/

If there is one constant in the world, it is the infectious nature of smiling children. In this image, the smile seems to be passed on from the oldest child on the right. In my experience, the purest measure of happiness is the wilde-eyed smile of a young child who is living on the margins of life, who has nothing. Think of that smile compared to a child has comparatively everything? This in no way diminishes their poverty stricken environment, with all it entails: Lack of education, sanitation, living parents, disease, malnutrition, etc. Full of unbridled imagination, children find their own fun, their own games, and make their own toys.

I believe I've discovered a new subspecies of "Red-winged blackbird" and naturally I'm going to name him after myself, and I'm not sure of what that process might entail. If anybody with the information on that process, I'd very much like to know. Meanwhile, I've taken the liberty calling him. "Bantum's-White Privileged Red Winged Blackbird". I took photo's with two different camera's and lenses in a heated rush for safety sake. Mine... He not only has a white head, but his tail has white on it and so do the edges of his wings, he's so BEAUTIFUL, you'd really have to see him personally to see all the detail with your own eyes. 🇺🇸 😛

 

I saw this bird for the first time about 2 years ago. I was nearly killed trying to get a picture him. But try as I did, I wasn't able to catch a glimpse of him again till yesterday afternoon, which again was another life threatening experience. But with the help of God, I got several photo's. More to follow once I go through the process above. And I've not stopped trying to view him again of course, but I'm not having any success in doing so. He's hard to find in a sea of blackbirds at a distance, as you can well imagine, not to mention a line of 18 wheelers coming straight at you and on your bumper none stop with no where to go on this very narrow 2 lane road... 😮

  

JESUS ❤️ SAVES

 

10 The thief comes only to STEAL and KILL and DESTROY; I have come that they may have LIFE, and have it to the FULL. (John 10:10)

 

Jesus came to bring spiritual LIFE to the spiritually dead and set the captives FREE! FREE from RELIGION, ERROR and outright LIES, so they might serve THE LIVING GOD! In SPIRIT and in TRUTH!

 

For the best Biblical teaching in the last 2 centuries! Please listen to and down load these FREE audio files that were created with YOU in mind. It's ALL FREE, if you like it, please share it with others. ❤️

 

archive.org/details/PeopleToPeopleByBobGeorgeFREE-ARCHIVE...

 

www.revealedinchrist.com

 

CLICK THE LETTER "L" TO ENLARGE THE IMAGE.

 

My THANK'S to all those who have taken the time to view, fave, comment or share my photo's with others. I really appreciate it! ❤️

www.brockholes.org/

  

Brockholes is a new kind of nature reserve, an unreserved reserve owned and managed by The Wildlife Trust for Lancashire, Manchester and North Merseyside.

 

There's lots to see and do at Brockholes, you can hunt out our floating Visitor Village with a restaurant, shops and Welcome Centre or explore our family-friendly hides, walking trails and play area.

  

www.brockholes.org/visit

  

At Brockholes you can explore our beautiful reserve, see the wildlife that call it ‘home’ or hunt out our Visitor Village with restaurant and shops, all of which float (yes really!) on one of our lakes.

 

Our floating Visitor Village features a gift shop and a restaurant providing stunning views across the lake. You can also discover our interactive Welcome Centre and learn all about the wildlife that you could see on-site. Be sure to call in to pick up a welcome leaflet that will help you plan your day. You can view the reserve map in our Welcome Leaflet here to help you plan your first visit.

  

2013/14 Opening Times:

 

4th November 2013 to 31 March 2014 10am-4pm

1st April 2014 to 31st October 2014 10am-5pm

 

Closed Christmas Eve and Christmas Day only

  

Car Park Charges

 

We don't charge for entry and any profits made here go back into looking after the reserve. So every time you pay for parking, treat yourself in the shop or enjoy some lunch, you are helping look after the reserve and the wildlife that visits us!

  

Sorry no dogs allowed!

 

There is a good reason! Dogs can disturb wildlife, especially nesting birds. If your dog was to get too close to a nesting bird it would cause the mother to leave the nest. So to avoid any accidents we ask that you don’t bring your dog. (Assistance dogs are welcome.)

  

Explore the reserve

 

Brockholes is one of the best sites in the UK for many species of bird and has one of the largest strips of ancient woodland in the county. You can take a stroll by the River Ribble, explore our woods or enjoy the lakes on site, which have all been specially designed to attract all kinds of wildlife for you to see!

  

Walks around Brockholes

 

What can I see at Brockholes?

Read about the happy habitats we've been working hard to create at Brockholes.

Watch out!

  

The Visitor Village floats on water and there are lots of areas of open water on the reserve. Take care in these areas and keep an eye on any children with you. The following activities are not allowed on the reserve:

 

Barbecues and fires

Fishing

Swimming

  

Please do not feed the birds

 

Big gulls know it’s much easier to find food when we leave it lying around rather than finding their own lunch. Here at Brockholes we have lots of species breeding with us, little ringed and ringed plover, lapwing, oystercatcher and redshank. Unfortunately the big gulls will eat the chicks of these special birds so if we feed the gulls and encourage them to stay there is a big chance that they will eat our important chicks, so please do not feed the birds and take your leftover picnic away with you.

  

www.brockholes.org/our-journey

  

The Lancashire Wildlife Trust has been working on developing Brockholes for nearly 20 years, here is an overview of our journey.

 

1992 Lancashire Wildlife Trust first contests the quarrying of Brockholes.

 

27 November 2006 The Lancashire Wildlife Trust has four weeks to raise £50,000 to buy the Brockholes site, near Preston, and protect it from development. Brockholes sits next to J31 of the M6 and is the size of 120 football pitches.

 

15 January 2007 The Lancashire Wildlife Trust makes the biggest land purchase in its history - thanks to donations from Wildlife Trust members, and an investment of £800,000 from the Northwest Regional Development Agency (NWDA) under the Newlands scheme. The project to buy and develop Brockholes is also supported by The Tubney Charitable Trust.

 

3 May 2007 Ian Selby is appointed as Brockholes project manager. Ian has 20 years' experience of managing the North West's canal network for British Waterways, followed by environmental regeneration work. Sophie Leadsom, Brockholes' new reserve manager, has worked in conservation for 14 years.

 

July 2007 The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) announced the launch of a new open competition to design new visitor facilities.

 

5 October 2007 The Lancashire Wildlife Trust announced the shortlist for the new multi-million pound visitor centre. 61 architects from all over Europe submitted designs. The five were Adam Khan Architects, Arca, Architecture 2B, AY Architects, McDowell + Benedetti.

 

25 February 2008 The Lancashire Wildlife Trust (LWT) and partners announce the winner of its competition to design a visitor facility. Adam Khan Architects was selected for its inspirational design concept: "A Floating World". Designed as a cluster of buildings constructed largely of wood and other sustainable materials, it resembles an ancient marshland village.

 

April 2008 The Lancashire Wildlife Trust announced the completion of its first phase of preparatory work, including the restoration of the wetlands, creation of ponds, seeding of meadows, planting new hedgerows and trees, making access paths and building proper bird watching hides.

 

March 2009 The Lancashire Wildlife Trust secured £8million of funding from the North West Regional Development Agency (NWDA). The investment was made under ‘Newlands’, a NWDA and Forestry Commission programme that is regenerating brownfield land across the Northwest into economically viable community woodland.

 

Summer 2009 Volunteers gave us 134 hours of their time to help propagate our own reed seedlings on-site. We ended up with 20,000 new redd seedlings ready to plant out around our new visitor centre, creating two hecatres of brand new reedbed.

 

August 2009 The Lancashire Wildlife Trust were granted detailed planning permission for the site.

 

December 2009 Contractors first day of work as they begin to construct the iconic floating visitors centre. Press conference being held with a ‘cutting of the first sod’

 

November 2010 A herd of longhorn cattle move into Brockholes to graze the reserve.

 

December 2010 BBC Countryfile fronted by Julia Bradbury visit Brockholes to film a feature that airs in January 2011.

 

March 2011 Brockholes makes history as the Visitor Village is floated for the first time.

 

Easter Sunday 2011 Brockholes opens its doors to the public for the first time!

  

www.brockholes.org/happy-habitats-brockholes

  

Happy habitats at Brockholes

 

The Lancashire Wildlife Trust are using their expertise to create habitats that will encourage lots of different species to visit the site, read more about the work we are doing on the reserve...

  

Number 1 Pit

 

Uniform and steep, the edges around the original gravel pit used to look very different. The island looked different too – an egg-shaped piece of land sticking out of the water by three metres. These land profiles weren’t great for the bird species and aquatic invertebrates we wanted to attract. So, with bulldozer and digger we pushed earth into the lake to create shallow, underwater ledges and peninsulas where birds can roost and feed, safe from predators. Diving ducks, such as Great Crested Grebe, now hunt for fish in the deep water.

  

Nook Pool

 

The edge of this pool has been planted with reed to create places for small fish and aquatic invertebrates like dragonfly larvae to hide and grow, away from predator fish. The shelter provided by the vegetation provides an ideal hunting ground for lots of species of dragonfly including the impressive Brown Hawker and Emperor Dragonfly.

  

Meadow Lake

 

This shallow lake is great for bird watching: when the water level is down, wading birds feed on small invertebrates in the exposed mud. This lake has some of the richest water plant life in and around it, including White Water Lily and Cuckooflower. The reed fringes are becoming well established and hold some of the largest populations of birds on site. The islands provide safe roosting and breeding areas, we keep the vegetation short so the birds can watch out for predators.

  

Boilton Marsh

 

This area is part of our newly created wet grassland habitat. We remodelled 17,000 cubic metres of quarry spoil to create 10 hectares of wet grassland with nearly 2km of channels and five pools. This is the ideal habitat for breeding wading birds such as Lapwing, Redshank and Snipe. We now graze traditional breeds of cattle and sheep that thrive on the coarse grasses and rushes and provide the low grassland sward that encourages wading birds to nest.

 

The channels and pools are kept topped up by using a high-level reservoir, filled from Number One Pit by way of a solar pump.

  

Woodland

 

Brockholes is fringed by the ancient woodland of Boilton, Red Scar and Tunbrook Woods. Woodland has grown here for thousands of years and developed a very rich variety of wildlife. Looking after our trees and paths will help the woodland to thrive and enable you to see the wildlife safely.

  

Reedbeds

 

Reedbeds are home to Sedge Warblers, Reed Warblers, Reed Buntings and Water Rail. We protect the new reed from grazing birds like Coot, Mute Swan and Canada Goose, by erecting chicken wire fences and baling string barriers. It will take several years before our lak fringes start to look like reedbeds. You might notice that the Visitor Village has been nestled in reedbed. This helps it to blend into the reserve and allows you to hear the song and chatter of the birds that nest there.

  

www.brockholes.org/brockholes-partners-and-funders

  

Brockholes partners and funders

  

For the past ten years, The Wildlife Trust for Lancashire, Manchester and North Merseyside have been working to secure this site of national environmental importance, and restore habitats to their full potential.

 

The £8.6 million of regeneration funding was provided for the Brockholes Wetland and Woodland Reserve project has been granted under 'Newlands' - a £59 million, Northwest Regional Development Agency and Forestry Commission programme to transform brownfield land into durable community woodland, which act as catalysts for economic, social and environmental gain.

 

The Lancashire Environmental Fund awarded £446,000 for the development of the education facilities, hides and infrastructure on the site. Tubney Charitable Trust granted £350,000 for Biodiversity and Natural England DEFRA's Aggregates Levy Sustainability Fund awarded circa. £300,000. The Environment Agency granted £50,000 for the continued development of Brockholes.

 

The support of these funders helped make Brockholes a reality, as did the amazing support from our public appeal, which raised an amazing £63,000 - the most successful public appeal the Lancashire Wildlife Trust has ever run!

  

www.brockholes.org/volunteer

  

Volunteering at Brockholes

  

Around 200 volunteers have now been recruited, inducted and trained to begin volunteering at Brockholes, so we offer an enormous thank you to all who are helping it make such a big impact on our visitors... Volunteers truly are the face of Brockholes.

 

There are currently some exciting opportunities to be had volunteering here at Brockholes. Please have a look below at roles (you can click on the titles to download a full role description) which might suit you and click here to register, mentioning Brockholes and the role on the form.

  

Seasonal Activities Volunteer

 

Our seasonal activities program is the ideal opportunity for young people aged 16-23 to get involved here at Brockholes.

 

Running throughout all school holiday periods, you are expected to volunteer for 7 hours per week (normally one full day).

 

The Seasonal Activities Volunteer role is ideal for friendly, outgoing people who want to utilise their creative skills and help visitors – in particular children – enjoy the reserve. You will work alongside other volunteers to plan and deliver a variety of activities including pond dipping, guided walks, bird watching. The role will also include assisting with larger events such as our Extreme Adventure Weekend and Craft Fayres. Support will be given to you by the Events & Communications Manager.

 

This placement is perfect for those undertaking various award schemes, such as the Duke of Edinburgh award, as over the course of the summer you have the opportunity to gain upto 50 volunteering hours.

 

For full details on the role and what it entails, click here.

  

Seasonal Retail & Visitor Services

 

Our seasonal activities program is the ideal opportunity for young people aged 16-23 to get involved here at Brockholes.

 

As a volunteer for Retail & Visitor Services you will provide a warm welcome for visitors, helping to ensure that their Brockholes experience is a positive one. You will help visitors by providing them with information about products on sale in our gift stores and help them plan their visit by telling them about the various events and activities we have on offer.

 

The role suits a friendly, outgoing person who has an interest in wildlife and conservation.

 

Running throughout the school holiday periods, you are expected to volunteer for 7 hours per week (normally one full day).

 

This placement is perfect for those undertaking various award schemes, such as the Duke of Edinburgh award, as over the course of the summer you have the opportunity to gain upto 50 volunteering hours.

  

Each volunteer will be required to undergo a minimum of 1 and a half days training before they start. If you’d like to find out more or ask questions about any of these roles do not hesitate to get in touch with Catherine Haddon, Volunteering Support Officer on 01772 324 129 or email volunteer@lancswt.org.uk

  

www.brockholes.org/awards

  

Awards

 

Brockholes has scooped many high profile awards since opening in April 2011:

 

2013 Lancashire Tourism Award for Best Conference/Meeting venue

 

VisitEngland's Visitor Attraction Quality Assurance Scheme (VAQAS) 'Excellent'

 

Green Tourism Gold Award

 

Customer at the Heart Award

 

Lancashire and Blackpool Tourism Awards 'Marketing Campaign of the Year'

 

National Wood Award

 

BREEAM ‘Outstanding’ for the interim design stage

 

Chartered Institute of Building Services – Building of the Year 2011

 

Civic Trust Award

 

Civic Trust Special Award for Sustainability

 

Highly Commended in portfolio of Newlands sites in Landscape Awards

 

CIWEM Living Wetlands award

 

Greenbuilds award

 

Green Apple Awards for the Visitor Centre

 

Sustainable Project of the year – 2012 Building Awards

 

RICS North West – Overall award

 

RICS North West – Tourism and Leisure

 

RICS NW – Design & Innovation

 

RIBA North West Building of the Year

 

RIBA North West Sustainability Award

 

RIBA Award for top 50 new buildings in the UK

  

www.brockholes.org/business-0

  

Brockholes is an award winning-venue, which floats on one of our lakes - the only one of its kind in the UK.

 

Combine this unique design with access straight off the M6, a beautiful nature reserve, ample parking and on site catering, and you have found yourself the perfect venue for your next event. View our Conference Brochure here.

 

We think Brockholes is the natural place to do business, our dedicated centre can cater for 50 to 130 delegates.

 

We have a choice of two conference rooms and a reception/break-out area.

  

www.brockholes.org/conference-packages

  

At Brockholes we want you to be in control of your event as much as possible. This is why we have created these basic packages, enabling you to tweak each element to build an individual event.

 

Alternatively, we can cater to your specific requests if you require half day, early morning or evening hire.

 

Here is an overview of our conference packages, please contact us for a quote.

 

Our Conference brochure can be viewed in digi-book format here.

  

Day Delegate Package

  

Private room hire from 9am - 5pm

Tea and coffee served on arrival with bacon rolls

Mineral water for each guest

Tea and coffee served mid-morning

Buffet lunch served with tea, coffee and fresh fruit platter

Tea, coffee and biscuits served mid-afternoon

Use of a flip chart, screen and projector

Recycled pen and notepad for each delegate

Dedicated co-ordinator to assist you throughout the planning to delivery of your meeting

24 Hour Delegate Package

 

All of the above plus;

 

Three course dinner

Full breakfast

Accommodation in a standard bedroom at our recommended accommodation supplier

  

Accommodation

 

Preferential rates are available on request from a local hotel when booking through the Brockholes Sales Team.

 

We can tailor our packages to suit your needs. Make the UK's first floating venue your next choice

 

Please contact us for more information or to arrange a meeting or showround with our Conference Sales Co-ordinator

 

Call us on 01772 872005 or enter your details below and we will contact you to discuss your requirements.

  

www.brockholes.org/sponsorship-opportunities

  

Sponsorship Opportunities

  

Brockholes is an award winning nature reserve owned and manages by the Lancashire Wildlife Trust, which was opened in 2011. The 250 acre reserve is already attracting record numbers of breeding birds and around 170,000 visitors each year. Brockholes runs a wide range of events throughout the year and has a particularly strong offer for families. Events include wild families, school holiday clubs, school and community group visits, self led trails and larger festivals during the summer holidays.

 

The key marketing campaigns run targeting families include Christmas, Summer and Easter. Each campaign targets a series of family focused publications across the North West, with a monthly average reach online of over 40,000 people through the website and social media. Advertising and direct marketing campaigns have an average reach of 70% of the total North West population.

  

Sponsorship and Partnership Opportunities

 

Summer at Brockholes sees a host of family events each year, from school holiday clubs to open air theatre, guided walks to family fun. Over the Summer period, Brockholes expects to welcome over 60,000 visitors. The marketing campaign is multi channel and will reach a wide audience of families across the North West. Brockholes has also been featured in the National Press for some of the unique events run. We have some new opportunities for sponsorship and partnership, which will allow your business to raise brand awareness and fulfill part of your Corporate Social Responsibility by supporting Brockholes and The Lancashire Wildlife Trust.

 

Summer at Brockholes Headline Sponsorship £4500

 

Expose your brand to thousands of families across the North West.

- Logo on all Summer promotional material

- Inclusion in all four of the Summer e-news and Lancashire Wildlife Trust e-news

- Sponsor Feature on Brockholes.org

- On site promotion

- Promotion through social media channels

- Inclusion in all PR activity

- Temporary use of Brockholes logo on promotional material directly related to the partnership

  

Wild Families Sponsorship £4000 per year

  

Our Wild Families events are always fully booked. With themes ranging from scarecrow hunts to nature detectives, each event provides quality family time for family members of all ages. Events are run throughout school holidays.

-Logo on marketing materials for Wild Families

-Inclusion in PR for trail launch

-Inclusion in social media activity

-Inclusion in Brockholes e-news

  

Seasonal Trail Sponsorship £500 per trail

Each visitor to Brockholes can collect their free seasonal trail on arrival. The trail helps visitors to explore the reserve, learn more about what to see and how the reserve changes with the season and challenges them to spot things.

-Logo on sponsorship trail

-Inclusion in PR for trail launch

-Inclusion in social media activity around the trail

  

Half term at Brockholes £1500

-Logo on all marketing materials

-Inclusion in launch PR

-Social media promotion

  

Annual Headline Sponsorship £10,000

- Logo inclusion on all Promotional Material

- Dedicated web page on Brockholes.org

- On site promotion

- Dedicated stand area on key event days

- Promotion through Brockholes and LWT e-news, member magazine

- Promotion through social media channels

- Inclusion in all PR activity

-Discounted delegate rate on our conference facilities

 

Children's Corner £500

 

Would you like to help brighten up the children's corner in our restuarant for our younger visitors?

 

-Inclusion in PR activity

 

-Recognition in the children's area

 

-Inclusion in activity to our database promoting the new area

  

To talk to us more about sponsorship opportunities, contact Ruth Gaskell rgaskell@lancswt.org.uk or call 01772 324129.

  

www.brockholes.org/commercial-opportunities

  

Commercial Opportunities

  

Make Brockholes your business

 

Businesses are being offered an opportunity to become partners in a North West tourism and wildlife success story.

 

Brockholes nature reserve is entering the second phase of development which will provide commercial opportunities for other businesses and boost local employment.

 

The Lancashire Wildlife Trust attraction attracted 185,000 people to its nature reserve and the first ever floating visitor village in the UK, last year. It is looking to top that visitor figure this year.

 

Just off the M6 at Preston and easily accessible from anywhere in the UK, Brockholes has received more than 30 regional and national awards despite only opening in 2011. Visitors continue to pour in despite the reserve being surrounded by the attractions of Manchester, Blackpool and Liverpool.

 

The business has shown year-on-year growth and, as a result, is seeking commercial partners for the next phase of development.

 

Anne Selby, Chief Executive of the Wildlife Trust said “Brockholes has performed incredibly well despite being launched in a recession. We have steered the business through the stormy weather and achieved fantastic results.

 

“We are now looking to move into the next phase of development. As a conservation charity, we want to ensure our focus remains on the nature conservation of the reserve, whilst ensuring the commercial income supports this work. We are looking for expressions of interest at this stage and asking businesses to be creative with their proposals.”

 

The Visitor Village has a restaurant, shops, conference centre, welcome centre and education centre. Major companies have made use of the conference centre including RBS and Aldi. The surrounding nature reserve is continuing to grow, with an increasing population of resident creatures and rare visitors like red kite, bittern and otter.

 

Anne continued: “Brockholes received funding for the initial start up and development phases but it was always designed to be a self-sustaining model. By making the most of the commercial opportunities and keeping these balanced carefully with the needs of nature, we believe we can continue to success of Brockholes into the future and achieve even more fantastic results for wildlife, our wide range of visitors and the tourism economy”.

 

Opportunities include retail, water sports (non-motorised), indoor play provision, events partners and mobile food concessions. However, the Trust is open to hear if any investors would wish to develop sympathetic commercial facilities on the site.

 

An opportunity information pack is available by request from:

Karen Williams Karen.Williams@brockholes.org

 

Expressions of interest should initially be made to

Lindsey Poole, Commercial Development Manager lpoole@lancswt.org.uk

  

www.brockholes.org/groups

  

Group Visits

 

Whether it’s a full day out or just a quick stop off on the way to your destination, Brockholes is the ideal place for groups to visit.

 

There's so much for all ages to see and learn about at Brockholes. Everyone from toddlers to seniors will find something to fascinate them, whether through our exciting range of organised events, or by just wandering around the site.

 

We are passionately committed to lifelong learning for all – our belief is that everyone should leave knowing something they didn't when they arrived! The Lancashire Wildlife Trust has over a decade of experience in delivering environmental education, so you can relax, enjoy the surroundings and be sure to come away both enchanted and enlightened...

 

We have several options for various groups, each with a variety of benefits. For more information click on the relevant link below…

 

Coach Groups

School Groups

Community Groups

 

To enquire about group visits please call 01772 872000 or email info@brockholes.org. Or leave your details on the form below and a member of our team will get back to you as soon as possible.

  

Coach Groups

 

Situated next to Junction 31 on the M6, we are the ideal stop for coach trips, whether it is for a short stop, as a green motorway services, or as part of a full day visit.

 

​Free entry for coaches and convenient coach drop-off point

 

We have a variety of walking trails for your group to explore, ranging from half an hour to 2 hours in length.

 

We have our floating visitor village that features a stunning waterside restaurant, 2 unique gift shops and a welcome centre with exhibits, which are ideal should your guests decide for something less active (or if the weather lets you down)!

 

All our buildings are fully accessible, while the vast majority of our paths are well surfaced, level and suitable for wheelchairs.

 

We now have a more convenient drop-off point exclusively for coaches and in addition have a number of benefits for coach groups:

 

• Free entry to the reserve and visitor centre

• Free coach parking

• Refreshment voucher for the coach driver

• Free familiarisation visit for group organisers

• Free meet and greet at the coach (on request)

• Free Brockholes welcome leaflet and trail guide

• Free events and activities throughout the year (visit our events calendar for details)

• Free play area

• Pre-booked guided tours (available at an extra charge)

• Adapted toilets available at the visitor centre

 

Please note that there is a 4 metre high bridge on the entrance to Brockholes. We also advise all coaches to let us know of their visit in advance by calling us on 01772 872000.

 

For any further information please just call 01772 872000, email info@brockholes.org

  

School Groups

 

Our 250 acre nature reserve and Visitor Village is a great place for school groups to visit. Children can learn about the geological history and how the quarrying has shaped the land today. And because we are a new nature reserve, you can watch it grow! It is also home to the UK's first floating Visitor Village.

 

Most importantly of all, the children will be able to see that Brockholes is home to a host of wildlife, with many different species of bird popping by throughout the year, along with brown hare, dragonfly and deer to name a few!

  

Facilities

 

Your school will have use of the education centre on our floating visitor village and you will have at least one Education Officer dedicated to your group throughout the day.

 

Plus... NEW FOR 2014!

 

Next year your school will be able to get even closer to nature at Brockholes by booking an education session in our new purpose-built bird hide classroom, right on the edge of the lake!

 

The hide will overlook No 1 Pit Lake which is home to many different species of birds and you'll also be able to look across to the new sand martin wall, which will provide valuable breeding habitat when they arrive in spring.

 

Why not your details below if you'd like us to keep to informed of these exciting new developments!

  

Programmes

 

We offer a wide range of programmes including:

 

Big Adventure in a Miniature World

Life Cycles

Migration and Hibernation

Environmental Art

Geography and Geology

​Forest School

 

You can read more about the education programmes available at Brockholes here. ​

  

Education Team

 

Our Education Team are based at Brockholes and have a huge amount of experience in inspiring young people about the natural world. They are a lively bunch and pride themselves on creating an exciting and memorable experience for your school. You can read about how great our team is here: Meet the Education Team.

  

Outreach

 

Can't get to us? Then we can come to you! Our outreach education programme is very popular and offers a wide range of programmes for those who are unable to reach Brockholes.You can view our Outreach Programmes here.

 

For any information just call us on 01772 872000 for more information, email eduadmin@lancswt.org.uk

  

Community Groups

 

Brockholes is a great place to bring your community group, whether it's the Scouts, Guides, Cubs, Brownies or Beavers or a rambling or photography group, there is something for everyone!

 

As well as exploring our stunning nature reserve you can enjoy an activity such as a guided walk, a mini-beast hunt or an environmental art session.

 

You can visit Brockholes during the day or we have special community group evenings when the reserve is open beyond our usual opening hours. Group activities usually take place between 5.30pm and 7.30pm.

  

Forest Schools

 

Forest Schools is a unique outdoor learning experience that improves children's self-esteem, confidence and abilities.

 

Brockholes provides an inspirational setting for Forest Schools sessions and training, and is conveniently located just off junction 31 of the M6 at Preston.

 

Our Forest School sessions are designed and delivered by our experienced and fully qualified Education Team including our Level 3 Trained Forest Schools Practioner.

 

Our next Forest Schools adult training session will be running in October. To find out more about Forest School sessions at Brockholes please call 01772 872017 or email kphillips@lancswt.org.uk

  

www.brockholes.org/shop

  

Shop til you flock

 

Why not drop into our two on-site shops, The Nest and Village Store, which are packed with all sorts of goodies. We've a variety of products from local beverages and food, to cards and books and crafts and jewellery. They are the perfect place to pick up a unique gift... and there's plenty of treats for the little ones too!

  

The Nest

 

The Nest is home to an inspiring collection of gifts, jewellery, books, toys, arts & crafts. Discover what's inside The Nest here.

  

The Village Store

 

The Village Store stocks a wide range of products, from locally sourced food and drink treats to bird food, garden accessories and wildlife books. Come and look inside here.

  

Membership of the Wildlife Trust

 

Brockholes is a Lancashire Wildlife Trust Nature Reserve. You can become a member today or talk to our friendly staff members and volunteers on your next visit to Brockholes. Gift membership is available in The Nest or you can buy it online here.

  

www.brockholes.org/eat

  

Our restaurant is the perfect place to stop and watch the world go by with panoramic views of our lake. Scrumptious homemade dishes and a taste bud tingling selection of Lancashire's finest local produce are all here to tempt you, along with fair trade tea and coffee.

 

Our restaurant is open from 10am to 5pm.

  

www.brockholes.org/very-special-occasions

  

Brockholes is a fantastic place for your very special occasions.

 

Our floating venue is one of the newest and most unique in Lancashire and promises you and your guests an unforgetable event whatever the occasion.

 

We have a dedicated function centre that can accomodate weddings, christenings and all sort of functions.

 

The clean, contemporary finish of our venue means that you have the perfect opportunity to put your own stamp on your event, with a flexible range of catering available from our on-site restaurant.

 

We have a dedicated Conference and Events Co-ordinator that will be available to help you plan your special occasion.

  

Very Special Weddings

 

We had our first wedding celebration September 2011 and since then it's been all go with Wedding Fayres and lots more bookings for this year and next. Find out more about weddings at Brockholes here.

  

Very Special Christenings

 

Brockholes is a real family friendly venue for a Christening celebration that you will remember for years to come. Find out more here.

 

For general enquiries about holding a function at Brockholes please call 01772 872005 or email philip.dunn@brockholes.org.

 

During my third night in Dayangcha I awake needing to use the toilet. This entails leaving my room to cross the courtyard then through to the other side of the building. My room is at the bottom end of the C shaped compound and the toilet is the other side of the building at the top of the C, a hut perched on stilts over a bank with strategic wooden slats missing for people to squat over and perform their business. But the cold stops me in my tracks. Everything is crystalline, I look up and stars blink in the night sky, it has stopped snowing! Boy is it cold, an empty beer bottle by my bed is used instead as I will need to dress properly to go out otherwise. Emerging in the morning, I am experiencing cold like never before. My nostrils freeze quickly, a new experience. And it is so beautiful out there, Mr Kong was not wrong at all. My boots take on a weird stiffness. They never dried out from the snow and now they have frozen solid, three pairs of dry socks have kept me unaware of this fact. The first train of the day will be 571 from Tonghua to Songshuzhen, heavy enough to require double JS power, here the steepening of the gradient on the east side of the village is apparent. I have taken a photo here already when the sky was grey, the view in front of me then was clear. As I trudge through the deep virgin snow over the railway and up the slope I see the branches now sag under the weight of the accumulated snow creating a foil in the foreground which at the time I did not like. I can now only look in wonder at the resulting photo of the train and its exhaust hanging in the sub zero air. Did I really witness this? I have difficulty comprehending, it actually brings tears to my eyes, and did so through the whole re processing of the image. I really should not look at it for so long. JS 5705 pilots JS 5141, November the 20th 1992.

 

Nikon FG 50mm Nikkor Kodachrome 200. 1/250 @ f11.

Having travelled up from Devon to record the Cumbrian Hoovers Railtour the locations had to be a bit special.

I was in renowned company. My friend Richie B and meeting for the first time, World famous local photographer Dave McDigital.

Between us we had two dodgy knees and a dodgy hip.

When i suggested this location I had no idea what was entailed in reaching this spot. Dave suggested extra ibuprofen would be required.

By the time we reached base camp we were all puffing like a small herd of wildebeest and wishing we had gone to Garsdale as Richard first suggested.

We sat and surveyed the view and wondered what the chances of a dash of sunshine were. God teased us with a few bright spells but on this occasion we payed for the sins of our ancestors.

So....first shot in the bag. 50049 + 50007 looking rather magnificent with a rake of blue grey Mk2s.

Sugar beet used to be one of the main agricultural products of Hungary up until the end of communism.

 

After that, a fraction of the 12 sugar factories remained active in the country, with their number decreasing to 5 by the 2005s.

 

Later, when Hungary joined the EU, according to the EU sugar market policy 4 factories had to shut down, leaving the Kaposvár plant the only one processing Hungarian-grown sugar beet.

 

Most of the beet is being grown in the fields of the Alföld. After collecting at nearby train stations, the beets are loaded onto local freight trains, to be unified into unit trains transporting them to the Kaposvár factory on the main lines.

 

Csabacsűd on Line 125 is one of the loading spots still seeing weekly trains: the empty cars usually arrive on Thursdays, get loaded on Fridays, to then head to Békéscsaba on Saturdays.

 

On the 15th of October, we headed down to Szarvas, to catch one of these loaded runs with Levente, only missing a little detail that would interfere with our plans: that day was an extra workday.

 

This meant that the designated freight crew of Békéscsaba with Sergei 109 got some other duties according to their Monday schedule. This usually means switching cars at Orosháza, but that morning also entailed a mysterious-sounding "salt train" to Gyula.

 

Freight traffic is very rare in this direction. So naturally, we made our way to the line in the early morning, disembarking the Bzmot at Bicere stop, where the station dispatcher welcomed us with overwhelming joy and quickly confirmed that the freight train will be soon en route from Békéscsaba, with 4 cars.

 

We took our positions, and soon the sound of the 6-axle Soviet beast started to echo around the Southern Alföld... with 4 wood-loaded cars. Quite salty indeed!

Whilst a Lockheed U-2 was promised for the static display at this year's RIAT, there was obviously no mention of the others that were using the airfield operationally in the run-up to the show. There was apparently a swapover entailing four aircraft.

 

This is U-2S 80-1067 a short time before landing on runway 09.

 

Fairford, Gloucestershire

12th July 2017

  

20170712 IMG_8017 80-1067 U2S

These photos are from another hike I did for the Kickapoo Valley Trail Challenge 2022.

My goal was to get to the look out on Hanson Rock Loop.

 

It entailed a 5 mile hike with Charlie through some old maple and oak forests.

Since it was so overwhelmingly GREEN, I switched to infrared to capture it in a different way.

  

what's your favorite spot to go clear your head?

 

I wish I was brave when I was little, finding myself sneaking off to a dark area of my house with a blanket and flashlight to let my imagination wander. now at 20, that's all I ever care about doing, and what better way of living but to give yourself complete comfort in whatever you do? because you can. that thought is such a lovely concept to me. even in dark situations, you've still got a little light to keep the pages moving. get where this is going?

 

if not, maybe I needed a snow storm to slow me down a bit and allow me to process the ideas I've had, even if it didn't entail me building a fort and sneaking under it every once in awhile to get creatively flowing.

 

for sneak peaks on more from these shoots, head on over to:

blog.

facebook.

instagram.

Hoodening (/ʊd.ɛnɪŋ/), also spelled hodening and oodening, is a folk custom found in Kent, a county in south-eastern England. The tradition entails the use of a wooden hobby horse known as a hooden horse that is mounted on a pole and carried by an individual hidden under a sackcloth. Originally, the tradition was restricted to the area of East Kent, although in the twentieth century it spread into neighbouring West Kent. It represents a regional variation of a "hooded animal" tradition that appears in various forms throughout the British Isles.

Piero's war

You sleep buried in a wheat field

it's not the rose, it's not the tulip

watching on you from the shadow of ditches

but it's a thousand red poppies (...)

Faber

 

La guerra di Piero - Fabrizio De André

 

La guerra di Piero

Dormi sepolto in un campo di grano

Non è la rosa, non è il tulipano

Che ti fan veglia dall'ombra dei fossi

Ma sono mille papaveri rossi (...)

Faber

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Qi Bo's photos on Fluidr

  

Qi Bo's photos on Flickriver

  

www.worldphoto.org/sony-world-photography-awards/winners-...

  

www.fotografidigitali.it/gallery/2726/opere-italiane-segn...

 

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“A story exists only if someone tells it.”

TITIAN TERZANI

... this aphorism to introduce this photographic story, which begins in Germany close to the Second World War, to end tragically in Sicily: the main protagonist of this "photographic" story is of German origin, his name is Carl Ludwig Hermann Long (known as Luz Long), but this story could not exist without another great protagonist, American, his name is Jesse Owens. Let's start in order, Luz Long is a brilliant law student at the University of Leipzig, he represents the incarnation of the Aryan man, he is tall, blond, has an athletic physique, his great passion is the long jump, he is a natural talent, this allows him to enter in a short time among the best long jumpers of the time (so much so that he won third place at the 1934 European Championships); Long will be one of the favorites in the long jump at the Berlin Olympics in 1936, whose historical context is that of Nazi Germany which would soon unleash the Second World War, including the racial hatred that resulted in the extermination camps with the Holocaust. Luz Long is remembered both for his great sportsmanship gesture towards his direct American opponent Jesse Owens, who, thanks to Long's unexpected help, will win the long jump competition, thus winning the gold medal (one of the four gold medals he won), while Long finished second by winning the silver medal, but Long is also remembered for his sincere friendship with Jesse, free from hatred and racial prejudice. The Berlin Olympics represent an extraordinary propaganda to the ideals of the Third Reich, it is a very important historical moment to show the superiority of the Aryan race to the whole world; the sports facilities were built with the utmost care by the architect of the Nazi regime Albert Speer (with architectural references from Ancient Greece), the sporting event was about to turn into an ideological tool of the regime, the documentary film " Olympia" of 1938 was also shot for this purpose directed by Leni Riefenstahl (author of films and documentaries that exalted the Nazi regime), where many innovative cinematographic techniques were used for the time, with unusual and original shots, such as shots from below, extreme close-ups, to the platforms in the Olympic stadium to photograph the crowd. Hitler wanted to demonstrate the supremacy of the Aryan race with the Olympics, the Aryan athlete had to correspond to a statuesque stereotyped figure, tall, blond, athletic, fair complexion, blue eyes, Luz Long was the ideal incarnation of him. Forty-nine countries participated in the Olympics, a number never reached before; German-Jewish athletes were expelled from all sports; even African Americans were discriminated against in their country, but they were allowed to compete, even if in smaller numbers, one of them was called James Cleveland Owens, but everyone knew him as Jesse (due to an error of interpretation by the his professor); it was his athletic abilities that allowed him to achieve several records, an important moment was the meeting with Larry Snyder, a good coach, and so thanks to his victories he had the opportunity to compete in the Berlin Olympics: he will be the protagonist of the Olympic Games, a 23-year-old boy originally from Alabama, who in a few days will win 4 gold medals, the 100m race, the 200m race, the 4x100m relay race and the long jump race in which there will be the story that will be worth all the gold medals in the world with Luz Long). Let's get to the point, on the morning of August 4, 1936 Luz qualifies for the long jump final, for Owens the qualification takes place in conjunction with the races of 200 mt. plans, Ownes is engaged in both races, the simultaneity of the two events, and a different regulation between the European and the US one entails him two null jumps, the first jump he thought was a test to test the terrain (as per the US regulation) , instead it was a valid jump for the competition, the second jump sees him very demoralized and makes the worst jump of his life. the elimination is now one step away, but Long interprets with great depth of mind the psychic state of prostration of his direct opponent, he sees him transformed into a face, dejected, Luz approaches him in a friendly way and suggests him to disconnect 20-30 cm before the serve line (and shows him the exact point by placing a handkerchief right next to the platform, at the height of the ideal take-off point, even if not all those who report the event in their chronicles remember the detail of the handkerchief), but also exhorts him by telling him that a champion like him shouldn't be afraid to take off first for the jump: for Owens the third jump if it had been void would have meant his elimination from the competition (and the certain victory of Luz), but, thanks to the suggestion of a technical nature (and perhaps the laying of the handkerchief...), but also affective-psychological ( !) by Luz, Owens following the advice of his direct rival, makes a formidable jump, which allows him to qualify. Long is the first to congratulate Jesse, both on the occasion of qualifying and after him with his final victory, which will result in his fourth gold medal. A deep, true friendship is born between Long and Jesse, in the videos available of the time it is really exciting to witness their handshakes and their embraces in those first moments, under the stern gaze of the Führer, a friendship that will consolidate in the following days, making a habit of dating in the olympic village. After the 1936 Olympics, in 1939 he became a lawyer, in 1941 he married, shortly after his son Kai was born, in 1942 he was called up as an officer of the Luftwaffe and sent to the front line, in April 1943 he was assigned to the Herman armored division Göring and the following month he was sent to Sicily immediately after the Allied landing on the island (Operation Husky): Long dies at the age of thirty, he is in Niscemi with the armored division, and is thus involved in the fighting for the defense of the Biscari-Santo Pietro airport; the causes of death are not certain, the most plausible is that of an aggravation due to wounds sustained in combat against the Anglo-Americans, he was found by a fellow soldier on the side of a road, from here he was transported to the nearby field hospital, where he died on July 14, 1943. He was first buried in a temporary cemetery, then his body was exhumed and then transferred in 1961 to the German military cemetery of Motta Sant'Anastasia while it was still under construction, now it is there that Luz Long rests: crypt 2 “Caltanissetta”, plate E, his name engraved on the slate slab preceded by the rank “Obergefreiter-dR" (Appointed of the Reserve), followed by the dates of birth 27 IV 13 and of death 14 VII 43; it is what remains of Luz Long, one of the 4,561 German soldiers who died in Sicily during the Second World War and are buried here. In his last letter to his friend Owens, Luz magining its end near, he asks him to go to her son and tell him who had been his father; his friend Jesse did as requested and even went to his son's wedding. And Owens….? … Jesse returned to his homeland did not have the respect he deserved after winning 4 gold medals (!), Those were the times when black people were considered "second class" (!); indeed, although with a nod the fuhrer saluted him (as Owens himself declared), the behavior of the American president Franklin Delano Roosevelt was unspeakable, he did not even deign to welcome the Olympic winner to the White House as tradition required (! ). Back in the United States, Jesse had to adapt to doing the most varied jobs, including being a boy at a gas station. To make a living he raced against horses, dogs and motorcycles, as a freak show; many years would pass before his value was recognized; he said «all the medals I have won could be melted down, but the 24-carat friendship that was born on the platform in Berlin could never be reproduced».

Postscript:

Long did not share the Nazi objectives and ideology, he was in complete antithesis with them, endowed with great sensitivity and profound nobility of mind, he was very far from the fanatical and cruel creed of Hitler's Germany, as demonstrated by the words he wrote in 1932 in a letter sent to his grandmother: “all the nations of the world have their heroes, the Semites as well as the Aryans. Each of them should abandon the arrogance of feeling like a superior race."

On his tombstone (as well as on others), under which his remains rest closed in a box, next to his name, today there are some small stones, they are small symbols, which recall the Jewish custom of leaving, instead of flowers, a pebble on the graves of the deceased, to demonstrate that his story has not been forgotten, it is a message of peace and brotherhood of which Luz was a promoter in life, his thoughts also reach us through his burial place, because, as stated on the plaque placed at the entrance to the German military cemetery of Motta Sant'Anastasia "the graves of the fallen are the great preachers of peace" (Albert Schweitzer, Nobel Peace Prize).

 

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“La storia esiste solo se qualcuno la racconta.”

TIZIANO TERZANI

… l'aforisma per introdurre questo racconto fotografico, che inizia in Germania a ridosso della seconda guerra mondiale, per poi terminare in maniera tragica in Sicilia: il protagonista principale di questa storia “fotografica” è di origine tedesca, si chiama Carl Ludwig Hermann Long, detto Luz (meglio conosciuto come Luz Long), però questa storia non potrebbe esistere senza un altro grande protagonista, lui è statunitense, si chiama Jesse Owens. Iniziamo con ordine, Luz Long è un brillante studente di legge all'Università di Lipsia, rappresenta l’incarnazione dell’uomo ariano, è alto, biondo, ha un fisico atletico, la sua grande passione è il salto in lungo, è un talento naturale, ciò gli consente in breve tempo di far parte dei migliori saltatori in lungo dell’epoca (tanto da conquistare il terzo posto agli Europei del 1934); Long sarà uno dei favoriti nel salto in lungo alle Olimpiadi di Berlino nel 1936, il contesto storico è quello della Germania nazista che da lì a poco scatenerà la Seconda Guerra Mondiale, incluso quell’odio raziale che porterà ai campi di sterminio con l’Olocausto. Luz Long viene ricordato per un suo grande gesto di sportività verso il suo diretto avversario statunitense Jesse Owens: egli grazie all’inaspettato aiuto di Long, riuscirà a vincere la gara del salto in lungo, conquistando la quarta medaglia d'oro ! mentre Long arriverà secondo (con la medaglia d'argento), Long però viene ricordato anche per la sua sincera amicizia verso Jesse, scevra da odi e pregiudizi raziali, una vera rarità visto il contesto storico della Germania nazista. Le Olimpiadi di Berlino rappresentano una straordinaria propaganda agli ideali del Terzo Reich, è un momento importantissimo per mostrare al mondo intero la superiorità della razza ariana; le strutture sportive vengono realizzate con la massima cura dall’architetto del regime nazista Albert Speer (con riferimenti architettonici dell’Antica Grecia), la manifestazione sportiva diviene uno strumento ideologico del regime, a tale scopo viene girato il film-documentario “Olympia” del 1938, diretto da Leni Riefenstahl (che oltre ad essere attrice, regista, fotografa, diventa autrice di film e documentari che esaltano il regime nazista), nel docu-film delle olimpiadi vengono impiegate molte tecniche cinematografiche innovative per l'epoca, con inquadrature insolite ed originali, come le riprese dal basso, con primi piani estremi, l'utilizzo di binari nello stadio olimpico per riprendere la folla. Hitler vuole dimostrare attraverso le Olimpiadi la supremazia della razza ariana, l’atleta ariano deve corrispondere ad una figura stereotipata statuaria, deve essere alto, biondo, atletico, carnagione chiara, occhi azzurri, Luz Long rappresenta la sua incarnazione ideale. Alle Olimpiadi partecipano quarantanove Paesi, un numero mai raggiunto prima; gli atleti ebreo-tedeschi vengono espulsi da tutte le discipline sportive; anche gli afroamericani, sono discriminati nel loro paese, negli USA, però ad essi viene concesso di gareggiare, anche se in numero minore rispetto ai bianchi, uno di loro si chiama James Cleveland Owens, ma tutti lo conoscono come Jesse (per un’errore d’interpretazione da parte del suo professore, per tutti sarà sempre Jesse); sono le sue capacità atletiche a consentirgli di realizzare diversi record, un momento importante è l’incontro con Larry Snyder, un bravo capace allenatore; a Jesse grazie alle sue vittorie si presenta l’opportunità di gareggiare alle Olimpiadi di Berlino: sarà lui il protagonista ed il favorito dei giochi olimpici, un ragazzo di 23 anni originario dell’Alabama, che in pochi giorni si aggiudicherà ben 4 medaglie d’oro, la corsa dei 100, dei 200, la corsa a staffetta dei 4x100 e quella del salto in lungo nella quale ci sarà la nota vicenda con Luz Long che varrà tutte le medaglie d’oro del mondo, come dichiarerà Jesse molti anni dopo !). Veniamo al dunque, la mattina del 4 agosto 1936 Luz si qualifica per la finale del salto in lungo, per Owens la qualificazione si svolge in concomitanza con la gare dei 200 mt. piani, Ownes è impegnato in entrambe le gare, la contemporaneità dei due eventi, ma anche un diverso regolamento sportivo tra quello Europeo e quello Statunitense gli comportano due salti nulli, il primo salto egli pensa fosse di prova per saggiare il terreno (come da regolamento Statunitense), invece quello che effettua è un salto valido per la gara, col secondo salto le cose vanno ancora peggio, lui è profondamente demoralizzato e finisce col compiere il peggiore salto della sua vita, l’eliminazione è oramai ad un passo, però Long interpreta con grande profondità d’animo lo stato psichico di prostrazione del suo diretto avversario, lo vede trasformato in volto, abbattuto, Luz gli si avvicina con fare amichevole e gli suggerisce di staccare 20-30 cm prima della linea di battuta, gli mostra il punto esatto dove staccare poggiando un fazzoletto proprio di fianco alla pedana, all’altezza dell’ideale punto di stacco (non tutti coloro che parlano della gara riportano nelle loro cronache il particolare del fazzoletto), Luz incoraggia Jesse dicendogli che un atleta come lui non deve certo temere di staccare prima per il salto, qualche centimetro perso per lui che è un campione non è certo un problema !; per Owens il terzo salto è l'ultima possibilità di qualificarsi, se non dovesse farcela di sicuro la vittoria sarebbe di Luz ! ... però proprio in virtù del suggerimento tecnico-affettivo-psicologico (e forse anche grazie alla presenza del fazzoletto...) operato da Luz, Owens compie un formidabile salto che gli consente di qualificarsi. Long è il primo a congratularsi con Jesse, sia in occasione della sua qualificazione, sia dopo, quando ci sarà la sua vittoria finale. Tra Long e Jesse nasce una profonda, vera, grande amicizia, nei video disponibili dell’epoca è emozionante assistere alle loro strette di mano, ai loro abbracci durante la competizione, questo sotto lo sguardo severo e contrariato del Führer, amicizia tra i due che si consoliderà ancor più nei giorni successivi, frequentandosi nel villaggio olimpico. Dopo le Olimpiadi del 1936, nel 1939 Luz diventa avvocato, nel 1941 si sposa, poco dopo nasce suo figlio Kai, nel 1942 è richiamato alle armi come ufficiale della Luftwaffe e spedito in prima linea, nell’aprile del 1943 viene assegnato alla divisione corazzata Herman Göring, il mese successivo è inviato in Sicilia subito dopo lo sbarco degli Alleati sull’isola con l'Operazione Husky: siamo oramai all'epilogo, Long si trova a Niscemi con la divisione corazzata, viene coinvolto nei combattimenti per la difesa dell'aeroporto di Biscari-Santo Pietro, viene ferito, e poco dopo morirà, all'età di trent'anni. Le cause della morte non sono certe, la più plausibile è quella di un suo aggravamento dovuto alle ferite riportate nel combattimento contro gli Anglo-Americani, viene trovato ferito da un suo commilitone sul ciglio di una strada, da qui viene trasportato nel vicino ospedale da campo, dove morirà il 14 luglio 1943. Dapprima viene sepolto in un cimitero provvisorio, poi la sua salma viene riesumata e quindi trasferita nel 1961 nel cimitero militare germanico di Motta Sant'Anastasia mentre è ancora in costruzione, adesso è li che Luz Long riposa: cripta 2 “Caltanissetta”, piastra E, il suo nome inciso sulla lastra di ardesia preceduto dal grado “Obergefreiter-dR" (Appuntato della Riserva), seguito dalle date di nascita 27 IV 13 e di morte 14 VII 43; è quanto resta di Luz Long, uno dei 4.561 soldati tedeschi morti in Sicilia durante la Seconda Guerra Mondiale e qui sepolti. Nell'ultima lettera all'amico Owens, Luz immaginando che il suo destino a presto si sarebbe compiuto, gli chiede di andare, a guerra finita, da suo figlio e dirgli chi è stato suo padre; l'amico Jesse farà quanto richiesto, anzi, andrà persino alle nozze di suo figlio.

Ed Owens che fine ha fatto….? … Jesse rientrato in patria non riceve dal suo Paese il rispetto che merita dopo aver vinto ben 4 medaglie d'oro (!), sono i tempi in cui le persone di colore vengono considerate dai bianchi di “serie B” (!); addirittura, sebbene con un solo cenno, il Führer saluterà Owens dopo le sue vittorie (lo dichiara lo stesso Owens), mentre il presidente americano Franklin Delano Roosvelt mostra un comportamento inqualificabile, non si degna di accoglierlo alla Casa Bianca, lui che è il vincitore olimpico, come invece prevede la tradizione (!). Tornato negli Stati Uniti, Jesse deve adattarsi a fare i lavori più umili e disparati, fa anche il garzone in una pompa di benzina. Per guadagnarsi da vivere gareggia contro cavalli, cani e motociclette, come fenomeno da baraccone; passeranno molti anni prima che gli venga riconosciuto il suo reale valore; egli ebbe a dire parlando di Luz Long «si potrebbero fondere tutte le medaglie che ho vinto, ma non si potrebbe mai riprodurre l’ amicizia a 24 carati che nacque sulla pedana di Berlino».

Post Scriptum:

Long non condivideva gli obiettivi e l'ideologia nazisti, lui era in completa antitesi con esse, essendo dotato di grande sensibilità e profonda nobiltà d’animo, lui era lontanissimo dal credo fanatico e crudele della Germania di Hitler, lo dimostrano le parole che egli scrisse nel 1932 in una lettera inviata a sua nonna: “tutte le nazioni del mondo hanno i propri eroi, i semiti così come gli ariani. Ognuna di loro dovrebbe abbandonare l’arroganza di sentirsi una razza superiore".

Sulla sua lapide (così come su altre), al di sotto della quale riposano i suoi resti chiusi dentro una cassetta, accanto al suo nome è posta oggi qualche piccola pietra, sono dei piccoli simboli, che ricordano l’usanza ebraica di lasciare, al posto dei fiori, un ciottolo sulle tombe dei defunti, per dimostrare che la sua storia non è stata dimenticata, è un messaggio di pace e di fratellanza del quale Luz è stato promotore in vita, il suo pensiero ci giunge anche attraverso il suo luogo di sepoltura, perché, come riporta la targa posta all’entrata del cimitero militare germanico di Motta Sant’Anastasia “i sepolcri dei caduti sono i grandi predicatori della pace” (Albert Schweitzer, premio Nobel per la pace).

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Jesse Owens e Luz Long, un'amicizia più forte della guerra

 

La Grande Storia CampioniJESSE OWENS LUZ LONG mp4

 

Jesse Owens - 1936 Olympics

 

Greatest Olympic Moment Gone with the Winds

 

Jesse Owens e Luz Long

 

Luz Long a Motta Sant'Anastasia (CT), TG1, cimitero dei tedeschi, Jesse Owens e Adolf Hitler

 

Jesse Owens Intervista rara

 

Jesse Owens e Luz Long, quando Berlino '36 diventò fratellanza

 

FEDERICO BUFFA RACCONTA JESSE OWENS BERLINO 1936

 

Jesse Owens vs a horse

 

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Race Movie CLIP - Sportsmanship (2016) - Stephan James, Jason Sudeikis Movie HD

 

Race extrait 2 beers with Luz Long

 

Race Movie 2016 100m Sprint 1936 Berlin Olympics

 

Race - Il colore della vittoria - Trailer italiano ufficiale [HD]

 

Race Movie CLIP - I See It Coach (2016) - Stephan James, Jason Sudeikis Movie HD

 

| RACE || MOVIE FIRST SCENE BETWEEN JESSE OWENS AND HIS COACH

 

Ending of Race - Jesse Owens

 

Race Movie CLIP - Do You Want to Win? (2016) - Stephan James, Jason Sudeikis Movie HD

 

A Motivational Video - Race hollywood movie scene | Motivational Video for students | Dreams

 

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Europe, Netherlands, Rotterdam, Katendrecht, Veerlaan, Fenixlofts, Facade, Balconies (slightly cut)

 

The facade of Fenixlofts - the gentrified / redeveloped Fenix veem (harbor storage facility). The building dates back to 1898, it’s an early example of a modernist industrial structure without load-bearing walls.

 

Again the story of the building:

 

1898-1950

The Fenix 1 , together with Fenix 2, once formed the giant ‘San Francisco’ veem. With a length of 300 m the then longest / largest veem in the world. The building has a complex and somewhat dramatic history which reflects the history of Rotterdam. At first, it was used as the storage facility of the HAL (Holland America Line). At the start of the second world war, the quay facilities were severely damaged during a German bombing raid The attack and at the end of the war again.

1950- end 80s

After the war San Francisco was repaired, the HAL moved its facilities to the adjacent Wilhelminapier and the ‘Van Gend en Loos’ transport company moved to the building. In 1947 a fire destroyed the middle part of it. In 1950 the two remaining parts were redeveloped on the instigation of the municipality of Rotterdam as Fenix-loods 1 and Fenix-loods 2 and the open space was partly filled by a facility building for harbour workers with washrooms, toilets and a large canteen. C.Steinweg Handelsveem became the prime user of the buildings.

End 80s till now

At the end of the 80s during the big transformation of the Rotterdam harbour, the Rijnhaven together with the adjacent Maashaven largely lost their harbour function. After a number of plans and studies in 2012 the municipality decided to redevelop both buildings as an element of the redevelopment/gentrification of the dilapidated Katendrecht quarter, which is an element of the Kop van Zuid urban restructuring masterplan plan which involves all the old harbours on the south bank of the river) .

The first stage of the redevelopment was to allow temporary commercial and artistic use of the Fenix buildings. Fenix 1 was primarily used for exhibitions. In the first comment are two images made during the RAW art exhibition there.

Alas, the redevelopment of the veem, entailed something very close to the complete demolition of the edifice.

 

This is 924 of Minimalism / explicit Graphism and 209 of Urban frontiers.

 

Sadly, planes terrify the heck out of me. And even sadder than that, the thing that I want to do most in life is travel the world. Which entails...a lot of plane time. Gah, I have such bad experiences with planes, it's not even funny. Too many turbulent flights.

 

Please see here; it looks better!

 

P.S. This was Explore #46 on June 16!! Yay! Thanks all!

 

Executive F at Western Ave. SRG and I got permission to shoot this which entailed letter writing and hold harmless agreements etc. We took about 6 shots of the F unit and the cars.

The train itself was the Spring inspection train on an overnight stay. We met a steward and Rudy Doletino (SP?) who traveled with the engine. I believe Steve sent him a print of one of the shots for his Chicago office. All in all, a fun night.

Steve lit this with two flash bulbs.

Thank you for taking the time to view my images. I am getting to the end of my 100-day project and don't know know what my next one will entail. I think I am ready to start moving forward with something new and challenging but I get stuck on the idea that I should be doing more meaningful work rather than indulging myself daily. How can I still be finding my path?

Whilst waiting in the drizzle and mist at Cheadle Hulme for the “Farewell to Class 44” railtour I managed this passable shot of 85016 heading for Stockport and Manchester with a parcels train, 21st January 1978. Whilst the first two vehicles behind the engine are British Railways era General Utility Vans (GUV) the next two are pre nationalisation designs, a Great Western Railway Siphon G” and a London Midland and Scottish Railway full brake,

 

Locomotive History

85016 was originally E3071 and is one of a class of forty new AC electric locomotives, classified AL5 built by Doncaster Works with electrical equipment supplied by AEI and entered traffic in October 1962. Deliveries of the class were slow and spread over three and a half years, with the last, E3095 not entering traffic until the last week of 1964. The class were not plagued by the problems of some of earlier types of AC electric locomotives and therefore led a fairly uneventful existence. For the next twenty five years the class could be found on secondary passenger, parcels and freight duties through out the West Coast Main Line. Class withdrawal commenced in 1983 but mass withdrawals did not commence until the end of 1989. However at this time Railfreight Distribution identified the need for more AC electric traction for freight duties and the decision was made to convert ten Class 85s to dedicated freight locomotives. This entailed removal of their train heating, reducing their maximum speed, and reclassifying as Class 85/1 with 85016 becoming 85105. By the spring of 1991 the end was in sight for these locomotives with the new Class 90/1s entering traffic and 85105 was withdrawn in July 1991. It was broken up by MC Metals, Glasgow during September 1992.

 

Praktica LTL, High Speed Ektachrome

mediocre and boring photo, I'm sorry. view large if you want.

 

I've ran into a bit of luck, so it seems.

I got accepted into a program that entails that I spend junior year in France, so that's pretty neat I'd say.

 

Kids in this Arctic community play a game that entails jumping from one piece of ice to another, hoping to avoid the frigid water.

Happy Whispery White Wednesday everyone :-)

(though it's just a bit of white clothing)

 

AND a HUGE thank you to -Sunny- who LEARNED me HTML-CODING!!! When I finally got it right I got so happy I almost jumped out of my chair and cried out to my old friend mac, ha ha :D YOU GO GIRL, and thank you again, soooo much!!!

 

(last photo from the series, ((I think))

  

So somebody wanted to now the idea behind this photograph, and it's simpy that I'm going into the light. Positive shots and thoughts and all of which that entails. So hopefully my next photoshoot (when wiII that be? hmm...) woun't be as dark and melancoic as this one. And that's why i "needed" the gradient thingy. An "open" door in my eyes!

 

*text overload*

  

ha ha ha ha explored!

En el Casco Viejo.

 

La multiplicación de pisos turísticos en el Casco Viejo hace que suban los alquileres y algunos vecinos sufran sus consecuencias, dando lugar a un malestar que reflejan en sus paredes, si bien los beneficios que la actividad turística conlleva son el sustento de la mayoría de los negocios de la zona.

¡Bienvenidos turistas!

 

The multiplication of tourist floors in Casco Viejo causes rent to rise and some residents suffer their consequences, giving rise to a malaise that reflects on their walls, although the benefits that the tourist activity entails are the sustenance of most of the businesses of the area.

Welcome tourists! :-)

As with many of you, I had hoped that becoming fully vaccinated would lead towards a more normal life. In some ways it has. I have been able to actually interact with family members this summer, something that was socially distanced at this time last year. On the other hand, recent data has shown that even among the fully vaccinated there is a significant risk in some settings. It’s time to be more cautious in potentially crowded outdoor settings.

 

The image that I created is an exaggeration, but it is time to mask up in many of those settings once more. It is also time to avoid other settings. For certain, once the 700,000 bikers return from this weekend’s Sturgis, South Dakota celebration, they will add to the potential dangers already caused by the unvaccinated. I had hoped that We, the People had developed a stronger sense of community by experiencing the pandemic. Sadly, a significant number of my fellow citizens have not.

 

I hadn’t intended to step up on a soap box when I decided to post this image. Under the circumstances I can not remain silent. In the instance of a pandemic I strongly feel that my sense of community and the responsibilities that it entails takes priority over the relatively minor personal freedoms of choice that I must temporarily give up.

 

Stay safe and healthy, my friends.

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All images are COPYRIGHTED by Divyesh Sejpal and all rights are reserved. Usage of any image without personal express authorization is prohibited. Any infringement of the copyright will entail strict legal action. If interested in any image, feel free to contact on dcsejpal@gmail.com.

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www.brockholes.org/

  

Brockholes is a new kind of nature reserve, an unreserved reserve owned and managed by The Wildlife Trust for Lancashire, Manchester and North Merseyside.

 

There's lots to see and do at Brockholes, you can hunt out our floating Visitor Village with a restaurant, shops and Welcome Centre or explore our family-friendly hides, walking trails and play area.

  

www.brockholes.org/visit

  

At Brockholes you can explore our beautiful reserve, see the wildlife that call it ‘home’ or hunt out our Visitor Village with restaurant and shops, all of which float (yes really!) on one of our lakes.

 

Our floating Visitor Village features a gift shop and a restaurant providing stunning views across the lake. You can also discover our interactive Welcome Centre and learn all about the wildlife that you could see on-site. Be sure to call in to pick up a welcome leaflet that will help you plan your day. You can view the reserve map in our Welcome Leaflet here to help you plan your first visit.

  

2013/14 Opening Times:

 

4th November 2013 to 31 March 2014 10am-4pm

1st April 2014 to 31st October 2014 10am-5pm

 

Closed Christmas Eve and Christmas Day only

  

Car Park Charges

 

We don't charge for entry and any profits made here go back into looking after the reserve. So every time you pay for parking, treat yourself in the shop or enjoy some lunch, you are helping look after the reserve and the wildlife that visits us!

  

Sorry no dogs allowed!

 

There is a good reason! Dogs can disturb wildlife, especially nesting birds. If your dog was to get too close to a nesting bird it would cause the mother to leave the nest. So to avoid any accidents we ask that you don’t bring your dog. (Assistance dogs are welcome.)

  

Explore the reserve

 

Brockholes is one of the best sites in the UK for many species of bird and has one of the largest strips of ancient woodland in the county. You can take a stroll by the River Ribble, explore our woods or enjoy the lakes on site, which have all been specially designed to attract all kinds of wildlife for you to see!

  

Walks around Brockholes

 

What can I see at Brockholes?

Read about the happy habitats we've been working hard to create at Brockholes.

Watch out!

  

The Visitor Village floats on water and there are lots of areas of open water on the reserve. Take care in these areas and keep an eye on any children with you. The following activities are not allowed on the reserve:

 

Barbecues and fires

Fishing

Swimming

  

Please do not feed the birds

 

Big gulls know it’s much easier to find food when we leave it lying around rather than finding their own lunch. Here at Brockholes we have lots of species breeding with us, little ringed and ringed plover, lapwing, oystercatcher and redshank. Unfortunately the big gulls will eat the chicks of these special birds so if we feed the gulls and encourage them to stay there is a big chance that they will eat our important chicks, so please do not feed the birds and take your leftover picnic away with you.

  

www.brockholes.org/our-journey

  

The Lancashire Wildlife Trust has been working on developing Brockholes for nearly 20 years, here is an overview of our journey.

 

1992 Lancashire Wildlife Trust first contests the quarrying of Brockholes.

 

27 November 2006 The Lancashire Wildlife Trust has four weeks to raise £50,000 to buy the Brockholes site, near Preston, and protect it from development. Brockholes sits next to J31 of the M6 and is the size of 120 football pitches.

 

15 January 2007 The Lancashire Wildlife Trust makes the biggest land purchase in its history - thanks to donations from Wildlife Trust members, and an investment of £800,000 from the Northwest Regional Development Agency (NWDA) under the Newlands scheme. The project to buy and develop Brockholes is also supported by The Tubney Charitable Trust.

 

3 May 2007 Ian Selby is appointed as Brockholes project manager. Ian has 20 years' experience of managing the North West's canal network for British Waterways, followed by environmental regeneration work. Sophie Leadsom, Brockholes' new reserve manager, has worked in conservation for 14 years.

 

July 2007 The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) announced the launch of a new open competition to design new visitor facilities.

 

5 October 2007 The Lancashire Wildlife Trust announced the shortlist for the new multi-million pound visitor centre. 61 architects from all over Europe submitted designs. The five were Adam Khan Architects, Arca, Architecture 2B, AY Architects, McDowell + Benedetti.

 

25 February 2008 The Lancashire Wildlife Trust (LWT) and partners announce the winner of its competition to design a visitor facility. Adam Khan Architects was selected for its inspirational design concept: "A Floating World". Designed as a cluster of buildings constructed largely of wood and other sustainable materials, it resembles an ancient marshland village.

 

April 2008 The Lancashire Wildlife Trust announced the completion of its first phase of preparatory work, including the restoration of the wetlands, creation of ponds, seeding of meadows, planting new hedgerows and trees, making access paths and building proper bird watching hides.

 

March 2009 The Lancashire Wildlife Trust secured £8million of funding from the North West Regional Development Agency (NWDA). The investment was made under ‘Newlands’, a NWDA and Forestry Commission programme that is regenerating brownfield land across the Northwest into economically viable community woodland.

 

Summer 2009 Volunteers gave us 134 hours of their time to help propagate our own reed seedlings on-site. We ended up with 20,000 new redd seedlings ready to plant out around our new visitor centre, creating two hecatres of brand new reedbed.

 

August 2009 The Lancashire Wildlife Trust were granted detailed planning permission for the site.

 

December 2009 Contractors first day of work as they begin to construct the iconic floating visitors centre. Press conference being held with a ‘cutting of the first sod’

 

November 2010 A herd of longhorn cattle move into Brockholes to graze the reserve.

 

December 2010 BBC Countryfile fronted by Julia Bradbury visit Brockholes to film a feature that airs in January 2011.

 

March 2011 Brockholes makes history as the Visitor Village is floated for the first time.

 

Easter Sunday 2011 Brockholes opens its doors to the public for the first time!

  

www.brockholes.org/happy-habitats-brockholes

  

Happy habitats at Brockholes

 

The Lancashire Wildlife Trust are using their expertise to create habitats that will encourage lots of different species to visit the site, read more about the work we are doing on the reserve...

  

Number 1 Pit

 

Uniform and steep, the edges around the original gravel pit used to look very different. The island looked different too – an egg-shaped piece of land sticking out of the water by three metres. These land profiles weren’t great for the bird species and aquatic invertebrates we wanted to attract. So, with bulldozer and digger we pushed earth into the lake to create shallow, underwater ledges and peninsulas where birds can roost and feed, safe from predators. Diving ducks, such as Great Crested Grebe, now hunt for fish in the deep water.

  

Nook Pool

 

The edge of this pool has been planted with reed to create places for small fish and aquatic invertebrates like dragonfly larvae to hide and grow, away from predator fish. The shelter provided by the vegetation provides an ideal hunting ground for lots of species of dragonfly including the impressive Brown Hawker and Emperor Dragonfly.

  

Meadow Lake

 

This shallow lake is great for bird watching: when the water level is down, wading birds feed on small invertebrates in the exposed mud. This lake has some of the richest water plant life in and around it, including White Water Lily and Cuckooflower. The reed fringes are becoming well established and hold some of the largest populations of birds on site. The islands provide safe roosting and breeding areas, we keep the vegetation short so the birds can watch out for predators.

  

Boilton Marsh

 

This area is part of our newly created wet grassland habitat. We remodelled 17,000 cubic metres of quarry spoil to create 10 hectares of wet grassland with nearly 2km of channels and five pools. This is the ideal habitat for breeding wading birds such as Lapwing, Redshank and Snipe. We now graze traditional breeds of cattle and sheep that thrive on the coarse grasses and rushes and provide the low grassland sward that encourages wading birds to nest.

 

The channels and pools are kept topped up by using a high-level reservoir, filled from Number One Pit by way of a solar pump.

  

Woodland

 

Brockholes is fringed by the ancient woodland of Boilton, Red Scar and Tunbrook Woods. Woodland has grown here for thousands of years and developed a very rich variety of wildlife. Looking after our trees and paths will help the woodland to thrive and enable you to see the wildlife safely.

  

Reedbeds

 

Reedbeds are home to Sedge Warblers, Reed Warblers, Reed Buntings and Water Rail. We protect the new reed from grazing birds like Coot, Mute Swan and Canada Goose, by erecting chicken wire fences and baling string barriers. It will take several years before our lak fringes start to look like reedbeds. You might notice that the Visitor Village has been nestled in reedbed. This helps it to blend into the reserve and allows you to hear the song and chatter of the birds that nest there.

  

www.brockholes.org/brockholes-partners-and-funders

  

Brockholes partners and funders

  

For the past ten years, The Wildlife Trust for Lancashire, Manchester and North Merseyside have been working to secure this site of national environmental importance, and restore habitats to their full potential.

 

The £8.6 million of regeneration funding was provided for the Brockholes Wetland and Woodland Reserve project has been granted under 'Newlands' - a £59 million, Northwest Regional Development Agency and Forestry Commission programme to transform brownfield land into durable community woodland, which act as catalysts for economic, social and environmental gain.

 

The Lancashire Environmental Fund awarded £446,000 for the development of the education facilities, hides and infrastructure on the site. Tubney Charitable Trust granted £350,000 for Biodiversity and Natural England DEFRA's Aggregates Levy Sustainability Fund awarded circa. £300,000. The Environment Agency granted £50,000 for the continued development of Brockholes.

 

The support of these funders helped make Brockholes a reality, as did the amazing support from our public appeal, which raised an amazing £63,000 - the most successful public appeal the Lancashire Wildlife Trust has ever run!

  

www.brockholes.org/volunteer

  

Volunteering at Brockholes

  

Around 200 volunteers have now been recruited, inducted and trained to begin volunteering at Brockholes, so we offer an enormous thank you to all who are helping it make such a big impact on our visitors... Volunteers truly are the face of Brockholes.

 

There are currently some exciting opportunities to be had volunteering here at Brockholes. Please have a look below at roles (you can click on the titles to download a full role description) which might suit you and click here to register, mentioning Brockholes and the role on the form.

  

Seasonal Activities Volunteer

 

Our seasonal activities program is the ideal opportunity for young people aged 16-23 to get involved here at Brockholes.

 

Running throughout all school holiday periods, you are expected to volunteer for 7 hours per week (normally one full day).

 

The Seasonal Activities Volunteer role is ideal for friendly, outgoing people who want to utilise their creative skills and help visitors – in particular children – enjoy the reserve. You will work alongside other volunteers to plan and deliver a variety of activities including pond dipping, guided walks, bird watching. The role will also include assisting with larger events such as our Extreme Adventure Weekend and Craft Fayres. Support will be given to you by the Events & Communications Manager.

 

This placement is perfect for those undertaking various award schemes, such as the Duke of Edinburgh award, as over the course of the summer you have the opportunity to gain upto 50 volunteering hours.

 

For full details on the role and what it entails, click here.

  

Seasonal Retail & Visitor Services

 

Our seasonal activities program is the ideal opportunity for young people aged 16-23 to get involved here at Brockholes.

 

As a volunteer for Retail & Visitor Services you will provide a warm welcome for visitors, helping to ensure that their Brockholes experience is a positive one. You will help visitors by providing them with information about products on sale in our gift stores and help them plan their visit by telling them about the various events and activities we have on offer.

 

The role suits a friendly, outgoing person who has an interest in wildlife and conservation.

 

Running throughout the school holiday periods, you are expected to volunteer for 7 hours per week (normally one full day).

 

This placement is perfect for those undertaking various award schemes, such as the Duke of Edinburgh award, as over the course of the summer you have the opportunity to gain upto 50 volunteering hours.

  

Each volunteer will be required to undergo a minimum of 1 and a half days training before they start. If you’d like to find out more or ask questions about any of these roles do not hesitate to get in touch with Catherine Haddon, Volunteering Support Officer on 01772 324 129 or email volunteer@lancswt.org.uk

  

www.brockholes.org/awards

  

Awards

 

Brockholes has scooped many high profile awards since opening in April 2011:

 

2013 Lancashire Tourism Award for Best Conference/Meeting venue

 

VisitEngland's Visitor Attraction Quality Assurance Scheme (VAQAS) 'Excellent'

 

Green Tourism Gold Award

 

Customer at the Heart Award

 

Lancashire and Blackpool Tourism Awards 'Marketing Campaign of the Year'

 

National Wood Award

 

BREEAM ‘Outstanding’ for the interim design stage

 

Chartered Institute of Building Services – Building of the Year 2011

 

Civic Trust Award

 

Civic Trust Special Award for Sustainability

 

Highly Commended in portfolio of Newlands sites in Landscape Awards

 

CIWEM Living Wetlands award

 

Greenbuilds award

 

Green Apple Awards for the Visitor Centre

 

Sustainable Project of the year – 2012 Building Awards

 

RICS North West – Overall award

 

RICS North West – Tourism and Leisure

 

RICS NW – Design & Innovation

 

RIBA North West Building of the Year

 

RIBA North West Sustainability Award

 

RIBA Award for top 50 new buildings in the UK

  

www.brockholes.org/business-0

  

Brockholes is an award winning-venue, which floats on one of our lakes - the only one of its kind in the UK.

 

Combine this unique design with access straight off the M6, a beautiful nature reserve, ample parking and on site catering, and you have found yourself the perfect venue for your next event. View our Conference Brochure here.

 

We think Brockholes is the natural place to do business, our dedicated centre can cater for 50 to 130 delegates.

 

We have a choice of two conference rooms and a reception/break-out area.

  

www.brockholes.org/conference-packages

  

At Brockholes we want you to be in control of your event as much as possible. This is why we have created these basic packages, enabling you to tweak each element to build an individual event.

 

Alternatively, we can cater to your specific requests if you require half day, early morning or evening hire.

 

Here is an overview of our conference packages, please contact us for a quote.

 

Our Conference brochure can be viewed in digi-book format here.

  

Day Delegate Package

  

Private room hire from 9am - 5pm

Tea and coffee served on arrival with bacon rolls

Mineral water for each guest

Tea and coffee served mid-morning

Buffet lunch served with tea, coffee and fresh fruit platter

Tea, coffee and biscuits served mid-afternoon

Use of a flip chart, screen and projector

Recycled pen and notepad for each delegate

Dedicated co-ordinator to assist you throughout the planning to delivery of your meeting

24 Hour Delegate Package

 

All of the above plus;

 

Three course dinner

Full breakfast

Accommodation in a standard bedroom at our recommended accommodation supplier

  

Accommodation

 

Preferential rates are available on request from a local hotel when booking through the Brockholes Sales Team.

 

We can tailor our packages to suit your needs. Make the UK's first floating venue your next choice

 

Please contact us for more information or to arrange a meeting or showround with our Conference Sales Co-ordinator

 

Call us on 01772 872005 or enter your details below and we will contact you to discuss your requirements.

  

www.brockholes.org/sponsorship-opportunities

  

Sponsorship Opportunities

  

Brockholes is an award winning nature reserve owned and manages by the Lancashire Wildlife Trust, which was opened in 2011. The 250 acre reserve is already attracting record numbers of breeding birds and around 170,000 visitors each year. Brockholes runs a wide range of events throughout the year and has a particularly strong offer for families. Events include wild families, school holiday clubs, school and community group visits, self led trails and larger festivals during the summer holidays.

 

The key marketing campaigns run targeting families include Christmas, Summer and Easter. Each campaign targets a series of family focused publications across the North West, with a monthly average reach online of over 40,000 people through the website and social media. Advertising and direct marketing campaigns have an average reach of 70% of the total North West population.

  

Sponsorship and Partnership Opportunities

 

Summer at Brockholes sees a host of family events each year, from school holiday clubs to open air theatre, guided walks to family fun. Over the Summer period, Brockholes expects to welcome over 60,000 visitors. The marketing campaign is multi channel and will reach a wide audience of families across the North West. Brockholes has also been featured in the National Press for some of the unique events run. We have some new opportunities for sponsorship and partnership, which will allow your business to raise brand awareness and fulfill part of your Corporate Social Responsibility by supporting Brockholes and The Lancashire Wildlife Trust.

 

Summer at Brockholes Headline Sponsorship £4500

 

Expose your brand to thousands of families across the North West.

- Logo on all Summer promotional material

- Inclusion in all four of the Summer e-news and Lancashire Wildlife Trust e-news

- Sponsor Feature on Brockholes.org

- On site promotion

- Promotion through social media channels

- Inclusion in all PR activity

- Temporary use of Brockholes logo on promotional material directly related to the partnership

  

Wild Families Sponsorship £4000 per year

  

Our Wild Families events are always fully booked. With themes ranging from scarecrow hunts to nature detectives, each event provides quality family time for family members of all ages. Events are run throughout school holidays.

-Logo on marketing materials for Wild Families

-Inclusion in PR for trail launch

-Inclusion in social media activity

-Inclusion in Brockholes e-news

  

Seasonal Trail Sponsorship £500 per trail

Each visitor to Brockholes can collect their free seasonal trail on arrival. The trail helps visitors to explore the reserve, learn more about what to see and how the reserve changes with the season and challenges them to spot things.

-Logo on sponsorship trail

-Inclusion in PR for trail launch

-Inclusion in social media activity around the trail

  

Half term at Brockholes £1500

-Logo on all marketing materials

-Inclusion in launch PR

-Social media promotion

  

Annual Headline Sponsorship £10,000

- Logo inclusion on all Promotional Material

- Dedicated web page on Brockholes.org

- On site promotion

- Dedicated stand area on key event days

- Promotion through Brockholes and LWT e-news, member magazine

- Promotion through social media channels

- Inclusion in all PR activity

-Discounted delegate rate on our conference facilities

 

Children's Corner £500

 

Would you like to help brighten up the children's corner in our restuarant for our younger visitors?

 

-Inclusion in PR activity

 

-Recognition in the children's area

 

-Inclusion in activity to our database promoting the new area

  

To talk to us more about sponsorship opportunities, contact Ruth Gaskell rgaskell@lancswt.org.uk or call 01772 324129.

  

www.brockholes.org/commercial-opportunities

  

Commercial Opportunities

  

Make Brockholes your business

 

Businesses are being offered an opportunity to become partners in a North West tourism and wildlife success story.

 

Brockholes nature reserve is entering the second phase of development which will provide commercial opportunities for other businesses and boost local employment.

 

The Lancashire Wildlife Trust attraction attracted 185,000 people to its nature reserve and the first ever floating visitor village in the UK, last year. It is looking to top that visitor figure this year.

 

Just off the M6 at Preston and easily accessible from anywhere in the UK, Brockholes has received more than 30 regional and national awards despite only opening in 2011. Visitors continue to pour in despite the reserve being surrounded by the attractions of Manchester, Blackpool and Liverpool.

 

The business has shown year-on-year growth and, as a result, is seeking commercial partners for the next phase of development.

 

Anne Selby, Chief Executive of the Wildlife Trust said “Brockholes has performed incredibly well despite being launched in a recession. We have steered the business through the stormy weather and achieved fantastic results.

 

“We are now looking to move into the next phase of development. As a conservation charity, we want to ensure our focus remains on the nature conservation of the reserve, whilst ensuring the commercial income supports this work. We are looking for expressions of interest at this stage and asking businesses to be creative with their proposals.”

 

The Visitor Village has a restaurant, shops, conference centre, welcome centre and education centre. Major companies have made use of the conference centre including RBS and Aldi. The surrounding nature reserve is continuing to grow, with an increasing population of resident creatures and rare visitors like red kite, bittern and otter.

 

Anne continued: “Brockholes received funding for the initial start up and development phases but it was always designed to be a self-sustaining model. By making the most of the commercial opportunities and keeping these balanced carefully with the needs of nature, we believe we can continue to success of Brockholes into the future and achieve even more fantastic results for wildlife, our wide range of visitors and the tourism economy”.

 

Opportunities include retail, water sports (non-motorised), indoor play provision, events partners and mobile food concessions. However, the Trust is open to hear if any investors would wish to develop sympathetic commercial facilities on the site.

 

An opportunity information pack is available by request from:

Karen Williams Karen.Williams@brockholes.org

 

Expressions of interest should initially be made to

Lindsey Poole, Commercial Development Manager lpoole@lancswt.org.uk

  

www.brockholes.org/groups

  

Group Visits

 

Whether it’s a full day out or just a quick stop off on the way to your destination, Brockholes is the ideal place for groups to visit.

 

There's so much for all ages to see and learn about at Brockholes. Everyone from toddlers to seniors will find something to fascinate them, whether through our exciting range of organised events, or by just wandering around the site.

 

We are passionately committed to lifelong learning for all – our belief is that everyone should leave knowing something they didn't when they arrived! The Lancashire Wildlife Trust has over a decade of experience in delivering environmental education, so you can relax, enjoy the surroundings and be sure to come away both enchanted and enlightened...

 

We have several options for various groups, each with a variety of benefits. For more information click on the relevant link below…

 

Coach Groups

School Groups

Community Groups

 

To enquire about group visits please call 01772 872000 or email info@brockholes.org. Or leave your details on the form below and a member of our team will get back to you as soon as possible.

  

Coach Groups

 

Situated next to Junction 31 on the M6, we are the ideal stop for coach trips, whether it is for a short stop, as a green motorway services, or as part of a full day visit.

 

​Free entry for coaches and convenient coach drop-off point

 

We have a variety of walking trails for your group to explore, ranging from half an hour to 2 hours in length.

 

We have our floating visitor village that features a stunning waterside restaurant, 2 unique gift shops and a welcome centre with exhibits, which are ideal should your guests decide for something less active (or if the weather lets you down)!

 

All our buildings are fully accessible, while the vast majority of our paths are well surfaced, level and suitable for wheelchairs.

 

We now have a more convenient drop-off point exclusively for coaches and in addition have a number of benefits for coach groups:

 

• Free entry to the reserve and visitor centre

• Free coach parking

• Refreshment voucher for the coach driver

• Free familiarisation visit for group organisers

• Free meet and greet at the coach (on request)

• Free Brockholes welcome leaflet and trail guide

• Free events and activities throughout the year (visit our events calendar for details)

• Free play area

• Pre-booked guided tours (available at an extra charge)

• Adapted toilets available at the visitor centre

 

Please note that there is a 4 metre high bridge on the entrance to Brockholes. We also advise all coaches to let us know of their visit in advance by calling us on 01772 872000.

 

For any further information please just call 01772 872000, email info@brockholes.org

  

School Groups

 

Our 250 acre nature reserve and Visitor Village is a great place for school groups to visit. Children can learn about the geological history and how the quarrying has shaped the land today. And because we are a new nature reserve, you can watch it grow! It is also home to the UK's first floating Visitor Village.

 

Most importantly of all, the children will be able to see that Brockholes is home to a host of wildlife, with many different species of bird popping by throughout the year, along with brown hare, dragonfly and deer to name a few!

  

Facilities

 

Your school will have use of the education centre on our floating visitor village and you will have at least one Education Officer dedicated to your group throughout the day.

 

Plus... NEW FOR 2014!

 

Next year your school will be able to get even closer to nature at Brockholes by booking an education session in our new purpose-built bird hide classroom, right on the edge of the lake!

 

The hide will overlook No 1 Pit Lake which is home to many different species of birds and you'll also be able to look across to the new sand martin wall, which will provide valuable breeding habitat when they arrive in spring.

 

Why not your details below if you'd like us to keep to informed of these exciting new developments!

  

Programmes

 

We offer a wide range of programmes including:

 

Big Adventure in a Miniature World

Life Cycles

Migration and Hibernation

Environmental Art

Geography and Geology

​Forest School

 

You can read more about the education programmes available at Brockholes here. ​

  

Education Team

 

Our Education Team are based at Brockholes and have a huge amount of experience in inspiring young people about the natural world. They are a lively bunch and pride themselves on creating an exciting and memorable experience for your school. You can read about how great our team is here: Meet the Education Team.

  

Outreach

 

Can't get to us? Then we can come to you! Our outreach education programme is very popular and offers a wide range of programmes for those who are unable to reach Brockholes.You can view our Outreach Programmes here.

 

For any information just call us on 01772 872000 for more information, email eduadmin@lancswt.org.uk

  

Community Groups

 

Brockholes is a great place to bring your community group, whether it's the Scouts, Guides, Cubs, Brownies or Beavers or a rambling or photography group, there is something for everyone!

 

As well as exploring our stunning nature reserve you can enjoy an activity such as a guided walk, a mini-beast hunt or an environmental art session.

 

You can visit Brockholes during the day or we have special community group evenings when the reserve is open beyond our usual opening hours. Group activities usually take place between 5.30pm and 7.30pm.

  

Forest Schools

 

Forest Schools is a unique outdoor learning experience that improves children's self-esteem, confidence and abilities.

 

Brockholes provides an inspirational setting for Forest Schools sessions and training, and is conveniently located just off junction 31 of the M6 at Preston.

 

Our Forest School sessions are designed and delivered by our experienced and fully qualified Education Team including our Level 3 Trained Forest Schools Practioner.

 

Our next Forest Schools adult training session will be running in October. To find out more about Forest School sessions at Brockholes please call 01772 872017 or email kphillips@lancswt.org.uk

  

www.brockholes.org/shop

  

Shop til you flock

 

Why not drop into our two on-site shops, The Nest and Village Store, which are packed with all sorts of goodies. We've a variety of products from local beverages and food, to cards and books and crafts and jewellery. They are the perfect place to pick up a unique gift... and there's plenty of treats for the little ones too!

  

The Nest

 

The Nest is home to an inspiring collection of gifts, jewellery, books, toys, arts & crafts. Discover what's inside The Nest here.

  

The Village Store

 

The Village Store stocks a wide range of products, from locally sourced food and drink treats to bird food, garden accessories and wildlife books. Come and look inside here.

  

Membership of the Wildlife Trust

 

Brockholes is a Lancashire Wildlife Trust Nature Reserve. You can become a member today or talk to our friendly staff members and volunteers on your next visit to Brockholes. Gift membership is available in The Nest or you can buy it online here.

  

www.brockholes.org/eat

  

Our restaurant is the perfect place to stop and watch the world go by with panoramic views of our lake. Scrumptious homemade dishes and a taste bud tingling selection of Lancashire's finest local produce are all here to tempt you, along with fair trade tea and coffee.

 

Our restaurant is open from 10am to 5pm.

  

www.brockholes.org/very-special-occasions

  

Brockholes is a fantastic place for your very special occasions.

 

Our floating venue is one of the newest and most unique in Lancashire and promises you and your guests an unforgetable event whatever the occasion.

 

We have a dedicated function centre that can accomodate weddings, christenings and all sort of functions.

 

The clean, contemporary finish of our venue means that you have the perfect opportunity to put your own stamp on your event, with a flexible range of catering available from our on-site restaurant.

 

We have a dedicated Conference and Events Co-ordinator that will be available to help you plan your special occasion.

  

Very Special Weddings

 

We had our first wedding celebration September 2011 and since then it's been all go with Wedding Fayres and lots more bookings for this year and next. Find out more about weddings at Brockholes here.

  

Very Special Christenings

 

Brockholes is a real family friendly venue for a Christening celebration that you will remember for years to come. Find out more here.

 

For general enquiries about holding a function at Brockholes please call 01772 872005 or email philip.dunn@brockholes.org.

Struggled with the naming of this. So with the new Star wars trailer out yesterday, i thought I'd do some different designs for the First Order. Then I thought, why not do them following on from the lengthier clone wars universe I've got going on. Though tbf, that's all too far in the past to actually affect any of the sequel trilogy stuff, but we'll gloss over that. So, this First Order is made up of (L to R):

 

Captain Phasma - After the destruction of the Supremacy, Phasma somehow managed to survive. Thought dead by the resistance, she was able to infiltrate the criminal underworld, donning armour obtained from a sale on a small planet named Tatooine. With her disguise, she hopes to get close enough to the resistance to learn their plans, and destroy them once and for all.

 

Supreme leader Hux - After Snokes death, Hux was quick to rise to power. Despite the tantrums thrown by Kylo Ren, Hux was generally accepted by the first order as its new leader.

 

Kylo Ren - Since Snokes death, Kylo has fallen even further into the clutches of the dark side, now influenced by another, he grows more powerful by the day, feared by his allies and foes alike.

 

Grand Admiral Thrawn - After regrouping with the remnants of the Empire all those years before, Thrawn was finally ready to exact his master plan: Seize control of the galaxy from the new Republic. Though it had initially shown promise, it quickly became exactly like its predecessor. The constant debates, the corruption all made it unfit to control the galaxy. It was with this that Thrawn decided a temporary alliance with the First Order would be necessary to achieve his goals.

 

Emperor Rae Sloane - After the exodus of Imperials from the Galaxy, Rae Sloane found herself in a predicament. Abandon the Empire she loved, and survive, or reforge herself as its leader, despite the many risks that responsibility would entail. She decided on the latter, and soon became Emperor of the Imperial remnants, preparing them for their glorious return to the galaxy. After Thrawn joined her, the two set about a plan. They agreed that powerful as the First Order was, it was disorganised, run by those she considered to be children. Hell, if Hux was in charge, everything was bound to fail. And so, Thrawn and Sloane approached the First Order, offering allegiance in wiping out the remaining New Republic forces, and the Resistance, all while secretly working on their own plan to overthrow the First Order and take control of it's vast military, properly preparing the galaxy, and the chiss ascendancy, for the crisis that Thrawn claimed was getting ever closer.

 

The Benefactor - A mysterious benefactor appeared shortly after Snokes death, offering guidance to Kylo Ren, offering him the knowledge he needed to seek out his enemies and destroy them once and for all. But who could this mysterious benefactor be?

 

So that's the First Order/Imperial allegiance. Story's not great for this one as, well, I didn't really have much of one in mind. Might be interesting to come back to, but I probably won't. I do have a resistance side put together though, so keep and eye out for that. So, as always, lemme know what you think :D

I've been working on a Twitter Challenge this weekend, which entailed using a single camera for the weekend, and so I was still playing with the Holga this morning. A frost saw me on my knees at the entrance to the old memorial grounds opposite my house.

 

Holga 120N | Ilford HP5+ | Rodinal | Shot 31/1/2021

New River

New River Gorge National River

Raleigh County, West Virginia

 

This is a small portion of Sandstone Falls, which stretch some 1,500 feet across the New River, north of Hinton and south of I-64; the falls are accessed on the west side of the river by taking route 26 north from Hinton. This shot is from a session of the New River Gorge photography workshop (Randall Sanger Photography) last spring. The site was an island, and getting there entailed crossing three small channels on stepping stones -- something I would not attempt on my own. Todd Williams and Randy offered much-appreciated assistance -- either a helping hand, or taking my camera gear so nothing valuable would be harmed if I fell in.

 

Press "L" for larger image, on black.

- Frou Frou

 

7/52

 

Hello, flickr, I'm back -- home from the holidays and back to high speed internet and the inevitable flickr addiction it entails. And with a new lens, tripod and remote, I'm more inspired than ever ... after lots of laundry, unpacking and sleep.

 

Oh, how I've missed you all. :)

My HR job, at this time of year, entails recruiting and dealing with casual and agency staff and it is always a roller coaster few months. Well it's all over for another year. Working for a mail order company at this time of year is 'to die for' and sure enough today I have gone down with a cold. Hopefully, it will be over before Christmas Day. I am only taking Christmas Day and Boxing Day as holiday this year but plan to take the following week off to recover. I can feel a spa day coming on. This weekend I am going to follow Milu's example and just flop out on the sofa, though I shall do it with more decorum *wink*.

 

Happy Furry Friday everyone!

 

Wishing you a germ free weekend

 

Explore #43

  

This Photo was Blog in NGA see the kink here :

 

yourshotblog.nationalgeographic.com/post/94200340719/tren...

 

You are welcome to visit my Flickr photo stream for better resolution there most of my products are available with high resolution for view and purchase. for purchase plz Call me at +880 1711595036 . or e mail me at majhammim@gmail.com

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This photo is copy right to HamimCHOWDHURY ,hence any unauthorised download can cause violation of copy right law and may penalty you minimum 7000 USD and entail hassle of court. be aware of this issue and stay away form downloading my photo,

 

We're shopping for pet-sitters, again... It's always quite epic since we have quite a crew and I have to make groups, then find the sitter that will best suit this group. Not easy to find people understanding that yes, he is a senior with all that entails (see lat week's confession ;P) and that some of his pack members are also a piece of work (blind, disabled, extra sensitive, traumatized, toothless, weird, and so on)...

 

But now that we've moved out of the big apple and that we have a car, I have much more flexibility and even if I have to drive an hour and a half to find the best fit, I will! We went for a meet-and-greet that went amazing and as his face says here, we were all quite happy with our choice!

 

And yes, he had the privilege of being in the front while some of his pals were jealous in the back :).

On May 10th, 2019 my only objective was to get this shot. Little did I know at the start of our day what the rest of the day would entail but it was probably in the top five of days spent trackside. And while this shot was a bit of a hike to get to it was worth every step this old man made to get here. I am very grateful to my old friend John Shine for making it happen.

Macro Mondays theme/Member's Choice: Games or Game Pieces

I came across these in my hunt this week. They are called Crazy Bones - I don't know why I have kept them all these years, probably because the kids were so overjoyed in collecting them! Crazy Bones were all the rage when my kids were growing up. You could buy them in packets of 4-6 in the local sweet shop/news agent. It was pot luck which ones you ended up with so there was a lot of swapping taking place at school. After school all the kids would gather around various houses and play Crazy Bones - which entailed arranging them at opposite ends of a table (or on the floor) and throwing a chosen one to see how many you could knock down. The one with the most still standing after however many goes or after your opponent's had all been knocked down was the winner. A search on Google reveals that Crazy Bones were a popular fad during the 90's and 2000s and were discontinued in 2012.

HMM😊...

This image entailed me standing perfectly still for the entire 4 minute exposure. Some might use a composite. I’m too much of a purist I guess!

I used a capture of mine from the Festival of Lights at Hadrian's Wall from last year to create my contribution for this Sunday's Christmessy Slide ;) .... HSS! And all my best wishes for this festive season whatever your celebration might be called and entail.