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This is the Opening Ceremony of the 2012 Summer Paralympic Games - 4302 athletes from 164 countries came together in the largest paralympics ever. A celebration of sport with cultural, political and religious differences put aside.
The centrepiece is a giant version of Marc Quinn's statue Alison Lapper Pregnant. The original statue was displayed on the Fourth Plinth in Trafalgar Square, London from 2005-7. Alison Lapper is an English artist who was born without arms.
History of the games: In 1948, the British village of Stoke Mandeville first hosted the Stoke Mandeville Games, an athletics event for disabled British veterans of the Second World War held to coincide with the opening of the Summer Olympics in London. They were the first-ever organized sporting event for disabled athletes, and served as a precursor to the modern Paralympic Games. (Wikipedia)
Created for the Awake Challenge 5: "Multiculturalism and Cultural Diversity ".
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A destination famed for water and its spa history is transformed by the element of fire as part of a spectacular display created by internationally renowned French company, Carabosse. The centrepiece of the 50th Anniversary celebrations of Harrogate International Festivals, co-commissioned by Yorkshire Festival and with help from Harrogate Borough Council, the Fire Garden is a magical and sensory experience, set within Harrogate’s Valley Gardens.
Valley of Desolation - Spandau Kop after a thunderstorm
Tal der Trostlosigkeit - Spandau Kop nach einem Gewitter
The Camdeboo National Park is located in the Karoo and almost completely surrounds the Eastern Cape town of Graaff-Reinet.
Camdeboo National Park was proclaimed as South Africa's 22nd National Park under the management of South African National Parks on Sunday 30 October 2005. It covers an area of 194 square kilometers.
Following an extensive process of negotiation and discussion between government, conservation groups, and concerned stakeholders, Marthinus van Schalkwyk, Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, announced the intention to proclaim South Africa's 22nd National Park in the area surrounding Graaff-Reinet. This was made possible by the World Wide Fund for Nature in South Africa (WWF-SA), which donated the 14500 hectare Karoo Nature Reserve to be the centrepiece of the project.
A public consultation process was followed to decide on the new name for the park, culminating in the choice of Camdeboo National Park.
The Karoo Nature reserve was established in 1979 when the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and the World Wildlife Fund recognised the urgency for conservation measures in the Karoo biome and listed this action as a world conservation priority.
(Wikipedia)
Der Camdeboo-Nationalpark (englisch Camdeboo National Park) ist ein Nationalpark im Umfeld der südafrikanischen Stadt Graaff-Reinet, in der Provinz Eastern Cape. Er besteht aus einem westlichen und östlichen Teil. Um den historischen Kern der Stadt Graaff-Reinet greifen die zwei Bereiche des Camdeboo-Nationalparks herum. Der an das Stadtgebiet angrenzende Nqweba-Staudamm ist ein weiterer Bestandteil seines Gebietes.
Die beiden Teile des Nationalparks besitzen zusammen eine Gesamtfläche von 14.500 Hektar. In Betrachtung seiner Beziehungen zum Umfeld befindet sich der Nationalpark in einer für Südafrika ungewöhnlichen Lage. Er umfasst nahezu die komplette Umgebung einer mittleren Stadt mit 44.317 Einwohnern (2001). Daraus ergeben sich wechselseitige sozio-ökonomische Beziehungen. Die üblichen industriell-gewerblichen Stadtrandgebiete sind in Graaf-Reinet in der üblichen Form nicht möglich.
Die wichtigsten Areale des Nationalparks liegen auf einer Meereshöhe zwischen 740 und 1.480 Metern am Fuße der Sneeuberg-Abhänge. Damit befindet er sich unmittelbar an der Großen Randstufe (Great Escarpment). Das Nationalparkgelände geht nördlich und westlich von den Ausläufern der angrenzenden Erhebungen in deren vorgelagerte Ebenen über. Es existieren für die Besucher mehrere Eingangspunkte. Der touristisch bevorzugte Bereich befindet sich westlich der Stadt. Der östliche Teil ist für die touristische Nutzung weniger intensiv erschlossen. Es gibt im Nationalparkgelände Fahrstraßen für die Leih- und Rangerfahrzeuge sowie Wanderwege zu den attraktiven Punkten.
Das Valley of Desolation ist ein bizarres Felsental, das durch seine säulenförmigen Absonderungen von Karoo-Doleriten als Naturdenkmal eine besondere Sehenswürdigkeit bildet.
Das Valley of Desolation erhielt im Jahr 1935 den Status eines Nationalen Monuments. Im September 1974 schlug Anton Rupert von der Südafrikanischen Natur-Stiftung (South African Nature Foundation) vor, ein Karoo-Naturschutzgebiet (Karoo Nature Reserve) mit dem Felsen-Tal als Kerngebiet einzurichten. Er startete diese Idee mit einer Kampagne unter Schülern, die mit dem Kauf von symbolischen Anteilscheinen das Projekt ideell vorantrieben. Daraufhin wurde am 24. August 1976 das 2.698 Hektar große Naturschutzgebiet Karoo Nature Reserve mittels eines offiziellen Aktes eröffnet. Durch weitere Grundstücksankäufe eines ehemaligen Golfplatzes erweiterte man 1993 das zur Entwicklung vorgesehene Gebiet. Am 29. Oktober 2005 erhielt das Gelände den Status Nationalpark verliehen. Mit einer schrittweisen Erweiterung ist eine Zusammenführung mit dem Mountain-Zebra-Nationalpark geplant.
(Wikipedia)
The centrepiece of the altar at the Chapel of St Aloysius Gonzaga is this marble bas relief entitled 'Saint Aloysius Gonzaga in Glory'. The young saint emerges from the relif surrounded by angels and cherubs. It is the work of Pierre Le Gros, one of the most prominent sculptors of Baroque era Rome.
Aloysius Gonzaga died in 1591 at age 23 while caring for the sick during an epidemic. He was from a noble Italian family and had given up his an aristocratic life to become a Jesuit. He was beatified in 1605 and canonized in 1726.
Church of St Ignatius of Loyola, Rome; July, 2019
Yup , right in the middle of the village sits this decaying and boarded up old petrol station and vehicle servicing garage , It closed in 2014 but so far the only thing done to this triangular shape plot is the placing of some hoarding which itself is showing it's age .
some info from the Resident's Association website posted last August ---------
Tudor Motors – the sorry saga continues (update – 23rd August)
As most residents of Fetcham will be only too aware, there remains a singular lack of constructive, or even scheduled destructive activity, within the hoardings surrounding the now very delapidated Tudor Motors buildings.
Throughout this year, as for the previous four or so years, the FRA has maintained regular contacts with Stonegate Homes, who have been the development agents acting on behalf of site owners Littleworth Properties. We have also maintained dialogues with MVDC' Planning Department, directly and via our local Councillors.
Since the Planning Application itself was formally Approved, there remained numerous conditions applied to the approval that required to be demonstrated as being able to be met. And of course the pandemic will have undoubtedly had some slowing effect upon the processing of the numerous undertakings and contract agreements. However the FRA's expectations were that with the lifting of mandatory social distancing regulations by mid July and the government's 'back to work' messages, physical signs of progress might soon become evident.
The most recent update that the FRA received from Stonegate Homes, on the 12th July, was that clarification was awaited from the Council about the CIL (Community Infrastructure Levy) required by MVDC. And that once that clarification was received, demolition work could be started … and that Stonegate Homes would keep the FRA updated.
Prompted by that response, the FRA sought advice from Piers Mason, Head of Service (Planning & Regulations) at MVDC about when such clarification was likely to be able to be provided.
The response from Piers Mason received 14th July was, we must say, a little less than helpful …
“Yes, there are a number of matters in respect of housing relief and then potentially a new liability notice. We have received that and it’s in with the normal CIL workload. Should be done within our normal timescales.”
Given the lack of urgency that has been evident in processing this development during the past 5 years, the FRA is not very hopeful that ‘normal timescales’ will deliver the final clearance to commence works any time soon. We hope we are being overly pessimistic.
There is also the potentially compounding national issue of critical shortages of building materials and labour. So even when work could eventually commence … there may still be further delays.
Meanwhile Stonegate homes have been requested by the FRA on a number of occasions now to at least remove the redundant signage that stands outside of the hoardings ... ahead of any demolition of the buildings within. Unfortunately, and frustratingly, for much of this year, the supposed imminence of full site demolition work has been given as reason to not do so.
The FRA will update the community as soon as we learn of any new news.
Meanwhile the original Tudor Motors Clock also remains frozen in time and still awaits the day when it can be mounted on a face of the new building as a 'timely' reminder of recent history.
USAF C-5 86012 takes to the air at Fairford at the end of the 2025 Royal International Air Tattoo, where it had been one of the main attractions in the static display.
Aircraft: United States Air Force Lockheed C-5M Super Galaxy 86-0012 from 337th Airlift Squadron, 439th Airlift Wing, Westover Air Reserve Base, Massachusetts.
Location: RAF Fairford (FFD/EGVA), Gloucestershire.
A blend of formality and colour, the Italian Garden is Bicton’s world-renowned centrepiece. It is almost 300 years old, and still provides the park’s most famous view, across vast terraced lawns to a tiered fountain, standing directly in line with a distant obelisk. The stone obelisk, framed by a sunken avenue excavated by French prisoners of war, was built on a hill outside the park in 1743 to form a focal point for the gardens central axis. Smaller fountains are ringed with flowerbeds. Specimen trees, planted urns and elegant statues complete a memorable panorama.
The Italian Garden, so-named because its style originated in Renaissance Italy, was inspired by the French designer Andre Le Notre (1613-1700), who created the gardens at Versailles for Louis XI. Le Notre worked on at least one commission in London, and it has been suggested that he visited Bicton to draw the plan used by Henry Rolle when he laid out the Italian Garden in c.1735.
The Bicton Park Garden is set in the countryside near the South Devon Coast and the garden was once recognised as being one of the finest in England.
The garden is set on a hillside between walls which leads down to formal water gardens in the shape of canals with fountains and a small stream, and a large lake.
www.bictongardens.co.uk/index.php?route=product/category&...
The Leica Users Group explore the vast expanse of the Royal Naval College.
The Old Royal Naval College is the architectural centrepiece of Maritime Greenwich, a World Heritage Site in Greenwich, London, described by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) as being of "outstanding universal value" and reckoned to be the "finest and most dramatically sited architectural and landscape ensemble in the British Isles". The site is managed by the Greenwich Foundation for the Old Royal Naval College, set up in July 1998 as a registered charity to "look after these magnificent buildings and their grounds for the benefit of the nation". The grounds and some of its buildings are open to visitors. The buildings were originally constructed to serve as the Royal Hospital for Seamen at Greenwich, now generally known as Greenwich Hospital, which was designed by Christopher Wren, and built between 1696 and 1712. The hospital closed in 1869. Between 1873 and 1998 it was the Royal Naval College, Greenwich.
This was originally the site of the Palace of Placentia, more commonly known as Greenwich Palace, the birthplace of Tudor queens Mary I and Elizabeth I and reputedly the favourite palace of Henry VIII. The palace had fallen into disrepair during the English Civil War. With the exception of the incomplete John Webb building, the palace was finally demolished in 1694.
In 1873, four years after the hospital closed, the buildings were converted to a training establishment for the Royal Navy. The Royal Navy finally left the College in 1998 when the site passed into the hands of the Greenwich Foundation for the Old Royal Naval College.
Since 1998 the site has had new life breathed into it through a mix of new uses and activities and a revival of the historic old site under the management and control of the Greenwich Foundation. The buildings are Grade I listed. In 1999 some parts of Queen Mary and King William, and the whole of Queen Anne and the Dreadnought Building were leased for 150 years by the University of Greenwich. In 2000 Trinity College of Music leased the major part of King Charles. This created a unique new educational and cultural mix.
In 2002 the Foundation realised its aim of opening up the whole site to visitors. It opened the Painted Hall, the Chapel and the grounds and a Visitor Centre to the public daily, free of charge, with guided tours available. The Old Royal Naval College became open to students and visitors of all ages and nationalities accompanied often by music wafting from Trinity College. As Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote in 1863, "the people are sooner or later the legitimate inheritors of whatever beauty kings and queens create".
In 2005 the room where Nelson's coffin was held prior to his being laid-in-state was opened as the Nelson Room. The little side room contains a statue of Nelson replicating the one in Trafalgar Square, memorabilia, paintings and information. It can be seen on one of the guided tours that also include a visit to the undercrofts, the old skittle alley and crypt. A service is held in the chapel every Sunday at 11 am which is open to all. Public concerts are regularly held here and a wide variety of business and cultural events are held in the Painted Hall. The area is used by visitors, students, local people and film crews in a traffic-free environment that provides a variety of coffee shops, bars and restaurants, all incorporated within the old buildings, as part of a unique "ancient and modern" blend that support 21st century life in Greenwich.
The Old Royal Naval College and the "Maritime Greenwich" World Heritage site are becoming focal points for a wide range of business and community activities. Trinity College of Music provide a wide range or musicians and ensembles on a subsidised commercial basis to play at events throughout East London and beyond, part of their business and community “out-reach” policy encouraged and part-funded by the Higher Education Funding Council.
The site is regularly used for filming television programmes, television advertisements, and feature films. Productions have included Patriot Games, where an attack on a fictional royal family member, Lord Holmes, was filmed, as well as Shanghai Knights, and a 2006 television advertisement campaign for the British food and clothing retailer Marks & Spencer. Other films include Four Weddings and a Funeral, The Madness of King George, The Mummy Returns, The Avengers (1998) and Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (2001).
More recent filming has included BBC television's spy-drama Spooks and the dramatisation of Little Dorrit, David Cronenberg's film Eastern Promises, the film adaptation of Philip Pullman's novel Northern Lights and The Wolf Man (2009). The grounds were used extensively during the filming of 2006's Amazing Grace, and 2011's Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows and Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. Scenes were shot at the grounds for The King's Speech, where the site doubled for Buckingham Palace, and The Dark Knight Rises, where it doubled for a cafe in the film's final scenes. In April 2012 the site was used for the iconic barricade scenes in the film adaption of the musical Les Miserables. In October 2012 the college was used for filming the Thor: The Dark World. As of October 2013 the college is being used as a set for The Man from U.N.C.L.E.. Also Guy Richie's 2005 film Revolver filmed a scene there.
The centrepiece of the Cowley Road Carnival this year was the 'robot' Colossus. As seen here the contraption was constructed from wheelie bins but it was rather effective, not least because of the personality imparted to it via the human providing it's voice.
Click here to see my 'alternative' Oxford shots : www.flickr.com/photos/darrellg/albums/72157621783779889
From Wikipedia : "Cowley Road is also home to the Cowley Road Carnival, an annual event during which the road is pedestrianised, and which features live music, static sound systems, a parade, and food from around the world. Cowley Road Carnival has become an integral part of contemporary Oxford. In 2014 and 2015 it attracted 45,000 visitors."
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© D.Godliman
I love Christmas, and a Christmas with all the trimmings is just what I enjoy. It is my floral centrepiece that I enjoy most about my table setting every Christmas. This year my florist supplied me with cream, fiery orange and deep red roses. The photos don't do the red or the orange justice. The asparagus fern comes from my garden, as I like to create my own centrepieces.
I hope you all had a lovely Christmas Day and are enjoying the time between here and New Year's Eve.
Festive centrepiece at my stepdaughter’s house. Christmas lunch with my offspring tends to be a mega splurge food wise. Pass me the Epsom Salts!
Centrepiece of the Solent Sky Museum in Southampton. Not surprisingly, it's not possible to photograph the aircraft in its entirety, as it occupies much of the floor area.
This machine was built in 1943 for RAF as a Sunderland, JM715. It was converted post-war to a Sandringham and flew in new Zealand and Australia before acquisition by Antilles Air Boats in 1974. It visited the UK and Ireland in 1976 and 1977 as VP-LVE, conducting a series of pleasure flights.
The Abbey Church is the centrepiece of Dunfermline, one of the oldest settlements in Scotland and once its proud capital. The history of The Abbey is entwined with that of Scotland itself, as Dunfermline was the burial site of the Scottish monarchs before the adoption of the island of Iona, and you will see many reminders and relics there of great Scottish rulers of the past.
The Abbey and the ruins around it are all that remain of a Benedictine Abbey founded by Queen Margaret in the eleventh century. The foundations of her church are under the present nave (or `Old Church`), built in the twelfth century in the Romanesque style by David ) son of Margaret and Malcolm Canmore).
King Robert the Bruce is buried here, and the tower of the church bears the words `King Robert the Bruce` in carved stone around the top and inside, beneath the pulpit, is the Bruce`s tomb, with its fine brass cover dating from 1889.
Outside the east gable of the church is the shrine of Queen Margaret, a place of pilgrimage since the medieval times, and nearby are the remains of the other monastic buildings, including the large refectory and the ruin of the Royal Palace, rebuilt from the guest house of the monastry in the sixteenth century for James VI and his Queen.
After the reformation Dunfermline ceased to be an Abbey, but since the nave of the church continued to be used as the local parish church, much of the Abbey has survived to this day. The present parish church, to the east of the Old Church, was added in the nineteenth century.
Hand written signs, as seen in this photograph, were the centrepiece of the protest against the proscripton of Palestine Action in Parliament Square on 6 September 2025, with most bearing the carefully chosen words: "I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action".
This slogan was a direct challenge to the law, explicitly linking support for the proscribed group with opposition to the ongoing genocide in Gaza and the UK's complicity. Under the Terrorism Act 2000, simply displaying these signs was a serious criminal offence. This act of civil disobedience was a response to the state criminalising not just actions, but expressions of conscience.
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Protest and the Price of Dissent: Palestine Action and the Criminalisation of Conscience
Parliament Square on Saturday, 6 September 2025 was a scene of quiet, almost solemn defiance. The air, usually thick with the noise of London traffic and crowds of tourists, was instead filled with a palpable tension, a shared gravity that emanated from the quiet determination of hundreds of protesters, many of them over 60 years old, some sitting on steps or stools and others lying on the grass.
They held not professionally printed banners, but handwritten cardboard signs, their messages stark against the historic grandeur of their surroundings. This was not a march of chants and slogans, but a silent vigil of civil disobedience, a deliberate and calculated act of defiance against the state.
On that day, my task was to photograph the protest against the proscription of the direct-action group Palestine Action.
While not always agreeing entirely with the group’s methods, I could not help but be struck by the profound dedication etched on the faces of the individual protesters. As they sat in silence, contemplating both the horrific gravity of the situation in Gaza and the enormity of the personal risk they were taking — courting arrest under terror laws for holding a simple placard — their expressions took on a quality not dissimilar to what war photographers once called the “thousand-yard stare.” It was a look of weary but deep and determined resolve, a silent testament to their readiness to face life-changing prosecution in the name of a principle.
This scene poses a profound and unsettling question for modern Britain. How did the United Kingdom, a nation that prides itself on its democratic traditions and the right to protest, arrive at a point where hundreds of its citizens — clergy, doctors, veterans, and the elderly — could be arrested under counter-terrorism legislation for an act of silent, peaceful protest?
The events of that September afternoon were the culmination of a complex and contentious series of developments, but their significance extends far beyond a single organisation or demonstration. The proscription of Palestine Action has become a critical juncture in the nation’s relationship with dissent, a test of the elasticity of free expression, and a stark examination of its obligations under international law in the face of Israel deliberately engineering a catastrophic humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
To understand what is at stake, one must unravel the threads that led to that moment: the identity of the movement, the state’s legal machinery of proscription, the confrontation in Parliament Square, and the political context that compelled so many to risk their liberty.
Direct Action and the State’s Response
Palestine Action, established in 2020, has never hidden its approach. Unlike traditional lobbying groups, it rejected appeals to political elites in favour of disrupting the physical infrastructure of complicity: factories producing parts for Israeli weapons systems, offices of arms manufacturers, and — eventually — military installations themselves.
Its tactics, while non-violent, were disruptive and confrontational. Red paint sprayed across buildings to symbolise blood, occupations that halted production, chains and locks on factory gates. For supporters, these were acts of conscience against a system enabling atrocities in Gaza. For the state, they were criminal disruptions of commerce.
That clash escalated steadily. In Oldham, a persistent campaign against Elbit Systems, a key manufacturer in the Israeli arms supply chain, culminated in the company abandoning its Ferranti site. Later actions targeted suppliers for F-35 fighter jets and other arms manufacturers. These were no random acts of mindless vandalism but part of a deliberate strategy: to impose costs high enough that complicity in Israel’s war effort would become unsustainable.
The decisive rupture came in June 2025, when activists infiltrated RAF Brize Norton, Britain’s largest airbase, and sprayed red paint into the engines of refuelling aircraft linked to operations over Gaza. For the activists, it was a desperate attempt to interrupt a supply chain of surveillance and logistical support to a state commiting genocide. For the government, it crossed a line: military assets had been attacked. Within days, the Home Secretary announced Palestine Action would be proscribed as a terrorist organisation.
Proscription and the Expansion of “Terrorism”
Here lies the heart of the controversy. The Terrorism Act 2000 defines terrorism with unusual breadth, encompassing not only threats to life but also “serious damage to property” carried out for political or ideological aims. In this capacious definition, breaking a factory window or disabling a machine can be legally assimilated to mass murder.
By invoking this law, the government placed Palestine Action on the same legal footing as al-Qaeda or ISIS. Supporting it — even symbolically — became a serious offence.
Since July 2025, merely expressing support for the organization can carry a maximum prison sentence of 14 years.
This is based on Section 12 of the Terrorism Act 2000. The specific offence is "recklessly expressing support for a proscribed organisation". However, according to Section 13 of the Act, a lower-level offence for actions like displaying hand held placards in support of a proscribed group carries a maximum sentence of six months imprisonment or a fine of five thousand pounds or both.
Civil liberties groups and human rights bodies have denounced the proscription move as disproportionate. Their concern was not primarily whether Palestine Action’s tactics might violate existing criminal law. One might reasonably argue that they did unless they might sometimes be justified in the name of preventing a greater crime.
But reframing those actions as “terrorism” represented a dangerous category error. As many pointed out, terrorism has historically referred to violence against civilians. Expanding it to cover property damage risks draining the term of meaning. Worse, it arms the state with a stigma so powerful that it can delegitimise entire political positions without debate.
The implications go further. Proscription does not simply criminalise acts. It criminalises expressions of allegiance, conscience and even speech. To say “I support Palestine Action” is no longer an opinion but technically a serious crime. The state has moved from punishing deeds to punishing expressions of solidarity — a move with chilling consequences for democratic life.
Parliament Square: Civil Disobedience on Trial
It was this transformation that brought nearly 1,500 people into Parliament Square on 6 September. They knew what awaited them. Organisers announced in advance that protesters would hold signs reading: “I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action.” In doing so, they openly declared their intent to break the law.
The crowd was strikingly diverse. Retired doctors, clergy, war veterans, even an 83-year-old Anglican priest. Disabled activists came in wheelchairs; descendants of Holocaust survivors stood beside young students. This was not a hardened cadre of militants but a cross-section of society, many of whom had never before faced arrest.
At precisely 1 pm, the protesters all sat or lay down silently, cardboard signs raised. There was no chanting, no aggression — only a quiet insistence that they would not accept the criminalisation of conscience.
The police response was equally predictable. Hundreds of officers moved systematically through the crowd, arresting anyone displaying a sign. By the end of the day, nearly 900 people were detained under counter-terrorism law. It was one of the largest mass arrests in modern British history.
Official statements later alleged police were met with violence — officers punched, spat on, objects thrown. Yet independent observers, including Amnesty International, contradicted this. They reported a peaceful assembly disrupted by aggressive policing: batons drawn, protesters shoved, some bloodied.
www.amnesty.org/zh-hans/documents/eur45/0273/2025/en/
Video footage supported at least some of Amnesty's report.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZQGFrqCf5U&t=1283s
The two narratives were irreconcilable, but only one carried the weight and authority of the state.
The entire event unfolded as political theatre. The government proscribed a group, thereby creating a new crime. Protesters, convinced the law was unjust, announced their intent to commit that crime peacefully. The police, forewarned, staged a vast operation. Each side acted out its script. The spectacle allowed the state to present itself as defending order against extremism — while in reality silencing dissent.
The Humanitarian Context: Why Protesters Risked All
To see the Parliament Square protest as a parochial dispute over free speech is to miss its driving force. The demonstrators were not there merely to defend abstract principles. They were responding to what they, and a growing body of international experts, describe as a genocide in Gaza.
By September 2025, Gaza had descended into almost total collapse. Over 63,000 Palestinians had been killed, the majority of them women and children. More than 150,000 had been injured, many maimed for life. Entire neighbourhoods had been flattened. Famine was confirmed in August, with Israel continuing to impose and even tighten deliberate restrictions on food, water, and fuel, a strategy condemned by human rights groups as a major war crime. Hospitals lay in ruins. Ninety percent of the population had been displaced.
It is in this context that the term genocide has been applied.
Legal scholars point not only to mass killings but also to the deliberate infliction of life-destroying conditions, accompanied by rhetoric from Israeli officials dehumanising Palestinians as “human animals.” In September 2025, the International Association of Genocide Scholars declared that Israel’s actions met the legal definition of genocide.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cde3eyzdr63o
Major NGOs, UN experts, and even Israeli human rights groups such as B’Tselem echoed that conclusion.
For the protesters, then, the question was not abstract but immediate: faced with what they saw as a genocide, could they in good conscience remain silent while their own government criminalised resistance to it? Their answer was to risk arrest, their placards making the moral connection explicit: opposing genocide meant supporting those who sought to stop it.
The Price of Dissent
The mass arrests in Parliament Square were not an isolated incident of law enforcement. They were the product of a broader trajectory: escalating tactics by a direct-action movement, a humanitarian catastrophe abroad, and a government determined to suppress dissent at home through the bluntest of instruments.
The official line insists that Palestine Action’s campaign constituted terrorism and thus warranted proscription. On this view, the arrests were simple enforcement of the law. Yet this account obscures the deeper reality: a precedent in which the state redefined non-lethal protest as terrorism, shifting from punishing actions to criminalising expressions of solidarity.
The cost is profound. Once speech and conscience themselves become suspect, dissent is no longer tolerated but pathologised. The chilling effect is already evident: individuals weigh not just whether to join a protest, but whether uttering support might expose them to years in prison. Terror laws, originally justified as a shield against mass violence, are recast as tools of political management.
The protesters understood this. That “thousand-yard stare” captured in their faces was not only the weight of potential arrest, but the knowledge of Gaza’s devastation, the famine and rubble, the deaths mounting daily. It was also the recognition that their own government had chosen to silence them rather than address its complicity.
In a functioning democracy, the question is not why citizens risk arrest for holding a handwritten cardboard sign. It is why a state finds it necessary to treat that act as a terror offence. The answer reveals a narrowing of democratic space, where conscience itself is deemed subversive. And that narrowing, history teaches, carries consequences not just for those arrested, but for the society that allows it.
The centrepiece of the Lincolnshire Aviation Heritage Centre's collection is the Lancaster Just Jane but another great attraction is de Havilland Mosquito HJ711 seen here inside the hanger.
Those black exhaust marks on the engine nacelles indicate that the aircraft is in taxying condition and regularly does just that. It's a remarkable renaissance but HJ711 is not likely to fly again given its restoration from a whole raft of different aircraft parts, both new and from crash recoveries, over many years.
It's owner Tony Agar has spent 40 years recreating this unique aircraft and the full story can be found on the Centre's website : www.lincsaviation.co.uk/history/the-history-of-mosquito-h...
The centrepiece of the exhibition is an installation entitled ‘Nowhere to Be Found', which consists of a human skull placed in an aquarium and surrounded by living coral. Salt water and UV light imitate tropical surroundings and create an artificial environment, allowing the coral to get most of its energy from the skull. The skull slowly perishes leaving behind its proteins in the salt water, on which the coral feeds. Just like other living beings do, the corals ‘compete' for light and food. Some corals don't make it, while others survive on the skull and create an intriguing spectacle.
This original huge chandelier is the centrepiece of the Grand Hall at the restored Metropolitan Theatre.
(It must have been an arduous task cleaning 25-30 years or more of dust off of all those glass pieces!)
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
Downtown Winnipeg is seeing a much needed resurgence in recent years with lots of new construction, but also with several wonderful historic buildings being restored to their former glory. "The Met", recently re-opened after sitting empty and derelict for just over a quarter century, is the latest of these wonderfully re-purposed gems.
The Met originally opened in 1919 as the Allen, a vaudeville theatre. Just a few short years later it closed and was re-opened in 1923 as a movie palace. It is one of several grand theatres to have graced our downtown (of which 3 remain). Over the years until it finally went dark in 1987, it was modernized (covering up much of the ornate plaster ceilings with false drop ceilings - especially in the lobby), and then slowly neglected and allowed to deteriorate. Much of the restoration done over the past few years has brought this grand structure back to how it would have appeared when it was the Allen Theatre.
The new Met is a multi-function restaurant, bar and special event facility that can be booked for concerts, films, weddings, etc. It has 3 beautiful bar areas and theatre seating has been replaced with multiple tiers of tables and booths that can be configured to suit almost any type of event. It's has a wonderful casual elegant atmosphere to soak in while enjoying a meal or meeting a friend for a drink.
Here's a video that shows a bit of the history and recent restoration work. It also provides a glimpse into how deteriorated this building had become:
Looking up to the Plimsoll Swing Bridge, the centrepiece of Bristol's Cumberland Basin flyover complex. Cumberland Basin was constructed 1962-5 to a design by the City Engineer's department under J.B. Bennett; the consulting engineers were Freeman, Fox & Partners (Foyle, 2004).
This view shows one of the four spiral staircases that ascend to the deck of the swing bridge. There is one staircase at each corner of the bridge (this is the north-eastern one) and each terminates in a small covered "kiosk" that gives access to the pavement. The structure on the right is a kind of elevated and enclosed viewing tower that sits between the two carriageways, but in the fifty years that I have regularly been passing here I have never seen anyone in it.
Sunday 11th April 2021.
Foyle, Andrew. 2004. Pevsner Architectural Guides - Bristol. New Haven & London: Yale University Press.
Ilford FP4+
Pentax SPII
Takumar 55mm lens
Epson V600 scanner
Ilfosol 3, 1+9, 4 minutes 15 seconds, 20º C.
Jewel Changi Airport, commonly known as Jewel, is a nature-themed entertainment and retail complex on the landside of Changi Airport, Singapore. Linked to three of its passenger terminals, the centrepiece is the world's tallest indoor waterfall, named the Rain Vortex, which is surrounded by a terraced forest setting.
Jewel includes gardens, attractions, a hotel, aviation facilities and more than 300 retail and dining facilities. It covers a total gross floor area of 135,700 m2, spanning 10 storeys – five above-ground and five basement levels. Its attractions also include the Shiseido Forest Valley, an indoor garden spanning five storeys, the Canopy Park at the topmost level, featuring more gardens and leisure facilities.
Jewel is located in Changi, at the eastern end of Singapore, approximately 20 kilometres northeast from Singapore's Downtown Core.
Kimber Lane Street Art, Chinatown, Sydney.
In Between Two Worlds by artist Jason Wing forms the centrepiece of the City of Sydney’s upgrade to Little Hay Street, Factory Street and Kimber Lane.
By day this unassuming lane has been brightened by blue clouds and silver figures transforming an otherwise ordinary service lane. By night the ‘spirit’ figures illuminate the lane with an otherworldly blue glow inviting visitors to explore this new addition to Chinatown’s vibrant night-life.
Lake Burley Griffin is Canberra's glistening centrepiece - a water playground surrounded by museums, galleries, iconic landmarks, cafes, and parks.
textures: awake + uknown by Kim Klassen
week 1 assigment for Beyond Layers class and prompt from day 22 for picture winter class
I'd like to wish all my flickr friends and followers the very best for the New Year. Thank you for your support, encouragement and comments this year. Thank you also for all your wonderful photographs!
May your New Year's Eve be a festive one, whatever you choose to do. May 2020 be a happy and prosperous year for you all.
I love New Year, and a New Year with all the trimmings is just what I enjoy. Therefore a four course New Year's Eve dinner had on the back terrace is a classic affair. Royal Albert "Val d'Or" tableware, crystal glasses, Sheffield cutlery, antique silverware, napkin rings and antique linen. However, it is my floral centrepiece that I enjoy most about my table setting every New Year. This year my florist supplied me with white and yellow roses; two of my favourite colours. The asparagus fern comes from my garden, as I like to create my own centrepieces.
October 11, 2014
"The thankful receiver bears a plentiful harvest." - William Blake
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It was Thanksgiving for my family today; my parents made up a great meal which Nard and I enjoyed completely. Real Thanksgiving isn't until Monday, but my family and I always like to have our meal on Saturday.
Before heading over for dinner though, we ran errands and came across someone selling these centrepieces; they caught my attention immediately and figured it would be a great gift for my Mom (and prop for my Dad and myself) so it was purchased and presented. I'm pretty sure she thought it was as pretty as I did, so it was a good choice.
At my parents house, I borrowed my Dad's (awesome) lens and used it to snap away at the prop I brought to my Mom. I felt like keeping the photography simple today, and feel I managed that with this simple still-life.
Anyway, hope everyone has had a good day.
Click "L" for a larger view.
The bridge was officially opened by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on 18 March 2022 after roughly five years of construction. It is the centrepiece of the planned 321-kilometre long (199 mi) US$2.8 billion O-6 motorway, which will connect the O-3 and O-7 motorways in East Thrace to the O-5 motorway in Anatolia. The year "1915" in the official Turkish name honours an important Ottoman victory in the Gallipoli campaign against firstly a naval engagement followed by a land invasion on the Gallipoli peninsula by the forces of Australia, New Zealand (The ANZACS), France and Great Britain from the 25th April 1915 which were largely evacuated by December of that year.
The bridge is the first fixed crossing over the Dardanelles and the sixth one across the Turkish Straits, after three bridges over the Bosphorus and two tunnels under it.
Design and cost
The bridge's tender project was designed by Tekfen Construction and Installation and detailed designed by COWI A/S and Pyunghwa Engineering Consultants (PEC) in South Korea (for cable design and approach bridge design packages only). Arup and Aas-Jakobsen participated in the project as Independent Design Verifier (IDV). The Administrator consultants are Tekfen and T-ingénierie.
The total length of the bridge is 3,563 m (11,690 ft) and together with the approach viaducts the length reaches 4,608 m (15,118 ft), which surpasses the total length of the Osman Gazi Bridge and its approach viaducts by 527 m (1,729 ft), to become the longest bridge of any type in Turkey.
The height of the bridge's two towers is 334 m (1,096 ft),[note 1] making it the tallest bridge in Turkey, surpassing Yavuz Sultan Selim Bridge, and the third tallest structure in the country. Internationally, the bridge is the second tallest bridge in the world, surpassing the Pingtang Bridge in China. The deck of the bridge is 72.8 m (239 ft) high and 45.06 m (147.8 ft) wide, with a maximum thickness of 3.5 m (11 ft). The deck carries six lanes of motorway (three in each direction), together with a walkway on each side for maintenance.[13]
According to President Erdoğan, the bridge cost 2.5 billion euros (2.7 billion US dollars) to build, but would save €415 million ($458 million) per year from a reduction of fuel consumption and carbon emissions.
History
See also: Xerxes' pontoon bridges
Proposals for a bridge spanning the Dardanelles Strait have existed since the 1990s. A bridge was proposed again in 2012, and in 2014, it was placed in the Turkish government's future transportation projects list. In September 2016, the government officially launched the bridge building project. Bids for the contract to construct the bridge were made in 2017. The contract was awarded to a consortium containing Turkish companies Limak Holding and Yapı Merkezi, alongside South Korean companies DL Holdings and SK Ecoplant.
Construction began in March 2017. The bridge was initially scheduled for completion in September 2023, and later brought forward to March 2022. On 16 May 2020, the second tower was completed, on the Gallipoli side (European coast) By 13 November 2021 all block decks were installed. The toll bridge opened for traffic on 18 March 2022, with a toll price of 200 lira (€6.78)
1915 Çanakkale Bridge
Dardanelles Bridge
1915 Çanakkale Köprüsü
Çanakkale Boğaz Köprüsü
Çanakkale bridge, nearing completion, March 2022
Coordinates40°20′24″N 26°38′10″E
Carries6 lanes of O-6
Maintenance walkways on each side
CrossesDardanelles
LocaleÇanakkale Province, Turkey
Official name1915 Çanakkale Köprüsü
Website1915canakkale.com/en-us
Characteristics
DesignSuspension
Total length4,608 m (15,118 ft)
Width45.06 m (148 ft)
Height334 m (1,096 ft)
Longest span2,023 m (6,637 ft)
Clearance below70 m (230 ft)
History
DesignerCOWI A/S and PEC (Pyunghwa Engineering Consultants)
Constructed byDaelim, Limak, SK, Yapı Merkezi
Construction startMarch 2017
Construction end26 February 2022
Opened18 March 2022; 2 years ago
Statistics
Toll₺280
The 1915 Çanakkale Bridge (Turkish: 1915 Çanakkale Köprüsü) is a road suspension bridge in the province of Çanakkale in northwestern Turkey. Situated just south of the coastal towns of Lapseki and Gelibolu, the bridge spans the Dardanelles, about 10 km (6.2 mi) south of the Sea of Marmara. The bridge is the longest suspension bridge in the world—with a main span of 2,023 m (2.023 km; 1.257 mi), the bridge surpasses the Akashi Kaikyo Bridge (1998) in Japan by 32 m (105 ft)
Wikipedia
The centrepiece of the Centre Hall at Kelvingrove Art Gallery & Museum is a concert pipe organ constructed and installed by Lewis & Co. The organ was originally commissioned as part of the Glasgow International Exhibition, held in Kelvingrove Park in 1901.
Belah was the centrepiece of an ambitious trans-Pennine connection between Barnard Castle and Tebay, involving a tortuous climb up to Stainmore summit, 1,370 feet above the sea. The line was a creation of Thomas Bouch, a talented engineer whose many grand achievements would later be overshadowed by Britain’s most notorious railway disaster.
The copper dome of West Register House glows in the morning sun above Edinburgh’s Charlotte Square, a striking reminder of the city’s neoclassical heritage. Originally built as St George’s Church, the structure was designed by the great Scottish architect Robert Adam and completed in 1814, forming the western centrepiece of his grand New Town plan.
The building’s graceful rotunda and Corinthian portico exemplify Adam’s mastery of proportion and light. After the church closed in 1964, it was adapted to house part of the National Records of Scotland, becoming West Register House. Today it stands as one of the finest surviving examples of Adam’s late work, balancing spiritual origin with civic purpose — a crown of Charlotte Square that continues to define Edinburgh’s skyline.
Scarborough Castle stands on a massive promontory of rock that rises above the North Sea. Its 12th-century great tower is the centrepiece of a royal castle begun by Henry II. It became one of the greatest royal fortresses in England and figured prominently in national events during the Middle Ages. Its buildings are mostly relatively recent additions to a site which, as a natural fortress, has been intermittently inhabited and fortified for nearly 3,000 years.
Before the Castle
Reconstructed Roman pottery from the site of the Roman signal station at Scarborough Castle (on loan from Scarborough Museums Trust)
With its own anchorage, Scarborough has long been an important gateway to north-east England. Fragments of pottery dating to between about 2100 and 1600 BC are the earliest evidence of human activity on the headland.
But it is only in the first millennium BC that there is clear evidence of a settlement there. Excavations suggest two distinct periods of habitation, the first about 800 BC and the second about 500 BC, but it is not clear how extensive either settlement was.In the late 4th century AD a fortified tower was erected on the headland. Finds of coins and pottery, and architectural similarity to other sites, suggest that it was one of a set of signal stations built along the north-eastern coast of Britain at this time. Exactly when and why these were built is much debated, but whatever their purpose, they seem to have been abandoned in the early 5th century. It has long been supposed that the name Scarborough derives from Old Norse. However, the whole idea of a Viking settlement at Scarborough has recently been questioned and an alternative Anglo-Saxon derivation for the name Scarborough as ‘the hill with the fort’ has been suggested.Nonetheless, it is clear from the discovery of a chapel within the foundations of the Roman signal station as well as a small cemetery that there was human activity on the headland by 1000.
The Early Castle
Scarborough is first clearly documented in the mid-12th century as a borough prospering beneath the walls of a great royal castle.The castle’s founder was William le Gros, Count of Aumâle. Created Earl of York by King Stephen in 1138, he proceeded to establish himself as the unrivalled political master of the region. His work at Scarborough probably began in the 1130s. Later in the 12th century the chronicler William of Newburgh recorded that Aumâle was responsible for enclosing the plateau of the promontory with a wall and erecting a tower at the entrance, on the site of the present great tower or keep. But within a few years of the castle’s foundation Henry II acceded to the throne and demanded the return of all royal castles. Scarborough, which was built on a royal manor, was one of these, and Scarborough Castle passed into the hands of the Crown.
A Royal Castle
In 1159 Henry II began to rebuild the castle, planting a new town beneath its walls at the same time. About £650 was spent on the castle over the next ten years, an enormous sum.[8] The principal object of expenditure was the great tower, built 1159–69, most probably as architectural confirmation that the castle had changed hands.King John is known to have visited Scarborough several times and seems to have developed it, along with Knaresborough, as a major royal castle to control Yorkshire. He spent £2,291 on Scarborough, more than on any other castle in the kingdom, in two phases: first, the creation of an outer wall to the inner bailey in 1202–6, and second, the extension of that wall down to the cliff in 1207–12. During the second stage he also constructed a hall in the inner bailey as well as a new royal chamber block and a separate aisled hall in the outer bailey.
The Castle in the Later Middle Ages
Henry III provisioned and maintained the castle throughout his reign, which became one of the greatest royal fortresses in England. Edward I continued to use it as a royal lodging, holding court and council at Scarborough in 1275. Prisoners from his Scottish wars were also held there. In 1312 it was briefly the scene of a siege when Edward II's favourite, Piers Gaveston, took refuge in the castle. In 1308 Lord Percy and his wife were granted licence to live in the castle and over the next 40 years the Percy family built a bakehouse, brewhouse and kitchen in the inner bailey. The buildings were generally only repaired in extreme need. Richard III was the last king to stay there, in 1484, while assembling a fleet to resist the expected invasion of Henry Tudor, later Henry VII.
The Castle under the Tudors
Though dilapidated, Scarborough Castle continued to play an important role in times of crisis. When the popular rebellion against Henry VIII known as the Pilgrimage of Grace broke out in October 1536, the constable, Sir Ralph Eure, declared his support for the king and was besieged in the castle. Although damaged by gunfire, the castle was held successfully. Twenty years later the castle was involved in another doomed plot, when in 1557 Thomas Stafford seized the castle and held it for three days, believing he could incite a popular revolt against Queen Mary. The castle was easily captured, and Stafford and his accomplices were executed.
The Civil War
In September 1642 a local gentleman, Sir Hugh Cholmley, was commissioned to hold Scarborough for Parliament, but he was soon persuaded to change sides. Immediately afterwards, while Cholmley was visiting Charles I in York, 40 seamen under the command of Cholmley’s cousin Captain Browne Bushell surprised the guard at night and took the castle. Cholmley rushed back and persuaded Bushell to return the castle to him. For the next two years Scarborough served as an important Royalist base, its interception of shipping inflicting serious coal shortages on London.Early in 1645, however, Parliamentarian forces closed in on Scarborough. After three weeks Sir Hugh was forced to retreat from the town to the castle, where for five months he resisted one of the bloodiest sieges of the Civil War. The bombardment was so intense that the massive walls of the great tower sheared and half the building collapsed. Eventually Cholmley ran out of gunpowder, then money and finally food. He surrendered on 25 July 1645. The castle was again besieged when the Parliamentary garrison of 100 men under Colonel Boynton declared for the imprisoned king on 27 July 1648, after Parliament had failed to pay them. Boynton eventually surrendered in December. Instructions were given that the castle should be slighted, but opposition from the town preserved it from destruction
Prison and Barrack
The Master Gunner’s House at Scarborough Castle, which was probably converted from an existing building in the early 18th century From the 1650s the castle also served as a prison – among those held there was George Fox, founder of the Society of Friends (the Quakers). In response to the Jacobite Rebellion of 1745–6 a barracks block was constructed within the walls of King John’s chamber block, and this remained in use into the mid-19th century.
The 20th Century
On the morning of 16 December 1914, in the opening months of the First World War, two German warships fired more than 500 shells on the town and castle from the bay. Seventeen civilians were killed and more than 80 seriously wounded. In 1920 Scarborough Castle was taken into state guardianship by the Ministry of Works. Under its ownership the 18th century barracks block damaged in the German bombardment was demolished. The site of the Roman signal station and chapel was excavated in the 1920s, and the castle was placed in the care of English Heritage in 1984.
I love Christmas, and a Christmas with all the trimmings is just what I enjoy. This includes filling the house with beautiful and colourful flowers. My floral centrepiece is what I most enjoy most about my table setting every Christmas. This year my florist supplied me with white and brilliant red roses. The photos don't do the red justice. The asparagus fern comes from my garden, as I like to create my own centrepieces.
I hope you all had a lovely Christmas Day and are enjoying the time between here and New Year's Eve.
The Old Royal Naval College is the architectural centrepiece of Maritime Greenwich,[1] a World Heritage Site in Greenwich, London, described by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) as being of "outstanding universal value" and reckoned to be the "finest and most dramatically sited architectural and landscape ensemble in the British Isles".[2] The site is managed by the Greenwich Foundation for the Old Royal Naval College (Foundation), set up in July 1998 as a Registered Charity to "look after these magnificent buildings and their grounds for the benefit of the nation". The grounds and some of its buildings are open to visitors. The buildings were originally constructed to serve as the Royal Hospital for Seamen at Greenwich, now generally known as Greenwich Hospital, which was designed by Christopher Wren, and built between 1696 and 1712. The hospital closed in 1869. Between 1873 and 1998 it was the Royal Naval College, Greenwich.
The Vendôme Column is the centrepiece of the Place Vendôme, a square in the 1st arrondissement of Paris, France and one rather famous for its hotels (e.g., the Ritz) and famous dress designers salons (sadly only two remain).
Sitting atop the Vendôme Column, is the Emperor himself, Napoleon who of course commissioned the Column. The veneer of column consists of 425 spiralling bas-relief bronze plates made out of cannon taken from the combined armies of Europe at the battle of Austerlitz.
To learn more about the Place Vendôme there is a great article in Wikipedia at en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Place_Vend%C3%B4me.
We started a fantastic e-bike ride of Paris here at the Place Vendôme. It is a great way to explore the charms and secrets of Pari. Check out Paris Charms & Secrets at www.parischarmssecrets.com/ for more details. Highly recommended.
Die Heckmann-Höfe im Berliner Ortsteil Mitte sind ein bauliches Ensemble, das aus drei Höfen besteht, wobei der vordere und hintere Hof von Wohnhäusern umrahmt werden. Im Erdgeschoss der Wohnhäuser sowie im mittleren Hof liegen Gewerbeflächen. Die meisten Gebäude stehen unter Denkmalschutz Hier finden sich Gastronomie, die Berliner Bonbonfabrik, ein Theater und kreative Einzelhandelsläden, die die Besucher der berlinweit bekannten Höfe begeistern. Wechselnde Events im Hof sorgen für die Belebung der Höfe. Die Heckmann-Höfe überraschen mit einem angenehmen Beleuchtungskonzept und einem wunderbar begrünten Innenhof, dessen Kernstück der Brunnen inmitten des Rosenbeets bildet.
Quellen: Wikipedia und www.urbanite.net/berlin/locations/heckmann-hoefe-1/
The Heckmann-Höfe in Berlin's Mitte borough are a structural ensemble consisting of three courtyards, with the front and rear courtyards framed by residential buildings. Commercial space is located on the ground floor of the residential buildings and in the middle courtyard. Most of the buildings are listed. Here you will find restaurants, the Berlin Candy Factory, a theatre and creative retail shops that delight visitors to the courtyards, which are known throughout Berlin. Changing events in the largest courtyard keep the complex lively. The Heckmann Courtyards surprise with a pleasant lighting concept and a wonderfully green inner courtyard, the centrepiece of which is the fountain in the middle of the rose bed.
Sources: Wikipedia and www.urbanite.net/berlin/locations/heckmann-hoefe-1/
I love Christmas, and a Christmas with all the trimmings is just what I enjoy. It is my floral centrepiece that I enjoy most about my table setting every Christmas. This year my florist supplied me with cream, fiery orange and deep red roses. The photos don't do the red or the orange justice. The asparagus fern comes from my garden, as I like to create my own centrepieces.
I hope you all had a lovely Christmas Day and are enjoying the time between here and New Year's Eve.
This beautiful composite chapel is wholly worthy of its status as the centrepiece of Blaydon Cemetery. Designed by the well-known local architect Matthew Thompson, his talent shines through in the proportions and the fine detailing, as well as the way in which the building is carefully placed within the landscape he also designed. A courtyard-like space was allowed to the front of the chapel for carriage turning and congregating, and from here a wonderful glimpse can be seen through the porte-cochere (covered carriage arch) of the serpentine central path rising up through the cemetery. Now, also the Listed war memorial is set in the heart of this courtyard, and therefore framed views of this are attractive from the south. Architectural elements are applied with eclectic decorative forms, but the principal influence is the gothic revival style. The balanced composition is formed of 2 modestly sized chapels set transversely, with set-down chancels at the extremities and gabled vestries, set perpendicular to the north. Each end is gloriously punctured with large quinto acuto arched windows embellished by bar tracery, with the remaining windows simpler pointed lancets. A curious detail draws attention to the small voussoirs (purely decorative devices, as lintels are present beneath), as alternate stones feature a raised, rough square panel although these have been affected by weathering. Aside from this the detailing is comfortingly intact – with deep columnar mouldings enriching the arches of the porte-cochere, fanciful curved kneelers, partly cylindrical chimneys and stepped buttresses. Even the ironwork is still in place, including sinuous wrought hinges on the timber batten doors, and cast rainwater goods, boasting moulded guttering. The whole is constructed in relatively rough stone – it is difficult to discern weather this was a result of rough dressing or tooling, but the former is more likely. The steeply pitched slate roof is visually prominent, as is the lynchpin of the architectural design – the slender and graceful crowning spire -remarkably still housing the bell that could originally be tolled for a charge, whatever the occasion! MATERIALS Sandstone, slate, timber ARCHITECT Matthew Thompson BUILDER Robert Smith DATES 1873 ADDITIONAL INFORMATION Internally, to the eastern (Church of England) chapel, some interesting features remain, including the pews and the lectern, and the attractive roof is open to the internal space, with moulded rafters and purlins, and plaster on timber laths. In the western chapel a cast iron fireplace is still intact in the vestry area. The research assistance of Caroline Harrop is gratefully acknowledged.