Excerpt from www.pc.gc.ca/apps/dfhd/page_nhs_eng.aspx?id=428:

Existing plaque: on Lundy's Lane Monument in cemetery Niagara Falls, Ontario:

This was the site of the bloodiest battle of the War of 1812. On the afternoon of 25th July, 1814, Lieutenant-General Gordon Drummond with about 2800 men engaged the invading American army which had recently been victorious at Chippewa. The armies were evenly matched and the six-hour battle lasted until darkness and heavy losses put an end to the fighting. Each force had lost over 800 men. Although each claimed victory, the Americans had failed to dislodge Drummond from his position. They withdrew the next day, ending their offensive in Upper Canada.

Description of Historic Place

The Battle of Lundy’s Lane National Historic Site of Canada is located in Niagara Falls, Ontario. The battle occurred on July 25, 1814 on what was a rise of clear farmland surrounded by an orchard and forest, situated upon Lundy’s Lane. The location of the site is now marked by a plaque located within Drummond Hill Cemetery. Lundy’s Lane was the site of a major battle between the British and American forces in which the Americans, who were advancing after the Battle of Chippewa, attacked the British defensive position that they had taken up.

Following a bitterly contested engagement, the Americans withdrew. The six-hour long battle was one of the bloodiest battles of the War of 1812 and marked the end of American offensive action in Upper Canada. Official recognition refers to a parcel of land in the City of Niagara Falls that is roughly four-blocks square and encompasses the site of the battle.

Heritage Value

The Battle of Lundy’s Lane was designated a national historic site of Canada in 1937 because: it was the bloodiest battle of the War of 1812; and, the Americans failed to dislodge the British from their position, ending the American offensive in Upper Canada.

In the summer of 1814, American forces crossed the Niagara River at Fort Erie to invade Upper Canada. Advancing northward along the Niagara River, they had initial success, defeating a British force at the Battle of Chippawa. The British under Sir Gordon Drummond regrouped and on the evening of 25 July, on Lundy’s Lane almost within sight of Niagara Falls, the British regulars and Canadian militia were attacked by the American forces. Throughout the evening the two armies attacked each other and the battle surged back and forth, especially around the field guns in what is now the Drummond Hill Cemetery. Both sides suffered heavy casualties but by midnight the Americans retired leaving the exhausted British and Canadians holding the field. The Battle of Lundy’s Lane was the bloodiest and bitterest contest of the War of 1812 and it broke the American thrust in 1814 to take Upper Canada.

Character-Defining Elements

- its location within the limits of Niagara Falls; the setting on a grassed area of the Drummond Hill Cemetery where the plaque commemorating the site is located; the location and integrity of the monument to the battle erected in 1895, and the three tablets fixed to the monument in 1935 that bear the names of the officers and soldiers of the regular regiments of the British Army and Canadian militia killed in action during the engagement; the integrity of any surviving or as yet unidentified archaeological remains which may be found within the site in their original placement and extent.

The Quandry Chronicles Book One: The Lost Scarab of the Aethernauts! is an illustrated pulp adventure inspired by the tabletop gaming system Space: 1889 and shot in Second Life. Narrated in sessions like a tabletop campaign, QC will post weekly on Fridays, unless I get a bit ahead of myself :)

Dr. Singh, spying Bertie leaning on the deck railing as their hired aethership made its stately progress across the English Channel, wandered over. With a cough to announce his presence, he said, “Lady Alberta, we haven’t been properly introduced.”

She turned to him, waving a hand airily. “We’re far from England now, sir, you may just call me Bertie.”

Singh smiled sadly and shook his head. “And you may call me - Doctor Singh.”

“What? Oh? Oh, I see!

“My father says the most horrible things about your people. I can certainly understand the desire to be respected for one’s skills, and not only seen as one’s colonial origins.”

Singh nodded gravely. “As you wish to be respected for something other than your bloodline, I trust. If I may be so bold, Lady Alberta, what do you consider your skills to be?”

Bertie huffed, staring out into the swirling gray aether. “My father thinks archaeology is mere tomb raiding – ripping artefacts from their resting places to sell to the highest bidder. He has no love for the past, no grasp of languages. The treasures of the past belong in museums!”

Singh smiled. “You sound like Miss Quandry – she too believes in the edifying powers of science.”

“And you don’t, Doctor?

Singh shook his head. “The masses – Indian and English alike – will always be driven by fear, cruelty and superstition. The frontiers of science belong to those with the skill and bravery to explore them.”

Bertie withdrew a flask from the voluminous folds of her borrowed skirt. “I’ll drink to that, Doctor Singh.”

I was shooting a few more test images in my back yard and found this Dandelion that had attracted a number of ants searching for nectar. Taking several dozen photos over about a twenty minute period, I tried to pop off a shot when an ant withdrew from deep inside the blossom. The majority of images were deleted immediately, being good, clear pics of just ant butts. Finally, several ants emerged and sat more or less atop the blossom resulting in this arrangement. I generally don't get decent images of moving subjects and these ants were a bit difficult to work with. Focusing was done manually by moving the camera and having these four ants almost in the same plane of focus was a fluke.

Taken with a Nikon D40, Nikon 105mm f/2.5 AI-S lens @ f/16, with a Beseler 6 1/2" Lantern Slide projector lens mounted on the 105mm. Lighting was provided by the camera's pop-up flash shot through a lens-mounted diffuser made from a white plastic bowl from a frozen dinner.

DSC-0959-P

Duart Castle, or Caisteal Dhubhairt in Scottish Gaelic, is a castle on the Isle of Mull, beside the Sound of Mull off the west coast of Scotland, within the council area of Argyll and Bute. The castle dates back to the 13th century and is the seat of Clan MacLean.[1] One source states that the castle was "brought back from ruin in 1911".[2] The regimental colours of the WW1 Canadian Expeditionary Force 236th Battalion (New Brunswick Kilties), CEF are laid up in the Great Hall.

History

Duart Castle was probably built by Clan MacDougall in the 13th century, and appears to have come into the hands of Clan MacLean in the following century.[3]

In 1350, Lachlan Lubanach Maclean of Duart, the 5th Clan Chief, married Mary Macdonald, daughter of John of Islay, Lord of the Isles, and Duart was part of her dowry.[4] John of Islay's son, Donald Macdonald, Lord of the Isles, confirmed the castle by charter to the Macleans in 1390.

In 1647, Duart Castle was attacked and laid siege to by the Argyll government troops of Clan Campbell, but they were defeated and driven off by the Royalist troops of Clan MacLean.

In September 1653, a Cromwellian task force of six ships anchored off the castle, but the Macleans had already fled to Tiree. A storm blew up on the 13 September and three ships were lost, including Swan. To the north of the castle is a Historic Marine Protected Area within which lie the remains of a wrecked 17th century warship, believed to be the Swan.[5]

In 1678, the 9th Earl of Argyll, Chief of Clan Campbell and son of the late Marquess of Argyll, successfully invaded the Clan MacLean lands on the Isle of Mull and Sir John Maclean, 4th Baronet, fled the castle and withdrew to Cairnbulg Castle, and afterward to Kintail under the protection of the 3rd Earl of Seaforth.[6]

In 1691, Duart Castle was surrendered by Sir John Maclean, 4th Baronet, to the 10th Earl of Argyll (who was later created, in 1701, the 1st Duke of Argyll).[1] The Campbell clan partially demolished the castle, and the stones from the walls were scattered. The 5th Laird of Torloisk used some of the stones to build a cottage for his family close to the site of the castle.[7]

By 1751, the remains of the castle were abandoned.[8]

Descendants of the 1st Duke of Argyll sold the castle in 1801, to MacQuarrie, who then sold it to Carter-Campbell of Possil who kept it as a ruin within the grounds of his own estate to the north, Torosay Castle. He later sold his Torosay Estate, which now included the ruins of Castle Duart, to A. C. Guthrie in 1865. On 11 September 1911, the ruin was separated from the rest of the Torosay Estate and was bought by Sir Fitzroy Donald Maclean, the 26th Chief of the Clan MacLean, and restored.[1][9][10]

By 2012, additional restorations were required and a fund was set up to accept donations for this purpose. Phase 7 of the project was underway in 2020.[11]

History

VITAL SPARK, (ex-EILEAN EISDEAL, ex-ELSEDA, ex-VIC 72), was built by Brown's Shipyard, Hull, in 1944, and was sold out of naval service at Devonport Dockyard (where she had been a stores carrier) in 1968, and was then motorised and renamed ELSEDA, based at Troon as a cargo vessel. In 1972, she was bought by an owner based on the Isle of Mull, and worked around the islands dredging coal from sunken vessels. In 1984, she was sold to an owner of Easdale Island, near Oban, and was renamed EILEAN EASDEAL to run a inter-island cargo service around the Western Isles until 1994 (when the Scottish Office withdrew its subsidy for Scottish Shipping). In 2001, she was brought to the Inveraray Maritime Museum, where she still is, and in 2006, she was re-registered as VITAL SPARK, the name of the ficitional puffer that appeared in the Para Handy books by Neil Munro.

Sources

Classic Boat (February, 2000, pp93) Sales ad for Ancasta International Boat Sales, Scotland

Key dates

1944

Built as VIC 72 by Brown's Shipyard, Hull

1968

Sold out of naval service at Devonport Dockyard where she had been a stores carrier

1969

Motorised and renamed ELSEDA, based at Troon as cargo vessel

1972

Bought by owner based on Isle of Mull. Worked around islands dredging coal from sunken vessels

1984

Sold to new owner and renamed EILEAN EASDEAL to run inter-island cargo service around Western Isles

1994

Service withdrawn when Scottish Office withdrew subsidy for Scottish Shipping

2001

Bought to Inveraray Maritime Museum for public display

2006

Re-registered as VITAL SPARK, name of ficitional puffer in Para Handy books by Neil Munro

It was an overcast day, but the cloud cover withdrew continuously in the evening, just in time to let the sun shine through the opening in the rock.

Playa de las Catedrales, Spain.

Thanks for taking the time to take a look at my pictures. Your views, comments, faves and support are greatly appreciated ツ

☛ Explored August 30, 2020 #56

Praia do Norte, Nazaré, Portugal.

On 01/11/2011 the Hawaiian surfer Garrett McNamara surfed (the region known as North Cannon), a wave measured by Billabong XXL Global Big Wave Award 2011 with 78 feet, entering the Guinness Book of Records showing how the Nazareth cannon has the potential to practice tow-in on giant waves. Again on 01.28.2013 Garrett McNamara surfed a wave estimated at 34 m (112 ft) that can beat your previous record, already considered the largest ever, according to Guinness. Experts measured the wave at 30 meters, but the measurement is not official because McNamara withdrew from the contest. On 10/28/2013 veteran surfer Carlos Burle surfed a wave that can beat the previous record of 2011.

Passa o vento sem alarde

Passa a brisa, nessa tarde,

Silenciosa e sutil

Vem passando pelos ramos

Vem pelo mar marulhando

No dia primaveril...

(poema de Vania Dramis Pimenta)

Landing direct from Bridgetown at Heathrow of a 5 x weekly service. Sadly the 'Steel Drum' scheme did last long as the airline withdrew the service to the UK.

The land of the Enchanted Castle is unique in everyway, populated by thousands of heads carved onto the rocks and on the branches and trunks of the olive trees. This kingdom was once territory of and home to Filippo Bentivegna, who was born in Sciacca in 1888 and emigrated to The United States after his teens, moving from Boston to New York and Chicago. An accident at work and an assault marked his life. In 1919, having returned from the USA after the Great War, he withdrew in solitude into this farmhouse structure, giving life to the court of the kingdom populated by sculpted heads, over which he could reign with absolute authority. Filippo Bentivegna spent his life on the site until his lonely death in 1967. The following year, a collaborator of Jean Dubuffet, Art Brut theorist, arrived in Sciacca and recognised the artistic importance of the work by the “Madman of Sciacca” and so the site was restructured and opened to the public.

Today, some of the Bentivegna heads are displayed at the Museum of Art Brut in Lausanne, established in memory of Dubuffet.

The secret world of the STS

Back by popular demand, another instalment of STS: Who Dares Shoots.

We left our recruits settling in to their sparse barracks and a hearty meal pre-prepared by C2 and C6. Unbeknown to the recruits, the DTs had already made contact with a field agent who had been planted in the Isle and had been living amongst the local population for many years for just such an operation. We cannot print their callsign only refer to them as candidate C8, but for those in the know they belong to the genus Mustela of the family Mustelidae. Members of this genus are small, active predators... enough said, too much information!

Whilst out on manoeuvres at the bottom of the lane from the barracks shooting Loch Cill Chriosd or Loch Creosote as the recruits affectionately renamed it. A military transporter, not too dissimilar to those of the recruits, but capable of carrying far more equipment pulled up beside the shooting range. Out got field agent C8 and introduced ***self. C2, clearly fancied himself as team leader for the day and ventured across to meet C8... introductions followed, Robotog, Spreadsheet, Red Cap, Naga, Snoozey and I’m here all week!

Everyone continued shooting for another hour or so, or maybe it was the thought of the full Scottish and bacon/sausage barms that started the rumblings and curtailed the shoot. Back at the barracks the recruits discussed operation locations while gorging on the sumptuous breakfast feast, not knowing whether they would ever have the opportunity for sustenance again... would it be 7pm or 8pm?

C8 proved to be a godsend for the group offering never seen before locations here on Flickr... although many called for an arduous hike to reach them – like this location, an exhausting 30 mins yomp from the barracks – even the Royal Marines would wince at the thought, but not the STS! C8 also proved to be a bit of a mountain goat with fell-runner lungs and the groups “competitive” members... namely C5 and C6 struggled to keep pace and in order to bag the best spots first, not that there were any shortages of compositions but enthusiasm does get the better of some recruits – something the DTs will have to keep an eye on.

The manse proved to be an ideal testing ground for the new recruits, the light was good but not the point of the exercise - constantly peppered with rain, howling winds that attempted to write off equipment and for good measure the occasional hail storm. Duration was the name of the game and as the light faltered indecisions meandered throughout the group... should we move on or stick it out for sunset. The weaker members of the team withdrew one by one with lame excuses... “just nipping back, not sure if I put those beers in the fridge” and “damn it, last battery just died” a rookie mistake if there was ever one.

The recruits are whittled down to three – only C4, C6 and C7 remain to sit it out for sunset... that will bode well with the DTs in the final selection.

In the next episode we meet the “umpire”... and the most challenging task for any STS recruit.

🇫🇷 La vallée Pasabag en Cappadoce, également connue sous le nom de vallée des prêtres ou Vallée des Moines.

Les plus petites cheminées de fées de la vallée Pasabag en Cappadoce mesurent un mètre de haut et la plus grande mesure 15 mètres. La vallée Pasabag en Cappadoce est connue comme le lieu où les moines et les prêtres se sont retirés de la société.

Ses cheminées de fées sont légendaires. Elles sont formées par l’effet des eaux de crue s’écoulant des pentes dans la vallée, en érodant les roches dans la structure de tuf.

carte du déplacement de visite , clic sur le lien

www.flickr.com/gp/philippedaniele/SAjyUXRa5b

🇬🇧 The Pasabag Valley in Cappadocia, also known as the Valley of the Priests or the Valley of the Monks.

The smallest fairy chimneys in Cappadocia's Pasabag Valley are just one metre high, while the largest is 15 metres long. The Pasabag Valley in Cappadocia is known as the place where monks and priests withdrew from society.

Its fairy chimneys are legendary. They are formed by the action of floodwaters flowing down the slopes into the valley, eroding the rocks in the tufa structure.

🇩🇪 Das Pasabag Tal in Kappadokien, auch bekannt als Tal der Priester oder Tal der Mönche.

Die kleinsten Feenkamine im Pasabag Tal in Kappadokien sind einen Meter hoch und der größte misst 15 Meter. Das Pasabag Tal in Kappadokien ist bekannt als der Ort, an dem sich Mönche und Priester von der Gesellschaft zurückgezogen haben.

Seine Feenkamine sind legendär. Sie entstehen durch Flutwasser, das von den Hängen ins Tal fließt und dabei das Gestein aus dem Tuffstein herausschleift.

🇪🇸 El valle de Pasabag, en Capadocia, también conocido como el valle de los sacerdotes o el valle de los monjes.

Las chimeneas de hadas más pequeñas del valle miden solo un metro de altura, mientras que la mayor alcanza los 15 metros. El valle de Pasabag es conocido por ser el lugar donde monjes y sacerdotes se retiraban de la sociedad.

Sus chimeneas de hadas son legendarias. Se forman por el efecto de las aguas de crecida que bajan por las laderas del valle erosionando las rocas de toba.

🇮🇹 La Valle di Pasabag, in Cappadocia, è nota anche come Valle dei Sacerdoti o dei Monaci.

I camini delle fate, che si trovano nella Valle di Pasabag, sono i più piccoli della zona: alti solo un metro, mentre il più grande è lungo 15 metri. La Valle di Pasabag, in Cappadocia, è conosciuta come luogo in cui monaci e sacerdoti si ritiravano dalla società.

I suoi camini delle fate sono leggendari. Si formano per l'erosione delle acque alluvionali che scendono dai pendii verso la valle, erodendo la struttura tufacea.

🔸◾️ O B L I V I O N ◾️🔸

📍 Gunwalloe 🌊☀️

Another one from Gunwalloe earlier this month (more to follow)...

As the sun began to set, it's light threw crepuscular rays from behind the clouds.

I was shooting wide, but to make these rays more prominent in the frame, I zoomed from 24mm to 35mm in order to compress the distance and effectively make the light show a little more prominent.

And, just as I normally do with scenes like this, I slowed the shutter a little to capture the movement of the sea as the waves crashed and withdrew around the rocks.

Canon 6D MkII | 24-105mm lens at 35mm | ƒ/16 | 0.5 sec | ISO 100 | Tripod | 2 stop hard grad ND & 3 stop ND filters | Taken 05-12-2020 at Gunwalloe

Copyright Andrew Hocking 2020

www.hocking-photography.co.uk

**Contact me or head over to my website for prints**

More than 10 centuries old Dutch church under winter conditions exactly 10 years ago

The Old Church in Oosterbeek (village west of Arnhem) dates back to the 10th Century. This makes it one of the oldest existing church buildings in the Netherlands.

The early Roman church is mainly recognisable from the nave and the choir of the present church. Typical of that period is the use of round arched windows and tufa stone. In the 12th century a porch in Romanesque style was added to the north side. The Gothic style tower dates from ca. 1350.

For eight days long, a field battle was fought around the church of Oosterbeek. In September 1944 during the battle of Arnhem (Operation Market Garden), the church was one of the last bastions for the allied forces before they withdrew across the Rhine.

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All rights reserved. Copyright © Martien Uiterweerd (Foto Martien). All my images are protected under international authors copyright laws and may not be downloaded, reproduced, copied, transmitted or manipulated without my written explicit permission.

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African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME Church), is a black Methodist denomination originating in the United States, formally organized in 1816. It developed from a congregation formed by a group of blacks who withdrew in 1787 from St. George’s Methodist Episcopal Church in Philadelphia because of restrictions in seating; blacks had been confined to the gallery of the church. Those who withdrew formed the Free African Society, the forerunner of the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church, and built Bethel African Methodist Church in Philadelphia.

Prior to the American Civil War, the AME Church was largely limited to the free states of the Northeast and Midwest, and congregations were established in many of the major cities in those areas. However, the most significant period of growth occurred in the final months of the Civil War and in the subsequent Reconstruction. The title of a sermon by Theophilus G. Steward, “I Seek My Brethren,” became a call to evangelize newly freed slaves in the collapsing Confederacy, and congregations grew rapidly south of the Mason and Dixon Line. By 1880 AME membership had reached some 400,000. African Methodism then spread to Africa itself through the work of Bishop Henry Turner, who visited Liberia and Sierra Leone in 1891 and South Africa in 1896.

The AME Church has played a significant role in the higher education of African Americans in the United States. Several historically black colleges and universities, including Wilberforce University, are or were previously affiliated with the church, and there are three AME seminaries.

This one room church was built in the late 1800s and served the surrounding community from 1899-2005. It is currently listed as a national historic landmark.

photo rights reserved by Ben

In the vast, arid landscape of eastern Georgia, near the border with Azerbaijan, lies the ancient David Gareja Monastery complex. Carved directly into sandstone cliffs, the site is home to dozens of rock-cut cells, chapels, and passageways — silent witnesses to over fourteen centuries of monastic devotion. One of the most striking features is the stone tower perched high on a rocky outcrop, standing alone and overlooking the desolate terrain. This modest structure, built from irregular stone blocks, served as a watchtower. From here, monks could survey the surrounding area and detect approaching threats. During times of danger — from Mongol invasions to Persian raids — the height offered a strategic advantage, not for counterattack, but for protection, prayer, and preparation. Just below the tower, the entrances to ancient monastic caves are still visible, once inhabited by hermits who withdrew from worldly life to live in spiritual isolation. This combination of rugged nature and human humility makes David Gareja a truly unique place. Yet it’s not only history that lives on here — the natural world remains ever-present. The windswept ridges and rocky solitude attract numerous birds of prey. Hikers in the area often spot golden eagles soaring overhead, or short-toed snake eagles gliding low across the plains. Buzzards, falcons, and even vultures are also seen in the Kakheti and Kartli regions. The tower at David Gareja is more than just a remnant of Georgia’s Christian heritage — it stands as a symbol of stillness, vigilance, and deep connection to the landscape. A place where time, faith, and nature converge.

The tower symbolizes solitude, vigilance, and spiritual retreat — a silent witness to centuries of devotion. Carved into the harsh rockscape, it stands isolated yet firmly rooted in the landscape. In the upper right, a bird of prey glides effortlessly through the sky, embodying the wild spirit of this remote region. Its presence feels natural, even inevitable, in a place shaped by silence and wind. The architecture does not dominate but blends with the earth, shaped as much by necessity as by faith. The scene is a powerful example of how human presence and nature can exist in balance, each amplifying the other’s beauty.

In het uitgestrekte, dorre landschap van Oost-Georgië, vlak bij de grens met Azerbeidzjan, ligt het eeuwenoude David Gareja-kloostercomplex . Tegen de hellingen van zandkleurige rotsformaties zijn tientallen cellen, kapellen en gangen uitgehouwen — stille getuigen van meer dan veertien eeuwen religieuze toewijding. Eén van de meest opvallende elementen is de stenen toren die boven op de rots uitsteekt, hoog en eenzaam uitkijkend over het halfwoestijnachtige terrein. Deze toren, eenvoudig gebouwd uit onregelmatige stenen, diende als wachttoren. Van hieruit konden monniken het omliggende gebied overzien en vroegtijdig vijandelijke bewegingen signaleren. In tijden van dreiging , zoals tijdens de invallen van de Mongolen of de Perzen, bood de hoogte een strategisch voordeel — niet voor aanval, maar voor bescherming en voorbereiding. Direct onder de toren zijn nog steeds de ingangen zichtbaar van uitgehakte grotten, ooit gebruikt als leef- en gebedsruimtes door kluizenaars die zich uit de wereld terugtrokken. De combinatie van ruige natuur en menselijke nederigheid maakt deze plek uniek. En niet alleen de geschiedenis leeft hier voort — ook de natuur is onverminderd aanwezig. De kale rotsen, winderige hoogten en stilte trekken veel roofvogels aan. Tijdens wandelingen door dit gebied is de kans groot dat je een steenarend ziet zweven , of een slangenarend laag boven de vlakte ziet cirkelen. Ook buizerds, valken en zelfs gieren zijn in dit deel van Kakheti en Kartli waargenomen. De toren van David Gareja vormt daarmee niet alleen een monument van het christelijke verleden van Georgië, maar ook een symbool van verstilling , waakzaamheid en verbondenheid met het landschap. Een plek waar tijd, geloof en natuur elkaar ontmoeten.

One of my favorite views as I head South on I-15 about 40 miles North of Las Vegas. Over the years I've pulled over to the shoulder to shoot this scene half a dozen times. Most of the time the light or sky aren't working for me. But even then, the view is hard not to admire. Unfortunately it's only viewable as your going down a long fairly steep sweeping curve, so staring while driving isn't a good idea. Fortunately if you've paid attention over the years as I have, I know exactly where there's enough room to pull over and get safely off the road and still have the view. The scene is out there aways, so you need a longish lens to capture the neat stuff and avoid the nearby highway and traffic just out of the frame here.

Oh, off subject, this afternoon I noticed somebody transferred $2,200 from my savings to my checking account and then withdrew $2,500! Called my bank and now have the bank fraud department working on it. My debit card is now cancelled and a new card is being sent. Somehow the thief got in far enough to transfer enough money from saving into checking to cover the withdrawal. Looks like I'll be using credit cards until I get home in a few weeks.

Covid 19... Well hopefully once we get this behind us we'll have learned enough that when the next bug shows up we'll be better prepared. Can't be shutting down the entire economy like this again. I wonder if it wouldn't have been better to isolate folks that are in the high risk community rather than everyone. Seems like our government has pulled out all the stops in an effort to help people and businesses get through the economic recovery. Even so, the damage from this necessary shutdown is going to be felt for years. The only good thing from where I sit (my trucks seat) is the greatly reduced traffic. Highway speeds through Los Angels, the Bay Area, and Portland today. I like that, but not so much when you think about why there's so few cars traveling. Anyway, hope everyone is being safe, healthy and strong. We'll get through this together my friends.

The title Extinction Cycle for this picture is also the title of the book by Nicholas Sandsbury Smith. (7 books in the series) It's a dystopian tale of a military developed virus that changes people infected into monsters. Probably not the best reading while going through a pandemic, but at least most of us are not turning into monsters.

photo rights reserved by Ben

Matka Canyon reveals one of its most tranquil places here: the hidden arrival at the Saint Nicholas Šiševski Monastery. As you pass the ruins and walk beneath the old roof tiles, the small church appears, half concealed between trees and rocks — a place where time and silence have met for centuries. The church was built in the 14th century, during a period when monks deliberately withdrew into this remote gorge, far from villages and roads. Because of its isolation, it remained a refuge for hermits and small monastic communities for a long time. The frescoes on the façade and inside date from the same era and still display the craftsmanship of medieval icon painters. From the 19th into the early 20th century, the monastery was gradually abandoned. The last monks left when religious activity in the Matka Gorge declined significantly. Today it is no longer an active monastery, yet its atmosphere remains. What makes this place special is that you can still feel the spirit of an old monastic settlement, completely surrounded by nature and silence — as if you’re looking back through time. The weathered walls, the small round tower, and the golden icon at the entrance still whisper of the solitary lives once lived here. Here, at this point of arrival, you experience not only a beautiful view — you stand in a place where history is still quietly present.

A quiet corner of Matka Canyon reveals the hidden arrival at the Saint Nicholas Šiševski Monastery. Built in the 14th century, this small church once sheltered hermits and monastic communities drawn to the solitude of the gorge. Though abandoned in the early 20th century, its frescoes, weathered walls and peaceful setting still carry the spirit of an old monastic settlement. Here, overlooking the canyon, history feels quietly alive.

Matka Canyon onthult hier een van zijn meest verstilde plekken: de verborgen aankomst bij het klooster Saint Nicholas Šiševski. Zodra je de ruïnes passeert en onder de oude dakpannen doorloopt, verschijnt de kleine kerk half verscholen tussen bomen en rotsen — een plek waar tijd en stilte elkaar al eeuwen ontmoeten. De kerk werd gebouwd in de 14e eeuw, in een periode waarin monniken zich bewust terugtrokken in deze afgelegen kloof, ver weg van dorpen en wegen. Door de afgelegen ligging bleef het lang een plek voor kluizenaars en kleine groepen monniken. De fresco’s aan de gevel en binnenin stammen uit dezelfde periode en tonen nog steeds het vakmanschap van middeleeuwse iconenschilders. Vanaf de 19e en vroege 20e eeuw werd het klooster geleidelijk verlaten. De laatste monniken trokken weg toen de religieuze activiteit in de Matka-kloof sterk afnam. Vandaag is het geen actief klooster meer, maar de sfeer is gebleven. Wat de plek bijzonder maakt, is dat je nog steeds de sfeer voelt van een oude monastieke nederzetting, maar dan volledig omgeven door natuur en stilte — alsof je terugkijkt in de tijd. De verweerde muren, het ronde torentje en het gouden icoon bij de ingang vertellen nog altijd over het leven dat hier eens in afzondering werd geleefd. Hier, op dit punt van aankomst, ervaar je niet alleen een prachtig uitzicht — je staat op een plek waar de geschiedenis nog zacht aanwezig is.

Passing through the village of Langthwaite you squeeze between the houses to climb a steep lane for about 1 mile to reach the hamlet of Booze in Arkengarthdale, North Yorkshire. It was classed as so steep and dangerous in 2008 the Royal Mail withdrew postal deliveries. They are reinstated now.

Now in the Yorkshire Dales National Park the hamlet has a few scattered houses and farms but back in 1851 there were 41 houses and the hamlet was the centre of a mining area. Some spoil heaps can be seen on the photo

The lead mining collapsed at the end of the 19 century but Slate and Chert continued to be mined up to 1940's

It is well worth wandering up the track with magnificent views down Arkengarthdale

The nearest pub is in Langthwaite, "The Lion"

Robert Rauschenburg (American)

b.1925 Port Arthur,Texas

d.2008 Captiva,Florida

Black Market (1961)

Movement-Pop art

-oil,watercolor,pencil,paper,fabric, newspaper,printed reproductions,wood,metal,tin,street sign,metal,license plate,and four metal clipboards on canvas with rope,chain,and wood suitcase containing rubber stamps,ink pad,and typed instructions

regarding objects to be given and taken.

Black Market was first displayed in the Art in Motion in Amsterdam in 1961,where Rauschenburg placed the suitcase attached to the painting on the floor below it with an assortment of objects inside.Viewers were invited to take an item and replace it with one of their own and to make a drawing of their contribution on one of the clipboards attached to the canvas.This is why the piece is called Black Market as it's an unofficial exchange of objects and it shows everyone is a blur in a chaotic city (NYC i.e,because the objects were found there and made to look like rectangular buildings,overlapping one another,and looking chaotic) where no one properly talks or communicates,but the piece makes people exchange an object with someone they don't know which shows a simple message of sharing in a busy atmosphere.When Rauschenburg found out that visitors were stealing the objects instead of replacing them,he withdrew the invitation.

Vital Spark - pictured

The Vital Spark is a fictional Clyde puffer, created by Scottish writer Neil Munro. As its captain, the redoubtable Para Handy, often says: "the smertest boat in the coastin' tred".

Puffers seem to have been regarded fondly even before Munro began publishing his short stories in the Glasgow Evening News in 1905. This may not be surprising, for these small steamboats were then providing a vital supply link around the west coast and Hebrides islands of Scotland. The charming rascality of the stories went well beyond the reality of a commercial shipping business, but they brought widespread fame. They appeared in the newspaper over 20 years, were collected in book form by 1931, inspired the 1953 film The Maggie, and came out as three popular television series, dating from 1959 to 1995.

The original BBC Series Para Handy - Master Mariner, which ran from 1959–60, starred Duncan Macrae (Para Handy), Roddy McMillan (The Mate), and John Grieve (Dan MacPhail, the engineer). In the second version, The Vital Spark, McMillan took the role of Para Handy, and Grieve reprised his role as McPhail; Walter Carr (Dougie the Mate) and Alex McAvoy (Sunny Jim) completed the crew, and the series ran for three series between 1965 and 1974. The third series, made several years after the first two, was in colour and consisted of remakes of selected earlier episodes. In 1994 BBC Scotland produced The Tales of Para Handy which starred Gregor Fisher in the lead role alongside Sean Scanlan as Dougie, Andrew Fairlie as Sunny Jim and Rikki Fulton as Dan McPhail. The series also featured David Tennant in one of his first acting roles. Alex McAvoy, who played Sunny Jim in The Vital Spark, appears in one episode as a fellow captain of Para Handy in the coastal trade.

In her captain's own (islands accented) words, the Vital Spark is "aal hold, with the boiler behind, four men and a derrick, and a watter-butt and a pan loaf in the foc'sle". The way these steam lighters with their steam-powered derricks could offload at any suitable beach or small pier is featured in many Vital Spark stories, and allows amusing escapades in the small west coast communities. The cargoes carried in the hold vary from gravel or coal to furniture to livestock, the crew's quarters in the forecastle are taken as lodgings by holidaymakers or lost children and the steam engine struggles on under the dour care of the engineer McPhail. Tales are recounted of improbably dramatic missions in World War I. Others scoff at her as a coal gaabbert, reflecting the origins of the puffers, but an indignant Para Handy is always ready to defend his boat, proudly comparing her 6 knots (11 km/h) speed and her looks with the glamorous Clyde steamers.

The stories sparked considerable interest in the puffers, and many books explore their now vanished world.

When “VIC 72”, renamed “Eilean Eisdeal”, ventured from her home at the Inveraray Maritime Museum to visit the Glasgow River Festival in 2005, she proudly bore the name “Vital Spark” in testimony to her continuing popularity. Since 2006 she proudly is the “Vital Spark” of Glasgow having been successfully re-registered. [Wikipedia]

History

VITAL SPARK, (ex-EILEAN EISDEAL, ex-ELSEDA, ex-VIC 72), was built by Brown's Shipyard, Hull, in 1944, and was sold out of naval service at Devonport Dockyard (where she had been a stores carrier) in 1968, and was then motorised and renamed ELSEDA, based at Troon as a cargo vessel. In 1972, she was bought by an owner based on the Isle of Mull, and worked around the islands dredging coal from sunken vessels. In 1984, she was sold to an owner of Easdale Island, near Oban, and was renamed EILEAN EASDEAL to run a inter-island cargo service around the Western Isles until 1994 (when the Scottish Office withdrew its subsidy for Scottish Shipping). In 2001, she was brought to the Inveraray Maritime Museum, where she still is, and in 2006, she was re-registered as VITAL SPARK, the name of the ficitional puffer that appeared in the Para Handy books by Neil Munro.

He had been there before. "Newton by the sea", he chuckled to himself. "Haha!" he could bellow, for no one would hear him. He was alone. Castaway. He might walk the beach as the tide came in, gently, under a setting sun, but still he was trapped, in this lonely place. Still, the sea was calm and the old gold light shimmered on the sand as the ebb of the wave withdrew to gain strength for another push up the beach.

There was nothing interesting today. He had seen six dolphins pass by the evening before but until the wind gathered out on the ocean to create some drama the waves would not find anything apart from fragments of seaweed to litter the beach with; no driftwood to gather for his fire, no floating rubbish to show that there were humans over the horizon, no sails on the skyline to lift his hopes of rescue.

He looked to the clouds as he walked, their edges tinted with the same yellowy gold as the sand and water. With disappointment he realised it would be calm again tomorrow and so many hopes he had would be postponed yet another day. His mood wavered, like a sulk, and his chin dropped so that his eyes looked towards the sand just a few yards ahead. Life would go on, but not with the joy and happiness he could still remember from before. He sank into himself.

But a bright sparkle ahead pierced the darkness in his mind and he focused them ahead to the point on the beach the light shone from. Quickening his pace, he marched forward curious to see what lay on the shoreline.

Nearing it, he could see it was a bottle....a lone bottle cast up on the beach. The sunlight glinted on it. But a few paces on, his eagerness evaporated into intense sadness.

He bent to pick it up, savouring its feel in his palm. Smooth and cool. He could see there was a note inside it, a message in the bottle. It didn't interest him. He already knew what it said. Between thumb and two fingers he pulled up on the stopper, adding a twist to the action to pull it off. Slowly he raised the opened neck of the bottle. When it was just below his nose he inhaled softly. Immediately his eyes closed and his mouth softened and curved into a smile. "Hmmm", he sighed as he caught a last, tiny hint of whisky escape the bottle. He knew it's scent. But it had been a long time since he last caught that fragrance. A hint of Superstition. A Jura whisky.

It was a moment that calmed and soothed him and he sat on the sand, the world about him, his alone. He clutched the bottle close, like it was his friend. For, in a way it was. He already knew, exactly 941 days ago, he had last launched this same bottle onto a wave to carry his SOS message across the sea: his only means of communication. And now his friend had returned instead of disappear forever.

He shook his head, and forced another smile at his fortune. "Things could always be worse" he thought. He was still optimistic he would be rescued.

This is an actual 1980 H&P biscuit tin. The company hired a freelance artist to design a tin based on paintings by the Victorian artist Kate Greenway. The tin designer incorporated a few rude additions as he admits out of pure devilment. An eagle eyed grocer spotted the rude bits and H&P withdrew all the tins from sale. Can you find them?

The Italian campaign was in its third month. The allies had successfully liberated Sicily and much of southern Italy. However, lines would begin to form as the Wehrmacht began to stall allied advances. One defensive line that would form was the Gustav line in the South, which stretched from the Adriatic to the Tyrrhenian Sea. The small coastal town of Ortona, would become part of this defensive line. The allies believed the town would be useful for the war effort as it had a deep-water port on the Adriatic Sea. The Canadian 1st infantry division under the command of Major-General Christopher Vokes would be tasked with capturing the town.

The Battle of Ortona would begin on December 20th. The Canadians would face the experienced German 1st Paratrooper Division. The Germans would block off some of Ortona's narrow streets by destroying homes, which stalled the advance of Canadian armor and infantry. The Canadians would eventually use a tactic known as "mouse-holing" which entailed using high explosives to create holes in the walls of Ortona's adjoining homes. This was done to go around the narrow streets that were blocked off, and to take out German machine gunners. The fierce house to house fighting would give Ortona the nickname of "little Stalingrad" or "the Italian Stalingrad". Much of the town would be destroyed due to the use of high explosives by both sides.

The battle would end on December 28th when the Germans withdrew from the town. In total 1,300 Canadians were killed compared to 800 Germans, with an additional 1,300 civilians who were killed during the fighting. Before the battle, Ortona had a pre-war population of 10,000. The month was nicknamed "bloody December" due to the high casualties. The battle itself was not seen as significant after the war, as it did not have a major effect on the war effort. Nonetheless, it has been examined in post-war lessons on urban combat.

Excerpt from a NY TIMES article January 15, 2006

In 1982, an electrical engineer named Bob Diamond founded an organization called the Brooklyn Historic Railway Association to create a trolley line to connect Red Hook and downtown Brooklyn. Over the next 20 years, the group alternately sputtered and cruised ahead, amassing a devoted crew of volunteers -- Mr. Melnick among them -- significant community interest and more than $200,000 in federal funding. In 1999, Mr. Diamond ran his renovated trolleys along a few hundred feet of track the group had built on the Red Hook waterfront.

But Brooklyn Historic Railway died in 2002 when the city's Department of Transportation withdrew its support, citing financial problems. Greg Castillo, the Historic Railway's construction manager, said he had not heard from Mr. Diamond in years.

Now, the hulking, mint-green steel carcasses of Mr. Diamond's sleek trolley cars, which were first developed for Brooklyn in 1936, sit abandoned and weather-beaten off the end of Van Brunt Street in Red Hook. Eleven other trolleys he had stored in the Brooklyn Navy Yard were hauled away by a salvage company last spring. (2005)

The article goes on to say:

Congresswoman Velázquez obtained another $300,000 last year to study the feasibility of trolley and light-rail service to Red Hook, an idea supported by Robert W. Walsh, the city's commissioner of Small Business Services. With Ikea, Fairway, residential developments and a cruise ship terminal coming to Red Hook, Commissioner Walsh said, ''when this whole issue came up about trolleys, it made sense.''

And trolleys have been mentioned in other contexts. Sandy Balboza, president of the Atlantic Avenue Betterment Association, has called for a trolley loop in Downtown Brooklyn that would travel along Atlantic Avenue, making it easier to reach the growing number of businesses on that street.

And Roy Sloane, former president of the Cobble Hill Association, supports the idea of a trolley running along Atlantic Avenue to Pier 6, where it would connect with ferry service to Manhattan. ''It's the only really innovative transportation idea that's been discussed for Downtown Brooklyn in the last 10 or 15 years,'' Mr. Sloane said.

I'm not sure what the fate of these trolleys will be but for now they are still there behind Fairway. If anybody knows more about these please share the information.

Neuschwanstein above the fog, while the whole area is swallowed up by the fog - that's a motif I've been chasing for a long time. It wasn't that easy this morning, the fog was moving a lot. Sometimes he withdrew from the mountain, then the castle was again too far away from the fog (fortunately, thanks to the freshly fallen snow, that was also a nice subject). Then the fog came back and rose a little - only the towers could be seen. Here I caught a short moment in between, where the fog covered the lower part of the castle, but was so thin that you could still see something.

In 1760, the Marathas stripped and melted the silver ceiling of the Diwan-i-Khas to raise funds for the defence of Delhi from the armies of Ahmed Shah Durrani. In 1761, after the Marathas lost the third battle of Panipat, Delhi was raided by Ahmed Shah Durrani. Ten years later, the Marathas, acting at the behest of the exiled Emperor Shah Alam II, recaptured Delhi from the Rohilla Afghans. Mahadaji Shinde, the commander of the Maratha Army, restored Shah Alam II to the throne.

In 1764, the Jat ruler of Bharatpur, Maharaja Jawahar Singh, attacked Delhi and eventually captured the Red Fort of Delhi on 5 February 1765. Two days later, after exacting tribute from the Mughals, the Jats withdrew their forces from the Red Fort, seizing the Mughal throne—often regarded as the pride of the dynasty—and the fort's doors as trophies. The throne now adorns the palace at Deeg, serving as a historical centerpiece. The doors are located in the Lohagarh Fort of Bharatpur.

In 1783, Sikh Misls led by Jassa Singh Ahluwalia, Jassa Singh Ramgarhia, and Baghel Singh Dhaliwal conquered Delhi and the Red Fort. With a consolidate force consisting of 40,000 troops, they looted the area spanning from Awadh to Jodhpur. After negotiations, the Sikh forces agreed to withdraw from Delhi and reinstate the Mughal emperor Shah Alam II. As a condition of their retreat, the Jats stipulated the construction of seven Sikh gurdwaras in Delhi, including the Gurudwara Sis Ganj Sahib in Chandni Chowk.

In 1788, a Maratha garrison occupied the Red Fort and Delhi, offering protection to the Mughal Emperor. Mahadaji Shinde negotiated a treaty with the Sikhs, cautioning them against entering Delhi or levying the Rakhi tribute. Control of the fort subsequently passed to the East India Company after the Second Anglo-Maratha War in 1803.

During the Second Anglo-Maratha War, the forces of the East India Company defeated the Maratha troops led by Daulat Rao Scindia in the Battle of Delhi; This event marked the end of Maratha control over Delhi and their authority over the Red Fort. After the battle, the British East India Company took over the administration of Mughal territories and installed a Resident at the Red Fort. The last Mughal emperor to occupy the fort, Bahadur Shah II, became a symbol of the 1857 rebellion against the British East India Company in which the residents of Shahjahanabad participated.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Alamo is one place that Peter HAD to visit on our bus trip from Dallas to New Orleans.

The Battle of the Alamo (February 23 – March 6, 1836) was a pivotal event and military engagement in the Texas Revolution. Following a 13-day siege, Mexican troops under President General Antonio López de Santa Anna reclaimed the Alamo Mission near San Antonio de Béxar (modern-day San Antonio, Texas, United States). About one hundred Texians, wanting to defy Mexican law and maintain the institution of chattel slavery in their portion of Coahuila y Tejas by seeking secession from Mexico, were garrisoned at the mission at the time, with around a hundred subsequent reinforcements led by eventual Alamo co-commanders James Bowie and William B. Travis. On February 23, approximately 1,500 Mexicans marched into San Antonio de Béxar as the first step in a campaign to retake Texas. In the early morning hours of March 6, the Mexican Army advanced on the Alamo. After repelling two attacks, the Texians were unable to fend off a third attack. As Mexican soldiers scaled the walls, most of the Texian fighters withdrew into interior buildings. Those who were unable to reach these points were slain by the Mexican cavalry as they attempted to escape. Almost all of the Texian inhabitants were killed.

Several noncombatants were sent to Gonzales to spread word of the Texian defeat. The news sparked both a strong rush to join the Texian army and a panic, known as "The Runaway Scrape", in which the Texian army, most settlers, and the government of the new, self-proclaimed but officially unrecognized Republic of Texas fled eastward toward the U.S. ahead of the advancing Mexican Army. Santa Anna's execution of surrendering soldiers during the battle inspired many Texians and Tejanos to join the Texian Army. The Texians defeated the Mexican Army at the Battle of San Jacinto, on April 21, 1836, ending the conquering of the Mexican state of Coahuila y Tejas by the newly formed Republic of Texas.

Я вторгся в его пространство, извинился и удалился.

I invaded his space, apologised and withdrew.

Look who dropped by for a morning brunch the other day. Several male and female turtles inhabit my property, hadn't seen them in a while. This one wasn't to shy and never withdrew completely into the shell, was somewhat surprised.

During our recent visit to Scotland we stayed just outside Dunbar in East Lothian, just off the south-east coast. One place that we absolutely love is the tiny fishing village of St Abbs, which is on the Berwickshire coast, about three miles north of Eyemouth. The cream-coloured building is the lifeboat station.

In September 2015 the RNLI withdrew their lifeboat from St Abbs though there had been one here since the loss of a steamship and 16 of her crew in 1911. The local community was dismayed. An appeal was launched to pay for a new boat and £70,000 was raised within a few weeks. But much more was needed. Boyd Tunnock of Tunnock's Teacakes had sent a cheque for £10,000 and the organisers phoned to thank him. He asked how much more was actually needed, and was told that the target figure was a quarter of a million. He promptly wrote another cheque.

The new lifeboat was delivered in July 2016 and was named Thomas Tunnock after Boyd's grandfather. It is a 9-metre RIB with room for 12 survivors and four crew. The top speed is 47 knots and the range is 150 nautical miles. The St Abbs lifeboat was back in business.

View from the castle tower to the village of Babice, 30 km west of Kraków.

The Lipowiec castle is situated on a high rocky ridge of Garb Tenczyński, which is to the west of the Kraków Upland. The first fortifications had been raised here probably long before the construction of the castle. On the site of a borough a small wooden castle was built on the initiative of Konrad Mazowiecki.

It became a more significant defensive structure after Bolesław Wstydliwy had come into power and in 1243 had a watch tower protecting state borders built here by the bishop Prandota. As a bishop's property, in 1295 the castle belonged to bishop Jan Muskata. In his times the original foundation was significantly developed. The first brick structures were built, e.g. a tower, which served both as a defensive structure and a prison for people sentenced to death by starvation. They were pulled down into the deep dungeon. Jan Muskata supported Chech duke, Wacław II, who pretended to the Polish Crown. Władysław Łokietek remained in power and the bishop had to shelter in the Lipowiec castle.

Since 1443 the castle was not a residence for the Kraków bishops any more. After Zbigniew Oleśnicki had purchased the Duchy of Siewierz he moved the seat of the bishops to the castle in Siewierz. The Lipowiec castle served as a prison for clergymen. Still one of the bishops was constantly present here as well as priests and military troops.

The castle acquired its present shape after the development in the 15th century. Its small courtyard was surrounded by dwelling houses and an outer castle below encircled by the wall. Another three floors were added to the tower and it has remained like this up to now. Two higher floors were fitted out with shooting positions to keep the entrance to the castle under control.

The entrance to the castle was more than 10 m above the level of the courtyard of the approaches to the castle. The subsequent modernizations the castle underwent did not change its 15th-century look to a considerable degree.

The castle served as a prison up to the late 18th century. It was a well-guarded prison, as only one case of successful escape was recorded. Franciszek Stankar (Francesco Stancaro), an Italian theologian and Hebraist, the author of the project of the Reformation in Poland, was put to the Lipowiec prison for his views. About 1550 he managed to escape from his cell. According to the legend a daughter of the warder helped Franciszek, as she was in love with him. He got down on the ropes she delivered.

In 1655 the Swedish army took over the castle and made it a seat of the governor of Kraków, general Paul Würtz. When they withdrew from Lipowiec two years later, the Swedes burned down the buildings. The reconstruction started in 1732 by bishop Konstanty Szaniawski and was completed in 1754 by bishop Andrzej Załuski.

As a structure devoid of military importance, it became a prison again, but this time a less rigorous one. A house of betterment and retreat organised special seminars here for clergymen imprisoned in Lipowiec.

In 1789 the Austrian troops occupied the castle and it was not a prison any more. During the following sixty years the castle was inhabited constantly, even in spite of the fire in 1800, when the castle got damaged quite badly. The roofs burned down completely along with the ceilings of the highest floor.

The castle stayed inhabited up to the mid-19th century. During the National Uprising in January 1863 the troops of general Marian Langiewicz sheltered in the castle.

Since the conservation works in 1961-1968 the Lipowiec castle has been open, as a permanent ruin, for the public.

✧Tune✧

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

A Location in rp sim, Empire of Crowns - Twilight Forest & the reading of one of my favorite voices Sir Christopher Lee

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

"It was a good time for all creatures of the earth,

but fate decreed that the dark prophecy of a demon knight

could bring a tragic end to this peace scarring their lives forever.

Shortly before his defeat in the last of the primordial wars

between the heavens and hells the evil son of the Hell God Kron,

known as Nekron, withdrew to his lair in the underworld.

There, sensing his impending death inscribed a testament

of pure evil in seven black books.

One by one six of these books were discovered through out the ages,

however the seventh, last and most terrible of all contained

the secret of his resurrection.

He commanded seven immortal demons to carry out his dark plan.

But they were turned into stone by the angels of the crystal realms.

And so his dreams slept with them until a time came

when the forces of evil would usurp the earth.

Nekron would rule in the unholy name of cosmic chaos.

And this time he would reign supreme!"

The Romans were here for several hundred years and in that time laid down a network of roads that we can still see today. Most of the known network was complete by 180 AD. Its main purpose was to allow the rapid movement of troops and military supplies. It was also vital for trade and the transport of goods.

Roman roads remained in use as trunk roads for centuries after the Romans withdrew from Britain in 410 AD. Systematic construction of paved highways did not resume in England until the 18th century. Even so, it is still surprising to find from time to time that a Roman road existed in an unexpected place, like here in Northamptonshire. This road runs west to east, from Titchmarsh (in the far distance) across to the old Great North Road (A1). Over 1,500 years ago this was apparently an important area of Roman settlements with two Roman roads crossing at Titchmarsh. If it was ever necessary to dig down a few feet the stones of the old Roman road would almost certainly still be here.

Sources: various, including Wikipedia

Rudolf Maister Vojanov (March 29, 1874 – July 26, 1934) was a Slovene military officer and political activist. The soldiers who fought under Maister's command in northern Slovenia became known as "Maister's fighters" (Slovene: Maistrovi borci). Maister was also an accomplished poet and self-taught painter.

Maister was born in the Upper Carniolan commercial town of Kamnik (German: Stein in Oberkrain), then part of Austria-Hungary. During World War I, he served as a major in the Austro-Hungarian army. In 1918, towards the end of the war, he organized local Slovenian volunteer forces and took control of the city of Maribor (German: Marburg an der Drau) and the surrounding region of Lower Styria with a military action. He was awarded the rank of general by the National Council for (Slovenian) Styria on November 1. The city was thus secured for the newly formed State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs, which united with Serbia into the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes on December 1.

On 27 January 1919, a firefight broke out between the local Ethnic Germans awaiting the American peace delegation at the city's marketplace and Slovenian troops under the command of Maister. Nine people were killed and more than eighteen were seriously wounded. The responsibility for the shooting has not been conclusively established. German sources accused Maister's troops of shooting without cause, while Slovenian witnesses, such as Dr. Maks Pohar, testified that the Germans (some still in the uniforms of the German paramilitary organization called Green Guard) attacked Slovenian soldiers guarding city hall. The Germans allegedly attacked the police inspector, Dr. Ivan Senekovič, and pressed towards the Slovenian soldiers in front of the city hall. One German shot with a revolver in the direction of Slovenian soldiers and they responded spontaneously with shots against the crowd. The event became known in German as the Marburger Blutsonntag ("Marburg Bloody Sunday").

In November 1919, Maister's forces joined the Kingdom of SHS army's offensive in Carinthia. Maister joined them later and took part of the conquest of Klagenfurt. After the Carinthian Plebiscite, in which majority of the local Slovenian population decided to remain part of Austria, Maister withdrew to private life. He spent most of his later life in an estate in Inner Carniola. He died in Rakek.

3D Printing

When repairing vintage cameras, I often use a 3D printer to design and fabricate replacement parts that are otherwise unavailable. Even after all this time, the intricate movements and precision of this machine fascinates me. I was printing a tiny 5mm wide hollow bushing for a camera I was servicing. I sat watching the printer form the part, layer by layer. I suddenly thought … “I need to photograph this because it’s something many have never seen!” I grabbed a camera and captured this image in the final seconds, just as the hot end of the printer withdrew from the finished print.

Website: www.sollows.ca

Contact and my links

linktr.ee/jsollows

Consonance and dissonance.

I the body would be sharing certain events cached in its data files.

I shall remove the text if anybody feels hurt, offended or humiliated by its contents.

Did you ever see a laddie go this way and that? :

The child gradually grew disconcerted with his experiences at the 'nursery'. He was annoyed and often shocked by the world that unwrapped and what that he deciphered in the fourth year of his life.

Other than Sister Atlee, there's a teacher and a nursemaid in the nursery. Sister Atlee makes an occasional visit, and though she appears aloof and austere, the child liked her because he recognized that she is loving and harmless. So is Maggie, the nursemaid, who is probably a teenage orphan living in the convent. She wears floral frocks and has bobbed hair. Maggie serves the kids with the milk and cookies brought from their homes and cleaned the rooms. The teachers in the school have to be unmarried, and if they marry, they have to leave their job. In that case, the teacher in the nursery is a young lady.

The children are assigned 'homework', and every morning they are supposed to place the homework book, one on top of the other, on the teacher's table. Most kids didn't know the purpose of the ritual. As a routine, they often place the book on the table, even if they have not done their 'homework'. The teacher goes through each book, and the kids have to go and get their book when she calls their name. She called "Anuj", and the kid gleefully approached her. He was startled that unexpectedly she threw the book at his face and yelled, "Why you didn't do your homework?". The book came flying with its pages spread and hit him right at his face. It didn't scare him, but he walked back with a heavy heart as the brown paper covering of the book got unwrapped, and he remembered how attentively his dad encased it late at night. While he sat appalled and downhearted, he could hear her calling the names of other kids in the class. He soon saw her throw the book at the face of another boy and saw the poor child pee right where he stood.

The kid was puzzled why he is continually getting instilled with sad and obnoxious negative notions. He wondered what's funny if "Jack fell down and broke his head, and if Jill came tumbling after", and what's joyful about Humpty Dumpty's great fall. He felt sad for Little Red Riding Hood's poor grandma, who the wolf ate. He wondered why he's taught that Golliwog doesn't bathe or brush his teeth and is ugly; and portrayed as black, with big eyes, thick lips and curly hair.

The kid didn't understand why Vikraman while playing in the sandbox, hit the back of his right hand with the pail when he approached him with a smile. It hurt him badly, and he withdrew, perplexed by the unexplained motivation for such behaviour.

The kid didn't understand why and how could Deepti, who accosted him crying for help, romp away tittering with the same child who hurt her while the teacher was terrorizing her saviour for helping her. Sobbing, she approached him as her best friend and neighbour Pravin threw out her umbrella through the window. He consoled her and assured her that he would get it for her and instantly dashed back with the umbrella, flashing a victorious smile. As he gladly handed it over to her, the fuming teacher who appeared from nowhere asked, "You two went out?". Pointing at him, Deepti replied, "No, I didn't. It's him", and joyously left, giggling along with Pravin, holding his hand. While fiercely reprimanded by the teacher for venturing out, he could see her blissfully playing in the sandbox with her best friend.

The kid didn't understand why the cutely chubby Daffene was cruelly jeered at by most kids when she accidentally lost her bowel control and defecated in the class. While he sat beside her to console her, bewildered, he watched the dramatically cheerful commotion with the kids running around helter-skelter, covering their noses, bawling "Chakka thoori"(Jackfruit defecated). Chakka is Jackfruit, and plump people often get taunted with that term. Though poor Daffene put up a brave face, he knew she would burst out crying any moment.

He realized that traits are just inherent, and it has nothing to do with upbringing. He didn't believe that the parents of those kids taught them to behave that way. He felt that his world of ladybirds, butterflies, bugs and beetles is a far better place. He never felt hurt by an ant bite or a bee sting, but though he's known at his home and the whole neighbourhood as 'the child who never cries', all the incidents left scars in his heart.

Anyway, with all the bitter experiences, he slowly developed a dislike for the place. Finally, he told his mom that he no longer wish to go to that place. She informed dad, and they both came to his bed at night. Lifting the mosquito net, they both sat on the bed, and mindful of a child's apprehensions and worries, they asked," Is there anything that troubles you in the class?". The kid couldn't provide an immediate explanation, so he just repeated that he doesn't like the place. Desperate to solve the issue, they dissected and particularized the question. "Is someone troubling or misbehaving with you? ". The answer, "Yes", led to the questions, "Who?, How?". The kid couldn't find any immediate answer, so he lied, " The teacher called me a pig". "WHAT?! How dare she?!". Dad sprung up, fuming. He assured him he'll take care of the issue and asked the child not to worry before they tucked the net inside the mattress and left. The child remained sleepless for a while as the teacher never called him any such names, and he lied to his parents. His innocent intention was the simple expectation that his parents would stop sending him to such a nasty place.

The following day he was taken to the nursery, and Sister Atlee was ready to teach a new song. The girls held either side of the bottom edge of their half skirts and swayed their hips left and right to sing:

"Did you ever see a lassie, a lassie, a lassie? ,

Did you ever see a lassie Go this way and that?

Go this way and that way, go this way and that way,

Did you ever see a lassie Go this way and that? "

The boys held either side of the bottom edge of their shorts and, swaying the same way sang,

"Did you ever see a laddie, a laddie, a laddie? ,

Did you ever see a laddie Go this way and that?

Go this way and that way, go this way and that way,

Did you ever see a laddie Go this way and that? "

Abruptly, the swaying laddie felt a lightning bolt through his heart when he saw his dad at the door with a group of nuns and the teacher. After talking to him, the teacher came running towards the kids with an alarmed face. He wished he could go this way or that way as the teacher took him to his dad. On the verge of tears, she asked, "Anuj, did I call you a pig?". The kid replied, " Er, ahem, well ...No". "My child won't lie. Maybe someone else", said his dad. "Then, who? Is it Maggie?" asked the teacher. The kid looked around, and he didn't find Maggie anywhere nearby. His head bent downwards, he nodded and thought the issue is solved, and the matter would be closed. Oh no! There comes Maggie! Another face on the verge of tears, the same question and a lengthy " Yo, um, uh, er, ahem, well..No" as the answer. Thankfully, his dad thought of leaving it there, and he left after advising the teacher to be more careful with kids.

Though the kid regretted having lied, he was glad that the teacher became more amicable and mature than the kids after that incident.

Along with 'education' and experiences, though all kids slowly get acclimatized and move along with the flow, some kids merely grow up, some kids learn and remain immature, some kids mature but never learn, and the story goes on.

Did You Ever See a Laddie? : Did You Ever See a Laddie?

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© 2020 Anuj Nair. All rights reserved.

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www.anujnair.net

Anuj Nair's Official Blog

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© 2020 Anuj Nair. All rights reserved.

All images are the property of Anuj Nair. Using these images without permission is in violation of international copyright laws (633/41 DPR19/78-Disg 154/97-L.248/2000).All materials may not be copied, reproduced, distributed, republished, downloaded, displayed,posted or transmitted in any forms or by any means,including electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording without written permission of Anuj Nair. Every violation will be pursued penally.

The Vital Spark (ex-Eilean Esideal, ex-Elseda, ex-Vic 72), was built by Brown's Shipyard, Hull, in 1944, and was sold out of naval service at Devonport Dockyard (where she had been a stores carrier) in 1968, and was then motorised and renamed ELSEDA, based at Troon as a cargo vessel.

In 1972, she was bought by an owner based on the Isle of Mull, and worked around the islands dredging coal from sunken vessels.

In 1984, she was sold to an owner of Easdale Island, near Oban, and was renamed EILEAN EASDEAL to run a inter-island cargo service around the Western Isles until 1994 (when the Scottish Office withdrew its subsidy for Scottish Shipping).

In 2001, she was brought to the Inveraray Maritime Museum, where she still is, and in 2006, she was re-registered as VITAL SPARK, the name of the ficitional puffer that appeared in the Para Handy books by Neil Munro.

At Cowm reservoir

Whitworth

Lancashire

Sitting by a bush in broad sunlight

ROBERT FROST

When I spread out my hand here today,

I catch no more than a ray

To feel of between thumb and fingers;

No lasting effect of it lingers.

There was one time and only the one

When dust really took in the sun;

And from that one intake of fire

All creatures still warmly suspire.

And if men have watched a long time

And never seen sun-smitten slime

Again come to life and crawl off,

We not be too ready to scoff.

God once declared he was true

And then took the veil and withdrew,

And remember how final a hush

Then descended of old on the bush.

God once spoke to people by name.

The sun once imparted its flame.

One impulse persists as our breath;

The other persists as our faith.

Robert Frost

On May 16, the second day of the trip, we saw this tornado near McLean, Texas. It's not overstating it to say that it was awe-inspiring to see this tornado form and drop. The clouds were rotating right in front of us as the spout dropped, hesitated, withdrew, then dropped again and touched down. Luckily this all happened in open fields causing no casualties or damage. This same storm, sadly, though went on to form another tornado that did severe damage and killed one person in Elk City, Oklahoma.

In a bit of a departure for me, I tried my hand at time lapse on this trip. If you'd like to see the time lapse film I made, it's on YouTube.

Near McLean, Texas. May 16, 2017.

In May, 2017 I went storm chasing in Tornado Alley. Tornado Alley, which stretches from Texas through to Nebraska, is the area of the U.S. which gets the most severe weather, and the most tornadoes, every spring. Over 8 days, I chased storms through Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Colorado and New Mexico with the amazing Mike Olbinski. What an incredible adventure it was!

If you'd like see more images I took while storm chasing, take a look at my Storm Chasing album.

Created for dA Users Gallery Challenge 129 - Model

Model with thanks to liam-stock

If you think you've seen this pic before you are right. I posted this earlier today but after posting I didn't like it, even after it had about 50 hits. So I made it private and withdrew it from the Groups it was in. This is a better version.

Sorry about that I'll look them over a bit more carefully in the future

St Helier townscape from Elizabeth Castle's Upper Keep.

Elizabeth Castle sits on a tidal island within the parish of Saint Helier, Jersey. Construction was started in the 16th Century when the power of cannon meant that the existing stronghold at Mont Orgueil on the island’s east coast was insufficient to defend the island and the port of St. Helier was vulnerable to attack by ships armed with cannon.

It is named after Elizabeth I who was queen of England around the time the castle was built.

The tidal island called L'Islet lying in St Aubin's Bay became the site of the Abbey, later Priory, of Saint Helier. The Crown confiscated the monastic buildings at the Reformation. Surviving buildings were used for military purposes.

Construction of the earliest parts of the castle, the Upper Ward including the Queen Elizabeth Gate, began in 1594. This work was carried out by the Flemish military engineer Paul Ivy. Governors of Jersey then moved their official residence from Mont Orgueil to Elizabeth Castle.

The British government withdrew the garrison and relinquished the castle to the States of Jersey in 1923. The States then opened it to the public as a museum.

During the Second World War the Germans, who occupied the Channel Islands, modernised the castle with guns, bunkers and battlements. After the Liberation, the castle was repaired and was eventually re-opened to the public.

This description incorporates text from the English Wikipedia.

The former manor castle is still located in the northwestern corner of the town center, surrounded by the town wall and castle walls. The remains of the earliest known predecessor of the castle system, the pile castle, have been uncovered in its courtyard. After the Tatars withdrew, construction began on the Lower Castle next to the settlement in the valley, which in the Middle Ages took over the role of the Upper Castle as the center of the lord's estate, which was difficult to access. The castle consists of two parts: the outer bailey and the inner castle. The buildings on either side of the outer bailey once housed the guards and the castle's service staff. At the end of the 13th century, it was owned by the Héder clan. In 1289, Prince Albert captured the castle. In accordance with the terms of the Peace of Hainburg, Andrew III had the Old Castle demolished in 1291. In 1327, after several wars, Charles Robert captured the castle from the Kőszegi family and, after his victory, granted it significant privileges in 1328.

In 1327, after several wars, Charles Robert captured the castle from the Kőszegi family, and after his victory in 1328, he helped the town develop by granting it significant privileges. The town walls were gradually built up to prevent Austrian invasions, and they were protected by strong towers. The water from the nearby Gyöngyös stream was diverted into the moats surrounding the walls. In 1392, the castle belonged to the Garai family, in 1445 to the Habsburgs, from whom Matthias Corvinus recaptured it in 1482, but in 1492 the Habsburgs occupied it again.

Its most famous siege was in 1532, when it was attacked by the huge army of the Turkish Sultan Suleiman, who was marching towards Vienna. A statue of Miklós Jurisics, captain of the castle during the Turkish siege, stands in the courtyard. In memory of the enemy's retreat, bells ring every day at 11 a.m. in Kőszeg. The inner castle can be reached via a two-arched brick bridge spanning the moat.

Translated with DeepL.com (free version)

Kon Marine Lockheed P-3C Orion performing at a RIAT sometime in the early 90's

When the Netherlands withdrew their P-3 fleet, some were sold on to Germany and others to Portugal

Those German examples are scheduled to be replaced by the P-8 Poseidon

Scanned print

During our recent visit to Scotland we stayed just outside Dunbar in East Lothian, just off the south-east coast. One place that we absolutely fell in love with was the tiny fishing village of St Abbs, which is about three miles north of Eyemouth. The cream-coloured building is the lifeboat station. The lifeboat is run independently of the RNIB after they withdrew their support. Local people with generous support from Tunnock's Biscuits then purchased their own inshore rescue boat.

This photo I took with a friend's telephoto. It was a 75-300mm if I'm not mistaken. It had been a while that I wanted to try telephotos for landscapes. There are certain kinds of compositions that wouldn't work with a wide angle lens. The perspective for the foreground and the trails on wheat field, for example, couldn't be seen from a closer point of view.

~~~~~

I have been a little bit stressed out lately... there are quite a few things making me worried, anxious, nervous... tuesday was a holiday in Brazil, Independence Day. It finally rained this day, and I spent most of the day playing puzzle at a friend's house. Then yesterday I withdrew myself from the world by diving into reading a most sad book: "The Good Women of China" written by Xinran, such awful experiences! :(

Now today, I have to run up and down to solve some things, for tomorrow I'll travel to Asunción, Paraguay. Very likely I won't have anything my way. The people I'm going with are not very found of the same things that I, when it comes to how a trip should be enjoyed. But I'll try and have fun and enjoy and keep on with the aloofing of my mind from the things that are ticking me at the moment.

To view more of my images, of Southwold, please click

"here" !

From deep in the achieves, reprocessed, using Photoshop CC 2022!

Please, no group invites; thank you!

Southwold is a small town on the North Sea coast, in the Waveney district of the English county of Suffolk. It is located on the North Sea coast at the mouth of the River Blyth within the Suffolk Coast and Heaths Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The town is around 11 miles (18 km) south of Lowestoft, 29 miles (47 km) north-east of Ipswich and 97 miles (156 km) north-east of London. It is within the parliamentary constituency of Suffolk Coastal. Southwold was mentioned in Domesday Book (1086) as a fishing port, and after the "capricious River Blyth withdrew from Dunwich in 1328, bringing trade to Southwold in the 15th century", it received its town charter from Henry VII in 1489. Over the following centuries, however, a shingle bar built up across the harbour mouth, preventing the town from becoming a major Early Modern port: "The shingle at Southwold Harbour, the mouth of the Blyth, is ever shifting," William Whittaker observed in 1887. Southwold was the home of a number of Puritan emigrants to the Massachusetts Bay Colony in the 1630s, notably a party of 18 assembled under Rev. Young, which travelled in the Mary Ann in 1637. Richard Ibrook, born in Southwold and a former bailiff of the town, emigrated to Hingham, Massachusetts, along with Rev. Peter Hobart, son of Edmund Hobart of Hingham, Norfolk. Rev. Hobart had been an assistant vicar of St Edmund's Church, Southwold after graduating from Magdalene College, Cambridge. Hobart married in America Rebecca Ibrook, daughter of his fellow Puritan Richard Ibrook. The migrants to Hingham were led by Robert Peck, vicar of St Andrew's Church in Hingham and a native of Beccles. In 1659 a fire devastated most of the town and damaged St Edmund's Church, whose original structure dated from the 12th century. The fire created a number of open spaces within the town which were never rebuilt. Today this "series of varied and very delightful village greens" and the restriction of expansion because of the surrounding marshes, have preserved its genteel appearance. On the green just above the beach, descriptively named Gun Hill, the six 18-pounder cannon commemorate the Battle of Sole Bay, fought in 1672 between English and French fleets on one side and the Dutch (under Michiel de Ruyter) on the other. The battle was bloody but indecisive and many bodies were washed ashore. Southwold Museum has a collection of mementos of the event. It has occasionally been said that these cannon were captured from the Scots at Culloden and given to the town by the Duke of Cumberland, who had landed at Southwold in October 1745 having been recalled from Europe to deal with the Jacobite threat, but they are much larger than those used by Charles Edward Stuart's army in that campaign. During World War I, it was widely thought that these cannon were one reason why this part of the coast was bombarded by the German Fleet as a "fortified coast". In World War II the cannon were prudently removed, reputedly buried for safety, and returned to their former position after hostilities. Southwold lighthouse was commissioned in 1890 and automated and electrified in 1938. It stands as a prominent landmark in the centre of the town and is a Grade II listed building. It is 31 metres (102 ft) metres tall, standing 37 metres (121 ft) metres above sea level. It is built of brick and painted white and has 113 steps around a spiral staircase. The lighthouse replaced three local lighthouses that were under serious threat from coastal erosion. It suffered a fire in its original oil fired lamp just six days after commissioning but survived and today operates a rotating 150 watt lamp with a range of 24 nautical miles (44 km; 28 mi). Guided visits are run by the Southwold Millennium Foundation. Adnams Brewery was established in the town by George and Ernest Adnams in 1872 with the purchase of the Sole Bay Brewery which had been established in 1818. In 1890 the brewery was re-built on its current site in the centre of the town. The brewery is the town's largest employer and has been modernised and expanded in recent years with the development of an energy efficient brewery, a new distribution centre on the outskirts of the town and a distillery. In 2011 it received the Good Pub Guide Brewery of the Year Award. Southwold Pier was built in 1900 and at 247 metres (810 ft) it was long enough to accommodate the Belle steamers which carried trippers along the coast at that time. In World War II, it was weakened by two breaches, and in 1955 a large section was destroyed by a gale. The pier was entirely rebuilt and restored in 2001 and is now about 190 metres (620 ft) long. Whilst many English seaside piers are in decline, Southwold Pier is enjoying renewed popularity, helped by a collection of modern coin-operated novelty machines made by Tim Hunkin and the occasional berth of paddle steamers such as PS Waverley and the MV Balmoral. A model boat pond adjacent to the pier is used for the Southwold Model Yacht regattas that have been held since the late Victorian period. Some of the boats entered are up to 80 years old and include replicas of beach yawls. Regattas are usually held in the spring and summer with the largest, the annual regatta, held at the end of the summer season.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Excerpt from Wikipedia:

Spiez Castle (German: Schloss Spiez) is a castle in the municipality of Spiez of the Swiss canton of Bern. It is a Swiss heritage site of national significance.

According to Elogius Kiburger, the author of the Strättliger Chronicle, in 933 the King of Burgundy, Rudolph II, built the Castle. Shortly thereafter, the Freiherr von Strättligen settled in the castle. Portions of the current castle shield walls and main tower were built during the 12th century and by the 13th century the town of Spiez existed outside the castle walls. By 1280 the castle was listed as an Imperial fief under Vogt Richard de Corbières. In 1289 the Freiherr von Strättligen was co-owner of the castle along with a succession of other noble families. In 1308 King Albert I of Habsburg was murdered at Windisch on the Reuss, by his nephew Duke John Parricida. As part of their retaliation for the murder, the Habsburgs withdrew half of the Spiez fief from Thüring von Brandis and granted the whole fief to Johannes von Strättligen. Thirty years later, in 1338, Johannes sold the castle, town, church and surrounding villages to Johann II von Bubenberg who was the Schultheiss of Bern. By 1340, the Bubenberg-appointed vogt took orders from Bern, but was obligated to raise troops for the Habsburgs. As Bern was de facto independent from their former overlords, the Habsburgs, this created an unstable situation which remained for over 40 years. After the Bernese and Swiss Confederation victory over the Habsburgs in the Battle of Sempach in 1386, the Habsburgs gave up their land claims west of the Aare, which included Spiez.

The castle and surrounding land remained with the Bubenberg family until their extinction in 1506, when it was acquired by Ludwig von Diesbach. Von Diesbach held it for ten years before Ludwig von Erlach acquired the castle and lands. The von Erlach family ruled the town and villages until the 1798 French invasion. After the invasion and the creation of the Helvetic Republic, the von Erlach family lost their land rights and jurisdiction over the village, but retained ownership of the castle until 1875.

The old castle was expanded in several stages during the Late Middle Ages but little is known about the specific dates or what was changed. In 1600 the great hall and the northern buildings were expanded and renovated. During the 17th and 18th centuries the south "New Castle" was built and then expanded and redecorated in the late Baroque style. The castle was surrounded with gardens, vineyards and forests. After 1875, the castle passed through several owners until a foundation bought the castle and associated church. The gardens are now open to the public and the castle rooms are used for conferences, concerts, exhibitions and other events.

The massive square keep was built around 1200. The lower walls are about 3 m (9.8 ft) thick though they become thinner higher up. At the bottom it is 11.3 m × 11.2 m (37 ft × 37 ft). The tower increased in height several times over the following centuries before the final construction phase in 1600. In this final phase the tower was raised and crowned with hipped roof that brought its total height to 39 meters (128 ft).

The keep was originally surrounded by several free standing wooden buildings. Over the following centuries these buildings were replaced with a stone curtain wall and a ring of two concentric ditches. A gatehouse was built adjacent to the keep, which opened toward the west.

Around 1300 a residence wing was added north of the keep. It was probably lower at that time than it is today and was connected to the keep by a wooden gallery. During the second half of the 13th century a number of tournaments must have been held around the castle because the visiting knights carved graffiti into the plaster of the main chimney. In the 14th century an additional north wing was added onto the residence wing.

From the 15th to the 18th century, the castle was gradually renovated to its present appearance. The gallery was expanded and another story was added to the residence hall. The Trüel was added to the north-west side of the keep in the 16th century. Then, in the 17th and 18th centuries, the Baroque "New Castle" was built on the south side of the gatehouse.

Reino Unido de Gran Bretaña - Escocia - Isla de Mull - Castillo de Duart

ENGLISH

Duart Castle or Caisteal Dhubhairt in Scottish Gaelic is a castle on the Isle of Mull, off the west coast of Scotland, within the council area of Argyll and Bute. The castle dates back to the 13th century and is the seat of Clan MacLean.

In 1350 Lachlan Lubanach Maclean of Duart, the 5th Clan Chief, married Mary, daughter of John of Islay, Lord of the Isles and Duart was part of her dowry.

In 1647, Duart Castle was attacked and laid siege to by the Argyll government troops of Clan Campbell, but they were defeated and driven off by the Royalist troops of Clan MacLean.

In September 1653, a Cromwellian task force of six ships anchored off the castle, but the Macleans had already fled to Tiree. A storm blew up on the 13 September and three ships were lost, including HMS Swan.

In 1678, Archibald Campbell, 9th Earl of Argyll, son of the Marquess of Argyll, successfully invaded the Clan MacLean lands on the Isle of Mull and Sir John Maclean, 4th Baronet fled the castle and withdrew to Cairnbulg Castle, and afterward to Kintail under the protection of the Earl of Seaforth.

In 1691 Duart Castle was surrendered by Sir John Maclean, 4th Baronet to Archibald Campbell, 1st Duke of Argyll.[1] The Campbell clan demolished the castle, and the stones from the walls were scattered. Donald Maclean, 5th Laird of Torloisk used some of the stones to build a cottage for his family close to the site of the castle.

By 1751 the remains of the castle were abandoned.

Descendants of Archibald Campbell, 1st Duke of Argyll sold the castle in 1801, to MacQuarrie, who then sold it to Carter-Campbell of Possil who kept it as a ruin within the grounds of his own estate to the north, Torosay Castle. He later sold his Torosay Estate which now included the ruins of Castle Duart to A. C. Guthrie in 1865. On 11 September 1911, the ruin was separated from the rest of the Torosay Estate and was bought by Sir Fitzroy Donald Maclean, the 26th Chief of the Clan MacLean and restored.

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ESPAÑOL

El castillo Duart en la Isla de Mull es la residencia tradicional de MacLean. Probablemente hubo una fortaleza en este sitio desde la Alta Edad Media. El castillo actual consiste en una muralla que rodea los edificios, y probablemente construido para MacDougall Dunollie alrededor de 1250. Cien años más tarde formó parte de la dote de Lady Mary Macdonald, hija del señor de las islas, en su matrimonio con Lachlan Maclean Lubanach. Lachlan construyó la gran mazmorra Duart 1370, y las adiciones se realizan a finales del XVI y finales del siglo XVII. Duart es abandonada por MacLean en 1691, y más tarde cae en ruinas, antes de ser restaurada en el siglo XX por Sir Fitzroy Donald MacLean y fue la sede del líder del clan desde su reapertura en 1912. (El exterior del castillo se utilizó en la película "La trampa", con Sean Connery y Catherine Zeta Jones).

El Maclean Clan es un clan escocés, uno de los clanes más antiguos de la región, y tiene importantes territorios en Argyll en las Hébridas Interiores. Muchos de los primeros miembros del clan se han hecho famosos por su valentía y fuerza en la batalla. Ellos están involucrados en diversos conflictos con los clanes vecinos como MacKinnon, el Cameron MacDonald y Campbell. Tomaron parte en todas las rebeliones jacobitas.

Maserati is an Italian automobile manufacturer based in Modena . The company was founded in Bologna in 1914. Today, the brand belongs to the global manufacturer Stellantis . Its trademark is a trident, modeled after the one on the Fountain of Neptune in Bologna .

Maserati racing cars were successful in the 1950s; among other achievements, Juan Manuel Fangio won the 1957 Formula One World Championship in a 250F . Maserati has traditionally been a competitor of Ferrari , but from 1997 to 2005 it was a subsidiary of Ferrari within the Fiat Group, later Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA).

Following the merger of FCA and the PSA Group (Peugeot SA) on January 16, 2021 to form Stellantis , Maserati is the only brand in the "luxury" segment of the new group, with its own global sales organization separate from the multi-brand sales through the national Stellantis organizations, such as Stellantis Deutschland GmbH (based in Rüsselsheim).

Founded in Bologna on December 1, 1914, the Società Anonima Officine Alfieri Maserati (SA Officine Alfieri Maserati) was a family business. Its founder was Alfieri Maserati . Three of his six brothers later joined the company.

Carlo (1881–1910), Bindo (1883–1980), Alfieri (1887–1932) [ 4 ] , Mario (1890–1981), Ettore (1894–1990) and Ernesto Maserati (1898–1975) were born in the Lombard town of Voghera . The parents of the siblings, who became known as the Fratelli Maserati (Maserati Brothers), were Rudolfo and Carolina Maserati. Their father worked as a railway engineer. With the exception of Mario Maserati, who worked as a painter, all the Maserati brothers developed an affinity for technology. [ 5 ]

Carlo Maserati built his first motorcycle in 1898, which he used to participate in several races. At the beginning of the 20th century, he became a test and racing driver for Fiat and worked for a time with Vincenzo Lancia . In 1903, he moved to Isotta Fraschini , in 1907 to Bianchi , and in 1909 to Junior . Carlo Maserati died of tuberculosis in 1910. [ 5 ]

Alfieri and Bindo Maserati followed their brother Carlo to Isotta Fraschini in 1903. In 1910, they went to Argentina on behalf of the Milanese car manufacturer to work at the Isotta branch there. In Buenos Aires, Alfieri designed a racing car using Isotta technology, which he himself used in motor races, but the Maserati brothers returned to Italy as early as 1914.

On December 1, 1914, Alfieri Maserati founded his own company in Bologna, where customer cars from Isotta Fraschini were to be prepared for racing. With Italy's entry into the First World War, the workshop's activities largely ceased. During this time, Alfieri Maserati developed spark plugs, while his brother Ernesto, who had initially also worked for Alfieri, designed aircraft engines for Franco Tosi during the war . [ 5 ] [ 6 ] [ 7 ]

Beginnings in motorsport

Maserati 8CM

After the war, Alfieri, Ernesto, and Ettore Maserati resumed their workshop operations. They designed several racing cars for Isotta Fraschini [ 6 ] [ 8 ] and, from 1922, for Diatto , achieving some success in Grand Prix races. When Diatto withdrew from motor racing in 1925, the Maserati brothers took over the design work. This project resulted in the Maserati Tipo 26 , the first racing car to bear the Maserati name. [ 7 ] In April 1926, the car driven by Alfieri Maserati achieved the company's first class victory in the 1.5-liter class at the Targa Florio . After initially only sporadic further racing appearances, Maserati participated regularly in motorsport events from 1929 onwards. The company maintained a factory team but also sold its vehicles to independent customers. With the introduction of the Maserati Tipo 6CM in 1936, sustained success followed; Maserati won a total of 19 races before the outbreak of the Second World War . [ 6 ]

The Orsi era: Racing successes and the first road-going sports cars

In 1932, Alfieri Maserati died at the age of 44 from the long-term effects of a racing accident. Subsequently, Bindo Maserati, who had previously worked at Isotta Fraschini, took over the management of Officine Alfieri Maserati, while Ettore was responsible for development and administration. [ 9 ]

Despite the racing successes, the company never regained the dynamism it had enjoyed during Alfieri Maserati's lifetime. [ 9 ] In 1937, the remaining Maserati brothers sold the company to Adolfo Orsi , an industrialist from Modena who owned several steel mills and manufactured agricultural and machine tools in his hometown. [ 9 ] Orsi primarily wanted to use Maserati's racing successes for advertising purposes for his other businesses. [ 10 ] Until the post-war period, the Maserati name appeared not only on automobiles but also on technical equipment produced by the Orsi Group. During this time, Maserati also manufactured motorcycles, among other things. The Maserati brothers Bindo, Ernesto, and Ettore remained with the company as consultants for ten years, and its headquarters were moved to Modena in the early 1940s. In 1947 they separated from Maserati and founded a competing company, Officine Specializzata Costruzioni Automobili (OSCA), in Bologna.

After the end of World War II, the Orsi Group faced economic and political difficulties. These included numerous, sometimes violent, strikes by the workforce, which also led to the temporary closure of the Maserati factory. In 1950, the group underwent a restructuring, resulting in the spin-off of Maserati. From then on, Adolfo Orsi and his son Omar were solely responsible for managing the racing car manufacturer, while the other companies within the group were managed by Orsi's siblings.

Maserati 250F

After the turmoil of the early post-war period subsided, Maserati established itself as a major player in motor racing during the 1950s. This process was facilitated by the withdrawal of the previously dominant Alfa Romeo team. The Maserati 250F, designed in 1953 , was one of the most widely used Formula One cars of its generation; it competed in 46 World Championship races and numerous non-championship Formula One events until 1960. [ 11 ] Maserati regularly fielded a factory team during these years; in addition, numerous private drivers entered Maserati-designed cars. In 1957, Juan Manuel Fangio won the Drivers' World Championship with the Maserati factory team; it was Fangio's fifth world title. In 1958, Maserati withdrew from Formula One for financial reasons. Customer cars, however, remained in use until 1960, and Maserati engines could be found in Cooper's Formula 1 cars until the late 1960s . After a few years without motorsport involvement, Maserati returned to sports car racing success in the early 1960s with cars like the Tipo 61 ("Birdcage") ...Wikipedia

Hummer was a brand of trucks and SUVs, first marketed in 1992 when AM General began selling a civilian version of the M998 Humvee. In 1998, General Motors (GM) purchased the brand name and marketed three vehicles: the original Hummer H1, based on the military Humvee, as well as the H2 and H3 models that were based on smaller, civilian-market GM platforms. By 2008, Hummer's viability in the economic downturn was being questioned, and it was placed under review by GM management. Rather than being transferred to the Motors Liquidation Company as part of the GM bankruptcy in 2009, the brand was retained by GM, in order to investigate its sale. In 2009, a Chinese manufacturer, Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery Company, announced that it would acquire Hummer, pending government approvals, but later withdrew its bid. On February 24, 2010, Reuters reported that the Chinese ministry of commerce had prevented the deal, although a ministry spokesperson denied rejecting the application, which had been stalled for eight months. At the end of February, General Motors announced it would begin dismantling the Hummer brand. Although the automaker announced two days later that it had been approached with new offers, by April 2010, any sale became unlikely, as inventory was depleted and Hummer dealerships began shutting down. After filling a rental-car fleet order, the last Hummer H3 rolled off the line at Shreveport on May 24, 2010. The original maker of Hummer, AM General, lost their bid to build the HMMWV's replacement for the U.S. military in 2015.

[Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hummer]