the Conqueror 2

View On Black

 

Model: Kristine

"When despair for the world grows in me

and I wake in the night at the least sound

in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be,

I go and lie down where the wood drake

rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.

I come into the peace of wild things

who do not tax their lives with forethought

of grief. I come into the presence of still water.

And I feel above me the day-blind stars

waiting with their light. For a time

I rest in the grace of the world, and am free."

 

~ Wendell Berry, 2012

 

This image is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Please feel free to share, remix, and use it in your own creations, as long as you attribute the original source (preferably with a link here or to my website: Tinker & Rove). Thanks!

On 14th October 1066 the history of England was changed for ever. A mighty battle took place between the English, led by King Harold II, standing at the top of Senlac Hill, and the Normans, led by Duke William II of Normandy, positioned at the bottom of the hill. The casualties were massive, about 8000 men fell that day. King Harold was killed and Duke William continued his advances until on Christmas Day 1066 he was crowned King of England....and the rest is history as they say.

 

From the Norman end looking up!

 

I had a brilliant day at Battle yesterday and shall be boring you with various shots from there for quite a long time so if you aren't into English history please look away ;-)

File name: 10_03_000944a

Binder label: Laundry

Title: Buy the Conqueror Wringer. Try the Conqueror before purchasing any other [front]

Date issued: 1870-1900 [approximate]

Physical description: 1 print : chromolithograph ; 13 x 9 cm.

Genre: Advertising cards

Subject: Women; Infants; Laundry; Appliances

Notes: Title from item. Retailer: L. C. Payne & Co., Lisbon, N. H.

Collection: 19th Century American Trade Cards

Location: Boston Public Library, Print Department

Rights: No known restrictions.

 

Not the best picture but today my lovely mother conquered stannage through Denis knoll for someone who's got osteoarthritis just had a hip op in November and been told she has C.O.P.D although I probably spent 90% of the walk laughing at her struggle and taking the biscuit I'm one proud daughter.... Not that I'd ever tell her that!

Shropshire Hills, England.

While taking a few zero days near Washington, D.C., my trail family and I stopped into a Lego Store and a few of us decided to build an AT monument. We started with a lush green mountain below and topped it with a huge AT logo. The most critical part was getting everyone's character as accurate as possible. The hair choices are spot on, everyone has a backpack, those with glasses sported glasses. Superman loved checking out the overlooks and taking photos so we gave him binoculars, Spider is vegan so we gave her an apple, Pockets and Sunshine loved their coffee so we equipped them with coffee mugs, and finally Sherlock, who is a Marine Veteran, was given a sword and a pile of money because he just wanted to have some fun with his mini-me character. We all met on the trail and as a trail family, spent three to four months together, taking crazy side trips in times of need (one all the way to Kentucky to help move Sherlock out after a rough break-up) and finding various ways to entertain ourselves on and off trail. This little Lego sculpture is one great representation of our eccentric tramily and while it would have been wonderful to take home, Legos weigh too much to hike around with so we just have this photo as memory.

A hard slog to get to the top of this peak which had recently been clear felled. A lot of clambering over dead logs and branches.

 

#28 high 52 in 2017 Challenge

Conqueror Mk 2 - British heavy tank

The Great North Museum: Hancock is a museum of natural history and ancient civilisations in Newcastle upon Tyne, England.

 

The museum was established in 1884 and was formerly known as the Hancock Museum. In 2006 it merged with Newcastle University's Museum of Antiquities and Shefton Museum to form the Great North Museum. The museum reopened as the Great North Museum: Hancock in May 2009 following a major extension and refurbishment of the original Victorian building. The museum and most of its collections are owned by the Natural History Society of Northumbria, and it is managed by Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums on behalf of Newcastle University.

 

The museum is located on the campus of Newcastle University, next to the Great North Road, and close to Barras Bridge. The nearest Tyne & Wear Metro station is Haymarket, and there is also a bus station at Haymarket.

 

One of the Second World War air raid shelter openings into the Victoria Tunnel is beneath the grounds of the museum.

 

The collection of the Hancock Museum can be traced to about 1780 when Marmaduke Tunstall started accumulating ethnographic and natural history material from around the world. He then brought his collection from London to North Yorkshire. In 1790 Tunstall died, and George Allan of Darlington purchased Tunstall's collection; and later in 1823 it was acquired by the Literary and Philosophical Society of Newcastle upon Tyne. A wombat, which is still on display, is considered to be the earliest object in the collection. It was the first complete wombat specimen to reach Europe. In 1829 the Natural History Society of Northumberland, Durham and Newcastle upon Tyne (now the Natural History Society of Northumbria) was formed as a scientific offshoot of the Literary and Philosophical Society. Amongst the founding and early members of the Natural History Society were Joshua Alder, Albany Hancock, John Hancock, Prideaux John Selby and William Chapman Hewitson.

 

The museum opened on its current site in 1884 after the collection of the Natural History Society outgrew its small museum, located on Westgate Road, which opened in 1834. A major benefactor to the museum was William Armstrong who gave the then large sum of £11,500. Armstrong had also founded the College of Physical Science which later became part of Newcastle University. The museum was renamed in the 1890s, after the local Victorian naturalists, Albany and John Hancock. In 1959 the Natural History Society agreed with the University of Newcastle for the university to care for the building and collections, and since 1992 the university has contracted with Tyne & Wear Museums to manage the museum under a Service Level Agreement.

 

The Hancock Museum was closed on 23 April 2006 for refurbishment and did not reopen until 23 May 2009. It was completely refurbished and extended as part of the Great North Museum Project, at a cost of £26 million. Great North Museum project is a partnership between Newcastle University, Tyne & Wear Museums, Newcastle City Council, the Natural History Society of Northumbria and the Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle upon Tyne. The project was made possible with funds from the Heritage Lottery Fund, TyneWear Partnership, One NorthEast, the European Regional Development Fund, Newcastle University, Newcastle City Council, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, the Wolfson Foundation and The Northern Rock Foundation, as well as numerous other trusts and foundations. The building architects were Terry Farrell and Partners; Sir Terry Farrell is a native of Newcastle, and had previously been a student at Newcastle University.

 

The new museum includes new displays on natural history and geology, Ancient Egypt and Ancient Greece, Romans and Hadrian's Wall, World Cultures and Pre-history. It also includes an interactive study zone, an under 5's space, and a digital Planetarium, as well as new learning facilities, a new temporary exhibition space, and a study garden. The new museum houses not only the Hancock Museum collections, but also those of the university's Museum of Antiquities and Shefton Museum. The building that formerly housed the Museum of Antiquities was later demolished. The Hatton Gallery is also a part of the Great North Museum Project, but is not relocating to the Hancock, and is remaining in Newcastle University's Fine Art Building.

 

In September 2008, the Great North Museum searched for a lookalike of the Emperor Hadrian, for a photo shoot, whose likeness would feature in a permanent display at the Hancock Museum. On 21 November 2008 the 'Be Part of It' campaign was launched, and it was announced that the Great North Museum: Hancock would be opening in May 2009. Athlete Jonathan Edwards is the patron of the 'Be Part of It' campaign. Other celebrity supporters of the museum include Sir Thomas Allen and Adam Hart-Davis. Donors to the campaign have the opportunity to have their name (or the name of a loved one) permanently included on a donor wall in the museum.

 

The Great North Museum formally re-opened on 23 May 2009. In August the museum announced that they had surpassed their expected annual target of 300,000 visitors. By August over 400,000 people had visited the reopened museum. On 6 November 2009 HM The Queen officially opened the Great North Museum. In 2009, the Great North Museum had over 600,000 visitors.

 

By August 2010, the reopened Great North Museum had welcomed its one millionth visitor.

 

Among the museum's permanent residents are a life-size cast of an African elephant; the Egyptian mummy Bakt-en-Hor (previously known as Bakt-hor-Nekht); a full size replica of a T-Rex skeleton; and Sparkie, Newcastle's famous talking budgie, who was stuffed after his death in 1962 and is now the subject of a new opera by Michael Nyman.

 

The full size cast of an African Elephant was built in the Living Planet gallery. The model was crafted by Zephyr Wildlife, who took a cast from an actual stuffed elephant at a museum in Bonn in Germany. To get the elephant into the museum a crane, from Bel Lift Trucks, had to be used. The full size model of a T-Rex dinosaur has been shipped from Canada, where it was built by a company called Research Casting International. It forms part of the display known as the Fossil Stories gallery. The T-Rex model was one of the first items to be placed in the new museum, due to its size. In 1908, the Manchester taxidermist Harry Ferris Brazenor mounted a "fine bison bull" for the museum.

 

Other exhibitions include 'Hadrian's Wall' looking at Roman life in the north of England, 'Natural Northumbria' focusing on the wildlife found in the northeast, 'Ancient Egypt' looking at the Ancient Egyptians and featuring the museum's two mummies, 'Ice Age to Iron Age' detailing the history of the British Isles over the past 12,000 years, 'World Cultures' featuring artifacts and displays from cultures across the globe, 'The Shefton Collection' with one of the most detailed collections of Greek artifacts in the UK and 'Explore' which is a more hands-on area of the museum and features regular interactive sessions.

 

There were live animals on display but these have now been withdrawn, as well as a conference area for corporate events and a fully provisioned learning suite for school visits.

 

The museum was entered into the 'long list' for the 2010 Art Fund Prize for museums and galleries.

 

The interactive Bio-Wall features hundreds of creatures, that visitors will be able to investigate and find out where they live and how they survive in such extreme places as the Arctic and Desert. There is also a great white shark display, polar bear and giraffe specimens from the historic Hancock collections and a moa skeleton. Also between May and October 2019 the museum hosted Dippy the dinosaur as part of its UK tour.

 

Within the museum's archives are the nineteenth century botanical paintings by Margaret Rebecca Dickinson of plants from the Newcastle and Scottish Borders region.

 

Newcastle upon Tyne, or simply Newcastle is a cathedral city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is located on the River Tyne's northern bank, opposite Gateshead to the south. It is the most populous settlement in the Tyneside conurbation and North East England.

 

Newcastle developed around a Roman settlement called Pons Aelius, the settlement became known as Monkchester before taking on the name of a castle built in 1080 by William the Conqueror's eldest son, Robert Curthose. It was one of the world's largest ship building and repair centres during the industrial revolution. Newcastle was part of the county of Northumberland until 1400, when it separated and formed a county of itself. In 1974, Newcastle became part of Tyne and Wear. Since 2018, the city council has been part of the North of Tyne Combined Authority.

 

The history of Newcastle upon Tyne dates back almost 2,000 years, during which it has been controlled by the Romans, the Angles and the Norsemen amongst others. Newcastle upon Tyne was originally known by its Roman name Pons Aelius. The name "Newcastle" has been used since the Norman conquest of England. Due to its prime location on the River Tyne, the town developed greatly during the Middle Ages and it was to play a major role in the Industrial Revolution, being granted city status in 1882. Today, the city is a major retail, commercial and cultural centre.

 

Roman settlement

The history of Newcastle dates from AD 122, when the Romans built the first bridge to cross the River Tyne at that point. The bridge was called Pons Aelius or 'Bridge of Aelius', Aelius being the family name of Roman Emperor Hadrian, who was responsible for the Roman wall built across northern England along the Tyne–Solway gap. Hadrian's Wall ran through present-day Newcastle, with stretches of wall and turrets visible along the West Road, and at a temple in Benwell. Traces of a milecastle were found on Westgate Road, midway between Clayton Street and Grainger Street, and it is likely that the course of the wall corresponded to present-day Westgate Road. The course of the wall can be traced eastwards to the Segedunum Roman fort at Wallsend, with the fort of Arbeia down-river at the mouth of the Tyne, on the south bank in what is now South Shields. The Tyne was then a wider, shallower river at this point and it is thought that the bridge was probably about 700 feet (210 m) long, made of wood and supported on stone piers. It is probable that it was sited near the current Swing Bridge, due to the fact that Roman artefacts were found there during the building of the latter bridge. Hadrian himself probably visited the site in 122. A shrine was set up on the completed bridge in 123 by the 6th Legion, with two altars to Neptune and Oceanus respectively. The two altars were subsequently found in the river and are on display in the Great North Museum in Newcastle.

 

The Romans built a stone-walled fort in 150 to protect the river crossing which was at the foot of the Tyne Gorge, and this took the name of the bridge so that the whole settlement was known as Pons Aelius. The fort was situated on a rocky outcrop overlooking the new bridge, on the site of the present Castle Keep. Pons Aelius is last mentioned in 400, in a Roman document listing all of the Roman military outposts. It is likely that nestling in the shadow of the fort would have been a small vicus, or village. Unfortunately, no buildings have been detected; only a few pieces of flagging. It is clear that there was a Roman cemetery near Clavering Place, behind the Central station, as a number of Roman coffins and sarcophagi have been unearthed there.

 

Despite the presence of the bridge, the settlement of Pons Aelius was not particularly important among the northern Roman settlements. The most important stations were those on the highway of Dere Street running from Eboracum (York) through Corstopitum (Corbridge) and to the lands north of the Wall. Corstopitum, being a major arsenal and supply centre, was much larger and more populous than Pons Aelius.

 

Anglo-Saxon development

The Angles arrived in the North-East of England in about 500 and may have landed on the Tyne. There is no evidence of an Anglo-Saxon settlement on or near the site of Pons Aelius during the Anglo-Saxon age. The bridge probably survived and there may well have been a small village at the northern end, but no evidence survives. At that time the region was dominated by two kingdoms, Bernicia, north of the Tees and ruled from Bamburgh, and Deira, south of the Tees and ruled from York. Bernicia and Deira combined to form the kingdom of Northanhymbra (Northumbria) early in the 7th century. There were three local kings who held the title of Bretwalda – 'Lord of Britain', Edwin of Deira (627–632), Oswald of Bernicia (633–641) and Oswy of Northumbria (641–658). The 7th century became known as the 'Golden Age of Northumbria', when the area was a beacon of culture and learning in Europe. The greatness of this period was based on its generally Christian culture and resulted in the Lindisfarne Gospels amongst other treasures. The Tyne valley was dotted with monasteries, with those at Monkwearmouth, Hexham and Jarrow being the most famous. Bede, who was based at Jarrow, wrote of a royal estate, known as Ad Murum, 'at the Wall', 12 miles (19 km) from the sea. It is thought that this estate may have been in what is now Newcastle. At some unknown time, the site of Newcastle came to be known as Monkchester. The reason for this title is unknown, as we are unaware of any specific monasteries at the site, and Bede made no reference to it. In 875 Halfdan Ragnarsson, the Danish Viking conqueror of York, led an army that attacked and pillaged various monasteries in the area, and it is thought that Monkchester was also pillaged at this time. Little more was heard of it until the coming of the Normans.

 

Norman period

After the arrival of William the Conqueror in England in 1066, the whole of England was quickly subjected to Norman rule. However, in Northumbria there was great resistance to the Normans, and in 1069 the newly appointed Norman Earl of Northumbria, Robert de Comines and 700 of his men were killed by the local population at Durham. The Northumbrians then marched on York, but William was able to suppress the uprising. That same year, a second uprising occurred when a Danish fleet landed in the Humber. The Northumbrians again attacked York and destroyed the garrison there. William was again able to suppress the uprising, but this time he took revenge. He laid waste to the whole of the Midlands and the land from York to the Tees. In 1080, William Walcher, the Norman bishop of Durham and his followers were brutally murdered at Gateshead. This time Odo, bishop of Bayeux, William's half brother, devastated the land between the Tees and the Tweed. This was known as the 'Harrying of the North'. This devastation is reflected in the Domesday Book. The destruction had such an effect that the North remained poor and backward at least until Tudor times and perhaps until the Industrial Revolution. Newcastle suffered in this respect with the rest of the North.

 

In 1080 William sent his eldest son, Robert Curthose, north to defend the kingdom against the Scots. After his campaign, he moved to Monkchester and began the building of a 'New Castle'. This was of the "motte-and-bailey" type of construction, a wooden tower on top of an earthen mound (motte), surrounded by a moat and wooden stockade (bailey). It was this castle that gave Newcastle its name. In 1095 the Earl of Northumbria, Robert de Mowbray, rose up against the king, William Rufus, and Rufus sent an army north to recapture the castle. From then on the castle became crown property and was an important base from which the king could control the northern barons. The Northumbrian earldom was abolished and a Sheriff of Northumberland was appointed to administer the region. In 1091 the parish church of St Nicholas was consecrated on the site of the present Anglican cathedral, close by the bailey of the new castle. The church is believed to have been a wooden building on stone footings.

 

Not a trace of the tower or mound of the motte and bailey castle remains now. Henry II replaced it with a rectangular stone keep, which was built between 1172 and 1177 at a cost of £1,444. A stone bailey, in the form of a triangle, replaced the previous wooden one. The great outer gateway to the castle, called 'the Black Gate', was built later, between 1247 and 1250, in the reign of Henry III. There were at that time no town walls and when attacked by the Scots, the townspeople had to crowd into the bailey for safety. It is probable that the new castle acted as a magnet for local merchants because of the safety it provided. This in turn would help to expand trade in the town. At this time wool, skins and lead were being exported, whilst alum, pepper and ginger were being imported from France and Flanders.

 

Middle Ages

Throughout the Middle Ages, Newcastle was England's northern fortress, the centre for assembled armies. The Border war against Scotland lasted intermittently for several centuries – possibly the longest border war ever waged. During the civil war between Stephen and Matilda, David 1st of Scotland and his son were granted Cumbria and Northumberland respectively, so that for a period from 1139 to 1157, Newcastle was effectively in Scottish hands. It is believed that during this period, King David may have built the church of St Andrew and the Benedictine nunnery in Newcastle. However, King Stephen's successor, Henry II was strong enough to take back the Earldom of Northumbria from Malcolm IV.

 

The Scots king William the Lion was imprisoned in Newcastle, in 1174, after being captured at the Battle of Alnwick. Edward I brought the Stone of Scone and William Wallace south through the town and Newcastle was successfully defended against the Scots three times during the 14th century.

 

Around 1200, stone-faced, clay-filled jetties were starting to project into the river, an indication that trade was increasing in Newcastle. As the Roman roads continued to deteriorate, sea travel was gaining in importance. By 1275 Newcastle was the sixth largest wool exporting port in England. The principal exports at this time were wool, timber, coal, millstones, dairy produce, fish, salt and hides. Much of the developing trade was with the Baltic countries and Germany. Most of the Newcastle merchants were situated near the river, below the Castle. The earliest known charter was dated 1175 in the reign of Henry II, giving the townspeople some control over their town. In 1216 King John granted Newcastle a mayor[8] and also allowed the formation of guilds (known as Mysteries). These were cartels formed within different trades, which restricted trade to guild members. There were initially twelve guilds. Coal was being exported from Newcastle by 1250, and by 1350 the burgesses received a royal licence to export coal. This licence to export coal was jealously guarded by the Newcastle burgesses, and they tried to prevent any one else on the Tyne from exporting coal except through Newcastle. The burgesses similarly tried to prevent fish from being sold anywhere else on the Tyne except Newcastle. This led to conflicts with Gateshead and South Shields.

 

In 1265, the town was granted permission to impose a 'Wall Tax' or Murage, to pay for the construction of a fortified wall to enclose the town and protect it from Scottish invaders. The town walls were not completed until early in the 14th century. They were two miles (3 km) long, 9 feet (2.7 m) thick and 25 feet (7.6 m) high. They had six main gates, as well as some smaller gates, and had 17 towers. The land within the walls was divided almost equally by the Lort Burn, which flowed southwards and joined the Tyne to the east of the Castle. The town began to expand north of the Castle and west of the Lort Burn with various markets being set up within the walls.

 

In 1400 Henry IV granted a new charter, creating a County corporate which separated the town, but not the Castle, from the county of Northumberland and recognised it as a "county of itself" with a right to have a sheriff of its own. The burgesses were now allowed to choose six aldermen who, with the mayor would be justices of the peace. The mayor and sheriff were allowed to hold borough courts in the Guildhall.

 

Religious houses

During the Middle Ages a number of religious houses were established within the walls: the first of these was the Benedictine nunnery of St Bartholomew founded in 1086 near the present-day Nun Street. Both David I of Scotland and Henry I of England were benefactors of the religious house. Nothing of the nunnery remains now.

 

The friary of Blackfriars, Newcastle (Dominican) was established in 1239. These were also known as the Preaching Friars or Shod Friars, because they wore sandals, as opposed to other orders. The friary was situated in the present-day Friars Street. In 1280 the order was granted royal permission to make a postern in the town walls to communicate with their gardens outside the walls. On 19 June 1334, Edward Balliol, claimant to be King of Scotland, did homage to King Edward III, on behalf of the kingdom of Scotland, in the church of the friary. Much of the original buildings of the friary still exist, mainly because, after the Dissolution of the Monasteries the friary of Blackfriars was rented out by the corporation to nine of the local trade guilds.

 

The friary of Whitefriars (Carmelite) was established in 1262. The order was originally housed on the Wall Knoll in Pandon, but in 1307 it took over the buildings of another order, which went out of existence, the Friars of the Sac. The land, which had originally been given by Robert the Bruce, was situated in the present-day Hanover Square, behind the Central station. Nothing of the friary remains now.

 

The friary of Austinfriars (Augustinian) was established in 1290. The friary was on the site where the Holy Jesus Hospital was built in 1682. The friary was traditionally the lodging place of English kings whenever they visited or passed through Newcastle. In 1503 Princess Margaret, eldest daughter of Henry VII of England, stayed two days at the friary on her way to join her new husband James IV of Scotland.

 

The friary of Greyfriars (Franciscans) was established in 1274. The friary was in the present-day area between Pilgrim Street, Grey Street, Market Street and High Chare. Nothing of the original buildings remains.

 

The friary of the Order of the Holy Trinity, also known as the Trinitarians, was established in 1360. The order devoted a third of its income to buying back captives of the Saracens, during the Crusades. Their house was on the Wall Knoll, in Pandon, to the east of the city, but within the walls. Wall Knoll had previously been occupied by the White Friars until they moved to new premises in 1307.

 

All of the above religious houses were closed in about 1540, when Henry VIII dissolved the monasteries.

 

An important street running through Newcastle at the time was Pilgrim Street, running northwards inside the walls and leading to the Pilgrim Gate on the north wall. The street still exists today as arguably Newcastle's main shopping street.

 

Tudor period

The Scottish border wars continued for much of the 16th century, so that during that time, Newcastle was often threatened with invasion by the Scots, but also remained important as a border stronghold against them.

 

During the Reformation begun by Henry VIII in 1536, the five Newcastle friaries and the single nunnery were dissolved and the land was sold to the Corporation and to rich merchants. At this time there were fewer than 60 inmates of the religious houses in Newcastle. The convent of Blackfriars was leased to nine craft guilds to be used as their headquarters. This probably explains why it is the only one of the religious houses whose building survives to the present day. The priories at Tynemouth and Durham were also dissolved, thus ending the long-running rivalry between Newcastle and the church for control of trade on the Tyne. A little later, the property of the nunnery of St Bartholomew and of Grey Friars were bought by Robert Anderson, who had the buildings demolished to build his grand Newe House (also known as Anderson Place).

 

With the gradual decline of the Scottish border wars the town walls were allowed to decline as well as the castle. By 1547, about 10,000 people were living in Newcastle. At the beginning of the 16th century exports of wool from Newcastle were more than twice the value of exports of coal, but during the century coal exports continued to increase.

 

Under Edward VI, John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland, sponsored an act allowing Newcastle to annexe Gateshead as its suburb. The main reason for this was to allow the Newcastle Hostmen, who controlled the export of Tyne coal, to get their hands on the Gateshead coal mines, previously controlled by the Bishop of Durham. However, when Mary I came to power, Dudley met his downfall and the decision was reversed. The Reformation allowed private access to coal mines previously owned by Tynemouth and Durham priories and as a result coal exports increase dramatically, from 15,000 tons in 1500 to 35,000 tons in 1565, and to 400,000 tons in 1625.

 

The plague visited Newcastle four times during the 16th century, in 1579 when 2,000 people died, in 1589 when 1700 died, in 1595 and finally in 1597.

 

In 1600 Elizabeth I granted Newcastle a charter for an exclusive body of electors, the right to elect the mayor and burgesses. The charter also gave the Hostmen exclusive rights to load coal at any point on the Tyne. The Hostmen developed as an exclusive group within the Merchant Adventurers who had been incorporated by a charter in 1547.

 

Stuart period

In 1636 there was a serious outbreak of bubonic plague in Newcastle. There had been several previous outbreaks of the disease over the years, but this was the most serious. It is thought to have arrived from the Netherlands via ships that were trading between the Tyne and that country. It first appeared in the lower part of the town near the docks but gradually spread to all parts of the town. As the disease gained hold the authorities took measures to control it by boarding up any properties that contained infected persons, meaning that whole families were locked up together with the infected family members. Other infected persons were put in huts outside the town walls and left to die. Plague pits were dug next to the town's four churches and outside the town walls to receive the bodies in mass burials. Over the course of the outbreak 5,631 deaths were recorded out of an estimated population of 12,000, a death rate of 47%.

 

In 1637 Charles I tried to raise money by doubling the 'voluntary' tax on coal in return for allowing the Newcastle Hostmen to regulate production and fix prices. This caused outrage amongst the London importers and the East Anglian shippers. Both groups decided to boycott Tyne coal and as a result forced Charles to reverse his decision in 1638.

 

In 1640 during the Second Bishops' War, the Scots successfully invaded Newcastle. The occupying army demanded £850 per day from the Corporation to billet the Scottish troops. Trade from the Tyne ground to a halt during the occupation. The Scots left in 1641 after receiving a Parliamentary pardon and a £4,000,000 loan from the town.

 

In 1642 the English Civil War began. King Charles realised the value of the Tyne coal trade and therefore garrisoned Newcastle. A Royalist was appointed as governor. At that time, Newcastle and King's Lynn were the only important seaports to support the crown. In 1644 Parliament blockaded the Tyne to prevent the king from receiving revenue from the Tyne coal trade. Coal exports fell from 450,000 to 3,000 tons and London suffered a hard winter without fuel. Parliament encouraged the coal trade from the Wear to try to replace that lost from Newcastle but that was not enough to make up for the lost Tyneside tonnage.

 

In 1644 the Scots crossed the border. Newcastle strengthened its defences in preparation. The Scottish army, with 40,000 troops, besieged Newcastle for three months until the garrison of 1,500 surrendered. During the siege, the Scots bombarded the walls with their artillery, situated in Gateshead and Castle Leazes. The Scottish commander threatened to destroy the steeple of St Nicholas's Church by gunfire if the mayor, Sir John Marley, did not surrender the town. The mayor responded by placing Scottish prisoners that they had captured in the steeple, so saving it from destruction. The town walls were finally breached by a combination of artillery and sapping. In gratitude for this defence, Charles gave Newcastle the motto 'Fortiter Defendit Triumphans' to be added to its coat of arms. The Scottish army occupied Northumberland and Durham for two years. The coal taxes had to pay for the Scottish occupation. In 1645 Charles surrendered to the Scots and was imprisoned in Newcastle for nine months. After the Civil War the coal trade on the Tyne soon picked up and exceeded its pre-war levels.

 

A new Guildhall was completed on the Sandhill next to the river in 1655, replacing an earlier facility damaged by fire in 1639, and became the meeting place of Newcastle Town Council. In 1681 the Hospital of the Holy Jesus was built partly on the site of the Austin Friars. The Guildhall and Holy Jesus Hospital still exist.

 

Charles II tried to impose a charter on Newcastle to give the king the right to appoint the mayor, sheriff, recorder and town clerk. Charles died before the charter came into effect. In 1685, James II tried to replace Corporation members with named Catholics. However, James' mandate was suspended in 1689 after the Glorious Revolution welcoming William of Orange. In 1689, after the fall of James II, the people of Newcastle tore down his bronze equestrian statue in Sandhill and tossed it into the Tyne. The bronze was later used to make bells for All Saints Church.

 

In 1689 the Lort Burn was covered over. At this time it was an open sewer. The channel followed by the Lort Burn became the present day Dean Street. At that time, the centre of Newcastle was still the Sandhill area, with many merchants living along the Close or on the Side. The path of the main road through Newcastle ran from the single Tyne bridge, through Sandhill to the Side, a narrow street which climbed steeply on the north-east side of the castle hill until it reached the higher ground alongside St Nicholas' Church. As Newcastle developed, the Side became lined with buildings with projecting upper stories, so that the main street through Newcastle was a narrow, congested, steep thoroughfare.

 

In 1701 the Keelmen's Hospital was built in the Sandgate area of the city, using funds provided by the keelmen. The building still stands today.

 

Eighteenth century

In the 18th century, Newcastle was the country's largest print centre after London, Oxford and Cambridge, and the Literary and Philosophical Society of 1793, with its erudite debates and large stock of books in several languages predated the London Library by half a century.

 

In 1715, during the Jacobite rising in favour of the Old Pretender, an army of Jacobite supporters marched on Newcastle. Many of the Northumbrian gentry joined the rebels. The citizens prepared for its arrival by arresting Jacobite supporters and accepting 700 extra recruits into the local militia. The gates of the city were closed against the rebels. This proved enough to delay an attack until reinforcements arrived forcing the rebel army to move across to the west coast. The rebels finally surrendered at Preston.

 

In 1745, during a second Jacobite rising in favour of the Young Pretender, a Scottish army crossed the border led by Bonnie Prince Charlie. Once again Newcastle prepared by arresting Jacobite supporters and inducting 800 volunteers into the local militia. The town walls were strengthened, most of the gates were blocked up and some 200 cannon were deployed. 20,000 regulars were billeted on the Town Moor. These preparations were enough to force the rebel army to travel south via the west coast. They were eventually defeated at Culloden in 1746.

 

Newcastle's actions during the 1715 rising in resisting the rebels and declaring for George I, in contrast to the rest of the region, is the most likely source of the nickname 'Geordie', applied to people from Tyneside, or more accurately Newcastle. Another theory, however, is that the name 'Geordie' came from the inventor of the Geordie lamp, George Stephenson. It was a type of safety lamp used in mining, but was not invented until 1815. Apparently the term 'German Geordie' was in common use during the 18th century.

 

The city's first hospital, Newcastle Infirmary opened in 1753; it was funded by public subscription. A lying-in hospital was established in Newcastle in 1760. The city's first public hospital for mentally ill patients, Wardens Close Lunatic Hospital was opened in October 1767.

 

In 1771 a flood swept away much of the bridge at Newcastle. The bridge had been built in 1250 and repaired after a flood in 1339. The bridge supported various houses and three towers and an old chapel. A blue stone was placed in the middle of the bridge to mark the boundary between Newcastle and the Palatinate of Durham. A temporary wooden bridge had to be built, and this remained in use until 1781, when a new stone bridge was completed. The new bridge consisted of nine arches. In 1801, because of the pressure of traffic, the bridge had to be widened.

 

A permanent military presence was established in the city with the completion of Fenham Barracks in 1806. The facilities at the Castle for holding assizes, which had been condemned for their inconvenience and unhealthiness, were replaced when the Moot Hall opened in August 1812.

 

Victorian period

Present-day Newcastle owes much of its architecture to the work of the builder Richard Grainger, aided by architects John Dobson, Thomas Oliver, John and Benjamin Green and others. In 1834 Grainger won a competition to produce a new plan for central Newcastle. He put this plan into effect using the above architects as well as architects employed in his own office. Grainger and Oliver had already built Leazes Terrace, Leazes Crescent and Leazes Place between 1829 and 1834. Grainger and Dobson had also built the Royal Arcade at the foot of Pilgrim Street between 1830 and 1832. The most ambitious project covered 12 acres 12 acres (49,000 m2) in central Newcastle, on the site of Newe House (also called Anderson Place). Grainger built three new thoroughfares, Grey Street, Grainger Street and Clayton Street with many connecting streets, as well as the Central Exchange and the Grainger Market. John Wardle and George Walker, working in Grainger's office, designed Clayton Street, Grainger Street and most of Grey Street. Dobson designed the Grainger Market and much of the east side of Grey Street. John and Benjamin Green designed the Theatre Royal at the top of Grey Street, where Grainger placed the column of Grey's Monument as a focus for the whole scheme. Grey Street is considered to be one of the finest streets in the country, with its elegant curve. Unfortunately most of old Eldon Square was demolished in the 1960s in the name of progress. The Royal Arcade met a similar fate.

 

In 1849 a new bridge was built across the river at Newcastle. This was the High Level Bridge, designed by Robert Stephenson, and slightly up river from the existing bridge. The bridge was designed to carry road and rail traffic across the Tyne Gorge on two decks with rail traffic on the upper deck and road traffic on the lower. The new bridge meant that traffic could pass through Newcastle without having to negotiate the steep, narrow Side, as had been necessary for centuries. The bridge was opened by Queen Victoria, who one year later opened the new Central Station, designed by John Dobson. Trains were now able to cross the river, directly into the centre of Newcastle and carry on up to Scotland. The Army Riding School was also completed in 1849.

 

In 1854 a large fire started on the Gateshead quayside and an explosion caused it to spread across the river to the Newcastle quayside. A huge conflagration amongst the narrow alleys, or 'chares', destroyed the homes of 800 families as well as many business premises. The narrow alleys that had been destroyed were replaced by streets containing blocks of modern offices.

 

In 1863 the Town Hall in St Nicholas Square replaced the Guildhall as the meeting place of Newcastle Town Council.

 

In 1876 the low level bridge was replaced by a new bridge known as the Swing Bridge, so called because the bridge was able to swing horizontally on a central axis and allow ships to pass on either side. This meant that for the first time sizeable ships could pass up-river beyond Newcastle. The bridge was built and paid for by William Armstrong, a local arms manufacturer, who needed to have warships access his Elswick arms factory to fit armaments to them. The Swing Bridge's rotating mechanism is adapted from the cannon mounts developed in Armstrong's arms works. In 1882 the Elswick works began to build ships as well as to arm them. The Barrack Road drill hall was completed in 1890.

 

Industrialisation

In the 19th century, shipbuilding and heavy engineering were central to the city's prosperity; and the city was a powerhouse of the Industrial Revolution. Newcastle's development as a major city owed most to its central role in the production and export of coal. The phrase "taking coals to Newcastle" was first recorded in 1538; it proverbially denotes bringing a particular commodity to a place that has more than enough of it already.

 

Innovation in Newcastle and surrounding areas included the following:

 

George Stephenson developed a miner's safety lamp at the same time that Humphry Davy developed a rival design. The lamp made possible the opening up of ever deeper mines to provide the coal that powered the industrial revolution.

George and his son Robert Stephenson were hugely influential figures in the development of the early railways. George developed Blücher, a locomotive working at Killingworth colliery in 1814, whilst Robert was instrumental in the design of Rocket, a revolutionary design that was the forerunner of modern locomotives. Both men were involved in planning and building railway lines, all over this country and abroad.

 

Joseph Swan demonstrated a working electric light bulb about a year before Thomas Edison did the same in the USA. This led to a dispute as to who had actually invented the light bulb. Eventually the two rivals agreed to form a mutual company between them, the Edison and Swan Electric Light Company, known as Ediswan.

 

Charles Algernon Parsons invented the steam turbine, for marine use and for power generation. He used Turbinia, a small, turbine-powered ship, to demonstrate the speed that a steam turbine could generate. Turbinia literally ran rings around the British Fleet at a review at Spithead in 1897.

 

William Armstrong invented a hydraulic crane that was installed in dockyards up and down the country. He then began to design light, accurate field guns for the British army. These were a vast improvement on the existing guns that were then in use.

 

The following major industries developed in Newcastle or its surrounding area:

 

Glassmaking

A small glass industry existed in Newcastle from the mid-15th century. In 1615 restrictions were put on the use of wood for manufacturing glass. It was found that glass could be manufactured using the local coal, and so a glassmaking industry grew up on Tyneside. Huguenot glassmakers came over from France as refugees from persecution and set up glasshouses in the Skinnerburn area of Newcastle. Eventually, glass production moved to the Ouseburn area of Newcastle. In 1684 the Dagnia family, Sephardic Jewish emigrants from Altare, arrived in Newcastle from Stourbridge and established glasshouses along the Close, to manufacture high quality flint glass. The glass manufacturers used sand ballast from the boats arriving in the river as the main raw material. The glassware was then exported in collier brigs. The period from 1730 to 1785 was the highpoint of Newcastle glass manufacture, when the local glassmakers produced the 'Newcastle Light Baluster'. The glassmaking industry still exists in the west end of the city with local Artist and Glassmaker Jane Charles carrying on over four hundred years of hot glass blowing in Newcastle upon Tyne.

 

Locomotive manufacture

In 1823 George Stephenson and his son Robert established the world's first locomotive factory near Forth Street in Newcastle. Here they built locomotives for the Stockton and Darlington Railway and the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, as well as many others. It was here that the famous locomotive Rocket was designed and manufactured in preparation for the Rainhill Trials. Apart from building locomotives for the British market, the Newcastle works also produced locomotives for Europe and America. The Forth Street works continued to build locomotives until 1960.

 

Shipbuilding

In 1296 a wooden, 135 ft (41 m) long galley was constructed at the mouth of the Lort Burn in Newcastle, as part of a twenty-ship order from the king. The ship cost £205, and is the earliest record of shipbuilding in Newcastle. However the rise of the Tyne as a shipbuilding area was due to the need for collier brigs for the coal export trade. These wooden sailing ships were usually built locally, establishing local expertise in building ships. As ships changed from wood to steel, and from sail to steam, the local shipbuilding industry changed to build the new ships. Although shipbuilding was carried out up and down both sides of the river, the two main areas for building ships in Newcastle were Elswick, to the west, and Walker, to the east. By 1800 Tyneside was the third largest producer of ships in Britain. Unfortunately, after the Second World War, lack of modernisation and competition from abroad gradually caused the local industry to decline and die.

 

Armaments

In 1847 William Armstrong established a huge factory in Elswick, west of Newcastle. This was initially used to produce hydraulic cranes but subsequently began also to produce guns for both the army and the navy. After the Swing Bridge was built in 1876 allowing ships to pass up river, warships could have their armaments fitted alongside the Elswick works. Armstrong's company took over its industrial rival, Joseph Whitworth of Manchester in 1897.

 

Steam turbines

Charles Algernon Parsons invented the steam turbine and, in 1889, founded his own company C. A. Parsons and Company in Heaton, Newcastle to make steam turbines. Shortly after this, he realised that steam turbines could be used to propel ships and, in 1897, he founded a second company, Parsons Marine Steam Turbine Company in Wallsend. It is there that he designed and manufactured Turbinia. Parsons turbines were initially used in warships but soon came to be used in merchant and passenger vessels, including the liner Mauretania which held the blue riband for the Atlantic crossing until 1929. Parsons' company in Heaton began to make turbo-generators for power stations and supplied power stations all over the world. The Heaton works, reduced in size, remains as part of the Siemens AG industrial giant.

 

Pottery

In 1762 the Maling pottery was founded in Sunderland by French Huguenots, but transferred to Newcastle in 1817. A factory was built in the Ouseburn area of the city. The factory was rebuilt twice, finally occupying a 14-acre (57,000 m2) site that was claimed to be the biggest pottery in the world and which had its own railway station. The pottery pioneered use of machines in making potteries as opposed to hand production. In the 1890s the company went up-market and employed in-house designers. The period up to the Second World War was the most profitable with a constant stream of new designs being introduced. However, after the war, production gradually declined and the company closed in 1963.

 

Expansion of the city

Newcastle was one of the boroughs reformed by the Municipal Corporations Act 1835: the reformed municipal borough included the parishes of Byker, Elswick, Heaton, Jesmond, Newcastle All Saints, Newcastle St Andrew, Newcastle St John, Newcastle St Nicholas, and Westgate. The urban districts of Benwell and Fenham and Walker were added in 1904. In 1935, Newcastle gained Kenton and parts of the parishes of West Brunton, East Denton, Fawdon, Longbenton. The most recent expansion in Newcastle's boundaries took place under the Local Government Act 1972 on 1 April 1974, when Newcastle became a metropolitan borough, also including the urban districts of Gosforth and Newburn, and the parishes of Brunswick, Dinnington, Hazlerigg, North Gosforth and Woolsington from the Castle Ward Rural District, and the village of Westerhope.

 

Meanwhile Northumberland County Council was formed under the Local Government Act 1888 and benefited from a dedicated meeting place when County Hall was completed in the Castle Garth area of Newcastle in 1910. Following the Local Government Act 1972 County Hall relocated to Morpeth in April 1981.

 

Twentieth century

In 1925 work began on a new high-level road bridge to span the Tyne Gorge between Newcastle and Gateshead. The capacity of the existing High-Level Bridge and Swing Bridge were being strained to the limit, and an additional bridge had been discussed for a long time. The contract was awarded to the Dorman Long Company and the bridge was finally opened by King George V in 1928. The road deck was 84 feet (26 m) above the river and was supported by a 531 feet (162 m) steel arch. The new Tyne Bridge quickly became a symbol for Newcastle and Tyneside, and remains so today.

 

During the Second World War, Newcastle was largely spared the horrors inflicted upon other British cities bombed during the Blitz. Although the armaments factories and shipyards along the River Tyne were targeted by the Luftwaffe, they largely escaped unscathed. Manors goods yard and railway terminal, to the east of the city centre, and the suburbs of Jesmond and Heaton suffered bombing during 1941. There were 141 deaths and 587 injuries, a relatively small figure compared to the casualties in other industrial centres of Britain.

 

In 1963 the city gained its own university, the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, by act of parliament. A School of Medicine and Surgery had been established in Newcastle in 1834. This eventually developed into a college of medicine attached to Durham University. A college of physical science was also founded and became Armstrong College in 1904. In 1934 the two colleges merged to become King's College, Durham. This remained as part of Durham University until the new university was created in 1963. In 1992 the city gained its second university when Newcastle Polytechnic was granted university status as Northumbria University.

 

Newcastle City Council moved to the new Newcastle Civic Centre in 1968.

 

As heavy industries declined in the second half of the 20th century, large sections of the city centre were demolished along with many areas of slum housing. The leading political figure in the city during the 1960s was T. Dan Smith who oversaw a massive building programme of highrise housing estates and authorised the demolition of a quarter of the Georgian Grainger Town to make way for Eldon Square Shopping Centre. Smith's control in Newcastle collapsed when it was exposed that he had used public contracts to advantage himself and his business associates and for a time Newcastle became a byword for civic corruption as depicted in the films Get Carter and Stormy Monday and in the television series Our Friends in the North. However, much of the historic Grainger Town area survived and was, for the most part, fully restored in the late 1990s. Northumberland Street, initially the A1, was gradually closed to traffic from the 1970s and completely pedestrianised by 1998.

 

In 1978 a new rapid transport system, the Metro, was built, linking the Tyneside area. The system opened in August 1980. A new bridge was built to carry the Metro across the river between Gateshead and Newcastle. This was the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge, commonly known as the Metro Bridge. Eventually the Metro system was extended to reach Newcastle Airport in 1991, and in 2002 the Metro system was extended to the nearby city of Sunderland.

 

As the 20th century progressed, trade on the Newcastle and Gateshead quaysides gradually declined, until by the 1980s both sides of the river were looking rather derelict. Shipping company offices had closed along with offices of firms related to shipping. There were also derelict warehouses lining the riverbank. Local government produced a master plan to re-develop the Newcastle quayside and this was begun in the 1990s. New offices, restaurants, bars and residential accommodation were built and the area has changed in the space of a few years into a vibrant area, partially returning the focus of Newcastle to the riverside, where it was in medieval times.

 

The Gateshead Millennium Bridge, a foot and cycle bridge, 26 feet (7.9 m) wide and 413 feet (126 m) long, was completed in 2001. The road deck is in the form of a curve and is supported by a steel arch. To allow ships to pass, the whole structure, both arch and road-deck, rotates on huge bearings at either end so that the road deck is lifted. The bridge can be said to open and shut like a human eye. It is an important addition to the re-developed quayside area, providing a vital link between the Newcastle and Gateshead quaysides.

 

Recent developments

Today the city is a vibrant centre for office and retail employment, but just a short distance away there are impoverished inner-city housing estates, in areas originally built to provide affordable housing for employees of the shipyards and other heavy industries that lined the River Tyne. In the 2010s Newcastle City Council began implementing plans to regenerate these depressed areas, such as those along the Ouseburn Valley.

 

Hiking Expedition Conquering "Hasan's Summit", Rugova Gorge, Kosovo

Vacation time on the USS Griswold.

We were about to sit down and have breakfast when we saw a wasp trapped in a spider's web outside our window. As we looked on, the spider leapt along the web and then stopped the struggling wasp from escaping. Later the spider had taken its prey away.

There is nothing remarkable about the photo itself, however the story behind it is impressive to me. This is a photo of an older friend of mine, 75 years of age and still very fit. He has been interested in Peregrine Falcons throughout the course of his life and always wanted to see a nest site, up close and personal. This man, up until 2 years ago was absolutely petrified of heights. I explained to him that because of the decender he was using the worst that could happen, he would just freeze and stay in one place for a while until he moved past the fear. Anyway this man comes with me now on most of my research outings and has become quite comfortable on large cliffs, even of the 80 metre plus variety. I find it amazing that a man of his age can get past a fear like this, although he still doesn't enjoy overhangs that much like the one pictured. Nonetheless just another case of 'its never too late' and I must say I'm a little bit proud of him also.

This is a picture from Dimmuborgir in Iceland. It felt like we were on Mars.

Found this beauty hiding in good'ole Savannah, GA at Chatham Parkway Lexus.

This shot is uncropped, but I love how the framing worked out.

Nearly halfway through the month, and it's the weekend again, and the the good news is that the sore throat I had on Friday went and did not return.

 

Which is nice.

 

Jools's cough, however, which seemed like it was getting better, returned slightly on Friday evening, and would again on Saturday. We had tockets to see Public Service Bradcasting again, this time in Margate, but our hearts were not in it, if I'm honest, and in the end we decided not to go in light of her coughing, but also as I said, we saw them a month back, though this would be a different show.

 

And Norwich were on the tellybox, what could be better than watching that?

 

Anything, as it turned out.

 

But that was for later.

 

We went to Tesco, a little later than usual, as we had slept in rather, then back home for breakfast before the decision on what to do for the day. Jools decided to stay home to bead and read, I would go out.

 

There are three churches near to home that I feel I needed to revisit, St Margaret's itself I should be able to get the key from the village shop at any time, but St Mary in Dover hasn't been open the last few times I have been in town, and Barfrestone was closed most of the year due to vandalism.

 

But Saturday morning there is usually a coffee morning in St Mary, so I went down armed with camera and lenses to take more shots of the details, especially of the windows.

 

There was a small group with the Vicar, talking in one of the chapels, so I made busy getting my shots, just happy that the church was open. I left a fiver with the vicar, and walked back to the car, passing the old guy supping from a tin of cider sitting outside the church hall.

 

A quick drive through town, Buckland and up Crabble Hill past our old flat and onto Lydden before emerging onto the A2, doubling back to go through Coldred. Finding the road to Barfrestone from there would be easy, no?

 

No.

 

Roads started heading in the right direction, or signposts promising the bright lights of Barfrestone and leading nowhere near. Or quite near, I have no idea.

 

After passing through Elvington, I resorted to the sat nav, and take the left turn, it said, I was less than a mile away.

 

The micropub, The Wrong Turn has closed, sadly, I saw as I drove past, then turned left down to the middle of the village, and parked beside the old phone box.

 

Everyone has a favourite church, or every churchcrawlers, either by county or in their experience. I am now at about 370 Kent churches, and St Nicholas is my favourite, and the most interesting. There is none other like it in the county, or the south east of England.

 

A simple two cell church from the 12th century, with the lower halves of the walls of flint, but the upper parts of Caen stone, and mostly richly carved, or with window arches or blank ones. A line of grosteque heads line the corbel on the outside, and insode there is a decorated dado that has geometric pattern at one end, and a monkey smoking a pipe at the other.

 

On Saturday, I took 432 shots here, redoing many shots from previous visits, but with now a better camera and lenses.

 

St Nicholas was closed earlier this year due to vandalism, but it open again now, though parking is difficult, but should be one every churchcrawlers sees in their lifetime.

 

I see from Hasted that the dedication at the beginning of the 19th century was St Mary, but is St Nicholas now.

 

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A one-off church, Barfrestone is the south-east's answer to Herefordshire's Kilpeck, although perhaps with slightly less atmosphere. A complete two cell late Norman church, but so unlike all the others in Kent that one cannot really class it in the same group. Its lower walls are constructed of flint rubble, but its upper courses, and dressed stonework are all of imported Caen stone. This is a display of twelfth century wealth and it has usually been associated with the de Port family from Dover Castle. Kent has no local stone that can take fine carving, so the exuberance of detail here is unrivalled in the county. The south doorway is the most widely reproduced image, but the internal carving is of equal importance. Post-Reformation damage has been reconstructed, in some cases with a degree of artistic licence. The two blank arches to either side of the chancel arch were designed to take side altars - a feature relatively common in Kent, for example at Grain. There is some fine medieval graffiti to be seen on the dressed stonework at lower levels both inside and out. As there is no tower, the church bell is hung from a Yew tree. Nave and chancel only. The following is a link to a picture essay written by Julianna Lee, on the subject of Romanesque sculptures at Barfreston: www.green-man-of-cercles.org/articles/bestiary_arches.pdf.

 

www.kentchurches.info/church.asp?p=Barfreston

 

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BARSON.

THE next parish south-westward is Barson, alias Barfriston, which latter is its proper and antient name; being written in the survey of Domesday, Barfrestone, but for the sake of contraction it has been of late both called and written by the former name of Barson only. There is but one borough in this parish, viz. the borough of Barson, which contains the whole parish; the borsholder for which is chosen at the petty sessions, held for this division of the lath of St. Augustine.

 

BARSON lies on the open hilly downs, with which this neighbourhood much abounds; they are in like manner for the most part arable, the soil upon the hills is chalky and not over fertile; in the valleys it is inclined to clay, and of course better land, though still of a coarse nature. The court-lodge and church are nearly in the middle of the parish, which has in it, including the street, only twelve houses, and contains about 470 acres of land. This parish as well as its vicinity is exceedingly healthy, and has been already-noticed under Coldred. Instances of longevity here are very frequent and as remarkable, for in 1700 the minister resident in this parish was buried at the age of 96. The minister who preached the funeral sermon was 82. The reader of the service was 87. The parish clerk was the same age, but then absent. The sexton 86, and his wife about 80, and several of the neighbouring parish of Coldred, who attended at the funeral, were above 100 years old; and in the year 1722 there were in this small parish, which consisted only of fifty-eight souls, nine persons, whose ages made 636 years.

 

At the southern boundary of the parish are a great number of Roman tumuli, or barrows, which adjoin the lines of entrenchments at the end of Eythorne pa rish, all of which have already been noticed under Shebbertswell before, in which parish most of them lie. There is no fair.

 

There was in king Henry III.'s reign a family resident here, who took their name from it; one of whom, Amicia de Barfreston, was a benefactor to the priory of Davington, as appears by the ledger book of it.

 

AT THE TIME of taking the survey of Domesday, in the 15th year of the Conqueror's reign, this place was part of the possessions of Odo, the great bishop of Baieux, the king's half-brother, under the general title of whose lands it is thus entered in it:

 

In Estrea lath. In Estre hundred, Ralph de Curbespine holds of the bishop, one yoke in Barfrestone. There one very poor woman pays three pence and one farthing. This yoke is, and was worth separately ten shillings.

 

Rannulf de Colubels holds there one yoke, which has been scotted in Hardes and to this time is not scotted to the king's tax.

 

On the confiscation of the bishop's estates, which happened on his disgrace, about four years afterwards, this at Barfriston appears to be among the lands which were granted for the defence of Dover castle, to Hugh de Port, and with other lands, made up together the barony of Port, being held by barony of that castle, by the service of performing ward there, for the defence of it.

 

After which it was held of his descendant, John de St. John, in king Henry III.'s reign, by a family named Wyborne; one of whom, John de Wyborne, held it in king Edward II.'s reign; but before the 20th of king Edward III. this name was extinct here; for it appears then to have been alienated from them, and in the tenure of different persons; one of whom, John de Monynham, seems to have held that part of Wyborne's estate, which comprehended the manor of Batfriston, which after the heirs of Moningham had deserted their patrimony here, was alienated about the latter end of king Henry VI.'s reign, to Sir Thomas Browne, of Beechworth castle, comptroller of the houshold, and in his descendants the property of it continued down to Sir Thomas Browne, of the same place, whose lands were disgavelled by the acts of the 1st and 8th of Elizabeth; not long after the latter year of which he alienated it to Mr. Thomas Boys, of Eythorne, who afterwards removed hither, and dying possessed of it in 1599, was buried in this church. His eldest son Thomas, was of Hoad, and inherited this manor, which his eldest son John Boys, gent. of Hoad, sold at the latter end of king Charles the 1st.'s reign, to Anthony Percival, of Dover, comptroller of the customs there, who died in 1646, and lies buried at Denton, in whose heirs this manor continued, till it was at length sold to Major Richard Harvey, who was of Elmington, in Eythorne first, and afterwards of Danecourt; his grandson, Mr. Richard Harvey, gent was of Barson, and having pulled down the antient mansion of this manor, handsomely rebuilt it, and afterwards resided here. He married Elizabeth Nicholls, of Barham, by whom he has had seven sons and six daughters; of the former, Richard the eldest, now of Ramsgate, was vicar of St. Laurence, and is now of Eastry, and married Judith Matson, by whom he has a son Richard, now vicar of St. Laurence, who married Miss Wade, by whom he has one only son Richard. Henry the second son, is an admiral of the royal navy, and of Walmer, who married Elizabeth, daughter of Wm. Boys, esq. lieutenant-governor of Greenwich hospital, by whom he has had four sons and one daughter. John, the third son, was likewise a captain in the royal navy, and of Heronden, who died in July 1794, at Portsmouth, of the wounds he received in the glorious naval fight against the French, on June the 1st preceding, which prevented the king's intention of making him an admiral, as a reward for his gallant behaviour in it. He left four sons and four daughters; of the former, Henry Wife, esq. the eldest, is now of Heronden, and John is a captain in the navy. Of the daughters, Mary married Wm. Boteler, esq. now of Eastry, and Fanny married Robert Curling, surgeon, of Sandwich, Elizabeth died young, and Sarah. Of the younger sons of Mr. Richard Harvey, of Barson, by Elizabeth Nicholls, Thomas the fourth son is living, but s. p. and Samuel, the sixth son, is of Sandwich, brewer. Of the daughters, Frances, Margaret married to Thomas Freeman, clerk, rector of St. Martin's, and vicar of St. Paul's, in Canterbury; Elizabeth to William Wyborn Bradley, brewer, of Sandwich; and Sarah to John Tucker, clerk, late of Shinglewell, and rector of Gravesend and Luddenham, in this county. (fn. 1) But to return to Mr. Richard Harvey, who after residing here some time, at length in 1792 alienated this estate to John Plumptre, esq. of Fredville, the present owner of it. (fn. 2)

 

HARTANGER, written in Domesday, Hertange, is a small manor in this parish, which, at the time of taking that survey, was part of the possessions of the bishop of of Baieux, under the general title of whose lands it is thus entered in it:

 

Radulf, son of Robert, holds of the bishop Hertange. It was taxed at one suling. The arable land is . . . . . In demesne there is one carucate, and five villeins, with two borderers, having two carucates. In the time of king Edward the Confessor, it was worth forty shillings, and afterwards ten shillings, now sixty shillings. Eddid held it of king Edward.

 

Four years after taking this survey, the bishop's estates, on his disgrace, were confiscated; upon which this manor of Hartangre came into the hands of the crown; whence it was afterwards granted to Simon Fitz-Adam, by whom it was held by knight's service, by barony, of Dover castle, by the service of ward for the space of fifteen days, for the defence of it.

 

Of Simon Fitz-Adam and his heir Adam Fitzwilliam, this manor was afterwards held by the Pirots. Alan Pirot died possessed of it at the latter end of king Henry I.'s reign, and was succeeded in it by Robert Pirot, whose heir was Ingelram de Fontibus; how long he and his heirs held it, I do not find; but at the latter end of king Henry III. or the beginning of king Edward I.'s reign, William de Hartanger held it. After him it became the estate of Robert de Hardres, as may be seen by the book of knight's fees, and he held it by knight's service of the honor of Clare. In the 8th year of the next reign of king Edward II. his next successor in it was Reginald de Tondresley; how long it continued in that name does not appear; but at the latter end of king Henry VI.'s reign it was come into the possession of Sir Thomas Browne, of Beechworth-castle, whose descendant of the same name, in the beginning of queen Elizabeth's reign, passed it away to Francis Santon, esq. whose son and heir Francis Santon alienated it soon afterwards to Edward Merriweather, second son of Edward, of Shebbertswell, who resided here, and dying possessed of it in 1621, anno 20 James I. was buried in this church, and in his descendants it continued, till at length about the middle of the last century, it was sold to Pot, and Mr. William Pot, citizen and apothecary, of London, gave it by his will in 1691, with other lands in this county, to trustees and their survivors, in trust, for them to pay two hundred pounds per annum, out of the rents and profits of them, to Christ's hospital, and the remaining produce of them to the hospital of Bethlem, in London; in which trust this manor continues vested at this time. (fn. 3)

 

It appears by the register of Ledes abbey, that Sibilla de Watemle gave to the priory of Ledes, in free and perpetual alms, inter alia, the tithe of Hartangre, which gift was confirmed by archbishop Theobald, in the reign of king Stephen.

 

There are no parochial charities. The poor constantly or casually relieved are not more than one or two at most.

 

THIS PARISH is within the ECCLESIASTICAL JURISDICTION of the diocese of Canterbury, and deanry of Sandwich.

 

The church, which is dedicated to St. Mary, is a small building of great antiquity; the outside is curiously adorned with carve-work in stone, with circular arches and windows, especially at the east end; the west end has a fine circular arch with Saxon ornaments and zig-zag border; and in the inside is another like arch between the body and chancel. This church, so well known to every lover of antiquity, of which so many engravings have been made, is a most curious specimen of Anglo Saxon architecture. It consists of a body and chancel, separated by a circular arch, supported by two elegant wreathed pillars; a row of singular uncouth heads are round the cornice; a beautiful circular window is at the east end; at the foot of the wall are two circular arches, forming recesses, probably for places of sepulture, and not improbably for the founders of the church. The grand south entrance, now partly hid by a modern porch, is most curiously sculptured with rows of figures of various kinds. Nitches for statues are all round the building. There is no steeple, a small wooden turret having been taken down a few years since. There is only one bell. In the chancel is a mural monument for Thomas Boys, gent. of Barfreston, of the family of Fredville, obt. 1599; arms, Or, a griffin segreant, sable, within a bordure, gules. Another mural monument for Robert Ewell, rector and patron, one of the six preachers of Canterbury cathedral, obt. 1638. A gravestone for George Smith, forty-one years rector of this parish, obt. 1752. Several of the Boy's were buried in this church. In the windows of it were formerly these arms, viz. Azure, two bendlets, argent, within a bordure, and the same arms without the bordure.

 

¶The advowson of this church, which is a rectory, was antiently appendant to the manor; but in the reign of king Henry VIII. it was become an advowson in gross, and was in the possession of John Boys, of Denton, attorney-general to the duchy of Lancaster, who held it by knight's service of the king, as of his castle of Dover. His son William Boys, esq. of Denton, sold this advowson to his kinsman Thomas Boys, of Aythorne, and in his descendants it continued down till the reign of king Charles I. when it was alienated to Ewell, from one of which name it was sold to Sir Basil Dixwell, who was possessed of it in 1640; since which it has become part of the possessions of the president and fellows of St. John's college, in Oxford, who are the present patrons of it.

 

This rectory is valued in the king's books at 7l. 14s. it is now a discharged living of the clear yearly value of about thirty pounds. In 1588 it was valued at sixty shillings, and here were communicants forty. In 1640 it was valued at fifty shillings, and here were the like number of communicants.

 

This rectory has been augmented by the governors of queen Anne's bounty with 200l. and a like sum added to it by the president and fellows of St. John's college, with which the house, barn, and appurtenances were new built, and a barn, stable and lands were purchased in the parish of Alkham, now of the annual rent of thirty pounds.

 

There is a glebe belonging to it of seven acres, of which one is in Nonington, but in the king's books there is said to be ten acres of glebe land.

 

www.british-history.ac.uk/survey-kent/vol10/pp71-78

Freedom Golf Association’s First Annual “Honor Wounded Vets 5K Run/Walk” succeeds in showing how adaptive golf is aiding vets’ road to recovery

 

The enthusiasm and good will were palpable at McDonald’s corporate campus in Oak Brook, Illinois on Sunday, October 29 as the Freedom Golf Association’s (FGA) First Annual “Honor Wounded Vets 5K Run/Walk” succeeded in drawing attention to the fact that adaptive golf is clearly helping wounded vets return to normality after their military service. The more than 100 participants conquered the 5K course to show their support for the programs of the Freedom Golf Association, which is leading the way In Illinois in bringing the joy of golf to persons with physical, emotional and developmental needs.

 

“The 5K Run/Walk was a terrific way to honor Veterans who have been wounded in their service to the country and to acknowledge Illinois’ wounded vets, a growing number of whom have taken up golf to enjoy its many physical, emotional and social benefits,” said Sally Ruecking, FGA’s Vice President of Strategic Advancement. “Adaptive golf is bringing fun into the lives of people who are often left out due to their disabilities.”

 

Cheered on by the music of the Elmhurst College Jazz Band and with welcoming remarks from E.Q. Sylvester, Chairman of FGA; radio and TV personality Bob Sirott of event co-sponsor WLS-AM radio; and Ruecking, the runners and walkers took to the track with smiles and a sense of mission. Other event sponsors included Molex LLC, Rich Harvest Farms, KF Partners LLC, and Reebie Storage and Moving.

 

The overall men’s winner was 16-year old Matt Pierce of Alsip, Illinois, who ran the 5K course in 18:59. Second place went to Thomas Potaczek of Bensenville, IL, with a time of 19:23 and third place went to Andrew Pyle of Hinsdale, IL with a time of 22:14.

 

Among the women, the overall winner was Eileen Skisak of La Grange, IL with a time of 18:59. Eileen also ran in fifth place overall. The second-place women’s winner was 12-year old Alexandra Two, with a time of 25:36; third place went to 10-year old Kelly Fergus of Chicago, with a time of 27:27.

 

Winners by age group were:

•Male 10-14: James Mercurio, Hinsdale, IL

•Male 15-19: Thomas Mercurio, Hinsdale, IL

•Male 20-24: Ben Landress, Chicago, IL

•Male 30-34: (1st) Michael Bellino, Villa Park, IL; (2nd) Nick Bada, Villa Park, IL

•Male 45-49: (1st) Jim Mercurio, Hinsdale, IL; (2nd) Carmelo Aguinir, Joliet, IL

•Male 50-54: (1st) Bob Fergus, Chicago, IL; (2nd) Ross Hurst, Clarendon Hills, IL; (3rd) Randy Pyle, Hinsdale, IL; (4th) Roger Keys, Northbrook, IL

•Male 65-69: (1st) Jerome Getter, Oak Park, IL; (2nd) John Kosmatka, Valparaiso, IN; (3rd) Karl Johnson, Woodridge, IL

•Male 70-74: James Smith, Clarendon Hills, IL

•Female 15-19: Maria Meyer, Hinsdale, IL

•Female 40-44: Lori Kosmatka, Chicago, IL

•Female 45-49: (1st) Kimberly Mercurio, Hinsdale, IL; (2nd) Arlinda Nunez, Hinsdale, IL; (3rd) Christine Two, Wilmette, IL

•Female 50-54: (1st) Joy Hyzny, Burbank, IL; (2nd) Christie Bellino, Villa Park, IL

•Female 55-59: Jud Hrad, Chicago, IL

•Female 60-64: Sue Shepard, Elmhurst, IL

•Female 65-69: Carol Raska, Oak Park, IL

 

Freedom Golf Association leads the way in bringing adaptive golf to Illinois and is an integral part of the growing national movement, which has been embraced by major golf entities such as the PGA, LPGA and USGA.

 

“Freedom Golf Association encourages corporations with cause marketing programs that help the disabled to become FGA sponsors or corporate foundation grant providers and help us grow,” said Ruecking.

  

About Freedom Golf Association

Freedom Golf Association (FGA), a 501(C)3 non-profit charitable organization, is the leading adaptive golf organization in Illinois and is a charter member of the United States Adaptive Golf Alliance. FGA was founded in July 2012 by Edmund (E.Q.) Sylvester. E.Q. is a director of the Western Golf Association (WGA), member of the United States Senior Golf Association (USSGA), member of the United States Golf Association (USGA) and a triple amputee. FGA is dedicated to bringing joy and a sense of freedom to the special needs community through their inclusion in the game of golf.

 

FGA believes that all special needs individuals deserve a chance to accomplish the same things as any others do and work towards bringing a positive transformation to their lives. FGA contributes to the positive development of those with special needs through the magic of golf.

 

FGA works to assist individuals with disabilities in many ways:

•Provides professionally run adaptive golf instructional clinics and golf events

•Engages children, adults and veterans with special needs in FREE adaptive golf instruction with other classmates

•Conducts adaptive golf training workshops to increase the number of qualified adaptive golf coaches to instruct individuals with special needs

•Provides leadership and collaboration with nationally recognized organizations on how to expand/grow adaptive golf programs

 

Based on its growing understanding of the needs of disabled golfers, the FGA has developed a ground-breaking Adaptive Golf Enhancement Program™ that increases the golfing ability of special needs golfers. FGA’s golf coaches learn this six-step process, which helps them better understand and enhance the capabilities of special needs golfers.

 

To assist coaches and special needs golfers in determining what adaptive measures would be most beneficial, FGA recently invested in what they call a “personal swing sensors and computerized program” to 1) measure the disabled golfer’s initial swing path and limitations; 2) develop an appropriate exercise program to improve flexibility and range of motion; and 3) to chart the golfer’s progress, using the initial swing measurements as a baseline.

 

In 2016, FGA provided more than 1,300 adaptive golf lessons. In the same year, 110 special needs golfers went out and played on the course. Ten individuals became trained FGA Adaptive Golf Coaches, growing the total number to 42.

 

79 cents out of every dollar received goes to FGA’s special needs golf programs and events. FGA has led 40 Chicagoland courses in becoming accessible to the disabled community.

 

For more information about the Freedom Golf Association, please visit the official website at www.fgagolf.org and the online newsroom at www.newsline360.com/freedomgolfassociation. Contact FGA by phone at 855-342-4465 or 630-455-6018, or by email at playgolf@fgagolf.org. Donations to Freedom Golf Association can be made at www.fgagolf.org/donate.html.

 

Follow FGA on Facebook at www.facebook.com/FGA4Golf. Follow FGA on Twitter at www.twitter.com/FGA4Golf.

 

Photo credit: Cindy Kurman, Kurman Communications

 

Bass Conqueror, Maritime Museum, Irvine.

The full and sad story of this little boat from the Scottish Maritime Museum's website.

Gestern wollte sie sooo gerne ausgehen, einfach mal ein wenig spazierengehen, die Seele baumeln lassen, genießen...

 

Yesterday she would have loved to got out, take a little walk, rest her soul, enjoy...

E3219805

Vancouver, BC

We had a great time at enchanted rock that day.

According to Wikipedia this is from Base Vehicle Depot Ludgershall. P7187015E

According to Wikipedia this is from Base Vehicle Depot Ludgershall. P7187099

Feeling a bit melancholy today. The crew will be heading back to London, England tomorrow and I probably won't see them again until next summer, if all goes to plan, when I go to London for the Olympics.

 

Yesterday I took them to the Cheltenham Badlands and to my surprise they very much enjoyed the experience.

John Clark print available at the shop.

Photograph taken by John Clark.

SA-S61R the Pelican

 

Visit this location at Abbotts Historical Airport (SLAZ) Elv. 25m in Second Life

I really don't know whether the Zenú used these as earrings or nose rings. The same objects turn up in searches for "narigueras" or "orejeras."

 

The site "This is Cartagena" says:

 

Housed in a charming colonial house on the Plaza Bolivar rescued by Colombia's central bank, the Zenú gold museum boasts a priceless insight into the pre-Colombian culture of the Caribbean.

 

Fortunately plenty of the pre-Colombian bling that fuelled the Spanish land-grab through the Americas in the 16th century slipped through the sloppy Conquistadores fingers and some of the best examples of intricate gold-work survived their indiscriminate plundering.

 

Two main exhibits celebrate the intricate metallurgical and ceramic arts of the Zenú indigenous population that have inhabited the area between the Sinu and Magdalena Rivers for more than 2,000 years.

 

Displays explore the traditions of the Zenú and other tribes throughout the country focusing in particular on the traditional methods of burying their dead in mounds that resemble the stomachs of pregnant women and the advanced drainage systems used to cultivate the lands to the north of the country.

 

Gold has been central to the city's development since it was founded in 1533 and it was Cartagena's founder father, Pedro de Heredia that headed the first expedition up the River Sinú in search of the gold of the 'Mogote graves'.

 

The plundering of Zenú graves along the Sinú and in the San Jorge and Cauca valleys was so successful, and the region was so rich in indigenous labour and cultivated products, that these financed local government in the city for decades.

 

Wikipedia says:

 

The Zenú or Sinú is an Amerindian tribe in Colombia, whose ancestral territory comprises the valleys of the Sinu and San Jorge rivers as well as the coast of the Caribbean around the Gulf of Morrosquillo. These lands lie within the departments of Córdoba and Sucre.

 

The Zenú culture existed from about 200 BCE to about 1600 CE, constructing major water works and producing gold ornaments. The gold that was often buried with their dead lured the Spanish conquerors, who looted much of the gold. With the arrival of the Spaniards, the tribe all but died out. The 16th-century Spanish chroniclers wrote about the Zenú who were still living there, but recorded little or nothing about the history of the Zenú.

 

In 1966 the geographer James Parsons drew attention to rake-like patterns that were visible on aerial photographs of the wetlands in the lower reaches of the river San Jorge, patterns that could not have arisen naturally. Ten years later a major reconstructive research started.

  

The FV 214 Conqueror—officially known as the Tank, Heavy No. 1, 120 mm Gun, FV214 Conqueror—was Britain’s answer to the post–World War II challenge of countering new Soviet heavy tanks, particularly the IS-3. Conceived during the early Cold War, the Conqueror was designed to fill the niche of a heavy gun tank capable of engaging enemy armor at long range while working in support of Centurion units. It represents the culmination of the FV200 series of “Universal Tanks,” a family that sought to balance mobility, firepower, and armor within a single versatile chassis

21.4.2011: detail from the Portonaccio Sarcophagus, c180AD. Probably that of an official of Marcus Aurelius named Aulus Pompilius who commanded two cavalry squadrons on detachment from the Legio IIII Flavia and the Legio I Italica in the war against the Marcomanni (172-175 AD). Scenes inspired by the Antonine Column and later depicted in the film 'Gladiator.' Sarcophagus found in 1931 near the Via Tiburtina, Rome. Museo Nazionale Romano, Palazzo Massimo alle Terme, Rome.

E8085024

Me... atop Mt Taranaki, New Zealand (8,256ft / 2,518m) in March 1991. It took five and a quarter hours to reach the summit, and three and a half hours to get down again. Quite a pointless exercise, really – but enjoyable in a vaguely masochistic way!