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GC XII: Unrestricted-Economy
This build features working LEGO Power Functions lights, with the Power Functions battery box contained within the house. The power switch is accessible through a removable rear wall panel that blends with the rest of the stonework. 100% LEGO.
The waning light of day was a welcome, albeit blinding, sight to the Professor's eyes. He stepped from the old tunnel entrance and looked about, taking in his surroundings. He was now deep in the mountains of Garheim, somewhere far to the north of the border. The ground ahead gave way into a rare lush valley of the sort that one would expect to see much farther south. Lenfald was known for this kind of terrain, though in certain pockets the cold frontiers of Garheim gave way to some foliage.
The Professor made his way down into the valley, following the ancient, moss-covered steps that were hewn from the rock of the mountainside. As dusk neared, he reached the valley floor, and for once, the professor was taken by surprise. Somewhere in the trees up ahead there shone a light. By its warm, yellowish glow, he knew it was lamplight. But for all of his travels and connections, the Professor did not have any idea who lived there.
He followed the path forward, intrigued, and the rough stones soon gave way to neatly laid, well-kept cobblestones. In the fading light, the Professor could just make out the silhouette of a strange-looking residence. As he approached, a deep voiced called out to him from the now-open doorway.
"Hey-oh, traveler! It's not so oft' as I get the pleasure o' having meself some company down in these parts. So you'll understand, I hope, if I'm a bit cautious."
The Professor smiled, for now he recognized the voice. "Ernagh, you old faun, since when do you isolate yourself all the way out here? Up to another one of your 'experiments' per chance?"
"Ho-ho! Sannary Oldenbarrow, as I do live and breathe! Why, yes, as a matter of fact, me good fellow, I am up to a sort of experiment at the moment," called the faun merrily, hurrying up the path to meet his friend.
"The name, Ernagh," winced the Professor. "I do try not to use it as much as possible."
"Well, yes, yes, in the normal country I get it. But out here -" Ernagh spread his arms wide -
"there isn't a soul around ta hear it."
"You have a point," returned Sannary, grasping the forearm of Ernagh in the satyr tradition.
"And besides, you called me a faun and you certainly know better," jested Ernagh. "I had to retaliate, of course."
"Well met, then, my friend," laughed Sannary. "So, what is it you are up to this time? Alchemy, perhaps? Or another flying machine?"
Enrage winced, his hand unconsciously going to the small of his back. "I won't be trying another of those for awhile, I think," he said. "No, this time, my friend, I have struck gold."
Sannary raised an eyebrow. "Oh, really now?"
"That's right," continued Ernagh excitedly. "You see, people everywhere are paying top dollar for these new fruits from your little Lenfel campout on that island or wherever."
"You mean the colony."
"Yeah, sure, whatever," said Ernagh, undeterred. "Anyway, I figured, why go all the way to the middle of the ocean when I could just grow that stuff right here?"
Sannary stared at Ernagh. "You mean, why couldn't you... grow tropical fruits... in the middle of icy Garheim?" he asked in disbelief.
"Yeah, why not?" said Ernagh. "Anyway, it's working, and I'm gonna be rich!"
"How in the world..." started Sannary. He shook his head. "Never mind. Just tell me what you're growing."
"Let's see," started Ernagh. "These weird little spiky fruits they call pinepears or palmapples or something -"
"Pineapples," interrupted Sannary.
"Yeah, those. Then there's some yellow thingies that grow in bunches. Pandanas," continued Ernagh.
"Bananas."
"Sure, yeah," said Ernagh. "Then I've got some big orangey things that grow in the dirt. They're kinda like big round carrots, but they taste like a potato." He raised an eyebrow. "What, not gonna correct me this time?"
"I have no idea what those things are," said Sannary.
"Well, that's a first," quipped Ernagh without missing a beat. "Oh, I've also got some big white melon-y things that grow in patches. Quite tasty. Maybe some other assorted stuff. Not really sure."
Sannary shook his head. "Well, how you manage to get those things growing up here baffles me, but then again, you never disappoint."
With that, the two old friends stepped inside.
A lone leaf amongst bumps in the pavement at a crosswalk. This is the same location I photographed in 2016. www.flickr.com/photos/drew_makepeace/29349535613/
Accessible from the Pilatusbahn funicular railway, Mount Pilatus towers above Lucerne, covered in a light dusting of snow the day I visited, with the mountaintops rising above the thick clouds and drizzle of rain below
Inclusive GameTime playground at Hugh MacRae Park features accessible PowerScape 3D play system with shade structures, Merry-Go-All, adaptive swings, ZipTrack and much more.
1. Front gunner seat, accessible by lowering ladder
2. Pilot position, accessible from the communication room
3. Communication room and droid repair station
4. Main hallway, connects main ramp, living quarters, communication room, both airlocks* and the backside of the ship
5. Living quarters - has 3 beds, table and some basic furniture to accomodate basic minifgure needs
6. Cargo elevator. Can be used to access the lower cargo hold**
7. Right airlock
8. Left airlock and doorway to common room
9. Access to upper level, main gunner seat and Phantom docking bay
10. Armory and gunsmith
11. Dejarik and dining table
12. Kitchen area
13. Bathroom
14. Engine room, houses 2 hyperdive units and signal jammer
15. Main gunner position***
16. Access hatch for the docking bay
17. Phantom Docking bay
*Airlocks cannot be opened due to the structure of the build, they are keeping all the side connections together and play major role to make GHOST swooshable.
** Lower cargo hold access is limited, therfore it's hard to use it for "playing" porpuses. It's possible to put some cargo and boxes while still building this MOC. Cargo will be seen through the large 8x8 grill pieces.
*** Main gun on the top of the ship is fixed and can be reattached at 90 degree increments. I tried to make it freely rotateble but at this scale I didn't want to sacrifce looks for this small function.
Accessible PowerScape 3D play system with shade structures, adaptive whirl and swings, musical instruments, motion activities and much more.
This location is not officially accessible, we had to climb for this scene.
Location Info (Wikipedia):
Huangshan (simplified Chinese: 黄山; traditional Chinese: 黃山; pinyin: Huángshān; literally "Yellow Mountain"[2]), is a mountain range in southern Anhui province in eastern China. The range is composed of material that was uplifted from an ancient sea during the Mesozoic era, 100 million years ago. The mountains themselves were carved by glaciers during the Quaternary. Vegetation on the range is thickest below 1,100 meters (3,600 ft), with trees growing up to the treeline at 1,800 meters (5,900 ft).
The area is well known for its scenery, sunsets, peculiarly shaped granite peaks, Huangshan Pine trees, and views of the clouds from above. Huangshan is a frequent subject of traditional Chinese paintings and literature, as well as modern photography. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and one of China's major tourist destinations.
© Andy Brandl / PhotonMix (2011)
Don´t redistribute / use on webpages, blogs or any other media without my explicit written consent.
Carlos Dorrien
1990-97 - stone: granite
The figures line up around a platform that 'floats' in a moat of water accessible by the cantilevered bridge in the foreground.
The figures are in various states of completion and have stylistic references to several civilizations.
Everyone has a right to access our public lands, but few of Glacier's trails were created with accessibility in mind.
A first step to addressing limits to accessibility is to identify them.
Glacier and the National Park Service are using tools—like the orange, one-wheeled device a ranger is pictured here using—to evaluate trails in the park using the High Efficiency Trail Assessment Process (HETAP).
HETAP identifies trail variables: grade, cross-slope, trail width, surface material, and more.
This data allows park managers to prioritize future trail improvements, and allow visitors in the future to make more informed decisions.
The North of England Lead Mining Museum, better known as Killhope, is an industrial museum near the village of Cowshill, County Durham, England. The museum stands on the site of the former Park Level Mine, which is being restored to show the workings of a 19th-century lead mine.
The museum is located alongside the Killhope Burn, about 4 km upstream from Cowshill, and is accessible via the A689 road between Stanhope, County Durham and Alston, Cumbria.
It is situated in the heart of the North Pennines, Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, an area that, in 2003, was designated the first Geopark in Great Britain.
The museum is open every day between 1 April and 31 October, but is closed (except to pre-booked groups) during the winter months, when weather conditions in the area can be severe. A bus service operates through Weardale; services usually terminate at Cowshill, but some summer services will continue to Killhope on request.
Lead ore in the North Pennines occurs in mineralised veins within the Carboniferous rocks of the area. Until the mid-19th century, exploitation of these ore bodies was mostly confined to surface excavations and vertical shafts. From 1818, mining in the area was controlled by W B Lead Co, a mining company established by the Blacketts, a prominent Newcastle family which had leased mining rights in Weardale from the Bishop of Durham.
In 1853, W B Lead began driving the Park Level Mine, which eventually intersected 11 mineral veins. As the mine developed, so did the surface workings. In 1858, a "mineshop" was built to accommodate the miners; the population density in such a remote area was very low and, until then, miners had been faced with a long daily walk to and from the mine. In 1862, storage bays ("bouse teams") were constructed, to store the raw lead ore (the "bouse"), and washing rakes were installed, in which water was used to separate the lead ore in the bouse from the waste material. In 1878, soon after the mine struck the richest of the veins, the Park Level Mill was brought into operation, to speed up the process of washing the ore. The main feature of the mill was a large waterwheel, the "Killhope Wheel".
Not long after the Park Level Mill came into use, the price of lead plummeted, rendering lead-mining in Weardale uneconomic and, in 1883, W B Lead closed all of its operations in the district. The Park Level Mine was taken over by another company, Weardale Lead, which continued to operate it until 1910, when production ceased. The mine was re-opened briefly in 1916, during the First World War, after which it lay derelict for over 60 years, during which time the buildings crumbled and any equipment that could be removed was salvaged for scrap.
Between 1818 and 1883, records show that W B Lead extracted over 31,200 tonnes of lead concentrates from the Killhope operations; between 1884 and 1916, Weardale Lead extracted a further 9,000 tonnes. Taking in the period before 1818, for which there are no records, it is thought that total output from Killhope may have exceeded 60,000 tonnes. In addition, 180 tonnes of zinc concentrates were recovered in the 1950s by treatment of some of the waste material.
By 1980, the Killhope Wheel was facing demolition, the washing floor had become a marshy field, and the rest of the site was decaying. In that year, the Durham County Council took over the site and began a programme of restoration. First to be restored was the "mineshop", which was opened to the public in May 1984. The Killhope Wheel was restored to working order in 1991 and the mine itself was opened in 1996.
It had been hoped that the existing mine could be restored to allow access by the public, but though the Park Level was found to be generally in sound condition, and the first 100 metres has been used as an access route, the area in the vicinity of the first vein workings was badly collapsed and unsafe. Reconstruction therefore consisted of constructing a new 'artificial' mine within a chamber that was excavated from the surface. Within this artificial mine, the rock surfaces are actually fibreglass casts, taken not just from Killhope but also from mines in the Nenthead district in nearby Cumbria. Despite their artificial nature, the casts faithfully represent the appearance and texture of the real rock.
One of the main features of the reconstructed mine is the Killhope Wheel, a 10-metre-diameter metal waterwheel. This was constructed by the Tyneside firm of William Armstrong. Although other waterwheels were used in and around the mine, this was the largest, and the only one to survive the decades of neglect. It has now been restored to full working order.
The museum has won several awards: it was the North East's Small Visitor Attraction of the Year in 2008, and was the inaugural winner of the Guardian's Family-Friendly Museum award in 2004.
Other lead mining remains in the area
Other interpretive sites in the area are the Heritage Centre at Allenheads, in Northumberland, and the Nenthead Mines Heritage Centre, a short distance away in Cumbria.
Numerous traces of Weardale's lead mining industry can still be seen and the Durham Dales Centre in Stanhope produces guides to a Lead Mining Trail that covers many of the more accessible sites.
Other disused lead mines in County Durham are:
Low Slitt Mine, Westgate
Middlehope Shield, Westgate
Brandon Walls Mine, Rookhope
Rookhope Old Smelt Mill
Feldon Smelt Mill
Coldberry Mine, Middleton-in-Teesdale
Middle Greenlaws, Daddry Shield
Derwent Lead Mines
Lady Rake Mine, Harwood
Greenhurth Mine, Harwood
Pike Law Mines, Newbiggin, Teesdale
County Durham, officially simply Durham is a ceremonial county in North East England. The county borders Northumberland and Tyne and Wear to the north, the North Sea to the east, North Yorkshire to the south, and Cumbria to the west. The largest settlement is Darlington, and the county town is the city of Durham.
The county has an area of 2,721 km2 (1,051 sq mi) and a population of 866,846. The latter is concentrated in the east; the south-east is part of the Teesside built-up area, which extends into North Yorkshire. After Darlington (92,363), the largest settlements are Hartlepool (88,855), Stockton-on-Tees (82,729), and Durham (48,069). For local government purposes the county comprises three unitary authority areas—County Durham, Darlington, and Hartlepool—and part of a fourth, Stockton-on-Tees. The county historically included the part of Tyne and Wear south of the River Tyne, and excluded the part of County Durham south of the River Tees.
The west of the county contains part of the North Pennines uplands, a national landscape. The hills are the source of the rivers Tees and Wear, which flow east and form the valleys of Teesdale and Weardale respectively. The east of the county is flatter, and contains by rolling hills through which the two rivers meander; the Tees forms the boundary with North Yorkshire in its lower reaches, and the Wear exits the county near Chester-le-Street in the north-east. The county's coast is a site of special scientific interest characterised by tall limestone and dolomite cliffs.
What is now County Durham was on the border of Roman Britain, and contains survivals of this era at sites such as Binchester Roman Fort. In the Anglo-Saxon period the region was part of the Kingdom of Northumbria. In 995 the city of Durham was founded by monks seeking a place safe from Viking raids to house the relics of St Cuthbert. Durham Cathedral was rebuilt after the Norman Conquest, and together with Durham Castle is now a World Heritage Site. By the late Middle Ages the county was governed semi-independently by the bishops of Durham and was also a buffer zone between England and Scotland. County Durham became heavily industrialised in the nineteenth century, when many collieries opened on the Durham coalfield. The Stockton and Darlington Railway, the world's first public railway to use steam locomotives, opened in 1825. Most collieries closed during the last quarter of the twentieth century, but the county's coal mining heritage is remembered in the annual Durham Miners' Gala.
Remains of Prehistoric Durham include a number of Neolithic earthworks.
The Crawley Edge Cairns and Heathery Burn Cave are Bronze Age sites. Maiden Castle, Durham is an Iron Age site.
Brigantia, the land of the Brigantes, is said to have included what is now County Durham.
There are archaeological remains of Roman Durham. Dere Street and Cade's Road run through what is now County Durham. There were Roman forts at Concangis (Chester-le-Street), Lavatrae (Bowes), Longovicium (Lanchester), Piercebridge (Morbium), Vindomora (Ebchester) and Vinovium (Binchester). (The Roman fort at Arbeia (South Shields) is within the former boundaries of County Durham.) A Romanised farmstead has been excavated at Old Durham.
Remains of the Anglo-Saxon period include a number of sculpted stones and sundials, the Legs Cross, the Rey Cross and St Cuthbert's coffin.
Around AD 547, an Angle named Ida founded the kingdom of Bernicia after spotting the defensive potential of a large rock at Bamburgh, upon which many a fortification was thenceforth built. Ida was able to forge, hold and consolidate the kingdom; although the native British tried to take back their land, the Angles triumphed and the kingdom endured.
In AD 604, Ida's grandson Æthelfrith forcibly merged Bernicia (ruled from Bamburgh) and Deira (ruled from York, which was known as Eforwic at the time) to create the Kingdom of Northumbria. In time, the realm was expanded, primarily through warfare and conquest; at its height, the kingdom stretched from the River Humber (from which the kingdom drew its name) to the Forth. Eventually, factional fighting and the rejuvenated strength of neighbouring kingdoms, most notably Mercia, led to Northumbria's decline. The arrival of the Vikings hastened this decline, and the Scandinavian raiders eventually claimed the Deiran part of the kingdom in AD 867 (which became Jórvík). The land that would become County Durham now sat on the border with the Great Heathen Army, a border which today still (albeit with some adjustments over the years) forms the boundaries between Yorkshire and County Durham.
Despite their success south of the river Tees, the Vikings never fully conquered the Bernician part of Northumbria, despite the many raids they had carried out on the kingdom. However, Viking control over the Danelaw, the central belt of Anglo-Saxon territory, resulted in Northumbria becoming isolated from the rest of Anglo-Saxon Britain. Scots invasions in the north pushed the kingdom's northern boundary back to the River Tweed, and the kingdom found itself reduced to a dependent earldom, its boundaries very close to those of modern-day Northumberland and County Durham. The kingdom was annexed into England in AD 954.
In AD 995, St Cuthbert's community, who had been transporting Cuthbert's remains around, partly in an attempt to avoid them falling into the hands of Viking raiders, settled at Dunholm (Durham) on a site that was defensively favourable due to the horseshoe-like path of the River Wear. St Cuthbert's remains were placed in a shrine in the White Church, which was originally a wooden structure but was eventually fortified into a stone building.
Once the City of Durham had been founded, the Bishops of Durham gradually acquired the lands that would become County Durham. Bishop Aldhun began this process by procuring land in the Tees and Wear valleys, including Norton, Stockton, Escomb and Aucklandshire in 1018. In 1031, King Canute gave Staindrop to the Bishops. This territory continued to expand, and was eventually given the status of a liberty. Under the control of the Bishops of Durham, the land had various names: the "Liberty of Durham", "Liberty of St Cuthbert's Land" "the lands of St Cuthbert between Tyne and Tees" or "the Liberty of Haliwerfolc" (holy Wear folk).
The bishops' special jurisdiction rested on claims that King Ecgfrith of Northumbria had granted a substantial territory to St Cuthbert on his election to the see of Lindisfarne in 684. In about 883 a cathedral housing the saint's remains was established at Chester-le-Street and Guthfrith, King of York granted the community of St Cuthbert the area between the Tyne and the Wear, before the community reached its final destination in 995, in Durham.
Following the Norman invasion, the administrative machinery of government extended only slowly into northern England. Northumberland's first recorded Sheriff was Gilebert from 1076 until 1080 and a 12th-century record records Durham regarded as within the shire. However the bishops disputed the authority of the sheriff of Northumberland and his officials, despite the second sheriff for example being the reputed slayer of Malcolm Canmore, King of Scots. The crown regarded Durham as falling within Northumberland until the late thirteenth century.
Following the Battle of Hastings, William the Conqueror appointed Copsig as Earl of Northumbria, thereby bringing what would become County Durham under Copsig's control. Copsig was, just a few weeks later, killed in Newburn. Having already being previously offended by the appointment of a non-Northumbrian as Bishop of Durham in 1042, the people of the region became increasingly rebellious. In response, in January 1069, William despatched a large Norman army, under the command of Robert de Comines, to Durham City. The army, believed to consist of 700 cavalry (about one-third of the number of Norman knights who had participated in the Battle of Hastings), entered the city, whereupon they were attacked, and defeated, by a Northumbrian assault force. The Northumbrians wiped out the entire Norman army, including Comines, all except for one survivor, who was allowed to take the news of this defeat back.
Following the Norman slaughter at the hands of the Northumbrians, resistance to Norman rule spread throughout Northern England, including a similar uprising in York. William The Conqueror subsequently (and successfully) attempted to halt the northern rebellions by unleashing the notorious Harrying of the North (1069–1070). Because William's main focus during the harrying was on Yorkshire, County Durham was largely spared the Harrying.
Anglo-Norman Durham refers to the Anglo-Norman period, during which Durham Cathedral was built.
Matters regarding the bishopric of Durham came to a head in 1293 when the bishop and his steward failed to attend proceedings of quo warranto held by the justices of Northumberland. The bishop's case went before parliament, where he stated that Durham lay outside the bounds of any English shire and that "from time immemorial it had been widely known that the sheriff of Northumberland was not sheriff of Durham nor entered within that liberty as sheriff. . . nor made there proclamations or attachments". The arguments appear to have prevailed, as by the fourteenth century Durham was accepted as a liberty which received royal mandates direct. In effect it was a private shire, with the bishop appointing his own sheriff. The area eventually became known as the "County Palatine of Durham".
Sadberge was a liberty, sometimes referred to as a county, within Northumberland. In 1189 it was purchased for the see but continued with a separate sheriff, coroner and court of pleas. In the 14th century Sadberge was included in Stockton ward and was itself divided into two wards. The division into the four wards of Chester-le-Street, Darlington, Easington and Stockton existed in the 13th century, each ward having its own coroner and a three-weekly court corresponding to the hundred court. The diocese was divided into the archdeaconries of Durham and Northumberland. The former is mentioned in 1072, and in 1291 included the deaneries of Chester-le-Street, Auckland, Lanchester and Darlington.
The term palatinus is applied to the bishop in 1293, and from the 13th century onwards the bishops frequently claimed the same rights in their lands as the king enjoyed in his kingdom.
The historic boundaries of County Durham included a main body covering the catchment of the Pennines in the west, the River Tees in the south, the North Sea in the east and the Rivers Tyne and Derwent in the north. The county palatinate also had a number of liberties: the Bedlingtonshire, Islandshire and Norhamshire exclaves within Northumberland, and the Craikshire exclave within the North Riding of Yorkshire. In 1831 the county covered an area of 679,530 acres (2,750.0 km2) and had a population of 253,910. These exclaves were included as part of the county for parliamentary electoral purposes until 1832, and for judicial and local-government purposes until the coming into force of the Counties (Detached Parts) Act 1844, which merged most remaining exclaves with their surrounding county. The boundaries of the county proper remained in use for administrative and ceremonial purposes until the Local Government Act 1972.
Boldon Book (1183 or 1184) is a polyptichum for the Bishopric of Durham.
Until the 15th century, the most important administrative officer in the Palatinate was the steward. Other officers included the sheriff, the coroners, the Chamberlain and the chancellor. The palatine exchequer originated in the 12th century. The palatine assembly represented the whole county, and dealt chiefly with fiscal questions. The bishop's council, consisting of the clergy, the sheriff and the barons, regulated judicial affairs, and later produced the Chancery and the courts of Admiralty and Marshalsea.
The prior of Durham ranked first among the bishop's barons. He had his own court, and almost exclusive jurisdiction over his men. A UNESCO site describes the role of the Prince-Bishops in Durham, the "buffer state between England and Scotland":
From 1075, the Bishop of Durham became a Prince-Bishop, with the right to raise an army, mint his own coins, and levy taxes. As long as he remained loyal to the king of England, he could govern as a virtually autonomous ruler, reaping the revenue from his territory, but also remaining mindful of his role of protecting England’s northern frontier.
A report states that the Bishops also had the authority to appoint judges and barons and to offer pardons.
There were ten palatinate barons in the 12th century, most importantly the Hyltons of Hylton Castle, the Bulmers of Brancepeth, the Conyers of Sockburne, the Hansards of Evenwood, and the Lumleys of Lumley Castle. The Nevilles owned large estates in the county. John Neville, 3rd Baron Neville de Raby rebuilt Raby Castle, their principal seat, in 1377.
Edward I's quo warranto proceedings of 1293 showed twelve lords enjoying more or less extensive franchises under the bishop. The repeated efforts of the Crown to check the powers of the palatinate bishops culminated in 1536 in the Act of Resumption, which deprived the bishop of the power to pardon offences against the law or to appoint judicial officers. Moreover, indictments and legal processes were in future to run in the name of the king, and offences to be described as against the peace of the king, rather than that of the bishop. In 1596 restrictions were imposed on the powers of the chancery, and in 1646 the palatinate was formally abolished. It was revived, however, after the Restoration, and continued with much the same power until 5 July 1836, when the Durham (County Palatine) Act 1836 provided that the palatine jurisdiction should in future be vested in the Crown.
During the 15th-century Wars of the Roses, Henry VI passed through Durham. On the outbreak of the Great Rebellion in 1642 Durham inclined to support the cause of Parliament, and in 1640 the high sheriff of the palatinate guaranteed to supply the Scottish army with provisions during their stay in the county. In 1642 the Earl of Newcastle formed the western counties into an association for the King's service, but in 1644 the palatinate was again overrun by a Scottish army, and after the Battle of Marston Moor (2 July 1644) fell entirely into the hands of Parliament.
In 1614, a Bill was introduced in Parliament for securing representation to the county and city of Durham and the borough of Barnard Castle. The bishop strongly opposed the proposal as an infringement of his palatinate rights, and the county was first summoned to return members to Parliament in 1654. After the Restoration of 1660 the county and city returned two members each. In the wake of the Reform Act of 1832 the county returned two members for two divisions, and the boroughs of Gateshead, South Shields and Sunderland acquired representation. The bishops lost their secular powers in 1836. The boroughs of Darlington, Stockton and Hartlepool returned one member each from 1868 until the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885.
The Municipal Corporations Act 1835 reformed the municipal boroughs of Durham, Stockton on Tees and Sunderland. In 1875, Jarrow was incorporated as a municipal borough, as was West Hartlepool in 1887. At a county level, the Local Government Act 1888 reorganised local government throughout England and Wales. Most of the county came under control of the newly formed Durham County Council in an area known as an administrative county. Not included were the county boroughs of Gateshead, South Shields and Sunderland. However, for purposes other than local government, the administrative county of Durham and the county boroughs continued to form a single county to which the Crown appointed a Lord Lieutenant of Durham.
Over its existence, the administrative county lost territory, both to the existing county boroughs, and because two municipal boroughs became county boroughs: West Hartlepool in 1902 and Darlington in 1915. The county boundary with the North Riding of Yorkshire was adjusted in 1967: that part of the town of Barnard Castle historically in Yorkshire was added to County Durham, while the administrative county ceded the portion of the Borough of Stockton-on-Tees in Durham to the North Riding. In 1968, following the recommendation of the Local Government Commission, Billingham was transferred to the County Borough of Teesside, in the North Riding. In 1971, the population of the county—including all associated county boroughs (an area of 2,570 km2 (990 sq mi))—was 1,409,633, with a population outside the county boroughs of 814,396.
In 1974, the Local Government Act 1972 abolished the administrative county and the county boroughs, reconstituting County Durham as a non-metropolitan county. The reconstituted County Durham lost territory to the north-east (around Gateshead, South Shields and Sunderland) to Tyne and Wear and to the south-east (around Hartlepool) to Cleveland. At the same time it gained the former area of Startforth Rural District from the North Riding of Yorkshire. The area of the Lord Lieutenancy of Durham was also adjusted by the Act to coincide with the non-metropolitan county (which occupied 3,019 km2 (1,166 sq mi) in 1981).
In 1996, as part of 1990s UK local government reform by Lieutenancies Act 1997, Cleveland was abolished. Its districts were reconstituted as unitary authorities. Hartlepool and Stockton-on-Tees (north Tees) were returned to the county for the purposes of Lord Lieutenancy. Darlington also became a third unitary authority of the county. The Royal Mail abandoned the use of postal counties altogether, permitted but not mandatory being at a writer wishes.
As part of the 2009 structural changes to local government in England initiated by the Department for Communities and Local Government, the seven district councils within the County Council area were abolished. The County Council assumed their functions and became the fourth unitary authority. Changes came into effect on 1 April 2009.
On 15 April 2014, North East Combined Authority was established under the Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Act 2009 with powers over economic development and regeneration. In November 2018, Newcastle City Council, North Tyneside Borough Council, and Northumberland County Council left the authority. These later formed the North of Tyne Combined Authority.
In May 2021, four parish councils of the villages of Elwick, Hart, Dalton Piercy and Greatham all issued individual votes of no confidence in Hartlepool Borough Council, and expressed their desire to join the County Durham district.
In October 2021, County Durham was shortlisted for the UK City of Culture 2025. In May 2022, it lost to Bradford.
Eighteenth century Durham saw the appearance of dissent in the county and the Durham Ox. The county did not assist the Jacobite Rebellion of 1715. The Statue of Neptune in the City of Durham was erected in 1729.
A number of disasters happened in Nineteenth century Durham. The Felling mine disasters happened in 1812, 1813, 1821 and 1847. The Philadelphia train accident happened in 1815. In 1854, there was a great fire in Gateshead. One of the West Stanley Pit disasters happened in 1882. The Victoria Hall disaster happened in 1883.
One of the West Stanley Pit disasters happened in 1909. The Darlington rail crash happened in 1928. The Battle of Stockton happened in 1933. The Browney rail crash happened in 1946.
The First Treaty of Durham was made at Durham in 1136. The Second Treaty of Durham was made at Durham in 1139.
The county regiment was the Durham Light Infantry, which replaced, in particular, the 68th (Durham) Regiment of Foot (Light Infantry) and the Militia and Volunteers of County Durham.
RAF Greatham, RAF Middleton St George and RAF Usworth were located in County Durham.
David I, the King of Scotland, invaded the county in 1136, and ravaged much of the county 1138. In 17 October 1346, the Battle of Neville's Cross was fought at Neville's Cross, near the city of Durham. On 16 December 1914, during the First World War, there was a raid on Hartlepool by the Imperial German Navy.
Chroniclers connected with Durham include the Bede, Symeon of Durham, Geoffrey of Coldingham and Robert de Graystanes.
County Durham has long been associated with coal mining, from medieval times up to the late 20th century. The Durham Coalfield covered a large area of the county, from Bishop Auckland, to Consett, to the River Tyne and below the North Sea, thereby providing a significant expanse of territory from which this rich mineral resource could be extracted.
King Stephen possessed a mine in Durham, which he granted to Bishop Pudsey, and in the same century colliers are mentioned at Coundon, Bishopwearmouth and Sedgefield. Cockfield Fell was one of the earliest Landsale collieries in Durham. Edward III issued an order allowing coal dug at Newcastle to be taken across the Tyne, and Richard II granted to the inhabitants of Durham licence to export the produce of the mines, without paying dues to the corporation of Newcastle. The majority was transported from the Port of Sunderland complex, which was constructed in the 1850s.
Among other early industries, lead-mining was carried on in the western part of the county, and mustard was extensively cultivated. Gateshead had a considerable tanning trade and shipbuilding was undertaken at Jarrow, and at Sunderland, which became the largest shipbuilding town in the world – constructing a third of Britain's tonnage.[citation needed]
The county's modern-era economic history was facilitated significantly by the growth of the mining industry during the nineteenth century. At the industry's height, in the early 20th century, over 170,000 coal miners were employed, and they mined 58,700,000 tons of coal in 1913 alone. As a result, a large number of colliery villages were built throughout the county as the industrial revolution gathered pace.
The railway industry was also a major employer during the industrial revolution, with railways being built throughout the county, such as The Tanfield Railway, The Clarence Railway and The Stockton and Darlington Railway. The growth of this industry occurred alongside the coal industry, as the railways provided a fast, efficient means to move coal from the mines to the ports and provided the fuel for the locomotives. The great railway pioneers Timothy Hackworth, Edward Pease, George Stephenson and Robert Stephenson were all actively involved with developing the railways in tandem with County Durham's coal mining industry. Shildon and Darlington became thriving 'railway towns' and experienced significant growths in population and prosperity; before the railways, just over 100 people lived in Shildon but, by the 1890s, the town was home to around 8,000 people, with Shildon Shops employing almost 3000 people at its height.
However, by the 1930s, the coal mining industry began to diminish and, by the mid-twentieth century, the pits were closing at an increasing rate. In 1951, the Durham County Development Plan highlighted a number of colliery villages, such as Blackhouse, as 'Category D' settlements, in which future development would be prohibited, property would be acquired and demolished, and the population moved to new housing, such as that being built in Newton Aycliffe. Likewise, the railway industry also began to decline, and was significantly brought to a fraction of its former self by the Beeching cuts in the 1960s. Darlington Works closed in 1966 and Shildon Shops followed suit in 1984. The county's last deep mines, at Easington, Vane Tempest, Wearmouth and Westoe, closed in 1993.
Postal Rates from 1801 were charged depending on the distance from London. Durham was allocated the code 263 the approximate mileage from London. From about 1811, a datestamp appeared on letters showing the date the letter was posted. In 1844 a new system was introduced and Durham was allocated the code 267. This system was replaced in 1840 when the first postage stamps were introduced.
According to the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition (1911): "To the Anglo-Saxon period are to be referred portions of the churches of Monk Wearmouth (Sunderland), Jarrow, Escomb near Bishop Auckland, and numerous sculptured crosses, two of which are in situ at Aycliffe. . . . The Decorated and Perpendicular periods are very scantily represented, on account, as is supposed, of the incessant wars between England and Scotland in the 14th and 15th centuries. The principal monastic remains, besides those surrounding Durham cathedral, are those of its subordinate house or "cell," Finchale Priory, beautifully situated by the Wear. The most interesting castles are those of Durham, Raby, Brancepeth and Barnard. There are ruins of castelets or peel-towers at Dalden, Ludworth and Langley Dale. The hospitals of Sherburn, Greatham and Kepyer, founded by early bishops of Durham, retain but few ancient features."
The best remains of the Norman period include Durham Cathedral and Durham Castle, and several parish churches, such as St Laurence Church in Pittington. The Early English period has left the eastern portion of the cathedral, the churches of Darlington, Hartlepool, and St Andrew, Auckland, Sedgefield, and portions of a few other churches.
'Durham Castle and Cathedral' is a designated UNESCO World Heritage Site. Elsewhere in the County there is Auckland Castle.
Accessible Ramp and Footbridge in Autumn at Multnomah Falls on the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area.
Everyone has a right to access our public lands, but few of Glacier's trails were created with accessibility in mind.
A first step to addressing limits to accessibility is to identify them.
Glacier and the National Park Service are using tools—like the orange, one-wheeled device pictured here alongside two rangers and a measuring tape—to evaluate trails in the park using the High Efficiency Trail Assessment Process (HETAP).
HETAP identifies trail variables: grade, cross-slope, trail width, surface material, and more.
This data allows park managers to prioritize future trail improvements, and allow visitors in the future to make more informed decisions.
Photo of the Southernmost portion of the Lost Coast and Hardy Creek, draining into the Pacific, captured via Minolta MD W.Rokkor-X 24mm F/2.8 Lens and the bracketing method of photography alongside California Highway 1, the Shoreline Highway, before sharply turning inland, avoiding the Lost Coast and 20+ miles later terminating at Junction U.S. 101, the Redwood Highway, in the census-designated place of Rockport. King Range, a sub-region of the Coast Range. Lost Coast Region of the North Coast. Mendocino County, Northern California. Early July 2016.
Exposure Time: 1/250 sec. * ISO Speed: ISO-100 * Aperture: F/11 * Bracketing: +1 / -1
Rotterdam - Depot Boijmans Van Beuningen, the world’s first fully accessible art depot, will open its doors in September 2021 at Museumpark in the centre of Rotterdam. With this construction completion, now the museum and the users can start to inhabit the building and fill its spaces with priceless art. Although it will take another year before the real opening, the completion is a special moment . 7,000 lucky persons can make a safe quick visit in 3 days in September 2020.
The assignment for MVRDV Architects was to offer a glimpse behind the scenes of the museum world and make the whole art collection accessible to the public. The reflective round volume responds to its surroundings. The Depot features exhibition halls, a rooftop garden, and a restaurant, in addition to an enormous amount of storage space for art and design.
Depot Boijmans Van Beuningen is the first depot in the world that offers access to a complete collection. The dynamics of the depot are different from those of the museum: no exhibitions are held here, but you can - independently or with a guide - browse through 151,000 art objects. You can also take a look at, for example, conservation and restoration.. Surface 15,000 m²
MVRDV has completed the bowl-like Depot Boijmans Van Beuningen in Rotterdam's Museumpark, which is covered in mirrored glass and topped by a rooftop forest. The art storage facility, which will open to the public in autumn 2021, has been built to house the art collection of the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen in one place for the first time since 1935. Depot Boijmans Van Beuningen contains a mix of storage spaces alongside areas for art maintenance, both of which will be made accessible to visitors after the artwork has been moved there. This makes the facility the first publicly accessible art depot in the world, according to MVRDV Architects, and will offer a new type of experience for museum-goers in the Netherlands.
The Depot Boijmans Van Beuningen measures 12 metres in height and encompasses 15,000 m2. The budget was € 55,000,000. To help reduce its visual impact, MVRDV clad the depot in 1,664 reflective glass panels so that it blends in with its surroundings in the OMA-designed Museumpark. Its bowl-shape was also developed to minimise its footprint. The rooftop features 75 birch trees. Its reflective facade wears the trappings of whatever surrounds it: people passing by, Museumpark's leafy grounds, the clouds, and Rotterdam's dynamic city skyline. Thanks to this reflection, the building is already fully integrated into its surroundings, despite its not insignificant size.
Inside, the building contains several storage spaces alongside studios for the curators and areas for the maintenance of the art. The storage spaces are divided into five different climate zones so that the artefacts can be stored and exhibited according to their specific temperature and humidity requirements, which can vary depending on the materials used to make them. According to MVRDV, the focal point of the depot is its central atrium, which is filled with overlapping staircases and suspended glass display cases that will eventually be filled with art chosen by the museum's curators. This atrium will connect the storage and exhibition spaces to the curators' studios, and offer visitors rare access and insights into how the museum cares and maintains its collection. Once open to the public, the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen's artwork will be displayed throughout the entire building, including on its rooftop restaurant and sculpture garden. The rooftop forest is covered with 75 tall birch trees and was incorporated by the studio to make up for the lost green space and provide views across the city.
MVRDV is an architecture studio based in Rotterdam, which was founded by Winy Maas, Jacob van Rijs and Nathalie de Vries in 1991. The studio won a competition to design the Depot Boijmans Van Beuningen in 2014.
It was developed by the studio with BAM Bouw & Techniek and will be made open to the public after its interiors are completed and the artwork has been moved inside.
Oregon Coast
Cannon Beach is a small coastal city in northwest Oregon. It’s known for its long, sandy shore. Standing tall in the ocean, Haystack Rock is a seasonal haven for tufted puffins.
On a headland to the north, trails in Ecola State Park offer sweeping views of the ocean, coves and a lighthouse. South is Arcadia Beach, with tide pools and a picnic area. Nearby Hug Point has sea caves. Boutiques and galleries dot downtown.
Haystack Rock is a 235-foot (72-meter) sea stack in Cannon Beach, Oregon. It is sometimes claimed locally to be the third-tallest such "intertidal" (meaning it can be reached by land) structure in the world, but there are no official references to support this.
A popular tourist destination, the monolithic rock is adjacent to the beach and accessible by foot at low tide. The Haystack Rock tide pools are home to many intertidal animals, including starfish, sea anemone, crabs, chitons, limpets, and sea slugs. The rock is also a nesting site for many sea birds, including terns and puffins.
(Wikipedia)
This image is best viewed in large screen.
I appreciate your visit and any faves or comments are always greatly appreciated...so thank you very much!
Sonja :-)
Accessible PowerScape 3D play system with shade structures, adaptive whirl and swings, musical instruments, motion activities and much more.
The KOM League
Flash Report
for
Friday, November 13, 2020
For those who care, this Flash Report is accessible by going to: www.flickr.com/photos/60428361@N07/50597060261/
In a note shared with a few readers on November 12 the following statement was made. “Can you imagine having a Friday 13th in the year 2020? I’m optimistic and believing it will not be a bad omen—Amen?” That message elicited many responses. However, around 5:00 a. m. a message was received from a faithful reader that stated “Charlie Pride RIP.” That was news to the old batboy and this response was sent in response to that terse e-mail. “He and Mickey Mantle used to run around together in Dallas. Mickey's mother-in-law told him she'd like to meet Charlie. Mrs. Johnson told me that around two in the morning, shortly thereafter, Mickey came into her bedroom and announced that Pride was in the living room and to get out of bed and meet him.”
Since it was now Friday the 13th a decision was made to look further into the Charlie Pride story and as a result this message was sent to the person apprising me of Pride’s passing.
“Charlie's death has been greatly exaggerated. He is not dead nor doth he sleep in Biblical jargon” www.wideopencountry.com/charley-pride-death-hoax/
With that rumor out of the way it might bode well that this Friday the 13th will be a great day.
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A great loss
In the October 18, 2020 edition of this publication the following paragraph concluded that report. “This publication regrettably carries the news of many deaths. Someone who has read this and other KOM league publication since their inception is now facing the end of their days. That person happens to have known me longer than anyone currently living. It has become my task, duty, honor or whatever to write that person’s obituary. It is a difficult assignment to reduce to a few paragraphs the scope of a life that has now reached 85 years and if the Good Lord permits will be 86 within the next five weeks.”
On Halloween the person mentioned in the previous paragraph left this world for a much better place. The obituary along with a picture of the deceased is carried on this link: www.knellmortuary.com/obituaries/Janice-Elaine-Pinter?obI...
If you availed yourself of perusing that link you will know that the deceased was the sister of this here guy writing the story. But, there is more to the story. Very few people had as much confidence in the KOM league publications than the deceased. When it was opined the writing effort should come to an end my sister would always have a reason why that shouldn’t happen. On one occasion her opinion was that her little brother did more good befriending the old ballplayers and helping them than he ever did in the various churches he pastored. After thinking over that observation for a little while the little brother concurred.
It was always “Little Brother’s” idea that something would cause the KOM league reports to come to a merciful end if not by death but due to another happenstance. When my sister departed, although she hadn’t read any of the material for a few years, the first inclination was that now was the time to shut it down.
A coincidence?
On the same day of the death of Janice Pinter a letter was penned by a long time reader. It didn’t reach the “KOM League Office and Dusty Baseball Register Archives” until November 2. The letter, which was sent in place of an e-mail, had some things that are direct quotes. “A strong suggestion—quit attempting to stop writing. It is not possible to stop.”
Since the aforementioned came from a guy calling himself “Ol Clark” it was necessary to keep reading. Bill Clark is the real name and he has been around the sports world and the actual world many times. He is a living storehouse of great stories which he promises he’s going to share with the world in the form of three books. This writer is dubious that three will be sufficient.
Much of Clark’s baseball archives were destroyed in a fire, two years ago, but I’m sure much of that remains in his total recall memory bank. So, I await his upcoming literary works as much as pondering what to do about continuation of these reports. However, a constant reminder will be ever present. Clark concluded his remarks by stating “So—writers write even when no one reads them.” And for clinchers he said “No charge for the sermon.”
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In the spirit of the times
With the spread of the Chinese plague one is always concerned about the elderly and those with immune deficient conditions. As readers are aware most of the former KOM leaguers are either at least 90 or are so close to it they can see it on the horizon.
At the start of 2020, the top five oldest living former KOM leaguers included Nicholas Timothy Kucher. In going through the listing of Nick or Nicholas Kucher’s, who passed away, there wasn’t anything located in an obituary listing. On a whim his name was entered into Ancestry.com and there was a Find-A-Grave citation for the former KOM leaguer. www.findagrave.com/memorial/214613060/nicholas-kucher
At that juncture an even more concentrated effort was made to find an obituary for the former Ponca City Dodger was undertaken. Even the standby source, Jack Morris, couldn’t locate one either. At that point Morris was advised that an attempt would be made to come up with some information on the deceased.
Nicholas Timothy Kucher was born November 1, 1924 in New York City to Alex and Mary Kucher who were Polish immigrants. On his Sporting News card the word “Ukrainian” is typed on the top of that document as shown here. digital.la84.org/digital/collection/p17103coll3/id/112856...
Upon reaching the age of 18 he signed up for the draft and was listed as living at 315 E. 9th St. in New York and was employed by the Baker and Taylor Company at 55 5th Avenue. He filled out his card as being 6’ and weighing 170 with a scar on his left forehead. It would not have been possible for him to call his employer to report being unable to come to work, for any reason, since the family didn’t own a telephone.
Upon reporting to Ponca City in late April of 1947 this profile was shared under the heading “Meet the Dodgers.” Nick Kucher—is an outfielder, 22 years old and played his first competitive baseball with the Seward Park high school in his home town, New York city. A first baseman in prep school, he worked both the initial sack and the outfield with a semi-pro club last season (1946). He served three years in the marines, including duty at Okinawa and Saipan, and was discharged in 1945. He stands an even 6 feet, weight 172 pound and is single. A lefthanded batter and thrower, Kucher trained at Thomasville, N. C. this spring.”
What led to Kucher coming to Ponca City is contained in this late April, 1947 edition of the Ponca City News. “…Business Manager Owen Martinez announced the trade of George Schneider, 18-year-old New York city lad who has been here since last weekend, for Nick Kucher of the class C Three Rivers, Quebec, club. Schneider left Ponca City by plane in an effort to arrive at Three Rivers in time for the Canadian-American league’s opening game today. Kucher is due here this weekend.”
Upon Kucher’s arrival the KOM league season had not commenced but the Ponca City club was playing exhibition contests around the area. The first game he ever saw was from the bench as his new team was playing the Oklahoma A & M Agvets at Stillwater. This was long before that school was known as the Oklahoma State Cowboys. The Ponca City News reported “Nick Kucher, an outfielder who came in last weekend from Thomasville, N. C., on a trade with Three Rivers, Quebec was on the bench at Stillwater with a sprained ankle will probably be out of play a week, his doctor says.”
When the KOM league season began Kucher was in the outfield playing both right and centerfield but not at the same time. In his first nine games he hit nearly .300 but by his 18th contest his average slipped to the .200 level and his baseball days in the KOM league were history. In a long ago conversation with Kucher he blamed the bad ankle for his not being able to perform at the level he wanted.
Not long after leaving Ponca City Kucher returned to New York and married Anne Zatowsky on January 16, 1948. They lived happily ever after until her death in 2017. When this source communicated with the Kucher’s they lived in East Northport, New York at 154 Cedar Road. They later moved to Commack, New York. I believe that Nick even lived in Scottsdale, Arizona for a time in his later years.
It can’t be determined the day and month Kucher passed away but it was in 2020. Thus, he was either 95-96 when St. Peter came calling.
The ninety two year-old penny
Most of what is contained in this article came from scrapbooks kept by a young female fan of the 1946-48-49 and 1950 Ponca City Dodgers. It is my belief she fell in and out of love with someone on each of those teams. Her scrapbooks followed her to California where they were kept for over 60 years before she finally contacted Gale Wade and offered them to him. Wade, who had played at Ponca City in 1947 and 48, didn’t want those items and suggested she get in touch with a fellow who writes about the KOM league.
In those scrapbooks are hundreds of photos of Ponca City and other KOM league players that included future big leaguers Jim Baxes, Chris Kitsos, Gale Wade and former Dodger Boyd Bartley. The scrapbooks featured many social events such as picnics. Most every box score of Ponca City home games is in those scrapbooks along with a comment about the game inserted by the “keeper of the scrapbooks.” In some places a memento of a game or from a social gathering was included.
For over a decade Yours truly has looked at those scrapbooks, from time to time. One item placed under a box score was a penny scotch taped thereto. It dawned on me, in looking at that page, to decipher the number of games in which Nick Kucher played, that the tape was still holding the penny in place. Peeling back the taped it was a bit exciting to anticipate the date on the penny knowing it had to have been minted in 1947 or earlier. What was on the front of the Lincoln head—wheat ear coin was “1928-D.” On top of that it was in good condition. At the time it was placed in the scrapbook it was only 19 years old.
So, I guess I could offer that penny to some reader for their thoughts. Do I have to say “A penny for your thoughts?”
Who remains?
When a former KOM leaguer passes away a quick check is made to see how many of his teammates remain. As of this moment I believe the list includes: William Skeen, Dale Hendricks, George Fisher, Larry Tarbell and Gale Wade. Robert Clark Taylor and Phillip Adams were never located although there is a high level of suspicion where they currently reside.
In reviewing the list of the members of the 1947 Ponca City Dodgers who were once contacted and then nothing being heard from or about them in a long time included John Dominic Ferluga and Donald Andrew Tisnerat.
John Ferluga was a native of Seattle, Washington born 10/28/1926. He graduated from Queen Ann High School in 1946 and was the opening day hurler for the 1947 Ponca City Dodgers. That was the only game in which he played with them. There has never been an obituary located for him but a listing from his high school alumni publication shows he passed away on 2/13/2017 in Renton, WA.
Donald Andrew Tisnerat was born 4/14/1927 in Long Beach, CA . He also pitched for the 1947 Ponca City Club. He had graduated from David Starr Jordan high school in Long Beach and served in the U. S. Navy during WW II. He lived in a number of places and when this source contacted him a couple of decades ago he was living in Las Vegas, NV. That is where he passed away on 6/29/2014. He was buried at the Riverside National Cemetery in Riverside, CA. That is a spectacular and somber place. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riverside_National_Cemetery
Plaisirs d'Hiver et marche de Noel 2016
Du 25 novembre 2016 au 1er janvier 2017 dans le centre de Bruxelles.
Les Plaisirs d'Hiver, le grand marche des fetes de fin d'annee, revient dans le centre de la Ville de Bruxelles. L'evenement s'organise sur la Grand-Place de Bruxelles et autour de la Bourse, sur la place de la Monnaie, sur la place Sainte-Catherine et sur la place du Marche aux Poissons (Vismet).
Les Plaisirs d'Hiver 2016 c'est aussi:
* un marche de Noel de plus de 200 chalets
* des animations de Noel (maneges, grande roue, ...)
* une patinoire de glace (couverte) sur la place de la Monnaie (jusqu'au dimanche 8 janvier)
* un gigantesque sapin de Noel et des animations lumineuses (sons et lumieres) sur la Grand-Place
* concert de Lost Frequencies (mercredi 30 novembre, Grand-Place)
* Impulsion: playground lumineux au pied de la Bourse
* des visites guidees
* Origami Lights: Odyssee lumineuse a travers le Japon - video mapping (Eglise Sainte-Catherine)
From 2 December 2016 to 5 February 2017, as the daylight recedes and gives way to the long and seemingly never-ending nights of the winter season, Brussels will light up, thanks to the Bright Brussels Winter project! An initiative of the Brussels-Capital region, you can follow a majestic circuit of light all around the inner ring, which will shine and sparkle with ten or so artistic light displays. Shimmering and impressive, these creations, accessible to all, light up several key areas of the city: the Place Stephanie, the Place Poelaert, the Square du Bastion, the Place du Luxembourg, the Botanical Garden, the Place Rogier, the Place Sainctelette, the Porte de Flandre, and the Stock Exchange (La Bourse). Private initiatives such as the Belfius tower, the P-V tower, and the ING Marnix will also be showing holiday spirit, adding to the spectacle. If you take a stroll along certain roads and in certain outer neighbourhoods such as the Avenue Louise, the Chaussee de Charleroi, the Avenue de la Toison d'or, and the Boulevard de Waterloo (Rue du Grand Cerf, Rue Jourdan, Rue Dejonker, Goulet Louise, or the Chaussee de Gant), you can dive into a true Christmas atmosphere with magical decorations. On foot, by bicycle, or by car, at last you will have a good reason to get out and rediscover our beautiful capital, thanks to a host of artistic works created by international artists. From the giant mirror ball to new and original works and majestically decorated buildings, the whole heart of Brussels will be transformed.
Diploria strigosa - fossil symmetrical brain coral colony in the reef facies of the Cockburn Town Member, upper Grotto Beach Formation at the Cockburn Town Fossil Reef, western margin of San Salvador Island.
The Cockburn Town Fossil Reef is a well-preserved, well-exposed Pleistocene fossil reef. It consists of non-bedded to poorly-bedded, poorly-sorted, very coarse-grained, aragonitic fossiliferous limestones (grainstones and rubblestones), representing shallow marine deposition in reef and peri-reef facies. Cockburn Town Member reef facies rocks date to the MIS 5e sea level highstand event (early Late Pleistocene). Dated corals in the Cockburn Town Fossil Reef range in age from 114 to 127 ka.
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The surface bedrock geology of San Salvador consists entirely of Pleistocene and Holocene limestones. Thick and relatively unforgiving vegetation covers most of the island’s interior (apart from inland lakes). Because of this, the most easily-accessible rock outcrops are along the island’s shorelines.
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Stratigraphic Succession in the Bahamas:
Rice Bay Formation (Holocene, <10 ka), subdivided into two members (Hanna Bay Member over North Point Member)
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Grotto Beach Formation (lower Upper Pleistocene, 119-131 ka), subdivided into two members (Cockburn Town Member over French Bay Member)
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Owl's Hole Formation (Middle Pleistocene, ~215-220 ka & ~327-333 ka & ~398-410 ka & older)
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San Salvador’s surface bedrock can be divided into two broad lithologic categories:
1) LIMESTONES
2) PALEOSOLS
The limestones were deposited during sea level highstands (actually, only during the highest of the highstands). During such highstands (for example, right now), the San Salvador carbonate platform is partly flooded by ocean water. At such times, the “carbonate factory” is on, and abundant carbonate sediment grains are generated by shallow-water organisms living on the platform. The abundance of carbonate sediment means there will be abundant carbonate sedimentary rock formed after burial and cementation (diagenesis). These sea level highstands correspond with the climatically warm interglacials during the Pleistocene Ice Age.
Based on geochronologic dating on various Bahamas islands, and based on a modern understanding of the history of Pleistocene-Holocene global sea level changes, surficial limestones in the Bahamas are known to have been deposited at the following times (expressed in terms of marine isotope stages, “MIS” - these are the glacial-interglacial climatic cycles determined from δ18O analysis):
1) MIS 1 - the Holocene, <10 k.y. This is the current sea level highstand.
2) MIS 5e - during the Sangamonian Interglacial, in the early Late Pleistocene, from 119 to 131 k.y. (sea level peaked at ~125 k.y.)
3) MIS 7 - ~215 to 220 k.y. - late Middle Pleistocene
4) MIS 9 - ~327-333 k.y. - late Middle Pleistocene
5) MIS 11 - ~398-410 k.y. - late Middle Pleistocene
Bahamian limestones deposited during MIS 1 are called the Rice Bay Formation. Limestones deposited during MIS 5e are called the Grotto Beach Formation. Limestones deposited during MIS 7, 9, 11, and perhaps as old as MIS 13 and 15, are called the Owl’s Hole Formation. These stratigraphic units were first established on San Salvador Island (the type sections are there), but geologic work elsewhere has shown that the same stratigraphic succession also applies to the rest of the Bahamas.
During times of lowstands (= times of climatically cold glacial intervals of the Pleistocene Ice Age), weathering and pedogenesis results in the development of soils. With burial and diagenesis, these soils become paleosols. The most common paleosol type in the Bahamas is calcrete (a.k.a. caliche; a.k.a. terra rosa). Calcrete horizons cap all Pleistocene-aged stratigraphic units in the Bahamas, except where erosion has removed them. Calcretes separate all major stratigraphic units. Sometimes, calcrete-looking horizons are encountered in the field that are not true paleosols.
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Subsurface Stratigraphy of San Salvador Island:
The island’s stratigraphy below the Owl’s Hole Formation was revealed by a core drilled down ~168 meters (~550-feet) below the surface (for details, see Supko, 1977). The well site was at 3 meters above sea level near Graham’s Harbour beach, between Line Hole Settlement and Singer Bar Point (northern margin of San Salvador Island). The first 37 meters were limestones. Below that, dolostones dominate, alternating with some mixed dolostone-limestone intervals. Reddish-brown calcretes separate major units. Supko (1977) infers that the lowest rocks in the core are Upper Miocene to Lower Pliocene, based on known Bahamas Platform subsidence rates.
In light of the successful island-to-island correlations of Middle Pleistocene, Upper Pleistocene, and Holocene units throughout the Bahamas (see the Bahamas geologic literature list below), it seems reasonable to conclude that San Salvador’s subsurface dolostones may correlate well with sub-Pleistocene dolostone units exposed in the far-southeastern portions of the Bahamas Platform.
Recent field work on Mayaguana Island has resulted in the identification of Miocene, Pliocene, and Lower Pleistocene surface outcrops (see: www2.newark.ohio-state.edu/facultystaff/personal/jstjohn/...). On Mayaguana, the worked-out stratigraphy is:
- Rice Bay Formation (Holocene)
- Grotto Beach Formation (Upper Pleistocene)
- Owl’s Hole Formation (Middle Pleistocene)
- Misery Point Formation (Lower Pleistocene)
- Timber Bay Formation (Pliocene)
- Little Bay Formation (Upper Miocene)
- Mayaguana Formation (Lower Miocene)
The Timber Bay Fm. and Little Bay Fm. are completely dolomitized. The Mayaguana Fm. is ~5% dolomitized. The Misery Point Fm. is nondolomitized, but the original aragonite mineralogy is absent.
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The stratigraphic information presented here is synthesized from the Bahamian geologic literature.
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Supko, P.R. 1977. Subsurface dolomites, San Salvador, Bahamas. Journal of Sedimentary Petrology 47: 1063-1077.
Bowman, P.A. & J.W. Teeter. 1982. The distribution of living and fossil Foraminifera and their use in the interpretation of the post-Pleistocene history of Little Lake, San Salvador, Bahamas. San Salvador Field Station Occasional Papers 1982(2). 21 pp.
Sanger, D.B. & J.W. Teeter. 1982. The distribution of living and fossil Ostracoda and their use in the interpretation of the post-Pleistocene history of Little Lake, San Salvador Island, Bahamas. San Salvador Field Station Occasional Papers 1982(1). 26 pp.
Gerace, D.T., R.W. Adams, J.E. Mylroie, R. Titus, E.E. Hinman, H.A. Curran & J.L. Carew. 1983. Field Guide to the Geology of San Salvador (Third Edition). 172 pp.
Curran, H.A. 1984. Ichnology of Pleistocene carbonates on San Salvador, Bahamas. Journal of Paleontology 58: 312-321.
Anderson, C.B. & M.R. Boardman. 1987. Sedimentary gradients in a high-energy carbonate lagoon, Snow Bay, San Salvador, Bahamas. CCFL Bahamian Field Station Occasional Paper 1987(2). (31) pp.
1988. Bahamas Project. pp. 21-48 in First Keck Research Symposium in Geology (Abstracts Volume), Beloit College, Beloit, Wisconsin, 14-17 April 1988.
1989. Proceedings of the Fourth Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas, June 17-22, 1988. 381 pp.
1989. Pleistocene and Holocene carbonate systems, Bahamas. pp. 18-51 in Second Keck Research Symposium in Geology (Abstracts Volume), Colorado College, Colorado Springs, Colorado, 14-16 April 1989.
Curran, H.A., J.L. Carew, J.E. Mylroie, B. White, R.J. Bain & J.W. Teeter. 1989. Pleistocene and Holocene carbonate environments on San Salvador Island, Bahamas. 28th International Geological Congress Field Trip Guidebook T175. 46 pp.
1990. The 5th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas, June 15-19, 1990, Abstracts and Programs. 29 pp.
1991. Proceedings of the Fifth Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas. 247 pp.
1992. The 6th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas, June 11-15, 1992, Abstracts and Program. 26 pp.
1992. Proceedings of the 4th Symposium on the Natural History of the Bahamas, June 7-11, 1991. 123 pp.
Boardman, M.R., C. Carney, B. White, H.A. Curran & D.T. Gerace. 1992. The geology of Columbus' landfall: a field guide to the Holcoene geology of San Salvador, Bahamas, Field trip 3 for the annual meeting of the Geological Society of America, Cincinnati, Ohio, October 26-29, 1992. Ohio Division of Geological Survey Miscellaneous Report 2. 49 pp.
Carew, J.L., J.E. Mylroie, N.E. Sealey, M. Boardman, C. Carney, B. White, H.A. Curran & D.T. Gerace. 1992. The 6th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas, June 11-15, 1992, Field Trip Guidebook. 56 pp.
1993. Proceedings of the 6th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas, June 11-15, 1992. 222 pp.
Lawson, B.M. 1993. Shelling San Sal, an Illustrated Guide to Common Shells of San Salvador Island, Bahamas. San Salvador, Bahamas. Bahamian Field Station. 63 pp.
1994. The 7th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas, June 16-20, 1994, Abstracts and Program. 26 pp.
1994. Proceedings of the 5th Symposium on the Natural History of the Bahamas, June 11-14, 1993. 107 pp.
Carew, J.L. & J.E. Mylroie. 1994. Geology and Karst of San Salvador Island, Bahamas: a Field Trip Guidebook. 32 pp.
Godfrey, P.J., R.L. Davis, R.R. Smtih & J.A. Wells. 1994. Natural History of Northeastern San Salvador Island: a "New World" Where the New World Began, Bahamian Field Station Trail Guide. 28 pp.
Hinman, G. 1994. A Teacher's Guide to the Depositional Environments on San Salvador Island, Bahamas. 64 pp.
Mylroie, J.E. & J.L. Carew. 1994. A Field Trip Guide Book of Lighthouse Cave, San Salvador Island, Bahamas. 10 pp.
1995. Proceedings of the Seventh Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas, June 16-20, 1994. 134 pp.
1995. Terrestrial and shallow marine geology of the Bahamas and Bermuda. Geological Society of America Special Paper 300.
1996. The 8th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas, May 30-June 3, 1996, Abstracts and Program. 21 pp.
1996. Proceedings of the 6th Symposium on the Natural History of the Bahamas, June 9-13, 1995. 165 pp.
1997. Proceedings of the 8th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas and Other Carbonate Regions, May 30-June 3, 1996. 213 pp.
Curran, H.A., B. White & M.A. Wilson. 1997. Guide to Bahamian Ichnology: Pleistocene, Holocene, and Modern Environments. San Salvador, Bahamas. Bahamian Field Station. 61 pp.
1998. The 9th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas and Other Carbonate Regions, June 4-June 8, 1998, Abstracts and Program. 25 pp.
Wilson, M.A., H.A. Curran & B. White. 1998. Paleontological evidence of a brief global sea-level event during the last interglacial. Lethaia 31: 241-250.
1999. Proceedings of the 9th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas and Other Carbonate Regions, June 4-8, 1998. 142 pp.
2000. The 10th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas and Other Carbonate Regions, June 8-June 12, 2000, Abstracts and Program. 29+(1) pp.
2001. Proceedings of the 10th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas and Other Carbonate Regions, June 8-12, 2000. 200 pp.
Bishop, D. & B.J. Greenstein. 2001. The effects of Hurricane Floyd on the fidelity of coral life and death assemblages in San Salvador, Bahamas: does a hurricane leave a signature in the fossil record? Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs 33(4): 51.
Gamble, V.C., S.J. Carpenter & L.A. Gonzalez. 2001. Using carbon and oxygen isotopic values from acroporid corals to interpret temperature fluctuations around an unconformable surface on San Salvador Island, Bahamas. Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs 33(4): 52.
Gardiner, L. 2001. Stability of Late Pleistocene reef mollusks from San Salvador Island, Bahamas. Palaios 16: 372-386.
Ogarek, S.A., C.K. Carney & M.R. Boardman. 2001. Paleoenvironmental analysis of the Holocene sediments of Pigeon Creek, San Salvador, Bahamas. Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs 33(4): 17.
Schmidt, D.A., C.K. Carney & M.R. Boardman. 2001. Pleistocene reef facies diagenesis within two shallowing-upward sequences at Cockburntown, San Salvador, Bahamas. Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs 33(4): 42.
2002. The 11th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas and Other Carbonate Regions, June 6th-June 10, 2002, Abstracts and Program. 29 pp.
2004. The 12th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas and Other Carbonate Regions, June 3-June 7, 2004, Abstracts and Program. 33 pp.
2004. Proceedings of the 11th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas and Other Carbonate Regions, June 6-10, 2002. 240 pp.
Martin, A.J. 2006. Trace Fossils of San Salvador. 80 pp.
2006. Proceedings of the 12th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas and Other Carbonate Regions, June 3-7, 2004. 249 pp.
2006. The 13th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas and Other Carbonate Regions, June 8-June 12, 2006, Abstracts and Program. 27 pp.
Mylroie, J.E. & J.L. Carew. 2008. Field Guide to the Geology and Karst Geomorphology of San Salvador Island. 88 pp.
2008. Proceedings of the 13th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas and Other Carbonate Regions, June 8-12, 2006. 223 pp.
2008. The 14th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas and Other Carbonate Regions, June 12-June 16, 2006, Abstracts and Program. 26 pp.
2010. Proceedings of the 14th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas and Other Carbonate Regions, June 12-16, 2008. 249 pp.
2010. The 15th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas and Other Carbonate Regions, June 17-June 21, 2010, Abstracts and Program. 36 pp.
2012. Proceedings of the 15th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas and Other Carbonate Regions, June 17-21, 2010. 183 pp.
2012. The 16th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas and Other Carbonate Regions, June 14-June 18, 2012, Abstracts with Program. 45 pp.
Bolam Lake Country Park is a country park in Northumberland, England, near the village of Bolam and about 9 miles (14 km) west of Morpeth. It is signposted off the A696 road from Belsay.
History
The lake and woodlands were laid out by John Dobson for Reverend John Beresford, Baron Decies, the owner of the Bolam estate, who wanted to provide work for local people during a period of economic decline. The project, started in 1816, took three years to complete. The site was landscaped, and designed to provide picturesque views of nearby features in the countryside. The lake was created from a swampy area known as Bolam Bog.
By 1945 the grounds had grown wild; in 1972 the estate was purchased by Northumberland County Council in order to create a country park. In 2016 the lake and landscaped surroundings celebrated their 200th anniversary.
Description
The park, area 26.48 hectares (65.4 acres); has a lake, woodlands and open grassland. There are walks throughout the park, including a fully accessible path around the lake.
Wildlife in the park includes roe deer and red squirrels; there are swans and other waterfowl on the lake. Woodland birds to be seen include great spotted woodpecker, bullfinch, nuthatch and treecreeper.
There is a visitor centre and café next to the Boathouse Wood Car Park, to the north of the lake.
Bolam is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Belsay in the county of Northumberland, England. The village is about 20 miles (32 km) north-west of Newcastle upon Tyne, near Bolam West Houses. In 1951 the civil parish had a population of 60. On 1 April 1955 the parish was abolished and merged with Belsay.
History
The Church of England parish church of St Andrew has a late Saxon west tower and is a Grade I listed building.[3]
Shortflatt Tower, about 1.5 miles (2.4 km) south-west of the village, is a late 15th or early 16th century pele tower, with a 17th-century house attached, and is also Grade I listed.
Bolam is the burial place of Robert de Reymes, a wealthy Suffolk merchant, who in 1296 began the building of Aydon Castle, near Corbridge.
Landmarks
Bolam Lake Country Park is next to the village.
Three archaeological sites are nearby: Huckhoe Settlement, an iron Age and Romano-British defended settlement; Slate Hill Settlement, an Iron Age defended settlement; and The Poind and his Man, a Neolithic site.
Northumberland is a ceremonial county in North East England, bordering Scotland. It is bordered by the Scottish Borders to the north, the North Sea to the east, Tyne and Wear and County Durham to the south, and Cumbria to the west. The town of Blyth is the largest settlement.
The county has an area of 5,013 km2 (1,936 sq mi) and a population of 320,274, making it the least-densely populated county in England. The south-east contains the largest towns: Blyth (37,339), Cramlington (27,683), Ashington (27,670), and Morpeth (14,304), which is the administrative centre. The remainder of the county is rural, and the largest towns are Berwick-upon-Tweed (12,043) in the far north and Hexham (13,097) in the west. For local government purposes the county is a unitary authority area. The county historically included the parts of Tyne and Wear north of the River Tyne.
The west of Northumberland contains part of the Cheviot Hills and North Pennines, while to the east the land becomes flatter before reaching the coast. The Cheviot (815 m (2,674 ft)), after which the range of hills is named, is the county's highest point. The county contains the source of the River North Tyne and much of the South Tyne; near Hexham they combine to form the Tyne, which exits into Tyne and Wear shortly downstream. The other major rivers in Northumberland are, from south to north, the Blyth, Coquet, Aln, Wansbeck and Tweed, the last of which forms part of the Scottish border. The county contains Northumberland National Park and two national landscapes: the Northumberland Coast and part of the North Pennines.
Much of the county's history has been defined by its position on a border. In the Roman era most of the county lay north of Hadrian's Wall, and the region was contested between England and Scotland into the Early Modern era, leading to the construction of many castles, peel towers and bastle houses, and the early modern fortifications at Berwick-upon-Tweed. Northumberland is also associated with Celtic Christianity, particularly the tidal island of Lindisfarne. During the Industrial Revolution the area had significant coal mining, shipbuilding, and armaments industries.
Northumberland, England's northernmost county, is a land where Roman occupiers once guarded a walled frontier, Anglian invaders fought with Celtic natives, and Norman lords built castles to suppress rebellion and defend a contested border with Scotland. The present-day county is a vestige of an independent kingdom that once stretched from Edinburgh to the Humber, hence its name, meaning literally 'north of the Humber'.[1] Reflecting its tumultuous past, Northumberland has more castles than any other county in England, and the greatest number of recognised battle sites. Once an economically important region that supplied much of the coal that powered the industrial revolution, Northumberland is now a primarily rural county with a small and gradually shrinking population.
Prehistory
As attested by many instances of rock art, the Northumberland region has a rich prehistory. Archeologists have studied a Mesolithic structure at Howick, which dates to 7500 BC and was identified as Britain's oldest house until it lost this title in 2010 when the discovery of the even older Star Carr house in North Yorkshire was announced, which dates to 8770 BC. They have also found tools, ornaments, building structures and cairns dating to the bronze and iron ages, when the area was occupied by Brythonic Celtic peoples who had migrated from continental Europe, most likely the Votadini whose territory stretched from Edinburgh and the Firth of Forth to Northumberland. It is not clear where the boundary between the Votadini and the other large tribe, the Brigantes, was, although it probably frequently shifted as a result of wars and as smaller tribes and communities changed allegiances. Unlike neighbouring tribes, Votadini farms were surrounded by large walls, banks and ditches and the people made offerings of fine metal objects, but never wore massive armlets. There are also at least three very large hillforts in their territory (Yeavering Bell, Eildon Hill and Traprain Law, the latter two now in Scotland), each was located on the top of a prominent hill or mountain. The hillforts may have been used for over a thousand years by this time as places of refuge and as places for meetings for political and religious ceremonies. Duddo Five Stones in North Northumberland and the Goatstones near Hadrian's Wall are stone circles dating from the Bronze Age.
Roman occupation
When Gnaeus Julius Agricola was appointed Roman governor of Britain in 78 AD, most of northern Britain was still controlled by native British tribes. During his governorship Agricola extended Roman control north of Eboracum (York) and into what is now Scotland. Roman settlements, garrisons and roads were established throughout the Northumberland region.
The northern frontier of the Roman occupation fluctuated between Pons Aelius (now Newcastle) and the Forth. Hadrian's Wall was completed by about 130 AD, to define and defend the northern boundary of Roman Britain. By 142, the Romans had completed the Antonine Wall, a more northerly defensive border lying between the Forth and Clyde. However, by 164 they abandoned the Antonine Wall to consolidate defences at Hadrian's Wall.
Two important Roman roads in the region were the Stanegate and Dere Street, the latter extending through the Cheviot Hills to locations well north of the Tweed. Located at the intersection of these two roads, Coria (Corbridge), a Roman supply-base, was the most northerly large town in the Roman Empire. The Roman forts of Vercovicium (Housesteads) on Hadrian's Wall, and Vindolanda (Chesterholm) built to guard the Stanegate, had extensive civil settlements surrounding them.
The Celtic peoples living in the region between the Tyne and the Forth were known to the Romans as the Votadini. When not under direct Roman rule, they functioned as a friendly client kingdom, a somewhat porous buffer against the more warlike Picts to the north.
The gradual Roman withdrawal from Britain in the 5th century led to a poorly documented age of conflict and chaos as different peoples contested territories in northern Britain.
Archaeology
Nearly 2000-year-old Roman boxing gloves were uncovered at Vindolanda in 2017 by the Vidolanda Trust experts led by Dr Andrew Birley. According to the Guardian, being similar in style and function to the full-hand modern boxing gloves, these two gloves found at Vindolanda look like leather bands date back to 120 AD. It is suggested that based on their difference from gladiator gloves warriors using this type of gloves had no purpose to kill each other. These gloves were probably used in a sport for promoting fighting skills. The gloves are currently displayed at Vindolanda's museum.
Anglian Kingdoms of Deira, Bernicia and Northumbria
Conquests by Anglian invaders led to the establishment of the kingdoms of Deira and Bernicia. The first Anglian settlement was effected in 547 by Ida, who, accompanied by his six sons, pushed through the narrow strip of territory between the Cheviots and the sea, and set up a fortress at Bamburgh, which became the royal seat of the Bernician kings. About the end of the 6th century Bernicia was first united with the rival kingdom of Deira under the rule of Æthelfrith of Northumbria, and the district between the Humber and the Forth became known as the kingdom of Northumbria.
After Æthelfrith was killed in battle around 616, Edwin of Deira became king of Northumbria. Æthelfrith's son Oswald fled northwest to the Gaelic kingdom of Dál Riata where he was converted to Christianity by the monks of Iona. Meanwhile, Paulinus, the first bishop of York, converted King Edwin to Roman Christianity and began an extensive program of conversion and baptism. By his time the kingdom must have reached the west coast, as Edwin is said to have conquered the islands of Anglesey and Man. Under Edwin the Northumbrian kingdom became the chief power in Britain. However, when Cadwallon ap Cadfan defeated Edwin at Hatfield Chase in 633, Northumbria was divided into the former kingdoms of Bernicia and Deira and Christianity suffered a temporary decline.
In 634, Oswald defeated Cadwallon ap Cadfan at the Battle of Heavenfield, resulting in the re-unification of Northumbria. Oswald re-established Christianity in the kingdom and assigned a bishopric at Hexham, where Wilfrid erected a famous early English church. Reunification was followed by a period of Northumbrian expansion into Pictish territory and growing dominance over the Celtic kingdoms of Dál Riata and Strathclyde to the west. Northumbrian encroachments were abruptly curtailed in 685, when Ecgfrith suffered complete defeat by a Pictish force at the Battle of Nechtansmere.
Monastic culture
When Saint Aidan came at the request of Oswald to preach to the Northumbrians he chose the island of Lindisfarne as the site of his church and monastery, and made it the head of the diocese which he founded in 635. For some years the see continued in peace, numbering among its bishops Saint Cuthbert, but in 793 Vikings landed on the island and burnt the settlement, killing many of the monks. The survivors, however, rebuilt the church and continued to live there until 883, when, through fear of a second invasion of the Danes, they fled inland, taking with them the body of Cuthbert and other holy relics.
Against this background, the monasteries of Northumbria developed some remarkably influential cultural products. Cædmon, a monk at Whitby Abbey, authored one of the earliest surviving examples of Old English poetry some time before 680. The Lindisfarne Gospels, an early example of insular art, is attributed to Eadfrith, the bishop of Lindisfarne from 698 to 721. Stenton (1971, p. 191) describes the book as follows.
In mere script it is no more than an admirable example of a noble style, and the figure drawing of its illustrations, though probably based on classical models, has more than a touch of naïveté. Its unique importance is due to the beauty and astonishing intricacy of its decoration. The nature of its ornament connects it very closely with a group of Irish manuscripts of which the Book of Kells is the most famous.
Bede's writing, at the Northumbrian monasteries at Wearmouth and Jarrow, gained him a reputation as the most learned scholar of his age. His work is notable for both its breadth (encompassing history, theology, science and literature) and quality, exemplified by the rigorous use of citation. Bede's most famous work is Ecclesiastical History of the English People, which is regarded as a highly influential early model of historical scholarship.
Earldom of Northumbria
Main article: Earl of Northumbria
The kingdom of Northumbria ceased to exist in 927, when it was incorporated into England as an earldom by Athelstan, the first king of a united England[citation needed].. In 937, Athelstan's victory over a combined Norse-Celtic force in the battle of Brunanburh secured England's control of its northern territory.
The Scottish king Indulf captured Edinburgh in 954, which thenceforth remained in possession of the Scots. His successors made repeated attempts to extend their territory southwards. Malcolm II was finally successful, when, in 1018, he annihilated the Northumbrian army at Carham on the Tweed, and Eadulf the earl of Northumbria ceded all his territory to the north of that river as the price of peace. Henceforth Lothian, consisting of the former region of Northumbria between the Forth and the Tweed, remained in possession of the Scottish kings.
The term Northumberland was first recorded in its contracted modern sense in 1065 in an entry in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle relating to a rebellion against Tostig Godwinson.
Norman Conquest
The vigorous resistance of Northumbria to William the Conqueror was punished by ruthless harrying, mostly south of the River Tees. As recounted by the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle:
A.D. 1068. This year King William gave Earl Robert the earldom over Northumberland; but the landsmen attacked him in the town of Durham, and slew him, and nine hundred men with him. Soon afterwards Edgar Etheling came with all the Northumbrians to York; and the townsmen made a treaty with him: but King William came from the South unawares on them with a large army, and put them to flight, and slew on the spot those who could not escape; which were many hundred men; and plundered the town. St. Peter's minster he made a profanation, and all other places also he despoiled and trampled upon; and the ethelling went back again to Scotland.
The Normans rebuilt the Anglian monasteries of Lindisfarne, Hexham and Tynemouth, and founded Norman abbeys at Newminster (1139), Alnwick (1147), Brinkburn (1180), Hulne, and Blanchland. Castles were built at Newcastle (1080), Alnwick (1096), Bamburgh (1131), Harbottle (1157), Prudhoe (1172), Warkworth (1205), Chillingham, Ford (1287), Dunstanburgh (1313), Morpeth, Langley (1350), Wark on Tweed and Norham (1121), the latter an enclave of the palatine bishops of Durham.
Northumberland county is not mentioned in the Domesday Survey, but the account of the issues of the county, as rendered by Odard the sheriff, is entered in the Great Roll of the Exchequer for 1131.
In 1237, Scotland renounced claims to Northumberland county in the Treaty of York.
During the reign of Edward I (1272–1307), the county of Northumberland was the district between the Tees and the Tweed, and had within it several scattered liberties subject to other powers: Durham, Sadberge, Bedlingtonshire, and Norhamshire belonging to the bishop of Durham; Hexhamshire to the archbishop of York; Tynedale to the king of Scotland; Emildon to the earl of Lancaster; and Redesdale to Gilbert de Umfraville, Earl of Angus. These franchises were exempt from the ordinary jurisdiction of the shire. Over time, some were incorporated within the county: Tynedale in 1495; Hexhamshire in 1572; and Norhamshire, Islandshire and Bedlingtonshire by the Counties (Detached Parts) Act 1844.
Council of the North
The county court for Northumberland was held at different times at Newcastle, Alnwick and Morpeth, until by statute of 1549 it was ordered that the court should thenceforth be held in the town and castle of Alnwick. Under the same statute the sheriffs of Northumberland, who had been in the habit of appropriating the issues of the county to their private use, were required thereafter to deliver in their accounts to the Exchequer in the same manner as the sheriffs of other counties.
Border wars, reivers and rebels
From the Norman Conquest until the union of England and Scotland under James I and VI, Northumberland was the scene of perpetual inroads and devastations by the Scots. Norham, Alnwick and Wark were captured by David I of Scotland in the wars of Stephen's reign. In 1174, during his invasion of Northumbria, William I of Scotland, also known as William the Lion, was captured by a party of about four hundred mounted knights, led by Ranulf de Glanvill.[citation needed] This incident became known as the Battle of Alnwick. In 1295, Robert de Ros and the earls of Athol and Menteith ravaged Redesdale, Coquetdale and Tynedale. In 1314 the county was ravaged by king Robert Bruce. And so dire was the Scottish threat in 1382, that by special enactment the earl of Northumberland was ordered to remain on his estates to protect the border. In 1388, Henry Percy was taken prisoner and 1500 of his men slain at the battle of Otterburn, immortalised in the ballad of Chevy Chase.
Alnwick, Bamburgh and Dunstanburgh were garrisoned for the Lancastrian cause in 1462, but after the Yorkist victories of Hexham and Hedgley Moor in 1464, Alnwick and Dunstanburgh surrendered, and Bamburgh was taken by storm.
In September 1513, King James IV of Scotland was killed at the Battle of Flodden on Branxton Moor.
Roman Catholic support in Northumberland for Mary, Queen of Scots, led to the Rising of the North in 1569.
Harbottle
Border Reivers
Peel tower
Union and Civil War
After uniting the English and Scottish thrones, James VI and I sharply curbed the lawlessness of the border reivers and brought relative peace to the region. There were Church of Scotland congregations in Northumberland in the 17th and 18th centuries.
During the Civil War of the 17th century, Newcastle was garrisoned for the king by the earl of Newcastle, but in 1644 it was captured by the Scots under the earl of Leven, and in 1646 Charles I was led there a captive under the charge of David Leslie.
Many of the chief Northumberland families were ruined in the Jacobite rebellion of 1715.
Industrialisation
The mineral resources of the area appear to have been exploited to some extent from remote times. It is certain that coal was used by the Romans in Northumberland, and some coal ornaments found at Angerton have been attributed to the 7th century. In a 13th-century grant to Newminster Abbey a road for the conveyance of sea coal from the shore about Blyth is mentioned, and the Blyth coal field was worked throughout the 14th and 15th centuries. The coal trade on the Tyne did not exist to any extent before the 13th century, but from that period it developed rapidly, and Newcastle acquired the monopoly of the river shipping and coal trade. Lead was exported from Newcastle in the 12th century, probably from Hexhamshire, the lead mines of which were very prosperous throughout the 16th and 17th centuries. In a charter from Richard I to Hugh de Puiset creating him earl of Northumberland, mines of silver and iron are mentioned. A salt pan is mentioned at Warkworth in the 12th century; in the 13th century the salt industry flourished at the mouth of the river Blyth, and in the 15th century formed the principal occupation of the inhabitants of North and South Shields. In the reign of Elizabeth I, glass factories were set up at Newcastle by foreign refugees, and the industry spread rapidly along the Tyne. Tanning, both of leather and of nets, was largely practised in the 13th century, and the salmon fisheries in the Tyne were famous in the reign of Henry I.
John Smeaton designed the Coldstream Bridge and a bridge at Hexham.
Stephenson's Rocket
Invention of the steam turbine by Charles Algernon Parsons
Mollusc-rich fossiliferous limestone of the Grotto Beach Formation (Upper Pleistocene) near the shoreline of Moon Rock Pond, northeastern San Salvador Island, eastern Bahamas.
The fossiliferous limestone shown above is dominated by fossil bivalves and gastropods - readily recognizable species include Codakia orbicularis (tiger lucine clam), Bulla occidentalis (West Indies bubble snail), Laevicardium serratum (common egg cockle), and trochids (top snails). This is part of the Cockburn Town Member of the Grotto Beach Limestone (lower Upper Pleistocene, Sangamonian, MIS 5e, 119-131 ka).
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The surface bedrock geology of San Salvador consists entirely of Pleistocene and Holocene limestones. Thick and relatively unforgiving vegetation covers most of the island’s interior (apart from inland lakes). Because of this, the most easily-accessible rock outcrops are along the island’s shorelines.
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Stratigraphic Succession in the Bahamas:
Rice Bay Formation (Holocene, <10 ka), subdivided into two members (Hanna Bay Member over North Point Member)
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Grotto Beach Formation (lower Upper Pleistocene, 119-131 ka), subdivided into two members (Cockburn Town Member over French Bay Member)
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Owl's Hole Formation (Middle Pleistocene, ~215-220 ka & ~327-333 ka & ~398-410 ka & older)
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San Salvador’s surface bedrock can be divided into two broad lithologic categories:
1) LIMESTONES
2) PALEOSOLS
The limestones were deposited during sea level highstands (actually, only during the highest of the highstands). During such highstands (for example, right now), the San Salvador carbonate platform is partly flooded by ocean water. At such times, the “carbonate factory” is on, and abundant carbonate sediment grains are generated by shallow-water organisms living on the platform. The abundance of carbonate sediment means there will be abundant carbonate sedimentary rock formed after burial and cementation (diagenesis). These sea level highstands correspond with the climatically warm interglacials during the Pleistocene Ice Age.
Based on geochronologic dating on various Bahamas islands, and based on a modern understanding of the history of Pleistocene-Holocene global sea level changes, surficial limestones in the Bahamas are known to have been deposited at the following times (expressed in terms of marine isotope stages, “MIS” - these are the glacial-interglacial climatic cycles determined from δ18O analysis):
1) MIS 1 - the Holocene, <10 k.y. This is the current sea level highstand.
2) MIS 5e - during the Sangamonian Interglacial, in the early Late Pleistocene, from 119 to 131 k.y. (sea level peaked at ~125 k.y.)
3) MIS 7 - ~215 to 220 k.y. - late Middle Pleistocene
4) MIS 9 - ~327-333 k.y. - late Middle Pleistocene
5) MIS 11 - ~398-410 k.y. - late Middle Pleistocene
Bahamian limestones deposited during MIS 1 are called the Rice Bay Formation. Limestones deposited during MIS 5e are called the Grotto Beach Formation. Limestones deposited during MIS 7, 9, 11, and perhaps as old as MIS 13 and 15, are called the Owl’s Hole Formation. These stratigraphic units were first established on San Salvador Island (the type sections are there), but geologic work elsewhere has shown that the same stratigraphic succession also applies to the rest of the Bahamas.
During times of lowstands (= times of climatically cold glacial intervals of the Pleistocene Ice Age), weathering and pedogenesis results in the development of soils. With burial and diagenesis, these soils become paleosols. The most common paleosol type in the Bahamas is calcrete (a.k.a. caliche; a.k.a. terra rosa). Calcrete horizons cap all Pleistocene-aged stratigraphic units in the Bahamas, except where erosion has removed them. Calcretes separate all major stratigraphic units. Sometimes, calcrete-looking horizons are encountered in the field that are not true paleosols.
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Subsurface Stratigraphy of San Salvador Island:
The island’s stratigraphy below the Owl’s Hole Formation was revealed by a core drilled down ~168 meters (~550-feet) below the surface (for details, see Supko, 1977). The well site was at 3 meters above sea level near Graham’s Harbour beach, between Line Hole Settlement and Singer Bar Point (northern margin of San Salvador Island). The first 37 meters were limestones. Below that, dolostones dominate, alternating with some mixed dolostone-limestone intervals. Reddish-brown calcretes separate major units. Supko (1977) infers that the lowest rocks in the core are Upper Miocene to Lower Pliocene, based on known Bahamas Platform subsidence rates.
In light of the successful island-to-island correlations of Middle Pleistocene, Upper Pleistocene, and Holocene units throughout the Bahamas (see the Bahamas geologic literature list below), it seems reasonable to conclude that San Salvador’s subsurface dolostones may correlate well with sub-Pleistocene dolostone units exposed in the far-southeastern portions of the Bahamas Platform.
Recent field work on Mayaguana Island has resulted in the identification of Miocene, Pliocene, and Lower Pleistocene surface outcrops (see: www2.newark.ohio-state.edu/facultystaff/personal/jstjohn/...). On Mayaguana, the worked-out stratigraphy is:
- Rice Bay Formation (Holocene)
- Grotto Beach Formation (Upper Pleistocene)
- Owl’s Hole Formation (Middle Pleistocene)
- Misery Point Formation (Lower Pleistocene)
- Timber Bay Formation (Pliocene)
- Little Bay Formation (Upper Miocene)
- Mayaguana Formation (Lower Miocene)
The Timber Bay Fm. and Little Bay Fm. are completely dolomitized. The Mayaguana Fm. is ~5% dolomitized. The Misery Point Fm. is nondolomitized, but the original aragonite mineralogy is absent.
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The stratigraphic information presented here is synthesized from the Bahamian geologic literature.
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Supko, P.R. 1977. Subsurface dolomites, San Salvador, Bahamas. Journal of Sedimentary Petrology 47: 1063-1077.
Bowman, P.A. & J.W. Teeter. 1982. The distribution of living and fossil Foraminifera and their use in the interpretation of the post-Pleistocene history of Little Lake, San Salvador, Bahamas. San Salvador Field Station Occasional Papers 1982(2). 21 pp.
Sanger, D.B. & J.W. Teeter. 1982. The distribution of living and fossil Ostracoda and their use in the interpretation of the post-Pleistocene history of Little Lake, San Salvador Island, Bahamas. San Salvador Field Station Occasional Papers 1982(1). 26 pp.
Gerace, D.T., R.W. Adams, J.E. Mylroie, R. Titus, E.E. Hinman, H.A. Curran & J.L. Carew. 1983. Field Guide to the Geology of San Salvador (Third Edition). 172 pp.
Curran, H.A. 1984. Ichnology of Pleistocene carbonates on San Salvador, Bahamas. Journal of Paleontology 58: 312-321.
Anderson, C.B. & M.R. Boardman. 1987. Sedimentary gradients in a high-energy carbonate lagoon, Snow Bay, San Salvador, Bahamas. CCFL Bahamian Field Station Occasional Paper 1987(2). (31) pp.
1988. Bahamas Project. pp. 21-48 in First Keck Research Symposium in Geology (Abstracts Volume), Beloit College, Beloit, Wisconsin, 14-17 April 1988.
1989. Proceedings of the Fourth Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas, June 17-22, 1988. 381 pp.
1989. Pleistocene and Holocene carbonate systems, Bahamas. pp. 18-51 in Second Keck Research Symposium in Geology (Abstracts Volume), Colorado College, Colorado Springs, Colorado, 14-16 April 1989.
Curran, H.A., J.L. Carew, J.E. Mylroie, B. White, R.J. Bain & J.W. Teeter. 1989. Pleistocene and Holocene carbonate environments on San Salvador Island, Bahamas. 28th International Geological Congress Field Trip Guidebook T175. 46 pp.
1990. The 5th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas, June 15-19, 1990, Abstracts and Programs. 29 pp.
1991. Proceedings of the Fifth Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas. 247 pp.
1992. The 6th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas, June 11-15, 1992, Abstracts and Program. 26 pp.
1992. Proceedings of the 4th Symposium on the Natural History of the Bahamas, June 7-11, 1991. 123 pp.
Boardman, M.R., C. Carney, B. White, H.A. Curran & D.T. Gerace. 1992. The geology of Columbus' landfall: a field guide to the Holcoene geology of San Salvador, Bahamas, Field trip 3 for the annual meeting of the Geological Society of America, Cincinnati, Ohio, October 26-29, 1992. Ohio Division of Geological Survey Miscellaneous Report 2. 49 pp.
Carew, J.L., J.E. Mylroie, N.E. Sealey, M. Boardman, C. Carney, B. White, H.A. Curran & D.T. Gerace. 1992. The 6th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas, June 11-15, 1992, Field Trip Guidebook. 56 pp.
1993. Proceedings of the 6th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas, June 11-15, 1992. 222 pp.
Lawson, B.M. 1993. Shelling San Sal, an Illustrated Guide to Common Shells of San Salvador Island, Bahamas. San Salvador, Bahamas. Bahamian Field Station. 63 pp.
1994. The 7th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas, June 16-20, 1994, Abstracts and Program. 26 pp.
1994. Proceedings of the 5th Symposium on the Natural History of the Bahamas, June 11-14, 1993. 107 pp.
Carew, J.L. & J.E. Mylroie. 1994. Geology and Karst of San Salvador Island, Bahamas: a Field Trip Guidebook. 32 pp.
Godfrey, P.J., R.L. Davis, R.R. Smtih & J.A. Wells. 1994. Natural History of Northeastern San Salvador Island: a "New World" Where the New World Began, Bahamian Field Station Trail Guide. 28 pp.
Hinman, G. 1994. A Teacher's Guide to the Depositional Environments on San Salvador Island, Bahamas. 64 pp.
Mylroie, J.E. & J.L. Carew. 1994. A Field Trip Guide Book of Lighthouse Cave, San Salvador Island, Bahamas. 10 pp.
1995. Proceedings of the Seventh Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas, June 16-20, 1994. 134 pp.
1995. Terrestrial and shallow marine geology of the Bahamas and Bermuda. Geological Society of America Special Paper 300.
1996. The 8th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas, May 30-June 3, 1996, Abstracts and Program. 21 pp.
1996. Proceedings of the 6th Symposium on the Natural History of the Bahamas, June 9-13, 1995. 165 pp.
1997. Proceedings of the 8th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas and Other Carbonate Regions, May 30-June 3, 1996. 213 pp.
Curran, H.A., B. White & M.A. Wilson. 1997. Guide to Bahamian Ichnology: Pleistocene, Holocene, and Modern Environments. San Salvador, Bahamas. Bahamian Field Station. 61 pp.
1998. The 9th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas and Other Carbonate Regions, June 4-June 8, 1998, Abstracts and Program. 25 pp.
Wilson, M.A., H.A. Curran & B. White. 1998. Paleontological evidence of a brief global sea-level event during the last interglacial. Lethaia 31: 241-250.
1999. Proceedings of the 9th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas and Other Carbonate Regions, June 4-8, 1998. 142 pp.
2000. The 10th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas and Other Carbonate Regions, June 8-June 12, 2000, Abstracts and Program. 29+(1) pp.
2001. Proceedings of the 10th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas and Other Carbonate Regions, June 8-12, 2000. 200 pp.
Bishop, D. & B.J. Greenstein. 2001. The effects of Hurricane Floyd on the fidelity of coral life and death assemblages in San Salvador, Bahamas: does a hurricane leave a signature in the fossil record? Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs 33(4): 51.
Gamble, V.C., S.J. Carpenter & L.A. Gonzalez. 2001. Using carbon and oxygen isotopic values from acroporid corals to interpret temperature fluctuations around an unconformable surface on San Salvador Island, Bahamas. Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs 33(4): 52.
Gardiner, L. 2001. Stability of Late Pleistocene reef mollusks from San Salvador Island, Bahamas. Palaios 16: 372-386.
Ogarek, S.A., C.K. Carney & M.R. Boardman. 2001. Paleoenvironmental analysis of the Holocene sediments of Pigeon Creek, San Salvador, Bahamas. Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs 33(4): 17.
Schmidt, D.A., C.K. Carney & M.R. Boardman. 2001. Pleistocene reef facies diagenesis within two shallowing-upward sequences at Cockburntown, San Salvador, Bahamas. Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs 33(4): 42.
2002. The 11th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas and Other Carbonate Regions, June 6th-June 10, 2002, Abstracts and Program. 29 pp.
2004. The 12th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas and Other Carbonate Regions, June 3-June 7, 2004, Abstracts and Program. 33 pp.
2004. Proceedings of the 11th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas and Other Carbonate Regions, June 6-10, 2002. 240 pp.
Martin, A.J. 2006. Trace Fossils of San Salvador. 80 pp.
2006. Proceedings of the 12th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas and Other Carbonate Regions, June 3-7, 2004. 249 pp.
2006. The 13th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas and Other Carbonate Regions, June 8-June 12, 2006, Abstracts and Program. 27 pp.
Mylroie, J.E. & J.L. Carew. 2008. Field Guide to the Geology and Karst Geomorphology of San Salvador Island. 88 pp.
2008. Proceedings of the 13th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas and Other Carbonate Regions, June 8-12, 2006. 223 pp.
2008. The 14th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas and Other Carbonate Regions, June 12-June 16, 2006, Abstracts and Program. 26 pp.
2010. Proceedings of the 14th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas and Other Carbonate Regions, June 12-16, 2008. 249 pp.
2010. The 15th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas and Other Carbonate Regions, June 17-June 21, 2010, Abstracts and Program. 36 pp.
2012. Proceedings of the 15th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas and Other Carbonate Regions, June 17-21, 2010. 183 pp.
2012. The 16th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas and Other Carbonate Regions, June 14-June 18, 2012, Abstracts with Program. 45 pp.
The grey squirrel is one of the most accessible animals to photograph in the UK, mainly due to their inquisitive nature and their acceptance of humans.
These little critters were original native only to North America but can now be found all over Europe, having become an invasive species here.
I managed to get a nice picture of this little guy during a recent trip to my local park. I like the contrasting shadow on half the squirrel's face and the small, solitary leaf - which I feel highlights the idea that autumn is well and truly over and winter has arrived.
Snapped by James.
This picture is currently available to purchase as a print from our Etsy store: www.etsy.com/uk/shop/CJPhotographyUK
Canyon rim along the upper section of the trail to Wildhorse Lake, July 10, 2018, by Greg Shine, BLM.
Take yourself on a challenging hike down to Wildhorse Lake and Wildhorse Creek Wild and Scenic River, below the Steens Mountain rim. Don't forget that you need to hike back out, though!
The lake is accessible from a trail starting at the Wildhorse Lake Overlook, which is just off the Steens Mountain Loop Road near the summit.
Wildhorse Lake (and nearby Little Wildhorse Lake) provide vernal high elevation pools, talus and cliffs, willows, and adjacent upland vegetation which together provide a diversity of wildlife habitats.
Wildhorse Creek Wild and Scenic River provides habitat for California bighorn sheep and a variety of wildlife from headwaters to canyon mouths. Species such as pika can be found at upper elevations. They also contain interesting and unique assemblages of vegetative communities.
Know Before You Go:
• Limited water sources – carry enough water and food to last your entire trip, and do not drink from untested water sources.
• Ticks, mosquitoes, and rattlesnakes in certain areas during spring and summer.
• Weather conditions – the mountain’s high elevation can cause rapid temperature changes. Blustery, 100-degree days are common and snow can fall year-round. Be prepared for sudden lightning storms, snow, rain, and high winds.
• Long distances between services – including gas stations, phones, and cell phone reception. Let someone at home know where you plan to go and when you plan to return. Phone service should not be relied on for emergency communication. Always start your trip with a full tank of fuel and call ahead for current information about fuel availability in the Steens Mountain area. Fuel may be available in the towns of Fields, Frenchglen, Crane, or the Narrows.
• Rough terrain – deep canyons and rocky slopes are a natural party of the rugged mountain territory. Elevation can change from less than 4,000 feet to over 9,000 feet in just a few miles. We recommend high clearance or 4x4 vehicles for primitive roads, including the steep and rocky portion of the Steens Mountain Loop Road near South Steens Campground. The rest of the Steens Mountain Loop Road can accommodate passenger cars at lower speeds. High quality tires are a must for all vehicles, even when traveling on maintained routes.
• Livestock and wildlife on roadways – much of southeast Oregon is open range. Be alert, drive with caution, and plan to share roadways with cattle, deer, elk, antelope, wild horses, and rabbits!
• Staying Found – the remote nature and vast landscape of the Steens Mountain area may leave even the most experienced traveler directionally confused or just plain lost. Traveling with a current map of the area is essential! Don’t hesitate to talk to locals - area landowners and Federal employees are generally visible in the Steens Mountain area. We welcome your visit and have information to help you.
More Info: www.blm.gov/visit/wildhorse-creek-wild-scenic-river
www.blm.gov/programs/recreation/recreation-activities/ore...
Contact:
Bums District
Bureau of Land Management
28910 Hwy 20 West
Hines, OR 97738
541-573-4400
The only fully low floor bus in Sydney, prototype Scania N310UA Volgren CR228L 2112 sits at Sydenham between 430s.
2112 was a trial bus for the STA, testing fully low floor layouts. 2112s engine is mounted vertically at the rear of the bus allowing for step and ramp free access down the length of the bus.
Children with additional support needs will have improved access to nursery education thanks to £2 million announced by First Minister Nicola Sturgeon today.
The money will fund specialist training and equipment to ensure all nurseries offering the free early learning and childcare (ELC) entitlement are equipped to care for children with additional support needs
The First Minister and Mark McDonald, Minister for Childcare and Early Years announced the funding while visiting Smile Childcare Early Years Centre in Wester Hailes, Edinburgh.
Paved, accessible trail in the Lava Lands Trail of Molten Lands in Newberry Volcano National Monument
Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada
by navema
The Journey Behind the Falls —accessible by elevators from the street level entrance – consists of an observation platform and series of tunnels near the bottom of the Horseshoe Falls on the Canadian side. Elevators descend 150 feet through bedrock to tunnels that lead and to the Cataract Portal and the Great Falls Portal which is one third of the way behind the massive sheet of water. One can walk on to the Upper and Lower Observation Decks at the very foot of the Falls.
For over 400 years people have traveled from around the globe to experience the spectacle of Niagara, one of the world’s most impressive waterfalls. In early times, the only way to get up close to the Falls was to climb down the steep bank and over huge boulders, or down crude “ladders” created from fallen trees.
The first enclosed stairs were built in 1818 and a spiral staircase was constructed in 1832 for visitors to enter what was then called the “Sheet of Falling Water” attraction. The admission fee was $1, and for an additional dollar, certificates were presented to those who had completed the trip behind the Falls. In 1885, The Niagara Parks Commission was created to maintain the area around the Falls. In 1887, the Commissioners removed the staircase and installed a water hydraulic powered elevator. The lift held 8 to 10 visitors with their guides and took almost a minute to make the up or down trip. The first tunnels were built in 1889. Visitors were taken through the tunnel by guides carrying lanterns.
In 1902, the hydraulic lift was taken over by the Ontario Power Company when they began construction of the Ontario Power House. This plant is now decommissioned, but still sits at the river’s edge below the Falls. In exchange for using the hydraulic elevator, the Ontario Power Company agreed to sink a shaft through the rock and construct an electric elevator and a new “scenic tunnel”. In 1925, work began on a new Table Rock House. In the new building, the elevator to the "Scenic Tunnels" attraction was twinned and dressing rooms were built for visitors to get ready with heavy rubber rain coats and boots.
As the brink of the Falls receded, tunnel extensions were made as required, until 1944 when a new tunnel was cut into the rock about 18 meters behind the original one. These tunnels were lined with concrete and lit by electricity and are the tunnels still used today. In 1951, an observation plaza was added and in 1990, the raincoats and boots were discontinued, replaced by light biodegradable rain ponchos which may be kept as a souvenir. In 1994, the name of the Scenic Tunnels was changed to Journey Behind the Falls.
ABOUT THE FALLS:
The Niagara Falls are voluminous waterfalls on the Niagara River, straddling the international border between the Canadian province of Ontario and the U.S. State of New York. The falls are between the twin cities of Niagara Falls, Ontario, and Niagara Falls, New York.
Niagara Falls is composed of two major sections separated by Goat Island: the Horseshoe Falls (about 173 ft tall, 2,600 ft wide), which today is entirely on the Canadian side of the border, and the American Falls (between 70–100 feet tall, 1,060 feet wide) on the American side. The smaller Bridal Veil Falls are also located on the American side, separated from the main falls by Luna Island.
Niagara Falls were formed when glaciers receded at the end of the Wisconsin glaciation (the last ice age), and water from the newly formed Great Lakes carved a path through the Niagara Escarpment en route to the Atlantic Ocean. While not exceptionally high, the Niagara Falls are very wide. More than 6 million cubic feet of water falls over the crest line every minute in high flow, and almost 4 million cubic feet on average. It is the most powerful waterfall in North America.
The Niagara Falls are renowned both for their beauty and as a valuable source of hydroelectric power. Managing the balance between recreational, commercial, and industrial uses has been a challenge for the stewards of the falls since the 19th century.
There are differing theories as to the origin of the name of the falls. "Niagara" is either derived from the name given to a branch of the locally residing native Neutral Confederacy, who are described as being called the "Niagagarega" people on several late 17th century French maps of the area. Or, it comes from the name of an Iroquois town called "Ongniaahra", meaning "point of land cut in two".
In 1848, demand for passage over the Niagara River led to the building of a footbridge and then Charles Ellet's Niagara Suspension Bridge. This was supplanted by German-born John Augustus Roebling's Niagara Falls Suspension Bridge in 1855. After the American Civil War, the New York Central railroad publicized Niagara Falls as a focus of pleasure and honeymoon visits. With increased railroad traffic, in 1886, Leffert Buck replaced Roebling's wood and stone bridge with the predominantly steel bridge that still carries trains over the Niagara River today. The first steel archway bridge near the falls was completed in 1897. Known today as the Whirlpool Rapids Bridge, it carries vehicles, trains, and pedestrians between Canada (through Canadian Customs Border Control) and the U.S.A. just below the falls. In 1941 the Niagara Falls Bridge Commission completed the third current crossing in the immediate area of Niagara Falls with the Rainbow Bridge, carrying both pedestrian and vehicular traffic between the two countries and Canadian and U.S. customs for each country.
On the Canadian side, Queen Victoria Park features manicured gardens, platforms offering spectacular views of both the American and Horseshoe Falls, and underground walkways leading into observation rooms which yield the illusion of being within the falling waters. The observation deck of the nearby Skylon Tower offers the highest overhead view of the falls, and in the opposite direction gives views as far as distant Toronto. Along with the Minolta Tower (formerly the Seagrams Tower, currently the Konica Minolta Tower), it is one of two towers in Canada with a view of the falls.
The Whirlpool Aero Car, built in 1916 from a design by Spanish engineer Leonardo Torres y Quevedo, is a cable car which takes passengers over the whirlpool on the Canadian side. There are two casinos on the Canadian side of Niagara Falls, the Niagara Fallsview Casino Resort and Casino Niagara. The former is situated in the Fallsview Tourist Area, alongside many of the area's hotels, whilst the latter is adjacent to Clifton Hill, on Falls Avenue, a major tourist promenade.
The Maid of the Mist is a diesel-engined steamship boat that takes passengers from the Canadian docks, past the base of the American Falls, then into the basin of the Canadian Horseshoe Falls. Operating from late April/early May (weather dependent) to October 24 each year, the Maid departs every 15 minutes, and the ride lasts approximately 20 minutes. Two 600-passenger boats, Maids VI and VII, are each 80-feet long.
OVER THE FALLS:
In October 1829, Sam Patch, who called himself "the Yankee Leapster", jumped from a high tower into the gorge below the falls and survived; this began a long tradition of daredevils trying to go over the falls. On October 24, 1901, 63-year-old Michigan school teacher Annie Edson Taylor was the first person to go over the falls in a barrel as a publicity stunt; she survived, bleeding, but virtually unharmed. Previous to Taylor's own attempt, on October 19 a domestic cat named Iagara was sent over the Horseshoe Falls in her barrel to test its strength. Contrary to rumors at the time, the cat survived the plunge unharmed and later was posed with Taylor in photographs. Since Taylor's historic ride, 14 other people have intentionally gone over the falls in or on a device, despite her advice. Some have survived unharmed, but others have drowned or been severely injured. Survivors of such stunts face charges and stiff fines, as it is illegal, on both sides of the border, to attempt to go over the falls.
Other daredevils have made crossing the Falls their goal, starting with the successful passage by Jean François "Blondin" Gravelet in 1859. These tightrope walkers drew huge crowds to witness their exploits. Their wires ran across the gorge, near the current Rainbow Bridge, not over the waterfall itself. Among the many was Ontario's William Hunt, who billed himself as "The Great Farini" and competed with Blondin in performing outrageous stunts over the gorge. Englishman Captain Matthew Webb, the first man to swim the English Channel, drowned in 1883 after unsuccessfully trying to swim the rapids down river from the falls.
In the "Miracle at Niagara", Roger Woodward, a seven-year-old American boy, was swept over the Horseshoe Falls protected only by a life vest on July 9, 1960, as two tourists pulled his 17-year-old sister Deanne from the river only 20 feet from the lip of the Horseshoe Falls at Goat Island. Minutes later, Woodward was plucked from the roiling plunge pool beneath the Horseshoe Falls after grabbing a life ring thrown to him by the crew of the Maid of the Mist boat.
On July 2, 1984, Canadian Karel Soucek from Hamilton, Ontario successfully plunged over the Horseshoe Falls in a barrel with only minor injuries. Soucek was fined $500 for performing the stunt without a license. In 1985, he was fatally injured while attempting to re-create the Niagara drop at the Houston Astrodome. His aim was to climb into a barrel hoisted to the rafters of the Astrodome and to drop 180 feet into a water tank on the floor. After his barrel released prematurely, it hit the side of the tank and he died the next day from his injuries.
In August 1985, Steve Trotter, an aspiring stunt man from Rhode Island, became the youngest person ever (age 22) and the first American in 25 years to go over the falls in a barrel. Ten years later, Trotter went over the falls again, becoming the second person to go over the falls twice and survive. It was also the second-ever "duo"; Lori Martin joined Trotter for the barrel ride over the falls. They survived the fall but their barrel became stuck at the bottom of the falls, requiring a rescue.
On September 28, 1989 Niagara's own Peter DeBernardi (42) and Jeffery James Petkovich (25) became the first "team" to successfully make it over the falls in a two person barrel. The stunt was conceived by Peter DeBenardi, who wanted to discourage the youth of the time from following in his path of addictive drug use. Peter was also trying to leave a legacy and discourage his son Kyle Lahey DeBernardi (2) from using addictive drugs. Peter DeBernardi had initially expected to have a different passenger, however Peter's original partner backed out and Peter was forced to look for an alternative, and Jeffery Petkovich agreed to the stunt. Peter claims he spent an estimated $30,000 making his barrel including; harness's steel and fiberglass construction with steel bands and viewing ports. Peter's Barrel also included a radio for music and news reports, rudders to help steer the barrel through the falls, oxygen, and a well protected video camera to record the journey over the edge. They emerged shortly after going over with minor injuries and were charged with performing an illegal stunt under the Niagara Parks Act.
Kirk Jones of Canton, Michigan became the first known person to survive a plunge over the Horseshoe Falls without a flotation device on October 20, 2003. While it is still not known whether Jones was determined to commit suicide, he survived the 16-story fall with only battered ribs, scrapes, and bruises.
A second person survived an unprotected trip over the Horseshoe Falls on March 11, 2009 and when rescued from the river, was reported to be suffering from severe hypothermia and a large wound to his head. His identity has not been released. Eyewitnesses reported seeing the man intentionally enter the water.