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Source: hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/2009/18/image/a/
Retouching: Lightroom 3.6
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This light-year-long knot of interstellar gas and dust resembles a caterpillar on its way to a feast. But the meat of the story is not only what this cosmic caterpillar eats for lunch, but also what's eating it. Harsh winds from extremely bright stars are blasting ultraviolet radiation at this "wanna-be" star and sculpting the gas and dust into its long shape.
The culprits are 65 of the hottest, brightest known stars, classified as O-type stars, located 15 light-years away from the knot, towards the right edge of the image. These stars, along with 500 less bright, but still highly luminous B-type stars make up what is called the Cygnus OB2 association. Collectively, the association is thought to have a mass more than 30,000 times that of our Sun.
The caterpillar-shaped knot, called IRAS 20324+4057, is a protostar in a very early evolutionary stage. It is still in the process of collecting material from an envelope of gas surrounding it. However, that envelope is being eroded by the radiation from Cygnus OB2. Protostars in this region should eventually become young stars with final masses about one to ten times that of our Sun, but if the eroding radiation from the nearby bright stars destroys the gas envelope before the protostars finish collecting mass, their final masses may be reduced.
Spectroscopic observations of the central star within IRAS 20324+4057 show that it is still collecting material quite heavily from its outer envelope, hoping to bulk up in mass. Only time will tell if the formed star will be a "heavy-weight" or a "light-weight" with respect to its mass.
This image of IRAS 20324+4057 is a composite of Hubble Advanced Camera for Surveys data taken in green and infrared light in 2006, and ground-based hydrogen data from the Isaac Newton Telescope in 2003, as part of the IPHAS H-alpha survey. The object lies 4,500 light-years away in the constellation Cygnus.
Following your comments, I reduced the size of the moon and applied blur & darkened the reflection. Anything else to change?
Thanks guys for your comments. This photo is now accepted for public display at countess of chester hospital.
Buy now at www.photo-capture.co.uk
IR converted Canon Rebel XTi. AEB +/-2 total of 3 exposures processed with Photomatix.
High Dynamic Range (HDR)
High-dynamic-range imaging (HDRI) is a high dynamic range (HDR) technique used in imaging and photography to reproduce a greater dynamic range of luminosity than is possible with standard digital imaging or photographic techniques. The aim is to present a similar range of luminance to that experienced through the human visual system. The human eye, through adaptation of the iris and other methods, adjusts constantly to adapt to a broad range of luminance present in the environment. The brain continuously interprets this information so that a viewer can see in a wide range of light conditions.
HDR images can represent a greater range of luminance levels than can be achieved using more 'traditional' methods, such as many real-world scenes containing very bright, direct sunlight to extreme shade, or very faint nebulae. This is often achieved by capturing and then combining several different, narrower range, exposures of the same subject matter. Non-HDR cameras take photographs with a limited exposure range, referred to as LDR, resulting in the loss of detail in highlights or shadows.
The two primary types of HDR images are computer renderings and images resulting from merging multiple low-dynamic-range (LDR) or standard-dynamic-range (SDR) photographs. HDR images can also be acquired using special image sensors, such as an oversampled binary image sensor.
Due to the limitations of printing and display contrast, the extended luminosity range of an HDR image has to be compressed to be made visible. The method of rendering an HDR image to a standard monitor or printing device is called tone mapping. This method reduces the overall contrast of an HDR image to facilitate display on devices or printouts with lower dynamic range, and can be applied to produce images with preserved local contrast (or exaggerated for artistic effect).
In photography, dynamic range is measured in exposure value (EV) differences (known as stops). An increase of one EV, or 'one stop', represents a doubling of the amount of light. Conversely, a decrease of one EV represents a halving of the amount of light. Therefore, revealing detail in the darkest of shadows requires high exposures, while preserving detail in very bright situations requires very low exposures. Most cameras cannot provide this range of exposure values within a single exposure, due to their low dynamic range. High-dynamic-range photographs are generally achieved by capturing multiple standard-exposure images, often using exposure bracketing, and then later merging them into a single HDR image, usually within a photo manipulation program). Digital images are often encoded in a camera's raw image format, because 8-bit JPEG encoding does not offer a wide enough range of values to allow fine transitions (and regarding HDR, later introduces undesirable effects due to lossy compression).
Any camera that allows manual exposure control can make images for HDR work, although one equipped with auto exposure bracketing (AEB) is far better suited. Images from film cameras are less suitable as they often must first be digitized, so that they can later be processed using software HDR methods.
In most imaging devices, the degree of exposure to light applied to the active element (be it film or CCD) can be altered in one of two ways: by either increasing/decreasing the size of the aperture or by increasing/decreasing the time of each exposure. Exposure variation in an HDR set is only done by altering the exposure time and not the aperture size; this is because altering the aperture size also affects the depth of field and so the resultant multiple images would be quite different, preventing their final combination into a single HDR image.
An important limitation for HDR photography is that any movement between successive images will impede or prevent success in combining them afterwards. Also, as one must create several images (often three or five and sometimes more) to obtain the desired luminance range, such a full 'set' of images takes extra time. HDR photographers have developed calculation methods and techniques to partially overcome these problems, but the use of a sturdy tripod is, at least, advised.
Some cameras have an auto exposure bracketing (AEB) feature with a far greater dynamic range than others, from the 3 EV of the Canon EOS 40D, to the 18 EV of the Canon EOS-1D Mark II. As the popularity of this imaging method grows, several camera manufactures are now offering built-in HDR features. For example, the Pentax K-7 DSLR has an HDR mode that captures an HDR image and outputs (only) a tone mapped JPEG file. The Canon PowerShot G12, Canon PowerShot S95 and Canon PowerShot S100 offer similar features in a smaller format.. Nikon's approach is called 'Active D-Lighting' which applies exposure compensation and tone mapping to the image as it comes from the sensor, with the accent being on retaing a realistic effect . Some smartphones provide HDR modes, and most mobile platforms have apps that provide HDR picture taking.
Camera characteristics such as gamma curves, sensor resolution, noise, photometric calibration and color calibration affect resulting high-dynamic-range images.
Color film negatives and slides consist of multiple film layers that respond to light differently. As a consequence, transparent originals (especially positive slides) feature a very high dynamic range
Tone mapping
Tone mapping reduces the dynamic range, or contrast ratio, of an entire image while retaining localized contrast. Although it is a distinct operation, tone mapping is often applied to HDRI files by the same software package.
Several software applications are available on the PC, Mac and Linux platforms for producing HDR files and tone mapped images. Notable titles include
Adobe Photoshop
Aurora HDR
Dynamic Photo HDR
HDR Efex Pro
HDR PhotoStudio
Luminance HDR
MagicRaw
Oloneo PhotoEngine
Photomatix Pro
PTGui
Information stored in high-dynamic-range images typically corresponds to the physical values of luminance or radiance that can be observed in the real world. This is different from traditional digital images, which represent colors as they should appear on a monitor or a paper print. Therefore, HDR image formats are often called scene-referred, in contrast to traditional digital images, which are device-referred or output-referred. Furthermore, traditional images are usually encoded for the human visual system (maximizing the visual information stored in the fixed number of bits), which is usually called gamma encoding or gamma correction. The values stored for HDR images are often gamma compressed (power law) or logarithmically encoded, or floating-point linear values, since fixed-point linear encodings are increasingly inefficient over higher dynamic ranges.
HDR images often don't use fixed ranges per color channel—other than traditional images—to represent many more colors over a much wider dynamic range. For that purpose, they don't use integer values to represent the single color channels (e.g., 0-255 in an 8 bit per pixel interval for red, green and blue) but instead use a floating point representation. Common are 16-bit (half precision) or 32-bit floating point numbers to represent HDR pixels. However, when the appropriate transfer function is used, HDR pixels for some applications can be represented with a color depth that has as few as 10–12 bits for luminance and 8 bits for chrominance without introducing any visible quantization artifacts.
History of HDR photography
The idea of using several exposures to adequately reproduce a too-extreme range of luminance was pioneered as early as the 1850s by Gustave Le Gray to render seascapes showing both the sky and the sea. Such rendering was impossible at the time using standard methods, as the luminosity range was too extreme. Le Gray used one negative for the sky, and another one with a longer exposure for the sea, and combined the two into one picture in positive.
Mid 20th century
Manual tone mapping was accomplished by dodging and burning – selectively increasing or decreasing the exposure of regions of the photograph to yield better tonality reproduction. This was effective because the dynamic range of the negative is significantly higher than would be available on the finished positive paper print when that is exposed via the negative in a uniform manner. An excellent example is the photograph Schweitzer at the Lamp by W. Eugene Smith, from his 1954 photo essay A Man of Mercy on Dr. Albert Schweitzer and his humanitarian work in French Equatorial Africa. The image took 5 days to reproduce the tonal range of the scene, which ranges from a bright lamp (relative to the scene) to a dark shadow.
Ansel Adams elevated dodging and burning to an art form. Many of his famous prints were manipulated in the darkroom with these two methods. Adams wrote a comprehensive book on producing prints called The Print, which prominently features dodging and burning, in the context of his Zone System.
With the advent of color photography, tone mapping in the darkroom was no longer possible due to the specific timing needed during the developing process of color film. Photographers looked to film manufacturers to design new film stocks with improved response, or continued to shoot in black and white to use tone mapping methods.
Color film capable of directly recording high-dynamic-range images was developed by Charles Wyckoff and EG&G "in the course of a contract with the Department of the Air Force". This XR film had three emulsion layers, an upper layer having an ASA speed rating of 400, a middle layer with an intermediate rating, and a lower layer with an ASA rating of 0.004. The film was processed in a manner similar to color films, and each layer produced a different color. The dynamic range of this extended range film has been estimated as 1:108. It has been used to photograph nuclear explosions, for astronomical photography, for spectrographic research, and for medical imaging. Wyckoff's detailed pictures of nuclear explosions appeared on the cover of Life magazine in the mid-1950s.
Late 20th century
Georges Cornuéjols and licensees of his patents (Brdi, Hymatom) introduced the principle of HDR video image, in 1986, by interposing a matricial LCD screen in front of the camera's image sensor, increasing the sensors dynamic by five stops. The concept of neighborhood tone mapping was applied to video cameras by a group from the Technion in Israel led by Dr. Oliver Hilsenrath and Prof. Y.Y.Zeevi who filed for a patent on this concept in 1988.
In February and April 1990, Georges Cornuéjols introduced the first real-time HDR camera that combined two images captured by a sensor3435 or simultaneously3637 by two sensors of the camera. This process is known as bracketing used for a video stream.
In 1991, the first commercial video camera was introduced that performed real-time capturing of multiple images with different exposures, and producing an HDR video image, by Hymatom, licensee of Georges Cornuéjols.
Also in 1991, Georges Cornuéjols introduced the HDR+ image principle by non-linear accumulation of images to increase the sensitivity of the camera: for low-light environments, several successive images are accumulated, thus increasing the signal to noise ratio.
In 1993, another commercial medical camera producing an HDR video image, by the Technion.
Modern HDR imaging uses a completely different approach, based on making a high-dynamic-range luminance or light map using only global image operations (across the entire image), and then tone mapping the result. Global HDR was first introduced in 19931 resulting in a mathematical theory of differently exposed pictures of the same subject matter that was published in 1995 by Steve Mann and Rosalind Picard.
On October 28, 1998, Ben Sarao created one of the first nighttime HDR+G (High Dynamic Range + Graphic image)of STS-95 on the launch pad at NASA's Kennedy Space Center. It consisted of four film images of the shuttle at night that were digitally composited with additional digital graphic elements. The image was first exhibited at NASA Headquarters Great Hall, Washington DC in 1999 and then published in Hasselblad Forum, Issue 3 1993, Volume 35 ISSN 0282-5449.
The advent of consumer digital cameras produced a new demand for HDR imaging to improve the light response of digital camera sensors, which had a much smaller dynamic range than film. Steve Mann developed and patented the global-HDR method for producing digital images having extended dynamic range at the MIT Media Laboratory. Mann's method involved a two-step procedure: (1) generate one floating point image array by global-only image operations (operations that affect all pixels identically, without regard to their local neighborhoods); and then (2) convert this image array, using local neighborhood processing (tone-remapping, etc.), into an HDR image. The image array generated by the first step of Mann's process is called a lightspace image, lightspace picture, or radiance map. Another benefit of global-HDR imaging is that it provides access to the intermediate light or radiance map, which has been used for computer vision, and other image processing operations.
21st century
In 2005, Adobe Systems introduced several new features in Photoshop CS2 including Merge to HDR, 32 bit floating point image support, and HDR tone mapping.
On June 30, 2016, Microsoft added support for the digital compositing of HDR images to Windows 10 using the Universal Windows Platform.
HDR sensors
Modern CMOS image sensors can often capture a high dynamic range from a single exposure. The wide dynamic range of the captured image is non-linearly compressed into a smaller dynamic range electronic representation. However, with proper processing, the information from a single exposure can be used to create an HDR image.
Such HDR imaging is used in extreme dynamic range applications like welding or automotive work. Some other cameras designed for use in security applications can automatically provide two or more images for each frame, with changing exposure. For example, a sensor for 30fps video will give out 60fps with the odd frames at a short exposure time and the even frames at a longer exposure time. Some of the sensor may even combine the two images on-chip so that a wider dynamic range without in-pixel compression is directly available to the user for display or processing.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-dynamic-range_imaging
Infrared Photography
In infrared photography, the film or image sensor used is sensitive to infrared light. The part of the spectrum used is referred to as near-infrared to distinguish it from far-infrared, which is the domain of thermal imaging. Wavelengths used for photography range from about 700 nm to about 900 nm. Film is usually sensitive to visible light too, so an infrared-passing filter is used; this lets infrared (IR) light pass through to the camera, but blocks all or most of the visible light spectrum (the filter thus looks black or deep red). ("Infrared filter" may refer either to this type of filter or to one that blocks infrared but passes other wavelengths.)
When these filters are used together with infrared-sensitive film or sensors, "in-camera effects" can be obtained; false-color or black-and-white images with a dreamlike or sometimes lurid appearance known as the "Wood Effect," an effect mainly caused by foliage (such as tree leaves and grass) strongly reflecting in the same way visible light is reflected from snow. There is a small contribution from chlorophyll fluorescence, but this is marginal and is not the real cause of the brightness seen in infrared photographs. The effect is named after the infrared photography pioneer Robert W. Wood, and not after the material wood, which does not strongly reflect infrared.
The other attributes of infrared photographs include very dark skies and penetration of atmospheric haze, caused by reduced Rayleigh scattering and Mie scattering, respectively, compared to visible light. The dark skies, in turn, result in less infrared light in shadows and dark reflections of those skies from water, and clouds will stand out strongly. These wavelengths also penetrate a few millimeters into skin and give a milky look to portraits, although eyes often look black.
Until the early 20th century, infrared photography was not possible because silver halide emulsions are not sensitive to longer wavelengths than that of blue light (and to a lesser extent, green light) without the addition of a dye to act as a color sensitizer. The first infrared photographs (as distinct from spectrographs) to be published appeared in the February 1910 edition of The Century Magazine and in the October 1910 edition of the Royal Photographic Society Journal to illustrate papers by Robert W. Wood, who discovered the unusual effects that now bear his name. The RPS co-ordinated events to celebrate the centenary of this event in 2010. Wood's photographs were taken on experimental film that required very long exposures; thus, most of his work focused on landscapes. A further set of infrared landscapes taken by Wood in Italy in 1911 used plates provided for him by CEK Mees at Wratten & Wainwright. Mees also took a few infrared photographs in Portugal in 1910, which are now in the Kodak archives.
Infrared-sensitive photographic plates were developed in the United States during World War I for spectroscopic analysis, and infrared sensitizing dyes were investigated for improved haze penetration in aerial photography. After 1930, new emulsions from Kodak and other manufacturers became useful to infrared astronomy.
Infrared photography became popular with photography enthusiasts in the 1930s when suitable film was introduced commercially. The Times regularly published landscape and aerial photographs taken by their staff photographers using Ilford infrared film. By 1937 33 kinds of infrared film were available from five manufacturers including Agfa, Kodak and Ilford. Infrared movie film was also available and was used to create day-for-night effects in motion pictures, a notable example being the pseudo-night aerial sequences in the James Cagney/Bette Davis movie The Bride Came COD.
False-color infrared photography became widely practiced with the introduction of Kodak Ektachrome Infrared Aero Film and Ektachrome Infrared EIR. The first version of this, known as Kodacolor Aero-Reversal-Film, was developed by Clark and others at the Kodak for camouflage detection in the 1940s. The film became more widely available in 35mm form in the 1960s but KODAK AEROCHROME III Infrared Film 1443 has been discontinued.
Infrared photography became popular with a number of 1960s recording artists, because of the unusual results; Jimi Hendrix, Donovan, Frank and a slow shutter speed without focus compensation, however wider apertures like f/2.0 can produce sharp photos only if the lens is meticulously refocused to the infrared index mark, and only if this index mark is the correct one for the filter and film in use. However, it should be noted that diffraction effects inside a camera are greater at infrared wavelengths so that stopping down the lens too far may actually reduce sharpness.
Most apochromatic ('APO') lenses do not have an Infrared index mark and do not need to be refocused for the infrared spectrum because they are already optically corrected into the near-infrared spectrum. Catadioptric lenses do not often require this adjustment because their mirror containing elements do not suffer from chromatic aberration and so the overall aberration is comparably less. Catadioptric lenses do, of course, still contain lenses, and these lenses do still have a dispersive property.
Infrared black-and-white films require special development times but development is usually achieved with standard black-and-white film developers and chemicals (like D-76). Kodak HIE film has a polyester film base that is very stable but extremely easy to scratch, therefore special care must be used in the handling of Kodak HIE throughout the development and printing/scanning process to avoid damage to the film. The Kodak HIE film was sensitive to 900 nm.
As of November 2, 2007, "KODAK is preannouncing the discontinuance" of HIE Infrared 35 mm film stating the reasons that, "Demand for these products has been declining significantly in recent years, and it is no longer practical to continue to manufacture given the low volume, the age of the product formulations and the complexity of the processes involved." At the time of this notice, HIE Infrared 135-36 was available at a street price of around $12.00 a roll at US mail order outlets.
Arguably the greatest obstacle to infrared film photography has been the increasing difficulty of obtaining infrared-sensitive film. However, despite the discontinuance of HIE, other newer infrared sensitive emulsions from EFKE, ROLLEI, and ILFORD are still available, but these formulations have differing sensitivity and specifications from the venerable KODAK HIE that has been around for at least two decades. Some of these infrared films are available in 120 and larger formats as well as 35 mm, which adds flexibility to their application. With the discontinuance of Kodak HIE, Efke's IR820 film has become the only IR film on the marketneeds update with good sensitivity beyond 750 nm, the Rollei film does extend beyond 750 nm but IR sensitivity falls off very rapidly.
Color infrared transparency films have three sensitized layers that, because of the way the dyes are coupled to these layers, reproduce infrared as red, red as green, and green as blue. All three layers are sensitive to blue so the film must be used with a yellow filter, since this will block blue light but allow the remaining colors to reach the film. The health of foliage can be determined from the relative strengths of green and infrared light reflected; this shows in color infrared as a shift from red (healthy) towards magenta (unhealthy). Early color infrared films were developed in the older E-4 process, but Kodak later manufactured a color transparency film that could be developed in standard E-6 chemistry, although more accurate results were obtained by developing using the AR-5 process. In general, color infrared does not need to be refocused to the infrared index mark on the lens.
In 2007 Kodak announced that production of the 35 mm version of their color infrared film (Ektachrome Professional Infrared/EIR) would cease as there was insufficient demand. Since 2011, all formats of color infrared film have been discontinued. Specifically, Aerochrome 1443 and SO-734.
There is no currently available digital camera that will produce the same results as Kodak color infrared film although the equivalent images can be produced by taking two exposures, one infrared and the other full-color, and combining in post-production. The color images produced by digital still cameras using infrared-pass filters are not equivalent to those produced on color infrared film. The colors result from varying amounts of infrared passing through the color filters on the photo sites, further amended by the Bayer filtering. While this makes such images unsuitable for the kind of applications for which the film was used, such as remote sensing of plant health, the resulting color tonality has proved popular artistically.
Color digital infrared, as part of full spectrum photography is gaining popularity. The ease of creating a softly colored photo with infrared characteristics has found interest among hobbyists and professionals.
In 2008, Los Angeles photographer, Dean Bennici started cutting and hand rolling Aerochrome color Infrared film. All Aerochrome medium and large format which exists today came directly from his lab. The trend in infrared photography continues to gain momentum with the success of photographer Richard Mosse and multiple users all around the world.
Digital camera sensors are inherently sensitive to infrared light, which would interfere with the normal photography by confusing the autofocus calculations or softening the image (because infrared light is focused differently from visible light), or oversaturating the red channel. Also, some clothing is transparent in the infrared, leading to unintended (at least to the manufacturer) uses of video cameras. Thus, to improve image quality and protect privacy, many digital cameras employ infrared blockers. Depending on the subject matter, infrared photography may not be practical with these cameras because the exposure times become overly long, often in the range of 30 seconds, creating noise and motion blur in the final image. However, for some subject matter the long exposure does not matter or the motion blur effects actually add to the image. Some lenses will also show a 'hot spot' in the centre of the image as their coatings are optimised for visible light and not for IR.
An alternative method of DSLR infrared photography is to remove the infrared blocker in front of the sensor and replace it with a filter that removes visible light. This filter is behind the mirror, so the camera can be used normally - handheld, normal shutter speeds, normal composition through the viewfinder, and focus, all work like a normal camera. Metering works but is not always accurate because of the difference between visible and infrared refraction. When the IR blocker is removed, many lenses which did display a hotspot cease to do so, and become perfectly usable for infrared photography. Additionally, because the red, green and blue micro-filters remain and have transmissions not only in their respective color but also in the infrared, enhanced infrared color may be recorded.
Since the Bayer filters in most digital cameras absorb a significant fraction of the infrared light, these cameras are sometimes not very sensitive as infrared cameras and can sometimes produce false colors in the images. An alternative approach is to use a Foveon X3 sensor, which does not have absorptive filters on it; the Sigma SD10 DSLR has a removable IR blocking filter and dust protector, which can be simply omitted or replaced by a deep red or complete visible light blocking filter. The Sigma SD14 has an IR/UV blocking filter that can be removed/installed without tools. The result is a very sensitive digital IR camera.
While it is common to use a filter that blocks almost all visible light, the wavelength sensitivity of a digital camera without internal infrared blocking is such that a variety of artistic results can be obtained with more conventional filtration. For example, a very dark neutral density filter can be used (such as the Hoya ND400) which passes a very small amount of visible light compared to the near-infrared it allows through. Wider filtration permits an SLR viewfinder to be used and also passes more varied color information to the sensor without necessarily reducing the Wood effect. Wider filtration is however likely to reduce other infrared artefacts such as haze penetration and darkened skies. This technique mirrors the methods used by infrared film photographers where black-and-white infrared film was often used with a deep red filter rather than a visually opaque one.
Another common technique with near-infrared filters is to swap blue and red channels in software (e.g. photoshop) which retains much of the characteristic 'white foliage' while rendering skies a glorious blue.
Several Sony cameras had the so-called Night Shot facility, which physically moves the blocking filter away from the light path, which makes the cameras very sensitive to infrared light. Soon after its development, this facility was 'restricted' by Sony to make it difficult for people to take photos that saw through clothing. To do this the iris is opened fully and exposure duration is limited to long times of more than 1/30 second or so. It is possible to shoot infrared but neutral density filters must be used to reduce the camera's sensitivity and the long exposure times mean that care must be taken to avoid camera-shake artifacts.
Fuji have produced digital cameras for use in forensic criminology and medicine which have no infrared blocking filter. The first camera, designated the S3 PRO UVIR, also had extended ultraviolet sensitivity (digital sensors are usually less sensitive to UV than to IR). Optimum UV sensitivity requires special lenses, but ordinary lenses usually work well for IR. In 2007, FujiFilm introduced a new version of this camera, based on the Nikon D200/ FujiFilm S5 called the IS Pro, also able to take Nikon lenses. Fuji had earlier introduced a non-SLR infrared camera, the IS-1, a modified version of the FujiFilm FinePix S9100. Unlike the S3 PRO UVIR, the IS-1 does not offer UV sensitivity. FujiFilm restricts the sale of these cameras to professional users with their EULA specifically prohibiting "unethical photographic conduct".
Phase One digital camera backs can be ordered in an infrared modified form.
Remote sensing and thermographic cameras are sensitive to longer wavelengths of infrared (see Infrared spectrum#Commonly used sub-division scheme). They may be multispectral and use a variety of technologies which may not resemble common camera or filter designs. Cameras sensitive to longer infrared wavelengths including those used in infrared astronomy often require cooling to reduce thermally induced dark currents in the sensor (see Dark current (physics)). Lower cost uncooled thermographic digital cameras operate in the Long Wave infrared band (see Thermographic camera#Uncooled infrared detectors). These cameras are generally used for building inspection or preventative maintenance but can be used for artistic pursuits as well.
The Blue Bridge is an iron bridge across the River South Tyne at Haltwhistle in Northumberland, England.
The Grade II listed bridge was designed by George Gordon Page: it has three arches and wooden decking and was completed in 1875. The bridge was closed to road traffic in 1972 and, having been refurbished in 2003, remains in use for pedestrians. It forms part of National Cycle Route 68, the Pennine Cycleway.
Haltwhistle is a market town and civil parish in Northumberland, England, 22.9 miles (36.9 kilometres) east of Carlisle and 36.8 miles (59.2 kilometres) west of Newcastle upon Tyne. It had a population of 3,811 at the 2011 Census.
Haltwhistle is the closest community to Hadrian's Wall and to Northumberland National Park, both approximately 2 miles (3 kilometres) distant.
The name Haltwhistle has nothing to do with a railway stop. Early forms of the name are Hautwesel (1240), Hautwysel (1254), Hawtewysill (1279), Hautwysell (1381), Haltwesell (Speede 1610). The second part -twistle relates to two streams or rivers. It derives from two Old English words twicce or twise, 'twice', 'division into two' and wella, 'stream, brook'. The second word is reduced in the compound word to ull, making twicculla, twisella. All but one of the examples in place names represent a high tongue of land between two streams where they join.
The first part is probably derived from Old English hēafod, here 'hill-top', in general, 'head', 'headland', 'summit', 'upper end' or 'source of a stream'. If so, it describes the hill-top on which Holy Cross Church and the oldest part of Haltwhistle was built, enclosed on the north-east and west by Haltwhistle Burn and on the south by the South Tyne. Rowland suggests Hal from 'hill' A suggestion is French haut-, meaning 'high', since the settlement already existed long before the Norman Conquest.
A Town web site suggests that Haltwhistle signifies either "the high hill by two rivers" or "the watch on high".
Haltwhistle was probably in existence in Roman times, as it is one of the closest approaches of the River South Tyne in its upland reaches to Hadrian's Wall. The old Roman road known as the Stanegate, which is thought to predate Hadrian’s Wall by some forty years or so, passes just two miles (three kilometres) to the north of the town.
The town web site summarizes an important part of the history (late Middle Ages) of the community as: "for many centuries, the constant marauding of English and Scots caused turmoil in Haltwhistle and throughout the Borders". In 1598, "the infamous Armstrongs of Liddesdale fired and plundered Haltwhistle". Another important raid on Haltwhistle was made in 1601 by the Scots "who carried away prisoners and all their goods"; they were later reclaimed by a raid on Liddesdale. Scots, particularly the Armstrongs, later returned and burned many houses; that led to "years of feuds between the Armstrongs and the Ridley's of Haltwhistle".
Celia Fiennes did not entirely enjoy her visit in the 1690s:
"This Hartwhistle is a Little town, there was one Inn but they had noe hay nor would get none, and when my servants had got some Else where they were angry and would not Entertaine me, so I was forced to take up in a poor Cottage wch was open to ye Thatch and no partitions but hurdles plaistered. Indeed ye Loft as they Called it wch was over the other roomes was shelter'd but wth a hurdle; here I was fforced to take up my abode and ye Landlady brought me out her best sheetes wch serv'd to secure my own sheetes from her dirty blanckets, and Indeed I had her fine sheete to spread over ye top of the Clothes; but noe sleepe Could I get, they burning turff and their Chimneys are sort of fflews or open tunnills, yt ye smoake does annoy the roomes. This is but 12 miles [19 km] from another part of Scotland, the houses are but a Little better built, its true the inside of them are kept a Little better."
Dorothy, Lady Capell, endowed a school in Haltwhistle in her will of 1721.
The development of the town benefited from its location on the main Newcastle to Carlisle road and on the Newcastle and Carlisle Railway line.
The expansion of Haltwhistle in the 18th and 19th centuries was due to coal mining in the area and to a lesser extent the use of Haltwhistle as a loading point for metal ores coming from the mines on Alston Moor to the south. In 1836 while some workmen were quarrying stone for the Directors of the Newcastle and Carlisle Railway, on the top of Barcombe, a high hill in the township of Thorngrafton and Parish of Haltwhistle, one of them found a copper vessel containing 63 coins, 3 of them gold and 60 copper. The gold coins were, one of Claudius Caesar, reverse Nero Claudius Drusus Germanicus; one of Nero and one of Vespasian. The find is known as the Thorngrafton Hoard and the empty arm-purse can still be seen in the museum at Chesters Fort.
More recently, paint manufacture became a major commercial force in the town, but has now stopped major production. Current local employers include factories making plastic bottles and de-icing products.
In the 21st century, the tourist industry dominates the economy with Hadrian's Wall and walking and rambling counting among the principal interests of tourists. The Town web site summarizes the appeal of the area which is "within easy reach of Newcastle and Carlisle".
Skirted by the Northumberland National Park and the North Pennines range, Haltwhistle is ideal for activity and family holidays, walking, cycling, fishing and climbing. Close to where the North & South Tynes meet, with many pretty villages dotted along both river valleys...
Haltwhistle was a market town for the exchange of local goods. In the 18th century two Quakers set up a baize manufactury and there was a weaving establishment. On the Haltwhistle Burn were fulling mills, dyeing and spinning mills. A walk along this stream to the Roman Wall, shows that it must have been a hive of industry with quarries, coal mining and lime burning kilns. The Directory of 1822 (Pigot) gives a whole range of craftsmen, shopkeepers and traders; 60 in number, including makers of clogs. The weekly market was held on Thursdays and there were fairs on 14 May and 22 November for cattle and sheep.
Hadrian's Wall to the north of the town is used as a major selling point for the town. The section of the wall closest to Haltwhistle is among the most spectacular and complete, with the wall striding eastwards from the lake at Crag Lough along the spine of the Whin Sill.
The remains of Haltwhistle Castle and the series of Bastles, and Haltwhistle Tower. Haltwhistle also claims to be at the geographic centre of Britain[15] – equidistant from the sea as measured along the principal points of the compass. A hotel in the centre of Haltwhistle is named the Centre of Britain Hotel in recognition of this claim. The claim is rather tenuous as it requires that the northern extremity is taken to be Orkney rather than Shetland. Depending on how the centre of the island is calculated, however, the centre can be said to be Dunsop Bridge in Lancashire. See centre points of the United Kingdom.
A Border reivers' Peel Tower, circa 15th century, is now part of the Centre of Britain hotel and the town contains five Bastle houses (fortified farm houses). Roughly three miles distant from the town centre are Blenkinsop Hall and Blenkinsopp Castle, both Grade II listed buildings. The Grade I listed Thirlwall Castle is located four miles from Haltwhistle.
Other historic properties nearby include Featherstone Castle, Unthank Hall, Bellister Castle and Coanwood Friends Meeting House.
Haltwhistle Viaduct lies to the south of the railway station and was the first major feature on the Alston Line to Alston, Cumbria.
Stone-built houses are a feature of Haltwhistle. It is one of two settlements in Great Britain which claim to be the exact geographic centre of the island, along with Dunsop Bridge in Lancashire, 71 miles (114 km) to the south.
The Church of the Holy Cross is situated below the Market Place, with views over the river and the valley. This is a Grade II listed building said to be "one of only a few early 13th century churches still functioning as a working church in England". One of the tombs is that of crusader Thomas de Blenkinsopp who died in 1388. There are a number of other medieval grave covers to the Blenkinsopps and the Thirlwells.
It is a good example of a North Country church, impressive considering the time when it was built in the thirteenth century. The chancel measures 46 by 20 feet (14.0 by 6.1 m), with lancet windows – combined three lights in the east end and four single lights on each side, the walls being supported by buttresses. Inside is a piscina (for washing) and three sedilia (seats for the clergy). The nave measures 63 by 46 feet (19 by 14 m) and has side aisles above which are clerestory windows. It has four bays with round columns and pointed arches, looking very spacious inside. The font, dated 1676, has some curious crude carvings on it, and there is another large circular bowl on a shaft, which is probably an earlier font. At the west end it has long lancet windows and a bell-cote, again typical of the North country.
Nearby, the village of Coanwood houses a small but historic chapel, designated as Grade II* by English Heritage. The summary states: "...dated 1760 on lintel. Squared stone with rusticated quoins and dressings".[19] Coanwood Friends Meeting House was a Quaker place of worship and is maintained to this day as a historical site open to visitors.
Haltwhistle is currently in the parliamentary constituency of Hexham; Guy Opperman of the Conservative Party is the Member of Parliament. In 2023 Joe Morris was selected to stand as the Labour Party candidate at the next General Election.
For Local Government purposes it belongs to Northumberland County Council a unitary authority, with Haltwhistle lying in the Tynedale Division. Prior to the 2009 structural changes to local government in England it was part of Tynedale Council. Prior to the 1974 great reorganisation, it belonged to the county of Northumberland. The Old Town Hall in Haltwhistle is now used as a hair salon.
An electoral ward with the same name still exists. This ward stretches from Hexham south up the River Tyne South and has a total population taken at the 2011 Census of 4,832.
Local news and television programmes are provided by BBC North East and Cumbria and ITV Tyne Tees. Television signals are received from Pontop Pike and the local relay transmitters.
Local radio stations are BBC Radio Newcastle, Capital North East, Heart North East and Metro Radio.
The town's local newspaper is the Hexham Courant.
The town is served by Haltwhistle railway station on the Newcastle and Carlisle Railway, also known as the Tyne Valley Line. The line was opened in 1838, and links the city of Newcastle upon Tyne in Tyne and Wear with Carlisle in Cumbria. The line follows the course of the River Tyne through Northumberland.
Passenger services on the Tyne Valley Railway are operated by Northern and ScotRail. The line is also heavily used for freight. The railway station is on the south side of the town, close by the River South Tyne.
Until 1976, the railway station was also the junction of the branch line to Alston, in Cumbria, which was 13 miles (21 km) in length. Part of the southern section of the Haltwhistle to Alston line has been reopened as a 2 ft (610 mm) narrow gauge railway, known as the South Tynedale Railway, between Alston and Slaggyford. The trust that owns and operates the railway intends to reopen the entire branch line from Alston to Haltwhistle.
The A69 trunk road, which links Carlisle and Newcastle upon Tyne, formerly passed south of the town centre and through its western outskirts, until a full bypass was opened in 1997.
Northumberland is a ceremonial county in North East England, bordering Scotland. It is bordered by the Scottish Borders to the north, the North Sea to the east, Tyne and Wear and County Durham to the south, and Cumbria to the west. The town of Blyth is the largest settlement.
The county has an area of 5,013 km2 (1,936 sq mi) and a population of 320,274, making it the least-densely populated county in England. The south-east contains the largest towns: Blyth (37,339), Cramlington (27,683), Ashington (27,670), and Morpeth (14,304), which is the administrative centre. The remainder of the county is rural, and the largest towns are Berwick-upon-Tweed (12,043) in the far north and Hexham (13,097) in the west. For local government purposes the county is a unitary authority area. The county historically included the parts of Tyne and Wear north of the River Tyne.
The west of Northumberland contains part of the Cheviot Hills and North Pennines, while to the east the land becomes flatter before reaching the coast. The Cheviot (815 m (2,674 ft)), after which the range of hills is named, is the county's highest point. The county contains the source of the River North Tyne and much of the South Tyne; near Hexham they combine to form the Tyne, which exits into Tyne and Wear shortly downstream. The other major rivers in Northumberland are, from south to north, the Blyth, Coquet, Aln, Wansbeck and Tweed, the last of which forms part of the Scottish border. The county contains Northumberland National Park and two national landscapes: the Northumberland Coast and part of the North Pennines.
Much of the county's history has been defined by its position on a border. In the Roman era most of the county lay north of Hadrian's Wall, and the region was contested between England and Scotland into the Early Modern era, leading to the construction of many castles, peel towers and bastle houses, and the early modern fortifications at Berwick-upon-Tweed. Northumberland is also associated with Celtic Christianity, particularly the tidal island of Lindisfarne. During the Industrial Revolution the area had significant coal mining, shipbuilding, and armaments industries.
Northumberland, England's northernmost county, is a land where Roman occupiers once guarded a walled frontier, Anglian invaders fought with Celtic natives, and Norman lords built castles to suppress rebellion and defend a contested border with Scotland. The present-day county is a vestige of an independent kingdom that once stretched from Edinburgh to the Humber, hence its name, meaning literally 'north of the Humber'. Reflecting its tumultuous past, Northumberland has more castles than any other county in England, and the greatest number of recognised battle sites. Once an economically important region that supplied much of the coal that powered the industrial revolution, Northumberland is now a primarily rural county with a small and gradually shrinking population.
As attested by many instances of rock art, the Northumberland region has a rich prehistory. Archeologists have studied a Mesolithic structure at Howick, which dates to 7500 BC and was identified as Britain's oldest house until it lost this title in 2010 when the discovery of the even older Star Carr house in North Yorkshire was announced, which dates to 8770 BC. They have also found tools, ornaments, building structures and cairns dating to the bronze and iron ages, when the area was occupied by Brythonic Celtic peoples who had migrated from continental Europe, most likely the Votadini whose territory stretched from Edinburgh and the Firth of Forth to Northumberland. It is not clear where the boundary between the Votadini and the other large tribe, the Brigantes, was, although it probably frequently shifted as a result of wars and as smaller tribes and communities changed allegiances. Unlike neighbouring tribes, Votadini farms were surrounded by large walls, banks and ditches and the people made offerings of fine metal objects, but never wore massive armlets. There are also at least three very large hillforts in their territory (Yeavering Bell, Eildon Hill and Traprain Law, the latter two now in Scotland), each was located on the top of a prominent hill or mountain. The hillforts may have been used for over a thousand years by this time as places of refuge and as places for meetings for political and religious ceremonies. Duddo Five Stones in North Northumberland and the Goatstones near Hadrian's Wall are stone circles dating from the Bronze Age.
When Gnaeus Julius Agricola was appointed Roman governor of Britain in 78 AD, most of northern Britain was still controlled by native British tribes. During his governorship Agricola extended Roman control north of Eboracum (York) and into what is now Scotland. Roman settlements, garrisons and roads were established throughout the Northumberland region.
The northern frontier of the Roman occupation fluctuated between Pons Aelius (now Newcastle) and the Forth. Hadrian's Wall was completed by about 130 AD, to define and defend the northern boundary of Roman Britain. By 142, the Romans had completed the Antonine Wall, a more northerly defensive border lying between the Forth and Clyde. However, by 164 they abandoned the Antonine Wall to consolidate defences at Hadrian's Wall.
Two important Roman roads in the region were the Stanegate and Dere Street, the latter extending through the Cheviot Hills to locations well north of the Tweed. Located at the intersection of these two roads, Coria (Corbridge), a Roman supply-base, was the most northerly large town in the Roman Empire. The Roman forts of Vercovicium (Housesteads) on Hadrian's Wall, and Vindolanda (Chesterholm) built to guard the Stanegate, had extensive civil settlements surrounding them.
The Celtic peoples living in the region between the Tyne and the Forth were known to the Romans as the Votadini. When not under direct Roman rule, they functioned as a friendly client kingdom, a somewhat porous buffer against the more warlike Picts to the north.
The gradual Roman withdrawal from Britain in the 5th century led to a poorly documented age of conflict and chaos as different peoples contested territories in northern Britain.
Nearly 2000-year-old Roman boxing gloves were uncovered at Vindolanda in 2017 by the Vidolanda Trust experts led by Dr Andrew Birley. According to the Guardian, being similar in style and function to the full-hand modern boxing gloves, these two gloves found at Vindolanda look like leather bands date back to 120 AD. It is suggested that based on their difference from gladiator gloves warriors using this type of gloves had no purpose to kill each other. These gloves were probably used in a sport for promoting fighting skills. The gloves are currently displayed at Vindolanda's museum.
Conquests by Anglian invaders led to the establishment of the kingdoms of Deira and Bernicia. The first Anglian settlement was effected in 547 by Ida, who, accompanied by his six sons, pushed through the narrow strip of territory between the Cheviots and the sea, and set up a fortress at Bamburgh, which became the royal seat of the Bernician kings. About the end of the 6th century Bernicia was first united with the rival kingdom of Deira under the rule of Æthelfrith of Northumbria, and the district between the Humber and the Forth became known as the kingdom of Northumbria.
After Æthelfrith was killed in battle around 616, Edwin of Deira became king of Northumbria. Æthelfrith's son Oswald fled northwest to the Gaelic kingdom of Dál Riata where he was converted to Christianity by the monks of Iona. Meanwhile, Paulinus, the first bishop of York, converted King Edwin to Roman Christianity and began an extensive program of conversion and baptism. By his time the kingdom must have reached the west coast, as Edwin is said to have conquered the islands of Anglesey and Man. Under Edwin the Northumbrian kingdom became the chief power in Britain. However, when Cadwallon ap Cadfan defeated Edwin at Hatfield Chase in 633, Northumbria was divided into the former kingdoms of Bernicia and Deira and Christianity suffered a temporary decline.
In 634, Oswald defeated Cadwallon ap Cadfan at the Battle of Heavenfield, resulting in the re-unification of Northumbria. Oswald re-established Christianity in the kingdom and assigned a bishopric at Hexham, where Wilfrid erected a famous early English church. Reunification was followed by a period of Northumbrian expansion into Pictish territory and growing dominance over the Celtic kingdoms of Dál Riata and Strathclyde to the west. Northumbrian encroachments were abruptly curtailed in 685, when Ecgfrith suffered complete defeat by a Pictish force at the Battle of Nechtansmere.
When Saint Aidan came at the request of Oswald to preach to the Northumbrians he chose the island of Lindisfarne as the site of his church and monastery, and made it the head of the diocese which he founded in 635. For some years the see continued in peace, numbering among its bishops Saint Cuthbert, but in 793 Vikings landed on the island and burnt the settlement, killing many of the monks. The survivors, however, rebuilt the church and continued to live there until 883, when, through fear of a second invasion of the Danes, they fled inland, taking with them the body of Cuthbert and other holy relics.
Against this background, the monasteries of Northumbria developed some remarkably influential cultural products. Cædmon, a monk at Whitby Abbey, authored one of the earliest surviving examples of Old English poetry some time before 680. The Lindisfarne Gospels, an early example of insular art, is attributed to Eadfrith, the bishop of Lindisfarne from 698 to 721. Stenton (1971, p. 191) describes the book as follows.
In mere script it is no more than an admirable example of a noble style, and the figure drawing of its illustrations, though probably based on classical models, has more than a touch of naïveté. Its unique importance is due to the beauty and astonishing intricacy of its decoration. The nature of its ornament connects it very closely with a group of Irish manuscripts of which the Book of Kells is the most famous.
Bede's writing, at the Northumbrian monasteries at Wearmouth and Jarrow, gained him a reputation as the most learned scholar of his age. His work is notable for both its breadth (encompassing history, theology, science and literature) and quality, exemplified by the rigorous use of citation. Bede's most famous work is Ecclesiastical History of the English People, which is regarded as a highly influential early model of historical scholarship.
The kingdom of Northumbria ceased to exist in 927, when it was incorporated into England as an earldom by Athelstan, the first king of a united England[citation needed].. In 937, Athelstan's victory over a combined Norse-Celtic force in the battle of Brunanburh secured England's control of its northern territory.
The Scottish king Indulf captured Edinburgh in 954, which thenceforth remained in possession of the Scots. His successors made repeated attempts to extend their territory southwards. Malcolm II was finally successful, when, in 1018, he annihilated the Northumbrian army at Carham on the Tweed, and Eadulf the earl of Northumbria ceded all his territory to the north of that river as the price of peace. Henceforth Lothian, consisting of the former region of Northumbria between the Forth and the Tweed, remained in possession of the Scottish kings.
The term Northumberland was first recorded in its contracted modern sense in 1065 in an entry in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle relating to a rebellion against Tostig Godwinson.
The vigorous resistance of Northumbria to William the Conqueror was punished by ruthless harrying, mostly south of the River Tees. As recounted by the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle:
A.D. 1068. This year King William gave Earl Robert the earldom over Northumberland; but the landsmen attacked him in the town of Durham, and slew him, and nine hundred men with him. Soon afterwards Edgar Etheling came with all the Northumbrians to York; and the townsmen made a treaty with him: but King William came from the South unawares on them with a large army, and put them to flight, and slew on the spot those who could not escape; which were many hundred men; and plundered the town. St. Peter's minster he made a profanation, and all other places also he despoiled and trampled upon; and the ethelling went back again to Scotland.
The Normans rebuilt the Anglian monasteries of Lindisfarne, Hexham and Tynemouth, and founded Norman abbeys at Newminster (1139), Alnwick (1147), Brinkburn (1180), Hulne, and Blanchland. Castles were built at Newcastle (1080), Alnwick (1096), Bamburgh (1131), Harbottle (1157), Prudhoe (1172), Warkworth (1205), Chillingham, Ford (1287), Dunstanburgh (1313), Morpeth, Langley (1350), Wark on Tweed and Norham (1121), the latter an enclave of the palatine bishops of Durham.
Northumberland county is not mentioned in the Domesday Survey, but the account of the issues of the county, as rendered by Odard the sheriff, is entered in the Great Roll of the Exchequer for 1131.
In 1237, Scotland renounced claims to Northumberland county in the Treaty of York.
During the reign of Edward I (1272–1307), the county of Northumberland was the district between the Tees and the Tweed, and had within it several scattered liberties subject to other powers: Durham, Sadberge, Bedlingtonshire, and Norhamshire belonging to the bishop of Durham; Hexhamshire to the archbishop of York; Tynedale to the king of Scotland; Emildon to the earl of Lancaster; and Redesdale to Gilbert de Umfraville, Earl of Angus. These franchises were exempt from the ordinary jurisdiction of the shire. Over time, some were incorporated within the county: Tynedale in 1495; Hexhamshire in 1572; and Norhamshire, Islandshire and Bedlingtonshire by the Counties (Detached Parts) Act 1844.
The county court for Northumberland was held at different times at Newcastle, Alnwick and Morpeth, until by statute of 1549 it was ordered that the court should thenceforth be held in the town and castle of Alnwick. Under the same statute the sheriffs of Northumberland, who had been in the habit of appropriating the issues of the county to their private use, were required thereafter to deliver in their accounts to the Exchequer in the same manner as the sheriffs of other counties.
From the Norman Conquest until the union of England and Scotland under James I and VI, Northumberland was the scene of perpetual inroads and devastations by the Scots. Norham, Alnwick and Wark were captured by David I of Scotland in the wars of Stephen's reign. In 1174, during his invasion of Northumbria, William I of Scotland, also known as William the Lion, was captured by a party of about four hundred mounted knights, led by Ranulf de Glanvill. This incident became known as the Battle of Alnwick. In 1295, Robert de Ros and the earls of Athol and Menteith ravaged Redesdale, Coquetdale and Tynedale. In 1314 the county was ravaged by king Robert Bruce. And so dire was the Scottish threat in 1382, that by special enactment the earl of Northumberland was ordered to remain on his estates to protect the border. In 1388, Henry Percy was taken prisoner and 1500 of his men slain at the battle of Otterburn, immortalised in the ballad of Chevy Chase.
Alnwick, Bamburgh and Dunstanburgh were garrisoned for the Lancastrian cause in 1462, but after the Yorkist victories of Hexham and Hedgley Moor in 1464, Alnwick and Dunstanburgh surrendered, and Bamburgh was taken by storm.
In September 1513, King James IV of Scotland was killed at the Battle of Flodden on Branxton Moor.
Roman Catholic support in Northumberland for Mary, Queen of Scots, led to the Rising of the North in 1569.
After uniting the English and Scottish thrones, James VI and I sharply curbed the lawlessness of the border reivers and brought relative peace to the region. There were Church of Scotland congregations in Northumberland in the 17th and 18th centuries.
During the Civil War of the 17th century, Newcastle was garrisoned for the king by the earl of Newcastle, but in 1644 it was captured by the Scots under the earl of Leven, and in 1646 Charles I was led there a captive under the charge of David Leslie.
Many of the chief Northumberland families were ruined in the Jacobite rebellion of 1715.
The mineral resources of the area appear to have been exploited to some extent from remote times. It is certain that coal was used by the Romans in Northumberland, and some coal ornaments found at Angerton have been attributed to the 7th century. In a 13th-century grant to Newminster Abbey a road for the conveyance of sea coal from the shore about Blyth is mentioned, and the Blyth coal field was worked throughout the 14th and 15th centuries. The coal trade on the Tyne did not exist to any extent before the 13th century, but from that period it developed rapidly, and Newcastle acquired the monopoly of the river shipping and coal trade. Lead was exported from Newcastle in the 12th century, probably from Hexhamshire, the lead mines of which were very prosperous throughout the 16th and 17th centuries. In a charter from Richard I to Hugh de Puiset creating him earl of Northumberland, mines of silver and iron are mentioned. A salt pan is mentioned at Warkworth in the 12th century; in the 13th century the salt industry flourished at the mouth of the river Blyth, and in the 15th century formed the principal occupation of the inhabitants of North and South Shields. In the reign of Elizabeth I, glass factories were set up at Newcastle by foreign refugees, and the industry spread rapidly along the Tyne. Tanning, both of leather and of nets, was largely practised in the 13th century, and the salmon fisheries in the Tyne were famous in the reign of Henry I.
John Smeaton designed the Coldstream Bridge and a bridge at Hexham.
Stephenson's Rocket
Invention of the steam turbine by Charles Algernon Parsons
To put into historical perspective just how revolutionary this aero bicycle is, you must step back in time to 1984. Virtually all designers in the cycling aerodynamics sphere in the 80s were focused on the bicycle itself and its components. The search was on for "nominal gains". Funny bikes were all-the-rage at this time. Aero bike components were in vogue and getting a lot of attention too. Unfortunately, in the big picture, these improvements provided only modest aerodynamic gains. Conversely, My focus was on the rider, because a rider was responsible for about 80% of their overall wind resistance. It was my hope, that by focusing on the rider, I would have the greatest opportunity to achieve what I call technological exploitation. This is precisely why I focused my research on the object with the most drag. If I could make an improvement to the aerodynamic drag of a rider, it would be a major breakthrough in efficiency. I also have to give credit here to Tony Maier-Moussa, of Assos fame. Like myself, Assos founder, Tony Maier-Moussa was also focused on holistic (overall) speed improvement. Tony Maier-Moussa's game-changing lycra skin suits revolutionized bicycle racing clothing. Assos skinsuits substantially reduced wind drag by fitting tightly and by not flapping in the wind. While other designers of our era were busy chasing modest aero gains, Tony Maier-Moussa and I both made the decision to focus on SUBSTANTIAL aerodynamic gains.
Queensland Railways had the 2800 class built in Townsville between 1995/8 for use on its extensive 3’6” gauge system in the state of Queensland, Australia. They were QR’s first and indeed only double ended diesel locomotives design and can be identified otherwise aurally by their very deep throated GE engine gurgle (as I would call it).
The 2800 class were ordered to haul passenger and freight services on the North Coast line between Rockhampton and Cairns and on the Great Northern line between Townsville and Mount Isa. The initial order for 40 was later increased to 50. However a miscommunication resulted in the builder's plates incorrectly being stamped as 202 to 211 which had been used by other A Goninan & Co locomotives, rather than the correct 323 to 332.
They now operate trains as far south as Brisbane. They are the only double ended diesel electric locomotives to have been built for Queensland Rail.
In February 2006, one locomotive was fitted with standard gauge bogies for use by QR National in New South Wales and Victoria, but the NSW Environment Protection Authority refused permission for it to be used in that state due to excessive noise emissions. In August 2009 it was converted back to narrow gauge for use in Western Australia. In 2013 three were reclassified as the 3200 class for use in NSW, following the installation of standard gauge bogies and a modified exhaust system that reduced low frequency noise emissions.
In 2015, 2814 derailed on the Mount Isa Line at Julia Creek, spilling sulphuric acid. 2814 flipped on its side and was deemed to damaged to repair, and as such was scrapped in 2017. The locos in NSW are currently being used on secondary duties.
A number of years back, Aurizon gauge converted (and renumbered) several units to standard gauge for coal and other duties in New South Wales, the first being 2819 I believe. Three are currently on the books as 3200 class 3209, 3215 and 3221, the last two digits of each number being also the last two digits of their previous 2800 class number. With 2814 written off, the three 3200’s mentioned above, where is 2819 which is missing from the Queensland register. Well, it’s in Western Australia where Aurizon now has a large presence over the former Western Australia Government Railways system as PA class 2819. This is very typical of QR’s locomotives, spread far and wide across Australia or the world.
Former QR locos have been sold to operators in nearly every state, New Zealand, Malaysia, The Phillipines, Vietnam, Africa including particularly South Africa, The Congo, Namibia and other African countries, couple went to the USA, lots to Chile and I am sure I have forgotten a few. Lots have been rebuilt to different forms, even to two foot gauge for sugar cane traffic in Queensland while some have even recently come home from Africa to start a new life with Watco in Queensland hauling grain and perhaps other traffic.
Built in 1912 this electrically powered train winds it's way through the mountains of the Spanish island of Mallorca.
The railway is characterized, amongst other things, by the fact that it is narrow gauge, the track width being 914 mm (an English yard/approx. 3ft), which is infrequent nowadays; moreover its rolling stock is extremely varied and meticulously finished, and maintained using traditional methods.
The Sóller railway also stands out for the special, attractive route it runs along, overcoming the natural barrier of the Sierra de Alfàbia mountain range which is 2.8 km wide and 496 metres (approx. 1500ft) high. To do so, in just seven kilometres, the railway rises up 199 metres(approx. 600ft) with an inclination of 23 millimetres, runs through thirteen longitudinal tunnels ranging in length from 33 to 2,876 metres, crosses over several bridges, the “cinc-ponts” viaduct which has five arches with spans 8 metres high and a great many bends, some with radii below 190 metres.
The Sóller Train transports the traveller from the hustle and bustle of Plaza Espanyol in central Palma past Bunyola's olive groves and Alfabia gardens and into the tranquillity of the Tramuntana Mountains. Although some call it the Red Lightning, it only travels slowly, taking an hour to reach Port Sóller. Others know it as the 'Orange Train' even though there is only orange paint on the lead and tail carriages of the train running to the Port. So why did it get its name?
Sóller is a unique place, hidden in an isolated valley and the market gardeners of Sóller had been looking for a way to get their produce to Palma for years. They had to rely on horse drawn wagons to make the difficult ten hour journey over the steep mountain pass. While farmers across the rest of the island looked forward to using new petrol driven lorries to move their produce to Palma's markets at the start of the 20th Century, they were unable to negotiate the endless hairpin bends on the road to Sóller.
While it looked like Sóller was destined to remain isolated from the island (and the tunnel used by drivers today did not open until 1997), the discovery of Vitamin C and its health benefits at the end of the 19th Century meant that the demand for citrus fruit escalated.
The people of Sóller wanted to cash in and Jeroni Estades was commissioned to study a railway from Palma to Sóller in 1893. He chose a route which went via Valldemossa and then along the coast through Deià, rather than rely on a tunnel to get under the Sóller pass. The plan was rejected as being too expensive.
In 1903 the industrialist Joan Morell proposed a direct route, which would cross the Serra d'Alfàbia, then pass through a tunnel under Coll de Sóller before making a 180 degree turn to reduce the gradient down into Sóller town. It too was turned down but Jeroni Estades i Llabrés , a local politician, persisted and engineer Pere Garau's plans were given a favourable response when they were made public in Sóller's Town Hall.
Most of the families in Sóller bought shares in Estades' railway company, the Compañía de Navegación Sollerense, raising 3.5 million pesetas, in the hope they would cash in on the orange trade.
Work started on the line in 1907 and the workmen carved a route through the mountains, building bridges and blasting thirteen tunnels through the mountain range. After only five years of hard work, the railway was ready. Steam driven trains had been bought from England and they were similar to the San Francisco style street cars. On 16 April 1912 the first flower soller train mallorcabedecked train was cheered as it rolled into Sóller station; the market gardeners had fulfilled their dream and the first trainloads of citrus fruits rolled into Palma during the season.
To begin with the train line between Palma and Sóller was steam driven but in 1929 overhead electricity cables were installed. The shorter section to the Port was always electrically powered. In the 1980s it seemed that improvements to lorries would take much of the Orange Train's business while plans to install a tunnel under the mountains threatened its very existence. However, the huge rise in the tourist industry was going to throw the 70 year-old railway a life line. The first class carriages were restyled with leather seats, mahogany panelling and luggage racks while the second class carriages had wooden benches.
In recent years, the Train and Art Foundation was established to commission art exhibitions to enhance the train trip. An exhibition of Mallorcan landscapes can be found in the Palma station, while exhibitions of Joan Miró and Picasso ceramics can be visited in Sóller town railway station; the Ca'n Prunera Museum of Modernist Art has been set up in a Sóller mansion.
Travellers can now enjoy the regular service between Palma and Sóller, enjoying the views as the train rattles through the olive groves north of Palma before diving under the two mile long tunnel under Coll de Sóller. The driver then makes a short stop at Mirador des Pujol d'En Banya, overlooking Sóller town, before making the long descent. After a look around the town there is time to continue the journey into the Port.
www.mallorcadaysout.com/5.1.html
Sorry for the long narrative but it's a great piece of history.
October 2017: Here is a photo of the 11-ton impact hammer crews use to secure the last ten feet of each steel support column into place. The impact hammer sounds like a loud, monster-sized jackhammer. To reduce noise, crews use a quieter vibratory hammer to vibrate 90 percent of the pile deep into the sea bed first before finishing it off with the louder impact hammer.
Each steel pile is up to 150-feet tall and 3-feet wide. They are designed to make Colman Dock safer in a major earthquake.
Originally housing a 30 lever frame, it was reduced to 10 with its change in role to a crossing box under the supervision of Trent in 1969. 55 Years as Sneinton Junction, 44 years as Sneinton Crossing shunt frame and now off to Tuxford.
I've walked past Sneinton crossing as a student in the late 70's en route from me tatty student accommodation on Colwick Road to see the pies in the top flight or the tricky trees en route to winning European Cups.
Later in life I've driven past it countless times, I always glance across to see the box and see if the barriers are up or down.
I drove past tonight and it's not there.
Sneinton Crossing, 02.07, Sunday 4th August 2013.
...the non-durable goods stock around here.
Still plenty to go, despite the size of the pie.
Pleasant problem though...
A reboot of double decker coach on Day 5 of the new ManaBus.com express service to Auckland, the 2014 Volvo B11R snapped at the corner of Purcell St. and SH1 in Foxton on the some 10 hour run from Wellington to Auckland on Tuesday, 25 November 2014.
After a couple of years on Manabus.com express work, three of the ManaBus coaches have been moved to provide excellent hop on/off tours of Waiheke Island.
One is ManaBus No. 1 (Waiheke Explorer No. 301) which had a snafu on the island in Carsons Rd. on Saturday, 11 March 2017. The bus slid off the road when the driver pulled over to execute a turn.
The other ex ManBus Volvo B11R double deckers on the island are ManaBus No. 3 (Waiheke Explorer No. 302) and ManaBus No. 4 (Waiheke Explorer No. 303).
The double deckers are now repainted in a blue AOA livery and provide a hop on/hop off service for Fullers on the island.
DOUBLE-DECKER ON PRECIPICE
Gulf News, March 16, 2017
A double-decker bus which slipped off the edge of Carsons Road on Saturday [11 March 2017] could not have come closer to disaster.
About a dozen people were on board the Fullers Hop On Hop Off service when the driver pulled the bus to the left before making a right-hand turn into a driveway.
The left wheels of the bus slipped off the road-edge above a steep bank and the bus ended-up balanced precariously on its chassis.
Shaken passengers escaped by dropping down on to the bank via the front door before clambering up to safety.
The drama happened at a turnaround point outside Waiheke Airfield, about 250m past the entrance to Batch Vineyard, which the buses have used without incident since the service began.
Passengers walked to Batch Vineyard’s restaurant to recover. Operations manager Felix Bijl said they were “a bit startled” on arrival but soon recovered.
“After a few minutes they were more amused than shocked -some of them thought it was a bit of an adventure,” Mr Bijl said.
“We offered them the use of our shuttle to get back to their destination.
“The bus driver was very apologetic.”
Fullers was still investigating as Gulf News went to press but CEO Douglas Hudson said there was no evidence that days of heavy rain had made the road unsafe.
“Pending the outcome of the investigation it’s fair to say the bus has moved too far to the left,” Mr Hudson said.
Mr Hudson said the driver was offered counselling but had returned to work.
The company was reviewing its use of the turnaround area. A crane was hurriedly brought from Auckland to raise the bus back on to the road. The bus was undamaged.
Mr Hudson said the company took the incident very seriously. Services were suspended on the Carsons Road route for the rest of the weekend before resuming on Monday.
But local residents say the road is simply too narrow for double decker and coach buses and the service should cease or be replaced with smaller buses. Warren Eade, who lives on Musson Drive, says the buses are far too big for several roads on the island’s winery trail.
“I, my wife and my neighbours have all had close calls,” Mr Eade says. “They come around corners well over the centre line. I’ve had two near accidents where I’ve had to come to a complete stop and pull off the road almost into the bank.
“I’ve spoken to Fullers and their response is that it’s a popular route. But those buses are not suitable for these roads.” - Geoff Cumming
WAIHEKE LOCALS ANNOYED AT DOUBLE-DECKER BUSES
NZ Herald, Monday, March 13, 2017
Waiheke locals are being driven crazy by the introduction of double-decker buses on the island, saying the towering vehicles are dangerously clogging the roads.
Since the two-storey "hop on, hop off" buses were introduced on 10 December 2016, locals estimated about five have come off the road and others say it's difficult to safely share the road when passing.
Bus company Fullers, which owns the buses, says the vehicles are legally compliant and no longer or wider than other urban buses and coaches on Waiheke.
Concerned local man Alan Knight said much of the community's frustration came from feeling they had not been consulted before the buses were brought over.
The buses clogged up the roads and annoyed residents who called Waiheke their home year-round, he said.
"We understand there's got to be a tourism industry.
"But the double decker buses, the sudden introduction of them to the island with no consultation with the locals, has been a tipping point.
"Tipping point being the main word as they have tipped off the road into ditches on a number of occasions."
The roads were too small for the buses and it was only a matter of time before "someone has to go home in an ambulance", Knight said.
Waiheke local board chairman Paul Walden said a petition signed by more than 1000 locals had been handed to the board, which fully supported the campaign to get the buses removed.
"The buses are all over the roads because of the size of them. They're not just presenting a risk to themselves but to other road users when they're on a road where there's just not enough room for two vehicles."
It was "blatantly obvious" the buses were not fit for Waiheke's roads. Walden said he was concerned about what would happen with the heavy buses over winter, when the island's many dirt roads became wet and muddy.
The board had spoken to Fullers' chief executive Douglas Hudson about the buses.
"It's fair to say they need to be considering their relationship with the Waiheke community and whether this is in their best commercial interest to keep running their business given such widespread opposition in the community," Walden said.
Hudson said the buses were an environmentally friendly solution to the increasing number of Waiheke visitors who expected quality service.
Waiheke had become a top island destination and its transport should reflect that, he said.
"Initially, we will reduce the frequency of service over the winter, and are looking into some possible changes to the route to minimise and mitigate some of the concerns raised."
Hudson said a formal investigation was undertaken when buses crashed or went off the road and "any learnings are built into risk assessment procedures and training".
Auckland Transport (AT) is undertaking a review of the tour routes after concerns were raised by some residents.
AT spokesman Mark Hannan said the review's findings would be presented to the local board next week, but added recent wild weather would have some impact on the findings.
"If we find there is an issue we will report it to NZTA," Hannan said.
AT did not have the power to take legal vehicles off the road, he said.
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equipment: Leica Apo-Elmarit-R 180mmF2.8 and Canon EOS 5Dmk2-sp2, modified by Seo san on Takahashi EM-200 temma 2 Jr, autoguided with hiro-design off-axis guider, Starlightxpress Lodestar Autoguider, and PHD Guiding via GP-USB
exposure: 8 times x 30 minutes, 4 x 15 min, 4 x 4 min, and 5 x 1 minute at ISO 1,600 and f/4.0
site: 11,000 feet above sea level near Mana Loa Observator in Hawaii
Lunar Eclipse before dawn of 28 september 2015 in Overijse, Belgium (Highly light polluted skies)
Nearly fully in umbral phase
Telescope: Celestron 800 Edge HD 8'' reflector telescope with 0.7 Edge focal reducer
F/7 @1400mm
Mount: CGEM
Smoking reduces sperm production, sperm defects, decreased motility of sperm and more dangerous is smoking reduces blood flow to penis, some cases of impotence.
How Smoking affects the reproductive organs in men?
– Studies have shown that the primary metabolite of smoke (are substances...
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Das 1868 errichtete Schloss Biesdorf, war eigentlich ein Herrenhaus als Zentrum eines Landguts, aber umgangssprachlich wurde es immer, wie viele andere auch, als "Schloss" bezeichnet. Im April 1945 brannte es durch Brandstiftung ab. Es wurde notdürftig repariert, das völlig zerstörte Obergeschoss abgetragen, sodass der Turm überproportional groß für ein nur noch eingeschossiges Gebäude wirkte. Seit den 1960er Jahren diente es zunächst als Dorfclub, später als Kulturzentrum. Jahrelange Bemühungen einer aus einer Bürgerinitiative hervorgegangenen Stiftung um den Wiederaufbau des Obergeschosses hatten jetzt Erfolg. Am 9. September 2016 wurde das restaurierte Schloss als Kunstgalerie wiederöffnet. In wechselnden Ausstellungen werden Werke von Künstlern aus der früheren DDR gezeigt, im Dialog mit Werken aktueller internationaler Künstler. Vom 5. September 2022 bis zum 10. Februar 2023 ist eine Ausstellung zum 90. Geburtstag von Jürgen Wittdorf (1932-2018) zu sehen, ergänzt durch Werke von Veneta Androva, Norbert Bisky, Harry Hachmeister und Bettina Semmer. "Als Künstler in der DDR war Wittdorf vielen als Illustrator verschiedenster Bücher bekannt. Seine Werke, darunter unzählige meisterhafte Holzschnitte, sind durch den Realismusbegriff der damaligen Zeit geprägt, seine Darstellungen junger Menschen fanden allerdings vorerst bei der Staatsobrigkeit wenig Gefallen, zu sehr verwestlicht erschien ihnen dieser Blick auf die Jugend. Diese wiederum fand sich in Wittdorfs Bildern wieder. Später wurden sie in hoher Auflage gedruckt und verbreitet. Auch das eigene Sein als schwuler Mann spiegelt sich in diesen Werken.
Obwohl Homosexualität ab 1968 laut Gesetz nicht mehr strafbar war, war sie doch gesellschaftlich nicht akzeptiert, Wittdorf selbst konnte sich seine Sexualität lange nicht eingestehen. Aus heutiger Sicht sind seine Werke im Spannungsfeld zwischen gesellschaftlich fixierten Normen der DDR und der sehr persönlichen Sicht auf diese Gesellschaft mehr als ein Zeitdokument. Die Kunstwerke Jürgen Wittdorf stehen auch für ein Künstlerleben, das mit dem Fall der Mauer kaum noch wahrgenommen wurde.
Ein großer Teil seines umfangreichen Werkes ist jetzt im Schloss Biesdorf zu sehen, ergänzt durch zeitgenössische Positionen von Veneta Androva, Norbert Bisky, Harry Hachmeister und Bettina Semmer.
Der visuelle Dialog mit diesen Positionen setzt das Werk Wittdorf in einen neuen Kontext, schafft Verbindungen seiner oft nur angedeuteten Themen in die aktuellen gesellschaftlichen Diskussionen zu den vielen Facetten menschlicher Individualität."
Zitat aus der Ausstellungsankündigung von Schloss Biesdorf
Biesdorf Palace is rather a manor built in 1868 for the owners of country estate. But in popular language, like many others of its kind, it used to be called "Palace". In April of 1945 it burnt down by arson. It was repaired in makeshift manner, removing what had been left of the upper story and reducing the building to the ground floor only. This made the tower, built for a two story building, look unproportionately high. Since the 1960s, the building served first as village club (at that time, Biesdorf was not more than a small village, though part of Berlin), later as cultural centre for the new borough of Marzahn. For many years, a citizens' group, later transformed into a foundation, worked for the reconstruction of the upper story. And it had success. On 9 September 2016, the restored manor was reopened as an art gallery. In changing exhibitions, works by artists from the former GDR are shown in dialogue with works by current international artists. From 5 September 2022 to 10 February 2023, an exhibition celebrating the 90th birthday of Jürgen Wittdorf (1932-2018) is on display, complemented by works by Veneta Androva, Norbert Bisky, Harry Hachmeister and Bettina Semmer. "As an artist in the GDR, Wittdorf was known to many as an illustrator of a wide variety of books. His works, including countless masterful woodcuts, are characterised by the concept of realism of the time, but his depictions of young people initially found little favour with the state authorities, who found this view of youth too Westernised. The latter, in turn, found themselves in Wittdorf's pictures. Later they were printed and distributed in large numbers. His own existence as a gay man is also reflected in these works.
Although homosexuality was no longer punishable by law after 1968, it was still not socially accepted, and Wittdorf himself could not admit his sexuality for a long time. From today's perspective, his works are more than a contemporary document in the field of tension between the socially fixed norms of the GDR and his very personal view of this society. Jürgen Wittdorf's artworks also stand for an artist's life that was hardly noticed after the fall of the Wall.
A large part of his extensive oeuvre can now be seen at Biesdorf Manor, complemented by contemporary positions by Veneta Androva, Norbert Bisky, Harry Hachmeister and Bettina Semmer.
The visual dialogue with these positions places Wittdorf's work in a new context, creating connections of his often only hinted at themes to the current social discussions on the many facets of human individuality."
Quote from the exhibition announcement of Biesdorf Manor
dec·i·mate
Verb:
1.Kill, destroy, or remove a large percentage of.
2.Drastically reduce the strength or effectiveness of (something): "plant viruses that can decimate yields".
Marijuana News
People suffering from migraine or severe headache may experience relief after taking medical marijuana, a new research published in the journal Pharmacotherapy showed. The study indicated results from the 121 patients treated with migraine from January 2010 to September 2014....
www.marijuana-news.co/medical-marijuana-reduces-migraine-...
Venus is haunting the halls of MH posting up signs to help save the earth!!!!
*Now I know it isn't earth day yet,but I just had to do this pic(especially with Venus),lol*
Finally, we return to Giza.
Isolated, ancient Egypt became a unique civilisation. Located at the river Nile, protected by marshes on the east, and the Sahara on the west, which reduced its interaction with other cultures [10] - maybe except for Nubia, where today there are more pyramids than in Egypt, and at least one Egyptian Pharaoh was a Nubian. [9] On top of that, ancient Egyptian's religion led them to see their neighbours as enemies. [10]
Behind the camel sniffing my lens is the Great Pyramid of Giza aka the Pyramid of Khufu or the Pyramid of Cheops (the Greek name of the Pharaoh).
Full gallery: www.m1key.me/photography/egypt_2/
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