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Free Creative Commons Finance Images... I created these images in my studio and have made them all available for personal or commercial use. Hope you like them and find them useful.
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Uses: Anything relating to finance or savings.
#286 / 365 - #2110 / Year 6 - 09.12.2013
"Women have burnt like beacons in all the works of all the poets from the beginning of time."
--Virginia Woolf, "A Room of One's Own".
Bring Your Own Fish
From Wikipedia; To hunt fish, easily their most important live prey, the eagle swoops down over the water and snatches the fish out of the water with its talons. They eat by holding the fish in one claw and tearing the flesh with the other. Eagles have structures on their toes called spicules that allow them to grasp fish. Osprey also have this adaptation. Bald Eagles have powerful talons and have been recorded flying with a 6.8 kg (15 lb) Mule Deer fawn. This feat is the record for the heaviest load carrying ever verified for a flying bird. It has been estimated that the gripping power (pounds by square inch) of the bald eagle is ten times greater than that of a human. Bald eagles can fly with fish at least equal to their own weight, but if the fish is too heavy to lift, the eagle may be dragged into the water. It may swim to safety, but some eagles drown or succumb to hypothermia.
Thanks for all your kind comments and appreciation notes.
( Image owned by the account holder)After the unfortunate departures of relatives during the epidemic, don't we need to see more of those reassuring images of safe and helpful care? I had a vaccination last week owing to my age and circumstances; I wish for that same remarkable tranquillity pictured here. I hope to share more images that will lift our spirits. Thank you.
“I like to make my own gifts. I try and buy things from bric-a-brac shops and then decorate them myself. I was in the Victoria Quarter earlier and there was a guy looking at a £13k piece of jewellery. I mean, that is just obscene amounts to spend when you consider what you could do to help people with that amount of money”
It’s Thursday, so I was in early into town for another class at the Ministry of Food - this week it was soups.
Using four basic ingredients (Carrot, Celery, Onion and Garlic) we were taught how to make a soup base, and how to cut and chop them properly using professional knife techniques. I’m glad to say there were no chopped fingers or cuts. Later in the class, we added peas and fresh mint to make a pea and mint soup which was scrumptious. I donated my portion to Darren, a fellow classmate, who usually drops the food off at a local old peoples home.
Afterwards, I met up with MrJohn and we had a walk round the market as we always do. He, and I, ended up taking a bunch of street portraits as it seemed everyone was out in force today, due to Christmas no doubt.
I spotted a girl who had both a dSLR and an analogue Canon AE-1 on her, (which I’ve been after for some time now), and stopped to have a chat about what she was up to. Charlotte was a student, out also taking street portraits with the AE-1. The pictures she had previously taken had been spoilt due to a faulty loading mechanism so had to make them up for her project.
After a tasty fish & chips lunch (mushy peas mandatory), we walked round aimlessly for a bit more before heading to the Corn Exchange as MrJohn had an appointment to take a portrait of a camera shop owner who only deals with analogue cameras. MrJohn was of course going to use his brilliant Halina twin lens reflex camera. Tom, the shop owner, was not around so we did a bit more wandering and ended up in the marque in the centre of town where there was a show going on. It was deeply embarrassing and I was even asked to participate at one point but had to refuse politely, I do have some street cred :)
We headed back to the Corn Exchange later, where I spotted Tom loitering outside. Tom was infectiously happy and friendly and had a very moralistic view of Christmas, which I admired.
This picture is #010 in my second round of the 100 strangers project. Find out more about the project and see pictures taken by other photographers at the 100 Strangers Flickr Group page
#selfportrait the quiet awe of centering and alone. shutting off the noise and clatter of life. for a moment. to witness the beauty of daily death. isolation giving rise to creativity. a swell of energy in silence. i look down a road of unknowns, unencumbered, unfixtures. view the what ifs. and own that my truth is ever changing.
In a bid to follow my own style a little more this year, I'm going to post a series of portraits that I've processed onto black. These were mostly shot with this kind of post-processing in mind, and the processing is done entirely within Lightroom.
They're not everyone's cup of tea, but I can't be all things to all men. I like them, and it's a style I want to keep practising.
They're not all perfect either - Some work better than others. But I'm still going to post them all the same, as I'm keen to keep sharing whatever I'm working on.
Any feedback is welcome of course, as I'm always pleased to hear which are most popular with the big wide world out there. And if you can offer advice to improve them, that's equally welcome too.
I've already got a few like this on flickr, so I've made a little set to keep them together.
More to follow in the next few weeks...
Owned by Direct Rail Services, 37259 is seen here leading 1Q14, the 05:12 Westbury to Eastleigh (via Weymouth) test train. Sister locomotive 37218 is at the rear. The location is Fairwood Junction and the train is taking the route towards Westbury station. 24/07/07.
Jesmond Dene, a public park in the east end of Newcastle upon Tyne, England, occupies the narrow steep-sided valley of a small river known as the Ouseburn, flowing south to join the River Tyne: in north-east England, such valleys are commonly known as denes: the name 'Jesmond' meaning 'mouth of the Ouseburn'.
Lord Armstrong and his wife, of the now-demolished Jesmond Dean (sic) house nearby, first laid out the park during the 1860s. The design is intended to reflect a rural setting, with woodland, crags, waterfalls and pools. Lord Armstrong gave the park to the people of Newcastle in 1883 and it opened to the public in the following year. It is now owned by Newcastle City Council. The current Jesmond Dene House adjoining the dene was the mansion of Armstrong's business partner Andrew Noble. It is now a luxury hotel.
The (now closed to road traffic) iron-constructed Armstrong Bridge spans the south end of the Dene and hosts Jesmond Food Market every first and third Saturday of the month. The building of a replacement road and tunnel, the Cradlewell By-pass, was the subject of a road protest camp around 1993, due to the destruction of many 200-year-old trees.
Jesmond Dene contains a free-entry petting zoo known as "Pets' Corner", which has been a popular family attraction since the 1960s.
Jesmond Dene is home to Newcastle's oldest religious building, St Mary's Chapel. The chapel, now in ruins, was once a site of much significance, attracting a great number of pilgrims.
The park is supported by a group called 'Friends of Jesmond Dene' which provides funds for small projects to improve the park. There is also a group of Volunteer Rangers which carries out physical work tidying the paths, picking up litter, cutting back shrubs and other maintenance tasks.
The dawn chorus of Jesmond Dene has been professionally recorded and has been used in various workplace and hospital rehabilitation facilities.
In 2011, the field area and pets corner were redeveloped. The redevelopment included a new road and a bridge over the Ouseburn river.
In 2012, during excessively wet weather, a landslide occurred on the east side of the Dene, near the Old Mill. The landslide covered several footpaths running along the hillside. The paths are currently still closed as the cost of re-opening them would be excessive.
In July 2014, the Old Mill in the Dene was vandalised with graffiti tags, which have since been removed.
On 1 April 2019, control and upkeep of Jesmond Dene, along with other Newcastle parks, was passed from Newcastle City Council to a newly created charitable trust, Urban Green Newcastle.
The Ouseburn Valley is the name of the valley of the Ouseburn, a small tributary of the River Tyne, running southwards through the east of Newcastle upon Tyne, England. The name refers particularly to the urbanised lower valley, spanned by three impressive bridges, which is nowadays a cultural and social oasis close to the centre of Newcastle.
Industrial history
The lower Ouseburn was the cradle of the industrial revolution in Newcastle.[1] There was a cluster of heavy crafts and industries in the area. Coal was brought from the Town Moor along the Victoria Tunnel, where the tidal nature of the Ouseburn allowed wherries – the local barges – to be loaded at low tide and pulled out to the collier brigs and snows waiting in the Tyne.
Cultural development
The lower Ouseburn Valley had fallen into disuse and dereliction by the mid-twentieth century,[2] but its industrial heritage had left many large buildings which, since the 1970s, have increasingly been utilised as creative workspaces by artists, musicians and performers. From 1996, a development trust (the Ouseburn Trust), in partnership with the local authority, has led the area's regeneration as a cultural hotspot. This has been so successful that Ouseburn is now marketed as a trendy place to live.
The area is now a hub for the arts and creative industries, and is home to the Biscuit Factory (open gallery), the Mushroom Works (open first weekend of the month), Testhouse 5 (appointment only), North Grange Glass (stained glass gallery and cafe), 36 Lime Street and Cobalt Studios. The Valley is also the home of Seven Stories, the national centre for children's books.
The Ouseburn Trust remains a landlord and developer in the Valley, and seeks to involve people in the heritage and regeneration of the area through its programme of free walks, talks and volunteering activities.
Other features
The valley is home to a number of pubs known locally for live music and real ale, these include:
The Cluny - one of the most important venues for up-and-coming bands in the region.
Free Trade Inn - marks the location where river Ouseburn joins the river Tyne and has a menu with locally sourced produce.
The Tyne Bar - has a unique beer garden sheltered by the arch of the road bridge above.
The Cumberland Arms - live music, stand up comedy nights and bed & breakfast.
The Tanners Arms - marks the entrance to the Ouseburn (if you are coming from the city centre).
Cobalt Studios - popular live music venue.
Ship Inn - relaxed alehouse with a patio.
There is a large variety of food available to suit most tastes:
Northern Rye - one of the most outstanding bakeries in Newcastle.
Dreamworld Cakes - serves brunch, afternoon tea and artisan coffee.
The Kiln - a cafe offering hand-on pottery experience.
Cook House - a restaurant that has been on the Good Food Guide every year since 2016.
Di Meo’s - award-winning small-batch ice cream, fresh pizza, and Italian sweet treats.
Bridges
There are three high-level bridges that cross the valley in close proximity to each other. These are the Ouseburn railway Viaduct, the Byker Viaduct carrying the Tyne and Wear Metro, and the Byker road bridge.
Hadrian's Wall crossed the Ouseburn just to the south of the Byker road bridge, and is thought to have run through the site of the City Farm. No trace of the wall can now be seen above ground, though an illustrated information board can be seen at the eastern end of a new block of flats on the east side of the river, which were built on the line of the wall.
Jesmond is a suburb of Newcastle upon Tyne, situated north of the city centre and to the east of the Town Moor. Jesmond is considered to be one of the most affluent suburbs of Newcastle upon Tyne, with higher average house prices than most other areas of the city.
According to local tradition, some time shortly after the Norman conquest there occurred in the valley of the Ouse an apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The ruins of St Mary's Chapel, first recorded in 1272, are in Jesmond Dene[1] on the west side of the valley.
A trace of the processions to the shrine which occurred during the Middle Ages is found in the name of that section of the former Great North Road running north of the Tyne called Pilgrim Street. During a period in which the shrine was in need of repair it was endowed with indulgences by a rescript or edict of Pope Martin V on certain feasts of the liturgical year. A spring known as St Mary's Well of uncertain date may also be found near to the chapel. It has the word "Gratia" inscribed upon the stone above it. The greater part of the history of the shrine, its origins and the miracles which were said to have occurred there, were lost in the 16th century when the chapel was suppressed in the Reformation and fell into ruin. The ruin and its grounds later passed through various owners (one of whom tried to turn the well into a bathing pool). It was acquired by Lord Armstrong in the 19th century and given by him to the City of Newcastle. Mass is now offered there on occasion by the local Roman Catholic priest and the Roman Catholic Bishop of Hexham and Newcastle. Flowers along with letters and candles are often left in the ruins by pilgrims and others. A booklet outlining the surviving history of the chapel may be obtained from the Roman Catholic Church of the Holy Name on North Jesmond Avenue.
The Beatles began writing their second hit single "She Loves You" in the Imperial Hotel in Jesmond, Newcastle upon Tyne on 27 June 1963.
The area is notable for Jesmond Parish Church, Holy Trinity Church, Jesmond Dene woodland and the Royal Grammar School. The area's principal commercial area forms around Osborne Road, Acorn Road and St George's Terrace, the former being dominated by hotels and bars, and the latter by shops and cafes.
Newcastle City Council has designated three conservation areas within Jesmond; Brandling Village, South Jesmond and Jesmond Dene.
The Mansion House was owned by a wealthy industrialist Arthur Sutherland, 1st Baronet, and is one of the most impressive residential properties in Jesmond. Built in 1887, the property was donated to the city by Sutherland in 1953 and is now the official residence of the Lord Mayor and can be used for private events. The house, situated in the centre of Jesmond previously sat in 5 acres (20,000 m2) of land. One acre of the land including previous stables were sold as a private property, now owned by relatives of Arthur Sutherland.
Along with Leeds and Belfast, Newcastle has experienced studentification. Jesmond is a popular residential area for students attending Newcastle University and Northumbria University. Osborne Road in Jesmond has a strong student population with a selection of student bars, restaurants and housing.
Newcastle Cricket Club plays its home games at Osborne Avenue, which is also a home venue for Northumberland County Cricket Club. The cricket club is currently on a 50-year lease to Newcastle Royal Grammar School. The Jesmond Lawn Tennis club is also popular for socialising.
Jesmond is one of the 26 areas in England to have a real tennis club which is used to hold events.
Notable Jesmond residents have included the industrialist William Armstrong, the golfer Lee Westwood, philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein, actor James Scott, English Rugby Union player Mathew Tait, footballers Shola Ameobi, Kevin Nolan and Jonás Gutiérrez, journalist and broadcaster Nancy Spain, concert pianist Denis Matthews, writer Catherine Cookson, writer and poet Michael Roberts, singers Bryan Ferry and Sting, countertenor James Bowman, TV/Radio broadcaster Bill Steel, songwriter and record producer Steve Hillier, novelists Eva Ibbotson,[15] Yevgeny Zamyatin, and Denis MacEoin (aka Daniel Easterman and Jonathan Aycliffe).
Arthur Sutherland 1st Baronet; former owner of the Mansion House. The only Briton to die[citation needed] in the Killing Fields of Cambodia, John Dewhirst, was born in Jesmond.
West Jesmond Primary School
West Jesmond is a 4-11 primary school. The original building was demolished in 2008 and a new school rebuilt on the same site. The new school building opened on 2 March 2009.
Royal Grammar School, Newcastle
Central Newcastle High School (girls only) – merged into new school
Church High School (girls only) – merged into new school
Central Newcastle High School and Church High School merged in September 2014 to create Newcastle High School for Girls
Northern Counties School
Newcastle Preparatory School
Notable buildings
Jesmond Parish Church, Newcastle upon Tyne
Jesmond Synagogue
Jesmond Parish Church
Jesmond Library
Television
For its first series, the MTV UK reality series Geordie Shore was filmed in Jesmond.
The La Sagesse School in Jesmond (now closed and converted into housing) was used as a set for The Dumping Ground (2013–), a spin-off of the popular children's television series Tracy Beaker Returns (2010–2012), starring Dani Harmer.
Jesmond is served by three Tyne and Wear Metro stations at Jesmond, West Jesmond and Ilford Road. Jesmond station is the point at which Metro trains travelling north emerge from the underground section. Trains travel southbound to Sunderland or South Shields via city centre and Gateshead and northbound to the airport via Kingston Park, or to Whitley Bay. Jesmond also has an extra section of non-passenger track called the Manors Stock Curve, used for re-routing trains. The old Jesmond station, which formed part of the suburban rail network prior to the Tyne and Wear Metro network, is situated on the Manors Stock Curve and can be observed from Osborne Terrace with intact platforms. The former station building is now a public house.
There has been an active Baháʼí Faith community in Jesmond for over 25 years, the town is home to the only Bahá’í Centre in North East England, located on Victoria Square near the civic centre.
One of the largest evangelical Anglican churches in the UK is Jesmond Parish Church, which is affiliated with the Christian Institute (based in nearby Gosforth).
Due to a rising population of students and young professionals, Osborne Road has in recent years become a popular venue for nightlife, eating and socialising. With a large number of bars and restaurants in one location it can become congested on busy nights. The road also has a number of medium-sized hotels.
Newcastle upon Tyne, or simply Newcastle is a cathedral city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is located on the River Tyne's northern bank, opposite Gateshead to the south. It is the most populous settlement in the Tyneside conurbation and North East England.
Newcastle developed around a Roman settlement called Pons Aelius, the settlement became known as Monkchester before taking on the name of a castle built in 1080 by William the Conqueror's eldest son, Robert Curthose. It was one of the world's largest ship building and repair centres during the industrial revolution. Newcastle was part of the county of Northumberland until 1400, when it separated and formed a county of itself. In 1974, Newcastle became part of Tyne and Wear. Since 2018, the city council has been part of the North of Tyne Combined Authority.
The history of Newcastle upon Tyne dates back almost 2,000 years, during which it has been controlled by the Romans, the Angles and the Norsemen amongst others. Newcastle upon Tyne was originally known by its Roman name Pons Aelius. The name "Newcastle" has been used since the Norman conquest of England. Due to its prime location on the River Tyne, the town developed greatly during the Middle Ages and it was to play a major role in the Industrial Revolution, being granted city status in 1882. Today, the city is a major retail, commercial and cultural centre.
Roman settlement
The history of Newcastle dates from AD 122, when the Romans built the first bridge to cross the River Tyne at that point. The bridge was called Pons Aelius or 'Bridge of Aelius', Aelius being the family name of Roman Emperor Hadrian, who was responsible for the Roman wall built across northern England along the Tyne–Solway gap. Hadrian's Wall ran through present-day Newcastle, with stretches of wall and turrets visible along the West Road, and at a temple in Benwell. Traces of a milecastle were found on Westgate Road, midway between Clayton Street and Grainger Street, and it is likely that the course of the wall corresponded to present-day Westgate Road. The course of the wall can be traced eastwards to the Segedunum Roman fort at Wallsend, with the fort of Arbeia down-river at the mouth of the Tyne, on the south bank in what is now South Shields. The Tyne was then a wider, shallower river at this point and it is thought that the bridge was probably about 700 feet (210 m) long, made of wood and supported on stone piers. It is probable that it was sited near the current Swing Bridge, due to the fact that Roman artefacts were found there during the building of the latter bridge. Hadrian himself probably visited the site in 122. A shrine was set up on the completed bridge in 123 by the 6th Legion, with two altars to Neptune and Oceanus respectively. The two altars were subsequently found in the river and are on display in the Great North Museum in Newcastle.
The Romans built a stone-walled fort in 150 to protect the river crossing which was at the foot of the Tyne Gorge, and this took the name of the bridge so that the whole settlement was known as Pons Aelius. The fort was situated on a rocky outcrop overlooking the new bridge, on the site of the present Castle Keep. Pons Aelius is last mentioned in 400, in a Roman document listing all of the Roman military outposts. It is likely that nestling in the shadow of the fort would have been a small vicus, or village. Unfortunately, no buildings have been detected; only a few pieces of flagging. It is clear that there was a Roman cemetery near Clavering Place, behind the Central station, as a number of Roman coffins and sarcophagi have been unearthed there.
Despite the presence of the bridge, the settlement of Pons Aelius was not particularly important among the northern Roman settlements. The most important stations were those on the highway of Dere Street running from Eboracum (York) through Corstopitum (Corbridge) and to the lands north of the Wall. Corstopitum, being a major arsenal and supply centre, was much larger and more populous than Pons Aelius.
Anglo-Saxon development
The Angles arrived in the North-East of England in about 500 and may have landed on the Tyne. There is no evidence of an Anglo-Saxon settlement on or near the site of Pons Aelius during the Anglo-Saxon age. The bridge probably survived and there may well have been a small village at the northern end, but no evidence survives. At that time the region was dominated by two kingdoms, Bernicia, north of the Tees and ruled from Bamburgh, and Deira, south of the Tees and ruled from York. Bernicia and Deira combined to form the kingdom of Northanhymbra (Northumbria) early in the 7th century. There were three local kings who held the title of Bretwalda – 'Lord of Britain', Edwin of Deira (627–632), Oswald of Bernicia (633–641) and Oswy of Northumbria (641–658). The 7th century became known as the 'Golden Age of Northumbria', when the area was a beacon of culture and learning in Europe. The greatness of this period was based on its generally Christian culture and resulted in the Lindisfarne Gospels amongst other treasures. The Tyne valley was dotted with monasteries, with those at Monkwearmouth, Hexham and Jarrow being the most famous. Bede, who was based at Jarrow, wrote of a royal estate, known as Ad Murum, 'at the Wall', 12 miles (19 km) from the sea. It is thought that this estate may have been in what is now Newcastle. At some unknown time, the site of Newcastle came to be known as Monkchester. The reason for this title is unknown, as we are unaware of any specific monasteries at the site, and Bede made no reference to it. In 875 Halfdan Ragnarsson, the Danish Viking conqueror of York, led an army that attacked and pillaged various monasteries in the area, and it is thought that Monkchester was also pillaged at this time. Little more was heard of it until the coming of the Normans.
Norman period
After the arrival of William the Conqueror in England in 1066, the whole of England was quickly subjected to Norman rule. However, in Northumbria there was great resistance to the Normans, and in 1069 the newly appointed Norman Earl of Northumbria, Robert de Comines and 700 of his men were killed by the local population at Durham. The Northumbrians then marched on York, but William was able to suppress the uprising. That same year, a second uprising occurred when a Danish fleet landed in the Humber. The Northumbrians again attacked York and destroyed the garrison there. William was again able to suppress the uprising, but this time he took revenge. He laid waste to the whole of the Midlands and the land from York to the Tees. In 1080, William Walcher, the Norman bishop of Durham and his followers were brutally murdered at Gateshead. This time Odo, bishop of Bayeux, William's half brother, devastated the land between the Tees and the Tweed. This was known as the 'Harrying of the North'. This devastation is reflected in the Domesday Book. The destruction had such an effect that the North remained poor and backward at least until Tudor times and perhaps until the Industrial Revolution. Newcastle suffered in this respect with the rest of the North.
In 1080 William sent his eldest son, Robert Curthose, north to defend the kingdom against the Scots. After his campaign, he moved to Monkchester and began the building of a 'New Castle'. This was of the "motte-and-bailey" type of construction, a wooden tower on top of an earthen mound (motte), surrounded by a moat and wooden stockade (bailey). It was this castle that gave Newcastle its name. In 1095 the Earl of Northumbria, Robert de Mowbray, rose up against the king, William Rufus, and Rufus sent an army north to recapture the castle. From then on the castle became crown property and was an important base from which the king could control the northern barons. The Northumbrian earldom was abolished and a Sheriff of Northumberland was appointed to administer the region. In 1091 the parish church of St Nicholas was consecrated on the site of the present Anglican cathedral, close by the bailey of the new castle. The church is believed to have been a wooden building on stone footings.
Not a trace of the tower or mound of the motte and bailey castle remains now. Henry II replaced it with a rectangular stone keep, which was built between 1172 and 1177 at a cost of £1,444. A stone bailey, in the form of a triangle, replaced the previous wooden one. The great outer gateway to the castle, called 'the Black Gate', was built later, between 1247 and 1250, in the reign of Henry III. There were at that time no town walls and when attacked by the Scots, the townspeople had to crowd into the bailey for safety. It is probable that the new castle acted as a magnet for local merchants because of the safety it provided. This in turn would help to expand trade in the town. At this time wool, skins and lead were being exported, whilst alum, pepper and ginger were being imported from France and Flanders.
Middle Ages
Throughout the Middle Ages, Newcastle was England's northern fortress, the centre for assembled armies. The Border war against Scotland lasted intermittently for several centuries – possibly the longest border war ever waged. During the civil war between Stephen and Matilda, David 1st of Scotland and his son were granted Cumbria and Northumberland respectively, so that for a period from 1139 to 1157, Newcastle was effectively in Scottish hands. It is believed that during this period, King David may have built the church of St Andrew and the Benedictine nunnery in Newcastle. However, King Stephen's successor, Henry II was strong enough to take back the Earldom of Northumbria from Malcolm IV.
The Scots king William the Lion was imprisoned in Newcastle, in 1174, after being captured at the Battle of Alnwick. Edward I brought the Stone of Scone and William Wallace south through the town and Newcastle was successfully defended against the Scots three times during the 14th century.
Around 1200, stone-faced, clay-filled jetties were starting to project into the river, an indication that trade was increasing in Newcastle. As the Roman roads continued to deteriorate, sea travel was gaining in importance. By 1275 Newcastle was the sixth largest wool exporting port in England. The principal exports at this time were wool, timber, coal, millstones, dairy produce, fish, salt and hides. Much of the developing trade was with the Baltic countries and Germany. Most of the Newcastle merchants were situated near the river, below the Castle. The earliest known charter was dated 1175 in the reign of Henry II, giving the townspeople some control over their town. In 1216 King John granted Newcastle a mayor[8] and also allowed the formation of guilds (known as Mysteries). These were cartels formed within different trades, which restricted trade to guild members. There were initially twelve guilds. Coal was being exported from Newcastle by 1250, and by 1350 the burgesses received a royal licence to export coal. This licence to export coal was jealously guarded by the Newcastle burgesses, and they tried to prevent any one else on the Tyne from exporting coal except through Newcastle. The burgesses similarly tried to prevent fish from being sold anywhere else on the Tyne except Newcastle. This led to conflicts with Gateshead and South Shields.
In 1265, the town was granted permission to impose a 'Wall Tax' or Murage, to pay for the construction of a fortified wall to enclose the town and protect it from Scottish invaders. The town walls were not completed until early in the 14th century. They were two miles (3 km) long, 9 feet (2.7 m) thick and 25 feet (7.6 m) high. They had six main gates, as well as some smaller gates, and had 17 towers. The land within the walls was divided almost equally by the Lort Burn, which flowed southwards and joined the Tyne to the east of the Castle. The town began to expand north of the Castle and west of the Lort Burn with various markets being set up within the walls.
In 1400 Henry IV granted a new charter, creating a County corporate which separated the town, but not the Castle, from the county of Northumberland and recognised it as a "county of itself" with a right to have a sheriff of its own. The burgesses were now allowed to choose six aldermen who, with the mayor would be justices of the peace. The mayor and sheriff were allowed to hold borough courts in the Guildhall.
Religious houses
During the Middle Ages a number of religious houses were established within the walls: the first of these was the Benedictine nunnery of St Bartholomew founded in 1086 near the present-day Nun Street. Both David I of Scotland and Henry I of England were benefactors of the religious house. Nothing of the nunnery remains now.
The friary of Blackfriars, Newcastle (Dominican) was established in 1239. These were also known as the Preaching Friars or Shod Friars, because they wore sandals, as opposed to other orders. The friary was situated in the present-day Friars Street. In 1280 the order was granted royal permission to make a postern in the town walls to communicate with their gardens outside the walls. On 19 June 1334, Edward Balliol, claimant to be King of Scotland, did homage to King Edward III, on behalf of the kingdom of Scotland, in the church of the friary. Much of the original buildings of the friary still exist, mainly because, after the Dissolution of the Monasteries the friary of Blackfriars was rented out by the corporation to nine of the local trade guilds.
The friary of Whitefriars (Carmelite) was established in 1262. The order was originally housed on the Wall Knoll in Pandon, but in 1307 it took over the buildings of another order, which went out of existence, the Friars of the Sac. The land, which had originally been given by Robert the Bruce, was situated in the present-day Hanover Square, behind the Central station. Nothing of the friary remains now.
The friary of Austinfriars (Augustinian) was established in 1290. The friary was on the site where the Holy Jesus Hospital was built in 1682. The friary was traditionally the lodging place of English kings whenever they visited or passed through Newcastle. In 1503 Princess Margaret, eldest daughter of Henry VII of England, stayed two days at the friary on her way to join her new husband James IV of Scotland.
The friary of Greyfriars (Franciscans) was established in 1274. The friary was in the present-day area between Pilgrim Street, Grey Street, Market Street and High Chare. Nothing of the original buildings remains.
The friary of the Order of the Holy Trinity, also known as the Trinitarians, was established in 1360. The order devoted a third of its income to buying back captives of the Saracens, during the Crusades. Their house was on the Wall Knoll, in Pandon, to the east of the city, but within the walls. Wall Knoll had previously been occupied by the White Friars until they moved to new premises in 1307.
All of the above religious houses were closed in about 1540, when Henry VIII dissolved the monasteries.
An important street running through Newcastle at the time was Pilgrim Street, running northwards inside the walls and leading to the Pilgrim Gate on the north wall. The street still exists today as arguably Newcastle's main shopping street.
Tudor period
The Scottish border wars continued for much of the 16th century, so that during that time, Newcastle was often threatened with invasion by the Scots, but also remained important as a border stronghold against them.
During the Reformation begun by Henry VIII in 1536, the five Newcastle friaries and the single nunnery were dissolved and the land was sold to the Corporation and to rich merchants. At this time there were fewer than 60 inmates of the religious houses in Newcastle. The convent of Blackfriars was leased to nine craft guilds to be used as their headquarters. This probably explains why it is the only one of the religious houses whose building survives to the present day. The priories at Tynemouth and Durham were also dissolved, thus ending the long-running rivalry between Newcastle and the church for control of trade on the Tyne. A little later, the property of the nunnery of St Bartholomew and of Grey Friars were bought by Robert Anderson, who had the buildings demolished to build his grand Newe House (also known as Anderson Place).
With the gradual decline of the Scottish border wars the town walls were allowed to decline as well as the castle. By 1547, about 10,000 people were living in Newcastle. At the beginning of the 16th century exports of wool from Newcastle were more than twice the value of exports of coal, but during the century coal exports continued to increase.
Under Edward VI, John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland, sponsored an act allowing Newcastle to annexe Gateshead as its suburb. The main reason for this was to allow the Newcastle Hostmen, who controlled the export of Tyne coal, to get their hands on the Gateshead coal mines, previously controlled by the Bishop of Durham. However, when Mary I came to power, Dudley met his downfall and the decision was reversed. The Reformation allowed private access to coal mines previously owned by Tynemouth and Durham priories and as a result coal exports increase dramatically, from 15,000 tons in 1500 to 35,000 tons in 1565, and to 400,000 tons in 1625.
The plague visited Newcastle four times during the 16th century, in 1579 when 2,000 people died, in 1589 when 1700 died, in 1595 and finally in 1597.
In 1600 Elizabeth I granted Newcastle a charter for an exclusive body of electors, the right to elect the mayor and burgesses. The charter also gave the Hostmen exclusive rights to load coal at any point on the Tyne. The Hostmen developed as an exclusive group within the Merchant Adventurers who had been incorporated by a charter in 1547.
Stuart period
In 1636 there was a serious outbreak of bubonic plague in Newcastle. There had been several previous outbreaks of the disease over the years, but this was the most serious. It is thought to have arrived from the Netherlands via ships that were trading between the Tyne and that country. It first appeared in the lower part of the town near the docks but gradually spread to all parts of the town. As the disease gained hold the authorities took measures to control it by boarding up any properties that contained infected persons, meaning that whole families were locked up together with the infected family members. Other infected persons were put in huts outside the town walls and left to die. Plague pits were dug next to the town's four churches and outside the town walls to receive the bodies in mass burials. Over the course of the outbreak 5,631 deaths were recorded out of an estimated population of 12,000, a death rate of 47%.
In 1637 Charles I tried to raise money by doubling the 'voluntary' tax on coal in return for allowing the Newcastle Hostmen to regulate production and fix prices. This caused outrage amongst the London importers and the East Anglian shippers. Both groups decided to boycott Tyne coal and as a result forced Charles to reverse his decision in 1638.
In 1640 during the Second Bishops' War, the Scots successfully invaded Newcastle. The occupying army demanded £850 per day from the Corporation to billet the Scottish troops. Trade from the Tyne ground to a halt during the occupation. The Scots left in 1641 after receiving a Parliamentary pardon and a £4,000,000 loan from the town.
In 1642 the English Civil War began. King Charles realised the value of the Tyne coal trade and therefore garrisoned Newcastle. A Royalist was appointed as governor. At that time, Newcastle and King's Lynn were the only important seaports to support the crown. In 1644 Parliament blockaded the Tyne to prevent the king from receiving revenue from the Tyne coal trade. Coal exports fell from 450,000 to 3,000 tons and London suffered a hard winter without fuel. Parliament encouraged the coal trade from the Wear to try to replace that lost from Newcastle but that was not enough to make up for the lost Tyneside tonnage.
In 1644 the Scots crossed the border. Newcastle strengthened its defences in preparation. The Scottish army, with 40,000 troops, besieged Newcastle for three months until the garrison of 1,500 surrendered. During the siege, the Scots bombarded the walls with their artillery, situated in Gateshead and Castle Leazes. The Scottish commander threatened to destroy the steeple of St Nicholas's Church by gunfire if the mayor, Sir John Marley, did not surrender the town. The mayor responded by placing Scottish prisoners that they had captured in the steeple, so saving it from destruction. The town walls were finally breached by a combination of artillery and sapping. In gratitude for this defence, Charles gave Newcastle the motto 'Fortiter Defendit Triumphans' to be added to its coat of arms. The Scottish army occupied Northumberland and Durham for two years. The coal taxes had to pay for the Scottish occupation. In 1645 Charles surrendered to the Scots and was imprisoned in Newcastle for nine months. After the Civil War the coal trade on the Tyne soon picked up and exceeded its pre-war levels.
A new Guildhall was completed on the Sandhill next to the river in 1655, replacing an earlier facility damaged by fire in 1639, and became the meeting place of Newcastle Town Council. In 1681 the Hospital of the Holy Jesus was built partly on the site of the Austin Friars. The Guildhall and Holy Jesus Hospital still exist.
Charles II tried to impose a charter on Newcastle to give the king the right to appoint the mayor, sheriff, recorder and town clerk. Charles died before the charter came into effect. In 1685, James II tried to replace Corporation members with named Catholics. However, James' mandate was suspended in 1689 after the Glorious Revolution welcoming William of Orange. In 1689, after the fall of James II, the people of Newcastle tore down his bronze equestrian statue in Sandhill and tossed it into the Tyne. The bronze was later used to make bells for All Saints Church.
In 1689 the Lort Burn was covered over. At this time it was an open sewer. The channel followed by the Lort Burn became the present day Dean Street. At that time, the centre of Newcastle was still the Sandhill area, with many merchants living along the Close or on the Side. The path of the main road through Newcastle ran from the single Tyne bridge, through Sandhill to the Side, a narrow street which climbed steeply on the north-east side of the castle hill until it reached the higher ground alongside St Nicholas' Church. As Newcastle developed, the Side became lined with buildings with projecting upper stories, so that the main street through Newcastle was a narrow, congested, steep thoroughfare.
In 1701 the Keelmen's Hospital was built in the Sandgate area of the city, using funds provided by the keelmen. The building still stands today.
Eighteenth century
In the 18th century, Newcastle was the country's largest print centre after London, Oxford and Cambridge, and the Literary and Philosophical Society of 1793, with its erudite debates and large stock of books in several languages predated the London Library by half a century.
In 1715, during the Jacobite rising in favour of the Old Pretender, an army of Jacobite supporters marched on Newcastle. Many of the Northumbrian gentry joined the rebels. The citizens prepared for its arrival by arresting Jacobite supporters and accepting 700 extra recruits into the local militia. The gates of the city were closed against the rebels. This proved enough to delay an attack until reinforcements arrived forcing the rebel army to move across to the west coast. The rebels finally surrendered at Preston.
In 1745, during a second Jacobite rising in favour of the Young Pretender, a Scottish army crossed the border led by Bonnie Prince Charlie. Once again Newcastle prepared by arresting Jacobite supporters and inducting 800 volunteers into the local militia. The town walls were strengthened, most of the gates were blocked up and some 200 cannon were deployed. 20,000 regulars were billeted on the Town Moor. These preparations were enough to force the rebel army to travel south via the west coast. They were eventually defeated at Culloden in 1746.
Newcastle's actions during the 1715 rising in resisting the rebels and declaring for George I, in contrast to the rest of the region, is the most likely source of the nickname 'Geordie', applied to people from Tyneside, or more accurately Newcastle. Another theory, however, is that the name 'Geordie' came from the inventor of the Geordie lamp, George Stephenson. It was a type of safety lamp used in mining, but was not invented until 1815. Apparently the term 'German Geordie' was in common use during the 18th century.
The city's first hospital, Newcastle Infirmary opened in 1753; it was funded by public subscription. A lying-in hospital was established in Newcastle in 1760. The city's first public hospital for mentally ill patients, Wardens Close Lunatic Hospital was opened in October 1767.
In 1771 a flood swept away much of the bridge at Newcastle. The bridge had been built in 1250 and repaired after a flood in 1339. The bridge supported various houses and three towers and an old chapel. A blue stone was placed in the middle of the bridge to mark the boundary between Newcastle and the Palatinate of Durham. A temporary wooden bridge had to be built, and this remained in use until 1781, when a new stone bridge was completed. The new bridge consisted of nine arches. In 1801, because of the pressure of traffic, the bridge had to be widened.
A permanent military presence was established in the city with the completion of Fenham Barracks in 1806. The facilities at the Castle for holding assizes, which had been condemned for their inconvenience and unhealthiness, were replaced when the Moot Hall opened in August 1812.
Victorian period
Present-day Newcastle owes much of its architecture to the work of the builder Richard Grainger, aided by architects John Dobson, Thomas Oliver, John and Benjamin Green and others. In 1834 Grainger won a competition to produce a new plan for central Newcastle. He put this plan into effect using the above architects as well as architects employed in his own office. Grainger and Oliver had already built Leazes Terrace, Leazes Crescent and Leazes Place between 1829 and 1834. Grainger and Dobson had also built the Royal Arcade at the foot of Pilgrim Street between 1830 and 1832. The most ambitious project covered 12 acres 12 acres (49,000 m2) in central Newcastle, on the site of Newe House (also called Anderson Place). Grainger built three new thoroughfares, Grey Street, Grainger Street and Clayton Street with many connecting streets, as well as the Central Exchange and the Grainger Market. John Wardle and George Walker, working in Grainger's office, designed Clayton Street, Grainger Street and most of Grey Street. Dobson designed the Grainger Market and much of the east side of Grey Street. John and Benjamin Green designed the Theatre Royal at the top of Grey Street, where Grainger placed the column of Grey's Monument as a focus for the whole scheme. Grey Street is considered to be one of the finest streets in the country, with its elegant curve. Unfortunately most of old Eldon Square was demolished in the 1960s in the name of progress. The Royal Arcade met a similar fate.
In 1849 a new bridge was built across the river at Newcastle. This was the High Level Bridge, designed by Robert Stephenson, and slightly up river from the existing bridge. The bridge was designed to carry road and rail traffic across the Tyne Gorge on two decks with rail traffic on the upper deck and road traffic on the lower. The new bridge meant that traffic could pass through Newcastle without having to negotiate the steep, narrow Side, as had been necessary for centuries. The bridge was opened by Queen Victoria, who one year later opened the new Central Station, designed by John Dobson. Trains were now able to cross the river, directly into the centre of Newcastle and carry on up to Scotland. The Army Riding School was also completed in 1849.
In 1854 a large fire started on the Gateshead quayside and an explosion caused it to spread across the river to the Newcastle quayside. A huge conflagration amongst the narrow alleys, or 'chares', destroyed the homes of 800 families as well as many business premises. The narrow alleys that had been destroyed were replaced by streets containing blocks of modern offices.
In 1863 the Town Hall in St Nicholas Square replaced the Guildhall as the meeting place of Newcastle Town Council.
In 1876 the low level bridge was replaced by a new bridge known as the Swing Bridge, so called because the bridge was able to swing horizontally on a central axis and allow ships to pass on either side. This meant that for the first time sizeable ships could pass up-river beyond Newcastle. The bridge was built and paid for by William Armstrong, a local arms manufacturer, who needed to have warships access his Elswick arms factory to fit armaments to them. The Swing Bridge's rotating mechanism is adapted from the cannon mounts developed in Armstrong's arms works. In 1882 the Elswick works began to build ships as well as to arm them. The Barrack Road drill hall was completed in 1890.
Industrialisation
In the 19th century, shipbuilding and heavy engineering were central to the city's prosperity; and the city was a powerhouse of the Industrial Revolution. Newcastle's development as a major city owed most to its central role in the production and export of coal. The phrase "taking coals to Newcastle" was first recorded in 1538; it proverbially denotes bringing a particular commodity to a place that has more than enough of it already.
Innovation in Newcastle and surrounding areas included the following:
George Stephenson developed a miner's safety lamp at the same time that Humphry Davy developed a rival design. The lamp made possible the opening up of ever deeper mines to provide the coal that powered the industrial revolution.
George and his son Robert Stephenson were hugely influential figures in the development of the early railways. George developed Blücher, a locomotive working at Killingworth colliery in 1814, whilst Robert was instrumental in the design of Rocket, a revolutionary design that was the forerunner of modern locomotives. Both men were involved in planning and building railway lines, all over this country and abroad.
Joseph Swan demonstrated a working electric light bulb about a year before Thomas Edison did the same in the USA. This led to a dispute as to who had actually invented the light bulb. Eventually the two rivals agreed to form a mutual company between them, the Edison and Swan Electric Light Company, known as Ediswan.
Charles Algernon Parsons invented the steam turbine, for marine use and for power generation. He used Turbinia, a small, turbine-powered ship, to demonstrate the speed that a steam turbine could generate. Turbinia literally ran rings around the British Fleet at a review at Spithead in 1897.
William Armstrong invented a hydraulic crane that was installed in dockyards up and down the country. He then began to design light, accurate field guns for the British army. These were a vast improvement on the existing guns that were then in use.
The following major industries developed in Newcastle or its surrounding area:
Glassmaking
A small glass industry existed in Newcastle from the mid-15th century. In 1615 restrictions were put on the use of wood for manufacturing glass. It was found that glass could be manufactured using the local coal, and so a glassmaking industry grew up on Tyneside. Huguenot glassmakers came over from France as refugees from persecution and set up glasshouses in the Skinnerburn area of Newcastle. Eventually, glass production moved to the Ouseburn area of Newcastle. In 1684 the Dagnia family, Sephardic Jewish emigrants from Altare, arrived in Newcastle from Stourbridge and established glasshouses along the Close, to manufacture high quality flint glass. The glass manufacturers used sand ballast from the boats arriving in the river as the main raw material. The glassware was then exported in collier brigs. The period from 1730 to 1785 was the highpoint of Newcastle glass manufacture, when the local glassmakers produced the 'Newcastle Light Baluster'. The glassmaking industry still exists in the west end of the city with local Artist and Glassmaker Jane Charles carrying on over four hundred years of hot glass blowing in Newcastle upon Tyne.
Locomotive manufacture
In 1823 George Stephenson and his son Robert established the world's first locomotive factory near Forth Street in Newcastle. Here they built locomotives for the Stockton and Darlington Railway and the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, as well as many others. It was here that the famous locomotive Rocket was designed and manufactured in preparation for the Rainhill Trials. Apart from building locomotives for the British market, the Newcastle works also produced locomotives for Europe and America. The Forth Street works continued to build locomotives until 1960.
Shipbuilding
In 1296 a wooden, 135 ft (41 m) long galley was constructed at the mouth of the Lort Burn in Newcastle, as part of a twenty-ship order from the king. The ship cost £205, and is the earliest record of shipbuilding in Newcastle. However the rise of the Tyne as a shipbuilding area was due to the need for collier brigs for the coal export trade. These wooden sailing ships were usually built locally, establishing local expertise in building ships. As ships changed from wood to steel, and from sail to steam, the local shipbuilding industry changed to build the new ships. Although shipbuilding was carried out up and down both sides of the river, the two main areas for building ships in Newcastle were Elswick, to the west, and Walker, to the east. By 1800 Tyneside was the third largest producer of ships in Britain. Unfortunately, after the Second World War, lack of modernisation and competition from abroad gradually caused the local industry to decline and die.
Armaments
In 1847 William Armstrong established a huge factory in Elswick, west of Newcastle. This was initially used to produce hydraulic cranes but subsequently began also to produce guns for both the army and the navy. After the Swing Bridge was built in 1876 allowing ships to pass up river, warships could have their armaments fitted alongside the Elswick works. Armstrong's company took over its industrial rival, Joseph Whitworth of Manchester in 1897.
Steam turbines
Charles Algernon Parsons invented the steam turbine and, in 1889, founded his own company C. A. Parsons and Company in Heaton, Newcastle to make steam turbines. Shortly after this, he realised that steam turbines could be used to propel ships and, in 1897, he founded a second company, Parsons Marine Steam Turbine Company in Wallsend. It is there that he designed and manufactured Turbinia. Parsons turbines were initially used in warships but soon came to be used in merchant and passenger vessels, including the liner Mauretania which held the blue riband for the Atlantic crossing until 1929. Parsons' company in Heaton began to make turbo-generators for power stations and supplied power stations all over the world. The Heaton works, reduced in size, remains as part of the Siemens AG industrial giant.
Pottery
In 1762 the Maling pottery was founded in Sunderland by French Huguenots, but transferred to Newcastle in 1817. A factory was built in the Ouseburn area of the city. The factory was rebuilt twice, finally occupying a 14-acre (57,000 m2) site that was claimed to be the biggest pottery in the world and which had its own railway station. The pottery pioneered use of machines in making potteries as opposed to hand production. In the 1890s the company went up-market and employed in-house designers. The period up to the Second World War was the most profitable with a constant stream of new designs being introduced. However, after the war, production gradually declined and the company closed in 1963.
Expansion of the city
Newcastle was one of the boroughs reformed by the Municipal Corporations Act 1835: the reformed municipal borough included the parishes of Byker, Elswick, Heaton, Jesmond, Newcastle All Saints, Newcastle St Andrew, Newcastle St John, Newcastle St Nicholas, and Westgate. The urban districts of Benwell and Fenham and Walker were added in 1904. In 1935, Newcastle gained Kenton and parts of the parishes of West Brunton, East Denton, Fawdon, Longbenton. The most recent expansion in Newcastle's boundaries took place under the Local Government Act 1972 on 1 April 1974, when Newcastle became a metropolitan borough, also including the urban districts of Gosforth and Newburn, and the parishes of Brunswick, Dinnington, Hazlerigg, North Gosforth and Woolsington from the Castle Ward Rural District, and the village of Westerhope.
Meanwhile Northumberland County Council was formed under the Local Government Act 1888 and benefited from a dedicated meeting place when County Hall was completed in the Castle Garth area of Newcastle in 1910. Following the Local Government Act 1972 County Hall relocated to Morpeth in April 1981.
Twentieth century
In 1925 work began on a new high-level road bridge to span the Tyne Gorge between Newcastle and Gateshead. The capacity of the existing High-Level Bridge and Swing Bridge were being strained to the limit, and an additional bridge had been discussed for a long time. The contract was awarded to the Dorman Long Company and the bridge was finally opened by King George V in 1928. The road deck was 84 feet (26 m) above the river and was supported by a 531 feet (162 m) steel arch. The new Tyne Bridge quickly became a symbol for Newcastle and Tyneside, and remains so today.
During the Second World War, Newcastle was largely spared the horrors inflicted upon other British cities bombed during the Blitz. Although the armaments factories and shipyards along the River Tyne were targeted by the Luftwaffe, they largely escaped unscathed. Manors goods yard and railway terminal, to the east of the city centre, and the suburbs of Jesmond and Heaton suffered bombing during 1941. There were 141 deaths and 587 injuries, a relatively small figure compared to the casualties in other industrial centres of Britain.
In 1963 the city gained its own university, the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, by act of parliament. A School of Medicine and Surgery had been established in Newcastle in 1834. This eventually developed into a college of medicine attached to Durham University. A college of physical science was also founded and became Armstrong College in 1904. In 1934 the two colleges merged to become King's College, Durham. This remained as part of Durham University until the new university was created in 1963. In 1992 the city gained its second university when Newcastle Polytechnic was granted university status as Northumbria University.
Newcastle City Council moved to the new Newcastle Civic Centre in 1968.
As heavy industries declined in the second half of the 20th century, large sections of the city centre were demolished along with many areas of slum housing. The leading political figure in the city during the 1960s was T. Dan Smith who oversaw a massive building programme of highrise housing estates and authorised the demolition of a quarter of the Georgian Grainger Town to make way for Eldon Square Shopping Centre. Smith's control in Newcastle collapsed when it was exposed that he had used public contracts to advantage himself and his business associates and for a time Newcastle became a byword for civic corruption as depicted in the films Get Carter and Stormy Monday and in the television series Our Friends in the North. However, much of the historic Grainger Town area survived and was, for the most part, fully restored in the late 1990s. Northumberland Street, initially the A1, was gradually closed to traffic from the 1970s and completely pedestrianised by 1998.
In 1978 a new rapid transport system, the Metro, was built, linking the Tyneside area. The system opened in August 1980. A new bridge was built to carry the Metro across the river between Gateshead and Newcastle. This was the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge, commonly known as the Metro Bridge. Eventually the Metro system was extended to reach Newcastle Airport in 1991, and in 2002 the Metro system was extended to the nearby city of Sunderland.
As the 20th century progressed, trade on the Newcastle and Gateshead quaysides gradually declined, until by the 1980s both sides of the river were looking rather derelict. Shipping company offices had closed along with offices of firms related to shipping. There were also derelict warehouses lining the riverbank. Local government produced a master plan to re-develop the Newcastle quayside and this was begun in the 1990s. New offices, restaurants, bars and residential accommodation were built and the area has changed in the space of a few years into a vibrant area, partially returning the focus of Newcastle to the riverside, where it was in medieval times.
The Gateshead Millennium Bridge, a foot and cycle bridge, 26 feet (7.9 m) wide and 413 feet (126 m) long, was completed in 2001. The road deck is in the form of a curve and is supported by a steel arch. To allow ships to pass, the whole structure, both arch and road-deck, rotates on huge bearings at either end so that the road deck is lifted. The bridge can be said to open and shut like a human eye. It is an important addition to the re-developed quayside area, providing a vital link between the Newcastle and Gateshead quaysides.
Recent developments
Today the city is a vibrant centre for office and retail employment, but just a short distance away there are impoverished inner-city housing estates, in areas originally built to provide affordable housing for employees of the shipyards and other heavy industries that lined the River Tyne. In the 2010s Newcastle City Council began implementing plans to regenerate these depressed areas, such as those along the Ouseburn Valley.
Jim owns Roadhouse Coffee in Bodega Bay. Its worth a visit to this small espresso shop. He is very friendly and loaded with personality. Jim told me that he once shaved his head and his beard (which he has had all his adult life) and drove his kids to school in the dark. When they got out of the car the dome light went on and they saw him clean shaven for the first time in their life. They advised him to grow it back!
This picture is #57 in my 100 strangers project. Find out more about the project and see pictures taken by other photographers at www.100Strangers.com"
The Great Western Steam Up was held on the grounds of the Nevada State Railroad Museum from July 1 – July 4, 2022, in celebration of the 150th anniversary of the Virginia & Truckee Railroad. Nine operating steam locomotives were featured with many more on display. The event was billed as the largest reunion of existing V&T locomotives in over 75 years.
Daily events included rides behind visiting narrow and standard-gauge steam locomotives, a daily pageant of steam locomotives, historical vehicle and equipment displays, local food trucks, live entertainment, and “lost art” demonstrations.
The featured locomotives were:
Glenbrook, narrow gauge 2-6-0 (Baldwin 1875) built for the Carson & Tahoe Lumber & Fluming Company and used at Glenbrook, Nevada, along with an identical twin, Tahoe (see NCNG 5, below). It last ran in the 1920s and was acquired by the Nevada County Narrow Gauge for parts. In the 1940s it was placed on exhibit at the Nevada State Museum in Carson City and beginning in 1981 was restored to service (completed in 2015). It has been returned to its 1875 appearance.
No. 1, Joe. Douglass, narrow gauge 0-4-2T (H. K. Porter 1882) built for the Dayton, Sutro & Carson Valley Railroad. It operated at a mine in Dayton, Nevada, and later helped build Lake Arrowhead dam in California. It was cosmetically restored to its present appearance in 1994 and is displayed at the Nevada State Railroad Museum. It is a wood burner, but not operational.
No. 1, narrow gauge 0-4-0T (Porter 1889) built for the Sacramento Brick Company. It was later acquired by Hal Wilmunder and operated on his private Antelope & Western Railroad near Roseville, California. The engine is now owned and cared for by the Wilmunder family, and can usually be seen at the NCNG Museum in Nevada City, Calif.
No. 1, standard gauge 2-truck Heisler (Heisler Locomotive Works 1916), built for Bluestone Mining & Smelting. It originally worked on a 2.5 mile line near Mason, Nevada, before being acquired by a quarry in California. This oil-fired locomotive is owned by Chris Baldo and sees frequent use at Roots of Motive Power in Willits, California.
No. 1, Lyon, standard gauge 2-6-0 (Gentry/Strasburg/Kloke) which is a partially completed replica of the first locomotive built for the Virginia & Truckee. The original was manufactured by the Union Iron Works of San Francisco in 1869. The full-scale working replica was donated to the Nevada State Railroad Museum by Stan Gentry, builder, and is being completed by the museum shop staff. It will burn wood as did the original.
No. 3, standard gauge 0-4-0T (Porter 1909) built for the Santa Cruz Portland Cement Company. Upon retirement it was used as a billboard for a chicken restaurant in Stockton, California. It was restored to service by Stathi Pappas beginning in 2006 and is currently located at the Placerville & Sacramento Valley Railroad in Folsom, California. Nicknamed “Chiggen,” it is oil-fired.
No. 4, Eureka, narrow gauge 4-4-0 (Baldwin 1875), built for the Eureka & Palisade Railroad. Retired in 1938, it was later featured in several Hollywood movies. This classic wood-fired locomotive was restored by Dan Markoff in the 1980s and is usually kept at his home in North Las Vegas, Nevada.
No. 5, Tahoe, narrow gauge 2-6-0 (Baldwin 1875) built for the Carson & Tahoe Lumber & Fluming Company and used in logging service. It was later sold to the Nevada County Narrow Gauge of Grass Valley, Calif., and was retired in 1942. It then appeared in numerous movies and TV shows for owner Universal Pictures. No. 5 is now part of the NCNG Museum in Nevada City, Calif., and was restored to service in May 2022. This oil-fired locomotive has been restored to its 1940s appearance.
No. 8, standard gauge 4-4-0 (Cooke Locomotive & Machine Works 1888) built for the Denver, Texas & Fort Worth Railroad, and later operated on the Dardanelle & Russellville in Arkansas. It was used in 1976 on the V&T tourist railroad at Virginia City. Oil fired, it last steamed in the early 2000s.
No. 11, Reno, standard gauge 4-4-0 (Baldwin 1872) built for the Virginia & Truckee. The most renown of all V&T’s Americans, the Reno was retired in 1937 and sold to a movie studio. It spent over fifty years at Old Tucson Studios in Arizona before being acquired by the V&T tourist railroad of Virginia City, Nevada, in 2021. It is currently under restoration. Oil fired.
No. 12, Genoa, standard gauge 4-4-0 (Baldwin 1873) built for the Virginia & Truckee. It was a back-up locomotive to the Reno and was retired in 1908. For the past 40 years it’s been on indoor static display at the California State Railroad Museum in Sacramento. It last ran in 1979 and was never converted from burning wood to burning oil, like most V&T 4-4-0s were.
No. 18, narrow gauge 4-6-0 (Baldwin 1911), built for the Nevada-California-Oregon and last used by the Southern Pacific. Restored by Carson & Colorado Inc. in 2017 after being on display in an Independence, Calif., park since 1954. It is normally kept at the Eastern California Museum in Independence. Oil fired.
No. 18, Dayton, standard gauge 4-4-0 (Central Pacific Sacramento Shops 1873) built for the Virginia & Truckee. Ran on the V&T for nearly seven decades before being acquired by a movie studio. It was cosmetically restored for display in 1982 by the Nevada State Railroad Museum. Oil fired.
No. 21, J. W. Bowker, standard gauge 2-4-0 (Baldwin 1875) built for the Virginia & Truckee. Bowker served as a switch engine in Virginia City. It was later purchased by the Sierra Nevada Wood & Lumber Company. Wood-fueled but not currently operational, it has been exhibited at the California State Railroad since 1976. An oil burner, it is not currently operational.
No. 22, Inyo, standard gauge 4-4-0 (Baldwin 1875), built for the Virginia & Truckee Railroad. It served in passenger service and was nicknamed “Brass Betsy.” It was later sold to Paramount Pictures and appeared McLintock, Union Pacific, and The Great Locomotive Chase. Restored to operation in 1983 and currently housed at the Nevada State Railroad Museum. Wood fired.
No. 25, standard gauge 4-6-0 (Baldwin 1905) built for the Virginia & Truckee to handle both freight and passenger trains. It was the first new steam locomotive purchased by the V&T and replaced older 4-4-0s on the passenger run between Reno and Carson City. Oil fired, it was restored to operation in 1980 and sees frequent service at the Nevada State Railroad Museum.
Denham 18.8.87
Up up, and away with my mate Colin at the stick!
18th August 1987 G-BFGA Rallye Private
Denham to Denham 1 hr G-GA
copyright © 1987 Chris Chennell
Owning a E-11 blaster rifle is no longer a hip thing to against the rebellions.
Owning the most basic powerful weapons on Earth may be the key of winning the battle.
They called themselves The "new" Troopers.
Got this almost similar arrangement concept from the movie poster I loved - The Expendables.
EWS owned class 37s number 37263 & 37264 are seen at Walsall on 6V70 Cliffe Vale to St Blazey china clay empties on 31.03.99. Both carry the long obselete Dutch engineers livery. This was a scottish 80s pair reunited. They spent about a week on this job at the time.
My brothers were having their little snow fights and, after being pushed into the snow, my younger brother, in the hood and scarf, surprised my older brother with an armful of snow to the face. I had been walking along, heard something, turned and CLICK! and luckily got this shot.
I'm quite proud of this. :D
I was invited to model at the opening of new photo studios owned by three professional models (they were stunning), the photographer who invited me asked me to model four looks and in the end I did six changes and modelled for four other photographers as well. The studios are in a large country house, one of the owners greeted me and took me to the changing room, as I walked in I froze, there were four models aged late teens to mid/late twenties, I hadn't thought about this. I introduced myself and said 'l'm trans, if you prefer I can see if there's somewhere else I could use'. One girl whipped off her rhinestone thong and said 'it's not a problem' as she put on another without skipping a beat, the others said 'yeah, no problem' they were mainly doing lingerie shoots.
It was just like you imagine, at one time there were six of us doing our changes in a tiny room before dashing out for a shoot. It was so busy, I was there for six hours. We had a really good time and had such a laugh. At one point, Charlie, one of the owners popped into the toilet to adjust her contacts, one of the other girls came dashing in 'oh Charlie for goodness sake (she might have said something a bit different) l'm bursting fora wee, 'I'm not stopping you' so she dashed in and sat down, it took a couple of seconds to realise she actually was having a wee with the door wide open and having a three way conversation with Charlie and me, seems me being trans really wasn't a problem.
The difference a professional light system makes is amazing, the photographers would review their pictures with me when planning the next shoot, l can't wait to see the pictures.
At the end, Charlie gave me a little sweetie goody bag and a card and said they would love to see me back again
NB I got this and a few other low res pictures emailed to me, they must have been filtered, I don't look that good.
Privately owned (Aero Club - Galeb ) Soko G2 Galeb (c/n FVS-G-23177) in the colors of the former Yugaslav Air Force 177 at the Bucharest International Air Show (BIAS) 2019 held at Airport Băneasa (LRBS).
The Soko G2 Galeb (English: Seagull) is a Yugoslav single engine, two-seater jet trainer and light ground-attack aircraft. The G2 was developed during the 1950s by the Aeronautical Technical Institute at Žarkovo as a replacement for the Lockheed T-33 in service with the Yugoslav Air Force. Production started in 1965 at the Soko aircraft factory in Mostar, and ended in 1985 with 248 aircraft delivered. The G2 had the distinction of being the first mass-produced jet aircraft in socialist Yugoslavia.
In 1914 Dodge started building their own cars. Chrysler acquired Dodge in 1928.
The 1935 Dodge KC half-ton pickup traced its design roots to 1933, when Dodge bravely risked an expensive restyle in the worst year of the Great Depression, the 1933 Dodge Series HC was exactly what the market wanted.
The 1934 successor, Dodge Series KC, was little changed in styling, which obviously was the correct decision, but it was improved mechanically, there was a larger engine a Dodge 201.3-cid six instead of the smaller Plymouth 190 and a drop-forged I-beam front axle replaced the tubular-type
Engine; 201 cu in 6 cyl.
Originally owned by the Egerton family, the massive estate (over 250,000 acres) was left to the nation in 1958. The mansion was designed by Samuel Wyatt at the end of the 18th century and is set in 50 acres of gardens. What remains today dates largely from the period after 1780 when Samuel Wyatt began to rebuild the house in the neo-classical style, but work came to a halt in 1791. It then resumed between 1806 and 1813 when the main block was completed, on a reduced scale, by Samuel Wyatt's nephew Lewis Wyatt. In 1860 the second storey was added to the west, and other additions were made in the 1880s. I can see that the second floor might be added as an afterthought, but making the glazing bars so different just seems perverse...
One of the two 0-6-0 Imerys owned shunters at this location sits at the far end of the sidings at Rocks Dryers. This example is of Thomas Hill design and has the TOPs number 01571 but it is not carried on the loco. Note the blue railings protecting the inspection pit for servicing these locomotives. Keeping it company with its roof rolled back is CDA 375123.
Kirtland Local Schools Band Bus - 1992 Ward International; Bus Yard - Kirtland, Ohio. Formerly owned by a school district in Kentucky. Bus bought from Mike & B Sales.
Best Large-
Every season has its own glory (James Watkins)
Every season has its own glory,
Every purpose has its own time,
Every moment has its own story,
Every story has its own line.
I have walked deep into cities,
Shining brightly never to fail,
Listened to heart cries,
Lost in the morning,
Standing on corners
Stagnant and stale.
Where is the hope
That brought forth the laughter?
Where is the song?
The music unveiled?
Why are the choices so
Wasted and bitter?
Gathered in hatred,
Broken and pale.
There are the voices lost in confusion,
Crushed in the thriving, deepening swale-
Calloused and cold the circling convenience,
Crippled commotion emotions prevail
Severed connections, squandered projections-
Revered reflections, stammering tongues-
Coined by controlling contriving convections,
In different directions now written in stone.
I have seen new stars on the mountains,
Fed on the movement of heaven and earth-
Filled up by frameworks
In perfect perspective,
Fueled by the turning of terrible truth.
Come now and sing of mists in the forest,
Sensual sonnets of songs in the dirt-
Come and behold the delicate balance
Of seasons and reasons and rhythms
And birth.
Beacons of quiet in last true performance,
Heralded nature in singular cause-
Ancient and pure dreams
Shattered and twisted
Arrayed in transitional
Smoldering awe.
Now is the time to look to the heavens,
Now is the moment to take up the cause,
Now is the voice of blazing amazement,
Borne on the winds of the gathering storm.
Listen to stream, listen to forest,
Listen to flower, and staggering fawn-
Listen to voices rolling like thunder,
Drink of the waters
And dance with the dawn.
Wrapped in the garments of natural beauty,
Facing the force of burgeoning call-
Strong in the seasons of life and creation,
Firm on foundations that will never fall.
James Watkins 09-01-08
The return to working service of 55002 THE KING'S OWN YORKSHIRE LIGHT INFANTRY was indeed the highlight of the 2011 NYMR Autumn Gala. Here, the shiny Deltic is seen droning along near Moorgates with the 11:00 Pickering - Grosmont on 17th September 2011.
Canon EOS 450D f/8 800th/sec iso 200
For everything you ever wanted to know about these magnificent machines, go to www.napier-chronicles.co.uk/
The lack of own books is the height of misery
Galicia (English i/ɡəˈlɪsiə/, /ɡəˈlɪʃə/; Galician: [ɡaˈliθja] or [ħa'lisi.a]; Spanish: [ɡaˈliθja]) is an autonomous community in northwest Spain, with the official status of a nationality.[1] It comprises the provinces of A Coruña, Lugo, Ourense and Pontevedra, being bordered by Portugal to the south, the Spanish autonomous communities of Castile and León and Asturias to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and the Bay of Biscay to the north. It has a population in 2012 of 2,778,913,[2] and has a total area of 29,574 km2 (11,419 sq mi). Galicia has over 1,660 km (1,030 mi) of coastline,[3] including its offshore islands and islets, among them Cíes Islands, Ons, Sálvora, Cortegada, and —the largest and the most populated one— Arousa Island.
The area now called Galicia was first inhabited by humans during the Middle Palaeolithic period, and it takes its name from the Gallaeci, the peoples living north of the Douro river during the last millennium BC, in a region largely coincidental with that of the Iron Age local Castro Culture. Galicia was incorporated into the Roman Empire at the end of the Cantabrian Wars in 19 BC, being turned into a Roman province in the 3rd century of our era. In 410 the Germanic Suebi established a kingdom with its capital in Braga (Portugal) which was incorporated into that of the Visigoths in 585. In 711 the Arabs invaded the Iberian peninsula, taking the Visigoth kingdom, but soon in 740 Galicia was incorporated into the Christian kingdom of Asturias. During the Middle Ages, the kingdom of Galicia was occasionally ruled by its own privative kings,[4] but most of the time it was leagued to the kingdom of Leon and later to that of Castile, while maintaining its own legal and customary practices and personality. From the 13th century on the kings of Castile, as kings of Galicia, appointed an Adelantado Maior, whose attributions passed to the Governor and Captain General of the Kingdom of Galicia from the last years of the 15th century.[5] The Governor also presided the Real Audiencia del Reino de Galicia, a Royal tribunal and government body. From the 16th century the representation and voice of the kingdom was held by an assembly of deputies and representatives of the cities of the kingdom, the Cortes or Junta of the Kingdom of Galicia,[5] institution which was forcibly discontinued in 1833 when the kingdom was divided into four administrative provinces with no legal mutual links. During the 19th and 20th centuries grew the demand for self-government and for the recognition of the personality of Galicia, demand which led to the frustrated Statute of Autonomy of 1936, and to the Statute of Autonomy of 1981, currently in force.
The interior of Galicia is characterized by its hilly landscape, although mountain ranges can rise to 2,000 m (6,600 ft) in the east and south. The coastal areas are mostly an alternate series of rías (submerged valleys where the sea penetrates tens of kilometres inland) and cliffs. The climate of Galicia is temperate and rainy, but it is also markedly drier in the summer, being usually classified as Oceanic in the west and north, and Mediterranean in the south-east. Its topographic and climatic conditions have made animal husbandry and farming the primary source of Galicia's wealth for most of its history. Initial industrialization in the 18th century was frustrated, and until the last decades of the 20th century Galicia remained relatively poor and isolated by Western European standards. Population are largely concentrated in two coastal areas, from Ferrol to A Coruña in the north-west, and from Santiago de Compostela to Vigo in the south-west, and to a lesser extent around the interior cities of Lugo and Ourense. The capital is Santiago de Compostela, in the province of A Coruña. Vigo, in the province of Pontevedra, is the most populous municipality with 297,332 inhabitants and the second most populous city with 206,411 inhabitants; while A Coruña is the most populous city with 220,581 inhabitants and the second most populous municipality with 246,056 inhabitants in its municipality.[6] Both cities are the cores of the two major metropolitan areas.
Two languages are official and widely used today in Galicia, the native Galician, a Romance language closely related to Portuguese with which it shares the common Galician-Portuguese medieval literature, and Spanish language, usually known locally as Castilian. 56.4% of the Galician population always speaks in Galician or speaks more in Galician than in Castilian, while 42.5% speaks always in Castilian or more in Castilian than in Galician
My grandfather brought it for me on October 24, 2008. It has the same features as the replica mayor of the Basilica del Santo Niño de Cebu and the same size as the Original image.
The image alone (w/o the crown and base) stands 12 inches tall like that of the original Santo Niño de Cebu and it is also made of wood.
This Image is Sculpted by the Official Sculptor of the Baslica Minore del Santo Niño de Cebu's Replica's
Warrington's Own Buses has extended some of the journeys it had begun operating on the 62 from Runcorn Shopping City (Halton Lea) to Runcorn Old Town High St. 79 leaves the High St Bus Station on the third day of operation, 3 July 2019. Warrington buses operated to and through Runcorn during the bus wars in the mid 1990s.
I revisited this magnificent nature reserve today 10th August 2018, many visitors to our city miss its glorious offerings, thinking all we have to offer is the beach front at the main boulevard , its a pity as this reserve is a short drive from the main tourist area and has its own charm, attraction and wealth of nature on offer, I love it .
Donmouth Local Nature Reserve is a beach site in the historic Old Aberdeen part of the City where the River Don meets the sea.
A great place to see seals and a range of interesting birds. The beach area has changed over time as the river has changed its course. There are lots of interesting plants in the dunes and beach area. Bird hide is an excellent shelter from which to watch the wildlife. The paths run across King Street to the Brig 'o Balgownie., the original bridge in to the City from the North, then down the other side of the river to the sea.
The site was designated a Local Nature Reserve in 1992
Paths are good although wheelchair access to the beach would be difficult as the boardwalk can get covered with sand.
There is plenty of free car parking on the Beach Esplanade and at the car park in Donmouth Road. There are cycle racks on Beach Esplanade
Bridge Of Don has five spans of dressed granite, and rounded cutwaters that carry up to road level to form pedestrian refuges. The spans are 75 feet (23 m), with a rise of 25 feet (7.6 m).
It was widened in 1958-59, from 24 feet (7.3 m), to 66 feet (20 m) by the construction of a new concrete bridge adjacent to the old one.
It now carries four lanes of the A956 road, and is the last bridge on the River Don before it meets the sea. The bridge is just downstream from a substantial island in the river. Around the area of the bridge is the Donmouth Local Nature Reserve, designated as a LNR in 1992.
Near to the bridge are a number of World War II era coastal defences, including a pill box.
Mudflats
Mudflats are formed when fine particles carried downstream by the river are deposited as it slows down before entering the sea, and to a lesser extent by fine particles washed in by the tide. The sand spit at the mouth of the Don provides shelter from the wind and waves allowing this material to build up. The mud flats are a very rich and fertile environment. Despite their rather barren appearance they support a surprisingly diverse invertebrate fauna which includes; worms, molluscs and crustacea. These invertebrates are vitally important to wildfowl and wading birds within the estuary.
Salt marsh
Along the upper shore of the south bank saltmarsh has developed. This habitat would once have been much more extensive prior to the tipping of domestic and other refuse in the area and the formation in 1727 of an artificial embankment to prevent flooding of the river into the Links. This habitat is now reduced to a narrow strip of vegetation along the river margins upstream from the Powis Burn.
The species composition of the salt marsh varies according to the salinity of the water i.e. the proximity to the sea. Close to the Powis Burn this habitat is dominated by reed sweet-grass (Glyceria maxima) with reed canary-grass (Phalaris arundinacea), sea club-rush (Scirpus maritimus), spike-rush (Eleocharis palustris), hemlock water-dropwort (Oenanthe crocata) and common scurvygrass (Chochlearia officinalis).
Further inland reed sweet-grass continues to dominate but hemlock water-dropwort is more abundant with meadowsweet (Filipendula ulmaria) and valarian (Valariana officinalis),
Sand dunes
Sand dunes are found in the more exposed parts of the estuary at the river mouth. Again, this habitat was once much more extensive in this locality with dune grasslands stretching from Aberdeen Beach inland as far as King Street, southwards from the estuary of the Dee, northwards to the Sands of Forvie and beyond. Many of the dunes formed part of Seaton Tip, and following tipping the area was grassed over. Other areas have been formally landscaped to form golf courses or planted with native trees in 2010 to create a new woodland area.
Some remnants of the natural dune flora can be seen in the 'roughs' on the Kings Links golf course and near the mouth of the river.
Above the high water mark, fore dunes with thick clumps of the pioneer grass species including sea lyme grass (Elymus arenarius) and marram grass (Ammophila arenaria) occur. Few other species are able to cope with the shifting sand. The largest area of these young dunes is to the north and west of the headland. Further inland where the dunes are sheltered from the actions of the wind and waves, and soils are more developed, more stable dunes are present supporting a more diverse grassland habitat.
Strand line plants which are able to tolerate occasional coverage by sea water include sea rocket (Cakile maritima), frosted orache (Atriplex laciniata), sea sandwort (Honkenya peploides) and knotgrass (Polygonum aviculare). Bur-reed (Sparganium sp.) has been recorded; presumably washed down by the river.
Marram grass (Ammophila arenaria) and sea lyme grass (Elymus arenarius) dominate the fore dunes. The latter species is not native to this area but appeared in 1802. It is thought to have been unintentionally introduced into the area by fishing boats. For a number of years it remained uncommon but from 1870 onwards it spread rapidly along the coastline (Marren, 1982).
In the more stable dunes red fescue (Festuca rubra), sand sedge (Carex arenaria), yellow rattle (Rhinanthus minor), wild pansy (Viola tricolour), harebell (Campanula rotundifolia), bird's-foot-trefoil (Lotus corniculatus) and lesser meadow-rue (Thalictrum minus) are abundant. Small amounts of kidney vetch (Anthyllis vulneraria), valerian (Valeriana officinalis) and spring vetch (Vicia lathyroides) are present.
Scattered willows (Salix sp.) and sycamore (Acer pseudoplantanus) have seeded into this area. Gorse (Ulex europaeus) scrub has colonised the dunes in some areas and appears to be spreading.
Scrub
This habitat is almost entirely artificial with only the gorse scrub on the inner dunes being a semi-natural habitat. Alder and willow were planted along the south bank of the river in about 1970 and these shrubs are now generally well established. Further shrub planting on the south bank was carried out in 1990.
Willow (Salix sp.) and alder (Alnus glutinosa) were planted in the 1970's along the south bank of the River Don eastwards of the Bridge of Don. The trees to the west of this strip are doing considerably better than those to the east. More recent planting was carried out in 1990 with hawthorn (Crataegus monogyna), blackthorn (Prunus spinosa) elder (Sambucus nigra), goat willow (Salix caprea) and alder.
Underneath the scrub neutral grassland is present with cocksfoot (Dactylis glomerata), false oat-grass (Arrhenatherum elatius), cow parsley (Anthriscus sylvestris), sweet cicely (Myrrhis odorata), hedge woundwort (Stachys sylvatica) and hedge bindweed (Calystegia sepium).
Grassland
Much of the grassland within the reserve is formed on imported soil and is intensively managed. This includes grassland on the north and south sides of the Esplanade. Daffodils are present in the grassland on the north side of the road. On the north bank to the east of the Bridge of Don is rank grassland on a steep south-facing slope. This is unmanaged and contains some patches of scrub.
Rough grassland is present on the headland. This area has been modified by tipping, with rubble to the east and with grass cuttings to the west. The grassland contains a mixture of neutral grassland, dune grassland, ruderal, and introduced garden species. This area attracts flocks of seed eating birds in late summer and autumn.
Improved grassland is present on the headland and along the south bank of the estuary downstream from the bridge of Don. Much of this vegetation has developed on imported soil and contains a high proportion of ruderal species and garden escapes. On the headland, broadleaved dock (Rumex obtusifolius), nettle (Urtica dioica), coltsfoot (Tussilago farfara), spear thistle (Cirsium vulgare), cow parsley (Anthriscus sylvestris), hemlock (Conium maculatum) and hogweed (Heracleum sphondylium) are abundant. Sweet cicely (Chaerophyllum bulbosum) is widespread and in late summer fills the air with the scent of aniseed.
To the south of the Esplanade the grassland is managed with an annual cut.. The grassland does flood to form pools. Early in the year cuckoo flower (Cardamine pratensis) is common, meadow foxtail (Alopecuris pratensis)is known to occur around the margins of these pools.
Woodland
Semi-mature woodland is present on the steep sided south bank of the river upstream from the Bridge of Don. Most of this woodland has been planted in the mid 1930's though some older oak and elm trees are present. These may be relicts of former woodland cover. The woodland in the reserve is part of a strip of woodland along the River Don corridor which continues upstream from the Brig 'o' Balgownie.
Woodland is present on the south bank upstream from the Bridge of Don.
Much of the woodland consists of even aged stands with willow (Salix sp.), sycamore (Acer pseudoplatanus), ash (Fraxinus excelsior), beech (Fagus sylvatica) and alder (AInus glutinosa). At the top of the slope mature oak (Quercus sp.) and elm (Ulmus glabra) are present. The ground flora contains tufted hair-grass (Deschampsia caespitosa), red campion (Silene dioica), ramsons (Allium ursinum) and lady fern (Athyrium felix-femina) .In a few areas dense shading is caused by the trees and in these areas the ground flora is poor.
On the north bank scattered trees are present, mainly willow and sycamore with some scrub.