As the title says - not my normal sort of photo.

 

oh, happy days!

Fun fact No.7 - The lower corner of the front is practically the same as the Python's. Because laziness recycling

Class 221 Super Voyager cast alluminium nameplate 'Michael Palin' taken from 221131. Displayed here at the National Railway Museum (NRM), York.

 

"Sir Michael Palin is an English actor, comedian, writer, and television presenter. He was a member of the Monty Python comedy team, known for their influential sketch comedy series Monty Python's Flying Circus."

 

2025 Keith Jones All Rights Reserved.

And now to Tesco to go shopping and in those famous words of Monty Python's Mrs Robinson and Mrs non-Robinson "Been shopping, no just been shopping, what you buy buy a piston engine, no, just bought a piston engine!"

 

Me, funny enough I did not buy a piston engine, just some provisions for weekend and no meat and potato pie or strawberry yogurt come to think of it!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJHPfpOnDzg

 

Sterling Holloway - Trust In Me (The Python's Song)

 

Slowly and surely your senses

Will cease to resist

  

This is Castle Stalker which sits on the spit of land between Loch Linnhe and Loch Laich by Portnacroish. The castle is latterly famous for the final scene in Monty Python's Holy Grail and also one of the Highlander movies.

 

Tech stuff: Single exposure, duplicated in Lightroom. Foreground getting local boosts to blue and orange/yellow to bring out the reflections, as well as a contrast boost. Background just adjusted a little for contrast. Both blended in photoshop and dust spots remove. Also cloned out two floodlights in front of the castle. Localised contrast adjustments on the castle, but I wanted to leave the background hazy. No crop.

  

When I visit other people's streams, I like to leave encouraging comments or respectful critique. I never leave images, logos or text based decorations in my comments. I'd really appreciate it if you could do the same for me. Thank you!

  

If you like this image, please check out some of my other shots (if you have time!)

Walk up Shaftesbury Avenue from Leicester Square, and see many of London's theatres. The area was home to many of London's leading icons in the 1700's and John Le Carre's spy novels' MI6. The Palace Theatre has been here since 1891 and has hosted Monty Python's Spamalot, Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, Jesus Christ, Superstar, Les Miserables and many other plays. Andrew Lloyd Webber bought the theatre for £1.3 million in 1983 and refurbished it in the 2000's before selling it to the Nimax Theatres in 2012.

"Douris was chiefly a painter of cups, more than 250 of which have been preserved. he began his career in the workshop of Euphronios but soon moved to Python's. his painting is very graceful, even when, as here, showing a troop of excited satyrs in exhibitionist mode." Made in Athens 490 BC. From Cerveteri, Etruria. GR 1868.6-6.7 (Vase E 768). British Museum.

Amongst the most eccentric people in the UK are the comedians. Here I am saluting in my own peculiar way, two of my favourites British comedy troupes of all time - The Goons and Monty Python's Flying Circus. Their absurdist, eccentric humour with an often intellectual slant, changed the face of British comedy, leading to later comedy classics like Blackadder and Mr. Bean, both with Rowan Atkinson and The Office with Ricky Gervais.

 

The Goon Show was on the BBC from May 1951 until January 1960 producing 250 half hour episodes. The Goons were Spike Milligan, the certifiably crazy show's creator, Harry Secombe, an accomplished singer and Peter Sellers, the future Inspector Clouseau and Dr. Strangelove.

 

Monty Python's Flying Circus aired on the BBC from October 1969 to May1974 producing 45 episodes. They also made 5 movies- And Now for Something Completely Different, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Monty Python's Life of Brian, Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl and Monty Python's Meaning of Life. The Pythons were Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Eric Idle, Michael Palin, Terry Jones and Terry Gilliam.

 

I never tire of either. I watched the Pythons on TV and had The Goons on records. (Yes, those old round revolving things that produced various sounds.)

  

we're Here looks at British Eccentricity today.

Out for my one-a-day exercise and came across this slogan chalked on the cliff wall. I wonder if it was written before or after we went into lock down?

  

"Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" is a comedy song written by Monty Python member Eric Idle that was first featured in the 1979 film Monty Python's Life of Brian and has gone on to become a common singalong at public events such as football matches as well as funerals.

Copyright © 2011 by Craig Paup. All rights reserved.

Any use, printed or digital, in whole or edited, requires my written permission.

Here are a few 45s I brought today when I saw Bill the music man.

Top; Stevie Wonder song I Just Called To Say I Love You

Bottom left: Alison Moyet Song Love Resurrection

Bottom Right: Monty Python's song Galaxy Song

Mr Woodley has long been a Monty Python fan and he likes to act out some of their sketches from time to time. This is his take on John Cleese's classic 'Ministry of Silly Walks' sketch.

Bishop's Palace Garden, Chichester.

 

Cardoon [Cynara cardunculus] sic: Artichoke thistle.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cardoon

 

Spiny Norman (a giant hedgehog) is a recurring character from Monty Python's Flying Circus in which Dinsdale Piranha believed was watching him.

 

_MX63715p

 

All Rights Reserved © 2025 Frederick Roll

Please do not use this image without prior permission

On 11 April 1972, the very first I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue was broadcast on BBC Radio. ISIHAC is, I suspect, unknown to anyone who isn't British. It is a comedy radio quiz show that specialises in wordplay, double entendre and basic silliness. It started at the same time as Monty Python's Flying Circus and draws on the same comedy heritage. It is still going strong today.

 

Mornington Crescent is a game played on the show, here is a brief explanation of the rules.

 

To honour the 31st birthday of ISIHAC today the hereios of the We're Here! group have paid a visit to the Quotes in Picture Form group at the suggestion of Zenas M.

  

Stuck for an idea for your daily 365 shot? Try the hereios of the We're Here! group for inspiration :)

 

(Goodness - this got into "explore" - the ways of flickr are very strange :)

 

The 2 needlework pieces I have done so far of Terry Gilliam´s animation scenes. Have not found any other pictures of Terry´s animation scenes that are good enough quality but if I find some in the future I will add to the collection:)

Will have them framed by an professional at some time.

 

Quite an impressive building for folks who believe in a mythical thing. The people who 'work' there have fancy costumes, endorse unproven so called events as facts and cherry pick sections from a book that almost seem plausible at best.

 

Here are a few actual facts.

:- It's a Grade I Listed Cathedral Church.

:- The original church, was built in in 943

:- Current church built c.1530–1725 renovated 1969–1975, 2015–2016

:- It has a tower that's 212 feet (65 m)

:- Defended its decision to hold screenings of three films that between them show graphic sex scenes, paganism and a satirical depiction of a “naughty boy” who keeps being mistaken for Jesus Christ.

:-Derby Cathedral shown the 1970s film classics The Wicker Man, Don’t Look Now and Monty Python’s Life of Brian on an inflatable big screen – despite opposition from some church wardens.

Aberystwyth University is a public research university in Aberystwyth, Wales. Aberystwyth was a founding member institution of the former federal University of Wales. The university has over 8,000 students studying across three academic faculties and 17 departments.

 

Founded in 1872 as University College Wales, Aberystwyth, it became a founder member of the University of Wales in 1894, and changed its name to the University College of Wales, Aberystwyth. In the mid-1990s, the university again changed its name to become the University of Wales, Aberystwyth. On 1 September 2007, the University of Wales ceased to be a federal university and Aberystwyth University became independent again.

 

In 2019, it became the first university to be named "University of the year for teaching quality" by The Times/Sunday Times Good University Guide for two consecutive years. It is the first university in the world to be awarded Plastic Free University status (for single-use plastic items).

 

In the middle of the 19th century, eminent Welsh people were advocating the establishment of a university in the principality. One of these, Thomas Nicholas, whose book, Middle and High Class Schools, and University Education for Wales (1863), is said to have "exerted great influence on educated Welshmen".

 

Funded through public and private subscriptions, and with five regional committees (London, Manchester, Liverpool, North and South Wales) guaranteeing funds for the first three years' running costs, the university opened in October 1872 with 26 students. Thomas Charles Edwards was the principal. In October 1875, chapels in Wales raised the next tranche of funds from over 70,000 contributors. Until 1893, when the college joined the University of Wales as a founder member, students applying to Aberystwyth sat the University of London's entrance exams. Women were admitted in 1884.

 

In 1885, a fire damaged what is now known as the Old College, Aberystwyth, and in 1897 the first 14 acres of what became the main Penglais campus were purchased. Incorporated by Royal Charter in 1893, the university installed the Prince of Wales as chancellor in 1896, the same year it awarded an honorary degree to the British prime minister, William Gladstone.

 

The university's coat of arms dates from the 1880s. The shield features two red dragons to symbolise Wales, and an open book to symbolise learning. The crest, an eagle or phoenix above a flaming tower, may signify the college's rebirth after the 1885 fire. The motto is Nid Byd, Byd Heb Wybodaeth (a world without knowledge is no world at all).

 

In the early 1900s, the university added courses that included law, applied mathematics, pure mathematics and botany. The Department for International Politics, which Aberystwyth says is the oldest such department in the world, was founded in 1919. By 1977, the university's staff included eight Fellows of the Royal Society, such as Gwendolen Rees, the first Welsh woman to be elected an FRS.

 

The Department of Sports and Exercise Science was established in 2000. Joint honours psychology degrees were introduced in September 2007, and single honours psychology in 2009.

 

The chancellor of the university is The Lord Thomas of Cwmgiedd, who took up the position in January 2018. The visitor of the university is an appointment made by the Privy Council, under the Royal Charter of the university. Since July 2014, the holder of this office is Mr Justice Sir Roderick Evans KC.

 

In 2011, the university appointed a new vice chancellor under whom the academic departments were restructured as larger subject-themed institutes.

 

In 2022, the university celebrated its 150th anniversar,y being established in 1872 (known at the time as The University College of Wales).

 

Aberystwyth is a university and seaside town as well as a community in Ceredigion, Wales. Located in the historic county of Cardiganshire, Aberystwyth means "the mouth of the Ystwyth". Aberystwyth University has been a major educational location in Wales since the establishment of University College Wales in 1872.

 

The town is situated on Cardigan Bay on the west coast of Wales, near the confluence of the River Ystwyth and Afon Rheidol. Following the reconstruction of the harbour, the Ystwyth skirts the town. The Rheidol passes through the town.

 

The seafront, with a pier, stretches from Constitution Hill at the north end of the Promenade to the harbour at the south. The beach is divided by the castle. The town is divided into five areas: Aberystwyth Town; Llanbadarn Fawr; Waunfawr; Llanbadarn; Trefechan; and the most populous, Penparcau.

 

In 2011 the population of the town was 13,040. This rises to nearly 19,000 for the larger conurbation of Aberystwyth and Llanbadarn Fawr.

  

Aberystwyth Bay from a 1748 survey by Lewis Morris (1701–1765)

The distance to Swansea is 55 miles (89 km); to Shrewsbury 60 miles (97 km); to Wrexham 63 miles (101 km); to Cardiff 76 miles (122 km); and to London 180 miles (290 km).

 

Aberystwyth is a university town and tourist destination, and forms a cultural link between North Wales and South Wales. Constitution Hill, scaled by the Aberystwyth Cliff Railway, gives access to panoramic views and to other attractions at the summit, including a camera obscura. Scenic Mid Wales landscape within easy reach of the town includes the wilderness of the Cambrian Mountains, whose valleys contain forests and meadows which have changed little in centuries. A convenient way to access the interior is by the preserved narrow-gauge Vale of Rheidol Railway.

 

Although the town is relatively modern, there are a number of historic buildings, including the remains of the castle and the Old College of Aberystwyth University nearby. The Old College was originally built and opened in 1865 as a hotel, but after the owner's bankruptcy the shell of the building was sold to the university in 1867.

 

The new university campus overlooks Aberystwyth from Penglais Hill to the east of the town centre. The station, a terminus of the main railway, was built in 1924 in the typical style of the period, mainly in a mix of Gothic, Classical Revival, and Victorian architecture.

 

The town is the unofficial capital of Mid Wales, and several institutions have regional or national offices there. Public bodies located in the town include the National Library of Wales, which incorporates the National Screen and Sound Archive of Wales, one of six British regional film archives. The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales maintains and curates the National Monuments Record of Wales (NMRW), providing the public with information about the built heritage of Wales. Aberystwyth is also the home to the national offices of UCAC and Cymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg (Welsh Language Society), and the site of the Institute of Grassland and Environmental Research, the Welsh Books Council and the offices of the standard historical dictionary of Welsh, Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru. A purpose built Welsh Government office and an adjoining office of Ceredigion County Council are also located in the town.

 

At the 2001 census, the population of the town was 15,935. This reduced to 13,040 at the 2011 census. Including neighbouring Llanbadarn Fawr, the population was 16,420, and the greater Aberystwyth conurbation having a population of 18,749 in 2011

 

Aberystwyth experiences an oceanic climate (Köppen climate classification Cfb) similar to almost all of the United Kingdom. This is particularly pronounced due to its west coast location facing the Irish Sea. Air undergoes little land moderation and so temperatures closely reflect the sea temperature when winds are coming from the predominant onshore (westerly) direction. The nearest Met Office weather station is Gogerddan, 3 miles to the northeast, and at a similar elevation.

 

The absolute maximum temperature is 34.6 °C (94.3 °F), set during July 2006. This is also the July record maximum for all of Wales, suggesting that the area's low lying situation, aided by a possible föhn effect when winds are offshore can act to achieve high temperatures on occasion. Typically the warmest day will average 28.0 °C (82.4 °F) and 5.6 days will achieve a maximum of 25.1 °C (77.2 °F) or above.

 

The absolute minimum temperature is −13.5 °C (7.7 °F), set in January 2010. Typically 39.8 days will register an air frost.

 

Rainfall averages 1,112 mm (44 in) a year, with over 1mm recorded on 161 days. All averages refer to the 1981–2010 period.

 

There is evidence that during the Mesolithic Age the area of Tan-y-Bwlch at the foot of Pen Dinas (Penparcau) was used as a flint knapping floor for hunter-gatherers making weapons from flint that was deposited as the ice retreated.

 

The remains of a Celtic fortress on Pen Dinas (or more correctly 'Dinas Maelor'), a hill in Penparcau overlooking Aberystwyth, indicates that the site was inhabited before 700 BC. On a hill south of the present town, across the River Ystwyth, are the remains of a medieval ringfort believed to be the castle from which Princess Nest was abducted. This rare survival is now on private land and can only be accessed by arrangement.

 

The recorded history of Aberystwyth may be said to date from the building of a fortress in 1109 by Gilbert Fitz Richard (grandfather of Richard de Clare, known as Strongbow, the Cambro-Norman lord notable for his leading role in the Norman invasion of Ireland). Gilbert Fitz Richard was granted lands and the lordship of Cardigan by Henry I, including Cardigan Castle. The fortress built in Aberystwyth was located about a mile and a half south of today's town, on a hill over the south bank of the Ystwyth River, thus giving the settlement of Aberystwyth its name. The location is now known as Tan-Y-Castell.

 

Aberystwyth was usually under the control of the princes of Deheubarth, but its position close to the border with Gwynedd and Powys left it vulnerable to attacks from the leaders of those polities. The town was attacked by Gwenwynwyn ab Owain in 1197, an assault in which Maelgwn ap Rhys was captured. Llywelyn the Great attacked and seized the town in late 1208, building a castle there before withdrawing.

 

Edward I replaced Strongbow's castle in 1277, after its destruction by the Welsh. His castle was, however, built in a different location, at the current Castle Hill, the high point of the town. Between the years 1404 and 1408 Aberystwyth Castle was in the hands of Owain Glyndŵr but finally surrendered to Prince Harry (the future King Henry V of England). Shortly after this, the town was incorporated under the title of Ville de Lampadarn (the ancient name of the place being Llanbadarn Gaerog or the fortified Llanbadarn, to distinguish it from Llanbadarn Fawr, the village one mile (1.6 km) inland. It is thus styled in a Royal charter granted by Henry VIII but, by Elizabeth I's time, the town was invariably named Aberystwyth in all documents.

 

From 1639 to 1642, silver coins were minted at Aberystwyth Castle on behalf of the Royal Mint, using silver from local mines. £10,500 in currency was produced, equivalent to 2.5 million silver pennies.

 

In 1649, Parliamentarian troops razed the castle, although portions of three towers still exist. In 1988, an excavation within the castle area revealed a complete male skeleton, deliberately buried. Though skeletons rarely survive in Wales' acidic soil, this skeleton was probably preserved by the addition of lime from the collapsed building. Affectionately known as "Charlie" and now housed in the Ceredigion Museum in the town, he probably dates from the English Civil War period, and is likely to have died during the Parliamentarian siege. His image is featured in one of nine mosaics created to adorn the castle's walls.

 

The development of Aberystwyth's Port contributed to the town’s economic development during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Port improvements were carried out in both 1780 and 1836, with a new Customs House constructed in 1828. Rural industries and craftsmen were also an important part of life in this country town. The local trade directory for 1830 shows that there were in Aberystwyth: Twenty boot makers, eight bakers, two corn millers, eleven carpenters and joiners, one cooper, seven tailors, two dressmakers, two straw hat makers, two hat makers, three curriers, four saddlers, two tinsmiths, six maltsters, two skinners, four tanners, eight stonemasons, one brewer, four lime burners, three shipwrights, three wheelwrights, five cabinet makers, one nail maker, one rope maker and one sail maker.

 

The Cambrian Railways line from Machynlleth reached Aberystwyth in 1864, closely followed by rail links to Carmarthen, which resulted in the construction of the town's impressive station. The Cambrian line opened on Good Friday 1869, the same day that the new 292 metres (958 ft) Royal Pier (designed by Eugenius Birch) opened, attracting 7,000 visitors.

 

The railway's arrival gave rise to something of a Victorian tourist boom, with Aberystwyth becoming a significant holiday destination for working and middle class families from South Wales in particular. The town was once even billed as the "Biarritz of Wales". During this time, a number of hotels and fine townhouses were built including the Queens Hotel, later renamed Swyddfa'r Sir (County Office) when used as offices by the town council, and most recently used as the external scenes of the police station in the television show Hinterland. One of the largest of these hotels, "The Castle Hotel", was never completed as a hotel but, following bankruptcy, was sold cheaply to the Welsh National University Committee, a group of people dedicated to the creation of a Welsh University. The University College of Wales (later to become Aberystwyth University) was founded in 1872 in this building.

 

Aberystwyth was a contributory parliamentary borough until the Third Reform Act, which merged its representation into that of the county in 1885.

 

In 1895, various businessmen who had been behind the Aberystwyth New Harbour Company formed the Aberystwyth Improvement Company (AIC) to take over the works of the defunct Bourne Engineering & Electrical. In 1896, the AIC completed three projects: the new landside pavilion for the Royal Pier; built the Cambria Hotel (later the United Theological College) and formed Constitution Hill Ltd, to develop a Victorian theme park. Chief engineer George Croydon Marks designed all the AIC developments, including the United Kingdom's second longest funicular railway, which takes passengers up a 50% gradient to a park and camera obscura.

 

Aberystwyth hosted the National Eisteddfod in 1865, 1916, 1952 and 1992.

 

On the night of Friday, 14 January 1938, a storm with estimated wind speeds of up to 90 mph (140 km/h) struck the town. Most of the promenade was destroyed, along with 200 feet (60 m) of the pier. Many properties on the seafront were damaged, with every property from the King's Hall north affected; those on Victoria Terrace suffered the greatest damage. Work commenced on a protective coffer dam which continued into 1940, with total costs of construction coming to £70,000 (equivalent to £2.5 million today).

 

Cymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg (Welsh Language Society) held their historic first protest on Trefechan Bridge in Aberystwyth, on 2 February 1963. The first independent Welsh Evangelical Church was established in Aberystwyth (see Evangelical Movement of Wales).

 

On 1 March 2005, Aberystwyth was granted Fairtrade Town status.

 

In March 2009 mayor Sue Jones-Davies, who had played the role of Judith Iscariot in the film Monty Python's Life of Brian (1979), organised a charity screening of the film. Principal actors Terry Jones and Michael Palin also attended. There is a popular, but incorrect, urban myth that the town had banned the film (as some authorities did) when it was first released.

 

During the aftermath storms from Cyclone Dirk on Friday 3 January 2014, the town was one of the worst hit in Wales. Properties on the adjoining promenade were then evacuated for the next five days, including 250 students from the University. Ceredigion Council appealed to the Welsh Assembly Government for funds, whilst Natural Resources Wales undertook surveys and emergency preventative measures.

 

North Parade, Aberystwyth was reported to be the most expensive street in Wales in 2018, based on property prices.

 

Penglais Nature Park (Welsh: Parc Natur Penglais) is a woodland overlooking the town. The park was created in 1995 from a disused quarry and surrounding woodland that had formerly been part of the Richardes family estate. In spring a carpet of bluebells bloom, in common with the many other bluebell woods.

 

The park covers 27 acres (11 ha). It was the first Nature reserve to open in Ceredigion and is the only UNESCO Man and Biosphere urban reserve in Wales.

 

Aberystwyth's local government administration has a two-tier structure consisting of two separate councils. As local government is a devolved matter in Wales, the legislation for both Councils is a responsibility of the Senedd.

 

Aberystwyth Town Council is the first tier of local government, which is the closest to the general public; there are 19 elected town councillors from five wards. The last elections were held in 2022. The council is responsible for cycle paths, public footpaths, CCTV, public Wi-Fi, bus shelters, parks, gardens (including the castle grounds and the skateboard park) and allotments. The council is a statutory body which is consulted regarding planning decisions in the town area and makes recommendations to the planning authority, Ceredigion County Council. The Town Council is also involved in leisure, tourism, business (through providing more than half of Menter Aberystwyth's funding in grants), licence applications, wellbeing and environmental health, recycling and refuse collection.

 

A borough council existed in Aberystwyth from 1832 and the Aberystwyth School Board was established in 1870.

 

Ceredigion County Council is another statutory body incorporated by Act of Parliament. It is the second tier of local government in the area and is a unitary authority with a wide range of powers and responsibility. The Council deals with roads (except trunk roads), street lighting, some highways, social services, children and family care, schools and public libraries. Aberystwyth elects six of the 42 councillors in five separate wards (Bronglais, Central, North and Rheidol wards elect one councillor each while Penparcau ward elects two).

 

Aberystwyth has five Senedd members, one of whom (Elin Jones) was elected as a constituency MS for Ceredigion, and four who are elected on the regional list for Mid and West Wales.

 

The town is in the Ceredigion constituency for elections to the House of Commons. Since June 2017, Aberystwyth's MP has been Plaid Cymru's Ben Lake.

 

The first ever public library in Aberystwyth was opened in Compton House, Pier Street on 13 October 1874. In 1882 the library was moved to the Assembly Rooms which were leased to the council for 21 years. The lease expired in 1903 and the library returned to Pier Street, this time to the Old Banking Library at the corner with Eastgate Street, although this was short lived. A Carnegie library was built in Aberystwyth in 1905, with a grant of £3,000. Located in Corporation Street, it was designed by the architect Walter Payton of Birmingham, who was one of 48 who entered the competition to design the building. It was formally opened on 20 April 1906 by Mrs Vaughan Davies, wife of the local MP. The town library moved to Aberystwyth Town Hall, now known as Canolfan Alun R. Edwards, following the building's refurbishment in 2012.

 

The National Library of Wales, Aberystwyth, is the national legal deposit library of Wales. Established in 1907, it is a Welsh Government sponsored body. According to Cyril Evans, the library's centenary events co-ordinator, "The library is considered to be one of the world's greatest libraries, and its international reputation is certainly something that all Welsh men and women are intensely ... proud of". Welsh is the main medium of communication within the organisation; it aims to deliver all public services in Welsh and English.

 

Aberystwyth Arts Centre is one of the largest and busiest arts centres in Wales. It encompasses a 312-seat theatre, 900-seat concert hall, 125-seat cinema, and has accompanied studio, galleries, plus public spaces which include cafes and a bar. Arad Goch is an Arts Council funded community theatre and art gallery based in the town. The premises holds a theatre, gallery, several art studios and meeting rooms, and a darkroom.

 

The town has three works by the Italian sculptor Mario Rutelli; the War Memorial on the promenade, the Tabernacle Chapel Memorial on Powell Street, and the statue of Edward VIII as Prince of Wales in the Old College. All are Grade II listed structures. Rutelli’s connection with the town came through Thomas Jenkins of Aberystwyth, who ran a shipping business. Jenkins was a frequent visitor to Italy where he admired Rutelli’s work. Jo Darke, in her work, The Monument Guide to England and Wales: A National Portrait in Bronze and Stone, describes Rutelli’s war memorial as “striking and rare” and suggests that the life-size statue of Edward VIII is the only recorded example.

 

Aberystwyth has a live music scene which has produced bands and artists such as: The Crocketts; The Hot Puppies; Murry the Hump; and The Lowland Hundred. The University Music Centre promotes a varied programme for instrumentalists, singers and listeners from the university and the wider community. The University chamber choir, The Elizabethan Madrigal Singers, have been singing in the town since 1950 and continue to hold a number of concerts throughout the year. Aberystwyth gives its name to a well known hymn tune composed by Joseph Parry.

 

Aberystwyth RFC is the local rugby union club and acts as a feeder club to professional side Scarlets. It was formed in 1947 and for the 2017/18 season played in the WRU Division One West. Aberystwyth Town F.C. is a semi-professional football club that was formed in 1884. The team currently compete in the Cymru Premier, Wales' top division. The town also has a cricket club which plays in local leagues, an athletics club (founded 1955), and boxing club in Penparcau. The town's golf course opened in 1911.

 

Ceredigion, the county in which Aberystwyth is located, is one of the four most Welsh-speaking counties in Wales and remained majority Welsh speaking until the 2011 census. Since the town's growth as a seaside resort in the Victorian era, it has been more anglicised than its hinterland and the rest of the county in general. The university has also attracted many English-speaking students from England, non-Welsh speaking parts of Wales and elsewhere. The 1891 census recorded that, of the 6635 inhabitants who completed the language section, 3482 (52.5%) were bilingual, 1751 (26.4%) were Welsh monoglots, and 1402 people (21.1%) were returned as English monoglots. Ceredigion (then named Cardiganshire) as a whole was 95.2% Welsh-speaking and 74.5% monoglot Welsh. Although the town remained majority Welsh-speaking for many more decades, English had already replaced Welsh in certain domains, such as entertainment and tourism. By 1961, only 50.0% of the town's population could speak Welsh, compared to 79.5% for Cardiganshire as a whole; by 1971, these numbers had fallen to 44.9% and 67.6% respectively. The 2001 census reported that, in the seven wards of Aberystwyth, 39% of the residents self-identified as able to speak or read or write Welsh. This is lower than Ceredigion as a whole (54%) but higher than Wales overall (19%).

 

Aberystwyth parish church is St Michael's and All Angels, located in Laura Place. The parish was a Rectoral Benefice until 2019, incorporating the Anglican churches of Holy Trinity, Santes Fair (services in Welsh) and Saint Anne's, Penparcau. The Rectoral Benefice has now been converted to a local ministry area (LMA). The church was built between 1886 and 1890, replacing an earlier church. It was designed in a Gothic Revival style and is a Grade II listed building.

 

In addition to the Anglican churches, there are many existing and former Welsh Calvinistic Methodist chapels that have these days merged into Saint David's (United Reformed) and Capel y Morfa (Welsh language services). A former Calvinistic Methodist Sunday school house, Ysgoldy Tanycae, is now the meeting place of the Elim Pentecostal church. Meanwhile there is a Wesleyan Methodist church, Saint Paul's Methodist Centre, located in Bath Street. An Independent Baptist church is located in Alfred Place. In 2021, amid some controversy, Aberystwyth's Catholic church, Saint Winefride's, was closed and the congregation relocated to a new-build church located in Penparcau.

 

There are a number of other smaller congregations, and many former churches that have now been converted to alternative use, such as the Academy bar.

 

Aberystwyth has two comprehensive schools serving the town and a wide rural area: Ysgol Gyfun Gymunedol Penweddig and Ysgol Penglais School. Ysgol Gyfun Gymunedol Penweddig uses Welsh as the primary language of tuition; Ysgol Penglais School teaches in English and in Welsh as a subject.

 

There are currently three primary schools within the town limits, which are: Plascrug, Saint Padarns (Roman Catholic) and Ysgol Gymraeg. Ysgol Gymraeg was the first designated Welsh medium school in Wales, originally established as a private school in 1939 by Sir Ifan ab Owen Edwards as Ysgol Gymraeg yr Urdd.

 

Aberystwyth is home to Aberystwyth University (Welsh: Prifysgol Aberystwyth) whose predecessor, University College Wales, was founded in 1872 and renamed the 'University of Wales, Aberystwyth' in the mid-1990s. Prior to the college's establishment, Wales had very limited academic-degree capability through St David's College, Lampeter (founded in 1822, now the University of Wales, Trinity Saint David).

 

As well as having two cinemas and a golf course, the town's attractions include:

The Aberystwyth Cliff Railway, a funicular railway

A Victorian camera obscura at the top of Constitution Hill.

The Vale of Rheidol steam railway (Aberystwyth to Devil's Bridge)

Aberystwyth Arts Centre.

The Parc Penglais nature reserve

The Ystwyth Trail cycle path

National Library of Wales

Park Avenue. Football stadium home to Aberystwyth Town F.C.

The all organic dairy unit of Rachel's Organic is based in Glan yr Afon, and is the largest private sector employer in Aberystwyth.

 

The Cambrian News newspaper came to Aberystwyth from Bala in 1870, after it was purchased by Sir John Gibson. Printed in Oswestry, in May 1880 the paper integrated operations in a former Malthouse in Mill Street. Owned by the Read family from 1926, in 1993 printing was contracted out, enabling the move of editorial staff to the current open-plan offices on Llanbadarn Fawr Science Park. On the death of Henry Read, the paper was purchased in 1999 by Sir Ray Tindle, whose company owns more than 200 weekly newspapers in Britain. Now printed in tabloid format, Cambrian News is the second-largest weekly-print circulation newspaper in Wales, with 24,000 copies in six regional editorial versions, read by 60,000 weekly readers. The circulation area of mid, west and north Wales covers 3,000 square miles (7,800 km2).

 

Since the TV series Hinterland has been filmed in and around Aberystwyth, the area is being promoted as an opportunity for tourists to visit filming locations; many are well publicised.

 

Aberystwyth railway station is situated in the town centre and is the terminus of the scenic Cambrian Line. Transport for Wales Rail operate a mostly hourly service (with some two-hour intervals) to Shrewsbury via Machynlleth and Mid Wales, with nearly all trains continuing to Birmingham International. Connecting services from Dovey Junction provide a link to Gwynedd's west coast as far as Pwllheli, along the Cambrian Coast Line. There is no longer a southbound connection: the Carmarthen–Aberystwyth line was closed in 1965 as part of the Beeching cuts.

 

Aberystwyth station is also the terminus of the Vale of Rheidol Railway, a steam-operated narrow gauge heritage railway. Constructed between 1901 and 1902, it was intended to ship mineral cargo, primarily lead, from Devil's Bridge down to Aberystwyth for trans-shipment. By the time it was finished, lead mining was in a deep downturn and—thanks to the Aberystwyth Improvement Company—the railway came to rely largely on the tourist industry, opening for passengers in December 1902. It still remains open for the summer season, with a journey of 12 miles (19 km).

 

In 1896, the Aberystwyth Improvement Company formed Constitution Hill Ltd which, under the direction of chief engineer George Croydon Marks, developed the United Kingdom's second longest funicular railway, the Aberystwyth Cliff Railway, which takes passengers up a 50% gradient.

 

A TrawsCymru T1 service on the A4120 in Aberystwyth

Aberystwyth is a hub for the TrawsCymru bus network, with four routes serving the town:

 

T1 - hourly service to Carmarthen (connects with T1S to Swansea, Monday-Saturday) via Aberaeron and Lampeter - with one service a day (Monday-Saturday) extended to Cardiff

T1C - daily express coach service to Cardiff, via Aberaeron, Carmarthen (connects with T1S to Swansea, Monday-Saturday), Swansea (Sunday & Bank Holidays only), Port Talbot Parkway and Bridgend

T2 - every 1–2 hours to Bangor via Machynlleth, Dolgellau (connects with T3 to Barmouth and Wrexham), Porthmadog and Caernarfon

T5 - hourly service to Haverfordwest via Aberaeron, New Quay, Cardigan and Fishguard

(TrawsCymru services run less-frequently on Sundays.)

 

There is a daily National Express coach, service 409 to London via Birmingham, along with local bus services within the town and into the surrounding area.

 

The A44 and A487 meet with much traffic between North Wales and South West Wales passing through the town. The A4120 links the A44 and A487 between Llanbadarn Fawr and Penparcau, allowing through traffic to bypass the town centre.

 

The B4574 mountain road linking the town to Rhayader is described by the AA as one of the ten most scenic drives in the world.

 

The port of Aberystwyth, although it is small and relatively inconsequential today, used to be an important Atlantic Ocean entryway. It was used to ship locally, to Ireland and as a transatlantic departure point. Commercially, the once important Cardiganshire lead mines exported from this location.

 

The importance of maritime trade in the 19th century is reflected in the fact that a lifeboat has been based at Aberystwyth since 1843, when a 27 ft (8.2 m) boat powered by six oars was funded by public subscription and placed under the control of the harbourmaster. The RNLI took over the service in 1861 and established Aberystwyth Lifeboat Station which celebrated 150 years in 2011. The station uses the Atlantic 85-class inshore lifeboat Spirit of Friendship.

 

The Owl Service by Alan Garner, a well-known and -loved multi-award-winning classic published 1967, is set in north Wales and has two of its core characters —Gwyn and his mam (mother) Nancy— recently arrived from Aberystwyth for 3 weeks' work, with Nancy repeatedly threatening to return there immediately. They and the Welsh locals refer to it as "Aber"; the English characters use its full name.

Aberystwyth (albeit an alternative universe version) is the setting for the cult Louie Knight series by Malcolm Pryce, which transfers Chandleresque "noir" stories and dialogue to this small seaside town. This alternative reality features many landmarks of Aberystwyth, such as the University and the National Library of Wales, but the social situation is radically altered to more closely resemble the pulp/noir stereotypical "Dirty Town" that the narrative plays off. Most of the humour in the books is derived from the almost seamless juxtaposition of the real Aberystwyth and the fictional, noir Aberystwyth. Various aspects of Welsh culture are reflections of what you might expect to see in reality, but with a pulp twist – for example, prostitutes wear Welsh stovepipe hats.

Stripping Penguins Bare, the book 2 of Michael Carson's Benson Trilogy of comic novels, is set in the town and university in the 1960s.

The local writer Niall Griffiths has set many of his novels here and reflects local slang, settings, and even individuals. Grits and Sheepshagger are set wholly in Aberystwyth, which also features prominently in his other novels such as Kelly and Victor and Stump. He portrays a more gritty side of Aberystwyth.

‘Cofiwch Aberystwyth’ by science fiction writer Val Nolan, is a near-future post-apocalyptic novelette about three young urban explorers visiting Aberystwyth years after a nuclear disaster on the west coast of Wales. It was originally published in Interzone (magazine) and later anthologised in Best of British Science Fiction 2020. The title references the Cofiwch Dryweryn graffiti outside nearby Llanrhystyd, Ceredigion.

 

Television

Y Gwyll (2013–2016), a Welsh-language television programme, and the English-language version Hinterland , broadcast on S4C, BBC One Wales, BBC Four, and syndicated around the world, is set in Aberystwyth. It is filmed in and around the town, often in rural locations.

 

Film

Y Llyfrgell (2017) is an award-winning Welsh language film set in and around the National Library, which was filmed on location in 2016. The 2009 book on which it was based was released in English in 2022.

 

The following people and military units have received the Freedom of the Town of Aberystwyth.

Individuals

1912 – Sir John Williams

1912 – David Davies

1912 – Stuart Rendel

1922 – David Lloyd George

1923 – Lewis Pugh Evans

1923 – Matthew Vaughan-Davies

1923 – Sir Herbert Lewis

1928 – Stanley Baldwin

1936 – Sir David Charles Roberts

1936 – Ernest Vaughan

1951 – Winston Churchill

1956 – Sir David James

2011 – Fritz Pratschke

2015 – Jean Guezennec

 

Military Units

1955 – The Welsh Guards

 

Twinning

Arklow in Wicklow, Republic of Ireland Ireland

Kronberg im Taunus in Hesse Hesse, Germany Germany

Saint-Brieuc in Brittany Brittany, France France

Esquel in Patagonia, Argentina Argentina

African Rock Python approx. 15ft constricting female domestic goat.

American postcard in The Ludlow Collection series by Classico San Francisco, no. 136-239. Photo: Peter Sellers as Inspector Jacques Clouseau in The Return of the Pink Panther (Blake Edwards, 1975).

 

British comedian Peter Sellers (1925-1980) was an incredibly versatile actor. He played Chief Inspector Clouseau in the Pink Panther films with as much ease as Clare Quilty in Lolita (1962). Stanley Kubrick asked him to play three roles in Dr. Strangelove (1964) for which he was nominated for an Academy Award.

 

Richard Henry Sellers was born in 1925 in Southsea, a suburb of Portsmouth, England. He was literally born into show business. His parents, William "Bill" Sellers and Agnes Doreen "Peg" née Marks, were vaudeville performers in an acting company run by his grandmother, and Peter arrived while they were appearing in Southsea. Although christened Richard Henry, his parents called him Peter, after his elder stillborn brother. He made his stage debut at the Kings Theatre, Southsea, when he was two weeks old. Sellers remained an only child. He began accompanying his parents in a variety act that toured the provincial theatres, causing much upheaval and unhappiness in the young Sellers' life. Sellers studied dance as a child before attending St. Aloysius’ Boarding and Day School for Boys. As a teenager, he learned to play the drums and played with jazz bands. At the age of 18, Sellers entered the Royal Air Force during World War II. There he became part of a group of entertainers who performed for the troops. Sellers played his drums and did dead-on impersonations of some of the officers. After the war, he struggled to launch his comic career for several years. After several previous attempts, Sellers managed to land work with the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) by winning over radio producer Roy Speer during a phone conversation. His spot-on impersonations helped to make him a beloved radio comedian. In 1951, Sellers joined fellow comics Spike Milligan, Harry Secombe and Michael Bentine for The Goon Show. The program proved to be hugely popular with listeners who tuned in to hear their absurd skits and bits. The success of The Goon Show helped Sellers break into films. In 1951 the Goons made their feature film debut in Penny Points to Paradise (Anthony Young, 1951). Sellers and Milligan then penned the script to the short Let's Go Crazy (Alan Cullimore, 1951), the earliest film to showcase Sellers's ability to portray a series of different characters within the same film, and he made another appearance opposite his Goons co-stars in the flop, Down Among the Z Men (Maclean Rogers, 1952). In 1954, Sellers was cast opposite Sid James, Donald Pleasence and Eric Sykes in the comedy Orders Are Orders (David Paltenghi, 1955). Then he landed a part as one of the oddball criminals in the classic Ealing comedy The Ladykillers (Alexander Mackendrick, 1955) with Alec Guinness. The Ladykillers was a success in both Britain and the US, and the film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. Sellers starred with David Tomlinson and Wilfrid Hyde-White as a chief petty officer in Up the Creek (Val Guest, 1958). In 1959, his career really took off with the satire I’m All Right, Jack (John and Roy Boulting, 1959). For his part as Fred Kite, the dogmatic communist union man, he won the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role. In The Mouse That Roared (Jack Arnold, 1959) with Jean Seberg, Sellers played three characters: the elderly Grand Duchess, the ambitious Prime Minister and the innocent and clumsy farm boy selected to lead an invasion of the United States. This box office hit helped to introduce Sellers to the American audiences. In 1959 he was also nominated for an Academy Award for the eleven-minute short The Running Jumping & Standing Still Film (Richard Lester, Peter Sellers, 1959). Sellers portrayed an Indian doctor, Dr Ahmed el Kabir opposite Sophia Loren in the romantic comedy The Millionairess (Anthony Asquith, 1960) based on the George Bernard Shaw play. The Goon Show ended its run in 1960, but the program proved to be a strong influence on British comedy. It paved the way for such future comedy shows as Monty Python's Flying Circus.

 

Peter Sellers hit his stride in the early 1960s with three of his most famous roles. Stanley Kubrick asked him to play the role of the mentally unbalanced TV writer Clare Quilty in Lolita (Stanley Kubrick, 1962), opposite Sue Lyon, James Mason and Shelley Winters. Sellers introduced audiences to the world’s most bumbling detective, French Inspector Jacques Clouseau, in Blake Edwards’s The Pink Panther (1963). The film proved to be a huge success, and it was quickly followed by the sequel A Shot in the Dark (Blake Edwards, 1964) again with Herbert Lom as Commissioner Dreyfus and Burt Kwouk as Cato. Andrew Spicer in The Encyclopedia of British Cinema: “In Clouseau, Sellers combined his vocal ingenuity and skill as a slapstick comedian, yet always retained an essential humanity through the inspector's indefatigable dignity in the face of a hostile universe.” In Kubricks’s cold war satire Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (Stanley Kubrick, 1964), Sellers once again showed his ability to tackle multiple characters the well-meaning US President Merkin Muffley, unflappable RAF Group Captain Lionel Mandrake and the nightmarish Dr. Strangelove himself, the government's adviser on nuclear warfare, who is unable to control his own body. His black gloved hand always tries to make a Nazi salute, expressing an ineradicable desire to dominate and destroy. Kubrick later commented that the idea of having Sellers in so many of the film's key roles was that "everywhere you turn there is some version of Peter Sellers holding the fate of the world in his hands". In 1964, Sellers had his first heart attack. He was reportedly clinically dead for two and a half minutes before being revived. This incident marked the beginning of his heart troubles, and he later had a pacemaker installed to help manage his heartbeat. Making a full recovery, Sellers continued to work in the cinema. What's New Pussycat (Clive Donner, 1965) with Peter O'Toole and Romy Schneider, was another big hit, but a combination of his ego and insecurity made Sellers difficult to work with. When the James Bond spoof, Casino Royale (Ken Hughes, John Huston, Joseph McGrath, Robert Parrish, 1967) ran over budget and was unable to recoup its costs despite an otherwise healthy box-office take, Sellers received some of the blame. His films of the late 1960s and early 1970s had some decidedly mixed results.

 

It was his famed character Inspector Clouseau who gave Peter Sellers a boost at the box office with The Return of the Pink Panther (Blake Edwards, 1975) with Christopher Plummer and Catherine Schell. This hit spawned two more Pink Panther films, The Pink Panther Strikes Again (Blake Edwards, 1976), and Revenge of the Pink Panther (Blake Edwards, 1978). Sellers earned raves for his subtle, understated turn as the simple gardener Chance who becomes an unlikely trusted advisor to a powerful businessman and an insider in Washington politics in Being There (Hal Asby, 1979), a film adaptation of Jerzy Kosinski's novel. His character spouts ideas and comments based on his years of television-watching, which are confused by others as words of wisdom. Sellers earned a Golden Globe Award and an Academy Award nomination for his performance. After making this remarkable black comedy, Sellers’s career seemed to be on an upswing. But he never lived to realise this new wave of potential. His last film was The Fiendish Plot of Dr. Fu Manchu (Piers Haggard, 1980), a comedic re-imagining of the eponymous adventure novels by Sax Rohmer; Sellers played both police inspector Nayland Smith and Fu Manchu, alongside Helen Mirren and David Tomlinson. The film, completed just a few months before his death, proved to be another box office flop. Peter Sellers died in a London hospital in 1980, after suffering another heart attack. Sellers was only 54. In his personal life, Sellers struggled with depression and insecurities. Wikipedia: “An enigmatic figure, he often claimed to have no identity outside the roles that he played. His behaviour was often erratic and compulsive, and he frequently clashed with his directors and co-stars, especially in the mid-1970s when his physical and mental health, together with his alcohol and drug problems, were at their worst. Sellers was married four times”. He was survived by his fourth wife Lynne Frederick, and three children from his previous marriages. His son Michael and daughter Sarah came from his first marriage to Anne Howe and daughter Victoria came from his second marriage to actress Britt Ekland. He was also briefly married to Miranda Quarry from 1970 to 1974. Sellers was portrayed by Geoffrey Rush in the biopic The Life and Death of Peter Sellers (Stephen Hopkins, 2004).

 

Sources: Andrew Spicer (The Encyclopedia of British Cinema), Ashley G. Mackinnon (IMDb), Biography.com Wikipedia and IMDb.

Quite an impressive building for folks who believe in a mythical thing. The people who 'work' there have fancy costumes, endorse unproven so called events as facts and cherry pick sections from a book that almost seem plausible at best.

 

Here are a few actual facts.

:- It's a Grade I Listed Cathedral Church.

:- The original church, was built in in 943

:- Current church built c.1530–1725 renovated 1969–1975, 2015–2016

:- It has a tower that's 212 feet (65 m)

:- Derby Cathedral defended its decision to hold screenings of three films that between them show graphic sex scenes, paganism and a satirical depiction of a “naughty boy” who keeps being mistaken for Jesus Christ.

:- It also shown 1970s film classics The Wicker Man, Don’t Look Now and Monty Python’s Life of Brian on an inflatable big screen – despite opposition from some church wardens.

Yeah. I guess I like telling people random stuff about myself, so here goes. Read if you dare!

 

#1. I love music and I'm pretty sure I couldn't live without it. It can make me happy or sad or inspired or impressed or interested (and probably more words starting with an 'i'). I love making it, I love listening to it, I love exploring it and learning about it. I could quote so many songs to express my love for music, but wont.

 

#2. I tend to babble. Especially when I'm talking or writing about something that I care about, like environmental affairs or something I know a lot about. Or about myself, which is precisely what I'm doing here!

 

#3. My favorite TV show is Monty Python's Flying Circus (A.K.A. Owl-Stretching Time) and my favorite movies are the Monty Python movies. I quote them too much. (go boil your bottoms, sons of silly persons! I fart in your general direction!)

 

#4. My favorite band is Queen and I wish Freddie Mercury was alive so I could go to a Queen concert. My favorite musician is Bob Dylan and I'm going to his concert in Reykjavík in May, no matter what anyone says. Freddie Mercury and Bob Dylan, along with Chris Martin, are on the top of my list of people I want to meet :)

 

#5. I sing a lot when I'm home alone.

 

#6. When I see movies I love or hear music I love, even read books I love, I tend to Google them and consequently knowing everything about them.

 

#7. I like jewelry.

 

#8. I smile a lot and I laugh a lot, but I feel silly doing it in self portraits. So I guess you Flickrites haven't really seen it...

 

#9. I'm stubborn as hell.

 

#10. I wore glasses for 10 years, but now I have contacts.

 

#11. I like (and need) attention. That may be one of the reasons for my 365 project. There, I admitted it!

 

#12. I am such a tedious know-it-all sometimes!

 

#13. I love Iceland. I'm so damn lucky to live here, it's amazing. Breathtaking. Fantastic, phenomenal, majestic, magnificent, mindbogglingly wonderful. :D

 

There.

 

Day 77 of 366

 

BWW Day 4

 

This looks so different in PC than in my MacBook. Everything does >.<

 

This was explored, at #57 when I noticed it!

** lyrics stolen from Monty Python's "Life Of Brian"

The title comes from a line in British comedy's "Monty Python's Flying Circus", a show that I loved. Unusual is a mild description for the show.

 

As I said in an earlier post, I visited our local art center yesterday. One of the exhibits was kinda quirky and contained old games and toys in unusual combinations. It inspired me do take a dinosaurs and shadows shot just as an experiment.

 

Chauvanist Pigs @ $1.29

September 10, 2009

"With government backing I can make it very silly,"

from Monty Python's Flying Circus "Ministry of Silly Walks" sketch

 

Winner: Ryan Lantrip

 

As seen on MrXStitch

Uploaded with Flickup on iPhone.

(Taken from outside the cattery at Battersea Dogs and Cats Home, an amazing charity)

Battersea Power Station is a decommissioned coal-fired power station located on the south bank of the River Thames, in Battersea, South London. The station comprises two individual power stations, built in two stages in the form of a single building. Battersea A Power Station was built first in the 1930s, with Battersea B Power Station to its east in the 1950s. The two stations were built to an identical design, providing the well known four chimney layout. The station ceased generating electricity in 1983, but over the past 50 years it has become one of the best known landmarks in London and is Grade II* listed. The station's celebrity owes to numerous cultural appearances, which include a shot in The Beatles' 1965 movie Help! and being used in the cover art of Pink Floyd's 1977 album Animals.

Since closure the site has remained largely unused, with numerous failed redevelopment plans from successive site owners. The site is currently owned by Irish company Real Estate Opportunities, who purchased it for £400 million in November 2006. The station is the largest brick building in Europe and is notable for its original, lavish Art Deco interior fittings and decor. However, the building's condition has been described as "very bad" by English Heritage, who include the power station on its Buildings at Risk Register. In 2004 the power station was on the World Monuments Fund's List of 100 Most Endangered Sites.

History

Until the late 1930s electricity was supplied by municipal undertakings. These were small power companies that built power stations dedicated to a single industry or group of factories, and sold any excess electricity to the public. These companies used widely differing standards of voltage and frequency. In 1925, parliament decided that the power grid should be a single system with uniform standards under public ownership. Several of the private power companies reacted to the proposal by forming the London Power Company. They planned to heed parliament's recommendations and build a small number of very large stations.

The London Power Company's first of these super power stations was planned for the Battersea area, on the south bank of the River Thames in London. The proposal for the station was made in 1927, for a station built in two stages, capable of generating 400,000 kilowatts (kW) of electricity once completed. The site chosen for the construction of the station was a 15 acre plot of land which had been the site of the reservoirs for the former Southwark and Vauxhall Waterworks Company. The site was chosen for its close proximity to the River Thames for cooling water and coal delivery, and because it was sited in the heart of London, the station's immediate supply area.

The proposal sparked protests from those who felt that the building would be too large and would be an eyesore, as well as worries about the pollution damaging local buildings, parks and even paintings in the nearby Tate Gallery. The company addressed the former concern by hiring Sir Giles Gilbert Scott to design the building's exterior. He was a noted architect and industrial designer, famous for his design of the red telephone box, and of Liverpool Anglican Cathedral. He would go on to design another London power station, Bankside, which now houses the Tate Modern art gallery. The pollution issue was resolved by granting permission for the station on the condition that its emissions were to be treated, to ensure they were cleaner and contained less smoke.

Construction of the first phase, the A Station, commenced in March 1929. The main building work was carried out by John Mowlem & Co, and the structural steelwork erection carried out by Sir William Arrol & Co. Other contractors were employed for specialist tasks. Most of the electrical equipment, including the steam turbine turbo generators, was produced by Metropolitan Vickers. The building of the steel frame began in October 1930. Once completed, the construction of the brick cladding began, in March 1931. Prior to the construction of the B Station, the eastern wall of the boiler house was clad in corrugated metal sheeting as a temporary enclosure. The A Station first generated electricity in 1933, but was not completed until 1935. The total cost of its construction came to £2,141,550. Between construction beginning, in 1929, and 1933 there were 6 fatal and 121 non-fatal accidents on the site.

A short number of months after the end of Second World War, construction commenced on the second phase, the B Station. The station came into operation gradually between 1953 to 1955. It was identical to the A Station from the outside and was constructed directly to its east as a mirror to it, which gave the power station its now familiar four-chimney layout. The construction of the B Station brought the site's generating capacity up to 509 megawatts (MW), making it the third largest generating site in the UK at the time, providing a fifth of London's electricity needs. It was also the most thermally efficient power station in the world when it opened.

The A Station had been operated by the London Power Company, but by the time the B Station was completed, the UK's electric supply industry had been nationalised, and ownership of the two stations had passed into the hands of the British Electricity Authority in 1948. In 1955, this became the Central Electricity Authority, which in turn became the Central Electricity Generating Board in 1957.

On 20 April 1964, the power station was the site of a fire that caused power failures throughout London, including at the BBC Television Centre, which was due to launch BBC Two that night. The launch was delayed until the following day at 11am.

Design and specification

Both of the stations were designed by a team of architects and engineers. The team was headed by Dr S. Leonard Pearce, the chief engineer of the London Power Company, but a number of other notable engineers were also involved, including Henry Newmarch Allott, and T. P. O'Sullivan who was later responsible for the Assembly Hall at Filton. Theo J. Halliday was employed as architect, with Halliday & Agate Co. employed as a sub-consultant. Halliday was responsible for the supervision and execution of the appearance of the exterior and interior of the building. Architect Sir Giles Gilbert Scott was involved in the project much later on, consulted to appease public reaction, and refer to in the press as "architect of the exterior". The station was designed in the brick-cathedral style of power station design, which had been popular when the stations were designed in the 1930s and 1940s. Battersea is one of a very small number of examples of this style of power station design still in existence in the UK, other survivals being Uskmouth and Bankside. The station's design proved popular straight away, and was described as a "temple of power", which ranked equal with St Paul's Cathedral as a London landmark. In a 1939 survey by Architects Journal, it was ranked as a panel of celebrities' second most favourite building.

The A Station's interior was given many art deco fittings by architect Halliday. The control room was given art deco fittings, Italian marble was used in the turbine hall, and polished parquet floors and wrought iron staircases were used throughout. Due to a lack of available money following the Second World War, the interior of the B Station was not given the same treatment, and instead the fittings were made from stainless steel.

Each of the two connected stations consist of a long boiler house with a chimney at each end and an adjacent turbine hall. This makes a single main structure which is of steel frame construction with brick cladding. This is similar to the skyscrapers which were built in the United States around the same time. The station is the largest brick built structure in Europe. The building's gross dimensions measure 160 metres (520 ft) by 170 metres (560 ft), with the roof of the boiler house standing at over 50 metres (160 ft). Each of the four chimneys are made from concrete and stand at a height of 103 metres (338 ft). The station also had jetty facilities for unloading coal, a coal sorting and storage area, control rooms and an admin block.

The A Station generated electricity using three turbo alternators; two 69 megawatt (MW) Metropolitan Vickers British Thomson-Houston sets, and one 105 MW Metropolitan Vickers set, giving the A Station a generating capacity of 243 MW. At the time of its commissioning, the 105 MW generating set was the largest in Europe. The B Station also had three turbo alternators, all made by Metropolitan Vickers. This consisted of two units which used 16 MW high pressure units exhausting to a 78 MW and associated with a 6 MW house alternator, giving these units a total rating of 100 MW. The third unit cosisted of a 66 MW machine associated with a 6 MW house alternator, giving the unit a rating of 72 MW. Combined, these gave the B station a generating capacity of 260 MW, making the site's generating capacity 503 MW. All of the station's boilers were made by Babcock & Wilcox, fueled by pulverised coal from pulverisers also built by Babcock and Wilcox. There were nine boilers in the A station and six in the B station. The B station's boilers were the largest ever built in the UK at that time. The B station also had the highest thermal efficiency of any power station in the country for the first twelve years of its operation.

Operations

Coal transportation

Coal was usually brought to the station by collier ships, and unloaded by cranes, which are still intact on the station's riverfront

The station had an annual coal consumption of over 1,000,000 tonnes. The majority of this coal was delivered to the station from coal ports in Wales and North East England by collier ships. The jetty facilities used two cranes to off load coal, with the capacity of unloading two ships at one time, at a rate of 480 tonnes an hour. Coal was also delivered by rail to the east of the station using the Brighton Main Line which passes near the site. Coal was usually delivered via the jetty, rather than rail. A conveyor belt system was then used to take coal to the coal storage area or directly to the station's boiler rooms. The conveyor belt system consisted of a series of bridges connected by towers. The coal storage area was a large concrete box capable of holding 75,000 tonnes of coal. This had an overhead gantry with a conveyor belt attached to the conveyor belt system, for taking coal from the coal store to the boiler rooms.

Water system

Water is essential to a thermal power station, as water is heated to create steam to turn the steam turbines. Water cycled through Battersea Power Station's systems was taken from the River Thames, upon whose banks it had been built. The station would extract an average of 340,000,000 gallons of water from the river each day.Once the water had been through the stations' systems, the water was cooled and discharged back into the river.

The waste heat of the water was also implemented in a district heating scheme. After the end of the Second World War, the London Power Company took the opportunity to introduce the new innovation in the Battersea station. A district heating scheme (better known now as "cogeneration") benefitted some 10,000 people. It provided hot water and central heating to newly redeveloped areas within Pimlico, on the opposite side of the river.

Scrubbers

The reduction of sulphur emissions had been an important factor since the station was in the design stages, as it was one of the main worries of those who protested the construction of the station. The London Power Company began developing an experimental technique for washing the flue gases in 1925. It used water and alkaline sprays over scrubbers of steel and timber in the flue ducts. The gases were subject to continuous washing, and with the presence of the catalyst iron oxide, sulphur dioxide was converted into sulphuric acid. Battersea Power Station was one of the first commercial applications of this technique in the world. This method of washing was stopped in the B Station in the 1960s, when it was discovered that the discharge of these products into the Thames was more harmful to the river than the gases would be to the atmosphere.

Closure and redevelopment

Closure

The fact that the station's output continued to fall, coupled with increased operating costs, such as flue gas cleaning, led to Battersea's demise. On 17 March 1975, the A Station was closed after being in operation for 40 years. By this time the A Station's was co-firing oil and its generating capacity had reduced to 228 MW.

Three years after the closure of the A Station, rumours began to circulate that the B Station would soon follow. A campaign was then launched to try and save the building as part of the national heritage. As a result the station was declared a heritage site in 1980, when then Secretary of State for the Environment, Michael Heseltine, awarded the building Grade II listed status. (This was upgraded to Grade II* listed in 2007.) On 31 October 1983 production of electricity at Station B also ended, after nearly 30 years of operation. By then the B Station's generating capacity had lowered to 146 MW.The closure of the two stations was put down largely to the generating equipment becoming out-dated, and due to the preferred choice of fuel for electricity generation shifting from coal toward, oil, gas and nuclear power. Since the station ceased generating electricity, there have been numerous proposals and attempts to redevelop the site.

Theme park proposal

Following the station's closure, the Central Electricity Generating Board had planned to demolish the station and sell the land for housing, but because of the building's Grade II listed status, they had to pay the high cost of preserving the building. In 1983 they held a competition for ideas on the redevelopment of the site. It was won by a consortium including Alton Towers Ltd, which proposed an indoor theme park, based around Britain's industrial history. At a estimated cost of £35 million, the scheme was risky and would require over 2 million visitors a year to make any profit. The scheme received planning approval in May 1986 and the site was purchased by John Broome for £1.5 million in 1987. Work on converting the site began the same year.

The project was halted in March 1989, due to lack of funding, after costs had quickly escalated that January, from £35 million to £230 million. By this point huge sections of the building's roof had been removed, so that machinery could be taken out. Without a roof, the building's steel frame work has been left exposed and its foundations have been prone to flooding.

In March 1990, the proposal was changed to a mixture of offices, shops and a hotel. This proposal was granted planning permission in August 1990, despite opposition from 14 independent organizations, including English Heritage. Despite permission being granted, no further work took place on the site between 1990 and 1993.

Parkview proposal

In 1993, the site and its outstanding debt of £70 million were bought from the Bank of America by Hong Kong based development company, Parkview International, for £10 million. Following resolution of creditors' claims, it acquired the freehold title in May 1996. In November 1996 plans for the redevelopment of the site were submitted and outline consent was received in May 1997. Detailed consent for much of the site was granted in August 2000, and the rest in May 2001. The company received full possession of the site in 2003. Having purchased the site, Parkview started work on a £1.1 billion project to restore the building and to redevelop the site into a retail, housing and leisure complex.

Parkview's project plan, called simply "The Power Station", was masterminded by architect Nicholas Grimshaw. The scheme proposed a shopping mall, with 40 to 50 restaurants, cafes and bars, 180 shops, as well as nightclubs, comedy venues and a cinema. Cosmopolitan shops would have been sited in the A Station's turbine hall, and label name shops in the B Station's turbine hall. The boiler house would have been glazed over and used as a public space for installations and exhibitions. A riverside walkway would also be created, running continuously along the riverside from Vauxhall to Battersea Park.

Parkview claimed that 3,000 jobs would be created during the construction of the project, and 9,000 would be employed once completed, with an emphasis on local recruitment. The Battersea Power Station Community Group campaigned against the Parkview plan and argued for an alternative community-based scheme to be drawn up. The group described the plans as "a deeply unattractive project that has no affordable housing anywhere on the 38-acre (150,000 m2) site, no decent jobs for local people and no credible public transport strategy". They also criticised how appropriate the project was in its location, and proposal of other large buildings on the site. Keith Garner of the group said "I feel that there’s a real problem of appropriateness. They need a completely different kind of scheme, not this airport-lounge treatment. What you see now is a majestic building looming up from the river. If you surround it with buildings 15 storeys high, you don’t have a landmark any more."

In 2005 Parkview, English Heritage and the London Borough of Wandsworth claimed that the reinforcement inside the chimneys was corroded and irreparable. Wandsworth Council granted permission for them to be demolished and rebuilt. However, the Twentieth Century Society, the World Monuments Fund and the Battersea Power Station Company Ltd commissioned an alternative engineers' report that claimed that the existing chimneys could be repaired. In response, Parkview claimed to have given a legally binding undertaking to the council to provide certainty that the chimneys will be replaced "like for like", in accordance with the requirements of English Heritage and the planning authorities.

REO proposal

On 30 November 2006, it was announced that Real Estate Opportunities, led by Irish businessmen Richard Barrett and Johnny Ronan of Treasury Holdings, had purchased Battersea Power Station and the surrounding land for €532 million (£400 million). REO subsequently announced that the previous plan by Parkview had been dropped and that it had appointed the practice of the Uruguayan-born architect Rafael Viñoly, of New York as the new master planner for the site. The engineers Roger Preston & Partners and Buro Happold were retained on the design team.

They announced their £4 billion plans in 2008. They include reusing part of the station building as a power station, fueled by biomass and waste. The station's existing chimneys would be utilised for venting steam. The former turbine halls would be converted to shopping spaces, and the roofless boiler house used as a park. An energy museum would also be housed inside the former station building. The restoration of the power station building would cost £150 million.

A plastic built "eco-dome" is also to be built to the east of the power station. This building was originally planned to have a large 300 metres (980 ft) chimney, but this has now been abandoned in favour of a series of smaller towers. The eco-dome would house offices, and aim to reduce energy consumption in the buildings by 67% compared to conventional office buildings, by using the towers to draw cool air through the building. 3,200 new homes would also be built on the site to house 7,000 people.

An essential part of the regeneration is an extension of the London Underground to service the area. The proposed extension would branch from the Northern Line at Kennington and travel west to Nine Elms and Battersea. The proposed extension would cost £350 million and would be funded by REO and other significant land owners in the Nine Elms area, making it the first privately funded extension of the London Underground.

In June 2008 a consultation process was launched, which revealed that 66% of the general public were in favour of the plans. At an event at the station on 23 March 2009, it was announced that REO were to submit the planning application for their proposal to Wandsworth Council. REO hope for construction to begin in 2011, with completion of the project by 2020.

Cultural impact

Battersea Power Station has been featured in many forms of media and culture: it can be seen on several album covers by rock and pop groups, in a number of music videos, and has appeared in many films and television programmes in its more than 70 year history.

Music

Album artwork

The Battersea Power Station Community Group think one of the main reasons for the power station's worldwide recognition is due to it having appeared on the cover of Pink Floyd's 1977 album, Animals, where it was photographed with the group's inflatable pink pig floating above it. The photographs were taken in early December 1976 and the inflatable pig was made by the Zeppelin Airship company. The inflatable pig was tethered to one of the power station's southern chimneys, but broke loose from its moorings and, to the astonishment of pilots in approaching planes, rose into the flight path of Heathrow Airport. Police helicopters tracked its course, until it landed in Kent. Video footage of the photoshoot was used in the promotional video for the song "Pigs on the Wing". The album was officially launched at an event at the power station.

The Pink Floyd image has been parodied and paid homage to, for instance on:

•The cover of The Orb's 1991 album, Adventures Beyond The Ultraworld.

•The back cover of Les Claypool's Frog Brigade's 2001 album, Live Frogs Set 2, which is a full cover of Pink Floyd's Animals.

The station can also be seen on various other pieces of album artwork, including:

•The booklet art for The Who's 1973 album, Quadrophenia

•The photograph on the sleeve of Hawkwind's 1977 album, Quark, Strangeness and Charm, is of the B Station's control room.

•The cover of Jan Hammer's 1988 12" single of "The Runner (marathon mix)".

•The back cover of Morrissey's 1990 album Bona Drag.

•The background art for the cover of the 2001 Petula Clark boxed set, Meet Me in Battersea Park.

•The cover of London Elektricity's 2005 album, Power Ballads. Silhouettes of the station's coal cranes were used on the cover of the group's Hanging Rock single.

•A photograph on the inside case of Muse's 2009 album, The Resistance.

•Battersea Power Station was also the name of Junior's Eyes' 1969 album. Junior's Eyes went on to become David Bowie's backup band for a brief period in the late 1960s.

Music videos

The power station has often been used as a shooting location or as a back drop in music artists' promotional videos. Such uses include:

•Footage from the photoshoot of the cover of Pink Floyd's Animals is used in a video for their 1977 song "Pigs on the Wing". During the song "Money" at their 2005 Live 8 performance, the power station was briefly shown when the camera panned out away from the stage.

•The Jam shot the promotional video for their 1978 single "News Of The World" on the roof of the power station. Photos from the shoot featuring the station also appear on the sleeve of the "Snap!" compilation album.

•Tori Amos filmed the video for her 1996 single "Talula" inside the station.

•A scene from Bill Wyman's promotional video for his 1981 single, "Je Suis un Rock Star", shows the station in the background.

•The station appears in the 1997 music video by American pop band Hanson, for their song "Where's the Love".

•It was rented by Bruce Dickinson in 1999 to be a film location for the video to "Man Of Sorrows".

•The band Biffy Clyro shot the music video for their 2010 single, "Many Of Horror", at the station.

Television and film

•The station was used in the opening scene of Alfred Hitchcock's 1936 film, Sabotage.

•It has appeared numerous times in the long-running British science fiction series Doctor Who. It appeared briefly in the episode The Dalek Invasion of Earth in 1964, which saw the station in the 22nd century with two chimneys demolished, and a nearby nuclear reactor dome. It appeared again in the 2006 Doctor Who episodes "Rise of the Cybermen" and "The Age of Steel" as the base to which Londoners are drawn to be converted into Cybermen.

•It appeared briefly in The Beatles' 1965 film Help!, with a caption identifying it as "a famous power station".

•The station is seen in the 1967 science fiction film The Projected Man.

•The A Station's control room was used as the location for the "Find The Fish" segment of Monty Python's 1983 film The Meaning of Life.

•It was used as the external façade of the Victory Mansions in Michael Radford's 1984 film adaptation of George Orwell's novel, Nineteen Eighty-Four.

•Scenes of Stanley Kubrick's 1987 film Full Metal Jacket were shot inside the power station.

•A stylized image of the station appears in the title sequence of Agatha Christie's Poirot, which began airing in 1989.

•The power station was the location for a weather changing machine in the children's sci-fi series "The Tomorrow People" in 1994 in the episode "Monsoon Man".

•In Ian McKellen's 1995 film adaptation of Shakespeare's Richard III, the derelict power station stands in for Bosworth Field in Richard's final battle scene.

•In the "Knightsbridge" episode of Neil Gaiman's 1996 television series Neverwhere, the station appears as the aboveground landmark for the London Below Floating Market.

•A computer generated version of the power station appeared briefly in the background of a 2006 episode of the ABC television series Lost entitled "Fire and Water", sporting an identifying sign saying "Widmore Construction". This was the first introduced of one of the show's principal antagonists, Charles Widmore.

•In Alfonso Cuarón's 2006 film, Children of Men, the station appears converted as the "Ark Of Art" in 2027. The building contains art treasures salvaged from nations whose governments have collapsed and preserved for a "posterity". It contains a shattered and rebuilt Michelangelo's David, and Picasso's Guernica. An inflatable pig is tethered to the exterior of the building, a reference to the Animals album cover.

•In May 2007, Battersea Power Station played a central role in episode 5 of series 4 of the BBC TV series New Tricks.

•In October 2007, the power station was used as a filming location for the Batman movie, The Dark Knight. The station's stripped, empty interior was used as a setting for a burnt out warehouse.

•Starting in December 2007, the interior of the power station was used in Terry Gilliam's film The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus.

•In April 2010, the station was featured in the BBC television series Ashes to Ashes.

•In March 2010, the movie Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang briefly showed the station, with a silver inflatable pig tethered between two smokestacks.

Other uses in culture

•The "Advanced Power Plant" structure in the 1996 PC game Command & Conquer: Red Alert closely resembles the power station.

•The station is featured in the 1999 video game, Grand Theft Auto: London.

•A brown version of the power station can be seen in the 2001 video game Ace Combat 04: Shattered Skies, in the mission "Invincible Fleet".

•In recent years, the building has played host to concerts and to performances by the Cirque du Soleil. In 2000, the company voiced plans to permanently convert the building into an "urban circus".

•In 2004, photographer Vera Lutter used the station in several pieces of her work. She created the photographs by turning shipping containers into giant pinhole cameras and placing them in front of the building for several days.

•Between the 8 October and 5 November 2006, the Serpentine Gallery took up residence in the power station for the exhibition China Power Station: Part I. It displayed the work of "an extraordinary and vibrant new generation of Chinese artists and architects".

•In 2007, replicating the pig from Pink Floyd, promoters flew a giant inflatable SpiderPig to promote the release of The Simpsons Movie that year.

•On 23 and 24 October 2008, the station was used for the Channel 4 Freeze event. The event included a snow jump and music performances.

•The 2009 video game Colin McRae: Dirt 2 allows the player to race through the disused power station.

•The 2009 BBC Radio 4 radio play, The Mouse House, features a storyline centred around Battersea Power Station.

•Since 22 August 2009, the station has been used as a venue on the Red Bull X-Fighters season.

•On 13 April 2010 the station site was used as the venue for the manifesto launch of the Conservative Party lead by David Cameron during the general election campaign for the UK Parliament at Westminster. Between 6 and 7 May 2010, the station site was used by Sky News in their coverage of the election.

 

Thanks to Wikipedia

 

Not quite Fury v Klitschko, and it looks like something out of Monty Python's TV show...my first impression was 'fist' but the sculpture's title is 'Dust' for completely different reasons. The surf life saving club is still there.

 

Perth's Norton Flavel has a knack for imaginative public art. This follows a blow-up wineskin and a floating ball and chain at Perth exhibitions. He has a metal forming business, Blastform, which does interesting things to metals.

 

The Postcard

 

A postcard bearing no publisher's name that was posted in London on Monday the 2nd. September 1991 to:

 

Mrs. M. Taylor,

99a, McDermott Close,

Ingrave Street,

Battersea.

 

The message on the divided back of the card was as follows:

 

"Dear Margaret,

It was so good to see

you looking well.

I am just going to

Holloway Sainsbury's.

Some people brought

me some stuff.

Rosie

x"

 

Grinling Gibbons

 

Grinling Gibbons was an Anglo-Dutch sculptor and wood carver known for his work in England, including Windsor Castle and Hampton Court Palace, St. Paul's Cathedral and other London churches, Petworth House and other country houses, Trinity College, Oxford, and Trinity College, Cambridge.

 

Gibbons was born in Rotterdam on the 4th. April 1648 and educated in Holland of English parents, his father being a merchant. Grinling is widely regarded as the finest wood carver to have worked in England, and the only one whose name is widely known among the general public.

 

Most of his work is in lime (Tilia) wood, especially decorative Baroque garlands made up of still-life elements at about life size, made to frame mirrors and decorate the walls of churches and palaces, but he also produced furniture and small relief plaques with figurative scenes.

 

He also worked in stone, mostly for churches. By the time he was established he led a large workshop, and the extent to which his personal hand appears in later work varies.

 

Grinling moved to Deptford, England, around 1667, and by 1693 had accepted commissions from the royal family and had been appointed as a master carver. He became known as the "King's Carver", and carried out exquisite work for St. Paul's Cathedral, Windsor Castle, and the Earl of Essex's house at Cassiobury.

 

His carving was so fine that it was said a pot of carved flowers above his house in London would tremble from the motion of passing coaches.

 

The diarist Evelyn first discovered Gibbons' talent by chance in 1671. Evelyn, from whom Gibbons rented a cottage near Evelyn's home in Sayes Court, Deptford (today part of south-east London), wrote the following:

 

"I saw the young man at his carving, by the

light of a candle. I saw him to be engaged

on a carved representation of Tintoretto's

Crucifixion, which he had in a frame of his

own making."

 

Later that same evening, Evelyn described what he had seen to Sir Christopher Wren. Wren and Evelyn then introduced him to King Charles II who gave him his first commission – still resting in the dining room of Windsor Castle.

 

Gibbons was a member of the Drapers' Company in the City of London, being admitted by patrimony in 1672 and called to the livery in 1685.

 

Horace Walpole later wrote about Gibbons:

 

"There is no instance of a man before Gibbons

who gave wood the loose and airy lightness of

flowers, and chained together the various

productions of the elements with the free disorder

natural to each species."

 

-- Grinling Gibbons' Work

 

Gibbons was employed by Wren to work on St Paul's Cathedral, and later was appointed as master carver to George I. He was also commissioned by King William III to create carvings, some of which adorn Kensington Palace today.

 

An example of his work can be seen in the Presence Chamber above the fireplace, which was originally intended to frame a portrait of Queen Mary II after her death in 1694. Also in the Orangery at Kensington, you can see some his pieces.

 

Many fine examples of his work can still be seen in the churches around London, particularly the choir stalls and organ case of St Paul's Cathedral. Some of the finest Gibbons carvings accessible to the general public are those on display at the National Trust's Petworth House in West Sussex. At Petworth the Carved Room is host to a fine and extensive display of intricate wooden carvings by Gibbons.

 

Grinling's work can be seen in the London churches of St. Michael Paternoster Royal and St. James, Piccadilly, where he carved the wood reredos and marble font. The Anglican dislike of painted altarpieces typically left a large space on the east wall that needed filling, which often gave Grinling's garlands a very prominent position, as here.

 

In 1682 King Charles II commissioned Gibbons to carve a panel as a diplomatic gift for his political ally Cosimo III, Grand Duke of Tuscany. The Cosimo Panel is an allegory of art triumphing over hatred and turmoil, and includes a medallion with a low relief of Pietro da Cortona, Cosimo's favourite painter.

 

The panel is housed in the Pitti Palace in Florence. It was recently displayed in the United Kingdom in the Grinling Gibbons and the Art of Carving exhibition held at the V&A from the 22nd. October 1998 until the 24th. January 1999.

 

In 1685 the new king James II asked Gibbons to carve a panel for another Italian ally, the Duke of Modena Francesco II, brother to his second wife Mary of Modena. The Modena Panel is a memento mori for Charles II who died earlier that year and includes a funeral dirge from the play The Contention of Ajax and Ulysses by dramatist James Shirley:

 

"There is no armour against fate; Death lays

its icy hand on kings: Sceptre and crown

must tumble down".

 

It also features a medallion self-portrait of Gibbons. The panel is displayed in the Estense Gallery in Modena.

 

St. Peter and St. Paul church in Exton, Rutland, has a fine marble tomb by Gibbons dating from 1685, showing Viscount Campden with his fourth wife, Elizabeth Bertie, and carvings of his 19 children.

 

Many experienced Flemish sculptors also worked in Gibbons' London workshop as "servants", i.e. collaborators. As these Flemish artists were not trainees, they were never entered in the Draper's records. In a document dated 1679, van der Meulen, Quellin and Verhuke are referred to as servants of Gibbons. Many of them left London and returned to their home country after the revolution of 1688.

 

In the Gibbons workshop these Flemish artists worked on various commissions, but the contributions of particular artists active in the workshop are not always identifiable. Laurens van der Meulen and Peter van Dievoet are known to have collaborated on the creation of the statue of King James II during their stay in the workshop of Gibbons.

 

St. Michael and All Angels Church, Badminton, has a monument by Gibbons to Henry Somerset, 1st. Duke of Beaufort (1629–1700). He was buried alongside his ancestors in the Beaufort Chapel in St George's Chapel, Windsor, but the monument was moved to Badminton in 1878.

 

The monument consists of an effigy of the Duke in Garter robes, reclining on a sarcophagus and a plinth with relief of St. George and the Dragon. There are twin Corinthian columns with embossed shafts, acanthus frieze, cornice with flaming urns, and the Duke's arms and supporters.

 

At the top, 25 ft. from the ground, is a tasseled cushion supporting a coronet; on the plinth are full-length female figures of Justice and Truth. Above the Duke's effigy, parted curtains show the heavenly host with palms and crowns. The Latin inscription displays the names of his family and the many offices he held.

 

Gibbons also made the monument for Admiral Sir Cloudesley Shovell, who was killed in a disastrous shipwreck in 1707. Shovell's large marble monument can be seen in Westminster Abbey.

 

Gibbons' work very often included carvings of peapods. A myth states that he would include a closed pod in his work, only carving it open once he had been paid. If the pea pod was left shut it supposedly showed that he had not been paid for the work.

 

-- The Death and Legacy of Grinling Gibbons

 

Grinling died in London at the age of 73 on the 3rd. August 1721. He was laid to rest at St. Paul's, Covent Garden, London.

 

Gibbons' association with Deptford is commemorated locally: Grinling Gibbons Primary School is in Clyde Street, near the site of Sayes Court in Deptford.

 

Parts of New Cross and Deptford were in the "Grinling Gibbons" council ward from 1978 to 1998.

 

Damson Idris

 

So what else happened on the day that Rosie posted the card?

 

Well, the 2nd. September 1991 also marked the birth in Peckham, South-East London of Damson Idris.

 

Damson Idris is a British-Nigerian actor. He currently stars on John Singleton's crime drama Snowfall, which debuted on the 5th. July 2017 on FX. He also played the co-lead in Netflix's sci-fi action film Outside the Wire.

 

-- Damson Idris - The Early Years

 

Idris is of Nigerian descent, and is the youngest of six children. He played football and dreamed of being the next Cristiano Ronaldo. He also played rugby, and in 2002, he shook the hand of Queen Elizabeth II when his team took part in her Golden Jubilee.

 

Idris's elder siblings - three brothers and two sisters - have all gone on to corporate careers in law, business, and IT, so when Damson realised a professional football career wasn't going to happen, he ended up studying drama at Brunel University.

 

He received a BA Honours degree in Theatre, Film & Television studies. He then went on to train at the Identity School of Acting in London alongside Hollywood stars such as John Boyega, Letitia Wright, and Malachi Kirby.

 

-- Damson Idris' Career

 

After performing at the Royal National Theatre in London, Idris decided to pursue television and film roles. He had several parts on British series including Miranda (2013), Doctors (2015), and Casualty (2015).

 

In May 2017, Idris won the "Emerging Talent Award" at the 12th. Screen Nation Film and Television Awards in London.

 

Idris's breakout role was Franklin Saint, an ambitious 19-year-old drug dealer in Los Angeles, in the FX crime drama Snowfall from John Singleton, which debuted in July 2017.

 

The first season of Snowfall - set in 1983 as the United States is on the verge of the crack cocaine epidemic - weaves together the stories of several characters whose lives will soon collide because of drugs.

 

Idris auditioned through video in London before flying out to Los Angeles, where he spent the day with Singleton, who wanted to ensure Idris had mastery of the accent.

 

To practise his American accent he worked with rapper WC, who tutored him on not just an authentic accent but the mannerisms specific to South Central Los Angeles. Idris earned strong reviews for his performance; Malcolm Venable of TV Guide called him "Nothing short of captivating."

 

The second series of Snowfall, set in 1984, premiered in July 2018.

 

Idris had his first big screen part in 2016 in the British thriller City of Tiny Lights, starring Riz Ahmed. In 2017, he made his American film debut in Megan Leavey alongside Kate Mara, who plays the title character in the eponymous war film.

 

Idris also has a part as an FBI agent in the 2018 film The Commuter with Liam Neeson; and starred in Farming, alongside Kate Beckinsale. Farming is a semi-autobiographical story of Nigerian-British actor Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, who directed the film.

 

Idris plays the character based on Akinnuoye-Agbaje, who, like many Nigerian people in the late 20th. century, was "farmed out" to a white family in the UK in the hopes of a better life, while Beckinsale portrays his strict foster mother.

 

In 2019, Damson won the Award for Best Actor in a British Film at the Edinburgh Film Festival for his portrayal. He also appears in "Smithereens," the second episode of the fifth season of the anthology series Black Mirror.

 

-- Damson Idris' Personal Life

 

Idris is a devoted football fan, and supports Manchester United F.C. He said his hero is American actor Denzel Washington. In 2017, he told Interview magazine:

 

"Denzel is phenomenal. I didn't know I wanted to be an actor, but once it found me I looked at whom people were saying were great. I looked at who I wanted to be like. Not just in acting, but in their personal life as well. Being a well-rounded person, a fine example of good taste and prestige and class, that's what I really chased, so he was the person that did it for me."

 

Kate Beckinsale

 

Kathrin Romany Beckinsale, who was born on the 26th. July 1973, is an English actress and model. After some minor television roles, her film debut was Much Ado About Nothing (1993) while a student at the University of Oxford.

 

Kate appeared in British costume dramas such as Prince of Jutland (1994), Cold Comfort Farm (1995), Emma (1996), Shooting Fish (1997), and The Golden Bowl (2000), in addition to various stage and radio productions.

 

Beckinsale started film work in the United States in the late 1990's. After appearing in small-scale dramas The Last Days of Disco (1998) and Brokedown Palace (1999), she starred in the war drama Pearl Harbor (2001), the romantic comedy Serendipity (2001), and Tiptoes (2003).

 

Kate followed those with starring roles in The Aviator (2004) and Click (2006). All these films established her as a serious player in Hollywood.

 

Since playing the role of Selene in the Underworld film series (2003–2016), Beckinsale has become known for her work in action films, including Van Helsing (2004), Whiteout (2009), Contraband (2012), and Total Recall (2012).

 

Kate continues to make appearances in smaller dramatic projects such as Snow Angels (2007), Nothing but the Truth (2008), and Everybody's Fine (2009). For the two first films she received positive reviews.

 

In 2016, she received critical acclaim for her performance in the period comedy film Love & Friendship, for which she received a nomination for the Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Actress in a Comedy.

 

Kate returned in action films with Jolt (2021). She also starred in two television projects with The Widow (2019) and Guilty Party (2021).

 

-- Kate Beckinsale - The Early Years

 

Kathrin Romany Beckinsale was born on the 26th. July 1973 in the Chiswick district of London, the only child of actors Richard Beckinsale and Judy Loe. She has a half-sister from her father's earlier marriage, actress Samantha Beckinsale.

 

Kate's father was partly of Burmese descent. Her parents did not marry until 1977, prior to Beckinsale starting nursery school, when she made her first television appearance at age four, in an episode of This Is Your Life dedicated to her father.

 

When Kate was five, her father Richard died suddenly of a heart attack aged 31. She was deeply traumatised by the loss and "started expecting bad things to happen."

 

Her widowed mother moved in with director Roy Battersby when Kate was nine, and she was brought up alongside his four sons and daughter. She has a close relationship with her stepfather, who was a member of the Workers Revolutionary Party during her youth.

 

She helped to sell The News Line, a Trotskyist newspaper, as a little girl, and has said that the household phone was tapped following Battersby's blacklisting by the BBC.

 

Family friends included Ken Loach and Vanessa Redgrave.

 

Beckinsale was educated at Godolphin and Latymer School, an independent school for girls in Hammersmith, West London, and was involved with the Orange Tree Youth Theatre. She was twice a winner of the W H Smith Young Writers Award for both fiction and poetry.

 

Kate has described herself as a "late bloomer":

 

"All of my friends were kissing boys

and drinking cider way before me.

I found it really depressing that we

weren't making camp fires, and

everyone was doing stuff like that."

 

Kate had a nervous breakdown and developed anorexia at the age of fifteen, and underwent Freudian psychoanalysis for four years.

 

Beckinsale read French and Russian literature at New College, Oxford, and was later described by her contemporary Victoria Coren Mitchell, as:

 

"Whip-clever, slightly nuts,

and very charming".

 

Kate became friends with Roy Kinnear's daughter Kirsty. She was involved with the Oxford University Dramatic Society, most notably being directed by fellow student Tom Hooper in a production of A View from the Bridge at the Oxford Playhouse.

 

As a Modern Languages student, Kate was required to spend her third year abroad, and so she studied in Paris. She then quit university to focus on her burgeoning acting career:

 

"It was getting to the point where

I wasn't enjoying either thing

enough because both were very

high pressure."

 

Beckinsale has stated that she would like to complete her studies at Oxford University.

 

-- Kate Beckinsale's Career

 

-- 1991–1997: Early Acting Roles

 

Beckinsale decided at a young age that she wanted to be an actress:

 

"I grew up immersed in film. My family

were in the business. I quickly realised

that my parents seemed to have much

more fun in their work than any of my

friends' parents."

 

Kate made her television debut in 1991 with a small part in an ITV adaptation of P. D. James' Devices and Desires. In 1992, she starred alongside Christopher Eccleston in Rachel's Dream, a 30‑minute Channel 4 short, and in 1993, she appeared in the pilot of the ITV detective series, Anna Lee, starring Imogen Stubbs.

 

In 1993, Beckinsale landed the role of Hero in Kenneth Branagh's big-screen adaptation of Much Ado About Nothing. It was filmed in Tuscany, Italy, during a summer holiday from Oxford University. She attended the film's Cannes Film Festival premiere, and remembered it as an overwhelming experience:

 

"Nobody even told me I could bring

a friend! I had Doc Martens boots on,

and I think I put the flower from the

breakfast tray in my hair."

 

Peter Travers of Rolling Stone was won over by her "lovely" performance, while Vincent Canby of The New York Times noted that:

 

"She and Robert Sean Leonard look

right, and behave with a certain naïve

sincerity, although they often seem

numb with surprise at hearing the

complex locutions they speak."

 

The film grossed over $22 million at the box office.

 

Kate made three other films while at university. In 1994, she appeared as Christian Bale's love interest in Prince of Jutland, a film based on the Danish legend which inspired Shakespeare's Hamlet. She starred in the murder mystery Uncovered, and in 1995, while studying in Paris, she filmed the French language Marie-Louise ou la Permission.

 

Shortly after leaving Oxford University in 1995, Beckinsale starred in Cold Comfort Farm, as Flora Poste, a newly orphaned 1930's socialite sent to live with distant family members in rural England.

 

The John Schlesinger-directed film was an adaptation of Stella Gibbons' novel, and also featured Joanna Lumley, Eileen Atkins, Ian McKellen, Rufus Sewell and Stephen Fry.

 

Beckinsale was initially considered too young, but was cast after she wrote a pleading letter to the director.

 

Emanuel Levy of Variety commented:

 

"I was reminded of the strength of a

young Glenda Jackson and the charm

of a young Julie Christie."

 

Kevin Thomas of the Los Angeles Times classed the actress as:

 

"Yet another of those effortlessly skilled

British beauties who light up the screen."

 

Janet Maslin of The New York Times felt:

 

"She played the role with the perfect

snippy aplomb."

 

The film grossed over $5 million at the US box office.

 

Also in 1995, Kate appeared in Haunted, a ghost story in which Derek Elley of Variety felt that:

 

"She holds the screen, with both

physical looks and verbal poise."

 

1995 also saw Beckinsale's first professional stage appearance as Nina in The Seagull at the Theatre Royal, Bath. She became romantically involved with co-star Michael Sheen after meeting during play rehearsals. She later said:

 

"I was all revved up to feel very

intimidated. It was my first-ever

play, and my mother had cut out

reviews of him in previous

productions.

And then he walked in ... It was

almost like, 'God, well, I'm finished

now. That's it, then.'... He's the most

outrageously talented person I've

ever met."

 

Irving Wardle of The Independent felt that:

 

"The casting, including Michael Sheen's

volcanic Kostya and Kate Beckinsale's

steadily freezing Nina, is mainly spot-on."

 

In early 1996, Kate starred in two further plays; Sweetheart at the Royal Court Theatre, and Clocks and Whistles at the Bush Theatre.

 

Beckinsale next starred in an ITV adaptation of Jane Austen's Emma, playing Emma to Mark Strong's Mr Knightley and Samantha Morton's Harriet Smith. Beckinsale said of her character:

 

"You shouldn't necessarily like Emma.

You do love her, but in the way the

family of a young girl could be

exasperated by her outrageous

behaviour and still love her."

 

The programme was aired in autumn 1996, just months after Gwyneth Paltrow had starred in a film adaptation of the same story. Caryn James of The New York Times felt that:

 

"While Ms. Beckinsale's Emma is plainer-

looking than Ms. Paltrow's, she is

altogether more believable and funnier."

 

Jonathan Brown of The Independent has described Beckinsale's interpretation as "the most enduring modern performance" as Emma.

 

In 1997, Beckinsale appeared opposite Stuart Townsend in the comedy Shooting Fish, one of the most commercially successful British films of that year. Beckinsale recalled of the initial audition:

 

"I'd just had my wisdom teeth out,

I was also on very strong painkillers,

so it was not the most conventional

of meetings."

 

Elley wrote of "an incredibly laid-back performance," while Thomas felt that

 

"She just glows as an aristocrat

facing disaster with considerable

aplomb."

 

Kate narrated Austen's Emma for Hodder & Stoughton AudioBooks, and Diana Hendry's The Proposal for BBC Radio 4.

 

Also in 1997, she played Juliet to Michael Sheen's Romeo in an AudioBook production of Romeo and Juliet, directed by Sheen.

 

In Beckinsale's last film before her move to the US, she starred as Alice in Channel 4's Alice through the Looking-Glass, released in July 1998.

 

-- 1998–2002: Kate Beckinsale's Move to Hollywood

 

At this point in her career, Beckinsale began to seek work in the United States, about which she has said:

 

"It wasn't a conscious decision... My

boyfriend was in a play on Broadway,

so that's why we ended up in New York,

and my auditions happened to be for

American films."

 

Kate starred opposite Chloë Sevigny in 1998's The Last Days of Disco. The Whit Stillman film focused on a group of mostly Ivy League and Hampshire College graduates socialising in the Manhattan disco scene of the early 1980's. Beckinsale's American accent was widely praised.

 

Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times felt that her role as the bossy Charlotte was "beautifully played." Todd McCarthy of Variety was unimpressed by the film, but noted that

 

"Compensations include Beckinsale,

looking incredible in a succession of

black dresses, whose character can

get on your nerves even if the actress

doesn't."

 

The film grossed $3 million worldwide, and Kate's performance earned her a London Critics' Circle Film Award.

 

In 1999, Beckinsale appeared opposite Claire Danes in Brokedown Palace, a drama about two young Americans forced to deal with the Thai justice system on a post-graduation trip abroad.

 

A then 26-year-old Beckinsale played a young girl. Danes had hoped to become friends with Beckinsale during the shoot, but found her "complicated" and "prickly."

 

McCarthy said:

 

"The leads confirm their status as two

of the young actresses on the scene

today most worth watching.

Beckinsale is very effective at getting

across layered character traits and

emotions."

 

Thomas commented:

 

"Danes and Beckinsale are exceptionally

talented young actresses, but unfortunately,

the script's seriously underdeveloped

context defeats their considerable efforts

at every turn."

 

Stephen Holden of The New York Times felt that:

 

"Beckinsale's character

never comes into focus."

 

The film was a box office failure.

 

The Golden Bowl (2000) marked Beckinsale's first role following the birth of her daughter. The Merchant/Ivory production, which was based on the novel by Henry James, also starred Uma Thurman and Jeremy Northam.

 

Beckinsale's partner, Michael Sheen, hit Northam on the film set after he followed Beckinsale to her trailer to scold her for forgetting a line.

 

Holden noted:

 

"The most satisfying of the four-lead

performances belong to the British

cast members, Ms. Beckinsale and

Mr. Northam, who are better than

their American counterparts at

layers of emotional concealment.

Each beat of Beckinsale's

performance registers precisely."

 

Thomas felt that her performance would take her to "a new career level." Andrew Sarris of The New York Observer asserted that:

 

"She comes close to capturing the

sublimity of Maggie, despite the

obvious fact that no movie can

capture the elegant copiousness

of James' prose."

 

The film grossed over $5 million worldwide.

 

Beckinsale rose to fame in 2001 with a leading role in the war film Pearl Harbor, as a nurse torn between two pilots (played by Ben Affleck and Josh Hartnett). She was drawn to the project by the script:

 

"It's so unusual these days to read a script

that has those old-fashioned values to it.

Not morals, but movie values. It's a big,

sweeping epic....You just never get the

chance to do that."

 

Director Michael Bay initially had doubts about casting the actress:

 

"I wasn't sure about her at first ...

she wore black leather trousers

in her screen test, and I thought

she was a little nasty ... it was

easy to think of this woman as

a slut."

 

He eventually decided to hire her because:

 

"She wasn't too beautiful. Women feel

disturbed when they see someone's

too pretty."

 

He asked her to lose weight during filming. In a 2004 interview, Kate noted that:

 

"His comments were upsetting. I wore

leather trousers because it was snowing

out. It wasn't exactly like I had my nipple

rings in."

 

Kate felt grateful that she had not had to deal with such criticism at a younger age:

 

"If I had come on to a movie set at a

younger age and someone had said,

'You're a bit funny-looking, can you

go on a diet?' – I might have jumped

off a building. I just didn't have the

confidence to put that into perspective

at the time."

 

However, speaking in 2011, Kate said that she was "very fond" of Michael Bay.

 

Pearl Harbor received negative reviews, although Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly praised:

 

"The avid eyed, ruby lipped Kate Beckinsale,

the rare actress whose intelligence gives her

a sensual bloom; she's like Parker Posey

without irony."

 

A. O. Scott of The New York Times noted that:

 

"Mr. Affleck and Ms. Beckinsale do what they

can with their lines, and glow with the satiny

shine of real movie stars."

 

However, Mike Clark of USA Today felt that:

 

"The usually appealing Kate Beckinsale is

inexplicably submerged – like her hospital

colleagues – under heaps of tarty makeup

that even actresses of the era didn't wear."

 

Despite critical revues, Pearl Harbor was a commercial success, grossing $449 million worldwide.

 

Beckinsale's second film appearance of 2001 was in the romantic comedy Serendipity, as the love interest of John Cusack. It was filmed directly after Pearl Harbor, and Beckinsale found it:

 

"A real relief to return to

something slightly more

familiar."

 

Turan praised the "appealing and believable" leads, adding that:

 

"Beckinsale reinforces the strong

impression she made in Cold Comfort

Farm, The Golden Bowl, and The Last

Days of Disco after recovering nicely

from her appearance in the much-

maligned Pearl Harbor."

 

Claudia Puig of USA Today felt that:

 

"Beckinsale's talents haven't been mined

as effectively in any other film since Cold

Comfort Farm."

 

McCarthy found her "energetic and appealing," while Elvis Mitchell of The New York Times described her as "luminous but determined."

 

In an uncomplimentary review of the film, Roger Ebert described her as:

 

"A good actress, but not good

enough to play this dumb."

 

Serendipity grossed over $77 million at the worldwide box office.

 

In 2002, Beckinsale starred in Laurel Canyon, as a strait-laced academic who finds herself increasingly attracted to her free-spirited future mother-in-law. The independent film was another opportunity for Beckinsale to work with Christian Bale, her Prince of Jutland co‑star.

 

She found their sex scene awkward because she knew Bale well:

 

"If it was a stranger, it

would have been easier."

 

While Frances McDormand's performance as Bale's mother was widely praised, Beckinsale received negative reviews. Holden found the film:

 

"Superbly acted, with the exception

of Ms. Beckinsale, whose tense,

colourless Alex conveys no inner life."

 

Critic Lisa Schwarzbaum was unimpressed by the "tedious" characters, and criticised "the fussy performances of Bale and Beckinsale" in particular.

 

Laurel Canyon grossed over $4 million worldwide.

 

-- 2003–2006: Action roles

 

Beckinsale became known as an action star after playing a vampire in 2003's Underworld. The film was markedly different from her previous work, and Beckinsale has said:

 

"I was grateful for the change of pace

after appearing in a bunch of period

stuff and then a bunch of romantic

comedies.

It was quite a challenge for me to play

an action heroine and pull off all that

training when in real life I can't catch

a ball if it's coming my way."

 

The film received negative to mixed reviews, but was a surprise box-office hit, and has gained a cult following.

 

Also that year, she starred in the little-seen Tiptoes with Gary Oldman and Matthew McConaughey.

 

In 2004, Beckinsale starred in the action horror film Van Helsing. She was "so surprised" to be appearing in her second action film in two years:

 

"It just seemed like

a very good role."

 

Beckinsale had just separated from her long-term boyfriend Michael Sheen at the time of filming, and appreciated the warm atmosphere created on set by director Stephen Sommers and co‑star Hugh Jackman:

 

"I really did find that working with

people like Stephen and Hugh

made it possible to get through

what I was going through."

 

Van Helsing grossed over $120 million at the US box office, and over $300 million worldwide, even though it was not well-reviewed. Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle described Kate as:

 

"A pretty actress doing her best to

maintain dignity, vainly trying to craft

a feminist statement from a filmmaker's

whimsy."

 

Rex Reed of The New York Observer felt that:

 

"Ms. Beckinsale is desperately

in need of a new agent."

 

Also in 2004, Beckinsale portrayed Ava Gardner in Martin Scorsese's Howard Hughes biopic The Aviator. Scorsese decided to cast Beckinsale because:

 

"I've always liked her. I've seen all

her work, and I was glad that she

agreed to audition."

 

Beckinsale's performance received mixed reviews. Ken Tucker of New York Magazine said that:

 

"She played the part "in full

va-va-voom blossom"

 

LaSalle felt that:

 

"She manages to convince us

that Ava was one of the great

broads of all time."

 

However, Clark described it as:

 

"The one performance that doesn't

come off (though Beckinsale has the

requisite beauty)."

 

Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian stated that:

 

"Gardner's rich, voluptuous sexiness

is completely absent as Beckinsale

sleepwalks through the role as if she

was advertising perfume."

 

The Aviator nevertheless grossed over $213 million worldwide.

 

In 2006, Beckinsale reprised her role as Selene in the successful vampire sequel Underworld: Evolution, directed by her husband, Len Wiseman. Kate later said:

 

"It was the first time I had been involved

with a movie from the moment it's a germ

of an idea right through the whole editing

process."

 

Her daughter had a small role as the younger Selene. The film was a box office success, grossing $111 million worldwide.

 

Beckinsale's second film appearance of 2006 was opposite Adam Sandler and Christopher Walken in Click, a comedy about an overworked family man who discovers a magical remote control that allows him to control time.

 

Kate said:

 

"The opportunity to play a mother

was one of the things that was

attractive to me about the part."

 

Click was highly profitable, grossing $237 million worldwide against a production budget of $82.5 million.

 

2007–2008: Focus on Small-Scale Drama

 

Beckinsale then made a return to smaller-scale projects:

 

"My experience is that I sort of stepped

away from the independent movies and

did a couple of big movies.

But that's not necessarily how it's perceived

by everybody else, which I do understand."

 

Kate also said:

 

"I enjoy an action movie as much as the

next person, but it's not something that I

would like to do solely."

 

She explained that she had originally decided to appear in Underworld because she felt typecast in classical roles:

 

"It was assumed that I use a chamber pot

and wear bloomers, but my action career

kind of took off a little too much."

 

In 2007, Beckinsale starred opposite Sam Rockwell in the independent drama Snow Angels, based on the novel by Stewart O'Nan. The harrowing film, in which she played an overwhelmed single mother, put Beckinsale "in kind of a tough place."

 

She recalled:

 

"I did have my kid, my husband and, in fact,

my ex was around a lot, so it was very nice

to come home to my people whom I love."

 

Puig felt that:

 

"Beckinsale gives her best performance

in years."

 

Richard Corliss of Time described it as:

 

"Her sharpest work yet."

 

However, Scott felt that:

 

"Her skill and discipline cannot overcome the

sense that she is an exotic species transplanted

into this grim ecosystem. Hard as she works to

convince us otherwise, it's a stretch to believe

that a woman with the kind of poised confidence

in her own beauty she manifests would wind up

with an underachieving mouth breather like

Glenn."

 

Snow Angels grossed solely $414,404 worldwide.

 

Also in 2007, Beckinsale appeared alongside Luke Wilson in Vacancy, a thriller set in an isolated motel. Sarah Jessica Parker was originally cast in the part, but she dropped out before filming began.

 

Bradshaw felt:

 

"Wilson and Beckinsale have

the chops for scary movies."

 

Gleiberman noted:

 

"Luke Wilson, with his hangdog defensive

mopiness, and Kate Beckinsale, all sexy

severity, are ideally matched as a couple

who hate each other."

 

However, Manohla Dargis of The New York Times was unimpressed, referring to Beckinsale as:

 

"The reigning queen of the bland B's."

 

Vacancy was profitable, grossing $35 million worldwide against a production budget of $19 million.

 

In 2008, Beckinsale appeared in Winged Creatures, a film about how six different witnesses cope with the aftermath of a shooting. Beckinsale played a waitressing single mother.

 

Beckinsale of the filming process:

 

"It was a really, really nice experience

but it was quick. I just felt a bit like I

was shot through a cannon."

 

Betsy Sharkey of the Los Angeles Times felt that:

 

"Kate played the role with a white

trash verve. Her character's raw

ache for that someone with money

and respectability is palpable."

 

However, Dargis felt that:

 

"Beckinsale and her cast mates have

a tough time filling out characters that

are at best abstractions of grief and

often just clichés."

 

Winged Creatures received a very limited theatrical release in New York and Los Angeles; it was released simultaneously on DVD.

 

Also in 2008, Beckinsale starred in Nothing but the Truth, as a journalist who refuses to reveal her source. The film, co‑starring Vera Farmiga and Matt Dillon, was inspired by the case of Judith Miller.

 

Kate recalled:

 

"As part of my research for the role,

I spent some time at The L.A. Times

with some female reporters, and I

spoke to Judith Miller about her

experience....I really researched the

hell out of that one and it was an

amazingly fulfilling, brilliant

experience."

 

Ann Hornaday of The Washington Post asserted that:

 

"Beckinsale and Farmiga played two

of the most fascinating female movie

characters to hit screens in a long while,

and they've been brought to life by two

gifted actresses, each working at the

top of her game."

 

Beckinsale received a Critic's Choice Award nomination for her performance. The film never received a full theatrical release after the distributor filed for bankruptcy and the film grossed solely $186,702 worldwide:

 

Kate recalled:

 

"I have prayed – prayed – for film companies

to go bankrupt on films I've made, and then

this happens on the one I love. Usually it's the

ones you're most embarrassed about that are

on the side of every bus."

 

-- 2009–2015: Return to Action Films

 

In 2009, Beckinsale starred in the comic-book adaption Whiteout, as a US Marshal tasked with investigating a murder in Antarctica. It was filmed in Manitoba, Canada. Kate found the action scenes less physically demanding than those in Underworld because:

 

"Three pairs of trousers and a parka

gives you a bit more protection than

the latex suit."

 

The film was critically panned and a box office failure, failing to recoup its budget. Rotten Tomatoes critics consensus:

 

"Beckinsale is the lovely as ever, and

does her best with the material, but

moribund pacing and an uninspired

plot leave Whiteout in the cold."

 

Kate also made a brief cameo in the prequel Underworld: Rise of the Lycans; she appeared in flashforwards composed of footage from 2003's Underworld.

 

Also in 2009, Beckinsale starred in the family drama Everybody's Fine alongside Robert De Niro, Drew Barrymore, and Rockwell, her Snow Angels co-star.

 

Beckinsale was excited by the opportunity to work with De Niro, whom she had first encountered:

 

"Years and years ago when I just had

Lily and he was putting together a

reading of The Good Shepherd."

 

Everybody's Fine was a box office flop, failing to recoup its production budget.

 

In May 2010, Beckinsale sat on the nine-member 2010 Cannes Film Festival jury, chaired by director Tim Burton. Unable to find a script she felt passionate about, Beckinsale kept a low profile in 2010 and 2011, opting to spend time with her daughter.

 

Beckinsale returned to acting in 2012 with appearances in three action films. Kate first appeared in the action thriller Contraband. She had a supporting role as the wife of Mark Wahlberg's character, a former criminal who gets forced back into a life of crime after his family members are threatened.

 

The film was directed by Baltasar Kormákur, who also starred in the Icelandic language version of the film, Reykjavík-Rotterdam. The San Francisco Chronicle felt that Beckinsale was:

 

"Stuck in a bit of a thankless role as

the victimised wife, but she does try

to infuse a harder edge to the character."

 

The Hollywood Reporter stated that:

 

"Beckinsale, her innate classiness

calibrated down a few notches, has

little to do but be supportive, worried

and, eventually, besieged."

 

Entertainment Weekly felt that:

 

"The woman-in-peril stuff is

second-rate, giving off a whiff

of exploitation"

 

Variety found the repeated violence towards Beckinsale's character disturbing. Nevertheless, Contraband had a production budget of $25 million and grossed over $96 million worldwide.

 

Beckinsale next reprised her role as Selene in the fourth instalment of the vampire franchise Underworld: Awakening. The franchise was initially conceived of as a trilogy, and Beckinsale was not "intending to do another one" but was convinced by the quality of the script.

 

The Hollywood Reporter noted that:

 

"When she's not actually fighting, her

performance consists of little more

than striding purposefully toward or

away from the camera."

 

The Los Angeles Times remarked that:

 

"She finally manages to perfect the

monotone delivery she'd been honing

for the series' first two entries."

 

The film had a production budget of $70 million and grossed over $160 million worldwide.

 

Also in 2012, Beckinsale appeared as the wife of a factory worker in the sci-fi action remake Total Recall, directed by her husband Len Wiseman. Kate has said that Wiseman joined the project because he was unable to obtain studio financing for an original sci-fi idea:

 

"You're constantly finding yourself

having to defend doing a remake

when you didn't really want to make

one in the first place."

 

The film received mainly negative reviews. Variety found Kate's performance "one-note," while The Hollywood Reporter described her as "one-dimensional."

 

USA Today remarked that:

 

"She spends much of the movie

strutting down hallways and

looking relentlessly, though

blandly, nasty."

 

The film has grossed $198 million against a production budget of over $125 million.

 

In 2012, Kate appeared alongside Judy Greer and Andrea Savage in the Funny or Die video "Republicans, Get in My Vagina", a satire of the Republican Party's policies concerning abortion and prenatal care.

 

In 2013, Beckinsale starred in the legal thriller The Trials of Cate McCall opposite Nick Nolte and James Cromwell. The film received negative reviews, and was released as a Lifetime movie.

 

Kate next appeared in the little-seen psychological thriller Stonehearst Asylum, loosely based on Edgar Allan Poe's short story "The System of Doctor Tarr and Professor Fether".

 

A lukewarm critical reception greeted the film upon its DVD release; Jeannette Catsoulis of The New York Times said:

 

"Beckinsale was emoting

as if an Oscar nomination

depended on it."

 

Dennis Harvey of Variety found her performance "overwrought."

 

In 2014, Kate provided the voice for Queen Ayrenn, a character in The Elder Scrolls Online video game.

 

Also in 2014, Beckinsale starred in the psychological thriller The Face of an Angel alongside Daniel Brühl. The film, directed by Michael Winterbottom, was inspired by the case of Meredith Kercher.

 

Jesse Hassenger of The A.V. Club felt that her "charismatic" performance was wasted. Also in 2015, Kate starred alongside Simon Pegg in the poorly received British comedy Absolutely Anything, as an author agency employee and the love interest of a man (Pegg) chosen by four aliens to do anything he wants.

 

Tom Huddleston of Time Out said:

 

"Her character is never really developed –

which is perhaps a blessing, because her

cut-glass-posh performance is almost as

grating as Pegg's."

 

A fan of Monty Python growing up, in 2014 Beckinsale appeared on the fourth episode of Monty Python's Best Bits (Mostly) where she spoke of her favourite Python comedy sketch.

 

-- 2016 – Present: Love & Friendship and Beyond

 

In the 2016 romantic comedy Love & Friendship, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, Beckinsale reunited with her Last Days of Disco collaborators Stillman and Sevigny.

 

Based on Jane Austen's Lady Susan, the film revolved around her role as the title character, a wry and calculating widow, as she pursues a wealthy and hapless man for a marriage originally intended for her daughter, though she eventually marries him herself.

 

The film was universally acclaimed by critics and found commercial success in arthouse cinemas. Justin Chang of Variety described the role as:

 

"One of the most satisfying screen

roles of her career. Beckinsale

magnetizes the screen in a way

that naturally underscores how far

ahead of everyone else she is: an

effect that doesn't always work to

the movie's advantage."

 

Todd McCarthy of The Hollywood Reporter remarked:

 

"There aren't great depths to the role,

but Beckinsale excels with the long

speeches and in defining her character

as a very self-aware egoist."

 

Also in 2016, Kate starred in the horror film The Disappointments Room opposite Mel Raido, both playing a couple in a new house that contains a hidden room with a haunted past.

 

The film was heavily panned by critics and flopped at the box office; it only made $1.4 million in its opening weekend, and a total of $2.4 million in North America. Christian Holub of Entertainment Weekly concluded that:

 

"Most of the film is just Beckinsale

walking around looking worried."

 

Joe Leydon of Variety found Kate:

 

"Credible and compelling, except for

when she's trying way too hard in a

rather unfortunate scene that calls

for drunken ranting."

 

In late 2016, Beckinsale returned as Selene in the fifth installment of the Underworld franchise, Underworld: Blood Wars, which grossed $81.1 million worldwide.

 

Beckinsale starred opposite Pierce Brosnan, Callum Turner, and Jeff Bridges in Marc Webb's romantic coming-of-age drama The Only Living Boy in New York (2017), as a book editor and the mistress of a publisher whose son sees his life upended.

 

Reviews of the film were mediocre, while it found a limited audience in theaters. The A.V. Club found Brosnan and Beckinsale to be:

 

"Vastly more interesting by the twin

virtues of not disguising their voices

and fitting so poorly into the sad-faced

melodrama this movie wants to be".

 

In 2018, Beckinsale starred as Ingrid Carpenter in the British film Farming.

 

Beckinsale starred in the ITV/Amazon Prime drama The Widow (2019), her first TV series for more than 20 years. The series stars Beckinsale as an Englishwoman who believes her husband, killed in a plane crash three years prior, is still alive in the Congo.

 

Beckinsale starred in the American action comedy film Jolt which was adapted from a screenplay by Scott Wascha and released in July 2021.

 

That same year Kate starred in the Paramount+ dark comedy streaming television Guilty Party. In that series, she served as executive producer as well.

 

-- Modelling

 

Labelled an "English rose" by the BBC as early as 2001, Beckinsale has worked occasionally as a model. In 1997, she appeared in the music video for George Michael's "Waltz Away Dreaming".

 

She starred opposite Orlando Bloom in a 2002 Gap television advertisement directed by Cameron Crowe. Kate appeared in a Diet Coke television advertisement in 2004. She advertised Absolut Vodka in a 2009 print campaign photographed by Ellen von Unwerth.

 

-- Kate Beckinsale's Relationships

 

Beckinsale was in a relationship with Welsh actor Michael Sheen from 1995 to 2003. They met when cast in a touring production of The Seagull in early 1995, and moved in together shortly afterwards. In 1997, they voiced an audiobook production of Romeo and Juliet.

 

Their daughter Lily Mo Sheen was born in 1999. In 2001, Beckinsale said she was "embarrassed" that Sheen never proposed, but felt as though she was married. They broke up in early 2003, after the filming of Underworld. Beckinsale and Sheen remain close friends; she remarked in 2016:

 

"He's really dear, close family. He's

somebody I've known since I was

21 years old. I really love him a lot."

 

Beckinsale met American director Len Wiseman while working together on 2003's Underworld. She persuaded Wiseman to cast Sheen in the film, but while on set, the two fell in love. Wiseman's then-wife Dana, a kindergarten teacher, claimed infidelity in Budapest.

 

They married on the 9th. May 2004 in Bel-Air, California, but separated in November 2015. Wiseman filed for divorce in 2016, citing "irreconcilable differences", and their divorce was finalised in November 2019.

 

In January 2019, Beckinsale was reported to be dating American comedian Pete Davidson, but by April they had "called time on their romance".

 

-- Kate Beckinsale's Personal and Political Beliefs

 

Beckinsale is a smoker. When she was nine, her mother moved in with Roy Battersby, and his sons introduced her to cigarettes.

 

Kate is a teetotaller, stating in 2003:

 

"I've never been drunk even.

I've never taken drugs. I've

never had a one-night-stand."

 

In 2007, she appeared alongside David Schwimmer in the sixth of the Writers Guild of America member-conceived Internet videos for Project "Speechless", in support of the WGA labour strike against the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers.

 

-- Legal issues

 

In July 2003, the Press Complaints Commission dismissed a complaint filed by Beckinsale. She alleged that the tabloid Daily Mail had invaded her and her daughter's privacy by publishing photographs of the actress embracing and kissing her then-boyfriend Len Wiseman.

 

The article in question was headlined:

 

"Mummy's latest love scene

leaves Lily unimpressed"

 

The article included a picture in which her then-four-year-old daughter appeared to be ignoring her mother's romantic actions. The Commission found that:

 

"The photographs had been taken in a

public place and did not reveal any private

details about Lily—such as her health or

schooling—but were restricted to general

observations about her apparent reaction

to her surroundings."

 

In August 2003, Beckinsale received a published apology from the Daily Mail after it claimed that she had "spent time in a clinic" following her breakup with Michael Sheen. The apology was issued after she filed a complaint with the Press Complaints Commission.

 

In 2009, Beckinsale was awarded £20,000 in damages by the British High Court after taking legal action against Express Newspapers. The Daily Express had falsely reported that she was "facing heartbreak" after losing out on a role in a remake of Barbarella.

 

-- Kate Beckinsale's Philanthropy

 

The British Heart Foundation has been Beckinsale's charity of choice ever since she was six years old when her father, who had a congenital heart defect, died of a massive heart attack.

 

Kate has also donated film memorabilia to the Epidermolysis Bullosa Medical Research Foundation, MediCinema, Habitat For Humanity, and the Entertainment Industry Foundation.

 

In 2008, she hosted the 4th. Annual Pink Party to raise funds for the Women's Cancer Research Institute at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, and organised a screening of All About Eve for FilmAid International.

 

In 2012, Beckinsale joined Nestlé's Share the Joy of Reading Program to raise awareness about the importance of people's literacy.

 

Bryan Adams

 

Also on that day, the Number One chart hit record in the UK was '(Everything I Do) I Do It For You' by Bryan Adams.

I believe that's Carol Cleveland, best known for her work with Monty Python's Flying Circus, in the center.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_St_Michael_and_All_Angels...

 

St Michael's Church is a parish church in the town of Aberystwyth, Ceredigion, Wales. St Michael's is the fourth church to stand on the site. The first dated from the 15th century but was in ruins by the mid-18th century. Its replacement only stood for some forty years before itself being replaced in 1829-1833 with a church designed by Edward Haycock Sr. of Shrewsbury. Nothing of the two earlier buildings remains. The Haycock church was itself superseded by the present church, built by Nicholson & Son of Hereford in 1886-1890. A fragment of the Haycock church remains to the west of the current building.

 

St Michael's is an active parish church in the Diocese of St Davids. At the end of the 20th century it claimed the largest Anglican congregation in Wales. It is designated by Cadw as a Grade II listed building.

 

The town of Aberystwyth developed around the Norman castle. Four churches have stood on the site. In the 15th century a church dedicated to St Mary was constructed between the castle and the sea. This church, in ruins by 1748, and its short-lived successor, were replaced by a third church constructed in 1829-1833 by Edward Haycock Sr. Haycock was commissioned by William Edward Powell. a local landowner and Conservative politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Cardiganshire from 1816 until shortly before he died in 1854. Powell was made High Sheriff in 1810 and Lord Lieutenant of Cardiganshire in 1817. He lived at Nanteos and developed much of Aberystwyth in the 1820s; including Laura Place which fronts the present church.

 

By the later 19th century, the accelerating development of Aberystwyth as a seaside resort brought calls for a larger, and more impressive church. A later William Powell donated further land at Laura Place for the building of a new church in the 1880s. Powell commissioned designs for the new structure from Nicholson & Son of Hereford and the present church was built between 1886-1890. The west vestry is all that remains of Haycock's church, This fragment is a Grade II listed building.

 

The Cambrian News and Merionethshire Standard celebrated the opening of the new church on 3 October 1890, congratulating "all those who desire to see the town beautified, or who think that a building devoted to the highest purpose should be of the best that human beings can devise and reasonably provide". Further work was carried out on the development of the church in the first half of the 20th century. Major repairs were undertaken to the church roof in the 21st century, following storm damage from Cyclone Dirk.

 

St Michael's remains an active parish church in the Evangelical tradition. Services are regularly held. In the late 20th/early 21st centuries, the church claimed the largest Anglican congregation in Wales. The church is administered by the Archdeaconry of Cardigan within the Diocese of St Davids.

 

The "large and prosperous church" is built on a three-nave plan, with a vestry and a West tower. A planned spire was never built. The construction materials are York sandstone rubble and Westmoreland slate roofs. The style is Gothic Revival, drawing on English Decorated Gothic. Thomas Lloyd, Julian Orbach and Robert Scourfield, in their Carmarthenshire and Ceredigion volume in the Pevsner Buildings of Wales series, consider it "old-fashioned", even at the time of its construction.

 

The interior is faced with Bath limestone and decorated with banding in a contrasting red sandstone. It contains a chancel rood screen by W. D. Caröe dating from the early 20th century. Carved panels in a memorial chapel at the front of the church commemorate the dead of Aberystwyth from the First and Second World Wars. The chapel was constructed in 1992 and involved the moving of the rood screen. The stained glass is mainly by Alfred Hemming, although the East window is the work of Heaton, Butler and Bayne. St Michael's is a Grade II listed building.

 

Aberystwyth is a university and seaside town as well as a community in Ceredigion, Wales. Located in the historic county of Cardiganshire, Aberystwyth means "the mouth of the Ystwyth". Aberystwyth University has been a major educational location in Wales since the establishment of University College Wales in 1872.

 

The town is situated on Cardigan Bay on the west coast of Wales, near the confluence of the River Ystwyth and Afon Rheidol. Following the reconstruction of the harbour, the Ystwyth skirts the town. The Rheidol passes through the town.

 

The seafront, with a pier, stretches from Constitution Hill at the north end of the Promenade to the harbour at the south. The beach is divided by the castle. The town is divided into five areas: Aberystwyth Town; Llanbadarn Fawr; Waunfawr; Llanbadarn; Trefechan; and the most populous, Penparcau.

 

In 2011 the population of the town was 13,040. This rises to nearly 19,000 for the larger conurbation of Aberystwyth and Llanbadarn Fawr.

  

Aberystwyth Bay from a 1748 survey by Lewis Morris (1701–1765)

The distance to Swansea is 55 miles (89 km); to Shrewsbury 60 miles (97 km); to Wrexham 63 miles (101 km); to Cardiff 76 miles (122 km); and to London 180 miles (290 km).

 

Aberystwyth is a university town and tourist destination, and forms a cultural link between North Wales and South Wales. Constitution Hill, scaled by the Aberystwyth Cliff Railway, gives access to panoramic views and to other attractions at the summit, including a camera obscura. Scenic Mid Wales landscape within easy reach of the town includes the wilderness of the Cambrian Mountains, whose valleys contain forests and meadows which have changed little in centuries. A convenient way to access the interior is by the preserved narrow-gauge Vale of Rheidol Railway.

 

Although the town is relatively modern, there are a number of historic buildings, including the remains of the castle and the Old College of Aberystwyth University nearby. The Old College was originally built and opened in 1865 as a hotel, but after the owner's bankruptcy the shell of the building was sold to the university in 1867.

 

The new university campus overlooks Aberystwyth from Penglais Hill to the east of the town centre. The station, a terminus of the main railway, was built in 1924 in the typical style of the period, mainly in a mix of Gothic, Classical Revival, and Victorian architecture.

 

The town is the unofficial capital of Mid Wales, and several institutions have regional or national offices there. Public bodies located in the town include the National Library of Wales, which incorporates the National Screen and Sound Archive of Wales, one of six British regional film archives. The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales maintains and curates the National Monuments Record of Wales (NMRW), providing the public with information about the built heritage of Wales. Aberystwyth is also the home to the national offices of UCAC and Cymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg (Welsh Language Society), and the site of the Institute of Grassland and Environmental Research, the Welsh Books Council and the offices of the standard historical dictionary of Welsh, Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru. A purpose built Welsh Government office and an adjoining office of Ceredigion County Council are also located in the town.

 

At the 2001 census, the population of the town was 15,935. This reduced to 13,040 at the 2011 census. Including neighbouring Llanbadarn Fawr, the population was 16,420, and the greater Aberystwyth conurbation having a population of 18,749 in 2011

 

Aberystwyth experiences an oceanic climate (Köppen climate classification Cfb) similar to almost all of the United Kingdom. This is particularly pronounced due to its west coast location facing the Irish Sea. Air undergoes little land moderation and so temperatures closely reflect the sea temperature when winds are coming from the predominant onshore (westerly) direction. The nearest Met Office weather station is Gogerddan, 3 miles to the northeast, and at a similar elevation.

 

The absolute maximum temperature is 34.6 °C (94.3 °F), set during July 2006. This is also the July record maximum for all of Wales, suggesting that the area's low lying situation, aided by a possible föhn effect when winds are offshore can act to achieve high temperatures on occasion. Typically the warmest day will average 28.0 °C (82.4 °F) and 5.6 days will achieve a maximum of 25.1 °C (77.2 °F) or above.

 

The absolute minimum temperature is −13.5 °C (7.7 °F), set in January 2010. Typically 39.8 days will register an air frost.

 

Rainfall averages 1,112 mm (44 in) a year, with over 1mm recorded on 161 days. All averages refer to the 1981–2010 period.

 

There is evidence that during the Mesolithic Age the area of Tan-y-Bwlch at the foot of Pen Dinas (Penparcau) was used as a flint knapping floor for hunter-gatherers making weapons from flint that was deposited as the ice retreated.

 

The remains of a Celtic fortress on Pen Dinas (or more correctly 'Dinas Maelor'), a hill in Penparcau overlooking Aberystwyth, indicates that the site was inhabited before 700 BC. On a hill south of the present town, across the River Ystwyth, are the remains of a medieval ringfort believed to be the castle from which Princess Nest was abducted. This rare survival is now on private land and can only be accessed by arrangement.

 

The recorded history of Aberystwyth may be said to date from the building of a fortress in 1109 by Gilbert Fitz Richard (grandfather of Richard de Clare, known as Strongbow, the Cambro-Norman lord notable for his leading role in the Norman invasion of Ireland). Gilbert Fitz Richard was granted lands and the lordship of Cardigan by Henry I, including Cardigan Castle. The fortress built in Aberystwyth was located about a mile and a half south of today's town, on a hill over the south bank of the Ystwyth River, thus giving the settlement of Aberystwyth its name. The location is now known as Tan-Y-Castell.

 

Aberystwyth was usually under the control of the princes of Deheubarth, but its position close to the border with Gwynedd and Powys left it vulnerable to attacks from the leaders of those polities. The town was attacked by Gwenwynwyn ab Owain in 1197, an assault in which Maelgwn ap Rhys was captured. Llywelyn the Great attacked and seized the town in late 1208, building a castle there before withdrawing.

 

Edward I replaced Strongbow's castle in 1277, after its destruction by the Welsh. His castle was, however, built in a different location, at the current Castle Hill, the high point of the town. Between the years 1404 and 1408 Aberystwyth Castle was in the hands of Owain Glyndŵr but finally surrendered to Prince Harry (the future King Henry V of England). Shortly after this, the town was incorporated under the title of Ville de Lampadarn (the ancient name of the place being Llanbadarn Gaerog or the fortified Llanbadarn, to distinguish it from Llanbadarn Fawr, the village one mile (1.6 km) inland. It is thus styled in a Royal charter granted by Henry VIII but, by Elizabeth I's time, the town was invariably named Aberystwyth in all documents.

 

From 1639 to 1642, silver coins were minted at Aberystwyth Castle on behalf of the Royal Mint, using silver from local mines. £10,500 in currency was produced, equivalent to 2.5 million silver pennies.

 

In 1649, Parliamentarian troops razed the castle, although portions of three towers still exist. In 1988, an excavation within the castle area revealed a complete male skeleton, deliberately buried. Though skeletons rarely survive in Wales' acidic soil, this skeleton was probably preserved by the addition of lime from the collapsed building. Affectionately known as "Charlie" and now housed in the Ceredigion Museum in the town, he probably dates from the English Civil War period, and is likely to have died during the Parliamentarian siege. His image is featured in one of nine mosaics created to adorn the castle's walls.

 

The development of Aberystwyth's Port contributed to the town’s economic development during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Port improvements were carried out in both 1780 and 1836, with a new Customs House constructed in 1828. Rural industries and craftsmen were also an important part of life in this country town. The local trade directory for 1830 shows that there were in Aberystwyth: Twenty boot makers, eight bakers, two corn millers, eleven carpenters and joiners, one cooper, seven tailors, two dressmakers, two straw hat makers, two hat makers, three curriers, four saddlers, two tinsmiths, six maltsters, two skinners, four tanners, eight stonemasons, one brewer, four lime burners, three shipwrights, three wheelwrights, five cabinet makers, one nail maker, one rope maker and one sail maker.

 

The Cambrian Railways line from Machynlleth reached Aberystwyth in 1864, closely followed by rail links to Carmarthen, which resulted in the construction of the town's impressive station. The Cambrian line opened on Good Friday 1869, the same day that the new 292 metres (958 ft) Royal Pier (designed by Eugenius Birch) opened, attracting 7,000 visitors.

 

The railway's arrival gave rise to something of a Victorian tourist boom, with Aberystwyth becoming a significant holiday destination for working and middle class families from South Wales in particular. The town was once even billed as the "Biarritz of Wales". During this time, a number of hotels and fine townhouses were built including the Queens Hotel, later renamed Swyddfa'r Sir (County Office) when used as offices by the town council, and most recently used as the external scenes of the police station in the television show Hinterland. One of the largest of these hotels, "The Castle Hotel", was never completed as a hotel but, following bankruptcy, was sold cheaply to the Welsh National University Committee, a group of people dedicated to the creation of a Welsh University. The University College of Wales (later to become Aberystwyth University) was founded in 1872 in this building.

 

Aberystwyth was a contributory parliamentary borough until the Third Reform Act, which merged its representation into that of the county in 1885.

 

In 1895, various businessmen who had been behind the Aberystwyth New Harbour Company formed the Aberystwyth Improvement Company (AIC) to take over the works of the defunct Bourne Engineering & Electrical. In 1896, the AIC completed three projects: the new landside pavilion for the Royal Pier; built the Cambria Hotel (later the United Theological College) and formed Constitution Hill Ltd, to develop a Victorian theme park. Chief engineer George Croydon Marks designed all the AIC developments, including the United Kingdom's second longest funicular railway, which takes passengers up a 50% gradient to a park and camera obscura.

 

Aberystwyth hosted the National Eisteddfod in 1865, 1916, 1952 and 1992.

 

On the night of Friday, 14 January 1938, a storm with estimated wind speeds of up to 90 mph (140 km/h) struck the town. Most of the promenade was destroyed, along with 200 feet (60 m) of the pier. Many properties on the seafront were damaged, with every property from the King's Hall north affected; those on Victoria Terrace suffered the greatest damage. Work commenced on a protective coffer dam which continued into 1940, with total costs of construction coming to £70,000 (equivalent to £2.5 million today).

 

Cymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg (Welsh Language Society) held their historic first protest on Trefechan Bridge in Aberystwyth, on 2 February 1963. The first independent Welsh Evangelical Church was established in Aberystwyth (see Evangelical Movement of Wales).

 

On 1 March 2005, Aberystwyth was granted Fairtrade Town status.

 

In March 2009 mayor Sue Jones-Davies, who had played the role of Judith Iscariot in the film Monty Python's Life of Brian (1979), organised a charity screening of the film. Principal actors Terry Jones and Michael Palin also attended. There is a popular, but incorrect, urban myth that the town had banned the film (as some authorities did) when it was first released.

 

During the aftermath storms from Cyclone Dirk on Friday 3 January 2014, the town was one of the worst hit in Wales. Properties on the adjoining promenade were then evacuated for the next five days, including 250 students from the University. Ceredigion Council appealed to the Welsh Assembly Government for funds, whilst Natural Resources Wales undertook surveys and emergency preventative measures.

 

North Parade, Aberystwyth was reported to be the most expensive street in Wales in 2018, based on property prices.

 

Penglais Nature Park (Welsh: Parc Natur Penglais) is a woodland overlooking the town. The park was created in 1995 from a disused quarry and surrounding woodland that had formerly been part of the Richardes family estate. In spring a carpet of bluebells bloom, in common with the many other bluebell woods.

 

The park covers 27 acres (11 ha). It was the first Nature reserve to open in Ceredigion and is the only UNESCO Man and Biosphere urban reserve in Wales.

 

Aberystwyth's local government administration has a two-tier structure consisting of two separate councils. As local government is a devolved matter in Wales, the legislation for both Councils is a responsibility of the Senedd.

 

Aberystwyth Town Council is the first tier of local government, which is the closest to the general public; there are 19 elected town councillors from five wards. The last elections were held in 2022. The council is responsible for cycle paths, public footpaths, CCTV, public Wi-Fi, bus shelters, parks, gardens (including the castle grounds and the skateboard park) and allotments. The council is a statutory body which is consulted regarding planning decisions in the town area and makes recommendations to the planning authority, Ceredigion County Council. The Town Council is also involved in leisure, tourism, business (through providing more than half of Menter Aberystwyth's funding in grants), licence applications, wellbeing and environmental health, recycling and refuse collection.

 

A borough council existed in Aberystwyth from 1832 and the Aberystwyth School Board was established in 1870.

 

Ceredigion County Council is another statutory body incorporated by Act of Parliament. It is the second tier of local government in the area and is a unitary authority with a wide range of powers and responsibility. The Council deals with roads (except trunk roads), street lighting, some highways, social services, children and family care, schools and public libraries. Aberystwyth elects six of the 42 councillors in five separate wards (Bronglais, Central, North and Rheidol wards elect one councillor each while Penparcau ward elects two).

 

Aberystwyth has five Senedd members, one of whom (Elin Jones) was elected as a constituency MS for Ceredigion, and four who are elected on the regional list for Mid and West Wales.

 

The town is in the Ceredigion constituency for elections to the House of Commons. Since June 2017, Aberystwyth's MP has been Plaid Cymru's Ben Lake.

 

The first ever public library in Aberystwyth was opened in Compton House, Pier Street on 13 October 1874. In 1882 the library was moved to the Assembly Rooms which were leased to the council for 21 years. The lease expired in 1903 and the library returned to Pier Street, this time to the Old Banking Library at the corner with Eastgate Street, although this was short lived. A Carnegie library was built in Aberystwyth in 1905, with a grant of £3,000. Located in Corporation Street, it was designed by the architect Walter Payton of Birmingham, who was one of 48 who entered the competition to design the building. It was formally opened on 20 April 1906 by Mrs Vaughan Davies, wife of the local MP. The town library moved to Aberystwyth Town Hall, now known as Canolfan Alun R. Edwards, following the building's refurbishment in 2012.

 

The National Library of Wales, Aberystwyth, is the national legal deposit library of Wales. Established in 1907, it is a Welsh Government sponsored body. According to Cyril Evans, the library's centenary events co-ordinator, "The library is considered to be one of the world's greatest libraries, and its international reputation is certainly something that all Welsh men and women are intensely ... proud of". Welsh is the main medium of communication within the organisation; it aims to deliver all public services in Welsh and English.

 

Aberystwyth Arts Centre is one of the largest and busiest arts centres in Wales. It encompasses a 312-seat theatre, 900-seat concert hall, 125-seat cinema, and has accompanied studio, galleries, plus public spaces which include cafes and a bar. Arad Goch is an Arts Council funded community theatre and art gallery based in the town. The premises holds a theatre, gallery, several art studios and meeting rooms, and a darkroom.

 

The town has three works by the Italian sculptor Mario Rutelli; the War Memorial on the promenade, the Tabernacle Chapel Memorial on Powell Street, and the statue of Edward VIII as Prince of Wales in the Old College. All are Grade II listed structures. Rutelli’s connection with the town came through Thomas Jenkins of Aberystwyth, who ran a shipping business. Jenkins was a frequent visitor to Italy where he admired Rutelli’s work. Jo Darke, in her work, The Monument Guide to England and Wales: A National Portrait in Bronze and Stone, describes Rutelli’s war memorial as “striking and rare” and suggests that the life-size statue of Edward VIII is the only recorded example.

 

Aberystwyth has a live music scene which has produced bands and artists such as: The Crocketts; The Hot Puppies; Murry the Hump; and The Lowland Hundred. The University Music Centre promotes a varied programme for instrumentalists, singers and listeners from the university and the wider community. The University chamber choir, The Elizabethan Madrigal Singers, have been singing in the town since 1950 and continue to hold a number of concerts throughout the year. Aberystwyth gives its name to a well known hymn tune composed by Joseph Parry.

 

Aberystwyth RFC is the local rugby union club and acts as a feeder club to professional side Scarlets. It was formed in 1947 and for the 2017/18 season played in the WRU Division One West. Aberystwyth Town F.C. is a semi-professional football club that was formed in 1884. The team currently compete in the Cymru Premier, Wales' top division. The town also has a cricket club which plays in local leagues, an athletics club (founded 1955), and boxing club in Penparcau. The town's golf course opened in 1911.

 

Ceredigion, the county in which Aberystwyth is located, is one of the four most Welsh-speaking counties in Wales and remained majority Welsh speaking until the 2011 census. Since the town's growth as a seaside resort in the Victorian era, it has been more anglicised than its hinterland and the rest of the county in general. The university has also attracted many English-speaking students from England, non-Welsh speaking parts of Wales and elsewhere. The 1891 census recorded that, of the 6635 inhabitants who completed the language section, 3482 (52.5%) were bilingual, 1751 (26.4%) were Welsh monoglots, and 1402 people (21.1%) were returned as English monoglots. Ceredigion (then named Cardiganshire) as a whole was 95.2% Welsh-speaking and 74.5% monoglot Welsh. Although the town remained majority Welsh-speaking for many more decades, English had already replaced Welsh in certain domains, such as entertainment and tourism. By 1961, only 50.0% of the town's population could speak Welsh, compared to 79.5% for Cardiganshire as a whole; by 1971, these numbers had fallen to 44.9% and 67.6% respectively. The 2001 census reported that, in the seven wards of Aberystwyth, 39% of the residents self-identified as able to speak or read or write Welsh. This is lower than Ceredigion as a whole (54%) but higher than Wales overall (19%).

 

Aberystwyth parish church is St Michael's and All Angels, located in Laura Place. The parish was a Rectoral Benefice until 2019, incorporating the Anglican churches of Holy Trinity, Santes Fair (services in Welsh) and Saint Anne's, Penparcau. The Rectoral Benefice has now been converted to a local ministry area (LMA). The church was built between 1886 and 1890, replacing an earlier church. It was designed in a Gothic Revival style and is a Grade II listed building.

 

In addition to the Anglican churches, there are many existing and former Welsh Calvinistic Methodist chapels that have these days merged into Saint David's (United Reformed) and Capel y Morfa (Welsh language services). A former Calvinistic Methodist Sunday school house, Ysgoldy Tanycae, is now the meeting place of the Elim Pentecostal church. Meanwhile there is a Wesleyan Methodist church, Saint Paul's Methodist Centre, located in Bath Street. An Independent Baptist church is located in Alfred Place. In 2021, amid some controversy, Aberystwyth's Catholic church, Saint Winefride's, was closed and the congregation relocated to a new-build church located in Penparcau.

 

There are a number of other smaller congregations, and many former churches that have now been converted to alternative use, such as the Academy bar.

 

Aberystwyth has two comprehensive schools serving the town and a wide rural area: Ysgol Gyfun Gymunedol Penweddig and Ysgol Penglais School. Ysgol Gyfun Gymunedol Penweddig uses Welsh as the primary language of tuition; Ysgol Penglais School teaches in English and in Welsh as a subject.

 

There are currently three primary schools within the town limits, which are: Plascrug, Saint Padarns (Roman Catholic) and Ysgol Gymraeg. Ysgol Gymraeg was the first designated Welsh medium school in Wales, originally established as a private school in 1939 by Sir Ifan ab Owen Edwards as Ysgol Gymraeg yr Urdd.

 

Aberystwyth is home to Aberystwyth University (Welsh: Prifysgol Aberystwyth) whose predecessor, University College Wales, was founded in 1872 and renamed the 'University of Wales, Aberystwyth' in the mid-1990s. Prior to the college's establishment, Wales had very limited academic-degree capability through St David's College, Lampeter (founded in 1822, now the University of Wales, Trinity Saint David).

 

As well as having two cinemas and a golf course, the town's attractions include:

The Aberystwyth Cliff Railway, a funicular railway

A Victorian camera obscura at the top of Constitution Hill.

The Vale of Rheidol steam railway (Aberystwyth to Devil's Bridge)

Aberystwyth Arts Centre.

The Parc Penglais nature reserve

The Ystwyth Trail cycle path

National Library of Wales

Park Avenue. Football stadium home to Aberystwyth Town F.C.

The all organic dairy unit of Rachel's Organic is based in Glan yr Afon, and is the largest private sector employer in Aberystwyth.

 

The Cambrian News newspaper came to Aberystwyth from Bala in 1870, after it was purchased by Sir John Gibson. Printed in Oswestry, in May 1880 the paper integrated operations in a former Malthouse in Mill Street. Owned by the Read family from 1926, in 1993 printing was contracted out, enabling the move of editorial staff to the current open-plan offices on Llanbadarn Fawr Science Park. On the death of Henry Read, the paper was purchased in 1999 by Sir Ray Tindle, whose company owns more than 200 weekly newspapers in Britain. Now printed in tabloid format, Cambrian News is the second-largest weekly-print circulation newspaper in Wales, with 24,000 copies in six regional editorial versions, read by 60,000 weekly readers. The circulation area of mid, west and north Wales covers 3,000 square miles (7,800 km2).

 

Since the TV series Hinterland has been filmed in and around Aberystwyth, the area is being promoted as an opportunity for tourists to visit filming locations; many are well publicised.

 

Aberystwyth railway station is situated in the town centre and is the terminus of the scenic Cambrian Line. Transport for Wales Rail operate a mostly hourly service (with some two-hour intervals) to Shrewsbury via Machynlleth and Mid Wales, with nearly all trains continuing to Birmingham International. Connecting services from Dovey Junction provide a link to Gwynedd's west coast as far as Pwllheli, along the Cambrian Coast Line. There is no longer a southbound connection: the Carmarthen–Aberystwyth line was closed in 1965 as part of the Beeching cuts.

 

Aberystwyth station is also the terminus of the Vale of Rheidol Railway, a steam-operated narrow gauge heritage railway. Constructed between 1901 and 1902, it was intended to ship mineral cargo, primarily lead, from Devil's Bridge down to Aberystwyth for trans-shipment. By the time it was finished, lead mining was in a deep downturn and—thanks to the Aberystwyth Improvement Company—the railway came to rely largely on the tourist industry, opening for passengers in December 1902. It still remains open for the summer season, with a journey of 12 miles (19 km).

 

In 1896, the Aberystwyth Improvement Company formed Constitution Hill Ltd which, under the direction of chief engineer George Croydon Marks, developed the United Kingdom's second longest funicular railway, the Aberystwyth Cliff Railway, which takes passengers up a 50% gradient.

 

A TrawsCymru T1 service on the A4120 in Aberystwyth

Aberystwyth is a hub for the TrawsCymru bus network, with four routes serving the town:

 

T1 - hourly service to Carmarthen (connects with T1S to Swansea, Monday-Saturday) via Aberaeron and Lampeter - with one service a day (Monday-Saturday) extended to Cardiff

T1C - daily express coach service to Cardiff, via Aberaeron, Carmarthen (connects with T1S to Swansea, Monday-Saturday), Swansea (Sunday & Bank Holidays only), Port Talbot Parkway and Bridgend

T2 - every 1–2 hours to Bangor via Machynlleth, Dolgellau (connects with T3 to Barmouth and Wrexham), Porthmadog and Caernarfon

T5 - hourly service to Haverfordwest via Aberaeron, New Quay, Cardigan and Fishguard

(TrawsCymru services run less-frequently on Sundays.)

 

There is a daily National Express coach, service 409 to London via Birmingham, along with local bus services within the town and into the surrounding area.

 

The A44 and A487 meet with much traffic between North Wales and South West Wales passing through the town. The A4120 links the A44 and A487 between Llanbadarn Fawr and Penparcau, allowing through traffic to bypass the town centre.

 

The B4574 mountain road linking the town to Rhayader is described by the AA as one of the ten most scenic drives in the world.

 

The port of Aberystwyth, although it is small and relatively inconsequential today, used to be an important Atlantic Ocean entryway. It was used to ship locally, to Ireland and as a transatlantic departure point. Commercially, the once important Cardiganshire lead mines exported from this location.

 

The importance of maritime trade in the 19th century is reflected in the fact that a lifeboat has been based at Aberystwyth since 1843, when a 27 ft (8.2 m) boat powered by six oars was funded by public subscription and placed under the control of the harbourmaster. The RNLI took over the service in 1861 and established Aberystwyth Lifeboat Station which celebrated 150 years in 2011. The station uses the Atlantic 85-class inshore lifeboat Spirit of Friendship.

 

The Owl Service by Alan Garner, a well-known and -loved multi-award-winning classic published 1967, is set in north Wales and has two of its core characters —Gwyn and his mam (mother) Nancy— recently arrived from Aberystwyth for 3 weeks' work, with Nancy repeatedly threatening to return there immediately. They and the Welsh locals refer to it as "Aber"; the English characters use its full name.

Aberystwyth (albeit an alternative universe version) is the setting for the cult Louie Knight series by Malcolm Pryce, which transfers Chandleresque "noir" stories and dialogue to this small seaside town. This alternative reality features many landmarks of Aberystwyth, such as the University and the National Library of Wales, but the social situation is radically altered to more closely resemble the pulp/noir stereotypical "Dirty Town" that the narrative plays off. Most of the humour in the books is derived from the almost seamless juxtaposition of the real Aberystwyth and the fictional, noir Aberystwyth. Various aspects of Welsh culture are reflections of what you might expect to see in reality, but with a pulp twist – for example, prostitutes wear Welsh stovepipe hats.

Stripping Penguins Bare, the book 2 of Michael Carson's Benson Trilogy of comic novels, is set in the town and university in the 1960s.

The local writer Niall Griffiths has set many of his novels here and reflects local slang, settings, and even individuals. Grits and Sheepshagger are set wholly in Aberystwyth, which also features prominently in his other novels such as Kelly and Victor and Stump. He portrays a more gritty side of Aberystwyth.

‘Cofiwch Aberystwyth’ by science fiction writer Val Nolan, is a near-future post-apocalyptic novelette about three young urban explorers visiting Aberystwyth years after a nuclear disaster on the west coast of Wales. It was originally published in Interzone (magazine) and later anthologised in Best of British Science Fiction 2020. The title references the Cofiwch Dryweryn graffiti outside nearby Llanrhystyd, Ceredigion.

 

Television

Y Gwyll (2013–2016), a Welsh-language television programme, and the English-language version Hinterland , broadcast on S4C, BBC One Wales, BBC Four, and syndicated around the world, is set in Aberystwyth. It is filmed in and around the town, often in rural locations.

 

Film

Y Llyfrgell (2017) is an award-winning Welsh language film set in and around the National Library, which was filmed on location in 2016. The 2009 book on which it was based was released in English in 2022.

 

The following people and military units have received the Freedom of the Town of Aberystwyth.

Individuals

1912 – Sir John Williams

1912 – David Davies

1912 – Stuart Rendel

1922 – David Lloyd George

1923 – Lewis Pugh Evans

1923 – Matthew Vaughan-Davies

1923 – Sir Herbert Lewis

1928 – Stanley Baldwin

1936 – Sir David Charles Roberts

1936 – Ernest Vaughan

1951 – Winston Churchill

1956 – Sir David James

2011 – Fritz Pratschke

2015 – Jean Guezennec

 

Military Units

1955 – The Welsh Guards

 

Twinning

Arklow in Wicklow, Republic of Ireland Ireland

Kronberg im Taunus in Hesse Hesse, Germany Germany

Saint-Brieuc in Brittany Brittany, France France

Esquel in Patagonia, Argentina Argentina

"And now for something completely different" - Monty Python's Flying Circus

 

I posted this to G+ yesterday and thought I might share it here as well.

 

Here is an infrared photograph taken yesterday with an old DSLR. I had converted to filter wavelengths less than 590 nanometers. Our eyes were never intended to see the world this way, but I sure think it's cool nonetheless.

 

I may post up a before and after shot showing the dramatic difference after post-processing an IR image.

Monty Python´s search for the holy grail started here in Port Appin.

groene boom python,s burgers,zoo

Kamera: Zenza Bronica SQ-Ai

Linse: Zenzanon PS 80mm

Film: Ilford FP4+

Kjemi: Rodinal (Stand 1:100 / 60 min. @ 20°C)

 

No cropping, no post-processing, film has not been pushed or pulled. No alterations, no bullshit.

 

GAMetal Remix: Title Theme (Skate or Die!)

 

Did you know that skateboarding was banned and an illegal activity in puritan Norway 1978-1989? It was a criminal offense to buy, sell, own or use a skateboard during this period. At the same time, Monty Python´s movie Life of Brian was banned for blasphemy (1980).

The Machine That Goes 'Ping!' prop that I built for Simon Imberger's low budget genre feature film "The Curable".

 

It's essentially a "Palin-O-Scope", so named after Michael Palin, who was in the original Machine That Goes 'PIng!' comedy medical sketch in "Monty Python's Flying Circus". No hi-tech operating theatre can possibly be considered state-of-the-art without a MTGP! (Also rather useful as a submarine sonar...)

 

What does it do? Well, it's hooked up to a patient/victim and...goes 'ping!'

 

It's made out of Medium Density Fibreboard offcuts leftover from my 2007 Victorian College Of The Arts Klingon Spacecraft project. The gadget features in many scenes in the film because it's located on one of Simon's primary sets at Melbourne University's Parkville Campus.

 

It's dressed with lots of second hand dials and buttons and other mathoms from my 'useful' boxes, and the square aluminium panel has been left blank so SImon can punch in animated graphics in post production.

 

For lighting FX I've included my old, faithful xenon flash strobe, the same one that I used in my Red Kelly manga battlesuit and also in the Zombie zapping CD firing gun in Jason Heller's "Eat Your Heart Out" short film.

 

"The Curable" is largely set in a dodgy experimental laboratory complex so Simon's brief to me was to make the MTGP! quite manky looking, maybe even cannibalised from other equipment.

 

Because I'd fairly well mapped out what I was going to do beforehand it only took about four hours to tool up the basic structure and paint it, and then another couple of hours to distress, weather and add gunk to it.

 

I had a lot of fun adding little touches like the rubberband around one of the controls, the '108' number (a significant number from the T.V series "Lost"), scratches, dried blood and so on....

    

Vintage postcard.

 

British comedian Peter Sellers (1925-1980) was an incredibly versatile actor. He played Chief Inspector Clouseau in the Pink Panther films with as much ease as Clare Quilty in Lolita (1962). Stanley Kubrick asked him to play three roles in Dr. Strangelove (1964) for which he was nominated for an Academy Award.

 

Richard Henry Sellers was born in 1925 in Southsea, a suburb of Portsmouth, England. He was literally born into show business. His parents, William "Bill" Sellers and Agnes Doreen "Peg" née Marks, were vaudeville performers in an acting company run by his grandmother, and Peter arrived while they were appearing in Southsea. Although christened Richard Henry, his parents called him Peter, after his elder stillborn brother. He made his stage debut at the Kings Theatre, Southsea, when he was two weeks old. Sellers remained an only child. He began accompanying his parents in a variety act that toured the provincial theatres, causing much upheaval and unhappiness in the young Sellers' life. Sellers studied dance as a child before attending St. Aloysius’ Boarding and Day School for Boys. As a teenager, he learned to play the drums and played with jazz bands. At the age of 18, Sellers entered the Royal Air Force during World War II. There he became part of a group of entertainers who performed for the troops. Sellers played his drums and did dead-on impersonations of some of the officers. After the war, he struggled to launch his comic career for several years. After several previous attempts, Sellers managed to land work with the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) by winning over radio producer Roy Speer during a phone conversation. His spot-on impersonations helped to make him a beloved radio comedian. In 1951, Sellers joined fellow comics Spike Milligan, Harry Secombe and Michael Bentine for The Goon Show. The program proved to be hugely popular with listeners who tuned in to hear their absurd skits and bits. The success of The Goon Show helped Sellers break into films. In 1951 the Goons made their feature film debut in Penny Points to Paradise (Anthony Young, 1951). Sellers and Milligan then penned the script to the short Let's Go Crazy (Alan Cullimore, 1951), the earliest film to showcase Sellers's ability to portray a series of different characters within the same film, and he made another appearance opposite his Goons co-stars in the flop, Down Among the Z Men (Maclean Rogers, 1952). In 1954, Sellers was cast opposite Sid James, Donald Pleasence and Eric Sykes in the comedy Orders Are Orders (David Paltenghi, 1955). Then he landed a part as one of the oddball criminals in the classic Ealing comedy The Ladykillers (Alexander Mackendrick, 1955) with Alec Guinness. The Ladykillers was a success in both Britain and the US, and the film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. Sellers starred with David Tomlinson and Wilfrid Hyde-White as a chief petty officer in Up the Creek (Val Guest, 1958). In 1959, his career really took off with the satire I’m All Right, Jack (John and Roy Boulting, 1959). For his part as Fred Kite, the dogmatic communist union man, he won the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role. In The Mouse That Roared (Jack Arnold, 1959) with Jean Seberg, Sellers played three characters: the elderly Grand Duchess, the ambitious Prime Minister and the innocent and clumsy farm boy selected to lead an invasion of the United States. This box office hit helped to introduce Sellers to the American audiences. In 1959 he was also nominated for an Academy Award for the eleven-minute short The Running Jumping & Standing Still Film (Richard Lester, Peter Sellers, 1959). Sellers portrayed an Indian doctor, Dr Ahmed el Kabir opposite Sophia Loren in the romantic comedy The Millionairess (Anthony Asquith, 1960) based on the George Bernard Shaw play. The Goon Show ended its run in 1960, but the program proved to be a strong influence on British comedy. It paved the way for such future comedy shows as Monty Python's Flying Circus.

 

Peter Sellers hit his stride in the early 1960s with three of his most famous roles. Stanley Kubrick asked him to play the role of the mentally unbalanced TV writer Clare Quilty in Lolita (Stanley Kubrick, 1962), opposite Sue Lyon, James Mason and Shelley Winters. Sellers introduced audiences to the world’s most bumbling detective, French Inspector Jacques Clouseau, in Blake Edwards’s The Pink Panther (1963). The film proved to be a huge success, and it was quickly followed by the sequel A Shot in the Dark (Blake Edwards, 1964) again with Herbert Lom as Commissioner Dreyfus and Burt Kwouk as Cato. Andrew Spicer in The Encyclopedia of British Cinema: “In Clouseau, Sellers combined his vocal ingenuity and skill as a slapstick comedian, yet always retained an essential humanity through the inspector's indefatigable dignity in the face of a hostile universe.” In Kubricks’s cold war satire Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (Stanley Kubrick, 1964), Sellers once again showed his ability to tackle multiple characters the well-meaning US President Merkin Muffley, unflappable RAF Group Captain Lionel Mandrake and the nightmarish Dr. Strangelove himself, the government's adviser on nuclear warfare, who is unable to control his own body. His black gloved hand always tries to make a Nazi salute, expressing an ineradicable desire to dominate and destroy. Kubrick later commented that the idea of having Sellers in so many of the film's key roles was that "everywhere you turn there is some version of Peter Sellers holding the fate of the world in his hands". In 1964, Sellers had his first heart attack. He was reportedly clinically dead for two and a half minutes before being revived. This incident marked the beginning of his heart troubles, and he later had a pacemaker installed to help manage his heartbeat. Making a full recovery, Sellers continued to work in the cinema. What's New Pussycat (Clive Donner, 1965) with Peter O'Toole and Romy Schneider, was another big hit, but a combination of his ego and insecurity made Sellers difficult to work with. When the James Bond spoof, Casino Royale (Ken Hughes, John Huston, Joseph McGrath, Robert Parrish, 1967) ran over budget and was unable to recoup its costs despite an otherwise healthy box-office take, Sellers received some of the blame. His films of the late 1960s and early 1970s had some decidedly mixed results.

 

It was his famed character Inspector Clouseau who gave Peter Sellers a boost at the box office with The Return of the Pink Panther (Blake Edwards, 1975) with Christopher Plummer and Catherine Schell. This hit spawned two more Pink Panther films, The Pink Panther Strikes Again (Blake Edwards, 1976), and Revenge of the Pink Panther (Blake Edwards, 1978). Sellers earned raves for his subtle, understated turn as the simple gardener Chance who becomes an unlikely trusted advisor to a powerful businessman and an insider in Washington politics in Being There (Hal Asby, 1979), a film adaptation of Jerzy Kosinski's novel. His character spouts ideas and comments based on his years of television-watching, which are confused by others as words of wisdom. Sellers earned a Golden Globe Award and an Academy Award nomination for his performance. After making this remarkable black comedy, Sellers’s career seemed to be on an upswing. But he never lived to realise this new wave of potential. His last film was The Fiendish Plot of Dr. Fu Manchu (Piers Haggard, 1980), a comedic re-imagining of the eponymous adventure novels by Sax Rohmer; Sellers played both police inspector Nayland Smith and Fu Manchu, alongside Helen Mirren and David Tomlinson. The film, completed just a few months before his death, proved to be another box office flop. Peter Sellers died in a London hospital in 1980, after suffering another heart attack. Sellers was only 54. In his personal life, Sellers struggled with depression and insecurities. Wikipedia: “An enigmatic figure, he often claimed to have no identity outside the roles that he played. His behaviour was often erratic and compulsive, and he frequently clashed with his directors and co-stars, especially in the mid-1970s when his physical and mental health, together with his alcohol and drug problems, were at their worst. Sellers was married four times”. He was survived by his fourth wife Lynne Frederick, and three children from his previous marriages. His son Michael and daughter Sarah came from his first marriage to Anne Howe and daughter Victoria came from his second marriage to actress Britt Ekland. He was also briefly married to Miranda Quarry from 1970 to 1974. Sellers was portrayed by Geoffrey Rush in the biopic The Life and Death of Peter Sellers (Stephen Hopkins, 2004).

 

Sources: Andrew Spicer (The Encyclopedia of British Cinema), Ashley G. Mackinnon (IMDb), Biography.com Wikipedia and IMDb.

John Cleese in "The Ministry of Silly Walks."

Monty Python's Flying Circus

while hugely less spectacular in awe than a human (or animal) birth, the creation of a plant's life is something to behold. anybody close to me and i feel, any Flickr followers that have tagged along to my stream for awhile, realise that i hold trees in high regard. i'm no treehugger but i feel that there is so much more to a tree than is apparent to the casual eye. if you care to you can go back through my stream and find a couple of posts that go deeper into this. lately i've decided to start container growing trees to place around the patio area in my yard. the yard itself has various garden areas and trees and shrubberry (just had a laugh, as i thought about that scene with the Knights who say Ni from Monty Python's movie The Holy Grail ) and i've hardly room for more. but to create an oasis of sorts around the patio is my next goal. the ability to move them to and fro as desired to achieve the perfect feng shui is what is driving this mostly but to have several varities of tree around to be able to admire as i unwind, groove and reflect is also a desire. i love growing things, and the thrill of sprouting something from a seed is tremondous. in December i got the notion to take some seeds from an apple i was eating and try to get them to germinate. you can't just throw them in soil. there's a special process involved. and if after ten years your'e lucky enough to get fruit it probably wouldn't be very edible. anyway, about four of them sprouted and just this week have started to emerge from the seed shell. 25/365 ..... on Explore # 188 1/25/2012

Black Knight scene from Monty Python's Search for the Holy Grail.

Bicycle Repairman was first seen in a Monty Python's Flying Circus sketch.

Monty Python Song Named Top Funeral Choice

 

“Always Look on the Bright Side of Life” beats out Frank Sinatra’s “My Way” and Celine Dion’s “My Heart Will Go On” in new survey:

 

"Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" is a comedy song written by Monty Python member Eric Idle that was first featured in the film Monty Python's Life of Brian and has gone on to become a common singalong at public events such as football matches as well as funerals

 

Lyrics:

 

Some things in life are bad

They can really make you mad

Other things just make you swear and curse

When you're chewing on life's gristle

Don't grumble, give a whistle

And this'll help things turn out for the best

 

And always look on the bright side of life

Always look on the light side of life

 

If life seems jolly rotten

There's something you've forgotten

And that's to laugh and smile and dance and sing

When you're feeling in the dumps

Don't be silly chumps

Just purse your lips and whistle, that's the thing

 

And always look on the bright side of life

Come on!

Always look on the right side of life

 

For life is quite absurd

And death's the final word

You must always face the curtain with a bow

Forget about your sin

Give the audience a grin

Enjoy it, it's your last chance anyhow

 

So, always look on the bright side of death

A-just before you draw your terminal breath

 

Life's a piece of shit

When you look at it

Life's a laugh and death's a joke, it's true

You'll see it's all a show

Keep 'em laughing as you go

Just remember that the last laugh is on you

 

And always look on the bright side of life

Always look on the right side of life

 

C'mon Brian, cheer up!

 

Always look on the bright side of life

Always look on the bright side of life

 

Worse things happen at sea, you know

Always look on the bright side of life

 

I mean, what have you got to lose

You know, you come from nothing, you're going back to nothing

What have you lost? Nothing!

 

Always look on the right side of life...

 

Nothing will come from nothing, you know what they say?

Cheer up you old bugger, c'mon give us a grin!

There you are, see, it's the end of the film

Incidentally, this record is available in the foyer

Some of us have to got live as well, you know

 

Who do you think pays for all this rubbish

They're not gonna make their money back, you know

I told them, I said to them, Bernie, I said they'll never make their money back

 

I paid a visit to the local pet shop at the weekend and couldn't resist a snap of these three in their cage.

The instant I took the shot my mind shot back to THAT Monty Python sketch.

One of the funniest things I ever saw on TV.

 

As in........

 

"This parrot is no more! He has ceased to be! 'E's expired and gone to meet 'is maker!

'E's a stiff! Bereft of life, 'e rests in peace! If you hadn't nailed 'im to the perch 'e'd be pushing up the daisies!

'Is metabolic processes are now 'istory! 'E's off the twig! 'E's kicked the bucket, 'e's shuffled off 'is mortal coil, run down the curtain and joined the bleedin' choir invisibile!!

 

He's' snuffed it!..... THIS IS AN EX-PARROT!!"

 

For those of you who have never seen it or for those who want to see it again, and again, and again ...... youtu.be/npjOSLCR2hE

A member of the Greek Ceremonial Guard doing a slow march past the Presidential Palace in Athens. I can't help thinking that these guys inspired Monty Python's Ministry of Silly Walks.

A little scene based on Monty Python's Life of Brian.

Pink and yellow flesh of the Halo's morning crinkled with Carmen heated curlers and coffee woman smiles trace bits of toast crumbs on candy striped sheets in the strange dawning fawning light revealing glimpse of breast under dirt-red nightgown unavoidable look listening to look looking at listener caught between breasts and whatever acid coffee and sticky sweet aftertaste of residual smell of sleep puff eyes and soiled underwear, unavoidable. Omphale the scythe-Bride's sidecut deep penetrate almost cuts garment funny hat she wears on her horse and those huge furryones what you may call ‘em they wear with all that red blood and gold finery pomp, pompous, Pompeii and ceremony recent acquisition unavoidably owned gratuitously yours forever deserving the undeserved why cluster group crowd jolt push let's see where is she did you see the dress the hat pink chiffon pink flesh halo halo halo what's going on here then run, scarper, hunted relentlessly intoning your transparency.

 

Beefeaters.

 

Hand-over fist.

 

None here hear opaque sounds clearly obviously oblivious to looking. Nodding off to murmured litany: vicious circle vagina with teeth childhood joke onanism unavoidable revolve spinning out of control shoes rushing through skirts to lady lectures is everybody here in fashionable dada skirts? We boast very special lighting control adjusts all here present surrealist period important movements big move no chief even Monthly Python’s juxtaposition crowds of civilisation and progress over audible distraction fight that woman who's a freud of the unconscious adjusting glasses with id askew wigs. Eros’s sexual drive to Thanatos as aim for death-life black body of dream’s desires, blood red incisions new guard same suit but fatter rudder and all that unseeing eye palaver hollowing out of headless woman with beckoning ruddy handsome sky swimmers fish gags on phallic symbols.

 

We used to have a stammer too funny how some words tripped up trip freely reeling rolling clichés ignoring the moulds missing the joke jumping the gun shooting his little pink cockatoo, poor Ernst maximus, plight his troth, this queen’s throat with silent ‘H’ and the errant ‘a’.

 

Cock or two in earnest getting closer soon to surround all those women middle-aged panic pulling out withdraw from the woman she's too strong for me metamorphosis of narcissus with no capacity for loving echoed back his own litany accusing self with blame, or worse, but who will if he cannot why is he so beautiful why the figure finger and the egg changing to gas rising with tender tendency bursting outwards breaking inwards storming fortress bastion of virginity shudder tremble spasm contort the mocking teasing holding back woman on her horse: Boadicea Rrose Maria-Luisa Elizabeth, target foxy tailor.

 

The second coming going too-ing frow-ing stand-ing ovum glorious blue farm boy antics closer to deaf psyche feeling I feel simple artists don't starve anymore what do you know hamlet hallucinatory starvation colours nightmare hunger grinning fat bird strange woman symbol looking unconvinced unconceived unconcerned bored rich and theatrically bland alone with Marcel the sieves sieve-semen, the chocolate is grinding the witnesses witness court ritual crowds gather flags wave cameras click corn sways push jolt plan shoot gone blank to roll over had enough Sarajevo Ferdinand -1234567 inquisitive inquisition I only wanted to know defended my right to tender my plight too this is how it is why the difference she up there us here like some overfed barren queen-bee taking food producing pomp makes work--- what Cooks keepers foot-men liveries valets guards secretaries fashion designers strange employment that, to dress a window, Duchamp’s done some flotsam headless servile female with apron garment tantalizing the hungry tap on knee L’eau de Vie piss drinking golden shower brigade some god or other appeared to some broad or other that way, Danae or somesuch.

 

I knew one once he died of a heart attack at thirty too much piss perhaps to fall in love with your own defecation whatever with your image but that's wrong—right left right march out defend protect change guard happy birthday only official, of course, great pomp nothing like a good show followed by a meal few drinks home and sex money — prostitution perhaps Piccadilly that's where they hang out pick-up boys older men any for money stand on wimpy corner tight jeans crotch bulge neon advertisement, it's the real thing, making eyes sidled glances this ones on me —don’t be a fool—change feet, funny expression that, for what? Wheels perhaps speed off to sordid room grope pretend extend inflict withdraw, accept whiskey and tobacco breath choke for air gag swallow hard with a squeeze of vacuum cleaner ease, ablution absolution bless me father for I have sinned six times alone no with others why for money father why unemployed dad why not nag mag--days to spend emptying the hours into galleries like these only just beats Denman street behind the Dilly fewer people warmer still the surreptitious glances though sex is hard to avoid even beneath a veneer of culture refined and stately attack on Leonardo’s nose, poor pieta, assault the living overturn the stalls ransack the temple get ‘em where it hurts—it hurts this constant coming raw from rubbing and rocking tired of hearing vicious circle onanism chariot of the bride—fire—plummet and fall as wild sun-horses jerk free and bless-me-dad moans.

 

Nine moulds were eight with the consistency of jelly with a wobble on your plate, Bride falls in head-first perhaps suffocation raspberry fool a real blow-out how do they go so rigid it's beyond me they have their own rules all fall: waterfall Bride's-fall veil's-fall bachelors-fall clothes-fall horse-fall, Panic! who was it run forward look it was me I did it take me I came erect, un-cocked, came jerked until empty put the wind up her but those horses are trained though for car back fire back to fire vicious circle vestal virgins guardian of the sacred fire dropped her clothes to tantalize could bring about her fall but she's careful it’s the good girls make the mistakes. I remember, we knew when she conceived like no other time she cried I too later didn't know wherever the sound was corning from deep down siren-like unimaginable abortion torn out from a well of empty longing recorded on camera using charts optically ground to perfect the image on screen, do I get the part?

 

I want to do it —he has no lead in his pencil led through his stencil, make your mark and meet your match mix and match thatch mark my words silly boy to get lost in the Sahara lots of money to retrieve him anaconda fashion back to the bosom of his mother’s curls, no I insist, let us pray let us pay Rrose upon rows what pun funny that multiple sexual coupling poor rose’s scarlet flower thorny bloodbath the female circumcision’s anesthetized cries and pallid whimpers, unavoidable lady with high-buttoned blouse and Maggie Smith mouth asserting herself with posturing confidence-assured sorority delicately tearing croissants crossed legged and prim shod saucers full of coffee slops moon-eyed and lithesome now the hands acknowledge the hands gesticulating finger counting exercise caressing growth checking stunting squeezing restraining maiming denying whispering crying eating swallowing choking swimming drowning ravenous appetite, the human race is blind, their whole life too now Faust you too be blind at last bowl of conception scissors cross-chew cupid’s wings leg or breast tired of watching waiting for this thing to move revolve revolver shot pulls on the cannon mark twenty one gun salute and dash to speaker's corner to expound

 

and expire

 

watch jocular oculists record slowed down turning recording projecting with commentary lies grafted on greyly regurgitating pain as event strained to prevent content inclusion—entertain at all costs the earth, apocalypse whoops, see no hear no speak no feel nothing background music, I talk to the trees but they don't listen to me listen to me listen to me listen to me listen to me six times six six six the devil’ s number is up, up and away we go —listen to me —run forward freeze-frame cut incidental music voice over commentary redux switch to queen falling off horse stunned silence cut switch to crowd shock horror cut to close-up open-mouthed shots of horse bucking slow motion to freeze frame with noise of six shots editing past track back to crowds slow motion confusion arms hands faces mouths fists ears eyes teeth laughing child gel of mob rushing forward heavily policed uniformed conformity attack blows raised weapons frozen faces hate scalpel dental work teeth fly balls crunch jaw grates open cheeks to blood and sand love gasoline excellent lubricant ensures smooth running of diverse parts in private between consenting adults only one or two left a bit right a bit steady easy does it forward a bit back aim shoot fall splash fire upwards strive seep through encounter mirror back to start next please name address age sex schooling previous experience what sort of work signed on before anywhere difficult with no experience square peg in round hole and all that lobster thermidor, palace fit for a king home of the gentry there's no place like home is where the heart is a lonely hunter, Diana, remembering the hunt the haunches the steam rising the chaps in chaps the horse shit on the pavement outside our house remnants of an age imperial leftovers I couldn’t believe it when she told me that her three brothers were army officers dad was in the Punjab very defensive about it in the middle of the village square where the hunt would meet bobbing up and down on its horsey meat-smelling haunches, libidinous moisture, gasoline of the hunt, thighs wrapped around hot flanks mounting excitement tender cherry red-lipped cheeks with plumb voices tickled by sodden tongues hair-netted and nifty-hatted blood-redded and crotch- stained joddies tally-watching ho the nags defecate uncontrollably mesmerized by the evaporating turd quantities mixed with the aroma of aftershave port and Chanel, watching and wondering as to the outcome sensing the sexual frenzy of the chase and the blood let

 

that mark of Cain.

 

Afterwards scraping the street’s bounty for the cabbage patch as the guards retrieve their monthly pay check monthly blood-let for their daily inactivity sit beg roll good dog give sit give your time good dog sell your time good dog barter your life accept your lot Sodom your Gomorrah bugger your mate plan wait stand concealed amongst congealed concealed congealers perhaps carry a flag adopt adoration attitude, ad-lib, admire mingle and work forward to fore of audience waving waiting watching time choosing position seeing and been seen conspicuous corner, camera corner, conspiracy corner collectors corner-watch and wait be watched bothering the bewildered, defiled and defiant, impotent and somewhat erect, feeling the filling the swelling expansion to the point of overflow of excitement preparing to fire raising the shaft doffing the hat barrels whirl grindingly grind the mechanism taking over as the chant begins concurring with the exposition flag-waves voices rise excitement mounting as she straddles her jewel encrusted shell revealing herself in glory to the chant of birth of Venus birth of Venus birth of Venus, birth’s afterbirth for England Harry and St James my heart beating wildly, yes, hackle-risen, yes, target in position, yes, presentation smile in place, yes, present arms, yes, and his heart was going like mad yes plagiarism yes queen of heaven yes the ocean star yes guide of us wanderers here below the shooting star yes I said yes I will Yes...

  

1981

 

not found in Monty Python's Galilea but in Egypt. Fragment on display in Montreal exhibit about ancient Egypt. Everywhere in antiquity there are big noses, Rome, the Middle-East, but come to think of it, maybe less in the far East...Would make a great paper tissue dispenser...

 

A needlework piece i did of Terry Gilliam´s animation scene in Monty Python´s Holy Grail.

Made the pattern in PCstitch.

Terry Jones about to explode....