Max Fudge Award & Excellence Group - Invited & Qualified Photos
View allAll Photos Tagged Qualified
This highly qualified CQCT (Chocolate Quality Control Team) confirms:
Best Quality of this huge Chocolate Bar to be delivered to the:
Macro Mondays Group which ordered #Chocolate
Production and Quality Control of the Product : 31.07.2020
acc. to the High MM Standards and Requirements
This Milky #Chocolate Bar shows less than 2x1” of its total Size
Cooled Transport and Delivery via the Milky Way is due for 03.08.2020 and
best to be consumed before Midnight on the Day of Delivery
QC documented and signed using
ƒ/2.8
4.5 mm
1/60 Sec
ISO 400
Please enjoy and have a sweet and
😄 Happy Macro Monday 😄
The hippopotamus, or hippo, further qualified as the common hippopotamus, Nile hippopotamus, or river hippopotamus, is a large semiaquatic mammal native to sub-Saharan Africa. Its name comes from the ancient Greek for "river horse".
The earliest evidence of human interaction with hippos comes from butchery cut marks on hippo bones found at the Bouri Formation and dated to around 160,000 years ago.
The hippo is considered to be extremely aggressive and has frequently been reported charging and attacking boats. Small boats can easily be capsized by hippos and passengers can be injured or killed by the animals, or drown in the water.
In one 2014 case in Niger, a boat was capsized by a hippo and thirteen people were killed.
Hippos will often raid farm crops if the opportunity arises, and humans may come into conflict with them on these occasions. These encounters can be fatal to either humans or hippos.
Qualified expert for Antics & Mischief...
Due to an error, I lost Clarissa's picture for Caturday 21 August - here it is again :)
I've been looking for a driver who is qualified
So if you think that you're the one step into my ride
I'm a fine-tuned supersonic speed machine
With a sunroof top and a gangster lean
So if you feel me let me know, know, know
Come on now what you waiting for, for, for
My engine's ready to explode, explode, explode
So start me up and watch me go, go, go, go
Get you where you wanna go if you know what I mean
Got a ride that's smoother than a limousine
Can you handle the curves? Can you run all the lights?
If you can baby boy then we can go all night
'Cause I'm zero to 60 in three point five
Baby, you got the keys
Now shut up and drive
(drive, drive, drive)
Shut up and drive
(drive, drive, drive)
I got class like a '57 Cadillac
Got overdrive with a whole lot of boom in the back
You look like you can handle what's under my hood
You keep saying that you will boy I wish you would
So if you feel me let me know, know, know
Come on now what you waiting for, for, for
My engine's ready to explode, explode, explode
So start me up and watch me go, go, go, go
Get you where you wanna go if you know what I mean
Got a ride that's smoother than a limousine
Can you handle the curves? Can you run all the lights?
If you can baby boy then we can go all night
'Cause I'm zero to 60 in three point five
Baby, you got the keys
Now shut up and drive
(drive, drive, drive)
Shut up and drive
(drive, drive, drive)
'Cause your Maybach ain't got what I got (get it get it)
Don't stop it's a sure shot
And your Ferrari huh boy I'm sorry
I ain't even worried
So step inside and ride
(ride, ride, ride, ride, ride...)
So if you feel me let me know, know, know
Come on now what you waiting for, for, for
My engine's ready to explode, explode, explode
So start me up and watch me go, go, go, go
Get you where you wanna go if you know what I mean
Got a ride that's smoother than a limousine
Can you handle the curves? Can you run all the lights?
If you can baby boy then we can go all night
'Cause I'm zero to 60 in three point five
Baby, you got the keys
Now shut up and drive
(drive, drive, drive)
Shut up and drive
(drive, drive, drive)
Now shut up and drive
(drive, drive, drive)
Shut up and drive
(drive, drive, drive)
*Working Towards a Better WorldUntil you've had depression I don't think you're qualified to talk about it. - Geoffrey Boycott
Art saved me; it got me through my depression and self-loathing, back to a place of innocence. -Jeanette Winterson
If you look at suicides, most of them are connected to depression. And the mental health system just fails them. It's so sad. We know what to do. We just don't do it. - Rosalynn Carter
Depression is the inability to construct a future.- Rollo May
Thank you for your kind visit. Have a wonderful and beautiful day! xo💜💜
On the previous photo in my FLICKR gallery, I qualified the Latona fountain as magnificent. But the word is far too weak, we should rather say gorgeous !
Everything is gorgeous here: the beauty of the water gushing from side to side from this fountain, the magnificence of the golden statues, the beauty of the statue of Latona and her children, the grandiose setting.
The Latona fountain finalized by Jules Hardouin Mansart in 1689 is dedicated to the myth of Latona, mother of Apollo and Diana, and represents her meeting with peasants from Lycia. During this episode reported by Ovid in his Metamorphoses, Latona condemns peasants who had insulted her to be changed into frogs.
To find out more: latone.chateauversailles.fr/en/page/the-latona-fountain/h...
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Somptueux !
Sur la précédente photo de ma gallerie FLICKR, j'ai qualifié le bassin de Latone de magnifique. Mais le mot est bien trop faible, il faudrait plutôt dire somptueux !
Tout est somptueux ici : la beauté de l’eau jaillissant de part en part de cette fontaine, la magnificence des statues dorées, la beauté de la statue de Latone et de ses enfants, le décor grandiose.
Le bassin de Latone finalisé par Jules Hardouin Mansart en 1689 est consacré au mythe de Latone, mère d’Apollon et de Diane, et représente sa rencontre avec des paysans de Lycie. Lors de cet épisode rapporté par Ovide dans ses Métamorphoses, Latone condamne des paysans qui l’avaient outragée à être changés en grenouilles.
Pour en savoir plus : latone.chateauversailles.fr/page/le-bassin-de-latone/hist...
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Versailles Palace / Château de Versailles - France
Cotton Belt GP60 No. 9671 pulls a 15-car Midvale Tramp local along the D&RGW Garfield Branch in Magna, Utah on July 29, 1995.
New nail day.
Fresh set. Feeling like a million dollars.
Source; In my previous real life I was a fully qualified nail tech.
I guess I still am, I don’t know why I said “was” … I just don’t do nails anymore.
I got a big gworl job.
Big sobs.
Anyway, bc I was a nail tech, one thing that fucks me off in SL is ill fitting nails.
It’s like… it just really grates my cheese.
So I’m suuuuuuper fussy about what mesh nails I’m spending my L$ on.
I grabbed the Black Lotus Coffin nails a few weeks back (yaaaassss before I was lucky enough to call my self a BL Blogger!) and let me tell you, the fit is insane.
So good, in fact, that I also purchased the ebody toenails too.
Heck yeah.
Anyway, let me just get to the point here. I’m not here to tell you about the super wet gorilla grip cat book.
No.
I’m just trying to show these nails off, but not just the nails.
Ok, so, with the Black Lotus nails, you don’t need to attach and detach every set.
Oh ho ho ho nauuuurrrr.
You put your preferred body nails on, and then, then you go and buy the HUDs of your choice and YOU DONT HAVE TO DETACH ANYTHING. Except the HUD.
The HUD for the nails I’m wearing is the Signature Collection METALS, for coffin nails.
You can also get these for Black Lotus Claw and Toenails.
Matchy matchy.
These were available at the Dubai Event but my slow ass is slow, and that closed on the 15th, so you better head to the Black Lotus mainstore and pick yours up.
Honorable Mentions
- Hair Doux Brandie
- Book e.marie
- Bichota Bunny Tee Pare // if anyone from Pare sees this by some miracle can you please please put the Lily set in your store pleeeeaaaase I need to buy it please
- Blair Bloomers SEUL
- Saima Rings e.marie
- Glasses Space Cadet
In Explore! On November 18, 2024
The photography was qualified for the post-competition vernissage, of the 34th National Salon of Artistic Photography - Żary 2024. The works of 38 authors qualified for the exhibition. Exhibition opening date 7 DEC 2024, dkzary.pl
In 2025 has been selected for the post-competition vernissage and exhibition "Such a Landscape".
XIII Edition of National Photography Competition Henryk Rogoziński “Such a Landscape” is organized by the House of Culture in Czarna Białostocka and the Nature and Artistic Photography Club “Pryzmat” The jury reviewed 563 works by 194 authors. 45 works were qualified for the post-competition exhibition. The vernissage of the post-competition works will occur on March 22, 2025, at 5:00 p.m. at the Culture Center in Czarna Białostocka, ul. Kościelna 8
My Website | My 500px | My Facebook
On this day in 2009 I was at RAF Kinloss for that year's Combined Qualified Weapons Instructors' (CQWI) Course.
Unusually for my time at the Moray base, the weather played ball in style!
This Wittering-based 20(R) Sqn Harrier GR9 is pictured recovering after the mission.
Not sure whether this driver is suitably qualified! Grab is the local taxi app - Thailand's version of Uber
“No matter how qualified or deserving we are, we will never reach a better life until we can imagine it for ourselves and allow ourselves to have it.”
~Richard Bach
As I hiked through 5 National Parks on my vaction, the words of Ken Burns kept running through my head - "impossible to imagine what we would have been like without them.” His Documentry, The National Parks - America's Best Idea was an extrordinary PBS series highlighting how these parks came to be preserved for generations to enjoy. This is a must see film.
SN/NC: Bellis perennis, Asteraceae Family
Bellis perennis is a common European species of daisy, of the family Asteraceae, often considered the archetypal species of that name.
Many related plants also share the name "daisy", so to distinguish this species from other daisies it is sometimes qualified as common daisy, lawn daisy or English daisy. Historically, it has also been commonly known as bruisewort and occasionally woundwort (although the common name woundwort is now more closely associated with Stachys). Bellis perennis is native to western, central and northern Europe, including remote islands such as the Faroe Islands but widely naturalised in most temperate regions including the Americas and Australasia.
A espécie Bellis perennis, também designada pelos nomes populares margarida, margarita, margarida-vulgar, margarida-menor, margarida-comum, margarida-inglesa, bonina, bela-margarida, sempre-viva, margaridinha, mãe-de-família, margarida-rasteira, rapazinho ou rapazinhos, é uma planta vivaz da família das Asteraceae. Existem muitas variedades híbridas, utilizadas em floricultura, com lígulas brancas, rosadas, vermelhas ou roxas, de forma simples ou dobrada.
Bellis perennis is een veel voorkomende Europese madeliefjessoort, van de familie Asteraceae, vaak beschouwd als de archetypische soort met die naam. Meer over deze brontekst vereist voor aanvullende vertaalinformatie. Veel verwante planten delen ook de naam "madeliefje", dus om deze soort te onderscheiden van andere madeliefjes wordt het soms gekwalificeerd als gewone madeliefje, gazonmadeliefje of Engels madeliefje. Historisch gezien is het ook algemeen bekend als kneuzing en af en toe wondkruid (hoewel de gewone naam wondkruid nu nauwer wordt geassocieerd met Stachys). Bellis perennis is inheems in West-, Midden- en Noord-Europa, inclusief afgelegen eilanden zoals de Faeröer, maar is op grote schaal genaturaliseerd in de meeste gematigde streken, waaronder Noord- en Zuid-Amerika en Australazië.
Bellis perennis est une espèce européenne commune de marguerite, de la famille des astéracées, souvent considérée comme l'espèce archétypale de ce nom. De nombreuses plantes apparentées partagent également le nom de «marguerite», donc pour distinguer cette espèce des autres marguerites, elle est parfois qualifiée de marguerite commune, de marguerite de pelouse ou de marguerite anglaise. Historiquement, elle a également été communément connue sous le nom d'ecchymose et parfois de plaie (bien que le nom commun de plaie soit maintenant plus étroitement associé à Stachys). Bellis perennis est originaire d'Europe occidentale, centrale et septentrionale, y compris des îles éloignées telles que les îles Féroé, mais largement naturalisé dans la plupart des régions tempérées, y compris les Amériques et l’Australasie.
Bellis perennis ist eine verbreitete europäische Gänseblümchenart aus der Familie der Asteraceae, die oft als die archetypischen Arten dieses Namens angesehen wird.
Viele verwandte Pflanzen haben auch den Namen "Gänseblümchen". Um diese Art von anderen Gänseblümchen zu unterscheiden, wird sie manchmal als gewöhnliches Gänseblümchen, Rasengänseblümchen oder englisches Gänseblümchen bezeichnet. In der Vergangenheit war es auch allgemein als Bruisewort und gelegentlich als Wundkraut bekannt (obwohl der gebräuchliche Name Wundkraut jetzt enger mit Stachys verbunden ist). Bellis perennis stammt aus West-, Mittel- und Nordeuropa, einschließlich abgelegener Inseln wie den Färöern, ist jedoch in den meisten gemäßigten Regionen wie Amerika und Australasien weit verbreitet.
Bellis perennis è una specie comune europea di margherita, della famiglia delle Asteraceae, spesso considerata la specie archetipica di quel nome.
Molte piante imparentate condividono anche il nome "margherita", quindi per distinguere questa specie dalle altre margherite viene talvolta definita margherita comune, margherita del prato o margherita inglese. Storicamente, è stato anche comunemente noto come luisewort e occasionalmente ferita (sebbene il nome comune ferita sia ora più strettamente associato a Stachys). Bellis perennis è originaria dell'Europa occidentale, centrale e settentrionale, comprese isole remote come le Isole Faroe, ma ampiamente naturalizzata nella maggior parte delle regioni temperate, comprese le Americhe e l'Australasia.
Bellis perennis es una especie europea común de margarita, de la familia Asteraceae, a menudo considerada la especie arquetípica de ese nombre.
Muchas plantas relacionadas también comparten el nombre de "margarita", por lo que para distinguir esta especie de otras margaritas, a veces se la califica como margarita común, margarita de césped o margarita inglesa. Históricamente, también se ha conocido comúnmente como hematoma y ocasionalmente como herida (aunque el nombre común de hierba se asocia ahora más estrechamente con Stachys). Bellis perennis es originaria de Europa occidental, central y septentrional, incluidas islas remotas como las Islas Feroe, pero está ampliamente naturalizada en la mayoría de las regiones templadas, incluidas América y Australasia.
Bellis perennis は、キク科の一般的なヨーロッパのデイジー種で、その名の原型種とみなされることが多い。
多くの関連植物も「デイジー」という名前を共有しているため、この種を他のデイジーと区別するために、コモンデイジー、ローンデイジー、またはイングリッシュデイジーと呼ばれることがある。歴史的には、一般的にはブルーズワートとも呼ばれ、時にはウウンドワートとも呼ばれる (ただし、一般名のウウンドワートは現在、スタキスとより密接に関連している)。Bellis perennis は、フェロー諸島などの離島を含む西ヨーロッパ、中央ヨーロッパ、北ヨーロッパ原産だが、アメリカ大陸やオーストラリアを含むほとんどの温帯地域に広く帰化している。
Bellis perennis هو نوع أوروبي شائع من الأقحوان ، من عائلة Asteraceae ، وغالبًا ما يُعتبر الأنواع البدائية لهذا الاسم.
تشترك العديد من النباتات ذات الصلة أيضًا في اسم "الأقحوان" ، لذلك لتمييز هذا النوع عن الإقحوانات الأخرى ، يتم تصنيفها أحيانًا على أنها أقحوان مشترك أو ديزي في الحديقة أو ديزي إنجليزي. تاريخيًا ، كان يُعرف أيضًا باسم bruisewort وأحيانًا الجرح (على الرغم من أن الاسم الشائع للجروح أصبح الآن أكثر ارتباطًا بـ Stachys). بيليس بيرينس موطنه الأصلي في غرب ووسط وشمال أوروبا ، بما في ذلك الجزر النائية مثل جزر فارو ولكنه متجنس على نطاق واسع في معظم المناطق المعتدلة بما في ذلك الأمريكتين وأستراليا.
The photography was qualified for the post-competition vernissage, of the 34th National Salon of Artistic Photography - Żary 2024. The works of 38 authors qualified for the exhibition. Exhibition opening date 7 DEC 2024, dkzary.pl
My photo qualified to final stage at Jounieh Festival contest, votes are open to public. If anyone wishes to support, please download Jounieh Festival app to your mobile, go to photo contest where you can choose my photo and vote by 5 August, thanks!
The photography was qualified for the post-competition vernissage and exhibition, of the 34th National Salon of Artistic Photography - Żary 2024. The works of 38 authors qualified for the exhibition. Exhibition opening date 7 DEC 2024, dkzary.pl
[polski opis niżej]
ET22-014 with express train 5602 "Piast" from Gdynia Główna to Wrocław Główny leaves Gdańsk. October 6, 2001.
In the 1990s, during the first major overhauls of the ET22 class locomotives, some of the units received 0.8 MPa couplings, enabling for example the operation of pneumatic devices in passenger wagons (such as remote door closing). In the on-board vehicle books of such locomotives, there were often entries "only for qualified traffic", what represented the highest categories of passenger trains, like expresses or InterCity.
By the way, the photo shows the most popular consist of an express train at the turn of the century - two first-class wagons, a restaurant wagon and four second-class wagon.
Photo by Jarek / Chester
ET22-014 z pociągiem ekspresowym 5602 "Piast" z Gdyni Głównej do Wrocławia Głównego opuszcza Gdańsk.
W latach 90. podczas pierwszych napraw głównych lokomottyw ET22 część egzemplarzy otrzymała sprzęgi przewodu 0,8 MPa, umożliwiające np. działanie urządzeń pneumatycznych w wagonach pasażerskich (jak choćby zdalne zamykanie drzwi). W książkach pokładowych takich lokomotyw nierzadko były wpisy "tylko do ruchu kwalifikowanego" - takiego, jak ten na obrazku (pociągi najwyższej kategorii, ekspresy i InterCity, podlegały pod "Wydział Przewozów Kwalifikowanych" w PKP, z którego po latach utworzono PKP Intercity.
Przy okazji, na fotografii najpopularniejsze zestawienie pociągu ekspresowego przełomu wieków - dwa wagony pierwszej klasy, wagon restauracyjny oraz cztery wagony klasy drugiej.
Fot. Jarek / Chester
This is the busiest time of the year for boarding and so just by chance alone there are going to be a number of cats who are not enjoying their accommodations during the family vacation. The Happy Caturday prompt this week is "Gifts and Treats" so I bought a few catnip pouches (made by another technician at the practice) to give to our most nervous boarders. Unfortunately for her, Phoebe May qualified as a recipient. Of the five cats who got catnip pouches, four came out of their shells, including Phoebe May. They went from hanging out in the back of their cages and hissing whenever anyone approached to rolling around at the front of their cages, purring and allowing lots of petting. One three-year old male refused to be won over. He remained huddled against the back of his cage refusing to even acknowledge the gift. I know about 20% of cats don't react to catnip and he might be one of those but I think he was just too nervous to focus on anything but this stranger at the front of his cage blocking his only escape route. I left the pouch with him hoping that when no one was looking, he might enjoy the treat just a bit.
Happy Caturday: Gifts and treats
Let me just start by saying, as a RL fully qualified nail technician, French nails were my bread and butter.
You literally can not go wrong with a French mani.
Then along came the French ombré.
Could I do it?
Nope. Not a chance in hell.
No idea why.
The concept is so simple, and such a gorgeous twist on a classic staple.
So I am so very happy that one of my very fave brands in SL, WarPaint, has perfected, and brought out this gorgeous applier (“baby boomer”) Modiste nails as us techs called them.
So you did read applier. What does that mean?
It means you use your body hud to choose which shape nails you prefer, and then you use the WarPaint Modiste HUD to apply the chosen shade to your nails.
Which bodies will these work with?
Legacy
Reborn
Gen X
Maitreya
Ok? So you can Uber to UBER and go get yours
Hair - Doux Miteon
Milk + Cookies - Dots
Rings - Vibing Holly
Xmas Face Stickers - ONYX
Earrings - RichB Dior
Also you could head to the WarPaint Mainstore and check out their Black Friday sale - a massive 50% - make sure to check the WarPaint facebook or Flickr pages for more details on this!
An interesting example of a ghost sign on the end of a rather unprepossessing row of shops in Leicester.
Thanks to Flickr friend Dave who sparked my interest with his example below.
www.flickr.com/photos/dave_kepcove/14302316917/in/gallery...
I never realised there was so much fascination in these old and faded signs, but as they say, you learn something new every day.
A captain is needed for the boat
We have received a human body, which is very rare, and now it is easy for us to do bhajana. However, we can see that other living entities do not create weapons of mass destruction, so many arrangements to maintain their lifestyle. If anything happens they will quarrel with each other by their claws and teeth, but at the next moment they forget their quarrelling. But we humans take revenge, and we become more ferocious than the tigers, bears, lions, and other wild animals. Nowhere in the world do we see problems in other living entities. Only humans have problems.
How can we become calm and quiet and peaceful with each other? It is possible only if we do bhajana. This human body is like a boat going from one place to another, in one direction or another. A captain is needed for the boat. Who is that captain? The bona fide guru is the captain of this boat – this human body. We are situated by the ocean in Hawaii. We see every day there are some boats floating on the Pacific Ocean. These boats have sails, and when the sails catch the wind, the boats move very fast. In the same way, sadhu-sanga is the favorable wind. By sadhu-sanga we can advance very quickly in Krsna consciousness. Then our lives will be maintained very easily, and we can be calm and quiet and in harmony with each other.
Generally, people understand the meaning of happiness in terms of the body and mind, health and money, and good sons and daughters. They consider that if they have these, they will be happy. But everyone becomes unhappy in spite of having these things. For a long time – since the creation of this world – we have been coming and going, taking birth and dying, but still we are not happy.
We have forgotten Krsna. We are part and parcel of Krsna, and we have forgotten Him. That is why His illusory maya took us and threw us into this world, and covered our constitutional body, form, and qualities with two bodies – the physical body and the subtle body.
We are trying so hard, here and there, to be happy, but really everyone is unhappy. Only a truly qualified guru can teach us by what process Krsna's service can be achieved. Then, by practice and maturity of bhakti-sadhana, we will become happy.
Of course every self respecting business has them; the annually reviewed and tested pithy document, guaranteed to cure even the worst cases of insomnia, upon which the big chiefs would resort to immediately if a crisis were ever to occur. In my previous life I even had to propose updates to ours a couple of times, although it felt far removed from what I was qualified to do. As I presented it to the governing body, I made some sage comment about risk being at the heart of every senior team meeting and looked for approving nods around the table in the hope that it had helped to disguise a painful attack of impostor syndrome. I’m convinced that when the pandemic struck, UK plc dug out its own emergency procedures manual; the one that had been dusted off and reviewed, with a couple of paragraphs refreshed and updated before being approved by some parliamentary select committee in the middle of a particularly snoozy agenda when everyone was itching to get to the members’ bar to engage in whatever they’d later be found guilty of. Now they were glad that Jordan and Poppy, the bright young things from Treasury Operations had been to the benchmarking exchange conference in Vilnius last spring and come back with that great idea they’d pinched from Marius and Ruta, their equally irritatingly gifted Lithuanian counterparts. Until that moment it had been assumed they’d just gone for the expense account lunches and the duty free on the way home, but now it seemed their visit had been worthwhile. “It says here we need to close the schools, put half the nation on furlough and get most of the rest of them to work at home.” And then a few paragraphs further down; “who came up with this? Support the hospitality industry by subsidising the punters and paying half the price of their pub lunches on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Genius!” I’m sure the Cabinet didn’t really come up with that at the drop of a hat. They might have claimed the credit, but you can be pretty sure that the Civil Servants did all the clever thinking and implementing. Maybe the soubriquet “Rishi’s Dishes” was coined as a nod to the new chancellor in a hurry by some Whitehall underling with a talent for Cockney rhyming slang, but I’ll bet the concept had long since been lying in Section G, paragraph 143.2(f), waiting for its moment in the sun. In fact, we had a Jordan working for us as an apprentice for a while, but he was one of those rarities us masses come across once in a career, as calm and capable as anyone I’ve ever worked with at any level. Jordan was destined for much greater things than a humble college accounts department, soon leaving us to be fast tracked to manage a large team of staff somewhere secretive before the eve of his twentieth birthday. He had to have “security clearance,” whatever that means – and it wouldn’t surprise me in the least if he’d dreamed up one of the more inventive schemes that Boris and Rishi pretended was their brainchild. He still sends a Christmas card, but I’m not allowed to ask him about his work unless I want to be dragged away by the SWAT squad in the middle of the night in my jimjams. He’s still only about 24 and I believe he may actually be running the country while Parliament goes on its summer holidays. I hope he’s worked out what the new Prime Minister is going to do to sort the energy price hikes this autumn.
Not all of these thoughts occurred to me in the moments that I heard the sound of hooves on the tarmac behind me, but I knew an opportunity was about to occur and that a sudden change of plan would be needed. Ali and I had just completed a rather wonderful circular walk along the banks of the River Barle, starting and ending at the famously mysterious Tarr Steps as our brief stay at the edge of Exmoor came to an end. It had been an especially pleasing way to complete the day, and the crowds that had converged here when we’d arrived three hours earlier had now dispersed, with only one soon to depart family left wading in the cold water and skipping over the iconic causeway. Now I could at least try something; quite what I wasn’t certain. Photographing the steps in their entirety didn’t feel like it was going to produce much more than what documentary togs call a “record shot,” and I scratched my head as I hadn’t given the matter much thought beyond that. Finally deciding to zoom into a small section with the reflection of the trees in the water balancing the composition, I reached for the polariser and the six stop. In truth, I wasn’t feeling particularly inspired. It was still probably going to be a record shot and nothing to write to the papers about.
And that was the point at which the steady clip clop sound of approaching horses came into earshot, signaling the fact that a far more interesting spur of the moment shot lay in wait. “I do hope we’re not about to spoil your shot,” came the voice of the first rider. “No, you’re about to turn it into a much better one,” came the response, the only piece of spontaneity that young Jordan might have nodded at in approval. The rest was chaos of course. As the equestrians briefly paused at the water’s edge, seemingly so at my behest, I ripped the two fragile filters from the lens and stuffed them into an already full pocket, before dialing in a torrent of random settings designed to change a long exposure to a very fast one in low light. With very little thought about the enormous dynamic range before me, I hit the shutter in hope as I invited them to cross the ford. Come on now, you’ve all taken the odd shot when any attempts to reduce the highlights later on have left you with a strange pink featureless patch where the sky is supposed to be haven’t you? Even since I realised that the pretty graph on the back of my screen actually meant something, the highlights have been blown to kingdom come on more than one occasion.
Watching Nigel Danson’s three way chat with Mads Peter Iversen and James Popsys last weekend on YouTube, two thoughts emerged from the hour long presentation. Firstly, it was agreed that James, a confirmed disciple of the "run and gun" school of landscape photography is much better at reacting to situations such as the sudden and unexpected arrival of horses than either of the other two with their more considered approach. But then he doesn’t believe in tripods or filters, which is an alien world to me. Secondly, when they were each asked what were their favourite images from their own portfolios, Mads chose a predictably stunning image of some early morning geese flying low across the water on a misty Danish morning in front of a fir forest; a picture he’d confessed he had to do a bit of “hit and hope” of his own in the making of. Did you see it? The picture took my breath away, and I’m used to being routinely bowled over by Mads’ pantheon of extraordinary output. And then I remembered my last visit to Godrevy just before we went to Exmoor and the ritual flight of the gulls to the lighthouse that seems to always happen half an hour before sunset – another moment where I’d locked into a long exposure and missed the chance of a far more interesting shot than the one I was taking at the time.
So I’ve decided that what I need, before I even think about putting the camera in the bag again is a set of emergency procedures; something that makes me a little bit more James and a little bit less Nigel and Mads when the moment of unexpected drama calls for it. They won’t be as long and tiresome as the ones we had to update for audit committee each June, but they will need to be useable in the event of something exciting happening without warning, such as horses crossing a river next to a national landmark of uncertain age, or seagulls making that end of day exodus to Godrevy Lighthouse in huge numbers. It might even be as simple as going to the place us togs sniff at, and putting the camera into automatic mode and letting it decide, or it might be that I need to work out how to use the creative buttons and set up shortcuts for such moments. It also needs to include a section on having a better receptacle than a pocket already stuffed with keys and a mobile phone for the quick and safe storage of rapidly discarded filters. Having the filter pouch more readily available might be an idea – in fact there’s a clip on the tripod to hang it from. And finally, I need to test the emergency procedures in a controlled environment and give myself feedback on how I performed and what needs improvement. I’ll need a tick box form for that. Oh heck - that's a slippery slope I've started making right there.
Or rather more likely, I’ll forget the entire thing until another sudden moment comes careering into the field, catching me unawares and cursing myself at the sound of the white noise between my ears amid the rush of excitement. I’m sure Jordan would know exactly what to do. He was always on top of things when the you know what was flying at speed in the direction of the office fan. For a start, he would have immediately noticed that there was a dog wandering across the Tarr Steps when the photo was taken. I didn’t see it at all until I looked at the image on the big screen at home the next morning. Now where on earth did that come from?
The hippopotamus, further qualified as the common hippopotamus, Nile hippopotamus, or river hippopotamus, is a large semiaquatic mammal native to sub-Saharan Africa. It is one of only two extant species in the family Hippopotamidae, the other being the pygmy hippopotamus (Choeropsis liberiensis or Hexaprotodon liberiensis). Its name comes from the ancient Greek for "river horse" (ἱπποπόταμος).
After elephants and rhinoceroses, the hippopotamus is the next largest land mammal. It is also the largest extant land artiodactyl. Despite their physical resemblance to pigs and other terrestrial even-toed ungulates, the closest living relatives of the hippopotamids are cetaceans (whales, dolphins, porpoises, etc.), from which they diverged about 55 million years ago. Hippos are recognisable for their barrel-shaped torsos, wide-opening mouths with large canine tusks, nearly hairless bodies, pillar-like legs, and large size: adults average 1,500 kg (3,300 lb) for bulls (males) and 1,300 kg (2,900 lb) for cows (females). Despite its stocky shape and short legs, it is capable of running 30 km/h (19 mph) over short distances.
Hippos inhabit rivers, lakes, and mangrove swamps. Territorial bulls each preside over a stretch of water and a group of five to thirty cows and calves. Mating and birth both occur in the water. During the day, hippos remain cool by staying in water or mud, emerging at dusk to graze on grasses. While hippos rest near each other in the water, grazing is a solitary activity and hippos typically do not display territorial behaviour on land. Hippos are among the most dangerous animals in the world due to their aggressive and unpredictable nature. They are threatened by habitat loss and poaching for their meat and ivory (canine teeth).
Introduction
Gospel Movie Clip "Awakening From the Dream" (1) - The Tabernacle of God Is With Men
www.holyspiritspeaks.org/videos/awakening-from-the-dream-1/
Many believers in the Lord Jesus all wait to be raptured into the kingdom of heaven, but do you know where the kingdom of heaven actually is? Do you know the real meaning of rapture? This movie clip of Awaking From the Dream, will uncover the mysteries of the rapture for you!
Storyline:
Like many followers of the Lord Jesus, Yu Fan focused on studying the Bible, cast everything aside to pay the price of suffering for the Lord, and sought to serve the Lord with enthusiasm. She thought that by pursuing her faith this way, when the Lord returns she would definitely be raptured into the heavenly kingdom. When Yu Fan, in order to realize this beautiful dream, enthusiastically preached and worked for the Lord, her fellow workers raised a difficult question: Although the sins of us believers have been forgiven, although we cast everything aside and pay the price of suffering for the Lord, we still often reveal our corruption, we still sin and oppose the Lord. God is holy, so how can corrupt people like us ever be worthy of His praise? Are we qualified to enter the kingdom of heaven? This didn't inspire Yu Fan to reflect at all, not until she had a discussion with preachers from the Church of Almighty God. Then, Yu Fan was able to understand the mysteries of rapture. She finally was able to awake from her dream, and firmly believed that Almighty God was her long-awaited Savior, the Lord Jesus.
Image Source: The Church of Almighty God
To say I'm pleased is an understatement. It was something I was mulling over for quite some time undecided on my final 21 images but they sure came through for me. I can now officially say I am a qualified member of the guild!
To celebrate, here's one of my 21 images, London by Night.
NREX SD60 5980, former C&NW 8020, UP, HLCX, blt August 1986 was in B Unit status on CSX in Atlanta, Georgia. November 2014.
Well here we are 2020 is marching on even as we speak, the evenings are pulling out and the festivities are all but a memory.🌞
Funny I should mention the festivities as the village Christmas tree and decorations are taken down each year by a jovial bunch of volunteers. Some of the volunteers are the most highly qualified drinkers the village has ever assembled for this task.
Leading this operation is our own Hoof who is the one blessed with brains in these type of demanding situations. 🎄💡💡💡
Horace is more of a hands on type of person driving the telehandler and wielding a chainsaw in that order. Before you ask, yes he wears all the necessary protective clothing especially the cut resistant trousers which have the ability to instantly stall a chainsaw running at full power should it slip, after all Horace needs to look after his wedding tackle.🚜⚙️ (Check these trousers out on You Tube)
Hoof always contacts the local electricity board and gets permission to disconnect the lights from the tree, they normally ask “at watt time are you going to do it” Hoof responds we don’t want any resistance to this request or there may be a revolt by the lights committee.💡💡💡⚡️⚡️⚡️🔌🔌🔌
Once the lights and tree are down, we take a break for elevenses and the ladies of the WI very kindly provide trays of food led by their chairperson Bertha Thomas, and before you ask she does not have a brother called (no I am not going to say that name, stop it)☕️☕️☕️☕️☕️🍰🍰🍰🍰🍰
Following these very welcome refreshments, there is a scurry of activity and the village is cleared of its Christmas decorations for another year.
Now as you all know 2019 was the year of the pig according to the Chinese zodiac, so it was felt that this achievement by Horace should be celebrated, yes a debrief of his years activities needed to be carried out in the pub.🐷 🎯🏨
As is the norm in our local pub following such an achievement much beer is thrown around the place. Also the world record for drinking the yard of ale is often broken during the celebrations. A few sea chanties are sung and everyone behaves in a very sensible manner.🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🎤🎤🎸🎷🎺😇
Having been such a busy day Horace decided to sit down with some of his chums at a table in the pub and hold court.
Then a customer looks over and walks towards Horace and asks “does your dog bite” Horace responded my dog has never bitten anyone, so the man put his hand down to stroke the dog and it bit right into his hand.
“Here said the man, you told me your dog doesn’t bite” Horace said “that’s not my dog”.🐶😁
Thank you all so much for viewing my images, the comments are so appreciated, enjoy your weekend🍺🍺🍺🍷🍷🍷😎🐎🐷😂😂😂
SN/NC: Bellis perennis, Asteraceae Family
Bellis perennis is a common European species of daisy, of the family Asteraceae, often considered the archetypal species of that name.
Many related plants also share the name "daisy", so to distinguish this species from other daisies it is sometimes qualified as common daisy, lawn daisy or English daisy. Historically, it has also been commonly known as bruisewort and occasionally woundwort (although the common name woundwort is now more closely associated with Stachys). Bellis perennis is native to western, central and northern Europe, including remote islands such as the Faroe Islands but widely naturalised in most temperate regions including the Americas and Australasia.
A espécie Bellis perennis, também designada pelos nomes populares margarida, margarita, margarida-vulgar, margarida-menor, margarida-comum, margarida-inglesa, bonina, bela-margarida, sempre-viva, margaridinha, mãe-de-família, margarida-rasteira, rapazinho ou rapazinhos, é uma planta vivaz da família das Asteraceae. Existem muitas variedades híbridas, utilizadas em floricultura, com lígulas brancas, rosadas, vermelhas ou roxas, de forma simples ou dobrada.
Bellis perennis is een veel voorkomende Europese madeliefjessoort, van de familie Asteraceae, vaak beschouwd als de archetypische soort met die naam. Meer over deze brontekst vereist voor aanvullende vertaalinformatie. Veel verwante planten delen ook de naam "madeliefje", dus om deze soort te onderscheiden van andere madeliefjes wordt het soms gekwalificeerd als gewone madeliefje, gazonmadeliefje of Engels madeliefje. Historisch gezien is het ook algemeen bekend als kneuzing en af en toe wondkruid (hoewel de gewone naam wondkruid nu nauwer wordt geassocieerd met Stachys). Bellis perennis is inheems in West-, Midden- en Noord-Europa, inclusief afgelegen eilanden zoals de Faeröer, maar is op grote schaal genaturaliseerd in de meeste gematigde streken, waaronder Noord- en Zuid-Amerika en Australazië.
Bellis perennis est une espèce européenne commune de marguerite, de la famille des astéracées, souvent considérée comme l'espèce archétypale de ce nom. De nombreuses plantes apparentées partagent également le nom de «marguerite», donc pour distinguer cette espèce des autres marguerites, elle est parfois qualifiée de marguerite commune, de marguerite de pelouse ou de marguerite anglaise. Historiquement, elle a également été communément connue sous le nom d'ecchymose et parfois de plaie (bien que le nom commun de plaie soit maintenant plus étroitement associé à Stachys). Bellis perennis est originaire d'Europe occidentale, centrale et septentrionale, y compris des îles éloignées telles que les îles Féroé, mais largement naturalisé dans la plupart des régions tempérées, y compris les Amériques et l’Australasie.
Bellis perennis ist eine verbreitete europäische Gänseblümchenart aus der Familie der Asteraceae, die oft als die archetypischen Arten dieses Namens angesehen wird.
Viele verwandte Pflanzen haben auch den Namen "Gänseblümchen". Um diese Art von anderen Gänseblümchen zu unterscheiden, wird sie manchmal als gewöhnliches Gänseblümchen, Rasengänseblümchen oder englisches Gänseblümchen bezeichnet. In der Vergangenheit war es auch allgemein als Bruisewort und gelegentlich als Wundkraut bekannt (obwohl der gebräuchliche Name Wundkraut jetzt enger mit Stachys verbunden ist). Bellis perennis stammt aus West-, Mittel- und Nordeuropa, einschließlich abgelegener Inseln wie den Färöern, ist jedoch in den meisten gemäßigten Regionen wie Amerika und Australasien weit verbreitet.
Bellis perennis è una specie comune europea di margherita, della famiglia delle Asteraceae, spesso considerata la specie archetipica di quel nome.
Molte piante imparentate condividono anche il nome "margherita", quindi per distinguere questa specie dalle altre margherite viene talvolta definita margherita comune, margherita del prato o margherita inglese. Storicamente, è stato anche comunemente noto come luisewort e occasionalmente ferita (sebbene il nome comune ferita sia ora più strettamente associato a Stachys). Bellis perennis è originaria dell'Europa occidentale, centrale e settentrionale, comprese isole remote come le Isole Faroe, ma ampiamente naturalizzata nella maggior parte delle regioni temperate, comprese le Americhe e l'Australasia.
Bellis perennis es una especie europea común de margarita, de la familia Asteraceae, a menudo considerada la especie arquetípica de ese nombre.
Muchas plantas relacionadas también comparten el nombre de "margarita", por lo que para distinguir esta especie de otras margaritas, a veces se la califica como margarita común, margarita de césped o margarita inglesa. Históricamente, también se ha conocido comúnmente como hematoma y ocasionalmente como herida (aunque el nombre común de hierba se asocia ahora más estrechamente con Stachys). Bellis perennis es originaria de Europa occidental, central y septentrional, incluidas islas remotas como las Islas Feroe, pero está ampliamente naturalizada en la mayoría de las regiones templadas, incluidas América y Australasia.
Bellis perennis هو نوع أوروبي شائع من الأقحوان ، من عائلة Asteraceae ، وغالبًا ما يُعتبر الأنواع البدائية لهذا الاسم.
تشترك العديد من النباتات ذات الصلة أيضًا في اسم "الأقحوان" ، لذلك لتمييز هذا النوع عن الإقحوانات الأخرى ، يتم تصنيفها أحيانًا على أنها أقحوان مشترك أو ديزي في الحديقة أو ديزي إنجليزي. تاريخيًا ، كان يُعرف أيضًا باسم bruisewort وأحيانًا الجرح (على الرغم من أن الاسم الشائع للجروح أصبح الآن أكثر ارتباطًا بـ Stachys). بيليس بيرينس موطنه الأصلي في غرب ووسط وشمال أوروبا ، بما في ذلك الجزر النائية مثل جزر فارو ولكنه متجنس على نطاق واسع في معظم المناطق المعتدلة بما في ذلك الأمريكتين وأستراليا.
SN/NC: Dianthus Caryophyllus, Caryophyllacea Family
It is commonly known as the carnation or clove pink, is a species of Dianthus. It is probably native to the Mediterranean region but its exact range is unknown due to extensive cultivation for the last 2,000 years. Although originally applied to the species Dianthus caryophyllus, the name carnation is also often applied to some of the other species of Dianthus, and more particularly to garden hybrids between D. caryophyllus and other species in the genus.
Het is algemeen bekend als de anjer of kruidnagelroze, is een soort van Dianthus. Het is waarschijnlijk inheems in het Middellandse Zeegebied, maar het exacte verspreidingsgebied is niet bekend vanwege de uitgebreide teelt gedurende de laatste 2000 jaar. Hoewel oorspronkelijk toegepast op de soort Dianthus caryophyllus, wordt de naam anjer ook vaak toegepast op enkele van de andere soorten Dianthus, en meer in het bijzonder op tuinhybriden tussen D. caryophyllus en andere soorten in het geslacht.
Se le conoce comúnmente como clavel o clavo rosa, es una especie de Dianthus. Probablemente sea originaria de la región mediterránea, pero se desconoce su distribución exacta debido al cultivo extensivo durante los últimos 2.000 años. Aunque originalmente se aplicó a la especie Dianthus caryophyllus, el nombre de clavel también se aplica a menudo a algunas de las otras especies de Dianthus, y más particularmente a los híbridos de jardín entre D. caryophyllus y otras especies del género.
É comumente conhecido como cravo ou cravo rosa, é uma espécie de Dianthus. É provavelmente nativo da região do Mediterrâneo, mas sua extensão exata é desconhecida devido ao cultivo extensivo nos últimos 2.000 anos. Embora originalmente aplicado à espécie Dianthus caryophyllus, o nome cravo também é frequentemente aplicado a algumas das outras espécies de Dianthus, e mais particularmente a híbridos de jardim entre D. caryophyllus e outras espécies do gênero.
Es ist allgemein bekannt als die Nelke oder Nelkenrosa, ist eine Art von Dianthus. Es ist wahrscheinlich im Mittelmeerraum beheimatet, aber sein genaues Verbreitungsgebiet ist aufgrund des umfangreichen Anbaus in den letzten 2000 Jahren unbekannt. Obwohl ursprünglich für die Art Dianthus caryophyllus verwendet, wird der Name Nelke auch häufig für einige der anderen Arten von Dianthus verwendet, insbesondere für Gartenhybriden zwischen D. caryophyllus und anderen Arten der Gattung.
Il est communément appelé l'oeillet ou clou de girofle rose, est une espèce de Dianthus. Il est probablement originaire de la région méditerranéenne mais son aire de répartition exacte est inconnue en raison de la culture extensive des 2000 dernières années. Bien qu'appliqué à l'origine à l'espèce Dianthus caryophyllus, le nom d'oeillet est aussi souvent appliqué à certaines des autres espèces de Dianthus, et plus particulièrement aux hybrides de jardin entre D. caryophyllus et d'autres espèces du genre.
È comunemente noto come il garofano o il chiodo di garofano rosa, è una specie di Dianthus. Probabilmente è originario della regione mediterranea, ma la sua area geografica esatta è sconosciuta a causa della coltivazione estensiva negli ultimi 2000 anni. Sebbene originariamente applicato alla specie Dianthus caryophyllus, il nome garofano è spesso applicato anche ad alcune delle altre specie di Dianthus, e più in particolare agli ibridi da giardino tra D. caryophyllus e altre specie del genere.
Bellis perennis は、キク科の一般的なヨーロッパのデイジー種で、その名の原型種とみなされることが多い。
多くの関連植物も「デイジー」という名前を共有しているため、この種を他のデイジーと区別するために、コモンデイジー、ローンデイジー、またはイングリッシュデイジーと呼ばれることがある。歴史的には、一般的にはブルーズワートとも呼ばれ、時にはウウンドワートとも呼ばれる (ただし、一般名のウウンドワートは現在、スタキスとより密接に関連している)。Bellis perennis は、フェロー諸島などの離島を含む西ヨーロッパ、中央ヨーロッパ、北ヨーロッパ原産だが、アメリカ大陸やオーストラリアを含むほとんどの温帯地域に広く帰化している。
ومن المعروف باسم القرنفل أو القرنفل الوردي ، وهو نوع من Dianthus. من المحتمل أن يكون موطنه منطقة البحر الأبيض المتوسط ولكن نطاقه الدقيق غير معروف بسبب الزراعة المكثفة على مدار 2000 عام الماضية. على الرغم من أنه تم تطبيقه في الأصل على نوع Dianthus caryophyllus ، إلا أنه غالبًا ما يتم تطبيق اسم قرنفل على بعض الأنواع الأخرى من Dianthus ، وبشكل أكثر تحديدًا على أنواع هجينة الحدائق بين D. caryophyllus وأنواع أخرى في الجنس.
Photo taken at Rastaholm, Ekerö in Sweden.
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Brockholes is a new kind of nature reserve, an unreserved reserve owned and managed by The Wildlife Trust for Lancashire, Manchester and North Merseyside.
There's lots to see and do at Brockholes, you can hunt out our floating Visitor Village with a restaurant, shops and Welcome Centre or explore our family-friendly hides, walking trails and play area.
At Brockholes you can explore our beautiful reserve, see the wildlife that call it ‘home’ or hunt out our Visitor Village with restaurant and shops, all of which float (yes really!) on one of our lakes.
Our floating Visitor Village features a gift shop and a restaurant providing stunning views across the lake. You can also discover our interactive Welcome Centre and learn all about the wildlife that you could see on-site. Be sure to call in to pick up a welcome leaflet that will help you plan your day. You can view the reserve map in our Welcome Leaflet here to help you plan your first visit.
2013/14 Opening Times:
4th November 2013 to 31 March 2014 10am-4pm
1st April 2014 to 31st October 2014 10am-5pm
Closed Christmas Eve and Christmas Day only
Car Park Charges
We don't charge for entry and any profits made here go back into looking after the reserve. So every time you pay for parking, treat yourself in the shop or enjoy some lunch, you are helping look after the reserve and the wildlife that visits us!
Sorry no dogs allowed!
There is a good reason! Dogs can disturb wildlife, especially nesting birds. If your dog was to get too close to a nesting bird it would cause the mother to leave the nest. So to avoid any accidents we ask that you don’t bring your dog. (Assistance dogs are welcome.)
Explore the reserve
Brockholes is one of the best sites in the UK for many species of bird and has one of the largest strips of ancient woodland in the county. You can take a stroll by the River Ribble, explore our woods or enjoy the lakes on site, which have all been specially designed to attract all kinds of wildlife for you to see!
Walks around Brockholes
What can I see at Brockholes?
Read about the happy habitats we've been working hard to create at Brockholes.
Watch out!
The Visitor Village floats on water and there are lots of areas of open water on the reserve. Take care in these areas and keep an eye on any children with you. The following activities are not allowed on the reserve:
Barbecues and fires
Fishing
Swimming
Please do not feed the birds
Big gulls know it’s much easier to find food when we leave it lying around rather than finding their own lunch. Here at Brockholes we have lots of species breeding with us, little ringed and ringed plover, lapwing, oystercatcher and redshank. Unfortunately the big gulls will eat the chicks of these special birds so if we feed the gulls and encourage them to stay there is a big chance that they will eat our important chicks, so please do not feed the birds and take your leftover picnic away with you.
www.brockholes.org/our-journey
The Lancashire Wildlife Trust has been working on developing Brockholes for nearly 20 years, here is an overview of our journey.
1992 Lancashire Wildlife Trust first contests the quarrying of Brockholes.
27 November 2006 The Lancashire Wildlife Trust has four weeks to raise £50,000 to buy the Brockholes site, near Preston, and protect it from development. Brockholes sits next to J31 of the M6 and is the size of 120 football pitches.
15 January 2007 The Lancashire Wildlife Trust makes the biggest land purchase in its history - thanks to donations from Wildlife Trust members, and an investment of £800,000 from the Northwest Regional Development Agency (NWDA) under the Newlands scheme. The project to buy and develop Brockholes is also supported by The Tubney Charitable Trust.
3 May 2007 Ian Selby is appointed as Brockholes project manager. Ian has 20 years' experience of managing the North West's canal network for British Waterways, followed by environmental regeneration work. Sophie Leadsom, Brockholes' new reserve manager, has worked in conservation for 14 years.
July 2007 The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) announced the launch of a new open competition to design new visitor facilities.
5 October 2007 The Lancashire Wildlife Trust announced the shortlist for the new multi-million pound visitor centre. 61 architects from all over Europe submitted designs. The five were Adam Khan Architects, Arca, Architecture 2B, AY Architects, McDowell + Benedetti.
25 February 2008 The Lancashire Wildlife Trust (LWT) and partners announce the winner of its competition to design a visitor facility. Adam Khan Architects was selected for its inspirational design concept: "A Floating World". Designed as a cluster of buildings constructed largely of wood and other sustainable materials, it resembles an ancient marshland village.
April 2008 The Lancashire Wildlife Trust announced the completion of its first phase of preparatory work, including the restoration of the wetlands, creation of ponds, seeding of meadows, planting new hedgerows and trees, making access paths and building proper bird watching hides.
March 2009 The Lancashire Wildlife Trust secured £8million of funding from the North West Regional Development Agency (NWDA). The investment was made under ‘Newlands’, a NWDA and Forestry Commission programme that is regenerating brownfield land across the Northwest into economically viable community woodland.
Summer 2009 Volunteers gave us 134 hours of their time to help propagate our own reed seedlings on-site. We ended up with 20,000 new redd seedlings ready to plant out around our new visitor centre, creating two hecatres of brand new reedbed.
August 2009 The Lancashire Wildlife Trust were granted detailed planning permission for the site.
December 2009 Contractors first day of work as they begin to construct the iconic floating visitors centre. Press conference being held with a ‘cutting of the first sod’
November 2010 A herd of longhorn cattle move into Brockholes to graze the reserve.
December 2010 BBC Countryfile fronted by Julia Bradbury visit Brockholes to film a feature that airs in January 2011.
March 2011 Brockholes makes history as the Visitor Village is floated for the first time.
Easter Sunday 2011 Brockholes opens its doors to the public for the first time!
www.brockholes.org/happy-habitats-brockholes
Happy habitats at Brockholes
The Lancashire Wildlife Trust are using their expertise to create habitats that will encourage lots of different species to visit the site, read more about the work we are doing on the reserve...
Number 1 Pit
Uniform and steep, the edges around the original gravel pit used to look very different. The island looked different too – an egg-shaped piece of land sticking out of the water by three metres. These land profiles weren’t great for the bird species and aquatic invertebrates we wanted to attract. So, with bulldozer and digger we pushed earth into the lake to create shallow, underwater ledges and peninsulas where birds can roost and feed, safe from predators. Diving ducks, such as Great Crested Grebe, now hunt for fish in the deep water.
Nook Pool
The edge of this pool has been planted with reed to create places for small fish and aquatic invertebrates like dragonfly larvae to hide and grow, away from predator fish. The shelter provided by the vegetation provides an ideal hunting ground for lots of species of dragonfly including the impressive Brown Hawker and Emperor Dragonfly.
Meadow Lake
This shallow lake is great for bird watching: when the water level is down, wading birds feed on small invertebrates in the exposed mud. This lake has some of the richest water plant life in and around it, including White Water Lily and Cuckooflower. The reed fringes are becoming well established and hold some of the largest populations of birds on site. The islands provide safe roosting and breeding areas, we keep the vegetation short so the birds can watch out for predators.
Boilton Marsh
This area is part of our newly created wet grassland habitat. We remodelled 17,000 cubic metres of quarry spoil to create 10 hectares of wet grassland with nearly 2km of channels and five pools. This is the ideal habitat for breeding wading birds such as Lapwing, Redshank and Snipe. We now graze traditional breeds of cattle and sheep that thrive on the coarse grasses and rushes and provide the low grassland sward that encourages wading birds to nest.
The channels and pools are kept topped up by using a high-level reservoir, filled from Number One Pit by way of a solar pump.
Woodland
Brockholes is fringed by the ancient woodland of Boilton, Red Scar and Tunbrook Woods. Woodland has grown here for thousands of years and developed a very rich variety of wildlife. Looking after our trees and paths will help the woodland to thrive and enable you to see the wildlife safely.
Reedbeds
Reedbeds are home to Sedge Warblers, Reed Warblers, Reed Buntings and Water Rail. We protect the new reed from grazing birds like Coot, Mute Swan and Canada Goose, by erecting chicken wire fences and baling string barriers. It will take several years before our lak fringes start to look like reedbeds. You might notice that the Visitor Village has been nestled in reedbed. This helps it to blend into the reserve and allows you to hear the song and chatter of the birds that nest there.
www.brockholes.org/brockholes-partners-and-funders
Brockholes partners and funders
For the past ten years, The Wildlife Trust for Lancashire, Manchester and North Merseyside have been working to secure this site of national environmental importance, and restore habitats to their full potential.
The £8.6 million of regeneration funding was provided for the Brockholes Wetland and Woodland Reserve project has been granted under 'Newlands' - a £59 million, Northwest Regional Development Agency and Forestry Commission programme to transform brownfield land into durable community woodland, which act as catalysts for economic, social and environmental gain.
The Lancashire Environmental Fund awarded £446,000 for the development of the education facilities, hides and infrastructure on the site. Tubney Charitable Trust granted £350,000 for Biodiversity and Natural England DEFRA's Aggregates Levy Sustainability Fund awarded circa. £300,000. The Environment Agency granted £50,000 for the continued development of Brockholes.
The support of these funders helped make Brockholes a reality, as did the amazing support from our public appeal, which raised an amazing £63,000 - the most successful public appeal the Lancashire Wildlife Trust has ever run!
Volunteering at Brockholes
Around 200 volunteers have now been recruited, inducted and trained to begin volunteering at Brockholes, so we offer an enormous thank you to all who are helping it make such a big impact on our visitors... Volunteers truly are the face of Brockholes.
There are currently some exciting opportunities to be had volunteering here at Brockholes. Please have a look below at roles (you can click on the titles to download a full role description) which might suit you and click here to register, mentioning Brockholes and the role on the form.
Seasonal Activities Volunteer
Our seasonal activities program is the ideal opportunity for young people aged 16-23 to get involved here at Brockholes.
Running throughout all school holiday periods, you are expected to volunteer for 7 hours per week (normally one full day).
The Seasonal Activities Volunteer role is ideal for friendly, outgoing people who want to utilise their creative skills and help visitors – in particular children – enjoy the reserve. You will work alongside other volunteers to plan and deliver a variety of activities including pond dipping, guided walks, bird watching. The role will also include assisting with larger events such as our Extreme Adventure Weekend and Craft Fayres. Support will be given to you by the Events & Communications Manager.
This placement is perfect for those undertaking various award schemes, such as the Duke of Edinburgh award, as over the course of the summer you have the opportunity to gain upto 50 volunteering hours.
For full details on the role and what it entails, click here.
Seasonal Retail & Visitor Services
Our seasonal activities program is the ideal opportunity for young people aged 16-23 to get involved here at Brockholes.
As a volunteer for Retail & Visitor Services you will provide a warm welcome for visitors, helping to ensure that their Brockholes experience is a positive one. You will help visitors by providing them with information about products on sale in our gift stores and help them plan their visit by telling them about the various events and activities we have on offer.
The role suits a friendly, outgoing person who has an interest in wildlife and conservation.
Running throughout the school holiday periods, you are expected to volunteer for 7 hours per week (normally one full day).
This placement is perfect for those undertaking various award schemes, such as the Duke of Edinburgh award, as over the course of the summer you have the opportunity to gain upto 50 volunteering hours.
Each volunteer will be required to undergo a minimum of 1 and a half days training before they start. If you’d like to find out more or ask questions about any of these roles do not hesitate to get in touch with Catherine Haddon, Volunteering Support Officer on 01772 324 129 or email volunteer@lancswt.org.uk
Awards
Brockholes has scooped many high profile awards since opening in April 2011:
2013 Lancashire Tourism Award for Best Conference/Meeting venue
VisitEngland's Visitor Attraction Quality Assurance Scheme (VAQAS) 'Excellent'
Green Tourism Gold Award
Customer at the Heart Award
Lancashire and Blackpool Tourism Awards 'Marketing Campaign of the Year'
National Wood Award
BREEAM ‘Outstanding’ for the interim design stage
Chartered Institute of Building Services – Building of the Year 2011
Civic Trust Award
Civic Trust Special Award for Sustainability
Highly Commended in portfolio of Newlands sites in Landscape Awards
CIWEM Living Wetlands award
Greenbuilds award
Green Apple Awards for the Visitor Centre
Sustainable Project of the year – 2012 Building Awards
RICS North West – Overall award
RICS North West – Tourism and Leisure
RICS NW – Design & Innovation
RIBA North West Building of the Year
RIBA North West Sustainability Award
RIBA Award for top 50 new buildings in the UK
Brockholes is an award winning-venue, which floats on one of our lakes - the only one of its kind in the UK.
Combine this unique design with access straight off the M6, a beautiful nature reserve, ample parking and on site catering, and you have found yourself the perfect venue for your next event. View our Conference Brochure here.
We think Brockholes is the natural place to do business, our dedicated centre can cater for 50 to 130 delegates.
We have a choice of two conference rooms and a reception/break-out area.
www.brockholes.org/conference-packages
At Brockholes we want you to be in control of your event as much as possible. This is why we have created these basic packages, enabling you to tweak each element to build an individual event.
Alternatively, we can cater to your specific requests if you require half day, early morning or evening hire.
Here is an overview of our conference packages, please contact us for a quote.
Our Conference brochure can be viewed in digi-book format here.
Day Delegate Package
Private room hire from 9am - 5pm
Tea and coffee served on arrival with bacon rolls
Mineral water for each guest
Tea and coffee served mid-morning
Buffet lunch served with tea, coffee and fresh fruit platter
Tea, coffee and biscuits served mid-afternoon
Use of a flip chart, screen and projector
Recycled pen and notepad for each delegate
Dedicated co-ordinator to assist you throughout the planning to delivery of your meeting
24 Hour Delegate Package
All of the above plus;
Three course dinner
Full breakfast
Accommodation in a standard bedroom at our recommended accommodation supplier
Accommodation
Preferential rates are available on request from a local hotel when booking through the Brockholes Sales Team.
We can tailor our packages to suit your needs. Make the UK's first floating venue your next choice
Please contact us for more information or to arrange a meeting or showround with our Conference Sales Co-ordinator
Call us on 01772 872005 or enter your details below and we will contact you to discuss your requirements.
www.brockholes.org/sponsorship-opportunities
Sponsorship Opportunities
Brockholes is an award winning nature reserve owned and manages by the Lancashire Wildlife Trust, which was opened in 2011. The 250 acre reserve is already attracting record numbers of breeding birds and around 170,000 visitors each year. Brockholes runs a wide range of events throughout the year and has a particularly strong offer for families. Events include wild families, school holiday clubs, school and community group visits, self led trails and larger festivals during the summer holidays.
The key marketing campaigns run targeting families include Christmas, Summer and Easter. Each campaign targets a series of family focused publications across the North West, with a monthly average reach online of over 40,000 people through the website and social media. Advertising and direct marketing campaigns have an average reach of 70% of the total North West population.
Sponsorship and Partnership Opportunities
Summer at Brockholes sees a host of family events each year, from school holiday clubs to open air theatre, guided walks to family fun. Over the Summer period, Brockholes expects to welcome over 60,000 visitors. The marketing campaign is multi channel and will reach a wide audience of families across the North West. Brockholes has also been featured in the National Press for some of the unique events run. We have some new opportunities for sponsorship and partnership, which will allow your business to raise brand awareness and fulfill part of your Corporate Social Responsibility by supporting Brockholes and The Lancashire Wildlife Trust.
Summer at Brockholes Headline Sponsorship £4500
Expose your brand to thousands of families across the North West.
- Logo on all Summer promotional material
- Inclusion in all four of the Summer e-news and Lancashire Wildlife Trust e-news
- Sponsor Feature on Brockholes.org
- On site promotion
- Promotion through social media channels
- Inclusion in all PR activity
- Temporary use of Brockholes logo on promotional material directly related to the partnership
Wild Families Sponsorship £4000 per year
Our Wild Families events are always fully booked. With themes ranging from scarecrow hunts to nature detectives, each event provides quality family time for family members of all ages. Events are run throughout school holidays.
-Logo on marketing materials for Wild Families
-Inclusion in PR for trail launch
-Inclusion in social media activity
-Inclusion in Brockholes e-news
Seasonal Trail Sponsorship £500 per trail
Each visitor to Brockholes can collect their free seasonal trail on arrival. The trail helps visitors to explore the reserve, learn more about what to see and how the reserve changes with the season and challenges them to spot things.
-Logo on sponsorship trail
-Inclusion in PR for trail launch
-Inclusion in social media activity around the trail
Half term at Brockholes £1500
-Logo on all marketing materials
-Inclusion in launch PR
-Social media promotion
Annual Headline Sponsorship £10,000
- Logo inclusion on all Promotional Material
- Dedicated web page on Brockholes.org
- On site promotion
- Dedicated stand area on key event days
- Promotion through Brockholes and LWT e-news, member magazine
- Promotion through social media channels
- Inclusion in all PR activity
-Discounted delegate rate on our conference facilities
Children's Corner £500
Would you like to help brighten up the children's corner in our restuarant for our younger visitors?
-Inclusion in PR activity
-Recognition in the children's area
-Inclusion in activity to our database promoting the new area
To talk to us more about sponsorship opportunities, contact Ruth Gaskell rgaskell@lancswt.org.uk or call 01772 324129.
www.brockholes.org/commercial-opportunities
Commercial Opportunities
Make Brockholes your business
Businesses are being offered an opportunity to become partners in a North West tourism and wildlife success story.
Brockholes nature reserve is entering the second phase of development which will provide commercial opportunities for other businesses and boost local employment.
The Lancashire Wildlife Trust attraction attracted 185,000 people to its nature reserve and the first ever floating visitor village in the UK, last year. It is looking to top that visitor figure this year.
Just off the M6 at Preston and easily accessible from anywhere in the UK, Brockholes has received more than 30 regional and national awards despite only opening in 2011. Visitors continue to pour in despite the reserve being surrounded by the attractions of Manchester, Blackpool and Liverpool.
The business has shown year-on-year growth and, as a result, is seeking commercial partners for the next phase of development.
Anne Selby, Chief Executive of the Wildlife Trust said “Brockholes has performed incredibly well despite being launched in a recession. We have steered the business through the stormy weather and achieved fantastic results.
“We are now looking to move into the next phase of development. As a conservation charity, we want to ensure our focus remains on the nature conservation of the reserve, whilst ensuring the commercial income supports this work. We are looking for expressions of interest at this stage and asking businesses to be creative with their proposals.”
The Visitor Village has a restaurant, shops, conference centre, welcome centre and education centre. Major companies have made use of the conference centre including RBS and Aldi. The surrounding nature reserve is continuing to grow, with an increasing population of resident creatures and rare visitors like red kite, bittern and otter.
Anne continued: “Brockholes received funding for the initial start up and development phases but it was always designed to be a self-sustaining model. By making the most of the commercial opportunities and keeping these balanced carefully with the needs of nature, we believe we can continue to success of Brockholes into the future and achieve even more fantastic results for wildlife, our wide range of visitors and the tourism economy”.
Opportunities include retail, water sports (non-motorised), indoor play provision, events partners and mobile food concessions. However, the Trust is open to hear if any investors would wish to develop sympathetic commercial facilities on the site.
An opportunity information pack is available by request from:
Karen Williams Karen.Williams@brockholes.org
Expressions of interest should initially be made to
Lindsey Poole, Commercial Development Manager lpoole@lancswt.org.uk
Group Visits
Whether it’s a full day out or just a quick stop off on the way to your destination, Brockholes is the ideal place for groups to visit.
There's so much for all ages to see and learn about at Brockholes. Everyone from toddlers to seniors will find something to fascinate them, whether through our exciting range of organised events, or by just wandering around the site.
We are passionately committed to lifelong learning for all – our belief is that everyone should leave knowing something they didn't when they arrived! The Lancashire Wildlife Trust has over a decade of experience in delivering environmental education, so you can relax, enjoy the surroundings and be sure to come away both enchanted and enlightened...
We have several options for various groups, each with a variety of benefits. For more information click on the relevant link below…
Coach Groups
School Groups
Community Groups
To enquire about group visits please call 01772 872000 or email info@brockholes.org. Or leave your details on the form below and a member of our team will get back to you as soon as possible.
Coach Groups
Situated next to Junction 31 on the M6, we are the ideal stop for coach trips, whether it is for a short stop, as a green motorway services, or as part of a full day visit.
Free entry for coaches and convenient coach drop-off point
We have a variety of walking trails for your group to explore, ranging from half an hour to 2 hours in length.
We have our floating visitor village that features a stunning waterside restaurant, 2 unique gift shops and a welcome centre with exhibits, which are ideal should your guests decide for something less active (or if the weather lets you down)!
All our buildings are fully accessible, while the vast majority of our paths are well surfaced, level and suitable for wheelchairs.
We now have a more convenient drop-off point exclusively for coaches and in addition have a number of benefits for coach groups:
• Free entry to the reserve and visitor centre
• Free coach parking
• Refreshment voucher for the coach driver
• Free familiarisation visit for group organisers
• Free meet and greet at the coach (on request)
• Free Brockholes welcome leaflet and trail guide
• Free events and activities throughout the year (visit our events calendar for details)
• Free play area
• Pre-booked guided tours (available at an extra charge)
• Adapted toilets available at the visitor centre
Please note that there is a 4 metre high bridge on the entrance to Brockholes. We also advise all coaches to let us know of their visit in advance by calling us on 01772 872000.
For any further information please just call 01772 872000, email info@brockholes.org
School Groups
Our 250 acre nature reserve and Visitor Village is a great place for school groups to visit. Children can learn about the geological history and how the quarrying has shaped the land today. And because we are a new nature reserve, you can watch it grow! It is also home to the UK's first floating Visitor Village.
Most importantly of all, the children will be able to see that Brockholes is home to a host of wildlife, with many different species of bird popping by throughout the year, along with brown hare, dragonfly and deer to name a few!
Facilities
Your school will have use of the education centre on our floating visitor village and you will have at least one Education Officer dedicated to your group throughout the day.
Plus... NEW FOR 2014!
Next year your school will be able to get even closer to nature at Brockholes by booking an education session in our new purpose-built bird hide classroom, right on the edge of the lake!
The hide will overlook No 1 Pit Lake which is home to many different species of birds and you'll also be able to look across to the new sand martin wall, which will provide valuable breeding habitat when they arrive in spring.
Why not your details below if you'd like us to keep to informed of these exciting new developments!
Programmes
We offer a wide range of programmes including:
Big Adventure in a Miniature World
Life Cycles
Migration and Hibernation
Environmental Art
Geography and Geology
Forest School
You can read more about the education programmes available at Brockholes here.
Education Team
Our Education Team are based at Brockholes and have a huge amount of experience in inspiring young people about the natural world. They are a lively bunch and pride themselves on creating an exciting and memorable experience for your school. You can read about how great our team is here: Meet the Education Team.
Outreach
Can't get to us? Then we can come to you! Our outreach education programme is very popular and offers a wide range of programmes for those who are unable to reach Brockholes.You can view our Outreach Programmes here.
For any information just call us on 01772 872000 for more information, email eduadmin@lancswt.org.uk
Community Groups
Brockholes is a great place to bring your community group, whether it's the Scouts, Guides, Cubs, Brownies or Beavers or a rambling or photography group, there is something for everyone!
As well as exploring our stunning nature reserve you can enjoy an activity such as a guided walk, a mini-beast hunt or an environmental art session.
You can visit Brockholes during the day or we have special community group evenings when the reserve is open beyond our usual opening hours. Group activities usually take place between 5.30pm and 7.30pm.
Forest Schools
Forest Schools is a unique outdoor learning experience that improves children's self-esteem, confidence and abilities.
Brockholes provides an inspirational setting for Forest Schools sessions and training, and is conveniently located just off junction 31 of the M6 at Preston.
Our Forest School sessions are designed and delivered by our experienced and fully qualified Education Team including our Level 3 Trained Forest Schools Practioner.
Our next Forest Schools adult training session will be running in October. To find out more about Forest School sessions at Brockholes please call 01772 872017 or email kphillips@lancswt.org.uk
Shop til you flock
Why not drop into our two on-site shops, The Nest and Village Store, which are packed with all sorts of goodies. We've a variety of products from local beverages and food, to cards and books and crafts and jewellery. They are the perfect place to pick up a unique gift... and there's plenty of treats for the little ones too!
The Nest
The Nest is home to an inspiring collection of gifts, jewellery, books, toys, arts & crafts. Discover what's inside The Nest here.
The Village Store
The Village Store stocks a wide range of products, from locally sourced food and drink treats to bird food, garden accessories and wildlife books. Come and look inside here.
Membership of the Wildlife Trust
Brockholes is a Lancashire Wildlife Trust Nature Reserve. You can become a member today or talk to our friendly staff members and volunteers on your next visit to Brockholes. Gift membership is available in The Nest or you can buy it online here.
Our restaurant is the perfect place to stop and watch the world go by with panoramic views of our lake. Scrumptious homemade dishes and a taste bud tingling selection of Lancashire's finest local produce are all here to tempt you, along with fair trade tea and coffee.
Our restaurant is open from 10am to 5pm.
www.brockholes.org/very-special-occasions
Brockholes is a fantastic place for your very special occasions.
Our floating venue is one of the newest and most unique in Lancashire and promises you and your guests an unforgetable event whatever the occasion.
We have a dedicated function centre that can accomodate weddings, christenings and all sort of functions.
The clean, contemporary finish of our venue means that you have the perfect opportunity to put your own stamp on your event, with a flexible range of catering available from our on-site restaurant.
We have a dedicated Conference and Events Co-ordinator that will be available to help you plan your special occasion.
Very Special Weddings
We had our first wedding celebration September 2011 and since then it's been all go with Wedding Fayres and lots more bookings for this year and next. Find out more about weddings at Brockholes here.
Very Special Christenings
Brockholes is a real family friendly venue for a Christening celebration that you will remember for years to come. Find out more here.
For general enquiries about holding a function at Brockholes please call 01772 872005 or email philip.dunn@brockholes.org.
Brockholes is a new kind of nature reserve, an unreserved reserve owned and managed by The Wildlife Trust for Lancashire, Manchester and North Merseyside.
There's lots to see and do at Brockholes, you can hunt out our floating Visitor Village with a restaurant, shops and Welcome Centre or explore our family-friendly hides, walking trails and play area.
At Brockholes you can explore our beautiful reserve, see the wildlife that call it ‘home’ or hunt out our Visitor Village with restaurant and shops, all of which float (yes really!) on one of our lakes.
Our floating Visitor Village features a gift shop and a restaurant providing stunning views across the lake. You can also discover our interactive Welcome Centre and learn all about the wildlife that you could see on-site. Be sure to call in to pick up a welcome leaflet that will help you plan your day. You can view the reserve map in our Welcome Leaflet here to help you plan your first visit.
2013/14 Opening Times:
4th November 2013 to 31 March 2014 10am-4pm
1st April 2014 to 31st October 2014 10am-5pm
Closed Christmas Eve and Christmas Day only
Car Park Charges
We don't charge for entry and any profits made here go back into looking after the reserve. So every time you pay for parking, treat yourself in the shop or enjoy some lunch, you are helping look after the reserve and the wildlife that visits us!
Sorry no dogs allowed!
There is a good reason! Dogs can disturb wildlife, especially nesting birds. If your dog was to get too close to a nesting bird it would cause the mother to leave the nest. So to avoid any accidents we ask that you don’t bring your dog. (Assistance dogs are welcome.)
Explore the reserve
Brockholes is one of the best sites in the UK for many species of bird and has one of the largest strips of ancient woodland in the county. You can take a stroll by the River Ribble, explore our woods or enjoy the lakes on site, which have all been specially designed to attract all kinds of wildlife for you to see!
Walks around Brockholes
What can I see at Brockholes?
Read about the happy habitats we've been working hard to create at Brockholes.
Watch out!
The Visitor Village floats on water and there are lots of areas of open water on the reserve. Take care in these areas and keep an eye on any children with you. The following activities are not allowed on the reserve:
Barbecues and fires
Fishing
Swimming
Please do not feed the birds
Big gulls know it’s much easier to find food when we leave it lying around rather than finding their own lunch. Here at Brockholes we have lots of species breeding with us, little ringed and ringed plover, lapwing, oystercatcher and redshank. Unfortunately the big gulls will eat the chicks of these special birds so if we feed the gulls and encourage them to stay there is a big chance that they will eat our important chicks, so please do not feed the birds and take your leftover picnic away with you.
www.brockholes.org/our-journey
The Lancashire Wildlife Trust has been working on developing Brockholes for nearly 20 years, here is an overview of our journey.
1992 Lancashire Wildlife Trust first contests the quarrying of Brockholes.
27 November 2006 The Lancashire Wildlife Trust has four weeks to raise £50,000 to buy the Brockholes site, near Preston, and protect it from development. Brockholes sits next to J31 of the M6 and is the size of 120 football pitches.
15 January 2007 The Lancashire Wildlife Trust makes the biggest land purchase in its history - thanks to donations from Wildlife Trust members, and an investment of £800,000 from the Northwest Regional Development Agency (NWDA) under the Newlands scheme. The project to buy and develop Brockholes is also supported by The Tubney Charitable Trust.
3 May 2007 Ian Selby is appointed as Brockholes project manager. Ian has 20 years' experience of managing the North West's canal network for British Waterways, followed by environmental regeneration work. Sophie Leadsom, Brockholes' new reserve manager, has worked in conservation for 14 years.
July 2007 The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) announced the launch of a new open competition to design new visitor facilities.
5 October 2007 The Lancashire Wildlife Trust announced the shortlist for the new multi-million pound visitor centre. 61 architects from all over Europe submitted designs. The five were Adam Khan Architects, Arca, Architecture 2B, AY Architects, McDowell + Benedetti.
25 February 2008 The Lancashire Wildlife Trust (LWT) and partners announce the winner of its competition to design a visitor facility. Adam Khan Architects was selected for its inspirational design concept: "A Floating World". Designed as a cluster of buildings constructed largely of wood and other sustainable materials, it resembles an ancient marshland village.
April 2008 The Lancashire Wildlife Trust announced the completion of its first phase of preparatory work, including the restoration of the wetlands, creation of ponds, seeding of meadows, planting new hedgerows and trees, making access paths and building proper bird watching hides.
March 2009 The Lancashire Wildlife Trust secured £8million of funding from the North West Regional Development Agency (NWDA). The investment was made under ‘Newlands’, a NWDA and Forestry Commission programme that is regenerating brownfield land across the Northwest into economically viable community woodland.
Summer 2009 Volunteers gave us 134 hours of their time to help propagate our own reed seedlings on-site. We ended up with 20,000 new redd seedlings ready to plant out around our new visitor centre, creating two hecatres of brand new reedbed.
August 2009 The Lancashire Wildlife Trust were granted detailed planning permission for the site.
December 2009 Contractors first day of work as they begin to construct the iconic floating visitors centre. Press conference being held with a ‘cutting of the first sod’
November 2010 A herd of longhorn cattle move into Brockholes to graze the reserve.
December 2010 BBC Countryfile fronted by Julia Bradbury visit Brockholes to film a feature that airs in January 2011.
March 2011 Brockholes makes history as the Visitor Village is floated for the first time.
Easter Sunday 2011 Brockholes opens its doors to the public for the first time!
www.brockholes.org/happy-habitats-brockholes
Happy habitats at Brockholes
The Lancashire Wildlife Trust are using their expertise to create habitats that will encourage lots of different species to visit the site, read more about the work we are doing on the reserve...
Number 1 Pit
Uniform and steep, the edges around the original gravel pit used to look very different. The island looked different too – an egg-shaped piece of land sticking out of the water by three metres. These land profiles weren’t great for the bird species and aquatic invertebrates we wanted to attract. So, with bulldozer and digger we pushed earth into the lake to create shallow, underwater ledges and peninsulas where birds can roost and feed, safe from predators. Diving ducks, such as Great Crested Grebe, now hunt for fish in the deep water.
Nook Pool
The edge of this pool has been planted with reed to create places for small fish and aquatic invertebrates like dragonfly larvae to hide and grow, away from predator fish. The shelter provided by the vegetation provides an ideal hunting ground for lots of species of dragonfly including the impressive Brown Hawker and Emperor Dragonfly.
Meadow Lake
This shallow lake is great for bird watching: when the water level is down, wading birds feed on small invertebrates in the exposed mud. This lake has some of the richest water plant life in and around it, including White Water Lily and Cuckooflower. The reed fringes are becoming well established and hold some of the largest populations of birds on site. The islands provide safe roosting and breeding areas, we keep the vegetation short so the birds can watch out for predators.
Boilton Marsh
This area is part of our newly created wet grassland habitat. We remodelled 17,000 cubic metres of quarry spoil to create 10 hectares of wet grassland with nearly 2km of channels and five pools. This is the ideal habitat for breeding wading birds such as Lapwing, Redshank and Snipe. We now graze traditional breeds of cattle and sheep that thrive on the coarse grasses and rushes and provide the low grassland sward that encourages wading birds to nest.
The channels and pools are kept topped up by using a high-level reservoir, filled from Number One Pit by way of a solar pump.
Woodland
Brockholes is fringed by the ancient woodland of Boilton, Red Scar and Tunbrook Woods. Woodland has grown here for thousands of years and developed a very rich variety of wildlife. Looking after our trees and paths will help the woodland to thrive and enable you to see the wildlife safely.
Reedbeds
Reedbeds are home to Sedge Warblers, Reed Warblers, Reed Buntings and Water Rail. We protect the new reed from grazing birds like Coot, Mute Swan and Canada Goose, by erecting chicken wire fences and baling string barriers. It will take several years before our lak fringes start to look like reedbeds. You might notice that the Visitor Village has been nestled in reedbed. This helps it to blend into the reserve and allows you to hear the song and chatter of the birds that nest there.
www.brockholes.org/brockholes-partners-and-funders
Brockholes partners and funders
For the past ten years, The Wildlife Trust for Lancashire, Manchester and North Merseyside have been working to secure this site of national environmental importance, and restore habitats to their full potential.
The £8.6 million of regeneration funding was provided for the Brockholes Wetland and Woodland Reserve project has been granted under 'Newlands' - a £59 million, Northwest Regional Development Agency and Forestry Commission programme to transform brownfield land into durable community woodland, which act as catalysts for economic, social and environmental gain.
The Lancashire Environmental Fund awarded £446,000 for the development of the education facilities, hides and infrastructure on the site. Tubney Charitable Trust granted £350,000 for Biodiversity and Natural England DEFRA's Aggregates Levy Sustainability Fund awarded circa. £300,000. The Environment Agency granted £50,000 for the continued development of Brockholes.
The support of these funders helped make Brockholes a reality, as did the amazing support from our public appeal, which raised an amazing £63,000 - the most successful public appeal the Lancashire Wildlife Trust has ever run!
Volunteering at Brockholes
Around 200 volunteers have now been recruited, inducted and trained to begin volunteering at Brockholes, so we offer an enormous thank you to all who are helping it make such a big impact on our visitors... Volunteers truly are the face of Brockholes.
There are currently some exciting opportunities to be had volunteering here at Brockholes. Please have a look below at roles (you can click on the titles to download a full role description) which might suit you and click here to register, mentioning Brockholes and the role on the form.
Seasonal Activities Volunteer
Our seasonal activities program is the ideal opportunity for young people aged 16-23 to get involved here at Brockholes.
Running throughout all school holiday periods, you are expected to volunteer for 7 hours per week (normally one full day).
The Seasonal Activities Volunteer role is ideal for friendly, outgoing people who want to utilise their creative skills and help visitors – in particular children – enjoy the reserve. You will work alongside other volunteers to plan and deliver a variety of activities including pond dipping, guided walks, bird watching. The role will also include assisting with larger events such as our Extreme Adventure Weekend and Craft Fayres. Support will be given to you by the Events & Communications Manager.
This placement is perfect for those undertaking various award schemes, such as the Duke of Edinburgh award, as over the course of the summer you have the opportunity to gain upto 50 volunteering hours.
For full details on the role and what it entails, click here.
Seasonal Retail & Visitor Services
Our seasonal activities program is the ideal opportunity for young people aged 16-23 to get involved here at Brockholes.
As a volunteer for Retail & Visitor Services you will provide a warm welcome for visitors, helping to ensure that their Brockholes experience is a positive one. You will help visitors by providing them with information about products on sale in our gift stores and help them plan their visit by telling them about the various events and activities we have on offer.
The role suits a friendly, outgoing person who has an interest in wildlife and conservation.
Running throughout the school holiday periods, you are expected to volunteer for 7 hours per week (normally one full day).
This placement is perfect for those undertaking various award schemes, such as the Duke of Edinburgh award, as over the course of the summer you have the opportunity to gain upto 50 volunteering hours.
Each volunteer will be required to undergo a minimum of 1 and a half days training before they start. If you’d like to find out more or ask questions about any of these roles do not hesitate to get in touch with Catherine Haddon, Volunteering Support Officer on 01772 324 129 or email volunteer@lancswt.org.uk
Awards
Brockholes has scooped many high profile awards since opening in April 2011:
2013 Lancashire Tourism Award for Best Conference/Meeting venue
VisitEngland's Visitor Attraction Quality Assurance Scheme (VAQAS) 'Excellent'
Green Tourism Gold Award
Customer at the Heart Award
Lancashire and Blackpool Tourism Awards 'Marketing Campaign of the Year'
National Wood Award
BREEAM ‘Outstanding’ for the interim design stage
Chartered Institute of Building Services – Building of the Year 2011
Civic Trust Award
Civic Trust Special Award for Sustainability
Highly Commended in portfolio of Newlands sites in Landscape Awards
CIWEM Living Wetlands award
Greenbuilds award
Green Apple Awards for the Visitor Centre
Sustainable Project of the year – 2012 Building Awards
RICS North West – Overall award
RICS North West – Tourism and Leisure
RICS NW – Design & Innovation
RIBA North West Building of the Year
RIBA North West Sustainability Award
RIBA Award for top 50 new buildings in the UK
Brockholes is an award winning-venue, which floats on one of our lakes - the only one of its kind in the UK.
Combine this unique design with access straight off the M6, a beautiful nature reserve, ample parking and on site catering, and you have found yourself the perfect venue for your next event. View our Conference Brochure here.
We think Brockholes is the natural place to do business, our dedicated centre can cater for 50 to 130 delegates.
We have a choice of two conference rooms and a reception/break-out area.
www.brockholes.org/conference-packages
At Brockholes we want you to be in control of your event as much as possible. This is why we have created these basic packages, enabling you to tweak each element to build an individual event.
Alternatively, we can cater to your specific requests if you require half day, early morning or evening hire.
Here is an overview of our conference packages, please contact us for a quote.
Our Conference brochure can be viewed in digi-book format here.
Day Delegate Package
Private room hire from 9am - 5pm
Tea and coffee served on arrival with bacon rolls
Mineral water for each guest
Tea and coffee served mid-morning
Buffet lunch served with tea, coffee and fresh fruit platter
Tea, coffee and biscuits served mid-afternoon
Use of a flip chart, screen and projector
Recycled pen and notepad for each delegate
Dedicated co-ordinator to assist you throughout the planning to delivery of your meeting
24 Hour Delegate Package
All of the above plus;
Three course dinner
Full breakfast
Accommodation in a standard bedroom at our recommended accommodation supplier
Accommodation
Preferential rates are available on request from a local hotel when booking through the Brockholes Sales Team.
We can tailor our packages to suit your needs. Make the UK's first floating venue your next choice
Please contact us for more information or to arrange a meeting or showround with our Conference Sales Co-ordinator
Call us on 01772 872005 or enter your details below and we will contact you to discuss your requirements.
www.brockholes.org/sponsorship-opportunities
Sponsorship Opportunities
Brockholes is an award winning nature reserve owned and manages by the Lancashire Wildlife Trust, which was opened in 2011. The 250 acre reserve is already attracting record numbers of breeding birds and around 170,000 visitors each year. Brockholes runs a wide range of events throughout the year and has a particularly strong offer for families. Events include wild families, school holiday clubs, school and community group visits, self led trails and larger festivals during the summer holidays.
The key marketing campaigns run targeting families include Christmas, Summer and Easter. Each campaign targets a series of family focused publications across the North West, with a monthly average reach online of over 40,000 people through the website and social media. Advertising and direct marketing campaigns have an average reach of 70% of the total North West population.
Sponsorship and Partnership Opportunities
Summer at Brockholes sees a host of family events each year, from school holiday clubs to open air theatre, guided walks to family fun. Over the Summer period, Brockholes expects to welcome over 60,000 visitors. The marketing campaign is multi channel and will reach a wide audience of families across the North West. Brockholes has also been featured in the National Press for some of the unique events run. We have some new opportunities for sponsorship and partnership, which will allow your business to raise brand awareness and fulfill part of your Corporate Social Responsibility by supporting Brockholes and The Lancashire Wildlife Trust.
Summer at Brockholes Headline Sponsorship £4500
Expose your brand to thousands of families across the North West.
- Logo on all Summer promotional material
- Inclusion in all four of the Summer e-news and Lancashire Wildlife Trust e-news
- Sponsor Feature on Brockholes.org
- On site promotion
- Promotion through social media channels
- Inclusion in all PR activity
- Temporary use of Brockholes logo on promotional material directly related to the partnership
Wild Families Sponsorship £4000 per year
Our Wild Families events are always fully booked. With themes ranging from scarecrow hunts to nature detectives, each event provides quality family time for family members of all ages. Events are run throughout school holidays.
-Logo on marketing materials for Wild Families
-Inclusion in PR for trail launch
-Inclusion in social media activity
-Inclusion in Brockholes e-news
Seasonal Trail Sponsorship £500 per trail
Each visitor to Brockholes can collect their free seasonal trail on arrival. The trail helps visitors to explore the reserve, learn more about what to see and how the reserve changes with the season and challenges them to spot things.
-Logo on sponsorship trail
-Inclusion in PR for trail launch
-Inclusion in social media activity around the trail
Half term at Brockholes £1500
-Logo on all marketing materials
-Inclusion in launch PR
-Social media promotion
Annual Headline Sponsorship £10,000
- Logo inclusion on all Promotional Material
- Dedicated web page on Brockholes.org
- On site promotion
- Dedicated stand area on key event days
- Promotion through Brockholes and LWT e-news, member magazine
- Promotion through social media channels
- Inclusion in all PR activity
-Discounted delegate rate on our conference facilities
Children's Corner £500
Would you like to help brighten up the children's corner in our restuarant for our younger visitors?
-Inclusion in PR activity
-Recognition in the children's area
-Inclusion in activity to our database promoting the new area
To talk to us more about sponsorship opportunities, contact Ruth Gaskell rgaskell@lancswt.org.uk or call 01772 324129.
www.brockholes.org/commercial-opportunities
Commercial Opportunities
Make Brockholes your business
Businesses are being offered an opportunity to become partners in a North West tourism and wildlife success story.
Brockholes nature reserve is entering the second phase of development which will provide commercial opportunities for other businesses and boost local employment.
The Lancashire Wildlife Trust attraction attracted 185,000 people to its nature reserve and the first ever floating visitor village in the UK, last year. It is looking to top that visitor figure this year.
Just off the M6 at Preston and easily accessible from anywhere in the UK, Brockholes has received more than 30 regional and national awards despite only opening in 2011. Visitors continue to pour in despite the reserve being surrounded by the attractions of Manchester, Blackpool and Liverpool.
The business has shown year-on-year growth and, as a result, is seeking commercial partners for the next phase of development.
Anne Selby, Chief Executive of the Wildlife Trust said “Brockholes has performed incredibly well despite being launched in a recession. We have steered the business through the stormy weather and achieved fantastic results.
“We are now looking to move into the next phase of development. As a conservation charity, we want to ensure our focus remains on the nature conservation of the reserve, whilst ensuring the commercial income supports this work. We are looking for expressions of interest at this stage and asking businesses to be creative with their proposals.”
The Visitor Village has a restaurant, shops, conference centre, welcome centre and education centre. Major companies have made use of the conference centre including RBS and Aldi. The surrounding nature reserve is continuing to grow, with an increasing population of resident creatures and rare visitors like red kite, bittern and otter.
Anne continued: “Brockholes received funding for the initial start up and development phases but it was always designed to be a self-sustaining model. By making the most of the commercial opportunities and keeping these balanced carefully with the needs of nature, we believe we can continue to success of Brockholes into the future and achieve even more fantastic results for wildlife, our wide range of visitors and the tourism economy”.
Opportunities include retail, water sports (non-motorised), indoor play provision, events partners and mobile food concessions. However, the Trust is open to hear if any investors would wish to develop sympathetic commercial facilities on the site.
An opportunity information pack is available by request from:
Karen Williams Karen.Williams@brockholes.org
Expressions of interest should initially be made to
Lindsey Poole, Commercial Development Manager lpoole@lancswt.org.uk
Group Visits
Whether it’s a full day out or just a quick stop off on the way to your destination, Brockholes is the ideal place for groups to visit.
There's so much for all ages to see and learn about at Brockholes. Everyone from toddlers to seniors will find something to fascinate them, whether through our exciting range of organised events, or by just wandering around the site.
We are passionately committed to lifelong learning for all – our belief is that everyone should leave knowing something they didn't when they arrived! The Lancashire Wildlife Trust has over a decade of experience in delivering environmental education, so you can relax, enjoy the surroundings and be sure to come away both enchanted and enlightened...
We have several options for various groups, each with a variety of benefits. For more information click on the relevant link below…
Coach Groups
School Groups
Community Groups
To enquire about group visits please call 01772 872000 or email info@brockholes.org. Or leave your details on the form below and a member of our team will get back to you as soon as possible.
Coach Groups
Situated next to Junction 31 on the M6, we are the ideal stop for coach trips, whether it is for a short stop, as a green motorway services, or as part of a full day visit.
Free entry for coaches and convenient coach drop-off point
We have a variety of walking trails for your group to explore, ranging from half an hour to 2 hours in length.
We have our floating visitor village that features a stunning waterside restaurant, 2 unique gift shops and a welcome centre with exhibits, which are ideal should your guests decide for something less active (or if the weather lets you down)!
All our buildings are fully accessible, while the vast majority of our paths are well surfaced, level and suitable for wheelchairs.
We now have a more convenient drop-off point exclusively for coaches and in addition have a number of benefits for coach groups:
• Free entry to the reserve and visitor centre
• Free coach parking
• Refreshment voucher for the coach driver
• Free familiarisation visit for group organisers
• Free meet and greet at the coach (on request)
• Free Brockholes welcome leaflet and trail guide
• Free events and activities throughout the year (visit our events calendar for details)
• Free play area
• Pre-booked guided tours (available at an extra charge)
• Adapted toilets available at the visitor centre
Please note that there is a 4 metre high bridge on the entrance to Brockholes. We also advise all coaches to let us know of their visit in advance by calling us on 01772 872000.
For any further information please just call 01772 872000, email info@brockholes.org
School Groups
Our 250 acre nature reserve and Visitor Village is a great place for school groups to visit. Children can learn about the geological history and how the quarrying has shaped the land today. And because we are a new nature reserve, you can watch it grow! It is also home to the UK's first floating Visitor Village.
Most importantly of all, the children will be able to see that Brockholes is home to a host of wildlife, with many different species of bird popping by throughout the year, along with brown hare, dragonfly and deer to name a few!
Facilities
Your school will have use of the education centre on our floating visitor village and you will have at least one Education Officer dedicated to your group throughout the day.
Plus... NEW FOR 2014!
Next year your school will be able to get even closer to nature at Brockholes by booking an education session in our new purpose-built bird hide classroom, right on the edge of the lake!
The hide will overlook No 1 Pit Lake which is home to many different species of birds and you'll also be able to look across to the new sand martin wall, which will provide valuable breeding habitat when they arrive in spring.
Why not your details below if you'd like us to keep to informed of these exciting new developments!
Programmes
We offer a wide range of programmes including:
Big Adventure in a Miniature World
Life Cycles
Migration and Hibernation
Environmental Art
Geography and Geology
Forest School
You can read more about the education programmes available at Brockholes here.
Education Team
Our Education Team are based at Brockholes and have a huge amount of experience in inspiring young people about the natural world. They are a lively bunch and pride themselves on creating an exciting and memorable experience for your school. You can read about how great our team is here: Meet the Education Team.
Outreach
Can't get to us? Then we can come to you! Our outreach education programme is very popular and offers a wide range of programmes for those who are unable to reach Brockholes.You can view our Outreach Programmes here.
For any information just call us on 01772 872000 for more information, email eduadmin@lancswt.org.uk
Community Groups
Brockholes is a great place to bring your community group, whether it's the Scouts, Guides, Cubs, Brownies or Beavers or a rambling or photography group, there is something for everyone!
As well as exploring our stunning nature reserve you can enjoy an activity such as a guided walk, a mini-beast hunt or an environmental art session.
You can visit Brockholes during the day or we have special community group evenings when the reserve is open beyond our usual opening hours. Group activities usually take place between 5.30pm and 7.30pm.
Forest Schools
Forest Schools is a unique outdoor learning experience that improves children's self-esteem, confidence and abilities.
Brockholes provides an inspirational setting for Forest Schools sessions and training, and is conveniently located just off junction 31 of the M6 at Preston.
Our Forest School sessions are designed and delivered by our experienced and fully qualified Education Team including our Level 3 Trained Forest Schools Practioner.
Our next Forest Schools adult training session will be running in October. To find out more about Forest School sessions at Brockholes please call 01772 872017 or email kphillips@lancswt.org.uk
Shop til you flock
Why not drop into our two on-site shops, The Nest and Village Store, which are packed with all sorts of goodies. We've a variety of products from local beverages and food, to cards and books and crafts and jewellery. They are the perfect place to pick up a unique gift... and there's plenty of treats for the little ones too!
The Nest
The Nest is home to an inspiring collection of gifts, jewellery, books, toys, arts & crafts. Discover what's inside The Nest here.
The Village Store
The Village Store stocks a wide range of products, from locally sourced food and drink treats to bird food, garden accessories and wildlife books. Come and look inside here.
Membership of the Wildlife Trust
Brockholes is a Lancashire Wildlife Trust Nature Reserve. You can become a member today or talk to our friendly staff members and volunteers on your next visit to Brockholes. Gift membership is available in The Nest or you can buy it online here.
Our restaurant is the perfect place to stop and watch the world go by with panoramic views of our lake. Scrumptious homemade dishes and a taste bud tingling selection of Lancashire's finest local produce are all here to tempt you, along with fair trade tea and coffee.
Our restaurant is open from 10am to 5pm.
www.brockholes.org/very-special-occasions
Brockholes is a fantastic place for your very special occasions.
Our floating venue is one of the newest and most unique in Lancashire and promises you and your guests an unforgetable event whatever the occasion.
We have a dedicated function centre that can accomodate weddings, christenings and all sort of functions.
The clean, contemporary finish of our venue means that you have the perfect opportunity to put your own stamp on your event, with a flexible range of catering available from our on-site restaurant.
We have a dedicated Conference and Events Co-ordinator that will be available to help you plan your special occasion.
Very Special Weddings
We had our first wedding celebration September 2011 and since then it's been all go with Wedding Fayres and lots more bookings for this year and next. Find out more about weddings at Brockholes here.
Very Special Christenings
Brockholes is a real family friendly venue for a Christening celebration that you will remember for years to come. Find out more here.
For general enquiries about holding a function at Brockholes please call 01772 872005 or email philip.dunn@brockholes.org.
The frost that settled overnight is slowly starting to melt away, and after a pre-dawn start, an extra GLC grain train out of Oakley, MI. has cleared the toughest obstacle of the day: the CN Flint Sub. From here, it's easy sailing all the way down to Osmer to meet the Ann Arbor RR. to trade this loaded grain train for an empty grain train returning to GLC. Taken from atop a CN signal by a CN signal employee qualified to be up there. I do not condone climbing any railroad equipment unless you are qualified and it is safe.
The Almo Collegio Borromeo is a private university hall of residence (collegio) in Pavia, region of Lombardy, Italy. It is classified as a "highly qualified Cultural Institute" by the Ministry of Education, Universities and Research and is the oldest such institution remaining in operation in Italy. Together with Collegio Ghislieri – with which a sharp goliardic rivalry has developed during the centuries – it is one of two colleges in Pavia with historical heritage. The building that houses the college was designed by Pellegrino Tibaldi, and overlooks the Ticino, surrounded by landscaped gardens and the Borromeo Gardens. Vasari described it as a "palace of knowledge" ("palazzo per la Sapienza").
The college selects students of the University of Pavia through a rigorous public competition based on tests taken annually. The services offered by the college are not limited to food and housing, but rather are focused on providing training in parallel and integrated with the university: for example, CEGA (Center for General and Applied Ethics) is hosted by the college; along with conferences, presentations of books on current affairs, hosting the chair in theology, and offering countless moments of reflection, in addition to the ever-rich artistic and musical seasons in the life of the college. The college also offers various exchange programmes, with institutions such as Corpus Christi College, Cambridge and the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John's University.
Collegio Borromeo was founded in 1561 by the estate of cardinal St. Charles Borromeo which aimed to create an institution to accommodate young promising students experiencing economic hardship. This is still the aim of the Fondazione Collegio Borromeo. On May 10, 2009, the Women's Section was opened in the presence of Minister Mariastella Gelmini and Cardinal Dionigi Tettamanzi; it is intended to accommodate approximately fifty of the most deserving female students from the University of Pavia.
The student rooms are divided according to the sides of the building: "Piazza" ("Square") on the western side, facing Piazza Borromeo, "Giardino" ("Garden") on the south side, "Vicolo" ("Lane") on the north side, looking onto Via Cardinal Tosi. The east side is called "Richini", as it is situated on a seventeenth-century garden designed by Francesco Maria Richini, and houses two auditorium-style rooms ("White Room" and "Mural Room") with private upstairs rooms for guests. The rooms are also divided into several levels: "Mezzanino" (mezzanine), "Nobile" (piano nobile), "Paradiso" (second mezzanine) and "Iperuranio" (attic). Also on the south side are "Sangiovannino alto" and "basso" ("Upper" and "Lower"), saved from the Church of San Giovanni in Borgo before demolition in the nineteenth century.
College admission follows an open, meritocratic competition divided into a variety of assessments; only those who have obtained a minimum score of 80 in their graduation exam may apply for the admissions competition. This competition is now run in conjunction with the Scuola Superiore Studi Pavia IUSS, the School for Advanced Studies, of which the Almo Collegio Borromeo is a founding member and, indeed, the admission test is valid for access to IUSS courses to the extent of space reserved for the college. Nevertheless, it is important to note that the gaining a place at Borromeo does not automatically secure a place in IUSS: although it is not the norm, there are students of Borromeo who are not students of IUSS, as the rankings of the IUSS competition and the Borromeo competition are separate and follow different criteria (distinguishing different classes and thresholds).
The first part of the competition includes a written test administered by the IUSS, divided into the following disciplines: Italian, Latin, History, Philosophy, Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry and Biology. Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry problems were recently introduced. One can choose the track and the exercises regardless of the degree course chosen and can obtain a maximum score of 20 points from this written test. Those obtaining a minimum score of 12 points in the written test are invited to two oral examinations. In these, candidates are tested on the content of their last three years of high school in two subjects of their choice, however relevant to their degree course. The test begins from a topic chosen by the student and listed in the schedule ("tesario"; containing the list of topics to prepare for each discipline). The oral exam can provide up to 60 points, 30 for each interview. Additionally, as part of these tests, the candidate is interviewed by the appropriate college Rector and, in order to gauge the strength of compatible cultural background, he or she has a test of general knowledge and an aptitude interview with a psychologist seeking to determine eligibility for collegiate life. The latter tests have no value for the IUSS competition but contribute 20 points overall towards Borromeo entry. To be eligible, a candidate must achieve the minimum score of 65 points.
To retain their place at the college, students are required to have a university average of at least 27/30, with no marks below 24, and to pass all required exams by the formal closing of the academic year. The ability to speak at least two foreign languages is required, demonstrated through specific, internationally recognized certificates. Students must also attend additional courses required by IUSS or, alternatively, take at least two internal courses per academic year.
After getting snagged at Rock Creek Jct., Amtrak Train 316 makes a station stop at the Missouri Pacific Depot on the UP Sedalia Sub. with Engineer Matt Phalen at the helm on his first qualified trip out of Kansas City since moving back here in January.
Also of minor note is the lead unit, one of the pair lettered for the "Big Game Train", operated on the "Heartland Flyer" route in Texas and Oklahoma for the Red River Rivalry football games.
Locomotive: AMTK 50
2-27-17
Independence, MO
Pictured is a 1993 Williams-Renault FW15C Grand Prix Car. The car is painted in 1994 Williams livery which featured on the FW16 and FW16B.
It was driven in 1993 by four-times Formula 1 World Champion Alain Prost and 1996 World Champion Damon Hill.
After dominating the 1992 season Williams went into 1993 with an all-new driver line-up. Alain Prost returned to Formula 1 after a year on the sidelines and was partnered by Damon Hill, promoted to the race team after two years as the team's test driver.
The season got off to the perfect start for Prost with the Frenchman taking Pole Position for the opening race in South Africa. Despite a poor start that dropped him to to third he worked his way through to the front of the field to take a dominant win with fastest lap, ending the race over a minute ahead of arch-rival Ayrton Senna.
Hill's first race for Williams didn't go so well. He spun the car at the second corner and dropped to the back of the field. He made progress through the pack but was involved in a collision with Alex Zanardi's Lotus a few laps later and ended his race in the gravel trap.
The next race in Brazil saw Prost and Hill lock out the front row of the grid. Prost charged into the lead whilst Hill had to get back in front of a fast-starting Senna. Eventually the Williams cars were running 1-2.
A heavy rain shower hit the Interlagos circuit at just over one third distance and Prost, still on slick tyres, lost control of the car and collided with Christian Fittipaldi, taking both cars out of the race.
Once the rain stopped the field pitted for dry tyres and Senna, with a typical wet weather masterclass, overhauled Hill to take his first win of the season. Hill did finish second to claim his maiden Formula 1 podium finish.
Prost and Hill shared the front row for the European Grand Prix at Donington Park. Once again the race was held in damp conditions and Senna passed five cars to take the lead before the end of the first lap.
Prost's race began to unfold from that point onwards. With the weather alternating from wet to dry and then back again the Frenchan made a total of seven pit stops during the race, stalling during one of them. He would go on to finish a lapped third behind team-mate Hill who finished runner-up to Senna.
The San Marino Grand saw Prost make a poor start from Pole Position and Hill led away from Senna and Prost. Prost passed the Brazilian but Senna retook the position during the first round of pit stops. Eventually, Prost passed both Hill and Senna whilst lapping slower cars and went on to claim the victory with fastest lap. Hill retired early on with brake failure.
Prost would go on to win the following race in Spain after being overtaken at the start by Hill who retired mid-race with engine failure.
The Monaco Grand Prix was another messy affair for Prost. He made a jump-start from Pole Position and was given a stop-go penalty. To add insult to injury he stalled when trying to rejoin the race and lost a lap in the process. He would eventually finish in fourth position, one lap down on race winner Senna. Hill did salvage second position despite a late coming together with Gerhard Berger.
Another poor start saw Prost passed at the start of the Canadian Grand Prix by Hill although he soon retook the position and romped away to victory from Michael Schumacher who had overtaken Hill when the Englishman's car was experiencing problems. Hill did hang on to finish third.
The French Grand Prix was an all-Williams affair with the team unchallenged during the whole weekend. Hill took his first career Pole Position at Magny-Cours and led Prost until the first round of pit stops. However, the Frenchman emerged ahead and went on to claim his sixth win on home soil with Hill following him home.
Next time out at Silverstone Hill passed Prost off the line to build up a commanding lead in the British Grand Prix with Prost running second. A safety car at two thirds distance reduced the gap to nothing but two laps later Hill suffered an engine failure and retired from his home event. Prost went on to claim his sixth win of the season.
Lightning would strike twice for Hill in the following race in Germany. Again he led away at the start, built up a comfortable lead and was heading for his first win when he suffered a puncture on the penultimate lap and retired the car, being classified a lapped fifteenth.
Prost had lost three places at the start in Germany and then was penalised for cutting a chicane during the race. Despite all of this he made his way throught the field and was there to take advantage when Hill retired to clinch another victory. It would prove to be his 51st and final Grand Prix victory.
Hill's luck finally changed in Hungary. Pole Position man Prost stalled on the parade lap and was forced to start at the back of the grid. That left Hill free to dominate the race and he duly went on to score his maiden Forrmula 1 victory, over a minute clear of runner-up Riccardo Patrese's Benetton.
Prost's nightmare continued as he suffered rear wing issues and had to make a lengthy pit stop. He eventually rejoined the race but ended a lowly twelfth, seven laps down, and out of the points.
Prost led from Pole Position in Belgium but suffered a slow pit stop that allowed Hill to take the lead. He duly went on to win his second race in succession whilst Prost finished a distant third.
Prost looked set to wrap up the championship in Italy two weeks later but suffered his own misfortune during the race. He led away from Pole Position and was cruising to victory when he suffered an engine failure that put him out of the race. That let Hill into the lead and he went on to take a hat-trick of victories. Fastest lap was the icing on the cake.
In Portugal Hill took Pole Position but the car wouldn't fire up for the parade lap and the Englishman had to start from the back of the grid. Prost lost three position at the start but would find himself in the lead after the first round of pit stops.
However, the tables were turned at the second round of stops with Michael Schumacher emerging ahead of Prost. Prost tried everything in the book to overtake the Benetton but Schumacher had him covered at every turn and went on to take the victory. Second position for Prost was enough to give the Frenchman his fourth world title.
The Japanese Grand Prix saw Prost outwitted on a damp circuit by Senna. Despite leading early on Senna's mastery in tricky condition was too much for Prost and he duly followed Senna home for another podium finish.
Hill had an off-weekend in Japan. He qualified only sixth and had a scrappy race in the pack. He did make his way up to fourth but was over a minute behind Senna at the end.
The final race of the season in Adelaide saw Senna dominate the race with the two Williams cars and Michael Schumacher following behind. Once the German retired with engine failure it was a private inter-team battle for second position between Prost and Hill.
At one stage it got a little too close as Hill spun to avoid hitting Prost when the Frenchman defended his position into a corner. Hill rejoined and went on to finish third with Prost ending his final race in Formula 1 as runner-up.
At the end of the season, the Williams drivers would finish first (Prost) and third (Hill) in the championship. With ten wins from sixteen races Williams comfortably took the Constructor's Championship.
The actual 1994 Williams car was driven by Hill, Ayrton Senna, David Coulthard and Nigel Mansell.
Pictured in October 1994 at the International Motor Show show at the NEC in Birmingham.
*NEW* Metroline VWH2270, LK17CZT, on its first day in service, departs the stand at Northolt on route 90 to Feltham, Leisure West, showing my new blinds with the "Leisure West" qualifying point.
James Baxter qualified J L Harrison's 1939 ERA GP2 E Type 2nd for the Boulogne Trophy Race for Vintage & Allcomers Scratch Race, and with this dedicated work in the paddock came home in second place behind Patrick Blakeney-Edwards.
Qualified for the free polybag and modified it to fit a minifig (without the legs though). Really like how it looks and will be putting it with my current Guardians display (shown above). Will probably incorporate it into my Abilisk MOC as well.
Simple but it works. Lmk what you guys think. :)
Her replacement, Queen Esther: Quiet and Qualified (and brave, courageous, beautiful and loyal).
This week's Macro Mondays: "Queen"
day 211/365
During one brief excursion outside this week,( which qualified as getting out to exercise), I fixed the flag on this abandoned barn that had blown back into the window. Let's just say it was one of those moments that my sisters and I refer to as "Don't tell Mom" moments.
Climbing up into the upper level of this barn to free the flag (by propping open a trap door that swings up and climbing up a pallet that I balanced on top of an old work bench) was one thing. Getting back down was another. I'm not going to tell you how long I sat up there playing every possible scenario through my mind before deciding that no one was going to save me and I had to try to get down or stay there... forever. The two most probable possibilities seemed to be ... that my foot would miss my pallet ladder and I would fall off the workbench and break my leg...or that I would kick the board that I had propped the trap door open with, causing the door to fall shut, hitting me in the head and knocking me out... as I missed my pallet ladder and rolled off the workbench and would regain consciousness on the barn floor, with a broken leg... either way somehow winding up in the hospital where I don't want to be with all the Corona Virus patients. I guess my guardian angel was on the job because I made it down safely, and just to make sure I don't have to do this again, I turned a plastic garbage can upside down, balanced it on some rocks and climbed up and stapled down the ends of the flag so it won't blow back into the window. (Thank you again Guardian Angel) Don't tell Mom.
I have a feeling that not working is just going to leave me with a whole lot more time to get into trouble! did I mention that I just bought a chain saw!!