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Photo proposée pour le groupe 1 mois 1 thème
Thème de février 2019 : Escaliers
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Nouvelle énigme du jeu Quel est ce lieu ?
SVP, ne donnez la réponse que si vous acceptez de proposer l'énigme suivante... Merci.
Pour participer inscrivez-vous au préalable dans le groupe
www.flickr.com/groups/2062971@N24/pool/
Vous y êtes les bienvenus.
Noël approche, je vous propose des tirages sur papier photo Hahnemühle FineArt baryta, 30x30cm, titrés, signés et numérotés à 5 exemplaires. 60€ + port. Autres tailles sur demande.
Paiements par chèques ou Paypal. malauxoreilles@yahoo.com
Christmas is coming and prints for sale as well! on Hahnemühle FineArt baryta, 11,5’x11,5′, titled, signed and numbered to 5. 60€ + shipping. Inquire for other sizes.
We use Paypal and ship worldwide. malauxoreilles@yahoo.com
My Website : Twitter : Facebook : Instagram : Photocrowd
One of the more sympathetic views of the much maligned Walkie Talkie skyscraper...... From immediately behind it the characteristic bulge is hardly noticeable.
On the subject of London, I'm organising another London Flickr Group photowalk for Saturday April 23rd, more details here if anyone is interested :
www.flickr.com/groups/londonflickrgroup/discuss/721577219...
From Wikipedia : "20 Fenchurch Street is a commercial skyscraper in London that takes its name from its address on Fenchurch Street, in the historic City of London financial district. It has been nicknamed 'The Walkie-Talkie' because of its distinctive shape. Construction was completed in spring 2014, and the three-floor 'sky garden' was opened in January 2015. The 38-storey building is 160 m (525 ft) tall, making it the sixth-tallest building in the City of London and the 12th tallest in greater London.
Designed by architect Rafael Viñoly and costing over £200 million, 20 Fenchurch Street features a highly distinctive top-heavy form which appears to burst upward and outward. The entrance floor and 34 floors of office space are topped by a large viewing deck, bar and restaurants are included on the 35th, 36th and 37th floors; these are, with restrictions, open to the public.
The tower was originally proposed at nearly 200 m (656 ft) tall but its design was scaled down after concerns about its visual impact on the nearby St Paul's Cathedral and Tower of London. It was subsequently approved in 2006 with the revised height. Even after the height reduction there were continued concerns from heritage groups about its impact on the surrounding area. The project was consequently the subject of a public inquiry; in 2007 this ruled in the developers' favour and the building was granted full planning permission. In 2015 it was awarded the Carbuncle Cup for the worst new building in the UK in the previous 12 months."
© D.Godliman
in respect to the original silver andas, we have decided to design a new andas for the del carmen de san sebastian.
all elements of this andas are taken from the altar, confessional and pulpit of san sebastian basilica.
if the total cost would be too high for us, we would surely ask for your help and assistance.
A pretty intense bus consultation was released recently, involving a number of central london bus routes proposed for a number of different changes.
One of the proposed changes includes Route 43, which would be withdrawn between London Bridge and Moorgate, and rerouted to Liverpool Street Bus Station to terminate. I had a feeling something similar like this would be proposed for the 43 in the near future.
This would put a lot more pressure on Routes 21 & 141 which are already busy routes, so this wouldn't be a great idea, plus route 153 now covers the Moorgate - Liverpool Street link so I don't think any other routes need to cover it with the exception of Route 214, which should be extended back.
It was proposed that a second Scania Omnilink was to join 24004 from Fife but so far this has not materialised and instead Olympus 16946 is seen here taking a turn on the JET 727.
in respect to the original silver andas, we have decided to design a new andas for the del carmen de san sebastian.
all elements of this andas are taken from the altar, confessional and pulpit of san sebastian basilica.
if the total cost would be too high for us, we would surely ask for your help and assistance.
The Birmingham Main Line Canal as it heads away from Gas Street Basin, in the Westside of the city centre of Birmingham, West Midlands.
In 1767, several prominent Birmingham businessmen, including Matthew Boulton and others from the Lunar Society, held a public meeting to consider the possibility of building a canal from Birmingham to the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal near Wolverhampton, taking in the coalfields of the Black Country. They commissioned the canal engineer James Brindley to propose a route. Brindley came back with a largely level route via Smethwick, Oldbury, Tipton, Bilston and Wolverhampton to Aldersley.
An Act of Parliament was passed to allow the building of the canal, with branches at Ocker Hill and Wednesbury where there were coal mines. The first phase of building was to Wednesbury whereupon the price of coal sold to domestic households in Birmingham halved overnight.
By 6 November 1769, 10 miles (16 km) had been completed to Hill Top collieries in West Bromwich, with a one-mile summit pound at Smethwick. Brindley had tried to dig a cutting through the hill at Smethwick but had encountered ground too soft to cope with.
On 21 September 1772, the canal was joined with the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal at Aldersley Junction, however Brindley died a few days later.
Over the next thirty years, as more canals and branches were built or connected it became necessary to review the long, winding, narrow Old Main Line. With a single towpath boats passing in opposite directions had to negotiate their horses and ropes.
In 1824 Thomas Telford was commissioned to examine alternatives. Telford proposed major changes to the section between Birmingham and Smethwick, widening and straightening the canal, providing towpaths on each side, and cutting through Smethwick Summit to bypass the locks, allowing lock-free passage from Birmingham to Tipton.
By 1827 the New Main Line passed straight through, and linked to, the loops of the Old Main Line, creating Oozells Loop, Icknield Port Loop, Soho Loop, Cape Loop and Soho Foundry Loop, allowing continued access to the existing factories and wharves.
A year earlier he had built an improved Rotton Park Reservoir (Edgbaston Reservoir) on the site of an existing fish pool, bringing its capacity to 300 million imperial gallons (1,400,000 m3). A canal feeder took water to, and along, a raised embankment on the south side of the New Main Line to his new Engine Arm branch canal and across an elegant cast iron aqueduct to top up the higher Wolverhampton Level at Smethwick Summit.
The Smethwick Summit was bypassed by 71 ft cutting through Lunar Society member, Samuel Galton's land, creating the Galton Valley, 70 feet deep and 150 feet wide, running parallel to the Old Main Line. Telford's changes here were completed in 1829.
By 1838 the New Main Line was complete: 22⅝ miles of slow canal reduced to 15⅝; between Birmingham and Tipton, a lock-free dual carriageway.
Information Source:
From wikidedia: The Rodeo San Francisco Refinery is a oil refinery located in Rodeo, California, which is located in the San Francisco Bay Area. The refinery is currently owned and operated by ConocoPhillips.
The complex is capable of refining 100,000 barrels of crude oil per day.
I thank Chippi (dimplechip) & Shanzil for their enthusiasm and efforts in recording my recent live performances and getting them uploaded to channels like Youtube.
These shows would be one of its last live performance , as I propose not to do any more live shows.
Thank you girls.
I dedicate this picture to you two.
Dear flickr friends,
I would be glad if you could spare sometime to watch one of the videos:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQWWraFeaCE
www.youtube.com/watch?v=XVJiBHGL07o
__________________________________________________
A beach-goer honors Labor Day.
St. Augustine Beach (Crescent Beach ), Florida, USA.
5 September 2022.
***************
▶ "Observed on the first Monday in September, Labor Day is an annual celebration in the United States of the social and economic achievements of American workers. The holiday is rooted in the late nineteenth century, when labor activists pushed for a federal holiday to recognize the many contributions workers have made to America’s strength, prosperity, and well-being."
▶ Photographer's note:
If there were no Labor Day holiday but one was proposed today, would many Americans disparage the attempt to honor American workers as 'Marxist' and' woke'? One wonders.
***************
▶ Photo by Yours For Good Fermentables.com.
▶ For a larger image, type 'L' (without the quotation marks).
— Follow on Facebook: YoursForGoodFermentables.
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▶ Camera: Olympus OM-D E-M10 II.
— Lens: Olympus M.40-150mm F4.0-5.6 R.
— Edit: Photoshop Elements 15, Nik Collection (2016).
▶ Commercial use requires explicit permission, as per Creative Commons.
In the late 1950s, Wolverhampton Council proposed a controversial and costly project to build a ring road around the town, to divert ‘through traffic’ away from the town centre. As with most towns in Britain, the huge increase in private car ownership was becoming a headache for the town’s planners.
As part of the town’s future road planning, it was decided that the building of the ‘Ring Road’ would also force the abandonment of the town’s trolleybus system, as the council wanted ‘no trolleybuses or trolleybus infrastructure’ to encounter the new Ring Road! This commitment would become a huge finical burden on the local rate-payers, so budgetary restraints were made where possible. Construction of the Ring Road began in 1961, but took almost three decades to complete.
Between June 1963 and March 1967, Wolverhampton Corporation Transport purchased 146 new double-deck motorbuses to replace the post-war trolleybus fleet. The financial enormity of funding the conversion program impacted on the quality of the new motorbus purchases, with savings having to be made. From 1965 – 1967, the Transport Department’s budget constraints forced them to opt for cheaper bus bodies to be fitted to the locally built Guy Arab V motorbus chassis that the council were duty-bound to purchase. Strachan (Coachbuilders) Ltd of Hamble, Hampshire became the new bus body supplier, but these budget built bus bodies for the Guy Arabs would soon prove to be sub-standard, resulting in short service lives due to structural fatigue.
On the demise of the town's last trolleybuses in March 1967, came the news that twelve high-capacity single-deck buses had been ordered. In July 1967, the ‘Transport Department’ took delivery of six AEC Swifts (708-713) and six Daimler Roadliners (714-719), all having Strachan built dual-doored bodies. This may have been seen as an extravagant purchase in lieu of the tax payers money recently spent on the trolleybus replacement fleet?
The buses appeared very modern looking, with large windows and spacious high-roofed interiors, being very similar in design to London Transport’s Strachan bodied ‘Red Arrow’ buses that had been new to the capital in 1966. The intension from the outset was to trial the concept of ‘pay-on-entry’ buses, with passengers paying the driver on boarding the bus.
The new buses were initially put to work on the No1 Tettenhall service to gauge public reaction to 'pay-on-entry, and assessing operational issues. However, after a few weeks the experiment was ended and crew-operated double-deckers reinstated to the route. Against all expectations, the costly experiment hadn’t been a success, having been met with mixed reactions from the travelling public who were not used to paying the driver on boarding, much preferring bus conductors to take their fares. It was also found that the ‘Cummins V6’ engined Daimler ‘Roadliners’ in particular, didn’t like the intense ‘stop and start’ work on this short urban service. Therefore a decision was made to redeploy these buses to rural services, such as the lengthy No17 and No31 routes to Bridgnorth in Shropshire. In this setting, the stops were fewer and the average speeds were higher, but as a cost saving measure the buses continued to be used as ‘pay-on-entry’ vehicles.
In October 1969, 708-719, along with the rest of the former Wolverhampton Corporation bus fleet, became part of the newly formed West Midlands PTE, whereupon they were renumbered 708N - 719N.
The first victim to early withdrawal was Roadliner 714N, which was lost to fire when working the No17 Bridgnorth service in November 1971. The following year, AEC Swifts 708, 711 were withdrawn and sold to Northampton Transport for further use.
The remaining buses continued to be allocated to Wolverhampton’s Bilston Garage, their duties staying much the same until the loss of the rural bus network in December 1973. The Midland Red taking over these services from WMPTE as part of a wider operational agreement between the two concerns.
Being relatively modern buses and suitable for one-man-operation, WMPTE continued to use the remaining Roadliners and Swifts, but with an eye to disposing of them when the opportunity arose as they did not fit the general fleet profile. Despite the Roadliners continuing to be mechanically troublesome, 716-719 received repaints into WMPTE livery in 1972 and 1973, and may have received body strengthen modifications in preparation? However, the AEC Swifts were never repainted out of their Wolverhampton colours.
Following the premature exit of 708N, 711N (pictured) and 714N, the next to go was Roadliner 715N in July 1973 suffering structural faults to its Strachan built body. It was sold for scrap in May 1974 still wearing WCT green and yellow.
The remaining AEC Swifts came out of service between 1973 to 1974, and the last Roadliners were finally withdrawn between the end of 1974 and January of 1975. Some of these buses found new owners, but all eventually ended up being scrapped with the exception of 719N. Today, 719(N) survives at the Transport Museum Wythall, restored into WCT livery.
The picture taken by the late Dave Everitt, show AEC Swift 711N pulling out onto Railway Drive, as it departs Victoria Square Bus Station for Cheslyn Hay in July 1970.
As for the previously mentioned ‘Ring Road’, that has further relevance to this picture, as part of its Eastern section runs right through the location where this picture was taken.
Image scanned from the original 35mm colour slide.
Please join the campaign, if you do not like the proposed new flickr layout.
Beta is a test preview of the change that is getting ready to be implemented soon. It can be for a limited group of flickr members, intended to seek feedback and correct faults ( if any), before it is made public.
Change is good and public has always welcomed good changes. The preference for Windows XP by most people even after the introduction of Vista is a classic example of public acceptance. The public liked and preferred the predecessor ( Windows XP ) and the follower ( Windows 7 and Windows 8 ) versions of Vista. A change is good and often gladly welcomed by public, if it provides more utilities and user friendliness, without depriving even a single advantage of the predecessor.
The Beta version is unacceptable to the majority of Flickr users* ( who happened to experience it ) , because it's not user friendly and has only disadvantages to mention. *Please check the Beta feedback : Completed / Top ideas / Hot ideas
The layout itself is a disaster. Please check : Try our new photo experience beta / Comment box
However they try, it's quite evident that it's impossible to provide more space for descriptions, comment box, and comments; not to mention comments with pictures , group invites / awards. The more they try to fix it, the more cumbersome it becomes. The buddy icons now appear as dots making the page more unaesthetic than what you see in the earlier pictures of beta . They are desperately trying to make it appealing and user friendly, which is literally impossible with the proposed layout .
It's a big challenge for the programmers to try find means to provide more space in a vertical column which is already cramped.
Is it possible to make a rugby stadium inside a 100 square feet ground ?
Want to know ? :
Why there is a sudden rise in views of your pictures ?
Why is Flickr slow now ?
With the proposed diversion to Windmill Park, the 483 might not be displaying Ealing Hospital for much longer. In fact, some buses have already started showing the new destination despite the consultation results not even being published yet!
Whilst the new routeing does bring residents of Navigator Drive physically closer to a bus stop, plus a new link to Matalan, I'm sceptical the link will actually be used given the much higher frequency of services along the Uxbridge Road corridor - it doesn't help that the 483 is being slashed for a second time despite its consistently decent loads. The traffic leading up to Iron Bridge is simply woeful sometimes and given the close proximity of the new terminus to Abellio's new garage, it's a possibility that this service can be added to the mockery of their collection in Ealing already.
The other disadvantage is that TfL seem to have the audacity to remove the 483 from Ealing Hospital grounds. Without going that tiny bit further, apart from in rush hour the route would be completely dead along Uxbridge Road. It is extremely popular for reaching accessing the hospital, especially for those who find it difficult to walk for long distances and up an incline. There's always a large queue for the 483 going back out and I suspect if the change goes ahead there will be a lot of angry customers, myself included. Although catching the 207 instead will only be a slight burden, the 483 guarantees easy seats and as a fairly regular outpatient at Ealing, there's no denying that if I see a 483 coming within a couple of minutes I will stick around and wait for it.
It'll be interesting to see how much local opposition there is to this change, given how subtly TfL have tried to disguise this disgrace of an "improvement."
Te propongo.... pasar un rato , una noche , un momento con tu pareja con este precioso diseño de Vips Creations. Un babydool en color rojo pasion perfecto para una noche o porque no para sorprerderle el dia de San Valentin. Este outfit consta de zapatos y el babydool con su braga a juego , valido para cuerpos normales y compatibles con cuerpos mesh.
I propose... to spend time, one night, a moment with your partner with this beautiful design of Vips Creations. A babydool red perfect passion for a night or because not to sorprerderle Valentine's day. This outfit consists of shoes and the babydool with the braga game, valid for normal and compatible with mesh bodies bodies.
Rafael proposing to Lucas on bended knee, at the Adelaide University Footbridge.
I was priviledged to b the photographer, and was disguised as a groundsman in green overalls and black beanie, and big ugly spectables from 2 decades ago.
We visited, hiked, learned about, and advocated for a new National Monument in the Chuckwalla Valley this last year.
This alternative interpretation of the proposed Foden tri-axle bus has previously appeared in China Motor Bus livery. Foden had proposed a twin-steer design, with two axles at the front, but the practical limitations of such a layout might have become apparent had a prototype been built. In the event, it was Foden’s internal problems that caused it to withdraw from the bus and coach market. Thanks again to Keith McGillivray for the base image (22-Dec-22).
All rights reserved. Not to be posted on Facebook or anywhere else without my prior written permission. Comments on this image are welcome here but for everything else, please send a Flickr mail. Further information about my Flickr images can be found here:
www.flickr.com/photos/northernblue109/6046035749/in/set-7....
In a recent consultation, TFL have highlighted surplus capacity in Gallions Reach and Beckton, and as a result Route 101 has been proposed to terminate at Beckton Station instead of Gallions Reach. However this arrangement would be temporary with other plans showing that the route would be extended to Royal Albert Dock to support new developments.
I have to say that I do agree with TFL, I do travel quite a lot around the area and I've noticed that buses aren't always the most well used between Beckton and Gallions Reach and especially with Covid, passengers numbers are considerably lower. However with this proposed change, shoppers would only be driven away from the area, especially with Route 366 proposed to be the only daytime connection to Gallions Reach, which is not as frequent as Routes 101 & 262, it will put off people from waiting and having to change buses which will result in less shoppers and potential harm to businesses in the long run. So for that reason I would at least consider keeping the 262 going to East Beckton, and also for nostalgia reasons it would be great if the 101 were to keep going to Gallions Reach, but it's all down to decisions made by TFL which basically means it's going to happen regardless of anyone's opinions.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Career
Name: RMS Olympic
Owner: White Star flag NEW.svg White Star Line 1911–1934
Cunard White Star Line Logo.JPG Cunard White Star Line 1934–1935
Port of registry: United Kingdom Liverpool, United Kingdom
Route: Southampton to New York
Ordered: 1906
Builder: Harland and Wolff, Belfast
Yard number: 400
Laid down: 16 December 1908
Launched: 20 October 1910
Completed: May 1911
Maiden voyage: 14 June 1911
In service: 1911
Out of service: 1935
Identification: Official Number 131346
Code Letters HSRP
ICS Hotel.svgICS Sierra.svgICS Romeo.svgICS Papa.svg
Radio callsign "MKC"
Fate: Retired at Southampton after 24 years service & scrapped. Superstructure dismantled at Jarrow, England, and the hull at Inverkeithing, Scotland.
Status: scrapped (besides the Second Class Lounge)
General characteristics
Class & type: Olympic-class ocean liner
Tonnage: 45,324 gross register tons; 46,358 after 1913; 46,439 after 1920
Displacement: 52,067 tons
Length: 882 ft 6 in (269.0 m)
Beam: 92 ft 6 in (28.2 m)
Height: 175 ft (53.3 m) (keel to top of funnels)
Draught: 34 ft 7 in (10.5 m)
Decks: 10 decks (1 crew deck)
Installed power: 24 double-ended (six furnace) and 5 single-ended (three furnace) Scotch boilers. Two four-cylinder triple-expansion reciprocating engines each producing 15,000 hp for the two outboard wing propellers at 75 revolutions per minute. One low-pressure turbine producing 16,000 h. 59,000 hp produced at maximum revolutions.[1]
Propulsion: Two bronze triple-blade wing propellers. One bronze quadruple-blade centre propeller.
Speed:
21 knots (39 km/h; 24 mph)
23 knots (43 km/h; 26 mph) (maximum)
Capacity: 2,435 passengers
Crew: 950
RMS Olympic was a transatlantic ocean liner, the lead ship of the White Star Line's trio of Olympic-class liners. Unlike her younger sister ships, the Olympic enjoyed a long and illustrious career, spanning 24 years from 1911 to 1935. This included service as a troopship during World War I, which gained her the nickname "Old Reliable". Olympic returned to civilian service after the war and served successfully as an ocean liner throughout the 1920s and into the first half of the 1930s, although increased competition, and the slump in trade during the Great Depression after 1930, made her operation increasingly unprofitable.
She was the largest ocean liner in the world for two periods during 1911–13, interrupted only by the brief tenure of the slightly larger Titanic (which had the same dimensions but higher gross tonnage due to revised interior configurations), and then outsized by the SS Imperator. Olympic also retained the title of the largest British-built liner until the RMS Queen Mary was launched in 1934, interrupted only by the short careers of her slightly larger sister ships.[2][3]
By contrast with Olympic, the other ships in the class, Titanic and Britannic, did not have long service lives. On the night of 14/15 April 1912, Titanic collided with an iceberg in the North Atlantic and sank, claiming 1,500 lives; Britannic struck a mine and sank in the Kea Channel in the Mediterranean on 21 November 1916, killing 30 people.
Background
Built in Belfast, Ireland, the RMS Olympic was the first of the three Olympic-class ocean liners – the others were the RMS Titanic and the HMHS Britannic.[4] They were by far the largest vessels of the British shipping company White Star Line's fleet, which comprised 29 steamers and tenders in 1912.[5] The three ships had their genesis in a discussion in mid-1907 between the White Star Line's chairman, J. Bruce Ismay, and the American financier J. Pierpont Morgan, who controlled the White Star Line's parent corporation, the International Mercantile Marine Co. The White Star Line faced a growing challenge from its main rivals Cunard, which had just launched Lusitania and Mauretania – the fastest passenger ships then in service – and the German lines Hamburg America and Norddeutscher Lloyd. Ismay preferred to compete on size rather than speed and proposed to commission a new class of liners that would be bigger than anything that had gone before as well as being the last word in comfort and luxury.[6] The company sought an upgrade in their fleet primarily in response to the Cunard giants but also to replace their largest and now outclassed ships from 1890, the SS Teutonic and SS Majestic. The former was replaced by Olympic while Majestic was replaced by Titanic. Majestic would be brought back into her old spot on White Star's New York service after Titanic's loss.
The ships were constructed by the Belfast shipbuilders Harland and Wolff, who had a long-established relationship with the White Star Line dating back to 1867.[7] Harland and Wolff were given a great deal of latitude in designing ships for the White Star Line; the usual approach was for the latter to sketch out a general concept which the former would take away and turn into a ship design. Cost considerations were relatively low on the agenda and Harland and Wolff was authorised to spend what it needed on the ships, plus a five percent profit margin.[7] In the case of the Olympic-class ships, a cost of £3 million for the first two ships was agreed plus "extras to contract" and the usual five percent fee.[8]
The launch of Olympic on 20 October 1910
Harland and Wolff put their leading designers to work designing the Olympic-class vessels. It was overseen by Lord Pirrie, a director of both Harland and Wolff and the White Star Line; naval architect Thomas Andrews, the managing director of Harland and Wolff's design department; Edward Wilding, Andrews' deputy and responsible for calculating the ship's design, stability and trim; and Alexander Carlisle, the shipyard's chief draughtsman and general manager.[9] Carlisle's responsibilities included the decorations, equipment and all general arrangements, including the implementation of an efficient lifeboat davit design.[10]
On 29 July 1908, Harland and Wolff presented the drawings to J. Bruce Ismay and other White Star Line executives. Ismay approved the design and signed three "letters of agreement" two days later authorising the start of construction.[11] At this point the first ship – which was later to become Olympic – had no name, but was referred to simply as "Number 400", as it was Harland and Wolff's four hundredth hull. Titanic was based on a revised version of the same design and was given the number 401.[12] Bruce Ismay's father Thomas Henry Ismay had previously planned to build a ship named Olympic as a sister ship to the Oceanic. The senior Ismay died in 1899 and the order for the ship was cancelled.[13]
Construction of the Olympic began three months before Titanic to ease pressures on the shipyard. Several years would pass before Britannic would be launched. In order to accommodate the construction of the class, Harland and Wolff upgraded their facility in Belfast; the most dramatic change was the combining of three slipways into two larger ones. Olympic's keel was laid in December 1908 and she was launched on 20 October 1910.[4] For her launch, the hull was painted in a light grey colour for photographic purposes; a common practice of the day for the first ship in a new class, as it made the lines of the ship clearer in the black and white photographs. Her hull was repainted black following the launch.[3]
Features
The Grand Staircase of Olympic.
The Olympic was designed as a luxury ship; her passenger facilities, fittings, deck plans and technical facilities were largely identical to those of her more famous sister Titanic, although with some small variations.[14] The first-class passengers enjoyed luxurious cabins, and some were equipped with private bathrooms. First-class passengers could have meals in the ship's large and luxurious dining room or in the more intimate A La Carte Restaurant. There was a lavish Grand Staircase, built only for the Olympic-class ships, along with three elevators that ran behind the staircase down to E deck,[15] a Georgian-style smoking room, a Veranda Café decorated with palm trees,[16] a swimming pool, Turkish bath,[17] gymnasium,[18] and several other places for meals and entertainment.
The second-class facilities included a smoking room, a library, a spacious dining room, and an elevator.[3][19]
Finally, the third-class passengers enjoyed reasonable accommodation compared to other ships, if not up to the second and first classes. Instead of large dormitories offered by most ships of the time, the third-class passengers of the Olympic travelled in cabins containing two to ten bunks. Facilities for the third class included a smoking room, a common area, and a dining room.[3][19]
Olympic had a cleaner, sleeker look than other ships of the day: rather than fitting her with bulky exterior air vents, Harland and Wolff used smaller air vents with electric fans, with a "dummy" fourth funnel used for additional ventilation. For the power plant Harland and Wolff employed a combination of reciprocating engines with a centre low-pressure turbine, as opposed to the steam turbines used on Cunard's Lusitania and Mauretania.[20] White Star had successfully tested this engine set up on an earlier liner SS Laurentic, where it was found to be more economical than expansion engines or turbines alone. Olympic consumed 650 tons of coal per 24 hours with an average speed of 21.7 knots on her maiden voyage, compared to 1000 tons of coal per 24 hours for both the Lusitania and Mauretania.[21]
Although Olympic and Titanic were nearly identical, and were based on the same design, a few alterations were made to Titanic (and later on Britannic) based on experience gained from Olympic's first year in service. The most noticeable of these was that the forward half of the Titanic's A Deck promenade was enclosed by a steel screen with sliding windows, to provide additional shelter, whereas the Olympic's promenade deck remained open along its whole length. Also the promenades on the Titanic's B Deck were reduced in size, and the space used for additional cabins and public rooms, including two luxury suites with private promenades. A number of other variations existed between the two ships layouts and fittings. These differences meant that Titanic had a slightly higher gross tonnage of 46,328 tons, compared to Olympic's 45,324 tons.[22]
Olympic on her sea trials in Belfast in 1911
Career
Following completion, Olympic started her sea trials on 29 May 1911, which she successfully completed; Olympic then left Belfast bound for Liverpool, her port of registration, on 31 May 1911. As a publicity stunt the White Star Line deliberately timed the start of this first voyage to coincide with the launch of Titanic. After spending a day in Liverpool, open to the public, Olympic sailed to Southampton, where she arrived on 3 June, to be made ready for her maiden voyage.[23] The deep-water dock at Southampton, then known as the "White Star Dock" had been specially constructed to accommodate the new Olympic-class liners, and had opened in 1911.[24]
Her maiden voyage commenced on 14 June 1911 from Southampton, calling at Cherbourg and Queenstown, reaching New York on 21 June.[25] The maiden voyage was captained by Edward Smith who would lose his life the following year in the Titanic disaster.[26] Designer Thomas Andrews was present for the passage to New York and return, along with a number of engineers, as part of Harland and Wolff's "Guarantee Group" to spot any problems or areas for improvement. Andrews would also lose his life in the Titanic disaster.[27]
As the largest ship in the world, and the first in a new class of superliners. Olympic's maiden voyage attracted considerable worldwide attention from the press and public. Following her arrival in New York, Olympic was opened up to the public and received over 8,000 visitors. More than 10,000 spectators watched her depart from New York harbour, for her first return trip.[28]
Hawke collision
Photographs documenting the damage to the Olympic (left) and the Hawke (right) following their collision (alternate view)
Olympic's first major mishap occurred on her fifth voyage on 20 September 1911, when she collided with a British warship, HMS Hawke off the Isle of Wight. The collision took place as Olympic and Hawke were running parallel to each other through the Solent. As Olympic turned to starboard, the wide radius of her turn took the commander of the Hawke by surprise, and he was unable to take sufficient avoiding action.[29] The Hawke's bow, which had been designed to sink ships by ramming them, collided with Olympic's starboard side near the stern, tearing two large holes in Olympic's hull, below and above the waterline respectively, resulting in the flooding of two of her watertight compartments and a twisted propeller shaft. HMS Hawke suffered severe damage to her bow and nearly capsized. Despite this, Olympic was able to return to Southampton under her own power, and no-one was seriously injured or killed.[14][30]
Captain Edward Smith was still in command of Olympic at the time of the incident. One crew member, Violet Jessop, survived not only the collision with the Hawke but also the later sinking of Titanic and the 1916 sinking of Britannic, the third ship of the class.[31]
At the subsequent inquiry the Royal Navy blamed Olympic for the incident, alleging that her large displacement generated a suction that pulled Hawke into her side.[32][33] The Hawke incident was a financial disaster for Olympic's operator. A legal argument ensued which decided that the blame for the incident lay with Olympic, and although the ship was technically under the control of the pilot, the White Star Line was faced with large legal bills and the cost of repairing the ship, and keeping her out of revenue service made matters worse.[29] However, the fact that Olympic endured such a serious collision and stayed afloat, appeared to vindicate the design of the Olympic-class liners and reinforced their "unsinkable" reputation.[29]
Olympic (left) returning to Belfast for repairs in March 1912, and Titanic (right) This was the last time the two sister ships would be seen together
It took two weeks for the damage to Olympic to be patched up sufficiently to allow her to return to Belfast for permanent repairs, which took just over six weeks to complete. To speed up the repairs, Harland and Wolff was forced to delay Titanic's completion in order to use her propeller shaft for Olympic. By 29 November she was back in service, however in February 1912, Olympic suffered another setback when she lost a propeller blade on an eastbound voyage from New York, and once again returned to her builder for repairs. To get her back to service as soon as possible, Harland & Wolff again had to pull resources from Titanic, delaying her maiden voyage from 20 March 1912 to 10 April 1912.[34]
Titanic disaster
Main article: Sinking of the RMS Titanic
On 14 April 1912, Olympic, now under the command of Herbert James Haddock, was on a return trip from New York. Wireless operator Ernest James Moore[35] received the distress call from her sister Titanic, when she was approximately 500 nautical miles (930 km; 580 mi) west by south of Titanic's location.[36] Haddock calculated a new course, ordered the ship's engines to be set to full power and headed to assist in the rescue.[37]
When Olympic was about 100 nautical miles (190 km; 120 mi) away from Titanic's last known position, she received a message from Captain Rostron captain of Cunard Liner RMS Carpathia, explaining that continuing on course to Titanic would gain nothing, as "All boats accounted for. About 675 souls saved [...] Titanic foundered about 2.20 am."[36] Rostron requested that the message be forwarded to White Star and Cunard. He said that he was returning to harbour in New York.[36] Subsequently, the wireless room aboard the Olympic operated as a clearing room for radio messages.[36]
When Olympic offered to take on the survivors, she was heatedly turned down by an appalled Rostron, who was concerned that it would cause panic amongst the survivors of the disaster to see a virtual mirror-image of the Titanic appear and ask them to board. Olympic then resumed her voyage to Southampton, with all concerts cancelled as a mark of respect, arriving on 21 April.[3]
Over the next few months, Olympic assisted with both the American and British inquiries into the disaster. Deputations from both inquiries inspected Olympic's lifeboats, watertight doors and bulkheads and other equipment which were identical to those on Titanic.[38] Sea tests were performed for the British enquiry in May 1912, to establish how quickly the ship could turn two points at various speeds, to approximate how long it would have taken the Titanic to turn when it sighted the iceberg.[39]
1912 "mutiny"
Olympic, like Titanic, did not carry enough lifeboats for everyone on board, and was hurriedly equipped with additional, second-hand collapsible lifeboats following her return to Britain. Toward the end of April 1912, as she was about to sail from Southampton to New York, 284 of the ship's firemen went on strike because of fears that the ship's new collapsible lifeboats were not seaworthy. 100 non-union crew were hastily hired from Southampton as replacements, with more being hired from Liverpool.[40]
The 40 collapsible lifeboats were secondhand, having been transferred from troopships, and many were rotten and could not open. The crewmen instead sent a request to the Southampton manager of the White Star Line that the collapsible boats be replaced by wooden lifeboats; the manager replied that this was impossible and that the collapsible boats had been passed as seaworthy by a Board of Trade inspector. The men were not satisfied and ceased work in protest.[41]
On 25 April a deputation of strikers witnessed a test of four of the collapsible boats. Only one was unseaworthy and they said that they were prepared to recommend the men return to work if it was replaced. However the strikers now objected to the non-union strikebreaker crew which had come on board, and demanded that they be dismissed, which the White Star Line refused. 54 sailors then left the ship, objecting to the non-union crew who they claimed were unqualified and therefore dangerous, and refused to sail with them. This led to the scheduled sailing being cancelled.[40][42]
All 54 sailors were arrested on a charge of mutiny when they went ashore. On 4 May 1912 Portsmouth magistrates found the charges against the mutineers were proven, but discharged them without imprisonment or fine due to the special circumstances of the case.[43] Fearing that public opinion would be on the side of the strikers, the White Star Line let them return to work and the Olympic sailed on 15 May.[39]
Refit
Olympic as she appeared after her refit following the Titanic disaster, with a full complement of lifeboats
On 9 October 1912 White Star withdrew Olympic from service and returned her to her builders at Belfast to be refitted to incorporate lessons learned from the Titanic disaster 6 months prior, and improve safety.[44] The number of lifeboats carried by Olympic was increased from twenty to sixty four (per Carlisle's original number), and extra davits were installed along the boat deck to accommodate them. Also, an inner watertight skin was constructed in the boiler and engine rooms, to create a double hull. Five of the watertight bulkheads were extended up to B-Deck, extending to the entire height of the hull. This corrected a flaw in the original design, in which the bulkheads only rose up as far as E or D-Deck, a short distance above the waterline. This flaw had been exposed during Titanic's sinking, where water spilled over the top of the bulkheads as the ship sank and flooded subsequent compartments. In addition, an extra bulkhead was added to subdivide the electrical dynamo room, bringing the total number of watertight compartments to seventeen. Improvements were also made to the ship's pumping apparatus. These modifications meant that Olympic could survive a collision similar to that of Titanic, in that her first six compartments could be breached and the ship could remain afloat.[45][46]
At the same time, Olympic's B-Deck underwent a refit, which necessitated eliminating her B-Deck promenades – one of the few features that separated her from her sister ship. The refit included extra cabins (the parlour suites which proved popular on the Titanic were added to the Olympic), more cabins were fitted with private bathing facilities, and a Cafe Parisian (another addition that had proved popular on the Titanic) was added, offering another dining option to first class passengers. With these changes, Olympic's gross tonnage rose to 46,359 tons, 31 tons more than Titanic's.[47]
In March 1913, Olympic returned to service and briefly regained the title of largest ocean liner in the world, until the German liner SS Imperator entered passenger service in June 1913. Following her refit, Olympic was marketed as the "new" Olympic and her improved safety features were featured prominently in advertisements. [48][3]
World War I
In August 1914 World War I began. Olympic initially remained in commercial service under Captain Herbert James Haddock. As a wartime measure, Olympic was painted in a grey colour scheme, portholes were blocked, and lights on deck were turned off to make the ship less visible. The schedule was hastily altered to terminate at Liverpool rather than Southampton, and this was later altered again to Glasgow.[3][49]
The first few wartime voyages were packed with Americans trapped in Europe, eager to return home, although the eastbound journeys carried few passengers. By mid-October, bookings had fallen sharply as the threat from German U-boats became increasingly serious, and White Star Line decided to withdraw Olympic from commercial service. On 21 October 1914, she left New York for Glasgow on her last commercial voyage of the war, though carrying only 153 passengers.[50][49]
Audacious incident
On the sixth day of her voyage, 27 October, as the Olympic passed near Lough Swilly off the north coast of Ireland, she received distress signals from the battleship HMS Audacious, which had struck a mine off Tory Island and was taking on water.[51]
The crew of the stricken Audacious take to lifeboats to be rescued by Olympic
The Olympic took off 250 of the Audacious' crew, then the destroyer HMS Fury managed to attach a tow cable between Audacious and Olympic and they headed west for Lough Swilly. However, the cable parted after the Audacious' steering gear failed. A second attempt was made to tow the warship, but the cable became tangled in HMS Liverpool's propellers and was severed. A third attempt was tried but also failed when the cable gave way. By 17:00 the Audacious' quarterdeck was awash and it was decided to evacuate the remaining crew members to Olympic and Liverpool, and at 20:55 there was an explosion aboard the Audacious and she sank.[52]
Admiral Sir John Jellicoe, Commander of the Home Fleet, was anxious to suppress the news of the sinking of Audacious, for fear of the demoralising effect it could have on the British public, so ordered Olympic to be held in custody at Lough Swilly. No communications were permitted and passengers were not allowed to leave the ship. The only people departing her were the crew of the Audacious and Chief Surgeon John Beaumont, who was transferring to RMS Celtic. Steel tycoon Charles M. Schwab, who was travelling aboard the liner, sent word to Jellicoe that he had urgent business in London with the Admiralty, and Jellicoe agreed to release Schwab if he remained silent about the fate of Audacious. Finally, on 2 November, Olympic was allowed to go to Belfast where the passengers disembarked.[53]
HMT Olympic in dazzle camouflage while in service as a troopship during World War I
Naval service
Following Olympic's return to Britain, the White Star Line intended to lay her up in Belfast until the war was over, but in May 1915 she was requisitioned by the Admiralty, to be used as a troop transport, along with the Cunard liners Mauretania and Aquitania. The Admiralty had initially been reluctant to use large ocean liners as troop transports because of their vulnerability to enemy attack, however a shortage of ships gave them little choice. At the same time, Olympic's other sister ship Britannic, which had not yet been completed, was requisitioned as a hospital ship. In that role she would strike a mine and sink the following year.[54]
Stripped of her peacetime fittings, and armed with 12-pounders and 4.7-inch guns, Olympic was converted to a troopship, with the capacity to transport up to 6,000 troops. On 24 September 1915 the newly designated HMT (Hired Military Transport) 2810, now under the command of Bertram Fox Hayes left Liverpool carrying 6,000 soldiers to Mudros, Greece for the Gallipoli Campaign. On 1 October she sighted lifeboats from the French ship Provincia which had been sunk by a U-boat that morning off Cape Matapan and picked up 34 survivors. Hayes was heavily criticised for this action by the British Admiralty, who accused him of putting the ship in danger by stopping it in waters where enemy U-boats were active. The ship's speed was considered to be its best defence against U-boat attack, and such a large ship stopped would have made an unmissable target. However the French Vice-Admiral Louis Dartige du Fournet took a different view, and awarded Hayes with the Gold Medal of Honour. Olympic made several more trooping journeys to the Mediterranean until early 1916, when the Gallipoli Campaign was abandoned.[55]
Olympic in dazzle at Halifax, Nova Scotia painted by Arthur Lismer
In 1916, considerations were made to use Olympic to transport troops to India via the Cape of Good Hope. However on investigation it turned out she was unsuitable for this role, because her coal bunkers, which had been designed for transatlantic runs, lacked the capacity for such a long journey at a reasonable speed.[56] Instead, from 1916 to 1917, Olympic was chartered by the Canadian Government to transport troops from Halifax, Nova Scotia to Britain.[57] In 1917 she gained 6-inch guns and was painted with a "dazzle" camouflage scheme to make it more difficult for observers to estimate her speed and heading. Her dazzle colours were brown, dark blue, light blue, and white. Her many visits to Halifax Harbour carrying Canadian troops safely overseas, and back home after the war, made her a favourite symbol in the City of Halifax. Noted Group of Seven artist Arthur Lismer made several paintings of her in Halifax. A large dance hall, "Olympic Gardens" was also named in her honour. After the United States declared war on Germany in 1917, Olympic also transported thousands of U.S. troops to Britain.[58]
In the early hours of 12 May 1918, while en route for France with US troops under the command of Captain Hayes, Olympic sighted a surfaced U-boat 500 m (1,600 ft) ahead.[59] Her gunners opened fire at once, and she turned to ram the submarine, which immediately crash dived to 30 m (98 ft) and turned to a parallel course. Almost immediately afterwards Olympic struck the submarine just aft of her conning tower and her port propeller sliced through U-103's pressure hull. The crew of U-103 blew her ballast tanks, scuttled and abandoned the submarine. Olympic returned to Southampton with at least two hull plates dented and her prow twisted to one side, but not breached.[60]
Olympic did not stop to pick up survivors, but continued on to Cherbourg. The USS Davis sighted a distress flare and picked up 31 survivors from U-103. It was discovered that U-103 had been preparing to torpedo the Olympic when she was sighted, but the crew could not flood the two stern torpedo tubes.[61] For this service, Captain Hayes was awarded the DSO.[62] Some American soldiers on board paid for a plaque to be placed in one of Olympic's lounges to commemorate the event, it read:
This tablet presented by the 59th Regiment United States Infantry commemorates the sinking of the German submarine U103 by the Olympic on May 12th 1918 in latitude 49 degrees 16 minutes north longitude 4 degrees 51 minutes west on the voyage from New York to Southampton with American troops...[63]
During the war, Olympic is reported to have carried up to 201,000 troops and other personnel, burning 347,000 tons of coal and travelling about 184,000 miles.[64] Her impressive World War I service earned her the nickname Old Reliable.[65] Her captain was knighted in 1919 for "valuable services in connection with the transport of troops".[66]
Post-war
In August 1919 Olympic returned to Belfast for restoration to civilian service. Her interior was modernised and her boilers were converted to burn oil rather than coal. Oil was cheaper than coal, it lowered the refuelling time from days to hours, and allowed the engine room personnel to be reduced from 350 to 60 people.[67] During the conversion work and drydocking, a dent with a crack at the centre was discovered below her waterline which was later concluded to have been caused by a torpedo that had failed to detonate.[68]
Olympic at Southampton in 1929
Olympic emerged from her refit with an increased tonnage of 46,439, allowing her to retain her claim to the title of largest British built liner afloat, although the Cunard Line's Aquitania was slightly longer. In 1920 she returned to passenger service, on one voyage that year carrying 2,249 passengers.[69] Olympic transported a record 38,000 passengers during 1921, which proved to be the peak year of her career. From 1922 she was joined for an express service by Majestic and Homeric; two former German liners which had been ceded to Britain as war reparations, operating successfully until the Great Depression reduced demand after 1930.[70]
During the 1920s, Olympic remained a popular and fashionable ship, and often attracted the rich and famous of the day; Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks, and Prince Edward, then Prince of Wales, were among the celebrities that she carried.[71] Prince Edward and Captain Howarth were filmed on the bridge of the Olympic for Pathé News.[72] One of the attractions of the Olympic was the fact that she was nearly identical to the Titanic, and many passengers sailed on the Olympic as a way of vicariously experiencing the voyage of the Olympic's ill-fated sister ship.[73]
On 22 March 1924, Olympic was involved in another collision with a ship, this time at New York. As Olympic was reversing from her berth at New York harbour, her stern collided with the smaller liner Fort St George, which had crossed into her path. The collision caused extensive damage to the smaller ship. At first it appeared that Olympic had sustained only minor damage, but it was later revealed that her sternpost had been fractured, necessitating the replacement of her entire stern frame.[74]
Changes in immigration laws in the United States in the 1920s greatly restricted the number of immigrants allowed to enter. This led to a major reduction in the immigrant trade for the shipping lines, forcing them to cater to the tourist trade to survive.[3] At the turn of 1927–28, Olympic was converted to carry tourist third cabin passengers as well as first, second and third class.[75] Tourist third cabin was an attempt to attract travellers who desired comfort without the accompanying high ticket price. New public rooms were constructed for this class, although tourist third cabin and second class would merge to become 'tourist' by late 1931.
A year later, Olympic's first class cabins were again improved by adding more bathrooms, a dance floor was fitted in the enlarged first class dining saloon, and a number of new suites with private facilities were installed forward on B-deck.[76] More improvements would follow in a later refit, but 1929 saw Olympic's best average passenger lists since 1925.
On 18 November 1929, as the Olympic was travelling westbound near to Titanic's last known position, the ship suddenly started to vibrate violently, and the vibrations continued for two minutes. It was later determined that this had been caused by the 1929 Grand Banks earthquake.[77]
Last years
The shipping trade was badly affected by the Great Depression. Until 1930 there had generally been around one million passengers a year on the transatlantic route, but by 1934 this had dropped by more than half. Furthermore, by the early 1930s, increased competition emerged, in the form of a new generation of larger and faster liners such as Germany's SS Bremen and SS Europa, Italy's SS Rex and France's SS Île de France, and the remaining passengers tended to prefer the more up to date ships. Olympic had averaged around 1,000 passengers per journey until 1930, but this declined by more than half by 1932.[78]
Olympic's running mate Homeric was withdrawn from the transatlantic route as early as 1932, leaving only Olympic and Majestic maintaining White Star Line's Southampton-New York service, although this was occasionally augmented during the summer months by either the MV Britannic or MV Georgic. [79]
At the end of 1932, with passenger traffic in decline, Olympic went for an overhaul and refit that took four months. She returned to service in March 1933 described by her owners as "looking like new." Her engines were performing at their best and she repeatedly recorded speeds in excess of 23 knots, despite averaging less than that in regular transatlantic service. Passenger capacities were given as 618 first class, 447 tourist class and only 382 third class after the decline of the immigrant trade.[80]
Despite this, during 1933 and 1934, Olympic ran at a net operating loss for the first time. 1933 was Olympic's worst year of business – carrying just over 9,000 passengers in total.[81] Passenger numbers rose slightly in 1934, but many crossings still lost money.[79]
Olympic in 1934, passing the lightvessel she struck and sank a few months later
Lightship collision
In 1934, Olympic again struck a ship. The approaches to New York were marked by lightships and Olympic, like other liners, had been known to pass close by these vessels. On 15 May 1934, Olympic, inbound in heavy fog, was homing in on the radio beacon of Nantucket Lightship LV-117.[82] Now under the command of Captain John Binks, the ship failed to turn in time and sliced through the smaller vessel, which broke apart and sank.[83] Four of the lightship's crew went down with the vessel and seven were rescued, of whom three died of their injuries – thus there were seven fatalities out of a crew of eleven.[84] The lightship's surviving crew and the Olympic's captain were interviewed soon after reaching shore. One crewman said it all happened so quickly that they didn't know how it happened. The captain was very sorry it happened but said the Olympic reacted very quickly lowering boats to rescue the crew, which was confirmed by an injured crewman.[85]
Retirement
Olympic (left) and Mauretania laid up in Southampton prior to their scrapping.
In 1934, the White Star Line merged with the Cunard Line at the instigation of the British government, to form Cunard White Star.[86] This merger allowed funds to be granted for the completion of the future RMS Queen Mary and RMS Queen Elizabeth. When completed, these two new ships would handle Cunard White Star's transatlantic business, and so their fleet of older liners became redundant and were gradually retired.
Olympic was withdrawn from the transatlantic service, and left New York for the last time on 5 April 1935, returning to Britain to be laid up.[when?] Her new owners considered using her for summer cruises for a short while, but this idea was abandoned and she was put up for sale. Among the potential buyers was a syndicate who proposed to turn her into a floating hotel off the south coast of France, but this came to nothing.[87] After being laid up for five months alongside her former rival Mauretania, she was sold to Sir John Jarvis – Member of Parliament for £97,500, to be partially demolished at Jarrow to provide work for the depressed region.[88] Her superstructure was demolished in 1936, and in 1937, Olympic's hull was towed to Inverkeithing to T.W. Ward's yard for final demolition.[89]
By the time of her retirement, Olympic had completed 257 round trips across the Atlantic, transporting 430,000 passengers on her commercial voyages, travelling 1.8 million miles.[87][90]
Olympic artefacts
Fittings from the ship installed in the Olympic Suite at the White Swan Hotel, Alnwick
The marble fireplace from the Olympic now at the White Swan, Alnwick
The Olympic's fittings were auctioned off immediately before she was scrapped; some of her fittings, namely those of the first-class lounge and part of the aft grand staircase, can be found in the White Swan Hotel, in Alnwick, Northumberland, England. The rest of her fittings found homes in scattered places throughout Great Britain.[91]
In 2000, Celebrity Cruises purchased some of Olympic's original wooden panels to create the RMS Olympic restaurant on board their new cruise ship, Millennium. According to Celebrity Cruise Line, this wood panelling once lined Olympic's à la carte restaurant.[91]
The clock depicting "Honour and Glory Crowning Time" from Olympic's grand staircase is on display at Southampton's SeaCity Museum.[92][93]
Chairman proposed that an Institute be built, to be used also as council chamber and a memorial be prepared and sent to inhabitants, soliciting subscriptions. [Ref: South Australian Chronicle 28-10-1876]
The hall has been plastered and ceiled, and new stage curtains, lamps, a handsome semi-grand piano, and chairs secured and general improvements effected. [Ref: Chronicle 6-9-1902]
Tenders for improvements to the Myponga Hall not having proved satisfactory, the committee has decided to let the work to local tradesmen, the committee supplying the material.
Mr S J Herring is to do the stonework, and C Pearce the woodwork. Many donations in the form of both voluntary labour and money have been offered. [Ref: Chronicle 21-4-1938]
One of the largest crowds seen in Myponga assembled at the hall when the remodernised building was opened by Mr Connor, MP who was supported by Messrs Halliday and Bagot MLCs.
The hall itself was built on land originally acquired by the South Australian Company in 1841 and subsequently purchased from that company by Mr C W Eatts, the present secretary of the hall.
After the opening, visitors inspected the buildings, which now contain up-to-date cloakrooms, dressing rooms, a spacious stage, attached supper room, modern kitchen, and bio box. The kitchen contains stove, copper, flyproof cupboards, drainboard and sink. The hall itself has been refurnished throughout.
Dinner and tea were served by a committee of ladies. In the evening the enlarged hall proved inadequate for the crowd, which came from Adelaide, Victor Harbor, Goolwa, Willunga, McLaren Vale and Yankalilla for the opening ball. [Ref: Advertiser 22-9-1938]
“Proposed Lunar Surface Flyer -- This drawing is an artist's conception of a Flying Lunar Excursion Experimental Platform, or FLEEP, that North American Rockwell's Space Division has announced plans to design under a contract with NASA's Langley Research Center. The one-man flyer will be tested in a simulation facility at Langley to evaluate designs for lunar surface flyers.”
The above, with a whole lot more, per/at. ALWAYS superb:
heroicrelics.org/info/fleep/fleep-overview.html
Credit: Mike Jetzer/HEROIC RELICS website
I expected to come across this image, somewhere, at a reasonable resolution. No such luck. Maybe my searching/researching abilities are deteriorating. I certainly have grown weary of it.
A really nice piece of work. Unfortunately, there are too many candidate NAR artists to take a stab at identification.
The Postcard
A postcard that was published by Gordon Fraser with photography by Eric de Maré. The image is a glossy real photograph.
On the back of the card the publishers provide the following information:
'London Westminster - The
Royal Albert Hall.
Captain Francis Fowke, R.E. designed the
Royal Albert Hall which was built in 1867-
1881. The interior comprises one vast, oval
amphitheatre in which 8,000 people can
be seated.
Mecca for concerts, choral events and
festivals, it is nevertheless notorious for its
poor acoustic properties.
The frieze, encircling the building below
the dome, by Armitage, Pickersgill. Marks
and Poynter, is in terracotta and represents
the Triumph of Arts and Letters'.
The card was posted in Kensington, London W8 on Tuesday the 20th. July 1965 to:
Martin,
Dalnaglar Castle,
Glenshee,
Perthshire,
Scotland.
The message on the divided back was as follows:
"More of the wonders of
London.
We are in the middle of a
tropical storm here.
Have bought Queen so am
expecting some 'In' love
tokens!
Love,
Sarah".
The Royal Albert Hall
The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London. One of the United Kingdom's most treasured and distinctive buildings, it is held in trust for the nation and managed by a registered charity which receives no government funding. It can seat 5,272 people.
The Royal Albert Hall has been affectionately named "The Nation's Village Hall".
Since the hall's opening by Queen Victoria in 1871, the world's leading artists from many performance genres have appeared on its stage. It is the venue for the Proms concerts, which have been held there every summer since 1941.
It is host to more than 390 shows in the main auditorium annually, including classical, rock and pop concerts, ballet, opera, film screenings with live orchestral accompaniment, sports, awards ceremonies, school and community events, and charity performances and banquets. A further 400 events are held each year in the non-auditorium areas.
The hall was originally supposed to have been called the Central Hall of Arts and Sciences, but the name was changed to the Royal Albert Hall of Arts and Sciences by Queen Victoria upon laying the Hall's foundation stone in 1867, in memory of her husband, Prince Albert, who had died six years earlier.
History of The Royal Albert Hall
The Royal Albert Hall in the 1800's
In 1851 the Great Exhibition, organised by Prince Albert, was held in Hyde Park, London. The Exhibition was a success, and this led Prince Albert to propose the creation of a group of permanent facilities for the public benefit, which came to be known as Albertopolis.
The Exhibition's Royal Commission bought Gore House, but it was slow to act, and in 1861 Prince Albert died without having seen his ideas come to fruition. However, a memorial was proposed for Hyde Park, with a Great Hall opposite.
The proposal was approved, and the site was purchased with some of the profits from the Exhibition. The Hall was designed by civil engineers Captain Francis Fowke and Major-General Henry Y. D. Scott of the Royal Engineers, and built by Lucas Brothers.
The designers were heavily influenced by ancient amphitheatres, but had also been exposed to the ideas of Gottfried Semper while he was working at the South Kensington Museum.
The recently opened Cirque d'Hiver in Paris was seen in the contemporary press as the design to outdo.
The Hall was constructed mainly of Fareham Red Brick, with terra cotta block decoration made by Gibbs and Canning Ltd. of Tamworth.
The dome (designed by Rowland Mason Ordish) was made of wrought iron and glazed. There was a trial assembly of the dome's iron framework in Manchester; then it was taken apart and transported to London by horse and cart.
When the time came for the supporting structure to be removed from the dome after reassembly in situ, only volunteers remained on-site in case the structure collapsed. It did drop – but only by five-sixteenths of an inch (8 mm).
The Hall was scheduled to be completed by Christmas Day 1870, and Queen Victoria visited a few weeks beforehand to inspect.
The official opening ceremony of the Royal Albert Hall was on the 29th. March 1871. A welcoming speech was given by Edward, the Prince of Wales because Queen Victoria was too overcome to speak;
"Her only recorded comment on the
Hall was that it reminded her of the
British constitution".
In the concert that followed, the Hall's acoustic problems immediately became apparent. Engineers first tried to remove the strong echo by suspending a canvas awning below the dome. This helped, and also sheltered concert-goers from the sun, but the problem was not solved - it used to be jokingly said:
"The Hall is the only place where
a British composer could be sure
of hearing his work twice".
In July 1871, French organist Camille Saint-Saëns performed Church Scene from Faust by Charles Gounod; The Orchestra described him as:
"An exceptional and distinguished
performer ... the effect was most
marvellous."
Initially lit by gas, the Hall contained a special system by which thousands of gas jets were lit within ten seconds. Though it was demonstrated as early as 1873 in the Hall, full electric lighting was not installed until 1888. During an early trial when a partial installation was made, one disgruntled patron wrote to The Times, declaring it to be:
"A very ghastly and unpleasant
innovation".
In May 1877, Richard Wagner conducted the first half of each of the eight concerts which made up the Grand Wagner Festival. After his turn with the baton, he handed it over to conductor Hans Richter and sat in a large armchair on the corner of the stage for the rest of each concert. Wagner's wife Cosima, the daughter of Hungarian virtuoso pianist and composer Franz Liszt, was among the audience.
The Wine Society was founded at the Hall on the 4th. August 1874, after large quantities of cask wine were found in the cellars. A series of lunches were held to publicise the wines, and General Henry Scott proposed a co-operative company to buy and sell wines.
The Royal Albert Hall in the 1900's
In 1906 Elsie Fogerty founded the Central School of Speech and Drama at the Hall, using its West Theatre, now the Elgar Room. The school moved to Swiss Cottage in north London in 1957. Whilst the school was based at the Royal Albert Hall, students who graduated from its classes included Judi Dench, Vanessa Redgrave, Lynn Redgrave, Harold Pinter, Laurence Olivier and Peggy Ashcroft.
In 1911 Russian pianist and composer Sergei Rachmaninoff performed at the Hall. The recital included his 'Prelude in C-sharp minor' and 'Elegie in E-flat minor'.
In 1933 German physicist Albert Einstein led the 'Einstein Meeting' at the hall for the Council for Assisting Refugee Academics, a British charity.
In 1936, the Hall was the scene of a giant rally celebrating the British Empire on the occasion of the centenary of Joseph Chamberlain's birth.
In October 1942, the Hall suffered minor damage during World War II bombing, but in general was left mostly untouched as German pilots used the distinctive structure as a landmark.
In 1949 the canvas awning was removed and replaced with fluted aluminium panels below the glass roof, in a new attempt to cure the echo. However the acoustics were not properly tackled until 1969 when large fibreglass acoustic diffusing discs (commonly referred to as "mushrooms" or "flying saucers") were installed below the ceiling.
In 1968, the Hall hosted the Eurovision Song Contest, and from 1969–1988 the Miss World contest was staged at the venue.
In 1995, Greek keyboardist Yanni performed a concert there for his World Tour; the concert was recorded under the name of Live at Royal Albert Hall.
From 1996 until 2004, the Hall underwent a programme of renovation and development supported by a £20 million grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund and £20m from Arts Council England to enable it to meet the demands of the next century of events and performances.
Thirty "discreet projects" were designed and supervised by the architecture and engineering firm BDP without disrupting events. These projects included improved ventilation to the auditorium, more bars and restaurants, improved seating, better technical facilities, and improved backstage areas. Internally, the Circle seating was rebuilt during June 1996 to provide more legroom, better access, and improved sightlines.
The Royal Albert Hall in the 2000's
The largest project of the ongoing renovation and development was the building of a new south porch – door 12, accommodating a first-floor restaurant, a new ground floor box office and a below-ground loading bay.
Although the exterior of the building was largely unchanged, the south steps leading down to Prince Consort Road were demolished to allow the construction of underground vehicle access and a loading bay with accommodation for three HGVs carrying all the equipment brought by shows.
The steps were then reconstructed around a new south porch, named The Meitar Foyer after a significant donation from Mr & Mrs Meitar. The porch was built on a similar scale and style to the three pre-existing porches at Doors 3, 6 and 9: these works were undertaken by Taylor Woodrow.
The original steps featured in the early scenes of the 1965 film The Ipcress File. On the 4th. June 2004, the project received the Europa Nostra Award for remarkable achievement.
The East (Door 3) and West (Door 9) porches were glazed, and new bars opened along with ramps to improve disabled access. The Stalls were rebuilt in a four-week period in 2000 using steel supports, thereby allowing more space underneath for two new bars.
1,534 unique pivoting seats were installed, with an addition of 180 prime seats. The Choirs were rebuilt at the same time.
The whole building was redecorated in a style that reinforces its Victorian identity. 43,000 sq. ft (4,000 m2) of new carpets were laid in the rooms, stairs, and corridors – specially woven with a border that follows the oval curve of the building.
Between 2002 and 2004, there was a major rebuilding of the great organ (known as the Voice of Jupiter), built by "Father" Henry Willis in 1871 and rebuilt by Harrison & Harrison in 1924 and 1933.
The rebuilding was performed by Mander Organs, and it is now the second-largest pipe organ in the British Isles with 9,997 pipes in 147 stops. The largest is the Grand Organ in Liverpool Cathedral which has 10,268 pipes.
The Royal Albert Hall in the 2010's
During the first half of 2011, changes were made to the backstage areas in order to relocate and increase the size of crew catering areas under the South Steps away from the stage and to create additional dressing rooms nearer to the stage.
During the summer of 2012, the staff canteen and some changing areas were expanded and refurbished. From January to May the Box Office area at Door 12 underwent further modernisation to include a new Café Bar on the ground floor, a new Box Office with shop counters, and additional toilets.
Upon opening it was renamed 'The Zvi and Ofra Meitar Porch and Foyer.' owing to a large donation from the couple.
In Autumn 2013, work began on replacing the Victorian steam heating system over three years and improving and cooling across the building. This work followed the summer Proms season during which temperatures were unusually high.
From January the Cafe Consort on the Grand Tier was closed permanently in preparation for a new restaurant at a cost of £1 million. Verdi – Italian Kitchen was officially opened on the 15th. April with a lunch or dinner menu of stone baked pizzas, pasta, and classic desserts.
Design of The Royal Albert Hall
The Hall, a Grade I listed building, is an ellipse in plan, with its external major and minor axis of 272 and 236 feet (83 and 72 meters. The great glass and wrought-iron dome roofing the Hall is 135 ft (41 m) high.
Below the Arena floor there is room for two 4000 gallon water tanks, which are used for shows that flood the arena like Madame Butterfly.
The Hall was originally designed with a capacity for 8,000 people, and has accommodated as many as 12,000 (although present-day safety restrictions mean the maximum permitted capacity is now 5,272, including standing in the Gallery.
Around the outside of the building is an 800–foot–long terracotta mosaic frieze, depicting "The Triumph of Arts and Sciences", in reference to the Hall's dedication. Above the frieze is an inscription in 12-inch-high (30 cm) terracotta letters that combine historical fact and Biblical quotations:
"This hall was erected for the advancement
of the arts and sciences and works of industry
of all nations in fulfilment of the intention of
Albert Prince Consort.
The site was purchased with the proceeds of
the Great Exhibition of the year MDCCCLI.
The first stone of the Hall was laid by Her
Majesty Queen Victoria on the twentieth day
of May MDCCCLXVII and it was opened by Her
Majesty the Twenty Ninth of March in the year
MDCCCLXXI.
Thine O Lord is the greatness and the power
and the glory and the victory and the majesty.
For all that is in the heaven and in the earth is
Thine. The wise and their works are in the hand
of God. Glory be to God on high and on earth
peace".
Events at The Royal Albert Hall
The first concert at the Hall was Arthur Sullivan's cantata On Shore and Sea, performed on the 1st. May 1871.
Many events are promoted by the Hall, and since the early 1970's promoter Raymond Gubbay has brought a range of events to the Hall including opera, ballet and classical music.
Events also include rock concerts, conferences, banquets, ballroom dancing, poetry recitals, educational talks, motor shows, ballet, opera, film screenings and circus shows.
The Royal Albert Hall has hosted many sporting events, including boxing, squash, table tennis, basketball, wrestling (including the first Sumo wrestling tournament to be held in London) as well as UFC 38 (the first UFC event to be held in the UK), tennis, and even a marathon.
The Hall first hosted boxing in 1918, when it hosted a tournament between British and American servicemen. There was a colour bar in place at the Hall, preventing black boxers from fighting there, between 1923 and 1932.
Greats of British boxing such as Frank Bruno, Prince Naseem Hamed, Henry Cooper and Lennox Lewis have all appeared at the venue. The Hall's boxing history was halted in 1999 when a court ordered that boxing and wrestling matches could no longer be held at the venue. In 2011 that decision was overturned. In 2019 Nicola Adams won the WBO Flyweight title which was the first fight for a world title at the venue since Marco Antonio Barrera took on Paul Lloyd in 1999.
On the 6th. April 1968, the Hall hosted the Eurovision Song Contest which was broadcast in colour for the first time. The first Miss World contest broadcast in colour was also staged at the venue in 1969, and remained at the Hall every year until 1989.
One notable event was a Pink Floyd concert held on the 26th. June 1969. On that night they were banned from ever playing at the Hall again after shooting cannons, nailing things to the stage, and having a man in a gorilla suit roam the audience.
At one point, Rick Wright went to the pipe organ and began to play "The End of the Beginning", the final part of "Saucerful of Secrets", joined by the brass section of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (led by the conductor, Norman Smith) and the ladies of the Ealing Central Amateur Choir. A portion of the pipe organ recording is included on Pink Floyd's album The Endless River.
On the 18th. June 1985, British Gothic rock band The Sisters of Mercy recorded their live video album Wake at the Hall.
Between 1996 and 2008, the Hall hosted the annual National Television Awards, all of which were hosted by Sir Trevor McDonald.
Benefit concerts include the 1997 Music for Montserrat concert, arranged and produced by George Martin. The event featured artists such as Phil Collins, Mark Knopfler, Sting, Elton John, Eric Clapton, and Paul McCartney.
In 2006, Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour performed at the Hall for the first time since Pink Floyd's 1969 ban. He performed as part of his On an Island Tour. The shows were filmed and used for the live video release, Remember That Night (2007).
Rock band The Killers recorded their first live album, Live from the Royal Albert Hall in July 2009.
On the 5th. April 2010, Swedish progressive metal band Opeth recorded In Live Concert at the Royal Albert Hall, as they became the first Death metal band ever to perform at the Hall. The concert was part of the band's Evolution XX: An Opeth Anthology tour, made in celebration of their 20th. anniversary.
In July 2011, Janet Jackson performed three sold-out shows as part of her Number Ones, Up Close and Personal World Tour.
On the 2nd. October 2011, the Hall staged the 25th.-anniversary performance of Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera, which was broadcast live to cinemas across the world and filmed for DVD.
Lloyd Webber, the original London cast including Sarah Brightman and Michael Crawford, and four previous actors of the titular character, among others, were in attendance – Brightman and the previous Phantoms (aside from Crawford) performed an encore.
On the 22nd. September 2011, Adele performed a one-night-only concert as part of her tour. The concert was filmed for DVD, and screened at cinemas in 26 cities around the world.
Her performance debuted at number one in the United States with 96,000 copies sold, the highest one-week tally for a music DVD in four years. After one week, it became the best-selling music DVD of 2011. As of the 28th. November 2012, it had surpassed sales of one million copies in the United States and sales of three million copies worldwide.
It was the first music DVD to surpass sales of one million in the USA since the Eagles' Farewell 1 Tour-Live from Melbourne in 2005.
The 2012 Sunflower Jam charity concert featured Queen guitarist Brian May performing alongside bassist John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin, drummer Ian Paice of Deep Purple, and vocalists Bruce Dickinson of Iron Maiden, and Alice Cooper.
On the 24th. September 2012, Classic FM celebrated the 20th. anniversary of their launch with a concert at the Hall. The program featured live performances of works by Handel, Puccini, Rachmaninoff, Parry, Vaughan Williams, Tchaikovsky and Karl Jenkins who conducted his piece The Benedictus from The Armed Man.
On the 19th. November 2012, the Hall hosted the 100th.-anniversary performance of the Royal Variety Performance, attended by the HM Queen Elizabeth II and HRH Duke of Edinburgh, with boy-band One Direction among the performers.
During his Rattle That Lock Tour, David Gilmour performed at the Royal Albert Hall eleven times between September 2015 and September 2016, once in aid of the Teenage Cancer Trust.
On the 13th. November 2015, Canadian musician Devin Townsend recorded his second live album Ziltoid Live at the Royal Albert Hall.
Kylie Minogue performed at the Royal Albert Hall on the 11th. December 2015 and the 9th. - 10th. December 2016 as part of her "A Kylie Christmas" concert series.
On the 3rd. May 2016, singer-songwriter and Soundgarden vocalist Chris Cornell played at the Hall in what would become the last UK show of his life as part of his "Higher Truth" European tour.
Cornell performed stripped-back acoustic renditions from his back-catalogue to rave reviews, including songs from the likes of Soundgarden, Temple of the Dog, Audioslave and his solo work. Cornell died on the 18th. May 2017.
On the 22nd. April 2016, British rock band Bring Me the Horizon performed and recorded their Live at the Royal Albert Hall album, with accompaniment from the Parallax Orchestra conducted by Simon Dobson.
At a press conference held at the Hall in October 2016, Phil Collins announced his return to live performing with his Not Dead Yet Tour, which began in June 2017. The tour included five nights at the Hall which sold out in fifteen seconds.
In October 2017, American rock band Alter Bridge also recorded a live album accompanied by the Parallax Orchestra with Simon Dobson.
Also in 2017, the Hall hosted the 70th. British Academy Film Awards, often referred to as the BAFTAs, for the first time in 20 years, replacing the Royal Opera House at which the event had been held since 2008.
In 2018, WWE held its second United Kingdom Championship Tournament on the 18th. and 19th. June.
Also in 2018, the world premiere of PlayStation in Concert was organised at the Hall. It featured PlayStation game music from the 1990's up until then. It was arranged by Jim Fowler and performed by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.
In May 2019, Mariah Carey performed 3 shows as part of her Caution World Tour. Comedian Bill Burr filmed his 2019 special Paper Tiger at the Hall. In November 2020, One Direction member Niall Horan performed a one off live-streamed show in an empty Hall (during the COVID-19 pandemic) to raise money for charity.
Regular Events at the Royal Albert Hall
The Royal Choral Society
The Royal Choral Society is the longest-running regular performer at the Hall, having given its first performance as the Royal Albert Hall Choral Society on the 8th. May 1872. From 1876, it established the annual Good Friday performance of Handel's Messiah.
BBC Proms
The BBC Sir Henry Wood Promenade Concerts, known as "The Proms", is a popular annual eight-week summer season of daily classical music concerts and other events at the Hall.
In 1942, following the destruction of the Queen's Hall in an air raid, the Hall was chosen as the new venue for the proms. In 1944 with increased danger to the Hall, part of the proms were held in the Bedford Corn Exchange.
Following the end of World War II the proms continued in the Hall, and have done so annually every summer since. The event was founded in 1895, and now each season consists of over 70 concerts, in addition to a series of events at other venues across the United Kingdom on the last night.
In 2009, the total number of concerts reached 100 for the first time. Jiří Bělohlávek described The Proms as:
"The world's largest and most
democratic musical festival".
Proms is a term which arose from the original practice of the audience promenading, or strolling, in some areas during the concert. Proms concert-goers, particularly those who stand, are sometimes described as "Promenaders", but are most commonly referred to as "Prommers".
Tennis
Tennis was first played at the Hall in March 1970, and the ATP Champions Tour Masters has been played annually every December since 1997.
Classical Spectacular
Classical Spectacular, a Raymond Gubbay production, has been coming to the Hall since 1988. It combines popular classical music, lights and special effects.
Cirque du Soleil
Cirque du Soleil has performed annually, with a show being staged every January, since 2003. Cirque has had to adapt many of their touring shows to perform at the venue, modifying the set, usually built for arenas or big top tents instead.
Classic Brit Awards
Since 2000, the Classic Brit Awards has been hosted annually in May at the Hall. It is organised by the British Phonographic Industry.
Festival of Remembrance
The Royal British Legion Festival of Remembrance is held annually the day before Remembrance Sunday.
Institute of Directors
For 60 years the Institute of Directors' Annual Convention has been synonymous with the Hall, although in 2011 and 2012 it was held at indigO2.
The English National Ballet
Since 1998 the English National Ballet has had several specially staged arena summer seasons in partnership with the Hall and Raymond Gubbay. These include Strictly Gershwin, June 2008 and 2011, Swan Lake, June 2002, 2004, 2007, 2010 and 2013, Romeo & Juliet, June 2001 and 2005, and The Sleeping Beauty, April - June 2000.
Teenage Cancer Trust
Starting in the year 2000 the Teenage Cancer Trust has held annual charity concerts (with the exception of 2001). They started as a one-off event, but have expanded over the years to a week or more of evening events. Roger Daltrey of the Who has been intimately involved with the planning of the events.
Graduation Ceremonies
The Hall is used annually by the neighbouring Imperial College London and the Royal College of Art for graduation ceremonies. For several years the University of London and Kingston University also held their graduation ceremonies at the Hall.
Films, Premières and Live Orchestra Screenings
The venue has screened several films since the early silent days. It was the only London venue to show William Fox's The Queen of Sheba in the 1920's.
The Hall has hosted many premières, including the UK première of Fritz Lang's Die Nibelungen, 101 Dalmatians on the 4th. December 1996, the European première of Spandau Ballet's Soul Boys of the Western World, and three James Bond royal world premières - Die Another Day on the 18th. November 2002 (attended by Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip), Skyfall on the 23rd. October 2012 (attended by Charles, Prince of Wales and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall), and Spectre on the 26th. October 2015 (attended by Prince William, Duke of Cambridge and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge).
The Hall held the first 3D world première of Titanic 3D, on the 27th. March 2012, with James Cameron and Kate Winslet in attendance.
Since 2009, the Hall has also curated regular seasons of English-language film-and-live-orchestra screenings, including The Lord of the Rings trilogy, Gladiator, Star Trek, Star Trek Into Darkness, Interstellar, The Matrix, West Side Story, Breakfast at Tiffany's, Back to the Future, Jaws, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, and the world première of Titanic Live in Concert.
The only non-English-language movie to have been screened at the Hall is Baahubali: The Beginning (an Indian movie in Telugu and Tamil, but premiered with the Hindi dubbed version).
National Brass Band Championships of Great Britain
The National Brass Band Championships of Great Britain, one of the most prestigious prizes in the annual brass band contesting calendar, holds the Final of the Championship section at the Royal Albert Hall each October.
Beyond the Main Stage
The Hall hosts hundreds of events and activities beyond its main auditorium. There are regular free art exhibitions in the ground floor Amphi corridor, which can be viewed when attending events or on dedicated viewing dates.
Visitors can take a guided tour of the Hall on most days. The most common is the one-hour Grand Tour which includes most front-of-house areas, the auditorium, the Gallery and the Royal Retiring Room.
Other tours include Story of the Proms, Behind the Scenes, Inside Out and School tours.
Children's events include Storytelling and Music Sessions for ages four and under. These take place in the Door 9 Porch and Albert's Band sessions in the Elgar Room during school holidays.
"Live Music in Verdi" takes place in the Italian restaurant on a Friday night featuring different artists each week.
"Late Night Jazz" events in the Elgar Room, generally on a Thursday night, feature cabaret-style seating and a relaxed atmosphere with drinks available.
"Classical Coffee Mornings" are held on Sundays in the Elgar Room with musicians from the Royal College of Music accompanied with drinks and pastries.
Sunday brunch events take place in Verdi Italian restaurant and feature different genres of music.
Regular Performers at the Royal Albert Hall
Eric Clapton is a regular performer at the Hall. Since 1964, Clapton has performed at the Hall over 200 times, and has stated that performing at the venue is: "Like playing in my front room".
In December 1964, Clapton made his first appearance at the Hall with the Yardbirds. It was also the venue for his band Cream's farewell concerts in 1968 and reunion shows in 2005. He also instigated the Concert for George, which was held at the Hall on the 29th. November 2002 to pay tribute to Clapton's lifelong friend, former Beatle George Harrison. Clapton passed 200 shows at the Hall in 2015.
David Gilmour played at the Hall in support of two solo albums, while also releasing a live concert on September 2006 entitled Remember That Night which was recorded during his three nights playing at the Hall for his 2006 On an Island tour.
Notable guests were Robert Wyatt and David Bowie (who sang lead for "Arnold Layne" and "Comfortably Numb"). The live concert was televised by BBC One on the 9th. September 2007.
Gilmour returned to the Hall for four nights in September 2016 (where he was joined on stage by Benedict Cumberbatch for "Comfortably Numb"), having previously played five nights in 2015, to end his 34-day Rattle That Lock Tour. He also made an appearance on the 24th. April 2016 as part of the Teenage Cancer Trust event.
Shirley Bassey is one of the Hall's most prolific female headline performers, having appeared many times at the Hall since the 1970's. In 2001, she sang "Happy Birthday" for the Duke of Edinburgh's 80th. birthday concert. In 2007, she sang at Fashion Rocks in aid of the Prince's Trust.
On the 30th. March 2011, she sang at a gala celebrating the 80th. birthday of Mikhail Gorbachev. In May 2011, she performed at the Classic Brit Awards, singing "Goldfinger" in tribute to the recently deceased composer John Barry. On the 20th. June 2011, she returned and sang "Diamonds Are Forever" and "Goldfinger", accompanied by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, as the climax to the memorial concert for Barry.
James Last appeared 90 times at the Hall between 1973 and 2015, making him the most frequent non–British performer to have played the venue.
Education and Outreach Programme
The Hall's education and outreach programme engages with more than 200,000 people a year. It includes workshops for local teenagers led by musicians such as Foals, Jake Bugg, Emeli Sandé, Nicola Benedetti, Alison Balsom and First Aid Kit, innovative science and maths lessons, visits to local residential homes from the venue's in-house group, Albert's Band, under the 'Songbook' banner, and the Friendship Matinee: an orchestral concert for community groups, with £5 admission.
Mis-labellings
A famous and widely bootlegged concert by Bob Dylan at the Free Trade Hall in Manchester on the 17th. May 1966 was mistakenly labelled the "Royal Albert Hall Concert".
In 1998, Columbia Records released an official recording, The Bootleg Series Vol. 4: Bob Dylan Live 1966, The "Royal Albert Hall" Concert. It maintains the erroneous title but does include details of the actual location.
Recordings from the Royal Albert Hall concerts on the 26th. and 27th. May 1966 were finally released by the artist in 2016 as The Real Royal Albert Hall 1966 Concert.
Another concert mislabelled as being at the Hall was by Creedence Clearwater Revival. An album by them entitled The Royal Albert Hall Concert was released in 1980. When Fantasy Records discovered the show on the album actually took place at the Oakland Coliseum, it retitled the album The Concert.
Pop Culture References
A large mural by Peter Blake, entitled Appearing at the Royal Albert Hall, is displayed in the Hall's Café Bar. Unveiled in April 2014, it shows more than 400 famous figures who have appeared on the stage.
In 1955, English film director Alfred Hitchcock filmed the climax of The Man Who Knew Too Much at the Hall. The 15-minute sequence featured James Stewart, Doris Day and composer Bernard Herrmann, and was filmed partly in the Queen's Box.
Hitchcock was a long-time patron of the Hall and had already set the finale of his 1927 film, The Ring at the Hall, as well as his initial version of The Man Who Knew Too Much, starring Leslie Banks, Edna Best and Peter Lorre.
Other notable films shot at the Hall include Major Barbara, Love Story, The Seventh Veil, The Ipcress File, A Touch of Class, Shine, and Spice World.
In the song "A Day in the Life" by the Beatles, the Albert Hall is mentioned. The verse goes as follows:
"I read the news today, oh boy
four thousand holes in Blackburn, Lancashire
and though the holes were rather small
they had to count them all
now they know how many holes it takes to fill the Albert Hall
I'd love to turn you on".
The song "Session Man" by The Kinks references the Hall:
"He never will forget at all
The day he played at Albert Hall".
In the song "Shame" by Robbie Williams and Gary Barlow, Barlow mentions the Hall in his verse:
"I read your mind and tried to call,
my tears could fill the Albert Hall".
'Like a Rolling Stone'
So what else happened on the day that Sarah posted the card?
Well, the 20th. July 1965 marked the release of 'Like a Rolling Stone'.
'Like a Rolling Stone' is a song by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, released by Columbia Records. Its confrontational lyrics originated in an extended piece of verse Dylan wrote in June 1965, when he returned exhausted from a gruelling tour of England.
Dylan distilled this draft into four verses and a chorus. 'Like a Rolling Stone' was recorded a few weeks later as part of the sessions for the forthcoming album Highway 61 Revisited.
During a difficult two-day pre-production, Dylan struggled to find the essence of the song, which was demoed without success in 3/4 time. A breakthrough was made when it was tried in a rock music format, and rookie session musician Al Kooper improvised the organ riff for which the track is known.
Columbia Records were unhappy with both the song's length at over six minutes and its heavy electric sound, and were hesitant to release it.
It was only when, a month later, a copy was leaked to a new popular music club and heard by influential DJs that the song was put out as a single. Although radio stations were reluctant to play such a long track, 'Like a Rolling Stone' reached No. 2 in the US Billboard charts and became a worldwide hit.
Critics have described the track as revolutionary in its combination of different musical elements, the youthful, cynical sound of Dylan's voice, and the directness of the question "How does it feel?"
"Like a Rolling Stone" completed the transformation of Dylan's image from folk singer to rock star, and is considered one of the most influential compositions in postwar popular music.
According to review aggregator Acclaimed Music, 'Like a Rolling Stone' is the statistically most acclaimed song of all time.
Rolling Stone magazine listed the song at No. 1 in their "500 Greatest Songs of All Time" list. The song has been covered by many artists, from the Jimi Hendrix Experience and the Rolling Stones to the Wailers and Green Day.
At an auction in 2014, Dylan's handwritten lyrics to the song fetched $2 million, a world record for a popular music manuscript.
“BRINGING BACK A PIECE OF MARS -- Painting shows proposed Mars Ascent Vehicle as it lifts of the surface of the red planet to bring a soil sample to Earth for analysis. A mission study, performed for NASA by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, was based on a rendezvous in Mars orbit, similar to the lunar orbit rendezvous used by Apollo. A lander vehicle would touch down on Mars and pick up a sample of soil. The lander base would be left behind. The return vehicle, a three-stage craft, would fly to a 500-kilometer (300 mile) orbit around Mars. In orbit, at upper left of painting, are two orbiter vehicles -- the carrier orbiter at right, and the rendezvous/return orbiter. The carrier orbiter would ferry the lander to Mars and place it in pre-landing orbit. After the surface mission is complete, the autonomous rendezvous/return orbiter would remove the soil sample from the ascent vehicle and bring the sample to Earth.”
Well written...refreshing.
Note that there appear to be a total of five engines on the ascent vehicle, yet only two are firing. I assume the other three were dedicated to deorbit/initial descent maneuvers. Finally, a Viking-like terminal descent engine, with its multiple small nozzles, is visible on the descent stage.
I’ve never seen this before, although it was featured on the cover of “NASA Activities”, October 1980, Vol. 11, No. 10. A striking perspective, masterfully depicted by Ken Hodges. Thank you for your service Brother, continue to Rest In Peace:
www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/latimes/name/ken-hodges-obit...
Credit: Legacy website
Proposals for a university in Queensland began in the 1870s. A Royal Commission in 1874, chaired by Sir Charles Lilley, recommended the immediate establishment of a university. Those against a university argued that technical rather than academic education was more important in an economy dominated by primary industry. Those in favour of the university, in the face of this opposition, distanced themselves from Oxford and Cambridge and proposed instead a model derived from the mid-western states of the USA. A second Royal Commission in 1891 recommended the inclusion of five faculties in a new university; Arts, Law, Medicine, Science and Applied Science. Education generally was given a low priority in Queensland's budgets, and in a colony with a literacy rate of 57% in 1861, primary education was the first concern well ahead of secondary and technical education. The government, despite the findings of the Royal Commissions, was unwilling to commit funds to the establishment of a university.
In 1893 the Queensland University Extension Movement was begun by a group of private individuals who organised public lecture courses in adult education, hoping to excite wider community support for a university in Queensland. In 1894, 245 students were enrolled in the extension classes and the lectures were described as practical and useful. In 1906 the University Extension Movement staged the University Congress, a forum for interested delegates to promote the idea of a university. Opinion was mobilised, a fund was started, and a draft Bill for a Queensland University was prepared. Stress was laid on the practical aspects of university education and its importance for the commerce of Queensland. The proceedings of the Congress were forwarded to Premier Kidston. In October 1906, sixty acres in Victoria Park were gazetted for university purposes.
The University of Queensland was established by an Act of State Parliament on the 10th of December 1909 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Queensland's separation from the colony of New South Wales. The Act allowed for the university to be governed by a senate of 20 men and Sir William MacGregor, the incoming Governor, was appointed the first chancellor with RH Roe as the vice chancellor. Old Government House in George Street was set aside for the University following the departure of the Governor to the Bardon residence, Fernberg, sparking the first debates about the best location for the university.
In 1910 the first teaching faculties were created. These included Engineering, Classics, Mathematics, and Chemistry. In December of the same year, the Senate appointed the first four professors; BD Steele in chemistry, JL Michie in classics, H. Priestly in mathematics and A Gibson in engineering. In 1911 the first students enrolled.
Practically from the start there was controversy about a permanent site for the University. Old Government House was too small and was seen by many as evidence merely of government parsimony. There was not much room for expansion and there were conflicts with the neighbouring Brisbane Central Technical College. Victoria Park had been chosen in 1906 for a permanent site and in 1922 a further 170 acres were vested in the University. The high cost of preparing the steeply sloping land at Victoria Park for building made it a less than ideal site despite its central location and proximity to the Royal Brisbane Hospital. Yeronga Park and Saint Lucia were considered as options. But in 1926 the whole issue was transformed when Doctor James O'Neil Mayne and Miss Mary Emilia Mayne made £50,000 available to the Brisbane City Council to resume land at Saint Lucia and present it to the University. Opinion was divided with Professor Steele and many members of the medical profession against Saint Lucia because of its isolation and lack of public transport. A meeting of the Senate, on the 10th of December, voted for the Saint Lucia site on the condition that the city council provided access. Those voting for Saint Lucia included Archbishop Duhig, EJD Stanley, ACV Melbourne, and Professor Richards. Doctor Lockhart Gibson, Chancellor AJ Thynne and Archbishop Sharp were amongst those who voted for Victoria Park. In 1930 the Senate handed over Victoria Park, less eleven acres reserved for a medical school, to the Brisbane City Council in exchange for the Saint Lucia site.
During the years of the Depression that followed the university suffered progressive reduction of government funding. Cuts were made to both staff salaries and numbers, while student numbers trebled between 1923 and 1933. There was no prospect of building the new university until 1935 when the Premier, W. Forgan Smith, announced that the Queensland Government would undertake construction at Saint Lucia. This was one of the three major development projects initiated in the mid 1930s by the Queensland government to create employment, the others being the Stanley River Dam and the Story Bridge. The University Senate called for and received schemes from various enthusiasts, including Professor Hawken, Dr FW Robinson, AB Leven, and Dr JJC Bradfield. Taking ideas from these suggestions the Senate committee produced its own preliminary design. The principle building, containing Arts, Law and administration, was E-shaped and enclosed one side of an arcaded quadrangle. Related outer buildings contained Engineering, Biology, Medicine, Physics, Chemistry, Geology, a museum and a teachers' training college. The Queensland government, despite hopes for a competition, appointed the Sydney firm of Hennessy, Hennessy & Co as architects for the project; and Jack Francis Hennessy (1887 - 1955) produced the coherent and logical plan that still lies at the heart of the University.
The foundation stone was laid in 1937 by Forgan Smith but it was another year before building commenced. Construction began in March 1938 with the main building, now known as the Forgan Smith Building, and was followed shortly afterward with the lower floors of the library and the Chemistry Building. It was to proceed, due to financial constraints, in stages clockwise around the court.
Work was disrupted by the Second World War (WWII). The main building served its first use, from 1942 - 1944, as the headquarters of General Sir Thomas Blamey (head of the Australian Defence Forces). The army evacuated the building and work re-commenced by 1948. The Forgan Smith Building was officially opened in May 1949 by Premier Hanlon. The Duhig Library (two-stories only and named for Archbishop Sir James Duhig) was also ready by this time, as was the Steele Building (named for the first professor of chemistry, Professor Bertram Steele).
In 1951 the Richards Building (named for the first professor of geology, Henry Casselli Richards) was completed. In 1955 the Parnell Building (named for the inaugural professor of physics, Thomas Parnell) and an addition to the west wing of the Forgan Smith Building were completed. In 1962, jointly funded by State and Commonwealth Governments, the Goddard Building (named for the second professor of biology, Ernest Jones Goddard) was completed. In 1965 three extra floors were added to the Duhig Library to the design of James Birrell.
The final building at the western end of the Forgan Smith was to have been a Great Hall. JD Story, the vice chancellor from 1938 until 1960, proposed in 1959 that this be replaced by a western Arts building and in 1972 construction began on the Michie Building (named for first the professor of classics, J.L. Michie). The state government announced in 1974 that it would provide the funding to clad the building in sandstone. The Michie Building was completed in 1978.
In March 1979 the colonnade between the Michie Building and the Goddard Building was completed enclosing the Great Court Complex.
A number of changes have been made over the years to the Great Court Complex. Some of buildings have been augmented or altered: there are various structures on top of the Goddard Building, and a new, discreet addition to the Law Library at the western end of the Forgan Smith Building which was designed by Robert Riddell. Perhaps the most significant change is that the planting within the Court is less formal than originally intended, and takes little account of Hennessy's plans for strong visual axes to tie the whole Court together. Notable also in this respect are Professor Gareth Robert's master plan for the university which involved the closing of the circular drive and the placement of the Main Library and the Great Hall in front of the Forgan Smith Building.
The Sculptors:
As part of Hennessy, Hennessy & Co's original concept, it was intended that the Great Court would include extensive sculptural work portraying historical panels, statues, coats of arms and panels of Australian plant and animal life. Many of the designs were done by Leo Drinan, who was the principle architect with Hennessy, Hennessy & Co. Work on the sculptures began in 1939, with German born John Theodore Muller and Frederick James McGowan as the principle stonemasons. Work was halted by the war in 1942 and McGowan died before it resumed three years later. Muller continued to carve until his death at more than 80 years of age, in 1953. At the time of his death, all of the friezes, most of the statues, and half of the grotesques, coats of arms, arches and roundels were completed.
Carving virtually stopped at the University after Muller's death and resumed only after the Michie Building was under construction. A competition amongst several Queensland sculptors in 1976 led to the commissioning of Mrs Rhyl Hinwood. Mrs Hinwood has since continued to carve numerous grotesques and coats of arms for the Court, as well as the two monumental figures at the main entrance to the Goddard Building.
Source: Queensland Heritage Register.
Hadrian's Wall (Latin: Vallum Hadriani, also known as the Roman Wall, Picts' Wall, or Vallum Aelium in Latin), is a former defensive fortification of the Roman province of Britannia, begun in AD 122 in the reign of the Emperor Hadrian.[1] Running from Wallsend on the River Tyne in the east to Bowness-on-Solway in the west of what is now northern England, it was a stone wall with large ditches in front of it and behind it that crossed the whole width of the island. Soldiers were garrisoned along the line of the wall in large forts, smaller milecastles, and intervening turrets. In addition to the wall's defensive military role, its gates may have been customs posts.
Hadrian's Wall Path generally runs very close to the wall. Almost all of the standing masonry of the wall was removed in early modern times and used for local roads and farmhouses. None of it stands to its original height, but modern work has exposed much of the footings, and some segments display a few courses of modern masonry reconstruction. Many of the excavated forts on or near the wall are open to the public, and various nearby museums present its history. The largest Roman archaeological feature in Britain, it runs a total of 73 miles (117.5 kilometres) in northern England. Regarded as a British cultural icon, Hadrian's Wall is one of Britain's major ancient tourist attractions. It was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987. The turf-built Antonine Wall in what is now central Scotland, which briefly superseded Hadrian's Wall before being abandoned, was declared a World Heritage Site in 2008.
Hadrian's Wall marked the boundary between Roman Britannia and unconquered Caledonia to the north. The wall lies entirely within England and has never formed the Anglo-Scottish border, though it is sometimes loosely or colloquially described as being such.
Roman Britain was the territory that became the Roman province of Britannia after the Roman conquest of Britain, consisting of a large part of the island of Great Britain. The occupation lasted from AD 43 to AD 410.
Julius Caesar invaded Britain in 55 and 54 BC as part of his Gallic Wars. According to Caesar, the Britons had been overrun or culturally assimilated by the Belgae during the British Iron Age and had been aiding Caesar's enemies. The Belgae were the only Celtic tribe to cross the sea into Britain, for to all other Celtic tribes this land was unknown. He received tribute, installed the friendly king Mandubracius over the Trinovantes, and returned to Gaul. Planned invasions under Augustus were called off in 34, 27, and 25 BC. In 40 AD, Caligula assembled 200,000 men at the Channel on the continent, only to have them gather seashells (musculi) according to Suetonius, perhaps as a symbolic gesture to proclaim Caligula's victory over the sea. Three years later, Claudius directed four legions to invade Britain and restore the exiled king Verica over the Atrebates. The Romans defeated the Catuvellauni, and then organized their conquests as the province of Britain. By 47 AD, the Romans held the lands southeast of the Fosse Way. Control over Wales was delayed by reverses and the effects of Boudica's uprising, but the Romans expanded steadily northward.
The conquest of Britain continued under command of Gnaeus Julius Agricola (77–84), who expanded the Roman Empire as far as Caledonia. In mid-84 AD, Agricola faced the armies of the Caledonians, led by Calgacus, at the Battle of Mons Graupius. Battle casualties were estimated by Tacitus to be upwards of 10,000 on the Caledonian side and about 360 on the Roman side. The bloodbath at Mons Graupius concluded the forty-year conquest of Britain, a period that possibly saw between 100,000 and 250,000 Britons killed. In the context of pre-industrial warfare and of a total population of Britain of c. 2 million, these are very high figures.
Under the 2nd-century emperors Hadrian and Antoninus Pius, two walls were built to defend the Roman province from the Caledonians, whose realms in the Scottish Highlands were never controlled. Around 197 AD, the Severan Reforms divided Britain into two provinces: Britannia Superior and Britannia Inferior. During the Diocletian Reforms, at the end of the 3rd century, Britannia was divided into four provinces under the direction of a vicarius, who administered the Diocese of the Britains. A fifth province, Valentia, is attested in the later 4th century. For much of the later period of the Roman occupation, Britannia was subject to barbarian invasions and often came under the control of imperial usurpers and imperial pretenders. The final Roman withdrawal from Britain occurred around 410; the native kingdoms are considered to have formed Sub-Roman Britain after that.
Following the conquest of the Britons, a distinctive Romano-British culture emerged as the Romans introduced improved agriculture, urban planning, industrial production, and architecture. The Roman goddess Britannia became the female personification of Britain. After the initial invasions, Roman historians generally only mention Britain in passing. Thus, most present knowledge derives from archaeological investigations and occasional epigraphic evidence lauding the Britannic achievements of an emperor. Roman citizens settled in Britain from many parts of the Empire.
History
Britain was known to the Classical world. The Greeks, the Phoenicians and the Carthaginians traded for Cornish tin in the 4th century BC. The Greeks referred to the Cassiterides, or "tin islands", and placed them near the west coast of Europe. The Carthaginian sailor Himilco is said to have visited the island in the 6th or 5th century BC and the Greek explorer Pytheas in the 4th. It was regarded as a place of mystery, with some writers refusing to believe it existed.
The first direct Roman contact was when Julius Caesar undertook two expeditions in 55 and 54 BC, as part of his conquest of Gaul, believing the Britons were helping the Gallic resistance. The first expedition was more a reconnaissance than a full invasion and gained a foothold on the coast of Kent but was unable to advance further because of storm damage to the ships and a lack of cavalry. Despite the military failure, it was a political success, with the Roman Senate declaring a 20-day public holiday in Rome to honour the unprecedented achievement of obtaining hostages from Britain and defeating Belgic tribes on returning to the continent.
The second invasion involved a substantially larger force and Caesar coerced or invited many of the native Celtic tribes to pay tribute and give hostages in return for peace. A friendly local king, Mandubracius, was installed, and his rival, Cassivellaunus, was brought to terms. Hostages were taken, but historians disagree over whether any tribute was paid after Caesar returned to Gaul.
Caesar conquered no territory and left no troops behind, but he established clients and brought Britain into Rome's sphere of influence. Augustus planned invasions in 34, 27 and 25 BC, but circumstances were never favourable, and the relationship between Britain and Rome settled into one of diplomacy and trade. Strabo, writing late in Augustus's reign, claimed that taxes on trade brought in more annual revenue than any conquest could. Archaeology shows that there was an increase in imported luxury goods in southeastern Britain. Strabo also mentions British kings who sent embassies to Augustus, and Augustus's own Res Gestae refers to two British kings he received as refugees. When some of Tiberius's ships were carried to Britain in a storm during his campaigns in Germany in 16 AD, they came back with tales of monsters.
Rome appears to have encouraged a balance of power in southern Britain, supporting two powerful kingdoms: the Catuvellauni, ruled by the descendants of Tasciovanus, and the Atrebates, ruled by the descendants of Commius. This policy was followed until 39 or 40 AD, when Caligula received an exiled member of the Catuvellaunian dynasty and planned an invasion of Britain that collapsed in farcical circumstances before it left Gaul. When Claudius successfully invaded in 43 AD, it was in aid of another fugitive British ruler, Verica of the Atrebates.
Roman invasion
The invasion force in 43 AD was led by Aulus Plautius,[26] but it is unclear how many legions were sent. The Legio II Augusta, commanded by future emperor Vespasian, was the only one directly attested to have taken part. The Legio IX Hispana, the XIV Gemina (later styled Martia Victrix) and the XX (later styled Valeria Victrix) are known to have served during the Boudican Revolt of 60/61, and were probably there since the initial invasion. This is not certain because the Roman army was flexible, with units being moved around whenever necessary. The IX Hispana may have been permanently stationed, with records showing it at Eboracum (York) in 71 and on a building inscription there dated 108, before being destroyed in the east of the Empire, possibly during the Bar Kokhba revolt.
The invasion was delayed by a troop mutiny until an imperial freedman persuaded them to overcome their fear of crossing the Ocean and campaigning beyond the limits of the known world. They sailed in three divisions, and probably landed at Richborough in Kent; at least part of the force may have landed near Fishbourne, West Sussex.
The Catuvellauni and their allies were defeated in two battles: the first, assuming a Richborough landing, on the river Medway, the second on the river Thames. One of their leaders, Togodumnus, was killed, but his brother Caratacus survived to continue resistance elsewhere. Plautius halted at the Thames and sent for Claudius, who arrived with reinforcements, including artillery and elephants, for the final march to the Catuvellaunian capital, Camulodunum (Colchester). Vespasian subdued the southwest, Cogidubnus was set up as a friendly king of several territories, and treaties were made with tribes outside direct Roman control.
Establishment of Roman rule
After capturing the south of the island, the Romans turned their attention to what is now Wales. The Silures, Ordovices and Deceangli remained implacably opposed to the invaders and for the first few decades were the focus of Roman military attention, despite occasional minor revolts among Roman allies like the Brigantes and the Iceni. The Silures were led by Caratacus, and he carried out an effective guerrilla campaign against Governor Publius Ostorius Scapula. Finally, in 51, Ostorius lured Caratacus into a set-piece battle and defeated him. The British leader sought refuge among the Brigantes, but their queen, Cartimandua, proved her loyalty by surrendering him to the Romans. He was brought as a captive to Rome, where a dignified speech he made during Claudius's triumph persuaded the emperor to spare his life. The Silures were still not pacified, and Cartimandua's ex-husband Venutius replaced Caratacus as the most prominent leader of British resistance.
On Nero's accession, Roman Britain extended as far north as Lindum. Gaius Suetonius Paulinus, the conqueror of Mauretania (modern day Algeria and Morocco), then became governor of Britain, and in 60 and 61 he moved against Mona (Anglesey) to settle accounts with Druidism once and for all. Paulinus led his army across the Menai Strait and massacred the Druids and burnt their sacred groves.
While Paulinus was campaigning in Mona, the southeast of Britain rose in revolt under the leadership of Boudica. She was the widow of the recently deceased king of the Iceni, Prasutagus. The Roman historian Tacitus reports that Prasutagus had left a will leaving half his kingdom to Nero in the hope that the remainder would be left untouched. He was wrong. When his will was enforced, Rome[clarification needed] responded by violently seizing the tribe's lands in full. Boudica protested. In consequence, Rome[clarification needed] punished her and her daughters by flogging and rape. In response, the Iceni, joined by the Trinovantes, destroyed the Roman colony at Camulodunum (Colchester) and routed the part of the IXth Legion that was sent to relieve it. Paulinus rode to London (then called Londinium), the rebels' next target, but concluded it could not be defended. Abandoned, it was destroyed, as was Verulamium (St. Albans). Between seventy and eighty thousand people are said to have been killed in the three cities. But Paulinus regrouped with two of the three legions still available to him, chose a battlefield, and, despite being outnumbered by more than twenty to one, defeated the rebels in the Battle of Watling Street. Boudica died not long afterwards, by self-administered poison or by illness. During this time, the Emperor Nero considered withdrawing Roman forces from Britain altogether.
There was further turmoil in 69, the "Year of the Four Emperors". As civil war raged in Rome, weak governors were unable to control the legions in Britain, and Venutius of the Brigantes seized his chance. The Romans had previously defended Cartimandua against him, but this time were unable to do so. Cartimandua was evacuated, and Venutius was left in control of the north of the country. After Vespasian secured the empire, his first two appointments as governor, Quintus Petillius Cerialis and Sextus Julius Frontinus, took on the task of subduing the Brigantes and Silures respectively.[38] Frontinus extended Roman rule to all of South Wales, and initiated exploitation of the mineral resources, such as the gold mines at Dolaucothi.
In the following years, the Romans conquered more of the island, increasing the size of Roman Britain. Governor Gnaeus Julius Agricola, father-in-law to the historian Tacitus, conquered the Ordovices in 78. With the XX Valeria Victrix legion, Agricola defeated the Caledonians in 84 at the Battle of Mons Graupius, in north-east Scotland. This was the high-water mark of Roman territory in Britain: shortly after his victory, Agricola was recalled from Britain back to Rome, and the Romans initially retired to a more defensible line along the Forth–Clyde isthmus, freeing soldiers badly needed along other frontiers.
For much of the history of Roman Britain, a large number of soldiers were garrisoned on the island. This required that the emperor station a trusted senior man as governor of the province. As a result, many future emperors served as governors or legates in this province, including Vespasian, Pertinax, and Gordian I.
Roman military organisation in the north
In 84 AD
In 84 AD
In 155 AD
In 155 AD
Hadrian's Wall, and Antonine Wall
There is no historical source describing the decades that followed Agricola's recall. Even the name of his replacement is unknown. Archaeology has shown that some Roman forts south of the Forth–Clyde isthmus were rebuilt and enlarged; others appear to have been abandoned. By 87 the frontier had been consolidated on the Stanegate. Roman coins and pottery have been found circulating at native settlement sites in the Scottish Lowlands in the years before 100, indicating growing Romanisation. Some of the most important sources for this era are the writing tablets from the fort at Vindolanda in Northumberland, mostly dating to 90–110. These tablets provide evidence for the operation of a Roman fort at the edge of the Roman Empire, where officers' wives maintained polite society while merchants, hauliers and military personnel kept the fort operational and supplied.
Around 105 there appears to have been a serious setback at the hands of the tribes of the Picts: several Roman forts were destroyed by fire, with human remains and damaged armour at Trimontium (at modern Newstead, in SE Scotland) indicating hostilities at least at that site.[citation needed] There is also circumstantial evidence that auxiliary reinforcements were sent from Germany, and an unnamed British war of the period is mentioned on the gravestone of a tribune of Cyrene. Trajan's Dacian Wars may have led to troop reductions in the area or even total withdrawal followed by slighting of the forts by the Picts rather than an unrecorded military defeat. The Romans were also in the habit of destroying their own forts during an orderly withdrawal, in order to deny resources to an enemy. In either case, the frontier probably moved south to the line of the Stanegate at the Solway–Tyne isthmus around this time.
A new crisis occurred at the beginning of Hadrian's reign): a rising in the north which was suppressed by Quintus Pompeius Falco. When Hadrian reached Britannia on his famous tour of the Roman provinces around 120, he directed an extensive defensive wall, known to posterity as Hadrian's Wall, to be built close to the line of the Stanegate frontier. Hadrian appointed Aulus Platorius Nepos as governor to undertake this work who brought the Legio VI Victrix legion with him from Germania Inferior. This replaced the famous Legio IX Hispana, whose disappearance has been much discussed. Archaeology indicates considerable political instability in Scotland during the first half of the 2nd century, and the shifting frontier at this time should be seen in this context.
In the reign of Antoninus Pius (138–161) the Hadrianic border was briefly extended north to the Forth–Clyde isthmus, where the Antonine Wall was built around 142 following the military reoccupation of the Scottish lowlands by a new governor, Quintus Lollius Urbicus.
The first Antonine occupation of Scotland ended as a result of a further crisis in 155–157, when the Brigantes revolted. With limited options to despatch reinforcements, the Romans moved their troops south, and this rising was suppressed by Governor Gnaeus Julius Verus. Within a year the Antonine Wall was recaptured, but by 163 or 164 it was abandoned. The second occupation was probably connected with Antoninus's undertakings to protect the Votadini or his pride in enlarging the empire, since the retreat to the Hadrianic frontier occurred not long after his death when a more objective strategic assessment of the benefits of the Antonine Wall could be made. The Romans did not entirely withdraw from Scotland at this time: the large fort at Newstead was maintained along with seven smaller outposts until at least 180.
During the twenty-year period following the reversion of the frontier to Hadrian's Wall in 163/4, Rome was concerned with continental issues, primarily problems in the Danubian provinces. Increasing numbers of hoards of buried coins in Britain at this time indicate that peace was not entirely achieved. Sufficient Roman silver has been found in Scotland to suggest more than ordinary trade, and it is likely that the Romans were reinforcing treaty agreements by paying tribute to their implacable enemies, the Picts.
In 175, a large force of Sarmatian cavalry, consisting of 5,500 men, arrived in Britannia, probably to reinforce troops fighting unrecorded uprisings. In 180, Hadrian's Wall was breached by the Picts and the commanding officer or governor was killed there in what Cassius Dio described as the most serious war of the reign of Commodus. Ulpius Marcellus was sent as replacement governor and by 184 he had won a new peace, only to be faced with a mutiny from his own troops. Unhappy with Marcellus's strictness, they tried to elect a legate named Priscus as usurper governor; he refused, but Marcellus was lucky to leave the province alive. The Roman army in Britannia continued its insubordination: they sent a delegation of 1,500 to Rome to demand the execution of Tigidius Perennis, a Praetorian prefect who they felt had earlier wronged them by posting lowly equites to legate ranks in Britannia. Commodus met the party outside Rome and agreed to have Perennis killed, but this only made them feel more secure in their mutiny.
The future emperor Pertinax (lived 126–193) was sent to Britannia to quell the mutiny and was initially successful in regaining control, but a riot broke out among the troops. Pertinax was attacked and left for dead, and asked to be recalled to Rome, where he briefly succeeded Commodus as emperor in 192.
3rd century
The death of Commodus put into motion a series of events which eventually led to civil war. Following the short reign of Pertinax, several rivals for the emperorship emerged, including Septimius Severus and Clodius Albinus. The latter was the new governor of Britannia, and had seemingly won the natives over after their earlier rebellions; he also controlled three legions, making him a potentially significant claimant. His sometime rival Severus promised him the title of Caesar in return for Albinus's support against Pescennius Niger in the east. Once Niger was neutralised, Severus turned on his ally in Britannia; it is likely that Albinus saw he would be the next target and was already preparing for war.
Albinus crossed to Gaul in 195, where the provinces were also sympathetic to him, and set up at Lugdunum. Severus arrived in February 196, and the ensuing battle was decisive. Albinus came close to victory, but Severus's reinforcements won the day, and the British governor committed suicide. Severus soon purged Albinus's sympathisers and perhaps confiscated large tracts of land in Britain as punishment. Albinus had demonstrated the major problem posed by Roman Britain. In order to maintain security, the province required the presence of three legions, but command of these forces provided an ideal power base for ambitious rivals. Deploying those legions elsewhere would strip the island of its garrison, leaving the province defenceless against uprisings by the native Celtic tribes and against invasion by the Picts and Scots.
The traditional view is that northern Britain descended into anarchy during Albinus's absence. Cassius Dio records that the new Governor, Virius Lupus, was obliged to buy peace from a fractious northern tribe known as the Maeatae. The succession of militarily distinguished governors who were subsequently appointed suggests that enemies of Rome were posing a difficult challenge, and Lucius Alfenus Senecio's report to Rome in 207 describes barbarians "rebelling, over-running the land, taking loot and creating destruction". In order to rebel, of course, one must be a subject – the Maeatae clearly did not consider themselves such. Senecio requested either reinforcements or an Imperial expedition, and Severus chose the latter, despite being 62 years old. Archaeological evidence shows that Senecio had been rebuilding the defences of Hadrian's Wall and the forts beyond it, and Severus's arrival in Britain prompted the enemy tribes to sue for peace immediately. The emperor had not come all that way to leave without a victory, and it is likely that he wished to provide his teenage sons Caracalla and Geta with first-hand experience of controlling a hostile barbarian land.
Northern campaigns, 208–211
An invasion of Caledonia led by Severus and probably numbering around 20,000 troops moved north in 208 or 209, crossing the Wall and passing through eastern Scotland on a route similar to that used by Agricola. Harried by punishing guerrilla raids by the northern tribes and slowed by an unforgiving terrain, Severus was unable to meet the Caledonians on a battlefield. The emperor's forces pushed north as far as the River Tay, but little appears to have been achieved by the invasion, as peace treaties were signed with the Caledonians. By 210 Severus had returned to York, and the frontier had once again become Hadrian's Wall. He assumed the title Britannicus but the title meant little with regard to the unconquered north, which clearly remained outside the authority of the Empire. Almost immediately, another northern tribe, the Maeatae, went to war. Caracalla left with a punitive expedition, but by the following year his ailing father had died and he and his brother left the province to press their claim to the throne.
As one of his last acts, Severus tried to solve the problem of powerful and rebellious governors in Britain by dividing the province into Britannia Superior and Britannia Inferior. This kept the potential for rebellion in check for almost a century. Historical sources provide little information on the following decades, a period known as the Long Peace. Even so, the number of buried hoards found from this period rises, suggesting continuing unrest. A string of forts were built along the coast of southern Britain to control piracy; and over the following hundred years they increased in number, becoming the Saxon Shore Forts.
During the middle of the 3rd century, the Roman Empire was convulsed by barbarian invasions, rebellions and new imperial pretenders. Britannia apparently avoided these troubles, but increasing inflation had its economic effect. In 259 a so-called Gallic Empire was established when Postumus rebelled against Gallienus. Britannia was part of this until 274 when Aurelian reunited the empire.
Around the year 280, a half-British officer named Bonosus was in command of the Roman's Rhenish fleet when the Germans managed to burn it at anchor. To avoid punishment, he proclaimed himself emperor at Colonia Agrippina (Cologne) but was crushed by Marcus Aurelius Probus. Soon afterwards, an unnamed governor of one of the British provinces also attempted an uprising. Probus put it down by sending irregular troops of Vandals and Burgundians across the Channel.
The Carausian Revolt led to a short-lived Britannic Empire from 286 to 296. Carausius was a Menapian naval commander of the Britannic fleet; he revolted upon learning of a death sentence ordered by the emperor Maximian on charges of having abetted Frankish and Saxon pirates and having embezzled recovered treasure. He consolidated control over all the provinces of Britain and some of northern Gaul while Maximian dealt with other uprisings. An invasion in 288 failed to unseat him and an uneasy peace ensued, with Carausius issuing coins and inviting official recognition. In 293, the junior emperor Constantius Chlorus launched a second offensive, besieging the rebel port of Gesoriacum (Boulogne-sur-Mer) by land and sea. After it fell, Constantius attacked Carausius's other Gallic holdings and Frankish allies and Carausius was usurped by his treasurer, Allectus. Julius Asclepiodotus landed an invasion fleet near Southampton and defeated Allectus in a land battle.
Diocletian's reforms
As part of Diocletian's reforms, the provinces of Roman Britain were organized as a diocese governed by a vicarius under a praetorian prefect who, from 318 to 331, was Junius Bassus who was based at Augusta Treverorum (Trier).
The vicarius was based at Londinium as the principal city of the diocese. Londinium and Eboracum continued as provincial capitals and the territory was divided up into smaller provinces for administrative efficiency.
Civilian and military authority of a province was no longer exercised by one official and the governor was stripped of military command which was handed over to the Dux Britanniarum by 314. The governor of a province assumed more financial duties (the procurators of the Treasury ministry were slowly phased out in the first three decades of the 4th century). The Dux was commander of the troops of the Northern Region, primarily along Hadrian's Wall and his responsibilities included protection of the frontier. He had significant autonomy due in part to the distance from his superiors.
The tasks of the vicarius were to control and coordinate the activities of governors; monitor but not interfere with the daily functioning of the Treasury and Crown Estates, which had their own administrative infrastructure; and act as the regional quartermaster-general of the armed forces. In short, as the sole civilian official with superior authority, he had general oversight of the administration, as well as direct control, while not absolute, over governors who were part of the prefecture; the other two fiscal departments were not.
The early-4th-century Verona List, the late-4th-century work of Sextus Rufus, and the early-5th-century List of Offices and work of Polemius Silvius all list four provinces by some variation of the names Britannia I, Britannia II, Maxima Caesariensis, and Flavia Caesariensis; all of these seem to have initially been directed by a governor (praeses) of equestrian rank. The 5th-century sources list a fifth province named Valentia and give its governor and Maxima's a consular rank. Ammianus mentions Valentia as well, describing its creation by Count Theodosius in 369 after the quelling of the Great Conspiracy. Ammianus considered it a re-creation of a formerly lost province, leading some to think there had been an earlier fifth province under another name (may be the enigmatic "Vespasiana"), and leading others to place Valentia beyond Hadrian's Wall, in the territory abandoned south of the Antonine Wall.
Reconstructions of the provinces and provincial capitals during this period partially rely on ecclesiastical records. On the assumption that the early bishoprics mimicked the imperial hierarchy, scholars use the list of bishops for the 314 Council of Arles. The list is patently corrupt: the British delegation is given as including a Bishop "Eborius" of Eboracum and two bishops "from Londinium" (one de civitate Londinensi and the other de civitate colonia Londinensium). The error is variously emended: Bishop Ussher proposed Colonia, Selden Col. or Colon. Camalodun., and Spelman Colonia Cameloduni (all various names of Colchester); Gale and Bingham offered colonia Lindi and Henry Colonia Lindum (both Lincoln); and Bishop Stillingfleet and Francis Thackeray read it as a scribal error of Civ. Col. Londin. for an original Civ. Col. Leg. II (Caerleon). On the basis of the Verona List, the priest and deacon who accompanied the bishops in some manuscripts are ascribed to the fourth province.
In the 12th century, Gerald of Wales described the supposedly metropolitan sees of the early British church established by the legendary SS Fagan and "Duvian". He placed Britannia Prima in Wales and western England with its capital at "Urbs Legionum" (Caerleon); Britannia Secunda in Kent and southern England with its capital at "Dorobernia" (Canterbury); Flavia in Mercia and central England with its capital at "Lundonia" (London); "Maximia" in northern England with its capital at Eboracum (York); and Valentia in "Albania which is now Scotland" with its capital at St Andrews. Modern scholars generally dispute the last: some place Valentia at or beyond Hadrian's Wall but St Andrews is beyond even the Antonine Wall and Gerald seems to have simply been supporting the antiquity of its church for political reasons.
A common modern reconstruction places the consular province of Maxima at Londinium, on the basis of its status as the seat of the diocesan vicarius; places Prima in the west according to Gerald's traditional account but moves its capital to Corinium of the Dobunni (Cirencester) on the basis of an artifact recovered there referring to Lucius Septimius, a provincial rector; places Flavia north of Maxima, with its capital placed at Lindum Colonia (Lincoln) to match one emendation of the bishops list from Arles;[d] and places Secunda in the north with its capital at Eboracum (York). Valentia is placed variously in northern Wales around Deva (Chester); beside Hadrian's Wall around Luguvalium (Carlisle); and between the walls along Dere Street.
4th century
Emperor Constantius returned to Britain in 306, despite his poor health, with an army aiming to invade northern Britain, the provincial defences having been rebuilt in the preceding years. Little is known of his campaigns with scant archaeological evidence, but fragmentary historical sources suggest he reached the far north of Britain and won a major battle in early summer before returning south. His son Constantine (later Constantine the Great) spent a year in northern Britain at his father's side, campaigning against the Picts beyond Hadrian's Wall in the summer and autumn. Constantius died in York in July 306 with his son at his side. Constantine then successfully used Britain as the starting point of his march to the imperial throne, unlike the earlier usurper, Albinus.
In the middle of the century, the province was loyal for a few years to the usurper Magnentius, who succeeded Constans following the latter's death. After the defeat and death of Magnentius in the Battle of Mons Seleucus in 353, Constantius II dispatched his chief imperial notary Paulus Catena to Britain to hunt down Magnentius's supporters. The investigation deteriorated into a witch-hunt, which forced the vicarius Flavius Martinus to intervene. When Paulus retaliated by accusing Martinus of treason, the vicarius attacked Paulus with a sword, with the aim of assassinating him, but in the end he committed suicide.
As the 4th century progressed, there were increasing attacks from the Saxons in the east and the Scoti (Irish) in the west. A series of forts had been built, starting around 280, to defend the coasts, but these preparations were not enough when, in 367, a general assault of Saxons, Picts, Scoti and Attacotti, combined with apparent dissension in the garrison on Hadrian's Wall, left Roman Britain prostrate. The invaders overwhelmed the entire western and northern regions of Britannia and the cities were sacked. This crisis, sometimes called the Barbarian Conspiracy or the Great Conspiracy, was settled by Count Theodosius from 368 with a string of military and civil reforms. Theodosius crossed from Bononia (Boulogne-sur-Mer) and marched on Londinium where he began to deal with the invaders and made his base.[ An amnesty was promised to deserters which enabled Theodosius to regarrison abandoned forts. By the end of the year Hadrian's Wall was retaken and order returned. Considerable reorganization was undertaken in Britain, including the creation of a new province named Valentia, probably to better address the state of the far north. A new Dux Britanniarum was appointed, Dulcitius, with Civilis to head a new civilian administration.
Another imperial usurper, Magnus Maximus, raised the standard of revolt at Segontium (Caernarfon) in north Wales in 383, and crossed the English Channel. Maximus held much of the western empire, and fought a successful campaign against the Picts and Scots around 384. His continental exploits required troops from Britain, and it appears that forts at Chester and elsewhere were abandoned in this period, triggering raids and settlement in north Wales by the Irish. His rule was ended in 388, but not all the British troops may have returned: the Empire's military resources were stretched to the limit along the Rhine and Danube. Around 396 there were more barbarian incursions into Britain. Stilicho led a punitive expedition. It seems peace was restored by 399, and it is likely that no further garrisoning was ordered; by 401 more troops were withdrawn, to assist in the war against Alaric I.
End of Roman rule
The traditional view of historians, informed by the work of Michael Rostovtzeff, was of a widespread economic decline at the beginning of the 5th century. Consistent archaeological evidence has told another story, and the accepted view is undergoing re-evaluation. Some features are agreed: more opulent but fewer urban houses, an end to new public building and some abandonment of existing ones, with the exception of defensive structures, and the widespread formation of "dark earth" deposits indicating increased horticulture within urban precincts. Turning over the basilica at Silchester to industrial uses in the late 3rd century, doubtless officially condoned, marks an early stage in the de-urbanisation of Roman Britain.
The abandonment of some sites is now believed to be later than had been thought. Many buildings changed use but were not destroyed. There was a growing number of barbarian attacks, but these targeted vulnerable rural settlements rather than towns. Some villas such as Chedworth, Great Casterton in Rutland and Hucclecote in Gloucestershire had new mosaic floors laid around this time, suggesting that economic problems may have been limited and patchy. Many suffered some decay before being abandoned in the 5th century; the story of Saint Patrick indicates that villas were still occupied until at least 430. Exceptionally, new buildings were still going up in this period in Verulamium and Cirencester. Some urban centres, for example Canterbury, Cirencester, Wroxeter, Winchester and Gloucester, remained active during the 5th and 6th centuries, surrounded by large farming estates.
Urban life had generally grown less intense by the fourth quarter of the 4th century, and coins minted between 378 and 388 are very rare, indicating a likely combination of economic decline, diminishing numbers of troops, problems with the payment of soldiers and officials or with unstable conditions during the usurpation of Magnus Maximus 383–87. Coinage circulation increased during the 390s, but never attained the levels of earlier decades. Copper coins are very rare after 402, though minted silver and gold coins from hoards indicate they were still present in the province even if they were not being spent. By 407 there were very few new Roman coins going into circulation, and by 430 it is likely that coinage as a medium of exchange had been abandoned. Mass-produced wheel thrown pottery ended at approximately the same time; the rich continued to use metal and glass vessels, while the poor made do with humble "grey ware" or resorted to leather or wooden containers.
Sub-Roman Britain
Towards the end of the 4th century Roman rule in Britain came under increasing pressure from barbarian attacks. Apparently, there were not enough troops to mount an effective defence. After elevating two disappointing usurpers, the army chose a soldier, Constantine III, to become emperor in 407. He crossed to Gaul but was defeated by Honorius; it is unclear how many troops remained or ever returned, or whether a commander-in-chief in Britain was ever reappointed. A Saxon incursion in 408 was apparently repelled by the Britons, and in 409 Zosimus records that the natives expelled the Roman civilian administration. Zosimus may be referring to the Bacaudic rebellion of the Breton inhabitants of Armorica since he describes how, in the aftermath of the revolt, all of Armorica and the rest of Gaul followed the example of the Brettaniai. A letter from Emperor Honorius in 410 has traditionally been seen as rejecting a British appeal for help, but it may have been addressed to Bruttium or Bologna. With the imperial layers of the military and civil government gone, administration and justice fell to municipal authorities, and local warlords gradually emerged all over Britain, still utilizing Romano-British ideals and conventions. Historian Stuart Laycock has investigated this process and emphasised elements of continuity from the British tribes in the pre-Roman and Roman periods, through to the native post-Roman kingdoms.
In British tradition, pagan Saxons were invited by Vortigern to assist in fighting the Picts, Scoti, and Déisi. (Germanic migration into Roman Britannia may have begun much earlier. There is recorded evidence, for example, of Germanic auxiliaries supporting the legions in Britain in the 1st and 2nd centuries.) The new arrivals rebelled, plunging the country into a series of wars that eventually led to the Saxon occupation of Lowland Britain by 600. Around this time, many Britons fled to Brittany (hence its name), Galicia and probably Ireland. A significant date in sub-Roman Britain is the Groans of the Britons, an unanswered appeal to Aetius, leading general of the western Empire, for assistance against Saxon invasion in 446. Another is the Battle of Deorham in 577, after which the significant cities of Bath, Cirencester and Gloucester fell and the Saxons reached the western sea.
Historians generally reject the historicity of King Arthur, who is supposed to have resisted the Anglo-Saxon conquest according to later medieval legends.
Trade
During the Roman period Britain's continental trade was principally directed across the Southern North Sea and Eastern Channel, focusing on the narrow Strait of Dover, with more limited links via the Atlantic seaways. The most important British ports were London and Richborough, whilst the continental ports most heavily engaged in trade with Britain were Boulogne and the sites of Domburg and Colijnsplaat at the mouth of the river Scheldt. During the Late Roman period it is likely that the shore forts played some role in continental trade alongside their defensive functions.
Exports to Britain included: coin; pottery, particularly red-gloss terra sigillata (samian ware) from southern, central and eastern Gaul, as well as various other wares from Gaul and the Rhine provinces; olive oil from southern Spain in amphorae; wine from Gaul in amphorae and barrels; salted fish products from the western Mediterranean and Brittany in barrels and amphorae; preserved olives from southern Spain in amphorae; lava quern-stones from Mayen on the middle Rhine; glass; and some agricultural products. Britain's exports are harder to detect archaeologically, but will have included metals, such as silver and gold and some lead, iron and copper. Other exports probably included agricultural products, oysters and salt, whilst large quantities of coin would have been re-exported back to the continent as well.
These products moved as a result of private trade and also through payments and contracts established by the Roman state to support its military forces and officials on the island, as well as through state taxation and extraction of resources. Up until the mid-3rd century, the Roman state's payments appear to have been unbalanced, with far more products sent to Britain, to support its large military force (which had reached c. 53,000 by the mid-2nd century), than were extracted from the island.
It has been argued that Roman Britain's continental trade peaked in the late 1st century AD and thereafter declined as a result of an increasing reliance on local products by the population of Britain, caused by economic development on the island and by the Roman state's desire to save money by shifting away from expensive long-distance imports. Evidence has been outlined that suggests that the principal decline in Roman Britain's continental trade may have occurred in the late 2nd century AD, from c. 165 AD onwards. This has been linked to the economic impact of contemporary Empire-wide crises: the Antonine Plague and the Marcomannic Wars.
From the mid-3rd century onwards, Britain no longer received such a wide range and extensive quantity of foreign imports as it did during the earlier part of the Roman period; vast quantities of coin from continental mints reached the island, whilst there is historical evidence for the export of large amounts of British grain to the continent during the mid-4th century. During the latter part of the Roman period British agricultural products, paid for by both the Roman state and by private consumers, clearly played an important role in supporting the military garrisons and urban centres of the northwestern continental Empire. This came about as a result of the rapid decline in the size of the British garrison from the mid-3rd century onwards (thus freeing up more goods for export), and because of 'Germanic' incursions across the Rhine, which appear to have reduced rural settlement and agricultural output in northern Gaul.
Economy
Mineral extraction sites such as the Dolaucothi gold mine were probably first worked by the Roman army from c. 75, and at some later stage passed to civilian operators. The mine developed as a series of opencast workings, mainly by the use of hydraulic mining methods. They are described by Pliny the Elder in his Natural History in great detail. Essentially, water supplied by aqueducts was used to prospect for ore veins by stripping away soil to reveal the bedrock. If veins were present, they were attacked using fire-setting and the ore removed for comminution. The dust was washed in a small stream of water and the heavy gold dust and gold nuggets collected in riffles. The diagram at right shows how Dolaucothi developed from c. 75 through to the 1st century. When opencast work was no longer feasible, tunnels were driven to follow the veins. The evidence from the site shows advanced technology probably under the control of army engineers.
The Wealden ironworking zone, the lead and silver mines of the Mendip Hills and the tin mines of Cornwall seem to have been private enterprises leased from the government for a fee. Mining had long been practised in Britain (see Grimes Graves), but the Romans introduced new technical knowledge and large-scale industrial production to revolutionise the industry. It included hydraulic mining to prospect for ore by removing overburden as well as work alluvial deposits. The water needed for such large-scale operations was supplied by one or more aqueducts, those surviving at Dolaucothi being especially impressive. Many prospecting areas were in dangerous, upland country, and, although mineral exploitation was presumably one of the main reasons for the Roman invasion, it had to wait until these areas were subdued.
By the 3rd and 4th centuries, small towns could often be found near villas. In these towns, villa owners and small-scale farmers could obtain specialist tools. Lowland Britain in the 4th century was agriculturally prosperous enough to export grain to the continent. This prosperity lay behind the blossoming of villa building and decoration that occurred between AD 300 and 350.
Britain's cities also consumed Roman-style pottery and other goods, and were centres through which goods could be distributed elsewhere. At Wroxeter in Shropshire, stock smashed into a gutter during a 2nd-century fire reveals that Gaulish samian ware was being sold alongside mixing bowls from the Mancetter-Hartshill industry of the West Midlands. Roman designs were most popular, but rural craftsmen still produced items derived from the Iron Age La Tène artistic traditions. Britain was home to much gold, which attracted Roman invaders. By the 3rd century, Britain's economy was diverse and well established, with commerce extending into the non-Romanised north.
Government
Further information: Governors of Roman Britain, Roman client kingdoms in Britain, and Roman auxiliaries in Britain
Under the Roman Empire, administration of peaceful provinces was ultimately the remit of the Senate, but those, like Britain, that required permanent garrisons, were placed under the Emperor's control. In practice imperial provinces were run by resident governors who were members of the Senate and had held the consulship. These men were carefully selected, often having strong records of military success and administrative ability. In Britain, a governor's role was primarily military, but numerous other tasks were also his responsibility, such as maintaining diplomatic relations with local client kings, building roads, ensuring the public courier system functioned, supervising the civitates and acting as a judge in important legal cases. When not campaigning, he would travel the province hearing complaints and recruiting new troops.
To assist him in legal matters he had an adviser, the legatus juridicus, and those in Britain appear to have been distinguished lawyers perhaps because of the challenge of incorporating tribes into the imperial system and devising a workable method of taxing them. Financial administration was dealt with by a procurator with junior posts for each tax-raising power. Each legion in Britain had a commander who answered to the governor and, in time of war, probably directly ruled troublesome districts. Each of these commands carried a tour of duty of two to three years in different provinces. Below these posts was a network of administrative managers covering intelligence gathering, sending reports to Rome, organising military supplies and dealing with prisoners. A staff of seconded soldiers provided clerical services.
Colchester was probably the earliest capital of Roman Britain, but it was soon eclipsed by London with its strong mercantile connections. The different forms of municipal organisation in Britannia were known as civitas (which were subdivided, amongst other forms, into colonies such as York, Colchester, Gloucester and Lincoln and municipalities such as Verulamium), and were each governed by a senate of local landowners, whether Brythonic or Roman, who elected magistrates concerning judicial and civic affairs. The various civitates sent representatives to a yearly provincial council in order to profess loyalty to the Roman state, to send direct petitions to the Emperor in times of extraordinary need, and to worship the imperial cult.
Demographics
Roman Britain had an estimated population between 2.8 million and 3 million people at the end of the second century. At the end of the fourth century, it had an estimated population of 3.6 million people, of whom 125,000 consisted of the Roman army and their families and dependents.[80] The urban population of Roman Britain was about 240,000 people at the end of the fourth century. The capital city of Londinium is estimated to have had a population of about 60,000 people. Londinium was an ethnically diverse city with inhabitants from the Roman Empire, including natives of Britannia, continental Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa. There was also cultural diversity in other Roman-British towns, which were sustained by considerable migration, from Britannia and other Roman territories, including continental Europe, Roman Syria, the Eastern Mediterranean and North Africa. In a study conducted in 2012, around 45 percent of sites investigated dating from the Roman period had at least one individual of North African origin.
Town and country
During their occupation of Britain the Romans founded a number of important settlements, many of which survive. The towns suffered attrition in the later 4th century, when public building ceased and some were abandoned to private uses. Place names survived the deurbanised Sub-Roman and early Anglo-Saxon periods, and historiography has been at pains to signal the expected survivals, but archaeology shows that a bare handful of Roman towns were continuously occupied. According to S.T. Loseby, the very idea of a town as a centre of power and administration was reintroduced to England by the Roman Christianising mission to Canterbury, and its urban revival was delayed to the 10th century.
Roman towns can be broadly grouped in two categories. Civitates, "public towns" were formally laid out on a grid plan, and their role in imperial administration occasioned the construction of public buildings. The much more numerous category of vici, "small towns" grew on informal plans, often round a camp or at a ford or crossroads; some were not small, others were scarcely urban, some not even defended by a wall, the characteristic feature of a place of any importance.
Cities and towns which have Roman origins, or were extensively developed by them are listed with their Latin names in brackets; civitates are marked C
Alcester (Alauna)
Alchester
Aldborough, North Yorkshire (Isurium Brigantum) C
Bath (Aquae Sulis) C
Brough (Petuaria) C
Buxton (Aquae Arnemetiae)
Caerleon (Isca Augusta) C
Caernarfon (Segontium) C
Caerwent (Venta Silurum) C
Caister-on-Sea C
Canterbury (Durovernum Cantiacorum) C
Carlisle (Luguvalium) C
Carmarthen (Moridunum) C
Chelmsford (Caesaromagus)
Chester (Deva Victrix) C
Chester-le-Street (Concangis)
Chichester (Noviomagus Reginorum) C
Cirencester (Corinium) C
Colchester (Camulodunum) C
Corbridge (Coria) C
Dorchester (Durnovaria) C
Dover (Portus Dubris)
Exeter (Isca Dumnoniorum) C
Gloucester (Glevum) C
Great Chesterford (the name of this vicus is unknown)
Ilchester (Lindinis) C
Leicester (Ratae Corieltauvorum) C
Lincoln (Lindum Colonia) C
London (Londinium) C
Manchester (Mamucium) C
Newcastle upon Tyne (Pons Aelius)
Northwich (Condate)
St Albans (Verulamium) C
Silchester (Calleva Atrebatum) C
Towcester (Lactodurum)
Whitchurch (Mediolanum) C
Winchester (Venta Belgarum) C
Wroxeter (Viroconium Cornoviorum) C
York (Eboracum) C
Religion
The druids, the Celtic priestly caste who were believed to originate in Britain, were outlawed by Claudius, and in 61 they vainly defended their sacred groves from destruction by the Romans on the island of Mona (Anglesey). Under Roman rule the Britons continued to worship native Celtic deities, such as Ancasta, but often conflated with their Roman equivalents, like Mars Rigonemetos at Nettleham.
The degree to which earlier native beliefs survived is difficult to gauge precisely. Certain European ritual traits such as the significance of the number 3, the importance of the head and of water sources such as springs remain in the archaeological record, but the differences in the votive offerings made at the baths at Bath, Somerset, before and after the Roman conquest suggest that continuity was only partial. Worship of the Roman emperor is widely recorded, especially at military sites. The founding of a Roman temple to Claudius at Camulodunum was one of the impositions that led to the revolt of Boudica. By the 3rd century, Pagans Hill Roman Temple in Somerset was able to exist peaceably and it did so into the 5th century.
Pagan religious practices were supported by priests, represented in Britain by votive deposits of priestly regalia such as chain crowns from West Stow and Willingham Fen.
Eastern cults such as Mithraism also grew in popularity towards the end of the occupation. The London Mithraeum is one example of the popularity of mystery religions among the soldiery. Temples to Mithras also exist in military contexts at Vindobala on Hadrian's Wall (the Rudchester Mithraeum) and at Segontium in Roman Wales (the Caernarfon Mithraeum).
Christianity
It is not clear when or how Christianity came to Britain. A 2nd-century "word square" has been discovered in Mamucium, the Roman settlement of Manchester. It consists of an anagram of PATER NOSTER carved on a piece of amphora. There has been discussion by academics whether the "word square" is a Christian artefact, but if it is, it is one of the earliest examples of early Christianity in Britain. The earliest confirmed written evidence for Christianity in Britain is a statement by Tertullian, c. 200 AD, in which he described "all the limits of the Spains, and the diverse nations of the Gauls, and the haunts of the Britons, inaccessible to the Romans, but subjugated to Christ". Archaeological evidence for Christian communities begins to appear in the 3rd and 4th centuries. Small timber churches are suggested at Lincoln and Silchester and baptismal fonts have been found at Icklingham and the Saxon Shore Fort at Richborough. The Icklingham font is made of lead, and visible in the British Museum. A Roman Christian graveyard exists at the same site in Icklingham. A possible Roman 4th-century church and associated burial ground was also discovered at Butt Road on the south-west outskirts of Colchester during the construction of the new police station there, overlying an earlier pagan cemetery. The Water Newton Treasure is a hoard of Christian silver church plate from the early 4th century and the Roman villas at Lullingstone and Hinton St Mary contained Christian wall paintings and mosaics respectively. A large 4th-century cemetery at Poundbury with its east–west oriented burials and lack of grave goods has been interpreted as an early Christian burial ground, although such burial rites were also becoming increasingly common in pagan contexts during the period.
The Church in Britain seems to have developed the customary diocesan system, as evidenced from the records of the Council of Arles in Gaul in 314: represented at the council were bishops from thirty-five sees from Europe and North Africa, including three bishops from Britain, Eborius of York, Restitutus of London, and Adelphius, possibly a bishop of Lincoln. No other early sees are documented, and the material remains of early church structures are far to seek. The existence of a church in the forum courtyard of Lincoln and the martyrium of Saint Alban on the outskirts of Roman Verulamium are exceptional. Alban, the first British Christian martyr and by far the most prominent, is believed to have died in the early 4th century (some date him in the middle 3rd century), followed by Saints Julius and Aaron of Isca Augusta. Christianity was legalised in the Roman Empire by Constantine I in 313. Theodosius I made Christianity the state religion of the empire in 391, and by the 5th century it was well established. One belief labelled a heresy by the church authorities — Pelagianism — was originated by a British monk teaching in Rome: Pelagius lived c. 354 to c. 420/440.
A letter found on a lead tablet in Bath, Somerset, datable to c. 363, had been widely publicised as documentary evidence regarding the state of Christianity in Britain during Roman times. According to its first translator, it was written in Wroxeter by a Christian man called Vinisius to a Christian woman called Nigra, and was claimed as the first epigraphic record of Christianity in Britain. This translation of the letter was apparently based on grave paleographical errors, and the text has nothing to do with Christianity, and in fact relates to pagan rituals.
Environmental changes
The Romans introduced a number of species to Britain, including possibly the now-rare Roman nettle (Urtica pilulifera), said to have been used by soldiers to warm their arms and legs, and the edible snail Helix pomatia. There is also some evidence they may have introduced rabbits, but of the smaller southern mediterranean type. The European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) prevalent in modern Britain is assumed to have been introduced from the continent after the Norman invasion of 1066. Box (Buxus sempervirens) is rarely recorded before the Roman period, but becomes a common find in towns and villas
Legacy
During their occupation of Britain the Romans built an extensive network of roads which continued to be used in later centuries and many are still followed today. The Romans also built water supply, sanitation and wastewater systems. Many of Britain's major cities, such as London (Londinium), Manchester (Mamucium) and York (Eboracum), were founded by the Romans, but the original Roman settlements were abandoned not long after the Romans left.
Unlike many other areas of the Western Roman Empire, the current majority language is not a Romance language, or a language descended from the pre-Roman inhabitants. The British language at the time of the invasion was Common Brittonic, and remained so after the Romans withdrew. It later split into regional languages, notably Cumbric, Cornish, Breton and Welsh. Examination of these languages suggests some 800 Latin words were incorporated into Common Brittonic (see Brittonic languages). The current majority language, English, is based on the languages of the Germanic tribes who migrated to the island from continental Europe
The National Cycle Route 647 on the disused Chesterfield and Lincoln Direct Railway, in between the former Clifton-on-Trent railway station and Doddington and Harby railway station, in Nottinghamshire.
Like most new railways of the time its purpose was the carriage of coal. The project's leading light was William Arkwright, a descendant of Richard Arkwright who had made the family's fortune by mechanising the spinning of cotton. William Arkwright had settled at Sutton Scarsdale Hall near Chesterfield and with the land came extensive deposits of coal.
The rail network in the vicinity provided by the Midland Railway and the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway was still in its infancy and would not meet his requirements. In 1887 the Chesterfield and Lincoln Direct Railway was proposed independently to join with Midland lines at each end. It would cross his land but received insufficient support.
Arkwright decided to promote an independent line to provide through roads to opposite coasts of the country. In time it became known as "The East to West". It would be sufficiently large to maintain itself in the face of competition from other railways. There were a number of lines already approved but not carried forward which could be incorporated. With the Newark and Ollerton there was the Macclesfield and Warrington Railway and the Lincoln and East Coast Railway. A number of other lines had been considered but not formally proposed and these, together with plans for dock works at Sutton on Sea which had been approved in 1884, gave Arkwright his route and support from the various landowners involved. The Lancashire Derbyshire and East Coast Railway Company was formed at 27 George St in Westminster and published its plans in 1890.
There was initially a deal of opposition from landowners and other railway companies but, in the end, the main opponent was the MS&LR because the line would bypass its own line from Sheffield to Retford and thence to London. The Great Eastern Railway turned from opponent to supporteer, realising that the line could give it an entree to the Midlands coalfields. The Lancashire, Derbyshire and East Coast Railway Act authorising building the line was given Royal Assent on 5 August 1891.
Due to lack of investment, only the portion from Chesterfield to Lincoln was built. To have continued west of Chesterfield would have required some extremely expensive and difficult engineering works. It was an ambitious undertaking, with some extremely expensive engineering works, crossing the Peak District which had always been a major headache for railway builders. Even to the east it crossed lines of hills running north and south. In addition it would conflict with the lines of a number of other railway companies.
From Lincoln the line would continue eastward over the Lincolnshire Wolds, with a junction near Stainfield as it crossed the GNR Louth to Bardney line. Proceeding well to the north of Horncastle it would cross the East Lincolnshire Railway to the southwest of Alford passing to the south. It would then join that line's loop (at that time known as the Willoughby Railway) near Thurlby turning north east to Sutton on Sea, where the North Sea port would be built.
Passenger services over the line to Lincoln finished in September 1955.