Just playing around with the mask features of the LRC update. The transitions look a bit harsh between sky and skyline but otherwise very effective.

 

Notable architectural features include the conspicuous columns, the horseshoe-shaped arches, and the innumerable murqarnas embellishing the ceilings. The dome, arches and walls give a grand ambiance to the mosque. The first-class sound system is discreetly hidden. The ablution room and a vast public hammam are in the basement, with its own entrance. Tadelakt, a plastering technique which adds egg yolks and black soap into mixed plaster, was used in the hammam baths

 

Taken @Casablanca, Morocco, North Africa

An unusual picture in that it features a Hounslow Garage bus on loan to Stamford Brook at the Queens Gate Terrace bus stand which was rarely used by Route 27 on account of it being quite pointless.

 

Coming from the west, if curtailed at Kensington High Street Station, the procedure for turning around (officially) involved going so far off the 27 route that by the time this had been done it would have been just as quick to have carried on to Notting Hill Gate thus covering a bit more of the normal route. So a 27 at this location was fairly rare and even more so once I had proved that it was possible to do a U turn (unofficial) in Kensington High Street and other drivers dared to do likewise!

 

Queens Gate Terrace was then, and certainly is now, a very expensive residential address. To have an almost constantly used bus stand (73`s were there all through the day) in the middle of the road was unusual and it could obviously not be used by passengers on safety grounds so the nearest bus stop was some distance away on the main road. RM 1170 and RM 1034 are seen on 1 July 1982.

Features split tail fins and rear elevator

This postcard features a reproduction of the 1990 Dutch "Kinderpostzegel" (Children's Welfare Stamp). The theme of this year's series was "Kind en Hobby" (Child and Hobby). The design by Berry van Gerwen and Jan Bolle depicts a child riding a horse in a stylized, artistic manner.

Country: Netherlands (Nederland)

Year of Stamp Issue: 1990

Catalog No: NVPH 1457

Value: 55c + 25c surcharge for children's charities.

My latest creation features some Indian paisley print cotton taken from a multi-panel skirt and a paisley silk tie top. I thought about using the same material for the top but it is quite an open fabric, which gives it a lovely transparency, but it doesn't handle so well with a fitted design. My next thought was to use a plain silk fabric as I did with the Chrysalis dress but then I had a look through my stash of silk ties and found this tiny paisley. I really like the fact that both fabrics are paisley but on a very different scale so they combine especially well. Silk is much tougher at withstanding intense shaping and moulding for the top. Finally for the tiny straps I created a crochet chain and threaded it into the top securing it with invisible nylon thread and passed some tiny amber beads onto each end of each strap as a little embellishment.

 

Rayna Eye Candy is the third of my Raynas to feature in my 'Rayna Retrospective'. One more to go before Wild Feeling arrives!

Features from left to right include Coe and Ladd Glaciers, Pulpit Rock, Cathedral Ridge, Queens Chair, Sandy Glacier Headwall, and Yocum Ridge.

Cave features at Mammoth Caves.

"Casa Cuseni is a house-garden-museum, with countless delightful works of art of all shapes and types: here a table lamp with the features of a beautiful girl, in Art Nouveau style."

 

“Casa Cuseni è una casa-giardino-museo, con innumerevoli deliziose opere d'arte di ogni foggia e tipo: qui una lampada da tavolo con le fattezze di una bella fanciulla, in stile liberty.”

 

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click to activate the icon of slideshow: the small triangle inscribed in the small rectangle, at the top right, in the photostream;

or…. Press the “L” button to zoom in the image;

clicca sulla piccola icona per attivare lo slideshow: sulla facciata principale del photostream, in alto a destra c'è un piccolo rettangolo (rappresenta il monitor) con dentro un piccolo triangolo nero;

oppure…. premi il tasto “L” per ingrandire l'immagine;

 

Qi Bo's photos on Fluidr

  

Qi Bo's photos on Flickriver

  

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

  

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

 

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A history of Taormina: chronicles of a forbidden love and its great secret (not only Paolo and Francesca) with an unexpected "scoop".

This story is an integral part of the story previously told, the historical period is the same, the place is the same, the various characters often meet each other because they know each other; Taormina, between the end of the 1800s and the beginning of the 1900s, in an ever increasing growth, became the place of residence of elite tourism, thanks to the international interest aroused by writers and artists, such as Johann Wolfgang von Goethe , or great personalities like Lady Florence Trevelyan: Taormina becomes so famous, thanks to the paintings of the painter Otto Geleng and the photographs of the young Sicilian models by Wilhelm von Gloeden; in the air of Taormina there is a sense of libertine, its famous and histrionic visitors never fail to create scandal, even surpassing the famous Capri, in which, to cite just one example, the German gunsmith Krupp, trying to recreate the he environment of Arcadia that one breathed in Taormina (thanks to the photos of von Gloeden) was overwhelmed by the scandal for homosexuality, and took his own life. Taormina thus becomes a heavenly-like place, far from industrial civilizations, where you can freely live your life and sexuality; this is the socio-cultural environment in which the two protagonists of this story move, the British painter Robert Hawthorn Kitson (1873 - 1947) and the painter Carlo Siligato (born in Taormina in 1875, and died there in 1959). Robert H. Kitson, born in Leeds in England, belonged to a more than wealthy family, as a young engineer he had begun to replace his father in the family locomotive construction company (Kitson & Co.), on the death of his father in 1899 sells everything and decides to move very rich in Sicily to Taormina (he had been there the previous year with a trip made with his parents, here he had met, in addition to Baron von Gloeden, also the writer and poet Oscar Wilde who came to Italy, immediately after having served two years in prison in forced labor, on charges of sodomy); Kitson settled there because he was suffering from a severe form of rheumatic fever (like von Gloeden was advised to treat himself in the Mediterranean climate milder), and because as a homosexual, he leaves England because the Labouchere amendment considered homosexuality a crime. The other protagonist of this story is Carlo Siligato, he was from Taormina, he had attended the Academy of Fine Arts in Venice, a very gifted painter, he was very good at oil painting (he exhibited his paintings in an art workshop, even now existing, in via Teatro Greco in Taormina), the meeting with the painter Robert Kitson, led him to adopt the watercolor technique: almost to relive Dante's verses on Paolo and Francesca "Galeotto was the book and who wrote it" the common passion for painting led the two artists to live an intense love story. Kitson built his home in the "Cuseni" district of Taormina, called for this "Casa Cuseni", the house was built between 1900 and 1905, its decorations were entrusted to the artists Alfred East (realist landscape painter, president of the Royal Society ), and Frank Brangwyn (painter, decorator, designer), he was a pupil of William Morris, leader of the English movement "Arts and Crafts" which spread to England in the second half of the nineteenth century (the Arts and Crafts was a response to the industrialization of Europe, of mass production operated by factories, all this at the expense of traditional craftsmanship, from this movement originated the Art Nouveau, in Italy also known as Liberty Style or Floral Style, which distinguished itself for having been a artistic and philosophical movement, which developed between the end of the 19th century and the first decade of the 20th century, whose style spread in such a way as to be present everywhere). Casa Cuseni has kept a secret for 100 years that goes far beyond the forbidden love lived by Robert and Carlo, a secret hidden inside the "secret room", that dinning room that was reopened in 2012; entering the dining room, you can witness a series of murals painted on the four walls by Frank Brangwyn, in Art Nouveau style, which portray the life and love story between the painter Robert Kitson, and his life partner, the Carlo Siligato from Taormina, but the thing that makes these murals even more special, full of tenderness and sweetness, is that "their secret" (!) is represented in them, it is described visually, as in an "episodic" story that really happened in their lives: Messina (and Reggio Calabria) are destroyed by the terrible earthquake with a tsunami on December 28, 1908, Carlo Siligato, Robert Kitson, Wilhelm von Gloeden and Anatole France leave for Messina, to see and document in person the tragedy, the city was a pile of rubble, many dead, Robert and Carlo see a baby, Francesco, he is alone in the world, without parents who died in the earthquake, abandoned to a certain and sad destiny, a deep desire for protection is born in the two of them, a maternal and paternal desire is born, they decide to takes that little child with them even knowing that they are risking a lot ... (!), what they want to do is something absolutely unthinkable in that historical period, they are a homosexual couple, what they are about to do is absolutely forbidden ..(!) but now there is Francesco in their life, thus becoming, in fact, the first homogenitorial family (with a more generic term, rainbow family) in world history: hence the need to keep the whole story absolutely hidden, both from an artistic point of view , represented by the murals (for more than 100 years, the "dinning room" will be kept hidden), both of what happens in real life, with little Francesco cared for lovingly, but with great risk or. I have allegorically inserted, in the photographic story, some photographs of the artists of the company "Casa del Musical", who came to Taormina to perform during the Christmas period: today as yesterday, Taormina has always been (starting from the last 20 years of the 19th century) center of a crossroads of artists and great personalities, Casa Cuseni also in this has an enormous palmares of illustrious guests, too long to state. The young boys painted on the murals of Casa Cuseni, wear white, this is a sign of purity, they wanted to represent their ideal homosexual world, fighting against the figure dressed in black, short in stature, disturbing, which acquires a negative value, an allegorical figure of the English society of the time, indicating the Victorian morality that did not hesitate to condemn Oscar Wilde, depriving him of all his assets and rights, even preventing him from giving the surname to his children. The boys are inspired by the young Sicilian models photographed by Wilhelm von Gloeden, dressed in white tunics, with their heads surrounded by local flowers. The only female figure present has given rise to various interpretations, one could be Kitson's detachment from his motherland, or his detachment from his mother. On the third wall we witness the birth of the homogenitorial family, both (allegorically Carlo and Kitson with the child in their arms) are in profile, they are walking, the younger man has a long, Greek-style robe, placed on the front, next to him behind him, the sturdier companion holds and gently protects the little child in his arms, as if to spare the companion the effort of a long and uncertain journey, there is in the representation of the family the idea of a long journey, in fact the man holding the child wears heavy shoes, their faces are full of apprehension and concern: in front of them an empty wall, so deliberately left by Frank Brangwin, since their future is unknown, in front of them they have a destiny full of unknowns (at the same time, their path points east, they go towards the rising sun: opening the large window the sun floods everything in the room). In the "secret room" there is the picture painted in 1912 by Alfred E. East, an oil on canvas, representing Lake Bourget. Carlo Siligato later married Costanza, she was my father's grandmother's sister, they had a son, Nino, who for many years lived and worked as a merchant in his father's art workshop. I sincerely thank my colleague Dr. Francesco Spadaro, doctor and esteemed surgeon, owner and director of the "Casa Cuseni" House-Garden-Museum, who, affectionately acting as a guide, gave me the precious opportunity to create "this photographic tour" inside the house- museum and in the "metaphysical garden" of Casa Cuseni. … And the scoop that I announced in the title ..? After photographing the tomb of Carlo Siligato, in the Catholic cemetery of Taormina, I started looking for that of Robert Kitson, in the non-Catholic cemetery of Taormina: when I finally found it (with him lies his niece Daphne Phelps, buried later in 2005) ... I felt a very strong emotion, first of all I was expecting a mausoleum, instead I found a small, very modest tomb on this is not a photo of him, not an epitaph, not a Cross, not a praying Angel to point it out, but ... unexpectedly for a funerary tombstone ... a small bas-relief carved on marble (or stone) depicting ... the Birth ... (!), obviously , having chosen her could have a very specific meaning: a desire to transmit a message, something very profound about him, his tomb thus testified that in his soul, what was really important in life was having a family, with Carlo and baby Francesco, certainly beloved, saved from a certain and sad fate, in the terrible Messina earthquake-tsunami of 28 December 1908 ... almost recalling in an absolute synthesis, at the end of his life, what had already been told in the "secret murals" of Casa Cuseni.

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Una storia di Taormina: cronache di un amore proibito e del suo grande segreto (non solo Paolo e Francesca) con inaspettato “scoop”.

Questa storia fa parte integrante della storia precedentemente raccontata, il periodo storico è lo stesso, il luogo è lo stesso, i vari personaggi spesso si frequentano tra loro poiché si conoscono; Taormina, tra la fine dell’800 e l’inizio del’900, in un sempre maggiore crescendo, diventa luogo di residenza del turismo d’élite, grazie all’interesse internazionale suscitato ad opera di scrittori ed artisti, come Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, o grandi personalità come Lady Florence Trevelyan: Taormina diventa così famosa, complici i quadri del pittore Otto Geleng e le fotografie dei giovani modelli siciliani di Wilhelm von Gloeden; nell’aria di Taormina si respira un che di libertino, i suoi famosi ed istrionici frequentatori non mancano mai di creare scandalo, superando persino la famosa Capri, nella quale, per citare solo un esempio, l’armiere tedesco Krupp, cercando di ricreare l’ambiente dell’Arcadia che si respirava a Taormina (grazie alle foto di von Gloeden) viene travolto dallo scandalo per omosessualità, e si toglie la vita. Taormina diviene quindi un luogo simil-paradisiaco, lontana dalle civiltà industriali, nella quale poter vivere liberamente la propria vita e la propria sessualità; questo è l’ambiente socio-culturale nel quale si muovono i due protagonisti di questa vicenda, il pittore britannico Robert Hawthorn Kitson (1873 – 1947) ed il pittore Carlo Siligato (nato a Taormina nel 1875, ed ivi morto nel 1959). Robert H. Kitson, nacque a Leeds in Inghilterra, apparteneva ad una famiglia più che benestante, da giovane ingegnere aveva cominciato a sostituire il padre nell’impresa familiare di costruzioni di locomotive (la Kitson & Co.), alla morte del padre nel 1899 vende tutto e decide di trasferirsi ricchissimo in Sicilia a Taormina (vi era stato l’anno precedente con un viaggio fatto coi suoi genitori, qui aveva conosciuto, oltre al barone von Gloeden, anche lo scrittore e poeta Oscar Wilde venuto in Italia, subito dopo aver scontato due anni di prigione ai lavori forzati, con l’accusa di sodomia); Kitson vi si stabilisce perché affetto da una grave forma di febbre reumatica (come von Gloeden gli fu consigliato di curarsi nel clima mediterraneo più mite), sia perché in quanto omosessuale, lascia l’Inghilterra perché l’emendamento Labouchere considerava l’omosessualità un crimine. L’altro protagonista di questa storia è Carlo Siligato, egli era taorminese, aveva frequentato l’Accademia di Belle Arti di Venezia, pittore molto dotato, era bravissimo nel dipingere ad olio (esponeva i suoi quadri in una bottega d’arte, ancora adesso esistente, in via Teatro Greco a Taormina), l’incontro col pittore Robert Kitson, lo portò ad adottare la tecnica dell’acquarello: quasi a rivivere i versi di Dante su Paolo e Francesca “Galeotto fu ‘l libro e chi lo scrisse” la comune passione per la pittura condusse i due artisti a vivere una intensa storia d’amore. Kitson costruì nel quartiere “Cuseni” di Taormina la sua abitazione, detta per questo “Casa Cuseni”, la casa fu costruita tra il 1900 ed il 1905, le sue decorazioni furono affidate agli artisti Alfred East (pittore verista paesaggista, presidente della Royal Society), e Frank Brangwyn (pittore, decoratore, designer, progettista), egli era allievo di William Morris, leader del movimento inglese “Arts and Crafts” (Arti e Mestieri) che si diffuse in Inghilterra nella seconda metà del XIX secolo (l’Arts and Crafts era una risposta alla industrializzazione dell’Europa, della produzione in massa operata dalle fabbriche, tutto ciò a scapito dell’artigianato tradizionale, da questo movimento ebbe origine l’Art Nouveau, in Italia conosciuta anche come Stile Liberty o Stile Floreale, che si distinse per essere stata un movimento artistico e filosofico, che si sviluppò tra la fine dell’800 ed il primo decennio del ‘900, il cui stile si diffuse in tal modo da essere presente dappertutto). Casa Cuseni ha custodito per 100 anni un segreto che va ben oltre quell’amore proibito vissuto da Robert e Carlo, segreto celato all’interno della “stanza segreta”, quella dinning room che è stata riaperta nel 2012; entrando nella sala da pranzo, si assiste ad una serie di murales realizzati sulle quattro pareti da Frank Brangwyn, in stile Art Nouveau, che ritraggono la vita e la storia d’amore tra il pittore Robert Kitson, ed il suo compagno di vita, il pittore taorminese Carlo Siligato, ma la cosa che rende questi murales ancora più particolari, carichi di tenerezza e dolcezza, è che in essi viene rappresentato “il loro segreto” (!), viene descritto visivamente, come in un racconto “ad episodi” quello che è realmente avvenuto nella loro vita: Messina (e Reggio Calabria) vengono distrutte dal terribile sisma con maremoto il 28 dicembre del 1908, partono per Messina, Carlo Siligato, Robert Kitson, Wilhelm von Gloeden ed Anatole France, per vedere e documentare di persona la tragedia, la città era un cumulo di macerie, moltissimi i morti, Robert e Carlo vedono un piccolo bimbo, Francesco, egli è solo al mondo, privo dei genitori periti nel terremoto, abbandonato ad un certo e triste destino, nasce in loro due un profondo desiderio di protezione, nasce un desiderio materno e paterno, decidono di prende quel piccolo bimbo con loro pur sapendo che stanno rischiando moltissimo…(!) , quello che vogliono fare è una cosa assolutamente impensabile in quel periodo storico, loro sono una coppia omosessuale, quello che stanno per fare è assolutamente proibito..(!) ma oramai c’è Francesco nella loro vita, divenendo così, di fatto, la prima famiglia omogenitoriale (con termine più generico, famiglia arcobaleno) nella storia mondiale: da qui la necessità di tenere assolutamente nascosta tutta la vicenda, sia dal punto di vista artistico, rappresentata dai murales (per più di 100 anni, la “dinning room” verrà tenuta nascosta), sia di quanto accade nella vita reale, col piccolo Francesco accudito amorevolmente, ma con grandissimo rischio. Ho inserito allegoricamente, nel racconto fotografico, alcune fotografie degli artisti della compagnia “Casa del Musical”, giunti a Taormina per esibirsi durante il periodo natalizio: oggi come ieri, Taormina è sempre stata (a partire dagli ultimi 20 anni dell’800) al centro di un crocevia di artisti e grandi personalità, Casa Cuseni anche in questo ha un enorme palmares di ospiti illustri, troppo lungo da enunciare. I giovani ragazzi dipinti sui murales di Casa Cuseni, vestono di bianco, questo è segno di purezza, si è voluto in tal modo rappresentare il loro mondo ideale omosessuale, in lotta contro la figura vestita di nero, bassa di statura, inquietante, che acquista un valore negativo, figura allegorica della società inglese dell’epoca, indicante la morale Vittoriana che non ha esitato a condannare Oscar Wilde, privandolo di tutti i suoi beni e diritti, impedendogli persino di dare il cognome ai suoi figli. I ragazzi sono ispirati ai giovani modelli siciliani fotografati da Wilhelm von Gloeden, vestiti con tuniche bianche, col capo cinto dei fiori locali. L’unica figura femminile presente, ha dato spunto a varie interpretazioni, una potrebbe essere il distacco da parte di Kitson dalla sua madre patria, oppure il distacco da sua madre. Sulla terza parete si assiste alla nascita della famiglia omogenitoriale, entrambi (allegoricamente Carlo e Kitson col bimbo in braccio) sono di profilo, sono in cammino, l’uomo più giovane ha una veste lunga, alla greca, posto sul davanti, accanto a lui, alle sue spalle, il compagno più robusto sostiene in braccio e protegge con dolcezza il piccolo bimbo, quasi a voler risparmiare al compagno la fatica di un lungo ed incerto percorso, vi è nella rappresentazione della famiglia l’idea di un lungo percorso, infatti l’uomo che regge il bimbo indossa delle calzature pesanti, i loro volti sono carichi di apprensione e preoccupazione: davanti a loro una parete vuota, così volutamente lasciata da Frank Brangwin, poiché il loro futuro è ignoto, davanti hanno un destino pieno di incognite (al tempo stesso, il loro cammino indica l’est, vanno verso il sole nascente: aprendo la grande finestra il sole inonda ogni cosa nella stanza).

Nella “stanza segreta” c’è il quadro dipinto nel 1912 da Alfred E. East, un olio su tela, rappresentante il lago Bourget.

Carlo Siligato, successivamente si sposò con Costanza, una sorella della nonna di mio padre, da lei ebbe un figlio, Nino, il quale per tantissimi anni ha vissuto e lavorato come commerciante nella bottega d’arte del padre. Ringrazio di cuore il mio collega dott. Francesco Spadaro, medico e stimato chirurgo, proprietario e direttore della Casa-Giardino-Museo “Casa Cuseni”, il quale, facendomi affettuosamente da cicerone, mi ha dato la preziosa opportunità di realizzare “questo tour fotografico” all’interno dell’abitazione-museo e nel “giardino-metafisico” di Casa Cuseni.

…E lo scoop che ho annunciato nel titolo..? Dopo aver fotografato la tomba di Carlo Siligato, nel cimitero cattolico di Taormina, mi sono messo alla ricerca di quella di Robert Kitson, nel cimitero acattolico di Taormina: quando finalmente l’ho trovata (insieme a lui giace sua nipote Daphne Phelps, seppellita successivamente nel 2005)…ho provato una fortissima commozione, innanzitutto mi aspettavo un mausoleo, invece ho trovato una tomba piccola, molto modesta, su questa non una sua foto, non un epitaffio, non una Croce, non un Angelo pregante ad indicarla, ma … inaspettatamente per una lapide funeraria…un piccolo bassorilievo scolpito su marmo (o su pietra) raffigurante…la Natalità…(!), evidentemente, l’averla scelta potrebbe avere un significato ben preciso: un desiderio di trasmettere un messaggio, qualcosa di molto profondo di lui, la sua tomba testimoniava così che nel suo animo, ciò che in vita fu davvero importante fu l’aver avuto una famiglia, con Carlo e col piccolo Francesco, certamente amatissimo, salvato da un molto probabile triste destino, nel terribile terremoto-maremoto di Messina del 28 dicembre del 1908…quasi rievocando in una sintesi assoluta, al termine della sua vita, ciò che era già stato raccontato nei “murales segreti” di Casa Cuseni.

  

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This round barn features walls of clay tile and a tile silo in its center. It was built to house cows on the lower floor and hay in the mow above. The structure was possibly designed and constructed by Alga Shivers, a son of a slave who built many of the round barns in Vernon and Monroe counties. It stands at E7702 A Upper Maple Dale Road, just east of Viroqua, and was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2014.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bn9oxb052bI

The Postcard

 

A postally unused postcard that was published in 1986 by Whiteway Publications Ltd. of Unit 1, Bard Road, London W10. The photography was by Rex Features, and the card, which has a divided back, was printed in England.

 

Prince Andrew, Duke of York

 

Prince Andrew, Duke of York, KG, GCVO, CD was born Andrew Albert Christian Edward on the 19th. February 1960.

 

He is a member of the British royal family, and the younger brother of King Charles III and the third child of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.

 

Andrew is eighth in the line of succession to the British throne, and the first person in the line who is not a descendant of the reigning monarch.

 

Andrew served in the Royal Navy as a helicopter pilot and instructor, and as the captain of a warship. During the Falklands War, he flew on multiple missions including anti-surface warfare, casualty evacuation, and Exocet missile decoy.

 

In 1986, he married Sarah Ferguson and was made Duke of York. They have two daughters: Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie. Their marriage, separation in 1992, and divorce in 1996 attracted extensive media coverage.

 

Andrew served as the UK's Special Representative for International Trade and Investment for 10 years until July 2011.

 

In 2014, the American-Australian campaigner Virginia Giuffre alleged that, as a 17-year-old, she was sex-trafficked to Andrew by the American financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

 

Andrew denied any wrongdoing. Following criticism for his association with Epstein, Andrew resigned from public roles in May 2020, and his honorary military affiliations and royal charitable patronages were removed by Queen Elizabeth II in January 2022.

 

He was the defendant in a civil lawsuit over sexual assault filed by Giuffre in the State of New York. The lawsuit was settled out of court in February 2022.

 

Prince Andrew - The Early Years

 

Andrew was born in the Belgian Suite of Buckingham Palace on the 19th. February 1960 at 3:30 p.m. He was baptised in the palace's Music Room on the 8th. April 1960.

 

Andrew was the first child born to a reigning British monarch since Princess Beatrice in 1857. As with his siblings, Charles, Anne, and Edward, Andrew was looked after by a governess, who was responsible for his early education at Buckingham Palace.

 

Andrew was sent to Heatherdown School near Ascot in Berkshire. In September 1973, he entered Gordonstoun, in northern Scotland, which his father and elder brother had also attended.

 

He was nicknamed "the Sniggerer" by his schoolmates at Gordonstoun, because of "his penchant for off-colour jokes, at which he laughed inordinately".

 

While there, he spent six months—from January to June 1977—participating in an exchange programme to Lakefield College School in Canada. He left Gordonstoun in July two years later with A-levels in English, History, and Economics.

 

Prince Andrew's Military Service

 

Royal Navy Service

 

The Royal Household announced in November 1978 that Andrew would join the Royal Navy the following year.

 

In December, he underwent various sporting tests and examinations at the Aircrew Selection Centre at RAF Biggin Hill, along with further tests and interviews at HMS Daedalus, and interviews at the Admiralty Interview Board, HMS Sultan.

 

During March and April 1979, he was enrolled at the Royal Naval College Flight, undergoing pilot training, until he was accepted as a trainee helicopter pilot and signed on for 12 years from the 11th. May 1979.

 

On the 1st. September 1979, Andrew was appointed as a midshipman, and entered Britannia Royal Naval College, Dartmouth.

 

During 1979 Andrew also completed the Royal Marines All Arms Commando Course for which he received his Green Beret. He was commissioned as a sub-lieutenant on the 1st. September 1981, and appointed to the Trained Strength on the 22nd. October.

 

After passing out from Dartmouth, Andrew went on to elementary flying training with the Royal Air Force at RAF Leeming, and later, basic flying training with the navy at HMS Seahawk, where he learned to fly the Gazelle helicopter.

 

After being awarded his wings, Andrew moved on to more advanced training on the Sea King helicopter, and conducted operational flying training until 1982. He joined carrier-based squadron, 820 Naval Air Squadron, serving aboard the aircraft carrier, HMS Invincible.

 

The Falklands War

 

On the 2nd. April 1982, Argentina invaded the Falkland Islands, a British overseas territory, leading to the Falklands War.

 

Invincible was one of the two operational aircraft carriers available at the time, and, as such, was to play a major role in the Royal Navy task force assembled to sail south to retake the islands.

 

Andrew's place on board and the possibility of the Queen's son being killed in action made the British government apprehensive, and the cabinet desired that Prince Andrew be moved to a desk job for the duration of the conflict.

 

The Queen, though, insisted that her son be allowed to remain with his ship. Prince Andrew remained on board Invincible to serve as a Sea King helicopter co-pilot, flying on missions that included anti-submarine warfare and anti-surface warfare.

 

Andrew's other roles included acting as an Exocet missile decoy, casualty evacuation, transport, and search and air rescue. He witnessed the Argentinian attack on the SS Atlantic Conveyor.

 

At the end of the war, Invincible returned to Portsmouth, where Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip joined other families of the crew in welcoming the vessel home.

 

The Argentine military government reportedly planned, but did not attempt, to assassinate Andrew on Mustique in July 1982.

 

Though he had brief assignments to HMS Illustrious, RNAS Culdrose, and the Joint Services School of Intelligence, Prince Andrew remained with Invincible until 1983. Commander Nigel Ward's memoir, Sea Harrier Over the Falklands, described Prince Andrew as:

 

"An excellent pilot and a

very promising officer."

 

Prince Andrew's Career as a Naval Officer

 

In late 1983, Andrew transferred to RNAS Portland, and was trained to fly the Lynx helicopter. On the 1st. February 1984 he was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant, whereupon Queen Elizabeth II appointed him as her personal aide-de-camp.

 

Prince Andrew served aboard HMS Brazen as a flight pilot until 1986, including deployment to the Mediterranean Sea as part of Standing NRF Maritime Group 2.

 

On the 23rd. October 1986, the Duke of York (as he was by then) transferred to the General List, enrolled in a four-month helicopter warfare instructor's course at RNAS Yeovilton, and, upon graduation, served from February 1987 to April 1988 as a helicopter warfare officer in 702 Naval Air Squadron, RNAS Portland.

 

He also served on HMS Edinburgh as an officer of the watch and Assistant Navigating Officer until 1989, including a six-month deployment to the Far East as part of Exercise Outback 88.

 

The Duke of York served as flight commander and pilot of the Lynx HAS3 on HMS Campbeltown from 1989 to 1991. He also acted as Force Aviation Officer to Standing NRF Maritime Group 1 while Campbeltown was flagship of the NATO force in the North Atlantic from 1990 to 1991.

 

Andrew passed the squadron command examination on the 16th. July 1991, attended the Staff College, Camberley the following year, and completed the Army Staff course. He was promoted to Lieutenant-Commander on the 1st. February 1992, and passed the ship command examination on the 12th. March 1992.

 

From 1993 to 1994, Prince Andrew commanded the Hunt-class minehunter HMS Cottesmore.

 

From 1995 to 1996, Andrew was posted as Senior Pilot of 815 Naval Air Squadron, at the time the largest flying unit in the Fleet Air Arm. His main responsibility was to supervise flying standards and to guarantee an effective operational capability.

 

He was promoted to Commander on the 27th. April 1999, finishing his active naval career at the Ministry of Defence in 2001, as an officer of the Diplomatic Directorate of the Naval Staff.

 

In July 2001, Andrew was retired from the Active List of the Navy. Three years later, he was made an Honorary Captain. On the 19th. February 2010, his 50th. birthday, he was promoted to Rear Admiral.

 

Five years later, he was promoted to Vice Admiral.

 

Andrew ceased using his honorary military titles in January 2022. The action came after more than 150 Royal Navy, RAF and Army veterans signed a letter, requesting that Queen Elizabeth II remove his honorary military appointments in the light of his involvement in a sexual assault civil case.

 

However it was reported that he would still retain his service rank of Vice Admiral.

 

Prince Andrew's Personal Life

 

Personal Interests

 

Andrew is a keen golfer, and has had a low single-figure handicap. He was captain of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews between 2003 and 2004—during the club's 250th. anniversary season.

 

He was also patron of a number of royal golf clubs, and had been elected as an honorary member of many others. In 2004, he was criticised by Labour Co-op MP Ian Davidson, who in a letter to the NAO questioned Andrew's decision to fly to St. Andrews on RAF aircraft for two golfing trips.

 

Andrew resigned his honorary membership of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews when the Queen removed royal patronages at several golf clubs. His honorary membership of the Royal Dornoch Golf Club was revoked in the following month.

 

Andrew is a Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Shipwrights, the senior maritime City livery company.

 

Prince Andrew's Relationship with Koo Stark

 

Andrew met the American photographer and actress Koo Stark in February 1981, before his active service in the Falklands War. In October 1982, they took a holiday together on the island of Mustique.

 

Tina Brown said that Stark was Andrew's only serious love interest. In 1983, they split up under pressure from press, paparazzi, and palace.

 

In 1997, Andrew became godfather to Stark's daughter. When Andrew was facing accusations in 2015 over his connection to Jeffrey Epstein, Koo came to his defence.

 

Prince Andrew's Marriage to Sarah Ferguson

 

Andrew had known Sarah Ferguson since childhood; they had met occasionally at polo matches, and became re-acquainted with each other at Royal Ascot in 1985.

 

Andrew married Sarah at Westminster Abbey on the 23rd. July 1986. On the same day, Queen Elizabeth II created him Duke of York, Earl of Inverness, and Baron Killyleagh.

 

The couple appeared to have a happy marriage and had two daughters together, Beatrice and Eugenie, presenting a united outward appearance during the late 1980's. His wife's personal qualities were seen as refreshing in the context of the formal protocol surrounding the royal family.

 

However, Andrew's frequent travel due to his military career, as well as relentless, often critical, media attention focused on the Duchess of York, led to fractures in the marriage.

 

On the 19th. March 1992, the couple announced plans to separate, and did so in an amicable way. Some months later, pictures appeared in the tabloid media of the Duchess in intimate association with John Bryan, her financial advisor at the time, which effectively ended any hopes of a reconciliation between Andrew and Sarah.

 

The marriage ended in divorce on the 30th. May 1996. The Duke of York spoke fondly of his former wife:

 

"We have managed to work together

to bring our children up in a way that

few others have been able to, and I

am extremely grateful to be able to

do that."

 

The couple agreed to share custody of their two daughters, and the family continued to live at Sunninghill Park (built near Windsor Great Park for the couple in 1990) until Andrew moved to the Royal Lodge in 2004.

 

In 2007, Sarah moved into Dolphin House in Englefield Green, less than a mile from the Royal Lodge. In 2008, a fire at Dolphin House resulted in Sarah moving into Royal Lodge, again sharing a house with Andrew.

 

Andrew's lease of Royal Lodge is for 75 years, with the Crown Estate as landlord, at a cost of a single £1 million premium and a commitment to spend £7.5 million on refurbishment.

 

In May 2010, Sarah was filmed by a News of the World reporter saying Andrew had agreed that if she were to receive £500,000, he would meet the donor and pass on useful top-level business contacts.

 

She was filmed receiving, in cash, $40,000 as a down payment. The paper said that Andrew did not know of the situation. In July 2011, Sarah stated that her multi-million pound debts had been cleared due to the intervention of her former husband, whom she compared to a "knight on a white charger".

 

Prince Andrews' Activities and Charitable Work

 

The Duke was patron of the Middle East Association (MEA), the UK's premier organisation for promoting trade and good relations with the Middle East, North Africa, Turkey and Iran.

 

Since his role as Special Representative for International Trade and Investment ended, Andrew continued to support UK enterprise without a special role.

 

Robert Jobson said he did this work well and wrote:

 

"He is particularly passionate when dealing

with young start-up entrepreneurs and

bringing them together with successful

businesses at networking and showcasing

events.

Andrew is direct and to the point, and his

methods seem to work".

 

The Duke was also patron of Fight for Sight, a charity dedicated to research into the prevention and treatment of blindness and eye disease, and was a member of the Scout Association.

 

He toured Canada frequently to undertake duties related to his Canadian military role. Rick Peters, the former Commanding Officer of the Royal Highland Fusiliers of Canada stated that Prince Andrew was "very well informed on Canadian military methods".

 

While touring India as a part of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee in 2012, Andrew became interested in the work of Women's Interlink Foundation (WIF), a charity which helps women acquire skills to earn income.

 

He and his family later initiated Key to Freedom, a project which tries to "find a route to market for products made by WIF".

 

On the 3rd. September 2012, Andrew was among a team of 40 people who abseiled down The Shard (tallest building in Europe) to raise money for educational charities.

 

In 2013, it was announced that Andrew was becoming the patron of London Metropolitan University and the University of Huddersfield. In July 2015, he was installed as Chancellor of the University of Huddersfield.

 

In recognition of Andrew's promotion of entrepreneurship he was elected to an Honorary Fellowship at Hughes Hall in the University of Cambridge on the 1st. May 2018.

 

He became the patron of the charity Attend in 2003, and was a member of the International Advisory Board of the Royal United Services Institute.

 

In 2014, Andrew founded the Pitch@Palace initiative to support entrepreneurs with the amplification and acceleration of their business ideas. Entrepreneurs selected for Pitch@Palace Bootcamp are officially invited by Andrew to attend St. James Palace in order to pitch their ideas and to be connected with potential investors, mentors and business contacts.

 

The Duke also founded The Prince Andrew Charitable Trust which aimed to support young people in different areas such as education and training.

 

He also founded a number of awards including Inspiring Digital Enterprise Award (iDEA), a programme to develop the digital and enterprise skills, the Duke of York Award for Technical Education, given to talented young people in technical education, and the Duke of York Young Entrepreneur Award, which recognised talents of young people in entrepreneurship.

 

The Duke of York lent his support to organisations that focus on science and technology by becoming the patron of Catalyst Inc and TeenTech.

 

In 2014, Andrew visited Geneva, Switzerland, to promote British science at CERN's 60th. anniversary celebrations. In May 2018, he visited China and opened the Pitch@Palace China Bootcamp 2.0 at Peking University.

 

In March 2019, Andrew took over the patronage of the Outward Bound Trust from his father, the Duke of Edinburgh, serving up until his own resignation in November 2019. The charity tries to instil leadership qualities among young people.

 

In May 2019, it was announced that Andrew had succeeded Lord Carrington as patron of the Royal Fine Art Commission Trust.

 

On 13 January 2022, it was announced that his royal patronages had been handed back to the Queen to be distributed among other members of the royal family.

 

Prince Andrew's Health

 

On the 2nd. June 2022, Andrew tested positive for COVID-19, and it was announced that he would not be present at the Platinum Jubilee National Service of Thanksgiving at St. Paul's Cathedral on the 3rd. June.

 

Allegations of Sexual Abuse

 

Andrew was friends with Jeffrey Epstein, an American financier who was convicted of sex trafficking in 2008. BBC News reported in March 2011 that the friendship was producing "a steady stream of criticism", and that there were calls for him to step down from his role as trade envoy.

 

Andrew was also criticised in the media after his former wife, Sarah, disclosed that he helped arrange for Epstein to pay off £15,000 of her debts.

 

Andrew had been photographed in December 2010 strolling with Epstein in Central Park during a visit to New York City. In July 2011, Andrew's role as trade envoy was terminated, and he reportedly cut all ties with Epstein.

 

On the 30th. December 2014, a Florida court filing on behalf of lawyers Edwards and Cassell alleged that Andrew was one of several prominent figures, including lawyer Alan Dershowitz and "a former prime minister", to have participated in sexual activities with a minor later identified as Virginia Giuffre (then known by her maiden name Virginia Roberts), who was allegedly trafficked by Epstein.

 

An affidavit from Giuffre was included in an earlier lawsuit from 2008 accusing the US Justice Department of violating the Crime Victims' Rights Act during Epstein's first criminal case by not allowing several of his victims to challenge his plea deal; Andrew was otherwise not a party to the lawsuit.

 

In January 2015, there was renewed media and public pressure for Buckingham Palace to explain Andrew's connection with Epstein. Buckingham Palace stated that:

 

"Any suggestion of impropriety with

underage minors is categorically

untrue."

 

The denial was later repeated.

 

Requests from Giuffre's lawyers for a statement from Andrew about the allegations, under oath, were returned unanswered.

 

Dershowitz denied the allegations in Giuffre's statement and sought disbarment of the lawyers filing the suit. Edwards and Cassell sued Dershowitz for defamation in January 2015; he countersued.

 

The two parties settled in 2016 for an undisclosed financial sum. Epstein sued Edwards for civil racketeering, but later dropped his suit; Edwards countersued for malicious prosecution with the result that Epstein issued a public apology to the lawyer in December 2018.

 

Giuffre asserted that she had sex with Andrew on three occasions, including a trip to London in 2001 when she was 17, and later in New York and on Little Saint James in the U.S. Virgin Islands.

 

She alleged Epstein paid her $15,000 after she had sex with Andrew in London. Flight logs show Andrew and Giuffre were in the places where she alleged their meetings took place.

 

Andrew was also photographed with his arm around Giuffre's waist with an Epstein associate, Ghislaine Maxwell, in the background. Andrew's supporters have repeatedly said the photo is fake and edited.

 

Giuffre stated that she was pressured to have sex with Andrew and "wouldn't have dared object" as Epstein, through contacts, could have her "killed or abducted".

 

On the 7th. April 2015, Judge Kenneth Marra ruled that:

 

"The sex allegations made against

Andrew in court papers filed in Florida

must be struck from the public record".

 

Marra made no ruling as to whether claims by Giuffre are true or false, specifically stating that she may later give evidence when the case comes to court. Giuffre stated that she would not "be bullied back into silence".

 

Tuan "John" Alessi, who was Epstein's butler, stated in a deposition he filed for Giuffre's 2016 defamation case against Maxwell that Andrew's hitherto unremarked visits to the Epstein house in Palm Beach were more frequent than previously thought. He maintained that Andrew "spent weeks with us" and received "daily massages".

 

In August 2019, court documents for a defamation case between Giuffre and Maxwell revealed that a second girl, Johanna Sjoberg, gave evidence alleging that Andrew had placed his hand on her breast while in Epstein's mansion posing for a photo with his Spitting Image puppet.

 

Later that month, Andrew released a statement that said:

 

"At no stage during the limited time I

spent with Epstein did I see, witness

or suspect any behaviour of the sort

that subsequently led to his arrest

and conviction."

 

Andrew did however express regret for meeting him in 2010 after Epstein had already pleaded guilty to sex crimes for the first time.

 

At the end of August 2019, The New Republic published a September 2013 email exchange between John Brockman and Evgeny Morozov, in which Brockman mentioned seeing a British man nicknamed "Andy" receive a foot massage from two Russian women at Epstein's New York residence in 2010. He had realised that:

 

"The recipient of Irina's foot massage

was His Royal Highness, Prince Andrew,

the Duke of York".

 

In July 2020, Caroline Kaufman, an alleged victim of Epstein, said in a federal lawsuit that she had seen Andrew at Epstein's New York mansion in December 2010.

 

In November 2021 Lawrence Visoski, Epstein's pilot, testified in court during Ghislaine Maxwell's trial that Prince Andrew flew in Epstein's private plane along with other prominent individuals, including Bill Clinton, Donald Trump and John Glenn.

 

Visoski stated he did not notice any sexual activity or wrongdoing on the plane.

 

Similarly, Andrew's name was recorded on the 12th. May 2001 by Epstein's pilot David Rodgers in his logbook, and he testified that Andrew flew three times with Epstein and Giuffre in 2001.

 

The following month a picture of Epstein and Maxwell, sitting at a cabin on the Queen's Balmoral estate, around 1999, at the invitation of Andrew, was shown to the jury to establish their status as partners.

 

On the 5th. January 2022, Virginia Giuffre's former boyfriend, Anthony Figueroa, said on Good Morning Britain that Giuffre told him Epstein would take her to meet Prince Andrew. He said:

 

"She called me when she was on the trip

and she was talking about she knew what

they wanted her to do and she was really

nervous and scared because she didn't

know how to react to it".

 

He alleged the meeting had taken place in London. In a court filing, Andrew's lawyers had previously referred to a statement by Figueroa's sister, Crystal Figueroa, who alleged that in her bid to find victims for Epstein, Giuffre had asked her:

 

"Do you know any girls

who are kind of slutty?"

 

The same month, Carolyn Andriano, who as a 14-year-old was introduced by Giuffre to Ghislaine Maxwell and Jeffrey Epstein and was a prosecution witness in Maxwell's trial, said in an interview with the Daily Mail that then 17-year-old Giuffre told her in 2001 that she had slept with Prince Andrew. She stated:

 

"Giuffre said, 'I got to sleep with him'.

She didn't seem upset about it. She

thought it was pretty cool."

 

In an ITV documentary, former royal protection officer Paul Page, who was convicted and given a six year sentence following a £3 million property investment scam in 2009, recounted Maxwell's frequent visits to Buckingham Palace, and suggested the two might have had an intimate relationship, while Lady Victoria Hervey added that Andrew was present at social occasions held by Maxwell.

 

The Duke of York's name and contact numbers for Buckingham Palace, Sunninghill Park, Wood Farm and Balmoral also appeared in Maxwell and Epstein's 'Little Black Book', a list of contacts of the duo's powerful and famous friends.

 

In February 2022, The Daily Telegraph published a photograph of Andrew along with Maxwell giving a tour of Buckingham Palace to Andrew's guests Bill Clinton and Kevin Spacey, with a member of the tour party describing Maxwell as:

 

"The one who led us into

Buckingham Palace".

 

Tina Brown, a journalist who edited Vanity Fair, The New Yorker and The Daily Beast, maintains Epstein described Andrew behind his back as an idiot, but found him useful. Brown stated:

 

"Epstein confided to a friend that he used

to fly Andrew to obscure foreign markets,

where governments were obliged to

receive him, and Epstein went along as

HRH's investment adviser.

With Andrew as frontman, Epstein could

negotiate deals with these (often) shady

players".

 

In October 2022, Ghislaine Maxwell was interviewed by a documentary filmmaker while serving her sentence in prison, and when asked about her relationship with Andrew, Maxwell stated that:

 

"I feel bad for him, but I accept our

friendship could not survive my

conviction.

He is paying such a price for the

association.

I consider him a dear friend. I care

about him."

 

She also stated that she now believed the photograph showing her together with Andrew and Virginia Giuffre was not "a true image," and added that in an email to her lawyer in 2015 she was trying to confirm that she recognised her own house, but the whole image cannot be authentic as "the original has never been produced".

 

The Newsnight Interview

 

In November 2019, the BBC's Newsnight arranged an interview between Andrew and presenter Emily Maitlis in which he recounted his friendship with Epstein for the first time.

 

In the interview, Prince Andrew says he met Epstein in 1999 through Maxwell; this contradicts comments made by Andrew's private secretary in 2011, who said the two met in "the early 1990's".

 

The Duke also said he did not regret his friendship with Epstein, saying:

 

"The people that I met and the opportunities

that I was given to learn, either by him or

because of him, were actually very useful".

 

In the interview, Andrew denied having sex with Giuffre on the 10th. March 2001, as she had accused, because he had been at home with his daughters after attending a party at PizzaExpress in Woking with his elder daughter Beatrice.

 

Prince Andrew also added that Giuffre's claims about dancing with him at a club in London while he was sweaty were false due to him temporarily losing the ability to sweat after an "adrenaline overdose" during the Falklands War.

 

However, according to physicians consulted by The Times, an adrenaline overdose typically causes excessive sweating in humans.

 

Andrew also said that he does not drink, despite Giuffre's account of him providing alcohol for them both. Accounts from other people have supported his statement that he does not drink.

 

Andrew said that he had stayed in Epstein's mansion for three days in 2010, after Epstein's conviction for sex offences against a minor, describing the location as "a convenient place to stay".

 

The Duke said that he met Epstein for the sole purpose of breaking off any future relationship with him. He also said that he would be willing to testify under oath regarding his associations with Epstein.

 

In the 2019 BBC interview, Andrew told Newsnight that his association with Epstein was derived from his long-standing friendship with Ghislaine Maxwell, who was later convicted of colluding in Epstein's sexual abuse.

 

In July 2022 it was announced that a film would be made of the preparations for the interview and the interview itself. Shooting was planned to start in November 2022. According to Deadline, Scoop is being written by Peter Moffat.

 

The Civil Lawsuit

 

In August 2021, Virginia Giuffre sued Prince Andrew in the federal District Court for the Southern District of New York, accusing him of "sexual assault and intentional infliction of emotional distress."

 

The lawsuit was filed under New York's Child Victims Act, legislation extending the statute of limitations where the plaintiff had been under 18 at the time, 17 in Giuffre's case.

 

On the 29th. October 2021, Andrew's lawyers filed a response, stating that:

 

"Our client unequivocally denies

Giuffre's false allegations".

 

On the 12th. January 2022, Judge Kaplan rejected Andrew's attempts to dismiss the case, allowing the sexual abuse lawsuit to proceed.

 

In February 2022, the case was settled out of court, with Andrew making a donation to Giuffre's charity for victims of abuse.

 

The Guardian reported that:

 

"The Queen's decision to strip Andrew

of his royal patronages, honorary military

titles and any official use of his HRH title,

still stands firm."

 

Criminal proceedings in the United States over Virginia Giuffre's claims are still possible but are now unlikely, as Virginia Giuffre died by her own hand on the 24th. April 2025 at a farm in the Neergabby area outside of Perth, Australia, where she had lived for the previous several years.

 

Repercussions

 

The 2019 Newsnight interview was believed by Maitlis and Newsnight to have been approved by the Queen, although "palace insiders" speaking to The Sunday Telegraph disputed this. One of Prince Andrew's official advisors resigned just prior to the interview being aired.

 

Although Andrew was pleased with the outcome of the interview – reportedly giving Maitlis and the Newsnight team a tour of Buckingham Palace – it received negative reactions from both the media and the public, both in and outside of the UK.

 

The interview was described as a "car crash", "nuclear explosion level bad", and the worst public relations crisis for the royal family since the death of Diana, Princess of Wales.

 

Experts and those with ties to Buckingham Palace said that the interview, its fallout and the abrupt suspension of Andrew's royal duties were unprecedented.

 

On the 18th. November 2019, accountancy firm KPMG announced it would not be renewing its sponsorship of Prince Andrew's entrepreneurial scheme Pitch@Palace, and on the 19th. November Standard Chartered also withdrew its support.

 

Also on the 19th. November 2019, the Students' Union of the University of Huddersfield passed a motion to lobby Andrew to resign as its chancellor, as London Metropolitan University was considering Andrew's role as its patron.

 

On the 20th. November 2019, a statement from Buckingham Palace announced that Andrew was suspending his public duties "for the foreseeable future".

 

The decision, made with the consent of the Queen, was accompanied by the insistence that Andrew sympathised with Epstein's victims. Other working royals took his commitments over in the short term.

 

On the 21st. November, Andrew relinquished his role as chancellor of the University of Huddersfield. Three days later, the palace confirmed that Andrew was to step down from all 230 of his patronages, although he expressed a wish to have some sort of public role at some future time.

 

On the 16th. January 2020, it was reported that the Home Office was recommending "a major downgrade of security" for Andrew, which would put an end to his "round-the-clock armed police protection".

 

It was later reported that he had been allowed to keep his £300,000-a-year security and the recommendation would be reviewed again in the future.

 

On the 28th. January 2020, US Attorney Geoffrey Berman stated that Prince Andrew had provided "zero co-operation" with federal prosecutors and the FBI regarding the ongoing investigations, despite his initial promise in the Newsnight interview when he said he was willing to help the authorities.

 

Buckingham Palace did not comment on the issue, though sources close to Andrew said that he "hasn't been approached" by US authorities and investigators, and his legal team announced that he had offered to be a witness "on at least three occasions" but had been refused by the Department of Justice.

 

The US authorities denied being approached by Andrew for an interview, and labeled his statements as:

 

"A way to falsely portray himself to

the public as eager and willing to

cooperate".

 

Spencer Kuvin, who represented nine of Epstein's victims, said Andrew could be arrested if he ever returns to the United States, saying:

 

"It is highly unlikely an extradition

would ever occur, so the Prince

would have to be here in the US

and be arrested while he's here."

 

In March 2020, Andrew hired crisis-management expert Mark Gallagher, who had helped high-profile clients falsely accused in Operation Midland.

 

In April 2020, it was reported that the Duke of York Young Champions Trophy would not be played anymore, after all activities carried out by the Prince Andrew Charitable Trust were stopped.

 

In May 2020, it was reported that the Prince Andrew Charitable Trust was under investigation by the Charity Commission regarding some regulatory issues about £350,000 of payments to his former private secretary Amanda Thirsk.

 

According to The Times, senior personnel in the navy and army considered Andrew to be an embarrassment for the military, and believed he should be stripped of his military roles.

 

In May 2020 it was announced that Andrew would permanently resign from all public roles over his Epstein ties.

 

In June 2020, it became known that Andrew is a person of interest in a criminal investigation in the United States, and that the United States had filed a mutual legal assistance request to British authorities in order to question Andrew.

 

Newsweek reported that a majority of British citizens believe Andrew should be stripped of his titles and extradited to the United States. Following the arrest of Ghislaine Maxwell in July 2020, Andrew cancelled a planned trip to Spain, reportedly due to fears that he might be arrested and extradited to the United States.

 

In August 2020, anti-child trafficking protesters chanting "Paedophile! Paedophile!" referencing Andrew gathered outside Buckingham Palace, and videos of the protest went viral.

 

In August 2021, royal biographer Penny Junor maintained Prince Andrew's reputation with the public was damaged beyond repair.

 

It was reported in August 2021 that American authorities were pessimistic about being able to interview Andrew.

 

In January 2022, Andrew's social media accounts were deleted, his page on the royal family's website was rewritten in the past tense, and his military affiliations and patronages were removed to put an emphasis on his departure from public life.

 

He also stopped using the style His Royal Highness (HRH) though it was not formally removed. In the same month, York Racecourse announced that it would rename the Duke of York Stakes.

 

Prince Andrew High School in Nova Scotia, which had announced two years earlier that it was considering a name change because the name "no longer reflects the values of the community", stated that it would have a new name at the next academic year.

 

In February 2022, Belfast City Council and the Northern Ireland Assembly decided not to fly a union flag for Andrew's birthday. In the same month, the Mid and East Antrim Borough Council announced that they would hold a debate in June 2022 regarding a motion to rename Prince Andrew Way in Carrickfergus.

 

On the 27th. April 2022 York City Council unanimously voted to remove Andrew's Freedom of the City. Rachael Maskell, York Central MP, said Andrew was the "first to ever have their freedom removed".

 

There have also been calls to remove the Duke of York title.

 

In March 2022, Andrew made his first official appearance in months, helping the Queen to walk into Westminster Abbey for a memorial service for his father, the Duke of Edinburgh. There was a mixed reaction by commentators to his presence, with some saying that:

 

"It would send the wrong message to

victims of sexual abuse about how

powerful men are able to absolve

themselves from their conduct."

 

Others argued that his appearance was required "as a son, in memory of his father".

 

In June 2022, The Telegraph reported that Andrew had asked the Queen to be reinstated as Colonel of the Grenadier Guards, to use his HRH (His Royal Highness) title and to be allowed to appear at official events due to his position as a 'prince of the blood'.

 

In the same month, he took part in private aspects of the Garter Day ceremony, including lunch and investiture of new members, but was excluded from the public procession following an intervention by his brother Charles and his nephew William that banned him from appearing anywhere the public could see him.

 

Andrew's name featured on one of the lists, showing that this was a last-minute decision.

 

In June 2022 Rachael Maskell MP introduced a 'Removal of Titles' bill in the House of Commons. If passed, this bill would enable Andrew to be stripped of his Duke of York title and other titles. Maskell maintains that 80% of York citizens want Andrew to lose all connection with their city.

 

The proposed bill would also enable other people considered unworthy to lose their titles. The bill is due to get its second reading on the 9th. December 2022.

 

In August 2022, it was reported that the Executive Committee for the Protection of Royalty and Public Figures had assessed the security threat against Andrew and concluded that he should keep his taxpayer-funded police bodyguards, at an annual cost estimated to be between £500,000 and £3 million.

 

In early 2021 there were at least two trespassing incidents reported at his Windsor property, and in December he was verbally abused by a woman as he was driving his car.

 

Following the death of the Queen on the 8th. September 2022, Andrew appeared in civilian clothing at various ceremonial events. As he walked behind his mother's coffin in a funeral procession in Edinburgh on the 12th. September, a 22-year-old man shouted "Andrew, you're a sick old man".

The heckler was arrested and charged with committing a breach of the peace.

 

Andrew wore military uniform for a 15-minute vigil by the Queen's coffin at Westminster Hall on the 16th. September. Lawyer Spencer Kuvin, who represented nine of Epstein's victims, was critical of Andrew's public role in the lead-up to the funeral, and stated that:

 

"He is attempting now to see if he

can rehabilitate his image in the public."

 

New York lawyer Mariann Wang, who represented up to 12 Epstein's victims described Andrew's public profile as "quite outrageous. She went on to say:

 

"It is harmful for any survivor of trauma

to see an abuser or their enablers

continue to reap the benefits of privilege,

status and power."

 

Controversies and Other Incidents

 

Prince Andrew as Special Representative for International Trade and Investment

 

From 2001 until July 2011, Andrew worked with UK Trade & Investment, part of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, as the United Kingdom's Special Representative for International Trade and Investment.

 

The post, previously held by Prince Edward, Duke of Kent, involved representing and promoting the UK at various trade fairs and conferences around the world.

 

Andrew's suitability for the role was challenged in the House of Commons by Shadow Justice Minister Chris Bryant in February 2011, at the time of the 2011 Libyan civil war, on the grounds that he was:

 

"Not only a very close friend of

Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, but also a

close friend of the convicted

Libyan gun smuggler Tarek

Kaituni".

 

Further problems arose as he hosted a lunch for Sakher El Materi, a member of the corrupt Tunisian regime, at the Palace around the time of the Tunisian Revolution.

 

Andrew also formed a friendship with Ilham Aliyev, the president of Azerbaijan who has been criticised for corruption and for abuses of human rights by Amnesty International, and visited him both during and after his tenure as the UK trade envoy.

 

As of November 2014, Andrew had met Aliyev on 12 separate occasions.

 

Andrew did not receive a salary from the UK Trade & Investment for his role as Special Representative, but he went on expenses-paid delegations, and was alleged to have occasionally used trips paid for by the government for his personal leisure, which earned him the nickname "Airmiles Andy" by the press.

 

On the 8th. March 2011, The Daily Telegraph reported:

 

"In 2010, the Prince spent £620,000

as a trade envoy, including £154,000

on hotels, food and hospitality and

£465,000 on travel."

 

The controversies, together with his ties to Jeffrey Epstein, made him step down from the role in 2011.

 

In November 2020, and following reviews of emails, internal documents, and unreported regulatory filings, as well as interviews with 10 former bank insiders, Bloomberg Businessweek reported on Andrew using his royal cachet and role as Special Representative for International Trade and Investment for helping David Rowland and his private bank, Banque Havilland, with securing deals with clients around the world.

 

The Rowland family are among the investment advisers to Andrew, and he was present for the official opening ceremony of their bank in July 2009.

 

Alleged Comments on Corruption and Kazakhstan

 

As the United Kingdom's Special Trade Representative, Andrew travelled the world to promote British businesses.

 

It was revealed in the United States diplomatic cables leak that Andrew had been reported on by Tatiana Gfoeller, the United States Ambassador to Kyrgyzstan, discussing bribery in Kyrgyzstan and the investigation into the Al-Yamamah arms deal.

 

She explained:

 

"The Duke was referencing an investigation,

subsequently closed, into alleged kickbacks

a senior Saudi royal had received in exchange

for the multi-year, lucrative BAE Systems

contract to provide equipment and training to

Saudi security forces."

 

The dispatch continued:

 

"His mother's subjects seated around the

table roared their approval. He then went

on to 'these (expletive) journalists, especially

from the National Guardian [sic], who poke

their noses everywhere' and (presumably)

make it harder for British businessmen to

do business. The crowd practically clapped!"

 

In May 2008, he attended a goose-hunt in Kazakhstan with President Nursultan Nazarbayev.

 

In 2010, it was revealed that the President's billionaire son-in-law Timur Kulibayev paid Andrew's representatives £15 million – £3 million over the asking price – via offshore companies, for Andrew's Surrey mansion, Sunninghill Park.

 

Kulibayev frequently appears in US dispatches as one of the men who have accumulated millions in gas-rich Kazakhstan. It was later revealed that Andrew's office tried to get a crown estate property close to Kensington Palace for Kulibayev at that time.

 

In May 2012, it was reported that Swiss and Italian police investigating "a network of personal and business relationships" allegedly used for "international corruption" were looking at the activities of Enviro Pacific Investments which charges "multi-million pound fees" to energy companies wishing to deal with Kazakhstan.

 

The trust is believed to have paid £6 million towards the purchase of Sunninghill which now appears derelict. In response, a Palace spokesman said:

 

"This was a private sale between

two trusts. There was never any

impropriety on the part of The Duke

of York".

 

Libby Purves wrote in The Times in January 2015:

 

"Prince Andrew dazzles easily when

confronted with immense wealth and

apparent power.

He has fallen for 'friendships' with bad,

corrupt and clever men, not only in the

US but in Libya, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan,

Tunisia, wherever."

 

In May 2016, a fresh controversy broke out when the Daily Mail alleged that Andrew had brokered a deal to assist a Greek and Swiss consortium in securing a £385 million contract to build water and sewerage networks in two of Kazakhstan's largest cities, while working as British trade envoy, and had stood to gain a £4 million payment in commission.

 

The newspaper published an email from Andrew to Kazakh oligarch Kenges Rakishev, (who had allegedly brokered the sale of the Prince's Berkshire mansion Sunninghill Park), and said that Rakishev had arranged meetings for the consortium.

 

After initially saying the email was a forgery, Buckingham Palace sought to block its publication as a privacy breach. The Palace denied the allegation that Andrew had acted as a "fixer," calling the article "untrue, defamatory and a breach of the editor's code of conduct".

 

A former Foreign Office minister, MP Chris Bryant stated:

 

"When I was at the Foreign Office, it was

very difficult to see in whose interests he

[Andrew] was acting. He doesn't exactly

add lustre to the Royal diadem".

 

Arms Sales

 

In March 2011, Kaye Stearman of the Campaign Against the Arms Trade told Channel 4 News that CAAT sees Prince Andrew as part of a bigger problem:

 

"He is the front man for UKTI. Our concerns

are not just Prince Andrew, it's the whole

UKTI set up.

They see arms as just another commodity,

but it has completely disproportionate

resources. At the London office of UKTI the

arms sector has more staff than all the

others put together.

We are concerned that Prince Andrew is

used to sell arms, and where you sell arms

it is likely to be to despotic regimes.

He is the cheerleader in chief for the arms

industry, shaking hands and paving the way

for the salesmen."

 

In January 2014, Prince Andrew took part in a delegation to Bahrain, a close ally of the United Kingdom. Spokesman for CAAT, Andrew Smith said:

 

"We are calling on Prince Andrew and the

UK government to stop selling arms to Bahrain.

By endorsing the Bahraini dictatorship, Prince

Andrew is giving his implicit support to their

oppressive practices.

When our government sells arms, it is giving

moral and practical support to an illegitimate

and authoritarian regime and directly supporting

their systematic crackdown on opposition groups.

We shouldn't allow our international image to be

used as a PR tool for the violent and oppressive

dictatorship in Bahrain."

 

Andrew Smith has also said:

 

"The prince has consistently used his position

to promote arms sales and boost some of the

most unpleasant governments in the world, his

arms sales haven't just given military support to

corrupt and repressive regimes. They've lent

those regimes political and international

legitimacy."

 

Reactions to Prince Andrew's Election to the Royal Society

 

Andrew's election to the Royal Society prompted "Britain's leading scientists" to "revolt" due to Andrew's lack of scientific background, with some noting he had only a secondary school level of education.

 

In an op-ed in The Sunday Times, pharmacologist, Humboldt Prize recipient, and Fellow of the Royal Society, David Colquhoun opined, in references to Andrew's qualifications, that:

 

"If I wanted a tip for the winner of

the 14.30 at Newmarket, I'd ask a

royal. For most other questions,

I wouldn't."

 

Allegations of Racist Language

 

Rohan Silva, a former Downing Street aide, claimed that, when they met in 2012, Andrew had commented:

 

"Well, if you'll pardon the expression,

that really is the nigger in the woodpile."

 

Former home secretary Jacqui Smith also claims that Andrew made a racist comment about Arabs during a state dinner for the Saudi royal family in 2007.

 

Buckingham Palace denied that Andrew had used racist language on either occasion.

 

Allegations of Ramming Gates in Windsor Great Park

 

In March 2016, Republic CEO Graham Smith filed a formal report to the police, requesting an investigation into allegations that Andrew had damaged sensor-operated gates in Windsor Great Park by forcing them open in his Range Rover to avoid going an extra mile on his way home.

 

The Thames Valley Police dismissed the reports due to lack of details.

 

Treatment of Reporters, Servants and Others

 

During his four-day Southern California tour in 1984, Andrew squirted paint onto American and British journalists and photographers who were reporting on the tour, after which he told Los Angeles county supervisor Kenneth Hahn, "I enjoyed that".

 

The incident damaged the clothes and equipment of reporters and the Los Angeles Herald Examiner submitted a $1,200 bill to the British consulate asking for financial compensation.

 

The Guardian wrote in 2022:

 

"His brusque manner with servants

is well-documented. A senior footman

once told a reporter who worked

undercover at Buckingham Palace that

on waking the prince, 'the response can

easily be "f*** off" as good morning'."

 

Former royal protection officer Paul Page said, in an ITV documentary, that:

 

"Andrew maintained a collection of

50 or 60 stuffed toys, and if they

weren't put back in the right order

by the maids, he would shout and

scream and become verbally abusive."

 

Page later stated in the documentary 'Prince Andrew: Banished' that different women would visit Andrew every day, and when one was denied entry into his residence by the security, Andrew allegedly called one of the officers a "fat, lardy-ass c**t" over the phone.

 

The Duke's former maid, Charlotte Briggs, also recalled setting up the teddy bears on his bed, and told The Sun that when she was bitten by his Norfolk Terrier in 1996, he only laughed and "wasn't bothered".

 

She said that she was reduced to tears by Andrew for not properly closing the heavy curtains in his office, and added that his behaviour was in contrast to that of his brothers Charles and Edward who "weren't anything like him" and his father Philip whom she described as "so nice and gentlemanly".

 

Massage therapist Emma Gruenbaum said Andrew regularly overstepped the mark, making creepy sexual comments when she came to give him a massage. Gruenbaum maintained Andrew talked continually about sex during the first massage, and wanted to know when she last had sex. Gruenbaum said Andrew arranged regular massages for roughly two months, and she believed requests for massages stopped when he realised he would not get more.

 

Finance and Debt Problems

 

It is unclear how Andrew finances his luxury lifestyle; in 2021 The Guardian wrote:

 

"With little in the way of visible support,

questions over how Andrew has been

able to fund his lifestyle have rarely been

answered. In the past he has appeared

to live the jetset life of a multimillionaire,

with holidays aboard luxury yachts,

regular golfing sojourns and ski trips to

exclusive resorts."

 

The Duke of York received a £249,000 annuity from the Queen.

 

In the twelve-month period up to April 2004, he spent £325,000 on flights, and his trade missions as special representative for UKTI cost £75,000 in 2003.

 

The Sunday Times reported in July 2008 that for "the Duke of York's public role,... he last year received £436,000 to cover his expenses".

 

He has a Royal Navy pension of £20,000.

 

The Duke is also a keen skier, and in 2014 bought a skiing chalet in Verbier, Switzerland, for £13 million jointly with his ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson.

 

In May 2020, it was reported that they were in a legal dispute over the mortgage. To purchase the chalet, they secured a loan of £13.25 million, and were expected to pay £5 million in cash instalments which, after applying interests, amounted to £6.8 million.

 

Despite claims that the Queen would help pay the debt, a spokesperson for Andrew confirmed that:

 

"The Queen will not be

stepping in to settle the

debt".

 

The Times reported in September 2021 that Andrew and Sarah had reached a legal agreement with the property's previous owner and would sell the house.

 

The owner agreed to receive £3.4 million, half of the amount that she was owed, as she had been under the impression that Andrew and Sarah were dealing with financial troubles. The money from selling the property is reportedly to be used to pay Andrew's legal expenses over the civil lawsuit as well.

 

In June 2022 it was reported in Le Temps, a Swiss newspaper, that the sale of the chalet has been frozen because of a £1.6 million debt that Andrew owes to unnamed people.

 

Law professor Nicolas Jeandin told Le Temps:

 

"A sale is in principle impossible,

except with the agreement of the

creditor."

 

In 2021 Bloomberg News reported that a firm connected to David Rowland had been paying off Andrew's debts. In November 2017, Andrew borrowed £250,000 from Banque Havilland, adding to an existing £1.25 million loan that had been "extended or increased 10 times" since 2015.

 

Documents showed that while the "credibility of the applicant" had been questioned, he was given the loan in an attempt to "further business potential with the Royal Family".

 

11 days later and in December 2017, £1.5 million was transferred from an account at Albany Reserves, which was controlled by the Rowland family, to Andrew's account at Banque Havilland, paying off the loan that was due in March 2018.

 

Liberal Democrat politician and staunch republican Norman Baker stated:

 

"This demonstrates yet again that

significant questions need to be

asked about Prince Andrew's

business dealings and his

association with some dubious

characters."

 

Several months after Andrew's controversial 2019 Newsnight interview, his private office established the Urramoor Trust, which owned both Lincelles Unlimited (established 2020) and Urramoor Ltd. (established 2013), and according to The Times was set up to support his family.

 

Lincelles was voluntarily wound up in 2022. Andrew was described as a "settlor but not a beneficiary", and did not own either of the companies, though Companies House listed him and his private banker of 20 years Harry Keogh as people with "significant control".

 

In March 2022 it was reported that on the 15th. November 2019 the wife of the jailed former Turkish politician İlhan İşbilen transferred £750,000 to Andrew in the belief that it would help her secure a passport.

 

The Duke repaid the money 16 months later after being contacted by Mrs İşbilen's lawyers. The Telegraph reported that the money sent to Andrew's account had been described to the bankers "as a wedding gift" for his eldest daughter, Beatrice, though the court documents did not include any suggestions that the princess was aware of the transactions.

 

Mrs İşbilen alleges that a further £350,000 payment was made to Andrew through businessman Selman Turk, who Mrs İşbilen is suing for fraud. Turk had been awarded the People's Choice Award for his business Heyman AI at a Pitch@Palace event held at St. James's Palace days before the £750,000 payment was made by Mrs İşbilen.

 

Even though he won the award through a public vote online and an audience vote on the night of the ceremony, there were concerns raised with a senior member of the royal household that Turk was "gaming the system" and should not have won as "he may have used bots – autonomous internet programs – to boost his vote".

 

Libyan-born convicted gun smuggler, Tarek Kaituni introduced Andrew to Selman Turk in May or June 2019 and held later meetings on at least two occasions. Kaituni, for whom Andrew allegedly lobbied a British company, had reportedly gifted Princess Beatrice with an £18,000 gold and diamond necklace for her 21st. birthday in 2009, and was invited to Princess Eugenie's wedding in 2018.

 

Titles, Styles, Honours and Arms

 

19th. February 1960 – 23rd. July 1986: His Royal Highness The Prince Andrew

 

23rd. July 1986 – present: His Royal Highness The Duke of York

 

As of September 2022, Andrew is eighth in the line of succession to the British throne. On rare occasions, he is known by his secondary titles of Earl of Inverness and Baron Killyleagh, in Scotland and Northern Ireland respectively.

 

In 2019, Inverness residents started a campaign to strip him of that title, stating that "it is inappropriate that Prince Andrew is associated with our beautiful city", in light of his friendship with the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

 

Similar pleas have been made by people affiliated with the village of Killyleagh and the city of York regarding his titles of Baron Killyleagh and Duke of York, with Labour Co-op MP for York Central, Rachael Maskell, stating that she would look for ways to make Andrew give up his ducal title if he did not voluntarily relinquish it.

 

In January 2022, it was reported that, while Andrew retains the style of His Royal Highness, he would no longer use it in a public capacity.

 

In April 2022, several York councillors called for Andrew to lose the title Duke of York. Also in 2022, there was a renewed petition to strip him of the Earl of Inverness title.

 

-- Relinquishing of Titles

 

On the 17th. October 2025, following discussions with King Charles, Andrew agreed to cease using his titles of the Duke of York, Earl of Inverness and Baron Killyleagh, and his honours, including his knighthoods as a Royal Knight Companion of the Order of the Garter and a Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order.

 

Andrew publicly stated:

 

"We have concluded the continued accusations

about me distract from the work of His Majesty

and the Royal Family."

 

Andrew was to remain a prince following the interactions with his older brother, but will cease to be the Duke of York, a title received from his mother, the late Queen Elizabeth.

 

Prince Andrew has been under increasing pressure over his links with late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, and has faced a series of scandals - in the statement he reiterates:

 

"I vigorously deny the accusations

against me."

 

Andrew's former wife will be known as Sarah Ferguson and no longer Duchess of York, but their daughters will continue to have the title of Princess.

 

Sean Coughlan of the BBC commented in relation to the latest development:

 

"Andrew might be seen as having to jump before he

was pushed, as the Palace had seemed increasingly

exasperated at the scandals that kept swirling around

him."

 

On the 30th. October 2025, Buckingham Palace announced that Charles III had started the "formal process" to remove his brother's style, titles, and honours. Andrew's name was removed from the Roll of the Peerage the same day.

 

Although this did not revoke Andrew's peerages, it meant that he was no longer entitled to any place in the orders of precedence derived from them, and would cease to be addressed or referred to by any title derived from his peerages in official documents. Letters patent were issued on the 3rd. November officially removing Andrew of the style "Royal Highness" and title "Prince".

 

Andrew will henceforth be known as Andrew Albert Christian Edward Mountbatten Windsor.

ATLANTA, GEORGIA - OCTOBER 26: Kim "Deft" Hyuk-kyu of DRX poses at the League of Legends World Championship Semifinals Features Day on October 26, 2022 in Atlanta, GA. (Photo by Fernando Decillis/Riot Games)

LONDON, ENGLAND - MAY 07: Moon "Oner" Hyeon-joon of T1 at the League of Legends - Mid-Season Invitational Features Day on May 7, 2023 in London, England. (Photo by Colin Young-Wolff/Riot Games)

The image features six cells of a recent resistive RAM (ReRAM) device. The sample is imaged at a 45 degree tilt to highlight the interesting tower-like structure. It appears reminiscent of Toronto’s CN tower, thus bringing forward a “memory” of a tower.

 

Courtesy of Mr. Benedict Drevniok , Chipworks Inc.

 

Image Details

Instrument used: Nova NanoSEM

Horizontal Field Width: 2.12

Voltage: 10 kV

Spot: 2.5

Working Distance: 5.1

Detector: TLD

 

New Brighton, Staten Island

 

Constructed in 1860 by architect Charles Duggin for William S. Pendleton, this exceptional house is a rare surviving example in New York City of a High Victorian picturesque villa incorporating elements of the English Rustic and Swiss Styles. Designed to complement its hillside site, which commanded views of New York and New Jersey, the house features a dominant tower and multiple porches. It is richly embellished with decorative details and is surmounted by a complexly-massed gabled roof, which is set off by overhanging eaves, exposed rafters, open work brackets, decorative trusses, and several prominent chimneys. Born and trained as an architect in England, Duggin immigrated to New York City in 1853, where he became a prominent designer and developer of residential architecture. This house was published twice, in 1862 and 1869, in the Horticulturalist magazine, the journal which helped popularize picturesque designs in the United States.

 

This house and Duggin’s earlier house at 22 Pendleton Place (c. 1855, a designated New York City Landmark), are considered to be his best-known works Both were part of a complex of seven houses designed by Duggin. William S. Pendleton, a prominent businessman who together with his brother John had established the first commercially successful lithographic firm in the United States, moved to Staten Island around 1845 where he served as president of the North Shore Ferry Company and invested in real estate. The 1 Pendleton Place House was initially leased to stockbroker Thomas M. Rianhard and in later years was occupied by members of the Pendleton family. From the mid-1920s to the mid-1940s the house was owned by William Wirt Mills, a prominent journalist and political leader, who served as Tax Commissioner for the Borough of Staten Island and later as Tax Commissioner for the City of New York under Mayor LaGuardia.

 

The present owners have undertaken a careful restoration of the house and received an award from the Preservation League of Staten Island in 2005.

 

Description

 

Grounds: The 1 Pendleton Place House is located on a quarter-circle-shaped lot at the intersection of Franklin Avenue and Pendleton Place. The lot has a frontage of 209 feet along Franklin Avenue, extends 210 feet through the block to Pendleton Avenue, and has a curving frontage of about 327 feet along Pendleton Place. The house is set back from the streets on the high ground near the middle of the southern property line. The land has been terraced around the house, especially at the front where there is an oval driveway and in rear yard where there is a raised garden. There is a non-historic concrete retaining wall along the northern edge of the property at the intersection of Pendleton Place and Franklin Avenue. On the east side of the property mid-way along the Franklin Avenue frontage there is a historic bluestone paver leading from the sidewalk to a non-historic concrete stair with a non-historic iron pipe rail. Near the southwest corner of the property there is a driveway opening on to Pendleton Place. The location of the driveway is historic but the current asphalt surface is not. Leading off from the entry to driveway is a non-historic flagstone and concrete path that leads to a non-historic concrete patio at the rear of the house. A non-historic concrete path also wraps around the west wing of the house leading to front driveway and the front entrance on the north side of the house. The low concrete and brick curbs that flank sections of the paths and driveway probably date from the first half of the twentieth century. Two concrete urns (planters) on bases, located near the driveway, also probably date from the first half of the twentieth century. The brick ground cover in front of the east porch on the north facade appears to be composed of historic brick. The asphalt path adjacent to the east side of the house is non-historic. A non-historic concrete retaining wall with a built in bench and brick and stone staircase are located at the southeast corner of the rear patio. The staircase provides access to the upper garden.

 

House: The picturesquely designed frame house is irregular in plan and massing. It is comprised of a cross-gabled three-story main block, with a four story conical-roofed entry tower set in the angle between the north and west wings and a one-story shed-roofed pantry wing on the rear elevation filling the space between the south and east wings. The angle-ended west wing is surrounded by a one-story veranda. There is also a one story porch in the angle between the north and east wings. The house rests on a sandstone foundation, which has traces of old light-colored cement mortar patching at some of its joints. The upper walls are sheathed with non-historic lapped cedar clapboard siding. The baseboards and corner posts are also non-historic. The windows retain their original molded wood surrounds. An engraving of the house published in 1862 shows that they originally contained a mix of one-over-one, two-over-two sash as well as multipane French doors leading to the verandas. Many of these original windows survive while other windows have historic replacement sash. Most of the house’s rich decorative detailing also survives including the jigsawn corner spandrels beneath the porch roof, the bracketed window hoods, cusped vergeboards, elaborate openwork braces and carved brackets, and shaped chimneys (restored c. 1995). In recent years the elaborate jigsawn porch railings were replaced in kind. The bottom of some of the porch posts also were replaced in recent years. The porch stairs (except for the top step on the front stoop) have also been replaced. The rafters that support the porch roofs and the porch ceilings are original. Other changes have included the creation of a new kitchen entrance and changes to the pantry wing, probably c. 1900-1910. The current fiberglass shingle roof dates from the 1980s. Although there have been some losses, notably the small wood corbels beneath the window sills (visible in a historic photo of the house), the gingerbread moldings that ornamented the bay window and tower, the finials that terminated the gables and capped the tower, and perhaps the cresting that extended along the roofline, the house retains an extraordinary amount of its original detailing

 

The house’s north (primary) facade, facing Pendleton Avenue, has an asymmetric five-bay design. The one-story porch, which opens on to the entrance tower, is approached by a non-historic wood stoop with non-historic wood railings and posts that were designed to match the elements on the other porches. The porch is sheltered by a gabled hood that retains its original molded cornices but has been covered with non-historic shingles. The porch roof has deeply overhanging eaves. The roof is supported by carved posts that are topped by elaborate curved brackets and embellished trusses accented by jigsawn scroll brackets. The entry retains its original paired paneled wood doors with narrow arched windows. The brass letter slot is historic; the doorknobs and other hardware are non-historic. The small metal light fixture suspended from the porch roof near the doorway is non-historic.

 

The paired French doors on the west side of the tower that open onto the west veranda retain their original triple lights topped by a pair of transoms separated by a wide muntin. The second story windows of the tower retain historic one-over-one wood sash windows. The Tudor arch window openings on the front and west side of the tower at the third story are crowned by projecting hoods that retain their original cusped vergeboards. Both windows retain historic one-over–one wood sash windows with the upper sashes echoing the arched profile of the surrounds. The third story is capped by a coved frieze that retains its unusual knobbed decorations and a molded cornice. The small sections of hipped roof that project beyond the base of the fourth story of the tower are covered with non-historic shingles. The octagonal fourth story of the tower retains most of its historic molded trim including the unusual stylized brackets that support the overhanging eaves beneath the tower’s conical roof; however, the decorative gingerbread molding that used to be suspended from the eaves has been lost. The windows at this story retain their original Tudor arch surrounds but the windows contain non-historic one-over-one wood sash with flat heads. (These windows are scheduled to be replaced.) The top of the tower has a non-historic metal cap.

 

The west bay of the north facade has a wrap-around veranda at the first story. The crawl space beneath the porch is screened from view by non-historic spandrels with inset panels of diamond pattern wood lattice. The porch has a recently installed wood floor. The wood porch posts with beveled corners and simple capitals are original, although the posts’ base moldings were replaced in recent years. The porch railings are modern replacements based on the design of the original railings. The plate that supports the porch rafters, the decorative scrollwork brackets beneath the plate, the rafters, and the porch ceiling are original. The molded cornice at the edge of the porch roof is a recent non-historic replacement. The single window opening at the center of west bay on the first story has paired French doors and transoms that match the configuration at the base of the tower.

 

The single window opening at the second story contains a large two-over-two wood sash window that matches the configuration shown in the 1862 engraving of the house. The hipped roof of the third story attic has been reshingled. The overhanging roof eaves retain their original molded cornice and shaped rafters. The brick chimney at the center of the roof was rebuilt in recent years following the form of the original chimney. It has non-historic flues extending above the brickwork.

 

The projecting gable-fronted pavilion to the east of the entrance tower features a projecting pentagonal bay at the basement and first story. The basement is faced with massive sandstone blocks and is pierced by a central window opening that retains its historic wood surround with small wood corbel brackets beneath the sandstone lintel. The triple light top-hung wood basement window is historic. At the first story the bay window is constructed of wood. The recessed panel decorations beneath the windows are modern replacements. The four tall narrow window openings contain historic one-over wood sash. The bay windows retain their historic molded sill and lintel courses and overhanging cornice but the gingerbread decorations that originally were suspended from the base of the cornice are missing. The second story features a pair of windows in a molded surround capped by a strongly projecting hood resting on curved brackets with knob finials. The window openings contain historic one-over-one wood sash.

 

The gabled third story is capped by strongly projecting eaves articulated by exposed rafters. Curved braces support the gable at the corners of the bay and a decorative king post is braced by cross trusses. The single window opening in the third story gable contains historic four-over-four wood window sashes.

 

The east wall of the pavilion has an entry with French doors which have the same historic configuration as the French doors in the tower and west wings. At the second story the central window has an historic two-over-two wood sash window with a wide central muntin.

 

The two easternmost bays of the north facade are spanned by a one-story porch. The porch posts, jigsawn scrollwork brackets, rafter plate, rafters, ceiling, and cornice are original.

 

The baseboard moldings under the porch, the porch floor, the masonry steps leading to the porch, and the railings are non-historic. The kitchen entry probably dates from the first decade of the twentieth century. It retains its historic paneled wood and glass door from that period. The storm door and light fixture to the west of the door are non-historic. The first story window surround and the four-over-over-four wood window sash appear to be original. These windows are repeated on the second story.

 

The east facade is comprised of a single three-story gable ended bay flanked on the north by the one story kitchen porch and on the south by the one story pantry wing. Originally there was a small open porch at the corner of the pantry wing. This area was probably enclosed at the same time as the kitchen entry was inserted in the north facade (c. 1900-1910). At the center of the facade there is a basement window well with a non-historic concrete block retaining wall. The outer face of the wall and its top ledge have been parged with stucco. The brick pier between the windows and the molded window surrounds and top hung window sashes are recent non-historic replacements. The first story is lit by paired historic, four-over-four windows. The second story has one large window opening containing a historic eight-over-eight sash window with heavy center muntins. The narrower third story window in the gable contains a historic four-over-four wood sash window.

 

The overhanging eaves of this gable are articulated with brackets, braces, exposed rafters, and trusswork to match the north gable. At the base of the pantry extension there is a recently installed metal hatch above basement staircase. The single window on the east wall of the pantry extension has a molded surround that matches the original surrounds on the other sections of the building suggesting that it may have been moved from south wall where the original pantry window opening has been converted to a doorway.

 

The south facade has an asymmetric five-bay design. The easternmost section comprises the south wall of the pantry extension and the second story south wall of kitchen wing. The southeast corner of this bay, which was originally an open porch, is covered with siding (a wood strip indicates the junction of the enclosed porch and the old scullery wall). The window that originally lit the scullery retains its original molded surround and has historic four-over-four wood sash. The c. 1900-1910 entry that replaces the old pantry window has a paneled wood-and-glass door that matches the door at the kitchen entrance. This door is protected by a non-historic vinyl storm door. There is a non-historic light fixture above the entry. The overhanging eaves of the pantry wing roof retain their original molded cornice. The sloped shed roof that caps the pantry wing is pierced by a central metal exhaust pipe. The second story has two window openings containing historic four-over-four wood sashes.

 

The east window has been partially sealed beneath the lower sash. A non-historic metal intake vent is suspended from the window by rubber tubing that connects to an air conditioning inside the house. There are two non-historic exhaust pipes near the edge of the sloping roof over the kitchen wing. A smaller lower non-historic pipe is located near the chimney at the roof ridge.

 

The articulation of the projecting gable-fronted south pavilion (the dining room wing) is almost identical to that of the projecting gable-fronted pavilion on the north facade save for the substitution of a tripartite window for the first story bay window. This window has a wide center opening with historic four-over-four sashes that have a wide center muntin creating the impression that the windows are paired casements. The paired second story windows have historic one-over-one wood sashes and the single gable window contains a historic four-over­four sash window. The small square half-hipped roofed bay to the west of the south pavilion is lit at the first story by a large window containing historic four-over-four wood sashes. The narrower second story window has a historic one-over one wood window. The west wall of this bay has a French door at the first story, which opens on to the veranda that wraps around the western parlor wing.

 

These historic doors are identical in configuration to the other French doors. The second story is lit by a historic one-over-one wood sash window.

 

The two-and-one-half-story hipped roofed wing at the western end of the house is surrounded by a wrap-around veranda. The small masonry stoop that approaches the south side of the veranda is not historic. The entry to the veranda is flanked by historic pedestals which rest on non-historic bases and are surmounted by replacement orbed knobs. The other features of the veranda are described above in the section dealing with the west bay of the north facade. There are three entries from the veranda to the parlor via the French doors on the north, west, and south facades of the wing. All contain historic French doors with transoms identical in design to the other French doors on the house. Two of the doors, on the south and north facades, have historic wood and glass storm windows that echo the design of the doors. At the second story the single opening on the south facade has a historic two-over-two wood sash window.

 

The attic dormer has a historic surround but has non-historic one-over-one window sashes. On the west facade the second story window is set off by a deeply overhanging gable that is supported by exposed rafters and decorative braces similar in design to the braces employed for the larger gables. This gable like the other gables has lost its decorative finial. It is not certain whether the roof peak was ever decorated with the cresting that is represented in the 1862.49 There is also some question as to whether the grand staircase leading to the veranda was ever executed since the owners found no evidence that it had ever been there when the porch was rebuilt.

 

- From the 2006 NYCLPC Landmark Designation Report

•Set includes a spring-loaded Spell Launcher with fiery shots, disguised as a craggy rock

•Push the button on the Frost Dragon’s back and make her head strike downward

The photo features a striking nighttime panorama of Shanghai's Lujiazui area, highlighting the city's architectural prowess with towering skyscrapers adorned in colorful lights. Prominent structures such as the Oriental Pearl Tower and the Jin Mao Tower stand out against the dark sky, while the red Monument to the People's Heroes adds a splash of color to the urban landscape. The steel truss of Waibaidu bridge in the foreground provides a sense of scale and depth, leading the viewer's eye across the water towards the cityscape. The overall mood is one of awe-inspiring modernity and cultural significance, encapsulating the dynamic energy of China's financial hub.

 

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REYKJAVIK, ICELAND - APRIL 7: Team ZETA DIVISION poses for the VALORANT Masters Features Day on April 7, 2022 in Reykjavik, Iceland. (Photo by Lance Skundrich/Riot Games)

A woman poses gracefully with flowing hair and subtle makeup in a softly lit interior. The atmosphere is calm, highlighting her features and the texture of her outfit.

Dunnellon features multiple veteran tributes and a deep-rooted military history, with its primary local monument being the Veterans Memorial dedicated outside of Dunnellon City Hall on Veterans Day (November 11) in 2002. Rather than a single massive war memorial park, Dunnellon's commemoration of wartime service spans across its local government grounds, historical markers, and regional military landmarks.

 

The City Hall Veterans Memorial

Dedicated in 2002, the memorial outside City Hall was designed to serve as a central community hub to honor all service members from the past and present. The dedication ceremony drew more than 150 local residents, featuring veteran groups, a presentation of Buddy Poppies, and a speech by Retired Major General Ervin C. Sharpe Jr., who highlighted the importance of looking forward while continuing to honor historical sacrifices. The placement at City Hall was intentionally chosen so that it would "belong to everybody" in the core of the community.

 

American Legion Wall-Rives Post 58

Dunnellon’s military history is strongly tied to its local American Legion Post. Originally granted its charter on April 11, 1928, it stands as the 58th American Legion post established in the state of Florida.

 

On May 26, 1947, the post was officially renamed the Wall-Rives Post 58. It was named in memory of two brave Dunnellon natives, Sergeant Winchester Wall and Sergeant Hugh Wilson Rives, both of whom tragically lost their lives during the Bataan Death March in World War II. The post continues to act as a living memorial, organizing community programs for Memorial Day and September 11th.

 

World War II Historical Roots

Dunnellon played a direct role in supporting the United States military during World War II:

 

Dunnellon Army Airfield: Built during the war, this tactical training airfield (now the Dunnellon/Marion County Airport) served as a crucial site for military operations and training.

 

The Historic Railway: The historic 1908 Atlantic Coast Line depot (now restored by the Greater Dunnellon Historical Society) served as a vital transit line during the 1940s, transporting thousands of troops and heavy military equipment through the region.

 

The Officer Quarters: Historic barracks built by the U.S. government at the airfield were later moved into the town's historic district after the war, where they were repurposed as lodging—standing today as a piece of living World War II architecture.

 

Credit for the data above is given to the following websites:

www.google.com/search?q=history+of+the+war+memorial+dunne...

www.dunnellon.org/

 

© All Rights Reserved - you may not use this image in any form without my prior permission.

A testament of local ingenuity, the church features no frescoes, mosaics, cutout filigrees and rose windows often associated with French cathedrals. The door omits the carved reliefs although the lintel offers an almost naively simplified floral tracery that is repeated in several of the arch windows. In place of murals, the groin vault ceiling of hardwood was enamel-painted in the light shades of blue. Statuaries are sparse. Arches bear semblance to the Islamic ogee. Along the nave, the edges of the columnade were painted with dainty patterns in royal blue. The only obvious concessions to neo-Gothic complication were the the slit windows which show off imported stained glass panels of Catholic church figures and the tile trim around the recessed niches...

 

discover the sober grace of the Cathedral of Antananarivo in colloidfarl.blogspot.com/

•Fly the War Bee onto its landing platform

•Drop rocks on enemies below the causeway

•Fire the Ustokal’s spring-loaded siege crossbow

 

Support at ideas.lego.com/projects/5995b5f7-6955-4a57-9315-9f78f9410f80

ISTANBUL, TURKEY - AUGUST 27: Team Zeta Division poses at VALORANT Champions 2022 Istanbul Features Day on August 27, 2022 in Istanbul, Turkey. (Photo by Lance Skundrich/Riot Games)

Central Recreation Park commonly known as Gorky Central Park of Culture and Recreation is an urban park located in the Medeu District of Almaty.

 

The park features a variety of trees, including elm, oak, aspen, maple, pine, spruce, poplar, and birch, along with artificial water reservoirs. Attractions include a water park, movie theater, sports complex, cultural venues, and public catering establishments. Child entertainment options include a children's railway, aqua park, and other recreational activities. By 2013, the park's area had shrunk to 42 hectares, a significant reduction from its 1983 size of over 100 hectares.

 

The history of the Central Park dates back to the Russian establishment of civilian settlements around the fortification of Verny (now Almaty) and the rise of fisheries.

 

In 1856, scientist and gardener G. Krishtopenko laid the foundations for the park as a public garden in the floodplain of the Malaya Almatinka River, intended as a place of leisure for the officers of the Verny garrison. Drawing from his experience in Crimea, Krishtopenko planted the first deciduous and coniferous trees. He enlisted the help of Verny gardening enthusiasts like Kutaberdin, Sergeev, and Chvanov. After studying the local climate and soil, Krishtopenko determined that, in addition to Central Asian plants, species native to Central Russia could also thrive in the garden and the wider fortification. In 1868, seedlings and seeds were brought to Verny from the Nikitsky Botanical Garden and the Penza School of Horticulture in Tashkent.

 

Between 1869 and 1875, a greenhouse was constructed, flowerbeds were established, and a children's playground was created for educational purposes. Additionally, the Eduard Baum School of Horticulture was opened, accommodating 10–15 students. In 1874, Krishtopenko handed over the park leadership to Karl Baum, the brother of the renowned Verny forester Eduard Baum, and under his direction, the State Park became a hub for national celebrations. The State Garden's purpose expanded to include the cultivation of fruit, ornamental plants, vegetables, silk production, and the establishment of apiaries.

 

As the city grew, the park became a favored spot for relaxation among citizens. Buffets and kitchens were set up, along with dance floors, gazebos, yurts for billiards, and game tables. During Tsarist times, access to the park required an entrance fee.

 

During the Russian Revolution of 1905, laborers and youth organized rallies and gatherings in the park around the logs. In 1918, during the Russian Civil War, the park served as a defensive line for the Red Army. In 1919, the park hosted an aytysh (a traditional Kazakh verbal contest) with participants from the city of Aulie-Ata, now known as Taraz. In 2014, a street workout area was added to the park.

 

In 1934, the park underwent reconstruction, transforming into a recreational area for the workers of Alma-Ata. New attractions were installed, and an advanced irrigation and ditch system was created to cover the entire park. A zoo was also established in the eastern part on what used to be clover fields. In 1935, the park was renamed Maxim Gorky Park of Culture and Recreation and in 1940, a monument to Maxim Gorky was erected.

 

Since 1980, it has been known as Maxim Gorky Central Park of Culture and Recreation.

The Econ features so prominently in my photostream and has its own dedicated gallery because its such a fun river to hike and photograph. The fact that its course remains unaltered and relatively wild (unlike spoiled treasures like the Kissimmee River) make it a rarity in Central Florida.

Features red, aqua, grey prints from Sherbet Pips jelly roll, 10 1/2" blocks, sashed in white, backed with DS Quilts argyle from Picnics and Fairgrounds. Measures 42" x 42".

... features a half-million twinkling lights on Illuminated trees, organ sing-a-longs, and carolers throughout the gardens. More than 50 enchanting Christmas trees and more than 16,000 seasonal plants.

 

-- Longwood Gardens. Org, Kennett Square, Pennsylvania

Features

 

Cortapelos con cuchillas de titanio

Cuenta con la tecnología Dual Cut y función turbo

Tiene 24 posiciones longitud fáciles de seleccionar y bloquear de 0.5 mm a 23 mm

Con 90 minutos de uso sin cable después de una carga de 1 hora

   

maquinilladepelo.com/tienda/cabeza/philips/philips-hc5450...

This image features a Mute Swan (Cygnus olor), characterized by its prominent orange bill with a black base and a graceful, long neck often held in an "S" curve. The species is known for its heavy body, dense white plumage, and generally silent nature compared to other swan species. Mute Swans are often found swimming in pairs or small groups on lakes, ponds, and slow-moving rivers.

GV Florida Transport GD24

Taken at GV Florida Motorpool, Sampaloc, Manila; December 21, 2012; 3:00 PM

 

GV Florida Transport GD24

Class: Executive Deluxe

Manufacturer: Pilipinas Hino, Incorporated

Model: PHI Grandeza RM

Engine: Hino P11C-TH

Chassis: Hino RM2PSS12023

Layout: Rear-Engine / RWD

Features: 2x2 spacious seats, 41 seater, restroom, LCD TV & DVD.

    

ATLANTA, GEORGIA - OCTOBER 26: Choi "Zeus" Woo-je of T1 poses at the League of Legends World Championship Semifinals Features Day on October 26, 2022 in Atlanta, GA. (Photo by Fernando Decillis/Riot Games)

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA - NOVEMBER 02: Lee "Faker" Sang-hyeok of T1 poses at the League of Legends World Championship Finals Features Day on November 2, 2022 in San Francisco, CA. (Photo by Lance Skundrich/Riot Games)

What's up with WhatsApp? These newly leaked features, that's what3

Features Ex LACMTA Neoplan 1189 Ex Tri Met 351Flxible Newlook Ex Pierce Transit 364 Ex San Diego 401 Gm Newlook

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA - NOVEMBER 01: Kim "Deft" Hyuk-kyu of DRX poses at the League of Legends World Championship Finals Features Day on November 1, 2022 in San Francisco, CA. (Photo by Lance Skundrich/Riot Games)

Selfie features the iconic Selfridges store and the metal discs match the roundels on the Selfridges façade. The head and feet of the owl are painted chrome to reflect the surroundings, while the name is inspired by the store and the trend of taking ‘selfies’ – what better than a selfie with Selfie!

 

Artist: Martin Band

Martin Band is an enthusiastic artist and director of Environmental Associates, an urban design and landscape architects business, based in Cheshire.

Martin regularly gets involved in the design of streetscape, civic spaces and gardens – always aiming to bring something new, creative and invigorating to the designs that his practice produces.

Website: www.environmentalassociates.net

 

Sponsor: LDC

 

Auction Price: £11,000

 

The Big Hoot captured the imagination of everyone in Birmingham and beyond, with hundreds of thousands of people taking to the streets with their Big Hoot Trail maps to explore the colourful invasion of individually designed owls. Taking in the city’s 10 districts, tourists and residents alike enjoyed their owl adventure, discovering and celebrating the extraordinary creativity produced by many of Birmingham’s artistic community and over 25,000 young people.

 

The Big Hoot owls went under the hammer on 15 October 2015 at The Big Hoot auction sponsored by Vodafone and we are thrilled to have smashed our target by raising the incredible sum of £508,035!

 

The money raised from the auction will support Birmingham Children’s Hospital Charity’s £3.65m Star Appeal. This appeal will enable us to create a first of its kind, a Rare Diseases Centre in the UK specifically for children. It will provide co-ordinated care, treatment, support and most importantly hope to children and families living with a rare or undiagnosed condition.

 

In addition the auction raised £15,000 for G’owl’d by Temper with proceeds going to Edward’s Trust, and £7,800 for Fleet and Free with proceeds going to Birchfield Harriers.

 

So thank you - we simply couldn’t have done it without you.

 

Artists have played a major role in The Big Hoot, creating almost 100 owl sculptures. We would like to thank all the artists for their incredible creativity and hard work.

Professional artists from Birmingham, the wider Midlands region and further afield have created extraordinary giant owls that are all unique in style and character and represent the city’s creativity, history and heritage, music, fashion, architecture and attractions.

Birmingham is home to a wealth of artistic and creative individuals and communities and many award-winning and nationally and internationally acclaimed artists. We are delighted with the response from Birmingham’s creative community and are thrilled to work in collaboration with them to transform the streets, squares and parks of the city.

For five months artists have been creating owls in their studios, at home and in The Big Hoot Artists’ Studio at the Custard Factory in Digbeth. Their inspiring and innovative designs have been realised in genres including graffiti, illustration, fine art, graphics, typography, mosaic and new media. They have worked with both community groups and with corporates to realise ideas and create their stunning designs.

The Big Hoot not only provides a high quality and ambitious free public event for families but also supports the creativity of artists and celebrates talent and diversity. The Big Hoot has provided an inspiring relationship between the city and the arts.

The artists have also reached out to communities enabling more people to participate in the arts, to experience working with professional artists and to be inspiring and inspired. From the north to the south of the city residents groups, youth groups and older peoples’ groups have been collaborating with artists to generate ideas, design and create owls for The Big Hoot.

Creativity is everywhere but the opportunity to participate is not. A range of activities have been programmed within Birmingham’s diverse communities and people from the age of 3 – 97 and from wards within the city boundaries have contributed to The Big Hoot and helped make the event extraordinary. Our projects have seen artists working with hundreds of residents and community members including children in looked after care, older peoples’ clubs, young people and residents organisations to design and decorate the owls displayed as part of the 10 week public event.

Features smoke from bad bush fires

This features my version of the Veyman Genesis by Dark Syntax. Instead of posting just the build this time around, I figured I'd show how it compares to my usual measuring sticks. As is my normal, I made a couple of changes to the original build to reflect my design choices and parts availability.

 

Brickshelf gallery.

ISTANBUL, TURKEY - AUGUST 27: Yuma "Dep" Hashimoto of Zeta Division poses at VALORANT Champions 2022 Istanbul Features Day on August 27, 2022 in Istanbul, Turkey. (Photo by Lance Skundrich/Riot Games)

Structures that show his power, and a mouth in his torso.

 

This is the first main antagonist of my story. He's nearly complete, but just missing his fingers on his left hand and the white peice on his thigh needs to be changed to black.

The geothermal areas of Yellowstone include several geyser basins in Yellowstone National Park as well as other geothermal features such as hot springs, mud pots, and fumaroles. The number of thermal features in Yellowstone is estimated at 10,000. A study that was completed in 2011 found that a total of 1,283 geysers have erupted in Yellowstone, 465 of which are active during an average year. These are distributed among nine geyser basins, with a few geysers found in smaller thermal areas throughout the Park. The number of geysers in each geyser basin are as follows: Upper Geyser Basin (410), Midway Geyser Basin (59), Lower Geyser Basin (283), Norris Geyser Basin (193), West Thumb Geyser Basin (84), Gibbon Geyser Basin (24), Lone Star Geyser Basin (21), Shoshone Geyser Basin (107), Heart Lake Geyser Basin (69), other areas (33). Although famous large geysers like Old Faithful are part of the total, most of Yellowstone's geysers are small, erupting to only a foot or two. The hydrothermal system that supplies the geysers with hot water sits within an ancient active caldera. Many of the thermal features in Yellowstone build up sinter, geyserite, or travertine deposits around and within them.

 

The various geyser basins are located where rainwater and snowmelt can percolate into the ground, get indirectly superheated by the underlying Yellowstone hotspot, and then erupt at the surface as geysers, hot springs, and fumaroles. Thus flat-bottomed valleys between ancient lava flows and glacial moraines are where most of the large geothermal areas are located. Smaller geothermal areas can be found where fault lines reach the surface, in places along the circular fracture zone around the caldera, and at the base of slopes that collect excess groundwater. Due to the Yellowstone Plateau's high elevation the average boiling temperature at Yellowstone's geyser basins is 199 °F (93 °C). When properly confined and close to the surface it can periodically release some of the built-up pressure in eruptions of hot water and steam that can reach up to 390 feet (120 m) into the air (see Steamboat Geyser, the world's tallest geyser). Water erupting from Yellowstone's geysers is superheated above that boiling point to an average of 204 °F (95.5 °C) as it leaves the vent. The water cools significantly while airborne and is no longer scalding hot by the time it strikes the ground, nearby boardwalks, or even spectators. Because of the high temperatures of the water in the features it is important that spectators remain on the boardwalks and designated trails. Several deaths have occurred in the park as a result of falls into hot springs.

 

Prehistoric Native American artifacts have been found at Mammoth Hot Springs and other geothermal areas in Yellowstone. Some accounts state that the early people used hot water from the geothermal features for bathing and cooking. In the 19th century Father Pierre-Jean De Smet reported that natives he interviewed thought that geyser eruptions were "the result of combat between the infernal spirits". The Lewis and Clark Expedition traveled north of the Yellowstone area in 1806. Local natives that they came upon seldom dared to enter what we now know is the caldera because of frequent loud noises that sounded like thunder and the belief that the spirits that possessed the area did not like human intrusion into their realm. The first white man known to travel into the caldera and see the geothermal features was John Colter, who had left the Lewis and Clark Expedition. He described what he saw as "hot spring brimstone". Beaver trapper Joseph Meek recounted in 1830 that the steam rising from the various geyser basins reminded him of smoke coming from industrial smokestacks on a cold winter morning in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In the 1850s famed trapper Jim Bridger called it "the place where Hell bubbled up".

 

The heat that drives geothermal activity in the Yellowstone area comes from brine (salty water) that is 1.5–3 miles (7,900–15,800 ft; 2,400–4,800 m) below the surface. This is actually below the solid volcanic rock and sediment that extends to a depth of 3,000 to 6,000 feet (900 to 1,800 m) and is inside the hot but mostly solid part of the pluton that contains Yellowstone's magma chamber. At that depth the brine is superheated to temperatures that exceed 400 °F (204 °C) but is able to remain a liquid because it is under great pressure (like a huge pressure cooker).

 

Convection of the churning brine and conduction from surrounding rock transfers heat to an overlaying layer of fresh groundwater. Movement of the two liquids is facilitated by the highly fractured and porous nature of the rocks under the Yellowstone Plateau. Some silica is dissolved from the fractured rhyolite into the hot water as it travels through the fractured rock. Part of this hard mineral is later redeposited on the walls of the cracks and fissures to make a nearly pressure-tight system. Silica precipitates at the surface to form either geyserite or sinter, creating the massive geyser cones, the scalloped edges of hot springs, and the seemingly barren landscape of geyser basins.

 

There are at least five types of geothermal features found at Yellowstone:

 

Fumaroles: Fumaroles, or steam vents, are the hottest hydrothermal features in the park. They have so little water that it all flashes into steam before reaching the surface. At places like Roaring Mountain, the result is loud hissing of steam and gases.

Geysers: Geysers such as Old Faithful are a type of geothermal feature that periodically erupt scalding hot water. Increased pressure exerted by the enormous weight of the overlying rock and water prevents deeper water from boiling. As the hot water rises it is under less pressure and steam bubbles form. They, in turn, expand on their ascent until the bubbles are too big and numerous to pass freely through constrictions. At a critical point the confined bubbles actually lift the water above, causing the geyser to splash or overflow. This decreases the pressure of the system and violent boiling results. Large quantities of water flash into tremendous amounts of steam that force a jet of water out of the vent: an eruption begins. Water (and heat) is expelled faster than the geyser's recharge rate, gradually decreasing the system's pressure and eventually ending the eruption.

Hot springs: Hot springs such as Grand Prismatic Spring are the most common hydrothermal features in the park. Their plumbing has no constrictions. Superheated water cools as it reaches the surface, sinks, and is replaced by hotter water from below. This circulation, called convection, prevents water from reaching the temperature needed to set off an eruption. Many hot springs give rise to streams of heated water.

Mudpots: Mudpots such as Fountain Paint Pots are acidic hot springs with a limited water supply. Some microorganisms use hydrogen sulfide (rotten egg smell), which rises from deep within the earth, as an energy source. They convert the gas into sulfuric acid, which breaks down rock into clay.

Travertine terraces: Travertine terraces, found at Mammoth Hot Springs, are formed from limestone (a rock type made of calcium carbonate). Thermal waters rise through the limestone, carrying high amounts of dissolved carbonate. Carbon dioxide is released at the surface and calcium carbonate deposited as travertine, the chalky white rock of the terraces. These features constantly and quickly change due to the rapid rate of deposition.

Geyser basins

 

The Norris Geyser Basin 44°43′43″N 110°42′16″W is the hottest geyser basin in the park and is located near the northwest edge of Yellowstone Caldera near Norris Junction and on the intersection of three major faults. The Norris-Mammoth Corridor is a fault that runs from Norris north through Mammoth to the Gardiner, Montana, area. The Hebgen Lake fault runs from northwest of West Yellowstone, Montana, to Norris. This fault experienced an earthquake in 1959 that measured 7.4 on the Richter scale (sources vary on exact magnitude between 7.1 and 7.8; see 1959 Hebgen Lake earthquake). Norris Geyser Basin is so hot and dynamic because these two faults intersect with the ring fracture zone that resulted from the creation of the Yellowstone Caldera of 640,000 years ago.

 

The Basin consists of three main areas: Porcelain Basin, Back Basin, and One Hundred Springs Plain. Unlike most of other geyser basins in the park, the waters from Norris are acidic rather than alkaline (for example, Echinus Geyser has a pH of ~3.5). The difference in pH allows for a different class of bacterial thermophiles to live at Norris, creating different color patterns in and around the Norris Basin waters.

 

The Ragged Hills that lie between Back Basin and One Hundred Springs Plain are thermally altered glacial kames. As glaciers receded the underlying thermal features began to express themselves once again, melting remnants of the ice and causing masses of debris to be dumped. These debris piles were then altered by steam and hot water flowing through them. Madison lies within the eroded stream channels cut through lava flows formed after the caldera eruption. The Gibbon Falls lies on the caldera boundary as does Virginia Cascades.

 

Algae on left bacteria on right at the intersection of flows from the Constant & Whirlgig Geysers at Norris Geyser Basin

The tallest active geyser in the world, Steamboat Geyser,[11] is located in Norris Basin. Unlike the slightly smaller but much more famous Old Faithful Geyser located in Upper Geyser Basin, Steamboat has an erratic and lengthy timetable between major eruptions. During major eruptions, which may be separated by intervals of more than a year (the longest recorded span between major eruptions was 50 years), Steamboat erupts over 300 feet (90 m) into the air. Steamboat does not lie dormant between eruptions, instead displaying minor eruptions of approximately 40 feet (12 m).

 

Norris Geyser Basin periodically undergoes a large-scale, basin-wide thermal disturbance lasting a few weeks. Water levels fluctuate, and temperatures, pH, colors, and eruptive patterns change throughout the basin. During a disturbance in 1985, Porkchop Geyser continually jetted steam and water; in 1989, the same geyser apparently clogged with silica and blew up, throwing rocks more than 200 feet (61 m). In 2003 a park ranger observed it bubbling heavily, the first such activity seen since 1991. Activity increased dramatically in mid-2003. Because of high ground temperatures and new features beside the trail much of Back Basin was closed until October. In 2004 the boardwalk was routed around the dangerous area and now leads behind Porkchop Geyser.

 

North of Norris, Roaring Mountain is a large, acidic hydrothermal area (solfatara) with many fumaroles. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the number, size, and power of the fumaroles were much greater than today. The fumaroles are most easily seen in the cooler, low-light conditions of morning and evening.

 

The Gibbon Geyser Basin 44°41′58″N 110°44′34″W includes several thermal areas in the vicinity of the Gibbon River between Gibbon Falls and Norris. The most accessible feature in the basin is Beryl Spring, with a small boardwalk right along the Grand Loop Road. Artists' Paintpots is a small hydrothermal area south of Norris Junction that includes colorful hot springs and two large mudpots.

 

The Monument Geyser Basin 44°41′03″N 110°45′14″W has no active geysers, but its 'monuments' are siliceous sinter deposits similar to the siliceous spires discovered on the floor of Yellowstone Lake. Scientists hypothesize that this basin's structures formed from a hot water system in a glacially dammed lake during the waning stages of the Pinedale Glaciation. The basin is on a ridge reached by a very steep one-mile (1.6 km) trail south of Artists' Paint Pots. Other areas of thermal activity in Gibbon Geyser Basin lie off-trail.

 

South of Norris along the rim of the caldera is the Upper Geyser Basin 44°27′52″N 110°49′45″W, which has the highest concentration of geothermal features in the park. This complement of features includes the most famous geyser in the park, Old Faithful Geyser, as well as four other predictable large geysers. One of these large geysers in the area is Castle Geyser which is about 1,400 feet (430 m) northwest of Old Faithful. Castle Geyser has an interval of approximately 13 hours between major eruptions, but is unpredictable after minor eruptions. The other three predictable geysers are Grand Geyser, Daisy Geyser, and Riverside Geyser. Biscuit Basin and Black Sand Basin are also within the boundaries of Upper Geyser Basin.

 

The hills surrounding Old Faithful and the Upper Geyser Basin are reminders of Quaternary rhyolitic lava flows. These flows, occurring long after the catastrophic eruption of 640,000 years ago, flowed across the landscape like stiff mounds of bread dough due to their high silica content.

 

Evidence of glacial activity is common, and it is one of the keys that allows geysers to exist. Glacier till deposits underlie the geyser basins providing storage areas for the water used in eruptions. Many landforms, such as Porcupine Hills north of Fountain Flats, are made up of glacial gravel and are reminders that 70,000 to 14,000 years ago, this area was buried under ice.

 

Signs of the forces of erosion can be seen everywhere, from runoff channels carved across the sinter in the geyser basins to the drainage created by the Firehole River. Mountain building is evident on the drive south of Old Faithful, toward Craig Pass. Here the Rocky Mountains reach a height of 8,262 feet (2,518 m), dividing the country into two distinct watersheds.

 

Midway Geyser Basin 44°31′04″N 110°49′56″W is much smaller than the other basins found alongside the Firehole River. Despite its small size, it contains two large features, the 200-by-300-foot-wide (60 by 90 m) Excelsior Geyser which pours over 4,000 U.S. gallons (15,000 L; 3,300 imp gal) per minute into the Firehole River. The largest hot spring in Yellowstone, the 370-foot-wide (110 m) and 121-foot-deep (37 m) Grand Prismatic Spring is found here. Also in the basin is Turquoise Pool and Opal Pool.

 

Lower Geyser Basin

Blue spring with steam rising from it; irregular blotches of red and orange residue are on the banks, along with dead tree trunks.

Silex Spring at Fountain Paint Pot

 

Farther north is the Lower Geyser Basin 44°32′58″N 110°50′09″W, which is the largest geyser basin in area, covering approximately 11 square miles. Due to its large size, it has a much less concentrated set of geothermal features, including Fountain Paint Pots. Fountain Paint Pots are mud pots, that is, a hot spring that contains boiling mud instead of water. The mud is produced by a higher acidity in the water which enables the spring to dissolve surrounding minerals to create an opaque, usually grey, mud. Also there is Firehole Spring, Celestine Pool, Leather Pool, Red Spouter, Jelly spring, and a number of fumaroles.

 

Geysers in Lower Geyser Basin include Great Fountain Geyser, whose eruptions reach 100 to 200 feet (30–61 m) in the air, while waves of water cascade down its sinter terraces., the Fountain group of Geysers (Clepsydra Geyser which erupts nearly continuously to heights of 45 feet (14 m), Fountain Geyser, Jelly Geyser, Jet Geyser, Morning Geyser, and Spasm Geyser), the Pink Cone group of geysers (Dilemma Geyser, Labial Geyser, Narcissus Geyser, Pink Geyser, and Pink Cone Geyser), the White Dome group of geysers (Crack Geyser, Gemini Geyser, Pebble Geyser, Rejuvenated Geyser, and White Dome Geyser), as well as Sizzler Geyser.

 

Clepsydra Geyser erupting. July 2019

Fountain Paint Pots

White Dome Geyser

West Thumb Geyser Basin

Several pools of blue water in ashen rock basin.

West Thumb Geyser Basin

Blackened basin with orange streaks; steam is rising from it with fir trees in the background.

Overflow areas of Silex springs

 

The West Thumb Geyser Basin 44°25′07″N 110°34′23″W, including Potts Basin to the north, is the largest geyser basin on the shores of Yellowstone Lake. The heat source of the thermal features in this location is thought to be relatively close to the surface, only 10,000 feet (3,000 m) down. West Thumb is about the same size as another famous volcanic caldera, Crater Lake in Oregon, but much smaller than the great Yellowstone Caldera which last erupted about 640,000 years ago. West Thumb is a caldera within a caldera.

 

West Thumb was created approximately 162,000 years ago when a magma chamber bulged up under the surface of the earth and subsequently cracked it along ring fracture zones. This in turn released the enclosed magma as lava and caused the surface above the emptied magma chamber to collapse. Water later filled the collapsed area of the caldera, forming an extension of Yellowstone Lake. This created the source of heat and water that feed the West Thumb Geyser Basin today.

 

The thermal features at West Thumb are not only found on the lake shore, but extend under the surface of the lake as well. Several underwater hydrothermal features were discovered in the early 1990s and can be seen as slick spots or slight bulges in the summer. During the winter, the underwater thermal features are visible as melt holes in the icy surface of the lake. The surrounding ice can reach three feet (one yard) in thickness.

 

Perhaps the most famous hydrothermal feature at West Thumb is a geyser on the lake shore known as Fishing Cone. Walter Trumbull of the 1870 Washburn-Langford-Doane Expedition described a unique event while a man was fishing adjacent to the cone: "...in swinging a trout ashore, it accidentally got off the hook and fell into the spring. For a moment it darted about with wonderful rapidity, as if seeking an outlet. Then it came to the top, dead, and literally boiled." Fishing Cone erupted frequently to the height of 40 feet (12 m) in 1919 and to lesser heights in 1939. One fisherman was badly burned in Fishing Cone in 1921. Fishing at the geyser is now prohibited.

 

Early visitors would arrive at West Thumb via stagecoach from the Old Faithful area. They had a choice of continuing on the stagecoach or boarding the steamship Zillah to continue the journey by water to Lake Hotel. The boat dock was located near the south end of the geyser basin near Lakeside Spring.

 

Backcountry Geyser Basins

The Heart Lake 44°18′00″N 110°30′56″W, Lone Star 44°24′50″N 110°49′04″W, and Shoshone Geyser Basins 44°21′16″N 110°47′57″W are located away from the road and require at least several miles of hiking to reach. These areas lack the boardwalks and other safety features of the developed areas. As falling into geothermal features can be fatal, it is usually advisable to visit these areas with an experienced guide or at the very least, travelers need to ensure they remain on well-marked trails.

 

The Heart Lake Geyser Basin contains several groups of geysers and deep blue hot springs near Heart Lake in the south-central portion of Yellowstone, southeast of most of the main geyser basins. Lying in the Snake River watershed east of Lewis Lake and south of Yellowstone Lake, Heart Lake was named sometime before 1871 for Hart Hunney, a hunter. Other explorers in the region incorrectly assumed that the lake's name was spelled 'heart' because of its shape. The Heart Lake Geyser Basin begins a couple miles from the lake and descends along Witch Creek to the lakeshore. Five groups of hydrothermal features comprise the basin, and all of them contain geysers, although some are dormant.

 

Between Shoshone Lake and Old Faithful is the Lone Star Geyser Basin, of which the primary feature is Lone Star Geyser, named for its isolation from the nearby geysers of the Upper Geyser Basin. The basin is reachable on foot or bicycle via a 3 mile road that is closed to vehicles.

 

The Shoshone Geyser Basin, reached by hiking or by boat, contains one of the highest concentrations of geysers in the world – more than 80 in an area 1,600 by 800 feet (490 by 240 m). Hot springs and mudpots dot the landscape between the geyser basin and Shoshone Lake.

 

Hot Spring Basin is located 15 miles (24 km) north-northeast of Fishing Bridge and has one of Yellowstone's largest collections of hot springs and fumaroles. The geothermal features there release large amounts of sulfur. This makes water from the springs so acidic that it has dissolved holes in the pants of people who sit on wet ground and causes mounds of sulfur three feet (1 m) high to develop around fumaroles. The very hot acidic water and steam have also created voids in the ground that are only covered by a thin crust.

 

Mammoth Hot Springs is a large complex of hot springs on a hill of travertine in Yellowstone National Park adjacent to Fort Yellowstone and the Mammoth Hot Springs Historic District. It was created over thousands of years as hot water from the spring cooled and deposited calcium carbonate (over two tons flow into Mammoth each day in a solution). Because of the huge amount of geothermal vents, travertine flourishes. Although these springs lie outside the caldera boundary, their energy has been attributed to the same magmatic system that fuels other Yellowstone geothermal areas.

 

The thermal features at Mud Volcano and Sulphur Caldron are primarily mud pots and fumaroles because the area is situated on a perched water system with little water available. Fumaroles or "steam vents" occur when the ground water boils away faster than it can be recharged. Also, the vapors are rich in sulfuric acid that leaches the rock, breaking it down into clay. Because no water washes away the acid or leached rock, it remains as sticky clay to form a mud pot. Hydrogen sulfide gas is present deep in the earth at Mud Volcano and is oxidized to sulfuric acid by microbial activity, which dissolves the surface soils to create pools and cones of clay and mud. Along with hydrogen sulfide, steam, carbon dioxide, and other gases explode through the layers of mud.

 

A series of shallow earthquakes associated with the volcanic activity in Yellowstone struck this area in 1978. Soil temperatures increased to nearly 200 °F (93 °C). The slope between Sizzling Basin and Mud Geyser, once covered with green grass and trees, became a barren landscape of fallen trees known as "the cooking hillside".

 

Yellowstone National Park is a national park located in the western United States, largely in the northwest corner of Wyoming and extending into Montana and Idaho. It was established by the 42nd U.S. Congress with the Yellowstone National Park Protection Act and signed into law by President Ulysses S. Grant on March 1, 1872. Yellowstone was the first national park in the U.S. and is also widely held to be the first national park in the world. The park is known for its wildlife and its many geothermal features, especially the Old Faithful geyser, one of its most popular. While it represents many types of biomes, the subalpine forest is the most abundant. It is part of the South Central Rockies forests ecoregion.

 

While Native Americans have lived in the Yellowstone region for at least 11,000 years, aside from visits by mountain men during the early-to-mid-19th century, organized exploration did not begin until the late 1860s. Management and control of the park originally fell under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Department of the Interior, the first Secretary of the Interior to supervise the park being Columbus Delano. However, the U.S. Army was eventually commissioned to oversee the management of Yellowstone for 30 years between 1886 and 1916. In 1917, the administration of the park was transferred to the National Park Service, which had been created the previous year. Hundreds of structures have been built and are protected for their architectural and historical significance, and researchers have examined more than a thousand archaeological sites.

 

Yellowstone National Park spans an area of 3,468.4 sq mi (8,983 km2), comprising lakes, canyons, rivers, and mountain ranges. Yellowstone Lake is one of the largest high-elevation lakes in North America and is centered over the Yellowstone Caldera, the largest super volcano on the continent. The caldera is considered a dormant volcano. It has erupted with tremendous force several times in the last two million years. Well over half of the world's geysers and hydrothermal features are in Yellowstone, fueled by this ongoing volcanism. Lava flows and rocks from volcanic eruptions cover most of the land area of Yellowstone. The park is the centerpiece of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, the largest remaining nearly intact ecosystem in the Earth's northern temperate zone. In 1978, Yellowstone was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

 

Hundreds of species of mammals, birds, fish, reptiles, and amphibians have been documented, including several that are either endangered or threatened. The vast forests and grasslands also include unique species of plants. Yellowstone Park is the largest and most famous megafauna location in the contiguous United States. Grizzly bears, cougars, wolves, and free-ranging herds of bison and elk live in this park. The Yellowstone Park bison herd is the oldest and largest public bison herd in the United States. Forest fires occur in the park each year; in the large forest fires of 1988, nearly one-third of the park was burnt. Yellowstone has numerous recreational opportunities, including hiking, camping, boating, fishing, and sightseeing. Paved roads provide close access to the major geothermal areas as well as some of the lakes and waterfalls. During the winter, visitors often access the park by way of guided tours that use either snow coaches or snowmobiles.

 

Teton County is a county in the U.S. state of Wyoming. As of the 2020 United States Census, the population was 23,331. Its county seat is Jackson. Its west boundary line is also the Wyoming state boundary shared with Idaho and the southern tip of Montana. Teton County is part of the Jackson, WY-ID Micropolitan Statistical Area.

 

Teton County contains the Jackson Hole ski area, all of Grand Teton National Park, and 40.4% of Yellowstone National Park's total area, including over 96.6% of its water area (largely in Yellowstone Lake).

 

Wyoming is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It borders Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the southwest, and Colorado to the south. With a population of 576,851 in 2020, Wyoming is the least populous state despite being the 10th largest by area, with the second-lowest population density after Alaska. The state capital and most populous city is Cheyenne, which had an estimated population of 63,957 in 2018.

 

Wyoming's western half consists mostly of the ranges and rangelands of the Rocky Mountains; its eastern half consists of high-elevation prairie, and is referred to as the High Plains. Wyoming's climate is semi-arid in some parts and continental in others, making it drier and windier overall than other states, with greater temperature extremes. The federal government owns just under half of Wyoming's land, generally protecting it for public uses. The state ranks sixth in the amount of land—-and fifth in the proportion of its land—-that is owned by the federal government. Its federal lands include two national parks (Grand Teton and Yellowstone), two national recreation areas, two national monuments, and several national forests, as well as historic sites, fish hatcheries, and wildlife refuges.

 

Indigenous peoples inhabited the region for thousands of years. Historic and currently federally recognized tribes include the Arapaho, Crow, Lakota, and Shoshone. Part of the land that is now Wyoming came under American sovereignty via the Louisiana Purchase, part via the Oregon Treaty, and, lastly, via the Mexican Cession. With the opening of the Oregon Trail, the Mormon Trail, and the California Trail, vast numbers of pioneers travelled through parts of the state that had once been traversed mainly by fur trappers, and this spurred the establishment of forts, such as Fort Laramie, that today serve as population centers. The Transcontinental Railroad supplanted the wagon trails in 1867 with a route through southern Wyoming, bringing new settlers and the establishment of founding towns, including the state capital of Cheyenne. On March 27, 1890, Wyoming became the union's 44th state.

 

Farming and ranching, and the attendant range wars, feature prominently in the state's history. Today, Wyoming's economy is largely based on tourism and the extraction of minerals such as coal, natural gas, oil, and trona. Its agricultural commodities include barley, hay, livestock, sugar beets, wheat, and wool.

 

Wyoming was the first state to allow women the right to vote (not counting New Jersey, which had allowed it until 1807), and the right to assume elected office, as well as the first state to elect a female governor. In honor of this part of its history, its most common nickname is "The Equality State" and its official state motto is "Equal Rights". It is among the least religious states in the country, and is known for having a political culture that leans towards libertarian conservatism. The Republican presidential nominee has carried the state in every election since 1968.

Earthshots.org features my second irish landscape image "Stormy Horizon". Really happy. Here is the direct link. your comment is very welcome

 

Here is the direct link

www.earthshots.org/2010/01/stormy-horizon-by-madeleine-ca...

 

This is my first featured image at earthshots.org

 

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© Madeleine Maria Weber

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Earlier this week I posted a picture of the plants in our diningroom window and thought I’d show you a cool thing. The screen on that window developed a hole (don’t remember why) and when casting around for solutions to repair, I found this butterfly. It is a clear sticky patch and two magnets (one for inside and one for outside), so it covers the hole and stays in place. Cool- huh? Some creative problem solvers out there!

This Copernicus Sentinel-2 image features swirls of vivid, emerald green algal blooms in the Gulf of Finland.

 

The Gulf of Finland is the easternmost arm of the Baltic Sea. The area pictured shows the western part of the Gulf. Helsinki, Finland’s capital and most populous city, is visible in light brown on the coast in the top left corner of the image. The image also captures the Estonian coast at the bottom, with Tallin covered by cloud.

 

Every summer, swathes of algae bloom in the Baltic Sea. The blooms usually appear as green threads, as shown in this image, which is from 13 July 2023. Streaks, eddies and swirls, mixed by winds and currents, are clearly visible.

 

An algal bloom describes the rapid growth of phytoplankton – microscopic marine plants that drift on or near the sea surface. While individually microscopic, the chlorophyll they use for photosynthesis collectively tints the ocean waters, which allows them to be measured by satellites orbiting Earth.

 

These organisms are essential to life in the sea – they form the base of the marine food chain. Importantly, they also play a huge role in the removal of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and the production of oxygen.

 

However, some phytoplankton and marine algae can be harmful to marine life and to humans. They can produce toxic substances, blooms can occur too often or last too long, depleting the concentration of oxygen in the water.

 

High water temperatures, slow circulation and excessive nutrients released into the ocean often lead to a rapid increase in the number of algae, and consequently large blooms, which can pose a threat to the natural ecosystem and also aquaculture and tourism.

 

With its 13 spectral channels, Copernicus Sentinel-2’s imager can be used to detect algal blooms and measure aspects that define water quality, such as surface concentration of chlorophyll. Satellite data can be used to track the growth and spread of blooms and can help develop early warning systems to mitigate the impact on tourism and fishing industries.

 

Credits: contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data (2023), processed by ESA, CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO

 

One of the less endearing features of British coaches, particularly longer Plaxtons of the late 60s, '70s and early '80s was the tendency to break their backs. In my experience the most resilient of them all were the early Supremes which usually survived quite well. 12m Elites and late '70s Supremes were the worst. The Elite was not aided by the re-location of the Emergency door from behind the driver to the position of what would ordinarily be the penultimate window bay on the 'off side'. The lightweight steel box section bearers of the later Supremes simply rotted out. Of course 'coach' bodies, unlike their 'bus' sisters required luggage accomodation, and in a mid engined standard low deck coach of the era, had to be at the rear. To facilitate maximum space, the option to have chassis extensions was seldom taken up, thereby leaving the rear overhang (perhaps nearly 11 feet) of the body to support itself plus all passengers and potentially their luggage.

Here, ex Castleways Leyland Leopard Plaxton Elite EDG 250L demostrates the issue. Note what should be a straight waist-rail from around the area of the rear wheels. Sadly this preserved coach didn't survive long after this picture was taken, though I'm not sure whether it was this body issue which finally put paid to it. Ironically, the often slated Duple Dominant equivalent ... renowned for body rot, didn't usually suffer in this manner and I can only ever recall seeing one actually broken ... against dozens of Plaxtons.

This Reserve is dedicated under the Crown Lands Act (1929–1985) for the preservation of the scenic and natural features of the breakaways landscape.