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37421 rests outside it's temporary Home Depot of Muir of Ord on 8th August 1989. The depot was quickly opened following the bridge collapse at Inverness during a severe storm, which isolated the Kyle and Far North lines. This allowed light maintenance of the Class 37s, stock and DMUs that were marooned. Some transfers were also carried out by road to and from Inverness TMD when heavier work on the trains was required
Remodeling the living room means no big sound system. So I figured I might as well set up my headphones gear in the meantime. (and I see a couple spots I missed with the paint..)
Temporary flowering meadow, Birrarung Marr, City of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
This image represents one in a series of biodiversity photorecords gathered as part of the insect ecology and conservation project 'The little things that run the city'. This project is co-funded by The City of Melbourne and RMIT University. Findings from this project will contribute to shape The City of Melbourne's Urban Ecology and Biodiversity Strategy (participate.melbourne.vic.gov.au/projects/nature/).
I thought I was winding down my 5 days at Auschwitz when I took this image of a slave labor women's barracks...at the back of the camp closest to Krema II. This disgusting building, like all of the brick buildings of Birkenau, was constructed quickly by slaves using the bricks of the deconstructed buildings that were on this land before being annexed by the Nazis. This is built on wet marshy land with no foundation and no insulation. It was not built to keep occupants alive for very long. The conditions were appalling and promoted disease and illness.
What I didn't realize at the moment this was taken was that the reason I came, which had not been very clear to me, was about to become clearer.
The camp was deserted at this time and I was alone. The weather was clear and cold with a cutting wind.
Photographed on Day 5 during my "5 Days At Auschwitz".
Some varied shots at the Temporary Transbay Terminal. It's been a while since I was here, and since then AC Transit and WestCat have received new Alexander Dennis double decker busses. I managed to grab a handful of those today along with the gaggle of Gillig's that AC Transit has. I even managed to grab two MCI's and Golden Gate's Orion V's that are being replaced.
©FranksRails Photography, LLC.
yes, i slipped on invisible sidewalk ice yesterday! this temporary plaster cast will be replaced in five day's time with a fibreglass one, if all goes well.
Not sure why I am always drawn towards icicles, lol. Found these ones on 4 January 2013, when four of us took part in the annual Audubon Horseshoe Canyon/Drumheller Christmas Bird Count.
I've got to dash and get ready for a bird walk this morning - will tell you about my "adventure" from yesterday when I get back. A most unwanted adventure!
Later: yesterday, I made myself drive quite a way east of Calgary for the very first time. Those who know me, know that I have battled a driving phobia most of my life. The last few years, I have longed to be able to drive eastwards, to see if I could find a Snowy Owl. So, finally, yesterday was THE day! I had gone to Google Maps, enlarged and printed 12 pages of maps and taped them together, so I was quite well prepared. The night before, I had tried to find out how far Lyalta was from Calgary, and on one website, there was a photo of a rather nice barn. Decided to make that my first destination point and I was successful. Driving a few roads near Lyalta, I thought I would try one last road before heading back towards Calgary. Well, guess who got herself stuck in snow and took an hour and a half to try and dig herself out in vain and had to go to the nearest farm to ask for help!!!!! My Google Maps maps said that this particular backroad went straight through - but it sure didn't! The farmer said that someone else had done it, when testing out his new vehicle, and had ended up plunging into the creek ahead! Thank goodness I didn't get that far along! I felt SO bad asking this elderly man for help. In fact, when I got to his farm, no one answered the door, but just as I was leaving (feeling sick to the stomach, especially as I have no cell phone), he called out to me from across the farmyard. I asked him if there was a garage in Lyalta that would be able to come and get me out, but he said he would try to dig me out. I am so thankful to this man! Needless to say, I thought I'd better stick to the paved roads for the rest of my time out there! Not a single Snowy Owl, of course. Felt totally shattered when I got home, and still today, ha. However, I did it! It might be the very last time I ever try it, but I did it.
Anyone else finding Flickr is rather weird today? It's almost as if it has "stuck" and nothing is happening : )
This turned out to be one of the most joyous, life affirming places that we've visited on our travels. The sparkling, late summer sunshine, the arresting modern architecture set amid so much history, the superb collection of early 20th century paintings on the 5th floor, and the throng of tourists and Parisians enjoying themselves on a Saturday combined to make this a most memorable afternoon.
"Centre Georges Pompidou commonly shortened to Centre Pompidou; also known as the Pompidou Centre in English) is a complex building in the Beaubourg area of the 4th arrondissement of Paris, near Les Halles, rue Montorgueil and the Marais. The Place Georges Pompidou in front of the museum is noted for the presence of street performers, such as mimes and jugglers. In the spring, miniature carnivals are installed temporarily into the place in front with a wide variety of attractions: bands, caricature and sketch artists, tables set up for evening dining, and even skateboarding competitions.
The nearby Stravinsky Fountain (also called the Fontaine des automates), on Place Stravinsky, features sixteen whimsical moving and water-spraying sculptures by Jean Tinguely and Niki de Saint-Phalle, which represent themes and works by composer Igor Stravinsky. The black-painted mechanical sculptures are by Tinguely, the colored works by de Saint-Phalle. The fountain opened in 1983.
It houses the Bibliothèque publique d'information (Public Information Library), a vast public library, the Musée National d'Art Moderne, which is the largest museum for modern art in Europe, and IRCAM, a centre for music and acoustic research. Because of its location, the Centre is known locally as Beaubourg. It is named after Georges Pompidou, the President of France from 1969 to 1974 who commissioned the building, and was officially opened on 31 January 1977 by President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing.
The sculpture, Horizontal by Alexander Calder, a free-standing mobile that is twenty-five feet high, was placed in 2012 in front of the Centre Pompidou.
The Centre was designed by Italian architect Renzo Piano; British architect Richard Rogers; and Italian architect Gianfranco Franchini, assisted by Ove Arup & Partners.The project was awarded to this team in an architectural design competition, whose results were announced in 1971. It was the first time in France that international architects were allowed to participate. World-renowned architects Oscar Niemeyer, Jean Prouvé and Philip Johnson made up the jury which would select one design out of the 681 entries.
National Geographic described the reaction to the design as "love at second sight." An article in Le Figaro declared "Paris has its own monster, just like the one in Loch Ness." But two decades later, while reporting on Rogers' winning the Pritzker Prize in 2007, The New York Times noted that the design of the Centre "turned the architecture world upside down" and that "Mr. Rogers earned a reputation as a high-tech iconoclast with the completion of the 1977 Pompidou Centre, with its exposed skeleton of brightly coloured tubes for mechanical systems. The Pritzker jury said the Pompidou "revolutionized museums, transforming what had once been elite monuments into popular places of social and cultural exchange, woven into the heart of the city.".
Initially, all of the functional structural elements of the building were colour-coded: green pipes are plumbing, blue ducts are for climate control, electrical wires are encased in yellow, and circulation elements and devices for safety (e.g., fire extinguishers) are red."
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centre_Georges_Pompidou
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The lights of Class 70 no.70815 are seen as the loco runs through the short tunnel which carries the A678 road overhead at Rishton, on the outskirts of Blackburn. The train is the 6E32 10:05 Preston Docks to Lindsey bitumen empties, photographed on 06/04/2021.
2021 represents a significant milestone in the history of the Phoenix Railway Photographic Circle, with the celebration of our 50th anniversary. Phoenix was set up in spring 1971, and was created to promote an alternative approach to railway photography. Why not take a look at the PRPC website at www.phoenix-rpc.co.uk/index.html.
I have been the hospital since last Friday with what began as concern for a heart attack happening. The good news is no heart attack, other tests are good. Today is nuclear stress test which hopefully will turn out ok.
The flimsy temporary fence is really just an excuse to show you these pretty flowers. Two homeowners in our neighbourhood replaced their front lawns with flowers. (Chafer beetles have invaded our area, and everyone's lawn is being dug up by raccoons and skunks looking for tasty beetles.) HFF everyone!
Leazes Park is an urban park in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. Grade II listed, it is the city's oldest park, opened in 1873, and lies to the west of the city centre. The park contains a lake above the course of the Lort Burn. It is next to St James' Park and the Royal Victoria Infirmary.
Leazes Park is separated from Spital Tongues by Castle Leazes, an area of common land similar to the Town Moor.
History
The creation of Leazes Park was a drawn out process. In September 1857 3,000 working men petitioned Newcastle Council for ‘ready access to some open ground for the purpose of health and recreation’ and a year later a special committee was set up to try to find a location for a park. Aldermen Harle and Hamond took up the challenge and campaigned for a park and eventually succeeded in having Leazes Park created on a part of the Leazes Town Moor.
On 23 December 1873, Leazes Park was officially opened by Alderman Sir Charles Hamond. It became the first public park created on Tyneside.
John Fulton, the Town Surveyor, laid out Leazes Park similar to other parks being built in Britain at that time. The layout centres on the lake. The Bandstand was added in 1875 and a balustrade stone terrace in 1879. Later, the whole park was surrounded with metal railings. A second lake was created in 1893 but this was filled in by 1949 and the area used for a bowling green and tennis courts.
The grand Jubilee Gates were added in 1896 to commemorate the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria and a Palm House was built. In 1908 a bust of Alderman Sir Charles Hamond was erected (which is also grade II listed) as the centrepiece to the terrace and the park was then complete.
The park continued to develop with deer, aviaries, tennis, and croquet until the 1980s when it was in need of refurbishment. The refurbishment became possible when the park was awarded £3.7 million from the Heritage Lottery Fund in 2001. The restoration project was completed in 2004.
Newcastle upon Tyne, or simply Newcastle is a cathedral city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is located on the River Tyne's northern bank, opposite Gateshead to the south. It is the most populous settlement in the Tyneside conurbation and North East England.
Newcastle developed around a Roman settlement called Pons Aelius, the settlement became known as Monkchester before taking on the name of a castle built in 1080 by William the Conqueror's eldest son, Robert Curthose. It was one of the world's largest ship building and repair centres during the industrial revolution. Newcastle was part of the county of Northumberland until 1400, when it separated and formed a county of itself. In 1974, Newcastle became part of Tyne and Wear. Since 2018, the city council has been part of the North of Tyne Combined Authority.
The history of Newcastle upon Tyne dates back almost 2,000 years, during which it has been controlled by the Romans, the Angles and the Norsemen amongst others. Newcastle upon Tyne was originally known by its Roman name Pons Aelius. The name "Newcastle" has been used since the Norman conquest of England. Due to its prime location on the River Tyne, the town developed greatly during the Middle Ages and it was to play a major role in the Industrial Revolution, being granted city status in 1882. Today, the city is a major retail, commercial and cultural centre.
Roman settlement
The history of Newcastle dates from AD 122, when the Romans built the first bridge to cross the River Tyne at that point. The bridge was called Pons Aelius or 'Bridge of Aelius', Aelius being the family name of Roman Emperor Hadrian, who was responsible for the Roman wall built across northern England along the Tyne–Solway gap. Hadrian's Wall ran through present-day Newcastle, with stretches of wall and turrets visible along the West Road, and at a temple in Benwell. Traces of a milecastle were found on Westgate Road, midway between Clayton Street and Grainger Street, and it is likely that the course of the wall corresponded to present-day Westgate Road. The course of the wall can be traced eastwards to the Segedunum Roman fort at Wallsend, with the fort of Arbeia down-river at the mouth of the Tyne, on the south bank in what is now South Shields. The Tyne was then a wider, shallower river at this point and it is thought that the bridge was probably about 700 feet (210 m) long, made of wood and supported on stone piers. It is probable that it was sited near the current Swing Bridge, due to the fact that Roman artefacts were found there during the building of the latter bridge. Hadrian himself probably visited the site in 122. A shrine was set up on the completed bridge in 123 by the 6th Legion, with two altars to Neptune and Oceanus respectively. The two altars were subsequently found in the river and are on display in the Great North Museum in Newcastle.
The Romans built a stone-walled fort in 150 to protect the river crossing which was at the foot of the Tyne Gorge, and this took the name of the bridge so that the whole settlement was known as Pons Aelius. The fort was situated on a rocky outcrop overlooking the new bridge, on the site of the present Castle Keep. Pons Aelius is last mentioned in 400, in a Roman document listing all of the Roman military outposts. It is likely that nestling in the shadow of the fort would have been a small vicus, or village. Unfortunately, no buildings have been detected; only a few pieces of flagging. It is clear that there was a Roman cemetery near Clavering Place, behind the Central station, as a number of Roman coffins and sarcophagi have been unearthed there.
Despite the presence of the bridge, the settlement of Pons Aelius was not particularly important among the northern Roman settlements. The most important stations were those on the highway of Dere Street running from Eboracum (York) through Corstopitum (Corbridge) and to the lands north of the Wall. Corstopitum, being a major arsenal and supply centre, was much larger and more populous than Pons Aelius.
Anglo-Saxon development
The Angles arrived in the North-East of England in about 500 and may have landed on the Tyne. There is no evidence of an Anglo-Saxon settlement on or near the site of Pons Aelius during the Anglo-Saxon age. The bridge probably survived and there may well have been a small village at the northern end, but no evidence survives. At that time the region was dominated by two kingdoms, Bernicia, north of the Tees and ruled from Bamburgh, and Deira, south of the Tees and ruled from York. Bernicia and Deira combined to form the kingdom of Northanhymbra (Northumbria) early in the 7th century. There were three local kings who held the title of Bretwalda – 'Lord of Britain', Edwin of Deira (627–632), Oswald of Bernicia (633–641) and Oswy of Northumbria (641–658). The 7th century became known as the 'Golden Age of Northumbria', when the area was a beacon of culture and learning in Europe. The greatness of this period was based on its generally Christian culture and resulted in the Lindisfarne Gospels amongst other treasures. The Tyne valley was dotted with monasteries, with those at Monkwearmouth, Hexham and Jarrow being the most famous. Bede, who was based at Jarrow, wrote of a royal estate, known as Ad Murum, 'at the Wall', 12 miles (19 km) from the sea. It is thought that this estate may have been in what is now Newcastle. At some unknown time, the site of Newcastle came to be known as Monkchester. The reason for this title is unknown, as we are unaware of any specific monasteries at the site, and Bede made no reference to it. In 875 Halfdan Ragnarsson, the Danish Viking conqueror of York, led an army that attacked and pillaged various monasteries in the area, and it is thought that Monkchester was also pillaged at this time. Little more was heard of it until the coming of the Normans.
Norman period
After the arrival of William the Conqueror in England in 1066, the whole of England was quickly subjected to Norman rule. However, in Northumbria there was great resistance to the Normans, and in 1069 the newly appointed Norman Earl of Northumbria, Robert de Comines and 700 of his men were killed by the local population at Durham. The Northumbrians then marched on York, but William was able to suppress the uprising. That same year, a second uprising occurred when a Danish fleet landed in the Humber. The Northumbrians again attacked York and destroyed the garrison there. William was again able to suppress the uprising, but this time he took revenge. He laid waste to the whole of the Midlands and the land from York to the Tees. In 1080, William Walcher, the Norman bishop of Durham and his followers were brutally murdered at Gateshead. This time Odo, bishop of Bayeux, William's half brother, devastated the land between the Tees and the Tweed. This was known as the 'Harrying of the North'. This devastation is reflected in the Domesday Book. The destruction had such an effect that the North remained poor and backward at least until Tudor times and perhaps until the Industrial Revolution. Newcastle suffered in this respect with the rest of the North.
In 1080 William sent his eldest son, Robert Curthose, north to defend the kingdom against the Scots. After his campaign, he moved to Monkchester and began the building of a 'New Castle'. This was of the "motte-and-bailey" type of construction, a wooden tower on top of an earthen mound (motte), surrounded by a moat and wooden stockade (bailey). It was this castle that gave Newcastle its name. In 1095 the Earl of Northumbria, Robert de Mowbray, rose up against the king, William Rufus, and Rufus sent an army north to recapture the castle. From then on the castle became crown property and was an important base from which the king could control the northern barons. The Northumbrian earldom was abolished and a Sheriff of Northumberland was appointed to administer the region. In 1091 the parish church of St Nicholas was consecrated on the site of the present Anglican cathedral, close by the bailey of the new castle. The church is believed to have been a wooden building on stone footings.
Not a trace of the tower or mound of the motte and bailey castle remains now. Henry II replaced it with a rectangular stone keep, which was built between 1172 and 1177 at a cost of £1,444. A stone bailey, in the form of a triangle, replaced the previous wooden one. The great outer gateway to the castle, called 'the Black Gate', was built later, between 1247 and 1250, in the reign of Henry III. There were at that time no town walls and when attacked by the Scots, the townspeople had to crowd into the bailey for safety. It is probable that the new castle acted as a magnet for local merchants because of the safety it provided. This in turn would help to expand trade in the town. At this time wool, skins and lead were being exported, whilst alum, pepper and ginger were being imported from France and Flanders.
Middle Ages
Throughout the Middle Ages, Newcastle was England's northern fortress, the centre for assembled armies. The Border war against Scotland lasted intermittently for several centuries – possibly the longest border war ever waged. During the civil war between Stephen and Matilda, David 1st of Scotland and his son were granted Cumbria and Northumberland respectively, so that for a period from 1139 to 1157, Newcastle was effectively in Scottish hands. It is believed that during this period, King David may have built the church of St Andrew and the Benedictine nunnery in Newcastle. However, King Stephen's successor, Henry II was strong enough to take back the Earldom of Northumbria from Malcolm IV.
The Scots king William the Lion was imprisoned in Newcastle, in 1174, after being captured at the Battle of Alnwick. Edward I brought the Stone of Scone and William Wallace south through the town and Newcastle was successfully defended against the Scots three times during the 14th century.
Around 1200, stone-faced, clay-filled jetties were starting to project into the river, an indication that trade was increasing in Newcastle. As the Roman roads continued to deteriorate, sea travel was gaining in importance. By 1275 Newcastle was the sixth largest wool exporting port in England. The principal exports at this time were wool, timber, coal, millstones, dairy produce, fish, salt and hides. Much of the developing trade was with the Baltic countries and Germany. Most of the Newcastle merchants were situated near the river, below the Castle. The earliest known charter was dated 1175 in the reign of Henry II, giving the townspeople some control over their town. In 1216 King John granted Newcastle a mayor[8] and also allowed the formation of guilds (known as Mysteries). These were cartels formed within different trades, which restricted trade to guild members. There were initially twelve guilds. Coal was being exported from Newcastle by 1250, and by 1350 the burgesses received a royal licence to export coal. This licence to export coal was jealously guarded by the Newcastle burgesses, and they tried to prevent any one else on the Tyne from exporting coal except through Newcastle. The burgesses similarly tried to prevent fish from being sold anywhere else on the Tyne except Newcastle. This led to conflicts with Gateshead and South Shields.
In 1265, the town was granted permission to impose a 'Wall Tax' or Murage, to pay for the construction of a fortified wall to enclose the town and protect it from Scottish invaders. The town walls were not completed until early in the 14th century. They were two miles (3 km) long, 9 feet (2.7 m) thick and 25 feet (7.6 m) high. They had six main gates, as well as some smaller gates, and had 17 towers. The land within the walls was divided almost equally by the Lort Burn, which flowed southwards and joined the Tyne to the east of the Castle. The town began to expand north of the Castle and west of the Lort Burn with various markets being set up within the walls.
In 1400 Henry IV granted a new charter, creating a County corporate which separated the town, but not the Castle, from the county of Northumberland and recognised it as a "county of itself" with a right to have a sheriff of its own. The burgesses were now allowed to choose six aldermen who, with the mayor would be justices of the peace. The mayor and sheriff were allowed to hold borough courts in the Guildhall.
Religious houses
During the Middle Ages a number of religious houses were established within the walls: the first of these was the Benedictine nunnery of St Bartholomew founded in 1086 near the present-day Nun Street. Both David I of Scotland and Henry I of England were benefactors of the religious house. Nothing of the nunnery remains now.
The friary of Blackfriars, Newcastle (Dominican) was established in 1239. These were also known as the Preaching Friars or Shod Friars, because they wore sandals, as opposed to other orders. The friary was situated in the present-day Friars Street. In 1280 the order was granted royal permission to make a postern in the town walls to communicate with their gardens outside the walls. On 19 June 1334, Edward Balliol, claimant to be King of Scotland, did homage to King Edward III, on behalf of the kingdom of Scotland, in the church of the friary. Much of the original buildings of the friary still exist, mainly because, after the Dissolution of the Monasteries the friary of Blackfriars was rented out by the corporation to nine of the local trade guilds.
The friary of Whitefriars (Carmelite) was established in 1262. The order was originally housed on the Wall Knoll in Pandon, but in 1307 it took over the buildings of another order, which went out of existence, the Friars of the Sac. The land, which had originally been given by Robert the Bruce, was situated in the present-day Hanover Square, behind the Central station. Nothing of the friary remains now.
The friary of Austinfriars (Augustinian) was established in 1290. The friary was on the site where the Holy Jesus Hospital was built in 1682. The friary was traditionally the lodging place of English kings whenever they visited or passed through Newcastle. In 1503 Princess Margaret, eldest daughter of Henry VII of England, stayed two days at the friary on her way to join her new husband James IV of Scotland.
The friary of Greyfriars (Franciscans) was established in 1274. The friary was in the present-day area between Pilgrim Street, Grey Street, Market Street and High Chare. Nothing of the original buildings remains.
The friary of the Order of the Holy Trinity, also known as the Trinitarians, was established in 1360. The order devoted a third of its income to buying back captives of the Saracens, during the Crusades. Their house was on the Wall Knoll, in Pandon, to the east of the city, but within the walls. Wall Knoll had previously been occupied by the White Friars until they moved to new premises in 1307.
All of the above religious houses were closed in about 1540, when Henry VIII dissolved the monasteries.
An important street running through Newcastle at the time was Pilgrim Street, running northwards inside the walls and leading to the Pilgrim Gate on the north wall. The street still exists today as arguably Newcastle's main shopping street.
Tudor period
The Scottish border wars continued for much of the 16th century, so that during that time, Newcastle was often threatened with invasion by the Scots, but also remained important as a border stronghold against them.
During the Reformation begun by Henry VIII in 1536, the five Newcastle friaries and the single nunnery were dissolved and the land was sold to the Corporation and to rich merchants. At this time there were fewer than 60 inmates of the religious houses in Newcastle. The convent of Blackfriars was leased to nine craft guilds to be used as their headquarters. This probably explains why it is the only one of the religious houses whose building survives to the present day. The priories at Tynemouth and Durham were also dissolved, thus ending the long-running rivalry between Newcastle and the church for control of trade on the Tyne. A little later, the property of the nunnery of St Bartholomew and of Grey Friars were bought by Robert Anderson, who had the buildings demolished to build his grand Newe House (also known as Anderson Place).
With the gradual decline of the Scottish border wars the town walls were allowed to decline as well as the castle. By 1547, about 10,000 people were living in Newcastle. At the beginning of the 16th century exports of wool from Newcastle were more than twice the value of exports of coal, but during the century coal exports continued to increase.
Under Edward VI, John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland, sponsored an act allowing Newcastle to annexe Gateshead as its suburb. The main reason for this was to allow the Newcastle Hostmen, who controlled the export of Tyne coal, to get their hands on the Gateshead coal mines, previously controlled by the Bishop of Durham. However, when Mary I came to power, Dudley met his downfall and the decision was reversed. The Reformation allowed private access to coal mines previously owned by Tynemouth and Durham priories and as a result coal exports increase dramatically, from 15,000 tons in 1500 to 35,000 tons in 1565, and to 400,000 tons in 1625.
The plague visited Newcastle four times during the 16th century, in 1579 when 2,000 people died, in 1589 when 1700 died, in 1595 and finally in 1597.
In 1600 Elizabeth I granted Newcastle a charter for an exclusive body of electors, the right to elect the mayor and burgesses. The charter also gave the Hostmen exclusive rights to load coal at any point on the Tyne. The Hostmen developed as an exclusive group within the Merchant Adventurers who had been incorporated by a charter in 1547.
Stuart period
In 1636 there was a serious outbreak of bubonic plague in Newcastle. There had been several previous outbreaks of the disease over the years, but this was the most serious. It is thought to have arrived from the Netherlands via ships that were trading between the Tyne and that country. It first appeared in the lower part of the town near the docks but gradually spread to all parts of the town. As the disease gained hold the authorities took measures to control it by boarding up any properties that contained infected persons, meaning that whole families were locked up together with the infected family members. Other infected persons were put in huts outside the town walls and left to die. Plague pits were dug next to the town's four churches and outside the town walls to receive the bodies in mass burials. Over the course of the outbreak 5,631 deaths were recorded out of an estimated population of 12,000, a death rate of 47%.
In 1637 Charles I tried to raise money by doubling the 'voluntary' tax on coal in return for allowing the Newcastle Hostmen to regulate production and fix prices. This caused outrage amongst the London importers and the East Anglian shippers. Both groups decided to boycott Tyne coal and as a result forced Charles to reverse his decision in 1638.
In 1640 during the Second Bishops' War, the Scots successfully invaded Newcastle. The occupying army demanded £850 per day from the Corporation to billet the Scottish troops. Trade from the Tyne ground to a halt during the occupation. The Scots left in 1641 after receiving a Parliamentary pardon and a £4,000,000 loan from the town.
In 1642 the English Civil War began. King Charles realised the value of the Tyne coal trade and therefore garrisoned Newcastle. A Royalist was appointed as governor. At that time, Newcastle and King's Lynn were the only important seaports to support the crown. In 1644 Parliament blockaded the Tyne to prevent the king from receiving revenue from the Tyne coal trade. Coal exports fell from 450,000 to 3,000 tons and London suffered a hard winter without fuel. Parliament encouraged the coal trade from the Wear to try to replace that lost from Newcastle but that was not enough to make up for the lost Tyneside tonnage.
In 1644 the Scots crossed the border. Newcastle strengthened its defences in preparation. The Scottish army, with 40,000 troops, besieged Newcastle for three months until the garrison of 1,500 surrendered. During the siege, the Scots bombarded the walls with their artillery, situated in Gateshead and Castle Leazes. The Scottish commander threatened to destroy the steeple of St Nicholas's Church by gunfire if the mayor, Sir John Marley, did not surrender the town. The mayor responded by placing Scottish prisoners that they had captured in the steeple, so saving it from destruction. The town walls were finally breached by a combination of artillery and sapping. In gratitude for this defence, Charles gave Newcastle the motto 'Fortiter Defendit Triumphans' to be added to its coat of arms. The Scottish army occupied Northumberland and Durham for two years. The coal taxes had to pay for the Scottish occupation. In 1645 Charles surrendered to the Scots and was imprisoned in Newcastle for nine months. After the Civil War the coal trade on the Tyne soon picked up and exceeded its pre-war levels.
A new Guildhall was completed on the Sandhill next to the river in 1655, replacing an earlier facility damaged by fire in 1639, and became the meeting place of Newcastle Town Council. In 1681 the Hospital of the Holy Jesus was built partly on the site of the Austin Friars. The Guildhall and Holy Jesus Hospital still exist.
Charles II tried to impose a charter on Newcastle to give the king the right to appoint the mayor, sheriff, recorder and town clerk. Charles died before the charter came into effect. In 1685, James II tried to replace Corporation members with named Catholics. However, James' mandate was suspended in 1689 after the Glorious Revolution welcoming William of Orange. In 1689, after the fall of James II, the people of Newcastle tore down his bronze equestrian statue in Sandhill and tossed it into the Tyne. The bronze was later used to make bells for All Saints Church.
In 1689 the Lort Burn was covered over. At this time it was an open sewer. The channel followed by the Lort Burn became the present day Dean Street. At that time, the centre of Newcastle was still the Sandhill area, with many merchants living along the Close or on the Side. The path of the main road through Newcastle ran from the single Tyne bridge, through Sandhill to the Side, a narrow street which climbed steeply on the north-east side of the castle hill until it reached the higher ground alongside St Nicholas' Church. As Newcastle developed, the Side became lined with buildings with projecting upper stories, so that the main street through Newcastle was a narrow, congested, steep thoroughfare.
In 1701 the Keelmen's Hospital was built in the Sandgate area of the city, using funds provided by the keelmen. The building still stands today.
Eighteenth century
In the 18th century, Newcastle was the country's largest print centre after London, Oxford and Cambridge, and the Literary and Philosophical Society of 1793, with its erudite debates and large stock of books in several languages predated the London Library by half a century.
In 1715, during the Jacobite rising in favour of the Old Pretender, an army of Jacobite supporters marched on Newcastle. Many of the Northumbrian gentry joined the rebels. The citizens prepared for its arrival by arresting Jacobite supporters and accepting 700 extra recruits into the local militia. The gates of the city were closed against the rebels. This proved enough to delay an attack until reinforcements arrived forcing the rebel army to move across to the west coast. The rebels finally surrendered at Preston.
In 1745, during a second Jacobite rising in favour of the Young Pretender, a Scottish army crossed the border led by Bonnie Prince Charlie. Once again Newcastle prepared by arresting Jacobite supporters and inducting 800 volunteers into the local militia. The town walls were strengthened, most of the gates were blocked up and some 200 cannon were deployed. 20,000 regulars were billeted on the Town Moor. These preparations were enough to force the rebel army to travel south via the west coast. They were eventually defeated at Culloden in 1746.
Newcastle's actions during the 1715 rising in resisting the rebels and declaring for George I, in contrast to the rest of the region, is the most likely source of the nickname 'Geordie', applied to people from Tyneside, or more accurately Newcastle. Another theory, however, is that the name 'Geordie' came from the inventor of the Geordie lamp, George Stephenson. It was a type of safety lamp used in mining, but was not invented until 1815. Apparently the term 'German Geordie' was in common use during the 18th century.
The city's first hospital, Newcastle Infirmary opened in 1753; it was funded by public subscription. A lying-in hospital was established in Newcastle in 1760. The city's first public hospital for mentally ill patients, Wardens Close Lunatic Hospital was opened in October 1767.
In 1771 a flood swept away much of the bridge at Newcastle. The bridge had been built in 1250 and repaired after a flood in 1339. The bridge supported various houses and three towers and an old chapel. A blue stone was placed in the middle of the bridge to mark the boundary between Newcastle and the Palatinate of Durham. A temporary wooden bridge had to be built, and this remained in use until 1781, when a new stone bridge was completed. The new bridge consisted of nine arches. In 1801, because of the pressure of traffic, the bridge had to be widened.
A permanent military presence was established in the city with the completion of Fenham Barracks in 1806. The facilities at the Castle for holding assizes, which had been condemned for their inconvenience and unhealthiness, were replaced when the Moot Hall opened in August 1812.
Victorian period
Present-day Newcastle owes much of its architecture to the work of the builder Richard Grainger, aided by architects John Dobson, Thomas Oliver, John and Benjamin Green and others. In 1834 Grainger won a competition to produce a new plan for central Newcastle. He put this plan into effect using the above architects as well as architects employed in his own office. Grainger and Oliver had already built Leazes Terrace, Leazes Crescent and Leazes Place between 1829 and 1834. Grainger and Dobson had also built the Royal Arcade at the foot of Pilgrim Street between 1830 and 1832. The most ambitious project covered 12 acres 12 acres (49,000 m2) in central Newcastle, on the site of Newe House (also called Anderson Place). Grainger built three new thoroughfares, Grey Street, Grainger Street and Clayton Street with many connecting streets, as well as the Central Exchange and the Grainger Market. John Wardle and George Walker, working in Grainger's office, designed Clayton Street, Grainger Street and most of Grey Street. Dobson designed the Grainger Market and much of the east side of Grey Street. John and Benjamin Green designed the Theatre Royal at the top of Grey Street, where Grainger placed the column of Grey's Monument as a focus for the whole scheme. Grey Street is considered to be one of the finest streets in the country, with its elegant curve. Unfortunately most of old Eldon Square was demolished in the 1960s in the name of progress. The Royal Arcade met a similar fate.
In 1849 a new bridge was built across the river at Newcastle. This was the High Level Bridge, designed by Robert Stephenson, and slightly up river from the existing bridge. The bridge was designed to carry road and rail traffic across the Tyne Gorge on two decks with rail traffic on the upper deck and road traffic on the lower. The new bridge meant that traffic could pass through Newcastle without having to negotiate the steep, narrow Side, as had been necessary for centuries. The bridge was opened by Queen Victoria, who one year later opened the new Central Station, designed by John Dobson. Trains were now able to cross the river, directly into the centre of Newcastle and carry on up to Scotland. The Army Riding School was also completed in 1849.
In 1854 a large fire started on the Gateshead quayside and an explosion caused it to spread across the river to the Newcastle quayside. A huge conflagration amongst the narrow alleys, or 'chares', destroyed the homes of 800 families as well as many business premises. The narrow alleys that had been destroyed were replaced by streets containing blocks of modern offices.
In 1863 the Town Hall in St Nicholas Square replaced the Guildhall as the meeting place of Newcastle Town Council.
In 1876 the low level bridge was replaced by a new bridge known as the Swing Bridge, so called because the bridge was able to swing horizontally on a central axis and allow ships to pass on either side. This meant that for the first time sizeable ships could pass up-river beyond Newcastle. The bridge was built and paid for by William Armstrong, a local arms manufacturer, who needed to have warships access his Elswick arms factory to fit armaments to them. The Swing Bridge's rotating mechanism is adapted from the cannon mounts developed in Armstrong's arms works. In 1882 the Elswick works began to build ships as well as to arm them. The Barrack Road drill hall was completed in 1890.
Industrialisation
In the 19th century, shipbuilding and heavy engineering were central to the city's prosperity; and the city was a powerhouse of the Industrial Revolution. Newcastle's development as a major city owed most to its central role in the production and export of coal. The phrase "taking coals to Newcastle" was first recorded in 1538; it proverbially denotes bringing a particular commodity to a place that has more than enough of it already.
Innovation in Newcastle and surrounding areas included the following:
George Stephenson developed a miner's safety lamp at the same time that Humphry Davy developed a rival design. The lamp made possible the opening up of ever deeper mines to provide the coal that powered the industrial revolution.
George and his son Robert Stephenson were hugely influential figures in the development of the early railways. George developed Blücher, a locomotive working at Killingworth colliery in 1814, whilst Robert was instrumental in the design of Rocket, a revolutionary design that was the forerunner of modern locomotives. Both men were involved in planning and building railway lines, all over this country and abroad.
Joseph Swan demonstrated a working electric light bulb about a year before Thomas Edison did the same in the USA. This led to a dispute as to who had actually invented the light bulb. Eventually the two rivals agreed to form a mutual company between them, the Edison and Swan Electric Light Company, known as Ediswan.
Charles Algernon Parsons invented the steam turbine, for marine use and for power generation. He used Turbinia, a small, turbine-powered ship, to demonstrate the speed that a steam turbine could generate. Turbinia literally ran rings around the British Fleet at a review at Spithead in 1897.
William Armstrong invented a hydraulic crane that was installed in dockyards up and down the country. He then began to design light, accurate field guns for the British army. These were a vast improvement on the existing guns that were then in use.
The following major industries developed in Newcastle or its surrounding area:
Glassmaking
A small glass industry existed in Newcastle from the mid-15th century. In 1615 restrictions were put on the use of wood for manufacturing glass. It was found that glass could be manufactured using the local coal, and so a glassmaking industry grew up on Tyneside. Huguenot glassmakers came over from France as refugees from persecution and set up glasshouses in the Skinnerburn area of Newcastle. Eventually, glass production moved to the Ouseburn area of Newcastle. In 1684 the Dagnia family, Sephardic Jewish emigrants from Altare, arrived in Newcastle from Stourbridge and established glasshouses along the Close, to manufacture high quality flint glass. The glass manufacturers used sand ballast from the boats arriving in the river as the main raw material. The glassware was then exported in collier brigs. The period from 1730 to 1785 was the highpoint of Newcastle glass manufacture, when the local glassmakers produced the 'Newcastle Light Baluster'. The glassmaking industry still exists in the west end of the city with local Artist and Glassmaker Jane Charles carrying on over four hundred years of hot glass blowing in Newcastle upon Tyne.
Locomotive manufacture
In 1823 George Stephenson and his son Robert established the world's first locomotive factory near Forth Street in Newcastle. Here they built locomotives for the Stockton and Darlington Railway and the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, as well as many others. It was here that the famous locomotive Rocket was designed and manufactured in preparation for the Rainhill Trials. Apart from building locomotives for the British market, the Newcastle works also produced locomotives for Europe and America. The Forth Street works continued to build locomotives until 1960.
Shipbuilding
In 1296 a wooden, 135 ft (41 m) long galley was constructed at the mouth of the Lort Burn in Newcastle, as part of a twenty-ship order from the king. The ship cost £205, and is the earliest record of shipbuilding in Newcastle. However the rise of the Tyne as a shipbuilding area was due to the need for collier brigs for the coal export trade. These wooden sailing ships were usually built locally, establishing local expertise in building ships. As ships changed from wood to steel, and from sail to steam, the local shipbuilding industry changed to build the new ships. Although shipbuilding was carried out up and down both sides of the river, the two main areas for building ships in Newcastle were Elswick, to the west, and Walker, to the east. By 1800 Tyneside was the third largest producer of ships in Britain. Unfortunately, after the Second World War, lack of modernisation and competition from abroad gradually caused the local industry to decline and die.
Armaments
In 1847 William Armstrong established a huge factory in Elswick, west of Newcastle. This was initially used to produce hydraulic cranes but subsequently began also to produce guns for both the army and the navy. After the Swing Bridge was built in 1876 allowing ships to pass up river, warships could have their armaments fitted alongside the Elswick works. Armstrong's company took over its industrial rival, Joseph Whitworth of Manchester in 1897.
Steam turbines
Charles Algernon Parsons invented the steam turbine and, in 1889, founded his own company C. A. Parsons and Company in Heaton, Newcastle to make steam turbines. Shortly after this, he realised that steam turbines could be used to propel ships and, in 1897, he founded a second company, Parsons Marine Steam Turbine Company in Wallsend. It is there that he designed and manufactured Turbinia. Parsons turbines were initially used in warships but soon came to be used in merchant and passenger vessels, including the liner Mauretania which held the blue riband for the Atlantic crossing until 1929. Parsons' company in Heaton began to make turbo-generators for power stations and supplied power stations all over the world. The Heaton works, reduced in size, remains as part of the Siemens AG industrial giant.
Pottery
In 1762 the Maling pottery was founded in Sunderland by French Huguenots, but transferred to Newcastle in 1817. A factory was built in the Ouseburn area of the city. The factory was rebuilt twice, finally occupying a 14-acre (57,000 m2) site that was claimed to be the biggest pottery in the world and which had its own railway station. The pottery pioneered use of machines in making potteries as opposed to hand production. In the 1890s the company went up-market and employed in-house designers. The period up to the Second World War was the most profitable with a constant stream of new designs being introduced. However, after the war, production gradually declined and the company closed in 1963.
Expansion of the city
Newcastle was one of the boroughs reformed by the Municipal Corporations Act 1835: the reformed municipal borough included the parishes of Byker, Elswick, Heaton, Jesmond, Newcastle All Saints, Newcastle St Andrew, Newcastle St John, Newcastle St Nicholas, and Westgate. The urban districts of Benwell and Fenham and Walker were added in 1904. In 1935, Newcastle gained Kenton and parts of the parishes of West Brunton, East Denton, Fawdon, Longbenton. The most recent expansion in Newcastle's boundaries took place under the Local Government Act 1972 on 1 April 1974, when Newcastle became a metropolitan borough, also including the urban districts of Gosforth and Newburn, and the parishes of Brunswick, Dinnington, Hazlerigg, North Gosforth and Woolsington from the Castle Ward Rural District, and the village of Westerhope.
Meanwhile Northumberland County Council was formed under the Local Government Act 1888 and benefited from a dedicated meeting place when County Hall was completed in the Castle Garth area of Newcastle in 1910. Following the Local Government Act 1972 County Hall relocated to Morpeth in April 1981.
Twentieth century
In 1925 work began on a new high-level road bridge to span the Tyne Gorge between Newcastle and Gateshead. The capacity of the existing High-Level Bridge and Swing Bridge were being strained to the limit, and an additional bridge had been discussed for a long time. The contract was awarded to the Dorman Long Company and the bridge was finally opened by King George V in 1928. The road deck was 84 feet (26 m) above the river and was supported by a 531 feet (162 m) steel arch. The new Tyne Bridge quickly became a symbol for Newcastle and Tyneside, and remains so today.
During the Second World War, Newcastle was largely spared the horrors inflicted upon other British cities bombed during the Blitz. Although the armaments factories and shipyards along the River Tyne were targeted by the Luftwaffe, they largely escaped unscathed. Manors goods yard and railway terminal, to the east of the city centre, and the suburbs of Jesmond and Heaton suffered bombing during 1941. There were 141 deaths and 587 injuries, a relatively small figure compared to the casualties in other industrial centres of Britain.
In 1963 the city gained its own university, the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, by act of parliament. A School of Medicine and Surgery had been established in Newcastle in 1834. This eventually developed into a college of medicine attached to Durham University. A college of physical science was also founded and became Armstrong College in 1904. In 1934 the two colleges merged to become King's College, Durham. This remained as part of Durham University until the new university was created in 1963. In 1992 the city gained its second university when Newcastle Polytechnic was granted university status as Northumbria University.
Newcastle City Council moved to the new Newcastle Civic Centre in 1968.
As heavy industries declined in the second half of the 20th century, large sections of the city centre were demolished along with many areas of slum housing. The leading political figure in the city during the 1960s was T. Dan Smith who oversaw a massive building programme of highrise housing estates and authorised the demolition of a quarter of the Georgian Grainger Town to make way for Eldon Square Shopping Centre. Smith's control in Newcastle collapsed when it was exposed that he had used public contracts to advantage himself and his business associates and for a time Newcastle became a byword for civic corruption as depicted in the films Get Carter and Stormy Monday and in the television series Our Friends in the North. However, much of the historic Grainger Town area survived and was, for the most part, fully restored in the late 1990s. Northumberland Street, initially the A1, was gradually closed to traffic from the 1970s and completely pedestrianised by 1998.
In 1978 a new rapid transport system, the Metro, was built, linking the Tyneside area. The system opened in August 1980. A new bridge was built to carry the Metro across the river between Gateshead and Newcastle. This was the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge, commonly known as the Metro Bridge. Eventually the Metro system was extended to reach Newcastle Airport in 1991, and in 2002 the Metro system was extended to the nearby city of Sunderland.
As the 20th century progressed, trade on the Newcastle and Gateshead quaysides gradually declined, until by the 1980s both sides of the river were looking rather derelict. Shipping company offices had closed along with offices of firms related to shipping. There were also derelict warehouses lining the riverbank. Local government produced a master plan to re-develop the Newcastle quayside and this was begun in the 1990s. New offices, restaurants, bars and residential accommodation were built and the area has changed in the space of a few years into a vibrant area, partially returning the focus of Newcastle to the riverside, where it was in medieval times.
The Gateshead Millennium Bridge, a foot and cycle bridge, 26 feet (7.9 m) wide and 413 feet (126 m) long, was completed in 2001. The road deck is in the form of a curve and is supported by a steel arch. To allow ships to pass, the whole structure, both arch and road-deck, rotates on huge bearings at either end so that the road deck is lifted. The bridge can be said to open and shut like a human eye. It is an important addition to the re-developed quayside area, providing a vital link between the Newcastle and Gateshead quaysides.
Recent developments
Today the city is a vibrant centre for office and retail employment, but just a short distance away there are impoverished inner-city housing estates, in areas originally built to provide affordable housing for employees of the shipyards and other heavy industries that lined the River Tyne. In the 2010s Newcastle City Council began implementing plans to regenerate these depressed areas, such as those along the Ouseburn Valley.
We now take you to the temporary headquarters of the Texas Kritter Krewe for a press conference...
Timmy: Good morning. As the self-appointed chief of the Texas Kritter Krewe, I will be making a brief statement regarding our evacuation of Hugetown. Afterward, I will field questions as long as I feel like it.
As all of you know by now that the Gulf Coast area was struck by Hurricane Ike last Friday. I just want to make sure that all of our friends and relatives know that I am OK. My part of Hugetown was in the eye wall for several hours of intense wind and rain without the break that would have come if the eye had passed directly overhead. As a result, I was left without lectrical power, running water and unreliable connections for communications devices. After several days of making the best of a bad situation and inspired by the words of the great philosopher Thomas Earl Petty, who said "Now baby you don't have to live like a refugee", I decided that the best alternative was to evacuate until conditions improve.
I made the decision to head where important people hide out in times of trouble and danger, a ranch in Crawford, Texas. I arrived at the front gate and pressed the buzzer to ask if I could hang out there until the storm damage is all cleaned up -- the voice on the other end said that only Dubya could OK that and he couldn't be interrupted while watching cartoons. I asked to speak to that other dude, the one who should be playing The Penguin in the next Batman movie -- they said he couldn't OK that but he would love to take me hunting sometime...
Since that was a bust, I decided to head further north into Indian Territory, since I am on pretty good terms with the Osage. Once I crossed the Red River, I was happy to find that the Native Americans had built a turnpike to provide us safe passage through their nations. Upon arriving at the Fairy Godmother's house, I have been able to relax and enjoy the kritter comforts to which I am normally accustomed.
I'll now consider answering some of your questions...
Snort the Bull, Beanie Times: You only make references to yourself. Were you alone in this escape from the hurricane-ravaged conditions of your neighborhood?
Timmy: Nah, Mommy, Daddy and all those other stuffed dudes were with me and are doing just fine but I'm the only one I really care about, so let's stick to the most important subject here: ME!
Fluffy Muffins, Stuffed Cat FanMag: How did your food supply hold out during the days after the storm?
Timmy: Good question. At first, there were plenty of snacks, even enough to share with friends. When everything in the fridge and freezer started to go south, Mommy and Daddy wouldn't stop whining... and with no stores open, there was just no shutting them up -- it was all like "We want to eat more than two meals a day. We want a balanced diet."
Fluffy Muffins, Stuffed Cat FanMag: A follow-up question, if I may... You mentioned sharing snacks with other victims of Hurricane Ike. What about the rumors that you distributed cookies contaminated with monkey-butt?
Timmy: I will not, at this time or in the future, discuss the current or past activities of my butt or its proximity to hurricane relief supplies. Those supplies were distributed in good faith and were appreciated by those who received and consumed them. Would you ask John McCain that question?!
Scruffy, Knitters Gone Wild: What about the relief supplies to be distributed through official channels?
Timmy: I never saw any of those. As a matter of fact, our congressman was on TV asking for food and water for the Texas DPS officers and National Guard. FEMA was supposed to give them some, plus extras for the hurricane victims. I know that the E and M stand for "Emergency Management" but Mommy will get really mad if I say what Daddy told me the F and A stand for...
Rover Reporter, Plushie Canine Insider: But what about the MRE's being distributed to the victims?
Timmy: Dude, once I heard that they would be handing out "Monkeys, Ready to Eat" -- I didn't stick around to become somebody's snack pack!
G.I. Joe, Action Figure News: Um, don't you think some of your remarks might be slightly offensive to Native Americans?
Timmy: My experience has been that most Native Americans have a pretty good sense of humor. The Osage were uprooted and relocated twice -- only to find that the land they were given was sitting on top of a whole bunch of oil! Now they can just laugh and laugh...
Scooter, Webkins Web Blog: What about the stories of gas shortages in Hugetown?
Timmy: Sure, all of the stations were closed because they were either out of gas or didn't have power but as long as we have Daddy, there will never be a gas shortage wherever we are.
Sox the Monkey, World Handycraft Review: Will you be returning to Hugetown anytime soon?
Timmy: I suppose I'll have to at some point... but have you seen the Fairy Godmother's pantry? I'm moving the TV in there and never coming out!!!
OK, I'm bored and over this, so that ends our press conference -- Later, Dudes!
Our little backyard pond is quickly buried in autumn/winter leaves as seasonal (Santa Ana) winds rip leaves off of trees and deposit them about. Our goldfish are on their own to survive, with little assistance form us, save keeping their reservoir full and scraping leaves off the top eventually.... Camarillo, California
FOR PART I OF THIS STORY PLEASE CLICK...
www.flickr.com/photos/netdep/9455798770/
THIS STORY PICKS UP AT THE END OF PART I.....................
AND FOR PART III...(link also at the bottom of Part II)....
www.flickr.com/photos/netdep/14040205828/in/set-721576268...
He lay there for what seemed like several minutes. He knew he had to prod himself because the longer he was there the more he opened himself up for attack or ambush from either side or the rear. Being alone definitely worked against him sometimes. From all of his previous training and experience he knew how easy it was to become "frozen," especially when confronted with a threat that one did not anticipate. He never thought, and he chastised himself now, he would encounter another person on this run. Remember that "slow is smooth and smooth is fast" he first thought about he was going to do in the next five or so seconds. Recalling further that "the body can't go where the mind hasn't been" he was in the habit of rehearsing his actions before executing them except in the most perilous times and although this was stressful he was not under active fire or threat so his first priority was to make the situation worse by doing something stupid.
"Five." He began to draw his right foot up and shift his weight to his left. "Four." Having started to shift his weight he drew his hands near while starting to move the AR15 parallel to his body to push up. "Three." He pushed himself up quickly to a squat and did a quick three-sixty sweep. "Two." He stood and brought the AR15 to a low ready position. "One." He "Graucho'd" to the front of the truck and staying off cover did a quick assessment across the street to see what became of the shadow he had seen. Nothing. He decided to get into his truck and make a hasty exit to his campsite and once there immediately break camp and relocate. He opened the door of the the truck and noticed Hope had worked her way to the front of the bed of the truck near the window in the canopy and stood looking at him. He thought she had senses the heightened awareness and was worried: well as worried as a dog can be.
"Hey!" The voice cracked the silence like an explosion. He wasn't sure if he heard it or if it was his self-talk that had begun to take over his subconscious. "Hey, the guy in the gray truck!" That time he was certain of it. Someone had hailed him and that someone was a woman. Door open, he continued to load the AR15 in and as he did he instinctively reached down to thumb the holster and release the Glock 22 from the Bladetech drop holster. He left it along his right thigh. He instantly thought that someone was trying to gain a tactical advantage by distracting him and he knew right now, right this instant, it had worked. "Get the fuck out of here, like right now!" That was all he could think and that he was rushed in that thought made him briefly flash anger at himself - slow it down. He walked around the front of the truck to get in. "I know you don't trust us but come back, we have food and medical supplies and you are welcome to return!" She yelled but it was more like a loud voice than a shout. He was close enough to hear clearly. Us? She said, "us." Later. Later he would wonder about this. His priority now was to leave the area - immediately if not sooner. Without delay he climbed in the truck. The windows had been down for the drive in and they remained down. "Thank you!" He shouted as he got in the truck. Starting the engine, he had wanted to leave enough doubt to those watching that he might let his guard down in case they were waiting to ambush him after his surprise. Turning the key, he put the truck in gear and drove in the direction of the truck and made quick progress back toward Highway 20 and to the campground. He stayed in the center if the street and although he drove quickly he was careful to scan ahead and keep a keen eye on the sides of the streets for vehicles or obstacles that might be used to disable or distract him.
His mind raced and he made a very deliberate effort to agree with himself to put it out of his mind until he reached camp. One thing at a time and this was all he could afford to think about. Being distracted led to a host of problems and he could not afford to wreck his truck or become injured because he was driving HUA as he used to say. As he neared Highway 20 he slowed but did not stop and continued to make the wide left turn that put him eastbound back toward the Gorge Campground and safety. He was weary of doubling back near where he had just driven but he considered this and speed of mission took direct priority over tactics right now. He accelerated to about forty-five and quickly saw town fade from his rear view mirror. He felt his knees shake a bit and his breathing quicken. He knew that the stress was starting to overwhelm him and knew he had to do something about it. Keeping a keen eye on the road and being very deliberate he initiated his "QR" - quieting reflex - it had saved his life countless times and he knew that right now and right here it would again. Keeping concentration on his driving he brought the words "warm" and "heavy" to his conscious and almost immediately felt his knees relax, his hands begin to warm and his tunnel vision begin to widen to normal. He also made an effort to unclench his teeth since he knew when his teeth touched it was a sign of stress and when he relaxed his jaw it was a sign of relaxation. Stress can't live in a relaxed body and a relaxed mind creates a relaxed body. He decided to take the Lyman-Hamilton Highway cutoff and stay off of Highway 20 for a bit. Since he had just traveled over it a few hours ago, he did not want to have to go back over the same territory having allowed anyone to set up obstacles or an ambush. As he neared the cutoff he was completely relaxed and decided he would stop and take a much needed break, let Hope take her break and assess his findings from Sedro-Woolley as well as secure his weapons and vest. He saw the cutoff coming up on the right and turned the truck slightly to take the road. This would cross back over Highway 20 and it was a good route for him to avoid traveling over the same roads too many times in too short a period of time. Nicholson Road was just ahead and he pulled the truck off to the left, giving him cover when he exited on the driver side to whatever lie ahead of him, and pulled well off the shoulder slightly into the brush.
He immediately left the truck, engine running and driver door opened to quickly walk into the woods. He waited at least ten seconds and made several three-sixty sweeps to make sure nothing, and no one, was around. Feeling safe he approached the truck and turned the engine off and lay the keys on the seat so the irritating chime would stop. He normally left the door open when he was stopped like this to have quick access to weapons, cover and a way to quickly leave if needed. He re-racked the AR15 and carried the Remington 870 to the back of the truck. Dropping the tailgate, he was almost hit in the chest by Hope as she bounded out of the back. He had made her wait almost too long!! She ran quickly into the woods. Replacing the Remington 870 in the nylon scabbard and arranging all the supplies in the back of the truck took a few minutes. He walked to the front of the truck and took off the plate carrier and set it in the passenger seat. All was nearly back to normal. He retrieved the GRAYL water container from the cup holder and took a long cool drink. The fresh water tasted good and he knew he needed it after his stressful event. Then it hit him, "us" she said. She? "Us." He knew better than to make too much out of the fact it was an LDS Church. Mormons were well known for being "preppers" and if there was any group would've been ready for something like "The Day" it was them and if there was any group that would offer, unconditionally, to help a stranger it was them as well.
Vest off, weapons secured - save the weapons he that kept him constant companion - and gear stowed, he waited for Hope to return. Those Vienna Sausages must've caught up to her he thought! As if she had the canine power of mind reading she came bounding out of the woods to the truck. She leapt in the bed and began to sniff and paw at the bags of dog food that had been secured at the Vet Clinic. He decided then and there rather than have dog food spread all over the bed of the truck, in every nook and cranny, he would put her in the jump seat behind him for the rest of the trip. Taking a few minutes to break down his weapons and gear gave him some time, mentally, to catch his breath. He was able to slow down. Opening the driver side access door to the truck he motioned Hope in. She hesitated, it was new he thought, so he let out a low whistle. She hopped in the cab and took a seat on the jump seat behind the driver seat. It was a little crowded with AR15 magazine, binoculars, MRE's, a grab bag and some other miscellaneous gear but she managed to fit and sit quite comfortably. He slid in behind the wheel and brought the truck to life. Back on the road with approximately an hour drive time to camp. He put all else other than getting back to camp safely out of his mind. He knew, and had experienced too many times, thinking of the next task got people in trouble. "Nothing is more important than now," he repeated to himself. In the mirror he saw Hope's paws on the back of his seat. She had stood up in the jump seat and looked over his seat to see out. She looks very intense as if studying the route. He took a hand off the wheel to give her head a reassuring pat. She seemed to like that and laid her head on the back of his seat. For the first time in a very long time he felt something strange, almost foreign, he felt content.
The drive back to camp was uneventful. Driving about the same speed as he drove there he was able to return to the Diablo Road cutoff in about the same time. Again, he stopped short and launched the drone. Again, he took his time and did not make a hasty ingress to his camping area. Again, he checked his trip wires and booby traps he carefully left behind whenever he left an area that he would return. Again, he arrived safely. Having checked everything and being assured all was safe he opened the access door and Hope let herself out. Now was the time to sit, relax and let all the thoughts that were going to come racing into his head come ahead! He recalled some advice from someone he had heard a long time ago about being lost. He often thought that having an overwhelming circumstance was like being lost. In either case it was important to stop, relax and take the problem piece by piece. He recalled that the first advice from a famous woodsman on becoming lost was to sit, relax, make a fire and brew a cup of tea! Of course the author was an Englishman but the advice was not lost. By relaxing and getting one's bearing a person would, by design, be forced to stop and take stock of the situation and far less likely to just launch off in some random direction and make the situation worse. So, in times like these, he decided to stop, put the kettle and make a cup of coffee. He also decided he would use one of his now precious Trader Joe's "sticks" of coffee since after his ordeal this morning he decided he deserved it.
Water on a rolling boil and the powder deposited into his favorite black Starbuck's mug with the bear on it he began to review the events of the day. In a typical systematic way, and a way that he had hundreds of times whenever he "hotwashed" a mission, he started at the beginning. His route selection was good and he saw nothing that needed selection except to remember not to duplicate routes. His target selection on the vet's office was good since it was the closest to the edge of town and across the street from a bank that provided good cover. His decision to even go to the vet was a good one since he could not continue to feed Hope his food; it was not healthy for her and depleted him of rations that were meant for him. Where he parked, his gear selection, the entry to the vet's office and all the rest of the mission up until the unanticipated encounter with the stranger worked out well and perfectly according to plan. It was there he took his time. The decision to go left away from the threat was a good one. Taking cover and using not only the truck but the tire was a good one. But he stopped there. He knew he saw a shadow but why did he stop? What possessed him to break what should have been protocol and drive through the threat? Why even stop? He knew in his situation that if he had taken rounds he would have been severely compromised if not killed. Had the truck sustained any damage he would be without transportation. Had he been wounded or incapacitated he knew that he would be at the mercy of an unknown adversary. There was no good reason. It was here that he knew he needed to be. Think! He spent a few minutes with that one. Rolling the warm coffee cup in his hand and clearing his mind he came to the inescapable conclusion that he stopped because he had not thought through the scenario of meeting someone. It had not even occurred to him that he would confront someone. He had grown so complacent that something this simple was not even worked into the calculus of his actions. He was briefly disappointed. To beat himself up too much was a waste of time. He was pleased that he had the insight to identify the issue because now that it was identified he could expand his repertoire to include this contingency. On to the rest of the day and the other things that caused his stomach to be in knots.
He had a few things to recall about the stranger. She was armed. She was a she. She was outside a church. She was armed with at least a long gun - that he had seen briefly in the shadow - and that told him that whatever her position it was guarded and armed. She had called to him shortly before he left and that told him she - or they - had a desire to communicate and might not be totally aggressive. She had mentioned food and medical supplies - and that made him wonder why. Food was fairly obvious and for millions of years people that greeted each other, or wanted to make friends, would extend an invitation of a meal or food as an offering of peace and welcome but medical supplies? Did she know that the plague had taken a toll and was offering supplies to provide comfort? Too many questions and no answers! It was at this point he set down his half drunk coffee and reached into his knapsack for a pad of paper to write all these questions down. He did not want to forget any of it while it was fresh in his mind but he did not want to dwell on it either. Retrieving the pad and pen he opened the book to a blank page and wrote "VET MISSION LDS FEEDBACK" and listed all the questions he had just run through his mind. He also jotted down the concerns he had about his own decisions as a reminder to take a look at this and also to make a note to begin to memorialize more of his "missions" and make a better record of his activity, not only for his inventory and mission readiness/capability but also as a way to have a "conversation" with himself after his foraging.That task complete he was able to move on with some other pressing business. Taking care of Hope and preparing to move his camp. He had decided on the way back that he would move the bulk of his camp after his encounter with the unknown female. His “OpSec” had been threatened and even if it had not he must not make any other sloppy decisions and error on the side of caution and safety. Walking to the back of the truck he dropped the tailgate and reached for one of the bags of Eukanuba that he had gotten in his foraging of the Vet office. Never making anything easy he noticed there were no perforations along the top of the bag so he would have to cut it open. Not a big deal but he had become acutely aware of each and every time he had to chop or cut anything. He realized that what had been a minor cut, or even scratch, before the days of the Plague could easily be life threatening now, not only from a loss of blood standpoint but from infection that could result in time lost from fever and recovery to blood poisoning and death. Reaching into his right side pocket he got his Benchmade Griptillian, a constant companion, and flicked the blade open to cut the top of the bag open. Rattling the bag must’ve been a real Deja Vu experience for Hope because she went from stretched out sound asleep under the tailgate of the truck to having her ears perked straight up at attention in no time at all!
Grabbing the stainless steel bowl he had made hers, he poured some of the dry food in and set her water dish next to the food dish. She bounded over and barely sniffed the contents before she made quick friends with her new food. She was one very happy dog and this was evident by the ferocity of her eating and the wagging tail. After some serious munching and crunching she took a breath and moved to her water bowl. She was very happy with her new food and made no secret of it when she came over to him and gave him the first of many “kisses” he would receive from his newest friend. As Hope walked back to her breakfast he decided it was his turn. Something quick and high calorie since today would be high energy and he had taken not wasted, enough time on his administrative tasks. Unzipping the Camp Chef Sherpa to the bag that contained food he surveyed his options. Landing on the Blackberry Crumble he put the kettle back on for hot water not only for his breakfast but another cup of coffee; it was, after all, going to be a long day!
He ate the crumble out of the bag to save washing dishes and wiped off the spoon before placing it back in the galley area of the trailer. Securing his waste in the trash bag had for this campsite he was just about ready to hook up the trailer to the truck and head off. He had spent some of the morning pouring over his topo maps of the area and decided to head a little further into the mountains and make temporary camp at a place he had been once before called Sourdough Campground. The three miles up the Sourdough Mountain Trail would give him some breathing room and change for his peace of mind but also offer a bit more seclusion. He decided to leave his Mossberg 500 in the “Just In Case” that was cached near his current campsite and everything else that had made this his more or less permanent base camp. All that would be going would be the truck, trailer and camo netting. He had planned on being at this camp about two days before hiking back to make sure this location had not been compromised. He finished securing the pintle hitch to the “doughnut” which made the connection secure. Attaching the breakaway chains complete the process. Folding up the camo netting and he was ready to move. He had started a dangerous precedent by letting Hope ride in the front next to him but his choices were limited with the dog food in the back of the truck. It was either let her ride in the cab with him or risk her making a mess of the bags of food he had risked their lives for. Moving felt good. He made the trip fairly easily and the steps to conceal the camp were made easily as well. Gorge campground had been good but too close to the highway. This would offer more seclusion and his plan was to conceal the trailer as best he could, make a couple of more caches of food and weapons then return to scout the LDS Church in Sedro Woolley for some answers in a couple of days.
The heavily wooded area of Sourdough Campground was perfect. He was able to park the trailer in a thick patch of trees with low cover that offered him the support to spread the camo net over the entire campsite. Since he was not planning on staying in this site for too long but rather leaving the majority of his gear there he would have to stay busy concealing some around the trailer and creating a couple of caches in the event he had to make a hasty retreat or return after forced from another location. He had learned a long time ago to never call anyplace “home” for long. This was at once disconcerting and reassuring. The moving every two or three days was made easy by the way he traveled – his truck and teardrop trailer – but had proven to take its toll mentally and spiritually. Now with Hope it was even less appealing since he had the additional tasks that related to having his new friend and her needs. He briefly got caught up in thinking about having a place that could be “his” once again but knew it would be quite some time, if ever, that were to happen again.
Trailer nestled between the trees and covered, non-essential gear moved and stowed from the truck, come rocks carried up from Sourdough Creek to make a fire ring, firewood gathered it was time to set about his caches. He decided he would make three. The first would be his other “Just In Case” Mossberg 500 12-gauge shotgun, set of clothes, one SOG Trident Tanto folding knive, fire starter, spare first aid kit, “First Strike Ration,” steel braided survival saw, nylon pack of two Izula arrowheads to use as spears for defense of fishing and two boxes of shotgun ammunition. Once this was assembled he set about the second, food/fire/shelter, and obtained one of the weatherproof Rubbermaid boxes out of the trailer that he had currently stored clothes in. In this he placed two complete MRE’s, six small bags of Datrex Emergency Drinking Water (4.2oz each), one block Datrex Emergency Ration, one AMK SOL series OD Green Emergency Bivvy, a Gerber firestarter and some AMK FireLite tinder. This second cache would be located near the first to provide him additional food and shelter after getting the weapons he might need if he became separated from his truck or injured for some reason. The third was the one he hoped he would never need. It was a fallback trauma/first aid cache. This was going to take the most thought. The first two were fairly routine and had been put together before, especially the food/fire/shelter one since he often concealed these ahead of camping trips when he was scouting new locations.
For his trauma/first aid cache he would have to envision scenarios that would have caused him to be separated from his truck or other standard emergency supplies. To think of this made him uneasy since the most obvious scenario would be a gunshot or encounter with a human resulting in injury. He thought of his training and reading in this area and decided that the major threats that he might encounter were the same as in his Tactical Combat Casualty Care (TCCC) training. First, bleeding from extremities his major concern. It was most amenable to self-help and most profound in terms of having an immediate result that would help him survive and continue to fight if necessary. Therefore a tourniquet was first in the cache: another Rubbermaid container that formerly housed clothes and at this rate his trailer was going to look like one large unkempt closet! To the tourniquet (TQ) he added three packs of roller gauze, half dozen four-by-fours, two pair of nitrile gloves, two Ace bandage wraps, one SAM splint, one 1000ml bag of Lactated Ringer’s Solution for irrigation with a drip set, trauma size pad and rounded out the kit with ten Providine-Iodine swabsticks and a travel size of Alleve OTC pain reliever. This was rudimentary but it was intended for self-help only and anything more advanced like airways, needles for aspiration or similar items would either take up precious room or be taken away from the main supply where they may be used later.
The caches assembled, it was now time to move on to more important tasks – dinner! Dinner tonight would be simple –it had been a long day for he and Hope. First things first. Hope’s dinner was poured into what had become “her” bowl and she knew the sound of the dry food hitting the bowl and he was reminded again of where “Pavlov” came from. The self-chuckle made him chuckle outloud. Hope had provided some company but he was still amused at his ability to make himself laugh with corny jokes and double entendres - his favorite form of humor before and still was. Both of Hope’s bowls were filled with water and food and it was his turn. Since the length of the day and all of the work, along with the fact that he did not want to build a fire, he decided to bust open an MRE. He had been in the habit of saving MRE’s in recent times since he was unsure of a resupply and they were his best bet in a pinch. Shuffling through his choices he decided on fajitas. The pack pulled apart at the top exposed all the goodies that the standard military MRE had to offer. Normally more food that he could consume in one meal, he was sure tonight he could meet the challenge. Unwrapping the contents exposed the heater unit and he poured a small bit of water into the pack and placed the chicken fajita entrée inside, folded over the heater pouch and placed it back in the box. He knew he had a few minutes until it was warm and also wanted to use the heater to warm the rice to put in the tortillas that balanced the meal. He really did enjoy MRE’s and was sorry that he had such a small amount but what seemed like and endless supply before quickly got used as his definition of “emergency” become more and more of an emergency.
With the fajita packet and rice warmed he spooned the two on a tortilla to sit, relax and enjoy. He was nearly ravenous and the stuffed tortilla began to fill a void. He ate it quickly, too quickly, and hoped he would not have to deal with any untoward visits to the latrine tree (or as he called it, the “latreen”) later. Slowing down and realizing that after his second tortilla all he had was the nut raisin mix and his evening cup of coffee. Hope had long ago finished and was sitting quietly on the other side of camp. He was pleased that she had taken to positioning herself slightly away from him and seemed to almost sense that they created an “opposite threat” awareness.
Still leery of having of having a fire he decided to warm the water for his coffee with one of his few remaining Trekmates heater pack and Trekmate flameless beaker. The Trekmate worked in a way similar to the MRE heaters but was made to heat water in a stainless steel cup that was placed in a polyethylene container in which the heater pack and a small amount of water was placed. The chemical reaction heated the stainless steel beaker as well as the water to about one hundred ninety degrees – perfect for either his Starbuck’s VIA or Trader Joe’s instant coffee with sugar and cream included. Tonight it was Starbuck’s VIA – black – he normally had two Sweet-n-Lows but they were running low and the decision had been made they would be saved.
Dinner, coffee and clean up taken care of – clean up had been to stuff all of the wrappers from the MRE and coffee into the packet the MRE came in and toss it in the garbage back he had started in the back of the truck – it was time to make arrangements to bed down. It had been dark for a half hour or so and his eyes had adjusted to the darkness. Making his way over the truck he grabbed is North Face mummy bag and Big Agnes Q-Core sleeping pad. The weather was not bad for this time of year and this is all he would need to stay comfortable. He found a spot about fifteen yards from the truck and an equal distance from the trailer, almost on a triangle so he could keep an eye on both but not be too obvious to anyone approaching, and put the pad and bag on the ground. Making his way toward the truck for one last check to make sure all was locked and turned off and dark as well as the trailer to make sure of the same, he also made one last stop at the latreen to ease the load of the coffee. As was his practice when bedding down he placed his Glock and AR15 on a tarp that served as ground cover for the sleeping pad and his gear. The small S&W 642 was near the right side of his pillow and the Gerber Tactical Tomahawk was placed under the ground cloth on the opposite side from the Glock and AR.
As he drifted off to slumber his ear caught a sound but quickly realized it was Hope yawning and stretching for her nightly exercises as well. Although she would lie down a few yards away from him she always seemed to find herself lying next to him either on or near his sleeping bag in the morning. He didn’t mind and appreciated the companionship but still wondered about the day that he saw and heard the woman in town. Who was she? What group had she referred to? How many were there? Had they tried to follow him? Did they have news about what had happened? So many questions and no answers made his mind wander to the more immediate. Going o ver the plans for the next morning always seemed to make him rest easier. His list of tasks fairly short and straightforward for the next day: do last minute checks and camo on the trailer, make sure the truck was equipped for a few days away from his basecamp, double check the weapons insuring they were clean and serviceable, check ammo, food and first aid stores and make notes about what he needed to scavenge for if the opportunity presented itself. It was this last point that put him to sleep. It turned into a wish list. He drifted off thinking about what it was like before. Glad he could remember before and glad this was not one of the times that thinking like this made him bitter and angry. If anything it made him nostalgic and a bit sad. His house, his job, his friends, his wife all were gone. He remembered them but also accepted the fact that they were gone – if that was before, this is now.
He awakened to a low sun and knew it was early. As expected, Hope was half on and half off the mummy bag and quite asleep. Nothing had stirred him throughout the night and this was made evident as he checked the crude booby traps he had set about the perimeter. After a quick inspection of trailer, truck and perimeter he set about to grab an energy bar and some water for breakfast along with changing Hope’s water and pouring her half a bowl of food. She was happy with that and gladly chowed down her breakfast as fast as the energy bar disappeared. Gear check and weapons check complete he checked the back of the truck for its contents. Sleeping bag, pad, Trekmates for four days, a case of MRE’s, camp chair, hammock, clothes, a case of ammo for the AR15, one hundred rounds of twelve gauge, the drone with a charged battery and a battle pack for the Glock should see him through to his return to basecamp.
Noting the three quarters fuel on the Tacoma he knew he needed to make gas a priority. He had emptied the Rotopax getting back and forth to Sedro-Woolley and to his way of thinking he was getting dangerously low on gas. If it was a decision to park and camo the truck and go on foot with a half tank left in the truck he would do that – he had long ago made the decision to keep the truck as an emergency bug out and a half tank of gas was a bare minimum.
The decision was made to go east and not backtrack west where he had made most of sojourns. Although more mountainous and fewer places that he could seek shelter it did provide new opportunities for scavenging and fuel. According to his maps the drive would be about sixty six miles, well within the allotted fuel he had remaining before hitting his “hard stop.” He knew the route well and in earlier times he drove it for its beauty, lake views and winding relaxing roads. This time was different but he knew that all of travels had given him a unique knowledge of the area and, he prayed, an advantage over anyone else out there had they intended him harm.
FOR PART III go to this link......the story will continue....
www.flickr.com/photos/netdep/14040205828/in/set-721576268...
Students benefit from a blue sky and warm temperature for studies or a break outside and on this building
ODC Temporary
Built up as a fixed-gear so I can shovel some miles onto it before painting it, boxing it, and sending it off to (approximately) the east coast.
NOBR AKES -- I have yet to braze on the canti (we agreed to not do centerpulls) posts, brake and chainstay bridges, or the wiring ports for internal wiring. When I get the brakes onto this thing (and get a half link to tighten the chain; geared bicycle w/ vertical dropouts, so I can't push the rear wheel back and forth to get the right chain tension) I'll drop fenders onto it and loop it further from home than the approximately 1800 feet I took it w/o anything but my legs to stop the thing.
A temporary tram terminus, just below my apartment.
Prague-Karlín, Czech Republic
A part of the Views From My Windows (Vol. 2) album