La fábrica de Mackenzie o Port Victoria, conocida habitualmente como Casamar, fue un fuerte costero levantado en 1882 en Cabo Juby, actual Tarfaya.

El edificio fue construido por el fundador de la Compañía Británica del Noroeste de África, Donald Mackenzie, quien se posicionó allí a principios de 1879 con el objetivo de comerciar con caravanas provenientes de Tombuctú. Tras un ataque a la fortaleza en 1888, la empresa se retiró cediendo el edificio.

Casa Mar, con una superficie de seiscientos metros Cuadrados y dos plantas, fue construida por albañiles canarios con piedra traída de Lanzarote y cemento de Inglaterra.

Disponía de unos depósitos de agua metálicos con capacidad para subsistir durante nueve Meses. En la parte superior, de superficie plana, se asentó una batería de artillería para su defensa y apoyo a los edificios de la orilla. Además, se construyó un muelle para facilitar la carga y descarga de las mercancías.

The Mackenzie Factory or Port Victoria, commonly known as Casamar, was a coastal fort built in 1882 at Cape Juby, present-day Tarfaya.

The building was constructed by Donald Mackenzie, founder of the British Northwest Africa Company, who established himself there in early 1879 to trade with caravans from Timbuktu. Following an attack on the fortress in 1888, the company withdrew and handed over the building.

Casa Mar, with an area of six hundred square meters and two floors, was built by Canarian masons using stone brought from Lanzarote and cement from England.

It had metal water tanks capable of sustaining water for nine months. An artillery battery was installed on the upper, flat surface for defense and support of the buildings on the shore. A dock was also built to facilitate the loading and unloading of goods.

Recently I was lucky to be invited to take part in a project with The Glue Society, Sark Studios and the The Climate Council. Artists were asked to take a photograph that interpreted the theme The Human Environment using a Sark Studio shirt somewhere in the image. I chose to shoot a still life - this is the image. For those of you in Sydney the exhibition opens Tuesday February 18 at The Glue Society Studios, 6 Birmingham Street, Alexandria NSW 6 - 8.30pm The images are being auctioned to raise money for The Climate Council after the government withdrew funding.

website

Facebook

tumblr

View On Black

Detail of the work 'Creation' fin canvas size 8' x 2'

12 Screen, hand ink overlay.....

Creation

AS one by one the veils took flight,

The day withdrew, the stars came up.

The spirit issued pale and bright

Filling thy beauty like a cup.

George William Russell

On the coast near the big Eckmühl lighthouse, some rocks have been strangely molded by erosion. This was done mostly by the ocean millennia ago, when sea level used to reach here. Then it withdrew, then came back a little...

The animal-shaped rock I posted the day before yesterday made it into Explore, God knows why or how... We’ll see how today’s Big Bear fares... :o))

La Verna Sanctuary is located in the Tuscan Apennines. The mount covered with a monumental fir and beech trees forest, is characterized by an unmistakable appearance thanks to its summit (1283 sea level) bending in sheer drop over the valley. Over the sheer cliff and wrapped around by a surrounding wood we can find the hole unit of the Sanctuary, which cherishes several art, culture and history treasures inside its massive and articulated structure.

In the summer of 1224 St. Francis withdrew on the mountain for his ordinary spiritual exercises and silence. During his stay, he asked God to be able to take part, from the very deep of his heart, of the Passion of Christ, mystery of both love and pain. The Lord paid attention to his words and appeared to him in the guise of a crucified seraph who gave him as a gift the seals of the Passion. 'Francesco' turned into a visible and concrete image of Christ, not only in his heart, mind and soul, which already were, but even in his exterior body.

The Stigmata episode together with Francis' lifestyle are the most precious things given to his friars at La Verna. St Francis’ important spiritual heir not only deals with every single friar in the monastery, but it turns into the main vehicle which the community wants to convey to all those who visit la Verna.

Catholic Cathedral of St John the Baptist, Norwich. The foundations were laid in 1882, and the church completed in December 1910, albeit further works continued. The architects were very much the Gilbert Scott family, with George Gilbert Scott at the start, the project taken over by his brother John Oldrid Scott on occasions and completely after George withdrew in 1894, later Adrian Gilbert Scott designed the high Altar in 1957. It is grade 1 listed.

City of Norwich, Norfolk, East Anglia, England - Cathedral of St John the Baptist, Unthank Road

January 2025

As part of the continuing modernisation of British Railways, the Southern Region completely withdrew steam traction in 1967 with the final passenger service leaving London's Waterloo Station on 9th July.

Between 5th and 8th October 2017 the Great Central Railway in Leicestershire held a 50th Anniversary Commemorative Steam Gala with two former Southern Region Pacific Locomotives as guest engines.

Pictured again approaching Swithland Sidings and passing the Mountsorrel Branch Line, in glorious early afternoon Autumnal Sun, on Friday 6th October 2017 sees one of them - Bulleid Designed 'Battle of Britain' Class 7P5F 4-6-2 No. 34081 92 Squadron, in very early British Railways Livery, with a vans freight train for Rothley Brook.

Not only does this image show the 'Exemplary' restoration work undertaken on the steam locomotive but also the goods wagons too.

On a grim winters day, Ivatt 2-6-2T No.41290 takes on water at Evercreech Junction after arriving with its train from Highbridge on 18 December 1965.

The Somerset & Dorset line was to close a few days later on 3 January 1966, however this was deferred until 7 March 1966 as one of the replacement road operators withdrew his application.

The Meeting of Leo I and Attila is a fresco by the Italian Renaissance artist Raphael. It was painted from 1513 to 1514 as part of Raphael's commission to decorate the rooms that are now known as the Stanze di Raffaello, in the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican. It is located in the Stanza di Eliodoro, which is named after The Expulsion of Heliodorus from the Temple.

The painting depicts the meeting between the Pope Leo I and Attila the Hun , which took place in 452 in northern Italy. Initially, Raphael depicted Leo I with the face of Pope Julius II but after Julius' death, Raphael changed the painting to resemble the new pope, Leo X. Leo X appears both as cardinal and as pope. The images of Saint Peter and Saint Paul appear in the sky bearing swords, and were said to have helped keep the king of the Huns from invading Italy.

The left half of the painting is mainly by Raphael, with only minimal work by his students. The result of this fresco exhibits great artistic skill, due to the usage of dark and light pigments which amplify the peaceful and the aggressive movements. It showcases a comparison of good and evil, which ties in the political and religious perspective of the Pope, who commissioned the work.

In 1514, the Pope hired young Raphael to reimagine the project to decorate the rooms of the Vatican as the chief architect. Perhaps, due to Raphael's family's success in the arts, he was given the opportunity to be commissioned for the paintings in the Vatican. However, Raphael had also proven himself to be a more successful painter than his father, while still in his teenage years. Once he was the chief architect for the Vatican, it resulted in the destruction of the previous frescoes that had been created in the Vatican, and marked the time in which Raphael began to create the famous Vatican frescoes that still exist today. Though Raphael is mostly attributed for the creation of The Meeting of Leo the Great and Attila, his assistants painted much of it, as he directed, and they continued to finish the project even after his early death. Some of the accredited assistants include: Raffaellino del Colle, Giulio Romano, and Gianfrancesco Penni. This fresco, amongst the others in the Room of Heliodorus glorified the Church.

The main figure in this painting is Attila, the king of the Huns, who began to seriously threaten Italy in 452 AD. Pope Leo I was sent out to meet the Hun king and to attempt to persuade him to spare Italy. Their meeting is thought to have taken place near Mantua. This area was known for its association to Christianity, adding to the symbolism of finding a peaceful resolve.

The other major figure was Leo I, who reigned from 440. Both the pope and the general Roman public found that it would be best to work towards peace, even by means of begging. Pope Leo I led in hopes to come to an agreement where violence was avoided. The result was peaceful, as the Pope's approach to the situation allowed Attila to cease any plans of warfare.

The Emperor of Rome realized that the odds of them being victorious against Attila and the Huns was slim, and yet Leo exhibited bravery, because he relied on his faith when going against this great foe.

The moment that is shown in this fresco includes political and faith-based themes because of the contrast of the agitated Huns and the religious authorities. Though a battle was expected, Attila the Hun decided to not engage in battle, and there have been various perspectives as to why he changes his mind. Historians prefer the explanation that the Huns withdrew because they may have suffered from lack of food and care, leading them to be ill or hungry. Though this seems to be an explanation that can be easily understood, there is not sufficient evidence to even prove that the Huns were lacking food at all in the northern region of Italy where they were located. This estimation of their location resulted from the careful calculations of academics who were not convinced that God was the only force working to keep Attila and the Huns from fighting.

However, the idea of food scarcity was not accepted by all scholars who wanted to find the reason for the peaceful conclusion., Another theory that was proposed explains that the Huns left early because of the changing seasons, knowing that survival was much more difficult during the winter. So the idea that is being proposed is that they left in order to avoid the cold climate coming due to winter, and that they had all of the food provisions that were necessary.

The painting, however, indicates that the Huns withdrew because of the spiritual presences of the Christian martyrs, Apostle Peter and Paul. They are shown to be working alongside Pope Leo I in order to help prevent Attila from invading. Since Peter and Paul had brought much success to the spreading of the Gospel of Jesus and lived righteous lives, they were able to influence Attila's thoughts, and even remind him of God, who has more power than Attila. This interpretations argues that Attila believed in Leo's words after thinking deeply about what had been said, since he seems to have sided with the papal nobility and have faith as well.

There are interpretations that view the people alongside Attila the Hun as barbarians. The connotation and definition leave the viewer seeing them as being lowly and uncultured, when that was likely not the case. This is significant because the piece also includes one of Attila's men standing his ground, facing the pope, and reaching out his hand towards the pope's entourage. This is significant in showing that there may not be total unity amongst this group. Additionally, the figure who is defying also has a feathered headdress, connecting him to the indigenous people of the Americas. Europeans considered the Native Americans to be barbarians as well, and that they should be conquered, for the benefit of humanity. So, this figure with the feather on his head indicates that Raphael may also want to paint the image of Native American defiance for the public to see. The features of all of the faces including the Native American though, are clearly with European features, because for many years, Europeans did not actually know how Native Americans looked and acted like. Since their form of information was based upon the stories told by the few who visited the Americas in person. Accurate depictions are not expected until the 17th century, and so this piece is shown to lack historical authenticity, as these realities are clarified.

In the Early 7th century the fortunes of the Byzantine Empire were at a low ebb. The Sassanid Persian armies of King Chosroes II had conquered Egypt, Syria, Armenia, and Anatolia, and were camped outside of Constantinople. Emperor Heraclius resolved on a counteroffensive, and in 622 he sailed with an army to the north cost of Asia Minor.In a series of campaigns over the following years he harassed the Persians, building up his army's training and experience. In the spring of 627 he swept into Mesopotamia. In December he encountered a Persian army led by the commander Razates, on a plain near the ancient ruined city of Ninevah. Battle was joined in the early morning and continued for 11 hours without a break. Heraclius, always in the thick of the fighting, eventually came face to face with Razates and severed his head with a single blow. The routed survivors of the Persian army fled, but the Byzantines pursued them to their capital, Ctesiphon, and then withdrew without attempting a siege. The defeated Choroes, however, was overthrown in a palace coup and his successor sued for peace.

Unfortunately for Heraclius, this great victory was almost immediately followed by a wave of Arab conquests, between the 630's and 651, that negated all his gains.

-R.G.Grant, "Battle".

I thought I'd portray one of my favorite battles of the Byzantines for the Byzantium Contest on Classic Castle.com!

classic-castle.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=25972

Those new printed Brickforge weapons are really coming in handy! ;)

TFVAHAGD!

Dudley Canal Line No 1 as it passes by the Black country Living Museum, in Dudley, West Midlands

It was created as part of a scheme to transport coal from coalfields near Dudley to Stourbridge where it would be used for industry. Limestone and ironstone were other potential cargos.

A meeting was held in Stourbridge in February 1775 at which Robert Whitworth was commissioned to survey a route and the whole cost of the project was promised. The principal promoter was Lord Dudley and the route ran from Dudley to Stourton on the Staffordshire and Worcestershire. A bill was placed before Parliament in the spring but there was opposition from the Birmingham Canal Company and the promoters withdrew it.

They then presented separate bills for the Stourbridge Canal and the Dudley Canal, both of which became Acts of Parliament on 2 April 1776 despite further opposition from the Birmingham Canal Company.

The first short section, which connected to the Stourbridge Canal, opened in 1779. This was then connected to the Birmingham Canal system in 1792 via Dudley Tunnel.

Almost immediately, work started on an extension, called Line No. 2, which ran through another long tunnel at Lapal to reach the Worcester and Birmingham Canal. This was completed in 1798 but significant trade had to wait until the Worcester and Birmingham was completed in 1802.

In 1846, the company amalgamated with the Birmingham Canal Navigations and various improvements followed including the Netherton Tunnel. This was of a similar length to and parallel to the Dudley Tunnel but it was much bigger with towpaths on both sides and gas lighting. It was the last canal tunnel built in England.

Subsidence from coal mining was a significant problem for much of the life of the canal. The Lapal Tunnel was regularly affected and a section near Blackbrook Junction fell into mine workings in 1894. The route was restored but the short Two Locks Line nearby was abandoned in 1909 and the Lapal Tunnel suffered the same fate in 1917.

Most of rest of the canal was abandoned in the 1960s but a committee was formed, later becoming the Dudley Canal Trust, and restoration took place culminating in the reopening of Dudley Tunnel in 1973. Lapal Tunnel remains closed and although the Lapal Canal Trust originally campaigned for it to be reopened, they have modified their plans to include a surface route following the conclusion of an engineering study.

Information Source:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dudley_Canal

Around 5:00 A.M. on Sunday, March 6, 1836, General Antonio López de Santa Anna, self-proclaimed "Napoleon of the West," hurled his army at the battered walls of the Alamo from four directions. Texan gunners stood by their artillery. As about 1,800 assault troops advanced into range, canister ripped through their ranks. Staggered by the concentrated cannon and rifle fire, the Mexican soldiers halted, reformed, and drove forward. Soon they were past the defensive perimeter. Travis, among the first to die, fell on the north bastion. Abandoning the walls, defenders withdrew to the dim rooms of the Long Barracks. There some of the bloodiest hand-to-hand fighting occurred. Bowie, too ravaged by illness to rise from his bed, found no pity. The chapel fell last. By dawn the Centralists had carried the works. The assault had lasted no more than ninety minutes. As many as seven defenders survived the battle, but Santa Anna ordered their summary execution. Many historians count Crockett as a member of that hapless contingent, an assertion that still provokes debate in some circles. By eight o'clock every Alamo fighting man lay dead. Currently, 189 defenders appear on the official list, but ongoing research may increase the final tally to as many as 257.

Ironbridge, River Severn, Telford, Shropshire

This has been on my bucket list for as long as I can remember. I’ve often regarded it as the twin to Worsley, both influential in the Industrial Revolution and the driving force that put ‘Great’ in Great Britain. However, it’s a real bugger to photograph because of the bend in the river and the overgrown trees that overhang both sides of the river bank.

This was taken, with much patience I might add, whilst sat at a park bench watching the world go by. So many tourists milling about eating fish and chips and rapidly melting ice creams in the late afternoon sun.

Now the history bit…

The Iron Bridge is a cast iron arch bridge that crosses the River Severn. Opened in 1781, it was the first major bridge in the world to be made of cast iron. Its success inspired the widespread use of cast iron as a structural material, and today the bridge is celebrated as a symbol of the Industrial Revolution.

The geography of the deep Ironbridge Gorge, formed by glacial action during the last ice age, meant that there are industrially useful deposits of coal, iron ore, limestone and fire clay present near the surface where they are readily mined, but also that it was difficult to build a bridge across the river at this location. To cope with the instability of the banks and the need to maintain a navigable channel in the river, a single span iron bridge was proposed by Thomas Farnolls Pritchard. After initial uncertainty about the use of iron, construction took place over 2 years, with Abraham Darby III responsible for the ironworks. The bridge crosses the Ironbridge Gorge with a main span of 100 ft 6 in (30.63 m), allowing sufficient clearance for boats to pass underneath.

In 1934 it was designated a scheduled monument and closed to vehicular traffic. Tolls for pedestrians were collected until 1950, when the bridge was transferred into public ownership. After being in a poor state of repair for much of its life, extensive restoration works in the latter half of the 20th century have protected the bridge. The bridge, the adjacent settlement of Ironbridge and the Ironbridge Gorge form the UNESCO Ironbridge Gorge World Heritage Site.

Background

The Ironbridge Gorge was formed at the end of the last ice age by the overflowing of Lake Lapworth, which resulted in the exposure of useful deposits of resources such as coal, iron ore, fire clay and limestone near the surface where they were readily mined. With the river providing a means of transport, the local area was an important centre of the emerging Industrial Revolution.

Abraham Darby I first smelted local iron ore with coke made from Coalbrookdale coal in 1709, and in the coming decades Shropshire became a centre for industry due to the low price of fuel from local mines. The River Severn was used as a key trading route, but it was also a barrier to travel around the deep Ironbridge Gorge, especially between the then important industrial parishes of Broseley and Madeley, the nearest bridge being at Buildwas 2 miles (3.2 km) away. The Iron Bridge was therefore proposed to link the industrial town of Broseley with the smaller mining town of Madeley and the industrial centre of Coalbrookdale. The use of the river by boat traffic and the steep sides of the gorge meant that any bridge should ideally be of a single span, and sufficiently high to allow tall ships to pass underneath. The steepness and instability of the banks was problematic for building a bridge, and there was no point where roads on opposite sides of the river converged.

The Iron Bridge was the first of its kind to be constructed, although not the first to be considered nor the first iron bridge of any kind. An iron bridge was partly constructed at Lyons in 1755, but was abandoned for reasons of cost, and a 72-foot-10-inch (22.2 m) span wrought iron footbridge over an ornamental waterway was erected in Kirklees, Yorkshire, in 1769.

Proposal

In 1773, architect Thomas Farnolls Pritchard wrote to his 'iron mad' friend and local ironmaster, John Wilkinson of Broseley, to suggest building a bridge out of cast iron. Although he specialised in the design of chimneypieces and other items of interior decoration, and in funerary monuments, he had also previously designed both wooden and stone bridges.

During the winter of 1773–74, local newspapers advertised a proposal to petition Parliament for leave to construct an iron bridge with a single 120-foot (37 m) span. In 1775, a subscription raised funds of between £3000 to £4000 (equivalent to £361,000 to £482,000 in 2016), and Abraham Darby III, the grandson of Abraham Darby I and an ironmaster working at Coalbrookdale, was appointed treasurer to the project.

In March 1776, the Act to build a bridge received Royal assent. It had been drafted by Thomas Addenbrooke, secretary of the trustees, and John Harries, a London barrister, then presented to the House of Commons by Charles Baldwyn, MP for Shropshire. Abraham Darby III was commissioned to cast and build the bridge. In May 1776, the trustees withdrew Darby's commission, and instead advertised for plans for a single arch bridge to be built in "stone, brick or timber". No satisfactory proposal was made, and the trustees agreed to proceed with Pritchard's design, but there was continued uncertainty about the use of iron, and conditions were set on the cost and duration of the construction. In July 1777 the span of the bridge was decreased to 90 feet (27 m), and then increased again to 100 feet 6 inches (30.6 m), possibly in order to accommodate a towpath.

Construction

The site, adjacent to where a ferry had run between Madeley and Benthall, was chosen for its high approaches on each side and the relative solidity of the ground. The Act of Parliament described how the bridge was to be built from a point in Benthall parish near the house of Samuel Barnett to a point on the opposite shore near the house of Thomas Crumpton. Pritchard died on 21 December 1777 in his towerhouse at Eyton on Severn, only a month after work had begun, having been ill for over a year.

The bridge is built from five sectional cast-iron ribs that give a span of 100 feet 6 inches (30.6 m). The construction of the bridge used 378 long tons 10 cwt (847,800 lb or 384.6 t) of iron, and there are almost 1,700 individual components, the heaviest weighing 5 long tons 5 cwt (11,800 lb or 5.3 t). Components were cast individually to fit with each other, rather than being of standard sizes, with discrepancies of up to several centimetres between 'identical' components in different locations.

The masonry and abutments were constructed between 1777 and 1778, and the ribs were lifted into place in the summer of 1779. The bridge first spanned the river on 2 July 1779, and it was opened to traffic on 1 January 1781.

In 1997, a watercolour by Elias Martin was discovered in a Stockholm museum, which showed the bridge under construction in 1779. The painting shows a moveable wooden scaffold consisting of derrick poles standing in the river bed being used as a crane to position the half-ribs of the bridge, which had been taken to the site by boat from Darby's foundry 500 metres (1,600 ft) downstream. Using the approach depicted in the painting, a half-size replica of the main section of the bridge was built in 2001 as part of the research for the BBC's Timewatch programme, which was shown the following year.

Design

Decorative rings and ogees between the structural ribs of the bridge suggest that the final design was Pritchard's, as the same elements appear in a gazebo he rebuilt. A foreman at the foundry, Thomas Gregory, drew the detailed designs for the members, resulting in the use of carpentry jointing details such as mortise and tenon joints and dovetails.

The two outer ribs are engraved with the words: "This bridge was cast at Coalbrook-Dale and erected in the year MDCCLXXIX".

Two supplemental arches, of similar cast iron construction, carry a towpath on the southern bank and also act as flood arches. A stone arch with a brick vault carries a small path on the northern (town side) bank.

A view from 30 st west Hudson to the tip of Manhattan

The history of New York City has been influenced by the prehistoric geological formation during the last glacial period of the territory that is today New York City. The area was long inhabited by the Lenape Native,they called Manhattan after initial European exploration in the 16th century, the Dutch established New Amsterdam in 1626. In 1664, the English conquered the area and renamed it New York.

History

Manhattan, the original core out of which modern New York City grew, is now one of the five boroughs of New York City. It's coextensive with New York County, and consists primarily of Manhattan Island. The land was inhabited by Lenape Native Americans when first discovered by European explorers.

The Early Years

In 1624, the Dutch founded New Amsterdam on Manhattan Island — this is widely counted as the beginning of New York City's history. The Dutch bought the island from the Canarsee Indians for 60 guilders, which is often valued at $24 and around $1,000 in today's dollars. The Canarsee, however, did not do poorly in the exchange — for it was not they, but the Weckquaesgeek, who controlled most of the island. In 1664, the British captured New Amsterdam and renamed it New York after the Duke of York.

During the American Revolution, there were a number of battles fought in Manhattan early on, but for most of the war, the British firmly controlled it and made it the center of their military operations. The British finally withdrew on November 25th, 1783.

One of the few passenger carriers from Europe still operating flights to the city during the COVID-19 pandemic are KLM.

Flight KL887 inbound from Amsterdam (AMS) is seen on short final to runway 07L, operated on that fine day by 'Old Rauma'.

Sadly, KLM, now fully withdrew the Boeing 747 from the HKG route, switching to the Boeing 777.

On the way back from the Beach where our two young students from Thailand had met the two white German Shepherds and the soaring Gulls, we stopped at Pauatahanui Inlet (Pawa-ta-ha-new-ee!) to watch a cluster of Jet Skis do their "thing".

Enthused by the number of people on the water, the Girls dipped their toes in the water - and withdrew them immediately. The water was cold - very cold...!!!

This Inlet is a great place for Jet Skis and Wind Surfers, but isn't deep enough for even small run-abouts. Because of disastrous silting when the subdivision on the southern shores was being developed (behind the Jet Ski rider), and because of years of Farm run-off, this almost land-locked very picturesque Inlet is now very, very shallow.

When this Rider parted company with his Ski (and part company he did on the very next "doughnut"), the water was only up to his chest - even though he was a couple of hundred metres off shore!

Whilst this does look like fun (and it undoubtedly is!), it's somewhat sobering to think that this Jet Ski probably cost somewhere between NZ$20,000 and NZ$29,000... I think I'll stick to just looking, thanks...!!!

(Left click the Mouse to view Large; click again to return to normal).

The 1955 DS19 was 65% more expensive than the car it replaced, the Citroën Traction Avant. This did impact potential sales in a country still recovering economically from World War II, so a cheaper submodel, the Citroën ID, was introduced in 1957. The ID shared the DS's body but was less powerful and luxurious. Although it shared the engine capacity of the DS engine.

The ID19 was also more traditional mechanically: it had no power steering and had conventional transmission and clutch instead of the DS's hydraulically controlled set-up. Initially the basic ID19 was sold on the French market with a price saving of more than 25% against the DS, although the differential was reduced at the end of 1961 when the manufacturer quietly withdrew the entry level ID19 "Normale" from sale.

It was late November, and I was coming down from Montseny. The mountain was cloaked in rain and silence, the cold biting through layers, the path vanishing into a sea of fog. Every step downward felt like a descent into some forgotten realm, where the world was reduced to the rhythm of breath, the hiss of falling water, and the grey hush of trees dissolving into mist. There was no horizon, no sky — only the closeness of the mountain, as if it sought to keep its secrets hidden.

Then, almost without warning, the veil broke. The fog fell behind me, and in the distance Montserrat appeared, its serrated silhouette tearing into the dying day. For the briefest of instants the clouds parted, and the horizon burned crimson, as if the heavens themselves were wounded. It lasted no longer than two minutes, a furious outburst before night’s dominion. I stopped, lifted the telephoto from my pack, and shielded the lens with my hand against the rain. In that act — hurried, fragile, instinctive — I captured a vision that felt less like weather and more like revelation.

Montserrat has always stood apart, not merely as stone, but as symbol. For centuries its jagged ridges have been seen as the dwelling of the divine, a natural cathedral where the earthly and eternal collide. Here, the Black Madonna, La Moreneta, revealed herself to shepherd children in a blaze of light; here, monks withdrew from the world to pray among peaks shaped like broken pillars of some celestial temple. Montseny, too, carries its own shadows of legend, ancient rites hidden in its forests, its slopes long considered thresholds into other worlds. To walk between them is to wander through landscapes not only of rock and water, but of myth and mystery, where every clearing and ridge seems haunted by memory older than memory itself.

And as I stood there — between storm and stone, between Montseny’s fog and Montserrat’s fire — I felt time compress. The scene was not just light on horizon; it was a parable. The sun, even in its setting, refused to fade quietly. It raged against the dark, burning more fiercely in its last breath than it had in the calm of noon. If even the stars teach us defiance at the edge of ending, what then of us? Perhaps our existence is not measured by endurance, but by intensity — not in how long we stand, but in how brightly we resist.

The mountains endure for millennia, indifferent and unmoving. Yet the true lesson was in the light: fleeting, fragile, but unforgettable. In that crimson blaze I glimpsed a truth — that all which lives most fully, lives most truly at the edge of vanishing.

That night, the storm closed in again, and darkness claimed the ridges. But the memory of that furious horizon remains, a reminder that surrender need not be silence, and that even in dying, light may burn with rage.

Alexandra Romanov - The Last Czarina - Part of the Regal Twelve series.

http://alexiasinclair.com/the-regal-twelve

Alexandra Romanov – The last Czarina of Russia (1872-1918)

The last Czarina of Russia, Alexandra Romanov was born in Germany. Converting to Russian Orthodoxy upon her marriage to Nicholas II of Russia, she became a passionate convert. She was unpopular with the Russian people, because of her German birth and her notorious relationship with Rasputin. Russia withdrew from WWI and the accompanying Bolshevik revolution forced the Tsar to abdicate and the family went into house arrest.

Photographer: Alexia Sinclair

Lighting:

Key light: 1000 Monoblock, softbox camera left

Fill: Monoblock, softbox camera right.

© Alexia Sinclair

alexiasinclair.com

Gullfoss (translated to ‘Golden Falls’) is one of Iceland’s most iconic and beloved waterfalls, found in the Hvítá river canyon in Southwest Iceland.

The water in Hvítá river travels from the glacier Langjökull, before cascading 32 meters (105 feet) down Gullfoss’ two stages in a dramatic display of nature’s raw power. This incredible site is seen by most visitors, as it is on the Golden Circle sightseeing route.

In the early days of the last century, Gullfoss was at the center of a controversy regarding foreign investors and their desire to profit off Iceland’s nature. In the year 1907, an English businessman, Howell, sought to utilize the waterfall’s energy and harbored ambitions to use its energy to fuel a hydroelectric plant.

At the time, Gullfoss was owned by a farmer named Tómas Tómasson. Tómas declined Howell’s offer to purchase the land, stating famously “I will not sell my friend!” He would, however, go on to lease Howell the land without the knowledge of a loophole that would allow him to proceed with his plans.

It was Tómas’ daughter, Sigríður Tómasdóttir, who would lead the charge to stop Howell’s ambitions. Having grown up on her father’s sheep farm where she helped pave the first road to Gullfoss, she sought to get the contract nullified, hurriedly saving her own money to hire a lawyer.

The ensuing legal battle was an uphill struggle; the case continued for years, forcing Sigríður to travel many times by foot to Reykjavík, a distance of over 100 kilometers (62 miles). Circumstances became so difficult that Sigríður threatened to throw herself into the waterfall if any construction began.

Her tenacity, however, resulted in success. In 1929, Howell withdrew from the lease, unable to keep up with the costs and difficulties of his plan. The waterfall thus fell back into the hands of the Icelandic people.

Today, Sigríður is recognized for her perseverance in protecting Gullfoss and is often hailed as Iceland’s first environmentalist.

‘Oi!’ bellowed Ron, finally losing patience and sticking his head out of the window, ‘I am a prefect and if one more snowball hits this window – OUCH!’ He withdrew his head sharply, his face covered in snow. ‘It’s Fred and George,’ he said bitterly, slamming the window behind him. ‘Gits …’

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Harry Potter Theme Song

Video

Credits:

Head: LeL EvoX

Body: Maitreya Lara

Hair: DOUX - Deenah Hairstyle Bloggerpack

Ears: L'Etre - Ringed mesh ears

Duffle Coat/Sweater: .Elaia. Uniform sweater .w/ duffle coat

Skirt: From FATEplay - Jenny - Slytherin Black

Mittens: Insomnia Angel . Nuage knit mitten [green]

Shawl with lights: -Sorumin- Wizard's scarf SET

Made at Mischief Managed www.mischiefmanagedsl.net Sim:

BG: The Quad Courtyard

Teleport

The 13th Century Grade II Listed Upton Castle, although in private ownership, the gardens are open to the public. Located near Cosheston, Pembrokeshire in Wales.

It stands close to a creek of the Carew River on land held by the Earls of Pembroke. The original holders were the Norman Malefaunt family, in whose hands it remained until the 16th century when it passed to the Bowen family. In the late 18th century, the house and estate was sold to John Tasker, although Nicholas Carlisle described the building in 1811 as "now in ruins". Between 1828 and 1860 there were considerable alterations to the building, including the insertion of a new door and the construction of two large wings. In January 1883 there was a fire at the castle, attended by a fire crew from the 23rd Regiment, Royal Welsh Fusiliers. The owner at the time was Mr H. H. Vaughan. The damage was confined to timbers, walls and chimney-piece.

Management of the gardens, which had been substantially improved in the early 20th century, was taken over by the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park and opened to the public in 1976. However, the park authority later withdrew their funding and since the property changed hands in 2007, the new owners and a team of volunteers have restored and reopened the gardens.

Too small to be described as castle in the strict sense of the word, most sources refer to it as a fortified manor house although its towers are unusually strong in comparison with other examples. The medieval portion of the exterior stands to the north east of the range, which is dominated by three early towers, separated by short sections of curtain wall and surmounted by a plain parapet on corbels. Surviving internal medieval features include two fireplaces, a spiral staircase and a vaulted ceiling.

Information Source:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Upton_Castle

Finnish author and art historian Göran Schildt´s (1917- 2009) ketch Daphne (10.7 x 2.75 m) after arrival in Rapallo (Italy) in 1948. My restoration and colorization of Schildt´s original image in the Svenska Litteratursällskapet archive in Helsinki.

"Göran Schildt participated in the Winter War of 1939–40 and was severely wounded by an explosive bullet that hit him in the stomach. During the long convalescent period, he decided that if he survives, he will sail down to the Mediterranean on a boat of his own. That dream was fulfilled in 1948, when he, on the ketch Daphne and together with his first wife Mona Morales–Schildt, sailed along the French rivers and canals down to the Italian port city of Lavagna in Liguria. His debute book «In the Wake of a Wish» (1949), in which he recounts the story of this trip, was a great success for Göran Schildt." --

" As a writer, Göran Schildt is best known for the books about his sailing adventures on Daphne. However, his writing is diverse and includes scholarly works on cultural history and art history as well as essays, journalism, travel writing, biographies and fiction. His doctoral thesis in art history is a study of the French artist Paul Cézanne. Notably, his book about André Gide apparently contributed to the award of the Nobel Prize in Literature to this French author in 1947. Göran Schildt applied for the professorship in art history at the University of Helsinki in 1947, but eventually had second thoughts about this decision and withdrew his application at the last moment. Instead of academia, he chose sailing and the free life of a writer. In 1965 Göran Schildt acquired a second home on the Greek island of Leros. Here he came in direct contact with the Greek culture. And here Daphne got her new home harbour. Today, the restored Daphne is on display at the maritime museum Forum Marinum in Turku (Finland).

www.villakolkis.org/.../goran-schildt-history.html

"Daphne was ordered by doctor Oskar Mustelin and drawn by Jarl Lindblom in 1935. She was originally a gaff-rigged schooner built at Åbo Båtvarf (Turku Shipyard) but rigged into a ketch in the 1940s by her second owner Uno Tennberg from Ekenäs. Christoffer H Ericsson traded his boat with Tennberg and became thus the third owner of the Daphne. After a failed sailing trip Ericsson decided to sell her and Göran Schildt succeeded in buying her in 1947."

villaskeppet.fi/en/about-villa-skeppet/s-y-daphne/

La iglesia de Santa María la Real de Sangüesa en Navarra (España) es un templo católico de estilo románico en transición al gótico, en el que destaca su portada. Fue declarada Monumento Nacional en 1889.

La iglesia fue donada en 1131 por el rey Alfonso I el Batallador a la orden de San Juan de Jerusalén. Se trata de una pequeña iglesia románica de tres naves. La torre de planta octogonal es de arquitectura gótica, realizada entre los siglos XII-XIV.

El exterior es liso y severo. Sobre el crucero de la nave se eleva una torre de forma octogonal almenada con remate en chapitel.

Lo que ha hecho famosa a esta iglesia es el pórtico románico que se abre al sur del edificio y que constituye una de las obras más interesantes y complejas del arte medieval navarro. El pórtico es de forma rectangular. Lo componen en su parte inferior cinco arquivoltas escalonadas, que contienen 84 figuras y que forman un arco apuntado que rodean el tímpano y el dintel y que descansan en tres columnas por cada lado con figuras.

Sobre esta parte inferior que se termina con un cornisamiento estrecho, se elevan dos filas de arquerías con doble columnas que albergan catorce figuras que representan a los apóstoles y dos ángeles y en el centro de la fila superior a Cristo. Las dos hileras de arcos se separan por una moldura y los arcos se cierran por arriba con un friso de hojas. En las enjutas, además de las representaciones religiosas, hay múltiples relieves de rico simbolismo. En el tímpano se representa el juicio final.

El borgoñón Leodegarius firmó la imagen de Santa María que decora la segunda columna del lado izquierdo en el primer cuerpo. Ante el retraso de la obra, el rey retiró a Leodegarius de la dirección de la misma, y se la entrega al experimentado y veterano maestro de San Juan de la Peña, que la termina.

es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iglesia_de_Santa_María_la_Real_(Sangüesa)

The church of Santa María la Real de Sangüesa in Navarra (Spain) is a Roman Catholic church in transition to Gothic style, in which its façade stands out. It was declared a National Monument in 1889.

The church was donated in 1131 by King Alfonso I the Battler to the order of Saint John of Jerusalem. It is a small Romanesque church with three naves. The octagonal tower is of Gothic architecture, made between the 12th-14th centuries.

The exterior is smooth and severe. On the transept of the nave rises a crenellated octagonal tower with a spire top.

What has made this church famous is the Romanesque portico that opens to the south of the building and constitutes one of the most interesting and complex works of medieval Navarrese art. The portico is rectangular in shape. It is made up of five staggered archivolts in its lower part, which contain 84 figures and which form a pointed arch that surround the tympanum and the lintel and which rest on three columns on each side with figures.

On this lower part, which ends with a narrow cornice, rise two rows of arches with double columns that house fourteen figures representing the apostles and two angels and in the center of the upper row Christ. The two rows of arches are separated by a molding and the arches are closed at the top with a frieze of leaves. In the spandrels, in addition to the religious representations, there are multiple reliefs with rich symbolism. The eardrum represents the final judgment.12

The Burgundian Leodegarius signed the image of Saint Mary that decorates the second column on the left side of the first body. Before the delay of the work, the king withdrew Leodegarius from the direction of the same, and handed it over to the experienced and veteran teacher of San Juan de la Peña, who finished

39 years after British Rail withdrew the entire Western class of diesel hydraulic locos, a warm Saturday evening sees preserved D1015 Western Champion drifting through the platform at Dockyard Halt, Plymouth, with a charter train from Penzance.

Beeskow, eine Stadt mit 8210 Einwohnern (2022), liegt etwa 70 km südöstlich des Berliner Stadtzentrums. Erstmals urkundlich erwähnt wurde Beeskow im Jahr 1272, zwischen 1283 und 1285 wurden dem Ort die Stadtrechte verliehen. Im Schutz der 1316 erstmals erwähnten Burg wurde die Stadt planmäßig angelegt. Burg und Stadtmauer sind weitgehend erhalten.

Der Storchenturm diente zur Überwachung der Nordwestecke der Stadt. Allerdings haben sich die namensgebenden Störche bereit um 1970 von der Stadtmauer zurückgezogen. Letzere wurde 1450 fertiggestellt, und zwar auf der Nord-, West- und Südseite der Stadt. Sie besteht aus einem Feldsteinsockel und einer Mauerkrone aus Backstein. Auf der Ostseite bot die Spree einen natürlichen Schutz. Trotz des Verlustes der 3 mittelalterlichen Tore mit Zugbrücke und Zollhäusern gehört die Beeskower Stadtmauer zu den am weitesten vollständig erhaltenen Stadtmauern im Land Brandenburg. Seit 2011 wurde sie restauriert.

Beeskow, a town with 8210 inhabitants (2022), is located around 70 km south-east of Berlin city centre. Beeskow was first mentioned in a document in 1272, and between 1283 and 1285 it was granted town privileges. The town was laid out according to plan under the protection of the castle, which was first mentioned in 1316. The castle and town wall have been largely preserved. The latter, completed in 1450, consists of a fieldstone base and a brick wall crown. On the east side, the Spree provided natural protection. Despite the loss of the 3 medieval gates with drawbridge and customs houses, the Beeskow town wall is one of the most completely preserved town walls in the state of Brandenburg. It has been restored since 2011. The Stork Tower was used to monitor the north-west corner of the town. However, the storks that gave it its name withdrew from the town wall around 1970.

888DUK was a Guy Arab V demonstrator vehicle built by Guy Motors in 1963. Its unusual looking Strachan built body was a very angular affair (particularly at the backend), and not very aesthetic to the eye. Why Guy Motors (Europe) chose this austere body style remains a mystery, but the company was not in a very good financial position at the time?

Although the bus looked to be white, it was in fact painted into a very pale grey colour with dark green bands.

888DUK was demonstrated to a number of operators in the early 1960s, including Wolverhampton, Halifax and Southdown.

From peoples jottings, it would appear that the Guy Arab was unpopular with many bus crews during its life as a demonstration bus. The sliding platform door wasn’t liked by some, nor was the bus's apparent jerky semi-automatic transmission.

Wolverhampton Corporation who went on to order Guy Arab Vs in numbers, only used 888DUK on demonstration service for one day in December 1963, presumably before it was moved on elsewhere. By that time, Wolverhampton was receiving their first batch of 72-seater Weymann bodied Guy Arab Vs to displace trolleybuses.

888DUK returned to Wolverhampton again in February 1965 for about a week. Its visit was likely to have been the precursor to the Transport Department buying a batch of Strachan bodied Guy Arab Vs that same year. A poor decision in terms of an investment, as the bodies were of inferior quality, suffering structural failings after a few short years. In 1966/67, WCT went on to buy more Strachan bodied Guy Arabs, some of which only gave 5-years service.

Cut a long story short, 888DUK, eventually ended up being purchased by independent, Harper Brothers of Heath Hayes, Staffordshire in circa 1966.

The bus became known by Harper crews as the ‘Old Grey Mare’. 888DUK was eventually painted into Harper’s pale green and cream livery, but the nick name stuck. The vehicle lasted until October 1974, when Harper’s sold out their bus operations to the Midland Red, who immediately withdrew the bus from service and disposed of it.

The picture shows 888DUK in a very presentable condition on Cannock Bus station c1966. 888DUK may have been on loan to Harpers, or is seen just after it had been purchased by them.

43238 is at the head of 1B38 11.45 Nottingham - St. Pancras International, pictured passing Attenborough Nature Reserve (west of Nottingham). 43295 is the rear power car. [Pole, 3/6 sections (~4m)]

This was another day attempting to photograph East Midlands Railway HSTs, knowing that they would soon be history: the ex-East Midlands Trains coaches would be replaced by ex-LNER sets by the end of the year, while they would disappear completely at the timetable change in May the following year. Diagrams were already fewer in number than previously.

This was the first time I'd been to Nottingham Nature Reserve (and, at the time of upload - nearly four years later - still haven't been back!), and I was still getting used to using the pole (which I'd only had for a month or so). So I wasn't sure how wide I needed to stand, and was still nervous about extending it very high. Now I would probably stand a bit wider and go much higher (wind permitting). I didn't record how high I'd extended the pole, and when I compiled my notes for the day I couldn't remember and estimated it was extended to four sections - but I now think it was only three. I must come back here - but the passenger trains are now so much less interesting!

Back in 2015, power car 43238 had been given a special livery to mark the fortieth anniversary of the National Railway Museum; a few weeks before LNER withdrew the last of its HSTs, it lost the special livery in favour of allover red - as depicted here - which gained it the nickname "The Tomato".

Visit Brian Carter's Non-Transport Pics to see my photos of landscapes, buildings, bridges, sunsets, rainbows and more.

when the sea withdrew all doors open

art portfolio

Hace casi dos años, cuando empezaron los bombardeos del ejercito israelí contra Gaza, me hice esta fotografía y la puse aquí, en Flickr. Muchos recordaréis los problemas que tuve, pues me la robaron desde un Flickr de la Comunidad Judía de Murcia, y la utilizaron como imagen "antisemita".

Después de días de conversaciones con ellos, y haciendoles razonar de que repudiaba cualquier tipo de muerte, ya fuese judía o palestina, y que sólo me postulaba de una parte, dentro de mi ignorancia, desde el mayor de los respetos hacia la raza humana; retiraron esta imagen, y me pidieron disculpas en nombre de la Comunidad Judía española.

Hoy, vuelvo a sacarla a la palestra, con un monocromo, un negro que empaña la absurda "hazaña", a mi entender, del ejército y el ministerio de defensa judío. El asalto con las consecuentes muertes al barco de ayuda humanitaria que se dirigía a Gaza es intolerable, y un asesinato contra la humanidad.

Esta vez no habían integristas escondido en hospitales, como excusa, esta vez han declarado la guerra al Mundo, pero a nuestros dirigentes, les falta valor para toser al imperio judío.

Descansen en paz esas víctimas ...

ENGLISH

Almost two years ago when they started the bombing of the Israeli army against Gaza, I made this picture and put it here on Flickr. Many will remember the problems I had, because I stole it from Flickr of the Jewish Community of Murcia, and used as image "anti-Semitic."

After days of talks with them and making them think he repudiated any death, whether Jewish or Palestinian, and I postulated that only a part, in my ignorance, from the greatest of respect towards the human race; withdrew this picture, and I apologized on behalf of the Spanish Jewish community.

Today, I return to bring it to the fore, with a monochrome, a black blur the absurd "exploit", in my opinion, the army and the defense ministry Jew. The assault with the consequent deaths of humanitarian aid ship bound for Gaza is intolerable, and murder against humanity.

This time there were fundamentalists hiding in hospitals, as an excuse, this time they have declared war on the world, but our leaders lack the courage to cough Jewish empire.

Those victims rest in peace ...

© Manuel Orero

www.orerofotografia.com

All rights reserved

Todos los derechos reservados

Church Street in Hereford, Herefordshire.

Hereford means the ford used by the army. The Saxons arrived in this part of England in the 7th century and a settlement grew up at the ford. Saxon Hereford also had a mint and a weekly market. Hereford was able to resist a Danish attack in 914. About 1050 a castle was built in Hereford. However the town was burned by the Welsh in 1055.

After the Norman conquest many Frenchmen came to settle in Hereford. The town grew northwards, and the market was moved to a new position north of the old town. In Medieval Hereford the main industry making wool. The wool was woven then it was fulled. That means the wool was cleaned and thickened by being pounded in a mixture of clay and water. The wool was pounded by wooden hammers worked by watermills. The Normans set about rebuilding Hereford cathedral.

Bishop Thomas Cantilupe died in 1282. He was buried in Hereford and in 1320 he was canonised (declared a saint). Soon people reported miracles at his shrine and many pilgrims visited the town to see it adding to the prosperity of the town.

In 1642 came civil war between king and parliament. Hereford strongly supported the king. In September 1642 a parliamentary force took Hereford but they withdrew in December. A small royalist army then held the town but they fled in April 1643 when a superior parliamentary force came. Hereford soon changed hands again when the parliamentarians left and a royalist army arrived.

A parliamentary army laid siege to the town in July 1645 but they were unable to take Hereford. They withdrew in September. By then the king was losing the war. In December the parliamentarians took Hereford by trickery. Some of their soldiers dressed as laborers and took shovels and picks. They went to Bysters Gate. When it was opened they took control and let in more parliamentary soldiers. Hereford was soon taken.

In the 18th century Hereford remained a quiet market town. In 1757 it had a population of 5,592. There was little manufacturing industry although it was known for glove making. In the 1720's Daniel Defoe visited Hereford but he was not impressed, he called it 'mean built and very dirty!'.

At the end of the 18th century all the gates around Hereford were demolished as they restricted traffic. Wye Bridge Gate and Friars Gate went in 1782. St Owens Gate went in 1786, Eign Gate followed in 1787, Bysters Gate and Widemarsh Gate were demolished in 1798.

Information Source:

www.localhistories.org/hereford.html

This beautiful Edwardian nine carat gold ring featuring four very dark blue brilliant cut sapphires and four brilliant cut diamonds set in platinum has a story of lost treasure to tell. This ring was found on the inside ledge of an old 1920s wood burning stove flue in an Edwardian house that a friend of mine bought. He and his partner were renovating and were cleaning out the flue (messy work) when he felt it on the thin ledge and withdrew it much to his surprise. It was filthy, but with a little bit of gentle washing, the ash, soot and grime of decades was swept away to reveal this pretty Edwardian cluster ring! Neither he, nor his partner wear a great deal of jewellery, and certainly not rings, yet they held onto it. This discovery was made long before we were friends, and when I heard the story of the ring, I offered to see if I could identify the age of the ring, the style and the stones, as he and his partner were not sure of any of these things, except perhaps that it contained diamonds. After I gave them the information about it, I also told them in a passing remark that sapphires are my birth stone. They gave me this ring for my next birthday as a thank you for telling them what I could about it. They knew I wear rings, and love antique jewellery, so they felt it was better in, or perhaps more aptly, on my hands, being loved, worn and shown off, rather than sitting in a drawer where it may well have become a lost treasure again! This ring has subsequently been worn to many theatre shows and special occasions, and they were right. I do love it. So it is a lost treasure that has been found!

This year the FFF+ Group have decided to have a monthly challenge called “Snap Happy”. A different theme, or a selection of themes to choose from or combine is provided on the 5th of every month, and the image is to be posted on the 5th of the following month.

The themes for February are “lost treasures”, “on a tabletop” and “old gold”.

This ring successfully covers all three of the themes in one. You have read its story above, so it is definitely a lost treasure having been discovered up a chimney flue. I photographed it on a tabletop, on some old gold brocade, and it is made of old gold. I hope that you like it.

Looking very tired here, 58007 was built by BREL on 31 November 1983 and was named "Drakelow Power Station on 25 August, 1990. The design followed the American practice of modularisation. EWS withdrew them in 2002 after 20 years in service, and 32 were hired abroad – four to the Netherlands, eight to Spain and twenty to France.

The locos were fitted with Ruston Paxman 12RK3ACT prime mover units with Brush TM73-62 traction motors.

58007 was withdrawn on 19th January 2000 and exported to France where it is thought to be in storage.

They were nicknamed "Bones" or "Egg Timers".

From an undated transparency by Ray Gell in my collection.

Galileo Galilei's improvements to telescope design had allowed him to observe Jupiter’s four largest moons, now known in his honour as the Galilean moons. Such an observation caused a revolution in astronomy as it directly challenged the established belief that all heavenly bodies circled the Earth.

Galileo then observed the full phases of Venus. Something only possible if the planets were orbiting the Sun and not the Earth. This persuaded Galileo that the Copernican model was correct and the solar system was heliocentric.

In 1615 he was investigated by the Roman Inquisition, which concluded that his work was contrary to Holy Scripture. Galileo was ordered to abandon his support of heliocentrism by Pope Paul V.

17 years later, under the new pope, Urban VIII, Galileo published his book ‘Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems’, in which he championed Copernican theory. The book took the form of a discussion between two men, each advocating different models for the solar system. Unfortunately for Galileo he had named the geocentric supporter Simplico, which has connotations of him being a simpleton. The pope took this as a personal insult and in February 1633 Galileo was accused of heresy.

Despite defending himself vigourously, he was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment by the Holy Office. This was later reduced to permanent house arrest after he withdrew his support for the Copernican model.

It is said that, after being forced to delcare that the Earth was the centre of the universe, Galileo muttered under his breath “Eppur si muove” (and yet it moves), but there is no contemporary evidence for what would have been a very dangerous act of defiance.

This bridge that carries both foot and rail traffic over the Potomac River is known as the Appalachian Trail/CSX - Potomac River Bridge. The ruins of the bridge pylons in the foreground once supported the Baltimore & Ohio (B & O) railroad bridge which was an unusual wooden covered bridge.

From the National Parks Service:

The Baltimore & Ohio (B & O) railroad bridge was once a majestic wood covered bridge that spanned the Potomac River and carried train traffic on the B & O Railroad for 23 years prior to the outbreak of the Civil War. In 1859, John Brown, a staunch abolitionist, launched a raid across this bridge to capture the United States Armory and start a war to end slavery. Brown failed at his attempt but made a major impact on the Harpers Ferry area. With the secession of Virginia in April, 1861, the bridge became a tenuous connector between the Confederacy and the Union. The bridge was over an important border, the Potomac River, and constantly had to worry about attacks from both sides of the war. During four years of Civil War, the bridge would be built and destroyed nine times - four times by war, five times by floods.

On June 14, 1861, as the Confederates were leaving Harpers Ferry, Brig. Gen. Joseph Johnston ordered the burning of all bridges on the Potomac under Southern control. The bridges that were destroyed were Point of Rocks, Shepherdstown, and Berlin. The Berlin Bridge is called Brunswick today. The Harpers Ferry region was a dangerous border area for the next eight months, disallowing rebuilding of the bridge. When the Union army occupied Harpers Ferry in February of 1862 and B & O bridge builders accompanied them. A new iron trestle was completed atop the original piers in less than three weeks, which allowed for supplies to be sent to the Union forces in Harpers Ferry and further south.

The Confederates regained Harpers Ferry on September 15, 1862 but just a few days later they would abandon that post. On September 18, 1862, the bridge was destroyed for a second time by Confederates when they left Harpers Ferry due to the outcome of the Battle of Antietam in Shepherdstown. B & O bridge builders returned with the Union army a few weeks later and had the bridge operational once again by early October.

The third time the bridge was destroyed was during the Gettysburg Campaign in 1863. This time, the retreating Union forces had destroyed the bridge to ensure the Confederates could not use it to support their invasion into the North. Union forces would reoccupy Harpers Ferry during the third week of July of 1863, following the Confederate retreat from Gettysburg. Once the Confederates had retreated, the B & O bridge builders arrived to rebuild the bridge.

The fourth and final time the bridge was destroyed occurred during the final invasion of the North in July of 1864. Once Confederate Jubal Early's forces withdrew from Maryland by mid-July, the B & O railroad rebuilt the bridge once more. In the fall of 1864, the Union used the bridge to transport an immense amount of supplies across the Potomac and into the armory depot for use by Philip Sheridan's army during its Valley Campaign. The Valley Campaign conquered the Confederate army in the Shenandoah Valley and the B & O Railroad was the artery of life for Sheridan's army.

Nikon D850 with Nikkor 24-85mm F3.5-F4.5 lens @ 62mm. 1/100th sec @ F11. Cropped to 5x12 aspect ratio in post.

Chartwell is a country house near Westerham, Kent, in South East England. For over forty years, it was the home of Sir Winston Churchill. He bought the property in September 1922 and lived there until shortly before his death in January 1965. During the 1930s, when Churchill was out of political office, Chartwell became the centre of his world. At his dining table, he gathered those who could assist his campaign against German re-armament and the British government's response of appeasement; in his study, he composed speeches and wrote books; in his garden, he built walls, constructed lakes — both with his own hands — and painted. During the Second World War, Chartwell was largely unused, the Churchills returning after he lost the 1945 election. In 1953, when again prime minister, the house became Churchill's refuge when he suffered a debilitating stroke. In October 1964, he left for the last time, dying at his London home, 28 Hyde Park Gate, on 24 January 1965.

The origins of the estate reach back to the 14th century; in 1382, the property (then called Well-street) was owned by William-at-Well. It passed through various owners and was auctioned in 1836, as a substantial brick-built manor. In 1848, it was purchased by John Campbell Colquhoun, whose grandson sold it to Churchill. The Campbell Colquhouns greatly enlarged the house and the advertisement for its sale at the time of Churchill's purchase described it as an imposing mansion. Between 1922 and 1924, it was rebuilt and extended by the society architect Philip Tilden. From the garden front, the house has extensive views over the Weald of Kent, "the most beautiful and charming" Churchill had ever seen, and the determining factor in his decision to buy the house.

In 1946, when financial constraints forced Churchill to consider selling Chartwell, it was acquired by the National Trust with funds raised by a consortium of Churchill's friends (led by Lord Camrose), on condition that the Churchills retained a life-tenancy. After Churchill's death, Lady Churchill surrendered her rights to the house, and it was opened to the public by the Trust in 1966 as a historic house museum. A Grade I listed building, for its historical significance rather than its architectural merit, Chartwell has become among the Trust's most popular properties; 232,000 people visited the house in 2016, the fiftieth anniversary of its opening.

Churchill at Chartwell

1922 to 1939

Chartwell – Clementine Churchill's "magnificent aerial bower" to the left

Churchill first saw Chartwell in July 1921, shortly before the house and estate were to be auctioned.[11] He returned the same month with his wife Clementine, who was initially attracted to the property, although her enthusiasm cooled during subsequent visits.[12] In September 1922, when the house had failed to sell at auction, he was offered it for £5,500. He paid £5,000, after his first offer of £4,800, made because "the house will have to be very largely rebuilt, and the presence of dry rot is a very serious adverse factor", was rejected.[13] The seller was Captain Archibald John Campbell Colquhoun, who had inherited the house in June 1922 on the death of his brother.[14] Campbell Colquhoun had been a contemporary of Churchill's at Harrow School in the 1880s. On completion of the sale in September 1922, Churchill wrote to him, "I am very glad indeed to have become the possessor of "Chartwell".[1] I have been searching for two years for a home in the country and the site is the most beautiful and charming I have ever seen".[14] The sale was concluded on 11 November 1922.[15]

The previous 15 months had been personally and professionally calamitous. In June 1921, Churchill's mother had died, followed three months later by his youngest child, Marigold.[15] In late 1922, he fell ill with appendicitis and at the end of the year lost his Scottish parliamentary seat at Dundee.[16]

Philip Tilden, Churchill's architect, began work on the house in 1922 and the Churchills rented a farmhouse near Westerham, with Churchill frequently visiting the site to observe progress.[17] The two-year building programme, the ever-rising costs – which escalated from the initial estimate of £7,000 to over £18,000 – and a series of construction difficulties (particularly relating to damp) soured relations between architect and client;[18] by 1924, Churchill and Tilden were barely on speaking terms.[19][a][b] Legal arguments, conducted through their respective lawyers, continued until 1927.[22] Clementine's anxieties about the costs, both of building and subsequently living at Chartwell, also continued. In September 1923, Churchill wrote to her, "My beloved, I beg you not to worry about money, or to feel insecure. Chartwell is to be our home (and) we must endeavour to live there for many years."[23] Churchill finally moved into the house in April 1924; a letter dated 17 April to Clementine begins, "This is the first letter I have ever written from this place, and it is right that it should be to you".[24]

In February 1926, Churchill's political colleague Sir Samuel Hoare described a visit in a letter to the press baron Lord Beaverbrook; "I have never seen Winston before in the role of landed proprietor, ... the engineering works on which he is engaged consist of making a series of ponds in a valley and Winston appeared to be a great deal more interested in them than in anything else in the world".[25] As Hoare's presence indicated, Churchill's holidays were very rarely pure vacations. Roy Jenkins, in his study, The Chancellors, contrasted Churchill's approach to holidaying with that of his then boss, Stanley Baldwin. "Churchill went to Chartwell or elsewhere to lengthen the stride of his political work, but not greatly to reduce its quantity; far from shutting himself off, he persuaded as many as possible of his colleagues and henchmen to visit him, to receive his ever-generous hospitality."[26] In January 1928, James Lees-Milne stayed as a guest of Churchill's son Randolph. He described an evening after dinner; "We remained at that round table till after midnight. Mr Churchill spent a blissful two hours demonstrating with decanters and wine glasses how the Battle of Jutland was fought. He got worked up like a schoolboy, making barking noises in imitation of gunfire, and blowing cigar smoke across the battle scene in imitation of gun smoke".[27] On 26 September 1927, Churchill composed the first of his Chartwell Bulletins, which were lengthy letters to Clementine, written to her while she was abroad. In the bulletins, Churchill described in great detail the ongoing works on the house and the gardens, and aspects of his life there. The 26 September letter opens with a report of Churchill's deepening interest in painting; "Sickert arrived on Friday night and we worked very hard at various paintings ... I am really thrilled ... I see my way to paint far better pictures than I ever thought possible before".[28]

Churchill described his life at Chartwell during the later 1930s in the first volume of his history of the Second World War, The Gathering Storm. "I had much to amuse me. I built ... two cottages, ... and walls and made ... a large swimming pool which ... could be heated to supplement our fickle sunshine. Thus I ... dwelt at peace within my habitation".[29] Bill Deakin, one of Churchill's research assistants, recalled his working routine. "He would start the day at eight o'clock in bed, reading. Then he started with his mail. His lunchtime conversation was quite magnificent, ...absolutely free for all. After lunch, if he had guests he would take them round the garden. At seven he would bathe and change for dinner. At midnight, when the guests left, then he would start work ... to three or four in the morning. The secret was his phenomenal power to concentrate."[30][c] In his study of Churchill as author, the historian Peter Clarke described Chartwell as "Winston's word factory"

In the opinion of Robin Fedden, a diplomat, and later Deputy General Secretary of the National Trust and author of the Trust's first guidebook for Chartwell, the house became "the most important country house in Europe".[34] The historian Graham Stewart, in his study of Tory Party politics, Burying Caesar, described it as "a sort of Jacobite court of St Germain".[35][e] A stream of friends, colleagues, disgruntled civil servants, concerned military officers and foreign envoys came to the house to provide information to support Churchill's struggle against appeasement.[f] At Chartwell, he developed what Fedden calls, his own "little Foreign Office ... the hub of resistance".[38] The Chartwell visitors' book, meticulously maintained from 1922, records 780 house guests, not all of them friends, but all grist to Churchill's mill.[39] An example of the latter was Sir Maurice Hankey, Clerk of the Privy Council, who was Churchill's guest for dinner in April 1936. Hankey subsequently wrote, "I do not usually make a note of private conversations but some points arose which gave an indication of the line which Mr Churchill is likely to take in forthcoming debates (on munitions and supply) in Parliament".[40] A week later, Reginald Leeper, a senior Foreign Office official and confidant of Robert Vansittart, visited Churchill to convey their views on the need to use the League of Nations to counter German aggression. Vansittart wrote, "there is no time to lose. There is indeed a great danger that we shall be too late".[41]

Churchill also recorded visits to Chartwell by two more of his most important suppliers of confidential governmental information, Desmond Morton and Ralph Wigram, information which he used to "form and fortify my opinion about the Hitler Movement".[g][43] Their sharing of data on German rearmament was at some risk to their careers; the military historian Richard Holmes is clear that Morton's actions breached the Official Secrets Act.[44] Chartwell was also the scene of more direct attempts to prepare Britain for the coming conflict; in October 1939, when reappointed First Lord of the Admiralty on the outbreak of war, Churchill suggested an improvement for anti-aircraft shells; "Such shells could be filled with zinc ethyl which catches fire spontaneously ... A fraction of an ounce was demonstrated at Chartwell last summer".[45][h]

In 1938, Churchill, beset by financial concerns, again considered selling Chartwell,[47] at which time the house was advertised as containing five reception rooms, nineteen bed and dressing rooms, eight bathrooms, set in eighty acres with three cottages on the estate and a heated and floodlit swimming pool.[i] He withdrew the sale after the industrialist Henry Strakosch agreed to take over his share portfolio, which had been hit heavily by losses on Wall Street, for three years and pay off significant associated debts.[49] In September 1938, the Russian Ambassador, Ivan Maisky, made his first visit and recorded his impressions of Chartwell: "A wonderful place! A two-storey house, large and tastefully presented; the terrace affords a breathtaking view of Kent's hilly landscape; ponds with goldfish of varying size; a pavilion-cum-studio with dozens of paintings - his own creations - hanging on the walls; his pride and joy, a small brick cottage which he was building with his own hands".[j] His impression of his host was somewhat less favourable; asked what special occasion would lead Churchill to drink a bottle of wine dating from 1793 from his cellar, Churchill had replied - "We'll drink this together when Great Britain and Russia beat Hitler's Germany". Maisky's unspoken reaction was recorded in his diary, "Churchill's hatred of Berlin really has gone beyond all limits!" Wikipedia

On my very last outing in the Grand Teton National Park last summer, I stopped at the Potholes Turnout to witness and capture some of the darkest skies I had seen.

Making it more adventurous was the prospect of coming across some wildlife in the pitch darkness. We had seen some Pronghorn antelope, elk, bison and other wildlife earlier during our stay in the Grand Teton National Park. Grizzly bears and brown bears were not unheard of either. After spending about 30 minutes shooting some shots of the Milky Way making its way across the skies towards the Cathedral Group (The tallest mountains in the Teton Range), while listening to every little sound for indications of wildlife, there I was, just me and my heightened senses for company.

I wanted to take one last shot of the scene in front of me before heading back to the lodge. For that, I chose a super long exposure which I had tried out once before in Colorado.

This picture is a single exposure of pure unadulterated star light reflected off the Grand Tetons and area called the Potholes in front of me. The only artificial light in those 20 minutes this exposure took was a car that drove by that you can see in the bottom left and the red light shining on top of the little mountain right in the middle of the picture which is perhaps some sort of beacon. The entire scene was lit by light from the stars and nothing else.

The green glow in the sky is called airglow. The airglow is the light of electronically and/or vibration-rotationally excited atoms and molecules 80 km or higher.

(The name Potholes was quite curious. But out in the darkness in front there are large depressions in the ground. Sometime in the last 20,000 years, the Pinedale glaciers withdrew rapidly, leaving behind many large irregular masses of stagnant, debris-covered ice. The sites of these became kettles (why they are not called pots, I don’t know!), locally known as "The Potholes”)

Now this is really the old 82 route renumbered.

TFL originally tried to get get rid of the 13 route, but everybody was up in arms about it.

So the second time round they withdrew the route anyway and renumbered the 82 to 13 to get round it!

This is outside Victoria Park, a sunny location that works well at three different times of the day. When I say 'works well' you can get bowled as it can be busy.

Here, I had to frame the bus so it didn't get to close to that ugly pruned tree; otherwise, that would have ****** the photo.

Ipswich Buses DAF DB250 East Lancs Lowlander PJ53 OLB was turned out on the 92 Ipswich to Manningtree instead of the usual Omnicty, seen here after arrival at Bendalls Court. Yet another new driver from Galloway after National Express withdrew the Ipswich to London service. They must have a full compliment of drivers now.

Hohenschwangau Castle in the Allgäu Alps on an overcast and cold day in mid-April, Hohenschwangau, Swabia, Bavaria, Germany

Some background information:

This perspective makes Hohenschwangau Castle look like an isolated palace in beautiful mountain scenery. In fact, it isn’t, as Hohenschwangau and neighbouring Neuschwanstein Castle are definitely one of the highest attended visitor attractions throughout Germany. The tourist infrastructure around both castles leaves no touristic wishes to be desired and hence is well-prepared for the rush of visitors that arrives here every day. Well, compulsory visit made, but I for one definitely prefer the hidden gems.

Hohenschwangau Castle is a 19th-century palace in southern Germany. It is located in the village of Hohenschwangau near the town of Fuessen. Hence, it is situated in the Ostallgäu area in the Bavarian region of southern Swabia, directly bordering the Austrian state of Tyrol. The term Allgäu is applied to the northern part of the Alps and their foothills located in southwestern Bavaria.

Hohenschwangau Castle was the childhood residence of King Ludwig II of Bavaria (the so-called "Fairy Tale King"). It was designed by his father, King Maximilian II of Bavaria, in the first half of the 19th century. However, the castle is much older. It was first mentioned in 1397, though under the name of "Schwanstein", while the neighbouring castle on the spot of its successor building Neuschwanstein Castle, was named "Schwangau". Only in the 19th century, the names of both castles switched.

Hohenschwangau Castle (then Schwanstein Castle) was built on a hill above Lake Alpsee. Although its then owners, the Counts of Schwangau, had to sell their fief to the Dukes of Bavaria from the Wittelsbach dynasty at the beginning of the 16th century, they continued to occupy the stronghold. In 1521, they became owners of both Schwanstein and Schwangau Castle again. After the noble house of Schwangau had died out in 1536, the new owner Johann Paumgartner, a wealthy merchant from the city of Augsburg, had the castle reconstructed by the Italian architect Lucio di Spazzi. After Paumgartner had been ennobled, he even became Baron of Hohenschwangau.

In 1604, Hohenschwangau Castle entered into possession of Maximilian I, Elector of Bavaria. The prince-electors from the House of Wittelsbach mainly used the residence for bear hunting and as a retreat for agnatic princes. In 1743, the castle was plundered by Austrian troops. In 1803, in the course of the German mediatization the county of Schwangau became officially a part of the Electorate of Bavaria.

King Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria sold the castle in 1820, but only in 1832, his grandson Maximilian II of Bavaria, then crown prince, bought it back. In 1829, he had discovered the historic site during a walking tour and reacted enthusiastically to the beauty of the surrounding area. In February 1833, the reconstruction of the castle began, continuing until 1837, with additions up to 1855.

The architect in charge, Domenico Quaglio, was responsible for the neogothic style of the exterior design. More than 90 wall paintings represent the history of Schwangau, as well as medieval German romances such as Parzival and the story of Lohengrin, the Knight of the Swan, on which Richard Wagner later based his operas Lohengrin and Parsifal, sponsored by Ludwig II who had grown up with these stories at Hohenschwangau.

Hohenschwangau Castle was the official summer and hunting residence of Maximilian, his wife Marie of Prussia, and their two sons Ludwig (the later King Ludwig II of Bavaria) and Otto (the later King Otto I of Bavaria). The young princes spent many years of their adolescence here. Queen Marie who loved to hike in the mountains created an alpine garden with plants gathered from all over the alps. While the King and the Queen occupied the main building, the boys lived in the annex.

King Maximilian died in 1864 and his son Ludwig succeeded to the throne, moving into his father's room in the castle. As Ludwig never married, his mother Marie was able to continue living on her floor during the summer months. King Ludwig enjoyed living in Hohenschwangau, however mostly in the absence of his disliked mother, especially after 1869 when the building of his own castle, Neuschwanstein, began on the site of the ruinous Schwangau stronghold, high above his parent's castle.

After Ludwig's death in 1886, Queen Marie was the castle's only resident until she in turn died in 1889. Her brother-in-law, Prince Regent Luitpold of Bavaria, lived on the 3rd floor of the main building. He was responsible for the electrification in 1905 and the installation of an electric elevator. Luitpold died in 1912 and in the following year, the palace was opened to the public.

During World War I and World War II, the castle suffered no damage. In 1923, the Bavarian State Parliament recognised the right of the former royal family to reside in the castle. From 1933 to 1939, Crown Prince Rupprecht of Bavaria and his family used the castle as their summer residence, and it continues to be a favourite residence of his successors. In May 1941, Prince Adalbert of Bavaria was purged from the military and withdrew to Hohenschwangau Castle, where he lived until the end of the war. Today, the palace is visited by more than 300,000 visitors from all over the world each year. Both Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau Castle have really become a big business.

These herons were feeding at a fish farm stocked with brown and rainbow trout. Such a prime location was clearly in demand and one bird took very grave exception to another, flying in and attacking without warning. In the end the aggressor was defeated and withdrew to a nearby treetop, where it croaked a few times at the victor before flying off to look for food elsewhere.

Evergreen Aircraft Museum - McMinnville Oregon

Here we view the "Spruce Goose" and her 4 port side engines with many other vintage aircraft nestled beneath its port wing.

The largest airplane ever constructed, and flown only one time, the Spruce Goose represents one of man’s greatest attempts to conquer the skies. It was born out of a need to move troops and material across the Atlantic Ocean, where in 1942, German submarines were sinking hundreds of Allied ships. Henry Kaiser, steel magnate and shipbuilder, conceived the idea of a massive flying transport and turned to Howard Hughes to design and build it. Hughes took on the task, made even more challenging by the government’s restrictions on materials critical to the war effort, such as steel and aluminum. Six times larger than any aircraft of its time, the Spruce Goose, also known as the Flying Boat, is made entirely of wood.

Originally designated HK-1 for the first aircraft built by Hughes-Kaiser, the giant was re-designated H-4 when Henry Kaiser withdrew from the project in 1944. Nevertheless, the press insisted on calling it the “Spruce Goose” despite the fact that the plane is made almost entirely of birch.

The winged giant made only one flight on November 2, 1947. The unannounced decision to fly was made by Hughes during a taxi test. With Hughes at the controls, David Grant as co-pilot, and several engineers, crewmen and journalists on board, the Spruce Goose flew just over one mile at an altitude of 70 feet for one minute. The short hop proved to skeptics that the gigantic machine could fly.

Perhaps always dreaming of a second flight, Hughes retained a full crew to maintain the mammoth plane in a climate-controlled hangar up until his death in 1976.

The Spruce Goose was kept out of the public eye for 33 years. After Hughes’ death in 1976, it was gifted by Hughes’ Summa Corporation to the Aero Club of Southern California. The Aero Club then leased it to the Wrather Corporation, and moved it into a domed hangar in Long Beach, California.

The Disney Company acquired the Wrather Corporation, thus taking over the lease of the Spruce Goose. Evergreen subsequently bought the aircraft from the Aero Club.

In 1992, Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum co-founders Michael King Smith and Delford M. Smith submitted the winning proposal to provide the aviation icon with a proper home. The Flying Boat was disassembled and transported by barge up the West Coast, then up the Columbia and Willamette Rivers, to Portland, Oregon. It remained there for several months, until water levels permitted the huge structures to safely pass under the Willamette’s many bridges.

Finally, in February 1993, the aircraft was transported by truck for the last 7.5 miles to McMinnville, Oregon. Temporary hangars were built as housing for the aircraft, while volunteers worked on the aircraft’s restoration. In 2001, re-assembly of the Hughes Flying Boat was completed in its new home.

After Arriva withdrew from the route due to low patronage, a very unlikely operator, Seaford & District, has decided to step in and runs the route using three Esteems bought off Metrobus London: PN06UYL, PN06UYO and PN06UYS. However, only 2 were out, with the third vehicle being SE05SEA.

Seen here at Tunbridge Wells War Memorial is Seaford & District 202/PN06UYO, an East Lancs Esteem-bodied Transbus Mini Dart SLF, having already set it's blinds for the 229 to Crowborough having just worked a 228 from Crowborough.

Former Metrobus London 259.

Before they withdrew the MD80s.

Loch Fyne is a sea loch, so it's probably wrong to call it a lake?

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 fictional puffer that appeared in the Para Handy books by Neil Munro. (From the Historic Ships Register).

The Zuritanian military issued a brief for a VTOL fighter, capable of operating off small warships to provide flexible coverage. Lazy aircraft designers decided, rather than building a whole new airplane, to simply take the fuselage of the widely-produced Skyrocket and simply add new engines. The resulting aircraft featured a finicky set of four rotating nozzles along the bottom, which flipped between vertical and horizontal orientations to allow for vertical takeoff. It was too slow for supersonic flight, and after a series of accidents during testing the navy withdrew their interest. The air force considered it briefly, to provide a backup in case its fixed air bases were destroyed. But they, too, rejected it, after realizing its poor performance rendered it almost useless in air-to-air combat. The Pogo found halfhearted interest in Eclusa, which purchased 20 of the jets to station in temporary airfields across Brohemia. Eclusa planned to use them as attack aircraft, since their basic construction would allow them to be operated from extremely primitive bases. But the end of the Great Rodinian War and the collapse of Monsaraz removed the threat that had spurred such a purpose. The Pogo will likely continue to languish until it can find a market: at press time, the designers are reportedly trying to sell it to Mekong.

Yeah, I built this a few months ago, but I never rendered it. I'm still not super happy with it. But here you go. If anyone wants production rights you can have them.

Maryland | Sep 13, 1814

The failed bombardment of Fort McHenry forced the British to abandon their land assault on the crucial port city of Baltimore. This British defeat was a turning point in the War of 1812, leading both sides to reach a peace agreement later that year.

How it ended

United States victory. American forces resisted the dramatic British bombardment of Fort McHenry and proved they could stand up to a great world power. The exploding shells and rocket fire from British warships inspired Francis Scott Key to pen the lyrics to the “Star-Spangled Banner.” Seeing no way to penetrate American defenses, the British withdrew their troops and gave up their Chesapeake Campaign.

In context

Initially, the British strategy during the War of 1812 had been defensive. The British were more concerned with defeating Napoleon in Europe than fighting a minor war with the United States. This changed on April 6, 1814, with the defeat and abdication of Napoleon, which freed up veteran troops for a more aggressive strategy. Major General Robert Ross was sent to command all British forces on the East Coast of the United States, with Vice Admiral Alexander Cochrane leading a fleet of warships.

Much to everyone's surprise, at the end of June 2016, the «Cévenol» Clermont-Ferrand - Nîmes reverted to a loco-hauled consist for the duration of the summer season!

The «Cévenol» was created in 1955 on the exact stretch it runs on today, covered by class X2400 motor cars, replaced four years later by the autorails panoramiques of class X4200. Quickly, the route was extended until Marseille-St-Charles in the south, and around that same time - but only during the summer period - until Vichy in the north, with an additional motor car (usually class X2800) running Le Mont-Dore - Marseille v.v. (coupled to the «Cévenol» between Clermont and the south). Between the two motor cars, several trailer cars were often needed.

The next big change came in 1979, when the autorail mode of organisation was scrapped. That meant that Le Mont-Dore was no longer served by the «Cévenol», but conversely, the train - with brand new Corail coaching stock - now ran Paris-Gare-de-Lyon - Marseille-St-Charles via Nevers, Vichy, Clermont and Nîmes! For many years, that stayed the same - even though due to the arrival of the TGV, the consist of the «Cévenol» steadily shrank. Nonetheless, during certain summer timetables the train was even extended as far as Nice.

In December 2003, the SNCF officially withdrew the name "Cévenol", but the entire world kept referring to the train as such, similarly to its sister the «Aubrac» (Paris - Béziers via Clermont and Neussargues, with which it was joined between Paris and Clermont-Ferrand). In December 2007, with the full deployment of the Téoz concept, the train was truncated at Clermont-Ferrand, with a Téoz train running Paris-Clermont and a regular Corail train running Clermont-Marseille. By 2009, the line was so decrepit that speed limitations to 30 km/h had been imposed on multiple stretches - the situation had become such that in 2009 and 2010, the train was often cancelled for long periods in order to carry out the necessary repairs and renovations. When the train did run, it consisted of only three coaches (compared to the twelve on peak days in the early 1980s).

In 2011, after much debate, it was decided to maintain the «Cévenol» between Nîmes and Marseille, but diesel-hauled and routed via the Côte Bleue line Miramas - Port-de-Bouc - Carry-le-Rouet - Marseille: magnificent scenery over there, but a markedly slower route than the direct line. On the first of September 2012, however, the SNCF "provisionally" limited the train to Clermont-Nîmes, with the promise to reinstate the extension to Marseille after the end of the construction works on the direct junction at Nîmes (avoiding the need to reverse into and out of Nîmes station to and from the freight yard at Courbessac) - but that never happened. On 28 April 2015, a landslide entailed the cancellation of the train for several months - on 18 December, the train was finally reinstated, but by a couple of blue whales (class X73500 motor cars)... The return to loco-hauled consists for the summer of 2016 was originally planned with one class BB 67400 diesel loco, but these being rather à bout de souffle, as they say in France, the locos were quickly accompanied by a sister despite the payload being only three or four coaches - just to make sure at least one of them would make it all the way...

On that day, BB 67566 (in Multiservices livery) and 67628 («en voyage...») are hauling the southbound train 15957 across the Viaduc du Thord over the river Allier near Chapeauroux, 29-07-2016.

During COVID-19 service revisions, Lothian withdrew their Airlink branded Volvo B8L/AD Enviro400XLB's on their Edinburgh Airport service. Instead the service has been operated by the Skylink Volvo B5TL/Wright Eclipse Gemini which were formerly used on the service until 2019. SF17 VPK is number 509 and seen here on Princes Street in Edinburgh.