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About South Stack Cliffs
Enjoy a close-up view onto a wonderful cliff-side nesting colony, with binoculars and telescopes provided. You'll be able to watch guillemots, razorbills and puffins all raising their young, while live television pictures give you an even closer view of the nests! Rare choughs can also be seen on the reserve.
In spring and summer, the heathland becomes a riot of colour. Look closely and you may see a basking adder, while out to sea there may be porpoises and dolphins.
Opening times
The RSPB reserve is open year round; Ellins Tower, the RSPB visitor centre, is open from Easter to September.
Entrance charges
Free, but donations to help us continue our work here are welcome.
If you are new to birdwatching...
This reserve is good for birdwatching in the summer only.
Information for families
Some interactive materials in Ellins Tower Information Centre.
Information for dog owners
Some access for dogs. Please contact the reserve office for more information
Star species
Our star species are some of the most interesting birds you may see on your visit to the reserve.
Chough
The chough is the rarest member of the crow family in the UK. They can be found feeding in fields around South Stack, probing for invertebrates with their curved, red bill.
Guillemot
Guillemots look ungainly when they shuffle around on their nesting ledges on the cliffs, but underwater their streamlined shape comes into its own and they become agile and manoeuvrable.
Peregrine
Keep an eye out for a commotion among birds on the cliffs - a peregrine may be making a fly past. They are a regular sight overhead when a pair is nesting in the area.
Puffin
Enjoy the comical antics of puffins in spring and early summer from the viewing points on the cliffs. Watch the adults returning from fishing forays at sea with sandeels hanging from their colourful beaks.
Razorbill
Very similar to guillemots, razorbills spend most of their lives at sea in the Atlantic, only coming to land to breed between March and July.
Seasonal highlights
Each season brings a different experience at our nature reserves. In spring, the air is filled with birdsong as they compete to establish territories and attract a mate. In summer, look out for young birds making their first venture into the outside world. Autumn brings large movements of migrating birds - some heading south to a warmer climate, others seeking refuge in the UK from the cold Arctic winter. In winter, look out for large flocks of birds gathering to feed, or flying at dusk to form large roosts to keep warm.
Spring
Marvel at the wildflowers including kidney vetch, thrift and scurvey grass amid the cliff top grassland and heathland. Particularly eyecatching is the spring squill, which carpets areas of heathland that have recently been burnt. Look out for stonechats and linnets perched on top of bushes and listen out for the first skylarks. As spring takes hold, watch out for choughs and ravens collecting material to build their nests and don't miss the breeding seabirds crammed onto the narrow ledges on the cliffs in front of Ellins Tower.
Summer
Ellins tower provides excellent views of the seabird city with guillemots, razorbills, puffins, fulmars and gulls. Try to spot razorbill and guillemot chicks on the narrow cliff ledges, but don't leave it too late as these seabirds will be leave for the open ocean in July. Listen for the distinctive calls of choughs. They will be active gathering food for their ever growing young. Look out for the endemic spatulate fleawort amongst the cliff top grassland where you might be lucky and see an adder basking in the sun. Search out the rare silver-studded blue butterflies amid the shorter heathland.
Autumn
The heathland will be ablaze with colour as the mauves and purples of the heather flowers mingle with yellow gorse flowers. Look out for family groups of choughs. You will probably hear them first as the newly-fledged youngsters beg noisily for food from their parents. In the tidal races just offshore, look out for feeding gannets, passing shearwaters, porpoises and dolphins.
Winter
Look out for flocks of feeding choughs. These comprise of the newly-independent first year birds along with sub-adult birds from the last couple of years. A good place to search them out is the RSPB managed farmland (from the permissive path). This land is managed to provide foraging opportunities for chough throughout the year. Listen and look out for ravens as they begin to display, a sure sign that spring is round the corner.
Facilities
Facilities
•Information centre
•Car park : RSPB car park located at SH211818, complete with three marked disabled car parking bays and cycle racks.
•Binocular hire
•Group bookings accepted
•Guided walks available
•Remote location
•Good for walking
•Pushchair friendly
Viewing points
Spectacular views of the breeding seabird colonies from Ellins Tower visitor centre (open Easter to September) with binoculars and telescopes provided.
Nature trails
The South Stack reserve is very popular with visitors for many reasons. Visitor activity is concentrated around Ellins Tower (the RSPB information centre), where the paths are maintained to a higher standard than elsewhere on the reserve. The heathland areas and their network of paths are open to the public (on foot) at all times. These paths cross a mix of coastal and heathland terrain and some pass close to cliff edges. There are no specific RSPB trails, but the route of the Ynys Gybi circular walk and the Isle of Anglesey Coastal footpath are waymarked along with the routes of the public footpaths. The nature of the terrain makes many of the paths steep and rocky, making access difficult for anyone with impaired mobility. However, a well-surfaced, high-quality 2 m wide track with benches runs from the RSPB car park (complete with three disabled parking bays) into the heathland and onto a viewpoint in front of Ellins Tower. Access to Ellins Tower is via a steep flight of stairs. The permissive path through the farmland connects the two areas of heathland. This path is open to the public (on foot) at all times (except 10 December each year). Grazing animals are present, so please take care and keep dogs under close control. Access to the Isle of Anglesey Council's 'South Stack Island and the Lighthouse' visitor attraction is via approximately 400 steps of variable rise and tread width down the cliff (not part of the RSPB reserve).
Tearoom
Fantastic News! We are delighted to announce we have just taken over the ownership of South Stack Kitchen Café. The staff and builders at South Stack have been working furiously over the last 2 weeks since being handed the keys to carry out essential work needed to open the Café with a fresh, vibrant feel and we hope to reopen by the 28 May (sooner if we can) Once open the Café will be serving a range of hot and cold drinks, light bites and snacks for your enjoyment.
Refreshments available
•Hot drinks
•Cold drinks
•Hot meals
•Cold meals
•Snacks
Accessibility
The majority of visitor activity at the RSPB South Stack nature reserve is concentrated around Ellins Tower, the RSPB information centre, and occurs during the summer months. South Stack reserve comprises a mix of coastal and heathland terrain with steep sea cliffs which support breeding seabirds.
Nature trails
The nature of the terrain makes many of the paths steep and rocky making access difficult for anyone with impaired mobility. In view of the visitor pressure, the paths in the vicinity of Ellins Tower are maintained to a higher standard than elsewhere on the reserve.
The most accessible path for people of impaired mobility runs from the RSPB car park into the heathland and onto a viewpoint in front of Ellins Tower. The track is well-surfaced and high quality (2 m wide) with benches and leads from three marked disabled car-parking bays in the RSPB car park.
Visitor centre
From Easter to September, Ellins Tower is open daily from 10 am to 5.30 pm. Access to Ellins Tower, which is a Grade 2 Listed castellated folly near to the cliff edge, is via a steep flight of stairs. Views of the dramatic seascape and some of the breeding seabird colony can be gained from the viewpoint by those who are unable to gain access to Ellins Tower.
Our work here
Our South Stack reserve on Anglesey comprises heathland, farmland and offshore stacks and caves. The RSPB is managing these habitats for the benefit of their breeding seabirds and choughs, as well as a wide variety of other fauna and flora. We are also working to provide an excellent wildlife and landscape experience for visitors.
Chough haven
The reserve is especially important for its breeding choughs, with our nine pairs representing 2% of the UK population. We are maintaining the heathland and farmland to provide suitable nesting and feeding conditions for this rare bird.
Healthy heath
The reserve’s heathland is part of the largest area of maritime heath in North Wales. Besides choughs, this important habitat supports the endemic plant spatulate fleawort, and the uncommon silver-studded blue butterfly, plus adders, common lizards and a range of other flora and fauna. Controlled burning helps us to manage this habitat for the benefit of all its wildlife.
Seabird spectacular
The sea cliffs provide nest sites for around 4,000 seabirds, including puffins, guillemots, razorbills and fulmars. Other birds to use this habitat include peregrines and ravens. We are monitoring our seabird populations and working to minimise any disturbance to the colony.
Visitor value
The scenic beauty of the reserve, together with its seabird spectacle, operational lighthouse, and many sites of geological and archaeological interest, make it very popular with visitors. Around 35,000 people visit our information centres each summer.
We are maintaining and enhancing our facilities, including our visitor centre at Ellins Tower and our network of paths. We are also providing more information to help people to get the most from their visit, while promoting the aims of the RSPB. We run seven events per year and encourage an active volunteer programme.
Community care
South Stack is a major tourist attraction on Anglesey and plays a significant part in the local economy. We will continue to advertise the site to enhance the flow of tourist income to the island and, where possible, will support local communities and business in developing the reserve.
Doz Cabezas, AZ, (est. 1879, pop. <25), elevation 5,082 ft. (1,549 m)
"The Dos Cabezasite is the only person on the globe who can sit serenely down and smile, and smile again, amid conditions and adversities which would madden a lowly follower of the lamb. When Gabriel blows his horn he will find some of these genial old fellows sitting on a rock telling each other of the promising future of the camp, or how rich the Juniper mine is." —“Tombstone Epitaph,” 28 Apr 1887
• Dos Cabezas, AZ is a "living" Sonoran Desert ghost town with few remaining residents • located in the Sulphur Springs Valley [photo] of Cochise County • lies beside the Dos Cabezas ("Two Heads") mountain range, named for its twin bald summits
• an historically significant spring with potable water, once known as Dos Cabezas Spring, stands about a half mi. southwest of the town by the old Southern Emigrant Trail, a principal artery of the westward movement • the trail descends to the valley from Apache Spring through Apache Pass
• on 4 Sep 1851, John Russell Bartlett & his Boundary Survey Commission were heading west through what was, for over 300 yrs., Spanish/Mexican territory • most of the land had been ceded to the U.S. in 1848, ending the controversial Mexican-American War, but much of southernmost Arizona & New Mexico remained under the Mexican flag • Bartlett's mission was to work with a Mexican survey team to formally define the post-war US-Mexico border
• the survey was a prelude to the 1853-54 Gadsden Purchase which, for $10MM, acquired 29,670 sq. mi. of Mexican territory south of the Gila River, Cochise County included • the deal was signed by President Franklin Pierce, a northern, anti-abolitionist ("doughface") Democrat • it was intended to facilitate development of a road, canal and/or New Orleans-LA railroad, & to open the southwest to Southern expansion, seemingly ignoring the fact that an economy based on slave-produced cotton was unlikely to flourish in the desert — “Cochise and his Times”
• with potable water a precious commodity for both 2- & 4- legged desert travelers, Apache Spring – like many watering holes – became the site of a stagecoach stop c. 1857 • was operated by the San Antonio-San Diego "San-San" Mail Line, commonly known as "Jackass Mail" • Chiricahua Apache attacks made Apache Pass the most perilous stop on the line's Birch Route [map], named for company owner James Birch (1827-1857) —“The West is Linked”
• the 1,476 mi. daylight-only journey — with daily stops for 2 meals (45 min. each) & team switches (5-10 min.) — typically took less than 30 days & could be as few as 22 • a one-way ticket cost $150, meals & 30 lb. baggage allowance included —“Deconstructing the Jackass Mail Route”
• the Jackass line had a fleet of celerity (mud) wagons, vehicles suited for travel in intense heat over rugged terrain • it also operated fifty 2,500 lb. Concord stagecoaches [photo] manufactured by the Abbot Downing Co. in Concord, NH
"To feel oneself bouncing—now on the hard seat, now against the roof, and now against the side of the wagon—was no joke. Strung beneath the passenger compartment, wide leather straps called 'thorough braces' cradled the coach, causing it to swing front to back. Motion sickness was a common complaint, and ginger root was the favored curative." —Historynet
• each stage could accommodate 9-12 passengers on three benches inside & up to 10 more on the roof • the coaches were drawn by four- & six-mule teams • the company maintained 200 head of mules in its western corrals
“The coach was fitted with three seats, and these were occupied by nine passengers. As occupants of the front and middle seats faced each other, it was necessary for these six people to interlock their knees; and there being room inside for only ten of the twelve legs, each side of the coach was graced by a foot, now dangling near the wheel, now trying in vain to find a place of support..." —”The History of Stagecoaches in Tucson, Arizona”, Bob Ring
• Tips For Stagecoach Travelers, “Cowboy Chronicles”
• The Passenger Experience, “Desert USA”
"The company recommended that each passenger:... should provide himself with a Sharp's rifle, (not carbine,) with accoutrements and one hundred cartridges, a navy sized Colts revolver and two pounds of balls, a belt and holster, knife and sheath..." —“San Diego Herald” 21 Nov 1857
• the line's stations were built 10-40 mi. apart • some provided rudimentary sleeping accommodations; all had water for passengers, drivers ("whips") & their teams • equipped with corrals, the depots served as relay stations where drivers & draft animals were changed • "swing stations" provided no meals, but larger "home stations," often operated by families, were "meal stops":
"…tough beef or pork fried in a grime-blackened skillet, coarse bread, mesquite beans, a mysterious concoction known as 'slumgullion,' lethally black coffee, and a 'nasty compound of dried apples' that masqueraded under the name of apple pie." —True West
• in Sept 1857 Jackass founder James Birch, sailing to California via Panama, was lost at sea along with 419 other passengers & 30K lbs. of gold, in the S.S. Central America disaster • that same month, the Butterfield-Overland Mail line [photos] began St. Louis to San Francisco service, gradually displacing the Jackass line & absorbing many of its stations
• by 1858 a new, fortified stone depot, Ewell's Stage Station [photo] , rose 4 mi. south of Dos Cabezas Spring • it's unclear which stage line erected the building, but around the time of its completion Jackass Mail quit the route, Butterfield-Overland later decided to bypass "Ewell's" & by 1861 it lay in ruins, destroyed by Apaches
• the Ewell name lived on at a tiny, hardscrabble settlement called Ewell Springs & at Dos Cabezas Spring, renamed Ewell's Spring when the original station was built • by 1879 the National Mail & Transportation Co. had established a new Ewell's Station
• Virginia-born Richard Stoddert "Baldy" Ewell (1817-1872) was a Captain in the First U. S. Dragoons, stationed in the Southwest in the 1850s • he resigned from the U.S. Army in 1861 to join the Confederacy • served in the Civil War as senior commander under Stonewall Jackson & Robert E. Lee • it has been argued that his decisions at the Battle of Gettysburg may have decided the outcome of that engagement
• during Ewell's service in the West, Gila Apache raids along the Southern Emigrant Route prompted a military response • he advocated unrestrained combat: "How the Devil can a soldier stop in the midst of battle and summon a jury of matrons to decide whether a redskin pouring bullets into the soldier is a woman or not." • the 1857 Bonneville Expedition, in which Ewell commanded about 300 men, engaged against Apaches at the Gila River
"…the June 27 fight... was short and sweet …Ewell walking away with the lion's share of the honors… Scarcely an Apache escaped. Nearly 40 warriors were killed or wounded and 45 women and children taken captive. … Ewell was freely acknowledged as the hero of the day; his unhesitating leap to action crushed the western Apaches and forced them to sue for peace." —“Robert E. Lee's Hesitant Commander”, Paul D. Casdorph
• From Lt. John Van Deusen Du Bois's account of the engagement: "An Indian was wounded and his wife carried him in her arms to the chaparral and was covering him with brush when the troops came upon them and killed them both... One fine looking Indian brave was captured and by Col. Bonneville's desire, or express command, was taken out with his hands tied and shot like a dog by a Pueblo Indian—not 30 yards from camp... May God grant that Indian fighting may never make me a brute or harden me so that I can act the coward in this way..." —“Journal of Arizona History”, Vo. 43, No. 2, Arizona Historical Society
• c. 1850, gold veins & a few gold nuggets were discovered around Ewell's Station • in the 1860s wildcatters found gold on both sides of the Dos Cabezas range • by 1862 claims were staked & worked near the mountains & in the Apache Pass area —“Index of Mining Properties”
• in 1866 Congress passed a mining act that proclaimed "mineral lands of the public domain... free and open to exploration and occupation" • in 1872 additional stimulus was provided to "promote mineral exploration and development… in the western United States" —“Congressional Research Service”
• in 1878 John Casey (c. 1834-1904), an immigrant from Ireland, staked the first important claim in the Dos Cabezas area • the Juniper, locally known as the "Casey Gold," was located just ~2 miles NE of Ewell's Spring • John & his brother Dan moved into a cabin at the site • by the end of the year a dozen employees were working the mine
• the news that Casey had struck pay dirt & word that a Southern Pacific RR station would soon be built at Willcox – just 14 mi. away – lured scores of prospectors, e.g., Simon Hansen (1852-1929), a recent immigrant from Denmark who filed 27 claims • with the arrival of the new settlers, a small school was erected • on 20 Oct, 1878, the Dos Cabezas Mining District was officially designated
• in 1879 the “Arizona Miner” reported rich silver & gold deposits & claimed a population at Ewell Springs of 2,000 • other accounts, however, suggest that prior to 1920 the local population probably never exceeded 300 —“The Persistence of Mining Settlements in the Arizona Landscape”, Jonathan Lay Harris, 1971
• amid the rapid growth of 1879, the Ewell Springs settlement gave way to Dos Cabezas, a town with its own post office located a bit uphill from Ewell • John Casey is generally considered its founder • Mississippi-born James Monroe Riggs (1835-1912), once a Lt. Col. in the Confederate Army, became Dos Cabezas' 1st postmaster & opened a store he named Traveler's Rest
• by 1880 the nascent town had ~30 adobe houses & 15 families • sixty-five voters were registered in 1882, the year the town's newspaper, the “Dos Cabezas Gold Note”, launched, then promptly closed • in 1884, 42 students enrolled in the town's school
• at its height, Dos Cabezas had ~50 buildings, 3 stores, 3 saloons, 2 dairies, carpenter shops, telegraphic facilities, a mercantile, barber shop, butcher, brewery, brickyard, hotel, dancehall, boarding house, blacksmith shop, 3 livery stables, 3 stamp mills for gold ore & about 300 residents though actually, the area's population was at least 1,500 counting prospectors, miners & other mining co. employees living in the nearby mountains & valleys —Books in Northport
• Dos Cabezas ("Two Heads") was often spelled & pronounced "Dos Cabezos" with an "o" replacing the 2nd "a" in "Cabezas" • the postmaster settled on both spellings, as seen in the town's postmarks • the English translation of Dos Cabezos is "Two Peaks," arguably a more accurate — if less poetic — description of the twin summits than the original • given that the erroneous version was only name registered at U.S. Post Office Department in Washington DC, the interchangeable spellings persisted well into the 20th c.
• in 1880 the railroad arrived in Arizona, a station was established at Willcox & a cranky Scotland-born miner, John Dare Emersley (1826-1899), arrived at Dos Cabezas to prospect for mineral deposits • J.D. was a grad of the U. of Edinburgh, a writer well-versed in science & a botanical collector with a drought-tolerant grass, muhlenbergia emersleyi (bull grass), named for him • was a correspondent for the Engineering & Mining Journal • several other magazines including Scientific American also published him
• according to a miner who knew him, Emersley was apparently a greedy – and unusually tall – claim jumper: "Every old settler in the Globe District remembers Emersley, a seven foot Scotchman who had more claims located than he could work, and jumped more than he could hold." -“Arizona Silver Belt” (Globe, AT), 06 Jan 1883
• the "Scotchman" soon found a gold deposit & staked about 20 claims • he built a cabin nearby at an elevation of ~6,000 ft., & lived a reclusive life • entered into a pact with God, vowing not to develop any of his claims unless he received a sign from above • nevertheless, the work legally required to retain title to his claims produced several tunnels, one, the Roberts, 160' long • the sign from God never materialized and while awaiting it, Emersley died of scurvy
• shortly thereafter “Starved Amid His Riches”, the story of J.D. Emersley, a religious recluse who lived & died on a "mountain of copper," appeared in newspapers throughout the country • Emersley willed his claims to the Lord to be used for the good of all mankind • though this final wish was never fulfilled, the "mountain of copper" story brought yet another wave of prospectors to the Mining District & sparked a local copper boom
• in 1899 a new town, Laub City, was being laid off at the mouth of Mascot Canyon, 2 mi. above Dos Cabezas • John A. Rockfellow (1858-1947) [photo], author of "The Log of an Arizona Trailblazer," performed the survey • Rockefeller's sister was Tucson architect Anne Graham Rockfellow (1866-1954), an MIT grad & designer of the landmark El Conquistador Hotel [photo]
• the townsite was near the Emersley claims, which had been acquired by Dos Cabezas Consolidated Mines • America's coast-to-coast electrification required countless miles of copper power lines, thus "copper camps" like Laub City proliferated & prospered • the town grew & by 1900 warranted its own post office
• Laub City was named for (and possibly by) Henry Laub (1858-1926), a Los Angeles investor born in Kentucky to German-Jewish immigrants • made his first fortune as a liquor merchandiser • later invested in mining, oil & Southeast Arizona real estate
"There is every reason to believe that Dos Cabezas will be one of the greatest mining districts of Arizona" —Henry Laub, 1902
• a worldwide surge in mining caused copper prices to fall as supply outstripped demand • several mining concerns colluded to restrict production in a failed attempt to stabilize the market • Consolidated Mines' financing subsequently dried up & by 1903 Laub City was a ghost town • Dos Cabezas also suffered from the mine closings but managed to hang on as some mines continued to operate
• in 1905 a Wales-born mining engineer, Capt. Benjamin W. Tibbey (1848-1935), arrived in town with a "Mr. Page" • Ben Tibbey's mining career began as a child in a Welch mine • Page was actually T.N. McCauley, a Chicagoan with a checkered career in investment & finance • the two surveyed the mining district • McCauley apparently remained, later claiming he had resided in Emersly's abandoned shack for 2 yrs. • he also quietly filed & acquired claims covering 600 acres
• in June, 1907 McCauley, organized the Mascot Copper Company with a capitalization of $10MM & began large scale development • euphoric reports of massive ore deposits appeared in the local press, e.g., "Many Thousands of Tons of Ore in Sight— Property Bids Fair to Become Arizona's Greatest Copper Producer"
• in 1909 Mascot acquired control of Dos Cabezas Consolidated Mines Co., the original Emersley claims that Laub's group had purchased • McCauley launched a campaign to sell Mascot stock at $3/share, later $4 & finally $5 • his extravagant promotions included investor & press junkets to the mine in private railroad cars, wining & dining at the property's Hospitality House & a lavish stockholders' banquet at the Fairmont Hotel In San Francisco, with the company logo, a swastika, prominently on display [photo]
"The management of the Mascot has to its credit a remarkable series of sensational ore discoveries and few, if any other copper mining companies can match their enviable record in point of actual tonnage when at the same stage of development." —Bisbee Daily Review, 10 Mar 1910
• though stock analysts familiar with McCauley's history as a con artist cautioned their clients, by August, 1910 reports had sales at $300,000 • shareholders owned 25% of the company, the remainder was retained by the promoters
• while actual mining & ore shipments were limited, the company announced that a store, a boarding house, sleeping quarters for employees, & a new office building had been completed • in 1912, as Mascot continued its costly build out & occasionally shipped ore, Arizona Territory gained statehood
• in 1914, the company launched the Mascot Townsite & Realty Co. to sell lots in a new town they were developing in Mascot Canyon:
"UNUSUAL OPPORTUNITY FOR PERSONAL PROFIT By the Purchase of a Lot In the MASCOT TOWNSITE This new town should have a population of 5000 within a few years." - May 1915
• by 1915 the town of Mascot had been established • homes accessed by winding paths rose one above another on terraces • residents pitched in to build a community hall in a single day • a band called the "Merry Miners" was organized to play at Saturday-night dances
"King Copper, the magic community builder, has once more raised his burnished scepter—and once more a tiny mining camp, a mere speck of Arizona landscape, has received the industrial stimulus which should shortly transform it into a factor to be reckoned with among the bustling little cities of the southwest… The tiny mining camp of the past was Dos Cabezas. The coming city is Mascot. —El Paso Herald, 25 Jun 1915
• within 10 yrs. the town would boast ~100 buildings & a population of ~800 • its children were educated at Mascot School & a second school, with 4 teachers between them • many of the town's boys "grew up panning gold to earn money" —Arizona Republic, 04 Mar 1971
• though most of the area's Mexican residents lived in Dos Cabezas, a few, like Esperanza Montoya Padilla (1915-2003), resided in Mascot:
"I was born in Mascot, Arizona, on August 28, 1915… In the early days, when I was a young child, Mascot was very built up; it was blooming. It was also a beautiful place. There were a lot of Cottonwood and oak trees on the road going up towards the mine and streams coming down the mountain. The school was on that road along with a grocery store and even a pool hall. There was a confectionery in the pool hall where they sold goodies like ice cream and candy. There was a community center on the hill where they showed movies. I remember silent movies with Rudolph Valentino. Even the people from Dos Cabezas came up to Mascot for the movies.
At Christmas they put up a tree in the community center, and all the children in town would get their Christmas presents. There was a road coming up from Dos Cabezas to Mascot and all kinds of houses along that road all the way up to the mine. Our house was on that road. I remember a time when everything was caballos – horses pulling wagons. The cars came later of course. —Songs My Mother Sang to Me
• on January 27, 1915, a celebration in Willcox marked the beginning of construction of the Mascot & Western Railroad • a large crowd watched a jubilant T. N. McCauley turn the first shovelful of dirt • the final spike - a copper one - was driven 15 June, 1915 at The Mascot townsite, followed by a "monstrous barbecue" for 4,000 guests [photos] • activities included a tour of a mine and the company's "2-mile" (10,6000') aerial tramway [photo]
"I feel that only great and lasting good can come of this project. It not only means that the Mascot, in itself, is established but it means that many people, who have known Arizona only a place in the desert before, may take home with them the idea of permanency which we enjoy in this great commonwealth." — H.A. Morgan, Bisbee Daily Review, 27 Jun 1915
• in 1916 a drought ravaged the mining district — wells dried up, cattle died & many mines shut down • on 1 July 1917, American Smelting & Refining took out a 20 yr. lease on the Mascot property only to relinquish it less than a yr. later, presumably because the operation was losing money
• with Mascot Copper facing insolvency, McCauley reorganized it via merger • the "new" Central Copper Co. began operations 15 Feb 1919 • McCauley devised a multi-level marketing scheme where stockholders became stock salesmen • the price was set at $0.50/share, purchases limited to $100/person with $10/mo. financing available • the salesmen, using portable hand-cranked projectors, screened movies of the property at small gatherings of prospective buyers
• reportedly 70,000 stockholders invested & were stunned as the price dropped 50% when the stock hit the market • lawsuits were filed • in a display ad published in several newspapers, McCauley denied each charge against the company
• by Jan, 1924, McCauley reported $4,500,000 spent on new construction • by 1926 400 employees were on the payroll, but output of the mines proved marginal • in 1927 stockholders were informed that falling copper & silver prices dictated that ore extraction be reduced to the minimum necessary to cover operating expenses
• the following year the enterprise was taken over by Southwestern Securities Corporation, a holding company • by late 1929 the payroll was down to 26 employees • on February 29, 1932, Southwestern Securities purchased the Mascot Company at public auction for $100,000 • McCauley promptly moved to Tucson, was implicated in a bank scandal, fled to California then disappeared without a trace —“A history of Willcox, Arizona, and Environs”, Vernon Burdette Schultz
• with the failure of Central Copper [photo] & exodus of miners, Dos Cabezas began its final descent, although not devoid of diversions • in spite of frequent mine closings & the onset of the Great Depression, the town fielded a team in the Sulphur Springs Valley Baseball League, which also included a squad representing a C.C.C. camp • Willcox had 2 teams in the league, the Mexicans & the Americans
• among the dwindling Dos Cabezas population was Jack Howard, the man who "sharpened the first tools that opened up the first gold discoveries of Dos Cabezas district" & spent his last 30 yrs. with Mary Katherine Cummings, history's "Big Nose Kate" [photo], memorialized in movies as Katie Elder —“Tombstone Daily Prospector”
• John Jessie “Jack” Howard (1845-1930) was born in Nottingham, England • as one of the first miners in the Dos Cabezas mining district, he is memorialized by Howard Peak & Howard Canyon • lived in the hills near Dos Cabezas • remembered as a crusty churl who hid in a manhole behind his shack to fire at intruders as they rode into range • on the other hand, some of his fellow Dos Cabezans considered him friendly • divorced his wife Mary who, according to court records, "displayed a vile and disagreeable disposition coupled with frequent outbursts of the most violent temper until she made his life a burden he could stand no longer.”
"…witnesses testified about Mary’s barrage of insults that included publicly calling Howard a white-livered son of a b—. She kept a filthy house, never washed dishes or clothing and even threatened to burn down his house and poison his stock." —“He Lived with Big Nose Kate”, True West
• Mary Katherine "Big Nose Kate" Horony (1850-1940) was born in Pest, Hungary, 2nd oldest daughter of Hungarian physician Miklós Horony • emigrated to the U.S. with her family in 1860 • placed in a foster home after her parents died • stowed away on a steamboat to St. Louis, where she became a prostitute • in 1874 was fined for working as a "sporting woman" (prostitute) in a "sporting house" (brothel) in Dodge City, KS, run by Nellie "Bessie" Ketchum, wife of James Earp [video (8:59)]
• moved to Fort Griffin, TX in 1876 • met dentist John "Doc" Holliday, who allegedly said he considered Kate his intellectual equal • Kate introduced Holliday to Wyatt Earp • Doc opened a dental practice but spent most of his time gambling & drinking
• the couple fought regularly, sometimes violently • according to Kate they married in Valdosta, Georgia • moved on to AZ Territory where Kate worked as a prostitute at The Palace Saloon in Prescott • they parted ways but she rejoined Holliday in Tombstone [photos] • claimed to have witnessed the 26 Oct 1881 Gunfight at the O.K. Corral from her window at C.S. Fly's Boarding House
• 19 years later Kate, nearly 50 [photo] & divorced from an abusive husband, was long past her romance with Doc & too old for prostitution • in June 1900, while employed at the Rath Hotel [photo] in Cochise, AT, she answered a want ad for a housekeeper at $20/mo. plus room & board • the ad had been placed by Jack Howard • Kate lived with him as his employee ("servant" according to the 1900 census) until 1930
• on 3 January, Kate walked 3 mi. to the home of Dos Cabezas Postmaster Edwin White.
“Jack died last night, and I stayed up with him all night.”
• Howard was buried in an unmarked grave in Dos Cabezas Cemetery • after living alone for 2 yrs. Kate sold the homestead for $535.30 • In 1931 she wrote Arizona Gov. George W.P. Hunt, requesting admission to the Arizona Pioneers Home at Prescott • although foreign born thus not eligible for admission, she claimed Davenport, Iowa as her birthplace & was accepted • she died 5 days shy of her 90th birthday • was buried under the name "Mary K. Cummings" in the Home's Cemetery—“Big Nose Kate, Independent Woman of the Wild West” —Kyla Cathey
• the Mascot Mine closed in 1930
• the Mascot & WesternRailroad discontinued operations in 1931 — the tracks were taken up four years later
• 1940s Dos Cabezas photos
• in 1949, the U.S. Postal Dept. corrected its spelling of the town's post office from Dos Cabezos to Dos Cabezas
• mid-20th c. Dos Cabezas family [photos]
• the Dos Cabezas's post office was discontinued in 1960
• in 1964 the town's population was down to 12
• McCauley's Mascot Hospitality House was repurposed as part of the Dos Cabezas Spirit & Nature Retreat Bed & Breakfast [photo]
• today, Dos Cabezas is considered a ghost town, its cemetery the town's main attraction
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dolomites
Alto Adige / Südtirol / South Tyrol
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Province_of_Bolzano-Bozen
not so far from there:
www.rspb.org.uk/reserves/guide/c/conwy/
www.rspb.org.uk/reserves/guide/c/conwy/about.aspx
Situated on the banks of the Conwy estuary, with magnificent views of Snowdonia and Conwy Castle, this reserve is delightful at any time of year.
Conwy's a great place to get close to wildlife, to spend time with family and friends, or just take time out in fantastic scenery that embraces 4,000 years of human history. There’s a network of pushchair-friendly trails with viewpoints and hides to make the most of your visit and plenty if information to explain what you're watching. Perhaps you’ll meet one of our friendly volunteer wildlife guides who can help you discover just a little bit more?
In our Visitor Centre, our warm welcome will ensure you have exactly what you need for your visit. We have events to suit everyone from keen birdwatchers to beginners or young families, whether your interest is wildlife, history, art or any number of other subjects.
We love our food at Conwy so why not visit our monthly Farmers' Market or call in at the Waterside Coffee Shop, overlooking the lagoon, and enjoy a drink, a snack or light lunch using delicious local produce. We have a well-stocked shop, too, with good advice on everything from feeding birds to new binoculars.
We welcome group visits, but please book these with us in advance so that we can give you the best possible service. Entry rates are listed below, but we can also organise guided walks for a flat-fee of £30 for a group of up to 15 people, £50 for a group of 15 to 30 people. Please ring the reserve at least six weeks before your proposed visit to arrange a group visit.
Opening times
The shop and visitor centre is open every day (except Christmas Day) from 9.30 am-5 pm. The coffee shop is open from 10 am-4.30 pm (to 4 pm from November to March).
Entrance charges
Members free. Non-members: adults £3, concessions £2, children £1.50. Family ticket £6.50.
If you are new to birdwatching...
Why not join a guided walk with our volunteers every Saturday at 11 am? They will help you spot and identify the birds. You can hire a pair of binoculars from us (£3 a visit). Just ask at reception.
Information for families
From our Visitor Centre, you can collect one of our Bingo cards, encouraging you all to take a closer look at the reserve. Bingo cards change according to season and are available in Welsh or English. There's a self-guided Discovery Trail, and all the tracks are pushchair-friendly. The Waterside Coffee Shop has a popular toybox to occupy little hands while you're enjoying a cuppa.
Information for dog owners
Sorry, we don't allow dogs, except registered assistance dogs, because there are breeding birds and, in winter, roosting birds on the reserve. There’s a popular dog walk along the estuary, running north from the reserve.
www.rspb.org.uk/reserves/guide/c/conwy/star_species.aspx
Star species
Our star species are some of the most interesting birds you may see on your visit to the reserve.
Black-tailed godwit
These elegant, long-billed waders can be seen on the estuary and lagoons here in autumn. Look out for their striking black and white wingbars as they take flight.
Lapwing
Look - and listen - for the acrobatic aerial displays of lapwings over the grassland in spring as they stake a claim to territories and try to attract a mate. These wonderful birds can be seen throughout the year.
Sedge warbler
Another warbler that returns from Africa in spring, the sedge warbler is easy to see because it 'pirouettes' up into the air from the tops of the bushes, singing its scratchy song as it goes.
Shelduck
Colourful shelducks are present in large numbers most of the year, with smaller numbers in summer. You can see them in flocks on the estuary and the lagoons.
Water rail
Water rails can be seen from the hides in winter. A bit of patience should reward you with a sighting of one of these skulking birds weaving in and out of the reeds.
www.rspb.org.uk/reserves/guide/c/conwy/seasonal_highlight...
Seasonal highlights
Each season brings a different experience at our nature reserves. In spring, the air is filled with birdsong as they compete to establish territories and attract a mate. In summer, look out for young birds making their first venture into the outside world. Autumn brings large movements of migrating birds - some heading south to a warmer climate, others seeking refuge in the UK from the cold Arctic winter. In winter, look out for large flocks of birds gathering to feed, or flying at dusk to form large roosts to keep warm.
Spring
Lapwings perform their tumbling display flights. Grey herons build their nests. Birdsong increases from April as migrants arrive from Africa. Cowslips burst into flower around the coffee shop. Orange-tip and peacock butterflies take nectar from early flowers.
Summer
Warblers sing from the reedbeds and scrub. Common blue butterflies and six-spotted burnet moths feed on the bright yellow bird's foot trefoil. Young ducks and waders hatch. A profusion of wild flowers, including delicate bee orchids. Stoats hunt on the estuary track. Little egret numbers build up following the breeding season.
Autumn
Waders pass through on migration. Ducks arrive for the winter. Grassland is rich in fungi. Dragonflies lay eggs on warm afternoons. Sea buckthorn and brambles are festooned with berries. Buzzards soar over the nearby woods.
Winter
Huge flocks of starlings settle down to roost at dusk. Water rails may be seen from the Coffee Shop. Close-up views of buntings and finches at the feeding station. Gorse bursts into flower from January. Look for tracks of birds and mammals in the snow.
www.rspb.org.uk/reserves/guide/c/conwy/facilities.aspx
Facilities
Facilities
•Visitor centre
•Car park : Ample parking with cycle racks.
•Toilets
•Disabled toilets
•Baby-changing facilities
•Picnic area
•Binocular hire
•Group bookings accepted
•Guided walks available
•Good for walking
•Pushchair friendly
Viewing points
Along the trails there are three hides and three viewing screens from which you get great views of wildlife and the scenery.
Nature trails
There are three nature trails that together create a circular loop of just under two miles. The Blue Tit and Redshank Trails are entirely accessible by wheelchairs and pushchairs; the Grey Heron trail is unpaved and can be bumpy.
Tearoom
Hot and cold drinks, lunches, cakes and snacks are available from the Waterside Coffee Shop, which stocks a range of Fairtrade and local produce.
Refreshments available
•Hot drinks
•Cold drinks
•Sandwiches
•Snacks
•Confectionery
Shop
Our friendly and knowledgeable team can help with advice on everything from a new pair of binoculars, the right book to go birdwatching or bird food and feeders that will suit your garden.
The shop stocks:
•Binoculars and telescopes
•Books
•Bird food
•Bird feeders
•Nestboxes
•Outdoor clothing
•Gifts
Educational facilities
Our friendly field teachers run a variety of activities and educational programmes for children. These fun and inspirational sessions are available for schools, youth groups and clubs. For more information contact Charlie Stretton on 01492 584091 or email conwy@rspb.org.uk. Educational facilities include an indoor activity room which is available for children's parties and community events. Please call for more information.
Group visits
We welcome group visits, but please book these with us in advance so that we can give you the best possible service. Entry rates are listed above, but we can also organise guided walks for a flat-fee of £30 for a group of up to 15 people, or £50 for a group of 15 to 30 people. Please ring the reserve at least six weeks before your proposed visit to arrange a group visit.
For more information
Contact us
Tel: 01492 584091
E-mail: conwy@rspb.org.uk
www.rspb.org.uk/reserves/guide/c/conwy/conwyconnections.aspx
Enhancing RSPB Conwy nature reserve for people and nature
Over the next few months, RSPB Conwy will be transformed with a fresh look and exciting new facilities. We've been dreaming of this for years! Find out more about Conwy Connections and what you can look forward to.
What we've got planned
In autumn 2012 we started a programme of work that we're calling Conwy Connections.
The brownfield land that connects the visitor centre and coffee shop will be transformed into what we're calling 'Y Maes' - the 'village square' of the reserve. It'll be a place for families and friends to meet, relax and explore.
Hillocks and hummocks will provide elevated views of the reserve and the Conwy valley. It includes a play area, tunnel, picnic area, wildlife meadow, events area and much more.
Landforms and natural features will introduce more children to nature, stimulating learning through play and their own imaginations. It's going to be a wonderful place for everyone, throughout the year.
We're also constructing a new building which we're calling the 'observatory.' It will be a fantastic indoor space, built into the bank with the lagoon right in front of it. It's going to be a great place to watch wildlife, and we'll use it for events throughout the year.
It's by no means a run-of-the mill design. This very special, green construction will be built out of straw bales, rendered with clay on the inside and lime on the outside.
Other elements of the project that are yet to happen include new artwork for Talyfan Hide, a new viewpoint to be built on Y Ganol footpath and a big art installation. Watch this space!
It's all thanks to our supporters
The Communities and Nature project is supporting the Conwy Connections with £179,000. The Crown Estate pledged a generous £55,000 to build the new observatory. Tesco plc decided to donate the money it collected in its stores in Wales from the Welsh Government's 5p single-use bag levy to RSPB Cymru and a portion of this goes towards our project.
The fantastic volunteers of the RSPB Conwy Support Group also raised an impressive £30,000 towards the match-funding in less than two years. This shows huge support for what was proposed, for which we're very grateful.
We've also been able to install solar panels in the coffee shop and improve the car park, thanks to Conwy Connections.
Roll on August!
The Conwy Connections launch will take place on Friday 30 and Saturday 31 August 2013. It'll be a fun-filled day for you and all the family to enjoy the new facilities first-hand.
Why not sign up to our mailing list to receive our regular bulletin? Email us, follow us on Twitter or read the latest news on our blog.
Conwy Connections is an initiative part-funded by the European Regional Development Fund through the Welsh Government and is a component element of the Countryside Council for Wales' Communities and Nature strategic project.
RSPB Cymru would also like to thank those whose donations support RSPB Conwy nature reserve and visitor facilities, including The Crown Estate, Cemlyn Jones Trust, Environment Wales, Tesco Plc, Conwy Town Council and the RSPB Conwy Support Group.
www.rspb.org.uk/reserves/guide/c/conwy/accessibility.aspx
Accessibility
9 July 2012
This is a Summary Access Statement. A full access statement is available to download from this page.
Before you visit
•Clear print site leaflet available from our reserve reception
•Free entry to members, Entrance fee for non members. Carer or essential companion admitted free with disabled visitor
•No dogs, except Registered Assistance Dogs. A water bowl is at the visitor centre
•Pushed wheelchairs for hire, free of charge, bookable in advance
•Visitor Centre open 9.30 am to 5 pm. Cafe open 10 am to 4 pm (4.30 pm in summer). Closed Christmas Day. Trails open outside visitor centre opening hours
•Check accessibility for events and activities
•RSPB Conwy is featured in A Rough Guide to Accessible Britain.
How to get here
•Llandudno Junction Railway Station less than a mile away
•Bus stop at Tesco or Llandudno Junction.
Car parking
•Eight Blue Badge spaces at visitor centre
•Large car park
•Gates locked at 5 pm
•Drop off outside the visitor centre
•Rolled stone surface
•No lighting
•No height restrictions
•Estuary viewed from parking outside entry gate.
Visitor centre and shop
Entry by three steps or a ramp with handrails on both sides. Heavy manual doors open outward. All one level with step-free entry and non-slip vinyl surface. Lowered counter. Two seats in reception. Good lighting. Clear print materials. Most text in English and Welsh. Binoculars hire. Some goods may be difficult to reach. Staff available to assist.
Nature trails
Three signposted trails, mainly flat; a mixture of surfaces including rolled slate and boardwalk. Benches provided. Information boards in large print.
Viewing facilities
Three viewing hides with adjacent viewing screens. Three stand-alone viewing screens with variable height viewing slots. Occasional weekend staffing at hides.
Toilets and baby changing facilities
A unisex accessible toilet with baby changing facility is in the coffee shop. Visitor toilets are behind the coffee shop.
Catering
Coffee shop 30 m past the visitor centre along a tarmac path. Panoramic windows on a single level with vinyl flooring. Self-service with staff available. Colour-contrasted crockery. Large-handled cutlery.
Picnic area
10 tables with wheelchair spaces between the visitor centre and the coffee shop. Visitors are welcome to consume their own food and drink here.
Education facilities
Step-free, level access throughout. Flexible layout. Non-slip vinyl flooring. Good lighting.
Help us improve accessibility by sending feedback to the Site Manager.
www.rspb.org.uk/reserves/guide/c/conwy/optics.aspx
Thinking of buying binoculars or a telescope? Interested in using a digital camera with a telescope, but don't know where to start?
Book an appointment with an expert. Our one-hour field demonstrations will help you choose the best equipment for you – in the sort of conditions that you'll be using them, not just looking down the high street.
Telephone us on 01492 584091 to arrange your time with our advisers.
We also hold monthly demonstration weekends – check out our events page for details.
Chris Lusted, one of our optics team, says: 'Whether it's your first pair of binoculars, or you're thinking of upgrading your telescope, I love helping people to discover the world outside the window. I spend my spare time testing out new gear so that I can give customers the best advice.
'Everyone's different – your eyes, your hands, the places you go – so what's right for one person will be different from the next. I want people to appreciate birds well, so we can secure their future.'
www.rspb.org.uk/reserves/guide/c/conwy/directions.aspx
How to get here
By train
The nearest train station is Llandudno Junction, less than a mile from the reserve. The quickest route is to turn left out of the station and take the first left down Ferndale Road. Follow the footpath to the right and turn left over the road bridge (Ffordd 6G). The road goes past Tesco and a cinema complex to the large A55 roundabout. The reserve is on the south side of the roundabout and is signposted.
A more enjoyable, but slightly longer walk, is just over a mile. Turn left out of the station and take the first left down Ferndale Road. Go under the bridge and after 200 m, go under another bridge and immediately up steps to join Conwy Road. Walk towards Conwy and at the start of the gardens, drop to your right and loop beneath Conwy Road through an underpass. Then it’s over the footbridge and follow the estuary track for half a mile until you get to the reserve car park.
A map to the reserve is on posters at Llandudno Junction railway station. If you’re travelling here by train, take advantage of our offer of a free drink. Present a valid rail ticket for arrival at Llandudno Junction in the Waterside Coffee Shop on the day of travel, and we’ll give you a free cup of tea or filter coffee.
By bus
The nearest bus stop is the number 27 at Tesco, follow directions as above. Many other buses stop nearby in Llandudno Junction (number 5, 9, 14, 15, 19 and 84), directions are as from the train station.
By road
From the A55, take junction 18 (signposted Conwy and Deganwy) and follow the brown RSPB signs. The reserve is on the south side of the roundabout. From Conwy, Deganwy and Llandudno, take the A546/A547 to the Weekly News roundabout, drive south past Tesco and the Cinema complex (Ffordd 6G) and cross the roundabout over the A55. The entrance to the reserve is on the south side.
www.rspb.org.uk/reserves/guide/c/conwy/history/index.aspx
Conwy is an upside-down nature reserve. Until the late 1980s, it was a river. Twice a day the tide went out and revealed huge mudbanks. Waders fed on the mud, and at high tide roosted along the railway embankment.
And then their world changed. What happened could have been disastrous for wildlife, but thanks to some inspired thinking and hard work, new habitats and a popular reserve were created. We also highlight some of the historic features to look out for when you visit.
This is where we came from
We're an upside-down nature reserve because the earth you walk over sat at the bottom of the Conwy estuary for thousands of years. In the 1980s, the government decided to build a road tunnel through the estuary to relieve traffic congestion in the old walled town of Conwy.
The design was revolutionary - it was the first immersed tube tunnel in the world. But it came at a price: the final outside bend of the river would be 'reclaimed' and covered with the silt from the riverbed. After the tunnel was built, this land might have been grassed over and grazed, but for a moment of wisdom from a town planner from Aberconwy Borough Council, Dave Phillips.
Over a pint with countryside ranger John Davies, they wondered whether the lagoons could become the centre of a new wetland. A phone call to the RSPB, and several years of meetings and negotiations later, after the tunnel was opened by HM The Queen in October 1991, work began to create the neighbouring reserve.
www.rspb.org.uk/reserves/guide/c/conwy/history/4000years....
Stand on the reserve and you can see 4,000 years of human history that stems from the Conwy valley's importance as a 'highway', first by boat, later by train and more recently by road.
Most of the west bank of the Conwy is in the Snowdonia National Park. The land here has been worked for more than 4,000 years: Stone Age quarries produced axes for export, early Celts lived in roundhouses and grew crops and livestock in field systems with terraced cultivation, burying their dead in cromlech chambers that remain in today's landscape.
After the Roman invasion of modern-day England, the Celtic tribes kept the Romans at bay for several years, using their knowledge of the hills to sabotage the Roman forces and undertake guerrilla warfare. The Romans' superior technology and organisation eventually won through and they took over the Celtic forts, such as Pen-y-gaer, which guard the Roman road through the hills to Anglesey.
After the Romans left, the land returned to the local tribes until after the Normans conquered England. Then this area became the Checkpoint Charlie of Wales – Celtic Wales on the west bank and lands ruled by English lords on the east. There were plenty of skirmishes, with castles built, occupied and knocked down, and battles fought on the shoreline that reputedly made the River Conwy run red with blood.
A tale of two castles
From the reserve, you can look north to two castles: on the east bank is the Vardre, fortified from Roman times until its abandonment and destruction by Llywelyn ap Gruffydd, Prince of Wales, in 1263. On the west bank is the impressive Conwy Castle, one of eight huge fortresses built by English king, Edward I when he conquered Wales. Built between 1283 and 1289, the castle and the town were built with 6-foot thick town walls to keep the Welsh out. At £15,000 (about £9 million today), it was the most expensive of the 'iron ring' of castles built by Edward.
The village to the south, Glan Conwy, has been a settlement for at least 1500 years. Llansanffraid Glan Conwy means 'Church of St Ffraid on the bank of the River Conwy'. The parish was founded, according to legend, when St. Bridget (Ffraid in Welsh) sailed from Ireland on a green turf and landed here - a tale which probably stems from the arrival of Irish Christians in the 5th century.
Glan Conwy was a busy port in the Georgian era with ships commuting to Chester and Bristol, carrying flour from the mill, fruit from the farms, timber and slates from the upper Valley and iron from the furnace at Bodnant. Until the railway line was built, Glan Conwy was a shipbuilding village, with ships that went as far as Australia, and a row of warehouses along the wharf where the A470 now lies.
This part of the estuary was notoriously hazardous for ships, with fast tidal races and frequent winter storms. Several boats sank here, the remains of one being obvious in the muddy saltmarsh just off the reserve.
The fast-flowing tidal river below the castle kept out invaders and was dangerous for early ferries. Many people drowned trying to cross it, including passengers aboard the Irish mailcoach. Engineer Thomas Telford designed the causeway (known as The Cob) and suspension bridge as part of the first North Wales coast road, which with the Castle and estuary provides a scenic backdrop to the reserve.
The railway from Llandudno Junction to Blaenau Ffestiniog Railway, that runs alongside the reserve, was opened in 1863 to carry slate to a purpose built dock at Deganwy. Building the Cob altered the flow of the main channel in the estuary, reducing Glan Conwy's role as a port and the railway finished the boat traffic almost overnight, and with it a way of life, with its own language, was gone.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coniston_Water
Coniston Water (usually simply called Coniston locally) in Cumbria, England is the third largest lake in the English Lake District.[1] It is five miles (8 km) long, half a mile (800 m) wide, has a maximum depth of 184 feet (56 m), and covers an area of 1.89 square miles (4.9 km2). The lake has an elevation of 143 feet (44 m) above sea level. It drains to the sea via the River Crake.
Geography and administration
Coniston is situated within the boundaries of the historic county of Lancashire. Today Coniston forms part of the administrative county of Cumbria.
Coniston Water is an example of a ribbon lake formed by glaciation. The lake sits in a deep U-shaped glaciated valley scoured by a glacier in the surrounding volcanic and limestone rocks during the last ice age.
To the north-west of the lake rises the Old Man of Coniston, the highest fell in the Coniston Fells group.
Etymology
" 'The king's estate or village'. The 2nd el.[ement] is OE tūn, and the whole name may, like numerous English Kingstons, be from OE 'cyninges-tūn'. ... Scand[inavian] influence is, meanwhile, shown by the '-o-' of early and modern spellings, and Ekwall[2] speculated that this could have been the centre of a 'small Scandinavian mountain kingdom' ".[3] Plus "OE 'wæter', with the meaning probably influenced by its ON relative 'vatn'." [4] (OE=Old English; ON=Old Norse).
History
Remains of agricultural settlements from the Bronze Age have been found near the shores of Coniston Water. The Romans mined copper from the fells above the lake, and a potash kiln and two iron bloomeries show that industrial activity continued in medieval times. In the 13th and 14th centuries, Coniston Water was an important source of fish for the monks of Furness Abbey who owned the lake and much of the surrounding land. Copper mining continued in the area until the 19th century.
The lake was formerly known as "Thurston Water", a name derived from the Old Norse personal name 'Thursteinn' + Old English 'waeter'.[5] This name was used as an alternative to Coniston Water until the late 18th century.[6]
The Victorian artist and philosopher John Ruskin owned Brantwood House on the eastern shore of the lake, and lived in it from 1872 until his death in 1900. Ruskin is buried in the churchyard in the village of Coniston, at the northern end of the lake.
Arthur Ransome set his children's novel Swallows and Amazons and some of its sequels on a fictional lake, but drew much of his inspiration from Coniston Water. Some of Coniston Water's islands and other local landmarks can be identified in the novel. In particular, Peel Island is the Wild Cat Island of the book including the secret harbour.
Historically, Coniston was part of Lancashire (North of the Sands), until Local Government reorganisation in 1974 when Cumbria was created.
Waterspeed record
In the 20th century Coniston Water was the scene of many attempts to break the world water speed record. On August 19, 1939 Sir Malcolm Campbell set the record at 141.74 miles per hour (228.108 km/h) in Bluebird K4. Between 1956 and 1959 Sir Malcolm's son Donald Campbell set four successive records on the lake in Bluebird K7, a hydroplane.
In 1966 Donald Campbell decided that he needed to exceed 300 miles per hour (483 km/h) in order to retain the record. On January 4, 1967 he achieved a top speed of over 320 miles per hour (515 km/h) in Bluebird K7 on the return leg of a record-breaking attempt. He then lost control of Bluebird, which somersaulted and crashed, sinking rapidly. Campbell was killed instantly on impact. The attempt could not be counted as a record-breaking run because the second leg was not completed. The remains of Bluebird were recovered from the water in 2001 and all of Campbell's body except for his head were recovered later in the same year. Attempts to find the head have been made with no success.
Lady in the Lake
In recent times, Coniston Water has become known for a controversial murder case. Mrs Carol Park was dubbed the "Lady in the Lake" after the Raymond Chandler novel of the same name.[7]
Boating
The lake is ideal for kayaking and canoeing and there are a number of good sites for launching and recovery. It is paddled as the second leg of the Three Lakes Challenge.[8] The steam yacht Gondola tours the lake in the summer months, along with two smaller motorised launches.
Boats can be hired from the lakeside near the steam yacht, with various sizes of boat for hire, from small canoes and kayaks to large personal craft. Along with Ullswater and Derwentwater, Coniston Water has a mandatory waterspeed limit of 10 mph, this is suspended temporarily for boats attempting new world waterspeed records during Records Week; usually the first week in November.
www.rspb.org.uk/reserves/guide/d/dee-burtonmerewetlands/i...
www.rspb.org.uk/reserves/guide/d/dee-burtonmerewetlands/a...
About Burton Mere Wetlands
Wildfowl and wading birds in winter, warblers in spring, vast panoramas and a fascinating history are just some of the highlights from Burton Mere Wetlands. Straddling the border between England and Wales, this is a unique landscape. Many years of hard work have restored reedbeds, fenland and farmland.
Opening times
Our reception building is open between 9.30 am and 5 pm. The reserve is open between 9 am and 9 pm, or dusk if sooner.
Entrance charges
£4 adults, £6 family, £1 kids, concessions £2.
If you are new to birdwatching...
Burton Mere Wetlands is perfect if you're new to birdwatching, as the entire reserve has been designed to get you closer to nature. It has relaxed, modern facilities with excellent access for people of all abilities.
Information for dog owners
No dogs allowed, except registered assistance dogs
Star species
Our star species are some of the most interesting birds you may see on your visit to the reserve
Black-tailed godwit
Flocks of black-tailed godwits can be seen on the pools here. In spring - when they rest and feed here before heading north to Iceland to breed - they are resplendent in their 'tomato soup-red' breeding attire. On their return in autumn, you can pick out the scaly-backed juvenile birds if you look closely.
Buzzard
The buzzard is now the UK's most numerous bird of prey. Listen for their mewing calls, or keep an eye out for them as they soar overheard on sunny days.
Kingfisher
Spend time in the hides and you may be rewarded with an unforgettable kingfisher encounter. Listen for their shrill, piping calls and then watch for the flash of blue and orange.
Linnet
Linnets are fairly unobtrusive finches for most of the year. In spring, watch out for the smart males with their twittering song and bright pink bellies.
Little egret
These dainty little white herons can be seen throughout the year here. You can see them fishing, stirring up fish fry from the muddy bottom with their feet, or watch large numbers arrive to roost at dusk.
Seasonal highlights
Each season brings a different experience at our nature reserves. In spring, the air is filled with birdsong as they compete to establish territories and attract a mate. In summer, look out for young birds making their first venture into the outside world. Autumn brings large movements of migrating birds - some heading south to a warmer climate, others seeking refuge in the UK from the cold Arctic winter. In winter, look out for large flocks of birds gathering to feed, or flying at dusk to form large roosts to keep warm.
Spring
Spring is alive with the sounds and sights of many breeding birds. Our favourites include the sky-diving lapwings and herons with their precarious nests in the trees. The highlight amongst the many warblers is undoubtely the grasshopper warbler with its distinctive 'reeling' song. Non-breeding regular visitors include black-tailed godwits and spotted redshanks, which pass through on their way north.
Summer
As the weather hots up, so does the wildlife action. Summer visitors include the aerobatic hobby and menacing marsh harrier. Ducklings are well on their way and are actively feeding. Many wildflowers come into their own, such as marsh orchids and fleabane, while marsh marigolds bloom. A quiet and patient watcher may catch a glimpse of a water vole as it plops underwater. Insect stars include wall brown butterflies. Stick around until dusk and see the Daubenton's and pipistrelle bats feasting on flying insects.
Autumn
Autumn sees the action slow down as nature gets ready for winter. The reserve, however, remains well-watched as many scarce migrant birds have been seen in previous years, including little stints, green, curlew and wood sandpipers. Little egret numbers are at their highest now as the chicks have fledged and large roosts make it worthwhile being here just before dusk. Also, small numbers of wild geese begin to arrive.
Winter
The whole area becomes a winter wildlife wonderland. Believe it or not, many of our feathered friends choose to spend their winter here. Probably the most spectacular (and noisy) are the thrushes and starlings that have come from the continent to feast upon our unfrozen farmland. Hen harriers spend their winter out on the saltmarsh but will regularly hunt the pools and wetland here. Both whooper and Bewick's swans over-winter on the estuary and occasionally drop in for a feed or even to spend the night. Frozen days are the best time to see the usually shy water rail, as it is forced to leave the cover of vegetation to find somewhere to feed.
Facilities
Facilities
•Car park : 85 spaces (7 disabled). Two bike racks. Not suitable for coaches - please ring for details on parking coaches and larger minibuses.
•Toilets
•Disabled toilets
•Baby-changing facilities
•Picnic area
•Binocular hire
•Live camera
•Group bookings accepted
•Guided walks available
•Remote location
•Good for walking
•Pushchair friendly
Viewing points
There are two main hides: the reception building and Marsh Covert hide - and several viewpoints. More screens to come in the future.
Nature trails
There are three nature trails:
Gorse Covert Woodland Trail (600 m) meanders through woodland that is full of bluebells and birdsong in the spring. Autumn offers a burst of colour. It can get muddy in wet weather.
Burton Mere Trail (900 m and fully accessible). A splendid stroll around the old mere which in summer is covered in lily pads with dozens of dragonflies. If you’re lucky you may see a kingfisher.
Reed and Fen Trail: leading to Marsh Covert Hide and fully accessible, this trail is sandwiched between our new reedbed and a wet woodland – in spring it is a wall of warbler song.
Refreshments available
•Hot drinks
•Cold drinks
How to get here
By train
Neston (3.4 miles) and Hooton (4.3 miles) are the nearest. Neston is on the Wrexham to Bidston line (Borderlands Line). Hooton is served by Merseyrail's Wirral Line.
By bus
Buses run between Neston and Hooton Station. The nearest bus stop is in Burton village, 600 m from the reserve entrance.
By road
Burton Mere Wetlands is off the A540 (Chester High Road) and just 10 minutes from the M56. Look out for the brown signposts on the A540. Otherwise turn down Puddington Lane - the reserve entrance is just outside Burton village near to Bishop Wilson Primary School.
Contact us
•Tel: 0151 353 8478
•E-mail: deeestuary@rspb.org.uk
Where is it?
•Lat/lng: 53.257862,-3.021908
•Postcode: CH64 5SF
•Grid reference: SJ319739
•Nearest town: Neston, Cheshire
•County: Cheshire
•Country: England
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Εκκλησιαστικοί ύμνοι
Χριστιανικά Παιδικά Τραγούδια | Προσφέροντας μια ειλικρινή καρδιά στον Θεό
Έι, αδελφοί και αδελφές, ας ψάλλουμε και ας χορέψουμε για να δοξάσουμε τον Θεό.
Εντάξει!
Αδελφοί και αδελφές, ας κινητοποιηθούμε· μην είστε σε αμηχανία και μην ντρέπεστε.
Ο Θεός δεν νοιάζεται αν οι κινήσεις μας είναι καλές ή κακές, μόνο ο αυθεντικός αίνος Τον κάνει χαρούμενο.
Εάν θέλετε να Τον δοξάσετε με όλη σας την καρδιά, αφήστε στην άκρη την περηφάνια σας και κινητοποιηθείτε.
Ο Θεός δεν νοιάζεται πόσο μεγάλοι είμαστε σε ηλικία, ούτε πόσοι από εμάς στεκόμαστε εδώ.
Ο ειλικρινής αίνος ελευθερώνει το πνεύμα μας. Δώστε όλη την δόξα στον Θεό.
Δοξάζοντας τον Θεό με όλη μας την καρδία μας φέρνει χαρά, η χάρη του Θεού σίγουρα δίνεται σ’ εμάς.
Αδελφοί και αδελφές ελάτε και δοξάστε τον Θεό, είναι καθήκον μας να Τον δοξάσουμε με όλη μας την καρδιά.
Αυτοί που Τον δοξάζουν θα λάβουν τις ευλογίες Του, οι οποίες δεν αγοράζονται ούτε με όλα τα πλούτη της γης.
Είμαστε τυχεροί που υψωνόμαστε ενώπιον του Θεού, είναι η χάρη του Θεού και η εξαίρετη αγάπη.
Κανένας βασιλιάς δεν είναι πιο ευλογημένος από εμάς, δεν θα υποτιμήσουμε τους εαυτούς μας.
Προσφέρετε μια ειλικρινή καρδιά στον Θεό, όλα τα πλάσματα δοξάστε Τον εγκάρδια.
Σήμερα ζούμε στην βασιλεία, μεταρσιωμένοι από τον Θεό για να γίνουμε ο λαός Του.
Δόξα στον Παντοδύναμο Θεό , όσοι έχουν καρδιά με αγάπη για τον Θεό ας έρθουν να Τον δοξάσουν.
Δόξα στον Παντοδύναμο Θεό, όσοι έχουν καρδιά με αγάπη για τον Θεό ας έρθουν να Τον δοξάσουν.
Όσοι έχουν καρδιά με αγάπη για τον Θεό ας έρθουν να Τον δοξάσουν.
από το βιβλίο «Ακολουθήστε τον Αμνό και τραγουδήστε νέα τραγούδια»
τα χνάρια του Θεού
Πηγή εικόνας: Εκκλησία του Παντοδύναμου Θεού
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en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlantic_Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about 106,400,000 square kilometres (41,100,000 sq mi),[1] it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area. The first part of its name refers to Atlas of Greek mythology, making the Atlantic the "Sea of Atlas".
The oldest known mention of "Atlantic" is in The Histories of Herodotus around 450 BC (Hdt. 1.202.4): Atlantis thalassa (Greek: Ἀτλαντὶς θάλασσα; English: Sea of Atlas); see also: Atlas Mountains. The term Ethiopic Ocean, derived from Ethiopia, was applied to the southern Atlantic ocean as late as the mid-19th century.[2] Before Europeans discovered other oceans, the term "ocean" itself was synonymous with the waters beyond the Strait of Gibraltar that we now know as the Atlantic. The early Greeks believed this ocean to be a gigantic river encircling the world.
The Atlantic Ocean occupies an elongated, S-shaped basin extending longitudinally between Eurasia and Africa to the east, and the Americas to the west. As one component of the interconnected global ocean, it is connected in the north to the Arctic Ocean (which is sometimes considered a sea of the Atlantic), to the Pacific Ocean in the southwest, the Indian Ocean in the southeast, and the Southern Ocean in the south. (Other definitions describe the Atlantic as extending southward to Antarctica.) The equator subdivides it into the North Atlantic Ocean and South Atlantic Ocean.
Geography
The Atlantic Ocean is bounded on the west by North and South America. It connects to the Arctic Ocean through the Denmark Strait, Greenland Sea, Norwegian Sea and Barents Sea. To the east, the boundaries of the ocean proper are Europe; the Strait of Gibraltar (where it connects with the Mediterranean Sea–one of its marginal seas–and, in turn, the Black Sea, both of which also touch upon Asia) and Africa.
In the southeast, the Atlantic merges into the Indian Ocean. The 20° East meridian, running south from Cape Agulhas to Antarctica defines its border. Some authorities show it extending south to Antarctica, while others show it bounded at the 60° parallel by the Southern Ocean.[3]
In the southwest, the Drake Passage connects it to the Pacific Ocean. The man-made Panama Canal links the Atlantic and Pacific. Besides those mentioned, other large bodies of water adjacent to the Atlantic are the Caribbean Sea; the Gulf of Mexico; Hudson Bay; the Arctic Ocean; the Mediterranean Sea; the North Sea; the Baltic Sea and the Celtic Sea.
Covering approximately 22% of Earth's surface, the Atlantic is second in size to the Pacific. With its adjacent seas, it occupies an area of about 106,400,000 square kilometres (41,100,000 sq mi);[1] without them, it has an area of 82,400,000 square kilometres (31,800,000 sq mi). The land that drains into the Atlantic covers four times that of either the Pacific or Indian oceans. The volume of the Atlantic with its adjacent seas is 354,700,000 cubic kilometers (85,100,000 cu mi) and without them 323,600,000 cubic kilometres (77,640,000 cu mi).
The average depth of the Atlantic, with its adjacent seas, is 3,339 metres (1,826 fathoms; 10,950 ft); without them it is 3,926 metres (2,147 fathoms; 12,880 ft). The greatest depth, Milwaukee Deep with 8,380 metres (4,580 fathoms; 27,500 ft), is in the Puerto Rico Trench. The Atlantic's width varies from 1,538 nautical miles (2,848 km; 1,770 mi) between Brazil and Sierra Leone to over 3,450 nautical miles (6,400 km; 4,000 mi) in the south
Cultural significance
Transatlantic travel played a major role in the expansion of Western civilization into the Americas. It is the Atlantic that separates the "Old World" from the "New World". In modern times, some idioms refer to the ocean in a humorously diminutive way as the Pond, describing both the geographical and cultural divide between North America and Europe, in particular between the English-speaking nations of both continents. Many British people refer to the United States and Canada as "across the pond", and vice versa
Ocean bottom
The principal feature of the bathymetry (bottom topography) is a submarine mountain range called the Mid-Atlantic Ridge.[5] It extends from Iceland in the north to approximately 58° South latitude, reaching a maximum width of about 860 nautical miles (1,590 km; 990 mi). A great rift valley also extends along the ridge over most of its length. The depth of water at the apex of the ridge is less than 2,700 metres (1,500 fathoms; 8,900 ft) in most places, while the bottom of the ridge is three times as deep. Several peaks rise above the water and form islands.[6] The South Atlantic Ocean has an additional submarine ridge, the Walvis Ridge.[7]
The Mid-Atlantic Ridge separates the Atlantic Ocean into two large troughs with depths from 3,700–5,500 metres (2,000–3,000 fathoms; 12,000–18,000 ft). Transverse ridges running between the continents and the Mid-Atlantic Ridge divide the ocean floor into numerous basins. Some of the larger basins are the Blake, Guiana, North American, Cape Verde, and Canaries basins in the North Atlantic. The largest South Atlantic basins are the Angola, Cape, Argentina, and Brazil basins.
The deep ocean floor is thought to be fairly flat with occasional deeps, abyssal plains, trenches, seamounts, basins, plateaus, canyons, and some guyots. Various shelves along the margins of the continents constitute about 11% of the bottom topography with few deep channels cut across the continental rise.
Ocean floor trenches and seamounts:
•Puerto Rico Trench, in the North Atlantic, is the deepest trench at 8,605 metres (4,705 fathoms; 28,230 ft)[8]
•Laurentian Abyss is found off the eastern coast of Canada
•South Sandwich Trench reaches a depth of 8,428 metres (4,608 fathoms; 27,650 ft)
•Romanche Trench is located near the equator and reaches a depth of about 7,454 metres (4,076 fathoms; 24,460 ft).
Ocean sediments are composed of:
•Terrigenous deposits with land origins, consisting of sand, mud, and rock particles formed by erosion, weathering, and volcanic activity on land washed to sea. These materials are found mostly on the continental shelves and are thickest near large river mouths or off desert coasts.
•Pelagic deposits, which contain the remains of organisms that sink to the ocean floor, include red clays and Globigerina, pteropod, and siliceous oozes. Covering most of the ocean floor and ranging in thickness from 60–3,300 metres (33–1,800 fathoms; 200–11,000 ft) they are thickest in the convergence belts, notably at the Hamilton Ridge and in upwelling zones.
•Authigenic deposits consist of such materials as manganese nodules. They occur where sedimentation proceeds slowly or where currents sort the deposits, such as in the Hewett Curve.
Water characteristics
On average, the Atlantic is the saltiest major ocean; surface water salinity in the open ocean ranges from 33 to 37 parts per thousand (3.3 – 3.7%) by mass and varies with latitude and season. Evaporation, precipitation, river inflow and sea ice melting influence surface salinity values. Although the lowest salinity values are just north of the equator (because of heavy tropical rainfall), in general the lowest values are in the high latitudes and along coasts where large rivers enter. Maximum salinity values occur at about 25° north and south, in subtropical regions with low rainfall and high evaporation.
Surface water temperatures, which vary with latitude, current systems, and season and reflect the latitudinal distribution of solar energy, range from below −2 °C (28 °F). Maximum temperatures occur north of the equator, and minimum values are found in the polar regions. In the middle latitudes, the area of maximum temperature variations, values may vary by 7–8 °C (12–15 °F).
The Atlantic Ocean consists of four major water masses. The North and South Atlantic central waters make up the surface. The sub-Antarctic intermediate water extends to depths of 1,000 metres (550 fathoms; 3,300 ft). The North Atlantic Deep Water reaches depths of as much as 4,000 metres (2,200 fathoms; 13,000 ft). The Antarctic Bottom Water occupies ocean basins at depths greater than 4,000 metres.
Within the North Atlantic, ocean currents isolate the Sargasso Sea, a large elongated body of water, with above average salinity. The Sargasso Sea contains large amounts of seaweed and is also the spawning ground for both the European eel and the American eel.
The Coriolis effect circulates North Atlantic water in a clockwise direction, whereas South Atlantic water circulates counter-clockwise. The south tides in the Atlantic Ocean are semi-diurnal; that is, two high tides occur during each 24 lunar hours. In latitudes above 40° North some east-west oscillation occurs.
Climate
Climate is influenced by the temperatures of the surface waters and water currents as well as winds. Because of the ocean's great capacity to store and release heat, maritime climates are more moderate and have less extreme seasonal variations than inland climates. Precipitation can be approximated from coastal weather data and air temperature from water temperatures.
The oceans are the major source of the atmospheric moisture that is obtained through evaporation. Climatic zones vary with latitude; the warmest zones stretch across the Atlantic north of the equator. The coldest zones are in high latitudes, with the coldest regions corresponding to the areas covered by sea ice. Ocean currents influence climate by transporting warm and cold waters to other regions. The winds that are cooled or warmed when blowing over these currents influence adjacent land areas.
The Gulf Stream and its northern extension towards Europe, the North Atlantic Drift, for example, warms the atmosphere of the British Isles and north-western Europe and influences weather and climate as far south as the northern Mediterranean. The cold water currents contribute to heavy fog off the coast of eastern Canada (the Grand Banks of Newfoundland area) and Africa's north-western coast. In general, winds transport moisture and air over land areas. Hurricanes develop in the southern part of the North Atlantic Ocean. More local particular weather examples could be found in examples such as the; Azores High, Benguela Current, Nor'easter.
History
The Atlantic Ocean appears to be the second youngest of the five oceans. It did not exist prior to 130 million years ago, when the continents that formed from the breakup of the ancestral super continent Pangaea were drifting apart from seafloor spreading. The Atlantic has been extensively explored since the earliest settlements along its shores.
The Vikings, the Portuguese, and the Spaniards were the most famous among early explorers. After Columbus, European exploration rapidly accelerated, and many new trade routes were established.
As a result, the Atlantic became and remains the major artery between Europe and the Americas (known as transatlantic trade). Scientific explorations include the Challenger expedition, the German Meteor expedition, Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory and the United States Navy Hydrographic Office.
Notable crossings
Ra II, a ship built from papyrus, was successfully sailed across the Atlantic by Thor Heyerdahl proving that it was possible to cross the Atlantic from Africa using such boats in early epochs of history.
•Around 980 – 982, Eric the Red discovered Greenland, geographically and geologically a part of the Americas.
•In 985 or 986, Bjarni Herjólfsson was the first European to sight the Americas. He did not go ashore, though.
•In the year 1000, the Icelander Leif Ericson was the first European to set foot on North American soil, corresponding to today's Eastern coast of Canada, i. e. the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, including the area of land named "Vinland" by Ericson. The Norse discovery was documented in the 13th century Icelandic Sagas and was corroborated by recent L'Anse aux Meadows archeological evidence.
•Around 1010, Thorfinnr Karlsefni led an attempted Viking settlement in North America with 160 settlers, but was later driven off by the natives. His son Snorri Thorfinnsson was the first American born (somewhere between 1010 and 1013) to European (Icelandic) immigrant parents.
•In 1419 and 1427, Portuguese navigators reached Madeira and Azores, respectively.
•From 1415 to 1488, Portuguese navigators sailed along the Western African coast, reaching the Cape of Good Hope.
•In 1492, Christopher Columbus landed on the island of San Salvador in The Bahamas.
•In 1497, John Cabot landed at Bonavista Newfoundland and Labrador.
•In 1500, Pedro Álvares Cabral reached Brazil.
•In 1524, Italian explorer Giovanni da Verrazzano discovered the United States of America's east coast.
•In 1534, Jacques Cartier entered the Gulf of St. Lawrence and reached the mouth of the St. Lawrence River.
•In 1583, Sir Humphrey Gilbert claimed Newfoundland for the English Crown.
•In 1764 William Harrison (the son of John Harrison) sailed aboard the HMS Tartar, with the H-4 time piece. The voyage became the basis for the invention of the global system of Longitude.
•In 1858, Cyrus West Field laid the first transatlantic telegraph cable (it quickly failed).
•In 1865 Brunel's ship the SS Great Eastern laid the first successful transatlantic telegraph cable .
•In 1870 the small City of Ragusa (Dubrovnik) became the first small Lifeboat to cross the Atlantic from Cork to Boston with two men crew, John Charles Buckley and Nikola Primorac (di Costa), only.[9]
•In 1896 Frank Samuelsen and George Harbo from Norway became the first people to ever row across the Atlantic Ocean.
•On April 15, 1912 the RMS Titanic sank after hitting an iceberg with a loss of more than 1,500 lives.[10]
•1914–1918, the First Battle of the Atlantic took place.
•In 1919, the American NC-4 became the first seaplane to cross the Atlantic (though it made a couple of landings on islands and the sea along the way, and taxied several hundred miles).
•Later in 1919, a British aeroplane piloted by Alcock and Brown made the first non-stop transatlantic flight, from Newfoundland to Ireland.
•In 1921, the British were the first to cross the North Atlantic in an airship.
•In 1922, Sacadura Cabral and Gago Coutinho were the first to cross the South Atlantic in an airship.
•In 1927, Charles Lindbergh made the first solo non-stop transatlantic flight in an aircraft (between New York City and Paris).
•In 1931, Bert Hinkler made the first solo non-stop transatlantic flight across the South Atlantic in an aircraft.
•In 1932, Amelia Earhart became the first female to make a solo flight across the Atlantic
•1939–1945, the Second Battle of the Atlantic. Nearly 3,700 Allied ships were sunk at a cost of 783 German U-boats.[11]
•In 1952, Ann Davison was the first woman to single-handedly sail the Atlantic Ocean.
•In 1965, Robert Manry crossed the Atlantic from the U.S. to England non-stop in a 13.5 foot (4.05 meters) sailboat named "Tinkerbell".[12] Several others also crossed the Atlantic in very small sailboats in the 1960s, none of them non-stop, though.
•In 1969 and 1970 Thor Heyerdahl launched expeditions to cross the Atlantic in boats built from papyrus. He succeeded in crossing the Atlantic from Morocco to Barbados after a two-month voyage of 6,100 km with Ra II in 1970, thus conclusively proving that boats such as the Ra could have sailed with the Canary Current across the Atlantic in prehistoric times.[13]
•In 1975, Fons Oerlemans crossed the Atlantic in 82 days, starting from Safi (Morocco) to Trinidad and Tobago, on a selfmade raft.
•In 1980, Gérard d'Aboville was the first man to cross the Atlantic Ocean rowing solo.
•In 1984, Five Argentines sail in a 10-meter-long raft made from tree trunks named Atlantis from Canary Islands and after 52 days 3,000 miles (4,800 km) journey arrived to Venezuela in an attempt to prove travelers from Africa may have crossed the Atlantic before Christopher Columbus.[14][15]
•In 1994, Guy Delage was the first man to allegedly swim across the Atlantic Ocean (with the help of a kick board, from Cape Verde to Barbados).
•In 1998, Benoît Lecomte was the first man to swim across the northern Atlantic Ocean without a kick board, stopping for only one week in the Azores.
•In 1999, after rowing for 81 days and 4,767 kilometres (2,962 mi), Tori Murden became the first woman to cross the Atlantic Ocean by rowboat alone when she reached Guadeloupe from the Canary Islands.
Ethiopic Ocean
The Aethiopian Sea, Ethiopic Ocean or Ethiopian Ocean (Okeanos Aithiopos), is an old name for what is now called the South Atlantic Ocean, which is separated from the North Atlantic Ocean by a narrow region between Natal, Brazil and Monrovia, Liberia. The use of this term illustrates a past trend towards referring to the whole continent of Africa by the name Aethiopia. The modern nation of Ethiopia, in northeast Africa, is nowhere near the Ethiopic Ocean, which would be said to lie off the west coast of Africa. The term Ethiopian Ocean sometimes appeared until the mid-19th century.[
Economy
The Atlantic has contributed significantly to the development and economy of surrounding countries. Besides major transatlantic transportation and communication routes, the Atlantic offers abundant petroleum deposits in the sedimentary rocks of the continental shelves. The Atlantic hosts the world's richest fishing resources, especially in the waters covering the shelves. The major fish are cod, haddock, hake, herring, and mackerel.
The most productive areas include Newfoundland's Grand Banks, the Nova Scotia shelf, Georges Bank off Cape Cod, the Bahama Banks, the waters around Iceland, the Irish Sea, the Dogger Bank of the North Sea, and the Falkland Banks. Eel, lobster, and whales appear in great quantities. Various international treaties attempt to reduce pollution caused by environmental threats such as oil spills, marine debris, and the incineration of toxic wastes at sea.
Terrain
From October to June the surface is usually covered with sea ice in the Labrador Sea, Denmark Strait, and Baltic Sea. A clockwise warm-water gyre occupies the northern Atlantic, and a counter-clockwise warm-water gyre appears in the southern Atlantic. The Mid-Atlantic Ridge, a rugged north-south centerline for the entire Atlantic basin, first discovered by the Challenger Expedition dominates the ocean floor. This was formed by the vulcanism that also formed the ocean floor and the islands rising from it.
The Atlantic has irregular coasts indented by numerous bays, gulfs, and seas. These include the Norwegian Sea, Baltic Sea, North Sea, Labrador Sea, Black Sea, Gulf of Saint Lawrence, Bay of Fundy, Gulf of Maine, Mediterranean Sea, Gulf of Mexico, and Caribbean Sea.
Islands include Newfoundland (including hundreds of surrounding islands), Greenland, Iceland, Faroe Islands, Great Britain (including numerous surrounding islands), Ireland, Rockall, Sable Island, Azores, St. Pierre and Miquelon, Madeira, Bermuda, Canary Islands, Caribbean, Cape Verde, São Tomé and Príncipe, Annobón Province, Fernando de Noronha, Rocas Atoll, Ascension Island, Saint Helena, Trindade and Martim Vaz, Tristan da Cunha, Gough Island (Also known as Diego Alvarez), Falkland Islands, Tierra del Fuego, South Georgia Island, South Sandwich Islands, and Bouvet Island.
Natural resources
The Atlantic harbors petroleum and gas fields, fish, marine mammals (seals and whales), sand and gravel aggregates, placer deposits, polymetallic nodules, and precious stones.
Natural hazards
Icebergs are common from February to August in the Davis Strait, Denmark Strait, and the northwestern Atlantic and have been spotted as far south as Bermuda and Madeira. Ships are subject to superstructure icing in the extreme north from October to May. Persistent fog can be a maritime hazard from May to September, as can hurricanes north of the equator (May to December).
The United States' southeast coast has a long history of shipwrecks due to its many shoals and reefs. The Virginia and North Carolina coasts were particularly dangerous.
The Bermuda Triangle is popularly believed to be the site of numerous aviation and shipping incidents because of unexplained and supposedly mysterious causes, but Coast Guard records do not support this belief.
Hurricanes are also a natural hazard in the Atlantic, but mainly in the northern part of the ocean, rarely tropical cyclones form in the southern parts. Hurricanes usually form between June 1 and November 30 of every year. The most notable hurricane in the Atlantic would be Hurricane Katrina in the 2005 season
Current environmental issues
Endangered marine species include the manatee, seals, sea lions, turtles, and whales. Drift net fishing can kill dolphins, albatrosses and other seabirds (petrels, auks), hastening the fish stock decline and contributing to international disputes.[16] Municipal pollution comes from the eastern United States, southern Brazil, and eastern Argentina; oil pollution in the Caribbean Sea, Gulf of Mexico, Lake Maracaibo, Mediterranean Sea, and North Sea; and industrial waste and municipal sewage pollution in the Baltic Sea, North Sea, and Mediterranean Sea.
In 2005, there was some concern that warm northern European currents were slowing down, but no scientific consensus formed from that evidence.[17]
On June 7, 2006, Florida's wildlife commission voted to take the manatee off the state's endangered species list. Some environmentalists worry that this could erode safeguards for the popular sea creature.
Marine pollution
Marine pollution is a generic term for the entry into the ocean of potentially hazardous chemicals or particles. The biggest culprits are rivers and with them many agriculture fertilizer chemicals as well as livestock and human waste. The excess of oxygen-depleting chemicals leads to hypoxia and the creation of a dead zone.[18]
Marine debris, which is also known as marine litter, describes human-created waste floating in a body of water. Oceanic debris tends to accumulate at the center of gyres and coastlines, frequently washing aground where it is known as beach litter
Bordering countries and territories
The states (territories in italics) with a coastline on the Atlantic Ocean (excluding the Baltic and Mediterranean Seas) are:
Europe
• Belgium
• Denmark
• Germany
• Spain
• France
• Faroe Islands
• Guernsey
• Isle of Man
• Ireland
• Iceland
• Jersey
• Netherlands
• Norway
• Portugal
• Sweden
• United Kingdom
Africa
• Morocco
• Angola
• Benin
• Bouvet Island
• Côte d'Ivoire
• Cameroon
• Democratic Republic of the Congo
• Republic of the Congo
• Cape Verde
• Western Sahara (claimed by Morocco)
• Spain (Canary Islands)
• Gabon
• Ghana
• Guinea
• Gambia
• Guinea-Bissau
• Equatorial Guinea
• Liberia
• Mauritania
• Namibia
• Nigeria
• Senegal
• Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha
• Sierra Leone
• São Tomé and Príncipe
•
South America
• Argentina
• Brazil
• Chile
• Colombia
• Falkland Islands
• France (French Guiana)
• Guyana
• South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands
• Suriname
• Uruguay
• Venezuela
Caribbean
• Aruba
• Anguilla
• Antigua and Barbuda
• Bahamas
• Saint Barthélemy
• Barbados
• Cuba
• Curaçao
• Cayman Islands
• Dominica
• Dominican Republic
• France (Martinique and Guadeloupe)
• Grenada
• Haiti
• Jamaica
• Saint Lucia
• Saint Martin
• Montserrat
• Netherlands (Caribbean Netherlands)
• Puerto Rico
• Saint Kitts and Nevis
• Sint Maarten
• Turks and Caicos Islands
• Trinidad and Tobago
• Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
• British Virgin Islands
• United States Virgin Islands
Central and North America
• Belize
• Bermuda
• Canada
• Costa Rica
• Greenland
• Guatemala
• Honduras
• Mexico
• Nicaragua
• Panama
• Saint Pierre and Miquelon
• United States
from Wikipedia.Big Boy ...
Union Pacific Railroad (UP) introduced the Challenger-type (4-6-6-4) locomotives in 1936 on its main line across Wyoming. For most of the way, the maximum grade is 0.82% in either direction, but the climb eastward from Ogden, Utah, into the Wasatch Range (Wahsatch, on the railroad) reached 1.14%. Hauling a 3,600-short ton (3,300 t) freight train demanded doubleheading and helper operations, and adding and removing the helper engines from a train slowed operations.
The answer was to design a new locomotive, but for such locomotives to be worthwhile they had to be faster and more powerful than slow mountain luggers like the earlier compound 2-8-8-0s that UP tried after World War I. To avoid locomotive changes, the new class would need to pull long trains at sustained speed—60 miles per hour (100 km/h)—once past the mountain grades. (The 1950s Wyoming Div timetables allowed them 50 mph or less, passenger or freight.)
Led by Otto Jabelmann, the UP's design team worked with Alco to re-examine the Challengers, which had been designed by A.H. Fetters. They found that the goals could be achieved by making several changes to the Challenger design, including enlarging the firebox to about 235 by 96 inches (6.0 m × 2.4 m) (about 155 sq ft/14.4 m2), lengthening the boiler, adding four driving wheels and reducing the size of the driving wheels from 69 to 68 in (1.753 to 1.727 m).
The Big Boys are articulated, like the Mallet locomotive design. They were designed for stability at 60 miles per hour (100 km/h). They were built with a heavy margin of reliability and safety, as they normally operated well below that speed in freight service. Peak horsepower was reached at about 35 mph (56 km/h); optimal tractive effort, at about 10 mph (16 km/h).
Without the tender, the Big Boy had the largest engine body of all reciprocating steam locomotives.
~~~~
For a bit of the background ...
* This engine, #4017, is at the National Railroad Museum, Green Bay, Wisconsin
at maps.yahoo.com/#mvt=m&lat=44.4646609686101&lon=-8
* en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Union_Pacific_Big_Boy
* To really appreciate the length of this locomotive and its 4-8-8-4 wheel arrangement...www.steamlocomotive.com/bigboy/
copyright: © R-Pe 1764.org All rights reserved. Please do not use this image, or any images from my flickr photostream, fb account or g+, without my permission.
Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monument_Valley
Monument Valley (Navajo: Tsé Biiʼ Ndzisgaii, pronounced [tsʰépìːʔ ǹtsɪ̀skɑ̀ìː], meaning "valley of the rocks") is a region of the Colorado Plateau characterized by a cluster of sandstone buttes, with the largest reaching 1,000 ft (300 m) above the valley floor. The most famous butte formations are located in northeastern Arizona along the Utah–Arizona state line. The valley is considered sacred by the Navajo Nation, the Native American people within whose reservation it lies.
Monument Valley has been featured in many forms of media since the 1930s. Famed director John Ford used the location for a number of his Westerns. Film critic Keith Phipps wrote that "its five square miles [13 km2] have defined what decades of moviegoers think of when they imagine the American West".
Sourc: navajonationparks.org/navajo-tribal-parks/monument-valley/
History
Before human existence, the Park was once a lowland basin. For hundreds of millions of years, materials that eroded from the early Rock Mountains deposited layer upon layer of sediment which cemented a slow and gentle uplift, generated by ceaseless pressure from below the surface, elevating these horizontal strata quite uniformly one to three miles above sea level. What was once a basin became a plateau.
Natural forces of wind and water that eroded the land spent the last 50 million years cutting into and peeling away at the surface of the plateau. The simple wearing down of altering layers of soft and hard rock slowly revealed the natural wonders of Monument Valley today.
From the visitor center, you see the world-famous panorama of the Mitten Buttes and Merrick Butte. You can also purchase guided tours from Navajo tour operators, who take you down into the valley in Jeeps for a narrated cruise through these mythical formations. Places such as Ear of the Wind and other landmarks can only be accessed via guided tours. During the summer months, the visitor center also features Haskenneini Restaurant, which specializes in both native Navajo and American cuisines, and a film/snack/souvenir shop. There are year-round restroom facilities. One mile before the center, numerous Navajo vendors sell arts, crafts, native food, and souvenirs at roadside stands.
Additional Foreign Language Tags:
(United States) "الولايات المتحدة" "Vereinigte Staaten" "アメリカ" "米国" "美国" "미국" "Estados Unidos" "États-Unis" "ארצות הברית" "संयुक्त राज्य" "США"
(Arizona) "أريزونا" "亚利桑那州" "אריזונה" "एरिजोना" "アリゾナ州" "애리조나" "Аризона"
(Utah) "يوتا" "犹他州" "יוטה" "यूटा" "ユタ州" "유타" "Юта"
(Monument Valley) "وادي النصب التذكاري" "纪念碑谷" "Vallée des monuments" "מוניומנט ואלי" "स्मारक घाटी" "モニュメントバレー" "모뉴먼트 밸리" "Долина Монументов" "Valle de los Monumentos"
copyright: © R-Pe 1764.org All rights reserved. Please do not use this image, or any images from my flickr photostream, fb account or g+, without my permission.
Artizen HDR
All information taken from www.wattsgallery.org.uk/ and Wikipedia
Designed and built by Mary Watts, the Chapel is a unique fusion of art nouveau, Celtic, Romanesque and Egyptian influence with Mary's own original style.
As followers of the Home Arts and Industries Association, set up by Earl Brownlow in 1885 to encourage handicrafts among the lower classes, the Chapel was the Watts's contribution to this characteristically Victorian preoccupation with social improvement through creative enlightenment. Mary passionately believed that anyone with a real interest and enthusiasm could be taught how to produce beautiful decoration, if in the process it kept them away from the 'gin palaces' of Guildford, this was surely a good thing. With this belief firmly in mind she encouraged all from the village, whatever their social status, up to their house Limnerslease for instruction in clay modelling.
The clay came from a seam that was discovered in the grounds of their house, apparently not unusual for this area. Taking this as a sign, Mary embarked upon the project with her usual determination, writing to the Parish Council in 1895 offering to build a new cemetery chapel, as the old graveyard in the village church of St Nicholas was full to capacity.
Her offer was accepted. As early as 1888 concerned parishioners had discussed the problem of space and plans were therefore already underway for land to be purchased from the Loseley Estate. Mary had produced her clay model of the new chapel by August 1895 and later that year the sale of land from William More-Molyneux was agreed.
The first clay modelling class took place at Limnerslease on Thursday 14 November 1895. All were welcome, from the local lady of the manor to her farm boys, as long as there was a genuine desire to learn, Mary was happy.
After a few weeks learning how to handle clay and modelling simple decorations, they would begin to make clay tiles from the plates Mrs Watts had prepared.
The design itself is an amalgamation of inspiration, every aspect having symbolic meaning. The Circle of Eternity with its intersecting Cross of Faith is from pre-historic times and symbolises the power of redeeming love stretching to the four quarters of the earth. The dome is traditionally seen as emblematic of heaven, the four panels on the exterior containing friezes symbolising the Spirit of Hope, the Spirit of Truth, the Spirit of Love and the Spirit of Light.
The exterior of the Chapel was finished in 1898, but the decoration of the interior took a while longer. Mary took the most talented of her craftsmen and women and together they created the stunning gesso interior, finally completing it in 1904.
The Chapel is Parish property and is open to the public daily.
George Frederic Watts, OM (23 February 1817 – 1 July 1904; sometimes spelt "George Frederick Watts") was a popular English Victorian painter and sculptor associated with the Symbolist movement.
Watts became famous in his lifetime for his allegorical works, such as Hope (see image) and Love and Life. These paintings were intended to form part of an epic symbolic cycle called the "House of Life", in which the emotions and aspirations of life would all be represented in a universal symbolic language.
Watts was born in Marylebone, London, the delicate son of a poor piano-maker. He showed promise very early, learning sculpture from the age of 10 with William Behnes and enroling as a student at the Royal Academy at the age of 18. He came to the public eye with a drawing entitled Caractacus, which was entered for a competition to design murals for the new Houses of Parliament at Westminster in 1843. Watts won a first prize in the competition, which was intended to promote narrative paintings on patriotic subjects, appropriate to the nation's legislature. In the end Watts made little contribution to the Westminster decorations, but from it he conceived his vision of a building covered with murals representing the spiritual and social evolution of humanity.
Visiting Italy in the mid-1840s, Watts was inspired by Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel and Giotto's Scrovegni Chapel, but back in Britain he was unable to obtain a building in which to carry out his plan. In consequence most of his major works are conventional oil paintings, some of which were intended as studies for the House of Life.
In the 1860s, Watts's work shows the influence of Rossetti, often emphasising sensuous pleasure and rich color. Among these paintings is a portrait of his young wife, the actress Ellen Terry, who was nearly 30 years his junior – just seven days short of her 17th birthday when they married on 20 February 1864. When she eloped with another man after less than a year of marriage, Watts was obliged to divorce her (though this process was not completed until 1877). In 1886 at the age of 69 he re-married, to Mary Fraser-Tytler, a Scottish designer and potter, then aged 36.
Watts's association with Rossetti and the Aesthetic movement altered during the 1870s, as his work increasingly combined Classical traditions with a deliberately agitated and troubled surface, in order to suggest the dynamic energies of life and evolution, as well as the tentative and transitory qualities of life. These works formed part of a revised version of the house of life, influenced by the ideas of Max Müller, the founder of comparative religion. Watts hoped to trace the evolving "mythologies of the races [of the world]" in a grand synthesis of spiritual ideas with modern science, especially Darwinian evolution.
In 1881, having moved to London, he set up a studio at his home at Little Holland House in Kensington, and his epic paintings were exhibited in Whitechapel by his friend and social reformer Canon Samuel Barnett. Refusing the baronetcy offered him by Queen Victoria, he later moved to a house, "Limnerslease", near Compton, south of Guildford, in Surrey.
After moving into "Limnerslease" in 1891, Watts and his wife Mary arranged the building of the Watts Gallery nearby, a museum dedicated to his work – the first (and now the only) purpose-built gallery in Britain devoted to a single artist – which opened in April 1904, shortly before his death. Watts's wife Mary designed the nearby Mortuary Chapel. Many of his paintings are also held at the Tate Gallery – he donated 18 of his symbolic paintings to the Tate in 1897, and three more in 1900. He was elected as an Academician to the Royal Academy in 1867 and accepted the Order of Merit in 1902.
In his late paintings, Watts's creative aspirations mutate into mystical images such as The Sower of the Systems, in which Watts seems to anticipate abstract art. This painting depicts God as a barely visible shape in an energised pattern of stars and nebulae. Some of Watts's other late works also seem to anticipate the paintings of Picasso's Blue Period.
Watts was also admired as a portrait painter. His portraits were of the most important men and women of the day, intended to form a "House of Fame". Many of these are now in the collection of the National Portrait Gallery – 17 were donated in 1895, with more than 30 more added subsequently. In his portraits Watts sought to create a tension between disciplined stability and the power of action. He was also notable for emphasising the signs of strain and wear on his sitter's faces. Sitters included Charles Dilke, Thomas Carlyle and William Morris.
During his last years Watts also turned to sculpture. His most famous work, the large bronze statue Physical Energy, depicts a naked man on horseback shielding his eyes from the sun as he looks ahead of him. It was originally intended to be dedicated to Muhammad, Attila, Tamerlane and Genghis Khan, thought by Watts to epitomise the raw energetic will to power. A cast was placed at Rhodes Memorial in Cape Town, South Africa honouring the grandiose imperial vision of Cecil Rhodes. Watts's essay "Our Race as Pioneers" indicates his support for imperialism, which he believed to be a progressive force. There is also a casting of this work in London's Kensington Gardens, overlooking the north-west side of the Serpentine.
Arcana entomologica; or illustrations of new, rare and interesting insects
London :William Smith,1841.
sacpros.org is a leading mental health website for the Greater Sacramento region that publishes the Empowerment Magazine
De uitlandsche kapellen voorkomende in de drie waereld-deelen, Asia, Africa en America,.
Amsteldam,Chez S. J. Baalde;1779-1782..
Deutschlands flora in abbildungen nach der natur
Nurnberg :Gedruckt auf kosten des verfassers,1798-[1862]
I wrote a Greasemonkey script called "Flickr Multi Group Sender", that lets you send your flickr photos to multiple groups at once.
If you tick the checkbox titled "Save this group selection" the groups you have selected will be saved, and you will be able to quickly reselect them again the next time you use the script, using the secondary select box.
*UPDATE* 25-04-2008 Ive updated the script, fixing a few bugs, reinstall the script to get it working again. Also added a function that automatically saves your selection each time, even if you dont check the box. This lets you easily reselect your previous selection, in case you forgot to check the box.
*UPDATED* 28/5/2008 The script now works on all international versions of the site. New features include, group counter which displays how many groups you have selected, and groups that the image are already in appear faded out in the select box, and you cannot select them. Script also now works for sending videos to groups.
*UPDATED* 7/6/2008 I added a search box at the top, that lets you search your group list, to let you find matching groups quickly.
*UPDATED* 14/7/2010 Ive updated the script for the new photo page, remember this script is donationware, if you like it make a donation, cheers. Script is now compatible with Firefox, Chrome Safari and Opera.
TIP: Another way to find a group quickly, is to click inside the select box once with the mouse, then type the first few letters of the group name, the selector should automatically jump to the group you are looking for.
This greasemonkey script and all my other GM scripts are available here: steeev.freehostia.com/flickr/.
Please Donate! If you appreciate my scripts and would like to thank me for the time and effort i have put into them and to support further development and maintenance, please consider making a donation, large or small, every little helps. My paypal link is available on my my website and also on my profile page.
www.rspb.org.uk/reserves/guide/r/rainhammarshes/index.aspx
www.rspb.org.uk/reserves/guide/r/rainhammarshes/about.aspx
One of very few ancient landscapes remaining in London, these medieval marshes right next to the River Thames were closed to the public for over 100 years and used as a military firing range.
We managed to acquire the site in 2000 and set about transforming it into an important place for nature and a great place for people to visit. Now you can expect to see breeding wading birds in spring and summer, and large flocks of wild ducks in winter.
Birds of prey and rare birds are regularly seen too. There are also water voles in the ditches and rare dragonflies flit across the boardwalks.
There is an innovative visitor centre, with huge picture-windows that look out across the marshes. It is full of environmentally friendly features and already boasts a handful of prestigious architectural awards.
There is also a shop and café and a new wildlife garden and children's adventure play area too. A full events programme offers something for everyone, and while we still have several years to go to finish all the visitor features out on the reserve, it is already an incredible transformation. Boardwalks throughout the reserve give access for wheelchairs and pushchairs.
Opening times
From 1 November to 31 January, we're open from 9.30 am - 4.30 pm. From 1 February to 31 October, it's 9.30 am - 5 pm. We're closed on Christmas Day and Boxing Day.
Entrance charges
Car park: voluntary £1 donation. Reserve: Free to RSPB members and residents of Havering and Thurrock. Non-members: £3 adult, £1.50 child, £9 family (two adults and up to four children). There are extra costs for some events - please check when you book.
If you are new to birdwatching...
Birds are easy to see year round. The reserve runs a number of regular events for birdwatchers throughout the year, from novice to expert, including weekly Wednesday guided birding walk with Howard Vaughan, dawn chorus walks, winter spectacle birding event, a new birdwatching club for children, February's flock bird event and spring walks. There are also designated open days and weekends. Please see the events pages for further information.
Information for families
There is an evolving events and walks programme specially designed for families, with activities for all. All the reserve's paths and boardwalks are family and wheelchair friendly. There are also Adventure and Toddler's Playgrounds.
Information for dog owners
No dogs allowed, except registered assistance dogs. However, dogs are allowed on the Thames riverside path - a public footpath and cycleway running adjacent to the reserve.
Star species
Our star species are some of the most interesting birds you may see on your visit to the reserve.
Avocet
The delicate forms and and piping 'kluit' calls of avocets are becoming a more and more frequent site at Rainham throughout the year.
Lapwing
Lapwings from different places visit Rainham Marshes during the year. Wintering birds are replaced by breeding birds in spring and other birds that have bred further north pass through in summer and autumn.
Little egret
Little egrets can now be seen here in large numbers right throughout the year. Dispersing juvenile birds lead to a sudden rise in numbers in late summer and autumn.
Peregrine
The large concentrations of wildfowl and waders regularly attract hunting peregrines - especially in autumn and winter.
Ringed plover
These neatly banded waders can be seen performing their 'run and stop' feeding routine here.
Seasonal highlights
Each season brings a different experience at our nature reserves. In spring, the air is filled with birdsong as they compete to establish territories and attract a mate. In summer, look out for young birds making their first venture into the outside world. Autumn brings large movements of migrating birds - some heading south to a warmer climate, others seeking refuge in the UK from the cold Arctic winter. In winter, look out for large flocks of birds gathering to feed, or flying at dusk to form large roosts to keep warm.
Spring
Wheatears, stonechats, oystercatchers, hobbies, curlews, swifts, sand martins, house martins, warblers, marsh harriers, reed buntings, water and short-tailed voles, damselflies, marsh frogs, grass snakes, water shrews.
Summer
Black-tailed godwits, whimbrels, greenshanks, snipe, little egrets, dunlins, lapwings, teals, swifts, common sandpipers, ruffs, starlings, avocets, yellow wagtails, oystercatchers, yellow-legged gulls, bank and water voles, water shrews, marsh frogs, wasp spiders, red foxes.
Autumn
Marsh harriers, arctic terns, bearded tits, thrushes, finches, skylarks, meadow pipits, jackdaws, stonechats, hen harriers, goshawks, merlins, peregrines, short-eared owls, barn owls, avocets, black-tailed godwits, white fronted geese, pintails, wigeons, crickets, butterflies, dragonflies, damselflies, stoats, weasels, red foxes.
Winter
Bullfinches, ringed plovers, oystercatchers, golden plovers, water and rock pipits, little egrets, snipe, chiffchaffs, curlews, lapwings, dunlins, redshanks, shelducks, peregrines, kingfishers, short-eared owls, red foxes, stoats, weasels.
Facilities
Visitor centre
Car park
Toilets
Disabled toilets
Baby-changing facilities
Picnic area
Group bookings accepted
Guided walks available
Good for walking
Pushchair friendly
Viewing points
Currently two bird hides, family orientated Marshland Discovery Zone and several open viewing areas.
Nature trails
There are a network of nature trails currently in place, which are utilised for specific guided walks and events. There are approximately 2.5 miles plus of nature boardwalks, all designed for wheelchair and pushchair access.
Refreshments available
Hot drinks
Cold drinks
Sandwiches
Snacks
Shop
The shop stocks:
Binoculars and telescopes
Books
Bird food
Bird feeders
Nestboxes
Outdoor clothing
Educational facilities
The Education team offer a comprehensive and exciting array of curriculum linked field study visits for all school levels. We have Woodland, Reedbed and Marshland Discovery Zones, an Environment and Education centre, fully equipped classrooms, specific study areas, pond dipping areas and lots more. It's a safe and inspiring environment to get close to nature. A selection of lifelong learning courses on a variety of topics are run throughout the year, along with a range of children's activities, including holiday clubs. Please contact us for further details.
Cafe
Our cafe gives magnificent views not only over the ancient wildlife-filled grazing marsh, but also across Old Father Thames which flows majestically past the window. It is the perfect place to relax after exploring our nature trails or as a respite stop after the hustle and bustle of shopping nearby.
We serve our own exclusive coffee that is grown, imported and roasted by us. It's Fairtrade, organic and certified bird-friendly by the Smithsonian Institute, so now you can help save nature simply by enjoying a great cup of coffee!
Whether you are after a refreshing cuppa and a slice of our fabulous home-made cake, or a filling sandwich, panini or jacket potato, you will find something to tickle your taste buds. We look forward to seeing you soon!
Opening hours
From 1 November-31 March, we're open from 9.30 am to 4.30 pm. From 1 April-31 October it's 9.30 am to 5 pm. We're closed on Christmas Day and Boxing Day.
Highlights from our menu:-
Fabulous home-made cakes
Locally-made soup
Freshly-prepared jacket potatoes with a variety of fillings
Locally-baked pies and pasties
Made-to-order toasties, paninis and sandwiches
Lovely cafe with warming soup and fantastic cake. Yummy!
Access to the cafe
The cafe is fully wheelchair-friendly.
Children welcome
We're happy to serve smaller portions and we can also warm baby food in the microwave.
We use local ingredients
All produce is sourced locally where possible, including ham, bacon, sausages, soup and pies.
Dietary requirements
Jacket potatoes, sandwiches etc all have veggie options, as well as a veggie pastry. We have vegan meals. The soup and jacket potatoes are wheat-free; some gluten-free cakes are available.
Accessibility
8 August 2013
This is a Summary Access Statement. A full access statement is available to download from the webpage.
Before you visit
Clear print site leaflet available from our reserve reception
Free entry for RSPB members, residents of Havering and Thurrock. For other visitors admission charges apply. Carer or essential companion admitted free with disabled visitor
No dogs. Registered Assistance dogs only
Visitor Centre, car park and reserve trails are open 9.30 am to 4.30 pm from 1 November-31 March and 9.30 am to 5 pm from 1 April-31 October; closed on Christmas Day and Boxing Day
Check accessibility for events and activities.
How to get here
Purfleet Railway Station is a 15 minute walk to reserve
Bus stops near the reserve entrance.
Car parking
110 spaces and seven Blue Badge spaces
Gates locked at 5 pm
Surface is loose gravel
No formal drop-off point
No height restrictions.
Visitor centre and shop
Ground floor shop, slight slope to heavy door with 10 mm lip, normally open. Assistance bell. Non-slip tiles. Reasonable lighting. Some display units tall or deep. Pen and paper available. Bird seed bins are outside the shop.
The visitor centre and cafe are on first floor, accessed by a long ramp left of Blue Badge parking. Entry by two sets of double heavy doors opening outwards. No threshold. NOTE JUNE 2012, power assistance is out of order so an alternative bell is provided.
Step-free, level access throughout and non-slip tiles. Lowered counter section. Good lighting. Pen and paper available. Binocular hire. Staff available to assist.
Nature trails
Three signposted trails, a mix of flat gravel surface paths and boardwalks. Information boards in large print. Trails start at the visitor centre across a short section of non slip grill with a short steep section. You can leave the reserve part way round and along the River Thames. Use the one way turnstile or gate (Gate key code available from reception)
Viewing facilities
Four hides on the circular walk. None on the Woodland walk. All level entry either adapted for wheelchair spaces or designed for everyone to gain the same great views. Marshland Discovery Zone has touch interpretation. Shooting Butts Hide has 14 stairs and a lift.
Toilets and baby changing facilities
Accessible toilet on ground and first floors (Baby changing in first floor)
Catering
Café on first floor. Good lighting. Non slip tile flooring. Self-service. Menus are clear print. Staff available to assist.
Picnic area
Eleven tables with wheelchair spaces, on soft and hard surfaces, level ground behind visitor centre. Alternatively, a table in the adventure playground and toddler's play area. Visitors are welcome to consume their own food and drink here.
Education facilities
Education team offer a wide and exciting array of curriculum linked field study visits at our Environment and Education centre, fully equipped classrooms, specific study areas, pond dipping areas.
Help us improve accessibility by sending feedback to the Site Manager.
For more information
Rainham Marshes
E-mail: rainham.marshes@rspb.org.uk
Telephone:01708 899840
RM19 1SZ
How to get here
By train
The nearest railway station to this reserve is Purfleet. Purfleet train station is on the C2C line from Fenchurch Street. The reserve is a 15 minute walk from the station following the brown pedestrian signs along the riverside path. Turn right out of the station and then join the path at the Royal Pub. Follow the Riverside path and then cross the Mardyke Bridge to the Visitor Centre.
By bus
The ensignbus 44 bus route which runs between Lakeside and Orsett Hospital, Grays, stops near the reserve entrance on New Tank Hill Road. This bus runs every hour and up to 30 minutes during peak periods. The service is operated by Ensignbus (01708 865656).
By road
The reserve is located off New Tank Hill Road (A1090) in Purfleet which is just off the A1306 between Rainham and Lakeside. This is accessible from the Aveley, Wennington and Purfleet junction off the A13 and J30/31 of the M25.
Cycling at Rainham Marshes
RSPB Rainham Marshes is just a stone's throw from London, easily accessible by public transport, on foot and by bike. Located on ancient marshland nestled beside the river Thames, it really is a special place to enjoy the great outdoors.
The reserve itself offers a leisurely amble in a superb setting with fantastic facilities such as an award-winning, eco-friendly visitor centre with cafe and shop.
If cycling is your thing, a brand new cycle route links the villages of Purfleet and Rainham. This runs beside the reserve, following the Thames, looping round and passing the stone barges.
Both on the reserve and along the riverside path, you will see a variety of interesting, sometimes rare, birds, mammals, reptiles and amphibians as well as bugs and beasties of all kinds. You will also be able to learn so much of the history and importance of this area.
Our work here
Rainham Marshes protects an ancient, low-lying grazing marsh in the Thames Estuary. Its complex of wet grassland and ditches, together with rank grassland and scrub, supports many breeding and wintering birds.
Wildlife also includes scarce wetland plants and insects, and a key population of the nationally declining water vole.
The site has a history of neglect, but the RSPB is working to restore important habitats and improve their biodiversity. This will transform a former wasteland into an important natural asset, and help raise public awareness of local conservation issues.
Managing the marsh
Birdlife on the marsh includes breeding waders, such as lapwing, redshank and snipe, as well as important numbers of wintering wildfowl, waders, finches and birds of prey.
We plan to enhance the habitat for these birds by creating a mosaic of unflooded tussocky grassland, flooded short grassland and semi-permanent pools. This will also benefit important plant species, such as golden dock.
Meanwhile we will improve the ditch system for the benefit of water voles, reptiles and amphibians, invertebrates and breeding birds.
Leaving well alone
We will leave the areas of tall rank grass and scattered scrub unmanaged in order to retain their existing conservation value. Wildlife in these habitats includes small mammals, reptiles and invertebrates, and birds such as wintering short-eared owls and breeding stonechats.
We will also look after sandy areas for their specialist insect life.
Silt lagoons
Lagoons on the reserves are currently used for commercial silt dredging. We will work around this in order re-create and maintain a complex of brackish lagoons and reed-swamp for important wildlife, including breeding, wintering and passage waterfowl.
While some lagoons will remain operational, we will manage others rotationally and keep the rest permanently open.
Access for all
We aim to make the site accessible to everyone, without impinging on the dredging operation or compromising our conservation priorities. We will develop and promote the reserve as a major visitor attraction and centre for environmental education. We aim to encourage interest in local and general conservation, and create a broader understanding of the work of the RSPB.
Funding
Current work is being funded by the EU’s Interreg IVA Two Seas Cross-border Cooperation Programme 2007-2013, Homes and Communities Agency’s Parklands Funding administered by Essex County Council, and Biffa Award and Veolia Cleanaway Havering Riverside Trust, both through the Landfill Communities Fund.
Thanks to help on the reserve from employees of Goldman Sachs, Royal Bank of Scotland, HSBC, Earthwatch, Barclays, Royal Mail, Family Mosaic, Ipsos Media we have been able to deliver more for wildlife and people at Rainham Marshes.
Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Normandy
Normandy (French: Normandie, Norman: Normaundie, from Old French Normanz, plural of Normant, originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is one of the 18 regions of France, roughly referring to the historical Duchy of Normandy.
Normandy is divided into five administrative departments: Calvados, Eure, Manche, Orne, and Seine-Maritime. It covers 30,627 square kilometres (11,825 sq mi), comprising roughly 5% of the territory of metropolitan France. Its population of 3.37 million accounts for around 5% of the population of France. The inhabitants of Normandy are known as Normans, and the region is the historic homeland of the Norman language.
The historical region of Normandy comprised the present-day region of Normandy, as well as small areas now part of the departments of Mayenne and Sarthe. The Channel Islands (French: Îles Anglo-Normandes) are also historically part of Normandy; they cover 194 km² and comprise two bailiwicks: Guernsey and Jersey, which are British Crown dependencies over which Queen Elizabeth II reigns as Duke of Normandy.
Normandy's name comes from the settlement of the territory by mainly Danish and Norwegian Vikings ("Northmen") from the 9th century, and confirmed by treaty in the 10th century between King Charles III of France and the Viking jarl Rollo. For a century and a half following the Norman conquest of England in 1066, Normandy and England were linked by Norman and Frankish rulers.
Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Normandy_landings
The Normandy landings were the landing operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as D-Day, it was the largest seaborne invasion in history. The operation began the liberation of German-occupied France (and later Europe) from Nazi control, and laid the foundations of the Allied victory on the Western Front.
Planning for the operation began in 1943. In the months leading up to the invasion, the Allies conducted a substantial military deception, codenamed Operation Bodyguard, to mislead the Germans as to the date and location of the main Allied landings. The weather on D-Day was far from ideal and the operation had to be delayed 24 hours; a further postponement would have meant a delay of at least two weeks as the invasion planners had requirements for the phase of the moon, the tides, and the time of day that meant only a few days each month were deemed suitable. Adolf Hitler placed German Field Marshal Erwin Rommel in command of German forces and of developing fortifications along the Atlantic Wall in anticipation of an Allied invasion.
The amphibious landings were preceded by extensive aerial and naval bombardment and an airborne assault—the landing of 24,000 US, British, and Canadian airborne troops shortly after midnight. Allied infantry and armoured divisions began landing on the coast of France at 06:30. The target 50-mile (80 km) stretch of the Normandy coast was divided into five sectors: Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno and Sword. Strong winds blew the landing craft east of their intended positions, particularly at Utah and Omaha. The men landed under heavy fire from gun emplacements overlooking the beaches, and the shore was mined and covered with obstacles such as wooden stakes, metal tripods, and barbed wire, making the work of the beach-clearing teams difficult and dangerous. Casualties were heaviest at Omaha, with its high cliffs. At Gold, Juno, and Sword, several fortified towns were cleared in house-to-house fighting, and two major gun emplacements at Gold were disabled, using specialised tanks.
The Allies failed to achieve any of their goals on the first day. Carentan, St. Lô, and Bayeux remained in German hands, and Caen, a major objective, was not captured until 21 July. Only two of the beaches (Juno and Gold) were linked on the first day, and all five beachheads were not connected until 12 June; however, the operation gained a foothold which the Allies gradually expanded over the coming months. German casualties on D-Day have been estimated at 4,000 to 9,000 men. Allied casualties were at least 10,000, with 4,414 confirmed dead.
Museums, memorials, and war cemeteries in the area now host many visitors each year.
Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Longues-sur-Mer_battery
The Longues-sur-Mer battery (in German: Marineküstenbatterie (MKB) Longues-sur-Mer) was a World War II German artillery battery constructed near the French village of Longues-sur-Mer in Normandy. The battery was sited on a 60 m (200 ft) cliff overlooking the sea and formed a part of Germany's Atlantic Wall coastal fortifications. It was located between the Allied landing beaches of Gold and Omaha and shelled both beaches on D-Day (6 June 1944). The battery was captured on June 7 and played no further part in the Normandy campaign.
The battery is the only one in Normandy to retain all its original guns in situ and was listed an historical monument in October 2001. It remains in a good state of conservation.
Autumn known as fall in the US and Canada,[1] is one of the four temperate seasons. Autumn marks the transition from summer into winter, in September (Northern Hemisphere) or March (Southern Hemisphere) when the arrival of night becomes noticeably earlier. One of its main features is the shedding of leaves from some trees as they pave way for further growth.
The equinoxes might be expected to be in the middle of their respective seasons, but temperature lag (caused by the thermal latency of the ground and sea) means that seasons appear later than dates calculated from a purely astronomical perspective. The actual lag varies with region. Some cultures regard the autumnal equinox as "mid-autumn", others with a longer lag treat it as the start of autumn.[2] Meteorologists (and most of the temperate countries in the southern hemisphere)[3] use a definition based on months, with autumn being September, October and November in the northern hemisphere,[4] and March, April and May in the southern hemisphere.
In North America, autumn is usually considered to start with the September equinox.[5] In traditional East Asian solar term, autumn starts on or around 8 August and ends on about 7 November. In Ireland, the autumn months according to the national meteorological service, Met Éireann, are September, October and November.[6] However, according to the Irish Calendar, which is based on ancient Gaelic traditions, autumn lasts throughout the months of August, September, and October, or possibly a few days later, depending on tradition. In Australia, autumn officially begins on 1 March and ends 31 May.[7]
Etymology
The word autumn comes from the Old French word autompne (automne in modern French), and was later normalised to the original Latin word autumnus.[8] There are rare examples of its use as early as the 12th century, but it became common by the 16th century.
Before the 16th century, harvest was the term usually used to refer to the season, as it is common in other West Germanic languages to this day (cf. Dutch herfst, German Herbst and Scots hairst). However, as more people gradually moved from working the land to living in towns (especially those who could read and write,[citation needed] the only people whose use of language we now know), the word harvest lost its reference to the time of year and came to refer only to the actual activity of reaping, and autumn, as well as fall, began to replace it as a reference to the season.[9][10]
The alternative word fall for the season traces its origins to old Germanic languages. The exact derivation is unclear, with the Old English fiæll or feallan and the Old Norse fall all being possible candidates. However, these words all have the meaning "to fall from a height" and are clearly derived either from a common root or from each other. The term came to denote the season in 16th century England, a contraction of Middle English expressions like "fall of the leaf" and "fall of the year".[11]
During the 17th century, English emigration to the British colonies in North America was at its peak, and the new settlers took the English language with them. While the term fall gradually became obsolete in Britain, it became the more common term in North America.
Harvest association
Association with the transition from warm to cold weather, and its related status as the season of the primary harvest, has dominated its themes and popular images. In Western cultures, personifications of autumn are usually pretty, well-fed females adorned with fruits, vegetables and grains that ripen at this time. Many cultures feature autumnal harvest festivals, often the most important on their calendars. Still extant echoes of these celebrations are found in the autumn Thanksgiving holiday of the United States and Canada, and the Jewish Sukkot holiday with its roots as a full-moon harvest festival of "tabernacles" (living in outdoor huts around the time of harvest).[citation needed] There are also the many North American Indian festivals tied to harvest of autumnally ripe foods gathered in the wild, the Chinese Mid-Autumn or Moon festival, and many others. The predominant mood of these autumnal celebrations is a gladness for the fruits of the earth mixed with a certain melancholy linked to the imminent arrival of harsh weather.
This view is presented in English poet John Keats' poem To Autumn, where he describes the season as a time of bounteous fecundity, a time of 'mellow fruitfulness'.
While most foods are harvested during the autumn, foods particularly associated with the season include pumpkins (which are integral parts of both Thanksgiving and Halloween) and apples, which are used to make the seasonal beverage apple cider.
Melancholy association
Autumn in poetry has often been associated with melancholy. The possibilities of summer are gone, and the chill of winter is on the horizon. Skies turn grey, and many people turn inward, both physically and mentally.[12]
Similar examples may be found in Irish poet William Butler Yeats' poem The Wild Swans at Coole where the maturing season that the poet observes symbolically represents his own ageing self. Like the natural world that he observes he too has reached his prime and now must look forward to the inevitability of old age and death. French poet Paul Verlaine's "Chanson d'automne" ("Autumn Song") is likewise characterised by strong, painful feelings of sorrow. Keats' To Autumn, written in September 1819, echoes this sense of melancholic reflection, but also emphasises the lush abundance of the season.
Other associations
The examples and perspective in this article deal primarily with North America and do not represent a worldwide view of the subject. Please improve this article and discuss the issue on the talk page. (August 2013)
Autumn is associated with the Halloween season (influenced by Samhain, a Celtic autumn festival),[13] and with it a widespread marketing campaign that promotes it, in the US. The television, film, book, costume, home decoration, and confectionery industries use this time of year to promote products closely associated with such a holiday, with promotions going from early September to 31 October, since their themes rapidly lose strength once the holiday ends, and advertising starts concentrating on Christmas.
Television stations and networks, particularly in North America, traditionally begin their regular seasons in autumn, with new series and new episodes of existing series debuting mostly during late September or early October (series that debut outside the fall season are usually known as midseason replacements). A sweeps period takes place in November to measure Nielsen Ratings.
Autumn, particularly in most parts of the US, also has a strong association with the start of a new school year, particularly for children in primary and secondary education. "Back to School" advertising and preparations usually occurs in the weeks leading to the start of the fall season.
Since 1997, Autumn has been one of the top 100 names for girls in the US.[14]
In Indian mythology, autumn is considered to be the preferred season for the goddess of learning Saraswati, who is also known by the name of "goddess of autumn" (Sharada).
Tourism
Although colour change in leaves occurs wherever deciduous trees are found, coloured autumn foliage is noted in various regions of the world: most of North America, Eastern Asia (including China, Korea, and Japan), Europe, parts of Australia and New Zealand's South Island.
Eastern Canada and New England are famous for their autumnal foliage,[15][16] and this attracts major tourism (worth billions of U.S. dollars) for the regions.
Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lisbon
Lisbon (Portuguese: Lisboa) is the capital and the largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 505,526 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Its urban area extends beyond the city's administrative limits with a population of around 2.8 million people, being the 11th-most populous urban area in the European Union. About 3 million people live in the Lisbon Metropolitan Area (which represents approximately 27% of the country's population). It is mainland Europe's westernmost capital city and the only one along the Atlantic coast. Lisbon lies in the western Iberian Peninsula on the Atlantic Ocean and the River Tagus. The westernmost areas of its metro area form the westernmost point of Continental Europe, which is known as Cabo da Roca, located in the Sintra Mountains.
Lisbon is recognized as an alpha-level global city by the Globalization and World Cities (GaWC) Study Group because of its importance in finance, commerce, media, entertainment, arts, international trade, education and tourism. Lisbon is the only Portuguese city besides Porto to be recognized as a global city. It is one of the major economic centres on the continent, with a growing financial sector and one of the largest container ports on Europe's Atlantic coast. Additionally, Humberto Delgado Airport served 26.7 million passengers in 2017, being the busiest airport in Portugal, the 3rd busiest in the Iberian Peninsula and the 20th busiest in Europe, and the motorway network and the high-speed rail system of Alfa Pendular links the main cities of Portugal (such as Braga, Porto and Coimbra) to Lisbon. The city is the 9th-most-visited city in Southern Europe, after Rome, Istanbul, Barcelona, Milan, Venice, Madrid, Florence and Athens, with 3,320,300 tourists in 2017. The Lisbon region contributes with a higher GDP PPP per capita than any other region in Portugal. Its GDP amounts to 96.3 billion USD and thus $32,434 per capita. The city occupies the 40th place of highest gross earnings in the world. Most of the headquarters of multinational corporations in Portugal are located in the Lisbon area. It is also the political centre of the country, as its seat of Government and residence of the Head of State.
Lisbon is one of the oldest cities in the world, and one of the oldest in Western Europe, predating other modern European capitals such as London, Paris, and Rome by centuries. Julius Caesar made it a municipium called Felicitas Julia, adding to the name Olissipo. Ruled by a series of Germanic tribes from the 5th century, it was captured by the Moors in the 8th century. In 1147, the Crusaders under Afonso Henriques reconquered the city and since then it has been a major political, economic and cultural centre of Portugal. Unlike most capital cities, Lisbon's status as the capital of Portugal has never been granted or confirmed officially – by statute or in written form. Its position as the capital has formed through constitutional convention, making its position as de facto capital a part of the Constitution of Portugal.
Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rossio_Square
Rossio Square is the popular name of the Pedro IV Square (Portuguese: Praça de D. Pedro IV) in the city of Lisbon, in Portugal. It is located in the Pombaline Downtown of Lisbon and has been one of its main squares since the Middle Ages. It has been the setting of popular revolts and celebrations, bullfights and executions, and is now a preferred meeting place of Lisbon natives and tourists alike.
The current name of the Rossio pays homage to Pedro IV, King of Portugal. The Column of Pedro IV is in the middle of the square.
Annales de la Société royale d'agriculture et de botanique de Gand :.
Gand [etc.] :Société royale d'agriculture et de botanique,1845-1849..
En Biodiversidad virtual y también en Twiter
Sea de noche o de día Staurastrum siempre es estrella en las gotas; de día luz verde de vida que se extingue en su cuerpo de X, sin estridencias, mientras llega su ocaso. De noche, luz para siempre, arcoíris en el cielo de su universo mágico, paradoja de un ser que se apaga y se encendiende en belleza al mismo tiempo, como cuenta su nombre: Staurastrum paradoxum
Staurastrum, es siempre alga estrellada y doble, de contorno de diábolo con radios cuando se observa lateralmente, y estrella verdadera cuando se muestra de frente como ahora. La variabilidad en este género de algas no solo se manifiesta por las numerosas especies que lo representan. En ocasiones, como en ésta, cada una de las especies puede variar notablemente tamaño o en forma, y como sucede con Staurastrum paradoxum en número de brazos que en ella pueden ser tres o cuatro.
Staurastrum paradoxum es una pequeña alga del plancton que vive en aguas ácidas, universalmente repartida es relativamente común, tan común y universal como otra cruz casi tan intangible de la no hay que mirar muy lejos ni utilizar un microscopio para sentir su garra en cualquier parte de la Tierra...hagamos de esos fracasos su mismo ocaso, y como el de Staurastrum y convirtámoslo en belleza... en la Naturaleza siempre podemos leer una gran lección incluso la escrita con letras casi invisibles.
El género Staurastrum está representado por más de setecientos taxones y comprende a algas individuales de células pequeñas o grandes, desde 6 a más de 100 micras de diámetro con 2 a 12 radios en vista frontal.
Todas las formas de este género presentan una constricción media superficial o profunda (istmo) donde las paredes de las semicélulas se superponen.
La mayoría de las especies presentan largas expansiones huecas en cada semicélula (número relacionado con el patrón de radiación); con dos o más espínulas terminales, y posiblemente una o más series de denticulaciones, espinas o verrugas a lo largo de las expansiones y en el ápice y el cuerpo del eje central de la semicélula.
La pared celular en este género es lisa o con hileras de pequeños gránulos o espínulas y el núcleo se sitúa en la porción más estrecha del istmo que une las dos mitades simétricas que las conforman.
Hoy, de noche o de día Staurastrum paradoxum nos muestra su ocaso y en él el regalo de belleza que nos dejará en mil colores cuando su verde latido se desvanezca.
Las fotografías tomada a 400 aumentos con las técnicas de contraste de interferencia y campo oscuro y polarización, proceden de una muestra de agua recogida el día 6 de marzo de 2022 en una pequeña charca situada entre granitos en las inmediaciones de Pinilla de Fermoselle (Zamora), desde donde el Duero igual que ella va cosiendo la frontera entre Portugal y España.
www.rspb.org.uk/discoverandenjoynature/discoverandlearn/b...
A small, slim finch, widely distributed, and once very popular as a cage bird because of its melodious song. Males are attractively marked with crimson foreheads and breasts, females much browner. It has an undulating flight, usually twittering as it flies and may be seen in large flocks during the winter.
Linnet numbers have dropped substantially over the past few decades, with the UK population estimated to have declined by 57 per cent between 1970 and 2008. Recent Breeding Bird Survey results suggest that while populations in England and Wales continue to decline, those in Scotland and Northern Ireland are currently increasing.
Overview
Latin name
Carduelis cannabina
Family
Finches (Fringillidae)
Where to see them
While widespread across the UK, there are concentrations along the east coast from Kent to Aberdeenshire but they are scarce in upland regions and north west Scotland. Look for it on commons, heathland, rough ground, farmland hedges, saltmarshes and in parks and gardens.
When to see them
All year round.
What they eat
Seeds and insects.
Population
UK Breeding:-
430,000 territories
www.rspb.org.uk/reserves/guide/m/minsmere/about.aspx
Minsmere offers families and keen birdwatchers a great day out. Nature trails take you through a variety of habitats to excellent birdwatching hides. In spring, you can watch avocets and marsh harriers, or hear booming bitterns. On the beach, a special area is cordoned off to protect nesting little terns. In autumn and winter, many wading birds and swans, ducks and geese visit the reserve. There is a visitor centre where you can find out more about the wildlife, browse in the shop or enjoy a meal in the tearoom. There are events all year and family explorer backpacks and trail booklets are available.
Opening times
The reserve is open daily during daylight hours. Visitor centre open daily: 9 am - 5 pm (closes 4 pm from 1 November - 31 January). Shop open: 10 am - 5 pm (closes 4 pm from 1 November to 31 January). Tearoom open: 10 am - 4.30 pm (closes 4 pm from 1 November to 31 January); last orders 15 minutes before closing. Hot food served 11.30 am - 2.30 pm. Reserve and visitor centre closed 25 and 26 December.
Entrance charges
RSPB members free. Non members: adults £5, children £1.50, concessions £3, family £10.
If you are new to birdwatching...
There is an extensive programme of guided walks, many of them aimed at beginners. Our guides may be on hand at other times to help visitors in the hides. The birdwatching hides provide excellent opportunities to see birds at close range throughout the year.
Information for families
There are Wildlife Explorer back packs that can be borrowed, free of charge (deposit required). These include an activity booklet, binoculars, bug box, identification charts and books, colouring pencils and much more. There are also free seasonal Discovery Trail guides for families. During the school holidays there are several family activites on the events programme.
Information for dog owners
We are sorry, but no dogs are allowed on the nature trails or in hides, except assistance dogs. There are a limited number of shaded car parking places available for dog owners on a first come, first served basis - please ask at reception on arrival. Dogs are allowed around the visitor centre and car park only. Dogs cannot be taken on guided walks. Dogs are, however, welcome on public rights of way that cross the reserve, including a five mile circuit around the reserve perimeter, but these are not accessible from the main car park. Dogs are also welcome on Open Access land on Westleton Heath, if kept on a lead. A leaflet of walks at Westleton Heath is available from reception.
Star species
Our star species are some of the most interesting birds you may see on your visit to the reserve.
Avocet
The famous scrape hosts a large colony of avocets and these can be seen at close quarters from the hides overlooking this impressive man-made wetland from early spring to autumn.
Bearded tit
Bearded tits can be seen flitting over the reeds as you walk along the North Wall, the path along the west side of the scrape and from Island Mere and Bittern Hides all year-round.
Bittern
Minsmere holds a sizeable proportion of the UK population of bitterns. Visit in spring to hear them 'booming' or summer to watch the parents making feeding flights. Bittern Hide and Island Mere Hide offer a great chance of a sighting.
Marsh harrier
The extensive reedbeds play host to several breeding marsh harriers. The elevated Island Mere and Bittern Hides will reward you with excellent views. They can now be seen here throughout the year.
Nightingale
Nightingales can be heard singing in the deciduous woodland in spring. Their performance is best early in the morning or in the evenings - but they do of course sing through the night!
Seasonal highlights
Each season brings a different experience at our nature reserves. In spring, the air is filled with birdsong as they compete to establish territories and attract a mate. In summer, look out for young birds making their first venture into the outside world. Autumn brings large movements of migrating birds - some heading south to a warmer climate, others seeking refuge in the UK from the cold Arctic winter. In winter, look out for large flocks of birds gathering to feed, or flying at dusk to form large roosts to keep warm.
Spring
Avocets return to breed on the Scrape - about 100 pairs nest annually. From mid-April see returning common terns, while wildfowl start to leave in March, and migrant wading birds pass through. Look for marsh harriers displaying over the reedbeds. Minsmere is the best place in Britain to hear booming bitterns. Listen for nightingales singing in the scrub from mid-April, and listen for various other warblers around the reserve. Look for Dartford warblers on the heath, and listen for great spotted woodpeckers drumming. Sand martins return to nest outside the tearoom. Bluebells are in flower in May. Adders emerge from hibernation.
Summer
Look for young avocets, common terns and gulls on the Scrape. The first spotted redshanks, ruffs and other wading birds return from late June. Little terns nest in a specially fenced area on the beach. Young marsh harriers will be flying from late June. Bitterns are easier to see on feeding flights. Look for family parties of bearded tits in the reedbeds. Listen for nightjars and look for glow-worms on the heath at dusk in June and July. Dragonflies and butterflies are easy to see, and the former may attract hunting hobbies. Rare flowers include yellow-horned poppy and sea kale on the beach and marsh mallow around the Scrape. Heather is in full flower on the heath. This is the best time of year to see water voles.
Autumn
Migrant wading birds continue to pass through, including curlew sandpipers, little stints and ruffs. Winter wildfowl return, with teal numbers increasing rapidly. Brent geese move south from late September. The first Bewick's swans arrive in late October. Large starling flocks gather to roost in the reedbeds. Swallows and house martins flock together before departing. Look for bearded tits on calm mornings. The red deer will be rutting on the heath in October. Redwings and fieldfares return and will be feeding on hawthorn berries. Look out for rarities.
Winter
Several hundred wigeons, teals and lapwings will be joined by other wildfowl and wading birds on the Scrape. Look for Bewick's swans and goldeneyes on Island Mere, and white-fronted geese on the Levels. Look for hunting hen and marsh harriers, barn and short-eared owls and peregrines. There's a chance seeing of otters on Island Mere. Look for tit and finch flocks in the woods. Great spotted woodpeckers start drumming on mild days. Red-throated divers and great crested grebes gather offshore. The former can sometimes be well out to sea.
Facilities
Facilities
•Visitor centre
•Information centre
•Car park : Large car park on site. No overnight parking. Parking for two coaches by advance booking only. Bicycle racks outside visitor centre.
•Toilets
•Disabled toilets
•Baby-changing facilities
•Picnic area
•Binocular hire
•Group bookings accepted
•Guided walks available
•Good for walking
•Pushchair friendly
Viewing points
Seven birdwatching hides and a public viewing platform. Four hides and the viewing platform overlook the Scrape. Three of these hides are wheelchair accessible. Two hides overlook the reedbed. One of these is on stilts and accessed via steps. The final hide is in the woodland, and accessed via steps.
Nature trails
Two circular trails, each about 1.5 miles (2.4 km) long, from the visitor centre. Allow about two hours for each trail. The circuit of the Scrape takes you through scrub, reedbeds, and along the beach. North, West and South Hides and the North Wall viewing platform are fully accessible to pushchairs and wheelchairs, but East Hide and the public viewing platform are accessed via the beach. The Island Mere circuit takes you through woodland and reedbeds. This route is not wheelchair accessible, although access to Island Mere Hide is possible by parking in a small layby (blue badge holders only) and walking about 300 m to the hide. This path is accessible for wheelchairs with difficulty, except after wet weather.
Tearoom
The tearoom also sells light meals.
Refreshments available
•Hot drinks
•Cold drinks
•Hot meals
•Cold meals
•Snacks
•Confectionery
Shop
Large selection of books, optics, outdoor clothing, bird food and gifts.
The shop stocks:
•Binoculars and telescopes
•Books
•Bird food
•Bird feeders
•Nestboxes
•Outdoor clothing
•Gifts
Educational facilities
Minsmere is an exciting place for young people to learn. We offer a varied programme of educational visits led by experienced field teachers. All activities are linked to the National Curriculum and are fully risk-assessed. Activities for Key Stages 1 and 2 include bird adaptations, food chains, birdwatching, minibeast safari, pond dipping and seaside habitat. Programmes can be tailored to suit particular requirements. Educational visits cost £3 per pupil for a half-day visit (10 am-12.30 pm) or £4 per pupil for a full day (10 am-2.30 pm), and accompanying adults are free. Special programmes can be arranged for secondary schools, including behind the scenes tours with an RSPB warden to look at how the reserve is managed. For further details and booking arrangements, please contact the visitor centre.
Accessibility
Car parking
The car park is accessed via an entrance from Westleton (brown tourist signs from A12). The entrance road is 2 km (1.5 miles) and has several 'sleeping policemen'. The car park is surfaced with rolled limestone and is rough in places. There are six allocated parking spaces on the right. An 80 m sloping path on rolled gravel leads from the allocated parking bays to the visitor centre. Wheelchair users can be dropped off and collected from outside the visitor centre, although caution is needed as delivery vehicles and pedestrians use this area.
Access to visitor centre
An 80 m sloping path on rolled gravel leads from the allocated parking bays to the visitor centre. Alternatively, there are steps from the nearest parking bays, which are 30 m from the visitor centre.
The visitor centre is accessed via double doors into a reception area, which has information and displays about the reserve and is staffed by friendly RSPB volunteers. Chairs are available in the reception area.
Access to the shop is via double doors from reception. Space is limited in places within the shop, light levels are poor in some areas, and some goods are on high shelves. Please ask the staff for assistance if required.
The tearoom is accessed via double doors from the shop. Space is limited within the tearoom, making it difficult to manoeuvre a wheelchair. Staff are available to help if required. Additional seating is available outside, including two tables that are fully accessible to wheelchair users. There is a bird feeding station outside the tearoom.
Access from the tearoom to the nature trails is via a short series of steps, or back through the shop and down a gentle ramp.
Toilets
There are unisex adapted toilets and baby changing facilities within the main toilet block and in the shop. The main toilet block is open at all times.
Access to the hides and nature trails
Some nature trails and hides are accessible for wheelchairs and pushchairs, and work is continuing to upgrade many of the surfaces. Recent flooding has caused deterioration in the surface of some paths, making wheelchair access more difficult. We are working to improve these routes. There are regular benches on many parts of the trails.
The path from the visitor centre to North Hide is 320 m with a mixture of surfaces including tarmac, boardwalk, rolled gravel and 'natural' surface. This route is level apart from one gentle ramp.There are two benches. North Hide is wheelchair accessible.
North Hide to the beach viewpoint is 660 m of rolled gravel and is fully wheelchair accessible. There are two benches, plus two at the viewpoint.The path from this viewpoint to the sluice, via East Hide and the Public Viewpoint is 965 m along sand and shingle through the dunes so is inaccessible to wheelchair users. There are steps into both East Hide and the Public Viewpoint.
The path from the Visitor Centre to West Hide is 405 m of tarmac and rolled gravel on a level surface. This route is fully wheelchair accessible, although can be muddy after heavy rain. There is one bench on route. South Hide is a further 415 m along this path, with one bench on this section. West and South Hides are both wheelchair accessible via a dog-leg concrete ramp. The path continues to the Sluice (490 m), where there is a bench. This section is a gravel surface, which is accessible with difficulty.
The Visitor Centre to Bittern Hide is 485 m, with a mixture of rolled gravel and a natural surface. There are two benches. There is a slope down to Bittern Hide, which is accessible only via steps.
The path from Bittern Hide to Island Mere is 675 m on a natural surface, including a steep incline, making access for wheelchair users inadvisable. There are two benches.
Island Mere is accessible for wheelchair users from a lay-by opposite Scotts Hall Holiday Cottage. This path is 325 m on rolled gravel, with a gentle incline on boardwalk to the hide. The hide has wheelchair accessible viewing slots, but restricted visibility at times.
Scotts Hall Cottage to the Visitor Centre is 975 m on tarmac, along the reserve entrance road. This includes a steep slope. Canopy Hide, which is 600 m from the Visitor Centre, is accessible only via wooden steps.
Wheelchair loan
A Batricar is available to borrow, free of charge. This is popular, so advance booking is highly recommended, by telephoning 01728 648281. A Remploy wheelchair is also available for loan. These can be used during the visitor centre opening hours. Visitors are welcome to use their own wheelchair and mobility vehicles.
Guided walks for wheelchair users
We regret that many guided walks are unsuitable for wheelchair users as they take in sections of the beach or hides that are accessible only via steps. However, we will try to cater for requests for guided walks, if booked in advance, through our Hire-a-guide programme. Please phone 01728 648281 for details.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matiari_District
Matiari District (Urdu: ضلع مٹیاری) is located in Sindh, Pakistan, the city of Matiari is the capital. The district is administratively subdivided into three talukhas:[1]
Hala
Matiari
Saeedabad
The district was created in 2005 out of Hyderabad District.[2] History DISTRICT BOUNDARIES NORTH = District Nawabshah SOUTH = Hyderabad EAST = Sanghar & Tando Allahyar WEST = Jamshoro with River Indus in between. AREA 1417 Sq: Kilometer (One thousand four hundred seventeen Square kilometers) POPULATION 5,25,082 (Five lacs twenty five thousand eighty two) HANDICRAFTS Kashi “Traditional tiles”, Jundi “A type of furniture”, Ajrak “Traditional Sindhi Chadar” & Sindhi Cap are made in Hala and Matiari and also exported to the major cities and foreign countries. Due to handicrafts Matiari District is known as cultural capital of Sindh. HISTORICAL PLACES 1. Dargah of Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai R.A , Bhitshah. 2. Dargah of Makhdoom Nooh R.A , Hala. 3. A historical city of Khuda Abad. 4. Dargah of Sakhi Hashim Shah, Matiari. 5. Dargah of Syed Muhammad Shah Jeelani, Matiari. 6. Hala Haveli (Birth place of Shah Abdul latif Bhitai R.A). CLIMATE The climate of the District is on the whole moderate. The months of May and June are very hot during the day with a maximum & minimum temperatures of 410C and 260C. this follows by and abrupt falls in temperature during night with pleasant breeze which makes night comfortable. December and January are the coldest months with maximum and minimum temperature of 250C and 110C. Some times cold winds from Balochistan make the winter severe. Humidity varies, highest about the end of August which is much less in May when the air is uncomfortable dry. Fogs are common in the cold season. ETHNICITY & TRIBES The population of District Matiari is a mixture of various heterogeneous groups and cultures. The main races are Memons, Sayeds/ Jamotes, Makhdooms/ Rajput’s/ Khanzada’s/ Qureshi’s/ Jamali’s/ Khosa’s/ Deheri’s/ Shaikh’s/ Kaka’s & Panhwars. Different groups of minorities are also found settled in the district. They are mostly Kolhees, Bheels and Maighwars. HISTORY OF MATIARI Matiari is the one of oldest cities of Sindh, it has its own culture values. Before coming of “SYEDS” at this place, this place was known as the village of the “Chang” tribe. When “Syeds” came here, in the time of “Taimur Lung” (the famous warrior), they developed this place and one of the many Syeds “ Sufies” Syed Meyoon Syed Haji had his residence at the place, from where the people of Sindh journeyed from every where towards “ NASARPUR” village, where he placed some (Muts) (the pots used as container of water just as today we are water coolers). So every one who passed through this pass he may drink water through those “Muts” So that this place named as Mat waree place (means the place where Muts do exist), so after some time this place named as “Matiari”. Many of famous “SAINTS” of Sindh were born at Matiari just like Syed Abdul Kareem Shah of Bulri, Syed Abdul Latif Shah (Shah Latif), where residences are still present at Matiari. The First Shaheed of Khalafat Movement Muhammad Raheem Qazi was also the resident of Matiari. Captain Abid Khanzada Shaheed who embraced shahadat during Operation Rah-e-Rast belong to Khanzada area of Khando city in district Matiari.(source: www.khanzada.org)