This location is one of the most famous railfanning spots in the Twin Cities, and while it isn't great for photography it does offer a lot to look at and near constant action. This view looks north off the St. Anthony Parkway overpass from near the little railfan park at the corner of California Street on the west end of the overpass. This is just north of the 35th Avenue interlocking at MP 12.5 on BNSF's Staples Subdivision at the south end of the Northtown Yard hump where they trim cuts out to the departure yard. Stored beneath the bridge in the old Transfer Yard are dozens of surplus locomotives including this warbonnet painted C44-9W and rebuilt GP39E 2742 that began life as a GP30 for the Burlington dressed in Chinese red as CBQ 947. The thru girder bridge passing above is CPKC's Paynesville Sub mainline at about 2.4, the busy former Soo Line main which is their key route between western Canada and the central US market.

 

UP 7428 headed east overhead is actually CPKC train 251 out of Humboldt Yard headed to Superior. After crossing the BNSF here they will hang a right and make a giant loop through the old Soo Shoreham Yard and then reverse direction and shove south onto BNSF at University interlocking before reversion again and pulling north. This same UP unit will pass directly underneath us a about 40 min later headed north on the Staples Sub to Coon Creek where they will get on the Hinckley Sub for the long trackage rights run over BNSF to the twin ports.

 

Minneapolis, Minnesota

Saturday May 6, 2023

Leica x1

 

during a three hour walk on the beach. with three kids i can definitely tell you it's NOT relaxing!

great scenic nonetheless.

de la serie: Reversiones

 

Reversiones es la manera en como reinventamos lo que hemos hecho alguna vez.

En este caso es hacer versiones de las fotografias que tenemos en flickr. Mejorarlas o hacer algo que se nos ocurrio y que seria bueno mostrarlo

 

Reversión de esta foto

Another photo from our Autumn 2016 trip to the remote mountains of the Ben Alder area, between Loch Ericht and Glen Spean in the Scottish Highlands. These are remote hills and we didn't see anyone else on any of the 8 summits we climbed during the week. The Autumn colours of the grasses were amazing, Red deer stags were roaring on every hillside and in every glen, day and night. And no mobile phone signal for 5 days! I can thoroughly recommend it.

Spent a pleasant day here on Bank Holiday Monday at the flower show & plant sale. Bought loads!

The home of the Lytton family since 1490, when Thomas Bourchier sold the reversion of the manor to Sir Robert Lytton, Knebworth House was originally a red-brick Late Gothic manor house, built round a central court as an open square. In 1813-16 the house was reduced to its west wing,[3] which was remodelled in a Tudor Gothic style by John Biagio Rebecca for Mrs Bulwer-Lytton,[4] and then was transformed in 1843-45 by Henry Edward Kendall Jr. into the present Tudor Gothic structure.[5] In 1913-1914 it was leased for ₤3,000 per year by Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich of Russia and his morganatic wife Natalia Brasova.[6] Its most famous resident was Edward Bulwer-Lytton, the Victorian author, dramatist and statesman, who embellished the gardens in a formal Italianate fashion. Edward's great grandson Neville(1879-1951) married Judith Dorothy Blunt, famous for her passion for arabian horses and for her maternal ancestry - her grandmother Ada Augusta Byron was the daughter of the poet. Much of the interior was redesigned by Sir Edwin Lutyens,who married Emily Bulwar Lytton(1874-1964) - he simplified the main parterre. A herb garden, with an interlaced quincunx design, was drawn by Gertrude Jekyll in 1907, although not planted until 1982.

Lytton Mausoleum

The current[when?] residents are Henry Lytton-Cobbold and his family. The house is open to the public together with its surrounding gardens and park. In the park is the medieval St. Mary's Church and the Lytton family mausoleum.

 

The grounds include tourist attractions such as an adventure playground, mini railway (closed in 2012) and dinosaur park and host various events including classic car rallies and, since 1974, major open air rock and pop concerts, featuring the likes of Robbie Williams, Lynyrd Skynyrd, The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Queen, Paul McCartney, Genesis, Mike Oldfield, The Beach Boys, Deep Purple, Eric Clapton, Elton John, Dire Straits, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Iron Maiden and Oasis.[7]

 

 

- The facts of life... to make an alteration in the evolvement of an organic life system is fatal. A coding sequence cannot be revised once it's been established.

 

- Why not?

 

- Because by the second day of incubation any cells that have undergone reversion mutation give rise to revertant colonies like rats leaving a sinking ship, then the ship sinks.

 

- What about EMS recombination?

 

- We've already tried it, ethyl, methane, sulfinate as an alkalating agent and potent mutagen, it created a virus so lethal the subject was dead before it even left the table.

 

- Then a repressor protein, that would block the operating cells.

 

- Wouldn't obstruct replication but it does give rise to an error in replication so that the newly formed DNA strand carries with it a mutation and you've got a virus again....but this, all of this is academic. You were made as well as we could make you.

 

- But not to last.

 

- The light that burns twice as bright burns for half as long and you have burned so very, very brightly Roy. Look at you, you're the prodigal son, you're quite a prize.

 

- I've done questionable things.

 

- Also extraodinary things, revel in your time.

 

- Nothing the God of bio-mechanics wouldn't put you in heaven for.

 

Dr Tyrell talking to Roy Batty,... for the last time... (Blade Runner)

Knebworth House is an English country house in the parish of Knebworth in Hertfordshire, England. It is a Grade II* listed building.[1] Its gardens are also listed Grade II* on the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens.[2] In its surrounding park are the medieval St. Mary's Church and the Lytton family mausoleum. It was the seat of the Earl of Lytton (also Viscount Knebworth), and now the house of the family of the Baron Cobbold of Knebworth.

 

The grounds are home to the Knebworth Festival, a recurring open-air rock and pop concert held since 1974.

 

The home of the Lytton family since 1490, when Thomas Bourchier sold the reversion of the manor to Sir Robert Lytton, Knebworth House was originally a red-brick Late Gothic manor house, built round a central court as an open square. In 1813–16 the house was reduced to its west wing,[3] which was remodelled in a Tudor Gothic style by John Biagio Rebecca for Mrs Bulwer-Lytton,[4] and then was transformed in 1843-45 by Henry Edward Kendall Jr. into the present Tudor Gothic structure.[5]

 

Knebworth's most famous resident was Edward Bulwer-Lytton (1803–1873), the Victorian author, dramatist and statesman, who embellished the gardens in a formal Italianate fashion. The 1st Baron's great-grandson Neville (1879–1951) married Judith Blunt, a well known horse breeder who inherited Crabbet Arabian Stud in 1917 and devoted her life to it. In 1913–1914 the house was leased for £3,000 per year by Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich of Russia and his morganatic wife Natalia Brasova.[6]

 

Much of the interior of Knebworth House was redesigned by Sir Edwin Lutyens, who married Lady Emily Bulwer-Lytton (1874–1964) – he simplified the main parterre. Lady Emily was the daughter of the 1st Earl of Lytton, who served as Viceroy of India between 1876 and 1880. A herb garden, with an interlaced quincunx design, was drawn by Gertrude Jekyll in 1907, although not planted until 1982. The grounds are also open to the public.

 

The 3rd Baron Cobbold lives at the house with his family. After a career in the film industry in Los Angeles, he lets production companies film on location in the house and gardens. The grounds include tourist attractions such as an adventure playground and dinosaur park and host various events including classic car rallies.

 

Music festival

Beginning in 1974, a recurring open-air rock and pop concert known as the Knebworth Festival has been held in the grounds. The festival first occurred in July 1974 when The Allman Brothers Band, The Doobie Brothers and other artists played to an audience of 60,000 people. Over the years the festival has featured major artists such as Pink Floyd, The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Queen (their 1986 concert at the venue their last with Freddie Mercury), Paul McCartney, Genesis, Mike Oldfield, The Beach Boys, Deep Purple, Eric Clapton, Elton John, Dire Straits, Robbie Williams, Oasis and Liam Gallagher. Wikipedia

Ladies and gentlemen of the Bijou Planks, welcome to Tuesday Night Fights ring... KINNIKUMAN!

 

*gasp*

So that's HIM! The original! The archetype!

 

Suguru began as a lazy and emotional man who always wishes to become famous. He often chased after women, while moving from job to job, until the Chojin Olympics, where he found his purpose as a chojin wrestler. He slowly grew a more serious personality while developing close friendships with the Justice Chojin. Before the end, Kinnikuman is crowned king of Planet Kinniku.

 

Suguru is a very childish character. He is also very arrogant and believes himself to be more popular than he is in reality. He complains when he does not get his way, pouts when someone gets more attention then him, and is often downright lazy. Early on, he would often refuse to fight certain monsters unless he got something in return. However, underneath this childish behaviour lies a very noble heart, and when times are at their worst, Suguru's courage surpasses that of the greatest of Justice Chojins. He has been known to fight better depending on how shameful or dishonourable his opponent is being. His honour and friendship has warmed the hearts of several an Evil Chojin.

 

Kinnikuman is a highly muscular man with exaggerated facial features, and a mask with a 'fin' piece that runs down the back of his head. He has naturally dark brown/black hair and blue eyes, with pale skin and very little clothes. If he does wear formal attire, it is usually in the form of unfashionable suits; a white suit to his wedding, a yellow suit with red swirls to dates and sometimes ceremonies.

 

Suguru is also lecherous and sometimes takes part in matches to impress women. Suguru often flirts with women, and has on numerous times tried to spy on his friends Mari Nikaido and Natsuko Shono. No women find him attractive except for Bibimba. However, when Bibimba first appears, it is a one-sided love on her part and he finds her more annoying than cute. By the time of the Seven Devil Chōjin Arc, he acknowledges her as his betrothed. During the Survivor Match for the Kinniku Throne Arc, he shows great concern for her and admits that he believes they are bound by the 'red string of fate'.

 

Terryman is the best friend of Kinnikuman. The two meet very early on in their careers, in their early twenties, and are at first antagonistic to one another, but soon they socialise on a regular basis, even with other members of each other's social circles. They form a tag-team that lasts for the entirety of their career, and - even when they temporarily argue or part - always reunite to work together and support each other. They display an unconditional trust and affection, often listening to one another when they would listen to no one else.

 

Bibimba at first is antagonistic to Kinnikuman, as she attempts to take his life (as per her role as an assassin). It is Kinnikuman's kindness that drives her to see him as a complex individual, and she develops a crush on him, which is - at first - one-sided and not reciprocated. Kinnikuman views her as a nuissance and often devises ways to be rid of Bibimba. At some point during the Universal Tag Tournament, they become engaged and act on a much more intimate level.

 

By the time of the Surivor Match Arc, Kinnikuman and Bibimba show great affection for one another, and Bibimba is even willing to sacrifice her life in order to save Kinnikuman, who also shows unconditional love towards her (wishing to be with her, even when he thinks she may be deformed). They proceed to later be married, and have a child together: Mantaro Kinniku. The two are shown to be close in the manga, where they celebrate and support their son together at multiple points.

 

In the beginning, Suguru would fights Kaiju by eating garlic and growing 30 meters tall. Despite his great strength and skill, Suguru is clumsy by nature. This causes most people to fear him more than the monsters he fights (due mostly to the possibility of him crashing into buildings while in his giant form). Even though a chojin's' wounds heal faster than a human's wound, it takes him longer to heal than a human.

 

Kinnikuman grows up alone on Earth, after being accidentally abandoned by Mayumi Kinniku. He is found by Meat Alexandria, and proceeds to mature over time with Meat as his second, leading him to befriend Terryman. Kinnikuman enters a series of tournaments, increasing his amount of friends and trophies, and finally competes in the Survivor Match for the Kinniku Throne Arc, where he proves his worth as a member of the Kinniku Clan and learns of his long-lost brother: Ataru Kinniku. This leads to him proclaiming his love for Bibimba, before assuming the throne as king of Planet Kinniku.

Prehistory

 

Suguru was born to Mayumi Kinniku and Sayuri Kinniku, the king and queen of Planet Kinniku on April 1, 1960. Suguru was so unattractive, even as a child, that on several occasions Mayumi would have an urge to strangle him just from looking at him. One day, the royal family went on vacation to Earth. While there, a pig sneaked aboard and got into Suguru's cradle. Mayumi mistook Suguru for the pig and threw Suguru out of the ship. Suguru was left behind on Earth to raise himself.

 

He built his own house, which only had one room, and tried to go to school, but he was so academically challenged that he flunked out. As he got older, he decided to become a hero like Ultraman. But despite his muscles and strength, he was too clumsy and lacked the intelligence to make it, so he settled for just being the president of the Gyudon Lovers Club.

 

Kaijuu Extermination Arc

Solo Life

At the age of 20, Kinnikuman had already become known as a worthless chojin, however he wasn't completely dismissed. When the Earth Defence Force learned of an upcoming attack by space kaiju, Kinnikuman was contacted because of the unavailability of the super heroes such as The Ultra Brothers, PP-Man, and Spider-Man. While being shown images of the kaiju coming to attack (such as Okamarasu, Eraginesu, Abdullah, Sheikian, and Acrobat-Seijin), he learned that he needed to create a finishing move. After a brief training session, he was able to find a technique that surpassed his Kinniku Flash, the Kinniku Beam. When the time came for the kaiju to arrive, a member of the EDF reported that, due to the embarrassment of having to fight Kinnikuman, they all turned back.

 

At some point during this time in his life, Kinnikuman grew an infatuation with pop idol Takahara Nana, having bought many of her records. In order to win Nana's heart, Kinnikuman attempted tried to impress her by showing of his muscles which only ended up angering her more. As a last resort, he called his kaiju henchman, Gorizaemon, to fake a kidnapping attempt on her in which Kinnikuman would save her. The plan backfired as Gorizaemon really did try to kidnap Nana. However, Kinnikuman was able to defeat his henchman and brought Nana to safety. By a simple misunderstanding, Nana thought that her manager, Hitoshi, had saved her and thus ran into his arms, much to Kinnikuman's disappointment.

 

Save Planet Kinniku

Kinnikuman received a visit from Alexandria Meat, who had been dispatched to find the Kinniku prince and bring him back. 5 Since Suguru's abandonment, the pig (King Tone) had taken over Planet Kinniku, and Kinnikuman was needed to defeat him. Kinnikuman, however, had no intention of going so was forced into a steel cage death match against Gouriki. He was able to win the match, thanks to the comical faces he made while he was being bear hugged, but was eventually bribed into going by Meat with a gyuudon.

 

When the two returned to Planet Kinniku, both of Kinnikuman's parents gave him a warm welcoming, as well as telling him of his name being Suguru. Kinnikuman's goal was to defeat King Tone in a three-round match of judo, boxing, and wrestling. Unfortunately, despite the confidence he displayed before the start of each match, he lost to Tone 0-3. Shortly after Tone's original owner, a butcher, chased him away from Planet Kinniku never to be seen again. 11 With the title now opened, Mayumi reclaimed his throne. Because of Suguru's disappointing match, Meat was ordered to bring him back to Earth and train him until he was a true hero.

 

Kaiju Fights

Kinnikuman and Meat began settling in the small house, doing normal activities. 13 After watching a television show, Kinnikuman gets the idea to fight the Loch Ness Monster and get it broadcast to boost his ratings as a chojin. After proving himself by defeating a kaiju, which was actually just a robot built by Meat, Kinnikuman was able to get the right to fight Nessie on air. Unfortunately, when Nessie finally did arrive, it turned out to be many times larger than Kinnikuman's giant form. Nessie simply licked him, which caused him to pass out.

 

Kinnikuman was introduced to Nikaido Mari, a preschool teacher and friend of Meat. Both he and Meat developed an obvious crush on Mari and would take different trips with her and her class, despite the fact that they would always beat him up. On their first trip to the preschool, the kaijuu Franky began attacking but actually gained the friendship of some of the children. Kinnikuman, who was hated by the children, wasn't able to fight but, Meat was able to come up with a strategy that caused Franky to run away.

 

After an encounter with the kaijuu Abdullah, Kinnikuman and Meat met The Terryman, an American chojin from Texas. Terryman would charge for his services against kaiju, but he became increasingly popular in Japan, much to Kinnikuman's dismay. After a while, Terryman came to Kinnikuman's house to brag of becoming Japan's sole super hero. An attack made Sheikian, caused a boy run to Terryman, saying he needed him to rescue his father. When Terryman kicked the boy, because he didn't have enough money, Kinnikuman, enraged, hit Terryman, gave the boy back his money, and went to rescue the boy's father. Terryman, after hearing the words of the Yamato Spirit from Kinnikuman, gave up his hero badge and went to help Kinnikuman fight Sheik-Seijin.

 

Roots Island Arc

Kunta first appears in the male onsen , where she throws herself on Kinnikuman and begs for his help. 19 Natsuko introduces Kunta as the princess of Roots Island, and Kunta explains that her island has been overrun by Kaiju, as well as that many warriors have been killed by Ukon. When Terryman and Kinnikman agree to the job, she gives each of them a kiss on the cheek, before they ride on Miss Karasu to the island in order to defeat the Kaiju.

 

As they arrive, they are greeted by Elder Yosaku, and introduces them to the last warrior of the island: Tabuchi. Kinnikuman and Terryman travel together to Roots Island to help Kunta and save the islanders. Octopus Dragon stops Kinnikuman from growing to giant size, by placing a tentacle on his head. The two then exchange blows, taking it in turns to swing one another and swapping body slams, until Octopus Dragon becomes intimidated, as he thinks Kinnikuman knows the moves of the Ultraman family. He is ultimately defeated by a Kinniku Flash. After they defeat Harigoras and Octopus King, a piece of meat appears before Kinnikuman and he eats the meat. Custom dictates whomever eats the meat must fight Ukon one-on-one in battle. It is meat thrown by Ukon in a challenge.

 

Kinnikuman goes to a Colosseum, who has taken Kunta hostage and is attacked by the locals with various objects, as they throw things into the Colosseum. Tabuchi tries to save the princess, but Ukon flicks him away with a giant finger. When Kinnikuman climbs a pole to escape, Ukon shakes it to get him down. Kinnikuman soon loses the fight, causing Ukon to rule over the people and turn them into slaves. Kinnikuman becomes his servant, but - when lighting a cigar for Ukon - he sets Ukon on fire in a blaze.

 

The skin melts off Ukon, revealing he was a robot all along. When he kidnaps Kunta once more, the locals call upon Mammora to save them. Mammora picks Kinnikuman up on his back and flies towards Ukon, whom they smash into a wall to remove his arm. Kinnikuman uses the Kinniku Flash, but it does not work on Ukon. After several exchanges of blows, Mammora destroys Ukon and it is revealed Kinkotsuman and Iwao were working the robot the entire time, but they soon run away. When Kunta is rescued, she pays Terryman and Kinnikuman with stone money (which they cannot use).

 

20th Chojin Olympics

Preliminary Rounds

Mayumi went to Earth to tell his son about the upcoming Chojin Olympics. Kinnikuman was convinced he was a shoe-in for the Japanese representative, due to Uldraman humiliating defeat at the hands of England's Robin Mask in the previous tournament. However, Terry informed him that Japan had decided not to compete if they could not be represented by Uldraman. Having lost all hope, Kinnikuman ran off to sulk but was confronted by Robin Mask. Robin put him in a Bow and Arrow Lock and told him to give up, but Suguru refused and persevered for several hours until Robin got tired and let go. Making last year's champion struggle caused Harabote Muscle, the chairman of the Olympics, to allow Suguru to compete.

 

The 20th Chojin Olympics soon began, with many well known chojin, including Robin Mask, Terryman, Specialman, Canadianman, Kintaman, Skyman, Brockenman, Lupin, and Kani Base, all competing for the title. The tournament had a rocky start for Kinnikuman when Meat, who was the Olympics mascot, accidentally hit Kinnikuman with the Olympics torch, which then caused him to hit Kani Base, and a brawl broke out. After the idiotic fighting was settled, the first preliminary match was announced, Rock-Paper-Scissors. Kinnikuman was able to beat Kani Base in the round with "rock" due to Kani Base's claws being stuck on "scissors".

 

The second preliminary was a weight lifting round with a catch, the weights are dead kaiju weighing 1 ton. The preliminaries went smoothly as many of the favourites easily lifted the kaiju. Kinnikuman, himself, was able to lift the kaijuu, albeit he sunk to the ground quite a bit. With many chojin passing, a second lift was done in which the weight was changed from 1 ton to 2 tons. While it would still seem favourable for many chojin, Kinkotsuman, Iwao, and the newly joined Kani Base had set up a trap for the chojin.

 

The three turned invisible thanks to Kinkotsuman's invisibility gun and begin to tickle or attack the chojin who was lifting. This would cause the chojin to lose focus and drop the kaiju, thus eliminating them. This tactic caused many chojin to fail, including Specialman, which caused Terryman to suspect their work. When it came to Kinnikuman's turn, he wasn't able to lift the kaiju up completely, but was able to withstand the tickling of Kinkotsuman. Thanks to a kick in the crotch from Kani Base, Kinnikuman was able to pass the round and expose Kinkotsuman, and the others fo

 

The third and final preliminary was a race in which the remaining chojin would fly to the moon, get a doll rabbit from one of the tournament reps, and fly back to the stadium. The first eight chojin to land would be the finalists. Kinnikuman, who was in last place, was given a doll rabbit by an unknown male who was actually Kinkotsuman in disguise. Kinkotsuman had set up a bomb in the rabbit that would explode. Fortunately, when the bomb exploded, it actually caused Kinnikuman as well many other chojin to fly straight down to the stadium. While 7 of the 8 finalists had been decided, 10 chojin, including Kinnikuman, Kintaman, Sphinxman, Amazonman, Copper Bellman, had all tied for the last spot. To settle this dispute, a battle royale would decide the eighth finalist.

 

Kinkotsuman hypnotised the other 9 finalists into eliminating Kinnikuman from the tournament as well as impersonating the referee. While Kinkotsuman's plan seemed to succeed, Terryman was able to realise Kinkotsuman's plan and was able to free the chojin of his control. With all the chojin back to normal, they all stopped their focused on Kinnikuman and just attacked each other. In the end, the other chojin knocked each other out, leaving only Kinnikuman, thus making the eighth finalist.

 

Quarter Finals

Kinnikuman had made it into the eight finalists of the 20th Chojin Olympics, which included Robin Mask, Terryman, Ramenman, Skyman, Brockenman, Canadianman, and Curry Cook. After a drawing, Kinnikuman was placed in B-Block which consisted of Curry Cook, Brockenman, and Ramenman, all known in the Planet Kinniku Grand Library for brutal fighting styles, hence them being Zangyaku chojin.

 

Due to the brutality of the chojin, Harabote placed the B-Block matches in the small Korakuen Hall which would only be broadcast on radio, compared to the massive Korakuen Stadium in which the A-Block matches were taking place and would be broadcast on television. The A-Block match against Robin Mask and Canadianman ended quickly with Robin taking down Canadianman in only a few moments. The B-Block match between Ramenman and Brockenman began with Brockenman using fowl and cheap tricks, such as spiked-knuckles and poison gas. Ramenman was able to take the upper-hand by taking Brockenman down with his Chinese Kenpo, finishing him off with his Camel Clutch, ripping Brockenman in half and which terrified Kinnikuman, Meat, and Mayumi.

 

After seeing the brutal death of Brockenman, Kinnikuman's fears of dying the same way at the hands of Curry Cook caused him to try to run away from the match. The only way Kinnikuman was able to get into the ring was because Meat and Mayumi dragged him back and told him that Curry Cook's face resembled that of a kappa. The match became a steel cage match and Curry Cook began the match by taking a weapon out of his curry sauce and stabbed Kinnikuman's forehead. While wallowing in pain, Kinnikuman was able to break Curry Cook's curry plate which caused Curry Cook to steal some gyuudon from the audience.

 

The sauce that had been stabbed into Kinnikuman's forehead caused him to act different, in which he bashed Curry Cook against the steel cage and even drank the milk that Curry Cook was originally going to use against him. Kinnikuman's insane tactics caused Curry Cook to give up the match and run away, advancing Kinnikuman to the semi-finals.

 

In Korakuen Stadium, Terryman's match with Skyman wasn't going well as Skyman's attacks were pushing Terry down. But Terry was able to make a comeback and defeat Skyman with an Oklahoma Stampede.

 

Semi-Finals

The match with Ramenman takes place on a solid block of ice.

 

Both competitors must be barefoot. Ramenman struggles to get a hold of Kinnikuman, who runs constantly away using the ropes as a tightrope. Eventually, Ramenman is able to deliver a series of blows and gets Kinnikuman into a Camel Clutch position, but soon lets go when Kinnikuman unleashes a bad smell and soils himself. Ramenman allows him a break to change his tights, while Kinnikuman gets used to the ice and gains an advantage.

 

Ramenman proceeds to use a pile-driver, but Kinnikuman gets his fin stuck in the melting ice. Ramenman kicks him across the ice and into the ropes, but the momentum allows the ropes to bounce Kinnikuman back and use an Elbow Smash. This knocks Ramenman out, which allows Kinnikuman to win the match. Unknown to Suguru, Kinkotsuman tries to shoot him, but Terryman intervenes and takes a bullet in his leg.

 

Finals

Before Suguru's fight with Robin Mask, Terry and Ramenman had a grudge match. Ramenman was soon disqualified for dirty fighting but then demanded that Suguru fight his best against Robin Mask, saying he wanted to be proud of his fight with Suguru. He got very emotional and cried tears of blood. Motivated by Ramenman's words, Suguru was a brand new fighter when he faced Robin. However, when he proved to be too much for Robin, Robin removed his armor, which he always wore to weaken his power rather than to protect himself.

 

Robin Mask became too tough, so Suguru tried to run away, but Ramenman, Kinkotsuman, and Iwao convinced him to return to the ring. Robin eventually put Suguru in his trademark Tower Bridge hold and seemingly broke his back. As Robin lamented over "killing" Suguru, Suguru stood up and defeated him with a Mexican Rolling Clutch Hold. Suguru had won the Olympics and Ramenman makes the first mention of Suguru's Kajiba no Kuso Djikara.

 

American Tour

After winning the chojin Olympics, Suguru is sent to tour the American Circuit. His first stop is Hawaii, where he challenges the Hawaiian Champion Jesse Maivia to a match. Jesse agrees, but only if Suguru can beat his manservant, Prince Kamehame. Suguru loses within seven seconds, but Kamehame is so impressed with him that he offers to teach him the Killer Techniques. With these techniques Suguru is able to defeat Jesse Maivia, the master of Move Reversion.

 

His next stop is the main continent, where he meets up with Dorlo Flairs and learns of the rivalry amongst the chojin Wrestling League chairmen. In order to disrupt the alliance between the Superhuman World Council and World Federation, he disguises himself as The Chanelman (a parody of blackface singers Chanels) and attacks the WSC's champions during their fights. Skull Boze and his manager Sheik Seijin figure out his identity and decide to set up a rematch between Suguru and Robin Mask.

 

Robin reappears in South America. 30 Kinnikuman confronts him when he sees Robin murder an opponent in the ring, when Robin's opponent is torn in two pieces.31 When Kinnikuman is captured by the World Supermen Federation, Robin brings him food so that he will survive and remain strong. 32 After tearing Dynamite Piper in half at the Luck Lumber Joe, Robin was allowed the chance to regain his title from Kinnikuman and faced him in a match.

 

The match with Kinnikuman takes place over the Grand Canyon, at 1,600 meters high. Before the fight can be finished, Iwao flies an aeroplane into the ring. The match is determined to be in Robin's favour, but - due to his assumed death - the belt then goes to the next in the WSF's line, which is Skull Bozu. Kinnikuman is revealed to be alive, while Robin took the brunt of the aeroplane attack and is willing to let himself be sacrificed as Kinnikuman has not enough strength to remove the plane.

 

Robin reveals that he read about Kinnikuman's activity in Hawaii and yearned to return to the life of a Justice Chojin. 34 Kinnikuman eventually manages to free Robin, but the WSF explode the ring, and only Kinnikuman can escape. Robin seemingly falls to his death.

 

After the battle between Kinnikuman and Robin Mask, the Chojin Council are chased by Kinnikuman to a remote location. The World Chojin Federation try to steal the championship belt, which creates a free-for-all battle, and God von Erich appears to command them to stop. 35 God von Erich announces a tag tournament to settle the differences between the three groups, as he says that the winner shall rule the American chojin world.

 

In this tag tournament, Kinnikuman must engage in a round robin.

 

He must fight the Chojin Council, Chojin Federation, Chojin Association, and the Kaiju - the winner of the four groups will gain control of America. 36 Kinnikuman finds Terryman in Amarillo, Texas; Terryman initially refuses to participate, due to the work on his ranch, and it is revealed he has lost his left leg. The wound he obtained by Kinkotsuman increasingly got worse, until he was forced to amputate. Kinnikuman eventually convinces him to use a prosthetic leg by winning a special bet.

 

Over 100,000 people attend to watch the tournament in Houston, Texas. They form The Machineguns, with the theme of "The Magnificent Seven" as they make an entrance. Their first match is against Beauty Rhodes and Jean Steamboard, who form The Emperors. During their match, Terryman is accidentally knocked out by Kinnikuman. Kinnikuman begins to lose, but Terryman wakes up long enough to save Kinnikuman with his own body. The match ultimately ends in a draw. The next few matches take place in Los Angeles.

 

Terryman and Kinnikuman are set to win by default against Rugged Brothers, as one of their opponents lost in their previous match and is unable to compete. Kinkotsuman reveals that he is the new tag partner, and the group rename themselves Monster Master/Student Combo. Kinnikuman and Terryman get trapped under a lighting rig that Kinkotsuman crashes down on them, but Kinnikuman knocks Terryman out when Terryman panics over the loss of his leg when faced with Kinkotsuman that caused his leg injury. Kinnikuman wins the match in record time against both Kinkotsuman and Iwao.

 

The next few matches take place at Madison Square Gardens, New York. The final match is against the Blood Illusions. Devil Magician starts by throwing cards at Kinnikuman and Terryman, before diving at them with a dagger, but Ramenman stops him and forces him to play by the rules. Skull Bozu attacks next, using his Hedgehog Move, where his body - except his head - erupts into spikes. Kinnikuman manages to defend, and stabs Skull Bozu's head with his own spikes.

 

Kinnikuman then uses a Drop Kick on Skull Bozu, while Terryman uses the Brain Buster on Devil Magician. They follow with a series of other wrestler's signature moves. Iwao then steals Terry's leg. Terryman - distracted by the abuse of a child - is showered in a flurry of punches by Skull Bozu. Skull Bozu proceeds to throw him out of the ring, but - on retrieving his leg - Terryman uses a Calf Branding against Skull Bozu, which results in a knock-out and thus secures their victory.

 

The Machineguns go on to win their final match against the Blood Illusions, while the New World Supermen Association - goes on to control America. Kinnikuman - after winning the tournament - take a break in Guam for the day, where he witnesses a kaiju attack on Japan, while watching television.

 

The kaiju Burugorasu is attacking children and destroying buildings, but the Earth Defence Force fails to stop him, but - on seeing the children plead for the help of Kinnikuman - Kinnikuman and Meat decide to return to Japan. He is given a wrist that will tell him the time to his next exhibition match, which is due five hours from now, and - as Olympic Champion - he is obliged to attend the match or he will forfeit his championship. Kinnikuman eventually arrives in Japan, with only 30 minutes to spare, and grows to a giant size. He struggles to use his Kinniku Flash, but succeeds after a child tosses him some garlic. He fails to make it back in time for his match, and forfeits his championship.

 

The Lost Three Days

The chapter begins with a brief recap of American Chojin politics during the 1980's, and the creation of the American Chojin Tag Tournament. 48 Kinnikuman sets his sights upon Terryman as a tag partner, but only has three days until the tournament starts to convince him of participation, and - on reaching Terry's Ranch - Kinnikuman begs him, only for Terry to rebuke him due to a lack of time.

 

Kinnikuman strikes Terryman, which knocks him off his horse, and this reveals that he has lost his leg, which Terryman states makes him useless as a partner. He thus rides away. A ranch-hand - Buckland - reveals that he has a prosthetic leg that Terryman can use, and gives it to Kinnikuman so that Terryman may fight again. Kinnikuman waits outside the ranch, even forgoing food and rest, in hopes that Terryman will take pity on him and use the leg.

 

The next day Terryman wakes them with water to the face, after they pass out from heatstroke. Terryman says that he will work with Kinnikuman, only if Kinnikuman can fill up his trough; he gives him two bags, and tells him the river is fifteen miles away. To do this, he lends Kinnikuman a wild horse (knowing that Kinnikuman will never tame the horse and thus make the necessary trips). The horse is named Machinegun.

 

Kinnikuman still refuses to find another partner, and - after being attacked by the horse - manages to eventually mount Machinegun. At sunset, Kinnikuman makes the first round-trip to empty some water into the trough. While Terryman goes about his daily routine, Kinnikuman continues to fill the trough, and it is noticed that Machinegun once lost his leg in an accident, too, until he was also given a prosthetic. Kinnikuman bonds with the horse and tames him. Kinnikuman makes it back just in time to win the bet made by Terryman, and Terryman thus dons his prosthetic leg and agrees to join his team. The two go on to enter the tournament.

 

2nd Kaiju Extermination Arc

Bibimba

Yaki Horumon sends Bibimba to take revenge on Kinnikuman. At first, she dives at him with a knife, but he ducks at the last moment and avoids her attack. This causes Bibimba to fall and scrape her knee, and Kinnikuman rips Meat Alexandria's to wrap her wound. Yaki - troubled by this - summons Kinnikuman to attend a duel with Bibimba, after he kidnaps Meat to force attendance.

 

Bibimba easily strikes a blow on Kinnikuman, and proceeds to take a sword to kill him, but she hesitates after remembering his act of kindness. Kinnikuman is thus able to stop her blow, but - when he counters with a sword-attack - he slices open her leotard and reveals her in a nude state. Kinnikuman shows mercy on her, as he gives her Meat's new cape to cover her naked form. Bibimba then believes herself to be in love with Kinnikuman.

 

Seeing how she is infatuated with Kinnikuman, Yaki Horumon introduces her to Shishkeba Boo. Yaki promises the hand of Bibimba in marriage, so long as Shishkeba defeats Kinnikuman in battle. Bibimba rushes to the palace to beg Kinnikuman to flee the planet, but - just as Kinnikuman tries to make his escape - Shiskeba arrives to stop him. Kinnikuman mocks his appearance, but agrees to fight him in a series of challenges.

 

The first challenge is a speed-eating contest, which he wins. The second challenge is to create a tower, but - after Kinnikuman cheats - they both descend into a fist-fight. They are evenly matched, using the same techniques, but Shiskeba is able to knock him unconscious. When it seems that Shishkeba may truly kill Kinnikuman, Bibimba refuses to allow him, saying that she will die, too, and is willing to sacrifice her life. Bibimba then travels back to Earth with Meat and Kinnikuman.

 

Without anywhere to live, Bibimba stays in Beverly Park with Kinnikuman and Meat. Unable to attend on Kinnikuman as well as Meat, Bibimba flees and it is revealed that Meat and Kinnikuman are actively trying to get her to return to Planet Kinniku. On her way to find Kinnikuman to make amends, she is attacked by a Kaiju: Gonta. When Kinnikuman refuses to help her, and the Earth Defence Force arrive, Bibimba believes she is being tested on whether she can defend herself. This inspires Bibimba to join the Earth Defence Force and become independent, as she starts a life alone.

 

Planet Rakka

When Planet Rakka became in danger by the Uchuu Nobushi, the chojin Beansman asked Terryman and Ramenman to fight. Kinnikuman, assuming he'd automatically be chosen, went straight to Beansman and joined them without any real test. In Africa, the group found the transforming chojin Puyo-Puyo, whom Kinnikuman teased because of his appearance, only to be punched at by him. In Antarctica, the group found the ice chojin Crystalman, who had been asleep in ice for 100,000 and was bribed into going by getting all the food he could eat. The least chojin was in Berlin, Germany, Brocken Jr., the son of Brockenman. At first, it seemed as though Brocken Jr. was going to begin his revenge on Ramenman but stopped, accepted Beansman's request to join, and said he would deal with it when they returned to Earth. With Brocken Jr. now having joined, the seven chojin had been gathered.

 

Using Puyo-Puyo as a space coaster, the group was able to reach Planet Rakka. Ingen, the elder and friend of Beansman, told the group that the survivors had built a fort and disguised it with a fog. Ingen said the only reason that the Uchu Nobushi hadn't been around was because they had gone to eat. Only moments later, the Uchu Nobushi returned, ready to take the fort. The seven chojin all gathered and began their assault. However, it seemed useless as the Uchu Nobushi would regenerate into even more members every time they were struck down.

 

When Crystalman found the weakness against the Uchu Nobushi as an attack to their hearts, the Uchu Nobushi all formed together into one giant creature. In order to stop the creature, Kinnikuman and the rest of the chojin combined their powers and were able to destroy the Uchu Nobushi, freeing Planet Rakka. When the chojin were going home Kinnikuman, who was driving their spaceship, was caught by the space police as an unlicensed speeding driver, much to the other chojins dismay.

 

21st Chojin Olympics: The Big Fight

Preliminary Rounds

One morning, a black letter came into the mail for Kinnikuman. The letter turned out to be an application for the 21st chojin Olympics, nicknamed "The Big Fight". At first Kinnikuman was ready to fight until he learned that he still had to pass the prelims like everyone else. On the chojin Hour program, Yoshigai and Harabote began speaking of Kinnikuman's loss of the belt and how it was worth 10,000,000 yen. Next, they went over the favourites for the tournament, such as Terryman, Ramenman, Brocken Jr., and Benkiman, a toilet chojin who can literally flush people down his drain. The next chojin representative was also from Japan, a sumo named Wolfman, who antagonised Kinnikuman on television. Wolfman's actions caused Kinnikuman to want to compete in the tournament once more.

 

Days passed, until the chojin Olympics: The Big Fight finally started. Over 100,000 chojin from all over the world came to compete, including many of Kinnikuman's friends and rivals from the previous chojin Olympics and his American Tour. The first preliminary was the "Terrifying chojin Sieve" in which the chojin were put into a giant sieve, shaken up, and all the chojin who were too fat or too skinny would fall through leaving only the chojin in good physical condition left. Harabote first started off with the German team, taking them directly from the stands, where only one chojin, Brocken Jr. stayed in.

 

Harabote soon got carried away and took all the other countries chojin at once. Fat and skinny chojin, such as Kani Base (as well as Skull Bozu and Beauty Rhodes), were eliminated quickly. As the shaking continued, Kinnikuman began to fall through, leaving only his head still inside the sieve at the end of the shaking. Since Kinnikuman's head was still inside the sieve, Harabote deemed it legal and he passed the first prelim.

 

Quarter Finals

At the 21st Chojin Olympics Benkiman fought against Kinnikuman. Kinnikuman eventually was sucked into Benkiman's toilet and flushed down. A person typically does not return once flushed. Kinnikuman, however, returned because he stuffed his shorts into the toilet causing it to back up. The back up resulted in Kinnikuman winning the match. Kinnikuman also saved the other Chojins that were flushed down Benkiman's toilet.

 

Semi-Finals

The semi-finals match takes place in Kuramae Public Arena, where Meat Alexandria acts as a guest commentator. Four people surround the ring, while Kinnikuman is required to wear a fundashi. The ring is flipped over to reveal a sumo circle, and Kinnikuman starts with a Kinniku-Sumo Kick. He attempts a brain-buster, but Wolfman evades the attack. Wolfman tries to throw Kinnikuman out of the circle, as per sumo rules, but Kinnikuman holds onto him to stop being thrown.

 

Wolfman delivers a Rubiks Cube Slap to Kinnikuman's face. He manages to toss Kinnikuman out of the circle, but Mayumi Kinniku bursts the swollen blisters of his head and Kinnikuman floats back into the circle. They grab each other's belts, where Kinnikuman is nearly thrown again, and he survives again an underarm throw. Wolfman tries to crush Kinnikuman into submission, but he pushes back. Wolfman distracts him by claiming his penis is visible through his fundashi, before throwing Kinnikuman down against the ring.

 

Just as he is about to be declared the winner, they realise Wolfman is fully outside of the ring. Kinnikuman has used a suplex to throw him, and he has touched ground outside of the circle first, which disqualifies him from continuing in the tournament.

 

Finals

Kinnikuman angers Warsman by mocking him, as he pulls back his chair and forces him to fall in public. After Kinnikuman strikes Bibimba, Warsman becomes infuriated at his actions and lunges to attack, at which point Kinnikuman uses his Bear Claw Defence to remove his clawed hand. Warsman counters with the Palo Special, before Terryman saves Kinnikuman by kicking him away into the waters. This makes Kinnikuman's mask fall off, and Barracuda declares the next match will be a Mask Removal Death Match.

 

Warsman later interferes with an exhibition match between Mayumi Kinniku and Harabote Muscle as a "training exercise". He tosses the ring with them away, until Kinnikuman tosses it back. Warsman is stopped from killing a catatonic Ramenman, only for Robin Mask to reveal his true identity to the crowd and that Warsman is his chance for revenge. Kinnikuman initially gains the upper hand, as Warsman essentially copies Robin's techniques, which Kinnikuman knows very well from their previous matches. 61 Warsman reverts back to his own style, then removes Kinnikuman's mask.

 

Underneath each of Kinnikuman's masks is another mask, so Warsman struggles to unmask him. Warsman starts to remove Kinnikuman's actual mask, revealing black hair, until Kinnikuman performs the Muscle Curtain. Bibimba begs Warsman to stop, after he leaves Kinnikuman a bloody mess, but Robin Mask threatens to return him to the streets. Kinnikuman has the chance to throw Warsman onto his own Bear Claw, but refuses as he doesn't want to become as brutal as Warsman. 65 Warsman thus changes his mind about his evil ways, but is attacked by Robin, who then proceeds to slap Bibimba. 65 Warsman attacks Robin and continues to fight fairly against Kinnikuman.

 

Warsman is able to overcome Kinnikuman's Fire of Inner Strength with his Palo Special, proving himself stronger and with greater techniques, but Warsman overheats in battle if he fights past 30 minutes and 35 minutes have gone by in the match. Kinnikuman uses the Kinniku Buster and wins the match; he is required to remove Warsman's mask, but Warsman - talking for the first time - reveals his face. He is revealed to have a cybernetic face. Kinnikuman thus returns his mask.

 

The Seven Devil Chojin

Prehistory

After taking the chojin Olympics championship twice, Suguru thew a parade honouring himself as the V2 champion. Unfortunately, while being lifted in the air by his fan girls, a more heavy-set girl threw him too high into space. This caused him to hit the detonation button on a roach motel which contained the Seven Devil Chojin, seven evil chojin that were banned from Earth due to their deadly ways of fighting.

 

In Korakuen Hall, while participating in the "Let's Play with the chojin" Fan Appreciation Day, the Seven Devil Chojin interrupted the celebration. At first, Kinnikuman thought it was just an unscripted sketch but Warsman corrected him and began to attack one of the Devil Chojin. Immediately, the Devil Chojin, Black Hole, punched Warsman, who was then forced down into the mat by Buffaloman, the leader of the Seven Devil Chojin. Buffaloman then stated a challenge to Kinnikuman to defeat all seven of them.

The Devil Chojin began challenging Kinnikuman, eager to battle him. Warsman rose up and continued to fight against Buffaloman, only for him to be attacked by SteCase King's 100,000 headphones which broke his ear drums destroyed his sensory system. While at first he was going to give it away, Kinnikuman decided to keep his belt but refused to fight the Devil Chojin after the battles that had just occurred in the chojin Olympics. In order to force Kinnikuman to fight, Buffaloman took Meat and separated him into seven pieces, each piece being taken by one of the Devil Chojin. Buffaloman set a challenge that, in order to revive Meat, Kinnikuman had to defeat all seven Devil Chojin in 10 days. Crying, Kinnikuman accepted the challenge immediately saying that Meat was like a brother to him.69

 

Kinnikuman vs. Stecasse King

The Devil Chojin gave Kinnikuman the opportunity to pick his first opponent. Using his own cassettes music, SteCase King was able to force Kinnikuman's body into picking him, much to the anger of the other Devil Chojin. The battle took place at Tokyo Tower, with Meat's torso at stake. The battle began with SteCase King jumping at Kinnikuman with his headphone feet to try to force him to listen to his Music of Hell.

 

Kinnikuman was able to dodge the attacks and even hit SteCase King, giving the impression that SteCase King was very weak, putting him into a Boston Crab Hold. SteCase King soon opened up his Miracle Backpack which contained five giant cassette tapes of the chojin Encyclopedia. Using the tapes, SteCase King was able to imitate Warsman perfectly, including Warsman's deep breathing and creepy smile, and released himself from the Boston Crab Hold. To show his strength, SteCase King then put Kinnikuman into the Palo Special, a technique that only Warsman knew.

 

SteCase King soon showed his abilities even more showing the abilities of Ramenman's kicks and Robin Mask's Tower Bridge, all on his tapes. Buffaloman then told Terryman that SteCase King's tapes contained 1,000 entries on chojin, giving the match and 1000 vs. 1 challenge. Kinnikuman's determination was able to release him from the Tower Bridge, however SteCase King soon put Kinnikuman into his own Music Hell technique. Even though Kinnikuman's mask was able to protect him from 100,000 phones, SteCase King set the sound for 1,000,000 phones, loud enough to penetrate even the Kinniku masks.

 

Thanks to observation by a child, Terryman was able to conclude that SteCase King's music was the same music that came from Tokyo Tower, hence why SteCase King set the match right below it. Thanks to a mistake by SteCase King, the music program had already ended and was switched by a comedy program, which was able to keep Kinnikuman conscious.

 

Now free, Kinnikuman countered with a back drop and injured SteCase King. As a last resort, SteCase King used the chojin Encyclopedia once more, except he accidentally took an outdated cassette of Kinnikuman, who had indeed become a competent chojin over the years. With SteCase King weakened, Kinnikuman finished him off with the Kinniku Buster. Despite SteCase King being the weakest of the Seven Devil Chojin, he managed to give Kinnikuman many wounds, enough so that the chojin doctor said that Kinnikuman would need 10 days to heal.

 

Kinnikuman vs. Black Hole

Despite initially having taken his torso, the match against Black Hole is to retrieve Meat's right arm. Black Hole - after lighting a fire - realises Kinnikuman has not arrived and threatens to destroy Meat's arm, but Kinnikuman seemingly arrives in perfect health. He blocks a punch from Black Hole, which Black Hole notes is with his left hand despite being right-handed, and Black Hole also notes that his body is no longer muscular.

 

Black Hole and his teammates reveal this is an intruder, only to beat him until he is bleeding profusely, and they show that this was Terryman. The real Kinnikuman appears and challenges Black Hole to fight. They fight in a Solar House Death Match at Korakuen Stadium. Kinnikuman initially thought that this was to be nice, as the Solar House made it warmer inside the ring while it was cold outside, but Black Hole's real reason was so that he could use his Shadow Travel technique. Kinnikuman begins the match with a punch, but his arm gets stuck in the hole in Black Hole's face. After a flurry of punches, Kinnikuman finally escapes, and kicks at Black Hole's chest, only to get his body stuck within the chest.

 

Kinnikuman is soon spat out, only for Black Hole to use Shadow Travel.

 

He uses a German Suplex upon Kinnikuman, before trapping him in a Cobra Twist. He proceeds to clone his bodies and fill the ring with them, as all of them attack Kinnikuman at once, but Kinnikuman uses a Sun Muscle to dissipate the fake Black Hole clones. Kinnikuman lands a Flying Body Scissors Drop. The inside of the hole on Black Hole's head then becomes a portal into space, which sucks Kinnikuman inside. Kinnikuman manages to escape and breaks through the Solar Dome back into the ring. Kinnikuman smashes down on Black Hole with a Nikudan Elbow Drop, which effectively knocks out Black Hole and allows Kinnikuman to win and retrieve Meat's right arm.

 

Kinnikuman vs. Atlantis

Later Kinnikuman fights against Atlantis. Atlantis begins with a Water Magnum, but Kinnikuman uses Salmon Swimming Stream to swim up the beam of water, and headbutts Atlantis in his face. Kinnikuman attempts a body-press, but the spirits of his deceased opponents hold him back: The Mountain, Stecasse King, Mr Khamen, and Black Hole. He thus can't move and lands on Atlantis knees. He tries to put Atlantis in a sleeping hold, but Black Hole cuts into his neck. Mongolman reveals that this is due to a Blood Bind, and he takes Terryman and Brocken Jr. into the spirit world to defeat the spirits.

 

Kinnikuman is thrown into the lake by Atlantis. Due to his friends defeating the spirits, Kinnikuman is able to swim upwards and jump back onto the ring. Atlantis jumps into the water and covers the ring in a thick fog, which enables him to trick Kinnikuman into thinking the corner-post is him and striking his head against it in the confusion. Atlantis uses a water magnum, which destroys some of the ropes, and then hits him with a Water Ball. He follows this with a St Helen's Eruption.

 

Kinnikuman uses his Fire of Inner Strength to escape the hold, and a Muscle Typhoon to get rid of the mist. In order to avenge Robin Mask, Kinnikuman use a Tower Bridge attack on Atlantis, at which point Atlantis tosses Meat's right leg into the leg. Kinnikuman jumps in to save the leg, as Atlantis follows, but uses a U-Boat technique against him. Buffaloman convince Kinnikuman to finish using his Kinniku Buster, which breaks Atlantis' back, neck, and hip-bones. This defeats Atlantis and allows Kinnikuman to retrieve the leg.

 

Kinnikuman vs. Buffaloman

From here on, the matches became rougher, as the Devil Chojins, the fierce enemies of the Justice Chojin, weren't just trying to beat them, but kill them in battle. Through the help of his friends, some of who valiantly gave their lives through fighting the evil Devil chojin, and Mongolman, the mystery fighter who Suguru first believed to be a Devil chojin, they were finally able to defeat the leader, Buffaloman. Touched by the bonds of friendship that Suguru and the Justice Chojin had for each other, Buffaloman vowed that one day he would like to join them, if he survived the punishment for his sins.

 

Golden Mask Arc

Kinnikuman attends a chojin physical with his colleagues.

 

The Chojin Power of his colleagues is halved, with only his power left intact. It is revealed that the golden mask on Planet Kinniku has been stolen, and the Silver Mask travels through space into Kinnikuman's hands, as a group of six masked men descend on Kinnikuman. Only one of them has the true Golden Mask, and each says they will go to a specific location to wait for Kinnikuman; if he battles them and wins, they will give him their mask, and their tournament will end when he finds the true Golden Mask.

 

Kinnikuman vs. Sneagator

The first match is against Sneagator in the Budokan Stadium. The ring seems empty, until Sneagator appears to turn all the chairs into alligators and the confetti into lizards. Sneagator bites through the ropes, which turn into snakes and attack Kinnikuman. He then bites down onto Kinnikuman's right shoulder, before using a Hell Space Walk, which is a powerful sneaker kick.

 

Sneagator then bites into Kinnikuman's torso, before using another sneaker-kick and biting him in three separate places. At this point, Meat realises the animals are illusions caused by a light projector. Sneagator attempts to bite off Kinnikuman's head, but Kinnikuman stops him by holding onto the sides of his jaws, before using a Mouth-Ripping Kinniku-Buster, and covers the light projector with Sneagator's blood.

 

Sneagtor then sheds his skin and returns in a tortoise form. He uses a Strong Body Press on Kinnikuman, but Kinnikuman uses a Muscle Curtain, and Sneagator sheds his skin again. Kinnikuman gets behind Sneagator and rips the fins from his head, but Sneagator turns again into a chameleon to camouflage into his environment. Kinnikuman allows himself to be injured, so he can use his blood to force Sneagator to become visible. Sneagator then turns into a dinosaur hand, but Kinnikuman gets him in a Bear Hug.

 

This allows him to see Sneagator's true face, which is on one of his fingers.

 

He uses a Front Suplex to then defeat Sneagator.

 

Kinnikuman vs. Planetman

 

Kinnikuman dies from his injuries against Sneagator.

 

Once he is revived by Wolfman's life force, Kinnikuman heads for the Toshimaen (豊島園) amusement park to face his next opponent. Upon arrival, he and Meat find a ring and are then confronted by several planets. The planets then fuse together and become Planetman. He knocks Kinnikuman into the ring, which is then elevated several hundred feet into the air.

 

Planetman starts out in control of the fight, slicing Kinnikuman up with his Planet Ring. 86 Kinnikuman tries to hide in a Ferris Wheel car, but Planetman is able to knock him out of there with his Ring Stone. He then freezes Kinnikuman's body with the Sub Zero Figure 4 Neck Lock and tries to shatter him with a knee drop, but Geronimo channels Wolfman's power and Kinnikuman is able to break free.

 

Planetman then reveals that his head is actually the legendary planet Vulcan. He also points out that Earth is nowhere on his body. 86 That is because Kinnikuman represents Earth, and with that a map of the world appears on Kinnikuman's body. 87 Planetman then begins striking the countries of specific Justice Chojins, causing their life-support bubbles to burst and their bodies to go through excruciating pain.

 

When he tries throwing his Apollo Dynamite at Japan, Kinnikuman catches the fireball and throws it back. Planetman then uses his horrible Face Planet technique, causing the faces of Terryman, Robin Mask, Warsman, Brocken Jr., Mayumi Kinniku, Sayuri Kinniku, Bibimba, and Canadianman to appear on the planets on his body. He also dons his Golden Mask so that Kinnikuman won't attack his head. Kinnikuman pays it no mind and tries a Knee Breaker, but realises that he would hurt Bibimba if he did. Kinnikuman finds himself unable to fight back until he realises that a Kinniku Buster wouldn't hurt any of them, just Planetman.

 

Unfortunately, Planetman transforms their surrounding into space, preventing Kinnikuman from completing the Kinniku Buster. Finally, Warsman insists that Kinnikuman punch through his face, which is directly over Planetman's heart. 88 Kinnikuman reluctantly complies and pierces Planetman's heart, putting Warsman in a coma and freeing everyone from the Face Planet technique. 89 Planetman then tries his Planet Ring one more time, but Kinnikuman gets behind him, causing the ring to decapitate Planetman. Kinnikuman then defeats him with Black Hole Suplex, throwing him through a hole in the middle of the ring.

 

Unfortunately, Planetman's Golden Mask turns out to be a fake, just like Sneagator's.

 

Five-Tier Ring

Kinnikuman then enters inside of Warsman.

 

Inside his body, there is a five-tier ring that begins a new tournament. Terryman, Geronimo, Brocken Jr., and Robin Mask fight on his behalf, so that Kinnikuman can climb the spine and reach the fifth ring, where he plans to jolt Warsman's heart to resuscitate him. Kinnikuman finally reaches the fourth-tier, but the Golden Mask is not the real Golden Mask, and General Devil appears above them on the fifth tier.

 

Kinnikuman vs. General Devil

General Devil first appears as the Golden Mask.

 

He shrinks the exit inside Warsman's body, to prevent Kinnikuman and his friends - who are growing to their regular size - from leaving in time so as not to tear Warsman apart. He steals forth the power of the Devil Chojin that worked underneath him during the tournament, and announces himself as their leader. Geronimo attacks General Devil, but General Devil retaliates with a Double-Arm Suplex. 94 He then uses a Spin Double Arm, and finishes with a Hell's Guillotine. This kills Geronimo, and inspires the others to distract General Devil by attacking him at once.

 

General Devil escapes from Warsman's body, along with Asuraman. Kinnikuman escapes and uses his Fire of Inner Strength, as he attempts to tackle General Devil, but he is struck by a Hell's Guillotine. It is revealed General Devil cannot absorb his Fire of Inner Strength and injures his knee. General Devil and Asuraman go through a door to their next venue, while Kinnikuman lingers behind due to fear, but - despite his hesitation - Buffaloman holds the door open for him and allows him to carry onward.

 

Buffaloman, on his arrival, shakes hands with General Devil; General Devil resurrected him to act as an adviser for the upcoming match. After Asuraman loses in his match against Kinnikuman, he is shunned by General Devil and decapitated by him. Buffaloman is thus persuaded to join the Justice Chojin, as he rejects such levels of cruelty, and holds General Devil about his waist, so that Kinnikuman may have a chance to use his Kinniku Driver. General Devil attempts a Hell Super Express.

 

This is reversed by Buffaloman, and the fight between the two allows Kinnikuman time to train with Terryman in an attempt to perfect the Kinniku Driver using logs in a nearby parkland. Buffaloman attempts a Special Hurricane Mixer, but General Devil reveals his body can feel no pain. Kinnikuman perfects his Kinniku Driver. Buffaloman impales General Devil with his long horns, while Terryman warns Kinnikuman about the fatal flaw with the Kinniku Driver, and Kinnikuman manages to correct the one flaw.

 

Kinnikuman returns and carries Buffaloman to the infirmary, after General Devil defeats Buffaloman. Kinnikuman learns - in the process - that General Devil is actually Goldman. Kinnikuman returns to the ring and throws the silver mask above the ring, along with General Devil and the gold mask, and and it is decided that the winner of the match will take both masks. Kinnikuman begins the match with a German Suplex, and General Devil attacks with a chair, causing a referee to be needed. Mongolman agrees to referee the match.

 

Kinnikuman tries to attack General Devil several times, but his skin is torn open and every time his Kinniku Driver fails. General Devil attempts a Skull Crush, but Kinnikuman counters by bashing him against the corner-post of the ring. This is followed by Kinnikuman reversing an attempted Hell's Guillotine. General Devil gains the upper-hand with a Hell Windmill, and Kinnikuman - after thrown out the ring - makes it back in time for the count. Kinnikuman is then hit by a Human Bullet Dive Bomb.

 

Kinnikuman uses a Sideways Kinniku-Buster. This strikes General Devil against a far wall, where the chest-plate of his armour breaks away and reveals he is lacking a physical body. Kinnikuman attempts a Bear-Hug, but General Devil breaks free and the pieces of his body turn back into the Six Devil Knights, and General Devil reverses a Sideways Kinniku-Buster to harm Kinnikuman.

 

After using his Muscle Curtain, after exchanging a series of blows, Kinnikuman witnesses General Devil harden his body to level seven. General Devil turns his arms into swords, and Robin Mask tosses his armour for Kinnikuman to use, but General Devil goes to Hardness Level 10. He splits open Robin Mask's armour and attacks at Kinnikuman, and Kinnikuman attempts a Muscle Curtain Attack.

 

Kinnikuman manages to scratch General Devil's body. This is followed by a Burning Megaton Punch, which opens the crack in General Devil's armour, and his body shatters into millions of diamonds, as Kinnikuman retrieves the Golden Mask. The diamond pieces destroy the Golden Mask, and it is revealed the the real Golden Mask was underneath General Devil's fake mask all along. It was a part of his head. This triggers Kinnikuman into donning the Silver Mask, so that the two masks can communicate.

 

General Devil - now revealed to be Goldman - reveals he felt humiliated by Silverman, while they were still alive, and was given power by Satan, who granted him control over the Six Devil Knights. To gain the upper hand, General Devil places the ring on the bodies of Kinnikuman's Justice Chojin friends, and each attacks upon the canvas thus causes them pain. General Devil uses a Burning Bridge.

 

The ring is transformed, as General Devil starts to sweat, and his sweat turns the canvas into a diamond. 108 After a series of serious blows, Kinnikuman turns the tides and uses the diamond canvas against General Devil, and forces his Hardness Level back to normal. The Friendship Power exhibited by Kinnikuman, and the Justice Chojin beneath the ring, causes the Gold Mask to reject the armour gifted by Satan. 109 This causes a body to appear. Kinnikuman then uses his Fire of Inner Strength .

 

General Devil seals all Kinnikuman's vital points and uses a Hell Guillotine.

 

Kinnikuman stops the move, while the spirits of his friends come to his defence. The Friendship Power weakens him, before he summons the spirits of the Six Devil Knights to rip his limbs away; sacrificing his body means Kinnikuman cannot use any techniques against him. Buffaloman then intervenes to stop him from dismantling and recombining at will. He dons the mask, so that General Devil will have a body, and willingly sacrifices himself to help stop General Devil. Kinnikuman successfully uses the Kinniku Driver.

 

General Devil - now in his Golden Mask form - asks to be destroyed, but instead the Silver Mask combines with the Golden Mask and become the Perfect Mask. They revive all dead and injured Chojin, and never again will they ever be divided, which means never again can they bring harm on the people. Kinnikuman and his friends celebrate his victory.

 

Dream Chojin Tag Arc

Prehistory

 

A second Mount Fuji appears in Japan. On top of this mountain, the Universal Chojin Tag Team trophy appears. Underneath, there appears a series of rings that allow for eight tag-teams to compete. Kinnikuman - along with the other justice chojin - goes to Kourakuen Hall to discuss the situation. Terryman reveals he will not team up with Kinnikuman, but instead seeks to work with Geronimo and bring him back to health (since he is now in a vegetative state).

 

Quarter-Finals

The first match for them was against Pentagon and Black Hole: 4D Killer Combo. The 4D Killer Combo await in the first ring, and - as the Muscle Brothers enter - drop down upon them as a preemptive attack. Kinnikuman ignores Kinnikuman Great's attempt to tag in, despite bleeding profusely, and this allows Black Hole to swap places with Pentagon. Black Hole throws Kinnikuman to the ropes; Kinnikuman Great reassures Kinnikuman they are equals, but Kinnikuman is determined to prove himself to what he considers his master. He still tags in Kinnikuman Great, despite his reservations, who uses a martial arts kick to attack Black Hole. They exchange several blows, but Kinnikuman Great temporarily incapacitates Black Hole with a Rolling Savate.

 

The other teams leave their rings, so that they may watch the match. Black Hole catches Kinnikuman Great off-guard and throws him to the ropes, in an attempt to engage in a German Suplex, but Kinnikuman Great counters with a Reverse Kick. Kinnikuman argues with Kinnikuman Great and trust breaks down, and this leads to the 4D Killer Combo gaining an advantage. As the 4D Combo use 4D Warp again, Great throws Kinnikuman out of the ring so that he may strike Pentagon midair. This fatigues both Pentagon and Great.

 

Each move Kinnikuman uses on Black Hole becomes countered with Pentagon's Chronos Change, and - as Great comes to the defence - Pentagon uses Time Stop to freeze Great and stop with a Pile Driver. They stop Great with a 4D Cross and he is absorbed into Black Hole's body. The 4D Combo tries to use a 4D Cross on Kinnikuman, but he counters with advice from the voice of Great. Great tries to escape through Black Hole, grabbing his mask in the process, but Black Hole closes access to his dimension.

 

Black Hole and Great fight within the dimension, and Great uses a Kinniku Buster to defeat Black Hole, while Kinnikuman uses the Kinniku Driver to defeat Pentagon. They combine their attacks into a Muscle Docking, which allows them to win the match.

 

Semi-Finals

 

After Prince Kamehame's death, Terryman dons the Kinnikuman Great disguise.

 

In a match-up lottery, the Muscle Brothers Nouveau are matched against the Stray Devil Chojin Combo. The rules of the match determine that a KO'd opponent must be thrown into a cage overhead, and the non-competing semi-finalists surround the ring to stop anyone from leaving the ring before the end of the match. After Terryman is hurt, Kinnikuman attacks his opponents and is knocked out of the ring, where he is struck by Buffaloman's Hurricane Mixer. Kinnikuman tosses Asuraman, but the others do not harm him and allow him back into the ring, proving Kinnikuman's friendship with Buffaloman is not restored.

 

After Terryman fails to imitate Kinnikuman Great properly, Kinnikuman is forced to use his Fire of Inner Strength to protect him. They attempt to use a Muscle Docking, but they are unable to synchronise, and instead are subject to Hell's Combination Part 1. Kinnikuman is later tagged back into the match, where he gets Asuraman into a Cobra Twist. Terryman and Kinnikuman are soon tossed towards the cage above, but manage to stop themselves from entering the cage.

 

They both use Body Attacks on the Stray Devil Chojin Combo.

 

Asuraman uses a Hell's Canvas, causing Kinnikuman to be attacked by the spirits of past opponents. Kinnikuman is then hit by a Sunshine Magnum. This is followed by a Sunshine Rapid Fire. A Hell's Combination Part III knocks Kinnikuman head-first into the box above. The sweat from Kinnikuman's body falls down onto the ring, which banishes the spirits of his past opponents, and - at this point - he is able to free his body and escape the cage. In the ensuing events, Kinnikuman realises Kinnikuman Great is not Prince Kamehame and demands to be told the person's true identity.

 

Terryman saves Kinnikuman's life and begs him to trust him, but Kinnikuman tries to forcibly remove his mask. 126 After Terryman tries to sacrifice himself, and states his reason to fight for friendship, Kinnikuman believes that he is an ally of the Justice Chojin. Kinnikuman then throws Asuraman into Sunshine's Cursed Roller. Asuraman shifts into pieces of the Devil General's body in an attempt to psychologically dissuade Kinnikuman from continuing to fight. Asuraman and Sunshine succumb to Friendship Power. The Muscle Brothers win against the Stray Devil Chojin Combo with a Muscle Docking.

 

Finals

 

The final match is against Hell Missionaries; the ring is surrounded by swords, which will pierce anyone thrown out of the ring or who tries to escape. The match will be a three-round match, with each round lasting ten minutes until the final round, which will have no time-limit attached.

 

During the match against Neptuneman, some of Terryman's blond hair is exposed. More and more of Terryman's face is exposed, as he panics at the idea Kinnikuman may reject him on learning the truth, and thus leaves himself open to attacks. With only seconds to spare, Terryman is defeated with a Cross-Bomber in the first round and his face is revealed. Terryman has his stars returned to him by Asuraman, who rejects how he gave up earlier, and - thus due to not having technically quit his match - is still eligible to compete in...

 

Oh? You're all asleep?

 

...snoring...

 

💪M💪U💪S💪C💪L💪E💪

 

A year of the shows and performers of the Bijou Planks Theater.

 

M.U.S.C.L.E. No. 1, "Kinnikuman"

 

Painted by Paprika, thus losing all collectible value forever.

Just managed to catch this person before they vanished into the steam. I think the reversion to black and white has given the image an ageless feel. The picture was taken at the Severn Valley Steam Railway back in early spring.

Thanks for looking folks.

COMMON NAME: phlox

GENUS: Phlox

SPECIES, HYBRIDS, CULTIVARS:

P. paniculata-includes varieties in many colors ranging from white to pink, purple, and red. P.p. ‘White Admiral’-white. P.p. ‘Bright Eyes’-light pink with dark pink centers. P.p. ‘Vintage Wine’-claret red; blooms late in summer. P.carolina-only in white and pink; no problem with reversion. P.c. ‘Miss Lindgard’-mildew resistant; blooms June and July. P. divaricata-blue phlox; blooms April and May in a shady area; grows only 18 to 24 inches tall. Each of these is perennials. P. drummondii-annual phlox; red or pink.

FAMILY: Polemoniaceae

BLOOMS: summer

TYPE: annual and perennial

DESCRIPTION: Beautiful and sweet smelling, phloxes provide an important part of the summer garden. Colors include white, red, pink, salmon, lavender blue, orange, and deep purple. The flower heads are attractive mounds of five-petaled florets. The plants begin to bloom around the first of July and continue to do so for many weeks.

CULTIVATION: The greatest problem in growing phloxes is the prevalence of mildew on the plants. Be extremely careful to avoid getting moisture on the leaves, and don’t grow phlox plants near brick or stone walls that retain moisture. Many strains have been developed that are mildew resistant, and these are highly recommended. Phloxes do like moist roots, however. Water with a soaker hose instead of a general lawn sprinkler to keep the roots moist without getting the leaves and flowers wet.

 

Phlox blossoms were used extensively in Victorian England for sending messages through tussie mussies and bouquets. Not only is their scent delightful, but their message is welcome, for phloxes mean a proposal of love and a wish for sweet dreams.

The word phlox is a Greek word meaning “flame” and was given to this plant because many of the blossoms were red.

Phloxes have been among the most popular of all garden plants brought to Europe from North America. It was not cultivated in American gardens until it was reintroduced here from European horticulturists.

The leaves of phlox were sometimes crushed and added to water to cure such ailments as skin disorders, abdominal pain, and problems with eyes. The leaves were also used as a gentle laxative.

Phloxes are particularly cherished for their sweet scent. White and pale varieties are additionally appreciated for their luminosity and scent in the garden in the early evening.

www.tnnursery.net/gardening-plants-blog/phlox-information...

 

A Brief History of Phlox

Historically, Phlox paniculata was perhaps the most prominent plant in perennial gardens from the turn of the century through the 1940s. As some have put it, “Phlox Ruled”! Although native to North America, it was the Europeans who first recognized the potential in our simple magenta or white wild phloxes, and who experimented with selecting and breeding, then re-importing the improved types back to the U.S. Two very notable names associated with the development of phlox are Karl Forster and B.H.B. Symons-Jeune. The American breeders made serious contributions as well, and references have been found for over 800 named varieties! That may sound like a lot, but there are now over 4,000 named varieties of Hosta, and an astounding 68,000 Daylilies out there. (Speaking of those 800 phlox – it’s unbelievable that they were all unique. Like those thousands of daylilies, there are only so many distinctive combinations possible, and many unremarkable or duplicate varieties were probably hustled into the market. Just like nowadays, people lose plant tags and wind up renaming plants. It remains a problem.) The apogee of phlox planting came in the early 20th century, but in the 1940s there were still over 220 named varieties available in New England nurseries. Most of these have sadly gone missing. Phlox suffered a downturn in popularity from the 1940s to the 1980s, when perennial gardening, in general, came to be regarded as old-fashioned and rather quaint, and this is when so many old cultivars were lost. In recent years, however, there has been growing interest, and many new cultivars are being developed, with a recent focus on producing dwarf plants, and increasing mildew resistance.

 

Phlox Culture and Propagation

Phlox prosper in a cool sunny climate, well-watered, in the rich sweet soil. In much of the country, they will thrive in full sun, although partial shade is fine, as long as the plants receive at least 6 hours of direct sun. In the southern or hot climes, partial shade is recommended. The soil should be rich and slightly sweet (alkaline), so if your soil tends towards the acidic side, regular applications of lime are recommended, say every two or three years. The plants should be set in quite rich soil, enriched with compost or aged manure. This type of soil will also hold water well, an important feature, for phlox do not do well in hot dry soils. Mulching will assist in water conservation and in keeping the soil cool. Because they are heavy feeders, the even beautifully prepared soil will decline after four or five years, and it is best to plan on resetting your plants on a regular basis, every four or five years. The plants should be lifted out (in fall or early spring), divided into several chunks, replanting only one of those chunks in the old spot. What to do with the remainder? Either expand the phlox border or give them to a neighbor.

Phlox are very easy to increase by simple division, in late summer or early spring. Commercial growers tend to propagate them using root cuttings taken in late summer. Stem cuttings can be taken in early midsummer, but only do well if kept in very humid conditions, such as in a mist bench, or at least enclosed in a plastic bag. The success of the bag method depends on close attention to cleanliness in avoiding fungal rots and ensuring the light conditions are neither too dark nor too sunny.

While phlox start easily from seed and often self-sow into the garden, it is rare for the seedlings to have the same coloring and habit as their parent. In fact, it is good policy to deadhead your phlox before they go to seed, as those little self-sown seedlings tend to grow up into vigorous plants of a decided magenta hue and can, in a few years, crowd out the mother plant. In our fields, we will go through every year looking to uproot these rogues, and we find new ones every year. (Of course, once in a while these seedlings create exciting new plants, so we like to pay attention before we pull, and so should you!)

Phlox Problems

Powdery Mildew – Control Powdery Mildew with Proper Culture

Many people find their plants are troubled with powdery mildew, a white fungus that bespeckles or coats the leaves, typically in high summer. Although it is never fatal, it can be unsightly, and may lessen flowering and lead to leaf drop. I first want to remind us how lucky we are that this is the biggest problem with phlox, compared to so many serious problems another plant may have, all those beetles, thrips, soots, aphids, weevils and so forth. Mildew tends to be a greater problem in regions with high humidity, but will also affect phlox that are planted in dry soils. I consider that it is pretty much endemic, and if your phlox are prone to it, it will turn up in every garden sooner or later.

goodwitcheshomestead.com/2017/04/07/phlox/

Reversión de esta imagen de simonelli:

flickr.com/photos/simonelli/436508177/

 

Por sus 10.000 visitas!

 

'Equis' On Black

  

Taken from the Herb Garden. We had a pleasant afternoon here yesterday at the Herts Flower show & sale, it was very windy so not many flowers shots

The home of the Lytton family since 1490, when Thomas Bourchier sold the reversion of the manor to Sir Robert Lytton, Knebworth House was originally a red-brick Late Gothic manor house, built round a central court as an open square. In 1813-16 the house was reduced to its west wing,[2] which was remodelled in a Tudor Gothic style by John Biagio Rebecca for Mrs Bulwer-Lytton,[3] and then was transformed in 1843-45 by Henry Edward Kendall Jr. into the present Tudor Gothic structure.[4] In 1913-1914 it was leased for ₤3,000 per year by Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich of Russia and his morganatic wife Natalia Brasova.[5] Its most famous resident was Edward Bulwer-Lytton, the Victorian author, dramatist and statesman, who embellished the gardens in a formal Italianate fashion. Much of the interior was redesigned by Sir Edwin Lutyens, who simplified the main parterre. A herb garden, with an interlaced quincunx design, was drawn by Gertrude Jekyll in 1907, although not planted until 1982.

 

To view more of my images, of Belton House, please click "here" !

 

From the Achieves, reprocessed using using Photoshop CC 2023"!

 

Please, do not insert images, or group invites, thank you!

 

Belton House is a Grade I listed country house in Belton near Grantham, Lincolnshire, England. The mansion is surrounded by formal gardens and a series of avenues leading to follies within a larger wooded park. Belton has been described as a compilation of all that is finest of Carolean architecture, the only truly vernacular style of architecture that England had produced since the Tudor period. The house has also been described as the most complete example of a typical English country house; the claim has even been made that Belton's principal facade was the inspiration for the modern British motorway signs which give directions to stately homes. Only Brympton d'Evercy has been similarly lauded as the perfect English country house. For three hundred years, Belton House was the seat of the Brownlow and Cust family, who had first acquired land in the area in the late 16th century. Between 1685 and 1688 Sir John Brownlow and his wife had the present mansion built. Despite great wealth they chose to build a modest country house rather than a grand contemporary Baroque palace. The contemporary, if provincial, Carolean style was the selected choice of design. However, the new house was fitted with the latest innovations such as sash windows for the principal rooms, and more importantly completely separate areas for the staff. As the Brownlows rose from baronets to barons upward to earls and then once again became barons, successive generations made changes to the interior of the house which reflected their changing social position and tastes, yet the fabric and design of the house changed little. Following World War I (a period when the Machine Gun Corps was based in the park), the Brownlows, like many of their peers, were faced with mounting financial problems. In 1984 they gave the house away—complete with most of its contents. The recipients of their gift, the National Trust, today fully open Belton to the public. It is in a good state of repair and visited by many thousands of tourists each year The Brownlow family, a dynasty of lawyers, began accumulating land in the Belton area from approximately 1598. In 1609 they acquired the reversion of the manor of Belton itself from the Pakenham family, who finally sold the manor house to Sir John Brownlow I in 1619. The old house was situated near the church in the garden of the present house and remained largely unoccupied, since the family preferred their other houses elsewhere. John Brownlow had married an heiress but was childless. He became attached to two of his more distant blood relations: a great-nephew, also called John Brownlow, and a great-niece, Alice Sherard. The two cousins married each other in 1676 when both were aged 16; three years later, the couple inherited the Brownlow estates from their great-uncle together with an income of £9,000 per annum (about £ 1.17 million in present day terms) and £20,000 in cash (equivalent to about £ 2.59 million now). They immediately bought a town house in the newly fashionable Southampton Square in Bloomsbury, and decided to build a new country house at Belton. Work on the new house began in 1685. The architect thought to have been responsible for the initial design is William Winde, although the house has also been attributed to Sir Christopher Wren, while others believe the design to be so similar to Roger Pratt's Clarendon House, London, that it could have been the work of any talented draughtsman. The assumption popular today, that Winde was the architect, is based on the stylistic similarity between Belton and Coombe Abbey, which was remodelled by Winde between 1682 and 1685. Further evidence is a letter dated 1690, in which Winde recommends a plasterer who worked at Belton to another of his patrons. Whoever the architect, Belton follows closely the design of Clarendon House, completed in 1667. This great London town house (demolished circa 1683) has been one of the most admired buildings of its era due to "its elegant symmetry and confident and common-sensical design". Sir John Summerson described Clarendon House as "the most influential house of its time among those who aimed at the grand manner" and Belton as "much the finest surviving example of its class". John and Alice Brownlow assembled one of the finest teams of craftsmen available at the time to work on the project. This dream team was headed by the master mason William Stanton who oversaw the project. His second in command, John Thompson, had worked with Sir Christopher Wren on several of the latter's London churches, while the chief joiner John Sturges had worked at Chatsworth under William Talman. The wrought-ironworker John Warren worked under Stanton at Denham Place, Buckinghamshire, and the fine wrought iron gates and overthrow at Belton may be his. Thus so competent were the builders of Belton that Winde may have done little more than provide the original plans and drawings, leaving the interpretation to the on-site craftsmen. This theory is further demonstrated by the external appearance of the adjoining stable block. More provincial, and less masterful in proportion, it is known to have been entirely the work of Stanton.

Woo Hoo - I finally got my scanner! Now I just have to figure out how to master the scratch removal tool!!

 

This is from a trip to England with my Mom. We left Boston 9/17/2001 - the day Logan Airport reopened. It was a trip that was long planned and we decided if the plane was

flying - we would be on it!

 

My mom was on the Boston to LA flight on 9/10/2001 the same flight number. She made it back to New England (Manchester, NH) on Saturday 9/15/2001.

 

This shot is one of my favorites from the whole trip

 

From Wikipedia:

Arundel Castle in West Sussex, England, is a restored medieval castle. The castle dates from the reign of Edward the Confessor (r. 1042–1066) and was completed by Roger de Montgomery, who became the first to hold the earldom of Arundel by the graces of William the Conqueror. The castle was damaged in the English Civil War and then restored in the 18th and 19th centuries.

 

From the 11th century onward, the castle has served as a hereditary stately home to several families (with a few and brief reversions to the Crown) and is currently the principal seat of the Duke of Norfolk and his family

 

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arundel_Castle

To view more of my images, of Belton House, please click "here" !

 

From the Achieves!

 

Please, do not insert images, or group invites, thank you!

 

Belton House is a Grade I listed country house in Belton near Grantham, Lincolnshire, England. The mansion is surrounded by formal gardens and a series of avenues leading to follies within a larger wooded park. Belton has been described as a compilation of all that is finest of Carolean architecture, the only truly vernacular style of architecture that England had produced since the Tudor period. The house has also been described as the most complete example of a typical English country house; the claim has even been made that Belton's principal facade was the inspiration for the modern British motorway signs which give directions to stately homes. Only Brympton d'Evercy has been similarly lauded as the perfect English country house. For three hundred years, Belton House was the seat of the Brownlow and Cust family, who had first acquired land in the area in the late 16th century. Between 1685 and 1688 Sir John Brownlow and his wife had the present mansion built. Despite great wealth they chose to build a modest country house rather than a grand contemporary Baroque palace. The contemporary, if provincial, Carolean style was the selected choice of design. However, the new house was fitted with the latest innovations such as sash windows for the principal rooms, and more importantly completely separate areas for the staff. As the Brownlows rose from baronets to barons upward to earls and then once again became barons, successive generations made changes to the interior of the house which reflected their changing social position and tastes, yet the fabric and design of the house changed little. Following World War I (a period when the Machine Gun Corps was based in the park), the Brownlows, like many of their peers, were faced with mounting financial problems. In 1984 they gave the house away—complete with most of its contents. The recipients of their gift, the National Trust, today fully open Belton to the public. It is in a good state of repair and visited by many thousands of tourists each year The Brownlow family, a dynasty of lawyers, began accumulating land in the Belton area from approximately 1598. In 1609 they acquired the reversion of the manor of Belton itself from the Pakenham family, who finally sold the manor house to Sir John Brownlow I in 1619. The old house was situated near the church in the garden of the present house and remained largely unoccupied, since the family preferred their other houses elsewhere. John Brownlow had married an heiress but was childless. He became attached to two of his more distant blood relations: a great-nephew, also called John Brownlow, and a great-niece, Alice Sherard. The two cousins married each other in 1676 when both were aged 16; three years later, the couple inherited the Brownlow estates from their great-uncle together with an income of £9,000 per annum (about £ 1.17 million in present day terms) and £20,000 in cash (equivalent to about £ 2.59 million now). They immediately bought a town house in the newly fashionable Southampton Square in Bloomsbury, and decided to build a new country house at Belton. Work on the new house began in 1685. The architect thought to have been responsible for the initial design is William Winde, although the house has also been attributed to Sir Christopher Wren, while others believe the design to be so similar to Roger Pratt's Clarendon House, London, that it could have been the work of any talented draughtsman. The assumption popular today, that Winde was the architect, is based on the stylistic similarity between Belton and Coombe Abbey, which was remodelled by Winde between 1682 and 1685. Further evidence is a letter dated 1690, in which Winde recommends a plasterer who worked at Belton to another of his patrons. Whoever the architect, Belton follows closely the design of Clarendon House, completed in 1667. This great London town house (demolished circa 1683) has been one of the most admired buildings of its era due to "its elegant symmetry and confident and common-sensical design". Sir John Summerson described Clarendon House as "the most influential house of its time among those who aimed at the grand manner" and Belton as "much the finest surviving example of its class". John and Alice Brownlow assembled one of the finest teams of craftsmen available at the time to work on the project. This dream team was headed by the master mason William Stanton who oversaw the project. His second in command, John Thompson, had worked with Sir Christopher Wren on several of the latter's London churches, while the chief joiner John Sturges had worked at Chatsworth under William Talman. The wrought-ironworker John Warren worked under Stanton at Denham Place, Buckinghamshire, and the fine wrought iron gates and overthrow at Belton may be his. Thus so competent were the builders of Belton that Winde may have done little more than provide the original plans and drawings, leaving the interpretation to the on-site craftsmen. This theory is further demonstrated by the external appearance of the adjoining stable block. More provincial, and less masterful in proportion, it is known to have been entirely the work of Stanton.

Ribble 1152, a Leyland Tiger with Duple Laser 2 coachwork, turns into St Mary's Way, Rawtenstall, on a Sunday working of the 743 to Manchester in June 1989. The batch of 4 from 1985, marked a reversion to a red-based Timesaver livery after the previous year's delivery of Olympians arrived in blue and a number of Duple-bodied Leopards were similarly treated. All would ultimately be swept away by Stagecoach corporate stripes, into whose ownership the Tiger had passed a couple of months earlier.

 

This image is copyright and must not be reproduced or downloaded without the permission of the photographer.

 

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Hanbury Hall was built by the wealthy chancery lawyer Thomas Vernon in the early 18th century. Thomas Vernon was the great grandson of the first Vernon to come to Hanbury, Worcestershire, Rev Richard Vernon (1549–1628). Rev Richard and his descendants slowly accumulated land in Hanbury, including the manor, bought by Edward Vernon in 1630, but it was Thomas through his successful legal practice who added most to estates, which amounted to nearly 8,000 acres (32 km2) in his successor Bowater Vernon’s day. The Hall is thought to stand on the site of the previous mansion, Spernall Hall, and Thomas Vernon first describes himself as ‘of Hanbury Hall’ in 1706, and this and other evidence leads to a likely completion date of about 1706. The date of 1701 above the front door is thought to be a Victorian embellishment, but no building accounts are known to exist. Although Hanbury Hall appears to be of a very uniform style, the rear wall is clearly of a different and rather earlier style, and may mark the first phase of a building campaign when Thomas Vernon and his wife Mary first came into possession of Spernall Hall in 1692 when his bachelor uncle John Vernon died. A notable feature of Hanbury Hall is the painting of the staircase, hall ceiling, and other rooms by the English painter Sir James Thornhill. They include a small representation of Rev Henry Sacheverell being cast to the furies – this relates to an incident in 1710 when Sacheverell, a Tory, was put on trial for sedition by the Whig government, and dates the paintings to that year. The focus of the paintings around the stairwell is the life of the Greek hero Achilles, as told by a range of classical sources. They are surmounted by a large representation of the Olympian gods on the ceiling. The original plan of the Hall had a large undivided central hall with the main staircase leading off it, with many rather small rooms in the corner pavilions and north range – the south range was given over mainly to service rooms. The 18th century Worcestershire historian Treadway Nash, in his Collections for the History of Worcestershire, wrote “Here is a large handsome house built by Counsellor Vernon about the year 1710 when a bad style of architecture prevailed; many windows and doors, rooms small, many closets, few arched cellars, large stables and offices in full view, are marks of that time”. When the heiress Emma Vernon (1754–1818) married Henry Cecil, 1st Marquess of Exeter in 1776, Cecil clearly was of the same opinion, as he remodelled the interior (other than the great hall) creating larger rooms and enlarging the north east pavilion. On the south façade, having removed a doorway he repositioned all the windows to lie under their first floor equivalent. On the south side there had been large formal gardens, clearly shown in Dougharty’s perspective drawing contained in the estate maps of the 1730s, and Cecil swept all these away (including the farm buildings in front of the Hall) and landscaped the park in the fashion of the time – he would have had contact with Capability Brown when being brought up by his uncle 9th Earl of Exeter at Burghley House. Following Henry and Emma’s divorce in 1791 the contents were all sold, and the house remained empty until Henry’s death in 1804, when Emma and her third husband, John Phillips, were able to regain possession. As the house had lain unoccupied for so long, many repairs had to be carried out at that time. Emma died in 1818 and left her second cousin, Thomas Shrawley Vernon (1759-1825), as the heir to her estate after the death of her husband John Phillips. Phillips married again and had two daughters in Hanbury before finally moving out in 1829. From then, the eldest son of Emma's heir, Thomas Tayler Vernon (1792–1835), was able to occupy it. His grandson Harry Foley Vernon (1834–1920) MP, was created 1st Baronet of Hanbury in 1885, and was succeeded by his son Sir (Bowater) George Hamilton Vernon (1865–1940), 2nd Baronet. Sir George led an unhappy life, separating from his wife Doris, and spending his last 10 years living with his secretary and companion Ruth Horton, who later changed her name by deed poll to Vernon. During this time the agricultural depression led to a reduction in rental income, and Hanbury Hall suffered a lack of care. In poor health, Sir George Vernon took his own life in 1940. There were no further heirs to the Baronetcy which became extinct. Sir George's estranged wife was able to move back in after his death, dying there in 1962. In the meantime, negotiations had led to the National Trust having the reversion, and after making essential repairs on Lady Vernon’s death, the hall was let to tenants and opened to the public on a restricted basis. In recent years the hall has been managed more commercially and is now open daily.

 

"From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia"

Saint Patrick's Cathedral in Dublin, Ireland, founded in 1191, is the national cathedral of the Church of Ireland. Christ Church Cathedral, also a Church of Ireland cathedral in Dublin, is designated as the local cathedral of the Diocese of Dublin and Glendalough. In 1192, John Comyn, first Anglo-Norman archbishop of Dublin, elevated one of the four Dublin Celtic parish churches, this one dedicated to Saint Patrick, beside a holy well of the same name and on an island between two branches of the River Poddle, to the status of a collegiate church, i.e., a church with a body of clergy devoted to both worship and learning. The new collegiate church fell outside the city boundaries, and this move created two new civic territories, one under the archbishop's temporal jurisdiction. The church was dedicated to "God, our Blessed Lady Mary and St Patrick" on 17 March 1191.

Comyn's charter of 1191 or 1192, which allowed for a chapter of thirteen canons, of which three held special dignities (as chancellor, precentor and treasurer), was confirmed by a papal bull (of Pope Celestine III) within a year. The thirteen prebendaries attached to the church were provided with archepiscopal lands.

Over time, a whole complex of buildings arose in the vicinity of the cathedral, including the Palace of the St Sepulchre (seat of the archbishop), and legal jurisdiction was divided between a Liberty controlled by the dean, around the cathedral, and a larger one belonging to the archbishop, adjacent.

While it is not clear when precisely the church was further raised to the status of a cathedral, a unique move in a city with an existing cathedral, it was probably after 1192, and Comyn's successor as Archbishop, Henry de Loundres, was elected in 1212 by the chapters of both Christ Church and St Patrick's, this election being recognised by Pope Innocent III. See below for more on the question of status. Henry granted a number of further charters to the cathedral and chapter between 1218 and 1220, and one of these in 1220 created the office of dean to head the cathedral, the right of an election being allocated solely to the canons of the Chapter.

The basis of the present building, as noted, the largest church in Ireland, was built between 1191 and 1270, though little now remains of the earliest work beyond the baptistry. Much of the work was overseen by the previously mentioned Henry of London, a friend of the King of England and signatory of the Magna Carta, who was also involved in the construction of Dublin's city walls, and Dublin Castle.

An order from King Henry III in 1225 allowed the collection of donations from across the island for reconstruction for a period of four years, and the work, in the Early English Gothic style, lasted at least until rededication in 1254. The Lady Chapel was added around 1270.

In 1300, Archbishop Ferings of Dublin arranged an agreement between the two cathedrals, the Pacis Compositio, which acknowledged both as cathedrals and made some provision to accommodate their shared status. For more, see Status below.

In 1311 the Medieval University of Dublin was founded here with William de Rodyard, Dean of St Patrick's, as its first Chancellor, and the Canons as its members. It never flourished, and was suppressed at the Reformation.

From the mid-14th century, and for over 500 years, the north transept of the building was used as the parish church of St Nicholas Without (i.e. the part of the Parish of St Nicholas outside the city proper).

The tower (Minot's Tower) and west nave were rebuilt between 1362 and 1370, following a fire. The name commemorates Thomas Minot, Archbishop of Dublin 1363–75, who oversaw the rebuilding.

From the very earliest years, there were problems with seepage of water, with a number of floods, especially in the later years of the 18th century, caused by the surrounding branches of the River Poddle – even in the 20th century, it is reported that the water table was within 2.3 metres (7.5 feet) of the floor. This situation ensured there would never be a crypt or basement area. After the English Reformation (an uneven process between 1536 and 1564 but at St Patrick's effective from about 1537), St Patrick's became an Anglican (Church of Ireland) church. In the 1530s some images within the cathedral were defaced by soldiers under Thomas Cromwell,[clarification needed] and neglect led to the collapse of the nave in 1544. The conventionally flexible style of the Archbishop of Dublin Hugh Curwen is instructive; he was a follower firstly of Henry's non-reformed church in the 1530s, then of Edward VI's full-blown Protestantism c. 1550, then accepting his appointment as archbishop during Queen Mary's reversion of the church to Roman Catholicism in 1555, and continued to serve as the archbishop, using the Anglican rite from 1559, under Queen Elizabeth until 1567.

Under King Edward VI, St Patrick's Cathedral was formally suppressed and the building demoted back to the status of a parish church. On 25 April 1547, a pension of 200 marks sterling was assigned to "Sir Edward Basnet", the dean, followed, some months later, by pensions of £60 each to Chancellor Alien and Precentor Humphrey, and £40 to Archdeacon Power. The silver, jewels, and ornaments were transferred to the dean and chapter of Christ Church. The King designated part of the building for use as a courthouse, the cathedral grammar school was established in the then vicar's hall and the deanery given to the archbishop, following the transfer of the Archbishop's Palace to the Lord Deputy of Ireland. In 1549, it was further ordered that the walls be repainted and inscribed with passages from the scriptures.

In 1555 a charter of the joint monarchs Philip and Mary restored the cathedral's privileges and initiated restoration and a late document of Queen Mary's reign, a deed dated 27 April 1558, comprises a release or receipt by Thomas Leverous, the new dean, and the chapter of St Patrick's, of the "goods, chattels, musical instruments, etc.", belonging to the cathedral, and which had been in the possession of the dean and chapter of Christ Church. It was during this reign that the patronal festival of the Blessed Virgin Mary was last celebrated (in 1558).

Following the ejection of the Catholic chapter of canons in 1559, the Catholic community continued in the 1560s–1570s at least to go on nominating canons and the principal dignitaries to St Patrick's.

In 1560, one of Dublin's first public clocks was erected in "St Patrick's Steeple".By the early 17th century, the Lady Chapel was said to have been in ruins, and the arch at the east end of the choir was closed off by a lath and plaster partition wall. There was also routine flooding and a series of galleries was added to accommodate large congregations. In 1620 the English-born judge Luke Gernon referred to the cathedral's poor state of repair.

During the stay of Oliver Cromwell in Dublin, during his conquest of Ireland the Commonwealth's Lord Protector stabled his horses in the nave of the cathedral. This was intended to demonstrate Cromwell's disrespect for the Anglican religion, which he associated with Roman Catholicism and political Royalism.

After the Restoration of the monarchy in 1660, repairs to the building were begun.

In 1666, the cathedral chapter offered the Lady Chapel for the use of French-speaking Huguenots who had fled to Ireland, and after some repair and preparation works, it became known as L'Eglise Française de St Patrick. A lease was signed on 23 December 1665 and was renewed from time to time until the special services ceased in 1816, by which time the Huguenots had been fully assimilated into the city population.

In 1668 the roof, in danger of collapsing, was taken down, a new roof being completed by 1671. Buttresses were erected and the west window was replaced with a perpendicular window. Then, in the 1680s, the choir was reformed. In 1688–90, during the Williamite War in Ireland, James II and his fellow Catholics briefly repossessed St Patrick's. James attended Mass services there with his Jacobite supporters for a time.[clarification needed] However, the victory of the Protestant Williamites in this war meant that the cathedral was restored to Anglican ownership in 1690 when James abandoned Dublin after his defeat at the Battle of the Boyne.

Throughout its long history, the cathedral has contributed much to Irish life, and one key aspect of this relates to the writer and satirist Jonathan Swift, author of Gulliver's Travels, who was Dean of the cathedral from 1713 to 1745. Many of his famous sermons and "Irish tracts" (such as the Drapier's Letters) were given during his stay as Dean.

His grave and epitaph can be seen in the cathedral, along with those of his friend Stella. Swift took a great interest in the building, its services and music and in what would now be called social welfare, funding an almshouse for poor women and Saint Patrick's Hospital.

The Choir School, which had been founded in 1432, supplied many of its members to take part in the very first performance of Handel's Messiah in 1742.

In 1749, the cathedral spire was added by George Semple; it remains one of Dublin's landmarks.

In 1792, divine service was temporarily suspended due to the poor condition of the south wall, then 60 centimetres (2 feet) out of perpendicular, and of parts of the roof.

Knights of St Patrick. From 1783 until 1871 the cathedral served as the Chapel of the Most Illustrious Order of Saint Patrick, members of which were the Knights of St Patrick. With the disestablishment of the Church of Ireland in 1871, the installation ceremony moved to St Patrick's Hall, Dublin Castle. The heraldic banners of the knights at the time of the change still hang over the choir stalls to this day.

Paris-Malta obedience of the Order of Saint Lazarus (statuted 1910). The cathedral contains the so-called Dunsany[citation needed] Chapel which is the spiritual home of the order in Ireland. The decoration of the chapel was provided for by Randall Plunkett, 19th Lord Dunsany, who established the order in Ireland in 1962. The cathedral is used for its investiture ceremonies and the dean of the cathedral is an Ecclesiastical Commander of the order.

By 1805, the north transept was in ruins and the south transept was in a poor condition; urgent work was carried out to the nave roof, held up by scaffolding.

In 1846, the post of Dean of Saint Patrick's was united with that of Dean of Christ Church, a situation which lasted in law until 1872.

An attempt at major restoration began under the direction of Dean Pakenham (Dean, 1843–1864), limited by poor economic circumstances. The Lady Chapel was restored, the floor (then raised several metres) reduced to its original level and other urgent matters were at least partly addressed.

In the mid-19th century, a Celtic cross was found buried near the cathedral. This has been preserved and it is thought it may have marked the site of the former holy well.

The major reconstruction, paid for by Benjamin Guinness, in 1860–65, and inspired by the fear that the cathedral was in imminent danger of collapse, means that much of the current building and decoration dates from the Victorian era; medieval chantries were removed among other actions, and few records of the work survive today.

Though the rebuilding ensured the survival of the cathedral, the failure to preserve records of the scale of the rebuild means that little is known as to how much of the current building is genuinely mediæval and how much is Victorian pastiche. Sir Benjamin's statue by JH Foley is outside the south door. His son Arthur (also a brewer) came in for humorous but gentle criticism when he donated a stained glass window of 'Rebecca at the well'; its motto read: 'I was thirsty and ye gave me drink'. In 1901 his son Edward created the adjacent "St Patrick's Park" from an area of decrepit housing, and donated a new set of bells to the cathedral.

The other great change for the cathedral occurred in 1871 when, following the disestablishment of the Church of Ireland, the newly independent church at its general synod finally resolved the "two cathedral" issue, making Christ Church the sole and undisputed cathedral of the Dublin diocese and St Patrick's the national cathedral.

The cathedral plays host to a number of public national ceremonies. Ireland's Remembrance Day ceremonies, hosted by the Royal British Legion and attended by the President of Ireland, take place there every November. Its carol service (the Service of Nine Lessons and Carols), celebrated twice in December, including every 24 December, is a colourful feature of Dublin life.

On Saturdays in autumn, the cathedral hosts the graduation ceremonies of Technological University Dublin.

The funerals of two Irish presidents, Douglas Hyde and Erskine Childers, took place there in 1949 and 1974 respectively. At President Hyde's funeral, the whole of the Irish government and opposition contingent, but for Childers and Noel Browne, stayed in the foyer of the church. This was because, at the time of the funeral, the Holy See forbade Roman Catholics from entering the churches of other Christian traditions.[clarification needed] Because President Childers died in office, his state funeral was a major state occasion. The attendance included foreign dignitaries King Baudouin of Belgium, Vice-President of the United States Spiro T. Agnew (representing President Richard Nixon), Earl Mountbatten of Burma (representing Queen Elizabeth II), British Prime Minister Harold Wilson and former British prime minister Edward Heath.

In 2006, the cathedral's national prominence was used by a group of 18 Afghan migrants seeking asylum, who occupied it for several days before being persuaded to leave without trouble.

Reversionado/reprocesado y paso a blanco y negro de una foto subida previamente.

Tres alumnas del Poli (compañeras de mi hija Florencia), cantando el sábado 23/11/19 en la Sala Astor Piazzolla del complejo Teatro Auditorium de la ciudad de Mar del Plata (provincia de Buenos Aires, Argentina) en el marco de la muestra de fin de año "La Juventud y el Arte", organizada anualmente por la Escuela Secundaria Especializada en Artes Nº 1 (ESEA Nº1, o el Polivalente de Artes, o "el Poli", para todos).

Flynn practising his jumping skills on a walk in Dog Hill Woods, near our new home. Poor lad has been quite stressed this week, with the change in house & a new routine etc... we've had a bit of a reversion to old habits, with a few snarly/snappy episodes over things he's not reacted to in many months. He's also been alarm-barking & flinching at eeeverything! At least there's been no bitey-ness (yet!!) - he is trying to be a good dog ;-) I had expected Flynn would be a bit unnerved by the change, so I've not been too surprised by his behaviour. I'm sure given another week or 2, he'll settle down!

 

Flynn has been enjoying exploring new walks with me. There's a lot of beautiful countryside nearby, with at least 3 different good-sized woods within walking distance from our home. We've walked round 2 of the woods in this past week but there are so many paths & trails, I think it will take a very long time for us to get to know the area properly. I should really invest in some local maps because at the moment, we're just wandering about. We've *nearly* got ourselves lost a couple of times already ;-) Hmm, I wonder how good Flynn's sense of direction is?

The Mezquita (Spanish for "mosque", from the Arabic مسجد "Masjid") is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Córdoba, Spain. It was originally built to be a warehouse/temple/lighthouse. It later became the second-largest mosque in the world.

The construction of the Mezquita started in approximately sixth century B.C. Later, the Mezquita (originally the Aljama Mosque) was reworked for over two centuries to refashion it as a mosque, starting in 784 A.D. under the supervision of the first Muslim Emir Abd ar-Rahman I, who used it as an adjunct to his palace and named it to honor his wife. The land was bought by the Emir from the previous owners. It is believed that the site included the Visigothic cathedral of St. Vincent. When the forces of Tariq ibn-Ziyad first occupied Córdoba in 711, the Christian cathedral was suppressed.

 

Several explanations have been proposed to explain the mosque's unorthodox orientation. Some have suggested the mihrab faces south because the foundations of the mosque are borrowed from the old Roman and Visigoth constructions. Others contend that Abd ar-Rahman oriented the mihrab southward as if he were still in the Ummayyad capital of Damascus and not in exile. In fact, the mosque orients 60 degrees south of east. Mecca from Cordoba is about 10 degrees south of east. Therefore, the mosque is misaligned by about 50 degrees from Mecca.

 

The mosque underwent numerous subsequent changes: Abd ar-Rahman III ordered a new minaret, while Al-Hakam II, in 961, enlarged the plan of the building and enriched the mihrab. The last of the reforms was carried out by Al-Mansur Ibn Abi Aamir in 987.

 

It was the most magnificent of the more than 1,000 mosques in the city and was at one time the second largest mosque in the Muslim world. It was connected to the Caliph's palace by a raised walk-way. Mosques within the palaces being the tradition for the islamic rulers of all times.

 

The city in which it was built was subject to frequent invasion and each conquering wave added their own mark to the architecture. The building is most notable for its giant arches, with over 1,000 columns of jasper, onyx, marble, and granite. These were made from pieces of the Roman temple which had occupied the site previously, as well as other destroyed Roman buildings. The double arches, pictured above, were a new introduction to architecture, and helped support the tremendous weight of the higher ceilings. The double arches consist of a lower horseshoe arch and an upper semi-circular arch. The Mezquita also features richly gilded prayer niches. A centrally located honey-combed dome has beautiful blue tiles decorated with stars. The mihrab is a masterpiece of architectural art, with geometric and flowing designs of plants. The Mezquita reached its current dimensions in 987 with the completion of the outer naves and orange tree courtyard.

Patio de los Naranjos, inside the Mezquita

Patio de los Naranjos, inside the Mezquita

 

The year (1236) that Cordoba was recaptured from the Moors, by King Ferdinand III of Castile and rejoined Christendom, the mosque was reconsecrated a Christian church. Alfonso X oversaw the construction of the Villaviciosa Chapel and the Royal Chapel within the structure of the mosque. The kings who followed added further Christian features: Enrique II rebuilt the chapel in the 14th century.

 

The most significant alteration was the construction of a Renaissance cathedral nave in the middle of the structure. It was constructed by permission of Carlos V, king of united Spain. Its reversion to a Christian church (officially the Cathedral of the Assumption of the Virgin) may have helped to preserve it when the Spanish Inquisition was most active.

 

Artisans and architects continued to add to the existing structure until the late 18th century.

 

Some troops of the Special Naval Landing Forces (SNLF).Are walking in an abandoned street in Shanghai during the battle of Shanghai, a battle set in the Second Sino-Japanese War. The SNLF were a special unit of marines of the Imperial Japanese Navy and they were part of the IJN landing forces. They saw action in the pacific theatre and the Second Sino-Japanese War. One of their most notable actions were during the Battle of Shanghai.

 

This shot was part of a concept that unfortunately never saw the light of day, early drafts were made for a scene where the SNLF would play a role in a scene set during the battle of Shanghai, but that scene was cut because of time constraints and the inaccuracy of the uniforms. In the early drafts I used white instead of Blue, this picture is a reversion of a scene that didn’t make the final cut. The SNLF were deleted entirely from that brickfilm. One of the scenes were the SNLF would have played a larger role was a scene where they were landing near the harbor of Shanghai.

 

Overall this shot turned out pretty well. I still wished that I could have put some more scenes in that brickfilm, but unfortunately I was working on a time constraint.

 

The Naval Landing Force soldier made a small appearance in my upcoming brickfilm

 

Link to the project:

 

www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQfZf7B0pr0

 

Link to the other project:

 

www.youtube.com/watch?v=7TXgoKBT03Q

 

Custom T90 helmet/Arisaka rifle: Brickarms

 

To view more of my images, of Belton House, please click "here" ! Click any image to view large!

 

Please, no group invites; thank you!

 

Belton House is a Grade I listed country house in Belton near Grantham, Lincolnshire, England. The mansion is surrounded by formal gardens and a series of avenues leading to follies within a larger wooded park. Belton has been described as a compilation of all that is finest of Carolean architecture, the only truly vernacular style of architecture that England had produced since the Tudor period. The house has also been described as the most complete example of a typical English country house; the claim has even been made that Belton's principal facade was the inspiration for the modern British motorway signs which give directions to stately homes. Only Brympton d'Evercy has been similarly lauded as the perfect English country house. For three hundred years, Belton House was the seat of the Brownlow and Cust family, who had first acquired land in the area in the late 16th century. Between 1685 and 1688 Sir John Brownlow and his wife had the present mansion built. Despite great wealth they chose to build a modest country house rather than a grand contemporary Baroque palace. The contemporary, if provincial, Carolean style was the selected choice of design. However, the new house was fitted with the latest innovations such as sash windows for the principal rooms, and more importantly completely separate areas for the staff. As the Brownlows rose from baronets to barons upward to earls and then once again became barons, successive generations made changes to the interior of the house which reflected their changing social position and tastes, yet the fabric and design of the house changed little. Following World War I (a period when the Machine Gun Corps was based in the park), the Brownlows, like many of their peers, were faced with mounting financial problems. In 1984 they gave the house away—complete with most of its contents. The recipients of their gift, the National Trust, today fully open Belton to the public. It is in a good state of repair and visited by many thousands of tourists each year The Brownlow family, a dynasty of lawyers, began accumulating land in the Belton area from approximately 1598. In 1609 they acquired the reversion of the manor of Belton itself from the Pakenham family, who finally sold the manor house to Sir John Brownlow I in 1619. The old house was situated near the church in the garden of the present house and remained largely unoccupied, since the family preferred their other houses elsewhere. John Brownlow had married an heiress but was childless. He became attached to two of his more distant blood relations: a great-nephew, also called John Brownlow, and a great-niece, Alice Sherard. The two cousins married each other in 1676 when both were aged 16; three years later, the couple inherited the Brownlow estates from their great-uncle together with an income of £9,000 per annum (about £ 1.17 million in present day terms) and £20,000 in cash (equivalent to about £ 2.59 million now). They immediately bought a town house in the newly fashionable Southampton Square in Bloomsbury, and decided to build a new country house at Belton. Work on the new house began in 1685. The architect thought to have been responsible for the initial design is William Winde, although the house has also been attributed to Sir Christopher Wren, while others believe the design to be so similar to Roger Pratt's Clarendon House, London, that it could have been the work of any talented draughtsman. The assumption popular today, that Winde was the architect, is based on the stylistic similarity between Belton and Coombe Abbey, which was remodelled by Winde between 1682 and 1685. Further evidence is a letter dated 1690, in which Winde recommends a plasterer who worked at Belton to another of his patrons. Whoever the architect, Belton follows closely the design of Clarendon House, completed in 1667. This great London town house (demolished circa 1683) has been one of the most admired buildings of its era due to "its elegant symmetry and confident and common-sensical design". Sir John Summerson described Clarendon House as "the most influential house of its time among those who aimed at the grand manner" and Belton as "much the finest surviving example of its class". John and Alice Brownlow assembled one of the finest teams of craftsmen available at the time to work on the project. This dream team was headed by the master mason William Stanton who oversaw the project. His second in command, John Thompson, had worked with Sir Christopher Wren on several of the latter's London churches, while the chief joiner John Sturges had worked at Chatsworth under William Talman. The wrought-ironworker John Warren worked under Stanton at Denham Place, Buckinghamshire, and the fine wrought iron gates and overthrow at Belton may be his. Thus so competent were the builders of Belton that Winde may have done little more than provide the original plans and drawings, leaving the interpretation to the on-site craftsmen. This theory is further demonstrated by the external appearance of the adjoining stable block. More provincial, and less masterful in proportion, it is known to have been entirely the work of Stanton.

This was a slight deviation from the usual holiday pursuits enjoyed by tourists to Cornwall - a quick visit to the preserved railway line in the Duchy. It was a permitted event although I am not sure if the railway was allowing visitors mid week.

However, here I was and this tank engine was gently simmering in the good weather which seems to follow me when I visit down here.

Said tank engine might have the British Railways logo on its sides but there is no hiding its true origins. Green livery, distinctive dome on the boiler and also distinctive number plate on the cab side. The GWR tended to do it in style even on a relatively humble engine like this one. The employees also seemed to have been more loyal to the Company and smartly turned out than the "others" that formed the Big Four.

Come nationalisation - not the current version but the one in 1948 - the same pride lingered but was slowly obliterated as BR had no apparent interest in regional pride and loyalties. It may have been that the old order was a constant thorn in the side of the new order and that the other three ex company brands could be easily absorbed and covered up.

It probably didn't help that not only did the trains retain the GWR colour, but the new order of diesel locos for the now Western Region were out of step with the plans for a rationalised diesel fleet.

Such was the ongoing influence of ex GWR men in management positions. The obvious cure was to send them elsewhere and it was certainly the case that one of the chief architects of WR policy was soon on his way and that WR was on its way to being pushed into national compliance.

History is a curious subject at times and the reversion to privatisation of sorts saw GWR emerge in a new format. So did LNER in a way but Southern Region didn't and the LMS stood no chance with part of that brand now being Scot Rail.

It does raise the question as to how much has been wasted in this activity which seems to me like an expensive game of Musical Chairs.

As for 5552 it was built in 1928 and is a 4575 class loco - a type generally used on branch line work. It is currently under restoration according to the society site with completion due this year.

For a while D1048 Western Lady resided on this line - a loco that has had something of a varied career in the days since withdrawal. On one visit I tried to find said loco but the nearest I got to her actual location was down the sidings at Bodmin Road which I couldn't access.

Cornwall has a wealth of history with all sorts of railway operations. It makes interesting reading when tracking down books on the subject.

(As a footnote, I am aware that Bodmin's main line station has been re-branded, but I prefer the original version.)

To view more of my images, of Belton House, please click "here" !

 

From the achieves, reprocessed, using Photoshop CC 2020.

 

Belton House is a Grade I listed country house in Belton near Grantham, Lincolnshire, England. The mansion is surrounded by formal gardens and a series of avenues leading to follies within a larger wooded park. Belton has been described as a compilation of all that is finest of Carolean architecture, the only truly vernacular style of architecture that England had produced since the Tudor period. The house has also been described as the most complete example of a typical English country house; the claim has even been made that Belton's principal facade was the inspiration for the modern British motorway signs which give directions to stately homes. Only Brympton d'Evercy has been similarly lauded as the perfect English country house. For three hundred years, Belton House was the seat of the Brownlow and Cust family, who had first acquired land in the area in the late 16th century. Between 1685 and 1688 Sir John Brownlow and his wife had the present mansion built. Despite great wealth they chose to build a modest country house rather than a grand contemporary Baroque palace. The contemporary, if provincial, Carolean style was the selected choice of design. However, the new house was fitted with the latest innovations such as sash windows for the principal rooms, and more importantly completely separate areas for the staff. As the Brownlows rose from baronets to barons upward to earls and then once again became barons, successive generations made changes to the interior of the house which reflected their changing social position and tastes, yet the fabric and design of the house changed little. Following World War I (a period when the Machine Gun Corps was based in the park), the Brownlows, like many of their peers, were faced with mounting financial problems. In 1984 they gave the house away—complete with most of its contents. The recipients of their gift, the National Trust, today fully open Belton to the public. It is in a good state of repair and visited by many thousands of tourists each year The Brownlow family, a dynasty of lawyers, began accumulating land in the Belton area from approximately 1598. In 1609 they acquired the reversion of the manor of Belton itself from the Pakenham family, who finally sold the manor house to Sir John Brownlow I in 1619. The old house was situated near the church in the garden of the present house and remained largely unoccupied, since the family preferred their other houses elsewhere. John Brownlow had married an heiress but was childless. He became attached to two of his more distant blood relations: a great-nephew, also called John Brownlow, and a great-niece, Alice Sherard. The two cousins married each other in 1676 when both were aged 16; three years later, the couple inherited the Brownlow estates from their great-uncle together with an income of £9,000 per annum (about £ 1.17 million in present day terms) and £20,000 in cash (equivalent to about £ 2.59 million now). They immediately bought a town house in the newly fashionable Southampton Square in Bloomsbury, and decided to build a new country house at Belton. Work on the new house began in 1685. The architect thought to have been responsible for the initial design is William Winde, although the house has also been attributed to Sir Christopher Wren, while others believe the design to be so similar to Roger Pratt's Clarendon House, London, that it could have been the work of any talented draughtsman. The assumption popular today, that Winde was the architect, is based on the stylistic similarity between Belton and Coombe Abbey, which was remodelled by Winde between 1682 and 1685. Further evidence is a letter dated 1690, in which Winde recommends a plasterer who worked at Belton to another of his patrons. Whoever the architect, Belton follows closely the design of Clarendon House, completed in 1667. This great London town house (demolished circa 1683) has been one of the most admired buildings of its era due to "its elegant symmetry and confident and common-sensical design". Sir John Summerson described Clarendon House as "the most influential house of its time among those who aimed at the grand manner" and Belton as "much the finest surviving example of its class". John and Alice Brownlow assembled one of the finest teams of craftsmen available at the time to work on the project. This dream team was headed by the master mason William Stanton who oversaw the project. His second in command, John Thompson, had worked with Sir Christopher Wren on several of the latter's London churches, while the chief joiner John Sturges had worked at Chatsworth under William Talman. The wrought-ironworker John Warren worked under Stanton at Denham Place, Buckinghamshire, and the fine wrought iron gates and overthrow at Belton may be his. Thus so competent were the builders of Belton that Winde may have done little more than provide the original plans and drawings, leaving the interpretation to the on-site craftsmen. This theory is further demonstrated by the external appearance of the adjoining stable block. More provincial, and less masterful in proportion, it is known to have been entirely the work of Stanton.

To view more of my images, of Belton House, please click "here" ! Click any image to view large!

 

Belton House is a Grade I listed country house in Belton near Grantham, Lincolnshire, England. The mansion is surrounded by formal gardens and a series of avenues leading to follies within a larger wooded park. Belton has been described as a compilation of all that is finest of Carolean architecture, the only truly vernacular style of architecture that England had produced since the Tudor period. The house has also been described as the most complete example of a typical English country house; the claim has even been made that Belton's principal facade was the inspiration for the modern British motorway signs which give directions to stately homes. Only Brympton d'Evercy has been similarly lauded as the perfect English country house. For three hundred years, Belton House was the seat of the Brownlow and Cust family, who had first acquired land in the area in the late 16th century. Between 1685 and 1688 Sir John Brownlow and his wife had the present mansion built. Despite great wealth they chose to build a modest country house rather than a grand contemporary Baroque palace. The contemporary, if provincial, Carolean style was the selected choice of design. However, the new house was fitted with the latest innovations such as sash windows for the principal rooms, and more importantly completely separate areas for the staff. As the Brownlows rose from baronets to barons upward to earls and then once again became barons, successive generations made changes to the interior of the house which reflected their changing social position and tastes, yet the fabric and design of the house changed little. Following World War I (a period when the Machine Gun Corps was based in the park), the Brownlows, like many of their peers, were faced with mounting financial problems. In 1984 they gave the house away—complete with most of its contents. The recipients of their gift, the National Trust, today fully open Belton to the public. It is in a good state of repair and visited by many thousands of tourists each year The Brownlow family, a dynasty of lawyers, began accumulating land in the Belton area from approximately 1598. In 1609 they acquired the reversion of the manor of Belton itself from the Pakenham family, who finally sold the manor house to Sir John Brownlow I in 1619. The old house was situated near the church in the garden of the present house and remained largely unoccupied, since the family preferred their other houses elsewhere. John Brownlow had married an heiress but was childless. He became attached to two of his more distant blood relations: a great-nephew, also called John Brownlow, and a great-niece, Alice Sherard. The two cousins married each other in 1676 when both were aged 16; three years later, the couple inherited the Brownlow estates from their great-uncle together with an income of £9,000 per annum (about £ 1.17 million in present day terms) and £20,000 in cash (equivalent to about £ 2.59 million now). They immediately bought a town house in the newly fashionable Southampton Square in Bloomsbury, and decided to build a new country house at Belton. Work on the new house began in 1685. The architect thought to have been responsible for the initial design is William Winde, although the house has also been attributed to Sir Christopher Wren, while others believe the design to be so similar to Roger Pratt's Clarendon House, London, that it could have been the work of any talented draughtsman. The assumption popular today, that Winde was the architect, is based on the stylistic similarity between Belton and Coombe Abbey, which was remodelled by Winde between 1682 and 1685. Further evidence is a letter dated 1690, in which Winde recommends a plasterer who worked at Belton to another of his patrons. Whoever the architect, Belton follows closely the design of Clarendon House, completed in 1667. This great London town house (demolished circa 1683) has been one of the most admired buildings of its era due to "its elegant symmetry and confident and common-sensical design". Sir John Summerson described Clarendon House as "the most influential house of its time among those who aimed at the grand manner" and Belton as "much the finest surviving example of its class". John and Alice Brownlow assembled one of the finest teams of craftsmen available at the time to work on the project. This dream team was headed by the master mason William Stanton who oversaw the project. His second in command, John Thompson, had worked with Sir Christopher Wren on several of the latter's London churches, while the chief joiner John Sturges had worked at Chatsworth under William Talman. The wrought-ironworker John Warren worked under Stanton at Denham Place, Buckinghamshire, and the fine wrought iron gates and overthrow at Belton may be his. Thus so competent were the builders of Belton that Winde may have done little more than provide the original plans and drawings, leaving the interpretation to the on-site craftsmen. This theory is further demonstrated by the external appearance of the adjoining stable block. More provincial, and less masterful in proportion, it is known to have been entirely the work of Stanton.

To view more of my images, of Bury St Edmunds, Abbey Gardens, and St Edmundsbury Cathedral, please click "here" !

 

An image from the Archive reproced, using Photoshop CC 2021.

 

Bury St Edmunds is a market town in the county of Suffolk, England, and formerly the county town of West Suffolk. It is the main town in the borough of St Edmundsbury and known for the ruined abbey near the town centre. Bury is the seat of the Diocese of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich, with the episcopal see at St Edmundsbury Cathedral. The town, originally called Beodericsworth, is known for brewing and malting (with the large Greene King brewery) and for a British Sugar processing factory, where Silver Spoon sugar, one of Britain's biggest brands, is produced. Many large and small businesses are located in Bury, which traditionally has given Bury an affluent economy with low unemployment, with the town being the main cultural and retail centre for West Suffolk. Tourism is also a major part of the economy, plus local government.

Bury St Edmunds (Beodericsworth, Bedrichesworth, St Edmund's Bury), supposed by some to have been the Villa Faustina of the Romans, was one of the royal towns of the Saxons. Sigebert, king of the East Angles, founded a monastery here about 633, which in 903 became the burial place of King Edmund, who was slain by the Danes in 869, and owed most of its early celebrity to the reputed miracles performed at the shrine of the martyr king. The town grew around Bury St Edmunds Abbey, a site of pilgrimage. By 925 the fame of St Edmund had spread far and wide, and the name of the town was changed to St Edmund's Bury. In 942 or 945 King Edmund had granted to the abbot and convent jurisdiction over the whole town, free from all secular services, and Canute in 1020 freed it from episcopal control. Edward the Confessor made the abbot lord of the franchise. Sweyn, in 1020, having destroyed the older monastery and ejected the secular priests, built a Benedictine abbey on St Edmund's Bury. Count Alan Rufus is said to have been interred at Bury St Edmunds Abbey in 1093. In the 12th and 13th centuries the head of the de Hastings family, who held the Lordship of the Manor of Ashill in Norfolk, was hereditary Steward of this abbey. On 18 March 1190, two days after the more well-known massacre of Jews at Clifford Tower in York, the people of Bury St Edmunds massacred 57 Jews. Later that year, Abbot Samson successfully petitioned King Richard I for permission to evict the town's remaining Jewish inhabitants "on the grounds that everything in the town... belonged by right to St Edmund: therefore, either the Jews should be St Edmund’s men or they should be banished from the town." This expulsion predates the Edict of Expulsion by 100 years. In 1198, a fire burned the shrine of St Edmund, leading to the inspection of his corpse by Abbot Samson and the translation of St Edmund's body to a new location in the abbey. The town is associated with Magna Carta. In 1214 the barons of England are believed to have met in the Abbey Church and sworn to force King John to accept the Charter of Liberties, the document which influenced the creation of the Magna Carta, a copy of which was displayed in the town's cathedral during the 2014 celebrations. By various grants from the abbots, the town gradually attained the rank of a borough.

Henry III in 1235 granted to the abbot two annual fairs, one in December (which still survives) and the other the great St Matthew's fair, which was abolished by the Fairs Act of 1871. In 1327, the Great Riot occurred, in which the local populace led an armed revolt against the Abbey. The burghers were angry at the overwhelming power, wealth and corruption of the monastery, which ran almost every aspect of local life with a view to enriching itself. The riot destroyed the main gate and a new, fortified gate was built in its stead. However in 1381 during the Great Uprising, the Abbey was sacked and looted again. This time, the Prior was executed; his severed head was placed on a pike in the Great Market. On 11 April 1608 a great fire broke out in Eastgate Street, which resulted in 160 dwellings and 400 outhouses being destroyed. The town developed into a flourishing cloth-making town, with a large woollen trade, by the 14th century. In 1405 Henry IV granted another fair. Elizabeth I in 1562 confirmed the charters which former kings had granted to the abbots. The reversion of the fairs and two markets on Wednesday and Saturday were granted by James I in fee farm to the corporation. James I in 1606 granted a charter of incorporation with an annual fair in Easter week and a market. James granted further charters in 1608 and 1614, as did Charles II in 1668 and 1684. Parliaments were held in the borough in 1272, 1296 and 1446, but the borough was not represented until 1608, when James I conferred on it the privilege of sending two members. The Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 reduced the representation to one. The borough of Bury St Edmunds and the surrounding area, like much of East Anglia, being part of the Eastern Association, supported Puritan sentiment during the first half of the 17th century. By 1640, several families had departed for the Massachusetts Bay Colony as part of the wave of emigration that occurred during the Great Migration. Bury's ancient grammar school also educated notable puritan theologians such as Richard Sibbes, the master of St Catherine's Hall in Cambridge and noteworthy future colonists such as Simonds D'Ewes and John Winthrop, Jr. The town was the setting for witch trials between 1599 and 1694.

 

"From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

  

To view more of my images, of Belton House, please click "here" !

 

From the Achieves, reprocessed using using Photoshop CC 2023"!

 

Please, do not insert images, or group invites, thank you!

 

Belton House is a Grade I listed country house in Belton near Grantham, Lincolnshire, England. The mansion is surrounded by formal gardens and a series of avenues leading to follies within a larger wooded park. Belton has been described as a compilation of all that is finest of Carolean architecture, the only truly vernacular style of architecture that England had produced since the Tudor period. The house has also been described as the most complete example of a typical English country house; the claim has even been made that Belton's principal facade was the inspiration for the modern British motorway signs which give directions to stately homes. Only Brympton d'Evercy has been similarly lauded as the perfect English country house. For three hundred years, Belton House was the seat of the Brownlow and Cust family, who had first acquired land in the area in the late 16th century. Between 1685 and 1688 Sir John Brownlow and his wife had the present mansion built. Despite great wealth they chose to build a modest country house rather than a grand contemporary Baroque palace. The contemporary, if provincial, Carolean style was the selected choice of design. However, the new house was fitted with the latest innovations such as sash windows for the principal rooms, and more importantly completely separate areas for the staff. As the Brownlows rose from baronets to barons upward to earls and then once again became barons, successive generations made changes to the interior of the house which reflected their changing social position and tastes, yet the fabric and design of the house changed little. Following World War I (a period when the Machine Gun Corps was based in the park), the Brownlows, like many of their peers, were faced with mounting financial problems. In 1984 they gave the house away—complete with most of its contents. The recipients of their gift, the National Trust, today fully open Belton to the public. It is in a good state of repair and visited by many thousands of tourists each year The Brownlow family, a dynasty of lawyers, began accumulating land in the Belton area from approximately 1598. In 1609 they acquired the reversion of the manor of Belton itself from the Pakenham family, who finally sold the manor house to Sir John Brownlow I in 1619. The old house was situated near the church in the garden of the present house and remained largely unoccupied, since the family preferred their other houses elsewhere. John Brownlow had married an heiress but was childless. He became attached to two of his more distant blood relations: a great-nephew, also called John Brownlow, and a great-niece, Alice Sherard. The two cousins married each other in 1676 when both were aged 16; three years later, the couple inherited the Brownlow estates from their great-uncle together with an income of £9,000 per annum (about £ 1.17 million in present day terms) and £20,000 in cash (equivalent to about £ 2.59 million now). They immediately bought a town house in the newly fashionable Southampton Square in Bloomsbury, and decided to build a new country house at Belton. Work on the new house began in 1685. The architect thought to have been responsible for the initial design is William Winde, although the house has also been attributed to Sir Christopher Wren, while others believe the design to be so similar to Roger Pratt's Clarendon House, London, that it could have been the work of any talented draughtsman. The assumption popular today, that Winde was the architect, is based on the stylistic similarity between Belton and Coombe Abbey, which was remodelled by Winde between 1682 and 1685. Further evidence is a letter dated 1690, in which Winde recommends a plasterer who worked at Belton to another of his patrons. Whoever the architect, Belton follows closely the design of Clarendon House, completed in 1667. This great London town house (demolished circa 1683) has been one of the most admired buildings of its era due to "its elegant symmetry and confident and common-sensical design". Sir John Summerson described Clarendon House as "the most influential house of its time among those who aimed at the grand manner" and Belton as "much the finest surviving example of its class". John and Alice Brownlow assembled one of the finest teams of craftsmen available at the time to work on the project. This dream team was headed by the master mason William Stanton who oversaw the project. His second in command, John Thompson, had worked with Sir Christopher Wren on several of the latter's London churches, while the chief joiner John Sturges had worked at Chatsworth under William Talman. The wrought-ironworker John Warren worked under Stanton at Denham Place, Buckinghamshire, and the fine wrought iron gates and overthrow at Belton may be his. Thus so competent were the builders of Belton that Winde may have done little more than provide the original plans and drawings, leaving the interpretation to the on-site craftsmen. This theory is further demonstrated by the external appearance of the adjoining stable block. More provincial, and less masterful in proportion, it is known to have been entirely the work of Stanton.

Reversión de una de mis fotos del Volcán Tolhuaca. Es sólo una toma en formato RAW en la que utilicé un filtro polarizador y uno degradado de 2 pasos para balancear mejor el rango dinámico de la escena. En esta reversión la pasé por PS para corregir algunos detalles como esa horrible mancha que dan los polarizadores al usarlos con un gran angular, además de levantar algo más las sombras y corregir lo magenta que estaba en general, el primer revelado en LR lo pueden ver aquí: www.flickr.com/photos/rockalvaro/5732020110/

 

D200 12-24 @ 12mm

ISO 100 1,5 sec at f/11

Singh-Ray 2 stops GND

Singh-Ray LB Warming Polarizer

And now approaching the ring, wearing his mahiole from his home of Hawaii...

 

Oh, another Hawaiian!

Who else was from Hawaii?

Prince Kamehame!*

Right!

 

...standing 195cm and weighing 110kg, he is the master of the Move Reversion technique...

 

And wasn't Kona Krush from Hawaii?

I don't think he was really from Hawaii.

He said he was!**

 

...He is the only wrestler to ever defeat Prince Kamehame in a singles match!

 

Oh, that must have been a Hawaiian throwdown!

 

He is a Justice Chojin of 850,000 power.... JESSE! MAIVIA!!!

 

That's very similar to Peter Maivia! ***

  

💪M💪U💪S💪C💪L💪E💪

 

A year of the shows and performers of the Bijou Planks Theater.

 

M.U.S.C.L.E.

# 10

"Jesse Maivia"

 

Painted by Paprika, thus losing all collectible value forever.

 

* Prince Kamehame was met waaaay back in BP 2018 Day 135!

www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/42116428131/

 

** Indeed he did, in BP 2019 Day 304!

www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/48990354146/

 

*** This Kinnikuman character is in fact named after Peter "High Chief" Maivia, the famous professional wrestler and grandfather of The Rock, Dwayne Johnson!

 

Jesse Maivia from the Kinnikuman anime:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=go4Ir1b6Al4

Early 1976 and there were eight active Westerns on shed making that fabulous Maybach music........

 

OK, a passable reversion to the original colour print. Damn that matt paper....!

Flashback to the last day of the COVID timetable that was placed on the 41, which saw a reduction to two journeys on Mondays and Thursdays, fitting around the 520 duties that the allocated Solo (such as 47542) would also run. It was expected to be permanent, but the reversion to pre-pandemic times was enacted in April 2021.

The Mezquita (Spanish for "mosque", from the Arabic مسجد "Masjid") is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Córdoba, Spain. It was originally built to be a warehouse/temple/lighthouse. It later became the second-largest mosque in the world.

The construction of the Mezquita started in approximately sixth century B.C. Later, the Mezquita (originally the Aljama Mosque) was reworked for over two centuries to refashion it as a mosque, starting in 784 A.D. under the supervision of the first Muslim Emir Abd ar-Rahman I, who used it as an adjunct to his palace and named it to honor his wife. The land was bought by the Emir from the previous owners. It is believed that the site included the Visigothic cathedral of St. Vincent. When the forces of Tariq ibn-Ziyad first occupied Córdoba in 711, the Christian cathedral was suppressed.

 

Several explanations have been proposed to explain the mosque's unorthodox orientation. Some have suggested the mihrab faces south because the foundations of the mosque are borrowed from the old Roman and Visigoth constructions. Others contend that Abd ar-Rahman oriented the mihrab southward as if he were still in the Ummayyad capital of Damascus and not in exile. In fact, the mosque orients 60 degrees south of east. Mecca from Cordoba is about 10 degrees south of east. Therefore, the mosque is misaligned by about 50 degrees from Mecca.

 

The mosque underwent numerous subsequent changes: Abd ar-Rahman III ordered a new minaret, while Al-Hakam II, in 961, enlarged the plan of the building and enriched the mihrab. The last of the reforms was carried out by Al-Mansur Ibn Abi Aamir in 987.

 

It was the most magnificent of the more than 1,000 mosques in the city and was at one time the second largest mosque in the Muslim world. It was connected to the Caliph's palace by a raised walk-way. Mosques within the palaces being the tradition for the islamic rulers of all times.

 

The city in which it was built was subject to frequent invasion and each conquering wave added their own mark to the architecture. The building is most notable for its giant arches, with over 1,000 columns of jasper, onyx, marble, and granite. These were made from pieces of the Roman temple which had occupied the site previously, as well as other destroyed Roman buildings. The double arches, pictured above, were a new introduction to architecture, and helped support the tremendous weight of the higher ceilings. The double arches consist of a lower horseshoe arch and an upper semi-circular arch. The Mezquita also features richly gilded prayer niches. A centrally located honey-combed dome has beautiful blue tiles decorated with stars. The mihrab is a masterpiece of architectural art, with geometric and flowing designs of plants. The Mezquita reached its current dimensions in 987 with the completion of the outer naves and orange tree courtyard.

Patio de los Naranjos, inside the Mezquita

Patio de los Naranjos, inside the Mezquita

 

The year (1236) that Cordoba was recaptured from the Moors, by King Ferdinand III of Castile and rejoined Christendom, the mosque was reconsecrated a Christian church. Alfonso X oversaw the construction of the Villaviciosa Chapel and the Royal Chapel within the structure of the mosque. The kings who followed added further Christian features: Enrique II rebuilt the chapel in the 14th century.

 

The most significant alteration was the construction of a Renaissance cathedral nave in the middle of the structure. It was constructed by permission of Carlos V, king of united Spain. Its reversion to a Christian church (officially the Cathedral of the Assumption of the Virgin) may have helped to preserve it when the Spanish Inquisition was most active.

 

Artisans and architects continued to add to the existing structure until the late 18th century.

 

Knebworth House is an English country house in the parish of Knebworth in Hertfordshire, England. It is a Grade II* listed building.[1] Its gardens are also listed Grade II* on the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens.[2] In its surrounding park are the medieval St. Mary's Church and the Lytton family mausoleum. It was the seat of the Earl of Lytton (also Viscount Knebworth), and now the house of the family of the Baron Cobbold of Knebworth.

 

The grounds are home to the Knebworth Festival, a recurring open-air rock and pop concert held since 1974.

 

The home of the Lytton family since 1490, when Thomas Bourchier sold the reversion of the manor to Sir Robert Lytton, Knebworth House was originally a red-brick Late Gothic manor house, built round a central court as an open square. In 1813–16 the house was reduced to its west wing,[3] which was remodelled in a Tudor Gothic style by John Biagio Rebecca for Mrs Bulwer-Lytton,[4] and then was transformed in 1843-45 by Henry Edward Kendall Jr. into the present Tudor Gothic structure.[5]

 

Knebworth's most famous resident was Edward Bulwer-Lytton (1803–1873), the Victorian author, dramatist and statesman, who embellished the gardens in a formal Italianate fashion. The 1st Baron's great-grandson Neville (1879–1951) married Judith Blunt, a well known horse breeder who inherited Crabbet Arabian Stud in 1917 and devoted her life to it. In 1913–1914 the house was leased for £3,000 per year by Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich of Russia and his morganatic wife Natalia Brasova.[6]

 

Much of the interior of Knebworth House was redesigned by Sir Edwin Lutyens, who married Lady Emily Bulwer-Lytton (1874–1964) – he simplified the main parterre. Lady Emily was the daughter of the 1st Earl of Lytton, who served as Viceroy of India between 1876 and 1880. A herb garden, with an interlaced quincunx design, was drawn by Gertrude Jekyll in 1907, although not planted until 1982. The grounds are also open to the public.

 

The 3rd Baron Cobbold lives at the house with his family. After a career in the film industry in Los Angeles, he lets production companies film on location in the house and gardens. The grounds include tourist attractions such as an adventure playground and dinosaur park and host various events including classic car rallies.

 

Music festival

Beginning in 1974, a recurring open-air rock and pop concert known as the Knebworth Festival has been held in the grounds. The festival first occurred in July 1974 when The Allman Brothers Band, The Doobie Brothers and other artists played to an audience of 60,000 people. Over the years the festival has featured major artists such as Pink Floyd, The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Queen (their 1986 concert at the venue their last with Freddie Mercury), Paul McCartney, Genesis, Mike Oldfield, The Beach Boys, Deep Purple, Eric Clapton, Elton John, Dire Straits, Robbie Williams, Oasis and Liam Gallagher. Wikipedia

Too long without Silesia

To view more of my images, of Belton House, please click

"here"

 

Please, no group invites; thank you!

 

Belton House is a Grade I listed country house in Belton near Grantham, Lincolnshire, England. The mansion is surrounded by formal gardens and a series of avenues leading to follies within a larger wooded park. Belton has been described as a compilation of all that is finest of Carolean architecture, the only truly vernacular style of architecture that England had produced since the Tudor period. The house has also been described as the most complete example of a typical English country house; the claim has even been made that Belton's principal facade was the inspiration for the modern British motorway signs which give directions to stately homes. Only Brympton d'Evercy has been similarly lauded as the perfect English country house. For three hundred years, Belton House was the seat of the Brownlow and Cust family, who had first acquired land in the area in the late 16th century. Between 1685 and 1688 Sir John Brownlow and his wife had the present mansion built. Despite great wealth they chose to build a modest country house rather than a grand contemporary Baroque palace. The contemporary, if provincial, Carolean style was the selected choice of design. However, the new house was fitted with the latest innovations such as sash windows for the principal rooms, and more importantly completely separate areas for the staff. As the Brownlows rose from baronets to barons upward to earls and then once again became barons, successive generations made changes to the interior of the house which reflected their changing social position and tastes, yet the fabric and design of the house changed little. Following World War I (a period when the Machine Gun Corps was based in the park), the Brownlows, like many of their peers, were faced with mounting financial problems. In 1984 they gave the house away—complete with most of its contents. The recipients of their gift, the National Trust, today fully open Belton to the public. It is in a good state of repair and visited by many thousands of tourists each year The Brownlow family, a dynasty of lawyers, began accumulating land in the Belton area from approximately 1598. In 1609 they acquired the reversion of the manor of Belton itself from the Pakenham family, who finally sold the manor house to Sir John Brownlow I in 1619. The old house was situated near the church in the garden of the present house and remained largely unoccupied, since the family preferred their other houses elsewhere. John Brownlow had married an heiress but was childless. He became attached to two of his more distant blood relations: a great-nephew, also called John Brownlow, and a great-niece, Alice Sherard. The two cousins married each other in 1676 when both were aged 16; three years later, the couple inherited the Brownlow estates from their great-uncle together with an income of £9,000 per annum (about £ 1.17 million in present day terms) and £20,000 in cash (equivalent to about £ 2.59 million now). They immediately bought a town house in the newly fashionable Southampton Square in Bloomsbury, and decided to build a new country house at Belton. Work on the new house began in 1685. The architect thought to have been responsible for the initial design is William Winde, although the house has also been attributed to Sir Christopher Wren, while others believe the design to be so similar to Roger Pratt's Clarendon House, London, that it could have been the work of any talented draughtsman. The assumption popular today, that Winde was the architect, is based on the stylistic similarity between Belton and Coombe Abbey, which was remodelled by Winde between 1682 and 1685. Further evidence is a letter dated 1690, in which Winde recommends a plasterer who worked at Belton to another of his patrons. Whoever the architect, Belton follows closely the design of Clarendon House, completed in 1667. This great London town house (demolished circa 1683) has been one of the most admired buildings of its era due to "its elegant symmetry and confident and common-sensical design". Sir John Summerson described Clarendon House as "the most influential house of its time among those who aimed at the grand manner" and Belton as "much the finest surviving example of its class". John and Alice Brownlow assembled one of the finest teams of craftsmen available at the time to work on the project. This dream team was headed by the master mason William Stanton who oversaw the project. His second in command, John Thompson, had worked with Sir Christopher Wren on several of the latter's London churches, while the chief joiner John Sturges had worked at Chatsworth under William Talman. The wrought-ironworker John Warren worked under Stanton at Denham Place, Buckinghamshire, and the fine wrought iron gates and overthrow at Belton may be his. Thus so competent were the builders of Belton that Winde may have done little more than provide the original plans and drawings, leaving the interpretation to the on-site craftsmen. This theory is further demonstrated by the external appearance of the adjoining stable block. More provincial, and less masterful in proportion, it is known to have been entirely the work of Stanton.

 

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

To view more of my images, of Belton House, please click "here" !

 

From the Achieves, reprocessed using using Photoshop CC 2024"!

 

Please, do not insert images, and/or group invites, thank you!

 

Belton House is a Grade I listed country house in Belton near Grantham, Lincolnshire, England. The mansion is surrounded by formal gardens and a series of avenues leading to follies within a larger wooded park. Belton has been described as a compilation of all that is finest of Carolean architecture, the only truly vernacular style of architecture that England had produced since the Tudor period. The house has also been described as the most complete example of a typical English country house; the claim has even been made that Belton's principal facade was the inspiration for the modern British motorway signs which give directions to stately homes. Only Brympton d'Evercy has been similarly lauded as the perfect English country house. For three hundred years, Belton House was the seat of the Brownlow and Cust family, who had first acquired land in the area in the late 16th century. Between 1685 and 1688 Sir John Brownlow and his wife had the present mansion built. Despite great wealth they chose to build a modest country house rather than a grand contemporary Baroque palace. The contemporary, if provincial, Carolean style was the selected choice of design. However, the new house was fitted with the latest innovations such as sash windows for the principal rooms, and more importantly completely separate areas for the staff. As the Brownlows rose from baronets to barons upward to earls and then once again became barons, successive generations made changes to the interior of the house which reflected their changing social position and tastes, yet the fabric and design of the house changed little. Following World War I (a period when the Machine Gun Corps was based in the park), the Brownlows, like many of their peers, were faced with mounting financial problems. In 1984 they gave the house away—complete with most of its contents. The recipients of their gift, the National Trust, today fully open Belton to the public. It is in a good state of repair and visited by many thousands of tourists each year The Brownlow family, a dynasty of lawyers, began accumulating land in the Belton area from approximately 1598. In 1609 they acquired the reversion of the manor of Belton itself from the Pakenham family, who finally sold the manor house to Sir John Brownlow I in 1619. The old house was situated near the church in the garden of the present house and remained largely unoccupied, since the family preferred their other houses elsewhere. John Brownlow had married an heiress but was childless. He became attached to two of his more distant blood relations: a great-nephew, also called John Brownlow, and a great-niece, Alice Sherard. The two cousins married each other in 1676 when both were aged 16; three years later, the couple inherited the Brownlow estates from their great-uncle together with an income of £9,000 per annum (about £ 1.17 million in present day terms) and £20,000 in cash (equivalent to about £ 2.59 million now). They immediately bought a town house in the newly fashionable Southampton Square in Bloomsbury, and decided to build a new country house at Belton. Work on the new house began in 1685. The architect thought to have been responsible for the initial design is William Winde, although the house has also been attributed to Sir Christopher Wren, while others believe the design to be so similar to Roger Pratt's Clarendon House, London, that it could have been the work of any talented draughtsman. The assumption popular today, that Winde was the architect, is based on the stylistic similarity between Belton and Coombe Abbey, which was remodelled by Winde between 1682 and 1685. Further evidence is a letter dated 1690, in which Winde recommends a plasterer who worked at Belton to another of his patrons. Whoever the architect, Belton follows closely the design of Clarendon House, completed in 1667. This great London town house (demolished circa 1683) has been one of the most admired buildings of its era due to "its elegant symmetry and confident and common-sensical design". Sir John Summerson described Clarendon House as "the most influential house of its time among those who aimed at the grand manner" and Belton as "much the finest surviving example of its class". John and Alice Brownlow assembled one of the finest teams of craftsmen available at the time to work on the project. This dream team was headed by the master mason William Stanton who oversaw the project. His second in command, John Thompson, had worked with Sir Christopher Wren on several of the latter's London churches, while the chief joiner John Sturges had worked at Chatsworth under William Talman. The wrought-ironworker John Warren worked under Stanton at Denham Place, Buckinghamshire, and the fine wrought iron gates and overthrow at Belton may be his. Thus so competent were the builders of Belton that Winde may have done little more than provide the original plans and drawings, leaving the interpretation to the on-site craftsmen. This theory is further demonstrated by the external appearance of the adjoining stable block. More provincial, and less masterful in proportion, it is known to have been entirely the work of Stanton.

www.twitter.com/gifcouen

Upon reversion from hyperspace in the Geonosis system, we found Geonosian space crawling with CIS units. The Arbiter, unfortunately, was ill-equipped to engage in a space battle. Thus, a portion of the ground troops were ordered to pilot the Star Destroyer's standard complement of ARC-170s. The Vulture droids picked us up as soon as we left the hangar. Some of us never had a chance. But we're clones. We're bred for war. And if Command thinks piloting fighter-bombers is the best way for us to win that war, who are we to argue?

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So, my first build for the 457th Corps. I'm pretty happy with it. I knew other builders would be doing ARC-170s flying over the hulls of Venators, so I went for something different and included the hangar. I also went with a slightly larger scale than the traditional 1:200 MINI scale, because at this scale, everything in the ARC-170 just clicked.

He was the son of Arthur Capell, 1st Baron Capell of Hadham (who was executed in 1649) and of Elizabeth Morrison, daughter and heir of Sir Charles Morrison of Cassiobury in Hertfordshire, and was baptized on 2 January 1632.

 

In June 1648, then a sickly boy of sixteen, he was taken by Lord Fairfax's soldiers from Hadham to Colchester, which his father was defending, and carried every day around the works with the hope of inducing Lord Capel to surrender the place.

 

At the Restoration he was created Viscount Malden and Earl of Essex (20 April 1661), the latter title having previously died out with Robert Devereux, 3rd Earl of Essex. It was granted with special remainder to the male issue of his father, and Capel was made lord-lieutenant of Hertfordshire and a few years later Lord Lieutenant of Wiltshire.

 

Early on, he showed himself antagonistic to the court, to Roman Catholicism, and to the extension of the royal prerogative, and was coupled by Charles II with Denzil Holles as "stiff and sullen men," who would not yield against their convictions to his solicitations. In 1669 he was sent as ambassador to King Christian V of Denmark, in which capacity he gained credit by refusing to strike his flag to the governor of Kronborg.

 

In 1672 he was made a privy councillor and lord-lieutenant of Ireland. He remained in office till 1677, and his administration was greatly commended by Burnet and Ormonde, the former describing it "as a pattern to all that come after him." He identified himself with Irish interests, and took immense pains to understand the constitution and the political necessities of the country, appointing men of real merit to office, and maintaining an exceptional independence from solicitation and influence.

 

The purity and patriotism of his administration were in strong contrast to the hopeless corruption prevalent in that at home and naturally aroused bitter opposition, as an obstacle to the unscrupulous employment of Irish revenues for the satisfaction of the court and the king's expenses. In particular he came into conflict with Lord Ranelagh, to whom had been assigned the Irish revenues on condition of his supplying the requirements of the crown, and whose accounts Essex refused to pass. He opposed strongly the lavish gifts of forfeited estates to court favourites and mistresses, prevented the grant of Phoenix Park to the duchess of Cleveland, and refused to encumber the administration by granting reversions. Finally the intrigues of his enemies at home, and Charles's continual demands for money, which Ranelagh undertook to satisfy, brought about his recall in April 1677.

 

He immediately joined the country party and the opposition to Lord Danby's government, and on the latter's fall in 1679 was appointed a commissioner of the treasury, and the same year a member of Sir William Temple's new-modelled council. He followed the lead of Lord Halifax, who advocated not the exclusion of James, but the limitation of his sovereign powers, and looked to the Prince of Orange rather than to the Duke of Monmouth as the leader of Protestantism, incurring thereby the hostility of Lord Shaftesbury, but at the same time gaining the confidence of Charles.

 

He was appointed by Charles together with Halifax to hear the charges against the Duke of Lauderdale. In July he wrote a wise and statesmanlike letter to the king, advising him to renounce his project of raising a new company of guards. Together with Halifax he urged Charles to summon the parliament, and after his refusal resigned the treasury in November, the real cause being, according to one account, a demand upon the treasury by the duchess of Cleveland for £25,000, according to another "the niceness of touching French money," "that makes my Lord Essex's squeasy stomach that it can no longer digest his employment."

 

Subsequently his political attitude underwent a change, the exact cause of which is not clear—probably a growing conviction of the dangers threatened by a Roman Catholic sovereign of the character of James. He now, in 1680, joined Shaftesbury's party and supported the Exclusion Bill, and on its rejection by the Lords carried a motion for an association to execute the scheme of expedients promoted by Halifax. On 25 January 1681 at the head of fifteen peers he presented a petition to the king, couched in exaggerated language, requesting the abandonment of the session of parliament at Oxford. He was a jealous prosecutor of the Roman Catholics in the popish plot, and voted for Lord Stafford's attainder, on the other hand interceding for Archbishop Plunkett, implicated in the pretended Irish plot. He, however, refused to follow Shaftesbury in his extreme courses, declined participation in the latter's design to seize the Tower in 1682, and on Shaftesbury's consequent departure from England became the leader of Monmouth's faction, in which were now included Lord Russell, Algernon Sidney, and Lord Howard of Escrick.

 

Essex took no part in the wilder schemes of the party, but after the discovery of the Rye House Plot in June 1683, and the capture of the leaders, he was arrested at Cassiobury and imprisoned in the Tower.

 

His spirits and fortitude appear immediately to have abandoned him, and on July 13 he was discovered in his chamber with his throat cut. His death was attributed, quite groundlessly, to Charles and James, and the evidence points clearly if not conclusively to suicide, his motive being possibly to prevent an attainder and preserve his estate for his family. Lord Ailesbury wrote: "The Earl asked very coldly for a razor to cut his nails, and being accustomed so to do gave no manner of suspicion. He went into a small closet," where his servant afterward found him "dead and wallowing in blood"... the assumption being that the reason he "cutt his own throat with a knife" was because of his knowledge of the Rye House Plot. If not killed by them, he was, however, undoubtedly a victim of the Stuart administration, and the antagonism and tragic end of men like Essex, deserving men, naturally devoted to the throne, constitutes a severe indictment of the Stuart rule.

  

Heading home from Green Things with a red grapefruit plant on the backseat.

I captured these lovely A-10s from Davis-Monthan AFB in Tucson through the passenger's windshield. I think we were stopped at a traffic light on Pima in Tucson, Arizona, USA. This is cropped from a moderate angle shot.

 

These A-10s are constantly in use for training. They are an amazingly effective anti-tank weapon for the Army. The Air Force keeps wanting to kill their budget. I believe we need an Army Air Force with its own budget.

 

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairchild_Republic_A-10_Thunderbolt_II

 

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Design

 

Overview

 

Side-view drawing of aircraft with cut-throughs showing crucial internal components

A-10 inboard profile drawing

The A-10 has a cantilever low-wing monoplane wing with a wide chord.[32] The aircraft has superior maneuverability at low speeds and altitudes because of its large wing area, high wing aspect ratio, and large ailerons. The wing also allows short takeoffs and landings, permitting operations from primitive forward airfields near front lines. The aircraft can loiter for extended periods and operate under 1,000-foot (300 m) ceilings with 1.5-mile (2.4 km) visibility. It typically flies at a relatively low speed of 300 knots (350 mph; 560 km/h), which makes it a better platform for the ground-attack role than fast fighter-bombers, which often have difficulty targeting small, slow-moving targets.[52]

 

The leading edge of the wing has a honeycomb structure panel construction, providing strength with minimal weight; similar panels cover the flap shrouds, elevators, rudders, and sections of the fins.[53] The skin panels are integral with the stringers and are fabricated using computer-controlled machining, reducing production time and cost. Combat experience has shown that this type of panel is more resistant to damage. The skin is not load-bearing, so damaged skin sections can be easily replaced in the field, with makeshift materials if necessary.[54] The ailerons are at the far ends of the wings for a greater rolling moment and have two distinguishing features: The ailerons are larger than is typical, almost 50 percent of the wingspan, providing improved control even at slow speeds; the aileron is also split, making it a deceleron.[55][56]

 

The A-10 is designed to be refueled, rearmed, and serviced with minimal equipment.[57] Its simple design enables maintenance at forward bases with limited facilities.[58][59] An unusual feature is that many of the aircraft's parts are interchangeable between the left and right sides, including the engines, main landing gear, and vertical stabilizers. The sturdy landing gear, low-pressure tires, and large, straight wings allow operation from short rough strips even with a heavy aircraft ordnance load, allowing the aircraft to operate from damaged airbases, flying from taxiways, or even straight roadway sections.[60]

 

The front landing gear is offset to the aircraft's right to allow placement of the 30 mm cannon with its firing barrel along the centerline of the aircraft.[61] During ground taxi, the offset front landing gear causes the A-10 to have dissimilar turning radii. Turning to the right on the ground takes less distance than turning left.[Note 1] The wheels of the main landing gear partially protrude from their nacelles when retracted, making gear-up belly landings easier to control and less damaging. All landing gears retract forward; if hydraulic power is lost, a combination of gravity and aerodynamic drag can lower and lock the gear in place.[56]

 

Durability

 

The A-10 is exceptionally tough, being able to survive direct hits from armor-piercing and high-explosive projectiles up to 23 mm. It has double-redundant hydraulic flight systems, and a mechanical system as a backup if hydraulics are lost. Flight without hydraulic power uses the manual reversion control system; pitch and yaw control engages automatically, roll control is pilot-selected. In manual reversion mode, the A-10 is sufficiently controllable under favorable conditions to return to base, though control forces are greater than normal. The aircraft is designed to be able to fly with one engine, half of the tail, one elevator, and half of a wing missing.[62]

 

The cockpit and parts of the flight-control systems are protected by 1,200 lb (540 kg) of titanium aircraft armor, referred to as a "bathtub".[63][64] The armor has been tested to withstand strikes from 23 mm cannon fire and some strikes from 57 mm rounds.[59][63] It is made up of titanium plates with thicknesses varying from 0.5 to 1.5 inches (13 to 38 mm) determined by a study of likely trajectories and deflection angles. The armor makes up almost six percent of the aircraft's empty weight. Any interior surface of the tub directly exposed to the pilot is covered by a multi-layer nylon spall shield to protect against shell fragmentation.[65][66] The front windscreen and canopy are resistant to small arms fire.[67]

 

The A-10's durability was demonstrated on 7 April 2003 when Captain Kim Campbell, while flying over Baghdad during the 2003 invasion of Iraq, suffered extensive flak damage. Iraqi fire damaged one of her engines and crippled the hydraulic system, requiring the aircraft's stabilizer and flight controls to be operated via the 'manual reversion mode.' Despite this damage, Campbell flew the aircraft for nearly an hour and landed safely.[68][69]

 

The A-10 was intended to fly from forward air bases and semi-prepared runways with a high risk of foreign object damage to the engines. The unusual location of the General Electric TF34-GE-100 turbofan engines decreases ingestion risk and allows the engines to run while the aircraft is serviced and rearmed by ground crews, reducing turn-around time. The wings are also mounted closer to the ground, simplifying servicing and rearming operations. The heavy engines require strong supports: four bolts connect the engine pylons to the airframe.[70] The engines' high 6:1 bypass ratio contributes to a relatively small infrared signature, and their position directs exhaust over the tailplanes further shielding it from detection by infrared homing surface-to-air missiles. The engines' exhaust nozzles are angled nine degrees below horizontal to cancel out the nose-down pitching moment that would otherwise be generated from being mounted above the aircraft's center of gravity and avoid the need to trim the control surfaces to prevent pitching.[70]

 

To reduce the likelihood of damage to the A-10's fuel system, all four fuel tanks are located near the aircraft's center and are separated from the fuselage; projectiles would need to penetrate the aircraft's skin before reaching a tank's outer skin.[65][66] Compromised fuel transfer lines self-seal; if damage exceeds a tank's self-sealing capabilities, check valves prevent fuel from flowing into a compromised tank. Most fuel system components are inside the tanks so that fuel will not be lost due to component failure. The refueling system is also purged after use.[71] Reticulated polyurethane foam lines both the inner and outer sides of the fuel tanks, retaining debris and restricting fuel spillage in the event of damage. The engines are shielded from the rest of the airframe by firewalls and fire extinguishing equipment. In the event of all four main tanks being lost, two self-sealing sump tanks contain fuel for 230 miles (370 km) of flight.[65][66]

 

Since the A-10 operates extremely close to enemy positions, where it is an easy target for MANPADS, surface-to-air missiles (SAMs), and enemy fighters, it can carry up to 480 flares and 480 chaff cartridges, which is more than any other fighter, but usually flies with a mix of both.[72]

 

Weapons

 

Although the A-10 can carry a considerable amount of munitions, its primary built-in weapon is the 30×173 mm GAU-8/A Avenger autocannon. One of the most powerful aircraft cannons ever flown, it fires large depleted uranium armor-piercing shells. The GAU-8 is a hydraulically driven seven-barrel rotary cannon designed specifically for the anti-tank role with a high rate of fire. The cannon's original design could be switched by the pilot to 2,100 or 4,200 rounds per minute;[73] this was later changed to a fixed rate of 3,900 rounds per minute.[74] The cannon takes about half a second to reach top speed, so 50 rounds are fired during the first second, 65 or 70 rounds per second thereafter. The gun is accurate enough to place 80 percent of its shots within a 40-foot (12.4 m) diameter circle from 4,000 feet (1,220 m) while in flight.[75] The GAU-8 is optimized for a slant range of 4,000 feet (1,220 m) with the A-10 in a 30-degree dive.[76]

  

Front view of the A-10's GAU-8 installation

The fuselage of the aircraft is built around the cannon. The GAU-8/A is mounted slightly to the port side; the barrel in the firing location is on the starboard side at the 9 o'clock position so it is aligned with the aircraft's centerline. The gun's 5-foot, 11.5-inch (1.816 m) ammunition drum can hold up to 1,350 rounds of 30 mm ammunition,[61] but generally holds 1,174 rounds.[76] To protect the GAU-8/A rounds from enemy fire, armor plates of differing thicknesses between the aircraft skin and the drum are designed to detonate incoming shells.[61][66]

 

The AGM-65 Maverick air-to-surface missile is a commonly used munition for the A-10, targeted via electro-optical (TV-guided) or infrared. The Maverick allows target engagement at much greater ranges than the cannon, and thus less risk from anti-aircraft systems. During Desert Storm, in the absence of dedicated forward-looking infrared (FLIR) cameras for night vision, the Maverick's infrared camera was used for night missions as a "poor man's FLIR".[77] Other weapons include cluster bombs and Hydra rocket pods.[78] The A-10 is equipped to carry GPS and laser-guided bombs, such as the GBU-39 Small Diameter Bomb, Paveway series bombs, JDAM, WCMD and glide bomb AGM-154 Joint Standoff Weapon.[79] A-10s usually fly with an ALQ-131 ECM pod under one wing and two AIM-9 Sidewinder air-to-air missiles under the other wing for self-defense.[80]

 

Modernization

 

The A-10 Precision Engagement Modification Program from 2006 to 2010 updated all A-10 and OA-10 aircraft in the fleet to the A-10C standard with a new flight computer, new glass cockpit displays and controls, two new 5.5-inch (140 mm) color displays with moving map function, and an integrated digital stores management system.[18][43][44][81]

 

Since then, the A-10 Common Fleet Initiative has led to further improvements: a new wing design, a new data link, the ability to employ smart weapons such as the Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) and Wind Corrected Munitions Dispenser, as well as the newer GBU-39 Small Diameter Bomb, and the ability to carry an integrated targeting pod such as the Northrop Grumman LITENING or the Lockheed Martin Sniper Advanced Targeting Pod (ATP). Also included is the Remotely Operated Video Enhanced Receiver (ROVER) to provide sensor data to personnel on the ground.[43] The A-10C has a Missile Warning System (MWS), which alerts the pilot to whenever there is a missile launch, friendly or non-friendly. The A-10C can also carry an ALQ-184 ECM Pod, which works with the MWS to detect a missile launch, figure out what kind of vehicle is launching the missile or flak (i.e.: SAM, aircraft, flak, MANPAD, etc.), and then jams it with confidential emitting, and selects a countermeasure program that the pilot has pre-set, that when turned on, will automatically dispense flare and chaff at pre-set intervals and amounts.[82]

 

Colors and markings

 

Since the A-10 flies low to the ground and at subsonic speed, aircraft camouflage is important to make the aircraft more difficult to see. Many different types of paint schemes have been tried. These have included a "peanut scheme" of sand, yellow, and field drab; black and white colors for winter operations, and a tan, green, and brown mixed pattern.[83] Many A-10s also featured a false canopy painted in dark gray on the underside of the aircraft, just behind the gun. This form of automimicry is an attempt to confuse the enemy as to aircraft attitude and maneuver direction.[84][85] Many A-10s feature nose art, such as shark mouth or warthog head features.

 

The two most common markings applied to the A-10 have been the European I woodland camouflage scheme and a two-tone gray scheme. The European woodland scheme was designed to minimize visibility from above, as the threat from hostile fighter aircraft was felt to outweigh that from ground-fire. It uses dark green, medium green, and dark gray in order to blend in with the typical European forest terrain and was used from the 1980s to the early 1990s. Following the end of the Cold War, and based on experience during the 1991 Gulf War, the air-to-air threat was no longer seen to be as important as that from ground fire, and a new color scheme known as "Compass Ghost" was chosen to minimize visibility from below. This two-tone gray scheme has darker gray color on top, with the lighter gray on the underside of the aircraft, and started to be applied from the early 1990s.[86]

 

Operational history

 

Entering service

 

The first unit to receive the A-10 Thunderbolt II was the 355th Tactical Training Wing, based at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona, in March 1976.[87] The first unit to achieve full combat-readiness was the 354th Tactical Fighter Wing at Myrtle Beach Air Force Base, South Carolina, in October 1977.[1] Deployments of A-10As followed at bases both at home and abroad, including England AFB, Louisiana; Eielson AFB, Alaska; Osan Air Base, South Korea; and RAF Bentwaters/RAF Woodbridge, England. The 81st TFW of RAF Bentwaters/RAF Woodbridge operated rotating detachments of A-10s at four bases in Germany known as Forward Operating Locations (FOLs): Leipheim, Sembach Air Base, Nörvenich Air Base, and RAF Ahlhorn.[88]

 

A-10s were initially an unwelcome addition to many in the Air Force. Most pilots switching to the A-10 did not want to because fighter pilots traditionally favored speed and appearance.[89] In 1987, many A-10s were shifted to the forward air control (FAC) role and redesignated OA-10.[90] In the FAC role, the OA-10 is typically equipped with up to six pods of 2.75 inch (70 mm) Hydra rockets, usually with smoke or white phosphorus warheads used for target marking. OA-10s are physically unchanged and remain fully combat capable despite the redesignation.[91]

 

A-10s of the 23rd TFW were deployed to Bridgetown, Barbados during Operation Urgent Fury, the American Invasion of Grenada. They provided air cover for the U.S. Marine Corps landings on the island of Carriacou in late October 1983, but did not fire weapons as Marines met no resistance.[92][93][94]

 

Gulf War and Balkans

 

The A-10 was used in combat for the first time during the Gulf War in 1991, destroying more than 900 Iraqi tanks, 2,000 other military vehicles, and 1,200 artillery pieces.[10] A-10s also shot down two Iraqi helicopters with the GAU-8 cannon. The first of these was shot down by Captain Robert Swain over Kuwait on 6 February 1991 for the A-10's first air-to-air victory.[95][96] Four A-10s were shot down during the war by surface-to-air missiles. Another two battle-damaged A-10s and OA-10As returned to base and were written off. Some sustained additional damage in crash landings.[97][98] The A-10 had a mission-capable rate of 95.7 percent, flew 8,100 sorties, and launched 90 percent of the AGM-65 Maverick missiles fired in the conflict.[99] Shortly after the Gulf War, the Air Force abandoned the idea of replacing the A-10 with a close air support version of the F-16.[100]

 

U.S. Air Force A-10 aircraft fired approximately 10,000 30 mm rounds in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1994–95. Following the seizure of some heavy weapons by Bosnian Serbs from a warehouse in Ilidža, a series of sorties were launched to locate and destroy the captured equipment. On 5 August 1994, two A-10s located and strafed an anti-tank vehicle. Afterward, the Serbs agreed to return remaining heavy weapons.[101] In August 1995, NATO launched an offensive called Operation Deliberate Force. A-10s flew close air support missions, attacking Bosnian Serb artillery and positions. In late September, A-10s began flying patrols again.[102]

 

A-10s returned to the Balkan region as part of Operation Allied Force in Kosovo beginning in March 1999.[102] In March 1999, A-10s escorted and supported search and rescue helicopters in finding a downed F-117 pilot.[103] The A-10s were deployed to support search and rescue missions, but over time the Warthogs began to receive more ground attack missions. The A-10's first successful attack in Operation Allied Force happened on 6 April 1999; A-10s remained in action until combat ended in late June 1999.[104]

 

Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, and recent deployments

 

During the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan, the A-10s did not take part in the initial stages. For the campaign against Taliban and Al Qaeda, A-10 squadrons were deployed to Pakistan and Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan, beginning in March 2002. These A-10s participated in Operation Anaconda. Afterward, A-10s remained in-country, fighting Taliban and Al Qaeda remnants.[105]

 

Operation Iraqi Freedom began on 20 March 2003. Sixty OA-10/A-10 aircraft took part in early combat there.[106] The United States Air Forces Central Command issued Operation Iraqi Freedom: By the Numbers, a declassified report about the aerial campaign in the conflict on 30 April 2003. During that initial invasion of Iraq, A-10s had a mission capable rate of 85 percent in the war and fired 311,597 rounds of 30 mm ammunition. A single A-10 was shot down near Baghdad International Airport by Iraqi fire late in the campaign. The A-10 also flew 32 missions in which the aircraft dropped propaganda leaflets over Iraq.[107]

 

In September 2007, the A-10C with the Precision Engagement Upgrade reached initial operating capability.[81] The A-10C first deployed to Iraq in 2007 with the 104th Fighter Squadron of the Maryland Air National Guard.[108] The A-10C's digital avionics and communications systems have greatly reduced the time to acquire a close air support target and attack it.[109]

 

A-10s flew 32 percent of combat sorties in Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom. The sorties ranged from 27,800 to 34,500 annually between 2009 and 2012. In the first half of 2013, they flew 11,189 sorties in Afghanistan.[110] From the beginning of 2006 to October 2013, A-10s conducted 19 percent of CAS missions in Iraq and Afghanistan, more than the F-15E Strike Eagle and B-1B Lancer, but less than the 33 percent flown by F-16s.[111]

 

In March 2011, six A-10s were deployed as part of Operation Odyssey Dawn, the coalition intervention in Libya. They participated in attacks on Libyan ground forces there.[112][113]

 

The USAF 122nd Fighter Wing revealed it would deploy to the Middle East in October 2014 with 12 of the unit's 21 A-10 aircraft. Although the deployment had been planned a year in advance in a support role, the timing coincided with the ongoing Operation Inherent Resolve against ISIL militants.[114][115][116] From mid-November, U.S. commanders began sending A-10s to hit IS targets in central and northwestern Iraq on an almost daily basis.[117][118] In about two months time, A-10s flew 11 percent of all USAF sorties since the start of operations in August 2014.[119] On 15 November 2015, two days after the ISIL attacks in Paris, A-10s and AC-130s destroyed a convoy of over 100 ISIL-operated oil tanker trucks in Syria. The attacks were part of an intensification of the U.S.-led intervention against ISIL called Operation Tidal Wave II (named after Operation Tidal Wave during World War II, a failed attempt to raid German oil fields) in an attempt to cut off oil smuggling as a source of funding for the group.[120]

 

On 19 January 2018, 12 A-10s from the 303d Expeditionary Fighter Squadron were deployed to Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan, to provide close-air support, marking the first time in more than three years A-10s had been deployed to Afghanistan.[121]

 

Future

 

The future of the platform remains the subject of debate. In 2007, the USAF expected the A-10 to remain in service until 2028 and possibly later,[122] when it would likely be replaced by the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II.[38] However, critics have said that replacing the A-10 with the F-35 would be a "giant leap backwards" given the A-10's performance and the F-35's high costs.[123] In 2012, the Air Force considered the F-35B STOVL variant as a replacement CAS aircraft, but concluded that the aircraft could not generate sufficient sorties.[124] In August 2013, Congress and the Air Force examined various proposals, including the F-35 and the MQ-9 Reaper unmanned aerial vehicle filling the A-10's role. Proponents state that the A-10's armor and cannon are superior to aircraft such as the F-35 for ground attack, that guided munitions other planes rely upon could be jammed, and that ground commanders frequently request A-10 support.[110]

 

In the USAF's FY 2015 budget, the service considered retiring the A-10 and other single-mission aircraft, prioritizing multi-mission aircraft; cutting a whole fleet and its infrastructure was seen as the only method for major savings. The U.S. Army had expressed interest in obtaining some A-10s should the Air Force retire them,[125][126] but later stated there was "no chance" of that happening.[127] The U.S. Air Force stated that retirement would save $3.7 billion from 2015 to 2019. The prevalence of guided munitions allow more aircraft to perform the CAS mission and reduces the requirement for specialized aircraft; since 2001 multirole aircraft and bombers have performed 80 percent of operational CAS missions. The Air Force also said that the A-10 was more vulnerable to advanced anti-aircraft defenses, but the Army replied that the A-10 had proved invaluable because of its versatile weapons loads, psychological impact, and limited logistics needs on ground support systems.[128]

 

In January 2015, USAF officials told lawmakers that it would take 15 years to fully develop a new attack aircraft to replace the A-10;[129] that year General Herbert J. Carlisle, the head of Air Combat Command, stated that a follow-on weapon system for the A-10 may need to be developed.[130] It planned for F-16s and F-15Es to initially take up CAS sorties, and later by the F-35A once sufficient numbers become operationally available over the next decade.[131] In July 2015, Boeing held initial discussions on the prospects of selling retired or stored A-10s in near-flyaway condition to international customers.[42] However, the Air Force then said that it would not permit the aircraft to be sold.[132]

 

Plans to develop a replacement aircraft were announced by the US Air Combat Command in August 2015.[133][134] Early the following year, the Air Force began studying future CAS aircraft to succeed the A-10 in low-intensity "permissive conflicts" like counterterrorism and regional stability operations, admitting that the F-35 would be too expensive to operate in day-to-day roles. A wide range of platforms were under consideration, including everything from low-end AT-6 Wolverine and A-29 Super Tucano turboprops and the Textron AirLand Scorpion as more basic off-the-shelf options to more sophisticated clean-sheet attack aircraft or "AT-X" derivatives of the T-X next-generation trainer as entirely new attack platforms.[131][135][136]

 

In January 2016, the USAF was "indefinitely freezing" plans to retire the A-10 for at least several years. In addition to Congressional opposition, its use in anti-ISIL operations, deployments to Eastern Europe as a response to Russia's military intervention in Ukraine, and reevaluation of F-35 numbers necessitated its retention.[137][138] In February 2016, the Air Force deferred the final retirement of the aircraft until 2022 after being replaced by F-35s on a squadron-by-squadron basis.[139][140] In October 2016, the Air Force Material Command brought the depot maintenance line back to full capacity in preparation for re-winging the fleet.[141] In June 2017, it was announced that the aircraft "...will now be kept in the air force’s inventory indefinitely."[142][5]

 

Other uses

 

On 25 March 2010, an A-10 conducted the first flight of an aircraft with all engines powered by a biofuel blend. The flight, performed at Eglin Air Force Base, used a 1:1 blend of JP-8 and Camelina-based fuel.[143] On 28 June 2012, the A-10 became the first aircraft to fly using a new fuel blend derived from alcohol; known as ATJ (Alcohol-to-Jet), the fuel is cellulosic-based and can be produced using wood, paper, grass, or any cellulose based material, which are fermented into alcohols before being hydro-processed into aviation fuel. ATJ is the third alternative fuel to be evaluated by the Air Force as a replacement for the petroleum-derived JP-8 fuel. Previous types were a synthetic paraffinic kerosene derived from coal and natural gas and a bio-mass fuel derived from plant-oils and animal fats known as Hydroprocessed Renewable Jet.[144]

 

In 2011, the National Science Foundation granted $11 million to modify an A-10 for weather research for CIRPAS at the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School[145] and in collaboration with scientists from the South Dakota School of Mines & Technology (SDSM&T),[146] replacing SDSM&T's retired North American T-28 Trojan.[147] The A-10's armor is expected to allow it to survive the extreme meteorological conditions, such as 200 mph hailstorms, found in inclement high-altitude weather events.[148]

 

Variants

 

YA-10A

Pre-production variant. 12 were built.[149]

A-10A

Single-seat close air support, ground-attack production version.

OA-10A

A-10As used for airborne forward air control.

YA-10B Night/Adverse Weather (N/AW)

Two-seat experimental prototype, for work at night and in bad weather. The one YA-10B prototype was converted from an A-10A.[150][151]

A-10C

A-10As updated under the incremental Precision Engagement (PE) program.[43]

A-10PCAS

Proposed unmanned version developed by Raytheon and Aurora Flight Sciences as part of DARPA's Persistent Close Air Support program.[152] The PCAS program eventually dropped the idea of using an optionally manned A-10.[153]

Civilian A-10

Proposed by the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology to replace its North American T-28 Trojan thunderstorm penetration aircraft. The A-10 would have its military engines, avionics, and oxygen system replaced by civilian versions. The engines and airframe would receive protection from hail, and the GAU-8 Avenger would be replaced with ballast or scientific instruments.[154]

Operators

 

The A-10 has been flown exclusively by the United States Air Force and its Air Reserve components, the Air Force Reserve Command (AFRC) and the Air National Guard (ANG). As of 2017, 282 A-10C aircraft are reported as operational, divided as follows: 141 USAF, 55 AFRC, 86 ANG.[155]

 

United States

United States Air Force

Air Force Materiel Command

514th Flight Test Squadron (Hill AFB, Utah) (1993-)

23rd Wing

74th Fighter Squadron (Moody AFB, Georgia) (1980-1992, 1996-)

75th Fighter Squadron (Moody AFB, Georgia) (1980-1991, 1992-)

51st Fighter Wing

25th Fighter Squadron (Osan AFB, South Korea) (1982-1989, 1993-)

53d Wing

422d Test and Evaluation Squadron (Nellis AFB, Nevada) (1977-)

57th Wing

66th Weapons Squadron (Nellis AFB, Nevada) (1977-1981, 2003-)

96th Test Wing

40th Flight Test Squadron (Eglin AFB, Florida) (1982-)

122nd Fighter Wing (Indiana ANG)

163d Fighter Squadron (Fort Wayne ANGS, Indiana) (2010-)

124th Fighter Wing (Idaho ANG)

190th Fighter Squadron (Gowen Field ANGB, Idaho) (1996-)

127th Wing (Michigan ANG)

107th Fighter Squadron (Selfridge ANGB, Michigan) (2008-)

175th Wing (Maryland ANG)

104th Fighter Squadron (Warfield ANGB, Maryland) (1979-)

355th Fighter Wing

354th Fighter Squadron (Davis-Monthan AFB, Arizona) (1979-1982, 1991-)

357th Fighter Squadron (Davis-Monthan AFB, Arizona) (1979-)

442nd Fighter Wing (AFRC)

303d Fighter Squadron (Whiteman AFB, Missouri) (1982-)

476th Fighter Group (AFRC)

76th Fighter Squadron (Moody AFB, Georgia) (1981-1992, 2009-)

495th Fighter Group (AFRC)

358th Fighter Squadron (Whiteman AFB, Missouri) (1979-2014, 2015-)

924th Fighter Group (AFRC)

45th Fighter Squadron (Davis-Monthan AFB, Arizona) (1981-1994, 2009-)

47th Fighter Squadron (Davis-Monthan AFB, Arizona) (1980-)

926th Wing (AFRC)

706th Fighter Squadron (Davis-Monthan AFB, Arizona) (1982-1992, 1997-)

Former squadrons

 

18th Tactical Fighter Squadron (1982-1991)

23d Tactical Air Support Squadron (1987-1991) (OA-10 unit)

55th Tactical Fighter Squadron (1994-1996)

70th Fighter Squadron (1995-2000)

78th Tactical Fighter Squadron (1979-1992)

81st Fighter Squadron (1994-2013)

91st Tactical Fighter Squadron (1978-1992)

92d Tactical Fighter Squadron (1978-1993)

103d Fighter Squadron (Pennsylvania ANG) (1988-2011) (OA-10 unit)

118th Fighter Squadron (Connecticut ANG) (1979-2008)

131st Fighter Squadron (Massachusetts ANG) (1979-2007)

138th Fighter Squadron (New York ANG) (1979-1989)

172d Fighter Squadron (Michigan ANG) (1991-2009)

176th Tactical Fighter Squadron (Wisconsin ANG) (1981-1993)

184th Fighter Squadron (Arkansas ANG) (2007-2014)

353d Tactical Fighter Squadron (1978-1992)

355th Tactical Fighter Squadron (1978-1992, 1993–2007)

356th Tactical Fighter Squadron (1977-1992)[156]

509th Tactical Fighter Squadron (1979-1992)

510th Tactical Fighter Squadron (1979-1994)

511th Tactical Fighter Squadron (1980-1992)

Aircraft on display

 

Germany

 

A-10A

77-0264 – Spangdahlem AB, Bitburg[157]

South Korea

 

A-10A

76-0515 – Osan AB[158]

United Kingdom

 

A-10A

77-0259 – American Air Museum at Imperial War Museum Duxford[159]

80-0219 – Bentwaters Cold War Museum[160]

United States

 

YA-10A

71-1370 – Joint Base Langley-Eustis (Langley AFB), Hampton, Virginia[161]

YA-10B

73-1664 – Air Force Flight Test Center Museum, Edwards AFB, California[162]

A-10A

73-1666 – Hill Aerospace Museum, Hill AFB, Utah[163]

73-1667 – Flying Tiger Heritage Park at the former England AFB, Louisiana[164]

75-0263 – Empire State Aerosciences Museum, Glenville, New York[165]

75-0270 – McChord Air Museum, McChord AFB, Washington[166]

75-0293 – Wings of Eagles Discovery Center, Elmira, New York[167]

75-0288 – Air Force Armament Museum, Eglin AFB, Florida[168]

75-0289 – Heritage Park, Eielson AFB, Alaska[169]

75-0298 – Pima Air & Space Museum (adjacent to Davis-Monthan AFB), Tucson, Arizona[170]

75-0305 – Museum of Aviation, Robins AFB, Warner Robins, Georgia[171]

75-0308 – Moody Heritage Park, Moody AFB, Valdosta, Georgia[172]

75-0309 – Shaw AFB, Sumter, South Carolina. Marked as AF Ser. No. 81-0964 assigned to the 55 FS from 1994 to 1996. The represented aircraft was credited with downing an Iraqi Mi-8 Hip helicopter on 15 Feb 1991 while assigned to the 511 TFS.[173][174]

76-0516 – Wings of Freedom Aviation Museum at the former NAS Willow Grove, Horsham, Pennsylvania[175]

76-0530 – Whiteman AFB, Missouri[176]

76-0535 – Cradle of Aviation, Garden City, New York[177]

76-0540 – Aerospace Museum of California, McClellan Airport (former McClellan AFB), Sacramento, California[178]

77-0199 – Stafford Air & Space Museum, Weatherford, Oklahoma

77-0205 – USAF Academy collection, Colorado Springs, Colorado[179]

77-0228 – Grissom Air Museum, Grissom ARB (former Grissom AFB), Peru, Indiana[180]

77-0244 – Wisconsin Air National Guard Museum, Volk Field ANGB, Wisconsin[181]

77-0252 – Cradle of Aviation, Garden City, New York (nose section only)[182]

77-0667 – England AFB Heritage Park, Alexandria, Louisiana[183]

78-0681 – National Museum of the United States Air Force, Wright-Patterson AFB, Dayton, Ohio[184]

78-0687 – Don F. Pratt Memorial Museum, Fort Campbell, Kentucky[185]

79-0097 – Warbird Park, former Myrtle Beach Air Force Base, South Carolina[186]

79-0100 – Barnes Air National Guard Base, Westfield, Massachusetts[187]

79-0103 – Bradley Air National Guard Base, Windsor Locks, Connecticut[188]

79-0116 – Warrior Park, Davis-Monthan AFB, Tucson, Arizona[189]

79-0173 – New England Air Museum, Windsor Locks, Connecticut[190]

80-0247 – American Airpower Museum, Republic Airport, Farmingdale, New York[191]

80-0708 – Selfridge Military Air Museum, Selfridge Air National Guard Base, Harrison Township, Michigan[192]

Specifications (A-10A)

 

Data from The Great Book of Modern Warplanes,[193] Fairchild-Republic A/OA-10,[194] USAF[81]

 

General characteristics

 

Crew: 1

Length: 53 ft 4 in (16.26 m)

Wingspan: 57 ft 6 in (17.53 m)

Height: 14 ft 8 in (4.47 m)

Wing area: 506 ft2 (47.0 m2)

Airfoil: NACA 6716 root, NACA 6713 tip

Empty weight: 24,959 lb (11,321 kg)

Loaded weight: 30,384 lb (13,782 kg)

CAS mission: 47,094 lb (21,361 kg)

Anti-armor mission: 42,071 lb (19,083 kg)

Max. takeoff weight: 50,000 lb[195] (22,700 kg)

Internal fuel capacity: 11,000 lb (4,990 kg)

Powerplant: 2 × General Electric TF34-GE-100A turbofans, 9,065 lbf (40.32 kN) each

Performance

 

Maximum speed: 381 knots (439 mph, 706 km/h) at sea level, clean[194]

Cruise speed: 300 knots (340 mph, 560 km/h)

Stall speed: 120 knots (138 mph, 220 km/h) [196]

Never exceed speed: 450 knots (518 mph,[194] 833 km/h) at 5,000 ft (1,500 m) with 18 Mk 82 bombs[197]

Combat radius:

CAS mission: 250 nmi (288 mi, 460 km at 1.88 hour loiter at 5,000 ft (1,500 m), 10 min combat

Anti-armor mission: 252 nmi (290 mi, 467 km), 40 nmi (45 mi, 75 km)) sea-level penetration and exit, 30 min combat

Ferry range: 2,240 nmi (2,580 mi, 4,150 km) with 50 knot (55 mph, 90 km/h) headwinds, 20 minutes reserve

Service ceiling: 45,000 ft (13,700 m)

Rate of climb: 6,000 ft/min (30 m/s)

Wing loading: 99 lb/ft2 (482 kg/m2)

Thrust/weight: 0.36

Armament

 

Guns: 1× 30 mm (1.18 in) GAU-8/A Avenger rotary cannon with 1,174 rounds (original capacity was 1,350 rd)

Hardpoints: 11 (8× under-wing and 3× under-fuselage pylon stations) with a capacity of 16,000 lb (7,260 kg) and provisions to carry combinations of:

Rockets:

4× LAU-61/LAU-68 rocket pods (each with 19×/7× Hydra 70 mm/APKWS[198] rockets, respectively)

6x LAU-131 rocket pods (each with 7x Hydra 70 rockets)[199][200]

Missiles:

2× AIM-9 Sidewinder air-to-air missiles for self-defense

6× AGM-65 Maverick air-to-surface missiles

Bombs:

Mark 80 series of unguided iron bombs or

Mk 77 incendiary bombs or

BLU-1, BLU-27/B, CBU-20 Rockeye II, BL755[201] and CBU-52/58/71/87/89/97 cluster bombs or

Paveway series of Laser-guided bombs or

Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) (A-10C)[202] or

Wind Corrected Munitions Dispenser (A-10C)

Other:

SUU-42A/A Flares/Infrared decoys and chaff dispenser pod or

AN/ALQ-131 or AN/ALQ-184 ECM pods or

Lockheed Martin Sniper XR or LITENING targeting pods (A-10C) or

2× 600 US gal (2,300 L) Sargent Fletcher drop tanks for increased range/loitering time.

Avionics

 

AN/AAS-35(V) Pave Penny laser tracker pod[203] (mounted beneath right side of cockpit) for use with Paveway LGBs (currently the Pave Penny is no longer in use)

Head-up display (HUD)[31]

Notable appearances in media

 

Main article: Aircraft in fiction § A-10 Thunderbolt II

Nicknames

 

The A-10 Thunderbolt II received its popular nickname "Warthog" from the pilots and crews of the USAF attack squadrons who flew and maintained it. The A-10 is the last of Republic's jet attack aircraft to serve with the USAF. The Republic F-84 Thunderjet was nicknamed the "Hog", F-84F Thunderstreak nicknamed "Superhog", and the Republic F-105 Thunderchief tagged "Ultra Hog".[204] The saying Go Ugly Early has been associated with the aircraft in reference to calling in the A-10 early to support troops in ground combat.[205]

 

See also

 

Craig D. Button – USAF pilot who crashed mysteriously in an A-10

190th Fighter Squadron, Blues and Royals friendly fire incident

1988 Remscheid A-10 crash

Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era

 

Ilyushin Il-102

Northrop YA-9

Sukhoi Su-25

Related lists

 

List of attack aircraft

List of active United States military aircraft

References

 

Notes

 

With the inner wheel on a turn stopped, the minimum radius of the turn is dictated by the distance between the inner wheel and the nose wheel. Since the distance is less between the right main wheel and the nose gear than the same measurement on the left, the aircraft can turn more tightly to the right.

 

The Mezquita (Spanish for "mosque", from the Arabic مسجد "Masjid") is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Córdoba, Spain. It was originally built to be a warehouse/temple/lighthouse. It later became the second-largest mosque in the world.

The construction of the Mezquita started in approximately sixth century B.C. Later, the Mezquita (originally the Aljama Mosque) was reworked for over two centuries to refashion it as a mosque, starting in 784 A.D. under the supervision of the first Muslim Emir Abd ar-Rahman I, who used it as an adjunct to his palace and named it to honor his wife. The land was bought by the Emir from the previous owners. It is believed that the site included the Visigothic cathedral of St. Vincent. When the forces of Tariq ibn-Ziyad first occupied Córdoba in 711, the Christian cathedral was suppressed.

 

Several explanations have been proposed to explain the mosque's unorthodox orientation. Some have suggested the mihrab faces south because the foundations of the mosque are borrowed from the old Roman and Visigoth constructions. Others contend that Abd ar-Rahman oriented the mihrab southward as if he were still in the Ummayyad capital of Damascus and not in exile. In fact, the mosque orients 60 degrees south of east. Mecca from Cordoba is about 10 degrees south of east. Therefore, the mosque is misaligned by about 50 degrees from Mecca.

 

The mosque underwent numerous subsequent changes: Abd ar-Rahman III ordered a new minaret, while Al-Hakam II, in 961, enlarged the plan of the building and enriched the mihrab. The last of the reforms was carried out by Al-Mansur Ibn Abi Aamir in 987.

 

It was the most magnificent of the more than 1,000 mosques in the city and was at one time the second largest mosque in the Muslim world. It was connected to the Caliph's palace by a raised walk-way. Mosques within the palaces being the tradition for the islamic rulers of all times.

 

The city in which it was built was subject to frequent invasion and each conquering wave added their own mark to the architecture. The building is most notable for its giant arches, with over 1,000 columns of jasper, onyx, marble, and granite. These were made from pieces of the Roman temple which had occupied the site previously, as well as other destroyed Roman buildings. The double arches, pictured above, were a new introduction to architecture, and helped support the tremendous weight of the higher ceilings. The double arches consist of a lower horseshoe arch and an upper semi-circular arch. The Mezquita also features richly gilded prayer niches. A centrally located honey-combed dome has beautiful blue tiles decorated with stars. The mihrab is a masterpiece of architectural art, with geometric and flowing designs of plants. The Mezquita reached its current dimensions in 987 with the completion of the outer naves and orange tree courtyard.

Patio de los Naranjos, inside the Mezquita

Patio de los Naranjos, inside the Mezquita

 

The year (1236) that Cordoba was recaptured from the Moors, by King Ferdinand III of Castile and rejoined Christendom, the mosque was reconsecrated a Christian church. Alfonso X oversaw the construction of the Villaviciosa Chapel and the Royal Chapel within the structure of the mosque. The kings who followed added further Christian features: Enrique II rebuilt the chapel in the 14th century.

 

The most significant alteration was the construction of a Renaissance cathedral nave in the middle of the structure. It was constructed by permission of Carlos V, king of united Spain. Its reversion to a Christian church (officially the Cathedral of the Assumption of the Virgin) may have helped to preserve it when the Spanish Inquisition was most active.

 

Artisans and architects continued to add to the existing structure until the late 18th century.

 

Atavism refers to the reversion to an earlier characteristic or tendency. This creation portrays psychological atavism – characterized by the return of savage dreams following a depletive hunger induced by the present scarcity and numbness of the mindscape. The stream of time divides the present and the past while the melancholy ghost continues its indifferent flight, forever in motion.

The Mezquita (Spanish for "mosque", from the Arabic مسجد "Masjid") is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Córdoba, Spain. It was originally built to be a warehouse/temple/lighthouse. It later became the second-largest mosque in the world.

The construction of the Mezquita started in approximately sixth century B.C. Later, the Mezquita (originally the Aljama Mosque) was reworked for over two centuries to refashion it as a mosque, starting in 784 A.D. under the supervision of the first Muslim Emir Abd ar-Rahman I, who used it as an adjunct to his palace and named it to honor his wife. The land was bought by the Emir from the previous owners. It is believed that the site included the Visigothic cathedral of St. Vincent. When the forces of Tariq ibn-Ziyad first occupied Córdoba in 711, the Christian cathedral was suppressed.

 

Several explanations have been proposed to explain the mosque's unorthodox orientation. Some have suggested the mihrab faces south because the foundations of the mosque are borrowed from the old Roman and Visigoth constructions. Others contend that Abd ar-Rahman oriented the mihrab southward as if he were still in the Ummayyad capital of Damascus and not in exile. In fact, the mosque orients 60 degrees south of east. Mecca from Cordoba is about 10 degrees south of east. Therefore, the mosque is misaligned by about 50 degrees from Mecca.

 

The mosque underwent numerous subsequent changes: Abd ar-Rahman III ordered a new minaret, while Al-Hakam II, in 961, enlarged the plan of the building and enriched the mihrab. The last of the reforms was carried out by Al-Mansur Ibn Abi Aamir in 987.

 

It was the most magnificent of the more than 1,000 mosques in the city and was at one time the second largest mosque in the Muslim world. It was connected to the Caliph's palace by a raised walk-way. Mosques within the palaces being the tradition for the islamic rulers of all times.

 

The city in which it was built was subject to frequent invasion and each conquering wave added their own mark to the architecture. The building is most notable for its giant arches, with over 1,000 columns of jasper, onyx, marble, and granite. These were made from pieces of the Roman temple which had occupied the site previously, as well as other destroyed Roman buildings. The double arches, pictured above, were a new introduction to architecture, and helped support the tremendous weight of the higher ceilings. The double arches consist of a lower horseshoe arch and an upper semi-circular arch. The Mezquita also features richly gilded prayer niches. A centrally located honey-combed dome has beautiful blue tiles decorated with stars. The mihrab is a masterpiece of architectural art, with geometric and flowing designs of plants. The Mezquita reached its current dimensions in 987 with the completion of the outer naves and orange tree courtyard.

Patio de los Naranjos, inside the Mezquita

Patio de los Naranjos, inside the Mezquita

 

The year (1236) that Cordoba was recaptured from the Moors, by King Ferdinand III of Castile and rejoined Christendom, the mosque was reconsecrated a Christian church. Alfonso X oversaw the construction of the Villaviciosa Chapel and the Royal Chapel within the structure of the mosque. The kings who followed added further Christian features: Enrique II rebuilt the chapel in the 14th century.

 

The most significant alteration was the construction of a Renaissance cathedral nave in the middle of the structure. It was constructed by permission of Carlos V, king of united Spain. Its reversion to a Christian church (officially the Cathedral of the Assumption of the Virgin) may have helped to preserve it when the Spanish Inquisition was most active.

 

Artisans and architects continued to add to the existing structure until the late 18th century.

 

Jaguar (X351) XJR (2010-19) Engine 5000cc V8 Supercharged

Registration Number VK 67 EZB (Warwickshire)

JAGUAR ALBUM

www.flickr.com/photos/45676495@N05/sets/72157623671588245...

 

The Jaguar XJ (X351) is the fourth generation of the Jaguar XJ saloon designed under Ian Callum, a complete departure from the earlier XJ, emphasising the new Jaguar design language, althoughv mechanically the car is a development of its predecessor.

 

Available in the standard 119.5 inch wheelbase or as a long wheelbase (124 inches) The XJ was available with a 3.0 litre supercharged AJ 6 petrol engine, or with 5.0 litre supercharged and normally aspirated petrol engines along with this twin turbocharged 3 litre Diesel car.

 

The XJR joined the range in 2013, as the high performance variant of the XJ. Available in short and long wheelbase configurations, it includes a 5.0-litre supercharged V8 engine rated at 550 PS driving through an eight-speed automatic transmission with a bespoke tuning for the XJR, a new front splitter and aerodynamic sill section combined with an additional rear spoiler and unique R bonnet louvres, Electronic Active Differential and calibrated Dynamic Stability Control systems and riding on 20 inch Farallon forged alloy wheels with bespke Pirelli low-profile tyres, semi-aniline leather, a choice of veneers, and contrasting stitching on the seats. and a terminal speed of 174mph

 

The XJ features a lightweight aluminium floorpan and body (with 50% recycled material content) based on the X350 chassis and retaining a proportion of the earlier floor pan. The biggest change is reversion to steel coil springs for the front suspension, retaining air suspension for the rear only. Continuously variable damping is electronically controlled as before but with driver selectable modes. The aluminium alloy uni-body makes the XJ L among the lightest of the full-size executive saloons despite its exterior proportions, weighing in at 1,874 kg (4,131 lb)

 

Diolch am 80,858,805 o olygfeydd anhygoel, mae pob un yn cael ei werthfawrogi'n fawr.

  

Thanks for 80,858,805 amazing views, every one is greatly appreciated.

 

Shot 30.05.2021. at Capesthorne Hall car show, Siddington Cheshire 145-257