Well it took longer than it should've thanks to the usual array of problems from building a ship this big but the first bit of coverings are completed.

 

The quarter panels were most problematic. When installing the center wedges, I hit one of the quarter panels and broke off a small technic bush 1/2 internally and fell down to the adjacent lower quarter panel. While fishing it out and reinstalling it I managed to break the same technic bush on the lower quarter panel. That one fell into one of the lights down there. I couldn't fish that out without damaging the lights so I had to deconstruct the lower quarter panel just to fish it out and reinstall it. Thats when I noticed that I had done all the lights wrong on the upper quarter panels. So all of those had to be taken apart and reconstructed with the lights in the correct spots.

 

On to the big wedges forward and aft. The front wedges are going through a redesign that won't match the lower ones. This is to accommodate the lights for the upper windows, as it would be impossible to place them in the same place as the lower ones. This new design should be superior lighting the upper windows, and should help the lower ones too. The lower wedges will not be modified accordingly, as it would be too time consuming, and risky. If I can get those 4 wedges installed before the end of August, I will enter it into this year's GTW LUG Shrine display at Christmas. After that it's just the engines and the center crown to go. I pray that there are no more failures anywhere because WE ARE SO CLOSE TO FINISHING THIS!

An early morning flight from/to Portland (KPDX) by this Falcon 2000LX. The use of silver paint can sometimes be problematic to capture. In this case the low morning sun washed it out of all frames except this one.

(Streptopelia turtur) B28I4807.jpg Dar Bouazza - Morocco

PLEASE STOP KILLING THE WILD TREASURES OF THE NATURE

Distribution and status :

The turtle dove is a migratory species with a southern Palearctic range covering most of Europe and the Middle East and including Turkey and north Africa, although it is rare in northern Scandinavia and Russia. It winters in southern Africa.

According to the State of Europe's Common Birds 2007 report, THE TURTLE DOVE POPULATION IN EUROPA HAS FALLEN BY 62% THIS RECENT TIMES...

Environmentalist groups have said that this is partly because changed farming practices mean that the weed seeds and shoots on which it feeds, especially fumitory, are more scarce, and partly due to shooting of birds in Mediterranean countries.

According to a 2001 study cited by the European Commission, between two and four million birds are shot annually in Malta, Cyprus, France, Italy, Spain and Greece. Environmentalists have described spring hunting in Malta as particularly problematic as it is the only country with an EU derogation to shoot birds during their spring migration to breeding grounds.

According to a 2007 study by the European Commission, four currently identifiable potential threats to the turtle dove are (1) habitat loss/modification (medium to low impact), (2) droughts and climate change (mostly unknown but likely low impact), (3) hunting (partly unknown but overall medium impact), and (4) competition with the collared dove (unknown impact).

"...our notions of what a human being is problematically depends on there being two coherent genders. And if someone doesn't comply with either the masculine norm or the feminine norm, their very humaness is called into question."

-Judith Butler

 

This was a dance I had never seen before, it was a veritable mixture of the contrasting. The musicians were wearing Punjabi dresses, playing bagpipes and the central dancers were two eunuchs.

For those who are from or who frequent the Skagit Valley, you most likely know where I took these. It has become a favorite spot of mine during my eagle trips to photograph at during the day. In fact, I actually spent my entire last day at this location. I'm sure many know where it is, but due to the disrespect and problematic actions that took place here last year when a rare species was located here... I would rather not disclose where it is. It makes me sad to know that there are some photographers have such little respect for their subjects and only care about getting the shot... parts of their habitat were destroyed last year. Makes me sick :( STILL I absolutely love this place and for the first time ever I got more flight shots than I did stills... and I am so lucky to have gotten so many of these beautiful birds.

 

Early morning at the Old Hall Farm on the Dunstall Estate, Staffordshire, UK.

 

The Old Hall occupies the site of the original Dunstall Hall, which was built in the 17th Century.

 

It now serves as the office for the Estate, which comprises a mix of agricultural land, woodland and parks.

 

Though car parking is a bit problematic, I thoroughly recommend this pleasant estate as a good place for a short walk or bike ride.

French postcard by Edition de la Cinematographie Française, Paris, no. 1006. Photo: Henri Manuel

 

Pearl White (1889-1938) was dubbed 'Queen of the Serials', and noted for doing her own stunts, in silent film serials such as The Perils of Pauline (1914) and The Exploits of Elaine (1914-1915). Often cast as a plucky onscreen heroine, White's roles directly contrasted those of the popularised archetypal ingénue. Until the end of the First World War White remained globally a popular action heroine.

 

Pearl Faye White was born in 1889 on her father's farm in Green Ridge, Missouri, the youngest of five children. She moved with her family to Springfield, Missouri, where she grew up. Her mother died when Pearl was only three years old. Pearl joined the Diemer Theatre Company during her second year of high school. At age 18, she went on the road with the Trousdale Stock Company, a repertoire group, in 1907. She was signed by the Powers Film Co. in New York in 1910. The following year, she moved to Philadelphia and joined the more professional film studio Lubin Film Company. She worked opposite some well-known actors, including Arthur Johnson and Florence Lawrence. Then White got a contract with Pathé Frères. She only appeared in a few films there, before starting to work for Crystal Film Company where she first gained public attention. She acted in a handful of films that met with great success, including Pearl as a Clairvoyant (Phillips Smalley, 1913), Pearl's Dilemma (Phillips Smalley, 1913), Pearl as a Detective (Phillips Smalley, 1913), and What Pearl's Pearls Did (Phillips Smalley, 1914). After this success, she returned to Pathé, where she became a star. In 1914, Pearl White starred in Pathe's 20-part film series The Perils of Pauline (Louis J. Gasnier, Donald MacKenzie, 1914), the fifth serial ever made. Another success was The Exploits of Elaine (1914-1915). In Europe, The Exploits of Elaine were re-edited with two subsequent serials into Les Mystères de New York. Around 1914-1915 she was the most popular female film star, and for a time she even topped Mary Pickford's popularity at the box office. She became an international star and was the leading heroine in a number of serials, which enjoyed immense popularity. She gained her initial fame by performing her own dangerous and life-threatening stunts. Stunt doubles were used after her popularity surged, and the studio became concerned for her safety. In 1922, during the filming of her final serial, Plunder, John Stevenson - her stand-in/stunt double - was killed while attempting a dangerous stunt. He was supposed to leap from the top of a bus on 72nd Street and Columbus Avenue onto an elevated girder. He missed the girder and struck his head. Stevenson died of a fractured skull. A rumor immediately spread that she had been killed, and a slight scandal arose when it was revealed that she had used a stand-in.

 

Pearl White was married twice. In 1907, she met her first husband, Victor Sutherland when they were touring together. It was a problematic marriage and a divorce followed in 1914. In 1919, she married actor and war hero Wallace McCutcheon Jr., son of pioneering cinematographer and director Wallace McCutcheon Sr. He had been gassed in World War One and suffered mental problems. The couple divorced two years later. In 1919, she left Pathé for a film contract with Fox Film Corporation, where she appeared in nine films. Almost all of the films flopped, so White returned to Pathé in 1923. Her second husband was distraught over the dissolution of the marriage and had disappeared only weeks after the divorce. It was believed that he had committed suicide. Pearl went to Paris and subsequently suffered a nervous breakdown. The breakdown was attributed in part to her guilt over Stevenson and McCutcheon. She remained in seclusion in France until McCutcheon's reappearance in May 1923. In 1928, he fatally shot himself. When found, his pockets were bulging with clippings about Pearl. With her health deteriorating, she retired. White was born into poverty, but by the time she retired from films in 1924, she had amassed a fortune of $2 million ($30 million in 2020). Pearl was a shrewd businesswoman, investing in a successful Parisian nightclub and a Biarritz resort hotel/casino. She owned a profitable stable of thoroughbred racehorses and divided her time between her townhouse in Passy and a 54-acre estate near Rambouillet. In later life, White suffered from all the stunts she had performed. In 1933, she was permanently hospitalised. She died five years later, in 1938 at the age of 49. She left her enormous fortune to her partner, Greek businessman Theodore Cossika. Pearl White was buried in the Passy Cemetery in Paris, her tombstone bears only her name.

 

Sources: Jim Beaver (IMDb), Wikipedia (Dutch and English), and IMDb.

 

And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.

KPVG (Hampton Roads Executive Airport) - 18 JUN 2018

 

The World Heritage Air Museum's newly arrived Gloster Meteor T.7 on takeoff roll on RWY 10 for her first flight in North America on June 18th at Hampton Roads Executive Airport in Chesapeake, Virginia. Pilot Zachary McNeill is at the controls.

 

After airborne, the Meteor would fly a left downwind and do a low-level "banana pass" and then head to Elizabeth City Airport (KECG), where she will remain until Thursday, when she heads to her new home at World Heritage Air Museum (WHAM) in Detroit, Michigan.

 

Meteor T.7 WA591 was built at Hucclecote in 1949 and served as a pilot trainer at various bases including Stradishall, Driffield, Finningley, and the College of Warfare at Manby. It became a ground instruction airframe at St Athan but ended its military service as gate guardian of RAF Woodvale.

 

WA591 was rescued for preservation in 1995 by Meteor Flight, who spent nearly 16 years in cramped conditions at Yatesbury restoring it. The aircraft took to the skies again at Kemble in 2011 as G-BWMF and subsequently joined the Classic Air Force (CAF) fleet at Coventry.

 

In April 2018, the aircraft was disassembled at Liverpool John Lennon Airport (EGGP/LPL) and shipped from the Port of Liverpool aboard a roll-on/roll-off ship to Norfolk, Virginia, USA.

 

After arriving in Norfolk, Virginia on April 27, 2018, the aircraft spent three days clearing customs before being trucked the short distance by road to Hampton Roads Executive Airport (KPVG) on April 30th.

 

With assistance from volunteers, the team from WHAM had the Meteor’s wings back on by May 1st. She was a whole aircraft again a few days after that, and then the sometimes problematic process of FAA Certification began. The Meteor’s last flight prior to her arrival in the USA, took place in late March this year (a short hop from Coventry to Liverpool), and she had always been maintained in immaculate condition following her nearly two-decades-long restoration in the UK, so it wasn’t surprising that she received her airworthiness certificate in fairly short order on June 9th.

 

You can see an article on this aircraft at warbirdsnews.com/aviation-museum-news/gloster-meteor-airb...

A late CN 149 leaves Turcot West after stopping so maintenance crews could examine a problematic engine. Power is CN 5770, CN 2272 & CN 2226.

Sunday 14th August 2016 marked a new chapter in bus services serving East Lothian. First Bus are now resigned to the history books and smart looking East Coast Buses are starting their journeys. East Coast Buses are operating service 107 between Edinburgh and Dunbar and service 124/X24 between Edinburgh and North Berwick with contracts also for school services to North Berwick High School.

 

The first service 124 to depart from Edinburgh, Semple Street to North Berwick was 10104. However the screen was a bit problematic with it flickering on the left side causing the screen to look like it does in the photo. Secondly the driver had problems programming it show the correct destination.

A Flamingo in one of the salty pools of Isabella

 

Flamingo

The American Flamingo (Phoenicopterus ruber) is a large species of flamingo closely related to the Greater Flamingo and Chilean Flamingo. It has also been known as the Caribbean Flamingo, but the species' presence in the Galápagos makes that name problematic. The American Flamingo breeds in the Galápagos Islands, coastal Colombia and Venezuela and nearby islands, the Yucatán Peninsula of Mexico, and in the northern Caribbean in the Bahamas, Hispaniola, Cuba and the Turks and Caicos Islands. Most sightings in southern Florida are usually considered to be escapees, although at least one bird banded as a chick in the Yucatán Peninsula has been sighted in Everglades National Park, and others may be genuine wanderers from Cuba. Its preferred habitats are similar to that of its relatives: saline lagoons, mudflats, and shallow brackish coastal or inland lakes. Like all flamingos, it lays a single chalky white egg on a mud mound, between May and August; incubation until hatching takes from 28 to 32 days; both parents brood the young for a period of up to 6 years when they reach sexual maturity. Their life expectancy of 40 years is one of the longest in birds. The American Flamingo is 120–140 cm (47–55 in) in length; males weigh 2.8 kg (6.2 lb) and females 2.2 kg (4.9 lb) kg. Most of its plumage is pink, giving rise to its earlier name of Rosy Flamingo and differentiating adults from the much paler Greater Flamingo. The wing coverts are red, and the primary and secondary flight feathers are black. It is the only flamingo which naturally inhabits North America. The bill is pink and white with a restricted black tip, and the legs are entirely pink. The call is a goose-like honking.

 

Isabella

Shaped like a sea horse, Isabela is the largest of the the islands in the Galapagos, more than 4 times larger than Santa Cruz the next largest. Isabela is 80 miles (100 km) in length and though it is remarkably beautiful it is not one of the most visited islands in the chain. Its visitor sites are far apart making them accessible only to faster boats or those with longer itineraries. One of the youngest islands, Isabela is located on the western edge of the archipelago near the Galapagos hot spot. At approximately 1 million years old, the island was formed by the merger of 6 shield volcanoes - Alcedo, Cerro Azul, Darwin, Ecuador, Sierra Negra and Wolf. Five of the six volcanoes are still active (the exception is Ecuador) making it one of the most volcanically active places on earth. Visitors cruising past Elizabeth Bay on the west coast can see evidence of this activity in the fumaroles rising from Volcan Chico on Sierra Negra. Two of Isabela's volcanoes lie directly on the equator - Ecuador and Volcan Wolf. Volcan Wolf is the youngest of Isabela's volcanoes and at 5,600ft (1707 m) the highest point in the Galapagos. Isabela is known for its geology, providing visitors with excellent examples of the geologic occurrences that have created the Galapagos Islands including uplifts at Urbina Bay and the Bolivar Channel, Tuft cones at Tagus Cove, and Pulmace on Alcedo. Isabela is also interesting for its flora and fauna. The young island does not follow the vegetation zones of the other islands. The relatively new lava fields and surrounding soils have not developed the sufficient nutrients required to support the varied life zones found on other islands. Another obvious difference occurs on Volcan Wolf and Cerro Azul, these volcanoes loft above the cloud cover and are arid on top. Isabela's rich animal, bird, and marine life is beyond compare. Isabela is home to more wild tortoises than all the other islands. Isabela's large size and notable topography created barriers for the slow moving tortoises; apparently the creatures were unable to cross lava flows and other obstacles, causing several different sub-species of tortoise to develop. Today tortoises roam free in the calderas of Alcedo, Wolf, Cerro Azul, Darwin and Sierra Negra. Alcedo Tortoises spend most of their life wallowing in the mud at the volcano crater. The mud offers moisture, insulation and protects their exposed flesh from mosquitoes, ticks and other insects. The giant tortoises have a mediocre heat control system requiring them to seek the coolness of the mud during the heat of the day and the extra insulation during the cool of the night. On the west coast of Isabela the nutrient rich Cromwell Current upwelling creating a feeding ground for fish, whales, dolphin and birds. These waters have long been known as the best place to see whales in the Galapagos. Some 16 species of whales have been identified in the area including humpbacks, sperms, sei, minkes and orcas. During the 19th century whalers hunted in these waters until the giant creatures were near extinction. The steep cliffs of Tagus Cove bare the names of many of the whaling ships and whalers which hunted in these waters. Birders will be delighted with the offerings of Isabela. Galapagos Penguins and flightless cormorants also feed from the Cromwell Current upwelling. These endemic birds nest along the coast of Isabela and neighboring Fernandina. The mangrove finch, Galapagos Hawk, brown pelican, pink flamingo and blue heron are among the birds who make their home on Isabela. A colorful part to any tour located on the western shore of Isabela, Punta Moreno is often the first or last stopping point on the island (depending on the direction the boat is heading). Punta Moreno is a place where the forces of the Galapagos have joined to create a work of art. The tour starts with a panga ride along the beautiful rocky shores where Galapagos penguins and shore birds are frequently seen. After a dry landing the path traverses through jagged black lava rock. As the swirling black lava flow gave way to form craters, crystal tide pools formed-some surrounded by mangroves. This is a magnet for small blue lagoons, pink flamingos, blue herons, and Bahama pintail ducks. Brown pelican can be seen nesting in the green leaves of the mangroves. You can walk to the edge of the lava to look straight down on these pools including the occasional green sea turtle, white-tipped shark and puffer fish. This idyllic setting has suffered from the presence of introduced species. Feral dogs in the area are known to attack sea Lions and marine iguanas.

 

Galapagos Islands

The Galápagos Islands (official name: Archipiélago de Colón; other Spanish names: Islas de Colón or Islas Galápagos) are an archipelago of volcanic islands distributed around the equator in the Pacific Ocean, some 900 km west of Ecuador. It is a UNESCO World Heritage site: wildlife is its most notable feature. Because of the only very recent arrival of man the majority of the wildlife has no fear of humans and will allow visitors to walk right up them, often having to step over Iguanas or Sea Lions.The Galápagos islands and its surrounding waters are part of a province, a national park, and a biological marine reserve. The principal language on the islands is Spanish. The islands have a population of around 40,000, which is a 40-fold expansion in 50 years. The islands are geologically young and famed for their vast number of endemic species, which were studied by Charles Darwin during the voyage of the Beagle. His observations and collections contributed to the inception of Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection.

CHILDE HASSAM (New York/Massachusetts, 1859-1935)

1904

Oil on canvas

30" x 25"

 

The auction house's estimate for this piece is a staggering $150,000 to $250,000.

 

I would not buy it even if I could afford it, because the eyes stike me as problematic. It was only from the side and at some distance that the subject's eyes appear normal. Viewed straight on, the pupils are indistinguishable in the blur of brush strokes. Others may have different opinions about the piece and, of course, I would respect them.

 

I am puzzled why a work by an artist of Hassam's stature is being auctioned in Portland rather than in New York. It may be that portraits are less appealing to collectors than other genres unless the subject is famous at a national or international level. In that case, it could be that a local auction house was selected because of the subject's richly-deserved prominence in Portland and in the State of Oregon. Also, her father, C.E.S. Wood, was an intellectual and artistic giant among his contemporaries and is still highly respected today.

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Impressionistic oil on canvas, portrait of the young Nan Wood Honeyman wearing sun hat and white dress in a flower garden.

 

The subject of the painting, Nan Wood Honeyman (Oregon, 1881-1970), approximately 23 years old at the time, became a prominent Oregon politician.

 

She served in the Oregon House of Representatives, the U.S. House of Representatives, and, among other things, became the first woman to represent Oregon in the U.S. Senate.

 

She became lifelong friends with Eleanor Roosevelt while at Finch School in New York. I

 

In 1907, Nan Wood married David Honeyman and began building their historic home in the Portland Goose Hollow [Portland Heights] neighborhood [at 1728 S.W. Prospect Drive]. [If you are strong enough to withstand the soul-searing pain of severe real-estate envy, click here for a detailed description and photos of that magnificent mansion: www.zillow.com/homedetails/1728-SW-Prospect-Dr-Portland-O... ]

 

Nan was the daughter of C.E.S. Wood (Oregon/Pennsylvania 1852-1944), an artist, progressive author, lawyer, and one of the founders of the Portland Art Museum.

 

Hassam and C.E.S. Wood were friends and Hassam painted murals at the Wood house in Portland, Oregon while staying with them in 1904 and returning again in 1908.

 

Provenance: passed down within the family to Nan Wood Honeyman's granddaughter. Lent to the Portland Art Museum in 1953 by Nan Wood Honeyman for the exhibit titled "Childe Hassam in Oregon."

 

Lot includes a copy of an insurance appraisal by Stuart P. Feld who is working with Kathleen Burnside to create a catalogue raisonne for Childe Hassam. Lot also includes a copy of a newspaper article illustrating the painting of Honeyman and reporting on the Childe Hassam Portland Art Museum exhibition.

 

Condition: 467: The painting is in good condition. On the underside of the hat and part of the face, there is some inpainting where there are some traction cracks, the top layer of paint cracks and reveals some of the lower layer of paint between the cracks.

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More about Nan Wood Honeyman:

 

Nan Wood Honeyman (1881-1970) was a progressive local and national leader for the Democratic party and of Prohibition reform. Her home on Prospect Drive in Portland, Oregon, was the fundamental base and backdrop for her social and political work from the 1920s to 1953.

 

The oldest of five children, Nan was the daughter of Charles Erskin Scott Wood and Nanny Moale Smith. Nan learned progressive politics from her father, a celebrated soldier, lawyer, explorer, poet and artist. As a lawyer, C. E. S. Wood was a champion of labor and progressive reform. Among his many clients was Margaret Sanger, whom he defended when she was arrested for lecturing in Portland about birth control.

 

Nan attended school in Portland and at the Finch School in New York where she met life-long friend Eleanor Roosevelt, who in later years was a frequent quest at the Honeyman's Portland home.

 

In 1907, Nan married David Taylor Honeyman, vice-president and treasurer of the largest hardware store in Portland, the Honeyman Hardware Company. Construction on their Prospect Drive home began shortly thereafter.

 

The Colonial Revival house was designed by David's brother-in-law, David C. Lewis, a native-Oregonian architect noted for his residential work. Finished in 1908, Nan Honeyman raised three children here with her husband, where she lived for half a century.

 

Honeyman had a long and active political career. During the 1920s she served as president of the League of Women Voters, state and national committeewoman for the Democratic party, and was elected president of the Oregon Division of the Women's National Organization for Prohibition Reform.

 

This group, which sought an end to prohibition, was in opposition to their vocal and powerful rival, the Woman's Christian Temperance Union.

 

In 1933, she presided over the Constitutional Convention, which ratified the 21st Amendment repealing Prohibition (the 18th Amendment), and was elected to the Oregon House of Representatives.

 

In 1936 she was elected to the United States House of Representatives and became the first woman to represent Oregon in Congress.

 

Once elected, Nan Wood Honeyman brought her daughter Judith with her to Washington, DC, while David remained in Portland to take care of the family business.

 

During her two-year term, Honeyman was a strong supporter of the New Deal and served on the Irrigation and Reclamation Committee, the Committee on Indian Affairs, and the Rivers and Harbors Committee.

 

Through her position on the latter committee, Honeyman supported the completion of the Bonneville Dam, was an outspoken advocate of the construction of transmission lines to carry power throughout the Pacific Northwest, promoted the development of the Port of Portland and the Columbia River as a major waterway, and worked to control pollution of that river and to protect the salmon fishing industry.

 

Nan lost the subsequent elections of 1938 and 1940, and in 1941 filled a vacancy in the Oregon State Senate.

 

In December of 1941, President Roosevelt nominated her for District 29 Customs Collector at Portland, a post which she held for 12 years.

 

Following her husband's death in 1946, she continued to reside in their Prospect Drive home until 1959, when it was sold out of the family.

 

Nan Wood Honeyman died at age 89, known as a woman of boundless energy, considerable charm and "endowed with a fine personality, unpretentious and magnetic, a woman of distinction whose interest in the problems of the day is sincere and friendly, who brings a fine intelligence to their consideration." (The Oregon Democrat, January 21, 1935

www.nps.gov/nr/feature/wom/2002/honeyman.htm

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Frederick Childe Hassam (pronounced "Child Hass-m)(October 17, 1859 – August 27, 1935) was an American Impressionist painter, noted for his urban and coastal scenes. Along with Mary Cassatt and John Henry Twachtman, Hassam was instrumental in promulgating Impressionism to American collectors, dealers, and museums. He produced over 3,000 paintings, oils, watercolors, etchings, and lithographs over the course of his career, and was an influential American artist of the early 20th century.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Childe_Hassam

  

Because their nesting box is on the east side of the road, backlighting rules most shots and is especially problematic on sunny days. Later in the day, it's too hot to be out there, even in late May 2025.

Still, I hope this series pays this hard-working pair some of the tribute I owe them!

Mid Section 3 of Beaver Lake Road in Lake Country, BC.

(because "Cuccalfos" sounds problematic)

A 5 exposure HDR using my NDx8 filter.

 

After decades of discussions a design by landscape architect Adriaan Geuze was finally accepted in 1990. The emptiness of this square initially seen as problematic in the densely built new Rotterdam was a breath of fresh air according to Geuze: the square serves as a stage for the city, with its dynamic skyline as its decor. The raised square, which is also the roof of the parking garage, consists of a light construction with various materials such as wood, rubber, epoxy and metal panels. Great idea, but... the architect probably forgot that it does rain sometimes (or even worse: it freezes!) and then this square turns into an ice rink!!

 

No matter what, this square is heaven for photographers with all the different materials, lines and architecture surrounding it. Especially at dusk when all the lights are turned on, so this is one of many pictures from my little Rotterdam project last night ;-)

 

For more inspiring Rotterdam images, go to www.manhattanofeurope.com.

Untitled (Hunger 20), Tim Lowly © 1996, tempera on ceramic bowl, 7" x 7" x 4". Private collection.

  

This painting is from a series of 21 paintings on the bottom surface of traditional Korean bowls - done for an exhibition I had in Seoul, Korea in 1997. Recently, as I was writing some thoughts on my work to a colleague, it occurred that I had not explained publicly my thinking about and reason for making this work. This seems pretty important given the problematic territory that this work wanders into. What follows is an excerpt from my correspondence:

 

Around 1995 the “special needs” school that our daughter Temma had been attending for 6 years – Lakeview Learning Center – was preparing to close. I was working at the school on a large painting (titled Big Picture) of the classroom for “severely and profoundly disabled” children that Temma was part of. While working on this large painting I was given a collection of miscellaneous photographs documenting the students in their daily life at the school. Also around this time I was offered an exhibition with a gallery in South Korea, the country where I grew up (my parents were medical missionaries). I decided to make work for this show based on the photographs that I had been given of students from Lakeview Learning Center as a way of making present a population that was largely invisible / marginalized in Korea at that time. My goal in making these paintings was to select photographs that (for me) most powerfully expressed the humanity of these children. In making the paintings my intent was to try to represent them as best as I could in accordance to how I perceived them via the photographs: that is, as completely and compellingly human. Despite my ambivalence about using other people’s photographs as sources for paintings, these photographs – apparently taken by the staff of the school - offered a kind of “objective” perspective on the children somewhat fitting for my relative distance from them personally. That said, to the extent that these children were part of a community of which my daughter was a part I felt it was appropriate to make paintings based representing them.

 

This latter point is important in relation to the fundamental intent of this project. While I was attempting to portray the children in all their individuality evident in the photographic sources, I was doing so with the primary goal of presenting them as a community: a community as evidently diverse and complex (in various respects) as any other.

 

There is a well-known (in Korea) poem by the Korean Catholic “Minjung” writer Kim Chi Ha that has an essentially Eucharistic refrain: “God is rice”. In allusion to that poem I decided to do a series of 21 paintings on Korean rice bowls (a very commonly used kind of bowl). More specifically, as an allusion to the marginalization of this population I made the paintings on the bottom / underside (typically unseen) surface of the bowls. In using the rice bowl I not only wanted to draw a connection to Kim Chi Ha’s poem, but further to the movement of Minjung Art that had grown in vitality at the ending period of Korea’s long dictatorship (the early ‘80s). The Minjung Art movement (which, especially in the person of the artist Im Ok Sang, had been very influential for me) made the empowerment of the poor and the marginalized their priority. My hope was to situate the subject of the work I was making – at that time still a largely marginalized community - in the context of the Minjung political imperative.

 

In this work I was attempting to represent these children as faithfully as I could. It might be helpful to unpack my thinking “representation” a bit: Painting, particularly realistic / representational painting is frequently thought of / received in relation to the convention of “mastery”. That is, when one makes a realistic painting it might be understood as an artists’ claim of mastery and, implicitly, as their claim to an authority over the subject represented. I do not have any interest in that way of approaching painting. I am interested in painting that is a kind of conversation with the material used to make it (as opposed to painting as about control or domination of the material). No less importantly, I’m interested in painting as a regarding of the subject in humility: an attempt to represent the subject as honestly, accurately and respectfully as possible. Put another way: painting for me is learning how to make this painting in relation to trying to understand and represent this subject.

 

Taking that word representation a bit further: it is of course a reasonable question to ask whether one has the right to represent (make or take a picture of) another person – particularly someone who is not able to give consent. And it is reasonable to question whether I – even as the parent of a member of that community and trusted by the staff of that community – have the right to represent the students. But no less important is the other side of this question: the right of each person to be represented (both literally, in the sense of being pictured, and - via metaphoric implication - politically). In the case of this particular population and the particular context in which these paintings were being shown my intention was to make and show these representational paintings of these children as a claim to their right (authority) to be represented: Particularly towards the goal of advocating the presence of members of this population as they existed in that country at that time.

Alien She

 

Photos and Video by Mario Gallucci

 

Alien She

Sep 3, 2015 â Jan 9, 2016

 

Alien She, curated by Astria Suparak + Ceci Moss, is the first exhibition to examine the lasting impact of Riot Grrrl on artists and cultural producers working today. A pioneering punk feminist movement that emerged in the early 1990s, Riot Grrrl has had a pivotal influence, inspiring many around the world to pursue socially and politically progressive careers as artists, activists, authors and educators. Emphasizing female and youth empowerment, collaborative organization, creative resistance and DIY ethics, Riot Grrrl helped a new generation to become active feminists and create their own culture and communities that reflect their values and experiences, in contrast to mainstream conventions and expectations.

 

Riot Grrrl formed in reaction to pervasive and violent sexism, racism and homophobia in the punk music scene and in the culture at large. Its participants adapted strategies from earlier queer and punk feminisms and â70s radical politics, while also popularizing discussions of identity politics occurring within academia, but in a language that spoke to a younger generation. This self-organized network made up of teenagers and twenty-somethings reached one another through various platforms, such as letters, zines, local meetings, regional conferences, homemade videos, and later, chat rooms, listservs and message boards. The movement eventually spread worldwide, with chapters opening in at least thirty-two states and twenty-six countries.* Its ethos and aesthetics have survived well past its initial period in the â90s, with many new chapters forming in recent years. Riot Grrrlâs influence on contemporary global culture is increasingly evident â from the Russian collective Pussy Riotâs protest against corrupt government-church relations to the popular teen website Rookie and the launch of Girls Rock Camps and Ladyfest music and art festivals around the world.

 

Alien She focuses on seven people whose visual art practices were informed by their contact with Riot Grrrl. Many of them work in multiple disciplines, such as sculpture, installation, video, documentary film, photography, drawing, printmaking, new media, social practice, curation, music, writing and performance â a reflection of the movementâs artistic diversity and mutability. Each artist is represented by several projects from the last 20 years, including new and rarely seen works, providing an insight into the development of their creative practices and individual trajectories.

 

Artists: Ginger Brooks Takahashi (Pittsburgh), Tammy Rae Carland (Oakland), Miranda July (Los Angeles), Faythe Levine (Milwaukee), Allyson Mitchell (Toronto), L.J. Roberts (Brooklyn), Stephanie Syjuco (San Francisco) and more.

 

Archival Materials from: dumba collective; EMP Museum, Seattle; Interference Archive; Jabberjaw; the Riot Grrrl Collection at the Fales Library & Special Collections, NYU; and many personal collections.

 

Collaborative Projects and Platforms include: Counterfeit Crochet Project, Feminist Art Gallery (FAG), General Sisters, Handmade Nation, Joanie 4 Jackie, Learning to Love You More, LTTR, projet MOBILIVRE-BOOKMOBILE project, Sign Painters and more

Womenâs Studies Professors Have Class Privilege / Iâm With Problematic, from the series Creep Lez, Allyson Mitchell, 2012.

 

Altered t-shirts with iron-on transfer and vinyl letters. Courtesy of the artist and Katharine Mulherin Gallery, Toronto.

 

Alien She is curated by Astria Suparak and Ceci Moss, and organized by the Miller Gallery at Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh

  

Alien She is presented in two parts:

 

Museum of Contemporary Craft

724 NW Davis

Portland, OR 97209

 

511 Gallery @ PNCA

511 NW Broadway

Portland, OR 97209

 

Both venues are open Tuesday through Saturday from 11am to 6pm.

A 3/4 head shot of a little carpet moth, shot to compare the performance of a componon 28 stretched out using bellows to about 8:1 against the 4x objective that I used on the previous shot. This is a stack of 250 shots using zerene stacker.

 

Carpet moths are very common and they're hard to ID: they look more like butterflies when they're resting and they're generally all brown. They're one of the first to appear in springtime so I expect to see many of them in the weeks ahead.

 

They're about 1/2 to 1/3 the size of your standard UK macro moth but it's still a specimen size that I'd like to be able to get good shots of. To me, the Componon slightly has the edge over the objective but that whole 5x-10x range is proving problematic for me. I do have a couple of 10x objectives but the field of view on APS-C is just too small so what I really need is something that's about 6x. Any suggestions?

    

PHOTO TIP: Moth eyes start to degenerate after a couple of days (they dry out), the white patches on the eyes is this. If you want to delay this, store them in a freezer

During the rainy season, access to certain areas by car is problematic due to the nature of the soil, particularly the very slippery clay areas. It took nearly four hours to free this stuck Nissan Patrol, mainly due to its heavy weight, with the help of the local population.

 

En saison pluvieuse, l'accessibilité à certaines localités en voiture est problématique en raison de la nature des sols et plus particulièrement des zones de glaise très glissantes. Il aura fallu près de quatre heures pour dégager avec l'aide de la population locale cette Nissan Patrol embourbée largement en raison de son poids élevé.

The Postcard

 

A Town & City Series postcard published by Raphael Tuck & Sons, art publishers to Their Majesties the King and Queen. The card has a divided back.

 

The card was posted in Plymouth, but the stamp has been removed, along with the date of posting.

 

The card was posted to:

 

Mr. Harry Howard,

52, East Street,

Stonehouse,

Devon.

 

The brief message on the divided back was as follows:

 

"Another one for

your collection".

 

Somerset House

 

Somerset House is a large Neoclassical building situated on the south side of the Strand in central London, overlooking the River Thames, just east of Waterloo Bridge. The Georgian quadrangle, which was built on the site of a Tudor palace belonging to the Duke of Somerset, was designed by Sir William Chambers in 1776.

 

It was further extended with Victorian outer wings to the east and west in 1831 and 1856 respectively. Somerset House stood directly on the River Thames until the Victoria Embankment was built in the late 1860's.

 

The Georgian structure was built to be a grand public building housing various government, and public-benefit society offices. Its present tenants are a mixture of various organisations, generally centred around the arts and education.

 

16th. Century

 

In the 16th. century, the Strand, the north bank of the Thames between the City of London and the Palace of Westminster, was a favoured site for the mansions of bishops and aristocrats, who could commute from their own landing stages upriver to the court, or downriver to the City and beyond.

 

In 1539, Edward Seymour, 1st Earl of Hertford (died 1552), obtained a grant of land at "Chester Place, outside Temple Bar, London" from his brother-in-law King Henry VIII. When his nephew the young King Edward VI came to the throne in 1547, Seymour became Duke of Somerset and Lord Protector.

 

In about 1549 he pulled down an old Inn of Chancery and other houses that stood on the site, and began to build himself a palatial residence, making liberal use of other nearby buildings, including some of the chantry chapels and cloisters at St Paul's Cathedral. These were demolished partly at his behest as part of the ongoing dissolution of the monasteries.

 

It was a two-storey house built around a quadrangle, with a gateway rising to three storeys, and was one of the earliest examples of Renaissance architecture in England.

 

Before it was finished, however, the Duke of Somerset was overthrown, and in 1552 was executed on Tower Hill. Somerset Place, as the building was referred to, then came into the possession of the Crown. The duke's royal nephew's half-sister, the future Queen Elizabeth I, lived there during the reign of her half-sister Queen Mary I (1553–58).

 

The process of completion and improvement was slow and costly. As late as 1598 John Stow refers to it as "yet unfinished".

 

17th. Century

 

Old Somerset House was a sprawling and irregular complex with wings from different periods in a mixture of styles.

 

Later in the 17th. century, the house was used as a residence by royal consorts. During the reign of King James I, the building became the London residence of his wife, Anne of Denmark, and was renamed Denmark House. She commissioned a number of expensive additions and improvements, some to designs by Inigo Jones.

 

After his death in April 1625, King James' body was brought from Theobalds to lie in state at Denmark House, and the state rooms were hung with black velvet. There was at that time no chapel at Denmark House, and so the hall was converted for that purpose, and the body moved there on the morning of the funeral.

 

Between 1630 and 1635 Inigo Jones built a chapel where Henrietta Maria of France, wife of King Charles I, could exercise her Roman Catholic religion. This was in the care of the Capuchin Order, and was on a site to the southwest of the Great Court. A small cemetery was attached, and some of the tombstones are still to be seen built into one of the walls of a passage under the present quadrangle.

 

Royal occupation of Somerset House was interrupted by the Civil War, and in 1649 Parliament tried to sell it. They failed to find a buyer, although a sale of the contents realised the very considerable sum for that time of £118,000.

 

Use was still found for it however. Part of it served as an army headquarters, with General Fairfax (the Parliamentarians' commander-in-chief) being given official quarters there; lodgings were also provided for certain other Parliamentarian notables. It was in Somerset House that Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell's body lay in state after his death in 1658.

 

Two years later, with the Restoration, Queen Henrietta Maria returned, and in 1661 began a considerable programme of rebuilding, the main feature of which was a magnificent new river front, again to the design of the late Inigo Jones, who had died at Somerset House in 1652. However she returned to France in 1665 before it was finished.

 

It was then used as an occasional residence by Catherine of Braganza, wife of King Charles II. During her time it received a certain notoriety as being, in the popular mind, a hot-bed of Catholic conspiracy. Titus Oates made full use of this prejudice in the fabricated details of the Popish Plot, and it was alleged that Sir Edmund Berry Godfrey, whose murder was one of the great mysteries of the age, had been killed in Somerset House before his body had been smuggled out and thrown into a ditch below Primrose Hill.

 

Somerset House was refurbished by Sir Christopher Wren in 1685. After the Glorious Revolution in 1688, Somerset House entered on a long period of decline, being used (after Queen Catherine left England in 1692) for grace and favour residences. In the conditions of the time, this meant that little money could be found for its upkeep, and a slow process of decay crept in.

 

During the 18th. century, however, the building ceased its royal associations. Though the view from its terraced riverfront garden, open to the public, was painted twice on his London visit by Canaletto (looking up- and downriver), it was used for storage, as a residence for visiting overseas dignitaries, and as a barracks for troops. Suffering from neglect, Old Somerset House began to be demolished in 1775.

 

Somerset House (Sir William Chambers, 1776)

 

Since the middle of the 18th. century there had been growing criticism that London had no great public buildings. Government departments and the learned societies were huddled away in small old buildings all over the city. Developing national pride found comparison with the capitals of continental Europe disquieting.

 

Edmund Burke was the leading proponent of the scheme for a "national building", and in 1775 Parliament passed an act for the purpose of:

 

"Erecting and establishing Publick Offices

in Somerset House, and for embanking

parts of the River Thames lying within the

bounds of the Manor of Savoy".

 

The list of public offices mentioned in the act comprised The Salt Office, The Stamp Office, The Tax Office, The Navy Office, The Navy Victualling Office, The Publick Lottery Office, The Hawkers and Pedlar Office, The Hackney Coach Office, The Surveyor General of the Crown Lands Office, The Auditors of the Imprest Office, The Pipe Office, The Office of the Duchy of Lancaster, The Office of the Duchy of Cornwall, The Office of Ordnance, The King's Bargemaster's House, and The King's Bargehouses

 

Initially a certain William Robinson, Secretary to the Board of Works, was commissioned to design and build the new Somerset House, but he died in 1775 shortly after being appointed.

 

So Sir William Chambers, Comptroller of the King's Works, (who had in any case been vying for the commission) was appointed in his stead, at a salary of £2,000 per year. He spent the last two decades of his life, beginning in 1775, in several phases of building at the present Somerset House.

 

Thomas Telford, then a stonemason, but later an eminent civil engineer, was among those who worked on its construction. One of Chambers' most famous pupils, Thomas Hardwick Jnr, helped build parts of the building during his period of training. He later wrote a biography of Chambers.

 

The design influenced other great buildings: Charles Bulfinch's Massachusetts State House, begun in 1795, has been described as a work "frankly derivative" of Somerset House.

 

The Design of Somerset House

 

Chambers' own influences stemmed from Palladianism, the principles of which were applied throughout Somerset House, inside and outside, both in its large-scale conception and in its small-scale details.

 

The footprint of the building was that of the old palace, ranging from its gateway block in the Strand across what was originally a gently sloping site down to the river. Chambers experimented with at least four different configurations of buildings and courtyards in drawing up his designs.

 

His final version provided a single courtyard, 300 ft (91 m) by 200 ft (61 m), flanked by a pair of terraces, the whole presenting a unified frontage to the river, 500 feet (150 m) wide.

 

Around the courtyard, each block consisted of six storeys: cellar, basement, ground, principal, attic and garret. The public offices and learned societies which were accommodated around the courtyard varied greatly in size, but each occupied all six floors of its allotted area, the upper floors often providing living space for a secretary or other official. Large vaults for storing public documents were provided, extending under the entire northern section of the courtyard.

 

Construction of Somerset House

 

The North Wing, fronting the Strand, was the first part of the complex to be built. Its design was based on Inigo Jones's drawings for the riverfront of the former palace. By 1780 the North Wing was finished and occupied, and Chambers reported to Parliament that the rest of the quadrangle was complete up to a height of two storeys.

 

Construction of the riverside wing followed; it was finished in 1786. At the time of construction, the Thames was not embanked, and the river lapped the South Wing, where a great arch allowed boats and barges to penetrate to landing places within the building. Meanwhile, work continued on the East and West Wings, which began to be occupied from 1788, and by 1790 the main quadrangle was complete.

 

It was originally envisaged that the main quadrangle would be flanked by two terraces of houses, one to the east and one to the west, providing accommodation for several of the Commissioners whose offices were based there.

 

However the outbreak of war with France in 1793 caused delays through lack of money. Chambers died in 1796, whereupon James Wyatt took over as architect. In the end, only the western terrace was built, and by 1801 the building was deemed to be complete, at a cost of £462,323.

 

Ornamentation of Somerset House

 

In addition to applying a rich scheme of architectural decoration, Chambers enhanced the exterior of Somerset House with a multiplicity of sculptures and other visual embellishments.

 

Designs were produced by Giovanni Cipriani, and the sculptors included Joseph Wilton, Agostino Carlini, John Bacon, Joseph Nollekens, John Cheere and Giuseppe Ceracchi. There was also a bronze group of statues (consisting of Neptune and George III) in the main courtyard, facing the main entrance from the Strand.

 

Inside, most of the offices were plain and business-like, but in the North Wing the formal rooms and public spaces of the learned societies were enriched with painted ceilings (by Cipriani, Benjamin West, Angelica Kauffman, J. F. Rigaud, Charles Catton and Joshua Reynolds), ornamental plasterwork, and casts of classical sculptures. Many of the ceiling paintings were removed by the Royal Academy when they vacated their premises.

 

A Home for Arts and Learning

 

A key reason for rebuilding Somerset House was to provide accommodation for a diverse variety of learned societies, public offices and naval administrators.

 

The North Wing of Somerset House was initially fitted out to house the Royal Academy, the Royal Society and the Society of Antiquaries. The Royal Academy took up residence first, in 1779, followed by the other two institutions the following year.

 

The Royal Academy occupied the western half of the wing and the Royal Society the eastern half; their main entrances faced each other across the central vestibule leading from the Strand to the courtyard, topped by busts (of Michelangelo and Isaac Newton respectively) which are still in place today.

 

The Society of Antiquaries was also accommodated in the eastern half of the wing, though its premises were limited to a first-floor meeting room, a ground-floor library, an apartment in the attic and a kitchen in the basement.

 

The Geological Society was also accommodated in the Somerset House from 1828, as was the Royal Astronomical Society from 1834.

 

The annual Royal Academy Exhibition was held in Somerset House from 1780 onwards, until the Academy moved out in 1837 (initially to rooms in the new National Gallery, then to Burlington House, Piccadilly).

 

Its former accommodation was given over to a newly established Government School of Design (which was much later to become the Royal College of Art); it remained in the complex from 1837 until, in 1853, the Registry of Births, Marriages and Deaths needed to expand its office space, and the School relocated to Marlborough House.

 

In 1857, the Royal Society moved out of Somerset House, followed in 1874 by the Society of Antiquaries, the Geological Society and the Royal Astronomical Society; they were all provided with new purpose-built accommodation in Burlington House.

 

The Navy Office

 

In 1789 the Navy Board moved into grand riverside rooms in the western half of the newly completed South Wing. It was soon followed by its subsidiary Boards, the Victualling Commissioners and the Sick and Hurt Commissioners, which (along with the autonomous Navy Pay Office) occupied the West Wing; they had all hitherto been based in the City of London.

 

Thus the various Navy offices occupied around a third of Chambers' completed building. In addition, the terrace to the west of the quadrangle provided dwelling-houses for the Comptroller of the Navy, the Secretary to the Board and three Commissioners of the Navy, along with the Chairman, Secretary and two Commissioners of Victualling, with the Treasurer of the Navy allotted the 'mansion' at the river end of the terrace (which included a coach house and stables for ten horses in the vaults under the terrace).

 

As well as providing office space and accommodation, Somerset House was the place where examinations for promotion to the rank of lieutenant took place, sat by several hundred midshipmen each year. The Admiralty Museum (a precursor to the National Maritime Museum) was also accommodated there, in the central room above the south portico.

 

In 1832 the Navy Board and its subsidiaries were abolished, and their departments placed under the direct oversight of the Admiralty. Their administrative staff remained in Somerset House, but communications with the Admiralty (based a mile away in Whitehall) were problematic as what became known as the "civil departments" of the Admiralty guarded their independence.

 

In 1868, the Admiralty took the decision to move all their staff from Somerset House to Whitehall; this necessitated reconfiguring what had been a set of residences there pertaining to the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty into office accommodation. Nevertheless, the move was completed by 1873, and the expanding Inland Revenue immediately took over the vacated space in Somerset House.

 

Taxes, Stamps and the Inland Revenue

 

From the beginning of the new Somerset House there was a fiscal presence in the shape of the Stamp Office and the Tax Office, the former occupying the eastern part of the South Wing from 1789 and the latter occupying part of the East Wing.

 

The Stamp Office had the task of applying an impressed duty stamp to various specific items to show that the required duty had been paid. For example, up until 1855 (when the relevant duty was abolished) every newspaper produced in the country had to be brought to Somerset House to be stamped.

 

The Tax Office administered and collected various taxes, including income tax (first levied in 1799). Introduced as a means of raising revenue in wartime, it was collected during the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars; though repealed in 1816, it was reintroduced in peacetime (in 1842) and has been collected ever since.

 

The Inland Revenue was created by a merger of the Stamp and Taxes Office and the Excise Office in 1849; in 1854 the Excise Office staff were moved from their old headquarters in the City of London into the newly built New Wing.

 

Somerset House continued in use by the Inland Revenue throughout the 20th. century. In 2005, the Inland Revenue was merged with HM Customs and Excise; its successor HM Revenue & Customs continued to occupy much of the building, although its executive and senior management moved to 100 Parliament Street shortly after the merger.

 

Various divisions and directorates of HMRC continued to occupy the East Wing until 2009, the West Wing until 2011 and the New Wing until March 2013, by which time all staff had been relocated (with most moving across the street to the southwest wing of Bush House). This brought to an end a 224-year association of the revenue services with Somerset House.

 

Somerset House Laboratory

 

In 1842, the Excise Office had established a laboratory within its Broad Street headquarters for the prevention of the adulteration of tobacco products. It had started as basically a one-man operation by an employee of the Excise, George Phillips.

 

After the Excise Office had been merged with the Office of Stamps and Taxes to form the Inland Revenue, the latter took over the laboratory; by 1858 it was re-established in Somerset House as the Inland Revenue Laboratory (with Phillips remaining in charge).

 

It was also known as the Somerset House Laboratory. Under the Inland Revenue, the Laboratory's work expanded to encompass the testing of many different substances, including food, beer and spirits, as well as tobacco.

 

Phillips retired as principal chemist in 1874. James Bell was then the principal chemist of Somerset House Laboratory until his retirement in 1894. He was replaced as principal chemist by Sir Thomas Edward Thorpe. At the same time, the laboratory was amalgamated with a similar facility that had been established within HM Customs and it was renamed the Government Laboratory. In 1897, Thorpe moved the Government Laboratory from Somerset House to a new building of his own design.

 

Registry of Births, Marriages and Deaths

 

In 1837, following the establishment of civil registration in the United Kingdom, the Registrar General of Births, Marriages and Deaths set up his office in the North Wing of Somerset House, establishing a connection that lasted for over 130 years. This office held all birth, marriage and death certificates in England and Wales until 1970, when the Registry and its associated archives were moved to nearby St Catherine's House at Aldwych.

 

From 1859 until 1998, the Principal Registry of the Court of Probate (latterly the Principal Probate Registry of the Family Division) was based in Somerset House, prior to its move to First Avenue House, High Holborn.

 

Other Public Offices

 

In addition to the learned societies, the ground floor rooms of the North wing housed the Hawkers and Pedlars Office (on the west side) and the Hackney Coach Office, the Lottery Office, the Privy Seal and Signet Offices (on the east side).

 

The Hackney Coach commissioners had been established on a permanent footing in 1694, while the Board of Commissioners of Hawkers, Pedlars and Petty Chapmen dated from 1698. The latter was abolished in 1810 and its work taken over by the Hackney Coach Office until its abolition in 1831, whereupon responsibility for licensing both of hackney carriages and of travelling traders passed to the Stamp Office.

 

The Lottery Office, established in 1779, was also abolished in 1831 and its residual business likewise passed to the Stamp Office. The Signet Office was abolished in 1851, and the Privy Seal Office in 1884.

 

One of the first occupants of the building had been the Duchy of Cornwall Office. It was accommodated in the East Wing along with the Tax Office and various Exchequer offices (including the Pipe Office, the Lord Treasurer's Remembrancer's Office and the Office of the Clerk of the Estreats).

 

As early as 1795 the Exchequer was requesting that more space be made available; Sir John Soane was engaged to redesign their offices, and as part of the scheme the Duchy was relocated to another part of the East Wing, prompting complaints from its officers.

 

Pipe rolls and other ancient records of the Treasury and Exchequer (which had been moved to Somerset House from the Palace of Westminster in 1793) remained stored in the basements until the establishment of the Public Record Office in 1838.

 

The office of Lord Treasurer's Remembrancer ceased to exist in 1833 and the Pipe Office was abolished in 1834; however space in Somerset House continued to be at a premium: in 1854 an Act of Parliament was passed noting that:

 

"The Duchy's rooms in Somerset House

are now needed for the use of the

Commissioners of Inland Revenue, whose

present office is insufficient for the Business

thereof, and adjoins the said Office of the

Duchy of Cornwall".

 

The Act provided for the Duchy Office to move to new, purpose-built premises in Pimlico: now known as 10 Buckingham Gate, the building still serves as head office for the Duchy.

 

19th-century expansion

 

Magnificent as the new building was, it was something short of what Chambers had intended, for he had planned for an additional terrace of houses to the east, as well as to the west of the quadrangle.

 

Eventually King's College London was erected between 1829 and 1834 to the east (the government granting the land on condition that the design conformed to Chambers' original design). The architect was Sir Robert Smirke.

 

Then, increasing demand for space led to another and last step. The western edge of the site was occupied by a row of houses used as dwellings for Admiralty officials who worked in the South Wing. Between 1851 and 1856, this terrace was substantially expanded and remodelled to provide the Inland Revenue with an entire new wing of additional office accommodation.

 

As part of this development, its architect James Pennethorne created a monumental new façade alongside the approach road to Waterloo Bridge (which had not been in existence when Chambers was alive). 150 years later this part of the building is still known as the "New Wing".

 

20th-century Modifications

 

By the start of the Great War the Prince of Wales' Own Civil Service Rifles Battalion had its own Morris tube firing range at Somerset House. The calibre of the rifle was reduced for indoor operation by a use of a tube, and the range was fitted with vanishing and running targets.

 

Bomb Damage During WWII

 

Somerset House had its share of trials and tribulations during the London blitz in the Second World War. Apart from comparatively minor blast effects at various times, sixteen rooms and the handsome rotunda staircase (the Nelson Stair) were completely destroyed in the South Wing, and a further 27 damaged in the West Wing by a direct hit in October 1940.

 

Still more windows were shattered and balustrades toppled, but the worst was over by the end of May 1941. It was not until the 1950's that this damage to the South Wing was repaired.

 

The work required skilled masons, whose services were hard to come by in the early post-war years. Sir Albert Richardson was appointed architect for the reconstruction. He skilfully recreated the Nelson Room and rebuilt the Nelson Stair. The work was completed in 1952 at a cost of (then) £84,000.

 

A Centre for the Arts

 

In 1984 the Somerset House Act was passed, legislating the way for Somerset House to be redeveloped as a centre for the arts. In 1997 the Somerset House Trust was established as a charity to maintain the building and develop it as a centre for arts and culture.

 

In the late 20th. century the building began to be reinvigorated as a centre for the visual arts. The first institution to move in (in 1989) was the Courtauld Institute of Art, including the Courtauld Gallery, which has an important collection of old master and impressionist paintings. The Courtauld occupies the North Wing.

 

21st-century Redevelopment

 

The main courtyard, which had been used as a civil-service car park, and the main terrace overlooking the Thames were refurbished and opened to the public. Grants from the Heritage Lottery Fund financed the conversion of the South Wing between 1999 and 2003: a visitor centre featuring audio-visual displays on the history of the building, the gilded state barge of the Lord Mayor of the City of London and a shop and café were opened, overlooking the river.

 

The Gilbert Collection of decorative arts, and the Hermitage Rooms, which stage exhibitions of items loaned from the Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg, moved into the same area. The last Hermitage exhibition took place in 2007 and the Gilbert Collection galleries closed in 2008; the collection moved into new galleries at the Victoria and Albert Museum in June 2009. Somerset House now puts on a programme of art exhibitions, drawing on various sources.

 

In stages from 2009 to 2013, HM Revenue and Customs withdrew from the other parts of the building; since March 2013 the Somerset House Trust has had oversight of the entire complex. Its management policy has been to rent out the upper floors at a commercial rate to "creative businesses", while devoting the ground floor to "public realm" activities.

 

The trust receives no public subsidy and relies on income from rent and private hire to fund the upkeep of the estate and relies on ticket sales, merchandising and sponsorship to fund its artistic and cultural programme.

 

In the winter the central courtyard is home to a popular open-air ice rink, as seen during the opening credits of the 2003 Christmas-themed film Love Actually.[ At other times, an array of fountains display 55 vertical jets of water rising to random heights.

 

The courtyard is also used as a concert venue. In July each year the "Summer Series" of music events take place, which have included performances from artists such as Lily Allen.

 

Somerset House is now residence to more than a hundred tenants, comprising a large and diverse collection of creative organisations and artists.

 

Somerset House as a Filming Location

 

Somerset House is a popular filming location, with its exterior featuring in several big-budget Hollywood films. These include two James Bond films, GoldenEye (1995) and Tomorrow Never Dies (1997), and several scenes of the 2003 film Shanghai Knights, starring Jackie Chan and Owen Wilson, were filmed in the courtyard of Somerset House.

 

The courtyard was also used in the 1991 comedy King Ralph. Elements of the 2008 film The Duchess, starring Keira Knightley and Ralph Fiennes, were filmed in October 2007. Somerset House was also used as a filming location in several Sherlock Holmes films, including 1970's The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes and, more recently, Sherlock Holmes (2009), starring Jude Law and Robert Downey, Jr.

 

Exterior shots of Somerset House were used in the 1999 Tim Burton horror film Sleepy Hollow, starring Johnny Depp, and the 2006 film Flyboys. Somerset House was a filming location in the 2012 Bollywood film Jab Tak Hai Jaan.

 

Somerset House Courtyard was also used in the 2008 movie Last Chance Harvey, with Dustin Hoffman and Emma Thompson.

 

Scenes were filmed in Somerset House for the Olympus Has Fallen sequel, London Has Fallen (2016).

 

Exterior shots of Somerset House stood in for Himmler's HQ in Berlin in the 1976 film The Eagle Has Landed.

Alien She

 

Photos and Video by Mario Gallucci

 

Alien She

Sep 3, 2015 – Jan 9, 2016

 

Alien She, curated by Astria Suparak + Ceci Moss, is the first exhibition to examine the lasting impact of Riot Grrrl on artists and cultural producers working today. A pioneering punk feminist movement that emerged in the early 1990s, Riot Grrrl has had a pivotal influence, inspiring many around the world to pursue socially and politically progressive careers as artists, activists, authors and educators. Emphasizing female and youth empowerment, collaborative organization, creative resistance and DIY ethics, Riot Grrrl helped a new generation to become active feminists and create their own culture and communities that reflect their values and experiences, in contrast to mainstream conventions and expectations.

 

Riot Grrrl formed in reaction to pervasive and violent sexism, racism and homophobia in the punk music scene and in the culture at large. Its participants adapted strategies from earlier queer and punk feminisms and ‘70s radical politics, while also popularizing discussions of identity politics occurring within academia, but in a language that spoke to a younger generation. This self-organized network made up of teenagers and twenty-somethings reached one another through various platforms, such as letters, zines, local meetings, regional conferences, homemade videos, and later, chat rooms, listservs and message boards. The movement eventually spread worldwide, with chapters opening in at least thirty-two states and twenty-six countries.* Its ethos and aesthetics have survived well past its initial period in the ‘90s, with many new chapters forming in recent years. Riot Grrrl’s influence on contemporary global culture is increasingly evident – from the Russian collective Pussy Riot’s protest against corrupt government-church relations to the popular teen website Rookie and the launch of Girls Rock Camps and Ladyfest music and art festivals around the world.

 

Alien She focuses on seven people whose visual art practices were informed by their contact with Riot Grrrl. Many of them work in multiple disciplines, such as sculpture, installation, video, documentary film, photography, drawing, printmaking, new media, social practice, curation, music, writing and performance – a reflection of the movement’s artistic diversity and mutability. Each artist is represented by several projects from the last 20 years, including new and rarely seen works, providing an insight into the development of their creative practices and individual trajectories.

 

Artists: Ginger Brooks Takahashi (Pittsburgh), Tammy Rae Carland (Oakland), Miranda July (Los Angeles), Faythe Levine (Milwaukee), Allyson Mitchell (Toronto), L.J. Roberts (Brooklyn), Stephanie Syjuco (San Francisco) and more.

 

Archival Materials from: dumba collective; EMP Museum, Seattle; Interference Archive; Jabberjaw; the Riot Grrrl Collection at the Fales Library & Special Collections, NYU; and many personal collections.

 

Collaborative Projects and Platforms include: Counterfeit Crochet Project, Feminist Art Gallery (FAG), General Sisters, Handmade Nation, Joanie 4 Jackie, Learning to Love You More, LTTR, projet MOBILIVRE-BOOKMOBILE project, Sign Painters and more

Women’s Studies Professors Have Class Privilege / I’m With Problematic, from the series Creep Lez, Allyson Mitchell, 2012.

 

Altered t-shirts with iron-on transfer and vinyl letters. Courtesy of the artist and Katharine Mulherin Gallery, Toronto.

 

Alien She is curated by Astria Suparak and Ceci Moss, and organized by the Miller Gallery at Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh

  

Alien She is presented in two parts:

 

Museum of Contemporary Craft

724 NW Davis

Portland, OR 97209

 

511 Gallery @ PNCA

511 NW Broadway

Portland, OR 97209

 

Both venues are open Tuesday through Saturday from 11am to 6pm.

St Paul's Cathedral, London, is an Anglican cathedral, the seat of the Bishop of London and the mother church of the Diocese of London. It sits at the top of Ludgate Hill, the highest point in the City of London. Its dedication to Paul the Apostle dates back to the original church on this site, founded in AD 604.[1] The present church, dating from the late 17th century, was designed in the English Baroque style by Sir Christopher Wren. Its construction, completed within Wren's lifetime, was part of a major rebuilding programme which took place in the city after the Great Fire of London.[2]

 

The cathedral is one of the most famous and most recognisable sights of London, with its dome, framed by the spires of Wren's City churches, dominating the skyline for 300 years.[3] At 365 feet (111 m) high, it was the tallest building in London from 1710 to 1962, and its dome is also among the highest in the world. In terms of area, St Paul's is the second largest church building in the United Kingdom after Liverpool Cathedral.

 

St Paul's Cathedral occupies a significant place in the national identity of the English population.[4] It is the central subject of much promotional material, as well as postcard images of the dome standing tall, surrounded by the smoke and fire of the Blitz.[4] Important services held at St Paul's have included the funerals of Lord Nelson, the Duke of Wellington, Sir Winston Churchill and Margaret Thatcher; Jubilee celebrations for Queen Victoria; peace services marking the end of the First and Second World Wars; the wedding of Charles, Prince of Wales, and Lady Diana Spencer, the launch of the Festival of Britain and the thanksgiving services for the Golden Jubilee, the 80th Birthday and the Diamond Jubilee of Elizabeth II. St Paul's Cathedral is a busy working church, with hourly prayer and daily services.

 

A list of the 16 "archbishops" of London was recorded by Jocelyne of Furness in the 12th century, claiming London's Christian community was founded in the 2nd century under the legendary King Lucius and his missionary saints Fagan, Deruvian, Elvanus, and Medwin. None of that is considered credible by modern historians but, although the surviving text is problematic, either Bishop Restitutus or Adelphius at the 314 Council of Arles seems to have come from Londinium.[7] The location of Londinium's original cathedral is unknown. The present structure of St Peter upon Cornhill was designed by Christopher Wren following the Great Fire in 1666 but it stands upon the highest point in the area of old Londinium and medieval legends tie it to the city's earliest Christian community. In 1999, however, a large and ornate 5th-century building on Tower Hill was excavated, which might have been the city's cathedral.[8][9]

 

The Elizabethan antiquarian William Camden argued that a temple to the goddess Diana had stood during Roman times on the site occupied by the medieval St Paul's cathedral.[10] Christopher Wren reported that he had found no trace of any such temple during the works to build the new cathedral after the Great Fire, and Camden's hypothesis is no longer accepted by modern archaeologists.[11]

 

Bede records that in AD 604 St Augustine consecrated Mellitus as the first bishop to the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the East Saxons and their king, Sæberht. Sæberht's uncle and overlord, Æthelberht, king of Kent, built a church dedicated to St Paul in London, as the seat of the new bishop.[12] It is assumed, although unproven, that this first Anglo-Saxon cathedral stood on the same site as the later medieval and the present cathedrals.

 

On the death of Sæberht in about 616, his pagan sons expelled Mellitus from London, and the East Saxons reverted to paganism. The fate of the first cathedral building is unknown. Christianity was restored among the East Saxons in the late 7th-century and it is presumed that either the Anglo-Saxon cathedral was restored or a new building erected as the seat of bishops such as Cedd, Wine and Earconwald, the last of whom was buried in the cathedral in 693. This building, or a successor, was destroyed by fire in 962, but rebuilt in the same year.[13] King Æthelred the Unready was buried in the cathedral on his death in 1016. The cathedral was burnt, with much of the city, in a fire in 1087, as recorded in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle.

 

The fourth St Paul's, generally referred to as Old St Paul's, was begun by the Normans after the 1087 fire. A further fire in 1136 disrupted the work, and the new cathedral was not consecrated until 1240. During the period of construction, the style of architecture had changed from Romanesque to Gothic and this was reflected in the pointed arches and larger windows of the upper parts and East End of the building. The Gothic ribbed vault was constructed, like that of York Minster, of wood rather than stone, which affected the ultimate fate of the building.

 

Lincoln Cathedral and St. Mary's Church, Stralsund. Excavations by Francis Penrose in 1878 showed that it was 585 feet (178 m) long and 100 feet (30 m) wide (290 feet or 87 m across the transepts and crossing). The spire was about 489 feet (149 m).

 

By the 16th century the building was starting to decay. Under Henry VIII and Edward VI, the Dissolution of the Monasteries and Chantries Acts led to the destruction of interior ornamentation and the cloisters, charnels, crypts, chapels, shrines, chantries and other buildings in St Paul's Churchyard. Many of these former religious sites in the churchyard, having been seized by the Crown, were sold as shops and rental properties, especially to printers and booksellers, who were often Puritans. In 1561 the spire was destroyed by lightning, an event that was taken by both Protestants and Roman Catholics as a sign of God's displeasure at the other faction.

 

In the 1630s a west front was added to the building by England's first classical architect, Inigo Jones. There was much defacing and mistreatment of the building by Parliamentarian forces during the Civil War, and the old documents and charters were dispersed and destroyed.[14] During the Commonwealth, those churchyard buildings that were razed supplied ready-dressed building material for construction projects, such as the Lord Protector's city palace, Somerset House. Crowds were drawn to the northeast corner of the churchyard, St Paul's Cross, where open-air preaching took place.

 

In the Great Fire of London of 1666, Old St Pauls was gutted. While it might have been possible to reconstruct it, a decision was taken to build a new cathedral in a modern style. This course of action had been proposed even before the fire.

 

The task of designing a replacement structure was officially assigned to Sir Christopher Wren on 30 July 1669.[15] He had previously been put in charge of the rebuilding of churches to replace those lost in the Great Fire. More than fifty City churches are attributable to Wren. Concurrent with designing St Paul's, Wren was engaged in the production of his five Tracts on Architecture.[16]

 

Wren had begun advising on the repair of the Old St Paul's in 1661, five years before the Great Fire of London in 1666.[17] The proposed work included renovations to both interior and exterior that would complement the Classical facade designed by Inigo Jones in 1630.[18] Wren planned to replace the dilapidated tower with a dome, using the existent structure as a scaffold. He produced a drawing of the proposed dome, showing that it was at this stage at which he conceived the idea that it should span both nave and aisles at the crossing.[19] After the fire, It was at first thought possible to retain a substantial part of the old cathedral, but ultimately the entire structure was demolished in the early 1670s to start afresh.

 

In July 1668 Dean William Sancroft wrote to Christopher Wren that he was charged by the Archbishop of Canterbury, in agreement with the Bishops of London and Oxford, to design a new cathedral that was "handsome and noble to all the ends of it and to the reputation of the City and the nation".[20] The design process took several years, but a design was finally settled and attached to a royal warrant, with the proviso that Wren was permitted to make any further changes that he deemed necessary. The result was the present St Paul's Cathedral, still the second largest church in Britain and with a dome proclaimed as the finest in the world.[21] The building was financed by a tax on coal, and was completed within its architect's lifetime, and with many of the major contractors employed for the duration.

 

The "topping out" of the cathedral (when the final stone was placed on the lantern) took place on 26 October 1708, performed by Wren's son Christopher Jr and the son of one of the masons.[22] The cathedral was declared officially complete by Parliament on 25 December 1711 (Christmas Day).[23] In fact, construction was to continue for several years after that, with the statues on the roof only being added in the 1720s. In 1716 the total costs amounted to £1,095,556[24] (£143 million in 2015).

 

In the designing of St Paul's, Christopher Wren had to meet many challenges. He had to create a fitting cathedral to replace Old St Paul's, both as a place of worship and as a landmark within the City of London. He had to satisfy both the requirements of the church and the tastes of a royal patron. As well as respecting the essentially Medieval tradition of English church building that had grown and developed to accommodate the liturgy, Wren was familiar with contemporary Renaissance and Baroque trends in Italian architecture, and had visited France, where he studied the work of François Mansart.

 

St Paul's went through five general stages of design. The first survives only as a single drawing and part of a model. The scheme (usually called the First Model Design) appears to have consisted of a circular domed vestibule (possibly based on the Pantheon in Rome) and a rectangular church of basilica form. The plan may have been influenced by the Temple Church. It was rejected because it was not thought "stately enough"[50] Wren's second design was a Greek cross, which was thought by the clerics not to fulfil the requirements of Anglican liturgy.[51]

 

Wren's third design is embodied in the "Great Model" of 1673. The model, made of oak and plaster, cost over £500 (approximately £32,000 today) and is over 13 feet (4 m) tall and 21 feet (6 m) long.[52] This design retained the form of the Greek Cross design but extended it with a nave. His critics, members of a committee commissioned to rebuild the church and members of the clergy, decried the design as being too dissimilar from other English churches to suggest any continuity within the Church of England. Another problem was that the entire design would have to be completed all at once because of the eight central piers that supported the dome, instead of being completed in stages and opened for use before construction finished, as was customary. Wren considered the Great Model his favourite design, and thought it a reflection of Renaissance beauty.[16] After the Great Model, Wren resolved to make no more models or publicly expose his drawings, which he found to do nothing but "lose time, and subject his business many times, to incompetent judges".[51] The Great Model survives and is housed within the Cathedral itself.

 

Wren's fourth design is known as the Warrant design because it was affixed a Royal warrant for the rebuilding. In this design Wren sought to reconcile Gothic, the predominant style of English churches, to a "better manner of architecture." It has the longitudinal Latin Cross plan of a medieval cathedral. It is of one and a half storeys and has classical porticos at the west and transept ends, influenced by Inigo Jones’s addition to Old St Paul's.[51] It is roofed at the crossing by a wide shallow dome supporting a drum with a second cupola from which rises a spire of seven diminishing stages. Vaughan Hart has suggested that influence may have been drawn from the oriental pagoda in the design of the spire. Although not used at St Paul's, the concept was applied in the spire of St Bride's, Fleet Street.[16] This plan was rotated slightly on its site so that it aligned not with true east, but with sunrise on Easter of the year construction began. This small change in configuration was informed by Wren's knowledge of astronomy.

 

The final design as built differs substantially from the official Warrant design.[53] Wren received permission from the king to make "ornamental changes" to the submitted design, and Wren took great advantage of this. Many of these changes were made over the course of the thirty years as the church was constructed, and the most significant was to the dome: "He raised another structure over the first cupola, a cone of brick, so as to support a stone lantern of an elegant figure... And he covered and hid out of sight the brick cone with another cupola of timber and lead; and between this and the cone are easy stairs that ascend to the lantern" (Christopher Wren, son of Sir Christopher Wren). The final design was strongly rooted in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. The saucer domes over the nave were inspired by François Mansart's Church of the Val-de-Grâce, which Wren had seen during a trip to Paris in 1665.[16]

 

The date of the laying of the first stone of the cathedral is disputed. One contemporary account says it was on 21 June 1675, another on 25 June and a third on 28 June. There is, however, general agreement that it was laid in June 1675. Edward Strong later claimed it was laid by his elder brother, Thomas Strong, one of the two master stonemasons appointed by Wren at the beginning of the work.

 

Wren's challenge was to construct a large cathedral on the relatively weak clay soil of London. St Paul's is unusual among cathedrals in that there is a crypt, the largest in Europe, under the entire building rather than just under the eastern end.[55] The crypt serves a structural purpose. Although it is extensive, half the space of the crypt is taken up by massive piers which spread the weight of the much slimmer piers of the church above. While the towers and domes of most cathedrals are supported on four piers, Wren designed the dome of St Paul's to be supported on eight, achieving a broader distribution of weight at the level of the foundations.[56] The foundations settled as the building progressed, and Wren made structural changes in response.[57]

 

One of the design problems that confronted Wren was to create a landmark dome, tall enough to visually replace the lost tower of St Paul's, while at the same time appearing visually satisfying when viewed from inside the building. Wren planned a double-shelled dome, as at St Peter's Basilica.[58] His solution to the visual problem was to separate the heights of the inner and outer dome to a much greater extent than had been done by Michelangelo at St Peter's, drafting both as catenary curves, rather than as hemispheres. Between the inner and outer domes, Wren inserted a brick cone which supports both the timbers of the outer, lead covered dome and the weight of the ornate stone lantern that rises above it. Both the cone and the inner dome are 18 inches thick and are supported by wrought iron chains at intervals in the brick cone and around the cornice of the peristyle of the inner dome to prevent spreading and cracking.[56][59]

 

The Warrant Design showed external buttresses on the ground floor level. These were not a classical feature and were one of the first elements Wren changed. Instead he made the walls of the cathedral particularly thick to avoid the need for external buttresses altogether. The clerestorey and vault are reinforced with flying buttresses, which were added at a relatively late stage in the design to give extra strength.[60] These are concealed behind the screen wall of the upper storey which was added to keep the building's classical style intact, to add sufficient visual mass to balance the appearance of the dome and which, by its weight, counters the thrust of the buttresses on the lower walls.

 

St Paul's Cathedral is built in a restrained Baroque style which represents Wren's rationalisation of the traditions of English Medieval cathedrals with the inspiration of Palladio, the Classical style of Inigo Jones, the Baroque style of 17th-century Rome, and the buildings by Mansart and others that he had seen in France.[2] It is particularly in its plan that St Paul's reveals Medieval influences.[56] Like the great Medieval cathedrals of York and Winchester, St Paul's is comparatively long for its width, and has strongly projecting transepts. It has much emphasis on its facade, which has been designed to define rather than conceal the form of the building behind it. In plan, the towers jut beyond the width of the aisles as they do at Wells Cathedral. Wren's brother was the Bishop of Ely, and Wren was familiar with the unique octagonal lantern tower over the crossing of Ely Cathedral which spans the aisles as well as the central nave, unlike the central towers and domes of most churches. Wren adapted this characteristic in designing the dome of St Paul's.[56] In section St Paul's also maintains a medieval form, having the aisles much lower than the nave, and a defined clerestory.

 

From the exterior, the most visible and most notable feature is the dome, which rises 365 feet (111 m) to the cross at its summit,[67] and still dominates views of the City. The height of 365 feet was deliberate as Wren had a considerable interest in astronomy. St Paul's was until the late 20th century, the tallest building on the city skyline, designed to be seen surrounded by the delicate spires of Wren's other city churches. The dome is described by Banister Fletcher as "probably the finest in Europe", by Helen Gardner as "majestic", by Nikolaus Pevsner as "one of the most perfect in the world" and in a statement by John Summerson that Englishmen and "even some foreigners" consider it to be without equal.

 

Wren drew inspiration from Michelangelo's dome of St Peter's Basilica, and that of Mansart's Church of the Val-de-Grâce which he had visited.[71] Unlike those of St Peter's and Val-de-Grâce, the dome of St Paul's rises in two clearly defined storeys of masonry, which, together with a lower unadorned footing, equal a height of about 95 feet. From the time of the Greek Cross Design it is clear that Wren favoured a continuous colonnade (peristyle) around the drum of the dome, rather than the arrangement of alternating windows and projecting columns that Michelangelo had used and which had also been employed by Mansart.[70] Summerson suggests that he was influence by Bramante's "Tempietto" in the courtyard of San Pietro in Montorio.[72] In the finished structure, Wren creates a diversity and appearance of strength by placing niches between the columns in every fourth opening.[72] The peristyle serves to buttress both the inner dome and the brick cone which rises internally to support the lantern.

 

Above the peristyle rises the second stage surrounded by a balustraded balcony called the "Stone Gallery". This attic stage is ornamented with alternating pilasters and rectangular windows which are set just below the cornice, creating a sense of lightness. Above this attic rises the dome, covered with lead, and ribbed in accordance with the spacing of the pilasters. It is pierced by eight light wells just below the lantern, but these are barely visible. They allow light to penetrate through openings in the brick cone, which illuminates the interior apex of this shell, partly visible from within the cathedral through the ocular opening of the lower dome.[56]

 

The lantern, like the visible masonry of the dome, rises in stages. The most unusual characteristic of this structure is that it is of square plan, rather than circular or octagonal. The tallest stage takes the form of a tempietto with four columned porticos facing the cardinal points. Its lowest level is surrounded by the "Golden Gallery" and its upper level supports a small dome from which rises a cross on a golden ball. The total weight of the lantern is about 850 tons.

 

For the Renaissance architect designing the west front of a large church or cathedral, the universal problem was how to use a facade to unite the high central nave with the lower aisles in a visually harmonious whole. Since Alberti's additions to Santa Maria Novella in Florence, this was usually achieved by the simple expedient of linking the sides to the centre with large brackets. This is the solution that Wren saw employed by Mansart at Val-de-Grâce. Another feature employed by Mansart was a boldly projecting Classical portico with paired columns. Wren faced the additional challenge of incorporating towers into the design, as had been planned at St Peter's Basilica. At St Peter's, Carlo Maderno had solved this problem by constructing a narthex and stretching a huge screen facade across it, differentiated at the centre by a pediment. The towers at St Peter's were not built above the parapet.

 

Wren's solution was to employ a Classical portico, as at Val-de-Grâce, but rising through two storeys, and supported on paired columns. The remarkable feature here is that the lower storey of this portico extends to the full width of the aisles, while the upper section defines the nave that lies behind it. The gaps between the upper stage of the portico and the towers on either side are bridged by a narrow section of wall with an arch-topped window.

 

The towers stand outside the width of the aisles, but screen two chapels located immediately behind them. The lower parts of the towers continue the theme of the outer walls, but are differentiated from them in order to create an appearance of strength. The windows of the lower storey are smaller than those of the side walls and are deeply recessed, a visual indication of the thickness of the wall. The paired pilasters at each corner project boldly.

 

Above the main cornice, which unites the towers with the portico and the outer walls, the details are boldly scaled, in order to read well from the street below and from a distance. The towers rise above the cornice from a square block plinth which is plain apart from large oculi, that on the south being filled by the clock, while that on the north is void. The towers are composed of two complementary elements, a central cylinder rising through the tiers in a series of stacked drums, and paired Corinthian columns at the corners, with buttresses above them, which serve to unify the drum shape with the square plinth on which it stands. The entablature above the columns breaks forward over them to express both elements, tying them together in a single horizontal band. The cap, like a bell-shaped miniature dome, supports a gilded finial, a pineapple supported on four scrolling angled brackets, the topmost expression of the consistent theme.

 

The transepts each have a semi-circular entrance portico. Wren was inspired in the design by studying engravings of Pietro da Cortona's Baroque facade of Santa Maria della Pace in Rome.[73] These projecting arcs echo the shape of the apse at the eastern end of the building.

 

The building is of two storeys of ashlar masonry, above a basement, and surrounded by a balustrade above the upper cornice. The balustrade was added, against Wren's wishes, in 1718.[73] The internal bays are marked externally by paired pilasters with Corinthian capitals at the lower level and Composite at the upper level. Where the building behind is of only one storey (at the aisles of both nave and choir) the upper storey of the exterior wall is sham.[68] It serves a dual purpose of supporting the buttresses of the vault, and providing a satisfying appearance when viewed rising above buildings of the height of the 17th century city. This appearance may still be seen from across the River Thames.

 

Between the pilasters on both levels are windows. Those of the lower storey have semi-circular heads and are surrounded by continuous mouldings of a Roman style, rising to decorative keystones. Beneath each window is a floral swag by Grinling Gibbons, constituting the finest stone carving on the building and some of the greatest architectural sculpture in England. A frieze with similar swags runs in a band below the cornice, tying the arches of the windows and the capitals. The upper windows are of a restrained Classical form, with pediments set on columns, but are blind and contain niches. Beneath these niches, and in the basement level, are small windows with segmental tops, the glazing of which catches the light and visually links them to the large windows of the aisles. The height from ground level to the top of the parapet is approximately 110 feet.

 

Internally, St Paul's has a nave and choir each of three bays. The entrance from the west portico is through a square domed narthex, flanked on either side by chapels: the Chapel of St Dunstan to the north and the Chapel of the Order of St Michael and St George to the south side.[56] The nave is 91 feet (28 m) in height and is separated from the aisles by an arcade of piers with attached Corinthian pilasters rising to an entablature. The bays, and therefore the vault compartments, are rectangular, but Wren has ingeniously roofed these spaces with saucer-shaped domes and surrounded the clerestorey windows with lunettes.[56] The vaults of the choir have been lavishly decorated with mosaics by Sir William Blake Richmond.[56] The dome and the apse of the choir are all approached through wide arches with coffered vaults which contrast with the smooth surface of the domes and punctuate the division between the main spaces. The transept extend to the north and south of the dome and are called (in this instance) the North Choir and the South Choir.

 

The choir holds the stalls for the clergy and the choir, and the organ. These wooden fittings, including the pulpit and Bishop's throne, were designed in Wren's office and built by joiners. The carvings are the work of Grinling Gibbons who Summerson describes as having "astonishing facility" and suggests that Gibbons aim was to reproduce popular Dutch flower painting in wood.[48] Jean Tijou, a French metalworker, provided various wrought iron and gilt grills, gates and balustrades of elaborate design, of which many pieces have now been combined into the gates near the sanctuary.[48]

 

The cathedral is some 574 feet (175 m) in length (including the portico of the Great West Door), of which 223 feet (68 m) is the nave and 167 feet (51 m) is the choir. The width of the nave is 121 feet (37 m) and across the transepts is 246 feet (75 m).[74] The cathedral is thus slightly shorter but somewhat wider than Old St Paul's.

 

The main internal space of the cathedral is that under the central dome which extends the full width of the nave and aisles. The dome is supported on pendentives rising between eight arches spanning the nave, choir, transepts, and aisles. The eight piers that carry them are not evenly spaced. Wren has maintained an appearance of eight equal spans by inserting segmental arches to carry galleries across the ends of the aisles, and has extended the mouldings of the upper arch to appear equal to the wider arches.[58]

 

Above the keystones of the arches, at 99 feet (30 m) above the floor and 112 feet (34 m) wide, runs a cornice which supports the Whispering Gallery so called because of its acoustic properties: a whisper or low murmur against its wall at any point is audible to a listener with an ear held to the wall at any other point around the gallery. It is reached by 259 steps from ground level.

 

The dome is raised on a tall drum surrounded by pilasters and pierced with windows in groups of three, separated by eight gilded niches containing statues, and repeating the pattern of the peristyle on the exterior. the dome rises above a gilded cornice at 173 feet (53 m) to a height of 214 feet (65 m). Its painted decoration by Sir James Thornhill shows eight scenes from the life of St Paul set in illusionistic architecture which continues the forms of the eight niches of the drum.[63] At the apex of the dome is an oculus inspired by that of the Pantheon in Rome. Through this hole can be seen the decorated inner surface of the cone which supports the lantern. This upper space is lit by the light wells in the outer dome and openings in the brick cone. Engravings of Thornhill's paintings were published in 1720.

 

he eastern apse extends the width of the choir and is the full height of the main arches across choir and nave. It is decorated with mosaics, in keeping with the choir vaults. The original reredos and high altar were destroyed by bombing in 1940. The present high altar and baldacchino are the work of by Godfrey Allen and Stephen Dykes Bower.[55] The apse was dedicated in 1958 as the American Memorial Chapel.[76] It was paid for entirely by donations from British people.[77] The Roll of Honour contains the names of more than 28,000 Americans who gave their lives while on their way to, or stationed in, the United Kingdom during the Second World War.[78] It is in front of the chapel's altar. The three windows of the apse date from 1960 and depict themes of service and sacrifice, while the insignia around the edges represent the American states and the US armed forces. The limewood panelling incorporates a rocket – a tribute to America's achievements in space.

 

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Paul%27s_Cathedral

A big part of the shutter speed experiment was dealing with the more 'problematic' classes of buses, i.e. these ex-hybrids and Stagecoach's ex-Manchester E400s. And although the one I actually wanted to photograph just didn't show up in the amount of time I had, this retake of 901 quite simply... fits the bill, I suppose. Observations made are that these ex-hybrids don't really do 1/500 shutter speed, thus the requirement to crank up to 1/1000. Got to find an ex-Manchester bus now!

 

Seen three months after hurrying with a grab shot down Holderness Road, East Yorkshire's 901, a 2011 ex-hybrid ADL Enviro400H since converted to diesel power, comes down Hessle Road on a 57 to Hessle Square. Compare previous image and note the rather-viciously removed fare sticker on the bottom of the upper front window.

Centaurea is a genus of over 700 species of herbaceous thistle-like flowering plants in the family Asteraceae. Members of the genus are found only north of the equator, mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere; the Middle East and surrounding regions are particularly species-rich. In the western United States, yellow starthistles are an invasive species. Around the year 1850, seeds from the plant had arrived to the state of California. It is believed that those seeds came from South America.

 

Common names

Common names for this genus are centaury, centory, starthistles, knapweeds, centaureas and the more ambiguous "bluets"; a vernacular name used for these plants in parts of England is "loggerheads" (common knapweed). The Plectocephalus group – possibly a distinct genus – is known as basketflowers. "Cornflower" is used for a few species, but that term more often specifically means either C. cyanus (the annual cornflower) or Centaurea montana (the perennial cornflower). The common name "centaury" is sometimes used, although this also refers to the unrelated plant genus Centaurium.

 

The name is said to be in reference to Chiron, the centaur of Greek mythology who discovered medicinal uses of a plant eventually called "centaury".

 

Description

Knapweeds are robust weedy plants. Their leaves, spiny in some species, are usually deeply divided into elongated lobes at least in the plants' lower part, becoming entire towards the top. The "flowers" (actually pseudanthium inflorescences) are diverse in colour, ranging from intense blues, reds and yellows to any mixture of these and lighter shades towards white. Often, the disk flowers are much darker or lighter than the ray flowers, which also differ in morphology and are sterile. Each pseudanthium sits atop a cup- or basket-like cluster of scaly bracts, hence the name "basketflowers". Many species, in particular those inhabiting more arid regions, have a long and strong taproot.

 

Certain knapweeds have a tendency to dominate large stretches of landscape together with a few other plants, typically one or two grasses and as many other large herbaceous plants. The common knapweed (C. nigra) for example is plentiful in the mesotrophic grasslands of England and nearby regions. It is most prominently found in pastures or meadows dominated by cock's-foot (Dactylis glomerata) as well as either of crested dog's-tail (Cynosurus cristatus) and false oat-grass (Arrhenatherum elatius). It is also often found in mesotrophic grassland on rendzinas and similar calcareous soils in association with glaucous sedge (Carex flacca), sheep's fescue (Festuca ovina), and either tor-grass (Brachypodium pinnatum) and rough hawkbit (Leontodon hispidus), or upright brome (Bromus erectus). In these grasslands, greater knapweed (C. scabiosa) is found much more rarely by comparison, often in association with red fescue (Festuca rubra) in addition to cock's-foot and false oat-grass.

 

Due to their habit of dominating ecosystems under good conditions, many Centaurea species can become invasive weeds in regions where they are not native. In parts of North America, diffuse knapweed (C. diffusa), spotted knapweed (C. maculosa) and yellow starthistle (C. solstitialis) cause severe problems in agriculture due to their uncontrolled spread. The seeds are typically transported by human traffic, in particular the tires of all-terrain vehicles. The two knapweeds are harmful mainly because they are strongly allelopathic, producing powerful toxins in their roots that stunt the growth of plants around them not adapted to this. Yellow starthistle, meanwhile, is inedible to most livestock due to its spines and apparently outright poisonous to horses and other equines. However, efficient methods of biological control by insect pests of these weeds have been developed; the knapweeds can also exploited to their detriment by targeted grazing. Controlled burning may also be used, though the timing is important to avoid the plants having seeded already, and neither allowing sufficient time for them to regrow from the rootstock.

 

Yet other species of Centaurea – mostly ones that occur between Italy and the Caucasus – are endemics of a single island or valley, and some of these are endangered. The Akamas Centaurea (Centaurea akamantis) of Cyprus is almost extinct, while the western Caucasus endemics C. leptophylla and C. straminicephala are at least very rare and C. hedgei and C. pecho from the same region are certainly not abundant either. The last four species would be adversely affected by the proposed Yusufeli Dam, which might actually destroy enough habitat to push the two rarer ones over the brink of extinction.

 

Centaurea are copious nectar producers, especially on high-lime soils. The high nectar yield of the genus makes it very attractive to insects such as butterflies – including the endangered Karner blue (Plebejus melissa samuelis) which visits introduced spotted knapweed – and day-flying moths – typically Zygaenidae, such as Zygaena loti or the six-spot burnet (Z. filipendulae). The larvae of some other Lepidoptera species use Centaurea species as food plants; see List of Lepidoptera that feed on Centaurea. Several of these are used in biological control of invasive knapweeds and starthistles.

 

Larvae of several true weevils (Curculionidae) of the subfamily Lixinae also feed on Centaurea. Some genera – such as Larinus whose larval food is flowerheads – have many species especially adapted to particular knapweeds or starthistle and are used in biological control too. These include the yellow starthistle flower weevil (L. curtus) for yellow starthistle, lesser knapweed flower weevil (L. minutus) for diffuse knapweed and blunt knapweed flower weevil (L. obtusus) for spotted knapweed. Broad-nosed seedhead weevil (Bangasternus fausti) larvae eat diffuse, spotted and squarrose knapweed (C. virgata ssp. squarrosa), while those of the yellow starthistle bud weevil (B. orientalis) do not seem to live on anything other than yellow starthistle and occasionally purple starthistle (C. calcitrapa). But perhaps most efficient in destroying developing yellow starthistle seedheads is the larva of the yellow starthistle hairy weevil (Eustenopus villosus). Knapweed root weevil (Cyphocleonus achates) larvae bore into the roots of spotted and to a lesser extentely diffuse knapweed, sometimes killing off the entire plant.

 

Also used in biological control are Tephritidae (peacock flies) whose larvae feed on Centaurea. Knapweed peacock fly (Chaetorellia acrolophi) larvae eat spotted knapweed and some other species. The yellow starthistle peacock fly (C. australis) has an initial generation each year which often uses cornflower (C. cyanus) as larval food; later generations switch to yellow starthistle. The flies are generally considered less efficient in destroying the growing seedheads than the weevils, but may be superior under certain conditions; employing flies and weevils in combination is expensive and does not noticeably increase their effect.

 

Use by humans

Although the genus may be considered by a quite significant number of relatively informed individuals to have an overall negative impact on human interests, particularly agricultural interests, the situation is not straightforward enough to simply declare the genus, or, at least, its most aggressively-spreading species, altogether negative. For instance, due to their moderate to high nectar production, which can occur over a comparatively long duration, many species of Centaurea are popular food sources for insects that may otherwise attack certain crops.[citation needed] It may be advisable for some types of farms to allow certain species in this genus, such as cornflower (C. cyanus) in a European setting, to grow adjacent to fields. Although they support and attract many types of beneficial life (not just beetles), these areas are known as beetle banks. When they are present, some pests may be drawn away from crops to them and predatory insects and arachnids that feed upon pest insects will be better-supported by these more naturalized areas. They additionally have the beneficial aspect of supporting pollinators, unlike many field crops such as maize. Moreover, being untreated with pesticides and providing more diversity, plants growing in more wild areas adjacent to farms produce more insects that attract and support birds which can also feed on pests that would harm crops. Insect production is especially high for beetle banks that have enough plants that serve in the role of host plant for immature insects, rather than just in the roles of adult food and/or shelter provision.

 

Some plants which are considered invasive or problematic in certain areas can have beneficial qualities that outweigh their negative qualities from a human and/or human agricultural point of view, although this sometimes requires some human management – particularly if adequate biological control has not been established for the more aggressive species. An example is wild parsnip, Pastinaca sativa, which produces florets that feed predatory (and other beneficial) insects as well as large tubular stems that provide winter shelter for native bees, wasps, and other organisms that can be beneficial for agriculture. The plant is considered invasive in some areas of the United States and is also often considered undesirable due to its ability to cause contact skin irritation. However, it also serves as a host plant for the black swallowtail butterfly, helps to bring nutrients up from soils with its deep taproot, and possesses evergreen foliage even in climate zones such as US zone 6. This foliage increases soil warmth and moisture which can be beneficial for certain types of life. Perhaps the most dramatic example of a generally disliked plant's beneficial qualities being usually overlooked is the often-despised ragwort, Jacobaea vulgaris, which topped the list by a large amount for nectar production in a UK study, with a production per floral unit of (2921 ± 448μg). This very high nectar production, coupled with its early blooming period, makes the plant helpful for the establishment of bee colonies in spring — a period that is often not well-served by commercial flower meadow seed mixes. It also has the situationally-beneficial quality of being a spring ephemeral, as well as an annual that lacks difficult-to-combat roots. Plants that provide necessary structural supports for invertebrate and small vertebrate predators can help to keep overall pest populations low.

 

The abundant nectar produced by C. solstitialis flowers attracts many pollinators. This is another reason for the success of the (situationally) highly invasive species. Due to genetic differences related to evolutionary adaption, not all members of Centaurea produce the same amount of nectar. Growing conditions, such as climate and soil, can have a very strong impact, even if the plants grow and flower. For instance, cornflower plants, Centaurea cyanus, produced 33% less seasonal nectar than Centaurea nigra in a UK study. C. nigra also ranked higher than ragwort in another UK study, although ragwort was still in the top 10 for yearly nectar production. The strong nectar production of certain members of the genus can be exploited to the farmer's advantage, possibly in combination with biological control. In particular, the yellow starthistle (C. solstitialis) as well as spotted knapweed (C. maculosa) are major honey plants for beekeepers. Monofloral honey from these plants is light and slightly tangy, and one of the finest honeys produced in the United States – due to its better availability, it is even fraudulently relabeled and sold as the scarce and expensive sourwood honey of the Appalachian Mountains. Placing beehives near stands of Centaurea will cause increased pollination. As most seedheads fail however when biocontrol pests have established themselves, the plants will bloom ever more abundantly in an attempt to replace the destroyed seedheads, to the point where they exhaust their resources in providing food for the pests (seeds), bees (pollen) and humans (honey). Output of allelopathic compounds is also liable to be reduced under such conditions – the plant has to compromise between allocating energy to reproduction and defense. This renders the weeds more likely to be suppressed by native vegetation or crops in the following years, especially if properly timed controlled burning[5] and/or targeted grazing by suitable livestock are also employed. While yellow starthistle and perhaps other species are toxic to equines, some other livestock may eat the non-spiny knapweeds with relish. In Europe, common knapweed (C. nigra) and globe knapweed (C. macrocephala) are locally important pollen sources for honeybees in mid-late summer.

 

8-Hydroxyquinoline has been identified as a main allelopathic compound produced by diffuse knapweed (C. diffusa); native North American plants are typically sensitive to it, while those of Eastern Europe and Asia Minor usually have coevolved with the knapweed and are little harmed if at all, aided by native microorganisms that break down or even feed on the abundantly secreted compound. Thus, 8-hydroxyquinoline is potentially useful to control American plants that have become invasive weeds in the diffuse knapweed's native range.

 

Arctiin, found in C. imperialis, has shown anticancer activity in laboratory studies. The roots of the long-lost C. foliosa, an endemic of Hatay Province (Turkey), are used in folk medicine, and other species are presumably too. A South Italian variety[verification needed] of the purple starthistle (C. calcitrapa) is traditionally consumed by ethnic Albanians (Arbëreshë people) in the Vulture area (southern Italy); e.g. in the Arbëreshë communities in Lucania the young whorls of C. calcitrapa are boiled and fried in mixtures with other weedy non-cultivated greens. According to research by the Michael Heinrich group at the Centre for Pharmacognosy and Phytotherapy (School of Pharmacy, University of London) "the antioxidant activity [...] of the young whorls of Centaurea calcitrapa, both in the DPPH and in the lipid peroxidation inhibition assays, [is] very interesting and [the] species should be investigated phytochemically and biochemically focusing on these properties". Extracts from C. calcitrapa were furthermore found to have significant xanthine oxidase (XO)-inhibiting activity.

 

Spotted knapweed as well as other species are rich in cnicin, a bitter compound found mainly in the leaves and often used to flavor the digestif amaro. In western Crete, Greece a local variety[verification needed] of C. calcitrapa called gourounaki (γουρουνάκι "little pig") also has its leaves eaten boiled by the locals. In the same island an endemic local species, C. idaea called katsoula (κατσούλα), tsita (τσίτα) or aspragatha (ασπραγκάθα), has its leaves eaten boiled by the locals too.

 

Some species are cultivated as ornamental plants in gardens. As regards other aspects of popular culture, cornflower (C. cyanus) is the floral emblem of Östergötland province (Sweden) – where is it called blåklint, literally "blue mountain" – and of Päijänne Tavastia region in Finland, where it is known as ruiskaunokki ("rye-beaks") or ruiskukka ("rye-flower"). It is also the national flower of Estonia where its local name rukkilill means "rye-lily", Belarus where it is called vałoška (Belarusian: валошка), and one of those of Germany where it is called Kornblume ("cornflower"). The origin of the name "caltrop" for the ancient low-tech area denial weapon is probably in some way connected with C. calcitrapa and its spiny seeds. This plant is attested to by the colloquial name "caltrop" at a time when the weapons were still called by their Roman name tribulus. Lastly, the color cornflower blue is named after C. cyanus. Cornflower is also used as a cut flower.

 

As namesake member of the subtribe Centaureinae of tribe Cardueae, the knapweeds are probably most closely related to genera such as Carthamus (distaff thistles), Cnicus (blessed thistle), Crupina (crupinas) or Notobasis (Syrian thistle), and somewhat less closely to most other thistles. The monotypic Cnicus seems in fact to properly belong in Centaurea.

 

Research in the late 20th century shows that Centaurea as traditionally defined is polyphyletic. A number of 19th- and 20th-century efforts to reorganize the genus were not successful, and it is not yet clear what the consequences of the recent research will be for classification of this genus and other related genera. The type species C. centaurium stands somewhat apart from the main lineage of knapweeds and thus the taxonomic consequences of a rearrangement might be severe, with hundreds of species needing to be moved to new genera. It has thus been proposed to change the type species to one of the main lineages to avoid this problem. What seems certain however is that the basketflowers – presently treated as a section Plectocephalus – will be reinstated as a distinct genus in the near future. The rock-centauries (Cheirolophus), formerly usually included in Centaurea, are now already treated as separate genus.

 

Better-known Centaurea species include:

 

Centaurea acaulis

Centaurea adpressa

Centaurea aegyptiaca

Centaurea aeolica

Centaurea aggregata

Centaurea akamantis – Akamas centaurea

Centaurea alba

Centaurea albonitens Turrill

Centaurea alpestris

Centaurea alpina

Centaurea ambigua

Centaurea amblyolepis

Centaurea americana – American basketflower, American starthistle

Centaurea ammocyanus

Centaurea antennata Dufour

Centaurea antiochia Boiss.

Centaurea aplolepa

Centaurea aplolepa subsp. carueliana

Centaurea appendicigera C.Koch

Centaurea argentea

Centaurea ascalonica

Centaurea aspera L. – rough starthistle

Centaurea atacamensis (Reiche) I.M.Johnst.

Centaurea atropurpurea

Centaurea ×aurata

Centaurea babylonica L.

Centaurea balsamita

Centaurea behen L. – ak behmen (Turkish)

Centaurea bella

Centaurea benedicta – Cnicus

Centaurea bieberseinii

Centaurea borjae

Centaurea bovina

Centaurea bracteata

Centaurea brevifimbriata Hub.-Mor.

Centaurea bulbosa

Centaurea busambarensis Guss.

Centaurea cachinalensis

Centaurea calcitrapa – purple starthistle, red starthistle, "caltrop"

Centaurea calcitrapoides

Centaurea cariensis Boiss.

Centaurea cariensiformis Hub.-Mor.

Centaurea caroli-henrici Gabrieljan & Dittrich

Centaurea centaurium L.

Centaurea chilensis

Centaurea cineraria – velvet centaurea, dusty miller

Centaurea clementei

Centaurea collina L.

Centaurea corymbosa

Centaurea crithmifolia

Centaurea crocodylium

Centaurea cyanoides J.Berggr. & Wahlenb.

Centaurea cyanus – cornflower, bachelor's button, boutonniere flower, hurtsickle, bluebottle, basketflower

Centaurea damascena

Centaurea debeauxii Gren. & Godr.

Centaurea demirizii Wagenitz

Centaurea depressa – low cornflower

Centaurea deusta

Centaurea diffusa – diffuse knapweed, white knapweed, tumble knapweed

Centaurea diluta – North African knapweed

Centaurea drabifolia Sm.

Centaurea drabifolioides Hub.-Mor.

Centaurea dschungarica

Centaurea emilae Hüseynova et Qaraxani[13]

Centaurea eriophora

Centaurea eryngioides

Centaurea filiformis

Centaurea fischeri Willd.

Centaurea floccosa

Centaurea foliosa Boiss. & Kotschy

Centaurea forojuliensis

Centaurea friderici Vis. – palagruška zečina (Croatian)

Centaurea gayana

Centaurea glaberrima Tausch

Centaurea glastifolia

Centaurea grinensis

Centaurea gymnocarpa

Centaurea haradjianii Wagenitz

Centaurea hedgei

Centaurea helenioides Boiss.

Centaurea hermannii F.Hermann

Centaurea horrida Badarò – fiordaliso spinoso (Italian)

Centaurea hyalolepis

Centaurea hypoleuca

Centaurea iberica – Iberian starthistle, Iberian knapweed

Centaurea idaea – katsoula, tsita (Cretan Greek)

Centaurea imperialis Hausskn. ex Bornm.

Centaurea jabukensis

Centaurea jacea – brown knapweed, brownray knapweed

Centaurea kasakorum

Centaurea kopetaghensis

Centaurea kotschyana Heuff.

Centaurea lanulata

Centaurea leptophylla

Centaurea leucophylla

Centaurea limbata

Centaurea lydia Boiss.

Centaurea macrocephala Puschk. ex Willd. – globe knapweed, Armenian basketflower

Centaurea maculosa – spotted knapweed (might belong in C. stoebe subsp. micranthos)

Centaurea mannagettae

Centaurea margaritalba Klok.

Centaurea marschalliana

Centaurea melitensis – Maltese starthistle; tocalote, tocolote (California)

Centaurea minor

Centaurea moschata – sweet sultan

Centaurea ×moncktonii C.E.Britton – meadow knapweed, protean knapweed (= C. ×pratensis Thuill non Salisb.)

Centaurea monocephala

Centaurea montana – montane knapweed, perennial cornflower, mountain cornflower, mountain bluet

Centaurea napifolia L. – fiordaliso romano (Italian)

Centaurea nervosa Rchb. ex Steud.

Centaurea nigra – common knapweed, black knapweed, lesser knapweed, hardheads

Centaurea nigrescens – Tyrol knapweed, short-fringed knapweed, Tyrol thistle

Centaurea nigrifimbria (C.Koch) Sosn.

Centaurea nivea (Bornm.) Wagenitz

Centaurea onopordifolia

Centaurea orientalis L.

Centaurea ornata Willd.

Centaurea ovina

Centaurea pallescens Delile

Centaurea paniculata L.

Centaurea parlatoris

Centaurea pecho

Centaurea phrygia – wig knapweed

Centaurea pindicola

Centaurea polypodiifolia

Centaurea ×pratensis Salisb. (C. jacea × C. nigra) – meadow knapweed

Centaurea procurrens

Centaurea ×psammogena G.Gayer. (C. diffusa × C. stoebe subsp. micranthos)

Centaurea pseudocaerulescens

Centaurea pseudophrygia C.A.Mey.

Centaurea pulcherrima Willd.

Centaurea pullata L.

Centaurea pumilio

Centaurea ragusina L.

Centaurea rigida

Centaurea rothrockii Greenm. – Mexican basketflower, Rothrock's basketflower, Rothrock's knapweed

Centaurea ruthenica

Centaurea rutifolia Sm.

Centaurea sadleriana – Pannonian knapweed

Centaurea salicifolia Bieb. ex Willd.

Centaurea scabiosa – greater knapweed

Centaurea scannensis

Centaurea scoparia

Centaurea scopulorum Boiss. & Heldr.

Centaurea seguenzae

Centaurea seridis L.

Centaurea sibirica

Centaurea simplicicaulis

Centaurea sinaica

Centaurea solstitialis – yellow starthistle, golden starthistle, yellow cockspur, St. Barnaby's thistle, Barnaby thistle

Centaurea speciosa

Centaurea sphaerocephala L.

Centaurea stenolepis

Centaurea stoebe L.

Centaurea stoebe subsp. micranthos (Gugler) Hayek

Centaurea straminicephala

Centaurea sulphurea – Sicilian starthistle

Centaurea tauromenitana Guss.

Centaurea tenoreana

Centaurea tommasinii

Centaurea transalpina Schleich. ex DC.

Centaurea tchihatcheffii — yanardöner (Turkish)

Centaurea trichocephala Bieb. ex Willd. – featherhead knapweed

Centaurea triniifolia

Centaurea triumfettii All.

Centaurea ucriae Lacaita

Centaurea uniflora Turra

Centaurea verbascifolia Vahl

Centaurea verutum L.

Centaurea virgata

Centaurea virgata subsp. squarrosa – squarrose knapweed

Centaurea wiedemanniana Fisch. & Mey.

Centaurea yozgatensis Wagenitz

Formerly placed here

Plant species placed in Centaurea in former times include:

 

Acroptilon repens – Russian knapweed (as C. repens)

Cheirolophus crassifolius – Maltese rock-centaury (as C. crassifolia, C. spathulata)

Femeniasia balearica (as C. balearica)

Volutaria muricata (as C. muricata)

Panning a passing tern is next to impossible. My solution: 360° fisheye.

 

Timing is no easier. I used video. Extracting stills from MP4 video is probably not ideal, and even less so when the MP4 is first converted from twin fisheye projection to equirectangular projection. The equirectangular still is then transformed from TIFF to fisheye PNG, that last transformation is probably less problematic.

 

And yes, I should not really be there in the middle of a breeding bird colony, it has the right to chase me off. My excuse was shooting the tunnel entrance, but next time I'll visit outside the breeding season.

The Mount Elliott Mining Complex is an aggregation of the remnants of copper mining and smelting operations from the early 20th century and the associated former mining township of Selwyn. The earliest copper mining at Mount Elliott was in 1906 with smelting operations commencing shortly after. Significant upgrades to the mining and smelting operations occurred under the management of W.R. Corbould during 1909 - 1910. Following these upgrades and increases in production, the Selwyn Township grew quickly and had 1500 residents by 1918. The Mount Elliott Company took over other companies on the Cloncurry field in the 1920s, including the Mount Cuthbert and Kuridala smelters. Mount Elliott operations were taken over by Mount Isa Mines in 1943 to ensure the supply of copper during World War Two. The Mount Elliott Company was eventually liquidated in 1953.

 

The Mount Elliott Smelter:

 

The existence of copper in the Leichhardt River area of north western Queensland had been known since Ernest Henry discovered the Great Australia Mine in 1867 at Cloncurry. In 1899 James Elliott discovered copper on the conical hill that became Mount Elliott, but having no capital to develop the mine, he sold an interest to James Morphett, a pastoralist of Fort Constantine station near Cloncurry. Morphett, being drought stricken, in turn sold out to John Moffat of Irvinebank, the most successful mining promoter in Queensland at the time.

 

Plentiful capital and cheap transport were prerequisites for developing the Cloncurry field, which had stagnated for forty years. Without capital it was impossible to explore and prove ore-bodies; without proof of large reserves of wealth it was futile to build a railway; and without a railway it was hazardous to invest capital in finding large reserves of ore. The mining investor or the railway builder had to break the impasse.

 

In 1906 - 1907 copper averaged £87 a ton on the London market, the highest price for thirty years, and the Cloncurry field grew. The railway was extended west of Richmond in 1905 - 1906 by the Government and mines were floated on the Melbourne Stock Exchange. At Mount Elliott a prospecting shaft had been sunk and on the 1st of August 1906 a Cornish boiler and winding plant were installed on the site.

 

Mount Elliott Limited was floated in Melbourne on the 13th of July 1906. In 1907 it was taken over by British and French interests and restructured. Combining with its competitor, Hampden Cloncurry Copper Mines Limited, Mount Elliott formed a special company to finance and construct the railway from Cloncurry to Malbon, Kuridala (then Friezeland) and Mount Elliott (later Selwyn). This new company then entered into an agreement with the Queensland Railways Department in July 1908.

 

The railway, which was known as the 'Syndicate Railway', aroused opposition in 1908 from the trade unions and Labor movement generally, who contended that railways should be State-owned. However, the Hampden-Mount Elliott Railway Bill was passed by the Queensland Parliament and assented to on the 21st of April 1908; construction finished in December 1910. The railway terminated at the Mount Elliott smelter.

 

By 1907 the main underlie shaft had been sunk and construction of the smelters was underway using a second-hand water-jacket blast furnace and converters. At this time, W.H. Corbould was appointed general manager of Mount Elliott Limited.

 

The second-hand blast furnace and converters were commissioned or 'blown in' in May 1909, but were problematic causing hold-ups. Corbould referred to the equipment in use as being the 'worst collection of worn-out junk he had ever come across'. Corbould soon convinced his directors to scrap the plant and let him design new works.

 

Corbould was a metallurgist and geologist as well as mine/smelter manager. He foresaw a need to obtain control and thereby ensure a reliable supply of ore from a cross-section of mines in the region. He also saw a need to implement an effective strategy to manage the economies of smelting low-grade ore. Smelting operations in the region were made difficult by the technical and economic problems posed by the deterioration in the grade of ore. Corbould resolved the issue by a process of blending ores with different chemical properties, increasing the throughput capacity of the smelter and by championing the unification of smelting operations in the region. In 1912, Corbould acquired Hampden Consols Mine at Kuridala for Mount Elliott Limited, followed with the purchases of other small mines in the district.

 

Walkers Limited of Maryborough was commissioned to manufacture a new 200 ton water jacket furnace for the smelters. An air compressor and blower for the smelters were constructed in the powerhouse and an electric motor and dynamo provided power for the crane and lighting for the smelter and mine.

 

The new smelter was blown in September 1910, a month after the first train arrived, and it ran well, producing 2040 tons of blister copper by the end of the year. The new smelting plant made it possible to cope with low-grade sulphide ores at Mount Elliott. The use of 1000 tons of low-grade sulphide ores bought from the Hampden Consols Mine in 1911 made it clear that if a supply of higher sulphur ore could be obtained and blended, performance, and economy would improve. Accordingly, the company bought a number of smaller mines in the district in 1912.

 

Corbould mined with cut and fill stoping but a young Mines Inspector condemned the system, ordered it dismantled and replaced with square set timbering. In 1911, after gradual movement in stopes on the No. 3 level, the smelter was closed for two months. Nevertheless, 5447 tons of blister copper was produced in 1911, rising to 6690 tons in 1912 - the company's best year. Many of the surviving structures at the site were built at this time.

 

Troubles for Mount Elliott started in 1913. In February, a fire at the Consols Mine closed it for months. In June, a thirteen week strike closed the whole operation, severely depleting the workforce. The year 1913 was also bad for industrial accidents in the area, possibly due to inexperienced people replacing the strikers. Nevertheless, the company paid generous dividends that year.

 

At the end of 1914 smelting ceased for more than a year due to shortage of ore. Although 3200 tons of blister copper was produced in 1913, production fell to 1840 tons in 1914 and the workforce dwindled to only 40 men. For the second half of 1915 and early 1916 the smelter treated ore railed south from Mount Cuthbert. At the end of July 1916 the smelting plant at Selwyn was dismantled except for the flue chambers and stacks. A new furnace with a capacity of 500 tons per day was built, a large amount of second-hand equipment was obtained and the converters were increased in size.

 

After the enlarged furnace was commissioned in June 1917, continuing industrial unrest retarded production which amounted to only 1000 tons of copper that year. The point of contention was the efficiency of the new smelter which processed twice as much ore while employing fewer men. The company decided to close down the smelter in October and reduce the size of the furnace, the largest in Australia, from 6.5m to 5.5m. In the meantime the price of copper had almost doubled from 1916 due to wartime consumption of munitions.

 

The new furnace commenced on the 16th of January 1918 and 77,482 tons of ore were smelted yielding 3580 tons of blister copper which were sent to the Bowen refinery before export to Britain. Local coal and coke supply was a problem and materials were being sourced from the distant Bowen Colliery. The smelter had a good run for almost a year except for a strike in July and another in December, which caused Corbould to close down the plant until New Year. In 1919, following relaxation of wartime controls by the British Metal Corporation, the copper price plunged from about £110 per ton at the start of the year to £75 per ton in April, dashing the company's optimism regarding treatment of low grade ores. The smelter finally closed after two months operation and most employees were laid off.

 

For much of the period 1919 to 1922, Corbould was in England trying to raise capital to reorganise the company's operations but he failed and resigned from the company in 1922. The Mount Elliott Company took over the assets of the other companies on the Cloncurry field in the 1920s - Mount Cuthbert in 1925 and Kuridala in 1926. Mount Isa Mines bought the Mount Elliott plant and machinery, including the three smelters, in 1943 for £2,300, enabling them to start copper production in the middle of the Second World War. The Mount Elliott Company was finally liquidated in 1953.

 

In 1950 A.E. Powell took up the Mount Elliott Reward Claim at Selwyn and worked close to the old smelter buildings. An open cut mine commenced at Starra, south of Mount Elliott and Selwyn, in 1988 and is Australia's third largest copper producer producing copper-gold concentrates from flotation and gold bullion from carbon-in-leach processing.

 

Profitable copper-gold ore bodies were recently proved at depth beneath the Mount Elliott smelter and old underground workings by Cyprus Gold Australia Pty Ltd. These deposits were subsequently acquired by Arimco Mining Pty Ltd for underground development which commenced in July 1993. A decline tunnel portal, ore and overburden dumps now occupy a large area of the Maggie Creek valley south-west of the smelter which was formerly the site of early miner's camps.

 

The Old Selwyn Township:

 

In 1907, the first hotel, run by H. Williams, was opened at the site. The township was surveyed later, around 1910, by the Mines Department. The town was to be situated north of the mine and smelter operations adjacent the railway, about 1.5km distant. It took its name from the nearby Selwyn Ranges which were named, during Burke's expedition, after the Victorian Government Geologist, A.R. Selwyn. The town has also been known by the name of Mount Elliott, after the nearby mines and smelter.

 

Many of the residents either worked at the Mount Elliott Mine and Smelter or worked in the service industries which grew around the mining and smelting operations. Little documentation exists about the everyday life of the town's residents. Surrounding sheep and cattle stations, however, meant that meat was available cheaply and vegetables grown in the area were delivered to the township by horse and cart. Imported commodities were, however, expensive.

 

By 1910 the town had four hotels. There was also an aerated water manufacturer, three stores, four fruiterers, a butcher, baker, saddler, garage, police, hospital, banks, post office (officially from 1906 to 1928, then unofficially until 1975) and a railway station. There was even an orchestra of ten players in 1912. The population of Selwyn rose from 1000 in 1911 to 1500 in 1918, before gradually declining.

 

Source: Queensland Heritage Register.

Grok's outbursts were becoming problematic for business.

clear skies and an intense sun reflecting off a white landscape make it problematical to take decent pics outdoors

Beautiful, but problematic cameras

Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barcelona

 

Barcelona is a city in Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within city limits, its urban area extends to numerous neighbouring municipalities within the Province of Barcelona and is home to around 4.8 million people, making it the sixth most populous urban area in the European Union after Paris, London, Madrid, the Ruhr area and Milan. It is one of the largest metropolises on the Mediterranean Sea, located on the coast between the mouths of the rivers Llobregat and Besòs, and bounded to the west by the Serra de Collserola mountain range, the tallest peak of which is 512 metres (1,680 feet) high.

 

Founded as a Roman city, in the Middle Ages Barcelona became the capital of the County of Barcelona. After merging with the Kingdom of Aragon, Barcelona continued to be an important city in the Crown of Aragon as an economic and administrative centre of this Crown and the capital of the Principality of Catalonia. Barcelona has a rich cultural heritage and is today an important cultural centre and a major tourist destination. Particularly renowned are the architectural works of Antoni Gaudí and Lluís Domènech i Montaner, which have been designated UNESCO World Heritage Sites. The headquarters of the Union for the Mediterranean are located in Barcelona. The city is known for hosting the 1992 Summer Olympics as well as world-class conferences and expositions and also many international sport tournaments.

 

Barcelona is one of the world's leading tourist, economic, trade fair and cultural centres, and its influence in commerce, education, entertainment, media, fashion, science, and the arts all contribute to its status as one of the world's major global cities. It is a major cultural and economic centre in southwestern Europe, 24th in the world (before Zürich, after Frankfurt) and a financial centre. In 2008 it was the fourth most economically powerful city by GDP in the European Union and 35th in the world with GDP amounting to €177 billion. In 2012 Barcelona had a GDP of $170 billion; and it was leading Spain in employment rate in that moment.

 

In 2009 the city was ranked Europe's third and one of the world's most successful as a city brand. In the same year the city was ranked Europe's fourth best city for business and fastest improving European city, with growth improved by 17% per year, and the city has been experiencing strong and renewed growth for the past three years. Since 2011 Barcelona has been a leading smart city in Europe. Barcelona is a transport hub, with the Port of Barcelona being one of Europe's principal seaports and busiest European passenger port, an international airport, Barcelona–El Prat Airport, which handles over 50 million passengers per year, an extensive motorway network, and a high-speed rail line with a link to France and the rest of Europe.

 

Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josep_Puig_i_Cadafalch#Barcelona

 

Josep Puig i Cadafalch (Mataró, 17 October 1867 – Barcelona, 21 December 1956) was a Catalan Spanish Modernista architect who designed many significant buildings in Barcelona. He was the architect of the Casa Martí (also known as "Els Quatre Gats"), which became a place of ideas, projects and social gatherings for such well-known Catalans as Santiago Rusiñol and Ramon Casas.

 

Although Puig's style separated him significantly from his contemporary Gaudí, their relations were neither tense nor problematic, as demonstrated by the participation of both architects in the construction of the Cafe Torino. Another of his significant buildings was the Casa Terrades (also known as "les Punxes"), which is known for its medieval castle style from the north of Europe. From 1942 to his death in 1956, he was the president of the academic institution of the Catalan language, the Institut d'Estudis Catalans.

 

Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Four_Columns

 

The Four Columns ("Les Quatre Columnes" in Catalan) are four Ionic columns originally created by Josep Puig i Cadafalch in Barcelona, Spain. They were erected in 1919, where the Magic Fountain of Montjuïc now stands.

 

They symbolized the four stripes of the Catalan senyera, and they were intended to become one of the main icons of Catalanism. Because of this, they were demolished in 1928 during Primo de Rivera's dictatorship, when all public Catalanist symbols were systematically removed in order to avoid their being noticed during the 1929 Universal Exposition, which was to take place on Montjuïc.

 

Moreover, for these same political motives, Poble Espanyol (Spanish Village in Catalan), on the same hill, was the name given to the open-air museum formerly to be named Iberona – in homage to the Iberians, the first inhabitants of what is now Catalonia, Spain. Analogously for the nearby Plaça d'Espanya.

 

In 1999, the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) commissioned the renowned Valencian sculptor Andreu Alfaro to create four similar columns for its Bellaterra Campus. In contrast to the original columns which were 20m high, these spiral up, 25 to 40 metres (82 to 131 ft) in height, in red granite.

 

Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Museu_Nacional_d%27Art_de_Catalunya

 

The Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya (English: "National Art Museum of Catalonia"), abbreviated as MNAC, is the national museum of Catalan visual art located in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Situated on Montjuïc hill at the end of Avinguda de la Reina Maria Cristina, near Pl Espanya, the museum is especially notable for its outstanding collection of romanesque church paintings, and for Catalan art and design from the late 19th and early 20th centuries, including modernisme and noucentisme. The museum is housed in the Palau Nacional, a huge, Italian-style building dating to 1929. The Palau Nacional, which has housed the Museu d'Art de Catalunya since 1934, was declared a national museum in 1990 under the Museums Law passed by the Catalan Government. That same year, a thorough renovation process was launched to refurbish the site, based on plans drawn up by the architects Gae Aulenti and Enric Steegmann, who were later joined in the undertaking by Josep Benedito. The Oval Hall was reopened in 1992 on the occasion of the Olympic Games, and the various collections were installed and opened over the period from 1995 (when the Romanesque Art section was reopened) to 2004. The Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya (Museu Nacional) was officially inaugurated on 16 December 2004. It is one of the largest museums in Spain.

P&W train FPCH with the often problematic PW3903 up front passes CP 230 on the NHL.

Fortress Špilberk

The fortress Spielberg (Czech: Špilberk) is located in South Moravian Brno in the Czech Republic. It has a changing history as a medieval castle, fortress, barracks and prison behind it. Today are located in here exhibitions and a restaurant. The complex is a cultural and tourist destination of the Brno population. Its location on a hill offers a good view over the city.

Location

The former Spielberg fortress is situated on a hill (282 meters above sea level) above the old town of Brno.

History

Fortress

Spielberg Castle was built in the second half of the 13th century and has undergone some changes over the centuries. At first it was the Gothic castle of the Bohemian kings and seat of the Moravian margrave. In the middle of the 17th century, it was expanded into a powerful Baroque fortress. In the middle of the eighteenth century, with the then fortified city of Brno, it formed the most important bastion in Moravia.

The casemates, completed in 1742, were an important part of the fortress. They should provide protection for a 1200 man strong military corps. In the end, however, only military depots were placed here. In the year 1783, a prison was established for the most dangerous and worst criminals, in the course of the reform of the Austrian prison system by order of Emperor Joseph II. In 1785, the southern part of the casemates was also converted into a prison and called the Leopoldine tract. However, joint use as a military fortress and civilian prison was problematic.

After the destruction of important fortifications by the withdrawing Napoleonic army in 1809, the fortress lost its military importance. The whole fortress Spielberg became from 1820 a civilian prison. Under Franz Joseph I, the complex was again a military prison and barracks in 1855.

Fountain

The castle fountain is of medieval origin. In the years 1716 to 1717 its original depth was increased from 39 m to 112 m so that the ground was below the water level of the river Svratka in Old Brno. The upper part of the fountain is made of natural stone and bricks, while the lower part consists only of rocks. The average diameter is 3.5 m. The water level is 90 m, so that a water volume of more than 1,000 m³ is available. At the bottom of the well are two horizontal shafts with a length of 17 and 26 meters respectively.

By the Napoleonic troops, the well together with the destruction of the castle in 1809 was filled up but in the subsequent years it was exposed again. Above the well was a fountain house with a wooden wheel driven by convicts to bring up the water. This house was only abolished in the years 1939-1941 by the German Wehrmacht. The last cleaning work in the years 1990 and 1991 was connected with research, 308 m³ of material from the well were cleared. Interesting finds, which are exhibited in the Museum of the Castle, have been exposed. Among them is a skeleton of a soldier from the end of the 19th century. But his identity is unknown.

Near the well is a Baroque cistern, where the rain water of the surrounding roofs was caught.

Since 1990, on the rear wall of the castle courtyard, there is a clockwork consisting of 15 bells weighing between 16 kg and 220 kg.

Casemates

The casemates are laid out as a two-storey military dugout (for 1,200 men) with attached dungeon system below the castle buildings. From 1746 to 1749 Franz Freiherr von der Trenck was imprisoned here, his mortal remains are located in the crypt of the Capuchin monastery in Brno's old town. In 1783 Emperor Joseph II had the upper storey of the northern casemates rebuilt into a prison. In 1784 by imperial decree in the casemates of the lower story the sentenced for life have been quartered. In addition to this, 29 single-cells made of planks were built, in which the prisoners were forged to the wall. Spielberg became the most feared prison in the country. It was considered safe from outbreaks. Even the widely spread narrative of the only one escape from Spielberg prison castle of the very famous Czech robber Babinsky is just one of his numerous personal legends. This was spread by himself as a former Spielberg prisoner with the number 1042 after his release. In 1785, the upper storey of the southern casemates was also converted into a prison. From 1824 there was the Italian poet Silvio Pellico as a political prisoner. After his release in the autumn of 1830 he wrote his memoirs "Le mie prigioni", which made Spielberg's prison known throughout Europe.

In 1855, Emperor Franz Joseph I converted the former civil prison into a military prison. With the opening of the new penitentiary in Karthaus, 1857 the first felons were transferred there. In 1880 the casemates were made available to the public.

During the Second World War, the German army settled in in Spielberg. This led to considerable structural changes at the casemates in order to make them usable as a shelter. The Gestapo, in turn, also instituted here a notorious prison, where prisoners of resistance and opponents often died.

Today

During the years 1987 to 1992 comprehensive renovation work took place. The state of the eighteenth century was to be restored, so the time before the conversion of the fortress to the notorious dungeon of the Josephine period.

In addition to a tour of the dungeon and the casemates there are changing exhibitions and installations on the city and history with numerous documents in the castle's premises. A restaurant and a view tower in the inner part of the castle complex offer a nice panorama on parts of Brno. In the courtyard of the castle there are regularly concerts in the summer.

 

Festung Špilberk

Die Festung Spielberg (tschechisch: Špilberk) befindet sich im südmährischen Brünn in Tschechien. Sie hat eine wechselvolle Geschichte als mittelalterliche Burg, Festung, Kaserne und Gefängnis hinter sich. Heute befinden sich in ihr Ausstellungen und ein Restaurant. Die Anlage ist ein kultureller Ort und Ausflugsziel der Brünner Bevölkerung. Durch ihre Lage auf einer Anhöhe bietet sie einen guten Blick über die Stadt.

Lage

Grundriss der Festung Spielberg

Die ehemalige Festung Spielberg liegt auf einer Erhebung (282 m ü. NN) oberhalb der Altstadt von Brünn.

Geschichte

Festung

Die Burg Spielberg wurde in der zweiten Hälfte des 13. Jahrhunderts angelegt und machte im Laufe der Jahrhunderte einige Wandlungen durch. Anfangs war es die gotische Burg der böhmischen Könige und Sitz des mährischen Markgrafen. Mitte des 17. Jahrhunderts wurde sie zu einer mächtigen Barockfestung erweitert. Mitte des 18. Jahrhunderts bildete sie mit der damals ebenfalls befestigten Stadt Brünn das bedeutendste Bollwerk in Mähren.

Die 1742 fertiggestellten Kasematten waren ein wichtiger Teil der Festung. Sie sollten Schutz für ein 1200 Mann starkes militärisches Corps bieten. Letztlich waren hier jedoch nur Depots für militärisches Material untergebracht. Im Jahr 1783 wurde dort auf Beschluss Kaiser Josephs II., im Zuge der Reform des österreichischen Gefängniswesens ein Gefängnis für die gefährlichsten und schlimmsten Verbrecher eingerichtet. 1785 wurde auch der südliche Teil der Kasematten in ein Gefängnis umgebaut und leopoldinischer Trakt genannt. Die gemeinsame Nutzung als militärische Festung und ziviles Gefängnis war allerdings problematisch.

Nach der Zerstörung wichtiger Festungsteile durch das abziehende napoleonische Heer im Jahre 1809 verlor die Festung ihre militärische Bedeutung. Die gesamte Festung Spielberg wurde ab 1820 zu einem zivilen Gefängnis. Unter Franz Joseph I. wurde die Anlage 1855 wiederum ein Militärgefängnis und Kaserne.

Brunnen

Der Burgbrunnen ist mittelalterlichen Ursprungs. In den Jahren 1716 bis 1717 wurde seine ursprüngliche Tiefe von 39 m auf 112 m erhöht, sodass der Grund unter dem Wasserspiegel des Flusses Svratka in Alt-Brünn lag. Der obere Teil des Brunnens ist aus Naturstein und Ziegeln gemauert, während der untere Teil nur aus Felsen besteht. Der durchschnittliche Durchmesser beträgt 3,5 m. Der Wasserstand beträgt 90 m, sodass ein Wasservolumen von über 1.000 m³ zur Verfügung steht. Am Grund des Brunnens befinden sich zwei horizontale Schächte mit einer Länge von 17 bzw. 26 Metern.

Durch die napoleonischen Truppen wurde mit der Zerstörung der Burg 1809 auch der Brunnen zugeschüttet, in den Folgejahren allerdings wieder freigelegt. Oberhalb des Brunnens befand sich ein Brunnenhaus mit einem Holzrad, das von Sträflingen angetrieben wurde, um das Wasser heraufzuholen. Dieses Haus wurde erst in den Jahren 1939–1941 durch die deutsche Wehrmacht abgetragen. Die letzten Reinigungsarbeiten in den Jahren 1990 und 1991 waren mit Forschungen verbunden, dabei wurden 308 m³ Material aus dem Brunnen geräumt. Dabei wurden interessante Funde freigelegt, die im Museum der Burg ausgestellt sind. Unter diesen findet sich auch ein Skelett eines Soldaten aus dem Ende des 19. Jahrhunderts. Seine Identität ist aber unbekannt.

Nahe dem Brunnen liegt noch eine barocke Zisterne, in der das Regenwasser der umliegenden Dächer aufgefangen wurde.

Seit 1990 befindet sich an der Rückwand des Burghofes ein Glockenspiel, das aus 15 Glocken mit einem Gewicht zwischen 16 kg und 220 kg besteht.

Kasematten

Die Kasematten sind als zweistöckiger militärischer Unterstand (für 1.200 Mann) mit angeschlossener Kerkeranlage unterhalb der Burggebäude angelegt. 1746 bis 1749 wurde hier Franz Freiherr von der Trenck inhaftiert, seine sterblichen Überreste befinden sich in der Gruft des Kapuzinerklosters in der Brünner Altstadt. 1783 ließ Kaiser Joseph II. das obere Geschoss der nördlichen Kasematten in ein Gefängnis umbauen. 1784 wurden per kaiserlichem Dekret in den Kasematten des unteren Stockwerks die lebenslang Verurteilten einquartiert. Dazu entstanden 29 aus Brettern gezimmerte Einzelzellen, in denen die Gefangenen angeschmiedet wurden. Spielberg wurde zum gefürchtetsten Gefängnis des Landes. Es galt als ausbruchsicher. Selbst die landesweit verbreitete Erzählung von einem einzigen, jemals von der Burg Spielberg gelungenen Gefängnisausbruch des damals sehr berühmten tschechischen Räuber Babinsky ist nur eine seiner zahlreichen persönlichen Legenden. Diese wurde von ihm selbst als ehemaligem Spielberg-Häftling mit der Nummer 1042 nach seiner Entlassung verbreitet. 1785 wurde auch das obere Geschoss der südlichen Kasematten zum Gefängnis umgebaut. Ab 1824 war dort der italienische Dichter Silvio Pellico als politischer Gefangener. Nach seiner Freilassung im Herbst 1830 verfasste er seine Erinnerungen „Le mie prigioni“, die das Gefängnis von Spielberg in ganz Europa bekannt machten.

1855 wandelte Kaiser Franz Joseph I. das bisherige Zivil-Gefängnis in ein Militärgefängnis um. Mit der Eröffnung des neuen Zuchthauses in Karthaus wurden 1857 die ersten Schwerverbrecher dorthin überführt. 1880 wurden die Kasematten der Öffentlichkeit zugänglich gemacht.

Während des Zweiten Weltkriegs richtete sich die deutsche Wehrmacht in Spielberg ein. Diese führte an den Kasematten erhebliche bauliche Änderungen durch, um sie als Schutzkeller nutzbar zu machen. Auch die Gestapo richtete hier ein – wiederum berüchtigtes – Gefängnis ein um dort Widerstandskämpfer und Gegner einzusperren, die dort oftmals verstarben.

Heute

Während der Jahre 1987 bis 1992 fanden umfangreiche Renovierungsarbeiten statt. Es sollte der Zustand des ausgehenden 18. Jahrhunderts wiederhergestellt werden, also die Zeit vor dem Umbau der Festung zum berüchtigten Kerker der josephinischen Zeit.

Neben einem Rundgang durch den Kerker und die Kasematten befinden sich wechselnde Ausstellungen und Installationen zur Stadt und Geschichte mit zahlreichen Dokumenten in den Räumlichkeiten der Burg. Ein Restaurant und ein Aussichtsturm im inneren Teil der Burganlagen bieten ein schönes Panorama auf Teile Brünns. Im Hof der Burg finden im Sommer regelmäßig Konzerte statt.

de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Festung_%C5%A0pilberk

Hi, I never take pics anymore lolz

 

Song: www.youtube.com/watch?v=99ygTbcpOKw

(The song is Korean but the text on the photo is Japanese, ("Blind") I'm not being problematic!!!)

 

single exposure with black card, no composites, no hdr, no filters!

 

note to self: get a better black card....the filter pouch doesn't work very well....

Disposable underwater camera

Belmont Pond, Kelowna

 

I know I keep posting shots of the same birds repeatedly, but I'm determined to figure out how best to capture these beauties in a variety of lighting and conditions. Black plumage is really problematic....

I think I'm getting there slowly.

Mayfield, Idaho

 

Or, is it a Gray Flycatcher? Or is it a...

I'm learning that flycatcher identification can be a challenge.

This call was problematic because it is out of habitat in a brush/ bunch-grass steppe area; rather than the expected tall coniferous habitat.

I'm basing my call on the longer primary projection, notched tail, and slightly crested head.

 

Seen around the back of Falkirk Fire Station is the first of the problematic Volvo Magirus Multistar CARP's prior to going on the run

i have finally finished it, i had mouth full of dirty words when folding it, it went out more problematic than i expected, but it won't be me if i didn't finish it =D

it's a varileg, antennae are 6 units, forelegs 8 units, midlegs 10 units and hindlegs 12 units long, i randomly decided to use these values and it seems it works =)

there still are some minorities i would like to do differently, but this is what next versions are for ;-)

56 cm square, unryu on foil, the model is 20 cm long from the tips of antennae to the feet of hindlegs.

enjoy!

those birds perched overhead can be quite problematic

Bathrooms are always problematic in feng shui. Houses with bathrooms at their center are the worst feng shui imaginable. The center is related to health and having a bathroom there is like flushing away all the good energy.

If you can see the toilet as soon as you open the bathroom door, try changing the hinges on the door so that it opens the other way. That keeps the worst energy from assaulting someone as they enter.

 

There are differing opinions on the best colors in a bathroom. Some suggest pale greens and blues or blacks, whites and metallic colors. Stay away from reds, pinks and oranges, because those are fire colors which conflict with the water aura of a bathroom. In this bathroom the wall is in peach. That way, when you look in the mirror in the morning, the reflection in the mirror will make your skin look healthy and glowing.

It’s important to keep the toilet lid down (Hear that, men?) because it keeps the good energy from being sucked out of the room.

Whether you believe in the power of positive chi or you just like the look of the furniture placement, the philosophy behind feng shui is one of balance and harmony — things that go well in any home.

     

 

Class 31/4 31430, on its way to Liverpool Lime Street, approaches Hessle on a misty cold winters day.

 

Class 31 31430 was built by Brush Traction at the Falcon Works, Loughborough, and entered service in April 1961 numbered D5695. Its problematic Mirrlees 12 cylinder power unit was changed for a 1470 bhp English Electric 12SVT power unit at Doncaster Works during November 1968, and the loco was reclassified as a Class 31/1. It was then renumbered to 31265 under TOPs in April 1974 but was then placed into storage at Swindon Works in October 1980 (following an accident?) and then withdrawn two months later. However, in September 1982, it was reinstated and later moved from Swindon Works to Doncaster Works, where it was fitted with ETH equipment during its conversion to Class 31/4. The loco was renumbered 31430 and returned to traffic in November 1983.

 

In October 1988, 31430 was named 'Sister Dora' (red nameplates) during an open day at Bescot Yard, then it was renumbered to 31530 after the ETH was isolated in December 1989, and during early 1990, it acquired the Civil Engineers' 'Dutch' livery complete with black 'Sister Dora' nameplates. Unfortunately, in November 1995, it was placed into storage at Bescot, and the nameplates were removed shortly afterwards.

 

After becoming an EWS loco during October 1996, it was restored to traffic (September 1997) but then returned to storage at Bescot in January 1999. June 2000 saw the loco move to Springs Branch CRDC, where it was officially withdrawn in October 2001. Fortunately, in December 2002, it then moved to Dereham, Mid-Norfolk Railway, for preservation. By now the loco was in a very faded state but was later sold (August 2013) to Martin Staniforth and moved to the Mangapps Railway Museum, where it was later restored as 31430 and renamed 'Sister Dora'. Now resplendent in its BR Blue livery, 31430 resides at the Spa Valley Railway.

  

Camera: Pentax MX | 35mm Negative

 

Date: 15.15 Sunday 14 December 1986 | © TJW: ROTWSI

  

View my blog on this stage of my adventure here:

dahliasweet.blogspot.com/2013/12/on-hunt-for-problematic-...

A morning visit to the Chinese Peace Garden at Darling Harbour, Sydney NSW. 22/09//2017

 

The Australian white ibis (Threskiornis molucca) is a wading bird of the ibis family, Threskiornithidae. It is widespread across much of Australia. It has a predominantly white plumage with a bare, black head, long downcurved bill and black legs. Its sister species is the sacred ibis.

 

Historically rare in urban areas, the Australian white ibis has migrated to urban areas of the east coast in increasing numbers since the late 1970s; it is now commonly seen in Wollongong, Sydney, Melbourne, the Gold Coast, Brisbane and Townsville. In recent years the bird has also become increasingly common in Perth, Western Australia, and surrounding towns in south-western Australia.[2] Populations have disappeared from natural breeding areas such as the Macquarie Marshes in northern New South Wales. Management plans have been introduced to control problematic urban populations in Sydney.[3][4]

 

Due to its increasing presence in the urban environment and its habit of rummaging in garbage, the species has acquired a variety of colloquial names such as "tip turkey"[5] and "bin chicken",[6] and in recent years has become an icon of popular culture, being regarded "with passion, wit, and, in equal measure, affection and disgust".[7]

 

It is known as mardungurra among the Yindjibarndi people of the central and western Pilbara.[8]

Taxonomy

It was initially described by Georges Cuvier in 1829 as Ibis molucca. It is considered part of a superspecies complex with the sacred ibis (T. aethiopicus) of Africa, and the black-headed ibis (T. melanocephalus) of Asia. Its status in the complex has vacillated over the years. Many older guidebooks referred to the bird as a species T. molucca, until a comprehensive review of plumage patterns by Holyoak in 1970. Holyoak noted the three species' similarities and that the Australian taxon resembled T. aethiopicus in adult plumage and T. melanocephalus in juvenile plumage. He proposed they all be considered part of a single species T. aethiopicus. This was generally accepted by the scientific community until Lowe and Richards's assessment of plumage in 1991.[9] They again recommended the recognition of molucca at species level. This was followed by chromosome study which highlighted each of the three species having a different karyotype.[10] The Australian white ibis has been considered a full species by most authorities since then.[11]

 

Subspecies

Two subspecies are recognised:

 

T. m. molucca of eastern Malesia and Australia, is the nominate subspecies.

T. m. pygmaeus (Solomons white ibis) is a dwarf form found on the Solomon Islands that has been considered a separate species at times.[9]

 

In flight, red skin visible under wings

The Australian white ibis is a fairly large ibis species, around 65–75 cm (26–30 in) long and has a bald black head and neck and a long black downcurved beak, measuring over 16.7 cm (6.6 in) in the male, and under in the female. There is some sexual dimorphism in size, as the slightly heavier male weighs 1.7–2.5 kg (3.7–5.5 lb) compared to the 1.4–1.9 kg (3.1–4.2 lb) female.[12] As a comparison, the American white ibis generally attains 1 kg (2.2 lb) in weight.[13] The body plumage is white although it may become brown-stained. Inner secondary plumes are displayed as lacy black "tail" feathers. The upper tail becomes yellow when the bird is breeding. The legs and feet are dark and red skin is visible on the underside of the wing. Immature birds have shorter bills.[14] The head and neck are feathered in juveniles.

 

The call is a long croak.[14]

 

The Australian white ibis reaches sexual maturity in three years,[12] and can reach twenty-eight years of age.[5]

 

Distribution and habitat

 

Adult at Coolart Wetlands, Mornington Peninsula, Australia

The Australian white ibis is widespread in eastern, northern and south-western Australia. It occurs in marshy wetlands, often near open grasslands and has become common in Australian east-coast city parks and rubbish dumps in the urban areas of Wollongong, Sydney, Perth, the Gold Coast, Brisbane and Townsville. Historically it was rare in urban areas; the first influx was noted after drought drove birds eastwards in the late 1970s. The urban population further increased after a further period of drought in 1998.[5] The first big colony set up in the Sydney suburb of Bankstown and started to cause anxiety in the local community. It is estimated the colony was the largest outside the Macquarie Marshes, their natural breeding wetland in inland NSW.[5]

 

There has been debate in recent years over whether to consider them a pest or a possibly endangered species. Birds in tourist areas of Sydney, such as Darling Harbour, the Royal Botanic Gardens, and Centennial Park, have been a problem due to their strong smell. Populations in the latter two areas have been culled.[15] The birds have also come to be regarded as a problem species in Victoria as a result of their scavenging activities, scattering rubbish from tips and bins in the process. They are even known to snatch sandwiches from picnickers. Such behaviour, together with their propensity to build nests in "inappropriate" places, and competition with captive animals, led to surplus birds being relocated from Healesville Sanctuary to Sale. However, the birds returned in a few days.[16]

 

The Macquarie Marshes in north-western New South Wales was one of the main areas for breeding, but none has been reported breeding there since 2000, from 11,000 pairs in 1998.[5] The species is absent from Tasmania.[17]

 

Behaviour

File:Threskiornis molucca drinking water - World of Birds, Cape Town.ogv

A bird of the species, drinking water in the World of Birds, Cape Town, RSA

 

Nesting at Coolart Wetlands, Mornington Peninsula, Australia

 

Juveniles on nests

Feeding

The Australian white ibis' range of food includes both terrestrial and aquatic invertebrates and human scraps. The most favoured foods are crayfish and mussels, which the bird obtains by digging with its long bill.

 

Breeding

Breeding season varies with the location within Australia, generally August to November in the south, and February to May, after the wet season, in the north. The nest is a shallow dish-shaped platform of sticks, grasses or reeds, located in trees and generally near a body of water such as river, swamp or lake. Ibises commonly nest near other waterbirds such as egrets, herons, spoonbills or cormorants. Two to three dull white eggs are laid measuring 65 mm × 44 mm.[18] The clutch is then incubated for 21–23 days. Hatchlings are altricial, that is, they are naked and helpless at birth, and take 48 days to fledge.[12]

 

References

The River Wear in Northern England rises in the Pennines and flows eastwards, mostly through County Durham, to the North Sea in the City of Sunderland. At 60 mi (97 km) long, it is one of the region's longest rivers. The Wear wends in a steep valley through the cathedral city of Durham and gives its name to Weardale in its upper reach and Wearside by its mouth.

 

Etymology

The origin behind the hydronym Wear is uncertain but is generally understood to be Celtic. The River Vedra on the Roman Map of Britain may very well be the River Wear. The name may be derived from Brittonic *wejr (<*wẹ:drā), which meant "a bend" (cf. Welsh -gwair-). An alternative but very problematic etymology might involve *wẹ:d-r-, from a lengthened form of the Indo-European root *wed- "water". Also suggested is a possible derivation from the Brittonic root *wei-, which is thought to have meant "to flow". The name Wear has also been explained as being an ancient Celtic name meaning "river of blood".

 

It is possible that the Wear has the same etymology as the River Wyre in Lancashire,[1] the Quair Water in Scotland, the Weser in Germany and the Vistula in Poland.

 

Geology

The Wear rises in the east Pennines, high on the moors of the Alston Block, an upland area raised up during the Caledonian orogeny. The Devonian age Weardale Granite underlies the headwaters of the Wear and the whole Alston Block, but does not appear at outcrop but was surmised by early geologists, and subsequently proven to exist as seen in the Rookhope borehole.[3] It is the presence of this granite that has retained the high upland elevations of this area (less through its relative hardness, and more due to isostatic equilibrium) and accounts for heavy local mineralisation, although it is considered that most of the mineralisation occurred during the Carboniferous period.

 

It is thought that the course of the River Wear, prior to the last Ice Age, was much as it is now as far as Chester-le-Street. This can be established as a result of boreholes, of which there have been many in the Wear valley due to coal mining. However, northwards from Chester-le-Street, the Wear may have originally followed the current route of the lower River Team. The last glaciation reached its peak about 18,500 years ago, from which time it also began a progressive retreat, leaving a wide variety of glacial deposits in its wake, filling existing river valleys with silt, sand and other glacial till. At about 14,000 years ago, retreat of the ice paused for maybe 500 years at the city of Durham. This can be established by the types of glacial deposits in the vicinity of Durham City. The confluence of the River Browney was pushed from Gilesgate (the abandoned river valley still exists in Pelaw Woods), several miles south to Sunderland Bridge (Croxdale). At Chester-le-Street, when glacial boulder clay was deposited blocking its northerly course, the River Wear was diverted eastwards towards Sunderland where it was forced to cut a new, shallower valley. The gorge cut by the river through the Permian Magnesian Limestone (Zechstein limestone) can be seen most clearly at Ford Quarry. In the 17th edition of Encyclopædia Britannica (1990), reference is made to a pre-Ice Age course of the River Wear outfalling at Hartlepool.

 

The upland area of Upper Weardale retains a flora that relates, almost uniquely in England, to the end of the last Ice Age, although it almost or entirely lacks the particular rarities that make up the unique "Teesdale Assemblage" of post-glacial plants. This may, in part, be due to the Pennine areas of Upper Weardale and Upper Teesdale being the site of the shrinking ice cap, or to the difference in the surface geology, with none of the 'sugar limestone' outcrops which in Teesdale are the home of many of those plants. The glaciation left behind many indications of its presence, including lateral moraines and material from the Lake District and Northumberland, although surprisingly few drumlins. After the Ice Age, the Wear valley became thickly forested, however during the Neolithic period and increasingly in the Bronze Age, were largely deforested for agriculture.

 

Industrial history

Much of the River Wear is associated with the history of the Industrial Revolution. Its upper end runs through lead mining country, until this gives way to coal seams of the Durham coalfield for the rest of its length. As a result of limestone quarrying, lead mining and coal mining, the Wear valley was amongst the first places to see the development of railways. The Weardale Railway continues to run occasional services between Stanhope and Wolsingham.

 

Mining of lead ore has been known in the area of the headwaters of the Wear since the Roman occupation and continued into the nineteenth century. Spoil heaps from the abandoned lead mines can still be seen,[where?] and since the last quarter of the twentieth century have been the focus of attention for the recovery of gangue minerals in present mining, such as fluorspar for the smelting of aluminium. However, abandoned mines and their spoil heaps continue to contribute to heavy metal mineral pollution of the river and its tributaries. This has significance to fishing in times of low flow and infrastructure costs as the River Wear is an important source of drinking water for many of the inhabitants along its course.

 

Fluorspar is another mineral sporadically co-present with Weardale Granite and became important in the manufacture of steel from the late 19th century into the 20th century. In many cases the steel industries were able to take fluorspar from old excavation heaps.[citation needed] Fluorspar explains why iron and steel manufacture flourished in the Wear valley, Consett and Teesside during the nineteenth century. Overlying are three Carboniferous minerals: limestone, Coal Measures as raw materials for iron and steel manufacture, and sandstone, useful as a refractory material. The last remaining fluorspar mine closed in 1999 following legislation re water quality. A mine at Rogerley Quarry, Frosterley, is operated by an American consortium who occasionally work it for specimen minerals.

 

Minco are currently exploring the North Pennines and the upper Wear catchment for potential reserves of zinc at lower levels.

 

Ironstone which was important as the ore was won from around Consett and Tow Law, then around Rookhope, while greater quantities were imported from just south of the southerly Tees in North Yorkshire. These sources were in due course depleted or became uneconomic.

 

The former cement works at Eastgate, until recently run by Lafarge, was based on an inlier of limestone. The site recently gained planning permission to form a visitor complex showcasing an eco-village using alternative technology, including a "hot rocks" water heating system. The underlying granite has been drilled and reports confirm their presence. Bardon Aggregates continue to quarry at Heights near Westgate and operate a tarmac "blacktop" plant on site.

 

Mineral extraction has also occurred above St John's Chapel with the extraction of ganister which was used in the steel process at Consett. Around Frosterley, limestone, sand (crushed sandstone) and Frosterley Marble have been worked and the Broadwood Quarry recently expanded into ground held on an old licence. The crushing plant continues to operate. A quarry at Bollihope was also mooted on a similar basis but plans seem to have been discontinued. Frosterley Marble was used extensively in church architecture, there are local examples in St Michael's church Frosterley and Durham Cathedral.

 

When it reaches the city of Durham the River Wear passes through a deep, wooded gorge, from which several springs emerge, historically used as sources of potable water. A few coal seams are visible in the banks. Twisting sinuously in an incised meander, the river has cut deeply into the "Cathedral Sandstone" bedrock. The high ground (bluffs) enclosed by this meander is known as the Peninsula, forming a defensive enclosure, at whose heart lies Durham Castle and Durham Cathedral and which developed around the Bailey into Durham city. That area is now a UN World Heritage Site. Beneath Elvet Bridge are Brown's Boats (rowing boats for hire) and the mooring for the Prince Bishop, a pleasure cruiser.

 

The River Wear at Durham was featured on a television programme Seven Natural Wonders as one of the wonders of Northern England.

 

In June each year, the Durham Regatta, which predates that at Henley, attracts rowing crews from around the region for races along the river's course through the city. Seven smaller regattas and head races are held throughout the rest of the year, which attract a lower number of competitors. There are 14 boathouses and 20 boat clubs based on the Wear in Durham.

 

Two weirs impede the flow of the river at Durham, both originally created for industrial activities. The Old Fulling Mill was an archaeological museum. The museum moved to Palace Green in July 2014. The second weir, beneath Milburngate Bridge, now includes a salmon leap and fish counter, monitoring sea trout and salmon, and is on the site of a former ford. Considering that 138,000 fish have been counted migrating upriver since 1994, it may not be surprising that cormorants frequent the weir.

 

The river's banks also lend their name to a hymn tune Elvet Banks in the 2006 hymnbook of the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod, used (appropriately) for a hymn for baptism.

 

Durham is a cathedral city and civil parish in the county of Durham, England. It is the county town and contains the headquarters of Durham County Council, the unitary authority which governs the district of County Durham. It had a population of 48,069 at the 2011 Census.

 

The city was built on a meander of the River Wear, which surrounds the centre on three sides and creates a narrow neck on the fourth. The surrounding land is hilly, except along the Wear's floodplain to the north and southeast.

 

Durham was founded in 995 by Anglo-Saxon monks seeking a place safe from Viking raids to house the relics of St Cuthbert. The church the monks built lasted only a century, as it was replaced by the present Durham Cathedral after the Norman Conquest; together with Durham Castle it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. From the 1070s until 1836 the city was part of the County Palatine of Durham, a semi-independent jurisdiction ruled by the prince bishops of Durham which acted as a geopolitical buffer between the kingdoms of England and Scotland. In 1346, the Battle of Neville's Cross was fought half a mile west of the city, resulting in an English victory. In 1650, the cathedral was used to house Scottish prisoners after their defeat at the Battle of Dunbar. During the Industrial Revolution, the Durham coalfield was heavily exploited, with dozens of collieries operating around the city and in nearby villages. Although these coal pits have now closed, the annual Durham Miners' Gala continues and is a major event for the city and region. Historically, Durham was also known for the manufacture of hosiery, carpets, and mustard.

 

The city is the home of Durham University, which was founded in 1832 and therefore has a claim to be the third-oldest university in England. The university is a significant employer in the region, alongside the local council and national government at the land registry and passport office. The University Hospital of North Durham and HM Prison Durham are also located close to the city centre. The city also has significant tourism and hospitality sectors.

 

Toponymy

The name "Durham" comes from the Brythonic element dun, signifying a hill fort and related to -ton, and the Old Norse holme, which translates to island. The Lord Bishop of Durham takes a Latin variation of the city's name in his official signature, which is signed "N. Dunelm". Some attribute the city's name to the legend of the Dun Cow and the milkmaid who in legend guided the monks of Lindisfarne carrying the body of Saint Cuthbert to the site of the present city in 995 AD. Dun Cow Lane is said to be one of the first streets in Durham, being directly to the east of Durham Cathedral and taking its name from a depiction of the city's founding etched in masonry on the south side of the cathedral. The city has been known by a number of names throughout history. The original Nordic Dun Holm was changed to Duresme by the Normans and was known in Latin as Dunelm. The modern form Durham came into use later in the city's history. The north-eastern historian Robert Surtees chronicled the name changes in his History and Antiquities of the County Palatine of Durham but states that it is an "impossibility" to tell when the city's modern name came into being.

 

Durham is likely to be Gaer Weir in Armes Prydein, derived from Brittonic cajr meaning "an enclosed, defensible site" (cf. Carlisle; Welsh caer) and the river-name Wear.

 

History

Early history

Archeological evidence suggests a history of settlement in the area since roughly 2000 BC. The present city can clearly be traced back to AD 995, when a group of monks from Lindisfarne chose the strategic high peninsula as a place to settle with the body of Saint Cuthbert, that had previously lain in Chester-le-Street, founding a church there.

 

City origins, the Dun Cow story

Local legend states that the city was founded in A.D. 995 by divine intervention. The 12th-century chronicler Symeon of Durham recounts that after wandering in the north, Saint Cuthbert's bier miraculously came to a halt at the hill of Warden Law and, despite the effort of the congregation, would not move. Aldhun, Bishop of Chester-le-Street and leader of the order, decreed a holy fast of three days, accompanied by prayers to the saint. During the fast, Saint Cuthbert appeared to a certain monk named Eadmer, with instructions that the coffin should be taken to Dun Holm. After Eadmer's revelation, Aldhun found that he was able to move the bier, but did not know where Dun Holm was.

 

The legend of the Dun Cow, which is first documented in The Rites of Durham, an anonymous account about Durham Cathedral, published in 1593, builds on Symeon's account. According to this legend, by chance later that day, the monks came across a milkmaid at Mount Joy (southeast of present-day Durham). She stated that she was seeking her lost dun cow, which she had last seen at Dun Holm. The monks, realising that this was a sign from the saint, followed her. They settled at a wooded "hill-island" – a high wooded rock surrounded on three sides by the River Wear. There they erected a shelter for the relics, on the spot where Durham Cathedral would later stand. Symeon states that a modest wooden building erected there shortly thereafter was the first building in the city. Bishop Aldhun subsequently had a stone church built, which was dedicated in September 998. This no longer remains, having been supplanted by the Norman structure.

 

The legend is interpreted by a Victorian relief stone carving on the north face of the cathedral and, more recently, by the bronze sculpture 'Durham Cow' (1997, Andrew Burton), which reclines by the River Wear in view of the cathedral.

 

Medieval era

During the medieval period the city gained spiritual prominence as the final resting place of Saint Cuthbert and Saint Bede the Venerable. The shrine of Saint Cuthbert, situated behind the High Altar of Durham Cathedral, was the most important religious site in England until the martyrdom of St Thomas Becket at Canterbury in 1170.

 

Saint Cuthbert became famous for two reasons. Firstly, the miraculous healing powers he had displayed in life continued after his death, with many stories of those visiting the saint's shrine being cured of all manner of diseases. This led to him being known as the "wonder worker of England". Secondly, after the first translation of his relics in 698 AD, his body was found to be incorruptible. Apart from a brief translation back to Holy Island during the Norman Invasion the saint's relics have remained enshrined to the present day. Saint Bede's bones are also entombed in the cathedral, and these also drew medieval pilgrims to the city.

 

Durham's geographical position has always given it an important place in the defence of England against the Scots. The city played an important part in the defence of the north, and Durham Castle is the only Norman castle keep never to have suffered a breach. In 1314, the Bishopric of Durham paid the Scots a 'large sum of money' not to burn Durham. The Battle of Neville's Cross took place around half a mile west of the city on 17 October 1346 between the English and Scots and was a disastrous loss for the Scots.

 

The city suffered from plague outbreaks in 1544, 1589 and 1598.

 

Bishops of Durham

Owing to the divine providence evidenced in the city's legendary founding, the Bishop of Durham has always enjoyed the formal title "Bishop by Divine Providence" as opposed to other bishops, who are "Bishop by Divine Permission". However, as the north-east of England lay so far from Westminster, the bishops of Durham enjoyed extraordinary powers such as the ability to hold their own parliament, raise their own armies, appoint their own sheriffs and Justices, administer their own laws, levy taxes and customs duties, create fairs and markets, issue charters, salvage shipwrecks, collect revenue from mines, administer the forests and mint their own coins. So far-reaching were the bishop's powers that the steward of Bishop Antony Bek commented in 1299 AD: "There are two kings in England, namely the Lord King of England, wearing a crown in sign of his regality and the Lord Bishop of Durham wearing a mitre in place of a crown, in sign of his regality in the diocese of Durham". All this activity was administered from the castle and buildings surrounding the Palace Green. Many of the original buildings associated with these functions of the county palatine survive on the peninsula that constitutes the ancient city.

 

From 1071 to 1836 the bishops of Durham ruled the county palatine of Durham. Although the term "prince bishop" has been used as a helpful tool in the understanding the functions of the bishops of Durham in this era, it is not a title they would have recognised. The last bishop to rule the palatinate, Bishop William Van Mildert, is credited with the foundation of Durham University in 1832. Henry VIII curtailed some of the bishop's powers and, in 1538, ordered the destruction of the shrine of Saint Cuthbert.

 

A UNESCO site describes the role of the bishops in the "buffer state between England and Scotland":

 

From 1075, the Bishop of Durham became a Prince-Bishop, with the right to raise an army, mint his own coins, and levy taxes. As long as he remained loyal to the king of England, he could govern as a virtually autonomous ruler, reaping the revenue from his territory, but also remaining mindful of his role of protecting England’s northern frontier.

 

Legal system

The bishops had their own court system, including most notably the Court of Chancery of the County Palatine of Durham and Sadberge. The county also had its own attorney general, whose authority to bring an indictment for criminal matters was tested by central government in the case of R v Mary Ann Cotton (1873). Certain courts and judicial posts for the county were abolished by the Supreme Court of Judicature Act 1873. Section 2 of the Durham (County Palatine) Act 1836 and section 41 of the Courts Act 1971 abolished others.

 

Civil War and Cromwell (1640 to 1660)

The city remained loyal to King Charles I in the English Civil War – from 1642 to the execution of the king in 1649. Charles I came to Durham three times during his reign of 1625–1649. Firstly, he came in 1633 to the cathedral for a majestic service in which he was entertained by the Chapter and Bishop at great expense. He returned during preparations for the First Bishops' War (1639). His final visit to the city came towards the end of the civil war; he escaped from the city as Oliver Cromwell's forces got closer. Local legend stated that he escaped down the Bailey and through Old Elvet. Another local legend has it that Cromwell stayed in a room in the present Royal County Hotel on Old Elvet during the civil war. The room is reputed to be haunted by his ghost. Durham suffered greatly during the civil war (1642–1651) and Commonwealth (1649–1660). This was not due to direct assault by Cromwell or his allies, but to the abolition of the Church of England and the closure of religious institutions pertaining to it. The city has always relied upon the Dean and Chapter and cathedral as an economic force.

 

The castle suffered considerable damage and dilapidation during the Commonwealth due to the abolition of the office of bishop (whose residence it was). Cromwell confiscated the castle and sold it to the Lord Mayor of London shortly after taking it from the bishop. A similar fate befell the cathedral, it being closed in 1650 and used to incarcerate 3,000 Scottish prisoners, who were marched south after the Battle of Dunbar. Graffiti left by them can still be seen today etched into the interior stone.

 

At the Restoration in 1660, John Cosin (a former canon) was appointed bishop (in office: 1660–1672) and set about a major restoration project. This included the commissioning of the famous elaborate woodwork in the cathedral choir, the font cover and the Black Staircase in the castle. Bishop Cosin's successor Bishop Lord Nathaniel Crewe (in office: 1674–1721) carried out other renovations both to the city and to the cathedral.

 

18th century

In the 18th century a plan to turn Durham into a seaport through the digging of a canal north to join the River Team, a tributary of the River Tyne near Gateshead, was proposed by John Smeaton. Nothing came of the plan, but the statue of Neptune in the Market Place was a constant reminder of Durham's maritime possibilities.

 

The thought of ships docking at the Sands or Millburngate remained fresh in the minds of Durham merchants. In 1758, a new proposal hoped to make the Wear navigable from Durham to Sunderland by altering the river's course, but the increasing size of ships made this impractical. Moreover, Sunderland had grown as the north east's main port and centre for shipping.

 

In 1787 Durham infirmary was founded.

 

The 18th century also saw the rise of the trade-union movement in the city.

 

19th century

The Municipal Corporations Act 1835 gave governing power of the town to an elected body. All other aspects of the Bishop's temporal powers were abolished by the Durham (County Palatine) Act 1836 and returned to the Crown.

 

The Representation of the People Act 2000 and is regarded as the second most senior bishop and fourth most senior clergyman in the Church of England. The Court of Claims of 1953 granted the traditional right of the bishop to accompany the sovereign at the coronation, reflecting his seniority.

 

The first census, conducted in 1801, states that Durham City had a population of 7,100. The Industrial Revolution mostly passed the city by. However, the city was well known for carpet making and weaving. Although most of the mediaeval weavers who thrived in the city had left by the 19th century, the city was the home of Hugh MacKay Carpets’ factory, which produced the famous brands of axminster and tufted carpets until the factory went into administration in April 2005. Other important industries were the manufacture of mustard and coal extraction.

 

The Industrial Revolution also placed the city at the heart of the coalfields, the county's main industry until the 1970s. Practically every village around the city had a coal mine and, although these have since disappeared as part of the regional decline in heavy industry, the traditions, heritage and community spirit are still evident.

 

The 19th century also saw the founding of Durham University thanks to the benevolence of Bishop William Van Mildert and the Chapter in 1832. Durham Castle became the first college (University College, Durham) and the bishop moved to Auckland Castle as his only residence in the county. Bishop Hatfield's Hall (later Hatfield College, Durham) was added in 1846 specifically for the sons of poorer families, the Principal inaugurating a system new to English university life of advance fees to cover accommodation and communal dining.

 

The first Durham Miners' Gala was attended by 5,000 miners in 1871 in Wharton Park, and remains the largest socialist trade union event in the world.

 

20th century

Early in the 20th century coal became depleted, with a particularly important seam worked out in 1927, and in the following Great Depression Durham was among those towns that suffered exceptionally severe hardship. However, the university expanded greatly. St John's College and St Cuthbert's Society were founded on the Bailey, completing the series of colleges in that area of the city. From the early 1950s to early 1970s the university expanded to the south of the city centre. Trevelyan, Van Mildert, Collingwood, and Grey colleges were established, and new buildings for St Aidan's and St Mary's colleges for women, formerly housed on the Bailey, were created. The final 20th century collegiate addition came from the merger of the independent nineteenth-century colleges of the Venerable Bede and St Hild, which joined the university in 1979 as the College of St Hild and St Bede. The 1960s and 70s also saw building on New Elvet. Dunelm House for the use of the students' union was built first, followed by Elvet Riverside, containing lecture theatres and staff offices. To the southeast of the city centre sports facilities were built at Maiden Castle, adjacent to the Iron Age fort of the same name, and the Mountjoy site was developed, starting in 1924, eventually containing the university library, administrative buildings, and facilities for the Faculty of Science.

 

Durham was not bombed during World War II, though one raid on the night of 30 May 1942 did give rise to the local legend of 'St Cuthbert's Mist'. This states that the Luftwaffe attempted to target Durham, but was thwarted when Cuthbert created a mist that covered both the castle and cathedral, sparing them from bombing. The exact events of the night are disputed by contemporary eyewitnesses. The event continues to be referenced within the city, including inspiring the artwork 'Fogscape #03238' at Durham Lumiere 2015.

 

'Durham Castle and Cathedral' was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1986. Among the reasons given for the decision were 'Durham Cathedral [being] the largest and most perfect monument of "Norman" style architecture in England', and the cathedral's vaulting being an early and experimental model of the gothic style. Other important UNESCO sites near Durham include Auckland Castle, North of England Lead Mining Museum and Beamish Museum.

 

Historical

The historic city centre of Durham has changed little over 200 years. It is made up of the peninsula containing the cathedral, palace green, former administrative buildings for the palatine and Durham Castle. This was a strategic defensive decision by the city's founders and gives the cathedral a striking position. So much so that Symeon of Durham stated:

 

To see Durham is to see the English Sion and by doing so one may save oneself a trip to Jerusalem.

 

Sir Walter Scott was so inspired by the view of the cathedral from South Street that he wrote "Harold the Dauntless", a poem about Saxons and Vikings set in County Durham and published on 30 January 1817. The following lines from the poem are carved into a stone tablet on Prebends Bridge:

 

Grey towers of Durham

Yet well I love thy mixed and massive piles

Half church of God, half castle 'gainst the Scot

And long to roam those venerable aisles

With records stored of deeds long since forgot.

 

The old commercial section of the city encompasses the peninsula on three sides, following the River Wear. The peninsula was historically surrounded by the castle wall extending from the castle keep and broken by two gatehouses to the north and west of the enclosure. After extensive remodelling and "much beautification" by the Victorians the walls were removed with the exception of the gatehouse which is still standing on the Bailey.

 

The medieval city was made up of the cathedral, castle and administrative buildings on the peninsula. The outlying areas were known as the townships and owned by the bishop, the most famous of these being Gilesgate (which still contains the mediaeval St Giles Church), Claypath and Elvet.

 

The outlying commercial section of the city, especially around the North Road area, saw much change in the 1960s during a redevelopment spearheaded by Durham City Council; however, much of the original mediaeval street plan remains intact in the area close to the cathedral and market place. Most of the mediaeval buildings in the commercial area of the city have disappeared apart from the House of Correction and the Chapel of Saint Andrew, both under Elvet Bridge. Georgian buildings can still be found on the Bailey and Old Elvet most of which make up the colleges of Durham University.

Finding decent sightlines around here can be problematic, but I pulled off the highway onto the old railway bed and took a few shots.

A problematic company

 

Northern (legal name Arriva Rail North Limited) is a train operating company in Northern England which began operating the Northern franchise on 1 April 2016 and inherited units from the previous operator Northern Rail. A subsidiary of Arriva UK Trains, Northern is the second-largest train franchise in the United Kingdom; its trains call at 528 stations – about a quarter of all stations in the country.

 

Central to franchise commitments will be a £500 million investment in 101 new-built units – the Class 195 and 331. These will be the first new-build trains for the Northern franchise since the introduction of the Class 333 in 2000 with further orders possible if the new units encourage passenger growth and improve passenger satisfaction. The first units were introduced in July 2019 and the new rolling stock will enable all 102 Pacer trains currently in service with Northern to be retired by the end of 2019. Additionally the Class 319 units will be replaced by the entire fleet of Class 323 units by 2022. It is also planned that a franchise sub-brand, known as Northern Connect, will provide inter-urban services between major cities and towns in Northern England, as well as serving a number of major commuting stations.

 

Since the franchise began in April 2016, it has been beset by more late trains, poor customer service, frequent industrial action by staff, and delays in introducing new rolling stock. The franchise will run to 2025 with an option for an additional year which is dependent on performance.

 

The franchise was widely criticised for implementing a new timetable in May 2018 which resulted in widespread delays and cancellations. Network Rail and Northern announced an independent inquiry to learn lessons and identify route alterations in readiness for the next timetable change in December 2018. In an attempt to counter operational problems, Northern implemented an emergency timetable on 4 June 2018 – it stemmed some delays and cancellations but was still problematic compared with performance before the timetable changes.

 

Punctuality was particularly bad in the North West due to the delay in the Blackpool–Preston electrification scheme, and the number of trains per hour through Manchester increased, with more trains using the Ordsall Chord which became operational in December 2017. Network Rail only informed train operating companies in January 2018 that the electrification scheme would be delayed until November; Northern had planned for the scheme to be complete as scheduled by May 2018 (it had already been postponed from Autumn 2017) and had trained drivers to operate new routes with electric rolling stock. Consequently, an alternative timetable had to be drafted up, and many train drivers were not sufficiently trained to drive the existing diesel rolling stock; this resulted in widespread cancellations. Furthermore, the additional services through the Manchester corridor resulted in increased congestion, and this had a knock-on effect. Performance statistics published by the Office of Rail and Road in October 2018 showed that from April to June 2018, the franchise recorded the lowest PPM – measured by train service departing within 5 minutes of its scheduled time – of any quarter since punctuality records began on the Northern franchise in 2009.

 

Performance later in 2018 continued to be poor, with many passengers protesting and a reduced service on Saturdays due to industrial action. In October 2018 it was announced that Manchester Oxford Road station, the busiest station managed by Northern with over 8 million passengers, was the most delayed station in the United Kingdom in 2018 – this was attributed to the chaos following the May 2018 timetable. Between 14 October and 10 November 2018, Northern recorded the worst monthly performance on record, with more trains late than on time. Less than 40% of services arrived on time (defined as services arriving within 59 seconds of the planned arrival time) and only 71.9% departed within 5 minutes of the scheduled departure time.

 

By November 2018, Arriva were re-evaluating their future involvement in the franchise due to a combination of declining passenger numbers as a result of the chaotic May 2018 timetable change and increasing compensation claims as a result of falling punctuality. Both have pushed the franchise into financial losses and face[clarification needed] a £282 million government subsidy shortfall which was due to be passed onto the franchise. Since the franchise commenced in April 2016 and despite an increase of 1,500 more weekly services transferred to Northern's operational remit, Northern has achieved no growth in passenger numbers. Between April and June 2018, the franchise suffered a 2.4% decline in passenger numbers compared with the previous year. Of the 22 train operating companies in the United Kingdom to record a fall in passengers, Northern were one of only three franchises to record a year-on-year drop in passenger numbers in 2017–18.

 

In June 2019, the Operator of Last Resort (managed by the Department for Transport) conducted due diligence into the franchise believing the both operational and financial performance to be "unsustainable". The Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, overtly demanded that the franchise be terminated as Northern have not delivered legally-binding franchise requirements as agreed in 2016 when the franchise commenced – citing disproportionate number of cancelled services, inability to deliver a full Sunday service due to a lack of drivers and failure to deliver new services.

 

On 1 July 2019, the first nine units – seven Class 195 units and two Class 331 units – were introduced with a further 93 units to be introduced over the following 12 months. The initial roll-out commenced on three routes: Manchester Airport to Liverpool Lime Street and Barrow/Windermere and Leeds to Doncaster.

 

The franchise made a £21 million profit in 2016-17 and an £11.7 million profit in 2017-18 - a figure which does not include the fallout from the May 2018 timetable chaos. At the start of the franchise, it was agreed that there would be a subsidy of £275m in its first year and £260 in its third year - although Northern had received slightly more due to promised infrastructure improvements which the government had failed to deliver such as platforms 15 and 16 at Manchester Piccadilly. This was intended to fall sharply in 2020 to £221 million and by the end of the franchise in 2025 it would only receive £39 million.

 

The fall in subsidy over the franchise is likely to push Arriva into a loss; The Times reported in summer 2019 that the Department of Transport viewed the franchise as "unsustainable" and were readying an Operator of Last Resort (OoLR) in the event the franchise collapses.The franchise has struggled to increase passenger numbers, a challenge which was exacerbated by the fallout from the chaotic May 2018 timetable change.

 

However, hope is on the horizon for the long standing passengers of the north of England as the new trains, such as 195120 seen here, begin to enter service.

it might be a new year, but it's the same old brain.

 

thanks to all of you who take the time to fav or comment on my photos. i have every intention of replying as i greatly appreciate every word... but i don't always get around to it ...

 

composite of a few photos & GIMPed, i'm not 1/4 this flexible!

Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barcelona

 

Barcelona is a city in Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within city limits, its urban area extends to numerous neighbouring municipalities within the Province of Barcelona and is home to around 4.8 million people, making it the sixth most populous urban area in the European Union after Paris, London, Madrid, the Ruhr area and Milan. It is one of the largest metropolises on the Mediterranean Sea, located on the coast between the mouths of the rivers Llobregat and Besòs, and bounded to the west by the Serra de Collserola mountain range, the tallest peak of which is 512 metres (1,680 feet) high.

 

Founded as a Roman city, in the Middle Ages Barcelona became the capital of the County of Barcelona. After merging with the Kingdom of Aragon, Barcelona continued to be an important city in the Crown of Aragon as an economic and administrative centre of this Crown and the capital of the Principality of Catalonia. Barcelona has a rich cultural heritage and is today an important cultural centre and a major tourist destination. Particularly renowned are the architectural works of Antoni Gaudí and Lluís Domènech i Montaner, which have been designated UNESCO World Heritage Sites. The headquarters of the Union for the Mediterranean are located in Barcelona. The city is known for hosting the 1992 Summer Olympics as well as world-class conferences and expositions and also many international sport tournaments.

 

Barcelona is one of the world's leading tourist, economic, trade fair and cultural centres, and its influence in commerce, education, entertainment, media, fashion, science, and the arts all contribute to its status as one of the world's major global cities. It is a major cultural and economic centre in southwestern Europe, 24th in the world (before Zürich, after Frankfurt) and a financial centre. In 2008 it was the fourth most economically powerful city by GDP in the European Union and 35th in the world with GDP amounting to €177 billion. In 2012 Barcelona had a GDP of $170 billion; and it was leading Spain in employment rate in that moment.

 

In 2009 the city was ranked Europe's third and one of the world's most successful as a city brand. In the same year the city was ranked Europe's fourth best city for business and fastest improving European city, with growth improved by 17% per year, and the city has been experiencing strong and renewed growth for the past three years. Since 2011 Barcelona has been a leading smart city in Europe. Barcelona is a transport hub, with the Port of Barcelona being one of Europe's principal seaports and busiest European passenger port, an international airport, Barcelona–El Prat Airport, which handles over 50 million passengers per year, an extensive motorway network, and a high-speed rail line with a link to France and the rest of Europe.

 

Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josep_Puig_i_Cadafalch#Barcelona

 

Josep Puig i Cadafalch (Mataró, 17 October 1867 – Barcelona, 21 December 1956) was a Catalan Spanish Modernista architect who designed many significant buildings in Barcelona. He was the architect of the Casa Martí (also known as "Els Quatre Gats"), which became a place of ideas, projects and social gatherings for such well-known Catalans as Santiago Rusiñol and Ramon Casas.

 

Although Puig's style separated him significantly from his contemporary Gaudí, their relations were neither tense nor problematic, as demonstrated by the participation of both architects in the construction of the Cafe Torino. Another of his significant buildings was the Casa Terrades (also known as "les Punxes"), which is known for its medieval castle style from the north of Europe. From 1942 to his death in 1956, he was the president of the academic institution of the Catalan language, the Institut d'Estudis Catalans.

 

Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Four_Columns

 

The Four Columns ("Les Quatre Columnes" in Catalan) are four Ionic columns originally created by Josep Puig i Cadafalch in Barcelona, Spain. They were erected in 1919, where the Magic Fountain of Montjuïc now stands.

 

They symbolized the four stripes of the Catalan senyera, and they were intended to become one of the main icons of Catalanism. Because of this, they were demolished in 1928 during Primo de Rivera's dictatorship, when all public Catalanist symbols were systematically removed in order to avoid their being noticed during the 1929 Universal Exposition, which was to take place on Montjuïc.

 

Moreover, for these same political motives, Poble Espanyol (Spanish Village in Catalan), on the same hill, was the name given to the open-air museum formerly to be named Iberona – in homage to the Iberians, the first inhabitants of what is now Catalonia, Spain. Analogously for the nearby Plaça d'Espanya.

 

In 1999, the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) commissioned the renowned Valencian sculptor Andreu Alfaro to create four similar columns for its Bellaterra Campus. In contrast to the original columns which were 20m high, these spiral up, 25 to 40 metres (82 to 131 ft) in height, in red granite.

 

Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Museu_Nacional_d%27Art_de_Catalunya

 

The Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya (English: "National Art Museum of Catalonia"), abbreviated as MNAC, is the national museum of Catalan visual art located in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Situated on Montjuïc hill at the end of Avinguda de la Reina Maria Cristina, near Pl Espanya, the museum is especially notable for its outstanding collection of romanesque church paintings, and for Catalan art and design from the late 19th and early 20th centuries, including modernisme and noucentisme. The museum is housed in the Palau Nacional, a huge, Italian-style building dating to 1929. The Palau Nacional, which has housed the Museu d'Art de Catalunya since 1934, was declared a national museum in 1990 under the Museums Law passed by the Catalan Government. That same year, a thorough renovation process was launched to refurbish the site, based on plans drawn up by the architects Gae Aulenti and Enric Steegmann, who were later joined in the undertaking by Josep Benedito. The Oval Hall was reopened in 1992 on the occasion of the Olympic Games, and the various collections were installed and opened over the period from 1995 (when the Romanesque Art section was reopened) to 2004. The Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya (Museu Nacional) was officially inaugurated on 16 December 2004. It is one of the largest museums in Spain.