Orava Peat Bogs, Lesser Poland, Poland

CAUTION! SIGNIFICANTLY THREATENED BY HABITAT LOSS!

Common Snipe is a very shy and inconspicuous species which breeds on wet meadows, marshes or peat bogs. It is rather rare in southern Poland, where agriculture destroyed natural marshy habitats. Fortunately there are some places where this wonderful bird can breed even today. Males perform aerial displays during which they use lateral tail feathers to produce specific sound called drumming. Other males sit on the ground and sing simple repeatable song while females watch this performance.

I invite you to check my album page where I prepared sections with photos from specific locations.

The Nash Rambler's most significant change for the 1955 model year was opening the front wheel wells resulting in a 6-foot (2 m) decrease in the turn-circle diameter from previous year's versions, with the two-door models having the smallest in the industry at 36 ft (11 m). The "traditional" Nash fixed fender skirts were removed and the front track (the distance between the center points of the wheels on the axle as they come in contact with the road) was increased to be even greater than was the Rambler's rear tread. Designers Edmund Anderson, Pinin Farina, and Meade Moore did not like the design element that was insisted by George Mason, so soon as Mason died, "Anderson hastily redesigned the front fenders."

As part of the facelift for 1955, the Rambler's grille was also redesigned with only the center emblem differentiating the cars now sold by both Nash and Hudson dealers.

Model and trim combinations were again reshuffled with a two-door Suburban and Club two-door sedans available in "Deluxe" or "Super" versions. Four-door sedans and wagons came as Super or Custom models, while a new Deluxe four-door sedan was introduced. The pillarless Country Club hardtop was reduced to only the "Custom" trim, while the convertible model was no longer available.

The focus continued on economy and a Rambler four-door set an all-time record for cars with automatic transmissions of 27.47 mpg‑US (8.56 L/100 km; 32.99 mpg‑imp) in the 1955 Mobil Economy Run.

The U.S. domestic market was turning to bigger and bigger cars; therefore, prospects for the compact Nash Rambler line were limited and production was discontinued after the 1955 model year.

Significant Old Oak Tree and one of its younger offspring, taken during a recent snowstorm, growing about 10 minutes from where I live, the girth of this tree must be minimum 5 meters, so I will have to take a tape measure, needless to say the tree is of some age.

Saunders Meadow, Westminster Ponds ESA, London ON 18 Jul 2021

The Westminster Ponds are a group of forested kettle-hole ponds and wetlands in the southern suburbs of London, Ontario. Now combined into a designated Environmentally Significant area (ESA) and acessible to the public. Saunders Meadow is a cultural prairie near the site of the old W E Saunders cabin

Horse with no name

Covered sides of the eyes

Just to look straight

One direction!

Another historically significant jet engine that doesn't get a lot of attention is the Garrett (now Honeywell) TFE731 that is used on many biz jets like this Dassault Falcon 900. The TFE731 design started in 1968 when bizjets were starting to become popular but engine technology of the day restricted their range. Garrett had plenty of turboprop and APU experience; in fact, they were best known then for their APUs. The main business jet engine of the day was the GE CJ610 which was based on the J85 turbojet. Garrett wanted to beat the fuel economy of the CJ610 and for the TFE731, figured the cores of the APUs they built for the DC-10 and 747 were a good basis. Manufacturers that were interested in a more efficient engine for their bizjet designs preferred the higher flow of the 747 APU Garrett designed, so this became the core of the TFE731. A geared front fan was added to the APU core (one of the first if not the first geared turbofans) to create the engine and for the first time, the business jet market had an engine that was not only quieter, but so fuel efficient that for the first time, nonstop transcontinental and transatlantic performance was possible. Continued refinements have the TFE731 still in production today and back in 2008 the 10,000 engine was delivered.

Leopard Trail

Leopard Trail

The Blyde River Canyon, officially the Motlatse Canyon is a significant natural feature of South Africa, located in Mpumalanga, and forming the northern part of the Drakensberg escarpment. Located in the Blyde River Canyon Nature Reserve, it is 25 kilometres (16 mi) in length and is, on average, around 750 metres (2,461 ft) deep. The Blyderivierpoort Dam, when full, is at an altitude of 665 metres (2,182 ft). The canyon consists mostly of red sandstone. The highest point of the canyon, Mariepskop, is 1,944 metres (6,378 ft) above sea level, whilst its lowest point where the river leaves the canyon is slightly less than 561 metres (1,841 ft) above sea level. This means that by some measure the canyon is 1,383 metres (4,537 ft) deep.

While it is difficult to compare canyons world-wide, Blyde River Canyon is one of the largest canyons on Earth, and it may be the largest 'green canyon' due to its lush subtropical foliage. It has some of the deepest precipitous cliffs of any canyon on the planet. It is the second largest canyon in Africa, after the Fish River Canyon, and is known as one of the great wonders of nature on the continent.

Possibly the best view in the whole of the Blyde River Canyon is of the "Three Rondavels", huge, round rocks, thought to be reminiscent of the houses or huts of the indigenous people, known as rondavels. This canyon is part of the Panorama Route. This route starts at the town Graskop and includes God's Window, the Pinnacle and Bourke's Luck Potholes.

Blyde means "glad" or "happy" in old Dutch, a name derived from a voortrekkers' expedition. The 'happy river' was thus named in 1844, when Hendrik Potgieter and others returned safely from Delagoa Bay to the rest of their party of trekkers who had considered them dead. While still under this misapprehension they had named the nearby river where they had been encamped, Treurrivier, or 'mourning river'.

In 2005, the Blyde River was renamed to the Motlatse River, and the Mpumalanga Provincial Government announced that the canyon would be renamed as well.

The Blyde River Canyon supports large diversity of life, including numerous fish and antelope species as well as hippos and crocodiles, and every primate species that may be seen in South Africa (including both greater and lesser bushbabies, vervet monkeys and Samango monkeys). The diversity of birdlife is similarly high, including the beautiful and much sought Narina trogon as well as species such as the Cape vulture, black eagle, crowned eagle, African fish eagle, gymnogene, jackal buzzard, white-rumped vulture, bald ibis, African finfoot, Knysna lourie, purple-crested lourie, Gurney's sugarbird, malachite sunbird, cinnamon dove, African emerald cuckoo, red-backed mannikin, golden-tailed woodpecker, olive bush shrike, green twinspot, Taita falcons (very rarely sighted, a breeding pair lives in the nearby Abel Erasmus Pass), Cape eagle owl, white-faced owl, wood owl, peregrine falcon, black-breasted snake eagle, Wahlberg's eagle, long-crested eagle, lanner falcon, red-breasted sparrowhawk, rock kestrel and others.

At 200 metres (660 ft), the Kadishi Tufa waterfall is the second tallest tufa waterfall on earth. A tufa waterfall is formed when water running over dolomite rock absorbs calcium, and deposits rock formations more rapidly than they erode the surrounding rock. In the case of the Kadishi Tufa fall, the formation that has been produced strikingly resembles a face which is crying profusely, and is thus sometimes known as 'the weeping face of nature'.

The canyon and the surrounding Drakensberg escarpment is a very popular tourist region with a well-developed tourism industry supported by good public infrastructure.

(Wikipedia)

Der Blyde River Canyon ist ein 26 Kilometer langer, bis 800 Meter tiefer und hauptsächlich aus rotem Sandstein bestehender Canyon. Er befindet sich an der Panorama Route nordöstlich von Johannesburg und gilt als eines der großen Naturwunder Afrikas.

Durch den Blyde River Canyon, der an den Bourke’s Luck Potholes beginnt, fließt der Fluss Blyde River, der bei 25° 4′ 15,9″ S, 30° 40′ 40,2″ O dem Thaba Chweu entspringt und bei 24° 15′ 18,6″ S, 30° 49′ 50″ O in den Olifantsriver fließt.

Ein von zahlreichen Touristen besuchter Punkt des Canyons sind die drei Rondavels, gewaltige, runde Felsen, die an die runden Hütten der Einheimischen erinnern. Wegen seines Ausblicks vielbesucht ist auch God’s Window.

(Wikipedia)

The Alhambra is a palace and fortress complex located in Granada, Andalusia, Spain. It is one of the most famous monuments of Islamic architecture and one of the best-preserved palaces of the historic Islamic world, in addition to containing notable examples of Spanish Renaissance architecture.

The complex was begun in 1238 by Muhammad I Ibn al-Ahmar, the first Nasrid emir and founder of the Emirate of Granada, the last Muslim state of Al-Andalus. It was built on the Sabika hill, an outcrop of the Sierra Nevada which had been the site of earlier fortresses and of the 11th-century palace of Samuel ibn Naghrillah. Later Nasrid rulers continuously modified the site. The most significant construction campaigns, which gave the royal palaces much of their definitive character, took place in the 14th century during the reigns of Yusuf I and Muhammad V. After the conclusion of the Christian Reconquista in 1492, the site became the Royal Court of Ferdinand and Isabella (where Christopher Columbus received royal endorsement for his expedition), and the palaces were partially altered. In 1526, Charles V commissioned a new Renaissance-style palace in direct juxtaposition with the Nasrid palaces, but it was left uncompleted in the early 17th century. After being allowed to fall into disrepair for centuries, with its buildings occupied by squatters, the Alhambra was rediscovered following the defeat of Napoleon I, whose troops destroyed parts of the site. The rediscoverers were first British intellectuals and then other American and Northern European Romantic travelers. The most influential of them was Washington Irving, whose Tales of the Alhambra (1832) brought international attention to the site. The Alhambra was one of the first Islamic monuments to become the object of modern scientific study and has been the subject of numerous restorations since the 19th century. It is now one of Spain's major tourist attractions and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

During the Nasrid era, the Alhambra was a self-contained city separate from the rest of Granada below. It contained most of the amenities of a Muslim city such as a Friday mosque, hammams (public baths), roads, houses, artisan workshops, a tannery, and a sophisticated water supply system. As a royal city and citadel, it contained at least six major palaces, most of them located along the northern edge where they commanded views over the Albaicín quarter. The most famous and best-preserved are the Mexuar, the Comares Palace, the Palace of the Lions, and the Partal Palace, which form the main attraction to visitors today. The other palaces are known from historical sources and from modern excavations. At the Alhambra's western tip is the Alcazaba fortress. Multiple smaller towers and fortified gates are also located along the Alhambra's walls. Outside the Alhambra walls and located nearby to the east is the Generalife, a former Nasrid country estate and summer palace accompanied by historic orchards and modern landscaped gardens.

The architecture of the Nasrid palaces reflects the tradition of Moorish architecture developed over previous centuries. It is characterized by the use of the courtyard as a central space and basic unit around which other halls and rooms were organized. Courtyards typically had water features at their center, such as a reflective pool or a fountain. Decoration was focused on the inside of the building and was executed primarily with tile mosaics on lower walls and carved stucco on the upper walls. Geometric patterns, vegetal motifs, and Arabic inscriptions were the main types of decorative motifs. Additionally, "stalactite"-like sculpting, known as muqarnas, was used for three-dimensional features like vaulted ceilings.

The evidence for a Roman presence is unclear but archeologists have found remains of ancient foundations on the Sabika hill. A fortress or citadel, probably dating from the Visigothic period, existed on the hill in the 9th century. The first reference to the Qal‘at al-Ḥamra was during the battles between the Arabs and the Muladies during the rule of ‘Abdallah ibn Muhammad (r. 888–912). According to surviving documents from the era, the red castle was quite small, and its walls were not capable of deterring an army intent on conquering. The first reference to al-Ḥamrāʼ came in lines of poetry attached to an arrow shot over the ramparts, recorded by Ibn Hayyan.

"Deserted and roofless are the houses of our enemies;

Invaded by the autumnal rains, traversed by impetuous winds;

Let them within the red castle (Kalat al hamra) hold their mischievous councils;

Perdition and woe surround them on every side."

At the beginning of the 11th century, the region of Granada was dominated by the Zirids, a Sanhaja Berber group and offshoot of the Zirids who ruled parts of North Africa. When the Caliphate of Córdoba collapsed after 1009 and the Fitna (civil war) began, the Zirid leader Zawi ben Ziri established an independent kingdom for himself, the Taifa of Granada. The Zirids built their citadel and palace, known as the al-Qaṣaba al-Qadīma, on the hill now occupied by the Albaicín neighborhood. It was connected to two other fortresses on the Sabika and Mauror hills to the south. On the Darro River, between the Zirid citadel and the Sabika hill, was a sluice gate called Bāb al-Difāf ("Gate of the Tambourines"),[a] which could be closed to retain water if needed. This gate was part of the fortification connecting the Zirid citadel with the fortress on the Sabika hill and it also formed part of a coracha (from Arabic qawraja), a type of fortification allowing soldiers from the fortress to access the river and bring back water even during times of siege. The Sabika hill fortress, also known as al-Qasaba al-Jadida ("the New Citadel"), was later used for the foundations of the current Alcazaba of the Alhambra. Under the Zirid kings Habbus ibn Maksan and Badis, the most powerful figure in the kingdom was the Jewish administrator known as Samuel ha-Nagid (in Hebrew) or Isma'il ibn Nagrilla (in Arabic). Samuel built his own palace on the Sabika hill, possibly on the site of the current palaces, although nothing remains of it. It reportedly included gardens and water features.

The period of the Taifa kingdoms, during which the Zirids ruled, came to an end with the conquest of al-Andalus by the Almoravids from North Africa during the late 11th century. In the mid-12th century they were followed by the Almohads. After 1228 Almohad rule collapsed and local rulers and factions emerged again across the territory of Al-Andalus. With the Reconquista in full swing, the Christian kingdoms of Castile and Aragon – under kings Ferdinand III and James I, respectively – made major conquests across al-Andalus. Castile captured Cordoba in 1236 and Seville in 1248. Meanwhile, Ibn al-Ahmar (Muhammad I) established what became the last and longest reigning Muslim dynasty in the Iberian peninsula, the Nasrids, who ruled the Emirate of Granada. Ibn al-Ahmar was a relatively new political player in the region and likely came from a modest background, but he was able to win the support and consent of multiple Muslim settlements under threat from the Castilian advance. Upon settling in Granada in 1238, Ibn al-Ahmar initially resided in the old citadel of the Zirids on the Albaicin hill, but that same year he began construction of the Alhambra as a new residence and citadel. According to an Arabic manuscript since published as the Anónimo de Madrid y Copenhague,

This year, 1238 Abdallah ibn al-Ahmar climbed to the place called "the Alhambra". He examined it, marked the foundations of a castle and left someone in charge of directing the work, and before that year had passed, the construction of the ramparts was completed; water was brought in from the river and a channel carrying the water was built (...)

During the reign of the Nasrid Dynasty, the Alhambra was transformed into a palatine city, complete with an irrigation system composed of aqueducts and water channels that provided water for the complex and for other nearby countryside palaces such as the Generalife. Previously, the old fortresses on the hill had been dependent on rainwater collected from the cistern near the Alcazaba and on what could be brought up from the Darro River below. The creation of the Sultan's Canal, which brought water from the mountains to the east, solidified the identity of the Alhambra as a palace-city rather than a defensive and ascetic structure. This first hydraulic system was expanded afterwards and included two long water channels and several sophisticated elevation devices to bring water onto the plateau.

Later Nasrid rulers after Ibn al-Ahmar continuously modified the site. Along with the fragile materials themselves, which needed regular repairs, this makes the exact chronology of its development difficult to determine. The only elements preserved from the time of Ibn al-Ahmar are some of the fortification walls, particularly the Alcazaba at the western end of the complex. Ibn al-Ahmar did not have time to complete any major new palaces and he may have initially lived in one of the towers of the Alcazaba, before later moving to a modest house on the site of the current Palace of Charles V. The oldest major palace for which some remains have been preserved is the structure known as the Palacio del Partal Alto, in an elevated location near the center of the complex, which probably dates from the reign of Ibn al-Ahmar's son, Muhammad II (r. 1273–1302). To the south was the Palace of the Abencerrajes, and to the east was another private palace, known as the Palace of the Convent of San Francisco, both of which were probably also originally constructed during the time of Muhammad II. Muhammad III (r. 1302–1309) erected the Partal Palace, parts of which are still standing today, as well as the Alhambra's main (congregational) mosque (on the site of the current Church of Santa Maria de la Alhambra). The Partal Palace is the earliest known palace to be built along the northern walls of the complex, with views onto the city below. It is also the oldest Nasrid palace still standing today.

Isma'il I undertook a significant remodeling of the Alhambra. His reign marked the beginning of the "classical" period of Nasrid architecture, during which many major monuments in the Alhambra were begun and decorative styles were consolidated. Isma'il decided to build a new palace complex just east of the Alcazaba to serve as the official palace of the sultan and the state, known as the Qaṣr al-Sultan or Dār al-Mulk. The core of this complex was the Comares Palace, while another wing of the palace, the Mexuar, extended to the west. The Comares Baths are the best-preserved element from this initial construction, as the rest of the palace was further modified by his successors. Near the main mosque Isma'il I also created the Rawda, the dynastic mausoleum of the Nasrids, of which only partial remains are preserved. Yusuf I (r. 1333–1354) carried out further work on the Comares Palace, including the construction of the Hall of Ambassadors and other works around the current Mexuar. He also built the Alhambra's main gate, the Puerta de la Justicia, and the Torre de la Cautiva, one of several small towers with richly-decorated rooms along the northern walls.

Muhammad V's reign (1354–1391, with interruptions) marked the political and cultural apogee of the Nasrid emirate as well as the apogee of Nasrid architecture. Particularly during his second reign (after 1362), there was a stylistic shift towards more innovative architectural layouts and an extensive use of complex muqarnas vaulting. His most significant contribution to the Alhambra was the construction of the Palace of the Lions to the east of the Comares Palace in an area previously occupied by gardens. He also remodeled the Mexuar, created the highly-decorated "Comares Façade" in the Patio del Cuarto Dorado, and redecorated the Court of the Myrtles, giving these areas much of their final appearance. After Muhammad V, relatively little major construction work occurred in the Alhambra. One exception is the Torre de las Infantas, which dates from the time of Muhammad VII (1392–1408). The 15th century saw the Nasrid dynasty in decline and in turmoil, with few significant construction projects and a more repetitive, less innovative style of architecture.

The last Nasrid sultan, Muhammad XII of Granada, surrendered the Emirate of Granada in January 1492, without the Alhambra itself being attacked, when the forces of the Catholic Monarchs, King Ferdinand II of Aragon and Queen Isabella I of Castile, took the surrounding territory with a force of overwhelming numbers. Muhammad XII moved the remains of his ancestors from the complex, as was verified by Leopoldo Torres Balbás in 1925, when he found seventy empty tombs. The remains are now likely to be located in Mondújar in the principality of Lecrín.

After the conquest, the Alhambra became a royal palace and property of the Spanish Crown. Isabella and Ferdinand initially took up residence here and stayed in Granada for several months, up until 25 May 1492. It was during this stay that two major events happened. On 31 March the monarchs signed the Alhambra Decree, which ordered the expulsion of all Jews in Spain who refused to convert. Christopher Columbus, who had also been present to witness the surrender of Granada, presented his plans for an expedition across the Atlantic to the monarchs in the Hall of Ambassadors and on 17 April they signed the contract which set the terms for the expedition which landed in the Americas later that year.

The new Christian rulers began to make additions and alterations to the palace complex. The governorship of the Alhambra was entrusted to the Tendilla family, who were given one of the Nasrid palaces, the Palacio del Partal Alto (near the Partal Palace), to use as family residence. Iñigo López de Mendoza y Quiñones (d. 1515), the second Count of Tendilla, was present in Ferdinand II's entourage when Muhammad XII surrendered the keys to the Alhambra and he became the Alhambra's first Spanish governor. For almost 24 years after the conquest he made repairs and modifications to its fortifications in order to better protect it against gunpowder artillery attacks. Multiple towers and fortifications – such as the Torre de Siete Suelos, the Torre de las Cabezas, and the Torres Bermejas – were built or reinforced in this period, as seen by the addition of semi-round bastions. In 1512 the Count was also awarded the property of Mondéjar and subsequently passed on the title of Marquis of Mondéjar to his descendants.

Charles V (r. 1516–1556) visited the Alhambra in 1526 with his wife Isabella of Portugal and decided to convert it into a royal residence for his use. He rebuilt or modified portions of the Nasrid palaces to serve as royal apartments, a process which began in 1528 and was completed in 1537. He also demolished a part of the Comares Palace to make way for a monumental new palace, known as the Palace of Charles V, designed in the Renaissance style of the period. Construction of the palace began in 1527 but it was eventually left unfinished after 1637.

The governorship of the Tendilla-Mondéjar family came to an end in 1717–1718, when Philip V confiscated the family's properties in the Alhambra and dismissed the Marquis of Mondéjar, José de Mendoza Ibáñez de Segovia (1657–1734), from his position as mayor (alcaide) of the Alhambra, in retaliation for the Marquis opposing him in the War of the Spanish Succession. The departure of the Tendilla-Mondéjar family marked the beginning of the Alhambra's most severe period of decline. During this period the Spanish state dedicated few resources to it and its management was taken over by self-interested local governors who lived with their families inside the neglected palaces.

Over subsequent years the Alhambra was further damaged. Between 1810 and 1812 Granada was occupied by Napoleon's army during the Peninsular War. The French troops, under the command of Count Sebastiani, occupied the Alhambra as a fortified position and caused significant damage to the monument. Upon evacuating the city, they attempted to dynamite the whole complex to prevent it from being re-used as a fortified position. They successfully blew up eight towers before the remaining fuses were disabled by Spanish soldier José Garcia, whose actions saved what remains today. In 1821, an earthquake caused further damage.

Restoration work was undertaken in 1828 by the architect José Contreras, endowed in 1830 by Ferdinand VII. After the death of Contreras in 1847, it was continued by his son Rafael (died 1890) and his grandson Mariano Contreras (died 1912). In 1830 Washington Irving lived in Granada and wrote his Tales of the Alhambra, first published in 1832, which spurred international interest in southern Spain and in its Islamic-era monuments like the Alhambra (an apartment of which he decorated in New England style). Other artists and intellectuals, such as John Frederick Lewis and Owen Jones, helped make the Alhambra into an icon of the era with their writings and illustrations during the 19th century.

Pavilion in the Court of the Lions in 19th-century photo, showing the "oriental" dome added by Rafael Contreras in 1859, later removed by Leopoldo Torres Balbás

The Contreras family members continued to be the most important architects and conservators of the Alhambra up until 1907. During this period they generally followed a theory of "stylistic restoration", which favoured the construction and addition of elements to make a monument "complete" but not necessarily corresponding to any historical reality. They added elements which they deemed to be representative of what they thought was an "Arabic style", emphasizing the Alhambra's purported "Oriental" character. For example, in 1858–1859 Rafael Contreras and Juan Pugnaire added Persian-looking spherical domes to the Court of the Lions and to the northern portico of the Court of the Myrtles, even though these had nothing to do with Nasrid architecture.

In 1868 a revolution deposed Isabella II and the government seized the properties of the Spanish monarchy, including the Alhambra. In 1870 the Alhambra was declared a National Monument of Spain and the state allocated a budget for its conservation, overseen by the Provincial Commission of Monuments. Mariano Contreras, the last of the Contreras architects to serve as director of conservation of the Alhambra, was appointed as architectural curator in April 1890. His tenure was controversial and his conservation strategy attracted criticism from other authorities. In September 1890 a fire destroyed a large part of the Sala de la Barca in the Comares Palace, which highlighted the site's vulnerability. A report was commissioned in 1903 which resulted in the creation of a "Special Commission" in 1905 whose task was to oversee conservation and restoration of the Alhambra, but the commission ultimately failed to exercise control due to friction with Contreras. In 1907 Mariano Contreras was replaced with Modesto Cendoya, whose work was also criticized. Cendoya began many excavations in search of new artifacts but often left these works unfinished. He restored some important elements of the site, like the water supply system, but neglected others. Due to continued friction with Cendoya, the Special Commission was dissolved in 1913 and replaced with the Council (Patronato) of the Alhambra in 1914, which was charged again with overseeing the site's conservation and Cendoya's work. In 1915 it was linked directly to the Directorate-General of Fine Arts of the Ministry of Public Education (later the Ministry of National Education). Like Mariano Contreras before him, Cendoya continued to clash with the supervisory body and to obstruct their control. He was eventually dismissed from his post in 1923.

The Alcazaba before and after 20th-century restoration work

After Cendoya, Leopoldo Torres Balbás was appointed as chief architect from 1923 to 1936. The appointment of Torres Balbás, a trained archeologist and art historian, marked a definitive shift to a more scientific and systematic approach to the Alhambra's conservation. He endorsed the principles of the 1931 Athens Charter for the Restoration of Monuments, which emphasized regular maintenance, respect for the work of the past, legal protection for heritage monuments, and the legitimacy of modern techniques and materials in restoration so long as these were visually recognizable. Many of the buildings in the Alhambra were affected by his work. Some of the inaccurate changes and additions made by the Contreras architects were reversed. The young architect "opened arcades that had been walled up, re-excavated filled-in pools, replaced missing tiles, completed inscriptions that lacked portions of their stuccoed lettering, and installed a ceiling in the still unfinished palace of Charles V". He also carried out systematic archeological excavations in various parts of the Alhambra, unearthing lost Nasrid structures such as the Palacio del Partal Alto and the Palace of the Abencerrajes which provided deeper insight into the former palace-city as a whole.

The work of Torres Balbás was continued by his assistant, Francisco Prieto Moreno, who was the chief architectural curator from 1936 to 1970. In 1940 a new Council of the Alhambra was created to oversee the site, which has remained in charge ever since. In 1984 the central government in Madrid transferred responsibility for the site to the Regional Government of Andalusia and in 1986 new statutes and documents were developed to regulate the planning and protection of the site. In 1984 the Alhambra and Generalife were also listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Alhambra is now one of the most popular tourist destinations in Spain. Research, archeological investigations, and restoration works have also remained ongoing into the 21st century.

Significant crop.

The ceiling of the springthorpe memorial ... glorious light

Available for purchase from www.ballaratheritage.com.au

VHR - springthorpe

Statement of Significance

What is significant?

The Springthorpe Memorial within the Boroondara Cemetery (VHR0049)commemorates Annie Springthorpe, and was erected in 1897 by her husband Dr John Springthorpe. It was designed by Harold Desbrowe Annear and includes Bertram Mackennal sculptures. It contains twelve columns of deep green granite from Scotland supporting a Harcourt granite superstructure, and a glass dome roof of lead lighting.

How is it significant?

The Springthorpe Memorial is of historic and architectural significance to the State of Victoria

Why is it significant?

The Springthorpe Memorial is historically important in demonstrating nineteenth century social and cultural attitudes to death, and for reflecting the ideals of the Victorian Garden Cemetery movement which aimed at providing comfort for mourners. The memorial is important in demonstrating uniqueness, no other example being known of such aesthetic composition, architectural design and execution, or scale. It is important in exhibiting good design and aesthetic characteristics and for the richness and unusual integration of features. The Springthorpe Memorial is also important in illustrating the principal characteristics of the work of a number of artists including Desbrowe Annear, Mackennal, the glass manufacturers Auguste Fischer and the bronze work of Marriots.

VHR Statement of Significance

What is significant?

Boroondara Cemetery, established in 1858, is within an unusual triangular reserve bounded by High Street, Park Hill Road and Victoria Park, Kew. The caretaker's lodge and administrative office (1860 designed by Charles Vickers, additions, 1866-1899 by Albert Purchas) form a picturesque two-storey brick structure with a slate roof and clock tower. A rotunda or shelter (1890, Albert Purchas) is located in the centre of the cemetery: this has an octagonal hipped roof with fish scale slates and a decorative brick base with a tessellated floor and timber seating. The cemetery is surrounded by a 2.7 metre high ornamental red brick wall (1895-96, Albert Purchas) with some sections of vertical iron palisades between brick pillars. Albert Purchas was a prominent Melbourne architect who was the Secretary of the Melbourne General Cemetery from 1852 to 1907 and Chairman of the Boroondara Cemetery Board of Trustees from 1867 to 1909. He made a significant contribution to the design of the Boroondara Cemetery

Boroondara Cemetery is an outstanding example of the Victorian Garden Cemetery movement in Victoria, retaining key elements of the style, despite overdevelopment which has obscured some of the paths and driveways. Elements of the style represented at Boroondara include an ornamental boundary fence, a system of curving paths which are kerbed and follow the site's natural contours, defined views, recreational facilities such as the rotunda, a landscaped park like setting, sectarian divisions for burials, impressive monuments, wrought and cast iron grave surrounds and exotic symbolic plantings. In the 1850s cemeteries were located on the periphery of populated areas because of concerns about diseases like cholera. They were designed to be attractive places for mourners and visitors to walk and contemplate. Typically cemeteries were arranged to keep religions separated and this tended to maintain links to places of origin, reflecting a migrant society.

Other developments included cast iron entrance gates, built in 1889 to a design by Albert Purchas; a cemetery shelter or rotunda, built in 1890, which is a replica of one constructed in the Melbourne General Cemetery in the same year; an ornamental brick fence erected in 1896-99(?); the construction and operation of a terminus for a horse tram at the cemetery gates during 1887-1915; and the Springthorpe Memorial built between 1897 and 1907. A brick cremation wall and a memorial rose garden were constructed near the entrance in the mid- twentieth century(c.1955-57) and a mausoleum completed in 2001.The maintenance shed/depot close to High Strett was constructed in 1987. The original entrance was altered in 2000 and the original cast iron gates moved to the eastern entrance of the Mausoleum.

The Springthorpe Memorial (VHR 522) set at the entrance to the burial ground commemorates Annie Springthorpe, and was erected between 1897 and 1907 by her husband Dr John Springthorpe. It was the work of the sculptor Bertram Mackennal, architect Harold Desbrowe Annear, landscape designer and Director of the Melbourne Bortanic Gardens, W.R. Guilfoyle, with considerable input from Dr Springthorpe The memorial is in the form of a small temple in a primitive Doric style. It was designed by Harold Desbrowe Annear and includes Bertram Mackennal sculptures in Carrara marble. Twelve columns of deep green granite from Scotland support a Harcourt granite superstructure. The roof by Brooks Robinson is a coloured glass dome, which sits within the rectangular form and behind the pediments. The sculptural group raised on a dais, consists of the deceased woman lying on a sarcophagus with an attending angel and mourner. The figure of Grief crouches at the foot of the bier and an angel places a wreath over Annie's head, symbolising the triumph of immortal life over death. The body of the deceased was placed in a vault below. The bronze work is by Marriots of Melbourne. Professor Tucker of the University of Melbourne composed appropriate inscriptions in English and archaic Greek lettering.. The floor is a geometric mosaic and the glass dome roof is of Tiffany style lead lighting in hues of reds and pinks in a radiating pattern. The memorial originally stood in a landscape triangular garden of about one acre near the entrance to the cemetery. However, after Dr Springthorpe's death in 1933 it was found that transactions for the land had not been fully completed so most of it was regained by the cemetery. A sundial and seat remain. The building is almost completely intact. The only alteration has been the removal of a glass canopy over the statuary and missing chains between posts. The Argus (26 March 1933) considered the memorial to be the most beautiful work of its kind in Australia. No comparable buildings are known.

The Syme Memorial (1908) is a memorial to David Syme, political economist and publisher of the Melbourne Age newspaper. The Egyptian memorial designed by architect Arthur Peck is one of the most finely designed and executed pieces of monumental design in Melbourne. It has a temple like form with each column having a different capital detail. These support a cornice that curves both inwards and outwards. The tomb also has balustradings set between granite piers which create porch spaces leading to the entrance ways. Two variegated Port Jackson Figs are planted at either end.

The Cussen Memorial (VHR 2036) was constructed in 1912-13 by Sir Leo Cussen in memory of his young son Hubert. Sir Leo Finn Bernard Cussen (1859-1933), judge and member of the Victorian Supreme Court in 1906. was buried here. The family memorial is one of the larger and more impressive memorials in the cemetery and is an interesting example of the 1930s Gothic Revival style architecture. It takes the form of a small chapel with carvings, diamond shaped roof tiles and decorated ridge embellishing the exterior.

By the 1890s, the Boroondara Cemetery was a popular destination for visitors and locals admiring the beauty of the grounds and the splendid monuments. The edge of suburban settlement had reached the cemetery in the previous decade. Its Victorian garden design with sweeping curved drives, hill top views and high maintenance made it attractive. In its Victorian Garden Cemetery design, Boroondara was following an international trend. The picturesque Romanticism of the Pere la Chaise garden cemetery established in Paris in 1804 provided a prototype for great metropolitan cemeteries such as Kensal Green (1883) and Highgate (1839) in London and the Glasgow Necropolis (1831). Boroondara Cemetery was important in establishing this trend in Australia.

The cemetery's beauty peaked with the progressive completion of the spectacular Springthorpe Memorial between 1899 and 1907. From about the turn of the century, the trustees encroached on the original design, having repeatedly failed in attempts to gain more land. The wide plantations around road boundaries, grassy verges around clusters of graves in each denomination, and most of the landscaped surround to the Springthorpe memorial are now gone. Some of the original road and path space were resumed for burial purposes. The post war period saw an increased use of the Cemetery by newer migrant groups. The mid- to late- twentieth century monuments were often placed on the grassed edges of the various sections and encroached on the roadways as the cemetery had reached the potential foreseen by its design. These were well tended in comparison with Victorian monuments which have generally been left to fall into a state of neglect.

The Boroondara Cemetery features many plants, mostly conifers and shrubs of funerary symbolism, which line the boundaries, road and pathways, and frame the cemetery monuments or are planted on graves. The major plantings include an impressive row of Bhutan Cypress (Cupressus torulosa), interplanted with Sweet Pittosporum (Pittosporum undulatum), and a few Pittosporum crassifolium, along the High Street and Parkhill Street, where the planting is dominated by Sweet Pittosporum.

Planting within the cemetery includes rows and specimen trees of Bhutan Cypress and Italian Cypress (Cupressus sempervirens), including a row with alternate plantings of both species. The planting includes an unusual "squat" form of an Italian Cypress. More of these trees probably lined the cemetery roads and paths. Also dominating the cemetery landscape near the Rotunda is a stand of 3 Canary Island Pines (Pinus canariensis), a Bunya Bunya Pine (Araucaria bidwillii) and a Weeping Elm (Ulmus glabra 'Camperdownii')

Amongst the planting are the following notable conifers: a towering Bunya Bunya Pine (Araucaria bidwillii), a Coast Redwood (Sequoia sempervirens), a rare Golden Funeral Cypress (Chamaecyparis funebris 'Aurea'), two large Funeral Cypress (Chamaecyparis funebris), and the only known Queensland Kauri (Agathis robusta) in a cemetery in Victoria.

The Cemetery records, including historical plans of the cemetery from 1859, are held by the administration and their retention enhances the historical significance of the Cemetery.

How is it significant?

Boroondara Cemetery is of aesthetic, architectural, scientific (botanical) and historical significance to the State of Victoria.

Why is it significant?

The Boroondara Cemetery is of historical and aesthetic significance as an outstanding example of a Victorian garden cemetery.

The Boroondara Cemetery is of historical significance as a record of Victorian life from the 1850s, and the early settlement of Kew. It is also significant for its ability to demonstrate, through the design and location of the cemetery, attitudes towards burial, health concerns and the importance placed on religion, at the time of its establishment.

The Boroondara Cemetery is of architectural significance for the design of the gatehouse or sexton's lodge and cemetery office (built in stages from 1860 to 1899), the ornamental brick perimeter fence and elegant cemetery shelter to the design of prominent Melbourne architects, Charles Vickers (for the original 1860 cottage) and Albert Purchas, cemetery architect and secretary from 1864 to his death in 1907.

The Boroondara Cemetery has considerable aesthetic significance which is principally derived from its tranquil, picturesque setting; its impressive memorials and monuments; its landmark features such as the prominent clocktower of the sexton's lodge and office, the mature exotic plantings, the decorative brick fence and the entrance gates; its defined views; and its curving paths. The Springthorpe Memorial (VHR 522), the Syme Memorial and the Cussen Memorial (VHR 2036), all contained within the Boroondara Cemetery, are of aesthetic and architectural significance for their creative and artistic achievement.

The Boroondara Cemetery is of scientific (botanical) significance for its collection of rare mature exotic plantings. The Golden Funeral Cypress, (chamaecyparis funebris 'aurea') is the only known example in Victoria.

The Boroondara Cemetery is of historical significance for the graves, monuments and epitaphs of a number of individuals whose activities have played a major part in Australia's history. They include the Henty family, artists Louis Buvelot and Charles Nuttall, businessmen John Halfey and publisher David Syme, artist and diarist Georgiana McCrae, actress Nellie Stewart and architect and designer of the Boroondara and Melbourne General Cemeteries, Albert Purchas.

This is the inner courtyard of the Muhammad Amin Khan Madrasah, the most significant madrasah in Khiva. It is located just inside the west gate of the old city, Itchan Kala. Built between 1851 and 1854, it was commissioned by Khan Muhammad Amin, one of the last rulers of the independent Khanate of Khiva.

The two-story madrasah once housed over 250 students, including lecture halls, student cells, and a mosque. Its size and layout reflect Khiva's role as a religious and administrative center in the 19th century.

In the background rises the unmistakable Kalta Minor, known for its vivid turquoise tilework and unusually stumpy appearance. It was intended to be the tallest minaret in Central Asia. Still, construction was abruptly halted after the khan's death, leaving behind what is now Khiva's most iconic architectural feature.

Today, the madrasah functions as a hotel and museum.

..

see other ELLORA CAVE images here.

'Lochend' is significant because of its association with the early pastoral pioneer, Charles Campbell, after whom Campbelltown is named. Built c.1844, the building is also of particular significance for its (probable) association with the work of one of South Australia's most noted early architects, George Strickland Kingston. It seems likely that 'Lochend' is one of Kingston's earlier private commissions. The house was, in more recent times, associated with the market gardening history of the eastern districts of the River Torrens.

State Heritage ID: 12548

To view more of my images, of Stowe Landscape Gardens please click

"here"

From the achieves, reprocessed, using Photoshop CC 2022

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

The gardens (known as Stowe Landscape Gardens), a significant example of the English garden style, along with part of the Park, passed into the ownership of The National Trust in 1989 and are open to the public. The parkland surrounding the gardens is open 365 days a year. National Trust members have free access to the gardens but there is a charge for all visitors to the house which goes towards the costs of restoring the building. In the 1690s, Stowe had a modest early-baroque parterre garden, owing more to Italy than to France, but it has not survived, and, within a relatively short time, Stowe became widely renowned for its magnificent gardens created by Lord Cobham. The Landscape garden was created in three main phases, showing the development of garden design in 18th-century England (this is the only garden where all three designers worked). From 1711 to c.1735 Charles Bridgeman was the garden designer and John Vanbrugh the architect from c.1720 until his death in 1726. They designed an English baroque park, inspired by the work of London, Wise and Switzer. After Vanbrugh's death James Gibbs took over as architect in September 1726. He also worked in the English Baroque style. In 1731 William Kent was appointed to work with Bridgeman, whose last designs are dated 1735 after which Kent took over as the garden designer. Kent had already created the glorious garden at Rousham House, and he and Gibbs built temples, bridges, and other garden structures. Kent's masterpiece at Stowe is the Elysian Fields with its Temple of Ancient Virtue that looks across to his Temple of British Worthies. Kent's architectural work was in the newly fashionable Palladian style. In March 1741, Capability Brown was appointed head gardener. He worked with Gibbs until 1749 and with Kent until the latter's death in 1748. Brown departed in the autumn of 1751 to start his independent career as a garden designer. In these years, Bridgeman's octagonal pond and 11-acre (4.5 ha) lake were extended and given a "naturalistic" shape, and a Palladian bridge was added in 1744, probably to Gibbs's design. Brown contrived a Grecian valley which, despite its name, is an abstract composition of landform and woodland, and developed the Hawkwell Field, with Gibbs's most notable building, the Gothic Temple (now one of the properties leased from the National Trust but maintained by The Landmark Trust). As Loudon remarked in 1831, "nature has done little or nothing; man a great deal, and time has improved his labours". After Brown left, Earl Temple, who had inherited Stowe from his uncle Lord Cobham, turned to a garden designer called Richard Woodward, who had been gardener at Wotton House, the Earl's previous home. The work of naturalising the landscape started by Brown was continued under Woodward and was accomplished by the mid-1750s. At the same time Earl Temple turned his attention to the various temples and monuments. He altered several of Vanburgh's and Gibbs's temples to make them conform to his taste for Neoclassical architecture. To accomplish this he employed Giovanni Battista Borra from 1752 to 1756. Also at this time several monuments were moved to other parts of the garden. Earl Temple made further alterations in the gardens from the early 1760s. This is when several of the older structures were demolished and this time he turned to his cousin Thomas Pitt, 1st Baron Camelford who was assisted by Borra, whose most notable design was the Corinthian Arch. The next owner of Stowe, the Marquess of Buckingham, made relatively few changes to the gardens. He planted the two main approach avenues, added 28-acre (11 ha) to the garden east of the Cobham Monument and altered a few buildings. Vincenzo Valdrè was his architect and built a few new structures such as The Menagerie with its formal garden and the Buckingham Lodges at the southern end of the Grand Avenue, and most notably the Queen's Temple. He also created the formal gardens within the balustrade he added to the south front of the house and demolished a few more monuments in the gardens. The last significant changes to the gardens were made by the next two owners of Stowe, the 1st and 2nd Dukes of Buckingham and Chandos. The former succeeded in buying the Lamport Estate in 1826, which was immediately to the east of the gardens, adding 17 acres (6.9 ha) to the south-east of the gardens to form the Lamport gardens. This work was overseen by the head gardener, James Brown, who remodelled the eastern arm of the Octagon Lake and created a cascade beyond the Palladian Bridge. From 1840 the 2nd Duke of Buckingham's gardener Mr Ferguson created rock and water gardens in the new garden. The architect Edward Blore was also employed to build the Lamport Lodge and Gates as a carriage entrance, and also remodelled the Water Stratford Lodge at the start of the Oxford Avenue. As Stowe evolved from an English baroque garden into a pioneering landscape park, the gardens became an attraction for many of the nobility, including political leaders. Indeed, Stowe is said to be the first English garden for which a guide book was produced. Wars and rebellions were reputedly discussed among the garden's many temples; the artwork of the time reflected this by portraying caricatures of the better-known politicians of history taking their ease in similar settings. Stowe began to evolve into a series of natural views to be appreciated from a perambulation rather than from a well-chosen central point. In their final form the Gardens were the largest and most elaborate example of what became known in Europe as the English garden. The main gardens, enclosed within the ha-has (sunken or trenched fences) over four miles (6 km) in length, cover over 400 acres (160 ha), but the park also has many buildings, including gate lodges and other monuments. Many of the temples and monuments in the garden celebrate the political ideas of the Whig party and include quotes by many of the writers who are part of Augustan literature, also philosophers and ideas belonging to the Age of Enlightenment.

Stowe House is a grade I listed country house in Stowe, Buckinghamshire, England. It is the home of Stowe School, an independent school and is owned by the Stowe House Preservation Trust who have to date (March 2013) spent more than £25m on the restoration of the house. Stowe House is regularly open to the public and can be explored by guided tour all year round or during the school holidays you can explore at your own pace with a multimedia guide.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

To view a map of the gardens, please click "here"

Photographed in the Falkland Islands

Please click on the image to view at the largest size

Thank you for your visit and comment

The Antarctica Trip - (01/01/23 to 01/21/23)

On the first day of 2023, my wife and I flew to Buenos Aires, Argentina, in preparation for a cruise to Antarctica, via The Falkland Islands and South Georgia Island. We’d never visited Antarctica and, in fact, felt a little unprepared for this trip since we’d only been on one cruise previously...and that was many years ago when we went on a cruise to Alaska…and that one trip to Alaska was enough to let my wife know that she was very prone to seasickness. Consequently, she was very concerned about this much longer trip because of the potential for rough weather.

We spent several days in Buenos Aires before we finally boarded the ship on 01/06/23 and headed off towards the Falkland Islands. The ship we were on was very nice…clean and comfortable room, friendly staff, incredibly interesting folks for lectures: A former astronaut, a former college professor with a doctorate in Ornithology and a geologist.

The photos:

Until we made landfall in the Falklands, the only wildlife we would see were the many pelagic birds that occasionally accompanied our ship. The larger birds, albatross, giant petrels, etc. managed to effortlessly soar over the swells, seemingly without ever flapping their wings. The smaller birds like the prions, also appeared to not waste much energy flapping their wings and were fun to watch as they maneuvered back and forth alongside our ship. Most of the photos I took from the ship were taken from our balcony on deck six. The balcony was a great location for landscape shots when we were near shore…but the height above the water made it difficult to photograph birds that were close to the water’s surface. That’s my excuse and I’m sticking with it. :-)

I plan to post photos taken at the several various locations we visited, as well as any I took while we were underway. I apologize in advance for the small size of the underway photos because they were taken either from the ship’s bow, stern or our balcony on deck 6, and I was a long way from the water. For the most part, and for no particular reason, I’ll be posting the photos chronologically.

======================

From Wikipedia: The upland goose or Magellan goose (Chloephaga picta) is a sheldgoose of the shelduck-sheldgoose subfamily of the Anatidae, the biological family that includes the ducks and most duck-like waterfowl such as the geese and swans. Sheldgeese resemble true geese and display similar habits, yet they are more closely related to shelducks and ducks.

This species nests and breeds close to water (rivers, ponds, oceans) either on the ground or near it among vegetation, usually in grasslands or coastal meadows in the Falkland Islands or in southern Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego at the beginning of the austral summer. Population estimates suggest the insular subpopulations are stable, but continental populations show a recent decline in abundance. Upland geese are herbivores, specializing in plant leaves, stems and seeds.

Food and feeding:

The upland goose is primarily a herbivore, feeding mostly of seeds, leaves, stems, and other plant matter. They are very gregarious, and flocks of thousands of birds can be found grazing in one pasture alone. They are considered pests by farmers due to the fact that they eat on the pastures that are used for cattle and sheep, and because they claim that upland geese significantly decrease crop yield. However, a recent study claims that while sheldgeese do reduce wheat cover, they do not reduce overall wheat yield and they might even provide an ecosystem service through weed grazing.

FI-0I7A1826fFlkrDs

The Nashville, Chattanooga, and St. Louis Railroad Depot, constructed in 1917, is a locally significant example of standardized, functional railroad architecture in Sparta, Tennessee. The depot is associated with a pattern of railroad growth and monopoly that shaped economic and settlement trends in the southeast during the early twentieth century. Between 1902 and 1921, the Louisville and Nashville Railroad, the parent company of the Nashville, Chattanooga, and St. Louis, expanded its miles of track from 3,327 to 5,041 miles, representing an increase of 57%. Some of this new construction took place in White County as the railroad extended its 1884 Bon Air spur line to the new coal towns of Clifty, DeRossett, and Ravenscroft, near the border between White and Cumberland counties, in an attempt to better exploit coal and mineral ores. As historian Maury Klein observed in his study of the Louisville and Nashville, "it is significant that none of the new trackage tried to extend the L & N's territory but rather sought to exploit the existing territory more fully. What might be called a more mature phase of interterritorial strategy had arisen and was flourishing...[in the] cultivation of the sources of coal and ore traffic." (pp. 397-98)

White County was a significant producer of raw materials, especially coal and timber products, during the early twentieth century. After the coal company built an underground shaft at Bon Air in 1902, that single mine produced an average daily tonnage of 350 tons for the next twenty years. The adjacent Eastland Mine also opened in 1902 and produced an average of 350 tons daily for the next thirty years. Demand for raw materials increased even more dramatically during the First World War and great amounts of Cumberland Plateau coal and timber was shipped out of Sparta. White County walnut was especially in demand for use in gun stocks, first in orders from Allied nations and then, in late 1917 and 1918, for the U.S. Army.

Due to the increased traffic and demand for railroad services, the company in 1917 decided to replace the original frame Sparta depot, which housed only an office and freight room, with a new much larger brick depot. The new depot reflected the importance of the railroad, and the county's coal mines, to the economic life of Sparta. As the town's "gateway", it symbolized local prosperity and confidence at the height of the wartime boom in demand for raw materials. Moreover, the depot served Sparta itself as the town's major contact point between the national corporate economy and the local market economy.

The Nashville, Chattanooga, and St. Louis Railroad Depot also embodies a trend in early twentieth century railroad architecture that balanced the cost-saving strategies of the railroads against the demands of a more sophisticated local community. The design achieved economy, functionalism and comfort under one roof. The waiting rooms accommodated more passenger traffic on the line, while the spacious freight room and loading platforms handled the increased volume of timber, mineral, and agricultural products being shipped out of the county. Although a standardized design lay at the heart of the depot's plan, its roof line and minimal Craftsman-style exterior detailing reflected the use of minor architectural features and varying roof shapes to give uniqueness to the building. Particularly distinctive were the wide, overhanging, unbracketed roof eaves. The square bay window of the business office also helped to add variety to the form while the functionally-placed windows on east and west elevations, along with the decorative band of bricks, added rhythm to the building's appearance.

The Nashville, Chattanooga, and St. Louis Railroad Depot is associated with and physically represents the peak of railroad influence in White County during the early twentieth century. Even after a period of decline due to the popularity of the automobile and the building of the Memphis to Bristol Highway, this small-town depot has survived and was added to the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) on December 7, 1992. All of the information above (and a bit more) was found on the original documents submitted for listing consideration and can be viewed here:

npgallery.nps.gov/NRHP/AssetDetail/9ea0e226-5cd8-49c3-9e5...

Three bracketed photos were taken with a handheld Nikon D7200 and combined with Photomatix Pro to create this HDR image. Additional adjustments were made in Photoshop CS6.

"For I know the plans I have for you", declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." ~Jeremiah 29:11

The best way to view my photostream is through Flickriver with the following link: www.flickriver.com/photos/photojourney57/

This bridge is one of a relatively small number of 'creative designs' in the Ancient Siam park which were mostly quite spectacular in nature if not completely true to Thai architecture.

Click here to see more photos from my trip to Bangkok and Krabi last Summer : www.flickr.com/photos/darrellg/albums/72157687709552266

From Wikipedia : "Ancient Siam (also known as Ancient City, Thai: เมืองโบราณ, Mueang Boran) is a park constructed under the patronage of Lek Viriyaphant and spreading over 200 acres (0.81 km2) in the shape of Thailand.

The founder's original idea was to create a golf course with miniatures of Thailand's historically significant structures spread around the course. During his research he found most structures severely damaged and decided instead to create new miniatures, to save the original structures when possible, or to re-create them full size or scaled down.

Ancient Siam is dubbed as the world's largest outdoor museum. Close to the Crocodile Farm in Samut Prakan province, the 320-hectare 'city' features 116 structures of Thailand's famous monuments and architectural attractions. The grounds of Ancient Siam correspond roughly to the shape of the Kingdom, with the monuments lying at their correct places geographically. Some of the buildings are life-size replicas of existing or former sites, while others are scaled down.

The replicas were constructed with the assistance of experts from the National Museum to ensure historical accuracy. Outstanding works include the former Grand Palace of Ayutthaya (destroyed in the Burmese invasion of 1767), Phimai Sanctuary in Nakhon Ratchasima, and Wat Khao Phra Viharn on the Cambodian border."

My Website : Twitter : Facebook : Instagram : Photocrowd

© D.Godliman

The Glass House Mountains is a culturally significant landscape for indigenous groups with long connections to this region. In the language of the Gubbi Gubbi people, the Mount Ngungun's name means "faces" and is pronounced in English as "noo-noo"

Gubbi Gubbi elder, Dr Eve Desl fondly recalls her mother sharing ancient stories about the rumblings of the mountains. She believes these stories may arise from the time when volcanic activity formed the Glass House Mountains.

Living a traditional indigenous lifestyle in the area, their people did not climb the mountain peaks. They have a saying; show respect by looking up and not standing on top of something.

The aboriginal legend of Glass House Mountains has it, that Tibrogargan, the father, and Beerwah, the mother, had many children; Coonowrin, the eldest, Beerburrum, the Tunbubudla twins, the Coochin twins, Ngungun, Tibberoowuccum, Miketebumulgrai, and Elimbah.

One day, Tibrogargan was gazing out to sea and noticed a great rising of the waters. Hurrying off to gather his younger children, in order to flee to the safety of the mountains in the west, he called out to Coonowrin to help his mother Beerwah, who was again with child. Looking back to see how Coonowrin was assisting Beerwah, Tibrogargan was greatly angered to see him running off alone. He pursued Coonowrin and, raising his club, struck the latter such a mighty blow that it dislodged Coonowrin’s neck, and he has never been able to straighten it since.

When the floods had subsided and the family returned to the plains, the other children teased Coonowrin about his crooked neck.

Feeling ashamed, Coonowrin went over to Tibrogargan and asked for his forgiveness, but filled with shame at his son’s cowardice, Tibrogargan could do nothing but weep copious tears, which, trickling along the ground, formed a stream that flowed into the sea.

Then Coonowrin went to his brothers and sisters, but they also wept at the shame of their brother’s cowardice. The lamentations of Coonowrin’s parents and of his brothers and sisters at his disgrace explain the presence of the numerous small streams of the area. Tibrogargan then called to Coonowrin, asking him why he had deserted his mother. Coonowrin replied that as Beerwah was the biggest of them all she should be able to take care of herself. He did not know that she was again pregnant, which was the reason for her great size. Then Tibrogargan turned his back on his son and vowed that he would never look at him again.

Source: Glasshouse Country,

Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service, Sunshine Coast Council.

This beautiful little flower is significant for me. Living away from my birthplace for many years - the poppy flower is a reminder of home. In the south of Sweden (were I´m from) the poppy is a common feature found in the summer landscape.

The flower is often used during the celebration of midsummer (an old pagan celebration with viking roots), as decoration on poles (midsummer-pole) covered with different kinds of flowers (there among the poppy) or to be used in wreaths, worn by children, an women during the festivities.

The flowers also has meaning in many other contexts. The blood red flower is a symbol of soldiers fallen - specially for the soldiers who fought and died during the first world war. The poppy is also found in greek mythology - as head wreaths worn by gods (especially Hypnos and Thanatos - the gods of sleep an death).

For me the poppy flower is home. Funny how things work.

25195 and 25260 are seen departing from Chester General with the Fenman railtour on 7-10-78. They have just passed No4 signalbox. These were replacing 6000 King George V which had run a 'hot box'.

The confusion for me at least is that there were two tours that day with two different steam locos. One steam loco failure and I believe one diesel failure.

According to the SixBells Junction website 25195 + 25161 worked the Marches Venturer from Shrewsbury - Ruabon - Wrexham - Chester. 6000 worked from Hereford to Shrewsbury. 7029 then worked this train back to Hereford.

The Fenman tour which should have used 6000 now had to use diesels to return to Hereford. 25161 however appears to have had a significant oil leak so was replaced by 25260....... CONFUSED?

I have noticed elsewhere that comment has been made about the strange title for the special [The Fenman]. I thought I would suggest an explanation on the basis it seems the only possible explanation. Other offers greatfully received though.

Back in around 1969-70 a book was published by Ian Allan under the 'pen name' Fenman. I seem to remember there were about 6-7 'famous' photographers in the group. I'm not sure but I think it was called 'Images of Steam'. Although the 6000 Association were credited with organising this tour could some of the Fenman group have had a hand in it?

Waves breaking on Roker Pier.

With the growth of Sunderland as a port in the 19th Century, it was decided to improve the approach to the river by creating an outer harbour, protected by a new pair of new breakwaters curving out into the North Sea from the shore on each side. The foundation stone for the New North Pier (Roker Pier) was laid on 14 September 1885. Applauded at the time as a triumph of engineering, the 2,000 ft (610 m) pier is built of granite-faced concrete blocks, which were manoeuvred into place by a gas-powered crane nicknamed 'Goliath'. The lighthouse at the pier head was completed in 1903. Its distinctive stripes are of naturally coloured red and white Aberdeen granite. When built it was said to be Britain's most powerful port lighthouse. It still functions today; indeed both lighthouse and pier have undergone significant refurbishment in recent years.

To view more of my images, of Stowe Landscape Gardens please click

"here"

Please, no group invites; thank you!

The gardens (known as Stowe Landscape Gardens), a significant example of the English garden style, along with part of the Park, passed into the ownership of The National Trust in 1989 and are open to the public. The parkland surrounding the gardens is open 365 days a year. National Trust members have free access to the gardens but there is a charge for all visitors to the house which goes towards the costs of restoring the building. In the 1690s, Stowe had a modest early-baroque parterre garden, owing more to Italy than to France, but it has not survived, and, within a relatively short time, Stowe became widely renowned for its magnificent gardens created by Lord Cobham. The Landscape garden was created in three main phases, showing the development of garden design in 18th-century England (this is the only garden where all three designers worked). From 1711 to c.1735 Charles Bridgeman was the garden designer and John Vanbrugh the architect from c.1720 until his death in 1726. They designed an English baroque park, inspired by the work of London, Wise and Switzer. After Vanbrugh's death James Gibbs took over as architect in September 1726. He also worked in the English Baroque style. In 1731 William Kent was appointed to work with Bridgeman, whose last designs are dated 1735 after which Kent took over as the garden designer. Kent had already created the glorious garden at Rousham House, and he and Gibbs built temples, bridges, and other garden structures. Kent's masterpiece at Stowe is the Elysian Fields with its Temple of Ancient Virtue that looks across to his Temple of British Worthies. Kent's architectural work was in the newly fashionable Palladian style. In March 1741, Capability Brown was appointed head gardener. He worked with Gibbs until 1749 and with Kent until the latter's death in 1748. Brown departed in the autumn of 1751 to start his independent career as a garden designer. In these years, Bridgeman's octagonal pond and 11-acre (4.5 ha) lake were extended and given a "naturalistic" shape, and a Palladian bridge was added in 1744, probably to Gibbs's design. Brown contrived a Grecian valley which, despite its name, is an abstract composition of landform and woodland, and developed the Hawkwell Field, with Gibbs's most notable building, the Gothic Temple (now one of the properties leased from the National Trust but maintained by The Landmark Trust). As Loudon remarked in 1831, "nature has done little or nothing; man a great deal, and time has improved his labours". After Brown left, Earl Temple, who had inherited Stowe from his uncle Lord Cobham, turned to a garden designer called Richard Woodward, who had been gardener at Wotton House, the Earl's previous home. The work of naturalising the landscape started by Brown was continued under Woodward and was accomplished by the mid-1750s. At the same time Earl Temple turned his attention to the various temples and monuments. He altered several of Vanburgh's and Gibbs's temples to make them conform to his taste for Neoclassical architecture. To accomplish this he employed Giovanni Battista Borra from 1752 to 1756. Also at this time several monuments were moved to other parts of the garden. Earl Temple made further alterations in the gardens from the early 1760s. This is when several of the older structures were demolished and this time he turned to his cousin Thomas Pitt, 1st Baron Camelford who was assisted by Borra, whose most notable design was the Corinthian Arch. The next owner of Stowe, the Marquess of Buckingham, made relatively few changes to the gardens. He planted the two main approach avenues, added 28-acre (11 ha) to the garden east of the Cobham Monument and altered a few buildings. Vincenzo Valdrè was his architect and built a few new structures such as The Menagerie with its formal garden and the Buckingham Lodges at the southern end of the Grand Avenue, and most notably the Queen's Temple. He also created the formal gardens within the balustrade he added to the south front of the house and demolished a few more monuments in the gardens. The last significant changes to the gardens were made by the next two owners of Stowe, the 1st and 2nd Dukes of Buckingham and Chandos. The former succeeded in buying the Lamport Estate in 1826, which was immediately to the east of the gardens, adding 17 acres (6.9 ha) to the south-east of the gardens to form the Lamport gardens. This work was overseen by the head gardener, James Brown, who remodelled the eastern arm of the Octagon Lake and created a cascade beyond the Palladian Bridge. From 1840 the 2nd Duke of Buckingham's gardener Mr Ferguson created rock and water gardens in the new garden. The architect Edward Blore was also employed to build the Lamport Lodge and Gates as a carriage entrance, and also remodelled the Water Stratford Lodge at the start of the Oxford Avenue. As Stowe evolved from an English baroque garden into a pioneering landscape park, the gardens became an attraction for many of the nobility, including political leaders. Indeed, Stowe is said to be the first English garden for which a guide book was produced. Wars and rebellions were reputedly discussed among the garden's many temples; the artwork of the time reflected this by portraying caricatures of the better-known politicians of history taking their ease in similar settings. Stowe began to evolve into a series of natural views to be appreciated from a perambulation rather than from a well-chosen central point. In their final form the Gardens were the largest and most elaborate example of what became known in Europe as the English garden. The main gardens, enclosed within the ha-has (sunken or trenched fences) over four miles (6 km) in length, cover over 400 acres (160 ha), but the park also has many buildings, including gate lodges and other monuments. Many of the temples and monuments in the garden celebrate the political ideas of the Whig party and include quotes by many of the writers who are part of Augustan literature, also philosophers and ideas belonging to the Age of Enlightenment.

Stowe House is a grade I listed country house in Stowe, Buckinghamshire, England. It is the home of Stowe School, an independent school and is owned by the Stowe House Preservation Trust who have to date (March 2013) spent more than £25m on the restoration of the house. Stowe House is regularly open to the public and can be explored by guided tour all year round or during the school holidays you can explore at your own pace with a multimedia guide.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

To view a map of the gardens, please click "here"

First significant snow of the year. Hopefully the last. It's beautiful but I'm not a fan of winter...

© All Rights Reserved - No Usage Allowed in Any Form Without the Written Consent the photographer

First one I've seen this year, spotted it out in the green belt looking for crawfish in the creek. Had to pull over with the camera for a photographically significant event. Those eyes really are amazing.

This is one of the most significant pieces of machinery in the exhibition. Owned by Chris and Vivian Martin (Chris is in shot here preparing the roller for a spin), this black beauty is the only fullsized road steam engine ever built in Tasmania.

The 1910 Salisbury Single Cylinder Steam Roller was built in Launceston. If you enlarge the photograph you can read the maker's plate for yourself. It was built specifically for the Launceston City Council to lay tram tracks when the tramways were established in the early part of the 20th century. Sadly, the trams tracks were pulled up again in the early 1950s in the move to buses.

The colourful miniature engine in the background is what we'll look at next.

[EN below]

Retour au mémorial de la bataille de l’Atlantique, que j’ai visité pendant mes vacances de Pâques. Nous sommes sur la presqu’île de Crozon, face à l’océan, dans un site de défense maritime fortifié.

Il est saisissant de pouvoir apprécier des bunkers aussi bien conservés.

Alors que nous allons fêter les résultats du débarquement, il est tout aussi interpellant de penser aux êtres humains, devenus soldats parfois malgré eux, qui ont vu chacun l’ennemi se rapprocher, dans un panorama que moi je peux savourer aujourd’hui et que je trouve magnifique.

À l’aube de ces 70 années de paix, et au vu des troubles importants dans d’autres endroits de notre planète, nul ne peut ignorer le rôle important joué par l’Europe.

______

Back to the memorial of the Battle of the Atlantic, which I visited during my Easter holidays. We are on the Crozon peninsula, facing the ocean, in a fortified site of maritime defense.

It is striking to appreciate bunkers also well preserved.

While we celebrate the results of the landing, it is equally questioning to think of humans, become soldiers sometimes despite themselves, who each saw the enemy approach in a panorama that I can enjoy today and that I find beautiful.

At the dawn of the 70 years of peace, and with significant unrests in other parts of our planet, one cannot ignore the important role played by Europe.

Technical Info

Appareil | Camera: Nikon D5200 ; Sigma 10.0 - 20.0 mm f/3.5;

Prise de vue | Shoot : 10 mm ; f/20; 1/160s ; Priorité(y) ouverture | Aperture ; ISO Auto 640 ;

Logiciel | Post processing Software: LightRoom 5.4; Nik Color Efex Pro 4; Nik Sharpener;

_______________________________

© Didier Hannot - #DH528 02.06.2014

Retrouvez-moi sur | Find me on

Facebook: www.facebook.com/DidierHannotPhotography

Google+: plus.google.com/118258660691299300878/posts

Flickr: www.flickr.com/photos/didierhannot

In Laos, a significant number of Hmong people fought against the communist nationalist. The terms Hmong and Mong both refer to an Asian ethnic group in the mountainous regions of southern China. There, they remain one of the largest sub-groups in the Miao minzu. Beginning in the 18th century, Hmong groups began a gradual southward migration due to political unrest and to find more arable land. As a result, Hmong currently also live in several countries in Southeast Asia, including northern Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, and Myanmar-Burma. In Laos, a significant number of Hmong people live in the mountainous regions. The Hmong support themselves with their small vegetable gardens here along various rivers in the forestry nearby Vang Vieng.

This portrait was taken in the forestry nearby Vang Vieng - Laos. A beautiful portrait of a Mong girl nearby the cascading river who's eyes I won't forget. She and girlfriend just took a bath in the clear river on her way home.

De Hmong, Mong of Miao worden door de Fransen ook wel Meo genoemd.

De oorsprong van dit volk ligt in het zuiden van China. Afstammelingen zijn verspreid over Noord- en Centraal-Laos, Zuid-China, Vietnam en Thailand. De meesten wonen in gebieden boven de 1000 meter op bergtoppen of heuvelruggen. Polygamie is toegestaan. De kleding is eenvoudig. Veelal worden zwarte jassen, zwarte pofbroeken en zilveren juwelen gedragen. De vrouwen dragen hun haar meestal in een knot. Een groot deel van de bevolking leeft van de ruilhandel, waarbij ijzer vaak dient als betaalmiddel. Ijzer is een belangrijke grondstof voor het maken van kapmessen en eenvoudige geweren. De voornaamste landbouwproducten zijn Rijst, Graan en Opium.

In Laos, a significant number of Hmong people fought against the communist nationalist. The terms Hmong and Mong both refer to an Asian ethnic group in the mountainous regions of southern China. There, they remain one of the largest sub-groups in the Miao minzu. Beginning in the 18th century, Hmong groups began a gradual southward migration due to political unrest and to find more arable land. As a result, Hmong currently also live in several countries in Southeast Asia, including northern Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, and Myanmar-Burma. In Laos, a significant number of Hmong people live in the mountainous regions. The Hmong support themselves with their small vegetable gardens here along various rivers in the forestry nearby Vang Vieng.

This portrait was taken in the forestry nearby Vang Vieng - Laos. A beautiful portrait of a Mong girl nearby the cascading river. I capture her being in a moment of thoughts. She and girlfriend just took a bath in the clear river on her way home.

De Hmong, Mong of Miao worden door de Fransen ook wel Meo genoemd.

De oorsprong van dit volk ligt in het zuiden van China. Afstammelingen zijn verspreid over Noord- en Centraal-Laos, Zuid-China, Vietnam en Thailand. De meesten wonen in gebieden boven de 1000 meter op bergtoppen of heuvelruggen. Polygamie is toegestaan. De kleding is eenvoudig. Veelal worden zwarte jassen, zwarte pofbroeken en zilveren juwelen gedragen. De vrouwen dragen hun haar meestal in een knot. Een groot deel van de bevolking leeft van de ruilhandel, waarbij ijzer vaak dient als betaalmiddel. Ijzer is een belangrijke grondstof voor het maken van kapmessen en eenvoudige geweren. De voornaamste landbouwproducten zijn Rijst, Graan en Opium.

February marked significant progress for NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, which completed its final functional performance tests at Northrop Grumman in Redondo Beach, California. Testing teams successfully completed two important milestones that confirmed the observatory’s internal electronics are all functioning as intended, and that the spacecraft and its four scientific instruments can send and receive data properly through the same network they will use in space. These milestones move Webb closer to being ready to launch in October.

These tests are known as the comprehensive systems test, which took place at Northrop Grumman, and the ground segment test, which took place in collaboration with the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore.

Before the launch environment test, technicians ran a full scan known as a comprehensive systems test. This assessment established a baseline of electrical functional performance for the entire observatory, and all of the many components that work together to comprise the world’s premiere space science telescope. Once environmental testing concluded, technicians and engineers moved forward to run another comprehensive systems test and compared the data between the two. After thoroughly examining the data, the team confirmed that the observatory will both mechanically and electronically survive the rigors of launch.

Image credit: NASA

#NASA #STScI #SpaceTelescopeScienceInstitute #jwst #jameswebbspacetelescope #blackhole #supermassiveblackhole #GoddardSpaceFlightCenter #Goddard #GSFC #marshallspaceflightcenter #msfc #marshall #space #telescope

Read more

More about the James Webb Space Telescope

NASA Media Usage Guidelines

The Romney Marsh has been gradually built up over the centuries.

The most significant feature of the Marsh is the Rhee Wall (Rhee is a word for river), forming a prominent ridge. This feature was extended as a waterway in three stages from Appledore to New Romney in the 13th century. Sluices controlled the flow of water, which was then released to flush silt from the harbour at New Romney. Ultimately, the battle was lost; the harbour silted up and New Romney declined in importance. The Rhee kept part of the old port open until the 15th century.

The wall at Dymchurch was built around the same time; storms had breached the shingle barrier, which had protected it until that time. It is a common misconception that both these structures were built by the Romans.

In 1250 and in the following years, a series of violent storms broke through the coastal shingle banks, flooding significant areas and returning it to marsh, and destroying the harbour at New Romney. In 1287 water destroyed the port town of Old Winchelsea (now located some 2 mi (3 km) out in Rye bay), which had been under threat from the sea since at least 1236. Winchelsea, the third largest port in England and a major importer of wine, was relocated on higher land, with a harbour consisting of 82 wharfs.

Mmm, as one of my cards said, I'm now 18 with 52 years experience! Forget the number and act the age you want to be!

Significant cloud build up is evident as 47739 speeds past Battledown flyover near Worting junction hauling the 5Q80 Cricklewood South Sidings to Eastleigh Arlington with unit 360111 for attention. Sun dipped immediately after this shot.

Whilst not a fan of the 47's, stemming from my teenage years when everything seemed to be hauled by a BR blue 47, this livery is particularly attractive

Friday 5 August 2022

The only significant light source - the setting moon - was on the other side of the seastack rock, so I "painted" the rock using my flashlight for the 30 seconds exposure time. I like the contrast between the rough rock textures and the smooth deep blue sky.

Bedeutsame Erinnerungen?

A significant piece of hardware for NASA’s Artemis II mission arrived on Aug. 19 to the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida to complete final stacking operations. A semitrailer transported NASA’s Orion stage adapter nearly 700 miles from NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.

NASA Marshall built and tested the Orion stage adapter which connects to the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket’s interim cryogenic propulsion stage to the Orion spacecraft. A diaphragm within the adapter protects Orion from flammable gases, such as hydrogen, generated during launch.

Here, technicians at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida complete routine inspections on the Artemis II Orion stage adapter on Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2025. The adapter was unloaded inside the spaceport’s Multi-Payload Processing Facility to undergo CubeSat integration following its arrival from the NASA Marshall.

Credits: NASA/Kim Shiflett

#Artemis #NASAMarshall #Space #NASASLS #NASA #Artemis #ArtemisII

Read more

For more NASA's Artemis

For more NASA's Space Launch System

NASA Media Usage Guidelines

A significant reason for coming to Vista-Bharati University is the incredible students that I've encountered here. This is Adarsh – mark his name because someday I'm guessing you'll read about him. What an energetic and sharp mind!

Sevenhill village and the Jesuit centre on Weikert’s Farm ruins.

South Australia has been called the “Paradise of Dissent” as the nonconformist Protestant churches played such a significant role in the early history of this state but there have always been important enclaves of Irish and German Catholic populations in the Clare Valley. In 1848 a Silesian farmer, Francis (Franz) Weckert (Weikert) gathered together a group of people interested in forming a new Catholic community free of religious persecution in South Australia. He and his followers wanted to escape the 1848 revolutions of Europe that had only tightened regulations on them in protestant Germany. Weickert financed the voyage for needy people and they arrived in December 1848 from Hamburg on the Alfred. Weickert was 56 years old and his occupation was listed on the arrival list as Jesuit Mission leader. His wife Fransiska and their nine children travelled with him and 130 German Catholics. Weckert purchased some land at Sevenhill and he obtained the services of a Father Kranewitter, a Jesuit brother and two others called Schriener and Sadler for the SA community.

In 1849 the Catholic Church in Austria sent a sizable sum of money to Father Kranewitter on 100 acres of fertile land he had leased from Thomas Burr in the Clare Valley, with a 31 year lease with the option to buy at the land for £3 to £7 per acre by the end of the lease. Father Kranewitter gave 31 year sublet leases to Catholic farmers who expected to easily purchase their land at the expiry of their leases. This seldom happened. Kranewitter had previously leased some other land where there was a house for himself and his fellow priests. More money arrived from Austria for the proposed community in early 1850 and Bishop Murphy, the Catholic bishop in Adelaide, also gave some money. Section 91 of the Hundred of Clare was surveyed for leased town allotments which became Sevenhill. In January 1851 Father Kranewitter leased, for just £2 per acre with right of purchase, the site of the future church, seminary and college. Father Kranewitter named the locality Sevenhill and the local stream the Tiber (after the River in Rome) and the seven hills of Rome. In 1855 Father Kranewitter obtained possession of the town allotments and then gradually sold them freehold to establish the little town. Meantime Father Kranewitter established the first Catholic seminary in Australia. Local Catholics contributed substantially to Jesuit funds after their return from the Victorian goldfields and the first church was finished in 1856. At that time the Church had a seven acre vineyard and soon began making altar wine. The Sevenhill College was also established in 1856. Eventually the Jesuits owned over 1,000 acres of freehold land around Sevenhill. Until settled by act of parliament in 1940 people were unsure of whether the town was Sevenhill or Sevenhills but Kranewitter had called it Sevenhill.

The current St Aloysius church was a later structure that was started in 1861. St Aloysius was officially opened in November 1866. A crypt was constructed underneath the church, mainly for the burial of the Jesuit fathers. The Sevenhill College was gradually constructed clearly with plans for further additions which never occurred. By 1858 there were 20 boarders in the college and two were theological students who formed the basis of the first Catholic seminary in Australia. Father Kranewitter was the “professor” of Latin, History and Geography and Father Palhuber was “professor” of Poetry, Greek, Mathematics and French and Father Moeser was “professor” of German, Hebrew and Music and Mr Byrne was “professor” of English Literature and Bookkeeping. In 1859 fees for the college were £40 a year for full board and study and £5 a year for day students. The foundation stone for the new main college building was laid in 1868 and the college was completed by 1871 when newspaper advertising for students began. Prior to this Father Kranewitter moved to Melbourne where he died in 1880. Among the early students were Peter and Donald MacKillop, brothers of Saint Mary MacKillop. In 1871 the college had 52 boys, 29 boarding at the college and 23 day boys from the surrounding district. The new college building was officially opened in 1875. It catered for around 40 students, mainly boarders, until it closed in 1885. Apart from the college and church, the Jesuit brothers brought the wine industry to the Clare Valley. They established the first vineyard of the district in 1851 (about the same time as the first vines were planted in the Barossa and also at Langhorne Creek). The Jesuit Brothers still operate the Sevenhill winery.

Francis Weickert never recovered his money from the settlers’ voyage and died a poor man at Sevenhill in October 1875. He had paid for some of the families to migrate on condition that they repaid the money or worked for him on his property for no wages. Weickert also donated some of his own land to the Jesuits. He was buried in the Jesuit Sevenhill cemetery in 1875. The ruins of Weickert’s Sevenhill farm can be visited just below the church and Shrine and they include the ruins of Weickert’s house built in 1865, his dairy, stables, barns and other houses. His smoke house for his meats was later converted into the Sevenhill Shrine. The structures were destroyed in the Ash Wednesday bushfires of 1983 and some restoration work was completed in 2019 to make this a pilgrimage centre for the Jesuits in Australia. The restored complex was officially opened in March 2023 with some new structures.

Umayyad Mosque is one of significant monuments that Still standing in Damascus, the old city, it's most be your first station when you arrive Damascus...

for more information:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Umayyad_Mosque

2021 represents a significant milestone in the history of the Phoenix Railway-Photographic Circle with the celebration of our 50th anniversary by publishing a book to showcase some of the members work, past and present, from 1971 to the present day. The book contains 14 chapters and 144 pages of photographs depicting the work of over 50 accomplished railway photographers with many differing styles and approaches. It takes an alternative view on photographing the railway scene over the past 50 years. The book, called 50 Years of Phoenix will be published on 14th May 2021 with pre-orders now being taken – click on this link to order your copy: www.mortonsbooks.co.uk/product/view/productCode/15554

Why not take a look at the PRPC web site at www.phoenix-rpc.co.uk/index.html.

In 10 minutes, heavy rain hit my neighborhood. This apparent roll or shelf cloud registered 60 dbZ on radar making it a strong thunderstorm. Winds gusted to 50mph but little lightning was observed.

Thomas of Rhondda has been a significant contributor to the major Rail Replacement work on the Pontypridd to Treherbert line to enable Transport for Wales to deliver the Metro project.

However, pre-dating the vehicles that have been sourced specifically for the additional work is this Wright Eclipse Gemini-bodied Volvo B7TL, which was acquired from First West of England in March 2022 and was initially used in First's Olympia livery. Her capacity also makes her ideal for school contract work.

She appeared to be engaged on the latter when I captured her by chance on Pontypridd Road, Porth - her new home town - in February 2024.

March Point. Padilla Bay/Fidalgo Bay.

"The Washington population of the Black Oystercatcher is estimated to be roughly 400 birds. This number is probably not significantly different from the historical population, as these birds require fairly specialized habitat, which is not evenly distributed. Oystercatchers are highly vulnerable to human disturbance, oil spills, and pollution of the intertidal zone. Numbers of Black Oystercatchers on the outer coast may be higher than in the past, in part due to decreased human disturbance resulting from lighthouse automation. Numbers in inland areas, however, have declined in response to increased human activity. The Northern Pacific Coast Regional Shorebird Management Plan has identified the Black Oystercatcher as a regional species of high concern."

"The Black Oystercatcher is restricted in its range, never straying far from shores, in particular favoring rocky shorelines. It has been suggested that this bird is seen mostly on coastal stretches which have some quieter embayments, such as jetty protected areas. It forages in the intertidal zone, feeding on marine invertebrates, particularly molluscs such as mussels, limpets and chitons. It will also take crabs, isopods and barnacles. It hunts through the intertidal area, searching for food visually, often so close to the water's edge it has to fly up to avoid crashing surf. It uses its strong bill to dislodge food and pry shells open."

Having made significant progress on AFOLhood, I have a hard time building a "normal" LEGO set as it is. When I got a 10242 from a good friend in the summer the wheels immediately started ticking, wondering about what I should do with it.

Lakhta .This small village on the northern shore of the Gulf of Finland, about 15 km northwest of the city, is home to human settlements on the banks of the Neva. It was on the territory of Lakhta that the remains of a man’s parking site of three thousand years ago were found.

In official documents, a settlement named Lakhta dates back to 1500. The name is derived from the Finnish-speaking word lahti - "bay". This is one of the few settlements that has not changed its name throughout its 500-year history. Also known as Laches, Lahes-by, Lahes and was originally inhabited by Izhora. In the last decades of the 15th century, Lakhta was a village (which indicates a significant population) and was the center of the eponymous grand-parish volost, which was part of the Spassko-Gorodensky graveyard of the Orekhovsky district of the Vodskaya Pyatina. In the village, there were 10 courtyards with 20 people (married men). In Lakhta, on average, there were 2 families per yard, and the total population of the village probably reached 75 people.

From the notes on the margins of the Swedish scribe book of the Spassky graveyard of 1640, it follows that the lands along the lower reaches of the Neva River and parts of the Gulf of Finland, including Lakhta Karelskaya, Perekulya (from the Finnish “back village”, probably because of its position relative to Lakhti) and Konduy Lakhtinsky, were royal by letter of honor on January 15, 1638 transferred to the possession of the Stockholm dignitary, Rickschulz general Bernhard Sten von Stenhausen, a Dutchman by birth. On October 31, 1648, the Swedish government granted these lands to the city of Nyuen (Nyenschanz). With the arrival of the Swedes in Prievye, Lakhta was settled by the Finns, who until the middle of the 20th century made up the vast majority of the villagers.

On December 22, 1766, Catherine 2 granted Lakhta Manor, which was then in the Office of the Chancellery from the buildings of palaces and gardens, "in which and in her villages with courtyards 208 souls," her favorite Count Orlov. Not later than 1768, Count J.A. Bruce took over the estate. In 1788, Lakhta Manor was listed behind him with wooden services on a dry land (high place) and the villages Lakhta, Dubki, Lisiy Nos and Konnaya belonging to it also on dry land, in those villages of male peasants 238 souls. On May 1, 1813, Lakhta passed into the possession of the landowners of the Yakovlevs. On October 5, 1844, Count A.I. Stenbok-Fermor entered into the possession of the Lakhtinsky estate, which then had 255 male souls. This clan was the owner of the estate until 1912, when its last representative got into debt and noble custody was established over the estate. On October 4, 1913, in order to pay off his debts, he was forced to go for corporatization, and the Lakhta estate passed into the ownership of the Joint Stock Company “Lakhta” of Count Stenbock-Fermor and Co.

After the revolution, Lakhta was left on its own for a while, here on the former estate of the counts Stenbock-Fermorov on May 19, 1919, the Lakhta excursion station was opened, which existed there until 1932. In the early 1920s, sand mining began on Lakhta beaches, and the abandoned and dilapidated peat plant of the Lakhta estate in 1922 took over the Oblzemotdel and put it into operation after major repairs. In 1963, the village of Lakhta was included in the Zhdanovsky (Primorsky) district of Leningrad (St. Petersburg).

At the beginning of Lakhtinsky Prospekt, on the banks of the Lakhtinsky spill, there was the village of Rakhilax (Rahilax-hof, Rahila, Rokhnovo). Most likely, under this name only one or several courtyards are designated. There is an assumption that the name of the village was formed from the Finnish raahata - “drag, drag,” because there could be a place for transportation through the isthmus of the Lakhtinsky spill (we should not forget that not only the bridge over the channel connecting the spill with the Gulf of Finland was not yet here, the duct itself was many times wider than the current one). The search book of the Spassko-Gorodensky graveyard of 1573, describing the Lakhta lands, mentions that there were 2 lodges in the “Rovgunov” village, from which we can conclude that we are talking about the village of Rohilaks, which the Russian scribes remade into a more understandable to them Rovgunovo. The village was empty in Swedish time and was counted as a wasteland of the village of Lahta.

On the banks of the Lakhtinsky spill, near the confluence of the Yuntolovka River, from the 17th century there existed the village of Bobylka (Bobylskaya), which merged into the village of Olgino only at the beginning of the 20th century, but was found on maps until the 1930s. It is probably the Search Book that mentions it Spassko-Gorodensky churchyard in 1573 as a village "in Lakhta in Perekui", behind which there was 1 obzh. With the arrival of the Swedes by royal letter on January 15, 1638, the village was transferred to the possession of the Stockholm dignitary, Rickshaw General Bernhard Sten von Stenhausen, a Dutchman by birth. On October 31, 1648, the Swedish government granted Lahti lands to the city of Nyuen (Nyenschanz). On the Swedish map of the 1670s, in the place of the village of Bobylsky, the village of Lahakeülä is marked (küla - the village (Fin.)). The village could subsequently be called Bobyl from the Russian word "bobyl."

The owners of Bobylskaya were both Count Orlov, and Count Y. A. Bruce, and the landowners Yakovlev. In 1844, Count A.I. Stenbok-Fermor entered into the possession of the Lakhtinsky estate (which included the village of Bobyl). This family was the owner of the estate until 1913, when the owners, in order to pay off their debts, had to go for corporatization, and the Lakhta estate was transferred to the ownership of the Lakhta Joint-Stock Company of Count Stenbock-Fermor and Co. By the middle of the 20th century, the village merged with the village of Lakhta.

The name Konnaya Lakhta (Konnaya) has been known since the 16th century, although earlier it sounded like Konduya (Konduya Lakhtinskaya) or just Kondu (from the Finnish kontu - courtyard, manor). Subsequently, this name was replaced by the more familiar Russian ear with the word "Horse". In the Search Book of the Spassko-Gorodensky Pogost in 1573, it is mentioned as the village "on Kovdui", where 1 obzh was listed, which indicates that there most likely was one yard. On January 15, 1638, together with neighboring villages, it was transferred to the possession of the Stockholm dignitary, Rickschulz General Bernhard Steen von Stenhausen, of Dutch origin. On October 31, 1648, the Swedish government granted these lands to the city of Nyuen (Nyenschanz). In a deed of gift, Konduya Lakhtinskaya is called a village, which indicates a noticeable increase in its population. Later, on the Swedish map of the 1670s, on the site of the present Horse Lahti, the village of Konda-bai is marked (by - village (sv)).

The owners of Konnaya Lakhta, as well as the villages of Bobylskaya and Lakhta, were in turn Count Orlov, Count Ya. A. Bruce, and the landowners Yakovlev. In 1844, Count A.I. Stenbok-Fermor entered the possession of the Lakhta estate (which included Konnaya Lakhta. This family was the owner of the estate until 1913, when the owners had to go to corporations to pay off their debts, and the Lakhta estate became the property of Lakhta Joint Stock Company of Count Stenbock-Fermor and Co. In 1963, Horse Lahta was included in the Zhdanov (Primorsky) district of Leningrad (St. Petersburg).

As the dacha village of Olgino appeared at the end of the 19th century and initially consisted of both Olgin itself and the villages of Vladimirovka (now part of Lisiy Nos) and Aleksandrovka. In the first half of the 18th century, this territory was part of the Verpelev palace estate, which in the second half of the 18th century was granted to Count G. G. Orlov, then it was owned by the family of landowners the Yakovlevs, in the middle of the 19th century the estate was transferred to the counts of Stenbock-Fermor. In 1905 A.V. Stenbok-Fermor, the then owner of Lakhta lands, divided the lands around Lakhta into separate plots with the intention of selling them profitably for dachas. So there were the villages of Olgino (named after the wife of Olga Platonovna), Vladimirovka (in honor of the father of the owner; the coastal part of the modern village of Lisy Nos) and Alexandrov or Aleksandrovskaya (in honor of Alexander Vladimirovich himself). It is likely that on the site of the village was the village of Olushino (Olushino odhe) - a search book of the Spassko-Gorodensky churchyard in 1573 mentions that there were 1 obzh in the village of Olushkov’s, which suggests that at least one residential the yard. On behalf of Olushka (Olpherius). Most likely, the village was deserted in Swedish time and then was already listed as a wasteland belonging to the village of Lahta. Thus, the name of the village could be given in harmony with the name of the mistress and the old name of the village.

The villages were planned among a sparse pine forest (the layout was preserved almost unchanged), so there were more amenities for living and spending time there than in Lakhta. A park was set up here, a summer theater, a sports ("gymnastic") playground, a tennis court, and a yacht club were arranged.

In the 1910s about 150 winter cottages were built in Olgino, many of which are striking monuments of "summer cottage" architecture. In 1963, the village of Olgino was included in the Zhdanovsky (Primorsky) district of Leningrad (St. Petersburg).

Near Olgino, in the area of ​​the Dubki park, there was a small village Verpeleva (Verpelevo), which consisted of only a few yards. In the first half of the XVIII century. this territory was part of the palace estate "Verpeleva", which in the second half of the XVIII century. It was granted to Count G. G. Orlov, then passed to the Counts of Stenbock-Fermor. The village has not existed for a long time, but the entire reed-covered peninsula (barely protruding above the water of the Verpier-Luda peninsula (Verper Luda (from the Finnish luoto - “small rocky island”)) still existed, and there was another spelling the name of this island is Var Pala Ludo).

Kamenka. The Novgorod scribal book mentions two villages in the Lakhta region with a similar name, referring to the possessions of Selivan Zakharov, son of Okhten, with his son and 5 other co-owners. On the lands of this small patrimony, which, unlike the estate was inherited, peasants lived in 3 villages, including: the village "Kamenka in Lakhta near the sea" in 5 yards with 5 people and arable land in 1,5 obzhi, the village "on Kamenka "in 2 courtyards with 2 people and arable land in 1 obzhu. For the use of land, the peasants paid the owners of the patrimony 16 money and gave 1/3 of the rye harvest. Thus, in the 16th century on the Kamenka River (another name for the Kiviyoki River, which is the literal translation of kivi - "stone", joki - "river") there was one large village of Kamenka near its confluence with the Lakhtinsky spill and the second, smaller, somewhere upstream. On the drawing of Izhora land in 1705, a village under this name is depicted in the area of ​​the modern village of Kamenka. The village of Kamennaya in the middle reaches of Kamenka and on the map of 1792 is designated. Other name options are Kaumenkka, Kiviaja.

In the second half of the 18th century, Kamenka became a vacation spot for Russian Germans. Here in 1865, German colonists founded their "daughter" colony on leased land. Since then, the village has received the name Kamenka Colony (so called until the 1930s). In 1892, a colony near the village of Volkovo "budded" from it. The inhabitants of both colonies belonged to the Novo-Saratov parish and since 1871 had a prayer house in Kamenka, which was visited by 250 people. He maintained a school for 40 students. The house was closed in 1935 and later demolished.

Currently, Kamenka exists as a holiday village, located along the road to Levashovo. Since 1961 - in the city, part of the planning area in the North-West, from the mid-1990s. built up with multi-storey residential buildings and cottages.

Volkovo. The settlement is about southeast of the village of Kamenka - on the old road to Kamenka, on the bank of a stream that flows into Kamenka between the village of Kamenka and the Shuvalovsky quarry. In 1892, a German colony emerged on the territory of the village, "budding" from a nearby colony in the village of Kamenka. The origin of Volkovo is not clear, the village is found only on maps of 1912, 1930, 1939, 1943. and probably appeared no earlier than the 19th century.

Kolomyagi. Scribe books of the XV — XVI centuries and Swedish plans testify that small settlements already existed on the site of Kolomyag. Most likely, these were first Izhora or Karelian, then Finnish farms, which were empty during the hostilities of the late XVII century.

The name "Kolomyag" connoisseurs decipher in different ways. Some say that it came from the "colo" - in Finnish cave and "pulp" - a hill, a hill. The village is located on the hills, and such an interpretation is quite acceptable. Others look for the root of the name in the Finnish word "koaa" - bark - and believe that trees were processed here after felling. Another version of the origin of the name from the Finnish "kello" is the bell, and it is associated not with the feature of the mountain, but with the "bell on the mountain" - a tower with a signal bell standing on a hill.

The owners of Kolomyazhsky lands were Admiral General A.I. Osterman, Count A.P. Bestuzhev-Ryumin, a family of Volkonsky. In 1789, the Volkonskys sold these lands to retired colonel Sergei Savvich Yakovlev. On his estate S. S. Yakovlev built a manor and lived in it with his wife and seven daughters. The once-Finnish population of Kolomyag was “Russified” by that time - it was made up of descendants of serfs resettled by Osterman and Bestuzhev-Rumin from their villages in Central Russia (natives of the Volga and Galich) and Ukraine. Then the name "Kellomyaki" began to sound in Russian fashion - "Kolomyagi", although later the old name also existed, especially among local Finns. And not without reason the indigenous Kolomozhites associate their origin with the Volga places, and the southern half of the village is now called “Galician”.

Yakovlev died in 1818. Five years after his death, a division of the territory of the manor was made. The village of Kolomyagi was divided in half between two of his daughters. The border was the Bezymyanny stream. The southeastern part of the village of Kolomyagi beyond Bezymyanny creek and a plot on the banks of the Bolshaya Nevka passed to the daughter Ekaterina Sergeevna Avdulina.

Daughter Yakovleva Elena Sergeevna - the wife of General Alexei Petrovich Nikitin, a hero of the Patriotic War of 1812, who was awarded the highest military orders and twice a gold sword with the inscription "For courage", died early, leaving her daughter Elizabeth. The northwestern part of Kolomyag inherited the young Elizabeth, so this part of Kolomyag was practically inherited by the father of Yakovlev’s granddaughter, Count A.P. Nikitin, who in 1832 became the owner of the entire village. It is his name that is stored in the names of the streets - 1st and 2nd Nikitinsky and Novo-Nikitinsky. The new owner built a stone mansion on the estate’s estate - an excellent example of classicism of the first third of the 19th century, which became his country house and has survived to this day and has been occupied until recently by the Nursing Home. It is believed that this mansion was built according to the project of the famous architect A.I. Melnikov. The severity and modesty of the architectural appearance of the facades and residential chambers of the Nikitin mansion was opposed by the splendor of ceremonial interiors, in particular the two-light dance hall with choirs for musicians. Unfortunately, with repeated alterations and repairs, many details of the decor and stucco emblems of the owners disappeared. Only two photographs of the 1920s and preserved fragments of ornamental molding and paintings on the walls and ceiling show the past richness of the decorative decoration of this architectural monument. The mansion was surrounded by a small park. In it stood a stone pagan woman brought from the southern steppes of Russia (transferred to the Hermitage), and a pond with a plakun waterfall was built. Near the pond there was a "walk of love" from the "paradise" apple trees - it was called so because the bride and groom passed through it after the wedding. Here, in the shadow of these apple trees, young lovers made appointments.

Under the Orlov-Denisov opposite the mansion (now Main Street, 29), the structures of an agricultural farm were erected, partially preserved to this day, and the greenhouse. Behind the farm were the master's fields. On them, as the New Time newspaper reported in August 1880, they tested the reaping and shearing machines brought from America.

In the 19th century, the provincial surveyor Zaitsev submitted for approval the highway called the Kolomyagskoye Shosse. The route was supposed to connect the village, gradually gaining fame as a summer residence of the "middle arm", with St. Petersburg. The construction of the road ended in the 1840s, and then horse-drawn and country-house crafts became the most important articles of peasant income. In addition, peasants either built small dachas in their yards, or rented their huts for the summer. Located away from the roads, surrounded by fields, the village was chosen by multi-family citizens.

The income from the summer cottage industry increased from year to year, which was facilitated by the summer movement of omnibuses that opened on the new highway from the City Council building. They walked four times a day, each accommodated 16 people, the fare cost 15 kopecks. Even when the Finnish Railway with the nearest Udelnaya station came into operation in 1870, the highway remained the main access road through which public carriages pulled by a trio of horses ran from the Stroganov (now Ushakovsky) bridge.

One of the most significant battles of 1874-75 Indian campaign; columns of troops converging from five directions harassed Indians on the Panhandle Plains for over six months.

The 4th Cavalry under Col. Ranald S. Mackenzie, moving north from Fort Concho, tracked a large band of Indians to their secret canyon camp.

Moving silently at dawn down a perilous path on the south rim, the first troops reached the floor of the canyon before the aroused camp fled.

Some of the warriors took up positions on the canyon walls from which they fired on the troops, seeking to give their families time to escape.

Realizing his tactical disadvantage, Mackenzie ordered the Indian camp and supplies burned and withdrew, taking along 1,400 captured horses (1,000 of which he later destroyed).

The cavalry suffered no causalities in the fight and only four Indian dead were counted.

Having lost half their horses as well as all their supplies and shelter, the Indians drifted back to their reservations at Fort Sill and Fort Reno.