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« I'm going to make him an offer he can't refuse. » (IT)
« Gli farò un'offerta che non potrà rifiutare. »
(Vito Corleone)
The Godfather is a 1972 American gangster-drama film based on the novel of the same name by Mario Puzo and directed by Francis Ford Coppola from a screenplay by Puzo, Coppola, and Robert Towne It stars Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan, Richard S. Castellano, Robert Duvall, Sterling Hayden, John Marley, Richard Conte and Diane Keaton, and features John Cazale, Talia Shire, Al Martino, and Abe Vigoda. The story spans ten years from 1945 to 1955 and chronicles the fictional Italian American Corleone crime family. Two sequels followed: The Godfather Part II in 1974, and The Godfather Part III in 1990.
Savoca is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Messina in the Italian region Sicily, located about 170 km east of Palermo and about 30 km southwest of Messina.
Savoca borders the following municipalities: Casalvecchio Siculo, Forza d'Agrò, Furci Siculo, Sant'Alessio Siculo, Santa Teresa di Riva.The town, together with Forza d'Agrò, was the location for the scenes set in Corleone of Francis Ford Coppola's The Godfather. Bar Vitelli in Savoca, which is still a functioning establishment, was featured in the motion picture as the place where Michael Corleone asked Apollonia's father to meet his daughter.
Il padrino (The Godfather) è un film del 1972 diretto da Francis Ford Coppola, prima pellicola della trilogia omonima firmata dal regista, ispirata al romanzo omonimo di Mario Puzo.La pellicola fu premiata con tre premi Oscar e, insieme al suo seguito, è considerata una pietra miliare della storia del cinema.Il padrino è stata infatti considerata la seconda miglior pellicola statunitense della storia dall'American Film Institute[, inoltre è al secondo posto della classifica dell'Internet Movie Database.Le scene siciliane del film furono girate a Savoca e particolarmente nel vecchio "Bar Vitelli" nella foto tuttora meta di visite di molti turisti americani.
Savoca è un comune italiano di 1.786 abitanti della provincia di Messina in Sicilia.Città d'Arte e paese dalle sette facce, dal 2008 è inserita tra i Borghi più belli d'Italia. Ha un'economia prevalentemente agricola che però si sta votando al turismo culturale. Sussistono coltivazioni di agrumeti, vigneti, uliveti, frutteti, mandorli, ortaggi e, allevamenti rurali di bovini, pecore, capre e suini. Conserva, nel suo territorio, antiche vestigia di origine medioevale, rinascimentale e barocca. È famoso perché possiede una cripta in cui sono custodite ed esposte le salme imbalsamate dei notabili del paese risalenti ai secc. XVIII e XIX e, per essere stato scelto come set di numerosi film di grande successo, come "il Padrino" di Francis Ford Coppola del 1972 e La vita rubata del 2007. Savoca fa parte del comprensorio turistico della Valle d'Agrò ed è altresì comune aderente all'Unione dei Comuni delle Valli joniche dei Peloritani e del P.I.T.13.Il comune di Savoca ha un'estensione di circa 8 km². L'abitato è costituito da un centro storico e da tante frazioni più o meno piccole immerse nella campagna. La vegetazione presente è quella tipicamente mediterranea: nelle zone pianeggianti ci sono dei rigogliosi agrumeti, mentre nelle zone collinari sono presenti vasti vigneti ed uliveti. Il capoluogo comunale si trova a 303 metri s.l.m., conta 106 abitanti ed è costituito da un borgo medioevale La maggior parte della popolazione abita le frazioni di Rina (498 abitanti), San Francesco di Paola (407 abitanti) e Contura, che si trovano nei pressi della Fiumara d'Agrò nell'omonima valle. Le altre frazioni sono: Cucco, Màllina, Romissa, Mancusa, Mortilla, Botte, Rogani e Cantidati Superiore.L'antico e caratteristico centro storico, ricco di antichi monumenti di origine medioevale, si caratterizza per la presenza di stretti e tortuosi vicoli ed è suddiviso in sette quartieri : Sant'Antonio,Cappuccini, Borgo,San Michele,San Rocco,Pentefur,e San Giovanni .
This overtly Russian Kamaz truck can strangely be found in this overtly Chinese livery and sold under the Chinese ETI brand. Its actually normally seen sold under the Russian Technopark for their domestic market and indeed this Refuse Truck does still have the Technopark name on the baseplate but through whatever agreement they have with the Chinese toy factory who makes them they have been offered to other companies to sell as their own product. I'm 99.9% certain its made by the same factory who make the unlicensed 1/64 models you find here in the U.K. imported by HTI and usually sold under the Teamsterz or Wilko Roadsters brands. I actually emailed HTI recently asking them to tell me the name of this toy manufacturer but were unwilling to divulge that information! Anyway, its a nicely cast model with crisp detailing and well finished. Bought directly from China and is part of a four vehicle set. Mint and boxed.
The Fort Hood 3 Defense Committee holds a rally at St. Stephens Church October 16, 1967 and a subsequent picket at the White House to support three soldiers who refused orders to go to Vietnam in 1966.
The three—David Samas, 20, a Lithuanian/Italian from Chicago; James Johnson, 20 black from East Harlem, N.Y.; and Dennis Mora, 25, a Puerto Rican from Spanish Harlem, N.Y.—were given a month leave and told to report to Vietnam. They were stationed in Ft. Hood, Texas.
Instead they held a press conference announcing their refusal. All three were quickly arrested before a second scheduled press conference.
Antiwar groups rallied to their defense and attorneys filed suit that their refusal was justified because the Vietnam War was illegal.
Despite the support, they were sentenced to long prison terms and dishonorably discharged. Mora received a three year prison term while Samas and Johnson received five years.
The U.S. Supreme Court ultimately refused to hear their case and the three paid a heavy price for their beliefs.
However, their resistance started a GI movement that involved more refusals to go to Vietnam, refusals to fight in Vietnam, rebellions in the stockades, GI participation in antiwar demonstrations, an attempt to form a servicemen’s union, and antiwar GI coffeehouses and alternative newspapers.
For a PDF of this two-sided flyer, see washingtonspark.files.wordpress.com/2019/08/1967-10-15-ft...
For more information and related images, see flic.kr/s/aHskVENBnt
Donated by Robert “Bob” Simpson
Refuse workers pay tribute to colleague Lee Percival as his funeral cortege passes through Countesthorpe in Leicester on the way to his funeral service. Lee, a man who went above and beyond for his community died aged 53 after losing his battle with cancer.
The Bournemouth Heritage Collection was evicted from Mallard Road in 1992 and moved into a hanger at Hurn, but the Routemaster Bournemouth operation ran from the former trolleybus depot at Southcote Road latterly used by street cleansing and refuse collection vehicles but in which the Council rented out spare space. It may appear strange, on the face of it, that the Council should rent depot facilities to a bus company that was competing with its own bus company; but it became even stranger when some of the vehicles from the Heritage Collection were painted into Routemaster Bournemouth livery and used on the commercial services, including at least two of the buses that were actually owned by Bournemouth Council!
One of these was former Bournemouth Corporation no 230 (ORU 230G), Leyland Atlantean / Alexander, seen in the Square on service 604 on 17th June 1994.
When Clydeside 2000 was taken over by LDT the support for Routemaster Bournemouth ceased and BHT Buses ceased trading in August 1994 and went into voluntary liquidation.
NOT MY PRESIDENT DAY MARCH en route to the White House on 16th Street between Massachusetts Avenue and M Street, NW, Washington DC on Monday afternoon, 20 February 2017 by Elvert Barnes Protest Photography
Jose Gutierrez
www.facebook.com/josegutierrezdc
REFUSE FASCISM
www.facebook.com/RefuseFascism/
LEE J. CARTER
Follow 20 February 2017 Washington DC NOT MY PRESIDENT DAY at www.facebook.com/events/1749448945383708/
F20 NMPD 2017 DC docu-project
Everything on this is 100% taken by myself except the landfill compactor which was taken by Xpeditor Driver. Thank you to him for allowing me to use this photo!
1-yard Front Load Dumpster
Royal Refuse
Eugene, OR
May 2014
©Bryn Erdman. All Rights Reserved.
東京 昭和記念公園
I refuse an invitation to the following group and the method.
Three or more comments, Many of the add-min, Multiple invitations
Inbetween the heavy winds during the cyclone on 1-22-11. Imagine this forlorn creature singing the Rolling Stones song "Gimme Shelter", then take a look at the video on the right.
POEM PARKING LOT
MOONLIGHT
Moonlight softens a multitude of sins.
Glows delicately, soft, not blazing, just
Reflecting. Shines a gentler light on things.
Reminds us that we’re not really as hard
As we pretend. Let the fragile side of
Yourself out of its shell, enjoy the night
Sky’s splendor. Make time for someone
Special to you. Moonlight reminds us
How precious calm can be, that we
Needn’t spend each moment in a flurry.
How we’re meant to do more than just
Fight our way through existence, either
Conquering or breaking free. Sometimes
It’s clear how all this conflict is just so
Much invention, mostly needless. Leave
All of that alone for now. Let moonlight
Remind you how in the midst of all we
Resist there’s still a natural wonder it’s
No sin to give in to.
HOT PLATE
That which can’t be spoken of in honorable
Terms. That which has been declared off-
Limits, old business, trashed, abused,
Treated like something of no value. No use.
Responsibility dropped like a hot plate that
Ought to shatter but doesn’t. Hear it clang
Like an unwanted gong ringing awareness
You haven’t forgotten and never will. Try
Harder? Smash it to pieces like you wish
You could smash the pain into dust for the
Next wind? Passionate as it might appear,
Destroying plates as some kind of display
Seems so undignified. Unnecessary to
Victimize the kitchenware. Angrily, sadly,
This kitchen reeks of indignity already, and
It’s not the dishes’ fault. Silly old fashioned
Me, I thought we were supposed to value
That which doesn’t break.
SEEDS
A burger would look barmy claiming to
Be a cow. Potatoes grow in the ground,
Not potato chips. Oranges grow in
Florida, but orange juice comes from
A factory. Metal comes from the earth,
But your car, mostly metal, didn’t just
Drive up from some garage under the
Surface. That laptop facilitating your
Interaction with the world is mostly
Plastic, which comes these days from
Corn, but nobody credits the corn for
Social networking. The whole point is
No matter who or what we come from,
Life changes us into something separate,
Distinct, different, new called ourselves.
When this happens with natural things,
We say it’s so great, but when it happens
With people, for some it’s a sign of the
End times. Maybe not all transformation
Is good, but can you think of anything
Worse than none at all? So we needn’t
See ourselves as betrayers if we stray
From our roots – that’s what seeds do.
It’s moving forward, not ending. Worry
Not, beloved sisters and brothers, time
Won’t end till you’ve paid off your debts,
Which we all know will never happen.
UGLY
You say my poems sound like they’re
Afraid to go somewhere ugly? As if
Ugliness, that decreasingly vague
Sense of threat, needs any more
Expression – just turn on the news.
Watch people struggling, starving,
Stealing, raping, destroying, killing
For no good reason, but our steady
Diet of violence has made us numb
To others suffering. Ugly enough?
Certain social entities want you
Convinced the world’s a dangerous
And ugly place, because conveniently
They have a solution to sell you,
Provided you sign up for their program.
Fear and ugliness do good business,
So they’d prefer you forget there’s
A way that’s free. You don’t need a
Program to appreciate beauty.That’s
All someone like me tries to remind
People of. Ugliness is the wolf at
My door, and my means or resistance
Is to reach all I can for harmony before
I’m consumed too by some ugly hunger.
In the midst of so much ugliness,
Embracing what’s beautiful is almost
An act of subversion. I want to subvert,
With a passion.
INVENT
When you invent me in your mind as
Someone you can’t trust, can’t open
Up to, can’t reach out to, can’t relate
To, can’t use period, it’s too bad you’re
Not writing for Hollywood. When you
Assume a whole ideology, value system,
Attitude, belief, sensibility and you
Attribute it to me without even asking,
That’s an astounding leap of faith and
Confidence in your own convictions
I wish you’d save for your religion.
Good thing you’re not as convinced
You can walk on water or part the
Red Sea as you are that you have me
All figured out.
REASONS
Some reasons are like weeds, you think
You’re rid of them but the just spring
Back up. The longer you leave them the
More they take over. Dealing with them
Is the price you pay for having a garden.
I guess you’d classify this type of reason
As doubts. Other reasons are like trees,
Standing tall no matter what nasty acts
Of nature take place. With age, they
Attain a certain height, and can shelter
Other living things. I guess you’d refer
To this type of reason as faith. Stranger
Reasons are like cactus, living where
Most life would die, protecting what’s
Precious under sharp thorns but unable
To reach out or be reached without
Hurting. If you want to reach them, it’s
Going to hurt. I can’t decide whether
To call these reasons cynicism, damages,
Or life insurance. Maybe all three.
SO PURE
I really should resolve to market
Myself more effectively. Problem is,
I’ve got this deep seated conviction
That it’s classier to just give things
Away. This sort of begs the question
As to whether anyone genuinely
Values that which they’re just given.
So tell me, would you take my poetry
More seriously if you had to pay for it?
Think carefully – my future creativity
Could be riding on your answer. And
Truthfully, the only reason I need
Money is to stop worrying about it.
So how is it I’m not prospering
When my intentions are so pure?
TRADE SECRET
Do you wonder where all these
Poems come from? Well, it’s
Simple. I have a Good Angel on
One shoulder and a Bad Angel
On the other, both vying for
My attention, to be the one
Taken seriously, establish
Credibility, each whispering
Profound, provocative, pure,
Soily, sacred, profane, mystical,
Physical, sexual, intellectual,
Spiritual, selfless, selfish, true,
False, angry, forgiving, gentle,
Devoted, demented, violent,
Me me me and you you you
Influences on my outlook from
Moment to moment. Poems
Are what’s left over when the
Crossfire momentarily ceases.
HOMES
I feel at home in more than one place.
There’s the home where I was born, the
Home where I live, and the homes I’ve
Discovered and return to when I can.
No ambivalence about my citizenship,
But I’ve left a little bit of myself and
Taken with me something from all the
Different places I’ve called home, even
If only for a few days. They’re all part of
Me now, regardless of where my feet
Kick back at any moment, just like you
Don’t have to be right beside someone
To love them deeply, even if you wish
You could be. That’s why, contrary to
Appearances, I don’t think of this at all
As an exile.
DRAMATIC BAGGAGE
Maybe I was left in front of the TV
At too early an age. I didn’t just
Watch the shows, I felt them too.
(What else is a good show supposed
To make you do?) That’s my earliest
Impression of human conflict and
Resolution. Now I wonder whether
Unconsciously I still expect everything
To be too black and white like our old
TV, too cut and dried. In theory I’m
Aware of complexity, but emotionally
It’s a different story – if my feelings
You’re engaged, you’re either a hero
Or a villain. Villains must be punished
Or defeated for heroes to come out
Shining before the last commercial. I
Know that’s distorted, but we don’t
Just think about people, we feel them
Too. So if you’re going to get dramatic,
Know that all it does is warm the tubes
Of my old TV feelings that never leave,
Just leave more dramatic baggage than
I know how to handle. As a child, to me
Everyone on TV seemed so much more
Alive, but involvement with them was
Just something you could always turn
Off anytime you liked.
TRAVELING
Traveling is my freedom and my prison,
My choice as well as my inescapable
Fate. Like a shark starts to fade if it
Doesn't circulate, I need to move. In
The shadows between one location
And the next, there's somewhere all
Is still, my only moments of peace.
It's not just arriving, not just leaving,
But the movement between that keeps
The weeds and vines from encircling,
Enclosing. Can you ever really be
Close to someone who won't stay
Put? Yes. Be a partner, not an
Anchor.
WHAT A DOG
Dog with a bone can’t let go. For all
He knows, it’s dog nirvana. Canine
Heaven made flesh (or in this case
Bone). Never seen him so fully
Committed, or willing to lay down
His life to protect what’s so precious
To him. Never seen him so happy,
Wagging his tail at its sight, gamboling
Like he thinks he’s a lamb, savoring its
Taste, aroused by its scent, licking
Tongue expressing the depths of his
Affection, barking baritone love songs
Of faith and devotion. Playing with it
Like each moment they have together
Is golden. Makes you wonder how they
Ever did without one another. They’re
Partners till he’s gnawed the last of
The marrow from its insides. When
It loses its special appeal, dog thinks
Nothing of moving on to the next one.
What a dog.
DREAMS
In their isolation, inhabitants of tiny
Islands, known to and knowing only
Themselves, weave mythologies that
Map their location as the center of
The universe, of creation, of time.
Dwarves who don’t know better
Think they’re giants. Same with
Dreams – won’t acknowledge limits
If they don’t have to, sometimes
Growing big enough to think they
Can depose reality. Poor dreamer,
Then, what mutiny must brew in
Your soul. For we know how reality
Has taken many a battering, but
Always is the one left standing
Because dreams seldom outlive
The dreamers. Through rebellion
Is more romantic, at least in teen
Novels, dreams might do better to
Treat reality more politely, to make
Their pleas free of expectation reality
Will listen, just with a humble hope
Reality might point the way to truth
Just as real as it was in your dream.
GUESS
No more guesses. Nothing brings on
A flood of bad emotions like feeling
With all your being that you’re right
Then realizing you’ve simply guessed
Wrong. Maybe the more something
Means to you personally the less
Clearly you can really see it. There’s
A time to be objective, and a time to
Follow your heart and dive right in.
Too bad sometimes we can only
Guess which is which. I feel like I
Dove into a pool that turned out to
Be empty. The water was imaginary,
Unlike the concrete. So please, don’t
Expect me to guess. If you want me
To believe you, first believe in what
You want to convey enough to say it
Face to face.
BEATNIK MOSQUITOES
Poems are like mosquitoes drunk on the
Blood of a nicotine addict such as moi,
Haphazardly careening in circular flight,
Their mission - inner space exploration,
Little bitty buzzings sounding like jazz
Saxophones soundtracking beatnik
Free verse, these insect Allen Ginsburgs,
Improvising wildly like a Dixieland band.
Jazz poetry from beatnik mosquitoes
Drunk on my blood - how beautiful!
SLAP
Poems are like mosquitoes, flying
Around sucking on people’s feelings,
Spreading disease, making you
Itch, disrupting your sleep,
Inspiring a good slap or two.
WHEN WE WERE NORMAL
Inter-generational conflict rendered
Me less than at my best for a long time.
I resigned myself to the reality that my
Elders were clueless and my peers were
Crazy. By necessity, I kept a foot in both
Camps, but my head and heart were
Somewhere else. It’s all cooled off by
Now, but the cynicism I got from the
Bad years has stayed with me like an
Unwanted tattoo. Worse is the feeling
That while now-meaningless battles
Consumed our thoughts, something
Slipped by us. We still see the world
Like we did when we were normal,
But that was a long, long time ago.
POOR OLD ROBOT
Poor old robot from a second hand
Robot store. Can’t find your parts
Anymore, can’t find your owner.
Poor old robot, feeling outmoded,
Knowing your warranty expired
Yesterday but refusing to just sit
Around and decay. Poor old robot,
All your friends in the junkyard,
Sadly mute, reminding you of a
More animated past. Poor old
Robot, wanting to be helpful but
Only speaking Chinese, confusing
The elderly and frightening the
Young. Poor old robot, short-circuiting
Your own speakers issuing distorted
Robot moans about how nobody
Appreciates you, sounding more
Annoying than rap (in Chinese)
Through a broken boom box. Poor
Old robot, voice of every invention
First coveted greedily then tossed
Aside casually as soon as there’s a
Newer version. Poor old robot,
Wishing you could take your metallic
Hands and throttle whoever saddled
You with this limited lifespan. Poor
Old robot, I want to shoot you just
To shut you up, but you look at me
With those tortured robot eyes and
It scares me how easily I can relate.
DUSK
Dusk, and the day’s content to let
Its light relax and fade. There’s
Still work to be done, but for now
That’s enough. Now day and night,
Opposites but still ideal partners,
Do their changing of the guard at
Dusk. Then the light disappears,
No one knows where to and no
One asks. After all it does for us,
It’s entitled to its privacy. There’s
A time to shine as bright as you can,
And a time to do nothing more than
Enjoy being alive. In the long run,
It’s the steadiness that counts,
Finding a comfortable rhythm that
Won’t grind you down. Day and
Night split their time equally. We
Should learn from that balance.
DEVIL’S TOOLS
During the bad years I was judged
Constantly, even for things I’d never
Actually done. No one can justify
Another’s pretensions, no matter
How well-intended, but there was
Still some expectation the prodigal
Son might turn out to be a golden
Boy after all. When that didn’t
Happen, they imagined the worst.
Someone’s anger stings no less
Just because you know it’s based
On a mistake – the real sting is
What they’d believe about you.
Wrong ideas, in the minds of
People firmly convinced they
Can’t be anything but right, are
The devil’s tools for dismantling
Families.
AUSTIN
Take me with you back to Austin – I’m not
Understood here, much less appreciated.
Here, I have to sing in a language I can’t
Speak. In Austin, I can sing in English, and
I’ll learn as much Spanish as I have to. In
That kind of milieu, they'd more likely take
Me to heart. Here, I get shot down just
For showing I care, and if anyone cares
For me, they’ll be damned before they’d
Admit it. Austin might find me more
Socially acceptable, value my cultural
Contribution more highly than my home
Town Lilliputians. Plus I’ll make you money –
Be my manager. Austin’s feminist enough
For a woman Colonel Parker. I can be like
Your Mexican, except I’m a citizen. So it
Makes perfect sense economically, socially,
Emotionally and culturally that you take
Me with you back to Austin, home of the
Armadillo. I really can do better, but not
Here, where every time I open my mouth
I remind everyone they didn’t invent music.
INOTE: You know who Colonel Parker is, right? In case you're clueless, Colonel Parker was Elvis' manager. See, reading my poems is very educational.)
CALI PHONE YA
I will miss you, sprawling industrial district.
You too, cold winds at night. You too,
Mall after mall, all the same stores. You
Too, people everywere on cells, lost in
One way conversations for all appearances.
You too, healthy, skinny, multi-ethnic
Residients reminding me to diet. You too,
Radio where they play what they like,
Acoustic western swing for cruising. You
Too, old people acting young. You too,
Redemption tickets at Indian gambling
Palaces, payback for white wrongs. You
Too, taquerias on wheels, food names I
can't pronounce. You too, tall eucalyptus
Straddling the highway. California, land of
Great distances. Spent half my time here
Driving. Almost always worth it. A week
Here is like a month at home. Gotta say
Bye before I flame out, die of fun.
IN FRONT OF STORES
In old Samoa they would sit around
The fire at night. Now boys sit in front
Of stores from twilight till closing time.
One of the side effects of society based
On industry and wages is boys with
Nowhere better to go than bus stops
Or store parking lots. They have homes
They can’t go to, parents they can’t be
Around. What kind of adults will they
Become, growing up feeling like home
And family have to be avoided? For the
Sake of our future, every adolescent
Should be asked to think about the
Questions: what should a family be,
And how does it turn into something
You want to run from?
STICKS AND LEAVES
Once upon a time the two had a
Mansion. One they didn’t have to
Earn, but came to them naturally.
Then, for reasons that vary
Depending on who’s explaining,
Their mansion lay in ruins. What
Are their options? They could say,
It doesn’t matter, we’ll make a
Shelter of sticks and leaves, and it
Will do as long as we’re together,
Or they could turn their attention
Separately to other mansions that
Just happen to have an empty room
And role they could easily fill. Sounds
Cold, I know, but you’d be surprised
How many would go for it given the
Circumstances. One day you may
Have to choose between insisting
On the mansion class at any cost,
Or accepting when you have
Nothing but sticks and leaves left
With someone, and saying it’s a
Start, not the end.
WALL
Quite a big wall to keep out
Just one person, don’t you
Think? Oh right, the wall’s
Not for me, not a message.
It’s for vampires, werewolves,
Traveling salesmen, Santa,
Elves, reindeer, postmen
With colds and girls scouts
Trying to push their cookies
On you. What’s sad about
Walls is what can’t get out,
Not just what can’t get in.
What if a rainbow ends on
The other side, with a pot
Of gold that’s yours for the
Taking, but you can’t get
Over your own wall?
ROADRUNNER
Too fast to be caught, never held
Back, I wanted to be Roadrunner.
A life of highways to explore at full
Speed. Grant me the freedom to
Travel and I’m happy. Take it all in,
And take off running before you’re
Tied to anything or anyone. Beep,
Beep, moving on. I wanted to be
Roadrunner – life in the fast lane.
Amazing it lasted as long as it did.
Sad I’d finally find someone I’d
Love to run with right when fate
Has forced me to hit the brakes.
It’s clear each time you beep beep
By like you don’t even know me –
I wanted to be Roadrunner, but
Ended up Coyote.
DEATH SENTENCE
I think I know what’s going to
Kill me – stupidity. Involuntary
Meditative state 24/7 where
The mantra is, “That was stupid.”
Stupidity is relative, therefore
Relatives are stupid.
OBJECTS
Objects have a history. Objects
Could tell stories, given where
They’ve been and what they’ve
Seen, but instead they must sit
Mute and just watch. Objects
Are a paradox – they’ve never
Had what we’d describe as life
And yet they’ll still be here long
After us, and in fact they’ll be
Here forever until someone
Destroys them. To remember us,
Those still here will preserve our
Objects. But that’s nothing like
The kind of interaction it would
Be with us in person, is it? So
Better interact now, and not be
Shy about it either. It’s sort of
The movements of our akimbo
Limbs, and sort of the yappings
Of our colorful tongues, and
Sort of many other things, but
Mostly it’s the sweet essence
Of life itself that makes us more
Than just objects.
DISCLOSURE
My own point of view is
Hopelessly biased – there,
I admit it. I put it out there
Anyway because… Well,
Why not? The worst that
Can happen is you think
I’m delusional. Yep, like
Zillions of others, like the
Wavering masses. like
You too in many ways.
The best that can happen
Is that you know we’re
Really thinking the same
Thing, or not far from it.
That means something.
What? I don’t know, it’s
Always still unwritten.
Anything you want, and
Hopefully nothing you
Don’t. Just for the record,
Thank you for your time
And kind attention. That’s
Today’s disclosure.
ART FILM
Strangest movie you’ve ever seen,
But hey, this is an art film not some
Hollywood product. Human voices
Narrate, but people have no presence
Onscreen. Objects and images stand
As visual metaphors for the story, as if
These better convey something literal
Action or even narration can’t. The
Silhouette of a village sticking up
Through a forest evokes home existing
Only in memory. Railroad tracks and
Nearby debris symbolize childhood
Displacement. Changing light on photos
Indicates the passage of time. Lives are
Represented by bottles floating on
The sea. When its 15 minutes are up,
A buzz in the audience ensues. An
Esteemed panel of judges seems
Speechless, muttering terms like
“Startling”, “innovative”, and “rich in
“Emotion”. The filmmakers just say
That’s what happens when you don’t
Have a budget and you’ve never made
A film, you just really want to, when
You don’t know what you’re doing but
You’re not about to let a minor detail
Like that stop you.
TELL OF WONDERS
If I could tell of wonders, I’d write
The stories here, not to bring me
Glory by association, but to share
My best. Because this is all I can
Share with you until things change,
The only way I can talk to you. If I
Could tell of wonders, I would, but
Most of my stories are rather
Mundane, just people dealing
With day to day life, sometimes
Discovering themselves through
Each other, sometimes catching
Just a glimpse of something bigger
That ties the mysteries together.
THE WORD MUSIC
The word music is closely related to
The word muse, the reason why
Writers write. The act of writing is
Seen as petitioning fate to intervene
In the hopes your muse will view you
Favorably. Music does the same with
Sound. Notes carry messages words
Can’t. Music, as a word, is not far
From magic. Music works an alchemy
Of its own - let it in and it'll take you
Somewhere. Resist and you’ll get
Noise instead of enjoyment. In those
Moments when music sings to the
Soul, a meaning you needn’t think
About comes through, as if on an
Invisible wire. It’s an open secret
Known to anyone who listens and
Feels, and doesn’t just analyze in
A vacuum. If music doesn’t prove
There’s magic, it at least reminds
That you get out of something what
You put in.
STRAYS
Our dogs simply want something
To eat. They were never farmers
In the first place, but hunters
Who’ve forgotten they ever had
That skill, defenders with nothing
Left to defend but the few scraps
They can pilfer from our leftovers.
More often they go hungry in their
Learned dependence on generosity.
They once served a worthwhile
Purpose for someone or other,
Once had a part in our functioning,
But now they’re strays, deprived of
A livelihood. They’d be more than
Happy to work hard for a crumb of
Your kindness just to survive, living
By their wits but unaware of their
Place in the bigger picture, and not
Caring either.
DELICATE
Can you pull your weeds without
Ruining your garden? Careful, most
Beautiful things are delicate, you
Can’t just slash and burn, as much
As you hate the weeds. Delicate
Things require patience and care,
But look what happiness they bring
Nature is delicate. Life is delicate.
Our deepest feelings are delicate.
How ironic, then, that even apes
Can have more patience and care
Than man, who finds delicacy
Inferior to efficiency, and wants
To slash and burn his way through
Everything, including people.
UNLESS YOU’RE THE POPE
So, are you convinced you can’t be
Forgiven, or just too proud to ask?
It’s pretty arrogant to forgive
Someone who even hasn’t asked
For it, unless you’re the Pope and
Really in a hurry. And if someone
Has the guts to ask, it’s pretty
Heartless to make them grovel,
Unless you want to convince them
They shouldn’t have bothered.
CLUELESS
Hey, pretend you’re a priest while
I make a confession – I’m clueless.
My memory’s ok, but as far as
Processing what those memories
Mean, forget it. I’ve been turned
Around more than once, and no
Sooner do I finish feeling dizzy than
I start feeling clueless. Meanings
Seem to have shifted, signs signify
Differently. It’s all unfamiliar again
To me. I’m blank – will you fill me in?
Maybe my sensibilities just reflect
An earlier time with a different
Notion of what doing right means,
A different approach. But in the
Here and know, I know how my
Cluelessness must appear to you
As if the dinosaurs never left.
EXPOSED
Eyeballs with wings, following us around
As if we’re breaking news, walking sitcoms,
Like our every moment captured can be
Used for selling ads. We’re never wanting
For an audience. Eyeballs with wings,
Posing as innocent bystanders, trying to
Blend in with the birds, swarming in our
Moments of embarrassment like locusts,
Thinking here’s a good one for prime time
Tonight. Eyeballs with wings, all-seeing, no
Heart for understanding. Disdaining eyes,
Ready to bear witness to anything they
Find suspicious. Wish I could shoot them
From the sky, find out if they’re capable
Of tears, but they’re in my head. Eyeballs
With wings, hanging upside down like bats
Outside my bedroom. Even when no one
Wants to know, I still walk around feeling
Exposed.
PORTRAIT
I suppose if you put all the poems
Together, a certain portrait might
Emerge. An attitude embedded in
The language, values suggested
By the style. But don’t be fooled –
Let an artist paint themselves and
It’ll be the most distorted portrait
You could ask for. Expression can
Be a defense, an elaborate disguise,
Pure fiction, the occasional naked
Truth. I must confess to reveling in
The freedom of never being sure if
I’m taken seriously. Gives me room
To evolve, explore, experiment.
If I ever touch your sensibilities
In some way, I’m truly flattered,
But it’s an accident. My thought
Collisions occasionally summon a
Connection rather than an ambulance.
Were a truly accurate portrait to
Crawl from the wreckage of my
Pages, you’d see a shell shocked
Crash test dummy, mangled, head
Backwards, heart sideways, limbs
Akimbo, lips fixed in a grimace,
Jumping right into the next car.
LION TAMER
Taming lions, do you need a circus
Mind? A grasp of animal psychology?
The talent to get them to trust you
Above their own instincts? Can they
Unlearn what another nasty trainer
Has whipped into them, once he’s
Manipulated their wants and needs
To make them behave his way?
Make them feel they’re safe not
Biting the head off anyone who
Doesn’t give them exactly what
They expect? Don’t be like a lion
Trained by the Romans to tear
Apart criminals, deviants and
Religious dissidents to entertain a
Bloodthirsty colosseum audience.
BURRITO
What gets folded-into our story?
What doesn’t? Our story is like a
Burrito – by themselves the
Ingredients would make one big
Mess, cross no-fly zones, riot on
The plate, stain your clothes, soil
The floor. However, these same
Ingredients, when something holds
Them in one place, create an
Unexpected combination of tastes,
Rendered in the burrito’s case all
The more palatable by a Nobel
Prize-worthy masterpiece of
Culinary engineering, a design
With equally valid practical,
Cultural and gastronomical
Qualities. What we think wasn’t
Meant to co-exist in one dish
Somehow does - with willingness
And creativity, and a good salsa
Always helps. Every burrito across
The USA at this very moment
Stands as a testament to what
Hunger and ingenuity can do.
COLUMBUS
History is great – I’m re-learning it all
The time. Like the little-known fact
That besides collecting information
For maps, Columbus also collected
Several hundred Indians to take
Home and sell as slaves. Well, how
Else was he supposed to pay for the
Trip? And besides, in exchange for a
Few hundred slaves, not all of whom
Even made it to Europe, look what
We got. No Columbus, no Las Vegas.
No Seattle. No Boise, Idaho. No Alamo,
No Annie Oakley, no Little Big Horn, no
George Washington, no Ben Franklin.
No Star Spangled Banner. No Civil War,
No Blues, no Jazz, no Rock & Roll. No
Lincoln, no Lincoln Center. No Pearl
Harbor, no 9-11, no Boston Tea Party,
No Boston Strangler, no McDonalds.
No Margaret Mitchell, no Margaret
Mead, no Miley Cyrus. No Fox News.
No American Idol, no FBI, no Civil Rights.
None of this and more would ever have
Come to pass if it hadn’t been for
Columbus. You wouldn’t even be here,
So hey, just let the slave thing slide.
TELEVISION
Television, you pampered only child
Of an arranged marriage between
Hollywood and Wall Street. Television,
Shaping our culture while taping its
Mouth shut and binding its hands.
Television, who do your represent,
Anyway? Am I no longer in tune with
Society since you don’t make sense?
Television, aimed at some imaginary
America where everyone takes your
Word on what’s worth buying and
Believing. Television, you’re teaching
Escape. Television, your signals go
Out into space. Alien races are curious
About you, Television, and now firmly
Believe earth’s highest-evolved life
Form motivates and manipulates its
Own masses by dangling desired
Material items and idealized states
Of being in front of them like you’d
Dangle a carrot in front of a donkey.
RIVERBOAT
Flowing on the slow river of time,
Before you know it you’ve come
Farther than you believed possible.
Whenever this river seems about
To end, it’s only changing, following
A way passed down from the ages.
Why stray from a proven route?
Someone once told me there’s an
Ocean where all rivers meet, where
Their long travels end, but curiously,
Rivers take their sweet time keeping
The appointment. Who’s in a hurry?
We’ll arrive when it’s time. Until
Then, the river is single-mined,
Stopping everywhere, staying
Nowhere, enticing us with a free
One-way ticket. The river wants us
To mix, discover what’s out there.
Learn from and love every moment
On the water. We’re lucky we can
Join this voyage even for a short
Time, and few among us have
Passage all the way to its end.
PANIC
Calm serenity is an illusion, but shout
That lie as loud as you can because the
Truth is panic. As soon as we’re out of
The womb, we’re screaming. As soon
As whatever situation we’re in starts
Spinning out of control, we’re right back
To the panic we reacted with as soon as
We opened our eyes. And not just babies.
No one wants the pressure of keeping it
All together, but who will prevent our
Serenity from descending into anarchy
If not ourselves? Calm serenity reminds
Us of Heaven, a place within us where it
Doesn’t seem like it could all blow apart
Any second. We need that thought to
Deal with the world, keep reminding
The deaf public and dumb governments
There’s always a better solution than
Bombs. Calm serenity is an illusion, so
Forgive me for cultivating dishonesty –
I’m just trying not to panic.
BETRAYAL
If I talk about betrayal, it doesn’t
Mean I’m talking about you, just
About the thousand ways you can
Feel betrayed. I know it doesn’t do
Any good to talk about feeling
Betrayed, but every time I’m right
On the brink of being kind for no
Other reason than just to be kind,
That feeling comes creeping back:
You’re gonna get betrayed. Betrayal
Is the risk you take when you give.
If you give in the right way, there’s
A tiny chance you won’t be betrayed,
But it’s really tiny. Much more
Straightforward to be a taker, a
Heartbreaker, a bastard, a user.
You can’t be betrayed if you just
Don’t care. Might as well betray
Someone else before they do it
To you. Betrayal is a parachute
For those who can’t stand feeling
Trapped, held back. Betrayal is a
Cancer in the marrow of our
Society and personal lives, eating
The blood cells faith needs. Betrayal
Goes back to the Bible – Judas might
Have been forgiven for his betrayal,
But I’m not so saintly.
FOR MARIE ANTOINETTE
If you doubt the power of propaganda,
Consider this. Marie Antoinette, one of
History’s coldest, most heartless bitches,
Once famously remarked that peasants
Starving for bread could eat cake instead.
This immortal utterance, which so well
Characterizes corruption, anywhere,
Anytime, guarantees that Marie won’t
Soon be forgotten. Imagine my surprise,
Then, when I read that there’s actually
No concrete evidence she really said it!
That historians consider the source of
The quote highly unreliable! A tabloid,
No less. Louis and Marie apparently
Believed in freedom of the press, but
As is still so often the case, attacking
The unpopular sold copies. Therefore,
Exaggerations and lies about the
Monarchy were commonplace. But so
What? With a quote so memorable,
Questions of legitimacy are secondary.
Still, imagine going down in history for
Something you never actually said!
History has force fed Marie that very
Same cake allegedly recommended
To the peasants.
R.I.P. LOU REED
The different don’t feel so different
Anymore, not like they used to, not
Like when they had to deny the very
Idea of their natures. The different had
Lou Reed to sing for them. Lou didn’t
Pander for shock value, he just figured
He’d get real, real for him, maybe real
Too for others out there in dark corners,
The margins, the gutters, the alleys, the
Toilets, the jails, the mental hospitals.
This was when being a freak wasn’t chic,
It was dangerous, could cost you your
Life. Sometimes Lou didn’t mind who
He offended, other times he cloaked
His real meanings in clever language,
But no one could probe as deeply into
The taboo shadows of our collective
Psyche with the same boldness or
With as much humanity. That’s what
I’ll remember Lou for, his humanity,
His occasional tenderness, his trying
To find the heart in life’s confusions,
His frequent rubbing of life’s seediest
Sides in your face. He had his own face
Rubbed in it too, but turned the smears
Into part of his costume for the role of
Bard of the forbidden, anarchist of
Sexuality giving all the rejects a voice.
TONGUE TIED
Tongue tied, falling right into a
Role I’m not sure how to play.
Tongue tied, no idea how to
Say what I’m thinking, it might
Be impolite, not to your liking.
Tongue tied, talking around
The subject, trying to say it
Indirectly.Tongue tied, wanting
So bad for the words to sound
Right that they won’t come out
At all. Tongue tied, silently
Screaming.
IT’S MY JOB
You can deny my love if it’s
Not what you want, refuse it
If it’s not good enough, just
Doesn’t move you. You have
Every right by your own free
Will. I just feel like, right or
Wrong, good or bad, happy
Or sad, wise or foolish, it’s
Just my job to let you know
Somebody loves you. No one
Said anything about you
Having to accept it.
REINCARNATION
With every person you’ve ever felt
A passion for, you create a child in
The spiritual world. You may meet
Them there, before or after their
Turn comes to be made real, born
As human. How else to explain why
A poet from a thousand years ago
Reminds me of someone I only met
Yesterday, or why grandparents
Sometimes make more sense than
Mom and dad, or why someone
You rarely even see can still fill you
With both joy and sadness longer
Than time itself whenever you
Think of them?
MORE NEXT DOOR ("CYCLONE SCENE 2")
Bethesda Terrace Arcade, Central Park, Manhattan, New York.
Canon EF 135mm f/2L USM
©2012 Patrick J Bayens
It was a beautiful morning with the light shining through the living room windows. I grabbed my camera to catch Cina in her favorite chair, but she refused to look at the camera. She's usually super photographic, but not today. Rude Cat!!!
Oh the MGB, the last great British Sports car?
A motor that refused to die even though British Leyland simply couldn't stop messing around with it. The MGB is an example of a car that went from one of the most loved and lovable cars in British motoring, to what many describe as an empty husk broken and bent for legislation purposes. But the MGB would have its way in the end!
The story behind the MGB begins in 1962, when the car was designed to incorporate an innovative, modern style utilizing a monocoque structure instead of the traditional body-on-frame construction used on both the MGA and MG T-types and the MGB's rival, the Triumph TR series. However components such as brakes and suspension were developments of the earlier 1955 MGA with the B-Series engine having its origins in 1947. The lightweight design reduced manufacturing costs while adding to overall vehicle strength. Wind-up windows were standard, and a comfortable driver's compartment offered plenty of legroom. A parcel shelf was fitted behind the seats.
The car was powered by a BMC B-Series engine, producing 95hp and giving the car a 0-60 of 11 seconds, perhaps not the briskest acceleration, but of course this car was more a comfy little cruiser, ambling about the countryside in sedate fashion admiring the views. The MGB was also one of the first cars to feature controlled crumple zones designed to protect the driver and passenger in a 30 mph impact with an immovable barrier (200 ton).
The roadster was the first of the MGB range to be produced. The body was a pure two-seater but a small rear seat was a rare option at one point. By making better use of space the MGB was able to offer more passenger and luggage accommodation than the earlier MGA while 3 inches shorter overall. The suspension was also softer, giving a smoother ride, and the larger engine gave a slightly higher top speed. The four-speed gearbox was an uprated version of the one used in the MGA with an optional (electrically activated) overdrive transmission. Wheel diameter dropped from 15 to 14 inches.
Upon its launch the MGB was given almost unanimous acclaim, largely due to its advanced and innovative design combined with its beautifully and sleek styling. Previous sports cars of the same calibre had always been levied with a reputation for their ropey nature, with a majority of previous models being simply remodelled versions of the MG's and Triumphs that dated back to the end of and in some cases even before World War II. But the MG was different, and if I'm honest, a large part of its appeal is due to its small, low body, and it's poky round headlights that make it look rather cute. It's the kind of car you could give a name, preferably a girl's one. Either way, the MGB sold in hundreds, disappearing off to all corners of the globe, touring the South of France, storming across the deserts of Southern California on Route 66, or dodging its way through the bustling Indian traffic, these things were adored.
However, the only version available was a soft-top roadster, which didn't appeal to everyone, so in 1965 MG took the B to Italy, and the great styling firm known as Pininfarina, and asked them to pop a roof on their windy little sports car. What resulted was a roof fixture that blended its way perfectly into the rest of the body, a smooth greenhouse cabin that was spacious but still maintained the styling that enthusiasts had come to know so well, going on to be dubbed "The poor man's Aston Martin."
Although acceleration of the GT was slightly slower than that of the roadster, due to its increased weight, top speed improved by 5 mph to 105 mph due to better aerodynamics.
However, tweaks were starting to be made to the MGB formula to try and give it a wider ranging market. Intended to replace the Austin Healey Sprite, the MG MGC was launched in 1967 as a reworked version of the classic MGB, but featuring a 2.9L BMC C-Series engine to up the power.
The problem was that the revised design of the car to incorporate the engine was nothing short of lazy. Instead of redesigning the whole car, MG chose to simply create a huge bulbous lump in the bonnet. The heavier engine also required modifications to the suspension which spoiled the handling. As well as that, the engines were quite poorly built, and later tuning by enthusiasts has proven that the car has the ability to run with 30% more power by carrying out simple modifications to head, exhaust and cam release.
However, the MGC did find some love, in the Royal Family of all places, as in 1967, HRH Prince Charles took delivery of an MGC GT (SGY 766F), which he passed down to Prince William 30 years later. At least one car had a happy ending!
But soon problems came roaring over the horizon like the four horsemen of the apocalypse. A whirlwind of legislation, corporate incompetence and plain old lazy design came right out of nowhere and would soon engulf and attempt to destroy the MGB, but not before stripping the poor thing of its dignity and its good name.
The first disaster to befall this plucky little car, British Leyland, which was formed in 1968 by merging all of Britain's major automotive firms including Rover, BMC (Austin/Morris) and Triumph (which was part of the Leyland Group). To save on costs the lavish chrome grille of the earlier models and spoked wheels were the first to go, but the B could survive without them.
Next up, fitting the car with a Rover V8 that had been developed from a series of Buick Pickup Truck engines. Although this could have been a good thing, this wasn't British Leyland's idea, but in fact belong to professional engine tuner Ken Costello, who, although had been commissioned by British Leyland to create a prototype, had already created a series of MGB's with V8's placed under the hood. British Leyland half-inched this idea and started fitting their own V8's, but went about it all wrong. The powerful 180bhp engine used by Costello for his conversions was replaced for production by MG with a more modestly tuned version producing only 137bhp. Although the car's 193lb-ft of torque meant it could reach 0-60 in 7.7 seconds and go on to a reasonable 125mph top speed, it was a thirsty beast, with only 20mpg. A bit of a territorial hazard admittedly, but it's not a good idea to develop such a gas guzzling car when it was about to smack headlong into the Oil Crisis of 1973. Barely anyone went out and bought it, and the money simply disappeared down the nearest drain.
But so far, the car's lovable external dimensions had yet to be compromised, but we haven't got to the legislation yet, one of those many apocalyptic horsemen I was mentioning earlier. Throughout the 1960's the death of James Dean had resulted in a gradual increase in safety legislation on US Highways, and in order to have a market there, cars had to conform. The height of the headlights, the bumpers, the smoke emissions, the recess of the switches, all of these things were scrutinised and had to be taken into account by car builders.
Indeed America can be owed with introducing many safety features and pieces of legislation we take for granted in modern motoring, but the British manufacturers almost seemed to go out of their way to redesign the cars completely and 100% wrong. In 1974 the glistening chrome was replaced by a gigantic bulbous rubber bumper that protruded from the front of the car like someone's bottom lip!
Other signs of their poor design included the removal of leather seats for something much more mundane, the use of dials and switches from other products such as Austin Allegros and Maxis, as well as door handles that came straight from the Morris Marina.
Internally, British Leyland had botched it with their laziness, choosing not to redesign the car like everyone else so that the headlights were at the required height, but instead placing solid blocks under the suspension to raise the lights to the desired level, but at the same time making the car look like it was going permanently downhill as well as making the handling so light it would slide constantly at speed. The engines were tuned down for emission regulations which made them woefully underpowered and thus they, to use a contemporary phrase, 'couldn't pull the skin off a Rice Pudding!'
Numbers dropped, but British Leyland went to that old trick in the book by using product placement to get by, putting one of their new MGB's in the New Avengers to be driven by Joanna Lumley's character Purdey. As far as I recall though, low slung sports cars aren't the best things to drive if you're in a miniskirt, because getting in and out of them can be quite revealing!
But this wasn't enough to save the MGB's deteriorating sales, in America cars would languish in stockyards and storage warehouses for months on end waiting to be sold, but to no avail. For this, the MG division was making losses of up to £400,000 per week, a clear sign that the ailing MGB had to go the way of all good cars, out of production. On October 21st, 1980, the last MGB rolled off the production line after 18 years, no pomp, no circumstance, just quietly slipping away into history.
After this, the MG brand was lost from its own original cars such as the Midget and the MGB that dated back to the 60's, instead being placed on tuned and slightly modified versions of British Leyland's family cars, including the MG Montego, the MG Maestro and, to the everlasting horror of MG purists although I personally don't think it's that bad, the MG Metro. The factory in Abingdon-on-Thames, where the MGB had been built, closed its gates immediately afterwards as part of the company's rationalisation, striking a blow to the economy of the region and the esteem of those who had been proud to build cars with those two simple letters, MG.
But all was not lost for the MGB, as soon afterwards the cars became fashionably retro, especially in the 1980's and 90's, when 60's examples were bought up largely by foreign markets due to their quintessentially British nature and their synonymous relationship with our country and way of life. Japan especially was a hotspot for old MG products, with Midgets and MGB's being shipped out there by the dozen. So popular were these that Rover Group, the descendants of British Leyland, went on to create a limited edition retelling of the MGB in the form of the MG RV8, constructed in 1993 with 2,000 examples built, the first original MG car to be built since the original MGB ended production in 1980.
Here in the UK, the MG craze kicked off with enthusiasts taking scrapyard shells and run down models and turning them into their own little put-together projects. The MGB has now become one of the most popular little retro sports cars of the modern era, and despite all its faults, even the rubber-bumper British Leyland models make some fantastic kit cars if you want good, wholesome sport fun on a budget!
Rodney Stoke is a small village and civil parish, located at grid reference ST486501, 5 miles north-west of Wells, in the English county of Somerset. The village is on the A371 between Draycott and Westbury-sub-Mendip.
The parish includes the larger village of Draycott. South of the A371 the parish includes an area of the Somerset Levels, extending to the River Axe. North of the A371 the southern slopes of the Mendip Hills rise to an area of the parish on the Mendip plateau. The parish is therefore an area of high biodiversity supporting local rare species of plants and animal life.
Close to the village is Westbury Camp, which represents the remains of an Iron Age enclosed settlement and has been designated as a Scheduled Ancient Monument.
Rodney Stoke was listed in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Stoches, meaning 'a stockaded settlement' from the Old English stoc. In 1291 the place name was recorded as Stokgifford. The Giffords were Saxon nobility at the time of Edward the Confessor with Walter Gifford (then spelt Gifard) as the Earl of Buckingham.
The parish was part of the Winterstoke Hundred.
The village was the home of, and is probably named after, Sir John Rodney (d. 1400). However Ekwall indicates that Stoke Gifford was held by Richard de Rodene in 1303.
The first Baron Rodney was George Brydges Rodney (1718/19–92), a British naval admiral of Napoleonic times.
It is one of the nine Thankful Villages in Somerset which suffered no fatalities during World War I. There is a memorial window in the Parish Church together with a new plaque that testifies to the village's enduring pride in their good fortune.
The parish council has responsibility for local issues, including setting an annual precept (local rate) to cover the council's operating costs and producing annual accounts for public scrutiny. The parish council evaluates local planning applications and works with the local police, district council officers, and neighbourhood watch groups on matters of crime, security, and traffic. The parish council's role also includes initiating projects for the maintenance and repair of parish facilities, as well as consulting with the district council on the maintenance, repair, and improvement of highways, drainage, footpaths, public transport, and street cleaning. Conservation matters (including trees and listed buildings) and environmental issues are also the responsibility of the council.
The village falls within the Non-metropolitan district of Mendip, which was formed on 1 April 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972, having previously been part of Wells Rural District, which is responsible for local planning and building control, local roads, council housing, environmental health, markets and fairs, refuse collection and recycling, cemeteries and crematoria, leisure services, parks, and tourism.
Somerset County Council is responsible for running the largest and most expensive local services such as education, social services, libraries, main roads, public transport, policing and fire services, trading standards, waste disposal and strategic planning.
The village is in the 'Rodney and Westbury' electoral ward. The ward starts in the north west at Draycott and passes through Rodney Stoke to end at Westbury-sub-Mendip. The total population of the ward as at the 2011 census was 2,127.
It is also part of the Wells county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election.
The land is noteworthy for its importance as a flight corridor and feeding ground for the Greater Horseshoe Bat. Cheddar Complex, a Site of Special Scientific Interest, lies to the north and Mascalls' Wood, an ancient woodland and Somerset Wildlife Trust Nature Reserve, lies to the west. The cross roads may be the site of an old Roman road.
Close to the village is the Rodney Stoke nature reserve, which is a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI).
The church of St Leonard, was built around 1175 and is a Grade I listed building. The interior of the church contains a screen, bearing the date 1624, the gift of Sir Edward Rodney, which includes a representation of the martyrdom of St Erasmus, who was killed by having his entrails removed.
Notable residents
Edward Rodney (1590–1657), MP for Wells and Somerset at various times between 1621 and 1642, lived in Rodney Stoke and was buried there.
John Rodney (died 1400), MP for Somerset, 1391–1393, lived in Rodney Stoke.
Frances Southwell (died 1659), courtier and wife of Edward Rodney, lived in Rodney Stoke.
Thomas Tremlett (1834–1894), first-class cricketer, was born in Rodney Stoke.
Somerset is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east and the north-east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to the south-west. The largest settlement is the city of Bath, and the county town is Taunton.
Somerset is a predominantly rural county, especially to the south and west, with an area of 4,171 km2 (1,610 sq mi) and a population of 965,424. After Bath (101,557), the largest settlements are Weston-super-Mare (82,418), Taunton (60,479), and Yeovil (49,698). Wells (12,000) is a city, the second-smallest by population in England. For local government purposes the county comprises three unitary authority areas: Bath and North East Somerset, North Somerset, and Somerset.
The centre of Somerset is dominated by the Levels, a coastal plain and wetland, and the north-east and west of the county are hilly. The north-east contains part of the Cotswolds AONB, all of the Mendip Hills AONB, and a small part of Cranborne Chase and West Wiltshire Downs AONB; the west contains the Quantock Hills AONB, a majority of Exmoor National Park, and part of the Blackdown Hills AONB. The main rivers in the county are the Avon, which flows through Bath and then Bristol, and the Axe, Brue, and Parrett, which drain the Levels.
There is evidence of Paleolithic human occupation in Somerset, and the area was subsequently settled by the Celts, Romans and Anglo-Saxons. The county played a significant part in Alfred the Great's rise to power, and later the English Civil War and the Monmouth Rebellion. In the later medieval period its wealth allowed its monasteries and parish churches to be rebuilt in grand style; Glastonbury Abbey was particularly important, and claimed to house the tomb of King Arthur and Guinevere. The city of Bath is famous for its Georgian architecture, and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The county is also the location of Glastonbury Festival, one of the UK's major music festivals.
Somerset is a historic county in the south west of England. There is evidence of human occupation since prehistoric times with hand axes and flint points from the Palaeolithic and Mesolithic eras, and a range of burial mounds, hill forts and other artefacts dating from the Neolithic, Bronze and Iron Ages. The oldest dated human road work in Great Britain is the Sweet Track, constructed across the Somerset Levels with wooden planks in the 39th century BCE.
Following the Roman Empire's invasion of southern Britain, the mining of lead and silver in the Mendip Hills provided a basis for local industry and commerce. Bath became the site of a major Roman fort and city, the remains of which can still be seen. During the Early Medieval period Somerset was the scene of battles between the Anglo-Saxons and first the Britons and later the Danes. In this period it was ruled first by various kings of Wessex, and later by kings of England. Following the defeat of the Anglo-Saxon monarchy by the Normans in 1066, castles were built in Somerset.
Expansion of the population and settlements in the county continued during the Tudor and more recent periods. Agriculture and coal mining expanded until the 18th century, although other industries declined during the industrial revolution. In modern times the population has grown, particularly in the seaside towns, notably Weston-super-Mare. Agriculture continues to be a major business, if no longer a major employer because of mechanisation. Light industries are based in towns such as Bridgwater and Yeovil. The towns of Taunton and Shepton Mallet manufacture cider, although the acreage of apple orchards is less than it once was.
The Palaeolithic and Mesolithic periods saw hunter-gatherers move into the region of Somerset. There is evidence from flint artefacts in a quarry at Westbury that an ancestor of modern man, possibly Homo heidelbergensis, was present in the area from around 500,000 years ago. There is still some doubt about whether the artefacts are of human origin but they have been dated within Oxygen Isotope Stage 13 (524,000 – 478,000 BP). Other experts suggest that "many of the bone-rich Middle Pleistocene deposits belong to a single but climatically variable interglacial that succeeded the Cromerian, perhaps about 500,000 years ago. Detailed analysis of the origin and modification of the flint artefacts leads to the conclusion that the assemblage was probably a product of geomorphological processes rather than human work, but a single cut-marked bone suggests a human presence." Animal bones and artefacts unearthed in the 1980s at Westbury-sub-Mendip, in Somerset, have shown evidence of early human activity approximately 700,000 years ago.
Homo sapiens sapiens, or modern man, came to Somerset during the Early Upper Palaeolithic. There is evidence of occupation of four Mendip caves 35,000 to 30,000 years ago. During the Last Glacial Maximum, about 25,000 to 15,000 years ago, it is probable that Somerset was deserted as the area experienced tundra conditions. Evidence was found in Gough's Cave of deposits of human bone dating from around 12,500 years ago. The bones were defleshed and probably ritually buried though perhaps related to cannibalism being practised in the area at the time or making skull cups or storage containers. Somerset was one of the first areas of future England settled following the end of Younger Dryas phase of the last ice age c. 8000 BC. Cheddar Man is the name given to the remains of a human male found in Gough's Cave in Cheddar Gorge. He is Britain's oldest complete human skeleton. The remains date from about 7150 BC, and it appears that he died a violent death. Somerset is thought to have been occupied by Mesolithic hunter-gatherers from about 6000 BCE; Mesolithic artefacts have been found in more than 70 locations. Mendip caves were used as burial places, with between 50 and 100 skeletons being found in Aveline's Hole. In the Neolithic era, from about 3500 BCE, there is evidence of farming.
At the end of the last ice age the Bristol Channel was dry land, but later the sea level rose, particularly between 1220 and 900 BC and between 800 and 470 BCE, resulting in major coastal changes. The Somerset Levels became flooded, but the dry points such as Glastonbury and Brent Knoll have a long history of settlement, and are known to have been occupied by Mesolithic hunters. The county has prehistoric burial mounds (such as Stoney Littleton Long Barrow), stone rows (such as the circles at Stanton Drew and Priddy) and settlement sites. Evidence of Mesolithic occupation has come both from the upland areas, such as in Mendip caves, and from the low land areas such as the Somerset Levels. Dry points in the latter such as Glastonbury Tor and Brent Knoll, have a long history of settlement with wooden trackways between them. There were also "lake villages" in the marsh such as those at Glastonbury Lake Village and Meare. One of the oldest dated human road work in Britain is the Sweet Track, constructed across the Somerset Levels with wooden planks in the 39th century BC, partially on the route of the even earlier Post Track.
There is evidence of Exmoor's human occupation from Mesolithic times onwards. In the Neolithic period people started to manage animals and grow crops on farms cleared from the woodland, rather than act purely as hunter gatherers. It is also likely that extraction and smelting of mineral ores to make tools, weapons, containers and ornaments in bronze and then iron started in the late Neolithic and into the Bronze and Iron Ages.
The caves of the Mendip Hills were settled during the Neolithic period and contain extensive archaeological sites such as those at Cheddar Gorge. There are numerous Iron Age Hill Forts, which were later reused in the Dark Ages, such as Cadbury Castle, Worlebury Camp and Ham Hill. The age of the henge monument at Stanton Drew stone circles is unknown, but is believed to be from the Neolithic period. There is evidence of mining on the Mendip Hills back into the late Bronze Age when there were technological changes in metal working indicated by the use of lead. There are numerous "hill forts", such as Small Down Knoll, Solsbury Hill, Dolebury Warren and Burledge Hill, which seem to have had domestic purposes, not just a defensive role. They generally seem to have been occupied intermittently from the Bronze Age onward, some, such as Cadbury Camp at South Cadbury, being refurbished during different eras. Battlegore Burial Chamber is a Bronze Age burial chamber at Williton which is composed of three round barrows and possibly a long, chambered barrow.
The Iron Age tribes of later Somerset were the Dobunni in north Somerset, Durotriges in south Somerset and Dumnonii in west Somerset. The first and second produced coins, the finds of which allows their tribal areas to be suggested, but the latter did not. All three had a Celtic culture and language. However, Ptolemy stated that Bath was in the territory of the Belgae, but this may be a mistake. The Celtic gods were worshipped at the temple of Sulis at Bath and possibly the temple on Brean Down. Iron Age sites on the Quantock Hills, include major hill forts at Dowsborough and Ruborough, as well as smaller earthwork enclosures, such as Trendle Ring, Elworthy Barrows and Plainsfield Camp.
Somerset was part of the Roman Empire from 47 AD to about 409 AD. However, the end was not abrupt and elements of Romanitas lingered on for perhaps a century.
Somerset was invaded from the south-east by the Second Legion Augusta, under the future emperor Vespasian. The hillforts of the Durotriges at Ham Hill and Cadbury Castle were captured. Ham Hill probably had a temporary Roman occupation. The massacre at Cadbury Castle seems to have been associated with the later Boudiccan Revolt of 60–61 AD. The county remained part of the Roman Empire until around 409 AD.
The Roman invasion, and possibly the preceding period of involvement in the internal affairs of the south of England, was inspired in part by the potential of the Mendip Hills. A great deal of the attraction of the lead mines may have been the potential for the extraction of silver.
Forts were set up at Bath and Ilchester. The lead and silver mines at Charterhouse in the Mendip Hills were run by the military. The Romans established a defensive boundary along the new military road known the Fosse Way (from the Latin fossa meaning ditch). The Fosse Way ran through Bath, Shepton Mallet, Ilchester and south-west towards Axminster. The road from Dorchester ran through Yeovil to meet the Fosse Way at Ilchester. Small towns and trading ports were set up, such as Camerton and Combwich. The larger towns decayed in the latter part of the period, though the smaller ones appear to have decayed less. In the latter part of the period, Ilchester seems to have been a "civitas" capital and Bath may also have been one. Particularly to the east of the River Parrett, villas were constructed. However, only a few Roman sites have been found to the west of the river. The villas have produced important mosaics and artifacts. Cemeteries have been found outside the Roman towns of Somerset and by Roman temples such as that at Lamyatt. Romano-British farming settlements, such as those at Catsgore and Sigwells, have been found in Somerset. There was salt production on the Somerset Levels near Highbridge and quarrying took place near Bath, where the Roman Baths gave their name to Bath.
Excavations carried out before the flooding of Chew Valley Lake also uncovered Roman remains, indicating agricultural and industrial activity from the second half of the 1st century until the 3rd century AD. The finds included a moderately large villa at Chew Park, where wooden writing tablets (the first in the UK) with ink writing were found. There is also evidence from the Pagans Hill Roman Temple at Chew Stoke. In October 2001 the West Bagborough Hoard of 4th century Roman silver was discovered in West Bagborough. The 681 coins included two denarii from the early 2nd century and 8 Miliarense and 671 Siliqua all dating to the period AD 337 – 367. The majority were struck in the reigns of emperors Constantius II and Julian and derive from a range of mints including Arles and Lyons in France, Trier in Germany and Rome.
In April 2010, the Frome Hoard, one of the largest-ever hoards of Roman coins discovered in Britain, was found by a metal detectorist. The hoard of 52,500 coins dated from the 3rd century AD and was found buried in a field near Frome, in a jar 14 inches (36 cm) below the surface. The coins were excavated by archaeologists from the Portable Antiquities Scheme.
This is the period from about 409 AD to the start of Saxon political control, which was mainly in the late 7th century, though they are said to have captured the Bath area in 577 AD. Initially the Britons of Somerset seem to have continued much as under the Romans but without the imperial taxation and markets. There was then a period of civil war in Britain though it is not known how this affected Somerset. The Western Wandsdyke may have been constructed in this period but archaeological data shows that it was probably built during the 5th or 6th century. This area became the border between the Romano-British Celts and the West Saxons following the Battle of Deorham in 577 AD. The ditch is on the north side, so presumably it was used by the Celts as a defence against Saxons encroaching from the upper Thames Valley. According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, the Saxon Cenwalh achieved a breakthrough against the British Celtic tribes, with victories at Bradford-on-Avon (in the Avon Gap in the Wansdyke) in 652 AD, and further south at the Battle of Peonnum (at Penselwood) in 658 AD, followed by an advance west through the Polden Hills to the River Parrett.
The Saxon advance from the east seems to have been halted by battles between the British and Saxons, for example; at the siege of Badon Mons Badonicus (which may have been in the Bath region e.g. at Solsbury Hill), or Bathampton Down. During the 5th, 6th and 7th centuries, Somerset was probably partly in the Kingdom of Dumnonia, partly in the land of the Durotriges and partly in that of the Dobunni. The boundaries between these is largely unknown, but may have been similar to those in the Iron Age. Various "tyrants" seem to have controlled territories from reoccupied hill forts. There is evidence of an elite at hill forts such as Cadbury Castle and Cadbury Camp; for example, there is imported pottery. Cemeteries are an important source of evidence for the period and large ones have been found in Somerset, such as that at Cannington, which was used from the Roman to the Saxon period. The towns of Somerset seem to have been little used during that period but there continued to be farming on the villa sites and at the Romano-British villages.
There may have been effects from plague and volcanic eruption during this period as well as marine transgression into the Levels.
The language spoken during this period is thought to be Southwestern Brythonic, but only one or two inscribed stones survive in Somerset from this period. However, a couple of curse tablets found in the baths at Bath may be in this language. Some place names in Somerset seem to be Celtic in origin and may be from this period or earlier, e.g. Tarnock. Some river names, such as Parrett, may be Celtic or pre-Celtic. The religion of the people of Somerset in this period is thought to be Christian but it was isolated from Rome until after the Council of Hertford in 673 AD when Aldhelm was asked to write a letter to Geraint of Dumnonia and his bishops. Some church sites in Somerset are thought to date from this period, e.g., Llantokay Street.
Most of what is known of the history of this period comes from Gildas's On the Ruin of Britain, which is thought to have been written in Durotrigan territory, possibly at Glastonbury.
The earliest fortification of Taunton started for King Ine of Wessex and Æthelburg, in or about the year 710 AD. However, according to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle this was destroyed 12 years later.
This is the period from the late 7th century (for most of Somerset) to 1066, though for part of the 10th and 11th centuries England was under Danish control. Somerset, like Dorset to the south, held the West Saxon advance from Wiltshire/Hampshire back for over a century, remaining a frontier between the Saxons and the Romano-British Celts.
The Saxons conquered Bath following the Battle of Deorham in 577, and the border was probably established along the line of the Wansdyke to the north of the Mendip Hills. Then Cenwalh of Wessex broke through at Bradford-on-Avon in 652, and the Battle of Peonnum possibly at Penselwood in 658, advancing west through the Polden Hills to the River Parrett. In 661 the Saxons may have advanced into what is now Devon as a result of a battle fought at Postesburh, possibly Posbury near Crediton.
Then in the period 681–85 Centwine of Wessex conquered King Cadwaladr and "advanced as far as the sea", but it is not clear where this was. It is assumed that the Saxons occupied the rest of Somerset about this time. The Saxon rule was consolidated under King Ine, who established a fort at Taunton, demolished by his wife in 722. It is sometimes said that he built palaces at Somerton and South Petherton but this does not seem to be the case. He fought against Geraint in 710. In 705 the diocese of Sherborne was formed, taking in Wessex west of Selwood. Saxon kings granted land in Somerset by charter from the 7th century onward. The way and extent to which the Britons survived under the Saxons is a debatable matter. However, King Ine's laws make provision for Britons. Somerset originally formed part of Wessex and latter became a separate "shire". Somersetshire seems to have been formed within Wessex during the 8th century though it is not recorded as a name until later. Mints were set up at times in various places in Somerset in the Saxon period, e.g., Watchet.
Somerset played an important part in defeating the spread of the Danes in the 9th century. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle records that in 845 Alderman Eanwulf, with the men of Somersetshire (Sumorsǣte), and Bishop Ealstan, and Alderman Osric, with the men of Dorsetshire, conquered the Danish army at the mouth of the Parret. This was the first known use of the name Somersæte. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle reports that in January 878 the King Alfred the Great fled into the marshes of Somerset from the Viking's invasion and made a fort at Athelney. From the fort Alfred was able to organize a resistance using the local militias from Somerset, Wiltshire and Hampshire.
Viking raids took place for instance in 987 and 997 at Watchet and the Battle of Cynwit. King Alfred was driven to seek refuge from the Danes at Athelney before defeating them at the Battle of Ethandun in 878, usually considered to be near Edington, Wiltshire, but possibly the village of Edington in Somerset. Alfred established a series of forts and lookout posts linked by a military road, or Herepath, so his army could cover Viking movements at sea. The Herepath has a characteristic form which is familiar on the Quantocks: a regulation 20 m wide track between avenues of trees growing from hedge laying embankments. The Herepath ran from the ford on the River Parrett at Combwich, past Cannington hill fort to Over Stowey, where it climbed the Quantocks along the line of the current Stowey road, to Crowcombe Park Gate. Then it went south along the ridge, to Triscombe Stone. One branch may have led past Lydeard Hill and Buncombe Hill, back to Alfred's base at Athelney. The main branch descended the hills at Triscombe, then along the avenue to Red Post Cross, and west to the Brendon Hills and Exmoor. A peace treaty with the Danes was signed at Wedmore and the Danish king Guthrum the Old was baptised at Aller. Burhs (fortified places) had been set up by 919, such as Lyng. The Alfred Jewel, an object about 2.5 inch long, made of filigree gold, cloisonné-enamelled and with a rock crystal covering, was found in 1693 at Petherton Park, North Petherton. Believed to have been owned by Alfred the Great it is thought to have been the handle for a pointer that would have fit into the hole at its base and been used while reading a book.
Monasteries and minster churches were set up all over Somerset, with daughter churches from the minsters in manors. There was a royal palace at Cheddar, which was used at times in the 10th century to host the Witenagemot, and there is likely to have been a "central place" at Somerton, Bath, Glastonbury and Frome since the kings visited them. The towns of Somerset seem to have been in occupation in this period though evidence for this is limited because of subsequent buildings on top of remains from this period. Agriculture flourished in this period, with a re-organisation into centralised villages in the latter part in the east of the county.
In the period before the Norman Conquest, Somerset came under the control of Godwin, Earl of Wessex, and his family. There seems to have been some Danish settlement at Thurloxton and Spaxton, judging from the place-names. After the Norman Conquest, the county was divided into 700 fiefs, and large areas were owned by the crown, with fortifications such as Dunster Castle used for control and defence.
This period of Somerset's history is well documented, for example in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle and Asser's Life of Alfred.
This is the period from 1066 to around 1500. Following the defeat of the Saxons by the Normans in 1066, various castles were set up in Somerset by the new lords such as that at Dunster, and the manors was awarded to followers of William the Conqueror such as William de Moyon and Walter of Douai. Somerset does not seem to have played much part in the civil war in King Stephen's time, but Somerset lords were main players in the murder of Thomas Becket.
A good picture of the county in 1086 is given by Domesday Book, though there is some difficulty in identifying the various places since the hundreds are not specified. The total population given for the county, which had different boundaries to those today, was 13,399, however this only included the heads of households, so with their families this may have been around 67,000. Farming seems to have prospered for the next three centuries but was severely hit by the Black Death which in 1348 arrived in Dorset and quickly spread through Somerset, causing widespread mortality, perhaps as much as 50% in places. It re-occurred, resulting in a change in feudal practices since the manpower was no longer so available.
Reclamation of land from marsh in the Somerset Levels increased, largely under monastic influence. Crafts and industries also flourished, the Somerset woollen industry being one of the largest in England at this time. "New towns" were founded in this period in Somerset, i.e. Newport, but were not successful. Coal mining on the Mendips was an important source of wealth while quarrying also took place, an example is near Bath.
The towns grew, again often by monastic instigation, during this period and fairs were started. The church was very powerful at this period, particularly Glastonbury Abbey. After their church burnt down, the monks there "discovered" the tomb of "King Arthur" and were able rebuild their church. There were over 20 monasteries in Somerset at this period including the priory at Hinton Charterhouse which was founded in 1232 by Ela, Countess of Salisbury who also founded Lacock Abbey. Many parish churches were re-built in this period. Between 1107 and 1129 William Giffard the Chancellor of King Henry I, converted the bishop's hall in Taunton into Taunton Castle. Bridgwater Castle was built in 1202 by William Brewer. It passed to the king in 1233 and in 1245 repairs were ordered to its motte and towers. During the 11th century Second Barons' War against Henry III, Bridgwater was held by the barons against the King. In the English Civil War the town and the castle were held by the Royalists under Colonel Sir Francis Wyndham. Eventually, with many buildings destroyed in the town, the castle and its valuable contents were surrendered to the Parliamentarians. The castle itself was deliberately destroyed in 1645.
During the Middle Ages sheep farming for the wool trade came to dominate the economy of Exmoor. The wool was spun into thread on isolated farms and collected by merchants to be woven, fulled, dyed and finished in thriving towns such as Dunster. The land started to be enclosed and from the 17th century onwards larger estates developed, leading to establishment of areas of large regular shaped fields. During this period a Royal Forest and hunting ground was established, administered by the Warden. The Royal Forest was sold off in 1818.
In the medieval period the River Parrett was used to transport Hamstone from the quarry at Ham Hill, Bridgwater was part of the Port of Bristol until the Port of Bridgwater was created in 1348, covering 80 miles (130 km) of the Somerset coast line, from the Devon border to the mouth of the River Axe. Historically, the main port on the river was at Bridgwater; the river being bridged at this point, with the first bridge being constructed in 1200 AD. Quays were built in 1424; with another quay, the Langport slip, being built in 1488 upstream of the Town Bridge. A Customs House was sited at Bridgwater, on West Quay; and a dry dock, launching slips and a boat yard on East Quay. The river was navigable, with care, to Bridgwater Town Bridge by 400 to 500 tonnes (440 to 550 tons) vessels. By trans-shipping into barges at the Town Bridge the Parrett was navigable as far as Langport and (via the River Yeo) to Ilchester.
This is the period from around 1500 to 1800. In the 1530s, the monasteries were dissolved and their lands bought from the king by various important families in Somerset. By 1539, Glastonbury Abbey was the only monastery left, its abbot Richard Whiting was then arrested and executed on the orders of Thomas Cromwell. From the Tudor to the Georgian times, farming specialised and techniques improved, leading to increases in population, although no new towns seem to have been founded. Large country houses such as at Hinton St George and Montacute House were built at this time.
The Bristol Channel floods of 1607 are believed to have affected large parts of the Somerset Levels with flooding up to 8 feet (2 m) above sea level. In 1625, a House of Correction was established in Shepton Mallet and, today, HMP Shepton Mallet is England's oldest prison still in use.
During the English Civil War, Somerset was largely Parliamentarian, although Dunster was a Royalist stronghold. The county was the site of important battles between the Royalists and the Parliamentarians, notably the Battle of Lansdowne in 1643 and the Battle of Langport in 1645. The castle changed hands several times during 1642–45 along with the town. During the Siege of Taunton it was defended by Robert Blake, from July 1644 to July 1645. This war resulted in castles being destroyed to prevent their re-use.
In 1685, the Duke of Monmouth led the Monmouth Rebellion in which Somerset people fought against James II. The rebels landed at Lyme Regis and travelled north hoping to capture Bristol and Bath, puritan soldiers damaged the west front of Wells Cathedral, tore lead from the roof to make bullets, broke the windows, smashed the organ and the furnishings, and for a time stabled their horses in the nave. They were defeated in the Battle of Sedgemoor at Westonzoyland, the last battle fought on English soil. The Bloody Assizes which followed saw the losers being sentenced to death or transportation.
The Society of Friends established itself in Street in the mid-17th century, and among the close-knit group of Quaker families were the Clarks: Cyrus started a business in sheepskin rugs, later joined by his brother James, who introduced the production of woollen slippers and, later, boots and shoes. C&J Clark still has its headquarters in Street, but shoes are no longer manufactured there. Instead, in 1993, redundant factory buildings were converted to form Clarks Village, the first purpose-built factory outlet in the United Kingdom.
The 18th century was largely one of peace and declining industrial prosperity in Somerset. The Industrial Revolution in the Midlands and Northern England spelt the end for most of Somerset's cottage industries. However, farming continued to flourish, with the Bath and West of England Agricultural Society being founded in 1777 to improve methods. John Billingsley conducted a survey of the county's agriculture in 1795 but found that methods could still be improved.
Arthur Wellesley took his title, Duke of Wellington from the town of Wellington. He is commemorated on a nearby hill with a large, spotlit obelisk, known as the Wellington Monument.
In north Somerset, mining in the Somerset coalfield was an important industry, and in an effort to reduce the cost of transporting the coal the Somerset Coal Canal was built; part of it was later converted into a railway. Other canals included the Bridgwater and Taunton Canal, Westport Canal, Grand Western Canal, Glastonbury Canal and Chard Canal.[9] The Dorset and Somerset Canal was proposed, but very little of it was ever constructed.
The 19th century saw improvements to Somerset's roads with the introduction of turnpikes and the building of canals and railways. The usefulness of the canals was short-lived, though they have now been restored for recreation. The railways were nationalised after the Second World War, but continued until 1965, when smaller lines were scrapped; two were transferred back to private ownership as "heritage" lines.
In 1889, Somerset County Council was created, replacing the administrative functions of the Quarter Sessions.
The population of Somerset has continued to grow since 1800, when it was 274,000, particularly in the seaside towns such as Weston-super-Mare. Some population decline occurred earlier in the period in the villages, but this has now been reversed, and by 1951 the population of Somerset was 551,000.
Chard claims to be the birthplace of powered flight, as it was here in 1848 that the Victorian aeronautical pioneer John Stringfellow first demonstrated that engine-powered flight was possible through his work on the Aerial Steam Carriage. North Petherton was the first town in England (and one of the few ever) to be lit by acetylene gas lighting, supplied by the North Petherton Rosco Acetylene Company. Street lights were provided in 1906. Acetylene was replaced in 1931 by coal gas produced in Bridgwater, as well as by the provision of an electricity supply.
Around the 1860s, at the height of the iron and steel era, a pier and a deep-water dock were built, at Portishead, by the Bristol & Portishead Pier and Railway to accommodate the large ships that had difficulty in reaching Bristol Harbour. The Portishead power stations were coal-fed power stations built next to the dock. Construction work started on Portishead "A" power station in 1926. It began generating electricity in 1929 for the Bristol Corporation's Electricity Department. In 1951, Albright and Wilson built a chemical works on the opposite side of the dock from the power stations. The chemical works produced white phosphorus from phosphate rock imported, through the docks, into the UK. The onset of new generating capacity at Pembroke (oil-fired) and Didcot (coal-fired) in the mid-1970s brought about the closure of the older, less efficient "A" Station. The newer of the two power stations ("B" Station) was converted to burn oil when the Somerset coalfields closed. Industrial activities ceased in the dock with the closure of the power stations. The Port of Bristol Authority finally closed the dock in 1992, and it has now been developed into a marina and residential area.
During the First World War hundreds of Somerset soldiers were killed, and war memorials were put up in most of the towns and villages; only a few villages escaped casualties. There were also casualties – though much fewer – during the Second World War, who were added to the memorials. The county was a base for troops preparing for the 1944 D-Day landings, and some Somerset hospitals still date partly from that time. The Royal Ordnance Factory ROF Bridgwater was constructed early in World War II for the Ministry of Supply. It was designed as an Explosive ROF, to produce RDX, which was then a new experimental high-explosive. It obtained water supplies from two sources via the Somerset Levels: the artificial Huntspill River which was dug during the construction of the factory and also from the King's Sedgemoor Drain, which was widened at the same time. The Taunton Stop Line was set up to resist a potential German invasion, and the remains of its pill boxes can still be seen, as well as others along the coast. A decoy town was constructed on Black Down, intended to represent the blazing lights of a town which had neglected to follow the black-out regulations. Sites in the county housed Prisoner of War camps including: Norton Fitzwarren, Barwick, Brockley, Goathurst and Wells. Various airfields were built or converted from civilian use including: RNAS Charlton Horethorne (HMS Heron II), RAF Weston-super-Mare, RNAS Yeovilton (HMS Heron), Yeovil/Westland Airport, RAF Weston Zoyland, RAF Merryfield, RAF Culmhead and RAF Charmy Down.
Exmoor was one of the first British National Parks, designated in 1954, under the 1949 National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act. and is named after its main river. It was expanded in 1991 and in 1993 Exmoor was designated as an Environmentally Sensitive Area. The Quantock Hills were designated as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) in 1956, the first such designation in England under the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act 1949. The Mendip Hills followed with AONB designation in 1972.
Hinkley Point A nuclear power station was a Magnox power station constructed between 1957 and 1962 and operating until ceasing generation in 2000. Hinkley Point B is an Advanced Gas-cooled Reactor (AGR) which was designed to generate 1250 MW of electricity (MWe). Construction of Hinkley Point B started in 1967. In September 2008 it was announced, by Électricité de France (EDF), that a third, twin-unit European Pressurised Reactor (EPR) power station known as Hinkley Point C is planned, to replace Hinkley Point B which was due for closure in 2016, but has now has its life extended until 2022.
Somerset today has only two small cities, Bath and Wells, and only small towns in comparison with other areas of England. Tourism is a major source of employment along the coast, and in Bath and Cheddar for example. Other attractions include Exmoor, West Somerset Railway, Haynes Motor Museum and the Fleet Air Arm Museum as well as the churches and the various National Trust and English Heritage properties in Somerset.
Agriculture continues to be a major business, if no longer a major employer because of mechanisation. Light industries take place in towns such as Bridgwater and Yeovil. The towns of Taunton and Shepton Mallet manufacture cider, although the number of apple orchards has reduced.
In the late 19th century the boundaries of Somerset were slightly altered, but the main change came in 1974 when the county of Avon was set up. The northern part of Somerset was removed from the administrative control of Somerset County Council. On abolition of the county of Avon in 1996, these areas became separate administrative authorities, "North Somerset" and "Bath and North East Somerset". The Department for Communities and Local Government was considering a proposal by Somerset County Council to change Somerset's administrative structure by abolishing the five districts to create a Somerset unitary authority. The changes were planned to be implemented no later than 1 April 2009. However, support for the county council's bid was not guaranteed and opposition among the district council and local population was strong; 82% of people responding to a referendum organised by the five district councils rejected the proposals. It was confirmed in July 2007 that the government had rejected the proposals for unitary authorities in Somerset, and that the present two-tier arrangements of Somerset County Council and the district councils will remain.
© All rights are reserved, please do not use my photos without my permission
The old grain barge Loach that refuses to die, seen out on the river today going about it's businesses, after being raised from the Manchester Ship Canal where sank at her berth at Wigg Wharf Runcorn March 17th 2017 and was raised September 22nd 2017.
See link below for photos of Loach after she had been raised.
www.flickr.com/photos/das_boot_160/37279574871/in/photoli...
Year Built: 1968
Gross Tonnage: 191, DeadWeight: 295 t
The is a photograph from the third running of the Athlone Flatline Half Marathon ("The Flatline") which was held at Athlone, Co. Westmeath, Ireland on Saturday 13th September 2014 at 11:00. There was beautiful weather for the event which started and finished at St. Aloysius College near the Canal Banks area of the town just slightly west of the River Shannon. This event was professionally organised and the very flat course meant that many runners both seasoned and new to the scene achieved season or personal bests. Almost 1,000 participants successfully completed the event in the beautiful September sunshine. Everyone involved must be congratulated for the flawless running of the event. This event is sure to go from strength to strength over the coming years. The event has grown from just over 600 in 2012, to over 900 in 2013 with around the same number finishing in 2014. Entry to the race closed weeks in advance.
This is a photograph which is part of a larger set of photographs taken at the start and finish of "The Flatline" 2014. The URL of the main set is www.flickr.com/photos/peterm7/sets/72157647516503901. This photoset contains photographs of the start (at the 600 meter mark) and then of the finish (at the 400 meter mark to go) up to a finish time of about 1:45.
Reading on a Smartphone or tablet? Don't forget to scroll down further to read more about this race and see important Internet links to other information about the race! You can also find out how to access and download these photographs.
Timing and event management was provided by Precision Timing. Results are available on their website at www.precisiontiming.net/result.aspx?v=2100 with additional material available on their Facebook page (www.facebook.com/davidprecisiontiming?fref=ts) See their promotional video on YouTube: www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-7_TUVwJ6Q
For reference the satellite navigation Coordinates to the event HQ are (Longitude: -7.948153, Latitude: 53.420575)
Overall Race Summary
Participants: Such is the popularity of the race this year that registration closed for the race in mid-August 2013. There were well over 850 participants who took to the start line.
Weather: The weather on the day was almost too warm for running which is a very rare complaint in Ireland. The runners were bathed in hot September sunshine for the duration of the race and into the early afternoon. In the sections of the race out towards Clonown and around the Bord na Mona areas there was a cooling.
Course: "The Flatline" ceratinly lived up to its name. It is as flat a course as one is likely to find. A garmin connect gps trace of the route is provided here [connect.garmin.com/activity/199678412] Geographically the course spends much of the race in County Roscommon with only the first and last kilometers actually in County Westmeath. This gives geographically inclined runners the novel opportunity to race in two Irish provinces in one race. The course had distance markers at every kilometre and mile along the way. There were official pacers provided by the race organisers.
Location Map: Start/finish area and registration etc on Google StreetView [goo.gl/maps/8qCes] - Ample parking was supplied with some over-flow car-parking options also available.
Refreshments: An Alkohol Frei bottle of Erdinger was provided to every finisher as they crossed the line. Light refreshments were served.
Some Useful Links
Our photographs on Flickr from the 2013 Flatline Half Marathon: www.flickr.com/photos/peterm7/sets/72157635495089498/
Jimmy Mac's Photography Services on Facebook www.facebook.com/JimmyMacsPics
Precision Timing Results Page 2014: www.precisiontiming.net/result.aspx?v=2175
Precision Timing Results Page 2013: www.precisiontiming.net/result.aspx?v=1489
Precision Timing Results Page 2012: www.precisiontiming.net/result.aspx?v=1014
Facebook Event Page for the 2013 www.facebook.com/events/495900447163378/ (Facebook logon required)
Boards.ie Athletics Discussion Thread about the 2014 race: www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2057148781
Boards.ie Athletics Discussion Thread about the 2013 race: www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056984967
Boards.ie Athletics Discussion Thread about the 2012 race: www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=80049447
GARMIN GPS Trace of the Route for 2013: connect.garmin.com/activity/199678412
Race HQ Venue in 2014: St.Aloysius College Athlone : staloysiuscollege.ie/
Race photographs from 2012's Flatline - supplied by PIXELS PROMOTIONS: pixelspromotions.zenfolio.com/p126168889 (on route) and at the Finish line pixelspromotions.zenfolio.com/p31872670 - please note these are not our photographs (see www.pixelspromotions.com/).
Can I use these photographs directly from Flickr on my social media account(s)?
Yes - of course you can! Flickr provides several ways to share this and other photographs in this Flickr set. You can share to: email, Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, Tumblr, LiveJournal, and Wordpress and Blogger blog sites. Your mobile, tablet, or desktop device will also offer you several different options for sharing this photo page on your social media outlets.
We take these photographs as a hobby and as a contribution to the running community in Ireland. Our only "cost" is our request that if you are using these images: (1) on social media sites such as Facebook, Tumblr, Pinterest, Twitter,LinkedIn, Google+, etc or (2) other websites, blogs, web multimedia, commercial/promotional material that you must provide a link back to our Flickr page to attribute us.
This also extends the use of these images for Facebook profile pictures. In these cases please make a separate wall or blog post with a link to our Flickr page. If you do not know how this should be done for Facebook or other social media please email us and we will be happy to help suggest how to link to us.
I want to download these pictures to my computer or device?
You can download the photographic image here direct to your computer or device. This version is the low resolution web-quality image. How to download will vary slight from device to device and from browser to browser. However - look for a symbol with three dots 'ooo' or the link to 'View/Download' all sizes. When you click on either of these you will be presented with the option to download the image. Remember just doing a right-click and "save target as" will not work on Flickr.
I want get full resolution, print-quality, copies of these photographs?
If you just need these photographs for online usage then they can be used directly once you respect their Creative Commons license and provide a link back to our Flickr set if you use them. For offline usage and printing all of the photographs posted here on this Flickr set are available free, at no cost, at full image resolution.
Please email petermooney78 AT gmail DOT com with the links to the photographs you would like to obtain a full resolution copy of. We also ask race organisers, media, etc to ask for permission before use of our images for flyers, posters, etc. We reserve the right to refuse a request.
In summary please remember when requesting photographs from us - If you are using the photographs online all we ask is for you to provide a link back to our Flickr set or Flickr pages. You will find the link above clearly outlined in the description text which accompanies this photograph. Taking these photographs and preparing them for online posting does take a significant effort and time. We are not posting photographs to Flickr for commercial reasons. If you really like what we do please spread the link around your social media, send us an email, leave a comment beside the photographs, send us a Flickr email, etc. If you are using the photographs in newspapers or magazines we ask that you mention where the original photograph came from.
I would like to contribute something for your photograph(s)?
Many people offer payment for our photographs. As stated above we do not charge for these photographs. We take these photographs as our contribution to the running community in Ireland. If you feel that the photograph(s) you request are good enough that you would consider paying for their purchase from other photographic providers or in other circumstances we would suggest that you can provide a donation to any of the great charities in Ireland who do work for Cancer Care or Cancer Research in Ireland.
We use Creative Commons Licensing for these photographs
We use the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License for all our photographs here in this photograph set. What does this mean in reality?
The explaination is very simple.
Attribution- anyone using our photographs gives us an appropriate credit for it. This ensures that people aren't taking our photographs and passing them off as their own. This usually just mean putting a link to our photographs somewhere on your website, blog, or Facebook where other people can see it.
ShareAlike – anyone can use these photographs, and make changes if they like, or incorporate them into a bigger project, but they must make those changes available back to the community under the same terms.
Creative Commons aims to encourage creative sharing. See some examples of Creative Commons photographs on Flickr: www.flickr.com/creativecommons/
I ran in the race - but my photograph doesn't appear here in your Flickr set! What gives?
As mentioned above we take these photographs as a hobby and as a voluntary contribution to the running community in Ireland. Very often we have actually ran in the same race and then switched to photographer mode after we finished the race. Consequently, we feel that we have no obligations to capture a photograph of every participant in the race. However, we do try our very best to capture as many participants as possible. But this is sometimes not possible for a variety of reasons:
►You were hidden behind another participant as you passed our camera
►Weather or lighting conditions meant that we had some photographs with blurry content which we did not upload to our Flickr set
►There were too many people - some races attract thousands of participants and as amateur photographs we cannot hope to capture photographs of everyone
►We simply missed you - sorry about that - we did our best!
You can email us petermooney78 AT gmail DOT com to enquire if we have a photograph of you which didn't make the final Flickr selection for the race. But we cannot promise that there will be photograph there. As alternatives we advise you to contact the race organisers to enquire if there were (1) other photographs taking photographs at the race event or if (2) there were professional commercial sports photographers taking photographs which might have some photographs of you available for purchase. You might find some links for further information above.
Don't like your photograph here?
That's OK! We understand!
If, for any reason, you are not happy or comfortable with your picture appearing here in this photoset on Flickr then please email us at petermooney78 AT gmail DOT com and we will remove it as soon as possible. We give careful consideration to each photograph before uploading.
I want to tell people about these great photographs!
Great! Thank you! The best link to spread the word around is probably http://www.flickr.com/peterm7/sets
DAF CF.
Ash Waste Services.
Refuse Wagon.
Refuse Truck.
Recycling.
9200cc.
First registered on 19th September 2008.
Taken on Frodsham Street, Chester on 27th December 2012.
JH52ASH.
This is a photograph from the sixth annual Donadea 50KM Ultramarathon which was held in Donadea Forest, Donadea, Naas, Co. Kildare, Ireland on Saturday 14th February 2015 at 10:00. The race was also an International Association of Ultrarunners Silver Label Event and the Athletics Association of Ireland (AAI) National 50KM Championships. There were 178 finishers.
Want to use this photograph or share it? Please read/scroll down a little further to find out how - it's very easy!
We have a full set of photographs from the event today on our Flickr photostream in the following album: www.flickr.com/photos/peterm7/sets/72157650821612375/
Donadea Forest Park is situated in rural north Kildare and is approximately 640 acres in size. The amenities at the forest include good walking trails, a diversity of natural habitats, a walled stream, a large natural lake, and the ruins of Donadea castle. The Park is a designated National Heritage Area. The basic designation for wildlife is the Natural Heritage Area (NHA). This is an area considered important for the habitats present or which holds species of plants and animals whose habitat needs protection. It is a special occasion to allow the 50KM to be held in this environment.
Timing, results, and event management was provided by RedTagTiming - results available at www.redtagtiming.com/
USING OUR PHOTOGRAPHS - A QUICK GUIDE
Can I use these photographs directly from Flickr on my social media account(s)?
Yes - of course you can! Flickr provides several ways to share this and other photographs in this Flickr set. You can share to: email, Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, Tumblr, LiveJournal, and Wordpress and Blogger blog sites. Your mobile, tablet, or desktop device will also offer you several different options for sharing this photo page on your social media outlets.
We take these photographs as a hobby and as a contribution to the running community in Ireland. Our only "cost" is our request that if you are using these images: (1) on social media sites such as Facebook, Tumblr, Pinterest, Twitter,LinkedIn, Google+, etc or (2) other websites, blogs, web multimedia, commercial/promotional material that you must provide a link back to our Flickr page to attribute us.
This also extends the use of these images for Facebook profile pictures. In these cases please make a separate wall or blog post with a link to our Flickr page. If you do not know how this should be done for Facebook or other social media please email us and we will be happy to help suggest how to link to us.
I want to download these pictures to my computer or device?
You can download the photographic image here direct to your computer or device. This version is the low resolution web-quality image. How to download will vary slight from device to device and from browser to browser. However - look for a symbol with three dots 'ooo' or the link to 'View/Download' all sizes. When you click on either of these you will be presented with the option to download the image. Remember just doing a right-click and "save target as" will not work on Flickr.
I want get full resolution, print-quality, copies of these photographs?
If you just need these photographs for online usage then they can be used directly once you respect their Creative Commons license and provide a link back to our Flickr set if you use them. For offline usage and printing all of the photographs posted here on this Flickr set are available free, at no cost, at full image resolution.
Please email petermooney78 AT gmail DOT com with the links to the photographs you would like to obtain a full resolution copy of. We also ask race organisers, media, etc to ask for permission before use of our images for flyers, posters, etc. We reserve the right to refuse a request.
In summary please remember when requesting photographs from us - If you are using the photographs online all we ask is for you to provide a link back to our Flickr set or Flickr pages. You will find the link above clearly outlined in the description text which accompanies this photograph. Taking these photographs and preparing them for online posting does take a significant effort and time. We are not posting photographs to Flickr for commercial reasons. If you really like what we do please spread the link around your social media, send us an email, leave a comment beside the photographs, send us a Flickr email, etc. If you are using the photographs in newspapers or magazines we ask that you mention where the original photograph came from.
I would like to contribute something for your photograph(s)?
Many people offer payment for our photographs. As stated above we do not charge for these photographs. We take these photographs as our contribution to the running community in Ireland. If you feel that the photograph(s) you request are good enough that you would consider paying for their purchase from other photographic providers or in other circumstances we would suggest that you can provide a donation to any of the great charities in Ireland who do work for Cancer Care or Cancer Research in Ireland.
We use Creative Commons Licensing for these photographs
We use the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License for all our photographs here in this photograph set. What does this mean in reality?
The explaination is very simple.
Attribution- anyone using our photographs gives us an appropriate credit for it. This ensures that people aren't taking our photographs and passing them off as their own. This usually just mean putting a link to our photographs somewhere on your website, blog, or Facebook where other people can see it.
ShareAlike – anyone can use these photographs, and make changes if they like, or incorporate them into a bigger project, but they must make those changes available back to the community under the same terms.
Creative Commons aims to encourage creative sharing. See some examples of Creative Commons photographs on Flickr: www.flickr.com/creativecommons/
I ran in the race - but my photograph doesn't appear here in your Flickr set! What gives?
As mentioned above we take these photographs as a hobby and as a voluntary contribution to the running community in Ireland. Very often we have actually ran in the same race and then switched to photographer mode after we finished the race. Consequently, we feel that we have no obligations to capture a photograph of every participant in the race. However, we do try our very best to capture as many participants as possible. But this is sometimes not possible for a variety of reasons:
►You were hidden behind another participant as you passed our camera
►Weather or lighting conditions meant that we had some photographs with blurry content which we did not upload to our Flickr set
►There were too many people - some races attract thousands of participants and as amateur photographs we cannot hope to capture photographs of everyone
►We simply missed you - sorry about that - we did our best!
You can email us petermooney78 AT gmail DOT com to enquire if we have a photograph of you which didn't make the final Flickr selection for the race. But we cannot promise that there will be photograph there. As alternatives we advise you to contact the race organisers to enquire if there were (1) other photographs taking photographs at the race event or if (2) there were professional commercial sports photographers taking photographs which might have some photographs of you available for purchase. You might find some links for further information above.
Don't like your photograph here?
That's OK! We understand!
If, for any reason, you are not happy or comfortable with your picture appearing here in this photoset on Flickr then please email us at petermooney78 AT gmail DOT com and we will remove it as soon as possible. We give careful consideration to each photograph before uploading.
I want to tell people about these great photographs!
Great! Thank you! The best link to spread the word around is probably http://www.flickr.com/peterm7/sets