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U.S. Veterans protesting Trump policies. This image was taken in Vero Beach, Florida with my ancient Apple 8 Plus which was the only camera I had on hand.
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Photograph taken at an altitude of Fifty three metres at 07:11am on Monday 8th February 2021, during the beauty of a frosty Golden hour around sunrise (Sunrise was at precisely 06:52am), off Woolwich Road A206 and New Road in the grounds of Lesnes Abbey Woods in the London Borough of Bexley, England.
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Nikon D850 Hand held with Tamron VR vibration reduction enabled on setting One. Focal length 600mm Shutter speed: 1/15s Aperture f/10.0 ISO640 Image area FX (36 x 24) NEF RAW L (8256 x 5504). NEF RAW L (14 bit uncompressed) Focus mode AF-C focus. AF-C Priority Selection: Release. Nikon Back button focusing enabled. Auto ISO 3D Tracking watch area: Normal 55 Tracking points.AF-Area mode single point & 73 point switchable. Exposure mode: Manual mode. Matrix metering. White balance on: Auto1 (4690K). Colour space: RGB. Vignette control: Normal. Picture control: Auto (Sharpening A +1/Clarity A+1)
Tamron SP 150-600mm F/5-6.3 Di VC USD G2. Lee SW150 MKII filter holder. Lee SW150 95mm screw in adapter ring. Lee SW150 circular polariser glass filter. Lee SW150 Filters field pouch. Nikon GP-1 GPS module. Hoodman HEYENRG round eyepiece oversized eyecup. Mcoplus professional MB-D850 multi function battery grip 6960.Two Nikon EN-EL15a batteries (Priority to battery in Battery grip). Black Rapid Curve Breathe strap. My Memory 128GB Class 10 SDXC 80MB/s card. Lowepro Flipside 400 AW camera bag.
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LATITUDE: N 51d 29m 11.90s
LONGITUDE: E 0d 8m 15.28s
ALTITUDE: 53.0m
RAW (TIFF) FILE: 130.00MB NEF: 93.1MB
PROCESSED (JPeg) FILE: 68.00MB
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Kingston Police Horse 'Murney' and Constable Groenewegen. Very popular at events around the City of Kingston.
A short walk south down Centre Street from the site of the parsonage, at the corner of Hobart Street, is the site of Ingersoll’s ordinary (or tavern). Nathaniel Ingersoll was one of the most respected members of the Salem Village community. His tavern/inn was located at a bend on the Andover Road (today Centre Street), a convenient stop for travelers and a gathering center for the village. The earliest part of the building that stands here today was built circa 1670. According to historian Charles Upham, in 1692, the Ingersoll garden abutted the parsonage orchards. Upham also describes the Ingersoll property with a separate dwelling house from the ordinary, as well as the town’s watch house, where sentinels guarded against Native American attack. Ingersoll lived on this property for seventy years.
The first three to be accused of witchcraft in 1692 – Tituba, Sarah Osborne (alternate spellings Osburn, Osborn, Osbourne), and Sarah Good were scheduled to be examined here on March 1, but so many people turned up to witness the event that it had to be moved down the road to the meetinghouse to accommodate the crowd. Nevertheless, the attendees spent lots of money for tavern refreshments that day – on food, cider, and rum.
Both examinations and afflictions took place on this land. In mid-March, Deodat Lawson witnessed the afflicted Mary Walcott at the ordinary, with self-inflicted teeth marks on her wrist. Rebecca Nurse was also held here before her examination, as was Dorothy Good. It was here that John Indian became afflicted when Elizabeth Cary from Charlestown came to town to defend herself against witchcraft accusations. Wilmott Redd of Marblehead was also examined here.
On March 28, William Rayment and Daniel Elliot were at Ingersoll’s tavern with some of the afflicted girls. The two men, along with Nathaniel Ingersoll’s wife Hannah, heard the girls claim to see the specter of Goody Proctor. Oddly, the accusers were almost casual about it and did not act in their usual dramatic fashion. One said of Proctor, “Goody Proctor, old witch, I’ll have her hang.” When scolded by Hannah Ingersoll for these words, one of the girls admitted to acting out “for sport, they must have some sport.”
April 21 saw another disturbing event at the ordinary, when Nathaniel’s adopted son Benjamin Hutchinson struck with his sword at a place where Abigail Hobbs claimed the specter of George Burroughs was seen. According to Hobbs, the specter turned into a cat, only to be picked up by the specter of Sarah Good. Hobbs’s dramatic visions ended with the sighting of a huge gathering of witches out on the hill.
Nathaniel Ingersoll was born circa 1633. When his father Richard died, the 11-year-old Ingersoll inherited 75 acres of land. While still a boy, he went to live with his father’s friend Governor Endecott on Endecott’s 300-acre country estate, Orchard Farm, where he was employed as a “servant” for four years. More like an apprenticeship, this employment readied him for taking on his own home and farm when older.
Nathaniel Ingersoll married Hannah Collins around the age of nineteen, approximately the same time he started his own farm. The couple had one daughter, who died young. Neighbor Joseph Hutchinson, the father of several sons, agreed that the Ingersolls could adopt one of his boys, Benjamin, and raise him as their own.
Historian Charles Upham calls Nathaniel Ingersoll “the Father of the Village.” He was a Lieutenant in the militia and one of two deacons of the church – the other was his good friend Edward Putnam, the brother of Thomas Putnam.
Ingersoll was reportedly fair, honest, and generous. One example of this is evident in the records regarding Reverend George Burroughs’s return to Salem Village from Maine in May of 1683. Burroughs came to settle his outstanding debts (among them, the funeral costs of his first wife, loaned to him by Captain John Putnam with whom he had initially lodged) and in turn receive his back pay. Despite his voluntary return, John Putnam had him arrested when he arrived in Salem Village. The marshal was instructed to present him with a list of debts owed. Ingersoll arose and said to Putnam, “To my knowledge you and Mr. Burroughs have reckoned and balanced accounts two or three times since, as you say, this money was due, and you never made any mention of it when you reckoned with Mr. Burroughs.” Despite this defense, and Putnam’s acknowledgement of the facts, Burroughs was held overnight at Ingersoll’s ordinary, under guard. Six villagers, led by Nathaniel Ingersoll, posted bail for his release. The case was finally settled by late June. Nine years later, Burroughs was accused of witchcraft and executed on August 19, 1692.
In 1701, Nathaniel Ingersoll gave land to the village on which to build the second meetinghouse: “it shall stand on Watch-House Hill, before Deacon Ingersoll’s door.” Before the new meetinghouse was built, the “elevated spot” was levelled and cleared.
Nathaniel Ingersoll died in 1719 at the age of 85. He remembered his many relatives in his will, and deeded property for a training field to the town.
Additional note: Nathaniel Ingersoll’s father’s friend Governor John Endecott was the longest-serving Governor of Massachusetts Bay Colony: he was the 1st, 10th, 13th, 15th, and 17th governor, serving portions of 1629-1664. His Orchard Farm was located in present-day Danversport. The Endecott Pear Tree, which still stands, was planted in its current location by Endecott between 1632 and 1649, and is thought to have been brought from England on the Arabella in 1630. It is America’s oldest cultivated tree.
Additional note: A notable descendant of Nathaniel Ingersoll is Nathaniel Bowditch (1773-1838), the eminent mathematician known as the father of modern maritime navigation, whose The New Practical Navigator is used to this day.
salemwitchmuseum.com/locations/ingersolls-ordinary/
Nathaniel Ingersoll was born 1632 Salem, Essex Co, MA, and was mentioned in his father's (Richard Ingersoll) will as the youngest son. He married to Hannah Collins, 25 March 1657 at Salem. [1] Nathaniel was chosen deacon of the church at Salem Village 24 Nov 1689 and at the same time he was a Lieutenant and inn-holder. He played an active part in the witchcraft delusion in 1692. [2]
Nathaniel Ingersoll was an important figure in Salem, and many of the early meetings and events of the Salem Witch Trials occurred at his home/tavern since church meetings were held at his home. He participated in the trials themselves, as well. [3] [4]
www.wikitree.com/wiki/Ingersoll-57
Nathaniel Ingersoll (1632-1718) was born in Salem to Richard and Ann Ingersoll, who arrived to Salem in 1629 from Bedfordshire England. Ingersoll and his family ran an “ordinary” – the 17th century term for a local tavern – which was the social center of the community of Salem Village, then an agricultural village of Salem Town. The estate even had a watch tower for citizens to watch for Native American attacks from the forest.
During the Salem Witch Trials of 1692, those accused of witchcraft were brought to the Ordinary before their initial hearings and held in an upstairs room. Originally, the hearings themselves – with accusers throwing themselves on the ground in front of the judges, screaming, and claiming to see the “specters” of the accused torturing them – were to be held in the barroom as county court sessions were. Due to the large crowds that wanted to watch the spectacle, the hearings were moved down the road to the meetinghouse (see past post), but afterwards the judges and spectators returned to the tavern for lunch and drinks. John Indian, Reverend Samuel Parris’ slave and husband of Tituba, the first accused and killed of witchcraft, worked the bar sometimes for Ingersoll, and he would show off scars on his arm to out-of-towners who passed through, bragging that he got them when he was attacked by witches. The barroom at Ingersoll’s is also where one of the accusers admitted that they were accusing and sending innocent people to their deaths for nothing but “sport.”
When Nathaniel Ingersoll died in 1718, the estate was sold and operated as a tavern through the 1700s and into the 1800s under different owners. Due to its proximity to the militia training field, it was frequented by the men who later marched from Danvers to confront the British soldiers on the day of the Battle of Lexington and Concord. The home eventually became the parsonage of the First Church of Danvers and remained as such until about 1970, when the home was acquired as a private home.
buildingsofnewengland.com/2020/05/12/ingersolls-ordinary-...
Historical Significance (include explanation of themes checked above)
Here Nathaniel Ingersoil, lieutenant of the militia and first deacon of
the Village Church, kept a tavern "saling beere, slder, lickers, and provision" to travelers. His house was the "headquarters of the village" where military, civic, and prayer meetings were held, and such persons as Increase & Cotton Mather entertained. On the surcdnding grounds, witchcraft came to Salem
Village in 1692, and persons accused of being witches were examined by Magis- trates Jonathan Corwln and John Hathorne in Ingersoil1 s Ordinary.
Deacon Ingersoil died in 1719, and the house was conveyed to Joseph Cross, mariner of Salem in 1736. About 1753 Cross made extensive repairs on the Old house. The house was licensed as a tavern from 1751 - 1793. In 1302,the house wassold toMa.1.Gen.Ebenezer Goodale whokept a large butchering business, and occupied the house for 30 years. Goodale did not get along well with his neighbors and the area became somewhat run down. The First Church purchased the house for a parsonage in May 1332, and it was used for this purpose until the late 1966«s. Many religious and civil organizations met here during its use as a parsonage.
10. Bibliography and/or references (such as local histories, deeds, assessor's records, early maps,etc.)
Priest, George F., "Salem Village Parsonage"
Pratt, Annette,
Upham, Charles P . caxem Witchcraft Boston, 1367, v o l , 1 S.IS5-179
Tapley, Harriet, Perley, Sidney,
"Old Tavern Days in Danvers: Danvers. Hist Soc C„ n Danvers, 1920, vol.8, p.7-Q *"o 1 1 ,
"Center of Salem Village"in 1700"
)anvers Hist,S_oc^oll^Danvers 1019, vol 7 o 38-39
blob:https://mhc-macris.net/b3643391-a74f-4a74-8b8b-70e3404ba9b2
In a village where time seemed to sigh, stood an old stone house, marked by a century of seasons and silent dialogues with the river. Its walls bore the memory of a thousand winds and a dozen winters, each crack a delicate thread in a tapestry of patience.
The house held the light with unusual delicacy. At dawn, the stones shone as if breathing gently, their rough surfaces catching the first blush of day and transforming it into a warm, patient welcome.
Around midday, rays of sunlight filtered through the small panes, painting golden patterns on the wood and casting shadows across the floor smoothed by generations.
As evening fell, the canal became a silent mirror, reflecting the stoic beauty of the house and the silhouettes of the boats. The air smelled of earth and fern, and a distant church bell tolled to the heartbeats of the residents.
In this small nexus of stone, water, and sky, every moment was pure beauty, and to experience it meant living more fully, more kindly, and more courageously.
⁛ Where walls remember, and every moment breathes courage.
© 2025 Lorrie Agapi. All rights reserved.
My heart, my words. Please respect them.
Everything I share here comes from my own soul and my own journey.
Please don’t copy or rewrite my texts as your own.
Your own voice deserves its own space.
Happy Belated Birthday Dr. Proteau!
We're having a potluck today for a Post-Valentines/Pre-Chinese New Year/Belated Birthday for Gerald celebration. I decided to both respect Lakshmi's strict eggless Friday rule (cuz she's such a sweetie) and to make something light and decadent for the gathering (a birthday requires a cake, no?).
I also decided to pay tribute to the crazy amounts of snow we've been bombarded with recently, and decided to top things off with something white, fluffy and aromatic.
Layers of moist and light eggless chocolate cake sandwiches a thin layer of chocolate frosting, which was topped with a generous blanket coconut buttercream frosting.
I cut the cake into 1 1/2-inch cubes and placed them into liner cups for ease of service while we all swarm the food offerings later.
Eggless Chocolate Cake
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups white sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
3/4 cup vegetable oil
2 tablespoons distilled white vinegar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups cold water
1) Sift together the flour, sugar, salt, baking soda, and cocoa. Make three wells in the mound.
2) Pour oil into one well, vinegar into the second, and vanilla into the third well.
3) Pour cold water over everything, then stir until well mixed.
4) Pour batter into a 9 x 13 inch ungreased cake pan and bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 30 to 35 minutes, or until tooth pick inserted comes out clean.
Coconut Buttercream Frosting
1-1/2 sticks butter, room temperature
1/4 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups icing sugar
1 cup coconut, sweetened flaked
1. Lightly beat butter.
2. Lightly beat, in vanilla and milk. Then beat in the sifted icing sugar. Beat until smooth.
3. Add coconut and mix until combined.
Also seen on: www.chocolatechipped.com//2008/07/summertime-pick-me-up-t...
I realized that cutting people from my life doesn’t mean I hate them, it simply means, I respect me.
Snowdonia, or Eryri is a mountainous region and national park in North Wales. It contains all 15 mountains in Wales over 3000 feet high, including the country's highest, Snowdon (Yr Wyddfa), which is 1,085 metres (3,560 ft) tall. These peaks are all part of the Snowdon, Glyderau, and Carneddau ranges in the north of the region. The shorter Moelwynion and Moel Hebog ranges lie immediately to the south.
The national park has an area of 823 square miles (2,130 km2) (the fourth-largest in the UK), and covers most of central and southern Gwynedd and the western part of Conwy County Borough. This is much larger than the area traditionally considered Snowdonia, and in addition to the five ranges above includes the Rhinogydd, Cadair Idris, and Aran ranges and the Dyfi Hills. It also includes most of the coast between Porthmadog and Aberdyfi. The park was the first of the three national parks of Wales to be designated, in October 1951, and the third in the UK after the Peak District and Lake District, which were established in April and May 1951 respectively. The park received 3.89 million visitors in 2015.
The name Snowdon means 'snow hill' and is derived from the Old English elements snāw and dūn, the latter meaning 'hill'. Snowdonia is simply taken from the name of the mountain.
The origins of Eryri are less clear. Two popular interpretations are that the name is related to eryr, 'eagle', and that it means 'highlands' and is related to the Latin oriri ('to rise'). Although eryri is not any direct form of the word eryr in the meaning 'eagle', it is a plural form of eryr in the meaning 'upland'.
Before the boundaries of the national park were designated, "Snowdonia" was generally used to refer to a smaller upland area of northern Gwynedd centred on the Snowdon massif. The national park covers an area more than twice that size, extending south into the Meirionnydd area.
This difference is apparent in books published before 1951. In George Borrow's 1907 Wild Wales he states that "Snowdon or Eryri is no single hill, but a mountainous region, the loftiest part of which is called Y Wyddfa", making a distinction between the summit of the mountain and the surrounding massif. The Mountains of Snowdonia by H. Carr & G. Lister (1925) defines "Eryri" as "composed of the two cantrefs of Arfon and Arllechwedd, and the two commotes of Nant Conwy and Eifionydd", which corresponds to Caernarfonshire with the exception of southwest Llŷn and the Creuddyn Peninsula. In Snowdonia: The National Park of North Wales (1949), F. J. North states that "When the Committee delineated provisional boundaries, they included areas some distance beyond Snowdonia proper".
Snowdonia National Park, also known as Eryri National Park in English and Parc Cenedlaethol Eryri in Welsh, was established in October 1951. It was the third national park in the United Kingdom, following the Peak District and Lake District in April and May of the same year. It covers 827 square miles (2,140 km2) in the counties of Gwynedd and Conwy, and has 37 miles (60 km) of coastline.
The park is governed by the Snowdonia National Park Authority, which has 18 members: 9 appointed by Gwynedd, 3 by Conwy, and 6 by the Welsh Government to represent the national interest. The authority's main offices are at Penrhyndeudraeth.
The park authority used Snowdonia and Snowdon when referring to the national park and mountain in English until February 2023, when it resolved to primarily use the Welsh names, Eryri and Yr Wyddfa. There will be a transitional period of approximately two years in which the authority will continue to use the English names in parentheses — for example "Yr Wyddfa (Snowdon)" — where the context requires.
Unlike national parks in other countries, national parks in the UK are made up of both public and private lands under a central planning authority. The makeup of land ownership in the national park is as follows:
More than 26,000 people live within the park, of whom 58.6% could speak Welsh in 2011. While most of the land is either open or mountainous land, there is a significant amount of agricultural activity within the park.
The national park does not include the town of Blaenau Ffestiniog, which forms a unique non-designated enclave within the park boundaries. The town was deliberately excluded from the park when it was established because of its slate quarrying industry. The boundaries of the Peak District National Park exclude the town of Buxton and its adjacent limestone quarries for a similar reason.
The geology of Snowdonia is key to the area's character. Glaciation during a succession of ice ages, has carved from a heavily faulted and folded succession of sedimentary and igneous rocks, a distinctive rocky landscape. The last ice age ended only just over 11,500 years ago, leaving a legacy of features attractive to visitors but which have also played a part in the development of geological science and continue to provide a focus for educational visits. Visiting Cwm Idwal in 1841 Charles Darwin realised that the landscape was the product of glaciation. The bedrock dates largely from the Cambrian and Ordovician periods with intrusions of Ordovician and Silurian age associated with the Caledonian Orogeny. There are smaller areas of Silurian age sedimentary rocks in the south and northeast and of Cenozoic era strata on the Cardigan Bay coast though the latter are concealed by more recent deposits. Low grade metamorphism of Cambrian and Ordovician mudstones has resulted in the slates, the extraction of which once formed the mainstay of the area's economy.
The principal ranges of the traditional Snowdonia are the Snowdon massif itself, the Glyderau, the Carneddau, the Moelwynion and the Moel Hebog range. All of Wales' 3000ft mountains are to be found within the first three of these massifs and are most popular with visitors. To their south within the wider national park are the Rhinogydd and the Cadair Idris and Aran Fawddwy ranges. Besides these well-defined areas are a host of mountains which are less readily grouped though various guidebook writers have assigned them into groups such as the 'Arenigs', the 'Tarrens' and the 'Dyfi hills'.
Snowdon's summit at 1085 metres (3560 feet) is the highest in Wales and the highest in Britain south of the Scottish Highlands. At 905 metres (2970 feet) Aran Fawddwy is the highest in Wales outside of northern Snowdonia; Cadair Idris, at 893 metres (2930 feet), is next in line.
Rivers draining the area empty directly into Cardigan Bay are typically short and steep. From north to south they include the Glaslyn and Dwyryd which share a common estuary, the Mawddach and its tributaries the Wnion and the Eden, the smaller Dysynni and on the park's southern margin the Dyfi. A series of rivers drain to the north coast. Largest of these is the Conwy on the park's eastern margin which along with the Ogwen drains into Conwy Bay. Further west the Seiont and Gwyrfai empty into the western end of the Menai Strait. A part of the east of the national park is within the upper Dee (Dyfrydwy) catchment and includes Bala Lake, the largest natural waterbody in Wales. A fuller list of the rivers and tributaries within the area is found at List of rivers of Wales.
There are few natural waterbodies of any size in Wales; Snowdonia is home to most. Besides Bala Lake, a few lakes occupy glacial troughs including Llyn Padarn and Llyn Peris at Llanberis and Tal-y-llyn Lake south of Cadair Idris. Llyn Dinas, Llyn Gwynant, and Llyn Cwellyn to the south and west of Snowdon feature in this category as do Llyn Cowlyd and Llyn Ogwen on the margins of the Carneddau. There are numerous small lakes occupying glacial cirques owing to the former intensity of glacial action in Snowdonia. Known generically as tarns, examples include Llyn Llydaw, Glaslyn and Llyn Du'r Arddu on Snowdon, Llyn Idwal within the Glyderau and Llyn Cau on Cadair Idris.
There are two large wholly man-made bodies of water in the area, Llyn Celyn and Llyn Trawsfynydd whilst numerous of the natural lakes have had their levels artificially raised to different degrees. Marchlyn Mawr reservoir and Ffestiniog Power Station's Llyn Stwlan are two cases where natural tarns have been dammed as part of pumped storage hydro-electric schemes. A fuller list of the lakes within the area is found at List of lakes of Wales. In 2023, the park standardised its Welsh language lake names, to be also used in English.
The national park meets the Irish Sea coast within Cardigan Bay between the Dovey estuary in the south and the Dwyryd estuary. The larger part of that frontage is characterised by dune systems, the largest of which are Morfa Dyffryn and Morfa Harlech. These two locations have two of the largest sand/shingle spits in Wales. The major indentations of the Dovey, the Mawddach and Dwyryd estuaries, have large expanses of intertidal sands and coastal marsh which are especially important for wildlife: see #Natural history. The northern tip of the national park extends to the north coast of Wales at Penmaen-bach Point, west of Conwy, where precipitous cliffs have led to the road and railway negotiating the spot in tunnels.
There are only three towns within the park boundary, though there are several more immediately beyond it. Dolgellau is the most populous followed by Bala on the eastern boundary and then Harlech overlooking Tremadog Bay. More populous than these is the town of Blaenau Ffestiniog, which is within an exclave, that is to say it is surrounded by the national park but excluded from it, whilst the towns of Tywyn and Barmouth on the Cardigan Bay coast are within coastal exclaves. Llanrwst in the east, Machynlleth in the south and Porthmadog and Penrhyndeudraeth in the west are immediately beyond the boundary but still identified with the park; indeed the last of these hosts the headquarters of the Snowdonia National Park Authority. Similarly the local economies of the towns of Conwy, Bethesda, and Llanberis in the north are inseparably linked to the national park as they provide multiple visitor services. The lower terminus of the Snowdon Mountain Railway is at Llanberis. Though adjacent to it, Llanfairfechan and Penmaenmawr are less obviously linked to the park.
There are numerous smaller settlements within the national park: prominent amongst these are the eastern 'gateway' village of Betws-y-Coed, Aberdyfi on the Dovey (Dyfi) estuary and the small village of Beddgelert each of which attract large numbers of visitors. Other sizeable villages are Llanuwchllyn at the southwest end of Bala Lake (Llyn Tegid), Dyffryn Ardudwy, Corris, Trawsfynydd, Llanbedr, Trefriw and Dolwyddelan.
Six primary routes serve Snowdonia, the busiest of which is the A55, a dual carriageway which runs along the north coast and provides strategic road access to the northern part of the national park. The most important north–south route within the park is the A470 running from the A55 south past Betws-y-Coed to Blaenau Ffestiniog to Dolgellau. It exits the park a few miles to the southeast near Mallwyd. From Dolgellau, the A494 runs to Bala whilst the A487 connects with Machynlleth. The A487 loops around the northwest of the park from Bangor via Caernarfon to Porthmadog before turning in land to meet the A470 east of Maentwrog. The A5 was built as a mail coach road by Thomas Telford between London and Holyhead; it enters the park near Pentrefoelas and leaves it near Bethesda. Other A class roads provide more local links; the A493 down the Dovey valley from Machynlleth and up the coast to Tywyn then back up the Mawddach valley to Dolgellau, the A496 from Dolgellau down the north side of the Mawddach to Barmouth then north up the coast via Harlech to Maentwrog. The A4212 connecting Bala with Trawsfynydd is relatively modern having been laid out in the 1960s in connection with the construction of Llyn Celyn. Three further roads thread their often twisting and narrow way through the northern mountains; A4085 links Penrhyndeudraeth with Caernarfon, the A4086 links Capel Curig with Caernarfon via Llanberis and the A498 links Tremadog with the A4086 at Pen-y-Gwryd. Other roads of note include that from Llanuwchllyn up Cwm Cynllwyd to Dinas Mawddwy via the 545 metre (1788') high pass of Bwlch y Groes, the second highest tarmacked public road in Wales and the minor road running northwest and west from Llanuwchllyn towards Bronaber via the 531 metre (1742') high pass of Bwlch Pen-feidiog.
The double track North Wales Coast Line passes along the northern boundary of the park between Conwy and Bangor briefly entering it at Penmaen-bach Point where it is in tunnel. Stations serve the communities of Conwy, Penmaenmawr, Llanfairfechan and Bangor. The single-track Conwy Valley Line runs south from Llandudno Junction, entering the park north of Betws-y-coed which is served by a station then west up the Lledr valley by way of further stations at Pont-y-pant, Dolwyddelan and Roman Bridge. After passing through a tunnel the passenger line now terminates at Blaenau Ffestiniog railway station. Prior to 1961 the route continued as the Bala and Ffestiniog Railway via Trawsfynydd to Bala joining another former route along the Dee valley which ran southwest via Dolgellau to join the still extant coastal Cambrian Line south of Barmouth. The Pwllheli branch of the Cambrian Line splits from the Aberystwyth branch at Dovey Junction and continues via stations at Aberdovey, Tywyn, Tonfanau, Llwyngwril, Fairbourne and Morfa Mawddach to Barmouth where it crosses the Mawddach estuary by the Grade II* listed wooden Barmouth Bridge, a structure which also provides for walkers and cyclists. Further stations serve Llanaber, Tal-y-bont, Dyffryn Ardudwy, Llanbedr, Pensarn and Llandanwg before reaching Harlech. Tygwyn, Talsarnau and Llandecwyn stations are the last before the line exits the park as it crosses the Dwyryd estuary via Pont Briwet and turns westwards bound for Pwllheli via Penrhyndeudraeth, Porthmadog and Criccieth.
Many sections of dismantled railway are now used by walking and cycling routes and are described elsewhere. The Bala Lake Railway is a heritage railway which has been established along a section of the former mainline route between Bala and Llanuwchllyn. Other heritage railways occupy sections of former mineral lines, often narrow gauge and are described in a separate section.
The national park is served by a growing bus network, branded Sherpa'r Wyddfa (formerly Snowdon Sherpa). Together with the TrawsCymru network of buses this provides a car-free option to tourists and locals wishing to travel across the National Park.
The network was relaunched in July 2022 with a new brand, Sherpa'r Wyddfa, to reflect the National Park's new push for the promotion of Welsh place names. As such the publicity and websites for the newly branded service only use these Welsh names, even for English language users.
Snowdonia is one of the wettest parts of the United Kingdom; Crib Goch in Snowdonia is the wettest spot in the United Kingdom, with an average rainfall of 4,473 millimetres (176.1 in) a year over the 30-year period prior to the mid-2000s. (There is a rainfall gauge at 713 metres, 2340' on the slopes below Crib Goch.)
The earliest evidence for human occupation of the area dates from around 4000–3000 BCE with extensive traces of prehistoric field systems evident in the landscape. Within these are traces of irregular enclosures and hut circles. There are burial chambers of Neolithic and Bronze Age such as Bryn Cader Faner and Iron Age hillforts such as Bryn y Castell near Ffestiniog.
The region was finally conquered by the Romans by AD 77–78. Remains of Roman marching camps and practice camps are evident. There was a Roman fort and amphitheatre at Tomen y Mur. Roads are known to have connected with Segontium (Caernarfon) and Deva Victrix (Chester) and include the northern reaches of Sarn Helen.
There are numerous memorial stones of Early Christian affinity dating from the post-Roman period. The post-Roman hillfort of Dinas Emrys also dates to this time. Churches were introduced to the region in the 5th and 6th centuries. Llywelyn the Great and Llywelyn ap Gruffudd had various stone castles constructed to protect their borders and trade routes. Edward I built several castles around the margins including those at Harlech and Conwy for military and administrative reasons. Most are now protected within a World Heritage Site. Some of Snowdonia's many stone walls date back to this period too. In the Middle Ages, the title Prince of Wales and Lord of Snowdonia (Tywysog Cymru ac Arglwydd Eryri) was used by Llywelyn ap Gruffudd; his grandfather Llywelyn Fawr used the title Prince of north Wales and Lord of Snowdonia.
The 18th century saw the start of industrial exploitation of the area's resources, assisted by the appearance in the late part of the century of turnpike trusts making it more accessible. The engineer Thomas Telford left a legacy of road and railway construction in and around Snowdonia. A new harbour at Porthmadog linked to slate quarries at Ffestiniog via a narrow gauge railway. At its peak in the 19th century the slate industry employed around 12,000 men. A further 1000 were employed in stone quarrying at Graiglwyd and Penmaenmawr. Mining for copper, iron and gold was undertaken during the 18th and 19th centuries, leaving a legacy of mine and mill ruins today. Ruins of the gold industry are found at Cefn Coch on the Dolmelynllyn estate.
The Snowdonia Society is a registered charity formed in 1967; it is a voluntary group of people with an interest in the area and its protection.
Amory Lovins led the successful 1970s opposition to stop Rio Tinto digging up the area for a massive mine.
The park's entire coastline is a Special Area of Conservation, which runs from the Llŷn Peninsula down the mid-Wales coast, the latter containing valuable sand dune systems.
The park's natural forests are of the mixed deciduous type, the commonest tree being the Welsh oak. Birch, ash, mountain-ash and hazel are also common. The park also contains some large (planted) coniferous forested areas such as Gwydir Forest near Betws-y-Coed, although some areas, once harvested, are now increasingly being allowed to regrow naturally.
Northern Snowdonia is the only place in Britain where the Snowdon lily (Gagea serotina), an arctic–alpine plant, is found and the only place in the world where the Snowdonia hawkweed Hieracium snowdoniense grows.
One of the major problems facing the park in recent years has been the growth of Rhododendron ponticum. This fast-growing invasive species has a tendency to take over and stifle native species. It can form massive towering growths and has a companion fungus that grows on its roots producing toxins that are poisonous to any local flora and fauna for a seven-year period after the Rhododendron infestations have been eradicated. As a result, there are a number of desolate landscapes.
Mammals in the park include otters, polecats, feral goats, and pine martens. Birds include raven, red-billed chough, peregrine, osprey, merlin and the red kite. The rainbow-coloured Snowdon beetle (Chrysolina cerealis) is only found in northern Snowdonia.
Snowdonia has a particularly high number of protected sites in respect of its diverse ecology; nearly 20% of its total area is protected by UK and European law. Half of that area was set aside by the government under the European Habitats Directive as a Special Area of Conservation. There are a large number of Sites of special scientific interest (or 'SSSIs'), designated both for fauna and flora but also in some cases for geology. Nineteen of these sites are managed as national nature reserves by Natural Resources Wales. The park also contains twelve Special Areas of Conservation (or 'SACs'), three Special Protection Areas (or 'SPAs') and three Ramsar sites. Some are wholly within the park boundaries, others straddle it to various degrees.
There are numerous SSSIs within the park, the most extensive of which are Snowdonia, Migneint-Arenig-Dduallt, Morfa Harlech, Rhinog, Berwyn, Cadair Idris, Llyn Tegid, Aber Mawddach / Mawddach Estuary, Dyfi, Morfa Dyffryn, Moel Hebog, Coedydd Dyffryn Ffestiniog and Coedydd Nanmor.
The following NNRs are either wholly or partly within the park: Allt y Benglog, Y Berwyn (in multiple parts), Cader Idris, Ceunant Llennyrch, Coed Camlyn, Coed Cymerau, Coed Dolgarrog, Coed Ganllwyd, Coed Gorswen, Coed Tremadog, Coedydd Aber, Coedydd Maentwrog (in 2 parts), Coed y Rhygen, Cwm Glas Crafnant, Cwm Idwal, Hafod Garregog, Morfa Harlech, Rhinog and Snowdon.
The twelve SACs are as follows: Snowdonia SAC which covers much of the Carneddau, Glyderau, and the Snowdon massif, Afon Gwyrfai a Llyn Cwellyn, Corsydd Eifionydd / Eifionydd Fens (north of Garndolbenmaen), the Coedydd Derw a Safleoedd Ystlumod Meirion / Meirionydd Oakwoods and Bat Sites - a series of sites between Tremadog, Trawsfynydd, and Ffestiniog and Beddgelert and extending up the Gwynant. It also includes many of the oakwoods of the Mawddach and its tributaries. Afon Eden – Cors Goch Trawsfynydd, Rhinog, Cadair Idris (in 2 parts), Migneint-Arenig-Dduallt, River Dee and Afon Dyfrdwy a Llyn Tegid (Wales), Mwyngloddiau Fforest Gwydir / Gwydyr Forest Mines (north of Betws-y-Coed) and a part of the Berwyn a Mynyddoedd De Clwyd / Berwyn and South Clwyd Mountains SAC. The Pen Llyn a'r Sarnau / Lleyn Peninsula and the Sarnau SAC covers the entire Cardigan Bay coastline of the park and the sea area and extends above the high water mark at Morfa Harlech, Mochras and around the Dovey and Mawddach estuaries.
The three SPAs are Dovey Estuary / Aber Dyfi (of which a part is within the park), Berwyn (of which a part is within the park) and Migneint-Arenig-Dduallt.
The three designated Ramsar sites are the Dyfi Biosphere (Cors Fochno and Dyfi), Cwm Idwal and Llyn Tegid (Bala Lake).
The area's economy was traditionally centred upon farming and from the early 19th century increasingly on mining and quarrying. Tourism has become an increasingly significant part of Snowdonia's economy during the 20th and 21st centuries.
The extensive farming of sheep remains central to Snowdonia's farming economy.
Significant sections of the park were afforested during the 20th century for timber production. Major conifer plantations include Dyfi Forest, Coed y Brenin Forest between Dolgellau and Trawsfynydd, Penllyn Forest south of Bala, Beddgelert Forest and Gwydyr (or Gwydir) Forest near Betws-y-Coed which is managed as a forest park by Natural Resources Wales.
The region was once the most important producer of slate in the world. Some production continues but at a much reduced level from its peak. The park boundaries are drawn such that much of the landscape affected by slate quarrying and mining lies immediately outside of the designated area.
Construction of a nuclear power station beside Llyn Trawsfynydd began in 1959 with the first power produced in 1965. The site was operational until 1991 though it continues as an employer during its decommissioning phase. Pumped storage hydroelectric schemes are in operation at Llanberis and Ffestiniog.
Research indicates that there were 3.67 million visitors to Snowdonia National Park in 2013, with approximately 9.74 million tourist days spent in the park during that year. Total tourist expenditure was £433.6 million in 2013.
Many of the hikers in the area concentrate on Snowdon itself. It is regarded as a fine mountain, but at times gets very crowded; in addition the Snowdon Mountain Railway runs to the summit.
The other high mountains with their boulder-strewn summits as well as Tryfan, one of the few mountains in the UK south of Scotland whose ascent needs hands as well as feet are also very popular. However, there are also some spectacular walks in Snowdonia on the lower mountains, and they tend to be relatively unfrequented. Among hikers' favourites are Y Garn (east of Llanberis) along the ridge to Elidir Fawr; Mynydd Tal-y-Mignedd (west of Snowdon) along the Nantlle Ridge to Mynydd Drws-y-Coed; Moelwyn Mawr (west of Blaenau Ffestiniog); and Pen Llithrig y Wrach north of Capel Curig. Further south are Y Llethr in the Rhinogydd, and Cadair Idris near Dolgellau.
The park has 1,479 miles (2,380 km) of public footpaths, 164 miles (264 km) of public bridleways, and 46 miles (74 km) of other public rights of way. A large part of the park is also covered by right to roam laws.
The Wales Coast Path runs within the park between Machynlleth and Penrhyndeudraeth, save for short sections of coast in the vicinity of Tywyn and Barmouth which are excluded from the park. It touches the park boundary again at Penmaen-bach Point on the north coast. An inland alternative exists between Llanfairfechan and Conwy, wholly within the park. The North Wales Path, which predates the WCP, enters the park north of Bethesda and follows a route broadly parallel to the north coast visiting Aber Falls and the Sychnant Pass before exiting the park on the descent from Conwy Mountain. The Cambrian Way is a long-distance trail between Cardiff and Conwy that stays almost entirely within the national park from Mallwyd northwards. It was officially recognised in 2019, and is now depicted on Ordnance Survey maps.
The use of the English names for the area has been divisive, with an increase in protests against their use since 2020; these led to the national park authority deciding to use Welsh names as far as legally possible in November 2022. An early example of pressure to deprecate Snowdon and Snowdonia was a 2003 campaign by Cymuned, inspired by campaigns to refer to Ayers Rock as Uluru and Mount Everest as Qomolangma.
In 2020 an e-petition calling for the removal of the English names was put forward to the Senedd, but rejected as responsibility lies with the national park authority. In 2021 an e-petition on the same topic attracted more than 5,300 signatures and was presented to the national park authority.
On 28 April 2021 Gwynedd councillor John Pughe Roberts put forward a motion to use the Welsh names exclusively, calling this a "question of respect for the Welsh language". The motion was not considered and delayed, as the national park authority already appointed a "Welsh Place Names Task and Finish Group" to investigate the issue. The park authority however cannot compel other bodies and/or individuals to stop using the English names, with the proposals facing some criticism.
In May 2021, following the dismissal of the motion, YouGov conducted a poll on Snowdon's name. 60% of Welsh adults supported the English name Snowdon, compared to 30% wanting the Welsh name Yr Wyddfa. Separating by language, 59% of Welsh speakers preferred the Welsh name, but 37% of these still wanted Snowdon to be used as well. 69% of non-Welsh speakers firmly supported Snowdon as the Mountain's name. The proposals to rename Snowdon are usually accompanied with proposals to rename Snowdonia.
On 16 November 2022, Members of the Snowdonia National Park Authority committee voted to use the Welsh names Yr Wyddfa and Eryri to refer to the mountain and the national park, rather than the English names, in materials produced by the authority. The national park authority described the decision as "decisive action" and the authority's head of culture heritage stated that Welsh place names were part of the area's "special qualities" and that other public bodies, English-language press and filming companies have used the Welsh-language names. Before the decision the park had already prioritised the Welsh names by using them first and giving the English names in parentheses. The name "Snowdonia" cannot be abandoned entirely, as it is set in law and so must be used in statutory documents. The authority announced a review of the authority's branding in 2023 to adapt to the new approach to Welsh place names.
Gwynedd is a county in the north-west of Wales. It borders Anglesey across the Menai Strait to the north, Conwy, Denbighshire, and Powys to the east, Ceredigion over the Dyfi estuary to the south, and the Irish Sea to the west. The city of Bangor is the largest settlement, and the administrative centre is Caernarfon. The preserved county of Gwynedd, which is used for ceremonial purposes, includes the Isle of Anglesey.
Gwynedd is the second largest county in Wales but sparsely populated, with an area of 979 square miles (2,540 km2) and a population of 117,400. After Bangor (18,322), the largest settlements are Caernarfon (9,852), Bethesda (4,735), and Pwllheli (4,076). The county has the highest percentage of Welsh speakers in Wales, at 64.4%, and is considered a heartland of the language.
The geography of Gwynedd is mountainous, with a long coastline to the west. Much of the county is covered by Snowdonia National Park (Eryri), which contains Wales's highest mountain, Snowdon (Yr Wyddfa; 3,560 feet, 1,090 m). To the west, the Llŷn Peninsula is flatter and renowned for its scenic coastline, part of which is protected by the Llŷn AONB. Gwynedd also contains several of Wales's largest lakes and reservoirs, including the largest, Bala Lake (Llyn Tegid).
The area which is now the county has played a prominent part in the history of Wales. It formed part of the core of the Kingdom of Gwynedd and the native Principality of Wales, which under the House of Aberffraw remained independent from the Kingdom of England until Edward I's conquest between 1277 and 1283. Edward built the castles at Caernarfon and Harlech, which form part of the Castles and Town Walls of King Edward in Gwynedd World Heritage Site. During the Industrial Revolution the slate industry rapidly developed; in the late nineteenth century the neighbouring Penrhyn and Dinorwic quarries were the largest in the world, and the Slate Landscape of Northwest Wales is now a World Heritage Site. Gwynedd covers the majority of the historic counties of Caernarfonshire and Merionethshire.
In the past, historians such as J. E. Lloyd assumed that the Celtic source of the word Gwynedd meant 'collection of tribes' – the same root as the Irish fine, meaning 'tribe'. Further, a connection is recognised between the name and the Irish Féni, an early ethnonym for the Irish themselves, related to fían, 'company of hunting and fighting men, company of warriors under a leader'. Perhaps *u̯en-, u̯enə ('strive, hope, wish') is the Indo-European stem. The Irish settled in NW Wales, and in Dyfed, at the end of the Roman era. Venedotia was the Latin form, and in Penmachno there is a memorial stone from c. AD 500 which reads: Cantiori Hic Iacit Venedotis ('Here lies Cantiorix, citizen of Gwynedd'). The name was retained by the Brythons when the kingdom of Gwynedd was formed in the 5th century, and it remained until the invasion of Edward I. This historical name was revived when the new county was formed in 1974.
Gwynedd was an independent kingdom from the end of the Roman period until the 13th century, when it was conquered by England. The modern Gwynedd was one of eight Welsh counties created on 1 April 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972. It covered the entirety of the historic counties of Anglesey and Caernarfonshire, and all of Merionethshire apart from Edeirnion Rural District (which went to Clwyd); and also a few parishes of Denbighshire: Llanrwst, Llansanffraid Glan Conwy, Eglwysbach, Llanddoged, Llanrwst and Tir Ifan.
The county was divided into five districts: Aberconwy, Arfon, Dwyfor, Meirionnydd and Anglesey.
The Local Government (Wales) Act 1994 abolished the 1974 county (and the five districts) on 1 April 1996, and its area was divided: the Isle of Anglesey became an independent unitary authority, and Aberconwy (which included the former Denbighshire parishes) passed to the new Conwy County Borough. The remainder of the county was constituted as a principal area, with the name Caernarfonshire and Merionethshire, as it covers most of the areas of those two historic counties. As one of its first actions, the Council renamed itself Gwynedd on 2 April 1996. The present Gwynedd local government area is governed by Gwynedd Council. As a unitary authority, the modern entity no longer has any districts, but Arfon, Dwyfor and Meirionnydd remain as area committees.
The pre-1996 boundaries were retained as a preserved county for a few purposes such as the Lieutenancy. In 2003, the boundary with Clwyd was adjusted to match the modern local government boundary, so that the preserved county now covers the two local government areas of Gwynedd and Anglesey. Conwy county borough is now entirely within Clwyd.
A Gwynedd Constabulary was formed in 1950 by the merger of the Anglesey, Caernarfonshire and Merionethshire forces. A further amalgamation took place in the 1960s when Gwynedd Constabulary was merged with the Flintshire and Denbighshire county forces, retaining the name Gwynedd. In one proposal for local government reform in Wales, Gwynedd had been proposed as a name for a local authority covering all of north Wales, but the scheme as enacted divided this area between Gwynedd and Clwyd. To prevent confusion, the Gwynedd Constabulary was therefore renamed the North Wales Police.
The Snowdonia National Park was formed in 1951. After the 1974 local authority reorganisation, the park fell entirely within the boundaries of Gwynedd, and was run as a department of Gwynedd County Council. After the 1996 local government reorganisation, part of the park fell under Conwy County Borough, and the park's administration separated from the Gwynedd council. Gwynedd Council still appoints nine of the eighteen members of the Snowdonia National Park Authority; Conwy County Borough Council appoints three; and the Welsh Government appoints the remaining six.
There has been considerable inwards migration to Gwynedd, particularly from England. According to the 2021 census, 66.6% of residents had been born in Wales whilst 27.1% were born in England.
The county has a mixed economy. An important part of the economy is based on tourism: many visitors are attracted by the many beaches and the mountains. A significant part of the county lies within the Snowdonia National Park, which extends from the north coast down to the district of Meirionnydd in the south. But tourism provides seasonal employment and thus there is a shortage of jobs in the winter.
Agriculture is less important than in the past, especially in terms of the number of people who earn their living on the land, but it remains an important element of the economy.
The most important of the traditional industries is the slate industry, but these days only a small percentage of workers earn their living in the slate quarries.
Industries which have developed more recently include TV and sound studios: the record company Sain has its HQ in the county.
The education sector is also very important for the local economy, including Bangor University and Further Education colleges, Coleg Meirion-Dwyfor and Coleg Menai, both now part of Grŵp Llandrillo Menai.
The proportion of respondents in the 2011 census who said they could speak Welsh.
Gwynedd has the highest proportion of people in Wales who can speak Welsh. According to the 2021 census, 64.4% of the population aged three and over stated that they could speak Welsh,[7] while 64.4% noted that they could speak Welsh in the 2011 census.
It is estimated that 83% of the county's Welsh-speakers are fluent, the highest percentage of all counties in Wales.[9] The age group with the highest proportion of Welsh speakers in Gwynedd were those between ages 5–15, of whom 92.3% stated that they could speak Welsh in 2011.
The proportion of Welsh speakers in Gwynedd declined between 1991 and 2001,[10] from 72.1% to 68.7%, even though the proportion of Welsh speakers in Wales as a whole increased during that decade to 20.5%.
The Annual Population Survey estimated that as of March 2023, 77.0% of those in Gwynedd aged three years and above could speak Welsh.
Notable people
Leslie Bonnet (1902–1985), RAF officer, writer; originated the Welsh Harlequin duck in Criccieth
Sir Dave Brailsford (born 1964), cycling coach; grew up in Deiniolen, near Caernarfon
Duffy (born 1984), singer, songwriter and actress; born in Bangor, Gwynedd
Edward II of England (1284–1327), born in Caernarfon Castle
Elin Fflur (born 1984), singer-songwriter, TV and radio presenter; went to Bangor University
Bryn Fôn (born 1954), actor and singer-songwriter; born in Llanllyfni, Caernarfonshire.
Wayne Hennessey (born 1987), football goalkeeper with 108 caps for Wales; born in Bangor, Gwynedd
John Jones (c. 1530 – 1598), a Franciscan friar, Roman Catholic priest and martyr; born at Clynnog
Sir Love Jones-Parry, 1st Baronet (1832–1891), landowner and politician, co-founder of the Y Wladfa settlement in Patagonia
T. E. Lawrence (1888–1935), archaeologist, army officer and inspiration for Lawrence of Arabia, born in Tremadog
David Lloyd George (1863–1945), statesman and Prime Minister; lived in Llanystumdwy from infancy
Sasha (born 1969), disc jockey, born in Bangor, Gwynedd
Sir Bryn Terfel (born 1965), bass-baritone opera and concert singer from Pant Glas
Sir Clough Williams-Ellis (1883–1978), architect of Portmeirion
Owain Fôn Williams, (born 1987), footballer with 443 club caps; born and raised in Penygroes, Gwynedd.
Hedd Wyn (1887–1917), poet from the village of Trawsfynydd; killed in WWI
The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.
Mahatma Gandhi-
Please don't look at me as a "meal".
Look at me with your heart and compassion!
Transporte+Citadino
Corredor de Transporte Público "Santa Rosa Sur"
Comuna de La Pintana
Santiago
Chile
Hola a todos, muy buenas tardes en este primaveral día domingo. Qué mejor que amenizar el día con este interesante texto que Sebastián Arce Padilla, alias Pelao Tatán redacto para el sitio web "El Quinto Poder".
Partamos con una breve reseña, cosecha personal.
El sistema de transportes "Transantiago" ha causado bastantes dolores de cabezas para quiénes vivimos en Santiago, cómo también la contraposición de dos formas de ver el sistema y respectivamente, darle mejoras. Mientras tanto, expertos en ingeniería de transportes señalan que volver al sistema de las "Micros Amarillas" es prácticamente lanzar una bomba atómica sobre esta ciudad, incluyendo lo que muchos ciudadanos de manera silenciosa piensan, que a pesar de las enormes dificultades experimentadas durante los primeros años, de ninguna manera desean volver a esa dictadura amarilla.
El tema en este caso es que como todos sabemos, una nueva administración ha llegado a conducir los hilos del transporte público, con un marcado énfasis en la denominada "flexibilización de malla". Sí, tal como escribí algunas líneas atrás el nuevo énfasis es la llamada competencia. Cosa que a muchos -me incluyo- no nos gusta para nada.
Y es a partir de este texto donde quisiera expresar el porque esta gestión no me gusta para nada.
___________________________________________________________________________
Morandé no tiene idea de dónde va la micro
Escrito por Sebastián Arce Padilla
Hace algunas semanas, el titular de Transportes y Telecomunicaciones, Felipe Morandé, anunció 15 medidas para mejorar el Transantiago, aquel plan de transporte urbano aplicado en Santiago, que desde su implementación ha sido un dolor de cabeza para autoridades, usuarios y trabajadores del transporte. Tanto así que el actual ministro lo califica como "mega error de los gobiernos anteriores".
No haremos el análisis político de quién tiene la culpa o qué cosas fallaron, ya que se ha desperdiciado bastante teclado en eso, con comisiones parlamentarias, opinólogos del transporte público, etc. Mejor, preocupémonos en las ideas anunciadas por el secretario de Estado y cómo estas no calzan con las ideas de "mejor transporte" y más inclusivo:
1) Vamos a iniciar un inédito proceso de participación ciudadana, para responder a lo que necesita la gente, no desde un escritorio, sino con los usuarios.
Esto se realiza desde el diseño del plan, en el 2006. Actualmente el conducto regular empieza por los municipios, que proponen ideas de acuerdo a lo solicitado por los vecinos. Luego, las propuestas se evalúan técnicamente (a través de SECTRA) y luego de calcular la real utilidad del servicio, se crea y sale a la calle. El problema, es que muchas veces los mismos vecinos NO hacen uso del nuevo recorrido, y siguen haciendo transbordos o vueltas absurdas. Hay servicios que luego de siete meses de funcionamiento, recién empiezan a tomar público.
2) Vamos a duplicar la capacidad fiscalizadora, para bajar la evasión.
Mientras no exista un factor disuasivo real, no sacamos mucho con llenar de fiscalizadores. Además, el actual proyecto de ley dejó fuera la propuesta de incluir a evasores en una base de datos tipo DICOM, que los excluyera de recibir beneficios fiscales si son sorprendidos metiéndose a los buses gratis. Y también se deja fuera a la mala utilización de pases escolares, una evasión encubierta, pero más masiva de lo que se cree.
3) Vamos a mejorar 150 recorridos para eliminar los trasbordos innecesarios y obligatorios que tanto afectan a las personas.
El trasbordo es LA forma para hacer más eficiente el transporte público. Sólo basta afinar un poco las frecuencias y enseñarle a la gente a utilizar los buses. No sacamos nada alargar recorridos al lote, ya que eso baja las frecuencias de los buses y dispara los costos operacionales. En treinta años el Metro no ha tenido conexión directa entre Gran Avenida y Estación Central y no he visto a nadie reclamar porque tiene que bajarse en Los Héroes para cambiarse de línea. Y ojo, que en la época de las micros amarillas existían recorridos eternos, que una fracción muy pequeña de pasajeros utilizaba completos.
4) Vamos a avanzar en tener frecuencias fijas durante las noches y los fines de semana. Para limitar los tiempos de espera y que la gente sepa cuánto tiempo puede esperar un recorrido.
Eso se intentó en 2007, el problema es que no existe sistema perfecto y siempre hay factores internos o externos que afectan las frecuencias. Y actualmente las frecuencias en la noche y fines de semana son fijas, pero no se publican abiertamente a los usuarios.
5) Vamos a construir la primera vía rápida del Transantiago, que atravesará 4 comunas para tener viajes más cómodos y directos.
Esta "vía expresa" es nada más ni menos que... Avenida Grecia. Este corredor de buses fue construido por el SERVIU y la Municipalidad de Ñuñoa en 1998 y mejorado para Transantiago entre 2007 y 2008. No tiene mayor sentido realizar una obra que ya está hecha y funcionando al 100%. También hay que avisarle al Ministro que hay hartas vías expresas de Transantiago operando (Pedro Aguirre Cerda-Esquina Blanca, Las Rejas Sur-Suiza, Santa Rosa, Pajaritos Oriente, Anillo Intermedio, Vicuña Mackenna, etc). El problema radica en que este mismo Ministro junto con la Subsecretaria Gloria Hutt anunciaron que se estaban reevaluando la construcción de nuevos corredores en carpeta por el SERVIU (Mapocho, San Pablo, Alameda, Providencia, los tramos pendientes de Las Rejas Norte y Departamental, etc), ya que quieren evitar las peleas con los vecinos por el siempre delicado tema de las expropiaciones.
6) Vamos a completar la renovación de más de 800 buses entre 2010 y 2011 para mejorar la comodidad y seguridad de los viajes, permitiendo una mayor accesibilidad a las personas, especialmente para la tercera edad y personas con movilidad reducida.
La renovación depende ÚNICA Y EXCLUSIVAMENTE de las empresas. En el caso de los troncales, tienen tiempo por contrato hasta diciembre para eliminar los "enchulados". Y los alimentadores, no están obligados a hacer renovación total de flota.
7) Vamos a mejorar la información de los viajes, instalando 10 mil nuevas señales de paradas y distribuyendo 800 mil mapas para mejorar la información sobre los recorridos. Porque sabemos que la señal de parada es hoy el lugar de información más importante para las personas.
En enero se empezó una colocación de cenefas en paradas con información, la cual ya estaría obsoleta según el nuevo Manual de Normas Gráficas, diseñado por la Universidad Católica. O sea, un despilfarro de recursos que da vergüenza ajena. A esto hay que sumar que nuevos diseños de paradas elimina información vital como el punto de término del servicio y el horario de funcionamiento del servicio (hay servicios cortos, expresos o nocturnos que no toda la gente conoce en qué horarios y días funcionan).
8) Vamos a mejorar el diseño de las 120 zonas pagas que hoy existen en la ciudad. Para que los usuarios puedan subir a los buses de manera más rápida y segura.
Promesa que se viene dando desde la administración de René Cortázar, y todavía no hay un proyecto claro de cómo mejorarán el diseño. Lo ideal sería que funcionaran 24 horas y los siete días, pero factores como el vandalismo y la seguridad ponen en duda este proyecto.
9) Vamos a informar por mensajes de textos los horarios de llegada de los buses en todos los troncales y un alimentador para que la gente sepa a qué hora viene el bus que le sirve. Porque sabemos que la gente quiere saber a qué hora viene el bus que necesita; lo que le permite administrar mejor su tiempo y tomar decisiones con certeza.
Este sistema opera desde octubre de 2009, estuvo funcionando para todos los servicios hasta abril, y luego se relanzó como "Plan Piloto". El problema, es que no se guía mucho por los GPS de los buses, sino por la programación previa de los servicios, que no siempre coincide.
10) Vamos a hacer más exigente la medición de las frecuencias asignadas y la regularidad para que terminemos con los “trencitos” de buses que provocan esperas innecesarias de las personas. Para controlar que las empresas cumplan con sus recorridos y horarios y los usuarios reciban un mejor servicio.
Terminar con trencitos y desórdenes de frecuencia a través de fiscalización no es suficiente: hay muchos factores que influyen en esto, pasando por el erróneo cálculo de tiempo de recorrido en algunos servicios, la falta de una infraestructura adecuada, generando que los buses compitan por espacio con los autos, la mala instalación de paraderos sólo por dejar contenta a la gente (hay servicios troncales que tienen un paradero por cuadra, aumentando tiempos de viaje de forma innecesaria), y la falta de compromiso de los conductores por cumplir frecuencias dentro de la ruta. A esto, hay que sumarle que el sistema de gestión de flota no funciona como corresponde, y a pesar que se realizó una licitación internacional para implementar dicha tecnología (la que ganó la alemana IVU, que ha realizado este trabajo en ciudades como Londres), la actual administración está pensando descartar a IVU y dejar dicha gestión a cargo de cada empresa operadora. Sobre esto, ya hay un operador que instaló su sistema paralelo, la empresa SuBus Chile (Troncal 2), que le va informando al conductor a cuánto tiempo va de acuerdo a la programación del bus, pero no ayuda a mantener una regularidad de los tiempos de espera.
11) Iniciaremos la instalación de 670 nuevos refugios en distintos puntos de la ciudad para que la gente tenga esperas más cómodas.
El problema de esto es el vandalismo: algunos paraderos han cumplido el récord de durar 24 horas en buenas condiciones: techos rotos, mapas rayados o tapados de carteles e incluso se roban el metal de los asientos.
12) Vamos a instalar mejor información dentro de los buses para entregar más información a las personas que están viajando y favorecer el acceso de personas con movilidad reducida y tercera edad.
El mismo Manual de Normas Gráficas mencionado en nota anterior indica que los buses no son una buena plataforma de información, debido a que una misma máquina pasa por todos los servicios de una empresa (hay troncales con 40 servicios) y no alcanza para colocar los datos de todos los recorridos.
13) Vamos a ejecutar un macro plan a largo plazo para rediseñar el Transantiago para que el sistema logre ser un proyecto financieramente viable que responde a las necesidades de la gente.
Transantiago más que un rediseño radical, necesita afinar ciertos elementos. Lamentablemente, Morandé pretende cambiar todo en pos de la competencia y reducción de costos, como buen neoliberal. El problema es que esto no busca un mejoramiento en el servicio, sino pregúntenle a quienes sufrieron por el mal servicio de las micros amarillas, donde la competencia y la reducción de costos eran la premisa principal.
14) Vamos a luchar por que este año no suba más la tarifa para que la gente no tenga que pagar demás.
El tema financiamiento ha sido el GRAN problema de Transantiago, pero nadie ha mencionado que una parte importante de la torta se la lleva la AFT, la Administradora Financiera de Transantiago, conformada por los Bancos Estado; Chile; BCI; Santander; CMR Falabella y Sonda, asociación la cual ha funcionado de forma deficiente: la gestión de flota ha funcionado pésimo, las cámaras y medidas de seguridad de los buses no las han implementado. Lo extraño del asunto (y sin ánimo de meterse en chanchullo politiquero), es que SONDA es propiedad de Andrés Navarro, amigo íntimo de Sebastián Piñera y parte de su círculo de asesores personales. Otras cosas que hacen dudar del real estado económico del plan, son algunos gastos innecesarios realizados por este Gobierno, como la aplicación del nuevo Manual de Normas Gráficas (que incluye cambio total de letreros, paradas, información en paradas y buses, etc.), o el pago a artistas callejeros para que musicalicen las Zonas Pagas durante la primera quincena de septiembre.
15) Vamos a seguir trabajando con un equipo profesional de excelencia para tomar buenas decisiones técnicas, operativas y financieras.
A título personal (tanto de quién escribió el artículo como mío), tengo serias dudas sobre la capacidad y la excelencia de los equipos profesionales del Ministerio de Transportes. Si se lanzan ideas como la de eliminar los buses articulados sin argumentos de peso (la excusa del rendimiento dada por Morandé no sirve, al hacer el cálculo de "kilómetros por litro" entre rígidos y articulados, y la capacidad de transporte de esos), incluir a los colectiveros en el negocio (cuando son éstos los que generan congestión innecesaria, los que utilizan pistas exclusivas y paraderos para buses bloqueando a los vehículos mayores), y sobre todo, creer que incentivando la competencia entre empresas se va a tener una mejora sustancial en la calidad del servicio, cuando fue precisamente este factor el que hizo colapsar al antiguo sistema de transportes, las "micros amarillas", odiadas por la gran mayoría de los habitantes de Santiago, y que tenían estos mismos problemas del Transantiago y otras externalidades negativas, olvidadas por los medios y las actuales autoridades (competencia extrema en las calles, alta tasa de accidentes, maltrato a pasajeros, evasión encubierta, nula mantención o renovación de flota, situaciones ilegales, delincuencia, etc). Y lo peor de esto, es que cuando se ha aplicado el factor competitivo en Transantiago, en casos puntuales, no ha servido de nada.
En Vitacura, desde julio de 2009, que lo tienen más que claro por la "competencia" entre los servicios 405 y 502, la cual no existe en la práctica.
En resumen, el gran problema de Transantiago es que todos tenemos claro el diagnóstico, pero nadie, clara la solución.
Felipe Morandé y Gloria Hutt no son mi copiloto.
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Espero que este articulo haya sido un gusto
Nos vemos hasta la proxima
Saludos a todos
Felipe Burgos Alvarez
Lugar+Citadino
Octubre de 2010
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This is a Tlingit House Post illustrating the theme "Respect for Self," but unfortunately I do not have the artist's name.
Los 13 equipos del fútbol formativo amateur azulgrana han ganado sus respectivos partidos consolidando los nueve liderados que van desde el Cadete A hasta los Benjamín A El Cadete A golea al Girona por 6-0 antes de viajar a Abu Dhabi para disputar, del 3 al 5 de febrero, un torneo internacional contra el Al Dhafra, el Liverpool y el Hamburgo
CADETE A - GIRONA (6-0)
Goleada antes de viajar a Abu Dabi
Contundente victoria del Cadete A frente al Girona en la Ciudad Deportiva Joan Gamper (6-0). Los de Franc Artiga salieron muy enchufados y a los trece minutos ya dominaban por 3-0. Con el marcador a favor, los azulgranas siguieron controlando el juego y las ocasiones hasta llegar al 6 a 0 final. Los goleadores fueron Kun (m. 3 y m. 13) -máximo goleador de la competición con 19 goles-, Lucas de Vega (m. 5 y m. 72), el capitán Arnau Comas (m. 39) y Sergio Gómez (m. 57). El Cadete A continúa en lo más alto de la clasificación con 46 puntos en 17 jornadas y mantiene la ventaja de dos puntos respecto al Espanyol. La próxima jornada, que se disputará los días 13 y 14 de febrero ya que el próximo fin de semana no hay liga por el Carnaval, los de Franc Artiga visitarán el Jàbac i Terrassa, tercer clasificado con 32 puntos. Antes, sin embargo, el Cadete A viajará a Abu Dabi para jugar el Torneo Internacional Al Dhafra entre los días 3 y 5 de febrero. El Barça jugará la primera semifinal el miércoles, 3 de febrero, contra el Al Dhafra, mientras que Liverpool FC y SV Hamburgo disputarán la otra semifinal. La final se jugará el viernes.
CADETE B - REUS DEPORTIU (5-0)
Cinco goles para conservar el liderato
El Cadete B goleó 5-0 al Reus Deportiu con autoridad y buen juego y sumó la decimoquinta victoria de la temporada en quince jornadas. Los jugadores de Cristian Catena no tuvieron problemas para imponerse en un partido muy bien jugado en el que los goleadores fueron Antonio Jesús Cantón (m 2), Nils Mortimer (m. 24), Miguel Ángel Ramírez (m. 56), Sergi Rosanas (m. 75) y uno en propia portería por parte de un jugador del Reus. El Cadete B lidera invicto el Grupo 1 de la Preferente Cadete, con 74 goles a favor y 9 en contra, y mantiene una jornada más los 7 puntos de ventaja sobre el segundo clasificado: la Rapitenca. El Cadete B recibirá la próxima jornada al Martorell, sexto clasificado de una categoría en la que el azulgrana Nils Mortimer se consolida como el máximo goleador con 14 dianas.
INFANTIL A - JÀBAC I TERRASSA (3-0)
La sentencia llega en una buena segunda parte
Trabajada victoria del Infantil A ante la Unió F. Base Jàbac i Terrassa en un partido que los azulgranas sentenciaron en la segunda parte. Los de Carles Martínez, que llevaron claramente la iniciativa, se fueron al descanso con un gol de ventaja, obra de Roberto Navarro (m. 19). En la reanudación, el Infantil A, que esta pasada semana jugó dos partidos amistosos en Qatar contra el Aspire Football Dreams, aumentó la intensidad y en siete minutos sentenció el enfrentamiento gracias a las dianas de Anwar Mediero (m. 52) y Pablo Moreno (m. 60) -máximo goleador de la competición con 43 goles-. Los azulgrana, que la próxima jornada visitarán el Sant Gabriel, lideran la clasificación con 46 puntos en 17 jornadas. El Espanyol marcha en segunda posición a tres puntos de los azulgranas.
INFANTIL B - CORNELLÀ (3-2)
Un triunfo en inferioridad que afianza el liderato
El Infantil B dio ayer una auténtica lección de espíritu de lucha, sacrificio y trabajo en equipo. Los de Sergi Milà superaron al Cornellà C, segundo clasificado en la Liga, por 3-2 después de jugar con un hombre menos desde el minuto 24 por la rigurosa expulsión de Arnau Solà. Mamadou abrió el marcador en el minuto 3, pero el Cornellà empató dos minutos después con un gol de Saban. Mamadou, de nuevo, hizo el 2-1 en el minuto 17 poco antes de que llegara la expulsión de Solà, que aprovechó el Cornellà para hacer el 2-2 en una jugada de Sergio Bellido (m. 30). En la segunda parte, una gran jugada de Xavi Simons, con un pase vertical a Leo Dos Reyes sirvió para que su compañero hiciera el 3-2 en el minuto 62. Un gol que celebraron todos los azulgrana, conscientes de su importancia, haciendo una piña al córner. El Infantil B de Sergi Milà lidera ahora la categoría, con 42 puntos, y con seis puntos de ventaja sobre el Cornellà C. El Infantil B disputará el próximo sábado 6 de febrero el Torneo de Carnaval de Argentona donde se encontrará con rivales de la talla del Real Madrid, RCD Espanyol, Valencia, Damm o Zaragoza, entre otros.
MANRESA - ALEVÍN A (0-14)
Una nueva goleada del equipo de Marc Serra
El Alevín A sumó una nueva goleada, en esta ocasión en el campo del Manresa (0-14), y se mantiene así invicto tras 17 jornadas disputadas en el Grupo 1 de la Preferente Alevín. Los goleadores fueron Marc Jurado (4), Diego Almeida (3), Pablo Páez (2), Álex Valle, Pau Segarra, Iker Almena, Adrian Bobi y Antonio Caravaca. Con este claro triunfo, los azulgranas ya suman 169 goles a favor y 10 en contra y mantienen cinco puntos de ventaja sobre el segundo clasificado, la Damm B. La próxima jornada, el Alevín A visitará el campo de la UD Cornellà.
FUNDACIÓ ESP. GRAMA - ALEVÍN B (0-11)
Once goles a domicilio para seguir líderes
Amplia victoria la conseguida por el Alevín B a domicilio frente la Fundación Deportiva Gramanet (0-11). Los azulgrana controlaron el juego en todo momento y disfrutaron de numerosas oportunidades de gol. Los goles llevaron la firma de Álvaro Millán, protagonista del enfrentamiento con cinco dianas, Pol Muñoz (2), Sergi Oriol, Juan Gázquez, Ilias Akhomach y Narcís Costa. El Alevín B se mantiene en lo más alto de la clasificación con 48 puntos en 17 partidos, con dos puntos de ventaja respecto al RCD Espanyol A. El próximo miércoles, los de Jordi Font disputarán un partido amistoso ante el Yokohama Hong Kong y la próxima jornada visitarán el campo del Sant Cugat Esport.
ALEVÍN C - ATLÈTIC SANT JUST (2-1)
Triunfo muy trabajado ante un buen rival
El Alevín C del FC Barcelona sumó una trabajada victoria en la Ciudad Deportiva Joan Gamper ante el Atlètic Sant Just por 2-1. Los jugadores de Oscar Jorquera comenzaron perdiendo tras encajar un gol en el minuto 12, obra de Gerard Campaña. Las dianas de Tomas Carbonell (m. 32 y 38) sirvieron a los azulgrana, mucho más inspirados en la segunda parte, para darle la vuelta al marcador y sumar así la decimotercera victoria de la temporada y mantenerse líderes en solitario con tres puntos de ventaja respecto al segundo clasificado, el Cornellà C, que la próxima jornada visitará a los azulgranas en la Ciudad Deportiva Joan Gamper. El partido de la primera vuelta finalizó en empate (3-3).
ALEVÍN D - Pª BARC. ANGUERA (4-1)
Tres puntos más para conservar el liderato
El Alevín D se impuso en el partido disputado en la Ciudad Deportiva Joan Gamper ante la Penya Barcelonista Anguera, tercer clasificado, por 4-2. Los chicos de Dani Horcas fueron superiores a su rival e hicieron buenos los goles de Jan Molina (m. 7), Iker Córdoba (m. 22 y m. 29) y otro en propia portería para sumar 3 puntos que les permiten mantenerse líderes en solitario del grupo 2 de la Primera División Alevín con 43 puntos, 96 goles a favor y 26 en contra, con 5 puntos de ventaja sobre la Vila Olímpica. Los azulgrana encajaron el gol visitante con 4-0 en el marcador y su victoria no peligró. El Alevín D se enfrentará la próxima jornada a la Escola de Futbol Gavà C.
BENJAMÍN A - SANT CUGAT (3-1)
Victoria para mantenerse invictos
El Benjamín A se impuso por 3-1 a un buen Sant Cugat que siempre dio la cara con los goles de Jan Quiles (m. 11), Pau Prim (m. 19) y Héctor Fort (m. 45). Los visitantes, sin embargo, recortaron distancias en el marcador en el minuto 38. Esta victoria permite sumar tres puntos más al equipo de Jordi Pérez y mantenerse como líderes en solitario con 17 victorias en 17 jornadas disputadas y con un espectacular balance de 119 goles a favor y sólo 12 en contra. El Sant Andreu es segundo a 11 puntos de los azulgranas que la próxima jornada recibirán Hospitalet.
BADALONA - BENJAMÍN B (2-6)
Vuelven a la senda del triunfo
El Benjamín B se impuso por un claro 2-6 en el campo del Badalona en un partido en el que los azulgrana dominaban ya por 0-3 en el descanso. Los jugadores de David Sánchez hicieron buenos los goles de Agustin Gutiérrez (m. 10 y m. 13), Pol Trigueros (m. 11), Mateo Sciancalepore (m. 35), Daniel Gudjohnsen (m. 45) y Dídac González (m. 46) para volver a la senda de la victoria tras el empate de la jornada anterior contra el Sant Cugat Esport A. El Badalona recortó distancias con 0-3 en el marcador, pero los tres puntos no peligrar para los azulgrana . Con 1-6, los locales marcaron su segundo tanto. Con este resultado, el Benjamín B continúa cuarto con 38 puntos en 17 jornadas en el Grupo 2 de Preferente Benjamín. La próxima jornada visitarán la Fundació Europa.
ATLÈTIC VILAFRANCA - BENJAMÍN C (0-9)
Gran victoria del Benjamín C
El Benjamín C se impuso de forma contundente en el campo del Atlètic Vilafranca por 0-9 y suma 40 puntos en 15 partidos que le sirven para mantenerse en segunda posición a 5 puntos del Cornellà C. Los goleadores azulgrana fueron Marc Bernal (m. 2 y m. 30), Biel Casanovas (m. 13), Pol Duran (m. 20), Lamine Yamal Nasraoui (m. 23 y m. 37), Eloi González (m. 28), en propia puerta, Arnau Herrero (m. 39) y Gaizka Hernández (m. 40). Los jugadores de Albert Puig ya mandaban en el marcador en el minuto 2 y no tuvieron problemas para superar al conjunto local. El Benjamín C recibirá la próxima jornada la visita del Viladecans.
BENJAMÍN D - VILA OLÍMPICA (7-0)
Séptima victoria en siete partidos disputados
El Benjamín D sumó la séptima victoria consecutiva desde que comenzó a competir este mes de enero y se mantiene así invicto en todos los partidos que ha disputado hasta el momento. Los azulgrana se impusieron por 7-0 en Vila Olímpica con goles de Xavi Castellano (m. 24 y m. 32), Gibert Jordana (m. 4), Xavi Espart (m. 23), Albert Navarro (m. 35) , Gerard Ruiz de Valdivia (m. 40) e Iker del Moral (m. 47). Con este resultado, los azulgrana suman 49 goles a favor y 7 en contra y se ubican momentáneamente novenos en el Grupo 2 de la Primera División Benjamín. Este miércoles, el Benjamín D jugará en el campo del Cornellà D el partido de Liga aplazado de la 4ª jornada (19.00 horas).
PREBENJAMÍN - SANTBOIÀ (2-1)
Un triunfo para coger confianza
El Prebenjamín se impuso por un ajustado 2-1 al Santboià en un partido en el que los azulgrana se adelantaron con los goles de Madou Murcia (m. 2) y Albert Vicens (m. 12). Los visitantes recortaron distancias con un gol en el minuto 28, obra de Raúl Moreno, pero finalmente el Prebenjamín sumó tres puntos de oro que le deja con 13 puntos en 7 jornadas y 17 goles a favor y 14 en contra. El martes jugarán en el campo del Sant Ildefons (20.30 horas) el partido de Liga aplazado de la 4ª jornada de Liga.
Javier Fernandez Auditor
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Photograph taken at an altitude of Fifty eight metres at 15:46pm on Friday 5th February 2021, on a rare sunny interlude of an adult Starling (Sturnus Vulgaris)standing on a brick chimney stack off Chessington Avenue in Bexleyheath, Kent.
The common starling or European starling, also known simply as the starling in the British Isles, is a medium-sized passerine bird in the starling family, Sturnidae. It is about 20 cm long and has glossy black plumage with a metallic sheen, which is speckled with white at some times of year. These are noisy, squabbling birds that pack a lot of character and can mimic other birds and sounds.
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Nikon D850 Hand held with Sigma OS Optical Stabilization set to position 1. Focal length 600mm Shutter speed: 1/640s Aperture f/8.0 iso400 EV compensation set to -0.3EV Image area FX (36 x 24) NEF RAW L (8256 x 5504). NEF RAW L (14 bit uncompressed) Focus mode AF-C focus. AF-C Priority Selection: Release. Nikon Back button focusing enabled. AF-Area mode: 3D Tracking watch area: Normal 55 Tracking points. Exposure mode: Manual mode. Matrix metering. White balance on: Auto1. Colour space: RGB. Active D-lighting: Normal. Vignette control: Normal. Nikon Distortion control: Enabled. Picture control: Auto (Sharpening A +1/Clarity A+1)
Sigma 60-600mm f/4.5-6.3DG OS HSM SPORTS. Lee SW150 MKI filter holder with MK2 light shield and custom made velcro fitting for the Sigma lens. Lee SW150 circular polariser glass filter.Lee SW150 Filters field pouch.Nikon GP-1 GPS module. Hoodman HEYENRG round eyepiece oversized eyecupMcoplus professional MB-D850 multi function battery grip 6960.Two Nikon EN-EL15a batteries (Priority to battery in Battery grip). Matin quick release neckstrap. My Memory 128GB Class 10 SDXC 80MB/s card. Lowepro Flipside 400 AW camera bag.
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LATITUDE: N 51d 28m 28.29s
LONGITUDE: E 0d 8m 10.27s
ALTITUDE: 56.0m
RAW (TIFF) FILE: 130.00MB NEF: 91.9MB
PROCESSED (JPeg) FILE: 31.30MB
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from our delicious dinner from Saturday evening. one of the things I try to think about the food we eat is to respect the source, the process and the end product that we get to sustain life and enjoy a great deal.
this picture is my tribute to the amazing food this little guy ended up being for my wife and myself.
If you don't live in Alabama, chances are you won't get this shot. But we may have severe (which means tornados to us) weather tonight and early tomorrow morning - and this is one of our local meteorologists. He is extremely proactive when it comes to severe weather. Some say over the top. Thanks to him, all our local TV stations will go to live weather broadcasting if a tornado warning is issued. Now, James Spann will start out with his suit coat on, but the longer and more severe the event, the jacket comes off (and he always wears suspenders). And, if he rolls up his sleeves, better take cover! May be dramatic but when we are looking at scary weather, he's the one I tune in to.
29:365 | 01.29.2013
Helen Langehanenberg (GER) auf Damon Hill
CHIO 2013 in Aachen
Grosser Dressurpreis von Aachen
FEI Grand Prix Kür CDIO
30.06.2013
Found by chance, still on a branch.
It was sleeping, completely exposed, without defenses.
I stopped and took the shot in silence.
There was nothing to build, only to respect.
Trovato per caso, immobile su un ramo.
Dormiva, completamente esposto, senza difese.
Mi sono fermato e ho scattato in silenzio.
Non c’era nulla da costruire, solo da rispettare.
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(c) Bob Cuthill Photography - All rights reserved
This image may not be copied, reproduced, published or distributed in any medium without the expressed written permission of the copyright holder.
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This is one of 6 images in the set. This is a creative commons image, which you may freely use by linking to this page. Please respect the photographer and his work.
Today part of the Hinkle House is the Andrews Funeral Home www.andrewsfuneralservices.com/fh/home/home.cfm?fh_id=14468 just south of Gloucester Court House in Gloucester County, Virginia. It was built around 1910 of structural terracotta (also spelled terra cotta) blocks and stucco covering. This information came from a phone conversation with the home owner. In the last quarter of the 19th century, stucco and hollow terracotta bricks had become more common as building materials but never reached tremendous popularity in home construction. Terracotta is clay based and is notable for widespread use as roof tiles and in sculpture (when glazed) as well. Homes of this construction were advertised as having fire resistant properties. Use of terracotta and stucco helped create homes with quiet interiors, sound effectively diminished by the structural properties. The hollow tiles were used as foundation and walls, the latter often covered by plaster generally on exterior walls. Structural terracotta has gone by many names—hollow tile, building tile, structural clay tile, terracotta blocks, terracotta bricks, etc.
The spacious 2 1/2 storied home has steep-pitched red-shingled roofs and prominent gables. Visible on the front façade is a gabled dormer with two windows. This pattern of paired windows is prominent as well on the front façade. The fenestration is mostly 9/1 sash. The ground level has an addition to the left, a slight bay construction and an entry porch. The porch is small and covered with a sloping roof, a small gable and underneath that a partial arch, which matches the arched transom of the door; four slender Tuscan columns support the roof. The entrance is single-leaf with 10 glass panes; the sidelights consist of 5 panes each. It seems the transom consists of irregularly shaped panes, possibly of a sun-burst pattern. The photos were taken around 7:30 on an early May morning in 2011; the light was not the best at that time.
For additional information on terra cotta see
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Structural_clay_tile
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terra_cotta
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Devemos sempre respeitar os mais velho, pois a jornada deles foi o que possibilitou que a nossa tivesse as maravilhas que tem.
Tummel Bridge is a double arched hump-backed former military bridge crossing the River Tummel at Tummel Bridge, Perth & Kinross, Scotland. A Category A listed structure dating to 1730, it is now pedestrian-only. It stands immediately to the southeast of a modern road bridge, which carries the vehicular traffic of today's B846 road. Two worn milestones are at the northern end of the bridge.
Erected for the Board of Ordnance, to the order of Lieutenant General George Wade, its original purpose was as a military road. The Irvine Robertson papers at the National Records of Scotland contain, at GD1/53/97, the construction contract with John Stewart of Canagan [=Kynachan], for building the bridge, and the receipt by John Stewart for £50, in respect of above contract, 27 July 1730, and the bond by him and David Stewart, his eldest son, to maintain the bridge, 20 October 1730:
... the said John Stewart shall Build a Stone Bridge Strengthen'd with a double Arch over the River of Tumble, within less than a mile west of the house of the said Canagan, which Bridge is to have an Arch of at least forty two feet between the landstools for more if the breadth of the River shall require an Arch of a larger dimension. It is likewise to be twelve foot in breadth including the Parapet walls, which Walls are to be three foot high above the pavement, and at least one foot broad, and to be Cap'd with good flag Stones. The whole to be of good materials and well wrought, And to have an access to the same extending so far on both Sides to the Land, as to render it easily passable for Wheel Carriage or Canon, AND LIKEWISE to make sufficient Buttments that shall Confine the Water to pass under the Arch, that in extraordinary Floods it may not damage or undermine the foundation. For which Bridge and all Materials, and Charges relating thereto, the said Lieut General George Wade is to Pay to the said John Stewart, the Sum of two hundred pounds Sterling Viz Fifty pounds on the signing this contact, and one hundred and fifty Pounds as soon as the work is Compleated, which he promises to finish before the last day of October next ensuing, and the said John Stewart does oblige himself to give sufficient Security before the last Payment is made to uphold the said Bridge at his own Expense for the space of twenty years from the date hereof...
The bridge was renovated in 1973, and underwent conservation work in 2011.
The River Tummel is a river in Perth and Kinross, Scotland. Water from the Tummel is used in the Tummel hydro-electric power scheme, operated by SSE.
As a tributary of the River Tay, the Tummel is included as part of the River Tay Special Area of Conservation. The designation notes the river system's importance for salmon, otters, brook lampreys, river lampreys and sea lampreys.
Discharging from Loch Rannoch, it flows east to a point near the Falls of Tummel, where it bends to the southeast, a direction which it maintains until it falls into the River Tay, just below Logierait, after a course of 58 miles (93 km) from its source in Stob Ghabbar (3,565 ft (1,087 m)). Its only considerable affluent is the Garry, 24 miles (39 km) long, an impetuous river which issues from Loch Garry (2.5 mi (4.0 km) and 1,334 ft (407 m) above sea level). Some 2 miles from its outlet from Loch Rannoch the river expands into Dunalastair Water (or Dunalastair Reservoir), a man made loch formed by a weir, part of the Tummel Hydro Electric power scheme. About midway in its course the Tummel expands into Loch Tummel, between which and the confluence with the Garry occur the Pass and Falls of the Tummel, which are rather in the nature of rapids, the descent altogether amounting to 15 ft (4.6 m). Loch Tummel was previously 4.43 km (2.75 mi) long and 39 m (128 ft) deep, but with the construction of the Clunie Dam in 1950, the water level was raised by 4.5 metres, and Loch Tummel is now approximately 11 km (7 mi) long.
The scenery throughout this reach is most picturesque, culminating at the point above the eastern extremity of the loch, known as the "Queen's View" (Queen Victoria made the view famous in 1866, although it is said to have been named after Queen Isabel, wife of Robert the Bruce). The chief places of interest on the river are Kinloch Rannoch; Dunalastair, a rocky hill in well-wooded grounds, the embellishment of which was largely due to Alexander Robertson of Struan, the Jacobite and poet, from whom the spot takes its name (the stronghold of Alexander); Foss; Faskally House (beautifully situated on the left bank); Pitlochry; and Ballinluig.
The ancient name of the river, in its upper reaches at least, was the Dubhag
The Highlands is a historical region of Scotland. Culturally, the Highlands and the Lowlands diverged from the Late Middle Ages into the modern period, when Lowland Scots language replaced Scottish Gaelic throughout most of the Lowlands. The term is also used for the area north and west of the Highland Boundary Fault, although the exact boundaries are not clearly defined, particularly to the east. The Great Glen divides the Grampian Mountains to the southeast from the Northwest Highlands. The Scottish Gaelic name of A' Ghàidhealtachd literally means "the place of the Gaels" and traditionally, from a Gaelic-speaking point of view, includes both the Western Isles and the Highlands.
The area is very sparsely populated, with many mountain ranges dominating the region, and includes the highest mountain in the British Isles, Ben Nevis. During the 18th and early 19th centuries the population of the Highlands rose to around 300,000, but from c. 1841 and for the next 160 years, the natural increase in population was exceeded by emigration (mostly to Canada, the United States, Australia and New Zealand, and migration to the industrial cities of Scotland and England.) and passim The area is now one of the most sparsely populated in Europe. At 9.1/km2 (24/sq mi) in 2012, the population density in the Highlands and Islands is less than one seventh of Scotland's as a whole.
The Highland Council is the administrative body for much of the Highlands, with its administrative centre at Inverness. However, the Highlands also includes parts of the council areas of Aberdeenshire, Angus, Argyll and Bute, Moray, North Ayrshire, Perth and Kinross, Stirling and West Dunbartonshire.
The Scottish Highlands is the only area in the British Isles to have the taiga biome as it features concentrated populations of Scots pine forest: see Caledonian Forest. It is the most mountainous part of the United Kingdom.
Between the 15th century and the mid-20th century, the area differed from most of the Lowlands in terms of language. In Scottish Gaelic, the region is known as the Gàidhealtachd, because it was traditionally the Gaelic-speaking part of Scotland, although the language is now largely confined to The Hebrides. The terms are sometimes used interchangeably but have different meanings in their respective languages. Scottish English (in its Highland form) is the predominant language of the area today, though Highland English has been influenced by Gaelic speech to a significant extent. Historically, the "Highland line" distinguished the two Scottish cultures. While the Highland line broadly followed the geography of the Grampians in the south, it continued in the north, cutting off the north-eastern areas, that is Eastern Caithness, Orkney and Shetland, from the more Gaelic Highlands and Hebrides.
Historically, the major social unit of the Highlands was the clan. Scottish kings, particularly James VI, saw clans as a challenge to their authority; the Highlands was seen by many as a lawless region. The Scots of the Lowlands viewed the Highlanders as backward and more "Irish". The Highlands were seen as the overspill of Gaelic Ireland. They made this distinction by separating Germanic "Scots" English and the Gaelic by renaming it "Erse" a play on Eire. Following the Union of the Crowns, James VI had the military strength to back up any attempts to impose some control. The result was, in 1609, the Statutes of Iona which started the process of integrating clan leaders into Scottish society. The gradual changes continued into the 19th century, as clan chiefs thought of themselves less as patriarchal leaders of their people and more as commercial landlords. The first effect on the clansmen who were their tenants was the change to rents being payable in money rather than in kind. Later, rents were increased as Highland landowners sought to increase their income. This was followed, mostly in the period 1760–1850, by agricultural improvement that often (particularly in the Western Highlands) involved clearance of the population to make way for large scale sheep farms. Displaced tenants were set up in crofting communities in the process. The crofts were intended not to provide all the needs of their occupiers; they were expected to work in other industries such as kelping and fishing. Crofters came to rely substantially on seasonal migrant work, particularly in the Lowlands. This gave impetus to the learning of English, which was seen by many rural Gaelic speakers to be the essential "language of work".
Older historiography attributes the collapse of the clan system to the aftermath of the Jacobite risings. This is now thought less influential by historians. Following the Jacobite rising of 1745 the British government enacted a series of laws to try to suppress the clan system, including bans on the bearing of arms and the wearing of tartan, and limitations on the activities of the Scottish Episcopal Church. Most of this legislation was repealed by the end of the 18th century as the Jacobite threat subsided. There was soon a rehabilitation of Highland culture. Tartan was adopted for Highland regiments in the British Army, which poor Highlanders joined in large numbers in the era of the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars (1790–1815). Tartan had largely been abandoned by the ordinary people of the region, but in the 1820s, tartan and the kilt were adopted by members of the social elite, not just in Scotland, but across Europe. The international craze for tartan, and for idealising a romanticised Highlands, was set off by the Ossian cycle, and further popularised by the works of Walter Scott. His "staging" of the visit of King George IV to Scotland in 1822 and the king's wearing of tartan resulted in a massive upsurge in demand for kilts and tartans that could not be met by the Scottish woollen industry. Individual clan tartans were largely designated in this period and they became a major symbol of Scottish identity. This "Highlandism", by which all of Scotland was identified with the culture of the Highlands, was cemented by Queen Victoria's interest in the country, her adoption of Balmoral as a major royal retreat, and her interest in "tartenry".
Recurrent famine affected the Highlands for much of its history, with significant instances as late as 1817 in the Eastern Highlands and the early 1850s in the West. Over the 18th century, the region had developed a trade of black cattle into Lowland markets, and this was balanced by imports of meal into the area. There was a critical reliance on this trade to provide sufficient food, and it is seen as an essential prerequisite for the population growth that started in the 18th century. Most of the Highlands, particularly in the North and West was short of the arable land that was essential for the mixed, run rig based, communal farming that existed before agricultural improvement was introduced into the region.[a] Between the 1760s and the 1830s there was a substantial trade in unlicensed whisky that had been distilled in the Highlands. Lowland distillers (who were not able to avoid the heavy taxation of this product) complained that Highland whisky made up more than half the market. The development of the cattle trade is taken as evidence that the pre-improvement Highlands was not an immutable system, but did exploit the economic opportunities that came its way. The illicit whisky trade demonstrates the entrepreneurial ability of the peasant classes.
Agricultural improvement reached the Highlands mostly over the period 1760 to 1850. Agricultural advisors, factors, land surveyors and others educated in the thinking of Adam Smith were keen to put into practice the new ideas taught in Scottish universities. Highland landowners, many of whom were burdened with chronic debts, were generally receptive to the advice they offered and keen to increase the income from their land. In the East and South the resulting change was similar to that in the Lowlands, with the creation of larger farms with single tenants, enclosure of the old run rig fields, introduction of new crops (such as turnips), land drainage and, as a consequence of all this, eviction, as part of the Highland clearances, of many tenants and cottars. Some of those cleared found employment on the new, larger farms, others moved to the accessible towns of the Lowlands.
In the West and North, evicted tenants were usually given tenancies in newly created crofting communities, while their former holdings were converted into large sheep farms. Sheep farmers could pay substantially higher rents than the run rig farmers and were much less prone to falling into arrears. Each croft was limited in size so that the tenants would have to find work elsewhere. The major alternatives were fishing and the kelp industry. Landlords took control of the kelp shores, deducting the wages earned by their tenants from the rent due and retaining the large profits that could be earned at the high prices paid for the processed product during the Napoleonic wars.
When the Napoleonic wars finished in 1815, the Highland industries were affected by the return to a peacetime economy. The price of black cattle fell, nearly halving between 1810 and the 1830s. Kelp prices had peaked in 1810, but reduced from £9 a ton in 1823 to £3 13s 4d a ton in 1828. Wool prices were also badly affected. This worsened the financial problems of debt-encumbered landlords. Then, in 1846, potato blight arrived in the Highlands, wiping out the essential subsistence crop for the overcrowded crofting communities. As the famine struck, the government made clear to landlords that it was their responsibility to provide famine relief for their tenants. The result of the economic downturn had been that a large proportion of Highland estates were sold in the first half of the 19th century. T M Devine points out that in the region most affected by the potato famine, by 1846, 70 per cent of the landowners were new purchasers who had not owned Highland property before 1800. More landlords were obliged to sell due to the cost of famine relief. Those who were protected from the worst of the crisis were those with extensive rental income from sheep farms. Government loans were made available for drainage works, road building and other improvements and many crofters became temporary migrants – taking work in the Lowlands. When the potato famine ceased in 1856, this established a pattern of more extensive working away from the Highlands.
The unequal concentration of land ownership remained an emotional and controversial subject, of enormous importance to the Highland economy, and eventually became a cornerstone of liberal radicalism. The poor crofters were politically powerless, and many of them turned to religion. They embraced the popularly oriented, fervently evangelical Presbyterian revival after 1800. Most joined the breakaway "Free Church" after 1843. This evangelical movement was led by lay preachers who themselves came from the lower strata, and whose preaching was implicitly critical of the established order. The religious change energised the crofters and separated them from the landlords; it helped prepare them for their successful and violent challenge to the landlords in the 1880s through the Highland Land League. Violence erupted, starting on the Isle of Skye, when Highland landlords cleared their lands for sheep and deer parks. It was quietened when the government stepped in, passing the Crofters' Holdings (Scotland) Act, 1886 to reduce rents, guarantee fixity of tenure, and break up large estates to provide crofts for the homeless. This contrasted with the Irish Land War underway at the same time, where the Irish were intensely politicised through roots in Irish nationalism, while political dimensions were limited. In 1885 three Independent Crofter candidates were elected to Parliament, which listened to their pleas. The results included explicit security for the Scottish smallholders in the "crofting counties"; the legal right to bequeath tenancies to descendants; and the creation of a Crofting Commission. The Crofters as a political movement faded away by 1892, and the Liberal Party gained their votes.
Today, the Highlands are the largest of Scotland's whisky producing regions; the relevant area runs from Orkney to the Isle of Arran in the south and includes the northern isles and much of Inner and Outer Hebrides, Argyll, Stirlingshire, Arran, as well as sections of Perthshire and Aberdeenshire. (Other sources treat The Islands, except Islay, as a separate whisky producing region.) This massive area has over 30 distilleries, or 47 when the Islands sub-region is included in the count. According to one source, the top five are The Macallan, Glenfiddich, Aberlour, Glenfarclas and Balvenie. While Speyside is geographically within the Highlands, that region is specified as distinct in terms of whisky productions. Speyside single malt whiskies are produced by about 50 distilleries.
According to Visit Scotland, Highlands whisky is "fruity, sweet, spicy, malty". Another review states that Northern Highlands single malt is "sweet and full-bodied", the Eastern Highlands and Southern Highlands whiskies tend to be "lighter in texture" while the distilleries in the Western Highlands produce single malts with a "much peatier influence".
The Scottish Reformation achieved partial success in the Highlands. Roman Catholicism remained strong in some areas, owing to remote locations and the efforts of Franciscan missionaries from Ireland, who regularly came to celebrate Mass. There remain significant Catholic strongholds within the Highlands and Islands such as Moidart and Morar on the mainland and South Uist and Barra in the southern Outer Hebrides. The remoteness of the region and the lack of a Gaelic-speaking clergy undermined the missionary efforts of the established church. The later 18th century saw somewhat greater success, owing to the efforts of the SSPCK missionaries and to the disruption of traditional society after the Battle of Culloden in 1746. In the 19th century, the evangelical Free Churches, which were more accepting of Gaelic language and culture, grew rapidly, appealing much more strongly than did the established church.
For the most part, however, the Highlands are considered predominantly Protestant, belonging to the Church of Scotland. In contrast to the Catholic southern islands, the northern Outer Hebrides islands (Lewis, Harris and North Uist) have an exceptionally high proportion of their population belonging to the Protestant Free Church of Scotland or the Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland. The Outer Hebrides have been described as the last bastion of Calvinism in Britain and the Sabbath remains widely observed. Inverness and the surrounding area has a majority Protestant population, with most locals belonging to either The Kirk or the Free Church of Scotland. The church maintains a noticeable presence within the area, with church attendance notably higher than in other parts of Scotland. Religion continues to play an important role in Highland culture, with Sabbath observance still widely practised, particularly in the Hebrides.
In traditional Scottish geography, the Highlands refers to that part of Scotland north-west of the Highland Boundary Fault, which crosses mainland Scotland in a near-straight line from Helensburgh to Stonehaven. However the flat coastal lands that occupy parts of the counties of Nairnshire, Morayshire, Banffshire and Aberdeenshire are often excluded as they do not share the distinctive geographical and cultural features of the rest of the Highlands. The north-east of Caithness, as well as Orkney and Shetland, are also often excluded from the Highlands, although the Hebrides are usually included. The Highland area, as so defined, differed from the Lowlands in language and tradition, having preserved Gaelic speech and customs centuries after the anglicisation of the latter; this led to a growing perception of a divide, with the cultural distinction between Highlander and Lowlander first noted towards the end of the 14th century. In Aberdeenshire, the boundary between the Highlands and the Lowlands is not well defined. There is a stone beside the A93 road near the village of Dinnet on Royal Deeside which states 'You are now in the Highlands', although there are areas of Highland character to the east of this point.
A much wider definition of the Highlands is that used by the Scotch whisky industry. Highland single malts are produced at distilleries north of an imaginary line between Dundee and Greenock, thus including all of Aberdeenshire and Angus.
Inverness is regarded as the Capital of the Highlands, although less so in the Highland parts of Aberdeenshire, Angus, Perthshire and Stirlingshire which look more to Aberdeen, Dundee, Perth, and Stirling as their commercial centres.
The Highland Council area, created as one of the local government regions of Scotland, has been a unitary council area since 1996. The council area excludes a large area of the southern and eastern Highlands, and the Western Isles, but includes Caithness. Highlands is sometimes used, however, as a name for the council area, as in the former Highlands and Islands Fire and Rescue Service. Northern is also used to refer to the area, as in the former Northern Constabulary. These former bodies both covered the Highland council area and the island council areas of Orkney, Shetland and the Western Isles.
Much of the Highlands area overlaps the Highlands and Islands area. An electoral region called Highlands and Islands is used in elections to the Scottish Parliament: this area includes Orkney and Shetland, as well as the Highland Council local government area, the Western Isles and most of the Argyll and Bute and Moray local government areas. Highlands and Islands has, however, different meanings in different contexts. It means Highland (the local government area), Orkney, Shetland, and the Western Isles in Highlands and Islands Fire and Rescue Service. Northern, as in Northern Constabulary, refers to the same area as that covered by the fire and rescue service.
There have been trackways from the Lowlands to the Highlands since prehistoric times. Many traverse the Mounth, a spur of mountainous land that extends from the higher inland range to the North Sea slightly north of Stonehaven. The most well-known and historically important trackways are the Causey Mounth, Elsick Mounth, Cryne Corse Mounth and Cairnamounth.
Although most of the Highlands is geographically on the British mainland, it is somewhat less accessible than the rest of Britain; thus most UK couriers categorise it separately, alongside Northern Ireland, the Isle of Man, and other offshore islands. They thus charge additional fees for delivery to the Highlands, or exclude the area entirely. While the physical remoteness from the largest population centres inevitably leads to higher transit cost, there is confusion and consternation over the scale of the fees charged and the effectiveness of their communication, and the use of the word Mainland in their justification. Since the charges are often based on postcode areas, many far less remote areas, including some which are traditionally considered part of the lowlands, are also subject to these charges. Royal Mail is the only delivery network bound by a Universal Service Obligation to charge a uniform tariff across the UK. This, however, applies only to mail items and not larger packages which are dealt with by its Parcelforce division.
The Highlands lie to the north and west of the Highland Boundary Fault, which runs from Arran to Stonehaven. This part of Scotland is largely composed of ancient rocks from the Cambrian and Precambrian periods which were uplifted during the later Caledonian Orogeny. Smaller formations of Lewisian gneiss in the northwest are up to 3 billion years old. The overlying rocks of the Torridon Sandstone form mountains in the Torridon Hills such as Liathach and Beinn Eighe in Wester Ross.
These foundations are interspersed with many igneous intrusions of a more recent age, the remnants of which have formed mountain massifs such as the Cairngorms and the Cuillin of Skye. A significant exception to the above are the fossil-bearing beds of Old Red Sandstone found principally along the Moray Firth coast and partially down the Highland Boundary Fault. The Jurassic beds found in isolated locations on Skye and Applecross reflect the complex underlying geology. They are the original source of much North Sea oil. The Great Glen is formed along a transform fault which divides the Grampian Mountains to the southeast from the Northwest Highlands.
The entire region was covered by ice sheets during the Pleistocene ice ages, save perhaps for a few nunataks. The complex geomorphology includes incised valleys and lochs carved by the action of mountain streams and ice, and a topography of irregularly distributed mountains whose summits have similar heights above sea-level, but whose bases depend upon the amount of denudation to which the plateau has been subjected in various places.
Climate
The region is much warmer than other areas at similar latitudes (such as Kamchatka in Russia, or Labrador in Canada) because of the Gulf Stream making it cool, damp and temperate. The Köppen climate classification is "Cfb" at low altitudes, then becoming "Cfc", "Dfc" and "ET" at higher altitudes.
Places of interest
An Teallach
Aonach Mòr (Nevis Range ski centre)
Arrochar Alps
Balmoral Castle
Balquhidder
Battlefield of Culloden
Beinn Alligin
Beinn Eighe
Ben Cruachan hydro-electric power station
Ben Lomond
Ben Macdui (second highest mountain in Scotland and UK)
Ben Nevis (highest mountain in Scotland and UK)
Cairngorms National Park
Cairngorm Ski centre near Aviemore
Cairngorm Mountains
Caledonian Canal
Cape Wrath
Carrick Castle
Castle Stalker
Castle Tioram
Chanonry Point
Conic Hill
Culloden Moor
Dunadd
Duart Castle
Durness
Eilean Donan
Fingal's Cave (Staffa)
Fort George
Glen Coe
Glen Etive
Glen Kinglas
Glen Lyon
Glen Orchy
Glenshee Ski Centre
Glen Shiel
Glen Spean
Glenfinnan (and its railway station and viaduct)
Grampian Mountains
Hebrides
Highland Folk Museum – The first open-air museum in the UK.
Highland Wildlife Park
Inveraray Castle
Inveraray Jail
Inverness Castle
Inverewe Garden
Iona Abbey
Isle of Staffa
Kilchurn Castle
Kilmartin Glen
Liathach
Lecht Ski Centre
Loch Alsh
Loch Ard
Loch Awe
Loch Assynt
Loch Earn
Loch Etive
Loch Fyne
Loch Goil
Loch Katrine
Loch Leven
Loch Linnhe
Loch Lochy
Loch Lomond
Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park
Loch Lubnaig
Loch Maree
Loch Morar
Loch Morlich
Loch Ness
Loch Nevis
Loch Rannoch
Loch Tay
Lochranza
Luss
Meall a' Bhuiridh (Glencoe Ski Centre)
Scottish Sea Life Sanctuary at Loch Creran
Rannoch Moor
Red Cuillin
Rest and Be Thankful stretch of A83
River Carron, Wester Ross
River Spey
River Tay
Ross and Cromarty
Smoo Cave
Stob Coire a' Chàirn
Stac Polly
Strathspey Railway
Sutherland
Tor Castle
Torridon Hills
Urquhart Castle
West Highland Line (scenic railway)
West Highland Way (Long-distance footpath)
Wester Ross