A shot of what is known as " The Splash " where the river Mole crosses River Lane in Fetcham and as you can see the river is running high at present .

A quote about the Splash from the Fracis Frith webpage --

"I remember the rickety bridge over the River Mole here, when I was very small my mother used to take me over it to eat sandwiches by the 'splash' and go for a paddle. The bridge was really scary with wobbly planks and I was afraid of falling through where the missing one was. When I was old enough to go on my own I learned to swim in the river, hanging on to the water weeds and kicking my feet until I was confident enough to let go and 'doggie paddle'. I am not sure why that part on the river is called the 'splash'. Some say it is because it was once a ford and the horses splashed across, and others say it is because a bomb dropped in the river which made a big splash. The water is deep over the bomb crater which is still there. Last summer I was 60 and swam over the bomb crater and it was still out of my depth so I don't know how deep it is. I got some strange looks but couldn't resist it. Someone threw a ball for a dog which landed nearby and the dog seemed to think I was competing in a race for its ball! The rickety bridge has been replaced by one that I think was carefully chosen to resemble the old one, but there are no wobbly or missing boards. "

Wernigerode is a town of about 35.000 inhabitants situated at the Northeastern edge of the Harz, a relatively low mountain range ("Mittelgebirge"). The highest elevation of the Harz, the Brocken, with a height of 1,141 metres (3,743 ft), is about 12 km away from the town. Wernigerode's history reaches back to the year of 1121, when it was first mentioned in a document. The town is famous for its well preserved historic centre with important Gothic monuments and predominantly half-timbered architecture.

Photo is a composite of two images. The first photo is a longer exposure to smooth the water upstream of the rocks. The second photo uses a shorter shutter speed to provide definition in the water downstream of the rocks. The images blended manually in Affinity Photo.

SEGUIMI-->FOLLOW ME

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FAI UN TOUR PANORAMICO DENTRO LA GROTTA DI JANAS BAUNEI --> FOLLOW ME

 

La grotta si contraddistingue per la presenza, nel piano roccioso antistante l’ingresso, di una raffigurazione incisa, sul pavimento antistante la grotta si presume risalga al Neolitico 4000 – 3200 a.C. . Essa è “composta da una conca dalla quale partono diciotto canali di varia grandezza 2 - 3 cm di larghezza, appaiono irregolarmente ramificate a raggiera. I canali con alcune ramificazioni sono collegati ad alcune coppelle terminali di diverse dimensioni, a colpo d’occhio non sembrano avere un ordine preciso. Le piccole conche collegate ai canali fanno intuitivamente pensare a una raccolta dell’acqua, liquidi organici, oppure sangue la disposizione delle pietre induce a pensare a riti propiziatori legati alla fertilità o forse pertinenti a sacrifici umani o animali. Per la sua posizione dominante e la difficoltà per raggiungerla, non si esclude che venisse usata come rifugio.

Enough of me!!!

 

This is Kiwi, and she let me take her picture. She belongs to a friend and I mentioned wanting to take a picture of Kiwi, so she said, I will leave the door unlocked, just go in and get her and grab some treats and make a go of it. She was extremely well behaved, she sat and she stayed and she posed. I got down on her level, my camera was basically @ ground level, used my 85mm, shot wide open for that creamy background, and my flash was mounted and diffused~

This image is a compilation of three images from Envisat’s radar and shows where southwestern Africa’s Okavango River empties into the inland Okavango Delta in northern Botswana. The Okavango River originates in Angola, forms part of the Angola Namibia border and then ends in northern Botswana. Here, it has formed a depression in the semi-arid Kalahari basin. Appearing purple at the centre of the image is Chief’s Island. In the lower-right portion of the image we can see a large cluster of radar reflections from the town of Maun. At the top of the image, a triangle with similar colouring to the delta can be seen. This is a swamp area and national park located mostly in Namibia.

 

This image is featured on the Earth from Space video programme.

 

For more information, please click here.

 

Credits: ESA

manic depression is the new black.

 

Bipolar disorder or manic–depressive disorder (also referred to as bipolar affective disorder or manic depression) is a psychiatric diagnosis that describes a category of mood disorders defined by the presence of one or more episodes of abnormally elevated energy levels, cognition, and mood. These moods are clinically referred to as mania or, if milder, hypomania. Individuals who experience manic episodes also commonly experience depressive episodes or symptoms, or mixed episodes in which features of both mania and depression are present at the same time. These episodes are usually separated by periods of "normal" mood, but in some individuals, depression and mania may rapidly alternate, known as rapid cycling. Extreme manic episodes can sometimes lead to psychotic symptoms such as delusions and hallucinations. The disorder has been subdivided into bipolar I, bipolar II, cyclothymia, and other types, based on the nature and severity of mood episodes experienced; the range is often described as the bipolar spectrum.

 

The onset of full symptoms generally occurs in late adolescence or young adulthood. Diagnosis is based on the person's self-reported experiences, as well as observed behavior. Episodes of abnormality are associated with distress and disruption, and an elevated risk of suicide, especially during depressive episodes. In some cases it can be a devastating long-lasting disorder; in others it has also been associated with creativity, goal striving and positive achievements; there is significant evidence to suggest that many people with creative talents have also suffered from some form of bipolar disorder.

 

Genetic factors contribute substantially to the likelihood of developing bipolar disorder, and environmental factors are also implicated. Bipolar disorder is often treated with mood stabilizer medications, and sometimes other psychiatric drugs. Psychotherapy also has a role, often when there has been some recovery of stability. In serious cases in which there is a risk of harm to oneself or others involuntary commitment may be used; these cases generally involve severe manic episodes with dangerous behavior or depressive episodes with suicidal ideation. There are widespread problems with social stigma, stereotypes and prejudice against individuals with a diagnosis of bipolar disorder. People with bipolar disorder exhibiting psychotic symptoms can sometimes be misdiagnosed as having schizophrenia.

   

Editor's note: happy Friday, Flickr friends! This image is gorgeous, and I encourage you to view in large size. Posted to the NASA Views Earth at Night photoset: www.flickr.com/photos/28634332@N05/sets/72157625188331491/

 

A nighttime view of Shanghai is featured in this image photographed by an Expedition 30 crew member on the International Space Station. The city of Shanghai sits along the delta banks of the Yangtze River along the eastern coast of China. The city proper is the world's most populous city (the 2010 census counts 23 million people, including "unregistered" residents). With that many humans, the city is a tremendous sight at night. Shanghai is a key financial capital for China and the Asian Pacific region. The bright lights of the city center and the distinctive new skyscrapers that form the skyline along the Pudong district (the eastern shore of the Huangpu River, a tributary of the Yangtze that cuts through the center of Shanghai) make for spectacular night viewing both on the ground and from space. The official census count in 2000 was 16.4 million; the city population has increased more than 35 per cent since that time. Much of the growth has occurred in new satellite developments like areas to the west of the city (for example, Suzhou). The city's rapid growth and development during the 20th and 21st centuries have come at a cost. Water availability is a key concern, and groundwater withdrawal has resulted in substantial subsidence in and around the city. Because it is built only a few meters above sea level -- on the banks of the deltaic estuary of the Yangtze River -- curbing subsidence rates is a critical concern.

 

Image credit: NASA

 

Original image:

spaceflight.nasa.gov/gallery/images/station/crew-30/html/...

 

More about space station research:

www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/index.html

 

There's a Flickr group about Space Station Research. Please feel welcome to join! www.flickr.com/groups/stationscience/

 

View more than 475 photos like this in the "NASA Earth Images" Flickr photoset:

www.flickr.com/photos/28634332@N05/

 

_____________________________________________

These official NASA photographs are being made available for publication by news organizations and/or for personal use printing by the subject(s) of the photographs. The photographs may not be used in materials, advertisements, products, or promotions that in any way suggest approval or endorsement by NASA. All Images used must be credited. For information on usage rights please visit: www.nasa.gov/audience/formedia/features/MP_Photo_Guidelin...

A walk in the woods

Life is beautiful. Take a moment to look around you, marvel at the beauty that is still unknown, but needs no explanation.

 

> simply press "L" to view it large

 

p/s: btw i'm more into 500px nowadays..u guys should give it a try...i'm pretty sure u'll like it too =)

 

Thx for viewing!=)

 

Please contact me if u would like to use any of my image at azmi5245@gmail.com.

Canvas & paper print are also available.

 

Join me on | Facebook | 500px |

 

Cabrillo National Monument is at the southern tip of the Point Loma Peninsula in San Diego, California. It commemorates the landing of Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo at San Diego Bay on September 28, 1542. This event marked the first time a European expedition had set foot on what later became the West Coast of the United States. The site was designated as California Historical Landmark #56 in 1932. As with all historical units of the National Park Service, Cabrillo was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on October 15, 1966.

 

The annual Cabrillo Festival Open House is held on a Sunday each October. It commemorates Cabrillo with a reenactment of his landing at Ballast Point, in San Diego Bay. Other events are held above at the National Monument and include Kumeyaay, Portuguese, and Mexican singing and dancing, booths with period and regional food, a historical reenactment of a 16th-century encampment, and children's activities.

 

The park offers a view of San Diego's harbor and skyline, as well as Coronado and Naval Air Station North Island. On clear days, a wide expanse of the Pacific Ocean, Tijuana, and Mexico's Coronado Islands are also visible. A visitor center screens a film about Cabrillo's voyage and has exhibits about the expedition.

 

The Old Point Loma Lighthouse is the highest point in the park and has been a San Diego icon since 1855. The lighthouse was closed in 1891, and a new one opened at a lower elevation, because fog and low clouds often obscured the light at its location 129 meters (422 feet) above sea level. The old lighthouse is now a museum, and visitors may enter it and view some of the living areas.

 

The area encompassed by the national monument includes various former military installations, such as coastal artillery batteries, built to protect the harbor of San Diego from enemy warships. Many of these installations can be seen while walking around the area. A former army building hosts an exhibit that tells the story of military history at Point Loma.

 

The area near the national monument entrance was used for gliding activities in 1929-1935. Several soaring endurance records were established here by William Hawley Bowlus and others including the first 1-hour flight in a sailplane, and a 15-hour flight in 1930 which surpassed the world record for soaring endurance. Even Charles Lindbergh soared in a Bowlus sailplane along the cliffs of Point Loma in 1930. Markers for these accomplishments can be found near the entrance, and the site is recognized as a National Soaring Landmark by the National Soaring Museum.

 

(Wikipedia)

 

Das Cabrillo National Monument wurde zu Ehren von Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo errichtet, der am 28. September 1542 als erster Europäer an der Westküste Nordamerikas landete. Das Monument erhielt 1913 den Status als National Monument. Am 15. Oktober 1966 wurde es als Historic District in das National Register of Historic Places aufgenommen.

 

1939 fertige der Bildhauer Alvaro de Bree eine Statue Cabrillos im Auftrag der portugiesischen Regierung an, die die Statue den Vereinigten Staaten schenkte. Die Statue ist über vier Meter hoch und wiegt circa sieben Tonnen.

 

Jedes Jahr im Oktober findet das Cabrillo Festival statt, welches die Landung am Ballast Point in der Bucht von San Diego wiederholt.

 

Vom Park aus ist der Hafen und die Skyline von San Diego und von Coronado zu sehen.

 

Auf der höchsten Erhebung des Parks steht der Old Point Loma Leuchtturm, ein Symbol San Diegos seit 1854. Von dem Leuchtturm aus sind im Winter Grauwale zu beobachten.

 

(Wikipedia)

A charming, beautiful beauty queen is posing gracefully in a traditional Chinese bridal red wedding dress Xiuhe in the temple courtyard.

This is a B/W photograph of the Greek Evangelical Church, the largest and oldest Evangelical Church in Thessaloniki, Greece. The tower on the Easternmost corner of the Church is crowned by an enormous Cross. It is located in the city centre (37, Palaeon Patron Germanou Str., Thesssaloniki). The shot was taken on Nov. 23, 2019 (Open House Thessaloniki).

 

The current Church was built in 1971 (architect: Vassilis Nikolaïdis) on the same spot where the previous Church oncec stood. The Greek Evangelical Church was founded in 1865.

spring is coming?

Vagankovo Cemetery is located in the Presnensky District of Moscow, Russia. It was established in 1771, in an effort to curb an outbreak of bubonic plague in Central Russia. The cemetery was one of those created outside the city proper so as to prevent the contagion from spreading.

 

More than 500,000 people are estimated to have been buried at Vagankovo Cemetery from 1771 to 1990. As of 1990, the cemetery contained slightly more than 100,000 graves. The vast necropolis contains the mass graves from the Battle of Borodino, the Battle of Moscow, and the Khodynka Tragedy. It is the burial site for many prominent people from the academic, artistic, military, and sports communities of Russia and the old Soviet Union.

 

The cemetery is served by several Orthodox churches constructed between 1819 and 1823 in the Muscovite version of the Empire style.

This is a special place, this remote lonely beach, the rocks spread out across the beach. The sound of the sea rolling back and forward and it was getting dark. Delighted to be on explore once more and really chuffed that this picture rose during the day to 270

The Lion of Saint Mark, representing the evangelist St Mark, pictured in the form of a winged lion is the symbol of the city of Venice and formerly of the Republic of Venice. It appears also in both merchant and military naval flags of the Italian Republic. The Lion of Saint Mark is also the symbol of the award of the Venice Film Festival, the "Golden Lion", and of the insurance company Assicurazioni Generali.

 

Other elements often included in depictions of the lion include a halo over his head, a book, and a sword in its paws.

 

Venetian tradition states that when St. Mark was traveling through Europe, he arrived at a lagoon in Venice, where an angel appeared to him and said "Pax tibi Marce, evangelista meus. Hic requiescet corpus tuum." (May Peace be with you, Mark, my evangelist. Here your body will rest.) This (possibly apocryphal) tradition was used as justification by Rustico da Torcello and Bon da Malamocco in 828 for stealing the remains of St. Mark from his grave in Alexandria, and moving them to Venice, where they were eventually interred in the Basilica of St. Mark.

 

St Mark, represented as a lion, is a typical Christian iconography derived from the prophetic visions contained in the verse of the Apocalypse of St John 4:7. The lion is one of the four living creatures described in the book as a place around the throne of the Almighty and they are chosen as symbols of the four evangelists. These "beings" were previously described by the prophet Ezekiel.

 

"Behold, I send my messenger ahead of you, he will prepare your way."

 

The voice of the one who cries in the wilderness: "Prepare Ye the way of the Lord, make straight his paths." (Gospel according to Mark 1:1–3)

 

The lion also symbolizes the power of the Evangelist's word, the wings symbolize the spiritual elevation, while the halo is the traditional Christian symbol of holiness.

 

However, the lion symbols express also the significance of majesty and power (drawn especially from the upward feline tail), while the book expresses the concepts of wisdom and peace and the halo gives an image of religious piety.

 

There are many symbolic interpretations with the possible combination of sword and book:

An open book is a symbol of the state's sovereignty (many depictions are of doges kneeling before such representation);

A closed book, however, is considered as a symbol of a delegated sovereignty, and hence the public courts;

An open book (and the sword on the ground is not visible) is popularly considered as a symbol of peace for the state of Venice, but this is not corroborated by any historical source;

A closed book and a drawn sword are popular but mistakenly considered as a symbol of the state in war;

Finally, an open book and a sword are considered as a symbol of public justice.

 

However, these interpretations are not universally accepted as the Republic of Venice (La Serenissima) never codified its symbols. Rare, but are presented, are also depictions of the lion without a book or a sword and sometimes without the halo (especially in a representation of a statue).

 

In some depictions the lion rests his front paws on the ground, often in cities with rivers or in ones close to water, indicating the Venetian balanced power on land and sea

 

The Venetian lion appears in two distinct forms. One is as a winged animal resting on water, to symbolise dominance over the seas, holding St. Mark’s Gospel under a front paw. You can see these mighty animals all round the Mediterranean, usually on top of a classical stone column.

 

The other form is known as the lion “in moleca”, in the form of a crab. Here the lion is depicted full-faced with its wings circled around the head resembling the claws of a crustacean. It is emerging from water, so that the lion “in moleca” is associated with the lagoon and the city, whereas the standing winged lion is thought to be more associated with Venetian territory around the Mediterranean.

 

Photographed at the Sacred Heart Catholic Church

Elmwood Wisconsin

 

Scotswood Bridge is one of the main bridges crossing the River Tyne in North East England. It links the west end of Newcastle upon Tyne on the north bank of the river with the MetroCentre and Blaydon in Gateshead on the south bank. It is situated 5.2 km (3.2 mi) upstream of the better-known city centre bridges.

 

The Chain Bridge

Scotswood Bridge over River Tyne Act 1829

The first bridge across the river at this location was the Old Scotswood Bridge, or "The Chain Bridge" as it was known locally. It was a suspension bridge with two stone towers, from which the road deck was suspended by chains. An act to authorise the building of the bridge was passed by Parliament in 1829 (10 Geo. 4. c. x) and designed by John Green, with construction beginning that year. It was opened on 16 April 1831.

 

The toll to cross the bridge was abolished on 18 March 1907. In 1931 the bridge needed to be strengthened and widened. The width was increased from 17 ft (5.2 m) to 19.5 ft (5.9 m) with two 6 ft (1.8 m) footpaths. The suspension cables and decking were also strengthened, allowing the weight limit to be raised to 10 tonnes (9.842 long tons; 11.02 short tons). The bridge eventually proved too narrow for the traffic it needed to carry and its increasing repair costs proved too much. After standing for 136 years, it was closed and demolished in 1967 after its replacement had been completed.

 

Current bridge

Scotswood Bridge Act 1962

A replacement for the Chain Bridge had been proposed as early as 1941. Permission was finally granted in 1960, and authorised by an act of Parliament, the Scotswood Bridge Act 1962. A new bridge was designed by Mott, Hay and Anderson and built by Mitchell Construction and Dorman Long. Construction commenced on 18 September 1964. It was built 43 m upstream of the Chain Bridge, which continued operating during the new bridge's construction. The bridge was opened on 20 March 1967. It is a box girder bridge, supported by two piers in the river and carries a dual carriageway road. Combined costs for demolition of the old bridge and construction of the new one were £2.5 million.

 

Scotswood Bridge carried the traffic of the Gateshead A69 western by-pass from 1970 up until the construction of Blaydon Bridge and the new A1 in 1990. Between June 1971 and January 1974 traffic on the bridge was limited to single file to enable strengthening work to take place, which was needed to address design concerns. It has required further strengthening and repairs a number of times since; between 1979 and 1980, in 1983 and in 1990.

 

Newcastle upon Tyne, or simply Newcastle is a cathedral city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is located on the River Tyne's northern bank, opposite Gateshead to the south. It is the most populous settlement in the Tyneside conurbation and North East England.

 

Newcastle developed around a Roman settlement called Pons Aelius, the settlement became known as Monkchester before taking on the name of a castle built in 1080 by William the Conqueror's eldest son, Robert Curthose. It was one of the world's largest ship building and repair centres during the industrial revolution. Newcastle was part of the county of Northumberland until 1400, when it separated and formed a county of itself. In 1974, Newcastle became part of Tyne and Wear. Since 2018, the city council has been part of the North of Tyne Combined Authority.

 

The history of Newcastle upon Tyne dates back almost 2,000 years, during which it has been controlled by the Romans, the Angles and the Norsemen amongst others. Newcastle upon Tyne was originally known by its Roman name Pons Aelius. The name "Newcastle" has been used since the Norman conquest of England. Due to its prime location on the River Tyne, the town developed greatly during the Middle Ages and it was to play a major role in the Industrial Revolution, being granted city status in 1882. Today, the city is a major retail, commercial and cultural centre.

 

Roman settlement

The history of Newcastle dates from AD 122, when the Romans built the first bridge to cross the River Tyne at that point. The bridge was called Pons Aelius or 'Bridge of Aelius', Aelius being the family name of Roman Emperor Hadrian, who was responsible for the Roman wall built across northern England along the Tyne–Solway gap. Hadrian's Wall ran through present-day Newcastle, with stretches of wall and turrets visible along the West Road, and at a temple in Benwell. Traces of a milecastle were found on Westgate Road, midway between Clayton Street and Grainger Street, and it is likely that the course of the wall corresponded to present-day Westgate Road. The course of the wall can be traced eastwards to the Segedunum Roman fort at Wallsend, with the fort of Arbeia down-river at the mouth of the Tyne, on the south bank in what is now South Shields. The Tyne was then a wider, shallower river at this point and it is thought that the bridge was probably about 700 feet (210 m) long, made of wood and supported on stone piers. It is probable that it was sited near the current Swing Bridge, due to the fact that Roman artefacts were found there during the building of the latter bridge. Hadrian himself probably visited the site in 122. A shrine was set up on the completed bridge in 123 by the 6th Legion, with two altars to Neptune and Oceanus respectively. The two altars were subsequently found in the river and are on display in the Great North Museum in Newcastle.

 

The Romans built a stone-walled fort in 150 to protect the river crossing which was at the foot of the Tyne Gorge, and this took the name of the bridge so that the whole settlement was known as Pons Aelius. The fort was situated on a rocky outcrop overlooking the new bridge, on the site of the present Castle Keep. Pons Aelius is last mentioned in 400, in a Roman document listing all of the Roman military outposts. It is likely that nestling in the shadow of the fort would have been a small vicus, or village. Unfortunately, no buildings have been detected; only a few pieces of flagging. It is clear that there was a Roman cemetery near Clavering Place, behind the Central station, as a number of Roman coffins and sarcophagi have been unearthed there.

 

Despite the presence of the bridge, the settlement of Pons Aelius was not particularly important among the northern Roman settlements. The most important stations were those on the highway of Dere Street running from Eboracum (York) through Corstopitum (Corbridge) and to the lands north of the Wall. Corstopitum, being a major arsenal and supply centre, was much larger and more populous than Pons Aelius.

 

Anglo-Saxon development

The Angles arrived in the North-East of England in about 500 and may have landed on the Tyne. There is no evidence of an Anglo-Saxon settlement on or near the site of Pons Aelius during the Anglo-Saxon age. The bridge probably survived and there may well have been a small village at the northern end, but no evidence survives. At that time the region was dominated by two kingdoms, Bernicia, north of the Tees and ruled from Bamburgh, and Deira, south of the Tees and ruled from York. Bernicia and Deira combined to form the kingdom of Northanhymbra (Northumbria) early in the 7th century. There were three local kings who held the title of Bretwalda – 'Lord of Britain', Edwin of Deira (627–632), Oswald of Bernicia (633–641) and Oswy of Northumbria (641–658). The 7th century became known as the 'Golden Age of Northumbria', when the area was a beacon of culture and learning in Europe. The greatness of this period was based on its generally Christian culture and resulted in the Lindisfarne Gospels amongst other treasures. The Tyne valley was dotted with monasteries, with those at Monkwearmouth, Hexham and Jarrow being the most famous. Bede, who was based at Jarrow, wrote of a royal estate, known as Ad Murum, 'at the Wall', 12 miles (19 km) from the sea. It is thought that this estate may have been in what is now Newcastle. At some unknown time, the site of Newcastle came to be known as Monkchester. The reason for this title is unknown, as we are unaware of any specific monasteries at the site, and Bede made no reference to it. In 875 Halfdan Ragnarsson, the Danish Viking conqueror of York, led an army that attacked and pillaged various monasteries in the area, and it is thought that Monkchester was also pillaged at this time. Little more was heard of it until the coming of the Normans.

 

Norman period

After the arrival of William the Conqueror in England in 1066, the whole of England was quickly subjected to Norman rule. However, in Northumbria there was great resistance to the Normans, and in 1069 the newly appointed Norman Earl of Northumbria, Robert de Comines and 700 of his men were killed by the local population at Durham. The Northumbrians then marched on York, but William was able to suppress the uprising. That same year, a second uprising occurred when a Danish fleet landed in the Humber. The Northumbrians again attacked York and destroyed the garrison there. William was again able to suppress the uprising, but this time he took revenge. He laid waste to the whole of the Midlands and the land from York to the Tees. In 1080, William Walcher, the Norman bishop of Durham and his followers were brutally murdered at Gateshead. This time Odo, bishop of Bayeux, William's half brother, devastated the land between the Tees and the Tweed. This was known as the 'Harrying of the North'. This devastation is reflected in the Domesday Book. The destruction had such an effect that the North remained poor and backward at least until Tudor times and perhaps until the Industrial Revolution. Newcastle suffered in this respect with the rest of the North.

 

In 1080 William sent his eldest son, Robert Curthose, north to defend the kingdom against the Scots. After his campaign, he moved to Monkchester and began the building of a 'New Castle'. This was of the "motte-and-bailey" type of construction, a wooden tower on top of an earthen mound (motte), surrounded by a moat and wooden stockade (bailey). It was this castle that gave Newcastle its name. In 1095 the Earl of Northumbria, Robert de Mowbray, rose up against the king, William Rufus, and Rufus sent an army north to recapture the castle. From then on the castle became crown property and was an important base from which the king could control the northern barons. The Northumbrian earldom was abolished and a Sheriff of Northumberland was appointed to administer the region. In 1091 the parish church of St Nicholas was consecrated on the site of the present Anglican cathedral, close by the bailey of the new castle. The church is believed to have been a wooden building on stone footings.

 

Not a trace of the tower or mound of the motte and bailey castle remains now. Henry II replaced it with a rectangular stone keep, which was built between 1172 and 1177 at a cost of £1,444. A stone bailey, in the form of a triangle, replaced the previous wooden one. The great outer gateway to the castle, called 'the Black Gate', was built later, between 1247 and 1250, in the reign of Henry III. There were at that time no town walls and when attacked by the Scots, the townspeople had to crowd into the bailey for safety. It is probable that the new castle acted as a magnet for local merchants because of the safety it provided. This in turn would help to expand trade in the town. At this time wool, skins and lead were being exported, whilst alum, pepper and ginger were being imported from France and Flanders.

 

Middle Ages

Throughout the Middle Ages, Newcastle was England's northern fortress, the centre for assembled armies. The Border war against Scotland lasted intermittently for several centuries – possibly the longest border war ever waged. During the civil war between Stephen and Matilda, David 1st of Scotland and his son were granted Cumbria and Northumberland respectively, so that for a period from 1139 to 1157, Newcastle was effectively in Scottish hands. It is believed that during this period, King David may have built the church of St Andrew and the Benedictine nunnery in Newcastle. However, King Stephen's successor, Henry II was strong enough to take back the Earldom of Northumbria from Malcolm IV.

 

The Scots king William the Lion was imprisoned in Newcastle, in 1174, after being captured at the Battle of Alnwick. Edward I brought the Stone of Scone and William Wallace south through the town and Newcastle was successfully defended against the Scots three times during the 14th century.

 

Around 1200, stone-faced, clay-filled jetties were starting to project into the river, an indication that trade was increasing in Newcastle. As the Roman roads continued to deteriorate, sea travel was gaining in importance. By 1275 Newcastle was the sixth largest wool exporting port in England. The principal exports at this time were wool, timber, coal, millstones, dairy produce, fish, salt and hides. Much of the developing trade was with the Baltic countries and Germany. Most of the Newcastle merchants were situated near the river, below the Castle. The earliest known charter was dated 1175 in the reign of Henry II, giving the townspeople some control over their town. In 1216 King John granted Newcastle a mayor[8] and also allowed the formation of guilds (known as Mysteries). These were cartels formed within different trades, which restricted trade to guild members. There were initially twelve guilds. Coal was being exported from Newcastle by 1250, and by 1350 the burgesses received a royal licence to export coal. This licence to export coal was jealously guarded by the Newcastle burgesses, and they tried to prevent any one else on the Tyne from exporting coal except through Newcastle. The burgesses similarly tried to prevent fish from being sold anywhere else on the Tyne except Newcastle. This led to conflicts with Gateshead and South Shields.

 

In 1265, the town was granted permission to impose a 'Wall Tax' or Murage, to pay for the construction of a fortified wall to enclose the town and protect it from Scottish invaders. The town walls were not completed until early in the 14th century. They were two miles (3 km) long, 9 feet (2.7 m) thick and 25 feet (7.6 m) high. They had six main gates, as well as some smaller gates, and had 17 towers. The land within the walls was divided almost equally by the Lort Burn, which flowed southwards and joined the Tyne to the east of the Castle. The town began to expand north of the Castle and west of the Lort Burn with various markets being set up within the walls.

 

In 1400 Henry IV granted a new charter, creating a County corporate which separated the town, but not the Castle, from the county of Northumberland and recognised it as a "county of itself" with a right to have a sheriff of its own. The burgesses were now allowed to choose six aldermen who, with the mayor would be justices of the peace. The mayor and sheriff were allowed to hold borough courts in the Guildhall.

 

Religious houses

During the Middle Ages a number of religious houses were established within the walls: the first of these was the Benedictine nunnery of St Bartholomew founded in 1086 near the present-day Nun Street. Both David I of Scotland and Henry I of England were benefactors of the religious house. Nothing of the nunnery remains now.

 

The friary of Blackfriars, Newcastle (Dominican) was established in 1239. These were also known as the Preaching Friars or Shod Friars, because they wore sandals, as opposed to other orders. The friary was situated in the present-day Friars Street. In 1280 the order was granted royal permission to make a postern in the town walls to communicate with their gardens outside the walls. On 19 June 1334, Edward Balliol, claimant to be King of Scotland, did homage to King Edward III, on behalf of the kingdom of Scotland, in the church of the friary. Much of the original buildings of the friary still exist, mainly because, after the Dissolution of the Monasteries the friary of Blackfriars was rented out by the corporation to nine of the local trade guilds.

 

The friary of Whitefriars (Carmelite) was established in 1262. The order was originally housed on the Wall Knoll in Pandon, but in 1307 it took over the buildings of another order, which went out of existence, the Friars of the Sac. The land, which had originally been given by Robert the Bruce, was situated in the present-day Hanover Square, behind the Central station. Nothing of the friary remains now.

 

The friary of Austinfriars (Augustinian) was established in 1290. The friary was on the site where the Holy Jesus Hospital was built in 1682. The friary was traditionally the lodging place of English kings whenever they visited or passed through Newcastle. In 1503 Princess Margaret, eldest daughter of Henry VII of England, stayed two days at the friary on her way to join her new husband James IV of Scotland.

 

The friary of Greyfriars (Franciscans) was established in 1274. The friary was in the present-day area between Pilgrim Street, Grey Street, Market Street and High Chare. Nothing of the original buildings remains.

 

The friary of the Order of the Holy Trinity, also known as the Trinitarians, was established in 1360. The order devoted a third of its income to buying back captives of the Saracens, during the Crusades. Their house was on the Wall Knoll, in Pandon, to the east of the city, but within the walls. Wall Knoll had previously been occupied by the White Friars until they moved to new premises in 1307.

 

All of the above religious houses were closed in about 1540, when Henry VIII dissolved the monasteries.

 

An important street running through Newcastle at the time was Pilgrim Street, running northwards inside the walls and leading to the Pilgrim Gate on the north wall. The street still exists today as arguably Newcastle's main shopping street.

 

Tudor period

The Scottish border wars continued for much of the 16th century, so that during that time, Newcastle was often threatened with invasion by the Scots, but also remained important as a border stronghold against them.

 

During the Reformation begun by Henry VIII in 1536, the five Newcastle friaries and the single nunnery were dissolved and the land was sold to the Corporation and to rich merchants. At this time there were fewer than 60 inmates of the religious houses in Newcastle. The convent of Blackfriars was leased to nine craft guilds to be used as their headquarters. This probably explains why it is the only one of the religious houses whose building survives to the present day. The priories at Tynemouth and Durham were also dissolved, thus ending the long-running rivalry between Newcastle and the church for control of trade on the Tyne. A little later, the property of the nunnery of St Bartholomew and of Grey Friars were bought by Robert Anderson, who had the buildings demolished to build his grand Newe House (also known as Anderson Place).

 

With the gradual decline of the Scottish border wars the town walls were allowed to decline as well as the castle. By 1547, about 10,000 people were living in Newcastle. At the beginning of the 16th century exports of wool from Newcastle were more than twice the value of exports of coal, but during the century coal exports continued to increase.

 

Under Edward VI, John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland, sponsored an act allowing Newcastle to annexe Gateshead as its suburb. The main reason for this was to allow the Newcastle Hostmen, who controlled the export of Tyne coal, to get their hands on the Gateshead coal mines, previously controlled by the Bishop of Durham. However, when Mary I came to power, Dudley met his downfall and the decision was reversed. The Reformation allowed private access to coal mines previously owned by Tynemouth and Durham priories and as a result coal exports increase dramatically, from 15,000 tons in 1500 to 35,000 tons in 1565, and to 400,000 tons in 1625.

 

The plague visited Newcastle four times during the 16th century, in 1579 when 2,000 people died, in 1589 when 1700 died, in 1595 and finally in 1597.

 

In 1600 Elizabeth I granted Newcastle a charter for an exclusive body of electors, the right to elect the mayor and burgesses. The charter also gave the Hostmen exclusive rights to load coal at any point on the Tyne. The Hostmen developed as an exclusive group within the Merchant Adventurers who had been incorporated by a charter in 1547.

 

Stuart period

In 1636 there was a serious outbreak of bubonic plague in Newcastle. There had been several previous outbreaks of the disease over the years, but this was the most serious. It is thought to have arrived from the Netherlands via ships that were trading between the Tyne and that country. It first appeared in the lower part of the town near the docks but gradually spread to all parts of the town. As the disease gained hold the authorities took measures to control it by boarding up any properties that contained infected persons, meaning that whole families were locked up together with the infected family members. Other infected persons were put in huts outside the town walls and left to die. Plague pits were dug next to the town's four churches and outside the town walls to receive the bodies in mass burials. Over the course of the outbreak 5,631 deaths were recorded out of an estimated population of 12,000, a death rate of 47%.

 

In 1637 Charles I tried to raise money by doubling the 'voluntary' tax on coal in return for allowing the Newcastle Hostmen to regulate production and fix prices. This caused outrage amongst the London importers and the East Anglian shippers. Both groups decided to boycott Tyne coal and as a result forced Charles to reverse his decision in 1638.

 

In 1640 during the Second Bishops' War, the Scots successfully invaded Newcastle. The occupying army demanded £850 per day from the Corporation to billet the Scottish troops. Trade from the Tyne ground to a halt during the occupation. The Scots left in 1641 after receiving a Parliamentary pardon and a £4,000,000 loan from the town.

 

In 1642 the English Civil War began. King Charles realised the value of the Tyne coal trade and therefore garrisoned Newcastle. A Royalist was appointed as governor. At that time, Newcastle and King's Lynn were the only important seaports to support the crown. In 1644 Parliament blockaded the Tyne to prevent the king from receiving revenue from the Tyne coal trade. Coal exports fell from 450,000 to 3,000 tons and London suffered a hard winter without fuel. Parliament encouraged the coal trade from the Wear to try to replace that lost from Newcastle but that was not enough to make up for the lost Tyneside tonnage.

 

In 1644 the Scots crossed the border. Newcastle strengthened its defences in preparation. The Scottish army, with 40,000 troops, besieged Newcastle for three months until the garrison of 1,500 surrendered. During the siege, the Scots bombarded the walls with their artillery, situated in Gateshead and Castle Leazes. The Scottish commander threatened to destroy the steeple of St Nicholas's Church by gunfire if the mayor, Sir John Marley, did not surrender the town. The mayor responded by placing Scottish prisoners that they had captured in the steeple, so saving it from destruction. The town walls were finally breached by a combination of artillery and sapping. In gratitude for this defence, Charles gave Newcastle the motto 'Fortiter Defendit Triumphans' to be added to its coat of arms. The Scottish army occupied Northumberland and Durham for two years. The coal taxes had to pay for the Scottish occupation. In 1645 Charles surrendered to the Scots and was imprisoned in Newcastle for nine months. After the Civil War the coal trade on the Tyne soon picked up and exceeded its pre-war levels.

 

A new Guildhall was completed on the Sandhill next to the river in 1655, replacing an earlier facility damaged by fire in 1639, and became the meeting place of Newcastle Town Council. In 1681 the Hospital of the Holy Jesus was built partly on the site of the Austin Friars. The Guildhall and Holy Jesus Hospital still exist.

 

Charles II tried to impose a charter on Newcastle to give the king the right to appoint the mayor, sheriff, recorder and town clerk. Charles died before the charter came into effect. In 1685, James II tried to replace Corporation members with named Catholics. However, James' mandate was suspended in 1689 after the Glorious Revolution welcoming William of Orange. In 1689, after the fall of James II, the people of Newcastle tore down his bronze equestrian statue in Sandhill and tossed it into the Tyne. The bronze was later used to make bells for All Saints Church.

 

In 1689 the Lort Burn was covered over. At this time it was an open sewer. The channel followed by the Lort Burn became the present day Dean Street. At that time, the centre of Newcastle was still the Sandhill area, with many merchants living along the Close or on the Side. The path of the main road through Newcastle ran from the single Tyne bridge, through Sandhill to the Side, a narrow street which climbed steeply on the north-east side of the castle hill until it reached the higher ground alongside St Nicholas' Church. As Newcastle developed, the Side became lined with buildings with projecting upper stories, so that the main street through Newcastle was a narrow, congested, steep thoroughfare.

 

In 1701 the Keelmen's Hospital was built in the Sandgate area of the city, using funds provided by the keelmen. The building still stands today.

 

Eighteenth century

In the 18th century, Newcastle was the country's largest print centre after London, Oxford and Cambridge, and the Literary and Philosophical Society of 1793, with its erudite debates and large stock of books in several languages predated the London Library by half a century.

 

In 1715, during the Jacobite rising in favour of the Old Pretender, an army of Jacobite supporters marched on Newcastle. Many of the Northumbrian gentry joined the rebels. The citizens prepared for its arrival by arresting Jacobite supporters and accepting 700 extra recruits into the local militia. The gates of the city were closed against the rebels. This proved enough to delay an attack until reinforcements arrived forcing the rebel army to move across to the west coast. The rebels finally surrendered at Preston.

 

In 1745, during a second Jacobite rising in favour of the Young Pretender, a Scottish army crossed the border led by Bonnie Prince Charlie. Once again Newcastle prepared by arresting Jacobite supporters and inducting 800 volunteers into the local militia. The town walls were strengthened, most of the gates were blocked up and some 200 cannon were deployed. 20,000 regulars were billeted on the Town Moor. These preparations were enough to force the rebel army to travel south via the west coast. They were eventually defeated at Culloden in 1746.

 

Newcastle's actions during the 1715 rising in resisting the rebels and declaring for George I, in contrast to the rest of the region, is the most likely source of the nickname 'Geordie', applied to people from Tyneside, or more accurately Newcastle. Another theory, however, is that the name 'Geordie' came from the inventor of the Geordie lamp, George Stephenson. It was a type of safety lamp used in mining, but was not invented until 1815. Apparently the term 'German Geordie' was in common use during the 18th century.

 

The city's first hospital, Newcastle Infirmary opened in 1753; it was funded by public subscription. A lying-in hospital was established in Newcastle in 1760. The city's first public hospital for mentally ill patients, Wardens Close Lunatic Hospital was opened in October 1767.

 

In 1771 a flood swept away much of the bridge at Newcastle. The bridge had been built in 1250 and repaired after a flood in 1339. The bridge supported various houses and three towers and an old chapel. A blue stone was placed in the middle of the bridge to mark the boundary between Newcastle and the Palatinate of Durham. A temporary wooden bridge had to be built, and this remained in use until 1781, when a new stone bridge was completed. The new bridge consisted of nine arches. In 1801, because of the pressure of traffic, the bridge had to be widened.

 

A permanent military presence was established in the city with the completion of Fenham Barracks in 1806. The facilities at the Castle for holding assizes, which had been condemned for their inconvenience and unhealthiness, were replaced when the Moot Hall opened in August 1812.

 

Victorian period

Present-day Newcastle owes much of its architecture to the work of the builder Richard Grainger, aided by architects John Dobson, Thomas Oliver, John and Benjamin Green and others. In 1834 Grainger won a competition to produce a new plan for central Newcastle. He put this plan into effect using the above architects as well as architects employed in his own office. Grainger and Oliver had already built Leazes Terrace, Leazes Crescent and Leazes Place between 1829 and 1834. Grainger and Dobson had also built the Royal Arcade at the foot of Pilgrim Street between 1830 and 1832. The most ambitious project covered 12 acres 12 acres (49,000 m2) in central Newcastle, on the site of Newe House (also called Anderson Place). Grainger built three new thoroughfares, Grey Street, Grainger Street and Clayton Street with many connecting streets, as well as the Central Exchange and the Grainger Market. John Wardle and George Walker, working in Grainger's office, designed Clayton Street, Grainger Street and most of Grey Street. Dobson designed the Grainger Market and much of the east side of Grey Street. John and Benjamin Green designed the Theatre Royal at the top of Grey Street, where Grainger placed the column of Grey's Monument as a focus for the whole scheme. Grey Street is considered to be one of the finest streets in the country, with its elegant curve. Unfortunately most of old Eldon Square was demolished in the 1960s in the name of progress. The Royal Arcade met a similar fate.

 

In 1849 a new bridge was built across the river at Newcastle. This was the High Level Bridge, designed by Robert Stephenson, and slightly up river from the existing bridge. The bridge was designed to carry road and rail traffic across the Tyne Gorge on two decks with rail traffic on the upper deck and road traffic on the lower. The new bridge meant that traffic could pass through Newcastle without having to negotiate the steep, narrow Side, as had been necessary for centuries. The bridge was opened by Queen Victoria, who one year later opened the new Central Station, designed by John Dobson. Trains were now able to cross the river, directly into the centre of Newcastle and carry on up to Scotland. The Army Riding School was also completed in 1849.

 

In 1854 a large fire started on the Gateshead quayside and an explosion caused it to spread across the river to the Newcastle quayside. A huge conflagration amongst the narrow alleys, or 'chares', destroyed the homes of 800 families as well as many business premises. The narrow alleys that had been destroyed were replaced by streets containing blocks of modern offices.

 

In 1863 the Town Hall in St Nicholas Square replaced the Guildhall as the meeting place of Newcastle Town Council.

 

In 1876 the low level bridge was replaced by a new bridge known as the Swing Bridge, so called because the bridge was able to swing horizontally on a central axis and allow ships to pass on either side. This meant that for the first time sizeable ships could pass up-river beyond Newcastle. The bridge was built and paid for by William Armstrong, a local arms manufacturer, who needed to have warships access his Elswick arms factory to fit armaments to them. The Swing Bridge's rotating mechanism is adapted from the cannon mounts developed in Armstrong's arms works. In 1882 the Elswick works began to build ships as well as to arm them. The Barrack Road drill hall was completed in 1890.

 

Industrialisation

In the 19th century, shipbuilding and heavy engineering were central to the city's prosperity; and the city was a powerhouse of the Industrial Revolution. Newcastle's development as a major city owed most to its central role in the production and export of coal. The phrase "taking coals to Newcastle" was first recorded in 1538; it proverbially denotes bringing a particular commodity to a place that has more than enough of it already.

 

Innovation in Newcastle and surrounding areas included the following:

 

George Stephenson developed a miner's safety lamp at the same time that Humphry Davy developed a rival design. The lamp made possible the opening up of ever deeper mines to provide the coal that powered the industrial revolution.

George and his son Robert Stephenson were hugely influential figures in the development of the early railways. George developed Blücher, a locomotive working at Killingworth colliery in 1814, whilst Robert was instrumental in the design of Rocket, a revolutionary design that was the forerunner of modern locomotives. Both men were involved in planning and building railway lines, all over this country and abroad.

 

Joseph Swan demonstrated a working electric light bulb about a year before Thomas Edison did the same in the USA. This led to a dispute as to who had actually invented the light bulb. Eventually the two rivals agreed to form a mutual company between them, the Edison and Swan Electric Light Company, known as Ediswan.

 

Charles Algernon Parsons invented the steam turbine, for marine use and for power generation. He used Turbinia, a small, turbine-powered ship, to demonstrate the speed that a steam turbine could generate. Turbinia literally ran rings around the British Fleet at a review at Spithead in 1897.

 

William Armstrong invented a hydraulic crane that was installed in dockyards up and down the country. He then began to design light, accurate field guns for the British army. These were a vast improvement on the existing guns that were then in use.

 

The following major industries developed in Newcastle or its surrounding area:

 

Glassmaking

A small glass industry existed in Newcastle from the mid-15th century. In 1615 restrictions were put on the use of wood for manufacturing glass. It was found that glass could be manufactured using the local coal, and so a glassmaking industry grew up on Tyneside. Huguenot glassmakers came over from France as refugees from persecution and set up glasshouses in the Skinnerburn area of Newcastle. Eventually, glass production moved to the Ouseburn area of Newcastle. In 1684 the Dagnia family, Sephardic Jewish emigrants from Altare, arrived in Newcastle from Stourbridge and established glasshouses along the Close, to manufacture high quality flint glass. The glass manufacturers used sand ballast from the boats arriving in the river as the main raw material. The glassware was then exported in collier brigs. The period from 1730 to 1785 was the highpoint of Newcastle glass manufacture, when the local glassmakers produced the 'Newcastle Light Baluster'. The glassmaking industry still exists in the west end of the city with local Artist and Glassmaker Jane Charles carrying on over four hundred years of hot glass blowing in Newcastle upon Tyne.

 

Locomotive manufacture

In 1823 George Stephenson and his son Robert established the world's first locomotive factory near Forth Street in Newcastle. Here they built locomotives for the Stockton and Darlington Railway and the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, as well as many others. It was here that the famous locomotive Rocket was designed and manufactured in preparation for the Rainhill Trials. Apart from building locomotives for the British market, the Newcastle works also produced locomotives for Europe and America. The Forth Street works continued to build locomotives until 1960.

 

Shipbuilding

In 1296 a wooden, 135 ft (41 m) long galley was constructed at the mouth of the Lort Burn in Newcastle, as part of a twenty-ship order from the king. The ship cost £205, and is the earliest record of shipbuilding in Newcastle. However the rise of the Tyne as a shipbuilding area was due to the need for collier brigs for the coal export trade. These wooden sailing ships were usually built locally, establishing local expertise in building ships. As ships changed from wood to steel, and from sail to steam, the local shipbuilding industry changed to build the new ships. Although shipbuilding was carried out up and down both sides of the river, the two main areas for building ships in Newcastle were Elswick, to the west, and Walker, to the east. By 1800 Tyneside was the third largest producer of ships in Britain. Unfortunately, after the Second World War, lack of modernisation and competition from abroad gradually caused the local industry to decline and die.

 

Armaments

In 1847 William Armstrong established a huge factory in Elswick, west of Newcastle. This was initially used to produce hydraulic cranes but subsequently began also to produce guns for both the army and the navy. After the Swing Bridge was built in 1876 allowing ships to pass up river, warships could have their armaments fitted alongside the Elswick works. Armstrong's company took over its industrial rival, Joseph Whitworth of Manchester in 1897.

 

Steam turbines

Charles Algernon Parsons invented the steam turbine and, in 1889, founded his own company C. A. Parsons and Company in Heaton, Newcastle to make steam turbines. Shortly after this, he realised that steam turbines could be used to propel ships and, in 1897, he founded a second company, Parsons Marine Steam Turbine Company in Wallsend. It is there that he designed and manufactured Turbinia. Parsons turbines were initially used in warships but soon came to be used in merchant and passenger vessels, including the liner Mauretania which held the blue riband for the Atlantic crossing until 1929. Parsons' company in Heaton began to make turbo-generators for power stations and supplied power stations all over the world. The Heaton works, reduced in size, remains as part of the Siemens AG industrial giant.

 

Pottery

In 1762 the Maling pottery was founded in Sunderland by French Huguenots, but transferred to Newcastle in 1817. A factory was built in the Ouseburn area of the city. The factory was rebuilt twice, finally occupying a 14-acre (57,000 m2) site that was claimed to be the biggest pottery in the world and which had its own railway station. The pottery pioneered use of machines in making potteries as opposed to hand production. In the 1890s the company went up-market and employed in-house designers. The period up to the Second World War was the most profitable with a constant stream of new designs being introduced. However, after the war, production gradually declined and the company closed in 1963.

 

Expansion of the city

Newcastle was one of the boroughs reformed by the Municipal Corporations Act 1835: the reformed municipal borough included the parishes of Byker, Elswick, Heaton, Jesmond, Newcastle All Saints, Newcastle St Andrew, Newcastle St John, Newcastle St Nicholas, and Westgate. The urban districts of Benwell and Fenham and Walker were added in 1904. In 1935, Newcastle gained Kenton and parts of the parishes of West Brunton, East Denton, Fawdon, Longbenton. The most recent expansion in Newcastle's boundaries took place under the Local Government Act 1972 on 1 April 1974, when Newcastle became a metropolitan borough, also including the urban districts of Gosforth and Newburn, and the parishes of Brunswick, Dinnington, Hazlerigg, North Gosforth and Woolsington from the Castle Ward Rural District, and the village of Westerhope.

 

Meanwhile Northumberland County Council was formed under the Local Government Act 1888 and benefited from a dedicated meeting place when County Hall was completed in the Castle Garth area of Newcastle in 1910. Following the Local Government Act 1972 County Hall relocated to Morpeth in April 1981.

 

Twentieth century

In 1925 work began on a new high-level road bridge to span the Tyne Gorge between Newcastle and Gateshead. The capacity of the existing High-Level Bridge and Swing Bridge were being strained to the limit, and an additional bridge had been discussed for a long time. The contract was awarded to the Dorman Long Company and the bridge was finally opened by King George V in 1928. The road deck was 84 feet (26 m) above the river and was supported by a 531 feet (162 m) steel arch. The new Tyne Bridge quickly became a symbol for Newcastle and Tyneside, and remains so today.

 

During the Second World War, Newcastle was largely spared the horrors inflicted upon other British cities bombed during the Blitz. Although the armaments factories and shipyards along the River Tyne were targeted by the Luftwaffe, they largely escaped unscathed. Manors goods yard and railway terminal, to the east of the city centre, and the suburbs of Jesmond and Heaton suffered bombing during 1941. There were 141 deaths and 587 injuries, a relatively small figure compared to the casualties in other industrial centres of Britain.

 

In 1963 the city gained its own university, the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, by act of parliament. A School of Medicine and Surgery had been established in Newcastle in 1834. This eventually developed into a college of medicine attached to Durham University. A college of physical science was also founded and became Armstrong College in 1904. In 1934 the two colleges merged to become King's College, Durham. This remained as part of Durham University until the new university was created in 1963. In 1992 the city gained its second university when Newcastle Polytechnic was granted university status as Northumbria University.

 

Newcastle City Council moved to the new Newcastle Civic Centre in 1968.

 

As heavy industries declined in the second half of the 20th century, large sections of the city centre were demolished along with many areas of slum housing. The leading political figure in the city during the 1960s was T. Dan Smith who oversaw a massive building programme of highrise housing estates and authorised the demolition of a quarter of the Georgian Grainger Town to make way for Eldon Square Shopping Centre. Smith's control in Newcastle collapsed when it was exposed that he had used public contracts to advantage himself and his business associates and for a time Newcastle became a byword for civic corruption as depicted in the films Get Carter and Stormy Monday and in the television series Our Friends in the North. However, much of the historic Grainger Town area survived and was, for the most part, fully restored in the late 1990s. Northumberland Street, initially the A1, was gradually closed to traffic from the 1970s and completely pedestrianised by 1998.

 

In 1978 a new rapid transport system, the Metro, was built, linking the Tyneside area. The system opened in August 1980. A new bridge was built to carry the Metro across the river between Gateshead and Newcastle. This was the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge, commonly known as the Metro Bridge. Eventually the Metro system was extended to reach Newcastle Airport in 1991, and in 2002 the Metro system was extended to the nearby city of Sunderland.

 

As the 20th century progressed, trade on the Newcastle and Gateshead quaysides gradually declined, until by the 1980s both sides of the river were looking rather derelict. Shipping company offices had closed along with offices of firms related to shipping. There were also derelict warehouses lining the riverbank. Local government produced a master plan to re-develop the Newcastle quayside and this was begun in the 1990s. New offices, restaurants, bars and residential accommodation were built and the area has changed in the space of a few years into a vibrant area, partially returning the focus of Newcastle to the riverside, where it was in medieval times.

 

The Gateshead Millennium Bridge, a foot and cycle bridge, 26 feet (7.9 m) wide and 413 feet (126 m) long, was completed in 2001. The road deck is in the form of a curve and is supported by a steel arch. To allow ships to pass, the whole structure, both arch and road-deck, rotates on huge bearings at either end so that the road deck is lifted. The bridge can be said to open and shut like a human eye. It is an important addition to the re-developed quayside area, providing a vital link between the Newcastle and Gateshead quaysides.

 

Recent developments

Today the city is a vibrant centre for office and retail employment, but just a short distance away there are impoverished inner-city housing estates, in areas originally built to provide affordable housing for employees of the shipyards and other heavy industries that lined the River Tyne. In the 2010s Newcastle City Council began implementing plans to regenerate these depressed areas, such as those along the Ouseburn Valley.

My art is always about great Journeys. I invite you to come with me on todays. I have been working on changing my way of thinking of my self and who I Believe I am. I plan to be better then I was yesterday. This image is a Visual interpretation of my internal self. I always see my emotions as colors. To day Im busting out no walls can hold me back. Power strong will and driving without fear. Fear can just go take a hike. Every thing is going to be new. I start to open to the new truth in this life. I will shoot past the moon and stars in to the far off next galaxy. I become all my dreams and hold the keys to open every door I please. No more locks bricks or walls can ever hold me. Im the wave and I carve my path to day. I for give my mistakes of the past and will not look back. May I live each day as if it were my last day. For now I shall just engage. You better hold on this will be a fantastic new adventure.

 

Hay Im on Facebook now so look me up. I will be adding art for people to invest in. Any cool help to add value to my art is welcome.

 

www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100016188035375

 

Mike

 

Father and son collaboration

 

Our photographic art is a kinetic motion study, from the results of interacting with my son A.J and his toys.

 

He was born severely handicapped much like a quadriplegic. On December 17,1998. Our family’s goal has always been to help A.J. use his mind, even though he has minimal use of his body.

 

A.J. likes to watch lights and movement. One of the few things he can do for himself is to operate a switch that sets in motion lights and various shiny, colorful streamers and toys that swirl above his bed.

 

One day I took a picture of A.J. with his toys flying out from the big mobile near his bed like swings on a carnival ride. I liked the way the swirling objects and colors looked in the photo.

 

I wanted to study the motion more and photograph the whirling objects in an artful way, I wanted my son A.J. to be a part of it. After all, he’s the one who inspires me. When A.J. and I work together on our motion artwork, A.J. starts his streamers and objects twirling, I take the photographs.

 

Activating a tiny switch might not seem like much to some, but it’s all A.J. can do. He controls the direction the mobile will spin, as well as when it starts and stops. The shutter speeds are long, and sometimes, I move the camera and other times I hold it still.

 

I begin our creation with a Nikon digital camera. Then I use my computer with Photoshop to alter the images into what I feel might be an artistic way. Working with Photoshop, I find the best parts from several images and combine them into the final composite photograph. I consider the finished work to be fine art. The computer is just the vehicle that helps my expressions grow.

 

I take the photographs and A.J. adds the magic. It’s something this father and son do together. After I’ve taken a few shots, I show him the photos in the back of the camera. When the images are completed, I show him from a laptop. He just looks. He can’t tell me whether or not he likes the images, but he’s always ready to work with me again.

 

It offers me my only glance into A.J.’s secret world. We’ve built a large collection of images and I hope the motion and color move you as much as they do me.

 

A.J. inspires me to work harder to understand my life in the areas of art, photography, people, spirituality, and so much more. He truly sets my mind in motion and helps me find the beauty in everyday things.

   

Abstract Art set:

www.flickr.com/photos/patnode-rainbowman/sets/72157602269...

 

AJ Patnode - A Journey of Hope (documentary):

www.youtube.com/watch?v=OR7m8QFcmRM

 

This shows how we do the Camera work:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=fmjVVGraUVw

 

AJ'S blog:

www.ajpatnode.com

   

Driving to Snaefellsnes to see Kirkjufell

This is Peter - whose chequered pink flat cap and beard caught my attention in Aldi. After the traditional 'approach conversation' of street portrait shooters was over he then asked me if I was the police - with the explanation that the 'nosy buggers get everywhere these days' - my denial worked (it ought to - I'm not!) and we got onto the topic of his pink flat cap. He informed that that he wasn't wearing it that day - had his Trilby on - and did I know him from somewhere else when he *was* wearing his flat cap. I showed him a shot on the camera LCD, with flat cap, and then he said he thought I was 'mad' for mistaking a Trilby for a cap and were all photographers as barking as I was? smile emoticon

He then proudly showed me his new bike - that he bought not that long ago - and stated that the man he'd bought it off felt guilty for over-charging him and gave him a human, yet plastic, skeleton in a bag as a gift. This was duly fixed to the rear luggage carrier and Peter then cycled home along Oxfordshire's roads wondering why cars behind kept honking their horns. He discovered that the bag had come open and that the skull had been doing a nodding parcel-shelf dog impression for the previous 10 miles.

Peter was a great character - and I spent an enjoyable 15 minutes chatting with a traditional British eccentric - somebody who our society has thankfully not yet ironed out in its quest for removing diversity.

 

This picture is #17(b) in my 100 strangers project. Find out more about the project and see pictures taken by other photographers at the 100 Strangers Flickr Group page

Richmond is a market town and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England and the administrative centre of the district of Richmondshire. Historically in the North Riding of Yorkshire, it is 16 miles (26 km) from the county town of Northallerton and situated on the eastern edge of the Yorkshire Dales National Park, and is one of the park's tourist centres. The population of Richmond according to the 2011 United Kingdom census is 8,413.

 

The Rough Guide describes the town as 'an absolute gem'. Betty James wrote that "without any doubt Richmond is the most romantic place in the whole of the North East [of England]". Richmond was the winner of the Academy of Urbanism's "Great Town" award in 2009. [Wikipedia]

 

However Richmondshire's reputation is forever stained by its population voting 57% for Brexit in 2016 causing much self inflicted economic harm to the United Kingdom

It is my mom's birthday on Wednesday. I made this for her and am transmitting it to my brother. He will download it and make certain she gets it on her special night. I am more than a little sad to miss this milestone but we will be there in spirit.

French postcard by Editions F. Nugeron, no. Star 130. Photo: Air France / Distribution VU. Caption: Orson Wells (sic), Septembre 1967.

 

American actor, director, writer and producer Orson Welles (1915-1985) worked in theatre, radio and film, both in the US and in Europe. He is remembered for his innovative work in all three media, most notably Caesar (1937), a groundbreaking Broadway adaptation of Julius Caesar and the debut of the Mercury Theatre; The War of the Worlds (1938), one of the most famous broadcasts in the history of radio; and Citizen Kane (1941), ranked as one of the all-time greatest films. His other films include The Magnificent Ambersons (1942), Touch of Evil (1958) and Le Procès/The Trial (1962).

 

George Orson Welles was born in Kenosha, Wisconsin, in 1915. He was the second son of Beatrice (née Ives) and Richard Hodgdon Head Welles. In 1919, his parents separated and moved to Chicago. His father, who made a fortune as the inventor of a popular bicycle lamp, became an alcoholic and stopped working. His brother ‘Dickie’ was institutionalized at an early age because he had learning difficulties. Welles's mother, a beautiful concert pianist, had to support her son and herself. In 1924, Beatrice died of hepatitis in a Chicago hospital, just after Welles's ninth birthday. He was taken in by Dudley Crafts Watson. At the age of ten Orson ran away from home with Watson's third daughter, Marjorie. They were found a week later, singing and dancing for money on a street corner in Milwaukee. Welles' father died when Orson was 15. Maurice Bernstein, a physician from Chicago, became his guardian. His school teacher Roger Hill provided Welles with an ad hoc educational environment that proved invaluable to his creative experience, allowing Welles to perform and stage theatrical experiments and productions. Welles was awarded a scholarship to Harvard University, but he chose instead to travel to Europe. In Ireland, he strode into the Gate Theatre in Dublin and claimed he was a Broadway star. The manager of Gate, Hilton Edwards, was impressed by his brashness and an impassioned quality in his audition. Welles made his stage debut at the Gate in 1931, appearing in Jew Suss as the Duke. He acted to great acclaim, word of which reached the United States. On returning to the United States he wrote the immensely successful Everybody's Shakespeare. In 1933, he toured in three off-Broadway productions with Katharine Cornell's company, including two roles in Romeo and Juliet. In 1934, he shot his first film, an eight-minute short titled The Hearts of Age, and he married Chicago actress Virginia Nicholson. By 1935 Welles was supplementing his earnings in the theatre as a radio actor, working with many actors who would later form the core of his Mercury Theatre.

 

In 1936, the Federal Theatre Project (part of Roosevelt's Works Progress Administration) put unemployed theatre performers and employees to work. Orson Welles was hired by John Houseman and assigned to direct a play for the Federal Theatre Project's Negro Theatre Unit. His production of Macbeth was set in the Haitian court of King Henri Christophe, with voodoo witch doctors for the three Weird Sisters. The play was received rapturously and later toured the nation. At 20, Welles was hailed as a prodigy. A few minutes of Welles’ ‘Voodoo Macbeth’ was recorded on film in the documentary We Work Again (1937). Welles rehearsed Marc Blitzstein's political operetta, The Cradle Will Rock, but because of severe federal cutbacks in the Works Progress projects, the show's premiere at the Maxine Elliott Theatre was cancelled. In a last-minute move, Welles announced to waiting ticket-holders that the show was being transferred to the Venice, twenty blocks away. Some cast, crew and audience members walked the distance on foot. Lacking the participation of the union members, The Cradle Will Rock began with Blitzstein introducing the show and playing the piano accompaniment on stage with some cast members performing from the audience. This impromptu performance was well received and played at the Venice for two more weeks. Welles and Houseman then formed the Mercury Theatre, of which Welles became executive producer and whose repertory company eventually included the actors Agnes Moorehead, Joseph Cotten, Dolores del Río, Everett Sloane, and Erskine Sanford. The first Mercury Theatre production was William Shakespeare's tragedy Julius Caesar, set in a contemporary frame of fascist Italy. The production was widely acclaimed. In the second year of the Mercury Theater, Welles shifted his interests to radio. He adapted, directed and played Hamlet for CBS and Les Misérables for Mutual with great success. CBS gave the Mercury Theatre a weekly hour-long show to broadcast radio plays based on classic literary works. In 1938, their adaptation of The War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells brought Welles instant fame. The combination of the news bulletin form of the performance with the between-breaks dial spinning habits of listeners from the rival more popular Edgar Bergen/Charlie McCarthy program was later reported in the media to have created widespread confusion. Wikipedia: “Panic was reportedly spread among listeners who believed the news reports of a Martian invasion. The myth of the result created by the combination was reported as fact around the world and disparagingly mentioned by Adolf Hitler in a public speech some months later. The 1975 docudrama The Night That Panicked America was based on events centering on the production of, and events that resulted from the program.”

 

Orson Welles's growing fame drew Hollywood offers, lures that the independent-minded Welles resisted at first. RKO Radio Pictures president George Schaefer eventually offered him complete artistic control and signed Welles in a two-picture deal, although Welles had a budget limit for his projects. In Hollywood, Welles toyed with various ideas for his first project. RKO rejected Welles's first two movie proposals, but agreed on the third offer, Citizen Kane (1941), for which Welles co-wrote, produced, directed and performed the lead role. Co-scriptwriter Joseph Mankiewicz based the original outline on an exposé of the life of William Randolph Hearst, whom he knew socially and came to hate, having once been great friends with Hearst's mistress, Marion Davies. Kane's megalomania was modelled loosely on Robert McCormick, Howard Hughes and Joseph Pulitzer as Welles wanted to create a broad, complex character, intending to show him in the same scenes from several points of view. On Welles's instruction, John Houseman wrote the opening narration as a pastiche of The March of Time newsreels. Autobiographical allusions to Welles were worked in, most noticeably in the treatment of Kane's childhood and particularly, regarding his guardianship. Once the script was complete, Welles attracted cinematographer Gregg Toland, and actors from his Mercury Theatre. After gossip columnist Hedda Hopper saw a preview screening of Citizen Kane, the attempted suppression of Citizen Kane started. Hearst's media outlets boycotted the film. They exerted enormous pressure on Hollywood, but RKO gave the film a limited release. The film was well-received critically, and garnered nine Academy Award nominations. Welles was nominated as a producer, director, writer and actor, but won only for Best Original Screenplay, shared with Mankiewicz. Today, the film is considered by most film critics and historians to be one of the classics in film history.

 

Orson Welles's second film for RKO was The Magnificent Ambersons (1942), adapted from the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Booth Tarkington. At RKO's request, Welles worked also on an adaptation of Eric Ambler's spy thriller, Journey into Fear (Norman Foster, 1943), co-written with Joseph Cotten. In addition to acting in the film, Welles was the producer. Changes throughout RKO caused re-evaluations of both projects. RKO took control of The Magnificent Ambersons, and ordered to edit the film into a ‘commercial’ format. They removed fifty minutes of Welles's footage, re-shot sequences, rearranged the scene order, and added a happy ending. It resulted in an expensive flop for RKO, although The Magnificent Ambersons received four Academy Award nominations including Best Picture and Best Supporting Actress for Agnes Moorehead. Welles found no studios interested in him as a director after the disaster of The Magnificent Ambersons and worked on radio. In 1943, he married Rita Hayworth. They had one child, Rebecca Welles, and divorced five years later in 1948. In between, Welles found work as an actor in other films. He starred in the film adaptation of Jane Eyre (Robert Stevenson, 1944), trading credit as associate producer for top billing over Joan Fontaine. He had a cameo in the wartime salute Follow the Boys (A. Edward Sutherland, 1944), in which he performed his magic act ‘sawing’ Marlene Dietrich in half. In 1946, Sam Spiegel produced The Stranger (Orson Welles, 1946), starring Edward G. Robinson, Loretta Young and Welles. The film follows the hunt for a Nazi war criminal living under an alias in the United States. Although disputes occurred during editing between Spiegel and Welles, the film was a box office success and it helped his standing with the studios. He then filmed The Lady from Shanghai (Orson Welles, 1947) for Columbia Pictures, in which his then-estranged second wife Rita Hayworth co-starred. Cohn disliked Welles's rough-cut, and ordered extensive editing and re-shoots. Approximately one hour of Welles's first cut was removed, including much of a climactic confrontation scene in an amusement park funhouse. The film was considered a disaster in America at the time of release, though the closing shootout in a hall of mirrors has since become a touchstone of film noir. Welles convinced Republic Pictures to let him direct a low-budget version of Macbeth (Orson Welles, 1948). Republic initially trumpeted the film as an important work but decided it did not care for the Scottish accents and held up general release for almost a year after early negative press reaction. In the late 1970s, a fully restored version of Macbeth was released that followed Welles's original vision.

 

Orson Welles left Hollywood for Europe. In Italy he starred as Cagliostro in Black Magic (Gregory Ratoff, 1948) with Akim Tamiroff. His co-star impressed Welles so much that Tamiroff would appear in four of Welles's later productions. Welles starred as Harry Lime in Carol Reed's The Third Man (1949), alongside Joseph Cotten. The film was an international smash hit. Welles also appeared as Cesare Borgia in the Italian film Prince of Foxes (Henry King, 1949), and as the Mongol warrior Bayan in The Black Rose (Henry Hathaway, 1950), both with Tyrone Power. Welles was channelling his money from acting jobs into a self-financed film version of Shakespeare's play Othello. From 1949 to 1951, Welles filmed Othello (1952) on location in Europe and Morocco. Suzanne Cloutier co-starred as Desdemona. When it premiered at the Cannes Film Festival it won the Palme d'Or, but the film did not receive a general release in the United States until 1955. Welles's daughter, Beatrice Welles-Smith, restored Othello in 1992 for a wide re-release. Welles played the murdered victim in Trent's Last Case (Herbert Wilcox, 1952) and the title role in the 'Lord Mountdrago' segment of Three Cases of Murder (George More O'Ferrall, 1954). Herbert Wilcox cast Welles as the antagonist in Trouble in the Glen (1954) opposite Margaret Lockwood, and John Huston cast him as Father Mapple in Moby-Dick (1956), starring Gregory Peck. Welles's next turn as director was Mr. Arkadin (Orson Welles, 1955), filmed in France, Germany, Spain and Italy on a very limited budget. Welles played a billionaire who hires a man (Robert Arden) to delve into the secrets of his past. The film co-starred Welles's third wife, Paola Mori. Frustrated by his slow progress in the editing room, producer Louis Dolivet removed Welles from the project and finished the film without him as Confidential Report. In 1956, Welles returned to Hollywood and guest-starred on radio and television shows. His next film role was in Man in the Shadow (Jack Arnold, 1957) for Universal Pictures, starring Jeff Chandler. Around this time period, Welles began to suffer from weight problems that would eventually cause a deterioration in his health. Welles stayed on at Universal to co-star with Charlton Heston in Touch of Evil (Orson Welles, 1958). Originally only hired as an actor, Welles was promoted to director by Universal at the insistence of Heston. He reunited with many actors and technicians with whom he had worked in the 1940s including Joseph Cotten, Marlene Dietrich and Akim Tamiroff. Filming proceeded smoothly, but after the end of production, the studio re-edited the film, re-shot scenes, and shot new exposition scenes to clarify the plot. In 1978, a longer preview version of the film was discovered and released. Next, Welles filmed his adaptation of Miguel de Cervantes' novel Don Quixote in Mexico, starring Mischa Auer as Quixote and Akim Tamiroff as Sancho Panza. While filming would continue in fits and starts for several years, Welles would never complete the project. Welles continued acting, notably in The Long, Hot Summer (Marin Ritt, 1958) and Compulsion (Richard Fleischer, 1959), but soon he returned to Europe.

 

In Italy, Orson Welles directed his own scenes as King Saul in David e Golia/David and Goliath (Ferdinando Baldi, Richard Pottier, 1959). In Hong Kong he co-starred with Curt Jürgens in Ferry to Hong Kong (Lewis Gilbert, 1959). In Paris he co-starred in Crack in the Mirror (Richard Fleischer, 1960). In Yugoslavia he starred in I tartari/The Tartars (Richard Thorpe, 1962) and Bitka na Neretvi/Battle of Neretva (Veljko Bulajić, 1969). In 1962, Welles directed Le Procès/The Trial (Orson Welles, 1962), based on the novel by Franz Kafka and starring Anthony Perkins as Josef K, Jeanne Moreau and Romy Schneider. The film failed at the box-office, but during the filming, he met Oja Kodar, who became his muse, star and mistress for the rest of his life. Welles played a film director in La Ricotta (1963)—Pier Paolo Pasolini's segment of the anthology film Ro.Go.Pa.G. He continued taking what work he could find acting, narrating or hosting other people's work, and began filming Campanadas a medianoche/Chimes at Midnight (Orson Welles, 1966). Filmed in Spain, it was a condensation of five Shakespeare plays, telling the story of Falstaff (Welles) and his relationship with Prince Hal (Keith Baxter). Then followed Histoire immortelle/The Immortal Story (Orson Welles, 1968) with Jeanne Moreau, which had a successful run in French theatres. He appeared as Cardinal Wolsey in A Man for All Seasons (Fred Zinnemann, 1966) for which he won considerable acclaim. Welles began directing The Deep, based on the novel Dead Calm by Charles Williams and filmed off the shore of Yugoslavia. The cast included Jeanne Moreau, Laurence Harvey and Oja Kodar. Personally financed by Welles and Kodar, they could not obtain the funds to complete the project, and it was abandoned a few years later after the death of Harvey. The surviving footage was eventually edited and released by the Filmmuseum München. In 1969, Welles played a supporting role in John Huston's The Kremlin Letter. Drawn by the numerous offers he received to work in television and films, and upset by a tabloid scandal reporting his affair with Kodar, Welles moved back to America in 1970.

 

In Hollywood, Orson Welles continued to self-finance his own film and television projects. While offers to act, narrate and host continued, Welles also found himself in great demand on television talk shows. His primary focus during his final years was The Other Side of the Wind, an unfinished project that was filmed intermittently between 1970 and 1976. Written by Welles, it is the story of an aging film director (John Huston) looking for funds to complete his final film. Financed by Iranian backers, ownership of the film fell into a legal quagmire after the Shah of Iran was deposed, and disputes still prevent its release. Welles portrayed Louis XVIII of France in Waterloo (Sergey Bondarchuk, 1970), and narrated the historical comedy Start the Revolution Without Me (Bud Yorkin, 1970). He appeared in La décade prodigieuse/Ten Days' Wonder (Claude Chabrol, 1971), co-starring with Anthony Perkins. Wikipedia: “That same year, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences gave him an honorary award "For superlative artistry and versatility in the creation of motion pictures". Welles pretended to be out of town and sent John Huston to claim the award. Huston criticized the Academy for awarding Welles, even while they refused to give Welles any work.” Welles played Long John Silver in Treasure Island (John Hough, 1972), an adaptation of the Robert Louis Stevenson novel. He completed F for Fake (Orson Welles, 1973) , a personal essay film about art forger Elmyr de Hory and the biographer Clifford Irving, and his documentary Filming Othello (Orson Welles, 1979). During the 1980s, Welles worked on such film projects as The Dreamers, based on two stories by Isak Dinesen. His last film appearance was in Henry Jaglom's Someone to Love (1987), released after his death. Welles had three daughters: Chris Welles Feder (1938), with Virginia Nicholson; Rebecca Welles Manning (1944–2004), with Rita Hayworth; and Beatrice Welles (1955), with Paola Mori. His only known son, British director Michael Lindsay-Hogg (1940), is from Welles's affair with Irish actress Geraldine Fitzgerald, then the wife of Sir Edward Lindsay-Hogg, 4th baronet. On 10 October 1985, Orson Welles appeared on his final interview on The Merv Griffin Show. He died several hours later of a heart attack at his home in Los Angeles. His estranged wife Paola Mori refused to allow most of Welles's friends to attend the funeral, limiting the mourners to just nine: herself, Welles's three daughters, Roger Hill, and three of Welles's friends, as well as the doctor who had signed Welles's death certificate. Welles's companion for the last 20 years, Oja Kodar, was not invited, nor were either of his ex-wives. Welles's ashes were taken to Ronda, Spain, where they were buried in an old well covered by flowers, within the rural property of a long-time friend, retired bullfighter Antonio Ordóñez.

 

Sources: Ed Stephan (IMDb), Wikipedia, and IMDb.

 

And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.

never runs out on me.

being thankful for that simple fact is enough to bring me joy.

 

learning, falling, failing, thanking, praising, regretting, wandering, losing, finding, crying, laughing. it's been an up and down week. but in the end, it all leads me to the Maker of it all.

 

i am happy to keep taking honest photographs, they are so real, they are my life. they turn moments into memories. this is one of them.

  

SN/NC: Syagrus romanzoffiana, Arecaceae Family

 

This is a palm with an identity crisis! A few decades ago the queen palm was assigned the name Cocos plumosa. During the late sixties and seventies most experts began referring to it as Arecastrum romanzoffianum. Now this queen has been placed in the genus Syagrus, the species name became romanzoffiana - hopefully Syagrus romanzoffiana will stick! The Queen palm is mostly found in Subtropical areas. It was once very popular as a garden tree; but in areas like Southern California where the climate is considerably dryer, it has since been taken over by other palms, such as Archontophoenix cunninghamiana, and other Archontophoenix as well, it is still the dominate pinnate palm, in places like Central Florida, where it thrives on the humidity, and tolerates the occasional 25 degree F. nights. Its fruit is edible to wildlife, often being sought after by birds. It was originally classified in the Coconut or Cocos genus, was moved to Arecastrum, then Syagrus. As a result of this, they often retain a previous name in retail trade. Usually called the "Cocos plumosa palm". (Palmpedia.net)

 

Esta é uma palmeira com crise de identidade! Há algumas décadas, a palmeira rainha recebeu o nome de Cocos plumosa. Durante o final dos anos sessenta e setenta, a maioria dos especialistas começou a referir-se a ele como Arecastrum romanzoffianum. Agora que esta rainha foi colocada no gênero Syagrus, o nome da espécie passou a ser romanzoffiana - espero que Syagrus romanzoffiana permaneça! A palmeira rainha é encontrada principalmente em áreas subtropicais. Já foi muito popular como árvore de jardim; mas em áreas como o sul da Califórnia, onde o clima é consideravelmente mais seco, desde então foi assumido por outras palmeiras, como Archontophoenix cunninghamiana, e outras Archontophoenix também, ainda é a palmeira pinada dominante, em lugares como a Flórida Central, onde é prospera com a umidade e tolera noites ocasionais de 25 graus F. Seu fruto é comestível para a vida selvagem, sendo frequentemente procurado por pássaros. Foi originalmente classificado no gênero Coco ou Cocos, foi transferido para Arecastrum, depois Syagrus. Como resultado disso, muitas vezes mantêm um nome anterior no comércio varejista. Geralmente chamada de "palmeira Cocos plumosa". (Palmpedia.net)

 

Dit is een palm met een identiteitscrisis! Enkele decennia geleden kreeg de koninginnenpalm de naam Cocos plumosa. Eind jaren zestig en zeventig begonnen de meeste experts het Arecastrum romanzoffianum te noemen. Nu deze koningin in het geslacht Syagrus is geplaatst, is de soortnaam romanzoffiana geworden - hopelijk blijft Syagrus romanzoffiana behouden! De Koninginnenpalm komt vooral voor in subtropische gebieden. Ooit was hij erg populair als tuinboom; maar in gebieden als Zuid-Californië, waar het klimaat aanzienlijk droger is, is het sindsdien overgenomen door andere palmen, zoals Archontophoenix cunninghamiana, en ook andere Archontophoenix. Het is nog steeds de dominante geveerde palm, in plaatsen als Centraal-Florida, waar hij voorkomt. gedijt op de luchtvochtigheid en tolereert af en toe nachten van 25 graden F. De vrucht is eetbaar voor dieren in het wild en wordt vaak gezocht door vogels. Het werd oorspronkelijk geclassificeerd in het geslacht Coconut of Cocos en werd verplaatst naar Arecastrum en vervolgens naar Syagrus. Als gevolg hiervan behouden ze vaak een oude naam in de detailhandel. Meestal de "Cocos plumosapalm" genoemd. (Palampedia.net)

 

Questa è una palma con una crisi d'identità! Alcuni decenni fa alla palma regina venne assegnato il nome Cocos plumosa. Tra la fine degli anni Sessanta e gli anni Settanta la maggior parte degli esperti cominciò a chiamarlo Arecastrum romanzoffianum. Ora questa regina è stata inserita nel genere Syagrus, il nome della specie è diventato romanzoffiana - speriamo che Syagrus romanzoffiana rimanga! La palma regina si trova principalmente nelle aree subtropicali. Un tempo era molto apprezzato come albero da giardino; ma in aree come la California meridionale, dove il clima è notevolmente più secco, da allora è stata sostituita da altre palme, come Archontophoenix cunninghamiana, e anche da altri Archontophoenix, è ancora la palma pennata dominante, in luoghi come la Florida centrale, dove è prospera sull'umidità e tollera le notti occasionali di 25 gradi F.. Il suo frutto è commestibile per la fauna selvatica, spesso ricercato dagli uccelli. Originariamente classificato nel genere Coconut o Cocos, fu spostato in Arecastrum, poi Syagrus. Di conseguenza, nel commercio al dettaglio spesso mantengono il nome precedente. Solitamente chiamata "palma Cocos plumosa". (Palmpedia.net)

 

Esta es una palma con una crisis de identidad! Hace unas décadas a la palmera reina se le asignó el nombre de Cocos plumosa. A finales de los años sesenta y setenta la mayoría de los expertos empezaron a referirse a él como Arecastrum romanzoffianum. Ahora que esta reina ha sido incluida en el género Syagrus, el nombre de la especie pasó a ser romanzoffiana. ¡Ojalá Syagrus romanzoffiana se mantenga! La palma reina se encuentra principalmente en zonas subtropicales. Alguna vez fue muy popular como árbol de jardín; pero en áreas como el sur de California, donde el clima es considerablemente más seco, desde entonces ha sido reemplazada por otras palmeras, como Archontophoenix cunninghamiana, y también otras Archontophoenix, sigue siendo la palmera pinnada dominante, en lugares como Florida central, donde prospera con la humedad y tolera noches ocasionales de 25 grados F. Su fruto es comestible para la vida silvestre y, a menudo, lo buscan las aves. Originalmente se clasificó en el género Coconut o Cocos, se trasladó a Arecastrum y luego a Syagrus. Por ello, en el comercio minorista suelen conservar su nombre anterior. Generalmente llamada "palma Cocos plumosa". (Palmpedia.net)

 

C'est un palmier en crise d'identité ! Il y a quelques décennies, le palmier royal a reçu le nom de Cocos plumosa. À la fin des années soixante et soixante-dix, la plupart des experts ont commencé à l'appeler Arecastrum romanzoffianum. Maintenant que cette reine a été placée dans le genre Syagrus, le nom de l'espèce est devenu romanzoffiana - j'espère que Syagrus romanzoffiana restera ! Le palmier royal se trouve principalement dans les zones subtropicales. Il était autrefois très populaire comme arbre de jardin ; mais dans des régions comme la Californie du Sud où le climat est considérablement plus sec, il a depuis été remplacé par d'autres palmiers, comme l'Archontophoenix cunninghamiana, et d'autres Archontophoenix également, il est toujours le palmier penné dominant, dans des endroits comme la Floride centrale, où il se développe grâce à l'humidité et tolère les nuits occasionnelles à 25 degrés F. Ses fruits sont comestibles pour la faune sauvage et sont souvent recherchés par les oiseaux. Classé à l'origine dans le genre Coconut ou Cocos, il a été déplacé vers Arecastrum, puis Syagrus. De ce fait, ils conservent souvent un ancien nom dans le commerce de détail. Généralement appelé « palmier Cocos plumosa ». (Palmpedia.net)

 

Dies ist eine Palme mit einer Identitätskrise! Vor einigen Jahrzehnten erhielt die Königinpalme den Namen Cocos plumosa. In den späten sechziger und siebziger Jahren begannen die meisten Experten, sie als Arecastrum romanzoffianum zu bezeichnen. Jetzt wurde diese Königin in die Gattung Syagrus eingeordnet, der Artname wurde romanzoffiana – hoffentlich bleibt Syagrus romanzoffiana bestehen! Die Königinpalme kommt hauptsächlich in subtropischen Gebieten vor. Einst war er als Gartenbaum sehr beliebt; Aber in Gegenden wie Südkalifornien, wo das Klima deutlich trockener ist, wurde sie inzwischen von anderen Palmen wie Archontophoenix cunninghamiana und anderen Archontophoenix-Palmen übernommen und ist immer noch die dominierende gefiederte Palme, beispielsweise in Zentralflorida lebt von der Luftfeuchtigkeit und verträgt gelegentliche 25-Grad-F-Nächte. Seine Früchte sind für Wildtiere essbar und werden oft von Vögeln gesucht. Es wurde ursprünglich in die Gattung Coconut oder Cocos eingeordnet, dann nach Arecastrum und dann nach Syagrus verschoben. Dadurch behalten sie im Einzelhandel häufig einen früheren Namen. Wird normalerweise als „Cocos plumosa-Palme“ bezeichnet. (Palmpedia.net)

 

これはアイデンティティクライシスを抱えたヤシです！ 数十年前、この女王ヤシにはココス・プルモーサという名前が付けられました。 60 年代後半から 70 年代にかけて、ほとんどの専門家がそれを Arecastrum romanzoffianum と呼び始めました。 現在、この女王は Syagrus 属に属し、種名は romanzoffiana になりました。Syagrus romanzoffiana が定着することを願っています。 クイーンヤシは主に亜熱帯地域で見られます。 かつては庭木として非常に人気がありました。 しかし、気候がかなり乾燥している南カリフォルニアのような地域では、その後、アルコントフェニックス・カニンガミアナや他のアルコントフェニックスなどの他のヤシに引き継がれていますが、中央フロリダのような場所では、依然として優勢な羽状ヤシです。 湿気で生育し、時折25℃の夜にも耐えます。 その果実は野生動物に食用とされ、鳥がそれを求めて訪れることもよくあります。 元々はココナッツ属またはココス属に分類されていましたが、アレカストルム、次にシャグルスに移されました。 この結果、小売業界では以前の名前が残ることがよくあります。 通常は「ココス・プルモサ・ヤシ」と呼ばれています。 (Palmpedia.net)

 

هذا كف يعاني من أزمة هوية! منذ بضعة عقود مضت، أُطلق على نخلة الملكة اسم كوكوس بلوموسا. خلال أواخر الستينيات والسبعينيات، بدأ معظم الخبراء يشيرون إليها باسم Arecastrum romanzoffianum. الآن تم وضع هذه الملكة في جنس Syagrus، وأصبح اسم النوع romanzoffiana - نأمل أن يظل Syagrus romanzoffiana موجودًا! تم العثور على نخلة الملكة في الغالب في المناطق شبه الاستوائية. كانت ذات يوم تحظى بشعبية كبيرة كشجرة حديقة؛ ولكن في مناطق مثل جنوب كاليفورنيا حيث يكون المناخ أكثر جفافًا إلى حد كبير، فقد تم الاستيلاء عليها منذ ذلك الحين من قبل أشجار النخيل الأخرى، مثل أرتشونتوفونيكس كننغهاميانا، وغيرها من أرتشونتوفونيكس أيضًا، ولا تزال هي النخلة المهيمنة، في أماكن مثل وسط فلوريدا، حيث يزدهر على الرطوبة ويتحمل أحيانًا 25 درجة فهرنهايت في الليل. ثمارها صالحة للأكل للحياة البرية، وغالبًا ما تبحث عنها الطيور. تم تصنيفها في الأصل ضمن جنس جوز الهند أو جوز الهند، وتم نقلها إلى Arecastrum، ثم Syagrus. ونتيجة لذلك، غالبا ما يحتفظون باسمهم السابق في تجارة التجزئة. يُطلق عليها عادةً اسم "نخيل

كوكوس بلوموسا". (بالمبيديا.نت)

  

SN/NC: Agapanthus Africanus, Fam. Amarylidaceae

 

The great majority is purple-blue. This one is a bit intermediate between white, purple and blue. Agapanthus /ˌæɡəˈpænθəs/ is the only genus in the subfamily Agapanthoideae of the flowering plant family Amaryllidaceae. The family is in the monocot order Asparagales. The name is derived from scientific Greek: αγάπη (agape) = love, άνθος (anthos) = flower.

Some species of Agapanthus are commonly known as lily of the Nile (or African lily in the UK), although they are not lilies and all of the species are native to Southern Africa (South Africa, Lesotho, Swaziland, Mozambique) though some have become naturalized in scattered places around the world (Australia, Great Britain, Mexico, Ethiopia, Jamaica, etc.) (Wikipedia)

 

A grande maioria é azul-roxo. Este é um pouco intermediário entre branco, roxo e azul. Agapanthus /יæəəəənφəs/ é o único gênero na subfamília Agapanthoideae da família de plantas em floração Amaryllidaceae. Algumas espécies de Agapanthus são comumente conhecidas como lírio do Nilo (ou lírio africano no Reino Unido), embora não sejam lírios e todas as espécies sejam nativas do sul da África. (Wikipedia)

 

De overgrote meerderheid is paarsblauw. Deze is een beetje intermediair tussen wit, paars en blauw. Agapanthus /ˌæɡəˈpænθəs/ is het enige geslacht in de onderfamilie Agapanthoideae van de bloeiende plantenfamilie (Amaryllidaceae). Sommige soorten Agapanthus zijn algemeen bekend als lelie van de Nijl (of Afrikaanse lelie in het Verenigd Koninkrijk), hoewel het geen lelies zijn en alle soorten inheems zijn in Zuidelijk Afrika. (Wikipedia)

 

La grande majorité est violet-bleu. Celui-ci est un peu intermédiaire entre le blanc, le violet et le bleu. Agapanthus /ˌæɡəˈpænθəs/ est le seul genre de la sous-famille des Agapanthoideae de la famille des Amaryllidaceae. Certaines espèces d’agapanthes sont communément connues sous le nom de lys du Nil (ou lys africain au Royaume-Uni), bien qu’elles ne soient pas des lys et que toutes les espèces soient originaires d’Afrique australe. (Wikipédia)

 

La gran mayoría es de color azul púrpura. Este es un poco intermedio entre blanco, púrpura y azul. Agapanthus /ˌæɡəˈpænθəs/ es el único género de la subfamilia Agapanthoideae de la familia Amaryllidaceae. Algunas especies de Agapanthus se conocen comúnmente como lirio del Nilo (o lirio africano en el Reino Unido), aunque no son lirios y todas las especies son nativas del sur de África. (Wikipedia)

 

La grande maggioranza è viola-blu. Questo è un po 'intermedio tra bianco, viola e blu. Agapanthus /ˌæɡəˈpænθəs/ è l'unico genere della sottofamiglia Agapanthoideae della famiglia delle Amaryllidaceae. Alcune specie di Agapanthus sono comunemente conosciute come giglio del Nilo (o giglio africano nel Regno Unito), anche se non sono gigli e tutte le specie sono originarie dell'Africa meridionale. (Wikipedia)

 

Die große Mehrheit ist lila-blau. Dieser ist ein bisschen zwischen Weiß, Lila und Blau. Agapanthus /ˌæɡəˈpænθəs/ ist die einzige Gattung in der Unterfamilie Agapanthoideae der Blütenpflanzenfamilie Amaryllidaceae. Einige Arten von Agapanthus sind allgemein als Lilie des Nils (oder afrikanische Lilie in Großbritannien) bekannt, obwohl sie keine Lilien sind und alle Arten im südlichen Afrika beheimatet sind. (Wikipedia)

 

大部分は紫がかった青です。これは白、紫、青の間の色です。アガパンサス /ˌæɡəˈpænθəs/ は、顕花植物科ヒガンバナ科のアガパンサス亜科の唯一の属です。アガパンサスの一部の種は一般にナイルユリ（英国ではアフリカユリ）として知られていますが、それらはユリではなく、すべての種がアフリカ南部原産です。 (ウィキペディア)

 

الغالبية العظمى من الأرجواني والأزرق. هذا هو واحد قليلا وسيطة بين الأبيض والأرجواني والأزرق. أغابانثوس / ˌæɡəˈpænθəs / هو الجنس الوحيد في Agapanthoideae subfamily من عائلة النبات المزهرة Amaryllidaceae. بعض أنواع أغابانثوس معروفة باسم زنبق النيل (أو زنبق الأفريقية في المملكة المتحدة)، على الرغم من أنها ليست الزنابق وجميع الأنواع هي أصلية في الجنوب الأفريقي. (ويكيبيديا)

Above is a low-light-level capture that was taken in almost complete darkness. It's absolutely amazing the low-light that your camera picks up...with almost nothing there! Just when you think it's over...wait another ten minutes, it might come back... It's never over until the Sandman says it's over ~ sunset afterglow ~ Florida Everglades U.S.A.

 

(five more photos of this night in the comments)

 

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Everglades

 

Time to chill out to the 'Smooth Jazz' sounds

of guitarist George Benson: "On Broadway"

www.youtube.com/watch?v=ok__l1Acuwg

This is the Peace Tower lit up with snowflakes for the Christmas Season. It's shot through the arches of the west entrance to the East Block building of Parliament.

 

Now that the holidays are here I'm hoping to be able to check out people's streams. Sorry for the long absence!

3-IS - Mirage 2000D - Escadron de chasse 01.003 Navarre - French Air Force - Mont-de-Marsan Air Base (LFBM) - VOLFA 16-2

Visite organized by the spotting association "Alf Aviation"

Instagram @paul_basque_photography

Zhouzhuang is China's oldest water town. It is the Venice of China (a description given to a number of towns). The ancient town, which has a history of more than 900 years, still retains the style and pattern of its ancient village. Zhouzhuang is surrounded and divided by lakes and rivers, 14 stone bridges cross the rivers, showing distinctive views of the water-town.

This is one of the views that you get to see on the trail to Ptarmigan Tunnel / Iceberg Lake in Glacier National Park

Priapus son aof Dionysus and Aphrodite. The goddess it is said, had yielded to the embraces of Dionysus, but during his expedition to India, she became faithless to him, and lived with Adonis. On Dionysus' return from India, she indeed went to meet him, but soon left him again, and went to Lampsacus on the Hellespont, to give birth to the child of the god. But Hera, dissatisfied with her conduct, touched her, and, by her magic power, caused Aphrodite to give birth to a child of extreme ugliness, and with unusually large genitals. According to other myths, Priapus was son of Dionysus and a Naiad.

He was regarded as the promoter of fertility both of the vegetation and of all animals connected with an agricultural life, and in this capacity he was worshipped as the protector of flocks of sheep and goats, of bees, the vine, all

garden-produce, and even of fishing.

Priapus' images of the god of fertility were mass produced in Roman times and considered to be symbols of good luck.

 

Source: Source: William Smith, “Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology”

 

Terracotta figurine

Roman period

Selçuk, TR, Ephesus-Museum

  

This structure is an interactive museum of science that resembles the skeleton of a whale. It occupies around 40,000 m² on three floors. The exhibits are designed more for 'entertainment value' than for science education. Much of the ground floor is taken up by a basketball court sponsored by a local team and various companies. The building is made up of three floors of which 26,000 square meters is used for exhibitions. The first floor has a view of the beautiful Turia Garden that surrounds it; which is over 13,500 square meters of water. The second floor hosts “The Legacy of Science” exhibition by the researchers; Santiago Ramón y Cajal, Severo Ochoa y Jean Dausset. The third floor has the “Chromosome Forest” which shows the sequencing of human DNA. Also on this floor is the “Zero Gravity,” the “Space Academy,” and “Marvel Superheroes” exhibitions.

Moc by Grubaluk

Agnes is in desperate need of a pedicure. The weather looks nice beyond the window but she knows it is deceptive. It is cold out there- too cold for sandals.

This is a digital painting produced from a photo of the Nativity Set in the Hyde Park Chapel Visitors' Centre on Exhibition Road, London.

 

View the Entire - Christmas Set

View the Entire - Digital Painting Set

View the entire London Set

View my - Most Interesting according to Flickr

Rab (Italian: Arbe, Latin: Arba) is a town (grad) on the island of Rab in Croatia. According to the 2011 census the total population of the town was 8,065, whereas only 437 lived in the titular settlement (naselje). Rab, the settlement, is located on a small peninsula on the southwestern side of the island.

 

The town has a long history that dates back to 360 BC when it was inhabited by the Illyrians. The island was the frontier between the regions of Liburnia and Dalmatia. From the third century BC to the sixth century AD Rab was part of the Roman Empire, and Emperor Augustus proclaimed it a municipium in 10 BC. It was the first town of Roman Dalmatia to be given the honorary title "felix".

 

Among the signatories of the Second Council of Nicea was a bishop of Rab, namely Ursus. (“Ursus episcopus Avaritianensium ecclesiae” Ursus of Rab)[3][4]

 

The worst disaster in the town's history was an outbreak of the plague in 1456 that decimated the city's population.

 

There are many churches in the town. The largest is St. Mary the Blessed, which was built in the 13th century. The church of St. Justine is now a museum of sacred arts, while the chapel of St. Christopher (dedicated to the patron saint of the island) is nowadays called the Lapidarium. The four church bell towers became the symbol of the town and island. The oldest dates back to the eleventh century.

 

Saint Marinus, the Christian founder of San Marino, was a native of Rab who is said to have fled the island under Diocletian's persecution in AD 301.

My self-portrait, taken with my new Canon S5 IS

Millennium Square. This is actually a mobile phone mast disguised as art. Chee Horng Chang, 1999. #Bristol

 

3 Likes on Instagram

  

This is Kirkhill Castle in the small village of Colmonell, in the Stinchar valley of south Ayrshire. Although long roofless, it still stands fairly complete to its wallhead, next to the more modern house that superseded it. There was nobody home when I visited, although I could hear the sounds of lawn mowing coming from the garden behind, so I took a couple of photos from the drive, which show most of what there is to see, and went on my way.

It is October 1942 and the location is Long Beach California USA and in an aircraft manufacturing plant a US Army Air Corps C-47 is under construction and it would be registered and No. 6021 and would later be allocated 41-18660 which was its US serial number.

Arriving at Archerfield (QLD) in January 1943 the C-47 was assigned to the Fifth Air Force which at time was operating in Australia.

With the war rapidly coming to an end it became obvious that a large number of aircraft would be surplus to needs and to counter this loss the Australian Government gained permission from the Far East Air Services Command to immediately release three aircraft and a further nine aircraft on conclusion of hostilities.

In June 1946 the three aircraft were officially transferred to the Department of Civil Aviation (DCA) from the newly formed Australian National Airline Commission (ANAC).

The now named “Hawdon” VH-AES flew the first passenger flight for Trans Australia Airlines (TAA) from Melbourne to Sydney on 9th September 1946 departing at 6.00am.

From September 1946 – June 1959 the “Hawdon” serviced TAA predominately in Queensland until 26th June 1959 when it was withdrawn from service.

Following an extensive restoration to flying condition and refurbishment the aircraft flew from Melbourne to Lae on 12th August 1960 to become the first TAA aircraft to fly to New Guinea.

It was whilst it was in New Guinea that the aircraft was given a new livery in Sunbird colours and a new registration VH-SBA.

On 7th June 1970 the aircraft was yet again withdrawn from service when in Brisbane between June 1971 – August 1971 it was again restored to flying condition.

The aircraft was flown to Melbourne on 9th September 1971 where it once again flew the Melbourne Sydney Melbourne route to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the inaugural flight.

On 19th July 1973 the aircraft was again withdrawn from service from Air Nuigini who were loaned the aircraft in October 1971.

The aircraft would remained parked at Melbourne Airport unceremoniously beside a fence until it was once again refurbished but this time it was used as a static display where it was suspended from an arch in the Melbourne Airport car park on 13th December 1979.

It would be removed on 29th April 1987 where it was once again parked against the fence.

Volunteers from Australian Airlines staff began to restore the aircraft to flying condition in January 1988 and on 9th September 1988 6 of the original 21 passengers from the original flight flew a commemorative flight celebrating the 42nd anniversary of the first flight.

Today the “Hawdon” is in its new and more permanent home at HARS located at Albion Park and it represents a fascinating insight into Australia’s aviation history.

Albion Park

New South Wales.

Australia.

 

Victoria amazonica is a species of flowering plant, the largest of the Nymphaeaceae family of water lilies.

 

The species has very large leaves, up to 3 m in diameter, that float on the water's surface on a submerged stalk, 7–8 m in length. The species was once called Victoria regia after Queen Victoria, but the name was superseded. V. amazonica is native to the shallow waters of the Amazon River basin, such as oxbow lakes and bayous. It is depicted in the Guyanese coat of arms. The flowers are white the first night they are open and become pink the second night. They are up to 40 cm in diameter, and are pollinated by beetles.

 

It is the largest waterlily in the world.

 

This image was taken near Manaus in Brazil

This is my very first ever sighting and shot of a wild otter. It was a total surprise, I did not expect to see one of these here.

There was still some thin ice on the surface of the lake and the otter was swimming in the open areas for a short while.

Norfolk Southern local freight P92 is curling southbound down the N Line, the old Yadkin Railroad, near about MP 8.5. This is between the towns of Granite Quarry and Rockwell near a former station known as Crescent.

 

NS 5808 is an EMD GP50 and is on home rails here having been built for the Southern in Nov 1980 with a high short hood. This is the former Yadkin Railway, a one time 41 mile route from Salilsbury to Norwood it was opened in 1891 having been financed by the Richmond and Danville Railway. As a subsidiary of that larger road it passed to the Southern in 1897 when the R&D became the core of the newly former Southern system. Though cut back over time to it's current 25 miles ending south of New London in Stanley County, NC the branch has remained in the SOU and now NS fold ever since.

 

In modern times its main source of revenue was the massive Alcoa Aluminum smelter accessed via the Badin branch diverging to the east at Halls Ferry Jct. Producing 115,000 metric tons of aluminum a year in its heyday the smelter stopped operating in 2002 and the entire plant was shuttered around 2010. But despite the loss of that traffic other customers have materialized on the branch and traffic has grown to the point that NS still maintains 5 day a week service and maintains the trackage to 25 MPH. But it still has that classic old school Class 1 branch line feel as it rolls over hill and dale and twists through small Carolina towns.

 

To learn more about this line check out this fabulous page: www.wvncrails.org/yadkin-railroad-southern-railway-albema...

 

Rowan County, North Carolina

Monday April 11, 2016

Hongkou is the northern part of central old Shanghai. There are some rather interesting old shanghai buildings from the early 20th century. Went out on a quiet holiday morning with the 8x10.

 

Chamonix Alpinist X 8x10

Nikkor SW 150mm f/8

Nikkor W 300mm f/5.6

Fomapan 100

Dev: Darkroom Master PYRO 1:100 10mins

This is my second Project 365 (taking a photo every day for the current calendar year). The last one I did was in 2013. This is a candid shot of my wife Carole slicing up roast beef for our New Year’s dinner. With the current COVID-19 restrictions in place, we were limited to a very small gathering of our children that are part of our household/bubble.

this is a vintage Rhino troop carrier tank in the colours of Uncle Nugles whorshippers at the time of posting for sale by me on the swedish auction site Tradera, just wanted to show some of the things I sell for you :)

 

selling my old toys :)

 

Peace and Noise!

~ The Vintner's Luck

Elizabeth Knox

This is the view towards the west end of the beach in Nice. Don't tell people who annoy you, but Nice is a really nice place.

 

Today the Hereios of the We're Here group are singing Bring Me Sunshine. (Sunset was about 21.15 so I was too late for that, but this view brought some metaphorical sunshine into my day.)