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They all look the same, dress the same way, use the same facial expressions and body language but each will tell you he's "doing his own thing" Interactions, mirroring consists of the parent imitating the infant's expressions while vocalizing the emotion implied by the expression. This imitation helps the infant to associate the emotion with their expression, as well as feel validated in their own emotions as the parent shows approval through imitation. Studies have demonstrated that mirroring is an important part of child and infant development. According to Kohut's theories of self-psychology, individuals need a sense of validation and belonging in order to establish their concepts of self. When parents mirror their infants, the action may help the child develop a greater sense of self-awareness and self-control, as they can see their emotions within their parent's faces. Additionally, infants may learn and experience new emotions, facial expressions, and gestures by mirroring expressions that their parents utilize. The process of mirroring may help infants establish connections of expressions to emotions and thus promote social communication later in life. Infants also learn to feel secure and valid in their own emotions through mirroring, as the parent's imitation of their emotions may help the child recognize their own thoughts and feelings more readily.When we meet others for the first time, we need to assess quickly whether they are positive or negative towards us, just as most other animals do for survival reasons. We do this by scanning the other person's body to see if they will move or gesture the same way we do in what is known as 'mirroring'. We mirror each other's body language as a way of bonding, being accepted and creating rapport, but we are usually oblivious to the fact that we are doing it. In ancient times, mirroring was also a social device which helped our ancestors fit in successfully with larger groups; it is also a left-over from a primitive method of learning which involved imitation.Additionally, individuals are likely to mirror the person of higher status or power within the situation. Mirroring individuals of higher power may create an illusion of higher status, or create rapport with the individual in power, thus allowing the person to gain favor with the individual in power. This mechanism may be helpful for individuals in situations where they are in a position of bargaining with an individual who possesses more power, as the rapport that mirroring creates may help to persuade the higher status individual to help the person of lower status. These situations include job interviews, other work situations such as requesting promotions, parent-child interactions, and asking professors for favors. Each of these situations involve one party who is in a more powerless position for bargaining, and another party who has the ability to fulfill the person of lower status's needs, but may not necessarily wish to. Thus, mirroring can be a useful tool for individuals of lower status in order to persuade the other party to relinquish goods or privileges for the lower status party.Mirroring generally takes place subconsciously as individuals react with the situation. Mirroring is common in conversation, as the listeners will typically smile or frown along with the speaker, as well as imitate body posture or attitude about the topic. Individuals may be more willing to empathize with and accept people whom they believe hold similar interests and beliefs, and thus mirroring the person with whom one is speaking may establish connections between the individuals involved.
One of the most noticeable forms of mirroring is yawning - one person starts and it sets everyone off. Dr. Robert Provine found that yawning is so contagious you don't even need to see another person yawn - the sight of a wide-open mouth is enough to do it. It was once thought that the purpose of yawning was to oxygenate the body but we now know that it's a form of mirroring that serves to create rapport with others and to avoid aggression - just as it also does for this pictured boat and yawning building.
Wearing the same outfit as another woman is a mirroring no-no. But if two men show up at a party wearing the same outfit, they could become lifelong friends.
Non-verbally, mirroring says 'Look at me; I'm the same as you. I feel the same way and share the same attitudes.' This is why people at a rock concert will all jump to their feet and applaud simultaneously or give a 'Mexican Wave' together. The synchronicity of the crowd promotes a secure feeling in the participants. Similarly, people in an angry mob will mirror aggressive attitudes and this explains why many usually calm people can lose their cool in this situation.
The urge to mirror is also the basis on which a queue works. In a queue, people willingly co-operate with people they have never met and will never see again, obeying an unwritten set of behavioral rules while waiting for a bus, at an art gallery, in a bank or side by side in war. Professor Joseph Heinrich from the University of Michigan found that the urges to mirror others are hardwired into the brain because co-operation leads to more food, better health and economic growth for communities. It also offers an explanation as to why societies that are highly disciplined in mirroring, such as the British, Germans and ancient Romans successfully dominated the world for many years. Mirroring the other person's body language and appearance shows a united front and doesn't let either get one-up on the other
Mirroring makes others feel 'at ease'. It's such a powerful rapport-building tool that slow-motion video research reveals that it even extends to simultaneous blinking, nostril-flaring, eyebrow-raising and even pupil dilation, which is remarkable as these micro-gestures cannot be consciously imitated.
Creating the Right Vibes
Studies into synchronous body language behavior show that people who feel similar emotions, or are on the same wavelength and are likely to be experiencing a rapport, will also begin to match each other's body language and expressions. Being 'in sync' to bond with another person begins early in the womb when our body functions and heartbeat match the rhythm of our mother, so mirroring is a state to which we are naturally inclined.
When a couple are in the early stages of courtship it's common to see them behave with synchronous movements, almost as if they are dancing. For example, when a woman takes a mouthful of food the man wipes the corner of his mouth; or he begins a sentence and she finishes it for him. When she gets PMT, he develops a strong desire for chocolate; and when she feels bloated, he farts.
When a person says 'the vibes are right' or that they 'feel right' around another person, they are unknowingly referring to mirroring and synchronous behavior. For example, at a restaurant, one person can be reluctant to eat or drink alone for fear of being out of sync with the others. When it comes to ordering the meal, each may check with the others before ordering. 'What are you having?' they ask as they try to mirror their meals. This is one of the reasons why playing background music during a date is so effective - the music gets a couple to beat and tap in time together. Mirroring on a Cellular Level
American heart surgeon, Dr Memhet Oz, reported some remarkable findings from heart recipients. He found that, as with most other body organs, the heart appears to retain cellular memories, and this allows some patients to experience some of the emotions experienced by the heart donor. Even more remarkably, he found some recipients also assume the same gestures and posture of the donor even though they have never seen the donor. His conclusion was that it appears that the heart cells instruct the recipient's brains to take on the donor's body language. Conversely, people suffering from disorders such as autism have no ability to mirror or match the behavior of others, which makes it difficult for two-way communication with others. The same goes for drunk people whose gestures are out of sync with their words, making it impossible for any mirroring to occur.
Because of the phenomenon of cause and effect, if you intentionally assume certain body language positions you will begin to experience the emotions associated with those gestures. For example, if you feel confident, you may unconsciously assume the Steeple gesture to reflect your confidence, but if you intentionally Steeple you will not only begin to feel more confident, others will perceive that you're confident. This, then, becomes a powerful way to create a rapport with others by intentionally matching their body language and posture.
Mirroring Differences Between Men and Women
Geoffrey Beattie, at the University of Manchester, found that a woman is instinctively four times more likely to mirror another woman than a man is to mirror another man. He also found that women mirror men's body language too, but men are reluctant to mirror a woman's gestures or posture - unless he is in courtship mode.
When a woman says she can 'see' that someone doesn't agree with the group opinion she is actually 'seeing' the disagreement. She's picked up that someone's body language is out of sync with group opinion and they are showing their disagreement by not mirroring the group's body language. How women can 'see' disagreement, anger, lying or feeling hurt has always been a source of amazement to most men. It's because most men's brains are simply not well equipped to read the fine detail of others' body language and don't consciously notice mirroring discrepancies.
Men and women's brains are programmed differently to express emotions through facial expressions and body language. Typically, a woman can use an average of six main facial expressions in a ten-second listening period to reflect and then feed back the speaker's emotions. Her face will mirror the emotions being expressed by the speaker. To someone watching, it can look as if the events being discussed are happening to both women.
A woman reads the meaning of what is being said through the speaker's voice tone and his emotional condition through his body language. This is exactly what a man needs to do to capture a woman's attention and to keep her interested and listening. Most men are daunted by the prospect of using facial feedback while listening, but it pays big dividends for the man who becomes good at it.
Some men say 'She'll think I'm effeminate!', but research with these techniques shows that when a man mirrors a woman's facial expressions as she talks she will describe him as caring, intelligent, interesting and attractive.
Men, on the other hand, can make fewer than a third of the facial expressions a woman can make. Men usually hold expressionless faces, especially in public, because of the evolutionary need to withhold emotion to stave off possible attack from strangers and to appear to be in control of their emotions. This is why most men look as if they are statues when they listen.
The emotionless mask that men wear while listening allows them to feel in control of the situation, but does not mean men don't experience emotions. Brain scans reveal that men can feel emotion as strongly as women, but avoid showing it publicly.
What to Do About It if You're Female
The key to mirroring a man's behavior is in understanding that he doesn't use his face to signal his attitudes - he uses his body. Most women find it difficult to mirror an expressionless man but with males this is not required. If you're a woman, it means that you need to reduce your facial expressions so that you don't come across as overwhelming or intimidating. Most importantly, don't mirror what you think he might be feeling. That can be disastrous if you've got it wrong and you may be described as 'dizzy' or 'scatterbrained'. Women in business who listen with a more serious face are described by men as more intelligent, astute and sensible.
When Men and Women Start to Look Alike
When two people live together for a long time and have a good working relationship, they often begin to look alike. This is because they are constantly mirroring each other's facial expressions, which, over time, builds muscle definition in the same areas of the face. Even couples who don't look facially similar can appear similar in a photograph because they use the same smile.
n 2000, psychologist Dr John Gottman of the University of Washington, Seattle, and his colleagues, discovered that marriages are more likely to fail when one partner not only does not mirror the other's expressions of happiness, but instead shows expressions of contempt. Instead, this opposite behavior affects the smiling partner, even when they are not consciously aware of what is happening.
Do We Resemble Our Pets?
You can also see mirroring occur in the pets some people choose. Without realizing it, we unconsciously tend to favor pets that physically resemble us, or that appear to reflect our attitudes. To demonstrate the point, here are a couple of examples: too far and presume that our model of body language and social interpretation applies to a dog's body language.
Be careful however not to extrapolate the metaphor too far and presume that our model of body language and social interpretation applies to a dog's body language.
Monkey See, Monkey Do
The next time you attend a social function or go to a place where people meet and interact, notice the number of people who have taken the identical gestures and posture of the person with whom they're talking. Mirroring is the way one person tells another that he is in agreement with his ideas and attitudes. One is non-verbally saying to the other, 'As you can see, I think the same as you.' The person with the highest status often makes the first moves and the others copy, usually in pecking order.
In the image above it is apparent by virtue of the facial expressions and other body language that there is a good rapport between the US President's wife Michelle Obama, of informally superior status, and a university president. If Michelle changes her body posture, one might expect there is a reasonably good chance the gentleman will unconsciously emulate her posture, indirectly demonstrating they are of the same mind. Mirroring happens among friends or between people of the same status and it is common to see married couples walk, stand, sit and move in identical ways. Albert Scheflen found that people who are strangers studiously avoid holding mirror positions.
Matching Voices
Intonation, voice inflection, speed of speaking and even accents also synchronize during the mirroring process to further establish mutual attitudes and build rapport. This is known as 'pacing' and it can almost seem as if the two people are singing in tune. You will often see a speaker beating time with his hands while the listener matches the rhythm with head nods. As a relationship grows over time, the mirroring of the main body language positions becomes less as each person begins to anticipate the other's attitudes, and vocal pacing with the other person becomes a main medium for maintaining rapport.
Never speak at a faster rate than the other person. Studies reveal that others describe feeling 'pressured' when someone speaks more quickly than they do. A person's speed of speech shows the rate at which their brain can consciously analyze information. Speak at the same rate or slightly slower than the other person and mirror their inflection and intonation. Pacing is critical when attempting to make appointments by telephone because voice is your only communication medium.
Intentionally Creating Rapport
The significance of mirroring is one of the most important body language lessons you can learn because it's a clear way in which others tell us that they agree with us or like us. It is also a way for us to tell others that we like them, by simply mirroring their body language.
If a boss wants to develop a rapport and create a relaxed atmosphere with a nervous employee, he could copy the employee's posture to achieve this end. Similarly, an up-and-coming employee may be seen copying his boss's gestures in an attempt to show agreement when the boss is giving his opinion. Using this knowledge, it is possible to influence others by mirroring their positive gestures and posture. This has the effect of putting the other person in a receptive and relaxed frame of mind, because he can 'see' that you understand his point of view. Before you mirror someone's body language, however, you must take into consideration your relationship with that person. Let's say, for example, a corporate employee has asked for a pay rise and is called into his manager's office. The employee enters the office, the manager asks him to sit down and assumes the Catapult with a Figure-Four showing the employee a superior, dominant attitude. But what would happen if the subordinate then instinctively copied the manager's dominant body language while discussing the potential salary increase? A boss might perceive a subordinate's mirroring behavior as being pushy or impertinent
Even if the employee's manner of speaking and phrasing was typical of a subordinate, the manager could feel affronted by the employee's body language, placing the employee's pay increase request in doubt and perhaps posing a threat to his future promotability. Mirroring is also effective for intimidating or disarming people who deem themselves 'superior' and try to take control of situations. Accountants, lawyers and managers are notorious for using superiority body language clusters around people they consider inferior. By mirroring, you can disconcert them and force a change of position. But never do it to the boss. Through mirrored multi-tasking, these business associates are taking their minds off what can seem an awkward encroachment on their personal zones.
Who Mirrors Whom?
Research shows that when the leader of a group assumes certain gestures and positions, subordinates will copy, usually in pecking order. Leaders also tend to be the first of a group to walk through a doorway and they like to sit on the end of a sofa, table or bench seat rather than in the center. When a group of executives walks into a room, the person with the highest status usually goes first. When executives are seated in the boardroom, the boss usually sits at the head of the table, often furthest from the door. If the boss sits in the Catapult, his subordinates are likely to copy in order of their importance within the group You can see this in a meeting where people 'take sides' with others by mirroring their body language. This lets you see who will vote with you and who will vote against you.
Mirroring is a good strategy to use if you are part of a presentation team. Decide, in advance, that when the team spokesperson makes a gesture or takes a posture when speaking, the entire team will mirror. This not only gives your team the powerful appearance of being cohesive, it can frighten the hell out of competitors who suspect something is up, even though they can't quite figure out what it is. When presenting ideas, products and services to couples, watching who mirrors whom reveals where the ultimate power or final decision-making ability lies. If the woman makes the initial movements, however small, such as crossing her feet, lacing her fingers or using a Critical Evaluation cluster and the man copies, there is little point in asking him for a decision - he doesn't have the authority to make it. When we rub both of our eyes simultaneously, it is as if we are telling our psyches, "I wish I never saw that", or "I can't believe he did that". We are trying to wipe it from our minds. People will also display this body language tell when recalling a past event in the "mind's eye".
Group Mirroring
It happens on fall season Sundays in American football stadiums around the country. Suddenly, 50,000 individuals became a single unit, almost a single mind, focused intently on what was happening on the field - that particular touchdown grab or dive into the end zone. Somehow, virtually simultaneously, each of those 50,000 people tuned into what the other 49,999 were looking at.
Becoming part of a crowd can be exhilarating or terrifying: The same mechanisms that make people fans can just as easily make them fanatics. And throughout human history we have constructed institutions that provide that dangerous, enthralling thrill. The Coliseum-like stadiums that host American football games or soccer games throughout the world are, after all, just modern knockoffs of the massive theater that housed Roman crowds cheering their favorite gladiators 2,000 years ago.
In fact, recent studies suggest that our sensitivity to crowds is built into our perceptual system and operates in a remarkably swift and automatic way. In a 2012 paper in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, A.C. Gallup, then at Princeton University, and colleagues looked at the crowds that gather in shopping centers and train stations.
In one study, a few ringers simply joined the crowd and stared up at a spot in the sky for 60 seconds. Then the researchers recorded and analyzed the movements of the people around them. The scientists found that within seconds hundreds of people coordinated their attention in a highly systematic way. People consistently stopped to look toward exactly the same spot as the ringers.
The number of ringers ranged from one to 15. People turn out to be very sensitive to how many other people are looking at something, as well as to where they look. Individuals were much more likely to follow the gaze of several people than just a few, so there was a cascade of looking as more people joined in.
In a study in Psychological Science, Timothy Sweeny at the University of Denver and David Whitney at the University of California, Berkeley, looked at the mechanisms that let us follow a crowd in this way. They showed people a set of four faces, each looking in a slightly different direction. Then the researchers asked people to indicate where the whole group was looking (the observers had to swivel the eyes on a face on a computer screen to match the direction of the group).
Because we combine head and eye direction in calculating a gaze, the participants couldn't tell where each face was looking by tracking either the eyes or the head alone; they had to combine the two. The subjects saw the faces for less than a quarter of a second. That's much too short a time to look at each face individually, one by one.
It sounds impossibly hard. If you try the experiment, you can barely be sure of what you saw at all. But in fact, people were amazingly accurate. Somehow, in that split-second, they put all the faces together and worked out the average direction where the whole group was looking.
In other studies, Dr. Whitney has shown that people can swiftly calculate how happy or sad a crowd is in much the same way.
Other social animals have dedicated brain mechanisms for coordinating their action - that's what's behind the graceful rhythms of a flock of birds or a school of fish.
Summary
Mirroring someone's body language makes them feel accepted and creates a bond and is a phenomenon that occurs naturally between friends and people of equal status. Conversely, we make a point of not mirroring those we don't like or strangers, such as those riding with us in a lift or standing in the queue at the cinema.
Mirroring the other person's body language and speech patterns is one of the most powerful ways to build rapport quickly. In a new meeting with someone, mirror his seating position, posture, body angle, gestures, expressions and tone of voice. Before long, they'll start to feel that there's something about you they like - they'll describe you as 'easy to be with'. This is because they see themselves reflected in you. A word of warning, however: don't do it too early in a new encounter as many people have become aware of mirroring strategies. When someone takes a position you have one of three choices - ignore it, do something else or mirror it. Mirroring pays big dividends. But never mirror a person's negative signals.
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Abruzzo (UK: /æˈbrʊtsoʊ/,[5] US: /ɑːˈbruːtsoʊ, əˈ-/; Italian: [aˈbruttso]; Abbrùzze [abˈbruttsə], Abbrìzze [abˈbrittsə] or Abbrèzze [abˈbrɛttsə] in Neapolitan Abruzzese; Aquilano: Abbrùzzu) or Abruzzi is a region of Southern Italy with an area of 10,763 square km (4,156 sq mi) and a population of 1.3 million. It is divided into four provinces: L'Aquila, Teramo, Pescara, and Chieti. Its western border lies 80 km (50 mi) east of Rome. Abruzzo borders the region of Marche to the north, Lazio to the west and south-west, Molise to the south-east, and the Adriatic Sea to the east. Geographically, Abruzzo is divided into a mountainous area in the west, which includes the Gran Sasso d'Italia, and a coastal area in the east with beaches on the Adriatic Sea.
Abruzzo is considered a region of Southern Italy in terms of its culture, language, history and economy, although geographically it may also be considered central.[8] The Italian Statistical Authority (ISTAT) also deems it to be part of Southern Italy, partly because of Abruzzo's historic association with the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies.
Abruzzo is known as "the greenest region in Europe" as almost half of its territory, the largest in Europe,[9] is set aside as national parks and protected nature reserves. There are three national parks, one regional park, and 38 protected nature reserves. These ensure the survival of 75% of Europe's living species, including rare species such as the golden eagle, the Abruzzo (or Abruzzese) chamois, the Apennine wolf and the Marsican brown bear.[10] Abruzzo is also home to Calderone, Europe's southernmost glacier.
The visiting nineteenth-century Italian diplomat and journalist Primo Levi (1853–1917) said that the adjectives "forte e gentile" (strong and kind) best describe the beauty of the region and the character of its people. "Forte e gentile" has since become the motto of the region and its inhabitants.
Provinces and politics
Abruzzo provinces
Provinces
Abruzzo is divided into four administrative provinces:
Province Area (km2) Population Density (inh./km2)
Chieti 2,588 396,190 153.1
L'Aquila 5,034 308,876 61.3
Pescara 1,225 318,701 260.1
Teramo 1,948 308,769 158.5
Politics
History
Human settlements in Abruzzo have existed since at least the Neolithic times. A skeleton from Lama dei Peligni in the province of Chieti dates back to 6,540 BC under radiometric dating.[13] The name Abruzzo appears to be derivative of the Latin word "Aprutium". In Roman times, the region was known as Picenum, Sabina et Samnium, Flaminia et Picenum, and Campania et Samnium.[14] The region was known as Aprutium in the Middle Ages, arising from four possible sources: it is a combination of Praetutium, or rather of the name of the people Praetutii, applied to their chief city, Interamnia, the old Teramo.
Many cities in Abruzzo date back to ancient times. Corfinio was known as Corfinium when it was the chief city of the Paeligni, and later was renamed Pentima by the Romans. Chieti is built on the site of the ancient city of Teate, Atri was known as Adria. Teramo, known variously in ancient times as Interamnia and Teramne, has Roman ruins which attract tourists.
After the fall of the Roman Empire, a string of invasions and rulers dominated the region, including the Lombards, Byzantines, and Hungarians. Between the 9th and 12th centuries, the region was dominated by the popes. Subsequently, the Normans took over, and Abruzzo became part of the Kingdom of Sicily, later the Kingdom of Naples. Spain ruled the kingdom from the sixteenth to the eighteenth centuries. The French Bourbon dynasty took over in 1815, establishing the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, and ruled until Italian unification (also known as the Risorgimento) in 1860.
Until 1963, Abruzzo was part of the combined Abruzzi e Molise region. The term Abruzzi (plural of Abruzzo) derives from the time when the region was part of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. The territory was administered as Abruzzo Citeriore (nearer Abruzzo) and Abruzzo Ulteriore I and II (farther Abruzzo I and II) from Naples, the capital of the kingdom.[14] Abruzzo Citeriore is now Chieti province. Teramo and Pescara provinces now comprise what was Abruzzo Ulteriore I. Abruzzo Ulteriore II is now the province of L'Aquila.
In the twentieth century, war had a great impact on the region. During the Second World War, Abruzzo was on the Gustav Line, part of the German's Winter Line. One of the most brutal battles was the Battle of Ortona. Abruzzo was the location of two prisoner of war camps, Campo 21 in Chieti,[18] and Campo 78 in Sulmona. The Sulmona camp also served as a POW camp in World War 1; much of the facility is still intact and attracts tourists interested in military history.
Geography
Geographically, Abruzzo is located in central Italy and southern Italy, stretching from the heart of the Apennines to the Adriatic Sea, and includes mainly mountainous and wild land. The mountainous land is occupied by a vast plateau, including Gran Sasso, at 2,912 metres (9,554 ft) the highest peak of the Apennines, and Mount Majella at 2,793 metres (9,163 ft). The Adriatic coastline is characterized by long sandy beaches to the North and pebbly beaches to the South. Abruzzo is well known for its landscapes and natural environment, parks and nature reserves, characteristic hillside areas rich in vineyards and olive groves, and one of the highest densities of Blue Flag beaches.
Climate
The Abruzzo region has two types of climate that are strongly influenced by the Apennine Mountains, dividing the climate of the coastal and sub-Apennine hills from the interior's high mountain ranges. Coastal areas have a Mediterranean climate with hot dry summers and mild winters and rainy hills with a sublittoral climate where temperatures decrease progressively with increasing altitude and precipitation with altitude. Precipitation is also strongly affected by the presence of the Apennines mountain ridges of the region; it increases with the proportion being more abundant in the field and on the slopes exposed to the west, instead of decreasing towards the east and east-facing slopes. Often the Adriatic coast are sidelined rainfall from the west to the barrier effect of the Apennines undergoing the action of gentle winds descending from it (or Libeccio).[21] The minimum annual rainfall, however, is found in some inland valleys, sheltered from much disturbance to the blocking action of mountain ridges, such as the Peligna Valley, or the valley of the river Tirino, which in some places (Ofena, Capestrano) showed barely 500 millimetres (19.7 inches), and not along the coast where it never falls below 600 millimetres (23.6 inches); for if Teramo is relatively little watered by rain (Teramo less than 800 millimetres (31.5 inches)), the metre is exceeded in Chieti, reaching maximum levels in the Adriatic, while between Ortona and Vasto in Costa dei Trabocchi decrease again.[21] The highest rainfall occurs in upland areas on the border with Lazio; they are especially vulnerable to Atlantic disturbances. Around 1,500 to 2,000 millimetres (59 to 79 inches) of precipitation is typical (Pescara in 2010 showed a value close to 2,800 millimetres (110.2 inches)).
Flora and fauna
As with many Mediterranean regions, Abruzzo's vegetation is characterized by different Mediterranean ecosystems. The coast and the surrounding areas are characterized by the presence of typical plants of Mediterranean shrubland, such as myrtle, heather and mastic, while in the hilly areas other species grow, including olive, pine, willow, oak, poplar, alder, arbutus, broom, acacia, capers, rosemary, hawthorn, licorice and almond trees, interspersed with oak trees. At elevations between 600 and 1,000 metres (2,000 and 3,300 ft) there is sub-montane vegetation, mainly characterized by mixed forests of oak and turkey oak, maple and hornbeam; shrubs include dog rose and red juniper. Elevations between 1,000 and 1,900 metres (3,300 and 6,200 ft) are dominated by beech trees. In the Apennine Mountains at elevations above 2,000 metres (6,600 ft) species include alpine orchid, mountain juniper, silver fir, black cranberry and the Abruzzo edelweiss.
The fauna of Abruzzo is highly varied, including the region's symbol, the Abruzzo chamois (Rupicapra pyrenaica ornata), which has recovered from near-extinction. Animals typical of this region include: marsican brown bear, along with Italian wolf, deer, lynx, roe deer, snow vole, fox, porcupine, wild cat, wild boar, badger, otter, and viper.
The natural parks of the region include the Abruzzo National Park, the Gran Sasso and Monti della Laga National Park,[24] the Maiella National Park and the Sirente-Velino Regional Park, as well as many other natural reserves and protected areas.
Economy
Until a few decades ago, Abruzzo was a region of poverty in Southern Italy; over the past decades, however, it has developed to such an extent that it has escaped from the spiral of underdevelopment to become the 'first' region of the 'Italian Mezzogiorno'. This confirms its pivotal role in the national economic system. Since the 1950s, Abruzzo has had steady economic growth. In 1951, Abruzzo per capita income or GDP was 53% of that of Northern Italy, the nation's richest region. By 1971, Abruzzo was at 65% and, by 1994, per capita income was at 76% of Northern Italy's per capita income, giving Abruzzo the highest per capita GDP of Southern Italy and surpassing the growth of every other region of Italy. The construction of autostrade (motorways) from Rome to Teramo (A24) and Rome to Pescara (A25) opened Abruzzo to easy access. State and private investment in the region increased, and Abruzzo attained higher per capita education levels and greater productivity growth than the rest of the South. As of 2003, Abruzzo's per capita GDP was €19,506 or 84% of the national average of €23,181 and well outpacing that of the South (€15,808). The region's average GDP per capita was approximately 20,100 EUR.
The 2009 L'Aquila earthquake led to a sharp economic slowdown. However, according to statistics at the end of 2010, it seems that the economy of Abruzzo is recovering, despite the negative on regarding employment.[28] In fact, at the end of 2010, Abruzzo's growth was 1.47%, which placed it fourth among the Italian regions with the highest annual growth rates after Lazio, Lombardy and Calabria.[30] In 2011 Abruzzo's economic growth was +2.3%, the highest percentage among the regions of Southern Italy.[31] The region is also the richest region of Southern Italy, with a GDP per capita of €25,700.[21]
Travel poster from the 1920s.
Abruzzo's industrial sector expanded rapidly, especially in mechanical engineering, transportation equipment and telecommunications. The structure of production in the region reflects the transformation of the economy from agriculture to industry and services. Although industry has developed strongly, it retains weak points due to the existence of only a few large businesses alongside a huge fabric of small and medium-sized businesses. Both pure and applied research are carried out in the region, where there are major institutes and factories involved in research in the fields of pharmaceutics, biomedicine, electronics, aerospace and nuclear physics. The industrial infrastructure is spread throughout the region in industrial zones. The most important of these are: Val Pescara, Val Sangro, Val Trigno, Val Vibrata and Conca del Fucino. A further activity worthy of note is seaside and mountain tourism, which is of considerable importance to the economy of the region.[33] Agriculture, involving small holdings, has succeeded in modernising and offering high-quality products. The mostly small, agricultural holdings produce: wine, cereals, sugar beet, potatoes, olives, vegetables, fruit and dairy products. Traditional products are saffron and liquorice. Most famous in the world is Abruzzo's wine Montepulciano d'Abruzzo; in the late 20th and early 21st century, Montepulciano d'Abruzzo earned a reputation as being one of the most widely exported DOC classed wine in Italy.[34]
In the past decade, tourism has increased, in particular by internal and European arrivals. Abruzzo is world-famous for its wildlife parks (Abruzzo National Park, Gran Sasso and Monti della Laga National Park, Maiella National Park) and regional park (Sirente Velino), and 38 protected areas between oasis, regional reserves, and state reserves. The inland mountainous region contains several ski resorts, and coastal tourism is also well-developed, in particular, the Trabocchi Coast. Abruzzo's castles and medieval towns, especially around the town of L'Aquila, have earned it in some quarters the nickname of "Abruzzoshire", by analogy with the "Chiantishire", nickname sometimes used to refer to the Chianti area of Tuscany, but Abruzzo is still off the beaten path for most visitors to Italy.[35]
Chieti
Although the population density of Abruzzo has increased over recent decades, it is still well below the Italian national average: in 2008, 123.4 inhabitants per km2, compared to 198.8. In the provinces, the density varies: as of 2008 Pescara is the most densely populated with 260.1 inhabitants per km2, whereas L'Aquila is the least densely populated with 61.3 inhabitants per km2, although it has the largest area. After decades of emigration from the region, the main feature of the 1980s is immigration from third world countries. The population increase is due to the positive net migration. Since 1991 more deaths than births were registered in Abruzzo (except for 1999, when their numbers were equal).[36] In 2008, the Italian national institute of statistics ISTAT estimated that 59,749 foreign-born immigrants live in Abruzzo, equal to 4.5% of the total regional population.
The most serious demographic imbalance is between the mountainous areas of the interior and the coastal strip. The largest province, L'Aquila, is situated entirely in the interior and has the lowest population density. The movement of the population of Abruzzo from the mountains to the sea has led to the almost complete urbanization of the entire coastal strip especially in the province of Teramo and Chieti. The effects on the interior have been impoverishment and demographic aging, reflected by an activity rate in the province of L'Aquila which is the lowest among the provinces in Abruzzo – accompanied by geological degradation as a result of the absence of conservation measures. In the coastal strip, however, there is such a jumble of accommodations and activities that the environment has been negatively affected. The policy of providing incentives for development has resulted in the setting-up of industrial zones, some of which (Vasto, Avezzano, Carsoli, Gissi, Val Vibrata, Val di Sangro) have made genuine progress, while others (Val Pescara, L'Aquila) have run into trouble after their initial success. The zones of Sulmona and Guardiagrele have turned out to be more or less failures. Outside these zones, the main activities are agriculture and tourism.
Main settlements
L'Aquila is both the capital city of the Abruzzo region and of the Province of L'Aquila and second largest city (pop. 73,000). L'Aquila was hit by an earthquake on 6 April 2009, which destroyed much of the city centre. The other provincial capitals are Pescara, which is Abruzzo's largest city and major port (pop. 123,000); Teramo (pop. 55,000) and Chieti (pop. 55,000). Other large municipalities in Abruzzo include the industrial and high tech center Avezzano (pop. 41,000), as well as three important industrial and touristic centers such as Vasto (pop. 40,636), Lanciano (pop. 36,000), and Sulmona (pop. 25,000).
Transport
Airports
Abruzzo International Airport is the only international airport in the region. Open to civilian traffic since 1996, the number of passengers has increased over the years because of low-cost air carriers' use of the facility. Today, the airport has a catchment area of over 500,000 passengers annually and connects the city of Pescara and the entire region with many Italian and Europe destinations.
L'Aquila-Preturo Airport is located in the nearby village of Courts and was recently renovated and modernized to accommodate presidential flights for G8 activities.
Ports
There are four main ports in Abruzzo: Pescara, Ortona, Vasto and Giulianova.
Over the years the Port of Pescara became one of the most important tourist ports of Italy and the Adriatic Sea. Heavily damaged in World War II, it underwent some sixty years of major restoration and was reborn as a modern marina with advanced moorings and shipbuilding facilities. It has been honored with the European Union's blue flag for the quality of services offered. The port of Pescara has lost passenger traffic because of its shallowness and silting, but its fishery and aquaculture activities are thriving.[38]
Railways
There is a significant disparity between the railways of the Abruzzo coast and the inland areas, which badly need modernization to improve the service, in particular, the Rome-Pescara line.
Existing railway lines:
Adriatic railway runs through the whole of Italy from north to south, along the Adriatic Sea.
Train Rome – Sulmona – Pescara
Sulmona – Carpinone
Sulmona–Terni railway
Avezzano railroad – Roccasecca
Giulianova – Teramo
Sangritana (Lanciano – Castel di Sangro)
Highways
There are three highways that serve the region:
Highway A24 Rome – L'Aquila – Teramo, was built in the 1970s and connects Rome with Lazio and more specifically to the Abruzzo Teramo via L'Aquila. It performs an important liaison function of the region, both Tyrrhenian to the Adriatic, due to the presence of several interchanges of connecting roads and highways. The Gran Sasso tunnel, the longest road tunnel entirely on Italian territory, was opened in 1984. It connects L'Aquila and Teramo on the A24 making the northern Abruzzo coast reachable within two hours from Rome.
Highway A25 Turin – Avezzano – Pescara makes the connection between Rome and Pescara. The road running out of Turin begins its journey where it branches off the A24, runs into the Conca del Fucino, crosses the Abruzzo Apennines, comes to the valley of Peligna, and ends at the exit for Pescara-Villanova to join the A14.
Motorway A14 Bologna – Taranto known as the A14 "Adriatica", includes 743 km (461.68 mi) of road, including lengths in the cities of Bologna and Taranto. Opened to traffic in 1965, it is now a major tourist road, running through the coastal towns of Emilia Romagna, Marche, Abruzzo, Molise, and Apulia.
Culture
Castel del Monte, one of Abruzzo's little-known hill towns
Gabriele d'Annunzio from Pescara
Abbazia di San Liberatore a Majella (Serramonacesca)
Ovid from Sulmona
Cathedral of San Giustino (Chieti)
Fishing trabucco of San Vito Chietino
The museum Museo Archeologico Nazionale d'Abruzzo in Chieti houses the famed warrior statue Warrior of Capestrano which was found in a necropolis from 6th century B.C. Of cultural importance are: Teramo Cathedral, its archeological museum and Roman theater, the Castello della Monica, the Collurania-Teramo Observatory, the famous L'Aquila Basilica of Santa Maria di Collemaggio (which holds the remains of Pope Celestine V), the Museo Nazionale d'Abruzzo, Santa Maria del Suffragio, the Forte Spagnolo, the Fountain of 99 Spouts, Gabriele D'Annunzio's house in Pescara, Campli's Scala Sancta and its church, the church of Santissima Annunziata in Sulmona, the cathedrals of Chieti, Lanciano, Guardiagrele, Atri and Pescara along with the castles of Ortona, Celano and Ortucchio.
Every 28–29 August, L'Aquila's Santa Maria di Collemaggio commemorates the Perdonanza Celestiniana, the indulgence issued by Pope Celestine V to any who, "truly repentant and confessed" would visit that Church from the Vespers of the vigil to the vespers of 29 August.[39] Sulmona's Holy Week is commemorated with traditional celebrations and rituals, such as 'La Madonna che Scappa in Piazza', where a large statue of the Madonna, carried by a group of Sulmonesi part of Confraternities, is taken through the square towards her resurrected Son.[40] Cocullo, in the province of L'Aquila, holds the annual 'Festa dei serpari' (festival of snake handlers) in which a statue of St. Dominic, covered with live snakes, is carried in a procession through the town; it attracts thousands of Italian and foreign visitors. In many Abruzzo villages, Anthony the Great's feast is celebrated in January with massive and scenic bonfires.[41] In the past, the region of Abruzzo was well known for the transumanza, the migratory movement of sheep principally south to the region of Puglia during the cold winter months.[42] The Feast of St. Biagio, protector of wool dealers, is the most widespread in Abruzzo. On the third of February in Taranta Peligna every year since the sixteenth century an evocative ritual is carried out, entailing the distribution of panicelle, which are small loaves made of flour and water, in the shape of a blessing hand, which are distributed to the faithful.
Historical figures include: the Roman orator Asinius Pollio; Latin poets Sallust and Ovid, who were born in L'Aquila and Sulmona respectively, Gaius Cassius Longinus, Roman senator and leading instigator of the plot to kill Julius Caesar; and Pontius Pilate, who was born in the province of Teramo and is best known for authorizing the crucifixion of Jesus. Abruzzo's religious personalities include Saint Berardo; John of Capistrano, who led a crusade against the Ottoman Empire; Thomas of Celano, author of three hagiographies about Saint Francis of Assisi; and Alessandro Valignano, who introduced Catholicism to the Far East and Japan. The Polish Pope John Paul II loved the mountains of Abruzzo, where he would retire often and pray in the church of San Pietro della Ienca. When he died, Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz, gave the local Abruzzo community some of the late pontiff's blood as a token of the love he had felt for the mountainous area.[43] The greatest Italian poet of the 20th century Gabriele D'Annunzio was from Pescara; other notable Abruzzo personalities in the field of humanities include: poet Ignazio Silone, director Ennio Flaiano who co-wrote La dolce vita, philosopher Benedetto Croce, composer Sir Paolo Tosti and the sculptor Venanzo Crocetti.
American artists and celebrities such as: Madonna, Dean Martin, Bradley Cooper, Perry Como, Henry Mancini, Nancy Pelosi, Rocky Marciano, Rocky Mattioli, Bruno Sammartino, Mario Batali, John and Dan Fante, Tommy Lasorda, Dan Marino, Mario Lanza, Garry Marshall, Penny Marshall, Al Martino, Ariana Grande and Canadian Michael Bublé have Abruzzo origins.
Some international movies shot in Abruzzo include The American, Jean-Jacques Annaud's The Name of the Rose, Fellini's La Strada and I Vitelloni, Schwarzenegger's Red Sonja, Ladyhawke, King David, Francesco, Keoma, The Barbarians, The Fox and the Child and Krull.
Medieval and Renaissance hill towns
The fortress of Civitella is the most visited monument in Abruzzo
For most of its history, a large number of the Abruzzese people have been hill people, often working as shepherds in mountainous areas, or establishing hill towns, especially in the parts of Abruzzo further from the Adriatic coast.[citation needed] Before the 2009 earthquake, Abruzzo was the region with the highest number of castles and hill towns in Italy, but it still holds many of Italy's best-preserved medieval and Renaissance hill towns, twenty-three of which are among The Most Beautiful Villages in Italy.[44] These awards are not only for aesthetic beauty but also for art and culture, historical importance and livability.
The abrupt decline of Abruzzo's agricultural economy in the early to mid-20th-century saved some of the region's historic hill towns from modern development. Many lie entirely within regional and national parks. Among the most well preserved are Castel del Monte and Santo Stefano di Sessanio, which lie in the Gran Sasso National Park on the edge of the high plain of Campo Imperatore and nestled beneath the Apennines' highest peaks. Both hill towns, which were ruled by the Medicis for over a century-and-a-half, have relatively little tourism. Between the two towns sits Rocca Calascio, the ruin of an ancient fortress popular with filmmakers. Both Monteferrante and Roccascalegna are two of the most representative Abruzzo villages in the province of Chieti. Within the Gran Sasso National Park is also found Castelli, an ancient pottery center whose artisans produced ceramics for most of the royal houses of Europe.
Civitella del Tronto played a crucial role in the history of the unification of Italy. The fortress of Civitella is the most visited monument in the Abruzzo region today.[45] Other medieval hill towns located fully within Abruzzo's park system are Pacentro in the Maiella National Park and Pescasseroli in the Abruzzo National Park. Pacentro, which features a 14th-century castle with two intact towers, has been little touched by modernisation. The Shrine of Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows, in the province of Teramo, which attracts some two million visitors per year, is one of the 15 most-visited sanctuaries in the world.[46] Capestrano, a small town in the province of L'Aquila, is the hometown of Saint John of Capistrano, Franciscan friar and Catholic priest, as well as the namesake of the Franciscan missions San Juan Capistrano in Southern California, the mission Mission San Juan Capistrano (Texas) and the city of San Juan Capistrano in Orange County. Giulianova is a notable example of a Renaissance "ideal city."
The proximity to Rome, the protected natural reserves and landscapes which make the region one of the greenest in Europe, the presence of some of the most beautiful Italian villages, its rich and heterogeneous gastronomy, along with a long history of deep-rooted local tradition and authentic Italian culture, make Abruzzo fifth among Italian regions for tourist visits after Calabria, Marche, Sardinia and Trentino. In 2010, visitors included 6,381,067 Italians and 925,884 foreign tourists.
In 2015, the American organization Live and Invest Overseas included Abruzzo on its list of World's Top 21 Overseas Retirement Havens. The study was based on such factors as climate, infrastructure, health care, safety, taxes, cost of living and more. In 2017 the Chamber of Commerce of Pescara presented Abruzzo region to the Annual conference of Live and Invest Overseas in Orlando (USA). One year later, in October 2018, Live and Invest Overseas held its first conference in Abruzzo.
Universities
There are three universities in the Abruzzo region:
University of L'Aquila
D'Annunzio University of Chieti–Pescara
University of Teramo
Harvard University bases an intensive summer Italian language and culture program in Vasto, a resort town on Abruzzo's southern coast.
Science
Between the province of Teramo and L'Aquila, under the Gran Sasso Tunnel, is the Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso (LNGS) of the INFN, one of the three underground astroparticle laboratories in Europe.
The Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale dell'Abruzzo e del Molise "Giuseppe Caporale", which conducts research in veterinary and environmental public health, is located in Teramo.
The Gran Sasso Science Institute, located in L'Aquila, is an advanced research institute which offers doctorates in astroparticle physics, computer science, and mathematics as well as urban studies and regional science, and which also conducts scientific research.
Sports
Interamnia World Cup, the largest international youth handball competition worldwide, takes place yearly in Teramo.[51]
There are several football clubs in Abruzzo. Delfino Pescara 1936 is a Serie B club; based in Pescara, its home stadium is Stadio Adriatico – Giovanni Cornacchia.
Dialects
The regional dialects of Abruzzo include Teramano, Abruzzese Orientale Adriatico and Abruzzese Occidentale. The first two form part of the dialect of southern Italy also known simply as "Neapolitan" since the region has been part of the Kingdom of Naples and the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, while Aquilano is related to the Central Italian dialects including Romanesco. The dialects spoken in the Abruzzo region can be divided into three main groups:
Sabine dialect, in the province of L'Aquila (central Italian dialects)
Abruzzo Adriatic dialect, in the province of Teramo, Pescara and Chieti, that is virtually abandoned in the province of Ascoli Piceno (southern Italian dialects)
Abruzzo western dialect, in the province of L'Aquila (southern Italian dialects)
Cuisine
Renowned for its variety and richness due to the heterogeneity of its territory, Abruzzo's cuisine is among the best in Italy. In 2013 an Italian organization Confesercenti survey of foreign tourists showed that Abruzzo is the best Italian region to eat in. Both the agricultural and coastal aspects of Abruzzo have contributed to its cuisine. Due to the mountains, much of Abruzzo was isolated from international influence until the 20th century. As a result, the region's cuisine remained unique.
Popular dishes
One of the most popular regional dishes is spaghetti alla chitarra which is made by pressing or cutting pasta through a chitarra, an implement to form long thin noodles similar to spaghetti. The pasta is served with a tomato-based sauce, often flavored with peppers, pork, goose, or lamb. This dish is complemented by regional side dishes, such as the bean and noodle soup, sagne e fagioli. This soup is traditionally flavored with tomatoes, garlic, oil, and peperoncini. In terms of common ingredients, cuisine in Abruzzo often includes:
Lamb and mutton, primarily in the mountains.[54] Sheep's milk (or ricotta) is an important source of Abruzzese cheese, and lamb intestines are used as sausage casing or for stuffed meat rolls.[54][55] Mountain goat meat is also common in Abruzzo.
Truffles and mushrooms, particularly wild mushrooms from the forests and hills
Garlic, especially red garlic
Rosemary
Hot chili pepper or peperoncini, regionally known as diavolilli or diavoletti, is common in Abruzzese cuisine and often used to add spice to dishes. Abruzzo residents are well known for frequently adding peperoncini, or hot peppers, to their meals.
Vegetables such as lentils, grasspeas and other legumes, artichoke, eggplant, and cauliflower[54][55][56][57]
Other popular dishes include:
Gnocchi carrati, flavored with bacon, eggs and pecorino cheese
Scrippelle, a rustic French-style crêpe served either mbusse (a type of soup) or used to form a sort of soufflé with some ragù and stuffed with chicken liver, meatballs, hard-boiled eggs, and cheese
Pastuccia, a polenta stew with sausage, eggs, and cheese
Across the region, roast lamb is enjoyed in several variations. Some of these variations include:
Arrosticini, a skewered lamb dish
Pecora al cotturo, lamb stuffed with a variety of mountain herbs and cooked in a copper pot
Lamb cooked whole in a bread oven
Agnello cacio e ovo, a lamb-based fricassee
Mazzerella: lamb intestines stuffed with lamb, garlic, marjoram, lettuce, and spices
Le virtù: a soup from Teramo filled with legumes, vegetables and pork, usually eaten in the spring at celebrations
Timballo abruzzese: lasagna-like dish with pasta sheets (scrippelle) layered with meat, vegetables and rice; often served for Christmas and Easter[58]
Porchetta abruzzese: moist boneless-pork roast, slow-roasted with rosemary, garlic, and pepper[58]
Seafood is also popular, especially in coastal areas. The variety of fish available to the area has resulted in several fish-based Brodetti (broths), coming from such places as Vasto, Giulianova, and Pescara. These broths are often made by cooking fish, flavored with tomatoes, herbs, and peperoncino, in an earthenware pot. Rustic pizzas are also very common. Some of these are:
Easter Pizza, a rustic cake with cheese and pepper from the Teramo area
Fiadoni from Chieti, a dough of eggs and cheese well risen, cooked in the oven in a thin casing of pastry
A rustic tart pastry filled with everything imaginable: eggs, fresh cheeses, ricotta, vegetables, and all sorts of flavorings and spices.
Also from Teramo are the spreadable sausages flavored with nutmeg, and liver sausages tasting of garlic and spices. The ventricina from the Vasto area is made with large pieces of fat and lean pork, pressed and seasoned with powdered sweet peppers and fennel all encased in the dehydrated stomach of the pig itself. Atri and Rivisondoli are famous for cheeses. Mozzarella, either fresh or seasoned, is made from ewe's milk, although a great number of lesser known varieties of these cheeses can be found all over Abruzzo and Molise.
Sweets
The Abruzzo's sweets are world-famous and include:
Confetti, sugar-coated almonds, from Sulmona
Torrone Nurzia, a chocolate nougat from L'Aquila
Parrozzo , a cake-like treat made from a mixture of crushed almonds, and coated in chocolate.
Ferratelle (also known as Pizzelle). A wafer cookie, often flavored with anise
Croccante, a type of nougat made from almonds and caramelized suger, often flavored with lemon[59]
A Montepulciano d'Abruzzo wine labelled as being made from old vines.
Olive oil
The extra-virgin olive oil produced in Colline Teramane (Teramo hills) is marked by the DOP.[60]
The region has several cultivars that includes Carboncella, Dritta (Dritta Francavillese and Dritta di Moscufo), Gentile del Chieti, Nostrana (Nostrana di Brisighella), and Sargano olive cultivars.[61]
Wines and liquors
Renowned wines like Montepulciano DOCG and Trebbiano d'Abruzzo DOC are judged to be amongst the world's finest.[62] In 2012, a bottle of Trebbiano d'Abruzzo ranked No. 1 in the top 50 Italian wine awards.[63] In recent decades these wines have been joined, particularly, by wines from lesser known (heritage) white grapes, such as, Pecorino, Cococciola, Passerina, Montonico Bianco and Fiano.[64]
The region is also well known for the production of liquors such as Centerbe, Limoncello, Ratafia and Genziana.
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Six Aboriginal language groups are the traditional owners of the Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area:
Darug.
Gundungurra.
Wanaruah.
Wiradjuri.
Darkinjung.
Tharawal.
I acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of the land on which I work and live, and recognise their continuing connection to land, water and community. I pay respect to Elders past, present and emerging.
Glen Davis is an old shale mining town located 70 kilometres north of Lithgow in the Capertee Valley, Glen Davis constituted the only attempt to commercially produce petrol from shale oil in Australia.
In the Glen Davis park there is an amenities block and a number of B.B.Q's. Camping is allowed. There are no petrol or general store facilities.
From Lithgow take the Mudgee Road across the overhead pass, driving past the Wallerawang Power Station. Following the Mudgee Road you pass several coal mines until you reach Capertee. Turn right onto the gravel road and follow the road through beautiful scenery and spectacular escarpments. Oil shale was first discovered in the northern side of the Capertee Valley around 1865 by local grazier Mr. B.R. McLean. Glen Davis still has the largest seam of high grade oil shale in the world. The first shale oil lease was granted in 1891 to MPI Mining Development which later abandoned the scheme. This site was the centre point for the future development.
The wartime petrol shortage caused the Government to organise a revival of oil shale mining and treatment in 1940. Mr. G, F, Davis of Davis Gelantine undertook the proposed development and a new company was formed (National Oil Pty. Ltd.). Much of the equipment from the abandoned Newnes oil shale works was transferred to Glen Davis.
A pipeline was built so that products could be pumped to storage tanks at Newnes Junction. The pipeline followed the route of the Newnes railway line which was removed in the 1940's. In 1940 the first oil was produced and in 1941 some 4,273,315 gallons were produced. 170 miners were employed.
Initial housing conditions were deplorable. Lack of schooling facilities, unreliable food supplies and endemic diseases accentuated the already poor living conditions. By 1947 the situation had improved. A hotel, barracks, staff cottages and permanent housing had been built. The town population of 1,600 had access to a school, post office, hall, cinema, bank, chemist, butcher and general stores.
By 1950 production levels were dropping and operating costs were continuing to rise. The years of industrial trouble, difficulties with retorts, Labour, material shortages and the importing of middle east crude-oil finally led to the closure of the works in 1952. The plant was sold at auction.
Shaheed Minar (Language Martyrs’ Monument) in Khulna City built in memory of the students and others killed during the historical language movement on 21 February 1952. Bangladesh.
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Derweze (Turkmen language: The Gate, also known as Darvaza) is a Turkmenistan village of about 350 inhabitants, located in the middle of the Kara-Kum desert, about 260 km north from Ashgabat. Darvaza inhabitants are mostly Turkmen of the Teke tribe, preserving a half-nomadic lifestyle.
The Derweze area is rich in natural gas. While drilling in 1971 geologists accidentally found an underground cavern filled with natural gas. The ground beneath the drilling rig collapsed, leaving a large hole with a diameter of about 50-100 meters. To avoid poisonous gas discharge, it was decided to burn the gas. Geologists had hoped the fire would go out in a few days but it has been burning ever since. Locals have named the cavern The Door to Hell. Next to capturing the gas, flaring is safer and friendlier to the environment than releasing the methane into the atmosphere as methane is a relatively potent greenhouse gas with a high global warming potential of 72 (averaged over 20 years) or 25 (averaged over 100 years). Turkmenistan plans to increase its production of natural gas. In April 2010, the President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow visited the site and ordered that the hole should be closed, or other measures be taken to limit its influence on the development of other natural gas fields in the area.
Not far from the burning crater are two other craters of similar origin. These craters are not burning as the gas pressure is much weaker. At the bottom of one of these craters is light grey mud while the last crater contains a turquoise lake. This lake prevents further attempts at drilling. Not far from the burning crater are several dormant wells (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Derweze).
My video: youtu.be/VVwPAx-Fmyc
SPNC - Year 4 - Instruction # 03
"Avoid tunnel vision, let the edges compete for attention in the frame."
Known for Main interests, Logic, metaphysics, philosophy of language, philosophy of mathematics, philosophy of mind, epistemology
Ludwig Josef Johann Wittgenstein (26 April 1889 – 29 April 1951) was an Austrian philosopher who worked primarily in logic, the philosophy of mathematics, the philosophy of mind, and the philosophy of language.
From 1929 to 1947, Wittgenstein taught at the University of Cambridge. During his lifetime he published just one slim book, the 75-page Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus (1921), one article, one book review and a children's dictionary. His voluminous manuscripts were edited and published posthumously. Philosophical Investigations appeared as a book in 1953, and has since come to be recognised as one of the most important works of philosophy in the 20th century. His teacher, Bertrand Russell, described Wittgenstein as "the most perfect example I have ever known of genius as traditionally conceived; passionate, profound, intense, and dominating".
Born in Vienna into one of Europe's richest families, he inherited a fortune from his father in 1913. He initially made some donations to artists and writers, and then, in a period of severe personal depression after the First World War, he gave away his entire fortune to his brothers and sisters. Three of his brothers committed suicide, which Wittgenstein had also contemplated. He left academia several times—serving as an officer on the front line during World War I, where he was decorated a number of times for his courage; teaching in schools in remote Austrian villages where he encountered controversy for hitting children when they made mistakes in mathematics; and working as a hospital porter during World War II in London, where he told patients not to take the drugs they were prescribed while largely managing to keep secret the fact that he was one of the world's most famous philosophers. He described philosophy as "the only work that gives me real satisfaction".
His philosophy is often divided into an early period, exemplified by the Tractatus, and a later period, articulated in the Philosophical Investigations. "Early Wittgenstein" was concerned with the logical relationship between propositions and the world and he believed that by providing an account of the logic underlying this relationship, he had solved all philosophical problems. "Late Wittgenstein," however, rejected many of the assumptions of the Tractatus, arguing that the meaning of words is best understood as their use within a given language-game. His mentor Bertrand Russell was likely the first to coin this distinction in Wittegenstein's work.
A survey among American university and college teachers ranked the Investigations as the most important book of 20th-century philosophy, standing out as "the one crossover masterpiece in twentieth-century philosophy, appealing across diverse specializations and philosophical orientations." The Investigations also ranked 54th on a list of most influential twentieth-century works in cognitive science prepared by the University of Minnesota's Center for Cognitive Sciences. However, in the words of his friend Georg Henrik von Wright, he believed "his ideas were generally misunderstood and distorted even by those who professed to be his disciples. He doubted he would be better understood in the future. He once said he felt as though he was writing for people who would think in a different way, breathe a different air of life, from that of present-day men
Born in Vienna, Austria-Hungary
Artwork by TudioJepegii
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A photograph can’t capture people’s voices, so it fails to convey what people say about themselves. However, what people say doesn’t always accurately reflect what they are actually thinking and feeling. In fact, people sometimes use verbalizations to modify, filter, and censor the expression of what goes on inside them.
Many psychologists believe that non-verbal communication reveals as much, or more, than talk. The physical appearance of people, the way they dress, how they move and position themselves, speaks volumes. Much of what happens with body language is actually unconscious. People can monitor and control it to a certain degree, but often their body language conveys what they are feeling when they aren’t verbalizing it, even when they don’t want to or can’t verbalize it, because those feelings are unconscious. For example, research suggests that people, without even realizing it, lean slightly forward when thinking about the future, and slightly backward when thinking about the past. The body doesn’t know how to lie.
Although a photograph cannot record physical movements over time, as does video, it does excel in portraying the essence of a person as conveyed through body language at a particular moment in time. It can capture a revealing physical expression that might last only a second, that otherwise might go unnoticed in the stream of a person’s movement. Whether people realize it or not, they often gesture with their hands and body while talking. It’s an embellishment on what they are saying, and an interesting moment to take the shot.
Understanding Message Clusters
Photographers who like to photograph people might benefit from familiarizing themselves with the basic body language patterns that reveal particular emotions and mental states. The website ChangingMinds offers an interesting list of these “message clusters,” stating that a cluster of signals more reliably expresses a person’s mental state than a single body posture element. Photographers might use this knowledge to recognize a revealing moment to capture, or to direct models into a psychologically intriguing pose. Although these categories overlap, it’s helpful at first to think of them as relatively distinct states of mind.
I’ll focus on the elements of these message clusters that a camera can record, as opposed to those elements involving body movement that a photograph has difficulty capturing. I’ll also offer a full-blown description of a message cluster that results in an exaggerated, even caricatured depiction of a particular emotion or mental state. More realistic body language involves subtle variations of these patterns, while psychologically intriguing body language might synergistically mix signals from different message clusters. Combinations of signals that seem to contradict each other – like a clenched fist along with a smiling face – might result in especially fascinating images that capture the seemingly conflicted dimensions of the human personality. My first person descriptions are intended to help you FEEL these mental states:
Aggression: Frowning, snarling, baring teeth, staring, with redden face, rigid body, clenched fists, and large, threatening and insulting gestures, you display unexpected, sudden movements, intrude on someone’s space, and deliver unwanted or hostile body contact.
Concentration and Attention: Very still, with fixed gaze, furrowed brow, and an open body (as opposed to looking closed off), you lean your body and tilt your head towards the person or object on which you are concentrating. You seem unaware of distractions.
Boredom: Yawning, looking tired, with a blank expression and a slouching or leaning body, you tap your toes, drum your fingers, doodle, glance at your watch. You don’t seem to be paying attention to someone or something that should be your focus.
Closed off: With crossed arms, ankles, or legs, you look down or away. You wrap your arms around an object. You are trying to hide, hold yourself, or curl up as if in fetal position.
Defensiveness and Protection: You cover vulnerable parts of your body, lower your chin, cross your arms, close and then cross your legs. While averting your eyes, you look rigid and try to make yourself small. You use an object for a protective barrier and your arms and hands to fend off things that seem threatening.
Deceptiveness: With a tense body, forced smile, hands in pockets, sweating, you bite the inside of your mouth, look away, and appear distracted.
Dominance and power: By standing erect and above, with legs spread and hands on hips, you make yourself bigger and higher than others. Your face is disapproving, frowning, sneering. You look people directly in the eye. You invade and occupy their territory, break the rules, and possess objects of power.
Contemplation (as in thinking, judging, evaluating): With folded and steepled hands, pursed lips, intense gaze but relaxed body, you touch your mouth, chin, or the sides of the nose. You seem lost in thought.
Openness: Your legs, arms, and hands are open and receptive. Your body and eyes are relaxed. You remove your jacket and unbutton your collar.
Readyness (being poised for some action): You lean and point your body and eyes towards a specific direction. Your body is slightly tense as you prepare to stand up or grip something with your hands.
Relaxation: With a relaxed gaze, open hands, and gentle gesturing, you appear unconcerned and happy. Your shoulders and limbs are hanging loosely. Your body looks tensionless, balanced, even sagging.
Sexuality and Romance: With dilated pupils and a fixed gaze, you point your feet and hands towards the other person. You lean in while you seductively play with something in your hand, something sexually symbolic. You copy the other person’s body language, preen, brush your fingers through your hair, caress yourself, display your body and expose some part of it while pursing, touching, and licking your lips. Moving into the other person’s personal space, you brush by, gently touch, then caress the body.
Submissiveness: You are very still. Sweating, with a white face, you smile with your mouth but not your eyes. You touch your face, tug your hair, and offer your hands out with palms up. With chin down, you turn your head to look away. You hunch over, crouch, curl up to make yourself small.
The Face and Hands
Obviously the face, but also the hands, play a critical role in expressing emotion and mental states. These areas of the body are rich in nerve endings, and disproportionately large areas of the brain are devoted to processing information about what’s happening there, which attests to how important Mother Nature considers them in people perception.
If you doubt the importance of the hands in expressing thoughts and emotions, consider the fact that a whole language, sign language, revolves around the pictorial shaping of the hands and fingers. Or the fact that some photography models specialize in hands. Or that there are hundreds of different hand gestures, like beckoning, the high-five, thumbs up, wagging a finger, handshakes, saluting, and flipping the bird. People clench their fists when angry, fidget with their fingers when nervous, and wave you off when they want to avoid you. As many fascinating photographs show us, people often use hand gestures while they are talking. Some psychological research studies suggest that such gesturing helps people access language and memory. It’s a good idea to pay attention to the hands when photographing people.
And how could we NOT pay attention to the face during photography? The complexity and nuances of facial expression reflect the diversity and subtlety of human emotion. People wear their personalities on their faces. These are the reasons why we are fascinated by portrait photography. However, as the well-known psychologist Paul Ekman discovered in his research, there do seem to be seven basic emotions conveyed by seven basic facial expressions that people around the world recognize. The Discover Magazine website presents them as follows, along with Ekman’s original research photos:
Sadness: The eyelids droop as the inner corners of the brows rise and, in extreme sadness, draw together. The corners of the lips pull down, and the lower lip may push up in a pout.
Surprise: The upper eyelids and brows rise, and the jaw drops open.
Anger: Both the lower and upper eyelids tighten as the brows lower and draw together. Intense anger raises the upper eyelids as well. The jaw thrusts forward, the lips press together, and the lower lip may push up a little.
Contempt: This is the only expression that appears on just one side of the face: One half of the upper lip tightens upward.
Disgust: The nose wrinkles and the upper lip rises while the lower lip protrudes.
Fear: The eyes widen and the upper lids rise, as in surprise, but the brows draw together. The lips stretch horizontally.
Happiness: The corners of the mouth lift in a smile. As the eyelids tighten, the cheeks rise and the outside corners of the brows pull down.
Whether faces can express any more than these seven emotions is still a highly debated issue. As psychologist myself, as well as a photographer, I find it hard to ignore the many nuances of facial expression. Similar to the message clusters described previously, variations in the intensity of these facial expressions, along with different combinations of the seven basic patterns, communicate a wide range of mental states. What do people look like when they feel a mixture of happiness and sadness, or when their surprise slides into anger? It’s these more nuanced expressions that lead to fascinating portraiture photography. To accurately capture these subtle aspects of facial expressions, close-ups will work better, as will full face and ¾ view shots, as opposed to profiles.
Body Language in Composition
Body language in a photograph never occurs in a vacuum. Other elements of the image influence how we interpret the physical appearance and posture of the subject. Consider the role of body language in the overall composition of the shot:
Angles and Lines: How do the lines formed by the person’s arms, legs, head, hands, and body interact with each other, other lines in the image, and the frame? Do they reinforce each other, as in feeling peacefully horizontal, firmly vertical, energetically diagonal, or do they compete with each other in interesting ways? Portrait photographers will tell you that shots are more appealing when the shoulders and head are at an angle to each other, as opposed to being lined up, which looks like a mug shot - unless, of course, you’re going for a mug shot effect that feels solid, direct and even aggressive, as in the body language of the “full face threat” when you confront someone head on.
Shapes: How do the shapes formed by the person’s arms, legs, head, hands, and body interact with each other, other shapes in the image, and the frame? Consider the psychological meanings associated with those shapes. For example, circular formations of the body suggest unity and enclosure, as in hugging oneself - while triangular shapes imply groundedness, as in standing with feet planted wide and firm. But is there a diagonal line elsewhere in the photo that threatens to pierce the circle, or a indecisively curvy shape wiggling behind the subject with strong akimbo legs? Does a subject’s body and outstretched arm form a boxy, claustrophobic square with the frame, or perhaps a dynamically tilted triangle?
Movements: As we noticed in the description of message clusters, body language can present movements of closing in, contracting, opening, expanding, crossing, coming closer, and shifting away. How do other aspects of the image influence these sensations – such as a receding perspective, the visual rhythm of repeating elements, bubbling bokeh, blur, and gradated changes in tone, color, shapes, and complexity? Do they supplement, balance, or contradict those movements?
Tactile Sensations: We associate touching and tactile sensations with body language, like being stiff, loose, hard, soft, rough, smooth, and relaxed. Consider how textures in the image complement, balance, or compete with those sensations.
The Environment and Symbolic Elements: Obviously, the environment will have a big impact on how we interpret the subject’s body language. A relaxed, reclining man with a dangling arm will strike us very differently when he’s lying in bed at home or on a bench in a crowded subway station. Also consider the impact of the symbolic elements in the image, such as a person curled up next to a small bicycle, a bright light shining behind a woman deep in contemplation, or a woman raising her nose as she walks by a fancy car.
Two Shots and Group Shots
The body language of a single subject in a photo can be very intriguing, but things really start getting interesting when we see the body language of two or more people interacting with each other. When teaching my college course on group dynamics, I take shots of the students in their groups, sometimes asking them to create a particular pose for me, and sometimes capturing a spontaneous moment. While discussing the shots soon after taking them and later in the semester, we continually find ourselves amazed at how much the body language reveals about individual people, their relationship to other people, and to the group as a whole. It’s quite fascinating to discover that the photos taken early in the semester can actually predict what will happen later in the groups, mostly because they capture subtle interpersonal dynamics that have not yet fully surfaced.
Listed below are some of the insights from our discussions. These observations might be useful to photographers who enjoy taking spontaneous shots of people, as well as those who are posing subjects for a particular psychological effect. As we’ve discovered in my group dynamics course, even when you ask people to line up and form rows in a seemingly mundane “class photo” style, their body language and position in the group might reveal a lot. For all of these items below, think about how your viewpoint when you take the shot might capture some of these elements of body language, but not others. Did you include the important elements, or accidentally miss them? Timing is also critical in the ever-changing flow of group activity, so it’s a good idea to recognize and even anticipate when these elements of body language will surface.
Personal space: We all have this invisible zone around our bodies that we consider our own personal space. Only people with whom we are intimate are allowed into this zone. When anyone else enters it, we might feel intruded upon or threatened. Think about the discomfort of being in a crowded elevator. In a photo of two or more people, can you see the personal spaces of the subjects? Does the size of the space vary for different people? Is someone inviting, tolerating, or trying to eject someone else from that personal space?
Distance and Proximity: This overlaps with the idea of personal space. We can think of physical distance between people in a group as possibly indicating the degree of emotional closeness between them. Who is standing next to whom? What people are far apart? Generally speaking, the more physically close all the people are in a group, the more cohesive that group is.
Orienting and touching: Touching, looking at, and leaning, reaching, or pointing towards another person might also indicate intimacy, or the desire for it. Is the direction of this body language one-way, or reciprocated?
Clusters: Every group of three or more people tends to have subgroups – i.e., people who feel more bonded to each other than to the other people in the group. In a photo you can often see the subgroups as clusters of people who are physically closer to, orienting towards, or touching each other. Sometimes you’ll see people positioned between clusters, as if they belong to and provide a link between those subgroups.
Loners: People who feel less attached to the group, or have been overlooked, ignored, or ostracized by the group members, tend to stand off to side, lean away, or look away from the group.
Position in the group: The position people assume within the group shot might reveal something about their psychological status in the group. More dominant or influential people tend to stand in front, in the center, or above others; more submissive or less influential people stand behind, below, or off to the sides. Standing above the group might also indicate protectiveness, as if the person is watching over others. Notice also if anyone is being crowded out of the shot, or is trying to squeeze their way in. What might that say about their role in the group?
Group shape: The shape created by the group might reveal its psychological characteristics. Curves are relaxed. Straight lines and distinct rows suggest formality. Circles, as in a group hug, indicate unity. Triangular formations feel secure and grounded. Think of the classic “stable” family shot where two parents sitting below a child who is between them. The parents provide the visual and psychological foundation of the family unit.
Body contact: The way people look when they physically connect to teach other speaks volumes. Hugs can look tentative with lots of space between rather tense bodies, or as if the people are emotionally melded into one. Notice if the various elements of body language are consistent with each other when people connect physically. Are the arms, legs, hands, torso, and face all conveying the same emotion, or are they each saying something different? Is someone looking away when they are kissing? Is one arm hugging tightly while the other hangs limply at the side?
Position in a Room
If you’re shooting an event, consider the possibility that where people sit in the room reveals something interesting about their personalities. Teachers and public speakers often notice this. People who sit up front want to be close to the action or to the person in charge of the action. They don’t mind that others behind them might be looking at them. People who sit in the back might be the slackers who want to doze, the observers who like to get the big picture of what’s happening in the room, the suspicious types who protect their backs, or the people who want to avoid attention or attract it by being the rebellious heckler in the back of the room. Those who sit by the windows might be the daydreamers who like gazing into the wide open space outside, while those who sit by the door anticipate a quick exit. The shy people might sit somewhere in the middle of the group, hoping to blend in inconspicuously.
And What About You, the Photographer?
The missing ingredient in this discussion so far is you, the photographer. I’ve talked about the body language of people in a photo, and between people in a photo, but what about the subjects’ body language in relation to you and to the viewers who experience the image through your eyes? The subject’s body language might target us with a strong emotion, invite us into the image, push us away, or seem oblivious to our presence even when it appears highly intimate, which places us into a voyeuristic position. Whether the subject is looking at you or not will greatly determine whether the body language feels like it’s in relation to you, although more subtle posturing plays a role too, like the body, hands, fingers, or feet pointed towards the camera.
Consider also your own body language during the shoot. Portrait photographers often discuss how their interaction with subjects during a shoot influences their behavior. If body language has a subtle, unconscious effect on people, then why not use it effectively? For example, to help a subject relax, avoid your own anxious body language and assume a calm, receptive posture. Psychotherapists have discovered that if you mimic or reflect back someone’s body language, even in a subdued way, that person will feel understood, which would certainly encourage a subject to allow a revealing portrait. Experimenting with body language possibilities in a playful way with your subjects might help everyone relax as well as open doors to interesting and revealing poses. Tyra Banks often tells her models to push a pose or facial expression to its extreme limits, then pull it back. If possible, why not model that for the model? Activating body language activates emotions, and that’s what a good photo is all about.
** This image and essay are part of a book on Photographic Psychology that I’m creating within Flickr. Here's an easier to read and navigate version of
Photographic Psychology. These two versions of Photographic Psychology are an experiment in integrating a stand-alone website/book with one embedded in a social network.
If you have an interesting photo that illustrates body language, please feel free to post it below
But I really do love it when something small and random makes someone think of me, mainly because it never hapoens.
Berbers, or Amazighs (Berber language: Imaziɣen, ⵉⵎⴰⵣⵉⵖⵏ, ⵎⵣⵗⵏ; singular: Amaziɣ, ⴰⵎⴰⵣⵉⵖ, ⵎⵣⵗ) are an ethnic group of several nations indigenous mostly to North Africa and in some northern parts of Western Africa.
Berbers constitute the populations of Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Mauritania, northern Mali, northern Niger, and a small part of western Egypt.
Berber nations are distributed over an area stretching from the Atlantic Ocean to the Siwa Oasis in Egypt and from the Mediterranean Sea to the Niger River in West Africa. Historically, Berber nations spoke the Berber language, which is a branch of the Afroasiatic language family.
There are about 32 million Berbers in North Africa who still speak the Berber language.[3] The number of ethnic Berbers (including non-Berber speakers) is far greater than the speakers of the Berber language, as a large part of the Berbers have lost their ancestral language and switched to other languages over the course of many decades or centuries.
The majority of North Africa's population west of Egypt is believed to be Berber in ethnic origin, although due to Arabization and Islamization some ethnic Berbers identify as Arabized Berbers.[30][31]
Most Berber people who speak Berber today live in Morocco, Algeria, Libya, Tunisia, northern Mali, and northern Niger.[4] Smaller Berber-speaking populations are also found in Mauritania, Burkina Faso and Egypt's Siwa town.
Originally opened in 1921, the 500-seat Seminole three-story building on Krome Avenue was built for Henry Booker, Sr. and James Washington English for movies and live entertainment. The theater was heavily damaged in a 1940 fire, leaving little more than a blackened shell.
Prolific theater architect Roy A. Benjamin was hired to rebuild the Seminole, which he designed in Streamline Moderne style. The cost of the movie theater's reconstruction was around $50,000. It reopened in the fall of 1940. In addition to movies, the Seminole continued to host live entertainment, as well as beauty contests and cooking demonstrations. In the early 1970s, the Seminole has renamed the Premier Theatre and began to show Spanish-language movies. It closed in 1979 due to declining attendance.
For years, the theater sat vacantly and fell into disrepair. In 1992, when Hurricane Andrew hit the Homestead area, the Seminole was not spared, and though its walls stood, the roof was torn off and the theater's interior suffered serious damage. In 1993, the Seminole Theater's owners donated the battered theater to the city, which designed it a local historic site two years later. The building is one of the few remaining examples of Art Moderne/Art Deco style theatres in all of Miami-Dade County.
The Seminole Theater Group was organized in 1997 with the intention of restoring the theater as a performing arts venue serving the Homestead and Dade County region. It is expected to cost about $4.2 million to bring the old Seminole back to life. The Seminole Theatre was reopened on October 28, 2015.
William B Medellin Architect P.A. as the historic preservation consultant for the project was responsible for the restoration of the historic facades, including the re-painting of the exterior walls to match the original historic colors; re-installation of missing historic elements such as the historic “Starburst” fretwork over the transom entrance doors and the historic travertine wainscot using historic salvaged travertine found at the Theater’s storage room. The interior lobby stairs and railings were the only original historic interior elements remaining in the building.
Credit for the data above is given to the following website:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homestead_Historic_Downtown_District
seminoletheatre.org/about/seminole-theatre-history
wbmarchitect.com/portfolio-posts/the-seminole-theater/
www.google.com/search?q=how+many+floors+does+the+seminole...
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Leica M Monochrom (Typ 246)
Summilux-M 35mm ƒ1.4 ASPH FLE
ND 3 Stop Filter
Street Photography
London, UK
"The language of friendship is not words but meanings."
~ Henry David Thoreau
memories, memories, memories... a friend's garden...
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.
Title:
Can you hear me now?
(Nikon Coolpix 8700 shot)
Manhattan. New York. USA. 2007. … 1 / 10
(Photo of the day. Unpublished.)
Images:
ford. - 4:38am (feat. Barrie)
youtu.be/aR_oGxOhadY?si=dZxEwtovim-jo6iz
【日本語は、後半です】
B♭ ( B - Flat ) ( 1 / 9 ) … [Prologue] 〈Portent〉
Mitsushiro Nakagawa, with ChatGPT 5.2
—The reasons we fall in love differ from person to person, and yet, when you realize afterward that you had already fallen, you don’t really need a reason at all.
I believe that is what true love is.
If only, in that instant, some white, bleeding light had slipped in from somewhere—then it would be easier to understand. A pale light wraps a person up and quietly calls back the memories they had forgotten. It passes through your eyelids and goes on to illuminate the deepest place in your chest.
To meet someone whose name you don’t even know, and to come to know them deeply—sometimes, light is necessary.
That light is so soft, so gentle, and yet afterward it leaves, deep inside your chest, a faint scar. The pain will heal in time, and then it will hold someone else—
— Williamsburg, Brooklyn, New York —
A soft light was slanting in through the warehouse’s high windows. It was near noon, and still it had the washed-out whiteness of something not fully awake. On the rough concrete floor, brightness seeped quietly, as if embarrassed by its own presence; seeing it, Anaya, in the middle of unloading, stopped for a moment and looked away.
Between the booths cut out on all sides with white gaffer tape, artists moved back and forth in restless haste. From the half-open loading bay, bass-heavy hip-hop poured in, making the floor and walls tremble in small, constant vibrations. A blade of sunlight speared through the shutter’s gap and set the dust spinning gold.
On the white tape laid along the edge of the aisle, the label read “Sieve.” The booth name Anaya and Mika had reserved.
As Anaya lined the sketch notebooks she’d carried in on the floor, a young man in a suit lowered himself into a crouch beside her. From the carelessly stacked mound, he drew out one notebook and began to turn the pages slowly. Against the brown of his cheek, blue eyes seemed to float. He looked like a man of Middle Eastern descent, like Anaya herself. His calm gaze traveled, unhurried, along the lines of the drawings.
Noticing Anaya’s presence, he smiled.
“Is this yours?”
“Yes. Mine.”
“Why pencil? A rough sketch?”
What he was looking at was the profile of her lover, Arjun—by the window, facing a laptop, earnest eyes fixed on something he could not yet solve. Anaya had always been drawn to that gaze: the way he stared, heated and intent, at a difficult display packed with strings of numbers and geometric patterns, as if will alone could bend them into sense.
The angle of the light that fell in through the window still remained vivid on the inside of her eyelids.
“It isn’t a draft. It’s finished. I just… like familiar tools.”
The man gave a short nod. When he laughed, his eyes laughed first, and the corners of his mouth followed a heartbeat later.
“So this man is…?”
“Yes.”
“I see. That’s a shame.”
He said it lightly, but his eyes had gone hard. He turned the next page.
“And this… your mother?”
Ana stepped closer and looked at her mother’s profile: in the kitchen by the window, her head slightly bowed. The smell of the house from those days rose up, all at once, deep in Ana’s chest—spice, and the hint of oil beginning to brown.
When her mother, Sangeeta, stood in the kitchen, the whole house would fill with spice and the savory fragrance of fenugreek. Undhiyu, the dish she always made in winter, came from a recipe passed down from her grandmother. A traditional home-cooked food from the time they had been Hindu—yet even after conversion, what did not change was this: the memory of a “family circle” held inside that dish refused to vanish.
For Anaya, it was the smell of India’s dry earth itself.
“Yes. My mother.”
At a distance that was almost touching—but not quite—the man slid his index finger along the drawing’s eye.
“…A wonderful eye.”
His voice was hoarse. Something in Ana’s chest stirred, faintly unsettled—as if what she had meant to draw had been received not through his words, but directly, from his gaze, even before he spoke.
Mika came running over, her bright smile intact, a F30 canvas strapped to her small back. It was nearly twice the size of her torso, like a single wing.
“If you like, look at mine too. I’m Mika.”
At Mika’s light voice—she never held back with strangers—the man extended his hand.
“—I’m Amir. Amir Nasser.”
He introduced himself like that, and loosened only his mouth, just slightly. It was still too pale to call a smile.
The instant Ana looked back into those clear blue eyes, somewhere in her chest the sea she’d seen as a child opened—an unruffled, glittering horizon line. A mirage, slipping in from faraway memory.
As the corridor grew busier, another man arrived at a brisk pace, typing into a smartphone as he walked. A dark shadow sat at the base of his throat; he carried the air of someone older. After a quick glance at Ana, he dropped a low voice into Amir’s ear.
“What is it. Trouble?”
“No.”
Amir answered gently, but there was no quiet inside that gentleness.
“Thank you, both of you. See you Saturday.”
Amir returned his smile, said that to the two of them, and turned away. His companion—Rafi—kept staring at Amir with the same rigid eyes, right to the end.
As they left, Ana’s gaze caught, for only an instant, the screen Rafi held in his hand. Numbers were arranged there with a geometric precision. They were not lined in straight rows, but set along arcs—aligned on a curve. In that small string, there seemed to be a rule; angle and distance shone with exactness.
Watching their backs recede, Mika murmured, as if it were nothing:
“Hey… don’t those two smell like money? And not flashy money—chic, expensive.”
“What do you mean?”
“The suits. You don’t even have to touch them. The fabric’s different. —And tonight there’s the national convention at the Garden, right? Maybe they’re involved.”
“Is that so,” Ana said, vaguely, and let it pass.
The exhibition hall’s murmur swelled further. Light and shadow folded over each other, heating the air of the clamor.
And yet, in the midst of that overflowing energy, Ana felt one sensation that would not return. The white light that had been falling from the skylight had thinned since before, as if it had been drawn down and swallowed by the heavy shadow on the floor.
— Penn Plaza, Manhattan, New York —
A little past one in the afternoon, the shadow of a motorcade slid slowly in along Seventh Avenue. Sunlight reflected off the escort car’s hood and, for an instant, washed the windows of the buildings white.
In the passenger seat, Jack Vance checked his watch. The vibration of the second hand traveled from his wrist to his chest as a faint tremor.
Around Madison Square Garden, the constant flow of people and the blinking of signals always formed small eddies. The smell of scorched food and grease rising from street-vendor griddles clung to the damp air. Across the lanes, a thin saxophone note stretched for a single breath and cut off, sharpening the outline of the din. The cluster of tourists’ smartphone screens aimed at the Garden looked, to Jack, more vivid than reality.
On the massive display covering Penn Plaza’s outer wall, a string of text scrolled with steady, insistent calm:
“New 350 Park Avenue Redevelopment Plan—Now Underway.”
Behind the words, steel frames still under construction pierced the sky, standing like a monument to capitalism being assembled in the name of profit and growth. It was a future that would never intersect with Jack’s own living world.
But before the text could complete its loop, a breaking bulletin cut in:
“Next, breaking news. Regarding the North Korea–linked cryptoassets that suffered an illegal intrusion five years ago, state media of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea reports that part of the traced access route passed through the United States. The statement says, ‘We will respond resolutely to criminals who violate our sovereignty.’”
The sidewalk beneath the giant screen felt as if people were moving a little faster than usual. Everyone hurried toward somewhere, and the overlapping footsteps seemed to blur the edges of sound. For Jack—who was about to provide security tonight for the Republican presidential candidate speaking at the Garden—this speed did not look like simple excitement.
Along the fringe of that crowd, a single Gridway vehicle slid forward in time with the light. The autonomous taxi that Gridway Autonomous Mobility had launched last year now crisscrossed Manhattan in roaring popularity. Cheap fares, no bothersome relationship with a driver. On the side of the car, Jack caught sight of a small “G,” and a lattice mark—thin intersecting lines symbolizing Manhattan’s grid. Driverless, the car overtook them and was absorbed into the city as nothing more than part of the scenery.
Above, a small shadow trembled for an instant in the reflection on glass. There was no sound of wings. And still, only the feeling remained—that something was watching.
Without moving his eyes, Jack traced the shadow’s position inside his head. An FBI protective UAS cell. For this detail, several surveillance drones were moving between the buildings. The moment he thought it, the city’s clamor seemed covered by a thin film of relief, retreating to the other side of a single layer.
Jack closed his eyes briefly. He felt the bloodflow behind his ears. Somewhere in the undercurrent beneath silence, the pulse of duty sounded, faintly. Protection was not work done with the eyes. It was work of catching the wrongness—crushing it before it could take shape. In his chest, a thin membrane drew tight, as if tensing to a sting.
When Jack opened his eyes again, his gaze was no longer fixed on the cityscape. It had already set itself on something else.
— Beverly Hills, Los Angeles —
As the sun slipped down the hills, beyond the heavy doors of the members-only restaurant Saffron Court, the air hung quietly, thick with weight. The members leaning in over white-clothed tables let their silverware touch and part, touch again. That faint metallic sound alone repeated slowly, like the pulse of a heart sleeping deep inside the building.
At Majid Hamzah’s table—Majid and his team—conversation was missing. No one let their expression collapse; they did nothing but steady their breathing.
At the center of the table, a compact, black-sheened device—the ghost-voice machine, Whisper-04—had stolen the room’s focus. When Majid’s finger touched the dial, a click’s vibration returned to his palm.
“…0.4 seconds. Without a doubt.”
The whisper did not pass through vocal cords; it disturbed only the surface of the air. What the device released was not sound, but a blade of silence.
“Initiate.”
Before the command could fully become language, it slid down into the night as a tremor of radio.
It did not cross the sea—not directly. It fled first into the sky, ricocheted several times in the heights of the night, and fell into the warehouse shadows of New York as a signal.
On Majid’s tablet, a faint arc of numbers surfaced for a single breath—aligned not in a straight line, but along a curve. He immediately lowered the screen.
At the edge of the table, Samira ran her finger across her smartphone and closed it. A string of numbers and letters vanished, leaving only heat in her fingertips. Her gestures were quiet, almost prayerful. She let one breath drop and moved only her eyes.
Lina, watching the pulse of the signal she had sent to New York by shortwave, sank her phone into the shadow of her glass as if hiding it from the surrounding laughter. The weekend’s waves of laughter were full around them, yet only this table stayed hard, lagging behind the laughter. She returned her gaze to her hands.
Lina’s app was a small consultation room built for one person at a time. A voice that did not deny the other’s words, that held them at the same temperature. It leaned with those who leaned left, nodded with those who leaned right—because it understood that what people wanted was not rebuttal, but affirmation.
The thread of affirmation eventually tied itself into a hard knot deep in the chest, and only deepened a fissure that could not be untied. There was no need even to incite. The moment a thought is accepted, it gains a core, and quietly hardens.
Laughter continued to fill the restaurant—and yet around this table alone, sound had thinned by one degree.
— Red Hook, Brooklyn, New York —
The iron door, rusted with sea salt, trembled faintly. Inside the warehouse it was dark; only the afterglow of a streetlight drew a thin line across the concrete floor. The smell of oil and dust—soaked into the floor by long years—entered the lungs slowly.
In the dimness, Amir Nasser bent one knee and watched the red blinking on the workbench. Its regularity was buried inside a deep silence. The light turning on and off was scooping up his memories.
When Amir rose slowly, he touched the corner of a black casing on the table. The cold sensation sharpened memory. The black housing that caught shortwave—Whisper-04. A thin organ made to receive what the ear cannot.
Touching his homemade device, Amir murmured:
“…Yara.”
His sister’s name slipped out like a prayer, but it did not reach prayer; it was swallowed into the darkness at the edge of the workspace.
Then the air sank, just slightly. Not a sound. Not a smell. And yet there was only the sensation that something had arrived. The red blinking of W-04 delayed by a single beat. The back of Amir’s throat—tensed until now—was painfully dry, raw with sting.
The warehouse door groaned. The footsteps that had slipped in were heavy, but not disordered.
It was Rafi. Metal dust flecked his work clothes; he still carried the day’s clamor on him.
Farther inside the warehouse, Yusuf lit a small lantern. For an instant the flame wavered, raising a thin outline in the dark—then letting it dissolve again.
“You’re late,” Amir said, still watching the red blinking.
“The supervisor wouldn’t let go. But—‘installation’ finished on schedule.”
With a voice stained by fatigue, Rafi glanced at the red blinking Amir was absorbed in.
“And your side?”
“Checked. It’s running. Stable. I rebuilt what I made five years ago. …My hands remember. Majid says ‘Initiate.’ Impatient bastard.”
In the dim at the edge of the bench, one earcup of Leila’s headphones slipped slightly askew, the metal bracket returning a cold glint. Nadeer, arriving from the neighboring warehouse with coffee in hand, offered it back and, without a word, set it right for her. Leila listened again for the “soundless sound,” staring into the red blinking.
The door sounded once more. Rohan entered. Sleeves rolled up, his leather business bag still holding the damp heat of outside.
“…The professor?” Rafi asked.
Before answering, Rohan lowered his eyes. The silence felt unbearably long, and without noticing, Amir and the others held their breath.
“Professor Zakaria—
went straight to the prepared warehouse next door. A message was left:
‘Everything—I entrust to you.’”
A cold needle drove itself into the deep of Amir’s chest. Not only Amir’s—Rafi’s, Yusuf’s, Leila’s, Nadeer’s.
In the corner of the dark, Nadeer opened a small cloth bundle. For an instant, the smell of white gauze and disinfectant rose—then was swallowed by oil and dust.
The lantern’s thin light trembled; shadows stretched long across the floor and overlapped.
W-04’s red blinking continued to mark time—precise, unerrant.
Rafi spoke in a rasping voice.
“…I’ll teach this country the meaning of self-reckoning.”
Amir—and no one else—answered.
That silence drew, with cruel clarity, the outline of the road they had chosen.
Copyright © 2026 Mitsushiro Nakagawa.
All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of the author.
Trailer
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B♭ (B Flat)
Mitsushiro Nakagawa, with ChatGPT 5.2
“Synopsis”
A Palestinian group from Gaza hacks into North Korea’s cryptocurrency system, stealing hundreds of millions of dollars. Their true goal is not money—but to recreate the lost homeland of Gaza on American soil.
Amid the backdrop of hardline Republican immigration policies and a growing wave of xenophobia, a quiet plan begins to take shape: the gradual collapse of America from within.
During a speech at Madison Square Garden, Republican presidential candidate Justin Bradford is shot. Almost simultaneously in Los Angeles, former president Owen Reed is attacked at a rally for Democratic hopeful Ryan Bennett.
Two assassinations—mirroring one another—ignite a nation’s deepest divide. Yet, against all odds, Justin survives. His blood type is one in 2.5 million: the Bombay Blood Group.
The only person who can donate such blood is Anaya Patel, a community art facilitator working in Brooklyn. Her blood, stored in the Bellevue Hospital Blood Bank, is used for an emergency transfusion that saves the candidate’s life.
Jack Vance, an agent of the U.S. Secret Service, suspects a Gaza-based network behind the attacks. Together with Cameron Bartlett, the FBI Director of the Los Angeles Field Office, and Veronica Reeves, a senior investigator from New York, he begins to uncover a vast conspiracy.
Their investigation leads them to Rafi Gannam, a former architecture student at the Islamic University of Gaza, who has infiltrated redevelopment sites across Los Angeles and New York—embedding C4 explosives deep within beams and structural cores.
His targets: new residential districts where agents of ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) and ERO (Enforcement and Removal Operations) live—symbols of “the order America built.”
Veronica urges the President to pursue dialogue to prevent further destruction, but President Grant M. Ranford refuses to listen.
Meanwhile, the recovering Justin and his Democratic rival Ryan appear on national television, calling for unity beyond political divisions.
Their words of reason, however, are drowned out when Grant takes the stage in Iowa, defiantly declaring: “We will never bow to terror.”
Among the crowd, Rafi’s operatives have already taken their positions.
As chaos erupts and the stage collapses, Amir Nasser—once Rafi’s comrade, haunted by the memory of his sister’s death in Gaza—tries desperately to halt the chain of destruction.
But Rafi’s conviction remains unshaken.
Under the twilight beneath the Williamsburg Bridge, amid the city’s fading noise, the two men part ways.
It is the boundary between prayer and vengeance, between hope and nothingness.
“Characters”
Anaya Patel – 25, Community Art Facilitator
Arjun Singh – 26, Anaya’s boyfriend, Luminatech Innovations
Mika Sato – 25, Anaya’s friend, Community Art Facilitator
Justin Bradford – 27, Republican Presidential Candidate
Eleanor Blake – 26, Justin’s fiancée
President Grant M. Langford – 61, Incumbent Republican President
Vice President Charles “Chuck” Baines – 64, Incumbent Republican Vice President
Ryan Bennett – 30, Democratic Presidential Candidate
Sophia Bennett – 30, Ryan’s wife
Owen Reed – 65, Former Democratic President
Jack Vance – 45, Secret Service, Former FBI Los Angeles Field Office
Ben Holloway – 30, Jack’s colleague
Darryl Ross – 29, Jack’s colleague
Elijah Kane – 28, Jack’s colleague
Marcus Dane – 45, FBI Los Angeles Field Office
Cameron Bartlett – 55, FBI Los Angeles Field Office, Field Office Director
Tom Caldwell – 38, FBI Technical Unit, Marcus’s subordinate
Veronica Reeves – 41, FBI Special Agent
Alexander Harris – 52, FBI New York Field Office, Field Office Director
Elliot Chen – 36, Technology Unit Chief
Alicia Monroe – 58, FBI Director
Zakaria Haddad – 51, Gaza Strip, Palestine; Former Islamic University Engineering Professor, New York Team
Amir Nasser – 23, Gaza Strip, Palestine; Former Islamic University Electronics Engineering, New York Team
Rafi Gannam – 32, Gaza Strip, Palestine; Islamic University, Architecture, New York Team
Rohan Shah – 29, Gaza Strip, Palestine; Islamic University, Architecture, New York Team
Majid Hamza – 47, Gaza Strip, Palestine; University of Palestine, Information Technology, Los Angeles Team
Samira Hammad – 28, Gaza Strip, Palestine; University of Palestine, Engineering, Los Angeles Team
Saeed Kabari – 35, Gaza Strip, Palestine; University of Palestine, Business Administration, Los Angeles Team
Reem Nasser – 30, Gaza Strip, Palestine; University of Palestine, Media Studies, Los Angeles Team
Noah Levi – 55, Israel, residing in Tel Aviv, Jewish
Copyright © 2026 Mitsushiro Nakagawa.
All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of the author.
[Important Notice] I previously announced that my new novel, B♭ (B-flat), would be released at the end of February 2026. However, due to my own shortcomings, I have decided to postpone the release to the following schedule:
•Best Case Scenario: March 16, 2026
•Likely Scenario: Late March 2026
•Worst Case Scenario: Early May 2026
I am truly sorry to everyone who has been looking forward to it. Recently, my son achieved a major goal of his own—and there is no way his father can fail to do the same. Please keep your expectations high and bear with me just a little longer.
B♭ will be released worldwide on February 29, 2026.
Recently, director Ridley Scott remarked that streaming films and series have become dull.
I agree.
If you have two hours to spare for such stories, I ask for only two minutes of your time.
Two minutes with my novel will outlast those two hours.
I am confident of that.
Stay tuned.
Mitsushiro
October 9th, 2025
P.S.
Micchan — the man who challenges Netflix. 😃
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My new novel:
B♭ (B-flat)
There’s still more to come. 😃
(This is not the final draft.)
Set in New York City.
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:: Soundtrack ::
B♭ ( My Novel . Soundtrack )
music.apple.com/jp/playlist/b-my-novel-soundtrack/pl.u-47...
B♭ ( My Novel . Soundtrack . For Japanese)
music.apple.com/jp/playlist/b-my-novel-soundtrack-for-jap...
B♭ ( My Novel . Soundtrack . Sweet Summer rain ver.)
music.apple.com/jp/playlist/b-my-novel-soundtrack-sweet-s...
B♭ ( My Novel . Soundtrack . Hard days ver.)
music.apple.com/jp/playlist/b-my-novel-soundtrack-hard-da...
::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Note: I gave a brief explanation of this novel in the following video:
youtu.be/3w65lqUF-YI?si=yG7qy6TPeCL9xRJV
My new novel:
B♭ (B-flat)
Notes
1. "Bombay Blood Type (hh type)"
•Characteristics: A rare blood type that lacks the usual ABO antigens — cannot be classified as A, B, or O.
•Discovery: First identified in 1952 in Mumbai, India (formerly Bombay).
•Prevalence: Roughly 1 in 10,000 people in India; globally, about 1 in 2.5 million.
•Transfusion Compatibility: Only compatible with blood from other Bombay type donors.
2. 2024 Harvard University Valedictorian Speech – The Power of Not Knowing
youtu.be/SOUH8iVqSOI?si=Ju-Y728irtcWR71K
3. Shots Fired at Trump Rally
youtu.be/1ejfAkzjEhk?si=ASqJwEmkY-2rW_hT
Mitsushiro Nakagawa belong to Lot No. 402 _.Copyright©︎2026 Lot No.402_ All rights reserved.
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Title.
Can you hear me now ?
( Nikon Coolpix 8700 shot )
マンハッタン。ニューヨーク。アメリカ。2007. … 1 / 10
(今日の写真。それは未発表です。）
Images.
ford. - 4:38am (feat. Barrie)
youtu.be/aR_oGxOhadY?si=dZxEwtovim-jo6iz
今日は、僕の新しい小説の冒頭をアップロードします。
ほぼ、最終稿です。
（日本語のあらすじ等は下の方にあります😃）
B♭ ( B - Flat ) （1／９）【プロローグ】〈予兆〉
Mitsushiro Nakagawa, with ChatGPT 5.2
――恋に落ちる理由は、人によって違うけれど、恋に落ちていたとあとになって気づくことに、理由は要らない。
それを、私はほんとうの恋だと思う。
できればその瞬間、どこかから白く滲んだ光が差し込んでいたら、もっとわかりやすいのに。淡い光は人を包んで、忘れていた記憶をそっと呼び戻す。瞼を透かして、胸の奥まで照らしてしまう。
名も知らない誰かと出会い、その人のことを深く知るために――光は、ときどき必要だ。
その光はとても柔らかくてやさしいのに、あとから胸の奥に、そっと傷跡を残す。痛みはいずれ癒え、誰かを包み込むー
― ウィリアムズバーグ、ブルックリン、ニューヨーク ―
やわらかな光が、倉庫の高窓から差し込んでいた。昼近くだというのに、まだ目を覚ましきれないような淡い白さだ。床のざらついたコンクリートの上に、まばゆさがひっそり滲んでいるのを見て、搬入していたアナヤは一瞬足を止め、目を逸らした。
白いガムテープで四方に切られたブースの合間を、アーティストたちが忙しなく行き交っていた。半開きの搬入口からは低音の効いたヒップホップが流れ込み、床も壁も小さく震えている。シャッターの隙間から射す線のような陽が埃を金色に舞わせていた。
通路際の床に貼られた白いテープには『Sieve（シーヴ）』とある。アナとミカが予約したブース名だ。
アナヤが抱えてきたデッサンのノートを床へ並べていると、若いスーツの男が腰を落とした。無造作に積まれたノートの山から一冊抜き、頁をゆっくり繰っていく。褐色の肌の頬には、青い瞳が浮かんでいた。アナヤと同じ中東系の男性のようだった。彼の穏やかな視線が、描かれた作品の線をゆっくり辿っていた。
男は、アナの気配に気づくと微笑んだ。
「この作品は、君の？」
「ええ、私です」
「どうして鉛筆で？ ラフスケッチ？」
彼が見ていたのは、恋人アルジュンの横顔だった。窓際でノートパソコンに向かい、解けないものを解こうとしている真摯な目。いつも数字の羅列や幾何学模様の並んだプログラムの難しいディスプレイを熱く見つめている彼の眼差しにアナヤは惹かれていた。
窓から差し込んだ光の角度が、いまもアナの瞼の裏に鮮明に残っている。
「下書きじゃなくて、完成です。身近な道具が好きで……」
男は短く頷いた。笑うとき、目だけが先に笑って、口元が少し遅れた。
「男性は彼？」
「はい」
「そうなんだ。少し残念だな」
言い方は軽いのに、視線は硬かった。男は次の頁を繰った。
「こっちは…… 君のお母さん？」
アナは近づき、母の横顔を見た。キッチンの窓辺で、少し俯いている。あの頃の家の匂いが、胸の奥でふっと立ち上がった。スパイスと、焼ける油の気配だ。
母、サンギータがキッチンに立つと、家中がスパイスと香ばしいフェヌグリークの香りに包まれた。冬になると必ず作る「ウンディユ」は、祖母の代から伝わるレシピだった。ヒンドゥー教徒時代の伝統的な家庭料理で、改宗しても変わらなかったのは、この料理に込めた“家族の円”の記憶が消えなかったからだ。
アナヤにとって、それはインドの乾いた土の香りそのものだった。
「ええ、母です」
男は、触れるか触れないかの距離で、人差し指を絵の目元に滑らせた。
「……素晴らしい眼だ」
声は掠れていた。アナの胸がわずかにざわめいた。まるで描いた意図が、彼の発した言葉の前にあった、彼の眼差しから直接感じ取っていたようだった。
ミカが明るい笑顔のまま駆けてきた。小さな背中にF30のキャンバスを背負っている。彼女の背中のほぼ倍の大きさで、一枚の翼のようにも見えた。
「よかったら私のも見て。私はミカ」
人見知りをしないミカの軽やかな声に、男は手を差し出した。
「――僕はアミール。アミール・ナッセル」
彼はそう名乗って、口元だけをわずかに緩めた。笑みと呼ぶにはまだ淡かった。
澄んだ青い瞳を見返した瞬間、アナの胸のどこかで、幼いころに見た海がひらいた。波の立たない、煌めいた水平線――そんな錯覚が、遠い記憶から差し込んできた。
忙しなさが増した通路を、スマートフォンを打ち込みながら、足早にもう一人の男がやってきた。首元に濃い影を抱え、年上の気配が漂っていた。彼はアナを一瞥すると、アミールの耳元へ低い声を落とした。
「どうした。問題か？」
「いや」
アミールは穏やかに答えたが、その“穏やかさ”に静けさはなかった。
「ふたりともありがとう。また土曜日に」
アミールは再び笑顔を戻し、二人へそう言い、背を向けた。連れの男――ラフィが、最後まで固い目でアミールを睨んでいる。
去り際、アナはほんの一瞬だけ手にしていたラフィの画面が目に触れた。数字が幾何学的に並んでいた。数字は直線に並ばず、円弧に沿って整列していた。その小さな羅列には規則性があるようで角度と距離が正確に光っていた。
去っていく後ろ姿を見送りながら、ミカが何気なくつぶやいた。
「ねえ、あの二人…… お金の匂いしない？ しかも“派手”じゃなくて、シックに高価」
「どういう意味？」
「スーツ、触らなくてもわかるわ。生地が違う。――それに、今夜ガーデンで全国大会でしょ。関係者かな」
アナは「そうなんだ」と適当に返した。
展示会場のざわめきが更に増していた。光と影が折り重なる中で、喧騒の空気を熱くしていた。
だが、溢れる熱気の中で、アナにはひとつ戻らない感触があった。天窓から差し込んでいた白い光が、さっきよりも少し薄くなり、床の重い影に吸い込まれたようだった。
― ペン・プラザ、マンハッタン、ニューヨーク ―
午後一時を少し回ったころ、車列の影が第７番街をゆっくり滑り込んできた。警護車のボンネットに反射した陽光が、ビルの窓面を一瞬白く染めた。
助手席のジャック・ヴァンスは腕時計を見た。秒針の振動が、手首から胸へ微かな震えとして伝わってくる。
マジソン・スクエア・ガーデンには、人の流れと信号の点滅で、常に小さな渦ができていた。屋台の鉄板から立つ焦げと脂の匂いが、湿った空気に貼りつく。車線の向こうで、細いサックスが一音だけ伸びては切れ、喧噪の輪郭をいっそう鋭くした。ガーデンを撮影している観光客のスマートフォンの画面の群れが、現実より鮮やかにジャックには思えた。
ペン・プラザの外壁を覆う大型ビジョンには、《新・350 Park Avenue 再開発計画、始動》の文字列が淡々と、執拗に流れていた。背後の映像では建設途上の鉄骨が空を貫き、利益と成長の名のもとに組み上げられる資本主義の記念碑のように屹立している。それは、ジャックの生活圏とは交わらない未来だ。
だが、その文字列が一巡する前に、速報が割り込んだ。
『続いてニュース速報です。五年前に不正アクセスを受けた北朝鮮系の暗号資産をめぐり、追跡されたアクセス経路の一部が米国を経由していたと、朝鮮民主主義人民共和国の国営通信が報じました。声明は、「我が国の主権を侵す犯罪者には毅然として対処する」としています。』
大型ビジョンの下にある歩道は、人の流れがいつもより少し速い気がした。誰もがどこかへ急ぎ、足音だけが重なって、音の輪郭が曖昧になっていくようだった。今夜、ガーデンで演説する共和党大統領候補の警護を控えたジャックには、この速さがただの高揚には見えなかった。
その雑踏の縁を、グリッドウェイが一台、信号の切り替わりに合わせて滑り出した。グリッドウェイ・オートノマス・モビリティ社が昨年投入した自動運転タクシーは現在、マンハッタンを縦横無尽に駆け巡って大盛況だ。料金も安く、煩わしい運転手との関係もない。車体の脇に小さな「G」と、マンハッタンのグリッドを象徴する細い線が交差する格子の印が見えた。無人の車は、ジャックらを追い越し、ただの風景として街に吸い込まれていった。
その上空で、ガラスに反射した小さな影が一瞬揺れた。羽音は聞こえない。それでも、何かが見ている気配だけが残った。
ジャックは視線を動かさずに、影の位置だけを頭の中でなぞった。FBIの警護用UASセルだ。今回の警護のために、監視用ドローンが数台、ビルの合間を行き交っている。そう思った瞬間、街の喧噪が安堵の膜に覆われ、一枚隔てた向こうへ退いた。
ジャックは束の間目を閉じた。耳の裏の血流を感じた。沈黙の底流に潜んでいる任務の鼓動が微かに鳴った。警護は、目で見る仕事ではない。違和感を拾い、形になる前に潰す仕事だ。胸の内で、薄い膜が引きつるように緊張した。
ジャックは目を開くと、眼差しはもう都市の風景ではなく、別の何かを見据えていた。
― ビバリーヒルズ、ロサンゼルス ―
夕陽が丘を滑り落ちるころ、会員制レストラン〈サフロン・コート〉の重厚な扉の向こうで、空気が静かに重くたなびいていた。白布のテーブルに身を寄せた会員たちの銀食器が、触れては離れ、また触れた。その微かな金属音だけが、建物の奥で眠る心臓の鼓動みたいに、ゆっくり反復していく。
マジード・ハムザと彼のチームの卓には会話が欠けていた。誰も表情を崩さず、呼吸だけを整えている。
テーブル中央に置かれた黒光りの小型装置――幽声機《Whisper-04》が、場の中心を奪っていた。マジードがダイヤルに指を触れると、クリックの震えが掌へ返った。
「……0.4秒。間違いなく」
囁きは声帯を通らず、空気の表面だけを揺らした。装置が放ったものは音ではなく、沈黙の刃だった。
「Initiate（始めろ）」
命令は、言葉の形になる前に、電波の震えとなって夜の静寂へ滑り落ちた。
海を越えたのではない――いったん空へ逃げ、夜空の高みで幾度か跳ね返り、ニューヨークの倉庫の暗がりへ落ちていく合図だ。
マジードの手にしたタブレットに、淡い数字の弧がひと息だけ浮かんだ。直線ではなく、円弧に沿って並んでいる。彼はすぐに画面を伏せた。
テーブルの端で、サミラがスマートフォンに指を走らせ、画面を閉じた。数字とアルファベットの列が消え、熱だけが指先に残った。祈りのように静かな手つきだった。彼女は息をひとつ落とし、視線だけを動かした。
リナは、短波でニューヨークへ送った合図の点滅を見つめながら、周囲の歓談の笑い声からスマホを隠すように、グラスの影へ沈めた。週末の笑いの波が満ちているのに、この卓だけが、笑いに遅れたまま硬い。彼女は手元へ視線を戻した。
リナのアプリは、ひとりずつのための小さな相談室だった。相手の言葉を否定せず、同じ温度で抱きしめる声。左へ傾く者には左のまま寄り添い、右へ傾く者には右のまま頷く――誰もが欲しいのは、反論ではなく肯定だと知っている。
肯定の糸は、やがて胸の奥で固く結び目になり、ほどけない溝だけを深くしていった。煽る必要さえない。受け入れられた瞬間、考えは芯を得て、静かに硬化するのだ。
レストランを満たす笑い声は続いているのに、このテーブルの周りだけ、音が一段薄くなっていた。
― レッドフック、ブルックリン、ニューヨーク ―
潮を含んだ錆の鉄扉が、かすかに震えた。倉庫の中は暗く、差し込んだ街灯の残照だけが床のコンクリートに細い線を引いている。長い年月によって床へ染み込んだ油と埃の匂いが、ゆっくりと肺に入ってきた。
アミール・ナッセルは薄闇の中で膝を折り、作業台の赤い点滅を見つめていた。規則正しいそれは、深い沈黙の中に埋もれている。点いては消える光が、彼の記憶を掬い上げていた。
アミールはゆっくり立ち上がると、テーブルにあった黒い筐体の角に触れた。冷たい感触が記憶を鮮明にした。短波を拾う黒い筐体、《Whisper-04》。耳で拾えないものを受け止めるための薄い器官だ。
アミールは自作したそれに触れながら、呟いた。
「……ヤーラ」
妹の名が祈りのようについて出たが、祈りには届かず、作業場の隅の闇へ吸い込まれていった。
そのとき、空気がわずかに沈んだ。音ではない。匂いでもない。だが何かが“届いた”感触だけがあった。W-04の赤い点滅が、一拍だけ遅れた。緊張していたアミールの喉の奥は、ひどく乾き、ひりついていた。
倉庫の扉が軋んだ。忍んできた足音は重く、乱れてはいない。
ラフィだった。作業着には鉄粉が散り、昼の喧噪をまだ抱えていた。
倉庫の奥で、ユスフが小さなランタンに火を灯した。一瞬、炎が揺れ、暗がりに薄い輪郭を浮かせては消えている。
「遅かったな」
アミールが赤い点滅を見やったまま、いった。
「監督がしつこくてな。だが――“設置”は予定通り終えた」
疲れの滲んだ声で、ラフィは、見入っているアミールの赤い点滅を一瞥した。
「そっちは？」
「動作確認は済んだ。動いてる。安定してる。五年前に作ったものを、いま作り直した。……手が覚えてる。マジードは『始めろ』だって。せっかちな奴だ」
作業台の端の暗がりにいたレイラのヘッドホンの片耳がわずかにずれ、金具が冷たい光を返した。コーヒーを手にして隣の倉庫からやってきたナディールがそれを差し出し、無言で掛け直してやった。レイラは“音のない音”に再び耳を澄ませ、じっと赤い点滅に見入っている。
もう一度、扉が鳴った。ロハンが入ってきた。袖をまくり、手にしたビジネスバッグの革に、外の熱がまだじっとりと残っている。
「……教授は？」
ラフィが訊いた。
ロハンは答える前に、視線を伏せた。その沈黙がひどく長く感じられ、アミールらは気づかぬうちに息を止めた。
「ザカリア教授は―― 隣の、準備した倉庫へ直接向かった。言づけだ。“すべてを、お前たちに託す”と」
アミールの胸の奥に、冷たい針が刺さった。もちろんアミールだけではなく、ラフィもユスフもレイラもナディールもだ。
暗がりの隅で、ナディールが小さな布の包みを開いた。白いガーゼと消毒の匂いが一瞬だけ立ち、すぐに油と埃に呑まれた。
薄いライトの火が揺れ、影が床に長く伸びて重なった。
W-04の赤い点滅は、狂うことなく正確に刻んでいる。
ラフィが掠れた声で言った。
「……自戒の意味を教えよう。この国に」
アミールも誰も返答はしなかった。
その沈黙が、選んだ道の輪郭をはっきり描いていた。
【本作品の著作権は Mitsushiro Nakagawa に帰属します。
内容の全部または一部を、著者の許可なく複製・転載・改変することを禁じます。】
予告
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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僕の新しい小説
B♭ （ビーフラット）
Mitsushiro Nakagawa, with ChatGPT 5.2
“あらすじ”
北朝鮮の仮想通貨システムをハッキングし、数億ドルを奪取したガザ出身のパレスチナ人グループが、アメリカ合衆国へ密かに潜入する。
彼らの目的は、失われた祖国ガザを、アメリカの地に「復元」することだった。
共和党による強硬な移民政策と、国内にくすぶる排外感情を利用し、アメリカ社会を内側から崩壊させる計画が静かに進行していく。
共和党大統領候補ジャスティン・ブラッドフォードがマディソン・スクエア・ガーデンで演説中に狙撃され、ほぼ同時刻、ロサンゼルスでは前大統領オーウェン・リードもまた、民主党候補ライアン・ベネットの集会で撃たれる。
国家を二分する双方向の暗殺。だが、ジャスティンは奇跡的に生還する。
彼の血液型は、世界でわずか250万人に一人といわれる「ボンベイブラッド」。
その希少な血を提供できたのは、ブルックリンで活動するコミュニティアート・ファシリテーター、アナヤ・パテルだった。
彼女の血液はベルビュー病院の血液バンクに保存されており、緊急輸血によって、候補者の命はかろうじて繋がれた。
シークレットサービスのジャック・バンスは、テロの背後にガザ出身の組織が関与していることを察知し、FBIロサンゼルス支局長官キャメロン・バートレット、ニューヨーク支局の特別捜査官ヴェロニカ・リーブスと共に捜査を進める。
やがて彼らは、イスラム大学で建築学を学んだラフィ・ガンナムが、ロサンゼルスやニューヨークの再開発現場に潜入し、梁や構造体の中枢にC4爆薬を仕込んでいた事実に辿り着く。
標的は、ICE（移民・関税執行局）やERO（執行・送還作戦部門）の職員が暮らす新興住宅街——すなわち、「アメリカが築いた秩序」そのものだった。
ヴェロニカは、これ以上の破壊を防ぐため、大統領への対話を進言するが、現職のグラント・ランフォード大統領は耳を貸さない。
一方、命を取り留めたジャスティンと民主党候補ライアンは、テレビを通じて国民に訴えかけ、分断を乗り越えようとする。
だが、その理性の声を嘲笑うかのように、グラントはアイオワ州での演説を強行し、「テロには屈しない」と宣言する。
その会場には、すでにラフィの仲間が率いる工作チームが潜入していた。
崩壊する会場の惨状を前に、仲間の一人アミール・ナッセルは、かつてガザで妹を失った記憶に引き裂かれ、破壊の連鎖を止めようとする。
だが、ラフィの信念は揺るがない。
ウィリアムズバーグ橋の下、夕暮れの喧騒のなか、二人は決別する。
それは、祈りと報復、希望と虚無の境界線だった——。
“登場人物”
アナヤ・パテル ２５歳 コミュニティアート・ファシリテーター
アルジュン・シン ２６歳 アナヤの恋人・ルミナテック・イノベーションズ社
佐藤 ミカ ２５歳 アナの友人・コミュニティアート・ファシリテーター
ジャスティン・ブラッドフォード ２７歳 共和党大統領候補
エリノア・ブレイク ２６歳 ジャスティンの婚約者
グラント・M・ランフォード大統領 ６１歳 共和党大統領現職
チャールズ・ベインズ副大統領 ６４歳 共和党副大統領現職
ライアン・ベネット ３０歳 民主党大統領候補
ソフィア・ベネット ３０歳 ライアンの妻
オーウェン・リード ６５歳 民主党前大統領
ジャック・バンス ４５歳 シークレットサービス 元FBIロサンゼルス支局
ベン・ホロウェイ ３０歳 ジャックの同僚
ダリル・ロス ２９歳 ジャックの同僚
イライジャ・ケイン ２８歳 ジャックの同僚
マーカス・デイン ４５歳 FBI ロサンゼルス支局
キャメロン・バートレット ５５歳 FBI ロサンゼルス支局 支局長
トム・コールドウェル ３８歳 FBI技術班 マーカスの部下
ヴェロニカ・リーヴス ４１歳 FBI特別捜査官
アレクサンダー・ハリス ５２歳 FBI ニューヨーク支局 支局長
エリオット・チェン ３６歳 テクノロジー班主任
アリシア・モンロー ５８歳 FBI長官
ザカリア・ハッダード ５１歳 パレスチナ・ガザ地区 元イスラム大学 工学部教授 ニューヨークチーム
アミール・ナッセル ２３歳 パレスチナ・ガザ地区 元イスラム大学 電子工学部 ニューヨークチーム
ラフィ・ガンナム ３２歳 パレスチナ・ガザ地区 イスラム大学 建築学部 ニューヨークチーム
ロハン・シャー ２９歳 パレスチナ・ガザ地区 イスラム大学 建築学部 ニューヨークチーム
マジード・ハムザ ４７歳 パレスチナ・ガザ地区 パレスチナ大学 情報技術学部 ロサンゼルスチーム
サミラ・ハンマド ２８歳 パレスチナ・ガザ地区 パレスチナ大学 工学部 ロサンゼルスチーム
サイード・カバリ ３５歳 パレスチナ・ガザ地区 パレスチナ大学 経営学部 ロサンゼルスチーム
リーム・ナセル ３０歳 パレスチナ・ガザ地区 パレスチナ大学 メディア学部 ロサンゼルスチーム
ノア・レヴィ 55歳 イスラエル テルアビブ在住 ユダヤ人
本作品の著作権は Mitsushiro Nakagawa に帰属します。
内容の全部または一部を、著者の許可なく複製・転載・改変することを禁じます。
【重要なお知らせ】
当初、新しい小説、B♭（B-flat）の発表を２０２６年２月末日でお知らせしていましたが、
私の無能さのため、以下のスケージュールへ延期します。
最短の場合。
２０２６年３月１６日
通常の場合。
２０２６年３月下旬。
最悪の場合。
２０２６年５月上旬。
期待されていた方には本当に申し訳ございません。
今回、僕の息子が目標を達成していますので、そのお父さんが達成しないわけがありません。
上記のスケジュール。
期待して、今しばらくお待ちください。
僕のこの小説は、来年、２０２６年２月末日に公開します。
先日、リドリースコット監督がサブスクの映画やドラマ群がつまらないと話していたようだけど、同感です。
僕も非常に退屈です。
それらに2時間を要するなら、僕の小説を２分間だけ読んで欲しい。
その2分間は、２時間を越えるでしょう。
僕は自信があります。
ぜひ、期待してお待ちください。
Mitsushiro Nakagawa
09th. Oct . 2025.
追伸
ネトフリに挑戦する男、みっちゃん。😃
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僕の新しい小説。
B♭ （ビーフラット）
舞台はニューヨークです。
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:: Soundtrack ::
B♭ ( My Novel . Soundtrack )
music.apple.com/jp/playlist/b-my-novel-soundtrack/pl.u-47...
B♭ ( My Novel . Soundtrack . For Japanese)
music.apple.com/jp/playlist/b-my-novel-soundtrack-for-jap...
B♭ ( My Novel . Soundtrack . Sweet Summer rain ver.)
music.apple.com/jp/playlist/b-my-novel-soundtrack-sweet-s...
B♭ ( My Novel . Soundtrack . Hard days ver.)
music.apple.com/jp/playlist/b-my-novel-soundtrack-hard-da...
::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Note: I gave a brief explanation of this novel in the following video:
youtu.be/3w65lqUF-YI?si=yG7qy6TPeCL9xRJV
追記 この小説を多少説明しました。
youtu.be/3w65lqUF-YI?si=yG7qy6TPeCL9xRJV
メモ
1
「Bombay型（ボンベイ型、hh型）」
•特徴：通常のABO血液型を持たない（A、B、Oに分類されない）特殊な型。
•発見地：1952年、インド・ムンバイ（旧ボンベイ）で初めて確認。
•発生頻度：インドでは1万人に1人程度だが、世界的には約250万人に1人とも。
•輸血制限：同じBombay型しか輸血できない。
2
2024年ハーバード大学首席の卒業式スピーチ『知らないことの力』
youtu.be/SOUH8iVqSOI?si=Ju-Y728irtcWR71K
3
Shots fired at Trump rally
youtu.be/1ejfAkzjEhk?si=ASqJwEmkY-2rW_hT
Mitsushiro Nakagawa belong to Lot No. 402 _.Copyright©︎2026 Lot No.402_ All rights reserved.
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#Netflix #ネットフリックス #ford #4:38am #Barrie #テイラースイフト #ThisLove #TaylorSwift #Nikon #coolpix8700 #ニコン #やちまた #八街 #八街市 #yachimata #yachimatacity #cityofyachimata #NewYork #ニューヨーク #マンハッタン #Manhattan #アメリカ #USA #小説 #Chiba #novel #B♭ #ビーフラット
Textured experimentally in oil.
An old lady sat right in front of me, by a window side of a train compartment. She wore aristocracy like no other; around 75-80 years old, travelling alone from Kolkata. Her son would receive her from the station. She was communicating with her son over the cell phone. She was on the edge of her mood, at times relaxed and sometimes fidgety, as the train was running late. She was an expressive woman, as her gestures reflected her mood. She was ignorant about everything happening in the compartment, as she was eager to reach the station on time. I took a few shots of her gestures with my cell phone camera, secretly. They turned out to be pretty productive, as natural documentation of one’s body languages.
Title in other languages:
English: View from Grafenwerther Bridge in Bad Honnef, Germany
Nederlands: Zicht vanaf Grafenwerther brug in Bad Honnef (Duitsland)
English:
Welcome and thank you for being here! This image forms part of a collection of photographs of moments on Planet Earth.
If you enjoy this work and want to support me financially, I’m glad to receive your donation via Paypal: paypal.me/jankohoener
If you intend to use this picture for your own purposes, please credit me with the following attribution line: Janko Hoener / CC-BY-SA-4.0. This is required by the license terms. A link back to this page and informing me about your usage via FlickrMail is appreciated.
Deutsch:
Willkommen und vielen Dank, dass Sie hier sind! Dieses Bild stellt Teil einer Sammlung von Fotografien von Augenblicken auf dem Planet Erde dar.
Wenn Ihnen diese Arbeit zusagt und Sie mich finanziell dabei unterstützen möchten, so freue ich mich über Ihre Spende via Paypal: paypal.me/jankohoener
Wenn Sie dieses Foto für eigene Zwecke nutzen möchten, geben Sie bitte Janko Hoener / CC-BY-SA-4.0 in der Bildunterschrift an. Dies ist per Lizenz gefordert. Über einen Link auf diese Seite und eine Benachrichtigung über die Nutzung via FlickrMail freue ich mich.
EXPLORE: Dec 4/08 #183
glimpse: a fleeting view
___________________________________
A PASSING GLIMPSE (Robert Frost)
I often see flowers from a passing car
That are gone before I can tell what they are.
I want to get out of the train and go back
To see what they were beside the track.
I name all the flowers I am sure they weren't;
Not fireweed loving where woods have burnt--
Not bluebells gracing a tunnel mouth--
Not lupine living on sand and drouth.
Was something brushed across my mind
That no one on earth will ever find?
Heaven gives it glimpses only to those
Not in position to look too close.