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O Gury No.1
Published by Diário da Noite, Brazil May 1, 1940
Planet Comics was a science fiction comic book title published by Fiction House.
Komic-Kazi has been collecting vintage comics for over 44yrs, and Rare International Editions for over 26yrs of that time.
We have found this Brazilian Edition to be "Extremely Rare".
Our family has been living in Brazil for over 9yrs, and over that time we have only seen (2) other advanced Golden Age collections with this important comic.
This is among the earliest International publishing's of this historically important 1st edition world-wide!
Flint Baker – One of the longest-running strips, Flint Baker was another athletic space hero, who became part of the Space Rangers. Baker's debut story, "The One-Eyed Monster Men From Mars", was also the first story in Planet Comics #1, illustrated by Dick Briefer.
Published: ettg.eu/corona-virus-covid19/profiteers-of-the-pandemic-c...
www.politicalresearch.org/2020/06/02/globalist-within
Frankfurt Kaufland.
The Spiegel and all other politically correct German media are fighting against fake-news and conspiracy theories. But the Spiegel implies, without proof, that the corona virus in China was intentionally constructed. A conspiracy theory.
Carolina Home and Garden Magazine recently ran a full feature on me in their magazine, so I thought I'd post the article for everyone to check out. The rest of the article is in another post linked in the first post below...
BRINGING IN THE FEED
The crew at EC Farms loads bales in the Rural Municipality of Lorne in southern Manitoba.
I just received in the mail some copies of the February 2009 issue of Lakeland Boating Magazine. Page 41 contains a photo I took on Kelleys Island called “Glacial Grooves." I love the inset with the map of Lake Erie islands added by the editor.
Original photo here:
Published by W O Saul, Southbourne-on-Sea; printed in Germany.
Postally unused. I have two more: one postally unused and the other postmarked Westbourne, 1906.
Background
The Hydra Medic comes with a gun pointed at you. Interesting interpretation of the Hippocratic Oath.
Hydra (often capitalized as HYDRA) is a fictional terrorist organization appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Its name alludes to the mythical Lernaean Hydra, as does its motto: "If a head is cut off, two more shall take its place," proclaiming the group's resilience and growing strength in the face of resistance.
Originally a Nazi organization led by the Red Skull during World War II, Hydra is taken over and turned into a neo-fascist international crime syndicate by Baron Wolfgang von Strucker.*
Hydra agents often wear distinctive green garb featuring a serpent motif. Hydra's plans for world domination are regularly foiled by Marvel Universe superheroes and the intelligence organization S.H.I.E.L.D.
Hydra first appeared in Strange Tales #135 (August 1965). In its original continuity, it was headed by nondescript businessman Arnold Brown, who was killed when S.H.I.E.L.D. apparently crushed the organization.
Hydra soon returned, however, headed by Baron Wolfgang von Strucker, with the support of the Nazi Red Skull; Hydra's changing origin is one of Marvel's earliest retcons.
After its initial defeat, several of its branches, such as its scientific branch A.I.M. (Advanced Idea Mechanics) and the Secret Empire, became independent.
Organization
"Hail, Hydra! Immortal Hydra! We shall never be destroyed! Cut off a limb and two more shall take its place! We serve none but the Master—as the world shall soon serve us! Hail Hydra!"
—The Hydra oath from Strange Tales #135 (Aug. 1965)
Hydra mythos say that before mankind, a cabal of immortal hooded reptoids came to Earth, planning to start a legacy of evil.
After the arrival of humans, the reptoids corrupted an Asian secret society of geniuses known as the Brotherhood of the Spear, which resulted in that group being called "the Beast" by the Brotherhood of the Shield.
The corrupted Brotherhood of the Spear spread out, ingraining itself like a multi-headed serpent into all facets of human society, from science to magic to politics.
As time wore on, the organization's name changed and it included the Cathari sect, as well as the Thule Society. The Nazi sub-group, funded by the Thule Society, is brought into the main Hydra fold after the end of World War II.
One of the Nazi members, Baron Wolfgang von Strucker, quickly seized control of the Hydra organization and restructured it to be dedicated to world domination through terrorist and subversive activities on various fronts, resulting in a global neo-fascist New World Order.
To this end, Baron von Strucker used his personal fortune, based on his recovered hoard of Nazi plunder from World War II, and funds established by the original leaders of the Japanese secret society that became part of the old Hydra.
However, after von Strucker's first death, Hydra broke into factions (such as A.I.M., the Secret Empire, THEM, etc.) that each adopted its own reorganized modus operandi. Eventually, this fragmentation would lead to a Hydra civil war, even after von Strucker's resurrection.
According to the files discovered by Nick Fury, Hydra is split into four independent sectors:
International Corporations (Fronts created using a legitimate business to conceal illicit activities)
Government Assets (Individuals within a national government's chain of command. Long-term resources that benefit from the minimal turnover inherent in bureaucracies)
Global Criminal Groups (Subsidiary organizations created for short-term goals. Also used to deflect unwanted interest from the global law enforcement community)
Intelligence Gathering (S.H.I.E.L.D. and all their underlying resources)
Hydra regards S.H.I.E.L.D. as their "most valuable proactive intelligence asset" while its government assets include the U.S. Department of the Treasury, the FBI, and the NSA, as well as the Canadian Security Intelligence Service and the GRU and SVR of Russia.
Nick Fury has theorized that his previous successes against Hydra were either feints to make him believe that he is making headway against the group or manipulation by Hydra to eliminate any possible competition or possible rogue sub-organizations.
In the aftermath of the Secret Invasion and Baron von Strucker's second death, there followed a series of power struggles, which eventually left Hydra without a formal leader.
The splintering of Hydra accelerated, with various cells operating seemingly independently.
Eventually, the Red Skull, returning to his Nazi beliefs, started building a new Hydra from the ground up. However, this brought him into conflict with Baron Zemo, who is attempting to control what remains of the old Hydra.
The Red Skull convinced his now-aware Cosmic Cube, Kobik, to cooperate with S.H.I.E.L.D. in creating Pleasant Hill and discovered that Kobik could alter people's memories to make them believe they had been members of the Hydra of which the Red Skull had told them stories.
However, the Red Skull failed to realize that the Hydra he is building and the Hydra Kobik had created false memories of were two different things, with the now-Hydra Captain America disobeying the Red Skull and planning something else.
Technology
As advanced as any on Earth, Hydra's technology is based in part on artifacts of the alien Gnobians discovered by Baron Von Strucker in 1944.
Hydra uses advanced experimental vehicles and devices along with conventional military vehicles, seacraft, aircraft, pistols and standard concussive force blasters, and communications equipment.
Hydra personnel are issued cowled jumpsuits, which have included a number of designs over the years. Originally, the jumpsuits were green with a yellow H design, and later incorporated a red and brown color scheme, but in time were changed back to green with a serpent motif.
They tested on James Buchanan Barnes, creating the Winter Soldier in the process. The Winter Soldier then went on to kill over a dozen unnamed people in the span of 50 years.
Fictional organization history
Founding
Hydra's history as depicted in Marvel Universe continuity is a long, tumultuous and convoluted one, spanning millennia, and going back to the Third Dynasty of Egypt, with all references to the ancient group disappearing around the Renaissance.
The modern incarnation of Hydra originates when the Nazi spymaster known as the Red Skull took control of an Asian secret society, the Brotherhood of the Spear, merging it with a German occult organization, the Thule Society.
Some time before 1943, the Red Skull started creating a Hydra cell in Japan, merging several underground Japanese secret societies, including a faction of the Hand, with several fugitive members of Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan, to become the modern Hydra.
This incarnation of Hydra operated in Japan, directed by a Japanese militarist called the Supreme Hydra, and in Germany, under the control of the Red Skull and Arnim Zola.
However, after joining Hydra, Baron Wolfgang von Strucker seized control of the organization and constructed the Hydra base Tsunami - called Hydra Island.
The original Hydra Island is invaded by the Leatherneck Raiders and the Japanese Samurai Squad, and the base is destroyed.
Strucker then slowly steered the organization towards the goal of world domination. That campaign brought him into conflict with Charles Xavier and the future Magneto, among others.
Conflict with S.H.I.E.L.D.
Once Hydra became more brazenly public in its operations, this led to the creation of the original agency known as S.H.I.E.L.D., specifically to counter Hydra's threat to world security.
After Hydra apparently assassinated S.H.I.E.L.D.'s first executive director, Col. Rick Stoner, Nick Fury is appointed as executive director. Hydra agents attempted to assassinate Nick Fury before his appointment as S.H.I.E.L.D.'s director, but failed.
After several failed Hydra campaigns, including the failure of the world blackmail attempt using the Betatron Bomb, the creation of the Overkill Horn (designed to detonate all nuclear explosives worldwide), and the bio-engineered "Death-Spore" Bomb, which led directly to Strucker's first death at the hands of Fury, and several deceived Hydra operatives.
In the wake of Strucker's first death, the surviving elements of Hydra broke into factions that each adopted its own reorganized modus operandi.
Several of these factions developed "super-agents" that would occasionally break away in turn to become freelance operatives, or, in some rarer cases, superheroes, such as the original Spider-Woman.
During this era, Hydra's collective threat is mitigated by not only occasionally infighting among themselves, but their operating policy of punishing failure with death, often led to their killing of each other more often than their intended victims. Hydra frequently found itself defeated by S.H.I.E.L.D., various superheroes, and even apparently unpowered civilians, like the motorcycle racing team, Team America.
Strucker's Return
Strucker is revived, and he reunites several of the Hydra factions under his leadership, renewing his campaign against S.H.I.E.L.D. and humanity for several more years.
Despite his reorganization of the group, various independent Hydra factions continued to operate around the Marvel Universe, and a Hydra civil war would later result.
While Baron Helmut Zemo had Strucker placed in stasis for his own ends, the Gorgon and Strucker's second wife, Elsbeth von Strucker, mystically created a clone of Strucker, whom they set up to fail, allowing for a public execution of him, after which, as part of an alliance with the Hand, they utilized an army of brainwashed superheroes and supervillains, including Northstar and Elektra, to launch a massive assault on S.H.I.E.L.D. The assault is repelled, and Wolverine went on to kill the Gorgon.
Hydra later planned an all-out attack on the United States by smuggling missiles into New York for use in a planned bio-weapon assault on the Ogallala Aquifer.
They formed a distraction through using a team that had the duplicated powers of several Avengers, (Iron Man and Captain America, and former Avengers Thor and Hawkeye), but were inevitably foiled by Spider-Man and the other New Avengers.
Civil War
Spider-Woman (Jessica Drew) is captured by S.H.I.E.L.D. during the events of Civil War, Hydra stormed the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier and frees her.
Spider-Woman, a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent and member of the Avengers, had been working undercover for Hydra under the orders of Nick Fury, now deposed as Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. following the events of Secret War, to whom she is still loyal.
Hydra revealed that they knew of her betrayal, and wanted her to replace the Viper as their current leader, as she is unstable. Spider-Woman refused their offer, destroying in an explosion the Hydra base to which she had been taken.
As Spider-Woman revealed her true identity as Queen Veranke of the Skrull Empire, Hydra is left with a void in its control organization, filled by Congressman Woodman.
Under his rule, the young Hardball, empowered by the Power Broker, is appointed as a double agent, acting both as an Initiative recruit and as a Hydra spy, with the role of gathering information about the Initiative and doing errands for Hydra in exchange for secrecy and the expensive health care needed by his brother, a former UCWF wrestler, who is crippled in the ring.
Hardball, however, deeply hurt and shamed by the compromises Woodman forced him to endure and Komodo's attempt to bail him out of Hydra by telling his secrets to his field leader Gravity, mercilessly killed Congressman Woodman in front of his subordinates.
His ersatz coup d'état paid off, and Hardball is appointed as the new Supreme Leader of the organization, severing every tie with his former life.
His joining Hydra, however, is revealed to be caused simply by his having nowhere else to go. He surrendered to the Shadow Initiative, and is sent to the Negative Zone prison, destroying his Hydra cell.
Secret Invasion
After the events of "Secret Invasion", Nick Fury discovered that S.H.I.E.L.D. is under the control of Hydra, and apparently had been from the beginning.
He also discovered a number of organizations under Hydra's alleged control, including the United States' FBI Science and Technology Branch, the NSA, and the U.S. Department of the Treasury, along with the Russian Main Intelligence Directorate and Foreign Intelligence Service, and the Canadian Security Intelligence Service.
Meanwhile, after having destroyed Hydra's undersea headquarters, Ichor, due to its having been infiltrated by the Skrull invasion force, Strucker rebuilt Hydra from the ground up, and after his discovery that Fury had learned the truth, reconvened the other main heads of Hydra: the Viper, Madame Hydra, Kraken, and the Hive, as well as resurrecting the Gorgon for the purpose of showing Hydra's "true self" to the world.
Hydra (alongside A.I.M.) later appeared in an alliance with H.A.M.M.E.R. Following the defeat of Norman Osborn, H.A.M.M.E.R. disbands, with Madame Hydra using the remaining members to reinforce Hydra.
After the existence of Pleasant Hill, a top-secret community where Maria Hill incarcerated various supervillains (after brainwashing them to believe they were regular civilians via a sentient Cosmic Cube named Kobik), is exposed and subsequently shut down, the Red Skull's clone used the subsequent backlash in the intelligence community to assemble a new version of Hydra, starting with Sin and Crossbones.
Although his efforts were still focused on rebuilding the organization, he had already scored a significant victory, after the sentient Cosmic Cube, having been "raised" by the Red Skull in the form of a young girl, to see Hydra as a great organization, altered Steve Rogers' memories so that he believed he had been a Hydra sleeper agent since childhood.
Secret Empire
"Secret Empire" is about Hydra's goal, as the mind-altered Steve Rogers uses the Planetary Defense Shield, to entrap the Chitauri opposition, stranding them beyond the Shield.
Baron Zemo would use the Darkhold to enhance Blackout's powers to entrap all of Manhattan within the Darkforce, following the fight between the superheroes there and Baron Zemo's Army of Evil.
Having taken political and military control of the United States, Hydra proceeds to round up and incarcerate all Inhumans, and all mutants are condemned to the western California territory of New Tian. Becoming the Hydra Supreme, Captain America forms Hydra's version of the Avengers, consisting of the Scarlet Witch who is possessed by Chthon, the Vision who is suffering from an A.I. Virus created by Arnim Zola, Odinson, the Taskmaster, Deadpool, Eric O'Grady's Life Model Decoy counterpart the Black Ant, and Doctor Octopus' form of the Superior Octopus. Throughout this period, Hydra encountered resistance from the Underground.
Sam Wilson, the original Falcon, and currently the new Captain America, brought hope to the resistance with a plan to bring their real Captain America back by using the remaining Cosmic Cube, under Scott Lang and the Winter Soldier's hand on the Hydra Supreme's Cosmic Cube-infused Hydra suit.
As Hydra began to fall, most of Hydra's Avengers members, Odinson, the Taskmaster, and the Black Ant, began to betray Hydra, joining the resistance, while the Vision and the Scarlet Witch were freed from the villains' control.
Deadpool came to regret his betrayal of his friends, having killed Phil Coulson and Emily Preston and having lied to Emily's family, with Maria Hill having given him a painful lesson.
Kobik returned the real Captain America with his memories intact, and with the Hydra Supreme defeated, Hydra's reign over the United States came to an end, with major casualties being Rick Jones, Phil Coulson, and the Black Widow, who had been killed.
The Hydra Supreme is imprisoned in the Shadow Pillar as he is visited by Captain America to bring up the fact that he will stand trial for his crimes. After leaving, the Hydra Supreme is chained up as one of the guards whispered "Hail Hydra" into his ear.
Due to the Hydra Supreme's imprisonment, Baron Zemo had to keep Hydra active. He planned to spring the Hydra Supreme from the Shadow Pillar, only to meet opposition from the Punisher in the War Machine Armor. After the attempted jailbreak is thwarted, the Hydra Supreme is apprehended, while Baron Zemo got away.
Spider-Geddon
During the "Spider-Geddon" storyline, Arnim Zola led a bio-duplicate of the Gorgon and some Hydra agents to the Superior Octopus' lair, where Arnim Zola tried to get the Superior Octopus to help rebuild Hydra.
The Superior Octopus turned him down, stating that he had upheld his bargain to Hydra, as Arnim Zola claimed that one does not leave Hydra until their death. After defeating the Hydra Agents, the bio-duplicate of the Gorgon, and Arnim Zola, the Superior Octopus had Arnim Zola spread the word to Hydra to never come after him again.
Iron Man 2020
During the "Iron Man 2020" event, Pepper Potts infiltrates Hydra Base Omicron to look for Tony Stark's biological father Jude and get a DNA sample from him. She also meets a rookie Hydra agent named Robbie Fleckman.
After a ride in the elevator, she follows a Hydra agent into a meeting with Dr. M. As Pepper gets a glimpse of Jude, Dr. M. unveils his Hydra-Bot. To demonstrate the Hydra-Bots abilities, Dr. M volunteers Robbie for the demonstration.
Before he can demonstrate the cutting off of a part of Robbie's ear and the cauterizing, the Hydra-Bot goes berserk and cuts off half of Dr. M's left arm claiming that it has no need for a master.
Pepper changes into Rescue as she reprimands Hydra for building a robot during the A.I. Army's activities.
After rescuing Robbie, Rescue fights her way past smaller Hydra-Bots and has H.A.P.P.Y. scan the building for Jude. As Rescue confronts Jude and tries to explain why she's here, Robbie runs in stating that Hydra Base Omicron is locking down.
When the Hydra-Bot attacks and grabs Jude, Robbie tries to save him by throwing a pocketknife only for a tiny part of Jude's right pinkie to accidentally get cut off. Rescue passes herself as a fellow robot to confuse the Hydra-Bot.
As the Hydra-Bot starts to self-destruct, Rescue advises Robbie and Jude to flee as she claims the pinkie fragment. Upon fleeing the exploding Hydra base, Rescue contacts Bethany telling her that she's got Jude's DNA sample and to prep the lab for her arrival.
Gang War
During the "Gang War" storyline, Diamondback is revealed to be allied with Hydra by Hammerhead during the meeting with the crime lords.
Diamondback visits a secret Hydra base where he speaks with Viper about the drugs that Hydra was making for him. When Spider-Woman raids a nightclub that Diamondback was speaking at, she gets overwhelmed by Hydra's latest member Green Mamba enough for Diamondback and Green Mamba to get away.
Spider-Woman has another encounter with Diamondback and Green Mamba when they are with Madame Hydra as she comes looking for her son Gerry Drew.
Green Mamba uses his powers to knock Spider-Woman off the helicopter. Luckily for her, Madame Web was there to catch her.
When Spider-Woman arrives at the ship that served as one of Hydra's bases where she confronts Diamondback and Green Mamba. During the fight, Diamondback reveals that Hydra has been keeping tracks of the "gifted and talented kids" and enlisted the biggest "eggheads" in the world to find a way to increase the aging process on the "ankle biters" to speed up Hydra's recruitment program. To Spider-Woman's surprised, Green Mamba is revealed to be an aged Gerry Drew.
Hydra abducted him when Roger Gocking forgot who she was. Spider-Woman tried to reason with her son claiming that Hydra mind-controlled him to no avail. Even though Diamondback and some of the Hydra agents were defeated when Spider-Woman's allies showed up, Green Mamba got away. Spider-Woman vows to make Hydra pay for what they have done.
⚡ Happy 🎯 Heroclix 💫 Friday! 👽
_____________________________
A year of the shows and performers of the Bijou Planks Theater.
Secret Identity: Not Applicable
Publisher: Marvel
First appearance: Strange Tales #135 (Aug 1965)
Created by: Stan Lee (writer)
Jack Kirby (artist)
* Baron von Strucker seen in BP 2022 Day 70!
Snowdonia, or Eryri is a mountainous region and national park in North Wales. It contains all 15 mountains in Wales over 3000 feet high, including the country's highest, Snowdon (Yr Wyddfa), which is 1,085 metres (3,560 ft) tall. These peaks are all part of the Snowdon, Glyderau, and Carneddau ranges in the north of the region. The shorter Moelwynion and Moel Hebog ranges lie immediately to the south.
The national park has an area of 823 square miles (2,130 km2) (the fourth-largest in the UK), and covers most of central and southern Gwynedd and the western part of Conwy County Borough. This is much larger than the area traditionally considered Snowdonia, and in addition to the five ranges above includes the Rhinogydd, Cadair Idris, and Aran ranges and the Dyfi Hills. It also includes most of the coast between Porthmadog and Aberdyfi. The park was the first of the three national parks of Wales to be designated, in October 1951, and the third in the UK after the Peak District and Lake District, which were established in April and May 1951 respectively. The park received 3.89 million visitors in 2015.
The name Snowdon means 'snow hill' and is derived from the Old English elements snāw and dūn, the latter meaning 'hill'. Snowdonia is simply taken from the name of the mountain.
The origins of Eryri are less clear. Two popular interpretations are that the name is related to eryr, 'eagle', and that it means 'highlands' and is related to the Latin oriri ('to rise'). Although eryri is not any direct form of the word eryr in the meaning 'eagle', it is a plural form of eryr in the meaning 'upland'.
Before the boundaries of the national park were designated, "Snowdonia" was generally used to refer to a smaller upland area of northern Gwynedd centred on the Snowdon massif. The national park covers an area more than twice that size, extending south into the Meirionnydd area.
This difference is apparent in books published before 1951. In George Borrow's 1907 Wild Wales he states that "Snowdon or Eryri is no single hill, but a mountainous region, the loftiest part of which is called Y Wyddfa", making a distinction between the summit of the mountain and the surrounding massif. The Mountains of Snowdonia by H. Carr & G. Lister (1925) defines "Eryri" as "composed of the two cantrefs of Arfon and Arllechwedd, and the two commotes of Nant Conwy and Eifionydd", which corresponds to Caernarfonshire with the exception of southwest Llŷn and the Creuddyn Peninsula. In Snowdonia: The National Park of North Wales (1949), F. J. North states that "When the Committee delineated provisional boundaries, they included areas some distance beyond Snowdonia proper".
Snowdonia National Park, also known as Eryri National Park in English and Parc Cenedlaethol Eryri in Welsh, was established in October 1951. It was the third national park in the United Kingdom, following the Peak District and Lake District in April and May of the same year. It covers 827 square miles (2,140 km2) in the counties of Gwynedd and Conwy, and has 37 miles (60 km) of coastline.
The park is governed by the Snowdonia National Park Authority, which has 18 members: 9 appointed by Gwynedd, 3 by Conwy, and 6 by the Welsh Government to represent the national interest. The authority's main offices are at Penrhyndeudraeth.
The park authority used Snowdonia and Snowdon when referring to the national park and mountain in English until February 2023, when it resolved to primarily use the Welsh names, Eryri and Yr Wyddfa. There will be a transitional period of approximately two years in which the authority will continue to use the English names in parentheses — for example "Yr Wyddfa (Snowdon)" — where the context requires.
Unlike national parks in other countries, national parks in the UK are made up of both public and private lands under a central planning authority. The makeup of land ownership in the national park is as follows:
More than 26,000 people live within the park, of whom 58.6% could speak Welsh in 2011. While most of the land is either open or mountainous land, there is a significant amount of agricultural activity within the park.
The national park does not include the town of Blaenau Ffestiniog, which forms a unique non-designated enclave within the park boundaries. The town was deliberately excluded from the park when it was established because of its slate quarrying industry. The boundaries of the Peak District National Park exclude the town of Buxton and its adjacent limestone quarries for a similar reason.
The geology of Snowdonia is key to the area's character. Glaciation during a succession of ice ages, has carved from a heavily faulted and folded succession of sedimentary and igneous rocks, a distinctive rocky landscape. The last ice age ended only just over 11,500 years ago, leaving a legacy of features attractive to visitors but which have also played a part in the development of geological science and continue to provide a focus for educational visits. Visiting Cwm Idwal in 1841 Charles Darwin realised that the landscape was the product of glaciation. The bedrock dates largely from the Cambrian and Ordovician periods with intrusions of Ordovician and Silurian age associated with the Caledonian Orogeny. There are smaller areas of Silurian age sedimentary rocks in the south and northeast and of Cenozoic era strata on the Cardigan Bay coast though the latter are concealed by more recent deposits. Low grade metamorphism of Cambrian and Ordovician mudstones has resulted in the slates, the extraction of which once formed the mainstay of the area's economy.
The principal ranges of the traditional Snowdonia are the Snowdon massif itself, the Glyderau, the Carneddau, the Moelwynion and the Moel Hebog range. All of Wales' 3000ft mountains are to be found within the first three of these massifs and are most popular with visitors. To their south within the wider national park are the Rhinogydd and the Cadair Idris and Aran Fawddwy ranges. Besides these well-defined areas are a host of mountains which are less readily grouped though various guidebook writers have assigned them into groups such as the 'Arenigs', the 'Tarrens' and the 'Dyfi hills'.
Snowdon's summit at 1085 metres (3560 feet) is the highest in Wales and the highest in Britain south of the Scottish Highlands. At 905 metres (2970 feet) Aran Fawddwy is the highest in Wales outside of northern Snowdonia; Cadair Idris, at 893 metres (2930 feet), is next in line.
Rivers draining the area empty directly into Cardigan Bay are typically short and steep. From north to south they include the Glaslyn and Dwyryd which share a common estuary, the Mawddach and its tributaries the Wnion and the Eden, the smaller Dysynni and on the park's southern margin the Dyfi. A series of rivers drain to the north coast. Largest of these is the Conwy on the park's eastern margin which along with the Ogwen drains into Conwy Bay. Further west the Seiont and Gwyrfai empty into the western end of the Menai Strait. A part of the east of the national park is within the upper Dee (Dyfrydwy) catchment and includes Bala Lake, the largest natural waterbody in Wales. A fuller list of the rivers and tributaries within the area is found at List of rivers of Wales.
There are few natural waterbodies of any size in Wales; Snowdonia is home to most. Besides Bala Lake, a few lakes occupy glacial troughs including Llyn Padarn and Llyn Peris at Llanberis and Tal-y-llyn Lake south of Cadair Idris. Llyn Dinas, Llyn Gwynant, and Llyn Cwellyn to the south and west of Snowdon feature in this category as do Llyn Cowlyd and Llyn Ogwen on the margins of the Carneddau. There are numerous small lakes occupying glacial cirques owing to the former intensity of glacial action in Snowdonia. Known generically as tarns, examples include Llyn Llydaw, Glaslyn and Llyn Du'r Arddu on Snowdon, Llyn Idwal within the Glyderau and Llyn Cau on Cadair Idris.
There are two large wholly man-made bodies of water in the area, Llyn Celyn and Llyn Trawsfynydd whilst numerous of the natural lakes have had their levels artificially raised to different degrees. Marchlyn Mawr reservoir and Ffestiniog Power Station's Llyn Stwlan are two cases where natural tarns have been dammed as part of pumped storage hydro-electric schemes. A fuller list of the lakes within the area is found at List of lakes of Wales. In 2023, the park standardised its Welsh language lake names, to be also used in English.
The national park meets the Irish Sea coast within Cardigan Bay between the Dovey estuary in the south and the Dwyryd estuary. The larger part of that frontage is characterised by dune systems, the largest of which are Morfa Dyffryn and Morfa Harlech. These two locations have two of the largest sand/shingle spits in Wales. The major indentations of the Dovey, the Mawddach and Dwyryd estuaries, have large expanses of intertidal sands and coastal marsh which are especially important for wildlife: see #Natural history. The northern tip of the national park extends to the north coast of Wales at Penmaen-bach Point, west of Conwy, where precipitous cliffs have led to the road and railway negotiating the spot in tunnels.
There are only three towns within the park boundary, though there are several more immediately beyond it. Dolgellau is the most populous followed by Bala on the eastern boundary and then Harlech overlooking Tremadog Bay. More populous than these is the town of Blaenau Ffestiniog, which is within an exclave, that is to say it is surrounded by the national park but excluded from it, whilst the towns of Tywyn and Barmouth on the Cardigan Bay coast are within coastal exclaves. Llanrwst in the east, Machynlleth in the south and Porthmadog and Penrhyndeudraeth in the west are immediately beyond the boundary but still identified with the park; indeed the last of these hosts the headquarters of the Snowdonia National Park Authority. Similarly the local economies of the towns of Conwy, Bethesda, and Llanberis in the north are inseparably linked to the national park as they provide multiple visitor services. The lower terminus of the Snowdon Mountain Railway is at Llanberis. Though adjacent to it, Llanfairfechan and Penmaenmawr are less obviously linked to the park.
There are numerous smaller settlements within the national park: prominent amongst these are the eastern 'gateway' village of Betws-y-Coed, Aberdyfi on the Dovey (Dyfi) estuary and the small village of Beddgelert each of which attract large numbers of visitors. Other sizeable villages are Llanuwchllyn at the southwest end of Bala Lake (Llyn Tegid), Dyffryn Ardudwy, Corris, Trawsfynydd, Llanbedr, Trefriw and Dolwyddelan.
Six primary routes serve Snowdonia, the busiest of which is the A55, a dual carriageway which runs along the north coast and provides strategic road access to the northern part of the national park. The most important north–south route within the park is the A470 running from the A55 south past Betws-y-Coed to Blaenau Ffestiniog to Dolgellau. It exits the park a few miles to the southeast near Mallwyd. From Dolgellau, the A494 runs to Bala whilst the A487 connects with Machynlleth. The A487 loops around the northwest of the park from Bangor via Caernarfon to Porthmadog before turning in land to meet the A470 east of Maentwrog. The A5 was built as a mail coach road by Thomas Telford between London and Holyhead; it enters the park near Pentrefoelas and leaves it near Bethesda. Other A class roads provide more local links; the A493 down the Dovey valley from Machynlleth and up the coast to Tywyn then back up the Mawddach valley to Dolgellau, the A496 from Dolgellau down the north side of the Mawddach to Barmouth then north up the coast via Harlech to Maentwrog. The A4212 connecting Bala with Trawsfynydd is relatively modern having been laid out in the 1960s in connection with the construction of Llyn Celyn. Three further roads thread their often twisting and narrow way through the northern mountains; A4085 links Penrhyndeudraeth with Caernarfon, the A4086 links Capel Curig with Caernarfon via Llanberis and the A498 links Tremadog with the A4086 at Pen-y-Gwryd. Other roads of note include that from Llanuwchllyn up Cwm Cynllwyd to Dinas Mawddwy via the 545 metre (1788') high pass of Bwlch y Groes, the second highest tarmacked public road in Wales and the minor road running northwest and west from Llanuwchllyn towards Bronaber via the 531 metre (1742') high pass of Bwlch Pen-feidiog.
The double track North Wales Coast Line passes along the northern boundary of the park between Conwy and Bangor briefly entering it at Penmaen-bach Point where it is in tunnel. Stations serve the communities of Conwy, Penmaenmawr, Llanfairfechan and Bangor. The single-track Conwy Valley Line runs south from Llandudno Junction, entering the park north of Betws-y-coed which is served by a station then west up the Lledr valley by way of further stations at Pont-y-pant, Dolwyddelan and Roman Bridge. After passing through a tunnel the passenger line now terminates at Blaenau Ffestiniog railway station. Prior to 1961 the route continued as the Bala and Ffestiniog Railway via Trawsfynydd to Bala joining another former route along the Dee valley which ran southwest via Dolgellau to join the still extant coastal Cambrian Line south of Barmouth. The Pwllheli branch of the Cambrian Line splits from the Aberystwyth branch at Dovey Junction and continues via stations at Aberdovey, Tywyn, Tonfanau, Llwyngwril, Fairbourne and Morfa Mawddach to Barmouth where it crosses the Mawddach estuary by the Grade II* listed wooden Barmouth Bridge, a structure which also provides for walkers and cyclists. Further stations serve Llanaber, Tal-y-bont, Dyffryn Ardudwy, Llanbedr, Pensarn and Llandanwg before reaching Harlech. Tygwyn, Talsarnau and Llandecwyn stations are the last before the line exits the park as it crosses the Dwyryd estuary via Pont Briwet and turns westwards bound for Pwllheli via Penrhyndeudraeth, Porthmadog and Criccieth.
Many sections of dismantled railway are now used by walking and cycling routes and are described elsewhere. The Bala Lake Railway is a heritage railway which has been established along a section of the former mainline route between Bala and Llanuwchllyn. Other heritage railways occupy sections of former mineral lines, often narrow gauge and are described in a separate section.
The national park is served by a growing bus network, branded Sherpa'r Wyddfa (formerly Snowdon Sherpa). Together with the TrawsCymru network of buses this provides a car-free option to tourists and locals wishing to travel across the National Park.
The network was relaunched in July 2022 with a new brand, Sherpa'r Wyddfa, to reflect the National Park's new push for the promotion of Welsh place names. As such the publicity and websites for the newly branded service only use these Welsh names, even for English language users.
Snowdonia is one of the wettest parts of the United Kingdom; Crib Goch in Snowdonia is the wettest spot in the United Kingdom, with an average rainfall of 4,473 millimetres (176.1 in) a year over the 30-year period prior to the mid-2000s. (There is a rainfall gauge at 713 metres, 2340' on the slopes below Crib Goch.)
The earliest evidence for human occupation of the area dates from around 4000–3000 BCE with extensive traces of prehistoric field systems evident in the landscape. Within these are traces of irregular enclosures and hut circles. There are burial chambers of Neolithic and Bronze Age such as Bryn Cader Faner and Iron Age hillforts such as Bryn y Castell near Ffestiniog.
The region was finally conquered by the Romans by AD 77–78. Remains of Roman marching camps and practice camps are evident. There was a Roman fort and amphitheatre at Tomen y Mur. Roads are known to have connected with Segontium (Caernarfon) and Deva Victrix (Chester) and include the northern reaches of Sarn Helen.
There are numerous memorial stones of Early Christian affinity dating from the post-Roman period. The post-Roman hillfort of Dinas Emrys also dates to this time. Churches were introduced to the region in the 5th and 6th centuries. Llywelyn the Great and Llywelyn ap Gruffudd had various stone castles constructed to protect their borders and trade routes. Edward I built several castles around the margins including those at Harlech and Conwy for military and administrative reasons. Most are now protected within a World Heritage Site. Some of Snowdonia's many stone walls date back to this period too. In the Middle Ages, the title Prince of Wales and Lord of Snowdonia (Tywysog Cymru ac Arglwydd Eryri) was used by Llywelyn ap Gruffudd; his grandfather Llywelyn Fawr used the title Prince of north Wales and Lord of Snowdonia.
The 18th century saw the start of industrial exploitation of the area's resources, assisted by the appearance in the late part of the century of turnpike trusts making it more accessible. The engineer Thomas Telford left a legacy of road and railway construction in and around Snowdonia. A new harbour at Porthmadog linked to slate quarries at Ffestiniog via a narrow gauge railway. At its peak in the 19th century the slate industry employed around 12,000 men. A further 1000 were employed in stone quarrying at Graiglwyd and Penmaenmawr. Mining for copper, iron and gold was undertaken during the 18th and 19th centuries, leaving a legacy of mine and mill ruins today. Ruins of the gold industry are found at Cefn Coch on the Dolmelynllyn estate.
The Snowdonia Society is a registered charity formed in 1967; it is a voluntary group of people with an interest in the area and its protection.
Amory Lovins led the successful 1970s opposition to stop Rio Tinto digging up the area for a massive mine.
The park's entire coastline is a Special Area of Conservation, which runs from the Llŷn Peninsula down the mid-Wales coast, the latter containing valuable sand dune systems.
The park's natural forests are of the mixed deciduous type, the commonest tree being the Welsh oak. Birch, ash, mountain-ash and hazel are also common. The park also contains some large (planted) coniferous forested areas such as Gwydir Forest near Betws-y-Coed, although some areas, once harvested, are now increasingly being allowed to regrow naturally.
Northern Snowdonia is the only place in Britain where the Snowdon lily (Gagea serotina), an arctic–alpine plant, is found and the only place in the world where the Snowdonia hawkweed Hieracium snowdoniense grows.
One of the major problems facing the park in recent years has been the growth of Rhododendron ponticum. This fast-growing invasive species has a tendency to take over and stifle native species. It can form massive towering growths and has a companion fungus that grows on its roots producing toxins that are poisonous to any local flora and fauna for a seven-year period after the Rhododendron infestations have been eradicated. As a result, there are a number of desolate landscapes.
Mammals in the park include otters, polecats, feral goats, and pine martens. Birds include raven, red-billed chough, peregrine, osprey, merlin and the red kite. The rainbow-coloured Snowdon beetle (Chrysolina cerealis) is only found in northern Snowdonia.
Snowdonia has a particularly high number of protected sites in respect of its diverse ecology; nearly 20% of its total area is protected by UK and European law. Half of that area was set aside by the government under the European Habitats Directive as a Special Area of Conservation. There are a large number of Sites of special scientific interest (or 'SSSIs'), designated both for fauna and flora but also in some cases for geology. Nineteen of these sites are managed as national nature reserves by Natural Resources Wales. The park also contains twelve Special Areas of Conservation (or 'SACs'), three Special Protection Areas (or 'SPAs') and three Ramsar sites. Some are wholly within the park boundaries, others straddle it to various degrees.
There are numerous SSSIs within the park, the most extensive of which are Snowdonia, Migneint-Arenig-Dduallt, Morfa Harlech, Rhinog, Berwyn, Cadair Idris, Llyn Tegid, Aber Mawddach / Mawddach Estuary, Dyfi, Morfa Dyffryn, Moel Hebog, Coedydd Dyffryn Ffestiniog and Coedydd Nanmor.
The following NNRs are either wholly or partly within the park: Allt y Benglog, Y Berwyn (in multiple parts), Cader Idris, Ceunant Llennyrch, Coed Camlyn, Coed Cymerau, Coed Dolgarrog, Coed Ganllwyd, Coed Gorswen, Coed Tremadog, Coedydd Aber, Coedydd Maentwrog (in 2 parts), Coed y Rhygen, Cwm Glas Crafnant, Cwm Idwal, Hafod Garregog, Morfa Harlech, Rhinog and Snowdon.
The twelve SACs are as follows: Snowdonia SAC which covers much of the Carneddau, Glyderau, and the Snowdon massif, Afon Gwyrfai a Llyn Cwellyn, Corsydd Eifionydd / Eifionydd Fens (north of Garndolbenmaen), the Coedydd Derw a Safleoedd Ystlumod Meirion / Meirionydd Oakwoods and Bat Sites - a series of sites between Tremadog, Trawsfynydd, and Ffestiniog and Beddgelert and extending up the Gwynant. It also includes many of the oakwoods of the Mawddach and its tributaries. Afon Eden – Cors Goch Trawsfynydd, Rhinog, Cadair Idris (in 2 parts), Migneint-Arenig-Dduallt, River Dee and Afon Dyfrdwy a Llyn Tegid (Wales), Mwyngloddiau Fforest Gwydir / Gwydyr Forest Mines (north of Betws-y-Coed) and a part of the Berwyn a Mynyddoedd De Clwyd / Berwyn and South Clwyd Mountains SAC. The Pen Llyn a'r Sarnau / Lleyn Peninsula and the Sarnau SAC covers the entire Cardigan Bay coastline of the park and the sea area and extends above the high water mark at Morfa Harlech, Mochras and around the Dovey and Mawddach estuaries.
The three SPAs are Dovey Estuary / Aber Dyfi (of which a part is within the park), Berwyn (of which a part is within the park) and Migneint-Arenig-Dduallt.
The three designated Ramsar sites are the Dyfi Biosphere (Cors Fochno and Dyfi), Cwm Idwal and Llyn Tegid (Bala Lake).
The area's economy was traditionally centred upon farming and from the early 19th century increasingly on mining and quarrying. Tourism has become an increasingly significant part of Snowdonia's economy during the 20th and 21st centuries.
The extensive farming of sheep remains central to Snowdonia's farming economy.
Significant sections of the park were afforested during the 20th century for timber production. Major conifer plantations include Dyfi Forest, Coed y Brenin Forest between Dolgellau and Trawsfynydd, Penllyn Forest south of Bala, Beddgelert Forest and Gwydyr (or Gwydir) Forest near Betws-y-Coed which is managed as a forest park by Natural Resources Wales.
The region was once the most important producer of slate in the world. Some production continues but at a much reduced level from its peak. The park boundaries are drawn such that much of the landscape affected by slate quarrying and mining lies immediately outside of the designated area.
Construction of a nuclear power station beside Llyn Trawsfynydd began in 1959 with the first power produced in 1965. The site was operational until 1991 though it continues as an employer during its decommissioning phase. Pumped storage hydroelectric schemes are in operation at Llanberis and Ffestiniog.
Research indicates that there were 3.67 million visitors to Snowdonia National Park in 2013, with approximately 9.74 million tourist days spent in the park during that year. Total tourist expenditure was £433.6 million in 2013.
Many of the hikers in the area concentrate on Snowdon itself. It is regarded as a fine mountain, but at times gets very crowded; in addition the Snowdon Mountain Railway runs to the summit.
The other high mountains with their boulder-strewn summits as well as Tryfan, one of the few mountains in the UK south of Scotland whose ascent needs hands as well as feet are also very popular. However, there are also some spectacular walks in Snowdonia on the lower mountains, and they tend to be relatively unfrequented. Among hikers' favourites are Y Garn (east of Llanberis) along the ridge to Elidir Fawr; Mynydd Tal-y-Mignedd (west of Snowdon) along the Nantlle Ridge to Mynydd Drws-y-Coed; Moelwyn Mawr (west of Blaenau Ffestiniog); and Pen Llithrig y Wrach north of Capel Curig. Further south are Y Llethr in the Rhinogydd, and Cadair Idris near Dolgellau.
The park has 1,479 miles (2,380 km) of public footpaths, 164 miles (264 km) of public bridleways, and 46 miles (74 km) of other public rights of way. A large part of the park is also covered by right to roam laws.
The Wales Coast Path runs within the park between Machynlleth and Penrhyndeudraeth, save for short sections of coast in the vicinity of Tywyn and Barmouth which are excluded from the park. It touches the park boundary again at Penmaen-bach Point on the north coast. An inland alternative exists between Llanfairfechan and Conwy, wholly within the park. The North Wales Path, which predates the WCP, enters the park north of Bethesda and follows a route broadly parallel to the north coast visiting Aber Falls and the Sychnant Pass before exiting the park on the descent from Conwy Mountain. The Cambrian Way is a long-distance trail between Cardiff and Conwy that stays almost entirely within the national park from Mallwyd northwards. It was officially recognised in 2019, and is now depicted on Ordnance Survey maps.
The use of the English names for the area has been divisive, with an increase in protests against their use since 2020; these led to the national park authority deciding to use Welsh names as far as legally possible in November 2022. An early example of pressure to deprecate Snowdon and Snowdonia was a 2003 campaign by Cymuned, inspired by campaigns to refer to Ayers Rock as Uluru and Mount Everest as Qomolangma.
In 2020 an e-petition calling for the removal of the English names was put forward to the Senedd, but rejected as responsibility lies with the national park authority. In 2021 an e-petition on the same topic attracted more than 5,300 signatures and was presented to the national park authority.
On 28 April 2021 Gwynedd councillor John Pughe Roberts put forward a motion to use the Welsh names exclusively, calling this a "question of respect for the Welsh language". The motion was not considered and delayed, as the national park authority already appointed a "Welsh Place Names Task and Finish Group" to investigate the issue. The park authority however cannot compel other bodies and/or individuals to stop using the English names, with the proposals facing some criticism.
In May 2021, following the dismissal of the motion, YouGov conducted a poll on Snowdon's name. 60% of Welsh adults supported the English name Snowdon, compared to 30% wanting the Welsh name Yr Wyddfa. Separating by language, 59% of Welsh speakers preferred the Welsh name, but 37% of these still wanted Snowdon to be used as well. 69% of non-Welsh speakers firmly supported Snowdon as the Mountain's name. The proposals to rename Snowdon are usually accompanied with proposals to rename Snowdonia.
On 16 November 2022, Members of the Snowdonia National Park Authority committee voted to use the Welsh names Yr Wyddfa and Eryri to refer to the mountain and the national park, rather than the English names, in materials produced by the authority. The national park authority described the decision as "decisive action" and the authority's head of culture heritage stated that Welsh place names were part of the area's "special qualities" and that other public bodies, English-language press and filming companies have used the Welsh-language names. Before the decision the park had already prioritised the Welsh names by using them first and giving the English names in parentheses. The name "Snowdonia" cannot be abandoned entirely, as it is set in law and so must be used in statutory documents. The authority announced a review of the authority's branding in 2023 to adapt to the new approach to Welsh place names.
Gwynedd is a county in the north-west of Wales. It borders Anglesey across the Menai Strait to the north, Conwy, Denbighshire, and Powys to the east, Ceredigion over the Dyfi estuary to the south, and the Irish Sea to the west. The city of Bangor is the largest settlement, and the administrative centre is Caernarfon. The preserved county of Gwynedd, which is used for ceremonial purposes, includes the Isle of Anglesey.
Gwynedd is the second largest county in Wales but sparsely populated, with an area of 979 square miles (2,540 km2) and a population of 117,400. After Bangor (18,322), the largest settlements are Caernarfon (9,852), Bethesda (4,735), and Pwllheli (4,076). The county has the highest percentage of Welsh speakers in Wales, at 64.4%, and is considered a heartland of the language.
The geography of Gwynedd is mountainous, with a long coastline to the west. Much of the county is covered by Snowdonia National Park (Eryri), which contains Wales's highest mountain, Snowdon (Yr Wyddfa; 3,560 feet, 1,090 m). To the west, the Llŷn Peninsula is flatter and renowned for its scenic coastline, part of which is protected by the Llŷn AONB. Gwynedd also contains several of Wales's largest lakes and reservoirs, including the largest, Bala Lake (Llyn Tegid).
The area which is now the county has played a prominent part in the history of Wales. It formed part of the core of the Kingdom of Gwynedd and the native Principality of Wales, which under the House of Aberffraw remained independent from the Kingdom of England until Edward I's conquest between 1277 and 1283. Edward built the castles at Caernarfon and Harlech, which form part of the Castles and Town Walls of King Edward in Gwynedd World Heritage Site. During the Industrial Revolution the slate industry rapidly developed; in the late nineteenth century the neighbouring Penrhyn and Dinorwic quarries were the largest in the world, and the Slate Landscape of Northwest Wales is now a World Heritage Site. Gwynedd covers the majority of the historic counties of Caernarfonshire and Merionethshire.
In the past, historians such as J. E. Lloyd assumed that the Celtic source of the word Gwynedd meant 'collection of tribes' – the same root as the Irish fine, meaning 'tribe'. Further, a connection is recognised between the name and the Irish Féni, an early ethnonym for the Irish themselves, related to fían, 'company of hunting and fighting men, company of warriors under a leader'. Perhaps *u̯en-, u̯enə ('strive, hope, wish') is the Indo-European stem. The Irish settled in NW Wales, and in Dyfed, at the end of the Roman era. Venedotia was the Latin form, and in Penmachno there is a memorial stone from c. AD 500 which reads: Cantiori Hic Iacit Venedotis ('Here lies Cantiorix, citizen of Gwynedd'). The name was retained by the Brythons when the kingdom of Gwynedd was formed in the 5th century, and it remained until the invasion of Edward I. This historical name was revived when the new county was formed in 1974.
Gwynedd was an independent kingdom from the end of the Roman period until the 13th century, when it was conquered by England. The modern Gwynedd was one of eight Welsh counties created on 1 April 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972. It covered the entirety of the historic counties of Anglesey and Caernarfonshire, and all of Merionethshire apart from Edeirnion Rural District (which went to Clwyd); and also a few parishes of Denbighshire: Llanrwst, Llansanffraid Glan Conwy, Eglwysbach, Llanddoged, Llanrwst and Tir Ifan.
The county was divided into five districts: Aberconwy, Arfon, Dwyfor, Meirionnydd and Anglesey.
The Local Government (Wales) Act 1994 abolished the 1974 county (and the five districts) on 1 April 1996, and its area was divided: the Isle of Anglesey became an independent unitary authority, and Aberconwy (which included the former Denbighshire parishes) passed to the new Conwy County Borough. The remainder of the county was constituted as a principal area, with the name Caernarfonshire and Merionethshire, as it covers most of the areas of those two historic counties. As one of its first actions, the Council renamed itself Gwynedd on 2 April 1996. The present Gwynedd local government area is governed by Gwynedd Council. As a unitary authority, the modern entity no longer has any districts, but Arfon, Dwyfor and Meirionnydd remain as area committees.
The pre-1996 boundaries were retained as a preserved county for a few purposes such as the Lieutenancy. In 2003, the boundary with Clwyd was adjusted to match the modern local government boundary, so that the preserved county now covers the two local government areas of Gwynedd and Anglesey. Conwy county borough is now entirely within Clwyd.
A Gwynedd Constabulary was formed in 1950 by the merger of the Anglesey, Caernarfonshire and Merionethshire forces. A further amalgamation took place in the 1960s when Gwynedd Constabulary was merged with the Flintshire and Denbighshire county forces, retaining the name Gwynedd. In one proposal for local government reform in Wales, Gwynedd had been proposed as a name for a local authority covering all of north Wales, but the scheme as enacted divided this area between Gwynedd and Clwyd. To prevent confusion, the Gwynedd Constabulary was therefore renamed the North Wales Police.
The Snowdonia National Park was formed in 1951. After the 1974 local authority reorganisation, the park fell entirely within the boundaries of Gwynedd, and was run as a department of Gwynedd County Council. After the 1996 local government reorganisation, part of the park fell under Conwy County Borough, and the park's administration separated from the Gwynedd council. Gwynedd Council still appoints nine of the eighteen members of the Snowdonia National Park Authority; Conwy County Borough Council appoints three; and the Welsh Government appoints the remaining six.
There has been considerable inwards migration to Gwynedd, particularly from England. According to the 2021 census, 66.6% of residents had been born in Wales whilst 27.1% were born in England.
The county has a mixed economy. An important part of the economy is based on tourism: many visitors are attracted by the many beaches and the mountains. A significant part of the county lies within the Snowdonia National Park, which extends from the north coast down to the district of Meirionnydd in the south. But tourism provides seasonal employment and thus there is a shortage of jobs in the winter.
Agriculture is less important than in the past, especially in terms of the number of people who earn their living on the land, but it remains an important element of the economy.
The most important of the traditional industries is the slate industry, but these days only a small percentage of workers earn their living in the slate quarries.
Industries which have developed more recently include TV and sound studios: the record company Sain has its HQ in the county.
The education sector is also very important for the local economy, including Bangor University and Further Education colleges, Coleg Meirion-Dwyfor and Coleg Menai, both now part of Grŵp Llandrillo Menai.
The proportion of respondents in the 2011 census who said they could speak Welsh.
Gwynedd has the highest proportion of people in Wales who can speak Welsh. According to the 2021 census, 64.4% of the population aged three and over stated that they could speak Welsh,[7] while 64.4% noted that they could speak Welsh in the 2011 census.
It is estimated that 83% of the county's Welsh-speakers are fluent, the highest percentage of all counties in Wales.[9] The age group with the highest proportion of Welsh speakers in Gwynedd were those between ages 5–15, of whom 92.3% stated that they could speak Welsh in 2011.
The proportion of Welsh speakers in Gwynedd declined between 1991 and 2001,[10] from 72.1% to 68.7%, even though the proportion of Welsh speakers in Wales as a whole increased during that decade to 20.5%.
The Annual Population Survey estimated that as of March 2023, 77.0% of those in Gwynedd aged three years and above could speak Welsh.
Notable people
Leslie Bonnet (1902–1985), RAF officer, writer; originated the Welsh Harlequin duck in Criccieth
Sir Dave Brailsford (born 1964), cycling coach; grew up in Deiniolen, near Caernarfon
Duffy (born 1984), singer, songwriter and actress; born in Bangor, Gwynedd
Edward II of England (1284–1327), born in Caernarfon Castle
Elin Fflur (born 1984), singer-songwriter, TV and radio presenter; went to Bangor University
Bryn Fôn (born 1954), actor and singer-songwriter; born in Llanllyfni, Caernarfonshire.
Wayne Hennessey (born 1987), football goalkeeper with 108 caps for Wales; born in Bangor, Gwynedd
John Jones (c. 1530 – 1598), a Franciscan friar, Roman Catholic priest and martyr; born at Clynnog
Sir Love Jones-Parry, 1st Baronet (1832–1891), landowner and politician, co-founder of the Y Wladfa settlement in Patagonia
T. E. Lawrence (1888–1935), archaeologist, army officer and inspiration for Lawrence of Arabia, born in Tremadog
David Lloyd George (1863–1945), statesman and Prime Minister; lived in Llanystumdwy from infancy
Sasha (born 1969), disc jockey, born in Bangor, Gwynedd
Sir Bryn Terfel (born 1965), bass-baritone opera and concert singer from Pant Glas
Sir Clough Williams-Ellis (1883–1978), architect of Portmeirion
Owain Fôn Williams, (born 1987), footballer with 443 club caps; born and raised in Penygroes, Gwynedd.
Hedd Wyn (1887–1917), poet from the village of Trawsfynydd; killed in WWI
Taken on 01 March 2014 in Angola near Vatuco Cacula (DSC_0213)
freewheely.com: Cycling Africa beyond mountains and deserts until Cape Town
Written and illustrated with photographs by Minami Minoru, and published in 1921 by ARS in Tokyo. Minami was a photographer who worked in the Pictorialist style of photography, which a lot of people look down on these days, but I think these images are interesting and well-done. This publication preceded the magazine "Geijutsu Shashin Kenkyo," which was edited by Minami and published by ARS. After 1923, it merged with "Kamera" magazine, which ran until the 1950s. This is a small, hard-bound, well-made book, printed on quality paper and sold with a heavy cardstock slipcase. There are at least 9 copies of this book in Japanese libraries, one at the British Museum, and a few in private collections. My copy came from a book dealer in California. How many of these were printed? If you look at the colophon (the third from the left image in the top row), it states that this is from the 15th edition. No, it's not. Japanese publishers were fond of embellishing edition sizes when this was published. Realistically, there were at least two true editions, because the British Museum's copy (marked as a 21st edition copy) is dated 1922. Let's say there were perhaps 5,000 total copies published. What wasn't sold would have been lost to various sorts of attrition- changing tastes in photography, The Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923, The Great Depression, The Firebombings of Japan in 1945, and Time...leaving perhaps a few hundred on dealer shelves and in libraries and private collections. Here's a link to the copy at the incredible National Diet Library in Tokyo: dl.ndl.go.jp/info:ndljp/pid/965015
20091119_1182
Vandaag ontving ik per post mijn presentexemplaar van Heel Nederland een gids, geschreven door Rik Zaal.
Toen mij gevraagd werd of men deze foto mocht gebruiken en daar geen geld voor wilden neertellen maar me wel een presentexemplaar toezegde ben ik akkoord gegaan. Ik had toen nog geen idee van de omvang van dit boek en het PR plan eromheen (presentatie bij Pauw en Witteman, overal lezingen door Heel Nedereland e.d.)
Ik ben helemaal trots dat hier ook een foto in staat die ik gemaakt heb. Zoals jullie zien heeft de foto een prominente plaats gekregen en is de naamsvermelding direct onder de foto geplaatst.
Het boekwerk bestaat uit twee delen van elk ongeveer 650 pagina's dik.
Kost tot 1 januari 59,95, daarna 69,95.
The Postcard
A postcard that was published by Francis Frith & Co. Ltd. of Reigate. The card was posted in Maidenhead using a 3d. stamp on Saturday the 10th. September 1966.
The card was sent to:
Mrs. Bristow,
205, Wells Road,
Bristol.
The message on the divided back of the card was as follows:
"Showing you a hotel
where we had a meal -
to remind you of eggs
and milk.
It's very lovely around
here.
Love,
Sally."
Sally is probably referring to the pub on the left which is called the George and Dragon. It is still going strong to this day
Wonderloaf
Note the Wonderloaf van. Wonderloaf is a British icon - the first British bread slicing and wrapping machine was installed at the Wonderloaf Bakery in Tottenham in 1937, having been patented in America in 1934.
The war slowed things down a bit, but by the 1950's, the sliced loaf accounted for 80 per cent of the bread market in Great Britain.
Wonderloaf slogans included:
- 'Of course it's fresh, it's Wonderloaf.'
- 'As fresh as the news every day.'
- 'Bakers eat it.'
- 'The same price as ordinary bread.'
The War Memorial
The Grade II Listed war memorial on the right of the photograph commemorates the fallen of Marlow during the First and Second World Wars. 230 men from Marlow and the surrounding area died in the Great War.
The unveiling ceremony took place on the 25th. July 1920, and was attended by Gen. Sir George Higginson GCB GCVO.
The plinth supporting the stone cross bears the following inscription:
'Sons of this place,
Let this of you be said,
That you who live are
worthy of your dead.
These gave their lives
that you who live may
reap a richer harvest
Ere you fall asleep.
TFR.'
Douglas 'Pete' Peterson
So what else happened on the day that Sally posted the card?
Well, on the 10th. September 1966, U.S. Air Force Captain Douglas "Pete" Peterson was flying an F-4 Phantom over North Vietnam when he was shot down.
He was held as a prisoner of war in the "Hanoi Hilton" for six and a half years until his release on the 4th. March 1973.
After serving as a U.S. Representative for Florida for six years, Pete returned to Hanoi in 1997, as the first United States Ambassador to Vietnam.
On his drive to and from the Embassy, Peterson made it a point to drive past the former POW camp.
Hendrik Verwoerd
Also on that day, Hendrik Verwoerd's state funeral, attended by a quarter of a million people (almost entirely white), was held in Pretoria, South Africa.
Muhammad Ali
Also on the 10th. September 1966, heavyweight boxer Muhammad Ali defended his world title in Frankfurt, West Germany, in a challenge by the European heavyweight champion, Karl Mildenberger, who had not lost a bout in four years.
Although Mildenberger was cut above both eyes in the fourth round, and knocked down by Ali in the fifth, the American boxer slowed his pace, giving the German champ time to recover.
Finally, in the 12th. round, Ali won by a technical knockout after the referee stepped in to stop the fight.
Children's Cartoons
Also on the 10th. September 1966, all three American TV networks debuted their Saturday morning lineup of children's cartoons.
CBS capitalized on the popularity of superheroes with The New Adventures of Superman and with new heroes created for television by Hanna-Barbera Productions, notably Space Ghost and Frankenstein Jr. and The Impossibles.
Atlas-Agena
Also on that day, the scheduled Atlas-Agena launch was postponed because of apparent problems with the target launch vehicle autopilot.
The launch was rescheduled for the 12th. September 1966.
Emil Gumbel
The 10th. September 1966 also marked the death at the age of 75 of the German mathematician and political commentator Emil Gumbel.
Emil had fled the Nazi government in 1932 after his demotion from Heidelberg University.
The Beatles
Also on that day, the Number One chart hit record in the UK was 'Yellow Submarine' by The Beatles.
[This photograph is part of the black-and-white re-processings I have been recently uploading to Flickr, because I do not have any new content to show, owing to the fact that I am presently only shooting for a photo-book that will be published by the Fondation du Patrimoine towards the end of 2023. I cannot show any of those photos, obviously, as I do not know yet which ones will be in the book. Thank you for your understanding and I hope you enjoy revisiting some older photos in their new, black-and-white look!
I also reproduce below the caption I wrote when I first uploaded the concerned photo, sometimes with slight adaptations.]
The small town of Souillac lies in the département of Lot, in the old province of Quercy (and in the modern region of Occitania). According to unconfirmed local stories, the abbey of Souillac was founded by Saint Éloi († 660) before it was taken over by the Benedictines from Aurillac in the 900s. From that period, only the Western tower-porch remains.
Less famous than Moissac, this abbey was, for me, at least as interesting, beginning with the church, which has not been altogether transformed in the Gothic style like in Moissac, but retains its beauty and genuineness from the 1100s.
Sculpture is also at least as amazing as that of Moissac, and even more so in some respects —and it is in much better condition.
Listed as a Historic Landmark on the first list of 1840, the abbey is not on the path to Compostela and was never known for housing any particularly famous relics, which is why the church, dedicated to Saint Mary, has no ambulatory around the choir.
I was very nicely received in Souillac by the local authorities as the photos I took contributed to the documentation of the nationwide crowdfunding project that is in place to restore parts of the church, under the ægis of the Fondation du Patrimoine (Mission Bern), for which I work as a pro bono photographer: www.fondation-patrimoine.org/les-projets/abbatiale-sainte....
The choir cross is draped with a piece of cloth probably meant to symbolize the sole clothing that Christ wore around His groin on the Cross. And of course, modern-day Church, still very much inspired by false ideas of splendor and the tearful Saint-Sulpicien imagery of the 19th century, makes the mistake of selecting a rich and shiny silk that clearly shows off how much it cost, instead of the basic piece of linen or cotton that would have been much more appropriate...
Remember, in Indiana Jones’s The Last Crusade, how the bad guy mistakes a gold cup ornate with many polished gems for the true Cup of the Last Supper, which is in fact a poor, ordinary clay bowl? This is what this piece of silk hanging there reminds me of.
(Well, all right, Hollywood being Hollywood, the poorish clay bowl in that movie had to be coated inside with something that looked suspiciously like gold [looked better on camera], where in truth it was most likely nothing of the sort...)
(And by the way, if you like Holy Grail stories, the best one I have ever read was Quest by Richard Ben Sapir, published in 1987. Ben Sapir was also the author of The Body, which became an awfully bad movie with Banderas, while Quest was regrettably –and unexplainably– never adapted...) for the big screen.
I'm so excited I just had to share one of my photos has been published on the coupons for the 17th Annual Carolina Renaissance Festival in Huntersville, NC.
My photo is the lower left one of Serendipity (lady in Red blowing bubbles) and the little girl trying to catch them. Serendipity is from clan Tynker
You can see my original photo here www.flickr.com/photos/grantbrummett/3363299133/
Thanks so much Ron for letting me know these hit the streets, you can see Ron's wonderful work at www.flickr.com/photos/45019444@N07/
My image taken originally taken with a Canon EOS 5D Mark II camera and Canon EF 85mm F/1.2L II USM Lens.
Bain News Service,, publisher.
Helen Keller
1913 [April] (date created or published later by Bain)
1 negative : glass ; 5 x 7 in. or smaller.
Notes:
Title and date from data provided by the Bain News Service on the negative. Other date on negative: 3/6/24 may reflect later publication by Bain.
Photo shows Helen Keller (1880-1968) possibly at the International Flower Show, New York City, April 1913. (Source: Flickr Commons project, 2008)
Forms part of: George Grantham Bain Collection (Library of Congress).
Format: Glass negatives.
Rights Info: No known restrictions on publication.
Repository: Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA, hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.print
General information about the Bain Collection is available at hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.ggbain
Higher resolution image is available (Persistent URL): hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/ggbain.12475
Call Number: LC-B2- 2631-2
Note: this photo was published in an Aug 7 2011 issue of Everyblock NYC zipcodes blog titled "10024."
******************************************************
What do New Yorkers do on a hot Sunday afternoon at the end of July?
Typically, between one and two million (yes, million) of them head to a nearby park to relax and enjoy themselves. That might mean heading to Central Park, or Prospect Park, or one of the dozens of other parks scattered throughout the five boroughs of the city. But if you live on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, one of the more tempting choices is Riverside Park, which stretches along the Hudson River from 59th Street up to 125th Street, and even further north (if you're somewhat adventurous) to the George Washington Bridge.
It's a relatively narrow park, but there's enough grass to stretch out and sunbathe, or enjoy a picnic. Or you can find a shady spot under a tree, and read a book or the Sunday New York Times. Swimming in the river is not encouraged, but fishing is okay; or you can rent a (free) kayak down by the 70th Street pier, and paddle around in the river to enjoy a cool breeze. For the more athletically inclined, there are tennis courts (at 96th Street), soccer fields (a little further north), and baseball diamonds (a little further south).
But since there's a wide, paved walkway that stretches along the entire distance of the park, a lot of people seem compelled -- even in hot, humid weather -- to jog, run, walk, skate, or bicycle along the river. It's a great opportunity to show off your fancy bike, or your fancy skates, or your handsome/beautiful body; and it's hard to beat the view and the scenery.
I came down here to Riverside Park some four months ago to photograph the biking/jogging/skating action, which you see on Flickr in a set I called Riverside Park - first day of spring, Mar 20, 2011. But it was still pretty cold, so most people were bundled up to stay warm.
Today, on this last day of July, nobody was bundled up. True, nobody was running naked, and I didn't see anyone in a bikini; but brief shorts and t-shirts were pretty universal ... except for the guys who wore shorts and no shirt at all.
In my usual fashion, I took quite a few photos -- 800 in all, as people continued skating, jogging, walking, and riding past me. About 10% of them were out of focus, or cut off (a running body with no head is not all that interesting), and another 80% were okay, but relatively boring. So, as usual, 90% of the photos got deleted, and I've got 80 "keepers" to share with everyone on Flickr.
I have a feeling that I won't bother with any more summer photos along the river, like this. But I may come back in the fall, when the leaves have turned and the air is crisp and cool. Who knows what everyone will be wearing at that point?
Note: this photo was published in an undated (Mar 26, 2011) Everyblock NYC zipcodes blog titled "10024."
*******************************************************
What a difference a year makes: on the first day of spring in 2010, I noted (in this Flickr set that "all 8 million New Yorkers were ready to take advantage of [spring]. The sun was out, the temperature was in the 70s, the sky was blue, and the clouds had disappeared to some other part of the country. There was no way a sane person could stay indoors..."
This year, spring arrived about 6 hours earlier (1:32 PM, as compared to last year's 7:21 PM), and while the sun was out, the temperature was in the low 40s rather than the 70s. Like last year, I decided to celebrate the arrival of spring by walking in Riverside Park, and began my usual stroll at the entrance on 72nd Street. I walked a couple blocks south, to the newly-constructed pier that juts halfway out into the Hudson River (or so it seems, anyway), and saw that the outdoor cafe at the base of the pier, where one can usually find a tasty hamburger and a cold beer, was still completely shut down. So I began walking north -- eventually past the 79th Street boat basin, where the Boat Basin Cafe (which you can see more about in this Flickr set ) was open, though protected by gas heaters and wind baffles.
Like last year, there was bright sunshine, blue skies, and no wind -- so people were indeed outside. But because the temperature was about 30 degrees colder, there weren't any picnics and there wasn't any sunbathing. Instead of finding people sprawled out on park benches, enjoying the Sunday newspaper in the sunshine, about the only activities I noticed were bicycling, jogging, brisk walking, and skating.
I was frustrated by the lack of the usual springtime "photo-ops," but then remembered the old adage: if life hands you lemons, then make lemonade. Since there was a steady stream of joggers, cyclists, and skaters, I decided that I might as well photograph them. So I situated myself on a bench near a spot where the walkway along the river splits in two directions: you can turn east and pass under the West Side Highway, up some stone steps and into a playground and elevated section of the park at 82nd Street; or you can continue straight along the river, and follow a newly-constructed narrow two-bike-lane path that connects the "lower" section of Riverside Park (i.e., below 82nd Street) with the "upper" section (starting at roughly 94th Street).
People were coming and going in all directions, so I situated myself with the sun behind me, facing north towards the George Washington Bridge in the far background, and basically ignored everyone coming up the walkway from behind me. There were plenty of people heading south, with the bright springtime sun shining directly on them, and I sat there for about an hour, until I had collected some 500 images with my new Sony SLT a55 camera ...
At that point, I decided I had gotten enough, so I strolled over to Broadway, and took a bus uptown to my own neighborhood. Only a few of the images that I uploaded to my computer were complete disasters -- e.g., out of focus, or missing a head, arm or leg because the subjects were moving so quickly past me. But I had to reject quite a few because they were a little too ordinary ... i.e., your reaction would have been something like, "Oh. There's a guy on a bike. Just like the last guy on a bike, and the one before that." So I ended up with about 70 "keepers" that I felt were sufficiently interesting to warrant uploading to Flickr.
And so that's it for Riverside Park in March, at least this year. Indeed, I may well wait until May before returning -- by which time I hope it will be warm enough that I'll see the sights and scenes that I more commonly associate with springtime in New York City.
Cocorosie
BSP Kingston
Kingston, New York
September 26th, 2015
© 2015 LEROE24FOTOS.COM
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
THIS MATERIAL MAY NOT BE PUBLISHED,
BROADCAST, REWRITTEN OR REDISTRIBUTED.
Published November 26th 2011.
Two 550Ex speedlites controlled simultaneously by one Phottix Odin radio receiver. Dual control. Thats TTL or M (remotely adjusted) and either with HSS or SCS!
Warning: This is a non-standard configuration. I am not recommending this use of Odin receivers. If you try this, it is entirely at your own risk. This configuration does not seem to work with 580ExIIs!
I'm still in early testing (as at 26-11-2011), but so far I have got perfect remote Manual flash power fraction control from the Odin TCU in the cam's hot-shoe. The 2 Ex units respond in parallel. The two speedlites - both 550Exs - are initially setup idendentically. The flash-heads are both up in a bounce orientation - wide panels both retracted. This may only apply to 550Exs. This configuration does not seem to work with 580ExIIs - possibly, it only works with pre-'II' series Ex speedlites. I have not tested all Ex speedlites - my guess would be that the pair must be identical twins for this to work. Remember that the 550Exs pre-date all the 'II' series Ex speedlites, so there are potentially a lot of variables to check.
The TTL cord is specifically 'ishoot' brand, their dual cord - and a recent batch (Nov '11). I tried this originally with a Yn dual cord & it seemed not to work. It may turn out that the 'ishoot' version is the only one of the 'dual' cords to work for this configuration. Note that there are several different versions of these 'dual' style TTL cords, which already differ from OC-E3 clones. The 'ishoot', the Yn, the Pixel and the Nissin version all differ externally and probably internally too.
Link: Feb '15:
www.ebay.com/itm/iShoot-2-5m-Flash-SYNC-E-TTL-Off-Camera-...
My logic for using 550Exs was first that they are less than half the price of a new 580ExII, in fact £90 to £130, they are pretty powerfull and they accept external power packs. So this configuration potentially offers the maximum gain for the minimum cost/risk.
Always turn on both speedlites before turning on the Rx unit. I only reconfigure the speedlites (deploy wide panel etc) with both the speedlites and the Rx temporarily switched off. Switch off the Speedlites before switching off the Rx.
This configuration is also good for TTL too - that's with FEC by group & globally - all with the option of HSS! The camera's flashmetering is best set to 'Average' for flash rather than 'Evaluative' (done in cam's Cfns or in the cam's flash menus - not from the camera's top-plate!). Tx to 'stripealipe' for this info - applies at least to the original release firmware (Edit: This restriction only applies to the on-release - later versions remove it). This is running very well indeed from both a 20D & a 7D. The modeling light function, controlled from the Odin TCU, also serves as focus assist. Easy with a little practice!
So, with Phottix Odins, either very nearly twice the power* or half the recycle time - all with a considerable cost saving - preserving remote power adjustment - Manual &/or TTL (& HSS for both) - from the TCU/camera unit. With Odins, M power fractions or FEC under ETTL, are adjusted by Group, directly from the TCU's screen - much quicker than having to delve into the camera's flash menu screens!
*: Not quite twice the power because I tend to splay the flash-heads slightly, giving very much better spread within most modifiers. So it's very much prettier light with smooth shadow transitions with quicker recylcing and/or nearly an extra stop of light.
Edit at 10-12-2011: Leaving TTL to one side, for metered manual flash, albeit (in-cam) metered flash, so far I've got two options. One is to use a variation of Chuck Gardner's white terry towelling reflected flash technique. I think you would need to use the 'only-just-clipping-white' end-point on a dummy shot taken with the white towelling in the subject position. With a bit of thought this can be used for ratios too.
The second option is based on an Expodisc or close clone - the uniform white type. This turns your cam's chip into an incident 'capture-flash' flash-meter and works well maybe sorting WB along the way. You would need to determine your own 'zero point' on your histogram specific to the transmissibility of your Expodisc or clone. Yep, they can be made to work. Likewise Olivier's idea of combining SCS with a long shutter speed, allowing time to reprime the meter before the capture-flash, works too. It assumes rather dim ambient levels and that you revert to a more typical SS for the actual capture - but it works too.
Edit: There are two extra options for using an external flashmeter in an Odin network operating in M flash. See this later post: www.flickr.com/photos/layeroption/11755249874/in/photostream
Edit at 18-12-2011: Being a certifiable, card-carrying strobist uber-nerd, I checked out a second 'ishoot' brand 'dual' ETTL cord with two other 550Exs - and - it worked in this configuration too! So, the warning still applies but it wasn't a fluke. Did I then interpose my Flashzebra 20ft OC-E3 clone on the distal speedlite end? Yep, that worked too - v rarely useful, but it would keep the camera/TCU un-tethered even if you were one Odin Rx short of a full load.
In fact I then daisy-chained 2 'ishoot' dual cords together (symetrically) & yes, 3 550Exs work as one together & respond in both M & TTL as they should. Sweet!
Edit at 04-01-2012: From my padded cell - 3 'ishoot' thingeys - X4 550Exs: Yes!
(My Yn 'dual' ETTL cord definitely does not work like this. And Elv says that Phottix's own 'dual' cord does not work for this configuration either.)
N.B. All of this applies using 550Exs with the original release Phottix Odin firmware. Update 24-08-12: This works with 550Exs and Firmware version 1.2 - Oh yes! - I like these triggers.
Edit at 30-01-2012: Many many hundred pops, scores of reconfigurations; zero issues! That goes for my other Odin Radio Rxs in use controlling either 580ExIIs or 550Exs. That's usually just one Ex to one Rx!
Edit: These Dual TTL cords from 'Ishoot' are becoming harder to find. Try Ebay searches under 'dual ttl cord'. Good luck.
Edit: 2-8-13: This post refers to the original hardware version 'Odin for Canon'. I updated to firmware v1.2 c August 2012. It seems that Phottix migrated to hardware type 'Odin 1.5 for Canon' some time ago.
Edit: 20-09-13: With the Mitros+ (Mitros Plus) just announced, I guess a pair of those could be used without the Dual cords & external Odin Rx. Similar functionality and beans at about X3 the cost - but tempting!
Thanks to fotoswoch My photograph got published in Ostholsteiner Anzeiger newspaper.
Original German
"Seize the moment" nannte Lateefa aus den Vereinigten Arabischen Emiraten ihr geheimnisvolles Bild. Die 23 Jährige stammt aus dem Emirat Dubai undwurde alsFoto grafin bereits mehrfach preisgekrönt. Über ihr Motive schreibt sie:,,Als junge Araberin benutze ich den Schleier in meiner Arbeit, da er ein wichtiger Teil von mir selbst ist. Dennoch erzählen meine Aufnahmen nicht vom Schleier, sondern von der Frau dahinter - und die ist trotz der Verschleierung wie alle anderen Frauen. "In der linken Hand hält das Modell eine große indische Frucht.
Die Vereinigten Arabischen Emiraten, darunter Dubai, und grenzen an Saudi-Arabian, Oman und Katar. Die Binnengrenzen sind nicht exakt festgelegt und die Kustenlinie am Persischen Golf kann nicht genau bestimmt werden, da sie sich durch Verlagerung von Sand und Schlickmassen ständig ändert.
English translation : thanks to Jessica.
' The U.A.E citizen Lateefa has called her mysterious picture 'Seize the moment'. The 23 year old comes from the Emirate of Dubai and has received several prizes for her photography. She writes about her work; 'as a young Arab woman I used the veil in my work - as it is an important part of myself. However my photos aren't speaking about the veil but the woman behind it - and in spite of being veiled, she is the same as all other women. ' In the left hand, the model holds a large Indian fruit. The U.A.E of which Dubai is one emirate, borders with Saudi Arabia, Oman and Qatar. The internal borders are not precisely marked and the coastline if the Persian Gulf can't be exactly identified as it constantly changes with the movement of sand and sand banks. '
The Postcard
A postally unused carte postale that was published by P. L. The card has a divided back.
Cluny
Cluny is a commune in the eastern French department of Saône-et-Loire, in the region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté. It is 20 km (12 mi) northwest of Mâcon.
The town grew up around the Benedictine Abbey of Cluny, founded by Duke William I of Aquitaine in 910. The height of Cluniac influence was from the second half of the 10th century through the early 12th.
The abbey was sacked by the Huguenots in 1562, and many of its valuable manuscripts were destroyed or removed.
The Musée de Cluny
The Musée de Cluny, also known as Musée National du Moyen Âge – Thermes et Hôtel de Cluny ('National Museum of the Middle Ages – Cluny Thermal Baths and Mansion), is a museum of the Middle Ages in Paris, France.
It is located in the Latin quarter in the 5th. arrondissement of Paris next to the square Samuel Paty. (Samuel Paty, aged 47, was beheaded by 18-year-old Abdullah Anzorov on the 17th. October 2020 after Samuel used cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed to teach his students about the importance of free speech).
The Hôtel de Cluny is partially constructed on the remnants of the third century Gallo-Roman baths known as the Thermes de Cluny, thermal baths from the Roman era of Gaul.
The museum consists of two buildings: the Frigidarium ('Cooling Room'), within the vestiges of the Thermes de Cluny, and the Hôtel de Cluny itself, which houses the collection. The Frigidarium is about 6,000 square metres.
The museum houses a vast collection of objects and art from the Middle Ages and earlier. Among the principal holdings of the museum are the six tapestries of The Lady and the Unicorn (La Dame à la Licorne).
History of the Museum
The building itself is a rare remaining example of the civic architecture of mediaeval Paris. It was formerly the Town House (Hôtel) of the abbots of Cluny. The first Cluny Hôtel was built after the Cluny order acquired the Ancient thermal baths in 1340.
It was built by Pierre de Chaslus, and re-built by Jacques d'Amboise, Abbot of Cluny from 1485 to 1510. It combines Gothic and Renaissance elements.
In 1843, it was re-fashioned into a public museum by Alexandre du Sommerard to preserve relics of France's Gothic past.
Although it no longer possesses anything originally connected with the Abbey of Cluny, the Hôtel was at first part of a larger Cluniac complex that also included a building (no longer standing) for a religious college in the Place de la Sorbonne.
Although originally intended for the use of the Cluny abbots, the residence was taken over by Jacques d'Amboise, Bishop of Clermont and Abbot of Jumièges, and rebuilt to its present form in the period of 1485-1500.
Occupants of the house over the years have included Mary Tudor, the sister of Henry VIII of England. She resided here in 1515 after the death of her husband Louis XII, whose successor, Francis I, kept her under surveillance, particularly to see if she was pregnant.
In the 18th. century, the tower of the Hôtel de Cluny was used as an observatory by the astronomer Charles Messier who, in 1771, published his observations in the landmark Messier catalogue.
In 1789, during the early years of the French Revolution, the Hôtel was confiscated by the state, and for the next three decades served varying functions. At one point, it was owned by a physician who used the magnificent flamboyant chapel on the first floor as a dissection room.
The Hôtel also housed the printing press of Nicolas-Léger Moutard, the official printer to the Queen of France from 1774 to 1792. His printing press was also located in the Hôtel's chapel.
In December 1832, Alexandre du Sommerard, a noted archaeologist and art collector, bought the Hôtel de Cluny and installed his large collection of medieval and Renaissance objects.
Upon his death in 1842, the collection was purchased by the state; the building was opened as a museum in 1843, with Sommerard's son serving as its first curator.
The buildings were restored by the architect Alber Lenoir and his son, Alexandre Lenoir. The Hôtel de Cluny was given historical monument status in 1846, and the thermal baths were granted the same status in 1862.
The present-day gardens, opened in 1971, include a 'Forêt de la Licorne' inspired by the famous tapestries housed inside.
The Collection
The museum has an area of 11,500 square feet, 6,500 of which are used for exhibits. It contains around 23,000 artifacts dating from the Gallo-Roman period up until the 16th. century.
There are currently 2,300 artifacts on display. The collections contain pieces from Europe, the Byzantine Empire, and the Islamic world of the Middle Ages.
From Antiquity to the Early Middle Ages
Much of the collection of ancient material can be found in the Frigidarium. There are artefacts dating as far back as the romanisation of the city of Parisii, such as the famous Boatman Pillar from the 1st. century.
This pillar was offered to the emperor Tiberius by the boatmen of Paris. It contains inscriptions dedicated to the Roman god Jupiter as well as Celtic references, making it a great example of the two cultures melding together on one artefact. It was discovered in the 18th. century, under the choir of Notre-Dame de Paris.
Another ancient artefact in the Frigidarium is the Saint-Landry pillar. This pillar was sculpted in the second century on l'Île-de-la-Cité, and was discovered during the 19th. century.
There is more ancient art outside the Frigidarium, including two lion heads made from rock crystal. They were made between the 4th. and the 5th. centuries in the Roman Empire. Although their purpose is not known, they were probably made to decorate an imperial throne.
Beyond France
The Cluny also houses ancient Coptic art. The Coptic fabrics gained notoriety outside of Egypt. The linen medallion of Jason and Medea is kept in the Cluny.
Between 1858 and 1860, twenty-six Visigoth crowns were discovered. This was one of the most important discoveries related to the medieval Iberian world. Of the original twenty-six crowns, there are 10 left today. The remaining crowns have been divided between the Palacio Real de Madrid and the Cluny.
Today, the Cluny holds three of these crowns, as well as crosses, pendants and hanging chains from the same discovery. These items were symbols of royal power, and date back to the 7th. century.
Byzantine Art
Starting with the founding of Constantinople in 330, the emperor Constantine began an era known as the Byzantine period. Between 843 and the fall of the Byzantine empire in 1204, the politics and art of this empire flourished.
One example is the noteworthy ivory sculpture from Constantinople called Ariane. Ariane dates back to the first half of the 6th. century, and was most likely produced to adorn a piece of furniture. The statue includes Ariane, fauns and Angels of Love. It is one of the most iconic examples of Byzantine ivory work.
Another famous piece of Byzantine ivory in the Cluny is the plaque that depicts the crowning of Otto II. His father Otto I was crowned king of Rome on the 2nd. February 962. This crowning marks the beginning of a renaissance in Western Europe.
Otto I later took the title of Emperor Augustus. In 972, the emperor Otto II married the princess Théophano, who became the empress of Rome; she can be seen on the ivory plaque as well.
The Cluny also possesses a Byzantine coffer that contains mythological images. It was produced around the year 1000 when Macedonian emperors ruled in Constantinople.
Romanesque Art
The term 'Romanesque art' first appeared in 1818. It was used by Charles de Gerville to describe the art that comes after the Carolingian empire, but before Gothic art. Before the 19th. century, most of the art from the Middle Ages was referred to as Gothic art.
Romanesque art is defined by its use of light and colour. The Romanesque artists were masters of volume and contrast. The paintings are relatively simple, focusing on the narrative.
From the Romanesque period onward, reliquaries and other religious artefacts were no longer kept in crypts, and instead were displayed on the altars in churches. Visibility of faith was of the utmost importance at this time.
There are two central elements to Romanesque art: pedagogy and devotion. The evolution of faith is a common theme of these works. One example in the Cluny today is a capital that was made in Paris between 1030 and 1040. Referred to as the Majestic Christ capital, it was created for the Saint-Germain-des-Prés church.
The Cluny also houses a series of twelve capitals from Saint-Germain-des-Prés made at the beginning of the 11th. century.
The Cluny also possesses Romanesque art from other countries such as England, Italy and Spain. One of the more famous examples is the English crosier from the middle of the 12th. century. This piece, made from ivory, displays eagles and lions.
Another famous work in ivory is the Italian 'Olifant' from the end of the 11th century. This piece was created from an elephant tusk, and depicts the scene of Jesus' Ascension.
There are also Romanesque art pieces from Catalonia at the Cluny. There is a series of eight capitals that come from the Saint Pere de Rodes church. One of the capitals depicts the Biblical story of Noah, and another details the story of Abraham.
Another piece from Catalonia is a statue of a female saint made from wood that dating to the second half of the 12th. century.
Work from Limoges
The Cluny houses many pieces from the famous enamel and gold workshops of Limoges. These workshops first started producing pieces in the second quarter of the 12th. century. Limoges' gold and enamelled masterpieces were collected throughout Europe by the end of the 12th. century.
The craftsmen produced varying works of art including crosses, shrines, altarpieces, candlesticks and much more. They tended to be religious in nature.
One of the reasons that pieces from these workshops were so successful is because the materials were affordable. As such, they were able to mass produce them whilst still maintaining high quality. The colours were vivid, and the subject matter was depicted with eloquence.
There are many pieces from Limoges at the Cluny today. Most notable are two copper plaques from around the year 1190. One depicts the image of Saint-Étienne, and the other portrays the Three Wise Men. These two plaques originally decorated the main altar at Grandmont Abbey.
The adoration of the Three Wise Men was a popular theme in pieces from Limoges, and can be found in many of their works. A copper shrine from the year 1200 also depicts this theme.
Gothic Art from France
The 1120's in Paris saw many changes in art and education. One theme that became vitally important in both arenas was the importance of light. The teachings of Plato and his student Platin emphasize the importance of light in the Creation story.
This has parallels in changes happening architecturally in Paris at the same time. Supporting beams and arches are thinned to allow more space for windows to allow in more light. The Sainte-Chapelle, with its tall and beautiful stained glass windows, displays this development. The upper cathedral has 15 window bays that encircle the entire area, each 50 feet tall, giving the impression that the visitor is surrounded by light.
Artists in 12th. century Paris experimented artistically, exploring the new conception of space and the relationship between architecture, sculpture and stained glass, as seen in the Sainte-Chapelle.
The Cluny houses many examples of this experimentation, such as 'double' capitals and statues that function as columns. There is a double capital that depicts two harpies facing each other that comes from the church at Saint-Denis, made between 1140 and 1145. Another artefact from Saint-Denis is the head from a statue-column of Queen Saba. This statue-column was produced in the 12th. century.
The Cluny also has one of the largest collections of stained-glass in France. The collection includes 230 panels, medallions and fragments from the 12th. century to the 14th. Sainte-Chapelle has donated some panels from their iconic stained-glass windows to the Cluny, including one panel that depicts the scene of Sampson and the lion.
If the 12th. century was all about experimentation, the 13th. and 14th. centuries in Paris represent artistic maturity. It is at this time that the demand for non-religious art increased.
There are two themes that dominate Parisian art in the 13th. century: an interest in Antiquity, and a new attention given to nature.
One of the most famous examples at the Cluny is the statue of Adam made from limestone. Produced around 1260 in Paris, the statue depicts a nude Adam, who is covering himself with the leaves from a small tree. The influence of Antiquity is evident in this work.
Sainte-Chapelle also donated six statues of apostles made from limestone. These statues were once located on the pillars of the upper chapel in Sainte-Chapelle. They were made in the 1320's, and originally came from Saint-Jacques aux Pèlerins.
15th. Century Art
In the 15th. century, the opulence of urban elites encouraged artistic production as the demand for art increased. People began ordering artistic objects for everyday life, such as furniture, tapestries, ceramics, game pieces, etc.
It is at this time that Paris became a capital of luxury. Here various artistic movements converged to create an 'international' gothic style. Artists began to sign their work, no longer desiring to remain anonymous.
This phenomenon is particularly evident in the considerable rise in demand for tapestries. The most famous tapestries at the Cluny today are those of the Lady and the Unicorn. There are six tapestries that make up the series, each one representing a different sense.
There are the five main senses (smell, hearing, taste, touch and sight) and it is the sixth tapestry that depicts the Lady with the Unicorn. The mysterious meaning of this sixth has produced multiple interpretations over the years. The most common interpretation understands the Lady as representing a sixth sense of morality or spirituality, as she puts aside her worldly wealth.
Portishead
ATP Iceland 2014
Keflavik, Island
July, 2014
©ATP Iceland
© 2014 LEROE24FOTOS.COM
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
THIS MATERIAL MAY NOT BE PUBLISHED,
BROADCAST, REWRITTEN OR REDISTRIBUTED.
MØ
Secret Solstice Festival
June, 2015
Reykjavik, Iceland
© 2015 LEROE24FOTOS.COM
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
THIS MATERIAL MAY NOT BE PUBLISHED,
BROADCAST, REWRITTEN OR REDISTRIBUTED.
Note: this photo was published in an Oct 11, 2010 Celebrity Daydreaming blog, with the same title as the caption that I put on this Flickr page. It was also published in an Oct 20, 2012 blog titled "What Is Long Term Really?"
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Let me begin with a disclaimer: I do not dance the tango, and I know little or nothing about its history, its folklore, or even its steps and rhythms. I'm vaguely aware that it originated in Argentina (and Uruguay) in the 1890s, that a new style known as "tango nuevo" began to emerge in the late 1990s, and that various actors and actresses -- including Jessica Biel, Colin Firth, Antonio Banderas, Madonna, Richard Gere, Jennifer Lopez, Jamie Lee Curtis, and Arnold Schwarzenegger(!), among others -- have performed the tango in various movies. But beyond that, it never really occurred to me that it played any significant role here in the U.S.
That is, not until the summer of 2009, when I happened to return to my hotel, on a business trip to Washington, DC, just as a local gathering of tango aficionados was dancing to their music in a nearby square known as Freedom Plaza. I photographed the event (see my Flickr set Last tango in Washington) and learned from one of the participants that there were similar informal events in New York City, at the South Street seaport, during the summer and fall weekends. When I got back to New York, I searched on the Internet, and found a schedule of upcoming tango events just as my Washington acquaintance had indicated; but travel schedules, inclement weather, and other distractions prevented me from actually attending any of them; by the end of the autumn season, I had forgotten all about it.
For some reason, something reminded me of the tango again this spring -- perhaps some music that I overheard, perhaps a scene on some otherwise forgettable television show. In any case, I searched again on the Internet, and discovered that a tango "event" would be taking place on a Sunday afternoon -- but not at the South Street Seaport (on the east side of Manhattan, near the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges), but rather at Pier 45, where Christopher Street runs into the Hudson River in Greenwich Village. The event was scheduled to take place between 3:30 and 7:30 PM, and another quick search on the Internet informed me that sunset would occur at 7:30 PM. So I arrived a little before 6 PM, as the sun was beginning to drop down in the western sky, and photographed for a little more than an hour.
I captured some 522 images, of which 75 have survived in this Flickr set. For the majority of the photos, I stood at the end of the pier, with my back to the Hudson River and the sinking sun; the sun broken in and out of clouds on the horizon -- and because I was wearing sunglasses, I didn't fully appreciate the extent of sun-glare that was often striking the faces of the dancers, as well as the shadows where the sun wasn't hitting at all. But I think I recovered most of the inadvertent over-exposure and under-exposure with some post-processing on the computer... I was also able to get some shots facing westward and southward, so that you could see the New Jersey skyline behind the dancers; indeed, there are a couple of shots with the Statue of Liberty and the Verrazano Bridge in the background. (Note to self: come back here at twilight, on a Sunday evening in mid-summer; it could well be even more spectacular.)
Since I have no personal expertise (or even competence) at the dance, there's not much that I can say about what's going on; I have to let the pictures speak for themselves. Though it wasn't universally true, I noticed several occasions where the women were taller than their partners; I gather that that's an advantage when the dancers are twirling and twisting around. Also, I had the distinct impression -- just as was the case in Washington last summer -- that few (if any) of the dancers were "couples" in the traditional sense. Indeed, many of them seemed to be strangers who had met for the first time at this tango event, but who seemed to enjoy the experience of the dance together. And others, from what little I could tell, might have encountered one another at previous tango events -- but had no other interactions or relationship with one another.
In any case, I had photographed everything I could imagine photographing by a little after 7 PM. I put away my camera equipment, walked a few blocks east to Hudson Street to enjoy a delicious dinner at a local restaurant with my wife, and made a note to check the Internet again for future tango events in Central Park and the South Street Seaport. If you'd like to pursue this on your own, check out Richard Lipkin's Guide to Argentine Tango in New York City.