NON HINDUS

ARE NOT ALLOWED INSIDE THE TEMPLE

 

Lingaraj Temple is a Hindu temple dedicated to Harihara, a form of Shiva and is one of the oldest temples in Bhubaneswar, the capital of the East Indian state of Odisha (formerly Orissa). The temple is the most prominent landmark of the Bhubaneswar city and one of the major tourist attractions of the state.

 

The Lingaraj temple is the largest temple in Bhubaneswar. The central tower of the temple is 55 m tall. The temple represents the quintessence of the Kalinga Architecture and culminates the medieval stages of the architectural tradition at Bhubaneswar. The temple is believed to be built by the kings from the Somavamsi dynasty, with later additions from the Ganga rulers. The temple is built in the Deula style that has four components namely, vimana (structure containing the sanctum), jagamohana (assembly hall), natamandira (festival hall) and bhoga-mandapa (hall of offerings), each increasing in the height to its predecessor. The temple complex has 50 other shrines and is enclosed by a large compound wall.

 

Bhubaneswar is called the Ekamra Kshetra as the deity of Lingaraj was originally under a mango tree (Ekamra) as noted in Ekamra Purana, a 13th-century Sanskrit treatise. The temple is active in worship practises, unlike most other temples in Bhubaneswar and Shiva is worshipped as Harihara, a combined form of Vishnu and Shiva. The temple has images of Vishnu, possibly because of the rising prominence of Jagannath cult emnating from the Ganga rulers who built the Jagannath Temple in Puri in the 12th century.

 

Lingaraj temple is maintained by the Temple Trust Board and the Archeological Survey of India (ASI). The temple has an average of 6,000 visitors per day and receives lakhs of visitors during festivals. Shivaratri festival is the major festival celebrated in the temple and event during 2012 witnessed 200,000 visitors.

 

HISTORY

Lingaraj means "The king of Lingam", the symbol of Saivism. Shiva was worshipped as Kirtivasa and later as Harihara and is commonly referred as Tribhuvaneshwara (also called Bhubaneswar), the master of three worlds, namely, heaven, earth and netherworld). His consort is called Bhuvaneshvari.

 

The temple is more than 1100 years old, dating back in its present form to the last decade of the eleventh century, though there is evidence that part of the temple was built during the sixth century CE as the temple has been emphasized in some of the seventh century Sanskrit texts. Fergusson believes the temple might have been initiated by Lelat Indra Kesari who reigned from 615 to 657 CE. The Assembly hall (jagamohana), sanctum and temple tower wer built during the eleventh century, while the Hall of offering (bhoga-mandapa) was built during the twelfth century. The natamandira was built by the wife of Salini between 1099 and 1104 CE. By the time the Lingaraj temple was completely constructed, the Jagannath (form of Vishnu) cult had been growing in the region, which historians believe is evidenced by the co-existence of Vishnu and Shiva worship at the temple. The Ganga dynasty kings were ardent followers of Vaishnavism and built the Jagannath Temple at Puri in the 12th century.

 

The temple is believed to be built by the Somavanshi king Jajati Keshari, in 11th century CE. Jajati Keshari had shifted his capital from Jajpur to Bhubaneswar which was referred to as Ekamra Kshetra in the Brahma Purana, an ancient scripture. One of the Somavamsi queens donated a village to the temple and the Brahmins attached to the temple received generous grants. An inscription from the Saka year 1094 (1172 CE) indicates gifts of gold coins to the temple by Rajaraja II. Another inscription of Narasimha I from the 11th century indicates offer of beetel leaves as tambula to the presiding deity. Other stone inscriptions in the temple indicate royal grants from Chodaganga to village people.

 

ARCHITECTURE

The Lingaraj temple is the largest temple in Bhubaneswar. James Ferugsson (1808–86), a noted critic and historian, rated the temple as "one of the finest examples of purely Hindu temple in India". It is enshrined within a spacious compound wall of laterite measuring 160 m by 142 m. The wall is 2.3 m thick and surmounted by a plain slant coping. Alongside the inner face of the boundary wall, there is a terrace to protect the compound wall against outside aggression. The tower is 55 m high and the complex has 150 smaller shrines in its spacious courtyard. Each inch of the 55 m tall tower is sculpted. The door in the gate of the entrance porch is made of sandalwood.

 

The Lingaraja temple faces east and is built of sandstone and laterite. The main entrance is located in the east, while there are small entrances in the north and south. The temple is built in the Deula style that has four components namely, vimana (structure containing the sanctum), jagamohana (assembly hall), natamandira (festival hall) and bhoga-mandapa (hall of offerings). The dance hall was associated with the raising prominence of the devadasi system that existed during the time. The various units from the Hall of offering to the tower of the sanctum increase in height.

 

The bhogamandapa (Hall of offering) measures 13 m by 13 m from the inside, 17.15 m by 17.25 m from the outside and has four doors in each of the sides. The exterior walls of the hall has decorative sculptures of men and beast. The hall has a pyramidal roof made of up several horizontal layers arranged in sets of two with intervening platform. It bears an inverted bell and a kalasa in the top. The natamandira (festival hall) measures 12 m by 12 m from the inside, 15 m by 15 m from the outside, has one main entrance and two side entrances. The side walls of the hall has decortive sculptures displaying women and couples. It has a flat roof sloping in stages. There are thick pylons inside the hall. The jagamohana (assembly hall) measures 11 m by 9.1 m from the inside, 17 m by 15 m from the outside, entrances from south and north and has a 30 metres tall roof. The hall has a pyramidal roof made of up several horizontal layers arranged in sets of two with intervening platform as in the Hall of offering. The facade to the entrances are decorated with perforated windows with lion sitting on hind legs. The inverted bell above second unit is adorned by kalasa and lions. The rekha deula has a 60 m tall pyramidal tower over the sanctum and measures 6.7 m from the inside, 16 m from the outside over the sanctum. It is covered with decorative design and seated lion projecting from the walls. The sanctum is square in shape from the inside. The tower walls are sculpted with female figures in different poses.

 

RELIGIOUS SIGNIFICANCE

Bhubaneswar is called the Ekamra Kshetra as the deity of Lingaraj was originally under a mango tree (Ekamra). Ekamra Purana, a Sanskrit treatise of the 13th century mentions that the presiding deity was not seen as lingam (an aniconic form of Shiva) during the Satya and Treta yugas and only during the Dwapara and Kali yugas, it emerged as a lingam. The lingam in the temple is a natural unshaped stone that rests on a Sakti. Such a lingam is called Krutibasa or Swayambhu and is found in 64 places in different parts of India. With the advent of the Ganga dynasty in the early 12th century, who had Vaishnavaite orientation, a new movement started resulting in the synthesis of Saivism and Vaishnavism. The Ekamra was associated with Vaishanavite gods Krishna and Balaram during the period. It is attributed the raising prominence of Jagannath cult that became predominant during the construction of the temple. The Ganges remodelled the temple and introduced certain Vaishnavite elements like images of Vaishnava Dwarapalas namely Jaya and Prachanda, Jagannatha, Lakshmi Narayan and Garuda were installed. Tulsi leaves, which are favoured by Vishnu, was used along with Bela leaves for the worship of Lingaraj. Lingaraja was thus came to be known as Harihara, a combination of Shiva and Vishnu. The flag of the temple was fixed to a Pinaka bow instead of trident usually found in Shiva temples. The temple priests also changed the mark in their forehead from horizontal to a "U" sign with a dotted middle line. The Ganges also introduced certain fairs like Swing festival, Sun worship and mock quarell between priests after chariot festival, similar to the practises in Jagannath Temple in Puri. The influence of the Ganges dynasty has led to a cosmopolitan culture, that has reduced the status of Lingaraja temple as a distinct Saivite shrine.

 

FESTIVAL & WORSHIP PRACTISES

As per Hindu legend, an underground river originating from the Lingaraj temple fills the Bindusagar Tank (meaning ocean drop) and the water is believed to heal physical and spiritual illness. The water from the tank is thus treated sacred and pilgrims take a holy dip during festive occasions. The central deity of the temple, Lingaraj, is worshipped both as Shiva and Vishnu. The harmony between the two sects of Hinduism, Saivism and Vaishanvism, is seen in this temple where the deity is worshipped as Harihara, a combined form of Vishnu and Shiva.

 

Shivaratri is the main festival celebrated annually in Phalgun month when thousands of devotees visit the temple. Apart from a full day of fasting, bel leaves are offered to Lingaraj on this auspicious day. The main celebrations take place at night when devotees pray all night long. The devout usually break their fast after the Mahadipa (a huge lamp) is lit on the spire of the temple. Every year the chariot festival (Ratha-Yatra) of Lingaraja is celebrated on Ashokashtami. The deity is taken in a chariot to Rameshwar Deula temple. Thousands of devotees follow and pull brightly decorated chariots containing the idols of Lingaraj and his sister Rukmani. This chariot procession stays for five days at the Rameshwar Temple and then will be brought back. This festival commemorates Lord Lingaraj having slayed a demon. Thousands of bol bom pilgrims carry water from river Mahanadi and walk all the way to the temple during the month of Shravana every year. Sunian day is observed from royal times in the month of Bhandra, a day when temple servants, peasants and other holders of temple lands offer loyalty and tribute to Lingaraja. Candan Yatra (Sandalwood ceremony) is a 22-day festival celebrated in the temple when servants of the temple disport themselves in a specially made barge in Bindusagar tank. The deities and servants of the temples are anointed with sandalwood paste to protect from heat. Dances, communal feasts and merrymaking are arranged by the people associated with the temple.

 

The Lingaraja temple is active in worship practises, unlike the other ancient temples of Bhubaneshwar which are not active worship centres. Non Hindus are not allowed inside the temple, but it can be viewed from the viewing platform located outside the temple. The viewing platform and the back of the temple can be reached via a lineway located to the right of the main entrance of the temple. Sanctity of the temple is maitained by disallowing dogs, unbathed visitors, menstruating women and families that encountered birth or death in the preceding 12 days. In case of a foreign tresspass, the temple follows a purification ritual and dumping of prasad (food offering) in a well.

 

RELIGIOUS PRACTICES

The image of Lingaraja is abluted with water (called mahasnana) several times a day and decorated with flowers, sandal paste and cloth. Hemlock or hemlock flowers which are generally offered in other Shiva temples is not allowed in the Lingaraja temple. Bilva leaves (Aegle marmelos) and tulasi (Ocimum sanctum) are used in daily worship. Offerings of cooked rice, curries and sweet-meats are displayed in the bhogamandapa (hall of offering) and the divinity is invoked to accept them amidst scores of chanting of Sanskrit texts. Coconut, ripe plantains and kora-khai are generally offered to Lingaraja by the pilgrims. Bhang beverage is offered to Lingaraja by some devotees especially on the day of Pana Sankranti (Oriya new year).

 

The Lingaraja temple is open from 6 a.m. to about 9 p.m. and is intermittently closed during bhoga (food offering) to the deity. During early morning, lamps in the cella are lit to awaken Lingaraja from his sleep, ablution is performed, followed by adoration and arati (waving of light). The temple is closed at about 12 p.m. until about 3.30 P.M. A ceremony known as Mahasnana (ablution) is performed once the doors are closed, followed by pouring of Panchamrita (a mixture of milk, curdled milk, clarified butter, honey and ghee) upon the deity for purification. At about 1 P.M., a ripe plantain is divided into two, one half is offered to Sun god and the other half to Dwarapala (the guarding deities in the doorway). Between 1.00 and 1.30 P.M. the food offering called Ballabha Bhoga (breakfast containing curdled milk, curd and vegetables) is offered to the deity. The consecrated food is carried to the temple of Parvati and placed before her as an offering, a practice commonly observed by the orthodox Hindu housewives. At about 2 P.M., the Sakala Dhupa (morning's offering of food) takes place. After the food is offered to Lingaraja, the offerings are carried to the temple of Parvati to serve her. An offering called Bhanda Dhupa is carried out at 3.30 P.M. at the hall of offering. This food is later offered by the inmates to the pilgrims as Mahaprasad.

 

A light refreshment known as Ballabha Dhupa is offered to the deity at around 4.30 P.M. At around 5 P.M., Dwipahar Dhupa (mid day meal) is offered. At around 7 P.M., another offering called Palia Badu is placed before the deity. Sandhya arati (waving of lights in the evening) is performed during that time. Another light meal called Sahana Dhupa is offered at around 8:30 P.M. After the meals, the ceremony of waving light (arati) is performed before the deity. At 9.30 P.M, the last service of the day, Bada Singara (the great decoration) is performed when the deity is decorated with flowers and ornaments after which a light food offering is made. A wooden palanquin is laid in the room, incense is lighted, drinking water is served and prepared betel is placed. Panchabaktra Mahadeva comes to the palanquin and returns to his own abode after the arati is performed. This is a bronze image of Mahadeva having five faces and Parvati in his lap. Each of these ceremonies is accompanied by ritual observances and recitations of mantras (Sanskrit texts) specified for each occasion.

 

TEMPLE STAFF & ADMINISTRATION

King Jajati Keshari, believed to be the founder of the Lingaraja temple, deputed Dravidian Brahmins as temple priests over the local Brahmins on account of their increased knowledge of Saivism. The focus was to enhance the temple practises from tribal rites to Sanskritic. While the exact number of castes involved in the nijogas (practises) is not known, Brahmins, tribal worshippers and inmates from Untouchable castes are believed to be part of the setup. Bose (1958) identified 41 services with the involvement of 22 separate castes and Mahaptra (1978) identified 30 services. It is understood from the records that kings and temple managers of different times introduced or discontinued certain services, fairs, offerings and caste-centred core services during their regime. As of 2012, the temple practised 36 different services (nijogas).

 

In modern times, the Lingaraja temple priests are from two communities, namely Brahman Nijog and Badu Nijog. The Badu are non-Brahmin servant groups, whose origin is not ascertained due to unavailability of authentic records, while they are described as Vadu in chapter 62 of the Ekamrapurana. The caste group of Badu is called Niyoga, which elects the officers every year during the Sandalwood festival. Every Badu undergoes three distinct rites, namely, ear-piercing, marriage and god-touching. Historically, the Badus performed five different temple duties - Paliabadu and Pharaka, which were considered important and Pochha, Pahada and Khataseja, which were considered inferior. From 1962, only Paliabadu and Pharaka practises are followed and the others are discontinued. The Badus also carry out ablution and dressing of the images of Siddhaganesh and Gopalini. The temple is maintained by the Temple Trust Board and the Archeological Survey of India (ASI). The temple is guarded by security personnel deputed by the Police Commissioner of Bhubaneswar and security guards appointed by the temple administration. The temple has an average of 6,000 visitors every day and receives lakhs of visitors during festivals. The Shivaratri festival during 2012 witnessed 200,000 visitors. As of 2011, the annual income of Lingaraja temple from hundis (donation boxes) is around INR1.2 million per annum. Another INR4 million is collected annually from other sources like rents from shops, cycle stands and agriculture lands. Starting 2011, the temple charges an amount for six types of religious worship (special pujas) carried out by the devotees.

 

WIKIPEDIA

 

Built in 1991 and closed only 10 years later. Glass block windows were smashed out over time and replaced with cinder block....

 

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Located on the PRR's Connecting Railway, this station replaced an earlier one known as Germantown Junction. Established in the early 1870's, Germantown served as a stop on the Connecting Railway, serving the neighborhoods and industries in the area. By the 1890's, after the completion of the Delair bridge, and the continuing growth of the area, Germantown Junction was woefully inadequate.

 

P.R.R. president, George P Roberts had plans put in place for a replacement facility designed by architect Theophilus P. Chandler Jr. Chandler designed the main building in the so-called Châteauesque style. Behind the terra-cotta clad structure containing the ticket offices and waiting rooms, a tunnel would stretch under the tracks accessing two platforms. Construction started in 1896, however the death of Roderts along with the Panic of 1896 caused work to be put on hold. Work finally resumed in 1900 under company president Alexander Cassatt, who considered this station as part of a massive capital expenditure that also involved the building of Penn Station in New York City and Union Station in Washington DC.

 

Upon opening in 1901, the new Germantown Junction served as the Philadelphia stop for service linking New York to Harrisburg and the west, as well as the Philadelphia Terminal for express service to New York (Broadway Limited and the American) As crowds continued to overwhelm the station, a renovation was carried out in 1912 by architect William Cookman to replace the two side platforms with island platforms that could serve two trains each. Major modifications were carried out to the main building as well with the basement opened up and expanded to form a new entrance level. Upon completion in 1915, the remodeled station was renamed North Philadelphia. With the completion of the Broad Street Subway in 1928, a passageway was constructed underground to link it's North Philadelphia station to the P.R.R. station as well as the Reading's North Broad Station nearby. Here passengers were able to travel to Center City, or the neighborhoods north, further taking pressure off Broad Street Station (eventually replaced by 30th Street/Suburban Stations)

 

After World War II, North Philadelphia Station and the surrounding neighborhoods suffered from the loss of industries, "white flight" to the suburbs as well as increased reliance on private cars. Despite a major renovation carried out in 1955, traffic continued to decline and the number of trains stopping there began to drop. Following a fire in 1976, now owner Amtrak undertook repairs that involved bricking off the windows among other things.

 

Amtrak built a new ticket office in 1991 situated at the north of the platform underpass, and a series of renovations were done throughout the decade. Platforms were rebuilt and elevators to allow disabled access were added. A developer transformed the main station house into retail space serving as the centerpiece of a new community shopping center. A new Pathmark Supermarket was added as part of the project giving people in the impoverished neighborhood access to basic groceries.

 

It would seem that all the efforts had gone to waste however. Amtrak closed the North Philadelphia ticket office in 2001. Although Amtrak and Septa trains still stop here, conditions deteriorated to a point where it seemed that station was flat-out abandoned. Platform windows were smashed and never fixed, while the elevators were decommissioned permanently because the vandalism had become so severe. Parking lots surrounding the station now sit virtually unused except as a dumping ground. A severe blow was dealt to the neighborhood in 2015, when the Pathmark store closed as part of parent company A&P's bankruptcy, returning the area to a "food desert".

 

Hope could be on the horizon however as an ambitious proposal has been unveiled calling for residential and commercial space on the former parking lots and refurbishment of a nearby abandoned factory. If pulled off, this project could easily serve as a catalyst in bringing one of the worst areas in Philadelphia back to it's former glory....

In 1962, the US Navy issued a requirement for an eventual replacement for the A-4 Skyhawk. Of the proposals submitted by various companies, Vought’s design won the competition in February 1964. What became the A-7 Corsair II was based on the already successful F-8 Crusader fighter, a decision which figured heavily in the Navy’s selection of the aircraft. The A-7, however, was smaller and shorter, with a much less sleek fuselage but a larger wing. It was the first operational American aircraft to use a turbofan engine, a HUD, and an internal INS linked to the bombing radar, permitting very accurate bombing in all weathers. After a remarkably trouble-free development, the YA-7A first flew in September 1965 and entered service a year later, with a combat debut in December 1967 over Vietnam. Because the A-4 was more maneuverable, the A-7 only supplemented the Skyhawk in US Navy service until the early 1980s; likewise, it was not chosen by the US Marine Corps for the light attack role, as the Marines preferred upgraded A-4s and later the AV-8A/B Harrier series.

 

The USAF, however, would acquire the A-7 in large numbers, at first as an interim to bridge the gap between the F-105 Thunderchief and the F-111 Aardvark, and to replace the ancient A-1 Skyraiders then serving as COIN, close air support, and rescue support aircraft. The A-7D made a number of changes, including USAF-style boom/plug refueling port, the more reliable and powerful Allison TF41 engine, and deletion of the A-7A’s twin 20mm cannon for a single M61A1 Vulcan 20mm gatling cannon. The A-7D entered USAF service in September 1968, and its combat service over Vietnam impressed the US Navy enough that the follow-on A-7E Corsair II incorporated both the TF41 engine and the M61A1 gun armament. Aside from the two-seat TA-7C/A-7K conversion trainers and EA-7L electronic warfare trainers, the A-7E was the penultimate Corsair II variant. Vought proposed an advanced, supersonic long-range strike variant, the A-7F, but this only went to the prototype stage.

 

The A-7 served in every conflict the United States entered into from 1968 to 1991, including Vietnam, operations against Lebanon, Libya, and Iran in the 1980s, and the First Gulf War. The latter was the swansong for the type in US service, with only two US Navy A-7E squadrons seeing service. With the drawdown of the 1990s, the A-7D was rapidly retired from USAF and Air National Guard units in favor of the F-16 Falcon; the A-7E left US Navy service in favor of the F/A-18 Hornet. The aircraft was exported in the 1970s to Greece as the A-7H and Portugal as the A-7P, both of which saw service in the Third World War. Thailand received ex-US Navy A-7Es in the mid-1990s. Greece retired the last operational A-7s in the world in 2014.

 

(The following is a fictional history of a fictional naval air arm.)

 

With the adoption of the US Navy-style carrier battlegroup by the FIRN/FIRNAA in the late 1970s, the FIRNAA also adopted the Navy-style carrier air wing of F-14 Tomcats, A-6 Intruders, and A-7 Corsair IIs. The latter were deemed to be of low priority, with the FIRNAA acquiring and upgrading ex-US Navy A-4E Skyhawks, and there was some controversy over the need to buy the A-7 at all. The sale went through because of the A-7’s ability to carry more ordnance further, and the first order for 36 A-7Es and five two-seat TA-7Cs were placed in 1985. As the A-7 production line had closed by that time, these came from ex-US Navy stocks and were refurbished before delivery; the only addition to the aircraft was a Pave Penny laser designator, which allowed the A-7E to drop precision guided weaponry. TA-7Cs were also in short supply, so instead Vought converted five ex-USAF A-7Es to A-7K standard, though these aircraft had a bulged refuelling probe and were designated TA-7K. (The TA-7K retained its boom/plug system, making it a “hermaphrodite.”) The first FIRNAA A-7E entered service in August 1986 with NAS-17, and both it and NAS-18 were fully operational with the Corsair II before the end of the Third World War. The last batch entered service with NAS-19, with the last being delivered in July 1988. These aircraft would provide yeoman service during the First Gulf War.

 

Though the United States was rapidly retiring the A-7, the FIRNAA decided to keep the aircraft due to its range instead of acquiring more F/A-18 Hornets. Because of its lack of speed and the desire to keep the aircraft in service at least until 2005, the FIRNAA commissioned a study to upgrade its Corsair IIs. Vought had gone out of business by this time (1993), but the A-7F study was resurrected and the contract given to Predator Propulsion. Initially designated A-7P (for Predator Propulsion, but dropped due to confusion with the Portuguese A-7Ps) and then A-7S, this upgrade included completely updating the avionics, with a new HUD system, LANTIRN compatibility, the ability to carry the AGM-84 Harpoon and AGM-84E SLAM, and most importantly, the A-7F’s Pratt and Whitney F100 turbofan. Since the A-7S lacked the lengthened fuselage and modified tail of the A-7F, the engine was derated to 24,000 pounds, though the afterburner was retained. This increased the top speed and range of the A-7E, as the F100 was more fuel efficient. The first A-7S flew in July 1994 and entered service in December 1995; by 1996 the entire fleet had been upgraded.

 

Despite the expense of the upgrade, the A-7S’ career was to be brief. The decision to acquire the F/A-25 Rafale to replace it was made only two years after the A-7S entered service, and it began to be withdrawn from service in 1999. The outbreak of war in Afghanistan and Iraq only delayed withdrawal for a short time, though the A-7S would fly combat missions in what was the Corsair II’s final combat deployment. Both NAS-17 and NAS-18 would convert to the Rafale, while NAS-19 retained it’s A-7s until the squadron’s disbandment in 2004. The last FIRNAA Corsair IIs made a four-ship flypast of Viper Lake IFAAS in August 2004, marking 18 years of faithful service. Eleven A-7s were lost during the aircraft’s career, six in combat during the Third World War and the First Gulf War, and the remainder in accidents; these were replaced from US Navy stocks, making total procurement 52 aircraft.

 

(Back in the real world...)

 

Though I prefer 1/144 scale for my own personal models, there is not yet a 1/144 kit of the A-7; Tamiya, however, makes a 1/100 kit. After finding one in Indiana in 2010, I built it out of the box as a standard A-7E. I used a darker gunship gray over medium gray color scheme (which would probably be unworkable for carrier operations in real life). I used kit decals, but the tailcodes and crocodile tail motif were hand-painted. It is armed with 12 Mk 82 750-pound bombs and two AIM-9B Sidewinders, which were not as difficult to put on as I had originally thought.

 

The stately Royal spoonbill (Platalea regia), also known as the Black-billed spoonbill, is 1 of 6 spoonbill species worldwide, and the only one that breeds in New Zealand. The royal spoonbill occurs in intertidal flats and shallows of fresh and saltwater wetlands in Australia, NZ, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, and the Solomon Islands. It has also been recorded as a vagrant in New Caledonia. This large white waterbird was first recorded in NZ in 1861. Sightings increased through the 1900s, with breeding first recorded in 1949. Since then it has successfully colonised NZ. In 1977 the NZ population was estimated at 52 birds; the most recent estimate (in 1996) was 959 birds. These birds fly in lines or "V" formation. In flight, they hold their neck outstretched and trail legs behind, looking rather awkward, like a "Dr Seuss" cartoon bird. Their closest relatives are the ibises.

 

DESCRIPTION

The Royal spoonbill is a large, bulky waterbird with white plumage and black spoon-shaped bill, facial skin, legs and feet. The bird is 74 to 81 cm in length with a weight of 1.4 to 2.07 kg. It is a wading bird and has long legs for walking through water. During the breeding season, adults grow distinctive long white crest feathers on the back of the head or nape, up to 20 cm long in males. The crest is raised during mating displays, revealing pink skin beneath. The end of the bill of the royal spoonbill is broader and works more like a pair of tongs, whereas the narrower bill of the yellow-billed spoonbill acts like a forceps. The bill is 13.6 to 22 cm long.

Breeding birds have a creamy-yellow breast, a yellow patch above each eye, and a red patch in the middle of the forehead in front of the crest feathers. Females are slightly smaller than males, with shorter legs and bill. Outside the breeding season the crest feathers are smaller and the rest of the plumage often appears soiled. Juveniles resemble non-breeding adults but are slightly smaller with a shorter bill, dark tips to the main flight feathers, and lack a crest and coloured face patches. When wading in shallow water it often submerges the bill and repeatedly sweeps it in a wide arc in search of prey.

 

DISTRIBUTION AND HABITAT

The Royal spoonbill breeds in Australia and New Zealand, and straggles to Indonesia, New Guinea and some Pacific islands. In New Zealand, the Royal Spoonbill breeds in coastal colonies, and disperses widely to estuaries and wetlands around the country after breeding. The birds breed in the exposed canopy of tall kahikatea trees, on the ground near estuaries, rivers and harbours, in reeds, in low shrubs, and on steep rocky headlands. They prefer freshwater to saltwater but can inhabit both. In NZ, most birds inhabit estuaries.

 

BREEDING

Royal spoonbills are (semi-)colonial annual breeders. Breeding birds gather at nesting sites in October. Mixed groups of unpaired birds gather to form "batchelor parties" and begin displaying, often in trees near the breeding colony. Males spar more often than females, extending their necks, bill gaping, and jabbing and wing flapping. Courtship involves circular or figure-of-eight flight displays over the breeding area with exaggerated flight noise. Both sexes bow while clapping bills and quivering heads, raising and lowering crest plumes. Mutual preening follows once the pair bond is established. Greeting display involves repeatedly nodding with open bill, 45° above and below horizontal, and crest fanned. The spoonbills nests in colonies alongside water, usually with other waterbirds (especially white heron and shag colonies). The bowl-shaped nest of sticks is lined with leaves and other vegetation, and usually placed in the crown of a tree over water or among tall reeds. Nest sites may be reused in consecutive years. The birds are highly sensitive to disturbance in the breeding season. In Australia, whole colonies have been known to desert their eggs after a minor upset. The female lays 2 to 4 dull white eggs with brown blotches. Both adults share incubation of 20-25 days, and feeding of young by partial regurgitation. Chicks fledge after 7 weeks. Juveniles are fed by both adults for several weeks after fledging. Young birds forage alongside parental adults for some time before family group disperses to traditional wintering site.

 

FEEDING

The carnivorous Royal spoonbill catches small animals by sweeping its bill through shallow water and swallowing prey once detected. When slow sweeping, the spoonbill walks slowly with the bill perpendicular to the water surface (i.e. vertical) with the bill tip open about 2 to 4 cm, sweeping an arc of around 100 degrees in front of the bird. The bird walks slowly, kicking up debris and small animals from the bottom of the body of water, which it senses and catches with its bill. When an item is sensed, the spoonbill switches to intensive sweeping of a small area. Royal spoonbills also probe submerged plants directly for prey, and seize prey such as spiders above ground. They have also been observed dragging their bills through shallow water alongside them while walking. Feeding occurs day or night, whenever tide is suitable. The bird eats mainly fish in freshwater, and shrimps in tidal flats; but also other crustaceans, aquatic insects and frogs. Bill structure limits it to feeding in water less than 40 cm deep over sand, mud or clay. Vibration detectors inside the bill can detect prey in murky water or darkness. When prey is detected the bird snaps the bill shut and lifts it to let prey slide down its throat.

Source: Wikipedia, nzbirdsonline.org.nz

Increased the contrast a bit to get more detail out of it. The sky was really very gray all around.

Launched in late September of 1976, the 1977 Caprice Classic was drastically downsized, which reduced its weight and exterior dimensions, while increasing headroom, rear-seat legroom and trunk space compared to 1976 models. GM called its downsizing program Project 77 and invested $600 million to develop the most changed full-size Chevrolet to date. The weight reductions from the 1976 models were 611 lb (277 kg) for coupes, 637 lb (289 kg) for sedans and 871 lb (395 kg) for wagons. The 1977 Caprice coupe and sedan were over 10 inches (250 mm) shorter while the wagon was 14 inches (360 mm) shorter. Wheelbases were reduced to 116 inches (2,900 mm) from 121.5 inches (3,090 mm) for coupes and sedans and 125 inches (3,200 mm) for wagons. Width was reduced by 4 inches (100 mm) for sedans and coupes; the wagon's width remained virtually unchanged. Heights were increased by 2.5 inches (64 mm) and trunk capacities were increased to 20.9 cubic feet (0.59 m3) for sedans and 19.8 cubic feet (0.56 m3) for coupes.

 

Although by modern standards, the 1977 downsized Chevrolet cars are quite large, the new Chevrolet had exterior dimensions closer to the intermediates of its day. The 1977 Caprice shared the same 116-inch (2,900 mm) wheelbase of the intermediate-sized Chevrolet Chevelle;

 

Station wagon models received a new three-way tailgate for 1977; the clamshell tailgate was gone. The three-seat models featured a rear-facing third seat for two occupants making these cars eight-passenger models. The cargo capacity was reduced to 87 cubic feet (2,500 L), and although the station wagon could still carry a 4 ft × 8 ft (1.2 m × 2.4 m) sheet of plywood, this could now only be done with the tailgate down. The station wagons use the coil spring suspension in the rear, as for the sedans and coupes.

TACA (Transportes Aereos del Continente Americano) was founded in 1931 with a single Stinson aircraft. It was hoped that TACA would become an umbrella organization for every Central and South American nation, with each nation operating a TACA franchise. Initially, this was successful, with TACA building a regional route network; for the first time, a local airline was posing a challenge to the most established airline in Central America, Pan American World Airways.

 

TACA operated throughout World War II, but in 1945 moved its headquarters to El Salvador. All the TACA enterprises were subsequently spun off to become their own airlines, and the airline became known as TACA International. It was established as the flag carrier of El Salvador. It standardized on the cheap and easy to get Douglas DC-3, then expanded to include DC-4s, which allowed TACA to reach points in the United States and South America. It entered the jet age in 1966 when it purchased a BAC One-Eleven.

 

Due to El Salvador's increasing political instability (which resulted in civil war during the 1980s), TACA moved much of its infrastructure to the United States. The fleet now standardized on the Boeing 737, with cargo flights flown by Lockheed L-188 Electras. With the end of the Salvadorean Civil War in 1990, TACA could concentrate on expanding its route network again.

 

Ironically, the airline now began to realize its original dream of becoming a Latin American-wide airline. TACA entered into a codesharing agreement with several South American airlines, and bought out Copa Panama in 1992, followed by a new subsidiary, TACA Peru, in 2001. Its route network now stretched from Chicago in the north to Lima, Peru in the south.

 

This was a large network for a relatively small airline, and rising fuel costs threatened TACA. As a result, it agreed to a merger with Avianca of Colombia in 2009, though TACA did not remove its brand until 2013, when it became Avianca El Salvador.

 

This 737 depicts TACA's 1980s-era livery, which was broadly similar to Airbus' house colors or that of Japan's Toa Domestic. The parrot on the fuselage was hand-painted. The real YS-08C was delivered new to TACA in 1978, and flew with the airline until it was sold to Braathens in 1985. It then passed through four other airlines before ending up with Nigerian-based Bellview Airlines; as that airline recently went bankrupt, its final fate is unknown.

Hello there. Many of you may already know this but I am a Chicago Teacher's Union delegate. I work with students who have special needs and disabilities and over the past 12 years at this job, I have seen my caseload steadily increase to over 60 students. In other school districts, Occupational and Physical Therapists have a caseload cap. of 32. That is what those school districts have decided is reasonable. I am willing to work extra time and in the evenings and on weekends but I am not able to see all of my students and meet their needs as only one person. The Board of Ed. still refuses to limit our caseloads and that is the major reason I am striking.

 

Many people have been only listening to the media and have been wondering why teachers are so "greedy" because they think all we want are raises. If you're going to parrot the media, I don't need your comments. However, if you're going to listen to what I have to say as someone who knows what it's like to work in Chicago Public Schools, please keep reading.

 

Some major reasons we are striking-NONE of which have to do with pay.

 

1. Chicago Public Schools wants to close another 100 schools and further corporatize America's children. This is sickening. Charter schools have not proven themselves to be overall any better than public schools and they have taken our most promising students from us. The Tea Partiers and corporations getting into education continue to try to get Illinois state legislature changes so that they get equal funding as public schools from YOUR tax dollars. However, did you know that not all teachers that work in charter schools have to be certified? This is eventually merely a way for corporations to get more of your tax dollars and pay teachers half as much so that they pocket the rest. Aren't you tired of that? I know I am.

 

2. The Chicago Public Schools want to put in the "contract" a clause called the "Management Clause" which basically states that at any time they can change their minds about anything in the contract for any reason. I'm pretty sure Brizard and Rahm Emanuel need to go back to their basic Language Arts classes and look up the word "Contract" as they would find this clause pretty much makes the whole idea of a promise or an agreement completely useless.

 

3. We want smaller classrooms. As someone who works with kids that have disabilities, I've seen the kid with Muscular Dystrophy who is depending on a wheelchair for transportation struggle because his regular education classroom does not have enough space for him. All of us Occupational and Physical Therapists have seen this. It's ILLEGAL. It goes against everything the Americans with Disabilities Act stand for and yet it is a reality.

 

4. We want to end the class warfare disparity. In Chicago right now, Rahm and the media completely ignore the fact that there is a huge amount of violence especially on the South side and our homicide rate has risen dramatically. One reason for this is that people are getting desperate in this economy and they don't have the skills to pursue other non violent measures. At this crucial time, Rahm has decided to cut technology classes. Schools on the North side also have way more access to Music and Art and even things like Foreign Languages whereas the South side kids literally (and I mean LITERALLY) have to bring their own soap and toilet paper to school.

 

5. At a time of rising violence as well as more premature babies being saved during delivery, there are more and more students in need of clinicians including: Occupational and Physical Therapists, Social Workers, Psychologists, and Speech Therapists. The Chicago Public Schools Board of Ed. would like to forget these kids even exist. I've seen the mayor and administrators at schools. They go visit the gifted classrooms. They don't take a look into the classrooms for students with Severe/Profound disabilities, that's for sure.

 

Please support your local school and your local teacher. Give your local teacher a hug. Call your alderman and Brizard and tell them to support teachers.

 

***If you or your family members are in one of these photos and would like the high resolution version for free, please email me at kirstiecat@gmail.com with the subject "Union Rally Photo" and I will send this to you at no charge as soon as possible**

As companies grow, they increase in expertise and efficiency as they attempt to increase profits and market share. But that expertise can narrow the company’s focus so much that it develops gaping blind spots. When new technologies and business models inevitably come along to disrupt the status quo, the company has all its eggs in one basket.

 

The Connected Company.

At the end of 1986, increased contract requirements affecting Rossendale Transport's early post-deregulation vehicle commitments forced the hiring in of a pair of Leyland Atlanteans from neighbouring Hyndburn Transport for a period of up to 3 months. 182, seen here on Bocholt Way, Rawtenstall whilst operating the Asda free bus service to the nearby superstore, had arrived just 4 days earlier, on New Year's Eve 1986, but returned to Accrington after just 3 weeks and was replaced by its sister vehicle, 183.

 

This image is copyright and must not be reproduced or downloaded without the permission of the photographer.

A recent increase on paparazzis harrasment is causing a terrible stress and anxiety to the wealthy European socialite Sabrina A. Parisi. This is also accompanied by the persistent rumour of an intriguing ivolvement of the rich girl with mega film-star Keanu Reeves. It seems that this rumor has been on the air forever but recently is getting more convincing and the press is trying to find out

But let's go to the today' spotlight and te fact that has been reported that on September 02, 2009 , mega wealthy producer Sabrina A. Parisi was one step to follow the terrible fate of Princess Diana.

It was at about 8,30 pm that the wealthy young producer was seeing leaving a local pet-store with a big package of dog food on her hands. She was alone and she was wearing a blue hat and with her long hair on a pony-tail, demin jeans and a simple top. She was soon noticed by a crazy group of persistent photographers best known as paparazzis or parasites. When the people approached she tried to avoid their flash lights but the two men rushed to take some extra snap. She asked to please stop doing it as they were hurting her eyes but they did not listen to the woman. According to a sale person, Sabrina looked disturbed and distressed by the perseverance and the pushy questions of the two men. She had to stop several times before reaching her car. Three of the security guards moved to rescue her and helped the girl to enter her Jaguar that had ashes caused by the recent fire in California. "That's enough guys!! Move out!" screamed one of the security. One of the paparazzi tried to open her door and one jumped on top of the car’s hood. One security pulled the man out of it and Sabrina finally left the scene on an increased speed. The story does not end here as the people jumped into their cars and followed her keep flashing her face; while she may had gotten temporally blind by the bright lights on her eyes she almost crushed against a wall.

This is not the first time Sabrina gets distressed by paparazzis but it seems that there may be a new law that will pass in Los Angeles to protect celebrity’s privacy and freedom.

“It’s about the paparazzi violating everybody else’s rights, freedoms and privileges,” Councilman Dennis Zine explained. “What the paparazzi have done is developed a lawless society where the rules don’t apply — on the wrong side of the street, jumping out of cars at the red lights, swarming the car, you don’t do that,”.Zine is proposing a “personal safety bubble” law to keep what he calls the “opportunists” away from celebrities and the general public on the streets.“If we think back a few years, Princess Diana was driving down the road, paparazzi chasing,” Zine recalls. “A crash occurred, Princess Diana died. I don’t want to see that happen here in Los Angeles.”A year after Diana’s death and then again in 2005, civil laws were passed in Los Angeles to deter aggressive paparazzi, but no criminal law is yet in place.“I don’t think it wold change things that much,” X-17 Vice President Brandy Navarre told “Access.” “I mean, the photographers would just stand back a little more.”The photo agency X-17 says that as long as the demand exists, the supply will continue, regardless of a new law. “Certainly there is the concern that it could trample on first amendment rights,” Navarre said. Zine refutes such claims.“We are not prohibiting anyone from taking a picture but the matter in which they are getting those pictures,” he said.

 

Hello there. Many of you may already know this but I am a Chicago Teacher's Union delegate. I work with students who have special needs and disabilities and over the past 12 years at this job, I have seen my caseload steadily increase to over 60 students. In other school districts, Occupational and Physical Therapists have a caseload cap. of 32. That is what those school districts have decided is reasonable. I am willing to work extra time and in the evenings and on weekends but I am not able to see all of my students and meet their needs as only one person. The Board of Ed. still refuses to limit our caseloads and that is the major reason I am striking.

 

Many people have been only listening to the media and have been wondering why teachers are so "greedy" because they think all we want are raises. If you're going to parrot the media, I don't need your comments. However, if you're going to listen to what I have to say as someone who knows what it's like to work in Chicago Public Schools, please keep reading.

 

Some major reasons we are striking-NONE of which have to do with pay.

 

1. Chicago Public Schools wants to close another 100 schools and further corporatize America's children. This is sickening. Charter schools have not proven themselves to be overall any better than public schools and they have taken our most promising students from us. The Tea Partiers and corporations getting into education continue to try to get Illinois state legislature changes so that they get equal funding as public schools from YOUR tax dollars. However, did you know that not all teachers that work in charter schools have to be certified? This is eventually merely a way for corporations to get more of your tax dollars and pay teachers half as much so that they pocket the rest. Aren't you tired of that? I know I am.

 

2. The Chicago Public Schools want to put in the "contract" a clause called the "Management Clause" which basically states that at any time they can change their minds about anything in the contract for any reason. I'm pretty sure Brizard and Rahm Emanuel need to go back to their basic Language Arts classes and look up the word "Contract" as they would find this clause pretty much makes the whole idea of a promise or an agreement completely useless.

 

3. We want smaller classrooms. As someone who works with kids that have disabilities, I've seen the kid with Muscular Dystrophy who is depending on a wheelchair for transportation struggle because his regular education classroom does not have enough space for him. All of us Occupational and Physical Therapists have seen this. It's ILLEGAL. It goes against everything the Americans with Disabilities Act stand for and yet it is a reality.

 

4. We want to end the class warfare disparity. In Chicago right now, Rahm and the media completely ignore the fact that there is a huge amount of violence especially on the South side and our homicide rate has risen dramatically. One reason for this is that people are getting desperate in this economy and they don't have the skills to pursue other non violent measures. At this crucial time, Rahm has decided to cut technology classes. Schools on the North side also have way more access to Music and Art and even things like Foreign Languages whereas the South side kids literally (and I mean LITERALLY) have to bring their own soap and toilet paper to school.

 

5. At a time of rising violence as well as more premature babies being saved during delivery, there are more and more students in need of clinicians including: Occupational and Physical Therapists, Social Workers, Psychologists, and Speech Therapists. The Chicago Public Schools Board of Ed. would like to forget these kids even exist. I've seen the mayor and administrators at schools. They go visit the gifted classrooms. They don't take a look into the classrooms for students with Severe/Profound disabilities, that's for sure.

 

Please support your local school and your local teacher. Give your local teacher a hug. Call your alderman and Brizard and tell them to support teachers.

 

***If you or your family members are in one of these photos and would like the high resolution version for free, please email me at kirstiecat@gmail.com with the subject "Union Rally Photo" and I will send this to you at no charge as soon as possible**

Regional agreement on maritime piracy to broaden scope to other illicit activity

 

An international agreement that has been instrumental in repressing piracy and armed robbery against ships in the western Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Aden is set to significantly broaden its scope.

 

Signatories to the Djibouti Code of Conduct have agreed to work towards extending its remit to address other illicit maritime activity that threatens safety and security in the region, such as marine terrorism, environmental crimes, human trafficking and Illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing.

 

National focal points for the code, which was adopted under the auspices of the IMO in 2009,

have adopted a resolution expressing concern at the increasing risks from transnational organized crimes at sea and other threats to maritime safety and security in the region. They agreed to encourage information sharing on all illicit activities.

 

Training and other capacity-building activities implemented under the auspices of the Djibouti Code of Conduct have been credited with contributing to the reduction of piracy in the Western Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Aden, alongside the efforts of merchant ships to implement IMO guidance and best management practices, naval forces continuing to deter and disrupt pirate activities and States continuing to prosecute suspected pirates and increasing their maritime law-enforcement capabilities.

 

But the focal points recognized that piracy in the region has merely been suppressed and its root causes have yet to be addressed. They agreed that, nonetheless, there is now a window of opportunity for IMO Member States in the region to implement capacity-building programmes to prevent a resurgence of piracy and to address wider maritime security issues, as a basis for sustainable development of the maritime sector.

 

The focal points were meeting this week (11-12 November) in the newly-completed Djibouti Regional Training Centre, which was formally opened by Mr. Moussa Ahmed Hassan, Djibouti’s Minister of Equipment and Transport, on Thursday 12 November. The Djibouti Regional Training Centre will play a key role in regional capacity-building initiatives under the Code of Conduct.

  

IMO Secretary-General Koji Sekimizu, speaking by video message during the ceremony, encouraged the Government of Djibouti to be imaginative in its use of the new building and to be proactive in maximizing its potential, for the benefit of the whole region. The centre could be used as a venue for wider port, maritime, law-enforcement or indeed any other training, conferences and meetings, as well as being a centre of excellence for regional maritime security training, he said.

 

“This impressive new centre will be a vital component in the provision of maritime security and other training in the Gulf of Aden and Western Indian Ocean area and fully supports IMO’s 2015 World Maritime Day theme: “Maritime education and training”. It should be an asset to Djibouti and to the region for many years to come,” Mr. Sekimizu said.

 

The national focal points meeting also approved the 2016 plan for regional training for Djibouti Code of Conduct countries.

 

Construction of the Djibouti Regional Training Centre was funded by Japan, through the Djibouti Code Trust Fund, with equipment provided by Denmark and the Republic of Korea.

 

IMO continues to support Member States to implement the Djibouti Code of Conduct through its Integrated Technical Cooperation Programme (ITCP) and through the Djibouti Code Trust Fund. It also maintains a presence in the region, focussed on the code, with two staff members based in Nairobi, Kenya, whose primary role is training.

 

The opening ceremony was also attended by Mr. Chris Trelawny, Special Advisor to the IMO Secretary-General; His Excellency Tatsuo Arai, Ambassador of Japan to the Republic of Djibouti; His Excellency Joseph Silva, European Union Ambassador to Djibouti, Mr. Hassan Darar Houffaneh, Minister of Defence of Djibouti; Mr. Ali Mirah Chehem Daoud, Director of Maritime Affairs of Djibouti; Ms. Mina Houssein Doualeh, Director of the Djibouti Regional Training Centre; as well as senior government officials from Djibouti. Also present were representatives from Somalia and from Djibouti Code of Conduct signatories, donor countries and international training partners.

 

Djibouti code of conduct

The Code of Conduct concerning the Repression of Piracy and Armed Robbery against Ships in the Western Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Aden (the Djibouti Code of Conduct) provides a framework for capacity building in the Gulf of Aden and Western Indian Ocean to counter the threat of piracy. The Code was signed on 29 January 2009 by the representatives of: Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Maldives, Seychelles, Somalia, the United Republic of Tanzania and Yemen. Comoros, Egypt, Eritrea, Jordan, Mauritius, Mozambique, Oman, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Sudan and the United Arab Emirates have since signed, bringing the total to 20 countries. Since its adoption, the Code has become the major focus for facilitating transnational communication, coordination and cooperation in its four thematic broad pillars: delivering national and regional training, enhancing national legislation, information sharing and building counter-piracy capacity.

 

Some background:

The Rolls-Royce Griffon engine was designed in answer to Royal Navy specifications for an engine capable of generating good power at low altitudes. Concepts for adapting the Spitfire to take the new engine had begun as far back as October 1939; Joseph Smith felt that "The good big 'un will eventually beat the good little 'un." and Ernest Hives of Rolls-Royce thought that the Griffon would be "a second power string for the Spitfire". The first of the Griffon-engined Spitfires flew on 27 November 1941. Although the Griffon-powered Spitfires were never produced in the large numbers of the Merlin-engined variants they were an important part of the Spitfire family, and in their later versions kept the Spitfire at the forefront of piston-engined fighter development. The first Griffon-powered Spitfires suffered from poor high- altitude performance due to having only a single stage supercharged engine. By 1943, Rolls-Royce engineers had developed a new Griffon engine, the 61 series, with a two-stage supercharger. In the end it was a slightly modified engine, the 65 series, which was used in the Mk. XIV, the first Spitfire mark with a Griffon engine to enter service. The resulting aircraft provided a substantial performance increase over the Mk IX. Although initially based on the Mk VIII airframe, common improvements made in aircraft produced later included the cut-back fuselage and tear-drop canopies, and the E-Type wing with improved armament.

 

The Mk. XIV differed from its direct predecessor, the Mk XII, in that the longer, two-stage supercharged Griffon 65, producing 2,050 hp (1,528 kW), was mounted 10 inches (25.4 cm) further forward. The top section of the engine bulkhead was angled forward, creating a distinctive change of angle to the upper cowling's rear edge. A new five-bladed Rotol propeller of 10 ft 5 in (3.18 m) in diameter was used. The "fishtail" design of ejector exhaust stub gave way to ones of circular section. The increased cooling requirements of the Griffon engine meant that all radiators were much bigger, and the underwing housings were deeper than previous versions. The cowling fasteners were new, flush fitting "Amal" type and there were more of them. The oil tank (which had been moved from the lower cowling location of the Merlin engine variants to forward of the fuselage fuel tanks) was increased in capacity from 6 to 10 gal.

To help balance the new engine, the radio equipment was moved further back in the rear fuselage and the access hatch was moved from the left fuselage side to the right. Better VHF radio equipment allowed for the aerial mast to be removed and replaced by a "whip" aerial further aft on the fuselage spine. Because the longer nose and the increased slipstream of the big five-bladed propeller a new tail unit with a taller, broader fin and a rudder of increased area was adopted.

 

When the new fighter entered service with 610 Squadron in December 1943 it was a leap forward in the evolution of the Spitfire. The Mk. XIV could climb to 20,000 ft (6,100 m) in just over five minutes and its top speed, which was achieved at 25,400 ft (7,700 m), was 446 mph (718 km/h). In operational service many pilots initially found that the new fighter could be difficult to handle, particularly if they were used to earlier Spitfire marks. But in spite of the difficulties, pilots appreciated the performance increases.

 

F Mk. XIVs had a total of 109.5 gal of fuel consisting of 84 gal in two main tanks and a 12.5 imp gal fuel tank in each leading-edge wing tank; other 30, 45, 50 or 90 gal drop tanks could be carried. The fighter's maximum range was just a little over 460 miles (740 km) on internal fuel, since the new Griffon engine consumed much more fuel per hour than the original Merlin engine of earlier variants. By late 1944, Spitfire XIVs were fitted with an extra 33 gal in a rear fuselage fuel tank, extending the fighter's range to about 850 miles (1,370 km) on internal fuel and a 90 gal drop tank. Mk. XIVs with "tear-drop" canopies had 64 gal. As a result, F and FR Mk. XIVs had a range that was increased to over 610 miles (980 km), or 960 miles (1,540 km) with a 90 gal drop tank. The armament initially consisted of two 20 mm Hispano cannon and four light 0.303” machine guns (in a standard “C” wing configuration), but later builds had the latter replaced with a pair of heavier 0.5” machine guns that had better range and weight of fire (“E” wing configuration).

 

The first test of the aircraft was in intercepting V1 flying bombs and the Mk. XIV was the most successful of all Spitfire marks in this role. When 150 octane fuel was introduced in mid-1944 the "boost" of the Griffon engine was able to be increased to +25 lbs (80.7"), allowing the top speed to be increased by about 30 mph (26 kn; 48 km/h) to 400 mph (350 kn; 640 km/h) at 2,000 ft (610 m).

The Mk. XIV was used by the 2nd Tactical Air Force as their main high-altitude air superiority fighter in northern Europe with six squadrons operational by December 1944.

 

One problem which did arise in service was localized skin wrinkling on the wings and fuselage at load attachment points; although Supermarine advised that the Mk. XIVs had not been seriously weakened, nor were they on the point of failure, the RAF issued instructions in early 1945 that all F and FR Mk. XIVs were to be refitted with clipped wings. Spitfire XIVs began to arrive in the South-East Asian Theatre in June 1945, too late to operate against the Japanese. In total, 957 Mk. XIVs were built, over 430 of which were FR Mk. XIVs.

 

After the war, secondhand Mk. XIVs still in good shape were exported to a number of foreign air forces; 132 went to the Royal Belgian Air Force, 70 went to the Royal Indian Air Force and 30 of the reconnaissance version went to the Royal Thai Air Force. The Royal Iraqi Air Force (RIrAF) was another operator, even though only a small one.

In late 1946, five years after the Anglo-Iraqi War had left the RIrAF shattered, the Iraqis reached an agreement with the British under which they would return their surviving Avro Ansons in exchange for the authorization to order more modern and potent fighter aircraft from the UK, namely Supermarine Spitfires and Hawker Furies. The next year, three de Havilland Doves and three Bristol Freighters were ordered, too, and they arrived in early 1947 with a batch of ten refurbished ex-RAF Spitfire F Mk. XIVcs, some of them WWII survivors. All these machines received the original wing tips to better cope with the expected higher ambient temperatures in the Middle Eastern theatre of operations, reinforced aluminum skinning along the wing roots, and they were retrofitted with hardpoints under the wings and the fuselage to carry unguided missiles, bombs and drop tanks, what gave them an additional ground attack capability. The radio equipment was modernized, too, including a DF loop antenna as navigational aid. Despite these standardizations, though, the Spitfires were delivered with a mix of the different canopies.

 

The RIrAF was still recovering and re-structuring its assets when it joined in the war against the newly created state of Israel in the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. The RIrAF only played a small role in the first war against Israel, though. A few Spitfire F Mk. XIVs as well as Avro Anson training bombers operated from Transjordan airfields from where they flew several attacks against the Israelis. After a series of indiscriminate attacks on Arab capitals, flown by three Boeing B-17s that had been pressed into service by the Israeli Air Force, the governments of Transjordan and Syria demanded that the Iraqis take more offensive action and replace their Ansons with Hawker Furies. However, only six Furies were sent to Damascus to join the Spitfires in the region, and they never encountered any Israeli aircraft during their deployment.

Despite some effective attacks on ground targets by the Spitfires, limited amount of cannon ammunition, RPGs and suitable bombs heavily limited the Iraqi operations. The fighters were mostly used for armed reconnaissance, and three Spitfires were upgraded to FR Mk. XIV standard for this purpose. In 1949 a second batch of eight more Spitfire F Mk. XIVs was delivered from Britain, and in 1951 the RIrAF purchased 20 more Fury F.Mk.1s, for a total of 50 F.Mk.1s single-seaters and 2 two-seaters. They soon replaced the Spitfires in frontline units, even though the machines were still kept in service.

 

In the early Fifties, thanks to increased income from oil and agricultural exports, the RIrAF was thoroughly re-equipped. In 1951, 15 each of de Havilland Canada DHC-1 Chipmunks, Percival Provosts and North American T-6s were bought to replace obsolete de Havilland Tiger Moth trainers. With these new aircraft the RIrAF Flying School was expanded into the Air Force College. The training curriculum was improved, and the number of students graduating each year was increased. This allowed to form a solid basis for the RIrAF's long-term growth. Also in 1951, the RIrAF bought its first helicopters: three Westland Dragonflies. The RIrAF's first jet fighter was the de Havilland Vampire: 12 FB.Mk.52 fighters and 10 T.Mk.55 trainers were delivered from 1953 to 1955, and they fully replaced the Spitfires. The Vampires were quickly supplemented by 20 de Havilland Venoms, delivered between 1954 and 1956.

Following the formation of the Baghdad Pact, the United States donated at least six Stinson L-5 Sentinels and seven Cessna O-1 Bird Dogs to the RIrAF. The RAF also vacated Shaibah Air Base, and the RIrAF took over it as Wahda Air Base. In 1957, six Hawker Hunter F.Mk.6s were delivered. The next year, the United States agreed to provide 36 F-86F Sabres free of charge.

 

However, following the 14 July Revolution of 1958, which resulted in the end of monarchy in Iraq, the influence of the Iraqi Communist Party grew significantly. The first commander of the Iraqi Air Force (the "Royal" prefix was dropped after the revolution), Jalal Jaffar al-Awqati, was an outspoken communist, and encouraged prime minister Abd al-Karim Qasim to improve relations between Iraq and the USSR. The Soviets reacted quickly, and in the autumn of 1958 a series of arms contracts was passed between Iraq and the Soviet Union and Czechoslovakia. These stipulated the delivery of MiG-15UTI trainers, MiG-17F fighters, Ilyushin Il-28 bombers, and Antonov An-2 and An-12 transports. The first aircraft arrived in Iraq in January 1959; during the late Sixties and the early Seventies additional MiG-17s may have been purchased and then forwarded to either Syria or Egypt.

 

General characteristics

Crew: 1

Length: 32 ft 8 in (9.96 m)

Wingspan: 36 ft 10 in (11.23 m) with full span elliptical tips

Height: 10 ft 0 in (3.05 m)

Wing area: 242.1 sq ft (22.49 m²)

Airfoil: NACA 2213 (root), NACA 2209.4 (tip)

Empty weight: 6,578 lb (2,984 kg)

Gross weight: 7,923 lb (3,594 kg)

Max. takeoff weight: 8,400[53] lb (3,810 kg)

 

Powerplant:

1× Rolls-Royce Griffon 65 supercharged V12, 2,050 hp (1,530 kW) at 8,000 ft (2,438 m),

driving a 5-bladed Jablo-Rotol propeller

 

Performance:

Maximum speed: 441 mph (710 km/h, 383 kn) in FS supercharger gear at 29,500 ft.

391 mph in MS supercharger gear at 5,500 ft.

Combat range: 460 mi (740 km, 400 nmi)

Ferry range: 1,090 mi (1,760 km, 950 nmi)

Service ceiling: 43,500 ft (13,300 m)

Rate of climb: 5,040 ft/min (25.6 m/s) in MS supercharger gear at 2,100 ft.

3,550 ft/min in FS supercharger gear at 22,100 ft.

Time to altitude: 7 mins to 22,000 ft (at max weight)

Wing loading: 32.72 lb/sq ft (159.8 kg/m²)

Power/mass: 0.24

 

Armament:

2× 20 mm (0.787-in) Hispano Mk II cannon, 120 rpg

4× 0.303 in (7.7 mm) Browning machine guns, 350 rpg,

Underwing hard points for 8× 60 lb (27 kg) rockets, 2 x 250 lb (113 kg) bombs or slipper tanks,

1× ventral hardpoint for a 500 lb (227 kg) bomb or a drop tank

  

The kit and its assembly:

This was a rather spontaneous interim build. The Academy Spitfire was left over from a D-Day combo that contained a Hawker Typhoon, too, and I lacked an idea for the Spitfire for a long time) since I am not a big fan of the aircraft, at least what-if-inspiration-wise). However, when pondering about a potential operator from the very early pos-war period I remembered the Royal Iraqi Air Force and its later Hawker Hunters which retained their NATO-style camouflage (RAF green/grey) despite being primarily operated in a desert environment. This, on a Spitfire…?

 

From this idea the Academy Spitfire was built almost OOB. Because the kit offers them as an option and for the cool look, I gave the Spitfire four RPGs under each outer wing. The ventral drop tank was taken from a Special Hobby late Spitfire kit. The only other additions are the antenna mast and the non-standard DF loop antenna behind the cockpit, created from thin wire and mounted on a small, streamlined socket.

  

Painting and markings:

The upper surfaces were painted in standard RAF WWII colors, Dark Green and Ocean Grey, using a mix of Humbrol 163 and 30 for a slightly more bluish WWII-style green and a mix of 106 and 145 for a lightened grey tone, respectively. As an individual contrast and paint scheme variation the undersides and the spinner were painted in RAF Azure Blue (Humbrol 157, lightened up with 47), more appropriate than the standard WWII Medium Sea Grey from the European theatre of operations. The cockpit interior became RAF cockpit green (Humbro,78) while the inside surfaces of the landing gear were painted in Medium Sea Grey (Humbrol 165), reflecting the original undersides’ tone in former RAF service.

 

Other markings were minimal. The Iraqi triangles were taken from a Balkan Models Su-25 sheet, because their green was rather pale, for more contrast to the surrounding camouflage. RIrAF fin flash was taken from a PM Model Hawker Fury two-seater (a.k.a. “Bagdad Fury”). The tactical code came from an Airfix Hawker Hunter (from an optional Kuwaiti machine). This looked O.K. but somewhat bleak, so I added more markings. I could not find any evidence for special ID markings on Iraqi aircraft during the Arab-Israel war, but to add an eye-catcher I gave the aircraft white ID bands on the wings and on the fuselage – inspired by markings carried by Egyptian aircraft (e. g. Spitfires) during the conflict, but somewhat simplified, without black trim. They were created from generic white decal sheet material.

 

After some soot stains around the gun ports and the exhausts, the model was sealed with matt acrylic varnish.

  

A relatively simple project and just a fictional livery - but the Iraqi Spitfire looks pretty cool, especially the ID stripes add a special touch. The European RAF scheme looks a bit off on an aircraft that would be delivered to the Middel East, but the Iraqi Air Force operated British types like the Hunter in this guise, and later Su-22 fighter bombers carried a similarly murky camouflage in very dark green and earth brown.

With the recent increase in the water level at Summer Leys the great white egret(s) have had to investigate new feeding areas. Having seen a great white egret fishing close to one of the hides the day before (unfortunately whilst I was in a different hide) when I saw it fly to the same place again the following day that I knew I had to move to that hide. I waited patiently as the egret moved closer and closer along the reedbed towards the hide hoping that no one would come into the hide and disturb the bird. Thankfully nothing disturbed it and I was able to get take many photos.

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Elwood L. Robinson, Provost and Vice-President for Academic Affairs at Cambridge College in Massachusetts since 2012, has been elected Chancellor of Winston-Salem State University by the Board of Governors of the 17-campus University of North Carolina. UNC President Tom Ross placed Robinson's name in nomination today (September 26) during a special meeting of the board, held on the campus of WSSU. Robinson, 58, will assume his new duties January 1, 2015, succeeding Donald J. Reaves, who announced last spring that he would step down as Chancellor on December 31 after eight years in the post.

 

In recommending Robinson to the Board of Governors, Ross said: "I am thrilled at the opportunity to bring a talented North Carolinian back home. Elwood Robinson is going to be a phenomenal leader for Winston-Salem State University. He brings to the job a real passion for higher education and three decades of progressive leadership experience as a faculty mentor, department chair, dean, and provost. Much of that experience was gained at North Carolina Central University, his alma mater. He is a proven leader who promotes innovation, collaboration and an unwavering commitment to academic excellence and student success. He also understands WSSUâs proud history and its potential to play an even larger role in the life of this city and this state, so I am delighted he has agreed to join our leadership team."

 

Cambridge College is a private, not-for-profit institution offering undergraduate, graduate, professional degree and certificate programs through schools of Undergraduate Studies, Education, Management and Psychology & Counseling. Geared toward working adults, most courses are taught evenings and weekends, with many blending onsite and online components. It enrolls more than 5,000 students across its main Cambridge campus and seven regional academic centers in Massachusetts, Virginia, Tennessee, Georgia, California and Puerto Rico.

 

As Cambridge Collegeâs chief academic officer, Robinson has advised the president on matters of educational policy and the development of teaching and academic programs. He also has managed the school's academic planning and program reviews and overseen its regional academic centers. Under his watch, the teacher education program has achieved national accreditation and the College has forged an innovative partnership with Granite State College in New Hampshire to offer online programs â the first private/state partnership of its kind in New England. In addition, the American Council on Education has awarded Cambridge a grant to establish an Innovation and Change Lab designed to increase the number of first-generation and nontraditional students earning college degrees.

 

A native of Ivanhoe, NC, Robinson graduated magna cum laude from North Carolina Central University in 1978 with a degree in psychology and then earned a masterâs degree in the field from Fisk University in Tennessee (1980). After completing a pre-doctoral internship at Duke University Medical Center, performing rotations in neuropsychology, psychiatric inpatient and behavioral medicine and health psychology, he earned a doctorate in clinical psychology from Pennsylvania State University (1986). He later completed his clinical training as a research associate at Duke University Medical Center (1990-1993).

 

Robinson joined the faculty of NCCU in 1984. In 1993, he was named Director of the Minority Access to Research Careers (MARC) Program, which provides research training opportunities for students and faculty from minority groups underrepresented in the biomedical sciences. He directed the federally funded program for the next 11 years, establishing collaborations with several major research universities, expanding course offerings, and mentoring more than 100 MARC Scholars. Remarkably, 80 percent of those scholars entered graduate school and 40 percent have achieved doctoral degrees.

 

From 1993-1996, Robinson also served as chair of NCCU's Psychology Department. During his three-year term, he instituted a new clinical masterâs program, developed a faculty development program, increased external funding, and improved graduation rates by 25 percent. Concurrently, Robinson directed NCCU's Alcohol Research Center, funded by a grant from the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. A collaboration with predominantly minority and research-intensive institutions, the center provided support to faculty interested in alcohol-related research.

 

In 2006, Robinson was named founding Dean of the NCCU College of Behavioral and Social Sciences, where he oversaw nine departments, five centers and over 200 faculty and staff. Over the next six years, he generated over $15 million in federal grants and other external funding, achieved accreditation for 16 programs, established a Department of Social Work, secured funding for a $1-million endowed professorship, and developed a national partnership with the Institute for Homeland Security and the Rural Domestic Preparedness Consortium. He remained in the post until he left North Carolina for Cambridge College in 2012.

 

Active in professional and civic organizations, Robinson has received numerous awards and honors over the course of his career. A former National Institutes of Health Fellow, he has received the Sigma Xi Award (1995), the Omega Psi Phi Founderâs Award (2007), an Image Award from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (2003), and the Order of the Long Leaf Pine (2012). He has served on the boards of the YMCA of the Greater Triangle, the Center for Child and Family Health, and the Uplift Foundation, and has served as a delegate for the People to People Citizen Ambassador Program to China, Egypt and South Africa.

 

Robinson is married to Denise Robinson, a 1978 NCCU graduate and former elementary school teacher. Together, they have two children: Chanita Robinson Coulter, a graduate of North Carolina A&T State University and school teacher living in Charleston, SC; and Devin, a student at NCCU.

 

The University of North Carolina

 

The oldest public university in the nation, the University of North Carolina enrolls more than 220,000 students and encompasses all 16 of North Carolina's public institutions that grant baccalaureate degrees, as well as the NC School of Science and Mathematics, the nationâs first public residential high school for gifted students. UNC campuses support a broad array of distinguished liberal-arts programs, two medical schools and one teaching hospital, two law schools, a veterinary school, a school of pharmacy, 11 nursing programs, 15 schools of education, three schools of engineering, and a specialized school for performing artists. The UNC Center for Public Television, with its 11-station statewide broadcast network, is also under the University umbrella.

 

Winston-Salem State University

 

Located in the central Piedmont Triad region of North Carolina, Winston-Salem State University (www.wssu.edu) enrolls nearly 6,200 students in 43 undergraduate and 10 graduate programs. Founded in 1892, WSSU in 1925 became the first African American institution in the nation to grant elementary education teaching degrees. Today, WSSU's award-winning Motorsports Management major is the nation's first bachelor of science degree program dedicated to motorsports management. WSSU is the third-largest producer of nurses in North Carolina, the Smithsonian Institution has named the Diggs Gallery at WSSU one of the nationâs best regional, contemporary African American art galleries.

The exploitation rights for this text are the property of the Vienna Tourist Board. This text may be reprinted free of charge until further notice, even partially and in edited form. Forward sample copy to: Vienna Tourist Board, Media Management, Invalidenstraße 6, 1030 Vienna; media.rel@wien.info. All information in this text without guarantee.

Author: Andreas Nierhaus, Curator of Architecture/Wien Museum

Last updated January 2014

Architecture in Vienna

Vienna's 2,000-year history is present in a unique density in the cityscape. The layout of the center dates back to the Roman city and medieval road network. Romanesque and Gothic churches characterize the streets and squares as well as palaces and mansions of the baroque city of residence. The ring road is an expression of the modern city of the 19th century, in the 20th century extensive housing developments set accents in the outer districts. Currently, large-scale urban development measures are implemented; distinctive buildings of international star architects complement the silhouette of the city.

Due to its function as residence of the emperor and European power center, Vienna for centuries stood in the focus of international attention, but it was well aware of that too. As a result, developed an outstanding building culture, and still today on a worldwide scale only a few cities can come up with a comparable density of high-quality architecture. For several years now, Vienna has increased its efforts to connect with its historical highlights and is drawing attention to itself with some spectacular new buildings. The fastest growing city in the German-speaking world today most of all in residential construction is setting standards. Constants of the Viennese architecture are respect for existing structures, the palpability of historical layers and the dialogue between old and new.

Culmination of medieval architecture: the Stephansdom

The oldest architectural landmark of the city is St. Stephen's Cathedral. Under the rule of the Habsburgs, defining the face of the city from the late 13th century until 1918 in a decisive way, the cathedral was upgraded into the sacral monument of the political ambitions of the ruling house. The 1433 completed, 137 meters high southern tower, by the Viennese people affectionately named "Steffl", is a masterpiece of late Gothic architecture in Europe. For decades he was the tallest stone structure in Europe, until today he is the undisputed center of the city.

The baroque residence

Vienna's ascension into the ranks of the great European capitals began in Baroque. Among the most important architects are Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach and Johann Lucas von Hildebrandt. Outside the city walls arose a chain of summer palaces, including the garden Palais Schwarzenberg (1697-1704) as well as the Upper and Lower Belvedere of Prince Eugene of Savoy (1714-22). Among the most important city palaces are the Winter Palace of Prince Eugene (1695-1724, now a branch of the Belvedere) and the Palais Daun-Kinsky (auction house in Kinsky 1713-19). The emperor himself the Hofburg had complemented by buildings such as the Imperial Library (1722-26) and the Winter Riding School (1729-34). More important, however, for the Habsburgs was the foundation of churches and monasteries. Thus arose before the city walls Fischer von Erlach's Karlskirche (1714-39), which with its formal and thematic complex show façade belongs to the major works of European Baroque. In colored interior rooms like that of St. Peter's Church (1701-22), the contemporary efforts for the synthesis of architecture, painting and sculpture becomes visible.

Upgrading into metropolis: the ring road time (Ringstraßenzeit)

Since the Baroque, reflections on extension of the hopelessly overcrowed city were made, but only Emperor Franz Joseph ordered in 1857 the demolition of the fortifications and the connection of the inner city with the suburbs. 1865, the Ring Road was opened. It is as the most important boulevard of Europe an architectural and in terms of urban development achievement of the highest rank. The original building structure is almost completely preserved and thus conveys the authentic image of a metropolis of the 19th century. The public representational buildings speak, reflecting accurately the historicism, by their style: The Greek Antique forms of Theophil Hansen's Parliament (1871-83) stood for democracy, the Renaissance of the by Heinrich Ferstel built University (1873-84) for the flourishing of humanism, the Gothic of the Town Hall (1872-83) by Friedrich Schmidt for the medieval civic pride.

Dominating remained the buildings of the imperial family: Eduard van der Nüll's and August Sicardsburg's Opera House (1863-69), Gottfried Semper's and Carl Hasenauer's Burgtheater (1874-88), their Museum of Art History and Museum of Natural History (1871-91) and the Neue (New) Hofburg (1881-1918 ). At the same time the ring road was the preferred residential area of mostly Jewish haute bourgeoisie. With luxurious palaces the families Ephrussi, Epstein or Todesco made it clear that they had taken over the cultural leadership role in Viennese society. In the framework of the World Exhibition of 1873, the new Vienna presented itself an international audience. At the ring road many hotels were opened, among them the Hotel Imperial and today's Palais Hansen Kempinski.

Laboratory of modernity: Vienna around 1900

Otto Wagner's Postal Savings Bank (1903-06) was one of the last buildings in the Ring road area Otto Wagner's Postal Savings Bank (1903-06), which with it façade, liberated of ornament, and only decorated with "functional" aluminum buttons and the glass banking hall now is one of the icons of modern architecture. Like no other stood Otto Wagner for the dawn into the 20th century: His Metropolitan Railway buildings made ​​the public transport of the city a topic of architecture, the church of the Psychiatric hospital at Steinhofgründe (1904-07) is considered the first modern church.

With his consistent focus on the function of a building ("Something impractical can not be beautiful"), Wagner marked a whole generation of architects and made Vienna the laboratory of modernity: in addition to Joseph Maria Olbrich, the builder of the Secession (1897-98) and Josef Hoffmann, the architect of the at the western outskirts located Purkersdorf Sanatorium (1904) and founder of the Vienna Workshop (Wiener Werkstätte, 1903) is mainly to mention Adolf Loos, with the Loos House at the square Michaelerplatz (1909-11) making architectural history. The extravagant marble cladding of the business zone stands in maximal contrast, derived from the building function, to the unadorned facade above, whereby its "nudity" became even more obvious - a provocation, as well as his culture-critical texts ("Ornament and Crime"), with which he had greatest impact on the architecture of the 20th century. Public contracts Loos remained denied. His major works therefore include villas, apartment facilities and premises as the still in original state preserved Tailor salon Knize at Graben (1910-13) and the restored Loos Bar (1908-09) near the Kärntner Straße (passageway Kärntner Durchgang).

Between the Wars: International Modern Age and social housing

After the collapse of the monarchy in 1918, Vienna became capital of the newly formed small country of Austria. In the heart of the city, the architects Theiss & Jaksch built 1931-32 the first skyscraper in Vienna as an exclusive residential address (Herrengasse - alley 6-8). To combat the housing shortage for the general population, the social democratic city government in a globally unique building program within a few years 60,000 apartments in hundreds of apartment buildings throughout the city area had built, including the famous Karl Marx-Hof by Karl Ehn (1925-30). An alternative to the multi-storey buildings with the 1932 opened International Werkbundsiedlung was presented, which was attended by 31 architects from Austria, Germany, France, Holland and the USA and showed models for affordable housing in greenfield areas. With buildings of Adolf Loos, André Lurçat, Richard Neutra, Gerrit Rietveld, the Werkbundsiedlung, which currently is being restored at great expense, is one of the most important documents of modern architecture in Austria.

Modernism was also expressed in significant Villa buildings: The House Beer (1929-31) by Josef Frank exemplifies the refined Wiener living culture of the interwar period, while the house Stonborough-Wittgenstein (1926-28, today Bulgarian Cultural Institute), built by the philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein together with the architect Paul Engelmann for his sister Margarete, by its aesthetic radicalism and mathematical rigor represents a special case within contemporary architecture.

Expulsion, war and reconstruction

After the "Anschluss (Annexation)" to the German Reich in 1938, numerous Jewish builders, architects (female and male ones), who had been largely responsible for the high level of Viennese architecture, have been expelled from Austria. During the Nazi era, Vienna remained largely unaffected by structural transformations, apart from the six flak towers built for air defense of Friedrich Tamms (1942-45), made ​​of solid reinforced concrete which today are present as memorials in the cityscape.

The years after the end of World War II were characterized by the reconstruction of the by bombs heavily damaged city. The architecture of those times was marked by aesthetic pragmatism, but also by the attempt to connect with the period before 1938 and pick up on current international trends. Among the most important buildings of the 1950s are Roland Rainer's City Hall (1952-58), the by Oswald Haerdtl erected Wien Museum at Karlsplatz (1954-59) and the 21er Haus of Karl Schwanzer (1958-62).

The youngsters come

Since the 1960s, a young generation was looking for alternatives to the moderate modernism of the reconstruction years. With visionary designs, conceptual, experimental and above all temporary architectures, interventions and installations, Raimund Abraham, Günther Domenig, Eilfried Huth, Hans Hollein, Walter Pichler and the groups Coop Himmelb(l)au, Haus-Rucker-Co and Missing Link rapidly got international attention. Although for the time being it was more designed than built, was the influence on the postmodern and deconstructivist trends of the 1970s and 1980s also outside Austria great. Hollein's futuristic "Retti" candle shop at Charcoal Market/Kohlmarkt (1964-65) and Domenig's biomorphic building of the Central Savings Bank in Favoriten (10th district of Vienna - 1975-79) are among the earliest examples, later Hollein's Haas-Haus (1985-90), the loft conversion Falkestraße (1987/88) by Coop Himmelb(l)au or Domenig's T Center (2002-04) were added. Especially Domenig, Hollein, Coop Himmelb(l)au and the architects Ortner & Ortner (ancient members of Haus-Rucker-Co) ​​by orders from abroad the new Austrian and Viennese architecture made a fixed international concept.

MuseumQuarter and Gasometer

Since the 1980s, the focus of building in Vienna lies on the compaction of the historic urban fabric that now as urban habitat of high quality no longer is put in question. Among the internationally best known projects is the by Ortner & Ortner planned MuseumsQuartier in the former imperial stables (competition 1987, 1998-2001), which with institutions such as the MUMOK - Museum of Modern Art Foundation Ludwig, the Leopold Museum, the Kunsthalle Wien, the Architecture Center Vienna and the Zoom Children's Museum on a wordwide scale is under the largest cultural complexes. After controversies in the planning phase, here an architectural compromise between old and new has been achieved at the end, whose success as an urban stage with four million visitors (2012) is overwhelming.

The dialogue between old and new, which has to stand on the agenda of building culture of a city that is so strongly influenced by history, also features the reconstruction of the Gasometer in Simmering by Coop Himmelb(l)au, Wilhelm Holzbauer, Jean Nouvel and Manfred Wehdorn (1999-2001). Here was not only created new housing, but also a historical industrial monument reinterpreted into a signal in the urban development area.

New Neighborhood

In recent years, the major railway stations and their surroundings moved into the focus of planning. Here not only necessary infrastructural measures were taken, but at the same time opened up spacious inner-city residential areas and business districts. Among the prestigious projects are included the construction of the new Vienna Central Station, started in 2010 with the surrounding office towers of the Quartier Belvedere and the residential and school buildings of the Midsummer quarter (Sonnwendviertel). Europe's largest wooden tower invites here for a spectacular view to the construction site and the entire city. On the site of the former North Station are currently being built 10,000 homes and 20,000 jobs, on that of the Aspangbahn station is being built at Europe's greatest Passive House settlement "Euro Gate", the area of ​​the North Western Railway Station is expected to be developed from 2020 for living and working. The largest currently under construction residential project but can be found in the north-eastern outskirts, where in Seaside Town Aspern till 2028 living and working space for 40,000 people will be created.

In one of the "green lungs" of Vienna, the Prater, 2013, the WU campus was opened for the largest University of Economics of Europe. Around the central square spectacular buildings of an international architect team from Great Britain, Japan, Spain and Austria are gathered that seem to lead a sometimes very loud conversation about the status quo of contemporary architecture (Hitoshi Abe, BUSarchitektur, Peter Cook, Zaha Hadid, NO MAD Arquitectos, Carme Pinós).

Flying high

International is also the number of architects who have inscribed themselves in the last few years with high-rise buildings in the skyline of Vienna and make St. Stephen's a not always unproblematic competition. Visible from afar is Massimiliano Fuksas' 138 and 127 meters high elegant Twin Tower at Wienerberg (1999-2001). The monolithic, 75-meter-high tower of the Hotel Sofitel at the Danube Canal by Jean Nouvel (2007-10), on the other hand, reacts to the particular urban situation and stages in its top floor new perspectives to the historical center on the other side.

Also at the water stands Dominique Perrault's DC Tower (2010-13) in the Danube City - those high-rise city, in which since the start of construction in 1996, the expansion of the city north of the Danube is condensed symbolically. Even in this environment, the slim and at the same time striking vertically folded tower of Perrault is beyond all known dimensions; from its Sky Bar, from spring 2014 on you are able to enjoy the highest view of Vienna. With 250 meters, the tower is the tallest building of Austria and almost twice as high as the St. Stephen's Cathedral. Vienna, thus, has acquired a new architectural landmark which cannot be overlooked - whether it also has the potential to become a landmark of the new Vienna, only time will tell. The architectural history of Vienna, where European history is presence and new buildings enter into an exciting and not always conflict-free dialogue with a great and outstanding architectural heritage, in any case has yet to offer exciting chapters.

Info: The folder "Architecture: From Art Nouveau to the Presence" is available at the Vienna Tourist Board and can be downloaded on www.wien.info/media/files/guide-architecture-in-wien.pdf.

Ko Chang (เกาะช้าง) is an island in Trat Province, Eastern Thailand. Ko Chang is Thailand's second largest island, and the biggest in Eastern Thailand. With about 5,000 permanent residents the island is not heavily populated, but tourism (and development) has increased dramatically over the last few years.

 

Ko Chang is one of Thailand's most beautiful islands with long white sandy beaches. The island is also home to a wide range of wildlife, including a good selection of birds, snakes, deer and a number of elephants. The island and its vicinity are great places for snorkeling, diving and jungle hiking. The "discovery" of the island as a tourist destination since 2000 has brought on a large amount of rapid development, and while still far quieter than places like Phuket or Ko Samui, it is far from quiet in high season. Regarding services and activities specifically aimed at tourists prices have reached such a level that the islanders are pricing themselves out of the market when compared to the other islands.

 

HISTORY

Prior to World War II, Ko Chang was little known to Westerners and was lightly-populated. The few families there made a living growing coconuts and fruit on the mainland. In January 1941, during the Franco-Thai War, the Thai Navy fought against a French surprise attack in in the waters to the south of Ko Chang.

 

The first backpacking foreigners started arriving on local fishing boats in the mid-1970s. In 1982, Ko Chang, along with surrounding areas, became part of Mu Ko Chang National Marine Park. Only very recently, in less than ten years, Ko Chang has turned into a major tourist destination, both for foreigners and local Thais.

 

This sudden tourism boom however, has been fraught with controversy concerning land use, etc. The government is trying to "develop" it from a backpackers' paradise to a top-level destination, and construction work is going on throughout the island, with basic huts torn down to make way for fancy resorts.

 

GEOGRAPHY

Ko Chang is the largest island in the Ko Chang Archipelago. The name means Elephant Island, named for the elephant shape of its headland, although elephants are not indigenous to the island.

 

Ko Chang has an area of approximately 429 square kilometres. The topography contains high mountains and complex stone cliffs. The highest mount is Khao Salak Phet which is 744 metres high, rich in fertile evergreen forest which is the main water source. Therefore, there are many waterfalls, beaches and splendid reefs in the west of the island.

 

Most accommodation is located on the western side of the island, where the sandy beaches are. On the eastern side of the island there are few sandy beaches; as such, this side is far less touristy. There are some nice waterfalls though.

 

70 percent of this undisturbed island is rainforest, steep hills, cliffs, waterfalls, and wildlife, fine beaches, coral reefs and an abundance of marine life. The island also offers tall mountains and rock cliffs.

 

CLIMATE

Ko Chang has the same seasons as Bangkok. The best season to go is the (comparatively) cool season between November and February. March to May are roasting hot and between June and October it rains, and a lot at that: 4,000 mm in an average year. Many guest houses close during this season, so accommodation is limited.

 

GET IN

BY PLANE

Bangkok Airways flies 3 times a day from Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi Airport (the "new" BKK) to Trat Airport. The flights depart at 08:30, 11:40 and 17:05, and take 1 hour exactly. Ticket prices are between 2,000B and 3,800B return trip depending on the time of year.

 

Direct door-to-door minibus transfers from Trat airport to Ko Chang resorts cost 500 Baht/person one way and 900 Baht/person return including the ferry crossing. The minibuses are air-conditioned.

 

From Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi Airport, take the free express shuttle bus from outside the arrivals concourse to the airport's own bus terminal, and from there the next available bus to either Trat or Chanthaburi, then proceed as described below.

 

BY BUS

From Bangkok the most economical way to get to Laem Ngop (where the Ko Chang ferry piers are) is to take a 1st class bus #999 from the Eastern (Ekamai) Bus Terminal direct to the Laem Ngop piers. The fare is 275 baht one-way (520 baht return) and takes just over five hours. Departures from Ekamai are at 07:45 & 09:45, and return at 14:00. Subject to seat availability, this bus can also be boarded at Chanthaburi and at Suvarnabhumi Airport. However, as of December 2009 there was a more comfortable way to travel from Bangkok Airport to Ko Chang: the new bus line # 392 starts from the airport bus terminus (make sure to take a free shuttle from main airport to airport bus terminus) at 07:30 and returns from Koh Chang at 12:30. Tickets can be bought online at the Suvarnabhumi Burapha Bus Company. As of 1 Nov. 2010 there are also express shared minibuses running from Suvarnabhumi airport non-stop to Lonely Beach on Ko Chang. Tickets are 308 baht for the big bus and 600 baht (800 baht round trip)for the Lonely Beach Express minibus which includes a ticket for the ferry. However, this service can be unreliable; jammed minivans with unsecure luggage and drivers breaking traffic rules. It is also not guaranteed that your return will be by minivan, but rather with a large bus carrying people for other destinations which requires lengthy stops along the way.

 

Alternatively, there are 1st class (approx. 5 hours, around 250 baht) and 2nd class services from both the Eastern Bus Terminal (Ekamai) and Northern Bus Terminal (Moh Chit) direct to Trat, and frequent songthaew services from Trat to Laem Ngop (approx. 30 minutes, 50 baht/person). Departures from Ekamai are more frequent than from Moh Chit. If coming by bus from the south, the #511 air-con bus can be used to connect directly between Bangkok's Southern (Sai Tai Mai) and Eastern (Ekamai) bus terminals.

 

Departures from Ekamai on the Cherdchai Private Bus company second class bus are 255 Baht to Trat (March 2015), with departures approximately every 2 hours during the day and advertised travel time being 4 hours.

 

There is a new government bus line 999 that travels between Ekamai station and the ferry to Ao Thammachart Pier. It is properly airconditioned and each traveller receives a refreshment pack. Unfortunately the travel times for bus 999 are limited. There are only 2 departure times per day, both in the morning.

 

The Cherdchai Private Bus company night sells seats on a first class airconditioned night bus that leaves Ekamai at 11.30pm and arrives in Trat town around 5am the next morning but it cannot be recommended as the bus was crowded, the airconditioning was almost non-existent, the toilet stank of urine and the bus itself was filthy. Be careful too that if the Cherdchai ticket booth at Ekamai charges you for a ferry ticket to Koh Chang as the ferry ticket is overpriced and puts you on a ferry to Centrepoint Pier, which is a 45 minutes trip compared to 25 minutes if you take the ferry to Ao Thammachart Pier.

 

Connection in Trat can also be used if coming from Pattaya (2nd class bus, 4 hours, around 200 baht).

 

There are direct minibus services to Laem Ngop from Pattaya, Ban Phe (gateway to Ko Samet), and Bangkok's Khao San Road and Victory monument (in front of the Payathai hospital). They, however, are less comfortable and spacious than public buses, and you may be charged significantly more by travel agencies selling tickets to these, as often with any tourist-oriented transportation in Thailand.

 

It may also be possible to proceed directly to Laem Ngop by minibus or songthaew from the Hat Lek / Koh Kong border crossing with southern Cambodia, depending on the time of year, time of day, etc - enquire locally. Price around 120 baht (one way) from the border to Trat bus station.

 

BY BOAT

Most ferries operate from Laem Ngop, which has three piers . The Laem Ngop (Tha Khrom Luang or Tha Laern Ngop) pier is approximately 700 metres west of Laem Ngop. The Centrepoint (Tha Centre Point) pier is located about 3.5 km north-west of Laem Ngop. These piers serve both vehicle and passenger ferries.

 

Koh Chang vehicle ferry pier is located in Thammachat Bay (Ao Thammachat), around 15 km west of Laem Ngop.

 

All piers on Ko Chang are situated on the eastern side of the island. The major piers are the two Dan Kao piers, Tha Dan Kao and Tha Ferry Dan Kao, who handles most of the traffic. To take a boat from Laem Ngop to the Dan Kao piers take around 45 minutes. The car ferry from Laem Ngop take around 1 hour and arrives at the Tha Ferry Dan Kao pier, situated 400 metres southeast of the Tha Dan Kao pier. The car ferry from Thammachat Bay stops at the Ko Chang Ferry Pier (Tha Ferry Ko Chang) in the Sapparot Bay (Ao Sapparot), 3 kilometres northwest from the Dan Kao piers.

 

Light meals, fruit, fruits and beverages are available at all the piers and on the car ferries.

 

There are two operators that provide daily speedboat services from Ko Kood to Ko Chang. One is based in Bang Bao, the other on Kai Bae Beach [6] Rates are the same but departures times can vary, so make sure to book ahead.

 

GET AROUND

In the daytime, you can catch a songtheaw on its route around the main road for 50 or 150 baht/person, depending how far you go. The rates are generally much higher than in other places, but the vehicles are almost new and in excellent condition. Starting from 5.00pm, many of them start to ask "taxi" price, telling you that they operate as a public transport only until that time, and may quote prices as high as say 500 baht from Lonely Beach to the Dan Kao pier (bargain if you choose to hire, do not support silly prices!). However, if you have some time and patience, you still can try and have a "shared" ride with some drivers, maybe for a higher rate if they expect little or no other passengers.

 

These taxis are also waiting at the Dan Kao Pier (50 baht/person to White Sand beach, 100 baht to Lonely Beach). At the Dan Kao Ferry-Pier there may be no taxis available. If you arrive without a vehicle you may have to walk the 400 metres to Dan Kao Pier. The prices have become unofficially fixed and there is little room for bargaining; however, the price you pay to return should be the price you payed to come in the first place (50B White Sands, 100B Lonely, 150B Bang Bao). If they try to add 50B to that, decline (not politely). There will be another taxi and accepting the price increase condones the practice and causes price increases over time.

 

Small motorcycles can be rented for 150-300B per day. The main road is sealed and almost circles the island and there are plans to complete the circuit in the near future. Cars are also available for rental, most hotels can help with it. 4x4 car recommended, since some roads might be in bad condition, especially near Lonely Beach.

 

To rent a motorbike at the center point pier is a good option to save money, as you are avoiding the expensive taxi rides. It further gives you the freedom to drive to more remote beaches where you most of the time fine lower rates for accommodation. [Update April 2014: Center Point motorbike rentals charging 250 baht/day daily rentals, 200 baht/day for 5 days, and 150 baht/day for monthly rentals. Price is (apparently) non negotiable. They also only provide you with ~.7L of fuel, so it's on you to fill the rest of the way up.]

 

If there are 2 or more people going with you, hiring a songtheaw may cost the same price, or even be cheaper than paying per each person in a "shared" songtheaw (there is no difference, an empty songtheaw can easily be hired). Just do not forget to bargain if their price sounds quite silly when compared, say, to Bangkok taxi-meter (on Ko Chang it can be difficult if not impossible to get the same price, but at least it should not cost double or even more). Generally most people just stay on the beach of their choice and walk to wherever they want to go.

 

Hitching on Ko Chang is also an alternative if you choose not to pay the often exorbitant fees of the songtheaw. Many islanders are more than willing to pick up a hitchhiker who happens to be going the same way they are. A Coke or cold bottle of green tea for the driver are always appreciated at the end of your journey.

 

SEE

Elephants - There are three or four places offering elephant rides. We checked them out and none of them are 'elephant friendly'. Please think carefully about wanting to sit on a chair on the back of an elephant. All you can see from the is trees and a long drop to the ground. Elephants for riding are 'broken' when they are babies. They are guided by a mahout with an 'ice pick'. The ice pick is not for show. It is used on the elephant. Perhaps not when you are there... Elephants under stress rock from side to side and actually look distressed. If you see this behaviour, or see that the animals are being chained with little or no shade, or see that they do 'tricks', they are being misused. This becomes your choice. Do you perpetuate a cruel practice for a bit of fun, or do you look elsewhere?

 

- The Mu Ko Chang National Park - National Marine Park comprising parts of Ko Chang and 46 other islands

- War memorial monument - in the very south of the island

 

WATERFALLS

- Klong Plu - the most popular waterfall, and the only one on the west side of the island

- Klong Nonsi - waterfall on the east side of the island

- Klong Nueng - said to be the most breathtaking waterfall

- Khiri Petch - medium sized waterfall, about 3 kilometres from Salak Petch village

- Kongoi - 5 waterfalls near Bang Bao

- The Thanmayom - near Thanmayom pier

 

DO

Scuba diving and fishing are the most popular activities, because there are many beautiful corals and many kinds of fish for fishing. Additionally, a jungle trekking is a great idea. Jungle trekking is divided in 2 parts- north and south. Jungle trekking of north is a nature walk that contains many kinds of fruit, and several of plants. On the other hand, jungle trekking of south includes visiting fishing villagse and offers you to see a variety of animals (monkeys, snakes, birds, lizards) You can also learn how to cook Thai food. The cost for each courses starts form 1200 baht. They will teach popular Thai food such as spicy salad (som-tum), chicken curry (kang keaw wan), spicy soup (tom yum), fried rice noodles (Pad Thai), and so on. Moreover, the main activity in koh chang is the island sightseeing. You can see a famous Chinese temple that everybody should visit and pray.

 

WIKITRAVEL

Public School 66 (formerly the Brooklyn Hills School, Later the Oxford School, now the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School). Richmond Hill, Queens

 

Originally constructed in 1898-9, Public School (P.S.) 66 is a remarkable survivor from a time when Richmond Hill, Queens, was transitioning from a rural farming community into a vibrant residential neighborhood. Three identical schools (two now demolished) were constructed in anticipation of an influx of residents, expected as a result of improvements in transportation, the subdivision of farmlands into lots for residential development, and the consolidation of Queens with Greater New York City that same year.

 

Also known as the Brooklyn Hills School after the suburban development in which it was physically located, P.S. 66 formally opened its doors in 1902. Harry S. Chambers, Superintendent of School Buildings for the Union Free School District No. 7 of the Town of Jamaica, Queens, is credited with the design of the original school building.

 

C.B.J. Snyder, Superintendent of School Buildings for the New York City Board of Education from 1890 to 1923, is noted as the architect of a 1905-6 addition.

 

The two-and-a-half and three-story red brick building is Victorian Eclectic in style. Many of its features are characteristic of the Romanesque Revival style and give the building a fortress-like appearance, including prominent round arches highlighting window openings and the main entrance, a flared base, and a distinctive six-story tower (restored in 2001).

 

Elements of the Queen Anne style are also present in the building’s large entablatures featuring elaborate rinceaux, its gabled dormers, and the steeply pitched roofs of the 1905-6 addition, which was harmoniously designed in the style of the main section. The tower, which originally contained a bell used to call school children from neighboring farms and developments, is distinguished by round arches, brick corbelling, large masonry columns, and foliate details. An ornamental panel above the main entranceway survives and features the name of the school.

  

Today, P.S. 66 has been renamed the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School in honor of the former First Lady’s passion for literacy and for historic preservation and continues to serve in its original function as a grammar school. It remains one of Queens’ most distinctive school structures.

 

Richmond Hill, Queens

 

P.S. 66 is geographically located in east central Queens, just south of the verdant Forest Park in the neighborhood of Richmond Hill. The area was originally part of the town of Jamaica, one of the oldest and most historically significant areas of the borough. Jamaica was inhabited by a Native American tribe called the Jameco or Yamecah, a word meaning Beaver in Algonquin, when the first Europeans arrived there in 1655.

 

They had came from neighboring Hempstead looking for more space to farm and in 1656 applied to Governor Stuyvesant for a patent to “purchase” 10 acres of land from the native tribe.4 When the English took over in 1664, the town’s name was changed to Jamaica. Queens County (then including all of Nassau County) was chartered in 1683 as one of the ten counties of the colony of New York and official town patents were given to Jamaica, Newtown, and Flushing. A 1698 census of Queens County showed a total population of 3,366 white residents and 199 black residents.

 

While early records do indicate the existence of slaves in Jamaica, the town also had a free black population throughout its history. Through the next century, the community of Jamaica served as the county seat and became a trading post where farmers from outlying areas brought their produce.

 

Incorporated as a village in 1814, Jamaica became a center of trade on Long Island. Early east-west roads, like King’s Highway, and the arrival of the first railroad, the fledgling Long Island Railroad (LIRR), in 1836, provided crucial links between Eastern Long Island and Manhattan.

 

Further transportation improvements following the Civil War, including a horse car line in 1866 and electric trolley in 1888, began to open up previously rural, inaccessible portions of the county. The area became ripe for urban development, much of which remained focused around Jamaica.

 

During the 19th century, Jamaica evolved into a retreat for urban dwellers who patronized its numerous inns and saloons on weekend excursions and built large summer homes on its open land. The permanent population of Jamaica increased steadily throughout the second half of the 19th century, and eventually some of the nearby farms were subdivided for house lots.

 

While driving from his Wall Street office to his Lawrence, Long Island, summer home, Albon Platt Man, a wealthy lawyer from New York City, is said to have become enamored by a sunny slope in northwest Jamaica which dropped gently southward from Long Island’s terminal moraine ridge.

 

Man purchased the land in 1869, consisting of five farmsteads belonging to the Lefferts, Bergen, Welling, Robertson, and Hendrickson families, amounting to more than 400 acres.9 He later acquired adjacent parcels to the north and to the east.10 Man and his business partner, Edward Richmond, a landscape architect, envisioned the development of a rural community where workers could escape from the congestion of the industrial city to peaceful homes in picturesque settings.11 They named the project Richmond Hill, most likely after the famed London Borough of Richmond upon Thames.

 

By the 1870s, 250 acres of Man’s original purchase had been transformed into lots suitable for private residences. Between 1868 and 1874, some 400 shade and ornamental trees were planted, and various streets, avenues, and drives were laid out around the most desirable portions of the property. A passenger depot at Richmond Hill was opened in 1868 by the South Side Railroad of Long Island.

 

A school and a church were erected, followed shortly by both small-scale cottages and more luxurious houses built by wealthy businessmen from Manhattan. The heart of the village was the main junction of Myrtle, Jamaica, and Lefferts Avenues, near the train depot and a small grocery store / post office.

 

Richmond Hill continued to grow in the decades that followed, as did the surrounding neighborhoods that were similarly being developed by real estate developers and syndicates. In 1895, the three separate hamlets of Richmond Hill, Morris Park, and Clarenceville were incorporated as the Village of Richmond Hill.

 

The municipal independence of the village, however, was short-lived – just three years later Queens would become part of Greater New York City. Consolidation was favorably looked upon by developers, as extension of New York City’s water and sewers, rapid transit, and new bridges across the east river undoubtedly meant an increase in the region’s desirability.

 

Brooklyn Hills

 

In 1887, the Brooklyn Hills Improvement Company, a real estate syndicate, purchased roughly 160 acres of farmland within Richmond Hills.14 The land was easily accessible at the junction of the Long Island Railroad on Atlantic Avenue, the Rockaway Beach Railroad, the Brooklyn Union Elevated Railroad, and a proposed subway route (later an elevated train, now the J). To help ready the land for residential development, the company graded streets, laid flagging and sidewalks, planted more than 1,000 trees, and connected water pipes to the mains of the Woodhaven Water Supply Company.

 

By 1895, the company had constructed about 150 houses and 20 stores within the development that had come to be known as Brooklyn Hills.16 While the population of the neighborhood was cited as 200 residents by 1898, much of the land remained undeveloped at the turn of the century. This included “Plat No. 3,” a residential subdivision within Brooklyn Hills that consisted of roughly twelve blocks surrounding the newly constructed P.S. 66, located at Union Place (now 102nd Street) between Walnut Street (now 85th Road) and Tulip Street (now 85th Avenue) (see Figure 18).

 

A lawsuit brought by the Brooklyn Hills Improvement Company against the New York and Rockaway Railroad Company in 1899 alleged that a contract to establish a station at Brooklyn Hills had been breached, and that failure of the railroad to build the station had damaged and hindered the company’s efforts to sell real estate in the area.18 Ultimately the company was awarded only six cents in damages. The argument that the company had not been able to profit off its land was widely considered specious.

 

A Brooklyn Hills station of the Rockaway Beach Branch of the Long Island Railroad had operated at Myrtle Avenue and Forest Park from about 1882 to 1911. Moreover, records indicate no problem with sales – as reported in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, by 1902 the company had sold nearly 600 building lots at prices ranging from $2,500 to $3,000 per acre.19 The company had also profited in 1898 off the condemnation by the city of a hilly portion of the tract located north of Plat No. 3, which was to become part of Forest Park.20 Development delays, specifically within Plat No. 3, more likely resulted from complications with the nearby Waterbury and Napier farms which, until 1905, prohibited the cutting of through streets and which therefore stood as a barrier between the subdivision and the rest of the village.

 

This impediment, however, was removed by the time of the 1905 auction of the 382 lots of Plat No. 3.22 Real estate boosters prepared for the auction touted the tract’s location, bounded by a “beautiful range of hills” to the north (now part of Forest Park) slated to become “one of the most beautiful of New York City’s public parks.” Physical improvements were also touted, such as the widening of Union Place (now 102nd Street), the plat’s principal avenue, and the presence of the “large modern public school on its property,” referring, of course, to P.S. 66. The auction was apparently a success. The Brooklyn Hills Improvement Company was voluntarily dissolved on October 28, 1907.

 

Public Education in Jamaica, Queens

 

The present New York City public school system, fully supported and maintained by public funds, developed slowly from the initial establishment under the Dutch of elementary schools supported and jointly controlled by both the civil authorities and the Dutch Reformed Church. Under English rule, a system of private academies, similar to those in Britain, appeared in lieu of a public system. Through the 18th century, schools in Queens were rarely free and were primarily run by religious institutions.24 It was not until after the American Revolution that New York State undertook the task of creating a public education system. During the period between the first meeting of the state legislature in 1777 and 1851, nearly 1,000 pieces of legislation concerning education were passed. In 1812, New York State adopted a common school system intended to provide free elementary education to all the residents of the state, to be funded through local taxes.

 

In 1813, the town of Jamaica voted to receive its allotted quota of the state’s school fund to put towards establishing common schools.

 

“Union free school districts” were established during the 1853 session of legislature as a way for municipalities to combine two or more common schools for the purpose of making education available to children from a broader region. In addition to free admission, pupils within union free school districts were also entitled to free school materials, such as textbooks.26 The Union Free School District No. 7 of the Town of Jamaica was founded in 1888 and encompassed Richmond Hill.27 By 1890, 1,350 school children were enrolled within District No. 7, an increase of more than 30 percent in the two years since the district was established.

 

Consolidation of the city in 1898 created the need for a unified public education system that would combine the numerous, independently-administered school districts of the borough, each with its own curricula, grade divisions and educational policies. The Borough School Boards and Central Board had been established in 1897 to begin centralized decision making, but in 1901 they were abolished and replaced by a newly reorganized Board of Education consisting of 46 Local School Board Districts and a central Executive Committee. The work of the new organization was affected by several recently implemented state and municipal efforts at reform, including the Compulsory Education Law of 1894 which mandated school attendance for all children until age 14, the School Reform Law of 1896 which mandated state support of secondary schools, and revision of the city charter in 1901.

 

The laws substantially increased the number of children attending city schools, created new types of schools, and improved school accommodations. A temporary halt in funding for new buildings significantly slowed the construction of school facilities in most parts of the city for a year following consolidation. Although the moratorium led to further overcrowding in existing schools in Jamaica, as throughout the city, in the years that followed, millions of dollars were authorized for the construction of new facilities.

 

History of P.S. 66

 

Conditions in District No. 7, as throughout pre-consolidated New York City, were crowded as a result of the changes to state and municipal education laws. In July 1897, a resolution was presented before the local school board calling for $100,000 to be raised via taxes and the sale of bonds, for the construction of additions to existing school structures and the purchase of land for the erection of a new school house within District No. 7.30 Hoping to thwart further shortages in classroom space, and possibly anticipating the post-consolidation freeze in funding for new buildings, the board dramatically increased its proposal just one month later with a call for three additional ten-room school houses. In total, the school board hoped to be able to accommodate 1,750 pupils.

 

On August 3, 1897, the school board passed a resolution to purchase three sites for the proposed school houses – Site No. 7, referred to in town records as the Broadway site, which would become Public School 64, Site No. 8, referred to as the Union Course site, which would become Public School 65, and Site No. 9, referred to as the Brooklyn Hills site, which would become P.S. 66. The parcel of 200 feet by 175 feet on which P.S. 66 would be constructed was purchased for $7,000 from the widow of Thomas F. Hayes, a real estate agent who may have been associated with the Brooklyn Hills Improvement Company. Three identical plans were submitted for the buildings by Harry S. Chambers, the Superintendent of School Buildings and architect for District No. 7, and were accepted in the fall of 1897. In early December, however, a motion was made to reduce the size of the schools from ten rooms to eight rooms, as a result of contractor bids exceeding approximated building costs.

 

New plans were summarily submitted and accepted. A carpenter by the name of Thomas J. Clarke was awarded the contract for construction of “Building No. 9” just one week later, with a winning bid of $24,290.31 Construction began in early 1898, and the school was officially designated as “Public School No. 66” on April 15, 1898. The building was completed on July 28, 1899.32

 

Upon completion, P.S. 66 contained eight classrooms serving the first through sixth grades, a library, and a principal’s office. Four classrooms were located on each of the first and second stories of the building, surrounding an octagonal lobby. The two-and-a-half story Victorian Eclectic-style building, consisting of bearing exterior and interior walls with floors framed with wood joists, was essentially square in plan. The primary entrance to the school, which was picturesquely sited within a verdant, undeveloped area of Brooklyn Hills, was located at the base of a six-story, projecting tower along the building’s west elevation. Many of the original school’s features are characteristic of the Romanesque Revival style and give the building a fortress-like appearance, including prominent round arches highlighting window openings and the main entrance, a flared base, and its distinctive tower.

 

Elements of the Queen Anne style are also present in the design of the original school building, in its large entablatures featuring elaborate rinceaux, its gabled dormers, and a pair of paneled brick chimneys. The tower, which originally contained a bell used to call school children from neighboring farms and developments, is distinguished by round arches, brick corbelling, large masonry columns, and foliate ornamentation. An ornamental panel above the main entranceway featured foliate decoration and the name of the school.

 

Despite a very real need for classroom space throughout New York City at the turn of the century, most apparent in the fact that many schools were running classes part-time in order to accommodate demand, P.S. 66, like other schools constructed in Queens just prior to consolidation, did not immediately open. Due to a shortage in municipal funds, the unoccupied school had not been assigned a janitor and consequently began to deteriorate. In December 1899, the windows at

 

P.S. 66 were reportedly broken by neighborhood children and the plumbing stripped by thieves. To prevent further vandalism, P.S. 66, as well as the still unoccupied P.S. 65, were boarded up. Notwithstanding the continued residential development of the borough, Queens was still largely considered a rural farming community at the turn of the century and the presence of unutilized schools structures did not go unnoticed. As reported in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle in 1900:

 

…While in Brooklyn and Manhattan there are thousands of children who cannot

go to school because there is no room for them, [here] there is room for nearly

two thousand with which the population of the village has not yet been blessed...

 

The notion that the schools remained unopened due to a lack of demand, however, was a misconception. For several years, the children of Brooklyn Hills residents were forced to attend Public School 58 in nearby Ozone Park on a half-day schedule as they eagerly awaited transfer to the new school. The New York City Board of Estimate and Apportionment, however, had only allotted $25,000 for janitors’ wages for the entire borough of Queens for the 1900-1901 school year, a full $15,000 less than the sum awarded the borough in the years prior to consolidation.34 Similar reductions in appropriations were made for teachers’ salaries, with reductions of 25% in early 1900 leading to a numerous teacher resignations. While P.S. 65 appears to have opened in time for the 1899-00 school year, relieving some of the crowding experienced by the school district, it is not surprising that under such financial strain, both P.S. 64 and P.S. 66 remained closed.

 

P.S. 66 finally opened its doors on April 14, 1902 and was referred to locally as the Brooklyn Hills School.35 Neighborhood residents were transferred to the school by start of the new fall term. In early 1902, the school board petitioned the Board of Public Improvements to open nearby Orchard Avenue (now 86th Avenue) “to accommodate school children in getting to this school, as no street opens from the northeast to it.”36 By May of that year, attendance at the school had increased so rapidly that the services of two additional teachers were requested. Records from 1905 indicate that seven teachers and 278 students occupied the building.

 

Between 1900 and 1910, the city’s population grew by nearly 39 percent, primarily a result of unprecedented levels of immigration. This growth naturally led to further increases in school enrollment and attendance throughout the city. To meet the latest increase in demand for classroom space, a three-story addition to the east of P.S. 66’s original school building was constructed in 1905-6. The addition doubled the number of classrooms and included space for a kindergarten and an auditorium. The addition, which is attributed to C.B.J. Snyder, superintendent of School Buildings for the New York City Board of Education from 1890 to 1923, was harmoniously designed in the style of the main section. Consisting of brick bearing walls with floors supported by steel beams, the addition is roughly rectangular in plan. The addition features a pair of two-and-a-half story gabled wings that project northwards and southwards from a three-story, flat-roofed core.

 

The addition is distinguished by steeply pitched slate roofs and ornamental brick corbelling at the wings and central core. According to Board of Education records, the addition was occupied on September 9, 1907.

 

Description

 

P.S. 66 is situated towards the eastern boundary of a large, rectangular lot bounded by the gently sloped 102nd Street to the west, 85th Avenue to the north, 85th Road to the south, and a service driveway to the east. The site is presently surrounded by a non-original concrete curb that is topped by iron and chain-link fencing. Primary pedestrian entry to the site is located along 102nd Street, while secondary entries can be found along 85th Avenue, 85th Road, and also via the service driveway. The school building is set back from 102nd Street by a verdant lawn featuring large trees and other plantings.

 

The school structure is composed of various masses that, together, are roughly symmetrical in plan (see Figure 12). The two-and-a half story, original portion of the school building, consisting of approximately the western two-thirds of the present structure, is essentially square in plan. An addition, consisting of a pair of two-and-a-half story gabled wings projecting northwards and southwards from a three-story, flat-roofed core, was joined to the east of the original school building in 1905-6 and is roughly rectangular in plan. The primary entrance to the structure is located at the base of a projecting fortress-like tower along the original school building’s west elevation. Secondary entrances are located along each of the remaining elevations.

 

All elevations of the Victorian Eclectic-style school feature red-brick laid in a Common bond. Partially-exposed basement stories are visible at all elevations (except where noted) and are flared at the original school building, one of several design elements that gives the school a fortress-like appearance. Rectangular window openings (shorter at partially-exposed basement stories) featuring flush cast-stone lintels and projecting cast-stone sills are typical at each elevation of the structure (except where noted). At the original school building, the sills of the first and second stories, as well as the lintels of the first story, are continuous with flush cast-stone bands at all elevations (except where noted). All first and second-story window openings of the original school building and 1905-6 addition feature six-over-six double-hung wood sashes (except where noted), several of which are original (see Alterations).

 

Basement window openings typically feature three-over-three double-hung wood sashes (except where noted).

 

Original School Building

 

West (102nd Street) elevation: The primary, west elevation of P.S. 66 is composed of three sections. The two-bay wide central section projects forward (except where noted) and is principally defined by a six-story, fortress-like tower at the southern bay. Two round-arched openings featuring concentric brick arches with brick hood molding are located at the ground story of the central section (basement not exposed), consisting of a window opening containing paired typical sashes and a typical sill, topped by a fanlight with ornamental lead dividers, on the left, and the primary entrance, consisting of slightly recessed, wood double-doors (non-original), paneled wood reveals, and a matching fanlight, on the right. The primary entrance is raised slightly on a single granite step. The ground-story arches of the central section spring from a molded cast-stone water table course, continuous on all sides of the projecting central section and beneath which are found recessed rectangular brick panels.

 

A single, narrow typical window opening, which descends slightly into the water table course, is visible at the north-facing portion of the projecting central section at the first story. A decorative panel featuring foliate details and inscribed with the words “Public School” and “No. 66” is found above the primary entrance. A masonry and cast-stone balustrade tops the first story of the northern bay of the central section (including the north-facing portion). The two-story tall northern bay is recessed above the first story. At the second story, the northern bay features paired window openings topped by blind arches consisting of concentric brick courses, brick hood molding and a herringbone tympanum and featuring elaborate window surrounds with foliate details. An entablature consisting of a molded architrave, rinceau, and molded cornice, is found directly above the second-story window openings of the northern bay (see Alterations).

 

A hipped section of the structure’s slate roof is visible above the entablature at the northern bay. A drain pipe is affixed to the north-facing portion of the central section.

 

The southern bay of the central section consists of the six-story tower. Above the primary entrance, the tower consists of two, narrow rectangular window openings featuring four-over­four double-hung wood sashes and flush, continuous cast-stone lintels and sills at the second story, three narrow round-arched window openings featuring two-over-two double-hung sashes with arched upper sashes, brick hood molding springing from molded brick corbels, and slightly projecting cast-stone sills connected by a flush cast-stone band at the third story, three blind rectangular windows with a continuous cast-stone sill supported on stepped brick corbelling above a paneled frieze (continuous on all visible sides of the tower) at the fourth story, three arched masonry openings featuring outsized Corinthian columns (half-columns at outer arches), a continuous rinceau, and a projecting cast-stone sill supported on stepped brick corbelling at the fifth-story and repeated at a shorter height (and without the frieze) at the sixth-story, and a diminutive molded cast-stone cornice at its crown. Similar to the fourth story, the sixth-story sill and corbelling is continuous on all visible sides of the tower. The south elevation of the tower features two, irregularly-sized and irregularly-spaced narrow typical window openings at the first and second stories (left window opening at first story descends slightly into the water table course) and a single window opening at the third story with details similar to that of the third story of the tower’s west elevation. The details of the fourth, fifth and sixth stories of the west elevation of the tower are repeated on the north, south and east elevations (east elevation not visible from street).

 

The two-and-a-half story north section of the west elevation is four bays wide and features a typical window opening at each bay of the partially-exposed basement, first, and second stories. A wide gable with cast-stone coping that culminates in a finial spans the width of the section. Two shorter typical window openings are set within the gable and feature six-over­six double-hung wood sashes, sills connected by a flush cast-stone band and another flush cast-stone band that serves as a lintel course. The substantial metal tympanum beneath the gable features elaborate foliate, garland and urn details. Paired, cylindrical pinnacles of differing height, featuring cast-stone corbels with foliate details and patterned cast-stone finials, flank the section (the left-most pinnacle is continuous with the north elevation). From a distance, a rectangular brick chimney featuring arched panels, brick banding, and masonry coping, is visible above the roofline (also visible from the north elevation).

 

Each of the three bays of the two-and-a-half story south section of the west elevation features a typical window opening at the partially-exposed basement, first, and second stories.

 

An entablature consisting of a molded architrave, rinceau, and molded cornice, is found directly above the second-story window openings, matches that of the northern bay of the central section, and is continuous with the south elevation. A gabled dormer featuring cast-stone coping that culminates in a finial contains two rectangular window openings featuring two-over-two double-hung wood sashes and typical sills. The dormer pierces the cornice of this section and is flanked by cylindrical brick pinnacles with patterned cast-stone finials. A flush cast-stone band serves as a lintel course for the dormer windows. The metal tympanum beneath the gable features elaborate foliate details. A drain pipe that is affixed to the south-facing elevation of the tower at its top pierces the cornice of the section and continues towards the ground affixed to it. From a distance, a cross-hipped section of the structure’s slate roof is visible above the entablature.

 

One of the structure’s two rectangular brick chimneys featuring arched panels, brick banding, and masonry coping, is visible above the roofline (also visible from the south elevation).

 

South (85th Road) elevation: The south elevation consists of two sections. The two-bay east section of the south elevation is recessed from the four-bay west section. At the partially-exposed basement, first, and second stories, the west section of the south elevation features single typical window openings at each of the first two bays and two typical window openings at each of the third and fourth bays (a single header course is found beneath the typical sills of the partially-exposed basement windows). A dormer matching that of the south section of the west elevation is centered above the west section. At the partially-exposed basement, first, and second stories, the east section features a single typical window opening at the western bay and three typical window openings at the eastern bay. An additional bay is visible at the east-facing elevation between the two sections and features a single narrow typical window opening containing four-over-four double hung wood sashes at each of the first and second stories and a non-original door opening with typical cast-stone lintel raised on one concrete step at an exposed basement level (door is accessed via non-original, below-grade concrete stairway surrounded by a concrete curb with metal handrail) (see Alterations). An entablature matching that of the west elevation is found above the second-story window openings of the east, west, and east-facing sections of the south elevation, and is continuous from the west elevation. A cross-hipped section of the structure’s slate roof is visible above the entablature, as is one of the structure’s two rectangular brick chimneys featuring arched panels, brick banding, and masonry coping (also visible from the west elevation). A drain pipe that is affixed towards the right side of the east section pierces the cornice as it runs to the ground. Additional drain pipes are affixed towards the left edge of both the east and west sections.

 

North (85th Avenue) elevation: The north elevation is the same as the south elevation, except where noted. Unlike the south elevation, the west section of the north elevation features two typical window openings at each bay of the partially-exposed basement, first, and second stories, and there is no header course beneath the sills of the partially-exposed basement window openings of the east section. Although there is no opening at the partially-exposed basement story of the west-facing elevation between the sections, there is a non-original door opening at the right side of the third bay of the east section at the basement level (door is accessed via non-original, below-grade concrete stairway surrounded by a concrete curb with metal handrail) (see Alterations). The window openings of the left side of the fourth bay of the east section at the first and second stories have been altered into door openings to accommodate a fire escape (see Alterations). A multi-level, cross-hipped section of the structure’s slate roof is visible above the entablature at this elevation, as is one of the structure’s two rectangular brick chimneys featuring arched brick panels, brick banding, and masonry coping (also visible, at a distance, from the west elevation). In lieu of the smaller dormer present at the south elevation, a large, gabled dormer rises from the roof at the east section, about two-thirds of the way back. The dormer contains a single rectangular window opening with a molded window surround and three-over-three double-hung wood sashes. The metal face of the dormer features radiating sunburst and foliate details. Unlike the south elevation, only one drain pipe is affixed to the north elevation, at the west section.

 

1905-6 Addition

 

West elevation: The west elevation consists primarily of the west elevations of a pair of two-and-a-half story wings that project from a central, three-story, flat-roofed core (because the core abuts the slightly shorter original school building to the west, only a small portion of its western elevation is visible). Few details adorn the west elevations of the north and south wings. The west elevation of the south wing does not feature any openings, and although a typical lintel and sill are present at the partially-exposed basement story, any window opening that may have been present here has been seamlessly bricked in. The west elevation of the north wing features a short, wide rectangular window opening with a typical lintel and sill at the partially-exposed basement story that has been filled-in with a non-original metal panel. A portion of the west elevations of both the north and south wings is taken up by a projecting one-story pavilion which features brick corbelling, a large, flush masonry band, and masonry coping, all of which wrap to each pavilion’s south elevation (the pavilions may not be original to the 1905-6 addition, see 1905-6 Addition, South (85th Road) elevation). Brick corbelling caps both the north and south wings and terminates at the outer edge of each wing at a stylized brick buttress featuring a cast-stone corbel and capital (the buttresses are shared with the north and south elevations of the wings). A pitched slate roof is visible above each wing. The visible portion of the west elevation of the central core features a projecting brick band and parapet with brick corbelling and masonry coping, all of which are continuous with the north, south and east elevations of the core. A rectangular brick chimney is partially visible above the roofline of the flat-roofed core. Drain pipes are affixed to the west elevations of both the north and south wings and a pipe vent is visible along the roof of the south wing.

 

South (85th Road) elevation: The south elevation is principally defined by the gabled, three-bay wide, two-and-a-half story tall, projecting south wing. A single bay of three-story central core, flush with the original school building, is visible to the west of the south wing. Each of the bays of the south wing features a typical window opening at the first and second stories. At the partially-exposed basement story, only the outer bays feature a typical window opening. A single, shorter typical window opening is found within the gable of the south wing. Stylized brick buttresses featuring cast-stone corbels and capitals flank the gable (the buttresses are shared with the east and west elevations of the wing) and are continuous with cast-stone coping which culminates in a finial. The single bay of the central core, to the west of the south wing, features a typical window opening at the second story and a narrow typical window opening at the third story.

 

The first story is taken up by the projecting one-story pavilion, which overhangs the original school building slightly and which features brick corbelling, a large, flush masonry band, and masonry coping, all of which wrap to the pavilion’s west elevation. The masonry band serves as a lintel course for a wide door opening that pierces the brick corbelling. The door opening is raised on a wide concrete step that extends beyond the opening and contains a deeply recessed non-original metal door and solid metal side panel. The pavilion may not be original to the 1905-6 addition, as it obscures most of what appears to have been a typical window opening at the first story of this bay, presently only partially visible above the pavilion. Portions of the brick band and parapet with brick corbelling and masonry coping of the central core are visible above the gabled roof of the south wing, all of which are continuous with the north, east and west elevations of the core. A brick buttress-like element is located above the west slope of the gabled roof of the south wing at the central core.

 

North (85thAvenue) elevation: The north elevation is a mirror image of the south elevation, except where noted. Unlike the south elevation, only the west-most bay of the partially-exposed basement story of the north wing features a window opening. At the projecting pavilion, a shorter typical window opening that pierces the brick corbelling, whose lintel is integrated with the masonry band, and which contains two-over-two double-hung wood sashes, is located to the right of the door opening. To the west of the north wing, two bays of the central core are visible, both recessed slightly from the original school building. The eastern bay of the central core is the same as the north elevation, while the western bay features a short, narrow typical window opening containing two-over-two double hung wood sashes, offset in height at each of the first, second and third stories.

 

East elevation: The east elevation is comprised of three sections consisting, like the west elevation, of two wings projecting from a central core. The east elevations of the north and south wings are the same as the west elevations of the wings, except where noted. Unlike at the west elevation, the north and south wings are flush with the central core. Additionally, at the south wing, the window opening of the partially-exposed basement story is not filled in and, in lieu of a sill, abuts a raised concrete planting bed (see Related Landmark Site). The north wing does not feature any window openings, lintels or sills. Neither the north nor the south wing is obscured by a pavilion.

 

The three-story tall central core features two bays, each containing three typical window openings at the first, second and third stories. At the partially-exposed basement story, a single typical window opening is present at the first bay which, in lieu of a sill, abuts a raised concrete planting bed (see Related Landmark Site). At the second bay of the partially-exposed basement story, an additional three window openings are found and consist of a short typical window opening containing three-over-three double-hung wood sashes to the north, a typical, full-height window opening at center, and a filled-in typical window opening to the south that has been altered to accommodate a basement door opening below and three, square louvered vents above (door is accessed via a below-grade masonry and brick stairway surrounded by masonry curbing and a metal fence with gate).

 

A one-story pavilion projects from the central core at the first bay of the partially-exposed basement story and may not be original to the 1905-6 addition as it obscures part of the rightmost window opening of the first bay of the central core at the first story. The pavilion features projecting brick banding separated by a large masonry band, and masonry coping, all of which wrap to the pavilion’s north and south elevations. The east elevation of the pavilion features two typical lintels where typical window openings appear to have been bricked in. A square metal panel with a hinged door is set within the south elevation of the pavilion. At the third story of the central core, a projecting brick band runs continuous with the lintels of the third-story fenestration and is also continuous with the north, south and west elevations of the core. The central core also features brick corbelling and masonry coping at the parapet which, too, is continuous with the other elevations of the core. At the partially-exposed basement story, a small length of masonry or concrete base trim stretches from the right side of the central core to the north wing. A large number of drain pipes, pipe vents, and through-wall vents are affixed to all three sections of the east elevation, several of which may be original.

 

Alterations

 

While the windows of P.S. 66 are largely non-original, the replacement windows were apparently selected to maintain the integrity of the exterior facade and feature multi-paned, double-hung wood sashes similar to the building’s original windows (several of the non-classroom windows of the west elevation of the original school building are original and have not been replaced; it is not known when the non-original windows were installed). None of the school’s doors are original. The doors of the primary entrance were replaced with new paneled wood double-doors in 2009, while the remaining secondary entrances feature non-original metal doors. The fire escape affixed to the east section of the north elevation of the original school building is not-original.

 

Although it is unclear when the fire escape was put in place (not present in c. 1939 tax photograph), its installation required the enlargement of the leftmost window openings of the fourth bay of this section at the first and second stories in order to accommodate new door openings and metal doors. Although the original window lintels were retained, the remaining portions of the window openings not occupied by the doors have been filled in with metal panels. The three pavilions that extend from the various elevations of the 1905-6 addition are not thought to be original. Although it is not known when they might have been constructed, the pavilions do appear in the c. 1939 tax photograph of the school. An element that appears to be a large cornice at the central core of the 1905-6 addition looks to be present in the c. 1939 tax photograph, but has since been removed. It is not known when the concrete curb that surrounds the site was installed or when the areas to the north and south of the school were paved with concrete, but both conditions are present in the c. 1939 tax photograph.

 

Non-original signage is affixed to the central section of the west elevation of the original school building. A number of non-original security lights, school bells, speakers, conduit, and electrical boxes are affixed to the various elevations of both the original school building and the 1905-6 addition. Non-original window guards are present at all windows of the first, second, third, and partially-exposed basement stories at all elevations and at the fanlights of the central section of the west elevation of the original school building, but are not present at dormer or gable windows. The small length of masonry or concrete base trim at the east elevation of the 1905-6 addition is painted red. A concrete platform has been built up along the east elevation of the 1905-6 addition at the central core and north wing, which extends from the projecting pavilion and is continuous with the ramp that runs alongside the north elevation of the north wing.

 

It is not known whether the through-wall vent beneath the rightmost window of the south section of the west elevation of the original school building is original, nor if any of the through-vents on the east elevation of the 1905-6 addition are original. Similarly, it is not known if the various drain pipes affixed to the east elevation of the 1905-6 addition are original, although the drain pipes affixed to the other elevations are thought to be original.

 

A major exterior modernization project that took place in 2001 under the leadership of the architectural firm Montoya-Rodriguez Architects, PC returned many original details to the school building that had been removed or altered over the intervening years. The metal entablatures, including the rinceaux, present at the north, south and west elevations of the original school building, had been covered with stucco (see Figure 10), but were replaced as part of this project. The firm also restored much of the bell tower, which had been removed above the second story in 1967 due to wood deterioration. Although the present tower is not an exact replica of the original, a large number of details, including the numerous brick and masonry arches, continuous brick corbelling, and open belfry, are evocative of, and, in fact, very similar to the original design (see Figures 13 & 14).

 

As part of the scope of work, finials were returned to the pinnacles of the west elevation of the original school building, failing cast-stone details and rusted sections of decorative metal were replaced in kind, several windows of the 1905-6 addition that had been previously enclosed with face brick were filled-in with matching brick, and asphalt shingles that had been introduced to the roof in the 1980s were replaced with more appropriate slate shingles. The project also undertook the stripping of non-original paint layers from all exterior brick, cast-stone, masonry, and metal details, and the repointing of all existing brickwork (including chimneys) and masonry. Window openings at the partially-exposed basement story of the east-facing section of the south elevation of the original school building and at the rightmost opening of the third bay of the east section of the north elevation of the original school building were enlarged into door openings and below-grade access staircases were installed as part of the project.

 

- From the 2010 NYCLPC Landmark Designation Report

Original Caption: Part of the intensive residential development underway around the harbor at coastal development has come under increasing restrictions since the implementation of the Coastal Zone Conservation Act in 1973. The commissions regulating the act must submit a report to the state legislature recommending laws which will affect coastal development throughout the state, May 1975

  

U.S. National Archives’ Local Identifier: 412-DA-14974

 

Photographer: O'Rear, Charles, 1941-

  

Subjects:

Los Angeles (California)

Environmental Protection Agency

Project DOCUMERICA

  

Persistent URL: research.archives.gov/description/557426

 

Repository: Still Picture Records Section, Special Media Archives Services Division (NWCS-S), National Archives at College Park, 8601 Adelphi Road, College Park, MD, 20740-6001.

 

For information about ordering reproductions of photographs held by the Still Picture Unit, visit: www.archives.gov/research/order/still-pictures.html

 

Reproductions may be ordered via an independent vendor. NARA maintains a list of vendors at www.archives.gov/research/order/vendors-photos-maps-dc.html

 

Access Restrictions: Unrestricted

Use Restrictions: Unrestricted

I started noticing Chemtrails about 2 years ago. One thing is obvious, the frequency of military planes spraying white Chemtrails has increased dramatically. I have also noticed that the general public has no idea the phenomenon has been going on for years. The theory behind the purpose of Geoengineering is too shield the Earth from the Sun's ultra-violet rays. But what no politicians or military officials are talking about is the horrific damage taking place on the environment, water, and air we breathe. The adverse health implications put a large portion of the population at risk for developing sickness and disease. The purpose of showing 100s of cloud formations in this set is so people start to become aware of the menacing attack the environment is under currently.

www.monitor-systems-engineering.com/anti_piracy_terrorism...

 

Maritime Early Detection Systems (M.E.D's) for Oil Rigs, Semi-Submersibles and Jack-Ups!

 

Ninety percent of the world’s trade moves in containers and nearly half of all incoming U.S. trade moves by ship. The current situation is bleak at best, Maritime attacks are on the increase. Pirates are more aggressive. The financial impact is significant and increasing. Military solutions are weak– they can’t be everywhere at the same time and private sector solutions are non–existent.

 

Don't leave port without it!

 

• Integrated systems designed to specific threat levels, pier side, at anchor and under way

 

• Any ship can be easily refit to any level of ability

 

• Crew assistance with installations cut costs

 

• System operates with no user interface

 

• System can provide off vessel reporting and monitoring

 

• Integrated system designed to give advance warning prior to boarding, giving crew time to take evasive action

 

A Closer Look at Maritime Early Detection Systems (M.E.D's) Onboard

 

With day/night and infrared gyro-stabilized cameras and motion detection equipment strategically placed, crews are alerted to the presence of an approaching threat. Bearing and speed data are provided through a radar interface.

 

This is integrated into a security network on board with custom control panels and alert devices placed throughout the vessel. Custom control and monitoring can be satellite linked to corporate security offices, central monitoring and law enforcement personnel.

 

Monitor Systems is the United Kingdom distributor for Radio Zeeland DMP’s highly effective, maritime security system. We supply, install and commission the Maritime Early Detection System (M.E.D.S) which offers a comprehensive layered security approach with onboard advance warning for ships, boats, rigs, platforms and pipelines against acts of terrorism, hijacking, piracy and other violations of security wherever a vessel is operating.

 

M.E.D.S delivers a military grade solution in a commercial format combining unique cutting edge technology integrated in design and function with a user-friendly interface. Utilising a customised perimeter sensor monitoring network and sophisticated infra-red tracking day/night vision cameras and onboard radar equipment, this state of the art system generates a secure perimeter network extending outwards from the vessel, divided into three zones – Red, Orange and Yellow. Each zone represents a secured area in relation to its proximity to the vessel to provide maximum levels of detection able to detect intruders from all quadrants in advance.

 

M.E.D.S. can be expanded and integrated with other options and systems and can be installed whilst the vessel is in service thereby eliminating costly downtime.

 

Case Study

 

Overview: Under construction. Anti piracy maritime security solutions, Non-Lethal Anti-Piracy Maritime Security Solutions, Terrorism Maritime Security, piracy detection, anti piracy, against piracy, anti-piracy, maritime piracy, sea piracy, high seas piracy, piracy solutions, piracy security, marine security, maritime security, Maritime Early Detection System, maritime piracy protection

   

Maritime Early Detection System (M.E.D.S)

Overview: Maritime Early Detection Systems (MEDS™) is a combination of unique integrated state of the art technologies. By equipping maritime assets with these advanced detection systems we can dramatically decrease the potential of a hostile takeover of ships /rigs in port or at sea. The worldwide threat of terrorism and piracy in international waters is increasing exponentially and the need for a solution is becoming paramount.

 

Option 1 uses a proximity sensor network with built in motion sensing which provides short range detection capabilities that allow a ship’s crew enough time to take the necessary measures to successfully avoid attacks before assailants are in the pilot house and have control of the vessel.

   

Maritime Early Detection System (M.E.D.S)

 

Short Range Detection

MEDS™ Perimeter Sensor Network provides a 180 degree laser grid of protection that is proven to work in extreme temperature and weather conditions. Each sensor is mounted into the side frame of the vessel and equipped with a remote enclosure with internal battery back up and redundant wired and emergency wireless communications via armored cable and cyclonic secure encryption respectively.

 

Each sensor ties into a wired data hub and reports its status continuously. If hard wired communication fails or is lost to any one unit the wireless communication feature will query as a back up. If this query is not returned it will report a failure of sensor locally to the monitoring system and control panels, as well as triggering an audible alarm.

   

Maritime Early Detection System (M.E.D.S)

 

MEDS™ Sensors

Photo of typical sensor system installation provides 180 degree continuous protection for the vessel, cargo and crew. Added green ½ spheres illustrate the sensor overlapping downward facing protection. Sensors are in NEMA 4x weatherproof enclosures with lighted alarm and klaxon for local indication of perimeter breach or sensor failure. Each sensor has a built in lens heater and remote back up power supply to ensure optimal operation under even the most extreme conditions and scenarios.

   

Maritime Early Detection System (M.E.D.S)

 

System Redundancy and Protective Measures

 

The complete MEDS package is designed with multiple redundant integrated communication systems that ensure that upon failure or destruction of one part of the system another system will come online to compensate for the failure. Upon loss of any component in the system even down to the smallest communication error, the crew or port security personnel is alerted via the monitoring control system and control of the issue giving a real time diagnostic of the overall health of the system. This feature ensures that no matter what is attempted to bring down the system for intrusion purposes the system will continue to function to do what is required … PROTECT AND REPORT.

   

Maritime Early Detection System (M.E.D.S)

 

System Expandability and Customisation

One key feature that stands out with the MEDS™ solution over any other devices currently on the market is the ability of the system to be integrated with other options and systems that the end user wishes to include. The system is based off of standard Ethernet Protocol which allows us to program Ethernet based modules to allow time and/or event delayed operation of external components. For example if minutes after a confirmed perimeter breach the owner wanted all cargo holds and the pilot house of the vessel to lock down until released from inside the pilot house via a secure code command MEDS™ allows that possibility. Or maybe a more aggressive approach is desired while still remaining non‐lethal in design. If the owner wanted motion activated debilitating sonic devices enabled at all doors when a confirmed breach is detected after the lock down of all doors this can be accomplished as well. Anything that you can think of when it comes to protecting your vessel and investment.

   

back to top of page.

 

Further Reading

 

Overview: Maritime Security.

Maritime security is concerned with the prevention of intentional damage through sabotage, subversion, or terrorism. Maritime security is one of the three basic roles of the United States Coast Guard has gradually developed in response to a series of catastrophic events, which began in 1917.

 

There are three main maritime security activities conducted by the Coast Guard: Port Security / Vessel Security and Facility Security.

Port Security

 

The Port Security requirements found in the MTSA requires security measures for U.S. ports in order to reduce the risks and to mitigate the results of an act that threatens the security of personnel, facilities, vessels, and the public. The regulations draw together assets within port boundaries to provide a framework to communicate, identify risks, and coordinate resources to mitigate threats and consequences. The COTP must ensure that the total port security posture is accurately assessed, and that security resources are appropriate to meet these programs. The COTP must identify critical assets within a port, develop a prioritized list of those most susceptible to acts of sabotage, and plan for adequate security measures to meet specific needs.

Vessel Security

 

Both MTSA and the ISPS Code regulate vessel security. The regulations within these two documents require the owners or operators of vessels to designate security officers for vessels, develop security plans based on security assessments, implement security measures specific to the vessel’s operation, and comply with current Marine Security levels.

Facility Security

 

A facility is defined as: any structure or facility of any kind located in, on, under, or adjacent to any waters subject to the jurisdiction of the U.S. and used, operated, or maintained by a public or private entity, including any contiguous or adjoining property under common ownership or operation. Some examples of facilities are:

Barge fleeting facilities.

Container terminals.

Oil storage facilities.

Passenger vessel terminals.

 

Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Facilities are generally offshore fixed platforms in water depths ranging up to 1,000 feet deep whose primary purpose is the exploration, development, and/or product of offshore petroleum reserves. This definition also includes novel floating design such as:

Tension Leg Platforms (TLP).

Floating Production Facilities (converted MODUs).

Floating Production Storage Offloading units (FPSO).

 

Both MTSA and the ISPS Code regulate facility security. The regulations within these two documents require the owners or operators of facilities to designate security officers for facilities, develop security plans based on security assessments, implement security measures specific to the facility’s operation, and comply with current Marine Security levels. Those facilities designated as Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) facilities must meet the same security requirements as those designated as waterfront facilities.

 

When US Navy merchant vessels are in dangerous waters, security detachments are posted on the vessel. Security forces have helped deter piracy as well as terrorist attacks, such as the Maersk Alabama and the USS Cole. US Navy merchant vessels normally train the deck department in firearms training, but the added Navy security detail provides for extra security. Additionally, Navy escorts might sometimes accompany the vessels, such as traveling through the Straights of Gibraltar.

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Dr Increase Mathews constructed his one-story stone house in 1805, and in 1884 family members added the two upper stories. It was donated to the Pioneer and Historical Society in 1970. It is found in the Putnam Historic District which is on the National Register of Historic Places #75001511.

Indiana University Kokomo sees record-breaking enrollment increase; unprecedented number of students. Under the leadership of Chancellor Michael Harris.

   

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Chancellor Michael Harris IUK - On the Move

www.youtube.com/watch?v=uD3exIJ-hGs

  

The Big Move, Visioned, Initiated and Implemented by Chancellor Michael Harris IU Kokomo:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=mJIe0t6aDEU

 

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Chancellor Michael Harris IUK - On the Move

www.youtube.com/watch?v=uD3exIJ-hGs

 

homepages.indiana.edu/web/page/normal/17736.html

  

www.youtube.com/watch?v=uD3exIJ-hGs

 

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avoyership13.moxai.com/chan-7603525/all_p2.html

 

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"Lord Jesus, increase my faith in Your redeeming love and power that I may always recognize Your abiding presence with me. And give me courage to do Your will in all circumstances."

 

Message came to me in a meditation during a Holy Hour...

 

File name - Jesus - P9020423 La Jolla Beach - orton - paint framed

 

Bloggers are welcome to use my artwork, please link back to my images.

Art4TheGlryOfGod Photography by Sharon

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The Insatiable Glutton,' Puck magazine cartoon, December 1882.

 

The selflessness of soldiers fostered great respect in the years after the war. Pension payments were increased regularly, and men pursuing political office often found that their obvious injury proved useful in attracting voters.

 

Yet as Americans sought to put the memory of the conflict behind them, they increasingly ignored the plight of aging, disabled, impoverished veterans.

 

Instead, memorializing the dead and asserting national patriotism became the focus of Civil War remembrances, and the image of the disabled soldier became one of a money-grabbing dependent.

 

Civil War Pensions

At the close of the Revolutionary War, the United States government began administering a limited pension system to soldiers wounded during active military service or veterans and their widows pleading dire Poverty. It was not until the 1830's and the advent of universal suffrage for white male and patronage democracy, however, that military pensions became available to all veterans or their widows. Despite these initial expansions, the early U.S. military pension system was minuscule compared to what it became as a result of the Civil War.

 

Beginning in 1861, the U.S. government generously attended to the need of its soldiers and sailors or their dependents. Because the Federal government did not implement conscription until 1863, these first Civil War benefits in many ways were an attempt to induce men to volunteer. Although altered somewhat over the years, the 1862 statute remained the foundation of the Federal pension system until the 1890s. It stipulated that only those soldiers whose disability was "incurred as a direct consequence of . . . Military duty" or developed after combat "from causes which can be directly traced to injuries received or diseases contacted while in military service" could collect pension benefits. The amount of each pension depended upon the veteran's military rank and level of disability. Pensions given to widows, orphans, and other dependents of deceased soldiers were always figured at the rate of total disability according to the military rank of their deceased husband or father. By 1873 widows could also receive extra benefits for each dependent child in their care.

 

In 1890 the most notable revision in the Federal pension law occurred: the Dependent Pension Act. A result of the intense lobbying effort of the veterans' organization, the Grand Army of the Republic, this statute removed the link between pensions and service-related injuries, allowing any veteran who had served honorably to qualify for a pension if at some time he became disabled for manual labor. By 1906 old age alone became sufficient justification to receive a pension.

 

At the same time that pension requirements were becoming more liberal, several Southern congressmen attempted to open up the Federal system to Confederate veterans. Proponents justified such a move by noting that Southerners had contributed to Federal pensions through indirect taxes since the end of the war. These proposals met with mixed responses in both North and the South, but overwhelmingly, opposition came from those financially comfortable Confederate veterans and southern politicians who regarded such dependency on Federal assistance a dishonor t the Lost Cause. It should be noted that impoverished Southern veterans frequently were not averse to the prospect of receiving Federal pensions. In any event, no such law ever passed, and Confederate veterans and their widows never matriculated into the Federal pension system.

 

Although U.S. Civil War veterans had received pensions since 1862 and Southern state governments had provided their veterans with artificial limbs and veteran retirement homes since the end of the war, it was not until the 1880s and early 1890s that the elevens states of the former Confederacy enacted what can accurately be called pension systems. The economic devastation of he war and the political upheaval of Reconstruction best explain this long delay. When Southern pension systems did finally emerge, they generally resembled the pre-1890 U.S. system: eligibility depended upon service-related disability or death and indigence, and widows as well as other dependents of deceased soldiers could receive pensions. Despite these similarities, however, there were striking differences. First, in the South widows collected pensions set at a specific rate for widows of deceased soldiers. These rates were generally lower than those to which their husbands would have been entitled should they have survived. Under the Federal system, there was no separate category for widows. Second, most Southern pension laws determined stipend amounts based only on the degree of disability. No regard was given to military rank. Third, there was never a Confederate equivalent to the 1890 U.S. Dependent Act. Although over time Confederate pension requirements became more liberalized, there was always an income and poverty limit-pensions were never given simply for service. Fourth, whereas indirect taxes funded Federal pensions, most Southern states financed their pension through a direct tax. And fifth, because Southern pension systems were on the state level only, they varied as to method and amount and were much less financially generous than U.S. pensions. Though the individual pensions of Southerners were minuscule compared to those of Federal veterans and war widows, as a percentage of state expenditures, Southern pension expenditures were monumental. Of all the former Confederate states, Georgia generally spent the most per year on pensions, Alabama ran a close second.

 

Both the Federal government and Southern state governments continued to provide pensions for Civil War veterans and their widows well into the middle of the twentieth century. In all, billions of dollars were expended by both sides in an effort to "reward" the survivors of America's costliest war. Because of the high rates of expansion in both the Federal and Confederate systems, critics frequently accused pensioners and officials alike of corruption and fraud. Those pensioners most often labeled as frauds were widows, especially young women who had married veterans much older than themselves, supposed "cowards," and, in the Federal system, black veterans. By the mid-twentieth century, both systems were generally considered devoid of original integrity.

 

U.S. Government Still Pays Two Civil War Pensions

February 9, 2012

 

Despite the fact that the Civil War ended April 9, 1865 (53,630 days ago, for reference), the government is still paying out veterans' pensions.

 

Records from the Department of Veterans' Affairs show that two children of Civil War veterans, as of September, are receiving pensions from their fathers' service. Department of Veteran Affairs spokesman Phil Budahn says the VA last checked in on the benefits recipients in the fall. Both were alive, but in poor health. Budahn says it's likely that the children of the Civil War veterans, who have wished to remain anonymous, both had illnesses that prevented them from ever becoming self-sufficient.. Trevor Plante, a reference chief at the National Archives says it's also possible that the beneficiaries were young when their fathers died and had no living mothers to care for them, which would also qualify them for their fathers' pensions.

 

Plante says unlike current times, where pensions are granted to dependents based off military service numbers or social security numbers, in the late 19th century, people had to prove their connection to a deceased veteran by sending the government evidence of their relationship. Children, parents and spouses submitted photographs, love letters, marriage certificates, diaries and gifts to prove they were eligible for pensions.

 

"Genealogists love pension files because you never know what you are going to get. Civil War pensions are especially fascinating because of the wide array of things people submitted as evidence."

 

In the 19th and early 20th centuries, only Union soldiers were eligible for military benefits. It wasn't until the 1930s that confederate soldiers began receiving pensions from the federal government. Prior to that, confederate soldiers could apply for benefits through the state they resided in.

 

The last verified Civil War veteran, Albert Woolson, died in 1956 at age 109. The last widow, Gertrude Janeway, died in 2003 at age 93.

 

Budhan says he respects the request for privacy, but would be fascinated to learn about the lives and memories of the last two people receiving pensions from the Civil War. "I was hoping that someone would be able to talk to these folks," he says.

The Highway 13 Widening project spans 8th Avenue to 0 Avenue. It increases capacity at the Aldergrove/Lynden border crossing in Langley, B.C.

 

Aldergrove/Lynden is one of four Canada/USA Border Crossings in the Lower Mainland. The Highway 13 corridor is a critical route between Highway 1 and this busy border crossing. It becomes Route 539 south of the border which continues to Bellingham, Washington.

 

In the summer months, approximately 6,000 vehicles use this stretch of Highway 13 every day. Local development and cross-border activity continue to grow.

 

Key components of the project include:

 

Widening of Highway 13 southbound to accommodate future separate NEXUS and commercial vehicle lanes

Widening of Highway 13 northbound to accommodate a truck climbing lane

New east-west connection (3B Avenue) and signal

Intersection improvements, including signals

New pedestrian and cycling facilities at 0 Ave

In 1925 Dunlop opened its Aerospace Division to meet the increasing demand for aircraft tyres and supporting rubber products.

 

This badge signposts Dunlop's diversification into the aviation market with a 'flying winged tyre' superimposed against a classic shield background. The focal point of this badge is the aircraft tyre, rendered in a sublime light blue against a dark red backdrop. It has a strong graphic presence with a refined and understated 'Dunlop' header.

 

Although Dunlop's core business was linked to tyres for the motoring industry, the 1920s witnessed further diversification into other markets. Tyre companies such as Michelin and Pirelli were adding to sales competition and the need to explore other markets and products became a key strategy.

 

For example, in 1925 Dunlop acquired the Charles Mackintosh Group resulting in the Dunlop brand being applied to footwear and textiles. Developments in latex foam material for mattresses announced the arrival of 'Dunlopillo' and additional products linked to latex were added to the Dunlop portfolio. This involved Dunlop becoming a stakeholder in the 'sports' market with products such as golf balls and tennis racquets.

 

Photography, layout and design: Argy58

 

(This image also exists as a high resolution jpeg and tiff - ideal for a variety of print sizes

e.g. A4, A3, A2 and A1. The current uploaded format is for screen based viewing only: 72pi)

Besides credit qualification barriers due to low FICO scores, there are two barriers to originating more loans and selling more houses to owner occupants: (1) insufficient down payment, and (2) increasing loan costs. The FHA still originates loans at 3.5% down, and the credit barriers are... at Rising down payments and loan costs hindered the housing recovery

  

Visit the OC Housing News, and read the OC Housing News blog. Learn why you should use a home guide. Meet the Akason Realty Consulting home guides and housing market analysts, and read our real estate agent testimonials. Discover why you should register with the OC Housing News and how to use the OC Housing News. Utilize the advanced property search, or the MLS map search.

 

See our special real estate offers: property search guide, housing market reports, home ownership cost guide, guide to rent or own decision, home financing guide, foreclosure 101, short sale guide, how to sell your home without a realtor, The Great Housing Bubble free PDF, 1.5% rebate on new home construction, no cost home sale program, and maximum impact real estate marketing.

 

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Easington Colliery is a town in County Durham, England, known for a history of coal mining. It is situated to the north of Horden, a short distance to the east of Easington Village. The town suffered a significant mining accident on 29 May 1951, when an explosion in the mine resulted in the deaths of 83 men.

 

Easington had a population of 4,959 in 2001, and 5,022 at the 2011 Census.

 

The town's prominence increased after its use as the fictional Everington in the film Billy Elliot (2000), starring Jamie Bell.

 

Easington Colliery began when the pit was sunk in 1899, near the coast; indeed the pylon for the aerial flight that carried tubs of colliery waste from the mine stood just inside the North Sea. Thousands of workers came to the area from all parts of Britain, and with the new community came new shops, pubs, clubs, and many rows of terraced "colliery houses" for the mine workers and their families.

 

On 7 May 1993, the mine was closed, with the loss of 1,400 jobs, causing a decline in the local economy. The pit shaft headgear was demolished the following year.

 

The town's former infant and junior schools were built in 1911. They are adjacent to Seaside Line but lie derelict. A development company bought the buildings in 2003 and applied for planning permission to build 39 residential units, but a public inquiry gave a ruling that protected the buildings from demolition. They have since been listed. Both buildings were demolished in 2021.

 

It was decided in 2009 to create a new unitary authority — Durham County Council — to cover the whole of the county, and most of Easington's staff moved into new offices in Seaham. Easington District Council's office building, which had been the department's home for over eighty years, was demolished in April 2013. The fixtures and fittings, including oak desks, from the council chamber, were placed in storage at Beamish Museum.

 

A history of the Easington Colliery was published in the Journal of the North East Labour History Society.

 

The youngest soldier to be awarded a Victoria Cross during World War II was Dennis Donnini, who was from Easington. His father, an Italian named Alfred Donnini, had married an Englishwoman named Catherine Brown and ran an ice-cream shop in Easington. Donnini attended Corby Grammar School in Sunderland.

 

In an action on 18 January 1945, fusilier Donnini (then aged 19) was wounded twice yet still led an assault on the enemy before being killed. His gallantry had enabled his comrades to overcome three times their own number of the enemy. He is buried at the Commonwealth Cemetery in Sittard, the Netherlands.

 

There was a major mine disaster in 1951, sometimes called the Duckbill or Duck Bills Flare (or Fire).

 

Although the shafts for the colliery had started to be sunk in 1899, the first coals were not drawn until 1910 due to passing through water-bearing strata. Two main pits were sunk: the North Shaft (downcast) and the South Shaft (upcast). Both of these reached down to the Hutton seam, at 1,430 feet (440 m) and 1,500 feet (460 m), respectively. The seams worked were Five Quarter, Seven Quarter, Main Coal, Low Main and the Hutton at the bottom. Underground, the colliery was split into a number of distinct areas or districts. The explosion occurred in the West or "Duckbill" district (named after the duckbill excavators used in the district), which lies to the northwest of the shafts and to the north of the village. The village is built over the seams, and to safeguard it from subsidence there is a reserved area under it.

 

Significantly, one district extends for four miles (6.4 km) under the North Sea; ventilation was, therefore, not simple: enough air was needed to ventilate the extremities of the eastern workings, whilst that for the closer faces did not need such a powerful supply. Too much air in the closer workings would starve the distant ones. Supplementary fans and traps needed to be employed. The Duckbill district was being developed, and it appears that the effect of this on the ventilation was overlooked, as admitted by the Assistant Agent (Mr H. E. Morgan) in cross-examination.

 

From the pit bottoms, the main roadways extended 380 yards (350 m) to the north, where the West Level branched off and ran for 640 yards (590 m) west to the junction with the Straight North Headings, which head north via drifts into the Five Quarter seam. The West Level continued into a training area. Around 300 yards (270 m) along the Straight North Headings was a further junction where the First West Roads headed west. Some distance further on the second and third roads branched off.

 

Along the First West roads were a number of headings both north and south. The seat of the explosion was at the far end, down the Third South heading.

 

At the end of the Third South heading a cross passage was driven and "long wall" excavation commenced on the retreating wall principle. The cutting machine travels from one end of the long wall to the other, and then back. The cuts are made towards the roads, thus the face retreats from where it started back towards the start of the headings. Behind the cut is a void (known as "goaf") into which spoil was placed and normally the roof is allowed to collapse upon this spoil as props are withdrawn. In the case of the Third South workings this collapse did not occur properly and a void developed above the spoil.

 

The area above the goaf was inadequately ventilated and acted as a reservoir for firedamp. The origin of the firedamp is debatable: either the fractured roof allowed a sudden outburst from the seams above, or else the firedamp was gradually emitted from the waste into the void. Roberts discusses these possibilities in the report and comes down in favour of the latter.

 

All collieries are susceptible to the build up of coal dust, not just at the face but along the roadways and conveyors. Coal dust when dispersed in air forms an explosive mixture. Mines therefore adopt three principal means of combating this risk: removal of the dust, spraying with water and diluting the coal dust with stone dust. All three were practised at Easington, but not in a satisfactory manner.

 

At this date firedamp detection was by means of a flame safety lamp. Certain men were required to have the lamps with them. These men were not permitted to have electrical lamps with them which might disguise the changes in the flame they were meant to observe. Provision was made for the mine manager to issue written permission for these men to carry electrical lights. At Easington this permission was routinely given. Since the flame lamps were not needed for illumination they were an additional item to carry and were sometimes left behind. On the day of the explosion both lamps had been left at the intake and were not being used for detection. Roberts was unsure whether, in this instance, the lamps would have provided timely warning of the firedamp.

 

The coal cutter has a rotating head on which are mounted hardened teeth, known as picks. Within the coal can be found inclusions of rocks such as pyrites or quartz which shatter and produce a finely divided powder. If this powder is between the pick and the rock it will be ground and thereby heated. Blunt picks are more likely to do this than sharp ones. Prior to the explosion sparking had been observed from the cutters in the Duckbill district.

 

At Easington in 1951 blunt picks from the coal cutter hit a patch of pyrites and generated sparks. The firedamp leaking from the void above the goaf was ignited. When firedamp explodes in a tunnel it generates a blast of gas which raises any coal dust lying around. The coal dust, being finely divided, in turn explodes and the resulting explosion propagates along the tunnel as a flame front. At Easington the explosion travelled down the south headings to the west roads and then along the west roads, down the straight north headings and into the main coal where it reached as far as the training area. Two falls occurred: one in the main coal shortly before the drifts leading to the straight north roads, the other in the Duckbill district shortly before the 3rd south heading.

 

At that time Durham mines worked three production shifts and a maintenance shift. The fore-shift was from 03:30 to 11:07, the back-shift from 09:45 to 17:22 and night-shift from 16:00 to 23:37. The maintenance and repair shift was the stone-shift from 22:00 to 05:37. Shift timings related to going underground through to returning to the shaft top, therefore at 04:35 both the stone-shift and the fore-shift were underground at the faces. 38 men from the stone-shift and 43 from the fore-shift were killed, all but one instantly. The man who survived died of his injuries just a few hours later. As a result of the total loss of life in the vicinity there were no eye-witness accounts of the explosion or its immediate aftermath.

 

One man (Frank Leadbitter) was at the shaft-bottom stables and led a party of men through the dust cloud towards the explosion. They headed along the main coal west haulage road towards the duckbill district. The Chief Inspector of Mines singled Leadbitter out for especial praise for continuing even after feeling what they thought was a second explosion.

 

The air in the pit was foul with afterdamp. As the rescuers started to move into the affected area, the canaries carried were overcome almost at once. The afterdamp led to the deaths of a further two men, bringing the total deaths to 83. The first death was John Young Wallace (26) who simply sat down, fell unconscious and died. His self-contained breathing apparatus was tested and found to be satisfactory. A post mortem examination revealed emphysema and it was thought that the exertion led to breathlessness caused him to open his mouth and allow ambient air to leak in. The air was thought to contain about 3% carbon monoxide (30,000 ppm), well above the 667 ppm fatal concentration.

 

Three days later another rescuer collapsed in a similar way and died. The postmortem revealed bullus empysema. A bulla (blister) on his left lung had ruptured and the pain had made him gasp for breath, thereby inhaling a fatal amount of carbon monoxide.

 

A memorial comprising a large carved triangular rock painted white. It bears a tablet of stone removed from the scene of the disaster, and a metal plaque with an inscription. The memorial was inaugurated on 22 March 1952. On the same occasion, Easington Colliery's youngest miner, a boy of 16, planted the first of 83 trees, to line the walkway. Each tree symbolises a life lost in the disaster.

 

The youngest victim was 18-years-old, the oldest 68, whilst the average age of the pitmen killed was 43.

 

Easington Colliery Band was founded in 1915. Players with band experience were encouraged by the management to come from the West of Durham to work at the colliery and play in the band. The band was supported financially and run by the joint board of unions, until the start of World War II. The band played for community activities, such as dances, concerts, and competitions. For the duration of the war the Easington Colliery Youth Band became the National Fire Service Band, which was eventually 'demobbed' in 1945 to become the Easington Public Band.

 

In 1956 the Public Band and the Colliery Band amalgamated to become the Easington Colliery Band as it is today. April 1993 witnessed the end of an era when Easington Colliery finally closed. The band is now self-supporting and relies on funding from concerts held throughout the year. The band is still based in Easington Colliery in the old colliery pay office opposite the Memorial Gardens, which is on the site of the old colliery. The building is the last remaining evidence of the pit.

 

Easington Colliery doubled as the fictitious Everington in the 2000 film Billy Elliot. About 400 locals were used as extras during the filming in 1999.

 

Due to Easington Colliery's pit closure in 1993, the film's mining scenes were filmed at the Ellington and Lynemouth Colliery in Northumberland, with some filming in Dawdon, Middlesbrough and Newcastle upon Tyne.

 

Scenes inside the Elliot home and local street shots were filmed in Easington Colliery. Alnwick Street, on which the Elliot family lived at number 5, was one of several streets demolished in 2003 after becoming derelict. Michael lived at the corresponding number across the alley to the west on the also-demolished Andrew Street. A green space now stands in their place. Avon Street, to the east, which is still intact, is shown when the postman walks up to the front of the Elliot residence to deliver Billy's letter from the Royal Ballet. The faded white-brick wall of Wright's Prize Bingo, on Ashton Street, is also still visible. This was directly in line with the Elliots' terrace.

 

Almost all of the scenes set in Everington were filmed at the top of the sizable slope that is visible in the street views, near the allotments on Tower Street that still remain today. Easington coal mine was located past the eastern end of Tower Street. It is also down Tower Street that Billy is seen dancing with his ballet shoes around his neck. He then turns right to go behind the Anthony Street terraces, looking down the hill to Ashton Street, on what is now Gardener and Leech Courts, with Bede Street rising up on the other side. The rear of Anthony Street, where Austin and Arthur Streets once stood, is also used in the scene in which Billy steals a ballet book from the mobile library van. After a dance class, Mrs Wilkinson drops Billy off at a vacant lot of land on Crawlaw Avenue, just beyond Andrew Street.

 

There are three scenes filmed at the southern end of the terraces: when Debbie is dragging the stick along the walls (and police shields) on Ashton Street at the ends of Avon Street, firstly, and then Alnwick Street. Billy then crosses Ashton Street en route to Seaside Lane. The same crossing is made by Billy, Jackie and Tony when they take Billy to the bus station. Mrs Wilkinson parks on Ashton Street, at the bottom of Alnwick Street, when she pays the Elliots a visit.

 

The Rialto, a former cinema on Oswald Terrace, is shown briefly in the movie. It is now the only surviving cinema building in the town, although it has now been taken over by a carpet superstore. Part of the original façade, which Billy walks by, is still visible, however. It ceased being a cinema in the mid-1970s. It is in the alley behind Oswald Terrace that the Christmas scene featuring Billy and Michael is shot. Fake snow is used to cover the scene. The rear of the Rialto doubles as that of Everington Boys' Club, where Billy attends boxing and dance practices. The interior shots were filmed on the top floor of Hanwell Community Centre in London.

 

Billy Elliot the Musical (2005) is set in Easington and the town is named in song lyrics.

 

Singer-songwriter Jez Lowe was born and brought up in Easington. His song, "Last of the Widows", was written in 1991 to mark the fortieth anniversary of the pit disaster. Many of his other songs are inspired by life in County Durham and Easington in particular.

 

Poet, Songwriter and Durham miner Jock Purdon penned and sang the lament "Easington Explosion" regarding the 1951 disaster.

 

In 1971, members of rock band The Who shot the cover photograph for their album Who's Next at a concrete piling protruding from a spoil tip in the area. This cover was named by the VH1 network as one of the Greatest Album Covers.

 

In 2008, the town was featured in an episode of Channel 4's The Secret Millionaire, in which advertising mogul Carl Hopkins donated over £30,000 to the community.

 

Peter Lee Hammond was a miner at Easington pit and a singer-songwriter. Every year, Easington held a carnival, and in 1989 Hammond was asked by the Easington Carnival Committee to write and sing a song about the community, mining history and the pit disaster of 1951. The A-side song was called "Living in a Mining Town", which included Hammond singing with his band Just Us, and the B-side was an instrumental version of the song and included Thornley & Wheatley Hill Colliery Brass Bands and local school children from Easington Junior school & Shotton Primary school singing harmony. The B-side was conducted and brass arrangement by Gorden Kitto. Local renowned poet and Colliery resident Mary Bell also helped organise the single's release. The song became a big hit with the locals and it was decided to make it into a single, with the proceeds going to a handicapped school in Easington. As the newspapers and radio got involved then quite a few celebrities gave their support and got involved in giving donations and funding the song, including HRH Prince Charles, the then Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, Neil Kinnock M.P. and Sir Paul McCartney, and the song was mixed at Abbey Road Studios. Hammond was quoted as saying in a radio interview:

 

"Having one of my songs done at Abbey Road Studios was great. What a fantastic place it is, and Paul and Lynda helping was a dream. And to have the local school kids and brass bands on the B-side shows how strong the mining community is in this area and it gave the community a sense of pride when the single came out, I was very proud and honoured to have been asked to do this for the place where I was born and raised."

 

A copy of the song was requested by Queen Elizabeth II to be sent to her at Buckingham Palace, and a copy of the song was made part of the living history memorabilia exhibition at the Yardy Gallery museum in Sunderland, Tyne and Wear. The song was played on many radio stations and was a major success in the area. Hammond went on to win many awards for his other songs and recording albums abroad and is still writing to this day.

 

County Durham, officially simply Durham is a ceremonial county in North East England. The county borders Northumberland and Tyne and Wear to the north, the North Sea to the east, North Yorkshire to the south, and Cumbria to the west. The largest settlement is Darlington, and the county town is the city of Durham.

 

The county has an area of 2,721 km2 (1,051 sq mi) and a population of 866,846. The latter is concentrated in the east; the south-east is part of the Teesside built-up area, which extends into North Yorkshire. After Darlington (92,363), the largest settlements are Hartlepool (88,855), Stockton-on-Tees (82,729), and Durham (48,069). For local government purposes the county comprises three unitary authority areas—County Durham, Darlington, and Hartlepool—and part of a fourth, Stockton-on-Tees. The county historically included the part of Tyne and Wear south of the River Tyne, and excluded the part of County Durham south of the River Tees.

 

The west of the county contains part of the North Pennines uplands, a national landscape. The hills are the source of the rivers Tees and Wear, which flow east and form the valleys of Teesdale and Weardale respectively. The east of the county is flatter, and contains by rolling hills through which the two rivers meander; the Tees forms the boundary with North Yorkshire in its lower reaches, and the Wear exits the county near Chester-le-Street in the north-east. The county's coast is a site of special scientific interest characterised by tall limestone and dolomite cliffs.

 

What is now County Durham was on the border of Roman Britain, and contains survivals of this era at sites such as Binchester Roman Fort. In the Anglo-Saxon period the region was part of the Kingdom of Northumbria. In 995 the city of Durham was founded by monks seeking a place safe from Viking raids to house the relics of St Cuthbert. Durham Cathedral was rebuilt after the Norman Conquest, and together with Durham Castle is now a World Heritage Site. By the late Middle Ages the county was governed semi-independently by the bishops of Durham and was also a buffer zone between England and Scotland. County Durham became heavily industrialised in the nineteenth century, when many collieries opened on the Durham coalfield. The Stockton and Darlington Railway, the world's first public railway to use steam locomotives, opened in 1825. Most collieries closed during the last quarter of the twentieth century, but the county's coal mining heritage is remembered in the annual Durham Miners' Gala.

 

Remains of Prehistoric Durham include a number of Neolithic earthworks.

 

The Crawley Edge Cairns and Heathery Burn Cave are Bronze Age sites. Maiden Castle, Durham is an Iron Age site.

 

Brigantia, the land of the Brigantes, is said to have included what is now County Durham.

 

There are archaeological remains of Roman Durham. Dere Street and Cade's Road run through what is now County Durham. There were Roman forts at Concangis (Chester-le-Street), Lavatrae (Bowes), Longovicium (Lanchester), Piercebridge (Morbium), Vindomora (Ebchester) and Vinovium (Binchester). (The Roman fort at Arbeia (South Shields) is within the former boundaries of County Durham.) A Romanised farmstead has been excavated at Old Durham.

 

Remains of the Anglo-Saxon period include a number of sculpted stones and sundials, the Legs Cross, the Rey Cross and St Cuthbert's coffin.

 

Around AD 547, an Angle named Ida founded the kingdom of Bernicia after spotting the defensive potential of a large rock at Bamburgh, upon which many a fortification was thenceforth built. Ida was able to forge, hold and consolidate the kingdom; although the native British tried to take back their land, the Angles triumphed and the kingdom endured.

 

In AD 604, Ida's grandson Æthelfrith forcibly merged Bernicia (ruled from Bamburgh) and Deira (ruled from York, which was known as Eforwic at the time) to create the Kingdom of Northumbria. In time, the realm was expanded, primarily through warfare and conquest; at its height, the kingdom stretched from the River Humber (from which the kingdom drew its name) to the Forth. Eventually, factional fighting and the rejuvenated strength of neighbouring kingdoms, most notably Mercia, led to Northumbria's decline. The arrival of the Vikings hastened this decline, and the Scandinavian raiders eventually claimed the Deiran part of the kingdom in AD 867 (which became Jórvík). The land that would become County Durham now sat on the border with the Great Heathen Army, a border which today still (albeit with some adjustments over the years) forms the boundaries between Yorkshire and County Durham.

 

Despite their success south of the river Tees, the Vikings never fully conquered the Bernician part of Northumbria, despite the many raids they had carried out on the kingdom. However, Viking control over the Danelaw, the central belt of Anglo-Saxon territory, resulted in Northumbria becoming isolated from the rest of Anglo-Saxon Britain. Scots invasions in the north pushed the kingdom's northern boundary back to the River Tweed, and the kingdom found itself reduced to a dependent earldom, its boundaries very close to those of modern-day Northumberland and County Durham. The kingdom was annexed into England in AD 954.

 

In AD 995, St Cuthbert's community, who had been transporting Cuthbert's remains around, partly in an attempt to avoid them falling into the hands of Viking raiders, settled at Dunholm (Durham) on a site that was defensively favourable due to the horseshoe-like path of the River Wear. St Cuthbert's remains were placed in a shrine in the White Church, which was originally a wooden structure but was eventually fortified into a stone building.

 

Once the City of Durham had been founded, the Bishops of Durham gradually acquired the lands that would become County Durham. Bishop Aldhun began this process by procuring land in the Tees and Wear valleys, including Norton, Stockton, Escomb and Aucklandshire in 1018. In 1031, King Canute gave Staindrop to the Bishops. This territory continued to expand, and was eventually given the status of a liberty. Under the control of the Bishops of Durham, the land had various names: the "Liberty of Durham", "Liberty of St Cuthbert's Land" "the lands of St Cuthbert between Tyne and Tees" or "the Liberty of Haliwerfolc" (holy Wear folk).

 

The bishops' special jurisdiction rested on claims that King Ecgfrith of Northumbria had granted a substantial territory to St Cuthbert on his election to the see of Lindisfarne in 684. In about 883 a cathedral housing the saint's remains was established at Chester-le-Street and Guthfrith, King of York granted the community of St Cuthbert the area between the Tyne and the Wear, before the community reached its final destination in 995, in Durham.

 

Following the Norman invasion, the administrative machinery of government extended only slowly into northern England. Northumberland's first recorded Sheriff was Gilebert from 1076 until 1080 and a 12th-century record records Durham regarded as within the shire. However the bishops disputed the authority of the sheriff of Northumberland and his officials, despite the second sheriff for example being the reputed slayer of Malcolm Canmore, King of Scots. The crown regarded Durham as falling within Northumberland until the late thirteenth century.

 

Following the Battle of Hastings, William the Conqueror appointed Copsig as Earl of Northumbria, thereby bringing what would become County Durham under Copsig's control. Copsig was, just a few weeks later, killed in Newburn. Having already being previously offended by the appointment of a non-Northumbrian as Bishop of Durham in 1042, the people of the region became increasingly rebellious. In response, in January 1069, William despatched a large Norman army, under the command of Robert de Comines, to Durham City. The army, believed to consist of 700 cavalry (about one-third of the number of Norman knights who had participated in the Battle of Hastings), entered the city, whereupon they were attacked, and defeated, by a Northumbrian assault force. The Northumbrians wiped out the entire Norman army, including Comines, all except for one survivor, who was allowed to take the news of this defeat back.

 

Following the Norman slaughter at the hands of the Northumbrians, resistance to Norman rule spread throughout Northern England, including a similar uprising in York. William The Conqueror subsequently (and successfully) attempted to halt the northern rebellions by unleashing the notorious Harrying of the North (1069–1070). Because William's main focus during the harrying was on Yorkshire, County Durham was largely spared the Harrying.

 

Anglo-Norman Durham refers to the Anglo-Norman period, during which Durham Cathedral was built.

 

Matters regarding the bishopric of Durham came to a head in 1293 when the bishop and his steward failed to attend proceedings of quo warranto held by the justices of Northumberland. The bishop's case went before parliament, where he stated that Durham lay outside the bounds of any English shire and that "from time immemorial it had been widely known that the sheriff of Northumberland was not sheriff of Durham nor entered within that liberty as sheriff. . . nor made there proclamations or attachments". The arguments appear to have prevailed, as by the fourteenth century Durham was accepted as a liberty which received royal mandates direct. In effect it was a private shire, with the bishop appointing his own sheriff. The area eventually became known as the "County Palatine of Durham".

 

Sadberge was a liberty, sometimes referred to as a county, within Northumberland. In 1189 it was purchased for the see but continued with a separate sheriff, coroner and court of pleas. In the 14th century Sadberge was included in Stockton ward and was itself divided into two wards. The division into the four wards of Chester-le-Street, Darlington, Easington and Stockton existed in the 13th century, each ward having its own coroner and a three-weekly court corresponding to the hundred court. The diocese was divided into the archdeaconries of Durham and Northumberland. The former is mentioned in 1072, and in 1291 included the deaneries of Chester-le-Street, Auckland, Lanchester and Darlington.

 

The term palatinus is applied to the bishop in 1293, and from the 13th century onwards the bishops frequently claimed the same rights in their lands as the king enjoyed in his kingdom.

 

The historic boundaries of County Durham included a main body covering the catchment of the Pennines in the west, the River Tees in the south, the North Sea in the east and the Rivers Tyne and Derwent in the north. The county palatinate also had a number of liberties: the Bedlingtonshire, Islandshire and Norhamshire exclaves within Northumberland, and the Craikshire exclave within the North Riding of Yorkshire. In 1831 the county covered an area of 679,530 acres (2,750.0 km2) and had a population of 253,910. These exclaves were included as part of the county for parliamentary electoral purposes until 1832, and for judicial and local-government purposes until the coming into force of the Counties (Detached Parts) Act 1844, which merged most remaining exclaves with their surrounding county. The boundaries of the county proper remained in use for administrative and ceremonial purposes until the Local Government Act 1972.

 

Boldon Book (1183 or 1184) is a polyptichum for the Bishopric of Durham.

 

Until the 15th century, the most important administrative officer in the Palatinate was the steward. Other officers included the sheriff, the coroners, the Chamberlain and the chancellor. The palatine exchequer originated in the 12th century. The palatine assembly represented the whole county, and dealt chiefly with fiscal questions. The bishop's council, consisting of the clergy, the sheriff and the barons, regulated judicial affairs, and later produced the Chancery and the courts of Admiralty and Marshalsea.

 

The prior of Durham ranked first among the bishop's barons. He had his own court, and almost exclusive jurisdiction over his men. A UNESCO site describes the role of the Prince-Bishops in Durham, the "buffer state between England and Scotland":

 

From 1075, the Bishop of Durham became a Prince-Bishop, with the right to raise an army, mint his own coins, and levy taxes. As long as he remained loyal to the king of England, he could govern as a virtually autonomous ruler, reaping the revenue from his territory, but also remaining mindful of his role of protecting England’s northern frontier.

 

A report states that the Bishops also had the authority to appoint judges and barons and to offer pardons.

 

There were ten palatinate barons in the 12th century, most importantly the Hyltons of Hylton Castle, the Bulmers of Brancepeth, the Conyers of Sockburne, the Hansards of Evenwood, and the Lumleys of Lumley Castle. The Nevilles owned large estates in the county. John Neville, 3rd Baron Neville de Raby rebuilt Raby Castle, their principal seat, in 1377.

 

Edward I's quo warranto proceedings of 1293 showed twelve lords enjoying more or less extensive franchises under the bishop. The repeated efforts of the Crown to check the powers of the palatinate bishops culminated in 1536 in the Act of Resumption, which deprived the bishop of the power to pardon offences against the law or to appoint judicial officers. Moreover, indictments and legal processes were in future to run in the name of the king, and offences to be described as against the peace of the king, rather than that of the bishop. In 1596 restrictions were imposed on the powers of the chancery, and in 1646 the palatinate was formally abolished. It was revived, however, after the Restoration, and continued with much the same power until 5 July 1836, when the Durham (County Palatine) Act 1836 provided that the palatine jurisdiction should in future be vested in the Crown.

 

During the 15th-century Wars of the Roses, Henry VI passed through Durham. On the outbreak of the Great Rebellion in 1642 Durham inclined to support the cause of Parliament, and in 1640 the high sheriff of the palatinate guaranteed to supply the Scottish army with provisions during their stay in the county. In 1642 the Earl of Newcastle formed the western counties into an association for the King's service, but in 1644 the palatinate was again overrun by a Scottish army, and after the Battle of Marston Moor (2 July 1644) fell entirely into the hands of Parliament.

 

In 1614, a Bill was introduced in Parliament for securing representation to the county and city of Durham and the borough of Barnard Castle. The bishop strongly opposed the proposal as an infringement of his palatinate rights, and the county was first summoned to return members to Parliament in 1654. After the Restoration of 1660 the county and city returned two members each. In the wake of the Reform Act of 1832 the county returned two members for two divisions, and the boroughs of Gateshead, South Shields and Sunderland acquired representation. The bishops lost their secular powers in 1836. The boroughs of Darlington, Stockton and Hartlepool returned one member each from 1868 until the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885.

 

The Municipal Corporations Act 1835 reformed the municipal boroughs of Durham, Stockton on Tees and Sunderland. In 1875, Jarrow was incorporated as a municipal borough, as was West Hartlepool in 1887. At a county level, the Local Government Act 1888 reorganised local government throughout England and Wales. Most of the county came under control of the newly formed Durham County Council in an area known as an administrative county. Not included were the county boroughs of Gateshead, South Shields and Sunderland. However, for purposes other than local government, the administrative county of Durham and the county boroughs continued to form a single county to which the Crown appointed a Lord Lieutenant of Durham.

 

Over its existence, the administrative county lost territory, both to the existing county boroughs, and because two municipal boroughs became county boroughs: West Hartlepool in 1902 and Darlington in 1915. The county boundary with the North Riding of Yorkshire was adjusted in 1967: that part of the town of Barnard Castle historically in Yorkshire was added to County Durham, while the administrative county ceded the portion of the Borough of Stockton-on-Tees in Durham to the North Riding. In 1968, following the recommendation of the Local Government Commission, Billingham was transferred to the County Borough of Teesside, in the North Riding. In 1971, the population of the county—including all associated county boroughs (an area of 2,570 km2 (990 sq mi))—was 1,409,633, with a population outside the county boroughs of 814,396.

 

In 1974, the Local Government Act 1972 abolished the administrative county and the county boroughs, reconstituting County Durham as a non-metropolitan county. The reconstituted County Durham lost territory to the north-east (around Gateshead, South Shields and Sunderland) to Tyne and Wear and to the south-east (around Hartlepool) to Cleveland. At the same time it gained the former area of Startforth Rural District from the North Riding of Yorkshire. The area of the Lord Lieutenancy of Durham was also adjusted by the Act to coincide with the non-metropolitan county (which occupied 3,019 km2 (1,166 sq mi) in 1981).

 

In 1996, as part of 1990s UK local government reform by Lieutenancies Act 1997, Cleveland was abolished. Its districts were reconstituted as unitary authorities. Hartlepool and Stockton-on-Tees (north Tees) were returned to the county for the purposes of Lord Lieutenancy. Darlington also became a third unitary authority of the county. The Royal Mail abandoned the use of postal counties altogether, permitted but not mandatory being at a writer wishes.

 

As part of the 2009 structural changes to local government in England initiated by the Department for Communities and Local Government, the seven district councils within the County Council area were abolished. The County Council assumed their functions and became the fourth unitary authority. Changes came into effect on 1 April 2009.

 

On 15 April 2014, North East Combined Authority was established under the Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Act 2009 with powers over economic development and regeneration. In November 2018, Newcastle City Council, North Tyneside Borough Council, and Northumberland County Council left the authority. These later formed the North of Tyne Combined Authority.

 

In May 2021, four parish councils of the villages of Elwick, Hart, Dalton Piercy and Greatham all issued individual votes of no confidence in Hartlepool Borough Council, and expressed their desire to join the County Durham district.

 

In October 2021, County Durham was shortlisted for the UK City of Culture 2025. In May 2022, it lost to Bradford.

 

Eighteenth century Durham saw the appearance of dissent in the county and the Durham Ox. The county did not assist the Jacobite Rebellion of 1715. The Statue of Neptune in the City of Durham was erected in 1729.

 

A number of disasters happened in Nineteenth century Durham. The Felling mine disasters happened in 1812, 1813, 1821 and 1847. The Philadelphia train accident happened in 1815. In 1854, there was a great fire in Gateshead. One of the West Stanley Pit disasters happened in 1882. The Victoria Hall disaster happened in 1883.

 

One of the West Stanley Pit disasters happened in 1909. The Darlington rail crash happened in 1928. The Battle of Stockton happened in 1933. The Browney rail crash happened in 1946.

 

The First Treaty of Durham was made at Durham in 1136. The Second Treaty of Durham was made at Durham in 1139.

 

The county regiment was the Durham Light Infantry, which replaced, in particular, the 68th (Durham) Regiment of Foot (Light Infantry) and the Militia and Volunteers of County Durham.

 

RAF Greatham, RAF Middleton St George and RAF Usworth were located in County Durham.

 

David I, the King of Scotland, invaded the county in 1136, and ravaged much of the county 1138. In 17 October 1346, the Battle of Neville's Cross was fought at Neville's Cross, near the city of Durham. On 16 December 1914, during the First World War, there was a raid on Hartlepool by the Imperial German Navy.

 

Chroniclers connected with Durham include the Bede, Symeon of Durham, Geoffrey of Coldingham and Robert de Graystanes.

 

County Durham has long been associated with coal mining, from medieval times up to the late 20th century. The Durham Coalfield covered a large area of the county, from Bishop Auckland, to Consett, to the River Tyne and below the North Sea, thereby providing a significant expanse of territory from which this rich mineral resource could be extracted.

 

King Stephen possessed a mine in Durham, which he granted to Bishop Pudsey, and in the same century colliers are mentioned at Coundon, Bishopwearmouth and Sedgefield. Cockfield Fell was one of the earliest Landsale collieries in Durham. Edward III issued an order allowing coal dug at Newcastle to be taken across the Tyne, and Richard II granted to the inhabitants of Durham licence to export the produce of the mines, without paying dues to the corporation of Newcastle. The majority was transported from the Port of Sunderland complex, which was constructed in the 1850s.

 

Among other early industries, lead-mining was carried on in the western part of the county, and mustard was extensively cultivated. Gateshead had a considerable tanning trade and shipbuilding was undertaken at Jarrow, and at Sunderland, which became the largest shipbuilding town in the world – constructing a third of Britain's tonnage.[citation needed]

 

The county's modern-era economic history was facilitated significantly by the growth of the mining industry during the nineteenth century. At the industry's height, in the early 20th century, over 170,000 coal miners were employed, and they mined 58,700,000 tons of coal in 1913 alone. As a result, a large number of colliery villages were built throughout the county as the industrial revolution gathered pace.

 

The railway industry was also a major employer during the industrial revolution, with railways being built throughout the county, such as The Tanfield Railway, The Clarence Railway and The Stockton and Darlington Railway. The growth of this industry occurred alongside the coal industry, as the railways provided a fast, efficient means to move coal from the mines to the ports and provided the fuel for the locomotives. The great railway pioneers Timothy Hackworth, Edward Pease, George Stephenson and Robert Stephenson were all actively involved with developing the railways in tandem with County Durham's coal mining industry. Shildon and Darlington became thriving 'railway towns' and experienced significant growths in population and prosperity; before the railways, just over 100 people lived in Shildon but, by the 1890s, the town was home to around 8,000 people, with Shildon Shops employing almost 3000 people at its height.

 

However, by the 1930s, the coal mining industry began to diminish and, by the mid-twentieth century, the pits were closing at an increasing rate. In 1951, the Durham County Development Plan highlighted a number of colliery villages, such as Blackhouse, as 'Category D' settlements, in which future development would be prohibited, property would be acquired and demolished, and the population moved to new housing, such as that being built in Newton Aycliffe. Likewise, the railway industry also began to decline, and was significantly brought to a fraction of its former self by the Beeching cuts in the 1960s. Darlington Works closed in 1966 and Shildon Shops followed suit in 1984. The county's last deep mines, at Easington, Vane Tempest, Wearmouth and Westoe, closed in 1993.

 

Postal Rates from 1801 were charged depending on the distance from London. Durham was allocated the code 263 the approximate mileage from London. From about 1811, a datestamp appeared on letters showing the date the letter was posted. In 1844 a new system was introduced and Durham was allocated the code 267. This system was replaced in 1840 when the first postage stamps were introduced.

 

According to the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition (1911): "To the Anglo-Saxon period are to be referred portions of the churches of Monk Wearmouth (Sunderland), Jarrow, Escomb near Bishop Auckland, and numerous sculptured crosses, two of which are in situ at Aycliffe. . . . The Decorated and Perpendicular periods are very scantily represented, on account, as is supposed, of the incessant wars between England and Scotland in the 14th and 15th centuries. The principal monastic remains, besides those surrounding Durham cathedral, are those of its subordinate house or "cell," Finchale Priory, beautifully situated by the Wear. The most interesting castles are those of Durham, Raby, Brancepeth and Barnard. There are ruins of castelets or peel-towers at Dalden, Ludworth and Langley Dale. The hospitals of Sherburn, Greatham and Kepyer, founded by early bishops of Durham, retain but few ancient features."

 

The best remains of the Norman period include Durham Cathedral and Durham Castle, and several parish churches, such as St Laurence Church in Pittington. The Early English period has left the eastern portion of the cathedral, the churches of Darlington, Hartlepool, and St Andrew, Auckland, Sedgefield, and portions of a few other churches.

 

'Durham Castle and Cathedral' is a designated UNESCO World Heritage Site. Elsewhere in the County there is Auckland Castle.

Legend has it that back in 1795 three boys embarked on a fishing trip to a small Nova Scotian island. Once ashore, they found evidence of a block and tackle hanging from an old oak tree and a depression in the ground.

 

Brought up on tales of piracy, they believed this to be the site of buried treasure and quickly began to dig, revealing layers of oak beams and regular intervals and pick marks on the wall of the chamber, indicating what they were uncovering was certainly man made.

 

The treasure hunt continued some years later and as the depth of the hole increased, flood tunnels were activated, filling the pit with sea water – an artificial beach on the island lined with coconut fibre had been engineered to flood the pit once a certain depth was reached.

 

If you aren’t already captivated, add to the mystery an inscribed stone with cryptic engravings, strange stone formations on the island some believe to be pointing to the treasure and a curse stating that only after all the oak trees have been cut down and seven people have died in the hunt will the treasure be revealed.

 

To this day no oak trees remain and six men have lost their lives in the quest for the treasure. Investors from Michigan, USA are currently the latest n the 200 year legacy to invest millions of dollars in recovering the treasure, in what has become the world’s greatest and certainly most costly treasure hunt.

Additional wool stores, Blocks D & E, built between St Vincent & Baker Streets, opposite the 1880 Elders building.

 

“Elder, Smith, & Co. . . The increase in the business of the company had necessitated the erection of wool stores at Port Adelaide in order that the requirements of small producers could be met.” [Advertiser 1 Feb 1907]

 

“During recent years, storing accommodation for wool at Port Adelaide has been at a premium. . . For the forthcoming season Elder, Smith, & Co. are making important extensions to cater for their patrons. A large single-story galvanized iron store on the north side of St. Vincent-street has been pulled down, and in its place is .being erected a three-story building of iron, with a frontage of 112 ft. by 120 ft. deep. It will be the same 'height as the company's adjoining stone stores. . . In Baker-street, almost directly opposite, a new two-floor galvanized store is also being built. The dimensions are approximately 200 ft. by 100 ft. . . The contractor for the new stores and alterations is Mr. H. Slade, Mr. C. H. Marryat is the architect, and Mr. R. G. Foreman clerk of works. . . The building operations' began at the end of April, and the contractor expects to have the work completed by the end of August.” [Advertiser 4 Jul 1907]

 

“Tenders are invited for the Erection of Buildings (wood and iron). Port Adelaide, for Messrs. Elder, Smith, & Co., Limited — 1. Two Stories — Wool -Store and Show Floor. 2. Three Stories — Wool Store and Show Floor. . . C. H. Marryat, Architect.” [Advertiser 8 Apr 1907 advert]

 

“Altogether Elder, Smith, & Co. have in their three huge warehouses in Santo-place (facing the wharf), St. Vincent-street, Baker-street, and Crozier-street, Port Adelaide, 2¾ acres of show floor, in addition to over 6 acres of storage accommodation. All the floors utilised for exhibition purposes are wonderfully well lighted by means of saw-tooth roofs, the glass facing the south. . . the central store, in St. Vincent-street, is one vast apartment, over an acre in extent, with nothing anywhere to obstruct the vision except the supports of the roof, and the comprehensive view of thousands of bales of wool, each cut open and pouring its wealth of fleece upon the floor. . . the remainder being displayed in the Baker street store.” [Advertiser 16 Nov 1908]

 

“During the busy season the firm of Elder, Smith, & Co. has 200 men working at their Port Adelaide wool warehouses. It has also some magnificent horses. There are at present in the stables at the Port 25 stalwart animals, valued at'£40 a head. . . They are employed for three months, in carting wool from the trucks to the warehouses, and from the stores to the wharves. Then they are sold, a fresh lot being bought next season.” [Advertiser 16 Nov 1908]

 

Amongst the many new buildings being erected at Port Adelaide is another large wool store, facing St. Vincent-street, for Messrs. Elder Smith & Co. The new building, which is expected to be ready for the forthcoming wool season, adjoins the existing structure owned by that firm, and will be situated on the western side of the old store. It will have a frontage to St. Vincent-street of 206 ft.; with a depth of 200 ft.” [Advertiser 5 May 1910]

 

“Excavations will be begun shortly at St. Vincent street east, Port Adelaide, for the foundations of a new wool store for Elder, Smith & Co. It is understood that plans for the structure have not been completed. The firm has three large wool stores at the chief seaport, but these have been found insufficient to hold the fleeces that come to hand in a good season. The location of the new structure will be south of Cowell Bros.' premises, and north of Goldsbrough, Mort &. Co.” [News 3 May 1926]

 

“A plan of a new wool store to be erected for Elder, Smith, & Co., Limited, at the corner of Crozier and Baker streets, Port Adelaide, in proximity to the existing store. The building will be 2,000 feet square, and will have four floors. Messrs. Woods, Bagot, Jory, & Laybourne-Smith are the architects, and Messrs. James King & Son, of Hindmarsh, the contractors.” [Register 1 Jan 1927]

 

“With a capacity of 18,000 bales the large new wool store of Elder, Smith and Co., Limited, near the Port Adelaide Dock, is described as the most up-to-date of its kind in the Commonwealth. Although it is still in the hands of the contractor and many workmen are putting the finishing touches on its fine show floor, wool has been received in the structure since Tuesday. Bales from far distant stations stand in orderly rows on its spacious floor, and are arriving daily by the hundred. . . electrically operated elevators serve to expedite the work of handling portion of South Australia's clip that is now pouring to the seaport in a ceaseless stream by train, steamer, and motor lorry.” [News 2 Sep 1927]

 

“during the currency of the war the entire Australian wool clip would be purchased by the British Government, and. . . in addition, all Australian surplus supplies of six important food commodities in butter, cheese, meat, eggs, and canned and dried fruits — had been bought by the United Kingdom. . . it was not anticipated that the British Government would be able to purchase the whole of Australia's export wheat surplus.” [Advertiser 6 Sep 1939]

 

“A figure between 13d and 15d. a pound is expected to be paid by the British Government for the Australian wool clip during the war. . . The average price paid during the last war was 15½d.” [Advertiser 8 Sep 1939]

 

“Australian growers are demanding an early definite statement regarding the duration of the wool purchase scheme by Britain. In September, 1939, Britain agreed to buy all our wool production not required for local manufacture, for the period of the war and one clip thereafter.” [West Australian 25 Oct 1944]

 

“Since the war, heavy rationing of clothing, &c has been imposed, enemy countries have been denied supplies, large quantities of all types of woollen goods have been destroyed, and- millions of service people, both men and women, will be in urgent need of clothes when they discard their uniforms and look for civilian attire. . . Preparations are in hand for the placing into suitable positions those of our permanent staff who will be demobilised and wish to rejoin the staff of the company.” [Advertiser 25 Aug 1945]

 

“sheep's wool is in every way much superior to any synthetics, most of which are derived from a vegetable base and are conductors of heat and cold; are clammy, uncomfortable, and inflammable, but most attractive looking, and at first cost relatively cheap, but in the long run not so economical as wool. . . Wool is warm, even when wet. . . Wool smoulders, but does not burn.” [Chronicle 6 Sep 1945]

 

“British Government will complete this month its war-time purchase of the Australian wool clip. It represents the world's largest commercial transaction for any primary product. Wool appraisals during the period — seven years — will approximate £460,000,000. Average Australian clip has been round 3,500,000 bales annually. Average yearly return has been nearly £67,000,000. . . Wool auction sales in Australia will be resumed in September. Fleece will go to the highest bidder.” [News 26 Jun 1946]

 

“Wanted . Men for Work in Wool stores, Port Adelaide. Apply Elder, Smith & Co., Limited, Port Adelaide.” [News 10 Sep 1947 advert]

 

“The Adelaide Woolbrokers wish to hereby intimate to their many clients that it has recently been decided to work annually a 44-hour five-day week, Monday to Friday inclusive, in their Wool Stores at Port Adelaide and in the Skin and Hide Stores in Adelaide.” [Chronicle 18 Sep 1947 advert]

 

“For over a century Elder, Smith & Co., Limited have been handling wool. . . From the shearing shed to the overseas liner, wool passes through many stages. . . Every bale received is carefully weighed on modern, accurate scales, immediately recorded and catalogued against advice received from the grower. From this simple beginning commences a thorough preparation of wool clips for auction . . .a preparation designed to secure full market value for your clip. . . be it one bag or a thousand bales.” [Chronicle 2 Sep 1948 advert]

 

“each of Elder's Receiving Clerks. . . records the brand, description, number and correct weight of every bale of wool received at Elder's Wool Store, Port Adelaide. The scales he uses are checked for accuracy every day, regularly serviced and Government tested. You can help Elder's Wool Clerks by correctly branding each bale on the front and cap and by numbering your bales consecutively for each season. Be it one bag or a thousand bales, consign your next clip to Elder's.” [Chronicle 13 Apr 1950 advert]

 

“Shipping and Weigh-in Clerks Wanted for Wool Stores. Apply — Elder, Smith & Co, Limited, Port Adelaide.” [Advertiser

13 Sep 1950 advert]

 

“Suitable Men and Boys Wanted for Work in Wool Stores. Good Conditions. Adults Rate. £8/14/-. Apply — Elder, Smith & Co, Limited, Port Adelaide.” [Advertiser 14 Sep 1950 advert]

 

“Wanted. Clerks for Wool Stores. Wages £11/16/6 per week. Apply Wool Manager, Elder, Smith & Co, Limited, Port Adelaide.” [Advertiser 6 Oct 1951 advert]

 

“Shortly after the sale the buyers issue shipping instructions to the brokers. The bales they have purchased now are dumped in a hydraulic press to about half the size they were when they left your farm. Steel wires or bands are fastened around them, so that each bale is of uniform size. This facilitates handling and saves shipping space. Finally, from the store your wool goes to the wharf and into the hold of a ship. Some of it probably goes to the famous British mills at Bradford, in Yorkshire, England, some of it perhaps to France where there also are famous mills, some of it maybe to Japan whose buyers last year re-entered the Australian wool market” [Chronicle 28 Aug 1952].

 

“Two ships loading wool at Port Adelaide for Britain and the Continent have been delayed by the overtime ban imposed in Port Adelaide wool stores by the Storemen and Packers' Union. The 9,503-ton motor ship Dardanus, which is loading between 16,000 and 17,000 sales of wool, was scheduled to sail on Tuesday. She is now expected to sail at the end of the week. Now loading 13,500 bales of wool, the 11,950 ton steamer Tasmania Star is expected to be delayed for three days.” [Advertiser 30 Oct 1952]

 

“Elders to Build Big Wool Store. Special facilities for hulk classing and reclassing wool are provided in the four- story wool store being built by Elder, Smith & Co. Limited at Port Adelaide. Glass walls on the first floor will give a maximum of natural light to the 20,000 square feet of floor space, where the classing will be carried out. After classing, the wool will be placed in one of 420 bins in the centre of the floor under better-than-daylight lighting. Elder's decision to devote so much space to bulk classing and recessing facilities is to meet the growing demand by clients for this type of service. The store should be completed within 18 months. It will have nearly four acres of jarrah floors, and a bridge 18 ft. above the roadway to the central store to facilitate the transfer and stowage of bales during peak periods. Architects are Woods, Bagot, Laybournc-Smith & Irwin. Contractors are Hansen & Yuncken Pty. Ltd.” [Victor Harbor Times 23 Nov 1956]

 

A special side event at the GEO-X Summit looked at the issue of Ocean Acidification, changes in ocean chemistry resulting from the ocean's uptake of excessive carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere. Participants in the panel included: Wendy Watson-Wright, Executive Secretary of UNESCO's Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission, Professor Richard Bellerby, Senior Resarcher at the Norwegian Institute for Water Research, Albert Fischer, Director of the Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS), Libby Jewett, Director of the NOAA Ocean Acidification Program, Jan Newton, Principal Oceanographer with the Applied Physics Laboratory of the University of Washington, David Osborn, Director of the IAEA Environment Laboratories in Monaco, and Carol Turley, a leading expert on the ocean's biogeochemical cycles.

 

From January 13 to 17, 2014 Geneva’s CICG center will be the site of a major international conference and exhibit aimed at improving access to critical information on the global environment. The GEO-X Plenary and Geneva Ministerial Summit brings together experts from 90 governments and nearly 70 organizations and will include an exhibit of cutting edge technology and more than 30 forums and panel discussions, many open to the general public. Topics will include Agriculture and Food Security, Measuring Biodiversity, Disaster Risk Reduction, Cholera Early Warning, Ocean Acidification, UNEP Live!, and Water Security. The summit will be presided over by GEO’s four co-chairs: China, the European Commission, South Africa and the United States. The United States will be represented at GEO-X by a high level multiagency delegation.

 

For nearly a decade, the Group on Earth Observations (GEO) has been driving the interoperability of thou­sands of individual space-based, airborne and in situ Earth observations around the world. Often these separate systems yield just snapshot assessments, leading to critical gaps in scientific understanding. GEO is addressing such gaps by providing easy, open access to organized observations that enable an increasingly integrated view of our changing Earth. Summit participants will look at how the international community can increase the sustainability and quality of observation networks and make the maximum possible volume of data freely accessible. For sound science to shape sound policy, leaders and other decision-makers require this fuller picture as an indispensable foundation of environmental decision-making.

 

U.S. Mission Geneva / Eric Bridiers

It’s been a trend lately to cook with fresh, local ingredients – a proposition I couldn’t agree with more.

 

Using seasonal and sustainable products from local farmers and watermen are important for a number of reasons: community pride, reducing carbon footprinting, increasing the local economy and the fact that local food is healthier and tastier.

 

I love all things local, vegetables, fruits, seafood and wine. Regardless of a quaffer’s affinity with wine from California, France or elsewhere, there is definitely a wine made in Virginia that they would enjoy as well.

 

The number of wineries in the state has exploded the past few years, but it’s not just the quantity of wineries that has increased – it is also the quality of wines they produce that continues to make headlines. In fact, recently Travel+Leisure magazine named Virginia as one of the hottest wine regions in the world.

 

One way I like to enjoy Virginia wine is through cooking. Many classic recipes incorporate wine as an ingredients – why not make it Virginia wine? Also, wine can be used as a substitute – at least in part – for the liquid in many other recipes too; the key is understanding the flavor profile of the wine and the other ingredients for a successful end result.

 

Here is of my favorite recipes using Virginia wine: Pizza Primavera.

 

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PIZZA PRIMAVERA WITH PIEDMONT RED SAUCE

 

Pizza ingredients:

1 prepared pizza dough – homemade or commercial

Prepared Piedmont red sauce (tomato sauce)

Variety of vegetables (try to source locally when in season), cut into bite-sized pieces

Fresh mozzarella cheese (many restaurants make daily and sell to the public)

Shaved fresh Parmesan cheese

 

Piedmont red sauce ingredients:

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 large yellow onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 15-ounce can tomato sauce

1 5-ounce can tomato paste

1/2 cup Virginia Italian-style wine; we like Nebbiolo, Barbera or Sangiovese

1 teaspoon dry oregano leaves

1 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Salt to taste

 

Method:

Prepare sauce by heating olive oil in a sauté pan on the stovetop over medium heat. Add onion and garlic and stir often, about five minutes, until translucent. Stir in tomato sauce, tomato paste, red wine, oregano, basil, red pepper flakes and black pepper.

 

Turn up the heat and let simmer, uncovered, about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Season with salt to taste. This will make about four cups of sauce, so you will have plenty left over for additional pizzas or for pasta dishes.

 

Once sauce is prepared, spread evenly on pizza crust, leaving about a half-inch space from the edge. On top, add vegetables – or other ingredients of choice. Pull off quarter-sized pieces of mozzarella and place. around on top of pizza.

 

Bake in a 450F oven for about 10 minutes, or until the mozzarella begins to melt and bubble. Remove and add shaved Parmesan cheese atop.

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Patrick Evans-Hylton is a Johnson & Wales-trained chef, local foods advocate as historian for Buy Fresh Buy Local Hampton Roads, senior editor for food and wine of Hampton Roads Magazine, and executive editor of Virginia Wine Lover magazine (www.virginiawinelover.com), a statewide food, wine and lifestyle publication.

 

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My book, Popcorn, can be found at local booksellers, or online:

 

Amazon -

 

www.amazon.com/Popcorn-Patrick-Evans-Hylton/dp/1570615799

 

Barnes & Noble -

 

www.barnesandnoble.com/w/popcorn-patrick-evans-hylton/110...

 

Books-A-Million -

 

www.booksamillion.com/p/Popcorn/Patrick-Evans-Hylton/9781...

 

Crate & Barrel -

 

www.crateandbarrel.com/kitchen-and-food/cookbooks/%22popc...

 

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For more of my adventures in food, check out my blog: www.PatrickEvansHylton.com

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Hello there. Many of you may already know this but I am a Chicago Teacher's Union delegate. I work with students who have special needs and disabilities and over the past 12 years at this job, I have seen my caseload steadily increase to over 60 students. In other school districts, Occupational and Physical Therapists have a caseload cap. of 32. That is what those school districts have decided is reasonable. I am willing to work extra time and in the evenings and on weekends but I am not able to see all of my students and meet their needs as only one person. The Board of Ed. still refuses to limit our caseloads and that is the major reason I am striking.

 

Many people have been only listening to the media and have been wondering why teachers are so "greedy" because they think all we want are raises. If you're going to parrot the media, I don't need your comments. However, if you're going to listen to what I have to say as someone who knows what it's like to work in Chicago Public Schools, please keep reading.

 

Some major reasons we are striking-NONE of which have to do with pay.

 

1. Chicago Public Schools wants to close another 100 schools and further corporatize America's children. This is sickening. Charter schools have not proven themselves to be overall any better than public schools and they have taken our most promising students from us. The Tea Partiers and corporations getting into education continue to try to get Illinois state legislature changes so that they get equal funding as public schools from YOUR tax dollars. However, did you know that not all teachers that work in charter schools have to be certified? This is eventually merely a way for corporations to get more of your tax dollars and pay teachers half as much so that they pocket the rest. Aren't you tired of that? I know I am.

 

2. The Chicago Public Schools want to put in the "contract" a clause called the "Management Clause" which basically states that at any time they can change their minds about anything in the contract for any reason. I'm pretty sure Brizard and Rahm Emanuel need to go back to their basic Language Arts classes and look up the word "Contract" as they would find this clause pretty much makes the whole idea of a promise or an agreement completely useless.

 

3. We want smaller classrooms. As someone who works with kids that have disabilities, I've seen the kid with Muscular Dystrophy who is depending on a wheelchair for transportation struggle because his regular education classroom does not have enough space for him. All of us Occupational and Physical Therapists have seen this. It's ILLEGAL. It goes against everything the Americans with Disabilities Act stand for and yet it is a reality.

 

4. We want to end the class warfare disparity. In Chicago right now, Rahm and the media completely ignore the fact that there is a huge amount of violence especially on the South side and our homicide rate has risen dramatically. One reason for this is that people are getting desperate in this economy and they don't have the skills to pursue other non violent measures. At this crucial time, Rahm has decided to cut technology classes. Schools on the North side also have way more access to Music and Art and even things like Foreign Languages whereas the South side kids literally (and I mean LITERALLY) have to bring their own soap and toilet paper to school.

 

5. At a time of rising violence as well as more premature babies being saved during delivery, there are more and more students in need of clinicians including: Occupational and Physical Therapists, Social Workers, Psychologists, and Speech Therapists. The Chicago Public Schools Board of Ed. would like to forget these kids even exist. I've seen the mayor and administrators at schools. They go visit the gifted classrooms. They don't take a look into the classrooms for students with Severe/Profound disabilities, that's for sure.

 

Please support your local school and your local teacher. Give your local teacher a hug. Call your alderman and Brizard and tell them to support teachers.

 

***If you or your family members are in one of these photos and would like the high resolution version for free, please email me at kirstiecat@gmail.com with the subject "Union Rally Photo" and I will send this to you at no charge as soon as possible**

With the recent developments in the Human Genome Mapping Project and the new technologies that are developing from it there is a renewal of concern about eugenic applications. Francis Galton (b1822, d1911), who developed the subject of eugenics, suggested that the ancient Greeks had contributed very little to social theories of eugenics. In fact the Greeks had a profound interest in methods of supplying their city states with the finest possible progeny. This paper therefore reviews the works of Plato (The Republic and Politics) and Aristotle (The Politics and The Athenian Constitution) which have a direct bearing on eugenic techniques and relates them to methods used in the present century.Abstract

 

With the recent developments in the Human Genome Mapping Project and the new technologies that are developing from it there is a renewal of concern about eugenic applications. Francis Galton (b1822, d1911), who developed the subject of eugenics, suggested that the ancient Greeks had contributed very little to social theories of eugenics. In fact the Greeks had a profound interest in methods of supplying their city states with the finest possible progeny. This paper therefore reviews the works of Plato (The Republic and Politics) and Aristotle (The Politics and The Athenian Constitution) which have a direct bearing on eugenic techniques and relates them to methods used in the present century.

 

(Journal of Medical Ethics 1998;24:263–267)

 

Keywords: Eugenics; ancient Greeks; Plato; Aristotle; contemporary methods

 

Introduction

 

Eugenics (Gk eu-good, well; Gk gen-genesis, creation), a term proposed by Francis Galton, was defined as "the science of improving the inherited stock, not only by judicious matings, but by all other influences ...."¹

 

With the recent developments in the Human Genome Mapping Project the scope for eugenics has enormously increased because of the development of a very powerful technology for the manipulation of DNA. A multitude of gene sequences and genetic markers are now becoming available to predict risks of developing such common conditions as cancer, ischaemic heart disease, diabetes mellitus and hypertension; and in some cases it is possible to treat such disorders by gene therapy (ie replacement of the LDL-receptor gene in patients with homozygous familial hypercholesterolaemia).²

 

Gene manipulation of germ-line cells is currently in use for animal models of human disease and no doubt will soon become available for the supply of donor organs for purposes of human transplantation surgery.

 

A wider definition of eugenics might therefore be "the use of science applied to the quantitative and qualitative improvement of the human genome"; and this would cover methods of regulating population numbers as well as improving genome quality by selective artificial insemination by donor, gene therapy or gene manipulation of germ-line cells.³

 

This definition does not include any terms related to the acceptability or otherwise of the means to achieve these ends, ie whether some methods should be made compulsory by the state, or left entirely to the personal choice of the individual.

 

A major problem for the future will be where to draw the fine line between state control and personal choice for the many genetic issues that will arise with the application of the new DNA technology. This is particularly so as some of the genetic issues related to multifactorial disease are complex and may go beyond the understanding of some citizens who may be involved in such decisions.

 

Galton's work on eugenics makes very little reference to Greek social theories of eugenics and current standard works on eugenics⁴ make no reference to the Greek contribution.

 

For example Galton states in a letter, that he had read "Plato's Republic and Laws for eugenic passages; but they don't amount to much beyond the purification of the city by sending off all the degenerates to form what is termed a colony".⁵

 

It is not clear where Galton obtained this idea of colonisation as a eugenic measure; it does not appear to occur anywhere in Plato's works.

 

In early ancient Greek history (from the eighth to sixth centuries BC) establishing colonies was a way of coping with population expansion and of establishing trading contacts overseas.

 

Perhaps Galton may have been recalling Herodotus, Book IV, where Polymnestus, a man of high repute in Thera, had a defective son with a speech impediment named Battus (meaning stammerer); and Battus was dispatched by the citizens with sanctions from the Delphic oracle to found a colony in Libya.⁶

 

However, Herodotus does not say anything explicitly to suggest that the disability was a motive for sending him to lead a colony.

 

On the other hand Plato's works do reveal a profound interest in eugenics as a means of supplying the city state with the finest possible progeny.

 

This was of vital significance for the future of the city, which needed to supply men for its army which was continually at war with other city states.

 

The purpose of this paper is to describe prevailing ancient Greek views on eugenic methods to improve the quality of their progeny.

 

Plato's Republic⁷

 

This work was probably written before 368 BC when the author was in his fourth to fifth decade.

 

It is a blueprint for the organisation of an ideal society and with regard to eugenics adopts the policy of ensuring "judicious matings".

 

Plato thought it vital to society that the correct arrangements should be made for such matings.

 

He proposed that marriage for the guardian classes (guardians were the premier class of Athenian citizens, selected by their natural capacities and attainments to govern the state) be abolished and that provision be made for men and women of the same natural capacities to mate.

 

He drew an analogy with the selective breeding of sporting dogs and horses in order to obtain the desired stock.

 

The members of the guardian classes should only be allowed to breed in their primes, for men, after reaching the age of 25 years, for women 20 years.

 

Inferior members of the guardian classes should be discouraged from reproducing.

 

Only the best of the offspring should be kept in the guardian class and the inferior children should be relegated to the civilian classes (farmers or craftsmen).

 

These were the general principles; and in practical terms they could be implemented by the institution of a marriage festival, bringing together suitable young people in the correct age band.

 

Sacrifices, poetry, songs and dance would set the atmosphere for young couples to "marry" and cohabit during the period of the festival for about one month, after which the marriage would be dissolved and the partners remain celibate until the next festival.

 

The number of marriages at each festival would be at the ruler's discretion, to keep the population numbers constant, taking into account losses caused by war or epidemics.

 

Plato was more afraid of a decline than a rise in the birth rate and considered that the civilian classes could breed without restriction so as to keep an average city state with 5,000 citizens (as stated in The Laws).

 

To prevent marriage of the inferior members of the guardian classes a lottery system would be set up but so rigged that young men acquitting themselves well in war and other duties would be given the first opportunities of having a marriage partner for the term of the festival to produce children whilst the inferior youth would draw lots which "by chance" would not procure a partner for them.

 

At the end of the festival the marriages would be dissolved but the superior youths would be able to draw by lot another (and different) partner at the next festival.

 

The newborn children were to be taken from their mothers and reared in special nurseries in a separate quarter of the city.

 

Family life was to be discouraged as it provided a distraction from the business of governing, of defending or extending the city state by conquest.

 

Any children born defective would be "hidden away" in some appropriate manner.

 

This may actually be a euphemism for infanticide.⁸

 

However neither infanticide nor exposure as practised in Sparta and other Greek cities was recommended by Plato for his republic.

 

Women should be allowed to bear children from the ages of 20–40 years, and men reproduce from 25–55 years, when the bodily and mental powers are at their best.

 

Unofficial unions which produced children would be considered as a civil (and divine) offence and appropriate punishments instituted.

 

Men should only have relations with women of a marriageable age if the rulers had paired them together.

 

Incestuous unions between parents and children were to be forbidden; but there were no sanctions against brother-sister unions.

 

Brother-sister marriages were not uncommon in Egypt and the Greeks had probably not noticed the increased frequency of defective children resulting from consanguineous marriages.

 

The main aim of brother-sister incest as practised by the royal families of Egypt was to keep the throne within the family.

 

It appears clear from portraits of the Ptolemies of Egypt, the most notorious case of such incest, that some members suffered from inherited endocrine disorders,⁹ but there is no evidence that this was connected by the ancients themselves with the practice of brother-sister incest.

 

However, if all the newborn Greek children were brought up communally in a crèche, real brothers and sisters would not perhaps know they were so related; especially as there would be so many different marriage pairs from each succeeding festival.

 

Finally, men and women of the guardian classes past the child-bearing age could form relationships that would fall outside the jurisdiction of the rulers.

 

Plato's Laws¹⁰

 

This is the last of Plato's dialogues, written in his eighth decade in about 350 BC, but it is highly likely that he was at work on The Laws for many years during intervals of writing other texts, since it is his longest work and it may well incorporate material for earlier projects at which he hints, but seems never to have completed.

 

It is a more practical treatment and extension of the political problems raised in The Republic. He attempts to frame a model constitution and legislation that might be adopted by a society of average Greeks marriage festivals, with a community of wives and children, to be impractical. Instead he would legislate for monogamous marriages with strict chastity outside of that. Provision for this should be initially made by arranging sports and dance festivals so the young people of the city could meet each other. If a man of 25 years or more finds a suitable partner he should submit his case to the curator of laws, and if the match is found suitable, should in all cases marry her before the age of 30–35 years. A girl could marry from the age of 16–20 years. With regard to fitness for marriage a man should primarily court a woman for the city's good and not just because she takes his fancy. The origin of the bride and her family should be carefully scrutinised. The wealth or poverty of the bride's family should not play a large part in his choice.

 

If any fit young men did not, or refused to marry, up to the age of 35 years they then should pay an annual fine of 100 drachmas if belonging to the wealthiest class; 70 drachmas if to the second; 60 if to the third and 30 drachmas if to the fourth class. The fines so collected would be dedicated to the Temple of Hera.

 

Married couples should make it their first concern to present the city with the best and finest progeny. They should therefore be under the supervision of a board of matrons, appointed by the magistrates, to superintend the conduct of the married couples. For example, expectant mothers should assemble daily for a minimum period of 20 minutes at the Temple of Ilithyia (a goddess identified with Artemis or Hera) to provide sacrifices and rites to the Goddess of Matrimony. Their period of supervision by the board should last ten years and the board would provide advice and guidance on all problems connected with childbirth (for example, if couples were infertile, or producing too many children). Infertile couples could have their marriages dissolved but the relatives of both parties were to have a voice in the terms of the separation. Finally, an official register of births and deaths should be kept and made easily accessible by the recording of its details on whitened walls. Such a record would be required for the proper observance of the laws fixing the ages for marriage, military service or qualifications for various official posts.

 

Regarding Plato's other political dialogues, The Statesman¹¹ deals with the different forms of government and the nature of political science but makes no reference to eugenics.

 

Aristotle's Politics¹²

 

Aristotle initially studied with Plato at the Academy from 367–348 BC, but then left to travel. He returned to Athens in 336 BC and founded the Lyceum. In his book Politics he first criticizes Plato's views and then proposes his own.

 

He thinks that the community of wives and children for the guardian class is impractical and if anything is better suited to the civilian classes. If the latter have wives and children in common they will be less closely united by bonds of affection and family ties and perhaps remain more obedient to the ruling elite and be less likely to rebel. Also, would mothers in the guardian class voluntarily give up their children to be reared in a communal nursery? If some of their inferior children are relegated to the lower classes and eventually find out their true parents, this may lead to quarrels and recriminations and perhaps would provide more a source of disorder in society.

 

He also criticises Plato's view that the birth rate should be left unrestricted for the lower classes. If this leads to over-population, the attendant evils of poverty, crime and revolution would most likely follow. In Aristotle's view the birth rate should be regulated even more stringently than was done in c 330 BC. He quotes in support of this idea that Phaedon of Corinth, an early legislator, recommended that land allotments for families and the number of citizens should be kept equal to one another, implying a tight regulation of the birth rate.

 

Raw material

 

Aristotle's own views agree in principle with Plato's that conditions should be managed to ensure the highest possible state of health for the city's newborn children. The quality and quantity of their population depends on this and is the first concern of the city state. The population is the raw material on which the statesman works.

 

Aristotle would therefore legislate for the following proposals.

 

Strict monogamous marriages should be instituted, with women marrying at about 18 years and men at 37 years, when he considers both sexes to be at their prime.

 

Pregnant women must take care of their bodies with regular exercise each day by walking to the Temple of Ilithyia to worship at the altar of the gods presiding over childbirth.

 

Expectant mothers should be given nourishing food and remain as tranquil as possible since the embryo derives its nature from the mother, rather as plants do from the soil in which they grow.

 

Laws should be introduced to oppose an unrestricted birth rate, but no children should suffer exposure just to limit the population.

 

If couples are having too many children abortion must be procured before the embryo has reached the stage of "sensitive life".

 

Infanticide should be practised for any children born with deformities.

 

(Page 266)

 

Other proposed ideal constitutions considered by Aristotle, ie those of Phaleas of Chalcedon or Hippodamus of Miletus appear to make no provisions for eugenics.

 

The actual constitution of Sparta appears to include eugenic measures but these were mainly directed to a single aspect, namely military prowess.¹³ Their practice of child exposure and infanticide was mainly aimed at developing a cadre of good soldiers but this led to a shortage of manpower which proved to be one of Sparta's major social weaknesses. A law had eventually to be passed to encourage population growth in which a father of three sons was exempt from military service and a father of four sons was exempt from all state-imposed obligations, including taxes.

 

The actual constitution of Crete had measures to regulate the birth rate by segregating women from men. However, Lycurgus, the supposed legislator for both Sparta and Crete, sanctioned sexual intimacy between males as a means of controlling reproductive rates, the morality of which Aristotle appears to question.

 

Commentary

 

It is of interest that neither Galton nor many contemporary commentators¹⁴ ¹⁵ appear to give credit to or even mention the Greek contribution to the subject of eugenics. In fact Galton's proposals for the development of the subject³ go very little further than the measures proposed by Plato except that there was almost no element of coercion in the former.

 

Galton's main proposals were:

 

Extensive family records should be kept and in competitive examinations for professional posts in, for example the civil service, extra marks should be awarded for "family merit". The family history as well as the personal history of the applicant should be taken into account;

Early marriages for women from "gifted" families should be encouraged by the award of financial endowments, analogous perhaps to the use of grants for higher education for promising young adults;

Rules of celibacy for gifted individuals (for example Fellows at the older universities) should be abolished;

The state should take some form of action (unspecified) against the procreation of the feeble-minded, the insane, and some classes of habitual criminals.

 

Plato's methods to improve the genetic constitution of the ruling elite class are far more original than those of Aristotle and are in accord with modern genetic theory.

 

Different choices of partners at serial marriage festivals amongst a selected elite of the population would be expected to lead to an optimal spread of abilities for their offspring.

 

He recommends systematic deception in the pursuit of these aims by rigging the lottery system for marriage partners, and in Book Three of The Republic he states that deception of citizens for the city's welfare is justified for political ends in the same way that doctors may conceal the truth from their patients for their own good, but patients should conceal nothing from their doctors (if they want a correct diagnosis).

 

In practice, of course, justifying a means for political ends can be at almost total variance with justification for the benefit of the citizen's welfare.

 

Aristotle criticised the social implications of a community of wives and children; but both Plato and Aristotle appear to have overlooked the possibility of brother-sister (or half brother-half sister) matings leading to the appearance of deleterious recessive characters that occur at high frequency in the human genome (c 20%).

 

Perhaps the adverse effects of consanguineous marriages had not been recognised by the Greeks or Egyptians, since brother-sister marriages were condoned.

 

Plato and Aristotle both recommended legislation of social methods aimed at promoting judicious matings amongst an elite class, methods that would be unacceptable today.

 

Contemporary genetics has more aimed to discourage injudicious matings in the population by methods that are equally questionable.

 

In the early half of this century state institutions introduced compulsory measures to improve the "inherited stock" of their society.

 

For example from 1930 onwards 27 states in the USA passed sterilisation laws to prevent various classes of people from having children.¹⁶ These included the insane, those suffering from epilepsy, and the feebleminded. In some states these laws were applied to habitual criminals and "moral perverts".

 

Most states did not enforce these laws, but in California compulsory sterilisations reached a total of 9,930 by 1935.

 

Other countries, including Denmark, Switzerland, Germany, Norway and Sweden also passed sterilisation laws for similar categories of people, and between 1935 and 1976 about 60,000 young Swedish women deemed mentally defective or otherwise handicapped, making them incapable of looking after children, were sterilised.

 

The laws in Sweden remained on the statute books until 1976.¹⁷

 

Only in Germany have recent attempts been made to "breed" for an elite class.

 

The Lebensborn (Spring of Life) state programme of the Nazis established Lebensborn homes throughout Germany where SS men and suitable young Aryan women were encouraged to procreate.¹⁸

of the resettlement and extermination programmes.

 

In the USA between 1969–73 many states organised compulsory schemes to screen for sickle cell heterozygosity which occurs primarily amongst the black population. Carriers, who are entirely healthy, had problems with obtaining marriage certification, employment and access to life insurance. For example, carriers of the sickle cell trait were excluded from positions in the Air Force academy involved with flight training and from flight personnel posts. In the Department of the Navy employees were screened and heterozygote cases excluded from airborne, ranger or flight crew training. Such procedures could be interpreted as racist and a means of discriminating against the black population by preventing their promotion to officer class. This could also have an indirect eugenic effect although there is no demographic evidence that reproductive rates were affected by this policy.¹⁹

 

More recently insurance companies in the UK (1997) required the declaration of previous genetic tests for susceptibility to such diseases as cancer, heart disease and premature dementias; premiums are adjusted according to the health risks involved.²⁰ Since life insurance is frequently tied to mortgages this would tend to have an effect of discouraging (by financial pressures) individuals possessing an adverse genetic constitution from starting families and therefore could act as a covert eugenic measure.

 

Currently the trend for eugenics has been very much away from social coercion by various state institutions to providing more education and freedom for citizens to make their own genetic and reproductive choices. For example, mothers can choose to have a disabled child with trisomy 21 even though the state may eventually have to provide for the child's long term care. If there were a genetic "cure" for trisomy 21 the mother could be held responsible for injury to her child for withholding it. If a pregnant mother can take steps to cure a disability affecting her fetus she should do so, or otherwise she could be held responsible for deliberately injuring her child.²¹ The only "cure" at present for trisomy 21 is termination of pregnancy and perhaps a state body should intervene in such cases if the mother is clearly unable to provide economically for the long term care of her handicapped child. However, each particular case of state intervention has to be scrutinised very carefully in view of the gross abuse of such measures in the present century.

 

Acknowledgements

 

I am greatly indebted to Professor RW Sharples, Department of Greek and Latin, University College London, for providing two critical reviews of different versions of the manuscript regarding the accuracy of the Greek contents; and to Professor DAG Galton for helpful criticism.

 

David J Galton MD, FRCP, is Professor of Human Metabolism in the Department of Metabolism and Genetics, St Bartholomew's Hospital, London, EC1A 7BE, UK.

pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC1377679/?page=1

UCL eugenics legacy – storytelling with art

Staff and students in the UCL community are engaging with the institution’s eugenics legacy in positive and creative ways. Discover their stories paired with our striking artwork.

 

On this page: Introducing the campaign | Story 1 - Change or bust | Meet the artist

Other content: Story 2 - From the collections: problematic histories | Story 3 - Anti-eugenics: from pandemic to polarised world | Story 4 - Confronting legacies with object-based learning | Story 5 - From the ground up – the role of students in anti-eugenics work

 

Introducing the campaign

In 2021, UCL issued a public apology for its role in the development, propagation and legitimisation of eugenics.The Eugenics Legacy Education Project (ELEP) is is a three-year project, ending in 2025, covering the education-related recommendations from the Eugenics Inquiry. We aim to help facilitate positive change in UCL through a number of projects, including looking at how 'difficult knowledge' is taught.

 

Our campaign aims to showcase stories of inspiring UCL students and colleagues by presenting their efforts to address the eugenics legacy with an original piece of artwork drawn by our ELEP artist Weihong ‘Clover’ Tang. Clover is a student at UCL, although interestingly not in art. The thoughtful illustrations are her reaction to each story. In spring 2025, we are launching five stories. For some of the stories, additional beautiful illustrations are provided by Naomi Chung, a UCL History of Art undergraduate student.This work presents an uchronian reinterpretation of Botticelli's *Birth of Venus*, in which the iconic image becomes the foundation for an entirely new artistic vision. Rather than faithfully reproducing a Renaissance masterpiece, the composition reconfigures its visual language to question the very nature of artistic tradition. This transformation reflects what Hans Belting and Christopher Wood have described as the historical shift from iconic reference to the assertion of individual artistic vision and personal style. The legacy of the past is no longer merely preserved; it is reimagined.

 

At the heart of this transformation lies the concept of **inganno**—the Italian notion of artistic illusion or deception. Much like Michelangelo's forged *Sleeping Cupid*, which was deliberately fashioned to resemble an ancient sculpture by Praxiteles, this image plays upon the viewer's expectations. At first glance, one recognizes Botticelli's celebrated Venus; upon closer inspection, however, every familiar element has undergone a profound metamorphosis. Venus no longer emerges from a natural shell but rises from a biomorphic technological structure. Her body fuses organic anatomy with mechanical refinement, while the surrounding radiance replaces the sea foam of the Renaissance painting with an almost cosmic energy. Here deception is not an act of falsification but a creative strategy that transforms imitation into invention.

In 2019, Stephanie Dickinson started a professional services role in the Statistical Science department at UCL. An artist by training, Stephanie generally found that she could earn money by doing jobs that other people didn't want to do. So, when she was asked to pause her timetabling work for a moment and tidy up a messy library with a heap of books, papers and a bust in the corner, events moved in a direction she wasn’t expecting with profound results. 

UCL’s eugenics legacy is well documented. Sir Francis Galton, who never worked at UCL, coined the phrase “eugenics”, and did much to popularise the racist pseudo-science. When Galton died in 1911, he left money to the University of London to establish a Chair in Eugenics, with the recommendation that Karl Pearson should be the first holder of the chair. Pearson was duly appointed and founded the Department of Applied Statistics at UCL.

 

Sifting through papers relating to eugenics in a room formally named after Karl Pearson, Stephanie thought back to secondary school and lessons on eugenics through a particularly diligent headteacher. She was shocked that eugenics had found a home at UCL and was eager to learn more, especially why there was a bust of Pearson in the corner of this well used room.

 

But before she could address the issue there came a series of events including the Covid-19 pandemic, The Black Lives Matter movement, and for Stephanie, the challenge of being a new mother. But even with offices locked up and remote working the “new normal”, things were changing at UCL. On 7 January 2021, UCL issued a formal public apology for its history and legacy of eugenics and amongst several actions de-named the Pearson building. The bust of Pearson in 1-19 Torrington Place remained though.

 

I like to see the project as admin as art and painting by email (Stephanie Dickinson)

When she returned from maternity leave, Stephanie was fired up, a frustration partly caused by a serious illness associated with the birth of her child. Addressing the Pearson bust would be her first action to try and make sense of this frustration. Worries over whether this was a good career move aside, she took the plunge and went to see her department head. She was so pleased when he was not only supportive, but gave her the time and space to figure out what the right action should be and lead the efforts to address the legacy of the bust.

 

My department could not have been more supportive (Stephanie Dickinson)

There was lots to consider. If objects linked to difficult histories are removed, is it denying that there was ever an issue, and what is the implication for learning? Stephanie was not in favour of removing the bust, she was drawn to placing a highly visible and lasting educational plaque next to the Pearson bust. A plaque that links to further information on the UCL website and that gives a balanced history. Drawing on expertise within her department, the text was finalised and the plaque should help educate future generations of UCL staff and students.

 

Interestingly Stephanie sees her action as “admin as art”. Her philosophy is to correct and move on. Art and social justice are not just key parts of her personality but her career too. She has since tackled other projects related to UCL’s eugenics legacy, working directly with the Eugenics Legacy Education Project (ELEP). She would like to explore themes raised by this project in other ways as she continues her career. The bust had been a presence attached to the wall and it took an administrator to tackle the legacy head on and affect change. Will this inspire more of us to question what is around us? Stephanie hopes so.

 

Meet the artist

Hello! My name is Weihong Tang, also known as Clover. I used to be a communication designer, and I am currently studying for a Master’s degree in Education and Technology at UCL (2024/25). My interests focus on the application of tools and media production in educational settings. I am passionate about discovering innovative ways to inspire learners and enhance learning experiences.

www.ucl.ac.uk/teaching-learning/ucl-eugenics-legacy-story...

 

This approach belongs to a long artistic tradition in which copying was never a passive act. Marcantonio Raimondi's engravings after Dürer's woodcuts, the virtuoso reinterpretations by the Wierix family, and the circulation of Michelangelo's drawings for Vittoria Colonna and Tommaso Cavalieri all demonstrate that replication could become a vehicle for innovation, intellectual exchange, and artistic prestige. Likewise, this work treats Botticelli not as an untouchable model but as a prototype whose visual memory is activated within a contemporary visual language.

 

Yet this uchronia extends beyond the history of art into the realm of spiritual symbolism. The two lateral figures evoke an initiatory landscape in which visible beauty conceals a deeper reality. On the left, a dense organic and vegetal world suggests the primordial forces of creation; on the right, a veiled feminine figure recalls the motif of hidden wisdom and revelation. Between these two realms stands a transfigured Venus, acting as a mediator between the material and the spiritual, between nature and transcendence.

 

This interpretation resonates with the traditions of the **Fedeli d'Amore**. In both Dante's poetry and the mystical writings of Rūzbihān Baqlī Shīrāzī, beauty is never an end in itself but a sign leading toward higher knowledge. Visible forms function as veils through which divine reality may be contemplated. Within this framework, Venus is no longer simply the classical goddess of love but becomes an image of theophany—a manifestation in which beauty, love, and illumination converge.

 

The painting therefore brings together multiple historical horizons: the classical world of Venus, the Renaissance of Botticelli and Michelangelo, the medieval mysticism of Dante and the *Fedeli d'Amore*, and the technological imagination of the contemporary era. These different temporalities coexist within a single visual space, creating an authentic uchronia in which history is not rewritten but reconfigured as an alternative genealogy of images.

 

The "hidden signs" do not reside in a fixed esoteric code but in the very operation of the image itself. The **inganno** lies in persuading the viewer that this is merely another variation on Botticelli's masterpiece, while the work in fact proposes a meditation on the memory of forms, the creative power of artistic quotation, and the capacity of images to reveal new meanings beneath familiar appearances. As in the mystical traditions of Dante and the Persian masters of love, the visible becomes the threshold of the invisible, where imitation is transformed into creation and the image itself becomes an instrument of revelation.

 

The shift of imagery from iconic reference to assertion of artistic vision and personal style (cf. Hans Belting and Christopher Wood) generated a tension between reception of venerated visual tradition and artistic transformation. Ancient models became sources of emulation, especially for Michelangelo, whose forgery of an ancient Sleeping Cupid by Praxiteles (1496) is the subject of editor Sally Anne Hickson’s study. Here successful deception became a badge of originality and virtuoso contemporary authenticity. Of course, deceptive copies of prints are well known to HNA members, not only the infamous engravings in Venice by Marcantonio Raimondi after Dürer woodcuts, but also virtuoso reworkings, such as the Wierix engravings after Dürer prototypes, often in the original orientation and even with the same detail executed in miniature. Yet copying and distribution of certain celebrated prototypes, especially the chalk drawings by Michelangelo for both Vittoria Colonna and Tomasso Cavaliere, held special value for the collectors and friendship circles who were proud possessors of those derivative works, some of them in luxury media, as Maria Ruvoldt has demonstrated. Not to mention the burgeoning period interest in engraved reproductions of works in other media by professional printmakers, a topic to which I personally devoted an exhibition two decades ago (Larry Silver and Timothy Riggs, Graven Images, 1993; to be supplemented by various later studies, such as Rebecca Zorach and Elizabeth Rodini, Paper Museums, 2005). As usual when the artworks are chiefly Italian, prints are ignored, despite the importance of Cornelis Cort and the Carracci in this tradition.

hnanews.org/hnar/reviews/inganno-art-deception-imitation-...

There is not doubt that there exist both similarities and contrasts in the history and teachings of Christian and Islamic mysticism. One of the most fascinating periods in the history of the two religions and the mystical schools that appeared in them is the 12th and 13th centuries in which so many great Christians and Muslims mystics lived. In the 13th Century there appeared in Italy the well-known secret organization with its mystical and esoteric teachings called the Fedeli d’amore to which Dante belonged. This organization was not only devoted to esoteric matters but also had a political and social dimension. Nevertheless, mystical and esoteric teachings were at the heart of its concerns and it is history identified with hidden esoteric ideas and doctrines. A century earlier there appeared within the Sufi tradition in Persia a particular school of love mysticism that the famous French scholar of Islamic thought, Henry Corbin, has called “the Fedeli d’amore of Persia”. Among the latter groups Rūzbihān Baqlī Shīrāzī is one of the most celebrated and is considered as one of the most significant figures in the history of Sufism as a whole. As for Europe, among the Western Fedeli d’amore it is of course the figure of Dante that stands out above all others. In our present study we have analyzed the ‘Abhar al-‘āshinqīn of Rūzbihān Baqlī on the one hand and the works of Dante, especially the Divine Comedy and La Vita Nuova, on the other and have then compared and contrasted the thought and style of these two colossal figures. Our goal has been to study and to reveal both the similarities and differences of the manifestation and treatment of Love on different levels in the teachings the Christian and Islamic traditions as crystallized in and associated with the Fedeli d’amore of Italy and of Persia. Some attention has also been paid to the influence of Islamic thought upon the medieval West especially in the domain of symbolism, and our study may therefore said to be both morphological and historical.

scholarspace.library.gwu.edu/concern/gw_etds/m039k4971?lo...

 

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

1930s exhibit by the Eugenics Society. Some of the signs read "Healthy and Unhealthy Families", "Heredity as the Basis of Efficiency", and "Marry Wisely".

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Eugenics

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Eugenics[a] is a largely discredited set of beliefs and practices that aim to improve the genetic quality of a human population.[2][3][4] Historically, eugenicists have attempted to alter the frequency of various human phenotypes by inhibiting the fertility of those considered inferior, often through forced sterilization, or promoting that of those considered superior.[5]

 

The contemporary history of eugenics began in the late 19th century, when a popular eugenics movement emerged in the United Kingdom,[6] which spread to most European countries (e.g., Sweden and Germany), and many other countries, including the United States, Canada, and Australia.[7]

 

Historically, the idea of eugenics has been used to argue for a broad array of practices ranging from prenatal care for mothers deemed genetically desirable to the forced sterilisation and murder of those deemed unfit.[5] To population geneticists, the term has included the avoidance of inbreeding without altering allele frequencies; for example, British-Indian scientist J. B. S. Haldane wrote in 1940 that "the motor bus, by breaking up inbred village communities, was a powerful eugenic agent."[8] Debate as to what qualifies as eugenics continues today.[9]

 

A progressive social movement promoting eugenics had originated in the 19th century,[10][11][12] with diverse support, but by the mid 20th century the term was closely associated with scientific racism and authoritarian coercion. With modern medical genetics, genetic testing and counselling have become common, and new or liberal eugenics rejects coercive programmes in favour of individual parental choice.[13]

 

Common distinctions

 

Lester Frank Ward wrote the early paper: "Eugenics, Euthenics and Eudemics", making yet further distinctions.[14]

Eugenic programmes included both positive measures, such as encouraging individuals deemed particularly "fit" to reproduce, and negative measures, such as marriage prohibitions and forced sterilisation of people deemed unfit for reproduction.[5][15][16]: 104–155 

 

Positive eugenics is aimed at encouraging reproduction among the genetically advantaged, for example, the intelligent, the healthy, and the successful. Possible approaches include financial and political stimuli, targeted demographic analyses, in vitro fertilisation, egg transplants, and cloning.[17] Negative eugenics aimed to eliminate, through sterilisation or segregation, those deemed physically, mentally, or morally undesirable. This includes abortions, sterilisation, and other methods of family planning.[17] Both positive and negative eugenics can be coercive; in Nazi Germany, for example, abortion was illegal for women deemed by the state to be superior.[18]

 

As opposed to "euthenics"

See also: Nature-nurture debate

Ellen Swallow Richards

Julia Clifford Lathrop

Ellen Swallow Richards (left), the first female student and instructor at MIT, was one of the first to use the term, while Julia Clifford Lathrop (right) continued to promote it in the form of an interdisciplinary academic program later to be mostly absorbed into the field of home economics.

Euthenics (/juːˈθɛnɪks/) is the study of the improvement of human functioning and well-being by the improvement of living conditions.[19] "Improvement" is conducted by altering external factors such as education and the controllable environments, including environmentalism, education regarding employment, home economics, sanitation, and housing, as well as the prevention and removal of contagious disease and parasites.

 

In a New York Times article dated May 23, 1926, Rose Field notes of the description, "the simplest [is] efficient living".[20] It is also described as "a right to environment",[21] commonly as dual to a "right of birth" that correspondingly falls under the purview of eugenics.[22]

 

In contrast to eugenics, euthenics does not intentionally attempt to alter the composition of the human gene pool. However, improvements to one's quality of life, such as eradication of diseases or access to proper nutrition, can potentially have indirect effects on the genetics of the population.[23]

 

The influential historian of education Abraham Flexner questions its scientific value in stating:

 

[T]he "science" is artificially pieced together of bits of mental hygiene, child guidance, nutrition, speech development and correction, family problems, wealth consumption, food preparation, household technology, and horticulture. A nursery school and a school for little children are also included. The institute is actually justified in an official publication by the profound question of a girl student who is reported as asking, "What is the connection of Shakespeare with having a baby?" The Vassar Institute of Euthenics bridges this gap![24]

 

Eugenicist Charles Benedict Davenport noted in his article "Euthenics and Eugenics", reprinted in Popular Science Monthly:

 

Thus the two schools of euthenics and eugenics stand opposed, each viewing the other unkindly. Against eugenics it is urged that it is a fatalistic doctrine and deprives life of the stimulus toward effort. Against euthenics the other side urges that it demands an endless amount of money to patch up conditions in the vain effort to get greater efficiency. Which of the two doctrines is true?

 

The thoughtful mind must concede that, as is so often the case where doctrines are opposed, each view is partial, incomplete and really false. The truth does not exactly lie between the doctrines; it comprehends them both.

 

[...] [I]n the generations to come, the teachings and practice of euthenics [...] [may] yield greater result because of the previous practice of the principles of eugenics.[25]

 

Along similar lines, Edward L. Thorndike, a psychologist and early intelligence researcher, argued some two years later for an understanding that better integrates eugenic study:

 

The more rational the race becomes, the better roads, ships, tools, machines, foods, medicines and the like it will produce to aid itself, though it will need them less. The more sagacious and just and humane the original nature that is bred into man, the better schools, laws, churches, traditions and customs it will fortify itself by. There is no so certain and economical a way to improve man's environment as to improve his nature.[26]

 

Historical eugenics

Main article: History of eugenics

Ancient and medieval origins

See also: Sparta § Birth and death

 

Giuseppe Diotti's The selection of the infant Spartans (1840)

In ancient Sparta, according to Plutarch (fl. 50 to 120 CE), the council of elders (the Gerousia) inspected every proper citizen's child and determined whether or not the child was fit to live.[27] A child deemed unfit was allegedly thrown into a chasm.[28][29] Plutarch's account is the sole historical source for the Spartan practice of infanticide motivated by eugenics.[30] While ancient Greeks practiced infanticide, no contemporary sources support Plutarch's claims of infanticide on eugenic grounds.[31] In 2007, the tradition of dumping infants near Mount Taygete was called into question due to a lack of physical evidence: anthropologist Theodoros Pitsios' research of the site found only bodies ranging in age from 18 to 35 years.[32][33]

 

Plato's political philosophy included the belief that the state should cautiously monitor and control human reproduction through selective breeding.[34][35]

 

According to Tacitus (c. 56 – c. 120), a Roman of the Imperial Period, the Germanic tribes of his day killed any member of their community they deemed cowardly, un-warlike or "stained with abominable vices", usually by drowning them in swamps.[36][37] Modern historians regard Tacitus' ethnographic writing as unreliable in such details.[38][39]

 

Academic origins

See also: Galton Laboratory and Eugenics Record Office

 

Francis Galton (1822–1911) was a British polymath who coined the term "eugenics"

The term eugenics and its modern field of study were first formulated by Francis Galton in 1883,[40][41][42][b] directly drawing on the recent work delineating natural selection by his half-cousin Charles Darwin.[44][45][46][c] He published his observations and conclusions chiefly in his influential book Inquiries into Human Faculty and Its Development. Galton himself defined it as "the study of all agencies under human control which can improve or impair the racial quality of future generations".[48] The first to systematically apply Darwinism theory to human relations, Galton believed that various desirable human qualities were also hereditary ones, although Darwin strongly disagreed with this elaboration of his theory.[49]

 

Eugenics became an academic discipline at many colleges and universities and received funding from various sources.[50] Organisations were formed to win public support for and to sway opinion towards responsible eugenic values in parenthood, including the British Eugenics Education Society of 1907 and the American Eugenics Society of 1921. Both sought support from leading clergymen and modified their message to meet religious ideals.[51] In 1909, the Anglican clergymen William Inge and James Peile both wrote for the Eugenics Education Society. Inge was an invited speaker at the 1921 International Eugenics Conference, which was also endorsed by the Roman Catholic Archbishop of New York Patrick Joseph Hayes.[51]

 

Three International Eugenics Conferences presented a global venue for eugenicists, with meetings in 1912 in London, and in 1921 and 1932 in New York City. Eugenic policies in the United States were first implemented by state-level legislators in the early 1900s.[52] Eugenic policies also took root in France, Germany, and Great Britain.[53] Later, in the 1920s and 1930s, the eugenic policy of sterilising certain mental patients was implemented in other countries including Belgium,[54] Brazil,[55] Canada,[56] Japan and Sweden.

 

Frederick Osborn's 1937 journal article "Development of a Eugenic Philosophy" framed eugenics as a social philosophy—a philosophy with implications for social order.[57] That definition is not universally accepted. Osborn advocated for higher rates of sexual reproduction among people with desired traits ("positive eugenics") or reduced rates of sexual reproduction or sterilisation of people with less-desired or undesired traits ("negative eugenics").[58]

 

In addition to being practiced in a number of countries, eugenics was internationally organised through the International Federation of Eugenics Organisations.[59] Its scientific aspects were carried on through research bodies such as the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute of Anthropology, Human Heredity, and Eugenics,[60] the Cold Spring Harbor Carnegie Institution for Experimental Evolution,[61] and the Eugenics Record Office.[62] Politically, the movement advocated measures such as sterilisation laws.[63] In its moral dimension, eugenics rejected the doctrine that all human beings are born equal and redefined moral worth purely in terms of genetic fitness.[64] Its racist elements included pursuit of a pure "Nordic race" or "Aryan" genetic pool and the eventual elimination of "unfit" races.[65][66]

 

Many leading British politicians subscribed to the theories of eugenics. Winston Churchill supported the British Eugenics Society and was an honorary vice president for the organisation. Churchill believed that eugenics could solve "race deterioration" and reduce crime and poverty.[47][67][68]

 

As a social movement, eugenics reached its greatest popularity in the early decades of the 20th century, when it was practiced around the world and promoted by governments, institutions, and influential individuals. Many countries enacted[69] various eugenics policies, including: genetic screenings, birth control, promoting differential birth rates, marriage restrictions, segregation (both racial segregation and sequestering the mentally ill), compulsory sterilisation, forced abortions or forced pregnancies, ultimately culminating in genocide. By 2014, gene selection (rather than "people selection") was made possible through advances in genome editing,[70] leading to what is sometimes called new eugenics, also known as "neo-eugenics", "consumer eugenics", or "liberal eugenics"; which focuses on individual freedom and allegedly pulls away from racism, sexism or a focus on intelligence.[71]

 

Early opposition

Early critics of the philosophy of eugenics included the American sociologist Lester Frank Ward,[72] the English writer G. K. Chesterton, and Scottish tuberculosis pioneer and author Halliday Sutherland.[d] Ward's 1913 article "Eugenics, Euthenics, and Eudemics", Chesterton's 1917 book Eugenics and Other Evils,[74] and Franz Boas' 1916 article "Eugenics" (published in The Scientific Monthly)[75] were all harshly critical of the rapidly growing movement.

 

Several biologists were also antagonistic to the eugenics movement, including Lancelot Hogben.[76] Other biologists who were themselves eugenicists, such as J. B. S. Haldane and R. A. Fisher, however, also expressed scepticism in the belief that sterilisation of "defectives" (i.e. a purely negative eugenics) would lead to the disappearance of undesirable genetic traits.[77]

 

Among institutions, the Catholic Church opposes sterilisation for eugenic purposes.[78] Attempts by the Eugenics Education Society to persuade the British government to legalise voluntary sterilisation were opposed by Catholics and by the Labour Party.[79] The American Eugenics Society initially gained some Catholic supporters, but Catholic support declined following the 1930 papal encyclical Casti connubii.[51] In this, Pope Pius XI explicitly condemned sterilisation laws: "Public magistrates have no direct power over the bodies of their subjects; therefore, where no crime has taken place and there is no cause present for grave punishment, they can never directly harm, or tamper with the integrity of the body, either for the reasons of eugenics or for any other reason."[80]

 

The eugenicists' political successes in Germany and Scandinavia were not at all matched in such countries as Poland and Czechoslovakia, even though measures had been proposed there, largely because of the Catholic Church's moderating influence.[81]

 

Eugenic feminism

This section is an excerpt from Eugenic feminism.edit

 

Marie Stopes in her laboratory, 1904

Eugenic feminism was a current of the women's suffrage movement which overlapped with eugenics.[82] Originally coined by the Lebanese-British physician and vocal eugenicist Caleb Saleeby,[83][84][85] the term has since been applied to summarize views held by prominent feminists of Great Britain and the United States. Some early suffragettes in Canada, especially a group known as The Famous Five, also pushed for various eugenic policies.

 

Eugenic feminists argued that if women were provided with more rights and equality, the deteriorating characteristics of a given race could be averted.

 

North American eugenics

  

American eugenicists generally pursued more public-facing work and accordingly became widely known for their racism in particular. Along these lines, they were often harshly criticised by their British counterparts.[86]

This section is an excerpt from Eugenics in the United States.edit

While its American practice was ostensibly about improving genetic quality, it has been argued that eugenics was more about preserving the position of the dominant groups in the population. Scholarly research has determined that people who found themselves targets of the eugenics movement were those who were seen as unfit for society—the poor, the disabled, the mentally ill, and specific communities of color—and a disproportionate number of those who fell victim to eugenicists' sterilization initiatives were women who were identified as African American, Asian American, or Native American.[87][88] As a result, the United States' eugenics movement is now generally associated with racist and nativist elements, as the movement was to some extent a reaction to demographic and population changes, as well as concerns over the economy and social well-being, rather than scientific genetics.[89][88]

In Mexico

This section is an excerpt from Eugenics in Mexico.edit

Following the Mexican Revolution, the eugenics movement gained prominence in Mexico. Seeking to change the genetic make-up of the country's population, proponents of eugenics in Mexico focused primarily on rebuilding the population, creating healthy citizens, and ameliorating the effects of perceived social ills such as alcoholism, prostitution, and venereal diseases. Mexican eugenics, at its height in the 1930s, influenced the state's health, education, and welfare policies.[90]

 

Mexican elites adopted eugenic thinking and raised it under the banner of “the Great Mexican family” (Spanish: la gran familia mexicana).[91]

 

Unlike in other countries, the eugenics movements in Latin America were largely founded on the idea of neo-Lamarckian eugenics.[92] Neo-Lamarckian eugenics stated that the outside effects experienced by an organism, throughout its lifetime, changed its genetics, permanently, allowing the organism to pass acquired traits onto its offspring.[93] In the Neo-Lamarckian genetic framework, activities, such as prostitution and alcoholism, could result in the degeneration of future generations, amplifying fears about the effects of certain social ills. However, the supposed genetic malleability also offered hope, to certain Latin American eugenicists, as social reform would have the ability to transform the population, more permanently.[92]

 

Nazism and the decline of eugenics

See also: Nazi eugenics, Racial hygiene, Life unworthy of life, and Scientific racism

 

Schloss Hartheim, a former centre for Nazi Germany's Aktion T4 campaign

Part of a series on

Nazism

 

The reputation of eugenics started to decline in the 1930s, a time when Ernst Rüdin used eugenics as a justification for the racial policies of Nazi Germany. Adolf Hitler had praised and incorporated eugenic ideas in Mein Kampf in 1925 and emulated eugenic legislation for the sterilisation of "defectives" that had been pioneered in the United States once he took power.[94] Some common early 20th century eugenics methods involved identifying and classifying individuals and their families. This included racial groups (such as the Roma and Jews in Nazi Germany), the poor, mentally ill, blind, deaf, developmentally disabled, promiscuous women, and homosexuals as "degenerate" or "unfit". This led to segregation, institutionalisation, sterilisation, and mass murder.[95] The Nazi policy of identifying German citizens deemed unfit and then systematically murdering them with poison gas, referred to as the Aktion T4 campaign, paved the way for the Holocaust.[96][97][98]

 

"All practices aimed at eugenics, any use of the human body or any of its parts for financial gain, and human cloning shall be prohibited."

 

— Hungarian Constitution[99]

By the end of World War II, many eugenics laws were abandoned, having become associated with Nazi Germany.[100] H. G. Wells, who had called for "the sterilisation of failures" in 1904,[101] stated in his 1940 book The Rights of Man: Or What Are We Fighting For? that among the human rights, which he believed should be available to all people, was "a prohibition on mutilation, sterilisation, torture, and any bodily punishment".[102] After World War II, the practice of "imposing measures intended to prevent births within [a national, ethnical, racial or religious] group" fell within the definition of the new international crime of genocide, set out in the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.[103] The Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union also proclaims "the prohibition of eugenic practices, in particular those aiming at selection of persons".[104]

 

In Singapore

Main article: Population control in Singapore § Demographic transition and the Graduate Mothers Scheme

Lee Kuan Yew, the founding father of Singapore, actively promoted eugenics as late as 1983.[105] In 1984, Singapore began providing financial incentives to highly educated women to encourage them to have more children. For this purpose was introduced the "Graduate Mother Scheme" that incentivised graduate women to get married as much as the rest of their populace.[106] The incentives were extremely unpopular and regarded as eugenic, and were seen as discriminatory towards Singapore's non-Chinese ethnic population. In 1985, the incentives were partly abandoned as ineffective, while the government matchmaking agency, the Social Development Network, remains active.[107][108][109]

 

Modern eugenics

See also: New eugenics

Liberal eugenics, also called new eugenics, aims to make genetic interventions morally acceptable by rejecting coercive state programmes and relying on parental choice.[110][13] Bioethicist Nicholas Agar, who coined the term, argues that the state should intervene only to forbid interventions that excessively limit a child’s ability to shape their own future.[111] Unlike "authoritarian" or "old" eugenics, liberal eugenics draws on modern scientific knowledge of genomics to enable informed choices aimed at improving well-being.[13] Julien Savulescu further argues that some eugenic practices, like prenatal screening for Down syndrome, are already widely practiced, without being labelled "eugenics", as they are seen as enhancing freedom rather than restricting it.[112]

 

UC Berkeley sociologist Troy Duster argued that modern genetics is a "back door to eugenics".[113] This view was shared by then-White House Assistant Director for Forensic Sciences, Tania Simoncelli, who stated in a 2003 publication by the Population and Development Programme at Hampshire College that advances in pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) are moving society to a "new era of eugenics", and that, unlike the Nazi eugenics, modern eugenics is consumer driven and market based, "where children are increasingly regarded as made-to-order consumer products".[114] The United Nations' International Bioethics Committee also noted that while human genetic engineering should not be confused with the 20th century eugenics movements, it nonetheless challenges the idea of human equality and opens up new forms of discrimination and stigmatisation for those who do not want or cannot afford the technology.[115]

 

In 2025, geneticist Peter Visscher published a paper in Nature, arguing genome editing of human embryos and germ cells may become feasible in the 21st century, and raising ethical considerations in the context of previous eugenics movements.[116][117] A response argued that human embryo genetic editing is "unsafe and unproven".[118] Nature also published an editorial, stating: "The fear that polygenic gene editing could be used for eugenics looms large among them, and is, in part, why no country currently allows genome editing in a human embryo, even for single variants".[117]

 

Contested scientific status

 

In the decades after World War II, the term "eugenics" had taken on a negative connotation and as a result, the use of it became increasingly unpopular within the scientific community. Many organizations and journals that had their origins in the eugenics movement began to distance themselves from the philosophy which spawned them, as when Eugenics Quarterly was renamed Social Biology in 1969.

One general concern is that the reduced genetic diversity that may be a feature of long-term, species-wide eugenics plans[119] could eventually result in inbreeding depression,[119] increased spread of infectious disease,[120][121][better source needed] and decreased resilience to changes in the environment.[122][better source needed]

 

Arguments for scientific validity

See also: Selective breeding, De novo domestication, List of domesticated animals, List of domesticated plants, and Self-domestication

In his original lecture "Darwinism, Medical Progress and Eugenics", Karl Pearson claimed that everything concerning eugenics fell into the field of medicine.[123] Anthropologist Aleš Hrdlička said in 1918 that "[t]he growing science of eugenics will essentially become applied anthropology."[124] The economist John Maynard Keynes was a lifelong proponent of eugenics and described it as a branch of sociology.[125][126]

 

In a 2006 newspaper article, Richard Dawkins said that discussion regarding eugenics was inhibited by the shadow of Nazi misuse, to the extent that some scientists would not admit that breeding humans for certain abilities is at all possible. He believes that it is not physically different from breeding domestic animals for traits such as speed or herding skill. Dawkins felt that enough time had elapsed to at least ask just what the ethical differences were between breeding for ability versus training athletes or forcing children to take music lessons, though he could think of persuasive reasons to draw the distinction.[127]

 

Objections to scientific validity

Amanda Caleb, Professor of Medical Humanities at Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine, says "Eugenic laws and policies are now understood as part of a specious devotion to a pseudoscience that actively dehumanises to support political agendas and not true science or medicine."[128]

 

The first major challenge to conventional eugenics based on genetic inheritance was made in 1915 by Thomas Hunt Morgan. He demonstrated the event of genetic mutation occurring outside of inheritance involving the discovery of the hatching of a fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster) with white eyes from a family with red eyes,[47]: 336–337  demonstrating that major genetic changes occurred outside of inheritance.[47]: 336–337 [clarification needed] Morgan criticised the view that traits such as intelligence or criminality were hereditary, because these traits were subjective.[129][e]

 

Pleiotropy occurs when one gene influences multiple, seemingly unrelated phenotypic traits, an example being phenylketonuria, which is a human disease that affects multiple systems but is caused by one gene defect...

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugenics

Preparing young Queenslanders for life in the 1990s, we saw personal computers make their way into schools during the 80s with a strong focus on health, regional education and the arts by Queensland Education.

 

The photographic unit at the Premier’s Department, Office of State Affairs, captured a snapshot of various events, programmes and initiatives for school children throughout Queensland. This collection contains several arts, music and drama as well as students participating in computer usage.

 

In the early 1980s, several different computer manufacturers were vying for a foothold in the education market, Apple, Tandy, Atari, Sinclair, Amstrad, Microbee and many others. By 1985 Apple Macintosh was considered a standard system (alongside several others) for all states except Western Australia which adopted the BBC Model B and Microbee computer systems as a standard.

 

These photos are part are the photographic records held at Queensland State Archives, www.archivessearch.qld.gov.au/series/S189

  

1985

The discussion paper, Education 2000: Issues and options for the future of Education in Queensland was released.

The use of technology to enhance distance education, work in schools and educational administration was supported.

Approval was given for schools to alter the placement of the three pupil free days.

The Department of Education developed a policy on the education of gifted children.

The Special Education Resource Centres were formed as state-wide services, as part of the Division of Special Education.

Early special education officially commenced.

  

1986

The age of first attendance at primary school increased. Children had to turn five years by 31 January to be eligible for enrolment in Year 1.

There was an expansion of the curriculum in secondary schools and TAFE colleges evident in the further development of co-operative secondary-TAFE programs.

The Advisory Committee which reviewed submissions made in response to Education 2000 reported to the Minister.

The distance education trial began through the Mt Isa School of the Air.

A Preschool to Year 10 (P–10) Syllabus Framework was developed.

Endeavour Foundation schools transferred to Department of Education.

Policy Statement 15 Integration: Mainstreaming of Students with Special Needs introduced.

  

1987

Children had to turn 5 years by 31 December to be eligible for enrolment in Year 1 in the following year.

The Department of Education launched a series of documents entitled Meeting the Challenge which highlighted a corporate style of management.

The Department reshaped its central administration by strengthening the role of the Policy Committee, appointing a Chief Inspector and adopting comprehensive strategic planning processes.

In regions, initiatives were built on the commitment to decentralisation, while further devolution of responsibility occurred in the operational management of educational programs.

Two new education regions were formed (South Coast and Sunshine Coast regional offices).

The P–10 Curriculum Framework was developed and curriculum documents revised.

The Roma Middle School opened and catered for students in Years 4–10.

A post-compulsory college, the Alexandra Hills Senior College opened.

Two new centres of distance education opened at Longreach and Charters Towers.

  

1988

The Inspectorate was regionalised.

There was continued development of an integrated P–10 curriculum.

The senior secondary curriculum was broadened to cater for all learners.

Cooperative programs between secondary schools and TAFE colleges were conducted.

The use of computers and information technology in schools was given a high priority.

The Special Education Resource and Development Centres were formed as a consequence of the reorganisation of the Division of Special Education.

Individual education plans for students with disabilities were introduced as part of the new policy Policy Statement 16: Policy and Practice for Special Education Services.

The report National Overview of Educational Services for Isolated Severely Handicapped Children resulted from a Project of National Significance undertaken as a joint project of the Commonwealth Department of Employment Education and Training and the Department of Education Division of Special Services.

The Queensland School for the Deaf closes, as a consequence of decentralisation of services to students with hearing impairments during the 1980's. Programs for students with vision impairment were also decentralised during this period.

  

1989

A new Education Act 1989 was enacted.

The Department of Education's first strategic plan was adopted.

Decisions about school budgets were devolved to the school level.

There was an amalgamation of correspondence schools which became the School of Distance Education — Brisbane Centre P–12.

The first high school built to a new design opened at Bribie Island.

New prototype buildings for preschool, primary and special education units were assessed.

  

1989–1990

A comprehensive internal review of the Department of Education commenced through the consultation process, Education Have Your Say.

Professor Nancy Viviani reviewed Tertiary Entrance and produced the report, A Review of Tertiary Entrance in Queensland.

The Offices of Higher Education and Non-State Schooling were established.

The Department developed The Corporate Vision for Senior Schooling in Queensland to accommodate the diverse needs of students in Years 11 and 12.

The first entire primary school based on the new building model opened to students.

  

1990–1991

The report, Focus on Schools was released. A major restructure of the Department of Education followed.

The Public Sector Management Commission (PSMC) reviewed the Department of Education including its role, operations, responsibilities and management.

Greater responsibilities were devolved to 11 regions for resource, financial administration and human resource management.

A new English Language Arts Syllabus was introduced.

Priority was given to expanding languages other than English (LOTE).

The Viviani Report recommended the establishment of the Tertiary Entrance Procedures Authority (TEPA).

Consultants were engaged to assist in the development of an Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) management plan.

The Equity Directorate (Workforce and Studies) was established. A social justice strategy was developed.

The PSMC developed guidelines for recruitment and selection based on merit and equity principles.

The inspectorate ended.

The report Focus on Schools recommended that a strategy for managing the integration policy in Queensland schools be developed as a matter of urgency, and that a state-wide support centre for students with low incidence disabilities be established. A restructure of the Department of Education followed.

Occupational therapists and physiotherapists were employed by the Department of Education to work in schools with students with disabilities. (These services were transferred from the Department of Families).

Policy Statement — Management of Support Teaching: Learning Difficulties (P–7) was introduced.

 

education.qld.gov.au/about-us/history/chronology-of-educa...

 

Sa Pa, or Sapa, is a frontier township and capital of Sa Pa District in Lào Cai Province in northwest Vietnam. It is one of the main market towns in the area, where several ethnic minority groups such as Hmong, Dao (Yao), Giáy, Pho Lu, and Tay live.

 

HISTORY

Sa Pa is a frontier township and capital of Sa Pa District in Lào Cai Province in northwest Vietnam. It was first inhabited by people we know nothing about. They left in the entire valley hundreds of petroglyphs, mostly composed of lines, which experts think date from the 15th century and represent local cadastres. Then came the highland minorities of the Hmong and Yao. The township is one of the main market ones in the area, where several ethnic minority groups such as Hmong, Dao (Yao), Giáy, Pho Lu, and Tay live. groups, as well as by smaller numbers of Tày and Giay. These are the four main minority groups still present in Sa Pa district today. The Kinh (lowland Vietnamese) never originally colonised this highest of Việt Nam’s valleys, which lies in the shadow of Phan-Xi-Pǎng (Fansipan, 3143 m), the highest peak in the country

 

It was only when the French debarked in highland Tonkin in the late 1880s that Sa Pa, name of the Hmong hamlet, with "S" is pronounced almost as hard as "Ch" in French, "Sh" in English, "S" in standard Vietnamese, so Chapa as the French called it, began to appear on the national map. Near to the now Sa Pa townlet is "Sa Pả commune", which shows the origin in Hmong language of the location name.[a]

 

In the following decade, the future site of Sa Pa township started to see military parties as well as missionaries from the Société des Missions Etrangères de Paris (MEP) visit. The French military marched from the Red River Delta into the northern mountainous regions as part of Tonkin's ‘pacification’. In 1894-96 the border between China and Tonkin was formally agreed upon and the Sa Pa area, just to the south of this frontier, was placed under French authority. From 1891 the entire Lào Cai region, including Sa Pa, came under direct colonial military administration so as to curtail banditry and political resistance on the sensitive northern frontier.

 

The first permanent French civilian resident arrived in Sa Pa in 1909. With its attractive continental climate, health authorities believed the site had potential. By 1912 a military sanatorium for ailing officers had been erected along with a fully fledged military garrison. Then, from the 1920s onwards, several wealthy professionals with enough financial capital also had a number of private villas built in the vicinity.

 

At the end of the Second World War a long period of hostilities began in Tonkin that was to last until 1954. In the process, nearly all of the 200 or so colonial buildings in or around Sa Pa were destroyed, either by Việt Minh sympathisers in the late 1940s, or, in the early 1950s by French air raids. The vast majority of the Viet population fled for their lives, and the former township entered a prolonged sleep.

 

In the early 1960s, thanks to the New Economic Zones migration scheme set up by the new Socialist regime, new inhabitants from the lowlands started to migrate to the region.

 

The short 1979 occupation of the northern border region by Chinese troops had little impact on Sa Pa town, but did force the Kinh (lowland Vietnamese) population out for a month.

 

In 1993 the last obstacle to Sa Pa's full rebirth as a prominent holiday destination was lifted as the decision was made to open the door fully to international tourism. Sa Pa was back on the tourist trail again, this time for a newly emerging local elite tourist crowd, as well as international tourists.

 

Sapa is now in full economic boom, mainly from the thousands of tourists who come every year to walk the hundreds of miles of trekking trails between and around the villages of Dao villages of Ta Van and Ta Phin.

 

In 2006, the Chairman of The People's Committee of Sapa Province was elected to The Communist Party Central Committee as the youngest ever member (born in 1973).

 

GEOGRAPHY

Sa Pa District is located in Lào Cai Province, north-west Vietnam, and 380 km north-west of Hanoi, close to the border with China. The Hoàng Liên Son range of mountains dominates the district, which is at the eastern extremity of the Himalayas. This range includes Vietnam's highest mountain, Fan Si Pan, at a height of 3143 m above sea level. The town of Sa Pa lies at an altitude of about 1500 meters above sea level. The climate is moderate and rainy in summer (May-August), and foggy and cold with occasional snowfalls in winter.

 

Sa Pa is a quiet mountain town and home to a great diversity of ethnic minority peoples. The total population of 36,000 consists mostly of minority groups. Besides the Kinh (Viet) people (15%) there are mainly 5 ethnic groups in Sapa: Hmong 52%, Dao 25%, Tay 5%, Giay 2% and a small number of Xa Pho. Approximately 7,000 live in Sapa, the other 36,000 being scattered in small communes throughout the district.

 

Most of the ethnic minority people work their land on sloping terraces since the vast majority of the land is mountainous. Their staple foods are rice and corn. Rice, by its very nature of being a labour-intensive crop, makes the daily fight for survival paramount. The unique climate in Sapa has a major influence on the ethnic minorities who live in the area. With sub-tropical summers, temperate winters and 160 days of mist annually, the influence on agricultural yields and health related issues is significant.

 

The geographical location of the area makes it a truly unique place for many interesting plants and animals, allowing it to support many inhabitants. Many very rare or even endemic species have been recorded in the region.

 

The scenery of the Sa Pa region in large part reflects the relationship between the minority people and nature. This is seen especially in the paddy fields carpeting the rolling lower slopes of the Hoàng Liên Mountains. The impressive physical landscape which underlies this has resulted from the work of the elements over thousands of years, wearing away the underlying rock. On a clear day, the imposing peak of Fan Si Pan comes into view. The last major peak in the Himalayan chain, Fan Si Pan offers a real challenge to even the keenest walker, the opportunity of staggering views, and a rare glimpse of some of the last remaining primary rain forest in Vietnam.

 

Geology, climate and human activity have combined to produce a range of very distinct habitats around Sa Pa. Especially important is Sa Pa's geographic position, at the convergence of the world's 14 “biomes” (distinct biographic areas), producing an assemblage of plant and animal species unique in the world.

 

In 2014, Sapa ranked #9 in the top 10 rice terrace destinations of the world by SpotCoolStuff

 

ECOLOGICAL LIFE

The Hoàng Liên Mountains are home to a rich variety of plants, birds, mammals, amphibians, reptiles and insects, many only found in northwestern Vietnam. For this reason, the Hoàng Liên Nature Reserve was made a National Park in 2006, and covers much of the mountain range to the immediate south of Sa Pa.

 

Forest type and quality change with increasing altitude. At 2000 meters the natural, undisturbed forest begins to be seen. Above 2500 meters dwarf conifers and rhododendrons predominate in the harsh “elfin forest”, so called because a lack of topsoil and nutrients means that fully mature trees grow to measure only a few meters in height. Higher still, only the hardiest of plant species are found. At over 3000 meters, Fan Si Pan's summit can only support dwarf bamboo.

 

TOPOGRAPHY

The Hoang Lien Mountains lie at the southeastern extent of the Himalayan chain. The national park is located on the northeast flank of these mountains and includes Vietnam's highest peak, Fansipan, at 3,143 m. The lowest point is 380 m but most of the national park lies above 1,000 m. The flanks of the mountains are very steep and many areas are almost inaccessible on foot. Between Fansipan Mountain and Sa Pa town, lies the Muong Hoa valley, which has been terraced for wet rice agriculture. This valley becomes wider towards the east of the national park.

 

CLIMATE

The climate of Hoàng Liên National Park is unique to Vietnam. It is highly seasonal, with a subtropical climate in the summer and a temperate climate during the winter. Under the Köppen climate classification, Sa Pa has a subtropical highland climate (Cwb). Mean annual temperature for Sa Pa town is 15.4 °C, with a maximum of 29.4 °C and a minimum of 1.0 °C. The warmest months are July and August, and the coldest months are December and January. Snow falls in some years on the highest peaks. It has snown in the town itself in 1983, 2000, 16 March 2011, 15 December 2013, and 19 February 2014.

 

In common with the rest of northern Vietnam, Hoàng Liên National Park experiences a marked wet season from May to September, with the heaviest rainfall occurring in July and August. Mean annual rainfall is 2,763 millimetres, with a high of 4,023 millimetres and a low of 2,064 millimetres. Humidity ranges from 75 to 91 percent with a yearly mean of 86 percent.

 

Climate varies considerably within the national park. The prevalent wind direction for most of the year is west to east, leading to cloud formation on the upper slopes of the Fansipan massif. These high-altitude areas are covered by cloud most days of the year and have very high humidity. Cloud also penetrates into the valleys but these areas are usually less humid than the mountain slopes. In the extreme east of the national park, around Ban Ho village, mean temperatures are considerably higher due to the lower altitude of these areas.

 

Extreme temperatures have ranged from −6.1 °C to 33 °C.

 

GEOLOGY

The geology of Hoàng Liên National Park includes metamorphosed sediments and a granitic intrusion. The metamorphosed sediments strike from northwest to southeast along the Muong Hoa valley. On the northeastern side of the valley is a craggy ridge of marble and metamorphosed carbonate rocks that exhibit a karst style of weathering. These formations are currently being quarried for road building. The valley floor is characterised by schist and, to a lesser extent, gneiss. The granitic intrusion extends from the Muong Hoa River to the summit ridge of Fansipan and beyond. Due to the high humidity and rainfall in the area, chemical weathering is prevalent. This is reflected in the clay nature of the soil.

 

ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT

Before the 1990s, the town's economy was mainly based on small size agriculture.

 

Tourist arrival between 1995 and 2003 grew from a total of 4,860 to 138,622. On average, 79% of the visitors are Vietnamese and 21% are foreigners.

 

The people of the Sa Pa area have been very poor even by Vietnam's rural standards. Efforts to improve the situation for the local people include both governmental and non-governmental initiatives. The government of Vietnam and foreign governments have contributed to local development programs. International non-governmental organizations such as Oxfam have also been involved in Sa Pa. Locally, the Hmong-run social enterprise, Sapa O'Chau, organizes volunteer placements, such as English teaching, and visiting through trekking and homestays at local villages for short or long-term periods. Vocational training by the Hoa Sua School also aims to increases skills and earnings potential for local residents.

 

HYDROLOGY

Hoàng Liên National Park is drained by the Muong Hoa and Ta Trung Ho rivers, which feed the Nam Po River and, finally, the Song Hong (Red) river. The forest has an essential role in water catchment protection, particularly the forest at high altitudes, which is frequently covered in cloud. Water condenses on the vegetation and falls as ‘occult’ precipitation. Occult precipitation makes a major contribution to stream-flow during the dry season when rainfall is low.

 

VEGETATION

The forest of Hoàng Liên National Park can be classified as belonging to 3 types: sub-montane dry evergreen forest, tropical montane deciduous forest and sub-alpine forest. The sub-montane dry evergreen forest, which occurs at lower altitudes, has been the most heavily disturbed by the activities of man.

 

In addition to the forest habitats, the national park contains large areas of agricultural land, scrub land and Savannah. Agriculture is concentrated at altitudes below 1,500m, in the bottom of valleys. Scrub land and Savannah areas are found where forest has been cleared: around the edge of cultivated areas and on ridge tops, which have been subjected to burning. A final vegetation type represented at Hoàng Liên National Park is dwarf bamboo. This habitat is confined to the highest ridges of the Fansipan massif, at altitudes above 2,800 m.

 

WIKIPEDIA

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History of the Vienna Hofburg

First residence

With the elevation of Austria to Archduchy in 1156, Vienna became a city of residence. From the residence of the Babenberg dynasty, who was located on the present site "Am Hof", unfortunately, there do not exist any remains anymore. After the extinction of the Babenberg, Ottokar II of Bohemia (1230-1278) took over by marriage the rule in Vienna and began in 1275 with the construction of a castle within the city walls of Vienna. This castle was equipped with four towers around a rectangular court that is known as Schweizerhof today. In the battle for the German crown Ottokar was defeated at the Battle of Dürnkrut by Rudolf I of Habsburg (1218-1291) and killed during the retreat.

As the old residence of the Babenberg in 1276 burned down, Rudolf probably 1279 moved into the former castle of Ottokar. The descendants of Rudolf extended the castle only slightly: castle chapel (documentary mention in 1296), St. Augustine's Church (consecrated in 1349), reconstruction of the chapel (1423-1426). Due to the division of the lands of the Habsburg Vienna lost its importance and also lacked the financial resources to expand the castle.

Imperial residence

Under Frederick III. (1415-1493) the Habsburgs obtained the imperial title and Vienna became an imperial residence. But Friedrich and his successors used the Vienna Residence only rarely and so it happened that the imperial residence temporarily orphaned. Only under Ferdinand I (1503-1564) Vienna again became the capital of the Archduchy. Under Ferdinand set in a large construction activity: The three existing wings of the Swiss court were expanded and increased. The defensive wall in the northwest as fourth tract with the Swiss Gate (built in 1552 probably by Pietro Ferrabosco) was rebuilt. In the southwest, a tract for Ferdinand's children (the so-called "children Stöckl") was added. The newly constituted authorities Exchequer and Chancery were located in adjacent buildings at Castle Square. Were added in the castle an art chamber, a hospital, a passage from the castle to St. Augustine's Church and a new ballroom.

First major extensions of the residence

In the area of ​​"desolate church" built Ferdinand from 1559 a solitary residence for his son. However, the construction was delayed, and Maximilian II (1527-1576) after his father's death in 1564 moved into the ancient castle. His residence he for his Spanish horses had converted into a Hofstallgebäude (Stallburg - stables) and increased from 1565 .

Ferdinand I decided to divide his lands to his three sons, which led to a reduction of Vienna as a residence. Moreover, stayed Maximilian II, who was awarded alongside Austria above and below the Enns also Bohemia and Hungary, readily in Prague and he moved also the residence there. In 1575 he decided to build a new building in front of the Swiss court for the royal household of his eldest son, Rudolf II (1552-1612). The 1577 in the style of the late Renaissance completed and in 1610 expanded building, which was significantly fitted with a turret with "welscher hood" and an astronomical clock, but by the governor of the Emperor (Archduke Ernst of Austria) was inhabited. However, the name "Amalienborg Castle" comes from Amalie of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel (wife of Joseph I.), which in 1711 there installed her widow seat.

In the late 16th and early 17th Century only a few extensions were carried out: extension of a separate tract in the northeast of the castle for the Treasure and Art chamber (1583-1585) and setting up of a dance hall in the area of ​​today's Redoutensäle (1629-1631).

Under Leopold I the dance hall by Ludovico Burnacini 1659/1660 was rebuilt into an at that time modern theater ("Comedy House"). 1666 Leopold I in the area of ​​today's castle garden a new opera house with three tiers and a capacity of 5,000 people had built.

In the 1660-ies under Leopold I (1640-1705) after the plans of architect Filiberto Lucchese an elongated wing building between the Amalienborg Castle and the Schweizerhof, the so-called Leopoldine Wing, was built. However, since the tract shortly after the completion burned down, this by Giovanni Pietro Tencala was set up newly and increased. Architecturally, this tract still connects to the late Renaissance. The connection with the Amalienborg castle followed then under Leopold's son Joseph I (1678-1711).

After completion of the Leopoldine Wing the in the southeast of castle located riding school was renewed, the south tower of the old castle pulled down, the old sacristy of the chapel replaced by an extension. Under Charles VI. (1685-1740) the Gateway Building between cabbage market (Kohlmarkt) and Courtyard by Johann Lucas von Hildebrandt was transformed into a monumental triumphal arch as a representative sign of the imperial power. However, this construction does not exist anymore, it had to give way to the Michael tract.

Baroque redesign of the Hofburg

In the early 18th Century set in a buoyant construction activity. The emperor commissioned Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach with the construction of new stables outside the city walls and a new court library.

After the death of Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach, his son Joseph Emanuel Fischer von Erlach took over the construction management for the stables and the court library. 1725 the palatial front of the stables was completed. As already during the construction period has been established that the stables were dimensioned too small, the other wings were not realized anymore. The with frescoes by Daniel Gran and statues of Emperors by Paul Strudel equipped Court Library was completed in 1737.

Opposite the Leopoldine Wing a new Reich Chancellery should be built. 1723 was entrusted with the planning Johann Lucas von Hildebrandt. 1726, however, the supervision the Reich Chancellery was withdrawn and transferred to the Chancery and thus Joseph Emanuel Fischer von Erlach, who also designed the adjacent Court Chamber and the front to St. Michael's Church. 1728 the Court Chamber and the facade of the two buildings were completed. By Joseph Emanuel Fischer von Erlach was also the Michaelertrakt, the connection between the Winter Riding School and the Imperial Chancellery Wing planned. However, since the old Burgtheater the building was in the path, this was half done for a period of 150 years and was only completed in 1889-1893 by Ferdinand Kirschner .

Under Maria Theresia (1717-1780) the at St. Michael's Square located and only as remnants existing Ballhaus was adapted as a court theater. Beside the Emperor hospital in return a new ball house was built, being eponymous for the Ballhausplatz. Subsequently, there occured again and again conversions and adaptations: reconstruction of the comedy hall according to the plans of Jean Nicolas Jadot into two ballrooms, the small and large ball room (1744-1748). The transformation of the two halls (from 1760), repair of the Court Library, and from 1769 onwards the design of the Josephsplatz took place under Joseph Nicolas of Pacassi. These buildings were completed by the successor of Pacassi Franz Anton Hillebrandt. As an extension for the Court Library in the southeast the Augustinian tract was built.

Other structural measures under Maria Theresia: establishment of the court pharmacy into the Stallburg, relocation of the in the Stallburg housed art collection into the Upper Belvedere, razing of the two remaining towers of the old castle, the construction of two stairways (the ambassador stairway and the column stairways (Botschafter- and Säulenstiege).

Extensions in the 19th Century and early 20th century

Francis II (1768-1835) gave Duke Albert of Saxe-Teschen and his wife Marie Christine (daughter of Maria Theresa) the Palais Tarouca south of the Augustinian monastery. From 1800 this was remodeled by Louis Montoyer and extended by a wing building to today's Albertina.

1804, Francis II proclaimed the hereditary Empire of Austria and was, consequently, as Franz I the first Emperor of Austria. With the by Napoleon Bonaparte provoked abdication of the emperor in 1806 ended the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation.

1809 part of the old bastions was blown up at the castle in consequence of the war with Napoleon, and after it blazed. Towards today's ring road, then new outworks were created (the so-called Hornwerkskurtine and the Escarpen). In the early 20-ies of the 19th Century were layed out three gardens: the private imperial castle garden with two of Louis Remy planned steel/glass- constructed greenhouses, Heroes Square (Heldenplatz) with avenues and the People's garden (Volksgarten) with the Theseus Temple (Pietro Nobile). At the same time, emerged also the new, 1821 by Luigi Cagnola began and 1824 by Pietro Nobile completed outer castle gate.

1846 was built a monumental memorial to Francis I in Inner Castle Square. In the turmoil of the 1848 revolution the Stallburg was stormed and fought fiercely at the outer castle square and the castle gate. As a result, the roof of the court library burned. The political consequences of the revolution were the abdication of Emperor Ferdinand I (1793-1875), the dismissal of the dreaded Chancellor Clemens Lothar Fürst Metternich and the enthronement of Ferdinand's nephew Franz Joseph.

In the first years of the reign of Emperor Franz Joseph I (1830-1916) the royal stables of Leopold Mayer have been redesigned and expanded. As part of the expansion of the city, the city walls were razed and instead of the fortifications arose place for a magnificent boulevard, the Ringstrasse. 1862, the idea of ​​an Imperial Forum by architect Ludwig Förster was born. On the surface between the Hofburg and the Imperial Stables should arise court museums (Museum of Art History and Museum of Natural History).

At the outer Castle Square (today's Heldenplatz) were in the 60-ies of the 19th Century the by Anton Dominik Fernkorn created equestrian statues of Archduke Charles (victor over Napoleon at the Battle of Aspern) and Prince Eugene of Savoy (victor over the Turks in several battles) set up.

After an unsuccessful architectural competition on the design of the Heroes' Square area in 1869 Gottfried Semper could be won. This led to the involuntary and not frictionless collaboration with Carl Freiherr von Hasenauer. Planned was a two-wing complex beyond the ring road, with the two flanking twin museums (Art and Natural History Museum) and the old stables as a conclusion. 1871 was began with the Erdaushebungen (excavations) for the museums. 1889, the Museum of Natural History was opened, and in 1891, the Museum of Art History.

On a watercolor from 1873 by Rudolf Ritter von Alt (1812 - 1905) an overall view of the Imperial Forum is shown.

1888, the Old Court Theatre at St. Michael's Square was demolished, as the new KK Court Theatre (today's Burgtheater), built by Gottfried Semper and Carl Freiherr von Hasenauer, was finished. The since 150 years existing construction site at St. Michael's Square could be completed. The roundel got a dome, the concave curved Michaelertrakt was finalized by Ferdinand Kirschner. The once by Lorenzo Mattielli created cycle of statues on the facade of the Reich Chancellery was continued with four other "deeds of Hercules' at he side of the passage arches. 1893, the Hofburg had finally got its ostentatious show facade.

1901, the old greenhouses were demolished and replaced by an orangery with Art Nouveau elements according to plans by Friedrich Ohmann (completed in 1910). In 1907, the Corps de Logis, which forms the end of the Neue Burg, is completed. Since Emperor Franz Joseph I in budding 20th Century no longer was interested in lengthy construction projects and the heir to the throne Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Este (1863-1914) was against the establishment of a throne hall building, but was in favour for the construction of a smaller ballroom tract, the implementation of the second wing was dropped. After the assassination of Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Este in Sarajevo, the First World War broke out. Franz Joseph I died in 1916. A great-nephew of Franz Joseph I, Charles I (1887-1922), succeeded to the throne, however, he held only two years. The end of the First World War also meant the end of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy. On 11 November 1918 the First Republic was proclaimed. As Karl although renounced to government business, but not to the throne, he had to go into exile with his family.

The Imperial Palace in the 20th century

The interior design of the ballroom tract and the Neue Burg continued despite the end of the monarchy until 1926. By the end of the monarchy, many of the buildings lost their purpose. Furthermore used or operated was the Riding School. The stables were used from 1921 as an exhibition site of the Vienna Fair ("Fair Palace"). In 1928, the Corps de Logis, the Museum of Ethnology, until then part of the Natural History Museum, opened. In 1935 the collection of weapons (Court, Hunting and Armour Chamber) of the Kunsthistorisches Museum (Museum of Art History) came in the Neue Burg.

1933/1934 the outer castle gate by Rudolf Wondracek was transformed into the hero monument to the victims of the First World War. 1935 emerged on the left and on the right of the castle gate the pylon portals with eagle sculptures by William Frass. In March 1938, the Heroes Square and the balcony of the Neue Burg gained notoriety after Adolf Hitler to the cheering crowd at the Heldenplatz announced the annexation of Austria to the German Reich. The Nazis were planning a redesign of the Heroes' Square to a paved parade and ceremony space. The plans were not realized since 1943 a fire pond at Heldenplatz was dredged and the place was later used for agriculture. In the Trade Fair Palace during the period of Nazism propaganda events were held.

During the war, the Hofburg (Imperial Stables, St. Augustine's Church, Albertina, the official building of the Federal President, the current building of the Federal Chancellery) was severely damaged by bombing: The first President of the Second Republic, Dr. Karl Renner, in 1946 the Office of the President moved into the Leopoldine Wing (in the former living quarters of Maria Theresa and Joseph II).

During the occupation time the seat of the Inter-Allied Commission was housed in the Neue Burg.

1946 first events were held in the Exhibition Palace again, and were built two large halls in the main courtyard of the Exhibition Palace. In the course of the reconstruction war damages were disposed and the Imperial Palace was repaired, the barn castle (Stallburg) erected again. In 1958, in the ballroom wing the convention center has been set up.

1962-1966 the modern Library of the Austrian National Library is housed in the Neue Burg.

1989 emerged for the first time the notion of a "Museum Quarter". The museum quarter should include contemporary art and culture. The oversized design by Laurids and Manfred Ortner but was downsized several times after resistance of a citizens' initiative. It was implemented a decade later.

1992 the two Redoutensäle (ball rooms) burned out completely. Yet shortly after the fire was started with reconstruction. The roof was reconstructed and the little ball room (Kleiner Redoutensaal) could be restored. The big ball room, however, was renovated and designed with paintings by Josef Mikl. In 1997 the two halls were reopened.

From 1997-2002 the Museum Quarter (including Kunsthalle Wien, Leopold Collection) was rebuilt and the old building fabric renovated.

Was began in 1999 with the renovation of the Albertina. The by a study building, two exhibit halls and an underground storage vault extended Museum was reopened in 2003. The Albertina ramp was built with an oversized shed roof by Hans Hollein.

In 2006, additional rooms for the convention center were created by the boiler house yard.

(Source: Trenkler, Thomas: "The Hofburg Wien", Vienna, 2004)

www.burghauptmannschaft.at/php/detail.php?ukatnr=12185&am....

The Isle of Mull is the second-largest island of the Inner Hebrides (after Skye) and lies off the west coast of Scotland in the council area of Argyll and Bute.

 

Covering 875.35 square kilometres (338 sq mi), Mull is the fourth-largest island in Scotland and Great Britain. From 2001 to 2020, the population has gradually increased: during 2020 the populace was estimated to be 3,000, in the 2011 census it was approximately 2,800, and in 2001, it was measured at 2,667 people. It has the eighth largest Island population in Scotland. In the summer, these numbers are augmented by an influx of many tourists. Much of the year-round population lives in the colourful main settlement of Tobermory.

 

There are two distilleries on the island: the Tobermory distillery, formerly named Ledaig, produces single malt Scotch whisky and another, opened in 2019 and located in the vicinity of Tiroran, which produces Whitetail Gin. Mull is host to numerous sports competitions, notably the Highland Games competition, held annually in July. The isle is home to four castles, including the towering keep of Moy Castle. On the south coast, a stone circle is located in the settlement of Lochbuie.

 

The Isle of Mull has probably been inhabited since shortly after the end of the last Ice Age, around 11,000 years ago. This is evidenced by radiocarbon dating done in a mesolithic hut at Crieth Dubh on the northwest coast of the island. Later, Bronze Age and Iron Age inhabitants built brochs at Dun Nan Gall and An Sean Chaisteal, and a stone circle at Lochbuie along with numerous burial cairns. Two crannogs there have been dated to the Iron Age.

 

In the 6th century AD, Irish migrants invaded Mull and the surrounding coast and established the Gaelic kingdom of Dál Riata. The kingdom was divided into a number of regions, each controlled by a different kinship group one of these, the Cenél Loairn, controlled Mull and the adjacent mainland to the east.

 

Dál Riata was a springboard for the Christianisation of the mainland; the pivotal point was in AD 563, when Columba, an Irish missionary, arrived on the island of Iona – just off the southwest point of Mull – and founded a monastery there from which to start evangelising the local population.

 

In the 9th century, Viking invasions led to the destruction of Dál Riata and its replacement by the Norse Kingdom of the Isles, which became part of the kingdom of Norway following Norwegian unification around 872. The Kingdom of the Isles was much more extensive than Dál Riata, encompassing also the Outer Hebrides and Skye. The island kingdom became known as the Suðreyjar, meaning southern isles in Old Norse. The former lands of Dál Riata acquired the geographic description "Argyle" (now "Argyll"): the Gaelic coast.

 

In the late 11th century, Magnus Barefoot, the Norwegian king, launched a military campaign which in 1098 led the king of Scotland to quitclaim to Magnus all claim of sovereign authority over the territory of the Kingdom of the Isles. However, a coup some 60 years later, led by a Norse-Gael named Somerled, detached the whole of the Suðreyjar from Norway and transformed it into an independent kingdom. After Somerled's death in 1164, nominal Norwegian authority was established, but practical control of the realm was divided between Somerled's sons and the heirs of Somerled's brother-in-law, the Crovan Dynasty. His son Dougall received the former territory of the Cenél Loairn, now known as Lorn, of which Mull formed part.

 

Meanwhile, the Crovan dynasty had retained the title "king of the Isles" and control of Lewis, Harris, and the Isle of Man. After a few decades, they acknowledged the English kings as their overlords, so Dougall's heirs (the MacDougalls) complained to Haakon, the Norwegian king, and in 1237 were rewarded by the kingship being split; rule of the Hebrides was transferred to the MacDougall line, and they were made the "kings of the Hebrides". They established the twin castles of Aros (in Mull) and Ardtornish (on the mainland, opposite), which together controlled the Sound of Mull.

 

Throughout the early 13th century, the king of Scots, Alexander II, had aggressively tried to expand his realm into the Suðreyjar, despite Edgar's earlier quitclaim. This led to hostility between Norway and Scotland, which continued under Alexander III. King Haakon IV of Norway died shortly after the indecisive Battle of Largs. In 1266, his more peaceable successor ceded his nominal authority over the Suðreyjar to Alexander III by the Treaty of Perth in return for a very large sum of money. Alexander generally acknowledged the semi-independent authority of Somerled's heirs; the former Suðreyjar had become Scottish crown dependencies rather than parts of Scotland.

 

At the end of the 13th century, a violent dispute arose over the Scottish kingship between King John Balliol and Robert de Bruys. By then, Somerled's descendants had formed into three families: as well as Dougall's heirs (the MacDougalls), there were also the heirs of his nephew Donald (the MacDonalds) and those of Donald's brother (the MacRory or MacRuairi); the MacDougalls backed Balliol, while the MacDonalds and MacRory backed de Bruys. When Robert I defeated his Scots enemies, including the Comyns and MacDougalls, he declared their lands forfeit, dividing them between his friend, Angus Og Macdonald, Lord of the Isles, and Christina MacRory, King Robert's kinswoman. The latter acquired Lorn and some of the smaller Isles, but Angus Og, who fought beside King Robert at Bannockburn, was given the lion's share: The Isles of Islay, Jura, Gigha, Colonsay and Mull, and the mainland territories of Duror, Glencoe, Ardnamurchan, Lochaber, Morvern and Kintyre. After Bannockburn, Alexander Macdonald, Angus Og’s eldest son, then still alive, was granted Mull and Tiree. Angus Og's younger son John of Islay, became Lord of the Isles after his father's and his elder brother's deaths. He first married Amy MacRuairi of Garmoran, the heiress of the MacRory family, thereby consolidating the remains of Somerled's realm.

 

In 1354, though in exile and without control of his ancestral lands, John, the MacDougall heir, quitclaimed any rights he had over Mull to the Lord of the Isles. When Robert's son David II became king, he spent some time in English captivity; after his release, in 1357, he restored MacDougall authority over Lorn, effectively cancelling Robert's grant to the MacRory. The 1354 quitclaim, which seems to have been an attempt to ensure peace in just such an eventuality, took automatic effect, splitting Mull from Lorn and making it subject to the Lordship of the Isles.

 

In 1437, the Lordship was substantially expanded when Alexander, the Lord of the Isles, inherited the rule of Ross maternally. The expansion led the MacDonalds to move their centre of power from Islay to the twin castles of Aros and Ardtornish.

 

In 1462, the most ambitious of the Lords of the Isles, John MacDonald, struck an alliance with Edward IV of England to conquer Scotland. Civil war in England prevented this from taking effect and from being discovered until 1475, when the English court voluntarily revealed its existence. Calls for forfeiture of the Lordship naturally followed, but they were calmed when John quitclaimed most of his mainland territories. However, John's nephew launched a severe raid on Ross, but it ultimately failed. Within two years of the raid, in 1493, James IV of Scotland declared the Lordship of the Isles forfeit, transforming the realm into an intrinsic part of Scotland rather than a dependency.

 

Throughout this time, the descendants of the Cenél Loairn retained their identity; they were now the MacLeans. Now that John MacDonald was exiled, James IV restored the authority of the MacLeans over Mull. An earlier chief of the MacLeans had married the daughter of the first Lord of the Isles and received Duart Castle as the dowry; this now became the stronghold of MacLean control of Mull. The cadet branch of the family constructed a tower house at Moy on the southern side of Mull, while the senior branch retained Duart Castle.

 

Legend has it that the wreck of a Spanish galleon, laden with gold, lies somewhere in the mud at the bottom of Tobermory Bay. By some accounts, the Florencia (or Florida or San Francisco), a ship of the defeated Spanish Armada fleeing the English fleet in 1588, anchored in Tobermory to take on provisions. After a dispute over payment, the ship caught fire and the gunpowder magazine exploded, sinking the vessel. In her hold, reputedly, was £300,000 in gold bullion. Other sources claim the vessel was the San Juan de Sicilia (or San Juan de Baptista), which carried troops, not treasure. According to that account, the island's chief, Lachlan Mor Maclean, struck a deal with the Spanish commander to re-provision and refit the ship in return for military intervention on the side of the MacLeans in their feud with enemies on nearby islands. There have been numerous searches for the wreck and its rumoured treasure from the mid-17th century to the end of the 20th century. No significant treasure has been recovered in Tobermory Bay.

 

Following the Scottish Reformation, the MacLeans became supporters of Protestantism. By the mid-17th century, they had become promoters of conventicles, opposed to king Charles II's repudiation of the Solemn League and Covenant and supporting acts of civil disobedience. Though personally opposed to persecution of such people, Archibald Campbell, 9th Earl of Argyll, was specifically ordered by the Scottish privy council to suppress conventicles within his lands, which included Lorn. The atmosphere of hostility soon spread to Mull, where opponents of the conventicles felt emboldened, leading to outbreaks of violence between the two religious factions.

 

In 1678, Campbell was specifically instructed to seize Mull and suppress both the violence and conventicles. It took Clan Campbell until 1681 to gain possession of the whole island. Campbell took charge of Duart Castle and ejected the MacLean leadership from Mull; they moved to Cairnburgh Castle in the Treshnish Islands off the north-west of Mull. Campbell's own position was somewhat undermined when he instigated Argyll's Rising against the reign of James VII. The loyalty of subsequent Campbell leaders ensured the Campbells retained possession of Duart (it was only after the Campbells sold it, and it had spent a century under other owners, that the MacLeans were able to recover it by purchase). Under Campbell pressure, shrieval authority was established under the sheriff of Argyll, which they controlled.

 

Following Jacobite insurrections, the Heritable Jurisdictions Act abolished comital authority in Mull and Campbell control of the Argyll sheriffdom; the Campbells could now only assert influence as landlords. Many castles that had been in the hands of the MacLeans (such as Moy) had been slighted by the Campbells or fallen into disrepair, but more comfortable homes were built nearby.

 

During the 18th century, the island was home to a Gaelic Bard, whom Father Charles MacDonald describes only as "The Mull Satirist." The Satirist is said to have been a vocal enemy of the Jacobite Bard Alasdair Mac Mhaighstir Alasdair and to have attacked the latter in many poems that have survived. When the Jacobite poet converted from the Calvinist Church of Scotland to the Roman Catholic Church, the Mull Satirist accused him of doing so, not out of serious conviction, but to curry favour with the exiled House of Stuart.

 

In 1773 the island was visited by Samuel Johnson and James Boswell during their tour of the Western Islands. Farming, fishing, and burning seaweed for kelp ash (used in the manufacture of soap and glass) were the main economic activities on the island until the 19th century. Tobermory was built by the British Fisheries Society in 1788 as a planned settlement to support the fishing industry.

 

The Highland Clearances in the 18th and 19th centuries resulted in people being evicted to make space for sheep and the Highland Potato Famine (1846–1847) encouraged mass emigration. These factors caused the population to decline from 10,000 to less than 4,000 and then to 3,000 by the 20th Century; this had a serious impact on the economy. Despite this, several grand houses were built on Mull in the period, including Torosay Castle.

 

In 1889, counties were formally created in Scotland on shrieval boundaries by a dedicated Local Government Act; Mull therefore became part of the newly created County of Argyll.

 

The whole island became a Restricted Area during World War II. The bay at Tobermory became a naval base commanded from HMS Western Isles. The base and the Restricted Area were under Commodore (later Vice Admiral) Sir Gilbert Stephenson, whose strict discipline and ferocious temper earned him the nickname "The Terror of Tobermory". The base was used to train Escort Groups in anti-submarine warfare. 911 ships passed through the base between 1940 and 1945. Following late 20th century reforms, Mull is now part of the wider area of Argyll and Bute.

 

According to a July 2020 article in Country Life, "The Benmore Estate occupies 32,000 acres of the Isle of Mull" and includes Knock House, a Victorian hunting lodge where tourists can stay. Guests can book rides on the estate boat, the Benmore Lady. Much of the lodge was built by the ninth Duke of Argyll for his wife, one of the daughters of Queen Victoria; they married in 1871. Reports indicate that the Queen stayed there, as did others including Wordsworth, Keats, JM Barrie and Sir Walter Scott.

 

According to the 2011 Scottish census, the Isle of Mull had a usual residents population of 2,800 with 1,271 households. Including the offshore islands, the population of Mull was 2,996.

 

In Mull and the adjacent islands Gaelic had been the traditional language since the early Middle Ages. However, the 20th century in particular saw a reduction in the number of speakers, with a significant fall (20%) in Mull after the Second World War. This was associated with strong emigration and abandonment of the language by the younger generation. In the 1951 census only 10 people said they could not speak English.

 

The following decades saw the beginnings of a revival. Gaelic medium education was introduced in 1996 after a long dispute with the authorities. A Gaelic-medium unit was introduced in Salen Primary School, followed by a second unit at Bunessan Primary School; the language began to be taught in the first two years of secondary school; and Gaelic playgroups were introduced. By 2006 it was found that, though only 10% of the working-age cohort spoke or understood Gaelic, language ability at school age was much higher. There was great local variation in the number of speakers, from around 25% in Craignure (Creag an Iubhair) to 4% in Aros. It has been argued, however, that in terms of language survival, there is reason for optimism in Mull.

 

There is a small amount of farming, aquaculture, and fishing, and Forestry and Land Scotland has several plantations on the island. Tobermory also has one whisky distillery (Tobermory distillery) and from 2005 to 2009 had a brewery (Isle of Mull Brewing Company). Tiroran is home to the island's other distillery (Whitetail Gin) which was established as the isle's first new distillery in over 220 years in 2019.

 

Tourism is definitely significant. The economy began to revive when the construction of Craignure Pier in 1964 started to bring tourists. Tourism is now the mainstay of the island's economy. Ecotourism became popular from the 1990s, and the reintroduction of white-tailed eagles in 2005 became a particular ecotourist attraction. The island is one of the few places to see sea eagles; there were at least 22 pairs as of April 2020.

 

Isle of Mull cheese is Scottish cheddar cheese made from raw cow milk produced on the Isle of Mull.

 

Apart from traversing the Ross of Mull on the way to Iona, visitors typically spend time in Tobermory, visit Glengorm Castle[citation needed] and then enjoy one of the beaches. One report states that "the south-west holds more white beaches, famous for their pink granite skerries and stunning sunsets, that are also perfect for kayaking". Accommodations for tourists include self-catering holiday cottages, a few hotels, and some campsites.

 

Tourism was negatively affected by the COVID-19 pandemic during 2020 and into 2021. A September 2020 report stated that "The Highlands and Islands region has been disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic to date, when compared to Scotland and the UK as a whole". The industry required short-term support for "business survival and recovery" and that was expected to continue as the sector was "severely impacted for as long as physical distancing and travel restrictions". A scheme called Island Equivalent was introduced by the Scottish government in early 2021 to financially assist hospitality and retail businesses "affected by Level 3 coronavirus restrictions". Previous schemes in 2020 included the Strategic Framework Business Fund and the Coronavirus Business Support Fund.

 

Tobermory – with just over a thousand people, the largest settlement on Mull – is home to the only whisky distillery on the island.

 

Ferry links to Mull from the mainland include:

The most-used ferry, from Oban to Craignure (approx. 45 minutes),

Kilchoan to Tobermory (approx. 35 minutes)

Lochaline to Fishnish (approx. 15 minutes).

 

Advance bookings are not required for the Kilchoan or Fishnish ferries; access to those two ferry terminals on the mainland side is via single-track roads.

 

There are also ferry links from Fionnphort on Mull to the neighbouring island of Iona and from Oskamull to Ulva. In past years there were direct sailings to Oban (calling at Drimnin, Salen, Lochaline, and Craignure), and to Barra, Coll, and Tiree from Tobermory. During the summer there was also a sailing to Staffa and Iona from Oban that called at Tobermory.

Buses

 

Buses are operated by West Coast Motors Ltd. There are routes from Tobermory to Calgary via Dervaig (Service 494), Tobermory to Craignure via Salen (Service 495), and Craignure to Fionnphort via Bunessan (Service 496). Limited services operate to Lochbuie and Gruline. West Coast Motors also provide guided tours around Mull, Iona, and Staffa, including boat transfers from Oban.

 

A minibus service also operates seasonally from Craignure to Duart Castle.

 

There is also a community-run service from Calgary to Salen via Ulva Ferry.

 

There is a landing strip for private light aircraft near Salen. There was a seaplane that linked Tobermory with Glasgow and Oban. The regular scheduled service terminated in 2009. Loganair operated a scheduled service to Glasgow in the 1960s from Glenforsa airfield, a 780-metre-long (2,560 ft) grass airstrip constructed by the Royal Engineers in 1965 near Salen. The airstrip has been operated since 2014 by Brendan and Allison Walsh, owners of the adjacent Glenforsa Hotel.

Tourist railway

 

The Isle of Mull Railway ran from Craignure to Torosay Castle but closed in 2011.

 

There is one secondary school on the island (Tobermory High School) and six primary schools. Salen Primary School has a Gaelic medium education unit. Secondary pupils (age 11–18) from Iona, Bunessan and Fionnphort in the south-west attend Oban High School, staying in an Oban hostel from Monday to Thursday.

 

Mull was connected to the mainland by a submarine telegraph cable between Oban and Grass Point in 1871. There were telegraph offices at Tobermory, Dervaig, Calgary, Craignure, Pennyghael, Tiroran, Fionnphort, Bunessan, and Iona.

 

The Post Office built an experimental wireless telegraph station on Meall an Inbhire near Tobermory in 1892.

 

In 2014, fibre optic cables for support of high speed internet were laid between Kilchoan (in Ardnamurchan) and Tobermory and between Dunstaffnage (near Oban) and Torosay. In February 2015 additional cables were laid underground between Tobermory and Torosay to complete the link.

 

AM radio, broadcast from Oban, came to the island in 1930 and television in 1954. New AM radio and UHF television transmitters were constructed on Druim Mòr, one mile (1.6 km) west of Torosay Castle, in 1978. Digital transmissions commenced on 15 November 1998 and analogue transmissions ceased on 27 October 2010. The digital transmitters have 22 relays on Mull, surrounding islands, and parts of the mainland, collectively the Torosay Transmitter Group.

 

Mull Theatre is a professional theatre company based in a 2008 theatre production centre on the outskirts of Tobermory. The company commissions plays, tours throughout Scotland and beyond, and runs an education and outreach programme. It started at the "Mull Little Theatre" at Dervaig in 1966 and was the "Smallest Professional Theatre in the World" according to the Guinness World Records. The National Theatre of Scotland were in residence at the Mull Theatre in April 2009.

 

An Tobar ("The Well"), based in Tobermory, is the only publicly funded multidisciplinary arts centre in Argyll. Established in 1997, it is a centre for visual arts, crafts and music. With effect from 1 April 2013, An Tobar and the Mull Theatre were brought together as Comar.

 

The Isle of Mull is a popular destination for naturalists and photographers for seeing some of Britain's more elusive species.

 

Mull has over 800 species of vascular plant (684 native and 171 naturalised) including 33 species of fern, at least 18 species of orchid and 22 native species of tree. There are about 700 species of lichen, 571 liverworts and mosses, and 247 marine algae (seaweeds), making a total of 2,388 species of plant recorded from the island. In addition, more than 2,000 species of fungi have been recorded on Mull: Dennis and Watling write, "When one speaks of the Inner Hebridean fungi one is referring to the floras of Mull and Rhum".

 

The island has 261 different bird species, including the white-tailed eagle, which was reintroduced to the nearby island of Rùm and migrated to Mull, where it now has a stronghold. Basking sharks, minke whales, porpoises, and dolphins are among the sea life nearby.

 

The island is home to a population of otters that live in coastal habitat, hunting during the day. The Mull Otter Group was established for the conservation needs of otters on the Isle of Mull.

 

The island also has several birds of prey, such as hen harriers, golden eagles, and short eared owls, all difficult species to see throughout the rest of the UK. Pine martens have also recently become established on Mull; based on sighting records and from resulting modelling exercises, it is believed the species arrived in 2004 through accidental transportation on timber boats from the mainland. It is unlikely that pine martens have ever been native to the Isle of Mull.

 

The Hebridean Whale and Dolphin Trust was established in 1994 and is a marine conservation charity that takes action through community based research and education. The Trust carries out long-term monitoring programmes on cetaceans in the Hebrides, by collating sightings reported by the public and running live-aboard research expeditions on their sailing yacht, Silurian. The Trust covers the west coast of Scotland, and is based in Tobermory, where it has its main office, Discovery Centre and the mooring of their research vessel.

 

There are also a number of invasive species on the island, including plant species such as Japanese knotweed and animals such as feral cats and American mink that are believed to be causing damage to the indigenous species populations through competition and predation.

 

Lochdon Free Church, built in 1852

 

The Tour of Mull is a road-closing rally around the island every October. It has been sponsored since 2005 by Tunnock's, the Lanarkshire teacake and biscuit manufacturer. A five-year sponsorship deal with Beatson's Building Supplies started in 2015.

 

There are several shipwrecks around the shores that offer scuba diving.

 

There is an Isle of Mull Cycling Club.

 

The Cross at the Castle cyclocross event is held annually at Glengorm Castle near Tobermory and features the World Santacross Championships and the Scottish Singlespeed Cylocross Championships.

 

Mull Runners organise a half marathon and 10K run each August between Craignure and Salen.

 

Rugby is played at Garmony (beside the Craignure to Salen road 6+1⁄2 mi or 10.5 km north of Craignure). The Mull Rugby 7s Competition takes place annually in May at The Isle of Mull R.F.C's rugby club.

 

There are golf courses at Tobermory (Erray Park), Craignure (beside the Craignure to Salen road 1 mi or 1.5 km north of Craignure) and on Iona.

 

Mull Highland Games are held each July in the grounds of Tobermory Golf Club (Erray Park). Events include Heavy Weights, Light Field, and Highland Dance.

 

The swimming pool at the Isle of Mull Hotel, Craignure is open to the paying public.

 

Tobermory has some free tennis courts.

 

Football is played, mainly in the south end. Bunessan F.C. play a number of games during the summer, most notably against arch rivals Iona FC, the island just off the south west end. Bunessan F.C. also hold an annual 5-a-side tournament in July.

 

Following research and community consultation in 1996/97, a development trust was created to identify key goals for the communities of Mull and Iona. Mull & Iona Community Trust was formed in 1997 and published a "Community Regeneration Strategy" for the islands. They purchased the only butcher's shop on the island (closed February 2010), created a community-run Countryside Ranger service, instigated various recycling initiatives, and provide a fundraising and training consultancy.

 

Martyn Bennett (1971–2005), Canadian-Scottish musician, lived on Mull, buried in Calgary Bay cemetery

Peter Bonetti, (1941–2020), English footballer (goalkeeper)

Major General Colin Gubbins, head of Special Operations Executive during World War II

Duncan Livingstone (1877–1964) Scottish Gaelic Bard, born at Torloisk, emigrated to South Africa in 1903. Continued to write Gaelic verse in Pretoria until his death.

Agnes Maxwell MacLeod (1783–1879) poet and minister's wife

Colin MacIntyre (b. 1971), Scottish musician who frequently goes under the name "Mull Historical Society"

Margaret McKellar (1861–1941), medical missionary

John McLean (1799–1890), Canadian-Scottish explorer and one of the chief traders of the Hudson's Bay Company

Norman Maclean (1902–1990), acclaimed Scottish-American author from Missoula, Montana, who explored the alcoholism and gambling addictions of his ancestors, Scottish Gaelic-speaking Presbyterians on the Isle, in the 1976 novella A River Runs Through It and Other Stories

Mary Macleod, 17th-century poet said to have been banished to Mull

Lachlan Macquarie, (1762–1824), Governor of New South Wales, born on the nearby island of Ulva[

Boating on Lud Drexler Reservoir, Salmon Falls Dam, Burley Field Office, June 2009

Antonia Hedrick, BLM

 

Lud Drexler Park is located on the north end of Salmon Falls Creek Reservoir near the Idaho/Nevada border, about 36 miles south of Twin Falls, Idaho. The reservoir was created in 1910 to provide irrigation water to nearly 25,000 acres of farmland. The recreation site was developed in 1974 in response to increased use of the reservoir. The recreation site is a cooperative effort by local sportsmen, Twin Falls County, Salmon River Canal Company and the BLM. In 1981, it was renamed in honor of Lud Drexler, a local sportsman who contributed significantly to developing the site.

www.blm.gov/visit/lud-drexler-park

Two days ago I received PowerShovel's HOLGA 135 prototype, actual product is to be released earliest Nov 2007. Along side with this release, the web site is revamped to include an English version probably because of the increased exposure in Europe and particularly UK according to my contact from the company. PowerShovel's innovation didn't stop at Army Holga (a green color version of the traditional black one), 110 film cameras, 35mm Holga back and Polaroid back. They released new AGFA 135 positive and negative film, AGFA 110 film, 35mm Golden Half, etc etc. There will be several new ones coming to us in early 2008, including TOLNE JB (a project done with Tomy Takara. Limited edition of rubber coated and full-black painted camera, soft focus pictures through a plastic lens, includes 3 filters), HOLGA 135, HOLGA 135 pinhole, HOLGA 135 Tunnel Effect, HOLGA 120 pinhole, Blackbird Fly (which I'll have info below)..... phew!

 

The HOLGA 135 camera looks a little bit dumber than the 120 version despite its smaller size, but there are several nice features inside: the brightness switch actually works, a shutter release allows cable release to be used, a hot shoe which works with LOMO's ringflash and colorsplash flash, a film counter on top of the camera.... Well yeah these are supposed to be defaults for a basic 35mm camera but we are talking about HOLGAhere.

 

I'm yet to discover whether the 135 version has any special effects like vignetting, blur, light leaks, etc. These are the very characteristics of the original HOLGA in addition to all the possible mods (such as sprocket hole effects) which makes the original HOLGA super fun to play with. It will be a tremendous disappointment if HOLGA 135 is actually just a typical 35mm film camera, I will be able to find out in a few days' time.

 

At least, double exposure is possible, simply click as many times as you want before winding the film. I will have to try out the HOLGA lens effect kit on the 135 version too. Stay tuned.

 

In Japan, the camera will be sold individually or in sets like the HOLGA 135 Deluxe Starter Set as seen below.

 

Finally, PowerShovel is working on a camera called "Blackbird Fly", which is the first 135mm, twin reflex lens toy camera in the world! It is able to shoot 135 in three different formats: normal pictures, squared pictures and pictures with sprocket holes effect. Details are not yet known and the following picture is the only one available and I'm yet to find any info on the net or from PowerShovel. Can't wait for the arrival of 2008!

 

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