View allAll Photos Tagged Include
“Southwest” includes Kim Kardashian (34) as children’s names categorically. But the compass has still more to offer: Now the pregnant It Girl “Easton” did as the name of her son from this week.
That your next child “Southwest” might mean, reality TV star...
failerz.com/kim-kardashian-considers-her-son-to-call-easton/
The Ajanta Caves (Ajiṇṭhā leni; Marathi: अजिंठा लेणी) in Aurangabad district of Maharashtra, India are about 30 rock-cut Buddhist cave monuments which date from the 2nd century BCE to about 480 or 650 CE. The caves include paintings and sculptures described by the government Archaeological Survey of India as "the finest surviving examples of Indian art, particularly painting", which are masterpieces of Buddhist religious art, with figures of the Buddha and depictions of the Jataka tales. The caves were built in two phases starting around the 2nd century BCE, with the second group of caves built around 400–650 CE according to older accounts, or all in a brief period of 460 to 480 according to the recent proposals of Walter M. Spink. The site is a protected monument in the care of the Archaeological Survey of India, and since 1983, the Ajanta Caves have been a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The caves are located in the Indian state of Maharashtra, near Jalgaon and just outside the village of Ajinṭhā 20°31′56″N 75°44′44″E), about 59 kilometres from Jalgaon railway station on the Delhi – Mumbai line and Howrah-Nagpur-Mumbai line of the Central Railway zone, and 104 kilometres from the city of Aurangabad. They are 100 kilometres from the Ellora Caves, which contain Hindu and Jain temples as well as Buddhist caves, the last dating from a period similar to Ajanta. The Ajanta caves are cut into the side of a cliff that is on the south side of a U-shaped gorge on the small river Waghur, and although they are now along and above a modern pathway running across the cliff they were originally reached by individual stairs or ladders from the side of the river 35 to 110 feet below.
The area was previously heavily forested, and after the site ceased to be used the caves were covered by jungle until accidentally rediscovered in 1819 by a British officer on a hunting party. They are Buddhist monastic buildings, apparently representing a number of distinct "monasteries" or colleges. The caves are numbered 1 to 28 according to their place along the path, beginning at the entrance. Several are unfinished and some barely begun and others are small shrines, included in the traditional numbering as e.g. "9A"; "Cave 15A" was still hidden under rubble when the numbering was done. Further round the gorge are a number of waterfalls, which when the river is high are audible from outside the caves.
The caves form the largest corpus of early Indian wall-painting; other survivals from the area of modern India are very few, though they are related to 5th-century paintings at Sigiriya in Sri Lanka. The elaborate architectural carving in many caves is also very rare, and the style of the many figure sculptures is highly local, found only at a few nearby contemporary sites, although the Ajanta tradition can be related to the later Hindu Ellora Caves and other sites.
HISTORY
Like the other ancient Buddhist monasteries, Ajanta had a large emphasis on teaching, and was divided into several different caves for living, education and worship, under a central direction. Monks were probably assigned to specific caves for living. The layout reflects this organizational structure, with most of the caves only connected through the exterior. The 7th-century travelling Chinese scholar Xuanzang informs us that Dignaga, a celebrated Buddhist philosopher and controversialist, author of well-known books on logic, lived at Ajanta in the 5th century. In its prime the settlement would have accommodated several hundred teachers and pupils. Many monks who had finished their first training may have returned to Ajanta during the monsoon season from an itinerant lifestyle.
The caves are generally agreed to have been made in two distinct periods, separated by several centuries.
CAVES OF THE FIRST (SATAVAHANA) PERIOD
The earliest group of caves consists of caves 9, 10, 12, 13 and 15A. According to Walter Spink, they were made during the period 100 BCE to 100 CE, probably under the patronage of the Satavahana dynasty (230 BCE – c. 220 CE) who ruled the region. Other datings prefer the period 300 BCE to 100 BCE, though the grouping of the earlier caves is generally agreed. More early caves may have vanished through later excavations. Of these, caves 9 and 10 are stupa halls of chaitya-griha form, and caves 12, 13, and 15A are vihāras (see the architecture section below for descriptions of these types). The first phase is still often called the Hinayāna phase, as it originated when, using traditional terminology, the Hinayāna or Lesser Vehicle tradition of Buddhism was dominant, when the Buddha was revered symbolically. However the use of the term Hinayana for this period of Buddhism is now deprecated by historians; equally the caves of the second period are now mostly dated too early to be properly called Mahayana, and do not yet show the full expanded cast of supernatural beings characteristic of that phase of Buddhist art. The first Satavahana period caves lacked figurative sculpture, emphasizing the stupa instead, and in the caves of the second period the overwhelming majority of images represent the Buddha alone, or narrative scenes of his lives.
Spink believes that some time after the Satavahana period caves were made the site was abandoned for a considerable period until the mid-5th century, probably because the region had turned mainly Hindu
CAVES OF THE LATER OR VAKATAKA PERIOD
The second phase began in the 5th century. For a long time it was thought that the later caves were made over a long period from the 4th to the 7th centuries CE, but in recent decades a series of studies by the leading expert on the caves, Walter M. Spink, have argued that most of the work took place over the very brief period from 460 to 480 CE, during the reign of Emperor Harishena of the Vakataka dynasty. This view has been criticized by some scholars, but is now broadly accepted by most authors of general books on Indian art, for example Huntington and Harle.
The second phase is still often called the Mahāyāna or Greater Vehicle phase, but scholars now tend to avoid this nomenclature because of the problems that have surfaced regarding our understanding of Mahāyāna.
Some 20 cave temples were simultaneously created, for the most part viharas with a sanctuary at the back. The most elaborate caves were produced in this period, which included some "modernization" of earlier caves. Spink claims that it is possible to establish dating for this period with a very high level of precision; a fuller account of his chronology is given below. Although debate continues, Spink's ideas are increasingly widely accepted, at least in their broad conclusions. The Archaeological Survey of India website still presents the traditional dating: "The second phase of paintings started around 5th – 6th centuries A.D. and continued for the next two centuries". Caves of the second period are 1–8, 11, 14–29, some possibly extensions of earlier caves. Caves 19, 26, and 29 are chaitya-grihas, the rest viharas.
According to Spink, the Ajanta Caves appear to have been abandoned by wealthy patrons shortly after the fall of Harishena, in about 480 CE. They were then gradually abandoned and forgotten. During the intervening centuries, the jungle grew back and the caves were hidden, unvisited and undisturbed, although the local population were aware of at least some of them.
REDISCOVERY
On 28 April 1819, a British officer for the Madras Presidency, John Smith, of the 28th Cavalry, while hunting tiger, accidentally discovered the entrance to Cave No. 10 deep within the tangled undergrowth. There were local people already using the caves for prayers with a small fire, when he arrived. Exploring that first cave, long since a home to nothing more than birds and bats and a lair for other larger animals, Captain Smith vandalized the wall by scratching his name and the date, April 1819. Since he stood on a five-foot high pile of rubble collected over the years, the inscription is well above the eye-level gaze of an adult today. A paper on the caves by William Erskine was read to the Bombay Literary Society in 1822. Within a few decades, the caves became famous for their exotic setting, impressive architecture, and above all their exceptional, all but unique paintings. A number of large projects to copy the paintings were made in the century after rediscovery, covered below. In 1848 the Royal Asiatic Society established the "Bombay Cave Temple Commission" to clear, tidy and record the most important rock-cut sites in the Bombay Presidency, with John Wilson, as president. In 1861 this became the nucleus of the new Archaeological Survey of India. Until the Nizam of Hyderabad built the modern path between the caves, among other efforts to make the site easy to visit, a trip to Ajanta was a considerable adventure, and contemporary accounts dwell with relish on the dangers from falls off narrow ledges, animals and the Bhil people, who were armed with bows and arrows and had a fearsome reputation.
Today, fairly easily combined with Ellora in a single trip, the caves are the most popular tourist destination in Mahrashtra, and are often crowded at holiday times, increasing the threat to the caves, especially the paintings. In 2012, the Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation announced plans to add to the ASI visitor centre at the entrance complete replicas of caves 1, 2, 16 & 17 to reduce crowding in the originals, and enable visitors to receive a better visual idea of the paintings, which are dimly-lit and hard to read in the caves. Figures for the year to March 2010 showed a total of 390,000 visitors to the site, divided into 362,000 domestic and 27,000 foreign. The trends over the previous few years show a considerable growth in domestic visitors, but a decline in foreign ones; the year to 2010 was the first in which foreign visitors to Ellora exceeded those to Ajanta.
PAINTINGS
Mural paintings survive from both the earlier and later groups of caves. Several fragments of murals preserved from the earlier caves (Caves 9 and 11) are effectively unique survivals of court-led painting in India from this period, and "show that by Sātavāhana times, if not earlier, the Indian painter had mastered an easy and fluent naturalistic style, dealing with large groups of people in a manner comparable to the reliefs of the Sāñcī toraņa crossbars".
Four of the later caves have large and relatively well-preserved mural paintings which "have come to represent Indian mural painting to the non-specialist", and fall into two stylistic groups, with the most famous in Caves 16 and 17, and apparently later paintings in Caves 1 and 2. The latter group were thought to be a century or more later than the others, but the revised chronology proposed by Spink would place them much closer to the earlier group, perhaps contemporary with it in a more progressive style, or one reflecting a team from a different region. The paintings are in "dry fresco", painted on top of a dry plaster surface rather than into wet plaster.
All the paintings appear to be the work of painters at least as used to decorating palaces as temples, and show a familiarity with and interest in details of the life of a wealthy court. We know from literary sources that painting was widely practised and appreciated in the courts of the Gupta period. Unlike much Indian painting, compositions are not laid out in horizontal compartments like a frieze, but show large scenes spreading in all directions from a single figure or group at the centre. The ceilings are also painted with sophisticated and elaborate decorative motifs, many derived from sculpture. The paintings in cave 1, which according to Spink was commissioned by Harisena himself, concentrate on those Jataka tales which show previous lives of the Buddha as a king, rather than as an animal or human commoner, and so show settings from contemporary palace life.
In general the later caves seem to have been painted on finished areas as excavating work continued elsewhere in the cave, as shown in caves 2 and 16 in particular. According to Spink's account of the chronology of the caves, the abandonment of work in 478 after a brief busy period accounts for the absence of painting in caves such as 4 and 17, the later being plastered in preparation for paintings that were never done.
COPIES
The paintings have deteriorated significantly since they were rediscovered, and a number of 19th-century copies and drawings are important for a complete understanding of the works. However, the earliest projects to copy the paintings were plagued by bad fortune. In 1846, Major Robert Gill, an Army officer from Madras presidency and a painter, was appointed by the Royal Asiatic Society to replicate the frescoes on the cave walls to exhibit these paintings in England. Gill worked on his painting at the site from 1844 to 1863 (though he continued to be based there until his death in 1875, writing books and photographing) and made 27 copies of large sections of murals, but all but four were destroyed in a fire at the Crystal Palace in London in 1866, where they were on display.
Another attempt was made in 1872 when the Bombay Presidency commissioned John Griffiths, then principal of the Bombay School of Art, to work with his students to make new copies, again for shipping to England. They worked on this for thirteen years and some 300 canvases were produced, many of which were displayed at the Imperial Institute on Exhibition Road in London, one of the forerunners of the Victoria and Albert Museum. But in 1885 another fire destroyed over a hundred paintings that were in storage. The V&A still has 166 paintings surviving from both sets, though none have been on permanent display since 1955. The largest are some 3 × 6 metres. A conservation project was undertaken on about half of them in 2006, also involving the University of Northumbria. Griffith and his students had unfortunately painted many of the paintings with "cheap varnish" in order to make them easier to see, which has added to the deterioration of the originals, as has, according to Spink and others, recent cleaning by the ASI.
A further set of copies were made between 1909 and 1911 by Christiana Herringham (Lady Herringham) and a group of students from the Calcutta School of Art that included the future Indian Modernist painter Nandalal Bose. The copies were published in full colour as the first publication of London's fledgling India Society. More than the earlier copies, these aimed to fill in holes and damage to recreate the original condition rather than record the state of the paintings as she was seeing them. According to one writer, unlike the paintings created by her predecessors Griffiths and Gill, whose copies were influenced by British Victorian styles of painting, those of the Herringham expedition preferred an 'Indian Renascence' aesthetic of the type pioneered by Abanindranath Tagore.
Early photographic surveys were made by Robert Gill, who learnt to use a camera from about 1856, and whose photos, including some using stereoscopy, were used in books by him and Fergusson (many are available online from the British Library), then Victor Goloubew in 1911 and E.L. Vassey, who took the photos in the four volume study of the caves by Ghulam Yazdani (published 1930–1955).
ARCHITECTURE
The monasteries mostly consist of vihara halls for prayer and living, which are typically rectangular with small square dormitory cells cut into the walls, and by the second period a shrine or sanctuary at the rear centred on a large statue of the Buddha, also carved from the living rock. This change reflects the movement from Hinayana to Mahāyāna Buddhism. The other type of main hall is the narrower and higher chaitya hall with a stupa as the focus at the far end, and a narrow aisle around the walls, behind a range of pillars placed close together. Other plainer rooms were for sleeping and other activities. Some of the caves have elaborate carved entrances, some with large windows over the door to admit light. There is often a colonnaded porch or verandah, with another space inside the doors running the width of the cave.
The central square space of the interior of the viharas is defined by square columns forming a more or less square open area. Outside this are long rectangular aisles on each side, forming a kind of cloister. Along the side and rear walls are a number of small cells entered by a narrow doorway; these are roughly square, and have small niches on their back walls. Originally they had wooden doors. The centre of the rear wall has a larger shrine-room behind, containing a large Buddha statue. The viharas of the earlier period are much simpler, and lack shrines. Spink in fact places the change to a design with a shrine to the middle of the second period, with many caves being adapted to add a shrine in mid-excavation, or after the original phase.
The plan of Cave 1 shows one of the largest viharas, but is fairly typical of the later group. Many others, such as Cave 16, lack the vestibule to the shrine, which leads straight off the main hall. Cave 6 is two viharas, one above the other, connected by internal stairs, with sanctuaries on both levels.
The four completed chaitya halls are caves 9 and 10 from the early period, and caves 19 and 26 from the later period of construction. All follow the typical form found elsewhere, with high ceilings and a central "nave" leading to the stupa, which is near the back, but allows walking behind it, as walking around stupas was (and remains) a common element of Buddhist worship (pradakshina). The later two have high ribbed roofs, which reflect timber forms, and the earlier two are thought to have used actual timber ribs, which have now perished. The two later halls have a rather unusual arrangement (also found in Cave 10 at Ellora) where the stupa is fronted by a large relief sculpture of the Buddha, standing in Cave 19 and seated in Cave 26. Cave 29 is a late and very incomplete chaitya hall.
The form of columns in the work of the first period is very plain and un-embellished, with both chaitya halls using simple octagonal columns, which were painted with figures. In the second period columns were far more varied and inventive, often changing profile over their height, and with elaborate carved capitals, often spreading wide. Many columns are carved over all their surface, some fluted and others carved with decoration all over, as in cave 1.
The flood basalt rock of the cliff, part of the Deccan Traps formed by successive volcanic eruptions at the end of the Cretaceous, is layered horizontally, and somewhat variable in quality, so the excavators had to amend their plans in places, and in places there have been collapses in the intervening centuries, as with the lost portico to cave 1. Excavation began by cutting a narrow tunnel at roof level, which was expanded downwards and outwards; the half-built vihara cave 24 shows the method. Spink believes that for the first caves of the second period the excavators had to relearn skills and techniques that had been lost in the centuries since the first period, which were then transmitted to be used at later rock-cut sites in the region, such as Ellora, and the Elephanta, Bagh, Badami and Aurangabad Caves.
The caves from the first period seem to have been paid for by a number of different patrons, with several inscriptions recording the donation of particular portions of a single cave, but according to Spink the later caves were each commissioned as a complete unit by a single patron from the local rulers or their court elites. After the death of Harisena smaller donors got their chance to add small "shrinelets" between the caves or add statues to existing caves, and some two hundred of these "intrusive" additions were made in sculpture, with a further number of intrusive paintings, up to three hundred in cave 10 alone.
A grand gateway to the site, at the apex of the gorge's horsehoe between caves 15 and 16, was approached from the river, and is decorated with elephants on either side and a nāga, or protective snake deity.
ICONOGRAPHY OF THE CAVES
In the pre-Christian era, the Buddha was represented symbolically, in the form of the stupa. Thus, halls were made with stupas to venerate the Buddha. In later periods the images of the Buddha started to be made in coins, relic caskets, relief or loose sculptural forms, etc. However, it took a while for the human representation of the Buddha to appear in Buddhist art. One of the earliest evidences of the Buddha's human representations are found at Buddhist archaeological sites, such as Goli, Nagarjunakonda, and Amaravati. The monasteries of those sites were built in less durable media, such as wood, brick, and stone. As far as the genre of rock-cut architecture is concerned it took many centuries for the Buddha image to be depicted. Nobody knows for sure at which rock-cut cave site the first image of the Buddha was depicted. Current research indicates that Buddha images in a portable form, made of wood or stone, were introduced, for the first time, at Kanheri, to be followed soon at Ajanta Cave 8 (Dhavalikar, Jadhav, Spink, Singh). While the Kanheri example dates to 4th or 5th century CE, the Ajanta example has been dated to c. 462–478 CE (Spink). None of the rock-cut monasteries prior to these dates, and other than these examples, show any Buddha image although hundreds of rock-cut caves were made throughout India during the first few centuries CE. And, in those caves, it is the stupa that is the object of veneration, not the image. Images of the Buddha are not found in Buddhist sailagrhas (rock-cut complexes) until the times of the Kanheri (4th–5th century CE) and Ajanta examples (c. 462–478 CE).
The caves of the second period, now all dated to the 5th century, were typically described as "Mahayana", but do not show the features associated with later Mahayana Buddhism. Although the beginnings of Mahāyāna teachings go back to the 1st century there is little art and archaeological evidence to suggest that it became a mainstream cult for several centuries. In Mahayana it is not Gautama Buddha but the Bodhisattva who is important, including "deity" Bodhisattva like Manjushri and Tara, as well as aspects of the Buddha such as Aksobhya, and Amitabha. Except for a few Bodhisattva, these are not depicted at Ajanta, where the Buddha remains the dominant figure. Even the Bodhisattva images of Ajanta are never central objects of worship, but are always shown as attendants of the Buddha in the shrine. If a Bodhisattva is shown in isolation, as in the Astabhaya scenes, these were done in the very last years of activities at Ajanta, and are mostly 'intrusive' in nature, meaning that they were not planned by the original patrons, and were added by new donors after the original patrons had suddenly abandoned the region in the wake of Emperor Harisena's death.
The contrast between iconic and aniconic representations, that is, the stupa on one hand and the image of the Buddha on the other, is now being seen as a construct of the modern scholar rather than a reality of the past. The second phase of Ajanta shows that the stupa and image coincided together. If the entire corpus of the art of Ajanta including sculpture, iconography, architecture, epigraphy, and painting are analysed afresh it will become clear that there was no duality between the symbolic and human forms of the Buddha, as far as the 5th-century phase of Ajanta is concerned. That is why most current scholars tend to avoid the terms 'Hinayana' and 'Mahayana' in the context of Ajanta. They now prefer to call the second phase by the ruling dynasty, as the Vākāţaka phase.
CAVES
CAVE 1
Cave 1 was built on the eastern end of the horse-shoe shaped scarp, and is now the first cave the visitor encounters. This would when first made have been a less prominent position, right at the end of the row. According to Spink, it is one of the latest caves to have been excavated, when the best sites had been taken, and was never fully inaugurated for worship by the dedication of the Buddha image in the central shrine. This is shown by the absence of sooty deposits from butter lamps on the base of the shrine image, and the lack of damage to the paintings that would have been happened if the garland-hooks around the shrine had been in use for any period of time. Although there is no epigraphic evidence, Spink believes that the Vākāţaka Emperor Harishena was the benefactor of the work, and this is reflected in the emphasis on imagery of royalty in the cave, with those Jakata tales being selected that tell of those previous lives of the Buddha in which he was royal.
The cliff has a more steep slope here than at other caves, so to achieve a tall grand facade it was necessary to cut far back into the slope, giving a large courtyard in front of the facade. There was originally a columned portico in front of the present facade, which can be seen "half-intact in the 1880s" in pictures of the site, but this fell down completely and the remains, despite containing fine carving, were carelessly thrown down the slope into the river, from where they have been lost, presumably carried away in monsoon torrents.
This cave has one of the most elaborate carved façades, with relief sculptures on entablature and ridges, and most surfaces embellished with decorative carving. There are scenes carved from the life of the Buddha as well as a number of decorative motifs. A two pillared portico, visible in the 19th-century photographs, has since perished. The cave has a front-court with cells fronted by pillared vestibules on either side. These have a high plinth level. The cave has a porch with simple cells on both ends. The absence of pillared vestibules on the ends suggest that the porch was not excavated in the latest phase of Ajanta when pillared vestibules had become a necessity and norm. Most areas of the porch were once covered with murals, of which many fragments remain, especially on the ceiling. There are three doorways: a central doorway and two side doorways. Two square windows were carved between the doorways to brighten the interiors.
Each wall of the hall inside is nearly 12 m long and 6.1 m high. Twelve pillars make a square colonnade inside supporting the ceiling, and creating spacious aisles along the walls. There is a shrine carved on the rear wall to house an impressive seated image of the Buddha, his hands being in the dharmachakrapravartana mudra. There are four cells on each of the left, rear, and the right walls, though due to rock fault there are none at the ends of the rear aisle. The walls are covered with paintings in a fair state of preservation, though the full scheme was never completed. The scenes depicted are mostly didactic, devotional, and ornamental, with scenes from the Jataka stories of the Buddha's former existences as a bodhisattva), the life of the Gautama Buddha, and those of his veneration. The two most famous individual painted images at Ajanta are the two over-life size figures of the protective bodhisattvas Padmapani and Vajrapani on either side of the entrance to the Buddha shrine on the wall of the rear aisle (see illustrations above). According to Spink, the original dating of the paintings to about 625 arose largely or entirely because James Fegusson, a 19th-century architectural historian, had decided that a scene showing an ambassador being received, with figures in Persian dress, represented a recorded embassy to Persia (from a Hindu monarch at that) around that date.
CAVE 2
Cave 2, adjacent to Cave 1, is known for the paintings that have been preserved on its walls, ceilings, and pillars. It looks similar to Cave 1 and is in a better state of preservation.
Cave 2 has a porch quite different from Cave one. Even the façade carvings seem to be different. The cave is supported by robust pillars, ornamented with designs. The front porch consists of cells supported by pillared vestibules on both ends. The cells on the previously "wasted areas" were needed to meet the greater housing requirements in later years. Porch-end cells became a trend in all later Vakataka excavations. The simple single cells on porch-ends were converted into CPVs or were planned to provide more room, symmetry, and beauty.
The paintings on the ceilings and walls of this porch have been widely published. They depict the Jataka tales that are stories of the Buddha's life in former existences as Bodhisattva. Just as the stories illustrated in cave 1 emphasize kingship, those in cave 2 show many "noble and powerful" women in prominent roles, leading to suggestions that the patron was an unknown woman. The porch's rear wall has a doorway in the center, which allows entrance to the hall. On either side of the door is a square-shaped window to brighten the interior.
The hall has four colonnades which are supporting the ceiling and surrounding a square in the center of the hall. Each arm or colonnade of the square is parallel to the respective walls of the hall, making an aisle in between. The colonnades have rock-beams above and below them. The capitals are carved and painted with various decorative themes that include ornamental, human, animal, vegetative, and semi-divine forms.
Paintings appear on almost every surface of the cave except for the floor. At various places the art work has become eroded due to decay and human interference. Therefore, many areas of the painted walls, ceilings, and pillars are fragmentary. The painted narratives of the Jataka tales are depicted only on the walls, which demanded the special attention of the devotee. They are didactic in nature, meant to inform the community about the Buddha's teachings and life through successive rebirths. Their placement on the walls required the devotee to walk through the aisles and 'read' the narratives depicted in various episodes. The narrative episodes are depicted one after another although not in a linear order. Their identification has been a core area of research since the site's rediscovery in 1819. Dieter Schlingloff's identifications have updated our knowledge on the subject.
CAVE 4
The Archeological Survey of India board outside the caves gives the following detail about cave 4: "This is the largest monastery planned on a grandiose scale but was never finished. An inscription on the pedestal of the buddha's image mentions that it was a gift from a person named Mathura and paleographically belongs to 6th century A.D. It consists of a verandah, a hypostylar hall, sanctum with an antechamber and a series of unfinished cells. The rear wall of the verandah contains the panel of Litany of Avalokiteśvara".
The sanctuary houses a colossal image of the Buddha in preaching pose flanked by bodhisattvas and celestial nymphs hovering above.
CAVES 9-10
Caves 9 and 10 are the two chaitya halls from the first period of construction, though both were also undergoing an uncompleted reworking at the end of the second period. Cave 10 was perhaps originally of the 1st century BCE, and cave 9 about a hundred years later. The small "shrinelets" called caves 9A to 9D and 10A also date from the second period, and were commissioned by individuals.
The paintings in cave 10 include some surviving from the early period, many from an incomplete programme of modernization in the second period, and a very large number of smaller late intrusive images, nearly all Buddhas and many with donor inscriptions from individuals. These mostly avoided over-painting the "official" programme and after the best positions were used up are tucked away in less prominent positions not yet painted; the total of these (including those now lost) was probably over 300, and the hands of many different artists are visible.
OTHER CAVES
Cave 3 is merely a start of an excavation; according to Spink it was begun right at the end of the final period of work and soon abandoned. Caves 5 and 6 are viharas, the latter on two floors, that were late works of which only the lower floor of cave 6 was ever finished. The upper floor of cave 6 has many private votive sculptures, and a shrine Buddha, but is otherwise unfinished. Cave 7 has a grand facade with two porticos but, perhaps because of faults in the rock, which posed problems in many caves, was never taken very deep into the cliff, and consists only of the two porticos and a shrine room with antechamber, with no central hall. Some cells were fitted in.
Cave 8 was long thought to date to the first period of construction, but Spink sees it as perhaps the earliest cave from the second period, its shrine an "afterthought". The statue may have been loose rather than carved from the living rock, as it has now vanished. The cave was painted, but only traces remain.
SPINK´S DETAILED CHRONOLOGY
Walter M. Spink has over recent decades developed a very precise and circumstantial chronology for the second period of work on the site, which unlike earlier scholars, he places entirely in the 5th century. This is based on evidence such as the inscriptions and artistic style, combined with the many uncompleted elements of the caves. He believes the earlier group of caves, which like other scholars he dates only approximately, to the period "between 100 BCE – 100 CE", were at some later point completely abandoned and remained so "for over three centuries", as the local population had turned mainly Hindu. This changed with the accession of the Emperor Harishena of the Vakataka Dynasty, who reigned from 460 to his death in 477. Harisena extended the Central Indian Vakataka Empire to include a stretch of the east coast of India; the Gupta Empire ruled northern India at the same period, and the Pallava dynasty much of the south.
According to Spink, Harisena encouraged a group of associates, including his prime minister Varahadeva and Upendragupta, the sub-king in whose territory Ajanta was, to dig out new caves, which were individually commissioned, some containing inscriptions recording the donation. This activity began in 462 but was mostly suspended in 468 because of threats from the neighbouring Asmaka kings. Work continued on only caves 1, Harisena's own commission, and 17–20, commissioned by Upendragupta. In 472 the situation was such that work was suspended completely, in a period that Spink calls "the Hiatus", which lasted until about 475, by which time the Asmakas had replaced Upendragupta as the local rulers.
Work was then resumed, but again disrupted by Harisena's death in 477, soon after which major excavation ceased, except at cave 26, which the Asmakas were sponsoring themselves. The Asmakas launched a revolt against Harisena's son, which brought about the end of the Vakataka Dynasty. In the years 478–480 major excavation by important patrons was replaced by a rash of "intrusions" – statues added to existing caves, and small shrines dotted about where there was space between them. These were commissioned by less powerful individuals, some monks, who had not previously been able to make additions to the large excavations of the rulers and courtiers. They were added to the facades, the return sides of the entrances, and to walls inside the caves. According to Spink, "After 480, not a single image was ever made again at the site", and as Hinduism again dominated the region, the site was again abandoned, this time for over a millennium.
Spink does not use "circa" in his dates, but says that "one should allow a margin of error of one year or perhaps even two in all cases".
IMPACT ON MODERN INDIAN PAINTINGS
The Ajanta paintings, or more likely the general style they come from, influenced painting in Tibet and Sri Lanka.
The rediscovery of ancient Indian paintings at Ajanta provided Indian artists examples from ancient India to follow. Nandlal Bose experimented with techniques to follow the ancient style which allowed him to develop his unique style. Abanindranath Tagore also used the Ajanta paintings for inspiration.
WIKIPEDIA
A trip over to the Woodvale Crematorium and Memorial Garden, Brighton to take some images for the family of a friend who passed away recently. The circumstances of his passing and the Covid-19 situation meant that the family couldn't travel over for the service.
Fatpack Includes:
- Plats
- HUD (20 colors in total | 8 metal colors | Mix & Match options | Transparency levels)
Parts are separately change color in the fatpack versions only!
Each single pack comes with HUD for metals & straps transparency
Rigged for: eBODY Reborn | Legacy - PLEASE TRY DEMO!
♥
TAXI: - TRIGGERED -
____________________________
Credits:
Stockings: rotten {deviant rubbers + stockings} black 40% [reborn]
Tattoo: Messy. Store - Forever Leg Tattoo
____________________________
Arthur Louis Aaron VC
On 12th August 1943 during a raid on Turin, Italy, Flight Sergeant Aaron’s bomber was hit by gunfire (possibly from a night fighter, but may have been friendly fire from another Stirling). The Stirling was very badly damaged; three engines were hit, the windscreen shattered, the front and rear turrets put out of action and the elevator control damaged, causing the aircraft to become unstable and difficult to control. The navigator, Canadian Cornelius A. Brennan was killed, other members of the crew were wounded, and Flight Sergeant Aaron’s jaw was broken and part of his face was torn away. He had also been hit in the lung and his right arm was useless. Despite his terrible injuries he managed to level the aircraft out at 3,000 ft. Unable to speak, Flight Sergeant Aaron urged the bomb aimer with gestures to take over the controls. The crippled bomber made for the nearest Allied bases in North Africa.
Aaron was then assisted to the rear of the aircraft and given morphia. After resting he insisted on returning to the cockpit where he was lifted back into his seat where he made a determined effort to take control and fly the aircraft although his weakness was evident and he was eventually persuaded to desist. In great pain and suffering from exhaustion he continued to help by writing directions with his left hand. Five hours after leaving the target fuel was now low, but Bone airfield in Tunisia was sighted. Flight Sergeant Aaron summoned his failing strength to successfully direct the bomb-aimer in belly-landing the damaged aircraft in the darkness. He died nine hours after the aircraft touched down.
He was buried with full military honours in Bone War Cemetery. On 3rd November 1943 the London Gazette published the official citation for the award of a posthumous VC to Arthur Louis Aaron. For their parts in the action, Allan Larden was awarded the CGM, and Mitcham and Guy each received the DFM. On 25th February 1944, Aaron’s parents received their son’s VC from King George VI at Buckingham Palace, and shortly afterwards Benjamin Aaron was present at a mass parade of ATC cadets in Wellington Barracks, London, where the ATC Commandant, Air Marshal Sir Leslie Gossage read out the VC citation of their ex-cadet.
Two years later, in August 1946, Aaron’s parents’ home was burgled and all of his medals stolen, but after a police appeal the medals were returned anonymously in the mail. In December 1953, Benjamin Aaron presented Arthur’s medals to the Leeds City Museum for a permanent loan.
victoriacrossonline.co.uk/arthur-louis-aaron-vc/
He was one of three Jewish VC's of the Second World War - the others being Tommy Gould, RN and John Keneally, Irish Guards - real name John Leslie.
George Sanders
George Sanders was the son of Thomas and Amy Sanders. He received his education at Little Holbeck School and after completing his time there was indentured as an apprentice fitter at the nearby Airedale Foundry. George enlisted for service on November 9th 1914 and was drafted to the 1/7th Battalion as a corporal, West Yorkshire Regiment (The Prince of Wales's Own), British Army during the First World War when the following deed took place for which he was awarded the VC. On 1 July 1916 near Thiepval, France, during the Battle of the Somme, after an advance into the enemy's trenches, Corporal Sanders found himself isolated with a party of 30 men. He organised his defences, detailed a bombing party, and impressed upon the men that his and their duty was to hold the position at all costs. Next morning he drove off an attack by the enemy, rescuing some prisoners who had fallen into their hands. Later two bombing attacks were driven off, and he was finally relieved after 36 hours. All this time his party had been without food and water, having given their water to the wounded during the first night. After receiving his Victoria Cross, 18 November 1916 at Buckingham Palace, from the King, he returned to the front.
April 1918: The Germans launched their "Spring Offensive". Sanders unit, the West Yorks, were at Mount Kemmel. Heavy fighting ensued and acting Captain Sanders was awarded the Military Cross. He was taken prisoner of war (POW) on 25 April and listed as wounded and missing with injuries to both his right arm and leg, last seen carrying his revolver in his left hand. Sanders was interned at the Limburg POW camp. In July he managed to get a letter to his father telling of his capture and captivity. On 26 December Captain Sanders was sent back to England, and he was discharged March 1919. After the war he attended a victory party (June 1920) and a Victoria Cross reunion dinner on the tenth anniversary of the end of the war (November 1929) both at Buckingham Palace. George Sanders VC MC died in Leeds on April 4th 1950 aged 56. His funeral was held at the Cottingley Crematorium in the city. It is believed that George's son Kenneth Sanders still lives in Leeds and retains his fathers Military Cross and Victoria Cross.
David Philip Hirsch
He was 20 years old, and an Acting Captain in the 4th Battalion, The Yorkshire Regiment (Alexandra, Princess of Wales's Own), British Army during the First World War when the following deed took place for which he was awarded the VC. On 23rd April 1917 near Wancourt, France, during an attack, Captain Hirsch having arrived at the first objective, although wounded, returned over fire-swept slopes to satisfy himself that the defensive flank was being established. Machine-gun fire was so intense that it was necessary for him to be continuously up and down the line encouraging and steadying his men. He stood on the parapet, in the face of machine-gun fire and counter-attack, until he was killed.
see homepage.ntlworld.com/bandl.danby/040Bn1917.html
Edward McKenna
He was 36 years old, and a colour-sergeant in the 65th Regiment of Foot (later the 1st Bn, York and Lancaster Regiment), British Army during the Waikato-Hauhau Maori War, New Zealand when the following deed took place for which he was awarded the VC. On 7th September 1863 near Cameron Town, New Zealand, after both his officers had been shot, Colour-Sergeant McKenna, with a small force, heavily outnumbered by the enemy, charged through their position with the loss of one man killed and one missing. The colour-sergeant's coolness and intrepidity amply justified the confidence placed in him by the soldiers brought so suddenly under his command. For this deed he also received the rank of Ensign. Grave/memorial at Buried at Terrace End Cemetery, Palmerston North, New Zealand. Presbyterian Block II. Plot 65.
His Gravestone reads: Edward McKenna, V.C. late ensign, 65th Reg, also N.Z.R., died 8 June 1908 aged 79; also Elizabeth Gordon, wife of the above. R.I.P. In October 1865 his regiment was recalled to England, but Edward had grown attached to the colony, he sold his commission and remained. He joined the New Zealand Railways as a clerk and soon rose to be Station Master at Kaiapoi, Ashburton, Invercargill, Gore, Greatford, Halcombe and early 1880s Palmerston North. He eventually retired to Palmerston North where he later died. Edward McKenna and Elizabeth Gordon had 13 children between them and today there would exist a large number of relatives throughout New Zealand.
William Boynton Butler (VC, Croix de Guerre (France)) (20 November 1894-25 March 1972)
Bulter was 22 years old, and a private in the 17th Battalion, The West Yorkshire Regiment (The Prince of Wales's Own), British Army, attached to 106th TM. Battery during the First World War when the following deed took place for which he was awarded the VC. On 6 August 1917 east of Lempire, France, Private Butler was in charge of a Stokes gun in trenches which were being heavily shelled. Suddenly one of the fly-off levers of a Stokes shell came off and fired the shell in the emplacement. Private Butler picked up the shell and shouted a warning to a party of infantry. He then turned and put himself between the party of men and the live shell, holding it until they were out of danger, when he threw it on to the parades and took cover. The shell exploded, damaging the trench, but only confusing Private Butler. The Victoria Cross, campaign medals and commemorative medals awarded to Private William Butler, 17th Bn, West Yorkshire Regiment, have been acquired by the Michael Ashcroft Trust, the holding instution for Lord Ashcroft's VC Collection. The William Butler VC group will go on display in the Lord Ashcroft Gallery in the Imperial War Museum.
Medal entitlement of Private William Butler, 17th Bn, West Yorkshire Regiment
Victoria Cross
British War Medal ( 1914-20 )
Victory Medal ( 1914-19 )
King George VI Coronation Medal ( 1937 )
Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal ( 1953 )
Croix de Guerre ( France )
For the award of the Victoria Cross
[ London Gazette, 17 October 1917 ], Near Lempire, France, 6 August 1917, Private William Boynton Butler, 17th Bn, West Yorkshire Regiment, att'd 106th Trench Mortar Battery.
For most conspicuous bravery ( East of Lempire, France ) when in charge of a Stokes gun in trenches which were being heavily shelled. Suddenly one of the fly-off levers of a Stokes shell came off and fired the shell in the emplacement. Private Butler picked up the shell and jumped to the entrance of the emplacement, which at that moment a party of infantry were passing. He shouted to them to hurry past as the shell was going off, and turning round, placed himself between the party of men and the live shell and so held it till they were out of danger. He then threw the shell on to the parados, and took cover in the bottom the trench. The shell exploded almost on leaving his hand, greatly damaging the trench. By extreme good luck Private Butler was contused only. Undoubtedly his great presence of mind and disregard of his own life saved the lives of the officer men in the emplacement and the party which was passing at the time. William Butler was invested with his Victoria Cross by King George V at Buckingham Palace on the 5th December 1917. William Butler died in hospital on the 25th March 1972 and was given a full military funeral on the 29th, the bearer party being drawn from senior NCOs and members of the Royal British Legion. He was buried in Hunslet Cemetery, Leeds. The grave was originally unmarked, but this was rectified in 1996 where a local firm of monumental masons offered to provide a headstone for the grave free of charge
www.pro-patria-mori.co.uk/barwickandscholes/id96.html
www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=10044767
Jack White
White was 20 years old, and a private in the 6th Battalion, The King's Own (Royal Lancaster) Regiment, British Army during the First World War when, on 7/8 March 1917 on the Dialah River, Mesopotamia, the following deed took place for which he was awarded the VC. This citation was gazetted on 27 June 1917: War Office, 27th June, 1917. His Majesty the King has been graciously pleased to approve of the award of the Victoria Cross to the undermentioned Officer, Warrant Officer, Non-commissioned Officers and men:— No. 18105 Pte. Jack White, R. Lanc. R.
For most conspicuous bravery and resource. This signaller during an attempt to cross a river saw the two Pontoons ahead of him come under heavy machine-gun fire, with disastrous results.
When his own Pontoon had reached midstream, with every man except himself either dead or wounded, finding that he was unable to control the Pontoon, Pte. White promptly tied a telephone wire to the Pontoon, jumped overboard, and towed it to the shore, thereby saving an officer's life and bringing to land the rifles and equipment of the other men in the boat, who were either dead or dying.
Frederick McNess
He was 24 years old, and a Lance-Sergeant in the 1st Battalion, Scots Guards, British Army during the First World War when the following deed took place for which he was awarded the VC.
On 15th September 1916 near Ginchy, France, during a period of severe fighting, Lance-Sergeant McNess led his men with great dash in the face of heavy shell and machine-gun fire. When the first line of the enemy trenches was reached, it was found that the left flank was exposed and that the enemy were bombing down the trench. Sergeant McNess thereupon organised and led a counter-attack and although he was very severely wounded in the neck and jaw, did not give up. Finally he established a "block" and continued encouraging his men and throwing bombs until exhausted by loss of blood. He later achieved the rank of Sergeant.
His Victoria Cross is displayed at The Guards Regimental Headquarters, London, England.
Laurence Calvert
Laurence Calvert (1892-1964) was born on 16th February 1892 in Leeds, West Yorkshire. His father, George Calvert, who died in 1895, was in business for many years, in partnership with his father in Great Wilson Street, Hunslet, Leeds, as a tinsmith. His mother Beatrice was a daughter of the late Mr Robert Stevenson; who for many years was landlord of the Sir Robert Peel arms, Dewsbury Road, Leeds, and his grandmother Mrs Stevenson later kept two other well-known Hunslet hostelries, the Rose and Crown and the Blooming Rose Inn.
Lawrence Calvert was educated at the Roman Road Board School and at a well-known Leeds higher grade school called the Cockburn school. After leaving school he was for some time employed as a van boy. By the Midland railway company at Leeds. This employment did not suit him, and he forsook it at the first opportunity. In a sense, he ran away from home, for one day his mother found a hurried note left on the table. “Dear mother (it said), I’ve gone to work at a place called Cadeby.”
However, he obtained employment at Cadeby in 1910, and were there for some time. Then he moved on to the Maltby Colliery, but did not settle there. During the Cadeby disaster he presented himself at the Cadeby Pit once more and asked to be allowed to go down and assist in the work of rescue. As, however, he was not employed at the colliery, and was not a trained rescue worker, is offer was not accepted.
Soon after he returned to Cadeby, and obtain work as a haulage hand. He was in that employment, when war broke out. In the previous April, he had joined the Denaby company of the Doncaster territorials, the gallant, 1st/5th K.O.Y.L.I., whom local headquarters was then the premises which are now the mining offices.
He was i camp with the Battalion at Whitby when war broke out and he was mobilised. He went out to France in April 1915, with the 49th division, one of the earliest territorial divisions to see service at the front. He took part in the second battle of Ypres, when the German´s tried burst through the channel ports with the surprise use of poison gas.
In September he was hit in the arm, and was invalided to a Brighton hospital. He quickly recovered and was back in the trenches early in 1916. During the hottest of the fighting on the Rheims front, Sgt Calvert was able to do great execution with a machine gun, and when his post was visited it was found that he was the only survivor of the machine gun crew, while ranged before the gun were piles of dead Germans, silent and eloquent evidence of the coolness and steadiness with which the gun had been operated. He was awarded the Military Medal for this action.
On 12th September 1918, at Havrincourt, France, when alone and single handed, Sjt. Calvert, rushing forward against the machine-gun team, bayoneted three and shot four. His valour and determination in capturing single-handed two machine guns and killing the crews thereof enabled the ultimate objective to be won.
Following the award of the VC and MM, he was also awarded the Belgian Croix de Guerre, £500 worth of War Bonds, in addition to a sum of £35 raised by a village collection at a special ceremony. After the war Calvert moved to Dagenham, Essex when he was offered a job as a commissionaire for The National Provincial Bank in London.
Calvert died on 7th July 1964 in Dagenham, and he was cremated at the South Essex Crematorium, Upminster, and his ashes were scattered in Rosebed 32 of the Garden of Remembrance. His medal group including the VC and MM were purchased privately by Michael Ashcroft in 2004 and are displayed in the Ashcroft Gallery, Imperial War Museum, London.
Laurence Calvert VC MM (February 16th 1892- July 6th 1964) He was 26 years old, and a Sergeant in the 5th Battalion, The King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry, British Army during the First World War when, on 12th September 1918 at Havrincourt, France, the following deed took place for which he was awarded the VC. The full citation was published in a supplement to the London Gazette of 12th November 1918 (dated 15th November 1918): War Office, 15th November, 1918. His Majesty the King has been graciously pleased to approve of the award of the Victoria Cross to the undermentioned Officers, Non-commissioned Officers and Men: — No. 240194 Sgt. Laurence Calvert, M.M.. K.O.Y.L.I. (Conisbro'). For most conspicuous bravery and devotion to duty in attack when the success of the operation was rendered doubtful owing, to severe enfilade machine-gun fire. Alone and single-handed Sgt. Calvert, rushing forward against the machine-gun team, bayoneted three and shot four. His valour and determination in capturing single-handed two machine guns and killing the crews thereof enabled the ultimate objective to be won. His personal gallantry inspired all ranks. He was also awarded the Military Medal (MM), and the Belgian Order of Leopold (with palm), in the grade of Chevalier.
Wilfrid Claude Edwards VC
On 16th August 1917 at Langemarck, Belgium, Private Edwards, without hesitation and under heavy machine-gun and rifle fire from a strong concrete fort, dashed forward at great personal risk, bombed through the loopholes, surmounted the fort and waved to his company to advance. Three officers and 30 other ranks were taken prisoner by him in the fort. Later he did most valuable work as a runner and eventually guided most of the battalion out through very difficult ground.
He received a card from his Commanding Officer congratulating him on his “fine behaviour” but he wrote to his wife in frustration: “Men in my battalion keep getting honours, but I have not heard a word about mine.” His wife was besieged by reporters following the announcement of his VC, but insisted she knew no details of his action. The VC was presented to him by King George V in the forecourt of Buckingham Palace on 26th September 1917. He was nervous about meeting the King, and forgot to salute, which caused the King some amusement.
After the war, Wilfrid returned to mining, although assessed as 60% disabled. He then worked for Leeds Gas Department showrooms in Leeds, as did William Butler VC. Wilfrid died at St James’ Hospital, Leeds on 2nd January 1972, the last surviving KOYLI VC. He was buried in Upper and Lower Wortley Cemetery, Leeds. In addition to his VC, he was awarded the 1914-15 Star, British War Medal 1914-20, Victory Medal 1914-19, Defence Medal 1939-45, War Medal 1939-45, George VI Coronation Medal 1937 and Elizabeth II Coronation Medal 1953. In his will he left the VC to York Castle Museum, but the other medals are on loan to the King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry Museum, Doncaster.
victoriacrossonline.co.uk/wilfrid-claude-edwards-vc/
Albert Mountain VC Croix de Guerre and Medaille Militaire (France) (19th April 1895 - 7th January 1967).
Mountain won his VC while serving as a sergeant in the 15/17th Battalion, The Prince of Wales's Own (West Yorkshire Regiment), British Army. The citation for his VC reads: On 26th March 1918 at Hamelincourt, France, when the situation was critical, Sergeant Mountain with a party of 10 men attacked an advance enemy patrol of about 200 strong with a Lewis gun, killing half of them. The sergeant then rallied his men in the face of overwhelming numbers of the main body of the enemy, to cover the retirement of the rest of the company - this party of one NCO and four men held at bay 600 of the enemy for half an hour. Sergeant Mountain later took command of the flank post of the battalion, holding on for 27 hours until finally surrounded. His Victoria Cross is displayed at The Prince of Wales's Own Regiment of Yorkshire Museum, York, England.
Albert Mountain (1895-1967) was born on 19th April 1896 in Leeds, West Yorkshire. He was baptised on 7th May 1896 in the Wesleyan Chapel in Richmond Hill, Leeds. His address at the time was 151 York Road Leeds. His father, James, was a native of Leeds, and his mother, Mary Ann (nee Swales) was from Ripon, and had previously been married to John Cowling.
By 1901, when Albert was six, his parents were running the Alexandra Hotel in Hurst Street, Ripon. Albert had a half brother from his mother’s first marriage, and a brother and three sisters from his mother’s second marriage. By 1911, at the age of 14, Albert was now working in a coal mine as a hurrier. Sadly, his mother had passed away and his father was now a canvasser for sewing machines.
When the war broke out in 1914, he joined the Leeds Bantams before transferring to the Leeds Pals. The 15th and 17th Battalions amalgamated on 7th December 1917 to become the 15/17 West Yorkshire Regiment. On March 23rd, 1918, Sergeant Mountain was in command of a rifle squad during the Battle of the Somme, in actions at Hamelincourt, France. When the situation was critical, Sergeant Mountain with a party of 10 men attacked an advance enemy patrol of about 200 strong, killing half of them. He then rallied his men against the main body of the enemy, to cover the retirement of the rest of his company. With only four men he held at bay 600 of the enemy for half an hour. Sergeant Mountain later took command of the flank post of the battalion, holding on for 27 hours until the enemy finally surrounded. For most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy, he was awarded the Victoria Cross on June 7th, 1918.
Three days after the announcement of his award, he was presented with the VC ribbon by his CO, Major T G Gibson at a parade in the field in France. He sewed the ribbon onto his uniform. He was presented with the VC by King George V at Buckingham Palace on 29th June 1918. During the following year, he was discharged and became a chauffeur for the Lord Mayor of Leeds. He also married Ethel Smith on 27th September 1919 at St Agnes Parish Church, Leeds. They went on to have three daughters and a son.
Albert then became a timekeeper in Burton’s clothing factory in Leeds. In the 1920s he attended a couple of VC functions and was present on 21st March 1930 at a dinner in honour of the West Riding VCs. In November 1929 he attended the funeral of John Crawshaw Raynes VC and in 1950 would attend the funeral of George Sanders VC, another Leeds VC. He was also a close friend of Thomas Young VC.
In 1953, Albert became the landlord of the Miners Arms, Aberford Road, Garforth, near Leeds. In 1956, he attended the VC Centenary Celebrations in Hyde Park. Albert died at his home on 7th Januarry 1967 after a long illness. His funeral was at Garforth Parish Church, where his regiment was represented and a bugler from the 1st Battalion played the Last Post. Captain Wilfrid Edwards, another Leeds VC, attended the funeral. His body was cremated at Lawns Wood Crematorium. His VC was presented by his son to the curator of the West Yorkshire Regimental Museum in 1967 and is now held in the York Army Museum. His other medals include the Croix de Guerre and the Medaille Militaire.
www.pro-patria-mori.co.uk/barwickandscholes/id96.html
Alfred Atkinson VC (6th February 1874 - 21st February 1900)
He was 26 years old, and a sergeant in the 1st Battalion, The Yorkshire Regiment (Alexandra, Princess of Wales's Own), British Army during the Second Boer War when the following deed took place for which he was awarded the VC. On 18th February 1900 during the Battle of Paardeberg, South Africa, Sergeant Atkinson went out seven times under heavy and close fire to obtain water for the wounded. At the seventh attempt he was wounded in the head and died a few days afterwards. His Victoria Cross is displayed at the Green Howards Museum, Richmond, Yorkshire, England.
Charles Ward
Ward was 22 years old, and a Private in the 2nd Battalion, The King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry, British Army during the South African War (Boer War) when the following deed took place for which he was awarded the VC: On 26th June 1900 at Lindley, South Africa, a picquet of the regiment was surrounded on three sides by about 500 Boers and the majority of them were either killed or wounded. Private Ward volunteered to take a message asking for reinforcements to the signalling post about 150 yards away. He was eventually allowed to go, although it seemed certain that he would be shot, and he managed to get across through a storm of bullets. Having delivered his message, he returned to his commanding officer across the fire-swept ground, and was severely wounded, but his gallant action saved the post from capture.
www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/pathways/census/pandp/people/...
Citation London Gazette 28th Sept 1900 "On 26th June 1900 at Lindley, a piquet of the Yorkshire Light Infantry was surrounded on 3 sides by about 500 Boers at close quarters. The two officers were wounded and all but six of the men killed or wounded. Pt. Ward then volunteered to take a message asking for reinforcements to the signalling station about 150 yards in the rear of the post. His offer was at first refused owing to the practical certainty of him being shot, but on his insisting, he was allowed to go. He got across untouched through a storm of shots from each flank and, having delivered his message, he voluntarily returned from a place of absolute safety and re crossed the fire swept ground to assure his C.O. that the message had been sent. On this occasion he was severely wounded. But for this gallant action the post would certainly have been captured."
Charles Burley Ward's grave, following his death in 1921, was originally marked by a wooden cross which had been remembered by David Clark, a member of the Glamorgan Family History Society, before it disappeared. For some years there was no indication of the burial place. Eventually John O'Sullivan a South Wales Echo and BBC Journalist and a recent resident in the Parish, carried out extensive enquiries in tracing records of the VC and his history. Charles Ward was decorated with the Victoria Cross by H.M. Queen Victoria at Windsor Castle 15th December 1900. His was the last Victoria Cross to be presented by the Queen before her death the following January.
As a result of considerable effort by John O'Sullivan, the British Legion, Whitchurch and others, a series of events were arranged to mark the unveiling of a War Grave Commission style headstone to the memory of Sgt. Major Charles Burley Ward. Following a processional hymn, National Anthem, citation, lesson, address and prayers, the headstone was unveiled by Major General P.E. de la C. de la Billiere, CBE, DSO, KC., General Officer Commanding Wales. Also present were Mrs Susan Williams, Lord Lieutenant of South Glamorgan, Capt. Lloyd-Edwards, OSt.J, RD, DL, RKR(Rtd), former Lord Mayor of Cardiff, Councillor Y.P. Herbert, Deputy Lord Mayor, Rev. Canon F.G. Turner, Vicar, Mr Eddie Chapman, VC. Another VC of South Wales, Lord Justice Tasker Watkins was unable to be present due to another engagement. About twenty members of Ward's family including a daughter Mrs Edith Chapman from Australia were present. Mr Ward was a widower when he married a second time. At the time of his death he was living at Soberton Avenue, off Whitchurch Road, Cardiff. After the ceremony in St Mary's churchyard, there was a march past led by the Light Infantry Burma Band, followed by Standard Bearers and Escorts when the salute was taken by General de la Billiere. In the evening there was a reception and entertainment at the Royal British Legion Earl Haig Club, Whitchurch, when a portrait of Sgt. Major Ward VC by Llanrumney artist Ray Chick was unveiled.
www.northeastmedals.co.uk/vc_victoria_cross/charles_ward.htm
John Pearson
Pearson was born 19 January 1825 in Leeds, Yorkshire, England; died 18 April 1892 in Lion's Head, Eastnor Twp., Bruce Co., Ontario. He married firstly Selina Smart in the General Baptist Church in Trowbridge, Wiltshire, England on 6th April 1851. At that time he is shown as age 25 a Private in the Eighth Hussars, living in the Barracks in Trowbridge, the son of Stephen Pearson, a gardener. Selina Smart is shown as age 20, a Spinster, a Feeder by Profession, living on Stallard Street, the d/o Edward Smart, a Spinner. He was 33 years old when he gained his medal, and a private in the 8th Hussars (The King's Royal Irish), British Army during the Indian Rebellion of 1857 when the following deed took place for which he was awarded the VC.
On 17 June 1858 at Gwalior, India, Private Pearson - together with a captain (Clement Walker Heneage), a sergeant (Joseph Ward) and a farrier (George Hollis) - was in a gallant charge made by a squadron of the 8th Hussars when, supported by a division of the Bombay Horse Artillery and the 95th Regiment, they routed the enemy. Charging through a rebel camp into two batteries, they captured and brought into their own camp two of the enemy's guns, under a heavy and converging fire from the fort and town.
Charles Hull
He was 25 years old, and a Private in the 21st Lancers (Empress of India's), British Army during the First World War when the following deed took place for which he was awarded the VC.
On 5th September 1915 at Hafiz Kor, N.W. Frontier, India, Private Hull rescued an officer from certain death at the hands of the tribesmen. The latter's horse had been shot and Private Hull took the officer up behind on his own horse, under heavy fire at close range, and galloped away to safety.
Corporal Charles Hull
Harrogate Herald - 7th February 1917
Very small extract out of a very long and interesting letter by Private D T Wilks from India
Our camp is not far away from my old comrade, C Hull, but up to now I have not got into touch with him, though I did hear, from one of our YMCA friends that he had been acting as "best man" at the wedding of the officer whose life he saved when he got the VC.
Harrogate Herald - 8th January 1919
W H Breare letter
Trooper H G Smith, of the Dragoon Guards, one of the seven Harrogate men in the same regiment, was in the Army at the outbreak of war, and is on Christmas leave from his depot. His time was up two years ago, and he shortly expects his discharge. His sister, Miss Ivy G A Smith, was one of the first Harrogate girls to go on munitions, and has been presented with a shell in recognition of her full services. [See photograph in this issue] Her eldest sister was also on munitions. Trooper Smith joined the Regular Army at the same time as Harry Petty, one of Mr and Mrs J R Petty's six sons, who quickly rallied to the Colours when the war broke out, and was in the same class at Western Council School as Charley Hull, the Harrogate VC, who is in India.
Harrogate Herald - 12th November 1919
The Harrogate VC, Corporal Charles Hull, of the 21st Lancers, son of Mr and Mrs John Hull, of Albert Terrace, reached home on Monday night, after being away some nine years. His arrival was totally unexpected by his family, as, though it was known late in the day that the ship In which he had crossed had docked at Portsmouth on Saturday, the messages he had sent from the ship were delayed in transit, and he was still believed to be in the South. As a matter of fact, Corporal Hull had journeyed North on Sunday night, and the train on its way to the Ripon Dispersal Camp ran through Harrogate early on Monday morning. The VC kept a sharp look-out at Harrogate to recognise friends and acquaintances, but at half-past six o'clock there were very few people about, and none that he knew. He was busy with kit matters at Ripon during the day, and in the evening he came to Harrogate and pleasantly surprised his parents by his appearance. Corporal Hull looked the picture of health after the Indian campaign, and has grown and filled out after the nine years abroad so much that his acquaintances have to look twice to recognise in the stalwart soldier the man who went away. He has nearly twelve years' service in the Army, and is on a month's furlough, at the end of which he is taking leave of the Army. Corporal Hull was a postman in Harrogate before he joined the Colours. His father is an old employee of the Harrogate Corporation.
Corporal Hull won the VC in the 1915 operations on the north-west frontier of India by gallantly going to the rescue of Captain G E D Learoyd, who had been unhorsed, and was surrounded by his enemies, and who would have been killed but for the behaviour of Corporal Hull. The Harrogate soldier got his officer up behind him on his horse, and carried him to safety from amid the native enemy. Captain Learoyd died in Risalpur about a year ago. He was suddenly taken ill with influenza, and this turned to pneumonia, to which he succumbed in hospital.
Corporal Hull, in addition to the VC, was awarded the Croix de Guerre by the French.
The father of Captain Learoyd presented the Harrogate VC with a handsome gold watch and chain, suitable inscribed.
The parents of Corporal Hull received the following letters from Captain Learoyd's father :
Launds Abbey, Leicester
Dear Sir, I have only just become acquainted with your address, and hasten to congratulate you and Mrs Hull on your son's well-earned VC for his very gallant and brave action in saving my son in the action at Shabkadir. You may well imagine how grateful Mrs Learoyd and I and all our family we feel towards your son, and look forward to the day when we may thank him personally. I also intend coming to see you sometime, but shall have to postpone the pleasure some time, as I am not very well at present. With our kindest regards to you and Mrs Hull,
Believe me, yours very sincerely,
A E Learoyd
Dear Mr Hull, I am very sorry I could not find time to come over to Harrogate to hand you the watch and chain for your gallant son, so I decided to send it you by post. Again I should like to say how grateful my family feel towards your son, and how sincerely we congratulate you, his parents, in owning such a splendid fellow for a son. May he soon come to you safe and sound.
Yours very sincerely,
A E Learoyd
It would be in accordance with the fitness of things if the townspeople were given an opportunity of publicly welcoming Corporal Hull back to his native town.
Harrogate Herald – 30th June 1920
Wednesday Gossip
Among those present at the King's garden party to winners of the VC, were Mr and Mrs Smith Bell and Mrs Donald Bell. "Don" Bell, as he was popularly known, made the great sacrifice shortly after the award, but had he lived the day would have been the happiest in his life. Mr Smith Bell was struck by the simplicity and humanity of the party, and speaks in high terms of the King's great interest in the men. Corporal Hull, who was also present with his parents, is now a policeman at Leeds. His mother was delighted that His Majesty should remember the circumstances under which her boy won his VC, and speaks highly of the welcome they received.
Harrogate Herald – 6th October 1920
Mr Charles Hull, VC, of Harrogate, who won the bronze cross as a shoeing-smith with the 21st Lancers on the Indian Frontier in 1916, and who is now a constable in the Leeds Police Force, was married at All Hallows' Church, l, on Saturday afternoon, to Mrs Eliza Ann Brown, of Rosebank Grove, Leeds.
The ceremony was performed by the Vicar (the Rev A B Fisher) in the presence of a large congregation.
Harrogate Herald - 4th July 1956
"In Proud Memory" - Lieutenant Colonel G E B Stephenson is pictured as he unveiled a plaque in St Peter's School, Harrogate, on Friday, in memory of the school's two holders of the Victoria Cross, the late Second Lieutenant Donald Simpson Bell, of the Green Howards, and the late Private Charles Hull, of the 21st Lancers, who won their awards in 1916. on the left is the Mayor of Harrogate, Councillor Edwin Pickard.
from www.harrogatepeopleandplaces.info/ww1/soldiers/h/hull-cha...
www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=13160007
"Police Constable 375 Charles Hull VC had previously seen service with the 21st Lancers (Empress of India's), a British Army Cavalry Regiment as a shoeing-smith with the rank of Private. On 5th September 1915, while under attack by tribesmen at Hafiz Kor he rescued an officer from certain death on the North West Frontier, for which he was awarded the Victoria Cross. His citation published on 3rd March 1916 reads '1053 Private (Shoeing-Smith) Charles Hull, 21st Lancers. For most conspicuous bravery. When under close fire of the enemy, who were within a few yards, he rescued Captain G. E. D. Learoyd, whose horse had been shot, by taking him up behind him and galloping into safety. Shoeing-Smith Hull acted entirely on his own initiative, and saved his officer's life at the imminent risk of his own'. In 1918 Hull was awarded the Croix de Guerre and mentioned in despatches for bravery. He joined the Leeds City Police on 6th February 1920 rising to the the rank of Serjeant and serving for 23 years. Ill-health forced him to retire on 4th June 1943 and he died on 14 February 1953 aged 63 years and is buried at Woodhouse Cemetery, Leeds." David Cosstick.
Harry M. Daniels VC MC
(13th December 1884- 13th December 1953) Harry Daniels was the 13th child of baker in Wymondham, Norfolk. He joined the army at a young age and served abroad in India. He was 30 years old, and a Company Sergeant-Major in the 2nd Battalion of The Rifle Brigade (Prince Consort's Own), British Army during the First World War when the following deed took place for which he was awarded the VC. On 12th March 1915 at Neuve Chapelle, France, his unit was ordered into an advance on the German trenches across no-man's land which was covered by machine guns and strewn with barbed wire. Daniels and another man, Cecil Reginald Noble, voluntarily rushed in front with cutters and attacked the wires They were both wounded at once, Noble dying later of his wounds. For further activities on the Western Front he was awarded the Military Cross. He later achieved the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.
His Victoria Cross is displayed at the Royal Green Jackets Museum at Winchester, England.
John Crawshaw Raynes
The link takes you to the gentleman's life story and includes photos
www.chrishobbs.com/johnraynes1915.htm
and
www.chrishobbs.com/johnraynes131108.htm
and also see
www.victoriacross.org.uk/bbraynes.htm
Wilfred Edwards VC
(16th February 1893 - 4th January 1972) He was 24 years old, and a private in the 7th Battalion, The King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry, British Army during the First World War when the following deed took place for which he was awarded the VC. On 16th August 1917 at Langemarck, Belgium, when all the company officers were lost, Private Edwards, without hesitation and under heavy machine-gun and rifle fire from a strong concrete fort, dashed forward at great personal risk, bombed through the loopholes, surmounted the fort and waved to his company to advance. Three officers and 30 other ranks were taken prisoner by him in the fort. Later he did most valuable work as a runner and eventually guided most of the battalion out through very difficult ground. Throughout he set a splendid example and was utterly regardless of danger. Edwards was commissioned a second lieutenant in December 1917 and was demobilised in June 1919. He re-enlisted in the Kings Own Yorkshire Light Infantry (KOYLI) when World War II broke out and rose to the rank of major. His medals are currently displayed in the Kings Own Yorkshire Light Infantry Museum, Doncaster, England.
Arthur Poutler
He was 24 years old, and a private in the 1/4th Battalion, The Duke of Wellington's (West Riding) Regiment, British Army during the First World War when the following deed took place for which he was awarded the VC. On 10th April 1918 at Erquinghem Lys, France, Private Poulter, who was acting as a stretcher-bearer, on 10 occasions carried badly wounded men on his back through particularly heavy artillery and machine-gun fire. Two of the wounded were hit a second time whilst on his back. Again, after a withdrawal over the river had been ordered, Private Poulter returned in full view of the enemy and carried back another man who had been left behind wounded. He bandaged 40 men under fire and was seriously wounded when attempting another rescue in the face of the enemy.
text from this member
www.flickr.com/photos/seant_25/
and also from
see also
www.projectinspire.kk5.org/#/leeds-victoria-cross/4536243310
Arthur Poulter (1893-1956) was born in Kilgram Bridge, four miles east of the village of East Witton, North Yorkshire on 16th December 1893. His father, Robert, was a farmer, and Arthur was one of nine sons, all of whom served in the war, and lived on their home farm until 1908, when he left to become a farm servant.
At the age of 19, he moved to Leeds, West Yorkshire, where he gained employment as a drayman with Messrs Timothy Taylor at their maltings at the Gelderd Road depot. He then changed his job and worked for Mr T Rochford as a cartman and used to deliver firewood in the New Wortley district of the city.
In 1916, he enlisted with the West Riding Regiment and was described as a man of fine physique. He would become the eighth man from Leeds to receive the VC. On the 9th / 10th April 1918 the 1/4 West Riding Regiment ( Duke of Wellington's ) moved into the area at Erquinghem and were to cover a crossing of the River Lys to stem the German advance. On the 10th the Duke of Wellington's C Company assembled near the top of the Rue Delpierre while two officers and three NCOs went forward to reconnoitre. The ground was swept by machine-gun fire and one of the officers assumed the original objective could not be reached and decided that the line of a railway should be held instead.
He returned to his company in order to inform them of the change of plan. However, men were already being hit while waiting for their officers and losses mounted, the company stretcher-bearers becoming very hard pressed. Soon there were just not enough stretcher-bearers and helpers to cope with the high number of casualties and it was during this time that Arthur Poulter earned his Victoria Cross. He tended the wounded for hour after hour and also somehow got them to safety as well. In Arthur Poulter's own words:
“Gradually all the stretcher-bearers in my company were killed or wounded and I was left to 'carry on'. How I got through the first day alone I do not know. It is a 'wonder' to me. The enemy artillery and rifle fire was directed at us from a range that could not have been much more than 50 to 100 yards, and each time I went out a hail of shrapnel was falling around, the artillery and machine-gun barrage was terrific. The first day I went out ten times to bring back some our our wounded and had to carry them a distance of 400 to 500 yards across a bridge over a river to where the RAMC men were. I carried them on my back, and two of them were hit again before I could get them to the rear.”
Following the gazetting of the award on 28th June 1918, he spent the remainder of the War in various military hospitals, finally ending up in Croydon War Hospital. He was later presented with his medal in the Ballroom at Buckingham Palace on 13th December 1918. He was discharged in 1919 and was fit enough for work again. First he worked in the Leeds Transport Depot and was later employed by Price (Tailors) Ltd. He became a popular local figure. In 1953 he was involved in an accident when he was hit by a police car and had to be taken to hospital. He stopped work with Price in February 1956 and became seriously ill, dying six months later on 29th August 1956. His wife Ada had died two years before. He was buried in New Wortley Cemetery, Leeds. His family placed a new headstone on his grave in 2010.
In December 1956 Arthur Poulter's Victoria Cross and other medals were handed over to the Leeds City Museum on an indefinite loan. However, in June 1999 the Poulter family decided to donate the VC and campaign medals to the Duke of Wellington's Regiment Museum located in the Bankfield Museum in Halifax, Yorkshire, where they are still on display.
Charles Burley Ward (1877-1921) was born on the 10th July 1877 at 5 Tulip Street, Hunslet, near Leeds, West Yorkshire, the son of Mr George Ward. He was educated at Primrose Hill School in Leeds, and on 29th April 1897, he enlisted in the 1st Battalion, Yorkshire Light Infantry (the old 51st Regiment of Foot), and served with this battalion for two years, joining the 2nd Battalion whilst in Wynberg, Cape Colony, South Africa at the beginning of the Second Boer War.
Due to the wounds he would receive in his Victoria Cross action, Charles only received two clasps to his Queen’s South Africa Medal for Cape Colony and Free State. His Victoria Cross action was gazetted in the London Gazette on 28th September 1900 and described his gallantry three months previously at Lindley, Cape Colony.
On the 26th June, 1900, at Lindley, a picquet of the Yorkshire Light Infantry was surrounded on three sides by about 500 Boers, at close quarters. The two Officers were wounded and all but six of their men were killed or wounded. Private Ward then volunteered to take a message asking for reinforcements to the Signalling Station about 150 yards in the rear of the post. His offer was at first refused owing to the practical certainty of his being shot; but, on his insisting, he was allowed to go. He got across untouched through a storm of shots from each flank, and, having delivered his message, he voluntarily returned from a place of absolute safety, and re-crossed the fire-swept ground to assure his Commanding Officer that the message had been sent. On this occasion he was severely wounded. But for this gallant action the post would certainly have been captured.
Ward’s wounds were so severe that he was invalided back to England, where he was the last man to be invested with his Victoria Cross by Queen Victoria on 15th December 1900 at Windsor Castle. Ward was forced to be discharged from the Army as medically unfit, and he was presented with a testimonial and £600 by the people of Leeds. He was also presented with a commemorative medal in gold by Mr William Owen.
Charles’ later life was tragic. He moved to live in South Wales, but was deeply troubled by his experiences in South Africa, and by the early 1920s, he had been admitted as an in-patient into the Glamorgan County Asylum in Bridgend. Sadly, he died in the asylum aged just 44 on the 30th December 1921. He was buried on the 2nd January 1922 in St Mary’s Churchyard, Whitchurch, near Cardiff. His grave is marked with a new headstone in 1986. His medals are privately held.
"Jack White V.C. (born Jacob Weiss; 23 December 1896 – 27 November 1949).
White was born Jacob Weiss in Leeds on 23 December 1896 into an immigrant Russian Jewish family. After finishing his education, he joined the family business, a waterproofing company. When the First World War broke out, he returned home from a business trip and volunteered for active service with the King's Own Royal Regiment (Lancaster). Originally assigned to a battalion destined for France, he missed the battalion's deployment while home on compassionate leave to attend the funeral of his father. Instead, he was transferred to the 6th (Service) Battalion, King's Own Royal Regiment (Lancaster).
The 6th Bn was attached to the 13th (Western) Division. Originally ordered to Gallipoli, he remained with the battalion through the Gallipoli campaign. Eventually, he and his unit were ordered to join the Tigris Corps, attempting to relieve the Siege of Kut. After the failure of the relief effort, White's unit participated in the counter-offensive in 1917. It was during the 13th Division's crossing of the Diyala River that he earned the Victoria Cross.
Details
White was 20 years old, and a private when, on 7/8 March 1917 on the Dialah River, Mesopotamia, the following deed took place for which he was awarded the VC. This citation was gazetted on 27 June 1917:
War Office, 27th June, 1917.
His Majesty the KING has been graciously pleased to approve of the award of the Victoria Cross to the undermentioned Officer, Warrant Officer, Non-commissioned Officers and men:
No. 18105 Pte. Jack White, R. Lanc. R.
For most conspicuous bravery and resource.
This signaller during an attempt to cross a river saw the two Pontoons ahead of him come under heavy machine-gun fire, with disastrous results.
When his own Pontoon had reached midstream, with every man except himself either dead or wounded, finding that he was unable to control the Pontoon, Pte. White promptly tied a telephone wire to the Pontoon, jumped overboard, and towed it to the shore, thereby saving an officer's life and bringing to land the rifles and equipment of the other men in the boat, who were either dead or dying.
He was also awarded the Italian Bronze Medal of Military Valour.
Freemasonry
He was initiated into Freemasonry in Lodge Montefiore, No. 753, (Glasgow, Scotland) on 2 June 1919. The records show the following entry: 'Jack White (Weiss) VC, Waterproof Maker Commercial. Age 23.'
Later life
White later achieved the rank of lance corporal. Although a Victoria Cross holder he was not permitted to join the Home Guard during World War II because his Russian-born father had failed to naturalised as a British subject.
After his service, White returned to Manchester and undertook an apprenticeship as a trainee pattern cutter in a local factory. He went on to become General Manager and then Owner before fading health forced him to relinquish his interest and he died in 1949 aged 52.
He was the subject of a comic strip in The Victor published in 1987" wikipedia
"David Philip Hirsch VC (28 December 1896 – 23 April 1917) Born 28 December 1896 to Harry and Edith Hirsch of Westwood Grove, Leeds.
He was 20 years old, and an Acting Captain in the 4th Battalion, The Yorkshire Regiment (Alexandra, Princess of Wales's Own),British Army during the First World War. On 23 April 1917 near Wancourt, France, he performed a deed for which he was awarded the Victoria Cross. He died in action that day.
Citation
2nd Lt. (A/Capt.) David Philip Hirsch, late York R.
For most conspicuous bravery and devotion to duty in attack.
Having arrived at the first objective, Capt. Hirsch, although already twice wounded, returned over fire-swept slopes to satisfy himself that the defensive flank was being established.
Machine gun fire was so intense that it was necessary for him to be continuously up and down the line encouraging his men to dig and hold the position.
He continued to encourage his men by standing on the parapet and steadying them in the face of machine gun fire and counterattack until he was killed.
His conduct throughout was a magnificent example of the greatest devotion to duty.
— London Gazette.
His Victoria Cross is displayed at the Green Howards Regimental Museum, Richmond, North Yorkshire, England." wikipedia.
Edward McKenna (1827-1908) was born on 15th February 1827 in Leeds, Yorkshire. He enlisted with the 65th Regiment of Foot (later York & Lancaster Regiment) on the 15th January 1854 at Leeds, at the age of 17 years old. His profession was listed as a wire worker, and he was described as “5ft 6 inches tall, of a sallow complexion, with grey eyes and brown hair”. On the 1st March 1860 he was promoted to Corporal, then Sergeant on 1st July 1862, and later Colour Sergeant in May 1863. His Army career was mostly spent in Australia and New Zealand, where his service spanned from 1856 to 1863.
On the 7th September 1863, at Cameron Town, New Zealand, Colour Sergeant McKenna would perform supreme gallantry when after both his officers, Captain Smith and Lieutenant Butler had been shot down, he charged through an enemy position where he was heavily outnumbered. He managed to take the position with a small party of just two sergeants, a bugler, and thirty-five men over rugged country, with the loss of just one man killed and another missing.
McKenna was gazetted for the VC on 16th January 1864, and was presented with his medal on 18th June 1864 by the GOC New Zealand, Lieutenant-General Sir D A Cameron at Te Awamuta Camp. Sadly, his original VC was stolen sometime in 1868, and he purchased an official replacement. He retired from the Army as an Ensign, and lived the remainder of his life in New Zealand. He died on 8th June 1908 in Palmerston North, aged 81, and was buried in Terrace End Cemetery. By his own wishes, his widow presented his replacement VC, other medals and revolver to the Auckland Institute & Museum, shortly after his death.
John Crawford Raynes (1887-1929) was born at Longley, Ecclesall, Sheffield, Yorkshire on 28th April 1887. His father was Stephen Henry Raynes, a railway clerk from Liverpool, who then became landlord of the “Sheaf View Hotel” in 1886 and was also an auctioneer’s clerk. By 1911, he had become the painter. His mother was Hannah Elizabeth Crawshaw and they married in 1886 at Wortley, near Leeds. John had three siblings: Francis “Frank”, Mary Hannah and Elizabeth Winifred Raynes.
John was educated at Heeley Church School, Sheffield and was a member of the Boys’ Brigade. Heee worked for Mr T W Wood, a coal merchant, and also for his father as a decorator until he enlisted in the Royal Garrison Artillery on 10th October 1904. He transferred to the Royal Field Artillery on 1st June 1905 and was posted to 42nd Battery on 19th July. He extended his service to complete six years on 29th September 1906 and was awarded a Good Conduct Badge on 10th October. He was promoted to Acting Bombardier in May 1907 and Bombardier in 1910. Having transferred to the Section B Reserve in October 1910, he became a policeman in Leeds.
John married Mabel Dawson on 24th April 1907 at Leeds Registry Office, and they went on to have four children. Two of the children died in infancy, and the surviving children were called John Kenneth Raynes and Tom Crawshaw Raynes. John was recalled on 5th August 1914 and was promoted to Acting Corporal on 10th October and acting Sergeant on 31st March 1915. He was an instructor at No 2 Depot RFA at Preston and was offered a commission, which he refused. He volunteered five times for active service before being posted to A/LXXI Brigade on 19th June and went to France as a Corporal on 27th July.
On 11th October 1915 at Fosse 7 de Bethune, France, Sergeant Raynes went to the assistance of another sergeant who was lying wounded. He bandaged the injured man and returned to his gun, then, when the battery ceased firing, carried the wounded man to a dug-out and when gas shelling started, put his own gas helmet on his injured comrade and, badly gassed himself, went back to his gun. The next day he was buried, with others, under a house which had been shelled. As soon as he had been extricated he insisted on helping to rescue the others, then, having had his wounds dressed, reported for duty.
The VC was presented by King George V at Buckingham Palace on 4th December 1915, and he was promoted to Acting Battery Sergeant Major and returned to Britain on 1st January 1916. A number of postings followed – 5B Reserve Brigade in Edinburgh, 393 Independent Battery in Canterbury, Recruiting Training Centre in Southern Army and No 2 RFA Officer Cadet School at Topsham Barracks in Exeter. He was discharged on 11th December 1918 as no longer fit for service and was issued the Silver War Badge on 3rd January 1919. During his service, he was Initiated into Freemasonry at Saint James’ Operative Lodge, No 97, Edinburgh on 24th January 1916.
He returned to the Leeds Police as a Sergeant, but his health deteriorated and he was transferred to work in the Aliens’ Registration Office. In March 1924 worsening spinal problems forced him to give up and the Leeds Watch Committee recommended him for an annual pension. Unfortunately, he was forced to leave his home due to his ill health and Sir Gervase Beckett MP initiated the “Sergeant Raynes Fund” through The Yorkshire Post, which raised £700 by 8th November. It was used to purchase a new bungalow in Chapeltown Road, Leeds.
John suffered paralysis for the last three years of his life, during which time his wife was nursing him. He was unable to attend the VC Dinner at the House of Lords on 9th November 1929. The other Yorkshire VCs sent him a telegram expressing their regret and promising him a memento. John became very depressed over his inability to attend the Dinner, and he suffered a relapse and died at his home on 12th November 1929.
His funeral was attended by eleven VCs, of whom eight from Yorkshire (George Sanders, Wilfred Edwards, Fred McNess, Charles Hull, Albert Mountain, Frederick Dobson, Arthur Poulter and William Butler) acted as pallbearers. He was buried in Harehills Cemetery, Leeds, and the Prince of Wales sent a letter of sympathy to Mrs Raynes. The grave was renovated and re-dedicated in November 2008.
In addition to his VC, he was awarded the 1914-15 Star, British War Medal 1914-20 and Victory Medal 1914-19. On 26th September 1973, the medals were presented by his daughter-in-law, Mrs Margaret Raynes, to Major General Geoffrey Collin, GOC North East District, on behalf of the Royal Artillery at a ceremony in York. The medals are held by the Royal Artillery Historical Trust though are currently in storage following the closure of the Royal Artillery Museum in Woolwich.
George Sanders VC MC - www.vconline.org.uk/george-sanders-vc/4588160751
On 1st July 1916 near Thiepval, France, during the Battle of the Somme, after an advance into the enemy's trenches, Corporal Sanders found himself isolated with a party of 30 men. He organised his defences, detailed a bombing party, and impressed upon the men that his and their duty was to hold the position at all costs. Next morning, he drove off an attack by the enemy, rescuing some prisoners who had fallen into their hands. Later two bombing attacks were driven off, and he was finally relieved after 36 hours. All this time his party had been without food and water, having given their water to the wounded during the first night. George was employed as a foreman at Meadow Lane Gas Works under Leeds Corporation after the war, as was William Butler VC. George attended the funeral of fellow VC, John Crawshaw Raynes on 16th November 1929, together with ten other VCs. During the Second World War, he was a Major in 8th West Riding (Leeds) Battalion, Home Guard, from February 1941.
George died at St James’ Hospital, Leeds on 4th April 1950. He was given a full military funeral before being cremated at Cottingly Crematorium, Leeds, where his ashes were scattered. In addition to his family, the service was attended by four VCs (William Butler, Albert Mountain, Wilfred Edwards and Charles Hull). #vc #victoriacross #victoriacrossonline
─────────────────ʚ⋆ 🎀 ⋆ɞ─────────────────
*++ Welcome to the {Ribbons} 2025 Advent Calendar ++*
∘Indulge in 12 days of soft seasonal magic with this premium advent calendar!
thoughtfully designed for those who adore, and a touch of winter whimsy.
Each door includes a special treat that is is wrapped in a dreamy palette of blush pinks,
frosted mints, snowy creams, and gentle gold accents—capturing the quiet beauty of
a pastel winter wonderland.
you’ll discover a delightful surprise—a mix of cozy toddler clothing, charming accessories,
and sweet décor pieces crafted to spark joy and elevate everyday moments.
From snug seasonal essentials to whimsical accessories, mini décor treasures,
and playful outfit accents. Every item is chosen for quality, comfort, and holiday cheer.
Thoughtfully arranged and beautifully packaged, this advent calendar also doubles as a
stunning décor piece for the nursery or playroom, bringing soft holiday elegance to any space.
Perfect for gifting or creating a new family tradition, it’s an enchanting way to make the countdown
the holidays!∘
*++ Disclaimers ++*
-Rigged items are for Toddleedoo Baby Fitted ONLY.
-If you want to give this item as a gift, select the gifting option from the vendor menu,
the person who owns the calendar, cannot transfer it. this way the gifts inside can be
kept all copyable for the owner.
∘{Extended Info}:
This is a premium luxury 12 day advent calendar. Each item is 100% original mesh,
and textures! Includes all NEW products made especially for this calendar.
The theme for this calendar is "pastel holiday", so there will be no red or greens, or other
"classic Christmas" colors. Although the theme is holiday and not specifically Christmas,
There are some items that learn towards Christmas themes.
Valued at over 4000 L$ if purchased individually.
∘{What is included}:
This calendar includes; clothing (specifically rigged for Toddleedoo Baby Fitted ONLY),
wearable accessories, decor & furniture. Most items will include texture change huds,
with a variety of pastel colors, to mix and match. Plus an additional display version of
the calendar that is only 1 land impact.
∘{Instructions}:
+Setting Up+
-rez out the {Ribbons} Advent Calendar {2025} object
-please allow 10 Land Impact to rez out
-your local chat will be temporarily spammed with prompts for each door telling you to
click to unpack, this is just the scripts loading.
-Put where ever you want! This calendar is Mod, so you can change manually resize it to fit anywhere.
+Receiving Your Gifts+
-You can chose when you want to open each item, the scripts arent set to a certain time or date!
just simply click on each of the 12 windows/door individually, and you will get a
pop-up message to accept a folder, and it will show up in your inventory.
-The item inside of the folder will tell you the name of the item you received, boxed,
and you can right click and add the box to unpack your gift!
Available NOW In the {Ribbons} Mainstore Location!
Updated to include the DS US Rapunzel special edition classic doll bought from Disney Store USA last year.
DS UK 12" Rapunzel Wedding Doll (blonde)
DS US 12 " Flynn Rider
DS UK Tangled Ever After mini doll set
DS LE 17" Wedding Rapunzel
DS UK 12" Tangled Ever After gift set
DS Tangled Ever After ornament
DS US 12" Classic doll (brunette)
All bought in 2012
I had to laugh at the frenzy when I uploaded my photo of the gift set last year, wasn't so funny when I found it on blogs & forums where it went uncredited...
Includes Teams from Wagner/BH, Vermillion, Britton-Hecla, Stanley County West Central. Permission granted for journalism outlets and educational purposes. Not for commercial use. Must be credited. Photo courtesy of South Dakota Public Broadcasting.
©2021 SDPB
La Denominación de Origen La Mancha es una indicación geográfica para vinos procedentes de la zona vinícola de La Mancha, que ocupa gran parte de las provincias de Toledo, Albacete, Cuenca y Ciudad Real, en la comunidad autónoma española de Castilla-La Mancha.
Regada por los ríos Guadiana, Tajo y Júcar constituye el viñedo más grande del mundo 189.127 ha, por lo que se la conoce como "La Bodega de Europa". En total incluye 182 municipios y más de 300 bodegas.
El origen del vino de La Mancha data del siglo XII en plena Reconquista.
The Name of Origin The Spot is a geographical indication for wines proceeding from the wine zone of The Spot, which occupies great part of the provinces of Toledo, Albacete, Cuenca and Ciudad Real, in the autonomous Spanish community of Castile-La Mancha.
Watered by the rivers The Guadiana, Tagus and Júcar constitutes the biggest vineyard of the world 189.127 has, by what she is known as " Europa's Warehouse ". In total it includes 182 municipalities and more than 300 warehouses.
The origin of the wine of The Spot dates back to the 12th century in full Reconquest.
Fuente: Wikipedia.
Ver en grande sobre fondo negro - See in large on black bottom .
All Rights Reserved. Please don't use my images on websites, blogs or other media without my explicit permission.
© All rights reserved
Selection of Disney Princess dolls, include old style (2011) versions of the Disney Parks Snow White, Aurora and Tiana dolls.
My visit to the El Capitan Theatre on March 1, 2014 to see The Pirate Fairy. Various streets and sidewalks around the area were closed due to preparations for the Academy Awards tomorrow at the Dolby Theatre. That included the street in front of the El Capitan - Hollywood Blvd between Highland and Orange. It was also raining, so it was a long wet walk to get from the parking garage in the Hollywood and Highland Center to get to the El Capitan.
I visited the Disney Soda Fountain store next to El Capitan, and got my very first Pin Trader Sundae, which included a PTD pin. It was a LE300 pin featuring the Owl from Winnie the Pooh. I also got an OE DSF Jack Skellington pin.
In the El Capitan Theatre, there was a large display with images of all seven Pixie Hollow fairies in the main cast of The Pirate Fairy. Before the show started, the Tinker Bell face character from Disneyland made a personal appearance, and sang and danced a little.
As I left the theatre, I saw workers hoisting an extra large Oscar statue in front of the Dolby Theatre. Inside, I got a glimpse of a smaller Oscar statue.
English garden for all seasons. Winner of National Garden Competitions 2007 and 2010. www.fourseasonsgarden.co.uk
A national garden judge described our Four Seasons garden as “A garden like no other!”.
We wanted to create a garden to be used by the family and to be exciting in all four seasons. We totally re-landscaped and re-planted our garden without outside help. We have not copied any other garden design or planting scheme. All but two of all the plants in our garden have been planted by us.
Our Walsall house and gardens, including our small front garden, have a total area of ¼ acre (1010 m²).
Our rear garden includes the three main areas of our garden (i.e. upper, middle and lower garden areas) and in total measures just 935 m² (55 m x 17m). This rear garden is south-facing with a gentle downward slope towards the neighbouring Walsall arboretum area. Two other sides of our rear garden also have large trees in the neighbouring landscape.
We have landscaped and created three completely different areas in our main garden. In late autumn 2011 the larger of the three areas which we call the "upper garden", which is near the house, was featured in five national newspapers on the same day. The "middle garden" contains the jungle, pagoda and a small stream. Whilst the "lower garden" has a woodland like features, an area for perennials and a much larger stream.
Our style of gardening: Landscaping our garden has been like creating a giant flower arrangement. We have tried to create beautiful views from every location in the garden. We like plants or features in our garden to be enhanced by the contrast with nearby plants or features. We mixed evergreen and deciduous plants to give all-year-round interest. We knew the real test of our gardening skills would be not the creation but the maintenance of the garden. We found that selective pruning of all plants is a way of keeping the plants looking nice and in proportion with one another.
Visitors to our garden and to our garden photos often have the impression that it is larger than it is. There are almost certainly a few different reasons for this. One reason is that our rear garden blends well on all sides into the surrounding neighbouring landscape. Furthermore, quite a large number of plants can be seen in our garden but we keep these plants from becoming overgrown or excessively large by careful pruning. We aim to keep plants in proportion with one another and strive to keep plants tidy and pleasing even after pruning. In summary we keep many plants to a relatively small size.
The slightly-acid, clay soil in our garden has determined which plants are successful in our garden. We noticed which plants were succeeding e.g. azaleas, Japanese maples, ornamental conifers and other evergreens and to a large extent this has led to our current planting themes. In the main we have tried to choose plants that are suited to our soil and are hardy enough to withstand our unpredictable cold winters! However, as much as possible, we also decided to choose plants with interest in more than one season of the year e.g. azaleas have beautiful flowers in spring and often have lovely autumn foliage colours.
When we moved to our Walsall home and garden in 1981, we found the ground was hard clay soil. To help break up the hard clay soil we spread a layer of gritty sand and then for more than 20 years we have repeatedly applied forest pine bark mulches. Now our top soil friable and much improved.
Includes:
!O: Teacup Piglet Gatcha
~Tableau Vivant~ Emotes -
{af} Breakfast Books
-tb- Vanity - Vanity Desk
ARIA] Oolong Teacup Planter Iris- Plum - RARE
[Commoner] Photo Album
After walking the hills around the vineyard complex, it was time to join my wife inside the great room, which includes dining tables, a bar, shopping area and one of the most intricate ceilings I've ever seen!
It took several tries before I was able to capture the essence of the ceiling to the fireplace hearth.
As for the interior, the significant MODs include the addition of the following:
- Lando's walk-in closet
- secret smuggling compartment
- sub-light engine
- redesigned cockpit, including open tunnel access to the rest of the vessel
- circular couch with the cylindrical sound-system
- various trim that evokes the design-aesthetic of the Falcon
- display case with a model of Cloud City
- semi-concealed circular hatches (non-working) for access to the escape pod
- gear used for the Kessel heist
- redesigned bar
- circular light panel above holo-chess table
- raised the height of the arches to allow mini-figs to traverse under them
The following images show the above MODs, and others, in greater detail.
Includes teams from Estelline/Hendricks, Chamberlain, Milbank Area, Wall/Kadoka Area/Philip and Sisseton. Permission granted for journalism outlets and educational purposes. Not for commercial use. Must be credited. Photo courtesy of South Dakota Public Broadcasting.
©2021 SDPB
Includes Teams from Wagner/Bon Homme, Britton-Hecla, Vermillion, Stanley County and West Central. Permission granted for journalism outlets and educational purposes. Not for commercial use. Must be credited. Photo courtesy of South Dakota Public Broadcasting.
©2021 SDPB
Walker Park
Overview
A fantastic park, with a great range of leisure facilities and open spaces for all to enjoy
Description
Walker Park was originally created to provide the colliery and shipyard workers with a place to relax and participate in sport and exercise.
Many of the park’s original features have been lost, but the late 80s saw significant investment to mark the centenary of the park.
There’s a good network of paths, making the park popular for dog walking and jogging.
Leisure Facilities
Today, the park has a good selection of leisure and sporting facilities. They include; two bowling greens and pavilion, two football pitches, a multi-use games area (for football, tennis and basketball) and a skate park. The play area for children under 14 has a brilliant selection of swings, aerial runways and climbing units and is popular with local families.
WWI Memorial
The World War One memorial for the casualties from the 5th Northumberland Fusiliers was unveiled in 1921. It was restored in 2016 as part of the Heritage Lottery Fund project. The Grade II Listed memorial is a focal point for the annual remembrance service.
Walker is a residential suburb and electoral ward in the south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne, England.
History
The place-name 'Walker' is first attested in 1242, where it appears as Waucre. This means 'wall-carr', that is to say, 'the marsh by the Roman wall', a reference to Hadrian's Wall. Today, a small fragment of the wall can be found in neighbouring Byker to the west, and Segedunum, a major site at the end of the Wall can be found in Wallsend to the east.
Large-scale coal-mining began in the area in the early 1700s, with up to ten collieries in operation in the Walker area. A wagon-way was constructed during this period to facilitate transportation of coal to the riverside staithes.
Walker used to have a large shipbuilding industry, particularly the yard of Armstrong Whitworth at High Walker, but this has declined over the past 50 years and the area has suffered as a result, with many jobs being taken away from the community.
From 1809 to 1883, Walker was home to an iron-making company, Losh, Wilson and Bell (known towards the end as Bells, Goodman and finally as Bells, Lightfoot).
Walkerville
Walkerville was developed as a model housing exhibition along the lines of the Garden city movement held under the auspices of the National Housing Reform Council in 1908 and is an early example of small-scale town planning prior to the Housing, Town Planning, &c. Act 1909. One of the prime campaigners behind the exhibition was Councillor David Adams (1871-1943), who later became an MP and Lord Mayor of Newcastle. The chosen site was Corporation estate, Walker, and the gold medal for the horseshoe layout of the site was awarded to Watson and Scott of Newcastle.[8] The exhibition was of a range of 'model cottages' for working people of different types from two to three bedrooms, by different architects and backed by a range of patrons including Wallsend Cooperative Society, at that time a provider of mortgage capital for its members. Newcastle Corporation also built homes as part of the exhibition. The Gold medal-winning architects were AT Martindale, White & Stephenson, Edward Cratney and TE Davidson. David Adams described the planning and development of the Walker and Willington estates in a series of articles for The Northern Echo.
Description
Walker is an area between Welbeck Road and the banks of the River Tyne, although the modern electoral ward of Walker incorporates Pottery Bank and St Anthony's. When most Geordies refer to Walker they also incorporate the areas of Daisy Hill and Eastfield. Walkergate, located between Welbeck Road and the Network rail line are sometimes considered parts of Walker. Other parts of Walker are Walkerdene (which is situated south of 'Fossway' and north of 'Welbeck Road', west of 'Waverdale Avenue' and east of 'Scrogg Road') and Walkerville (which is located under the railway bridge and to the right, these houses are mainly private stock whereas other areas of Walker are council and ex-council stock). Other areas included are Daisy Hill and Eastfield which help make up the city Ward of Walkergate.
The area is notable for Walker Park, the Walker Riverside Park, and the Lady Stephenson Library (now known as 'Walker Library') as well as the Lightfoot Sports Centre, which is set to undergo a £2.5m refurbishment. Alderman Sir William Haswell Stephenson, built the library in 1908 in memory of his wife Eliza, who died in 1901. The library closed on 29 June 2013 and contents have been relocated into a purpose built area within Walker Activity Dome in July 2013 (The Lightfoot Sports Centre). Walker Park received a Green Flag Award in 2019.
Walker is served by the Tyne and Wear Metro, with a station at Walkergate, and has a main bus terminus on Walker Road, although this is quite dilapidated and badly serviced.
Most children attend a local primary school, These are St Vincent's RC, Tyneview, Welbeck Academy, West Walker, Walkergate, and Central Walker. The two main Secondary Schools which service the area are Benfield School, a specialist Sports College, and Walker Riverside Academy, a high performing specialist technology and visual arts school for 11- to 18-year-olds.
Future
Newcastle City Council's Walker Riverside regeneration scheme launched in 2003 aims to revitalise the area with new houses, schools, jobs and community facilities, environmental improvements, and a new neighbourhood centre to be known as the Heart of Walker. The scheme has its own newsletter known as the "Walker Eye", which goes to almost 7,000 homes and businesses locally.
Much of the older and run-down housing stock along Walker Road is in the process of being demolished and replaced with new homes which are a mixture of council and private housing. The stated aim was to build 1,600 new and replacement homes over a 15-year period.
As part of the new Heart of Walker development, plans have recently been unveiled to open a new state-of-the-art primary school on a site next door to the redeveloped Lightfoot Centre, where the old Wharrier Street Primary School was. The £7.5m project merged Wharrier Street and St Anthony's Primary Schools in Autumn 2012 to create the new Central Walker Church of England Primary.
Plans for the area's regeneration were approved by the then Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, Ruth Kelly.
In August 2018 it was announced that two high-rise blocks, Titan House and Hexham House were to be demolished. The flats and neighbouring Church Walk shopping centre will be replaced by a new housing development and shops.
Notable people
Cheryl Cole, singer, born on 30 June 1983, lived in Walker and Heaton, attending Walker Comprehensive School, Middle Street, before she found fame with Girls Aloud.
Walker is the birthplace of Eric Burdon, lead singer of The Animals, who later recorded with War at the beginning of that band's career. The Animals recorded a song called "Gonna Send You Back to Walker", a repurposed version of a song by American R&B singer Timmy Shaw, "Gonna Send You Back to Georgia (A City Slick)."
Another Walkerite, the author, journalist and broadcaster Keith Topping, titled one of the chapters in his novel The Hollow Men, The St. Anthony's Chinese Takeaway Massacre. The novelist is co author on Dr Who: The Hollow Men (1998) with Martin Day.
The former Newcastle United striker Shola Ameobi grew up in Walker, where he played for Walker Central F.C.; which was launched in 1988 by the Wallsend-born former Newcastle United footballer Lee Clark, and ex-club scout Brian Clark (no relation).
Stan Anderson, rugby union player who made one Test match appearance for England in the 1899 Home Nations Championship.
David MacBeth, an English pop music singer was born in Walker. Despite releasing a string of singles on three record labels between 1959 and 1969, MacBeth's only chart success was with his version of "Mr. Blue", which peaked at number 18 in the UK Singles Chart. MacBeth took part in the 1963 Roy Orbison/The Beatles Tour.
Geordie Shore stars Marty McKenna and Chantelle Conelly are both also from Walker.
Newcastle upon Tyne, or simply Newcastle is a cathedral city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is located on the River Tyne's northern bank, opposite Gateshead to the south. It is the most populous settlement in the Tyneside conurbation and North East England.
Newcastle developed around a Roman settlement called Pons Aelius, the settlement became known as Monkchester before taking on the name of a castle built in 1080 by William the Conqueror's eldest son, Robert Curthose. It was one of the world's largest ship building and repair centres during the industrial revolution. Newcastle was part of the county of Northumberland until 1400, when it separated and formed a county of itself. In 1974, Newcastle became part of Tyne and Wear. Since 2018, the city council has been part of the North of Tyne Combined Authority.
The history of Newcastle upon Tyne dates back almost 2,000 years, during which it has been controlled by the Romans, the Angles and the Norsemen amongst others. Newcastle upon Tyne was originally known by its Roman name Pons Aelius. The name "Newcastle" has been used since the Norman conquest of England. Due to its prime location on the River Tyne, the town developed greatly during the Middle Ages and it was to play a major role in the Industrial Revolution, being granted city status in 1882. Today, the city is a major retail, commercial and cultural centre.
Roman settlement
The history of Newcastle dates from AD 122, when the Romans built the first bridge to cross the River Tyne at that point. The bridge was called Pons Aelius or 'Bridge of Aelius', Aelius being the family name of Roman Emperor Hadrian, who was responsible for the Roman wall built across northern England along the Tyne–Solway gap. Hadrian's Wall ran through present-day Newcastle, with stretches of wall and turrets visible along the West Road, and at a temple in Benwell. Traces of a milecastle were found on Westgate Road, midway between Clayton Street and Grainger Street, and it is likely that the course of the wall corresponded to present-day Westgate Road. The course of the wall can be traced eastwards to the Segedunum Roman fort at Wallsend, with the fort of Arbeia down-river at the mouth of the Tyne, on the south bank in what is now South Shields. The Tyne was then a wider, shallower river at this point and it is thought that the bridge was probably about 700 feet (210 m) long, made of wood and supported on stone piers. It is probable that it was sited near the current Swing Bridge, due to the fact that Roman artefacts were found there during the building of the latter bridge. Hadrian himself probably visited the site in 122. A shrine was set up on the completed bridge in 123 by the 6th Legion, with two altars to Neptune and Oceanus respectively. The two altars were subsequently found in the river and are on display in the Great North Museum in Newcastle.
The Romans built a stone-walled fort in 150 to protect the river crossing which was at the foot of the Tyne Gorge, and this took the name of the bridge so that the whole settlement was known as Pons Aelius. The fort was situated on a rocky outcrop overlooking the new bridge, on the site of the present Castle Keep. Pons Aelius is last mentioned in 400, in a Roman document listing all of the Roman military outposts. It is likely that nestling in the shadow of the fort would have been a small vicus, or village. Unfortunately, no buildings have been detected; only a few pieces of flagging. It is clear that there was a Roman cemetery near Clavering Place, behind the Central station, as a number of Roman coffins and sarcophagi have been unearthed there.
Despite the presence of the bridge, the settlement of Pons Aelius was not particularly important among the northern Roman settlements. The most important stations were those on the highway of Dere Street running from Eboracum (York) through Corstopitum (Corbridge) and to the lands north of the Wall. Corstopitum, being a major arsenal and supply centre, was much larger and more populous than Pons Aelius.
Anglo-Saxon development
The Angles arrived in the North-East of England in about 500 and may have landed on the Tyne. There is no evidence of an Anglo-Saxon settlement on or near the site of Pons Aelius during the Anglo-Saxon age. The bridge probably survived and there may well have been a small village at the northern end, but no evidence survives. At that time the region was dominated by two kingdoms, Bernicia, north of the Tees and ruled from Bamburgh, and Deira, south of the Tees and ruled from York. Bernicia and Deira combined to form the kingdom of Northanhymbra (Northumbria) early in the 7th century. There were three local kings who held the title of Bretwalda – 'Lord of Britain', Edwin of Deira (627–632), Oswald of Bernicia (633–641) and Oswy of Northumbria (641–658). The 7th century became known as the 'Golden Age of Northumbria', when the area was a beacon of culture and learning in Europe. The greatness of this period was based on its generally Christian culture and resulted in the Lindisfarne Gospels amongst other treasures. The Tyne valley was dotted with monasteries, with those at Monkwearmouth, Hexham and Jarrow being the most famous. Bede, who was based at Jarrow, wrote of a royal estate, known as Ad Murum, 'at the Wall', 12 miles (19 km) from the sea. It is thought that this estate may have been in what is now Newcastle. At some unknown time, the site of Newcastle came to be known as Monkchester. The reason for this title is unknown, as we are unaware of any specific monasteries at the site, and Bede made no reference to it. In 875 Halfdan Ragnarsson, the Danish Viking conqueror of York, led an army that attacked and pillaged various monasteries in the area, and it is thought that Monkchester was also pillaged at this time. Little more was heard of it until the coming of the Normans.
Norman period
After the arrival of William the Conqueror in England in 1066, the whole of England was quickly subjected to Norman rule. However, in Northumbria there was great resistance to the Normans, and in 1069 the newly appointed Norman Earl of Northumbria, Robert de Comines and 700 of his men were killed by the local population at Durham. The Northumbrians then marched on York, but William was able to suppress the uprising. That same year, a second uprising occurred when a Danish fleet landed in the Humber. The Northumbrians again attacked York and destroyed the garrison there. William was again able to suppress the uprising, but this time he took revenge. He laid waste to the whole of the Midlands and the land from York to the Tees. In 1080, William Walcher, the Norman bishop of Durham and his followers were brutally murdered at Gateshead. This time Odo, bishop of Bayeux, William's half brother, devastated the land between the Tees and the Tweed. This was known as the 'Harrying of the North'. This devastation is reflected in the Domesday Book. The destruction had such an effect that the North remained poor and backward at least until Tudor times and perhaps until the Industrial Revolution. Newcastle suffered in this respect with the rest of the North.
In 1080 William sent his eldest son, Robert Curthose, north to defend the kingdom against the Scots. After his campaign, he moved to Monkchester and began the building of a 'New Castle'. This was of the "motte-and-bailey" type of construction, a wooden tower on top of an earthen mound (motte), surrounded by a moat and wooden stockade (bailey). It was this castle that gave Newcastle its name. In 1095 the Earl of Northumbria, Robert de Mowbray, rose up against the king, William Rufus, and Rufus sent an army north to recapture the castle. From then on the castle became crown property and was an important base from which the king could control the northern barons. The Northumbrian earldom was abolished and a Sheriff of Northumberland was appointed to administer the region. In 1091 the parish church of St Nicholas was consecrated on the site of the present Anglican cathedral, close by the bailey of the new castle. The church is believed to have been a wooden building on stone footings.
Not a trace of the tower or mound of the motte and bailey castle remains now. Henry II replaced it with a rectangular stone keep, which was built between 1172 and 1177 at a cost of £1,444. A stone bailey, in the form of a triangle, replaced the previous wooden one. The great outer gateway to the castle, called 'the Black Gate', was built later, between 1247 and 1250, in the reign of Henry III. There were at that time no town walls and when attacked by the Scots, the townspeople had to crowd into the bailey for safety. It is probable that the new castle acted as a magnet for local merchants because of the safety it provided. This in turn would help to expand trade in the town. At this time wool, skins and lead were being exported, whilst alum, pepper and ginger were being imported from France and Flanders.
Middle Ages
Throughout the Middle Ages, Newcastle was England's northern fortress, the centre for assembled armies. The Border war against Scotland lasted intermittently for several centuries – possibly the longest border war ever waged. During the civil war between Stephen and Matilda, David 1st of Scotland and his son were granted Cumbria and Northumberland respectively, so that for a period from 1139 to 1157, Newcastle was effectively in Scottish hands. It is believed that during this period, King David may have built the church of St Andrew and the Benedictine nunnery in Newcastle. However, King Stephen's successor, Henry II was strong enough to take back the Earldom of Northumbria from Malcolm IV.
The Scots king William the Lion was imprisoned in Newcastle, in 1174, after being captured at the Battle of Alnwick. Edward I brought the Stone of Scone and William Wallace south through the town and Newcastle was successfully defended against the Scots three times during the 14th century.
Around 1200, stone-faced, clay-filled jetties were starting to project into the river, an indication that trade was increasing in Newcastle. As the Roman roads continued to deteriorate, sea travel was gaining in importance. By 1275 Newcastle was the sixth largest wool exporting port in England. The principal exports at this time were wool, timber, coal, millstones, dairy produce, fish, salt and hides. Much of the developing trade was with the Baltic countries and Germany. Most of the Newcastle merchants were situated near the river, below the Castle. The earliest known charter was dated 1175 in the reign of Henry II, giving the townspeople some control over their town. In 1216 King John granted Newcastle a mayor[8] and also allowed the formation of guilds (known as Mysteries). These were cartels formed within different trades, which restricted trade to guild members. There were initially twelve guilds. Coal was being exported from Newcastle by 1250, and by 1350 the burgesses received a royal licence to export coal. This licence to export coal was jealously guarded by the Newcastle burgesses, and they tried to prevent any one else on the Tyne from exporting coal except through Newcastle. The burgesses similarly tried to prevent fish from being sold anywhere else on the Tyne except Newcastle. This led to conflicts with Gateshead and South Shields.
In 1265, the town was granted permission to impose a 'Wall Tax' or Murage, to pay for the construction of a fortified wall to enclose the town and protect it from Scottish invaders. The town walls were not completed until early in the 14th century. They were two miles (3 km) long, 9 feet (2.7 m) thick and 25 feet (7.6 m) high. They had six main gates, as well as some smaller gates, and had 17 towers. The land within the walls was divided almost equally by the Lort Burn, which flowed southwards and joined the Tyne to the east of the Castle. The town began to expand north of the Castle and west of the Lort Burn with various markets being set up within the walls.
In 1400 Henry IV granted a new charter, creating a County corporate which separated the town, but not the Castle, from the county of Northumberland and recognised it as a "county of itself" with a right to have a sheriff of its own. The burgesses were now allowed to choose six aldermen who, with the mayor would be justices of the peace. The mayor and sheriff were allowed to hold borough courts in the Guildhall.
Religious houses
During the Middle Ages a number of religious houses were established within the walls: the first of these was the Benedictine nunnery of St Bartholomew founded in 1086 near the present-day Nun Street. Both David I of Scotland and Henry I of England were benefactors of the religious house. Nothing of the nunnery remains now.
The friary of Blackfriars, Newcastle (Dominican) was established in 1239. These were also known as the Preaching Friars or Shod Friars, because they wore sandals, as opposed to other orders. The friary was situated in the present-day Friars Street. In 1280 the order was granted royal permission to make a postern in the town walls to communicate with their gardens outside the walls. On 19 June 1334, Edward Balliol, claimant to be King of Scotland, did homage to King Edward III, on behalf of the kingdom of Scotland, in the church of the friary. Much of the original buildings of the friary still exist, mainly because, after the Dissolution of the Monasteries the friary of Blackfriars was rented out by the corporation to nine of the local trade guilds.
The friary of Whitefriars (Carmelite) was established in 1262. The order was originally housed on the Wall Knoll in Pandon, but in 1307 it took over the buildings of another order, which went out of existence, the Friars of the Sac. The land, which had originally been given by Robert the Bruce, was situated in the present-day Hanover Square, behind the Central station. Nothing of the friary remains now.
The friary of Austinfriars (Augustinian) was established in 1290. The friary was on the site where the Holy Jesus Hospital was built in 1682. The friary was traditionally the lodging place of English kings whenever they visited or passed through Newcastle. In 1503 Princess Margaret, eldest daughter of Henry VII of England, stayed two days at the friary on her way to join her new husband James IV of Scotland.
The friary of Greyfriars (Franciscans) was established in 1274. The friary was in the present-day area between Pilgrim Street, Grey Street, Market Street and High Chare. Nothing of the original buildings remains.
The friary of the Order of the Holy Trinity, also known as the Trinitarians, was established in 1360. The order devoted a third of its income to buying back captives of the Saracens, during the Crusades. Their house was on the Wall Knoll, in Pandon, to the east of the city, but within the walls. Wall Knoll had previously been occupied by the White Friars until they moved to new premises in 1307.
All of the above religious houses were closed in about 1540, when Henry VIII dissolved the monasteries.
An important street running through Newcastle at the time was Pilgrim Street, running northwards inside the walls and leading to the Pilgrim Gate on the north wall. The street still exists today as arguably Newcastle's main shopping street.
Tudor period
The Scottish border wars continued for much of the 16th century, so that during that time, Newcastle was often threatened with invasion by the Scots, but also remained important as a border stronghold against them.
During the Reformation begun by Henry VIII in 1536, the five Newcastle friaries and the single nunnery were dissolved and the land was sold to the Corporation and to rich merchants. At this time there were fewer than 60 inmates of the religious houses in Newcastle. The convent of Blackfriars was leased to nine craft guilds to be used as their headquarters. This probably explains why it is the only one of the religious houses whose building survives to the present day. The priories at Tynemouth and Durham were also dissolved, thus ending the long-running rivalry between Newcastle and the church for control of trade on the Tyne. A little later, the property of the nunnery of St Bartholomew and of Grey Friars were bought by Robert Anderson, who had the buildings demolished to build his grand Newe House (also known as Anderson Place).
With the gradual decline of the Scottish border wars the town walls were allowed to decline as well as the castle. By 1547, about 10,000 people were living in Newcastle. At the beginning of the 16th century exports of wool from Newcastle were more than twice the value of exports of coal, but during the century coal exports continued to increase.
Under Edward VI, John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland, sponsored an act allowing Newcastle to annexe Gateshead as its suburb. The main reason for this was to allow the Newcastle Hostmen, who controlled the export of Tyne coal, to get their hands on the Gateshead coal mines, previously controlled by the Bishop of Durham. However, when Mary I came to power, Dudley met his downfall and the decision was reversed. The Reformation allowed private access to coal mines previously owned by Tynemouth and Durham priories and as a result coal exports increase dramatically, from 15,000 tons in 1500 to 35,000 tons in 1565, and to 400,000 tons in 1625.
The plague visited Newcastle four times during the 16th century, in 1579 when 2,000 people died, in 1589 when 1700 died, in 1595 and finally in 1597.
In 1600 Elizabeth I granted Newcastle a charter for an exclusive body of electors, the right to elect the mayor and burgesses. The charter also gave the Hostmen exclusive rights to load coal at any point on the Tyne. The Hostmen developed as an exclusive group within the Merchant Adventurers who had been incorporated by a charter in 1547.
Stuart period
In 1636 there was a serious outbreak of bubonic plague in Newcastle. There had been several previous outbreaks of the disease over the years, but this was the most serious. It is thought to have arrived from the Netherlands via ships that were trading between the Tyne and that country. It first appeared in the lower part of the town near the docks but gradually spread to all parts of the town. As the disease gained hold the authorities took measures to control it by boarding up any properties that contained infected persons, meaning that whole families were locked up together with the infected family members. Other infected persons were put in huts outside the town walls and left to die. Plague pits were dug next to the town's four churches and outside the town walls to receive the bodies in mass burials. Over the course of the outbreak 5,631 deaths were recorded out of an estimated population of 12,000, a death rate of 47%.
In 1637 Charles I tried to raise money by doubling the 'voluntary' tax on coal in return for allowing the Newcastle Hostmen to regulate production and fix prices. This caused outrage amongst the London importers and the East Anglian shippers. Both groups decided to boycott Tyne coal and as a result forced Charles to reverse his decision in 1638.
In 1640 during the Second Bishops' War, the Scots successfully invaded Newcastle. The occupying army demanded £850 per day from the Corporation to billet the Scottish troops. Trade from the Tyne ground to a halt during the occupation. The Scots left in 1641 after receiving a Parliamentary pardon and a £4,000,000 loan from the town.
In 1642 the English Civil War began. King Charles realised the value of the Tyne coal trade and therefore garrisoned Newcastle. A Royalist was appointed as governor. At that time, Newcastle and King's Lynn were the only important seaports to support the crown. In 1644 Parliament blockaded the Tyne to prevent the king from receiving revenue from the Tyne coal trade. Coal exports fell from 450,000 to 3,000 tons and London suffered a hard winter without fuel. Parliament encouraged the coal trade from the Wear to try to replace that lost from Newcastle but that was not enough to make up for the lost Tyneside tonnage.
In 1644 the Scots crossed the border. Newcastle strengthened its defences in preparation. The Scottish army, with 40,000 troops, besieged Newcastle for three months until the garrison of 1,500 surrendered. During the siege, the Scots bombarded the walls with their artillery, situated in Gateshead and Castle Leazes. The Scottish commander threatened to destroy the steeple of St Nicholas's Church by gunfire if the mayor, Sir John Marley, did not surrender the town. The mayor responded by placing Scottish prisoners that they had captured in the steeple, so saving it from destruction. The town walls were finally breached by a combination of artillery and sapping. In gratitude for this defence, Charles gave Newcastle the motto 'Fortiter Defendit Triumphans' to be added to its coat of arms. The Scottish army occupied Northumberland and Durham for two years. The coal taxes had to pay for the Scottish occupation. In 1645 Charles surrendered to the Scots and was imprisoned in Newcastle for nine months. After the Civil War the coal trade on the Tyne soon picked up and exceeded its pre-war levels.
A new Guildhall was completed on the Sandhill next to the river in 1655, replacing an earlier facility damaged by fire in 1639, and became the meeting place of Newcastle Town Council. In 1681 the Hospital of the Holy Jesus was built partly on the site of the Austin Friars. The Guildhall and Holy Jesus Hospital still exist.
Charles II tried to impose a charter on Newcastle to give the king the right to appoint the mayor, sheriff, recorder and town clerk. Charles died before the charter came into effect. In 1685, James II tried to replace Corporation members with named Catholics. However, James' mandate was suspended in 1689 after the Glorious Revolution welcoming William of Orange. In 1689, after the fall of James II, the people of Newcastle tore down his bronze equestrian statue in Sandhill and tossed it into the Tyne. The bronze was later used to make bells for All Saints Church.
In 1689 the Lort Burn was covered over. At this time it was an open sewer. The channel followed by the Lort Burn became the present day Dean Street. At that time, the centre of Newcastle was still the Sandhill area, with many merchants living along the Close or on the Side. The path of the main road through Newcastle ran from the single Tyne bridge, through Sandhill to the Side, a narrow street which climbed steeply on the north-east side of the castle hill until it reached the higher ground alongside St Nicholas' Church. As Newcastle developed, the Side became lined with buildings with projecting upper stories, so that the main street through Newcastle was a narrow, congested, steep thoroughfare.
In 1701 the Keelmen's Hospital was built in the Sandgate area of the city, using funds provided by the keelmen. The building still stands today.
Eighteenth century
In the 18th century, Newcastle was the country's largest print centre after London, Oxford and Cambridge, and the Literary and Philosophical Society of 1793, with its erudite debates and large stock of books in several languages predated the London Library by half a century.
In 1715, during the Jacobite rising in favour of the Old Pretender, an army of Jacobite supporters marched on Newcastle. Many of the Northumbrian gentry joined the rebels. The citizens prepared for its arrival by arresting Jacobite supporters and accepting 700 extra recruits into the local militia. The gates of the city were closed against the rebels. This proved enough to delay an attack until reinforcements arrived forcing the rebel army to move across to the west coast. The rebels finally surrendered at Preston.
In 1745, during a second Jacobite rising in favour of the Young Pretender, a Scottish army crossed the border led by Bonnie Prince Charlie. Once again Newcastle prepared by arresting Jacobite supporters and inducting 800 volunteers into the local militia. The town walls were strengthened, most of the gates were blocked up and some 200 cannon were deployed. 20,000 regulars were billeted on the Town Moor. These preparations were enough to force the rebel army to travel south via the west coast. They were eventually defeated at Culloden in 1746.
Newcastle's actions during the 1715 rising in resisting the rebels and declaring for George I, in contrast to the rest of the region, is the most likely source of the nickname 'Geordie', applied to people from Tyneside, or more accurately Newcastle. Another theory, however, is that the name 'Geordie' came from the inventor of the Geordie lamp, George Stephenson. It was a type of safety lamp used in mining, but was not invented until 1815. Apparently the term 'German Geordie' was in common use during the 18th century.
The city's first hospital, Newcastle Infirmary opened in 1753; it was funded by public subscription. A lying-in hospital was established in Newcastle in 1760. The city's first public hospital for mentally ill patients, Wardens Close Lunatic Hospital was opened in October 1767.
In 1771 a flood swept away much of the bridge at Newcastle. The bridge had been built in 1250 and repaired after a flood in 1339. The bridge supported various houses and three towers and an old chapel. A blue stone was placed in the middle of the bridge to mark the boundary between Newcastle and the Palatinate of Durham. A temporary wooden bridge had to be built, and this remained in use until 1781, when a new stone bridge was completed. The new bridge consisted of nine arches. In 1801, because of the pressure of traffic, the bridge had to be widened.
A permanent military presence was established in the city with the completion of Fenham Barracks in 1806. The facilities at the Castle for holding assizes, which had been condemned for their inconvenience and unhealthiness, were replaced when the Moot Hall opened in August 1812.
Victorian period
Present-day Newcastle owes much of its architecture to the work of the builder Richard Grainger, aided by architects John Dobson, Thomas Oliver, John and Benjamin Green and others. In 1834 Grainger won a competition to produce a new plan for central Newcastle. He put this plan into effect using the above architects as well as architects employed in his own office. Grainger and Oliver had already built Leazes Terrace, Leazes Crescent and Leazes Place between 1829 and 1834. Grainger and Dobson had also built the Royal Arcade at the foot of Pilgrim Street between 1830 and 1832. The most ambitious project covered 12 acres 12 acres (49,000 m2) in central Newcastle, on the site of Newe House (also called Anderson Place). Grainger built three new thoroughfares, Grey Street, Grainger Street and Clayton Street with many connecting streets, as well as the Central Exchange and the Grainger Market. John Wardle and George Walker, working in Grainger's office, designed Clayton Street, Grainger Street and most of Grey Street. Dobson designed the Grainger Market and much of the east side of Grey Street. John and Benjamin Green designed the Theatre Royal at the top of Grey Street, where Grainger placed the column of Grey's Monument as a focus for the whole scheme. Grey Street is considered to be one of the finest streets in the country, with its elegant curve. Unfortunately most of old Eldon Square was demolished in the 1960s in the name of progress. The Royal Arcade met a similar fate.
In 1849 a new bridge was built across the river at Newcastle. This was the High Level Bridge, designed by Robert Stephenson, and slightly up river from the existing bridge. The bridge was designed to carry road and rail traffic across the Tyne Gorge on two decks with rail traffic on the upper deck and road traffic on the lower. The new bridge meant that traffic could pass through Newcastle without having to negotiate the steep, narrow Side, as had been necessary for centuries. The bridge was opened by Queen Victoria, who one year later opened the new Central Station, designed by John Dobson. Trains were now able to cross the river, directly into the centre of Newcastle and carry on up to Scotland. The Army Riding School was also completed in 1849.
In 1854 a large fire started on the Gateshead quayside and an explosion caused it to spread across the river to the Newcastle quayside. A huge conflagration amongst the narrow alleys, or 'chares', destroyed the homes of 800 families as well as many business premises. The narrow alleys that had been destroyed were replaced by streets containing blocks of modern offices.
In 1863 the Town Hall in St Nicholas Square replaced the Guildhall as the meeting place of Newcastle Town Council.
In 1876 the low level bridge was replaced by a new bridge known as the Swing Bridge, so called because the bridge was able to swing horizontally on a central axis and allow ships to pass on either side. This meant that for the first time sizeable ships could pass up-river beyond Newcastle. The bridge was built and paid for by William Armstrong, a local arms manufacturer, who needed to have warships access his Elswick arms factory to fit armaments to them. The Swing Bridge's rotating mechanism is adapted from the cannon mounts developed in Armstrong's arms works. In 1882 the Elswick works began to build ships as well as to arm them. The Barrack Road drill hall was completed in 1890.
Industrialisation
In the 19th century, shipbuilding and heavy engineering were central to the city's prosperity; and the city was a powerhouse of the Industrial Revolution. Newcastle's development as a major city owed most to its central role in the production and export of coal. The phrase "taking coals to Newcastle" was first recorded in 1538; it proverbially denotes bringing a particular commodity to a place that has more than enough of it already.
Innovation in Newcastle and surrounding areas included the following:
George Stephenson developed a miner's safety lamp at the same time that Humphry Davy developed a rival design. The lamp made possible the opening up of ever deeper mines to provide the coal that powered the industrial revolution.
George and his son Robert Stephenson were hugely influential figures in the development of the early railways. George developed Blücher, a locomotive working at Killingworth colliery in 1814, whilst Robert was instrumental in the design of Rocket, a revolutionary design that was the forerunner of modern locomotives. Both men were involved in planning and building railway lines, all over this country and abroad.
Joseph Swan demonstrated a working electric light bulb about a year before Thomas Edison did the same in the USA. This led to a dispute as to who had actually invented the light bulb. Eventually the two rivals agreed to form a mutual company between them, the Edison and Swan Electric Light Company, known as Ediswan.
Charles Algernon Parsons invented the steam turbine, for marine use and for power generation. He used Turbinia, a small, turbine-powered ship, to demonstrate the speed that a steam turbine could generate. Turbinia literally ran rings around the British Fleet at a review at Spithead in 1897.
William Armstrong invented a hydraulic crane that was installed in dockyards up and down the country. He then began to design light, accurate field guns for the British army. These were a vast improvement on the existing guns that were then in use.
The following major industries developed in Newcastle or its surrounding area:
Glassmaking
A small glass industry existed in Newcastle from the mid-15th century. In 1615 restrictions were put on the use of wood for manufacturing glass. It was found that glass could be manufactured using the local coal, and so a glassmaking industry grew up on Tyneside. Huguenot glassmakers came over from France as refugees from persecution and set up glasshouses in the Skinnerburn area of Newcastle. Eventually, glass production moved to the Ouseburn area of Newcastle. In 1684 the Dagnia family, Sephardic Jewish emigrants from Altare, arrived in Newcastle from Stourbridge and established glasshouses along the Close, to manufacture high quality flint glass. The glass manufacturers used sand ballast from the boats arriving in the river as the main raw material. The glassware was then exported in collier brigs. The period from 1730 to 1785 was the highpoint of Newcastle glass manufacture, when the local glassmakers produced the 'Newcastle Light Baluster'. The glassmaking industry still exists in the west end of the city with local Artist and Glassmaker Jane Charles carrying on over four hundred years of hot glass blowing in Newcastle upon Tyne.
Locomotive manufacture
In 1823 George Stephenson and his son Robert established the world's first locomotive factory near Forth Street in Newcastle. Here they built locomotives for the Stockton and Darlington Railway and the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, as well as many others. It was here that the famous locomotive Rocket was designed and manufactured in preparation for the Rainhill Trials. Apart from building locomotives for the British market, the Newcastle works also produced locomotives for Europe and America. The Forth Street works continued to build locomotives until 1960.
Shipbuilding
In 1296 a wooden, 135 ft (41 m) long galley was constructed at the mouth of the Lort Burn in Newcastle, as part of a twenty-ship order from the king. The ship cost £205, and is the earliest record of shipbuilding in Newcastle. However the rise of the Tyne as a shipbuilding area was due to the need for collier brigs for the coal export trade. These wooden sailing ships were usually built locally, establishing local expertise in building ships. As ships changed from wood to steel, and from sail to steam, the local shipbuilding industry changed to build the new ships. Although shipbuilding was carried out up and down both sides of the river, the two main areas for building ships in Newcastle were Elswick, to the west, and Walker, to the east. By 1800 Tyneside was the third largest producer of ships in Britain. Unfortunately, after the Second World War, lack of modernisation and competition from abroad gradually caused the local industry to decline and die.
Armaments
In 1847 William Armstrong established a huge factory in Elswick, west of Newcastle. This was initially used to produce hydraulic cranes but subsequently began also to produce guns for both the army and the navy. After the Swing Bridge was built in 1876 allowing ships to pass up river, warships could have their armaments fitted alongside the Elswick works. Armstrong's company took over its industrial rival, Joseph Whitworth of Manchester in 1897.
Steam turbines
Charles Algernon Parsons invented the steam turbine and, in 1889, founded his own company C. A. Parsons and Company in Heaton, Newcastle to make steam turbines. Shortly after this, he realised that steam turbines could be used to propel ships and, in 1897, he founded a second company, Parsons Marine Steam Turbine Company in Wallsend. It is there that he designed and manufactured Turbinia. Parsons turbines were initially used in warships but soon came to be used in merchant and passenger vessels, including the liner Mauretania which held the blue riband for the Atlantic crossing until 1929. Parsons' company in Heaton began to make turbo-generators for power stations and supplied power stations all over the world. The Heaton works, reduced in size, remains as part of the Siemens AG industrial giant.
Pottery
In 1762 the Maling pottery was founded in Sunderland by French Huguenots, but transferred to Newcastle in 1817. A factory was built in the Ouseburn area of the city. The factory was rebuilt twice, finally occupying a 14-acre (57,000 m2) site that was claimed to be the biggest pottery in the world and which had its own railway station. The pottery pioneered use of machines in making potteries as opposed to hand production. In the 1890s the company went up-market and employed in-house designers. The period up to the Second World War was the most profitable with a constant stream of new designs being introduced. However, after the war, production gradually declined and the company closed in 1963.
Expansion of the city
Newcastle was one of the boroughs reformed by the Municipal Corporations Act 1835: the reformed municipal borough included the parishes of Byker, Elswick, Heaton, Jesmond, Newcastle All Saints, Newcastle St Andrew, Newcastle St John, Newcastle St Nicholas, and Westgate. The urban districts of Benwell and Fenham and Walker were added in 1904. In 1935, Newcastle gained Kenton and parts of the parishes of West Brunton, East Denton, Fawdon, Longbenton. The most recent expansion in Newcastle's boundaries took place under the Local Government Act 1972 on 1 April 1974, when Newcastle became a metropolitan borough, also including the urban districts of Gosforth and Newburn, and the parishes of Brunswick, Dinnington, Hazlerigg, North Gosforth and Woolsington from the Castle Ward Rural District, and the village of Westerhope.
Meanwhile Northumberland County Council was formed under the Local Government Act 1888 and benefited from a dedicated meeting place when County Hall was completed in the Castle Garth area of Newcastle in 1910. Following the Local Government Act 1972 County Hall relocated to Morpeth in April 1981.
Twentieth century
In 1925 work began on a new high-level road bridge to span the Tyne Gorge between Newcastle and Gateshead. The capacity of the existing High-Level Bridge and Swing Bridge were being strained to the limit, and an additional bridge had been discussed for a long time. The contract was awarded to the Dorman Long Company and the bridge was finally opened by King George V in 1928. The road deck was 84 feet (26 m) above the river and was supported by a 531 feet (162 m) steel arch. The new Tyne Bridge quickly became a symbol for Newcastle and Tyneside, and remains so today.
During the Second World War, Newcastle was largely spared the horrors inflicted upon other British cities bombed during the Blitz. Although the armaments factories and shipyards along the River Tyne were targeted by the Luftwaffe, they largely escaped unscathed. Manors goods yard and railway terminal, to the east of the city centre, and the suburbs of Jesmond and Heaton suffered bombing during 1941. There were 141 deaths and 587 injuries, a relatively small figure compared to the casualties in other industrial centres of Britain.
In 1963 the city gained its own university, the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, by act of parliament. A School of Medicine and Surgery had been established in Newcastle in 1834. This eventually developed into a college of medicine attached to Durham University. A college of physical science was also founded and became Armstrong College in 1904. In 1934 the two colleges merged to become King's College, Durham. This remained as part of Durham University until the new university was created in 1963. In 1992 the city gained its second university when Newcastle Polytechnic was granted university status as Northumbria University.
Newcastle City Council moved to the new Newcastle Civic Centre in 1968.
As heavy industries declined in the second half of the 20th century, large sections of the city centre were demolished along with many areas of slum housing. The leading political figure in the city during the 1960s was T. Dan Smith who oversaw a massive building programme of highrise housing estates and authorised the demolition of a quarter of the Georgian Grainger Town to make way for Eldon Square Shopping Centre. Smith's control in Newcastle collapsed when it was exposed that he had used public contracts to advantage himself and his business associates and for a time Newcastle became a byword for civic corruption as depicted in the films Get Carter and Stormy Monday and in the television series Our Friends in the North. However, much of the historic Grainger Town area survived and was, for the most part, fully restored in the late 1990s. Northumberland Street, initially the A1, was gradually closed to traffic from the 1970s and completely pedestrianised by 1998.
In 1978 a new rapid transport system, the Metro, was built, linking the Tyneside area. The system opened in August 1980. A new bridge was built to carry the Metro across the river between Gateshead and Newcastle. This was the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge, commonly known as the Metro Bridge. Eventually the Metro system was extended to reach Newcastle Airport in 1991, and in 2002 the Metro system was extended to the nearby city of Sunderland.
As the 20th century progressed, trade on the Newcastle and Gateshead quaysides gradually declined, until by the 1980s both sides of the river were looking rather derelict. Shipping company offices had closed along with offices of firms related to shipping. There were also derelict warehouses lining the riverbank. Local government produced a master plan to re-develop the Newcastle quayside and this was begun in the 1990s. New offices, restaurants, bars and residential accommodation were built and the area has changed in the space of a few years into a vibrant area, partially returning the focus of Newcastle to the riverside, where it was in medieval times.
The Gateshead Millennium Bridge, a foot and cycle bridge, 26 feet (7.9 m) wide and 413 feet (126 m) long, was completed in 2001. The road deck is in the form of a curve and is supported by a steel arch. To allow ships to pass, the whole structure, both arch and road-deck, rotates on huge bearings at either end so that the road deck is lifted. The bridge can be said to open and shut like a human eye. It is an important addition to the re-developed quayside area, providing a vital link between the Newcastle and Gateshead quaysides.
Recent developments
Today the city is a vibrant centre for office and retail employment, but just a short distance away there are impoverished inner-city housing estates, in areas originally built to provide affordable housing for employees of the shipyards and other heavy industries that lined the River Tyne. In the 2010s Newcastle City Council began implementing plans to regenerate these depressed areas, such as those along the Ouseburn Valley.
From a wander up on Mill and Truleigh Hill this afternoon. I have rarely seen the car parks so full - but plenty of social distance on the paths.
Unlike Trumpton, Chigley includes many guest appearances by characters from the previous two series, including Windy Miller of Camberwick Green and the Trumpton fire brigade, complete with their famous roll-call. This was at least partly for economic reasons, as it allowed the established characters' theme songs to be re-used, thus saving money on recording.
Notable new characters include Mr Swallow of Treddle's Wharf, Mr Cresswell, owner of Cresswell's Chigley Biscuit factory, Harry Farthing the potter and his daughter Winnie and, last but not least, the aristocratic Lord Belborough of Winkstead Hall and his butler Brackett, who also operate a private railway that seems to run through most of Trumptonshire.
As with the other series, everybody's problems appear to be sorted out by the end of each episode. However, then Lord Belborough orders everyone to the grounds of Winkstead Hall after the 6 o'clock whistle which sounds the end of the day's work at the local biscuit factory. Belborough plays his vintage organ, while the workers gather for a dance and the episode fades out.
Includes teams from O'Gorman, Yankton, Pierre T.F. Riggs, Huron. Permission granted for journalism outlets and educational purposes. Not for commercial use. Must be credited. Photo courtesy of South Dakota Public Broadcasting.
©2021 SDPB
My colleague Adam is experimenting with old film cameras. This characterful Ensign is the latest addition to his collection
Includes Bonus Red Packet Pack (7 pieces)
Two silver-toned ring binders
Mixed papers and cardstocks
New, used and vintage papers
At least 40 items (= 80 pages)
Includes teams from Brookings, SF Lincoln, SF Roosevelt, RC Central. Permission granted for journalism outlets and educational purposes. Not for commercial use. Must be credited. Photo courtesy of South Dakota Public Broadcasting.
©2021 SDPB
Includes teams from Wagner/Bon Homme, Britton-Hecla, Vermillion, Stanley County and West Central. Permission granted for journalism outlets and educational purposes. Not for commercial use. Must be credited. Photo courtesy of South Dakota Public Broadcasting.
©2021 SDPB
Nine ethnicly diverse students with their teacher in a classroom. Student ethnic backgrounds include: Indian, Korean, Caucassian, Hispanic and African American.
Tenerife. Puerto de la Cruz.
The Risco Bello Aquatic Gardens
The right of the main facade of the Hotel Taoro is one of the most beautiful gardens of Puerto de la Cruz . The current Risco Bello has two farms purchased by D. René de Radiguès in 1969 and 1974 respectively. The first, which belonged to the family of Peter and Magdalena Fernández Ritzen , Risco Bello was the House , which includes the eastern part of the current garden. This family house built on lava and basalt, devoting part of the farm to banana cultivation . The second , called the Caledonia House , belonged to the Reid family , English family owns an import-export business . Located in the western part of the current garden, nearest to Hotel Taoro , consisted of a British colonial style house with over sixty years of history. It was in this building it and Reid had introduced some specimens of flowers and exotic plants.
The Belgian couple arrived in Tenerife in search of the beloved climate that benefits the health of Anna Maria , wife of Rene , who came to recover fully from their disease. René design the garden as an act of love for her , working up to eighty years in restoring homes and the creation of the garden, which later transformed into water due to water supply problems of the time. It generated a real microclimate able to feed themselves .
After eighteen years at Tenerife, in gratitude for the happiness you gave them the island , they decided to share with the world the beauty of this little paradise , opening to the public in 1988.
The farm , about two acres , is divided into five terraces , from which a privileged view over the Orotava Valley and much of the north coast is appreciated , and can even be spotted in days of prosperity the island of La Palma.
This garden has a collection of five hundred exotic , tropical and subtropical plants, which are increasing day by day thanks to the collaboration of collectors family friends . It is now anticipated that about a hundred new specimens unknown on the island are incorporated.
In the five terraces, of different styles, water treatment is combined with lush vegetation , giving appointment suspension bridges , waterfalls , caves and fountains, creating an environment of genuine dream .
The first of the terraces introduces visitors to a tranquil garden with a pergola in the center and a water fountain inside. The first of the lakes , next to a lovely terrace - café, and gives an idea of beauty that hide these gardens. At a second level access the second of them , the largest , where we can enjoy an extensive collection of exotic fruit trees and a scenic bridge over the lake. Bordering the pond crossed a cave over which falls a waterfall that feeds the lake.
The third , planted with acacias , mimosas and palm trees, is decorated with rustic pools . Then we access the most personal of the terraces. Riddled with huge jars in and out of the pond, impresses with its profuse aquatic vegetation which include water lilies and papyrus . In the last garden sticking her Japanese-inspired bridge half hidden in thick vegetation .
Throughout the tour, ducks, geese , pigeons and geese enjoy mingling with visitors.
Usually described as a small corner of paradise , or aquatic as authentic poetry, also César Manrique, a family friend , was fascinated by the beauty of these gardens , described by him as " Symphony in Green " . One of its current owners , Bernadette of Radiguès , remember the words spoken by his father praising Manrique its work to respect the natural environment : "I am the artist of white , gray , blue and black colors To you I give the prize. the green gardens of Canary
www.puertodelacruz.es/web/index.php?option=com_content&am...
Includes teams from Mitchell, Harrisburg, Watertown, Aberdeen Central. Permission granted for journalism outlets and educational purposes. Not for commercial use. Must be credited. Photo courtesy of South Dakota Public Broadcasting.
©2021 SDPB
Kashgar is an oasis city with an approximate population of 350,000. It is the westernmost city in China, located near the border with Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. Kashgar has a rich history of over 2,000 years and served as a trading post and strategically important city on the Silk Road between China, the Middle East, and Europe. Kashgar is part of the China–Pakistan Economic Corridor.
Located historically at the convergence point of widely varying cultures and empires, Kashgar has been under the rule of the Chinese, Turkic, Mongol, and Tibetan empires. The city has also been the site of an extraordinary number of battles between various groups of people on the steppes.
Now administered as a county-level unit of the People's Republic of China, Kashgar is the administrative centre of its eponymous prefecture in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region which has an area of 162,000 square kilometres and a population of approximately 3.5 million. The city's urban area covers 15 km2, though its administrative area extends over 555 km2.
NAME
The modern Chinese name is 喀什 (Kāshí), a shortened form of the longer and less-frequently used (simplified Chinese: 喀什噶尔; traditional Chinese: 喀什噶爾; pinyin: Kāshígé’ěr; Uyghur: قەشقەر). Ptolemy (AD 90-168), in his Geography, Chapter 15.3A, refers to Kashgar as “Kasi”. Its western and probably indigenous name is the Kāš ("rock"), to which the East Iranian -γar ("mountain"); cf. Pashto and Middle Persian gar/ġar, from Old Persian/Pahlavi girīwa ("hill; ridge (of a mountain)") was attached. Alternative historical Romanizations for "Kashgar" include Cascar and Cashgar.
Non-native names for the city, such as the old Chinese name Shule 疏勒 and Tibetan Śu-lig may have originated as an attempts to transcribe the Sanskrit name for Kashgar, Śrīkrīrāti ("fortunate hospitality")
Variant transcriptions of the official Uyghur: يېڭىشەھەر include: K̂äxk̂är or Kaxgar, as well as Jangi-schahr, Kashgar Yangi Shahr, K’o-shih-ka-erh, K’o-shih-ka-erh-hsin-ch’eng, Ko-shih-ka-erh-hui-ch’eng, K’o-shih-ko-erh-hsin-ch’eng, New Kashgar, Sheleh, Shuleh, Shulen, Shu-lo, Su-lo, Su-lo-chen, Su-lo-hsien, Yangi-shaar, Yangi-shahr, Yangishar, Yéngisheher, Yengixəh̨ər and Еңишәһәр.
HISTORY
HAN DYNASTY
The earliest mention of Kashgar occurs when a Chinese Han dynasty envoy traveled the Northern Silk Road to explore lands to the west.
Another early mention of Kashgar is during the Former Han (also known as the Western Han dynasty), when in 76 BC the Chinese conquered the Xiongnu, Yutian (Khotan), Sulei (Kashgar), and a group of states in the Tarim basin almost up to the foot of the Tian Shan range.
Ptolemy speaks of Scythia beyond the Imaus, which is in a “Kasia Regio”, probably exhibiting the name from which Kashgar and Kashgaria (often applied to the district) are formed. The country’s people practised Zoroastrianism and Buddhism before the coming of Islam.
In the Book of Han, which covers the period between 125 BC and 23 AD, it is recorded that there were 1,510 households, 18,647 people and 2,000 persons able to bear arms. By the time covered by the Book of the Later Han (roughly 25 to 170 AD), it had grown to 21,000 households and had 3,000 men able to bear arms.
The Book of the Later Han provides a wealth of detail on developments in the region:
"In the period of Emperor Wu [140-87 BC], the Western Regions1 were under the control of the Interior [China]. They numbered thirty-six kingdoms. The Imperial Government established a Colonel [in charge of] Envoys there to direct and protect these countries. Emperor Xuan [73-49 BC] changed this title [in 59 BC] to Protector-General.
Emperor Yuan [40-33 BC] installed two Wuji Colonels to take charge of the agricultural garrisons on the frontiers of the king of Nearer Jushi [Turpan].
During the time of Emperor Ai [6 BC-AD 1] and Emperor Ping [AD 1-5], the principalities of the Western Regions split up and formed fifty-five kingdoms. Wang Mang, after he usurped the Throne [in AD 9], demoted and changed their kings and marquises. Following this, the Western Regions became resentful, and rebelled. They, therefore, broke off all relations with the Interior [China] and, all together, submitted to the Xiongnu again.
The Xiongnu collected oppressively heavy taxes and the kingdoms were not able to support their demands. In the middle of the Jianwu period [AD 25-56], they each [Shanshan and Yarkand in 38, and 18 kingdoms in 45], sent envoys to ask if they could submit to the Interior [China], and to express their desire for a Protector-General. Emperor Guangwu, decided that because the Empire was not yet settled [after a long period of civil war], he had no time for outside affairs, and [therefore] finally refused his consent [in AD 45].
In the meantime, the Xiongnu became weaker. The king of Suoju [Yarkand], named Xian, wiped out several kingdoms. After Xian’s death [c. AD 62], they began to attack and fight each other. Xiao Yuan [Tura], Jingjue [Cadota], Ronglu [Niya], and Qiemo [Cherchen] were annexed by Shanshan [the Lop Nur region]. Qule [south of Keriya] and Pishan [modern Pishan or Guma] were conquered and fully occupied by Yutian [Khotan]. Yuli [Fukang], Danhuan, Guhu [Dawan Cheng], and Wutanzili were destroyed by Jushi [Turpan and Jimasa]. Later these kingdoms were re-established.
During the Yongping period [AD 58-75], the Northern Xiongnu forced several countries to help them plunder the commanderies and districts of Hexi. The gates of the towns stayed shut in broad daylight."
And, more particularly in reference to Kashgar itself, is the following record:
"In the sixteenth Yongping year of Emperor Ming 73, Jian, the king of Qiuci (Kucha), attacked and killed Cheng, the king of Shule (Kashgar). Then he appointed the Qiuci (Kucha) Marquis of the Left, Douti, King of Shule (Kashgar). ‹See TfD›
In winter 73, the Han sent the Major Ban Chao who captured and bound Douti. He appointed Zhong, the son of the elder brother of Cheng, to be king of Shule (Kashgar). Zhong later rebelled. (Ban) Chao attacked and beheaded him."
THE KUSHANS
The Book of the Later Han also gives the only extant historical record of Yuezhi or Kushan involvement in the Kashgar oasis:
"During the Yuanchu period (114-120) in the reign of Emperor, the king of Shule (Kashgar), exiled his maternal uncle Chenpan to the Yuezhi (Kushans) for some offence. The king of the Yuezhi became very fond of him. Later, Anguo died without leaving a son. His mother directed the government of the kingdom. She agreed with the people of the country to put Yifu (lit. “posthumous child”), who was the son of a full younger brother of Chenpan on the throne as king of Shule (Kashgar). Chenpan heard of this and appealed to the Yuezhi (Kushan) king, saying:
"Anguo had no son. His relative (Yifu) is weak. If one wants to put on the throne a member of (Anguo’s) mother’s family, I am Yifu’s paternal uncle, it is I who should be king."
The Yuezhi (Kushans) then sent soldiers to escort him back to Shule (Kashgar). The people had previously respected and been fond of Chenpan. Besides, they dreaded the Yuezhi (Kushans). They immediately took the seal and ribbon from Yifu and went to Chenpan, and made him king. Yifu was given the title of Marquis of the town of Pangao [90 li, or 37 km, from Shule].
‹See TfD›
Then Suoju (Yarkand) continued to resist Yutian (Khotan), and put themselves under Shule (Kashgar). Thus Shule (Kashgar), became powerful and a rival to Qiuci (Kucha) and Yutian (Khotan)."
However, it was not very long before the Chinese began to reassert their authority in the region:
“In the second Yongjian year (127), during Emperor Shun’s reign, Chenpan sent an envoy to respectfully present offerings. The Emperor bestowed on Chenpan the title of Great Commandant-in-Chief for the Han. Chenxun, who was the son of his elder brother, was appointed Temporary Major of the Kingdom. ‹See TfD›
In the fifth year (130), Chenpan sent his son to serve the Emperor and, along with envoys from Dayuan (Ferghana) and Suoju (Yarkand), brought tribute and offerings.”
From an earlier part of the same text comes the following addition:
“In the first Yangjia year (132), Xu You sent the king of Shule (Kashgar), Chenpan, who with 20,000 men, attacked and defeated Yutian (Khotan). He beheaded several hundred people, and released his soldiers to plunder freely. He replaced the king [of Jumi] by installing Chengguo from the family of [the previous king] Xing, and then he returned.”[38]
Then the first passage continues:
“In the second Yangjia year (133), Chenpan again made offerings (including) a lion and zebu cattle. ‹See TfD›
Then, during Emperor Ling’s reign, in the first Jianning year, the king of Shule (Kashgar) and Commandant-in-Chief for the Han (i.e. presumably Chenpan), was shot while hunting by the youngest of his paternal uncles, Hede. Hede named himself king.
‹See TfD›
In the third year (170), Meng Tuo, the Inspector of Liangzhou, sent the Provincial Officer Ren She, commanding five hundred soldiers from Dunhuang, with the Wuji Major Cao Kuan, and Chief Clerk of the Western Regions, Zhang Yan, brought troops from Yanqi (Karashahr), Qiuci (Kucha), and the Nearer and Further States of Jushi (Turpan and Jimasa), altogether numbering more than 30,000, to punish Shule (Kashgar). They attacked the town of Zhenzhong [Arach − near Maralbashi] but, having stayed for more than forty days without being able to subdue it, they withdrew. Following this, the kings of Shule (Kashgar) killed one another repeatedly while the Imperial Government was unable to prevent it.”
THREE KINGDOMS TO THE SUI
These centuries are marked by a general silence in sources on Kashgar and the Tarim Basin.
The Weilüe, composed in the second third of the 3rd century, mentions a number of states as dependencies of Kashgar: the kingdom of Zhenzhong (Arach?), the kingdom of Suoju (Yarkand), the kingdom of Jieshi, the kingdom of Qusha, the kingdom of Xiye (Khargalik), the kingdom of Yinai (Tashkurghan), the kingdom of Manli (modern Karasul), the kingdom of Yire (Mazar − also known as Tágh Nák and Tokanak), the kingdom of Yuling, the kingdom of Juandu (‘Tax Control’ − near modern Irkeshtam), the kingdom of Xiuxiu (‘Excellent Rest Stop’ − near Karakavak), and the kingdom of Qin.
However, much of the information on the Western Regions contained in the Weilüe seems to have ended roughly about (170), near the end of Han power. So, we can’t be sure that this is a reference to the state of affairs during the Cao Wei (220-265), or whether it refers to the situation before the civil war during the Later Han when China lost touch with most foreign countries and came to be divided into three separate kingdoms.
Chapter 30 of the Records of the Three Kingdoms says that after the beginning of the Wei Dynasty (220) the states of the Western Regions did not arrive as before, except for the larger ones such as Kucha, Khotan, Kangju, Wusun, Kashgar, Yuezhi, Shanshan and Turpan, who are said to have come to present tribute every year, as in Han times.
In 270, four states from the Western Regions were said to have presented tribute: Karashahr, Turpan, Shanshan, and Kucha. Some wooden documents from Niya seem to indicate that contacts were also maintained with Kashgar and Khotan around this time.
In 422, according to the Songshu, ch. 98, the king of Shanshan, Bilong, came to the court and "the thirty-six states in the Western Regions" all swore their allegiance and presented tribute. It must be assumed that these 36 states included Kashgar.
The "Songji" of the Zizhi Tongjian records that in the 5th month of 435, nine states: Kucha, Kashgar, Wusun, Yueban, Tashkurghan, Shanshan, Karashahr, Turpan and Sute all came to the Wei court.
In 439, according to the Weishu, ch. 4A, Shanshan, Kashgar and Karashahr sent envoys to present tribute.
According to the Weishu, ch. 102, Chapter on the Western Regions, the kingdoms of Kucha, Kashgar, Wusun, Yueban, Tashkurghan, Shanshan, Karashahr, Turpan and Sute all began sending envoys to present tribute in the Taiyuan reign period (435-440).
In 453 Kashgar sent envoys to present tribute (Weishu, ch. 5), and again in 455.
An embassy sent during the reign of Wencheng Di (452-466) from the king of Kashgar presented a supposed sacred relic of the Buddha; a dress which was incombustible.
In 507 Kashgar, is said to have sent envoys in both the 9th and 10th months (Weishu, ch. 8).
In 512, Kashgar sent envoys in the 1st and 5th months. (Weishu, ch. 8).
Early in the 6th century Kashgar is included among the many territories controlled by the Yeda or Hephthalite Huns, but their empire collapsed at the onslaught of the Western Turks between 563 and 567 who then probably gained control over Kashgar and most of the states in the Tarim Basin.
TANG DYNASTY
The founding of the Tang dynasty in 618 saw the beginning of a prolonged struggle between China and the Western Turks for control of the Tarim Basin. In 635, the Tang Annals reported an emissary from the king of Kashgar to the Tang capital. In 639 there was a second emissary bringing products of Kashgar as a token of submission to the Tang state.
Buddhist scholar Xuanzang passed through Kashgar (which he referred to as Ka-sha) in 644 on his return journey from India to China. The Buddhist religion, then beginning to decay in India, was active in Kashgar. Xuanzang recorded that they flattened their babies heads, tattooed their bodies and had green eyes. He reported that Kashgar had abundant crops, fruits and flowers, wove fine woolen stuffs and rugs. Their writing system had been adapted from Indian script but their language was different from that of other countries. The inhabitants were sincere Buddhist adherents and there were some hundreds of monasteries with more than 10,000 followers, all members of the Sarvastivadin School.
At around the same era, Nestorian Christians were establishing bishoprics at Herat, Merv and Samarkand, whence they subsequently proceeded to Kashgar, and finally to China proper itself.
In 646, the Turkic Kagan asked for the hand of a Tang Chinese princess, and in return the Emperor promised Kucha, Khotan, Kashgar, Karashahr and Sarikol as a marriage gift, but this did not happen as planned.
In a series of campaigns between 652 and 658, with the help of the Uyghurs, the Chinese finally defeated the Western Turk tribes and took control of all their domains, including the Tarim Basin kingdoms. Karakhoja was annexed in 640, Karashahr during campaigns in 644 and 648, and Kucha fell in 648.
In 662 a rebellion broke out in the Western Regions and a Chinese army sent to control it was defeated by the Tibetans south of Kashgar.
After another defeat of the Tang Chinese forces in 670, the Tibetans gained control of the whole region and completely subjugated Kashgar in 676-8 and retained possession of it until 692, when the Tang dynasty regained control of all their former territories, and retained it for the next fifty years.
In 722 Kashgar sent 4,000 troops to assist the Chinese to force the "Tibetans out of "Little Bolu" or Gilgit.
In 728, the king of Kashgar was awarded a brevet by the Chinese emperor.
In 739, the Tangshu relates that the governor of the Chinese garrison in Kashgar, with the help of Ferghana, was interfering in the affairs of the Turgesh tribes as far as Talas.
In 751 the Chinese were defeated by an Arab army in the Battle of Talas. The An Lushan Rebellion led to the decline of Tang influence in Central Asia due to the fact that the Tang dynasty was forced to withdraw its troops from the region to fight An Lushan. The Tibetans cut all communication between China and the West in 766.
Soon after the Chinese pilgrim monk Wukong passed through Kashgar in 753. He again reached Kashgar on his return trip from India in 786 and mentions a Chinese deputy governor as well as the local king.
BATTLES WITH ARAB CALIPHATE
In 711, the Arabs invaded Kashgar, but did not hold the city for any length of time. Kashgar and Turkestan lent assistance to the reigning queen of Bukhara, to enable her to repel the Arabs. Although the Muslim religion from the very commencement sustained checks, it nevertheless made its weight felt upon the independent states of Turkestan to the north and east, and thus acquired a steadily growing influence. It was not, however, till the 10th century that Islam was established at Kashgar, under the Kara-Khanid Khanate.
THE TURKIC RULE
According to the 10th-century text, Hudud al-'alam, "the chiefs of Kashghar in the days of old were from the Qarluq, or from the Yaghma." The Karluks, Yaghmas and other tribes such as the Chigils formed the Karakhanids. The Karakhanid Sultan Satuq Bughra Khan converted to Islam in the 10th century and captured Kashgar. Kashgar was the capital of the Karakhanid state for a time but later the capital was moved to Balasaghun. During the latter part of the 10th century, the Muslim Karakhanids began a struggle against the Buddhist Kingdom of Khotan, and the Khotanese defeated the Karakhanids and captured Kashgar in 970. Chinese sources recorded the king of Khotan offering to send them a dancing elephant captured from Kashgar. Later in 1006, the Karakhanids of Kashgar under Yusuf Kadr Khan conquered Khotan.
The Karakhanid Khanate however was beset with internal strife, and the khanate split into two, the Eastern and Western Karakhanid Khanates, with Kashgar falling within the domain of the Eastern Karakhanid state. In 1089, the Western Karakhanids fell under the control of the Seljuks, but the Eastern Karakhanids was for the most part independent.
Both the Karakhanid states were defeated in the 12th century by the Kara-Khitans who captured Balasaghun, however Karakhanid rule continued in Kashgar under the suzerainty of the Kara-Khitans. The Kara-Khitan rulers followed a policy of religious tolerance, Islamic religious life continued uninterrupted and Kashgar was also a Nestorian metropolitan see. The last Karakhanid of Kashgar was killed in a revolt in 1211 by the city's notables. Kuchlug, a usurper of the throne of the Kara-Khitans, then attacked Kashgar which finally surrendered in 1214.
THE MONGOLS
The Kara-Khitai in their turn were swept away in 1219 by Genghis Khan. After his death, Kashgar came under the rule of the Chagatai Khans. Marco Polo visited the city, which he calls Cascar, about 1273-4 and recorded the presence of numerous Nestorian Christians, who had their own churches. Later In the 14th century, a Chagataid khan Tughluq Timur converted to Islam, and Islamic tradition began to reassert its ascendancy.
In 1389−1390 Tamerlane ravaged Kashgar, Andijan and the intervening country. Kashgar endured a troubled time, and in 1514, on the invasion of the Khan Sultan Said, was destroyed by Mirza Ababakar, who with the aid of ten thousand men built a new fort with massive defences higher up on the banks of the Tuman river. The dynasty of the Chagatai Khans collapsed in 1572 with the division of the country among rival factions; soon after, two powerful Khoja factions, the White and Black Mountaineers (Ak Taghliq or Afaqi, and Kara Taghliq or Ishaqi), arose whose differences and war-making gestures, with the intermittent episode of the Oirats of Dzungaria, make up much of recorded history in Kashgar until 1759. The Dzungar Khanate conquered Kashgar and set up the Khoja as their puppet rulers.
QING CONQUEST
The Qing dynasty defeated the Dzungar Khanate during the Ten Great Campaigns and took control of Kashgar in 1759. The conquerors consolidated their authority by settling other ethnics emigrants in the vicinity of a Manchu garrison.
Rumours flew around Central Asia that the Qing planned to launch expeditions towards Transoxiana and Samarkand, the chiefs of which sought assistance from the Afghan king Ahmed Shah Abdali. The alleged expedition never happened so Ahmad Shah withdrew his forces from Kokand. He also dispatched an ambassador to Beijing to discuss the situation of the Afaqi Khojas, but the representative was not well received, and Ahmed Shah was too busy fighting off the Sikhs to attempt to enforce his demands through arms.
The Qing continued to hold Kashgar with occasional interruptions during the Afaqi Khoja revolts. One of the most serious of these occurred in 1827, when the city was taken by Jahanghir Khoja; Chang-lung, however, the Qing general of Ili, regained possession of Kashgar and the other rebellious cities in 1828.
The Kokand Khanate raided Kashgar several times. A revolt in 1829 under Mahommed Ali Khan and Yusuf, brother of Jahanghir resulted in the concession of several important trade privileges to the Muslims of the district of Altishahr (the "six cities"), as it was then called.
The area enjoyed relative calm until 1846 under the rule of Zahir-ud-din, the local Uyghur governor, but in that year a new Khoja revolt under Kath Tora led to his accession as the authoritarian ruler of the city. However, his reign was brief—at the end of seventy-five days, on the approach of the Chinese, he fled back to Khokand amid the jeers of the inhabitants. The last of the Khoja revolts (1857) was of about equal duration, and took place under Wali-Khan, who murdered the well-known traveler Adolf Schlagintweit.
1862 CHINESE HUI REVOLT
The great Dungan revolt (1862–1877) involved insurrection among various Muslim ethnic groups. It broke out in 1862 in Gansu then spread rapidly to Dzungaria and through the line of towns in the Tarim Basin.
Dungan troops based in Yarkand rose and in August 1864 massacred some seven thousand Chinese and their Manchu commander. The inhabitants of Kashgar, rising in their turn against their masters, invoked the aid of Sadik Beg, a Kyrgyz chief, who was reinforced by Buzurg Khan, the heir of Jahanghir Khoja, and his general Yakub Beg. The latter men were dispatched at Sadik’s request by the ruler of Khokand to raise what troops they could to aid his Muslim friends in Kashgar.
Sadik Beg soon repented of having asked for a Khoja, and eventually marched against Kashgar, which by this time had succumbed to Buzurg Khan and Yakub Beg, but was defeated and driven back to Khokand. Buzurg Khan delivered himself up to indolence and debauchery, but Yakub Beg, with singular energy and perseverance, made himself master of Yangi Shahr, Yangi-Hissar, Yarkand and other towns, and eventually became sole master of the country, Buzurg Khan proving himself totally unfit for the post of ruler.
With the overthrow of Chinese rule in 1865 by Yakub Beg (1820–1877), the manufacturing industries of Kashgar are supposed to have declined.
Yaqub Beg entered into relations and signed treaties with the Russian Empire and the British Empire, but when he tried to get their support against China, he failed.
Kashgar and the other cities of the Tarim Basin remained under Yakub Beg’s rule until May 1877, when he died at Korla. Thereafter Kashgaria was reconquered by the forces of the Qing general Zuo Zongtang during the Qing reconquest of Xinjiang.
QING RULE
There were eras in Xinjiang's history where intermarriage was common, "laxity" which set upon Uyghur women led them to marry Chinese men and not wear the veil in the period after Yaqub Beg's rule ended, it is also believed by Uyghurs that some Uyghurs have Han Chinese ancestry from historical intermarriage, such as those living in Turpan.
Even though Muslim women are forbidden to marry non-Muslims in Islamic law, from 1880-1949 it was frequently violated in Xinjiang since Chinese men married Muslim Turki (Uyghur) women, a reason suggested by foriengers that it was due to the women being poor, while the Turki women who married Chinese were labelled as whores by the Turki community, these marriages were illegitimate according to Islamic law but the women obtained benefits from marrying Chinese men since the Chinese defended them from Islamic authorities so the women were not subjected to the tax on prostitution and were able to save their income for themselves. Chinese men gave their Turki wives privileges which Turki men's wives did not have, since the wives of Chinese did not have to wear a veil and a Chinese man in Kashgar once beat a mullah who tried to force his Turki Kashgari wife to veil. The Turki women also benefited in that they were not subjected to any legal binding to their Chinese husbands so they could make their Chinese husbands provide them with as much their money as she wanted for her relatives and herself since otherwise the women could just leave, and the property of Chinese men was left to their Turki wives after they died. Turki women considered Turki men to be inferior husbands to Chinese and Hindus. Because they were viewed as "impure", Islamic cemeteries banned the Turki wives of Chinese men from being buried within them, the Turki women got around this problem by giving shrines donations and buying a grave in other towns. Besides Chinese men, other men such as Hindus, Armenians, Jews, Russians, and Badakhshanis intermarried with local Turki women. The local society accepted the Turki women and Chinese men's mixed offspring as their own people despite the marriages being in violation of Islamic law. Turki women also conducted temporary marriages with Chinese men such as Chinese soldiers temporarily stationed around them as soldiers for tours of duty, after which the Chinese men returned to their own cities, with the Chinese men selling their mixed daughters with the Turki women to his comrades, taking their sons with them if they could afford it but leaving them if they couldn't, and selling their temporary Turki wife to a comrade or leaving her behind.
An anti-Russian uproar broke out when Russian customs officials, 3 Cossacks and a Russian courier invited local Turki (Uyghur) prostitutes to a party in January 1902 in Kashgar, this caused a massive brawl by the inflamed local Turki Muslim populace against the Russians on the pretense of protecting Muslim women because there was anti-Russian sentiment being built up, even though morality was not strict in Kashgar, the local Turki Muslims violently clashed with the Russians before they were dispersed by guards, the Chinese sought to end to tensions to prevent the Russians from building up a pretext to invade.
After the riot, the Russians sent troops to Sarikol in Tashkurghan and demanded that the Sarikol postal services be placed under Russian supervision, the locals of Sarikol believed that the Russians would seize the entire district from the Chinese and send more soldiers even after the Russians tried to negotiate with the Begs of Sarikol and sway them to their side, they failed since the Sarikoli officials and authorities demanded in a petition to the Amban of Yarkand that they be evacuated to Yarkand to avoid being harassed by the Russians and objected to the Russian presence in Sarikol, the Sarikolis did not believe the Russian claim that they would leave them alone and only involved themselves in the mail service.
Many of the young Kashgari women were most attractive in appearance, and some of the little girls quite lovely, their plaits of long hair falling from under a jaunty little embroidered cap, their big dark eyes, flashing teeth and piquant olive faces reminding me of Italian or Spanish children. One most beautiful boy stands out in my memory. He was clad in a new shirt and trousers of flowered pink, his crimson velvet cap embroidered with gold, and as he smiled and salaamed to us I thought he looked like a fairy prince. The women wear their hair in two or five plaits much thickened and lengthened by the addition of yak's hair, but the children in several tiny plaits.
The peasants are fairly well off, as the soil is rich, the abundant water-supply free, and the taxation comparatively light. It was always interesting to meet them taking their live stock into market. Flocks of sheep with tiny lambs, black and white, pattered along the dusty road; here a goat followed its master like a dog, trotting behind the diminutive ass which the farmer bestrode; or boys, clad in the whity-brown native cloth, shouted incessantly at donkeys almost invisible under enormous loads of forage, or carried fowls and ducks in bunches head downwards, a sight that always made me long to come to the rescue of the luckless birds.
It was pleasant to see the women riding alone on horseback, managing their mounts to perfection. They formed a sharp contrast to their Persian sisters, who either sit behind their husbands or have their steeds led by the bridle; and instead of keeping silence in public, as is the rule for the shrouded women of Iran, these farmers' wives chaffered and haggled with the men in the bazar outside the city, transacting business with their veils thrown back.
Certainly the mullas do their best to keep the fair sex in their place, and are in the habit of beating those who show their faces in the Great Bazar. But I was told that poetic justice had lately been meted out to one of these upholders of the law of Islam, for by mistake he chastised a Kashgari woman married to a Chinaman, whereupon the irate husband set upon him with a big stick and castigated him soundly.
That a Muslim should take in marriage one of alien faith is not objected to; it is rather deemed a meritorious act thus to bring an unbeliever to the true religion. The Muslim woman, on the other hand, must not be given in marriage to a non-Muslim; such a union is regarded as the most heinous of sins. In this matter, however, compromises are sometimes made with heaven: the marriage of a Turki princess with the emperor Ch'ien-lung has already been referred to; and, when the present writer passed through Minjol (a day's journey west of Kashgar) in 1902, a Chinese with a Turki wife (? concubine) was presented to him.
FIRST EAST TURKESTAN REPUBLIC
Kashgar was the scene of continual battles from 1933 to 1934. Ma Shaowu, a Chinese Muslim, was the Tao-yin of Kashgar, and he fought against Uyghur rebels. He was joined by another Chinese Muslim general, Ma Zhancang.
BATTLE OF KASHGAR (1933)
Uighur and Kirghiz forces, led by the Bughra brothers and Tawfiq Bay, attempted to take the New City of Kashgar from Chinese Muslim troops under General Ma Zhancang. They were defeated.
Tawfiq Bey, a Syrian Arab traveler, who held the title Sayyid (descendent of prophet Muhammed) and arrived at Kashgar on August 26, 1933, was shot in the stomach by the Chinese Muslim troops in September. Previously Ma Zhancang arranged to have the Uighur leader Timur Beg killed and beheaded on August 9, 1933, displaying his head outside of Id Kah Mosque.
Han chinese troops commanded by Brigadier Yang were absorbed into Ma Zhancang's army. A number of Han chinese officers were spotted wearing the green uniforms of Ma Zhancang's unit of the 36th division, presumably they had converted to Islam.
BATTLE OF KASHGAR (1934)
The 36th division General Ma Fuyuan led a Chinese Muslim army to storm Kashgar on February 6, 1934, attacking the Uighur and Kirghiz rebels of the First East Turkestan Republic. He freed another 36th division general, Ma Zhancang, who was trapped with his Chinese Muslim and Han Chinese troops in Kashgar New City by the Uighurs and Kirghiz since May 22, 1933. In January, 1934, Ma Zhancang's Chinese Muslim troops repulsed six Uighur attacks, launched by Khoja Niyaz, who arrived at the city on January 13, 1934, inflicting massive casualties on the Uighur forces. From 2,000 to 8,000 Uighur civilians in Kashgar Old City were massacred by Tungans in February, 1934, in revenge for the Kizil massacre, after retreating of Uighur forces from the city to Yengi Hisar. The Chinese Muslim and 36th division Chief General Ma Zhongying, who arrived at Kashgar on April 7, 1934, gave a speech at Id Kah Mosque in April, reminding the Uighurs to be loyal to the Republic of China government at Nanjing. Several British citizens at the British consulate were killed or wounded by the 36th division on March 16, 1934.
PEOPLE´S REPUBLIC OF CHINA
Kashgar was incorporated into the People's Republic of China in 1949. During the Cultural Revolution, one of the largest statues of Mao in China was built in Kashgar, near People's Square. In 1986, the Chinese government designated Kashgar a "city of historical and cultural significance". Kashgar and surrounding regions have been the site of Uyghur unrest since the 1990s. In 2008, two Uyghur men carried out a vehicular, IED and knife attack against police officers. In 2009, development of Kashgar's old town accelerated after the revelations of the deadly role of faulty architecture during the 2008 Sichuan earthquake. Many of the old houses in the old town were built without regulation, and as a result, officials found them to be overcrowded and non-compliant with fire and earthquake codes. When the plan started, 42% of the city's residents lived in the old town. With compensation, residents of faulty buildings are being counseled to move to newer, safer buildings that will replace the historic structures in the $448 million plan, including high-rise apartments, plazas, and reproductions of ancient Islamic architecture. The European Parliament issued a resolution in 2011 calling for "culture-sensitive methods of renovation." The International Scientific Committee on Earthen Architectural Heritage (ISCEAH) has expressed concern over the demolition and reconstruction of historic buildings. ISCEAH has, additionally, urged the implementation of techniques utilized elsewhere in the world to address earthquake vulnerability.
Following the July 2009 Urumqi riots, the government focused on local economic development in an attempt to ameliorate ethnic tensions in the greater Xinjiang region. Kashgar was made into a Special Economic Zone in 2010, the first such zone in China's far west. In 2011, a spate of violence over two days killed dozens of people. By May 2012 two-thirds of the old city had been demolished, fulfilling "political as well as economic goals." In July 2014 the Imam of the Id Kah Mosque, Juma Tayir, was assassinated in Kashgar.
CLIMATE
Kashgar features a desert climate (Köppen BWk) with hot summers and cold winters, with large temperature differences between those two seasons: The monthly 24-hour average temperature ranges from −5.3 °C in January to 25.6 °C in July, while the annual mean is 11.84 °C. Spring is long and arrives quickly, while fall is somewhat brief in comparison. Kashgar is one of the driest cities on the planet, averaging only 64 millimetres of precipitation per year. The city’s wettest month, July, only sees on average 9.1 millimetres of rain. Because of the extremely arid conditions, snowfall is rare, despite the cold winters. Records have been as low as −24.4 °C in January and up to 40.1 °C in July. The frost-free period averages 215 days. With monthly percent possible sunshine ranging from 50% in March to 70% in September, the city receives 2,726 hours of bright sunshine annually.
DEMOGRAPHICS
Kashgar is predominately peopled by Muslim Uyghurs. Compared to Ürümqi, Xinjiang's capital and largest city, Kashgar is less industrial and has significantly fewer Han Chinese residents.
ECONOMICS AND SOCIETY
The city has a very important Sunday market. Thousands of farmers from the surrounding fertile lands come into the city to sell a wide variety of fruit and vegetables. Kashgar’s livestock market is also very lively. Silk and carpets made in Hotan are sold at bazaars, as well as local crafts, such as copper teapots and wooden jewellery boxes.
In order to boost the economy in Kashgar region, the government classified the area as the sixth Special Economic Zone of China in May 2010.
Mahmud al-Kashgari (Turkish: Kâşgarlı Mahmud) (Mahmut from Kashgar) wrote the first Turkic–Arabic Exemplary Dictionary called Divan-ı Lugat-it Türk[citation needed]
The movie The Kite Runner was filmed in Kashgar. Kashgar and the surrounding countryside stood in for Kabul and Afghanistan, since filming in Afghanistan was not possible due to safety and security reasons.
SIGHTS
Kashgar's Old City has been called "the best-preserved example of a traditional Islamic city to be found anywhere in Central Asia". It is estimated to attract more than one million tourists annually.
- Id Kah Mosque, the largest mosque in China, is located in the heart of the city.
- People's Park, the main public park in central Kashgar.
- An 18 m high statue of Mao Zedong in Kashgar is one of the few large-scale statues of Mao remaining in China.
- The tomb of Afaq Khoja in Kashgar is considered the holiest Muslim site in Xinjiang. Built in the 17th century, the tiled mausoleum 5 km northeast of the city centre also contains the tombs of five generations of his family. Abakh was a powerful ruler, controlling Khotan, Yarkand, Korla, Kucha and Aksu as well as Kashgar. Among some Uyghur Muslims, he was considered a great Saint (Aulia).
- Sunday Market in Kashgar is renowned as the biggest market in central Asia; a pivotal trading point along the Silk Road where goods have been traded for more than 2,000 years. The market is open every day but Sunday is the largest.
TRANSPORTATION
AIR
Kashgar Airport serves mainly domestic flights, the majority of them from Urumqi. The only scheduled international flights are passenger and cargo services with Pakistan's capital Islamabad.
RAIL
Kashgar has the westernmost railway station in China. It is connected to the rest of China's rail network via the Southern Xinjiang Railway, which was built in December 1999. Kashgar–Hotan Railway opened for passenger traffic in June 2011, and connected Kashgar with cities in the southern Tarim Basin including Shache (Yarkand), Yecheng (Kargilik) and Hotan. Travel time to Urumqi from Kashgar is approximately 25 hours, while travel time to Hotan is approximately ten hours.
The investigation work of a further extension of the railway line to Pakistan has begun. In November 2009, Pakistan and China agreed to set up a joint venture to do a feasibility study of the proposed rail link via the Khunjerab Pass.
Proposals for a rail connection to Osh in Kyrgyzstan have also been discussed at various levels since at least 1996.
In 2012, a standard gauge railway from Kashgar via Tajikistan and Afghanistan to Iran and beyond has been proposed.
ROAD
The Karakorum highway (KKH) links Islamabad, Pakistan with Kashgar over the Khunjerab Pass. The China–Pakistan Economic Corridor is a multibillion-dollar project was that will upgrade transport links between China and Pakistan, including the upgrades to the Karakorum highway. Bus routes exist for passenger travel south into Pakistan. Kyrgyzstan is also accessible from Kashgar, via the Torugart Pass and Irkeshtam Pass; as of summer 2007, daily bus service connects Kashgar with Bishkek’s Western Bus Terminal. Kashgar is also located on China National Highways G314 (which runs to Khunjerab Pass on the Sino−Pakistani border, and, in the opposite direction, towards Ürümqi), and G315, which runs to Xining, Qinghai from Kashgar.
WIKIPEDIA
A moody sky provided a backdrop for the Kitesurfers of Shoreham Beach this evening.
Kite #41 for the Treasure hunt
This is a medium-sized bird of prey in the family Accipitridae which also includes many other diurnal raptors such as kites, buzzards and harriers.
They can be recognised in the field by their predominantly white underside, the upper parts being greyish brown. The chin, throat and upper breast are a pale, earthy brown. The tail has 3 or 4 bars. Additional indications are an owl-like rounded head, brightly yellow eyes and lightly barred under wing.
The Short-toed Snake Eagle is an accomplished flyer and spends more time on the wing than do most members of its genus. It favours soaring over hill slopes and hilltops on updraughts, and it does much of its hunting from this position at heights of up to 500 meters (550 yards). When quartering open country it frequently hovers like a Kestrel. When it soars it does so on flattish wings.
Its prey is mostly reptiles, mainly snakes, but also some lizards. Sometimes they become entangled with larger snakes and battle on the ground. Occasionally, they prey on small mammals up to the size of a rabbit, and rarely birds and large insects.
This eagle is generally very silent. On occasions, it emits a variety of musical whistling notes. When breeding, it lays only one egg; it can live up to 17 years.
The Short-toed Snake Eagle has suffered a steep decline in numbers and range in Europe and is now rare and still decreasing in several countries due to changes in agriculture and land use. It needs protection.
Source: Wikipedia
18/01/16 #1113. Snow and trees dominate the landscape around here. So quiet in the cold and thankfully still air with not a bird call to be heard
Shape is for LeLUTKA Avalon Head /Reborn
INCLUDES
• 1 Shape [modify/copy]
• Reborn V-tech
• 1 Eyebrows [modify/copy]
• Style Card
PERMISSIONS
☑ Copy
☑ Modifiy
☐ Transfer
- There is no DEMO for this shape.
- Mesh head & body NOT INCLUDED
www.primfeed.com/xxtoxiclilmonsterxx.resident
marketplace.secondlife.com/p/SavagePrincess-Lelutka-Avalo...