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Here is the family pic from early December of everyone with a body. (If you don't see one of our DD here it's because they are a floating head right now.) Even when I took this I knew it was already out of date, because there IS someone who also has a body, but she needs a faceup, custom eyes, and clothes before she's finished.
Front row (left to right):
Tamayuki (holding Dolly), Bree, Rainie, Ringo
Middle row (left to right):
Lucas, Ellie, Yukinohana (Hana), Naiomi, Gizella
Back row (right to left):
Ralph, Dakota, Sohi, Yuriko, Miku, Daisy
Skeppsholmen is one of the islands of Stockholm.
Positioned strategically at the Baltic Sea entrance to Stockholm, it has traditionally been the location of several military buildings.
Today the military presence is low and several museums can be found there instead, such as the Museum of Modern Art, the main modern art museum of Stockholm, the architectural museum, in the same building, and Östasiatiska Muséet (East-Asian museum). It is also home to the Teater Galeasen. On the southern shore is the old sailing ship af Chapman which is now used as a youth hostel. Stockholm Jazz Festival is a popular annual summer event held on Skeppsholmen.
I was out when the sky covered up with clouds after two long hard summer months. In India, rains are always a welcome sight.
Grand Cenote. Tulum, Mexico. Oct/2016
A cenote is a natural pit, or sinkhole, resulting from the collapse of limestone bedrock that exposes groundwater underneath. Especially associated with the Yucatán Peninsula of Mexico, cenotes were sometimes used by the ancient Maya for sacrificial offerings.
The term derives from a word used by the low-land Yucatec Maya — ts'onot — to refer to any location with accessible groundwater.[1][2] Cenotes are common geological forms in low latitude regions, particularly on islands, coastlines, and platforms with young post-Paleozoic limestones that have little soil development.
Cenotes are surface connections to subterranean water bodies.[3] While the best-known cenotes are large open water pools measuring tens of meters in diameter, such as those at Chichén Itzá in Mexico, the greatest number of cenotes are smaller sheltered sites and do not necessarily have any surface exposed water. The term cenote has also been used to describe similar karst features in other countries such as Cuba and Australia, in addition to the more generic term of sinkholes.
Cenote water is often very clear, as the water comes from rain water filtering slowly through the ground, and therefore contains very little suspended particulate matter. The groundwater flow rate within a cenote may be very slow. In many cases, cenotes are areas where sections of cave roof have collapsed revealing an underlying cave system, and the water flow rates may be much faster: up to 10 kilometers (6 mi) per day. Cenotes around the world attract cave divers who have documented extensive flooded cave systems through them, some of which have been explored for lengths of 100 km (62 mi) or more.
Source: Wikipedia
Um cenote é uma cavidade natural (algar) ou dolina resultado do impacto de um grande meteoro há 65.5 milhões de anos, evento que extinguiu os dinossauros da terra, fenômeno que deu origem às águas subterrâneas. Especialmente associado com a Península de Iucatã do México, os cenotes eram usados em alguns rituais de sacrifício da civilização Maia. O termo deriva de uma palavra utilizada pelos maias iucatecas das terras baixas, "Ts'onot" refere-se a qualquer local com águas subterrâneas acessíveis. Cenotes são formações geológicas comuns em regiões de baixas latitudes, particularmente em ilhas, regiões costeiras e plataformas com recentes formações calcárias pós-paleozóicas que têm pouco desenvolvimento do solo.
Cenotes são conexões entre a superfície e áreas alagadas subterrâneas.Enquanto os cenotes mais conhecidos são grandes piscinas medindo cerca de 10 metros de diâmetro, como as existentes em Chichén Itzá, o maior número de cenotes são pequenos locais abrigados e não necessariamente tem qualquer água de superfície exposta. O termo cenote também é empregado para descrever formações parecidas conhecidas como carste presentes em outros países como Cuba ou Austrália.
As águas dos cenotes geralmente são límpidas, porque esta provem de filtragem de água de chuva lentamente através do solo e, portanto, contém poucas partículas suspensas. A taxa de fluxo das água subterrânea dentro de um cenote podem ser muito lentas. Em diversos casos, cenotes são áreas onde se(c)ções do teto das cavernas cederam, revelando um sistema de cavernas subjacente e as taxas de fluxo podem ser muito mais rápidas, cerca de 10 km (6,21 mi) por dia. Cenotes ao redor do mundo atraem exploradores de cavernas, que documentaram extensos sistemas de cavernas inundadas através deles, alguns dos quais com cerca de 100 km (62,1 mi) de extensão ou mais.
Fonte: Wikipedia
Prilep is a city in the Western Macedonia, nicknamed "The city under Marko’s towers" (referring to the fortress). The city is the Macedonian tobacco capital. Prilep was the capital of the medieval kingdom of Kings Volkasin and Marko which explains the large number of churches and monasteries in and around the city.
Prilep has small, pleasant and well maintained bazaar with orthogonal streets. Of interest are the Clock tower (the most beautiful one in Macedonia) built in 1858 and Carshi Mosque built in 1475, the only one in Europe with two balconies on its minaret (awaiting restoration).
Castle Beach Fire Department is proud to present the brand new Hazmat 1. Built on a 2017 Spartan Gladiator cab with SVI bodywork, this rig was delivered on May 6, 2017 and replaces the 2016 Seagrave Marauder II Hazmat rig that was totaled in an accident. As the role of the Hazardous Materials Team evolves, so did the apparatus. Differences in the new rig as compared to the previous Seagrave include the addition of a slide-out compartment, which added space for command personnel. While it appears that the rig has less compartmentation than the previous rig, the rig contains the same amount of equipment and still has extra space for new technologies, thanks to the awesome work of the manufacturer! This apparatus can serve multiple roles on the scene such as a command center, rehab area, mobile laboratory, and a changing area.
Technical specs:
2017 Spartan Gladiator 24" raised roof/SVI Hazmat
Code 3 Lighting
Federal Signal Q2B Siren
Motorola Spectra Siren
Grover Air horns
NightScan PowerLite
Radios and command equipment
Detection cameras (heat sensitive, infrared)
Wilburt Telescoping Pneumatic Mast
Pelco Command Camera System
Climatronics Tecmet II weather station
Battery operated Holmatro extraction tools
Vanair Pro Air Compressor
Harrison On-Board generator
Flow Sciences model FS2009 bench hood
Gas Chromatography/Mass Spectrometer
Extensive library of MSDS handbooks
CO monitors
Level A and B entry suits
Testing equipment and meters
60 minute air bottles
Leak and spill kits for chlorine and other dangerous chemicals
Sparkless power-tools
Decontamination equipment
Oil Absorbents
Recovery drums
Emulsifiers
Immersion suits
Credit:
Zak O for the compartments
Spartan ERV and SVI for inspiration
Inspired by:
LAFD USAR 88, 2017 Pierce Arrow XT
Elizabeth, NJ FD Rescue 1
Houston, TX Rescue 10
Denver HAMER 1
Seattle Hazmat 1
FDNY Hazmat 1
Hope everyone is doing good and enjoying rainy and cloudy skies...can't remember when i saw a decent sunrise or sunset in Miami. This is a view from my new balcony. can not complain :)
have a wonderful day my friend
To view more of my photos click below
The Berlaymont is an office building in Brussels, Belgium that houses the headquarters of the European Commission, which is the executive of the European Union (EU). The structure is located at Schuman roundabout at 200 Rue de la Loi, in what is known as the "European district". The building has housed the European Commission since its construction, and has become a symbol of the Commission (its name becoming a metonym for the Commission) and the European presence in Brussels. The Commission itself is spread over some 60 odd buildings, but the Berlaymont is the institution's headquarters, being the seat of the President of the European Commission and its College of Commissioners. Read more here: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berlaymont_building
Odeceixe is a civil parish in the northern part of the municipality Aljezur, in the Portuguese Algarve, lying within the Nature Park of the Southwest Alentejo and Vincentine Coast.
The parish of Odeceixe is situated on the steeply inclined topography that divides the Algrave and Alentejo regions; the south bank of the Ribeira de Seixe which runs through this parish is the dividing line for this frontier.
The parish includes Praia do Odeceixe at the mouth of the Ribera de Seixe. This has one of the few official naturist beaches in Portugal.
The parish is bordered in the north by São Teotónio, east by Marmelete and south by Rogil, while to the west is the Atlantic Ocean.
(Wikipedia)
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We made a short stop in Odeceixe during our journey from Sagres to Lisbon - it is a peaceful place with a fine beach and nice views from nearby hills.
is exactly what it looks like.
makes the term "bible belt" seem a lot less ridiculous, no? hope everyone is having a good weekend, considering.
Landsort is a Swedish village with a lighthouse on the island of Öja. It is the southernmost point of the Stockholm archipelago.
The island has had a pilot station from the 16th century onwards, first in the northern end of Öja, when ships generally used the inner waterway, but later in Landsort after larger ships began using the outer waterway. Pilot ships are still stationed in Landsort, but the pilots have moved inland and go by taxi to wherever they are needed.
During World War II and the Cold War, Landsort was a military base for the Swedish coastal artillery.
In the 1960s a pilot lookout tower was built, a building of c. 25 m, which contributes to the silhouette of the island. The pilot station was largely abandoned in the late 1980s, and the tower is now used as a public lookout tower and a youth hostel.
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Landsort är en by med en fyr på ön Öja söder om Torö i Torö socken i Nynäshamns kommun och i Stockholms södra skärgård. Landsort förekommer även som namn på hela ön. Den är smal och långsträckt, cirka 700 meter bred och fem kilometer lång. Dess norra delar har täta skogsområden med buskmarker. I södra delen ligger Landsorts by.
Redan i Nordens första segelbeskrivning från 1200-talet finns platsen omnämnd som Landsort och Båken. Landsort var i begynnelsen ett säsongsfiskeläge som i skrift står omnämnt 1644. På Öja har huvuddelen av befolkningen annars inte direkt varit fiskare, utan lotsar, fyrtjänstemän, tullare och telegrafister. De flesta yrkesarbetande har haft statlig tjänst. Statliga verksamheter har kontinuerligt bedrivits på Öja alltsedan 1600-talet och den militära verksamheten är den sista.
En lotsplats låg redan under 1500-talet på öns norra del där Stockholms inomskärsled tog sin början. När allt större fartyg togs i bruk i slutet på 1800-talet omlades farleden, vilket medförde att lotsarnas bostäder och verksamhet flyttade ner till Landsort. Naturliga hamnbassänger finns på både östra och västra sidan, däremellan löper en sänka på vars sidor bebyggelsen ligger grupperad. Här finns äldre knuttimrade stugor och en mångfald av bryggor, uthus och bodar. Söder om bykärnan finns modernare bostäder. Ett enkelt träkapell som är skänkt av Helge Ax:son Johnson 1939 står norr om byn.
På Landsort byggdes i slutet på 1960-talet en lotsutkik, ett torn på cirka 25 meter, som tillsammans med fyren präglar Öjas silhuett. Lotsen lades ner i slutet på 1980-talet och lotsutkiken används numera som utsiktstorn och vandrarhem. Landsort används fortfarande som angöring för fartyg som behöver lots och därför finns en mindre station med lots på ön.
Källa: Wikipedia
The Como-Harriet Streetcar Line in Minneapolis is planning to open for the 2021 season. This is their oldest streetcar, TCRT #1300, out on a test run.
This is not a commercial for the shoes! to be honest I don't know what it is but I like it! :)
(my mother would say on this pics .. "dear you have cut her head! Discard!")
Finnieston, Glasgow.
At 127m (417 ft) tall, the Glasgow Tower is currently the tallest tower in Scotland. It holds a Guinness World Record for being the tallest tower in the world in which the whole structure is capable of rotating 360 degrees. The whole structure rests upon a 65cm (26 in) diameter thrust bearing, and is connected to its foundations by two concentric rings and shock absorbers, whilst the thrust bearing rests in a 15m (50 ft) deep caisson; this is designed to allow it to rotate under computer control to face into the wind.
The tower, previously known as the Millennium Tower, was the winning design in an international competition to design a tower for the city centre of Glasgow. The original architectural design was by the architect Richard Horden, with engineering design by Buro Happold, but after commissioning the project was taken over by the Glasgow architects BDP. In the end the tower cost £10 million. Glasgow Council successfully sued contractors Carillion over the quality of the work.
This image is a deep field of galaxies captured while Hubble was making observations of massive galaxy cluster Abell 2744 (not shown). As the Abell cluster was being photographed with Hubble's Wide Field Camera 3, the telescope's Advanced Camera for Surveys stayed trained on this nearby section of sky to create a bonus, parallel deep field image. Afterward, the instrument positions flipped, with the Wide Field Camera 3 observing the parallel field and the Advanced Camera for surveys observing the cluster. These combined observations provided a wealth of information for astronomers.
In this field, Hubble resolved roughly 10,000 galaxies in visible light, most of which are randomly scattered galaxies. The blue galaxies are distant star-forming galaxies seen from up to 8 billion years ago; the handful of larger, red galaxies reside in the outskirts of the Abell 2744 cluster.
This parallel field was captured as part of Hubble's Frontier Fields project, which used the combined power of "gravitational lenses" and Hubble's ability to create long-exposure deep field images to see galaxies that would normally be far beyond the reach of telescopes.
Credit: NASA, ESA, and J. Lotz, M. Mountain, A. Koekemoer, and the HFF Team (STScI)
For more information, visit: hubblesite.org/contents/news-releases/2014/news-2014-01.html
This is the first time I’ve seen the I-80 Yolo bypass completely dry. This drought is pretty serious
Dress, Peter Som for Kohl’s. Shoes, Seychelles. Sunglasses, Girlprops. Earrings and belt, thrifted. Bag, Walgreen’s. Bracelet, Charming Charlie.
This heat is pretty serious, too. I'm struggling to find appropriate, yet cool, outfits each day. (And also gaining a new appreciation for my sales calls in Suisun City, where the temps are a good 10 degrees cooler than Sacramento.)
Barbie and friends escaped to a Tropical Paradise for the Summer...an old pic I took couple of years back..I need to come up with a new Summer scene!!
This picture is #14 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.
Usually, when walking down the street, I have only a spilt of a second to decide whether I want to photograph a person or not. It was raining that day so I had even less time. Jens was carrying two huge packs of toilet paper on his trolley. I think I scared him a bit with my proposal, but still he was nice enough to agree. Then I asked him to write down his name because more often than not I cannot spell the person's name. He was even more surprised, apparently 'Jens' is a typical Austrian name, but hey - I'm not from Austria.
My Instagram
My blog
Explored.
Potters shop at Saidpur village, Islamabad - Pakistan.
These old cultural and traditional pottery is still very much in use and demand in modern times.
Pasadena is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the population of Pasadena was 137,122, making it the 180th-largest city in the United States, down from 168th place in 2009. Pasadena is the ninth-largest city in Los Angeles County. Pasadena was incorporated on June 19, 1886, becoming the fourth city to be incorporated in Los Angeles County, after Los Angeles (April 4, 1850), Anaheim (February 10, 1870) and Santa Ana (June 1, 1886); the latter two moved to Orange County after its separation from Los Angeles County in 1889. It is one of the primary cultural centers of the San Gabriel Valley.
The city is known for hosting the annual Rose Bowl football game and Tournament of Roses Parade. In addition, Pasadena is also home to many scientific and cultural institutions, including the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Fuller Theological Seminary, Art Center College of Design, the Pasadena Playhouse, the Norton Simon Museum of Art and the Pacific Asia Museum.
The original inhabitants of Pasadena and surrounding areas were members of the Native American Hahamog-na tribe, a branch of the Tongva Nation. They spoke the Tongva language (part of the Uto-Aztecan languages group) that lived in the Los Angeles Basin for thousands of years. Tongva dwellings lined the Arroyo Seco (Los Angeles County) in present day Pasadena and south to where it joins the Los Angeles River and along other natural waterways in the city.
They traded for ocean fish with the coastal Tongva. They made cooking vessels from steatite soapstone from Catalina Island. The oldest transportation route still in existence in Pasadena is the old Tongva foot trail, also known as the Gabrielino Trail, that goes along the west side of the Rose Bowl and up the Arroyo Seco past the Jet Propulsion Laboratory into the San Gabriel Mountains. That trail has been in continuous use for thousands of years. An arm of the trail is also still in use up what is now called Salvia Canyon. When the Spanish occupied the Los Angeles Basin they built the San Gabriel Mission and renamed the local Tongva people "Gabrielino Indians," after the name of the mission. Today, several bands of Tongva people live in the Los Angeles area.
Pasadena is a part of the original Mexican land grant named Rancho del Rincon de San Pascual, so named because it was deeded on Easter Sunday to Eulalia Perez de Guillén Mariné of Mission San Gabriel Arcángel. The Rancho comprised the lands of today's communities of Pasadena, Altadena and South Pasadena.
The popularity of the region drew people from across the country, and Pasadena eventually became a stop on the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway, which led to an explosion in growth. From the real estate boom of the 1880s until the Great Depression, as great tourist hotels were developed in the city, Pasadena became a winter resort for wealthy Easterners, spurring the development of new neighborhoods and business districts, and increased road and transit connections with Los Angeles, culminating with the opening of the Arroyo Seco Parkway, California's first freeway. By 1940, Pasadena had become the eighth largest city in California and was considered by many to be a twin city to Los Angeles.
The American Craftsman era in art and design is exceptionally well represented in Pasadena. In architecture Greene and Greene, the Green Brothers firm, developed the style with many residences still existing. Two examples of their Ultimate bungalow versions are the masterpiece Gamble House (public tours), and the Robert R. Blacker House (private).
The Second World War proved to be a boom to Pasadena as Southern California became a major staging area for the Pacific War. High tech manufacturing and scientific companies made the city their home, a trend which continued in the decades following the war, notably with NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Tetra Tech and Ameron International.
In the 1950s, Pasadena saw a steady influx of people from the Southern United States, especially African-Americans from Texas and Louisiana. Pasadena also began hosting a large immigrant community, particularly from Guatemala, El Salvador, and Armenia.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pasadena,_California
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Text_of_Creative_Commons_...
This is an out-take from my first time on stage with my lovely duet partner, 12-year old Miss Kate. She's preparing her audition for Annie - so wish her oodles of good luck! I know she could be a fantastic Annie. Although I'm not auditioning for the part of Sandy, Annie's dog, I'm definitely keen to follow my queues. Maybe one day Kate and I will perform "I'd Do Anything For You," as surely I'd do anything for sweet Miss Kate. Thank you Miss Kate!!!
love you always,
Miss Vivi
This is Pullman Yard, an old freight train warehouse that is now locked down and inaccessible. That being said, it seems to be frequented by graffiti artists, druggies, the random photographer, movie crews, and odd couples on odd dates... Hit it up with a fellow Flickr buddy one Saturday afternoon. I left the entrance permit at home but I swear I had it...
It is funny how even the most manufactured artificial place can get retaken by nature if you just give it time. This is all still indoors, but this warehouse is now owned by the graffiti artists and plants.
Life is beautiful
But it's complicated
We barely make it
We don't need
To understand
There are miracles
Miracles
All Rights Reserved © Danni-Bear ♥
lMAGES MAY NOT BE COPIED, DOWNLOADED, OR USED IN ANY WAY.
This is one of the ways I keep my legs toned so that they look good and have that sensuous and feminine curvature!
This is an ensemble I got from Newport News a while back during their seamless spandex phase. Its a wonderfully tight and clingy matching set that I've embellished with a stretch belt, seamless panty hose, scrunch socks and my workout shoes. I hope you like my purple outfit and the way it clings to my curves!
To see more pix of me in other tight, sexy and revealing outfits click this link:
www.flickr.com/photos/kaceycdpix/sets/72157623668202157/
DSC_7140-35
This is the quite large central area, once enclosed by the wall of enceinte, which ran along the edge of the bank where I am standing. The Spey loops around below the bank that starts at the left side of the photo; passes just beyond the dead tree in the centre of the photo, but well this side of the distant hill; and then round below the right side of the photo. This area, although wilderness, is known to have been partially cultivated and used for cattle grazing, with the result that any signs of castle buildings (which would probably have been of timber construction) within the enceinte (above ground level at least) have been erased.
Drumbarrow is in Fife and we know that George Leslie of Drumbarrow (aka Dunberach) was sent north by his father to be captain of his castle of Rothes - now in not much better shape than this. The earl would have needed a reliable man for this job because he would have spent little if any time in these wild and heathen parts himself, being so far from the centres of power and politics.
The 1st Earl of Rothes was married three times. His son and heir, born to his 2nd wife, Andrew Master of Rothes, died 12 years before his father, leaving (besides his own children) a lot of sisters and one brother - and one illegitimate brother - George of Drumbarrow. With a shortage of sons, the Earl, as was quite common in those days, made best use of whatever sons he had, regardless of 'which side of the blanket' they came from!
There is an entry in the Register of the Secret Seal, that a precept of legitimation was issued to "Georgii Leslie, bastardi, filii naturalis Georgii Leslie de Akinwa" on 22 July 1584. I thought on reading it that the George being legitimated was George 1st of Aikenway, but it isn't, it is his son.
366 2024 - The Future is Now - Day 80 March 20 - This junk store in town is really fun to wonder through!
Here it is! My Corvette got the much needed refit. It now matches the 1942 period better.
What has been fixed, you're wondering? Several things:
-The camouflage now resembles the Western Approaches Pattern applied on escort vessels in service in the North Atlantic in 1942
- The armament has been updated with the addition of the Hedgehog rocket launcher, rebuilt depth charges racks and added side depth charges dischargers, addition of a Pom Pom 2pdr. in the Tub, 20mm Oerlikons both sides of the bridge
- Added details on the rear deck (door, access ladder, hatch, vents and winch), on the bridge ( rebuilt ASDIC hut and added voice pipes) and others
- Rebuilt aft section with a better curvature and more realistic depth charge racks
- Added Life boats and Baley rafts
And I'll let you find out the rest ;)
Sorry for this massive description, and I hope you like and leave a comment. :D
Diwali is one of the biggest festival of Hindus, celebrated with great enthusiasm and happiness in India. The festival is celebrated for five continuous days, where the third days is celebrated as the main Diwali festival or 'Festival of lights'. Different colorful varieties of fireworks are always associated with this festival. On this auspicious day, people light up diyas and candles all around their house. They perform Laxmi Puja in the evening and seek divine blessings of Goddess of Wealth. The festival od Diwali is never complete without exchange of gifts. People present diwali gifts to all near and dear ones.
During Diwali, Goddess Lakshmi is believed to visit homes that are well lit, so families decorate their homes. People wear their best clothes or buy new ones, children are given presents and new year greetings are exchanged through visits or Diwali cards. Thus, a Rangoli design is created on doorsteps to welcome everybody. Rangoli exudes a pattern in color that are specific for each region.
During Diwali, in the art of floor painting, the central rangoli design is the symbolic one denoting the deity or the theme. Motifs generally created are lotus, fish, birds, snakes etc. which reflects the unity of man and beast. Most of the rangoli designs are circular exuding a sense of endlessness of time. Celestial symbols such as the sun, moon and other zodiac signs are also common themes for rangoli. Layered with symbolism is the lotus denoting Goddess Lakshmi, the unfolding of life, the heart or the wheel.
© Jerry T Patterson - All Rights Reserved Worldwide In Perpetuity - No Unauthorized Use. Absolutely no permission is granted in any form, fashion or way, digital or otherwise, to use my Flickr images on blogs, personal or professional websites or any other media form without my direct written permission.
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2020 Workshop Cancellations
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As much as we love our photography adventures, given the terrible Coronavirus that's affecting so many today, a few of whom I personally know in my hometown of Culpeper, VA, I have cancelled two of my spring photography workshops. It just has to be done.
The first is the workshop in the Outer Banks of North Carolina (OBX) I had ready to go for April and the second in May on Jekyll Island and surrounding areas.
In this collage starting at the top and going left to right, you see five images from the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Starting with the first tree on the beach at the right end of the middle row, you have images taken from Jekyll Island.
2021 Workshops
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01. Outer Banks of North Carolina - March 8 - 11
02. Arches Nat'l Park (ANP), Utah - March 14 - 17
03. Jekyll Island, GA - April 7 - 10
04. ANP, UT & Monument Valley - April 13 - 16
05. Grand Teton Nat'l Park, WY - July 11 - 14
06. Grand Teton Nat'l Park, WY - Oct. 1 - 4
07. Northern Scotland: Isle of Skye - Mid-October
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If you are on Facebook, you may see Jenny's work here: www.facebook.com/JennyCameronPhotog?fref=hovercard&hc...
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You may also find me at: .. 500px || 72dpi || facebook || Instagram
Thanks for stopping by.
*from my "post cards from the front" prjoject:
"For the first time that I saw "post cards from the front" was as a eight year old while going to German grade school in Prague, Bohemia.
Our new substitute teacher, Mr. Otto Funk was a first world war veteran and a "ardent Nazi"
Mr. Funk did not care for rabbits, canaries or goldfish as some of our previous teachers encouraged us to bring and talk about.
With Mr. Funk it was all about war!
Wednesdays was "Show and Tell" day and it consisted of "sharing" photographs of relatives, friends, neighbors who fought at the front "in a life and death struggle for the survival of our race"
Most photographs brought by the children did not look like anyone was fighting, they were quite ordinary snapshots of smiling civilians,soldiers and officers posing in front of some destroyed village or building. Some of the pictures showed prisoners; girls thought they looked like they were crying, we thought they were also smiling and happy not to have to fight anymore; they all looked dirty and wore rags.
We were told they were bad people who killed "our brave soldiers"
"They were bandits"
The most interesting photographs were those of "our soldiers and officers" wearing woman's fur coats, sweaters and gunny sacks wrapped around their boots.
I still remember one soldier posing with his hands in a fur muff, exactly like the one my mother owned and my sister gave away to the "winter relief" people when they came to our house collecting winter cloth for "our stranded troops".
Another time we celebrated "Memorial Day" a special remembrance day for those relatives who gave their lives for "our country'
We were all told that they were all heroes now resting in a special place called Valhalla reserved for them by "our all mighty " for heroes./ we never found out if the reference was made to God or "our Fuhrer"
We actually envied some of the kids who lost their fathers and brothers; many were simply reported as "missing"
The "Memorial Day" pictures were mounted on black cardboard and posted on the bulletin board, and were framed in black bunting and ribbons made in our class.
It was about that time that my father confided to me that my mother was of "Jewish background" and therefore arrested earlier and that he too would be "send away" to do "voluntary" work for the "war effort"
I was not to worry about them and that they would be well taken care off untill the end of the war.
I wondered weather they would be living in tents and cooking outdoors, it all sounded like fun!
I was to obey my older sister who was in the service and worked for an important person at the Hradcin castle, which was also the home of "our protector for Bohemia" Hermann Frank.
Before he was picked up by service men, He told me that I was old enough to to know the difference between life and death, and that I must swear to him, that under no circumstance ever to tell, even under "duress" that my mother was Jewish. /my mother was picked up the previous week while I was at school/
It was all very confusing, for the jews that we were shown pictures of in school did not look like my mother, they looked more like monsters with big noses and Mr. Funk referred to them as vermin.
From than on I dreaded wednesdays "Show and Tell" for I had no "post cards from the front" to show and nothing to tell, for the places my parents went, postcards were not send; from than on I lived in constant fear of being "discovered"
After the war we were reunited and soon after emigrated to Latin America to start a new life.
We all tried desperately to "forget" the horrors of the war; my mother, coming from a large family lost every one except herself and two brothers who also survived, the rest, all thirty eight members, woman and children, all were murdered in the gas chambers.
Somehow life went on, my mother painted portraits of American soldiers on sidewalks, my father repaired and later made stained glass windows while I apprenticed to become a jeweler, the war was "forgotten".
It was in 1956, deep in the jungles of Panama in the province of "Bocas del Toro", as if by some black magic, I found my self back in grade school, it was wednesday and it was "Show and Tell" time.
We spoke German, photos were pulled from musty shoe boxes and a photo album was pulled with the hand written title in Gothic "Achtung, Kamera, Aktion!"
That title, the cicumstance, the place and above all the images with their rather sarcastic, vulgar captions are as vivid in my memory as the murder of my mother's family and form the inspiration for my "Post cards from the front" project."
ps
above excerpt, shortened version to my introduction for my illustrated book of same title.
*In 1985 I held an exhibit of paintings titled: "Doctors of Death" at the Texas state University in San Marcos, Texas; I was asked to write a statement:
"As a child I grew up in a world dominated by the cruel and corrupt. Outwardly I have wiped this period of my life out. Still, my paintings must be the result of these experiences.
I am vaguely familiar with the process, which is entirely subconscious, activated on sleepless nights and seems as if guided by someone else. The experience is mostly painful, so I could hardly call it a hobby.
I have tried not to paint, which is even more painful.
It is entirely possible that some of us are so maddened by what happened, that we find ourselves forced to re-enact the same bloody horror over and over again; similarly as to a murder driven to the scene of his crime.
I consider my work an important find in Men's dark history and forms the links to a giant puzzle, ultimately to the truth." Stefan Krikl, September 25, 1985. p.s. the statement, at that time was in reference to that and the "Post cards from the front" project that followed.
The statement does not apply to the many other projects I have been involved with, even thou most are linked in some way to my childhood.
*after a lecture that was held at the University I received a call from a stranger who was an American officer who "liberated" Buchenwald concentration camp and who was in possession of a "murder kit" and some other Nazi "art" found on the premisses, since he had no use of any of it, he suggested I create some "still life" scenes, I was intrigued and consented the offer even thou I have never done still lives of anything, nor had the desire to do so.
Upon receipt of the parcel, to my dismay, there was an empty canister of Zyclon B, with instruction on how to use it .
It is one thing to read about it , quite another to actually hold it knowing that a can such as the one I was holding contained enough pellets to kill one hundred adults; an additional sixty two people besides the thirty eight members of my mother's immediate family who were murdered that way; she and her two brothers were the sole survivors.
The still life above was created when one of the containers in my outdoor studio fell on a open can of freshly mixed red paint, spilling the paint, the can and the "death kit"
Headland is a civil parish in the Borough of Hartlepool, County Durham, England. The parish covers the old part of Hartlepool and nearby villages.
History
The Heugh Battery, one of three constructed to protect the port of Hartlepool in 1860, is located in the area along with a museum.
The area made national headlines in July 1994 in connection with the murder of Rosie Palmer, a local toddler.
On 19 March 2002 the Time Team searched for an Anglo-Saxon monastery.
Dominating the skyline is the impressive architectural structure that is St Hilda’s Church. Remnant of Hartlepool’s Saxon heritage and undoubtedly the crowning glory of the Headland, this church is a must-see attraction. After her stay in Hartlepool, the Abbess of the church progressed along the coast to Whitby and this spiritual journey can be explored through ‘The Way of St Hild’ walking trail.
A great way to explore the historic Headland is by finding and following the Headland Story Trail. The trail features 18 different information boards, each telling a story of the areas fascinating heritage from tales of shipwreck to the legend of the Hartlepool monkey. A truly interactive and fun walking experience!
Other landmarks of note include the impressive Town Wall, dating from the 14th century. This grade I listed, scheduled ancient monument still guards the Headland, and was originally built to keep out the twin threats of raiding Scots and the rigours of the North Sea.
The Borough Hall is another striking building and dates back to 1865. This gorgeous entertainment venue hosts an action-packed events programme so be sure to keep an eye out for all upcoming events here.
Dive into the town’s military history at The Heugh Battery Museum – this restored coastal defence battery protected the town throughout both World Wars. An enchanting historical sight with the original barrack room, underground magazines, coastal artillery and observation tower, the exhibits tell the story of those who lost their lives and the brave men who defended the area. Refresh with a light bite or sweet treat at the Poppy Café, located within the museum.
Visit the Headland War Memorial to see the magnificent ‘Winged Victory’ – a stunning statue that tributes those who lost their lives during the two world wars.
At the very north of the Headland you will find Spion Kop Cemetery – this historic cemetery supports a species-rich dune grassland and offers fantastic views of the coastline.
Every summer Headland Carnival attracts lively visitors to the area. Packed with thrilling rides, amusing games and live entertainment this week of jam-packed fun is great for all the family.
Hartlepool is a seaside and port town in County Durham, England. It is governed by a unitary authority borough named after the town. The borough is part of the devolved Tees Valley area. With an estimated population of 87,995, it is the second-largest settlement (after Darlington) in County Durham.
The old town was founded in the 7th century, around the monastery of Hartlepool Abbey on a headland. As the village grew into a town in the Middle Ages, its harbour served as the County Palatine of Durham's official port. The new town of West Hartlepool was created in 1835 after a new port was built and railway links from the South Durham coal fields (to the west) and from Stockton-on-Tees (to the south) were created. A parliamentary constituency covering both the old town and West Hartlepool was created in 1867 called The Hartlepools. The two towns were formally merged into a single borough called Hartlepool in 1967. Following the merger, the name of the constituency was changed from The Hartlepools to just Hartlepool in 1974. The modern town centre and main railway station are both at what was West Hartlepool; the old town is now generally known as the Headland.
Industrialisation in northern England and the start of a shipbuilding industry in the later part of the 19th century meant it was a target for the Imperial German Navy at the beginning of the First World War. A bombardment of 1,150 shells on 16 December 1914 resulted in the death of 117 people in the town. A severe decline in heavy industries and shipbuilding following the Second World War caused periods of high unemployment until the 1990s when major investment projects and the redevelopment of the docks area into a marina saw a rise in the town's prospects. The town also has a seaside resort called Seaton Carew.
History
The place name derives from Old English heort ("hart"), referring to stags seen, and pōl (pool), a pool of drinking water which they were known to use. Records of the place-name from early sources confirm this:
649: Heretu, or Hereteu.
1017: Herterpol, or Hertelpolle.
1182: Hierdepol.
Town on the heugh
A Northumbrian settlement developed in the 7th century around an abbey founded in 640 by Saint Aidan (an Irish and Christian priest) upon a headland overlooking a natural harbour and the North Sea. The monastery became powerful under St Hilda, who served as its abbess from 649 to 657. The 8th-century Northumbrian chronicler Bede referred to the spot on which today's town is sited as "the place where deer come to drink", and in this period the Headland was named by the Angles as Heruteu (Stag Island). Archaeological evidence has been found below the current high tide mark that indicates that an ancient post-glacial forest by the sea existed in the area at the time.
The Abbey fell into decline in the early 8th century, and it was probably destroyed during a sea raid by Vikings on the settlement in the 9th century. In March 2000, the archaeological investigation television programme Time Team located the foundations of the lost monastery in the grounds of St Hilda's Church. In the early 11th century, the name had evolved into Herterpol.
Hartness
Normans and for centuries known as the Jewel of Herterpol.
During the Norman Conquest, the De Brus family gained over-lordship of the land surrounding Hartlepool. William the Conqueror subsequently ordered the construction of Durham Castle, and the villages under their rule were mentioned in records in 1153 when Robert de Brus, 1st Lord of Annandale became Lord of Hartness. The town's first charter was received before 1185, for which it gained its first mayor, an annual two-week fair and a weekly market. The Norman Conquest affected the settlement's name to form the Middle English Hart-le-pool ("The Pool of the Stags").
By the Middle Ages, Hartlepool was growing into an important (though still small) market town. One of the reasons for its escalating wealth was that its harbour was serving as the official port of the County Palatine of Durham. The main industry of the town at this time was fishing, and Hartlepool in this period established itself as one of the primary ports upon England's Eastern coast.
In 1306, Robert the Bruce was crowned King of Scotland, and became the last Lord of Hartness. Angered, King Edward I confiscated the title to Hartlepool, and began to improve the town's military defences in expectation of war. In 1315, before they were completed, a Scottish army under Sir James Douglas attacked, captured and looted the town.
In the late 15th century, a pier was constructed to assist in the harbour's workload.
Garrison
Hartlepool was once again militarily occupied by a Scottish incursion, this time in alliance with the Parliamentary Army during the English Civil War, which after 18 months was relieved by an English Parliamentarian garrison.
In 1795, Hartlepool artillery emplacements and defences were constructed in the town as a defensive measure against the threat of French attack from seaborne Napoleonic forces. During the Crimean War, two coastal batteries were constructed close together in the town to guard against the threat of seaborne attacks from the Imperial Russian Navy. They were entitled the Lighthouse Battery (1855) and the Heugh Battery (1859).
Hartlepool in the 18th century became known as a town with medicinal springs, particularly the Chalybeate Spa near the Westgate. The poet Thomas Gray visited the town in July 1765 to "take the waters", and wrote to his friend William Mason:
I have been for two days to taste the water, and do assure you that nothing could be salter and bitterer and nastier and better for you... I am delighted with the place; there are the finest walks and rocks and caverns.
A few weeks later, he wrote in greater detail to James Brown:
The rocks, the sea and the weather there more than made up to me the want of bread and the want of water, two capital defects, but of which I learned from the inhabitants not to be sensible. They live on the refuse of their own fish-market, with a few potatoes, and a reasonable quantity of Geneva [gin] six days in the week, and I have nowhere seen a taller, more robust or healthy race: every house full of ruddy broad-faced children. Nobody dies but of drowning or old-age: nobody poor but from drunkenness or mere laziness.
Town by the strand
By the early nineteenth century, Hartlepool was still a small town of around 900 people, with a declining port. In 1823, the council and Board of Trade decided that the town needed new industry, so the decision was made to propose a new railway to make Hartlepool a coal port, shipping out minerals from the Durham coalfield. It was in this endeavour that Isambard Kingdom Brunel visited the town in December 1831, and wrote: "A curiously isolated old fishing town – a remarkably fine race of men. Went to the top of the church tower for a view."
But the plan faced local competition from new docks. 25 kilometres (16 mi) to the north, the Marquis of Londonderry had approved the creation of the new Seaham Harbour (opened 31 July 1831), while to the south the Clarence Railway connected Stockton-on-Tees and Billingham to a new port at Port Clarence (opened 1833). Further south again, in 1831 the Stockton and Darlington Railway had extended into the new port of Middlesbrough.
The council agreed the formation of the Hartlepool Dock and Railway Company (HD&RCo) to extend the existing port by developing new docks, and link to both local collieries and the developing railway network in the south. In 1833, it was agreed that Christopher Tennant of Yarm establish the HD&RCo, having previously opened the Clarence Railway (CR). Tennant's plan was that the HD&RCo would fund the creation of a new railway, the Stockton and Hartlepool Railway, which would take over the loss-making CR and extended it north to the new dock, thereby linking to the Durham coalfield.
After Tennant died, in 1839, the running of the HD&RCo was taken over by Stockton-on-Tees solicitor, Ralph Ward Jackson. But Jackson became frustrated at the planning restrictions placed on the old Hartlepool dock and surrounding area for access, so bought land which was mainly sand dunes to the south-west, and established West Hartlepool. Because Jackson was so successful at shipping coal from West Hartlepool through his West Hartlepool Dock and Railway Company and, as technology developed, ships grew in size and scale, the new town would eventually dwarf the old town.
The 8-acre (3.2-hectare) West Hartlepool Harbour and Dock opened on 1 June 1847. On 1 June 1852, the 14-acre (5.7-hectare) Jackson Dock opened on the same day that a railway opened connecting West Hartlepool to Leeds, Manchester and Liverpool. This allowed the shipping of coal and wool products eastwards, and the shipping of fresh fish and raw fleeces westwards, enabling another growth spurt in the town. This in turn resulted in the opening of the Swainson Dock on 3 June 1856, named after Ward Jackson's father-in-law. In 1878, the William Gray & Co shipyard in West Hartlepool achieved the distinction of launching the largest tonnage of any shipyard in the world, a feat to be repeated on a number of occasions. By 1881, old Hartlepool's population had grown from 993 to 12,361, but West Hartlepool had a population of 28,000.
Ward Jackson Park
Ward Jackson helped to plan the layout of West Hartlepool and was responsible for the first public buildings. He was also involved in the education and the welfare of the inhabitants. In the end, he was a victim of his own ambition to promote the town: accusations of shady financial dealings, and years of legal battles, left him in near-poverty. He spent the last few years of his life in London, far away from the town he had created.
World Wars
In Hartlepool near Heugh Battery, a plaque in Redheugh Gardens War Memorial "marks the place where the first ...(German shell) struck... (and) the first soldier was killed on British soil by enemy action in the Great War 1914–1918."
The area became heavily industrialised with an ironworks (established in 1838) and shipyards in the docks (established in the 1870s). By 1913, no fewer than 43 ship-owning companies were located in the town, with the responsibility for 236 ships. This made it a key target for Germany in the First World War. One of the first German offensives against Britain was a raid and bombardment by the Imperial German Navy on the morning of 16 December 1914,
Hartlepool was hit with a total of 1150 shells, killing 117 people. Two coastal defence batteries at Hartlepool returned fire, launching 143 shells, and damaging three German ships: SMS Seydlitz, SMS Moltke and SMS Blücher. The Hartlepool engagement lasted roughly 50 minutes, and the coastal artillery defence was supported by the Royal Navy in the form of four destroyers, two light cruisers and a submarine, none of which had any significant impact on the German attackers.
Private Theophilus Jones of the 18th Battalion Durham Light Infantry, who fell as a result of this bombardment, is sometimes described as the first military casualty on British soil by enemy fire. This event (the death of the first soldiers on British soil) is commemorated by the 1921 Redheugh Gardens War Memorial together with a plaque unveiled on the same day (seven years and one day after the East Coast Raid) at the spot on the Headland (the memorial by Philip Bennison illustrates four soldiers on one of four cartouches and the plaque, donated by a member of the public, refers to the 'first soldier' but gives no name). A living history group, the Hartlepool Military Heritage Memorial Society, portray men of that unit for educational and memorial purposes.
Hartlepudlians voluntarily subscribed more money per head to the war effort than any other town in Britain.
On 4 January 1922, a fire starting in a timber yard left 80 people homeless and caused over £1,000,000 of damage. Hartlepool suffered badly in the Great Depression of the 1930s and endured high unemployment.
Unemployment decreased during the Second World War, with shipbuilding and steel-making industries enjoying a renaissance. Most of its output for the war effort were "Empire Ships". German bombers raided the town 43 times, though, compared to the previous war, civilian losses were lighter with 26 deaths recorded by Hartlepool Municipal Borough[19] and 49 by West Hartlepool Borough. During the Second World War, RAF Greatham (also known as RAF West Hartlepool) was located on the South British Steel Corporation Works.
The merge
In 1891, the two towns had a combined population of 64,000. By 1900, the two Hartlepools were, together, one of the three busiest ports in England.
The modern town represents a joining of "Old Hartlepool", locally known as the "Headland", and West Hartlepool. As already mentioned, what was West Hartlepool became the larger town and both were formally unified in 1967. Today the term "West Hartlepool" is rarely heard outside the context of sport, but one of the town's Rugby Union teams still retains the name.
The name of the town's professional football club reflected both boroughs; when it was formed in 1908, following the success of West Hartlepool in winning the FA Amateur Cup in 1905, it was called "Hartlepools United" in the hope of attracting support from both towns. When the boroughs combined in 1967, the club renamed itself "Hartlepool" before re-renaming itself Hartlepool United in the 1970s. Many fans of the club still refer to the team as "Pools"
Fall out
After the war, industry went into a severe decline. Blanchland, the last ship to be constructed in Hartlepool, left the slips in 1961. In 1967, Betty James wrote how "if I had the luck to live anywhere in the North East [of England]...I would live near Hartlepool. If I had the luck". There was a boost to the retail sector in 1970 when Middleton Grange Shopping Centre was opened by Princess Anne, with over 130 new shops including Marks & Spencer and Woolworths.
Before the shopping centre was opened, the old town centre was located around Lynn Street, but most of the shops and the market had moved to a new shopping centre by 1974. Most of Lynn Street had by then been demolished to make way for a new housing estate. Only the north end of the street remains, now called Lynn Street North. This is where the Hartlepool Borough Council depot was based (alongside the Focus DIY store) until it moved to the marina in August 2006.
In 1977, the British Steel Corporation announced the closure of its Hartlepool steelworks with the loss of 1500 jobs. In the 1980s, the area was afflicted with extremely high levels of unemployment, at its peak consisting of 30 per cent of the town's working-age population, the highest in the United Kingdom. 630 jobs at British Steel were lost in 1983, and a total of 10,000 jobs were lost from the town in the economic de-industrialization of England's former Northern manufacturing heartlands. Between 1983 and 1999, the town lacked a cinema and areas of it became afflicted with the societal hallmarks of endemic economic poverty: urban decay, high crime levels, drug and alcohol dependency being prevalent.
Rise and the future
Docks near the centre were redeveloped and reopened by Queen Elizabeth II in 1993 as a marina with the accompanying National Museum of the Royal Navy opened in 1994, then known as the Hartlepool Historic Quay.
A development corporation is under consultation until August 2022 to organise projects, with the town's fund given to the town and other funds. Plans would be (if the corporation is formed) focused on the railway station, waterfront (including the Royal Navy Museum and a new leisure centre) and Church Street. Northern School of Art also has funds for a TV and film studios.
Governance
There is one main tier of local government covering Hartlepool, at unitary authority level: Hartlepool Borough Council. There is a civil parish covering Headland, which forms an additional tier of local government for that area; most of the rest of the urban area is an unparished area. The borough council is a constituent member of the Tees Valley Combined Authority, led by the directly elected Tees Valley Mayor. The borough council is based at the Civic Centre on Victoria Road.
Hartlepool was historically a township in the ancient parish of Hart. Hartlepool was also an ancient borough, having been granted a charter by King John in 1200. The borough was reformed to become a municipal borough in 1850. The council built Hartlepool Borough Hall to serve as its headquarters, being completed in 1866.
West Hartlepool was laid out on land outside Hartlepool's historic borough boundaries, in the neighbouring parish of Stranton. A body of improvement commissioners was established to administer the new town in 1854. The commissioners were superseded in 1887, when West Hartlepool was also incorporated as a municipal borough. The new borough council built itself a headquarters at the Municipal Buildings on Church Square, which was completed in 1889. An events venue and public hall on Raby Road called West Hartlepool Town Hall was subsequently completed in 1897. In 1902 West Hartlepool was elevated to become a county borough, making it independent from Durham County Council. The old Hartlepool Borough Council amalgamated with West Hartlepool Borough Council in 1967 to form a county borough called Hartlepool.
In 1974 the borough was enlarged to take in eight neighbouring parishes, and was transferred to the new county of Cleveland. Cleveland was abolished in 1996 following the Banham Review, which gave unitary authority status to its four districts, including Hartlepool. The borough was restored to County Durham for ceremonial purposes under the Lieutenancies Act 1997, but as a unitary authority it is independent from Durham County Council.
Emergency services
Hartlepool falls within the jurisdiction of Cleveland Fire Brigade and Cleveland Police. Before 1974, it was under the jurisdiction of the Durham Constabulary and Durham Fire Brigade. Hartlepool has two fire stations: a full-time station at Stranton and a retained station on the Headland.
Economy
Hartlepool's economy has historically been linked with the maritime industry, something which is still at the heart of local business. Hartlepool Dock is owned and run by PD Ports. Engineering related jobs employ around 1700 people. Tata Steel Europe employ around 350 people in the manufacture of steel tubes, predominantly for the oil industry. South of the town on the banks of the Tees, Able UK operates the Teesside Environmental Reclamation and Recycling Centre (TERRC), a large scale marine recycling facility and dry dock. Adjacent to the east of TERRC is the Hartlepool nuclear power station, an advanced gas-cooled reactor (AGR) type nuclear power plant opened in the 1980s. It is the single largest employer in the town, employing 1 per cent of the town's working age people.
The chemicals industry is important to the local economy. Companies include Huntsman Corporation, who produce titanium dioxide for use in paints, Omya, Baker Hughes and Frutarom.
Tourism was worth £48 million to the town in 2009; this figure excludes the impact of the Tall Ships 2010. Hartlepool's historic links to the maritime industry are centred on the Maritime Experience, and the supporting exhibits PS Wingfield Castle and HMS Trincomalee.
Camerons Brewery was founded in 1852 and currently employs around 145 people. It is one of the largest breweries in the UK. Following a series of take-overs, it came under the control of the Castle Eden Brewery in 2001 who merged the two breweries, closing down the Castle Eden plant. It brews a range of cask and bottled beers, including Strongarm, a 4% abv bitter. The brewery is heavily engaged in contract brewing such beers as Kronenbourg 1664, John Smith's and Foster's.
Orchid Drinks of Hartlepool were formed in 1992 after a management buy out of the soft drinks arm of Camerons. They manufactured Purdey's and Amé. Following a £67 million takeover by Britvic, the site was closed down in 2009.
Middleton Grange Shopping Centre is the main shopping location. 2800 people are employed in retail. The ten major retail companies in the town are Tesco, Morrisons, Asda, Next, Argos, Marks & Spencer, Aldi, Boots and Matalan. Aside from the local sports clubs, other local entertainment venues include a VUE Cinema and Mecca Bingo.
Companies that have moved operations to the town for the offshore wind farm include Siemens and Van Oord.
Culture and community
Festivals and Fairs
Since November 2014 the Headland has hosted the annual Wintertide Festival, which is a weekend long event that starts with a community parade on the Friday and culminating in a finale performance and fireworks display on the Sunday.
Tall Ships' Races
On 28 June 2006 Hartlepool celebrated after winning its bid to host The Tall Ships' Races. The town welcomed up to 125 tall ships in 2010, after being chosen by race organiser Sail Training International to be the finishing point for the race. Hartlepool greeted the ships, which sailed from Kristiansand in Norway on the second and final leg of the race. Hartlepool also hosted the race in July 2023.
Museums, art galleries and libraries
Hartlepool Art Gallery is located in Church Square within Christ Church, a restored Victorian church, built in 1854 and designed by the architect Edward Buckton Lamb (1806–1869). The gallery's temporary exhibitions change frequently and feature works from local artists and the permanent Fine Art Collection, which was established by Sir William Gray. The gallery also houses the Hartlepool tourist information centre.
The Heugh Battery Museum is located on the Headland. It was one of three batteries erected to protect Hartlepool's port in 1860. The battery was closed in 1956 and is now in the care of the Heugh Gun Battery Trust and home to an artillery collection.
Hartlepool is home to a National Museum of the Royal Navy (more specifically the NMRN Hartlepool). Previously known simply as The Historic Quay and Hartlepool's Maritime Experience, the museum is a re-creation of an 18th-century seaport with the exhibition centre-piece being a sailing frigate, HMS Trincomalee. The complex also includes the Museum of Hartlepool.
Willows was the Hartlepool mansion of the influential Sir William Gray of William Gray & Company and he gifted it to the town in 1920, after which it was converted to be the town's first museum and art gallery. Fondly known locally as "The Gray" it was closed as a museum in 1994 and now houses the local authority's culture department.
There are six libraries in Hartlepool, the primary one being the Community Hub Central Library. Others are Throston Grange Library, Community Hub North Library, Seaton Carew Library, Owton Manor Library and Headland Branch Library.
Sea
Hartlepool has been a major seaport virtually since it was founded, and has a long fishing heritage. During the industrial revolution massive new docks were created on the southern side of the channel running below the Headland, which gave rise to the town of West Hartlepool.
Now owned by PD Ports, the docks are still in use today and still capable of handling large vessels. However, a large portion of the former dockland was converted into a marina capable of berthing 500 vessels. Hartlepool Marina is home to a wide variety of pleasure and working craft, with passage to and from the sea through a lock.
Hartlepool also has a permanent RNLI lifeboat station.
Education
Secondary
Hartlepool has five secondary schools:
Dyke House Academy
English Martyrs School and Sixth Form College
High Tunstall College of Science
Manor Community Academy
St Hild's Church of England School
The town had planned to receive funding from central government to improve school buildings and facilities as a part of the Building Schools for the Future programme, but this was cancelled because of government spending cuts.
College
Hartlepool College of Further Education is an educational establishment located in the centre of the town, and existed in various forms for over a century. Its former 1960s campus was replaced by a £52million custom-designed building, it was approved in principle in July 2008, opened in September 2011.
Hartlepool also has Hartlepool Sixth Form College. It was a former grammar and comprehensive school, the college provides a number of AS and A2 Level student courses. The English Martyrs School and Sixth Form College also offers AS, A2 and other BTEC qualification to 16- to 18-year-olds from Hartlepool and beyond.
A campus of The Northern School of Art is a specialist art and design college and higher education, located adjacent to the art gallery on Church Square. The college has a further site in Middlesbrough that facilitates further education.
Territorial Army
Situated in the New Armoury Centre, Easington Road are the following units.
Royal Marines Reserve
90 (North Riding) Signal Squadron
Religion
They are multiple Church of England and Roman Catholic Churches in the town. St Hilda's Church is a notable church of the town, it was built on Hartlepool Abbey and sits upon a high point of the Headland. The churches of the Church of England's St Paul and Roman Catholic's St Joseph are next to each other on St Paul's Road. Nasir Mosque on Brougham Terrace is the sole purpose-built mosque in the town.
Sport
Football
Hartlepool United is the town's professional football club and they play at Victoria Park. The club's most notable moment was in 2005 when, with 8 minutes left in the 2005 Football League One play-off final, the team conceded a penalty, allowing Sheffield Wednesday to equalise and eventually beat Hartlepool to a place in the Championship. The club currently play in the National League.
Supporters of the club bear the nickname of Monkey Hangers. This is based upon a legend that during the Napoleonic wars a monkey, which had been a ship's mascot, was taken for a French spy and hanged. Hartlepool has also produced football presenter Jeff Stelling, who has a renowned partnership with Chris Kamara who was born in nearby Middlesbrough. Jeff Stelling is a keen supporter of Hartlepool and often refers to them when presenting Sky Sports News. It is also the birthplace and childhood home of Pete Donaldson, one of the co-hosts of the Football Ramble podcast as well as co-host of the Abroad in Japan podcast, and a prominent radio DJ.
The town also has a semi-professional football club called FC Hartlepool who play in Northern League Division Two.
Rugby union
Hartlepool is something of an anomaly in England having historically maintained a disproportionate number of clubs in a town of only c.90,000 inhabitants. These include(d) West Hartlepool, Hartlepool Rovers, Hartlepool Athletic RFC, Hartlepool Boys Brigade Old Boys RFC (BBOB), Seaton Carew RUFC (formerly Hartlepool Grammar School Old Boys), West Hartlepool Technical Day School Old Boys RUFC (TDSOB or Tech) and Hartlepool Old Boys' RFC (Hartlepool). Starting in 1904 clubs within eight miles (thirteen kilometres) of the headland were eligible to compete for the Pyman Cup which has been contested regularly since and that the Hartlepool & District Union continue to organise.
Perhaps the best known club outside the town is West Hartlepool R.F.C. who in 1992 achieved promotion to what is now the Premiership competing in 1992–93, 1994–95, 1995–96 and 1996–97 seasons. This success came at a price as soon after West was then hit by bankruptcy and controversially sold their Brierton Lane stadium and pitch to former sponsor Yuills Homes. There then followed a succession of relegations before the club stabilised in the Durham/Northumberland leagues. West and Rovers continue to play one another in a popular Boxing Day fixture which traditionally draws a large crowd.
Hartlepool Rovers, formed in 1879, who played at the Old Friarage in the Headland area of Hartlepool before moving to West View Road. In the 1890s Rovers supplied numerous county, divisional and international players. The club itself hosted many high-profile matches including the inaugural Barbarians F.C. match in 1890, the New Zealand Maoris in 1888 and the legendary All Blacks who played against a combined Hartlepool Club team in 1905. In the 1911–12 season, Hartlepool Rovers broke the world record for the number of points scored in a season racking up 860 points including 122 tries, 87 conversions, five penalties and eleven drop goals.
Although they ceased competing in the RFU leagues in 2008–09, West Hartlepool TDSOB (Tech) continues to support town and County rugby with several of the town's other clubs having played at Grayfields when their own pitches were unavailable. Grayfields has also hosted a number of Durham County cup finals as well as County Under 16, Under 18 and Under 20 age group games.
Olympics
Boxing
At the 2012 Summer Olympics, 21-year-old Savannah Marshall, who attended English Martyrs School and Sixth Form College in the town of Hartlepool, competed in the Women's boxing tournament of the 2012 Olympic Games. She was defeated 12–6 by Marina Volnova of Kazakhstan in her opening, quarter-final bout. Savannah Marshall is now a professional boxer, currently unbeaten as a pro and on 31 October 2020 in her 9th professional fight Marshall became the WBO female middleweight champion with a TKO victory over opponent Hannah Rankin at Wembley Arena.
Swimming
In August 2012 Jemma Lowe, a British record holder who attended High Tunstall College of Science in the town of Hartlepool, competed in the 2012 Olympic Games. She finished sixth in the 200-metre butterfly final with a time of 58.06 seconds. She was also a member of the eighth-place British team in the 400m Medley relay.
Monkeys
Hartlepool is known for allegedly executing a monkey during the Napoleonic Wars. According to legend, fishermen from Hartlepool watched a French warship founder off the coast, and the only survivor was a monkey, which was dressed in French military uniform, presumably to amuse the officers on the ship. The fishermen assumed that this must be what Frenchmen looked like and, after a brief trial, summarily executed the monkey.
Historians have pointed to the prior existence of a Scottish folk song called "And the Boddamers hung the Monkey-O". It describes how a monkey survived a shipwreck off the village of Boddam near Peterhead in Aberdeenshire. Because the villagers could only claim salvage rights if there were no survivors from the wreck, they allegedly hanged the monkey. There is also an English folk song detailing the later event called, appropriately enough, "The Hartlepool Monkey". In the English version the monkey is hanged as a French spy.
"Monkey hanger" and Chimp Choker are common terms of (semi-friendly) abuse aimed at "Poolies", often from footballing rivals Darlington. The mascot of Hartlepool United F.C. is H'Angus the monkey. The man in the monkey costume, Stuart Drummond, stood for the post of mayor in 2002 as H'angus the monkey, and campaigned on a platform which included free bananas for schoolchildren. To widespread surprise, he won, becoming the first directly elected mayor of Hartlepool, winning 7,400 votes with a 52% share of the vote and a turnout of 30%. He was re-elected by a landslide in 2005, winning 16,912 on a turnout of 51% – 10,000 votes more than his nearest rival, the Labour Party candidate.
The monkey legend is also linked with two of the town's sports clubs, Hartlepool Rovers RFC, which uses the hanging monkey as the club logo. Hartlepool (Old Boys) RFC use a hanging monkey kicking a rugby ball as their tie crest.
Notable residents
Michael Brown, former Premier League footballer
Edward Clarke, artist
Brian Clough, football manager who lived in the Fens estate in town while manager of Hartlepools United
John Darwin, convicted fraudster who faked his own death
Pete Donaldson, London radio DJ and podcast host
Janick Gers, guitarist from British heavy metal band Iron Maiden
Courtney Hadwin, singer
Jack Howe, former England international footballer
Liam Howe, music producer and songwriter for several artists and member of the band Sneaker Pimps
Saxon Huxley, WWE NXT UK wrestler
Andy Linighan, former Arsenal footballer who scored the winning goal in the 1993 FA Cup Final
Savannah Marshall, professional boxer
Stephanie Aird, comedian and television personality
Jim Parker, composer
Guy Pearce, film actor who lived in the town when he was younger as his mother was from the town
Narbi Price, artist
Jack Rowell, coached the England international rugby team and led them to the semi-final of the 1995 Rugby World Cup
Wayne Sleep, dancer and actor who spent his childhood in the town.
Reg Smythe, cartoonist who created Andy Capp
Jeremy Spencer, guitarist who was in the original Fleetwood Mac line-up
Jeff Stelling, TV presenter, famous for hosting Gillette Soccer Saturday
David Eagle, Folk singer and stand-up comedian,
Local media
Hartlepool Life - local free newspaper
Hartlepool Mail – local newspaper
BBC Radio Tees – BBC local radio station
Radio Hartlepool – Community radio station serving the town
Hartlepool Post – on-line publication
Local television news programmes are BBC Look North and ITV News Tyne Tees.
Town twinning
Hartlepool is twinned with:
France Sète, France
Germany Hückelhoven, Germany (since 1973)
United States Muskegon, Michigan
Malta Sliema, Malta
This is the first picture taken with my new camera; the Canon 40D (Love it!)
Looking at some smoke pictures from other people got me inspired. This is my take on it.
I don't have an external flash, so it's kinda tricky getting enough light to hit the smoke. I ended up getting a construction light at Home Depot; 250W Halogen light on sale for $4! Still testing around how I could get better results. It's a ton of fun.
Brougham Castle is located about 3 kilometres south-east of Penrith. It was founded in the 13th century by Robert I de Vieuxpont. The site near the confluence of the Eamont and Lowther rivers had already been chosen by the Romans for a fort called Brocavum.
The Vieuxponts were a powerful family of landowners in the north-west of England. When Roger de Clifford married the granddaughter of Robert Vieuxponts in 1269, Brougham Castle fell to the Clifford family.
With the start of the Scottish Wars of Independence in 1296, Brougham Castle became an important military base and impressive stone walls and a large stone gatehouse were added. When the 2nd Baron de Clifford was executed as a traitor in 1322 the family's estates became the property of King Edward II, but were returned when Edward III came to the throne. The region was often threatened by the Scots and in 1388 they captured and plundered the castle.
The castle was passed down through the Clifford family but got neglected in the 17th and 18th century. By the 1750s, Brougham Castle served only as a source of building stone for the village of Brougham.
Saggart is one of two termini for the Luas Red Line. The other terminus is Tallaght. The line provides a direct link to Dublin city with a journey duration of 45 minutes. 40 years or more have passed since I last visited Saggart so this morning I thought that it might be a good idea to visit the village. To say that the tram stop is in Saggart is a slight exaggeration. The Luas Line A1 Citywest extension terminus from Belgard to Saggart is actually about ten minutes walk away from the centre of the village.
I must admit that I found the village to be ugly and unattractive and that really surprised me. There were many unoccupied unattractive modern buildings and lots of dust … the sort that one sees at unfinished building sites.
Chestatee is a Cherokee Indian village in northeastern Forsyth County, Georgia, United States, due west of where the Chestatee River runs into the Chattahoochee River, it was called Atsunsta Ti Yi. The word Chestatee is a Cherokee word meaning pine torch place or place of lights, because they would use bonfires along the riverbanks to light their torches. They would then use these torches for hunting deer and other wild game in the forest. The name Booger Bottom comes from white Gold Miners who found gold in this area durning the gold rush. In 1951 a survey was done for the Buford Dam project. During the survey a large Burial Mound was found The Summerour Mound. Three weeks were spent on an archaeological excavation of the mound, before it was flooded by Lake Lanier. The Mound was 250 feet long by 200 feet wide and was possibly the oldest Mound in the Southeastern United States. But this Indian Village and Mound called The Place Of Light is now at the bottom of Lake Lanier in a place of darkness. Booger Bottom.
Neela's dream is to be famous in the movies.
Neela is currently with her family at the Batu Caves celebrating the Hindu Deepavali. She is with her family and her mother with ponderous hips nods appreciatively at me. "Are you going to put her on the Internet? She will be famous yes?" Neela demurs, then I ask her if she wants to be famous in Hollywood or Bollywood movies. She bobbles her head around like a Sikh in a sandstorm, which clearly means, "YesNo".
Neela comes from my Portraits Gallery
Valley Forge, Pennsylvania is best known as the home to General George Washington's Continental Army for the winters of 1777-1778. Back in those days, large scale combat wasn't conducted during the winter since snow and cold weather presented a logistical nightmare so armies would build up large camps where they could spend the winter. Despite popular belief, the winters during these years weren't especially harsh (the belief that they were is mostly due to America's romanticism of this period). The winters however were full of disease which plagued the troops who were in extremely close proximity to one another. During those two winters at Valley Forge, the Continental Army trained and became an even stronger unit.
I had visited Valley Forge once before (shortly after I graduated high school) but for some reason didn't remember it well. Walking around the park in the summer's high heat and ridiculous humidity was worth it. It's a beautiful place that's fully of amazing history.
ABOUT THE SERIES
In June 2010 Michelle and I traveled to Philadelphia (and surrounding areas) for a summer vacation and to visit her extended family. I'd been to Philadelphia twice before, once in eighth grade and once during college but I only remember bits and pieces of each previous trip. The trip during college was during the 2010 Republican National Convention (I wasn't there for the convention) and I remember the entire city resembling a police state with police everywhere due to all the protests.
Anyway, it was great to return to the city and see some of the surrounding areas I hadn't explored before. We visited during a heatwave (90 degree heat with intense humidity which apparently is a little unusual in June but typical in August) but it was well worth the trip.
Samarkand is a city in southeastern Uzbekistan and among the oldest continuously inhabited cities in Central Asia. Samarkand is the capital of the Samarkand Region and a district-level city, that includes the urban-type settlements Kimyogarlar, Farhod and Khishrav. With 551,700 inhabitants (2021)] it is the third-largest city in Uzbekistan.
There is evidence of human activity in the area of the city dating from the late Paleolithic Era. Though there is no direct evidence of when Samarkand was founded, several theories propose that it was founded between the 8th and 7th centuries BC. Prospering from its location on the Silk Road between China, Persia and Europe, at times Samarkand was one of the largest cities in Central Asia, and was an important city of the empires of Greater Iran. By the time of the Persian Achaemenid Empire, it was the capital of the Sogdian satrapy. The city was conquered by Alexander the Great in 329 BC, when it was known as Markanda, which was rendered in Greek as Μαράκανδα. The city was ruled by a succession of Iranian and Turkic rulers until it was conquered by the Mongols under Genghis Khan in 1220.
The city is noted as a centre of Islamic scholarly study and the birthplace of the Timurid Renaissance. In the 14th century, Timur made it the capital of his empire and the site of his mausoleum, the Gur-e Amir. The Bibi-Khanym Mosque, rebuilt during the Soviet era, remains one of the city's most notable landmarks. Samarkand's Registan square was the city's ancient centre and is bounded by three monumental religious buildings. The city has carefully preserved the traditions of ancient crafts: embroidery, goldwork, silk weaving, copper engraving, ceramics, wood carving, and wood painting. In 2001, UNESCO added the city to its World Heritage List as Samarkand – Crossroads of Cultures.
Modern Samarkand is divided into two parts: the old city, which includes historical monuments, shops, and old private houses; and the new city, which was developed during the days of the Russian Empire and Soviet Union and includes administrative buildings along with cultural centres and educational institutions. On 15 and 16 September 2022, the city hosted the 2022 SCO summit.
Samarkand has a multicultural and plurilingual history that was significantly modified by the process of national delimitation in Central Asia. Many inhabitants of the city are native or bilingual speakers of the Tajik language, whereas Uzbek is the official language and Russian is also widely used in the public sphere, as per Uzbekistan's language policy.
Yosemite National Park is an American national park in the western Sierra Nevada of Central California, bounded on the southeast by Sierra National Forest and on the northwest by Stanislaus National Forest. The park is managed by the National Park Service and covers an area of 748,436 acres (1,169 sq mi; 3,029 km2) and sits in four counties: centered in Tuolumne and Mariposa, extending north and east to Mono and south to Madera County. Designated a World Heritage Site in 1984, Yosemite is internationally recognized for its granite cliffs, waterfalls, clear streams, giant sequoia groves, lakes, mountains, meadows, glaciers, and biological diversity. Almost 95% of the park is designated wilderness.
On average, about four million people visit Yosemite each year, and most spend the majority of their time in the seven square miles (18 km2) of Yosemite Valley. The park set a visitation record in 2016, surpassing five million visitors for the first time in its history. Yosemite was central to the development of the national park idea. Galen Clark and others lobbied to protect Yosemite Valley from development, ultimately leading to President Abraham Lincoln's signing the Yosemite Grant in 1864. John Muir led a successful movement to have Congress establish a larger national park by 1890, one which encompassed the valley and its surrounding mountains and forests, paving the way for the National Park System.
Pictured is a 1985 Lotus-Renault 97T Grand Prix Car.
It was driven in 1985 by triple Formula 1 World Champion Ayrton Senna and Italian Elio de Angelis.
This car won three of the sixteen Grands Prix in which it competed, Senna taking his first career victory in the soaking wet Portuguese Grand Prix. A second win would follow later in the season in Belgium. De Angelis inherited victory in the San Marino Grand Prix after Alain Prost was disqualified following post-race scrutineering for an underweight car.
This would be the last victory for de Angelis, the Italian being killed whilst testing for the Brabham team at Paul Ricard in 1986.
Senna and de Angelis would end the season fourth and fifth, respectively, in the championship standings. Lotus finished fourth in the Constructors Championship.
Pictured in January 2012 at the Autosport International show at the NEC in Birmingham.
Here is the latest addition to our family :) This is our Jack Russell puppy called Ned. He's very very cute.
We bought him from a pet store and the very first night we had him, we had to take him to the vet because he was sick and not drinking water.
He was dangerously dehydrated and I had to hand force water down his throat..
He ended up going back to the vet because we were so worried about him and he stayed a couple of nights on a drip..
The nurses said that by buying Ned we saved his life, and that he wouldn't have survived the weekend left in the pet store.
He's all better now and is as feisty and playful as ever, drinking water on his own, keeping down his food and biting toes!! Ouch!
Stavanger Cathedral (Stavanger domkirke) is Norway's oldest cathedral. It is situated in the middle of Stavanger, and is the seat of the Diocese of Stavanger
Bishop Reinald, who may have come from Winchester, is said to have started construction of the Cathedral around 1100. It was finished around 1150, and the city of Stavanger counts 1125 as its year of foundation. The Cathedral was consecrated to Swithin as its patron saint. Saint Swithun was an early Bishop of Winchester and subsequently patron saint of Winchester Cathedral. [1]
Stavanger was ravaged by fire in 1272, and the Cathedral suffered heavy damage. It was rebuilt under bishop Arne, and the Romanesque Cathedral was enlarged in the Gothic style.
In 1682, king Christian V decided to move Stavanger's episcopal seat to Kristiansand. However, on Stavanger's 800th anniversary in 1925, king Haakon VII instated Jacob Christian Petersen as Stavanger's first bishop in nearly 250 years.
During a renovation in the 1860s, the Cathedral's exterior and interior was considerably altered. The stone walls were plastered, and the Cathedral lost much of its medieval looks. A major restoration led by Gerhard Fischer in 1939-1964 partly reversed those changes. The latest major restoration of the Cathedral was conducted in 1999
"St Botolph's Church is a parish church in the Church of England in Boston, Lincolnshire. Its tower, 266 feet 9 inches (81.31 m) tall, has been nicknamed the "Boston Stump" since its construction. It was long used as a landmark for sailors, and on a clear day can be seen from Norfolk.
The church is one of the largest parish churches in England, and has one of the tallest Medieval towers in the country. The tower is approximately 272 feet (83 m) high. It can be seen for miles around; its prominence accentuated by the flat surrounding countryside known as The Fens. On a clear day, it can be seen from East Anglia on the other side of The Wash. The nickname, Boston Stump or simply The Stump, is often used as a reference to the whole church building or for the parish community housed by it. The formal name is Saint Botolph's Parochial Church of Boston. The name "Boston" is thought to have evolved from "Botolph's Town".
Boston is a town and small port in Lincolnshire, on the east coast of England, about 100 miles (160 km) north of London. It is the largest town of the wider Borough of Boston local government district. The town itself had a population of 35,124 at the 2001 census, while the borough had a total population of 66,900, at the ONS mid-2015 estimates. It is north of Greenwich on the Prime Meridian.
Boston's most notable landmark is St Botolph's Church ("The Stump"), the largest parish church in England, visible for miles around from the flat lands of Lincolnshire. Residents of Boston are known as Bostonians. Emigrants from Boston named several other settlements around the world after the town, most notably Boston, Massachusetts, in the United States.
The name "Boston" is said to be a contraction of "Saint Botolph's town", "stone", or "tun" (Old English, Old Norse and modern Norwegian) for a hamlet or farm, hence the Latin villa Sancti Botulfi "St. Botulf's village").
After the Norman conquest, Ralph the Staller's property was taken over by Count Alan. It subsequently came to be attached to the Earldom of Richmond, North Yorkshire, and known as the Richmond Fee. It lay on the left bank of The Haven.
During the 11th and 12th centuries, Boston grew into a notable town and port. In 1204, King John vested sole control over the town in his bailiff. That year or the next, he levied a "fifteenth" tax (quinzieme) of 6.67% on the moveable goods of merchants in the ports of England: the merchants of Boston paid £780, the highest in the kingdom after London's £836. Thus, by the opening of the 13th century, Boston was already significant in trade with the continent of Europe and ranked as a port of the Hanseatic League. In the thirteenth century it was said to be the second port in the country. Edward III named it a staple port for the wool trade in 1369. Apart from wool, Boston also exported salt, produced locally on the Holland coast, grain, produced up-river, and lead, produced in Derbyshire and brought via Lincoln, up-river.
A quarrel between the local and foreign merchants led to the withdrawal of the Hansards around 1470. Around the same time, the decline of the local guilds and shift towards domestic weaving of English wool (conducted in other areas of the country) led to a near-complete collapse of the town's foreign trade. The silting of the Haven only furthered the town's decline.
At the Dissolution of the Monasteries by Henry VIII during the English Reformation, Boston's Dominican, Franciscan, Carmelite, and Augustinian friaries—erected during the boom years of the 13th and 14th centuries—were all expropriated. The refectory of the Dominican friary was eventually converted into a theatre in 1965 and now houses the Blackfriars Arts Centre.
Henry VIII granted the town its charter in 1545 and Boston had two Members of Parliament from 1552.
The staple trade made Boston a centre of intellectual influence from the Continent, including the teachings of John Calvin that became known as Calvinism. This, in turn, revolutionised the Christian beliefs and practices of many Bostonians and residents of the neighbouring shires of England. In 1607, a group of pilgrims from Nottinghamshire led by William Brewster and William Bradford attempted to escape pressure to conform with the teaching of the English church by going to the Netherlands from Boston. At that time, unsanctioned emigration was illegal, and they were brought before the court in the Guildhall. Most of the pilgrims were released fairly soon, and the following year, set sail for the Netherlands, settling in Leiden. In 1620, several of these were among the group who moved to New England in the Mayflower.
Boston remained a hotbed of religious dissent. In 1612, John Cotton became the Vicar of St Botolph's and, although viewed askance by the Church of England for his nonconformist preaching, became responsible for a large increase in Church attendance. He encouraged those who disliked the lack of religious freedom in England to join the Massachusetts Bay Company, and later helped to found the city of Boston, Massachusetts, which he was instrumental in naming. Unable to tolerate the religious situation any longer, he eventually emigrated himself in 1633.
At the same time, work on draining the fens to the west of Boston was begun, a scheme which displeased many whose livelihoods were at risk. (One of the sources of livelihood obtained from the fen was fowling, supplying ducks and geese for meat and in addition the processing of their feathers and down for use in mattresses and pillows. The feathery aspect of this is still reflected in the presence of the bedding company named Fogarty, nearby in Fishtoft.) This and the religious friction put Boston into the parliamentarian camp in the Civil War, which in England began in 1642. The chief backer of the drainage locally, Lord Lindsey, was shot in the first battle and the fens returned to their accustomed dampness until after 1750.
The later 18th century saw a revival when the Fens began to be effectively drained. The Act of Parliament permitting the embanking and straightening of the fenland Witham was dated 1762. A sluice, called for in the act, was designed to help scour out The Haven. The land proved to be fertile, and Boston began exporting cereals to London. In 1774, the first financial bank was opened, and in 1776, an act of Parliament allowed watchmen to begin patrolling the streets at night." - info from Wikipedia.
Summer 2019 I did a solo cycling tour across Europe through 12 countries over the course of 3 months. I began my adventure in Edinburgh, Scotland and finished in Florence, Italy cycling 8,816 km. During my trip I took 47,000 photos.
Now on Instagram.
Long lake is still open but the ice is beginning to creep in from the edges. Low temperatures are highlighted by the frost which remains on logs and paths throughout the day.
Athens is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state. A centre for the arts, learning and philosophy, home of Plato's Academy and Aristotle's Lyceum, it is widely referred to as the cradle of Western civilization and the birthplace of democracy, largely due to the impact of its cultural and political achievements during the 5th and 4th centuries BC on the rest of the then known European continent. Today a cosmopolitan metropolis, modern Athens is central to economic, financial, industrial, political and cultural life in Greece. In 2008, Athens was ranked the world's 32nd richest city by purchasing power and the 25th most expensive in a UBS study.
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia