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A Strategic Airlift Capability/Heavy Airlift Wing Boeing C-17A Globemaster III parked on the apron of Eindhoven Air Base with a Wizzair Airbus A321-200 taking off in the background
Showing off its single unit capability, SEPTA/RDG Silverliner IV 9021 (GE 1974-74) pulls out of North Broad St Station, Philadelphia PA 8-21-80
The Fort Knox energy team demonstrated during an Energy Security Project ribbon-cutting ceremony Wednesday the installation’s capability to operate independently of external power sources using natural gas from beneath the post’s surface – a first for a U.S. military installation.
The project was originally conceived to address mission readiness issues experienced in 2009 when an ice storm left Fort Knox and much of Kentucky without power for several consecutive days.
The harvesting of renewable methane gas on post in recent years and the installation’s six new energy substations that include gas generators now allow Fort Knox to continue 100 percent of its operations if power from the external utility provider is cut off. The post’s 3.7 megawatts of solar arrays and 6 million square feet of building space that is heated and cooled using geothermal energy has allowed the post to reduce its dependency on using other power sources, such as gas, as well.
“We’re giving back gold to the taxpayers,” said Garrison Commander Col. T.J. Edwards. “Our (Directorate of Public Works) estimates that we will save about $8 million per year from peak shaving.”
Peak shaving des-cribes another primary purpose of the Energy Security Project – switching to Fort Knox-produced power when energy demand strains the off-post energy utility, which is also when costs to purchase energy are at its highest. Com- bined with the savings achieved through geothermal heating and cooling, Fort Knox’s annual energy utility bill is projected to be $18 million less.
“Our energy team is special,” said Edwards. “We’ve won nine conse- cutive Secretary of the Army energy awards. But we don’t sit on our laurels. We’re constantly getting after it, asking how do we get better.”
Katherine Ham-mack, the assistant secretary of the Army for Installations, Energy and Environment, addressed the criticality for installations to maintain operating capability at all times.
“Energy security underwrites our unique ability to rapidly de- ploy, employ and sustain military forces around the globe, she
said. “And it’s for that
reason the Army is moving toward building resilience into our installations.”
Fort Knox’s ability to achieve this “resilience” was credited by the secretary and garrison commander as a result of Fort Knox Director-ate of Public Works, contracting command and legal officials working to establish partnerships with third parties whose expertise is in the energy field. As an example, Edwards singled out Brandon Marcum, an engineer and Harshaw Trane subcontractor for Nolin RECC, as a central figure in creating and developing the concept that became the Energy Security Project.
“We have authorities to work with third parties, leveraging core competency, capability and funding to enable us to meet our mission,” said Hammack. “The private sector partners have stepped up to help the Army in meeting our mission requirements.”
Nolin RECC staff gave the audience of about 150 area and military leaders, Fort Knox employees and area community members an inside look at its energy security bunker through a live video stream. Attendees were told how all of the systems function to achieve energy independence and peak shave. The built-in redundancies to prevent power failure – such as an off-site energy security bunker and the multiple, secured substations – were touted as well during the demonstration.
The formal celebration of the occasion involved a unique twist. Dignitaries and Army leaders didn’t cut a ribbon, they unplugged a ribbon. The ribbon was an LED cord, and when it was unplugged in the middle, the side connected to the Fort Knox power source stayed lit, symbolizing Fort Knox’s energy independence.
“Kentucky is very proud of the efforts here,” said Dave Thompson, Kentucky Commission on Mili-tary Affairs executive director. “We see Fort Knox as a growing in- stallation with undeniable potential for the future. Job well done.”
For more information about Fort Knox’s energy initiatives, read Capt. Jo Smoke’s story in the March 26 edition of The Gold Standard, titled “The Army’s only green island: 20 years of energy investments pay off,” which can be found at bit.ly/1FY4MT5. To learn more about the Energy Security Project visit youtu.be/CxNH7m0cdfw.
Photo By Renee Rhodes Fort Knox Photo
From GM press: Combining a decidedly urban-industrial design aesthetic with functionality aimed at young professionals, the GMC Granite concept takes the brand’s trademark capability in a new, more progressive direction. It was introduced at the 2010 North American International Auto Show in Detroit.
If brought to market, the Granite would be the smallest GMC ever – but has been optimized to feel much larger. Its length is a full 2 feet (0.6 m) shorter than the new Terrain compact crossover, but its open interior was designed to be spacious and flexible to fit the needs of active people. Generous cargo space and unique flipping/folding seats, for example, enable a mountain bike to be loaded completely inside with the tailgate closed.
Power for the Granite concept comes from a 1.4L turbocharged engine that is part of GM’s new family of small-displacement, highly efficient four-cylinder engines. It is matched with a six-speed transmission.
U.S. Army National Guard Soldiers with the 4-118th Combined Arms Battalion, South Carolina National Guard, conduct capability demonstrations for families, employers and future recruits at Fort Jackson in Columbia, South Carolina, July 24, 2021. The Soldiers highlighted live-fire artillery demonstrations on M1A1 Abrams tanks, M2A2 Bradley Fighting Vehicle, and various weapons systems. (U.S. Army National Guard photo by Sgt. 1st Class Kimberly D. Calkins, South Carolina National Guard).
The Fort Knox energy team demonstrated during an Energy Security Project ribbon-cutting ceremony Wednesday the installation’s capability to operate independently of external power sources using natural gas from beneath the post’s surface – a first for a U.S. military installation.
The project was originally conceived to address mission readiness issues experienced in 2009 when an ice storm left Fort Knox and much of Kentucky without power for several consecutive days.
The harvesting of renewable methane gas on post in recent years and the installation’s six new energy substations that include gas generators now allow Fort Knox to continue 100 percent of its operations if power from the external utility provider is cut off. The post’s 3.7 megawatts of solar arrays and 6 million square feet of building space that is heated and cooled using geothermal energy has allowed the post to reduce its dependency on using other power sources, such as gas, as well.
“We’re giving back gold to the taxpayers,” said Garrison Commander Col. T.J. Edwards. “Our (Directorate of Public Works) estimates that we will save about $8 million per year from peak shaving.”
Peak shaving des-cribes another primary purpose of the Energy Security Project – switching to Fort Knox-produced power when energy demand strains the off-post energy utility, which is also when costs to purchase energy are at its highest. Com- bined with the savings achieved through geothermal heating and cooling, Fort Knox’s annual energy utility bill is projected to be $18 million less.
“Our energy team is special,” said Edwards. “We’ve won nine conse- cutive Secretary of the Army energy awards. But we don’t sit on our laurels. We’re constantly getting after it, asking how do we get better.”
Katherine Ham-mack, the assistant secretary of the Army for Installations, Energy and Environment, addressed the criticality for installations to maintain operating capability at all times.
“Energy security underwrites our unique ability to rapidly de- ploy, employ and sustain military forces around the globe, she
said. “And it’s for that
reason the Army is moving toward building resilience into our installations.”
Fort Knox’s ability to achieve this “resilience” was credited by the secretary and garrison commander as a result of Fort Knox Director-ate of Public Works, contracting command and legal officials working to establish partnerships with third parties whose expertise is in the energy field. As an example, Edwards singled out Brandon Marcum, an engineer and Harshaw Trane subcontractor for Nolin RECC, as a central figure in creating and developing the concept that became the Energy Security Project.
“We have authorities to work with third parties, leveraging core competency, capability and funding to enable us to meet our mission,” said Hammack. “The private sector partners have stepped up to help the Army in meeting our mission requirements.”
Nolin RECC staff gave the audience of about 150 area and military leaders, Fort Knox employees and area community members an inside look at its energy security bunker through a live video stream. Attendees were told how all of the systems function to achieve energy independence and peak shave. The built-in redundancies to prevent power failure – such as an off-site energy security bunker and the multiple, secured substations – were touted as well during the demonstration.
The formal celebration of the occasion involved a unique twist. Dignitaries and Army leaders didn’t cut a ribbon, they unplugged a ribbon. The ribbon was an LED cord, and when it was unplugged in the middle, the side connected to the Fort Knox power source stayed lit, symbolizing Fort Knox’s energy independence.
“Kentucky is very proud of the efforts here,” said Dave Thompson, Kentucky Commission on Mili-tary Affairs executive director. “We see Fort Knox as a growing in- stallation with undeniable potential for the future. Job well done.”
For more information about Fort Knox’s energy initiatives, read Capt. Jo Smoke’s story in the March 26 edition of The Gold Standard, titled “The Army’s only green island: 20 years of energy investments pay off,” which can be found at bit.ly/1FY4MT5. To learn more about the Energy Security Project visit youtu.be/CxNH7m0cdfw.
Photo By Renee Rhodes Fort Knox Photo
Demonstrating Land Rover's legendary capability, its latest model, the Range Rover Hybrid is being put through its final engineering sign-off drive on a gruelling 9,950 mile endurance expedition.
Read everything about the expedition here: bit.ly/1bdu7vi
A Strategic Airlift Capability/Heavy Airlift Wing Boeing C-17A Globemaster III parked on the apron of Eindhoven Air Base with a Hellenic Air Force Lockheed C-130H in the background
A photo tour in Lyon, France, May 22, 2023 with my beloved French SLR Focaflex loaded with a Kodak Professional Ektachrome 100 film.
I did not shoot on reversal color film since at least 30 years. This Kodak Professional 36-exposure Ektachrome 100 was a good occasion for a new trial. I choose as a camera the Focaflex that is an early 60's very special French SLR of a time where color slides were a standard for both professional and amateur photographers.
The film was exposed carefully for the indicated 100 ISO using my Minolta Autometer III fitted with its 10° finder for selective measurements privileging the lighted zone not to bleach the most bright parts of the scene. The Oplar-Color 1:2.8 f=5cm was equipped with a Foca Anti-UV filter and a cylindrical generic shade hood.
Parc de la Tête d'Or, May 22 2023
69006 Lyon, France
After exposure, the film was given to professional local lab for E-6 processing. As an option, the slides were mounted in projection frames by the lab.They then were digitalized using a Sony A7 body adapted to a Minolta Auto Bellows III with the Minolta slide duplication device and a Minolta Macro Bellows lens 1:3.5 f=50mm. The mini-portable LED light RGB61 Neewer source was set to 100% of available power a the color temperature to 4900K. The RAW file obtained were exported to LR and processed to the final JPEG presented. Either the print JPEG with decorating frames or the full size image are given in the dedicated album.
I recovered the joy to discover the magical and incredibly saturated colors directly on the film.
About the camera: this French SLR Focaflex was manufactured likely in 1960 by Optique & Précision de Levallois (OPL), France, in its factory of Châteaudun, Eure.
The Focaflex was released in 1958 and sold to the public from 1959 to 1964 in three different versions (Focaflex Automatic and Focaflex II) , the year where OPL stopped its camera activities. The Focaflex is equipped with a fixed lens OPLAR-COLOR (4 lenses, Tessar type) 1:2.8 f=5 cm with a central shutter. The obvserved image through the lens is not obtained by the use of a regular pentaprism but a simple prism and the use of a 45° semi-transparent mirror and the a second mirror located it the bottom of the camera. This complex solution for a SLR was likely chosen as a sort of demonstrator of the OPL company capability to design very complex camera's...
The Focaflex became "famous" in a sense after the Gérard Oury's movie "Le Corniaud" with André Bourvil and Louis de Funés (1965) where Antoine Maréchal used hardly the Focaflex for his Italy tour and the Cadillac car.
This camera came with its everready case, a shade hood with +1 diopter (possibly of the Genaco brand), and a Foca AUV 42 mm filter, the three accessories in a small leather box (non Foca).
For a description a the optical scheme used in the Focaflex see www.foca-collection.fr/index.html
The Fort Knox energy team demonstrated during an Energy Security Project ribbon-cutting ceremony Wednesday the installation’s capability to operate independently of external power sources using natural gas from beneath the post’s surface – a first for a U.S. military installation.
The project was originally conceived to address mission readiness issues experienced in 2009 when an ice storm left Fort Knox and much of Kentucky without power for several consecutive days.
The harvesting of renewable methane gas on post in recent years and the installation’s six new energy substations that include gas generators now allow Fort Knox to continue 100 percent of its operations if power from the external utility provider is cut off. The post’s 3.7 megawatts of solar arrays and 6 million square feet of building space that is heated and cooled using geothermal energy has allowed the post to reduce its dependency on using other power sources, such as gas, as well.
“We’re giving back gold to the taxpayers,” said Garrison Commander Col. T.J. Edwards. “Our (Directorate of Public Works) estimates that we will save about $8 million per year from peak shaving.”
Peak shaving des-cribes another primary purpose of the Energy Security Project – switching to Fort Knox-produced power when energy demand strains the off-post energy utility, which is also when costs to purchase energy are at its highest. Com- bined with the savings achieved through geothermal heating and cooling, Fort Knox’s annual energy utility bill is projected to be $18 million less.
“Our energy team is special,” said Edwards. “We’ve won nine conse- cutive Secretary of the Army energy awards. But we don’t sit on our laurels. We’re constantly getting after it, asking how do we get better.”
Katherine Ham-mack, the assistant secretary of the Army for Installations, Energy and Environment, addressed the criticality for installations to maintain operating capability at all times.
“Energy security underwrites our unique ability to rapidly de- ploy, employ and sustain military forces around the globe, she
said. “And it’s for that
reason the Army is moving toward building resilience into our installations.”
Fort Knox’s ability to achieve this “resilience” was credited by the secretary and garrison commander as a result of Fort Knox Director-ate of Public Works, contracting command and legal officials working to establish partnerships with third parties whose expertise is in the energy field. As an example, Edwards singled out Brandon Marcum, an engineer and Harshaw Trane subcontractor for Nolin RECC, as a central figure in creating and developing the concept that became the Energy Security Project.
“We have authorities to work with third parties, leveraging core competency, capability and funding to enable us to meet our mission,” said Hammack. “The private sector partners have stepped up to help the Army in meeting our mission requirements.”
Nolin RECC staff gave the audience of about 150 area and military leaders, Fort Knox employees and area community members an inside look at its energy security bunker through a live video stream. Attendees were told how all of the systems function to achieve energy independence and peak shave. The built-in redundancies to prevent power failure – such as an off-site energy security bunker and the multiple, secured substations – were touted as well during the demonstration.
The formal celebration of the occasion involved a unique twist. Dignitaries and Army leaders didn’t cut a ribbon, they unplugged a ribbon. The ribbon was an LED cord, and when it was unplugged in the middle, the side connected to the Fort Knox power source stayed lit, symbolizing Fort Knox’s energy independence.
“Kentucky is very proud of the efforts here,” said Dave Thompson, Kentucky Commission on Mili-tary Affairs executive director. “We see Fort Knox as a growing in- stallation with undeniable potential for the future. Job well done.”
For more information about Fort Knox’s energy initiatives, read Capt. Jo Smoke’s story in the March 26 edition of The Gold Standard, titled “The Army’s only green island: 20 years of energy investments pay off,” which can be found at bit.ly/1FY4MT5. To learn more about the Energy Security Project visit youtu.be/CxNH7m0cdfw.
Photo By Renee Rhodes Fort Knox Photo
This magnificent informal landscape garden was laid out in the 18th century by 'Capability' Brown and further developed in the early years of the 20th century by its owner, Arthur G. Soames. The original four lakes form the centrepiece. There are dramatic shows of daffodils and bluebells in spring, and the rhododendrons and azaleas are spectacular in early summer. Autumn brings stunning colours from the many rare trees and shrubs, and winter walks can be enjoyed in this garden for all seasons. Visitors can now also explore South Park, 107 hectares (265 acres) of historic parkland, with stunning views.
Britain's future flagship HMS Queen Elizabeth sailed into her home port of Portsmouth for the first time.
Greeted by thousands of people lining the Portsmouth seafront, the 65,000-tonne carrier was met with the warmest of welcomes as she arrived in her home port just after 7am.
Royal Navy sailors lined up in ceremonial procedure on the flight deck of the mammoth ship, standing alongside civilian colleagues from the Aircraft Carrier Alliance, as she passed the Round Tower.
HMS Queen Elizabeth was also greeted with a flypast of helicopters from the Fleet Air Arm, including Wildcat and Merlin helicopters and Hawk jets.
Captain Jerry Kyd, the Commanding Officer of HMS Queen Elizabeth, said: "HMS Queen Elizabeth's first entry into her home port of Portsmouth is an historic, proud and exciting occasion, not only for those of us serving in her, but also for the wider Royal Navy, the city of Portsmouth and the entire nation."
"The UK's future flagship, as well her sister ship HMS Prince of Wales, will be powerful symbols of Britain's outward facing global character and ambition. The Royal Navy has a very special relationship with Portsmouth dating back half a millennium and both carriers will ensure the Navy's city remains the focal point of our great nation's maritime power for generations to come."
The ship will berth at the newly-opened Princess Royal Jetty at Her Majesty's Naval Base Portsmouth, which will be home to both of the Royal Navy's new aircraft carriers. The second, HMS Prince of Wales, will be officially named in a ceremony at Rosyth next month.
The berth has been upgraded and strengthened to support the carriers as part of a raft of infrastructure upgrades which took place ahead of the arrival of the ship.
The approach channel to Portsmouth has also been made deeper and wider, from its original 210 metres to 450 metres, and the channel has been straightened as much as possible to avoid large course alterations.
Bespoke navigational lights, a high-voltage electrical supply and specialist carrier-specific gangways, known as 'brows', have also been provided as part of a £100m programme of works to prepare Portsmouth for the arrival of the carrier.
Sir Peter Gershon, Chairman of the Aircraft Carrier Alliance, said: "I am incredibly proud to witness HMS Queen Elizabeth arrive at her home port of Portsmouth Naval Base having successfully completed the first phase of her sea trials programme.
"Over 10,000 people have come together to bring HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales to life, from early design to the magnificent ships they are today. It is thanks to their industrious endeavours and pride that we have achieved this historic moment in the programme to bring HMS Queen Elizabeth into service.
"We're excited to complete the remainder of her test and commissioning programme before delivering her to the Royal Navy by the end of the year."
With only three other countries in the world building aircraft carriers, HMS Queen Elizabeth will give Britain the capability to lead the way in tackling global issues in an increasingly uncertain world, from providing humanitarian relief to high-end war fighting.
And with the state-of-the-art F-35B Lightning fighter jets on track to make their first trial flights from the carrier's deck next year, the UK is now building towards delivering carrier strike capability. Both aircraft carriers are being delivered by the Aircraft Carrier Alliance.
Leading Airman Liam Forgeron, 28, from Portchester, is an aircraft handler on board HMS Queen Elizabeth. He said: "Being a local lad, I am extremely proud that Portsmouth will now be the base port for the nation's future flagship.
"The historic port has a long and proud association with the Royal Navy and the arrival of HMS Queen Elizabeth will cement this relationship for a further 50 years. As a Royal Navy aircraft handler, serving on board this mighty vessel is a real honour, as I too get to make history in my home town."
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
A Mercedes Benz 614D with body conversion by Fleet Finish, Forfar awaits auction at Wilsons Auctions, Portadown on 25/10/14. It was previously operated by Capability Scotland, Edinburgh.
(C) Will Hughes
English:
Boeing 737
Nolinor Aviation
Looking to transport several employees, a large amount of cargo, or bring an entire team and its heavy equipment to your destination? Not sure how to do so? Nolinor Aviation has the solution: our fleet of Boeing 737 aircraft will meet every one of your requirements.
Our Boeing 737 aircraft can accommodate up to 119 passengers in a full passenger configuration. The aircraft can also be configured to accommodate a combination of passengers and cargo or as a full cargo freighter. The Boeing 737 has a payload capability of 30,000 lbs. (13,600 kg) in all configurations.
We also provide operational flexibility for our clients as our aircraft are equipped to operate in and out of remote gravel strips, ice strips and short and narrow runways. The Boeing 737 offers the reliability, flexibility, payload, speed, comfort and range that each client can depend on for their specific charter requirements.
Registration : C-GTUK, C-GNLN, GNRD, GNLK, C-GNLW
Empty weight : 65 720 lbs
Gross weight : 119 500 lbs
Range : 5 hours plus reserve
Cruise speed : 776 km/hr
Fuel consumption : Jet –A (975 gal/hr)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Français :
Boeing 737
Nolinor Aviation
Vous voulez déplacer un nombre important d’employés, transporter un gros volume de marchandises ou amener à destination une équipe entière et son matériel pesant? Vous ne savez comment faire? Nolinor Aviation a la réponse: sa flotte de cinq Boeing 737 s’adapte à vos exigences.
Ses appareils peuvent être configurés pour recevoir jusqu’à 119 passagers, de la marchandise ou une combinaison des deux pour une charge utile atteignant 30 000 lbs (13 600 kg). Pour les projets en régions éloignées, les Boeing de Nolinor sont également équipés pour l’atterrissage sur des pistes de terre battue, de graviers ou de glace. Ils offrent ainsi un maximum de flexibilité et, grâce à leur grand rayon d’action, Nolinor vous dépose là où vous le souhaitez.
Immatriculation : C-GTUK, C-GNLN, GNRD, GNLK, C-GNLW
Poids à vide : 65 720 lbs
Poids maximum : 119 500 lbs
Endurance : 5 heures plus réserve
Vitesse de croisière : 776 km/hr
Consommmation d’essence : Jet –A (975 gal/hr)
Roger Lewis (DPAC) speaks to the assembled activists and to passing members of the public outside the Royal Courts of Justice.
DPAC, Mental Health Resistance Network & WinVisible vigil at High Court supporting judicial review of Work Capability Assessment (WCA) London - 08.07.2014
Disabled activists representing Disabled People Against Cuts (DPAC), the Mental Health Resistance Network (MHRN) and WinVisible (Women With Invisible Disabilities held a dignified vigil on the steps of the Royal Courts of Justice to show support for the judicial review taking place this week intended to make the Dept. for Work and Pensions (DWP) prove to the court that they are abiding by a previous court order that they make reasonable adjustments to the Work Capability Assessment testing process to make it fit for purpose and to abide by the Equalities Act 2010.
A previous judicial review had ruled that the WCA was clearly biased against people with mental health disabilities, and great harm has been done to many people as the DWP has refused to take into consideration any medical evidence or evidence crucial to any understanding of how a claimant's mental illness affects their daily lives and their ability to work. This cruel process has put people with mental health problems at a substantial disadvantage. The testing process has caused a great deal of distress, anxiety and fear, and there is clear evidence that there has been a significant number of suicides by claimants going through the Work Capability Assessment process, run up till now by disgraced French IT firm ATOS.
This photo © Pete Riches
Do not reproduce, alter, re-transmit, blog or otherwise exploit my images without my written permission. I remain at all times the copyright owner of this image.
Media buyers and publications can access this story on Demotix. Standard industry rates apply.
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.
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
The family home of Britains war time Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, this impressive palace in situated within 2000 acres of land designed by Capability Brown, Many events are hosted within its grounds and the subtly illuminated building provides a magnificent backdrop.
For more details, please visit www.blenheimpalace.com/
"Breadth of Capability": Land Rover celebrates 60 years
Text on plaque beneath sculpture:
"Since the very first Land Rover made its debut at the 1948 Amsterdam Motor Show, this celebrated British marque has set the standard for traversing any terrain and rising to any challenge.
Now - 60 years and four million vehicles later - its unique breadth of capabilities has ensured that the Land Rover name has entered everyday language as the generic term for go-anywhere vehicles.
This sculpture by Gerry Judah represents the firm foundations on which Land Rover builds a commitment to future growth in a changing world."
Vehicles displayed are: Land Rover Defender, Land Rover Discovery, Land Rover Freelander, and Range Rover.
----------
Goodwood Festival of Speed 2008
P7110751
Closer look at the F-22 Raptor .....
========================
- The F-22 has a significant capability to attack surface targets. In the air-to-ground configuration the aircraft can carry two 1,000-pound GBU-32 Joint Direct Attack Munitions internally and will use on-board avionics for navigation and weapons delivery support. In the future air-to-ground capability will be enhanced with the addition of an upgraded radar and up to eight small diameter bombs. The Raptor will also carry two AIM-120s and two AIM-9s in the air-to-ground configuration.
- A combination of sensor capability, integrated avionics, situational awareness, and weapons provides first-kill opportunity against threats. The F-22 possesses a sophisticated sensor suite allowing the pilot to track, identify, shoot and kill air-to-air threats before being detected. Significant advances in cockpit design and sensor fusion improve the pilot's situational awareness. In the air-to-air configuration the Raptor carries six AIM-120 AMRAAMs and two AIM-9 Sidewinders.
- The F-22 engines produce more thrust than any current fighter engine. The combination of sleek aerodynamic design and increased thrust allows the F-22 to cruise at supersonic air speeds (greater than 1.5 Mach) without using afterburner -- a characteristic known as super cruise. Super cruise greatly expands the F-22 's operating envelope in both speed and range over current fighters, which must use fuel-consuming afterburner to operate at supersonic speeds.
- The sophisticated F-22 aerodesign, advanced flight controls, thrust vectoring, and high thrust-to-weight ratio provide the capability to outmaneuver all current and projected aircraft. The F-22 design has been extensively tested and refined aerodynamically during the development process.
- The F-22's characteristics provide a synergistic effect ensuring F-22A lethality against all advanced air threats. The combination of stealth, integrated avionics and supercruise drastically shrinks surface-to-air missile engagement envelopes and minimizes enemy capabilities to track and engage the F-22. The combination of reduced observability and supercruise accentuates the advantage of surprise in a tactical environment.
=========================================
General characteristics :-
-----------------------------------
- Primary function: air dominance, multi-role fighter.
- Contractor: Lockheed-Martin, Boeing.
- Power plant: two Pratt & Whitney F119-PW-100 turbofan engines with afterburners and two-dimensional thrust vectoring nozzles.
- Thrust: 35,000-pound class (each engine).
- Wingspan: 44 feet, 6 inches (13.6 meters).
- Length: 62 feet, 1 inch (18.9 meters).
- Height: 16 feet, 8 inches (5.1 meters).
- Weight: 43,340 pounds (19,700 kilograms).
- Maximum takeoff weight: 83,500 pounds (38,000 kilograms).
- Fuel capacity: internal: 18,000 pounds (8,200 kilograms); with 2 external wing fuel tanks: 26,000 pounds (11,900 kilograms).
- Payload: same as armament air-to-air or air-to-ground loadouts; with or without two external wing fuel tanks.
- Speed: mach two class with supercruise capability.
- Range: more than 1,850 miles ferry range with two external wing fuel tanks (1,600 nautical miles).
- Ceiling: above 50,000 feet (15 kilometers).
- Armament: one M61A2 20-millimeter cannon with 480 rounds, internal side weapon bays carriage of two AIM-9 infrared (heat seeking) air-to-air missiles and internal main weapon bays carriage of six AIM-120 radar-guided air-to-air missiles (air-to-air loadout) or two 1,000-pound GBU-32 JDAMs and two AIM-120 radar-guided air-to-air missiles (air-to-ground loadout).
- Crew: one .
- Unit cost: $143 million .
- Initial operating capability: December 2005 .
- Inventory: total force, 183 .
Wearing a placard which reads "Dr. Paul Litchfield you deny, WCA (Work Capability Assessment) harms, claimants have died", Paula Peters (DPAC) addresses the passing public outside the High Court.
DPAC, Mental Health Resistance Network & WinVisible vigil at High Court supporting judicial review of Work Capability Assessment (WCA) London - 08.07.2014
Disabled activists representing Disabled People Against Cuts (DPAC), the Mental Health Resistance Network (MHRN) and WinVisible (Women With Invisible Disabilities held a dignified vigil on the steps of the Royal Courts of Justice to show support for the judicial review taking place this week intended to make the Dept. for Work and Pensions (DWP) prove to the court that they are abiding by a previous court order that they make reasonable adjustments to the Work Capability Assessment testing process to make it fit for purpose and to abide by the Equalities Act 2010.
A previous judicial review had ruled that the WCA was clearly biased against people with mental health disabilities, and great harm has been done to many people as the DWP has refused to take into consideration any medical evidence or evidence crucial to any understanding of how a claimant's mental illness affects their daily lives and their ability to work. This cruel process has put people with mental health problems at a substantial disadvantage. The testing process has caused a great deal of distress, anxiety and fear, and there is clear evidence that there has been a significant number of suicides by claimants going through the Work Capability Assessment process, run up till now by disgraced French IT firm ATOS.
This photo © Pete Riches
Do not reproduce, alter, re-transmit, blog or otherwise exploit my images without my written permission. I remain at all times the copyright owner of this image.
Media buyers and publications can access this story on Demotix. Standard industry rates apply.
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.
According to Wikipedia:-
'The avenues in the park were all laid out by Capability Brown, paying due respect to pre-existing plantings, some of which were from the 16th century or earlier. Brown also created the park's man-made lake in 1775–80. He discovered a seam of waterproof "blue" clay in the grounds, and was able to enlarge the original 9-acre (36,000 m²) pond to the existing 26-acre (105,000 m²) lake. Its clever design gives the impression of a meandering river. Brown also designed the Lion Bridge at a cost of 1,000 guineas (£1,050) in 1778. Originally, Coade-stone lions were used as ornamentation. After these weathered, the existing stone examples were made by local mason Herbert Gilbert in 1844. Queen Victoria and her husband Prince Albert also planted two trees to commemorate their visit.[
As well as the annual Burghley Horse Trials,[20] the park plays host to the "Burghley Run" for Stamford School and an annual meet for the Cambridge University Draghounds.'
Designed by Capability Brown, and built by James Wyatt for George William the 6th Earl of Coventry, this Saxon Tower was completed in 1798. It has been used to house a printing press, as a holiday home in the late 1800s, and as a vantage point during WWI and WWII.
For more info: www.broadwaytower.co.uk/
Croome Park is a landscaped country park surrounding Croome Court, in Worcestershire. It was Lancelot 'Capability' Brown's first complete landscape design, begun in 1751 for George Coventry, 6th Earl of Coventry. The mansion house was also designed by Brown and is a rare example of his architectural work.
The Court has recently been acquired by the National Trust and is currently being renovated.
Croome Court is a grade 1 listed building.
At the Capability Barns site in Fen Drayton, a small platform has been built, and a restored signalbox has been installed.
Two BR Mark 1 carriages are also on site, Maroon SK 24458. and CK 15626 in Blood & Custard.
© [R. C. Tarling.
This magnificent informal landscape garden was laid out in the 18th century by 'Capability' Brown and further developed in the early years of the 20th century by its owner, Arthur G. Soames. The original four lakes form the centrepiece. There are dramatic shows of daffodils and bluebells in spring, and the rhododendrons and azaleas are spectacular in early summer. Autumn brings stunning colours from the many rare trees and shrubs, and winter walks can be enjoyed in this garden for all seasons. Visitors can now also explore South Park, 107 hectares (265 acres) of historic parkland, with stunning views.
A visit to Berrington Hall near Leominster in Herefordshire.The dome was being restored so part of the building was under scaffolding inside and out (including up the main staircase).
Berrington Hall is a country house located about 3 miles (4.8 km) north of Leominster, Herefordshire, England. During the 20th century it was the seat of the Cawley family.
It is a neoclassical country house building that Henry Holland designed in 1778-81 for Thomas Harley. It has a somewhat austere exterior, but the interiors are subtle and delicate. Berrington Hall is home to the Elmar Digby furniture collection, paintings by, amongst others, Thomas Luny (1759–1837), and the Charles Paget Wade costume collection from Snowshill, which can be viewed by appointment. The 'below stairs' areas and servants' quarters that are open to the public include a Victorian laundry and Georgian dairy. Berrington has been in the care of the National Trust since 1957 and is, along with its gardens, open to the public.
Berrington features Capability Brown's last landscape design. A notable feature is the ha-ha wall, which was subject to extensive renovation in the late 20th century by local craftsmen. Berrington Pool, a lake and island, is a Site of Special Scientific Interest.
Berrington had been in the possession of the Cornewall family since 1386, but was sold in 1775 to Thomas Harley, a banker and government contractor who in 1767 had been Lord Mayor of London. He commissioned the rebuilding in 1778-1781 of the present Berrington Hall in place of the previous old house. He made it available to his daughter Anne and her new husband George Rodney, the son of Admiral Rodney. After Harley's death the house descended in the Rodney family for 95 years.
In 1901 the Manchester businessman Frederick Cawley MP, later Baron Cawley, purchased the estate. In 1957 the 3rd Lord Cawley transferred it to the Treasury, which passed in on to the National Trust. Lady Crawley was allowed to remain in occupation until her death in 1978.
It was classified as a Grade I listed building in 1959.
Grade I Listed Building
Berrington Hall and Adjoining Outbuildings
Laundry Room
Ironing table - they had to heat up the iron. No electric plug!
A WinVisible member wears a large sign around her neck calling for an end to the DWP ATOS work capability assessments, and also lists peopls who have died after being declared fit for work.
DPAC, Mental Health Resistance Network & WinVisible vigil at High Court supporting judicial review of Work Capability Assessment (WCA) London - 08.07.2014
Disabled activists representing Disabled People Against Cuts (DPAC), the Mental Health Resistance Network (MHRN) and WinVisible (Women With Invisible Disabilities held a dignified vigil on the steps of the Royal Courts of Justice to show support for the judicial review taking place this week intended to make the Dept. for Work and Pensions (DWP) prove to the court that they are abiding by a previous court order that they make reasonable adjustments to the Work Capability Assessment testing process to make it fit for purpose and to abide by the Equalities Act 2010.
A previous judicial review had ruled that the WCA was clearly biased against people with mental health disabilities, and great harm has been done to many people as the DWP has refused to take into consideration any medical evidence or evidence crucial to any understanding of how a claimant's mental illness affects their daily lives and their ability to work. This cruel process has put people with mental health problems at a substantial disadvantage. The testing process has caused a great deal of distress, anxiety and fear, and there is clear evidence that there has been a significant number of suicides by claimants going through the Work Capability Assessment process, run up till now by disgraced French IT firm ATOS.
This photo © Pete Riches
Do not reproduce, alter, re-transmit, blog or otherwise exploit my images without my written permission. I remain at all times the copyright owner of this image.
Media buyers and publications can access this story on Demotix. Standard industry rates apply.
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.
The Postcard
A postally unused postcard that was published by Judges Ltd. of Hastings. The card has a divided back, on which is printed:
'Ashburnham Christian Trust.
Interdenominational Conference
and Training Centre for Families
and Young People'.
Ashburnham Place
Ashburnham Place is an English country house, now used as a Christian conference and prayer centre, five miles west of Battle, Sussex. It was one of the finest houses in the southeast of England in its heyday, but much of the structure was demolished in 1959, and only a drastically reduced part of the building now remains standing.
The gardens of Ashburnham Place are Grade II* listed on the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens.
Early History of Ashburnham Place
The village of Ashburnham was the home of the Ashburnham family from the 12th. century. The family became wealthy through their land holdings in Sussex and around Pembrey in Carmarthenshire, and later from their participation in the Wealden iron industry.
Only the cellars remain from the earliest-known house on the site, dating from the 15th. century. This house was abandoned in the 16th. century, and confiscated by Queen Elizabeth I.
The Ashburnham family recovered their estate under Charles I, and John Ashburnham was a loyal servant of the King. However he was forced to sell the estate to the Relf family in the English Commonwealth, to pay fines levied for supporting the King.
John Ashburnham recovered the estate again after the English Restoration. His grandson and namesake, John Ashburnham, was created first Baron Ashburnham in 1689. The house was largely rebuilt to designs of the neo-Palladian architect Stephen Wright under the direction of the builder John Morris of Lewes, ca 1757–61.
Design of Ashburnham Place
The park, covering some 220 acres (0.89 km2) and including three large lakes around the house, was laid out by the landscape architect Capability Brown in the mid-18th. century. Brown's orangery, c. 1767, houses the oldest camellia in England.
Brick external additions were made to the house in Gothic Revival style in 1813–17, by a third John Ashburnham, the second earl of Ashburnham, to designs by George Dance the Younger.
Robert Adam designed entrance lodges for the second Earl in 1785. George Ashburnham, 3rd. Earl of Ashburnham, commissioned architectural drawings from John Soane, but it is not known if the suggested additions were built.
The house was refaced in stone in the early 19th. century, and then, when fashions changed, a second, red brick outer skin was added in 1853.
Internally, the house had a mix of styles, with a fine staircase by George Dance rising three floors in the central entrance hall. The drawing room was decorated with painted wall panels attributed to Athenian Stuart.
The house held the family's fine collection of paintings and the extensive library, collected by the 3rd. Earl and his son, Bertram Ashburnham, 4th. Earl of Ashburnham.
Later History of Ashburnham Place
By the late 19th. century, the family was under financial pressure, and offered to sell the library, including its collection of illuminated manuscripts, to the nation in the 1890's for £160,000. The deal did not go ahead, and the books were sold piecemeal for a total of £228,000 over the next few years.
Many were acquired by the British Library, but the sixth-to-seventh-century Ashburnham Pentateuch is in the Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris.
The Earldom became extinct on the death of Thomas Ashburnham, 6th. Earl of Ashburnham in 1924, and the house was inherited by his niece, Lady Catherine Ashburnham. The house was damaged when a fully loaded American Marauder bomber crashed nearby during the Second World War, and dry rot set in.
Lady Catherine was the last of this line of the Ashburnham family, and the estate was inherited by Reverend John David Bickersteth (1926-1991), a great grandson of the 4th. Earl, on her death in 1953.
In addition to the prospect of huge repair bills, he was also saddled with crippling death duties of £427,000. The contents of the house were sold at auction at Sotheby's in June and July 1953, and half of the estate was sold in the next few years. The house was mostly demolished in 1959, reducing the central section to two floors and the wings to a single storey.
The house is Grade II listed on the National Heritage List for England and the parkland is a Site of Special Scientific Interest.
Ashburnham Today
Bickersteth established a prayer centre in the stable block, and gave the remaining parts of the house and its parkland to the Ashburnham Christian Trust in April 1960. It is operated as a Christian conference and prayer centre.
U.S. Army National Guard Soldiers with the 4-118th Combined Arms Battalion, South Carolina National Guard, conduct capability demonstrations for families, employers and future recruits at Fort Jackson in Columbia, South Carolina, July 24, 2021. The Soldiers highlighted live-fire artillery demonstrations on M1A1 Abrams tanks, M2A2 Bradley Fighting Vehicle, and various weapons systems. (U.S. Army National Guard photo by Sgt. 1st Class Kimberly D. Calkins, South Carolina National Guard).
Planned by ‘Capability’ Brown in the 1760's, the Grand Cascade was created where the water of the River Glyme plunges out of the western end of the Great Lake and flows downhill to the point where it meets the River Evenlode; eventually, the combined waters of the two rivers then flow into the River Thames.
This magnificent informal landscape garden was laid out in the 18th century by 'Capability' Brown and further developed in the early years of the 20th century by its owner, Arthur G. Soames. The original four lakes form the centrepiece. There are dramatic shows of daffodils and bluebells in spring, and the rhododendrons and azaleas are spectacular in early summer. Autumn brings stunning colours from the many rare trees and shrubs, and winter walks can be enjoyed in this garden for all seasons. Visitors can now also explore South Park, 107 hectares (265 acres) of historic parkland, with stunning views.
This magnificent informal landscape garden was laid out in the 18th century by 'Capability' Brown and further developed in the early years of the 20th century by its owner, Arthur G. Soames. The original four lakes form the centrepiece. There are dramatic shows of daffodils and bluebells in spring, and the rhododendrons and azaleas are spectacular in early summer. Autumn brings stunning colours from the many rare trees and shrubs, and winter walks can be enjoyed in this garden for all seasons. Visitors can now also explore South Park, 107 hectares (265 acres) of historic parkland, with stunning views.
The Fort Knox energy team demonstrated during an Energy Security Project ribbon-cutting ceremony Wednesday the installation’s capability to operate independently of external power sources using natural gas from beneath the post’s surface – a first for a U.S. military installation.
The project was originally conceived to address mission readiness issues experienced in 2009 when an ice storm left Fort Knox and much of Kentucky without power for several consecutive days.
The harvesting of renewable methane gas on post in recent years and the installation’s six new energy substations that include gas generators now allow Fort Knox to continue 100 percent of its operations if power from the external utility provider is cut off. The post’s 3.7 megawatts of solar arrays and 6 million square feet of building space that is heated and cooled using geothermal energy has allowed the post to reduce its dependency on using other power sources, such as gas, as well.
“We’re giving back gold to the taxpayers,” said Garrison Commander Col. T.J. Edwards. “Our (Directorate of Public Works) estimates that we will save about $8 million per year from peak shaving.”
Peak shaving des-cribes another primary purpose of the Energy Security Project – switching to Fort Knox-produced power when energy demand strains the off-post energy utility, which is also when costs to purchase energy are at its highest. Com- bined with the savings achieved through geothermal heating and cooling, Fort Knox’s annual energy utility bill is projected to be $18 million less.
“Our energy team is special,” said Edwards. “We’ve won nine conse- cutive Secretary of the Army energy awards. But we don’t sit on our laurels. We’re constantly getting after it, asking how do we get better.”
Katherine Ham-mack, the assistant secretary of the Army for Installations, Energy and Environment, addressed the criticality for installations to maintain operating capability at all times.
“Energy security underwrites our unique ability to rapidly de- ploy, employ and sustain military forces around the globe, she
said. “And it’s for that
reason the Army is moving toward building resilience into our installations.”
Fort Knox’s ability to achieve this “resilience” was credited by the secretary and garrison commander as a result of Fort Knox Director-ate of Public Works, contracting command and legal officials working to establish partnerships with third parties whose expertise is in the energy field. As an example, Edwards singled out Brandon Marcum, an engineer and Harshaw Trane subcontractor for Nolin RECC, as a central figure in creating and developing the concept that became the Energy Security Project.
“We have authorities to work with third parties, leveraging core competency, capability and funding to enable us to meet our mission,” said Hammack. “The private sector partners have stepped up to help the Army in meeting our mission requirements.”
Nolin RECC staff gave the audience of about 150 area and military leaders, Fort Knox employees and area community members an inside look at its energy security bunker through a live video stream. Attendees were told how all of the systems function to achieve energy independence and peak shave. The built-in redundancies to prevent power failure – such as an off-site energy security bunker and the multiple, secured substations – were touted as well during the demonstration.
The formal celebration of the occasion involved a unique twist. Dignitaries and Army leaders didn’t cut a ribbon, they unplugged a ribbon. The ribbon was an LED cord, and when it was unplugged in the middle, the side connected to the Fort Knox power source stayed lit, symbolizing Fort Knox’s energy independence.
“Kentucky is very proud of the efforts here,” said Dave Thompson, Kentucky Commission on Mili-tary Affairs executive director. “We see Fort Knox as a growing in- stallation with undeniable potential for the future. Job well done.”
For more information about Fort Knox’s energy initiatives, read Capt. Jo Smoke’s story in the March 26 edition of The Gold Standard, titled “The Army’s only green island: 20 years of energy investments pay off,” which can be found at bit.ly/1FY4MT5. To learn more about the Energy Security Project visit youtu.be/CxNH7m0cdfw.
Photo By Renee Rhodes Fort Knox Photo
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
Strategic Airlift Capability program.
At the 2006 Farnborough Airshow, a number of NATO member nations signed a letter of intent to jointly purchase and operate several C-17s within the Strategic Airlift Capability (SAC). SAC members are Bulgaria, Estonia, Hungary, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Slovenia, the U.S., along with two Partnership for Peace countries Finland and Sweden as of 2010.The purchase was for two C-17s, and a third was contributed by the U.S. On 14 July 2009, Boeing delivered the first C-17 under the SAC program. The second and third C-17s were delivered in September and October 2009.
A chemical Soldier from 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team “Arctic Wolves” participates in the Arctic Anvil exercise that was held in Alaska in July 2016. FAST advisers are using cutting-edge technology demonstrated at exercises like Arctic Anvil to close capability gaps and keep Soldiers safe. (Photo by Rodney Jackson, 196th Infantry Brigade, Joint Pacific Multinational Readiness Capability)
The Fort Knox energy team demonstrated during an Energy Security Project ribbon-cutting ceremony Wednesday the installation’s capability to operate independently of external power sources using natural gas from beneath the post’s surface – a first for a U.S. military installation.
The project was originally conceived to address mission readiness issues experienced in 2009 when an ice storm left Fort Knox and much of Kentucky without power for several consecutive days.
The harvesting of renewable methane gas on post in recent years and the installation’s six new energy substations that include gas generators now allow Fort Knox to continue 100 percent of its operations if power from the external utility provider is cut off. The post’s 3.7 megawatts of solar arrays and 6 million square feet of building space that is heated and cooled using geothermal energy has allowed the post to reduce its dependency on using other power sources, such as gas, as well.
“We’re giving back gold to the taxpayers,” said Garrison Commander Col. T.J. Edwards. “Our (Directorate of Public Works) estimates that we will save about $8 million per year from peak shaving.”
Peak shaving des-cribes another primary purpose of the Energy Security Project – switching to Fort Knox-produced power when energy demand strains the off-post energy utility, which is also when costs to purchase energy are at its highest. Com- bined with the savings achieved through geothermal heating and cooling, Fort Knox’s annual energy utility bill is projected to be $18 million less.
“Our energy team is special,” said Edwards. “We’ve won nine conse- cutive Secretary of the Army energy awards. But we don’t sit on our laurels. We’re constantly getting after it, asking how do we get better.”
Katherine Ham-mack, the assistant secretary of the Army for Installations, Energy and Environment, addressed the criticality for installations to maintain operating capability at all times.
“Energy security underwrites our unique ability to rapidly de- ploy, employ and sustain military forces around the globe, she
said. “And it’s for that
reason the Army is moving toward building resilience into our installations.”
Fort Knox’s ability to achieve this “resilience” was credited by the secretary and garrison commander as a result of Fort Knox Director-ate of Public Works, contracting command and legal officials working to establish partnerships with third parties whose expertise is in the energy field. As an example, Edwards singled out Brandon Marcum, an engineer and Harshaw Trane subcontractor for Nolin RECC, as a central figure in creating and developing the concept that became the Energy Security Project.
“We have authorities to work with third parties, leveraging core competency, capability and funding to enable us to meet our mission,” said Hammack. “The private sector partners have stepped up to help the Army in meeting our mission requirements.”
Nolin RECC staff gave the audience of about 150 area and military leaders, Fort Knox employees and area community members an inside look at its energy security bunker through a live video stream. Attendees were told how all of the systems function to achieve energy independence and peak shave. The built-in redundancies to prevent power failure – such as an off-site energy security bunker and the multiple, secured substations – were touted as well during the demonstration.
The formal celebration of the occasion involved a unique twist. Dignitaries and Army leaders didn’t cut a ribbon, they unplugged a ribbon. The ribbon was an LED cord, and when it was unplugged in the middle, the side connected to the Fort Knox power source stayed lit, symbolizing Fort Knox’s energy independence.
“Kentucky is very proud of the efforts here,” said Dave Thompson, Kentucky Commission on Mili-tary Affairs executive director. “We see Fort Knox as a growing in- stallation with undeniable potential for the future. Job well done.”
For more information about Fort Knox’s energy initiatives, read Capt. Jo Smoke’s story in the March 26 edition of The Gold Standard, titled “The Army’s only green island: 20 years of energy investments pay off,” which can be found at bit.ly/1FY4MT5. To learn more about the Energy Security Project visit youtu.be/CxNH7m0cdfw.
Photo By Renee Rhodes Fort Knox Photo
A visit to Berrington Hall near Leominster in Herefordshire.The dome was being restored so part of the building was under scaffolding inside and out (including up the main staircase).
Berrington Hall is a country house located about 3 miles (4.8 km) north of Leominster, Herefordshire, England. During the 20th century it was the seat of the Cawley family.
It is a neoclassical country house building that Henry Holland designed in 1778-81 for Thomas Harley. It has a somewhat austere exterior, but the interiors are subtle and delicate. Berrington Hall is home to the Elmar Digby furniture collection, paintings by, amongst others, Thomas Luny (1759–1837), and the Charles Paget Wade costume collection from Snowshill, which can be viewed by appointment. The 'below stairs' areas and servants' quarters that are open to the public include a Victorian laundry and Georgian dairy. Berrington has been in the care of the National Trust since 1957 and is, along with its gardens, open to the public.
Berrington features Capability Brown's last landscape design. A notable feature is the ha-ha wall, which was subject to extensive renovation in the late 20th century by local craftsmen. Berrington Pool, a lake and island, is a Site of Special Scientific Interest.
Berrington had been in the possession of the Cornewall family since 1386, but was sold in 1775 to Thomas Harley, a banker and government contractor who in 1767 had been Lord Mayor of London. He commissioned the rebuilding in 1778-1781 of the present Berrington Hall in place of the previous old house. He made it available to his daughter Anne and her new husband George Rodney, the son of Admiral Rodney. After Harley's death the house descended in the Rodney family for 95 years.
In 1901 the Manchester businessman Frederick Cawley MP, later Baron Cawley, purchased the estate. In 1957 the 3rd Lord Cawley transferred it to the Treasury, which passed in on to the National Trust. Lady Crawley was allowed to remain in occupation until her death in 1978.
It was classified as a Grade I listed building in 1959.
A look around the Walled Garden at Berrington Hall.
Look! Look! Look! is a striking sculptural pavilion created by Herefordshire based artists Heather and Ivan Morison. The artists were inspired by the popularity of garden buildings or 'eye-catchers' of the 18th century.