From the sand dunes of Essaouira to the peaks of the Atlas Mountains, the all-new Range Rover demonstrates its full breadth of capability in Morocco.

A walk around Minterne Gardens in Dorset.

The garden walk is about 1 mile in a horseshoe shape.

You can take different paths on the last leg of the walk, we went on the upper path.

Trees

Information below from leaflet from Minterne Gardens:

The Minterne Valley, landscapped in the manner of Capability Brown in the 18th century, has been the home of the Churchill and Digby families for 350 years. The gardens are laid out in a horseshoe below Minterne House, with a chain of small lakes, waterfalls and streams. They contain an important collection of Himalayan Rhodocdendrons and Azaleas, with Spring bulbs, Cherries, Maples and many fine and rare trees; the garden is noted for its Autumn colouring.

Of particular note are the large plants of Magnolia Campbellii which flower in March and April, together with a profusion of spring bulbs. Many flowering cherries were brought from Japan in 1920 and the Pieris Forrestii with their brilliant scarlet shoots, originally came from Wakehurst. A very fine collection of Davidia Involucrata (the pocket handkerchief tree) produce striking bracts in late May and early June, when the streams are lined with primulas, astilbes and other water plants.

The Strategic Airlift Capability (SAC) is a multinational initiative that provides its participating nations assured access to military airlift capability to address the growing needs for both strategic airlifts and tactical airlifts.

SAC, established in 2008, is an independent, multinational program that provides the capability of transporting equipment and personnel over long distances to its 12 member nations by owning and operating three Boeing C-17 Globemaster III long range cargo aircraft. The SAC is based at the Hungarian Defence Forces Pápa Air Base in Western Hungary. Each participating nation owns a share of the available flight hours of the SAC C-17's that can be used for missions to serve the needs of their national defense, NATO, EU or UN commitments as well as humanitarian relief efforts.

Hungary plays a special role in the SAC as the host nation. The SAC C-17's are registered and flagged in Hungary bearing the national military aircraft insignia of the nation.

Although the Strategic Airlift Capability relies on certain NATO support structures, it transcends the military and political alliances like the NATO and the European Union.[1] The governing bodies of the program are the SAC Steering Board and the NATO Airlift Management (NAM) Programme Board. The operational organization of SAC, the Heavy Airlift Wing (HAW), is a multinational force, commanded by a colonel of a member nation. ----------------------------------------

Die Strategic Airlift Capability ist eine multinationale Initiative mit dem Ziel, den Teilnehmernationen Zugriff auf militärischen strategischen Lufttransport zu ermöglichen. Beteiligt sind die zehn NATO-Staaten Bulgarien, Estland, Ungarn, Litauen, Niederlande, Norwegen, Polen, Rumänien, Slowenien und die Vereinigten Staaten von Amerika und die zwei Partnership-for-Peace (PfP)-Nationen Finnland und Schweden. Der Einsatzverband ist mit drei C-17 Globemaster III, einem strategischen Lufttransportflugzeug der Firma Boeing ausgerüstet. Die Luftfahrzeuge entsprechen hinsichtlich der Konfiguration und Ausrüstung den C-17, die an die US Air Force ausgeliefert werden (Boeing C-17, Block 17).[5] Die Ausstattung mit einer Selbstschutzanlage gegen infrarotgelenkte Flugabwehrraketen (Large Aircraft Infrared Countermeasures – LAIRCM), analog zu denen der USAF ist beabsichtigt. Die C-17 werden in Ungarn zugelassen und tragen die Kokarde der ungarischen Luftstreitkräfte -------

More info and languages available at:

de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strategic_Airlift_Capability

Traded with Claudia.

The 501st Military Intelligence Brigade demonstrated its capabilities during a Korean-language only capability exercise for 160 intelligence professionals from the Republic of Korea military here Dec. 10.

For the Dragon Brigade, this CAPEX was unique because it was conducted in Hangul with the help of Korean linguists from the brigade’s four battalions: 3rd MI Battalion (Aerial Exploitation), 524th MI Battalion (Counter Intelligence and Human Intelligence), 532th MI Battalion (Operations and All-Source) and the 719th MI Battalion (Signals Intelligence).

The senior representatives at the CAPEX included ROK Air Force Brig. Gen. Park, Kyung-jong, 3rd Brigade Commander, Defense Intelligence Command and ROK Army Brig. Gen. Son, Ki-hwa, the Director of Intelligence Operations for the ROK Joint Chiefs of Staff J-2.

Also participating were intelligence professionals from the Korea Defense Intelligence Agency, Defense Intelligence Command, Defense Security Command and the ROK Intelligence School.

The Brigade Liaison Team gave the ROK intelligence professionals a welcome brief that explained the different missions the brigade executes on a daily basis in defense of the Republic of Korea.

Attendees were then broken into three groups and visited the equipment and capabilities static displays at the 3rd Military Intelligence Battalion flight line, the Ground Component Command-Combined Analysis and Control Center and the Field Station Korea.

U.S. Army photos by Sgt. Shawn Cassatt

For more information on U.S. Army Garrison Humphreys and living and working in Korea visit: USAG-Humphreys' official web site or check out our online videos.

On yet another day out blighted by the rain, we visited Chillington Hall, a Grade I Georgian country house in Staffordshire. Owned by the Giffard family since the 12th century (no relation, sadly) it was initially designed by Francis Smith of Warwick in 1724 and later by John Soane in 1785. Its extensive grounds were landscaped by Capability Brown and contain several temples and buildings of note, none which we saw, unfortunately.

This is the grand entrance hall designed by Soane, which has a series of Ionic columns, fine plasterwork and two elaborate fireplaces.

U.S. Army National Guard Soldiers with Company A, 4-118th Combined Arms Battalion, South Carolina National Guard, conduct platoon level hasty defense and live fire exercises of the M1A1 Abram tank during a capability demonstration held at Fort Jackson in Columbia, South Carolina, July 24, 2021. The 4-118th Combined Arms Battalion hosted the event for families, employers and future recruits. (U.S. Army National Guard photo by Sgt. 1st Class Kimberly D. Calkins, South Carolina National Guard).

From the sand dunes of Essaouira to the peaks of the Atlas Mountains, the all-new Range Rover demonstrates its full breadth of capability in Morocco.

From the sand dunes of Essaouira to the peaks of the Atlas Mountains, the all-new Range Rover demonstrates its full breadth of capability in Morocco.

From the sand dunes of Essaouira to the peaks of the Atlas Mountains, the all-new Range Rover demonstrates its full breadth of capability in Morocco.

A walk around Minterne Gardens in Dorset.

The garden walk is about 1 mile in a horseshoe shape.

You can take different paths on the last leg of the walk, we went on the upper path.

Various paths.

Trees

Information below from leaflet from Minterne Gardens:

The Minterne Valley, landscapped in the manner of Capability Brown in the 18th century, has been the home of the Churchill and Digby families for 350 years. The gardens are laid out in a horseshoe below Minterne House, with a chain of small lakes, waterfalls and streams. They contain an important collection of Himalayan Rhodocdendrons and Azaleas, with Spring bulbs, Cherries, Maples and many fine and rare trees; the garden is noted for its Autumn colouring.

Of particular note are the large plants of Magnolia Campbellii which flower in March and April, together with a profusion of spring bulbs. Many flowering cherries were brought from Japan in 1920 and the Pieris Forrestii with their brilliant scarlet shoots, originally came from Wakehurst. A very fine collection of Davidia Involucrata (the pocket handkerchief tree) produce striking bracts in late May and early June, when the streams are lined with primulas, astilbes and other water plants.

DPAC and TUC Disabled Workers block Tottenham Court Road - London 22.05.2013

Activists from DPAC and disabled workers attending the TUC Disabled Workers Conference blocked Tottenham Court Road in Central London for an hour and a half as they protested loudly against punitive government cuts to disability benefits and services which is impacting disastrously - and already fatally - on our most vulnerable citizens.

**From the DPAC website **

On the day of the success of the High Court ruling ruling against the Work Capability Assessment, activists from Disabled People Against Cuts (DPAC) and disabled workers attending the Trades Union Congress (TUC) Disabled Workers Conference blocked Tottenham Court Road in an unprecedented act of solidarity.

Mandy Hudson, co-chair of the TUC disabled workers committee said: "Trade unionists would like to send a clear message to this government that trade unions, workers and grass roots disabled groups stand together against the onslaught of vicious cuts rained down upon us by the Condems."

--------------------------------------------------------

All photos © 2013 Pete Riches

Do not reproduce, alter, re-transmit or blog my images without my written permission. I remain at all times the copyright owner of this image.

Hi-Res, un-watermarked versions of these files are available on application solely at my discretion

If you want to use any image found in my Flickr Photostream, please Email me directly.

Media buyers and publications can access this story on Demotix

Standard industry rates apply.

about.me/peteriches

Croome Court is a mid 18th century Neo-Palladian mansion surrounded by an extensive landscaped parkland at Croome D'Abitot, near Pershore in south Worcestershire. The mansion and park were designed by Lancelot "Capability" Brown for George Coventry, 6th Earl of Coventry, and was Brown's first landscape design and first major architectural project. Some of the internal rooms of the mansion were designed by Robert Adam.

The mansion house is owned by Croome Heritage Trust, and is leased to the National Trust who operate it, along with the surrounding parkland, as a tourist attraction. The National Trust own the surrounding parkland, which is also open to the public.

Location[edit]

Croome Court is located near to Croome D'Abitot, in Worcestershire,[1] near Pirton, Worcestershire.[2] The wider estate was established on lands that were once part of the royal forest of Horewell.[3] Traces of these older landscapes, such as unimproved commons and ancient woodlands, can be found across the former Croome Estate.[4]

House[edit]

Croome Court South Portico

History[edit]

The foundations and core of Croome Court, including the central chimney stack structure, date back to the early 1640s.[5] Substantial changes to this early house were made by Gilbert Coventry, 4th Earl of Coventry.[6]

In 1751, George Coventry, the 6th Earl, inherited the estate, along with the existing Jacobean house. He commissioned Lancelot "Capability" Brown, with the assistance of Sanderson Miller, to redesign the house and estate.[7][1] It was Brown's "first flight into the realms of architecture" and a "rare example of his architectural work",[8] and it is an important and seminal work.[9] It was built between 1751 and 1752, and it and Hagley Hall are considered to be the finest examples of Neo-Palladian architecture in Worcestershire. Notable Neo-Palladian features incorporated into Croome Court include the plain exterior and the corner towers with pyramidal roofs (a feature first used by Inigo Jones in the design of Wilton House in Wiltshire).[1] Robert Adam worked on the interior of the building from 1760 onwards.[10]

The house has been visited by George III,[2][11] as well as Queen Victoria[7] during summers when she was a child, and George V (then Duke of York).[11]

A jam factory was built by the 9th Earl of Coventry, near to Pershore railway station, in about 1880, to provide a market for Vale of Evesham fruit growers in times of surplus. Although the Croome connection with jam making had ceased, during the First World War, the building was leased by the Croome Estate Trust to the Huddersfield Fruit Preserving Company as a pulping station.[12]

The First World War deeply affected Croome, with many local casualties, although the house was not requisitioned for the war effort. This is possibly because it was the home of the Lord Lieutenant of the County, who needed a residence for his many official engagements.[13]

During the Second World War Croome Court was requisitioned by the Ministry of Works and leased for a year to the Dutch Government as a possible refuge for Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands; to escape the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands. However, evidence shows that they stayed two weeks at the most, perhaps because of the noise and fear created by the proximity of Defford Aerodrome. They later emigrated to Canada.[14]

In 1948 the Croome Estate Trust sold the Court, along with 38 acres (15 ha) of land, to the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Birmingham, and the mansion became St Joseph's Special School, which was run by nuns[15] from 1950[11] until 1979.[15]

The house was listed on 11 August 1952; it is currently Grade I listed.[10]

In 1979 the hall was taken over by the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (Hare Krishna movement), who used it as their UK headquarters and a training college[16] called Chaitanya College,[15] run by 25 members of the movement.[16] During their tenure they repainted the Dining Room.[17] In 1984 they had to leave the estate for financial reasons. They held a festival at the hall in 2011.[16]

From 1984 onwards various owners tried to use the property as a training centre; apartments; a restaurant and conference centre; and a hotel and golf course,[15] before once more becoming a private family home,[2][15] with outbuildings converted to private houses.[15]

The house was purchased by the Croome Heritage Trust, a registered charity,[18] in October 2007,[19] and it is now managed by the National Trust as a tourist attraction. It opened to the public in September 2009, at which point six of the rooms had restored, costing £400,000, including the Saloon. It was estimated that another £4 million[2][20] to £4.8 million would be needed to restore the entire building. Fundraising activities for the restoration included a 2011 raffle for a Morgan sports car organised by Lord and Lady Flight. After the restoration is complete, a 999-year lease on the building will be granted to the National Trust.[21] An oral history project to record recollections about Croome was funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund.[15] As of 2009, the service wing was empty and in need of substantial repair.[22]

Exterior[edit]

The mansion is faced with Bath stone,[7] limestone ashlar, and has both north and south facing fronts. It has a basement and two stories, with three stories in the end pavilions. A slate roof, with pyramid roofs over the corner towers, tops the building, along with three pair-linked chimneys along the axis of the house.[10]

Both fronts have 11 bays, split into three central sets of three each, and one additional bay each side. The north face has a pedimented centre, with two balustraded staircases leading to a Roman Doric doorcase. The south face has a projecting Ionic tetrastyle portico and Venetian windows. It has a broad staircase, with cast stone sphinxes on each side, leading to a south door topped with a cornice on consoles. The wings have modillion cornice and balustrade.[10]

A two-story L-shaped service wing is attached to the east side of the mansion. It is made of red brick and stone, with slate roofs.[10] It was designed by Capability Brown in 1751-2.[22] On the far side of the service wing, a wall connects it to a stable court.[10]

Interior[edit]

The interior of the house was designed partially by Capability Brown, with plasterwork by G. Vassalli, and partially by Robert Adam, with plasterwork by J. Rose Jr. It has a central spine corridor. A stone staircase, with iron balusters, is at the east end.[10]

The entrance hall is on the north side of the building, and has four fluted Doric columns, along with moulded doorcases. To the east of the entrance hall is the dining room, which has a plaster ceiling and cornice, while to the west is a billiard room, featuring fielded panelling, a plaster cornice, and a rococo fireplace. The three rooms were probably decorated around 1758-59 by Capability Brown.[10] The dining room was vibrantly repainted by the Hare Krishnas in the 1970s-80s.[17]

The central room on the south side is a saloon, probably by Brown and Vassalli. It has an elaborate ceiling, with three panels, deep coving, and a cornice, along with two Ionic fireplaces, and Palladian doorcases.[10] George III was entertained by George Coventry, the 6th Earl, in the house's Saloon.[2] A drawing room is to the west of the saloon, and features rococo plasterwork and a marble fireplace.[10]

To the east of the saloon is the Tapestry Room.[10] This was designed in 1763-71, based on a design by Robert Adam, and contained tapestries and furniture covers possibly designed by Jacques Germain Soufflot, and made by Manufacture Nationale des Gobelins.[23] Around 1902 the ninth Earl sold the tapestries and seating to a Parisian dealer. In 1949 the Samuel H. Kress Foundation purchased the ceiling, floor, mantlepiece, chair rails, doors and the door surrounds, which were donated to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, in 1958. In 1959 the Kress Foundation also helped the Metropolitan Museum acquire the chair and sofa frames, which they recovered using the original tapestry seats.[7][23] A copy of the ceiling was installed in place of the original.[10] As of 2016, the room is displayed as it would have looked after the tapestries had been sold, with a jug and ewer on display as the only original decoration of the room that remains in it. The adjacent library room is used to explain what happened to the tapestry room;[17] the former library was designed by Adam, and was dismantled except for the marble fireplace.[10]

At the west side of the building is a long gallery,[10] which was designed by Robert Adam and installed between 1761 and 1766. It is the best preserved of the original interior (little of the rest has survived in situ).[1] It has an octagonal panelled ceiling, and plaster reliefs of griffins. A half-hexagonal bay faces the garden. The room also contains a marble caryatid fireplace designed by J Wilton.[10] As of 2016, modern sculptures are displayed in empty niches along the Long Gallery

wikipedia

Four DPAC protest groups converge on DWP - London 04.09.2013

As a conclusion to Disabled People Against Cuts (DPAC) "Reclaiming Our Futures" national week of action which saw disabled people from all over the UK publicly protesting against the devastating damage done by the Conservatives in the name of so-called 'austerity', a disabled activists from all over the UK came to London and protested at the four government departments which have had the most severe impact on their lives - Energy, Transport, Education and Health - and then later converged the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) for their final protest of this campaign.

The protesters at the DWP were joined by comedy actor Jolyon Rubinstein from BBC 3's "The Revolution Will Be Televised", who appeared as "The ATOS Miracle Healer" and, with his three-part gospel choir proceeded to go through the bemused protesters, invoking the name of DWP minister (and architect of the punitive policies against disabled people) Iain Duncan Smith and promising people that by simply attending an ATOS Work Capability Assessment or by filling in an ATOS assessment form, they would be miraculously cured of their life-long disabilities and would become 'fit for work' - stacking shelves in a supermarket as Workfare slaves for no wages.

All photos © 2013 Pete Riches

Do not reproduce, alter, re-transmit or blog my images without my written permission. I remain at all times the copyright owner of this image.

Hi-Res, un-watermarked versions of these files are available on application solely at my discretion

If you want to use any image found in my Flickr Photostream, please Email me directly.

Media buyers and publications can access this story on Demotix

Standard industry rates apply.

about.me/peteriches

A member of the Guam Army National Guard’s Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 294th Infantry Regiment, points his M249 squad automatic weapon (SAW) uphill for fire suppression against a simulated enemy June 11 at Camp Roberts, California, during the 2016 Exportable Combat Training Capability (XCTC). (U.S. Army National Guard photo/Staff Sgt. Eddie Siguenza)

DPAC & UK Uncut hold ATOS Closing Ceremony - 31.08.2012

As the Grand Finale to a week-long national campaign of protests against French IT company ATOS Origin and its spinoff ATOS Healthcare which carries out the much-criticised Wirk Capability Assessments on behalf of the DWP, which has seen tens of thousands of severely sick and disabled people declared to be "Fit for Work" and thrown off their disability benefits, several hundred activists from DPAC (Disabled People Against Cuts), WinVisible, Disabled Activists' Network, UK Uncut, Right to Work Campaign, Unite the Union, the GMB Union, Occupy London and the National UNion of Students descended on ATOS' London headquarters to carry out what they had billed as the "ATOS Closing Ceremony" - a reference to ATOS' hugely derided sponsorship of the Paralympic Games which is, say the activists, an act of spectatular cynicism by a corporation which is currently contracted by the Cameron government to the tune of £100 million to conduct the much-feared medical assessments without any reference whatsoever to peoples' medical notes of histories.

For two hours the crowd chanted slogans, listened to oral testimonies from people whose lives have been badly affected by ATOS decisions, heard accounts of people driven into such despair by dealing with ATOS that they have comitted suicide, and also heard many accounts of seriously ill people thrown off their benefits by ATOS who have been forced to look for work - having been declared fit for work - and who have died shortly afterwards. The list of people irreperably harmed by ATOS' computer-driven tick-box assessment which cannot possibly take into account the huge range of physical and mental disabilities seems endless.

Following some dogged Freedom of Information requests by two Daily Mirror journalists earlier this year it is now known that an average of 32 sickness or disability benefit claimnants who have been thrown off their benefits by the DWP following an ATOS zero-point rating and placed in the Work-Related Activity Group or who have been put on Jobseeker's Allowance have died shortly afterwards. In many instances relatives of the deceased have claimed that the stress of being treated in such an inhumane way by ATOS contributed to their deaths.

During the protest at Triton Square the 500-strong crowd were entertained by a street theatre performance which saw a fraudulent "ATOS Miracle Cure" booth set up. The "ATOS Reverend" would lay hands on a disabled person and tell them that "by the power of ATOS you are no longer disabled", and sent them through the ATOS Miracle Cure arch, but sadly once through the arch the disabled people realised they had been tricked and they were still, of course, disabled... but worse was to come, as each disabled person was then confronted by an "ATOS Doctor" who stated that because they were now officially no longer disabled and were fit for work they could now be assigned to do their dream jobs, to which end the phoney doctor handed each person a sheet of paper on which was written "100 meter runner", "Bar Tender", "Mountain Climber" and other completely unsuitable job titles.

At around 2:30pm a section of the crowd took off and headed for Westminster where they picketed outside the Department for Work and Pensions, during which an over-agressive action by the police resulted in a disabled man's shoulder being broken as he was knocked off his wheelchair when police shoved protesters into him.

All photos © 2012 Pete Riches

Do not reproduce, alter, re-transmit or reblog my images without my written permission.

Hi-Res, un-watermarked versions of these files are available on application

Media buyers should email me directly or view this story on <a href="http://www.demotix.com/users/pete-riches/profile.

Standard NUJ rates apply.

about.me/peteriches

From the sand dunes of Essaouira to the peaks of the Atlas Mountains, the all-new Range Rover demonstrates its full breadth of capability in Morocco.

170808-N-OX430-008 ATLANTIC OCEAN (Aug. 8, 2017) The Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth (R08) transits alongside the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77) during exercise Saxon Warrior 2017, Aug. 8. Saxon Warrior is a United States and United Kingdom co-hosted carrier strike group exercise that demonstrates interoperability and capability to respond to crises and deter potential threats. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Daniel Gaither/Released)

Belvoir Castle, near Grantham. The Root and Moss house is rather creepy, even without the fisheye view. The grounds were laid out by Lancelot "Capability" Brown in 1780 and were extensively restored to his plans over a three year scheme completed for the 2016 season.

Belvoir Castle Gardens, near Grantham, but in Leicestershire.

April 2016

The 501st Military Intelligence Brigade demonstrated its capabilities during a Korean-language only capability exercise for 160 intelligence professionals from the Republic of Korea military here Dec. 10.

For the Dragon Brigade, this CAPEX was unique because it was conducted in Hangul with the help of Korean linguists from the brigade’s four battalions: 3rd MI Battalion (Aerial Exploitation), 524th MI Battalion (Counter Intelligence and Human Intelligence), 532th MI Battalion (Operations and All-Source) and the 719th MI Battalion (Signals Intelligence).

The senior representatives at the CAPEX included ROK Air Force Brig. Gen. Park, Kyung-jong, 3rd Brigade Commander, Defense Intelligence Command and ROK Army Brig. Gen. Son, Ki-hwa, the Director of Intelligence Operations for the ROK Joint Chiefs of Staff J-2.

Also participating were intelligence professionals from the Korea Defense Intelligence Agency, Defense Intelligence Command, Defense Security Command and the ROK Intelligence School.

The Brigade Liaison Team gave the ROK intelligence professionals a welcome brief that explained the different missions the brigade executes on a daily basis in defense of the Republic of Korea.

Attendees were then broken into three groups and visited the equipment and capabilities static displays at the 3rd Military Intelligence Battalion flight line, the Ground Component Command-Combined Analysis and Control Center and the Field Station Korea.

U.S. Army photos by Sgt. Shawn Cassatt

For more information on U.S. Army Garrison Humphreys and living and working in Korea visit: USAG-Humphreys' official web site or check out our online videos.

DPAC and TUC Disabled Workers block Tottenham Court Road - London 22.05.2013

Activists from DPAC and disabled workers attending the TUC Disabled Workers Conference blocked Tottenham Court Road in Central London for an hour and a half as they protested loudly against punitive government cuts to disability benefits and services which is impacting disastrously - and already fatally - on our most vulnerable citizens.

**From the DPAC website **

On the day of the success of the High Court ruling ruling against the Work Capability Assessment, activists from Disabled People Against Cuts (DPAC) and disabled workers attending the Trades Union Congress (TUC) Disabled Workers Conference blocked Tottenham Court Road in an unprecedented act of solidarity.

Mandy Hudson, co-chair of the TUC disabled workers committee said: "Trade unionists would like to send a clear message to this government that trade unions, workers and grass roots disabled groups stand together against the onslaught of vicious cuts rained down upon us by the Condems."

--------------------------------------------------------

All photos © 2013 Pete Riches

Do not reproduce, alter, re-transmit or blog my images without my written permission. I remain at all times the copyright owner of this image.

Hi-Res, un-watermarked versions of these files are available on application solely at my discretion

If you want to use any image found in my Flickr Photostream, please Email me directly.

Media buyers and publications can access this story on Demotix

Standard industry rates apply.

about.me/peteriches

Croome Court is a mid 18th century Neo-Palladian mansion surrounded by an extensive landscaped parkland at Croome D'Abitot, near Pershore in south Worcestershire. The mansion and park were designed by Lancelot "Capability" Brown for George Coventry, 6th Earl of Coventry, and was Brown's first landscape design and first major architectural project. Some of the internal rooms of the mansion were designed by Robert Adam.

The mansion house is owned by Croome Heritage Trust, and is leased to the National Trust who operate it, along with the surrounding parkland, as a tourist attraction. The National Trust own the surrounding parkland, which is also open to the public.

Location[edit]

Croome Court is located near to Croome D'Abitot, in Worcestershire,[1] near Pirton, Worcestershire.[2] The wider estate was established on lands that were once part of the royal forest of Horewell.[3] Traces of these older landscapes, such as unimproved commons and ancient woodlands, can be found across the former Croome Estate.[4]

House[edit]

Croome Court South Portico

History[edit]

The foundations and core of Croome Court, including the central chimney stack structure, date back to the early 1640s.[5] Substantial changes to this early house were made by Gilbert Coventry, 4th Earl of Coventry.[6]

In 1751, George Coventry, the 6th Earl, inherited the estate, along with the existing Jacobean house. He commissioned Lancelot "Capability" Brown, with the assistance of Sanderson Miller, to redesign the house and estate.[7][1] It was Brown's "first flight into the realms of architecture" and a "rare example of his architectural work",[8] and it is an important and seminal work.[9] It was built between 1751 and 1752, and it and Hagley Hall are considered to be the finest examples of Neo-Palladian architecture in Worcestershire. Notable Neo-Palladian features incorporated into Croome Court include the plain exterior and the corner towers with pyramidal roofs (a feature first used by Inigo Jones in the design of Wilton House in Wiltshire).[1] Robert Adam worked on the interior of the building from 1760 onwards.[10]

The house has been visited by George III,[2][11] as well as Queen Victoria[7] during summers when she was a child, and George V (then Duke of York).[11]

A jam factory was built by the 9th Earl of Coventry, near to Pershore railway station, in about 1880, to provide a market for Vale of Evesham fruit growers in times of surplus. Although the Croome connection with jam making had ceased, during the First World War, the building was leased by the Croome Estate Trust to the Huddersfield Fruit Preserving Company as a pulping station.[12]

The First World War deeply affected Croome, with many local casualties, although the house was not requisitioned for the war effort. This is possibly because it was the home of the Lord Lieutenant of the County, who needed a residence for his many official engagements.[13]

During the Second World War Croome Court was requisitioned by the Ministry of Works and leased for a year to the Dutch Government as a possible refuge for Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands; to escape the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands. However, evidence shows that they stayed two weeks at the most, perhaps because of the noise and fear created by the proximity of Defford Aerodrome. They later emigrated to Canada.[14]

In 1948 the Croome Estate Trust sold the Court, along with 38 acres (15 ha) of land, to the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Birmingham, and the mansion became St Joseph's Special School, which was run by nuns[15] from 1950[11] until 1979.[15]

The house was listed on 11 August 1952; it is currently Grade I listed.[10]

In 1979 the hall was taken over by the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (Hare Krishna movement), who used it as their UK headquarters and a training college[16] called Chaitanya College,[15] run by 25 members of the movement.[16] During their tenure they repainted the Dining Room.[17] In 1984 they had to leave the estate for financial reasons. They held a festival at the hall in 2011.[16]

From 1984 onwards various owners tried to use the property as a training centre; apartments; a restaurant and conference centre; and a hotel and golf course,[15] before once more becoming a private family home,[2][15] with outbuildings converted to private houses.[15]

The house was purchased by the Croome Heritage Trust, a registered charity,[18] in October 2007,[19] and it is now managed by the National Trust as a tourist attraction. It opened to the public in September 2009, at which point six of the rooms had restored, costing £400,000, including the Saloon. It was estimated that another £4 million[2][20] to £4.8 million would be needed to restore the entire building. Fundraising activities for the restoration included a 2011 raffle for a Morgan sports car organised by Lord and Lady Flight. After the restoration is complete, a 999-year lease on the building will be granted to the National Trust.[21] An oral history project to record recollections about Croome was funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund.[15] As of 2009, the service wing was empty and in need of substantial repair.[22]

Exterior[edit]

The mansion is faced with Bath stone,[7] limestone ashlar, and has both north and south facing fronts. It has a basement and two stories, with three stories in the end pavilions. A slate roof, with pyramid roofs over the corner towers, tops the building, along with three pair-linked chimneys along the axis of the house.[10]

Both fronts have 11 bays, split into three central sets of three each, and one additional bay each side. The north face has a pedimented centre, with two balustraded staircases leading to a Roman Doric doorcase. The south face has a projecting Ionic tetrastyle portico and Venetian windows. It has a broad staircase, with cast stone sphinxes on each side, leading to a south door topped with a cornice on consoles. The wings have modillion cornice and balustrade.[10]

A two-story L-shaped service wing is attached to the east side of the mansion. It is made of red brick and stone, with slate roofs.[10] It was designed by Capability Brown in 1751-2.[22] On the far side of the service wing, a wall connects it to a stable court.[10]

Interior[edit]

The interior of the house was designed partially by Capability Brown, with plasterwork by G. Vassalli, and partially by Robert Adam, with plasterwork by J. Rose Jr. It has a central spine corridor. A stone staircase, with iron balusters, is at the east end.[10]

The entrance hall is on the north side of the building, and has four fluted Doric columns, along with moulded doorcases. To the east of the entrance hall is the dining room, which has a plaster ceiling and cornice, while to the west is a billiard room, featuring fielded panelling, a plaster cornice, and a rococo fireplace. The three rooms were probably decorated around 1758-59 by Capability Brown.[10] The dining room was vibrantly repainted by the Hare Krishnas in the 1970s-80s.[17]

The central room on the south side is a saloon, probably by Brown and Vassalli. It has an elaborate ceiling, with three panels, deep coving, and a cornice, along with two Ionic fireplaces, and Palladian doorcases.[10] George III was entertained by George Coventry, the 6th Earl, in the house's Saloon.[2] A drawing room is to the west of the saloon, and features rococo plasterwork and a marble fireplace.[10]

To the east of the saloon is the Tapestry Room.[10] This was designed in 1763-71, based on a design by Robert Adam, and contained tapestries and furniture covers possibly designed by Jacques Germain Soufflot, and made by Manufacture Nationale des Gobelins.[23] Around 1902 the ninth Earl sold the tapestries and seating to a Parisian dealer. In 1949 the Samuel H. Kress Foundation purchased the ceiling, floor, mantlepiece, chair rails, doors and the door surrounds, which were donated to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, in 1958. In 1959 the Kress Foundation also helped the Metropolitan Museum acquire the chair and sofa frames, which they recovered using the original tapestry seats.[7][23] A copy of the ceiling was installed in place of the original.[10] As of 2016, the room is displayed as it would have looked after the tapestries had been sold, with a jug and ewer on display as the only original decoration of the room that remains in it. The adjacent library room is used to explain what happened to the tapestry room;[17] the former library was designed by Adam, and was dismantled except for the marble fireplace.[10]

At the west side of the building is a long gallery,[10] which was designed by Robert Adam and installed between 1761 and 1766. It is the best preserved of the original interior (little of the rest has survived in situ).[1] It has an octagonal panelled ceiling, and plaster reliefs of griffins. A half-hexagonal bay faces the garden. The room also contains a marble caryatid fireplace designed by J Wilton.[10] As of 2016, modern sculptures are displayed in empty niches along the Long Gallery

wikipedia

Croome Court is a mid 18th century Neo-Palladian mansion surrounded by an extensive landscaped parkland at Croome D'Abitot, near Pershore in south Worcestershire. The mansion and park were designed by Lancelot "Capability" Brown for George Coventry, 6th Earl of Coventry, and was Brown's first landscape design and first major architectural project. Some of the internal rooms of the mansion were designed by Robert Adam.

The mansion house is owned by Croome Heritage Trust, and is leased to the National Trust who operate it, along with the surrounding parkland, as a tourist attraction. The National Trust own the surrounding parkland, which is also open to the public.

Location[edit]

Croome Court is located near to Croome D'Abitot, in Worcestershire,[1] near Pirton, Worcestershire.[2] The wider estate was established on lands that were once part of the royal forest of Horewell.[3] Traces of these older landscapes, such as unimproved commons and ancient woodlands, can be found across the former Croome Estate.[4]

House[edit]

Croome Court South Portico

History[edit]

The foundations and core of Croome Court, including the central chimney stack structure, date back to the early 1640s.[5] Substantial changes to this early house were made by Gilbert Coventry, 4th Earl of Coventry.[6]

In 1751, George Coventry, the 6th Earl, inherited the estate, along with the existing Jacobean house. He commissioned Lancelot "Capability" Brown, with the assistance of Sanderson Miller, to redesign the house and estate.[7][1] It was Brown's "first flight into the realms of architecture" and a "rare example of his architectural work",[8] and it is an important and seminal work.[9] It was built between 1751 and 1752, and it and Hagley Hall are considered to be the finest examples of Neo-Palladian architecture in Worcestershire. Notable Neo-Palladian features incorporated into Croome Court include the plain exterior and the corner towers with pyramidal roofs (a feature first used by Inigo Jones in the design of Wilton House in Wiltshire).[1] Robert Adam worked on the interior of the building from 1760 onwards.[10]

The house has been visited by George III,[2][11] as well as Queen Victoria[7] during summers when she was a child, and George V (then Duke of York).[11]

A jam factory was built by the 9th Earl of Coventry, near to Pershore railway station, in about 1880, to provide a market for Vale of Evesham fruit growers in times of surplus. Although the Croome connection with jam making had ceased, during the First World War, the building was leased by the Croome Estate Trust to the Huddersfield Fruit Preserving Company as a pulping station.[12]

The First World War deeply affected Croome, with many local casualties, although the house was not requisitioned for the war effort. This is possibly because it was the home of the Lord Lieutenant of the County, who needed a residence for his many official engagements.[13]

During the Second World War Croome Court was requisitioned by the Ministry of Works and leased for a year to the Dutch Government as a possible refuge for Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands; to escape the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands. However, evidence shows that they stayed two weeks at the most, perhaps because of the noise and fear created by the proximity of Defford Aerodrome. They later emigrated to Canada.[14]

In 1948 the Croome Estate Trust sold the Court, along with 38 acres (15 ha) of land, to the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Birmingham, and the mansion became St Joseph's Special School, which was run by nuns[15] from 1950[11] until 1979.[15]

The house was listed on 11 August 1952; it is currently Grade I listed.[10]

In 1979 the hall was taken over by the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (Hare Krishna movement), who used it as their UK headquarters and a training college[16] called Chaitanya College,[15] run by 25 members of the movement.[16] During their tenure they repainted the Dining Room.[17] In 1984 they had to leave the estate for financial reasons. They held a festival at the hall in 2011.[16]

From 1984 onwards various owners tried to use the property as a training centre; apartments; a restaurant and conference centre; and a hotel and golf course,[15] before once more becoming a private family home,[2][15] with outbuildings converted to private houses.[15]

The house was purchased by the Croome Heritage Trust, a registered charity,[18] in October 2007,[19] and it is now managed by the National Trust as a tourist attraction. It opened to the public in September 2009, at which point six of the rooms had restored, costing £400,000, including the Saloon. It was estimated that another £4 million[2][20] to £4.8 million would be needed to restore the entire building. Fundraising activities for the restoration included a 2011 raffle for a Morgan sports car organised by Lord and Lady Flight. After the restoration is complete, a 999-year lease on the building will be granted to the National Trust.[21] An oral history project to record recollections about Croome was funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund.[15] As of 2009, the service wing was empty and in need of substantial repair.[22]

Exterior[edit]

The mansion is faced with Bath stone,[7] limestone ashlar, and has both north and south facing fronts. It has a basement and two stories, with three stories in the end pavilions. A slate roof, with pyramid roofs over the corner towers, tops the building, along with three pair-linked chimneys along the axis of the house.[10]

Both fronts have 11 bays, split into three central sets of three each, and one additional bay each side. The north face has a pedimented centre, with two balustraded staircases leading to a Roman Doric doorcase. The south face has a projecting Ionic tetrastyle portico and Venetian windows. It has a broad staircase, with cast stone sphinxes on each side, leading to a south door topped with a cornice on consoles. The wings have modillion cornice and balustrade.[10]

A two-story L-shaped service wing is attached to the east side of the mansion. It is made of red brick and stone, with slate roofs.[10] It was designed by Capability Brown in 1751-2.[22] On the far side of the service wing, a wall connects it to a stable court.[10]

Interior[edit]

The interior of the house was designed partially by Capability Brown, with plasterwork by G. Vassalli, and partially by Robert Adam, with plasterwork by J. Rose Jr. It has a central spine corridor. A stone staircase, with iron balusters, is at the east end.[10]

The entrance hall is on the north side of the building, and has four fluted Doric columns, along with moulded doorcases. To the east of the entrance hall is the dining room, which has a plaster ceiling and cornice, while to the west is a billiard room, featuring fielded panelling, a plaster cornice, and a rococo fireplace. The three rooms were probably decorated around 1758-59 by Capability Brown.[10] The dining room was vibrantly repainted by the Hare Krishnas in the 1970s-80s.[17]

The central room on the south side is a saloon, probably by Brown and Vassalli. It has an elaborate ceiling, with three panels, deep coving, and a cornice, along with two Ionic fireplaces, and Palladian doorcases.[10] George III was entertained by George Coventry, the 6th Earl, in the house's Saloon.[2] A drawing room is to the west of the saloon, and features rococo plasterwork and a marble fireplace.[10]

To the east of the saloon is the Tapestry Room.[10] This was designed in 1763-71, based on a design by Robert Adam, and contained tapestries and furniture covers possibly designed by Jacques Germain Soufflot, and made by Manufacture Nationale des Gobelins.[23] Around 1902 the ninth Earl sold the tapestries and seating to a Parisian dealer. In 1949 the Samuel H. Kress Foundation purchased the ceiling, floor, mantlepiece, chair rails, doors and the door surrounds, which were donated to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, in 1958. In 1959 the Kress Foundation also helped the Metropolitan Museum acquire the chair and sofa frames, which they recovered using the original tapestry seats.[7][23] A copy of the ceiling was installed in place of the original.[10] As of 2016, the room is displayed as it would have looked after the tapestries had been sold, with a jug and ewer on display as the only original decoration of the room that remains in it. The adjacent library room is used to explain what happened to the tapestry room;[17] the former library was designed by Adam, and was dismantled except for the marble fireplace.[10]

At the west side of the building is a long gallery,[10] which was designed by Robert Adam and installed between 1761 and 1766. It is the best preserved of the original interior (little of the rest has survived in situ).[1] It has an octagonal panelled ceiling, and plaster reliefs of griffins. A half-hexagonal bay faces the garden. The room also contains a marble caryatid fireplace designed by J Wilton.[10] As of 2016, modern sculptures are displayed in empty niches along the Long Gallery

wikipedia

From the sand dunes of Essaouira to the peaks of the Atlas Mountains, the all-new Range Rover demonstrates its full breadth of capability in Morocco.

From the sand dunes of Essaouira to the peaks of the Atlas Mountains, the all-new Range Rover demonstrates its full breadth of capability in Morocco.

View of the Blenheim cascade in poor light, but justified by the amount of water coming over!

I took two companion pictures, one with a faster shutter and one with a slower. This was taken with a 1/8" shutter in order to blur the water. See www.flickr.com/photos/martin-james/1779079640/in/set-7215... for the faster shutter speed.

The cascade was created by 'Capability Brown' the celebrated English landscape gardner, as part of a comprehensive remodelling of the grounds in the 1770's. Blenheim is regarded by many as his grandest work. The Cascade is at the end of the dam that creates the lake, which took two years to fill after construction. There isn't normally a lot of water as the Glyme, which feeds the lake, is only a small river, however the design of the cascade is such that it maximises the effect of the limited amount of water available.

For all my other Blenheim photos see

www.flickr.com/photos/martin-james/tags/blenheim/

Temple Newsam is one of the great historic estates in England. Set within over 1500 acres of parkland, woodland and farmland landscaped by Capability Brown in the 18th century, it is a magnificent Tudor–Jacobean mansion. Famous as the birthplace of Lord Darnley and home to the Ingram family for over 300 years, the mansion houses rich collections of works of art. The garden is renowned for its Rhododendron and Azalea walk and features the National Plant Collections of Delphinium, Phlox and Aster novi–belgii. Europe's largest working Rare Breeds Farm, with over 400 animals, is set within the original estate Home Farm.

Information from the Temple Newsam website.

www.leeds.gov.uk/templenewsam/

A Strategic Airlift Capability/Heavy Airlift Wing Boeing C-17A Globemaster III parked on the apron of Eindhoven Air Base

Incredibly rare shots of an Atlantic puffin were taken by photographer Sam Hobson on the Sony RX10 III, which features an extended 600mm super-telephoto zoom lens and silent shutter capability, to ensure the endangered animal was not disturbed

A walk around Minterne Gardens in Dorset.

The garden walk is about 1 mile in a horseshoe shape.

You can take different paths on the last leg of the walk, we went on the upper path.

Trees

Information below from leaflet from Minterne Gardens:

The Minterne Valley, landscapped in the manner of Capability Brown in the 18th century, has been the home of the Churchill and Digby families for 350 years. The gardens are laid out in a horseshoe below Minterne House, with a chain of small lakes, waterfalls and streams. They contain an important collection of Himalayan Rhodocdendrons and Azaleas, with Spring bulbs, Cherries, Maples and many fine and rare trees; the garden is noted for its Autumn colouring.

Of particular note are the large plants of Magnolia Campbellii which flower in March and April, together with a profusion of spring bulbs. Many flowering cherries were brought from Japan in 1920 and the Pieris Forrestii with their brilliant scarlet shoots, originally came from Wakehurst. A very fine collection of Davidia Involucrata (the pocket handkerchief tree) produce striking bracts in late May and early June, when the streams are lined with primulas, astilbes and other water plants.

Virginia National Guard Soldiers assigned to the 116th Infantry Brigade Combat Team conduct mounted machine gunnery July 19, 2019, during eXportable Combat Training Capability Rotation 19-4 at Fort Pickett, Virginia. Maj. Gen. Timothy P. Williams, the Adjutant General of Virginia, and Col. Joseph Dinonno, commander of the 116th, hosted state and U.S. Army leaders to observe training and talk with Soldiers, including Virginia Secretary of Veterans and Defense Affairs Carlos Hopkins, Army Vice Chief of Staff Gen. James C. McConville, Director of the Army National Guard Lt. Gen. Daniel R. Hokanson and 29th Infantry Division Commander Maj. Gen. John M. Epperly. Read more about the XCTC at go.usa.gov/xyPx6. (U.S. National Guard photo by Cotton Puryear)

Undergraduate students (l-r) Ryan Kallabis, Kristine Co and Evan Logoluso attend class in the Stauffer Science Lecture Hall (SLH), located at 831 Bloom Walk. The hall includes lectern-supported rooms and auditoria with full technological capability. Photo by: Philip Channing

A Capability Set is an entire package of network components, associated equipment, and software that provides an integrated network capability from the static Tactical Operations Center (TOC) to the dismounted Soldier. Capability Set 13 (CS 13) is the first fully-integrated suite of network components fielded out of the Army's new Agile Process. CS 13 delivers an unprecedented integrated network solution capable of supporting mission command requirements for the full range of Army operations, and an integrated voice and data capability throughout the entire Brigade Combat Team formation.

CS 13 addresses 11 critical Operational Need Statements, giving commanders and Soldiers vastly increased abilities to communicate and share information. Enhancements include Mission Command on the Move, allowing leaders access to network capabilities found in TOCs while mounted in vehicles, and delivering the network to Soldiers at the squad level. CS13 is under System of Systems Integration.

Read more on page 54 of the 2013 U.S. Army Weapon Systems Handbook: armyalt.va.newsmemory.com/wsh.php .

Burghley House, Stamford. The ground floor of the Brewhouse. This was created to the design of Capability Brown around 1763-9, with the brewing and preparation floor being raised to allow for the accommodation of a storage area at ground level in the C18th.

Designed and built by William Cecil (High Treasurer to Queen Elizabeth 1) between 1555 and 1587. The interiors, with elaborate plaster-work and incredible trompe d'oeil paintings took much longer. The staff areas are much plainer, although the high vaulted ceiling in the kitchen is spectacular. The house is now owned by a charitable trust, though parts are still lived in by the family, and is Grade 1 listed. The house lies just within Cambridgeshire, but the extensive parkland straddles Lincolnshire and Cambridgeshire, with Stamford being the nearest town.

burghley.co.uk/

Stamford, Lincolnshire / Cambridgeshire border, East Midlands, England, UK - Burghley House, Barnack Road

August 2023

ROME, NY (5/23/17) - Pilots from the NUAIR Alliance test unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) in preparation for an upcoming Technology Capability Level (TCL) flight test demonstration in conjunction with NASA and four other FAA UAS Test Sites taking place June 6, 2017. The test will focus on beyond visual line-of-sight operations in sparsely populated areas.

Infantrymen with Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 200th Infantry Regiment with the New Mexico Army National Guard, a component of the 41st Infantry Brigade Combat Team (IBCT), open up automatic machine gun fire on an OPFOR position during a battalion attack scenario at Camp Roberts, Calif., June 24, 2023. As an integral part of their extended eXportable Combat Training Capability (XCTC) annual training, this comprehensive exercise brings enhanced training resources to the brigade, surpassing the scope of a typical National Guard annual training. (Photo by Staff Sgt. Timothy Jackson)

Capability Brown's final masterpiece included the "Pool". All now National Trust.

DPAC and TUC Disabled Workers block Tottenham Court Road - London 22.05.2013

Activists from DPAC and disabled workers attending the TUC Disabled Workers Conference blocked Tottenham Court Road in Central London for an hour and a half as they protested loudly against punitive government cuts to disability benefits and services which is impacting disastrously - and already fatally - on our most vulnerable citizens.

**From the DPAC website **

On the day of the success of the High Court ruling ruling against the Work Capability Assessment, activists from Disabled People Against Cuts (DPAC) and disabled workers attending the Trades Union Congress (TUC) Disabled Workers Conference blocked Tottenham Court Road in an unprecedented act of solidarity.

Mandy Hudson, co-chair of the TUC disabled workers committee said: "Trade unionists would like to send a clear message to this government that trade unions, workers and grass roots disabled groups stand together against the onslaught of vicious cuts rained down upon us by the Condems."

--------------------------------------------------------

All photos © 2013 Pete Riches

Do not reproduce, alter, re-transmit or blog my images without my written permission. I remain at all times the copyright owner of this image.

Hi-Res, un-watermarked versions of these files are available on application solely at my discretion

If you want to use any image found in my Flickr Photostream, please Email me directly.

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about.me/peteriches

U.S. Airmen with the 156th Communications Flight, Puerto Rico Air National Guard, assemble a point-to-point microwave to receive network capabilities from the Joint Incident Site Communications Capability to their alternate location during training at the Roosevelt Roads U.S. Army Reserve Center in Ceiba, Puerto Rico, Dec. 9, 2020. Airmen with the 156th CF are conducting training with new team members on updated JISCC equipment. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Master Sgt. Caycee Watson)

Photo taken from the roof overlooking the Great Courtyard

A late April 2019 visit to Croome in Worcestershire, the estate is now run by the National Trust. Croome Park is quite big, and you can walk around the grounds and see the various landmarks there.

Croome Court

Croome Court is a mid-18th-century Neo-Palladian mansion surrounded by extensive landscaped parkland at Croome D'Abitot, near Pershore in south Worcestershire, England. The mansion and park were designed by Lancelot "Capability" Brown for the 6th Earl of Coventry, and were Brown's first landscape design and first major architectural project. Some of the mansion's rooms were designed by Robert Adam.

The mansion house is owned by Croome Heritage Trust, and is leased to the National Trust which operates it as a tourist attraction. The National Trust owns the surrounding parkland, which is also open to the public.

Croome Court is a Grade I listed building.

Listing Text

SO 84 SE CROOME D'ABITOT CROOME COURT

3/12 Croome Court

(formerly listed as

Croome Court with Stables,

11.8.52 Garden Room or Temple,

Principal Lodge, Lodge on

west, and Panorama)

GV I

Country House 1751-2 by Lancelot (Capability) Brown with advice from Sanderson

Miller. Interior work from 1760 by Robert Adam. Built for 6th Earl of

Coventry. Limestone ashlar Palladian mansion with principal North and South

fronts of 11 bays. Basement and 2 storeys with 3 storey end pavilions. Slate

roofs, pyramidal over corner towers and 3 paired axial chimneys, pair linked

by arches. 1-3-3-3-1 division with pedimented centre to North and fine pro-

jecting Ionic tetrastyle portico to South. Modillion cornice and balustrade to

flanking wings. Moulded window architraves enriched with flat cornices on

ground floor main range, pediments to North front pavilions and Venetian win-

dows to South front pavilions. Roman Doric curved pediment doorcase to North

front, flat cornice on consoles over South door. Chamfered quoins to project-

ing centre and to end pavilions. Fine 2 armed balustraded stair to North door

and broad straight flight up to South door flanked by cast stone sphinxes.

INTERIOR partly Brown with plasterwork by G Vassalli, partly Robert Adam with

plaster by J Rose Jr. 2 Adam rooms removed to New York and London. Spine

corridor with stone stair at East end with moulded underside and iron balu-

strade. NORTH SIDE: Entrance hall with 4 fluted Doric columns and Palladian

moulded doorcases, to East, dining-room with plaster cornice and ceiling,

original pelmets, to West, billiard-room with fielded panelling, plaster cor-

nice and rococo fireplace. These rooms, probably decorated c.1758-9, probably

by Brown. SOUTH SIDE: Fine central Saloon with elaborate deep coved ceiling

with 3 embellished panels and rich cornice, fine Palladian doorcases and 2

marble Ionic columned fireplaces. Room probably by Brown and Vassalli. To

East former tapestry room now dismantled; ceiling a copy of original by R Adam

and J Rose. Beyond, former library by R Adam, largely dismantled; marble fire-

place. To West, drawing-room with shallow rococo-style plaster and marble

fireplace. At WEST END, Gallery by R Adam 1764, with half-hexagonal bay to

garden, elaborate octagonal panelled ceiling by J Rose, plaster reliefs of

griffins, painted grisaille panels and marble caryatid fireplace by J Wilton.

Attached at East end, SERVICE WING: L plan, red brick and stone with slate

hipped roofs. 2 storey. Stone plinth, band, moulded eaves cornice and

Chamfered quoins. Glazing bar sash windows with gauged brick heads. Red brick

wall joins service wing to stable court beyond: 2 rusticated stone gate piers,

one still with ball finial. CL 10.4.1915. A T Bolton: The architecture of

R and J Adam 1922. D Stroud: Capability Brown 1975. G Bead: Decorative

Plasterwork 1975. R Adam and Croome Court Connoisseur October 1953.

Listing NGR: SO8849444596

This text is from the original listing, and may not necessarily reflect the current setting of the building.

The approach to Croome Court.

From the sand dunes of Essaouira to the peaks of the Atlas Mountains, the all-new Range Rover demonstrates its full breadth of capability in Morocco.

The bridge was originally designed to cross the small steep valley of the tiny river Glyme, and was in effect double the height it appears today. Capability Brown later damned the small river and landscaped it's shores, creating the famous lake we see today, and drowning many of the 30 or so rooms in the vast bridge.

Strategic Airlift Capability (SAC) C-17 Globemaster III (08-0001) operated by the Hungarian Air Force and is based at the Hungarian Defence Forces Pápa Air Base in Western Hungary. SAC 01 parked at LAX Imperial Terminal as its crew offloads and attaches its tow bar to the nose gear. (10/23/25)

Leominster (pronounced 'Lemster') is an historic market town which dates back to the 7th century.

Berrington Hall

A neo-classical mansion built to a design by Henry Holland, set in superb gardens by Capability Brown.

The exterior is restrained classical design, the interiors are stunningly ornate, with painted ceilings and an exceptionally fine entry staircase.

The House

Built in 1778-81 for Thomas Harley, son of the 3rd Earl of Oxford, Berrington Hall is one of the few masterpieces of the architect Henry Holland to survive intact. The interiors are characteristic of Holland’s refined Louis XVI manner and the house is set amidst a park with an artificial 14-acre lake laid out by the landscape designer ‘Capability Brown’ who was also Holland’s business partner and father-in-law.

Thomas Harley made a fortune supplying the British army with clothing and when he decided he needed a new house to showcase his family's prestige and wealth, he called on landscape gardener Capability Brown. It was Brown who chose the location for Berrington Hall, selecting a site that gave sweeping views to the Black Mountains of Wales. While Brown busied himself with creating the parkland and semi-natural landscapes, for which he was famous, the task of building the house itself fell to Brown's son in law, the architect Henry Holland.

Holland began work in 1778 and the house was completed in 1783. He drew upon the popular neo-classical style to create a house with two very different characters. The exterior is plain, sparingly adorned and formal whilst the interior is a riot of lavish colour and ornate decoration.

The interior decoration is unrestrained, with wonderful painted ceilings, ornate plasterwork, and a high dome shedding light onto a spectacular entry staircase. The elegant Georgian theme is augmented by fine furniture most of it French.

Lord Admiral Lord George Rodney was a family friend and visited Berrington Hall frequently. The dining room is hung with huge paintings by Luny depicting Rodney's famous sea battles.

There is also a fascinating glimpse of life 'below stairs', with the Laundry, Butler's Pantry, and Dairy being the highlights.

www.nationaltrust.org.uk/berrington-hall/features/the-man...

The Boudoir

Henry Holland designed this colourful and lavish room specifically for the ladies of the house.

Thomas Harley's wife Anne and their daughters would have considered the Boudoir their own private space to write, sew, gossip and entertain other female friends.

Croome Court is a mid 18th century Neo-Palladian mansion surrounded by an extensive landscaped parkland at Croome D'Abitot, near Pershore in south Worcestershire. The mansion and park were designed by Lancelot "Capability" Brown for George Coventry, 6th Earl of Coventry, and was Brown's first landscape design and first major architectural project. Some of the internal rooms of the mansion were designed by Robert Adam.

The mansion house is owned by Croome Heritage Trust, and is leased to the National Trust who operate it, along with the surrounding parkland, as a tourist attraction. The National Trust own the surrounding parkland, which is also open to the public.

Location[edit]

Croome Court is located near to Croome D'Abitot, in Worcestershire,[1] near Pirton, Worcestershire.[2] The wider estate was established on lands that were once part of the royal forest of Horewell.[3] Traces of these older landscapes, such as unimproved commons and ancient woodlands, can be found across the former Croome Estate.[4]

House[edit]

Croome Court South Portico

History[edit]

The foundations and core of Croome Court, including the central chimney stack structure, date back to the early 1640s.[5] Substantial changes to this early house were made by Gilbert Coventry, 4th Earl of Coventry.[6]

In 1751, George Coventry, the 6th Earl, inherited the estate, along with the existing Jacobean house. He commissioned Lancelot "Capability" Brown, with the assistance of Sanderson Miller, to redesign the house and estate.[7][1] It was Brown's "first flight into the realms of architecture" and a "rare example of his architectural work",[8] and it is an important and seminal work.[9] It was built between 1751 and 1752, and it and Hagley Hall are considered to be the finest examples of Neo-Palladian architecture in Worcestershire. Notable Neo-Palladian features incorporated into Croome Court include the plain exterior and the corner towers with pyramidal roofs (a feature first used by Inigo Jones in the design of Wilton House in Wiltshire).[1] Robert Adam worked on the interior of the building from 1760 onwards.[10]

The house has been visited by George III,[2][11] as well as Queen Victoria[7] during summers when she was a child, and George V (then Duke of York).[11]

A jam factory was built by the 9th Earl of Coventry, near to Pershore railway station, in about 1880, to provide a market for Vale of Evesham fruit growers in times of surplus. Although the Croome connection with jam making had ceased, during the First World War, the building was leased by the Croome Estate Trust to the Huddersfield Fruit Preserving Company as a pulping station.[12]

The First World War deeply affected Croome, with many local casualties, although the house was not requisitioned for the war effort. This is possibly because it was the home of the Lord Lieutenant of the County, who needed a residence for his many official engagements.[13]

During the Second World War Croome Court was requisitioned by the Ministry of Works and leased for a year to the Dutch Government as a possible refuge for Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands; to escape the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands. However, evidence shows that they stayed two weeks at the most, perhaps because of the noise and fear created by the proximity of Defford Aerodrome. They later emigrated to Canada.[14]

In 1948 the Croome Estate Trust sold the Court, along with 38 acres (15 ha) of land, to the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Birmingham, and the mansion became St Joseph's Special School, which was run by nuns[15] from 1950[11] until 1979.[15]

The house was listed on 11 August 1952; it is currently Grade I listed.[10]

In 1979 the hall was taken over by the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (Hare Krishna movement), who used it as their UK headquarters and a training college[16] called Chaitanya College,[15] run by 25 members of the movement.[16] During their tenure they repainted the Dining Room.[17] In 1984 they had to leave the estate for financial reasons. They held a festival at the hall in 2011.[16]

From 1984 onwards various owners tried to use the property as a training centre; apartments; a restaurant and conference centre; and a hotel and golf course,[15] before once more becoming a private family home,[2][15] with outbuildings converted to private houses.[15]

The house was purchased by the Croome Heritage Trust, a registered charity,[18] in October 2007,[19] and it is now managed by the National Trust as a tourist attraction. It opened to the public in September 2009, at which point six of the rooms had restored, costing £400,000, including the Saloon. It was estimated that another £4 million[2][20] to £4.8 million would be needed to restore the entire building. Fundraising activities for the restoration included a 2011 raffle for a Morgan sports car organised by Lord and Lady Flight. After the restoration is complete, a 999-year lease on the building will be granted to the National Trust.[21] An oral history project to record recollections about Croome was funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund.[15] As of 2009, the service wing was empty and in need of substantial repair.[22]

Exterior[edit]

The mansion is faced with Bath stone,[7] limestone ashlar, and has both north and south facing fronts. It has a basement and two stories, with three stories in the end pavilions. A slate roof, with pyramid roofs over the corner towers, tops the building, along with three pair-linked chimneys along the axis of the house.[10]

Both fronts have 11 bays, split into three central sets of three each, and one additional bay each side. The north face has a pedimented centre, with two balustraded staircases leading to a Roman Doric doorcase. The south face has a projecting Ionic tetrastyle portico and Venetian windows. It has a broad staircase, with cast stone sphinxes on each side, leading to a south door topped with a cornice on consoles. The wings have modillion cornice and balustrade.[10]

A two-story L-shaped service wing is attached to the east side of the mansion. It is made of red brick and stone, with slate roofs.[10] It was designed by Capability Brown in 1751-2.[22] On the far side of the service wing, a wall connects it to a stable court.[10]

Interior[edit]

The interior of the house was designed partially by Capability Brown, with plasterwork by G. Vassalli, and partially by Robert Adam, with plasterwork by J. Rose Jr. It has a central spine corridor. A stone staircase, with iron balusters, is at the east end.[10]

The entrance hall is on the north side of the building, and has four fluted Doric columns, along with moulded doorcases. To the east of the entrance hall is the dining room, which has a plaster ceiling and cornice, while to the west is a billiard room, featuring fielded panelling, a plaster cornice, and a rococo fireplace. The three rooms were probably decorated around 1758-59 by Capability Brown.[10] The dining room was vibrantly repainted by the Hare Krishnas in the 1970s-80s.[17]

The central room on the south side is a saloon, probably by Brown and Vassalli. It has an elaborate ceiling, with three panels, deep coving, and a cornice, along with two Ionic fireplaces, and Palladian doorcases.[10] George III was entertained by George Coventry, the 6th Earl, in the house's Saloon.[2] A drawing room is to the west of the saloon, and features rococo plasterwork and a marble fireplace.[10]

To the east of the saloon is the Tapestry Room.[10] This was designed in 1763-71, based on a design by Robert Adam, and contained tapestries and furniture covers possibly designed by Jacques Germain Soufflot, and made by Manufacture Nationale des Gobelins.[23] Around 1902 the ninth Earl sold the tapestries and seating to a Parisian dealer. In 1949 the Samuel H. Kress Foundation purchased the ceiling, floor, mantlepiece, chair rails, doors and the door surrounds, which were donated to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, in 1958. In 1959 the Kress Foundation also helped the Metropolitan Museum acquire the chair and sofa frames, which they recovered using the original tapestry seats.[7][23] A copy of the ceiling was installed in place of the original.[10] As of 2016, the room is displayed as it would have looked after the tapestries had been sold, with a jug and ewer on display as the only original decoration of the room that remains in it. The adjacent library room is used to explain what happened to the tapestry room;[17] the former library was designed by Adam, and was dismantled except for the marble fireplace.[10]

At the west side of the building is a long gallery,[10] which was designed by Robert Adam and installed between 1761 and 1766. It is the best preserved of the original interior (little of the rest has survived in situ).[1] It has an octagonal panelled ceiling, and plaster reliefs of griffins. A half-hexagonal bay faces the garden. The room also contains a marble caryatid fireplace designed by J Wilton.[10] As of 2016, modern sculptures are displayed in empty niches along the Long Gallery

wikipedia

Claremont estate

The first house on the Claremont estate was built in 1708 by Sir John Vanbrugh, the Restoration playwright and architect of Blenheim Palace and Castle Howard, for his own use. This "very small box", as he described it, stood on the level ground in front of the present mansion. At the same time, he built the stables and the walled gardens, also probably White Cottage, which is now the Sixth Form Centre of Claremont Fan Court School.

In 1714, he sold the house to the wealthy Whig politician Thomas Pelham-Holles, Earl of Clare, who later became Duke of Newcastle and served twice as Prime Minister. The earl commissioned Vanbrugh to add two great wings to the house and to build a fortress-like turret on an adjoining knoll. From this so-called "prospect-house", or belvedere, he and his guests could admire the views of the Surrey countryside as they took refreshments and played hazard, a popular dice game.

In the clear eighteenth-century air it was apparently possible to see Windsor Castle and St Paul's Cathedral. The Earl of Clare named his country seat Clare-mount, later contracted to Claremont. The two lodges at the Copsem Lane entrance were added at this time.

Landscape garden

Main article: Claremont Landscape Garden

Claremont landscape garden is one of the earliest surviving gardens of its kind of landscape design, the English Landscape Garden — still featuring its original 18th century layout. The extensive landscaped grounds of Claremont represents the work of some of the best known landscape gardeners, Charles Bridgeman, Capability Brown, William Kent (with Thomas Greening) and Sir John Vanbrugh.[2]

Work on the gardens began around 1715 and, by 1727, they were described as "the noblest of any in Europe". Within the grounds, overlooking the lake, is an unusual turfed amphitheatre.

A feature in the grounds is the Belvedere Tower, designed by Vanbrugh for the Duke of Newcastle. The tower is unusual in that, what appear to be windows, are actually bricks painted black and white. It is now owned by Claremont Fan Court School, which is situated alongside the gardens.

In 1949, the landscape garden was donated to the National Trust for stewardship and protection. A restoration programme was launched in 1975 following a significant donation by the Slater Foundation. The garden is Grade I listed on the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens.[3]

Capability Brown's mansion, built for Lord Clive of India

The Duke of Newcastle died in 1768 and, in 1769, his widow sold the estate to Robert Clive, 1st Baron Clive, founder of Britain's Indian Empire. Although the great house was then little more than fifty years old, it was aesthetically and politically out of fashion. Lord Clive decided to demolish the house and commissioned Capability Brown to build the present Palladian mansion on higher and dryer ground. Brown, more accomplished as a landscape designer than an architect, took on his future son-in-law Henry Holland as a junior partner owing to the scale of the project. John Soane (later Sir John Soane) was employed in Holland's office at this time and worked on the project as a draftsman and junior designer.[4] Holland's interiors for Claremont owe much to the contemporary work of Robert Adam.

Lord Clive, by now a rich Nabob, is reputed to have spent over £100,000 on rebuilding the house and the complete remodelling of the celebrated pleasure ground. However, Lord Clive ended up never living at the property, as he died in 1774—the year that the house was completed. The estate then passed through a rapid succession of owners; first being sold "for not more than one third of what the house and alterations had cost"[5] to Robert Monckton-Arundell, 4th Viscount Galway, and then to George Carpenter, 2nd Earl of Tyrconnell, and finally to Charles Ellis, 1st Baron Seaford.[6]

A large map entitled "Claremont Palace", situated in what is called "Clive's room" inside the mansion, shows the mansion and its surrounding grounds; giving a detailed overview of the campus. The map likely dates back to the 1860s, when the mansion was frequently occupied by Queen Victoria (thus it having been christened "palace"). However, the exact date is still unknown. The relief in Claremont's front pediment is of Clive's coat of arms impaled with that of Maskelyne, his wife's family.

DPAC & UK Uncut hold ATOS Closing Ceremony - 31.08.2012

As the Grand Finale to a week-long national campaign of protests against French IT company ATOS Origin and its spinoff ATOS Healthcare which carries out the much-criticised Wirk Capability Assessments on behalf of the DWP, which has seen tens of thousands of severely sick and disabled people declared to be "Fit for Work" and thrown off their disability benefits, several hundred activists from DPAC (Disabled People Against Cuts), WinVisible, Disabled Activists' Network, UK Uncut, Right to Work Campaign, Unite the Union, the GMB Union, Occupy London and the National UNion of Students descended on ATOS' London headquarters to carry out what they had billed as the "ATOS Closing Ceremony" - a reference to ATOS' hugely derided sponsorship of the Paralympic Games which is, say the activists, an act of spectatular cynicism by a corporation which is currently contracted by the Cameron government to the tune of £100 million to conduct the much-feared medical assessments without any reference whatsoever to peoples' medical notes of histories.

For two hours the crowd chanted slogans, listened to oral testimonies from people whose lives have been badly affected by ATOS decisions, heard accounts of people driven into such despair by dealing with ATOS that they have comitted suicide, and also heard many accounts of seriously ill people thrown off their benefits by ATOS who have been forced to look for work - having been declared fit for work - and who have died shortly afterwards. The list of people irreperably harmed by ATOS' computer-driven tick-box assessment which cannot possibly take into account the huge range of physical and mental disabilities seems endless.

Following some dogged Freedom of Information requests by two Daily Mirror journalists earlier this year it is now known that an average of 32 sickness or disability benefit claimnants who have been thrown off their benefits by the DWP following an ATOS zero-point rating and placed in the Work-Related Activity Group or who have been put on Jobseeker's Allowance have died shortly afterwards. In many instances relatives of the deceased have claimed that the stress of being treated in such an inhumane way by ATOS contributed to their deaths.

During the protest at Triton Square the 500-strong crowd were entertained by a street theatre performance which saw a fraudulent "ATOS Miracle Cure" booth set up. The "ATOS Reverend" would lay hands on a disabled person and tell them that "by the power of ATOS you are no longer disabled", and sent them through the ATOS Miracle Cure arch, but sadly once through the arch the disabled people realised they had been tricked and they were still, of course, disabled... but worse was to come, as each disabled person was then confronted by an "ATOS Doctor" who stated that because they were now officially no longer disabled and were fit for work they could now be assigned to do their dream jobs, to which end the phoney doctor handed each person a sheet of paper on which was written "100 meter runner", "Bar Tender", "Mountain Climber" and other completely unsuitable job titles.

At around 2:30pm a section of the crowd took off and headed for Westminster where they picketed outside the Department for Work and Pensions, during which an over-agressive action by the police resulted in a disabled man's shoulder being broken as he was knocked off his wheelchair when police shoved protesters into him.

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