Ruthin is a market town and community in Denbighshire, Wales, in the south of the Vale of Clwyd. It is Denbighshire's county town. The town, castle and St Peter's Square lie on a hill, skirted by villages such as Pwllglas and Rhewl. The name comes from the Welsh rhudd (red) and din (fort), after the colour of sandstone bedrock, from which the castle was built in 1277–1284 The Old Mill, Ruthin, is nearby. Maen Huail, a registered ancient monument attributed to the brother of Gildas and King Arthur, stands in St Peter's Square.

 

The population at the 2001 census was 5,218, of whom 47 per cent were male and 53 per cent female. The average age was 43.0 years and 98.2 per cent were white. According to the 2011 census, the population had risen to 5,461. 68 per cent of which were born in Wales and 25 per cent in England. Welsh speakers account for 42 per cent of the town's population. The community includes the village of Llanfwrog.

 

There is evidence of Celtic and later Roman settlements in the area. However, little is known of the history of the town before the construction of Ruthin Castle was started in 1277 by Dafydd, the brother of prince Llywelyn ap Gruffudd. However, he forfeited the castle when he rebelled against King Edward I with his brother; Edward's queen, Eleanor, was in residence in 1281. The original name was Castell Coch yng Ngwern-fôr (Red Castle in the Sea Swamps). The Marcher Lord, Reginald de Grey, Justiciar of Chester, was given the Cantref (an administrative district) of Deffrencloyt (Dyffryn Clwyd, the Welsh for Vale of Clwyd), and his family ran the area for the next 226 years. The third Baron de Grey's land dispute with Owain Glyndŵr triggered Glyndŵr's rebellion against King Henry IV, which began on 16 September 1400, when Glyndŵr burned Ruthin to the ground, reputedly leaving only the castle and a few other buildings standing.

 

The Lord de Grey established a Collegiate Church in 1310. Now the Collegiate and Parish Church of St Peter, it dominates the Ruthin skyline. It has a double nave and boasts two medieval carved roofs. These days it is known for its musical tradition. It has a large choir of children and adults and a four-manual Wadsworth-Willis organ. Behind the church can be seen the old college buildings, school and Christ's Hospital.

 

A Ruthin native, Sir Thomas Exmewe was Lord Mayor of the City of London in 1517–1518.

 

The half-timbered Old Court House (built in 1401), on the square, features the remains of a gibbet last used to execute a Franciscan priest, Charles Meehan, also known as Mahoney. He was shipwrecked on the Welsh coast at a time when Catholicism was equated with treason – Meehan was hanged, drawn, and quartered in 1679. He was beatified by Pope John Paul II in 1987 as one of the Eighty-five martyrs of England and Wales.

 

During the English Civil War, the castle survived an eleven-week siege, after which it was demolished by order of Parliament. It was rebuilt in the 19th century as a country house, which has now been turned into the Ruthin Castle Hotel. From 1826 until 1921 the castle was the home of the Cornwallis-West family, members of Victorian and Edwardian high society.

 

In its 18th-century heyday as a town on drovers' routes from Wales into England, Ruthin was reputed to have "a pub for every week of the year". By 2007, however, there were only eleven pubs in the town. The public records of 23 October 1891 show 31 such establishments serving a population of 3,186; most have been converted into housing or shops. The Ruthin Union Workhouse was built in 1834.

 

The first copies of the Welsh national anthem, Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau, were printed in what is now the Siop Nain tea and gift shop on Well Street.

 

In 1863 the Denbigh, Ruthin and Corwen Railway, which linked in Denbigh with the Vale of Clwyd Railway (later part of the London and North Western Railway, the London, Midland and Scottish Railway, and British Rail) reached the town. The route ran from Rhyl along the north coast through Denbigh and Ruthin to Corwen, before joining a route from Ruabon through Llangollen, Corwen and Bala to Barmouth. The railway and Ruthin railway station closed in 1963 under the Beeching Axe. The site of the station is now occupied by a large road roundabout (Brieg Roundabout) and the Ruthin Craft Centre, which opened in 1982, but was rebuilt and reopened in 2008.

 

Ruthin hosted the National Eisteddfod in 1868 and 1973. The Urdd National Eisteddfod visited Ruthin in 1992 and 2006.

 

The town's principal school is Ysgol Brynhyfryd (Brynhyfryd School), a comprehensive school for 11 to 18 year olds. Its Grade II listed building was built about 1830 as the home of local solicitor, before becoming in 1898 Ruthin County School for Girls. (The town's boys travelled five miles by train to Denbigh High School.) The school went co-educational in 1938, with feeder junior schools up to around six miles away. Building work in the 1950s and the early 1970s increased the number of pupils from 700 to 1000 in a few years, as the minimum school-leaving age rose from 15 to 16). In 2001–2002 the listed building became the Sixth Form Centre. The school's sports facilities, including the swimming pool, are used as the town's Leisure Centre. It also features a theatre and arts complex, Theatr John Ambrose, named after a headmaster of the school in the 1980s and 1990s. This was opened by the actor Rhys Ifans, a former pupil of Ysgol Pentrecelyn and Ysgol Maes Garmon in Mold, but brought up in Ruthin.

 

In 1574 Gabriel Goodman re-founded Ruthin School which was founded in 1284, making it one of the oldest private schools in the United Kingdom. In 1590, Goodman established Christ's Hospital for 12 poor persons around St Peter's Church on the square, and was Dean of Westminster for 40 years (1561–1601). Ruthin School is now a co-educational boarding and day school, with 227 pupils overall, 145 of them boarders in 2014. In September 2013, the school bought Ye Old Anchor, after its closure as a hotel in November 2012, and converted it into a boarding house for 30 upper sixth-form students.

 

Ruthin has daytime bus services on Mondays to Saturdays, with the last bus on most routes leaving between 5.30 and 7.30 pm. There is no service on Sundays or public holidays.[11] Routes serving Ruthin are Stagecoach 1 and 2 to Mold (1 via Llanarmon and Llanferres, 2 via Llanarmon, Graianrhyd, and Erryrys), X1 runs three times a day to Chester via Llanferres and Mold – frequency of the buses to Mold varies throughout the day between 30 minutes and 2 hours. Route X51 by Arriva runs basically hourly between Rhyl, St Asaph, Denbigh, Ruthin, and Wrexham (Rhyl bus station is next to the railway station, providing Ruthin's most convenient access to the national rail network, while Wrexham railway station is a short distance from its bus station.) Route 55, by Llew Jones Coaches, operates to Corwen at intervals of 50–135 minutes through the day, with three buses extended to Llangollen, and two of these via Llangollen to Wrexham. Route 76, by M & H Coaches, runs six times a day between Denbigh and Ruthin via Llandyrnog, Llangynhafal, and Llanbedr DC; two of these also serve Llanfair DC, Graigfechan, and Pentrecelyn. Less regular services include a weekly route 71 on Fridays between Corwen, Cerrigydrudion, Ruthin, and Morrisons' supermarket in Denbigh, and route 72 on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays for Cyffylliog, Clocaenog, Bontuchel, Betws Gwerfil Goch, Melin-y-Wig, Derwen, and Clawddnewydd. Ruthin town has route 73, operating three buses a day around Ruthin on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

 

The Ruthin railway line and station closed in the 1960s. They had connected Ruthin to Denbigh and Rhyl to the north and Corwen to the south.

 

In 1858, it was intended to extend the Vale of Clwyd line from Denbigh to Ruthin, running alongside the race-course in the town park (now Parc-y Dre housing) to the Station Hotel. However the West family prevented the line crossing the Castle Park towards Corwen. The route was diverted to the north alongside the road to Wrexham and the Station Hotel renamed the Park Place Hotel. Opposite Station Road lies Railway Terrace, a row of Grade II listed buildings, built in 1864 with evidence of trains running in a cutting in front. The first sod was cut in September 1860 by Mrs Florence West, with an inaugural service starting on St David's Day 1862. To mark this, a song was composed with words by T. Ab Gwilym, music by B. Williams and published by Isaac Clarke. The line ran 6.75 miles (10.9 km), with stations at Rhewl and Llanrhaiadr.

 

The local football club is Ruthin Town. In rugby union, Clwb Rygbi Rhuthun/Ruthin RFC has several teams: 1st XV, 2nd XV, 3rd XV, Youth, Juniors & Women's XV.

 

On 13 June 1981, Ruthin hosted the Annual General Meeting of the International Football Association Board, the body which determines the laws of football.

 

Facilities at Ruthin Leisure Centre on Mold Road include a swimming pool, sports hall and fitness suite. Llanfwrog Community Centre on Mwrog Street provides tennis courts, a golf driving range and bowling greens.

 

The first House of Correction, or Bridewell, was built at the bottom of Clwyd Street, next to the river, in 1654, to replace the Old Court House, where able-bodied idlers and the unemployed were sent to work. Following John Howard's investigations into prison conditions the Denbighshire justices resolved to build a new model prison in Ruthin on the site of the old Bridewell. Work began in January 1775. In 1802 the prison had four cells for prisoners and nine rooms for debtors. By 1837 it could hold 37 inmates. The Prisons Act of 1865 set new standards for the design of prisons – as the Ruthin County Gaol did not meet the standards, plans were drawn up for a new four-storey wing. The new prison for up to 100 prisoners was built in the style of London's Pentonville Prison at a cost of £12,000. On 1 April 1878 the Ruthin County Gaol became HM Prison Ruthin, covering the counties of Denbighshire, Flintshire, and Merionethshire. As far as is known, only one person was ever executed in the prison: William Hughes of Denbigh, aged 42, who was hanged on 17 February 1903 for the murder of his wife, his plea of insanity having failed. Another prison personality was John Jones, known as Coch Bach y Bala – who was a kleptomaniac and poacher who had spent more than half his 60 years in all the prisons of north Wales and many in England; he twice escaped from Ruthin Gaol, first on 30 November 1879 when he walked out of prison with three others while the staff were having supper – a £5 reward was offered for his capture, which happened on the following 3 January. On 30 September 1913 he tunnelled out of his cell and using a rope made out of his bedding he climbed over the roof of the chapel and kitchen and got over the wall; after seven days living rough on the Nantclwyd Estate several miles away, Jones was shot in the leg by one of his pursuers, 19-year-old Reginald Jones-Bateman. Jones died of shock and blood loss, while Jones-Bateman was charged with manslaughter, though the charges were subsequently dropped.

 

Ruthin Gaol ceased to be a prison in 1916, when the prisoners and guards were transferred to Shrewsbury. The County Council bought the buildings in 1926 and used them for offices, the county archives and the town library. During the Second World War they were used as a munitions factory. They were then returned to the County Council and became the headquarters of the Denbighshire Library Service. In 2004 the Gaol was renovated and reopened as a museum.[15]

 

Most Haunted: Midsummer Murders filmed the series' fifth episode in Ruthin, where the team investigated a Victorian Era murder. Locations included the Old Gaol and the town library.

 

The Craft Centre had ten studios occupied by crafters who could be watched while they worked at glass blowing, ceramic manufacture, painting, furniture restoration, etc. The original Craft Centre was demolished early in 2007, and a new Craft Centre opened in July 2008 in a £4.3 million scheme, which contains six craft workshops, larger galleries and an expanded craft retail gallery, two residency studios, an education space and a tourist information centre, and a restaurant.

 

Nantclwyd y Dre (previously known as Tŷ Nantclwyd), in Castle Street, was built about 1435 by a local merchant Gronw ap Madoc. The building was sold to the county council in 1982, restored from 2004, and opened to the public in 2007. It contains seven rooms which have been restored to represent various periods in the building's history. Visitors can also observe a colony of Lesser horseshoe bats in the attic rooms.

 

Behind the house are two gardens, the 13th-century inner garden and the outer Lord's Garden, itself believed to have been part of a 13th-century developed castle garden. Restored in the 18th century, Lord's Garden is now itself Grade II listed. In December 2013, the council successfully applied for a grant of £177,600 from the Heritage Lottery Fund, which will see Lord's Garden restored and opened to the public by 2015.

 

This is Ruthin's main park area, which includes a children's play area, a lake, walks and picnic area. A skate park was built in 2007 and a zip wire and trim trail added later. The River Clwyd runs through the park.

 

Gŵyl Rhuthun Festival was founded in 1994 and has been held annually since 1996. The festival is a week filled with events and performances held in various locations around the town, beginning with Ruthin Carnival. The pinnacle of the festival is the Top of Town event held on Ruthin’s historic town square on the last Saturday of the week.

 

According to the historian Peter Smith, "Until the 18th century most towns in Wales had many black-and-white houses (such as Tŷ Nantclwyd y Dre). Ruthin is the only example we have left. It should be carefully conserved, as the last memory we have of these towns." Seven Eyes is a Grade II* listed building of some importance, situated in St Peter's Square.

 

St Peter's Church is the parish church of Ruthin. It is in the diocese of St Asaph. Parts are as old as 1282.

 

The Myddleton Arms is also known as the Seven Eyes. It is said to have been built in the 14th century. The Dutch style design, long, steeped roof is attributed to Sir Richard Clough, an Elizabethan merchant. It has four tiers of dormer windows, each at a different elevation, known locally as the seven eyes of Ruthin. The property was acquired in 1595 by Sir Hugh Myddleton, who provided London with it first fresh water supply. The view of The Myddleton on the square is in fact of the rear of the building. The front looks out over the Clwydian Hills.

 

Formerly a confectionery and bakery shop rented by Thomas Trehearne, the property was owned by the Castle estate. The property also served as a chemist's shop and later as Dick's boot store. On 1 May 1898, Harris Jones took a lease of the property for 21 years as a draper, hosier, glover and dressmaker; he also sold oilcloths, linoleum and other floor coverings. The shop and house were put up for sale in the 1913 by the castle estate along with the Castle Hotel and the Myddleton Arms, which were purchased by William Owen. His lease expired in 1919 with Jones transferring to what is now Gayla House, where he converted the ground floor from residential to retail premises in 1923. The premises are now owned by the HSBC Bank.

 

Formerly the Beehive, this served for 75 years as general drapery and millinery shop. The exact date of the building is not known, but remains of timber framing with wattle and daub indicate that the building is very old. An advertisement claimed the building had been built before 1397. The main section of the building was demolished to make way for the bank. Ruthin Court Rolls refer to a man named Telemann in Ruthin and to a house "in the high St." The rolls record that in 1397, Howell de Rowell passed it on to John Le Sergant. Little is known of the family – possibly a retainer of Edward 1st or Reginald de Grey, probably of Norman French descent. On 24 February, Sergant transferred the tenancy to his daughter Sibilia. The property passed to the Exmewe family by the marriage of Sibilia to Richard Exmewe, their son Thomas being Lord Mayor of London in 1517. Little is known of Exmewe family.

 

Thomas moved to London, deciding to sell his Ruthin Estate of Exmewe House to a fellow mercer, Edward Goodman. Exmewe House or Nant Clwyd-y-Dre may have been the birthplace of Gabriel Goodman, as the family had connections with both properties.

 

Details of the next 200 years are unclear. It became the King's Arms in the occupation of John Price. It then became the Queen's Arms (during the reign of Queen Anne, 1702–1714). The property was purchased for £300 on 5 November 1718 by Robert Myddleton of Chirk. The property served as a chemist's through the 19th century until 1913. It was then sold as part of the Castle Estate sales in 1913/1919, for £1275 to Mr Lecomber, who in turn sold it to Barclays Bank, which modernised it to what can be seen today.

 

Now trading as the Celtic Hair Studio at 2 Well Street. Originally a public house, it was reputedly built in 1401, making it the oldest pub in Ruthin. Lewis Jones, in his 1884 "Handbook For Ruthin and the Vicinity", stated that the old property, formerly the Ruth Inn, had been adapted as a post office some 25 years before. It ceased trading in 1773. In 1850, the building was converted into a drapery, then becoming the town post office again until 1904.

 

The site of the present post office may have been a medieval Carmelite priory of White Friars, said to have been founded and built by Reginald de Grey and partly destroyed by the Reformation. De Grey also provided a large piece of land close to the castle known as Whitefriars. During the 1860s and 1870s the site housed the Queen's Head public house and a horse-feed chandler; both buildings were destroyed by a 1904 fire; the new post office was built in 1906.

 

Located at 33, 35 and 37 Clwyd Street opposite the gaol and now a florist, it was originally the Red Lion public house. In 1824 the hangman, Sam Burrows, was staying at the Red Lion on the night before the execution of John Connor, a highway robber. He gave a detailed demonstration of how he actually hanged a man, unfortunately the stool was accidentally kicked away and Burrows almost hanged himself. The public house ceased trading in 1905.

 

Now flats, the Royal Oak is one of the finest buildings in Ruthin, having three cruck frames, it is a Grade II* listed building.

 

At No. 65 Clwyd Street, this Grade II* listed building retains much of the medieval timber frame internally, the oak for which was felled in 1455 and 1456. Its original purpose is unknown, although it has a medieval arched doorway facing towards the 13th-century mill, and a 15th-century solar (private living quarters) with an open roof with cusped windbraces. It is said to have been converted for domestic use in 1586 and occupied by the Moyle family. A two-storey porch with glazed windows (previously described as a balcony) and internal timber panelling was added, possibly in 1655 when further alterations were made. The building was extensively altered in the 19th century, being converted partly into a shop. Porth y Dŵr originally formed a single building with No. 67 Clwyd Street (listed Grade II), and adjoined the medieval west gate to the town, which was demolished in 1786.

 

All buildings on Castle Street are listed by Cadw. These are the earliest settlements outside the walls of the castle. Some have burgage plots at the back, established by de Grey in 1283. The plots and linear arrangement have barely changed since their foundation.

 

While there were residential properties at the castle end of the street, commercial properties appeared at the end close to St Peters Square. The one exception was the pub Yr Iwerddon at No. 15. The house retains a name referring to its connection with Irish drovers attending markets and fairs.

 

Other establishments of interest include No. 1, now Boots, formerly the Raven Inn, which in 1560 may have been the birthplace of Bishop Richard Parry, pupil and master (1584) of Ruthin School. He was involved with Dean Gabriel Goodman and others in translating the Bible and prayer book into Welsh. The main contributor was Bishop William Morgan, but Parry's revision in 1620 became the accepted authorised version.

 

The Ruthin Royal Bowling Green used the Raven as their headquarters until the Cornwallis-Wests came to live in Ruthin Castle. The club met at the Raven for its annual and quarterly meetings. When competitions took place, the staff of the Raven would take "cwrw da" (good beer) to the players. With the arrival of the Wests, the bowling green laid out inside the curtilage of the castle forced the club to find an alternative green. The option accepted was the rear of No. 8 Castle Street "Gorphwysfa", then called the Constitutional Club, later renamed the Conservative Club.

No. 2. The Wine Vaults with a six-column Tuscan colonnade were 'known as the Black Horse in the 1820s. This is verified by the Welsh Office survey.

No. 7. Sir John Trevor House served as Totty's the Lawyers in the 1700s, later as an antique shop and tea shop, and finally as a private residence offering bed and breakfast accommodation. Sir John Trevor was Speaker of the House of Commons from 1690 to 1695, when he was dismissed for embezzlement. He was the only Speaker forced to resign, until the forced departure of Michael Martin on 19 May 2009.

"Gorphwysfa" was part of the Castle estate until sold off its owners in 1919. The Rifle Volunteer Corps founded in 1859 stored its armoury at the house until a drill hall was built in Borthyn in 1885. The property became the Conservative Club in November 1885.

No. 9, known as "Corwen", held the offices of Phillips the Attorney. It is now a private residence.

No. 11, Ardwyn, is a private residence on three storeys, formerly the offices of the attorneys Smarts.

No. 12, Plas-yn-Dre, cannot be dated accurately. It was rebuilt in 1823, as recorded by a stone above the front door. It housed the North and South Wales Bank. L. G. Thomas, prime mover in the founding the Presbyterian Church in Wynnstay Road in 1886, was bank manager and lived here.

Nos 16 and 18 are wooden-framed buildings with a 19th-century frontage. They formed part of the Castle estate sales of 1913 and 1919. They probably represent the first use of stucco in Ruthin.

 

The Old County Hall, now Ruthin Library, is a Grade II Listed Building in Record Street, originally named Stryd y Chwain (Welsh for Flea Street) due to its very low standard of living. The inferior housing was demolished to make way for the county court and much grander houses between 1785 and 1788. The present name reflects the storing of records from the assizes and shire hall. In 1860 it became the county court, with a portico added at that time. It served as an assize court and housed its records until the 1970s. The library opened in the early 1990s.

 

The police station is a Grade II listed building of 1890. Before it was built, the original one was housed in Ruthin Gaol. The new one gave convenient access to the courts. It contains four cells, which are no longer used, and a much reduced number of police officers.

 

Castle Mews, a Grade II listed building is now a shopping precinct. It dates back to the 15th century, with examples of wattle and daub just inside the building on the right hand side. Remodeled in the early 19th century, it became the Cross Keys coaching inn serving the Ruthin to Chester route, with a change of horses in Mold. It later became a temperance commercial hotel and was home to one of the three Ruthin Friendly Societies: groups of male workers of similar background who contributed small amounts on a weekly basis for insurance against injury and old age. At a later date it was the offices of Ruthin Rural District Council.

 

Nos 10 and 12, a late 18th-century family town house, is Grade II listed. It retained its late Georgian character until converted into today's boutique hotel and art gallery. The cellars are said to have been built of stone from Ruthin Castle. The building has had many uses: as a boarding house for Ruthin School until 1893, a doctors home, a family home, whose most famous resident was Cynthia Lennon, wife of John Lennon while their son Julian attended Ruthin School, a restaurant from the 1930s and a hotel. Today's hotel architecture and art have won several awards.

 

The Wynnstay Hotel And Wayfarer Wool Shop, two separate buildings, were once connected by an archway, through which coaches and horses entered to the rear of the properties, where there were stables. The present Wayfarers shop is shown in the title deeds as an outbuilding consisting of "an old saddle room, l with a room over and Gentleman's Convenience".

 

The Wynnstay Hotel, now a private house, is first recorded in 1549 and known for many years as the Cross Foxes, which formed the heraldic arms of the Wynnstay family, which originated from Wrexham. Its members boasted they could travel from Chester to the Llŷn Peninsula without once leaving their own land. It was an important coaching inn for Ruthin to Denbigh travellers and served the Ruthin, Mold and Chester Royal Mail service. The pub in its heyday had a bowling green and tennis courts, and a central porch demolished in 1969.

 

Plas Coch (also known as the Conservative Club) is a Grade II listed building of medieval origin and a former 17th-century town house. It was rebuilt in 1613 using red sandstone from the castle and became home to the castle Constable. The building has two storeys with attics and four large windows on each floor. In 1963 it became a banqueting hall owned by Rees Jones, who used to trade at the village hall in Llanfair. It became the Conservative Club in 1977, and having been slightly altered, now offers all-round function facilities.

 

The Spread Eagle recalls the coat-of-arms of the Goodwin family. Formerly an inn, records show it traded only from 1792 to 1915, after which it became a temperance hotel, then a retail shop.

 

Rose Cottage is a privately owned residence and a Grade II* listed building on the corner of Rhos Street and Haulfryn. It is listed as an "exceptional survival of a medieval cruck-framed hall-house of relatively low status, retaining its plan-form, character and detail".

 

Situated in the Corwen Road just past Ruthin Castle, Scott House was built 1933 to house the nursing staff of Duff House Sanatorium, which acquired Ruthin Castle and 475 acres (192 ha) of land for their private clinic in April 1923. The Grade II listed building set in landscaped grounds was later divided into flats.

 

Ruthin Town Hall is located in Market Street. It was designed by J. W. Poundley and D. Walker in the High Victorian Gothic style and completed in 1865.

 

Notable people

Ida de Grey (1368 in Ruthin Castle – 1426), a Cambro-Norman noblewoman

Sir Thomas Exmewe (ca.1454–1529), Lord Mayor of London 1517–18

Gabriel Goodman (1528–1601), Dean of Westminster, re-founded Ruthin School

Godfrey Goodman (1582/3 – 1656), Anglican Bishop of Gloucester.

Lloyd Kenyon, 1st Baron Kenyon (1732–1802), politician and barrister, went to Ruthin School.

Joseph Ablett (1773–1848), philanthropist, purchased Llanbedr Hall in Llanbedr Dyffryn Clwyd

Dorothea Eliza Smith (1804–1864), a botanical artist noted for painting South American fruit.

Daisy, Princess of Pless (1873 in Ruthin Castle – 1943), society beauty, wife of Prince Hans Heinrich XV von Hochberg

Wynn Edwards (1842–1900), American farmer and politician

Stanley J. Weyman (1855–1928), English novelist, lived in Ruthin for 33 years and died there.

Sir Henry Haydn Jones MP (1863–1950), politician, slate quarry owner, and owner of the Talyllyn Railway

Władysław Raczkiewicz (1885–1947), the first president of the Polish government in exile, died at Ruthin Castle.

Hafina Clwyd (1936–2011), journalist, town councillor, then mayor of Ruthin (2008–2009)

Cynthia Lennon (1939–2015), first wife of John Lennon, settled in Ruthin. Her son, musician Julian Lennon (born 1963) attended Ruthin School.

Robin Llwyd ab Owain (born 1959), author, poet, and Wikipedian, lives in Ruthin.

Rhys Meirion (born 1966), English National Opera classical tenor; taught near Ruthin

Actors Rhys Ifans (born 1967) and his brother Llŷr Ifans (born 1968) come from Ruthin.

Seren Gibson (born 1988), glamour model, attended Ysgol Brynhyfryd.

 

Sport

Eric Jones, 2019

John Challen (1863–1937), amateur sportsman, played first-class cricket and football

Charles Foweraker (1877–1950), football manager of Bolton Wanderers F.C. from 1919 to 1944

Eric Jones (born 1935), climber, skydiver and BASE jumper.

Doug Dailey MBE (born 1944), racing cyclist

Tom Pryce (1949–1977), Formula One racing driver

Eifion Lewis-Roberts (born 1981), rugby union player for Ruthin RFC, lives in Llanbedr Dyffryn Clwyd.

Rob Higgitt (born 1981), Scarlets rugby union centre, a former resident.

Neil Taylor (born 1989), footballer with 338 club caps and 43 for Wales, attended Ysgol Brynhyfryd.

 

Ruthin is situated on the River Clwyd, at the point where it enters the low-lying pastures of the Vale of Clwyd. The Clwydian Range lies to the east and the Clocaenog Forest and Denbigh Moors to the west.

 

By road, Ruthin is 8 miles (13 km) south-east of Denbigh, 12 miles (19 km) north of Corwen, 10 miles (16 km) west of Mold and 14 miles (23 km) east of Cerrigydrudion.

 

The nearest major urban centres are Wrexham at 17 miles (27 km), Rhyl at 18 miles (29 km), Chester at 23 miles (37 km) and Liverpool at 34 miles (55 km) to the north-east. Ruthin is skirted by villages such as Llanbedr Dyffryn Clwyd, Pwllglas and Rhewl.

 

Denbighshire is a county in the north-east of Wales. It borders the Irish Sea to the north, Flintshire to the east, Wrexham to the southeast, Powys to the south, and Gwynedd and Conwy to the west. Rhyl is the largest town, and Ruthin is the administrative centre. Its borders differ from the historic county of the same name.

 

Denbighshire has an area of 326 square miles (840 km2) and a population of 95,800, making it sparsely populated. The most populous area is the coast, where Rhyl (25,149) and Prestatyn (19,085) form a single built-up area with a population of 46,267. The next-largest towns are Denbigh (8,986), Ruthin (5,461), and Rhuddlan (3,709). St Asaph (3,355) is a city. All of these settlements are in the northern half of the county; the south is even less densely populated, and the only towns are Corwen (2,325) and Llangollen (3,658).

 

The geography of Denbighshire is defined by the broad valley of the River Clwyd, which is surrounded by rolling hills on all sides except the north, where it reaches the coast. The Vale of Clwyd, the lower valley, is given over to crops, while cattle and sheep graze the uplands. The Clwydian Range in the east is part of the Clwydian Range and Dee Valley Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

 

This part of Wales contains the country's oldest known evidence of habitation – Pontnewydd (Bontnewydd-Llanelwy) Palaeolithic site has Neanderthal remains of some 225,000 years ago. The county is also home to several medieval castles, including Castell Dinas Brân, Denbigh, and Rhuddlan, as well as St Asaph Cathedral. Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod takes place in the town each July.

 

The main area was formed on 1 April 1996 under the Local Government (Wales) Act 1994, from various parts of the county of Clwyd. It includes the district of Rhuddlan (formed in 1974 entirely from Flintshire), the communities of Trefnant and Cefn Meiriadog from the district of Colwyn (entirely Denbighshire) and most of the Glyndŵr district. The last includes the former Edeyrnion Rural District, part of the administrative county of Merionethshire before 1974, covering the parishes of Betws Gwerfil Goch, Corwen, Gwyddelwern, Llangar, Llandrillo yn Edeirnion and Llansanffraid.

 

Other principal areas including part of historical Denbighshire are Conwy, which picked up the remainder of 1974–1996 Colwyn, the Denbighshire parts of 1974–1996 Aberconwy, and Wrexham, which corresponds to the pre-1974 borough of Wrexham along with most of Wrexham Rural District and several parishes of Glyndŵr. Post-1996 Powys includes the historically Denbighshire parishes of Llanrhaeadr-ym-Mochnant, Llansilin and Llangedwyn, which formed part of Glyndŵr district.

 

Researchers have found signs that Denbighshire was inhabited at least 225,000 years ago. Bontnewydd Palaeolithic site is one of the most significant in Britain. Hominid remains of probable Neanderthals have been found, along with stone tools from the later Middle Pleistocene.

 

In 2021 February, archaeologists from Aeon Archaeology announced a discovery of over 300 Stone Age tools and artifacts in Rhuddlan. They revealed scrapers, microliths, flakes of chert (a hard, fine-grained, sedimentary rock composed of microcrystalline or cryptocrystalline quartz), flints and other rudimentary tools. An expert, Richard Cooke, believes the lithic remains belonged to ancient peoples, who while passing through the area, made camp by the river more than 9,000 years ago.

 

The eastern edge of Denbighshire follows the ridge of the Clwydian Range, with a steep escarpment to the west and a high point at Moel Famau (1,820 ft (555 m)), which with the upper Dee Valley forms an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, the Clwydian Range and Dee Valley – one of just five in the Wales. The Denbigh Moors (Mynydd Hiraethog) are in the west of the county and the Berwyn Range adjacent to the southern edge. The River Clwyd has a broad fertile Vale running from south–north in the centre of the county. There is a narrow coastal plain in the north which much residential and holiday-trade development. The highest point in the historic county was Cadair Berwyn at 832 m or 2,730 ft), but the boundary changes since 1974 make Cadair Berwyn North Top the highest point. Denbighshire borders the present-day principal areas of Gwynedd, Conwy County Borough, Flintshire, Wrexham County Borough, and Powys.

 

Rhyl and Prestatyn form a single built-up area in the north of the county, with a population of 46,267. They are immediately adjacent to the Kinmel Bay and Abergele built-up area in neighbouring Conwy, and at the eastern end of series of coastal resorts which that also includes Colwyn Bay and Llandudno further west.

 

According to the 2021 United Kingdom census, Denbighshire's population was approximately 95,800. According to previous censuses, the population of Denbighshire was 93,734 in 2011 and 93,065 in 2001. The largest towns on the coast are Rhyl (2001 population c. 25,000) and Prestatyn (2001 population c. 18,000). According to the 2011 Census returns, 24.6 per cent stated they could speak Welsh.

 

Since the 20th-century demise of the coal and steel industries in the Wrexham area, there is no heavy industry in the county. Although most towns have small industrial parks or estates for light industry, the economy is based on agriculture and tourism. Much of the working population is employed in the service sector. The uplands support sheep and beef cattle rearing, while in the Vale of Clwyd dairy farming and wheat and barley crops predominate. Many towns have livestock markets and farming supports farm machinery merchants, vets, feed merchants, contractors and other ancillaries. With their incomes on the decline, farmers have found opportunities in tourism, rural crafts, specialist food shops, farmers' markets and value-added food products.

 

The upland areas with their sheep farms and small, stone-walled fields are attractive to visitors. Redundant farm buildings are often converted into self-catering accommodation, while many farmhouses supply bed and breakfast. The travel trade began with the arrival of the coast railway in the mid-19th century, opening up the area to Merseyside. This led to a boom in seaside guest houses. More recently, caravan sites and holiday villages have thrived and ownership of holiday homes increased. Initiatives to boost the economy of North Wales continue, including redevelopment of the Rhyl seafront and funfair.

 

The North Wales Coast Line running from Crewe to Holyhead is served by Transport for Wales and Avanti West Coast services. Trains leaving Crewe to pass through Chester, cross the River Dee into Wales, and continue through Flint, Shotton, Holywell Junction (closed in 1966), Prestatyn, Rhyl, and stations to Bangor and Holyhead, which has a ferry service to Ireland.

 

There are no motorways in Denbighshire. The A55 dual carriageway runs from Chester through St Asaph to the North Wales coast at Abergele, then parallel to the railway through Conwy and Bangor to Holyhead. The A548 run from Chester to Abergele through Deeside and along the coast, before leaving the coast and terminating at Llanrwst. The main road from London, the A5, passes north-westwards through Llangollen, Corwen and Betws-y-Coed to join the A55 and terminate at Bangor. The A543 crosses the Denbigh Moors from south-east to north-west, and the A525 links Ruthin with St Asaph.

 

There are local bus services between the main towns. Several services by Arriva Buses Wales run along the main coast road between Chester and Holyhead, linking the coastal resorts. Another route links Rhyl to Denbigh.

 

Denbighshire is represented in the House of Commons by three MPs. The Welsh Labour Party lost to the Welsh Conservatives in the 2019 general election for the first time.

 

The following MPs were elected from Denbighshire in 2019:

Simon Baynes (Welsh Conservatives) in Clwyd South, first elected in 2019.

David Jones (Welsh Conservatives) in Clwyd West, first elected in 2005.

James Davies (Welsh Conservatives) in Vale of Clwyd, first elected in 2019.

 

Denbighshire is also represented in the Senedd by three members elected in 2021:

Ken Skates (Welsh Labour) in Clwyd South, first elected in 2011

Darren Millar (Welsh Conservatives) in Clwyd West, first elected in 2007

Gareth Davies (Welsh Conservatives) in Vale of Clwyd, first elected in 2021.

In 2019, research by UnHerd in association with the pollster FocalData showed that most people across the county support the British monarchy.

 

A man in his 20s received an early morning wakeup call today (Monday 24 February), as officers from our County Lines Team executed a warrant at an address in Bolton.

 

He was arrested on suspicion of being concerned with the supply of a Class A substance and cuckooing.

 

Officers carried out a search of the address and seized a mobile phone believed to be used as a drugs line.

 

Cuckooing is the term used when criminals take over the home of a vulnerable person is taken in order to use it to deal, store or take drugs, and other criminal activity. The practice is associated with county lines drug trafficking.

 

Often criminals and organised crime gangs (OCGs) target people who are lonely, isolated, or have addiction issues. It's common for OCGs to use a property for a short amount of time, moving address frequently to reduce the chance of being caught.

 

There are several signs to look out for that may indicate someone is a victim of cuckooing:

 

frequent visitors at unsociable hours

changes in your neighbour’s daily routine

unusual smells coming from a property

suspicious or unfamiliar vehicles outside an address

your neighbour may look dishevelled or seem anxious

This illegal exploitative practice will be discussed in Parliament this week as one of two new offences from the government’s flagship Crime and Policing Bill, making cuckooing illegal under the introduction of a new law.

 

Our County Lines Team investigate suspected drugs lines operating across Greater Manchester using overt and covert methods, including surveillance and other investigative work. If you suspect there is a drugs line operating in your area or that someone is being cuckooed, our officers take this seriously and will act on intelligence.

 

Since September 2022, our County Lines Team have made approximately 366 arrests with 304 charges, seized around 108kg of class A and class B drugs, and closed around 397 Type 1 county drugs lines.

 

Police Constable Andrew Shaw, from GMP’s County Lines Team, said: “We've closed down a suspected drugs line in Bolton this morning, which we believe may have been exploiting vulnerable people and taking over their own home.

 

“Our dedicated county lines team has closed down 160 drugs lines in the last year and continues to pursue suspects and protect victims.

 

“Drugs blight communities; from addiction to the exploitation of vulnerable people, illicit substances cause damage across Greater Manchester.

 

“We are unrelenting in our pursuit of organised criminals, and we will continue to act swiftly on intelligence we receive and proactively pursue offenders.

 

“If you have any concerns about drug supply or county lines operating in your area or feel like you have witnessed something suspicious, please do get in touch with us. You can report information to the police on 101, via gmp.police.uk, or by calling the independent charity Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.”

exeCUTE

Sold.

 

Magnificently executed Chinese porcelain blue and white miniature bottle.

 

If you click on "all sizes", the bottle will start rotating, showing a mountainous landscape with trees, bushes and grass, an architectural structure with a person fishing and a river with ships sailing.

 

The painting in combination with the color and the marking (double circle) suggest the early Kangxi period (1662-1722), notably the - transitional - "master of the rocks" style. However, it was made in the 19th century in the Kangxi revival period under the empress Dowager Cixi.

 

Height 6,5 cm.

 

press to execute

 

a kiss, or a hanshake, for the person that can tell me what Casio model this one is!

4101 executed a wheels up crash landing at RAF Manston Nov 40 after being damaged by a Spitfire. Later repaired allocated RAF serial DG200 and flew for a short period, she also eventually ended up at RAF Biggin Hill in the 60's as a static exhibit, to RAF museum Hendon in 1978.

Executing a go-around. I wasn't listening to ATC radio at the time, so I'm not sure of the reason - I'm guessing it had to do with either traffic on the runway or the occasionally high winds LAX was experiencing.

Detail of the Baptistry Window, a masterpiece of abstract stained glass designed by John Piper and executed by Patrick Reyntiens.

 

Coventry's Cathedral is a unique synthesis of old a new, born of wartime suffering and forged in the spirit of postwar optimism, famous for it's history and for being the most radically modern of Anglican cathedrals. Two cathedral's stand side by side, the ruins of the medieval building, destroyed by incendiary bombs in 1940 and the bold new building designed by Basil Spence and opened in 1962.

 

It is a common misconception that Coventry lost it's first cathedral in the wartime blitz, but the bombs actually destroyed it's second; the original medieval cathedral was the monastic St Mary's, a large cruciform building believed to have been similar in appearance to Lichfield Cathedral (whose diocese it shared). Tragically it became the only English cathedral to be destroyed during the Reformation, after which it was quickly quarried away, leaving only scant fragments, but enough evidence survives to indicate it's rich decoration (some pieces were displayed nearby in the Priory Visitors Centre, sadly since closed). Foundations of it's apse were found during the building of the new cathedral in the 1950s, thus technically three cathedrals share the same site.

 

The mainly 15th century St Michael's parish church became the seat of the new diocese of Coventry in 1918, and being one of the largest parish churches in the country it was upgraded to cathedral status without structural changes (unlike most 'parish church' cathedrals created in the early 20th century). It lasted in this role a mere 22 years before being burned to the ground in the 1940 Coventry Blitz, leaving only the outer walls and the magnificent tapering tower and spire (the extensive arcades and clerestoreys collapsed completely in the fire, precipitated by the roof reinforcement girders, installed in the Victorian restoration, that buckled in the intense heat).

 

The determination to rebuild the cathedral in some form was born on the day of the bombing, however it wasn't until the mid 1950s that a competition was held and Sir Basil Spence's design was chosen. Spence had been so moved by experiencing the ruined church he resolved to retain it entirely to serve as a forecourt to the new church. He envisaged the two being linked by a glass screen wall so that the old church would be visible from within the new.

 

Built between 1957-62 at a right-angle to the ruins, the new cathedral attracted controversy for it's modern form, and yet some modernists argued that it didn't go far enough, after all there are echoes of the Gothic style in the great stone-mullioned windows of the nave and the net vaulting (actually a free-standing canopy) within. What is exceptional is the way art has been used as such an integral part of the building, a watershed moment, revolutionising the concept of religious art in Britain.

 

Spence employed some of the biggest names in contemporary art to contribute their vision to his; the exterior is adorned with Jacob Epstein's triumphant bronze figures of Archangel Michael (patron of the cathedral) vanquishing the Devil. At the entrance is the remarkable glass wall, engraved by John Hutton with strikingly stylised figures of saints and angels, and allowing the interior of the new to communicate with the ruin. Inside, the great tapestry of Christ in majesty surrounded by the evangelistic creatures, draws the eye beyond the high altar; it was designed by Graham Sutherland and was the largest tapestry ever made.

 

However one of the greatest features of Coventry is it's wealth of modern stained glass, something Spence resolved to include having witnessed the bleakness of Chartres Cathedral in wartime, all it's stained glass having been removed. The first window encountered on entering is the enormous 'chess-board' baptistry window filled with stunning abstract glass by John Piper & Patrick Reyntiens, a symphony of glowing colour. The staggered nave walls are illuminated by ten narrow floor to ceiling windows filled with semi-abstract symbolic designs arranged in pairs of dominant colours (green, red, multi-coloured, purple/blue and gold) representing the souls journey to maturity, and revealed gradually as one approaches the altar. This amazing project was the work of three designers lead by master glass artist Lawrence Lee of the Royal College of Art along with Keith New and Geoffrey Clarke (each artist designed three of the windows individually and all collaborated on the last).

 

The cathedral still dazzles the visitor with the boldness of it's vision, but alas, half a century on, it was not a vision to be repeated and few of the churches and cathedrals built since can claim to have embraced the synthesis of art and architecture in the way Basil Spence did at Coventry.

 

The cathedral is generally open to visitors most days. For more see below:-

www.coventrycathedral.org.uk/

Detail of the Baptistry Window, a masterpiece of abstract stained glass designed by John Piper and executed by Patrick Reyntiens.

 

Coventry's Cathedral is a unique synthesis of old a new, born of wartime suffering and forged in the spirit of postwar optimism, famous for it's history and for being the most radically modern of Anglican cathedrals. Two cathedral's stand side by side, the ruins of the medieval building, destroyed by incendiary bombs in 1940 and the bold new building designed by Basil Spence and opened in 1962.

 

It is a common misconception that Coventry lost it's first cathedral in the wartime blitz, but the bombs actually destroyed it's second; the original medieval cathedral was the monastic St Mary's, a large cruciform building believed to have been similar in appearance to Lichfield Cathedral (whose diocese it shared). Tragically it became the only English cathedral to be destroyed during the Reformation, after which it was quickly quarried away, leaving only scant fragments, but enough evidence survives to indicate it's rich decoration (some pieces were displayed nearby in the Priory Visitors Centre, sadly since closed). Foundations of it's apse were found during the building of the new cathedral in the 1950s, thus technically three cathedrals share the same site.

 

The mainly 15th century St Michael's parish church became the seat of the new diocese of Coventry in 1918, and being one of the largest parish churches in the country it was upgraded to cathedral status without structural changes (unlike most 'parish church' cathedrals created in the early 20th century). It lasted in this role a mere 22 years before being burned to the ground in the 1940 Coventry Blitz, leaving only the outer walls and the magnificent tapering tower and spire (the extensive arcades and clerestoreys collapsed completely in the fire, precipitated by the roof reinforcement girders, installed in the Victorian restoration, that buckled in the intense heat).

 

The determination to rebuild the cathedral in some form was born on the day of the bombing, however it wasn't until the mid 1950s that a competition was held and Sir Basil Spence's design was chosen. Spence had been so moved by experiencing the ruined church he resolved to retain it entirely to serve as a forecourt to the new church. He envisaged the two being linked by a glass screen wall so that the old church would be visible from within the new.

 

Built between 1957-62 at a right-angle to the ruins, the new cathedral attracted controversy for it's modern form, and yet some modernists argued that it didn't go far enough, after all there are echoes of the Gothic style in the great stone-mullioned windows of the nave and the net vaulting (actually a free-standing canopy) within. What is exceptional is the way art has been used as such an integral part of the building, a watershed moment, revolutionising the concept of religious art in Britain.

 

Spence employed some of the biggest names in contemporary art to contribute their vision to his; the exterior is adorned with Jacob Epstein's triumphant bronze figures of Archangel Michael (patron of the cathedral) vanquishing the Devil. At the entrance is the remarkable glass wall, engraved by John Hutton with strikingly stylised figures of saints and angels, and allowing the interior of the new to communicate with the ruin. Inside, the great tapestry of Christ in majesty surrounded by the evangelistic creatures, draws the eye beyond the high altar; it was designed by Graham Sutherland and was the largest tapestry ever made.

 

However one of the greatest features of Coventry is it's wealth of modern stained glass, something Spence resolved to include having witnessed the bleakness of Chartres Cathedral in wartime, all it's stained glass having been removed. The first window encountered on entering is the enormous 'chess-board' baptistry window filled with stunning abstract glass by John Piper & Patrick Reyntiens, a symphony of glowing colour. The staggered nave walls are illuminated by ten narrow floor to ceiling windows filled with semi-abstract symbolic designs arranged in pairs of dominant colours (green, red, multi-coloured, purple/blue and gold) representing the souls journey to maturity, and revealed gradually as one approaches the altar. This amazing project was the work of three designers lead by master glass artist Lawrence Lee of the Royal College of Art along with Keith New and Geoffrey Clarke (each artist designed three of the windows individually and all collaborated on the last).

 

The cathedral still dazzles the visitor with the boldness of it's vision, but alas, half a century on, it was not a vision to be repeated and few of the churches and cathedrals built since can claim to have embraced the synthesis of art and architecture in the way Basil Spence did at Coventry.

 

The cathedral is generally open to visitors most days. For more see below:-

www.coventrycathedral.org.uk/

Flight Lieutenant William Ellis Newton, VC

 

Date of birth: 08 June 1919

Place of birth: St Kilda, VIC

Date of death: 29 March 1943

Place of death: Salamaua Ithmus, New Guinea

 

William Newton was born on 8 June 1919 at St Kilda, Melbourne. He attended the Melbourne Church of England Grammar School, becoming a keen sportsman who played cricket for the Victorian second eleven. He was working in a Melbourne silk warehouse when the Second World War began and he enlisted in the RAAF on 5 February 1940.

 

Having been commissioned and qualified as a pilot, Newton became a flight instructor before being posted to 22 Squadron, based in Port Moresby, in May 1942. He flew 52 operations in Boston dive bombers, consistently displaying a determination to destroy his target. Fellow airmen dubbed him "the firebug", claiming that wherever Newton flew he left a fire burning behind him.

 

On 16 March 1943, Newton was leading an attack against Japanese positions at Salamaua in New Guinea. As he dived through heavy anti-aircraft fire his aircraft was hit, although he was able to bomb before pulling away and coaxing his badly damaged aircraft safely back to Port Moresby. Two days later he returned to Salamaua again hitting his target and again being hit by heavy ground-fire. This time Newton's aircraft caught fire but he managed to ditch the burning aircraft in the sea, about 900 metres offshore. Two of the Boston's three crew members were seen to make it ashore by other squadron members.

 

Newton was one of them. He was captured by the Japanese along with Flight Sergeant J. Lyon. Both men were sent to Lae where Lyon was later executed. Newton was returned to Salamaua and on 29 March 1943 he too was executed. His death became linked with that of another Australian, Len Siffleet, a special operations sergeant who had also been captured in New Guinea. A photograph of Siffleet's beheading was found by American soldiers in April 1944 and was believed for many years to have shown Newton's execution. While no photograph of his death is known to exist, the story of Newton's execution circulated in Australian newspapers after it was translated from the captured diary of a Japanese soldier who had witnessed the incident.

 

His fearless approach to operational flying and the manner in which he attempted to save his crew by piloting their burning aircraft as far from Japanese positions as possible earned Newton the Victoria Cross, the only such award made to a member of the RAAF in the Pacific theatre. After the war, Newton's body was located and buried in the Lae war cemetery.

 

Insurgents prepare to execute a man in-front of towns people during Decisive Action Rotation 16-07 at the National Training Center on Fort Irwin, Calif., June 14, 2016. (U.S. Army photo by Spc. Courtney White, Operations Group, National Training Center)

Exécutées en 1850, elles représentent des chevaux et leurs dresseurs. Elles sont une allégorie du triomphe de l'homme sur la nature...

THM66. - (Syrian Arab Republic), 15/09/2014.- A frame grab from a video released by the Islamic State (IS) on 14 September 2014 shows an IS militant dressed in black (R) and holding holding a knife before purpotedly executing British national David Cawthorne Haines (L)somewhere in a desert setting. David Haines, 44, was working with refugees for the French non-profit Agency for Technical Cooperation and Development when he was abducted in March 2013 by Islamist fighters in northern Syria. (Siria) EFE/EPA/ISLAMIC STATE VIDEO BEST QUALITY AVAILABLE HANDOUT EDITORIAL USE ONLY

This morning, officers executed four arrest warrants at addresses on Derbyshire Avenue in Stretford, resulting in five arrests.

At the first address, a 16‑year‑old boy was arrested on suspicion of possession with intent to supply Class B drugs, as well as an unrelated robbery offence.

 

At the second address, a 39‑year‑old man was arrested on suspicion of possession with intent to supply Class B drugs.

 

At the third address, two men, aged 28 and 61and a 59‑year‑old woman were arrested on suspicion of possession with intent to supply Class A and Class B drugs.

 

No drugs were located at the fourth address; however, a mobile phone was seized as part of the ongoing investigation.

 

These warrants were executed following a proactive investigation led by Trafford North’s Neighbourhood Team into drug supply linked to Derbyshire Avenue.

 

The team remains committed to tackling drug dealing and associated criminality across the Trafford area.

  

Intelligence from the local community played a vital role. Based on this information, officers believed the four addresses were connected to the supply of controlled substances.

  

Collaboration was key to the success of this operation. The Neighbourhood Team worked alongside the Tactical Dog Unit, the Drone Unit, our Challenger Team, and the Regional Organised Crime Unit, ensuring a coordinated and robust approach.

upon entry, officers recovered cannabis at three properties, secured multiple arrests, and seized a quantity of white powder - believed to be cocaine - which has been sent for forensic testing.

 

All five suspects remain in custody for further questioning.

 

Inspector Jamie Jeffries, from the Trafford North Neighbourhood Team said: “Executing four warrants at the same time on the same street is a significant undertaking and reflects the seriousness of the intelligence we received.

 

“This level of coordinated action demands careful planning and considerable resources, and it shows our determination to disrupt drug networks operating in Trafford.

 

“Thanks to crucial information from the public, our Trafford North Neighbourhood Team was able to act decisively against addresses suspected of working together in drug supply.

 

“Conducting multiple warrants in one operation sends a clear message: if you choose to deal drugs, we will gather the evidence and take robust, swift action.

 

“We remain firmly committed to keeping Trafford safe, and I encourage anyone with concerns to keep coming forward — community intelligence directly drives operations like today’s.

 

Anyone with information about criminal activity is urged to contact police on 101, Live Chat or report anonymously via Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

 

You should call 101, the national non-emergency number, to report crime and other concerns that do not require an emergency response.

 

Always call 999 in an emergency, such as when a crime is in progress, violence is being used or threatened or where there is danger to life.

 

You can also call anonymously with information about crime to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111. Crimestoppers is an independent charity who will not want your name, just your information. Your call will not be traced or recorded and you do not have to go to court or give a statement.

 

You can access many of our services online at www.gmp.police.uk

 

Site | Fan Page | 500px

  

Show realizado no dia 24 de janeiro de 2013 no Hangar 110 em São Paulo/SP

South chancel window c1980 unusually executed using fused layers of glass to create the designs. Possibly the work of Birmingham stained glass artist Claude Price who often used this medium.

 

The church of All Saints in Thorpe Acre (a north western suburb of Loughborough) was built in 1845 to replace a ruined medieval building at nearby DIshley. This small church was designed by WIlliam Railton and consisted of a single space nave and chancel in one crowned by a bellcote at the west end. The situation changed dramatically in 1968 when the building was greatly enlarged by extensions at the west end and on the south side were a large transept was created, transforming the building into the T-shaped worship space we see today, with the focal point at the crossing point rather than the old chancel. Outside the bellcote remains but the new additions dominate the view from the west and south, leaving the former chancel as the only part of the building still substantially in its Victorian form.

 

The interior is a light and pleasant space thanks to the white-washed walls and the light flooding in from the modern sections. The former chancel is relatively unaltered and retains some fine glass by Kempe along with a good Arts & Crafts window and a more recent piece alongside it.

 

This church is something a bit different, a fusion of old and new, and I rather liked it. I imagine it is normally only open for services but the people we met here were friendly and welcoming.

 

www.lboro-history-heritage.org.uk/all-saints-church-thorp...

  

THE ROAD MENDERS

Vincent van Gogh

( 1889 )

 

Vincent van Gogh painted two versions of The Road Menders in 1889. The first variant, the final work of many outdoor scenes of that year, was executed in plein air, and the Phillips version, which followed shortly thereafter, was created in the studio. Both works depict the repaving a street in Saint-Rémy known at the time as the Cours de l’Est. The scene captivated the artist on one of several excursions from the Asylum of Saint-Paul-de-Mausole during the fall and winter of 1889-90. The theme of workers in the landscape had been a prevalent motif of van Gogh’s paintings executed in Holland.

 

On December 7, van Gogh wrote to his brother Theo in Paris, describing a first version: “The last study I have done is a view of the village, where they were at work – under some enormous plane trees – repairing the pavements. So there are heaps of sand, stones and gigantic trunks – the leaves yellowing and here and there you get a glimpse of a house front and small figures.” The Phillips version, which van Gogh called “a copy,” followed most likely in mid-December. On January 3, 1890, van Gogh referred to both paintings in a list that accompanied a shipment of paintings sent to Theo: “The big plane trees – the chief street or boulevard of Saint-Rémy, study from nature – I have a copy which is perhaps more finished here.” Duncan Phillips ranked the version he acquired as “among the best van Gogh’s.”

______

Van Gogh Repetitions takes a fresh look at the artistic process of Vincent van Gogh (1853–1890). While recognized for the intensity and speed with which he painted, the artist could also work with careful deliberation, creating numerous versions of some of his most famous subjects. The first exhibition in Phillips Collection history devoted to the artist, Van Gogh Repetitions goes beneath the surface of some of his best-known paintings to examine how and why he repeated certain compositions during his 10-year career, inviting viewers to look more closely than ever before at van Gogh’s celebrated works.

 

Featuring 35 paintings and works on paper and examples of 13 repetitions, the exhibition is the first to focus on van Gogh’s “repetitions”—a term the artist used to describe his practice of creating more than one version of a particular subject. He often began by sketching a person or landscape rapidly from life. Back in the studio, he would repeat the subject, reworking and refining his idea on a fresh canvas, in some cases many times, to extract the essence of a motif.

 

Van Gogh Repetitions is inspired by The Road Menders (1889) in The Phillips Collection and a painting of the same subject, The Large Plane Trees (1889), in The Cleveland Museum of Art. The exhibition reunites the two masterpieces—never before seen together in Washington—and invites deep, focused study of the similarities and differences between them, revealing some surprising facts about van Gogh’s process and motivation. Changes among repetitions are also explored in van Gogh’s series of portraits of his friend Joseph Roulin and Roulin’s family. The exhibition also highlights the artist’s practice of repeating work by other artists, including Paul Gauguin. Created in significant locales in the Netherlands and in France, including Paris, Arles, Saint-Rémy, and Auvers, the works in the exhibition reveal the vitality and persistence of this method across van Gogh’s career.

 

The exhibition brings together portraits and landscapes from some of the world’s most renowned collections, including The Museum of Modern Art, New York; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; Philadelphia Museum of Art; The Art Institute of Chicago; Kröller-Müller Museum, Otterlo; and the Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam. Masterpieces from the Musée d’Orsay, Paris, including The Bedroom at Arles (1889), are also showcased alongside paintings from the Phillips’s permanent collection by artists van Gogh admired, including Gauguin, Honoré Daumier, and Rembrandt van Rijn, to create a richer, more meaningful picture of his personal life and artistic production.

 

Curator and Conservator’s Notes

 

Chief Curator Eliza Rathbone and Head Conservator Elizabeth Steele discuss their research into van Gogh’s process.

 

ER: In 2005 the Phillips’s Road Menders was studied beside The Large Plane Trees at The Cleveland Museum of Art. Their conservators and curators undertook detailed technical examinations on the two works to better understand van Gogh’s process of creating repetitions.

 

ES: The surfaces of the paintings were studied using a stereo binocular microscope. X-radiographs were made of each work to detect differences in the application of paint. Infrared images were analyzed for signs of tracing or other duplication methods. This in-depth study, paired with direct comparison of the two works side by side, made a convincing case as to which painting was created on site and which was the repetition. The brushwork in The Large Plane Trees is fluid; there are signs that van Gogh reworked certain passages and that he added the figures and other details, such as the lamppost, on top of a completed landscape. The brushwork in The Road Menders is more controlled; the layout of the composition appears pre-planned, with places left in reserve on the canvas for most of the elements. The spontaneity found in the Cleveland painting pointed to it being the first rendition, while the more controlled execution in the Phillips’s street scene designates it as the repetition.

 

ER: These fascinating results led me to propose an exhibition that would bring these two works—and other van Gogh repetitions—together. Over the course of five years, our team of curators and conservators traveled widely—to museums in the Netherlands, Paris, Rome, New York, Boston, Chicago, Detroit, and Philadelphia, and collections from California to Switzerland—studying works that are in the exhibition, as well as related works that could not travel.

 

ES: We meticulously examined over 50 paintings in 23 museums, in total studying 18 instances of repetitions. We reviewed the records and studied the x-radiographs and infrared images for each picture, spending countless hours peering through microscopes, searching for signs that would elucidate the artist’s process.

 

ER: Because each work has its own individual history, this was the only way to glean the kind of precise facts we needed to draw upon for our research. It was thrilling to see van Gogh’s brushstrokes magnified, and to see the edges of his paintings that had been hidden behind the frames, revealing the original brilliant colors.

 

www.phillipscollection.org/event/2013-10-11-van-gogh-repe...

_______________________

 

www.phillipscollection.org

 

Founded by art collector and philanthropist Duncan Phillips in 1921, The Phillips Collection has been collecting modern and contemporary art for over one hundred years. Duncan Phillips’s former home—and additions to it—in Washington’s historic Dupont Circle neighborhood provides a unique setting for the growing collection of over 6,000 works. Following Phillips’s unconventional approach to exhibitions, The Phillips Collection galleries are frequently rearranged to facilitate new conversations between artworks and fresh experiences for visitors.

 

HISTORY

“Sorrow all but overwhelmed me,” Duncan Phillips wrote. “Then I turned to my love of painting for the will to live.”

 

Duncan Phillips (1886-1966) was the son of Major Duncan Clinch Phillips, a Pittsburgh businessman and Civil War veteran, and Eliza Laughlin Phillips, whose father was a banker and co-founder of Jones and Laughlin Steel Company. The family moved to Washington, DC, in winter 1895-96.

 

Duncan was close to his older brother, Jim; Jim postponed attending college for two years so that he and Duncan could attend Yale University together. The brothers moved from DC to an apartment in New York in 1914. Duncan wrote extensively on art and published his first book, The Enchantment of Art, in 1914. Duncan’s passion for art was fueled by trips to Europe in 1911 and 1912 and visits to the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, along with friendships in New York with artists Augustus Vincent Tack, who became a lifelong friend, and American impressionist painter Julian Alden Weir. In 1916 the brothers convinced their parents to set aside $10,000 annually to allow them to assemble a collection of contemporary American painting for the family.

 

Soon after, tragedy struck the Phillips family. Major Duncan Phillips died suddenly in 1917 from a heart condition and James died from the flu epidemic in 1918. To cope with these stunning blows, Duncan turned to the restorative quality of art. “Sorrow all but overwhelmed me,” he later wrote. “Then I turned to my love of painting for the will to live.” He and his mother founded the museum in late 1918. It was originally called the Phillips Memorial Art Gallery, and opened it to the public in fall of 1921. In a specially designed room added onto the second floor of the family home, they showed selections from their growing 237-work collection that now included examples by European artists, reflecting Duncan Phillips’s pioneering idea of creating a museum in the nation’s capital where one could encounter the art of the past and the present on equal terms. As the collection grew, the family moved out of their Dupont Circle home to a new residence in 1930, allowing the entire house to become a dedicated space for the museum.

 

Duncan Phillips married painter Marjorie Acker (1894-1985) in 1921, shortly before the museum opened, and she became his partner in developing The Phillips Collection. Born in Bourbon, Indiana, and raised in New York State, she was encouraged by her uncles―painters Gifford and Reynolds Beal―to pursue art; she studied at the Art Students League in New York City. Duncan and Marjorie met at an exhibition of his collection at The Century Club in New York in late 1920. After they were married, Marjorie painted almost every morning, ran the household, and served as Associate Director of the museum. She helped him gain insight into the artist’s process, and over the course of their lifetime together they collected nearly 2,500 works of art. When Duncan died in 1966, Marjorie became the museum director, continuing to develop close relationships with artists and the artistic community of DC. She held that position for six years.

 

From the outset, the vision for The Phillips Collection was “an intimate museum combined with an experiment station.” As a collector, Duncan Phillips was noted for his willingness to deviate from the art museum standard of displaying works together based on shared nationality and geography, interpreting modernism as a dialogue between past and present. He collected the work of his contemporaries at a time when art that did not follow traditional, academic standards was not widely accepted as aesthetically and culturally valuable. This philosophy of taking risks allowed for Phillips to be the first to collect and exhibit artists who were not well known at the time, such as Milton Avery, Pierre Bonnard, Georges Braque, Jacob Lawrence, Grandma Moses, Georgia O’Keeffe, and Rufino Tamayo.

 

www.flickr.com/photos/ugardener/54812157486/in/dateposted/

 

www.youtube.com/@PhillipsArtMuseum

 

www.cntraveler.com/activities/washington/phillips-collection

....

Elle fut exécutée en 1788 d'après les dessins de Charles de Wailly, et donnée par le duc d'Aiguillon du Plessis-Richelieu, arrière-petit-neveu du cardinal de Richelieu, ancien ministre de Louis XV et premier marguillier de la paroisse. Elle est faite de chêne et de marbre, et considérée comme un chef-d’œuvre d'ébénisterie et d'équilibre (elle repose, de fait, sur les seuls escaliers latéraux qui la soutiennent). En 1791, Monsieur de Pansemont (curé de la paroisse) déclara son refus de prêter le serment de la Constitution Civile du Clergé du haut de cette chaire, devant les gardes nationaux et ses fidèles. La chaire fut, par chance, conservée par les révolutionnaires qui la jugeaient « utile ». Ses dorures et ses peintures ont fait récemment l'objet d'une restauration très soignée (2010).

La chaire comporte de nombreux symboles sur les différentes parties qui la composent :

Deux statues en bois de tilleul doré (œuvre de Guesdon), celle de gauche tenant un calice (symbole de la foi) et celle de droite une ancre (symbole d'espérance).

Quatre bas reliefs en bronze dorés d'Edme Dumont, avec des animaux qui représentent les évangélistes : un lion (pour Saint Marc, dont l'Évangile commence par le ministère de Saint Jean le Baptiste dont la parole retentit comme le rugissement d'un lion dans le désert), un taureau (pour Saint Luc, dont l'Évangile commence par l'annonce d'un fils à Zacharie, sacrificateur au temple), un ange (ou un homme, pour Saint Matthieu dont l'Évangile commence par la généalogie humaine du Christ) et un aigle (qui fixe le Soleil comme Saint Jean fixe Dieu dans la personne humaine et divine du Christ).

Un abat-voix d'Edme Dumont surmonté d'un groupe (une femme et des enfants) en bois doré représentant la charité, dont le dessous du ciel est orné d'une colombe dorée aux ailes étendues, symbole de l'Esprit Saint entouré de rayons lumineux.

Actuellement la chaire ne sert plus pour les prêches, les prédicateurs commentant les textes de la liturgie depuis le pupitre des lecteurs, près de l'autel.

(Wikipedia)

Joey Ryan executes a boobhandle suplex to Candice Le Ray.

My old house mate Ric, threatening my other house mate sam with BB execution if he dosn't do something (I forget what). Moments later sam recieved a small bruse and chases Ric up stairs. This was quite a common sceen at university, we kept the gun in the living room to have ago at the rat that occasionally appeared.

 

I like this photo because it looks like i.ve just stumbled into an argumet gone sour, an i'm cowering in the kitchen.

 

Taken with Olympus OM40

Free download under CC Attribution (CC BY 4.0). Please credit the artist and rawpixel.com.

 

Higher resolutions with no attribution required can be downloaded: www.rawpixel.com/category/public_domain

o remember the late Mr Lee Kuan Yew, there will be a tribute segment in the Prologue of the NDP 2015 Show. As part of the tribute segment, the RSAF Black Knights will execute the “Five Stars” Tribute Aerial Flypast, signifying Singapore’s ideals of democracy, peace, progress, justice and equality.

Wir haben Ihren Auftrag ausgefuehrt.

We have executed your order.

Nous avons effectue votre commande.

 

Ihre Bestellung wurde durch unseren Fahrer geliefert.

Eine Fotographie der Blumen ist diesem Mail angehaengt oder folgt in einem separaten E-Mail gemaess den Bedingungen www.maarsen.ch/4

 

Your order has been delivered by our driver.

Attached you will find a photo of your bouquet or it will follow in an other e-mail. Conditions see www.maarsen.ch/4

 

Notre chauffeur a fait la livraison.

Veuillez trouver la photo de votre bouquet ci-dessous ou dans un prochain message electronique. Conditions voir www.maarsen.ch/4

 

Danke fuer Ihren Einkauf! Thank you for shopping at Maarsen's! Merci de votre confiance.

Blumen Maarsen AG

 

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Blumen fuer die Hochzeit: www.maarsen.ch/hochzeit

Dekoration von Anlaessen www.maarsen.ch/deco

 

PS: Sie koennen Ihre E-Mail-Adresse eintragen, um sporadisch das Foto

eines neuen Angebotes zu erhalten -> www.maarsen.ch/regd.htm

 

www.maarsen.ch

Blumen Maarsen AG

Moserstrasse 9

3014 Bern, Switzerland

info@maarsen.ch

Telefon 0800 30 30 33

Phone +41 31 332 62 00

Fax +41 31 332 76 92

 

www.maarsen.ch/livecam/

 

--

Ich verwende die kostenlose Version von SPAMfighter für private Anwender,

die bei mir bis jetzt 245 Spammails entfernt hat.

Bezahlende Anwender haben diesen Hinweis nicht in ihren E-Mails.

Laden Sie SPAMfighter kostenlos herunter: www.spamfighter.com/lde

HUD Secretaries Visit Puerto Rico to Execute Disaster Grant Agreement

On December 12, ImprovAZ executed the mp3 Experiment. Participants downloaded an audio file which told them what to do for roughly 20 mins. at 2p in Tempe, AZ. Participants met, skipped, drew their bows, died, blew bubbles, and high fived through Tempe's Mill Ave. Roughly 100 "agents" participated.

On Tuesday 15 October 2024, police executed five warrants at addresses in Rochdale and Manchester to tackle the cruel and unlawful sale of puppies,

following an extensive investigation by the RSPCA, supported by Greater Manchester Police, into the illegitimate and organised sale of puppies.

 

This investigation has uncovered an illicit underground trade that promotes animal cruelty and neglect, with sellers and criminal gangs making vast sums of money at the expense of innocent puppies and members of the public.

 

Some puppies were sick and died shortly after being sold to unsuspecting members of the public who believed they were buying much-loved family pets but may have been imported from overseas.

 

Today’s positive action comes as a result of several reports from members of the public who have been subject to extreme distress as a result of this illicit operation. Work remains ongoing and we are following several lines of enquiry to disrupt and prevent this type of criminality.

 

Sergeant Brendan Walsh, from our Rochdale district, said: “This is organised crime, and those involved have been making eye watering profits from this harmful and illicit trade.

 

“This has been a tremendous joint effort between Greater Manchester Police and the RSPCA's Special Operations Unit.

 

"The properties were searched, and police have rescued 14 puppies and seized an XL bully. Police also seized several mobile phones, important documents and bank statements, all consistent with an organised criminal operation involving the fraudulent and unlawful sale and breeding of puppies.

 

“We’ve had members of the public who have paid substantial amounts for these puppies, paid large veterinary fees, and have been left traumatised by their experiences. I hope today’s activity will highlight our commitment to tackling this type of crime, and I would urge anyone who feels they have been affected by this, please contact us so that we can act."

  

An RSPCA spokesperson said: "We'd urge anyone who wants to get a dog to consider adopting from a rescue charity, like the RSPCA. There are thousands of dogs across the country waiting to find their forever families.

 

"Anyone who is looking to buy a puppy should be cautious when choosing a breeder and use The Puppy Contract to help them find a happy, healthy dog. Anyone who is concerned about a seller should walk away and report their concerns to the police, Trading Standards or RSPCA."

 

Anyone with concerns over illegal puppy sales should contact Greater Manchester Police using the online reporting method or calling 101. Concerns can also be reported to the RSPCA.

THRASH METAL - RANCAGUA

Execute an angular bisector!

Same thing; other side!

Willie executes a crowd-pleasing dive as Sadie Cocco, 4, looks on during the 2019 MWR Pooch Plunge, Saturday at the Connelly Pool Complex at the Officers Club.

Agents with the Cullman Narcotics Enforcement Team (CNET) and deputies with the Cullman County Sheriff’s Office (CCSO) arrested nine individuals for Unlawful Possession of a Controlled Substance and Unlawful Possession of Drug Paraphernalia.

 

Arrested for Unlawful Possession of a Controlled Substance and Unlawful Possession of Drug Paraphernalia were:

 

• Santos Lynn Thomas (25 - Hispanic) Cleveland, AL - $5000 Bond

 

• Sarah Marie Milligan (23 -White) Cullman, AL - $5000 Bond

 

• Omar Rivera Loyola (24 - Hispanic) Oneonta, AL - $5000 Bond

 

• Tonya Lynn Wagner (35 -White) Crane Hill, AL - $5000 Bond

 

• Brian Keith Bagwell (32 -White) Holly Pond, AL - $5000 Bond

 

• Ricky Charles Mewbourn (50 - White) Cullman, AL - $5000 Bond

(also had a warrant for Unlawful Possession of Drug Paraphernalia)

 

• Hugo Contreaus-Cenantes (33 - Hispanic) Altoona, AL - $5000 Bond

 

• Angela Denise Stewart (44 - White) Hayden, AL - $5,000 Bond

  

Arrested for Unlawful Possession of Drug Paraphernalia and also had warrants for Unlawful Possession of a Controlled Substance and Unlawful Possession of Drug Paraphernalia:

 

• Santanna Marie Barnett (25 - White) Cullman, AL - $13,000 Bond

 

The operation that led to the arrest of the nine suspects was executed in the 800 block of County Road 1319, also known as Basch Road, on Thursday February 4, 2016.

 

CNET and CCSO deputies made entry into the residence and arrested those suspects who had warrants. While inside, CNET agents and deputies located multiple suspects inside the residence were methamphetamine, other drugs and drug paraphernalia were located.

 

CCSO seized approximately 10 grams of meth, syringes, glass meth pipes, straws and Marijuana.

 

Following the arrest Cullman County Sheriff Matt Gentry had these remarks:

 

“I believe anytime you can arrest a large number of drug pushers and several of them are not from our community it sends the message we don’t want your drugs in Cullman County and if you come here you will go to jail. I would also like to thank CNET and our deputies for the great job they did on this arrest."

 

For the full story including images of those arrested and example of items seized. please so here:

cullmantoday.com/2016/02/04/cnet-executes-far-reaching-cu...

..... execute a pratfall.

Soldiers execute a swim survival event at the National Best Warrior Competition held at Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro, Tenn., July 25, 2022. Fourteen competitors from around the nation came together to compete July 22-29. The National Best Warrior Competition has the best of the best Soldiers in the Army National Guard. (U.S. Army National Guard photo by Sgt. Kristina Kranz)

Catching up on some back shots from the beginning of the year.

 

Little Akaloa....Out and about with my Flickr and blip friend on Banks Peninsula. February 20, 2016, New Zealand.

  

It was warm and wonderful so we packed up a lunch and headed for the hills and bays around the banks peninsula. It reached will over 30c today.. a bit too hot at times and there was no wind at all.

 

The historic gem of Little Akaloa is a church hidden away among old trees, commanding a fine view down the bay. The present St Luke's replaced an earlier wooden church and was completed in November 1906. It has an "old world" English-looking exterior, with walls of pebble dash on concrete, a slate roof and a small well-proportioned bell tower.

 

The surprise is the interior, which is embellished with carvings of predominantly Maori motifs, many delicately executed on white stone. The rafters are decorated with Maori patterns and support an imitation raupo rush ceiling. The windows have stylised Maori designs in coloured glass.

 

The church was built (and partly paid for) by a local resident, J.H. Menzies, who was "an amateur carver of the very highest order". It is one of the country's early examples of the incorporation of Maori decorative motifs in a European building.

For More Info: dayout.co.nz/attractions/attraction.aspx?attractionId=2216

鈴ヶ森死刑場 (Suzugamori Shikeijō) Suzugamori Execution Grounds is probably the most famous and most accessible execution grounds of Edo (the name of Tōkyō before 1868). It’s located on the old Tōkaidō highway, near the old post town of Shinagawa. In the Edo Period, it was located next to the sea at Edo Bay. Today the former killing floor is the only bit of land that is still preserved and it is designated as one of the 100 Historic Spots of Shinagawa.

 

My article is here: markystar.wordpress.com/2013/07/23/suzugamori-execution-g...

  

museumPASSmusees 2021 - Mima - Double Bill

 

'DRAMA', The Art Of Laurent Durieux

'Laurent Durieux's magnificent work elevates poster art to a high level. The stunningly executed images express the ideas and themes of the films he has chosen in new terms. They communicate a lot without words and are part of the wonderful tradition of illustrative art. '

Francis Ford Coppola

The exhibition presents around a hundred original posters of the Belgian artist, internationally acclaimed by moviegoers.

 

THE ABC OF PORN CINEMA

(Prohibited under 18 year old)

In 2013, the ABC, Brussels' last old-school adult cinema still showing 35mm films, was shut down. Its archive, meticulously built over the forty years of its existence, was salvaged by Cinema Nova, allowing the veil of a bygone era devoured by the digital revolution to be lifted.

The exhibition 'The ABC of Porn Cinema' spans four decades of activity by the aforementioned theatre, and in doing so recalls the world that surrounded it. Through numerous documents, posters, hand-painted billboards, engraved press plates and censored photos retrieved from the ABC, plus an accompanying art installation, an obscure part of our culture destined to be buried in the annals of history can once again be rediscovered and reappraised. Indeed, these historical archives are exceptional and unique, unafraid to indulge in humour or to drum up reflection and controversy.

An exhibition created by the Nova cinema and the MIMA with the participation of the Gogolplex collective

 

( 200 musees

 

Des maintenant, vous pouvez visiter tous les musees participants pendant un an. Pas une fois, mais aussi souvent que vous le souhaitez !

 

297 expositions

 

Vous pouvez egalement visiter les expositions temporaires des musees participants gratuitement ou a un tarif fortement reduit.

 

1 pass musees

 

Tout ceci avec seulement 1 pass.

 

www.museumpassmusees.be )

The wall paintings in the Apse and in the Chancel were designed by John R Clayton and Alfred Bell of London and were executed by their artists Messrs Hewitt and Macdonald.

 

Detail: The Resurrection - The risen Christ flanked by angels leaving a tomb still guarded by Roman soldiers.

 

——————————————————————————————————

 

The painting scheme and its deterioration history

 

The large Victorian church of St James the Great in Morpeth, Northumberland, preserves an impressive apsidal painting scheme, executed in 1875 by the London-based firm of ecclesiastical painter-decorators, Clayton and Bell. In little more than a century, this has undergone numerous periods of deterioration followed by repeated restoration attempts, and - more drastically - the complete painting-out of the semi-dome. Significantly, deterioration over this period has recurred and expanded within a specific zone on the south side of the apse. At present, this area is in an appalling condition, with extensive macro-flaking and loss of the paint layer. While the original deterioration can be connected to rainwater infiltration in c.1907, reasons for the recurrent deterioration have been uncertain.

 

Evidence indicates that - for some periods at least - the rate of deterioration has not been continual, but has occurred intermittently and at irregular intervals. The original deterioration of c.1907 was followed closely by restoration work in 1912. The next restoration was in 1946, and it is unclear whether deterioration prior to this was gradual or sudden. But from 1946 to at least 1968 it appears that the painting scheme remained in an essentially unchanged condition. It is reliably reported that the latest period of deterioration recurred in the 1970s, and has progressed markedly since.

 

Unfortunately, throughout this period documentary evidence alone is confusing regarding environmental conditions in the church. There are no records of rainwater infiltration after c.1907, although certain building alterations and other events do not rule out the possibility. During this period too there have been numerous - and, on one occasion, extreme - changes in the heating of the church that must have greatly influenced microclimate conditions, further complicating the issue of identifying reasons for renewed deterioration.

 

While the parish has the eventual aim to improve the poor appearance of the painting scheme, restoration alone has demonstrably not been the answer to the long-term deterioration problems. Although the painting condition is now extremely vulnerable - and losses have occurred recently - immediate treatment without adequate diagnosis risks being as short-lived. Temporary stabilisation is also largely precluded by the severe conditions. Despite this alarming situation, there is evidence that current rates of paint loss are slow. Considering these factors, diagnosis of the deterioration problems is the first priority. Therefore, following a preliminary inspection commissioned by the parish in December 1999, a phase of investigation and analysis was recommended [Rickerby and Shekede 20001]. This was undertaken in March 2001, and was again entirely funded by the parish. Procedures, results, conclusions and recommendations are contained in the present report.

 

www.parishofmorpeth.org.uk/stjames/pc03.htm

Prince Vladimir Paley- né Paris 1897 - + exécuté Alapaevsk 1918

Prince Vladimir Pavlovich Paley (Владимир Павлович Палей) (January 9, 1897 – July 18, 1918) was a Russian poet.

 

Prince Vladimir was born Vladimir von Pistohlkors in Saint Petersburg, Russia. His parents were Grand Duke Paul Alexandrovich of Russia, the youngest child of Emperor Alexander II, and his father's mistress, Olga Valerianovna Paley, who was then still married to her first husband. In 1902, Grand Duke Paul—who had previously been married to Princess Alexandra of Greece and Denmark and had two children by her—wed Olga morganatically. In 1904, she was created Countess von Hohenfelsen by Prince Regent Luitpold of Bavaria, making Vladimir Count Vladimir von Hohenfelsen. In 1915 Olga was created Princess Paley by Nicholas II, making Vladimir a prince.

 

He spent his childhood in Paris and later graduated from the Corps de Pages, an aristocratic military school in Saint Petersburg. He fought with the Russian army in the First World War and was decorated as a war hero with the Order of Saint Anne.

 

Since he was a teenager, Vladimir Paley showed remarkable talent as a poet. He published two volumes of poetry (1916 and 1918) and wrote several plays and essays, as well as a magnificent French translation of Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovitch's play The King of the Jews.

 

In the summer of 1917 he and his family were placed for a short while under house arrest by the Provisional Government, because of a poem he wrote about Aleksandr Kerensky. In March 1918 he was arrested by the Bolsheviks and sent to exile in Vyatka and later Ekaterinburg and Alapaevsk. He was brutally murdered in a mineshaft near Alapaevsk, together with his cousins Prince Ioann Konstantinovich of Russia, Konstantin Konstantinovich of Russia, Prince Igor Konstantinovich of Russia, and other relatives. Their bodies were recovered and buried months later in an Orthodox cemetery in Beijing, China, which was destroyed during the Cultural Revolution.

 

A biography of Prince Vladimir Paley by Andrey Baranovsky was published in 1997 in Russian, and another (A Poet Among The Romanovs) by Jorge F. Saenz in 2004, in both Russian and English.

 

to execute this cover. I went to my basement, shot all sorts of old pipes and joints with an on camera flash, bounced off walls and ceilings.

 

The water was done using my bath tub. I had an sb900 mounted on the curtain rail, black T-shirt as a backdrop, and my hands choking the flow of water from the shower head.

 

The faint background was that of an NYC subway station.

 

Since I'm ok at using photoshop, I chopped this together.

 

Here is a larger view of it: farm5.static.flickr.com/4066/4534669349_ffdbdb59dc_b.jpg

Graphite and watercolour, heightened with white opaque watercolour

 

Executed less than eighteen months after their marriage, Fuseli's earliest dated drawing of his wife may well have been his first attempt at a conventionally composed seated portrait.

Sophia is shown with the highly idiosyncratic hairstyle she seems to have favoured in the early 1790s, resembling a crown formed of the tightest imaginable curls, further adorned with stiffened ribbons and a small pyramidal cap.

This complex hairdo would have taken hours to construct, using combs, curling papers, hot pinching irons, small cushions, pins, powder, pomade and other ingredients.

[The Courtauld]

 

Taken in the Exhibition

  

Fuseli and the Modern Woman: Fashion, Fantasy, Fetishism

(October 2022 – January 2023)

 

One of the most original and eccentric artists of the 18th century, the Swiss-born Henry Fuseli (1741–1825) is the subject of a new exhibition at The Courtauld.

Fuseli spent most of his career in London, where he established himself as one of 18th century Europe’s most controversial artists. He deliberately courted notoriety with his most famous painting The Nightmare and other sensationalistic images inspired by a wide range of literature and his own imagination.

Fuseli was praised by some as a creative genius, while others dismissed his works as ‘shockingly mad’. But much admired by his colleagues, he became the Royal Academy’s Professor of Painting and Keeper of its premises at Somerset House, in what is now The Courtauld Gallery, where he and his wife Sophia Rawlins (1762/3–1832) lived from 1805 until his death.

This exhibition focuses on Fuseli’s numerous private drawings of the modern woman. Blending observed realities with elements of fantasy, these studies present one of the finest draughtsmen of the Romantic period at his most original and provocative. Here, the fashionable women of the period appear as powerful figures of dangerous erotic allure, whom the artist regards with a mix of fascination and mistrust. Perhaps as problematic then as now, this visually compelling body of work provides an insight into anxieties about gender, identity, and sexuality at a time of acute social instability, as the effects of the first modern revolutions – in America and in France – swept across Britain and the Continent. Many of those anxieties still speak vividly to us today.

[The Courtauld]

garry executing a tricky piece of backing! sillers lookout, the outward terminus of the ridgetop tour, ridgetop track, arkaroola wilderness sanctuary

 

flinders university wilderness collective expedition to iga warta and arkaroola, far-northern flinders ranges, south australia, september / october 2013

Badly executed HDR for a whole bunch of reasons really. The over exposure on the right due to sun streaming in at the last minute hasn't helped and I should have had this aerial over the vicars head but it was rushed and not executed well. However all that being said I quite like it as it's fun and colourful even if you can't see the bride!

 

Note the camera on a light stand at the very rear of the church. I had this on a radio trigger with flash zoomed to 200mm and got some great shots as they came back down the aisle but I had set the thing up manually before the ceremony when it was clouded over and the bright sunlight caused the flash to overexpose slightly. Shot RAW so I managed to recover 99% of it. Guess I should post up one of those :)

This fascinating and well executed mural depicts San Francisco throughout the years. The artist employs an overhead view of Market St. from an oblique angle through a wide angle lens.

 

On the left (and to the east), the Bay, the Ferry Building, and the Embarcadero swoop into frame in stark high contrast black lines on a white backdrop.

 

The scene fades to sepia tone as the years advance from the turn of the 20th century through the 1920s.

 

The 1930s, depicted in a nostalgic faded color scheme, shows Policemen addressing the people.

 

The 1940s, in a shade of green, shows a parade.

 

The 1950s, in a cold, subdued blue shows trolleys, cars, and trucks.

 

The 1960s shows crowds in bright colors filling the sidewalks.

 

The 1970s and 1980s show dense automobile traffic, and a sliver of contemporary society filling the streets caps off the millenium.

 

An empty city of the future awaits to the west at the far right of the mural.

  

Approximately two weeks ago, Sergeant Rob Long and John Davidson of the Hanceville Police Department conducted what initially seemed to be a routine traffic stop within the city limits of Hanceville. During the traffic stop interaction, Long established the likelihood that an illegal drug component was part of the incident.

 

Hanceville Police Department Narcotics Investigators were summoned to the scene.

 

Based upon evidence acquired during this traffic stop and subsequent questioning, Narcotics Investigator and Assistant Chief of Police Adam Hadder pursued a lengthy, ongoing investigation that took him across the county line into Blount County.

 

A single suspect with prior felony convictions involving narcotics possession and trafficking was the target of the investigation. Hadder pursued the likelihood that the individual may have once again been involve in the unlawful distribution of a controlled substance.

 

That multi-day investigation allowed Hadder to develop a crime profile that indicated that significant amounts of narcotics and other illegal drugs - directly tied to this traffic stop - were potentially being trafficked into Hanceville, Cullman County, and surrounding communities from a residential location in the Blountsville area.

 

On Monday evening (December 19th) around 9:00 pm, Hadder along with the aforementioned Long, Lieutenant Brannon Hammick and Chief of Police Bob Long arranged for the purchase of one ounce of ICE methamphetamine in Blount County from a white male believed linked to the suspected trafficking mentioned above.

 

During the pre-arranged drug buy, the suspect became agitated just prior to the transaction. He departed the transaction location in a motor vehicle. Hadder surreptitiously followed the suspect in an unmarked vehicle.

 

The situation soon escalated with Hadder and other members of HPD pursuing the individual into downtown Blountsville with as full show of blue lights. Ultimately, the suspect vehicle was boxed in after a short chase by HPD cruisers and the unmarked car.

 

The suspect was taken into custody at the location with one ounce of ICE methamphetamine in his possession.

 

In the meantime, from research information provided by the Hanceville Police Department, Sgt. Kirkland of the Blount County Sheriff's Office conducted a multiple hours surveillance of the suspect's presumed home.

 

Upon the detainment of the suspect, a search warrant was generated by the Blount County Sheriff's Office to enter the subject's dwelling. Hanceville and Blount County Investigators discovered a residential interior heavy with the smell of marijuana. The residence was sparsely decorated and believed to be a 'stash house'.

 

The following items were discovered inside the home:

 

• Approximately 110 pounds of high-grade marijuana buds

 

(street valued at $3,500 per pound)

 

• Approximately 2 pounds of ICE Methamphetamine

 

• Approximately 3 ounces of Cocaine

 

• Numerous pills of suspected of being controlled substances (Ecstacy)

 

• Multiple firearms

 

• A Ballistic Vest

 

• Various drug paraphernalia and apparatus

 

• Cash currency amounts believed to be between $90,000 and $110,000

 

As a result of the above, Hanceville Police arrested:

 

BRADLEY NEAL STEELE (33) of Blountsville

 

The above items were seized and Steel was taken to the Blount County Jail.

 

Steele will be charged with:

 

• Trafficking of Controlled Substance (3 counts)

 

~ Marijuana

 

~ Methamphetamine

 

~ Cocaine

 

Additional charges made be pending in relation to this arrest such as Attempting to Commit A Controlled Substance Crime, Attempting to Elude and Unlawful Possession of a Controlled Substance.

 

The total estimated street value of all street drugs seized is well over $350,000.

 

Bond will be set at $3,000,000.00.

 

Hanceville Chief of Police Bog Long had these thoughts following a press conference explain the arrest and charges:

 

"The important thing about this entire incident is that a very large amount of illegal drugs won't be available on the streets. I would like to acknowledge that the officers of Hanceville Police Department did a fantastic job. I also want to express my sincere gratitude to Blount County Sheriff Lloyd Arrington and the Blount County Sheriff's Office for all their hard work and dedication on this case."

 

Further information on this case is expected in the near future from the Blount County Sheriff's Office and Blount County District Attorney Pamela Casey (who is currently reviewing the circumstances of the case).

 

For the full story with images and press conference, please see:

 

cullmantoday.com/2016/12/21/hanceville-police-execute-lar...

Executed in the south of France, this painting shows a comfortably furnished apartment with a view over the Mediterranean. The sunlit interior suggests relaxation and pleasure, but the painting has a mysterious intensity that seems strangely at odds with the domesticity of the scene. The young girl appears stiff and immobile, like an ancient statue, her face curiously inexpressive. The rigorous order of the composition, with its repeated verticals, reinforces the atmosphere of stillness.