Some of you may have noticed that, unfortunately, owing to the fact that a certain person who sells truck photos on eBay commercially has been lifting my images from this album and selling them I have had to remove 2300 photos that didn't have a watermark. I have now run around 1700 through Lightroom and added a watermark with the intention of bulk uploading them again. Rather than watermark the existing (hidden) files in Flickr one at a time it will be easier to do it this way. I definitely won’t be adding individual tags with the make and model of each vehicle I will just add generic transport tags. Each photo is named after the vehicle and reg in any case. For anyone new to these images there is a chapter and verse explanation below. It is staggering how many times I get asked questions that a quick scan would answer or just as likely I can’t possibly answer – I didn’t take them, but, just to clarify-I do own the copyright- and I do pursue copyright theft.

  

This is a collection of scanned prints from a collection of photographs taken by the late Jim Taylor A number of years ago I was offered a large number of photographs taken by Jim Taylor, a transport photographer based in Huddersfield. The collection, 30,000 prints, 20,000 negatives – and copyright! – had been offered to me and one of the national transport magazines previously by a friend of Jim's, on behalf of Jim's wife. I initially turned them down, already having over 30,000 of my own prints filed away and taking space up. Several months later the prints were still for sale – at what was, apparently, the going rate. It was a lot of money and I deliberated for quite a while before deciding to buy them. I did however buy them directly from Jim’s wife and she delivered them personally – just to quash the occasional rumour from people who can’t mind their own business. Although some prints were sold elsewhere, particularly the popular big fleet stuff, I should have the negatives, unfortunately they came to me in a random mix, 1200 to a box, without any sort of indexing and as such it would be impossible to match negatives to prints, or, to even find a print of any particular vehicle. I have only ever looked at a handful myself unless I am scanning them. The prints are generally in excellent condition and I initially stored them in a bedroom without ever looking at any of them. In 2006 I built an extension and they had to be well protected from dust and moved a few times. Ultimately my former 6x7 box room office has become their (and my own work’s) permanent home.

 

I hope to avoid posting images that Jim had not taken his self, however should I inadvertently infringe another photographers copyright, please inform me by email and I will resolve the issue immediately. There are copyright issues with some of the photographs that were sold to me. A Flickr member from Scotland drew my attention to some of his own work amongst the first uploads of Jim’s work. I had a quick look through some of the 30 boxes of prints and decided that for the time being the safest thing for me to do was withdraw the majority of the earlier uploaded scans and deal with the problem – which I did. whilst the vast majority of the prints are Jims, there is a problem defining copyright of some of them, this is something that the seller did not make clear at the time. I am reasonably confident that I have since been successful in identifying Jims own work. His early work consists of many thousands of lustre 6x4 prints which are difficult to scan well, later work is almost entirely 7x5 glossy, much easier to scan. Not all of the prints are pin sharp but I can generally print successfully to A4 from a scan.

  

You may notice photographs being duplicated in this Album, unfortunately there are multiple copies of many prints (for swapping) and as I have to have a system of archiving and backing up I can only guess - using memory - if I have scanned a print before. The bigger fleets have so many similar vehicles and registration numbers that it is impossible to get it right all of the time. It is easier to scan and process a print than check my files - on three different PC’s - for duplicates. There has not been, nor will there ever be, any intention to knowingly breach anyone else's copyright. I have presented the Jim Taylor collection as exactly that-The Jim Taylor Collection- his work not mine, my own work is quite obviously mine.

 

Unfortunately, many truck spotters have swapped and traded their work without copyright marking it as theirs. These people never anticipated the ease with which images would be shared online in the future. I would guess that having swapped and traded photos for many years that it is almost impossible to control their future use. Anyone wanting to control the future use of their work would have been well advised to copyright mark their work (as many did) and would be well advised not to post them on photo sharing sites without a watermark as the whole point of these sites is to share the image, it is very easy for those that wish, to lift any image, despite security settings, indeed, Flickr itself, warns you that this is the case. It was this abuse and theft of my material that led me to watermark all of my later uploads. I may yet withdraw non-watermarked photos, I haven’t decided yet. (I did in the end)

 

To anyone reading the above it will be quite obvious that I can’t provide information regarding specific photos or potential future uploads – I didn’t take them! There are many vehicles that were well known to me as Jim only lived down the road from me (although I didn’t know him), however scanning, titling, tagging and uploading is laborious and time consuming enough, I do however provide a fair amount of information with my own transport (and other) photos. I am aware that there are requests from other Flickr users that are unanswered, I stumble across them months or years after they were posted, this isn’t deliberate. Some weekends one or two “enthusiasts” can add many hundreds of photos as favourites, this pushes requests that are in the comments section ten or twenty pages out of sight and I miss them. I also have notifications switched off, I receive around 50 emails a day through work and I don’t want even more from Flickr. Other requests, like many other things, I just plain forget – no excuses! Uploads of Jim’s photos will be infrequent as it is a boring pastime and I would much rather work on my own output.

     

Some of you may have noticed that, unfortunately, owing to the fact that a certain person who sells truck photos on eBay commercially has been lifting my images from this album and selling them I have had to remove 2300 photos that didn't have a watermark. I have now run around 1700 through Lightroom and added a watermark with the intention of bulk uploading them again. Rather than watermark the existing (hidden) files in Flickr one at a time it will be easier to do it this way. I definitely won’t be adding individual tags with the make and model of each vehicle I will just add generic transport tags. Each photo is named after the vehicle and reg in any case. For anyone new to these images there is a chapter and verse explanation below. It is staggering how many times I get asked questions that a quick scan would answer or just as likely I can’t possibly answer – I didn’t take them, but, just to clarify-I do own the copyright- and I do pursue copyright theft.

  

This is a collection of scanned prints from a collection of photographs taken by the late Jim Taylor A number of years ago I was offered a large number of photographs taken by Jim Taylor, a transport photographer based in Huddersfield. The collection, 30,000 prints, 20,000 negatives – and copyright! – had been offered to me and one of the national transport magazines previously by a friend of Jim's, on behalf of Jim's wife. I initially turned them down, already having over 30,000 of my own prints filed away and taking space up. Several months later the prints were still for sale – at what was, apparently, the going rate. It was a lot of money and I deliberated for quite a while before deciding to buy them. I did however buy them directly from Jim’s wife and she delivered them personally – just to quash the occasional rumour from people who can’t mind their own business. Although some prints were sold elsewhere, particularly the popular big fleet stuff, I should have the negatives, unfortunately they came to me in a random mix, 1200 to a box, without any sort of indexing and as such it would be impossible to match negatives to prints, or, to even find a print of any particular vehicle. I have only ever looked at a handful myself unless I am scanning them. The prints are generally in excellent condition and I initially stored them in a bedroom without ever looking at any of them. In 2006 I built an extension and they had to be well protected from dust and moved a few times. Ultimately my former 6x7 box room office has become their (and my own work’s) permanent home.

 

I hope to avoid posting images that Jim had not taken his self, however should I inadvertently infringe another photographers copyright, please inform me by email and I will resolve the issue immediately. There are copyright issues with some of the photographs that were sold to me. A Flickr member from Scotland drew my attention to some of his own work amongst the first uploads of Jim’s work. I had a quick look through some of the 30 boxes of prints and decided that for the time being the safest thing for me to do was withdraw the majority of the earlier uploaded scans and deal with the problem – which I did. whilst the vast majority of the prints are Jims, there is a problem defining copyright of some of them, this is something that the seller did not make clear at the time. I am reasonably confident that I have since been successful in identifying Jims own work. His early work consists of many thousands of lustre 6x4 prints which are difficult to scan well, later work is almost entirely 7x5 glossy, much easier to scan. Not all of the prints are pin sharp but I can generally print successfully to A4 from a scan.

  

You may notice photographs being duplicated in this Album, unfortunately there are multiple copies of many prints (for swapping) and as I have to have a system of archiving and backing up I can only guess - using memory - if I have scanned a print before. The bigger fleets have so many similar vehicles and registration numbers that it is impossible to get it right all of the time. It is easier to scan and process a print than check my files - on three different PC’s - for duplicates. There has not been, nor will there ever be, any intention to knowingly breach anyone else's copyright. I have presented the Jim Taylor collection as exactly that-The Jim Taylor Collection- his work not mine, my own work is quite obviously mine.

 

Unfortunately, many truck spotters have swapped and traded their work without copyright marking it as theirs. These people never anticipated the ease with which images would be shared online in the future. I would guess that having swapped and traded photos for many years that it is almost impossible to control their future use. Anyone wanting to control the future use of their work would have been well advised to copyright mark their work (as many did) and would be well advised not to post them on photo sharing sites without a watermark as the whole point of these sites is to share the image, it is very easy for those that wish, to lift any image, despite security settings, indeed, Flickr itself, warns you that this is the case. It was this abuse and theft of my material that led me to watermark all of my later uploads. I may yet withdraw non-watermarked photos, I haven’t decided yet. (I did in the end)

 

To anyone reading the above it will be quite obvious that I can’t provide information regarding specific photos or potential future uploads – I didn’t take them! There are many vehicles that were well known to me as Jim only lived down the road from me (although I didn’t know him), however scanning, titling, tagging and uploading is laborious and time consuming enough, I do however provide a fair amount of information with my own transport (and other) photos. I am aware that there are requests from other Flickr users that are unanswered, I stumble across them months or years after they were posted, this isn’t deliberate. Some weekends one or two “enthusiasts” can add many hundreds of photos as favourites, this pushes requests that are in the comments section ten or twenty pages out of sight and I miss them. I also have notifications switched off, I receive around 50 emails a day through work and I don’t want even more from Flickr. Other requests, like many other things, I just plain forget – no excuses! Uploads of Jim’s photos will be infrequent as it is a boring pastime and I would much rather work on my own output.

     

Some of you may have noticed that, unfortunately, owing to the fact that a certain person who sells truck photos on eBay commercially has been lifting my images from this album and selling them I have had to remove 2300 photos that didn't have a watermark. I have now run around 1700 through Lightroom and added a watermark with the intention of bulk uploading them again. Rather than watermark the existing (hidden) files in Flickr one at a time it will be easier to do it this way. I definitely won’t be adding individual tags with the make and model of each vehicle I will just add generic transport tags. Each photo is named after the vehicle and reg in any case. For anyone new to these images there is a chapter and verse explanation below. It is staggering how many times I get asked questions that a quick scan would answer or just as likely I can’t possibly answer – I didn’t take them, but, just to clarify-I do own the copyright- and I do pursue copyright theft.

  

This is a collection of scanned prints from a collection of photographs taken by the late Jim Taylor A number of years ago I was offered a large number of photographs taken by Jim Taylor, a transport photographer based in Huddersfield. The collection, 30,000 prints, 20,000 negatives – and copyright! – had been offered to me and one of the national transport magazines previously by a friend of Jim's, on behalf of Jim's wife. I initially turned them down, already having over 30,000 of my own prints filed away and taking space up. Several months later the prints were still for sale – at what was, apparently, the going rate. It was a lot of money and I deliberated for quite a while before deciding to buy them. I did however buy them directly from Jim’s wife and she delivered them personally – just to quash the occasional rumour from people who can’t mind their own business. Although some prints were sold elsewhere, particularly the popular big fleet stuff, I should have the negatives, unfortunately they came to me in a random mix, 1200 to a box, without any sort of indexing and as such it would be impossible to match negatives to prints, or, to even find a print of any particular vehicle. I have only ever looked at a handful myself unless I am scanning them. The prints are generally in excellent condition and I initially stored them in a bedroom without ever looking at any of them. In 2006 I built an extension and they had to be well protected from dust and moved a few times. Ultimately my former 6x7 box room office has become their (and my own work’s) permanent home.

 

I hope to avoid posting images that Jim had not taken his self, however should I inadvertently infringe another photographers copyright, please inform me by email and I will resolve the issue immediately. There are copyright issues with some of the photographs that were sold to me. A Flickr member from Scotland drew my attention to some of his own work amongst the first uploads of Jim’s work. I had a quick look through some of the 30 boxes of prints and decided that for the time being the safest thing for me to do was withdraw the majority of the earlier uploaded scans and deal with the problem – which I did. whilst the vast majority of the prints are Jims, there is a problem defining copyright of some of them, this is something that the seller did not make clear at the time. I am reasonably confident that I have since been successful in identifying Jims own work. His early work consists of many thousands of lustre 6x4 prints which are difficult to scan well, later work is almost entirely 7x5 glossy, much easier to scan. Not all of the prints are pin sharp but I can generally print successfully to A4 from a scan.

  

You may notice photographs being duplicated in this Album, unfortunately there are multiple copies of many prints (for swapping) and as I have to have a system of archiving and backing up I can only guess - using memory - if I have scanned a print before. The bigger fleets have so many similar vehicles and registration numbers that it is impossible to get it right all of the time. It is easier to scan and process a print than check my files - on three different PC’s - for duplicates. There has not been, nor will there ever be, any intention to knowingly breach anyone else's copyright. I have presented the Jim Taylor collection as exactly that-The Jim Taylor Collection- his work not mine, my own work is quite obviously mine.

 

Unfortunately, many truck spotters have swapped and traded their work without copyright marking it as theirs. These people never anticipated the ease with which images would be shared online in the future. I would guess that having swapped and traded photos for many years that it is almost impossible to control their future use. Anyone wanting to control the future use of their work would have been well advised to copyright mark their work (as many did) and would be well advised not to post them on photo sharing sites without a watermark as the whole point of these sites is to share the image, it is very easy for those that wish, to lift any image, despite security settings, indeed, Flickr itself, warns you that this is the case. It was this abuse and theft of my material that led me to watermark all of my later uploads. I may yet withdraw non-watermarked photos, I haven’t decided yet. (I did in the end)

 

To anyone reading the above it will be quite obvious that I can’t provide information regarding specific photos or potential future uploads – I didn’t take them! There are many vehicles that were well known to me as Jim only lived down the road from me (although I didn’t know him), however scanning, titling, tagging and uploading is laborious and time consuming enough, I do however provide a fair amount of information with my own transport (and other) photos. I am aware that there are requests from other Flickr users that are unanswered, I stumble across them months or years after they were posted, this isn’t deliberate. Some weekends one or two “enthusiasts” can add many hundreds of photos as favourites, this pushes requests that are in the comments section ten or twenty pages out of sight and I miss them. I also have notifications switched off, I receive around 50 emails a day through work and I don’t want even more from Flickr. Other requests, like many other things, I just plain forget – no excuses! Uploads of Jim’s photos will be infrequent as it is a boring pastime and I would much rather work on my own output.

     

How many Americans know that the first slave owner in America was a black tobacco farmer? How many Americans are aware that thousands of free blacks in the South were, themselves, slave owners?

 

Answer: Very few.

 

Embedded in the minds of Americans is a grand distortion of black history.

 

Our perception depends largely on activists in Hollywood and revisionists in academia. Add those who parrot Hollywood and academia and you have a broad swath of ignorance prevailing in America.

 

DailyKenn.com is here to set the record straight; at least in part.

 

Did you know the following about black history in America?

 

• The first slave owner in American history was black.

 

Anthony Johnson came to the American colonies in August, 1619 as an indentured servant. In 1623 Johnson had completed his indenture and was recognized as a free negro. In 1651 he acquired 250 acres of land in Virginia, later adding another 250 acres; a sizable holding at the time.

 

John Casor, a black indentured servant employed by Johnson, became America's first slave after a legal dispute with Robert Parker. Parker was a white colonist who employed Casor while Casor was still indentured to Johnson. Johnson sued Parker in Northampton Court in 1654. The court upheld Johnson's right to hold Casor as a slave on March 8, 1655. The court found:

 

The court seriously consideringe and maturely weighing the premisses, doe fynde that the saide Mr. Robert Parker most unjustly keepeth the said Negro from Anthony Johnson his master ... It is therefore the Judgement of the Court and ordered That the said John Casor Negro forthwith returne unto the service of the said master Anthony Johnson, And that Mr. Robert Parker make payment of all charges in the suit.

 

Five years later, in 1670, the colonial assembly passed legislation permitting blacks and Indians the right to own slaves of their own race, but prohibiting them from owning White slaves. [source]

  

• Free blacks commonly owned black slaves in the antebellum South.

 

There were thousands of black slave owners in the South.

 

"In 1830 there were 3,775 such slaveholders in the South who owned 12,740 black slaves, with 80% of them located in Louisiana, South Carolina, Virginia, and Maryland. There were economic differences between free blacks of the Upper South and Deep South, with the latter fewer in number, but wealthier and typically of mixed race. Half of the black slaveholders lived in cities rather than the countryside, with most in New Orleans and Charleston."

 

Historians John Hope Franklin and Loren Schweninger wrote:

 

"A large majority of profit-oriented free black slaveholders resided in the Lower South. For the most part, they were persons of mixed racial origin, often women who cohabited or were mistresses of white men, or mulatto men ... . Provided land and slaves by whites, they owned farms and plantations, worked their hands in the rice, cotton, and sugar fields, and like their white contemporaries were troubled with runaways."

 

Historian Ira Berlin wrote:

 

"In slave societies, nearly everyone – free and slave – aspired to enter the slaveholding class, and upon occasion some former slaves rose into slaveholders’ ranks. Their acceptance was grudging, as they carried the stigma of bondage in their lineage and, in the case of American slavery, color in their skin."

 

To write extensively about blacks who owned slaves in the antebellum South would require a library of full volumes. Black slaveowners: free Black slave masters in South Carolina, 1790-1860 By Larry Koger is one such volume.

 

Koger tells of Richard Holloway, Sr., a black carpenter who purchased his African cousins as slave labor. Cato was the name of one of his slaves. Cato remained in Holloway's possession throughout the 1830s and '40s, according to Koger, until he was sold to his son, Richard Holloway, Jr., in 1845. Cato died in 1851 and the younger Holloway replaced him with the purchase of a 16-year-old black male.

 

Koger says there were ten black slave owners in Charleston City, SC in 1830.

 

In 1860 the largest slave owner in South Carolina was William Ellison, a black plantation owner.

 

Again, to account for all black-owned slave in the South would require a volume of books.

  

• Blacks owning black slaves was even common in the pre-war North.

 

Nor was black-on-black slavery unique to Southern states.

 

Koger informs us that in 1830 New York City recorded eight black slave holders who owned a total of 17 black slaves. The total number of slaves owned by blacks in 1830 was more than 10,000 according to the federal census of 1830; and that includes only four states: Louisiana, Maryland, South Carolina and Virginia. In addition there were "black master in every state where slavery existed," Koger says.

 

There is no record, to my knowledge, of a slave ship disembarking in a Southern port. All blacks slaves from Africa were delivered to ports in the North and transported to the South.

  

• Without black African slave owners there would have been no slavery in America.

 

Henry Louis Gates of the White House 'Beer Summit' fame enraged his base in 2010 by strongly opposing repartions to blacks. According to Gates the slave trade was almost wholly the result of black slave owners selling their human wares to Europeans.

 

He wrote:

 

"While we are all familiar with the role played by the United States and the European colonial powers like Britain, France, Holland, Portugal and Spain, there is very little discussion of the role Africans themselves played. And that role, it turns out, was a considerable one, especially for the slave-trading kingdoms of western and central Africa. These included the Akan of the kingdom of Asante in what is now Ghana, the Fon of Dahomey (now Benin), the Mbundu of Ndongo in modern Angola and the Kongo of today’s Congo, among several others."

 

"The historians John Thornton and Linda Heywood of Boston University estimate that 90 percent of those shipped to the New World were enslaved by Africans and then sold to European traders. The sad truth is that without complex business partnerships between African elites and European traders and commercial agents, the slave trade to the New World would have been impossible, at least on the scale it occurred." [Emphasis added]

 

The notion of White European raiding parties descending on unsuspecting African villages is a gross distortion of reality. Not only does the historical record argue against White raiding parties, but such parties would have been costly and inefficient compared to purchasing Africans already held in slavery. White slave traders would not endure the risk related to such incursions. Furthermore, Africans already held as slaves would be less willing to resist, particularly among those whose African owners were brutal enemies.

 

[Source: Ending the Slavery Blame-Game, Henry Louis Gates, The New York Times April 22, 2010]

  

• Beating black slaves in the South was extremely uncommon.

 

In 1838 Harriet Martineau visited New Orleans where she heard tales of a particularly abusive slave owner. At issue was slave owner Delphine LaLaurie who resided in a mansion at 1140 Royal Street. "Martineau reported that public rumors about LaLaurie's mistreatment of her slaves were sufficiently widespread that a local lawyer was dispatched to Royal Street to remind LaLaurie of the laws relevant to the upkeep of slaves." The attorney found no evidence of wrong doing.

 

Nonetheless, LaLaurie was forced to forfeit nine slaves after a subsequent investigation found her guilty of slave abuse.

 

It was later rumored that one of LaLaurie slaves intentionally set fire to the mansion to draw attention to ongoing abuse. Bystanders forced entry to squelch the fire and discovered "seven slaves, more or less horribly mutilated ... suspended by the neck, with their limbs apparently stretched and torn from one extremity to the other."

 

Tale of the abuse quickly spread throughout New Orleans. An angry mob of White residents descended on the mansion and "demolished and destroyed everything upon which they could lay their hands."

 

LaLaurie fled the mob violence, escaping to Mobile, Alabama and then to Paris.

 

What we learn from the historical LaLaurie episode is that:

 

1. Laws protecting slaves from abuse were enforced.

2. White residents did not tolerate owners who abused their slaves.

  

• Mutiny by black soldiers occurred in the U.S. military.

 

The two most notorious black mutinies were in Houston (1917) and Townsville, Australia (1942).

 

The latter mutiny was marred by black soldiers turning machine guns on their commanding officers. Australian troops were summoned to quash the rebellion. When serving in the U.S. Congress, Lyndon Johnson was sent to Townsville to investigate the uprising. The Townsville mutiny remained censored from American history until early 2012 when papers of the late president were reviewed.

  

• About one-third of lynching victims were white.

 

There were 4,743 victims of lynching between 1882 and 1968. Of those 1,297 were white and 3,446 were black.

 

Lynchings occurred in 44 states. There were more whites than blacks lynched in 25 of those 44 states.

 

The Department of Justice informs us that each year there are an estimated 8,000 to 9,000 black-on-black homicides. Using 8,500 as a mean, there are as many black-on-black homicides every five months as there were blacks killed during the 86-year lynching era.

  

Night

My Version.

Eventually matron came in to call us for bed. I was asked by her if I was settling in; I appeared cheerful enough to be allowed to go off with the others. None of our form thought they were dirty enough to need a bath, when the games lesson had finished they had been directed to the showers. Martin and I simply grouped ourselves with the others when matron came to see if there were any candidates for the bath.

 

Supper came when we had all finished our wash and had put our pyjamas on, all of us were identical in our blue and white matching sets, our dressing gowns varied in colour, but for the most they were fairly thick in type. I found that the collar part itched my neck where the pyjamas ended.

 

Soon we were in the dining room; supper was the one meal you did not sit down for, as the tables were laid out for breakfast and the floor clean, making it untidy was not allowed. The small area where we were confined would soon be made tidy by the upper form when they had finished. Supper it seemed varied as to what the cook felt could be used up. Often it was toast and jam, but we might get beans or something like that when one of the large cans needed to be finished up. In a way having supper first meant that when something was left over we would get it. Had we taken too long over supper, then the time we would get called for bed would be brought forward in the future.

  

Teeth done and the lavatory visited we headed for our dormitory. We soon were in bed, I was asked by the boy next to me was I was going to find it odd having to sleep with other boys, I mentioned that I had already been at a school where I had shared a room with another boy. Matron paid a final visit to see that we were settled and the lights were turned off. The master on duty tonight might come in later, there were often odd visits during the night just to see we were not up to any mischief, in the normal way the lights will be left off, he will have a torch, so don''t be afraid when it gets pointed in your direction, it will be just to check that there is someone in the bed.

 

If you are up to mischief, you will be made to stand in the corridor until it is felt you will be quiet for the rest of the night. When you are to get a whack you will be taken into their room, that way your crying will not wake up any others. If there are no others around, starting to cry just before you get hit might get you off the punishment.

 

Today had been such a change, I was not really afraid of this school, but I soon put my head under the covers, although I was not crying out loud, I was a little unhappy that I had been sent here for not doing anything really wrong.

 

The start of the new full day came suddenly, I was used to waking up to almost silence, if the weather was windy there might be the sound from the trees, but other than that nothing really to hear. A few of the others were awake; chattering was slowly starting from various parts of the room. It might be still dark outside, I had no idea what the time really was. Thick curtains stopped most signs of daylight from coming through.

 

The boy in the next bed said that we could pair up for all chores as it was easier. Alan it seemed had just turned eight, birthdays here are nothing special, the school give you a small present and your parents can send small items to you.

 

There was a loud bang of a door opening; I was told that this was Matrons way of waking those who might be asleep; it saved her from going from bed to bed. There was a friendly greeting to all of us to get ourselves up and ready, if there was encouragement it was that anyone not out of bed in the next ten seconds would be tipped out.

 

All of us were soon out, at this point we were allowed to open our curtains, a dull day it appeared was waiting for us, but as the sun was not fully up it might be better later.

 

I followed what most of the others were doing. The blanket and top sheet was pulled back, slightly rolled so that the bed had a chance to air while we went for our showers. I watched as Alan pulled his top sheet and blanket completely off and placed them on the side chair, another boy opposite us was doing the same. There was a bit of a joke from him that if you don't soak the top sheet it does not have to be changed. The others did not seem to take any notice of what they were up to. Alan gathered up the lower sheet and a small piece of blanket that had been underneath his lower sheet from the bed, and with the others and myself left the dormitory; we took our towels, our dressing gowns were taken with us but not worn, I was told that after our shower when we have dried ourselves, if you then put your dressing gown on it will keep you warm.

 

We all went into the shower room, Alan deposited his sheet and pyjamas in an open wicker basket in the corner which already had a few sheets inside, he told me that we would take it to the laundry room later. Until this moment I had only had a quick look inside the shower room. Soon we had put our dressing gowns on a long bench and taken off our pyjamas.

 

One of the boys told me that matron would be along in a moment to turn the water on, we have to stay in the shower area until she decides we have had long enough, she threatens to just turn the cold water on its own, but has never done that yet.

 

I followed the others into a small walled area, those from the other lower dorm were already there. It was not too cramped, if the was any shoving it was more in fun than anger. Originally the showers area looked to have been designed for a few to take individual showers, but the shower heads were now directed into the centre of our group.

  

This had been my first opportunity to be with a group of boys of my own age where no adult supervision seemed to be around, suddenly one of the boys started to pee, unlike the ordinary boy''s school lavatory where there might be a game to see who could get highest up the wall, in this shower area the aim was more to see who he could hit. All of us including myself now joined in. this it seemed was a regular morning event. Matron knows what we are up to but does not say anything, she hopes we get tired of silly things and just aim at the floor. We are allowed to do this as it saves her having to supervise us visiting the main bogs first thing in the morning, if we are all in the shower room she does not have to look for stragglers. If you do need to go and sit on the lav first thing you will probably still be in time for your shower.

 

Suddenly the water came on; a cheer went up from the others. Warm rather than hot, we soon were fully soaked, a single bar of soap was passed around our group, there was not really the aim of using it to keep clean more the fun of who could squeeze it into the air for the next person to catch. The water eventually was turned off, matron controlled the water from outside the shower room, it appeared that we had to shout to tell her it was off.

 

Drying ourselves off seemed to be done in record time, if there were any parts not fully dried putting on our dressing gown without any pyjamas solved that. Alan said he would show me where the linen cupboard was, while the others headed back to the dormitory I followed Alan down a side corridor. A large cupboard contained various sheets and blankets, if we were cold at night it was all right to take an extra blanket the following day.

 

I was warned that when you were in the middle or upper dorms if you wet the bed matron would give you a light hit with the slipper or cane when you got up, the older boys had told him that in never really hurt, but it was not someting he was looking forward to when he moved up next year. For some of the others in this dorm, they wet their beds when they hear matron wake the older ones up, it's the sound of the hits and not wanting to go for a pee whilst the older boys are about. The other time is if you go to the single night lav next to the upper form, if they are there smoking, just return to your bed, they would torture you just for fun.

 

Breakfast started as soon as our first chores of tidying our dorm had been completed. As we lined up in the queue for breakfast the rules were explained. There was a bowl of porridge for each of us, there was the choice of brown sugar, golden syrup or black treacle to add, if you finished the porridge you were allowed a bowl of corn flakes and either hot or cold milk, but only if the porridge was finished. Unlike other meals where it might be possible to get a item you did not like much taken off your plate by a friend, there was no luck with porridge, if you do like it however you can have an extra large bowl and go without the corn flakes. To add to my porridge I chose brown sugar, but as there would be other days ahead there was a choice to be had. Warm milk on corn flakes was something I did not fancy, even drinking warm milk seemed to sickly for me.

 

Breakfast finally over we set about the morning chores before school started. Alan selected me for his group, I would spend the rest of the month on laundry chores then we would swap over to bogs. If you were on laundry duty is was slightly different to any other chore, we did part now and part during morning break, it was not unfair as we spent the same time in total as the others.

 

Our group formed, most went off to the laundry room, Alan explained that it took only a couple of us to collect the sheets, if the others go off to run the cold water into the tubs we get the first part finished early. Once back at the shower room we gathered up the sheets and pyjama trousers from the basket. If the basket was ever full it was necessary to take the basket down to the laundry room, at other times the sheet that was the driest was selected and everything bundled into it. If the driest sheet was used, if you had to put the bundle down whist it was carried you did not pick up any dirt from the floor and matron would not do her nut. Soon the bundle had reached the laundry room, pyjamas went into one tub and the sheets plunged into two other tubs of cold water, once submerged that was the chore finished for the moment.

 

At our morning break we had to return, let this first water out, fill the tub again and let it run away, then put all the damp sheets into the big copper where one of the staff would fill it with hot water. That was the chore finished. Sunday is the worst day everyone has a new lower sheet on that day, most of the two lower forms wet the bed on a Saturday night as they know the sheets will be changed without been embarrassed in any way over the matter, the older boys will spend Saturday night lavatory as they have spent any pocket money on cigarettes that afternoon, not a place to visit if you want a happy life. If the top sheets are in clean condition in the winter months they get used as lower sheets during the second week, in the summer both sheets get changed on a Sunday. It takes two separate goes to do the sheets.

 

Freedom without others before school started was ideal for visiting the library, any new comics would have been put out unless they had just been received personally by anyone, the school purchased some of the more educational or story type comics for us, but as these were the more expensive types they were always welcome.

  

Lessons at the school seemed odd, with so few of us in the form room, the teacher could either spend time watching what you were up to or get through the lesson without really checking on what work you had completed.

 

For most of our lessons we would have one teacher, he came to the school only on days that we had lessons, unlike the other two teachers and the headmaster he did not live in the building. I was told that the main advantage to this was that he did not normally know if you had been in any trouble. Often if punishments had been set for you to complete and our teacher gave you an additional punishment you needed only to do one.

 

It appeared out teacher could on occasions appear stricter than the others; this was simply due to him favouring to give us a whack with the plimsoll than having to see that we completed extra work that was set.

 

Over the next few days I found lessons rather boring but easy enough to do. I resisted the temptation to cause a nuisance at this early stage, as it was rarely that a morning or afternoon was completed without someone getting hit with either the plimsoll or the cane, it was easy to see that these punishments were not done with any real force, once his back was turned it was often the grin on the face on the one who had received the punishment, showed that it had not really hurt.

 

The actual time that we spent in the form room was less than the other schools I had attended. If time was allowed for the morning and afternoon breaks plus the lunch period. There were the two afternoons that were devoted to sport and the single afternoon when we were taken outside on what appeared to be a nature ramble, although we were really allowed to run about and have fun. The actual amount of written work that we did in our work books was quite limited, which I found was ideal.

 

The Sunday before Christmas we were taken into the main town to attend a carol service. For those that wanted to go there would also be an opportunity to visit church for a further service. It appeared only a few names went on the list for that event, even with the promise of a little extra treat for all that were well behaved. Having been give our Saturday sweets, this offer of an extra treat was not really enough of a reward to sit through another church service.

  

Saturday afternoons were spent by going on an organised walk around the local lanes, it appeared that in the summer months we were taken out for longer and were given the freedom to run about, during the winter the walks took less time due to the weather.

  

Christmas 1964 - Age 7, but almost 8.

 

Now that school was over that staff appeared were more relaxed to our behaviour. As long as we did not do anything really wrong or made it look as if we were trying to cause a nuisance it appeared that we were allowed more freedom.

 

With our numbers slightly reduced, chores and other activities were changed slightly. With no lessons to attend there would be more freedom for us. The staff decided that occupying us with chores was a way of preventing us getting into mischief.

 

Our lower form now had the boiler room duties added to our morning tasks. Once we had done these we were free to do as we pleased until lunch time. The boiler room chore was regarded by us more of a pleasure than a chore. As the form rooms were not in use, heating to some parts of the school had been turned down quite low, this meant that less coke was needed and for us less to move from the main store to the daily store area. The warm ash was fun to play with, some minor dust clouds were caused as we broke up the clinker into small chunks, but as we left the area clean there was little sign of the short period of fun we achieved. Ash when taken out of the boiler room was to be spread on various paths, small piles were located at the end of the drive in case there was ice, but most was available for us to neatly distribute on the ground, to us this involved throwing a shovel of ash into the air trying to cover our friends in dust.

 

With the aim of spending as much time out of the way of the staff as possible, if we did get a little filthy then there was plenty of time before lunch came to get presentable. The few older boys that were still here decided that some of the chores were to be avoided if possible. The staff were a little more easy on us when it came to checking that chores had been completed to their normal high standard.

 

Two days before Christmas and out thoughts on chores did wander a little, one of the form rooms had been allocated to take the Christmas presents the school was going to give to us, these were unwrapped but just out of clear sight from standing outside the building, the door was locked to prevent us getting in from inside, on a far table we could see a selection of wrapped presents, these we knew were from our parents and relatives, but as to how many we had each was simply unknown.

  

There was an unwritten rule that was made by the older boys that you had to obey. If it was possible to get into trouble, it was your duty to get told off and be punished, any boy who was good all the time deserved to get beaten up.

 

As punishments of all kinds were dealt out, one seemed actually to welcome a master using some minor form of punishment on you, to save been thought of by your friends or the older boys as been too good.

 

Christmas at my new location seemed to offer far more excitement. None of our age group really admitted out loud that there was no Father Christmas. Matron had seemed to quash any ideas of our non belief with the words that those who don''t believe in Father Christmas won''t be disappointed if he did not leave them any presents. This did not seem to apply to the older boys who we knew had firm ideas on where all toys came from.

 

Once the school term finished our numbers thinned out quickly down to a total of twenty. The two upper dormitories were soon combined into one room. Our lower dorm numbers did shrink a little, not really enough to give the impression of an empty room. Matron decided that our dorm could now have our rival dorm joining us two extra beds were brought in. For us it was ideal, the spaces between each bed shrunk a little, talking when lights were out was much easier.

 

Christmas Eve had all formed into one group at the end of the afternoon. Presents provided by the school were now given out. Two tables were covered with a range of unwrapped toys books and other items. To make it reasonably fair each of us would be allowed to take one present from each table. The order it seemed was based on how we had behaved during the year. For those of us in the lower form, it was how we had behaved since arrival. Although during my lessons I had been reasonably well behaved together with a friend there had been a possibility that we had been in minor amounts of trouble. Slowly the line formed as names were read out. If there was any surprise I was not at the end of the line but nicely in the middle.

 

We slowly moved forward, all eyes were on various items in the pile, at odd moments there were groans from those still in the queue, when an item they wanted was selected by someone earlier. When my turn came I was quite happy with a pen set and a model car. Those at the end still had reasonable choices. When all had selected two items there were still several toys left, these it appeared we could have on merit according to our behaviour over the next two days. Limiting this to just two days gave us something to really concentrate on.

 

After a short carol service we were released for a while. There was a second treat for us later. As it appeared that bringing Father Christmas to us would be difficult, this was not actually explained fully by the staff, there was to be a film show once tea was over.

 

Tea today was not really a rushed affair, the greedy members of the group did not bother asking for extra slices of bread. Before the meal finished there was an announcement made that we should all visit the lavatory before we went and sat in the hall, they did not want any continual disturbances with us moving about whilst the film was on. If we asked questions about what films we were going to see, the adults wanted to keep this a surprise.

 

All of us were involved in the chore of cleaning the tea things away; if one group was delayed it was thought to be rather unfair. As we went in to the hall we were handed a small brown bag, sweets were normally only handed out on a Saturday, now we had an extra selection of a few boiled sweets, a small bar of chocolate and one gobstopper, this appeared should last us the rest of the film once the bag of sweets had been eaten.

 

The staff did have some say as to where we sat, this was done more by size than age, I was quite lucky at getting a seat where none of the older boys were in front, but just smaller boys who were not in the way.

 

A cartoon started the show off and then it was total anticipation as to what the film was. The adults were hinting that it was going to be Snow White or some other film that whilst it would be a treat it was not really a choice we would have made. Once the titles were up it was soon realised that they had been teasing us, A War film featuring plenty of action was although not really a subject I was keen on it was better than something aimed more at girls.

 

Other than cheering and other excitement we remained well behaved thought the film. Once it finished there was the thought that it would be best if we all went to bed at this point. Minor groans came from the older boys, but as they informed us that normally on the breakfast table on Christmas Day we would find a small present from the school. All it appeared wanted the following day to start as soon as possible. Even as we arrived at the bathroom at the same time even us younger ones seemed to get an equal share in turn to use the sinks. Matron decided than none of us had managed to get dirty enough to warrant a bath. We could guess that the sooner we were all in bed the sooner the adults could start to enjoy Christmas without us.

  

We were told by the few that had been here last Christmas that if matron found that a parent had not sent a present or the present that had been sent was rather minor, the school would add something to make up, on Christmas Day everyone even if they had not done well in lessons would be happy at breakfast.

 

Matron paid a final visit after lights were out just to se that we were not up to any mischief, then we were left alone for the rest of the night.

 

Christmas Day came as a surprise to us all. None of us in our dorm had been at this school last Christmas so all we had learnt up until now was from the older boys.

 

We all seemed to wake up at one point, the noise we started to make, roused the rest of the dorm within seconds.

 

Looking on the floor a brown paper bag had been left by the foot of each of our beds. Inside was an apple, orange and a few sweets. A small duplicated note said that we should stay in our rooms until we were called, if we were going to eat the orange could the peel be put inside the bag.

 

Eating any food in the dorm was a treat. None of us felt the need to wander out of the dorm to see what other events were lined up for us except for a few of us who visited the lavatory at the end of the corridor.

 

When eventually matron came, there was the instruction that there would be no chores for us today except for moving the coke to the boiler room, the ash could be left.

 

The morning shower and dressing was completed in record time. We had been told by the older boys that some presents would be waiting at the breakfast table. Our beds were made to a reasonable standard but would not have passed the normal inspection by matron.

 

Our snack before breakfast did not seem to spoil our appetites, possible the instruction that when we had all finished our breakfast we would be able to open the single present that was in front of our plates. These we were told was a present from the school. In this case they had chosen what they thought was appropriate for each of us. We could exchange these gifts between our friends if we liked, but any bullying or the like was to be reported.

 

If there was a slight delay before we managed to get at the presents it was having to wait for a few of the older boys who had the duty of serving the breakfast, there had been a slight delay in them starting.

 

Finally every plate was clean and we set about opening our present.

 

A set of various games was not a present that I had ever received before, as I was often on my own before coming to this school there had been very few chances to play board games. Now I would have several of my friends close at hand to play with, looking around our group there did not seem to be anyone else with a similar present.

 

If there was a disappointment it was our lower group that was sent off to do the boiler duty, whilst the middle and upper forms could go off to play. If there was anything unfair it was the headmaster deciding that only four of us were needed to move the coke. I wondered if his decision to pick Alan and Michael together with another of my close friends as well as myself had he realised that a small slightly troublesome gang was forming, although not totally up to mischief we needed to be watched.

 

The coke was moved in record time, we did make the pile for today up to the required size, had we cheated and the boiler gone out today, we could bet that tomorrow would not be that much fun.

  

When we returned indoors matron suggested we had better hurry along to our form rooms as presents from parents were waiting for each of us, the rest of our form had already started to open their presents.

 

I was quite pleased with the present from my mother, a colouring set with some liquid ink coloured pens was ideal if we were to be indoors over the holidays.

 

If any of us were disappointed not to be with our parents and jealous of those that had gone home, we did not seem to show it. During the holiday this did not really feel like a school, it was just a friendly group with the challenge of the adults to watch out for. To me this was the best Christmas I had ever had. Other than getting the plimsoll a couple of nights ago, few of us had really been in trouble.

 

The adults came round to see that we were all happy, toys now had to make their way to our lockers, there was the encouragement for all of us to go outside and have a run around, they would all like to see us with good appetites ready for our Christmas lunch.

 

If there had been six inches of snow on the ground for us to play in Christmas would have been really great, but we just had to put up with the normal cold morning as most others had been. One game of football was organised, two of the older boys wanted to have the chance to try out their new leather footballs, to a few of us they resembled exactly the ones that the school used in lessons, why they should think of the new balls as something special we did not know.

 

If the game was slightly uneven in numbers it was that it was the lower dorm against the remains of the middle and upper dorm, we did no want to totally out number them so a small group of four of us disappeared into the woods. Even with our suits and raincoats on it seemed cold, taking our raincoats off so that we could join in the football was something we did not want to happen.

 

The woods with just us in was more fun than normal, there was no need to look out for missiles and other things coming down to hit you from above. Quite a long game of hide and seek was played, this only came to an end when we realised that there was no sound coming from the field. Getting to the edge of the wood the grounds were empty, We were sure that the bell had not been rung to let us know it was time to go in, one of us was sure to have heard it.

 

We did get up quite a speed crossing the grass; the normal rule of not going across the football area was simply ignored. Before we arrived at the door we had the view of the dining room, all the others were sat down at the tables, it was not a case of them waiting to start the meal, all were already eating.

  

With our coats off we were clean. All of us needed to go and wash our hands; the various branches and wood we had used in our play were not something that would have passed a hand inspection. Our route to the boys'' lavatory meant that we were not seen until we were presentable.

  

Going into the dining room whilst everyone was in the middle of a meal was not something we really wanted to do, had it been a ordinary meal then missing it rather than admitting our wrong doing was something that we might have done. Christmas lunch was something that we must not miss. Entering the room quietly there was no escape, all the adults were seated and in the middle of their meals. There almost seemed to be a chorus from them asking where we had been.

 

With enough noise going on from the others it was necessary to go right up to their table to tell them we had been in the woods and had not heard the bell rung.

 

We were waiting for at least one of the adults to shout at us; all we were now told was that the bell had not been rung as all of us were thought to be playing football. Only when everyone had sat down was it realised that there were a few short, rather than send out a search party it was decided to let us make our own way in. If we had been any longer there was a good chance that we would have missed our lunch.

 

Instead of been sent to join the others we were now told to bring a chair each to their table. As the staff had been served last, our portions could come from their selection.

 

Sitting at the adults table we now found did have a few advantages, we might not be able to talk as much as we liked, but the food was far better. The Christmas meal was turkey. On the staff serving plate was just the white breast meat, in large slices, this was better than the selection of meat that our friends had been served with, extra roast potatoes now came our way, I was happy that for vegetables, sprouts were not simply put onto my plate.

 

As school meals went this was the best one so far at any school. Christmas pudding was also an extra treat for the four of us. While the ordinary tables had their puddings served from one big tray, an individual pudding was put on this table. Our friends at the other tables were too busy eating their pudding to notice the headmaster pour something onto this pudding.

 

I was quite use to watching such a pudding then being lit, but for my other three friends this was new and a little strange. There was a comment from one of the matrons that perhaps she should fetch our portions from the main container. The headmaster decided that as it was Christmas it was not going to do us any harm as long as we did not have too much.

 

In the normal way Christmas pudding was quite rich, with the headmaster in a good mood, perhaps giving boys of seven and eight the staff pudding was unusual. I could taste the brandy, with my mother''s job I had already found that ends of drink bottles an interesting find at the end of the meal before they were put in the bin and had already several preferences of types of drink.

 

There was a final grace, there was now the instruction that we should all go and do something quiet for the next hour or so. With our meal just eaten they did not want any of us feeling unwell.

 

Having our meal at the teachers table we knew our friends would now want to tease us any make our lives a misery as were appeared not to have been given a telling off for arriving late. We headed off to the dormitories where we might not be found straight away. We could have gone into our own dorm but we would soon be found, the others having played football might be going to change their clothes.

 

The other lower dorm was our hiding place; those that had been moved into our dorm had all their things moved in with us, there would be no reason for them to return here. It was not that we were scared of our friends, but having got away with one matter so far a fight or the like we might not be as lucky.

 

Having become use to small amounts of alcohol, I was quite ready to feeling slightly sleepy, the extra amounts of food today meant that the suggestion by matron that we find something quiet to do, in a dormitory with the beds not been made up, simply lying down on them to rest, did not seem wrong. That the four of us were soon sound asleep proved that if the teachers wanted to keep us quiet, staff Christmas pudding could be one way. We eventually woke in time for tea, our friends had now forgotten about lunch and when we reformed up nothing was mentioned over our disappearance over the last few hours.

 

Once tea was over we returned to our toys before matron came to drag us off to bed and what we thought an earlier bedtime.

 

John Singer Sargent (1856-1925)

Mrs. Hugh Hammersley

1892

Oil on canvas

Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Douglass Campbell, in memory of Mrs. Richard E. Danielson, 1998

Sargent's twenty nine year old sitter, the wife of a London banker and a fashionable hostess, is shown poised on an elegant French sofa in a vivacious pose that suggests the influence of impressionism. This portrait assured potential English patrons of Sargent's skills and taste when he showed it in London in 1893, quashing misgivings that his scandalous "Madame X" (Madame Pierre Gautreau) may have aroused when it appeared at the Paris Salon of 1884. The work is among the earliest of Sargent's ravishing images of glamorous English women, a series that culminated in "The Wyndham Sisters of 1899"

 

much like travel anywhere, really, travelling to china nowadays is a real eye-opener! not just because of the chinese way of life that easily matches, if not surpasses the standard of living in many western cities. no, it goes a little further than that. in fact, it isn't the chinese as such china gets you thinking about, but man in general, and our own pursuit of happiness. after all, this is an authoritarian (communist doesn't apply whatsoever) regime we're talking about here. one that detains critics and uses brute force to quash dissent. but nevertheless, it is a system that has brought about a seismic change to its society and has allowed hundreds of millions of people to rise up from poverty and near starvation… but at what cost? to civil liberties, the environment and the cause of progress in general? while the pictures that follow only serve to illustrate the elements immediately visible to the naked eye - chinese society is seemingly impossible to penetrate properly, because of the constrictions that language and society impose on foreigners - it will try to illuminate where this highly ambitious society has come from and where it is headed in the future

Permit Number :KL66/38/1996

Permit Owner: K T Thomas

Permit Owner Address: Kondodickal House Umpidi P O

KOTTAYAM

 

CUMBUMMETTU 07:50

KUMILY BUS STND 09:00 - 09:14

MUNDAKAYAM 11:15

PONKUNNAM BUS STAND 11:55

CHANGANASSERY 01:05

 

CHANGANASSERY 02:59

PONKUNNAM BUS STAND 04:09

MUNDAKAYAM 04:49

KUMILY BUS STND 06:50

CUMBUMMETTU 08:00

  

Item No.26

Heard. The learned counsel represented for the applicant .This is an application for renewal of regular permit in respect of the S/C KL-33-E-5760 on the route Nedumkandam - Kottayam (Via)Thookupalam Kochara, Puttady, Kumily, Mundakayam, Ponkunnam, Kottayam, Gandhinagar as LSOS.The application for renewal of regular

permit was rejected by RTA on 21/03/2013 vide tem No.42 since the route length is above 140kms. Honorable STAT in MP No.577/13 in MVAA 186/13 has directed to reissue temporary permit until final orders are passed in this MVAA. So Temporary permit u/s 87(1)d was being issued by Secretary, RTA. The. Govt. has amended vide GO(P)

6/17 rule 2(oa) of KMV rule and as per the amended rule the maximum route length is 140 kms. So the permit holder has filed WP( C) and submitted interim order dtd.14/07/2017 of Honorable High Court directing to issue Temporary Permit

untrammeled by GO(P) 6/17 and 8/17. Hence Secretary RTA has re-issued the Temporary Permit for the period up to 13/03/2019. There is no changes in the existing

timings. Also filed for reconsider the renewal of regular permit in respect of this stage carriage the S/C KL-33-E-5760 for a period of 5 years.from 19/01/2015 to 18/01/2020.

 

RTA Idukki dated 29/01/2015 considered this application and sought concurrence from RTA Kottayam. There is no need for any concurrence from sister RTAs for renewal of permit In the light of the several judgment of Honarable High Court of Kerala( quashing the clause (4) of the modified scheme,8/2017 dated 23/03/2017) there is no legal impediment to renew this regular permit since it is issued prior to 09-05-2006 . Hence

Renewal of permit granted subject to clearance of Government dues and NOC from the financier if applicable.

Some of you may have noticed that, unfortunately, owing to the fact that a certain person who sells truck photos on eBay commercially has been lifting my images from this album and selling them I have had to remove 2300 photos that didn't have a watermark. I have now run around 1700 through Lightroom and added a watermark with the intention of bulk uploading them again. Rather than watermark the existing (hidden) files in Flickr one at a time it will be easier to do it this way. I definitely won’t be adding individual tags with the make and model of each vehicle I will just add generic transport tags. Each photo is named after the vehicle and reg in any case. For anyone new to these images there is a chapter and verse explanation below. It is staggering how many times I get asked questions that a quick scan would answer or just as likely I can’t possibly answer – I didn’t take them, but, just to clarify-I do own the copyright- and I do pursue copyright theft.

  

This is a collection of scanned prints from a collection of photographs taken by the late Jim Taylor A number of years ago I was offered a large number of photographs taken by Jim Taylor, a transport photographer based in Huddersfield. The collection, 30,000 prints, 20,000 negatives – and copyright! – had been offered to me and one of the national transport magazines previously by a friend of Jim's, on behalf of Jim's wife. I initially turned them down, already having over 30,000 of my own prints filed away and taking space up. Several months later the prints were still for sale – at what was, apparently, the going rate. It was a lot of money and I deliberated for quite a while before deciding to buy them. I did however buy them directly from Jim’s wife and she delivered them personally – just to quash the occasional rumour from people who can’t mind their own business. Although some prints were sold elsewhere, particularly the popular big fleet stuff, I should have the negatives, unfortunately they came to me in a random mix, 1200 to a box, without any sort of indexing and as such it would be impossible to match negatives to prints, or, to even find a print of any particular vehicle. I have only ever looked at a handful myself unless I am scanning them. The prints are generally in excellent condition and I initially stored them in a bedroom without ever looking at any of them. In 2006 I built an extension and they had to be well protected from dust and moved a few times. Ultimately my former 6x7 box room office has become their (and my own work’s) permanent home.

 

I hope to avoid posting images that Jim had not taken his self, however should I inadvertently infringe another photographers copyright, please inform me by email and I will resolve the issue immediately. There are copyright issues with some of the photographs that were sold to me. A Flickr member from Scotland drew my attention to some of his own work amongst the first uploads of Jim’s work. I had a quick look through some of the 30 boxes of prints and decided that for the time being the safest thing for me to do was withdraw the majority of the earlier uploaded scans and deal with the problem – which I did. whilst the vast majority of the prints are Jims, there is a problem defining copyright of some of them, this is something that the seller did not make clear at the time. I am reasonably confident that I have since been successful in identifying Jims own work. His early work consists of many thousands of lustre 6x4 prints which are difficult to scan well, later work is almost entirely 7x5 glossy, much easier to scan. Not all of the prints are pin sharp but I can generally print successfully to A4 from a scan.

  

You may notice photographs being duplicated in this Album, unfortunately there are multiple copies of many prints (for swapping) and as I have to have a system of archiving and backing up I can only guess - using memory - if I have scanned a print before. The bigger fleets have so many similar vehicles and registration numbers that it is impossible to get it right all of the time. It is easier to scan and process a print than check my files - on three different PC’s - for duplicates. There has not been, nor will there ever be, any intention to knowingly breach anyone else's copyright. I have presented the Jim Taylor collection as exactly that-The Jim Taylor Collection- his work not mine, my own work is quite obviously mine.

 

Unfortunately, many truck spotters have swapped and traded their work without copyright marking it as theirs. These people never anticipated the ease with which images would be shared online in the future. I would guess that having swapped and traded photos for many years that it is almost impossible to control their future use. Anyone wanting to control the future use of their work would have been well advised to copyright mark their work (as many did) and would be well advised not to post them on photo sharing sites without a watermark as the whole point of these sites is to share the image, it is very easy for those that wish, to lift any image, despite security settings, indeed, Flickr itself, warns you that this is the case. It was this abuse and theft of my material that led me to watermark all of my later uploads. I may yet withdraw non-watermarked photos, I haven’t decided yet. (I did in the end)

 

To anyone reading the above it will be quite obvious that I can’t provide information regarding specific photos or potential future uploads – I didn’t take them! There are many vehicles that were well known to me as Jim only lived down the road from me (although I didn’t know him), however scanning, titling, tagging and uploading is laborious and time consuming enough, I do however provide a fair amount of information with my own transport (and other) photos. I am aware that there are requests from other Flickr users that are unanswered, I stumble across them months or years after they were posted, this isn’t deliberate. Some weekends one or two “enthusiasts” can add many hundreds of photos as favourites, this pushes requests that are in the comments section ten or twenty pages out of sight and I miss them. I also have notifications switched off, I receive around 50 emails a day through work and I don’t want even more from Flickr. Other requests, like many other things, I just plain forget – no excuses! Uploads of Jim’s photos will be infrequent as it is a boring pastime and I would much rather work on my own output.

     

Steampunk Star Wars. Footage taken at MCM Birmingham Comic Con, November, 2019.

 

Please ask permission, before posting elsewhere.

 

I have uploaded here, as YouTube have turned their backs on independent filmakers and now actively seek to punish/quash anything not compliant with their ridiculous draconian rules.

Some of you may have noticed that, unfortunately, owing to the fact that a certain person who sells truck photos on eBay commercially has been lifting my images from this album and selling them I have had to remove 2300 photos that didn't have a watermark. I have now run around 1700 through Lightroom and added a watermark with the intention of bulk uploading them again. Rather than watermark the existing (hidden) files in Flickr one at a time it will be easier to do it this way. I definitely won’t be adding individual tags with the make and model of each vehicle I will just add generic transport tags. Each photo is named after the vehicle and reg in any case. For anyone new to these images there is a chapter and verse explanation below. It is staggering how many times I get asked questions that a quick scan would answer or just as likely I can’t possibly answer – I didn’t take them, but, just to clarify-I do own the copyright- and I do pursue copyright theft.

  

This is a collection of scanned prints from a collection of photographs taken by the late Jim Taylor A number of years ago I was offered a large number of photographs taken by Jim Taylor, a transport photographer based in Huddersfield. The collection, 30,000 prints, 20,000 negatives – and copyright! – had been offered to me and one of the national transport magazines previously by a friend of Jim's, on behalf of Jim's wife. I initially turned them down, already having over 30,000 of my own prints filed away and taking space up. Several months later the prints were still for sale – at what was, apparently, the going rate. It was a lot of money and I deliberated for quite a while before deciding to buy them. I did however buy them directly from Jim’s wife and she delivered them personally – just to quash the occasional rumour from people who can’t mind their own business. Although some prints were sold elsewhere, particularly the popular big fleet stuff, I should have the negatives, unfortunately they came to me in a random mix, 1200 to a box, without any sort of indexing and as such it would be impossible to match negatives to prints, or, to even find a print of any particular vehicle. I have only ever looked at a handful myself unless I am scanning them. The prints are generally in excellent condition and I initially stored them in a bedroom without ever looking at any of them. In 2006 I built an extension and they had to be well protected from dust and moved a few times. Ultimately my former 6x7 box room office has become their (and my own work’s) permanent home.

 

I hope to avoid posting images that Jim had not taken his self, however should I inadvertently infringe another photographers copyright, please inform me by email and I will resolve the issue immediately. There are copyright issues with some of the photographs that were sold to me. A Flickr member from Scotland drew my attention to some of his own work amongst the first uploads of Jim’s work. I had a quick look through some of the 30 boxes of prints and decided that for the time being the safest thing for me to do was withdraw the majority of the earlier uploaded scans and deal with the problem – which I did. whilst the vast majority of the prints are Jims, there is a problem defining copyright of some of them, this is something that the seller did not make clear at the time. I am reasonably confident that I have since been successful in identifying Jims own work. His early work consists of many thousands of lustre 6x4 prints which are difficult to scan well, later work is almost entirely 7x5 glossy, much easier to scan. Not all of the prints are pin sharp but I can generally print successfully to A4 from a scan.

  

You may notice photographs being duplicated in this Album, unfortunately there are multiple copies of many prints (for swapping) and as I have to have a system of archiving and backing up I can only guess - using memory - if I have scanned a print before. The bigger fleets have so many similar vehicles and registration numbers that it is impossible to get it right all of the time. It is easier to scan and process a print than check my files - on three different PC’s - for duplicates. There has not been, nor will there ever be, any intention to knowingly breach anyone else's copyright. I have presented the Jim Taylor collection as exactly that-The Jim Taylor Collection- his work not mine, my own work is quite obviously mine.

 

Unfortunately, many truck spotters have swapped and traded their work without copyright marking it as theirs. These people never anticipated the ease with which images would be shared online in the future. I would guess that having swapped and traded photos for many years that it is almost impossible to control their future use. Anyone wanting to control the future use of their work would have been well advised to copyright mark their work (as many did) and would be well advised not to post them on photo sharing sites without a watermark as the whole point of these sites is to share the image, it is very easy for those that wish, to lift any image, despite security settings, indeed, Flickr itself, warns you that this is the case. It was this abuse and theft of my material that led me to watermark all of my later uploads. I may yet withdraw non-watermarked photos, I haven’t decided yet. (I did in the end)

 

To anyone reading the above it will be quite obvious that I can’t provide information regarding specific photos or potential future uploads – I didn’t take them! There are many vehicles that were well known to me as Jim only lived down the road from me (although I didn’t know him), however scanning, titling, tagging and uploading is laborious and time consuming enough, I do however provide a fair amount of information with my own transport (and other) photos. I am aware that there are requests from other Flickr users that are unanswered, I stumble across them months or years after they were posted, this isn’t deliberate. Some weekends one or two “enthusiasts” can add many hundreds of photos as favourites, this pushes requests that are in the comments section ten or twenty pages out of sight and I miss them. I also have notifications switched off, I receive around 50 emails a day through work and I don’t want even more from Flickr. Other requests, like many other things, I just plain forget – no excuses! Uploads of Jim’s photos will be infrequent as it is a boring pastime and I would much rather work on my own output.

     

Some of you may have noticed that, unfortunately, owing to the fact that a certain person who sells truck photos on eBay commercially has been lifting my images from this album and selling them I have had to remove 2300 photos that didn't have a watermark. I have now run around 1700 through Lightroom and added a watermark with the intention of bulk uploading them again. Rather than watermark the existing (hidden) files in Flickr one at a time it will be easier to do it this way. I definitely won’t be adding individual tags with the make and model of each vehicle I will just add generic transport tags. Each photo is named after the vehicle and reg in any case. For anyone new to these images there is a chapter and verse explanation below. It is staggering how many times I get asked questions that a quick scan would answer or just as likely I can’t possibly answer – I didn’t take them, but, just to clarify-I do own the copyright- and I do pursue copyright theft.

  

This is a collection of scanned prints from a collection of photographs taken by the late Jim Taylor A number of years ago I was offered a large number of photographs taken by Jim Taylor, a transport photographer based in Huddersfield. The collection, 30,000 prints, 20,000 negatives – and copyright! – had been offered to me and one of the national transport magazines previously by a friend of Jim's, on behalf of Jim's wife. I initially turned them down, already having over 30,000 of my own prints filed away and taking space up. Several months later the prints were still for sale – at what was, apparently, the going rate. It was a lot of money and I deliberated for quite a while before deciding to buy them. I did however buy them directly from Jim’s wife and she delivered them personally – just to quash the occasional rumour from people who can’t mind their own business. Although some prints were sold elsewhere, particularly the popular big fleet stuff, I should have the negatives, unfortunately they came to me in a random mix, 1200 to a box, without any sort of indexing and as such it would be impossible to match negatives to prints, or, to even find a print of any particular vehicle. I have only ever looked at a handful myself unless I am scanning them. The prints are generally in excellent condition and I initially stored them in a bedroom without ever looking at any of them. In 2006 I built an extension and they had to be well protected from dust and moved a few times. Ultimately my former 6x7 box room office has become their (and my own work’s) permanent home.

 

I hope to avoid posting images that Jim had not taken his self, however should I inadvertently infringe another photographers copyright, please inform me by email and I will resolve the issue immediately. There are copyright issues with some of the photographs that were sold to me. A Flickr member from Scotland drew my attention to some of his own work amongst the first uploads of Jim’s work. I had a quick look through some of the 30 boxes of prints and decided that for the time being the safest thing for me to do was withdraw the majority of the earlier uploaded scans and deal with the problem – which I did. whilst the vast majority of the prints are Jims, there is a problem defining copyright of some of them, this is something that the seller did not make clear at the time. I am reasonably confident that I have since been successful in identifying Jims own work. His early work consists of many thousands of lustre 6x4 prints which are difficult to scan well, later work is almost entirely 7x5 glossy, much easier to scan. Not all of the prints are pin sharp but I can generally print successfully to A4 from a scan.

  

You may notice photographs being duplicated in this Album, unfortunately there are multiple copies of many prints (for swapping) and as I have to have a system of archiving and backing up I can only guess - using memory - if I have scanned a print before. The bigger fleets have so many similar vehicles and registration numbers that it is impossible to get it right all of the time. It is easier to scan and process a print than check my files - on three different PC’s - for duplicates. There has not been, nor will there ever be, any intention to knowingly breach anyone else's copyright. I have presented the Jim Taylor collection as exactly that-The Jim Taylor Collection- his work not mine, my own work is quite obviously mine.

 

Unfortunately, many truck spotters have swapped and traded their work without copyright marking it as theirs. These people never anticipated the ease with which images would be shared online in the future. I would guess that having swapped and traded photos for many years that it is almost impossible to control their future use. Anyone wanting to control the future use of their work would have been well advised to copyright mark their work (as many did) and would be well advised not to post them on photo sharing sites without a watermark as the whole point of these sites is to share the image, it is very easy for those that wish, to lift any image, despite security settings, indeed, Flickr itself, warns you that this is the case. It was this abuse and theft of my material that led me to watermark all of my later uploads. I may yet withdraw non-watermarked photos, I haven’t decided yet. (I did in the end)

 

To anyone reading the above it will be quite obvious that I can’t provide information regarding specific photos or potential future uploads – I didn’t take them! There are many vehicles that were well known to me as Jim only lived down the road from me (although I didn’t know him), however scanning, titling, tagging and uploading is laborious and time consuming enough, I do however provide a fair amount of information with my own transport (and other) photos. I am aware that there are requests from other Flickr users that are unanswered, I stumble across them months or years after they were posted, this isn’t deliberate. Some weekends one or two “enthusiasts” can add many hundreds of photos as favourites, this pushes requests that are in the comments section ten or twenty pages out of sight and I miss them. I also have notifications switched off, I receive around 50 emails a day through work and I don’t want even more from Flickr. Other requests, like many other things, I just plain forget – no excuses! Uploads of Jim’s photos will be infrequent as it is a boring pastime and I would much rather work on my own output.

     

Some of you may have noticed that, unfortunately, owing to the fact that a certain person who sells truck photos on eBay commercially has been lifting my images from this album and selling them I have had to remove 2300 photos that didn't have a watermark. I have now run around 1700 through Lightroom and added a watermark with the intention of bulk uploading them again. Rather than watermark the existing (hidden) files in Flickr one at a time it will be easier to do it this way. I definitely won’t be adding individual tags with the make and model of each vehicle I will just add generic transport tags. Each photo is named after the vehicle and reg in any case. For anyone new to these images there is a chapter and verse explanation below. It is staggering how many times I get asked questions that a quick scan would answer or just as likely I can’t possibly answer – I didn’t take them, but, just to clarify-I do own the copyright- and I do pursue copyright theft.

  

This is a collection of scanned prints from a collection of photographs taken by the late Jim Taylor A number of years ago I was offered a large number of photographs taken by Jim Taylor, a transport photographer based in Huddersfield. The collection, 30,000 prints, 20,000 negatives – and copyright! – had been offered to me and one of the national transport magazines previously by a friend of Jim's, on behalf of Jim's wife. I initially turned them down, already having over 30,000 of my own prints filed away and taking space up. Several months later the prints were still for sale – at what was, apparently, the going rate. It was a lot of money and I deliberated for quite a while before deciding to buy them. I did however buy them directly from Jim’s wife and she delivered them personally – just to quash the occasional rumour from people who can’t mind their own business. Although some prints were sold elsewhere, particularly the popular big fleet stuff, I should have the negatives, unfortunately they came to me in a random mix, 1200 to a box, without any sort of indexing and as such it would be impossible to match negatives to prints, or, to even find a print of any particular vehicle. I have only ever looked at a handful myself unless I am scanning them. The prints are generally in excellent condition and I initially stored them in a bedroom without ever looking at any of them. In 2006 I built an extension and they had to be well protected from dust and moved a few times. Ultimately my former 6x7 box room office has become their (and my own work’s) permanent home.

 

I hope to avoid posting images that Jim had not taken his self, however should I inadvertently infringe another photographers copyright, please inform me by email and I will resolve the issue immediately. There are copyright issues with some of the photographs that were sold to me. A Flickr member from Scotland drew my attention to some of his own work amongst the first uploads of Jim’s work. I had a quick look through some of the 30 boxes of prints and decided that for the time being the safest thing for me to do was withdraw the majority of the earlier uploaded scans and deal with the problem – which I did. whilst the vast majority of the prints are Jims, there is a problem defining copyright of some of them, this is something that the seller did not make clear at the time. I am reasonably confident that I have since been successful in identifying Jims own work. His early work consists of many thousands of lustre 6x4 prints which are difficult to scan well, later work is almost entirely 7x5 glossy, much easier to scan. Not all of the prints are pin sharp but I can generally print successfully to A4 from a scan.

  

You may notice photographs being duplicated in this Album, unfortunately there are multiple copies of many prints (for swapping) and as I have to have a system of archiving and backing up I can only guess - using memory - if I have scanned a print before. The bigger fleets have so many similar vehicles and registration numbers that it is impossible to get it right all of the time. It is easier to scan and process a print than check my files - on three different PC’s - for duplicates. There has not been, nor will there ever be, any intention to knowingly breach anyone else's copyright. I have presented the Jim Taylor collection as exactly that-The Jim Taylor Collection- his work not mine, my own work is quite obviously mine.

 

Unfortunately, many truck spotters have swapped and traded their work without copyright marking it as theirs. These people never anticipated the ease with which images would be shared online in the future. I would guess that having swapped and traded photos for many years that it is almost impossible to control their future use. Anyone wanting to control the future use of their work would have been well advised to copyright mark their work (as many did) and would be well advised not to post them on photo sharing sites without a watermark as the whole point of these sites is to share the image, it is very easy for those that wish, to lift any image, despite security settings, indeed, Flickr itself, warns you that this is the case. It was this abuse and theft of my material that led me to watermark all of my later uploads. I may yet withdraw non-watermarked photos, I haven’t decided yet. (I did in the end)

 

To anyone reading the above it will be quite obvious that I can’t provide information regarding specific photos or potential future uploads – I didn’t take them! There are many vehicles that were well known to me as Jim only lived down the road from me (although I didn’t know him), however scanning, titling, tagging and uploading is laborious and time consuming enough, I do however provide a fair amount of information with my own transport (and other) photos. I am aware that there are requests from other Flickr users that are unanswered, I stumble across them months or years after they were posted, this isn’t deliberate. Some weekends one or two “enthusiasts” can add many hundreds of photos as favourites, this pushes requests that are in the comments section ten or twenty pages out of sight and I miss them. I also have notifications switched off, I receive around 50 emails a day through work and I don’t want even more from Flickr. Other requests, like many other things, I just plain forget – no excuses! Uploads of Jim’s photos will be infrequent as it is a boring pastime and I would much rather work on my own output.

     

Some of you may have noticed that, unfortunately, owing to the fact that a certain person who sells truck photos on eBay commercially has been lifting my images from this album and selling them I have had to remove 2300 photos that didn't have a watermark. I have now run around 1700 through Lightroom and added a watermark with the intention of bulk uploading them again. Rather than watermark the existing (hidden) files in Flickr one at a time it will be easier to do it this way. I definitely won’t be adding individual tags with the make and model of each vehicle I will just add generic transport tags. Each photo is named after the vehicle and reg in any case. For anyone new to these images there is a chapter and verse explanation below. It is staggering how many times I get asked questions that a quick scan would answer or just as likely I can’t possibly answer – I didn’t take them, but, just to clarify-I do own the copyright- and I do pursue copyright theft.

  

This is a collection of scanned prints from a collection of photographs taken by the late Jim Taylor A number of years ago I was offered a large number of photographs taken by Jim Taylor, a transport photographer based in Huddersfield. The collection, 30,000 prints, 20,000 negatives – and copyright! – had been offered to me and one of the national transport magazines previously by a friend of Jim's, on behalf of Jim's wife. I initially turned them down, already having over 30,000 of my own prints filed away and taking space up. Several months later the prints were still for sale – at what was, apparently, the going rate. It was a lot of money and I deliberated for quite a while before deciding to buy them. I did however buy them directly from Jim’s wife and she delivered them personally – just to quash the occasional rumour from people who can’t mind their own business. Although some prints were sold elsewhere, particularly the popular big fleet stuff, I should have the negatives, unfortunately they came to me in a random mix, 1200 to a box, without any sort of indexing and as such it would be impossible to match negatives to prints, or, to even find a print of any particular vehicle. I have only ever looked at a handful myself unless I am scanning them. The prints are generally in excellent condition and I initially stored them in a bedroom without ever looking at any of them. In 2006 I built an extension and they had to be well protected from dust and moved a few times. Ultimately my former 6x7 box room office has become their (and my own work’s) permanent home.

 

I hope to avoid posting images that Jim had not taken his self, however should I inadvertently infringe another photographers copyright, please inform me by email and I will resolve the issue immediately. There are copyright issues with some of the photographs that were sold to me. A Flickr member from Scotland drew my attention to some of his own work amongst the first uploads of Jim’s work. I had a quick look through some of the 30 boxes of prints and decided that for the time being the safest thing for me to do was withdraw the majority of the earlier uploaded scans and deal with the problem – which I did. whilst the vast majority of the prints are Jims, there is a problem defining copyright of some of them, this is something that the seller did not make clear at the time. I am reasonably confident that I have since been successful in identifying Jims own work. His early work consists of many thousands of lustre 6x4 prints which are difficult to scan well, later work is almost entirely 7x5 glossy, much easier to scan. Not all of the prints are pin sharp but I can generally print successfully to A4 from a scan.

  

You may notice photographs being duplicated in this Album, unfortunately there are multiple copies of many prints (for swapping) and as I have to have a system of archiving and backing up I can only guess - using memory - if I have scanned a print before. The bigger fleets have so many similar vehicles and registration numbers that it is impossible to get it right all of the time. It is easier to scan and process a print than check my files - on three different PC’s - for duplicates. There has not been, nor will there ever be, any intention to knowingly breach anyone else's copyright. I have presented the Jim Taylor collection as exactly that-The Jim Taylor Collection- his work not mine, my own work is quite obviously mine.

 

Unfortunately, many truck spotters have swapped and traded their work without copyright marking it as theirs. These people never anticipated the ease with which images would be shared online in the future. I would guess that having swapped and traded photos for many years that it is almost impossible to control their future use. Anyone wanting to control the future use of their work would have been well advised to copyright mark their work (as many did) and would be well advised not to post them on photo sharing sites without a watermark as the whole point of these sites is to share the image, it is very easy for those that wish, to lift any image, despite security settings, indeed, Flickr itself, warns you that this is the case. It was this abuse and theft of my material that led me to watermark all of my later uploads. I may yet withdraw non-watermarked photos, I haven’t decided yet. (I did in the end)

 

To anyone reading the above it will be quite obvious that I can’t provide information regarding specific photos or potential future uploads – I didn’t take them! There are many vehicles that were well known to me as Jim only lived down the road from me (although I didn’t know him), however scanning, titling, tagging and uploading is laborious and time consuming enough, I do however provide a fair amount of information with my own transport (and other) photos. I am aware that there are requests from other Flickr users that are unanswered, I stumble across them months or years after they were posted, this isn’t deliberate. Some weekends one or two “enthusiasts” can add many hundreds of photos as favourites, this pushes requests that are in the comments section ten or twenty pages out of sight and I miss them. I also have notifications switched off, I receive around 50 emails a day through work and I don’t want even more from Flickr. Other requests, like many other things, I just plain forget – no excuses! Uploads of Jim’s photos will be infrequent as it is a boring pastime and I would much rather work on my own output.

     

Some of you may have noticed that, unfortunately, owing to the fact that a certain person who sells truck photos on eBay commercially has been lifting my images from this album and selling them I have had to remove 2300 photos that didn't have a watermark. I have now run around 1700 through Lightroom and added a watermark with the intention of bulk uploading them again. Rather than watermark the existing (hidden) files in Flickr one at a time it will be easier to do it this way. I definitely won’t be adding individual tags with the make and model of each vehicle I will just add generic transport tags. Each photo is named after the vehicle and reg in any case. For anyone new to these images there is a chapter and verse explanation below. It is staggering how many times I get asked questions that a quick scan would answer or just as likely I can’t possibly answer – I didn’t take them, but, just to clarify-I do own the copyright- and I do pursue copyright theft.

  

This is a collection of scanned prints from a collection of photographs taken by the late Jim Taylor A number of years ago I was offered a large number of photographs taken by Jim Taylor, a transport photographer based in Huddersfield. The collection, 30,000 prints, 20,000 negatives – and copyright! – had been offered to me and one of the national transport magazines previously by a friend of Jim's, on behalf of Jim's wife. I initially turned them down, already having over 30,000 of my own prints filed away and taking space up. Several months later the prints were still for sale – at what was, apparently, the going rate. It was a lot of money and I deliberated for quite a while before deciding to buy them. I did however buy them directly from Jim’s wife and she delivered them personally – just to quash the occasional rumour from people who can’t mind their own business. Although some prints were sold elsewhere, particularly the popular big fleet stuff, I should have the negatives, unfortunately they came to me in a random mix, 1200 to a box, without any sort of indexing and as such it would be impossible to match negatives to prints, or, to even find a print of any particular vehicle. I have only ever looked at a handful myself unless I am scanning them. The prints are generally in excellent condition and I initially stored them in a bedroom without ever looking at any of them. In 2006 I built an extension and they had to be well protected from dust and moved a few times. Ultimately my former 6x7 box room office has become their (and my own work’s) permanent home.

 

I hope to avoid posting images that Jim had not taken his self, however should I inadvertently infringe another photographers copyright, please inform me by email and I will resolve the issue immediately. There are copyright issues with some of the photographs that were sold to me. A Flickr member from Scotland drew my attention to some of his own work amongst the first uploads of Jim’s work. I had a quick look through some of the 30 boxes of prints and decided that for the time being the safest thing for me to do was withdraw the majority of the earlier uploaded scans and deal with the problem – which I did. whilst the vast majority of the prints are Jims, there is a problem defining copyright of some of them, this is something that the seller did not make clear at the time. I am reasonably confident that I have since been successful in identifying Jims own work. His early work consists of many thousands of lustre 6x4 prints which are difficult to scan well, later work is almost entirely 7x5 glossy, much easier to scan. Not all of the prints are pin sharp but I can generally print successfully to A4 from a scan.

  

You may notice photographs being duplicated in this Album, unfortunately there are multiple copies of many prints (for swapping) and as I have to have a system of archiving and backing up I can only guess - using memory - if I have scanned a print before. The bigger fleets have so many similar vehicles and registration numbers that it is impossible to get it right all of the time. It is easier to scan and process a print than check my files - on three different PC’s - for duplicates. There has not been, nor will there ever be, any intention to knowingly breach anyone else's copyright. I have presented the Jim Taylor collection as exactly that-The Jim Taylor Collection- his work not mine, my own work is quite obviously mine.

 

Unfortunately, many truck spotters have swapped and traded their work without copyright marking it as theirs. These people never anticipated the ease with which images would be shared online in the future. I would guess that having swapped and traded photos for many years that it is almost impossible to control their future use. Anyone wanting to control the future use of their work would have been well advised to copyright mark their work (as many did) and would be well advised not to post them on photo sharing sites without a watermark as the whole point of these sites is to share the image, it is very easy for those that wish, to lift any image, despite security settings, indeed, Flickr itself, warns you that this is the case. It was this abuse and theft of my material that led me to watermark all of my later uploads. I may yet withdraw non-watermarked photos, I haven’t decided yet. (I did in the end)

 

To anyone reading the above it will be quite obvious that I can’t provide information regarding specific photos or potential future uploads – I didn’t take them! There are many vehicles that were well known to me as Jim only lived down the road from me (although I didn’t know him), however scanning, titling, tagging and uploading is laborious and time consuming enough, I do however provide a fair amount of information with my own transport (and other) photos. I am aware that there are requests from other Flickr users that are unanswered, I stumble across them months or years after they were posted, this isn’t deliberate. Some weekends one or two “enthusiasts” can add many hundreds of photos as favourites, this pushes requests that are in the comments section ten or twenty pages out of sight and I miss them. I also have notifications switched off, I receive around 50 emails a day through work and I don’t want even more from Flickr. Other requests, like many other things, I just plain forget – no excuses! Uploads of Jim’s photos will be infrequent as it is a boring pastime and I would much rather work on my own output.

     

Permit Number :KL66/33/2003

Permit Owner:JOHNY EDASSERY

Permit Owner Address: EDASSERY, KALADY

 

Cochin KL 36 D 3911

 

COMBAYAR 04:45

NEDUMKANDAM BUS STAND 05:00

CHERUTHONI BUS STAND 06:30

NERIAMANGALAM 08:20

KOTHAMANGALAM 09:00 - 09:03

PERUMBAVOOR 09:38 - 09:41

ERNAKULAM 10:51

 

ERNAKULAM 11:24

PERUMBAVOOR 12:34 -12:46

KOTHAMANGALAM 01:21 - 01:30

NERIAMANGALAM 02:10

CHERUTHONI BUS STAND 04:00

KATTAPPANA BUS STAND 05:05 - 05:15

NEDUMKANDAM BUS STAND 06:10 - 06:30

COMBAYAR 06:45

  

Item No.17

 

Heard. The learned counsel represented for the applicant . This is an application filed for the renewal of regular permit of S/C KL 63 D 3911 on the route Kumily Ernakulam Via Kattappana, Cheruthoni, Neendapara, Kothamangalam,

Perumbavoor, NGO Quarters, Palarivattom, Kaloor as LSOS for a period of 5 Years from 27/06/2015.The regular permit of S/C KL 63 D 3911 was valid upto26/06/2015 as Super Fast Service On 24/11/2015 the permit holder applied for

variation of permit as LSOS and for a temporary permit as per G.O(ms) 45/2015/Trans dated 20/08/2015 and temporary permit is allowed as LSOS.

 

As per the interim order of Hon.Highcourt of Kerala in WP(c) No.18062/2017(g) dated 31/05/2017 in which Hon.Court directing Sec.RTA Idukki that status quo with regards to the re-issue of Temporary Permit application should be

maintained untrammeled by G.O(P) No.6/2017/Tran dated 15/03/2017 and the same was issued. The permit holder has submitted a request for re-consider the renewal application. In the light of the several judgment of Honarable High Court

of Kerala( quashing the clause (4) of the modified scheme,8/2017 dated 23/03/2017) there is no legal impediment to renew this regular permit since it is

issued prior to 09-05-2006 . There is no need for any concurrence from sister RTAs for renewal of permit.

 

Hence Renewal of permit granted subject to clearance of Government dues and NOC from the financier if applicable.

Urbex Benelux -

 

An uninhabitable property is inventoried . If it concerns a rental property, both the tenant and the landlord will be informed. The lease can then be annulled by the justice of the peace. It is of course the intention that the landlord carries out work as quickly as possible to make the house habitable again. This usually has to be done within one year if no building permit is required, and within three years if works are required that do require a building permit. After the works, the landlord must substantiate everything with photos and invoices. A new investigation will follow to quash the unfitness or uninhabitability.

Time pressure quashes creativity because it limits people's freedom to ponder different options and directions.

I really have no idea what this is. I just got bored and spent the last few hours playing around. I kind of like it though.

Condoms and skittles handed out by the Spectrum Center at the annual Engineering Advising Center (EAC) Welcome Day event on the North Campus Diag on September 2, 2014.

 

With welcome week effectively truncated to a welcome weekend by the university, there were worries about attendance of the event. These worries were eventually quashed by a large turnout as freshmen and other undergraduates stopped between classes to speak with various organizations, eat ice cream, and enjoy performances by student groups.

19.02.18 - The site of the former Kirkcaldy Bus Depot. it consisted latterly of two buildings dating from 1930 and 1936. The depot went through many era's of the local bus industry from W Alexander & Sons (Fife) to Fife Scottish (SBG) and then into Stagecoach Ownership. It closed some years ago and has been left in a state of deterioration. It was hoped that it would form the basis of a Hovercraft terminal but sadly those plan were quashed after The City of Edinburgh Council refused planning permission at their end.

 

A sad day for Kirkcaldy, only memories remain, 1930-2018.

Metroline retained route 7 under tender, with the new contract starting on 21st June.

 

When the successful bid was announced there was speculation that route 7, as one of the last Routemaster-operated routes, would be a prime candidate for the New Bus for London; however as with route 13 last year this speculation was soon quashed with the announcement that the new buses would be Volvo B5LH hybrids with the new Wright Gemini 3 bodywork. These started to arrive slightly after the start of the new contract and the buses have been steadily entering service during July.

 

VWH2001, the first of the batch, is seen at on a sunny Monday 28th July, showing the distinctive restyled rear end of the new Gemini 3 bodywork.

Some of you may have noticed that, unfortunately, owing to the fact that a certain person who sells truck photos on eBay commercially has been lifting my images from this album and selling them I have had to remove 2300 photos that didn't have a watermark. I have now run around 1700 through Lightroom and added a watermark with the intention of bulk uploading them again. Rather than watermark the existing (hidden) files in Flickr one at a time it will be easier to do it this way. I definitely won’t be adding individual tags with the make and model of each vehicle I will just add generic transport tags. Each photo is named after the vehicle and reg in any case. For anyone new to these images there is a chapter and verse explanation below. It is staggering how many times I get asked questions that a quick scan would answer or just as likely I can’t possibly answer – I didn’t take them, but, just to clarify-I do own the copyright- and I do pursue copyright theft.

  

This is a collection of scanned prints from a collection of photographs taken by the late Jim Taylor A number of years ago I was offered a large number of photographs taken by Jim Taylor, a transport photographer based in Huddersfield. The collection, 30,000 prints, 20,000 negatives – and copyright! – had been offered to me and one of the national transport magazines previously by a friend of Jim's, on behalf of Jim's wife. I initially turned them down, already having over 30,000 of my own prints filed away and taking space up. Several months later the prints were still for sale – at what was, apparently, the going rate. It was a lot of money and I deliberated for quite a while before deciding to buy them. I did however buy them directly from Jim’s wife and she delivered them personally – just to quash the occasional rumour from people who can’t mind their own business. Although some prints were sold elsewhere, particularly the popular big fleet stuff, I should have the negatives, unfortunately they came to me in a random mix, 1200 to a box, without any sort of indexing and as such it would be impossible to match negatives to prints, or, to even find a print of any particular vehicle. I have only ever looked at a handful myself unless I am scanning them. The prints are generally in excellent condition and I initially stored them in a bedroom without ever looking at any of them. In 2006 I built an extension and they had to be well protected from dust and moved a few times. Ultimately my former 6x7 box room office has become their (and my own work’s) permanent home.

 

I hope to avoid posting images that Jim had not taken his self, however should I inadvertently infringe another photographers copyright, please inform me by email and I will resolve the issue immediately. There are copyright issues with some of the photographs that were sold to me. A Flickr member from Scotland drew my attention to some of his own work amongst the first uploads of Jim’s work. I had a quick look through some of the 30 boxes of prints and decided that for the time being the safest thing for me to do was withdraw the majority of the earlier uploaded scans and deal with the problem – which I did. whilst the vast majority of the prints are Jims, there is a problem defining copyright of some of them, this is something that the seller did not make clear at the time. I am reasonably confident that I have since been successful in identifying Jims own work. His early work consists of many thousands of lustre 6x4 prints which are difficult to scan well, later work is almost entirely 7x5 glossy, much easier to scan. Not all of the prints are pin sharp but I can generally print successfully to A4 from a scan.

  

You may notice photographs being duplicated in this Album, unfortunately there are multiple copies of many prints (for swapping) and as I have to have a system of archiving and backing up I can only guess - using memory - if I have scanned a print before. The bigger fleets have so many similar vehicles and registration numbers that it is impossible to get it right all of the time. It is easier to scan and process a print than check my files - on three different PC’s - for duplicates. There has not been, nor will there ever be, any intention to knowingly breach anyone else's copyright. I have presented the Jim Taylor collection as exactly that-The Jim Taylor Collection- his work not mine, my own work is quite obviously mine.

 

Unfortunately, many truck spotters have swapped and traded their work without copyright marking it as theirs. These people never anticipated the ease with which images would be shared online in the future. I would guess that having swapped and traded photos for many years that it is almost impossible to control their future use. Anyone wanting to control the future use of their work would have been well advised to copyright mark their work (as many did) and would be well advised not to post them on photo sharing sites without a watermark as the whole point of these sites is to share the image, it is very easy for those that wish, to lift any image, despite security settings, indeed, Flickr itself, warns you that this is the case. It was this abuse and theft of my material that led me to watermark all of my later uploads. I may yet withdraw non-watermarked photos, I haven’t decided yet. (I did in the end)

 

To anyone reading the above it will be quite obvious that I can’t provide information regarding specific photos or potential future uploads – I didn’t take them! There are many vehicles that were well known to me as Jim only lived down the road from me (although I didn’t know him), however scanning, titling, tagging and uploading is laborious and time consuming enough, I do however provide a fair amount of information with my own transport (and other) photos. I am aware that there are requests from other Flickr users that are unanswered, I stumble across them months or years after they were posted, this isn’t deliberate. Some weekends one or two “enthusiasts” can add many hundreds of photos as favourites, this pushes requests that are in the comments section ten or twenty pages out of sight and I miss them. I also have notifications switched off, I receive around 50 emails a day through work and I don’t want even more from Flickr. Other requests, like many other things, I just plain forget – no excuses! Uploads of Jim’s photos will be infrequent as it is a boring pastime and I would much rather work on my own output.

     

Edward Denny was the son of the courtier Sir Anthony Denny and Jane Champerknowne, sister of Elizabeth I's governess and lifetime surrogate mother, Katherine Ashley.

 

It is possible that Sir Anthony named his son after his royal ward, Edward VI. Both parents died while Edward was still a child and he was left, apparently, in the guardianship of his mother's executor, John Tamworth. Sir Anthony made sure his son would be well looked after by leaving him certain lands in Hertfordshire.

 

Edward Denny's first public appointment seems to have been as 'Receiver General of the counties of Southampton, Wilts, and Gloucester', but early in 1573 he was directed by Elizabeth I to go to Northern Ireland on an expedition formed by Walter Devereux, Earl of Essex to 'reduce' the turbulent district of Clannaboy, in Ulster, and install English settlers. The Earl's mission was constantly delayed and Denny, having sold his stock and part of his revenue to raise the £400 needed to 'furnish' himself for the trip, drew heavily on that amount while waiting in London to depart for Ireland. The ill-fated expedition finally set off in the summer of 1574, but for various reasons it turned out to be a complete failure.

 

Denny then appears to have done some 'privateering' on his own account, first by capturing a Spanish ship in 1577, and in 1578 taking a Flemish ship, the 'Tennen', off of Portland. That same year he joined a colonising venture to America under the leadership of Sir Humphrey Gilbert and his step-brother Walter Raleigh, both of whom were sons of his mother's sister Catherine and, consequently, his first cousins. But this expedition of discovery, initiated by Gilbert and sanctioned by Elizabeth, was also a failure. One ship turned for home through lack of supplies after just two days, and two months later the remaining ships headed back to Plymouth after being severly hampered by storms, mutinees, sickness, and the deaths of many crew members.

 

In Jul 1580, both Denny and his cousin, Walter Raleigh, were put in charge of two hundred soldiers and sent to Ireland to put down the rebellion of the Earl of Desmond. Their fee was £100 each, but in Sep that year Denny was already expressing his dissatisfaction with the task. In a letter to his cousin, Sir Francis Walsingham, he wrote:

 

'I find alreadie my Ireland journey will rather decaie me quite, than amend me anything, and for this kind of service it is so graceless, so devoid of reputation – in respect of the service never seen; but it happens still in boggs, glinnes and woods, as in my opinion it might better fit mastives than brave gentlemen that desier to win honour'

 

Denny went on to say in his letter that he would only stay on in Ireland because of the love he bore towards Lord Grey. At that time Arthur, Lord Grey de Wilton was the newly appointed Lord Deputy of Ireland – a close friend of Denny and connected to him by marriage.

 

In Nov that year he was finally able to account for himself at Smerwick Bay when he assisted Lord Grey in the siege of Fort del Ore, held by a large body of Italian and Spanish mercenaries who were assisting the Irish rebellion. Denny and his company fought off four counter-attacks by the besieged mercenaries and eventually took their unconditional surrender.

 

For this action he was highly commended by Lord Grey and given the honour of delivering his dispatch announcing the capture of the fort to the Queen. In the Autumn of 1581 Denny was put in command of another expedition to Ireland, this time to quash the rebellious O'Tooles who held the mountains near Dublin. His success was such that he returned to England later that year with the head of their chieftain, Garret O'Toole, and the following Jan received formal thanks for his services from the Queen and Council.

Denny then seems to have been frequently employed by the Queen as her private messenger, and it was at court, in 1582, that he met Margaret Edgecumbe. She came from the ancient family of Edgecumbes of Mount Edgecumbe in Cornwall, daughter of Piers Edgecumbe MP, and Margaret Luttrell, whose own mother was a descendant of Edward I, and second cousin to both Catherine Howard and Anne Boleyn. At the age of 18 Margaret became a Maid of Honour to the Queen and within five years was one her majesty’s favourites.

 

Her acquaintance at court with Edward Denny led to marriage in 1583, or early the following year, and as a wedding present the Queen obtained from Richard, Bishop of London, a 21-year lease on Rectory Manor House to be assigned to Sir Edward.

 

In 1584, Denny made a bid for a seat in parliament as a knight of the shire but was defeated in the election. Afterwards he reverted to his interests in Hertfordshire, but in 1587 was granted possession of the castle at Tralee in southern Ireland, along with its six thousand acres of rich land, at a charge of £100 per annum payable to the Crown. This was part of Queen Elizabeth's plan to improve England’s control of Ireland, and thousands of acres of land in Munster belonging to the Earl of Desmond were confiscated (including the castle of Tralee which had been the Desmonds chief seat for nearly 400 years). Also Sir Walter Raleigh (he was knighted in 1585) and otthers received land.

 

In 1588 Denny's previous service in Ireland was rewarded when Sir William Fitzwilliam, the Lord Deputy of Ireland, dubbed him Knight Banneret of Bishop’s Stortford. In that year the Spanish Armada was beaten off and any remaining ships chased into the North Sea where they continued to sail around the coast of Scotland in a desperate attempt to get back to Spain. A violent storm near Tralee caused that most of the ships were wrecked and Edward’s wife, Margaret, ably assisted in capturing many Spaniards.

 

Sir Edward, by this time High Sheriff of County Kerry, had been in Dublin at the time of the incident but a neighbouring Englishmen, Sir William Herbert, accused him of seizing for himself the treasure of the Duke of Medina Sidonia, cast up by the wreck of the Spanish High Admiral’s flag-ship near Tralee. To allay the situation Sir Richard Bingham, Governor of the Province of Connaught, offered to resign his office in favour of Denny taking his position. An agreement between them was struck and the details later confirmed before Lord Deputy Fitzwilliam.

 

Denny then returned to England to gain consent for the unopposed position of Governor but never took up the post and was soon back serving in Northern Ireland. From there he returned to Kerry and shortly after sailed for England with his wife and young family aboard a ship captained by George Clifford, Earl of Cumberland, who had put in at Dingle to take on water and provisions on his return from the Azores.

 

In 1591, at the Queen’s command, Sir Edward was employed on naval service as commander of relief ships sent to Admiral Lord Thomas Howard, at that time in the Azores looking for Spanish treasure ships.

 

But by now the Munster plantation in Ireland had proved a failure, and on his return to dry land Sir Edward found his property at Tralee had become an unprofitable burden on his resources. His debt in non-payment of rent to the Exchequer was substantial, but with friends in ‘high places’ the debt was waived in 1592.

 

A further bid for parliament in 1593 resulted in yet another defeat, this time by a protégée of Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester. Despite this, his ambition was finally realised in 1595 when he became MP for a Cornish borough – coincidently the same county from which both his mother and wife had originated. It would seem, though, that his finances were not all they should have been at this time and that Elizabeth probably gave him a helping hand. Records of 1595 show that the deceased Bishop of London made, 'by her majesty's appointment', a 'gratification' of £500 out of Starford [sic] to Sir Edward Denny, and on 17 Oct that same year an assignment was made to him of the Manor of Stortford to take effect on 5 Nov 1614. Such a 'gift' would certainly have made him financially secure in old age.

  

But in 1598 Edward’s Irish estate was lost to the rebellious Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone, and on 12 Feb 1599 he died, aged 52, from what was said to be a sickness acquired while 'in his countrie's service's' [sic]. His body was laid to rest at Waltham Abbey church in Essex – near to his birthplace – and Margaret had a stately monument erected within the church to his memory.

 

Due to events between the year they were married and his death in Feb 1599, it’s possible the Dennys never actually lived in Rectory manor house as a couple. Margaret Denny isn’t recorded as taking up residence until 1600 – the year administration of the property was granted to her – but she did continued to live there for the next 48 years.

 

In 1614 her brother’s son, Thomas Edgecumbe, died in Rectory manor house, and in 1642 she gave shelter to her grandson’s widow (Lady Ruth Denny) and her seven children after they fled the Rebellion in Ireland.

 

That same year saw the start of the English Civil War (1642–1646) and soon after the first major conflict at Edgehill, King Charles I came to Bishop’s Stortford to visit Margaret Denny at this house. In recognition of her loyalty and that of her family, he gave her a charter of protection, signed and dated 19 Dec 1642, which read:

 

'Our will and pleasure is, and we do hereby signifi, charge and commande all our Colonels, Lieutenant-Colonels and Captains, and all their officers and souldiers of our army whatever, that they shall not do, or suffer to be done any act of force or violence, or offer any interruption or disturbance whatever to the Lady Denny, her Family, goods, or Manor House, being Stortford Manor House or parsonage, in the parish of Stortford, in our county of Hertford. Herein fail you not, as you would incur our heartiest displeasure, and will every one of you answer at your uttermost peril'

 

Margaret died on 24 Apr 1648, aged 88. After the expense of taking in and caring for her grandson’s widow and seven children in 1642, she abandoned her original wish to be buried alongside her husband at Waltham Abbey and requested in her will that ‘cost be spared and my body be buried in Stortford Chauncell’.

 

The above text is taken, in part, from 'Biography of Sir Edward Denny' compiled for the 'Hertfordshire Directory of Biography' by Rev H.L.L. Denny BA, 1905.

Some of you may have noticed that, unfortunately, owing to the fact that a certain person who sells truck photos on eBay commercially has been lifting my images from this album and selling them I have had to remove 2300 photos that didn't have a watermark. I have now run around 1700 through Lightroom and added a watermark with the intention of bulk uploading them again. Rather than watermark the existing (hidden) files in Flickr one at a time it will be easier to do it this way. I definitely won’t be adding individual tags with the make and model of each vehicle I will just add generic transport tags. Each photo is named after the vehicle and reg in any case. For anyone new to these images there is a chapter and verse explanation below. It is staggering how many times I get asked questions that a quick scan would answer or just as likely I can’t possibly answer – I didn’t take them, but, just to clarify-I do own the copyright- and I do pursue copyright theft.

  

This is a collection of scanned prints from a collection of photographs taken by the late Jim Taylor A number of years ago I was offered a large number of photographs taken by Jim Taylor, a transport photographer based in Huddersfield. The collection, 30,000 prints, 20,000 negatives – and copyright! – had been offered to me and one of the national transport magazines previously by a friend of Jim's, on behalf of Jim's wife. I initially turned them down, already having over 30,000 of my own prints filed away and taking space up. Several months later the prints were still for sale – at what was, apparently, the going rate. It was a lot of money and I deliberated for quite a while before deciding to buy them. I did however buy them directly from Jim’s wife and she delivered them personally – just to quash the occasional rumour from people who can’t mind their own business. Although some prints were sold elsewhere, particularly the popular big fleet stuff, I should have the negatives, unfortunately they came to me in a random mix, 1200 to a box, without any sort of indexing and as such it would be impossible to match negatives to prints, or, to even find a print of any particular vehicle. I have only ever looked at a handful myself unless I am scanning them. The prints are generally in excellent condition and I initially stored them in a bedroom without ever looking at any of them. In 2006 I built an extension and they had to be well protected from dust and moved a few times. Ultimately my former 6x7 box room office has become their (and my own work’s) permanent home.

 

I hope to avoid posting images that Jim had not taken his self, however should I inadvertently infringe another photographers copyright, please inform me by email and I will resolve the issue immediately. There are copyright issues with some of the photographs that were sold to me. A Flickr member from Scotland drew my attention to some of his own work amongst the first uploads of Jim’s work. I had a quick look through some of the 30 boxes of prints and decided that for the time being the safest thing for me to do was withdraw the majority of the earlier uploaded scans and deal with the problem – which I did. whilst the vast majority of the prints are Jims, there is a problem defining copyright of some of them, this is something that the seller did not make clear at the time. I am reasonably confident that I have since been successful in identifying Jims own work. His early work consists of many thousands of lustre 6x4 prints which are difficult to scan well, later work is almost entirely 7x5 glossy, much easier to scan. Not all of the prints are pin sharp but I can generally print successfully to A4 from a scan.

  

You may notice photographs being duplicated in this Album, unfortunately there are multiple copies of many prints (for swapping) and as I have to have a system of archiving and backing up I can only guess - using memory - if I have scanned a print before. The bigger fleets have so many similar vehicles and registration numbers that it is impossible to get it right all of the time. It is easier to scan and process a print than check my files - on three different PC’s - for duplicates. There has not been, nor will there ever be, any intention to knowingly breach anyone else's copyright. I have presented the Jim Taylor collection as exactly that-The Jim Taylor Collection- his work not mine, my own work is quite obviously mine.

 

Unfortunately, many truck spotters have swapped and traded their work without copyright marking it as theirs. These people never anticipated the ease with which images would be shared online in the future. I would guess that having swapped and traded photos for many years that it is almost impossible to control their future use. Anyone wanting to control the future use of their work would have been well advised to copyright mark their work (as many did) and would be well advised not to post them on photo sharing sites without a watermark as the whole point of these sites is to share the image, it is very easy for those that wish, to lift any image, despite security settings, indeed, Flickr itself, warns you that this is the case. It was this abuse and theft of my material that led me to watermark all of my later uploads. I may yet withdraw non-watermarked photos, I haven’t decided yet. (I did in the end)

 

To anyone reading the above it will be quite obvious that I can’t provide information regarding specific photos or potential future uploads – I didn’t take them! There are many vehicles that were well known to me as Jim only lived down the road from me (although I didn’t know him), however scanning, titling, tagging and uploading is laborious and time consuming enough, I do however provide a fair amount of information with my own transport (and other) photos. I am aware that there are requests from other Flickr users that are unanswered, I stumble across them months or years after they were posted, this isn’t deliberate. Some weekends one or two “enthusiasts” can add many hundreds of photos as favourites, this pushes requests that are in the comments section ten or twenty pages out of sight and I miss them. I also have notifications switched off, I receive around 50 emails a day through work and I don’t want even more from Flickr. Other requests, like many other things, I just plain forget – no excuses! Uploads of Jim’s photos will be infrequent as it is a boring pastime and I would much rather work on my own output.

     

I've a similar picture to this from last year's trip but this time I used the 430EX II on camera left to bring out more detail in the stone.

 

We brought sandwiches and rolls to the beach to have a picnic but after getting there we saw a burger van which quashed all notions of eating what we brought.

 

Dingle, Co.Kerry

Permit Number :KL66/38/1996

Permit Owner: K T Thomas

Permit Owner Address: Kondodickal House Umpidi P O

KOTTAYAM

 

CUMBUMMETTU 07:50

KUMILY BUS STND 09:00 - 09:14

MUNDAKAYAM 11:15

PONKUNNAM BUS STAND 11:55

CHANGANASSERY 01:05

 

CHANGANASSERY 02:59

PONKUNNAM BUS STAND 04:09

MUNDAKAYAM 04:49

KUMILY BUS STND 06:50

CUMBUMMETTU 08:00

  

Item No.26

Heard. The learned counsel represented for the applicant .This is an application for renewal of regular permit in respect of the S/C KL-33-E-5760 on the route Nedumkandam - Kottayam (Via)Thookupalam Kochara, Puttady, Kumily, Mundakayam, Ponkunnam, Kottayam, Gandhinagar as LSOS.The application for renewal of regular

permit was rejected by RTA on 21/03/2013 vide tem No.42 since the route length is above 140kms. Honorable STAT in MP No.577/13 in MVAA 186/13 has directed to reissue temporary permit until final orders are passed in this MVAA. So Temporary permit u/s 87(1)d was being issued by Secretary, RTA. The. Govt. has amended vide GO(P)

6/17 rule 2(oa) of KMV rule and as per the amended rule the maximum route length is 140 kms. So the permit holder has filed WP( C) and submitted interim order dtd.14/07/2017 of Honorable High Court directing to issue Temporary Permit

untrammeled by GO(P) 6/17 and 8/17. Hence Secretary RTA has re-issued the Temporary Permit for the period up to 13/03/2019. There is no changes in the existing

timings. Also filed for reconsider the renewal of regular permit in respect of this stage carriage the S/C KL-33-E-5760 for a period of 5 years.from 19/01/2015 to 18/01/2020.

 

RTA Idukki dated 29/01/2015 considered this application and sought concurrence from RTA Kottayam. There is no need for any concurrence from sister RTAs for renewal of permit In the light of the several judgment of Honarable High Court of Kerala( quashing the clause (4) of the modified scheme,8/2017 dated 23/03/2017) there is no legal impediment to renew this regular permit since it is issued prior to 09-05-2006 . Hence

Renewal of permit granted subject to clearance of Government dues and NOC from the financier if applicable.

Here's where the confusion got started. At a Ground Elapsed Time of 00:05:30 into the mission, Al Shepard (Capcom in Mercury Control) informs Glenn that the first "quick look" data from the downrange tracking stations indicates he has more than enough velocity to remain in orbit for the planned duration of his three orbit flight. This is done to free up the astronaut to begin his orbital operations, instead of making preparations for an immediate return to earth. The Atlas was just barely powerful enough to orbit the Mercury spacecraft...IF it performed at maximum efficiency. There was always a concern that some small discrepancy in booster performance could result in a lower speed or altitude than was required. Therefore, the mission rules called for an immediate Go/No-Go decision to be passed to the pilot, right after the data came in from the tracking stations on the Atlantic Missile Range. In the case of Atlas 109-D, the velocity margin was wide enough to state that, with no retrofire, Friendship Seven would orbit at least seven times, before the orbit decayed enough to institute a fall back to earth. As shown in the first document in this image series, the MA-6 mission was NEVER planned for more than three orbits.

 

Once "The Right Stuff" wrongfully told the public that Glenn's mission had been cut short, this UTTERLY FALSE piece of Hollywood nonsense has become accepted as fact.

 

PLEASE HELP TO QUASH THIS BS, whenever someone repeats it to you. History needs to be based on fact, not Hollywood fantasy.

Berkeley Bowl has been selling these mini seedless watermelons lately. Do all watermelons have this trilateral symmetry and I've just cut them along a different axis in the past? Have I ever actually cut a watermelon myself before?

 

Just posting this because I'm not finished gathering my other photos to post yet, and because I read something about the Canon 5D Mark IV high-ISO performance today, and this photo has me thinking about it. Of course, there's no reason I couldn't have taken this better with a tripod, but once food is ready to eat, it's hard to take the time to setup a mini studio.

 

The thing I read was DPReview's article on the improved dynamic range of the 5D IV. Judging from the Studio Scene Comparison Tool (or whatever it's called), it looks like the 5D IV has a 1-2 stop advantage over the 5D II.

 

I say 1 to 2 because it appears to depend somewhat on the light levels you're working with and your goal in post-processing.

 

I eyeball a 1-stop advantage in "quantity" of noise: a 5D IV at ISO 12,800 should be roughly equivalent to a 5D II at ISO 6400 (which setting I judge, as Canon does, the acceptable limit). This is great, as I've been looking over my shots at ISO 6400+ from Hawaii and before, and none of them are quite there - either because of too much noise or not enough shutter speed (and therefore motion blur).

 

Even better, though, is that, with the 5D IV's sensor, Canon appears to have finally quashed its pattern noise demons. This has been an annoyance for me ever since my first Canon Digital Rebel in 2005, so it's about time. According to DPReview, we have to thank for this Canon's belated adoption of on-chip A/D conversion (which Sony and Nikon have been using for some time now), and the consequent drastic reduction in read noise. With their new Dual Pixel sensors Canon is finally playing in the Big Leagues with Nikon and Sony again. And I remember a time when, sensor-wise, Canon was in a league of its own ...in a good way.

 

What this translates to, according to DPReview, is up to two stops more RAW exposure latitude than was possible with the 5D Mark II. Considering just low-light applications for a moment, that is the difference between a motion-blurred 1/13s ISO 6400 and a reasonably sharp 1/50s ISO 25600 or, even better, 1/50s ISO 6400 shot pushed two stops in post with more highlights preserved.

 

In bright light, the possibilities are also profound. Whether it's because a shot is strongly backlit and a flash won't work for whatever reason, or because many lenses tend to vignette on the order of 3-4 stops wide open, there are many cases where 3 or 4 stops of shadow brightening can make or break even daylight shots.

 

So call me officially intrigued now by the new 5D IV. It is still several rungs down on my upgrade priority list (after my tablet, phone, home theater, and walkaround lens), but this is just one of several improvements over the Mark II that have me salivating.

 

Or maybe it's just looking at that watermelon.

I woke at six after a fairly good night's sleep. Had a shower, got dressed and went down for breakfast, hoping to meet more old colleagues.

 

There are at least three and a half thousand current and former RAF Armourers, so the chance of meeting more I knew during the day seemed high.

 

As it was, there was just one other person in the semi-dark restaurant. And although there was food, it was limp and barely warm. Still, it was included in the cost of the room, so I filled by boots with fruit, yogurt, sausage and bacon, and a croissant with one of the four cups of coffee I had.

 

We were due to meet at half twelve, meaning I had maybe three hours to fill.

 

With churches.

 

The Church Conservation Trust is a great organisation, and their churches, although redundant, are open ten to four daily.

 

There was one less than ten miles away, so it was there I drove first. Out of Burton, going against the heavy traffic which tailed back some two miles over the series of roundabouts and traffic lights.

 

Back into the country, and down another dead end lane to Streeton-en-le-Field.

 

A heavy dew lay on the ground, and parkland stretched back towards Burton. Trees stood still against the blue sky, again their foliage, though mostly green, was turning golden brown at the edges of their leaves.

 

I walk through the churchyard, into the porch and pushed the door. It opened though I was twenty minutes early, but that was because the door had been forced and the lock broken.

 

Sigh.

 

Though no damage had been done, at least to my eyes, it is a shame that people treat our historic buildings thus.

 

I take my shots of the building. It must have been quite ruinous at some point recently, as windows had been blocked up, and the chancel arch rebuilt too using the same simple stones.

 

Functional, but not pretty.

 

Once done, I went back to the car and programmed the National Memorial Arboretum, 12 miles away, and set off.

 

At least I was lead across country. Maybe, I thought, I might pass a church or two on the way.

 

The road wiggled through the countryside, but came in time to a leafy village called Lullington. The handsome church overlooked the village green, the phone box now a library of sorts.

 

I parked and went to try the church door. It was locked, but on the board there was a named keyholder, so I called and Mrs Cooper said I could have the key, she lived in the long white building opposite.

 

It was almost a mansion, and her handyman was tending her flower beds. I went to knock, but he asked me what I wanted, and when I explained he went inside to pick up the key and hand it to me.

 

The church, although handsome, held no great treasures, though is obviously loved, with knitted flowers woven into garlands over the lychgate arch and the arch of the porch. It was only when close could I see the flowers were knitted.

 

When I returned the key, the bloke asked what I did (with the photos).

 

I explained, and then told me in a broad Midlands accent two double barrelled named churches nearby that were good. I didn't catch their real name, but a third sounded easy enough: Haw Cross.

 

But it wasn't Haw Cross or Hawcross.

 

Nor was it Haugh Cross.

 

It was Hoar Cross.

 

I found that on the sat nav and set off back in the general direction of Burton. Which was perfect.

 

I was lead across the Wolds, along at one point a narrow lane that went straight as an arrow for five miles, over a series of blind summits, through woods until it came to a junction, just shy of Hoar Cross.

 

Into Hoar Cross, past the pub on the crossroads with the finest pre-warboys finger post I have ever seen, though I didn't stop for shots as I was in a hurry: it was five past eleven and I hadn't found the church.

 

I went north, east and west out of the village and saw no sign of a church or a church lane.

 

And then, on the hill overlooking the village, I saw a tower. Modern, well, 20th century perhaps, but a church, and just a hundred yards beyond where I had turned round.

 

Holy Angels sits beside what counts as the main road in those parts, what little traffic there is motors past. But beyond a Boston Ivy overed wall and brick lychgate, the church rises, impressive in the autumn sunshine.

 

Inside it is stunning. Grade I listed, beloved by Betjeman and the highest of high Anglican churches.

 

I only had a matter of minutes, but this is a seriously impressive church: full of light, he smell of incense lingering, stations of the cross on all outside walls, and as a whole church, is nearly as impressive as Cheadle.

 

Nearly.

 

I hated to leave, but I had twenty minutes before I was due to be at the Arboretum.

 

Down the main street, onto an A road, doubling back towards Burton, then picking up signs directing the way, over a main road and railway, across some marshes and there it was.

 

Packed.

 

The parking ticket I bought had said sternly not to arrive before your allotted time. Many knew better and ignored this, so the main car park was full, so had to use the overflow beside the landfill site, then walk back.

 

Inside the main building a table had been set up for those attending. I signed in, and received a program and small token. I looked around.

 

No one I knew.

 

Still.

 

I bought a drink, sat outside and dozens of people around me and more arriving had our trade tie on, or the waistcoat. Some in uniform too, still serving.

 

But no one I knew.

 

I ambled down to the site of the ceremony, more folks milling around. Still no one I knew.

 

I took shots and enjoyed the moment.

 

I spied one person I know, another Ian, so I went and we shook hands. He also knew few folks. We chatted and caught up on a decade and a half's news since we last met in Lincoln.

 

Mark arrived.

 

He was nervous, as he was the play The Last Post (Taps) prior to the two minute's silence, so he went off to practice quietly, if quiet is a thing you do to a bugle.

 

One more person I know, though many others knew dozens of other attendees.

 

A serving Sergeant saw my camera and asked if I would supply him with shots for BFBS, so I did my best. But there were so many people getting a clear view was impossible.

 

At one, half an hour late, the ceremony began, with a former CO of mine doing the introductions before an Air Commodore, ex-Armourer, read the dedication covering a history of the trade and how family-like our trade is:

 

"Ladies and gentlemen, distinguished guests, colleagues, and friends, It’s a real privilege to speak to you today about a group of professionals whose contribution to the Royal Air Force has been, AND REMAINS, vital and that is the Royal Air Force Armourer. Versatile, ingenious and relentlessly loyal, the Armourer is a strange creature! From the forward edge of the battle line disposing of bombs and munitions, to the comfortable warmth of the armoury and bay, through the enduring domination of the line hut amongst the lesser trades to the demands of the bomb dump, we are unique and ferociously proud bunch.

 

From the earliest days of the RAF in 1918, through two world wars, the Cold War, and across every conflict through to the 21st century, Armourers have stood at the sharp end of conflict —enabling decisive and battle winning Air Power and combat effect when called upon.

 

That history is marked around us today, in this most important and impressive National Memorial Arboretum. And it is against this backdrop that I felt it worth taking a moment to

reflect on our history, highlight our evolution, and celebrate the critical role armourers continues to play in the modern RAF.

 

The story of the RAF Armourer begins even before the Royal Air Force itself. In the First World War, the Royal Flying Corps and Royal Naval Air Service employed men trained to handle and maintain machine guns, bombs, and ammunition fitted to fragile biplanes.

 

When the RAF was founded in April 1918, as the world’s first independent air force, the need for dedicated tradesmen to manage weapons was clear. Early aircraft such as the Sopwith Camel carried Lewis or Vickers guns, with bombs literally dropped by hand in some cases. Armourers were the ones who kept those weapons firing, safe, and effective. More importantly it was the crafty and ingenious armourer who created new and novel ways to win the fight.

They weren’t just technicians; they were pioneers in a new form of warfare.

 

They had to innovate, often under fire, solving problems that had never been faced before in aviation history.

By the time of the Second World War, the role of Armourers had grown enormously. The RAF’s bomber fleets—Wellingtons, Lancasters, Halifax’s—and its fighters—Spitfires, Hurricanes, and later Tempests and Typhoons—all relied on Armourers.

 

It was the Armourers who loaded the .303 Browning machine guns on the Battle of Britain’s fighters, often working under pressure, at night, and in all weather. It was the Armourers who fitted the bombs, sometimes Grand Slam and Blockbuster bombs into the belly of the heavy bombers before raids over occupied Europe. And it was Armourers who adapted quickly to new technology, such as rockets and early guided weapons.

 

Perhaps what is most striking from this era is the relentless pace. A returning Lancaster would land, the aircrew would debrief, and the Armourers would already be preparing it for the next mission. They worked under blackout conditions, often with little rest, knowing that the success of the next sortie depended on their skill and dedication.

 

After 1945, as Britain entered the nuclear age, the Armourer’s trade evolved again. The RAF was now responsible for weapons of unprecedented destructive power. Armourers were trained to handle and prepare nuclear bombs such as Blue Danube and WE.177, as well as conventional ordnance.

 

The Cold War also saw the introduction of jet aircraft like the Vulcan, Lightning, and later the Tornado. With these came new weapons—air-to-air missiles, precision-guided bombs, and

electronic countermeasures. Armourers had to adapt constantly, mastering advanced technologies while never losing sight of the basics: safety, reliability, and effectiveness.

 

This period also saw the RAF Armourer community establish a reputation for professionalism around the world. Whether on Quick Reaction Alert at home, deployed in Germany, or stationed further afield, Armourers were essential to Britain’s ability to project power and deter threats.

 

And let us not forget the Falklands War, whether embarked on HMS Hermes and Invincible with the Harrier Force, preparing the Black Buck raids for their critical and strategic attack on Stanley or on the ground in the most austere and extremely dangerous conditions clearing air delivered munitions, the RAF Armourer once again demonstrated their professionalism and utility.

 

The end of the Cold War did not mean the end of conflict. From the Gulf War in 1991 through to operations in the Balkans, Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, and more recently in the Middle East, RAF Armourers have remained on the front line. Many of you here today served and fought in those campaigns.

 

The armourer of today handles weapons which are far more sophisticated than their predecessors: precision-guided bombs, next generation missiles, cruise missiles, and more.

But the essence of the job remains the same, ensuring that when aircrew press the button, the weapon performs as intended.

 

On operations, Armourers are the bridge between engineering and combat. They work long hours in heat, dust, or freezing conditions to prepare aircraft at short notice. They are also problem solvers—often improvising solutions to keep aircraft mission-ready in austere conditions. Not to mention often establishing the first bar in Theatre!

 

So, what does an Armourer do today? In the modern RAF, they are trained across a wide spectrum. Like those who came before them, they handle conventional bombs and missiles,

aircraft gun systems, countermeasures like flares and chaff, and ejection seats.

 

On the ground, they serve in expeditionary support roles, providing the capability to deploy weapons and aircraft anywhere in the world. On operations, they are part of integrated teams that keep the RAF’s fast jets, helicopters, and transport aircraft ready for action. At the heart of

modern Agile Combat Employment. And just to quash the rumour, we may even still have some Airfield EOD cutting about, perhaps one for a chat for over a beer…..

 

Today’s Armourers are not just weapons technicians—they are ambassadors of RAF professionalism. They deploy alongside allies, often sharing their expertise and learning from

others. They bring a blend of tradition and modern skill, embodying both the heritage of the trade and its future. And much like those early armourers behind the WW1 trenches in Europe, they are also at the heart of prototype warfare, ensuring we can continue to destroy our

adversaries wherever they may be in new and innovative ways.

 

If there’s one thing that connects the Armourers of 1918 with those serving today, it is a sense of responsibility. Handling live ordnance demands absolute precision, discipline, and integrity.

 

There is no room for error.

 

But there’s also a deep camaraderie within the trade. Anyone who has worked alongside Armourers will tell you about their humour, resilience, and pride. They may joke about being the

“last to let you down”— a nod to their role with ejection seats — but behind that humour lies a serious commitment to keeping aircrew safe and the mission successful.

 

Our history is full of untold stories: people working tirelessly behind the scenes, ensuring that the RAF can deliver air power when it matters most.

 

The RAF Armourer’s trade has evolved over more than a century, from fitting Lewis guns to biplanes, to loading smart weapons onto the Typhoon and F-35 Lightning. Through every era of RAF history, they have adapted, innovated, and excelled.

 

They are a vital link in the chain of air power—a chain that connects the engineer on the line, the pilot in the cockpit, and the strategic effect delivered on operations.

 

As we look to the future—with the growth of uncrewed systems, directed energy weapons, and ever more complex technology—one thing is certain: the RAF will continue to rely on the professionalism and expertise of its Armourers.

 

So today, let us not only recognise their history, but also celebrate their ongoing role in defending our nation.

In closing, I would also like to take a moment to thank Squadron Leader Mick Haygarth and the team, alongside all of those that contributed to bring this memorial to life, as a symbol of commemoration and also as a celebration of everything this proud trade continues to deliver for

the RAF and Defence.

 

As many of you know, the father of the Royal Air Force, Air Chief Marshal Lord Trenchard, held the trade in exceptionally high regard, exemplifying his vision of a highly trained technical workforce, who could keep pace with rapidly evolving technology. And perhaps it was this that

led him to famously state that “Without Armament, there is no need for an Air Force” or perhaps words to that effect……

 

Ladies and Gentleman, when my grandfather and armourer, Chief Technician Bill Michie, inspired me to join the Royal Air Force as an Armourer, I was privileged to become part of a

wider family which revelled in its history, accomplishments and kinship. While my career has moved on, I will always remain an Armourer and it is with that in mind that I am hugely moved

and proud to join with you here today to unveil this memorial and celebration of our family, our kin and our future, The Royal Air Force Armourer.

 

Thank you."

 

No Thank you, Air Commodore Jamie Thompson.

 

Mark sounded the bugle, the standards were lowered, and a silence fell on the place. We stood to remember those we have lost over the years.

 

One final prayer, then the Lord's Prayer, and it was over.

 

I looked around, still just three people I knew. Should I stay for the evening's get together in the local 'Spoons, or go home early and be home this evening?

 

I worked out the route and timings, and thought I would miss rush hour's in the local area, get past Cambridge by about half four and be on the M25 by half five, and be home by half six-ish.

 

So I drive to the hotel, checked out, grabbed my stuff from the room and threw it in the back of the car.

 

I programmed the sat nav for home, and it guided me south out of town until I joined the M6 Toll, then south on the M6 before turning off on the A14 again.

 

A glorious day for driving, and the road was fairly clear until about ten miles shy of the A1 junction, but beyond that it was three lane roads and driving at the speed limit as I pressed on to Cambridge then down the M11.

 

No hold ups, no jams certainly, even turning onto the M25 wasn't the stressful event it usually is. I made it to Dartford by five, the sun now low in the west, it was in golden light as I reached the midway point of the bridge and entered The Garden of England again.

 

I stopped off at Burger King in town for supper. I had their Wagyu burger, the most expensive take away burger in UK history, as I had seen a few folks on Facebook try it.

 

I got Jools a spicy chicken burger, as well as onion rings, cheesy chilli bites, and BBQ chicken fingers.

 

No fries.

 

Back home to eat and catch up.

 

How was the £11 burger?

 

It was OK.

 

Just OK.

 

I had unpacking to do, and then sort my pictures out and begin to write all about it. Whilst listening to football.

 

But I was back home.

 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

It was built by the pious Anglo-Catholic, Emily Charlotte Meynell Ingram (sister of Charles Wood, 2nd Viscount Halifax) in memory of Hugo Francis Meynell Ingram who died in May 1871. The architects were George Frederick Bodley and Thomas Garner. Work started in 1872 and the church dedication took place on 22 April 1876.[1] Further extension and additions took place until the church achieved its present form in 1906.

 

John Betjeman described the church as "the masterpiece of its late Victorian architect G.F. Bodley" and "great architecture; original, well massed, well sited, well detailed; very English"

 

From 2008, the Church received alternative episcopal oversight from the Bishop of Ebbsfleet, as the parish does not accept the ordination of women to the priesthood or episcopate. This oversight was transferred in 2023 to the Bishop of Oswestry.

 

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_the_Holy_Angels,_Hoar_Cross

mobile.twitter.com/business/status/1491706523722129408

 

If consumers and businesses want goods made in China without shortages and price hikes, they’ll want China to stick with its “Covid-zero” policy trib.al/qkZw0Me via

@BW

 

www.xinhuanet.com/english/20220211/51ab48bda4ee476996c55e...

 

World should support China's Zero-COVID policy: Bloomberg

 

"If consumers and businesses want to continue to buy goods made in China without having to endure shortages and further price hikes, they should want China to stick with its 'COVID-Zero' policy," Bloomberg reported.

 

NEW YORK, Feb. 10 (Xinhua) -- China has scored success in containing the COVID-19 pandemic by carrying through its Zero-COVID approach, which means a lot to the country and world in a positive way, Bloomberg reported earlier this week.

 

China has had repeated outbreaks, but these have all been quashed by government controls like the recent lockdown of the city of Xi'an, which kept 13 million people indoors for about a month through late January, according to the report.

 

"Repeated rounds of mass testing and contact tracing have so far been enough to control recent outbreaks of the Omicron variant in Beijing, Tianjin, Hangzhou, and elsewhere," said the Tuesday report titled "Why the World Needs China's COVID-Zero Policy."

 

Over the past two years, China's zero-tolerance policy of lockdowns, mass testing, and strict border quarantines for COVID-19 has prevented a huge number of deaths at home and ensured that everything from iPhones and Teslas to fertilizer and car parts continues to flow to the rest of the world.

 

"If consumers and businesses want to continue to buy goods made in China without having to endure shortages and further price hikes, they should want China to stick with its 'COVID-Zero' policy," Bloomberg said in the report. ■

 

www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2022-02-09/what-s-happ...

 

Why the World Needs China’s Covid Zero Strategy

 

Hello. Today we look at how the world economy may be better off thanks to China’s tight curbs on activity amid the coronavirus. We also look at trade between the U.S. and China and the market for American used cars.

 

A Least Worst Option

Criticism of Beijing’s determination to quash every Covid outbreak is increasing because of the damage to China’s economy, the risks to global supply chains, and even the threat to Olympic athletes’ human rights.

 

Gita Gopinath, a senior official at the International Monetary Fund, told media last month that authorities need to “recalibrate” their response to Covid outbreaks, warning the disruptions caused by more lockdowns could have “very important consequences for global supply chains.”

 

Indeed, lockdowns are taking a toll and it could get worse. A Goldman Sachs report posited that if multiple provinces were hit with the omicron variant this winter and the government imposed a national lockdown, growth in China could plunge to 1.5% this year, the lowest since 1976.

 

But if consumers and businesses around the world want to continue to buy goods made in China without having to endure shortages and further price hikes, they should want China to stick with “Covid-zero,” as President Xi Jinping does, rather than follow the west in living with the virus.

 

If China were to abandon Covid zero, allowing the virus to spread more or less unchecked among a population of 1.4 billion people that, the result would be dire. That’s because its vaccines have been shown to be less effective than the mRNA shots used elsewhere, and its success so far in protecting almost everyone from infection means there’s an immunity gap.

 

China would face a “colossal outbreak” on a scale beyond anything any other country has yet seen, with more than 630,000 infections a day if it were to reopen in a similar manner to the U.S., according to modeling by researchers at Peking University.

 

In that event, the blow to supply chains would be worse than anything seen so far during the pandemic. Even if only temporary, shortages of a broad range of goods would push up already elevated inflation and drag on a global economic recovery already weakened by omicron.

 

So the longer China sticks with Covid zero, the better it’ll be for the rest of the world.

Some of you may have noticed that, unfortunately, owing to the fact that a certain person who sells truck photos on eBay commercially has been lifting my images from this album and selling them I have had to remove 2300 photos that didn't have a watermark. I have now run around 1700 through Lightroom and added a watermark with the intention of bulk uploading them again. Rather than watermark the existing (hidden) files in Flickr one at a time it will be easier to do it this way. I definitely won’t be adding individual tags with the make and model of each vehicle I will just add generic transport tags. Each photo is named after the vehicle and reg in any case. For anyone new to these images there is a chapter and verse explanation below. It is staggering how many times I get asked questions that a quick scan would answer or just as likely I can’t possibly answer – I didn’t take them, but, just to clarify-I do own the copyright- and I do pursue copyright theft.

  

This is a collection of scanned prints from a collection of photographs taken by the late Jim Taylor A number of years ago I was offered a large number of photographs taken by Jim Taylor, a transport photographer based in Huddersfield. The collection, 30,000 prints, 20,000 negatives – and copyright! – had been offered to me and one of the national transport magazines previously by a friend of Jim's, on behalf of Jim's wife. I initially turned them down, already having over 30,000 of my own prints filed away and taking space up. Several months later the prints were still for sale – at what was, apparently, the going rate. It was a lot of money and I deliberated for quite a while before deciding to buy them. I did however buy them directly from Jim’s wife and she delivered them personally – just to quash the occasional rumour from people who can’t mind their own business. Although some prints were sold elsewhere, particularly the popular big fleet stuff, I should have the negatives, unfortunately they came to me in a random mix, 1200 to a box, without any sort of indexing and as such it would be impossible to match negatives to prints, or, to even find a print of any particular vehicle. I have only ever looked at a handful myself unless I am scanning them. The prints are generally in excellent condition and I initially stored them in a bedroom without ever looking at any of them. In 2006 I built an extension and they had to be well protected from dust and moved a few times. Ultimately my former 6x7 box room office has become their (and my own work’s) permanent home.

 

I hope to avoid posting images that Jim had not taken his self, however should I inadvertently infringe another photographers copyright, please inform me by email and I will resolve the issue immediately. There are copyright issues with some of the photographs that were sold to me. A Flickr member from Scotland drew my attention to some of his own work amongst the first uploads of Jim’s work. I had a quick look through some of the 30 boxes of prints and decided that for the time being the safest thing for me to do was withdraw the majority of the earlier uploaded scans and deal with the problem – which I did. whilst the vast majority of the prints are Jims, there is a problem defining copyright of some of them, this is something that the seller did not make clear at the time. I am reasonably confident that I have since been successful in identifying Jims own work. His early work consists of many thousands of lustre 6x4 prints which are difficult to scan well, later work is almost entirely 7x5 glossy, much easier to scan. Not all of the prints are pin sharp but I can generally print successfully to A4 from a scan.

  

You may notice photographs being duplicated in this Album, unfortunately there are multiple copies of many prints (for swapping) and as I have to have a system of archiving and backing up I can only guess - using memory - if I have scanned a print before. The bigger fleets have so many similar vehicles and registration numbers that it is impossible to get it right all of the time. It is easier to scan and process a print than check my files - on three different PC’s - for duplicates. There has not been, nor will there ever be, any intention to knowingly breach anyone else's copyright. I have presented the Jim Taylor collection as exactly that-The Jim Taylor Collection- his work not mine, my own work is quite obviously mine.

 

Unfortunately, many truck spotters have swapped and traded their work without copyright marking it as theirs. These people never anticipated the ease with which images would be shared online in the future. I would guess that having swapped and traded photos for many years that it is almost impossible to control their future use. Anyone wanting to control the future use of their work would have been well advised to copyright mark their work (as many did) and would be well advised not to post them on photo sharing sites without a watermark as the whole point of these sites is to share the image, it is very easy for those that wish, to lift any image, despite security settings, indeed, Flickr itself, warns you that this is the case. It was this abuse and theft of my material that led me to watermark all of my later uploads. I may yet withdraw non-watermarked photos, I haven’t decided yet. (I did in the end)

 

To anyone reading the above it will be quite obvious that I can’t provide information regarding specific photos or potential future uploads – I didn’t take them! There are many vehicles that were well known to me as Jim only lived down the road from me (although I didn’t know him), however scanning, titling, tagging and uploading is laborious and time consuming enough, I do however provide a fair amount of information with my own transport (and other) photos. I am aware that there are requests from other Flickr users that are unanswered, I stumble across them months or years after they were posted, this isn’t deliberate. Some weekends one or two “enthusiasts” can add many hundreds of photos as favourites, this pushes requests that are in the comments section ten or twenty pages out of sight and I miss them. I also have notifications switched off, I receive around 50 emails a day through work and I don’t want even more from Flickr. Other requests, like many other things, I just plain forget – no excuses! Uploads of Jim’s photos will be infrequent as it is a boring pastime and I would much rather work on my own output.

     

ONCE UPON A TIME - "A Tale of Two Sisters" - A scared and confused Elsa finds herself in Storybrooke and, fearful of the intentions of its residents, creates a powerful snow monster for protection. With Robin Hood's wife, Marian, back in the picture, Regina wonders if her "happily ever after" with the former thief has been completely quashed; while on their honeymoon, Mr. Gold finds an intriguing object that makes him question whether or not he should officially give Belle control over the dagger that makes him The Dark One, and Hook is dismayed to discover that Emma seems to be avoiding him while she tries to help comfort Regina after being the one responsible for bringing Marian back from the past and into Storybrooke. Meanwhile, in Arendelle of the past, as Elsa's sister Anna's wedding to Kristoff nears, Anna discovers that their parents - who died on-ship during a violent storm - were heading to a mysterious destination in a quest that may have held the secret to containing Elsa's out of control Ice powers. And against Elsa's wishes, Anna wants to finish their journey to find out what they were looking for, on "Once Upon a Time," SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 28 (8:00-9:00 p.m., ET) on the ABC Television Network. (ABC/Katie Yu)

GEORGINA HAIG

This was a particularly pleasant terrace on Edge Lane itself.

In the name of a highly questionable road-widening scheme Liverpool City Council and the Liverpool Land Development Company had sought to implement a Compulsory Clearance Order (CPO) on 370 properties in the Edge Lane area.

The strategies used have been the all too familiar ones of planned dereliction and the urban blight that follows, i.e move tenants/owners out by whichever means this side of legality, so that the tipping point of neglect and abandonment is reached. Who then would want to live in such a tip? Who would want to set up in business there?

But, who has responsibility for this outcome? The very institutions who promise the people of Liverpool a better quality of life. Visitors from abroad are aghast that houses which would be snapped up for renovation and improvement in their home countries are to be bulldozed in Liverpool.

The remarkable campaigner on behalf of the area, Elizabeth Pascoe, has just had another setback. On 24th March of this year The High Court in London refused to quash the CPO. Predictably the Leader of Liverpool City Council, Warren Bradley, thinks this entirely good thing, as it will "improve the quality of life for local people". For people like Elizabeth Pascoe? And in a spiralling recession? But that's another chapter.

  

Item No.22

Heard. The learned counsel represented for the applicant . This is an application filed for the renewal of regular permit of S/C KL 44 A 8699 on the route Aluva Kanthalloor Via South Vazhakkulam, Perumbavoor, Kothamangalam, Adimaly, Anachal, Munnar and Marayoor as LSOS for 5 Years from 22/09/2016 to 21/09/2021.The regular permit of S/C KL 44 A 8699 was valid upto-21/09/2016 as FP.

 

On 22/09/2016 the permit holder applied for variation of permit as LSOS and for a temporary permit as per G.O(ms) 45/2015/Trans dated 20/08/2015 and at present the temporary permit issued to the S/C KL 44 A 8699 is valid upto-21/01/2019 in the light of the interim order of Hon.Highcourt of Kerala in WP(c) No.16452/2017(F) dated

16/05/2017 in which Hon.Court directing Sec.RTA Idukki that status quo with regards to the reissue of Temporary Permit application should be maintained untrammeled by G.O(P) No.6/2017/Tran dated 15/03/2017. In the light of the several judgment of Honarable High Court of Kerala( quashing the clause (4) of the modified scheme, 8/2017 dated 23/03/2017) there is no legal impediment to renew this regular permit since it is issued prior to 09-05-2006 . There is no need for any concurrence from sister RTAs for renewal of permit. Hence Renewal of permit granted subject to clearance of Government dues and NOC from the financier if applicable.

I woke at six after a fairly good night's sleep. Had a shower, got dressed and went down for breakfast, hoping to meet more old colleagues.

 

There are at least three and a half thousand current and former RAF Armourers, so the chance of meeting more I knew during the day seemed high.

 

As it was, there was just one other person in the semi-dark restaurant. And although there was food, it was limp and barely warm. Still, it was included in the cost of the room, so I filled by boots with fruit, yogurt, sausage and bacon, and a croissant with one of the four cups of coffee I had.

 

We were due to meet at half twelve, meaning I had maybe three hours to fill.

 

With churches.

 

The Church Conservation Trust is a great organisation, and their churches, although redundant, are open ten to four daily.

 

There was one less than ten miles away, so it was there I drove first. Out of Burton, going against the heavy traffic which tailed back some two miles over the series of roundabouts and traffic lights.

 

Back into the country, and down another dead end lane to Streeton-en-le-Field.

 

A heavy dew lay on the ground, and parkland stretched back towards Burton. Trees stood still against the blue sky, again their foliage, though mostly green, was turning golden brown at the edges of their leaves.

 

I walk through the churchyard, into the porch and pushed the door. It opened though I was twenty minutes early, but that was because the door had been forced and the lock broken.

 

Sigh.

 

Though no damage had been done, at least to my eyes, it is a shame that people treat our historic buildings thus.

 

I take my shots of the building. It must have been quite ruinous at some point recently, as windows had been blocked up, and the chancel arch rebuilt too using the same simple stones.

 

Functional, but not pretty.

 

Once done, I went back to the car and programmed the National Memorial Arboretum, 12 miles away, and set off.

 

At least I was lead across country. Maybe, I thought, I might pass a church or two on the way.

 

The road wiggled through the countryside, but came in time to a leafy village called Lullington. The handsome church overlooked the village green, the phone box now a library of sorts.

 

I parked and went to try the church door. It was locked, but on the board there was a named keyholder, so I called and Mrs Cooper said I could have the key, she lived in the long white building opposite.

 

It was almost a mansion, and her handyman was tending her flower beds. I went to knock, but he asked me what I wanted, and when I explained he went inside to pick up the key and hand it to me.

 

The church, although handsome, held no great treasures, though is obviously loved, with knitted flowers woven into garlands over the lychgate arch and the arch of the porch. It was only when close could I see the flowers were knitted.

 

When I returned the key, the bloke asked what I did (with the photos).

 

I explained, and then told me in a broad Midlands accent two double barrelled named churches nearby that were good. I didn't catch their real name, but a third sounded easy enough: Haw Cross.

 

But it wasn't Haw Cross or Hawcross.

 

Nor was it Haugh Cross.

 

It was Hoar Cross.

 

I found that on the sat nav and set off back in the general direction of Burton. Which was perfect.

 

I was lead across the Wolds, along at one point a narrow lane that went straight as an arrow for five miles, over a series of blind summits, through woods until it came to a junction, just shy of Hoar Cross.

 

Into Hoar Cross, past the pub on the crossroads with the finest pre-warboys finger post I have ever seen, though I didn't stop for shots as I was in a hurry: it was five past eleven and I hadn't found the church.

 

I went north, east and west out of the village and saw no sign of a church or a church lane.

 

And then, on the hill overlooking the village, I saw a tower. Modern, well, 20th century perhaps, but a church, and just a hundred yards beyond where I had turned round.

 

Holy Angels sits beside what counts as the main road in those parts, what little traffic there is motors past. But beyond a Boston Ivy overed wall and brick lychgate, the church rises, impressive in the autumn sunshine.

 

Inside it is stunning. Grade I listed, beloved by Betjeman and the highest of high Anglican churches.

 

I only had a matter of minutes, but this is a seriously impressive church: full of light, he smell of incense lingering, stations of the cross on all outside walls, and as a whole church, is nearly as impressive as Cheadle.

 

Nearly.

 

I hated to leave, but I had twenty minutes before I was due to be at the Arboretum.

 

Down the main street, onto an A road, doubling back towards Burton, then picking up signs directing the way, over a main road and railway, across some marshes and there it was.

 

Packed.

 

The parking ticket I bought had said sternly not to arrive before your allotted time. Many knew better and ignored this, so the main car park was full, so had to use the overflow beside the landfill site, then walk back.

 

Inside the main building a table had been set up for those attending. I signed in, and received a program and small token. I looked around.

 

No one I knew.

 

Still.

 

I bought a drink, sat outside and dozens of people around me and more arriving had our trade tie on, or the waistcoat. Some in uniform too, still serving.

 

But no one I knew.

 

I ambled down to the site of the ceremony, more folks milling around. Still no one I knew.

 

I took shots and enjoyed the moment.

 

I spied one person I know, another Ian, so I went and we shook hands. He also knew few folks. We chatted and caught up on a decade and a half's news since we last met in Lincoln.

 

Mark arrived.

 

He was nervous, as he was the play The Last Post (Taps) prior to the two minute's silence, so he went off to practice quietly, if quiet is a thing you do to a bugle.

 

One more person I know, though many others knew dozens of other attendees.

 

A serving Sergeant saw my camera and asked if I would supply him with shots for BFBS, so I did my best. But there were so many people getting a clear view was impossible.

 

At one, half an hour late, the ceremony began, with a former CO of mine doing the introductions before an Air Commodore, ex-Armourer, read the dedication covering a history of the trade and how family-like our trade is:

 

"Ladies and gentlemen, distinguished guests, colleagues, and friends, It’s a real privilege to speak to you today about a group of professionals whose contribution to the Royal Air Force has been, AND REMAINS, vital and that is the Royal Air Force Armourer. Versatile, ingenious and relentlessly loyal, the Armourer is a strange creature! From the forward edge of the battle line disposing of bombs and munitions, to the comfortable warmth of the armoury and bay, through the enduring domination of the line hut amongst the lesser trades to the demands of the bomb dump, we are unique and ferociously proud bunch.

 

From the earliest days of the RAF in 1918, through two world wars, the Cold War, and across every conflict through to the 21st century, Armourers have stood at the sharp end of conflict —enabling decisive and battle winning Air Power and combat effect when called upon.

 

That history is marked around us today, in this most important and impressive National Memorial Arboretum. And it is against this backdrop that I felt it worth taking a moment to

reflect on our history, highlight our evolution, and celebrate the critical role armourers continues to play in the modern RAF.

 

The story of the RAF Armourer begins even before the Royal Air Force itself. In the First World War, the Royal Flying Corps and Royal Naval Air Service employed men trained to handle and maintain machine guns, bombs, and ammunition fitted to fragile biplanes.

 

When the RAF was founded in April 1918, as the world’s first independent air force, the need for dedicated tradesmen to manage weapons was clear. Early aircraft such as the Sopwith Camel carried Lewis or Vickers guns, with bombs literally dropped by hand in some cases. Armourers were the ones who kept those weapons firing, safe, and effective. More importantly it was the crafty and ingenious armourer who created new and novel ways to win the fight.

They weren’t just technicians; they were pioneers in a new form of warfare.

 

They had to innovate, often under fire, solving problems that had never been faced before in aviation history.

By the time of the Second World War, the role of Armourers had grown enormously. The RAF’s bomber fleets—Wellingtons, Lancasters, Halifax’s—and its fighters—Spitfires, Hurricanes, and later Tempests and Typhoons—all relied on Armourers.

 

It was the Armourers who loaded the .303 Browning machine guns on the Battle of Britain’s fighters, often working under pressure, at night, and in all weather. It was the Armourers who fitted the bombs, sometimes Grand Slam and Blockbuster bombs into the belly of the heavy bombers before raids over occupied Europe. And it was Armourers who adapted quickly to new technology, such as rockets and early guided weapons.

 

Perhaps what is most striking from this era is the relentless pace. A returning Lancaster would land, the aircrew would debrief, and the Armourers would already be preparing it for the next mission. They worked under blackout conditions, often with little rest, knowing that the success of the next sortie depended on their skill and dedication.

 

After 1945, as Britain entered the nuclear age, the Armourer’s trade evolved again. The RAF was now responsible for weapons of unprecedented destructive power. Armourers were trained to handle and prepare nuclear bombs such as Blue Danube and WE.177, as well as conventional ordnance.

 

The Cold War also saw the introduction of jet aircraft like the Vulcan, Lightning, and later the Tornado. With these came new weapons—air-to-air missiles, precision-guided bombs, and

electronic countermeasures. Armourers had to adapt constantly, mastering advanced technologies while never losing sight of the basics: safety, reliability, and effectiveness.

 

This period also saw the RAF Armourer community establish a reputation for professionalism around the world. Whether on Quick Reaction Alert at home, deployed in Germany, or stationed further afield, Armourers were essential to Britain’s ability to project power and deter threats.

 

And let us not forget the Falklands War, whether embarked on HMS Hermes and Invincible with the Harrier Force, preparing the Black Buck raids for their critical and strategic attack on Stanley or on the ground in the most austere and extremely dangerous conditions clearing air delivered munitions, the RAF Armourer once again demonstrated their professionalism and utility.

 

The end of the Cold War did not mean the end of conflict. From the Gulf War in 1991 through to operations in the Balkans, Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, and more recently in the Middle East, RAF Armourers have remained on the front line. Many of you here today served and fought in those campaigns.

 

The armourer of today handles weapons which are far more sophisticated than their predecessors: precision-guided bombs, next generation missiles, cruise missiles, and more.

But the essence of the job remains the same, ensuring that when aircrew press the button, the weapon performs as intended.

 

On operations, Armourers are the bridge between engineering and combat. They work long hours in heat, dust, or freezing conditions to prepare aircraft at short notice. They are also problem solvers—often improvising solutions to keep aircraft mission-ready in austere conditions. Not to mention often establishing the first bar in Theatre!

 

So, what does an Armourer do today? In the modern RAF, they are trained across a wide spectrum. Like those who came before them, they handle conventional bombs and missiles,

aircraft gun systems, countermeasures like flares and chaff, and ejection seats.

 

On the ground, they serve in expeditionary support roles, providing the capability to deploy weapons and aircraft anywhere in the world. On operations, they are part of integrated teams that keep the RAF’s fast jets, helicopters, and transport aircraft ready for action. At the heart of

modern Agile Combat Employment. And just to quash the rumour, we may even still have some Airfield EOD cutting about, perhaps one for a chat for over a beer…..

 

Today’s Armourers are not just weapons technicians—they are ambassadors of RAF professionalism. They deploy alongside allies, often sharing their expertise and learning from

others. They bring a blend of tradition and modern skill, embodying both the heritage of the trade and its future. And much like those early armourers behind the WW1 trenches in Europe, they are also at the heart of prototype warfare, ensuring we can continue to destroy our

adversaries wherever they may be in new and innovative ways.

 

If there’s one thing that connects the Armourers of 1918 with those serving today, it is a sense of responsibility. Handling live ordnance demands absolute precision, discipline, and integrity.

 

There is no room for error.

 

But there’s also a deep camaraderie within the trade. Anyone who has worked alongside Armourers will tell you about their humour, resilience, and pride. They may joke about being the

“last to let you down”— a nod to their role with ejection seats — but behind that humour lies a serious commitment to keeping aircrew safe and the mission successful.

 

Our history is full of untold stories: people working tirelessly behind the scenes, ensuring that the RAF can deliver air power when it matters most.

 

The RAF Armourer’s trade has evolved over more than a century, from fitting Lewis guns to biplanes, to loading smart weapons onto the Typhoon and F-35 Lightning. Through every era of RAF history, they have adapted, innovated, and excelled.

 

They are a vital link in the chain of air power—a chain that connects the engineer on the line, the pilot in the cockpit, and the strategic effect delivered on operations.

 

As we look to the future—with the growth of uncrewed systems, directed energy weapons, and ever more complex technology—one thing is certain: the RAF will continue to rely on the professionalism and expertise of its Armourers.

 

So today, let us not only recognise their history, but also celebrate their ongoing role in defending our nation.

In closing, I would also like to take a moment to thank Squadron Leader Mick Haygarth and the team, alongside all of those that contributed to bring this memorial to life, as a symbol of commemoration and also as a celebration of everything this proud trade continues to deliver for

the RAF and Defence.

 

As many of you know, the father of the Royal Air Force, Air Chief Marshal Lord Trenchard, held the trade in exceptionally high regard, exemplifying his vision of a highly trained technical workforce, who could keep pace with rapidly evolving technology. And perhaps it was this that

led him to famously state that “Without Armament, there is no need for an Air Force” or perhaps words to that effect……

 

Ladies and Gentleman, when my grandfather and armourer, Chief Technician Bill Michie, inspired me to join the Royal Air Force as an Armourer, I was privileged to become part of a

wider family which revelled in its history, accomplishments and kinship. While my career has moved on, I will always remain an Armourer and it is with that in mind that I am hugely moved

and proud to join with you here today to unveil this memorial and celebration of our family, our kin and our future, The Royal Air Force Armourer.

 

Thank you."

 

No Thank you, Air Commodore Jamie Thompson.

 

Mark sounded the bugle, the standards were lowered, and a silence fell on the place. We stood to remember those we have lost over the years.

 

One final prayer, then the Lord's Prayer, and it was over.

 

I looked around, still just three people I knew. Should I stay for the evening's get together in the local 'Spoons, or go home early and be home this evening?

 

I worked out the route and timings, and thought I would miss rush hour's in the local area, get past Cambridge by about half four and be on the M25 by half five, and be home by half six-ish.

 

So I drive to the hotel, checked out, grabbed my stuff from the room and threw it in the back of the car.

 

I programmed the sat nav for home, and it guided me south out of town until I joined the M6 Toll, then south on the M6 before turning off on the A14 again.

 

A glorious day for driving, and the road was fairly clear until about ten miles shy of the A1 junction, but beyond that it was three lane roads and driving at the speed limit as I pressed on to Cambridge then down the M11.

 

No hold ups, no jams certainly, even turning onto the M25 wasn't the stressful event it usually is. I made it to Dartford by five, the sun now low in the west, it was in golden light as I reached the midway point of the bridge and entered The Garden of England again.

 

I stopped off at Burger King in town for supper. I had their Wagyu burger, the most expensive take away burger in UK history, as I had seen a few folks on Facebook try it.

 

I got Jools a spicy chicken burger, as well as onion rings, cheesy chilli bites, and BBQ chicken fingers.

 

No fries.

 

Back home to eat and catch up.

 

How was the £11 burger?

 

It was OK.

 

Just OK.

 

I had unpacking to do, and then sort my pictures out and begin to write all about it. Whilst listening to football.

 

But I was back home.

 

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Built of warm-toned sandstone, medieval St Michael's elegant spire is seen above the trees, in rolling wooded countryside, where the boundaries of four counties meet. Nearby are earthworks of former settlements, but now only a few scattered houses remain.

 

With late eighteenth-century box pews and other fittings, but with no major Victorian restoration, it is an uncommon survival of a medieval church where time has stood still. There are good bosses in the roof and a fine incised alabaster slab.

 

www.visitchurches.org.uk/visit/our-churches/st-michaels-c...

 

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Most of the fabric in the church dates from the 14th century. The tower was added in the 15th century, and the clerestory in the following century. More alterations were made in the following three centuries. The spire was rebuilt in 1889, and in 1911 a restoration was carried out by Christopher Spalding.[3] After it was declared redundant, the church was vested in the Churches Conservation Trust.

 

The church is constructed in local sandstone.[3] Its plan consists of a nave with a north aisle and a south porch, a chancel, and a west tower. The tower is in two stages. In the lower stage is a west Perpendicular window, and the upper stage contains a single-light bell opening on each side. The parapet is battlemented, and on top of the tower is a recessed spire. The nave has a plain parapet and its arched windows have been divided by central mullions. The five windows in the clerestory are square-headed, and are also divided into two lights by mullions. The north aisle has windows, some of which are blocked, and a doorway, also blocked, under a Tudor arch. The chancel has a battlemented parapet with pinnacles, and a Perpendicular five-light east window.

 

Between the nave and the north aisle is a three-bay arcade. In the wall of the aisle are the remnants of a tomb recess with pinnacles. The church is floored with square brick tiles. All the windows contain leaded lights.[1] The timber roof has bosses and carved grotesque figures.[4] The chancel arch appears to be made of stone, but it is in fact wooden and covered with stucco, giving it the appearance of stone.[3][4] The church contains a full set of 18th-century box pews, and a chancel rail with turned balusters from the same period. The font dates from about 1662.[1] The memorials include a carved alabaster grave slab to Richard Savage who died in 1489, and his wife, Agnes.[4] There is a brass tablet giving thanks for the fact that eleven men from the Parish went to the Great War of 1914 to 1918 and all eleven returned making Stretton en le Field one of the Thankful Villages.

 

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Michael%27s_Church,_Stretton_en_...

Palestinian prisoners flee over the rubble of the central security headquarters and prison, known as the Saraya, after it was hit in an Israeli missile strike in in Gaza City, Sunday, Dec. 28, 2008. More than 270 Palestinians, have been killed and more than 600 people wounded since Israel's campaign to quash rocket barrages from Gaza began midday Saturday.(AP Photo/Adel Hana)

Camp at Limithang, the morning after a day of hiking that lead over the highest mountain pass I would cross on this trek: Sinche La (5005m). During the descent to camp and just before lunch, we passed another trekking group going the opposite direction. Our guide learned from that group's guide that the passes into Lunana had become, well, impassable due to recent heavy snows. Thus we received our first, though unofficial, indication that our hopes at completing the Snowman trek would be quashed.

 

Limithang, Bhutan. 14 May 2009. Digital.

Ziepchen, the spring in the middle of the appropriately named Ziepchenplatz in Rhönsdorf, a suburb of Bad Honnef.

 

Rhönsdorf stands at the foot of Siebengebierge, a picturescque (if very modest in height) mountain chain on the river Rhein in Western Germany. The eareliest reference of a Roonthorps settlement of the Franks dates back to 970, so it's a very old place indeed. Throughout centuries Rhnönsdorf has maintained a humble tradition of winemaking and hospitality, claiming little fame, except for hosting pharmacist Max Raise's invention of the Penaten cream in 1904. The cream business prosperered, but Rhönsdorf's hopes of an industrial future were quashed after Johnson&Johnson took over the Raise family business in 1986 and moved the production facilities to Italy and France in 2000.

 

Rhönsdorf shot to political stardom at the Rhönsdorfer Conference in August 1949, during which its most prominent resident Konrad Adenauer was invited to discuss the establishment of Germany's first post-WW2 government. No stranger to complex political processes (a former mayor of Köln, he was dismissed and threatened by the Nazis) Adenauer did by all accounts a stellar job, presiding over Germany's most prosperous years in recent history. Throughout his service as Federal Chancelor he continued living in his Rhönsdorf house, which was preserved as a museum after his death in 1967.

This photograph depicts the arrest of George Andrew McMahon in Constitution Hill at just after midday on Thursday 16th July 1936. A procession led by King Edward VIII was returning to Buckingham Palace from Hyde Park where the King had presented new Colours to six battalions of Guards, as he entered Constitution Hill from Constitution Arch, McMahon threw a loaded revolver at him from the rear of the crowd on the Green park side.

McMahon had a long history of grievances with the Police and was obviously paranoid, probably with some good reason. He had been convicted of the criminal libel of two Police Sergeants some years before, but the conviction was later quashed. He believed that his subsequent career had been and was being badly affected by the matter. He had written to the King and Home secretary and received no redress.

McMahon was charged with two offences of Treason and one with possession of a firearm with intent. He was convicted of the latter charge and served 12 months imprisonment. The Treason charges were dropped.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Goma

 

Paul Goma (b. 1935), who denounced the torture and the killings in the communist prisons of Romania, is a Romanian writer who was a political prisoner in his home country. He now lives in exile in France as a stateless person and political reffugee. Two decades after the fall of the dictatorship Goma's sentence given under Ceausesecu has never been quashed and his civil rights in Romania have not been restored - that is in a country which purports to adhere to the laws of civilised Europe, as a member of the EU.

The transition from a communist dictatorship to a democracy is full of spasms, as the current economic and political leavers are in the hands of ex-communists torturers and informers. In a country where the old old practices are carried on in Parliament and the judiciary,it is hardly surprising that millions of Romanians have emigrated, leaving behind children and the elderly.

Paul Goma's books were censored under Ceausescu and to this day his membership of the Romanian Writers Union has not been restored: hardly surprising, or as another romanian writer exiled in France, Emil Cioran said:

 

" Balkans - that taste for devastation, for internal clutter, for a universe like a brothel on fire the last "primitives" in Europe." -

www.literaturasidetentie.ro/detentia/carte_1_5_2.php

 

Some of you may have noticed that, unfortunately, owing to the fact that a certain person who sells truck photos on eBay commercially has been lifting my images from this album and selling them I have had to remove 2300 photos that didn't have a watermark. I have now run around 1700 through Lightroom and added a watermark with the intention of bulk uploading them again. Rather than watermark the existing (hidden) files in Flickr one at a time it will be easier to do it this way. I definitely won’t be adding individual tags with the make and model of each vehicle I will just add generic transport tags. Each photo is named after the vehicle and reg in any case. For anyone new to these images there is a chapter and verse explanation below. It is staggering how many times I get asked questions that a quick scan would answer or just as likely I can’t possibly answer – I didn’t take them, but, just to clarify-I do own the copyright- and I do pursue copyright theft.

  

This is a collection of scanned prints from a collection of photographs taken by the late Jim Taylor A number of years ago I was offered a large number of photographs taken by Jim Taylor, a transport photographer based in Huddersfield. The collection, 30,000 prints, 20,000 negatives – and copyright! – had been offered to me and one of the national transport magazines previously by a friend of Jim's, on behalf of Jim's wife. I initially turned them down, already having over 30,000 of my own prints filed away and taking space up. Several months later the prints were still for sale – at what was, apparently, the going rate. It was a lot of money and I deliberated for quite a while before deciding to buy them. I did however buy them directly from Jim’s wife and she delivered them personally – just to quash the occasional rumour from people who can’t mind their own business. Although some prints were sold elsewhere, particularly the popular big fleet stuff, I should have the negatives, unfortunately they came to me in a random mix, 1200 to a box, without any sort of indexing and as such it would be impossible to match negatives to prints, or, to even find a print of any particular vehicle. I have only ever looked at a handful myself unless I am scanning them. The prints are generally in excellent condition and I initially stored them in a bedroom without ever looking at any of them. In 2006 I built an extension and they had to be well protected from dust and moved a few times. Ultimately my former 6x7 box room office has become their (and my own work’s) permanent home.

 

I hope to avoid posting images that Jim had not taken his self, however should I inadvertently infringe another photographers copyright, please inform me by email and I will resolve the issue immediately. There are copyright issues with some of the photographs that were sold to me. A Flickr member from Scotland drew my attention to some of his own work amongst the first uploads of Jim’s work. I had a quick look through some of the 30 boxes of prints and decided that for the time being the safest thing for me to do was withdraw the majority of the earlier uploaded scans and deal with the problem – which I did. whilst the vast majority of the prints are Jims, there is a problem defining copyright of some of them, this is something that the seller did not make clear at the time. I am reasonably confident that I have since been successful in identifying Jims own work. His early work consists of many thousands of lustre 6x4 prints which are difficult to scan well, later work is almost entirely 7x5 glossy, much easier to scan. Not all of the prints are pin sharp but I can generally print successfully to A4 from a scan.

  

You may notice photographs being duplicated in this Album, unfortunately there are multiple copies of many prints (for swapping) and as I have to have a system of archiving and backing up I can only guess - using memory - if I have scanned a print before. The bigger fleets have so many similar vehicles and registration numbers that it is impossible to get it right all of the time. It is easier to scan and process a print than check my files - on three different PC’s - for duplicates. There has not been, nor will there ever be, any intention to knowingly breach anyone else's copyright. I have presented the Jim Taylor collection as exactly that-The Jim Taylor Collection- his work not mine, my own work is quite obviously mine.

 

Unfortunately, many truck spotters have swapped and traded their work without copyright marking it as theirs. These people never anticipated the ease with which images would be shared online in the future. I would guess that having swapped and traded photos for many years that it is almost impossible to control their future use. Anyone wanting to control the future use of their work would have been well advised to copyright mark their work (as many did) and would be well advised not to post them on photo sharing sites without a watermark as the whole point of these sites is to share the image, it is very easy for those that wish, to lift any image, despite security settings, indeed, Flickr itself, warns you that this is the case. It was this abuse and theft of my material that led me to watermark all of my later uploads. I may yet withdraw non-watermarked photos, I haven’t decided yet. (I did in the end)

 

To anyone reading the above it will be quite obvious that I can’t provide information regarding specific photos or potential future uploads – I didn’t take them! There are many vehicles that were well known to me as Jim only lived down the road from me (although I didn’t know him), however scanning, titling, tagging and uploading is laborious and time consuming enough, I do however provide a fair amount of information with my own transport (and other) photos. I am aware that there are requests from other Flickr users that are unanswered, I stumble across them months or years after they were posted, this isn’t deliberate. Some weekends one or two “enthusiasts” can add many hundreds of photos as favourites, this pushes requests that are in the comments section ten or twenty pages out of sight and I miss them. I also have notifications switched off, I receive around 50 emails a day through work and I don’t want even more from Flickr. Other requests, like many other things, I just plain forget – no excuses! Uploads of Jim’s photos will be infrequent as it is a boring pastime and I would much rather work on my own output.

     

John James Reid (J. J. Reid) was born in Tawley, Kinlough, Co. Leitrim in 1878.

 

His father, Thomas Reid, was an RIC Officer (Royal Irish Constabulary) and he was posted to Clontarf in Dublin. In the 1901 Census J. J. Reid lived in Fairview with his parents, brother and sister.

  

In the 1911 census he lived on Arran Quay with his wife Mary Ellen, 2 sons Thomas and Patrick and 3 daughters Margaret, Mary Ellen and Eileen. He was a Solicitors Clerk.

J. J. Reid joined the Irish Volunteers, Rotunda, in 1913. Meetings were held regularly at 41 Parnell Square.

  

J. J. Reid was the Company Sergeant Major of ‘C’ Company, 1st Battalion, Dublin Brigade. He was involved in the rebellion from Easter Monday, the 24th of April, until the surrender on Saturday, the 29th of April 1916.

 

On Easter Monday, 24th of April 1916, the 1st Battalion paraded in Blackhall Street and marched to The Four Courts were the men took up positions. J. J. Reid was involved in having barricades erected on the Quays and Church Street and then firing on and wounding several British Lancers. The Battalion then attacked an Ammunitions Convoy when they emerged from East Curran Street from the Quays to Pill Lane wounding several 5th Lancers. J. J. Reid took possession of rider less horses with Lancers equipment, and searched captured British prisoners for Arms and Papers. He interred Enemy Officers in the then Lord Chancellors Court of the Four Courts. He was placed in charge of the inner defences of the Four Courts and subsequently was the Officer in Command of the Prisoners Guard. Amongst the prisoners were soldiers, police and six Senior Officers of the British Army.

 

After the surrender J. J. Reid went with Fr. Albert, O.S.F, to Commandant Daly in the Four Courts. Commandant Daly instructed him to take charge of the parade as the men refused to accept orders from the captain of the enemy guard to fall in. The latter agreed after a discussion with J. J.Reid to allow Commandant Daly to give the command to march out the gates (the last order Commandant Daly ever gave). He then fell in the parade and Commandant Daly gave the orders to march. The enemy went also obeying his command.

 

The British government appointed John Maxwell as Commander in Chief to quash the Irish Rebellion. In a statement issued by Maxwell it stated that it was imperative to inflict the most severe sentences on the know organisers of the rising and on those commanders who took part in the actual fighting that occurred.

(Excerpt from the National Library of Ireland collection

Sinn Fein Rebellion Handbook 1917)

  

There were many Court Martials held and the signatories of the Proclamation amongst others were shot. On the 4th of May 22 men, including J. J. Reid, were court martialled. Four of these men, Joseph Plunket, Edward Daly, Michael O’Hanrahan and William Pearse were sentenced to death and shot. J. J. Reid was also sentenced to death and but this was commuted to 10 years penal servitude.

 

J.J. Reid was transported to England to Portland Prison. In his own words the Irish prisoners ‘broke up the prison there’ and they were transferred to Lewes Prison. He was then transferred back to Portland prison, and then finally to Pentonville Prison. He was one of the last of the 1916 prisoners to be released on the 17th of June 1917. Catherine Reid, (nee Rogers), J. J. Reid’s mother, died whilst he was in prison. She died on the 1st of April 1917.

 

After the release from prison J. J. Reid was sent on holiday to the west to recuperate and due to ill health was deemed not fit for further active service. He did however attend the public funerals of O’Donovan Rossa and Thomas Ashe and was placed in command of ‘C’ Company when they marched from Glasnevin back to their headquarters in Parnell Square.

The men who were unattached to any battalion were advised to form Sinn Fein Clubs in their respective areas and to prepare to have Sinn Fein members elected to the First Dáil. J .J. Reid then formed a committee and set up the Major McBride Sinn Fein Club with J. J. Murphy, J. Byrne, J. Grace, J. Joyce and others. He was duly elected President of the Club and Seamus Byrne was elected as Secretary.

 

He was appointed as an Election Organiser and was sent from 6 Harcourt Street to South Down, Newry. He was then recalled by Headquarters and sent to Ballymote in South Sligo. The Director of Elections had died from the flu and J. J. Reid took over the constituency. He was also on election work in Clare. J. J. Reid spent the next few years working for the Dáil up to the split over the Treaty in 1922. He strongly objected to the Civil War.

 

J.J. Reid's first wife, Mary Ellen Reid, died in childbirth on the 14th of March 1912 at the young age of 32. They had six children, Thomas, Patrick, Margaret, Mary Ellen, Eileen and Kitty. J. J. Reid then met and married Julia Gurley. ( Julia’s brother John Gurley was a famous jockey who won the Grand National in March 1898 on the horse called ‘Drogheda’ which was run in a snowstorm). J. J. and Julia had 3 daughters, Bridie, Sheila and Annie and a son called Johnny.

 

J. J. Reid died on the 12th of January 1937 of heart disease. He is buried in the St. Paul’s section of Glasnevin Cemetery.

 

The photograph above is taken from the Catholic Bulletin published in August 1917. The forage cap he is wearing has the number q128 which would have been his prisoner number in Lewes Jail

 

Information and photograph courtesy of Carol Loftus, great granddaughter of J.J. Reid.

ROMA ARCHEOLOGICA & RESTAURO ARCHITETTURA 2023. Magistrato Paolo Giorgio Ferri, “…Gli Americani…Ladri di Dèi”, in: Rai TV (2010) & NYT (2004 & 2020); S.v., "$20 Million Worth of Looted Art Returns to Italy From the U.S."; in: NYT (23/01/2023) [Nel testo completo Italiano / English]; anche: Gennaro Sangiuliano & Ambasciata U.S.A. / Twt (23/01/2023) & Senatrice Margherita Corrado - Senato della Repubblica (11/08/2022). wp.me/pbMWvy-3Hr

 

Foto: ROME / ITALY – “$20 Million Worth of Looted Art Returns to Italy From the U.S.”, in: NYT (23/01/2023).

www.flickr.com/photos/imperial_fora_of_rome/52646904288

 

1). ROME / ITALY - $20 Million Worth of Looted Art Returns to Italy From the U.S. - The authorities of the two countries have worked together to round up statues, vases and bronzes, some of which had appeared in American museums. The New York Times (24/01/2023) [In complete text / Nel testo completo].

 

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Foto: Magistrato Paolo Giorgio Ferri; in: Aggiornare: ‘Petrolio – Ladri di bellezza 2018/2022’; Gli studiosi italiani: “Musei negli USA – Restituisci quello che hai rubato!”; in: RAI 1 HD / VIDEO (2018)

www.flickr.com/photos/imperial_fora_of_rome/52280154224

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ROME — Taken together, the five dozen ancient artifacts displayed at Italy’s culture ministry on Monday would have made a fine archaeological centerpiece for any museum.

 

Foto: ROME / ITALY – “$20 Million Worth of Looted Art Returns to Italy From the U.S.”, in: Gennaro Sangiuliano & Ambasciata U.S.A. / Twt (23/01/2023)

www.flickr.com/photos/imperial_fora_of_rome/52646686229

 

The items, dating from the seventh century B.C. to the first century A.D., included well-preserved marble statues, red-figure vases, a silver drinking bowl, even rare bronzes. The artifacts, worth more than $20 million, according to the Italian Culture Ministry, were back on Italian soil after having been seized in the United States by American officials over the past 14 months.

 

Foto: ROME / ITALY – “Priceless’ Italian artifacts return home from U.S.”; in: Reuters News / Twitter & You-Tube (23/01/2023).

www.flickr.com/photos/imperial_fora_of_rome/52646426951

 

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ROME / ITALY - "Priceless' Italian artifacts return home from U.S."; in: Reuters News / Twitter & You-Tube (23/01/2023).

 

Italy is celebrating the return of 60 looted archaeological artifacts worth more than $20 million, many of which had been on display at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art before their illicit origin was discovered.

 

Fonte / source: Video & Foto; in:

 

--- Reuters News / Twitter & You-Tube (23/01/2023).

 

twitter.com/Reuters/status/1617626978009374722

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Twenty-one of the works had been on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, as well as in private homes and auction houses, before being recovered by American officials, who acted on evidence that they had been illegally looted from archaeological sites in Italy.

 

Foto: ROME / ITALY – “$20 Million Worth of Looted Art Returns to Italy From the U.S.”, in: Gennaro Sangiuliano & Ambasciata U.S.A. / Twt (23/01/2023)

www.flickr.com/photos/imperial_fora_of_rome/52646686149

 

Gennaro Sangiuliano, Italy’s culture minister, said Monday during a celebratory news conference that the recovered artifacts were the “fruit of a collaboration,” between Italian and American law enforcement officials, that would not end with these 60 works.

 

Italy has fought for decades to quash the trade in illicitly excavated artifacts, and strenuous negotiations forged deals for the return of dozens of works with several American museums, notably the Met, and the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles. Its efforts have picked up steam in recent years thanks to developments in technology, including easily consulted online databases and improved collaboration with American officials, and in particular the Manhattan’s district attorney’s office.

 

Culture ministry officials presented two works on Monday: a marble head of Athena, dated circa 200 B.C. and valued at $3 million, and a white-ground terra-cotta kylix, or drinking cup, attributed to the Villa Giulia Painter, dating to the fifth century B.C. and valued at $1.5 million. According to a search warrant, the artifacts were seized last July from the Metropolitan Museum along with 19 other works, many on show Monday.

 

Foto: ROME / ITALY – “$20 Million Worth of Looted Art Returns to Italy From the U.S.”, in: Gennaro Sangiuliano & Ambasciata U.S.A. / Twt (23/01/2023)

www.flickr.com/photos/imperial_fora_of_rome/52646904393

 

At the time of the seizure, the museum said in a statement that it had fully cooperated with the district attorney’s investigation and that its acquisition reviews have become more rigorous over the years.

 

“The norms of collecting have changed significantly in recent decades,” the museum said, “and The Met’s policies and procedures in this regard have been under constant review over the past 20 years.”

 

Among the items returned was a fresco depicting the infant Hercules strangling a snake, which dates to the first century. It is believed to have been looted from Herculaneum, a settlement buried in the Vesuvian eruption of 79 A.D., and decades ago was tracked by investigators to the apartment of Michael H. Steinhardt, a prominent New York venture capitalist and a major ancient art collector. In 2021, after investigators seized 180 stolen antiquities valued at $70 million from Mr. Steinhardt, he agreed to a lifetime ban on acquiring antiquities.

 

“The old laws only benefit bad guys,” he said. “The bad guys operate at the speed of bandwidth, and we have to do the same that’s why we operate outside the civil negotiating legal bureaucratic process.”

 

Foto: ROME / ITALY – “$20 Million Worth of Looted Art Returns to Italy From the U.S.”, in: Gennaro Sangiuliano & Ambasciata U.S.A. / Twt (23/01/2023)

www.flickr.com/photos/imperial_fora_of_rome/52646904428

 

Mr. Bogdanos said that under his watch, officials had executed 75 raids involving Italian antiquities and recovered some 500 artifacts valued at more than $55 million.

 

Also included in the returned pieces was a piece called “Bronze Bust of Man,” dating to the first century B.C., that Mr. Bogdanos said was seized from the collection of Shelby White, a philanthropist, Met trustee and board member. The Art Newspaper reported the seizure in December.

 

Now that they have been returned to Italy, several of the artifacts will join other repatriated works in an exhibit at a new museum dedicated to recovered art that opened in Rome last summer.

 

Then they will be relocated to museums near the ancient sites they are believed to have been looted from, “because their identity is linked to that of their community,” said Gen. Vincenzo Molinese, the head of the Italy’s carabinieri art theft squad.

 

Fonte / source:

--- The New York Times (24/01/2023).

www.nytimes.com/2023/01/23/world/europe/italy-art-stolen-...

 

Fonte / source:

--- Ambasciata U.S.A. / Twitter (23/01/2023).

twitter.com/AmbasciataUSA/status/1617577396911362048

 

--- Gennaro Sangiuliano / Twitter (23/01/2023).

twitter.com/g_sangiuliano/status/1617808085283926018

 

Foto: ROMA / ITALIA – Restituiti all’Italia 60 opere d’arte e reperti archeologici trafugati: valgono 20 milioni / foto: 1 di 32; in: Sky Tg24 (23/01/2023).

www.flickr.com/photos/imperial_fora_of_rome/52646686289

 

2). ROMA / ITALIA - Restituiti all'Italia 60 opere d'arte e reperti archeologici trafugati: valgono 20 milioni / foto: 1 di 32; in: Sky Tg24 (23/01/2023).

 

Hanno una datazione compresa tra il settimo e il primo secolo dopo Cristo, erano stati rubati da trafficanti internazionali e sono stati recuperati negli Stati Uniti grazie a un'operazione congiunta tra i Carabinieri per la Tutela del patrimonio culturale e il New York County District attorney's office. Tra le opere rimpatriate, l'affresco pompeiano 'Ercole fanciullo con serpente' del I secocolo d.C.

 

Fonte / source:

--- Sky Tg24 (23/01/2023).

tg24.sky.it/cronaca/2023/01/23/opere-arte-reperti-archeol...

 

Foto: Senatrice & Archeologa Margherita Corrado / FB (11/08/2022); s.v., Foto: “Petrolio Ladri di bellezza”; in: RAI 1 HD (08/12/2018).

www.flickr.com/photos/imperial_fora_of_rome/52280154054

 

3). RARA 2022. ITALIA / USA – Aggiornare: ‘Petrolio – Ladri di bellezza 2018/2022’; Gli studiosi italiani: “Musei negli USA – Restituisci quello che hai rubato!”; in: RAI 1 HD / VIDEO (2018) & Senatrice & Archeologa Margherita Corrado / Fb (08/2022) = “Il Getty Museum di Los Angeles restituirà all’Italia un antico gruppo scultoreo”; in: ARTRIBUNE & LOS ANGELES TIMES, USA (11/08/2022) [Italiano & English]. wp.me/pbMWvy-337

Ignace Bourget (30 October 1799 – 8 June 1885) was a French-Canadian Roman Catholic priest and bishop of the Diocese of Montreal, known for his sympathy for the rebels during the Upper Canada Rebellion of 1837, for his re-introduction of the Jesuit order to Canada in 1842, and his support of Ultramontane principles. He ordered the construction of Saint-Jacques Cathedral (later Mary, Queen of the World Cathedral-Basilica).

 

In 1862, the Vatican gave Bourget the title of Roman Count. Bourget used his power and influence to interfere in the affairs of the Province of New Brunswick in an attempt to quash the passage of the Common Schools Act of 1871 that resulted in the separation of church and state in the New Brunswick education system. Bourget also supported the Programme catholique, an election manifesto attempting to influence the direction of the Conservative party, which is believed by some to have led to the defeat of George-Étienne Cartier in Montreal East in 1872.

 

Bishop Bourget was at the forefront of the Guibord Case over Church rights. After the 1874 ruling by the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, Bourget went to the Notre Dame des Neiges Cemetery and deconsecrated the burial plot where the Court had ordered that Guibord could be buried.

 

Bishop Bourget is buried at the Mary, Queen of the World Cathedral.

 

www.jbellphoto.com

The details of this story were told to me by Bai Ze, the hakutaku. At first I questioned the beast's name, as I am sure you would also, yet the beast spoke unto me and quashed my doubts...

 

"Think not of the naming of things in your world... worry not of the words you of mankind hold dear... my name is that which you want it to be... I speak to you in the vowels and consonants of your tongue... it is in your mind that the thing before you shall manifest itself and perhaps start to make some sort of sense."

 

I fooled myself first into believing that I understood this hakutaku's ramblings... I fooled myself again into trusting his verbose renderings unto my memory... I fooled myself thrice into noting those memories onto the page with the blackest of ink...

 

The beast Bai Ze, communicated with me in a way that the written word fails to... but nevertheless, in a fever, I attempted to accurately journal the ideas the beast placed in my thinking soul...

 

"The waters of Truth lie halfway between the soil and the dream."

 

"The concept you know of as Truth lies partway between the soil of reality and the dream of mythology."

 

"Truth is partway between reality and mythology."

 

Even now looking back on these words, I am troubled by the ideas of partway and between... I hope you have the fortune to stand under the meaning of the beast Bai Ze, the hakutaku... may you treat my words as a simple receipt...

 

Found at the TTC Subway Rider Efficiency Guide

 

"On February 22, 2006, John Martz created a hilarious TTC (Toronto Transit Commission) Subway Map with each station's name as an anagram. The map, inspired by a similar anagram map of London's Tube, was an instant hit among Toronto's online community. Within a few days though, a TTC lawyer sent a cease and desist letter to John citing intellectual property laws and threatening legal action if he didn't pull it from his website.

 

Angered and frustrated by the TTC's ability to almost instantaneously flush all this goodwill down the toilet, we at ttcrider.ca have put the original map back online and written an open letter to TTC Chair Howard Moscoe requesting the map be allowed to exist. Moscoe has a good track record of promoting free speech (he led the charge to reinstate NOW Magazine after former North York mayor Mel Lastman banned it from City Hall over its personal ads). We view the TTC as belonging to the Toronto public and feel that celebrating the TTC through projects like the anagram map should be encouraged, not quashed."

 

See the original complete map

We paid a visit to Beringen on our 2008 euro trip but on that occasion the bleak weather quashed our motivation and we left without seeing much at all.

 

We returned a few weeks ago to finish off what we had started