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This elevator and grain terminal located on North Maple street in McPherson, Kansas, is being demolished. The property is owned by Mid Kansas COOP and was built in the 1920's. It was last used in the 1960's. The solidity of the structure was no loger there. There are no definite plans for the lot.
Special thanks to JohnnyG1955 for sharing the below info
www.flickr.com/photos/johnnyg1955/sets/72157604152348131/...
The parish of the Holy Rosary is the seventh oldest mission in the City of Leeds, with the first Church and School of the Holy Rosary built in Barrack Street in 1886 as a Chapel-of-Ease to St Anne’s Cathedral.
As the area from Sheepscar up to Moortown was developed, the population of the parish increased until in 1927 the first steps were taken to build a new church. Rev Canon Mitchell invited architects to submit plans for a new church with Marten & Burnett chosen as the architects for the building. A site was bought on Chapeltown Road in 1930 and then in 1935 test holes were dug in what was then the garden of Ashbourne House on Chapeltown Road. The foundation stone was laid on May 3rd 1936 by Canon Hawkswell. The church was completed at a cost of over £13,000, with Ashbourne House becoming the Presbytery of the new church.
The first mass was celebrated on September 30th 1937 by The Bishop of Leeds, Bishop Henry John Poskitt with Bishop Shine of Middlesbrough. Father Ward was the first priest in the parish.
Among the priests at the first mass in the new church in 1937 was a young priest who had been ordained in Ireland for the Leeds Diocese the previous year. In 1951, this priest, Canon P. O’Meara, became the first Parish Priest of the Holy Rosary, a position he held until his death in 1985. There is a commemorative plaque to Canon O’Meara in the church.
The first priest to be ordained from the Holy Rosary Parish was Father Gerald Creasey who was ordained in 1961.
In 1987 Father James Leavy instigated renovations to the church including: the relocation of the altar, removal of the communion rails, the font being moved to the chancel steps and the shortening of the nave creating a community room between the narthex and the main body of the church. The front of the original organ was retained above the community room and a new altar of Yorkshire Stone was created in the side chapel.
In 1989 the Presbytery, occupying what had been Ashbourne House, was split in two. The part nearest the church became the new presbytery and the House of Light took over the other half. At this time the presbytery was refurbished. The hall underneath the church was leased out to the Northern School of Contemporary Dance at this time.
The parish feast day is on October 7th, the feast of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary.
William Marshall, the last abbot of Kirkstall Abbey to die in office, came from what is now the Holy Rosary parish. He built the tower of Kirkstall Abbey in 1527, just twelve years before his successor, John Ripley, the 27th and last Abbot, had the sad duty of surrendering the Abbey to King Henry VIII. That the remains of the tower are still visible after 430 years is proof of the solidity of its construction, and a memorial to one who might be considered an early parishioner.
For more about the history of Kirkstall Abbey see:
www.leeds.gov.uk/kirkstallabbey/Kirkstall_Abbey/History.aspx
Another that could be seen as an early parishioner is William Scott of Scott Hall. Scott Hall was situated in Potternewton, just about where Scott Hall Place is now. This had been the home of the Scott family who had originated from Scotland. When the last of the family line died, the hall was demolished and the land was quarried, with the stone used for many Leeds buildings. When the quarry was worked out it was filled in and is now the playing fields on Scott Hall Road. When the A61 was built in the 1930s, it was named Scott Hall as a reminder of the former land use.
William Scott left a “parcel of land” on the corner of Vicar Lane and Kirkgate to the Parish Priest of Leeds Parish Church in 1470, on which a modest mansion was built. The site existed for almost 400 years and was known as Vicar’s Croft, until it was bought in 1857 by the Leeds Corporation and is now the home of the Leeds Markets.
An aerial view of the Church its surroundings can be found at:
www.leodis.net/display.aspx?resourceIdentifier=20021127_4...
Sources:
Silver Jubilee brochure for Holy Rosary Church, Leeds 1937-1962, can be downloaded from here.
www.movinghere.org.uk/search/catalogue.asp?catphase=short...
Gilleghan J (1990) Worship North and East of Leeds, Kingsway Press
The Diocese of Leeds
Leeds in The Catholic Encyclopedia in 1913:
en.wikisource.org/wiki/Catholic_Encyclopedia_(1913)/Leeds
The Diocese of Leeds on Wikipedia:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diocese_of_Leeds
For more about the history of Kirkstall Abbey see:
www.leeds.gov.uk/kirkstallabbey/Kirkstall_Abbey/History.aspx
clinical waste / institutionalisation
An institution is any structure or mechanism of social order and cooperation governing the behavior of a set of individuals within a given human community. Institutions are identified with a social purpose and permanence, transcending individual human lives and intentions, and with the making and enforcing of rules governing cooperative human behavior.
Enoch Powell, when Minister for Health in the early 1960s, was a later opponent who was appalled by what he witnessed on his visits to the asylums, and his famous "water tower" speech in 1961 called for the closure of all NHS asylums and their replacement by wards in general hospitals:
"There they stand, isolated, majestic, imperious, brooded over by the gigantic water-tower and chimney combined, rising unmistakable and daunting out of the countryside - the asylums which our forefathers built with such immense solidity to express the notions of their day. Do not for a moment underestimate their powers of resistance to our assault. Let me describe some of the defences which we have to storm."
scandal after scandal followed, with many high profile public inquiries. These involved the exposure of abuses such as unscientific surgical techniques such as lobotomy and the widespread neglect and abuse of vulnerable patients in the USA and Europe. The growing anti-psychiatry movement in the 1960s and 1970s led in Italy to the first successful legislative challenge to the authority of the mental institutions, culminating in their closure.
During the 1980 s and 1990s the hospital population started to fall rapidly, mainly because of the deaths of long-term inmates. Significant efforts were made to re-house large numbers of former residents in a variety of suitable or otherwise alternative accommodation. The first 1,000+ bed hospital to close was Darenth Park in Kent, swiftly followed by many more across the UK. The haste of these closures, driven by the Conservative governments led by Margaret Thatcher and John Major, led to considerable criticism in the press, as some individuals slipped through the net into homelessness or were discharged to poor quality private sector mini-institutions. The resistance of many institutions to change, predicted by Enoch Powell, has continued into the 21st century, and there are still several thousand people permanently resident in the dwindling asylums and long stay hospital replacement campuses scattered across the UK.
Max DUPAIN 1911–1992
Meat Queue, 1946
gelatin silver photograph
Purchased with funds from the Visual Arts Board of the Australia Council 1982
AlburyCity Collection
Meat Queue, was one in a series of pictures Sydney photographer Max Dupain produced for the Department of Information. When interviewed by curator Helen Ennis in 1991, Dupain said: ‘We were doing a story on queues after the war. They were all over the place – queues for buses, vegetables, fruit. I just happened to come across this butcher shop in Pitt Street, I think it was. Here they were all lined up, and I went around it, took a number of pictures, ultimately ending up with this sort of architectural approach with four or five females all dressed in black with black hats, not looking too happy about the world. Suddenly one of them breaks the queue when I’m focused up all ready to go, pure luck.’
The solidity of the linear figures taken from mid distance beneath a meat coupon scale used to weigh a portion of meat according to the allowance noted on the coupon democratises the women. The picture is given a sudden focus as the central figure decides to move from the queue and makes unwanted contact with the woman in front. Described as a documentary photograph, but not necessarily a social comment, this clear, modernist image depicts the economic food rationing of post-war Australia through black-and-white shapes shown in a shallow space. Form rather than content defines the image. The central figure in a lighter-coloured coat is balanced on either side by the darker coats; and the black hats, which make a wave along the horizontal, parallel the line of meat hooks.
Ennis H 1991, ‘Max Dupain: photographs’, Australian National Gallery, Canberra p 18
A National Historic Landmark
Otsego County, NY
Listed in NR: 10/07/1971
Designated an NHL: 06/24/1986
This remarkable limestone manor, begun in 1817, combines the high style grace of an English country house with the solidity and ingenuity of an American dwelling. It also happens to be one of early America’s most thoroughly documented buildings. Phillip Hooker designed it for George Hyde Clarke, and both the architect’s drawings and the owner’s bills survive. Architecturally, as a student of the house has aptly stated, Hyde Hall “stand with one foot in the English Regency and the other in the American Greek Revival.” It has been restored and is open to the public as a major attraction in Glimmerglass State Park.
PAGEANT 23 (WESTERLY)
Sailboat Specifications
Hull Type: Twin Keel
Rigging Type: Masthead Sloop
LOA: 23.00 ft / 7.01 m
LWL: 19.00 ft / 5.79 m
Beam: 8.00 ft / 2.44 m
S.A. (reported): 236.00 ft2 / 21.93 m2
Draft (max): 2.83 ft / 0.86 m
Displacement: 4,300 lb / 1,950 kg
Ballast: 2,094 lb / 950 kg
S.A./Disp.: 14.32
Bal./Disp.: 48.70
Disp./Len.: 279.87
Construction: GRP
First Built: 1970
Last Built: 1979
# Built: 551
Designer: Laurent Giles
Builder: Westerly Yacht Construction Ltd (UK)
Builder: Westerly Marine, Hampshire
The Pageant is one of the smaller of the Westerly range designed by Laurent Giles and produced in volume in the 1970s. She offers an excellent small cruiser, with remarkable room below for her length, and has the typical Westerly virtues of strength and solidity.
The Pageant was designed for Westerly by Laurent Giles in 1969, as a replacement for the earlier Nomad. Production ran from 1970 to 1979, the yacht shown in the photographs here being one of the last of the 550 or so built. A very few (reportedly just six) fin-keel versions were also produced in 1976, these being called Westerly Kendals. As with all other Westerly Marine yachts the Pageant was very strongly built to Lloyds specifications, which meant that the building processes were rigorously monitored and all materials had to be approved by Lloyds in order that a hull certificate could be issued.
Auxiliary Power/Tanks (orig. equip.)
Make: Volvo Penta
Model: MD1B
Type: Diesel
HP: 10
Fuel: 10 gals / 38 L
Sailboat Calculations
S.A./Disp.: 14.32
Bal./Disp.: 48.70
Disp./Len.: 279.87
Comfort Ratio: 20.61
Capsize Screening Formula: 1.97
Accommodations
Water: 15 gals / 57 L
Headroom1.75m
Cabins 2
Berths 5/6
Ponce County, Puerto Rico
Listed: 06/25/1987
The predominant style is related to the Beaux art neoclassical, with three horizontal bands defining this wraparound facade. The base is made of a pinkish stone extracted from a quarry close to the city. This stone has been commonly used in other Ponce buildings. Over said base, there is a body defined by a colossal Corinthian order, with paired pilasters turning into columns at the most dramatic point, where the front to the Square is defined.
The building's major occupant since its construction - the Banco de Ponce – was founded in 1912, as a bank oriented to finance the needs of the locally-based largescale cane and coffee industry. At that time, Ponce was in the midst of an economic boom which entailed the construction of Beaux arts and eclectic buildings in the city reflecting the "cultured" taste, of the wealthy landowning class. This particular building is a relatively late but very successful example of Ponce interpretation of the FindeSiecle Beaux Arts architects. Its architect Francisco Porrata Doria, had, at the time, recently returned to Puerto Rico, after studying engineering at Cornell University and some architectural courses at Columbia University.
This may account for the academic correctness of the detailing, also evident in the next-door Banco Credito y Ahorro Ponceno, another of his works. Later Porrata-Doria would evolve stylistically to execute Streamline, Art Deco, and even early International Style designs; several of these examples are located very close to this building, right on Ponce's main square. The Banco de Ponce's setting on the city's main square contributes to the elegance of this part of the city. Several adjacent structures are already listed in the National Register: the old Firehouse (1883, NR 07-12-84) the City Hall 1845, NR 11-19-86) and the Cathedral (1841, NR 12-10-84). The latter's facade is a 1932 Porrata-Doria design. Banco de Ponce's monumental exuberance expresses the pride of the institution, its solidity and its capacity to hold its own against far more wealthy Stateside institutions competing for the dollars of the local moneyed classes.
Great Bedwyn, Wiltshire
St.Mary
A cruciform church of C12-C13, outside a preaching cross, with some remaining detail. of particular note is the nave with its fine capitals, which even though over restored, still have a shapely grandeur and solidity that makes them and the church worthy of special attention. The chancel is long with lancet windows, the whole feel of the place is grand and well proportioned.The monument is of John Seymour brother of Jane Seymour Queen of Henry VII. The heraldic glass was brought from Wolfhall by Georgina wife of the 5th Marquess of Ailesbury in 1905 from Wolf Hall at Burbage.
Albi Cathedral is one of the most unique, awe-inspiring churches ever concieved, quite simply one of the wonders of the medieval world.
Although contemporary with the great gothic cathedrals of Northern France, this largely 13th century structure is radically different, being constructed almost entirely of brick and built like a mighty fortress; mostly unadorned walls rise uninterrupted from the ground like sheer cliff-faces of brick. The simplicity of the design gives it an almost modern appearance, and it's massive scale exudes a quite overpowering presence.
The cathedral's powerful fortified appearance is largely down to two factors, the form of the building is consistent with local forms of gothic churches in southern France and northern Spain, whilst thr fortified solidity can be associated with the supression of the Cathars in this area during the Albigensian Crusades, the building serving as a lesson in strength and permanence as a warning to any rebellious locals.
The plain exterior was relieved in the more stable climate of the 16th century by the huge flamboyant porch on the south side of the nave, more like an enormous spikey canopy open on three sides. It remains the main entrance to the cathedral, the base of the enormous tower being so massively constructed as to leave no room for a traditional west entrance.
On entering this vast edifice one's senses are overwhelmed yet again, this time by the profusion of decoration in the cavernous interior. The walls and ceilings are entirely covered by frescoes dating from the early 16th century, mostly in Renaissance style, much of it colourful geometric patterns. The most memorable sections are the earliest frescoes at the west end from an enormous Last Judgement; the central section was sadly removed in the 18th century but the extensive and graphic depiction of the torments of Hell remains.
In addition this cathedral is rare in preserving it's 'jube' or choir screen), a late medieval masterpiece of decoration and sculpture which extends into a lavishly sculpted choir enclosure adorned with a riot of angels and saints.
All in all this unforgettable cathedral is a monument that defies description alone and bombards the senses!
The Lafayette Building and former First Presbyterian Church in South Bend are new on Indiana Landmarks' 10 Most Endangered in 2015. Learn more at www.indianalandmarks.org.
Two South Bend landmarks on the 10 Most Endangered list sit next door to one another, across the street from the city’s historic courthouses. The city ordered both structures sealed until multiple code violations are cured.
Last fall, when slate began cascading from the roof of the long-vacant former First Presbyterian, the out-of-state owner replaced the slate with a tar paper roof. This year, finally, installation of a new imitation slate roof began on the vacant, damaged landmark.
Pittsburgh architect J. P. Bailey—creator of courthouses and schools from the Midwest to Maine—designed the 1888 sandstone and limestone church in the Richardsonian Romanesque Revival style. Local industrialists J. M Studebaker and J.D. Oliver, who each covered a third of the cost, favored the style’s expression of solidity and permanence.
The Lafayette Building dates from 1901 and 1903, when it went from three to five stories. The understated Neoclassical exterior gives no hint of the graceful interior, lit by a five-story skylighted atrium. In addition to its deteriorated condition, the property’s delinquent tax bill tops $1 million.
“Indiana Landmarks linked the two sites as a 10 Most Endangered entry because we think each affects the fate of the other, and because we believe the solution may be a redevelopment that unites them,” says Todd Zeiger, director of the organization’s northern office.
Los Angeles, California
Listed 7/23/2013
Reference Number: 13000509
The Boyle Hotel - Cummings Block is significant tmder Criterion A as an important anchor to the early commercial development of Los Angeles in the Boyle Heights neighborhood east of the Los Angeles River. When completed in 1889,6 it reflected expansion and growth outside the commercial core in Los Angeles. Now, as the last remaining commercial building from the early development of Boyle Heights in the 1880s, the building represents the late nineteenth century transition of Los Angeles from a small city surrounded by farmland to a burgeoning city center surrounded by suburban neighborhoods. Pre-twentieth century commercial buildings are extremely rare in the greater Los Angeles metropolitan area and likely number fewer than a dozen. Extant pre-twentieth century hotels are even rarer and probably number fewer than five. The Boyle Hotel - Cummings Block is also significant under Criterion C for its rare and unique architectural design in a Queen A1me style. 8 The building embodies distinctive character defining features, including its highly decorative wall surface, ornamental spiral columns, parapets with patterned surfacing, comer turret, second story double window with an arched pediment, and decorative brickwork. The building commands a prominent position at the crest of a hill overlooking downtown, as well as at an important intersection, and its construction out of brick signifies solidity and durability at this important site.
National Register of Historic Places Homepage
We know it is often hard to tell the size of things on the screen, so we have taken a photograph with Gary Baseman's Kidrobot 3 inch Dunny for reference.
As you can see, the Jibibuts are quite a bit bigger than other blindbox figures. The fact they are made from wood makes them feel even larger. They have a great weight and solidity to them that can not be achieved through vinyl or plastic.
For Station Saturday here's a simple little portrait of a gorgeous little depot sitting beside modern day CPKC's River Sub mainline and still in use twice daily by Amtrak's Empire Builder.
Per Amtrak's Great American Stations page on the depot:
Red Wing’s historic depot, built by the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroad – known as the Milwaukee Road – opened to the public in 1905. It was constructed as a combination depot, meaning it contained passenger and freight functions under one roof. Today it is a beautifully restored gateway to the recreation, arts and commerce of this vibrant city on the west bank of the Mississippi River.
Designed by Milwaukee Road architect J.M. Nettenstrom, the one story building is composed of brown brick and has a steep gabled roof. A cross gable contains entrances on both the track and street sides of the depot, and each of these gabled fronts displays impressive decorative geometric brickwork in a contrasting buff tone. Facing the tracks is a wide porch with ornamental open stickwork in the gable supported by curving brackets. The corners of the building and cross gables, as well as the porch columns, feature sturdy quoins that provide the depot with a visual heft indicating solidity and permanence.
In 1991, the city acquired the depot from the SOO Line Railroad. The Red Wing Area Fund, a private entity comprised of local philanthropists, leased and renovated the building. In 2004, the Area Fund purchased the depot from the city and has since contributed more than $53,000 for operations and $21,000 for repairs. Today it houses the Red Wing Visitor and Convention Bureau, an Amtrak waiting room and an arts gallery.
Red Wing, Minnesota
Monday May 8, 2023
Albi Cathedral is one of the most unique, awe-inspiring churches ever concieved, quite simply one of the wonders of the medieval world.
Although contemporary with the great gothic cathedrals of Northern France, this largely 13th century structure is radically different, being constructed almost entirely of brick and built like a mighty fortress; mostly unadorned walls rise uninterrupted from the ground like sheer cliff-faces of brick. The simplicity of the design gives it an almost modern appearance, and it's massive scale exudes a quite overpowering presence.
The cathedral's powerful fortified appearance is largely down to two factors, the form of the building is consistent with local forms of gothic churches in southern France and northern Spain, whilst thr fortified solidity can be associated with the supression of the Cathars in this area during the Albigensian Crusades, the building serving as a lesson in strength and permanence as a warning to any rebellious locals.
The plain exterior was relieved in the more stable climate of the 16th century by the huge flamboyant porch on the south side of the nave, more like an enormous spikey canopy open on three sides. It remains the main entrance to the cathedral, the base of the enormous tower being so massively constructed as to leave no room for a traditional west entrance.
On entering this vast edifice one's senses are overwhelmed yet again, this time by the profusion of decoration in the cavernous interior. The walls and ceilings are entirely covered by frescoes dating from the early 16th century, mostly in Renaissance style, much of it colourful geometric patterns. The most memorable sections are the earliest frescoes at the west end from an enormous Last Judgement; the central section was sadly removed in the 18th century but the extensive and graphic depiction of the torments of Hell remains.
In addition this cathedral is rare in preserving it's 'jube' or choir screen), a late medieval masterpiece of decoration and sculpture which extends into a lavishly sculpted choir enclosure adorned with a riot of angels and saints.
All in all this unforgettable cathedral is a monument that defies description alone and bombards the senses!
Roof boss in St Edmund & St Dunstan's chapel.
The attractive town of Tewkesbury has been dominated by its superb abbey church since the beginning of the 12th century, and we can be forever grateful to its townspeople for purchasing the monastic church in 1540 for £453 for use as their parish church, saving it from the fate that befell countless similar great churches across the land during the turmoil of the Dissolution. It reminds us both how lucky we are to still marvel at it today, yet also how great a loss to our heritage the period wrought when many more such buildings were so utterly plundered as to have gone without trace (the fate of the monastic buildings here and even the lady chapel of the church whose footings are laid out in the grass at the east end).
Tewkesbury Abbey is thus rightly celebrated as one of our greatest non-cathedral churches, and remarkably much of the original Norman church remains substantially intact, most apparently in the great central tower, a fine example of Romanesque architecture adorned with rows of blind-arcading. The west front is dominated by a massive Norman-arched recess (enclosing the somewhat later west window) and the nave and transepts remain largely as originally built, though this is less clear externally owing to the changes made to the windows, nearly all of which were enlarged in the 14th century in the Decorated Gothic style. This century also saw the complete rebuilding of the eastern limb of the church, of a form less common in England with radiating chapels surrounding the eastern apse of the choir (the central lady chapel sadly missing since 1540).
The interior reveals far more of the Romanesque structure with mighty columns supporting the round Norman arches of the nave arcades giving the building a great sense of solidity. The space is further enlivened by the changes made during the 14th century by the stunning vault over the nave (adorned with a rewarding series of figurative bosses) which sits surprisingly well with the Norman work below. Beyond the apsidal choir beckons, and both this and the space below the tower are enriched with stunningly complex vaulted ceilings (replete with further bosses and gilded metal stars), all ablaze with colour and gilding.
There is much to enjoy in glass here, most remarkably a complete set of 14th century glazing in the clerestorey of the choir, seven windows filled with saints and prophets (and most memorably two groups of knights in the westernmost windows on each side). A few of the figures have fared less well over the centuries but on the whole this is a wonderfully rare and well preserved scheme. There is much glass from the 19th century too, with an extensive scheme in the nave of good quality work by Hardman's, and more recently a pair of rich windows by Tom Denny were added in one of the polygonal chapels around the east end.
Some of the most memorable features are the monuments with many medieval tombs of note, primarily the effigies and chantry chapels of members of the Despenser family around the choir (two of the chantries being miniature architectural gems in their own right with exquisite fan-vaulting). In one of the apsidal chapels is the unusual cenotaph to Abbot Wakeman with his grisly cadaver effigy, a late medieval reminder of earthly mortality.
Tewkesbury Abbey is not to be missed and is every bit as rewarding as many of our cathedrals (superior in fact to all but the best). It is normally kept open and welcoming to visitors on a daily basis. I have also had the privilege of working on this great building several times over the years (as part of the team at the studio I once worked for), and have left my mark in glass in a few discreet places.
Part of the complete sequence of seven early 14th century windows preserving most of their original glass in the choir clerestorey.
The attractive town of Tewkesbury has been dominated by its superb abbey church since the beginning of the 12th century, and we can be forever grateful to its townspeople for purchasing the monastic church in 1540 for £453 for use as their parish church, saving it from the fate that befell countless similar great churches across the land during the turmoil of the Dissolution. It reminds us both how lucky we are to still marvel at it today, yet also how great a loss to our heritage the period wrought when many more such buildings were so utterly plundered as to have gone without trace (the fate of the monastic buildings here and even the lady chapel of the church whose footings are laid out in the grass at the east end).
Tewkesbury Abbey is thus rightly celebrated as one of our greatest non-cathedral churches, and remarkably much of the original Norman church remains substantially intact, most apparently in the great central tower, a fine example of Romanesque architecture adorned with rows of blind-arcading. The west front is dominated by a massive Norman-arched recess (enclosing the somewhat later west window) and the nave and transepts remain largely as originally built, though this is less clear externally owing to the changes made to the windows, nearly all of which were enlarged in the 14th century in the Decorated Gothic style. This century also saw the complete rebuilding of the eastern limb of the church, of a form less common in England with radiating chapels surrounding the eastern apse of the choir (the central lady chapel sadly missing since 1540).
The interior reveals far more of the Romanesque structure with mighty columns supporting the round Norman arches of the nave arcades giving the building a great sense of solidity. The space is further enlivened by the changes made during the 14th century by the stunning vault over the nave (adorned with a rewarding series of figurative bosses) which sits surprisingly well with the Norman work below. Beyond the apsidal choir beckons, and both this and the space below the tower are enriched with stunningly complex vaulted ceilings (replete with further bosses and gilded metal stars), all ablaze with colour and gilding.
There is much to enjoy in glass here, most remarkably a complete set of 14th century glazing in the clerestorey of the choir, seven windows filled with saints and prophets (and most memorably two groups of knights in the westernmost windows on each side). A few of the figures have fared less well over the centuries but on the whole this is a wonderfully rare and well preserved scheme. There is much glass from the 19th century too, with an extensive scheme in the nave of good quality work by Hardman's, and more recently a pair of rich windows by Tom Denny were added in one of the polygonal chapels around the east end.
Some of the most memorable features are the monuments with many medieval tombs of note, primarily the effigies and chantry chapels of members of the Despenser family around the choir (two of the chantries being miniature architectural gems in their own right with exquisite fan-vaulting). In one of the apsidal chapels is the unusual cenotaph to Abbot Wakeman with his grisly cadaver effigy, a late medieval reminder of earthly mortality.
Tewkesbury Abbey is not to be missed and is every bit as rewarding as many of our cathedrals (superior in fact to all but the best). It is normally kept open and welcoming to visitors on a daily basis. I have also had the privilege of working on this great building several times over the years (as part of the team at the studio I once worked for), and have left my mark in glass in a few discreet places.
of completion. The surface of soil is undulating and well adapted to agricultural pursuits. It is well watered by Wills creek, Crooked creek, Leatherwood creek, Salt Fork creek, and tributaries, while the present population of the county will exceed 30,000 inhabitants. The semi-mountainous ranges are covered with a heavy growth of timber; a fine quality of fire clay abounds in various sections suitable for the best quality of brick and tiling, which is being utilized to some extent. Building stone quarries have been opened and the beauty and solidity of the stone have already secured more than local reputation. A fine quality of coal is found in various portions of the county and several mines are being successfully operated, and last, but not least is the demonstrated fact that NATURAL GAS is found in such abundance as to give the county marked celebrity, in the advantages it offers for lighting, heating and manufacturing purposes. This subject is treated of elsewhere in its local interests. The County Commissioners are J. B. Hartley, Geo. Watson and John A. Thompson. The Infirmary Directors are R. L. Spencer, Alex. Speer and Isaac McCollum.
STATISTICAL.
The number of acres of cultivated lands in this county for 1888 were 75,325; the number of acres in pasture 152,296; the number of acres lying waste and wood land 73,903. Number of acres of wheat sown 19,252, bushels produced 210,635; number of acres sown in rye 609, bushels produced 6,000; buckwheat produced 1,637 bushels; bushels of oats produced 256,841; bushels of barley raised 1,000; corn 782,511; tons of hay 51,614; clover 2,093 bushels; number of pounds of butter made in home dairies 581,121, and in factories and creameries 36,000 pounds; bushels of potatoes raised 85,464; pounds of honey 15,358; eggs produced 656,831 dozen, of which 195,000 dozen were shipped to foreign markets; apples produced 583,624 bushels, and 110,800 bushels of peaches; pounds of wool shorn 237,243; number of milch cows 5,811; stallions 39; number of sheep in county 132,508; number of horses 6,863; number of cattle 15,962, and number of hogs 12,605. Guernsey County Agricultural Fair is held near Washington and is noticed in connection with that place. Other matters will be found in special editorials upon the towns and their respective industries.
COMMENT
ALTHOUGH the earlier estimates of the number of persons killed and the magnitude of the area devastated by the San Francisco catastrophe have been reduced materially, the value of the property destroyed is still computed at hundreds of millions of dollars, and it is expected that the resources of the fire-insurance companies will be taxed severely in the effort to bear their share of the loss. As we go to press, the aggregate of the relief fund has already reached the unprecedented figure of over $20,000,000. Some surprise and concern seem to have been caused in San Francisco by the discovery that of the $2,500,000 appropriated by Congress for the inhabitants of the stricken city, only about $300,000 will reach them in the shape of cash. They overlook the fact that the appropriation had to be used primarily to make good the rations and other supplies furnished by the military and naval authorities. Neither Secretary TAFT nor Secretary BONAPARTE had a right to expend a dollar or a dollar's worth of supplies for the purpose of relieving the necessities of the victims of the catastrophe, though they rightly dealt with an awful emergency on the assumption that their acts would be ratified by Congress. The ratification came promptly, but it must be remembered that it took the form of specifying $2,500,000 as the outlay beyond which the War Department and the Navy Department must not go. No doubt a con-siderable proportion of the private contributions has also been disbursed in purchasing and forwarding food-supplies. The amount of cash which will be available for employment by local authorities and local committees in San Francisco and other afflicted towns in California will, nevertheless, be large. The funds needed for reconstruction, however, will, of course, come mainly from the fire-insurance companies and from capitalists who are willing to erect new buildings on their own lands or to make building loans on the lands of others. There is reason to believe that the major part of the losses incurred by fire-insurance companies will be met promptly, and that the requisite supplementary supplies of money will be quickly forthcoming. There is a deep and growing conviction that San Francisco will be rebuilt within five years, and that no large permanent draft from its popula-tion will be made by Seattle, or even by Oakland, though, of course, the last-named city is temporarily a gainer by the misfortunes of its great neighbor.
We may also take for granted that as regards the applica-tion of fire-proof methods of construction, the new San Fran-cisco will be a striking improvement on its predecessor. For such improvement there was ample room. The report pub-lished last October by the fire-insurance experts, after a care-ful examination of American cities with reference to water supplies and the means of protection against fire, indicated that the prolonged escape of San Francisco from a sweeping conflagration was little short of a miracle. It was pointed out by the fire-insurance experts that ninety per cent of the buildings were of wood; that only 2.2 per cent. of them were what is called "fireproof"; that there was but one sprinkler equipment, and that obsolete; and that there was no means of utilizing the water in the bay for the purpose of fighting fire. On the other hand, San Francisco was ac-knowledged to possess some advantages from an underwriter's point of view which many American cities lack. For example, it had several independent sources of water-supply, and some of its distributing reservoirs were provided with gravity-supply mains. Moreover, its fire department was well organized and well equipped, except in the matter of fire-boats. The danger that water-mains will be fractured by earthquake will, of course, always remain. It is impossible to guarantee a water- supply against seismic disturbance, but in all other respect;; San Francisco may be relied upon to have, five years hence, as efficient means of protection against fire as human in-genuity can devise.
The San Francisco catastrophe has directed attention to the fact that fires are much more common in American than in British cities, although our fire departments are much more costly than are their British counterparts. According to the lately published returns of the London Metropolitan Fire Brigade for 1905 and the report of the Fire Marshal of New York for the same year, there were, during the preceding twelve months, in the Boroughs of Manhattan, the Bronx, and Richmond, 7750 fires as against only 3511 in London, which contains upwards of 6,000,000 inhabitants. Mr. ALBEllT SHAW, in his book on Municipal Government in Great Britain, points out that American towns of 50,000 inhabitants have in some years as many fires as London. On the other hand, the fire department of Chicago, as well as that of New York, employs considerably more men than that of London, while even that of Boston has three-fourths as many employees. To maintain the New York fire department costs over twice as much as London spends for the same purpose. The rela-tive immunity of London from destructive fires is doubtless attributable in part to the solidity of the materials of which most of the buildings are constructed, but mainly to the ab-sence of American negligence with reference to chimneys and flues and the management of heating apparatus, and to the absence of American carelessness in the use of matches, although in the British metropolis also matches cause most of the conflagrations. In the London report no conflagrations are ascribed to bonfires or brush-fires, whereas the New York fire marshal imputes nearly five hundred to this cause.
Caesarea was developed over a period of 12 Years into a grand city and major seaport and he dedicated it to Roman Emperor Caesar Augustus, who had returned it to Herod after wresting it away from Cleopatra. It left a spectacular Roman amphitheater that is still used as a performance venue today. Caesarea, often simplified to Keisarya, and Qaysaria, is an affluent town in north-central Israel, which inherits its name and much of its territory from the ancient city of Caesarea Maritima. Located midway between Tel Aviv and Haifa. The ancient city of Caesarea Maritima was built by Herod the Great about 25–13 BCE as a major port. It served as an administrative center of the province of Judaea in the Roman Empire, and later as the capital of the Byzantine province of Palaestina Prima. During the Muslim conquest in the 7th century, it was the last city of the Holy Land to fall to the Arabs. The city degraded to a small village after the provincial capital was moved from here to Ramla and had an Arab majority until Crusader conquest. Under the Crusaders it became once again a major port and a fortified city. It was diminished after the Mamluk conquest. In 1884, Bosniak immigrants settled there establishing a small fishing village. Hellenistic and early Roman periods - In 90 BCE, Jewish ruler Alexander Jannaeus captured Straton's Tower as part of his policy of developing the shipbuilding industry and enlarging the Hasmonean kingdom. Straton's Tower remained a Jewish settlement for two more generations, until the area became dominated by the Romans in 63 BCE, when they declared it an autonomous city. Herodian city of Caesarea Maritima (22 BCE – 6CE) - Caesarea Maritima was built in Roman-ruled Judea under the Jewish client King Herod the Great during c. 22-10/9 BCE near the ruins of the small naval station of Straton's Tower. The site, along with all of Judea, was awarded by Rome to Herod the Great in 30 BCE. The pagan city underwent vast changes under Herod, who renamed it Caesarea in honor of the Roman emperor, Caesar Augustus. Caesarea Maritima was known as the administrative, economic, and cultural capital of the Palestinian province from this time. In 22 BCE, Herod began construction of a deep-sea harbor named Sebastos and built storerooms, markets, wide roads, baths, temples to Rome and Augustus, and imposing public buildings. Herod built his palace on a promontory jutting out into the sea, with a decorative pool surrounded by stoas. Every five years, the city hosted major sports competitions, gladiator games, and theatrical productions in its theatre overlooking the Mediterranean Sea. Construction of Sebastos Harbor / King Herod built the two jetties of the harbor between 22 and 15 BCE, and in 10/9 BCE he dedicated the city and harbor to Emperor Augustus (Sebastos is Greek for Augustus). The pace of construction was impressive considering the project's size and complexity. At its height, Sebastos was one of the most impressive harbors of its time. It had been constructed on a coast that had no natural harbors and served as an important commercial harbor in antiquity, rivaling Cleopatra's harbor at Alexandria. Josephus wrote: "Although the location was generally unfavorable, [Herod] contended with the difficulties so well that the solidity of the construction could not be overcome by the sea, and its beauty seemed finished off without impediment." When it was built in the 1st century BCE, the harbor of Sebastos ranked as the largest artificial harbor built in the open sea, enclosing around 100,000 m2. The breakwaters were made of lime and pozzolana, a type of volcanic ash, set into an underwater concrete. Herod imported over 24,000 m3 of pozzolana from the name-giving town of Puteoli, today Pozzuoli in Italy, to construct the two breakwaters: the southern one 500 meter, and the northern one 275 meter long. A shipment of this size would have required at least 44 shiploads of 400 tons each. Herod also had 12,000 m3 of local kurkar stone quarried to make rubble and 12,000 m3 of slaked lime mixed with the pozzolana. Architects had to devise a way to lay the wooden forms for the placement of concrete underwater. One technique was to drive stakes into the ground to make a box and then fill it with pozzolana concrete bit by bit. However, this method required many divers to hammer the planks to the stakes underwater and large quantities of pozzolana were necessary. Another technique was a double planking method used in the northern breakwater. On land, carpenters would construct a box with beams and frames on the inside and a watertight, double-planked wall on the outside. This double wall was built with a 23 cm (9 in) gap between the inner and outer layer. Although the box had no bottom, it was buoyant enough to float out to sea because of the watertight space between the inner and outer walls. Once it was floated into position, pozzolana was poured into the gap between the walls and the box would sink into place on the seafloor and be staked down in the corners. The flooded inside area was then filled by divers bit by bit with pozzolana-lime mortar and kurkar rubble until it rose above sea level. On the southern breakwater, barge construction was used. The southern side of Sebastos was much more exposed than the northern side, requiring sturdier breakwaters. Instead of using the double planked method filled with rubble, the architects sank barges filled with layers of pozzolana concrete and lime sand mortar. The barges were similar to boxes without lids, and were constructed using mortise and tenon joints, the same technique used in ancient boats, to ensure they remained watertight. The barges were ballasted with 0.5 meters of pozzolana concrete and floated out to their position. With alternating layers, pozzolana-based and lime-based concretes were hand-placed inside the barge to sink it and fill it up to the surface. However, there were underlying problems that led to its demise. Studies of the concrete cores of the moles have shown that the concrete was much weaker than similar pozzolana hydraulic concrete used in ancient Italian ports. For unknown reasons, the pozzolana mortar did not adhere as well to the kurkar rubble as it did to other rubble types used in Italian harbors. Small but numerous holes in some of the cores also indicate that the lime was of poor quality and stripped out of the mixture by strong waves before it could set. Also, large lumps of lime were found in all five of the cores studied at Caesarea, which shows that the mixture was not mixed thoroughly. However, stability would not have been seriously affected if the harbor had not been constructed over a geological fault line that runs along the coast. Seismic action gradually took its toll on the breakwaters, causing them to tilt down and settle into the seabed. Studies of seabed deposits at Caesarea have shown that a tsunami struck the area sometime during the 1st or 2nd century. Although it is unknown if this tsunami simply damaged or completely destroyed the harbor, it is known that by the 6th century the harbor was unusable and today the jetties lie more than 5 meters underwater. During the Byzantine period, Caesarea became the capital of the new province of Palaestina Prima in 390. As the capital of the province, Caesarea was also the metropolitan see, with ecclesiastical jurisdiction over Jerusalem, when rebuilt after the destruction in the year 70. In 451, however, the Council of Chalcedon established Jerusalem as a patriarchate, with Caesarea as the first of its three subordinate metropolitan sees. Caesarea remained the provincial capital throughout the 5th and 6th centuries. It fell to Sassanid Persia in the Byzantine–Sasanian War of 602–628, in 614, and was re-conquered by Byzantium in 625.
Los Angeles, California
Listed 7/23/2013
Reference Number: 13000509
The Boyle Hotel - Cummings Block is significant tmder Criterion A as an important anchor to the early commercial development of Los Angeles in the Boyle Heights neighborhood east of the Los Angeles River. When completed in 1889,6 it reflected expansion and growth outside the commercial core in Los Angeles. Now, as the last remaining commercial building from the early development of Boyle Heights in the 1880s, the building represents the late nineteenth century transition of Los Angeles from a small city surrounded by farmland to a burgeoning city center surrounded by suburban neighborhoods. Pre-twentieth century commercial buildings are extremely rare in the greater Los Angeles metropolitan area and likely number fewer than a dozen. Extant pre-twentieth century hotels are even rarer and probably number fewer than five. The Boyle Hotel - Cummings Block is also significant under Criterion C for its rare and unique architectural design in a Queen A1me style. 8 The building embodies distinctive character defining features, including its highly decorative wall surface, ornamental spiral columns, parapets with patterned surfacing, comer turret, second story double window with an arched pediment, and decorative brickwork. The building commands a prominent position at the crest of a hill overlooking downtown, as well as at an important intersection, and its construction out of brick signifies solidity and durability at this important site.
National Register of Historic Places Homepage
EARLY PEARL®
As the first outdoor Sativa designed especially for shorter summers, Early Pearl has been providing northern growers with luxurious harvests of bulky, trichome-frosted bud for over 20 years. Before the development of early hybrids and acclimatised strains, producing powerful outdoor weed in Holland and similar climates was difficult. Though cannabis can grow anywhere, there was a time when seeds of truly psychoactive strains could only be obtained from imported weed. While often promising in their genetic potential, these seeds, especially the Sativas, had no chance of succeeding in the northern climate.
Sensi’s three Early strains were developed and released in the mid Eighties to give cool-climate growers access to the three most important groups of psychoactive cannabis ? Early Skunk, Indica-dominant Early Girl, and Early Pearl to represent the Sativa side of the family. Each of those groundbreaking hybrids has its own advantages, and we would hesitate to choose an absolute favourite. If a choice had to be made, Early Pearl is a very strong contender, as she has the yield and solidity of an Indica, the dazzling high of a Sativa and a vibrant, unstoppable zest for life that’s all her own. Furthermore, the Early Pearl line has proven to be first-class breeding-stock, perfect for adding toughness and stability to other hybrids.
For the largest possible yield, Early Pearl can be started indoors at the end of winter and should be transferred outdoors to a location with maximum exposure to direct sunlight a few weeks after the spring equinox. Allow wide spacing between plants, especially if growing directly in the ground, as these ladies can attain a final height equivalent to a small tree. Except in cases of continuous rain or long periods of below-freezing temperatures at the end of the outdoor season, Early Pearl can be left outdoors to reach full-budded crystal-coated maturity.
LIMANI Bistro, a Mediterranean resaurant built within the Roman ruins of Caesarea / Caesarea was developed over a period of 12 Years into a grand city and major seaport and he dedicated it to Roman Emperor Caesar Augustus, who had returned it to Herod after wresting it away from Cleopatra. It left a spectacular Roman amphitheater that is still used as a performance venue today. Caesarea, often simplified to Keisarya, and Qaysaria, is an affluent town in north-central Israel, which inherits its name and much of its territory from the ancient city of Caesarea Maritima. Located midway between Tel Aviv and Haifa. The ancient city of Caesarea Maritima was built by Herod the Great about 25–13 BCE as a major port. It served as an administrative center of the province of Judaea in the Roman Empire, and later as the capital of the Byzantine province of Palaestina Prima. During the Muslim conquest in the 7th century, it was the last city of the Holy Land to fall to the Arabs. The city degraded to a small village after the provincial capital was moved from here to Ramla and had an Arab majority until Crusader conquest. Under the Crusaders it became once again a major port and a fortified city. It was diminished after the Mamluk conquest. In 1884, Bosniak immigrants settled there establishing a small fishing village. Hellenistic and early Roman periods - In 90 BCE, Jewish ruler Alexander Jannaeus captured Straton's Tower as part of his policy of developing the shipbuilding industry and enlarging the Hasmonean kingdom. Straton's Tower remained a Jewish settlement for two more generations, until the area became dominated by the Romans in 63 BCE, when they declared it an autonomous city. Herodian city of Caesarea Maritima (22 BCE – 6CE) - Caesarea Maritima was built in Roman-ruled Judea under the Jewish client King Herod the Great during c. 22-10/9 BCE near the ruins of the small naval station of Straton's Tower. The site, along with all of Judea, was awarded by Rome to Herod the Great in 30 BCE. The pagan city underwent vast changes under Herod, who renamed it Caesarea in honor of the Roman emperor, Caesar Augustus. Caesarea Maritima was known as the administrative, economic, and cultural capital of the Palestinian province from this time. In 22 BCE, Herod began construction of a deep-sea harbor named Sebastos and built storerooms, markets, wide roads, baths, temples to Rome and Augustus, and imposing public buildings. Herod built his palace on a promontory jutting out into the sea, with a decorative pool surrounded by stoas. Every five years, the city hosted major sports competitions, gladiator games, and theatrical productions in its theatre overlooking the Mediterranean Sea. Construction of Sebastos Harbor / King Herod built the two jetties of the harbor between 22 and 15 BCE, and in 10/9 BCE he dedicated the city and harbor to Emperor Augustus (Sebastos is Greek for Augustus). The pace of construction was impressive considering the project's size and complexity. At its height, Sebastos was one of the most impressive harbors of its time. It had been constructed on a coast that had no natural harbors and served as an important commercial harbor in antiquity, rivaling Cleopatra's harbor at Alexandria. Josephus wrote: "Although the location was generally unfavorable, [Herod] contended with the difficulties so well that the solidity of the construction could not be overcome by the sea, and its beauty seemed finished off without impediment." When it was built in the 1st century BCE, the harbor of Sebastos ranked as the largest artificial harbor built in the open sea, enclosing around 100,000 m2. The breakwaters were made of lime and pozzolana, a type of volcanic ash, set into an underwater concrete. Herod imported over 24,000 m3 of pozzolana from the name-giving town of Puteoli, today Pozzuoli in Italy, to construct the two breakwaters: the southern one 500 meter, and the northern one 275 meter long. A shipment of this size would have required at least 44 shiploads of 400 tons each. Herod also had 12,000 m3 of local kurkar stone quarried to make rubble and 12,000 m3 of slaked lime mixed with the pozzolana. Architects had to devise a way to lay the wooden forms for the placement of concrete underwater. One technique was to drive stakes into the ground to make a box and then fill it with pozzolana concrete bit by bit. However, this method required many divers to hammer the planks to the stakes underwater and large quantities of pozzolana were necessary. Another technique was a double planking method used in the northern breakwater. On land, carpenters would construct a box with beams and frames on the inside and a watertight, double-planked wall on the outside. This double wall was built with a 23 cm (9 in) gap between the inner and outer layer. Although the box had no bottom, it was buoyant enough to float out to sea because of the watertight space between the inner and outer walls. Once it was floated into position, pozzolana was poured into the gap between the walls and the box would sink into place on the seafloor and be staked down in the corners. The flooded inside area was then filled by divers bit by bit with pozzolana-lime mortar and kurkar rubble until it rose above sea level. On the southern breakwater, barge construction was used. The southern side of Sebastos was much more exposed than the northern side, requiring sturdier breakwaters. Instead of using the double planked method filled with rubble, the architects sank barges filled with layers of pozzolana concrete and lime sand mortar. The barges were similar to boxes without lids, and were constructed using mortise and tenon joints, the same technique used in ancient boats, to ensure they remained watertight. The barges were ballasted with 0.5 meters of pozzolana concrete and floated out to their position. With alternating layers, pozzolana-based and lime-based concretes were hand-placed inside the barge to sink it and fill it up to the surface. However, there were underlying problems that led to its demise. Studies of the concrete cores of the moles have shown that the concrete was much weaker than similar pozzolana hydraulic concrete used in ancient Italian ports. For unknown reasons, the pozzolana mortar did not adhere as well to the kurkar rubble as it did to other rubble types used in Italian harbors. Small but numerous holes in some of the cores also indicate that the lime was of poor quality and stripped out of the mixture by strong waves before it could set. Also, large lumps of lime were found in all five of the cores studied at Caesarea, which shows that the mixture was not mixed thoroughly. However, stability would not have been seriously affected if the harbor had not been constructed over a geological fault line that runs along the coast. Seismic action gradually took its toll on the breakwaters, causing them to tilt down and settle into the seabed. Studies of seabed deposits at Caesarea have shown that a tsunami struck the area sometime during the 1st or 2nd century. Although it is unknown if this tsunami simply damaged or completely destroyed the harbor, it is known that by the 6th century the harbor was unusable and today the jetties lie more than 5 meters underwater. During the Byzantine period, Caesarea became the capital of the new province of Palaestina Prima in 390. As the capital of the province, Caesarea was also the metropolitan see, with ecclesiastical jurisdiction over Jerusalem, when rebuilt after the destruction in the year 70. In 451, however, the Council of Chalcedon established Jerusalem as a patriarchate, with Caesarea as the first of its three subordinate metropolitan sees. Caesarea remained the provincial capital throughout the 5th and 6th centuries. It fell to Sassanid Persia in the Byzantine–Sasanian War of 602–628, in 614, and was re-conquered by Byzantium in 625.
With the Matchbox basic mainline being transformed from a generic filled hell to one of almost complete licensed castings within less than a decade it would be churlish to complain too much regarding their new Blaze Buster II. Yes Matchbox do have scores of licensed Fire Engine castings they could use but sometimes either through cost saving or the whims of a designer they feel compelled to go "original" or generic to you and I ;-p
Its all plastic body is to be expected now though for me the whole thing has lost that visual solidity and futuristic styling of the original Blaze Buster and has been replaced with something more akin to the Hot Wheels line!
It isn't awful by any means for its pocket money toy status, its just not something which is probably needed and seems a bit devoid of any meaningful character!
Part of 2024 Case L sourced recently from Jcar in the US.
Mint and boxed.
The attractive town of Tewkesbury has been dominated by its superb abbey church since the beginning of the 12th century, and we can be forever grateful to its townspeople for purchasing the monastic church in 1540 for £453 for use as their parish church, saving it from the fate that befell countless similar great churches across the land during the turmoil of the Dissolution. It reminds us both how lucky we are to still marvel at it today, yet also how great a loss to our heritage the period wrought when many more such buildings were so utterly plundered as to have gone without trace (the fate of the monastic buildings here and even the lady chapel of the church whose footings are laid out in the grass at the east end).
Tewkesbury Abbey is thus rightly celebrated as one of our greatest non-cathedral churches, and remarkably much of the original Norman church remains substantially intact, most apparently in the great central tower, a fine example of Romanesque architecture adorned with rows of blind-arcading. The west front is dominated by a massive Norman-arched recess (enclosing the somewhat later west window) and the nave and transepts remain largely as originally built, though this is less clear externally owing to the changes made to the windows, nearly all of which were enlarged in the 14th century in the Decorated Gothic style. This century also saw the complete rebuilding of the eastern limb of the church, of a form less common in England with radiating chapels surrounding the eastern apse of the choir (the central lady chapel sadly missing since 1540).
The interior reveals far more of the Romanesque structure with mighty columns supporting the round Norman arches of the nave arcades giving the building a great sense of solidity. The space is further enlivened by the changes made during the 14th century by the stunning vault over the nave (adorned with a rewarding series of figurative bosses) which sits surprisingly well with the Norman work below. Beyond the apsidal choir beckons, and both this and the space below the tower are enriched with stunningly complex vaulted ceilings (replete with further bosses and gilded metal stars), all ablaze with colour and gilding.
There is much to enjoy in glass here, most remarkably a complete set of 14th century glazing in the clerestorey of the choir, seven windows filled with saints and prophets (and most memorably two groups of knights in the westernmost windows on each side). A few of the figures have fared less well over the centuries but on the whole this is a wonderfully rare and well preserved scheme. There is much glass from the 19th century too, with an extensive scheme in the nave of good quality work by Hardman's, and more recently a pair of rich windows by Tom Denny were added in one of the polygonal chapels around the east end.
Some of the most memorable features are the monuments with many medieval tombs of note, primarily the effigies and chantry chapels of members of the Despenser family around the choir (two of the chantries being miniature architectural gems in their own right with exquisite fan-vaulting). In one of the apsidal chapels is the unusual cenotaph to Abbot Wakeman with his grisly cadaver effigy, a late medieval reminder of earthly mortality.
Tewkesbury Abbey is not to be missed and is every bit as rewarding as many of our cathedrals (superior in fact to all but the best). It is normally kept open and welcoming to visitors on a daily basis. I have also had the privilege of working on this great building several times over the years (as part of the team at the studio I once worked for), and have left my mark in glass in a few discreet places.
SPG's title says Church of St. George, however, modern photos of St George's in Staraya Ladoga show a very different building. The real St George's does have a dome atop a central tower, like the building on the left, however, the roofline below is very different, and there is no association with a tower like the one shown on the right. So if it is St George's, it's another St George's and I doubt that is in Staraya Ladoga. As I've noted before, SPG seems to have simply guessed at quite a number of the locations he ascribes.
A peasant couple sit on logs, enjoying their lunch, by Lake Ladoga. Starya Ladoga means the old town; the church in the previous photo is part of the new town founded by Peter the Great.
This church is a small one, unassuming, compared with the complex of three churches at the new town, and it sits behind what looks to be a very old rubble and mortar wall, which has a slight slope and a slight curve inwards, towards the viewer. Then, in the opposite direction, a ramped footpath slopes down to the foreshore, where our couple sits, smiling and apparently enjoying a meal. The man has a sort of a lunchbox on his lap. To his left, a large axe is buried in one of the logs, so I assume his work, whether for himself or for others, involves breaking up the longer logs which we see in the water and carrying off the shorter lengths.
I can't fathom the purpose of the old wall, but it is pierced by three oval shaped apertures. The one in about the centre of the frame has a brick arch above it; the next one along, almost invisible, appears to have collapsed at some point, and now has two supports inside it, and a reconstruction of the stonework above it; and the third is a mere darkness off towards the right side of the picture, about which one can tell very little, except that it too appears to have a brick arch over it. These holes are too small to walk through, and my hypothesis would be that they are basically drainage holes, for carrying away rainwater, perhaps, which otherwise might accumulate around the church; just a guess, of course. Note that the stones which make up the wall look like locally obtained ones, but they have been carefully selected to fall within a similar size range. This is so that the wall will be stronger; walls of this type, for all their seeming solidity, are actually only as strong as the binding agent (some variety of concrete or mortar) because, being irregularly shaped, the stones don't support each other. Thus, when the mortar begins to crack and fall out, the wall rapidly collapses. To make such a wall stronger, it needs to be faced with brick or stone, leaving the stone and rubble and mortar as mere infilling.
May 2012: I have applied a small amount of colour correction to the shot to get rid of the red blobs on the couple's face.
June 2014: Okay, one more try. I was unhappy with the purpleish cast to the wall and some of the patches of earth, so I have tried to reduce them a bit. The only trouble is, that with an RGB file, if you reduce the purple, you tend to increase the green. Well, let's assume that the green is moss growing on the wall...
December 2021 I've gone over it again one more time. In the last seven years, Photoshop has expanded its tools, and my skills have improved a bit, so I wanted to see if I could improve the contrast in the sky, and make the colours a bit more vibrant.
The Castel Vecchio Bridge or Scaliger Bridge is a fortified bridge in Verona, northern Italy, over the Adige River. The segmental arch bridge featured the world's largest span at the time of its construction (48.70 m).
It was built (most likely in 1354-1356) by Cangrande II della Scala, to grant him a safe way of escape from the annexed eponymous castle in the event of a rebellion of the population against his tyrannic rule. The solidity of the construction allowed it to resist untouched until, in the late 18th century, the French troops destroyed the tower on the left bank.
The bridge was however totally destroyed, along with the Ponte Pietra, by the retreating German troops on April 24, 1945. The bridge's reconstruction by architect Libero Cecchini began in 1949 and completed in 1951, with the exception of the left tower.
clinical waste / institutionalisation
An institution is any structure or mechanism of social order and cooperation governing the behavior of a set of individuals within a given human community. Institutions are identified with a social purpose and permanence, transcending individual human lives and intentions, and with the making and enforcing of rules governing cooperative human behavior.
Enoch Powell, when Minister for Health in the early 1960s, was a later opponent who was appalled by what he witnessed on his visits to the asylums, and his famous "water tower" speech in 1961 called for the closure of all NHS asylums and their replacement by wards in general hospitals:
"There they stand, isolated, majestic, imperious, brooded over by the gigantic water-tower and chimney combined, rising unmistakable and daunting out of the countryside - the asylums which our forefathers built with such immense solidity to express the notions of their day. Do not for a moment underestimate their powers of resistance to our assault. Let me describe some of the defences which we have to storm."
scandal after scandal followed, with many high profile public inquiries. These involved the exposure of abuses such as unscientific surgical techniques such as lobotomy and the widespread neglect and abuse of vulnerable patients in the USA and Europe. The growing anti-psychiatry movement in the 1960s and 1970s led in Italy to the first successful legislative challenge to the authority of the mental institutions, culminating in their closure.
During the 1980 s and 1990s the hospital population started to fall rapidly, mainly because of the deaths of long-term inmates. Significant efforts were made to re-house large numbers of former residents in a variety of suitable or otherwise alternative accommodation. The first 1,000+ bed hospital to close was Darenth Park in Kent, swiftly followed by many more across the UK. The haste of these closures, driven by the Conservative governments led by Margaret Thatcher and John Major, led to considerable criticism in the press, as some individuals slipped through the net into homelessness or were discharged to poor quality private sector mini-institutions. The resistance of many institutions to change, predicted by Enoch Powell, has continued into the 21st century, and there are still several thousand people permanently resident in the dwindling asylums and long stay hospital replacement campuses scattered across the UK.
Stained glass in the south aisle by Hardman's from the final decades of the 19th century..
The attractive town of Tewkesbury has been dominated by its superb abbey church since the beginning of the 12th century, and we can be forever grateful to its townspeople for purchasing the monastic church in 1540 for £453 for use as their parish church, saving it from the fate that befell countless similar great churches across the land during the turmoil of the Dissolution. It reminds us both how lucky we are to still marvel at it today, yet also how great a loss to our heritage the period wrought when many more such buildings were so utterly plundered as to have gone without trace (the fate of the monastic buildings here and even the lady chapel of the church whose footings are laid out in the grass at the east end).
Tewkesbury Abbey is thus rightly celebrated as one of our greatest non-cathedral churches, and remarkably much of the original Norman church remains substantially intact, most apparently in the great central tower, a fine example of Romanesque architecture adorned with rows of blind-arcading. The west front is dominated by a massive Norman-arched recess (enclosing the somewhat later west window) and the nave and transepts remain largely as originally built, though this is less clear externally owing to the changes made to the windows, nearly all of which were enlarged in the 14th century in the Decorated Gothic style. This century also saw the complete rebuilding of the eastern limb of the church, of a form less common in England with radiating chapels surrounding the eastern apse of the choir (the central lady chapel sadly missing since 1540).
The interior reveals far more of the Romanesque structure with mighty columns supporting the round Norman arches of the nave arcades giving the building a great sense of solidity. The space is further enlivened by the changes made during the 14th century by the stunning vault over the nave (adorned with a rewarding series of figurative bosses) which sits surprisingly well with the Norman work below. Beyond the apsidal choir beckons, and both this and the space below the tower are enriched with stunningly complex vaulted ceilings (replete with further bosses and gilded metal stars), all ablaze with colour and gilding.
There is much to enjoy in glass here, most remarkably a complete set of 14th century glazing in the clerestorey of the choir, seven windows filled with saints and prophets (and most memorably two groups of knights in the westernmost windows on each side). A few of the figures have fared less well over the centuries but on the whole this is a wonderfully rare and well preserved scheme. There is much glass from the 19th century too, with an extensive scheme in the nave of good quality work by Hardman's, and more recently a pair of rich windows by Tom Denny were added in one of the polygonal chapels around the east end.
Some of the most memorable features are the monuments with many medieval tombs of note, primarily the effigies and chantry chapels of members of the Despenser family around the choir (two of the chantries being miniature architectural gems in their own right with exquisite fan-vaulting). In one of the apsidal chapels is the unusual cenotaph to Abbot Wakeman with his grisly cadaver effigy, a late medieval reminder of earthly mortality.
Tewkesbury Abbey is not to be missed and is every bit as rewarding as many of our cathedrals (superior in fact to all but the best). It is normally kept open and welcoming to visitors on a daily basis. I have also had the privilege of working on this great building several times over the years (as part of the team at the studio I once worked for), and have left my mark in glass in a few discreet places.
Victorian plaster cast of a roof boss in the 14th century vault of the nave. Displayed as part of a small exhibition around the Abbey in 2013.
The attractive town of Tewkesbury has been dominated by its superb abbey church since the beginning of the 12th century, and we can be forever grateful to its townspeople for purchasing the monastic church in 1540 for £453 for use as their parish church, saving it from the fate that befell countless similar great churches across the land during the turmoil of the Dissolution. It reminds us both how lucky we are to still marvel at it today, yet also how great a loss to our heritage the period wrought when many more such buildings were so utterly plundered as to have gone without trace (the fate of the monastic buildings here and even the lady chapel of the church whose footings are laid out in the grass at the east end).
Tewkesbury Abbey is thus rightly celebrated as one of our greatest non-cathedral churches, and remarkably much of the original Norman church remains substantially intact, most apparently in the great central tower, a fine example of Romanesque architecture adorned with rows of blind-arcading. The west front is dominated by a massive Norman-arched recess (enclosing the somewhat later west window) and the nave and transepts remain largely as originally built, though this is less clear externally owing to the changes made to the windows, nearly all of which were enlarged in the 14th century in the Decorated Gothic style. This century also saw the complete rebuilding of the eastern limb of the church, of a form less common in England with radiating chapels surrounding the eastern apse of the choir (the central lady chapel sadly missing since 1540).
The interior reveals far more of the Romanesque structure with mighty columns supporting the round Norman arches of the nave arcades giving the building a great sense of solidity. The space is further enlivened by the changes made during the 14th century by the stunning vault over the nave (adorned with a rewarding series of figurative bosses) which sits surprisingly well with the Norman work below. Beyond the apsidal choir beckons, and both this and the space below the tower are enriched with stunningly complex vaulted ceilings (replete with further bosses and gilded metal stars), all ablaze with colour and gilding.
There is much to enjoy in glass here, most remarkably a complete set of 14th century glazing in the clerestorey of the choir, seven windows filled with saints and prophets (and most memorably two groups of knights in the westernmost windows on each side). A few of the figures have fared less well over the centuries but on the whole this is a wonderfully rare and well preserved scheme. There is much glass from the 19th century too, with an extensive scheme in the nave of good quality work by Hardman's, and more recently a pair of rich windows by Tom Denny were added in one of the polygonal chapels around the east end.
Some of the most memorable features are the monuments with many medieval tombs of note, primarily the effigies and chantry chapels of members of the Despenser family around the choir (two of the chantries being miniature architectural gems in their own right with exquisite fan-vaulting). In one of the apsidal chapels is the unusual cenotaph to Abbot Wakeman with his grisly cadaver effigy, a late medieval reminder of earthly mortality.
Tewkesbury Abbey is not to be missed and is every bit as rewarding as many of our cathedrals (superior in fact to all but the best). It is normally kept open and welcoming to visitors on a daily basis. I have also had the privilege of working on this great building several times over the years (as part of the team at the studio I once worked for), and have left my mark in glass in a few discreet places.
It could have been worse, they might have chosen to turn it into a hotel! The countryside around it is still beautiful, and the views especially from the castle above it are superb. Its position on the flanks of the Verdera mountains is hard to beat. Most of its treasures have been stripped away over the years. The French ended up with an old illuminated bible from here, (courtesy of Napoleon's troops). However the magnificent solidity of its architecture still remains, and it is one of the most impressive Romanesque buildings in Catalonia.
A detail of the railing and walkway around the treatment ponds.
First, note the muscularity of the walkway. On this old industrial site, the detailing must respond to the existing context. Nice work on the solidity of the rail, and even the color is sober, but can span into the 'relaxing' range a park might want.
Next, note the kickplate from the land to the decking which floats on the pond. It covers the differences in height the deck has because of the changing water levels.
Finally, note the grooves on the deckboards. They do catch gravel and twigs (which I cleaned out for this shot), but they are detailed well for traction, especially rain.
Canopied tomb of Sir Guy De Bryan (d.1390) in the north choir aisle.
The attractive town of Tewkesbury has been dominated by its superb abbey church since the beginning of the 12th century, and we can be forever grateful to its townspeople for purchasing the monastic church in 1540 for £453 for use as their parish church, saving it from the fate that befell countless similar great churches across the land during the turmoil of the Dissolution. It reminds us both how lucky we are to still marvel at it today, yet also how great a loss to our heritage the period wrought when many more such buildings were so utterly plundered as to have gone without trace (the fate of the monastic buildings here and even the lady chapel of the church whose footings are laid out in the grass at the east end).
Tewkesbury Abbey is thus rightly celebrated as one of our greatest non-cathedral churches, and remarkably much of the original Norman church remains substantially intact, most apparently in the great central tower, a fine example of Romanesque architecture adorned with rows of blind-arcading. The west front is dominated by a massive Norman-arched recess (enclosing the somewhat later west window) and the nave and transepts remain largely as originally built, though this is less clear externally owing to the changes made to the windows, nearly all of which were enlarged in the 14th century in the Decorated Gothic style. This century also saw the complete rebuilding of the eastern limb of the church, of a form less common in England with radiating chapels surrounding the eastern apse of the choir (the central lady chapel sadly missing since 1540).
The interior reveals far more of the Romanesque structure with mighty columns supporting the round Norman arches of the nave arcades giving the building a great sense of solidity. The space is further enlivened by the changes made during the 14th century by the stunning vault over the nave (adorned with a rewarding series of figurative bosses) which sits surprisingly well with the Norman work below. Beyond the apsidal choir beckons, and both this and the space below the tower are enriched with stunningly complex vaulted ceilings (replete with further bosses and gilded metal stars), all ablaze with colour and gilding.
There is much to enjoy in glass here, most remarkably a complete set of 14th century glazing in the clerestorey of the choir, seven windows filled with saints and prophets (and most memorably two groups of knights in the westernmost windows on each side). A few of the figures have fared less well over the centuries but on the whole this is a wonderfully rare and well preserved scheme. There is much glass from the 19th century too, with an extensive scheme in the nave of good quality work by Hardman's, and more recently a pair of rich windows by Tom Denny were added in one of the polygonal chapels around the east end.
Some of the most memorable features are the monuments with many medieval tombs of note, primarily the effigies and chantry chapels of members of the Despenser family around the choir (two of the chantries being miniature architectural gems in their own right with exquisite fan-vaulting). In one of the apsidal chapels is the unusual cenotaph to Abbot Wakeman with his grisly cadaver effigy, a late medieval reminder of earthly mortality.
Tewkesbury Abbey is not to be missed and is every bit as rewarding as many of our cathedrals (superior in fact to all but the best). It is normally kept open and welcoming to visitors on a daily basis. I have also had the privilege of working on this great building several times over the years (as part of the team at the studio I once worked for), and have left my mark in glass in a few discreet places.
The Lafayette Building and former First Presbyterian Church in South Bend are new on Indiana Landmarks' 10 Most Endangered in 2015. Learn more at www.indianalandmarks.org.
Two South Bend landmarks on the 10 Most Endangered list sit next door to one another, across the street from the city’s historic courthouses. The city ordered both structures sealed until multiple code violations are cured.
Last fall, when slate began cascading from the roof of the long-vacant former First Presbyterian, the out-of-state owner replaced the slate with a tar paper roof. This year, finally, installation of a new imitation slate roof began on the vacant, damaged landmark.
Pittsburgh architect J. P. Bailey—creator of courthouses and schools from the Midwest to Maine—designed the 1888 sandstone and limestone church in the Richardsonian Romanesque Revival style. Local industrialists J. M Studebaker and J.D. Oliver, who each covered a third of the cost, favored the style’s expression of solidity and permanence.
The Lafayette Building dates from 1901 and 1903, when it went from three to five stories. The understated Neoclassical exterior gives no hint of the graceful interior, lit by a five-story skylighted atrium. In addition to its deteriorated condition, the property’s delinquent tax bill tops $1 million.
“Indiana Landmarks linked the two sites as a 10 Most Endangered entry because we think each affects the fate of the other, and because we believe the solution may be a redevelopment that unites them,” says Todd Zeiger, director of the organization’s northern office.
Los Angeles, California
Listed 7/23/2013
Reference Number: 13000509
The Boyle Hotel - Cummings Block is significant tmder Criterion A as an important anchor to the early commercial development of Los Angeles in the Boyle Heights neighborhood east of the Los Angeles River. When completed in 1889,6 it reflected expansion and growth outside the commercial core in Los Angeles. Now, as the last remaining commercial building from the early development of Boyle Heights in the 1880s, the building represents the late nineteenth century transition of Los Angeles from a small city surrounded by farmland to a burgeoning city center surrounded by suburban neighborhoods. Pre-twentieth century commercial buildings are extremely rare in the greater Los Angeles metropolitan area and likely number fewer than a dozen. Extant pre-twentieth century hotels are even rarer and probably number fewer than five. The Boyle Hotel - Cummings Block is also significant under Criterion C for its rare and unique architectural design in a Queen A1me style. 8 The building embodies distinctive character defining features, including its highly decorative wall surface, ornamental spiral columns, parapets with patterned surfacing, comer turret, second story double window with an arched pediment, and decorative brickwork. The building commands a prominent position at the crest of a hill overlooking downtown, as well as at an important intersection, and its construction out of brick signifies solidity and durability at this important site.
National Register of Historic Places Homepage
The Lafayette Building and former First Presbyterian Church in South Bend are new on Indiana Landmarks' 10 Most Endangered in 2015. Learn more at www.indianalandmarks.org.
Two South Bend landmarks on the 10 Most Endangered list sit next door to one another, across the street from the city’s historic courthouses. The city ordered both structures sealed until multiple code violations are cured.
Last fall, when slate began cascading from the roof of the long-vacant former First Presbyterian, the out-of-state owner replaced the slate with a tar paper roof. This year, finally, installation of a new imitation slate roof began on the vacant, damaged landmark.
Pittsburgh architect J. P. Bailey—creator of courthouses and schools from the Midwest to Maine—designed the 1888 sandstone and limestone church in the Richardsonian Romanesque Revival style. Local industrialists J. M Studebaker and J.D. Oliver, who each covered a third of the cost, favored the style’s expression of solidity and permanence.
The Lafayette Building dates from 1901 and 1903, when it went from three to five stories. The understated Neoclassical exterior gives no hint of the graceful interior, lit by a five-story skylighted atrium. In addition to its deteriorated condition, the property’s delinquent tax bill tops $1 million.
“Indiana Landmarks linked the two sites as a 10 Most Endangered entry because we think each affects the fate of the other, and because we believe the solution may be a redevelopment that unites them,” says Todd Zeiger, director of the organization’s northern office.
PAGEANT 23 (WESTERLY)
Sailboat Specifications
Hull Type: Twin Keel
Rigging Type: Masthead Sloop
LOA: 23.00 ft / 7.01 m
LWL: 19.00 ft / 5.79 m
Beam: 8.00 ft / 2.44 m
S.A. (reported): 236.00 ft2 / 21.93 m2
Draft (max): 2.83 ft / 0.86 m
Displacement: 4,300 lb / 1,950 kg
Ballast: 2,094 lb / 950 kg
S.A./Disp.: 14.32
Bal./Disp.: 48.70
Disp./Len.: 279.87
Construction: GRP
First Built: 1970
Last Built: 1979
# Built: 551
Designer: Laurent Giles
Builder: Westerly Yacht Construction Ltd (UK)
Builder: Westerly Marine, Hampshire
The Pageant is one of the smaller of the Westerly range designed by Laurent Giles and produced in volume in the 1970s. She offers an excellent small cruiser, with remarkable room below for her length, and has the typical Westerly virtues of strength and solidity.
The Pageant was designed for Westerly by Laurent Giles in 1969, as a replacement for the earlier Nomad. Production ran from 1970 to 1979, the yacht shown in the photographs here being one of the last of the 550 or so built. A very few (reportedly just six) fin-keel versions were also produced in 1976, these being called Westerly Kendals. As with all other Westerly Marine yachts the Pageant was very strongly built to Lloyds specifications, which meant that the building processes were rigorously monitored and all materials had to be approved by Lloyds in order that a hull certificate could be issued.
Auxiliary Power/Tanks (orig. equip.)
Make: Volvo Penta
Model: MD1B
Type: Diesel
HP: 10
Fuel: 10 gals / 38 L
Sailboat Calculations
S.A./Disp.: 14.32
Bal./Disp.: 48.70
Disp./Len.: 279.87
Comfort Ratio: 20.61
Capsize Screening Formula: 1.97
Accommodations
Water: 15 gals / 57 L
Headroom1.75m
Cabins 2
Berths 5/6
Los Angeles, California
Listed 7/23/2013
Reference Number: 13000509
The Boyle Hotel - Cummings Block is significant tmder Criterion A as an important anchor to the early commercial development of Los Angeles in the Boyle Heights neighborhood east of the Los Angeles River. When completed in 1889,6 it reflected expansion and growth outside the commercial core in Los Angeles. Now, as the last remaining commercial building from the early development of Boyle Heights in the 1880s, the building represents the late nineteenth century transition of Los Angeles from a small city surrounded by farmland to a burgeoning city center surrounded by suburban neighborhoods. Pre-twentieth century commercial buildings are extremely rare in the greater Los Angeles metropolitan area and likely number fewer than a dozen. Extant pre-twentieth century hotels are even rarer and probably number fewer than five. The Boyle Hotel - Cummings Block is also significant under Criterion C for its rare and unique architectural design in a Queen A1me style. 8 The building embodies distinctive character defining features, including its highly decorative wall surface, ornamental spiral columns, parapets with patterned surfacing, comer turret, second story double window with an arched pediment, and decorative brickwork. The building commands a prominent position at the crest of a hill overlooking downtown, as well as at an important intersection, and its construction out of brick signifies solidity and durability at this important site.
National Register of Historic Places Homepage
Albi Cathedral is one of the most unique, awe-inspiring churches ever concieved, quite simply one of the wonders of the medieval world.
Although contemporary with the great gothic cathedrals of Northern France, this largely 13th century structure is radically different, being constructed almost entirely of brick and built like a mighty fortress; mostly unadorned walls rise uninterrupted from the ground like sheer cliff-faces of brick. The simplicity of the design gives it an almost modern appearance, and the massive scale gives it a quite overpowering presence.
The cathedral's powerful fortified appearance is largely down to two factors, the shape of the building is consistent with local forms of gothic churches in southern France and northern Spain, whilst thr fortified solidity can be associated with the supression of the Cathars in this area during the Albigensian Crusades, the building serving a lesson in strength and permanence as a warning to any rebellious locals.
The plain exterior was relieved in the more stable climate of the 16th century by the huge flamboyant porch on the south side of the nave, more like an enormous spikey canopy open on three sides. It remains the main entrance to the cathedral, the base of the enormous tower being so massively constructed as to leave no room for a traditional west entrance.
On entering this vast edifice one's senses are overwhelmed yet again, this time by the profusion of decoration in the cavernous interior. The walls and ceilings are entirely covered by frescoes dating from the early 16th century (mostly in Renaissance style, much of it colourful geometric patterns. The most memorable sections are the earliest frescoes at the west end from an enormous Last Judgement; the central section was sadly removed in the 18th century but the extensive and graphic depiction of the torments of Hell remains.
In addition this cathedral is rare in preserving it's 'jube' or choir screen), a late medieval masterpiece of decoration an sculpture which extends into a lavishly sculpted choir enclosure adorned with a riot of angels and saints.
All in all this unforgettable cathedral is a monument that defies description alone and bombards the senses!
Albi Cathedral is one of the most unique, awe-inspiring churches ever concieved, quite simply one of the wonders of the medieval world.
Although contemporary with the great gothic cathedrals of Northern France, this largely 13th century structure is radically different, being constructed almost entirely of brick and built like a mighty fortress; mostly unadorned walls rise uninterrupted from the ground like sheer cliff-faces of brick. The simplicity of the design gives it an almost modern appearance, and it's massive scale exudes a quite overpowering presence.
The cathedral's powerful fortified appearance is largely down to two factors, the form of the building is consistent with local forms of gothic churches in southern France and northern Spain, whilst thr fortified solidity can be associated with the supression of the Cathars in this area during the Albigensian Crusades, the building serving as a lesson in strength and permanence as a warning to any rebellious locals.
The plain exterior was relieved in the more stable climate of the 16th century by the huge flamboyant porch on the south side of the nave, more like an enormous spikey canopy open on three sides. It remains the main entrance to the cathedral, the base of the enormous tower being so massively constructed as to leave no room for a traditional west entrance.
On entering this vast edifice one's senses are overwhelmed yet again, this time by the profusion of decoration in the cavernous interior. The walls and ceilings are entirely covered by frescoes dating from the early 16th century, mostly in Renaissance style, much of it colourful geometric patterns. The most memorable sections are the earliest frescoes at the west end from an enormous Last Judgement; the central section was sadly removed in the 18th century but the extensive and graphic depiction of the torments of Hell remains.
In addition this cathedral is rare in preserving it's 'jube' or choir screen), a late medieval masterpiece of decoration and sculpture which extends into a lavishly sculpted choir enclosure adorned with a riot of angels and saints.
All in all this unforgettable cathedral is a monument that defies description alone and bombards the senses!
The attractive town of Tewkesbury has been dominated by its superb abbey church since the beginning of the 12th century, and we can be forever grateful to its townspeople for purchasing the monastic church in 1540 for £453 for use as their parish church, saving it from the fate that befell countless similar great churches across the land during the turmoil of the Dissolution. It reminds us both how lucky we are to still marvel at it today, yet also how great a loss to our heritage the period wrought when many more such buildings were so utterly plundered as to have gone without trace (the fate of the monastic buildings here and even the lady chapel of the church whose footings are laid out in the grass at the east end).
Tewkesbury Abbey is thus rightly celebrated as one of our greatest non-cathedral churches, and remarkably much of the original Norman church remains substantially intact, most apparently in the great central tower, a fine example of Romanesque architecture adorned with rows of blind-arcading. The west front is dominated by a massive Norman-arched recess (enclosing the somewhat later west window) and the nave and transepts remain largely as originally built, though this is less clear externally owing to the changes made to the windows, nearly all of which were enlarged in the 14th century in the Decorated Gothic style. This century also saw the complete rebuilding of the eastern limb of the church, of a form less common in England with radiating chapels surrounding the eastern apse of the choir (the central lady chapel sadly missing since 1540).
The interior reveals far more of the Romanesque structure with mighty columns supporting the round Norman arches of the nave arcades giving the building a great sense of solidity. The space is further enlivened by the changes made during the 14th century by the stunning vault over the nave (adorned with a rewarding series of figurative bosses) which sits surprisingly well with the Norman work below. Beyond the apsidal choir beckons, and both this and the space below the tower are enriched with stunningly complex vaulted ceilings (replete with further bosses and gilded metal stars), all ablaze with colour and gilding.
There is much to enjoy in glass here, most remarkably a complete set of 14th century glazing in the clerestorey of the choir, seven windows filled with saints and prophets (and most memorably two groups of knights in the westernmost windows on each side). A few of the figures have fared less well over the centuries but on the whole this is a wonderfully rare and well preserved scheme. There is much glass from the 19th century too, with an extensive scheme in the nave of good quality work by Hardman's, and more recently a pair of rich windows by Tom Denny were added in one of the polygonal chapels around the east end.
Some of the most memorable features are the monuments with many medieval tombs of note, primarily the effigies and chantry chapels of members of the Despenser family around the choir (two of the chantries being miniature architectural gems in their own right with exquisite fan-vaulting). In one of the apsidal chapels is the unusual cenotaph to Abbot Wakeman with his grisly cadaver effigy, a late medieval reminder of earthly mortality.
Tewkesbury Abbey is not to be missed and is every bit as rewarding as many of our cathedrals (superior in fact to all but the best). It is normally kept open and welcoming to visitors on a daily basis. I have also had the privilege of working on this great building several times over the years (as part of the team at the studio I once worked for), and have left my mark in glass in a few discreet places.
Caesarea was developed over a period of 12 Years into a grand city and major seaport and he dedicated it to Roman Emperor Caesar Augustus, who had returned it to Herod after wresting it away from Cleopatra. It left a spectacular Roman amphitheater that is still used as a performance venue today. Caesarea, often simplified to Keisarya, and Qaysaria, is an affluent town in north-central Israel, which inherits its name and much of its territory from the ancient city of Caesarea Maritima. Located midway between Tel Aviv and Haifa. The ancient city of Caesarea Maritima was built by Herod the Great about 25–13 BCE as a major port. It served as an administrative center of the province of Judaea in the Roman Empire, and later as the capital of the Byzantine province of Palaestina Prima. During the Muslim conquest in the 7th century, it was the last city of the Holy Land to fall to the Arabs. The city degraded to a small village after the provincial capital was moved from here to Ramla and had an Arab majority until Crusader conquest. Under the Crusaders it became once again a major port and a fortified city. It was diminished after the Mamluk conquest. In 1884, Bosniak immigrants settled there establishing a small fishing village. Hellenistic and early Roman periods - In 90 BCE, Jewish ruler Alexander Jannaeus captured Straton's Tower as part of his policy of developing the shipbuilding industry and enlarging the Hasmonean kingdom. Straton's Tower remained a Jewish settlement for two more generations, until the area became dominated by the Romans in 63 BCE, when they declared it an autonomous city. Herodian city of Caesarea Maritima (22 BCE – 6CE) - Cesarea Maritima was built in Roman-ruled Judea under the Jewish client King Herod the Great during c. 22-10/9 BCE near the ruins of the small naval station of Straton's Tower. The site, along with all of Judea, was awarded by Rome to Herod the Great in 30 BCE. The pagan city underwent vast changes under Herod, who renamed it Caesarea in honor of the Roman emperor, Caesar Augustus. Caesarea Maritima was known as the administrative, economic, and cultural capital of the Palestinian province from this time. In 22 BCE, Herod began construction of a deep-sea harbor named Sebastos and built storerooms, markets, wide roads, baths, temples to Rome and Augustus, and imposing public buildings. Herod built his palace on a promontory jutting out into the sea, with a decorative pool surrounded by stoas. Every five years, the city hosted major sports competitions, gladiator games, and theatrical productions in its theatre overlooking the Mediterranean Sea. Construction of Sebastos Harbor / King Herod built the two jetties of the harbor between 22 and 15 BCE, and in 10/9 BCE he dedicated the city and harbor to Emperor Augustus (Sebastos is Greek for Augustus). The pace of construction was impressive considering the project's size and complexity. At its height, Sebastos was one of the most impressive harbors of its time. It had been constructed on a coast that had no natural harbors and served as an important commercial harbor in antiquity, rivaling Cleopatra's harbor at Alexandria. Josephus wrote: "Although the location was generally unfavorable, [Herod] contended with the difficulties so well that the solidity of the construction could not be overcome by the sea, and its beauty seemed finished off without impediment." When it was built in the 1st century BCE, the harbor of Sebastos ranked as the largest artificial harbor built in the open sea, enclosing around 100,000 m2. The breakwaters were made of lime and pozzolana, a type of volcanic ash, set into an underwater concrete. Herod imported over 24,000 m3 of pozzolana from the name-giving town of Puteoli, today Pozzuoli in Italy, to construct the two breakwaters: the southern one 500 meter, and the northern one 275 meter long. A shipment of this size would have required at least 44 shiploads of 400 tons each. Herod also had 12,000 m3 of local kurkar stone quarried to make rubble and 12,000 m3 of slaked lime mixed with the pozzolana. Architects had to devise a way to lay the wooden forms for the placement of concrete underwater. One technique was to drive stakes into the ground to make a box and then fill it with pozzolana concrete bit by bit. However, this method required many divers to hammer the planks to the stakes underwater and large quantities of pozzolana were necessary. Another technique was a double planking method used in the northern breakwater. On land, carpenters would construct a box with beams and frames on the inside and a watertight, double-planked wall on the outside. This double wall was built with a 23 cm (9 in) gap between the inner and outer layer. Although the box had no bottom, it was buoyant enough to float out to sea because of the watertight space between the inner and outer walls. Once it was floated into position, pozzolana was poured into the gap between the walls and the box would sink into place on the seafloor and be staked down in the corners. The flooded inside area was then filled by divers bit by bit with pozzolana-lime mortar and kurkar rubble until it rose above sea level. On the southern breakwater, barge construction was used. The southern side of Sebastos was much more exposed than the northern side, requiring sturdier breakwaters. Instead of using the double planked method filled with rubble, the architects sank barges filled with layers of pozzolana concrete and lime sand mortar. The barges were similar to boxes without lids, and were constructed using mortise and tenon joints, the same technique used in ancient boats, to ensure they remained watertight. The barges were ballasted with 0.5 meters of pozzolana concrete and floated out to their position. With alternating layers, pozzolana-based and lime-based concretes were hand-placed inside the barge to sink it and fill it up to the surface. However, there were underlying problems that led to its demise. Studies of the concrete cores of the moles have shown that the concrete was much weaker than similar pozzolana hydraulic concrete used in ancient Italian ports. For unknown reasons, the pozzolana mortar did not adhere as well to the kurkar rubble as it did to other rubble types used in Italian harbors. Small but numerous holes in some of the cores also indicate that the lime was of poor quality and stripped out of the mixture by strong waves before it could set. Also, large lumps of lime were found in all five of the cores studied at Caesarea, which shows that the mixture was not mixed thoroughly. However, stability would not have been seriously affected if the harbor had not been constructed over a geological fault line that runs along the coast. Seismic action gradually took its toll on the breakwaters, causing them to tilt down and settle into the seabed. Studies of seabed deposits at Caesarea have shown that a tsunami struck the area sometime during the 1st or 2nd century. Although it is unknown if this tsunami simply damaged or completely destroyed the harbor, it is known that by the 6th century the harbor was unusable and today the jetties lie more than 5 meters underwater. During the Byzantine period, Caesarea became the capital of the new province of Palaestina Prima in 390. As the capital of the province, Caesarea was also the metropolitan see, with ecclesiastical jurisdiction over Jerusalem, when rebuilt after the destruction in the year 70. In 451, however, the Council of Chalcedon established Jerusalem as a patriarchate, with Caesarea as the first of its three subordinate metropolitan sees. Caesarea remained the provincial capital throughout the 5th and 6th centuries. It fell to Sassanid Persia in the Byzantine–Sasanian War of 602–628, in 614, and was re-conquered by Byzantium in 625.
Karytype: gold-platinum print out process. The first new photographic printing process in exactly 100 years. Experts, who have never succeeded in proper print out of gold or platinum, will assure you this combination is a chimera. The earth is round, the moon is not made of cheese, and you CAN print gold-platinum.
The image speaks for itself -- and the scan is quite faithful to the original except for the hint of grain in the darkest areas: that is scanner artifacts where the scanning light picks up and exaggerates microcontrast in the paper fibers. The image has a solidity, a sort of vigor to it that isn't normally found in platinum (or palladium), but is characteristic of gold prints in the Texas Chrysotype formula. Yet it also has the full tonal range of platinum -- observe how detail is held in the highlights, with the lightstruck keys and top of the flute not blown but holding their silvery tonality at the threshold. Every Karytype is like this.
This is one of only 3 prints in the world that are an admixture of platinum and gold. No development and no paper hydration. Make a Karytype up to 1/3 platinum and 2/3 gold with nothing more than platinum chloride (ammonium or potassium), gold chloride, ammonium ferric oxalate, and ascorbic acid. Make a Karytype with more than 1/3 platinum and up to 2/3 platinum (and the remainder gold) with the same chemicals plus 99% glycerine (which restrains grain) along with ferric oxalate to boost contrast as necessary. Use the much contrastier lithium ferric oxalate (2% vitamin C) instead of ammonium ferric oxalate to minimize or eliminate the need to boost contrast at all with most negatives. Brush on the chemicals and place the paper in a dark, dry place for about 10 minutes. When solution and paper are totally dry, print out the image by examination. For a sensuous, flesh-toned image, immerse the print in a first bath of 6% nitric acid. Alchemical magick!
I developed this process before I modified my original chrysotype formula (which now yields 11+ stops from base black to base white). My goal was to extend the tonal range of a gold print without using the Ziatype's palladium. As it turned out, gold and platinum interact synergistically, complementing each other's finest qualities while overcoming their faults. I've literally had to pull my Karytype prints away from people entranced by the amazing organic quality of the image tones. There's just something mystical about the look of a print that is 1/4 to 1/3 platinum and the rest gold and which was given a first clearing bath in nitric acid. Time permitting, I'll demonstrate this process in addition to the Texas Chrysotype at the Alternative International Photography Symposium in Santa Fe in October 2013. Visit Bostick & Sullivan for tickets, if interested.
Monument to Archdeacon Hemming Robeson (d.1912) in St Faith's Chapel.
The attractive town of Tewkesbury has been dominated by its superb abbey church since the beginning of the 12th century, and we can be forever grateful to its townspeople for purchasing the monastic church in 1540 for £453 for use as their parish church, saving it from the fate that befell countless similar great churches across the land during the turmoil of the Dissolution. It reminds us both how lucky we are to still marvel at it today, yet also how great a loss to our heritage the period wrought when many more such buildings were so utterly plundered as to have gone without trace (the fate of the monastic buildings here and even the lady chapel of the church whose footings are laid out in the grass at the east end).
Tewkesbury Abbey is thus rightly celebrated as one of our greatest non-cathedral churches, and remarkably much of the original Norman church remains substantially intact, most apparently in the great central tower, a fine example of Romanesque architecture adorned with rows of blind-arcading. The west front is dominated by a massive Norman-arched recess (enclosing the somewhat later west window) and the nave and transepts remain largely as originally built, though this is less clear externally owing to the changes made to the windows, nearly all of which were enlarged in the 14th century in the Decorated Gothic style. This century also saw the complete rebuilding of the eastern limb of the church, of a form less common in England with radiating chapels surrounding the eastern apse of the choir (the central lady chapel sadly missing since 1540).
The interior reveals far more of the Romanesque structure with mighty columns supporting the round Norman arches of the nave arcades giving the building a great sense of solidity. The space is further enlivened by the changes made during the 14th century by the stunning vault over the nave (adorned with a rewarding series of figurative bosses) which sits surprisingly well with the Norman work below. Beyond the apsidal choir beckons, and both this and the space below the tower are enriched with stunningly complex vaulted ceilings (replete with further bosses and gilded metal stars), all ablaze with colour and gilding.
There is much to enjoy in glass here, most remarkably a complete set of 14th century glazing in the clerestorey of the choir, seven windows filled with saints and prophets (and most memorably two groups of knights in the westernmost windows on each side). A few of the figures have fared less well over the centuries but on the whole this is a wonderfully rare and well preserved scheme. There is much glass from the 19th century too, with an extensive scheme in the nave of good quality work by Hardman's, and more recently a pair of rich windows by Tom Denny were added in one of the polygonal chapels around the east end.
Some of the most memorable features are the monuments with many medieval tombs of note, primarily the effigies and chantry chapels of members of the Despenser family around the choir (two of the chantries being miniature architectural gems in their own right with exquisite fan-vaulting). In one of the apsidal chapels is the unusual cenotaph to Abbot Wakeman with his grisly cadaver effigy, a late medieval reminder of earthly mortality.
Tewkesbury Abbey is not to be missed and is every bit as rewarding as many of our cathedrals (superior in fact to all but the best). It is normally kept open and welcoming to visitors on a daily basis. I have also had the privilege of working on this great building several times over the years (as part of the team at the studio I once worked for), and have left my mark in glass in a few discreet places.
Foundation stone 4 Mar 1922 by Rev G Rayner, opened 9 Sep 1922 as Congregational church, architect C W Rutt.
“It seemed quite in keeping with the obvious solidity of this wonderful little new town, that the new church, unlike the huge majortiy [sic] of country churches throughout Australia, should be not the usual shedlike weatherboard building, but a solid, dignified, grey little church, almost suggestive of those ancient, weather-beaten grey stone churches that have been for generations the centre of every village in the Old Country. The impression remained - even though its walls were not of stone, but of that most modern of building materials, cement brick.” [Murray Pioneer 15 Sep 1922 p 1b]
The Postcard
A postally unused carte postale published by Neurdein et Cie of Paris. It provides a panoramic view of Rouen taken from the Pont Transbordeur - a very high structure built across the Seine.
For a view of the structure itself, please search for the tag 66TRA45
Transbordeur Bridges
A transbordeur bridge has two tall metal pylons with a horizontal travel way fixed high above the river. A gondola (or platform) is suspended from a shuttle, usually powered by electricity, that runs along the travel way.
The gondola provides transport across the river, while the bridge itself still allows large ship traffic, such as sailing ships, to pass up and down the river. At least twenty-two transbordeur bridges have been built around the world, seven being in France (Bordeaux, Brest, Marseille, Nantes, Rochefort, Rouen, and a miniature one at Montceau-les-Mines). Five were also built in the UK.
Transbordeur bridges have their origin in the need to cross rivers used as maritime highways by sea-going sailing ships, particularly in port towns where providing the long approach ramp required for a very high road deck was impractical. The transbordeur bridge provided an elegant and efficient solution to this problem.
Ferdinand Arnodin
The transbordeur bridge design is generally regarded as being invented by Ferdinand Arnodin, a French industrial engineer who had previously specialised in cable-suspended bridges. He designed about 25 such bridges, inventing their spirally-wound double torsion steel wire ropes, as well as several other improvements to bridge safety and solidity.
The first of this new generation of suspension bridges built by Arnodin was the Pont de Saint Ilpize, Haut-Loire, completed in 1879. It still exists, having been repaired in 2004.
Arnodin was responsible for nine of the eighteen known transbordeur bridges to be built at the end of the 19th. century and early part of the 20th. century.
The Destruction of the Rouen Transbordeur
The Rouen Transbordeur was built in 1899. It had a span of 140 m and a pylon height of 70 m. It was destroyed on the 9th. June 1940 by French troops in order to slow the German advance.
Rouen
Rouen is a city on the River Seine in northern France, and is relatively close to the English Channel. Formerly one of the largest and most prosperous cities of medieval Europe, the population of the metropolitan area is 702,945 (2018). People from Rouen are known as Rouennais.
“Upon approaching Rouen one is sure to be struck
by the insolent daring of its situation. Lying on a
sloping plain beside the river, it seems to disdain the
well-nigh impregnable site afforded by the steep cliffs
which rise just to the northeast.
The history of the city bears out the audacity of its
location. Through all the centuries, its inhabitants
concerned themselves so continuously in conquering
other peoples that little time was left in which to
consider the security of their own homes.”
-- Charles Hitchcock Sherrill, Stained Glass Tours in France (1908).
Rouen was the seat of the Exchequer of Normandy during the Middle Ages. It was one of the capitals of the Anglo-Norman dynasties, which ruled both England and large parts of modern France from the 11th. to the 15th. centuries.
From the 13th. century onwards, the city experienced a remarkable economic boom, thanks in particular to the development of textile factories and river trade. Claimed by both the French and the English during the Hundred Years' War, it was in Rouen that Joan of Arc was tried and burned alive.
Severely damaged by a wave of bombing in 1944, Rouen nevertheless regained its economic dynamism in the post-war period thanks to its industrial sites and busy seaport, which is the fifth largest in France.
Endowed with a prestige established during the medieval era, and with a long architectural heritage in its historical monuments, Rouen is an important cultural capital. Several renowned establishments are located here, such as the Museum of Fine Arts, the Secq des Tournelles Museum, and Rouen Cathedral.
“Perhaps the most characteristic feature of Rouen
when viewed from a distance is the great number
of its spires that shoot up above the housetops,
earning for it the sobriquet of the City of Churches.”
-- Charles Hitchcock Sherrill, Stained Glass Tours in France (1908).
Sadly not all of those churches are still there because of the ravages of war.
Seat of an archdiocese, Rouen also hosts a court of appeal and a university. Every four to six years, Rouen becomes the showcase for a large gathering of sailing ships called "L'Armada"; this event makes the city an occasional capital of the maritime world.
Rouen Cathedral
Rouen Cathedral was commenced in the 12th. Century on the site of an earlier structure. It has a Roman crypt.
The Butter Tower dates from the 16th. century. The name of the Tour de Beurre comes from the fact that butter was banned during Lent, and those who wished to carry on eating it had to donate 6 Deniers Tournois towards the building of the tower. Practically everyone in Rouen must have carried on eating butter in order to fund a tower like that!
The Victorian cast-iron Lantern Tower in the centre of the building made the cathedral the tallest building in the world from 1876 until 1880, when it was overtaken by Cologne Cathedral.
The Lantern Tower was designed by the architect Jean-Antoine Alavoine who proposed the use of cast iron, a modern material for the time, because it was less combustible than wood, and lighter than stone. The Lantern Tower took 50 years to construct. The 151 metre height of the spire still makes Rouen Cathedral the tallest cathedral in France.
The presence of a lantern tower at the crossing of the transept is a frequent feature in churches in Normandy (St. Ouen in Rouen, and Bayeux) and in England (Gloucester, Salisbury, and Winchester).
The lantern is in a bulge in the ironwork near the top of the spire, which is surmounted by a weathercock.
The Cathedral holds the heart of Richard the Lionheart. His bowels were buried within the church of the Château de Châlus-Chabrol in the Limousin. The cathedral seems to have got the better end of that particular deal!
Claude Monet painted a series of studies of the cathedral's façade 1894. Roy Lichtenstein also made a series of pictures of the front of the building.
The Cathedral has had to put up with a lot of wilful destruction during its lifetime:
- The Calvinists damaged much of what they could easily reach during the religious wars of the 16th. Century - the furniture, tombs, stained glass and statuary.
- The French State nationalised the building in the 18th. Century, and sold some of its furniture and statues to make money. The chapel fences were melted down to make guns.
- In WW2 the Cathedral was first bombed in 1944, taking 7 bombs. The bombs narrowly missed destroying a key pillar of the Lantern Tower, but damaged most of the south aisle, and destroyed two medieval rose windows. One of the bombs was fortunately a dud and failed to explode.
- As a consequence of a subsequent WW II bombing, the north tower, on the left of the façade, was entirely burned. During the fire the stonework calcified and the bells melted, leaving molten metal on the floor. The cathedral is still being restored after the extensive damage incurred during World War II.
Also, during the violent storm of December 1999, a copper-clad wooden turret weighing 26 tons fell into the Cathedral and damaged the choir and the stalls. The three other turrets were removed for maintenance and safety purposes before being replaced in 2012.
The Execution of Jeanne d'Arc
Jeanne d'Arc was executed not far from the Cathedral in the Vieux-Marché on Wednesday the 30th. May 1431.
The famous depiction of 19 year old Joan of Arc's execution showing her on top of a pile of wood and straw is wrong.
The site for her execution comprised a stake at the centre of a large ring of wood, with a gap left for Joan to be led to the stake. Once she was tied to the stake and the gap closed, she was hidden from sight.
One authority has suggested that her body would have burnt in the following sequence: calves, thighs and hands, torso and forearms, breasts, upper chest and face.
However in all likelihood she would have died from heatstroke, loss of blood plasma and carbon dioxide poisoning before the fire attacked the upper parts of her body.
After Jeanne had expired, the English exposed her charred body so that no-one could claim that she had escaped alive, then burned her body twice more to reduce it to ashes in order to prevent the collection of relics.
They then cast her remains into the Seine.
A modern church now stands on the site of her execution.