View allAll Photos Tagged Effort
A water lily starts growing from the bottom of the pond in the spring to bloom at the surface in the summer. Is this Herculean effort worth it? You bet!
My effort for Macro Mondays on the theme of Card - this was my grandfathers Identity card which has recently come into my possession - nowadays I can't imagine us accepting the modern equivalent.
Almost 3 weeks later, my sourdough bread is ready for it's bowl of homemade Clam Chowder. Luckily the chowder was easier and quicker.
My effort for Macro Mondays on the theme of Rock - bit tough to prove size but used Extension Tubes and cropped so is much smaller than the limit.
Here is in my opinion one of the prettiest spiders in Sweden - a Callilepis nocturna - and it took some effort to get a shot of it.
This started a couple of weeks ago when I was having coffee in the sun outside and noticed that one of the black ants running on the asphalt was a little larger and a lot faster than the others. Upon closer inspection I discovered it instead being a gorgeous little spider! I tried getting a photo of it, but it was too fast and much to my chagrin, it got away!
I was kicking myself for losing it, but read up on it and it turns out it likes hunting ants, typically on flat surfaces so they shouldn't be that uncommon on asphalt in the sun so I vowed to keep a close eye out for them.
A little while later, I was walking back from the grocery store and was a couple of hundred meters away from home when I spotted one on the road! Awesome - and I managed to corner it with my hand and all. These guys move in blisteringly quick rushes before waiting a little and then going for another rush so shooting it should be possible, though I would have to be reasonably quick about it.
So how do I get it home to the camera? I checked my pockets for some sort of bag or container, but couldn't find anything. Damn, there is no way I could get a spider this quick and small home using just my hands so I sat there on the road with my hand on the ground to herd the spider and keep it in place. What to do?
After a couple of fruitless attempts at containing it with a piece of candy wrapper I found in the ditch I tried a different solution: I have a pair of wireless headphones (Redmi Buds 3 Pro) which come with a charging case, like the Apple AirPods do. Well, I popped the buds in my ears and then somehow managed to trick the spider into the charging case using my shopping list as a makeshift ramp and snapped the case shut!
This is from when I got home and is a five exposure focus stack at 2.2:1 magnification.
Notice how the gold spots on the abdomen look like a face - it reminds me of some kind of voodoo doll but also Homer Simpson! Can anybody else see that resemblance?
For an even closer shot (3:1 mag), more from the side, please have a look here: www.flickr.com/photos/tinyturtle/52128670998/i
For many years, the Miami-Dade County Courthouse, at an elevation of 360 feet, was reputed to be the tallest building south of Baltimore.
It was the County's first high-rise and is in the National Register of Historic Places. Efforts to refurbish this magnificent structure and restore it to its original grandeur have been underway since 1981 by Architect James W. Piersol, AIA of M.C Harry Associates Architects of Miami.
The restoration and renovations initially stabilized the terra cotta facade and installed new life safety systems. In 1982, the idea of restoring the lobby to its original distinction was the passion of both Architect James Piersol and engineer Don Youatt, of the Miami-Dade Planning and Development Department. With a little less than half of the funding necessary for the lobby restoration project in hand ($300,000 grant approved by the Legislature in 1996), the Dade County Bar Association acted as the fund-raising umbrella and initiate a drive to raise the remainder needed from lawyers and the general public. A few years later, the same team restored Courtroom 6-1, which had been the site of many infamous trials over the years.
Today, the Miami-Dade County Courthouse provides offices, chambers, and courtrooms for the clerks and judiciary assigned to both the Circuit and County Civil Court and the Family Court.
When county government was established following the Civil War, public records were so sparse they could be carried in a carpetbag and most probably were. Therefore, the "courthouse" was wherever the county's chief office holder decided to do business.
In 1890, Dade County's first courthouse stood in the town of Juno, Florida some ten miles north of West Palm Beach. At that time, Dade County covered more territory than it does today, stretching from Bahia Honda Key, in the middle Keys, up to the St. Lucie River, near present-day Port St. Lucie.
Juno was chosen as the "county seat" because of its strategic location at the southern terminus of the Jupiter-Juno railroad. Juno also held the northern terminus of the boat and connecting the stagecoach line to Miami. The courthouse remained in Juno (now no longer in existence) until 1899 when it was moved to Miami down the inland waterway on a barge and was placed on the banks of the Miami River, east of the old Miami Avenue bridge.
The building was two-story wooden frame construction, housing offices and jail cells on the ground floor and a courtroom on the second floor. It has a Neoclassical design, in 1904 this building was replaced by a new courthouse building situated on Flagler Street (then known as Twelfth Street). It was a magnificent building constructed of limestone, having an elegant red-domed top, at the cost of $47,000. It was anticipated that this courthouse would serve the city for at least fifty years; however, no one was prepared for the rapid growth Miami experienced during this period, and by 1924, only twenty years later, there was serious talk of the need for a larger courthouse.
In the early 1920s, architect A. Ten Eyck Brown entered a design competition for Atlanta City Hall, which was rejected. He then made the plans available to Dade County, and City and County officials readily approved them. It was decided by the officials to build the new courthouse at the same location as the existing one on Flagler Street. Construction began in 1925, with workers erecting the new building around the existing structure, which was then dismantled. Community leaders and citizens alike voiced excitement over the new 28 stories "skyscraper" that would soon dominate the skyline.
Unexpectedly, construction was halted when the building reached ten stories. It was discovered that the "high-rise" was sinking into the spongy ground. Engineers consulted with an architect from Mexico City, who had encountered a similar problem while building the city's opera house. The consultant determined that the foundation pilings were not set deep enough. To correct the problem, cement supports were poured, which take up much of the space in the building's basement file room even to this day.
The courthouse was finally completed in 1928 at the cost of $4 million (USD 2013 $54.5 million). Initially, it served as both the Dade County Courthouse and the Miami City Hall. Jail cells occupied the top nine floors because these heights offered "maximum security" and were considered escape-proof. In 1934, a prisoner housed on the twenty-first floor picked the lock of his jail cell window and used a fire hose to lower himself to freedom. In the years following, more than 70 prisoners escaped from this so-called "secure" prison.
Credit for the data above is given to the following websites:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miami-Dade_County_Courthouse
www.emporis.com/buildings/122294/miami-dade-county-courth...
© All Rights Reserved - you may not use this image in any form without my prior permission.
This is my latest effort to use up my growing button collection. All of these buttons were clipped from plaid shirts that I bought at thrift stores.
One of my friends uses epoxy, and he offered to let me try it out with his materials (including these funky molds). He showed me how to mix the epoxy and add colours.
I would love to continue dabbling in epoxy, though next time I will add more buttons. It will take some trail and error to see how well the buttons show through. For example, I thought the buttons would show through super well with the white, but disappear in the dark brown. Apparently not. I also want to make the epoxy less bubbly.
My favourite one is the orange leaf. My friend added some metallic pigment that made it sparkle, and it was still transparent enough to showcase the buttons.
Added to "Crazy Tuesday".
These little birds never stay still so always nice to get a shot of one.This one is hunting among the moss for invertebrates to feed its young.
Please do not use my images in any way without my permission they are copyright protected !!
Please take A look in Large !! press L
Thanks to everyone that takes the time and makes the effort to comment and fave my pics its very much appreciated
Regards Clive
In Lost Valley near the Buffalo River in northern Arkansas. One of my earlier efforts below from the same spot.
Despite the heroic efforts of the PBR bull fighter Lucas Teodoro., the twenty ninth ranked rider in the world, twenty four year old Silvano Alves of Pilar do Sul, São Paulo, Brazil is greeted by the bull Codigp following Alves’ successful ride in the opening round of the 2022 Professional Bull Riders Buck-Off at the Garden at Madison Square Garden in the New York City borough of Manhattan.
Fortunately, Alves was able to walk off to the locker room area without assistance.
Alves scored an 86.25 for the ride to rank in eleventh place in the standings heading into the second and final night of the event.
Photo by Bruce Adler
(BEA_4669A)
photo rights reserved by Ben
Matka Canyon shows its most rugged face here. The trail to the Saint Nicholas Šiševski monastery climbs steeply from the very beginning and is known as a demanding 60-minute ascent. No gentle walkway, but loose stones, rocky slopes, and sections where you almost have to scramble. Kanitha started with her jacket on, but after just a few minutes of climbing the effort made it impossible to keep it on. Here you see her halfway up the steep, stony path, balancing between boulders and shrubs — exactly the kind of terrain that makes this route so challenging. As the forest slowly sinks behind you and you climb higher, the silence of the canyon becomes more intense. Below, the colours of the water fade; above, a new stretch of mountain slope appears with every turn. It’s a climb that demands effort, but one that rewards you as well: at the top awaits the view over the limestone walls, the Treska River, and the small brightly coloured kayaks far below. In this moment of focus and perseverance, Matka Canyon reveals why this hike is unforgettable — rugged, quiet, and pure.
The steep one-hour climb to the Saint Nicholas Šiševski monastery shows Matka Canyon at its wildest. Kanitha works her way up the rocky path, jacket off from the effort, surrounded by loose stones and rough slopes. As the forest falls away, the silence deepens — a tough ascent, but worth every step for the views over the river and cliffs below.
Matka Canyon toont hier zijn meest ruige karakter. Het pad naar het klooster Saint Nicholas Šiševski begint meteen steil, en staat bekend als een zware klim van zo’n 60 minuten. Geen vlak wandelpad, maar losse stenen, rotsige hellingen en stukken waar je bijna moet klauteren. Kanitha begon nog met haar jas aan, maar na een paar minuten klimmen zorgde de inspanning ervoor dat de jas uit moest. Hier zie je haar midden op het steile, stenige traject, balancerend tussen rotsblokken en struiken — precies het soort terrein dat deze route zo uitdagend maakt. Terwijl het bos zich langzaam achter je sluit en je hoger komt, voel je de rust van de canyon intenser worden. Beneden verdwijnen de kleuren van het water, boven je duikt telkens een nieuw stukje berghelling op. Het is een klim die inspanning vraagt, maar ook één die beloont: boven wacht het uitzicht over de kalkstenen wanden, de Treska-rivier en de kleine felgekleurde kajaks diep onder je. Hier, in dit moment van concentratie en doorzettingsvermogen, laat Matka Canyon zien waarom deze tocht onvergetelijk is — ruig, stil en puur.
Pushed me to the shadow zone
It sounds like the worst fortune
Just to abandon me on the lone
Time to sail away on my own
[] HaMeD!caL []
In an effort to try new things and challenge myself, I tried out Image Stacking method to try and reduce the amount of people in a day shot. On this trip I didn't bring a tripod so I couldn't use an ND Filter. I ended up taking 5 photos over the course of 2 or 3 minutes and used the Median method in Photoshop. This yielded a somewhat decent result although there was ghosting like you'd see in a night or long expsoure shot so I wasn't too thrilled with the outcome.
I ended up just putting all 5 photos in one document as layers and masking out the parts where there were people near the lens. The farther away people were really hard as those were never clean areas so that is something I need to look out for in the future. But in the end I like the outcome as it provides a way of seeing Spaceship Earth without being too cluttered up front.
Thanks for looking!
Instagram - instagram.com/imaginography71/
Twitter - twitter.com/imaginography71
"Every struggle is a victory. One more effort and I reach the luminous cloud, the blue depths of the sky, the uplands of my desire."
— Helen Keller
ツ ツ ツ
My work is for sale via My Chilly Bin, Getty Images and at Redbubble and 500px
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
© All rights reserved. Use without permission is illegal ©Todos los derechos reservados. El uso sin permiso es ilegal - ©Alle Rechte vorbehalten. Die Verwendung ohne Genehmigung ist illegal - ©2014 - Tom Raven - Toute reproduction, même partielle INTERDITE
I've just heard that Glasgow may reach 13°C on Sunday. . . . in mid-January. . . . what the hell is going on?
I'll just have to reminisce on my stolen days of proper Winter & just hope that there's a return before Spring moves in.
As usual, the Cuillin always takes you by surprise as you crest a ridge on the west coast on a day of reasonable visibility. The sight of a new sunrise brushing the Cuillin tops, on this particular morning, was worth the expense & effort of my week-long stay in Glenelg alone.
I'm making more effort to get out with my camera and trying harder for sunrises and sunsets as I need more in my portfolio.
Last night I went down to Eastbourne Pier with my daughter to catch the sunset, it wasn't amazing but once again pleased with some of the pictures I took.
Check out my website
Follow me on twitter
[]Please comment if you favorite[]
{Location - Undisclosed location. Hydra Base.
{Time - Really late at night. Like past your bed time late.
The Wizard paces across the floor in front of a large vault door. His teammate, The Trapster, is trying to break the seal of the door. Whirlwind is on the ground enjoying a cup of coffee, wondering why he's here. Taskmaster is leaning back on the wall wondering the same. He knows he is better off on his own, but for some reason accepted the offer the Wizard gave him.
(Pshuw!)
Suddenly the sound of a teleporter fills the silence in the long hallway. The sound causes all of the "Fightful Four" to direct their attention to the source of the sound.
"Pardon the interruption. I'm looking for the bathroom."
"Piss off, mate!"
"That's exactly what I'm trying to do Paste Pot Pete."
"The name's Tra..."
"Quiet, fool!" The wizard exclaims. The Trapster directs his attention back the door.
"Why are you here, Deadpool?" Whirlwind chimes in.
"No one's listening. I'd just like to find the bathroom.
The Frightful Four make no effort in amusing Deadpool with an answer. Seconds pass and The Trapster finally cracks the code on the vault door.
"Got it!"
"Taskmaster and Whirlwind, go inside the vault room. Get the weapon ready for extraction. Trapster, go get the car."
The three follow the commands. The Wizard walks towards Deadpool and rips off the cheap wizard cap from Deadpool's head.
"Hey! Mickey gave me that!"
"Bugger off, Deadpool. You have no business being here."
"I actually do. You however, do not. I'm here to stop you and your partners from stealing that weapon."
"Why do you care? This weapon will allow me to rule this world. Defeat any hero that comes in my way."
"Y'see that's the problem. I like the way this world is. Sure a few changes here and there would be nice, but I don't want to see anything you'd think of as the ruler of the world."
"Then you'll have to stop me..."
"Gladly..."
My favorite shot from yesterday. A small bird had made its way into the habitat of the Canada lynxes. This one made plenty of effort to have it for dinner before the bird finally slipped out.
You just don't see the attention to detail in today's home designs that you would have witnessed in gilded-age mansions like Lynnewood Hall in Elkins Park, Pennsylvania. Lynnewood Hall, with 110 rooms, 55 bedrooms, and 100,000 square feet, is the second largest Gilded Age mansion left in the U.S. and a magnificent example of architecture by Architect Horace Trumbauer. For the fascinating history of the home known as the "American Versailles", see the Lynnewood Hall Preservation Foundation's website at LynnewoodHallPreservation.org/history, where you can become a Patreon supporter and help the restoration efforts.
Nikon D850 with Nikkor 19mm PC-E F4 perspective correction lens. F13, ISO 100, 3 seconds exposure. Oben tripod with Benro 3-way geared head.
I'll be over my posting of old fashion shots soon don't worry....
I seem to be filthy with images that never made it to print. This is another.
After all the film was in, the client decided that she didn't like the other model (which she had booked herself), thinking her breasts were to big for bridal. So she canned the entire thing. None of it ran. It's all sitting in a box somewhere and the only reason I even have this is that it was a snip test from the lab. I wish that I could get into that box someday...if it even still exists.
I remember what's in there...
Mamiya RZ57 with Kodak SW transparency
USATC 'S160' 2-8-0 no.6046 makes a magnificent sight as she brings the military goods train through Williton station.
2018 WSR Spring Steam Gala
In an effort to try something that had not been done with snow monkeys before, I shot a series of images using remote flash on last year's Japan workshop.
This was shot during the day under heavy overcast conditions. The background consisted of very dark rocks. I severely underexposed the ambient light and set the flash output manually.
This was originally a vertical shot (with a lot of the faint reflection), but I think this looks better.
Check out my website if you would like to join me on one of our photo tours and workshops
First effort to make faux jade. Cernit (transparent, a very little bit of olive and gold), alcohol ink, embossing powder, panpastel for aging effect and 2.5 days of sanding and polishing.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wentworth_Castle
Wentworth Castle is a grade I listed country house, the former seat of the Earls of Strafford, at Stainborough, near Barnsley in South Yorkshire, England. It is now home to the Northern College for Residential and Community Education.
An older house existed on the estate, then called Stainborough, when it was purchased by Thomas Wentworth, Baron Raby (later Earl of Strafford), in 1711. It was still called Stainborough in Jan Kip's engraved bird's-eye view of parterres and avenues, 1714, and in the first edition of Vitruvius Britannicus, 1715 (illustration, left). The name was changed in 1731. The original name survives in the form of Stainborough Castle, a sham ruin constructed as a garden folly (illustration below) on the estate.
The Estate has been in the care of the Wentworth Castle Heritage Trust since 2001 and is open to the public year round 7 days a week. The castle's gardens were restored in the early 21st century, and are also open to visitors.
History
The original house, known as the Cutler house, was constructed for Sir Gervase Cutler (born 1640) in 1670. Sir Gervase then sold the estate to Thomas Wentworth, later the 1st Earl of Strafford. The house was remodelled in two great campaigns, by two earls, in remarkably different styles, each time under unusual circumstances.
The first building campaign
The first building campaign to upgrade the original structure was initiated c.1711 by Thomas Wentworth, Baron Raby (1672-1739). He was the grandson of Sir William Wentworth, father of Thomas Wentworth, the attainted 1st Earl. Raby was himself created 1st Earl of Strafford (second creation) in 1711.
The estate of Wentworth Woodhouse, which he believed was his birthright, was scarcely six miles distant and was a constant bitter sting, for the Strafford fortune had passed from William Wentworth, 2nd Earl of Strafford, the childless son of the great earl, to his wife's nephew, Thomas Watson; only the barony of Raby had gone to a blood-relation. M.J. Charlesworth surmises that it was a feeling that what by right should have been his that motivated Wentworth's purchase of Stainborough Castle nearby and that his efforts to surpass the Watsons at Wentworth Woodhouse in splendour and taste motivated the man whom Jonathan Swift called "proud as Hell".[1]
Wentworth had been a soldier in the service of William III, who made him a colonel of dragoons. He was sent by Queen Anne as ambassador to Prussia in 1706-11 and on his return to Britain, the earldom was revived when he was created Viscount Wentworth and Earl of Strafford in the Peerage of Great Britain. He was then sent as a representative in the negotiations that led to the Treaty of Utrecht, and was brought before a commission of Parliament in the aftermath. With the death of Queen Anne, he and the Tories were permanently out of power. Wentworth, representing a clannish old family of Yorkshire, required a grand house consonant with the revived Wentworth fortunes, he spent his years of retirement completing it and enriching his landscape.
He had broken his tour of duty at Berlin to conclude the purchase of Stainborough in the summer of 1708, and returned to Berlin, armed with sufficient specifications of the site to engage the services of a military architect who had spent some years recently in England, Johann von Bodt. who provided the designs.[2] Wentworth was in Italy in 1709, buying paintings for the future house: "I have great credit by my pictures," he reported with satisfaction: "They are all designed for Yorkshire, and I hope to have a better collection there than Mr. Watson."[3] To display them a grand gallery would be required, for which James Gibbs must have provided the designs, since a contract for wainscoting "as desined by Mr Gibbs" survives among Wentworth papers in the British Library (Add. Mss 22329, folio 128). The Gallery was completed in 1724.[4] There are designs, probably by Bodt, for an elevation and a section showing the gallery at Wentworth Castle in the Victoria and Albert Museum (E.307-1937), in an album of mixed drawings which belonged to William Talman's son John.[5] the gallery extends one hundred and eighty feet, twenty-four feet wide, and thirty high, screened into three divisions by veined marble Corinthian columns with gilded capitals, and with corresponding pilasters against projecting piers: in the intervening spaces four marble copies of Roman sculptures on block plinths survived until the twentieth century.[6] Construction was sufficiently advanced by March–April 1714 that surviving correspondence between Strafford and William Thornton concerned the disposition of panes in the window sashes: the options were for windows four panes wide, as done in the best houses Thornton assured the earl, for which crown glass would do, or for larger panes, three panes across, which might requite plate glass: Strafford opted for the latter.[7] The results, directed largely by letter from a distance,[8] are unique in Britain. Sir Nikolaus Pevsner found the east range "of a palatial splendour uncommon in England."[9] The grand suite of parade rooms on the ground floor extended from the room at the north end with a ceiling allegory of Plenty to the south end, with one of a Fame.
Bodt's use of a giant order of pilasters on the front and other features, suggested to John Harris that Bodt, who had been in England in the 1690s, had had access to drawings by William Talman. Talman was the architect of Chatsworth, considered to be England's first truly Baroque house. Indeed there are similarities of design between Wentworth's east front and Chatsworth. Both have a distinctly Continental Baroque frontage. Wentworth has been described as "a remarkable and almost unique example of Franco-Prussian architecture in Georgian England".[10] The east front was built upon a raised terrace that descended to sweeps of gravelled ramps that flanked a grotto and extended in an axial vista framed by double allées of trees to a formal wrought iron gate, all seen in Jan Kip's view of 1714, which if it is not more plan than reality, includes patterned parterres to the west of the house and an exedra on rising ground behind, all features that appear again in Britannia Illustrata, (1730).[11] An engraving by Thomas Badeslade from about 1750 still shows the formal features centred on Bodt's façade, enclosed in gravel drives wide enough for a coach-and-four. The regular plantations of trees planted bosquet-fashion have matured: their edges are clipped, and straight rides pierce them.[12] All these were swept away by the second earl after mid-century, in favour of an open, rolling "naturalistic" landscape in the manner of Capability Brown.[13]
The first earl's landscape
Strafford planted avenues of trees in great quantity in this open countryside, and the sham castle folly (built from 1726 and inscribed "Rebuilt in 1730", now more ruinous than it was at first) that he placed at the highest site, "like an endorsement from the past"[14] and kept free of trees (illustration, left) missed by only a few years being the first sham castle in an English landscape garden.[15] For its central court where the four original towers were named for his four children, the earl commissioned his portrait statue in 1730 from Michael Rysbrack, whom James Gibbs had been the first to employ when he came to England;[16] the statue has been moved closer to the house.
A staunch Tory,[17] Lord Strafford remained in political obscurity during Walpole's Whig supremacy, for the remainder of his life. An obelisk was erected to the memory of Queen Anne in 1736, and a sitting room in the house was named "Queen Anne's Sitting Room" until modern times. Other landscape features were added, one after the other, with the result that today there are twenty-six listed structures in what remains of the parkland.
The second earl at Wentworth Castle
The first earl died in 1739 and his son succeeded him. William Wentworth, 2nd Earl of Strafford (1722-1791) rates an entry in Colvin's Biographical Dictionary of British Architects as the designer of the fine neo-Palladian range, built in 1759-64 (illustration, upper right). He married a daughter of the Duke of Argyll[18] and spent a year on the Grand Tour to improve his taste; he eschewed political life. At Wentworth Castle he had John Platt (1728–1810)[19] on the site as master mason and Charles Ross ( -1770/75) to draft the final drawings and act as "superintendent"; Ross was a carpenter and joiner of London who had worked under the Palladian architect and practiced architectural ammanuensis, Matthew Brettingham, at Strafford's London house, 5, St James's Square, in 1748-49. Ross's proven competency in London in London doubtless recommended him to the Earl for the building campaign in Yorkshire.[20] At Wentworth Castle it was generally understood, as Lord Verulam remarked in 1768, "'Lord Strafford himself is his own architect and contriver in everything."[21] Even in the London house, Walpole tells us, "he chose all the ornaments himself".
Horace Walpole singled out Wentworth Castle as a paragon for the perfect integration of the site, the landscape, even the harmony of the stone:
"If a model is sought of the most perfect taste in architecture, where grace softens dignity, and lightness attempers magnificence... where the position is the most happy, and even the colour of the stone the most harmonious; the virtuoso should be directed to the new front of Wentworth-castle:[22] the result of the same judgement that had before distributed so many beauties over that domain and called from wood, water, hills, prospects, and buildings, a compendium of picturesque nature, improved by the chastity of art."[23]
Later history
With the extinction of the earldom with the third earl in 1799, the huge family estates were divided into three, one third going to the descendants of each daughter of the 1st Earl. Wentworth Castle was left in trust for Lady Henrietta Vernon's grandson Frederick Vernon, (of Hilton Hall, Staffordshire) whose trustees were William, 4th Earl Fitzwilliam, and Walter Spencer Stanhope. Frederick Vernon added Wentworth to his surname and took charge of the estate in 1816. Between 1820 and 1840 the old chapel of St. James was replaced with the current building and the windows of the Baroque Wing were lowered on either side of the entrance hall. Frederick Vernon Wentworth also amalgamated two ground floor rooms to make what is now the blue room. In July of 1838 a freak hail storm badly damaged the cupola and windows of the house as well as all the greenhouses within the walled gardens, yet this pales into insignificance when compared with the nearby Huskar Colliery disaster where 26 child miners lost there lives due to flooding following the hail storm. In May of 1853 a freak snow storm also caused severe damage, particularly to the mature trees within the gardens, some of them rare species from America planted by the 1st and 2nd earls. Frederick Vernon Wentworth was succeeded by his son Thomas in 1885 who added the iron framed Conservatory and electric lighting by March of the following year. The Victorian Wing also dates from this decade and its construction allowed the Vernon-Wentworths to entertain the young Duke of Clarence and his entourage during the winters of 1887 and 1889. The estate was inherited by Thomas' eldest son Captain Bruce Canning Vernon Wentworth, M.P. for Brighton, in 1902. Preferring his Suffolk estates, the Captain put the most valuable of his Wentworth Castle house contents up for sale at auction with Christies after the First World War. The paintings sold at Christie's on 13 November 1919.[24] Bruce Vernon-Wentworth, who had no direct heirs, sold the house and its gardens to Barnsley Corporation in 1948, while the rest of his estates, in Yorkshire, Suffolk and Scotland were left to a distant cousin.[25] The remaining contents of Wentworth Castle were emptied at a house sale,[26] and the house became a teacher training college, the Wentworth Castle College of Education, until 1978. It was then used by Northern College.[27] It was featured in the Victoria and Albert Museum's exhibition "The Country House in Danger". The great landscape that Walpole praised in 1780 was described in 1986 as now "disturbed and ruinous", the second earl's sinuous river excavated in the 1730s reduced to a series of silty ponds,.[28]
Wentworth Castle is the only Grade I Listed Gardens and Parkland in South Yorkshire. The Wentworth Castle Heritage Trust was formed in 2002 as a charity with the aim “To undertake a phased programme of restoration and development works which will provide benefit to the general public by providing extensive access to the parkland and gardens and the built heritage, conserving these important heritage assets for future generations”. Today, the landscape is gradually being restored by the Trust. The restoration of the Rotunda was completed in 2010, the parkland has been returned to deer park. The restoration of the Serpentine will form a future project as funding allows.
The estate opened fully to visitors in 2007, following the completion of the first phase of restoration, which cost £15.2m.[29] The Gardens at Wentworth Castle and Stainborough Park are open 7 days a week year round (closed Christmas Day and Boxing Day). Information for visitors, groups and schools and the latest information on restoration progress is available from the Trust's website. Tours of the house are available by arrangement.
Wentworth Castle was featured on the BBC TV show Restoration in 2003, when a bid was made to restore the Grade II* Listed Victorian conservatory to its former glory, though it[30] did not win in the viewers' response. Subsequently, the Wentworth Castle Heritage Trust took the decision in 2005 to support the fragile structure further with a scaffold in order to prevent its total collapse. The Trust succeeded in raising the £3.7 million needed to restore the conservatory in 2011 and work began in 2012, with grants from English Heritage, the Country Houses Foundation, the Heritage Lottery Fund and the European Regional Development Fund. The Trust completed the restoration of its fragile Victorian glasshouse in October 2013 – 10 years after its first TV appearance the Restoration series. It was opened by the Mayor of Barnsley on 7 November 2013 and opened to the general public the following day.
Continuing with Cameraderie forum joint effort for regular shooting in January; on the twenty-first day, I confess, two thirds into this challenge and shooting regularly for it became oppressive. I found myself in a place where photography became almost the opposite of what it means to me usually - a creative outlet without pressure to produce, meat deadlines and oblige clients; just a personal joy of observing and exploring the world and myself in it. Now with an (self imposed) obligation to have at least kinda pretty if not strong or meaningful image each day, I felt overwhelmed and tired and had to kick myself in the butt to get at it once again. I argued with my grumpy self that, even if I decide to drop everything, it would be beneficial to at least stretch the legs, and that by just strolling the streets for an hour or so I'm bound to stumble on something intriguing... And I did. Shot with Minolta MD 50mm f1.4 lens mounted via speedbooster on Sony A6000.
Optare Solo MW52PYT is seen here up on the ramp, whilst fellow service bus R984SSA is seen also awaiting attention...
From my wife's fading birthday bouquet. I wanted the purple on yellow, but it didn't work out as well as I had hoped. One thing that I might done was to use a smaller aperture to get some texture in the yellow background flowers, but I didn't want much texture because I wanted to focus on the purple, which is why I went with f2.8.
© AnvilcloudPhotography
the-pier.co.uk/bournemouth-pier
Bournemouth Pier is a truly splendid pier, with its fairly unique and charismatic façade. A real treasure on the Dorset coast, she is a very well loved and quite genteel attraction, situated in the heart of Bournemouth, with all its sandy beaches.
Yet this wonderful and grand pier actually came from very humble origins. The very first pier in Bournemouth was a simple jetty that was finished in 1856. Yet a mere 6 years later the jetty was replaced, with a longer pier, of wooden construction. Due to infestation by teredo worm, cast iron piles were installed in 1866 to replace the wooden ones. But the structure of the pier was simply not sound and in 1866, the landing stage was blown away, literally overnight, in a gale.
The remainder of the pier was replaced and in use until 1876, when a storm demolished even more of it, rendering it too short to accommodate steamboat traffic. Eventually a new and more fit for purpose pier was erected in 1880, following a series of ‘temporary’ arrangements. This was specifically designed to be more durable than the other piers had been. To make this happen, Eugene Birch, who had designed amongst other things the West Pier at Brighton.
Whilst not as long as many piers of that era, the pier was a decent 255 metres (838 feet or so) in length. Two extensions were built later, which took her up to around 305 metres (just over 1,000 feet).
Bournemouth Pier did have some quite good facilities, which gradually grew over time and soon she was home to a bandstand with concerts given by military bands on a regular basis.
Closed, like so many other piers during the war, she was then to re-open in 1946, having undergone some substantial repair work. Part of the pier had been demolished or had fallen into disrepair during the war as all efforts were directed to the war effort.
In 1950, she was treated to a refurbishment and survived well, until in 1976, it was discovered that she had suffered quite extensive corrosion and as a result, a major restoration programme began in 1979, to demolish most of the remaining building and replace it with more modern and up to date facilities, which were to be built on solid foundations, that would resist corrosion. The corrosion was surprising, given that Eugene Birch had designed it, however, the disrepair experienced during the war may have allowed the corrosion to take hold.
And so the modern, updated pier that is still in use today came into being!
Bournemouth Pier is home to a fantastic pier theatre, which plays host to some traditional seaside resort entertainment, comedians, magicians and singers all perform on a regular basis, with shows run several times a week. Some of these are reminiscence shows, whilst others feature old classics such as Chas and Dave or Marty Wilde.
What’s On – Bournemouth Pier Theatre
The pier itself is also home to a good restaurant, Key West, which is a licensed bar and restaurant which welcomes children and offers a more healthy and gourmet type of menu than in traditional seaside resorts, with menus featuring game pie and beef with locally produced blue cheese.
Prices are also quite reasonable.
Children can have hours of fun at the Children’s Funfair and there are some very up to date games to be played in the arcade. You can even try your hand at jet skiing without even getting your feet wet.
Similar to Eastbourne, Bournemouth is not home to a wild theme park or any large fairground, which makes it just that little bit different from so many of its contemporaries. It is just that little bit less dramatic and is almost a throwback to another time.
The theatre and the classical design of Bournemouth give it a sense of gentle decorum and although it has the arcade and the usual opportunities to partake of fish and chips or ice cream, it is also a rather sedate pier, when set aside many others.
When at the pier, in season, you could take a ride on the fabulous Dorset Belle and have a trip around the bay. Nature lovers will love this, because not only do you get to see the pier and Bournemouth from the water, but also there are some really good opportunities to see different kinds of birds and perhaps even some kind of form of marine life? It is a trip not to be missed and steam enthusiasts will be delighted by the fact that the Dorset Belle is a paddle steamer.
Many people hold Bournemouth and Bournemouth Pier very close to their hearts. There is even a website dedicated to sharing memories of the pier, so that in some way there can be a recognition of the role that this pier has played in so many people’s lives.
Similar to Eastbourne, Bournemouth is more refined and perhaps just that little bit more refined than many seaside piers and this makes it just that little bit more special. Some people put this down to the fact that she has a theatre at the end of the pier and that this livens it up in a way that simply can’t happen in other piers.
Who knows if this is the case, but it is a great place to visit and somehow there always seems a little bit of nostalgia associated with Bournemouth. There is something very special about a slow walk down the pier, looking out towards the sea and the great expanse of water. At night somehow the pier takes on a life of her own and seems quite resplendent in her glory.
Open all year round, but with only limited shows in the theatre out of season, Bournemouth offers a tremendous day out for all the family and really shouldn’t be missed.
If you do want brash and loud then Bournemouth is not the place to come, but if you simply like the idea of quite a gentle and quite traditional pier, without the shrieks from the fairground, then Bournemouth Pier is sure to delight.