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Ayyappan (also called Sastavu, Manikandan or Sasta) is a Hindu deity who is believed to be the son of Harihara, a rigvedic deity fused with both Shiva andVishnu. He is generally depicted in a yogic posture, wearing a jewel around his neck, hence named Manikandan, Literally meaning "With bell around the neck".
By the 20th century, there has been an increase in the number of worshipers of Ayyappan from many different groups, spurred by vast improvements in transport and communication in southern India.[2]
Ayyappan's annual festival is a time of pilgrimage for ever-growing numbers of men from throughout South India. The most prominent and famous Ayyappan shrine is the one at Sabarimala, in the hills of Pathanamthitta in Kerala, with over 30 million devotees visiting it every year,[3] making it one of the largestpilgrimage sites in the world. These devotees fast and engage in austerities under the leadership of a Periya Swami (one who has undertaken the pilgrimage to Sabarimala for 18 years) for weeks barefoot and then travel in groups to the shrine for a glimpse of Ayyappan. Bus tickets are hard to obtain for several weeks as masses of elated men, clad in distinctive ritual dhotis of saffron, black and light blue colors, throng public transportation during their trip to the shrine.[4]
The name "Sri Ayyappan" is used as a respectful form of address in Malayalam and Sanskrit. The equivalent of Sri is "Thiru" in Tamil. The mantra Swamiye Saranam Ayyappa is translated in English as, "Lord Ayyappa, I seek refuge in you".[5]
Contents [hide]
1 Etymology
2 Legends surrounding Ayyappan
2.1
3 In popular culture
4 See also
5 References
6 External links
Etymology[edit]
Ayyappan is known as "Hariharasutan" because he is the son of Hari (Vishnu), the saviour and Hara (Shiva), the destroyer. His most common name is "Manikandan" because when the king Rajasekara Pandiyan of Pandalam found little Ayyappan in a forest there was a "mani" (bell, in Malayalam) tied around his "kanda" (neck, in Sanskrit).[6][7]
As Dharma Sastha, many of them consider him to be born out of the union between Mohini (an avatar of Vishnu) andShiva.[8]
Legends surrounding Ayyappan[edit]
An ancient idol of Shasta Dharma, a form of Ayyappan
[edit]
The asura Mahishi was burning up with anger at the trick the gods had pulled on her brother, the asura king Mahishasura. As Mahishasura was blessed with invulnerability to all men, the gods had sent goddess Durga, to fight and kill him. Thus, Mahishi began performing a fearsome set of austerities, and pleased the creator god Brahma. She asked for the boon of invulnerability, but Brahma said it was not possible so Mahishi planned and asked invulnerability to all men except by the son of Shiva and Vishnu (Both are male & no possibility to give birth to any one). He granted her the boon of ruling the universe and being invulnerable except by the son of Shiva and Vishnu. Since such a person did not exist, she thought she was safe and began conquering and plundering the world.
The gods implored Shiva and Vishnu to save them from this catastrophe. Vishnu found a possible solution to the problem. When Vishnu had taken on the KurmaAvatar, he also had to manifest himself as Mohini, the enchantress, to save the nectar of immortality (ambrosia or amrit) from the demons who were not willing to share it with the gods. If he became Mohini again, then the female Mohini and the male Shiva could have the divine child who would combine the powers of Durga as per Brahmand Purana and beat Mahishi. Skanda purana states that Durga took birth in masculine form as Dharamshasta.[9]
Some versions give a slightly more detailed version of the union of Shiva with Vishnu. One version tells that the asura Bhasmasura (Bhasma means 'Ashes') had so pleased Lord Shiva with his austerities that Shiva gave him a boon of anything he wished. So Bhasmasura asked for the ability to burn to ashes anything which he placed his hand over. No sooner had Shiva granted this, than Bhasmasura ran after the god, threatening to turn him to ashes.
Shiva called to Lord Vishnu for help. He hide himself in a peepal tree as Bhasmasura ran here and there searching for the god. Vishnu became aware of the events, and decided that he would take the female form Mohini, "the Enchanting", and try to trump the asura's powers. When Bhasmasura saw Vishnu in this form, he was bewitched by her beauty. He earnestly tried to court her. So Vishnu instructed Bhasmasura to hold his hand over his head, and vow fidelity. With this act, Bhasmasura was reduced to ashes.
Vishnu found Shiva and explained the whole affair to him. Shiva asked if he too could see Vishnu in this female form. When Vishnu appeared thus, Shiva was overcome with passion, and united with her. The two gods thus became "Harihara Murthi", that is a composite form of Shiva and Vishnu as one god.
From this union, Lord Sree Dharma Sastha was born. He combined in himself the powers of Vishnu and Shiva. Lord Ayyappan is an incarnation of Lord Sree Dharma Sastha and Lord Ayyappan is a visible embodiment of their essential identity. Sri Ayyappa belongs to Pandya Royal Community. He was the head of a clan. It is believed Sri Ayyappa merged to sri dharma sastha. Lord Vishnu gifted the new-born deity with a little bejeweled bell necklace, so this god is called Manikantha. He is also Known as Dharma Shastha.
There are many popular stories associated with Him among the devotees. The stories differ, but there are certain common elements:
Ayyappa lived in the Pandalam Palace as the son / savior of the King.
He had super-human or divine knowledge, wisdom, and courage and loved the King and his people.
He protected the King and the kingdom from the attacks of enemies.
At the end of His life in Pandalam, He vanished into the forests and is ever since worshiped at the Sabarimala temple.
The most popular and widely accepted story tells that Lord Ayyappa had His human sojourn as the son of the Raja of Pandalam. At that time, Raja Rajasekhara Pandiyan ruled the kingdom of Pandalam. During one of his hunting expeditions, the Raja was puzzled to hear the wails of a child on the banks of the river Pampa, and was surprised to find a resplendent infant there. The beautiful baby with radiant face wore a bead ('mani') around his neck. The King, though pious, charitable, just, and God-fearing, had no children. He accepted the child as God's gracious response to his fervent prayer for an heir to his throne. Manikandan grew into a boy well versed in academic lore and martial arts. Meanwhile the Rani gave birth to a son. The King regarded Manikandan as his elder son. He decided to crown him as the Yuvaraja. The King's corrupt Minister had a deep dislike for Manikandan, and made the innocent Queen believe that ill would befall her if Manikandan was crowned Yuvaraja and that the kingdom actually belonged to her son.
They conspired to get rid of Manikandan by hook or crook. They bribed the royal physician into becoming an accomplice of theirs. The Rani pretended to be afflicted with severe pain in the stomach, and the physician prescribed the milk of a tigress as the only cure. The King knew that none could be deputed for a mission that was so patently suicidal. However, the youthful and valiant Manikandan stepped forth and volunteered to fetch the milk. Despite the worried protestations of his foster-father, he set out for the fearful forests.
Days later, Manikandan entered the palace precincts riding a fierce tigress and followed by a pack of its cubs. The schemers were frightened into confessing their nefarious plot. They and others now knew that Manikandan was no ordinary being. They were convinced of His divine origins, and prayed to Him to be with them for their own salvation and for the safety of the kingdom. However, Manikandan was now determined to leave the place.
Filled with happiness, grief, fear, wonder and bhakti and self-surrender, the king prayed for the mercy and blessings of Manikandan. He repented he could not fully visualize the truth of the divine powers of the Lord and repeatedly requested Him to forgive him for behaving as if He were only his son. The Lord lovingly embraced the King who continued to pray: " Lord, kindly bless me by freeing me from my egos and the worldly life of birth and rebirth and grant me ' moksha’ (salvation). Kindly continue to be the saviour of my family and stay eternally in my kingdom.” Manikandan then enlightened the King on the path of attainment of 'moksha'. These words of the Lord are contained in ‘Bhuthanathageetha'. To the King who is by now mentally cleansed and completely immersed in 'bhakthi', Lord Ayyappa said: "I am to free you from all worldly sorrows & worries and to grant you 'moksha'. All those who are and would be born in your family shall have my blessings unfailingly. I am always accessible to 'bhakthi' and only 'bhakthi." The Lord told the King that he could construct a temple at Sabarimala, north of the holy river Pampa and install His deity there. Ayyappa also explained how the Sabarimala pilgrimage shall be undertaken, emphasizing the importance of 'vrutham' and what the devotees can attain by His 'darshan'.
The Lord further consoled the King saying that the devotees who held him and his descendants in 'bhakthi' shall happen to be devoted to Him as well. Manikandan then blessed the King and all others assembled there, and vanished. The King duly constructed the temple at Sabarimala, dedicated to Him.
There are various tales connected with Lord Ayyappa: the discovery of the child at Pampa, Manikandan's youthful days in the Pandalam palace, bestowing the power of hearing and speaking upon the deaf and dumb son of His teacher as Guru-dakshina, His friendship with Vavar, bringing the tigress's milk, accomplishing His divinely destined mission of annihilation of the demoness Mahishi, eliminating the forest-thug Udayanan, bestowing moksha on Sabari, blessing His foster-father with moksha and so on. Legend also goes to say that Manikandan was the incarnation of Lord Dharma Sastha. Raja Rajasekhara was in his previous birth a rich and pious 'Brahmin ' by name Vijayan who was a very strong believer and devotee of Lord Dharma Sastha.
Another tale goes like this: Lord Ayyappan as Manikandan born to Pandala Maharaja is set to conquer the King Udayan who is a strong Buddhist and has been harassing the people of Pamba region. Maharaja sends Manikandan to learn martial artsKalari to Cheerappanchira, the Muhamma of today in Alappuzha district. The panicker there trains him of Kalari. It is here where the Guru's daughter Nila falls in love with Lord Ayyappa (Manikandan) but He refuses to marry telling he is a Bhrammachari and has a mission. She offers a sweet made out in a function in their family which Lord likes. This sweet payasam was what turned out to be the Aravanapayasam today.
The 2012 album of P. Unnikrishnan on Lord Ayyappan in Tamil called SABARIMALAI VA CHARANAM SOLLI VA has a song on the Ayyappan temple at Mukkal vettom (Cheerappanchira) where the current priest, of the vamsam of Lord's Guru who trained him Kalari, still performs the poojas for the Lord who poses with the war attire.
A Holy Song that is used to wake up Ayyappan in Sabarimala temple is known as Ayyappa Suprabhatham, an another song which for making ayyappa sleep is the famous song Harivarasanam.
Refuse Fascism NO FASCIST TAKEOVER OF DC! March Step-Off from Dupont Circle into the 1300 block of Connecticut Avenue, NW, Washington DC on Saturday afternoon, 16 August 2025 by Elvert Barnes Photography
Visit REFUSE FASCISM website at refusefascism.org/events/scenes-from-august-16-march-to-t...
SUMMER 2025 TRUMP'S TAKEOVER OF WASHINGTON DC Project
Elvert Barnes Protests Photography 2025 at elvertxbarnes.com/protests
Elvert Barnes August 2025 at exbphoto.com/2025
This was the third time we were coming around to the Tapir enclosure, and the fellow simply refused to wake up. The Brazilian Tapir is usually dark brown in colour, paler in the face, and has a low, erect crest running from the crown down the back of the neck. The round, dark ears have distinctive white edges. The South American tapir can attain a body length of 5.9 to 8.2 ft with a 2.0 to 3.9" short stubby tail and an average weight around 225 kg. Adult weight has been reported ranging from 150 to 320 kg. (Emirates Park Zoo, Samha, Abu Dhabi, Jan. 2015)
Worried that some people with eating disorders are refused treatment because they are not considered thin enough, Kat Pugh wants fewer patients to have to reach a crisis point before they can get help.
The 24-year-old Fixer from Putney developed an eating disorder at the age of 11 and relapsed in her 20s, saying she’s struggled to get the support she needs.
With Fixers, she’s produced a film to raise awareness of the importance of early intervention.
She wants to show it to health professionals, ministers and MPs, so they can see how damaging it can be for someone battling an eating disorder to be told they aren’t sick enough to require care.
For more info, interviews etc contact communications@fixers.org.uk or call 01962 810970.
Please credit Fixers when using this image.
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Primaire présidentielle écologiste, série complète : www.flickr.com/photos/sebastienduhamel/sets/7215762989588...
Albums Écologie, Éducation, Société et Politiques : www.flickr.com/photos/sebastienduhamel/collections/721576...
Projets/Reportages Fondation Nicolas Hulot : www.flickr.com/photos/sebastienduhamel/collections/721576...
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Primaire présidentielle écologiste française de 2011
fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Primaire_présidentielle_écologist...
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Primaire de l'écologie : Nicolas Hulot s’incline - Paris le 12 Juillet 2011.
Avant l’annonce officielle des résultats, Nicolas Hulot parle dans une déclaration à l’AFP d’un “vote clair et d’un choix sans ambiguïté” au deuxième tour de la primaire d’Europe Ecologie - Les Verts. Une reconnaissance de la victoire d’Eva Joly, à qui il souhaite de “rencontrer l’adhésion du plus grand nombre dans la campagne présidentielle à venir”.
Les résultats officiels ne seront connus qu’à 17 heures. Mais, déjà, Nicolas Hulot reconnaît la victoire d’Eva Joly, son adversaire dans la primaire d’Europe Ecologie - Les Verts. “Il n’y a d’autre attitude possible que de s’incliner avec respect et d’autre commentaire que de souhaiter à Eva Joly et à EELV de rencontrer l’adhésion du plus grand nombre dans la campagne présidentielle à venir”, explique l’ancien animateur de télévision dans une déclaration à l’AFP. Il évoque également un “vote clair et un choix sans ambiguïté”.
En effet, Eva Joly devrait remporter une victoire assez large sur Nicolas Hulot, après l’avoir devancé de presque 10% au premier tour du scrutin (49,75% contre 40,22%). Selon les dernières tendances du vote par courrier, l’ancienne magistrate devrait obtenir 63% des voix, a précisé un responsable du parti mardi. Au final, en ajoutant les votes électroniques, le rapport de force entre les deux candidats devrait se situer autour des 60% - 40%. Les reports de voix des deux autres candidats – Henri Stoll et Stéphane Lhomme – “semblent avoir bénéficié” à l’eurodéputée, a affirmé un responsable d’EELV.
“J’espère qu’il accompagnera l’ensemble de la campagne”
A l’issue de l’annonce des résultats par la secrétaire nationale, Cécile Duflot, et le président du Conseil fédéral, Philippe Meirieu, le vainqueur prononcera une allocution. Avant de se rendre dans les studios de TF1, où Eva Joly sera l’invitée du 20 heures. Reste à savoir quelle place prendront Nicolas Hulot, et son équipe de campagne, dans le dispositif pour l’élection présidentielle de 2012. “J’espère que Nicolas Hulot sait l’importance du combat, je n’imagine pas une seconde qu’il se retire par amertume”, lançait lundi sur i-Télé le porte-parole d’Eva Joly, Yannick Jadot. Avant d’ajouter : “J’espère qu’il accompagnera l’ensemble de la campagne”, précisant qu’il s’y était engagé et que les deux candidats se verront certainement dans les prochains jours.
Quant à l’équipe de campagne d’Eva Joly, elle pourrait s’élargir. L’ancienne juge a ses derniers jours tendu la main aux “hulotistes” en vue de 2012. Le nom de Pascal Durand, porte-parole de Nicolas Hulot, est d’ailleurs avancé. Ce dernier, qui estime qu’il est encore trop tôt pour parler de cela, aurait été approché par les pro-Joly. “Ce n’est pas le mercato, on a à construire le mouvement”, a-t-il déclaré à l’AFP. “C’est désormais de la responsabilité d’Eva Joly et de son équipe de proposer à l’ensemble d’EELV, y compris nous, une stratégie de campagne”, expliquait Yves Cochet lundi au JDD.fr. “Bien entendu, nous serons tous rassemblés autour de sa candidature (…) Il faudra simplement voir qui fait quoi. Évidemment, tout le monde ne sera pas du premier cercle. Cela demande un organigramme”, précisait le député parisien.
Les écologistes de tous bords se réuniront à Clermont-Ferrand du 18 au 20 août lors des Journées d’été d’EELV. L’occasion de lancer la campagne de 2012, où les proches d’Eva Joly espèrent que la candidate dépassera les 5,25% obtenus par Noël Mamère en 2002. Pour Yannick Jadot, il faut que les écologistes “s’approchent des 10% et idéalement les dépassent”. “Cela ancrerait très fortement l’écologie dans le débat politique français”. Il reste dix mois aux écologistes pour se mettre en ordre de bataille.
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Après la primaire écolo, Hulot s'interroge : "cela m'a fait très mal".
Nicolas Hulot a réagi sur RTL, mercredi, au lendemain de sa cuisante défaite face à Eva Joly qui a remporté la primaire d'Europe Ecologie Les Verts (EELV) avec 58% des voix.
Il a affirmé ne rien regretter, mais ne pas savoir ce qu'il allait faire maintenant. Seule certitude : l'ancien présentateur ne fera "rien qui contredira la dynamique de campagne des Verts". Il est par contre "trop tôt" pour savoir s'il participera à la campagne d'EELV.
Son but premier, celui qu'il affirme avoir toujours suivi : trouver "comment servir la cause de l'écologie".
En restant dans la politique ? Face à cette question, Nicolas Hulot reste évasif : "La seule question, c'est 'où suis-je le plus utile ? Est-ce que j'apporte quelque chose à EELV ?'", a-t-il déclaré.
Il a précisé ne pas savoir s'il participerait aux Journées d'été d'EELV en août. Dans tous les cas, Nicolas Hulot affirme avoir "retrouvé sa liberté absolue".
En tout cas, Eva Joly, elle, souhaite enterrer la hache de guerre. "Nicolas Hulot a toute sa place dans ma campagne", a-t-elle déclaré sur France Info, ajoutant : "Il a beaucoup de talent et je serais heureuse de l'accueillir".
Des épluchures qui passent mal
Enterrer la hache de guerre donc. Mais tout de même... La campagne de cette primaire a eu son lot de petites phrases assassines, d'un côté comme de l'autre. Alors pas de regrets pour Nicolas ? "Quand on a l'habitude de plonger avec des requins sans cage, il n'y a pas grand-chose qui vous impressionne", lance-t-il.
Nicolas Hulot estime simplement qu'avec Eva Joly, il y a des différences dans "la manière de porter l'écologie".
Ce qu'il a moins facilement digéré, c'est le seau d'épluchures de pommes de terre qu'on lui a versé sur la tête . Enfin, surtout les réactions, ou plutôt l'absence de réaction : "pendant 36 heures je n'ai pas eu un seul message de soutien, cela m'a fait très mal". Il croît même avoir aperçu "des petits sourires satisfaits".
Les débats de la Primaire :
Premier débat de la primaire écologiste à Toulouse 6 juin 2011 :
www.dailymotion.com/video/xj6atc_debat-de-la-primaire-tou...
www.dailymotion.com/video/xj6atp_debat-de-la-primaire-tou...
Deuxième débat de la primaire écologiste à Paris le 9 juin 2011.
www.dailymotion.com/video/xj7itt_partie-1-2eme-debat-de-l...
www.dailymotion.com/video/xj7iua_partie-2-2eme-debat-de-l...
Troisième débat de la primaire écologiste à Lille 15 juin 2011 :
www.dailymotion.com/video/xjc4sm_partie-1-troisieme-debat...
www.dailymotion.com/video/xjc085_partie-2-troisieme-debat...
www.dailymotion.com/video/xjcmtk_partie-3-troisieme-debat...
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Nicolas Hulot règle ses comptes avec Europe Ecologie-Les Verts
Le 19 septembre 2011 - Lemonde .fr
Nicolas Hulot prend le large. L'ancien candidat à la primaire des écologistes a envoyé, dans le week-end du 10 et 11 septembre, une lettre à ses fidèles dans laquelle il annonce qu'il a décidé de "surseoir" à la réunion qui devait se tenirfin septembre. Et coupe les ponts avec Europe Ecologie-Les Verts.
Après avoir été absent des journées d'été des écologistes à Clermont-Ferrand, l'ex-animateur de télévision avait indiqué qu'il réunirait ses soutiens afin de leur dire comment il voyait son avenir politique. "Il n'est pas prêt", assure au Monde.fr son bras droit, Jean-Paul Besset, mais "il a tenu à dire ce qu'il a sur le cœur".
Dans un courrier de six pages, Nicolas Hulot explique qu'il lui semble "un peu désinvolte" de tenir ce rendez-vous "sans pouvoir faire part de décisions concrètes". Il redit qu'à la suite du résultat de la primaire qui a donné une large majorité à Eva Joly, il a été "envahi" par une "tristesse mêlée d'un sentiment de gâchis". Mais malgré l'insistance de son équipe de campagne, M. Hulot ne veut pas d'une réunion où ne s'exprimeraient que les "doutes" et le "dépit".
Le père du Pacte écologiste (pdf) www.fondation-nicolas-hulot.org/sites/default/files/pdf/p... revient sur les raisons de son amertume et ne mâche pas ses mots à l'égard des écologistes d'EELV. A ses yeux, ni lui, "ni encore moins" son équipe de campagne, "n'avons la moindre chose à nous reprocher". "L'issue de cette primaire était écrite", assène-t-il. Il a eu l'impression "d'être mis en examen" - allusion transparente à sa concurrente, l'ex-magistrate Eva Joly, l'impression, aussi, "d'être un corps étranger suspect, contraint de démontrer régulièrement sa bonne foi". Une attitude qui l'a profondément "blessé" dit l'ex-candidat, qui tacle au passage ceux qui "ont trahi sa confiance".
"EN PROFOND DÉSACCORD" SUR LA LIGNE POLITIQUE"
Nicolas Hulot expose ensuite les raisons qui, à ses yeux, expliquent le "rejet" dont il a fait l'objet. Pour lui, c'est clairement le sectarisme des Verts. "Derrière cette attitude majoritaire, se dessine (...) une ligne politique avec laquelle je suis en profond désaccord". Lui le partisan de l'ouverture clame que les écolos doivent être"les artisans de la réconciliation nationale", autonomes de toute autre force politique. Il dénonce ainsi la tentation d'EELV de passer un contrat de gouvernement avec le PS pour 2012 : "A quoi bon mener campagne si, par avance, nous nous résignons à accepter quelques offrandes de situation au détriment de réformes structurelles et structurantes ?" interroge l'écologiste médiatique.
Au passage, M. Hulot revient sur l'épisode qui a largement plombé sa campagne : la confidence faite à des journalistes de ses discussions avec Jean-Louis Borloo : "J'aurais dû assumer et non pas me justifier", écrit-il précisant qu'il regrette ce "reniement". Nicolas Hulot n'a visiblement pas compris qu'un tel aveu en pleine compétition écolo ravivait les préventions à son égard. "Parler n'est pas se compromettre ni abdiquer ses convictions", insiste-t-il. Pour lui, l'écologie n'est "pas simplement un programme politique et partisan" mais la "troisième dimension de la politique", hors du clivage gauche-droite.
"LES MIASMES DU DÉBAT PUBLIC"
Décidément très dépité que le scrutin de la primaire ne lui ait pas permis de faire reconnaître qu'il était "le plus à même de convaincre le plus grand nombre" de l'urgence des solutions écolos, il raconte à nouveau combien les rencontres qu'il a faites l'ont convaincu qu'il était le meilleur candidat possible. Malheureusement, il y avait "la réalité des miasmes du débat public" contre laquelle "[sa] volonté a échoué", écrit-t-il a posteriori.
L'ancien animateur d'Ushuaïa aborde enfin son avenir. Ou plutôt les doutes qui l'assaillent encore. Ses amis l'abjurent de rebondir, de ne pas les laisser tomber. "Rebondir ? (...) pour mieux me cogner encore au plafond ?" répond-il. Lui préfère se donner du temps. "J'ai perdu le nerf de mon énergie", confie-t-il ajoutant qu'il n'a plus confiance dans la politique. "J'ai, en l'état, le sentiment que ma parole se dilue et se disperse au lieu de se préciser". Il pense en tous cas qu'EELV ne lui apporte plus rien, "rien de bénéfique", souligne-t-il.
Pour l'heure, M. Hulot ne sait comment se retourner. Il veut encore réfléchir à la manière d'être utile sans donner aucun indice. Quant à la rencontre promise à ses partisans, il l'organisera "dès que l'horizon se précisera", conclut-il. Un rendez-vous bien flou qui sonne comme un adieu.
Sylvia Zappi.
www.lemonde.fr/journaliste/sylvia-zappi/
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Carnet de déroute du camp Hulot
Alors que l’ex-candidat prend ses distances avec Europe Ecologie-les Verts, «Libération» publie le journal de bord d’un de ses proches conseillers lors de sa campagne ratée.
Le communiqué à l’AFP est tombé hier comme un couperet. A la veille de l’ouverture des Journées d’été d’Europe Ecologie-les Verts (EE-LV), Nicolas Hulot claque la porte. Après la gifle infligée en juillet par les sympathisants d’EE-LV lors de la primaire, consacrant à une large majorité Eva Joly, sa rivale, comme candidate à la présidentielle, l’ancien animateur d’Ushuaïa a donc «décidé de prendre une distance bienveillante avec EE-LV sans pour autant renoncer à (s)on engagement politique». Nicolas Hulot n’ira donc pas au raout écologiste à Clermont-Ferrand. «La politique a besoin de cohérence et non d’union forcée», juge-t-il. Il n’y aura pas de photo des deux ex-rivaux consacrant l’unité retrouvée autour de Cécile Duflot et de Dany Cohn-Bendit, samedi lors de la plénière de clôture. L’équipe de Joly a tenté de l’amadouer jusqu’au bout. «Eva et Nicolas se sont expliqués longuement au téléphone la semaine dernière. Il n’était pas hargneux», précise un proche de la candidate. «Il veut contribuer sur le fond», assure Yannick Jadot le porte-parole d’Eva Joly. Sa fin de non-recevoir est pourtant sans appel. «Si nous avons des objectifs communs, j’observe que les modalités et l’esprit pour les atteindre divergent», tacle Nicolas Hulot, disant avoir «espéré une autre pratique de la politique». Certains mettront ce forfait sur le compte de l’orgueil blessé de star cathodique, ancien favori des sondages.
Le document exclusif que nous publions aujourd’hui en intégralité sur Libération.fr apporte un autre regard. En 50 pages, Matthieu Orphelin, numéro 3 de l’équipe de Hulot, fait la chronique des coulisses d’une campagne ratée. Vice-président de la région Pays-de-la-Loire, il croyait dur comme fer à la possibilité de faire de la politique autrement avec Nicolas Hulot.
Voici les principaux extraits d’un récit truffé d’anecdotes. De la ceinture électrique abdominale avec laquelle le candidat piégera Jean-Vincent Placé, le complice de Duflot, aux coups bas de l’équipe de Joly. Sans oublier les appels affectueux de Jacques Chirac et la mésaventure du fils d’Eva Joly qui votera nul en se trompant d’enveloppe.
Duflot, soutien souterrain Nicolas Hulot comptait sur le soutien officiel de la numéro 1 du parti qui avait orchestré son retour lors de la création d’EE-LV à Lyon en novembre et entretient des relations amicales avec lui. Le 13 avril, il fait sa déclaration de candidature à Sevran. Matthieu Orphelin écrit : «Retour dans les loges. Le premier texto est de Cécile Duflot, qui félicite Nicolas, qu’elle a trouvé très bon. Elle lui souligne que son compagnon, Xavier Cantat, est dans la salle, ce qui est un signe.» Le message restera lettre morte tant Cécile Duflot, triomphalement réélue à la tête du mouvement à La Rochelle, ne veut pas se mouiller. «Nous n’aurons pas le soutien officiel de Cécile Duflot. Notre secrétaire nationale préféra garder une neutralité apparente que les statuts du parti ne lui imposaient pas, explique l’auteur pour qui, avec le soutien de cette figure emblématique d’EE-LV […], le vote aurait pu être bien différent.» Orphelin n’est cependant pas rancunier. Il ajoute plus tard : «J’avoue qu’elle me convainc de plus en plus ; elle sera une bonne candidate en 2017.»
Les coups bas du camp Joly
Matthieu Orphelin établit une véritable liste. «Il faut faire face aux coups bas alignés par l’équipe d’en face, avec l’assentiment ou en tout cas le silence complice d’Eva Joly. Dur à encaisser d’autant que la ligne imposée par Nicolas et partagée par nous tous est claire : "pas d’attaques personnelles, pas de polémique politicienne, pas de coups en dessous de la ceinture." Le premier fut donc notre prétendue attachée de presse d’origine nucléaire [elle aurait travaillé chez Areva, ndlr]. Qu’aurions-nous fait d’autre de méchant ? Sergio Coronado (nouveau directeur de campagne d’Eva Joly, qui a remplacé Yannick Jadot à ce poste) et Lemonde.fr nous accusent d’avoir utilisé la base de données du Pacte écologique pour aller chercher des soutiens. Ben non, malheureusement pour nous d’ailleurs, nous ne l’avons pas fait. Lemonde.fr sera obligé de corriger son article.»«Je garde une rancœur particulière pour Coronado, ajoute Orphelin. Il a aligné et orchestré, avec la complicité de Noël Mamère, François de Rugy[député écologiste de Loire-Atlantique]et Patrick Farbias [plume de Duflot et Joly], les coups bas contre nous […]. Je n’ai rien en commun avec des écologistes de ce type. Mais, plus que le comportement de Coronado et de quelques-uns de ses compères, ce qui m’a profondément choqué finalement, c’est que tout le monde a laissé faire.»
Borloo, la bourde
C’est peut-être la gaffe qui lui coûte les 3 000 voix de retard sur Joly. Le 4 juin au congrès d’EE-LV à La Rochelle, Nicolas Hulot rappelle lors d’un dîner avec une trentaine de journalistes qu’il a envisagé un «court temps» un tandem avec Jean-Louis Borloo, ancien ministre de l’Ecologie, avant de se lancer avec EE-LV. «Vers 23 heures, [l’eurodéputée] Sandrine Bélier me dit qu’il y a un gros problème, que tout le monde est affolé. Je découvre la dépêche AFP en rentrant à l’hôtel. Dans les minutes qui suivent les versions web des journaux se mettent au diapason, les articles pleuvent. La nuit fut courte et longue, entre les textos reçus ("Comment l’avez-vous laissé faire cela ?" et "Il aurait pu éviter" remportent la palme), commente Orphelin. Ce soir-là, je me dis que tout est perdu, que l’aventure s’arrêtera le lendemain. L’étape tourne au désastre. Mais elle révèle aussi les caractères. Nous arrivons le samedi matin à l’espace encan à pied. A l’entrée, Patrick Farbias, une des figures historiques des Verts, crie "Hulot et Borloo n’ont rien à faire chez les Verts" ou quelque chose du style. Il a, littéralement, la bave aux lèvres. Autant de haine exprimée par un seul visage… Cela restera pour moi l’image la plus sordide de cette primaire. Je sais que cela a marqué aussi Nicolas.»
Retour vers Nantes avec Florence Hulot, la femme du candidat. Elle «ne comprend pas l’agressivité et la haine qui sont déployées contre Nicolas. Elle le sent si étranger à ce monde politique dont elle découvre le côté glauque. Elle rêve d’un Nicolas au-dessus de tout cela, pourquoi pas à un poste à l’ONU, qui lui irait mieux que ce monde politique un peu pitoyable».
L’ami Chirac
La relation entre l’ancien président de la République et son ancien conseiller est quasi filiale. Lorsque Hulot annonce qu’il se porte candidat «le premier appel est de Jacques Chirac qui lui souhaite bonne chance». Rebelote le 10 mai. Après la manifestation contre les gaz de schiste, devant l’Assemblée nationale, Hulot sème les «paparazzi» sur son «scooter électrique» pour aller à «son rendez-vous secret, que Nicolas nous révélera dans l’après-midi : c’est Jacques Chirac, dont les bureaux sont proches, qui lui avait proposé de monter lui dire bonjour».
Hulot, dilettante
Vedette du petit écran, Nicolas Hulot croyait pouvoir se passer de toute préparation pour affronter les journalistes. Ce n’est que le lendemain du premier tour de la primaire, qu’il se résout à changer de cap. Le 29 juin, «Nicolas a rendez-vous à 12 heures pour un media-training. Il a enfin accepté le principe, alors qu’on tentait sans succès de lui vendre depuis des semaines. Il s’agit de préparer l’interview en direct sur France 3». Une interview qui sera finalement annulée…
Autre épisode révélé par Matthieu Orphelin, la brouille (passagère) de Hulot avec Pascal Durand, son codirecteur de campagne. Les raisons ? «Une proposition de déplacement refusée par le candidat, une réunion mal calée sur l’agenda […], un peu de stress, de mauvaise foi et de fierté.»
Hulot et les médias
Rompus aux caméras, Hulot et son équipe redoutent paradoxalement la liberté de jugement de la presse politique : «Tour du quartier de Malakoff, à Nantes, sous la houlette d’Aïcha qui y a vécu vingt-cinq ans. L’accueil réservé à Nicolas est incroyable. Chacun veut sa photo (y compris les clients du coiffeur), donne ses encouragements, s’arrête dire un mot. Il n’y a que le boucher qui a une petite phrase un peu pinçante et, comme par magie, c’est celle-là que nous retrouverons dans Libération sur la pleine page qui sera consacrée à ce déplacement. Libération, pourtant mon journal préféré (enfin, jusqu’à cette primaire, maintenant je lui fais la gueule), aura un traitement très pro-Jolyste tout au long de la campagne.»
Conclusion
«Je pense que le spectacle offert, finalement assez indécent, et notamment les petites phrases fratricides de certains auront détourné des électeurs de la route (et du vote !) EE-LV. Je me trompe peut-être. Rendez-vous au printemps prochain, et on verra si EE-LV est plus proche des 1,57% de la dernière élection présidentielle ou des 13% dont était crédité Nicolas Hulot par certains instituts de sondage», termine Orphelin.
Matthieu Ecoiffier.
www.liberation.fr/auteur/1870-matthieu-ecoiffier
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Nicolas Hulot: «Si j’ai été triste, c’est pour l’écologie, et cela n’a duré qu’un temps»
Une séquence introspection pou mieux faire comprendre ses choix. Le candidat malheureux à la dernière élection présidentielle, Nicolas Hulot, revient dans son dernier livre Plus haut que mes rêves, qui sort ce mercredi, sur son parcours professionnel, avec un regard particulièrement acéré sur la présidentielle de 2012 et la «campagne calamiteuse» qui a précédé la primaire d’Europe Ecologie-Les Verts.
«Je voulais expliquer certaines choses, notamment pourquoi j’ai décidé d’être candidat à la présidentielle et aux primaires EELV, à ceux qui veulent prendre le temps de comprendre», explique Nicolas Hulot à 20 Minutes. «Dans un monde d’information où l’on doit expliquer les choses complexes dans des formats très courts, un livre, ça permet de personnaliser les choses, qui ne sont jamais toutes blanches ou toutes noires, qui ne s’expliquent pas en deux phrases, mais dans un parcours de vie.»
L’arène politique
L’ancien animateur effectue donc un retour en arrière, retrace son enfance puis sa carrière, de ses débuts de photographe pour l’agence Sipa, à ses émissions option casse-cou pour France Inter, jusqu’à Ushuaïa, le magazine de l’extrême, Opération Okavango et Ushuaïa Nature. Une autobiographie qui révèle les origines de son engagement écologique, ainsi que son évolution. «Ma vie est un chemin le long duquel j’ai abandonné un à un mes préjugés -je pensais la planète immense et très résistante alors qu’elle ne l’est pas, que l’abondance était la norme alors que c’est la rareté qui l’est…», dit-il.
Ce chemin de vie l’amènera à entrer dans l’arène politique, dès 2007 avec le Pacte écologique, qui verra la naissance du Grenelle de l’environnement. Hulot raconte aussi les circonstances de l’annonce de sa candidature à l’élection présidentielle de 2012, dans le giron d’EELV, née quelques mois plus tôt, et sa campagne pour la désignation du candidat du parti. Une campagne faite de «stratégies minables, (de) petites alliances, tout au ras du sol», au sein d’un parti dont il dénonce le «sectarisme» et où «les flèches empoisonnées fondent», jusqu’à l’annonce de sa défaite en juillet 2011.
«J’ai écrit sans amertume ni animosité. C’est une expérience que je ne regrette pas. Certains parlent de moi comme du candidat malheureux, triste de ce qui lui est arrivé. Si j’ai été triste, c’est pour l’écologie, et cela n’a duré qu’un temps», indique Nicolas Hulot, soulignant qu’il a surtout voulu montrer «à quel point il est difficile de faire comprendre aux gens des sujets de fond lorsqu’on est rattrapé par des petites choses qui n’ont aucun rapport, par la politique politicienne».
«Cesser la politique politicienne»
Car, affirme-t-il, s’il s’est lancé dans la bataille présidentielle, c’est pour amener l’écologie sur le devant de la scène. «Il y a un extraordinaire paradoxe qui n’est toujours pas résolu aujourd’hui: l’écologie est un enjeu universel mais qui est dans de nombreux pays porté par de petits partis. Les formations les plus importantes n’ont toujours pas compris que l’écologie était l’enjeu majeur du XXIe siècle, et devait à ce titre être le déterminant majeur de leur politique et de leur réflexion. Je ne peux pas m’en accommoder, j’essaye de faire en sorte que cela change.»
Et ce, désormais, en tant qu’envoyé spécial du président de la République pour la protection de la planète. Une façon pour lui de sortir de la politique partisane à laquelle il s’est frotté en 2011 et de faire avancer l’écologie au niveau mondial. En France aussi, l’ancien candidat appelle «les politiciens à changer d’état d’esprit». «Dans la perspective de la conférence climat 2015 qui doit se tenir à Paris, les politiciens doivent cesser la politique politicienne et développer un état d’esprit coopératif et constructif. La France et le monde ont une carte vitale à jouer en 2015. Il faut passer à une autre phase, non-partisane, de l’engagement politique.»
Bérénice Dubuc.
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Le film "Le Syndrome du Titanic" : vimeo.com/64741962
Le Syndrome du Titanic est un film documentaire réalisé en 2008 par Nicolas Hulot et Jean-Albert Lièvre, sorti le 7 octobre 2009
fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Le_Syndrome_du_Titanic
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Le film "Une Vérité qui Dérange" : www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZ4izGzj9r0
Une vérité qui dérange (An Inconvenient Truth) est un documentaire américain de Davis Guggenheim sorti en 2006. Traitant du changement climatique, il est basé en grande partie sur une présentation multimédia que Al Gore, ancien vice-président des États-Unis et prix Nobel de la paix en 2007 (partagé avec le GIEC) a préparé pour sa campagne de sensibilisation sur le réchauffement planétaire
fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Une_vérité_qui_dérange
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Photographie de Sébastien Duhamel, professionnel de l’image : www.sebastien-duhamel.com/présentation-références/
Derniers sujets photos : www.flickr.com/photos/sebastienduhamel/collections/721576...
Classeurs photos : www.flickr.com/photos/sebastienduhamel/collections
Albums photos : www.flickr.com/photos/sebastienduhamel/sets/
Tournages : vimeo.com/137495739
www.dailymotion.com/user/Sebastien_Duhamel/1
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Photo / Conditions : www.sebastien-duhamel.com/conditions-tarifs/
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This is a photograph from the 5th annual running of the Meath Spring Half Marathon and 10KM Road Races and Fun Runs which were promoted and hosted by Bohermeen Athletic Club at Bohermeen, Navan, Co. Meath, Ireland on Sunday 13th of March 2016 at 12:00. The half marathon consists of a 11KM and 10KM repeated loop around the roads of Bohermeen and Oristown. The course is a fast fair course with a few small hills. This year the course was 'reversed' which just meant that the traditional course changed to accomodate the large number of participants and the narrow country roads on which both the race participants and race traffic must both share before, during and after the race. Most runners agreed that this made the course much faster as a result. There was almost a total of 1,000 participants in both races.
The other great variable in road racing - the weather - was at its spectacular best. It was as close to perfect running conditions. Little or no breeze, around 10C temperature and clear conditions.
Bohermeen AC is steeped in Irish athletics history since 1927 and it is this experience and exceptional community spirit and volunteering which has made this event today so successful. Having now organised the event for five years running it is certain that the event will continue to grow and expand become one of the mainstays on the Irish athletic club road racing calendar for many years to come.
The race is supported by substantial local sponsorship from businesses in the local area.
Timing and event management was provided by http://www.myrunresults.com/. Their website is here [www.myrunresults.com/] and will contain the results to today's race.
We have photographs from both the start and the finish of the races today - they are all available on Flickr [https://www.flickr.com/photos/peterm7/albums/72157665850980555]. Some photographs of the 10KM are included.
Useful Internet Links associated with the Race
MapMyRun GPS Trace of the Route in 2016: www.mapmyrun.com/routes/view/988503627
Codam Building Services Ltd. www.codam.ie/
Google Streetview of the Race Start: goo.gl/maps/rtj1X
Google Streetview of the Race Finish and Race Headquarters: goo.gl/maps/qVttR
Photographs from previous events
Our Flickr Photograph set from the 4th Spring Marathon 2015: www.flickr.com/photos/peterm7/albums/72157648897769373
Our Flickr Photograph set from the 3rd Spring Marathon 2014: www.flickr.com/photos/peterm7/sets/72157641717197563
Our Flickr Photograph set from the 2nd Spring Marathon 2013: www.flickr.com/photos/peterm7/sets/72157632906920970/
Our Flickr set from the 1st Spring Marathon (2012) www.flickr.com/photos/peterm7/sets/72157629146137284/with...
Photographs from the 2013 event from our friend Paul Reilly [pjrphotography.zenfolio.com/p670974697]
USING OUR PHOTOGRAPHS - A QUICK GUIDE AND ANSWERS TO YOUR QUESTIONS
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 directly 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.
BUT..... Wait there a minute....
We take these photographs as a hobby and as a contribution to the running community in Ireland. We do not charge for our photographs. Our only "cost" is that we request that if you are using these images: (1) on social media sites such as Facebook, Tumblr, Pinterest, Twitter,LinkedIn, Google+, VK.com, Vine, Meetup, Tagged, Ask.fm,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 or acknowledge us as the original photographers.
This also extends to 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 this photographic image here directly 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. Have a look for a down-arrow symbol 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 takes 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.
Let's get a bit technical: 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.
Above all what Creative Commons aims to do is 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
This is a photograph from the seventh annual Donadea 50KM Ultramarathon which was held in Donadea Forest, Donadea, Naas, Co. Kildare, Ireland on Saturday 13th February 2016 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. The race completes 10 loops of a very well known 5KM trail around the circumference of the forest. Most of this trail is in very good condition with good conditions underfoot for the entire 5KM stretch. The start-finish area is located close to the coffee shop area in the center of the park beside the now ruined and abandoned Donadea Castle. This year, like all previous events, was a fantastic event with great support around the course for the athletes. However the structure of the course with the repeated loops makes a great atmosphere for the runners themselves with great camaraderie being shown amongst all of the competitors. This is one of the most popular 50KM races in Ireland. A garmin GPS link is available here [connect.garmin.com/activity/70206204]
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: [https://www.flickr.com/photos/peterm7/albums/72157664641851105]
Where is Donadea?. 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.
Donadea Forest on Facebook (requires Facebook access) [www.facebook.com/pages/Donadea-Forest-Park/42728436062858...]
Here is a stunning 4K Aerial Video of Donadea Castle & Lake on YouTube [www.youtube.com/watch?sns=fb&v=BG7LmBo2WlU&app=de...]
Timing, results, and event management was provided by RedTagTiming.com from Galway Ireland - results available at www.redtagtiming.com/
Our photographs of the Donadea 50KM 2015 are here on Flickr [https://www.flickr.com/photos/peterm7/sets/72157650821612375/]
USING OUR PHOTOGRAPHS - A QUICK GUIDE AND ANSWERS TO YOUR QUESTIONS
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 directly 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.
BUT..... Wait there a minute....
We take these photographs as a hobby and as a contribution to the running community in Ireland. We do not charge for our photographs. Our only "cost" is that we request that if you are using these images: (1) on social media sites such as Facebook, Tumblr, Pinterest, Twitter,LinkedIn, Google+, VK.com, Vine, Meetup, Tagged, Ask.fm,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 or acknowledge us as the original photographers.
This also extends to 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 this photographic image here directly 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. Have a look for a down-arrow symbol 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?
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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 takes 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.
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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.
Let's get a bit technical: 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.
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Above all what Creative Commons aims to do is 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.
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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
I took without his notice , he wanted to buy a Chinese Ramadan singing Lantern but his dad refused :(
The Parish of Llandudno requests that for their own safety, all visitors should keep to the paths, as the ground in the churchyard is very uneven.
St Tudno’s churchyard adjoins the Great Orme municipal cemetery. Click here to discover interesting graves there.
Near the northern entrance to the churchyard stands Llandudno’s memorial to the four local men who died in the Boer War. They and others who served are also commemorated on a plaque in the Town Hall – click here for more information about them.
St Tudno's Church has produced its own guides to the churchyard, which you can download as pdf files here. They contain more information about the history, natural history and management of the churchyard.
Western sector
1, Aldwyth Katrin Williams (d.1918) – nursed wounded soldiers, died of flu shortly before Armistice
2, Dean Patrick Mulligan (d.1906) – priest who oversaw major growth in Roman Catholic worship
3, Stephen Dunphy (d.1906) – former sailor who ran bakeries and grocery shops
4, Thomas Evans (d.1897) – one of four mariner brothers in house nicknamed “Sailors’ Home”
5, William “Zulu” Smith (d.1895) – mountaineer and founder of Llandudno newspaper
6, Sir John Bayley (d.1952) – founded Wrekin College at the age of 27
7, Alice Tarrey (d.1831) – died in shipwreck after drunken captain refused her husband’s safety plea
8, Edward Harris (d.1932) – killed in Great Orme tram crash while trying to save child passenger
9, Harry Lawrence Oakley (d.1960) – silhouette artist and Army captain in the First World War
Eastern sector
20, James Lee (d.1871) – lighthouse boy who fell while climbing to seabirds’ nest
21, Leonard Bright (d.1864) – MP’s son who innocently chose his burial place shortly before fatal illness
22, Job Jones (d.1896) – first keeper of Great Orme lighthouse
23, Thomas Kendrick (d.1897) – his prehistoric finds included horse jaw decorated 13,000 years ago
24, Thomas Tudno Jones (d.1895) – poet who won the National Eisteddfod chair four times
25, Langton Prendergast Walsh (d.1927) – linguist and first Administrator of British Somaliland
26, Mary Edith Nepean (d.1960) – artist, novelist and wartime nurse
27, Walter Beaumont (d.1924) – swimmer who performed amazing underwater stunts
28, Guy Everingham (d.1917) – shot down by the Red Baron soon after his wedding in Llandudno
29, Sir William Lloyd (d.1857) – One of the first Europeans to scale a Himalayan peak
The Great Orme (Welsh: Y Gogarth) is a limestone headland on the north coast of Wales, north-west of the town of Llandudno. Referred to as Cyngreawdr Fynydd by the 12th-century poet Gwalchmai ap Meilyr,[1] its English name derives from the Old Norse word for sea serpent. The Little Orme, a smaller but very similar limestone headland, is on the eastern side of Llandudno Bay.
Both the Great and Little Ormes have been etymologically linked to the Old Norse words urm or orm that mean sea serpent (English worm is a cognate). One explanation is that the Great Orme is the head, with its body being the land between the Great and Little Ormes, whilst another, possibly more likely, is that the shape of the Great Orme viewed as one enters the isthmus of Llandudno from the southeast landward end resembles a giant sleeping creature. The Vikings left no written texts of their time in North Wales although they certainly raided the area. They did not found any permanent settlements, unlike on the Wirral Peninsula, but some Norse names remain in use in the former Kingdom of Gwynedd (such as Point of Ayr near Talacre).
Despite there being a theory for the origin of the name "Orme", the word was not commonly used until after the creation of the Victorian resort of Llandudno in the mid-19th century. Before this, Welsh names were predominantly used locally and in cartography to name the headland's landward features and the surrounding area. The entire peninsula on which Llandudno was built was known as the Creuddyn (the medieval name of the cwmwd – a historical division of land in Wales); the headland itself was called Y Gogarth or Pen y Gogarth; its promontories were Pen trwyn, Llech, and Trwyn y Gogarth.
Orme only appears to have been applied to the headland as seen from the sea. In 1748, the Plan of the Bay & Harbour of Conway in Caernarvon Shire by Lewis Morris names the body of the peninsula "CREUDDYN" but applies the name "Orme's Head" to the headland's north-westerly seaward point.[3] The first series Ordnance Survey map (published in 1841 and before the establishment of Llandudno) follows this convention. The headland is called the "Great Orme's Head" but its landward features all have Welsh names. It is likely that Orme became established as its common name due to Llandudno's burgeoning tourist trade because a majority of visitors and holidaymakers arrived by sea. The headland was the first sight of their destination in the three-hour journey from Liverpool by paddle steamer.
Parts of the Great Orme are managed as a nature reserve by the Conwy County Borough Countryside Service. The area, which is two miles (three kilometres) long by 1 mile (1.5 kilometres) wide, has a number of protective designations including Special Area of Conservation, Heritage Coast, Country Park, and Site of Special Scientific Interest. The local authority provides a warden service on the Great Orme that regularly patrols the special scientific and conservation areas. There are numerous maintained paths for walking to the summit; a section of the long-distance North Wales Path also crosses the headland. About half the Great Orme is in use as farmland, mostly for sheep grazing. In 2015, the National Trust purchased the summit's 140-acre (57-hectare) Parc Farm for £1million.
The Great Orme is a peninsula made mostly of limestone and dolomite, formed during the Early Carboniferous part of the Earth's geological history. Most of the Great Orme's rocks are between 339 and 326 million years old. The upper surface of the Great Orme is particularly noted for its limestone pavements covering several headland areas. There are also rich seams of dolomite-hosted copper ore. The Great Orme copper mine was estimated to have produced enough copper to make about 2,000 tons of bronze during the Bronze Age. The slopes of the Great Orme are subject to occasional subsidence.
Natural wells were greatly prized in limestone districts and the Great Orme was no exception. Water was required for copper mining purposes as well as for domestic and agricultural use. The following Great Orme wells are known and most still supply running water:
Ffynnon Llygaid. Possibly one of the wells supplying the needs of the once populous Gogarth community before much of it was lost to coastal erosion.
Ffynnon Gogarth. The main water source for Gogarth and in the later 18th and early 19th centuries the power source to operate the famous Tom and Gerry engine that through a long series of Brammock rods powered the mine water pumps at the Higher shaft near the summit above Pyllau.
Ffynnon Powel. One of the water supplies together with ffynnon Tudno and ffynnon Rufeining serving the medieval farming community of Cyngreawdr.
Ffynnon Galchog. This well, near Mynydd Isaf, to the north of Pen Dinas, is a source of lime-rich water known for its petrifying qualities, it is one of two wells known to have been used in the washing of copper ores.
Ffynnon Tudno. Situated beyond the road, near the northeast corner of St Tudno's Church, ffynnon Tudno was, together with ffynnon Rufeining, a principal source of water for the community settled around the church.
Ffynnon Rufeining. Translated as "Roman Well", it takes its name from the tradition that Roman copper miners used its waters to wash the copper ores mined nearby.
Ffynnon Llech. A spring of water in Ogof Llech, a cave on the headland which is very difficult to access. It is claimed to have been used as a hermitage by Saint Tudno, a sixth-century monk of Bangor-is-y-Coed who established the first church here.
Ffynnon Gaseg. Literally "Mare's well", this spring was revealed at the side of the road, about halfway round and near the highest point, during the construction of the Marine Drive in the 19th century. It was ideally situated to refresh the horses on the five-mile carriage drive round the base of the Great Orme.
The Great Orme has a very rich flora, including most notably the only known site of the critically endangered wild cotoneaster (Cotoneaster cambricus), of which only six wild plants are known. Many of the flowers growing in shallow lime-rich earth on the headland have developed from the alpine sub-Arctic species that developed following the last ice-age. Spring and early summer flowers include bloody cranesbill, thrift and sea campion, clinging to the sheer rock face, while pyramidal orchid, common rockrose and wild thyme carpet the grassland. The old mines and quarries also provide suitable habitat for species of plants including spring squill growing on the old copper workings. The white horehound (Marrubium vulgare), which is found growing on the westernmost slopes of the Orme is said to have been used, and perhaps cultivated, by 14th-century monks, no doubt to make herbal remedies including cough mixtures. The rare horehound plume moth (Wheeleria spilodactylus) lays her eggs amongst the silky leaves and its caterpillars rely for food solely upon this one plant.
The headland is the habitat of several endangered species of butterflies and moths, including the silky wave, the silver-studded blue (Plebejus argus subsp. caernesis) and the grayling (Hipparchia semele thyone) These last two have adapted to the Great Orme by appearing earlier in the year to take advantage of the limestone flowers and grasses. Also they are smaller than in other parts of the country and are recognised as a definite subspecies. The Great Orme is reported as the northernmost known habitat within Britain for several 'southern' species of spider notably: Segestria bavarica, Episinus truncatus, Micrargus laudatus, Drassyllus praeficus, Liocranum rupicola and Ozyptila scabricula.
The headland is also home to about 200 Kashmir goats. The herd, which has roamed the Orme since the middle of the 19th century, is descended from a pair of goats that were presented by the Shah of Persia to Queen Victoria shortly after her coronation in 1837. Numbers are controlled by compulsory sterilization; the action was taken because competition for resources was forcing goats off the Orme into gardens and property. The Royal Welsh, a large regiment in the British Army, is permitted by the British monarch to choose an animal from the herd to be a regimental goat (if it passes selection, it is given the honorary rank of lance corporal). During the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions in Wales, goats began entering the town because of the lack of people; at the same time, the goat population on the Orme grew rapidly because park wardens were unable to administer sterilisation injections. With the end of the pandemic, the town council has created a special task force to manage goat numbers.
The caves and abandoned mine workings are home to large colonies of the rare horseshoe bat. This small flying mammal navigates the caves and tunnels by using echolocation to obtain a mental picture of its surroundings. During the daytime, horseshoe bats are found suspended from the roof of tunnels and caves, with their wings tightly wrapped around their bodies. Only at dusk do the bats leave the caves and mine shafts, to feed on beetles and moths.
The cliffs are host to colonies of seabirds (such as guillemots, kittiwakes, razorbills and even fulmars as well as gulls). The Great Orme is also home to many resident and migrant land birds including ravens, little owls and peregrine falcons. The Red-billed Chough is occasionally spotted.
Below the cliffs, the rock-pools around the headland are a rich and varied habitat for aquatic plants and animals including barnacles, red beadlet anemones and hermit crab
Large-scale human activity on the Great Orme began around 4,000 years ago during the Bronze Age with the opening of several copper mines. The copper ore malachite was mined using stones and bone tools. It is estimated that up to 1,760 tonnes of copper was mined during the period. The mine was most productive in the period between 1700BC and 1400BC, after which most of the readily accessible copper had been extracted. The site was so productive that by 1600BC, there were no other copper mines left open in Britain because they could not compete with the Great Orme.
The mine was abandoned and evidence suggests it was not worked again until the late 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries. Mining began in the late 17th century due to the demand for copper and improved ability to pump water out of the mine. A steam engine was introduced in 1832 and ten years later an 822-metre long tunnel was mined at sea level to drain the deeper mine workings. Commercial-scale mining on the Great Orme ended in the 1850s, although small-scale mining continued until the mines were finally abandoned in 1881.
In 1987, the improvement of the derelict mine site was commissioned by the local council and Welsh Development Agency. The area was to be landscaped and turned into a car park. Since excavation began in 1987, over five miles (eight kilometres) of prehistoric tunnels have been discovered. It is estimated that less than half of the prehistoric tunnels have been discovered so far.
In April 1991 the Great Orme Mines site was opened to the public. Pathways and viewing platforms were constructed to give access to the surface excavations. In 1996 a bridge was erected over the top of Vivian's Shaft. The visitor centre's extension, built-in 2014, contains a selection of mining tools and bronze axes along with displays about life and death in the Bronze Age, mining and ancient metallurgy. Also accessible is the 3,500-year-old Great Cavern.
The medieval parish of Llandudno comprised three townships all established on the lower slopes of the Great Orme. The township of Y Gogarth at the south-western 'corner' of the Great Orme was latterly the smallest but it contained the palace of the Bishop of Bangor. The Manor of Gogarth (which included all three townships) had been bestowed on Anian, Bishop of Bangor by King Edward I in 1284 in recognition of services rendered to the crown, notably the baptism of the first English Prince of Wales, newly born at Caernarfon. The palace was burnt down by Owain Glyndŵr in 1400 and the ruins have mostly been washed away together with much of the township by coastal erosion in the Conwy Estuary.
The significant agricultural yet north-facing township of Cyngreawdr includes the original parish church and rectory of St Tudno, a sixth- or seventh-century foundation. Following the Glyndŵr uprising, the villagers of the Creuddyn peninsula were harshly taxed and by 1507 they had nearly all fled their homes. Henceforth the cultivated land lay fallow and is now grazed by sheep and goats. Llandudno's Victorian cemetery, which is still in regular use, was laid out in 1859 adjacent to the 12th-century church of Saint Tudno where open-air services are held every Sunday morning in summer. Nearby are several large ancient stones that have become shrouded in folklore and also an unexplained stone-lined avenue called Hwylfa'r Ceirw leading towards Cilfin Ceirw (Precipice of Deer).
The third township was Yn Wyddfid clustered below the Iron Age hill fort of Pen y Dinas at the northeastern "corner" of the Great Orme. With the reopening of the copper mines from the 18th century onwards, this township grew considerably in size with the streets and cottages of the mining village laid out on the largely abandoned agricultural holdings.
In 1825 the Board of the Port of Liverpool obtained a Private Act of Parliament to help improve safety and communications for the merchant marine operating in the Irish Sea and Liverpool Bay. The Act allowed them to erect and maintain telegraph stations between Liverpool and the Isle of Anglesey. This would help ship-owners, merchants and port authorities in Liverpool know the location of all mercantile shipping along the North Wales coast.
In 1826 the summit of the Great Orme was chosen as the location for one of the 11 optical semaphore stations that would form an unbroken 80 mi (130 km) chain from Liverpool to Holyhead. The original semaphore station on the Orme, which consisted of small building with living accommodation, used a 15 m (49 ft) ship's mast with three pairs of moveable arms to send messages to either Puffin Island 7 mi (11 km) to the west or 8+1⁄2 mi (14 km) to Llysfaen in the east. Skilled telegraphers could send semaphore messages between Liverpool and Holyhead in under a minute.
In March 1855 the Great Orme telegraph station was converted to electric telegraph. Landlines and submarine cables connected the Orme to Liverpool and Holyhead. At first the new equipment was installed in the original Semaphore Station on the summit until it was moved down to the Great Orme lighthouse in 1859. Two years later the Great Orme semaphore station closed with the completion of a direct electric telegraph connection from Liverpool to Holyhead.
By the late 1860s, Llandudno's blossoming tourist trade saw many Victorians visit the old semaphore station at the summit to enjoy the panorama. This led to the development of the summit complex.
By the early 20th century, a nine-bed hotel was built on the site. It served as the clubhouse for the Great Orme Golf Club that was founded in the early 1900s. The course closed in 1939 and is now a sheep farm.
On 11 July 1914, Beatrice Blore drove a Singer Ten car up the cable track of the Great Orme, with a gradient of 1 in 3 in places, becoming the first woman to drive up the steep and challenging headland. She was six months pregnant at the time and the drive was a publicity stunt developed by her partner George Wilkin Browne to help sell the cars at his Llandudno garage, North Wales Silver Motors. Her feat is commemorated by her unusual gravestone in St Tudno's graveyard.
During the Second World War, the RAF built a Chain Home Low radar station at the summit. In 1952 the site was taken into private ownership until it was acquired by Llandudno Urban Town Council in 1961.
The Royal Artillery coast artillery school was transferred from Shoeburyness to the Great Orme in 1940 (and additionally a Practice Camp was established on the Little Orme in 1941) during the Second World War. Target practice was undertaken from the headland to both towed and anchored boats. Experimental work and training was also provided for radio direction finding. The foundations of some of the buildings and installations remain and can be seen from the western end of Marine Drive. The site of the school was scheduled as an Ancient Monument in 2011 by CADW, the Welsh Government's Historic Monuments body. This was done in recognition of the site's significance in a UK and Welsh context.
Also of note was the Aerial Defence Research and Development Establishment (ADRDE) known as "X3" which was a 3-storey building erected in 1942. This seems to have been a secret radar experimental station above the artillery school. The road put in to serve it now serves a car park on the approximate site of the station, which was demolished in 1956.
With the creation of Llandudno, the first route round the perimeter of the Great Orme was a footpath constructed in 1858 by Reginald Cust, a trustee of the Mostyn Estate. In 1872 the Great Ormes Head Marine Drive Co. Ltd. was formed to turn the path into a Victorian carriage road. But it went bankrupt before work was finished. A second company completed the road in 1878. The contractors for the scheme were Messrs Hughes, Morris, Davies, a consortium led by Richard Hughes of Madoc Street, Llandudno. The road was bought by Llandudno Urban District Council in 1897. The four-mile (six-kilometre) one-way toll road starts at the foot of the Happy Valley. After about 1+1⁄2 miles (2.5 km) a side road leads to St. Tudno's Church, the Bronze Age Copper Mines and to the Great Orme Summit complex with car park. The toll road ticket also pays for the parking at the Summit Complex. Marine Drive has been used as a stage on the Wales Rally GB in 1981, 2011, 2013, 2015 and 2018.
In 1902, the Great Orme Tramway was built to convey visitors to the top of the Great Orme. In 1969, the Llandudno Cable Car was also constructed to take visitors up to the summit attractions. These include a tourist shop, cafeteria, visitors' centre, play areas, a licensed hotel, and the vintage tram/cable-car stations.
On clear days Winter Hill, the Isle of Man and the Lake District can be seen from the summit of the Orme.
The Orme has one of only two artificial ski slopes in North Wales, complete with one of the longest toboggan runs in the United Kingdom.
Landscaped gardens in the Happy Valley and terraces in the Haulfre Garden cover the lower landward facing steeply sloping southern side. Walkways link the Haulfre Gardens with the western end of the Marine Drive.
On the northernmost point of the Orme is the former Llandudno lighthouse. It was constructed in 1862 by the Mersey Docks and Harbour Company. The navigation aid remained in continuous use until 22 March 1985 when it was decommissioned. The building has now been converted into a small bed & breakfast guest house. The lantern and its optics are now on permanent display at the Summit Complex visitors' centre. The old established "Rest and be thankful" café is also nearby.
Conwy County Borough (Welsh: Bwrdeistref Sirol Conwy) is a county borough in the north of Wales. It borders Gwynedd to the west and south and Denbighshire to the east. The largest settlement is Colwyn Bay, and Conwy is the administrative centre.
Conwy has an area of 435 square miles (1,130 km2) and a population of 114,800, making it sparsely populated. The population is concentrated along the coast, along which are several seaside resorts and the county's largest towns: Colwyn Bay (34,284), Llandudno (20,701), and Conwy (14,753). Inland is much less populous, and the only town is Llanrwst (3,323).
The geography of Conwy is shaped by the River Conwy, which forms a wide valley down the western half of the county, bordered by the Denbigh Moors to the east and the mountains of Snowdonia National Park to the west. The River Elwy, a tributary of the Clwyd, drains the eastern half of the moors. The Conwy forms a wide estuary as it reaches the coast, which has by wide, sandy beaches and the limestone headlands of the Great Orme and the Little Orme. The highest peak within the county is Carnedd Llewelyn, at 1,064 metres (3,491 ft), which is on the boundary with Gwynedd and is the third-highest summit in Wales. Around Betws-y-Coed is the Gwydir Forest, which is mainly given over to plantations. There are several reservoirs in the valleys, the largest of which is Llyn Brenig, which has an area of 3.7 square kilometres (1.4 sq mi) and extends into Denbighshire.
The River Conwy, after which the county borough is named, lies wholly within the area: rising in Snowdonia and flowing through Llanrwst and Trefriw en route to the Irish Sea by Conwy. The river here marks the border between the historic counties of Caernarfonshire and Denbighshire.
One third of the land area of the county borough lies in the Snowdonia National Park, and the council appoint three of the 18 members of the Snowdonia National Park Authority. Its total area is 1,126 km2 (435 sq mi), making it slightly larger than Hong Kong. The eastern part includes the larger section of Denbigh Moors.
The vast majority of the population live on the coast; the only settlement of any size inland is Llanrwst.
According to the 2001 census 39.7% of the population of the county borough have "one or more skills" in Welsh. In 2021 census 25.9% reported being able to speak Welsh, which ranks Conwy 5th out of 22 principal areas in Wales. The amount of Welsh spoken in the county borough greatly varies from location to location, with generally the least being spoken on the coastal fringe, in which English is mainly spoken.
The county borough was formed on 1 April 1996 by merging the districts of Aberconwy and Colwyn. It was originally named Aberconwy and Colwyn, but its council renamed the district a day later, on 2 April 1996, to Conwy.
Conwy is represented in the UK Parliament by Conservative Party politicians Robin Millar and David Jones, though the Clwyd West seat also includes part of southern Denbighshire. In the Senedd, it is represented by Conservative Party politicians Janet Finch-Saunders and Darren Millar.
Conwy County Borough Council was granted a coat of arms by the College of Arms in 2001. The new arms recall those of both Aberconwy and Colwyn Borough Councils. The main part of the shield depicts blue and silver waves for the river from which the county borough takes its name, and also recalls the gold and blue wavy field of Colwyn's arms. On top of the waves is placed a symbolic red tower, representing Conwy Castle. The chief or upper third of the shield is coloured green, the main colour in Aberconwy's arms. In the centre of the chief is a severed head from the heraldry of Marchudd ap Cynan, Lord of Abergele and Rhos. On either side are two black spears embrued, or having drops of blood on their points. These come from the reputed arms of Nefydd Hardd, associated with the Nant Conwy area. In front of each spear is a golden garb or wheatsheaf, for the rural areas of the county borough.
Above the shield, placed on the steel helm usual in British civic arms, is the crest. This takes the form of the Welsh red dragon supporting a Bible, rising from a wreath of oak leaves and acorns. The Bible is to commemorate the first Welsh language translation of the book, which originated in the area, while the oak circlet recalls that an oak tree formed the main charge in the arms of Colwyn Borough Council, and its predecessor the municipal borough of Colwyn Bay.
The motto adopted is Tegwch i Bawb, meaning "Fairness to All".
The Conwy Valley Line, from Llandudno Junction to Blaenau Ffestiniog, runs through the borough.
Owned by: Waste Services of Florida (IESI-BFC) of Tampa, FL
Chassis: Mack RD
Body manufacturer: Unknown
Type of truck: Roll-off garbage truck
Additional notes:
Location of photo: Hillsborough County, FL
Note:
This photo may be copied, used, or reposted as long as the website watermark (www.flickr.com/formerwmdriver) is visible or credit is given to FormerWMDriver for capturing this photo. As a courtesy, please let me know where it's been used, (I'd like to see it too). Thank you!
Copyright 2010 - Alan B.
This shot was only just possible with the Nikon as it was just able to fit between the palings of the very high palisade fencing here and using liveview on the rear screen take the shot. It is passing the cooling equipment on the left for the South East London Combined Heat & Power station (a posh title for the local rubbish incinerator!) that developes 35mW of power from the domestic refuse of 50,000 London homes.
Engine: Cummins N14-370E-PLUS six cylinder diesel
Transmission: Allison HD-4560P five speed automatic
Photo courtesy of Municibid.
Engine: International DT466 HT 245 HP six cylinder diesel
Transmission: Allison 3000RDS-P 6 speed automatic
Photo courtesy of Auctions International.
I'm refusing to have a Pumpkin Spice Latte, because the Internet is full of jokes about how white chicks wear yoga pants and drink PSLs and I will not be a cliche, dammit! I got a coupon for a cheap PSL and one for a cheap Carmel Macchiato. I gave away the former to a co-worker and kept the latter for myself.
On December 1, 1955 Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her seat on a Montgomery, Alabama city bus to a white passenger. Her silent protest was one of the major catalysts of the American Civil Rights Movement. The bus is now on display at the "With Liberty & Justice for All" Exhibit
Dedicated in Dearborn, Michigan in 1929, the Henry Ford Museum is one of the top museums in the United States. It is cathedral to American culture, history and innovation.
Seen while vending black lives matter jewelry @ washington square park @ @washingtonsquarepark_ @refusefascism A Refuse Fascism protest was @ washington square park yesterday, after leaving union square park. " We demand trump/pence out now! Protest every day. Union Square weekends 2pm. m-f 6pm, starting saturday October 3."
Shakti is a pure wolf and lives with her brother Zeus. Out of all the of the animals, she was the least interested in the hay offering. She had a much better time fence-fighting with her neighbor, Cove.
I found this fastener on the ground at the Port of Tacoma, which was littered with all sorts of odds and ends. It seems as if there is a preponderance of careless activity at the Port, one of the products of which is a plethora of interesting objects littering the place.
If you want to use this image, ask permission PRIOR to use. Don't be a thief - under most circumstances, I'm quite reasonable.
Copyright 2011 - Alan B.
Mary Jane Seacole (1805 – 14 May 1881), née Grant was a Jamaican-born woman of Scottish and Creole descent who set up a 'British Hotel' behind the lines during the Crimean War, which she described as "a mess-table and comfortable quarters for sick and convalescent officers," and provided succour for wounded servicemen on the battlefield.
She was posthumously awarded the Jamaican Order of Merit in 1991. In 2004 she was voted the greatest black Briton.
She acquired knowledge of herbal medicine in the Caribbean. When the Crimean War broke out, she applied to the War Office to assist but was refused. She travelled independently and set up her hotel and assisted battlefield wounded. She became extremely popular among service personnel who raised money for her when she faced destitution after the war.
After her death, she was forgotten for almost a century, but today is celebrated as a woman who successfully combatted racial prejudice.
Her autobiography, Wonderful Adventures of Mrs. Seacole in Many Lands (1857), is one of the earliest autobiographies of a mixed-race woman, although some aspects of its accuracy have been questioned. It has been claimed that Seacole's achievements have been exaggerated for political reasons and a plan to erect a statue of her at St Thomas' Hospital, London, describing her as a "pioneer nurse", has generated controversy.
Mary Seacole was born Mary Jane Grant in Kingston, Jamaica, the daughter of a Scottish soldier in the British Army and a free Jamaican Creole woman. Seacole's mother was a "doctress", a healer who used traditional Caribbean and African herbal remedies. She ran Blundell Hall, a boarding house at 7 East Street, considered one of the best hotels in all Kingston. Here Seacole acquired her nursing skills. Her autobiography says her early experiments in medicine were based on what she learned from her mother while ministering to a doll, then progressing to pets, before helping her mother treat humans.
Seacole was proud of her Scottish ancestry and called herself a Creole, a term that was commonly used in a racially neutral sense or to refer to the children of white settlers. Legally, she was classified as a mulatto, a multiracial person with limited political rights. Seacole emphasised her personal vigour in her autobiography, distancing herself from the contemporary stereotype of the "lazy Creole", She was proud of her black ancestry, writing, "I have a few shades of deeper brown upon my skin which shows me related—and I am proud of the relationship—to those poor mortals whom you once held enslaved, and whose bodies America still owns."
Seacole spent some years in the household of an elderly woman, whom she called her "kind patroness", before returning to her mother. She was treated as a member of her patroness's family and received a good education. As the educated daughter of a Scottish officer and a free black woman with a respectable business, Seacole would have held a high position in Jamaican society.
In about 1821, Seacole visited London, stayed for a year, and visited relatives, the merchant Henriques family. Although London had a number of black people, she records that a companion, a West Indian with skin darker than her own "dusky" shades, was taunted by children.
She returned to London approximately a year later, bringing a "large stock of West Indian pickles and preserves for sale". Her later travels would be as an "unprotected" woman, without a chaperone or sponsor—an unusual practice. Seacole returned to Jamaica in 1825.
She married Edwin Horatio Hamilton Seacole in Kingston on 10 November 1836. Her marriage, from betrothal to widowhood, is described in just nine lines at the conclusion of the first chapter of her autobiography. His middle names are intriguing: Robinson reports the legend in the Seacole family that Edwin was an illegitimate son of Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson and his mistress Emma, Lady Hamilton, who was adopted by Thomas, a local "surgeon, apothecary and man midwife" (Seacole's will indicates that Horatio Seacole was Nelson's godson: she left a diamond ring to her friend, Lord Rokeby, "given to my late husband by his godfather Viscount Nelson", but there was no mention of this godson in Nelson's own will or its codicils. Edwin was a merchant and seems to have had a poor constitution. The newly married couple moved to Black River and opened a provisions store which failed to prosper. They returned to Blundell Hall in the early 1840s. During 1843 and 1844, Seacole suffered a series of personal disasters. She and her family lost much of the boarding house in a fire in Kingston on 29 August 1843. Blundell Hall burned down, and was replaced by New Blundell Hall, which was described as "better than before". Then her husband died in October 1844, followed by her mother. After a period of grief, in which Seacole says she did not stir for days, she composed herself, "turned a bold front to fortune", and assumed the management of her mother's hotel. She put her rapid recovery down to her hot Creole blood, blunting the "sharp edge of [her] grief" sooner than Europeans who she thought "nurse their woe secretly in their hearts". She absorbed herself into work, declining many offers of marriage. She later became widely known and respected, particularly among the European military visitors to Jamaica who often stayed at Blundell Hall.
She treated patients in the cholera epidemic of 1850, which killed some 32,000 Jamaicans. Seacole attributed the outbreak to infection brought on a steamer from New Orleans, Louisiana, demonstrating knowledge of contagion theory. This first-hand experience would benefit her during the next five years.
She records a white American giving a speech at a dinner in which he wished that "God bless the best yaller woman he ever made" and asked the listeners to join with him in rejoicing that "she's so many shades removed from being entirely black". He went on to say that "if we could bleach her by any means we would [...] and thus make her acceptable in any company[,] as she deserves to be". Seacole replied firmly that she did not "appreciate your friend's kind wishes with respect to my complexion. If it had been as dark as any nigger's, I should have been just as happy and just as useful, and as much respected by those whose respect I value." She declined the offer of "bleaching" and drank "to you and the general reformation of American manners". Salih notes the use of American pidgin, against Seacole's clear English, as representational of a supposed white moral and intellectual superiority. Seacole also comments on the positions of responsibility taken on by escaped American slaves in Panama, as well as in the priesthood, the army, and public offices, commenting that "it is wonderful to see how freedom and equality elevate men".
This female Cowbird refused to repent her sins. She will pay for them in The Underworld.
Brown-headed Cowbird (Molothrus ater)
Adult Female
Family: Blackbirds
Patapsco Valley SP--JMC Quadrant
Baltimore, MD
2015/03/20
Refuse Fascism NO FASCIST TAKEOVER OF DC! March Step-Off from Dupont Circle into the 1300 block of Connecticut Avenue, NW, Washington DC on Saturday afternoon, 16 August 2025 by Elvert Barnes Photography
Visit REFUSE FASCISM website at refusefascism.org/events/scenes-from-august-16-march-to-t...
SUMMER 2025 TRUMP'S TAKEOVER OF WASHINGTON DC Project
Elvert Barnes Protests Photography 2025 at elvertxbarnes.com/protests
Elvert Barnes August 2025 at exbphoto.com/2025
January 22, 2011
I bought my first pair of skinny jeans a few days ago. I’ve been actively denying that that’s the new style and refusing to get some of my own for quite some time. I still don’t like the look with regular shoes, converse, etc., but I think I’d be ok with flip-flops in the summer and surrounding warmer months, and I’ve definitely become a fan of them with boots.
And so, after looking around to find a really good deal that probably would never exist, at least not before it’s too warm to wear boots, I finally found a pair that I liked well enough to actually spend some money on. Now, they were only like $35, but I’m big on getting good deals on shoes in particular, and waiting until I find something between $5 and $15. But that only works because I’m the kind of person who rarely just has to have a certain pair of shoes. If I find something I love and it happens to be a great deal, I’ll buy it, even if it’s something I don’t particularly need. So far it’s worked really well. I was hoping for something closer to $20 for the boots, but in this case I actually did need at least something to make the purchase of the jeans worthwhile. And I guess I’m just not a patient enough person to wait til summer and hope I’m still ok with the flip-flop look.
When I came home with the boots Ana was slightly miffed, if you will, because they’re almost exactly the same style of boots she has. In fact, we got them at the same place, and I’m sure they’re the same brand. Hers have one more buckle, none of which you can see in the picture, but there’s one around the ankle and supposed to be one around the top. I actually took that one off, which was easy to do cause it was basically a belt weaved through belt loops. I actually was hoping to find a pair with just an ankle buckle, and I figured it would make Ana a bit happier. Hers also don’t have heals at all. But all the straps are basically the same, they’re both black and the same sort of suede texture. After feeling somewhat bad about it, I come to find out that they’re actually exactly the same as Rachel’s boots, only Rachel’s are a different texture. And she got hers first. No longer feeling bad.
Suddenly early this Sunday morning, Cory began to act very ill. She sat hunched over in an odd position and refused to allow any of us to touch her. She wasn't eating or drinking and this was odd behavior from a cat who will eat anything from dog food to lettuce to bugs. We ran out and bought her some wet cat food and spoon fed her. She ate, drank some water and perked up a little, but she's not back to normal. We tried calling vets all over the area and no one had any appointments available until August! We finally found one that can take her tomorrow morning. The left side of her jaw is swollen and I can feel a small (smaller than a marble) lump within the swollen area. She is allowing me to touch it today when she didn't yesterday and is letting us pet her and hold her. She's purring. She's hungry and eating small amounts of wet food at a time and drinking.
She's an indoor cat and in 8 years she has never been sick so of course we're freaking out a bit. She has a bad habit of stealing the dog's food which is dry Kibbles and Bits. Each piece is large, so she takes one nugget at a time and cracks it like a nut with her teeth before she can eat it. I am thinking (and hoping against hope) that she has a tooth abcess. A nice curable tooth abcess. I can't tell my kids if it's anything else. I just can't.