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Reso the Spear-Chucker.
In the uncontested lands between the Holy Empire of Regentum and the mountain strongholds of the Dwarven nation of Rolheim exist no mans land where tribal bands of bestial races compete with one another in endless conflict. Towards the center of this territory there is as a low laying section, sunken and wide, but also consisting of many hills, little rivers, creeks and the occasional murky swamp lake. It is a lonely and windy stretch of land of irregular width, but hundreds of miles in length. The bestial races call this place the Jurka, which is Goblin for "the crack".
Towards the far northern end of the Jurka lies a remote twisted knot of rivers, marshes and creeks in which an obscure Goblin tribe remained isolated for many years. While the region is populated with both plenty of deer and wild turkey, the majorities of these animals are caught almost entirely by near by Orcs and Ogres. To adapt the Goblins took to spearing fish and rabbits. Over generations nature decreed the Goblins most fit for survival were the ones most agile with the spear, and necessity through the years shaped the individuals of this tribe to innately have superb aim with thrown weapons.
Though this talent alone could not save them when Hobgoblin raiders from the Kulshychi tribe came and seized them all to serve as cannon fodder. Forced to serve as shock troops, these Goblins were first taken eastward to the pirate city state of Bayport and then used as meat shields against the infamous foreign terrorist Orcs the trail of ash. Only a handful of Goblins survived this battle, including one particular Goblin who's name was Reso. After serving the original purpose the Goblins were first enslaved for the Kulshychi Hobgoblins kept the survivors around as guards and fodder of one of their holdings in Bayport. Reso bought his time and trained hard in martial prowess. Having lived a rural monocultural existence his whole life, living with in the squalid urban multicultural slums of Bayport came as quite a shock to him. One drunken night while he was guarding a tower he looked out upon the city right at sunrise, and was utterly revolted by the sight of the crammed packed filth and factories belching greenish black smoke and was driven to suicide. He stood on the towers ledge and fell forward. But in his stumble a new feeling consumed him, and he managed to grab a ledge and pull himself back up. That feeling was revenge.
One day Reso and the surviving Goblins were loaded on board to a ship full of pirates the Kulshychi had ties with and were instructed to attack a ship first that the pirates were going to raid. Sensing an opportunity to get away, Reso leaped on board the ship they were raiding, but went and hid. During the melee he tossed a barrel over board and leaped into the water after it. He hid in the barrel and eventually washed to shore not too far from the city of Scardale. Reso eventually made his way to Scardale and for a time lived in a little shack he made out of crates that he built under a pier. Reso survived by the way he knew best, he speared fish and small game, this time wharf rats and stray cats.
He spent a fall and winter living under the pier content in pure survival and solitude, until one day when Reso's hunting caught the attention of a burly human who found himself waking up on the the end of an obscure derelict pier after a long night of drinking and whoring. Impressed with Reso's ability with a spear the guy called out to him in Goblin and introduced himself as Pursa Tomee. Pursa claimed he had a gang that could use someone with Rso's talents and said that they could be of good use to one another. Confused Reso turned downed the offer, but Pursa told him where to find him if he changed his mind.
Reso lived his whole in terms of being either the hunter or the hunted. He had no sense of mutuality and there for was confused by Pursa's appeal to mutual benefit. In Reso's world you either commanded or you obeyed, you were either eating or being eaten. Perplexed by Pursa, little Reso sat in his shack roasting a cat on the fire thinking about the offer when a strange slithering noise from outside sent the air on the back of his neck straight up.
A huge ebony worm/eel-like creature was twisting around between the sand and waters, looking for prey. In that instance Reso knew he was not the hunter he was once again the food and it was time for him to go.
Pursa and his gang lived in an abandoned stables in the slums of Scardale. Besides Pursa there were a few derelict humans, a Bugbear they called Simon, and a few Mongrel folk. When Reso found the place they were all sitting out back with a barrel of stolen moonshine and roasting potatoes. Pursa welcomed him in and introduced him to everyone. Only Simon and Pursa knew how to speak Goblin. Pursa explained to Reso that Simon and he were escaped Gladiator slaves from the city of Elaine who got away when their owner sold them and they escaped during their transport. They've been hiding out in the slums of Scardale trying to survive and gather enough resources to get far away from Regentum. Mainly their efforts consisted of thefts, burglary and a bit of pit fighting. Pursa was hoping to move on to mercenary work, but given his lack of resources he wasn't having much success recruiting skilled men.
Reso teamed up with them and quickly got the nickname Spear-Chucker. By the spring things were looking up for the gang even though no one took them seriously enough to hire them for mercenary work, they still managed to get enough jobs being enforcers and debt collectors that they got along in their means. One time they were paid by a whore house to dispose of a body of a John who got to rough with the girls and was stabbed to death. In exchange for this they gave the gang the dead John's belongings, including a large covered wagon with a few horses. Amongst the belongings was also a company log book for a company called Ficklestein Bestiaries, a Gnomish owned company that captured and sold dangerous animals to prospective buyers. This John worked for Ficklestein Bestiaries and was on his way to the town of Salsburg to pick up a new creature.
The gang decided that they were gonna go there and rob Ficklestein Bestiaries of whatever the creature was, sell it and take off for good far, far away.
Lyle, a worthless drunk in the group, led the wagon while Simon, Pursa and Reso hid in the back with a few Mongrels, and Dally, a halfling hooker who happened to be good with a sling shot so she convinced them that bringing her was a good idea. Lyle and Dally sat in the open, driving the wagon pretending to be wandering junk goods dealers while in route to Salsburg. The gang had a easy and comical trip cross across the eastern half of Regentum and surprisingly got away with at least that portion of their mission.
However during the actual robbery of Ficklestein Bestiaries things went terribly bad.
Ficklestein Bestiaries had captured a Bulette, a large and incredibly viscous creature that resembles a massive, armored four legged shark-like monstrosity of all teeth and appetite. When it got loose it made short order of the agents of Ficklestein Bestiaries and most of the gang. Only Simon, Pursa, Reso and a Mongrel called Jahger survived. Out of Ficklestein Bestiaries one Gnome survived and reported the incident to the authorities. All the gang members have a 800 GP each bounty on their heads put up by Ficklestein Bestiaries who wants their heads on sticks.
Reso the Spear-Chucker and his friends are on the run, stealing and raiding on their way into fate.
St Andrew's has been a bugbear of mine, it is a unusual looking Kentish church, a short drive from my house, and yet I have found it always locked.
I was now on a run of successes and so hoped to find it open for the riders and striders, and for me too.
I parked hard against the high bank beside the road, parking here is always problematic. You approach the church up steep steps, and from the lesser used side, I did not know if the door would be open, but I could hear voices.
I was in luck, sitting outside in the warm sunshine was a warden, apparently waiting for his wife to relieve his time on duty, but I was still greeted warmly and encouraged to go inside, as if that was necessary.
St Andrews sits in a quiet corner of a quiet village. The main Dover to Sandwich road is a couple of hundred yards away, but you can just hear the sounds of the countryside. Attractive houses and cottages huddle together on the other side of the road, and once in the small churchyard, you can look down on them.
St Andrew's has a small squat tower, and so is un-Kentish, but conforms to the usual Norman two cell layout, and once inside, feels ancient, much thanks to the sympathetic improvements done during the 19th century.
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A dark and atmospheric church on a steep hill above the village-end. Built of flint with stone and brick work of later periods it has changed little in a hundred years. The Victorian benefactors who refurnished the church did us a great favour – keeping the best of the old whilst giving us the best of the new. Most windows are by Kempe and some are uncommonly good – especially King David in the low side window of the nave. Both nave altars had their own arch and window and the Victorian Rood Screen creates a medieval effect. In the chancel is a fine late medieval brass to one of the owners of Dane Court – the big house of the village, because it has always been on the wall it is in pristine condition. The gorgeous reredos by Powell’s showing Christ the Alpha and Omega is especially fine. Outside the gate is a good set of village stocks!
www.kentchurches.info/church.asp?p=Tilmanstone
The church, which is dedicated to St. Andrew, is a small mean building, consisting of a body and chancel, with a square tower at the west end, very low, but formerly higher, having been taken down a few years ago; there is one bell in it. In the chancel, against the east wall, is a brass plate, on it are the figures of a man and woman, on his side one son, on her's three daughters, all kneeling, with the arms of Fogg, with a label of three points, impaling Sackville, with a crescent, for Richard Fogg, esq. and Anne his wife; he died in 1598. A gravestone for Richard Fogg, esq. father of fourteen children, famous for his poetry, and skill in heraldry, obt. 1680. A gravestone for Jane, daughter of the Rev. Strangford Viol, late rector of Upminster, in Essex, and Jane his wife, daughter of Richard Fogg, esq. obt. 1719; she married Edward Jacob, surgeon, of Canterbury, who died in 1756. In the east window are three shields of painted glass; the first, the field gone, On a chief, azure, three lions rampant, or; on the sides in black letter, Sir John Lisle, knt. The field was probably or; second, Gules, a cross, argent; third, azure, a bend cotized, argent, between six martlets of the second, under which was formerly this legend, Orate p aia Wi. Tonge, now obliterated. In the north window are remaining four figures; first, a man in armour with a shield, having a plain cross on it, on his breast, in the attitude of thrusting a lance through the jaws of a beast lying at his feet; probably, by the cross designed for St. George; second, a young man crowned; third, an older man crowned, with a globe and sceptre in his hands, and seemingly weeping; fourth, an antient man kneeling, full bearded, on his shoulder a child holding a globe and sceptre, to which he is looking up. In the south window is the figure of a man bearded, with a palmer's bonnet on, and staff, holding in his right hand a book. In the body of the church, a marble monument against the north wall, near the chancel, and inscription, shewing that in the vault underneath are deposited the remains of Michael Hatton, esq. of Dane-court, obt. 1776; also Mrs. Alice Hatton, his widow, obt. 1791; arms, Azure, a chevron, between three wheat sheaves, or, impaling gules, three lilies, argent, stalked and leaved, vert. A monument against the same wall for Thomas Michael Tierney, late student of Brazen Noze college, Oxford, and son of Thomas Tierney, of London, by Savine his wife, obt. 1770, at Arras, in France, on his return to England, æt. 19. On seven different gravestones are memorials for the Smiths, resident at Thornton, from the year 1632 to 1664. In the windows of this church were formerly much more painted glass, both of figures and coats of arms.
This church was antiently part of the possessions of the knights hospitallers of St. John of Jerusalem, to whom it was appropriated by archbishop Langton, about the end of king John's reign; the archbishop reserving to himself and successors, the nomination and institution of a vicar, and at the same time he endowed the vicarage, decreeing that the vicar should receive the whole altarage, and the moiety of all the tithes belonging to this church, and a certain messuage, &c. belonging to it; (fn. 3) in which state the appropriation and vi carage of this church remained until the dissolution of the above order, in the 32d year of king Henry VIII.'s reign, when they both came into the king's hands, and remained there till the year 1558, being the last of Philip and Mary, when the advowson of the vicarage was granted among others to the archbishop; and the appropriation likewise in the third year of queen Elizabeth, this rectory being then valued at six pounds per annum; since which both the appropriation and advowson have remained part of the possessions of the see of Canterbury, the archbishop being now possessed of them. The vicarage of Tilmanstone is valued in the king's book at 7l. 12s. 6d. It is now a discharged living, and is of the yearly value of forty-five pounds. In 1588 here were one hundred and nine communicants, in 1640 there were the like number of communicants, and it was valued at fifty pounds. In 1740 it was of the value of sixty pounds.
Archbishop Wake, in 1719, on the petition of Nicholas Carter, vicar of this church, gave licence for him to take down the old vicarage-house and to erect a new one. (fn. 4) This vicarage is at present endowed with one half of the great tithes, with a vicarage-house, and garden only, for the vicar's use. The remaining half of the great tithes belongs to the parsonage, with twenty-four acres of glebe land, held on a beneficial lease from the archbishop, by the two sons of the late Mr. John Curling, of Ham. There are fifteen acres of land in this parish allotted as a glebe to Eastry parsonage.
In the parish register (the antient part of it) are the names of Cocks, Fogg, very numerous, Arden, Willford, Billingsley, Bargrave, Pattinson, Burville, Capell, Boys, Picks, and Ower.
Another where I just liked the combination of grasses and rocks.
This was taken with my brother's old (and now very cheap) Nikkor 24mm 2.8 AIS lens and I have to say it holds up remarkably well on the D800E, particularly when you consider it survived a 300 ft fall down a mountain with him! Don't make lenses like that now ;-)
Edge performance can fall away a bit for distant subjects (my perennial bugbear) but near corners are tack sharp.
I'd love to go to a posh do - a wedding, say. Just for the opportunity to really dress up. I'm not into doing housework in a cocktail frock and heels. Come to think of it, I'm not into housework at all. Don't even have a maid's outfit...
But I can definitely see myself as matron of honour in a damned expensive suit.
Of course, with my luck, they'd sit me next to Jeffrey Archer.*
* Insert your personal bugbear here.
A smaller version of the view from Parkwood Springs: bugbear.postle.net/~bruno/photos/DSCN0879-DSCN1050/
The linked picture is 1.6 gigapixels and zoomable, you can (just about) read the time on the town hall clock and at least three other clocks.
A personal bugbear of mine is when you go abroad and your every step seems to be impeded by guided tour parties, slowly meandering around the narrow lanes and streets at a snails pace. I don't hate them but they do annoy, and sometimes amuse, me. I think it's the sight of a crowd of humans being led along like a flock of docile, passive sheep that really strikes me. The attraction is probably that everything is laid on a plate for you and you don't have make any effort or take any risks. Each to their own I suppose, but it's not for me. That said they do fascinate me, maybe to the point of obsession.
Seminary textbook: "Cornelius Nepos: with Answered Questions and Imitative Exercises," edited by Thomas Johnson (1853), chosen by Emily Wells ’15.
"One of my first archives projects was to create a database of the books housed in our Seminary Textbook Collection. This contains books that were used by students during Mount Holyoke’s seminary years (1837–1888). These books are records of intellectual connections forged among students during the College’s early years. Because students followed a set curriculum, almost every woman attending Mount Holyoke at the time would have read the same books. Through their common education, students would connect with their peers, forming friendships that would continue throughout their lives. This book, which contains the selected works of the Roman biographer Cornelius Nepos, was once required reading for Mount Holyoke students. Inside, a student left a handwritten note expressing her frustration with the book, writing: 'Nepos! A perfect bugbear to all juniors' and 'A thorn to all Holyoke juniors.' "
These birds are proving to be a real bugbear of mine. Always too far away and moving. I will/must get better !!!
Simon and Pursa Tomee
Simon and Pursa both were slaves raised by a wealthy Gnome Merchant in the city of Elaine. Pursa was captured as a young boy from the Northern forests of Alson. He is of the red-haired Barbarian Kayde people. Simon was born a slave. Both were raised in crowded slave pens amongst an assortment of various races to fight in gladiatorial arenas. One day their owner had to pay off some gambling debts and sold them off to a human fellow in in the city Nolos.
During their transport a storm broke out and they caravan shipping them was attacked by Hobgoblin raiders. Simon and Pursa managed to get away and were presumed dead by those with a claim on their lives. After a few months of wandering and laying low they made their way to the city of Scardale. Pursa was able to secure an abandoned stables for them to live in that was owned by a guy who worked at a local bar. Over the next few months the two managed to carve out a very modest survival for themselves as wanna be thugs, and petty criminals, often roughing up Johns' who got out of line at a local whore house, and beating up people for a local loneshark. They even managed to attract a group of assorted loosers and derilicts that did what they said in exchange for staying in the barn with them.
Then one day Simon and Pursa tried to test their luck as mercenaries, but no one would take them or their crew seriously. Then one day after waking up passed out along the docks after a long night of drinking, Pursa woke to find a Goblin spear fishing under the pier. Pursa was shocked, but less by the odd sight, and more by the creatures amazing skill with a spear. Pursa introduced himself and tried to recruite him into his gang, but the Goblin, who said his name was Reso, seemed uninterested.
Then Reso showed up at the barn the next day and was quickly brought on board.
One time they were paid by a whore house to dispose of a body of a John who got to rough with the girls and was stabbed to death. In exchange for this they gave the gang the dead John's belongings, including a large covered wagon with a few horses. Amongst the belongings was also a company log book for a company called Ficklestein Bestiaries, a Gnomish owned company that captured and sold dangerous animals to prospective buyers. This John worked for Ficklestein Bestiaries and was on his way to the town of Salsburg to pick up a new creature.
The gang decided that they were gonna go there and rob Ficklestein Bestiaries of whatever the creature was, sell it and take off for good far, far away.
Lyle, a worthless drunk in the group, led the wagon while Simon, Pursa and Reso hid in the back with a few Mongrels, and Dally, a halfling hooker who happened to be good with a sling shot so she convinced them that bringing her was a good idea. Lyle and Dally sat in the open, driving the wagon pretending to be wandering junk goods dealers while in route to Salsburg. The gang had a easy and comical trip cross across the eastern half of Regentum and surprisingly got away with at least that portion of their mission.
However during the actual robbery of Ficklestein Bestiaries things went terribly bad.
Ficklestein Bestiaries had captured a Bulette, a large and incredibly viscous creature that resembles a massive, armored four legged shark-like monstrosity of all teeth and appetite. When it got loose it made short order of the agents of Ficklestein Bestiaries and most of the gang. Only Simon, Pursa, Reso and a Mongrel called Jahger survived. Out of Ficklestein Bestiaries one Gnome survived and reported the incident to the authorities. All the gang members have a 800 GP each bounty on their heads put up by Ficklestein Bestiaries who wants their heads on sticks.
The four of them have been on the run in the past few months raiding farms and robbing people on obscure roads on the outskirts of the kingdom. Yet Pursa is becoming very troubled by Simon and Reso both. Pursa was always offended by the racism of his formers slave owner who always spoke of Goblins, Bugbears, Orcs, Ogres, etc. as being dumb, violent animals incapable of culture, order and civilization, and that their bondage elevated them to a more noble, civilized state. Yet with each passing week in the wild both Simon and Reso are getting increasingly more vicious and blood thirsty. Pursa is worried that the two will turn on him soon enough, and is saddened that Simon, some one he has has known most his life and thought of as a friend, may just be a violent animal at heart.
With a steady hand and thin black Sharpie pen it is possible to put right my biggest bugbear of the latest 2024 Case K recoloured Jeep Avenger and thats its totally transparent top half. Adding black to its entire roof and door pillars now gives it a more substantial appearance befitting a budget licensed casting which is so nicely finished and detailed.
One of several found in various Action stores in France.
Mint and boxed.
Manufacturer: Otherworld
Line: DM Series – Dungeon Monsters
Sculptor: Kev Adams
Painter: Spooktalker
Date painted: 2011
Captain of what? I guess captain of the goblin armies!
I think the craziest thing is how yes, this totally metallic/pearlescent rubber figure still changes color in warm temperatures (the red tint disappears from the gold). Awesome! It's very subtle, though, and hard to pick up with a camera. You really have to hold and dip it yourself.
Ex-Gladiator turned criminal cohort of Reso Spear-Chucker and others.
Simon and Pursa Tomee
Simon and Pursa both were slaves raised by a wealthy Gnome Merchant in the city of Elaine. Pursa was captured as a young boy from the Northern forests of Alson. He is of the red-haired Barbarian Kayde people. Simon was born a slave. Both were raised in crowded slave pens amongst an assortment of various races to fight in gladiatorial arenas. One day their owner had to pay off some gambling debts and sold them off to a human fellow in in the city Nolos.
During their transport a storm broke out and they caravan shipping them was attacked by Hobgoblin raiders. Simon and Pursa managed to get away and were presumed dead by those with a claim on their lives. After a few months of wandering and laying low they made their way to the city of Scardale. Pursa was able to secure an abandoned stables for them to live in that was owned by a guy who worked at a local bar. Over the next few months the two managed to carve out a very modest survival for themselves as wanna be thugs, and petty criminals, often roughing up Johns' who got out of line at a local whore house, and beating up people for a local loneshark. They even managed to attract a group of assorted loosers and derilicts that did what they said in exchange for staying in the barn with them.
Then one day Simon and Pursa tried to test their luck as mercenaries, but no one would take them or their crew seriously. Then one day after waking up passed out along the docks after a long night of drinking, Pursa woke to find a Goblin spear fishing under the pier. Pursa was shocked, but less by the odd sight, and more by the creatures amazing skill with a spear. Pursa introduced himself and tried to recruite him into his gang, but the Goblin, who said his name was Reso, seemed uninterested.
Then Reso showed up at the barn the next day and was quickly brought on board.
One time they were paid by a whore house to dispose of a body of a John who got to rough with the girls and was stabbed to death. In exchange for this they gave the gang the dead John's belongings, including a large covered wagon with a few horses. Amongst the belongings was also a company log book for a company called Ficklestein Bestiaries, a Gnomish owned company that captured and sold dangerous animals to prospective buyers. This John worked for Ficklestein Bestiaries and was on his way to the town of Salsburg to pick up a new creature.
The gang decided that they were gonna go there and rob Ficklestein Bestiaries of whatever the creature was, sell it and take off for good far, far away.
Lyle, a worthless drunk in the group, led the wagon while Simon, Pursa and Reso hid in the back with a few Mongrels, and Dally, a halfling hooker who happened to be good with a sling shot so she convinced them that bringing her was a good idea. Lyle and Dally sat in the open, driving the wagon pretending to be wandering junk goods dealers while in route to Salsburg. The gang had a easy and comical trip cross across the eastern half of Regentum and surprisingly got away with at least that portion of their mission.
However during the actual robbery of Ficklestein Bestiaries things went terribly bad.
Ficklestein Bestiaries had captured a Bulette, a large and incredibly viscous creature that resembles a massive, armored four legged shark-like monstrosity of all teeth and appetite. When it got loose it made short order of the agents of Ficklestein Bestiaries and most of the gang. Only Simon, Pursa, Reso and a Mongrel called Jahger survived. Out of Ficklestein Bestiaries one Gnome survived and reported the incident to the authorities. All the gang members have a 800 GP each bounty on their heads put up by Ficklestein Bestiaries who wants their heads on sticks.
The four of them have been on the run in the past few months raiding farms and robbing people on obscure roads on the outskirts of the kingdom. Yet Pursa is becoming very troubled by Simon and Reso both. Pursa was always offended by the racism of his formers slave owner who always spoke of Goblins, Bugbears, Orcs, Ogres, etc. as being dumb, violent animals incapable of culture, order and civilization, and that their bondage elevated them to a more noble, civilized state. Yet with each passing week in the wild both Simon and Reso are getting increasingly more vicious and blood thirsty. Pursa is worried that the two will turn on him soon enough, and is saddened that Simon, some one he has has known most his life and thought of as a friend, may just be a violent animal at heart.
I've never been a fan of the way all previous Toyota Prius were styled. Too ugly, too contrived and sci-fi styling which always dated very quickly yet the latest fifth generation has finally managed to get it right. Tidy looking and well styled I did see quite a lot of them in Japan earlier this year though oddly I don't recall seeing any here yet even though they are available.
Matchbox have modelled the Prime variant in Moving Parts guise and now quickly afterwards in basic mainline form though they are actually separate castings.
Thick upper door pillars and oversized wheels are the main bugbear here though nothing to spoil it for me personally taking into account its cheap toy car status.
I managed to find three of these in a Poundland store and so this example was treated to a black coloured roof as the standard issue is completely transparent.
Part of 2025 Case B.
Mint and boxed.
Mandarin Oriental, Tokyo
Frozen passion fruit puffs – we were instructed on the nature of nitrogen oxide, its low boiling point, how to consume the puff and how to make smoke come out of our ears and nose…
(kidding about the ears…)
This is what must have been the 4th time I have visited St Peter Old Church. The first was on a Good Friday a few years back, and when I approached the church, there was a service on. Another time there was a wedding, and further, on a Heritage Weekend, it failed to open.
So, when visiting the area at the beginning of the month, I mentioned that St Peter had been a bugbear of mine, Tim said its only a couple of miles away, we could try now.
Of course, driving from a different direction, not along the main road, I did not realise how close we were.
So, we would try.
Apart from the dowser in the churchyard, who was scattering, or rather placing, dozens of small pieces of white cloth about, but would move them if I wanted. I said no thanks, and left him to his stick waggling. Or that is what I said to Tim, but of course, I do not know if dowsing is any good, or what he was dowsing for.
Inside the church, several ladies were making busy, preparing the church for the next day's harvest festival, so many of them are in the shots, but it makes for a very welcoming sight indeed.
So very good to finally get inside, and many thanks to Tim for taking me.
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A much restored Norman church, with a tiny twelfth-century window set just above the (later) porch roof. There is a good example of a fifteenth-century low side window in the south-west corner of the chancel. The pews, pulpit and tiles are typical of mid-nineteenth century restorations, yet above is the fine nave roof of the usual crownpost type. It displays nicely pierced spandrels with a quatrefoil and dagger design. In 1846 Lord Camden built a new church on the main road in the village centre. Even so the old church is extremely well maintained and much loved in the neighbourhood. The churchyard contains many good headstones including one to Sir Morton Peto, the famous nineteenth-century engineer.
www.kentchurches.info/church.asp?p=Pembury+1
The first known record of Pembury, originally Pepingeberia, is to be found in the 'Textus Roffensis' (c1120). It tells of the manors of Pepenbury Magna (Hawkwell) and Pepenbury Parva (Bayhall).
The Advowson was granted by Simon de Wahull to Bayham Abbey c1239. (Advowson is the right in English Law of presenting a nominee to a vacant parish. In effect this means the right to nominate a person to hold a church office in a parish).
Pembury has two churches dedicated to St Peter. The oldest, known as the Old Church, stands outside the modern village in the woods to the north of the A228 bypass. The newer building, known as the Upper Church, stands in the heart of the village on Hastings Road.
The plan of the Old Church and the little Norman window above the South door indicate that the original Church dates from 1147 at least, or even 1100AD. Most of the present Church was built in 1337 by John Colepeper of Bayhall. He also built the chantry chapel of St Mary in the churchyard in 1355 but this was pulled down at the Dissolution of the smaller Monasteries in 1547 and three windows in the body of the Church were inserted with the money gained from the sale of the lead which had covered the chapel.
The most notable feature inside the Church is the roof of the nave. It is said to be one of the best specimens of the tie-beam and kingpost type in the country.
On the north wall near the pulpit there is an interesting brass with an inscription and a figure of an Elizabethan child, Elizabeth Rowe. There are two slabs set into the Sanctuary floor in memory of Dorothy Amherst (1654) and Richard Amherst (1664). The Amherst family owned the manor of Bayhall at this time.
During the nineteenth century a number of alterations were made to the Church, including the raising of the Chancel floor. This meant that the oldest tombstone was completely covered over. The inscription round the edge of the slab, written in Norman French, tells is that it is the resting place of Margaret, the daughter of Sir Thomas Colepeper.
Among the other memorial tablets there are several of the Woodgate family, three of whom were vicars of Pembury in the nineteenth century. Under the tower is a memorial to Lord George Spencer-Churchill.
The Organ, which has one manual and a pedal-board, dates back to 1877. It was made by Hill and Son, London, and cost £130. The organ was fully restored to its former glory in 2006. There are four bells which are now fitted with a chiming apparatus so that they can be rung by one person.
www.pemburychurch.net/pembury_old_church.htm
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Pembury is within the ECCLESIASTICAL JURISDICTION of the diocese of Rochester and deanry of Malling.
¶The church, which is dedicated to St. Peter, has a spire steeple at the west end. It was built by one of the family of Colepeper, patrons of it, and most probably by John Colepeper, esq. in the reign of king Edward III. for on the three buttresses on the south side of the chancel, there remain three shields of coat armour, each carved on an entire stone of about two feet and an half in depth, and the breadth equal with that of the buttress, which shews them to be coeval with that of the building itself. On the first is a rectangular cross; the second is the coat armour of Hardreshull, A chevron between eight martlets, viz. five and three, the above-mentioned John Colepeper having married the coheir of that family; the third is that of Colepeper, a bend engrailed. On a very antient stone on the pavement of the chancel, is an antient inscription in old French, for Margaret, the daughter of Sir Thomas Colepeper, which seems as early as the above mentioned reign. There are several monuments and memorials in it of the family of Amherst and their re latives; an inscription and figure in brass for Elizabeth, daughter of Richard Rowe, esq. of Hawkwell, anno 1607; a tomb for George Bolney, esq. who married a Wybarne; and in the porch are two antient stones with crosses on them.
¶The advowson of the church of Pembury was given with it, by Simon de Wahull, to the abbey of Begham, in Sussex, in pure and perpetual alms, as has been already mentioned.
¶Pope Gregory IX. anno 1239, granted licence to the abbot and convent to hold this church, then of their patronage, and not of greater value than ten marcs, as an appropriation upon the first vacancy of it, reserving, a competent portion for a vicar out of the profits of it. Notwithstanding which, it was not appropriated till the year 1278, when Richard Oliver, the rector, resigned it into the hands of John de Bradfield, bishop of Rochester, who granted his letters mandatory, for the induction of the abbot and convent into the corporal possession of the church, with its appurtenances, according to the tenor of the above-mentioned bull. (fn. 7)
¶The parsonage of the church of Pembury, with the advowson of the vicarage appendant to the manor, continued with the abbey of Begham till the dissolution of it in the 17th year of king Henry VIII. when it was surrendered into the king's hands, after which it passed in the same tract of ownership as the manor of Pembury, and appendant to it, till it became the property of William Woodgate, esq. lord of that manor, and the present patron of it.
¶It is a discharged living, of the clear yearly certified value of 46l. 10s. the yearly tenths of which are 12s. 8d.
¶Charles Amherst, esq. of Bayhall, by his will in 1702, gave as an augmentation to this vicarage, the sum of ten pounds to be paid yearly by such persons to whom the manor of Bayhall, with its appurtenances, should come and remain after his death.
¶In 1733 the Rev. George May, vicar, augmented it with the sum of 100l. 17s. 6d. to entitle it to the benefit of queen Anne's bounty.
¶There is an annual pension of forty shillings paid out of the parsonage to the vicar, which was settled on him and his successors, at the time of the appropriation of this church. The tithes of corn and grain of which this parsonage consists are now worth about one hundred and twenty pounds per annum.
¶The vicarage is now worth about one hundred and fifty pounds per annum.
Manufacturer: Otherworld
Line: DM Series – Dungeon Monsters
Sculptor: Kev Adams
Painter: Spooktalker
Date painted: 2011
Some of my photos from the Avedano's butchery class were selected for an article in the New York Times Sunday (10/25/09) Styles section.
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Article is here: www.nytimes.com/2009/10/25/fashion/25meat.html?_r=1&r...
Slideshow is here: www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2009/10/23/style/25BUTCHERING_5...
Spot the difference. I use canon's DPP for RAW conversion. I recently saw a comment on dpreview that the use of the digital lens optimiser (DLO) can reduce that bugbear of high mag photography, diffraction softening. This sounded a bit unlikely but I decided to test it on a photograph I had just taken. These are crops from a shot taken with my MPE-65 lens (about double the size of a 100% crop). I processed the images with exactly the same processing in DPP and then photoshop but one of them had DLO applied during the raw processing. Can you see any difference ?
Manufacturer: Otherworld
Line: DM Series – Dungeon Monsters
Figure: DM1d - Bugbear Chieftain
Release date: 2008 (May)
Sculptor: Kev Adams
Painter: Spooktalker
Date painted: 2011
These waves look a bit rough for a small bear like me, better not get too wet or Sharon will not be happy if my jumper shrinks. — at Playa de Sabinillas.
Cyclist's mission to improve safety on city's streets
HAVING their bones rattled over potholes, encountering cars parked in bike lanes and squeezing past pedestrians on shared pavements: cyclists see our roads through different eyes.
Now one woman has begun a mission to make Newcastle city centre safer for cyclists.
Katja Leyendecker has created an online survey and is asking anyone who cycles through the city to fill it in.
By gauging the extent of people’s biking bugbears she hopes to put pressure on the authorities to make the network of cycle routes more accessible and less dangerous for those who use them.
Katja, who commutes by bike from her home in Gosforth to work at the Environment Agency on the riverside at Newcastle Business Park, thinks the city needs more dedicated cycle lanes where people can ride separately from traffic.
She said: “I just feel cycling could be made so much safer.
“I was never sure if it was just me so I thought I would start a survey and see what other people thought.
“Now I know I’m not alone. People are using words like scary, nightmare and dangerous.
“You need to feel safe in order to get on your bike and reap the benefits of reduced journey time, better health and financial reward. Strategic cycle routes are badly needed in Newcastle.”
Originally designed as a survey to find out whether other cyclists felt the same as her, the data collected through Katja’s website will now for a petition to be presented to a meeting of Newcastle City Council in the next few weeks.
Since it was launched more than 550 people have taken the survey, with 200 of them leaving comments expanding on their experiences.
Some comments have centred around road maintenance, such as the prevalence of potholes, protruding drain covers and glass on the road.
Katja now hopes council officers will see the survey as a positive step and work with cyclists to improve the situation.
A council spokesman said: “Encouraging cycling as a sustainable form of transport is high on our agenda.
“We will continue to work closely with the cycling community, primarily through our Cycling Forum.”
The survey can be completed at www.katlayout.co.uk until May 10.
Manufacturer: Otherworld
Line: DM Series – Dungeon Monsters
Figure: DM1d - Bugbear Chieftain
Release date: 2008 (May)
Sculptor: Kev Adams
Painter: Spooktalker
Date painted: 2011
We were the 2nd ones there that evening and they at first led us to the 2-top upstairs, the one where they supposedly relegate the Americans. We subsequently requested to be seated downstairs and they graciously complied, while first giving me some gentle joking about not being able to take photos downstairs...
Soon after we were settled downstairs, a guy arrived dressed in jean jacket and jeans and a rumply short-sleeved shirt. His party of 2 was sent upstairs...
the webmaster's St. Valentines Day Puppet Monster.
working in the puppet studio
see more Holistic Forge Works, Latest Inventions & blacksmithing techniques.
• Make gifts for people. Use your own skills (or learn a new skill) to make gifts that people will remember long after they've forgotten store-bought presents.
• Avoid unnecessary upgrades. Yes, that new toaster has a little chime and can toast eight slices at once, but seriously, how often do you need eight slices of toast at once?
•Ask yourself some questions. Will I use this every day? Will I use it enough for it to be worth buying? How many hours did I have to work to pay for this?
Chassis n° VF9SA15B96M795021
The Zoute Sale - Bonhams
Estimated : € 950.000 - 1.250.000
Sold for € 920.000
Zoute Grand Prix 2023
Knokke - Zoute
België - Belgium
October 2023
"The Bugatti Veyron has recalibrated that which can be achieved by the motor car." – Autocar.
To say that the Bugatti Veyron caused a sensation when it arrived in 2005 would be a gross understatement; for here was a car that didn't just rewrite the supercar rule book so much as tear it up and start afresh. All the more remarkable was the fact that the Veyron was the dream of one man: Ferdinand Piech, CEO of the Volkswagen Group, which had acquired the Bugatti brand in 1998. Piech's ambition was to create a car that had 1,000 horsepower at its disposal, could exceed 400km/h, and cost €1 million. Turning Piech's dream into a reality would prove to be an immensely difficult undertaking, even for a company with Volkswagen's technological resources, and the result would not see the light of day for another seven years.
Designed by ItalDesign boss Giorgetto Giugiaro, the first concept car – the EB118 – was displayed at the Paris Auto Show in 1998, featuring permanent four-wheel drive and a Volkswagen-designed W18 engine. A handful of variations on the theme were displayed at international motor shows over the course of the next few years before the concept finally crystallised in 2000 in the form of the Veyron EB 16.4. The latter was styled in house at VW by Hartmut Warkuß and featured an engine with 16 cylinders and four turbochargers – hence the '16.4' designation. It was named after Bugatti development engineer and racing driver, Pierre Veyron, who together with co-driver Jean-Pierre Wimille, had won the 1939 Le Mans 24-Hour race for the French manufacturer. But this was far from the end of the development process, and it would take another five years and an extensive shake-up of the project's management and engineering teams before production could begin, by which time an incredible 95% of components had been either changed or redesigned.
Effectively two narrow-angle 4.0-litre V8 engines sharing a common crankcase, the 8.0-litre W16 - just - met Piech's requirements, producing a maximum output of 1,001PS (987bhp) and 922ft/lb of torque, figures that would embarrass a current Formula 1 car. With a kerb weight of 1,888kg the Veyron had a staggering power-to-weight ratio of 523bhp per ton. Tasked with transmitting this formidable force to the ground was a permanent four-wheel-drive, dual-clutch transmission system incorporating a seven-speed paddle-shift semi-automatic gearbox, the latter built by the British company, Ricardo, while to accommodate the Veyron's phenomenal top speed Michelin designed special run-flat PAX tyres. Piech had specified a maximum velocity of 400 km/h and the Veyron did not disappoint, with more than one tester – Top Gear's James May included - exceeding the target by a few miles per hour. At €1,225,000 (£1,065,000) the Veyron base price as also exceeded Piech's target comfortably.
To maintain stability at such high speeds, the Veyron has a few aerodynamic tricks up its sleeve, a hydraulic system lowering the car at around 220 km/h, at which speed the rear wing deploys, increasing downforce. But if the Veyron driver wishes to exceed 343km/h, he or she needs to select Top Speed Mode (from rest) before joining what is a very exclusive club indeed.
Jeremy Clarkson, reviewing the Veyron for The Times: "In a drag race you could let the McLaren (F1) get to 120mph before setting off in the Veyron. And you'd still get to 200mph first. The Bugatti is way, way faster than anything else the roads have seen." Yet despite its breathtaking performance, the Veyron contrived to be surprisingly docile at 'sensible' speeds. "Bugatti says the Veyron is as easy to drive as a Bentley, and they're not exaggerating," declared Autocar. "Immediately you notice how smoothly weighted the steering is, and how calm the ride is."
In a market sector many of whose protagonists can only be described a 'hard core', the Veyron contrived to be a remarkably civilised conveyance. "When you climb aboard the Bugatti Veyron there are no particular physical contortions required of you by the world's fastest car, as there are in so many so-called supercars," observed Autocar describing "the most exquisite car cabin on earth". The latter was found to be more than generously spacious for a two-seat mid-engined car, while in terms of interior equipment there was virtually no limit to what the, necessarily wealthy, Veyron customer could specify. Restricted rearward visibility is a frequent bugbear of mid-engined supercars, a problem the Veyron dealt with by means of a reversing camera.
The SSC Ultimate Aero had taken the Veyron's title of 'World's Fastest Car' in 2007, but the Super Sport would soon put the upstart American manufacturer in its place. Maximum power was increased to 1,200PS (1,184 hp) for the Super Sport, which also came with a revised aerodynamic package. On 4th July 2010 the redoubtable James May achieved a top speed of 417.61km/h at the wheel of a Super Sport, and later that same day Bugatti test driver Pierre Henri Raphanel set a new mean best mark of 431.072km/h at Volkswagen's test track near Wolfsburg in Germany. This had been achieved by deactivating the Super Sport's electronic limiter, which restricts top speed to 'only' 415km/h, leading some to question the figure's validity. Eventually, the Guinness Book of Records decided that the mark should stand. Production of the Super Sport was limited to 48 units. By the time Veyron production ceased in 2015, Bugatti had made only 450 of these quite extraordinary cars.
This Bugatti Veyron 16.4 was first registered on 14th August 2006 in Germany and has had only one registered owner from new. The car is finished in two-tone Chocolate Metallic/Deep Red Metallic with Grenadine leather interior, and has covered a mere 13,500 kilometres since it left the factory. Moving from Germany to the Netherlands a couple of years ago, there were some minor stone chips low down at the front and some minor traces of oxidation/paint imperfections and to correct those it was decided by the current owner to have the Veyron professionally resprayed by a well-known specialist in the Netherlands in order to keep the car in cosmetically excellent condition. An email printout on file from Bugatti Leusden (Netherlands) records four services: 2008 (km not stated); 2009 at 6,906km; 2011 at 9,335km; and 2013 at 11,106km. The car has not been serviced recently and the tyres (dated 2012 front and 2013 rear) would need to be replaced should the next owner wish to drive the car at speed. Included in the sale is a wireless HP iPaq handheld device that originally came with the car for use with GPS and performance analytics. It can be charged via an in-car port.
Valentines Day Art Show, Tacoma WA
Pricing info:
Queen of Hearts Valentine Marionette _________ $86.66
Bugbear Valentines Day Marionette___________ $86.66
Buy Two for the Price of One Special__________$166.66
see more Holistic Forge Works, Latest Inventions & blacksmithing techniques.
Manufacturer: Otherworld
Line: DM Series – Dungeon Monsters
Sculptor: Kev Adams
Painter: Spooktalker
Date painted: 2011
Manufacturer: Otherworld
Line: DM Series – Dungeon Monsters
Figure: DM1d - Bugbear Chieftain
Release date: 2008 (May)
Sculptor: Kev Adams
Painter: Spooktalker
Date painted: 2011
Manufacturer: Otherworld
Line: DM Series – Dungeon Monsters
Set: DM1b - Bugbear Warriors I
Figure: Bugbear Warrior
Release date: 2008?
Sculptor: Kev Adams
Painter: Spooktalker
Date painted: 2011
Active Assignment Weekly - Inspiration.
Anybody who can take a successful portrait photograph is an inspiration in my book. It's my one biggest bugbear among so many others. I struggle with the idea of candid shots though have done one or two in my time. I guess for me it feels like an invasion, and I would hate to think somebody was photographing ME without my knowledge or permission. Yet the realism and honesty of a candid shot can be breathtaking. Then at the other end of the scale you have posed portrait photography - which I can't do either! I can't even persuade my own family to let me photograph them, let alone ask a stranger or friend to pose for me. I guess I don't like being the centre of attention and thinking that I have the authority and/or capability to get somebody to wait patiently while I inevitably fiddle about with the camera. I wish I could - I would love to be able to do it.
Anyway, below are a couple of examples from this pool that I have found awe inspiring. And above is my other entry for this week. It was St Patrick's Day on Saturday and I was in town for other reasons but had my camera with me. There were lots of crazy revellers around the Old Market Square but I rather liked the look of this chap dressed as a chimney sweep - the significance of which I have yet to establish. I actually meant this to be a candid shot but as I lined him up through the crowd, he spotted me, hence his looking directly to camera. Yes it's shame there is some guy over his shoulder, but the place was busy. I cropped this tall as I wanted to get rid of a couple of other people on the left.