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Crowdfunded by the people of Sturminster Newton, Geoffrey the Bull (named by Oliver Currie aged 7) commemorates the town's livestock market that closed on 30th June 1997 ending a 700 year old existence in this small rural market town.
Sutton Mill, Sutton Poyntz.
As mentioned in previous posts, so long as a water source existed, almost every village in Dorset (and elsewhere) used to have a water mill for grinding grain. Sutton Poyntz was no exception having three along the grandly named River Jordan that is little more than a stream. What is now the village duck pond originated as the 'reservoir' for the mill to provide a sufficient and regular flow of water.
Originally built around 1820, it is now a Grade 11 Listed Building that was converted to residential use in the 1980s after being derelict for some years.
The first airplane built and flown in Texas, 1912. This is the original that has been preserved and restored, now displayed at Midland Airport, Texas.
www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/pliska-john-valentine
Tonight's red-eye flight back to Britain will be on something a little larger, a United Boeing 777.
I'll be absent from flickr for a couple of days. Cheers!
John Constable is best known for his landscape paintings around Dedham Vale, Suffolk. Less well known are a series of paintings from October and November 1816 when he and his bride took a 6 week honeymoon in Osmington, Dorset. Several of those paintings are featuring here during November, with comparison photos taken 200 years later.
This was rather more difficult than last week's Constable painting to compare with the modern day. The agriculture has changed in the foreground. Likewise, a large Pontin's holiday camp was built after World War 2 and is now the private land of PGL, a children's activity holiday centre that is just visible in the post below to the right of the photo. The comparison isn't helped by totally different cloudscapes.
Nevertheless, John Constable clearly did his painting somewhere quite close to the spot where I took the recent photo shown below of Weymouth Bay and the Isle of Portland.
You may remember that last year three posts were uploaded comparing Constable paintings then and now? John Constable is best known for his landscape paintings around Dedham Vale, Suffolk. Less well known are the series of paintings from October and November 1816 when he and his bride took a 6 week honeymoon in Osmington, Dorset.
This is the last in the series. Although recognisable in the photo below, the village of Osmington has expanded sufficiently to make a modern comparison difficult. However by waiting until a sunny winter morning, the lack of foliage on the trees at least made a 'then and now' comparison possible....which it wasn't in the summer!
Here is one of the earlier posts www.flickr.com/photos/99303089@N00/30310655723/in/datepos...
Regular readers will know that I'm not a great fan of the diesel railbus, having commuted on them for far too many years. However, I'll readily admit that it was interesting to come across this German Class 798 unit now operating on the Dutch heritage line ZLSM, close to the German border. Apparently they were affectionately known in Germany as "Nebenbahnretter" which translates as "branch line saviours". Built more than half a century ago they were relatively cheap to manufacture and operate, hence rail lines were retained that might not otherwise have been profitable. They lasted in German scheduled service well into the 1990's.
I'm not entirely sure but think this is 798-09. If not, it is 798-04. In this photo it is leaving Simpleveld Junction towards Vetschau.
Foxfield Station is located on the Cumbrian Coast Line. Although the station dates from 1848, the still operational Foxfield signal box was opened somewhat later in 1879. It controls old school semaphore signals, one of which can just be seen between the signal box and the old water tower.
Oh dear. Whilst Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak mentioned this line for an upgrade and used the dreaded phrase "Energy Coast Line".
(Sketch artist unknown)
The date is January 12 / 13 1899. Maritime distress signals were sighted having been fired from the schooner Forrest Hall, disabled and dragging her anchor in near-hurricane conditions that caused significant damage across southern England.
With nor'westerlies blowing the Watchet lifeboat had no chance of reaching the vessel. So the call went out to Lynmouth, further down the coast. However, with mountainous waves crashing onto shore, the lifeboat Louisa would be smashed to pieces before even leaving harbour. The decision was made to launch from Porlock, a mere dozen or so miles away but a distance made almost impossible by some of the steepest gradients in Britain. For example, anyone who knows the area, is likely to have driven Porlock Hill that rises to over 1000' with a maximum gradient of 1 in 4 (25%).
Horse were found. Hitched to the lifeboat, the expedition set off in pouring rain with only lantern lights to guide them. Even by the top of the first major hill out of Lynmouth, a wheel came off the carriage and had to be repaired. Progress became easier over the moors, at least in part due to an advance party demolishing gateposts and walls to provide clearance. Going down Porlock Hill, the Louisa had to be braked hard all the way down.
After ten hours hard labour, the lifeboat was launched from Porlock Weir. 24 hours after leaving Lynmouth, Forrest Hall and 15 crew were saved by the lifeboat helping with two tugs that had also reached the scene to tow the vessel to a safe anchorage near Barry, South Wales.
The phrase "We'll launch from Porlock" has gone down in lifeboat history. The RNLI remains a charity that is always so worthwhile to support.
This third look at Swanage Railway's recent Strictly Bullied 11 event features City of Wells (34092) running tender first up the bank from the River Frome to Norden Jct. On an earlier post, Richard wondered about the lack of evidence that dirty old coal was being burned. There ya' go Richard!
In the distance is the mighty Hambledon Hillfort taken from Shillingstone heritage railway station on the defunct Somerset & Dorset Railway. The hill is not as well known as Maiden Castle but is just as impressive and you can be assured it is one heck of a lot harder to climb to the top than the main tourist hillfort close to Dorchester. I can just imagine defending forces chanting "come and have a go if you think you're hard enough" !
Note : Not being anything like an expert on the subject, I have gone with the traditional view of this and other hillforts being from the Iron Age. I am aware that other theories are gaining ground that they were even more ancient trading centres and that the ditches and ramparts were more to do with water management than defence.
It is much more difficult to find evidence of the pre-colonisation era in Texas (and much of America) than it is to find evidence of ancient history from several thousand years ago in Britain.
This is one of three Caddo Mounds at the tiny settlement of Weeping Mary (see below). Archaeologists date them between 800 - 1300 AD. Apparently some were built so that a 'temple' could command a position overlooking a village of Caddo people. Others, though much larger than similar structures from more ancient times in Britain, were burial mounds.
This week's Saturday Flashback goes back to Amsterdam circa 1725. I've always liked old maps and certainly from this one you can fairly easily pick out the structure of the old city as it still is today. One major change is that the course of the Amstel River was changed and it no longer flows down what is shown as Dam Rak to approximately where Centraal Station is today. Also note the ring of windmills around the outer ring of the city. This map is on show at The Hidden Church.
I've always found photos that show the same place from very different eras of interest. The main photo here was taken in the small town of Potes, Spain. I do not have an accurate date but would guess the 1920s or 1930s. It could easily have been taken in the Forties or Fifties. I recall a friend of mine telling his tale of cycling back to the UK from Gibraltar after World War 2 and hardly encountering a tarmac road the whole way across Spain. Even today, this northern part of Spain remains something of a welcome backwater compared to the rest of Europe.
The photo below shows the same location in 2014!
These replicas are part of the Great War Display Team. I am no expert on military war planes but apparently they are a JunkersCL1; a Royal Aircraft factory SE5a with the triplane being a Fokker DR1.
Kenney, TX, has never had a large population. I've seen a figure of just 200 at the start of this century. With the towns of Brenham to the north and Bellville not far to the south, it is perhaps not too surprising that another classic old country store has bit the dust.
Note the two horse hitching posts out front. There were 6 in total giving an indication of the clientele.
(I don't know about the rest of the world but flickr has been out of action all day in Texas. Someone must have chucked another lump of coal in the boiler as it is just getting going again!)
The photo features the sluice gates related to the building in the distance which is Fiddleford Mill, Calf Close Lane, near Sturminster Newton. Despite being a Grade 11 listed building, the old water mill that probably dates from the 18th century is not in good condition.
It is just one of many in Dorset. In fact there is another historic water mill in much better condition just a mile upstream
In England, i've seen a 'reverse' Archimedes screw operate a community power plant. There, water is diverted from a river, through the screw mechanism and that generates electricity. However, the apparatus in this photo, two of three screws forming the J.U. Smitgemaal pumping station in the Netherlands, performs what is thought to be the original historic concept of taking water from lower to higher levels.
In this instance, water is taken up from the low-lying Albasserwaard polders, discharged into the River Lek and hence to the North Sea. Opened in 1972, the station has a capacity of 1.500 cubic litres per minute...which is a lot! It replaced the work of eight traditional windmills.
...literally.
Another in the currently topical series concerning the final curtain for the Weymouth Tramway that ran from the current mainline Weymouth Station to Weymouth Quay station. In this photo you can clearly seen where the tracks have been cut and removed behind the barriers.
On Feb 20th this year, it was announced that funding of £1.1 million had been granted by the Department of Transport, with a balance of £0.4 million to be provided by Dorset Council and Network Rail so that the full removal of the tracks could be carried out.
As you can see, work began almost immediately, removing up to 50m of track next to the old station platform on the harbourside, Apparently, this initial work will help determine how best to complete the rest of the line.
Weymouth tramway first opened in 1865 to link the railway station with Channel Island ferries. It was last used in 1999. A petition by Weymouth Quay Heritage Campaign to save and preserve the line gained almost 4,000 signatures. Naturally, that was totally ignored.
The 17th century Bridge House was built over Stock Beck in Ambleside. Rumour has it that it was sited there to avoid any Land Tax though I really don't know whether that is true or not. It has had a number of commercial uses as well as being a dwelling house for a family of eight people. It is now owned by the National Trust.
Many towns across America are now by-passed by an Interstate road. That is the case in Columbus, TX, although it still has the signs of the motel strip that existed along what is now the Old 90 route.
As far as I can make out, the Baker Motel managed to survive until quite recently, possibly closing in 2016? Nowadays, all the accommodation is about a mile away where there is a junction on the I-10.
When first arriving in Houston, I quickly discovered there were distinct similarities between the Manchester Ship Canal and the Houston Ship Channel. With Manchester being c40 miles and Houston c50 miles inland, both were essentially established to bypass and compete with city ports located by the ocean i.e. Liverpool and Galveston.
However, more than a century later, whereas Manchester can no longer be called a port city, that is not the case for Houston which remains one of the largest ports in America. The grain or rice silo scene above might suggest their glory days are over. However, far from it as two major container facilities now exist downstream whilst much investment is going into deepening and widening the channel to accommodate ever larger vessels.
This week's Saturday Flashback was only taken a few weeks ago. However, the American Alligator (Alligator mississippiensis) really is a flashback to another age. The species has survived everything that can be thrown at it since at least the Pleistocene, where it is well represented in fossil records. The Pleistocene age started approximately 2 1/2 million years ago. So 2 1/2 million years without doubt though some scientists suggest 14 million years whilst National Geographic, no less, reckons it has been around for 160 million years, avoiding extinction when their prehistoric contemporaries, dinosaurs, died out. Whichever way you look at it and however ancient it actually is, to me the American Alligator definitely looks prehistoric.
This survivor was photographed at Brazos Bend State Park, TX, which is towards the western end of its current range.
Saturday Timewatch features what many consider to be the golden age of rail travel in America, the 1950s. The above is a ticket cover from that era.
I wish it was! However, this is not my photo, just my photo of a photo (or painting?) by K. Walden, date unknown.
The associated caption reads "Nickel Plate Road ; Berkshire ; 2-8-4 ; circa 1940". As I understand it 779 was photographed somewhere along the Trinity and Brazos Valley Railway that connected Fort Worth and Dallas with Houston and Galveston.
Apparently, close relative Nickel Plate Road # 765 is still running at Fort Wayne Railroad Historical Society, Ohio. Another close relative is under restoration, also in Ohio.
They must have been a sight to see and a sound to hear.
This week's Saturday Timewatch features another of my Dad's photos which will also have been developed and printed by himself. I may well have seen the ship but will have been too young to have taken the photo.
In this instance it can be dated to between 1953 and 1956, though probably closer to the later date. The ship is HMS Conway, with the Navy using the English spelling. The location of the wreck was adjacent to the Menai Suspension Bridge in North Wales. The full story of the vessel and especially her rather disastrous final years can be read here menaibridges.co.uk/history/local-area/hms-conwy/
This week's Saturday Flashback goes back c150 million years to show what is definitely the footprint of a dinosaur, thought to be an Allosaurus, a meat eater that could run upto 30mph. The three toes / claws are especially noticeable in this photo. The creature was crossing the sandbar of a river and left its imprint.
The photo below shows at least 8 footprints of a large Sauropod (possibly a Camarasaurus) as it made tracks across the same sandbar. This large dinosaur was a plant eater that probably weighed around 18 tons!
I love sites like this. Not a National, State or even Local Park, just a two-mile drive down a very rough track and then a walk to a single interpretation board.
Time has a way of moving forward whether it is counted in months, weeks, hours, or plancks -- make the most of your Time.
Most often people destroy, neglect, or completely abuse the time they have and hardly notice as it flutters silently past. Some fill their time wisely with earnest intent while others fill their time plotting the downfall of someone. I've had people plot against me and use their time to fulfill their fantasies and pleasures while stealing my time and sealing it with pain and fear.
The time that has been taken from me can never be given back; that is one of the worst things that you can do to a person, steal their Time.
Photographs are © Copyright Galactic Dreams (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on blogs, websites, or in other media without advance written permission from Galactic Dreams.
Alongside and in little or no conflict with all the electronic neon of modern Japan, deep layers of history, tradition and culture lie intact.
You see lots of people in traditional dress. However, I had about two seconds to grab this instant and single flash of a photo. It shows two maiko walking quickly to their next appointment and they don't hang around in any way for tourists who happen to cross their path.
For a foreigner, trying to distinguish between a geisha aka geiko in Kyoto Gion and a maiko (apprentice) is full of pitfalls. Apologies if any of the information is wrong. However, if I've understood at least some of the intricacies, there are several clues in their dress. In no particular order :
#1 Their hair looks to be their own, not a wig.
#2 The girls have numerous ornaments in their hair, including "November" kanzashi featuring autumnal leaf colours
#3 They are wearing long rectangular obi, the belts around the waist. A geisha's would be square.
#4 The girl on the right is possibly more senior as she appears to have at least thin red lines of lipstick on both lips. Also her kimono is edged with white around the neck, which I admit thought signified a geisha but then as I wrote above, trying to understand the minutiae of Japanese society is really quite difficult.
So just how far back do some of these traditions go? The kanzashi hair ornaments were first recorded about 14,000 years ago. The general concept of a "serving girl" is about 1500 years old, whilst the actual word "geisha" seems to be about 250 years old. Nowadays the girls are hired to attend parties and gatherings, at tea houses or traditional Japanese restaurants. The customer is usually a top-hierarchy businessman showing off to clients as this is all to do with high status and wealth.
With so many old rural buildings now redeveloped as second homes and holiday lets, it is increasingly difficult to find scenes like this. In deepest Dorset, the location is Looke Farmhouse, Puncknowle. The farmhouse itself has been a listed building since 1952 and looks in reasonable condition, despite dating from around 1700.
What intrigued me was round the back where this bridge crossed a small tributary to the River Bride to a doorway suitable for pedestrians but nothing more. My best guess is this was a workers' entrance, perhaps for the gardeners. I am also guessing that the bridge dates from a similar period to the main house.
Of course, it is each to their own tipple. However, I do remember the time when you simply asked for a pint of best or half a mild.
This week's Saturday Timewatch compares that to the modern way with a myriad of alcoholic choices. These are courtesy of an Asda promotional flyer that came through the door. Thanks but no thanks. I'll just stick to my glass of Spanish red wine.
EDIT : August 25th 2012 : I've just heard that Neil Armstrong has passed away. RIP Neil Armstrong - you inspired generations to look beyond Earth.
My picture was taken at Space Center Houston in November 2010, during my first ever visit there. However today's "Saturday Flashback" is to July 20 1969 and the moment Apollo 11 touched down on the surface of the Moon as the whole world, including myself, watched and listened and held it's collective breath.
The "Earthrise" photo was taken on a different date but to me it remains one of "the" photographs of the 20th century.
Taken on the westbound platform at Bath Spa Station, the metal signage on the bench legs seemed different and older than on other Great Western Railway benches.
Do any of the railway bods know if this is the original God's Wonderful Railway GWR design??
As so often happens, winter seas have scoured the beach to expose layers not usually visible later in the year. The specimen is not as good as those further along the coast but it was still nice to find this large but worn ammonite. I've written before that I am no expert but if I've understood the literature correctly, this is c155 million years old.
There are variations on the flatbread theme right around the world for those who need to eat but don't have much money.
Oatcakes are the Potteries' (Stoke-on-Trent) version. They have been around since the 18th century and there are still several dozen shops that sell nothing else in the region.
But what a surprise! I rarely go in Sainsbury's so was amazed to find the genuine article on sale and even yellow-stickered. When living in the Potteries I did eat rather a lot of them as there was an oatcake shop just around the corner. However, they are so uncommon down south that when a neighbour used to visit up north, she always brought me a pack back down to Dorset. As far as i am concerned there is only one *proper* filling.......bacon and cheese!
Here is a post, with typically great comments, from 2010 showing an actual oatcake shop flic.kr/p/7Ay8GT
After yesterday's eventing photo, here is another of Britain's less well known but ancient sports, pigeon racing.
By chance, we came across three specialised lorries parked up on high ground, just inland from the south coast. They were all loaded with racing pigeons. We chatted to the drivers who had driven overnight from the West Midlands. They were waiting for adverse weather to clear between Dorset and the West Midlands before releasing the birds.
A driver showed us a video of a release on his phone (see below). Apparently, for race purposes, they take a video to show a 'clean' and fair release. He said the birds will circle once to get their bearings and then race back home. The distance from the south coast to the West Midlands would be approximately 150 miles. With an average flight speed of over 70mph, he reckoned they would take about 2 hours to get back home.
A very recent landslip on the cliffs at Ringstead Bay has revealed what must surely be a WW2 pillbox....or maybe not, as John has pointed out! Previously it was totally hidden by the growth of vegetation. This is a telephoto from the beach and it is far too difficult for us to venture up there to investigate further to see if there are any gun slits and where they are. There are other anti-invasion defences further down the beach but no-one we have spoken seems to know about this one.
The chances are that it will crash down onto the beach in the not-too-distant future at which point investigations will continue!.
This week's late-running Timewatch features bluesman Lightnin' Hopkins en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lightnin%27_Hopkins
The short version is that he was born in Centerville, TX, about 30 miles west of Crockett where this sculpture by Jim Jeffries is to be found along Camp Street. It commemorates the fact that Lightnin' Hopkins often played there, both on the street and in the street's establishments when it was the center of the Black Business District in Houston County (circa 1940). The bluesman died in Houston, aged 69, in 1982.
bithbox # 227 Lightnin' Hopkins "Baby Please Don't Go"
Before you ask, yes, Crockett was named after Davy. Apparently he camped nearby on his way to the Alamo.
Paddle steamer Waverley underway after leaving Swanage. You can just make out the Needles on the Isle of Wight to the right of the photo. You can read all there is to know about the vessel here en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PS_Waverley
(This is the fourth of a weekly series of flashback photos. I apologise in advance for the inevitable poor quality. This one is scanned from a rather faded 35mm slide).
My 1985 photo shows Radio Caroline's last ever offshore radio vessel "Ross Revenge" anchored some miles off Felixstowe, Suffolk and being approached by an 'illegal' tender. Using a massive 300' (90 metre) tower and with a transmitter capable of 50kw, the 'new' Radio Caroline introduced the concept of an all-day album station to Britain and Europe. Of many Caroline Classics, this is one that has not previously featured on The Jukebox.
The lawyers got to the first video within days. So here is a replacement!
BITH'S JUKEBOX #207
BOB DYLAN "HURRICANE"
Drop a coin in the slot :
EDIT : YOU CAN HAVE YER COIN BACK. EVERY TIME THIS TRACK GETS POSTED DYLAN'S LAWYERS GO APESHIT.
On this link, you can read an outline history of UK Pirate Radio (including offshore) en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UK_pirate_radio