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Professor Akotiomga Michel heads up the service for treating women suffering the consequences of FGM/C at Suka Clinic in Burkina Faso.

 

“FGM has no benefits, only consequences,” he says. “Women who have been cut find it difficult to have sex or go to the toilet. The operation takes around 15 to 30 minutes depending on how bad the scarring is and it makes a huge difference to the women’s lives.”

 

The clinic provides reconstructive surgery to dozens of Burkinabé women every week – allowing them to have sex, give birth safely, and avoid a multitude of other health risks. All this costs just 6,000 Central African Francs, or $15, but changes lives beyond measure.

 

The UK government - via a UNICEF and UNFPA Joint Programme - provides the clinic where Professor Akotiomga works with medical kits to carry out the operation. The kits include needles, gloves, paracetamol, antiseptic, injectable antibodies and cotton bandages.

 

Take a stand. Pledge to end FGM, child marriage and forced marriage now: www.girlsummitpledge.com/

 

Picture: Jessica Lea/DFID.

Even on those difficult days, if you look hard enough, you can just about guarantee you'll find some sort of beauty around you.

 

I was just standing on my porch the other day and saw the light shining over the fields, making them glow. Sometimes you've just got to look a little bit harder to see the beauty that's right in front of you.

 

Enjoy!

 

5D Mark II

70-200 2.8 IS

 

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The longest serving Resident Commissioner from the Philippines and a protégé of Manuel L. Quezon, Pedro Guevara waged a difficult battle promoting Philippine independence while fighting congressional measures to curb territorial sovereignty and economic progress. Guevara acted for much of his career as the voice of the Philippine legislature in Congress in a low-key style of delivery that relied on prepared statements rather than fiery, impromptu speeches. Guevara began his career a stalwart proponent of independence, saying, “For 25 years I and my people have lived under the American flag. Yet wherever I go Americans take me for … some other Oriental. Americans know very little about us or our country, and they care even less than they know. To continue American control, under such conditions, is an injustice to the Filipinos.”1 But his perspective shifted in his final years as Resident Commissioner, and disagreements with his patron Quezon over the best path to independence led to his quiet retirement from politics.

 

Pedro Guevara was born on February 23, 1879, in Santa Cruz, Laguna Province, Luzon, Philippines. The son of Miguel Guevara and Maria G. Valenzuela, he attended local schools some 60 miles to the south of Manila. Guevara’s family sent him north to the capital to attend a finishing school, Ateneo Municipal de Manila, and then Colegio de San Juan de Letran. Guevara earned a liberal arts degree at the latter school in 1896, finishing at the head of his class. When the 1896 revolution broke out, Guevara fought the Spanish and earned the rank of lieutenant colonel for his service, including helping to lead Filipino forces in the Battle of Mabitac. In the Philippine-American War, he joined the insurrectionaries who opposed U.S. occupation forces, serving as aide and private secretary to General Juan Cailles, commander of Philippine rebels in Laguna Province. After the war ended, Guevara joined the Philippine constabulary, a paramilitary unit that maintained peace. After five years of service, Guevara returned to civilian life and, in a pattern reminiscent of others who later became Resident Commissioners, worked as a journalist. He became chief editor of Soberanía Nacional (National Sovereignty), a newspaper that championed Philippine independence, and also served as city editor for four other newspapers. During this time, Guevara studied at La Jurisprudencia, a Manila law school, and passed the bar in 1909. He married Isidra Baldomero, and the couple had one son, Pedro Jr.2

 

As with many other contemporary politicos—Isauro Gabaldon, Jaime de Veyra, and Sergio Osmeña among them—Guevara easily transitioned from being an editorialist to an elected public servant. His political career began in 1907, when he was elected as municipal councillor in San Felipe Neri, Rizal Province. Two years later he won election to the Philippine assembly, representing Laguna Province, and he was re-elected in 1912 to a second term. In 1916, under the provisions of the Jones Act, he was elected to the first of two terms in the Philippine senate, representing a district that included Manila and the provinces of Rizal, Laguna, and Bataan. He served in the senate until his election as Resident Commissioner. A well-respected jurist, Guevara chaired the Philippine delegation to the Far Eastern Bar Conference in Beijing, China, in 1921. A year later he joined a group of prominent Filipinos who traveled to Washington, DC, as part of the second Philippine independence mission.3

 

Upon Guevara’s return to the Philippines, senate president and Nacionalista Party powerbroker Manuel Quezon tapped his fellow senator to succeed Jaime de Veyra as Resident Commissioner. Domestic political jockeying momentarily complicated his nomination, however, when the insular government set a special election to fill the impending senate vacancy. Democrats put forward a nominee, but the Nacionalistas failed to produce a consensus candidate. Desperate to retain the seat, Quezon stalled by encouraging Guevara to remain in the senate until a suitable candidate could be found. The U.S. House of Representatives threatened not to seat the new Resident Commissioner so long as he held his Manila seat, forcing Guevara to resign and leaving Quezon to bargain with Governor General Leonard Wood on the timing of a special election. Nevertheless, the Filipino legislature elected Guevara as Resident Commissioner on February 17, 1923.4 He won re-election in 1925, 1929, 1932, and 1934 and served continuously until the position was reorganized under the Commonwealth of the Philippines in 1935.

 

When Guevara set off on the long voyage to Washington, DC, in August 1923, a “monster parade” accompanied him to his ship, the Associated Press reported. A marching band and military cadets joined the throng, with Guevara at its head wearing a barong, a long embroidered shirt that symbolized Filipinos’ wish for independence.5 Guevara arrived in the U.S. capital in mid-September, months before the 68th Congress (1923–1925) was set to convene in early December. Like his predecessors, he played the part of diplomat rather than legislator, in some measure because House Rules prevented him from holding a committee assignment or voting on final legislation on the floor. But he also seemed quite comfortable working the press and serving as a public advocate. In that aspect, he went to work immediately. Even before he claimed his seat, he weighed in on independence and growing tensions with the controversial Governor General Wood.

 

From the start, Guevara’s independence pitch was more nuanced than that of his colleague, Isauro Gabaldon, who demanded nothing short of immediate and unfettered self-rule. Guevara, the Los Angeles Times noted, “was the opposite of the agitator type,” and while journeying to Washington, he told Filipinos who met him during a brief layover in Honolulu that the key to eventual independence hinged on their ability to demonstrate “self-control” in overseeing their affairs. While he demanded a “final solution” to the Philippines’ status, he envisioned it ideally as a kind of protectorate system “with a localized responsibility, capable of bringing about the necessary harmony and co-ordination of the different departments of Government, for its efficient operations.”6 He admitted that Japanese and European encroachments might be a concern with full independence and, to that end, preferred “a protectorate from the United States.” But, given a choice between complete independence with no special grant of U.S. military protection or the ambiguous governance reasserted by U.S. officials after President Woodrow Wilson left office, Guevara had a clear choice: “We unquestionably stand for the former.”7

 

Guevara’s unhappiness with the current structure, like that of so many Filipinos, derived from the ambiguities of the Jones Act. On the one hand, the act granted the islands a greater role in self-rule, including a popularly elected senate. After several years, Manila officials believed that they had fulfilled the spirit and the letter of that legislation by creating a stable government. But, on the other hand, the governor general still was empowered to override the government and Filipino legislative initiatives “may be disregarded any time.” While Filipinos were blamed “for any inefficiency or failure” of governance, the governor general seemed to accrue all credit for what went right.8

 

The newest occupant of the governor general’s post, Leonard Wood, irritated matters by trying to reassert control over the islands. In July 1923, his actions provoked a mass resignation of Filipino politicos, including Quezon, from the governor general’s cabinet. Later that fall, when Secretary of War John Weeks sent a memorandum of endorsement to Governor General Wood, Quezon and Philippine house speaker Manuel Roxas ordered Guevara to visit Secretary Weeks to express their displeasure with Wood’s executive encroachments. Impatient for action, the territorial legislature then dispatched a special mission to Washington to request Wood’s recall and lobby for immediate independence.9 “We do not object to General Wood personally,” Guevara noted, trying to frame the issue as something larger than a personal spat, “but to the office which he occupies and the method of his appointment.”10 In Boston for a speech at the Harvard Union, Guevara told the Christian Science Monitor, “The struggle with General Wood is merely a small incident in the bigger fight for full self-government.”11

 

President Calvin Coolidge defended Wood and used subsequent annual messages to request that Congress grant the governor general more resources at the expense of the insular government.12 Despite the Coolidge administration’s clear efforts to reassert control over the islands, independence efforts percolated in Congress in 1924. In February, the special mission, accompanied by Guevara, testified before the Senate Committee on Territories and Insular Possessions to support S. 912, a bill authored by Chairman William King of Utah that authorized Filipinos to convene a constitutional convention. Once ratified and approved, U.S. military forces would withdraw within six months. Predictably, administration officials lined up against the bill. Secretary of War Weeks argued independence would precipitate a political collapse while the Navy’s Admiral Hilary P. Jones testified about the need to retain the Philippines to ensure U.S. strategic interests in East Asia. Governor General Wood echoed these sentiments in a telegram to the committee that Guevara and Gabaldon roundly condemned.13 War Department staff later asked the House Insular Affairs Committee to stall on its review of S. 912, effectively killing it.14

 

Insular Affairs Committee Chairman Louis Fairfield of Indiana submitted H.R. 8856 just as momentum on S. 912 waned. The House bill granted commonwealth status to the islands, allowed for a Filipino to be elected as governor general, continued a bicameral legislature, and also set out a judicial system. Controversially, however, it created a presidentially appointed post of U.S. commissioner empowered to veto legislation, contracts and the governor general’s executive actions, and to muster the armed forces of the Philippines. The commonwealth period would last for 30 years, after which Filipinos would vote in a plebiscite to maintain commonwealth status or to declare independence. Delegates from the independence mission supported the broad outlines of the Fairfield bill but balked at the 30-year commonwealth period and the notion of a commissioner with unchecked power. Though Fairfield was amenable to changing the bill, little support existed in Manila, and the chairman sidelined the entire effort.15 Later that Congress, Guevara attempted to revive interest in H.R. 8856. “The structure of our political institutions,” Guevara said, was built on a “weak base” of limited sovereignty. Emphasizing that Congress “has never been reluctant … in the prompt solution of those problems affecting the life, happiness, and prosperity” of its citizens, he asked the Rules Committee to send the bill to the House Floor, but it never resurfaced.16 Soon all momentum stalled as Congress adjourned for the presidential nominating conventions and the fall elections.17

 

A wave of negative propaganda designed to curb Philippine autonomy broke across the U.S. press in late 1924. From November 1924 to January 1925, the Washington Post published “Isles of Fear,” authored by Katherine Mayo, who trafficked in racist stereotypes and belittled the Philippines’ push for independence. Retentionists, including the Post editorial board, seized on the series and praised it for confirming their views.18 Guevara was one of a number of Filipino officials who refuted Mayo, publishing a response with Isauro Gabaldon in the Post. In a New York City speech, Guevara alleged Mayo’s work as one component of a “campaign of misrepresentation waged by the irreconcilable opponents of Philippine independence … for their own benefits or that of the interests they represent.” He stressed that Mayo’s portrayals failed to convey the true “life, culture, and spirit of a people or race.”19

 

Guevara also fought against attempts to separate parts of the Philippines from the insular government. In May 1926, Robert Bacon of New York submitted H.R. 12772 to create a separate province intended to resolve the “fundamental antipathy” between the Christian Filipinos in the Luzon and Visayan Islands and Muslim Filipinos, or Moros, in the Mindanao, Basilan, Palawan, and Sulu Archipelago. According to Bacon, the Moros were “an altogether distinct people from the Christian Filipinos … not only in language and religion but in physical type and mental outlook.”20 The first Philippine commission established a single province for Moro territory under the control of a military governor.21 Bacon’s bill enabled the governor general to make these appointments without the consent of the Philippine senate. He argued that the Moros were essentially a distinct people and that the insular government had made no real attempt to integrate them. Bacon’s underlying goal, however, seemed to be securing key natural resources in Moro lands—namely, rubber.22

 

Guevara responded to Bacon on the House Floor one month later. He dismissed the racial distinctions between Christian and Muslim Filipinos, saying that “differences in religion and civilization are the natural result of the political situation which the Filipino people have been forced to endure for the last 300 years” under foreign rule. Guevara admitted that the Moros had no representatives in the Philippine legislature, but under the Jones Act, only the U.S. Congress could grant that right. To resolve the issue, Guevara suggested an “amendment to the present organic law … which would enfranchise the Moros and permit them to elect their own legislators and governors with … the same freedom of choice as that now enjoyed by Christian Filipinos.” Guevara concluded, “Disintegration of … the Philippine Islands can serve no useful purpose.” Members of the Committee on Insular Affairs agreed, and Bacon’s bill never left committee.23

 

After four years of stalwart opposition to Wood and his policies, Guevara was presented with an opportunity to reset relations when the governor general died unexpectedly in August 1927. Guevara informed Manila that the Coolidge administration wanted suggestions about selecting a new governor general. The primary candidate was Henry L. Stimson, the former Secretary of War in the William H. Taft administration. President Coolidge asked Stimson to visit the Philippines to assess the effectiveness of the insular government. A retentionist himself, Stimson nevertheless proved amenable to all sides. Unlike Wood, Stimson honored Philippine sovereignty where it existed and treated Filipino colleagues with respect. With widespread support in Manila and Washington, President Coolidge nominated Stimson on December 13, 1927. When the Senate confirmed him four days later, Guevara praised the appointment, calling it “a new era for the islands [sic] government and people.”24

 

Despite this attempt to moderate relations with the insular government, President Coolidge continued to request more resources for the governor general’s office in his annual messages. In January 1928, Frank Willis, chairman of the Senate Committee on Territories and Insular Possessions, submitted S. 2292. That bill proposed an increase in the salaries of 13 presidential appointees and directed $125,000 from Philippine internal revenue taxes toward hiring additional assistants and technical advisers. A companion bill (H.R. 8567) was submitted by House Insular Affairs Committee Chairman Edgar Kiess of Pennsylvania. These measures placed the appointments of technical advisers solely in the governor general’s hands. Another Willis bill, S. 2787, and its companion, H.R. 10074, proposed the appointment of governors for the Muslim and non-Christian provinces of the islands without the Philippine senate’s consent. Secretary of War Dwight F. Davis and Governor General Stimson testified in support of each of these bills to the dismay of Quezon, who coordinated with Senate allies to block their passage and asked other members to submit independence bills as substitutes. Guevara prepared for battle in the committee rooms.25

 

Guevara sparred with Chairman Kiess while testifying against H.R. 8567. Among his eight points of disagreement with the legislation, he argued that the Kiess bill would weaken the Jones Act by curtailing the Philippine legislature’s power to appropriate funds by eliminating the “functions of the departments and bureaus of the Philippine government.” Such an action would reinforce “the colonial nature of the system of government implanted in the Philippine Islands.” Frustrated by Guevara’s stonewalling, Kiess demanded to know why the Philippine legislature seemingly opposed any congressional action. Guevara answered, “We are opposed to any amendment to the Jones Act which will mean a backward step” in achieving Philippine sovereignty. After testifying for two hours, Guevara suffered a heart attack and was taken to a local hospital. He was scheduled to testify against S. 2292 before the Senate Committee on Territories and Insular Affairs the next day, but Gabaldon took his place.26 Although S. 2292 and S. 2787 passed the respective committees of jurisdiction in both chambers, neither came to the House nor Senate Floors for a vote, and the House versions languished in committee.27

 

Guevara balanced expanding Philippine sovereignty with preserving its economy, particularly the sugar industry. In March 1928, beet sugar proponent Charles Timberlake of Colorado submitted H.J. Res. 214, a bill to reduce the duty-free importation of Philippine sugar from an unlimited number to 500,000 tons. Timberlake noted precedent for his legislation and argued that U.S. authorities “never contemplated forcing the American farmer into competition with tropical labor 7,000 miles across the Pacific.” Timberlake partially framed his legislation as preventing the Philippines from becoming “dependent on a single competitive export crop” in accordance with “the universally accepted principle of crop diversification.” Guevara asked Timberlake if it was fair for the United States “to send any of its products to the Philippine Islands without any limitations … while the Philippine Islands are … limited in the sending of their products” to the United States, but Timberlake dodged the question. Guevara countered with his standard proposal for independence, “May I suggest that the best remedy is to get rid of the Philippine Islands, and we are now ready to be gotten rid of by the United States.”28 The bill died when Governor General Stimson blasted it in the press.29

 

When the House adjourned in May 1928, Guevara remained in the United States. In June he joined Quezon at the Democratic and Republican presidential nominating conventions to promote Philippine independence. At the Republican convention in Kansas City, Missouri, the pair successfully lobbied against the inclusion of a platform that called for limiting Philippine rights. In Houston, Texas, Guevara and Quezon, with an assist from Senator King, convinced Democrats to retain a platform calling for independence that echoed the 1924 platform.30 Isauro Gabaldon resigned in July 1928, leaving Guevara the sole Filipino Resident Commissioner for nine months just as the battle over sugar tariffs was heating up. In December 1928, the House Ways and Means Committee convened hearings on tariff readjustments in anticipation of President-elect Herbert Hoover’s request to revise the Tariff Act of 1922. A worldwide depression in sugar prices and the rise of an aggressive sugar lobby threatened the free trade privileges enjoyed by the Philippines since the enactment of that legislation.

 

Testifying before the committee in early 1929, Guevara started with a simple question that echoed his perpetual message: “[W]hile the Philippine Islands are under the American flag, will the United States be justified in imposing limitation on our present free trade?” Guevara reminded members that imposing trade restrictions was tantamount to “economic slavery, because while the United States is free to send to the Philippine Islands all her products and merchandise, we will not be free to export” the same products. When committee members asked Guevara repeatedly what the Philippines did to cultivate trade with neighboring countries, Guevara reiterated that U.S. tariff restrictions compelled nations to restrict trade against the Philippines as a territory of the United States.31

 

On March 7, 1929, President Hoover called an extraordinary session of Congress to consider proposals for agriculture relief and tariff revisions. In light of these initiatives, the Philippine legislature sent a special mission to Washington to negotiate tariff revisions. Arriving in April 1929, the mission was led by Philippine house speaker Manuel Roxas and senator Sergio Osmeña and joined by newly elected Resident Commissioner Camilo Osias.32

 

The next hurdle Guevara and the mission faced came in the form of H.R. 2667, submitted by Ways and Means Committee Chairman Willis Hawley of Oregon. It called for a revision of the tariff schedules. The bill passed the House without many changes that affected the Philippines. But led by beet supporter Chairman Reed Smoot of Utah, the Senate Committee on Finance offered amendments sharply increasing the duty on sugar and other products from the Philippines. In contrast to Osias’s fiery testimony, Guevara submitted a prepared statement to the committee in June 1929, again requesting equal treatment between the United States and Philippines. He once more leveraged the economic conflict to request independence. Retained as a territory, Guevara noted, the matter amounted to interstate commerce. Passing the amendments, however, “would place the United States in the same position of Great Britain in her dealings with the thirteen American Colonies which brought about their separation from the mother country.”33 Smoot’s amendments gained little traction before the committee reported the bill in September 1929.

 

When the bill reached the Senate Floor, fresh amendments spurred a renewed campaign for independence. Louisiana Senator Edwin Broussard again sought to increase the sugar duty, but also offered a path to independence. Some Senators balked when the independence issue crept into the tariff debate. Both amendments failed, but this opened the door for Guevara and Osias to once again campaign for the release of the Philippines. Guevara addressed the House on December 7 and again on December 13, each time stressing the economic argument for an independent Philippines. Despite rising sentiment and support from Democratic Members, Republicans in both chambers stood firm against independence.34 The final act, popularly known as the Smoot–Hawley Tariff, became law in June 1930. It did not significantly affect Philippine exports, but neither did it feature the independence provisions Guevara and his colleagues had encouraged.35

 

Guevara carried forward his comparison of the islands to the American colonies as he continued his pleas for independence across the United States.36 In the summer of 1931, Quezon published a report postulating a 10-year trial period of autonomous government ending in a plebiscite. The report muddled the insular government’s official stance on independence. Quezon seemed to favor an American protectorate with only limited independence. The legislature instructed Guevara to continue to press for full independence and urged him weeks later to correct a Washington Post editorial which had presumed Moro opposition to independence.37 Guevara struggled to respond to this misinformation as Congress prepared to convene the 72nd Congress (1931–1933) in December 1931, and government leaders Osmeña and Roxas themselves traveled to Washington to make their case.

 

Despite the efforts of retentionists to portray the Philippines as deeply riven over the question of independence, supporters in Congress had grown plentiful enough by 1932 to advance a new bill for Philippine independence. Named for the chairman of the House Insular Affairs Committee, Butler Hare of South Carolina, the proposal, once approved by the insular legislature, would provide for an immediate constitutional convention followed by an eight-year schedule for independence. Speaker John Nance Garner of Texas rallied Democratic support and brought the bill to the floor under a suspension of the rules, limiting debate to 40 minutes.

 

During debate, Guevara proclaimed that this bill would “decide the fate of 13,000,000 people.” Describing prior legislative efforts as temporary fixes, Guevara deemed that the Hare measure embodied the “redemption of American pledges … and the fruition of our hopes for separate nationhood.” At the conclusion of Guevara’s unusually impassioned rhetoric, many Members rose in applause. With Guevara watching, the House approved the bill by a large majority, 306 to 47.38 The Hawes–Cutting bill, a competing Senate version of the Hare bill, led a conference committee to increase the window to independence to 10 years, but the final legislation was completed before the year was out.

 

Congress had passed the legislation over the stern objections of the Hoover administration, however, and President Hoover vetoed the bill on January 13, 1933. Wasting no time, the House overrode the veto that same day 274 to 94. After the vote, Guevara expressed “the gratitude of the Filipino people, which I say to both Republicans and Democrats for their altruistic stand on the … independence question.”39 The Senate followed suit on January 17 by a vote of 66 to 24, and the combined Hare–Hawes–Cutting Act became law.40

 

However, the Philippine legislature still had to approve the measure, and infighting there scuttled the bill. Guevara sided with his mentor Quezon, who feared a loss of influence, had the bill succeeded. After Quezon rallied the votes to reject the independence bill in the Philippine senate, Guevara accompanied him back to Washington to produce another independence bill.41

 

Throughout early 1934, Guevara and Osias occupied opposite sides of the Hare–Hawes–Cutting law debate. Whereas Osias publicly split from Quezon over rejecting the law in December 1933, Guevara lobbied for passage of another bill. In January 1934, Guevara submitted a concurrent resolution from the Philippine legislature rejecting the Hare–Hawes–Cutting Act. He expressed his “profound gratitude” for Congress’s actions, but his “patriotic duty” compelled Guevara to take another course. Acknowledging that “many of the Members of this House voted … in the belief that my stand was an expression of the will of the Filipino people whom I represent,” Guevara subordinated his preference for the Hare–Hawes–Cutting bill to “the majority of the Philippine Legislature,” who rejected it.42

 

Quezon found a favorable climate for a new independence bill in Washington, where the new Franklin D. Roosevelt administration was eager to be done with the issue. Negotiations resulted in the Tydings–McDuffie Act (H.R. 8573, S. 3055), which granted independence and removed military bases from the Philippines while providing authorization to negotiate for a future U.S. naval presence. Guevara endorsed the bill as “the epitome and synthesis of America’s aim and purpose in the Philippines” and further ensured that this attempt at independence would meet approval in the Philippine legislature.43 The bill quickly passed both the House and Senate, and President Roosevelt signed it into law on March 24, 1934.44

 

Guevara involved himself little in negotiations over Tydings–McDuffie, focusing instead on the preservation of the Philippine economy. Days after passage of Tydings–McDuffie, Guevara protested a clause in H.R. 9790 that raised the price of coconut oil to 3 cents per pound. He cautioned that the price increase could “dynamite” approval of the new independence bill because the tax would exacerbate the “economic sacrifices of the Filipino people, which are already … unbearable” and cripple the nation’s prominent coconut industry. Guevara pointed out the “inconsistency” of Congress to pass “a new organic law and, before the President’s signature to it is dry, penalize the recipient with additional burdens and oppressive inflictions.” Guevara sent letters to President Roosevelt as well as six prominent Senators and submitted a public statement voicing his objections. Representative John McDuffie of Alabama echoed Guevara’s concerns and suggested that the tax violated the spirit of the independence measure that bore his name. Under this onslaught, the tax bill wallowed in committee, and the Philippine legislature approved Tydings–McDuffie in May 1934.45

 

Guevara’s next economic hurdle was a direct consequence of the national bank emergency and the devaluation of the dollar. Representative McDuffie introduced H.R. 9459 and Senator Millard Tydings of Maryland introduced S. 3530 to settle the resultant devaluation profit in the Philippine currency reserves, enabling the U.S. Treasury to transfer the balance to the Philippine insular government. While advocating for the bill, Guevara noted how the devaluation hurt the Philippines’ ability to collect duty rates and obtain full returns on railroad bonds. In two cases, Guevara estimated the Philippines lost about $13 million. Guevara appealed to his colleagues’ sense of fair play in restoring the funds. In a practical sense, the restoration of the funds would “forestall economic complications and … prevent financial debilitation” in a nation on the verge of independence. The Tydings bill passed the Senate easily and, after a vigorous debate in the House, passed on a 188 to 147 vote. President Roosevelt signed it into law on June 19, 1934.46

 

As early as June 1934, Guevara showed signs that he had wearied of Filipino politics, feeling that he had been buffeted by insular divisions one time too many. Reports emerged about Guevara advocating for a protectorate for the Philippines, claiming that full independence would lead to disaster. His political patron Quezon dismissed the claims. Guevara had also applied to be a delegate at the 1934 Philippine constitutional convention. In light of the rumored statements, Quezon threatened to pull his support for Guevara’s candidacy.47 However, the threat did not hurt Guevara’s prospects, as he was selected to the constitutional convention in July 1934 and was re-elected as Resident Commissioner one month later.48 The constitutional convention worked from July 1934 to February 1935 on a draft which President Roosevelt approved in March. Following a plebiscite, the Philippines was established as a commonwealth in May 1935.49

 

During his last term in the 74th Congress (1935–1937), Guevara continued to focus on preserving the economy and the security of the Philippines. He lobbied the House to relax tariffs in the Jones–Costigan and Revenue Acts of 1934. Guevara also began openly advocating for a protectorate system rather than complete independence, fearing that Japan was a “real menace to Philippine independence.” He relayed open threats made by a Japanese diplomat in Manila before asking the House to consider amending H.R. 3482, a bill pledging the commitment of U.S. military forces to Latin American countries, to include the Philippines. Richard Welch of California reminded the House that Guevara “was in favor of absolute independence” during debate over the Tydings–McDuffie Act. “I have not changed my mind,” Guevara replied, but he stated that he wished for “independence for the Filipino people, but not for the benefit of some other nation” to swallow it up. Guevara held no faith in the ability of a neutralization treaty to protect his nation after Japan’s decision to ignore the Kellogg–Briand Pact and leave the League of Nations. When Welch continued to needle Guevara, the Resident Commissioner countered, “[I]f reversing my opinion … will mean security for the Philippine Islands I will not hesitate to reverse my stand or my opinion.” H.R. 3482 did not pass, but a companion Senate bill (S. 707) added the Philippines to the protection list and it became law.50

 

In August 1935, Guevara returned to Manila to vote in the presidential elections, and he brought his protectorate proposal with him. In accordance with these views, he rescinded his support of the Tydings–McDuffie Act. Nevertheless, he endorsed Manuel Quezon’s campaign for president of the Philippine Commonwealth. In a newspaper interview at his home, Guevara stated his preference for a protectorate in the presence of Quezon and two other public figures, General Emilio Aguinaldo and Bishop Gregorio Aglipay, who were running against Quezon. Guevara claimed to have spoken with a number of Members of Congress “and it is my opinion that a … majority would favor the extension of American protection to the islands.” The reporter noted that in private Quezon reacted with “tacit approval.”51 Soon afterward, though, he blasted Guevara’s proposal in a public statement.52

 

One week after Quezon won the presidency in a landslide, Guevara announced his retirement from politics effective on October 1, 1935, even though his term as Resident Commissioner did not officially expire until February 14, 1936.53 After leaving office, he started a private law practice in Manila. The Philippines Free Press complimented his “long and distinguished career in government, culminating in his many years as Resident Commissioner in Washington.”54 Besides law, Guevara pursued a number of business interests and continued to advocate for a Philippine protectorate as a private citizen.55

 

On January 19, 1938, Guevara suffered a fatal stroke while arguing a case before the Philippine supreme court and died in Manila. Calling him “one of the dearest friends I have ever had,” President Quezon credited Guevara as a “devoted and very able public servant” who “stood his ground regardless of whether or not it affected him adversely politically.” Guevara was interred in the Cementerio del Norte in Manila.56

 

Footnotes

 

1Guevara quotation from “Filipinos Hoping For Protectorate,” 8 November 1923, Christian Science Monitor: 2.

 

2Congressional Directory, 74th Cong., 1st sess., 2nd ed. (Washington, DC; Government Printing Office, 1935): 129; “Death Strikes Guevara in Act of Pleading Case Before Supreme Court,” 20 January 1938, Manila Tribune: 1; “Pedro Guevara, Jr,” 22 November 1947, Washington Post: B2. Pedro Guevara Jr., was born circa 1903. “Filipinos Elect an ‘Independent,’ ” 7 March 1923, Christian Science Monitor: 1.

 

3Congressional Directory, 74th Cong.: 129 ; “Death Strikes Guevara In Act of Pleading Case Before Supreme Court”; Bernardita Reyes Churchill, The Philippine Independence Missions to the United States, 1919–1934 (Manila, PI: National Historical Institute, 1983): 37–38, 428.

 

4Frank H. Golay, Face of Empire: United States-Philippine Relations, 1898–1946 (Quezon City, PI : Ateneo de Manila University Press, 1997): 242–244; Churchill, The Philippine Independence Missions to the United States, 1919–1934: 67; Pedro Guevara certificate of election, (endorsed 24 February), Committee on Elections (HR68-AJ2), 68th Congress, Records of the U.S. House of Representatives, Record Group 233, National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, DC; “Gabaldon, Guevara Re-elected,” 10 November 1925, Manila Times: 1; “Philippine Legislature Elects Commissioners,” 8 February 1929, Washington Post: 9; “To Represent Philippines Here,” 23 August 1934, Wall Street Journal: 5.

 

5Associated Press, “Manila Holds Huge Parade in Honor of New Agent to U.S.,” 12 August 1923, Chicago Tribune: 13.

 

6“Independence Haste Decried,” 12 September 1923, Los Angeles Times: 17; “Philippine Envoy Seeks Settlement,” 17 September 1923, New York Times: 19.

 

7“Filipinos Hoping for Protectorate,” 8 November 1923, Christian Science Monitor: 2.

 

8“Philippine Envoy Seeks Settlement.”

 

9Churchill, The Philippine Independence Missions to the United States, 1919–1934: 70–74.

 

10“Hart Defends Leonard Wood,” 9 November 1923, Boston Daily Globe: 24. See also “First Philippine Plea Is Given to President,” 16 December 1923, Washington Post: 14; Churchill, The Philippine Independence Missions to the United States, 1919–1934: 77.

 

11“Philippine Envoy Seeks Settlement.”

 

12Coolidge commented on the Philippines in his third, fourth, fifth, and sixth annual messages. See Gerhard Peters, “State of the Union Addresses and Messages,” in American Presidency Project, ed. John T. Woolley and Gerhard Peters, www.presidency.ucsb.edu/sou.php.

 

13Churchill, The Philippine Independence Missions to the United States, 1919–1934: 91–92.

 

14Hearing before the Senate Committee on Territories and Insular Possession, Philippine Independence, 68th Cong., 1st sess. (11, 16 February and 1, 3 March 1924); Churchill, The Philippine Independence Missions to the United States, 1919–1934: 89–90.

 

15Churchill, The Philippine Independence Missions to the United States, 1919–1934: 101–102. The amended bill removed the independence plebiscite and reduced the probationary period to 20 years. Commonwealth officials would support the Philippine constitution instead of the U.S. Constitution and no one with military experience would serve as U.S. commissioner. Regarding executive and legislative branch powers, the power to muster the armed forces would remain with the U.S. President; the U.S. Supreme Court also would have jurisdiction over the Philippines.

 

16Congressional Record, House, 68th Cong., 2nd sess. (16 December 1924): 698.

 

17Churchill, The Philippine Independence Missions to the United States, 1919–1934: 99–105.

 

18Ibid., 122–124; “ ‘Isles of Fear’ to Present Truth About Philippines,” 28 November 1924, Washington Post: 10. The articles were compiled into a single volume, Katherine Mayo, The Isles of Fear: The Truth About the Philippines (New York : Harcourt, Brace, and Company: 1925). For biographical information about Mayo, see “Katherine Mayo, Writer, Is Dead,” 10 October 1940, New York Times: 25. For the Post’s supportive editorials, see “Conditions in the Philippines,” 7 December 1924, Washington Post: EF1; “Vetoing Seditious Propaganda,” 11 December 1924, Washington Post: 6; and “The Philippines As They Are,” 24 January 1925, Washington Post: 6.

 

19Congressional Record, House, 68th Cong., 2nd sess. (3 March 1925): 5348–5350, quotation on p. 5349. Gabaldon’s remarks about the Mayo articles are in Congressional Record, House, 68th Cong., 2nd sess. (3 January 1925): 1167–1173.

 

20Congressional Record, House, 69th Cong., 1st sess. (6 May 1926): 8831.

 

21Bonifacio S. Salamanca, The Filipino Reaction to American Rule, 1901–1913 (Hamden, CT: Shoe String Press, 1968): 113–117, 256n107.

 

22Golay, Face of Empire: 266–267.

 

23Congressional Record, House, 69th Cong., 1st sess. (26 June 1926): 12063–12066; Congressional Record, Index, 69th Cong., 1st sess.: 810.

 

24Churchill, The Philippine Independence Missions to the United States, 1919–1934: 181, 184–185; “Coolidge to Receive Filipino Legislators,” 22 September 1927, Washington Post: 1; “Stimson Named for Governor of Philippines,” 13 December 1927, Christian Science Monitor: 1; “Senate Confirms Morrow as Envoy,” 18 December 1927, New York Times: 23; Larry G. Gerber, “Stimson, Henry Lewis,” American National Biography 20 (New York: Oxford University Press, 1999): 787–790; Congressional Record, House, 70th Cong., 1st sess. (21 December 1927): 916–917.

 

25Churchill, The Philippine Independence Missions to the United States, 1919–1934: 185–187.

 

26Hearing before the House Committee on Insular Affairs, Employment of Certain Civilian Assistants in the Office of the Governor General of the Philippine Islands, 70th Cong., 1st sess. (31 January 1928): 7, 19–20. Gabaldon described Guevara’s condition in Hearing before the Senate Committee on Territories and Insular Possessions, Appointment of Governors of the Non-Christian Provinces in the Philippine Islands, 70th Cong., 1st sess. (1 February 1928): 2; Churchill, The Philippine Independence Missions to the United States, 1919–1934: 187.

 

27Churchill, The Philippine Independence Missions to the United States, 1919–1934: 185–189; Congressional Record, Index, 70th Cong., 1st sess.: 531, 539, 706, 731.

 

28Congressional Record, House, 70th Cong., 1st sess. (22 March 1928): 5212.

 

29Churchill, The Philippine Independence Missions to the United States, 1919–1934: 188–189; Congressional Record, Index, 70th Cong., 1st sess.: 736.

 

30Churchill, The Philippine Independence Missions to the United States, 1919–1934: 189–190; “To Work For Philippines,” 6 April 1928, New York Times: 4. The 1924 and 1928 platforms are similar. See George Thomas Kurian, ed., The Encyclopedia of the Democratic Party, vol. 3 (Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe, Inc., 1997): 520–521, 531.

 

31Hearings before the House Committee on Ways and Means, Tariff Readjustment–1929: Vol. V, Schedule 5, Sugar, Molasses, and Manufactures of, 70th Cong., 2nd sess. (21–22 January 1929): 3288–3292. Guinn Williams of Texas made a similar statement on Guevara’s behalf, see Congressional Record, House, 70th Cong., 2nd sess. (24 January 1929): 2194–2197.

 

32Herbert Hoover, “Proclamation 1870—Requesting an Extra Session of Congress on Agricultural Relief and Tariff Changes,” 7 March 1929, in American Presidency Project, ed. John T. Woolley and Gerhard Peters, www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=22069 (accessed 12 February 2016); Churchill, The Philippine Independence Missions to the United States, 1919–1934: 198–201, 204–206.

 

33“Urges Wide Powers in Flexible Tariff,” 17 July 1929, New York Times: 11.

 

34“Haitian Policy of U.S. Praised and Condemned,” 14 December 1929, Chicago Daily Tribune: 10; Congressional Record, House, 70th Cong., 1st sess. (7, 13 December 1929): 261–262, 618–630; Golay, Face of Empire: 281–282.

 

35Hearings before the Senate Committee on Finance, Tariff Act of 1929 : Vol. XVII, Special and Administrative Provisions, 71st Cong., 1st sess. (12–13 June and 15–18 July, 1929): 260–262; Golay, Face of Empire: 278–282. Smoot–Hawley became law as Public Law 71-361, 46 Stat. 590 (1930).

 

36“Filipino Pleads for Freedom at Politics Parley,” 1 July 1930, Christian Science Monitor: 5; “Guevara Makes Plea for Filipino Freedom,” 28 October 1930, New York Times: 52; “Reasserts Filipino Stand,” 23 May 1931, New York Times: 8.

 

37Golay, Face of Empire: 296–298; Pedro Guevara, “Moros Declared to Favor Philippine Independence,” 20 September 1931, Washington Post: M7.

 

38“House Votes to Free Philippines in 1940; Stimson Is Opposed,” 5 April 1932, New York Times: 1; Congressional Record, House, 72nd Cong., 1st sess. (4 April 1932): 7401–7412, Guevara quotation on p. 7410.

 

39Congressional Record, House, 72nd Cong., 2nd sess. (13 January 1933): 1769.

it's difficult for me to concentrate on anything these days, i keep watching the news about the war..

The most difficult footpath?

My wife & I walked the Blencathra Wainwrights. Finishing on Blencathra, we descended Doddick Fell (one of the ridges on the south side of the mountain). This path is steep and rocky but has no great difficulty. At the bottom, direct access to the road (A66) is not possible and we had to follow the footpath (on the fell side of the open land boundary wall) eastwards towards Scales. I could see from the map that the path loops into the Scaley Beck valley.

Upon reaching this valley we encountered this steep, rocky and smooth step. We managed to get down by holding onto the fence as the rock was curiously devoid of good handholds. This put us onto a horizontal path which led in a few yards to a second, even steeper rocky step. This step was much steeper than the first and was about 15 feet high (high enough to do serious damage upon falling). To the left (facing downhill) was a vertical chimney absolutely oozing with water and slime; in the middle is an overhang; to the right was a vertical wall. Again the slabs above were curiously devoid of good hand holds. Hoping to get a better grip on the rock and fully expecting to be down in a minute, I removed my gloves in order to get a better grip and threw them down to the bottom. Bare hands didn't help at all and after lots of dithering, we climbed back to above the first step. A faint path leading higher into the valley seemed to offer a safer alternative. We followed this, heading for what appeared to be a more manageable slope, but this path soon petered out. As we battled further up through dense foliage, a walker appeared at the top of the corresponding Bad Step on the West Bank coming in the opposite direction. He had some difficulty in descending that step but did make progress. I realised that he would find my gloves and I tried to shout down to him, but he couldn't hear because of the water and he didn't look our way, so didn't see us. I was hoping that he would be stopped by the West Bank step because I knew that he would pick up my gloves.

The thick foliage and steep slope slowed us considerably and it took a while to reach the stream bed further up the valley. We now followed the stream down hill, back towards the path. Even here progress was difficult, with many rocky drops being encountered; at several places we actually had to wade in the water. After a long time we finally regained the path where it crosses the stream. There was no sign of the walker nor of my gloves, so presumably he'd climbed the step and picked up my gloves thinking that he might catch up with their owner (me).

My wife and I managed to ascend the rock step on the East Bank without too much difficulty; it's definitely easier than the West Bank step, although again, it might be intimidating to descend.

We finally got back to the car at Scales. I looked at the map, trying to decide where the lone walker might emerge onto the road. We drove to several possible locations but we never saw him (or my gloves) again. What was bizarre was that he was the only other walker we saw on that side of the mountain and at the very moment that I was (temporarily) separated from my gloves.

Has anybody else walked that path and encountered those Bad Steps? I would say that they are definitely the most difficult that I have encountered on a footpath.

Because with arms this short it's difficult to have a friendly game of cards!

 

This photograph is about experience. I mean, only tho who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go. Cracking under pressure, or hollowed out by time. Nothing really matters outside it’s touch, but death hasn’t touched you yet.

 

The best project you’ll ever work on, is you. Fixing and adjusting constantly, craving for some solace. I mean, nothing is as difficult, as to handle your own soul. Cause you’re nor empty, nor too full. We all want to have relativity with the earth. In addition, there reveals a semblance of transcendence, a transformation to the present day. A liberation from an intense emotional content.

 

The screws individual symbolize your mental structure and own identity. Sometimes, things that don’t make sense is often where the mystery rises of. The use of your thoughts to just not participate in life.

MiG-SPB "08 Red" and an early production Su-25 in echelon fomation over northern Afghanistan.

 

DISCLAIMER

Nothing you see here is real, even though the conversion or the presented background story might be based historical facts. BEWARE!

  

Some background:

In early 1968, the Soviet Ministry of Defense decided to develop a specialized shturmovik armored assault aircraft in order to provide close air support for the Soviet Ground Forces. The idea of creating a ground-support aircraft came about after analyzing the experience of shturmovaya (ground attack) aviation during World War II, and in local wars during the 1950s and 1960s. The Soviet fighter-bombers in service or under development at this time (Su-7, Su-17, MiG-21 and MiG-23) did not meet the requirements for close air support of the army. They lacked essential armor plating to protect the pilot and vital equipment from ground fire and missile hits, and their high flight speeds made it difficult for the pilot to maintain visual contact with a target. Ordnance load and loiter time were also insufficient.

 

In March 1969, a competition was announced by the Soviet Air Force that called for designs for a new battlefield close-support aircraft. Participants in the competition were the Design Bureaus of Sukhoi, Yakovlev, Ilyushin and Mikoyan.

 

Mikoyan OKB proposed two directions: First option were designs which were based upon proven technology of the MiG-21 and -23, with an eye on short development time – e. g. the LSSh and 27Sh concepts. The other approach was a more experimental type, designed from scratch, but this concept focused more radically on survivability and excellent low altitude agility, at the expense of speed and a short development time.

 

All MiG OKB designs were eventually rejected by the MoD, and effectively only Ilyushin’s Il-42 (later renamed into Il-102) and Sukhoi’s T-8 (the later Su-25) remained in the official competition. But Mikoyan’s second design showed potential and was considered as a basis for an advanced jet trainer. This aircraft was approved to be developed further, but not with high priority and outside of the official shturmovik competition. Anyway, it was a fallback option, should both main contenders fail.

The project received the internal development code ‘Izdeliye 1.43’, but the forthcoming aircraft was better known under its project handle MiG-SPB (Samolet Polya Boya – ‘armored combat aircraft’) or its nickname, ла́сточка (Lastochka = Swallow). Some sources claim that the type was also designated MiG-43, but it never received an official code, despite its front line test service (see below).

 

The MiG-SPB’s main design objective was superior maneuverability at low speeds and altitude. It offered the pilot excellent view and a high resilience to frontline combat situations. The aircraft’s most prominent trademark was its engine location: in overall layout, the MiG-SPB resembled Sukhoi’s T-8, with straight wings and two jet engines placed in nacelles at the fuselage flanks. But in order to protect the engines from gunfire and shield the hot exhaust gases from view (e .g. from IR seeker heads, esp. from MANPADS), the nacelles were placed above the mid-set wings, with the air intakes at wing leading edge level.

Despite carrying armor around the cockpit and the central fuselage, the aircraft was surprisingly slender and elegant – so slim that the rigid landing gear, which would allow operation from field air strips, retracted into fairings which also housed the internal gun on starboard and avionics on port. As a side benefit of this complex layout, the CoG was kept very centralized, so that agility was further improved. The tail was conventional, even though the vertical stabilizer was rather high and slender.

 

For its low altitude duties, a large wing area, high wing aspect ratio, and large ailerons were incorporated. The high aspect ratio wing also allowed for short takeoffs and landings, permitting operations from primitive forward airfields near front lines. It was planned that the type would typically fly at a relatively slow speed of 300 knots (350 mph; 560 km/h), loiter for extended periods and operate under 1.000 ft (300 m) ceiling with 1.5 mi (2.4 km) visibility. This would have made it a much better platform for the ground-attack role than contemporary fast fighter-bombers, which often gave difficulty targeting small and slow-moving targets, or finding them again for a second attack.

 

Originally, the MiG-SPB was powered by two Ivchenko AI-25 turbofan with 14.7 kN (3,300 lbf) each, basically the same engine that drove the Yak-40 regional jet airliner. In early 1981 these were replaced by two much more powerful Klimov RD-33M turbofans: non-afterburning versions of the engines that powered the Mikoyan MiG-29 fighter (under development at MiG OKB at that time) and which were also introduced in the production Su-25.

 

Armament comprised a fixed gun in the starboard fairing and 3.500kg (7.700 lb.) of external ordnance, carried on eight wing hardpoints plus a centerline pylon under the fuselage.

Originally, a two-barreled Gryazev-Shipunov GSh-23L 23 mm cannon with 350 rounds was fitted, but that soon gave way to a more powerful 30mm GSh-30-1 cannon which could fire armor-piercing shells at 1.800 rpm. The gun's maximum effective range was 1.200 to 1.800 m (3.900 to 5.900 ft.) and, in combination with the Klen-PS laser rangefinder/targeting system in the aircraft’s nose, it was extremely accurate as well as powerful, capable of destroying a target with as few as three to five rounds.

At least one pre-production aircraft was even fitted with a single-barreled 45mm cannon.

 

Further avionics included a DISS-7 Doppler navigation radar, coupled with a navigation system that permitted flight in day and night conditions, both in VMC and IMC (even though the aircraft did not feature an all-weather/attack capability), and providing flight data for the weapons-control system and flight instruments. Radios for air-to-ground and air-to-air communications were fitted, as well as a weapons-control system and a full self-defense suite, incorporating infra-red, flare and chaff dispensers capable of launching about 250 flares and dipole chaff. An SRO radar warning receiver that would alert the pilot of incoming attacks on the aircraft, as well as an SPO-15 radar homing & warning system (RHAWS) and an SO-69 identification-friend-or-foe (IFF) transponder were incorporated.

 

With no official support the MiG-SPB’s development went on slowly, but due to several delays and specification changes in the official shturmovik competition it kept up pace and was more or less ready just in time for direct comparison. The MiG-SPB prototype first flew on 14 February 1978 and began State acceptance trials on 12 October 1979. Since the secondary use as a trainer was still on the agenda, all prototypes and pre-production machines were two-seaters, even though the plane was still primarily intended for the ground attack role and accordingly equipped.

 

An order for a first batch of twenty pre-production machines was placed in November 1979, and five of these had been completed by the spring of 1980 and were undergoing pre-flight tests when the Soviet MoD decided to try the type under real conditions. Together with an initial batch of Su-25s a total of five MiG-SPBs with support crews and maintenance equipment were sent to Afghanistan.

 

On 19 July 1981 and with the new RD-33M engines already fitted, these aircraft arrived at Shindand Airbase in western Afghanistan and were assigned to the 201st Independent Shturmovaya Air Squadron, flying together with the first Su-25 unit deployed to that country. Their main task was to conduct air strikes against mountain military positions and structures controlled by the Afghan rebels. The MiG-SPB proved to be easy to handle, esp. under “hot and high” conditions.

Flight characteristics were closely comparable to the Su-25 and the aircraft gained a good reputation among the flight crews. But field maintenance was more complicated and the electronic systems proved not to be as reliable and sturdy as the Su-25’s, though. Another drawback was the lower ordnance load of 3.500kg (the Su-25 could theoretically carry 4.500kg), which suffered further in the thin air of the Afghan summer. Usually, only 1.000 kg were carried, unguided missiles or iron bombs being the most frequent weapons.

 

The MiG-SPB found its niche, though: the second seat made the MiG-SPB a formidable reconnaissance and observation aircraft. The MiG-SPBs were frequently used as forward air control aircraft which would locate and mark targets, guide other fighter bombers to them and later control/assess the attack success (BDA missions).

In the late months of employment, the rear seat was also taken up by a weapon officer who would steer guided weapons, when several smart bombs and missiles as well as their respective sensor and guidance packages were tried out under field conditions.

 

Over the course of the Soviet war in Afghanistan, five more MiG-SPB were transferred to Afghanistan in order to keep a minimum of four machines active at all times. The aircraft performed a total of roundabout 2.500 combat sorties, ~250 per aircraft (less than the Su-25, which clocked 340 and more). Between the first deployment in 1981 and the end of the tests in April 1983, one aircraft was lost in combat operations, another one crashed in a landing accident. When NATO became aware of the type in late 1982, the MiG-SPB received the code name ‘Flintstone’.

 

In the end, the MiG-SPB had no future. After a long development process for the new shturmovik, the Su-25 surpassed its main competitor in the Soviet Air Force competition, the Ilyushin Il-102, as well as the MiG-SPB, and series production of Sukhoi’s type was announced by the Ministry of Defense. Since the trainer option did not show any future potential (meanwhile, the smaller and much less costly L-39 Albatros had been chosen as jet trainer), further development of the MiG-SPB was stopped – even though the experience with the type would later be incorporated into the MiG-AT trainer aircraft.

  

General characteristics (as flown)

Crew: Two (one pilot, one observer/WO)

Length: 15.19 m (50 ft 5½ in) incl. pitot

Wingspan: 14.79 m (49 ft 1½ in)

Height: 4.26 m (14 ft 2 in)

Wing area: 37.19 m² (400.3 ft²)

Empty weight: 9.890 kg (21.784 lb)

Loaded weight: 14.150 kg (31.186 lb)

Max. take-off weight: 17.200 kg (37.885 lb)

 

Powerplant:

2 × Klimov RD-33M turbofans, 44.18 kN (9,480 lbf) each

 

Performance:

Maximum speed: 890 km/h (553 mph)

Combat radius: 400 km (250 mi)

Ferry range: 2,500 km (1,553 mi)

Service ceiling: 7,500 m (25,000 ft)

Rate of climb: 58 m/s (11,400 ft/min)

Wing loading: 490 kg/m² (100 lb/ft²)

Thrust/weight: 0.52

 

Armament:

1× GSh-30-1 30mm cannon with 300 rounds

9 hardpoints for up to 3.500 kg (7.700 lb) of disposable external ordnance, including rails for 2 × R-60 (AA-8 'Aphid') or other air-to-air missiles for self-defense and a wide variety of general-purpose bombs, cluster bombs, gun pods, rocket pods, laser- or TV-guided bombs, and air-to-surface missiles.

The centerline pylon was usually only used for sensor or reconnaissance pods.

The four inner wing hardpoints were ‘wet’ for 800l drop tanks.

  

The kit and its assembly:

I think it’s the first time that I convert a helicopter into an aircraft. But ESCI’s fictional Ka-34 ‘Hokum’ (probably only based on satellite pictures from above and vague sketches of the real thing, the Ka-50) is so sleek and aircraft-like – why not give it a try?

 

My idea behind this purely fictional whif was to build a contender to the Su-25 and its real introduction story, with the long development phase since the late 60ies, the competition with the Il-102 and the Afghanistan trials. Even the submissions of Mikoyan OKB are real (yet rejected…), but my SPB was an additional design outside of the “proven technology” sandbox.

So, the Ka-34 fuselage and the ground attack role were clear and defined further design elements.

 

Looking for suitable straight wings I came at first across Revell’s 1:100 SnapFit A-10 as a donation kit for the wings, but these turned out to be too small. When I rummaged for alternative parts I finally found an ancient (25 years? Its white polystyrene was thoroughly yellowed…), half-built Airfix A-1 – a horrible kit which now found its final and good use! So, effectively, my MiG-SPB is a kit-bashing of two kits with some extra donations.

 

The Ka-34’s fuselage was more modified than initially intended: the main rotor mount was faired over and the tail fin cut away, because it looked too small/slender/modern for the massive and straight A-1 wings.

I kept the Ka-34’s original nose, but flattened its top for a better field of view and added a window in the nose for a laser range finder with fixed glazing (much like the Su-25). Some antennae, an OoA sensor and pitots were added, too. Cockpit and landing gear were taken OOB, but I added new seats and pilot figures as well as bigger wheels (from an A-7).

 

Other external changes include bigger engine nacelles, from a Hobby Boss Me 262. They are mounted backwards, though, and their interior outfitted with new parts from the scrap box. I left them in their helicopter-like high position above the wings, but had to raise their position due to thick A-1 wings.

 

Ultimately, all tail stabilizers come from the A-1 kit, since they’d fit well in size and shape. The wings were modified in so far that I filled the A-1’s landing gear wells (covers were gone, used 2C putty) and tried to hide the folding wing lines. Weapon hardpoints come from A-7 and F-16 kits, the ordnance of two B-13L and two B-8M rocket pods comes from an ICM Soviet air-to-ground weapon sets – the choice reflects the FAC duty of the type in the hot-and-high Afghanistan environment, so only unguided rockets for target marking and against small, soft targets are carried, plus two R-60 for self-defense.

  

Painting and markings:

Normally I keep whifs rather subtle, but this time I gave the MiG-SPB a rather weird camouflage scheme. The MiG-SPB’s stylish three-tone clover pattern has actually been applied to Soviet Mi-24 helicopters, and a similar wrap-around scheme (in olive green, though) can be found on some Ukrainian Su-25. I found this scheme very attractive, and since it looks IMHO very Russian the MiG-SPB was a nice occasion to try it out – the colors even matching the dusty/mountainous Afghanistan theatre where the model would have been used, according to its fictional story.

 

Basic upper colors are Humbrol 168 and ‘clover leafs’ in 84 and 98 (Hemp, Mid-Stone and Chocolate, in these “levels” above each other), later ‘tamed down’ trough dry painting with shades of light beige and grey, for a worn and bleached look.

 

This pattern is utterly effective in order to break up contours: Even when the thing just sat on the work bench it was hard to tell where its front or rear end would be, or how the fuselage and wing intersection would look like in detail. And it even looks flashy…

 

Lower side was painted in Humbrol 65 – pretty bright, but such tones are typical for Soviet/Russian aircraft.

Additionally, the whole thing received a light wash with black ink in order to emphasize panel line and details and the leading edges were lightly dry-brushed with silver.

 

Most markings come from the scrap box, insignia, tactical code and some emblems like the MiG OKB badge come from an Authentic Decals 1:72 MiG-29 aftermarket sheet, most stencils from the vast X-20M missile decal sheet from ICM.

  

All in all a nice project which was based on a spontaneous idea. But it came out better than expected, concerning both the aircraft itself but also the weird cammo scheme, which will certainly pop up under other circumstances (mecha?)!

 

difficult to be eye to eye

I've been favoring the Softail over the Road King for a few months so I thought I'd even up the score with a ride out along the Peninsula. This bike is a lot more difficult for me to handle at slow speeds, but on the highway it's far better.

Difficult to make out the registration on the Escort, and I haven't got time to try lots of permutations on DVLA, but pleasingly the Rover is still around. DVLA suggests it has just been taxed for another year. I'd happily drive that one around.

 

Nice timewarp shot for 2008, with no other cars or wheelie bins visible to spoil it.

 

Edit: MicraK10 has confirmed the van's registration as G879ADX, last taxed until May 2010.

Monsoon season river in new water ...So fishing is very difficult

Area where E8 was found has dense, thick growth and made locating the juvenile very difficult. Photo credit Lorelei.

I have wanted to visit Stone Chapel just outside of Faversham for some while, but parking here is very difficult.

 

Yesterday, with the plan to visit Newnham and Doddington, it seemed too good an opportunity to visit the ruin.

 

You can see the remains from the old A2, Watling Street, and doesn't look that much, but worth visiting for the project, I thought.

 

In fact, close up it appears to be part Roman or made with Roman remains, the nave walls on both side have layers of clearly Roman tiles.

 

I am currently reading an archaeological paper which doubts the conclusions reached on the English Heritage site.

 

It is a less travelled path across the fields to the copse with the ruins in front. The field had been left fallow, so was full of Annual Mercury, Common Groundsel and a few Shepherd's Purse.

 

Straight away the courses of red Roman tiles were obvious, and even to me, seemed to form a square. The rest of the church was built of flint, and is crumbling still. Not bad for ruins of a building abandoned in the 1530s.

 

Ferns grow out of the mortar, quite a rare ecosystem here in Kent.

 

The stone altar is still in situ in the Chancel, or what remains of it. A step leads down into the nave, and was worn with steps of nearly a thousand years of use.

 

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

 

The Roman building was excavated during the 19th century and again in the 1960s and 1970s. It was found to be a roughly square structure with each side approximately 6 metres (17 feet) in length, built on a foundation raft of flints.

 

The walls are 1 metre (3 feet) thick and are constructed of square stone blocks with frequent courses of thin red bricks. The walls were reinforced with external buttresses, two of which survive, at the north-west and south-west corners of the building.

 

The original entrance is represented by a gap in the centre of the west wall, with the original sill – a slab of greensand stone – still in place. Internally the floor was constructed of 'opus signinum' (a hard waterproof concrete partly composed of, and coloured red with, crushed tiles) and the walls were decorated with red painted plaster.

 

This building has been interpreted as a Romano-British mausoleum, a tomb standing above ground. Mausolea were constructed to contain and mark high-status burials. They often served as family tombs, in which some form of ceremony could be performed when a new burial was placed in the monument. They are usually located within cemeteries but may also be found singly, associated with villas or in small groups.

 

The tradition of building mausolea in Britain began in the early 2nd century AD and continued until at least the 4th century. As there is no evidence of a villa or cemetery close by, it has also been suggested that the building was a Romano-British temple or small Christian shrine.

 

The Roman Watling Street, now the busy A2, runs adjacent to the field 100 metres (330 feet) south of the site.

 

It is thought that the Roman settlement of Durolevum was situated on the outskirts of Faversham, and that this mausoleum is all that survives above ground of that settlement. Excavations have revealed a further Roman building about 11 metres (36 feet) to the north-west.

 

Partially overlying the earlier Roman building, but making use of its surviving walls, are the ruins of a mainly flint-built medieval church, about 24 metres (78 feet) in length and up to 7.5 metres (25 feet) wide. There may have been an earlier timber-built Saxon church on the site.

 

The medieval builders used the Roman building as the chancel of the church, while the nave was built to the west. The nave and the chancel were extended in the 13th century. The church is surrounded by a roughly square graveyard, bounded by a flint wall, which survives in ruined form on the north-western side and elsewhere is marked in places by a low bank.

 

The church was abandoned by the 1530s.

 

www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/faversham-stone-...

 

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STONE,

CALLED in antient Latin deeds Stanes, and now usually Stone near Faversham, to distinguish it from two other parishes of the same name in this county, is the next parish south-westward from Luddenham.

 

It is but a small obscure parish, hardly known to any one, tho' situated close to the north side of the London road, a little beyond the 45th mile-stone, between Beacon and Judde hills, whence it extends to the waters of the Swale, its northern boundary. It lies in a low flat country, what uplands there are are very good and fertile, but by far the greatest part of the parish is marsh land, at the beginning of which is the manor house of Elverton, beyond which there is a large tract of them, near two miles in length, as far as the Swale; much of the lower part of the parish belongs to the family of Brydges, of Wotton.

 

The manors of Selgrave and Copton, aliasHamme marsh, claim over different parts of this parish, but THE PRINCIPAL MANOR in it is ELWERTON, written in Domesday, Ernolton, and in antient deeds Eylwartone, by which name it was given by king Edmund, son of queen Ediva, to the monks of Christ-church, in Canterbury, for the use of their rectory, and it was confirmed to them in the time of king Stephen, and archbishop Theobals, in the shrievalty of Ralph Picot, to be possessed by them without any additional burthens to be laid on it.

 

In the year 1227, anno 12 Henry III. archdeacon Simon Langton, with the consent of his brother, the archbishop, conveyed to the monks of Christ-church all the tithes of Eylwarton, great and small, lying within the precincts of the chapelry of Stone, which at this time pass under the name of dominical or demesne tithes, i. e. the tithes of the demesne of the manor.

 

King Edward II. in his 10th year, granted to the prior and convent of Christ-church, free-warren in all their demesne lands which they possessed in Eylwarton, among other places, at the time of the charter granted to them by his grandfather Henry III.

 

Robert Harthbrand, who became prior of Christchurch in 1338, anno 13 Edward III. among other improvements which he made to the possessions of it, inclosed the marsh land, called Elwarton marsh, belonging to this manor.

 

In which state this manor seems to have continued till the dissolution of the priory in the 31st years of king Henry VIII. when it was surrendered, among the rest of the possessions of it, into the king's hands, where it did not remain long, for the king settled it, by his dotation-charter, in his 33d year, on his new-created dean and chapter of Canterbury, part of whose possessions it now remains.

 

When this manor came into the possession of the dean and chapter of Canterbury, it was demised by them from time to time for three lives, at the old rent of thirty-two pounds. The Clarkes held it in the reigns of queen Elizabeth and James I. the Sidneys in the reign of Charles II. and till that of George II. after which it was held by the Tenisons, Anne, widow of Dr. Edward Tenison, bishop of Ossory, in Ireland, held it at her death in 1750. By her will she left her interest in it, after the death of Margaret, wife of Peter St. Eloy her daughter, to her grandson Thomas Tension, esq. afterwards of Sysonby, in Leicestershire, and he, in 1762, assigned it over to Samuel and William Smith, of London, merchants, who in 1774, again assigned their interest in it to Mr. John Waller, gent. of Faversham, the present possessor of it.

 

There was a chapel here, called the chapel of our Lady of Eylwarton.

 

THE BISHOP OF BAIEUX, at the time of taking the general survey of Domesday, was possessed of an estate at this place, which is thus described under the general title of his lands in it:

 

The same Ansfrid holds of the bishop (of Baieux) Ernoltun. It was taxed at one suling. The arable land is three carucates. In demesne there is one, and eight villeins, with two carucates and an half. There are two salt-pits, and in the city of Canterbury one house of twentyone pence.

 

In the time of king Edward the Confessor it was worth four pounds, and afterwards forty shillings, now one hundred-shillings. This manor Burnod held of king Edward. Of this manor Rannulf held ten acres, which lie near the the city, and paid forty-two pence in the time of king Edward.

 

Four years after taking of the above survey, the bishop was disgraced, and all his estates were consicated to the crown; but how that above-mentioned has passed since, or who now possesses it, I have not been able to learn.

 

STONE is within the ECCLESIASTIAL JURISDICTION of the diocese of Canterbury, and deanry of Ospringe.

 

The church was always accounted as a chapel to that of Tenham, as appears by the Black Book of the archdeacon of Canterbury, and was given and appropriated with that church, as an appendage to it, in 1227, by archbishop Stephen Langton, to that archdeaconry. In which state it continues at this time, the archdeacon being appropriator of it, and the great and small tithes of it, excepting those of Elverton as above mentioned, included in the lease granted by him of the parsonage of Tenham, by the description of the chapelry of Stone, belonging to it.

 

¶The church or chapel of Stone has been for a long time desecrated; the foundations of it yet remain on the north side of the field, on the north side of the high London road, in the vale between Judde and Beacon hills. The shire or bridle road from Faversham to the top of the latter hill, goes close by the north side of it.

 

The walls of it have several Roman bricks mixed among the flints. The church seems to have been about thirty-two feet long, and the chancel twenty-four, and about twelve feet broad. By the remains of a piece of wall, the tower seems to have stood between the church and the chancel.

 

IT IS REMARKABLE, that in the dotation-charter to the dean and chapter of Canterbury, under the great seal, anno 33 Henry VIII. the rectory and vicarage of Stone, near Faversham, is granted to them instead of that of Stone, in the isle of Oxney, which is totally omitted, through they have enjoyed the latter ever since under that charter.

 

www.british-history.ac.uk/survey-kent/vol6/pp393-396

On June 6, 2018 the 12th annual LAFD Merit Scholar Awards Ceremony honored the academic excellence and demonstrated leadership of 11 college-bound students.

 

The Merit Scholar Awards are cash grants, made possible through the Jean Perkins Foundation, of up to $30,000 ($7,500 per year while the student continues to be enrolled and making normal progress toward a college degree). To be eligible, a student must be the child or stepchild of an active or fallen LAFD sworn employee. The eligible student must be a high school senior or college freshman, who will be enrolled in the fall as a full-time student in an accredited college or university. The scholarships are awarded on the basis of merit. The single most important factor is academic achievement, but the all-civilian Selection Committee considered other relevant criteria, including personal character and extracurricular accomplishments.

 

This year’s awardees were students who demonstrated excellence in academic studies, good character, high moral standards, leadership, distinction in extra-curricular activities, personal accomplishments and a potential for future success. The LAFD Merit Scholarship Fund Board of Directors had the difficult task of selecting the top candidates from an extremely competitive pool.

 

The 2018 LAFD Merit Scholar Award Recipients are Simone Decker, daughter of Firefighter III/Paramedic Dieter Decker; Abigail Sedillos and Brady Sedillos, children of Captain I Leonard Sedillos;Teagan Wasserman, daughter of Firefighter III/Paramedic Curt Wasserman (all bio's provided below).

 

This year’s seven Runner-Up Award winners are to be congratulated for their outstanding merits. Each received a one time grant of $5,000. They are Mia Aguilar, Seth Aguilar, Nina Hernandez, Angelina Maldonado, Delanie McKeon, Derek Rueda, Anna Vidovich and Taylor Wasserman.

The winner of this year’s “Best Essay” award of $2,500, generously sponsored by the LAFD Foundation, is an impressive repeat winner, Nina Hernandez. Nina also received this award in 2017.

 

We would like to thank Mr. James Carroll III and Mr. Joe Connolly, Executive Board Members of the Jean Perkins Foundation and the LAFD Merit Scholarship Fund’s Board of Directors, Dick Barrett, John Anglin, G. Louis Graziadio III, Vicky Leck, Tom Mizo, Robert Nicholas and Molly Taylor for their dedication and support of our members and their children. We are also grateful to the Los Angeles Fire Department Foundation for their sponsorship of the “Best Essay” award and to the LAFD Sertoma Club, the United Firefighters of Los Angeles City, LAFD Historical Society and the Los Angeles Firefighter’s Association and the Stentorians of City of Los Angeles who sponsored the awards reception.

 

The announcement for the 2019 competition should be posted early 2019 at www.lafd.org/scholarship.

 

2017 LAFD MERIT SCHOLAR AWARD RECIPIENT BIOGRAPHIES

Simone Decker is a senior from Quartz Hill High School (QHHS) and is the daughter of Firefighter III Paramedic Dieter Decker, assigned to Fire Station 75 (15 years LAFD). She will be attending George Washington University, majoring in Political Science. Simone has volunteered with the Union Rescue Mission and the Children’s Department at Barnes and Noble. Simone has become involved with the Interfaith Youth Leadership Initiative (IYLI) and serves as the Secretary of the LA County Chapter. IYLI promotes religious tolerance through education and interaction. Simone feels the program allowed her to understand religion in a different light and become friends with people form a huge variety of faiths. The program provides a space for youth to interact with one another, free from societal stereotypes or preconceived notions. Simone has interned for Assemblyman Tom Lackey during 2016-2017 and with Congressman Steve Knight, on Capitol Hill, in 2018. She is very active in on-campus clubs. She is currently Social Media Commissioner for the QHHS ASB, Cheer Squad Captain, Multicultural Club, a Bollywood founding member and dance performer, member of Key Club and author of Blog with The Odyssey Online. Simone is a member of the National Society of High School Scholars (NSHSS) and was selected for the Award of Excellence from the National Academy of Future Scientists and Technologists. Other awards include NSHSS Ambassador Award 2017-2018, Principal’s List Honor Roll 2014-2018, and Academic Excellence Awards 2014-2018 after receiving all “A” grades in honors/advanced courses. Simone graduates with a 4.9 GPA.

 

Abigail Sedillos is a graduating senior from Palos Verdes Peninsula High School (PVPHS) and the daughter of Captain I Leonard Sedillos, assigned to Fire Station 80 (33 years LAFD). Abbie will be attending Northeastern University, Boston, MA, double majoring in Environmental Studies and Political Science on the Pre-Law track. Abbie has been volunteering since 2012 and believes in the power of service. She is dedicated to commu-nity service and actively volunteers at the National Charity League as a Big Sister/Little Sister coordinator. Abbie also volunteers in Blue Jackets, assisting with discharged patients and making deliveries within the Torrance Memorial Medical Center(TMMC): NOVAs of TMMC, which partners with high school volunteers to fundraise and support patient events. Abbie has received the Gold Presidential Volunteer Service Award for volunteering over 120 hours a year and the National Charity League Ticktocked Service Award for volunteering over 100 hours a year. Abbie has participated in the following PVPHS clubs: Link Crew, PLUS Leadership, Teen Court and Principal’s Advisory Council. She participated as a sprinter on the PVPHS Track and Field Team, competing in the 100 and 400 meter, 4 x 4 and 4 x1 relays from 2014- 2016. Abbie’s awards include National Hispanic Scholar 2017, Sociedad Honoraria Hispanica 2016, National Honor Society 2016-2018, Science National Honor Society 2016-2018, California Scholarship Federation 2015 - 2018, and AP Scholar with Honors 2017-2018. Abbie graduates with a 4.7 GPA.

Brady Sedillos is a graduating senior from Palos Verdes Peninsula High School (PVPHS) and the son of Captain I Leonard Sedillos assigned to Fire Station 80 (33 years LAFD). Brady will be attending Brown University majoring in Biological Sciences on the Pre-Med track. Brady’s inspiration and passion for Biological Sciences is due to his family trips to National Parks. Exploring the natural world and it’s workings while on those trips fueled his curiosity especially in his AP Biology Lab. Brady is a Blue Jacket and a NOVA volunteer at TorranceMemorial Medical Center (TMMC). He served as the Vice President and Social Chair of NOVA at TMMC. Brady is a Youth Leader at Saint John Fisher Catholic Church. He assists with meetings and mentors incoming classes. Brady competed on the PVPHS Swim Team CIF and Bay League, in the 200 meter IM, 2014-2017. He served on the Principal’s Advisory Council as a representative of the student body working to improve the school environment. Brady is a jury member of Teen Court 2014-2018, Peer Leadership Uniting Students (PLUS) 2016-2018, Model United Nations Team Under-Secretary-General of Logistics 2015-2018. Brady is a co-founder/vice president of the Go Toberman School Club, a Game of Thrones fan club. Brady also likes to play the ukulele. Brady’s awards and honors include: Model United Nations Conference Awards; 2016-2018, National Hispanic Scholar; 2017, National Honor Society; 2016-2018; Science and Math National Honor Society; 2016-2018 , and California Scholarship Federation; 2015 - 2018. Brady graduates with a 4.8 GPA.

 

Tegan Wasserman is a graduating senior from Edison High School (EHS) and the daughter of Firefighter III Paramedic Curt Wasserman assigned to Fire Station 99 (32 years LAFD). Teagan will be attending Wagner College, Staten Island, NY, in the five-year advanced Physician Assistant Program. Teagan is currently the Secretary of EHS’s Make a Wish Club, whose duties include raising money, planning and managing event logistics. In 2015, Teagan won Best Scientific Invention in Edison’s Worlds Fair. She continues to volunteer in EHS’s Innovation Lab, maintaining different projects including aquaponics system, fish breeding, etc. Teagan is a volunteer at Fountain Valley Regional Hospital, helping in multiple areas, including the operating room and the Surgical ICU. Tegan is a water safety instructor at Aquatots Swim School. Teagan teaches kids 0-18 years old and works with kids with disabilities. Teagan has participated in the Modeled United Nations (MUN) 2014-2018. This year she traveled to the MUN conference host nation Greece, where they learned and debated different world topics. Teagan mentors freshman taking MUN Geography course, by counseling and critiquing their papers. Teagan has played Club/Academy Soccer 2007 - 2018 and played EHS Varsity Soccer during 2014-2017. She is a decorated Scholar-Athlete. Teagan was the CIF Sports Conference and the OCAD Women in Sports Conference Representative for Edison Women’s Soccer. Teagan is the recipient of Edison Character Coalition Award Perseverance winner 2017. Teagan graduates with a 4.6 GPA.

 

LAFD Event-060618

 

Photo Use Permitted via Creative Commons - Credit: LAFD Photo | Gary Apodaca

 

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Difficult to take, I wasn't looking in the view finder & it was angled off the mirror.

Difficult to see here, the dune rises high above Silver Lake.

Silver Lake State Park, Michigan

Read about the end of the hike on my blog

I enjoy making my life difficult.

The Subway is located in the wilderness section of Zion National Park in Utah. It is a beautiful place for photography. Difficult to get there, and requires a special hiking permit, but it is worth the effort.

 

HDR image from 9 exposures taken with Sigma 10-20mm mounted to Nikon D90 in the "Subway" at Zion National Park. HDR processing was used to capture the wide range of natural light and contrast (top of the canyon was bathed in sunlight while the lower walls and water edges were in deep shade). Tried different approach than previous post of same photo to create more natural scene. Technique used multiple TIFF images rather than JPEG's exported directly into Photomatix as explained below.

 

Workflow Included:

Selected 9 images ranging from -4 to +4

Converted RAW files to TIFF and saved to Adobe Bridge (AB)

Loaded bracketed files into Photmatix Pro 4.1 and processed with Tone Mapping

Saved HDR image as TIFF file back into AB

Loaded 10 TIFF images (9+HDR) as individual layers in PS5

Masked-in details and eliminated ghosting caused by movement in trees during long exposures

Applied onOne PhotoTune, Topaz Adjust, and Topaz DeNoise

 

Helpful advice from:

HDR Cookbook

 

Reposts of previously posted due to being blurred, some came out better than others.

 

I was having trouble with my computer at the time, making editing difficult.

 

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

 

WATRINGBURY.

NORTH-EASTWARD from East or Great Peckham lies Watringbury, called in Domesday, OTRINGEBERGE, and in the Textus Roffensis, WOTRINGABERIA. It is supposed to have taken its name from its low and watry situation.

 

THE PARISH of Watringbury is almost square, about a mile and a quarter each way, and contains about eighty-three families.

 

So much of it as lies southward of the quarry hills, which cross the northern part of it, is within the district of the Weald. beyond which there are some coppice woods adjoining to East-Malling heath. The soil is exceedingly fruitful for corn, fruit and hops, being a loam thinly covering the rock stone. The village, which stands on the high road from Maidstone towards Mereworth and Tunbridge, is both healthy and pleasant; in it is the vicarage, a neat genteel house, almost rebuilt by Mr. Charlton, a late vicar, since much improved, and the ground round it laid out in the modern taste by the Rev. Mr. Style, the present vicar, who for some time resided in it; and at the west end of it is Watringbury-place, a handsome brick mansion; at the east end of the village is Watringbury-cross, whence the road leads down to the river Medway, at the south east boundary of this parish. It is well watered by several springs of sweet clear water, which rise near the place house, and run into the stream which comes from Mereworth, and turning a mill, goes on south-eastward towards the Medway, which it joins near Bow-bridge.

 

There is a vill or boroughin this parish, containing the west division of it, the hamlet of which is situated on the Maidstone road, adjoining to Mereworth parish, being called Pizein-well, from one Pizein, who owned the well here.

 

Lilly is another hamletbelonging to this parish, which lies about five miles to the south of it, and is surrounded by the parishes of Yalding, East Peckham, and Tudeley. It is a low wet place, containing but one house, which, with the greatest part of the land here, was in the possession of Mr. Henry Simmonds, who in 1764 alienated his interest in it to Alexander Courthorpe, esq. of Horsemonden, who died a few years ago, and by will gave this among his other estates to his nephew John Cole, esq. of Horsemonden, the present owner of it.

 

There was till of late years, a singular, though a very antient custom, kept up, of electing a deputy to the dumb borsholder of Chart, as it was called, claiming liberty over fifteen houses in the precinct of Pizein-well; every housholder of which was formerly obliged to pay the keeper of this borsholder one penny yearly. This dumb borsholder was always first called at the court leet holden for the hundred of Twyford; when its keeper, who was yearly appointed by that court, held it up to his call, with a neckcloth or handkerchief put through the iron ring fixed at the top, and answered for it. This borsholder of Chart, and the court leet, has been discontinued about sixty years; and the borsholder, who is put in by the quarter sessions for Watringbury, claims over the whole parish.

 

This dumb borsholder was made of wood, about three feet and half an inch long, with an iron ring at the top, and four more by the sides, near the bottom, where it had a square iron spike fixed, four inches and an half long, to fix it in the ground, or on occasion to break open doors, &c. which was used to be done, without a warrant of any justice, on suspicion of goods having been unlawfully come by, and concealed in any of these fifteen houses.

 

It is not easy at this distance of time to ascertain the origin of this dumb officer. Perhaps it might have been made use of as a badge or ensign, by the officer of the market here. The last person who acted as deputy to it, was one Thomas Clampard, a blacksmith, whose heirs have it now in their possession.

 

The market granted in king Edward IId.'s time as above-mentioned, is reported by tradition to have continued to be held here in a place called Chart-garden, now a wood near Pizein well, in the south-west part of this parish, in which wood there are to be seen foundations of walls and houses, and in it and the neighbouring lands are several draw wells.

 

Watringbury, with other places in this neighbourhood, was bound antiently to contribute to the repair of the fifth pier of Rochester bridge. (fn. 1)

 

THIS PLACE, at the time of taking the survey of Domesday, in the reign of William the Conqueror, was part of the possessions of Odo, the great bishop of Baieux and earl of Kent, half-brother to that king; and it is accordingly entered, under the general title of his lands, in that survey as follows:

 

Ralph Fitz Turald bolds of the bishop (of Baieux) Otringeberge. It was taxed at two sulings. The arable land is five carucates. In demesne there are two, and six villeins, with eight borderers, having three carucates. There is a church, and two mills of three shillings, and two acres of meadow, and a fishery of thirty eels; wood for the pannage of two bogs. In the time of king Ed ward the Confessor, and afterwards, it was worth forty shillings, now six pounds. Leveva held it of king Edward.

 

To this manor belong four houses in the city, paying three shillings.

 

Hugo de Braiboue holds of the bishop Otringberge. It was taxed at two sulings. The arable land is four carucates. In demesne there is one, and nine villeins, with four borderers, having two carucates. There are three servants, and one mill of sixteen pence, and three acres of meadow; wood for the pannage of two bogs. In the time of king Edward the Confessor, and afterwards, it was worth four pounds, now one hundred shillings. Godil held it of king Edward.

 

Leuric de Otringeberge, at the time above-mentioned, is recorded in the same survey, to have had the liberties of sacand soc for his lands within the lath of Aylesford.

 

In the reign of king Henry II. Richard de Otringeberge appears to have held two knights's fees in Watringbury of Walter de Meduana, who held the same of the king in capite; which were held in like manner of king Henry I. by Jeffry Talbot. (fn. 2)

 

In the reign of king Henry III. this place continued in the possession of the same family, Gilbert de Watringberi, who bore for his arms, Argent, six lioncels rampant, sable, held this estate as one knight's see and an half, of Warine de Montchensie. (fn. 3)

 

Soon after which it came into the family of Leyborne, of Leyborne-castle, in this neighbourhood. Henry de Leyborne held it in the reign of king Edward II. in the 4th year of which he obtained for his manor of Wateringbury a market there on a Wednesday, and one fair on the feast of St. John the Baptist, and free warren in the lands of it. He died without issue, leaving his niece Juliana his heir, who was likewife heir to her father Thomas de Leyborne, and likewife to her grandfather William; and from the greatness of her possessions in this county was called the Infanta of Kent.

 

On her death in the 41st year of king Edward III. without issue by either of her husbands, this manor, with the appendant ones of Chart, in this parish, and of Fowkes, in Mereworth, escheated to the crown for want of heirs; for it appears by the inquisition taken in the 43d year of the above reign, that there was then no one who could make claim to her estates, either by direct, or even collateral alliance. (fn. 4)

 

After which the king, by his charter, in the 50th year of his reign, granted these manors, among other premises, to seoffees, for the endowment of his newlyfounded Cistertian abbey, called St. Mary Graces, near the Tower of London, and king Richard II. by his letters patent, in his 22d year, granted them to that abbey, in pure and perpetual alms, for the performance of certain religious purposes therein mentioned; and he gave licence to the surviving feoffees to release these premises to the abbot and his successors for ever.

 

This manor, with its appendages above mentioned, remained part of the possessions of the above monastery till the dissolution of it in the 30th year of king Henry VIII. when they were surrendered into the king's hands, who in the 36th year of his reign granted them to Giles Bridges, citizen and baker of London, and Robert Harris, to hold in capite by knight's service. Notwithstanding which, Giles Bridges appears to have had the sole interest in them, and he that year passed these manors, with woods called Baldinge, Selwood, and Abbots-thorpe, to Sir Robert Southwell, of Mereworth, who two years afterwards had a confirmation of these manors. He quickly after alienated them to Sir Edward North, chancellor of the court of augmentation, and of the privy council, who in the 6th year of king Edward VI. passed them away by sale to Sir Martin Bowes, and he alienated them quickly afterwards to Sir John Baker, of Sifinghurst, who died in the 5th and 6th year of Philip and Mary, and was succeeded in them by his eldest son, Sir Richard Baker, who in the 1st year of queen Elizabeth had possession granted of them, but his grandson John Baker, esq. in the 17th year of that reign, alienated them to Nevill de la Hay, son of Hugh de la Hay, by Anne, daughter and coheir of Thomas Roydon, of East Peckham, whose son, George de la Hay, in the latter end of that reign, conveyed the manor of Chart to Roger Twysden, esq. of East Peckham, whose descendant, Sir William Jarvis Twysden, bart. of Roydon-hall, is the present possessor of it.

 

BUT THE MANOR of Watringbury, with that of Foulkes, was conveyed by George de la Hay to Mr. Wilkinson, of Lenham, who bore for his arms, Gules, a fess vaire between three unicorns passant or; which coat was confirmed to Richard Wilkinson, of this place, one of the clerks in chancery, by William Camden, clarencieux, in 1605. He alienated them to Oliver Style, esq. second son of Sir Humphry Style, of Langley, in Beckenham. (fn. 5)

 

He served the office of sheriff of London, and on purchasing this manor retired to the mansion of it, called Watringbury-place, where he died in 1622, bearing for his arms, as did his several descendants, sable, a fess or, fretted of the field, between three fleurs de lis, and within a bordure of the second.

 

He was succeeded in this estate by Thomas, his only surviving child, who resided here, and was created a baronet on April 21, 1627, being the third year of king Charles I.

 

His grandson, Sir Thomas Style, bart. of Watringbury-place, married first Elizabeth, daughter of Sir William Armine, bart. of Osgodby, in Lincolnshire, by whom he had Oliver, his only surviving son, and four daughters, of whom Mary was married to Sir Felix Wild, bart. of Malling, and Susan to Thomas Dalyson, esq. of Hamptons. By his second wife, Margaret, daughter of Sir Thomas Twisden, bart. of Bradborne, he had a son Thomas, who survived him; and Margaret, married to Robert Viner, esq.

 

Sir Thomas Style died in 1702, in his 78th year, and was buried in this church. He was succeeded by his only surviving son, by his first marriage, Sir Oliver Style, bart. who died without issue the same year, and lies buried under a handsome monument, in the south part of this church-yard. (fn. 6) On which the title and estate descended to his half brother Thomas, above mentioned, who in 1707 pulled down the mansion of Watringbury-place, a very antient building, moated round, and erected the present seat more to the westward of the other, in which he kept his shrievalty in the 8th year of queen Anne, anno 1710, and resided to the time of his death in 1768. He lies buried in this church, as does Elizabeth his wife, eldest daughter of Sir Charles Hotham, bart. by whom he had four sons, Thomas who died in 1741, and lies buried at Ormskirk, in Lancashire; Charles, who succeeded him in title and estate: Robert, now vicar of this parish, and rector of Mereworth, who married Priscilla, daughter of the Rev. John Davis, late rector of Mereworth; and William, late a major-general, who married Catherine, sister and coheir of John Long Bateman, esq. of Ireland; and also two daughters, Elizabeth and Charlotte, who both died un married, the latter at Canons, in this parish in 1795. Sir Charles Style, bart. of Watringbury-place, married Miss Isabella Wingfield, sister to the lord viscount Powerscourt, and dying in London in 1774, was buried in this church, leaving one son and one daughter, the former is the present Sir Charles Style, bart. of Watringbury place, who married in 1795 the eldest daughter of James Whatman. esq. of Vinters, in Boxley, and he is the present possessor of the manors of Watringbury and Fowkes.

 

WESTBERY is a manor in this parish, which in the reign of king Henry III. was held by Peter Fitz. Robert, of Simon Fitz Adam, as the twentieth part of one knight's fee; after which it came into the possession of a family, who took their surname from it. (fn. 7) Robert de Westbery was owner of it in the reign of king Edward II. and his descendant, Thomas de Westbery, paid aid for it in the 20th year of king Edward III.

 

The last of this name, who owned this place, was John de Westbery, who in the beginning of the reign of king Henry VI. dying without issue, gave it by will to Agnes Ellis, his niece, and she in the 23d year of that reign, alienated it to Richard Fishborne, who in the 33d year of it conveyed it by sale to Sir Thomas Browne, of Beechworth-castle, treasurer of the houshold, and privy counsellor to king Henry VI. whose descendant Sir Thomas Browne, of the same place, in the 25th year of queen Elizabeth, passed it away by sale to Roger Twysden, esq. of East Peckham, (fn. 8) whose descendant Sir Wm. Jarvis Twysden, bart. of Roydon-hall, is the present possessor of it.

 

CANONS-COURT is a manor here, which acquired that name from its being part of the possessions of the prior and canons of Leeds.

 

This place, in the reign of king Henry III. was in the tenure of Gilbert de Watringbury, who then held it as one 4th part of a knight's see, of Simon Fitz Adam, and gave it in pure and perpetual alms to that priory; which gift was confirmed by Bartholomew, his son.

 

It continued part of the possessions of the priory of Leeds till the dissolution of it, in the reign of king Henry VIII. when it was, together with all its revenues, surrendered into the king's hands, who by his dotation charter, under his great seal, in his 33d year, settled it on his new-erected dean and chapter of Rochester, where the inheritance of it still remains.

 

Mr. Robert Scoles was lessee of this manor, as well as the parsonage, in 1649, and resided here, and his son, Jaiper Scoles, esq. died lessee of both. Since which the family of Style have been for many years tenants to the dean and chapter for both. Sir Charles Style, bart. is the present lessee.

 

There is a court baron held for this manor.

 

THE CODDS were an antient family in this parish, and had their seat in it, called PELICANS, to which belonged a large tract of land. William Codd, esq. died possessed of it in the reign of king William and queen Mary, and was buried in this church, leaving by Deborah his wife an only son and heir, James Codd, esq. who resided at Pelicans, and died whilst sheriff in 1708, and was buried here, bearing for his arms, Argent a fess embattled sable, between six pellets. He died without issue and intestate; so that his estate became divided among several claimants; one of whom, Thomas Kirby, gent. enjoyed the family seat, as part of the share which fell to his lot, and his heirs conveyed it to Sir Thomas Style, bart. in whose great grandson, Sir Charles Style, bart. of this parish, the present inheritance is now vested.

 

WARDENS is an estate in this parish, which was the antient seat of the Woods, who bore for their arms, Argent, on a fess ragule azure, three fleurs de lis or; which coat was confirmed, or assigned by patent, by Segar to Henry Wood, of London and Watringbury, and to Robert Wood, his brother, the last of this name who resided in it, alienated it, about 1674, to Sir Thomas Style, bart. whose son of the same name, conveyed it to William Burleston, clerk, rector of Warehorne, in whose family it remained till about thirty years ago, when it was sold to Mr. John Whitaker, gent. of Barming, whose nephew, Thomas Whitaker, esq. of Trottesclive, is the present owner of it.

 

Charities.

HENRY WOOD, citizen and haberdasher of London, a native of this parish, gave, in the year 1630, 40s. per annum to the poor of it for ever; and 8s. per annum for a sermon to be preached yearly on the Sunday next after Candlemas-day in the afternoon; when the distribution of the money is to be made.

 

OLIVER STYLE, ESQ. in 1632, gave the weekly sum of 1s. to be distributed in bread in the church, every Sunday, to six poor persons for ever.

 

THE LADY of Sir Thomas Style, bart. in 1737, gave the silver slaggon and plate, for the altar.

 

MRS. CHARLTOS, relict of the late Mr. George Charlton, the vicar, was a benefactor to this church, by giving the pul pit cloth and cushion, and other things to it, at different times.

 

There has been A SCHOOL in this parish at times for teaching reading, writing, and arithmetic, for near 100 years; but as there is neither house nor salary for the master, the number of scholars is very uncertain.

 

WATRINGBURY is within the ECCLESIASTICAL JURISDICTION of the diocese of Rochester, and deanry of Malling.

 

The church, which is dedicated to St. John Baptist, stands at the west end of the village, It is an antient gothic building, with a high spire steeple, in which hang three bells, it was repaired at a great expence in 1745; the church is handsomely pewed and wainscotted. There are some remains of good painted glass in the windows, particularly of king Edward III. and his queen, and before the late great hail storm, there was in the south window the history of the decollation of St. John Baptist, pretty entire; but it was then part of it broke to pieces.

 

This church, which was antiently appendant to the manor of Canons-court, was given in the reign of king Henry II. by Hamo, son of Richard de Watringbury, lord of this parish, to the prior and canons of Leeds, and it was confirmed to it by Walter, then bishop of Rochester, who, on the resignation of Walter, then parson of it, admitted the prior, in the name of his convent, into the actual possession of it. (fn. 9)

 

It was some time after this appropriated to that priory; in which situation it continued till the dissolution of it in the reign of king Henry VIII. when it was, among the other possessions of the priory, surrendered up to the king, who by his dotation charter, in his 33d year, settled both the parsonage, and advowson of the vicarage, on his new-erected dean and chapter of Rochester, with whom they now remain. The lessee of the parsonage has always been the same as of Canon-court, the present lessee being Sir Charles Style, bart. but the dean and chapter retain the advowson in their own hands.

 

¶On the intended dissolution of deans and chapters, after the death of king Charles I. the possessions of the dean and chapter of Rochester, in this parish, were surveyed in 1649, by order of the state; when it appeared, that they consisted of the manor of Canon-court, together with the rectory or parsonage of Watringbury appendant to that manor, and certain woodlands there. That the parsonage consisted of all the tithes, and tithe-corn, annually coming, aris ing, and growing out of all the lands and fields within the precincts and extreme bounds of this parish, with all commodities and appurtenances belonging to them, which premises were valued at the annual sum of sixty pounds, and were let by the late dean and chapter, in the 15th year of the late king Charles, to Robert Scoles, for twenty-one years, at the yearly rent of 13l. 6s. 8d. and six capons, valued at twelve shillings, which rent was apportioned, 5l. 6s. 8d. to the manor of Canon-court, the same being worth 36l. 2s. 7d. yearly, over and above the said rent; and the remainder of the rent, being 8l. 12s. was apportioned to the parsonage, which was worth yearly, over and above the same, 51l. 8s. That the lessee was bound to repair the premises, and the chancel of the church, and that he was immediate tenant of these premises. That the advowson, or right of patronage to the vicarage, belonged to the lord of the abovementioned manor, which vicarage was then worth 30l. per annum. (fn. 10)

 

The vicarage of Watringbury is a discharged living in the king's books, of the clear yearly certified value of forty-eight pounds, the yearly tenths of which are ten shillings.

 

Mr. George Charlton, vicar of this place, rebuilt the vicarage-house in 1731, at the expence of 400l. and having obtained 100l. of Sir William Langhorne's legacy, and 15l. 15s. from the dean and chapter of Rochester, he added the residue to make it the sum of 200l. and thereby entitled this vicarage to queen Anne's bounty of the further sum of 200l. with which it was augmented about the year 1732.

 

www.british-history.ac.uk/survey-kent/vol5/pp106-118

Model : Basilisk

Creator : Katsuta Kyohei

Fold by me

Hanji paper 42cm X 42cm

From CP

 

It is difficult to fold. :(

Photo-documenting is really important for ground controllers!

MOST DIFFICULT PIC TO SHOOT EVER ! 30 sec exp. of a sleeping Leopard ... thank god she was sleeping soundly ;-) The night safari is something that should be in your list of 10 things to do before you die!

Inside she´s a wreck.

When you see her she looks perfectly fine.

Deep down her mind is a mess.

When she´s with you, she looks happy.

When she´s alone she´s fragile.

This girl is full of dreams,

she wants to escape her town.

Meet new people, travel the world, and go on fun road trips.

At midnight,

and perhaps one day,

she´ll be truly happy.

And when you ask her: ´Are you okay?´

For once she´ll say: ´I'm fine.´

And it wouldn´t be a lie.

Sweet Creek

WOW! the lighting sure was difficult to shoot in, I always hate it when the sun comes out when shooting water falls. It makes the brights to bright & the shadows to dark, thanks to shooting this in raw, I was still able to save it... funny funny... LOL.

Magical Attributes:

 

Solomon's Seal aids one in making difficult decisions and accepting and seeking change. Helps in spell work to aid changing/breaking habits and helps in smooth transitions for changes beyond our control. It is also used in love potions to amplify commitment between partners and to "seal" a spell or a sacred oath or promise.

 

An infusion of Solomon's Seal, or incense made of Solomon's Seal root can both be used to drive away negative vibrations and malicious spirits. It can also be used to summon helpful spirits and elementals.

 

The root can be carried as an amulet to ward off malicious spirits and to increase wisdom.

 

Solomon's Seal is appropriate for use during Autumn Equinox rituals.

 

Although this plant is not……… Currently……. listed as endangered, the usual warnings about responsible wild crafting apply.

 

(I fine them to be very rare and I don’t harvest them except to propagate)

 

Young shoots harvested in early spring can be prepared and eaten like asparagus.

The roots should be boiled with three changes of water before being roasted and eaten.

All parts of the adult plant, especially the berries are poisonous and should not be consumed.

  

Solomon's Seal is named for King Solomon of Hebrew lore who was granted great wisdom by the Hebrew God and had a special seal that aided him in his magical workings, allowing him to command demons without coming to harm.

 

According to herbal lore, King Solomon himself placed his seal upon this plant when he recognized its great value. Those with imagination can see the seal on the root stock in the circular scars left by the stem after it dies back.

 

Solomon's Seal has also been traditional used to "seal" wounds.

You can estimate the plant's age by examining the rhizome. Each year the stem leaves on scar, or "seal" on the rhizome. Counting these will give you an idea of how long your plant has been alive.

 

Some areas list Solomon's Seal as an invasive weed.

 

Because this plant is so easy to grow in a shady garden bed, wild crafting is usually not necessary.

 

Gather the rhizomes in the fall and lay on a screen to dry in a warm, dry location with good circulation free from humidity and sunlight. Once dry, store in a cool location away from light.

 

Healing Attributes:

The fresh root, pounded and applied topically helps fade bruising. A decoction can also be used as a facial rinse to help fade blemishes or for poison ivy and similar skin problems.

 

An infusion can be used for profuse menstruation and internal bleeding, indigestion and other stomach and digestive complaints including ulcers, bowel problems and hemorrhoids. It is also said to speed the healing of broken bones. Used as a mouthwash, it is said to help strengthen gums.

 

Solomon's Seal root tea is a good tonic acting on the kidneys, heart and sexual organs as well as soothing the digestive system.

 

Oil infused with Solomon's Seal root is good to keep on hand for first aid treatment of sprains, strains and broken or bruised bones. (Not to replace, but to enhance traditional medical intervention.) Solomon's Seal root tea or tincture aids in the repair of broken bones and may be drunk after a doctor has set the break. It is also great for torn ligaments, dislocations and other issues with joints.

 

American Solomon's Seal, King Solomon's Seal, King Solomon's-seal, Small Solomon's Seal, Lady's Seals. St. Mary's Seal, True Solomon's Seal, Sow's Tits, Sow's Teats, Drop berry, Seal root, He Shou Wu, Mahmeda, Meda, Sealwort, Yu-zhu

Solomon's Seal is a lovely woodland perennial with native varieties in North America, Asia and Europe. It can grow up to two feet tall. (Greater Solomon's Seal is much larger than True Solomon's Seal, but they have identical properties.)

 

The plant consists of a single stem with many broad, ovate leaves with parallel venation arranged alternately along the length of it and clasping the base. The plant often grows in a slight arc and the flowers dangle from the leaf axils beneath the arc of the stem. (This gives the plant its folk name "sow's teats")

 

The flowers are small, white to pale yellowish green and tubular and occur in drooping clusters of two to five. Blooming begins in April and continues through midsummer. The berries appear as the flowers fade and resemble a hard black pea.

The root is a rhizome and it is said that the circular scar left by the stem after it breaks away from the root resembles the seal of Solomon of Hebrew folklore. (Also known as the Star of David.)

  

Solomon’s Seal Polygonatum biflorum is an elegant plant that is Native to North America. The slender, arching stems have alternating lance-shaped leaves that are either green or tipped with white. The small, tubular white flowers dangle underneath the leaves. More mature plants tend to have more flowers and are a bit showier. But it’s the plant form that makes Solomon’s Seal such an interesting plant.

 

"Solomon's Seal”, especially the root, is traditionally used in a range of afflictions from menopause to broken bones. As a topical application, the root are said to expedite the healing of cuts and bruises, skin irritations and inflammations, and as a face wash is good for acne, blemishes and all kinds of imperfections of the skin. When consumed as a tea, it is said to alleviate a range of symptoms associated with menopause, indigestion, diabetes, broken bones, insomnia, kidney pains, and even infertility.

 

Its use to fight diabetes was first observed in 1930 by Langecker. After experiments, he concluded that it was effective in fighting nutritional hyperglycemia, though not that caused by adrenaline release, probably due to its content in glucokinin.

  

rossanaf.net/component/k2/item/99-difficult-loves

It's difficult to open a trail!

 

Picture taken during one of our many hiking trips in the process of creating a Circular Path around the ancient Mediterranean oak forest "Dasos Ranti". The work started in September 2010 and the hiking route was completed in January 2015. See the results (description, map and photos) at: The Round of Radi in Google maps and a shorter English version in the personal writing style of our friend Eleni in her article:"Two big hikes Google mapped!"

 

Ειδικότερα βλέπε στο άρθρο "Στην Καρδιά της Ικαρίας" : Δάσος του Ράντη, Εξερευνητική εκδρομή για επισήμανση μονοπατιών

 

© Ορειβατικός Πεζοπορικός Σύλλογος Ικαρίας

The internet has made churchcrawling easier, and so some churches that prooved difficult to see inside can be contacted and visits arranged.

 

Over the years, several have taken a couple of years or more to see inside: Thannington, Hinxhill, Preston and Betteshanger just off the top of my head. But most difficult have been Barming.

 

We first visited here one Good Friday over a decade ago, one of several along the valley that were either closed or had services on. Since then I have been insde Mereworth and Waterningbury, but each time we went past Barming, it has been closed.

 

Then a few weeks ago, a friend posted pictures from inside, and told me he had arranged a visit from their website. I did the same, though one visit a few weeks back had to be postponed, a few weeks later I was back, hoping to meet a warden at ten.

 

It was at least a fine sunny and warm spring morning, perfect for snapping the churchyard and finding yet more details on the body of the church to record.

 

St Margaret sites halfway between the River Medway and the old high road out of Maidstone, and once might have been a separate village from Maidstone, but is now just a suburb of the town. The church sits down a dead end lane, and is really a wonderful location overlooking the valley to East Farleigh on the other bank.

 

The churchyard is filled with spring bulbs, and so in spring it is a riot of colour.

 

I saw the warden park her car, and walk towards me, so I get up from the bench near the porch to meet her, and than her warmly for opening up.

 

Unusually, I had read up on the church before my visit, and so was aware of the 14th century bench ends in the Chancel. They did not disappoint.

 

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

 

An isolated church at the end of a lane above the River Medway. Norman origins are obvious - three windows in the east wall indicate the earliest work. The nave is also early and to this was added the fifteenth century tower with stair turret and needle-like spire. The north aisle was a nineteenth century addition and the chancel was restored by Sir Ninian Comper and represents some of his earliest work. Later generations have, unfortunately, undone much of his original design. The memorable feature of the church is the set of fourteenth century Rhenish carvings showing St Michael, Samson and Our Lord worked into bench ends in the chancel.

 

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

 

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BARMING.

CALLED in antient records, Bermelinge, lies the next parish to East Farleigh, on the opposite or northern side of the river Medway.

 

THE PARISH of East Barming lies on high ground, declining southward to the valley, through which the river Medway flows, being its southern boundary. It is situated opposite to East Farleigh, than which it has a far less rustic and more ornamented appearance. The soil like that is a fertile loam, slightly covering the quarry rock, from under which several small springs gush out, and run precipitately in trinkling rills into the Medway; it is enriched too with frequent hop and fruit plantations; the fields are in general larger, and surrounded with continued rows of lofty elms and large spreading oaks, which contribute greatly to the pleasantness of the place. The situation of it, as well as of the neighbouring parishes, from Maidstone as far as Mereworth, is exceedingly beautiful, the river Medway meandering its silver stream in the valley beneath, throughout the greatest part of the extent of them; the fertility of soil, the healthiness of air, the rich variety of prospect, adorned by a continued range of capital seats, with their parks and plantations, form altogether an assemblage of objects, in which nature and art appear to have lavished their choicest endeavours, to form a scene teeming with whatever can make it desirable both for pleasure and profit.

 

The high road from Maidstone to Tunbridge crosses the upper part of the parish of East Barming, over a beautiful, though small plain, called Barmingheath, part of which is in Maidstone parish, a little distance below which is a modern, and rather elegant seat, built by John Whitaker, gent. second son of Mr. Tho. Whitaker, of Trottesclive, since whose death it has come to his nephew, Thomas Whitaker, esq. of Watringbury; but Mr. William Rolfe resides in it. Farther on is the village of Barming, in which is a pleasant seat, called the Homestall, built about the year 1720, by Mr. James Allen, whose heirs are now entitled to the see simple of it; but by the foreclosure of a mortgage term, the possession of it became vested in Arthur Harris, esq. who kept his shrievalty here in 1746; his brother Thomas resided likewise here, and dying unmarried in 1769, gave this seat to Mrs. Mary Dorman for life; remainder to Mr. John Mumford, of Sutton-at-Hone, whom he made heir to the bulk of his fortune; she now possesses and resides in it. A small distance from hence is the seat of Hall-place; hence the ground rises to the coppice woods, part of which lie within this parish, and adjoin to a much larger tract northward. About a quarter of a mile on the other side of the road is the church, standing by itself among a grove of elms, the slight delicate white spire of which rising above the foilage of the grove, affords a pleasing prospect to the neighbouring country. From the above road the village extends southward down the declivity of the hill, almost to the river, over which there is a wooden bridge, built at the expence of the commissioners of the navigation. It is called St. Helen's bridge, from its contiguity to that manor, situated at a very small distance from it; about a mile from the village, close to the eastern boundary of the parish, adjoining to that of Maidstone, on the declivity of the hill, leading down to East Farleigh bridge, is the parsonage, lately almost rebuilt by the present rector, the Rev. Mark Noble, who resides in it, and by his judicious management and improvements has made this benefice, perhaps one of the most desirable in the diocese.

 

A few years ago several Roman urns, pieces of armour, and skeletons, were dug up within the bounds of this parish; the latter were no doubt belonging to those who fell in the skirmish between the Royalists and Oliverians at Farleigh bridge, in 1648; and the former serves to shew, that the Roman highway, a different one from the larger one of the Watling-street, and directing its course towards Oldborough, in Ightham, led near this place, of which more will be noticed hereafter.

 

THERE GROWS on Barming heath, the plant, Chamæmelum odoratissimum repens flore simplici, common camomile, in great plenty; and verbascum album vulgare five thapsus barbatus communis, great mul lein, or hightaper, more plentifully, and of a larger size than I have met with elsewhere.

 

THE MANOR of East Barming was given by king William the conqueror to Richard de Tonebrege, the eldest son of Gislebert earl of Brion, in Normandy, the son of Geffry, natural son of Richard, the first of that name, duke of Normandy, whence he bore the name of Richard Fitz Gilbert at his coming hither; (fn. 1) he was one of the principal persons who came into England with duke William, to whom he gave great assistance in that memorable battle, in which he obtained the crown of this realm. He had for that service, and in respect of his near alliance to him in blood, great advancements in honour, and large possessions both in Normandy and England, bestowed upon him; among the latter he possessed thirty-eight lordships in Surry, thirty-five in Essex, three in Cambridgeshire, three in Kent, one in Middlesex, one in Wiltshire, one in Devonshire, ninety-five in Suffolk, and thirteen burgages in Ipswich, of which Clare was one, besides others in other counties; accordingly, in the survey of Domesday, taken about the year 1080, being the 15th of the Conqueror's reign, this estate is thus entered under the title of, Terra Ricardi F. Gisleb'ti, the land of Richard, the son of Gislebert.

 

In Medestan hundred the same Richard (de Tonebrige) holds Bermelinge. Alret held it of king Edward (the Confessor) and then and now it was and is taxed at one suling. The arable land is four carucates. In demesne there are two carucates and five villeins, with eight borderers, having five carucates. There are thirteen servants, and one mill of five shillings, and four acres of meadow. Wood for the pannage of ten hogs. In the time of king Edward it was worth four pounds, and afterwards 100 shillings, now four pounds.

 

This Richard Fitz Gilbert, at the latter end of the Conqueror's reign, was usually called Rich. de Tonebrige, as well from his possessing that town and castle, as from his residence there; and his descendants took the name of Clare, from the like reason of their possessing that honour, and were afterwards earls of Clare, and of Gloucester and Hertford. Of this family, as chief lords of the fee, Barming was afterwards held in moieties by Fulk Peyforer and Roger de Kent, each of whom held their part of the honour of Clare.

 

In the reign of king Edward II. the heirs of Lora Peyforer and those of Roger de Kent, being Thomas de Barmeling and Wm. de Kent, held these moieties as above mentioned; and in the 20th year of the next reign of king Edward III. John Fitz Jacob, Thomas and John de Kent, held these moieties of this estate, in East Barmeling, of the earl of Gloucester.

 

THE FORMER OF THESE MOIETIES, held by the family of Peyforer, seems to have comprised the MANOR of EAST BARMING, and to have been given afterwards to the Benedictine nunnery of St. Helen's, in Bishopsgate street, London, whence it acquired the name of ST. HELEN'S, alias East Barming manor, by the former of which only it is now called; with the above priory this manor remained till its dissolution, in king Henry VIII.'s reign, when it was surrendered into the king's hands, who, in his 35th year, granted his manor, called St. Elen's, among other premises, to Richard Callohill, to hold in capite by knights service, who that year sold it to Gabriel Caldham, freemason, of London; and he next year sold it to Tho. Reve, (fn. 2) whose grandson of the same name, in the 4th year of queen Elizabeth, levied a fine of it, and then passed it away by sale to Mr. Stephen Pearse, who some years afterwards alienated it to Sir Robert Brett, on whose death, without surviving issue, in 1620, (fn. 3) this manor came by will to Robert Lynd, esq. who bore for his arms, Argent a cross ingrailed gules; and he sold it to Sir Oliver Boteler, of Teston, in whose descendants it continued down to Sir Philip Boteler, bart. who died in 1772, s. p. and by will gave one moiety of his estates to Mrs. Elizabeth Bouverie, of Chart Sutton; and the other moiety to Elizabeth viscountess dowager Folkestone, and Wm. Bouverie, earl of Radnor; and on a partition afterwards made between them, this manor was allotted to lady Folkestone, who died in 1782, on which it came to her only son, the Hon. Philip Bouverie, who has since taken the name of Pusey, and he is the present owner of it.

 

This manor extends its jurisdiction over the whole of this parish; the antient house of it, as well as the dove cote, stood nearly at the foot of the hill near St. Helen's bridge; both have been pulled down not many years since.

 

THE OTHER MOIETY of the estate of East Barming, held by John Fitz Jacob and John de Kent, seems to have passed afterwards into the family of Fremingham; for John, son of Sir Ralph de Fremingham, of Lose, died possessed of it about the 12th year of king Henry IV. and leaving no issue, he by his will gave it to certain feoffees, who, in compliance with it, next year assigned it to John Pimpe, and his heirs male, for the finding and maintaining of two chaplains, one in the monastery of Boxley, and the other in the church of East Farleigh, to celebrate for the souls of himself, his wife, and others their ancestors and relations therein mentioned. From the family of Pimpe this estate came, in king Henry VIII.'s reign, to Sir Henry Isley, who by the act of the 2d and 3d of king Edward VI. procured his lands in this county to be disgavelled.

 

Being concerned in the rebellion raised by Sir Tho. Wyatt, in the 1st year of queen Mary, he was attainted, and his lands were consiscated to the crown, whence this estate was granted that year to Sir John Baker, the queen's attorney general, to hold in capite by knights service; (fn. 4) in whose descendants it continued down to Sir John Baker, bart. of Sissinghurst, of whom it seems to have been purchased in the reign of king Charles II. by Golding, who died possessed of it in 1674, and was buried in this church, bearing for his arms, A cross voided, between four lions passant guardant. His son, Mr. Henry Golding, gent. about the year 1700, alienated this estate to Nicholas Amhurst, gent. of West Barming, who died possessed of it in 1715; and his grandson, John Amhurst, esq. is the present possessor of it.

 

HALL PLACE is a reputed manor in this parish, the antient mansion of which is situated at a small distance westward of the present seat, and is little more than an ordinary cottage, serving as a farm house to a small parcel of land. It formerly gave both residence and surname to a family, written in antient deeds, At-Hall, who before the end of the reign of king Edward III. had alienated their interest in the greatest part of it to one of the Colepepers, of Preston, in Aylesford, and the rest of it to Clive; and this part was by John Clive, about the 7th year of king Henry IV. likewise conveyed to Colepeper, who in the 10th year of that reign passed away the entire fee of it to Sampson Mascall, whose family was originally of Mascall's, in Brenchley, and in his descendants Hall-place continued till the latter end of queen Elizabeth's reign, when it was conveyed to Alchorne, whose ancestors were possessed of Alchorne in Rotherfield, in Sussex; in which name the fee of this estate remained at the time of king Charles II.'s restoration, but the use and profits of it were made over, for a long series of years, to Mr. Cook, of Stepney; and he, in 1656, alienated his interest in it to Mr. Rich. Webb, rector of this parish, who in 1667, gave it to his grandson, Richard Webb, gent. who, in 1726, conveyed it by sale to Mr. Peter Smart, who bore for his arms, Argent, a chevron between three pheons sable; about which time Christopher Smart, the poet, is said to have been born in this parish; at length, Mr. Peter Smart's widow, and their children, in 1746, passed away their interest in it to John Cale, esq. who resided here, and dying in 1777, was buried in this churchyard, having been a benefactor to the poor of this parish; and by his will he devised this, among the rest of his estates in this county, to the heirs of Tho. Prowse, esq. of Axbridge, in Somersetshire; in consequence of which his two daughters and coheirs became intitled to it; the youngest of whom married Sir John Mordaunt, bart. of Walton, in Warwickshire, and they became possessed of this estate in undivided moieties, and in 1781, joined in the sale of it to John Amhurst, esq. of Barnjet, the present owner of it.

 

CHARITIES.

THOMAS HARRIS, esq. of this parish, in 1769, gave by will, 5l. per annum for fifty years, 2s. of it to be given to the poor of this parish in bread, on each Sunday in the year, excepting Easter and Whitsunday.

 

JOHN CALE, esq. of this parish, in 1777, gave by will the sum of 200l. in East India annuities, the interest of it to be given to the poor yearly at Christmas, in linen and bread, vested in trustees, of the annual produce of 61.

 

THIS PARISH is within the ECCLESIASTICAL JURISDICTION of the diocese of Rochester and deanry of Malling.

 

The church, which is dedicated to St. Margaret, is a small building, consisting of one isle and a chancel, with an elegant spire steeple. The present rector, Mr. Noble, about twelve years ago, at his own expence, entirely repaired and ornamented the chancel; he gave likewise a new altar and pulpit cloth, and cushion; and the parishioners, followed his example, in the repair and ornamenting of the church itself; so that from being one of the most neglected, it is become equal to most of the neighbouring churches in those respects.

 

Walter, bishop of Rochester, in the reign of king Stephen, confirmed to the prior and canon of Ledes the patronage of the church of Barmyng, as it was granted to them by the lords of the soil, and confirmed to them by their charters.

 

Gilbert, bishop of Rochester, in the reign of king Henry II. granted to the prior and canons two shillings, to be received by them yearly, as a pension from this church, saving the episcopal right of the bishop of Rochester, &c. (fn. 5) The patronage of the church of Barming, together with this pension, remained part of the possessions of the above mentioned priory till the dissolution of it in the reign of king Henry VIII. when it came into the king's hands. Since which, the patronage of this rectory has continued vested in the crown, but the above mentioned yearly pension of two shillings was, by the king's dotation charter, in his 33d year, settled on his new erected dean and chapter of Rochester, who are now intitled to it.

 

¶In the 15th year of king Edward I. the church of Barmelyng was valued at twelve marcs. It is valued in the king's books at 12l. 7s. 1d. and the yearly tenths at 1l. 5s. 8½d.z The glebe land belonging to this rectory contains eighty-three acres.

 

www.british-history.ac.uk/survey-kent/vol4/pp383-392

from ift.tt/20G5fnX

 

If you considering seven years a long time, then I’ve been using Twitter for a long time. Even if you don’t, that’s longer than most people have been on the site. It’s probably longer than the user @AdmForrestal has been using it, but he’s brought the weirdness in a major way. I would applaud his weirdness or laugh at it if it wasn’t so ridiculous and, to some degree, frightening. This racist human being1 has decided that I defend the opinions that I have so vehemently because I’m working for someone. That’s right. I have a particular opinion because I’m a shill for some company or government agency. Yes, just what any contrarian would do with their life: conform to a particular idea to make money. Because contrarians are all about the Benjamins and not about the whole thinking-for-themselves thing. Uh-huh.

 

But really this guy claimed I’m a shill.

 

@janersm You clearly have been told to ind this post on the internet and make shit up who do you work for?

 

— JamesForrestal (@AdmForrestal) November 9, 2015

 

And why did he do this?

 

Because he’s nuts. No, I shouldn’t say that, especially since I would chide anyone else who promoted stigma when they were encountering someone who behaved in a difficult manner. His reason was that he believed that I lied about my experiences in hospital emergency rooms. He said that patients don’t get visitors until they’ve been stabilized. That’s not always true. One of my examples of that not being true was back in July of 2012 when a mound of fire ants decided to make me their bitch. I was at the park with my mom and my dad waiting between doctor appointments. We sat under a shady tree because it was hot as hell outside and we happened to sit next to a fire ant mound. We didn’t know that my predisposed-to-atopy2 body had decided that fire ants were just so out of style and that it wanted nothing more to do with them, so it just had to respond with anaphylaxis. Clearly, no other reaction would have been appropriate for that situation.

 

My parents, as witnesses to my fall and the first people that I mentioned the ant bites to,3 were essential to my care that day and to keeping me alive. They were the ones who told the doctors about my medical history. And they were the ones who eventually told the doctors about the ant bites. Before that happened, they thought that my fall and my two fainting spells were a result of the heat4.

 

But the fainting, the hospital visit, and everything associated with that day was all clearly a part of a conspiracy to upset @AdmForrestal.

 

When I mentioned before I “fainted” that we were hanging out at the Park, I was clearly just setting up this ruse.

 

Dad decided we could spend some time under a tree at the park; so did the birds t.co/ujNyLHij

 

— Janet Morris (@janersm) July 24, 2012

 

The geese in the picture included with that tweet were clearly provided by PETA and were part of a liberal media conspiracy to upset this one random Twitter user over three years later.

 

The original caption for that faked picture was “More lazy geese”, which, again, was all part of my clearly faked fall. No one in their right mind would ever insult geese by calling them lazy.5

 

My first tweet from the ER? Clearly, it was also a big old hoax.

 

I know absolutely nothing about having anaphylaxis.

 

Took 7 or so sticks to get IV started. Pulse being monitored. It was 139 at the park.

 

— Janet Morris (@janersm) July 24, 2012

 

Obviously, I’ve never ever talked about being a hard stick over the last almost 15 years of having this website. And I’ve never mentioned that I have tachycardia. Those were all totally new occurrences and haven’t happened since. Except on that one day. That’s how you can totally tell that I’m a shill. Because that isn’t an ongoing issue for me.

 

@janersm Idiot, the shock of hives and vomiting is not life threatening after stabilization them bringing them into a room after that haps

 

— JamesForrestal (@AdmForrestal) November 9, 2015

 

If I did know anything about anaphylaxis, I would have vomited instead of just fainting, having my heart rate go up, developing hives, and being extremely dizzy. And my life wouldn’t have been in danger even when my parents were in the room with me.

 

And when I mentioned that I hadn’t been tweeting during the rest of my visit? Clearly, that was me covering my ass. I must have needed some time to come up with the whole story.

 

I wanted to update when I got discharged but my phone was completely dead, so it's been charging for a few hours.

 

— Janet Morris (@janersm) July 25, 2012

 

When I talked that night about how hard my father took the trip, I was obviously continuing the hoax. When he had to be hospitalized the next day for stress that included that ER visit, I was also continuing the ruse on this poor Twitter user that I wouldn’t talk to for another three years.

 

Other than that, I'm itchy, sore, have a headache, and have been trying to reassure my dad that it isn't his fault this happened.

 

— Janet Morris (@janersm) July 25, 2012

 

When I talked about the people who helped me after I fainted, I must have been making that up, too.

 

Oh, and when I fell the principals of Ed White & Hampton Cove did the first aid while Dad called 911. They also helped keep me from

 

— Janet Morris (@janersm) July 25, 2012

 

getting up. I was stubborn enough that I kept thinking I was okay to get up. The four of them managed to keep me still.

 

— Janet Morris (@janersm) July 25, 2012

 

I mentioned two random schools in Huntsville in my shout-out for shits and giggles. I even lied about how disoriented I was after the falls, which was why I kept getting up. I thought I would be okay if I could just get to the car. I didn’t realize that I was going to fall if I moved or that my heart was going nuts or that my body was not operating properly because it was overreacting6 to the ant bites.

 

There I go, sounding like this all really happened again. Sorry.

 

Uh-oh, another picture that I must have faked. It had the caption, “the left knee…can’t see where the foot is discolored on the picture” because I needed to emphasize that I had actual injuries from a hoax of a fall. That’s also why I still have horrible scarring on both of my knees–the right one is worse than the left and the new scarring covering a gash from where I fell under a merry-go-round at a different park in the city and had my knee sliced open. Oops. That was probably made up, too. Because I don’t ever scar. Ever. That’s a special perk of being a shill.

 

Here‘s another faked picture of the damage of my “allergy” with the also faked caption of “my right knee…aka the gross one”:

 

When I mentioned that the paramedic used faceplanted, I was clearly lying.

 

There was a funny moment right as I got to the ER where the paramedic was describing what happened & said I faceplanted. #funmedicalterms

 

— Janet Morris (@janersm) July 25, 2012

 

I definitely never provided picture evidence of a head injury.

 

And when I documented my mom and I trying to get me in to see a doctor the next day?7 Lies.

 

We couldn't wait 5 minutes so I could call the family doctor on Nana's phone. Instead, I was told to use the cell…in the middle of nowhere

 

— Janet Morris (@janersm) July 25, 2012

 

Three dropped calls later, still no appt. I'd call on my phone, but I can't afford to pay for actual calls.

 

— Janet Morris (@janersm) July 25, 2012

 

Mom was able to call once and get an appointment for me. (I gave up after the 3 dropped ones.) Today at 1:45.

 

— Janet Morris (@janersm) July 25, 2012

 

They tried to get her to make it for 10:45. That's 15 minutes into my 30 minute infusion. I don't think that would have worked.

 

— Janet Morris (@janersm) July 25, 2012

 

I probably lied about having anemia, too. You know, just to upset some random right-wing guy on the internet. And since I had shingles diagnosed at one of my infusions in 2013 for the anemia, then I obviously never had shingles, which is why I don’t really have that gnarly scar that has shown up in pictures of me since then.

 

I have to take Doxycycline in case an infection starts developing. And I have to watch for blood clots.

 

— Janet Morris (@janersm) July 25, 2012

 

Blood clots were definitely not a worry for me, since I obviously didn’t hit my head on the concrete. No pictures of my head injury have ever been shared, even earlier in this post. And why would I need Doxycycline? Fire ants never present with pustules.8 I probably made up my multiple antibiotic allergies just to upset this one dude.

 

Officially, my foot pain and yesterday's falling/fainting was due to an allergy to fire ants.

 

— Janet Morris (@janersm) July 25, 2012

 

And, of course, THAT NEVER HAPPENED. It was just a well-timed tweet by my obviously devious mind.

 

And tweets since then that have mentioned my allergy to ants and newly-established fear of them? All lies to upset this guy who I never talked to until just a few hours ago.

 

I'm surprised I don't have nightmares involving ants now. Of course, the thought of watching "Honey, I Shrunk the Kids" terrifies me.

 

— Janet Morris (@janersm) August 6, 2012

 

Every time I itch (anywhere), I start to panic about ants.

 

— Janet Morris (@janersm) August 7, 2012

 

I want to go get my frozen mac & cheese out of the big freezer, but I'm afraid to go past the ants.

 

— Janet Morris (@janersm) August 19, 2012

 

Dear ants, If you don't move yourselves away from me, I will squish you until you pop. Kthxbai.

 

— Janet Morris (@janersm) September 6, 2012

 

Okay, I'm allergic to ants and caffeine, which is funny because ants are also intolerant of caffeine. Okay, maybe not funny, but weird.

 

— Janet Morris (@janersm) November 12, 2014

 

@SoulThatMatters And fire ants.

 

— Janet Morris (@janersm) November 27, 2014

 

#Instagram :: Always good to have around, especially when you're allergic to ants and ha… t.co/BQMcBSWDt2 pic.twitter.com/0bDwYMCqIv

 

— Janet Morris (@janersm) December 25, 2014

 

In that one, I obviously wasted money on generic Benadryl because I was faking new ant bites.

 

Unlike #VeronicaMars, I'm never up for being strapped down to an ant hill, especially if they're fire ants. #allergy

 

— Janet Morris (@janersm) July 7, 2015

 

I may never watch Ant-Man because I'm allergic to ants. I get creeped out by the promos.

 

— Janet Morris (@janersm) October 14, 2015

 

It was all fake. My allergy. My health issues. All of it.

 

Today’s blog entry is brought to you by the concept of….

 

Sarcasm.

 

Obviously.

 

This guy also thinks that he can explain away mental illness as being a problem with the soul and evil910 and all kinds of stigmatized bullshit that even most outright religious weirdos have disavowed. Quite frankly, I should be embarrassed at how much time I spent playing with this particular trolling ignoramus, but I did have a little fun, plus I got to write a very sarcastic blog entry, which is always a special treat.

 

Uh-huh. Do you feel this anxious or paranoid normally? t.co/8j2B3SAi4h

 

— Janet Morris (@janersm) November 9, 2015

 

So, @AdmForrestal, I understand that your conspiracies are a result of a need for safety & for human companionship and that they give your explanations for things you don’t understand, but they’re actually making you more upset. Anxiety drives some people to develop or accept conspiracy theories, but the ones you have are unhealthy for you and those around you, so you need to step away from them and into reality.11

 

Welcome to reality, dude.

 

This is where the fun12 is at.

 

Oh, and lose the racism & Holocaust denying. That much hate really doesn’t look good on anyone.

 

I’m assuming ↩

 

Allergies. ↩

 

I didn’t mention them before because I thought they were unimportant. ↩

 

It was 93.9°F that day and very humid. ↩

 

The shirt my dad is wearing in that picture is the same shirt he wore today, which is technically yesterday now. ↩

 

That’s what an allergy is. ↩

 

Something that the doctors in the ER said I needed to do. ↩

 

They’re typically sterile, but they had to make sure that I didn’t develop some horrible skin infection that killed me. ↩

 

@janersm NO they had something wrong with their souls and minds because of evil, and having their world shattered

 

— JamesForrestal (@AdmForrestal) November 9, 2015

 

↩

 

@janersm The brain does not control the mind, btw all the things listed down their are made up by Big Pharma, to poison people

 

— JamesForrestal (@AdmForrestal) November 9, 2015

 

↩

 

And that’s a reality where patients are often accompanied by their families or their friends while in the ER and before they are fully stabilized. ↩

 

By fun, I mean sarcasm, because it’s so awesome. ↩

 

Related Posts:

 

Inside the Dottie Matrix July 7, 2015

 

A Year In Review: 2012 December 31, 2012

 

Spitting Pain August 20, 2013

 

You Have But-Face March 10, 2014

 

24 Hours of GoFundMe September 2, 2015

 

In the extremely difficult and stressful time that we are all in now, please do remember to be patient and to be kind and thankful to everyone who still has to work, especially Health Care workers - my daughter is one of them, and she said that she is overly stressed and exhausted, partly because of families and visitors who lose their temper over restrictions that have been put in place in the hospital.

 

A few days ago, I finally made a trip to a couple of stores, that I really didn't want to do. I knew that if there were a lot of people, I would instead turn around and go home. I needed food and I did buy an extra one of various items - but no hoarding. The cashier at the food store told me that one of the younger cashiers had been in tears because of being yelled at by some customers. At the drug store, the young woman cashier told me that she was so stressed out, again partly because of angry, yelling customers, that she was about to burst into tears. We had a good talk, as there was no one waiting behind me in line, and I made sure to thank her for meticulously sanitizing the work space at the till. A few kind words can make all the difference, people! There were no line-ups at either store, for which I was extremely thankful. I know I do need to be very careful myself - I have 3 of the risk factors; age, high blood pressure, and the most concerning being a chronic cough that I have had for maybe 10 or so years, which sometimes turns into a coughing fit where I can't breath. Went through all sorts of tests but no one could find a cause. So, here I am, still coughing! The last thing I would want is the Coronavirus cough on top of it! Stay safe and well, everyone!!

 

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CORONAVIRUS UPDATE, 16 March 2020: 74 confirmed cases in Alberta, 342 in Canada. 4 deaths in Canada - so far, all have been in British Columbia.

 

CORONAVIRUS UPDATE, 17 March 2020: 97 confirmed cases in Alberta, 447 cases in Canada. 70 confirmed cases in the Calgary Zone. 7 deaths in Canada.

 

CORONAVIRUS UPDATE, 18 March 2020: 119 confirmed cases in Alberta, 83 confirmed cases in Calgary Zone, 591 in Canada. 8 deaths in Canada.

 

CORONAVIRUS UPDATE, 19 March 2020: 146 confirmed cases in Alberta, 101 confirmed cases in Calgary Zone, 736 in Canada. 9 deaths in Canada, 1 death in Alberta.

 

CORONAVIRUS UPDATE, 20 March 2020: 195 (up from 146!) confirmed cases in Alberta, 101 confirmed cases in Calgary Zone, 846 in Canada. 10 deaths in Canada, 1 death in Alberta.

 

CORONAVIRUS UPDATE, 22 March 2020: 226 confirmed cases in Alberta, 1,048 in Canada. 13 deaths in Canada, 1 death in Alberta.

 

www.alberta.ca/coronavirus-info-for-albertans.aspx

 

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Sunday, 22 March 2020: our temperature early afternoon is +4C (windchill +1C). Sunrise is at 7:32 am, and sunset is at 7:54 pm. Sunny - again.

 

The 6 photos posted today were all taken on Day 11 of our 13-day birding trip to South Texas, in March 2019. The first place we went to was the Birding and Nature Centre, on South Padre Island. The afternoon before, we had spent two hours there, but our "proper" visit was for three hours in the morning of Day 11. Such a great place!

 

www.spibirding.com/

 

Someone told us about a different location, and a short drive south from the Centre took us to around W Sheepshead St and Laguna Blvd, where we saw a Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Monarch butterflies, and a Green Anole (lizard).

 

We had our picnic lunch at the nearby Convention Centre and then looked for a Yellow-throated Warbler near the Centre. Amazingly, we did see it, along with a Black and white Warbler and a Wilson's Warbler. Not easy trying to photograph these fast-moving little birds that get hidden among the branches.

 

Driving north again, we called in at a beach that was part of the Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge, where we could enjoy seeing the ocean waves and Laughing Gulls. This was our last stop before returning to our hotel, the Holiday Inn Express & Suites, Brownsville.

 

The next day, 30 March 2019, we had to drive from Brownsville to Houston, where we stayed for one night at La Quinta Inn & Suites Houston. The following day, we flew from Bush Intl Airport back to Calgary. What a fantastic holiday!

I find it very difficult to get photos of Soras. I hear them frequently but rarely see one, and when I do, it moves out of sight quickly. It was a pleasant surprise to see this Sora while I was standing at the 108 Lake viewing area by the Heritage Site.

 

108 Lake

Heritage Site

108 Mile Ranch

British Columbia

Canada

A difficult picture to take and to process. Taken from a van moving along Going-To-The-Sun Road through Glacier National Park. I've included in this set not due to its beauty nor technical brilliance but because of the story it tells.

 

This "bowl shaped" - "inverted U" - "parabolic" valley is typical of the Park's valleys that were carved out of layers of rock by the action over long periods of time by thousand of feet thick glaciers.

 

The Creek is fed from waters of melting ice packs higher up. It flows down into McDonald Creek and then Lake McDonald which is the western terminus of the Going-To-The Sun Road.

 

Notice the lower right of the image. It shows downed trees. Large full grown trees felled by the force of an avalanche of a recent winter.

 

image by Photo George

©2015 GCheatle

All Rights Reserved

 

locator: _GNP0583

Kilmadock Parish War Memorial, Doune

-

NN 72491 01525

-

Lettering very difficult to read, badly eroded and patches of moss(?)

There is another plaque at the side by the steps but missed it.

---

TO THE GLORY OF

GOD

AND IN MEMORY OF

THE MEN OF THE

PARISH OF KILMADOCK

WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES

FOR KING AND COUNTRY

IN THE GREAT WAR

1914 - 1919

SEE YE TO IT THAT THESE

SHALL NOT HAVE DIED IN VAIN

---

Dundee Courier - Thursday 05 June 1919

Image © D.C.Thomson & Co. Ltd. Image created courtesy of THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD.

Doune's War Memorial is to be the statue of a Highland soldier erected in front of the Public Hall gifted to the burgh by Sir A. Kay Muir, Bart., Blair Drummond.

-

Dundee Courier - Saturday 27 November 1920

Image © D.C.Thomson & Co. Ltd. Image created courtesy of THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD.

The Earl of Moray has signified his intention of subscribing £600 to the Doune War Memorial Fund.

-

Dundee Courier - Monday 31 July 1922

Image © D.C.Thomson & Co. Ltd. Image created courtesy of THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD.

SECRET DOUNE WAR MEMORIAL UNVEILED Versailles Peacemakers Criticised General Sir lan Hamilton, D.5.0., unveiled Saturday the war memorial erected at Doune to the memory of the 63 men of the district who lost their lives in the war.

The memorial is obelisk in character, and its graceful proportions are enhanced by its effect against the wooded background. Its outlook is towards the village, and it is complementary to the new hall opened last week, both schemes having a similar origin and purpose.

A large concourse of people attended the ceremony, the Comrades of the Great War and the Territorials being under Captain Lindsay Pullar, and members of the Voluntary Aid Detachment under Miss Stanley Rogerson. The school children joined in the procession from the Moray Park, and were marshalled behind the memorial by the headmaster, Mr P. C. Merrie. Relatives of deceased were given a place of honour, and it was observed that some the women folk and children wore the medals and decorations of their loved ones.

On the broad base and steps of the monument were gathered the Provost and members of the Town Council and Parish Council, with their wives, and prominent people of the district, including:— Lady Muir, Deanston House; Sir A. Kay Muir, Bart, of Blair Druinmond; Mrs Harry Moncreiffe, London; Mrs M'Grigor, Beechwood, Stirling; Mr and Mrs Hogg, Row House; Mrs Bruce, Bridge of Teith Cottage: Mrs Stirling. Old Newton; Mrs G. S. Mackay, Mrs Stark Christie, Mrs Ash worth, Mrs Thomson, Miss Murray Menzies; Mr and Mrs John Stroyan and Miss Stroyan, Lanrick Castle; Miss Campbell Swinton, Glenardoch; Mrs Baillie Hamilton and party; Sir William and Lady Thomson, Dunblane; Rev. J. Chalmers Peat, Rev. James Scott, Rev. James Menzies, Rev. H. B. De Montmorency, Rev. Canon Docherty: Rev. Jas. Mitchell. Norrieston; and Mrs Scrimgeour; Mr D. Y. Cameron, Kippen, and Mrs Cameron; Mr Eric Bell. Stirling, architect of the memorial, and Mrs Bell; Dr and Mrs Burn Murdoch, Gartincaber; Mr F. L. Burder, East Deanston; ex-Provost Main, Doune; Mr Robert Thomson, Broich; Mr James Paterson, Burnbank; Mr John M'Ewen, Deanston: Mr Wm. M'Carroll, Deanston: Mr William Thomson, banker, Doune: Mr John Thomson, druggist; &c.

Burn Murdoch, who presided, called upon Sir Ian Hamilton, who is a son-in-law of .Lady Muir, to unveil the memorial.

.....

Some people say that we ought to remember our deed by building something useful, something that will be improvement to the place Other people are not satisfied unless they have some beautiful and artistic object to remind them of their lost ones. Deanston and Doune have done both, and I am very glad and very proud to have been here to-day. I have now the honour of unveiling this memorial.

As the Union Jack fell from the memorial the " Last Post " was sounded, and the pipers played lament. Rev. J. Chalmers Peat offered the dedicatory prayer. An opportunity was given at this stage to the relatives and others of placing wreaths and flowers on the memorial. It was an affecting scene, and the tributes were many and of great beauty. One which was given the place of honour was from the Doune, Deanston. and Kincardine Red Cross V.A.D. Detachment, and consisted of white everlastings on a base of laurels, with a large red cross of Flanders poppies in the centre. The Provost and Town Council, and the ex-service men, also sent wreaths, and one from Sir lan and Lady Hamilton had the following:—

"The saviours come not home to-night,

Themselves they could not save."

Roll of Honour:

S.W.O. Stuart Hay Murray, Pte. James Rorie. Major Lindsay Bruce Stark Christie. Pte. Matthew Connelly, Pte. James Dick, Charles Mills, Sergt. James Bell Jackson, Corpl. John Blacklock. Corpl. Peter Campbell, L.-Corpl. Patrick Fallon. L.-Corpl. Peter Innes. L.-CorpL Duncan M'Coll, L.-Corpl. John M'Gregor, L.-Corpl. George Reilly, Ptes. James Blacklock. William Boyd, Andrew Campbell, David Campbell. Alexander Dingwell, James Galbraith. John Graham, John Hislop, Robert Holmes. James George Marshall. James Marshall, Archibald Miller William Miller, John Moffat. Malcolm M'Donald, Daniel M'Naughton, Robert M'Naughton. David M'Vey, James Salmond, James Stewart, Sergt. Michael Manning, Ptes. William M'Leod, Robert Osborne, John Piggot, Lieut. William Maxwell Robertson, Corpl. Robt. Winter, Pte. John Dickie, Lieut. George Cochrane, Ptes. James Allan. Alexander Duncan, William Watt Shields. Captain Arthur Buchanan Baillie Hamilton, Ptes. Thomas Rorie,, Morten Winter, Robert Blennie, John Robertson, Corpl. John Mackay, Ptes. David Black, Alexander Cameron, Walter Martin. Donald M'Callum, L.-Corpl Stephen Hastie, Ptes. John Davie and Roderick M'Kenzie, Captain Colin Thomas Burn Murdoch, Ptes. John Paterson Cameron, William Dow Maclaren, and Charles Murray.

---

Doune, Callander Road, War Memorial

War Memorial (Period Unassigned)

Site Name Doune, Callander Road, War Memorial

Classification War Memorial (Period Unassigned)

Canmore ID 339038

Site Number NN70SW 214

NGR NN 72481 01533

Datum OSGB36 - NGR

Permalink canmore.org.uk/site/339038

This little beauty was just sitting there until I started getting into taking his photo then he made things difficult!

I didn't have flocking that was the exact shade of Clawd's original sideburns/hair. However, I found that the shade "Mahogany" from my vintage Ken flocking kit got the job done. It's difficult to see in these "after" photos, but the patched areas of flocking are ever so slightly more reddish than his factory stuff. But since Clawd had several large bald areas, with random bits of his original hair intact, it was fairly easy to blend seamlessly. Even if it's not 100% a match, Clawd still looks worlds better than he did when I first rescued him. I didn't anticipate how much more youthful he'd look when I touched up his flocking, but his freshly flocked side burns draw so much more attention to his handsome face! He was the perfect candidate to flock, since the flocking I used was dark enough to provide ample coverage with just one coating!

 

Tutorial: How I Flock Doll Hair

www.flickr.com/photos/athousandsplendiddolls/41531947120/...

Ok so it all started when I was born - literally. My parents were young when they had me, just 19 years old. My grandparents got guardianship of my brother and I when I was about three years old. My family has a history of mental illness on both sides, so I was "doomed" naturally. Schizophrenia, bipolar, manic depression, all disorders someone in my family was diagnosed with. My maternal grandmother is manic depressive, and things were very difficult growing up because it wasn't addressed. She didn't believe in therapy and thought that nothing was wrong. Therapy was only for "messed up" people, and she had an extreme stigma about it. There are so many instances of verbal and emotional abuse towards my grandfather, my brother, my mother, and myself. But if you spoke up, it was even worse, you wouldn't dare speak up against it. It was always better to endure it and hope the next day would be better. She was, and still can be, very unpredictable. You'd think everything was dandy, until it wasn't. Things could switch in a moment into a screaming, "you-don't-care-about-me-how-come-no-one-cares-for-me" mess. I never wanted someone to ever go through that, or to feel like they couldn't speak up. I was often the one to speak up, so my grandmother and I would fight often. Hence, the anxiety, people-pleasing, wanting to always keep the peace mindset that I have as an adult. She's always needed help for her mental health, but you can't make someone do something they don't want. If they won't address what's hurting, things can't progress.

 

My grandfather, my grandmother, my brother, and I tried going to group therapy once. It didn't go well, and was entirely unproductive in creating any change. The time was spent with my grandmother asking why she was always the bad guy and how no one ever talked about how they hurt her, and essentially made for a bad time for awhile at home. I did go to counseling in school for awhile, but it was in a group setting so it wasn't as exclusive as going to one-on-one therapy. As a teenager, I did got to therapy for a little bit, but I stopped going because my therapists kept leaving for other practices. And I felt like I was "fine". Plus, what good does it do when you live somewhere that's always stressful and you feel like you can't really talk about your feelings anyways? I didn't want that for my life, ever. I knew that I wanted to be different. I was always sad as a kid that I didn't live with my parents. I never had an answer when people asked me why I didn't live with them, honestly I still am not sure completely why I didn't and I'll be 29 this year .

 

My mother ended up having a drug addiction problem when I was in sixth grade. My mother is also bipolar, although I don't know exactly when this was discovered. My grandmother hated my dad, for whatever reason. So I just had no pull in my desire to want to live with a parent. My mother had always been around, and she lived with us and my grandparents at times. I saw my dad on the weekends and holidays. In the beginning of her addiction, my grandparents got emergency custody of my brother Jacob. So now they were raising three kids. When my mother made the decision to get clean from heroin, I was about 11 (I think, not sure of my exact age). I loved her so much, and I'll always remember driving down the road with her one day as she was crying and saying "I love you, you know I do, right?" I was the one sitting with her in the bathroom while she went through withdrawal. It was hard to see my mother so sick. I stayed by her side and slept in the same room as her at night because I was so happy she was back home. I also went to NA and AA meetings with her. I liked the cookies and snacks they'd have. I really had no business being around so much adult information at my age, but as I see it I was the support in my mother's recovery, because everyone else was just mad at her. Naturally, it makes sense that as an adult my mother uses me as support often. She's better now and has been clean for over 10 years.

 

Eventually, I did get the chance to live with my father and my step-mom the summer before seventh grade. For whatever reason, my grandmother had a moment and agreed to let me live with them. I was ecstatic! I remember hopping onto the computer and instant messaging my step-mom on AIM. I lived with them from the beginning of seventh grade to halfway through my freshman year of high school. Living there was such a change from what I was used to; more routine and structure, more "normalcy". I moved back in with my grandparents halfway through my freshman year of high school. Around that time is when my father was really starting to struggle with his mental health (that I know of). There was one night I remember he got so angry that my step-mom and I went in the basement with our dog. He'd torn off the keyboard holder from the computer desk, ripped the sliding door off the track, and threw the board into the pool. He wasn't going to hurt us and I think we knew that, but he was just SO aggressively upset. I remember he left and that night I woke up to the sound of him crying in the bathroom pleading to God. He got diagnosed bipolar around that time. I didn't leave because he was struggling, but because I felt like me being there was too stressful and I missed being with my grandparents. Things were still the same when I moved back in, it's like I never left. I think part of me is always going to feel guilty for leaving my brothers there, even though getting out made such a change in me.

 

I met a junior boy, C is what we will call him, when I moved back. He was my second boyfriend. I'd only dated one person when I lived in Leominster, and it wasn't for long. I didn't really know much about dating, or sex, or how any of it worked really. I feel like I just figured out a lot of it on my own, leading to many poor decisions. Part of the issue is that my grandmother believed that any talk of sex, birth control, or even asking to be on birth control would automatically lead to pregnancy. And most of what I saw growing up was not-so-healthy relationships. C broke up with me shortly after I made the decision to have sex with him, through a note, passing me in the hallway to lunch. One of my first poor decisions, and it got worse because my grandmother found out about it and threatened to bring him to court for statutory rape. For whatever reason I thought that having sex with someone meant love. I don't know where I came up with that, but it was what I thought mattered. And I also couldn't stand to be alone, I somehow put all my worth in being with someone else.

 

A few boyfriends later, I met P at a little music release basement party for a mutual friend. We were a hit instantly, and I completely ignored all of my friends when they told me the next morning to not get involved with him. Another poor decision. We became boyfriend and girlfriend. I was with him for 3 years almost. We smoked a lot of pot, he skipped a lot of college, he would call out of work to stay with me. My grandmother would call me out sick from school so I could spend a week with him at his dorm in Boston. He practically lived at my grandparent's house with me at one point. It was very toxic. We were very clingy to one another and I had no freedom. I couldn't even really hang out with my friends if he wasn't there too. He didn't like when I colored my hair without asking. One time, I dyed it black without asking and he screamed at me for a good hour through the phone. My friend that was with me had to answer the phone at one point and tell him to stop calling. All my worth and who I was was determined by him. I wanted to stretch my ears but didn't because he got upset and told me that I only wanted to do that so I could fuck his friends. He was extremely emotionally and verbally abusive, narcissistic if you will. And he needed help with mental health, yet another non-believer of therapy in my life, and meds would just make you a zombie so forget that.

 

When I got to college, P had failed out of New England Institute of Art and ended up at The Mount with me. This was problematic. We had a lot of the same classes and friends. I ended up getting very close to another guy, A, who showed interest in me being who I wanted. I remember being told by A that I was being treated like property. I wasn't happy with P anymore, but I didn't know how to leave. I ended up cheating, which is absolutely against my morals. P found out because A was angry I wouldn't leave P and told him everything. It was a nasty breakup and there was a lot of fighting. We had all the same friends and so there was some division and tension. I failed out of college because I skipped classes so I wouldn't have to see him. But even after the breakup, P found a way to always be involved in my business.

While I was dating P, I stopped talking to my father for about a year. My father was trying to look out for me in a particular circumstance and went to P's house on his lunch one day to talk with him. I was a dumb teenager so I chose my boyfriend over my father. During that year my father tried to commit suicide. I only found out because of someone anonymous on the internet. My father did not succeed and is much better these days.

 

After P, I had a lot of small relationships. I was trying to find myself and who I wanted to be. I stretched my ears. I went to a lot of shows, and I did get to live with my mother by the way, when I turned 18. Things were hard and she didn't exactly like who I was. A lot of criticism for my boyfriends, who I dated, who my friends were. Because I was already an adult, her trying to parent me didn't exactly mesh. I smoked a pack of cigarettes a day. I was very stressed all the time. I lost my best friend after P, but I also was so caught up in myself I didn't see how awful of a friend I was. She even ended up dating P for a few years, and that was very hard for me. I never took accountability. I was an anxious mess, that couldn't just be by herself. A lot of my relationships felt like I was a "light" for the other person who was looking to fill a void or get over someone else. And even knowing that so many times, I'd just stay sometimes because I was "needed".

 

Eventually, I would meet my now husband Joe a year (roughly) after P. Joe and I were best friends first. We knew each other first, and hung out as friends first. He would drive from Dracut to Athol almost every day, that's like 2 hours just to get to me, then 2 hours home. We would sit in my room and watch Friend Zone on MTV (how fitting, right?) One day we found ourselves just casually holding hands. This was new for me. I didn't see it coming. Our relationship crept up and blossomed instead of my usual just jumping into a relationship. Joe was the only one to ever stand up to P and tell him he didn't have a place in my life anymore. The only person where I never doubted if I was just filling a void from someone else. Joe cared about my interests and what I enjoyed, and has continued to throughout our 9 year relationship. He showed me what being valued as myself was like. This is love. And I am grateful, because he gives me space to figure out who I am and change if I feel like it.

 

The lesson from this is that I finally learned that I was enough as me. I didn't have to try to be anyone's ex, I didn't have to try to be anyone but myself. I learned that I had value as a person, and that I could be who I wanted, because I WANTED to be that person. I could be a light in someone's life, without putting out my own light. I learned that my body was not the only thing someone should want in a relationship, and that sex does not mean love. And most importantly, I learned that I didn't need to fill a void in someone, or try to have someone to fill a void in myself. Things don't work that way. You cannot fix a person, you can only be there for them. As far as mental health goes, my intention was always to break the cycle and take care of myself. I knew it from very early in my life. I mentioned that I stopped going to therapy for awhile. Two years ago I did start going to counseling again. After having our second child, I realized that I was really struggling and things were getting hard, I felt like I was falling apart inside. I couldn't cope strictly by myself. Last year I was diagnosed as bipolar 2. My counselor knew a bit sooner than when he told me, but I respect his reasoning. When he diagnosed me, he said that he did not tell me right away when he knew, because he knew that I would have been devastated, since he knew I did not want to be like my family. But I am not like my family. I love my family, and they are not bad people, they just needed help. I am the change in the cycle. I wanted better and I am creating better. I want my children to know stability and that mental health is as important as physical health. I am still working at being better every day, I will always have to, that's okay. I am open, I am accepting of myself, I know healing isn't linear. In healing, I have learned forgiveness.

Substantial metapodium (1), dorsal rim of the foot (2), eye areas (3) and head-crests (4) are all translucent whitish, flecked with opaque white. There are random light spots and a few flecks of green on the dark areas.

Full SPECIES DESCRIPTION BELOW

Sets of OTHER SPECIES: www.flickr.com/photos/56388191@N08/collections/

 

Limapontia capitata (O. F. Müller, 1774)

Revised July 2021.

 

Current taxonomy; World Register of Marine Species www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=140229

Synonyms: Fasciola capitata O. F. Müller, 1774; Pontolimax capitatus (O. F. Müller, 1774); Limapontia nigra G. Johnston, 1835.

GLOSSARY below.

 

Description

Usually up to 4 mm long, rarely 8 mm (Thompson, 1976). The smooth body has no tubercles, gills or appendages. It is dark brown (fig. 1 flic.kr/p/2m1yssd ) or black (fig. 2 flic.kr/p/2m1C9ti ) except for the dorsal rim of the foot, metapodium, eye areas and head crests which are all translucent whitish, flecked with opaque white. There are often random light spots on the dark areas and, sometimes, small greenish patches and flecks. Usually, there is a large pale patch, often approximating to a heart shape, (fig. 3 flic.kr/p/2m1DbBw ) on the dorsum. Part of the patch is often translucent allowing sight of the heart beating within the translucent pericardium (Jensen, 1977).

The anus is a short distance behind and to the right of the midpoint of the body, but it is often difficult to see when it is not defecating.

The head has a truncated anterior edge and usually extends beyond the foot (fig. 4 flic.kr/p/2m1G6Nd ). There are no digitiform rhinophores but, above and in front of each eye, adults have a strong (fig. 5 flic.kr/p/2m1C9sG ) or weak (fig. 3 flic.kr/p/2m1DbBw ) head crest which is absent from some juveniles.

The foot has a translucent whitish sole spotted with white pigment. The yellow ovotestes of adults and/or green contents of the digestive gland may be visible through the sole (fig. 4 flic.kr/p/2m1G6Nd ). The anterior of the foot is often slightly expanded but there are no propodial tentacles.

The substantial pale metapodium is c. 19-25% of the body length.

 

Key identification features

Limapontia capitata

1) Curved head crest above and in front of each eye (figs. 3 flic.kr/p/2m1DbBw & 5 flic.kr/p/2m1C9sG ), no ridge below eye. At some angles of view, crests can be mistaken for digitiform rhinophores (fig. 6 flic.kr/p/2m1C9s1 ).

2) Substantial pale metapodium is c. 19-25% of body length.

3) Usually a large pale mark on the dorsum (fig. 3 flic.kr/p/2m1DbBw ).

4) Eye areas and head-crests whitish (fig. 2 flic.kr/p/2m1C9ti )

5) Anus a short distance behind midpoint of body.

6) Sublittoral and all levels of the shore in pools and moist positions. Usually on Cladophora attached to hard substrate. Optimum salinity 30‰, can survive 5‰ to over 40‰, but sustainable population improbable below 10‰, the lower limit for spawning.

 

Similar species

Limapontia depressa Alder & Hancock, 1862 (fig. 7 flic.kr/p/2m1HAoU )

1) No digitiform rhinophores but most have a raised rim around the pale eye patches which Alder & Hancock (1862) in their original species description refer to as ‘lateral crests’, and which Hancock clearly illustrated (item 4 on fig. 7). Most subsequent authors omit or deny the existence of the rim/crests on L. depressa (Barrett & Yonge, 1958; Gascoigne, 1975; Thompson, 1976; Hayward & Ryland, 1998; Kluijver et al.). Consequently, the rim is often mistaken for head crests of L. capitata. The rim varies in how much it is erected, being low when a specimen is not in good condition, and it may be difficult to discern in dorsal view of very dark specimens.

2) Pale metapodium (‘tail’) absent or negligible when viewed dorsally.

3) No large, pale, pigment mark on dorsum (occasionally a faded area).

4) Pale eye patches.

5) Dorsal anus close to posterior.

6) On tidal saltings in Britain in brackish or full marine salinity. Individuals adapt slowly and with difficulty to salinity change, but local populations are found adjusted to a wide range of salinities, to below 3‰ on the tidal River Dee, Wales. It lives sublittorally in the inner Baltic Sea, where the mean sea surface salinity is below 7‰ (Bendtsen et al.); a specimen near Helsinki, misidentified (when accessed in June 2021) as L. capitata, is at www.youtube.com/watch?v=6TBqOdGHmmI .

 

Limapontia senestra (Quatrefages, 1844) (fig. 8 flic.kr/p/2m1C9pL )

1) Pair of digitiform rhinophores on head only when full grown. Earlier growth stages with rhinophores not fully developed can resemble head crests of L. capitata; rear in captivity when in doubt; rearing details in Smith (2014).

2) Pale metapodium is 13-18.5% of body length , smaller than on L. capitata but more noticeable than on L. depressa.

3) Often a small pale dorsal spot and lateral spots form a quincunx or similar; missing on translucent specimens with visible pale viscera which can be mistaken for the dorsal mark of L. capitata.

4) Eye patches and tentacles whitish.

5) Anus a short distance behind midpoint of body.

6) Full salinity, lagoons perhaps with salinity c. 20‰, and rock pools up to MHW on exposed coasts.

 

Habits and ecology

L. capitata tolerates a wide range of salinities; in the Kieler Bucht, Germany, 5‰ to 40‰ at 14°C, but spawning only occurs at over 10‰ (Seelemann, 1968 in Jensen 1977). The optimum salinity in the Kattegat, Denmark, for growth and spawning is 30‰ at 15°C, though spawn is abundant at over 15‰.

Coma occurs from heat at 38-40°C and from cold at about 1°C (Jensen, 1977). Formation of ice on a shore is usually accompanied by local temporary extinction of littoral L. capitata (Jensen, 1976).

It lives sublittorally and at all levels of the shore in pools and moist situations on its food algae, primarily Cladophora rupestris (figs. 9 flic.kr/p/2m1G6Jq & 10 flic.kr/p/2m1ysh3 ) but also Chaetomorpha linum, Bryopsis plumosa (fig. 11 flic.kr/p/2m1ys8L ) and other Cladophora spp. (Jensen, 1975). These algal species are coenocytic with few or no internal cell walls subdividing the cytoplasm, which is consequently easily extracted by suction. Enteromorpha (currently genus Ulva) is sometimes mentioned as a food alga (Miller, 1962) but this is unlikely as all species in the order Ulvales, having uninucleate cells (Wichard et al. 2015), are not coenocytic, so unsuitable for suctorial feeding. Jensen (1975) observed a L. capitata grasping filaments of Enteromorpha in a feeding position, but it was unable to extract any cytoplasm. Cladophora. spp., Chaetomorpha linum and Bryopsis plumosa were equally favoured in experiments (Jensen, 1975), though in the wild most are found on Cladophora spp. as the other algae are less common. Individual L. capitata could change food in experiments, but were conservative, tending to remain on the first species encountered until all consumed. Cladophora glomerata, a freshwater species which grows well in the very low salinity of the inner Baltic (GBIF map) and forms large algal blooms in the Gulf of Finland (Berezina et al., 2007) was studied by A.-M. Jansson (1966, 1967 and 1970, in Jensen, 1975) on the island of Asko, south of Stockholm, but she found no L. capitata on it. However, L. depressa does feed on it and has been widely misidentified in the inner Baltic as L. capitata (misidentified L. depressa on probable C. glomerata at www.youtube.com/watch?v=6TBqOdGHmmI )

In L. capitata, the single row of radular teeth, adapted to only slitting and cutting (fig. 12 flic.kr/p/2m1C98J ), confines it to suctorial feeding. The leading tooth is used to puncture algal cell walls whereas the newer, unused teeth function as a spear shaft. Recently worn out older teeth are retained in an ascus sac (Thompson, 1976). Further restrictions on which algal species can be utilized may be due to the chemical structure of the algal polysaccharides and to the algal filament diameters (Jensen, 1975).

The related L. depressa feeds by holding an algal filament vertically in the groove at the front of its head while it punctures it and sucks out the cytoplasm, leaving a colourless filament. There is an apparent upper limit on the diameter of filaments that can fit into the groove, as it was observed in captivity to exhaust all available narrow filaments but to leave the thicker ones unaffected (IFS pers. obs.). The groove in front of the mouth of L. capitata (fig. 13 flic.kr/p/2m1ys1b ) is similar to that of L. depressa . The filaments of a coenocytic species of Trailiella were too thin for adult L. capitata to grip in their groove firmly enough for feeding (Jensen, 1975).

In 1973, at Hellebaek, Denmark, the intertidal population density of L. capitata peaked at 2370-2960 per litre of Cladophora in June, August and October just after settlement of newly metamorphosed juveniles less than 1.25 mm long from what seems to be three breeding events. The recorded population was zero in January to April, when water and air temperatures were below 10°C, and gradually increased in May, presumably originating from larval settlement from deeper water. The large population of L. capitata in summer was estimated to consume 1-10% of the total standing crop of Cladophora at Hellebaek (Jensen, 1975).

Copulation is by penetration by the stylet on the hypodermic penis into the body of the partner which lacks an aperture to receive it. The spawn mass, containing up to 800 ova, is deposited between June and November by two or more generations in Britain (Miller, 1962 in Thompson, 1976). The planktonic, veliger, larval stage lasts about a week at 16-17°C (Thompson, 1976). In Isefjord, Denmark, large numbers of planktonic veligers were recorded in April, August and December (Rasmussen, 1973), corresponding with hatching from the three spawning periods observed by Jensen (1975).

 

Distribution and status

L. capitata occurs from the Arctic to the Mediterranean and Black Sea. It extends into the Baltic to Rügen, Germany and the Øresund, Sweden further east than which the mean sea surface salinity (msss) is below 10‰ (Bendtsen et al, 2007). It may be over recorded because of incompletely developed rhinophores on juvenile L. senestra being mistaken for the crests of L. capitata. For details of misidentification and misrecording of Limapontia spp. in the inner Baltic, see the appendix below.

Common and widespread around Britain and Ireland. UK distribution map, NBN species.nbnatlas.org/species/NHMSYS0021056302 .

 

Appendix: Distribution of L. capitata in the Baltic Sea.

The first description of L. capitata, by Müller in 1774, was in the Baltic, ‘in Mari Balthico’. It is still present, sometimes abundantly (Jensen, 1975), in the outer Baltic to about 30° E. at Rügen, Germany (Schultze, 1849) and Øresund, Sweden. Working in the Kieler Bucht, Seelemann (1968 in Jensen 1977), found that the lower salinity limit for spawning is 10‰. The mean sea surface salinity (msss) of the inner Baltic east of Rügen-Øresund is below 10‰ (Bendtsen, 2007) and would be expected to prevent the establishment of sustainable populations of L. capitata. A study on the shores of Asko Island, south of Stockholm, (Jansson, 1966, 1967 and 1970, in Jensen, 1975), which conforms to expectations, found no L. capitata on Cladophora glomerata, a freshwater alga which grows well in the very low salinity of the inner Baltic and forms large algal blooms in the Gulf of Finland (Berezina et al., 2007).

Contrary to expectations, there are several reports of it east of Rügen-Øresund at,

1) Bornholm in 1863, current msss circa 7.5‰ (Meyer & Möbius, 1865–1872).

2) North of Stockholm at 61.1N, 17.2E, msss circa 5‰, in 1980 by Swedish Ocean Archive database (GBIF map, L. capitata).

3) Estonia, over 170 records, msss circa 5-6‰, 2008-2017 by Estonian Naturalists’ Society (GBIF map, L. capitata).

4) Finland, 450 records, msss circa 5-6‰, mainly 1990-2020, by Finnish Biodiversity Information Facility.

The Bornholm record has several reasons for reserve, apart from the low salinity. While the illustrations from Kieler Bucht (fig. 14 flic.kr/p/2m54gkU ) show that Meyer and Möbius (1865–1872) recognised correctly the features of L. capitata, the Bornholm specimens were found in 1863 when it is unlikely that M&M were familiar with Limapontia depressa, first described by Alder and Hancock only in the previous year and without published image. The specimens were collected for M&M by a fisherman who said that he found them abundantly under littoral stones. This is not the usual habitat of L. capitata, which lives on filamentous algae, mainly Cladophora spp.; one wonders how reliable the reported location is. It is desirable that this record be checked with fieldwork and photography.

The other localities have salinities well below the level suitable for spawning of L. capitata so its presence needs substantiation with detailed images. The only Baltic images labelled L. capitata found by IFS on the web are a video and two photographs from Finnish waters by K. Könönen at www.youtube.com/watch?v=6TBqOdGHmmI and laji.fi/en/taxon/MX.212476/images , which are all misidentified L. depressa lacking the substantial pale metapodium, large pale dorsal mark and distinct head crests of L. capitata. In 2012, on a blog by an artist for the Marine Research Centre at Stockholm University, there was a detailed painting labelled ’L. capitata’ from north of Stockholm, which was a perfect match for Hancock’s image of P. depressa (fig. 7 flic.kr/p/2m1HAoU ). See the ‘Key identification features’ and ‘Similar species’ sections of the main account above for detail of the historical confusion of the two spp.

Pruvot-Fol (1954) aggregated P. depressa with L. capitata as L. nigra as she could find no distinctive features to characterize them. In her description she used poor copies of 110 year old images of Limapontia spp. from Quatrefages (1844) and followed his omission of L. depressa which was not described by Alder and Hancock until 18 years after he wrote. Gascoigne (1975) and Thompson (1976) showed clear, anatomical differences which counter Pruvot-Fol’s opinion.

At the same time (June 2021) as showing multiple records of presumed L. capitata in Estonian and Finnish waters, the GBIF map for L. depressa and the Finnish Biodiversity Information Facility website have a complete absence in the same waters of records for L. depressa which has populations that can breed at the salinities found there, while L. capitata cannot. A video and two photographs from Finland and a painting from north of Stockholm, all mislabelled ‘L. capitata’, show that L. depressa does live in the inner Baltic. Over 30 records (1998-2012) on the GBIF map of L. depressa by the Swedish Ocean Archive database (SHARK) show that L. depressa lives on the coast of the inner Baltic in the Swedish counties of Kalmar and Blekinge.

Jonne Kotta of the Estonian Marine Institute, University of Tartu, agrees that all the Estonian records of L. capitata shown on GBIF are misidentified L. depressa and should be renamed on the database (J. Kotta, 2021, pers. comm., 14 June).

It is desirable that more photographs are obtained of Limapontia in the inner Baltic to substantiate or alter the evidence, reasoning and opinions presented above. This account will be amended if new evidence requires it.

 

Acknowledgements

I am most grateful to Kathe Jensen, Jonne Kotta and Vollrath Wiese for their help and advice with this account, but any errors or omissions are my (IFS) responsibility. I thank David Fenwick www.aphotomarine.com/index.html and Malcolm Storey www.bioimages.org.uk/ for use of their images.

 

References and links

Alder, J. and Hancock, A. 1862. Descriptions of a new genus and some new species of naked mollusc. Ann. mag. nat. hist. vol. 10, Third series, number LVIII: 261-265. [Original description of L. depressa on p. 264].

www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/22162433#page/282/mode/1up

 

Barrett, J. and Yonge, C.M. 1958 Collins pocket guide to the sea shore. London, Collins.

 

Bendtsen, J., Söderkvist, J., Dahl, K., Hansen, J.L.S. and Reker, J. 2007. Model simulations of blue corridors in the Baltic Sea. BALANCE Interim Report No. 9.. Copenhagen. balance-eu.org/xpdf/balance-interim-report-no-9.pdf

 

Berezina, N. A., Tsiplenkina, I. G., Pankova, E. S. and Gubelit J. I. 2007. Dynamics of invertebrate communities in stony littoral of the Neva Estuary (Baltic Sea) under macroalgal blooms and bioinvasions. Transitional Waters Bulletin 1: 65-76. www.researchgate.net/publication/215447660_Dynamics_of_in...

 

Eliot, C.N.E. 1910. A monograph of the British nudibranchiate mollusca. London, Ray Society. Supplementary Volume. p. 141 [as L. nigra] archive.org/details/british_nudibranchiate_mollusca_pt8_l... (p. 151 of PDF).

 

Finnish Biodiversity Information Facility, Limapontia capitata overview page. laji.fi/en/taxon/MX.212476 images laji.fi/en/taxon/MX.212476/images [misidentified L. depressa]. Accessed 17 July 2021.

 

Gascoigne, T. 1975. A field guide to the British Limapontidae and Alderia modesta. J. Conch. Lond. 28: 359 – 364.

 

GBIF Distribution map of Limapontia capitata (O.F. Müller) Accessed 25 June, 2021. www.gbif.org/species/2298915

 

GBIF. Distribution map of Limapontia depressa Accessed 23 July, 2021. www.gbif.org/species/2298918

 

GBIF Distribution map of Cladophora glomerata (L.) Kütz. Accessed 14 June, 2021. www.gbif.org/species/5272770

 

Hayward, P.J. & Ryland, J.S. 1996. Handbook of the marine fauna of North-west Europe. Oxford, Oxford University Press.

 

Jeffreys, J. G. 1869. British conchology. vol. 5 (1869). London, van Voorst. [As L. nigra] archive.org/details/britishconcholog05jeffr/page/28/mode/1up

 

Jensen, K. R. 1975. Food preference and food consumption in relation to growth of Limapontia capitata (Opisthobranchia, Sacoglossa). Ophelia 14(1-2): 1-14. abstract

www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00785236.1975.10421967

 

Jensen, K. R. 1976. The importance of Limapontia capitata (Mueller) (Opisthobranchia, Sacoglossa) as a primary consumer in the Cladophora-belt. 10th Europ. Symp. mar. Biol. 2: 339-350.

 

Jensen, K. R. 1977. Optimal salinity and temperature intervals of Limapontia capitata (Opisthobranchia, Sacoglossa) determined by growth and heart rate measurements. Ophelia, 16 (2): 175 – 185.

 

Kluijver, M.J. de, Ingalsuo S.S. & Bruyne, R.H. de. Mollusca of the North Sea, Limapontia depressa. Marine Species Identification Portal. (accessed 20 June 2021) species-identification.org/species.php?species_group=moll...

 

Meyer, H. A. & Möbius, K. 1865 - 1872. Fauna der Kieler Bucht. Band 1: Die Hinterkiemer oder Opisthobranchia. Leipzig, W. Engelmann. [As Pontolimax capitatus]

www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/47329#page/57/mode/1up [images]

www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/47329#page/55/mode/1up [text]

 

Miller, M.C. 1962. Annual cycles of some Manx nudibranchs, with a discussion of the problem of the migration. J. Anim. Ecol. 31(3): 545-569 www.jstor.org/stable/2053?seq=1

 

Müller, O. F. 1774. Vermium terrestrium et fluviatilium, seu animalium infusoriorum, helminthicorum, et testaceorum, non marinorum, succincta historia. Vol. 1, Pars Altera: p. 70. [1774]. Havniæ (Copenhagen) & Lipsiæ (Leipzig), Heineck & Faber. [original description as Fasciola capitata] www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/50344#page/236/mode/1up

 

Pruvot-Fol, A. 1954. Faune de France. Mollusques opisthobranches. Paris, P. Lechevalier. faunedefrance.org/bibliotheque/docs/A.PRUVOT-FOL(FdeFr58)Mollusques.pdf

 

Quatrefages J.L.A. de. 1844. Sur les Gastéropodes Phlébentérés (Phlebenterata Nob.), ordre nouveau de la classe des Gastéropodes, proposé d'après l'examen anatomique et physiologique des genres Zéphyrine (Zephyrina Nob.), Actéon (Acteon Oken), Actéonie (Acteoniæ Nob.), Amphorine (Amphorina Nob.), Pavois (Pelta Nob.), Chalide (Chalidis Nob.). Annales des Sciences Naturelles. ser. 3, 1: 129-183, pls 3-6. biodiversitylibrary.org/page/13407269

 

Rasmussen, E. 1973. Systematics and ecology of the Isefjord marine fauna (Denmark). Ophelia, 11, 1-495.

 

Schultze, M.S. 1849. Ueber die Entwickelung des Tergipes lacinulatus. Archiv für Naturgeschicht. 15: 270. www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/48696#page/670/mode/1up

 

Seelemann, U. 1968. Zur Überwindung der biologischen Grenze Meer-Land durch Mollusken. II. Untersuchungen an Limaponita capitata, Limapontia depressa und Assiminea grayana. Oekologia. 1: 356-368 www.jstor.org/stable/4214499

 

Smith, I.F. 2014. Rearing and breeding the sacoglossan sea slug, Limapontia senestra (Quatrefages, 1844). Mollusc World 34: 16-18. Conchological Society of Great Britain and Ireland. www.researchgate.net/publication/352982521_Limapontia_sen...

 

Thompson, T.E. 1976. Biology of opisthobranch molluscs 1. London, Ray Society.

 

Wichard, T., Charrier, B., Mineur, F., Bothwell, J. H., De Clerck, O. and Coates, J. C. 2015. The green seaweed Ulva: a model system to study morphogenesis. Frontiers in plant science. www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpls.2015.00072/full

 

Current taxonomy; World Register of Marine Species www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=140229

 

GLOSSARY

 

coenocytic = (of algae) with parts made up of multinucleate, large masses of cytoplasm enclosed by the wall of each large cell.

 

cytoplasm = gelatinous liquid that fills the inside of a cell; ‘cell sap’.

digitiform = shaped like a finger.

dorsum = upper outer surface of an organism.

metapodium = hind part of the foot.

MHW = mean high water level.

multinucleate = (of cells) having more than one nucleus per cell, i.e., multiple nuclei share one common cytoplasm.

 

ovotestes = (plural) hermaphrodite organs serving as both ovary and testes.

pericardium = sac containing the heart.

plankton = animals and plants that drift in pelagic zone (main body of water).

polysaccharides = (in algae) molecular structural components of cell walls.

 

propodial = (adj.) at the front of the foot.

radula = usually a chitinous ribbon with rows of teeth to rasp food, but on Sacoglossa a line of single, fused teeth used like a scalpel to pierce algal cells.

 

quincunx = pattern of five as on dominoes or dice.

radular = of the radula.

rhinophore = chemo-receptor tentacle; nudibranch and most sacoglossan sea slugs have a pair on top of the head.

 

salting = salt tolerant vascular vegetation at MHW to EHWS; preferred synonym for “saltmarsh” as much of a salting is not marshy.

 

siphonaceous = (of algae) entire thallus (‘plant’) is coenocytic with no internal cell walls subdividing the cytoplasm.

 

stylet = hard, sharp, slender piercing structure.

suctorial = (adj.) sucking

uninucleate = (of cells) having one nucleus per cell.

veliger = shelled larva of marine gastropod or bivalve mollusc which moves by action cilia on a velum (bilobed flap).

 

In difficult situation when you find humor YOU WIN!

Former house of Railway engineers/staff.

 

The German Philipp Holzmann company was responsible for the construction on the Taurus-section, part of the Berlin-Baghdad railroad project, some 70 kilometres north of Adana. The most difficult phase of the project was crossing the Belemedik plateau in the Taurus Mountains. To accommodate all necessary personnel, approx. in 1907 a shanty town was built by the Germans (Holzmann company) at Karapınar railway stop (later called Belemedik) in Pozantı district.

 

Between 1907 and 1914 estimated 3,500 Germans, Austrians and Swiss railway company employees where living here in total. They were engineers, technicians and railway workers, often with their families. For the Turks in the vicinity, the shanty town was considered the “German city”. It was designed to meet all the needs of the company’s employees. A hospital was built to the state of the art of those days (employing German doctors and nurses), a German church, a mosque, a German school for the children of the employees, a cinema, waterpipe/drainage system, big stone houses, etc. and even a brothel (about 1 km outside of the city). Belemedik was also one of the first cities in the Ottoman Empire that enjoyed 24h electricity thanks to a power station,

 

Starting as a village, Belemedik gained the appearance of a regular provincial town. Next to the multi-national European employees and engineers, a number of Turkish people were attracted to settle here as well as traders and workers. Holzmann had also employed many Greeks and Armenians workers and officials. During the war, the Ottoman government provided Turkish prisoners and Turks unfit for the war including Armenian and Greek labour battalions. Hence, there was also a detachment of Turkish soldiers in the small city. In Spring 1916, approx. 30,000 men were working for the railway company between Pozanti until Ras El Ain. Only 400 French, British and Australians (POWs captured in Gallipoli) were working along the railway until June 1916. It is estimated that out of these 30,000 some 5,500 men were working in the Amanus section and about the same number in the Taurus railway section. The works did not only meant working on the railway and tunnels but also road-construction thru the mountains, both in Taurus and Amanus, and in the area between both mountain ranges (Adana and Incirlik), hence the huge number of workers with their families.

In June 1916, many Armenians working for the railway company were brought to the Syrian desert and partly substituted in July 1916 by British, Australian, New Zealander, Indian and Nepali POWs. Later, Russians and Italian POWs were added. I have placed at the end of this caption more information regarding the POWs.

 

The railway station Karapınar was opened in 1912. Even by then, the site was called Belemedik. According to one source the name Belemedik is the corrupt form of the Turkish word Bilemedik meaning ‘We couldn't guess’. During the railway construction, each tunnel was bored by two teams working at the opposite sides of the tunnel. The teams were required to meet at the mid point. When for any reason, one team failed to accomplish the task, the excuse was the word bilemedik and in German pronunciation it became belemedik. Belemedik was the end of the railway until the completition of the Giaudere (Varda)-viaduct at Hacıkırı in September 1918, the connection to Adana (Durak) was openend in early October 1918 finishing the railway works just before the end of the war. The section is using 37 tunnels with a cumulative length 14.4 km).

 

Work on the railway was long and hard. In the eight years of construction in the area 41 German citizens people lost their lives (accidents, slides and diseases). In 2005, the German Honorary Consul Dr. Teyfik Kısacık bought land and with the help of German company Praktiker (Metro AG) as well as locals opened in September 30, 2005 a new 'German cemetery'. However, the Germans (and other Christian employees of the railway company) were buried in the ‘Christian cemetery’ along with Christian POWs. There existed no ‘German cemetery’. It is not clear if the ‘modern’ cemetery is located on the same ground as the old one. It is also doubtful, if there are any tombs/graves at all in this ground. It is possible that this is merely a memorial ground. The memorial plate which was erected was brought from Hacıkırı (those dead were brought to the German central cemetery in Tarabya, Istanbul) and has nothing to do with the Germans in Belemedik.

 

The Belemedik station was closed at the end of the First World War. After WW I, Belemedik was occupied by the French army, with its headquarters in Pozantı. The French occupying force used Belemedik as a site for a military hospital in which the commander's wife Mme. Mesnil was working as a nurse. Turkish Nationalists (also called Kemalist) captured Belemedik on 10 April 1920. On 28 May the rest of the French troops also surrendered during the battle of Karboğazı. During the rest of the independence war, the hospital in Belemedik was used by the Turkish Nationalists. In the turmoil which followed, the area was widely abandoned and almost forgotten. Until Atatürk was able to establish the modern Turkey, it was said that bandits were living in the remains of the houses and later locals from the region used Belemedik houses as source for cheap construction material. As result, almost nothing of the “German town” has remained (btw., Holzmann went bankrupt in 2002). Still existing are the fundaments of the generator, the chimney of the German hospital and a few stone houses which were storage houses of the railway company in different conditions (either ruins or to house animals). Today, there is merely a small hamlet left with friendly and helpful inhabitants.

 

Allied POWs

From 1916 on, an unknown number of Allied POWs were based here to support the on-going construction works. The POWs were under the administration of the Turkish army but the army was neither prepared nor able to accommodate and feed the foreign POWs once the huge numbers of British and Indian POWs from Kut arrived at Amanus mountains. In fact, the Turkish army had massive problems to feed and equip their own men. The army was more than willing to provide these POWs as workforce to the railway company which from then on had the responsibility of providing food and shelter to these POWs. However, the company was neither prepared for the thousands of additional men (plus Armenian refugees). This was a great challenge for the railway company to establish stocks necessary and it took approx. a half year until the situation became stable.

 

POWs were accommodated by the railway company in wooden shanty houses or tents. Stone houses were not common in that region in those days and those existing belonged to the railway company or villagers. The wooden shanty houses have vanished, nothing can be found today. The stone ruins you can see today belonged to the railway and were administration or storage buildings. POWs were not living in these. www.awm.gov.au/collection/H19397/

 

The great mass of British and Indian POWs had arrived in Amanus and Taurus in June 1916 after a long march thru the desert from Kut. Due to their bad physical condition, many of British were brought soon into the interior of Asia Minor without having forced to work on the railway project at all. For those British POWs from Kut who seemed in better conditions, the railway company wanted them to work and these were forced to work. The result of the work of these men was disappointing for the company and it asked the Turkish army to take them back. In September 1916, approx. 1000 POWs were moved from Amanus area to the interior. The army was marching these men all the way to Adana and from here over the Taurus mountains to Pozanti. Approx. 260 men suffered massively during the march and were brought to Tarsus and Adana hospitals. Half of them died in consequence. Those who had made it to Pozanti where brought to the new established POW-camps in the interior. Those of the men who recovered were brought to work in Taurus mountains.

In contrast to the British, most Indian and Nepali POWs had better overcome the hardship and soon, most of them had to work (mostly Ras El Ain, 4200 men and Amanus, 2700 men). It can be estimated that in November 1916 some 350 British and 800 Indian POWs were working in the Taurus section. Next to them were approx. 500 Russians.

The first figures of British and Indian (including Nepali) POWs were provided by Turkish authorities in January 1917 (probably showing the figures of December 1916). They justify the estimation of white British/Australian/NZ-POWs in the Taurus section: 283 British and 728 Indian POWs. By December 1916, 32 British, Australian and NZ POWs had died (283 + 32 = 315; of these 32, 14 had died in Hacikiri, 7 in Pozanti and 1 in Budjak.), plus some men which were moved to the interior, we can estimate some 330-350 British working in the Taurus section and probably some 800 Indians and Nepalis.

Soon after the winter 1916/1917, the number of POWs was reduced and many British POWs were moved into the interior while Indians had to work in Ras El Ain.

 

The number of French, Italian and Russian POWs who died in Belemedik is unknown. However, 17 white British/Australian/NZ-soldiers died in Belemedik and were buried along with Russians, French, Italians, Germans and Austrians in the local Christian cemetery. www.awm.gov.au/collection/P01645.002

Very few of them died due to accidents but mostly due to diseases like Malaria and Typhus. With the arrival of the men from Kut, supply became inadequate and POWs along with Turkish soldiers were suffering. According to the Swiss engineer Morf (head of the Amanus section), the Malaria epidemic in summer was unexceptionally hard as Indian POWs had brought Malaria Tropica to the Amanus and Taurus sections. According to him, Malaria Tropica was previously unknown in the Taurus mountains.

Especially in the Amanus section, many of the sick and exhausted British POWs who had arrived from Kut soon succumbed their sufferings. Out of the 558 British POWs who had died in the Amanus area, 327 men died from June to August 1916 respective 462 men from June to December 1916 which includes the dead due to Malaria and other epidemics of Summer/Autumn 1916. The new arrivals from Kut were soon moved into the interior, also because there were no facilities to take care of these sick men. By December 1916, only 62 white British POWs had remained in the Amanus section while 2628 Indians and Nepalis were working here. Estimated 150-200 British had to work in total in Amanus section. The Indians were working better in the heat than their British comrades. Especially in Ras El Ain, over 4,000 Indians had to work with almost no white British POW.

As a summary evaluating the contribution of the POWs to the construction of the Baghdad railway, the British POWs had a maximum of 500-600 men at its peak working all along from Taurus to Ras El Ain. Working meant tunnel works, laying tracks but often loading and de-loading wagons. Others had to join road-construction teams. By the end of 1916, less than 500 British POWs were working and their forced contribution was accordingly small. Simply by their huge numbers, the Indians had a much bigger effect on the works. However, combining all Allied POWs in Taurus, estimated 1,700 men, and in Amanus approx. 4,500 men, their forced labour helped to speed up the finishing of the project. Their total number was nevertheless small in comparison to the thousands of Turks, Greeks and for a limited time also Armenians (Turkish authorities estimated that the railway company gave shelter, food and compensation to some 15,000 Armenians. Grigoris Balakian praised the company for this in his diaries) who were working here for many years.

Those tombs/remains of POWs were transferred to Baghdad North cemetery. Indian and Nepali soldiers were not registered in the same way as white British soldiers, often dead Indians were burnt to ashes according to their religion and have never been found. It is therefore not clear, how many Indian and Nepali had died and where.

 

Donmouth Local Nature Reserve is a beach site in the historic Old Aberdeen part of the City where the River Don meets the sea.

 

A great place to see seals and a range of interesting birds. The beach area has changed over time as the river has changed its course. There are lots of interesting plants in the dunes and beach area. Bird hide is an excellent shelter from which to watch the wildlife. The paths run across King Street to the Brig 'o Balgownie., the original bridge in to the City from the North, then down the other side of the river to the sea.

 

The site was designated a Local Nature Reserve in 1992

 

Paths are good although wheelchair access to the beach would be difficult as the boardwalk can get covered with sand.

 

There is plenty of free car parking on the Beach Esplanade and at the car park in Donmouth Road. There are cycle racks on Beach Esplanade

 

Bridge Of Don has five spans of dressed granite, and rounded cutwaters that carry up to road level to form pedestrian refuges. The spans are 75 feet (23 m), with a rise of 25 feet (7.6 m).

 

It was widened in 1958-59, from 24 feet (7.3 m), to 66 feet (20 m) by the construction of a new concrete bridge adjacent to the old one.

 

It now carries four lanes of the A956 road, and is the last bridge on the River Don before it meets the sea. The bridge is just downstream from a substantial island in the river. Around the area of the bridge is the Donmouth Local Nature Reserve, designated as a LNR in 1992.

Near to the bridge are a number of World War II era coastal defences, including a pill box.

Mudflats

Mudflats are formed when fine particles carried downstream by the river are deposited as it slows down before entering the sea, and to a lesser extent by fine particles washed in by the tide. The sand spit at the mouth of the Don provides shelter from the wind and waves allowing this material to build up. The mud flats are a very rich and fertile environment. Despite their rather barren appearance they support a surprisingly diverse invertebrate fauna which includes; worms, molluscs and crustacea. These invertebrates are vitally important to wildfowl and wading birds within the estuary.

 

Salt marsh

Along the upper shore of the south bank saltmarsh has developed. This habitat would once have been much more extensive prior to the tipping of domestic and other refuse in the area and the formation in 1727 of an artificial embankment to prevent flooding of the river into the Links. This habitat is now reduced to a narrow strip of vegetation along the river margins upstream from the Powis Burn.

 

The species composition of the salt marsh varies according to the salinity of the water i.e. the proximity to the sea. Close to the Powis Burn this habitat is dominated by reed sweet-grass (Glyceria maxima) with reed canary-grass (Phalaris arundinacea), sea club-rush (Scirpus maritimus), spike-rush (Eleocharis palustris), hemlock water-dropwort (Oenanthe crocata) and common scurvygrass (Chochlearia officinalis).

Further inland reed sweet-grass continues to dominate but hemlock water-dropwort is more abundant with meadowsweet (Filipendula ulmaria) and valarian (Valariana officinalis),

 

Sand dunes

Sand dunes are found in the more exposed parts of the estuary at the river mouth. Again, this habitat was once much more extensive in this locality with dune grasslands stretching from Aberdeen Beach inland as far as King Street, southwards from the estuary of the Dee, northwards to the Sands of Forvie and beyond. Many of the dunes formed part of Seaton Tip, and following tipping the area was grassed over. Other areas have been formally landscaped to form golf courses or planted with native trees in 2010 to create a new woodland area.

 

Some remnants of the natural dune flora can be seen in the 'roughs' on the Kings Links golf course and near the mouth of the river.

 

Above the high water mark, fore dunes with thick clumps of the pioneer grass species including sea lyme grass (Elymus arenarius) and marram grass (Ammophila arenaria) occur. Few other species are able to cope with the shifting sand. The largest area of these young dunes is to the north and west of the headland. Further inland where the dunes are sheltered from the actions of the wind and waves, and soils are more developed, more stable dunes are present supporting a more diverse grassland habitat.

 

Strand line plants which are able to tolerate occasional coverage by sea water include sea rocket (Cakile maritima), frosted orache (Atriplex laciniata), sea sandwort (Honkenya peploides) and knotgrass (Polygonum aviculare). Bur-reed (Sparganium sp.) has been recorded; presumably washed down by the river.

 

Marram grass (Ammophila arenaria) and sea lyme grass (Elymus arenarius) dominate the fore dunes. The latter species is not native to this area but appeared in 1802. It is thought to have been unintentionally introduced into the area by fishing boats. For a number of years it remained uncommon but from 1870 onwards it spread rapidly along the coastline (Marren, 1982).

 

In the more stable dunes red fescue (Festuca rubra), sand sedge (Carex arenaria), yellow rattle (Rhinanthus minor), wild pansy (Viola tricolour), harebell (Campanula rotundifolia), bird's-foot-trefoil (Lotus corniculatus) and lesser meadow-rue (Thalictrum minus) are abundant. Small amounts of kidney vetch (Anthyllis vulneraria), valerian (Valeriana officinalis) and spring vetch (Vicia lathyroides) are present.

 

Scattered willows (Salix sp.) and sycamore (Acer pseudoplantanus) have seeded into this area. Gorse (Ulex europaeus) scrub has colonised the dunes in some areas and appears to be spreading.

 

Scrub

This habitat is almost entirely artificial with only the gorse scrub on the inner dunes being a semi-natural habitat. Alder and willow were planted along the south bank of the river in about 1970 and these shrubs are now generally well established. Further shrub planting on the south bank was carried out in 1990.

 

Willow (Salix sp.) and alder (Alnus glutinosa) were planted in the 1970's along the south bank of the River Don eastwards of the Bridge of Don. The trees to the west of this strip are doing considerably better than those to the east. More recent planting was carried out in 1990 with hawthorn (Crataegus monogyna), blackthorn (Prunus spinosa) elder (Sambucus nigra), goat willow (Salix caprea) and alder.

 

Underneath the scrub neutral grassland is present with cocksfoot (Dactylis glomerata), false oat-grass (Arrhenatherum elatius), cow parsley (Anthriscus sylvestris), sweet cicely (Myrrhis odorata), hedge woundwort (Stachys sylvatica) and hedge bindweed (Calystegia sepium).

 

Grassland

Much of the grassland within the reserve is formed on imported soil and is intensively managed. This includes grassland on the north and south sides of the Esplanade. Daffodils are present in the grassland on the north side of the road. On the north bank to the east of the Bridge of Don is rank grassland on a steep south-facing slope. This is unmanaged and contains some patches of scrub.

 

Rough grassland is present on the headland. This area has been modified by tipping, with rubble to the east and with grass cuttings to the west. The grassland contains a mixture of neutral grassland, dune grassland, ruderal, and introduced garden species. This area attracts flocks of seed eating birds in late summer and autumn.

 

Improved grassland is present on the headland and along the south bank of the estuary downstream from the bridge of Don. Much of this vegetation has developed on imported soil and contains a high proportion of ruderal species and garden escapes. On the headland, broadleaved dock (Rumex obtusifolius), nettle (Urtica dioica), coltsfoot (Tussilago farfara), spear thistle (Cirsium vulgare), cow parsley (Anthriscus sylvestris), hemlock (Conium maculatum) and hogweed (Heracleum sphondylium) are abundant. Sweet cicely (Chaerophyllum bulbosum) is widespread and in late summer fills the air with the scent of aniseed.

 

To the south of the Esplanade the grassland is managed with an annual cut.. The grassland does flood to form pools. Early in the year cuckoo flower (Cardamine pratensis) is common, meadow foxtail (Alopecuris pratensis)is known to occur around the margins of these pools.

 

Woodland

Semi-mature woodland is present on the steep sided south bank of the river upstream from the Bridge of Don. Most of this woodland has been planted in the mid 1930's though some older oak and elm trees are present. These may be relicts of former woodland cover. The woodland in the reserve is part of a strip of woodland along the River Don corridor which continues upstream from the Brig 'o' Balgownie.

 

Woodland is present on the south bank upstream from the Bridge of Don.

 

Much of the woodland consists of even aged stands with willow (Salix sp.), sycamore (Acer pseudoplatanus), ash (Fraxinus excelsior), beech (Fagus sylvatica) and alder (AInus glutinosa). At the top of the slope mature oak (Quercus sp.) and elm (Ulmus glabra) are present. The ground flora contains tufted hair-grass (Deschampsia caespitosa), red campion (Silene dioica), ramsons (Allium ursinum) and lady fern (Athyrium felix-femina) .In a few areas dense shading is caused by the trees and in these areas the ground flora is poor.

 

On the north bank scattered trees are present, mainly willow and sycamore with some scrub.

Because of the C-135/KC-135's large size, it easily lended itself to modification. It was a proven, reliable airframe, and since KC-135 fuselages were mostly empty cargo space, it was not terribly difficult to turn these aircraft into a wide variety of roles.

 

As a result, there are a dizzying amount of KC/C-135 variants--RC-135 strategic reconnaissance and Elint platforms, VC-135 executive transports, OC-135 Open Skies treaty compliance aircraft, NC-135 test aircraft, WC-135 weather reconnaissance aircraft, TC-135 crew trainers, and EC-135s--the latter could be anything from standoff ECM jamming aircraft to airborne command posts.

 

The majority of EC-135 variants were used as airborne command posts. Because it was thought likely that a Soviet nuclear first strike would annihilate ground stations, an airborne component would need to be in the air all the time, so that the ability to launch retaliatory strikes would still exist. This was the concept behind the Airborne Launch Control Centers, codenamed Looking Glass: even if ground-based LCCs were destroyed in a first strike, the ALCCs could still remotely launch the United States' Minuteman ICBMs. Other EC-135s served as airborne command posts for theater commanders, under the codenames Silk Purse, Scope Light, and Blue Eagle. Finally, an airborne command post for the President was created, codenamed Nightwatch; Nightwatch-configured "doomsday planes" would follow the President wherever they went, so that the President could run national affairs from the air in case of nuclear attack. The Nightwatch EC-135Js were replaced in the late 1970s by the current E-4 NEACP ("Kneecap") fleet.

 

When my friend Mr. John Osterholm took this picture of a somewhat anonymous Stratotanker taxiing into Tan Son Nhut International Airport, South Vietnam, he was unaware he was photographing the very first KC-135. 55-3118 first flew in August 1956 as the first production KC-135A, named "City of Renton," but ironically never flew a single operational (rather than experimental) refueling mission. Instead, it was used as a testbed by Boeing until it was modified into an EC-135K Head Dancer airborne command post in 1961. The role of the EC-135K was to provide radio support for Tactical Air Command fighters on long deployments. 55-3118 remained in this role until it was retired in 1996. Because it was the first Stratotanker, 55-3118 was saved for preservation and today is on display at McConnell AFB, Kansas.

 

55-3118 carried this color scheme of white over bare metal throughout most of its career. The TAC badge on the nose reflects which command it was attached to, unlike most EC-135s, which were assigned to SAC. At this time, it may have been assigned to the 552nd Air Warning and Control Wing at either Tinker AFB, Oklahoma or McClellan AFB, California.

 

This would have been an exceptional snapshot of history in any case (note the Royal Australian Air Force Caribou in the background), but the fact that this is the first of hundreds of KC-135s makes it all the better.

 

© 2012 PKG Photography, all rights reserved

 

The Kashmir Railway is perhaps the most difficult new railway line project undertaken on the Indian subcontinent by government of India. The terrain passes through the young Himalayas, which are full of geological surprises and numerous problems. The alignment for the line presents one of the greatest railway engineering challenges ever faced, with the only contest coming from the Qingzang Railway in Tibet, China which was completed in 2006 and crosses permanently frozen ground and climbs to more than 5,000 metres (16,000 ft) above sea level. While the temperatures of the Kashmir Railway area are not as severe as Tibet, it does still experience extreme winters with heavy snowfalls. However, what makes the route even more complex is the requirement to pass through the Himalayan foothills and the mighty Pir Panjal range, with most peaks exceeding 15,000 feet (4,600 m) in height.

 

The route includes many bridges, viaducts and tunnels – the railway is expected to cross a total of over 750 bridges and pass through over 100 kilometres (62 mi) of tunnels, the longest of which is about 11 kilometres (6.8 mi) in length.[1] The greatest engineering challenges involve the crossing of the Chenab river, which involves building a 1,315-metre-long (4,314 ft) bridge 359 metres (1,178 ft) above the river bed, and the crossing of the Anji Khad, which involves building a 657-metre-long (2,156 ft) bridge 186 metres (610 ft) above the river bed. The Chenab Bridge will be the highest railway structure of its kind in the world, 35 m higher than the tip of the Eiffel Tower in Paris. Both bridges are to be simple span bridges. Cor-Ten Steel is planned to be used to provide an environment friendly appearance and eliminate the need to paint the bridge. The design and structure is very similar to the New River Gorge Bridge. The project is being managed by the Konkan Railway Corporation. Completion is scheduled for 2012, four years after the first isolated section of the route was opened for local passenger services, and it requires the use of 26,000 t of steel.

 

All tunnels including the New Banihal Tunnel will be constructed using the New Austrian Tunneling method. Numerous challenges have been encountered while tunneling through the geologically young and unstable Shivalik mountains. In particular water ingress problems have been seen in the Udhampur to Katra section. This has required some drastic solutions using steel arches and several feet of shotcrete.

 

Even though the line is being built through a mountainous region, a ruling gradient of 1% has been set to provide a safe, smooth and reliable journey. More importantly bankers will not be required, making the journey quicker and smoother. It will be built to the Indian standard broadgauge of 1,676 millimetres (5.499 ft) gauge, laid on concrete sleepers with continuous welded rail and with a minimum curve radius of 676 m. Maximum line speed will be 100 kilometres per hour (62 mph). Provision for future doubling will be made on the major bridges. Additionally provisions for future electrification will be made, though the line will be operated with diesel locomotives initially, as Kashmir is an electricity scarce region at present. There will be 30 stations on the full route, served by 10–12 trains per day initially.

 

The Kashmir line will connect with the Indian Railways railhead at Jammu, where a 55 km access route has been built to Udhampur.

 

THE Comfort

 

Passenger services will be provided by the new aerodynamic High Power diesel multiple units, which have certain special features incorporated into them. The air-conditioned coaches have wide windows for a panoramic view, anti-skid flooring, sliding doorways, heating facilities, an attractive colour scheme and executive class reclining seats inside. The driver's cabin has a heating and defogging unit to take care of cold climatic conditions and is fitted with single lookout glass windows to give a wider view. A snow-cutting type cattle guard has been attached at the driving end of the train for clearing snow from the tracks during winter. In view of the peculiar climate of the valley, the 1,400-horsepower diesel engine for the train has been provided with a heating system for a quick and trouble-free start in the winters. A public information system with display and announcement facilities are included in the coaches which have pneumatic suspension for better riding comfort. There is also a compartment for physically challenged people with wider doors.

 

Freight rolling stock for the new route will be from the existing national fleet. Freight services conveying grain and petroleum products will run in between the 10–12 passengers services that are planned to operate daily.

 

Maintenance of all rolling stock and locomotives will be at the newly built Budgam workshop just north of Srinagar.

  

Project Updates

 

Dec 2010 — Railways complete construction of crucial tunnel in Sangaldam between the Katra-Qazigund.

 

Feb 2011 — It was reported by an Indian news channel that there was a consensus among the top railway officials of the country that the present rail alignment of the project was not ideal.

 

Oct 2011 — Banihal-Qazigund railway tunnel, Pir Panjal Railway Tunnel, the 10.96 Km long railway tunnel, passes through the Pir Panjal Range of middle Himalayas in Jammu and Kashmir. It is a part of its Udhampur - Srinagar - Baramulla rail link project, opened in October 2011, India's longest and Asia's second longest railway tunnel and reduced the distance between Quazigund and Banihal to only 11 km .

 

Jan 2012 — The Jammu and Kashmir government has said that Qazigund-Banihal and Udhampur-Katra railway tracks, connecting Kashmir with rest of the country through rail-line are likely to be completed by December.

Fresco (plural frescos or frescoes) is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly-laid, or wet lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaster, the painting becomes an integral part of the wall. The word fresco (Italian: affresco) is derived from the Italian adjective fresco meaning "fresh", and may thus be contrasted with fresco-secco or secco mural painting techniques, which are applied to dried plaster, to supplement painting in fresco. The fresco technique has been employed since antiquity and is closely associated with Italian Renaissance painting.

 

TECHNOLOGY

Buon fresco pigment mixed with water of room temperature on a thin layer of wet, fresh plaster, for which the Italian word for plaster, intonaco, is used. Because of the chemical makeup of the plaster, a binder is not required, as the pigment mixed solely with the water will sink into the intonaco, which itself becomes the medium holding the pigment. The pigment is absorbed by the wet plaster; after a number of hours, the plaster dries in reaction to air: it is this chemical reaction which fixes the pigment particles in the plaster. The chemical processes are as follows:

 

calcination of limestone in a lime kiln: CaCO3 → CaO + CO2

slaking of quicklime: CaO + H2O → Ca(OH)2

setting of the lime plaster: Ca(OH)2 + CO2 → CaCO3 + H2O

 

In painting buon fresco, a rough underlayer called the arriccio is added to the whole area to be painted and allowed to dry for some days. Many artists sketched their compositions on this underlayer, which would never be seen, in a red pigment called sinopia, a name also used to refer to these under-paintings. Later,[when?]new techniques for transferring paper drawings to the wall were developed. The main lines of a drawing made on paper were pricked over with a point, the paper held against the wall, and a bag of soot (spolvero) banged on them on produce black dots along the lines. If the painting was to be done over an existing fresco, the surface would be roughened to provide better adhesion. On the day of painting, the intonaco, a thinner, smooth layer of fine plaster was added to the amount of wall that was expected to be completed that day, sometimes matching the contours of the figures or the landscape, but more often just starting from the top of the composition. This area is called the giornata ("day's work"), and the different day stages can usually be seen in a large fresco, by a sort of seam that separates one from the next.

 

Buon frescoes are difficult to create because of the deadline associated with the drying plaster. Generally, a layer of plaster will require ten to twelve hours to dry; ideally, an artist would begin to paint after one hour and continue until two hours before the drying time - giving seven to nine hours working time. Once a giornata is dried, no more buon fresco can be done, and the unpainted intonaco must be removed with a tool before starting again the next day. If mistakes have been made, it may also be necessary to remove the whole intonaco for that area - or to change them later, a secco.

 

A technique used in the popular frescoes of Michelangelo and Raphael was to scrape indentations into certain areas of the plaster while still wet to increase the illusion of depth and to accent certain areas over others. The eyes of the people of the School of Athens are sunken-in using this technique which causes the eyes to seem deeper and more pensive. Michelangelo used this technique as part of his trademark 'outlining' of his central figures within his frescoes.

 

In a wall-sized fresco, there may be ten to twenty or even more giornate, or separate areas of plaster. After five centuries, the giornate, which were originally, nearly invisible, have sometimes become visible, and in many large-scale frescoes, these divisions may be seen from the ground. Additionally, the border between giornate was often covered by an a secco painting, which has since fallen off.

 

One of the first painters in the post-classical period to use this technique was the Isaac Master (or Master of the Isaac fresco, and thus a name used to refer to the unknown master of a particular painting) in the Upper Basilica of Saint Francis in Assisi. A person who creates fresco is called a frescoist.

 

OTHER TYPES OF WALL PAINTING

A secco or fresco-secco painting, in contrast, is done on dry plaster (secco meaning "dry" in Italian). The pigments thus require a binding medium, such as egg (tempera), glue or oil to attach the pigment to the wall. It is important to distinguish between a secco work done on top of buon fresco, which according to most authorities was in fact standard from the Middle Ages onwards, and work done entirely a secco on a blank wall. Generally, buon fresco works are more durable than any a secco work added on top of them, because a secco work lasts better with a roughened plaster surface, whilst true fresco should have a smooth one. The additional a secco work would be done to make changes, and sometimes to add small details, but also because not all colours can be achieved in true fresco, because only some pigments work chemically in the very alkaline environment of fresh lime-based plaster. Blue was a particular problem, and skies and blue robes were often added a secco, because neither azurite blue nor lapis lazuli, the only two blue pigments then available, works well in wet fresco.

 

It has also become increasingly clear, thanks to modern analytical techniques, that even in the early Italian Renaissance painters quite frequently employed a secco techniques so as to allow the use of a broader range of pigments. In most early examples this work has now entirely vanished, but a whole fresco done a secco on a surface roughened to give a key for the paint may survive very well, although damp is more threatening to it than to buon fresco.

 

A third type called a mezzo-fresco is painted on nearly dry intonaco - firm enough not to take a thumb-print, says the sixteenth-century author Ignazio Pozzo - so that the pigment only penetrates slightly into the plaster. By the end of the sixteenth century this had largely displaced buon fresco, and was used by painters such as Gianbattista Tiepolo or Michelangelo. This technique had, in reduced form, the advantages of a secco work.

 

The three key advantages of work done entirely a secco were that it was quicker, mistakes could be corrected, and the colours varied less from when applied to when fully dry - in wet fresco there was a considerable change.

 

For wholly a secco work, the intonaco is laid with a rougher finish, allowed to dry completely and then usually given a key by rubbing with sand. The painter then proceeds much as he would on a canvas or wood panel. The two types of fresco painting are buon fresco and fresco secco. Buon fresco is painting into wet plaster, which makes a painting last a long time. Fresco secco is painting onto dry plaster, which does not last as long.

 

HISTORY

ANCIENT NEAR EAST

The earliest known examples of frescoes done in the Buon Fresco method date at around 1500 BC and are to be found on the island of Crete in Greece. The most famous of these, The Toreador, depicts a sacred ceremony in which individuals jump over the backs of large bulls. While some similar frescoes have been found in other locations around the Mediterranean basin, particularly in Egypt and Morocco, their origins are subject to speculation.

 

Some art historians believe that fresco artists from Crete may have been sent to various locations as part of a trade exchange, a possibility which raises to the fore the importance of this art form within the society of the times. The most common form of fresco was Egyptian wall paintings in tombs, usually using the a secco technique.

 

CLASSICAL ANTIQUITY

Frescoes were also painted in ancient Greece, but few of these works have survived. In southern Italy, at Paestum, which was a Greek colony of the Magna Graecia, a tomb containing frescoes dating back to 470 BC, the so-called Tomb of the Diver was discovered on June 1968. These frescoes depict scenes of the life and society of ancient

 

Greece, and constitute valuable historical testimonials. One shows a group of men reclining at a symposium while another shows a young man diving into the sea.

 

Roman wall paintings, such as those at the magnificent Villa dei Misteri (1st century B.C.) in the ruins of Pompeii, and others at Herculaneum, were completed in buon fresco.

 

Late Roman Empire (Christian) 1st-2nd-century frescoes were found in catacombs beneath Rome and Byzantine Icons were also found in Cyprus, Crete, Ephesus, Cappadocia and Antioch. Roman frescoes were done by the artist painting the artwork on the still damp plaster of the wall, so that the painting is part of the wall, actually colored plaster.

 

Also a historical collection of Ancient Christian frescoes can be found in the Churches of Goreme Turkey.

 

INDIA

Thanks to large number of ancient rock-cut cave temples, valuable ancient and early medieval frescoes have been preserved in more than 20 locations of India. The frescoes on the ceilings and walls of the Ajanta Caves were painted between c. 200 BC and 600 and are the oldest known frescoes in India. They depict the Jataka tales that are stories of the Buddha's life in former existences

 

as Bodhisattva. The narrative episodes are depicted one after another although not in a linear order. Their identification has been a core area of research on the subject since the time of the site's rediscovery in 1819. Other locations with valuable preserved ancient and early medieval frescoes include Bagh Caves, Ellora Caves, Sittanavasal, Armamalai Cave, Badami Cave Temples and other locations. Frescoes have been made in several techniques including tempera technique.

 

The later Chola paintings were discovered in 1931 within the circumambulatory passage of the Brihadisvara Temple in India and are the first Chola specimens discovered.

 

Researchers have discovered the technique used in these frescos. A smooth batter of limestone mixture is applied over the stones, which took two to three days to set. Within that short span, such large paintings were painted with natural organic pigments.

 

During the Nayak period the Chola paintings were painted over. The Chola frescos lying underneath have an ardent spirit of saivism expressed in them. They probably synchronised with the completion of the temple by Rajaraja Cholan the Great.

 

The frescoes in Dogra/ Pahari style paintings exist in their unique form at Sheesh Mahal of Ramnagar (105 km from Jammu and 35 km west of Udhampur). Scenes from epics of Mahabharat and Ramayan along with portraits of local lords form the subject matter of these wall paintings. Rang Mahal of Chamba (Himachal Pradesh) is another site of historic Dogri fresco with wall paintings depicting scenes of Draupti Cheer Haran, and Radha- Krishna Leela. This can be seen preserved at National Museum at New Delhi in a chamber called Chamba Rang Mahal.

 

SRI LANKA

The Sigiriya Frescoes are found in Sigiriya in Sri Lanka. Painted during the reign of King Kashyapa I (ruled 477-495 AD). The generally accepted view is that they are portrayals of women of the royal court of the king depicted as celestial nymphs showering flowers upon the humans below. They bear some resemblance to the Gupta style of painting found in the Ajanta Caves in India. They are, however, far more enlivened and colorful and uniquely Sri Lankan in character. They are the only surviving secular art from antiquity found in Sri Lanka today.

 

The painting technique used on the Sigiriya paintings is “fresco lustro.” It varies slightly from the pure fresco technique in that it also contains a mild binding agent or glue. This gives the painting added durability, as clearly demonstrated by the fact that they have survived, exposed to the elements, for over 1,500 years.

 

Located in a small sheltered depression a hundred meters above ground only 19 survive today. Ancient references however refer to the existence of as many as five hundred of these frescoes.

 

MIDDLE AGES

The late Medieval period and the Renaissance saw the most prominent use of fresco, particularly in Italy, where most churches and many government buildings still feature fresco decoration. This change coincided with the reevaluation of murals in the liturgy. Romanesque churches in Catalonia were richly painted in 12th and 13th century, with both decorative and educational -for the illiterate faithfuls- role, as can be seen in the MNAC in Barcelona, where is kept a large collection of Catalan romanesque art. In Denmark too, church wall paintings or kalkmalerier were widely used in the Middle Ages (first Romanesque, then Gothic) and can be seen in some 600 Danish churches as well as in churches in the south of Sweden which was Danish at the time.

 

One of the rare examples of Islamic fresco painting can be seen in Qasr Amra, the desert palace of the Umayyads in the 8th century Magotez.

 

EARLY MODERN EUROPE

Northern Romania (historical region of Moldavia) boasts about a dozen painted monasteries, completely covered with frescos inside and out, that date from the last quarter of the 15th century to the second quarter of the 16th century. The most remarkable are the monastic foundations at Voroneţ (vo ro nets) (1487), Arbore (are' bo ray) (1503), Humor (hoo mor) (1530), and Moldoviţa (mol do vee' tsa) (1532). Suceviţa (sue che vee' tsa), dating from 1600, represents a late return to the style developed some 70 years earlier. The tradition of painted churches continued into the 19th century in other parts of Romania, although never to the same extent.

 

Andrea Palladio, the famous Italian architect of the 16th century, built many mansions with plain exteriors and stunning interiors filled with frescoes.

 

Henri Clément Serveau produced several frescos including a three by six meter painting for the Lycée de Meaux, where he was once a student. He directed the École de fresques at l'École nationale supérieure des beaux-arts, and decorated the Pavillon du Tourisme at the 1937 Exposition Internationale des Arts et Techniques dans la Vie Moderne (Paris), Pavillon de la Ville de Paris; now at Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris. In 1954 he realized a fresco for the Cité Ouvrière du Laboratoire Débat, Garches. He also executed mural decorations for the Plan des anciennes enceintes de Paris in the Musée Carnavalet.

 

The Foujita chapel in Reims completed in 1966, is an example of modern frescos, the interior being painted with religious scenes by the School of Paris painter Tsuguharu Foujita. In 1996, it was designated an historic monument by the French Government.

 

MEXICAN MURALISM

José Clemente Orozco, Fernando Leal, David Siqueiros and Diego Rivera the famous Mexican artists, renewed the art of fresco painting in the 20th century. Orozco, Siqueiros, Rivera and his wife Frida Kahlo contributed more to the history of Mexican fine arts and to the reputation of Mexican art in general than anybody else. Together with works by Orozco, Siqueiros, and others, Fernando Leal and Rivera's large wall works in fresco established the art movement known as Mexican Muralism.

 

CONSERVATION OF FRESCOES

The climate and environment of Venice has proved to be a problem for frescoes and other works of art in the city for centuries. The city is built on a lagoon in northern Italy. The humidity and the rise of water over the centuries have created a phenomenon known as rising damp. As the lagoon water rises and seeps into the foundation of a building, the water is absorbed and rises up through the walls often causing damage to frescoes. Venetians have become quite adept in the conservation methods of frescoes. The mold aspergillus versicolor can grow after flooding, to consume nutrients from frescoes.

 

The following is the process that was used when rescuing frescoes in La Fenice, a Venetian opera house, but the same process can be used for similarly damaged frescoes. First, a protection and support bandage of cotton gauze and polyvinyl alcohol is applied. Difficult sections are removed with soft brushes and localized vacuuming. The other areas that are easier to remove (because they had been damaged by less water) are removed with a paper pulp compress saturated with bicarbonate of ammonia solutions and removed with deionized water. These sections are strengthened and reattached then cleansed with base exchange resin compresses and the wall and pictorial layer were strengthened with barium hydrate. The cracks and detachments are stopped with lime putty and injected with an epoxy resin loaded with micronized silica.

 

WIKIPEDIA

Difficult shot as this scooter passed us with such a slow shutter. Didn't nail it but though it was worthy of my page. Taken outside of Gianyar, Indonesia.

It can be difficult capturing these little birds perched, which only weigh an average of about 3 grams. The Ruby-throated Hummingbird is migratory, spending most of the winter in southern Mexico, Central America as far south as South America, and the West Indies.

 

Ruby-throated Hummingbirds are solitary. Adults of this species typically only come into contact for the purpose of mating, and both males and females of any age aggressively defend feeding locations within their territory. The aggressiveness becomes most pronounced in late summer to early fall as they fatten up for migration. Some of these birds weigh as much as 7.5+ grams in preparation for the migration. (*various sources)

 

Photographed at Strawberry Plains Audubon Center in Holly Springs, Mississippi.

 

THe vicar and wardens at Ss Peter and Paul had arranged many events in the church, and there were many visitors when I arrived. Would I like to go up the tower I was asked when I walked in. I believe I would.

 

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It is difficult to date accurately the first church building in Stoke, but we know from Edwards Hasteds ‘History of Kent’ published in 1798 the early history of the church: Stoke itself was given to the See of Rochester by Eadberht, King of Kent, sometime between 664 and 673 AD “for the good of his soul and for the remission of his sins.” This makes it one of the first donations of land to the church. It is likely that there were some settlements here in Roman times and that there were some salt workings on the marshes even in those days. In Saxon times Stoke was an important place, as we know by its name. In those days it was called Andschohesham, a “ham on the stockaded land.” In early Saxon days a place protected by a stockade would attract people needing a refuge for their cattle. It would become more important than a settlement ending with a “ton” or “ham.” Later the name was shortened to Estoches and it is recorded under this name in the Domesday Book of 1086. The entry for Stoches or Stoke states that there was a church with four servants and four acres of meadows. This and all the other land and villeins (a feudal tenant entirely subject to a lord or manor to whom he paid dues and services in return for land) were held by the Bishop of Rochester, (Picture above left Rena Pitsilli-Graham).

The earliest parts of the church, possibly the Nave, Chancel and aisles, date from the late 12th century. A report by the Canterbury Archaeological Trust (CAT) (Linklater 2010) gives a broad outline of the history of the building and indicates that the Naves arcades are also of this date with the north arcade perhaps being slightly later but “only by 20 years or so” Stoke church was dedicated only to St. Peter until at least 1524, with St Paul added some time after that. The Edward Hasted history still refers to it as St Peter only in 1789. The position of the church is due to the people of the village settling on the high ground above the Saltings. The village developed as scattered housing on the margins of the firm ground above the reaches of the highest tides, although the lower land was probably farmed as it would be very fertile. The oldest part of the present church dates from about 1175. However from earlier historical records of the building it is difficult to establish whether the South or the north aisle is thought to be the earliest. Historians have written that “the pillars of the south arcade are Norman, Octagonal and carry the massive quality so usual in Norman Work.” However, you will see the octagonal pillars are actually on the north side of the church and the south arcade has rounder squatter pillars, with arches of similar style. Another historian claims that it is this aisle which is the oldest, with Norman transition pillars, capitals and arches. It would certainly appear to be uncertain.

 

The Font at the rear of the south aisle is a circular tub shape, which has been claimed to be Norman, although others believe it to be Saxon; it is dated as 13th century by the listing description. Its simple shape and workmanship certainly incline to an earlier Saxon time, but at this stage it is unlikely to be established one way or the other.

 

he next addition was the other arcade and aisle, presumably on the north side. The original lancet window is still here, but the present glass is of a much more recent date. The chancel dates from the same date as the lancet window. Within the chancel is an ornamental stone coffin lid, near to the altar on the north side, while on the South side is the outline of the priest’s door, which would have led to a separate chapel dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary. On the same wall is a piscine niche with a foliated canopy.

 

In the South Aisle is a piscine with a fox and a lion head, the lion putting it’s tongue out . This is fourteenth century work, which supports the view that the south aisle was once the chantry for Malmaynes Hall, granted to the manor of Malmaynes Hall around 1380, and below the aisle was the family vault.

 

Many centuries later when the roof was being repaired the vault become flooded, and this is popularly supposed to have caused the pillar closest to the east window to have tilted out of true.

The fifteenth century was a busy time for the fabric of the church, with two windows in the north aisle being added, and the window above the font. The glass in these has been replaced at later dates. Most of the roof timbers date from this time. , as do the north and south door. The present door in the south wall is a modern addition, donated by the Royal Engineers, based in the Medway towns.

 

The Canterbury Archaeological Trust (CAT) (Linklater 2010) report states that the Tower may be as early as the 14th century, (there were bequests for the building work from 1479 onwards) and it may have been repaired or extended in the early part of the 16th century. The tower itself stands, but the steeple was never built, despite many donations from the people of Stoke and benefactors from further afield. The reason has never been fully explained. The tower seems to have been built or rebuilt from 1470 to 1550, and it may be that all the monies donated were used to build the tower. Some believe that the Reformation intervened and that the work was abandoned. Others believe that the siting of a steeple so close to the estuary would have been too dangerous, acting as a beacon to invaders. Whatever the reason, no steeple has ever been added to the tower, which at least gives us the opportunity to climb the 53 steps to enjoy the panoramic views from the top. Within the tower is the belfry, with three bells. These have were restored in 1980’s along with parts of the bell frame at a cost of many thousands of pounds.

 

The vault discovered in the vault centre of the South Aisle in 2009 has been shown to be an unusual double chamber, at 4.2 metres long, occupying the centre of the Aisle. This is thought to date from the 17-18th century. Substantial burials have been found to the East of the Aisle externally.

 

Over the last four centuries little new work has been added to the church, but various repairs have been carried out, including a major restoration programme in 1898 of the roofs and floors as described in a newspaper article of the time (see left). The architect was FC Lees of Victoria Street, Westminster. It appears that a North Porch was in existence and was either rebuilt or remodelled after 1898 according to the article. (See the restoration pages for details of works starting in 2014)

Over the years the glass in the windows has been replaced and there appears little or no documentation about the original or subsequent glass. In the lancet window in the north aisle there is a beautiful glass showing three pomegranates in tones of blue, turquoise and gold, (See picture right, Rena Pitsilli-Graham)

Nearby is a window designed and donated by Mrs Marjorie Crofts, depicting St. Francis of Assissi with rushes, poppies, and white dove and a kingfisher. This was made by Maile Studios of Canterbury and presented in 1995.

 

The main east window in the chancel is dedicated to the Goord family and dates from 1938. It was made by Celtic Studios of Swansea, a small studio founded in 1933 by Howard Martin and his cousin Hubert Thomas. They designed and made stained glass windows for houses, a cinema, a pub, chapels and churches and there is a large amount of their work in Toronto, Canada. The window here cost £409.10s and shows St. Peter and St. Paul with Christ in the centre panel. St Peter is holding two keys and St Pauls is holding a sword. No other examples of stained glass exist in the church.

 

Outside the church is a pretty lych gate in the boundary wall surrounding the churchyard. The wooden gates were given by the Bett family in 1995 in memory of Phillip Bett, a long standing and devoted church warden and servant of the church, (see pictures left, J Plumb).

On the outside wall by the south door is a holy water stoup, dating back some centuries. The church walls are constructed mostly of random rubble Kentish Ragstone. The church was listed Grade 1 in 1966. National Heritage defines this as 'of exceptional interest, sometimes considered to be internationally important; only 2.5% of listed buildings are Grade I.'

 

www.stpeterstpaulupperstoke.com/history

 

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THE last parish undescribed in this hundred, lies the next southward from that of Alhallows. A small part of it is within the hundred of Shamel. This place, as appears by the Textus Roffensis, was called Andscohesham in the time of the Saxons. In Domesday it is called Estoches and Stoches; and in later deeds by its present name of Stoke.

 

EADBERHT, king of Kent, gave part of his land for the good of his soul, and the remission of his sins, to the bishopric of St. Andrew, in Rochester, and Ealdulf, bishop of it, in the district called Hohg, at a place there called Andscohesham, containing, by estimation, ten ploughlands, together with all things belonging to it, in fields, woods, meadows, fisheries, saltpans, &c. according to the known and established bounds of it; which gift was confirmed by archbishop Nothelm and king Æthelberht, in the metropolitical city, in 738. This estate was afterwards wrested from the church of Rochester during the troublesome times of the Danish wars, and was afterwards purchased by earl Godwin of two men, who held it of the bishop of Rochester, and sold it without the bishop's knowledge. The earl was succeeded in it by his eldest son, earl Harold, afterwards king of England, after whose death, William the Conqueror attaining the crown, seised on all the late king's estates, and gave this manor, together with other land at Stoke, among other premises, to Odo, bishop of Baieux, his half brother. But Lanfranc, archbishop of Canterbury, recovered the manor of Stoke from him, in the solemn assembly held at Pinenden-heath, in 1076, and afterwards restored it, with its church, to Gundulph, bishop of Rochester, and the church of St. Andrew, (fn. 1) which gift was confirmed by archbishop Anselm, and by several of his successors, archbishops of Canterbury.

 

The manor of Stoke is thus described in the general survey of Domesday, taken about four years afterwards, under the general title of the bishop of Rochester's lands.

 

In How hundred. The same bishop (of Rochester) holds Estoches. In the time of king Edward the Confessor, it was taxed at five sulings, and now at three. The arable land is five carucates. In demesne there are two carucates, and 10 villeins, with five borderers, having 4 carucates. There is a church, and 4 servants, and 4 acres of meadow. In the time of king Edward, and afterwards, and now it was, and is worth eight pounds and 20 pence, and yet he who holds it pays 13 pounds and 20 pence.

 

This manor was, and is belonging to the bishopric of Rochester; but earl Godwin, in the time of king Edward, bought it of two men, who held it of the bishop, and this sale was made without his knowledge.

 

But after that, William being king, Lanfranc the archbishop recovered it against the bishop of Baieux, and from thence the church of Rochester is now seised of it.

 

Gundulph, bishop of Rochester, having divided the revenues of his church between himself and his convent, allotted this manor to the share of the monks, ad victum, that is, to the use of their refectory; (fn. 2) and the same was confirmed to them, by several of the succeeding kings, archbishops, and bishops of Rochester. (fn. 3)

 

On bishop Gilbert de Glanvill's coming to the see of Rochester in 1185, he found it much impoverished, by the gifts of several of the best estates belonging to it made by bishop Gundulph, to the monks of his priory. This occasioned a dispute between them, the bishop claiming this manor, among others, as having belonged to the maintenance of his table. In consequence of which, though he wrested the church of Stoke from them, yet they continued in possession of this manor, with its appendages, till the dissolution of the priory in the reign of king Henry VIII.

 

In the 7th year of king Edward I. the bishop of Rochester claimed certain liberties, by the grant of king Henry I. in all his lands and fees, and others by antient custom, in the lands of his priory in Stoke, and other lands belonging to his church; (fn. 4) which were allowed by the jury, as they were again in the 21st year of that reign, upon a Quo warranto; and again in the 7th year of king Edward II. and they were confirmed by letters of inspeximus, granted by king Edward III. in his 30th year. In the 21st year of king Edward I. on another Quo warranto, the prior of Rochester claimed that he and his predecessors had, in the manors of Stoke, &c. view of frank-pledge, from beyond memory, which was allowed by the jury. He also claimed free-warren, by grant from Henry I. but the jury found that neither he nor his predecessors had used it, therefore it was determined, that they should remain without that liberty, but king Edward I. by his charter, in his 23d year, granted that liberty to the prior and convent in all their demesne lands of this manor, among others; so that no one should enter on them, either to hunt, or to take any thing which belonged to warren, without their licence, on the forfeiture of ten pounds. In the 15th year of king Edward I. the manor of Stoke was valued at nine pounds.

 

On the dissolution of the priory of Rochester in the 32d year of king Henry VIII. this manor was surrendered, with the other possessions of it, into the king's hands, who presently after, in his 33d year, settled it, on his new-founded dean and chapter of Rochester, with whom the inheritance of it continues at this time.

 

There is a court-leet and court-baron held for this manor.

 

In 1720, Jacob Sawbridge, one of the South-Sea directors, purchased the lease of the manor-farm of Stoke, under the yearly rent of twenty eight pounds, clear of all taxes, the rack rent of which, was ninety pounds per annum. The present lessee is the Right Hon. John, earl of Darnley.

 

TUDERS, formerly spelt Teuders, is a manor in this parish, which antiently was held of the bishop of Rochester, as of his manor of Stoke.

 

In the 12th year of king John, this estate was held by Hugo de Stokes, as half a knight's fee, of the bishop of Rochester, by knight's service. (fn. 5) His descendant, Theodore de Stokes, afterwards possessed it, (fn. 6) and ingrafted his name on it; for from that time this manor was called Theodores, and for shortness, Tudors; and Philipott says, he had seen an antient roll of Kentish arms, wherein Tudor of Stoke bore the same coat armour with Owen Theodore, vulgarly called Tuder, being Azure, a chevron between four helmets argent.

 

After this name was extinct here, this manor came into that of Woodward; one of whom, Edward Woodward, possessed it at the latter end of Henry VIII's reign. His descendant, in the beginning of the reign of queen Elizabeth, conveyed it to John Wilkins gent. of Stoke parsonage, who died in the 19th year of that reign, and was succeeded in it by his kinsman and heir, George Wilkins, gent. who married Elizabeth, one of the daughters of Mr. John Copinger, of Alhallows, by whom he left no issue. He lies buried in this church. His arms were, Gules, on a chevron argent, a demi lion between two martlets sable, between three welk shells or; one of whose descendants, about the beginning of king Charles I's reign, alienated it to Bright, and Edward Bright, clerk, died possessed of it in the year 1670, on which this estate, by virtue of a mortgage term, passed into the possession of William Norcliffe, esq. of the Temple, London, whose widow possessed it after his decease, and since her death it is become the property of the Rev. Mr. Henry Southwell, of Wisbeach, in the Isle of Ely, who is the present owner of it.

 

Hugo de Stokes, owner of this manor in the reign of king Stephen, gave the tithes of it to the monks of St. Andrew's, in Rochester, to whom it was confirmed by archbishop Theobald, and the prior and convent of Canterbury, (fn. 7) and by several bishops of Rochester. (fn. 8)

 

At the dissolution of the priory, in the 32d year of king Henry VIII. this portion of tithes, together with the rest of the possessions of the monastery, was surrendered into the king's hands, who settled it next year, on his new-erected dean and chapter of Rochester, where it now remains.

 

This portion of tithes, called Tudor's portion, was surveyed soon after the death of king Charles I. in 1649, when it was returned, that the same arose out of the tenement of Tudors, and several other tenements, called Bartons, in the parish of Stoke, with six fields, containing by estimation, fifty-three acres; the improved value of which premises was five pounds per annum, all which were let by the late dean and chapter, anno 3 king Charles I. to Sarah Wilkins, at 6s. and 8d. per annum.

 

The present lessee is Baldwin Duppa Duppa, of Hollingborne, in this county.

 

MALMAYNES is a manor in this parish, now commonly known by the name of Maamans Hall, which was given, as well as that of Stoke, by the Conqueror, at his accession to the crown, to his half-brother, Odo, as has been already mentioned; and when archbishop Lanfranc recovered the latter from the bishop, at the noted assembly of the county at Pinenden, as having before belonged to the church of Rochester, this manor was then likewise in his possession. Accordingly it is thus entered in the survey of Domesday, under the general title of that prelate's lands:

 

The same Ansgotus (de Rochester) holds of the bishop (of Baieux) Stoches. It was taxed at two sulings. The arable land is two carucates, and there are in demesne . . . with seven borderers. There is one fishery of two shillings. In the time of king Edward, and afterwards, it was worth one hundred shillings, now one hundred and ten shillings. Anschil held it of king Edward.

 

On the disgrace of the bishop of Baieux in 1083, this, among the rest of his estates, was confilcated to the crown. After which it became part of the possessions of the family of Malmaines, a branch of which resided here, and fixed their name on it. John de Malmaines, son of Henry, died possessed of it in the 10th year of king Edward II. In the 20th year of king Edward III. the heirs of Thomas de Malmayns, of Hoo, paid aid for three quarters of a knight's fee, which John Malmayns before held here of the king.

 

Richard Filiot seems soon afterwards to have been in possession of this manor, which passed from him into the family of Carew, and Nicholas Carew, of Bedington, in Surry, died possessed of it in the 14th year of king Richard II. His son, Nicholas de Careu, armiger, de Bedington, as he wrote himself, (fn. 9) in the 9th year of king Henry V. conveyed this manor by sale to Iden; from which name it passed, in the latter end of king Henry VIII's reign, to John Parker, whose arms were, Sable, on a fess ingrailed argent, between three hinds tripping or, three torteauxes, each charged with a pheon of the second, which coat is now quartered by lord Teynham. (fn. 10) His sole daughter and heir, Elizabeth, carried it in marriage to John Roper, esq. of Linsted, who was first knighted, and afterwards created baron of Teynham, in this county. His son, Christopher, lord Teynham, died in 1622, and by his will devised this manor to his second son, William Roper, esq. who alienated it, in the reign of king Charles I. to Jones, in whose descendants it continued till the reign of king George I. when it passed by sale from them to Baldwin Duppa, esq. who died in 1737, and his son, Baldwin Duppa, esq. of Hollingborne-hill, possessed it at his death in 1764, since which it has continued in the same family the present owner, being Baldwin Duppa Duppa, esq. of that place.

 

Sir John Malmeyns, of this parish, in 1303, made his petition to Robert, abbot, and the convent of Boxley, appropriators of this church; that as he was, on account of his house being situated at such a distance from the parish church, often prevented from attending divine service there, he might be enabled to build an oratory, for himself and his family, on his own estate, and might have a priest to celebrate divine services in it. To which the abbot and convent assented, provided, as far as might be, no prejudice might by it accrue to the mother church, themselves, or the vicars of it, which licence was confirmed by Thomas, bishop of Rochester, that year.

 

RALPH MALESMÆINS, about the reign of king Henry I. became a monk of the priory of St. Andrew, in Rochester, and on that account granted to the monks there his tithes of Stoches; and after his death Robert Malesmæins, his son, confirmed it, as did Theobald, archbishop of Canterbury, Ralph, prior and the convent of Canterbury, and several of the succeeding bishops of Rochester.

 

At the dissolution of the priory of Rochester, in the 32d year of king Henry VIII. this portion of tithes was surrendered into the king's hands, who granted it the nextyear, by his dotation charter, to his new-erected dean and chapter of Rochester, where the inheritance of it now remains.

 

The present lessee, under the dean and chapter, is Baldwin Duppa Duppa, esq. of Hollingborne-hill.

 

Reginald de Cobham, son of John de Cobham, possessed lands in this parish, and in the 14th year of king Edward III. procured free-warren in all his demesne lands in Stoke.

 

King Henry VIII. in his 32d year, granted to George Brooke, lord Cobham, a marsh, called Coleman's, alias Bridge-marsh, lying in Oysterland, alias Eastland, in Stoke; and other premises, parcel of the priory of Christ-church, to hold in capite, by knights service.

 

CHARITIES.

 

RICHARD WHITE, of Chalk, gave by will in 1722, an annual sum of money to the poor of this parish not receiving alms, vested in Mr. John Prebble, and of the yearly product of ten shillings.

 

STOKE is within the ECCLESIASTICAL JURISDICTION of the diocese and deanry of Rochester. The church, is dedicated to St. Peter.

 

In the chancel are these brasses: one for John Wilkins, gentleman, born in this parish, married Elizabeth, daughter of John Coppinger, esq. of Alhallows, obt. s. p. 1575, arms, Wilkins impaling Coppinger, and other coats, one for William Cardiff, B. D. vicar, obt. 1415; another for Frances Grimestone, daughter of Ralph Coppinger, esq. and wife of Henry Grimestone, esq. obt. 1608.

 

This church was antiently an appendage to the manor of Stoke.

 

King Henry I. gave his tithe of Stoke to the church of St. Andrew, and Gundulph, bishop of Rochester, and when he allotted the manor of Stoke to the share of the monks of his convent, the church passed as an appendage to it, and it continued with them, till bishop Gilbert de Glanvill took this church, among other premises, from them, and annexed it again to his see, where it remained till Richard, bishop of Rochester, with the consent of his chapter, granted the appropriation of it to the abbot and convent of Boxley for ever; saving the portions of tithes, which the prior and convent used to take, from the demesnes of Sir Henry Malmeyns, and those arising from the free tenement of Theodore de Stokes, and the portion of four sacks of wheat due to the almoner of Rochester, and of four sacks of wheat due to the lessees of St. Bartholomew, which they used to take by the hands of the rector of the church, and which for the future they should receive by the hands of the abbot and convent, saving also all episcopal right, and a competent vicarage to be assessed by him, which instrument was dated in 1244. Soon after which, the bishop endowed this vicarage as follows:

 

First, he decreed, that the perpetual vicar of it should have all the altarage, with all small tithes, excepting hay, which should remain to the parson; and that he should have the chapel, and the cemetery of it, and the crost adjoining, and one mark of silver yearly, at the hand of the parson of Stoke, and that the vicar should sustain all burthens due and accustomed, and contribute a third part to the repair and amendment of the chancel, books, vestments, and other ornaments.

 

Richard, bishop of Rochester, in 1280, at the instance of the prior and convent of Rochester, made enquiry in what manner the monks used antiently to retain their tithes in their manors, and in what manner they used to impart them to the parish churches of the same, when it was certified, that in the manor of Stoke, the parish church took the whole tithes of sheaves only, but of other small tithes, as well as of mills and hay, it did not, nor used to take any thing; and he decreed, that the parish church of Stoke should be content with the tenths of the sheaves of all kind of corn only. All which was confirmed to them by John, archbishop of Canterbury, by his let of inspeximus, in the year 1281.

 

In 1315 the abbot and convent of Boxley, as appropriators of the church of Stoke, claimed an exemption of tithes for a mill newly erected by them in the parish of Halstow, for the herbage of their marsh of Horsemershe, and for the rushes increasing, and the lambs feeding in it, before Walter, archbishop of Canterbury, and his commissaries, then visiting this diocese, as metropolitan, which claim was allowed by the decree of the archbishop, &c. that year.

 

On the dissolution of the abbey of Boxley, in the 29th year of king Henry VIII. the church and vicarage of Stoke, together with the rest of the possessions of that monastery, were surrendered into the king's hands.

 

Soon after which, this rectory, with the advowson of the vicarage, was granted by the king to William Goodwyn, to hold in capite by knights service, and he, in the 36th year of that reign, alienated it with the king's licence, to John Parke, whose only daughter, Elizabeth, carried these premises in marriage to John Roper, esq. of Linsted, afterwards created lord Teynham; who in the 9th year of queen Elizabeth, alienated them to John Wilkins, gent. (fn. 11) who levied a fine of them in Easter term, anno 17 of that reign, and died possessed of them in the 19th year of it. He was succeeded in this parsonage and advowson by his kinsman and heir, George Wilkins, one of whose descendants, in the beginning of king Charles I's reign, alienated them to Bright, from which name they were sold to Baldwin Duppa, esq. since which they have passed in like manner as Malmains-hall, before described, to Baldwin Duppa Duppa, esq. the present proprietor of the parsonage and advowson of the vicarage of Stoke. The rectory of Stoke pays a fee farm to the church of ten shillings and eight-pence per annum.

 

The vicarage of Stoke is a discharged living in the king's books, of the clear yearly certified value of thirty pounds, the yearly tenths being 17s. 2d.

 

In 1650, this vicarage, on the survey then taken of it, was valued at forty pounds, (fn. 12) Mr. Thomas Miller, then incumbent.

 

¶NICHOLAS DE CARREU, senior, lord of the manor of Malmeynes, in this parish, with the licence of king Edward III. which was afterwards further renewed and confirmed by king Richard II. in the 12th year of that reign, anno 1388, founded A CHANTRY for two priests in this church of Stoke; and he then, by his deed, endowed it with one messuage and one acre of land, in this parish, for their habitation and their maintenance, an annual rent of twenty-four marcs out of his manor, called Malemeynesemanere, which was confirmed by William, bishop of Rochester, who with the consent of his convent, made rules and orders for their presentation and admission, from time to time, and for the good order and celebration of divine rites in it, to which instrument the bishop, the prior and convent of Rochester, Nicholas de Carreu, and John Maister, and John Buset, chantry priests, severally set their seals.

 

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