The over the head, backwards throw (and he made it, two points - it stuck in the center of the big tire).

 

The tire-thrower, the other players and I were impressed - it was a perfect toss.

During the late 16th and 17th centuries in France, male impotence was considered a crime, as well as legal grounds for a divorce. The practice, which involved inspection of the complainants by court experts, was declared obscene in 1677. John R. Brinkley initiated a boom in male impotence cures in the U.S. in the 1920s and 1930s. His radio programs recommended expensive goat gland implants and "mercurochrome" injections as the path to restored male virility, including operations by surgeon Serge Voronoff. Modern drug therapy for ED made a significant advance in 1983, when British physiologist Giles Brindley dropped his trousers and demonstrated to a shocked Urodynamics Society audience his papaverine-induced erection. The drug Brindley injected into his penis was a non-specific vasodilator, an alpha-blocking agent, and the mechanism of action was clearly corporal smooth muscle relaxation. The effect that Brindley discovered established the fundamentals for the later development of specific, safe, and orally effective drug therapies.

Erectile dysfunction (ED), also known as impotence, is a type of sexual dysfunction characterized by the inability to develop or maintain an erection of the penis during sexual activity. Erectile dysfunction can have psychological consequences as it can be tied to relationship difficulties and self-image. The most important organic causes of impotence are cardiovascular disease and diabetes, neurological problems (for example, trauma from prostatectomy surgery), hormonal insufficiencies (hypogonadism) and drug side effects. Psychological impotence is where erection or penetration fails due to thoughts or feelings (psychological reasons) rather than physical impossibility; this is somewhat less frequent but can often be helped. In psychological impotence, there is a strong response to placebo treatment. Besides treating the underlying causes such as potassium deficiency or arsenic contamination of drinking water, the first line treatment of erectile dysfunction consists of a trial of PDE5 inhibitor (such as sildenafil). In some cases, treatment can involve prostaglandin tablets in the urethra, injections into the penis, a penile prosthesis, a penis pump or vascular reconstructive surgery. Erectile dysfunction is characterized by the regular or repeated inability to obtain or maintain an erection.

Causes

Medications (antidepressants, such as SSRIs, and nicotine[citation needed] are most common)

Neurogenic disorders

Cavernosal disorders (Peyronie's disease)

Hyperprolactinemia (e.g., due to a prolactinoma)

Psychological causes: performance anxiety, stress, and mental disorders

Surgery

Aging. It is four times more common in men aged in their 60s than those in their 40s.

Kidney failure

Diseases such as diabetes mellitus and multiple sclerosis (MS). While these two causes have not been proven they are likely suspects as they cause issues with both the blood flow and nervous systems. Lifestyle: smoking is a key cause of erectile dysfunction. Smoking causes impotence because it promotes arterial narrowing. Surgical intervention for a number of conditions may remove anatomical structures necessary to erection, damage nerves, or impair blood supply. Erectile dysfunction is a common complication of treatments for prostate cancer, including prostatectomy and destruction of the prostate by external beam radiation, although the prostate gland itself is not necessary to achieve an erection. As far as inguinal hernia surgery is concerned, in most cases, and in the absence of postoperative complications, the operative repair can lead to a recovery of the sexual life of patients with preoperative sexual dysfunction, while, in most cases, it does not affect patients with a preoperative normal sexual life. ED can also be associated with bicycling due to both neurological and vascular problems due to compression. The increase risk appears to be about 1.7-fold. Concerns that use of pornography can cause erectile dysfunction have not been substantiated in epidemiological studies according to a 2015 literature review. However, another review and case studies article maintains that use of pornography does indeed cause erectile dysfunction, and critiques the previously described literature review. Penile erection is managed by two mechanisms: the reflex erection, which is achieved by directly touching the penile shaft, and the psychogenic erection, which is achieved by erotic or emotional stimuli. The former uses the peripheral nerves and the lower parts of the spinal cord, whereas the latter uses the limbic system of the brain. In both cases, an intact neural system is required for a successful and complete erection. Stimulation of the penile shaft by the nervous system leads to the secretion of nitric oxide (NO), which causes the relaxation of smooth muscles of corpora cavernosa (the main erectile tissue of penis), and subsequently penile erection. Additionally, adequate levels of testosterone (produced by the testes) and an intact pituitary gland are required for the development of a healthy erectile system. As can be understood from the mechanisms of a normal erection, impotence may develop due to hormonal deficiency, disorders of the neural system, lack of adequate penile blood supply or psychological problems. Spinal cord injury causes sexual dysfunction including ED. Restriction of blood flow can arise from impaired endothelial function due to the usual causes associated with coronary artery disease, but can also be caused by prolonged exposure to bright light. It is analyzed in several ways: Obtaining full erections at some times, such as nocturnal penile tumescence when asleep (when the mind and psychological issues, if any, are less present), tends to suggest that the physical structures are functionally working. Other factors leading to erectile dysfunction are diabetes mellitus (causing neuropathy). There are no formal tests to diagnose erectile dysfunction. Some blood tests are generally done to exclude underlying disease, such as hypogonadism and prolactinoma. Impotence is also related to generally poor physical health, poor dietary habits, obesity, and most specifically cardiovascular disease such as coronary artery disease and peripheral vascular disease. Therefore, a thorough physical examination is helpful, in particular the simple search for a previously undetected groin hernia since it can affect sexual functions in men and is easily curable. A useful and simple way to distinguish between physiological and psychological impotence is to determine whether the patient ever has an erection. If never, the problem is likely to be physiological; if sometimes (however rarely), it could be physiological or psychological. The current diagnostic and statistical manual of mental diseases (DSM-IV) has included a listing for impotence.

Duplex ultrasound

Duplex ultrasound is used to evaluate blood flow, venous leak, signs of atherosclerosis, and scarring or calcification of erectile tissue. Injecting prostaglandin, a hormone-like stimulator produced in the body, induces the erection. Ultrasound is then used to see vascular dilation and measure penile blood pressure.

Penile nerves function

Tests such as the bulbocavernosus reflex test are used to determine if there is sufficient nerve sensation in the penis. The physician squeezes the glans (head) of the penis, which immediately causes the anus to contract if nerve function is normal. A physician measures the latency between squeeze and contraction by observing the anal sphincter or by feeling it with a gloved finger inserted past the anus.

Nocturnal penile tumescence (NPT)

It is normal for a man to have five to six erections during sleep, especially during rapid eye movement (REM). Their absence may indicate a problem with nerve function or blood supply in the penis. There are two methods for measuring changes in penile rigidity and circumference during nocturnal erection: snap gauge and strain gauge. A significant proportion of men who have no sexual dysfunction nonetheless do not have regular nocturnal erections.

Penile biothesiometry

This test uses electromagnetic vibration to evaluate sensitivity and nerve function in the glans and shaft of the penis.

Dynamic infusion cavernosometry (DICC)

technique in which fluid is pumped into the penis at a known rate and pressure. It gives a measurement of the vascular pressure in the corpus cavernosum during an erection.

Corpus cavernosometry

Cavernosography measurement of the vascular pressure in the corpus cavernosum. Saline is infused under pressure into the corpus cavernosum with a butterfly needle, and the flow rate needed to maintain an erection indicates the degree of venous leakage. The leaking veins responsible may be visualized by infusing a mixture of saline and x-ray contrast medium and performing a cavernosogram.[20] In Digital Subtraction Angiography (DSA), the images are acquired digitally.

Magnetic resonance angiography (MRA)

This is similar to magnetic resonance imaging. Magnetic resonance angiography uses magnetic fields and radio waves to provide detailed images of the blood vessels. Doctors may inject a "contrast agent" into the patient's bloodstream that causes vascular tissues to stand out against other tissues. The contrast agent provides for enhanced information regarding blood supply and vascular anomalies.

 

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erectile_dysfunction

Mt Difficulty winery and restaurant where we had lunch. March 6, 2014 South Island, New Zealand.

 

Mt Difficulty Wines is located in Bannockburn and the Cellar Door at Mt Difficulty Wines is known as much for its dramatic views of rugged rock and thyme landscapes as it is for its stylish wine and food.

 

All wines that carry the Mt Difficulty Bannockburn Estate label are subject to two strict criteria: they have to be sourced from vineyards situated in a very specific area – Bannockburn, south of the Kawarau River – and they are to be under the umbrella of the Mt Difficulty management team. The reasons for these self-imposed constraints are that we believe this to be an area with very special qualities for growing grapes, and that the management of the vineyard is reflected in the quality of the ultimate product.

For More Info: www.mtdifficulty.co.nz/vineyards/bannockburn-map.html

  

The 4.5 miles out to this spot ended with a steep climb, and I was not in particularly good shape. To get here I went slow. But here I am, pretty beat, and now to do the entire trail in reverse.

Start time of hike: 8:27 am

Arrival Time at lake: 14:26 pm

Typical hiker's time to here: 3 hours

My time getting here: 6

Come on Smile Smile More & More From Me. 55,721 views yes I can see.

From Wendy & Keith

 

History

 

Thalidomide was created by Grünenthal in 1953 and was used in the late 1950s and early 1960s as a "wonder drug" to treat morning sickness, headaches, coughs, insomnia and colds. Thalidomide was marketed in the UK under the name Distaval in 1958, and advertisements emphasized the drug's complete safety, using phrases such as “non-toxic” and “no known toxicity”.

However, in 1961 an Australian doctor, William McBride, wrote to the Lancet after noticing an increase in deformed babies being born at his hospital – all to mothers who had taken Thalidomide.

Between 1958 and 1962 tens of thousands of women throughout Europe found that the baby they were carrying unaccountably miscarried, or, worse, after they gave birth were told it was stillborn. Thousands more discovered that their babies had severe birth defects, missing arms, legs, or with severe reductions to these limbs, or even worse, damage to their internal organs, brain, heart, kidneys, intestines, genitals, etc. During 1962 record keepers began to count all of the children living who were born damaged by the drug. The only complete records are of those who survived long enough to participate in the national compensation schemes, which were established in Germany, Britain, Japan, Sweden and Australia in the 1970s. The difficulty in uncovering the full toll of the disaster begins with the unknown numbers of miscarriages and stillbirths (possibly up to ten times the number of live births), and the widespread practice of infanticide.

The Thalidomide injuries did not stop once the babies were born. At the age of fifty, the Thalidomide Trust’s records show that around half of all survivors are coping with chronic pain – mainly from muscles and joints (musculo-skeletal pain), largely as a result of the challenges of living with missing or damaged limbs. For many, their bodies are deteriorating far faster than able-bodied people. Several have been told words to the effect “your body is getting the problems of someone in their seventies”, which at forty to fifty years of age is not good news. At least a quarter are coping with developing neurological problems, tingling, numbness, and pain in their affected limbs. This means that a person may be holding a cup, for instance, and the next thing they know is it has fallen to the floor and broken, because of the numbness in their hand. For these survivors, the disaster is still slowly unfolding in their day-to-day lives.

Grünenthal scientists were not only negligent in failing to withdraw the drug when reports of problems came in, or for failing to test it according to the standards of the time, but more than most companies they were very well placed to anticipate the possibility that Thalidomide would cause birth defects.

Grünenthal initially denied claims that the drug hadn’t been extensively tested according to the standards of the time, but once the scandal became undeniable, they sought to deflect blame and limit damage.

In 1961 Thalidomide was eventually withdrawn after being found to be a teratogan - a cause of birth defects. 12 years later, the UK company Distillers Biochemicals Limited (now Diageo) – which was responsible for distributing the drug in the UK – reached a compensation settlement following a legal battle by the families of those affected.

Based on incomplete medical evidence and unrealistic expectations of Thalidomide survivors future needs this settlement has turned out to be at an inadequate level. With all Thalidomide survivors in the UK now over the age of 50, it is no longer sufficient to deal with their rising cost of living, and the dramatic deterioration of their health.

To this day, Grünenthal have never accepted responsibility for the suffering caused by Thalidomide. On September 1st 2012, The Grünenthal Group released a statement containing an apology, stating that it "regrets" the consequences of the drug, which led to babies being born without limbs during the 1950s and 1960s. Although the statement was welcomed by some Thalidomide survivors, it is still not an acceptance of responsibility. They just want to live a comfortable life, and that means Grünenthal should be held accountable and pay for their mistake financially.

 

Spanish

Historia

La talidomida fue creado por Grünenthal en 1953 y fue utilizado a finales de 1950 y principios de 1960 como una "droga milagrosa" para el tratamiento de las náuseas, dolores de cabeza, tos, insomnio y resfriados. La talidomida fue comercializada en el Reino Unido bajo el nombre Distaval en 1958, y destacó los anuncios de seguridad completa del medicamento, utilizando frases como "no tóxico" y "no hay toxicidad conocida".

Sin embargo, en 1961 un médico australiano, William McBride, escribió a la revista The Lancet después de notar un aumento en los bebés que nacen deformes en su hospital - todo a las madres que habían tomado Talidomida.

Entre 1958 y 1962, decenas de miles de mujeres de toda Europa descubrieron que el bebé que llevaban inexplicablemente abortado, o, peor aún, después de dar a luz se les dijo que estaba muerto. Miles de personas descubrieron que sus bebés nacieron con defectos congénitos graves, los brazos, las piernas, que faltan o con reducciones severas a estos miembros, o peor aún, el daño a sus órganos internos, cerebro, corazón, riñones, intestinos, genitales, etc Durante 1962 guardianes de los registros empezó a contar toda la vida los niños que nacieron dañado por la droga. Los únicos registros completos son de los que sobrevivieron lo suficiente como para participar en los sistemas nacionales de indemnización, que se establecieron en Alemania, Gran Bretaña, Japón, Suecia y Australia en la década de 1970. La dificultad para descubrir el número de víctimas del desastre comienza con los números desconocidos de abortos involuntarios y mortinatos (posiblemente hasta diez veces el número de nacidos vivos), y la práctica generalizada del infanticidio.

Las lesiones de la talidomida no se detuvo una vez que los bebés nacieron. A la edad de cincuenta años, los registros de la confianza talidomida muestran que cerca de la mitad de todos los sobrevivientes están lidiando con el dolor crónico - principalmente de músculos y articulaciones (dolor musculoesquelético), en gran parte como resultado de los desafíos de vivir con la falta o ramas dañadas. Para muchos, sus cuerpos se deterioran mucho más rápido que las personas sanas. Algunos han dicho palabras en el sentido de "su cuerpo está recibiendo los problemas de alguien en los setenta", que a los cuarenta o cincuenta años de edad no es una buena noticia. Al menos una cuarta están lidiando con el desarrollo de problemas neurológicos, hormigueo, entumecimiento y dolor en las extremidades afectadas. Esto significa que una persona puede ser la celebración de una taza, por ejemplo, y lo siguiente que sé es que ha caído al suelo y se rompe, debido a la sensación de adormecimiento en la mano. Para estos sobrevivientes, el desastre está siendo poco a poco se desarrolla en su día a día.

Grünenthal científicos no sólo fueron negligentes al no haber retirado la droga cuando los informes de problemas de vino, o por no probarlo de acuerdo a los estándares de la época, pero más que la mayoría de las empresas que estaban muy bien situados para prever la posibilidad de que la talidomida haría causar defectos de nacimiento.

Grünenthal inicialmente negó las acusaciones de que el medicamento no ha sido ampliamente probado de acuerdo con los estándares de la época, pero una vez que el escándalo se hizo innegable, trataron de desviar la culpa y limitar el daño.

En 1961, la talidomida fue finalmente retirada después de haber sido encontrado para ser un teratogan - una de las causas de los defectos congénitos. 12 años después, el Reino Unido, Distillers Company Limited (ahora Bioquímicos Diageo) - encargada de la distribución de la droga en el Reino Unido - llegó a un acuerdo de compensación después de una batalla legal por las familias de los afectados.

Sobre la base de evidencia incompleta médica y expectativas poco realistas de la talidomida futuro sobrevivientes necesita esta solución ha resultado ser en un nivel adecuado. Con todos los sobrevivientes de la talidomida en el Reino Unido ahora más de 50 años de edad, ya no es suficiente para hacer frente a su creciente costo de vida, y el dramático deterioro de su salud.

A día de hoy, Grünenthal nunca ha aceptado la responsabilidad por el sufrimiento causado por la talidomida. El 1 de septiembre de 2012, el Grupo Grünenthal emitió una declaración que contenga una disculpa, diciendo que "lamenta" las consecuencias de la droga, lo que llevó a los bebés que nacen sin extremidades durante los años 1950 y 1960. Aunque la declaración fue bien recibida por algunos sobrevivientes de la talidomida, no es todavía una aceptación de responsabilidad. Ellos sólo quieren vivir una vida cómoda, y eso quiere decir Grünenthal deben rendir cuentas y pagar por su error financieramente.

 

Italian

Storia

La talidomide è stato creato da Grünenthal nel 1953 ed è stato utilizzato alla fine del 1950 e 1960 come un "farmaco miracoloso" per curare la malattia di mattina, mal di testa, tosse, insonnia e raffreddori. La talidomide è stato commercializzato nel Regno Unito con il nome di Distaval nel 1958, e la pubblicità ha sottolineato sicurezza del farmaco, con frasi come "non tossico" e "nessuna tossicità conosciuto".

Tuttavia, nel 1961 un medico australiano, William McBride, ha scritto al Lancet dopo aver notato un aumento delle nascite di bimbi malformati essendo nati a suo ospedale - tutti da madri che avevano assunto talidomide.

Tra il 1958 e il 1962 decine di migliaia di donne in tutta Europa ha scoperto che il bambino che portavano inspiegabilmente abortito, o, peggio, dopo che ha dato alla luce hanno detto che era morto. Altre migliaia hanno scoperto che i loro bambini hanno gravi difetti di nascita, braccia, gambe, mancanti o con gravi riduzioni a queste arti, o peggio ancora, danni ai loro organi interni, cervello, cuore, reni, intestino, genitali, ecc Nel 1962 custodi record cominciò a contare tutta la vita i bambini che sono nati danneggiati dal farmaco. Le uniche registrazioni complete sono di coloro che sono sopravvissuti abbastanza a lungo per partecipare ai sistemi di indennizzo nazionali, che sono stati stabiliti in Germania, Gran Bretagna, Giappone, Svezia e Australia nel 1970. La difficoltà nello scoprire il bilancio del disastro inizia con i numeri sconosciuti di aborti spontanei e nati morti (forse fino a dieci volte il numero di nati vivi), e la pratica diffusa di infanticidio.

Le lesioni Talidomide non si è fermata una volta che i bambini sono nati. All'età di 50, del Trust talidomide i tabulati mostrano che circa la metà di tutti i sopravvissuti stanno affrontando con dolore cronico - principalmente da muscoli e le articolazioni (il dolore muscoloscheletrico), soprattutto a causa delle sfide della vita con mancanti o arti danneggiati. Per molti, i loro corpi si stanno deteriorando molto più veloce di persone abili. Molti hanno detto parole per l'effetto "il tuo corpo è sempre il problema di qualcuno nei loro anni settanta", che a 40-50 anni di età non è una buona notizia. Almeno un quarto stanno affrontando con lo sviluppo di problemi neurologici, formicolio, intorpidimento e dolore a carico degli arti colpiti. Ciò significa che una persona può essere in possesso di un tazza, per esempio, e la prossima cosa che so è che è caduto a terra e rotto, a causa del torpore in mano. Per questi sopravvissuti, il disastro è ancora lentamente svolgendo nel loro giorno per giorno la vita.

Grünenthal scienziati non erano solo negligenza nel non ritirare il farmaco quando i report di problemi è venuto in, o per non aver testarlo secondo gli standard del tempo, ma più che la maggior parte delle aziende erano molto ben disposti ad anticipare la possibilità che Thalidomide avrebbe causare difetti di nascita.

Grünenthal inizialmente smentito che il farmaco non era stato ampiamente testati secondo gli standard del tempo, ma una volta che lo scandalo è diventata innegabile, hanno cercato di deviare la colpa e di limitare i danni.

Nel 1961 talidomide è stata infine ritirata dopo essere stato trovato per essere un teratogan - una causa di difetti di nascita. 12 anni dopo, i Distillers Company Limited, Regno Unito Biochemicals (ora Diageo) - incaricata di distribuire il farmaco nel Regno Unito - ha raggiunto un accordo di compensazione a seguito di una battaglia legale da parte delle famiglie delle persone colpite.

Sulla base di prove mediche incomplete e le aspettative non realistiche del futuro Thalidomide sopravvissuti ha bisogno di questa soluzione si è rivelata essere ad un livello insufficiente. Con tutti i sopravvissuti Talidomide nel Regno Unito ora di età superiore ai 50 anni, non è più sufficiente per affrontare la loro crescente costo della vita, e il drammatico deterioramento della loro salute.

Fino ad oggi, la Grünenthal non hanno mai accettato la responsabilità per la sofferenza causata dal talidomide. Il 1 ° settembre 2012, il Gruppo Grünenthal ha rilasciato una dichiarazione che contiene delle scuse, affermando che esso "deplora" le conseguenze della droga, che ha portato a bambini nati senza arti nel corso del 1950 e 1960. Anche se la dichiarazione è stata accolta da alcuni sopravvissuti talidomide, non è ancora una assunzione di responsabilità. Vogliono solo vivere una vita comoda, e questo significa che Grünenthal dovrebbero essere ritenuti responsabili e pagare per il loro errore finanziario.

  

Japanese

 

サリドマイドは1953年にGrünenthalによって作成されたとつわり、頭痛、咳、不眠や風邪を治療するための「特効薬」として、1950年代後半から1960年代初頭に使用された。サリドマイドは1958年に名称Distavalの下に英国で販売された、と広告はそのような「非毒性」と「知られていない毒性」などのフレーズを使用して、薬剤の完全な安全性を強調した。

サリドマイドを取っていた母親にすべて - しかし、1961年にオーストラリアの医師、ウィリアム·マクブライドは、彼の病院で生まれた赤ちゃん変形の増加に気付いた後、Lancet誌に手紙を書いた。

1958と1962の間で十ヨーロッパ全土の女性の何千人もの彼らは誕生それは死産だったと言われたた後に、彼らがどういうわけか運んでいた赤ちゃんが、悪化し流産し、またはことがわかった。もっと自分の赤ちゃんは1962レコードキーパーの間に脚、またはなど彼らの内臓、脳、心臓、腎臓、腸、生殖器、これらの手足、またはさらに悪いことに、ダメージに深刻な減少を伴う重度の先天性欠損、不足している武器を持っていたことを発見した何千も薬剤によって損傷生まれた生きたすべての子を数えるようになった。唯一の完全な記録は、1970年代にドイツ、イギリス、日本、スウェーデン、オーストラリアで設立された国家補償方式、に参加するのに十分な長生き残った人々のである。災害を完全に通行料を暴くの難しさは、流産や死産の未知数（おそらく生児出生の10倍の数まで）、および嬰児の広範な練習から始まる。

赤ちゃんが生まれた後にサリドマイドの怪我は停止しませんでした。主に筋肉や関節（筋骨格痛）から、大部分が欠落しているか損傷し手足と共に生きるの挑戦の結果として - 50歳の時、サリドマイドトラストの記録は、すべての生存者の約半数が慢性疼痛に対処していることを示している。多くの人にとって、自分の体は健常人よりもはるかに速く悪化している。いくつかは、年齢の四〇から五〇歳で良いニュースではない、「あなたの体は70代の誰かの問題を得ている」旨の言葉を言われている。少なくとも、四半期には、彼らの影響を受けた四肢の発達神経学的な問題、うずき、しびれ、痛みに対処されています。これは、人が、たとえば、カップを保持することができ、彼らが知っている次の事は、それが原因で彼らの手のしびれのため、床に落ちたし、壊れていることを意味します。これらの生存者のために、災害はまだゆっくりと彼らの日々の生活の中で展開されている。

Grünenthalの科学者は問題の報告が入ってきたときだけでなく、薬剤を撤回することができないで怠慢だったか、失敗するのは時間の基準に従ってそれをテストするための、より多くの企業よりも、彼らは非常によく可能性を予想するために置かれたサリドマイドだろうと先天性欠損症を引き起こす。

Grünenthalは当初、薬物が広く、時間の基準に従ってテストされていなかったの主張を否定したが、スキャンダルは否定できないとなったら、それらを非難し、限界ダメージを偏向しようとした。

先天性欠損症の原因は - 1961年にサリドマイドは、最終的にteratoganであることが判明された後に撤回された。 12年後、英国の会社ラーズ·バイオケミカルズ·リミテッド（現ディアジオ） - 英国で薬物を分配するための責任があった - 被災者の家族による法廷闘争以下の補償和解に達した。

この和解は、不十分なレベルであることが判明した不完全な医学的証拠とサリドマイド生存者の将来の非現実的な期待に基づいている必要がありますベース。英国内のすべてのサリドマイドの生存者で、今50歳以上、それはもはや彼らの生活費の上昇、そして自分の健康の劇的な悪化に対処するのに十分ではありません。

この日に、Grünenthalはサリドマイドによって引き起こされる苦しみの責任を受け入れたことがありません。 9月1日2012年、Grünenthalグループは、赤ちゃんへ導いたそれを "後悔"薬の影響は、1950年代と1960年代に手足ずに生まれていることを示す、謝罪を含む声明を発表した。文はいくつかのサリドマイド生存者に歓迎されたものの、それはまだ責任の受け入れではありません。彼らはただ、快適な生活をしたい、それがGrünenthalが責任を負うと財政的に自分の過ちのために支払うべきであることを意味します。

 

Saridomaido wa 1953-nen ni Grünenthal ni yotte sakusei sa reta to tsuwari, zutsū, seki, fumin ya kaze o chiryō suru tame no `tokkōyaku' to shite, 1950-nendai kōhan kara 1960-nendai shotō ni shiyō sa reta. Saridomaido wa 1958-nen ni meishō Distaval no shita ni Igirisu de hanbai sa reta, to kōkoku wa sono yō na `hi dokusei' to `shira rete inai dokusei' nado no furēzu o shiyō shite, yakuzai no kanzen'na anzen-sei o kyōchō shita. Saridomaido o totte ita hahaoya ni subete - shikashi, 1961-nen ni ōsutoraria no ishi, U~Iriamu· makuburaido wa, kare no byōin de umareta akachan henkei no zōka ni kidzuita nochi, ransetto-shi ni tegami o kaita. 1958 To 1962 no ma de jū yōroppa zendo no josei no nan sen-ri mo no karera wa tanjō soreha shizandatta to iwa retata nochi ni, karera ga dō iu wake ka hakonde ita akachan ga, akka shi ryūzan shi, matawa koto ga wakatta. Motto jibun no akachan wa 1962 rekōdokīpā no ma ni ashi, matawa nado karera no naizō, nō, shinzō, jinzō, chō, seishokki, korera no teashi, matawa saraniwaruikoto ni, damēji ni shinkokuna genshō o tomonau jūdo no senten-sei kesson, fusoku shite iru buki o motte ita koto o hakken shita nan sen mo yakuzai ni yotte sonshō umareta ikita subete no ko o kazoeru yō ni natta. Yuiitsu no kanzen'na kiroku wa, 1970-nendai ni Doitsu, Igirisu, Nihon, suu~ēden, ōsutoraria de setsuritsu sa reta kokka hoshō hōshiki, ni sanka suru no ni jūbun'na naga ikinokotta hitobito nodearu. Saigai o kanzen ni tsūkō-ryō o abaku no muzukashi-sa wa, ryūzan ya shizan no michisū (osoraku nama-ji shussei no 10-bai no kazu made), oyobi midorigo no kōhan'na renshū kara hajimaru. Akachan ga umareta nochi ni Saridomaido no kega wa teishi shimasendeshita. Omoni kin'niku ya kansetsu (suji kokkaku-tsū) kara, daibubun ga ketsuraku shite iru ka sonshō shi teashi to tomoniikiru no chōsen no kekka to shite - 50-sai no toki, saridomaidotorasuto no kiroku wa, subete no seizon-sha no yaku hansū ga mansei tōtsū ni taisho shite iru koto o shimeshite iru. Ōku no hito ni totte, jibun no karada wa kenjō hito yori mo haruka ni hayaku akka shite iru. Ikutsu ka wa, nenrei no shi rei kara go rei-saide yoi nyūsude wanai, `anata no karada wa 70-dai no dareka no mondai o ete iru' mune no kotoba o iwa rete iru. Sukunakutomo, shihanki ni wa, karera no eikyō o uketa shishi no hattatsu shinkeigakutekina mondai, uzuki, shibire, itami ni taisho sa rete imasu. Kore wa, hito ga, tatoeba, kappu o hoji suru koto ga deki, karera ga shitte iru tsugi no koto wa, sore ga gen'in de karera no te no shibire no tame, yuka ni ochitashi, kowarete iru koto o imi shimasu. Korera no seizon-sha no tame ni, saigai wa mada yukkuri to karera no hibi no seikatsu no naka de tenkai sa rete iru. Grünenthal no kagaku-sha wa mondai no hōkoku ga haitte kita toki dakedenaku, yakuzai o tekkai suru koto ga dekinaide taimandatta ka, shippai suru no wa jikan no kijun ni shitagatte sore o tesuto suru tame no, yori ōku no kigyō yori mo, karera wa hijō ni yoku kanōsei o yosō suru tame ni oka reta Saridomaidodarou to senten-sei kesson-shō o hikiokosu. Grünenthal wa tōsho, yakubutsu ga hiroku, jikan no kijun ni shitagatte tesuto sa rete inakatta no shuchō o hitei shitaga, sukyandaru wa hiteidekinai to nattara, sorera o hinan shi, genkai damēji o henkō shiyou to shita. Senten-sei kesson-shō no gen'in wa - 1961-nen ni Saridomaido wa, saishūtekini teratogandearu koto ga hanmei sa reta nochi ni tekkai sa reta. 12-Nen-go, Igirisu no kaisha rāzu· baiokemikaruzu· rimiteddo (gen diajio) - Igirisu de yakubutsu o bunpai suru tame no sekinin ga atta - hisai-sha no kazoku ni yoru hōtei tōsō ika no hoshō wakai ni tasshita. Kono wakai wa, fujūbun'na reberudearu koto ga hanmei shita fukanzen'na igaku-teki shōko to Saridomaido seizon-sha no shōrai no higenjitsutekina kitai ni motodzuite iru hitsuyō ga arimasu bēsu. Igirisu-nai no subete no Saridomaido no seizon-sha de, ima 50-sai ijō, sore wa mohaya karera no seikatsu-hi no jōshō, soshite jibun no kenkō no gekitekina akka ni taisho suru no ni jūbunde wa arimasen. Kono Ni~Tsu ni, Grünenthal wa Saridomaido ni yotte hikiokosa reru kurushimi no sekinin o ukeireta koto ga arimasen. 9 Tsuki 1-nichi 2012-nen, Grünenthal gurūpu wa, akachan e michibiita sore o" kōkai"-yaku no eikyō wa, 1950-nendai to 1960-nendai ni teashizu ni umarete iru koto o shimesu, shazai o fukumu seimei o happyō shita. Bun wa ikutsu ka no Saridomaido seizon-sha ni kangei sa reta mono no, sore wa mada sekinin no ukeirede wa arimasen. Karera wa tada, kaitekina seikatsu o shitai, sore ga Grünenthal ga sekininwoou to zaisei-teki ni jibun no ayamachi no tame ni shiharaubekidearu koto o imi shimasu.

  

Welsh

 

Thalidomid ei greu gan Grünenthal ym 1953 ac fe'i defnyddiwyd yn y 1950au hwyr a'r 1960au cynnar fel "cyffur rhyfeddod" i drin salwch bore, cur pen, peswch, anhunedd ac annwyd. Thalidomid ei farchnata yn y DU o dan yr enw Distaval ym 1958, a hysbysebion yn pwysleisio diogelwch cyflawn y cyffur, gan ddefnyddio ymadroddion megis "heb fod yn wenwynig" a "dim gwenwyndra hysbys".

Fodd bynnag, yn 1961 meddyg Awstralia, William McBride, ysgrifennodd at y Lancet ar ôl sylwi cynnydd mewn babanod deformed cael eu geni yn ei ysbyty - i gyd i famau a oedd wedi cymryd Thalidomide.

Rhwng 1958 a 1962 degau o filoedd o ferched ledled Ewrop gwelwyd bod y baban eu bod yn cario miscarried anesboniadwy, neu, yn waeth, ar ôl iddynt roi genedigaeth Dywedwyd wrthym ei fod yn farw-anedig. Mae miloedd mwy darganfod bod gan eu babanod namau geni difrifol, breichiau goll, coesau, neu gyda gostyngiadau difrifol i aelodau hyn, neu hyd yn oed yn waeth, difrod i'w organau mewnol, yr ymennydd, y galon, yr arennau, coluddion, organau cenhedlu, ac ati Yn ystod 1962 geidwaid record dechreuodd i gyfrif pob un o'r plant sy'n byw a anwyd niweidio gan y cyffur. Yr unig cofnodion cyflawn yn y rhai a oroesodd yn ddigon hir i gymryd rhan yn y cynlluniau iawndal cenedlaethol, a sefydlwyd yn yr Almaen, Prydain, Japan, Sweden ac Awstralia yn y 1970au. Yr anhawster mewn datgelu y doll llawn y drychineb yn dechrau gyda nifer anhysbys o gamesgor a marw-enedigaethau (o bosibl hyd at ddeg gwaith y nifer o enedigaethau byw), ac mae'r arfer cyffredin o babanladdiad.

Nid oedd yr anafiadau Thalidomide oedd yn rhoi'r gorau unwaith y bydd y babanod eu geni. Ar hanner cant oed, cofnodion yr Ymddiriedolaeth Thalidomid yn dangos bod tua hanner yr holl goroeswyr yn ymdopi â phoen cronig - yn bennaf o gyhyrau a chymalau (poen cyhyrysgerbydol), yn bennaf o ganlyniad i heriau o fyw gyda aelodau goll neu wedi'u difrodi. I lawer, mae eu cyrff yn dirywio yn llawer gyflymach na phobl abl. Mae nifer wedi cael gwybod y geiriau i'r perwyl "eich corff yn cael y problemau y bydd rhywun yn eu saithdegau", a oedd yn 40-50 mlwydd oed nad yw newyddion da. Mae o leiaf chwarter yn ymdopi â datblygu problemau niwrolegol, pinnau bach, diffyg teimlad, a phoen yn eu coesau yr effeithir arnynt. Mae hyn yn golygu y gall person gael ei dal cwpan, er enghraifft, a'r peth nesaf eu bod yn gwybod ei fod wedi disgyn i'r llawr ac yn torri, oherwydd y diffyg teimlad yn eu llaw. Ar gyfer goroeswyr hyn, mae'r drychineb yn dal yn datblygu yn araf yn eu bywydau o ddydd i ddydd.

Gwyddonwyr Grünenthal oedd nid yn unig yn esgeulus wrth fethu i dynnu'r cyffur pan ddaeth adroddiadau am broblemau mewn, neu am fethu i brofi ei fod yn ôl y safonau ar y pryd, ond yn fwy na'r rhan fwyaf o gwmnïau eu bod mewn sefyllfa dda iawn i ragweld y posibilrwydd y byddai Thalidomide achosi namau geni.

Grünenthal i ddechrau gwadu honiadau nad oedd y cyffur wedi cael ei brofi'n helaeth yn ôl y safonau ar y pryd, ond unwaith y bydd y sgandal daeth yn ddiymwad, maent yn ceisio symud y bai a therfyn difrod.

Ym 1961 Thalidomide ei dynnu'n ôl yn y pen draw ar ôl ei gael i fod yn teratogan - un o achosion o namau geni. 12 mlynedd yn ddiweddarach, mae'r DU Distillers Biochemicals cwmni Limited (Diageo erbyn hyn) - a oedd yn gyfrifol am ddosbarthu'r cyffur yn y DU - cyrraedd setliad iawndal yn dilyn brwydr gyfreithiol gan deuluoedd y rhai yr effeithir arnynt.

Yn seiliedig ar dystiolaeth feddygol anghyflawn a disgwyliadau afrealistig o oroeswyr Thalidomide anghenion y dyfodol setliad hwn wedi troi allan i fod ar lefel annigonol. Gyda'r holl goroeswyr Thalidomid yn y DU bellach dros 50 oed, ei bod yn ddigonol i ddelio â'u cynnydd mewn costau byw, ac mae'r dirywiad dramatig ar eu hiechyd mwyach.

Hyd heddiw, erioed Grünenthal wedi derbyn cyfrifoldeb am y dioddefaint a achosir gan Thalidomide. Ar 1 Medi 2012, rhyddhawyd y Grŵp Grünenthal datganiad sy'n cynnwys ymddiheuriad, gan ddweud ei fod yn "difaru" y canlyniadau y cyffur, a arweiniodd at fabanod yn cael eu geni heb aelodau yn ystod y 1950au a'r 1960au. Er bod y datganiad yn ei groesawu gan rai goroeswyr Thalidomid, nid yw'n dal i fod yn derbyn cyfrifoldeb. Maent yn unig yn awyddus i fyw bywyd cyfforddus, ac mae hynny'n golygu y dylai Grünenthal fod yn atebol ac yn talu am eu camgymeriad yn ariannol.

  

.. of waterfalls that is.

Since the recent rains in Arkansas and reports that dogwoods blooms are still everywhere, Danny and I decided it just might be the perfect time to go try dogwood falls.

 

That evening Danny had an email from our good friend which started ' Finding dogwood falls ~ Good Luck !.

It turned out that since he couldn't meet us Sunday morning, he went to try find it on Saturday

 

The guide says it's 1.2 miles round trip, medium bushwack. ( foot note a. for revised difficulty rating system)

Directions in guide book : head left, down a steep hill, when you hit a creek, turn right and .6 miles later, there you are.

Ok, so down the hill and into the woods we go it's off to dogwood falls we go !.

 

If not mentioned yet, it's actually down a rather STEEP hill. Found a creek like thing, and turned right, which turned out to be a ravine washout we're walking up, ( I mean UP).

Eventually we decided to take a right off the ravine, backup a very steep hill, exactly back to the car !! Yippie !!

1.2 Miles, 2 hours, and 0 clicks !!

 

It's now about 9am, and the overcast is still holding. I wanted to head back down and try again, as maybe we did someting wrong.

Danny decided to hold down the car, and we decided after 2 hrs he should start getting ansy :)

 

Down the hill and into the woods it's off to dogwood falls I go ~ Round 2.

This time I headed a little more left, until I found a creek, wala !

Incidently, I found some footprints, and I"m thinking "Am I in **TR.iPod's trail?"

Oh, and on the lower levels there was a lot of briar thorns everywhere, yippe !

Carefully treading, the banks of the creek got steeper and I headed up hill. All the while keeping the creek in sight and sound,

Following the creek, was the way to go, where I started to find bigger boulders, and then, to my eyes amazement, I saw the top of a running water drop off

 

Rather large too !!!

I surveyed the area, to right, steep, rocky bluff like features, tried to get in postion to see more then just the tip top of the fall, no avail :(

I did see a dogwood overhanging, had 2 blooms on it :(

I don't exactly know how the falls are labeled as 37ft, because I'm classifiying that if I went up and around to try to get a better view, I might slip and fall 70 feet :)

Being alone, I decided to start back and stop hunting (one could spend 2 more hrs looking for safe routes and photo spots). *sigh*

Well I found it, at least I found it right, the search was not a 'snipe' hunt.

After that, I scurred past the briar, then ran up the steep steep hill, and overshot the car. Man was I wiped.

 

So, to the photograph on hand, this part of the creek I followed and had made a mental note, so this is proof of my 'trail of the grail of waterfalls'

For those whom made it through the story,

Here's Large On Black

The difficulty in trying to get a moonscape is of course the moon needs a fast shutter but the surrounding clouds only show up on a second or more. Then you have to get the moon in the right place on the second exposure and it all gets a bit time consuming especially when the cloud is thick and takes a while to shift...and as it's night time a glass or six of a good Claret doesn't help the unravel the chaotic sequence of pressing small buttons on the camera in the dark!!. Anyway this is the best effort, . I learnt a lot last night and maybe I'll be more successful tonight.

View from Mt Difficulty Vineyard in Bannockburn where we are having lunch. April 27, 2016 Central Otago in the South Island of New Zealand.

 

The Cellar Door at Mt Difficulty Wines is known as much for its dramatic views of rugged rock and thyme landscapes as it is for its stylish wine and food.

 

The unique microclimate of the Bannockburn area is partially created by the presence of Mount Difficulty which overlooks the southern Cromwell basin, and is the namesake of Mt Difficulty Wines. Mount Difficulty is integral in providing low rainfall and humidity for the region. Bannockburn enjoys hot summers, a large diurnal temperature variation and long cool autumns; conditions which bring the best out of the Pinot Noir grapes. These conditions, along with soils which are ideal for viticulture, provide an excellent basis not only for Pinot Noir, but also for Pinot Gris, Riesling, and Chardonnay. The soils are a mix of clay and gravels, but all feature a high pH level; grapes produce their best wines on sweet soils.

 

For More Info: www.mtdifficulty.co.nz/aboutus/ourstory.html

Birdoswald Roman Fort was known as Banna ("horn" in Celtic) in Roman times, reflecting the geography of the site on a triangular spur of land bounded by cliffs to the south and east commanding a broad meander of the River Irthing in Cumbria below.

 

It lies towards the western end of Hadrian's Wall and is one of the best preserved of the 16 forts along the wall. It is also attached to the longest surviving stretch of Hadrian's Wall.

 

Cumbria County Council were responsible for the management of Birdoswald fort from 1984 until the end of 2004, when English Heritage assumed responsibility.

 

This western part of Hadrian's Wall was originally built using turf starting from 122 AD. The stone fort was built some time after the wall, in the usual playing card shape, with gates to the east, west and south.

 

The fort was occupied by Cohors I Aelia Dacorum and by other Roman auxiliaries from approximately AD 126 to AD 400.

 

The two-mile sector of Hadrian's Wall either side of Birdoswald is also of major interest. It is currently the only known sector of Hadrian's Wall in which the original turf wall was replaced, probably in the 130s, by a stone wall approximately 50 metres further north, to line up with the fort's north wall, instead of at its east and west gates. The reasons for this change are unclear, although David Woolliscroft (Woolliscroft, 2001) has plausibly suggested that it was the result of changing signalling requirements, whilst Stewart Ainsworth of Time Team suggested it was a response to a cliff collapse into the river. At any rate, this remains the only area in which both the walls can be directly compared.

 

As of 2005, it is the only site[citation needed] on Hadrian's Wall at which significant occupation in the post-Roman period has been proven. Excavations between 1987 and 1992 showed an unbroken sequence of occupation on the site of the fort granaries, running from the late Roman period until possibly 500AD. The granaries were replaced by two successive large timber halls, reminiscent of others found in many parts of Britain dating to the fifth and sixth centuries. Tony Wilmott (co-director of the excavations) has suggested that, after the end of Roman rule in Britain, the fort served as the power-base for a local warband descended from the late Roman garrison, possibly deriving legitimacy from their ancestors for several generations.

 

Inside were built the usual stone buildings, a central headquarters building (principia), granaries (horrea), and barracks. Unusually for an auxiliary fort, it also included an exercise building (basilica exercitatoria), perhaps reflecting the difficulties of training soldiers in the exposed site in the north of England.

 

Geophysical surveys detected vici (civilian settlements) of different characters on the eastern, western and northern sides of the fort. A bathhouse was also located in the valley of the River Irthing.

 

Approximately 600 metres east of Birdoswald, at the foot of an escarpment, lie the remains of Willowford bridge which carried Hadrian's Wall across the River Irthing. The westward movement of the river course over the centuries has left the east abutment of the bridge high and dry, while the west abutment has probably been destroyed by erosion. Nevertheless, the much-modified visible remains are highly impressive. Until 1996, these remains were not directly accessible from the fort, but they can now be reached by a footbridge.

 

The fort at Birdoswald was linked by a Roman road, sometimes referred to as the Maiden Way, to the outpost fort of Bewcastle, seven miles to the north. Signals could be relayed between the two forts by means of two signalling towers.

 

The fort has been extensively excavated for over a century, with twentieth century excavations starting in 1911 by F.G. Simpson and continuing with Ian Richmond from 1927 to 1933 .[6] The gateways and walls were then re-excavated under the supervision of Brenda Swinbank and J P Gillam from 1949 to 1950.

 

Extensive geophysical surveys, both magnetometry and earth resistance survey, were conducted by TimeScape Surveys (Alan Biggins & David Taylor, 1999 & 2004) between 1997 -2001. These surveys established that the sub-surface remains in the fort were well preserved.

 

An area between the fort and the escarpment was excavated by Channel 4's archaeological television programme Time Team in January 2000. The excavation detected signs of an extramural settlement (vicus), but the area is liable to erosion and the majority of the vicus could have fallen over the cliffs.

 

In 2021 Newcastle University, Historic England, and English Heritage launched a major new archaeological excavation at the site.

 

Today the fort's site is operated by English Heritage as Birdoswald Roman Fort. The visitor centre features displays and reconstructions of the fort, exhibits about life in Roman Britain, the site's history through the ages, and archaeological discoveries in the 19th and 20th centuries. Visitors can walk outside along the excavated remains of the fort.

 

Roman Britain was the territory that became the Roman province of Britannia after the Roman conquest of Britain, consisting of a large part of the island of Great Britain. The occupation lasted from AD 43 to AD 410.

 

Julius Caesar invaded Britain in 55 and 54 BC as part of his Gallic Wars. According to Caesar, the Britons had been overrun or culturally assimilated by the Belgae during the British Iron Age and had been aiding Caesar's enemies. The Belgae were the only Celtic tribe to cross the sea into Britain, for to all other Celtic tribes this land was unknown. He received tribute, installed the friendly king Mandubracius over the Trinovantes, and returned to Gaul. Planned invasions under Augustus were called off in 34, 27, and 25 BC. In 40 AD, Caligula assembled 200,000 men at the Channel on the continent, only to have them gather seashells (musculi) according to Suetonius, perhaps as a symbolic gesture to proclaim Caligula's victory over the sea. Three years later, Claudius directed four legions to invade Britain and restore the exiled king Verica over the Atrebates. The Romans defeated the Catuvellauni, and then organized their conquests as the province of Britain. By 47 AD, the Romans held the lands southeast of the Fosse Way. Control over Wales was delayed by reverses and the effects of Boudica's uprising, but the Romans expanded steadily northward.

 

The conquest of Britain continued under command of Gnaeus Julius Agricola (77–84), who expanded the Roman Empire as far as Caledonia. In mid-84 AD, Agricola faced the armies of the Caledonians, led by Calgacus, at the Battle of Mons Graupius. Battle casualties were estimated by Tacitus to be upwards of 10,000 on the Caledonian side and about 360 on the Roman side. The bloodbath at Mons Graupius concluded the forty-year conquest of Britain, a period that possibly saw between 100,000 and 250,000 Britons killed. In the context of pre-industrial warfare and of a total population of Britain of c. 2 million, these are very high figures.

 

Under the 2nd-century emperors Hadrian and Antoninus Pius, two walls were built to defend the Roman province from the Caledonians, whose realms in the Scottish Highlands were never controlled. Around 197 AD, the Severan Reforms divided Britain into two provinces: Britannia Superior and Britannia Inferior. During the Diocletian Reforms, at the end of the 3rd century, Britannia was divided into four provinces under the direction of a vicarius, who administered the Diocese of the Britains. A fifth province, Valentia, is attested in the later 4th century. For much of the later period of the Roman occupation, Britannia was subject to barbarian invasions and often came under the control of imperial usurpers and imperial pretenders. The final Roman withdrawal from Britain occurred around 410; the native kingdoms are considered to have formed Sub-Roman Britain after that.

 

Following the conquest of the Britons, a distinctive Romano-British culture emerged as the Romans introduced improved agriculture, urban planning, industrial production, and architecture. The Roman goddess Britannia became the female personification of Britain. After the initial invasions, Roman historians generally only mention Britain in passing. Thus, most present knowledge derives from archaeological investigations and occasional epigraphic evidence lauding the Britannic achievements of an emperor. Roman citizens settled in Britain from many parts of the Empire.

 

History

Britain was known to the Classical world. The Greeks, the Phoenicians and the Carthaginians traded for Cornish tin in the 4th century BC. The Greeks referred to the Cassiterides, or "tin islands", and placed them near the west coast of Europe. The Carthaginian sailor Himilco is said to have visited the island in the 6th or 5th century BC and the Greek explorer Pytheas in the 4th. It was regarded as a place of mystery, with some writers refusing to believe it existed.

 

The first direct Roman contact was when Julius Caesar undertook two expeditions in 55 and 54 BC, as part of his conquest of Gaul, believing the Britons were helping the Gallic resistance. The first expedition was more a reconnaissance than a full invasion and gained a foothold on the coast of Kent but was unable to advance further because of storm damage to the ships and a lack of cavalry. Despite the military failure, it was a political success, with the Roman Senate declaring a 20-day public holiday in Rome to honour the unprecedented achievement of obtaining hostages from Britain and defeating Belgic tribes on returning to the continent.

 

The second invasion involved a substantially larger force and Caesar coerced or invited many of the native Celtic tribes to pay tribute and give hostages in return for peace. A friendly local king, Mandubracius, was installed, and his rival, Cassivellaunus, was brought to terms. Hostages were taken, but historians disagree over whether any tribute was paid after Caesar returned to Gaul.

 

Caesar conquered no territory and left no troops behind, but he established clients and brought Britain into Rome's sphere of influence. Augustus planned invasions in 34, 27 and 25 BC, but circumstances were never favourable, and the relationship between Britain and Rome settled into one of diplomacy and trade. Strabo, writing late in Augustus's reign, claimed that taxes on trade brought in more annual revenue than any conquest could. Archaeology shows that there was an increase in imported luxury goods in southeastern Britain. Strabo also mentions British kings who sent embassies to Augustus, and Augustus's own Res Gestae refers to two British kings he received as refugees. When some of Tiberius's ships were carried to Britain in a storm during his campaigns in Germany in 16 AD, they came back with tales of monsters.

 

Rome appears to have encouraged a balance of power in southern Britain, supporting two powerful kingdoms: the Catuvellauni, ruled by the descendants of Tasciovanus, and the Atrebates, ruled by the descendants of Commius. This policy was followed until 39 or 40 AD, when Caligula received an exiled member of the Catuvellaunian dynasty and planned an invasion of Britain that collapsed in farcical circumstances before it left Gaul. When Claudius successfully invaded in 43 AD, it was in aid of another fugitive British ruler, Verica of the Atrebates.

 

Roman invasion

The invasion force in 43 AD was led by Aulus Plautius,[26] but it is unclear how many legions were sent. The Legio II Augusta, commanded by future emperor Vespasian, was the only one directly attested to have taken part. The Legio IX Hispana, the XIV Gemina (later styled Martia Victrix) and the XX (later styled Valeria Victrix) are known to have served during the Boudican Revolt of 60/61, and were probably there since the initial invasion. This is not certain because the Roman army was flexible, with units being moved around whenever necessary. The IX Hispana may have been permanently stationed, with records showing it at Eboracum (York) in 71 and on a building inscription there dated 108, before being destroyed in the east of the Empire, possibly during the Bar Kokhba revolt.

 

The invasion was delayed by a troop mutiny until an imperial freedman persuaded them to overcome their fear of crossing the Ocean and campaigning beyond the limits of the known world. They sailed in three divisions, and probably landed at Richborough in Kent; at least part of the force may have landed near Fishbourne, West Sussex.

 

The Catuvellauni and their allies were defeated in two battles: the first, assuming a Richborough landing, on the river Medway, the second on the river Thames. One of their leaders, Togodumnus, was killed, but his brother Caratacus survived to continue resistance elsewhere. Plautius halted at the Thames and sent for Claudius, who arrived with reinforcements, including artillery and elephants, for the final march to the Catuvellaunian capital, Camulodunum (Colchester). Vespasian subdued the southwest, Cogidubnus was set up as a friendly king of several territories, and treaties were made with tribes outside direct Roman control.

 

Establishment of Roman rule

After capturing the south of the island, the Romans turned their attention to what is now Wales. The Silures, Ordovices and Deceangli remained implacably opposed to the invaders and for the first few decades were the focus of Roman military attention, despite occasional minor revolts among Roman allies like the Brigantes and the Iceni. The Silures were led by Caratacus, and he carried out an effective guerrilla campaign against Governor Publius Ostorius Scapula. Finally, in 51, Ostorius lured Caratacus into a set-piece battle and defeated him. The British leader sought refuge among the Brigantes, but their queen, Cartimandua, proved her loyalty by surrendering him to the Romans. He was brought as a captive to Rome, where a dignified speech he made during Claudius's triumph persuaded the emperor to spare his life. The Silures were still not pacified, and Cartimandua's ex-husband Venutius replaced Caratacus as the most prominent leader of British resistance.

 

On Nero's accession, Roman Britain extended as far north as Lindum. Gaius Suetonius Paulinus, the conqueror of Mauretania (modern day Algeria and Morocco), then became governor of Britain, and in 60 and 61 he moved against Mona (Anglesey) to settle accounts with Druidism once and for all. Paulinus led his army across the Menai Strait and massacred the Druids and burnt their sacred groves.

 

While Paulinus was campaigning in Mona, the southeast of Britain rose in revolt under the leadership of Boudica. She was the widow of the recently deceased king of the Iceni, Prasutagus. The Roman historian Tacitus reports that Prasutagus had left a will leaving half his kingdom to Nero in the hope that the remainder would be left untouched. He was wrong. When his will was enforced, Rome[clarification needed] responded by violently seizing the tribe's lands in full. Boudica protested. In consequence, Rome[clarification needed] punished her and her daughters by flogging and rape. In response, the Iceni, joined by the Trinovantes, destroyed the Roman colony at Camulodunum (Colchester) and routed the part of the IXth Legion that was sent to relieve it. Paulinus rode to London (then called Londinium), the rebels' next target, but concluded it could not be defended. Abandoned, it was destroyed, as was Verulamium (St. Albans). Between seventy and eighty thousand people are said to have been killed in the three cities. But Paulinus regrouped with two of the three legions still available to him, chose a battlefield, and, despite being outnumbered by more than twenty to one, defeated the rebels in the Battle of Watling Street. Boudica died not long afterwards, by self-administered poison or by illness. During this time, the Emperor Nero considered withdrawing Roman forces from Britain altogether.

 

There was further turmoil in 69, the "Year of the Four Emperors". As civil war raged in Rome, weak governors were unable to control the legions in Britain, and Venutius of the Brigantes seized his chance. The Romans had previously defended Cartimandua against him, but this time were unable to do so. Cartimandua was evacuated, and Venutius was left in control of the north of the country. After Vespasian secured the empire, his first two appointments as governor, Quintus Petillius Cerialis and Sextus Julius Frontinus, took on the task of subduing the Brigantes and Silures respectively.[38] Frontinus extended Roman rule to all of South Wales, and initiated exploitation of the mineral resources, such as the gold mines at Dolaucothi.

 

In the following years, the Romans conquered more of the island, increasing the size of Roman Britain. Governor Gnaeus Julius Agricola, father-in-law to the historian Tacitus, conquered the Ordovices in 78. With the XX Valeria Victrix legion, Agricola defeated the Caledonians in 84 at the Battle of Mons Graupius, in north-east Scotland. This was the high-water mark of Roman territory in Britain: shortly after his victory, Agricola was recalled from Britain back to Rome, and the Romans initially retired to a more defensible line along the Forth–Clyde isthmus, freeing soldiers badly needed along other frontiers.

 

For much of the history of Roman Britain, a large number of soldiers were garrisoned on the island. This required that the emperor station a trusted senior man as governor of the province. As a result, many future emperors served as governors or legates in this province, including Vespasian, Pertinax, and Gordian I.

 

Roman military organisation in the north

In 84 AD

In 84 AD

 

In 155 AD

In 155 AD

 

Hadrian's Wall, and Antonine Wall

There is no historical source describing the decades that followed Agricola's recall. Even the name of his replacement is unknown. Archaeology has shown that some Roman forts south of the Forth–Clyde isthmus were rebuilt and enlarged; others appear to have been abandoned. By 87 the frontier had been consolidated on the Stanegate. Roman coins and pottery have been found circulating at native settlement sites in the Scottish Lowlands in the years before 100, indicating growing Romanisation. Some of the most important sources for this era are the writing tablets from the fort at Vindolanda in Northumberland, mostly dating to 90–110. These tablets provide evidence for the operation of a Roman fort at the edge of the Roman Empire, where officers' wives maintained polite society while merchants, hauliers and military personnel kept the fort operational and supplied.

 

Around 105 there appears to have been a serious setback at the hands of the tribes of the Picts: several Roman forts were destroyed by fire, with human remains and damaged armour at Trimontium (at modern Newstead, in SE Scotland) indicating hostilities at least at that site.[citation needed] There is also circumstantial evidence that auxiliary reinforcements were sent from Germany, and an unnamed British war of the period is mentioned on the gravestone of a tribune of Cyrene. Trajan's Dacian Wars may have led to troop reductions in the area or even total withdrawal followed by slighting of the forts by the Picts rather than an unrecorded military defeat. The Romans were also in the habit of destroying their own forts during an orderly withdrawal, in order to deny resources to an enemy. In either case, the frontier probably moved south to the line of the Stanegate at the Solway–Tyne isthmus around this time.

 

A new crisis occurred at the beginning of Hadrian's reign): a rising in the north which was suppressed by Quintus Pompeius Falco. When Hadrian reached Britannia on his famous tour of the Roman provinces around 120, he directed an extensive defensive wall, known to posterity as Hadrian's Wall, to be built close to the line of the Stanegate frontier. Hadrian appointed Aulus Platorius Nepos as governor to undertake this work who brought the Legio VI Victrix legion with him from Germania Inferior. This replaced the famous Legio IX Hispana, whose disappearance has been much discussed. Archaeology indicates considerable political instability in Scotland during the first half of the 2nd century, and the shifting frontier at this time should be seen in this context.

 

In the reign of Antoninus Pius (138–161) the Hadrianic border was briefly extended north to the Forth–Clyde isthmus, where the Antonine Wall was built around 142 following the military reoccupation of the Scottish lowlands by a new governor, Quintus Lollius Urbicus.

 

The first Antonine occupation of Scotland ended as a result of a further crisis in 155–157, when the Brigantes revolted. With limited options to despatch reinforcements, the Romans moved their troops south, and this rising was suppressed by Governor Gnaeus Julius Verus. Within a year the Antonine Wall was recaptured, but by 163 or 164 it was abandoned. The second occupation was probably connected with Antoninus's undertakings to protect the Votadini or his pride in enlarging the empire, since the retreat to the Hadrianic frontier occurred not long after his death when a more objective strategic assessment of the benefits of the Antonine Wall could be made. The Romans did not entirely withdraw from Scotland at this time: the large fort at Newstead was maintained along with seven smaller outposts until at least 180.

 

During the twenty-year period following the reversion of the frontier to Hadrian's Wall in 163/4, Rome was concerned with continental issues, primarily problems in the Danubian provinces. Increasing numbers of hoards of buried coins in Britain at this time indicate that peace was not entirely achieved. Sufficient Roman silver has been found in Scotland to suggest more than ordinary trade, and it is likely that the Romans were reinforcing treaty agreements by paying tribute to their implacable enemies, the Picts.

 

In 175, a large force of Sarmatian cavalry, consisting of 5,500 men, arrived in Britannia, probably to reinforce troops fighting unrecorded uprisings. In 180, Hadrian's Wall was breached by the Picts and the commanding officer or governor was killed there in what Cassius Dio described as the most serious war of the reign of Commodus. Ulpius Marcellus was sent as replacement governor and by 184 he had won a new peace, only to be faced with a mutiny from his own troops. Unhappy with Marcellus's strictness, they tried to elect a legate named Priscus as usurper governor; he refused, but Marcellus was lucky to leave the province alive. The Roman army in Britannia continued its insubordination: they sent a delegation of 1,500 to Rome to demand the execution of Tigidius Perennis, a Praetorian prefect who they felt had earlier wronged them by posting lowly equites to legate ranks in Britannia. Commodus met the party outside Rome and agreed to have Perennis killed, but this only made them feel more secure in their mutiny.

 

The future emperor Pertinax (lived 126–193) was sent to Britannia to quell the mutiny and was initially successful in regaining control, but a riot broke out among the troops. Pertinax was attacked and left for dead, and asked to be recalled to Rome, where he briefly succeeded Commodus as emperor in 192.

 

3rd century

The death of Commodus put into motion a series of events which eventually led to civil war. Following the short reign of Pertinax, several rivals for the emperorship emerged, including Septimius Severus and Clodius Albinus. The latter was the new governor of Britannia, and had seemingly won the natives over after their earlier rebellions; he also controlled three legions, making him a potentially significant claimant. His sometime rival Severus promised him the title of Caesar in return for Albinus's support against Pescennius Niger in the east. Once Niger was neutralised, Severus turned on his ally in Britannia; it is likely that Albinus saw he would be the next target and was already preparing for war.

 

Albinus crossed to Gaul in 195, where the provinces were also sympathetic to him, and set up at Lugdunum. Severus arrived in February 196, and the ensuing battle was decisive. Albinus came close to victory, but Severus's reinforcements won the day, and the British governor committed suicide. Severus soon purged Albinus's sympathisers and perhaps confiscated large tracts of land in Britain as punishment. Albinus had demonstrated the major problem posed by Roman Britain. In order to maintain security, the province required the presence of three legions, but command of these forces provided an ideal power base for ambitious rivals. Deploying those legions elsewhere would strip the island of its garrison, leaving the province defenceless against uprisings by the native Celtic tribes and against invasion by the Picts and Scots.

 

The traditional view is that northern Britain descended into anarchy during Albinus's absence. Cassius Dio records that the new Governor, Virius Lupus, was obliged to buy peace from a fractious northern tribe known as the Maeatae. The succession of militarily distinguished governors who were subsequently appointed suggests that enemies of Rome were posing a difficult challenge, and Lucius Alfenus Senecio's report to Rome in 207 describes barbarians "rebelling, over-running the land, taking loot and creating destruction". In order to rebel, of course, one must be a subject – the Maeatae clearly did not consider themselves such. Senecio requested either reinforcements or an Imperial expedition, and Severus chose the latter, despite being 62 years old. Archaeological evidence shows that Senecio had been rebuilding the defences of Hadrian's Wall and the forts beyond it, and Severus's arrival in Britain prompted the enemy tribes to sue for peace immediately. The emperor had not come all that way to leave without a victory, and it is likely that he wished to provide his teenage sons Caracalla and Geta with first-hand experience of controlling a hostile barbarian land.

 

Northern campaigns, 208–211

An invasion of Caledonia led by Severus and probably numbering around 20,000 troops moved north in 208 or 209, crossing the Wall and passing through eastern Scotland on a route similar to that used by Agricola. Harried by punishing guerrilla raids by the northern tribes and slowed by an unforgiving terrain, Severus was unable to meet the Caledonians on a battlefield. The emperor's forces pushed north as far as the River Tay, but little appears to have been achieved by the invasion, as peace treaties were signed with the Caledonians. By 210 Severus had returned to York, and the frontier had once again become Hadrian's Wall. He assumed the title Britannicus but the title meant little with regard to the unconquered north, which clearly remained outside the authority of the Empire. Almost immediately, another northern tribe, the Maeatae, went to war. Caracalla left with a punitive expedition, but by the following year his ailing father had died and he and his brother left the province to press their claim to the throne.

 

As one of his last acts, Severus tried to solve the problem of powerful and rebellious governors in Britain by dividing the province into Britannia Superior and Britannia Inferior. This kept the potential for rebellion in check for almost a century. Historical sources provide little information on the following decades, a period known as the Long Peace. Even so, the number of buried hoards found from this period rises, suggesting continuing unrest. A string of forts were built along the coast of southern Britain to control piracy; and over the following hundred years they increased in number, becoming the Saxon Shore Forts.

 

During the middle of the 3rd century, the Roman Empire was convulsed by barbarian invasions, rebellions and new imperial pretenders. Britannia apparently avoided these troubles, but increasing inflation had its economic effect. In 259 a so-called Gallic Empire was established when Postumus rebelled against Gallienus. Britannia was part of this until 274 when Aurelian reunited the empire.

 

Around the year 280, a half-British officer named Bonosus was in command of the Roman's Rhenish fleet when the Germans managed to burn it at anchor. To avoid punishment, he proclaimed himself emperor at Colonia Agrippina (Cologne) but was crushed by Marcus Aurelius Probus. Soon afterwards, an unnamed governor of one of the British provinces also attempted an uprising. Probus put it down by sending irregular troops of Vandals and Burgundians across the Channel.

 

The Carausian Revolt led to a short-lived Britannic Empire from 286 to 296. Carausius was a Menapian naval commander of the Britannic fleet; he revolted upon learning of a death sentence ordered by the emperor Maximian on charges of having abetted Frankish and Saxon pirates and having embezzled recovered treasure. He consolidated control over all the provinces of Britain and some of northern Gaul while Maximian dealt with other uprisings. An invasion in 288 failed to unseat him and an uneasy peace ensued, with Carausius issuing coins and inviting official recognition. In 293, the junior emperor Constantius Chlorus launched a second offensive, besieging the rebel port of Gesoriacum (Boulogne-sur-Mer) by land and sea. After it fell, Constantius attacked Carausius's other Gallic holdings and Frankish allies and Carausius was usurped by his treasurer, Allectus. Julius Asclepiodotus landed an invasion fleet near Southampton and defeated Allectus in a land battle.

 

Diocletian's reforms

As part of Diocletian's reforms, the provinces of Roman Britain were organized as a diocese governed by a vicarius under a praetorian prefect who, from 318 to 331, was Junius Bassus who was based at Augusta Treverorum (Trier).

 

The vicarius was based at Londinium as the principal city of the diocese. Londinium and Eboracum continued as provincial capitals and the territory was divided up into smaller provinces for administrative efficiency.

 

Civilian and military authority of a province was no longer exercised by one official and the governor was stripped of military command which was handed over to the Dux Britanniarum by 314. The governor of a province assumed more financial duties (the procurators of the Treasury ministry were slowly phased out in the first three decades of the 4th century). The Dux was commander of the troops of the Northern Region, primarily along Hadrian's Wall and his responsibilities included protection of the frontier. He had significant autonomy due in part to the distance from his superiors.

 

The tasks of the vicarius were to control and coordinate the activities of governors; monitor but not interfere with the daily functioning of the Treasury and Crown Estates, which had their own administrative infrastructure; and act as the regional quartermaster-general of the armed forces. In short, as the sole civilian official with superior authority, he had general oversight of the administration, as well as direct control, while not absolute, over governors who were part of the prefecture; the other two fiscal departments were not.

 

The early-4th-century Verona List, the late-4th-century work of Sextus Rufus, and the early-5th-century List of Offices and work of Polemius Silvius all list four provinces by some variation of the names Britannia I, Britannia II, Maxima Caesariensis, and Flavia Caesariensis; all of these seem to have initially been directed by a governor (praeses) of equestrian rank. The 5th-century sources list a fifth province named Valentia and give its governor and Maxima's a consular rank. Ammianus mentions Valentia as well, describing its creation by Count Theodosius in 369 after the quelling of the Great Conspiracy. Ammianus considered it a re-creation of a formerly lost province, leading some to think there had been an earlier fifth province under another name (may be the enigmatic "Vespasiana"), and leading others to place Valentia beyond Hadrian's Wall, in the territory abandoned south of the Antonine Wall.

 

Reconstructions of the provinces and provincial capitals during this period partially rely on ecclesiastical records. On the assumption that the early bishoprics mimicked the imperial hierarchy, scholars use the list of bishops for the 314 Council of Arles. The list is patently corrupt: the British delegation is given as including a Bishop "Eborius" of Eboracum and two bishops "from Londinium" (one de civitate Londinensi and the other de civitate colonia Londinensium). The error is variously emended: Bishop Ussher proposed Colonia, Selden Col. or Colon. Camalodun., and Spelman Colonia Cameloduni (all various names of Colchester); Gale and Bingham offered colonia Lindi and Henry Colonia Lindum (both Lincoln); and Bishop Stillingfleet and Francis Thackeray read it as a scribal error of Civ. Col. Londin. for an original Civ. Col. Leg. II (Caerleon). On the basis of the Verona List, the priest and deacon who accompanied the bishops in some manuscripts are ascribed to the fourth province.

 

In the 12th century, Gerald of Wales described the supposedly metropolitan sees of the early British church established by the legendary SS Fagan and "Duvian". He placed Britannia Prima in Wales and western England with its capital at "Urbs Legionum" (Caerleon); Britannia Secunda in Kent and southern England with its capital at "Dorobernia" (Canterbury); Flavia in Mercia and central England with its capital at "Lundonia" (London); "Maximia" in northern England with its capital at Eboracum (York); and Valentia in "Albania which is now Scotland" with its capital at St Andrews. Modern scholars generally dispute the last: some place Valentia at or beyond Hadrian's Wall but St Andrews is beyond even the Antonine Wall and Gerald seems to have simply been supporting the antiquity of its church for political reasons.

 

A common modern reconstruction places the consular province of Maxima at Londinium, on the basis of its status as the seat of the diocesan vicarius; places Prima in the west according to Gerald's traditional account but moves its capital to Corinium of the Dobunni (Cirencester) on the basis of an artifact recovered there referring to Lucius Septimius, a provincial rector; places Flavia north of Maxima, with its capital placed at Lindum Colonia (Lincoln) to match one emendation of the bishops list from Arles;[d] and places Secunda in the north with its capital at Eboracum (York). Valentia is placed variously in northern Wales around Deva (Chester); beside Hadrian's Wall around Luguvalium (Carlisle); and between the walls along Dere Street.

 

4th century

Emperor Constantius returned to Britain in 306, despite his poor health, with an army aiming to invade northern Britain, the provincial defences having been rebuilt in the preceding years. Little is known of his campaigns with scant archaeological evidence, but fragmentary historical sources suggest he reached the far north of Britain and won a major battle in early summer before returning south. His son Constantine (later Constantine the Great) spent a year in northern Britain at his father's side, campaigning against the Picts beyond Hadrian's Wall in the summer and autumn. Constantius died in York in July 306 with his son at his side. Constantine then successfully used Britain as the starting point of his march to the imperial throne, unlike the earlier usurper, Albinus.

 

In the middle of the century, the province was loyal for a few years to the usurper Magnentius, who succeeded Constans following the latter's death. After the defeat and death of Magnentius in the Battle of Mons Seleucus in 353, Constantius II dispatched his chief imperial notary Paulus Catena to Britain to hunt down Magnentius's supporters. The investigation deteriorated into a witch-hunt, which forced the vicarius Flavius Martinus to intervene. When Paulus retaliated by accusing Martinus of treason, the vicarius attacked Paulus with a sword, with the aim of assassinating him, but in the end he committed suicide.

 

As the 4th century progressed, there were increasing attacks from the Saxons in the east and the Scoti (Irish) in the west. A series of forts had been built, starting around 280, to defend the coasts, but these preparations were not enough when, in 367, a general assault of Saxons, Picts, Scoti and Attacotti, combined with apparent dissension in the garrison on Hadrian's Wall, left Roman Britain prostrate. The invaders overwhelmed the entire western and northern regions of Britannia and the cities were sacked. This crisis, sometimes called the Barbarian Conspiracy or the Great Conspiracy, was settled by Count Theodosius from 368 with a string of military and civil reforms. Theodosius crossed from Bononia (Boulogne-sur-Mer) and marched on Londinium where he began to deal with the invaders and made his base.[ An amnesty was promised to deserters which enabled Theodosius to regarrison abandoned forts. By the end of the year Hadrian's Wall was retaken and order returned. Considerable reorganization was undertaken in Britain, including the creation of a new province named Valentia, probably to better address the state of the far north. A new Dux Britanniarum was appointed, Dulcitius, with Civilis to head a new civilian administration.

 

Another imperial usurper, Magnus Maximus, raised the standard of revolt at Segontium (Caernarfon) in north Wales in 383, and crossed the English Channel. Maximus held much of the western empire, and fought a successful campaign against the Picts and Scots around 384. His continental exploits required troops from Britain, and it appears that forts at Chester and elsewhere were abandoned in this period, triggering raids and settlement in north Wales by the Irish. His rule was ended in 388, but not all the British troops may have returned: the Empire's military resources were stretched to the limit along the Rhine and Danube. Around 396 there were more barbarian incursions into Britain. Stilicho led a punitive expedition. It seems peace was restored by 399, and it is likely that no further garrisoning was ordered; by 401 more troops were withdrawn, to assist in the war against Alaric I.

 

End of Roman rule

The traditional view of historians, informed by the work of Michael Rostovtzeff, was of a widespread economic decline at the beginning of the 5th century. Consistent archaeological evidence has told another story, and the accepted view is undergoing re-evaluation. Some features are agreed: more opulent but fewer urban houses, an end to new public building and some abandonment of existing ones, with the exception of defensive structures, and the widespread formation of "dark earth" deposits indicating increased horticulture within urban precincts. Turning over the basilica at Silchester to industrial uses in the late 3rd century, doubtless officially condoned, marks an early stage in the de-urbanisation of Roman Britain.

 

The abandonment of some sites is now believed to be later than had been thought. Many buildings changed use but were not destroyed. There was a growing number of barbarian attacks, but these targeted vulnerable rural settlements rather than towns. Some villas such as Chedworth, Great Casterton in Rutland and Hucclecote in Gloucestershire had new mosaic floors laid around this time, suggesting that economic problems may have been limited and patchy. Many suffered some decay before being abandoned in the 5th century; the story of Saint Patrick indicates that villas were still occupied until at least 430. Exceptionally, new buildings were still going up in this period in Verulamium and Cirencester. Some urban centres, for example Canterbury, Cirencester, Wroxeter, Winchester and Gloucester, remained active during the 5th and 6th centuries, surrounded by large farming estates.

 

Urban life had generally grown less intense by the fourth quarter of the 4th century, and coins minted between 378 and 388 are very rare, indicating a likely combination of economic decline, diminishing numbers of troops, problems with the payment of soldiers and officials or with unstable conditions during the usurpation of Magnus Maximus 383–87. Coinage circulation increased during the 390s, but never attained the levels of earlier decades. Copper coins are very rare after 402, though minted silver and gold coins from hoards indicate they were still present in the province even if they were not being spent. By 407 there were very few new Roman coins going into circulation, and by 430 it is likely that coinage as a medium of exchange had been abandoned. Mass-produced wheel thrown pottery ended at approximately the same time; the rich continued to use metal and glass vessels, while the poor made do with humble "grey ware" or resorted to leather or wooden containers.

 

Sub-Roman Britain

Towards the end of the 4th century Roman rule in Britain came under increasing pressure from barbarian attacks. Apparently, there were not enough troops to mount an effective defence. After elevating two disappointing usurpers, the army chose a soldier, Constantine III, to become emperor in 407. He crossed to Gaul but was defeated by Honorius; it is unclear how many troops remained or ever returned, or whether a commander-in-chief in Britain was ever reappointed. A Saxon incursion in 408 was apparently repelled by the Britons, and in 409 Zosimus records that the natives expelled the Roman civilian administration. Zosimus may be referring to the Bacaudic rebellion of the Breton inhabitants of Armorica since he describes how, in the aftermath of the revolt, all of Armorica and the rest of Gaul followed the example of the Brettaniai. A letter from Emperor Honorius in 410 has traditionally been seen as rejecting a British appeal for help, but it may have been addressed to Bruttium or Bologna. With the imperial layers of the military and civil government gone, administration and justice fell to municipal authorities, and local warlords gradually emerged all over Britain, still utilizing Romano-British ideals and conventions. Historian Stuart Laycock has investigated this process and emphasised elements of continuity from the British tribes in the pre-Roman and Roman periods, through to the native post-Roman kingdoms.

 

In British tradition, pagan Saxons were invited by Vortigern to assist in fighting the Picts, Scoti, and Déisi. (Germanic migration into Roman Britannia may have begun much earlier. There is recorded evidence, for example, of Germanic auxiliaries supporting the legions in Britain in the 1st and 2nd centuries.) The new arrivals rebelled, plunging the country into a series of wars that eventually led to the Saxon occupation of Lowland Britain by 600. Around this time, many Britons fled to Brittany (hence its name), Galicia and probably Ireland. A significant date in sub-Roman Britain is the Groans of the Britons, an unanswered appeal to Aetius, leading general of the western Empire, for assistance against Saxon invasion in 446. Another is the Battle of Deorham in 577, after which the significant cities of Bath, Cirencester and Gloucester fell and the Saxons reached the western sea.

 

Historians generally reject the historicity of King Arthur, who is supposed to have resisted the Anglo-Saxon conquest according to later medieval legends.

 

Trade

During the Roman period Britain's continental trade was principally directed across the Southern North Sea and Eastern Channel, focusing on the narrow Strait of Dover, with more limited links via the Atlantic seaways. The most important British ports were London and Richborough, whilst the continental ports most heavily engaged in trade with Britain were Boulogne and the sites of Domburg and Colijnsplaat at the mouth of the river Scheldt. During the Late Roman period it is likely that the shore forts played some role in continental trade alongside their defensive functions.

 

Exports to Britain included: coin; pottery, particularly red-gloss terra sigillata (samian ware) from southern, central and eastern Gaul, as well as various other wares from Gaul and the Rhine provinces; olive oil from southern Spain in amphorae; wine from Gaul in amphorae and barrels; salted fish products from the western Mediterranean and Brittany in barrels and amphorae; preserved olives from southern Spain in amphorae; lava quern-stones from Mayen on the middle Rhine; glass; and some agricultural products. Britain's exports are harder to detect archaeologically, but will have included metals, such as silver and gold and some lead, iron and copper. Other exports probably included agricultural products, oysters and salt, whilst large quantities of coin would have been re-exported back to the continent as well.

 

These products moved as a result of private trade and also through payments and contracts established by the Roman state to support its military forces and officials on the island, as well as through state taxation and extraction of resources. Up until the mid-3rd century, the Roman state's payments appear to have been unbalanced, with far more products sent to Britain, to support its large military force (which had reached c. 53,000 by the mid-2nd century), than were extracted from the island.

 

It has been argued that Roman Britain's continental trade peaked in the late 1st century AD and thereafter declined as a result of an increasing reliance on local products by the population of Britain, caused by economic development on the island and by the Roman state's desire to save money by shifting away from expensive long-distance imports. Evidence has been outlined that suggests that the principal decline in Roman Britain's continental trade may have occurred in the late 2nd century AD, from c. 165 AD onwards. This has been linked to the economic impact of contemporary Empire-wide crises: the Antonine Plague and the Marcomannic Wars.

 

From the mid-3rd century onwards, Britain no longer received such a wide range and extensive quantity of foreign imports as it did during the earlier part of the Roman period; vast quantities of coin from continental mints reached the island, whilst there is historical evidence for the export of large amounts of British grain to the continent during the mid-4th century. During the latter part of the Roman period British agricultural products, paid for by both the Roman state and by private consumers, clearly played an important role in supporting the military garrisons and urban centres of the northwestern continental Empire. This came about as a result of the rapid decline in the size of the British garrison from the mid-3rd century onwards (thus freeing up more goods for export), and because of 'Germanic' incursions across the Rhine, which appear to have reduced rural settlement and agricultural output in northern Gaul.

 

Economy

Mineral extraction sites such as the Dolaucothi gold mine were probably first worked by the Roman army from c. 75, and at some later stage passed to civilian operators. The mine developed as a series of opencast workings, mainly by the use of hydraulic mining methods. They are described by Pliny the Elder in his Natural History in great detail. Essentially, water supplied by aqueducts was used to prospect for ore veins by stripping away soil to reveal the bedrock. If veins were present, they were attacked using fire-setting and the ore removed for comminution. The dust was washed in a small stream of water and the heavy gold dust and gold nuggets collected in riffles. The diagram at right shows how Dolaucothi developed from c. 75 through to the 1st century. When opencast work was no longer feasible, tunnels were driven to follow the veins. The evidence from the site shows advanced technology probably under the control of army engineers.

 

The Wealden ironworking zone, the lead and silver mines of the Mendip Hills and the tin mines of Cornwall seem to have been private enterprises leased from the government for a fee. Mining had long been practised in Britain (see Grimes Graves), but the Romans introduced new technical knowledge and large-scale industrial production to revolutionise the industry. It included hydraulic mining to prospect for ore by removing overburden as well as work alluvial deposits. The water needed for such large-scale operations was supplied by one or more aqueducts, those surviving at Dolaucothi being especially impressive. Many prospecting areas were in dangerous, upland country, and, although mineral exploitation was presumably one of the main reasons for the Roman invasion, it had to wait until these areas were subdued.

 

By the 3rd and 4th centuries, small towns could often be found near villas. In these towns, villa owners and small-scale farmers could obtain specialist tools. Lowland Britain in the 4th century was agriculturally prosperous enough to export grain to the continent. This prosperity lay behind the blossoming of villa building and decoration that occurred between AD 300 and 350.

 

Britain's cities also consumed Roman-style pottery and other goods, and were centres through which goods could be distributed elsewhere. At Wroxeter in Shropshire, stock smashed into a gutter during a 2nd-century fire reveals that Gaulish samian ware was being sold alongside mixing bowls from the Mancetter-Hartshill industry of the West Midlands. Roman designs were most popular, but rural craftsmen still produced items derived from the Iron Age La Tène artistic traditions. Britain was home to much gold, which attracted Roman invaders. By the 3rd century, Britain's economy was diverse and well established, with commerce extending into the non-Romanised north.

 

Government

Further information: Governors of Roman Britain, Roman client kingdoms in Britain, and Roman auxiliaries in Britain

Under the Roman Empire, administration of peaceful provinces was ultimately the remit of the Senate, but those, like Britain, that required permanent garrisons, were placed under the Emperor's control. In practice imperial provinces were run by resident governors who were members of the Senate and had held the consulship. These men were carefully selected, often having strong records of military success and administrative ability. In Britain, a governor's role was primarily military, but numerous other tasks were also his responsibility, such as maintaining diplomatic relations with local client kings, building roads, ensuring the public courier system functioned, supervising the civitates and acting as a judge in important legal cases. When not campaigning, he would travel the province hearing complaints and recruiting new troops.

 

To assist him in legal matters he had an adviser, the legatus juridicus, and those in Britain appear to have been distinguished lawyers perhaps because of the challenge of incorporating tribes into the imperial system and devising a workable method of taxing them. Financial administration was dealt with by a procurator with junior posts for each tax-raising power. Each legion in Britain had a commander who answered to the governor and, in time of war, probably directly ruled troublesome districts. Each of these commands carried a tour of duty of two to three years in different provinces. Below these posts was a network of administrative managers covering intelligence gathering, sending reports to Rome, organising military supplies and dealing with prisoners. A staff of seconded soldiers provided clerical services.

 

Colchester was probably the earliest capital of Roman Britain, but it was soon eclipsed by London with its strong mercantile connections. The different forms of municipal organisation in Britannia were known as civitas (which were subdivided, amongst other forms, into colonies such as York, Colchester, Gloucester and Lincoln and municipalities such as Verulamium), and were each governed by a senate of local landowners, whether Brythonic or Roman, who elected magistrates concerning judicial and civic affairs. The various civitates sent representatives to a yearly provincial council in order to profess loyalty to the Roman state, to send direct petitions to the Emperor in times of extraordinary need, and to worship the imperial cult.

 

Demographics

Roman Britain had an estimated population between 2.8 million and 3 million people at the end of the second century. At the end of the fourth century, it had an estimated population of 3.6 million people, of whom 125,000 consisted of the Roman army and their families and dependents.[80] The urban population of Roman Britain was about 240,000 people at the end of the fourth century. The capital city of Londinium is estimated to have had a population of about 60,000 people. Londinium was an ethnically diverse city with inhabitants from the Roman Empire, including natives of Britannia, continental Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa. There was also cultural diversity in other Roman-British towns, which were sustained by considerable migration, from Britannia and other Roman territories, including continental Europe, Roman Syria, the Eastern Mediterranean and North Africa. In a study conducted in 2012, around 45 percent of sites investigated dating from the Roman period had at least one individual of North African origin.

 

Town and country

During their occupation of Britain the Romans founded a number of important settlements, many of which survive. The towns suffered attrition in the later 4th century, when public building ceased and some were abandoned to private uses. Place names survived the deurbanised Sub-Roman and early Anglo-Saxon periods, and historiography has been at pains to signal the expected survivals, but archaeology shows that a bare handful of Roman towns were continuously occupied. According to S.T. Loseby, the very idea of a town as a centre of power and administration was reintroduced to England by the Roman Christianising mission to Canterbury, and its urban revival was delayed to the 10th century.

 

Roman towns can be broadly grouped in two categories. Civitates, "public towns" were formally laid out on a grid plan, and their role in imperial administration occasioned the construction of public buildings. The much more numerous category of vici, "small towns" grew on informal plans, often round a camp or at a ford or crossroads; some were not small, others were scarcely urban, some not even defended by a wall, the characteristic feature of a place of any importance.

 

Cities and towns which have Roman origins, or were extensively developed by them are listed with their Latin names in brackets; civitates are marked C

 

Alcester (Alauna)

Alchester

Aldborough, North Yorkshire (Isurium Brigantum) C

Bath (Aquae Sulis) C

Brough (Petuaria) C

Buxton (Aquae Arnemetiae)

Caerleon (Isca Augusta) C

Caernarfon (Segontium) C

Caerwent (Venta Silurum) C

Caister-on-Sea C

Canterbury (Durovernum Cantiacorum) C

Carlisle (Luguvalium) C

Carmarthen (Moridunum) C

Chelmsford (Caesaromagus)

Chester (Deva Victrix) C

Chester-le-Street (Concangis)

Chichester (Noviomagus Reginorum) C

Cirencester (Corinium) C

Colchester (Camulodunum) C

Corbridge (Coria) C

Dorchester (Durnovaria) C

Dover (Portus Dubris)

Exeter (Isca Dumnoniorum) C

Gloucester (Glevum) C

Great Chesterford (the name of this vicus is unknown)

Ilchester (Lindinis) C

Leicester (Ratae Corieltauvorum) C

Lincoln (Lindum Colonia) C

London (Londinium) C

Manchester (Mamucium) C

Newcastle upon Tyne (Pons Aelius)

Northwich (Condate)

St Albans (Verulamium) C

Silchester (Calleva Atrebatum) C

Towcester (Lactodurum)

Whitchurch (Mediolanum) C

Winchester (Venta Belgarum) C

Wroxeter (Viroconium Cornoviorum) C

York (Eboracum) C

 

Religion

The druids, the Celtic priestly caste who were believed to originate in Britain, were outlawed by Claudius, and in 61 they vainly defended their sacred groves from destruction by the Romans on the island of Mona (Anglesey). Under Roman rule the Britons continued to worship native Celtic deities, such as Ancasta, but often conflated with their Roman equivalents, like Mars Rigonemetos at Nettleham.

 

The degree to which earlier native beliefs survived is difficult to gauge precisely. Certain European ritual traits such as the significance of the number 3, the importance of the head and of water sources such as springs remain in the archaeological record, but the differences in the votive offerings made at the baths at Bath, Somerset, before and after the Roman conquest suggest that continuity was only partial. Worship of the Roman emperor is widely recorded, especially at military sites. The founding of a Roman temple to Claudius at Camulodunum was one of the impositions that led to the revolt of Boudica. By the 3rd century, Pagans Hill Roman Temple in Somerset was able to exist peaceably and it did so into the 5th century.

 

Pagan religious practices were supported by priests, represented in Britain by votive deposits of priestly regalia such as chain crowns from West Stow and Willingham Fen.

 

Eastern cults such as Mithraism also grew in popularity towards the end of the occupation. The London Mithraeum is one example of the popularity of mystery religions among the soldiery. Temples to Mithras also exist in military contexts at Vindobala on Hadrian's Wall (the Rudchester Mithraeum) and at Segontium in Roman Wales (the Caernarfon Mithraeum).

 

Christianity

It is not clear when or how Christianity came to Britain. A 2nd-century "word square" has been discovered in Mamucium, the Roman settlement of Manchester. It consists of an anagram of PATER NOSTER carved on a piece of amphora. There has been discussion by academics whether the "word square" is a Christian artefact, but if it is, it is one of the earliest examples of early Christianity in Britain. The earliest confirmed written evidence for Christianity in Britain is a statement by Tertullian, c. 200 AD, in which he described "all the limits of the Spains, and the diverse nations of the Gauls, and the haunts of the Britons, inaccessible to the Romans, but subjugated to Christ". Archaeological evidence for Christian communities begins to appear in the 3rd and 4th centuries. Small timber churches are suggested at Lincoln and Silchester and baptismal fonts have been found at Icklingham and the Saxon Shore Fort at Richborough. The Icklingham font is made of lead, and visible in the British Museum. A Roman Christian graveyard exists at the same site in Icklingham. A possible Roman 4th-century church and associated burial ground was also discovered at Butt Road on the south-west outskirts of Colchester during the construction of the new police station there, overlying an earlier pagan cemetery. The Water Newton Treasure is a hoard of Christian silver church plate from the early 4th century and the Roman villas at Lullingstone and Hinton St Mary contained Christian wall paintings and mosaics respectively. A large 4th-century cemetery at Poundbury with its east–west oriented burials and lack of grave goods has been interpreted as an early Christian burial ground, although such burial rites were also becoming increasingly common in pagan contexts during the period.

 

The Church in Britain seems to have developed the customary diocesan system, as evidenced from the records of the Council of Arles in Gaul in 314: represented at the council were bishops from thirty-five sees from Europe and North Africa, including three bishops from Britain, Eborius of York, Restitutus of London, and Adelphius, possibly a bishop of Lincoln. No other early sees are documented, and the material remains of early church structures are far to seek. The existence of a church in the forum courtyard of Lincoln and the martyrium of Saint Alban on the outskirts of Roman Verulamium are exceptional. Alban, the first British Christian martyr and by far the most prominent, is believed to have died in the early 4th century (some date him in the middle 3rd century), followed by Saints Julius and Aaron of Isca Augusta. Christianity was legalised in the Roman Empire by Constantine I in 313. Theodosius I made Christianity the state religion of the empire in 391, and by the 5th century it was well established. One belief labelled a heresy by the church authorities — Pelagianism — was originated by a British monk teaching in Rome: Pelagius lived c. 354 to c. 420/440.

 

A letter found on a lead tablet in Bath, Somerset, datable to c. 363, had been widely publicised as documentary evidence regarding the state of Christianity in Britain during Roman times. According to its first translator, it was written in Wroxeter by a Christian man called Vinisius to a Christian woman called Nigra, and was claimed as the first epigraphic record of Christianity in Britain. This translation of the letter was apparently based on grave paleographical errors, and the text has nothing to do with Christianity, and in fact relates to pagan rituals.

 

Environmental changes

The Romans introduced a number of species to Britain, including possibly the now-rare Roman nettle (Urtica pilulifera), said to have been used by soldiers to warm their arms and legs, and the edible snail Helix pomatia. There is also some evidence they may have introduced rabbits, but of the smaller southern mediterranean type. The European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) prevalent in modern Britain is assumed to have been introduced from the continent after the Norman invasion of 1066. Box (Buxus sempervirens) is rarely recorded before the Roman period, but becomes a common find in towns and villas

 

Legacy

During their occupation of Britain the Romans built an extensive network of roads which continued to be used in later centuries and many are still followed today. The Romans also built water supply, sanitation and wastewater systems. Many of Britain's major cities, such as London (Londinium), Manchester (Mamucium) and York (Eboracum), were founded by the Romans, but the original Roman settlements were abandoned not long after the Romans left.

 

Unlike many other areas of the Western Roman Empire, the current majority language is not a Romance language, or a language descended from the pre-Roman inhabitants. The British language at the time of the invasion was Common Brittonic, and remained so after the Romans withdrew. It later split into regional languages, notably Cumbric, Cornish, Breton and Welsh. Examination of these languages suggests some 800 Latin words were incorporated into Common Brittonic (see Brittonic languages). The current majority language, English, is based on the languages of the Germanic tribes who migrated to the island from continental Europe

D800 9 exposures -4 to +4 ev. These are 206 mb each out of the camera converted to TIFF and Photomatix Pro experienced no difficulty in processing...

A couple weeks ago I posted on the difficulties of spotting Oophaga lehmanni in the wild, and its threatened status (www.facebook.com/paul.bertner/posts/1954323497983506). After deliberating for a week, while cooped up with the flu and a sprained finger, and rummaging online for records of O. lehmanni, I was struck not only by the overall dearth, but by the almost complete lack of 'in situ' images, with not a single one illustrating behaviour or a decent representation of the environment. For a critically threatened species, one whose risk of extinction is quite high, this to me represented a tremendous oversight. Though I'd already tried and failed to capture some behaviour shots on a short previous expedition, I decided to dedicate a week to the endeavour, if for no other reason than to have a record befitting such an elegant species.

 

Travelling to the same site as before, I settled in to photograph calling behaviours. Setting aside a week to get this rather modest shot was giving myself quite a lot of latitude I thought...I was wrong. Three days in and I had little to show for my efforts, resorting to shooting at 300mm + 1.4X TC, I was still struggling to surprise this elusive gem. Though I could hear the frogs calling, and could even see them doing so, creeping up on them and getting a respectable photo was proving an altogether different kind of a problem.

 

I tried remote shooting (however they rarely returned to the same perch, causing the framing to be off), I tried hides (though after waiting 2-3hrs in mosquito infested areas with the slightest movement causing the frogs to go diving back into root tangles proved frustrating to say the least). Nothing seemed to work, and I was beginning to despair.

 

This begged the question, "Why would a poisonous species which supposedly has no known predators be so timid?" The answer somewhat surprised me, "researchers". Apparently the frequent capture-release monitoring of the local populations has resulted in a rather poignant behavioural change. A species which would otherwise be fearlessly hopping the rainforest understory has had its buzzing call muted. It was a potent reminder of our influence on the natural world, whether it represents a kind of Schroedinger's cat problem, in which our very observation and monitoring of a species ultimately impacts its natural behaviours, or whether it's something more intrusive or sinister like manipulation for an aesthetic image or poaching, respectively.

 

We have to go further in I told the guide. And so we walked, and we walked and still the frogs fell silent at the sound of our approaching footfalls. 6 hours later, 2 of which we left the already weedy trail completely to bushwhack, and we came to a spot where we crept up upon a calling frog. It continued its buzzing call despite undoubtedly having already seen us. I made sure to shoot without flash and with a long lens to prevent any kind of potential habituation/aversion. Moments later a second male appeared from behind a leaf and they immediately began to wrestle. They flipped one another repeatedly, interspersed with calls. Rather evenly matched, this went on for almost 15 minutes. Finally the victor held his ground, whilst the vanquished retreated from the hallowed ground.

 

Upon reviewing the photos and videos, I felt privileged to have witnessed such a behaviour from a vanishing species. This is perhaps even truer than I'd originally thought, the two males despite their verisimilitude actually appear to be different species/sub-species. While one has all the characteristics befitting O. lehmanni, the other whose white fingertips, slightly broadened head and differing banding patterns indicates some degree of hybridization with the very closely related Oophaga histrionica. Perhaps extinction will not come in the form of habitat loss or extinction (though harbour no illusions that this undoubtedly plays its role), but through hybridization, and its absorption into a larger more robust population. To purists and hobbyists this would still represent a tragedy, though perhaps it's a gentler swan song, a muting of a call rather than its abrupt silencing.

 

Photos from the Cauca Valley, Colombia.

 

pbertner.wordpress.com/ethical-exif-ee/

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

EE Legend

-Health injury/stress levels (scale 1-10-->☠️)

👣-Translocation

⏳-time in captivity

📷 -in situ

- Manipulated subject

🎨 -Use of cloning or extensive post processing

↺ -Image rotation

Is Mother Nature experiencing technical difficulties? The beautiful sunset isn't reflecting on the Mississippi River.

 

atelier ying, nyc.

 

The semi-difficulties that may face a church congregation (which enjoys intimate fellowship) to gather together in a small space is reconsidered in this design modeled playfully after a single component of a camera, its bellows.

 

A central courtyard divides the chapel and lets in fresh circulation of air and light. The purpose of the courtyard also provides access to the outside both for egress as well as merging of the private with the public.

 

The auditorium narrows down to a very tiny space (recalling the lens opening of a bellows camera). However the design uses this narrowing strategy to enable the following:

1. The congregants feel the intimacy of their space, as one which is filled to capacity, going from the main door towards the altar, a typical desirable characteristic for a fellowship. It also is easy to fill with a smaller number of people. An expansion of the space, recalling very indirectly the composing huts of Gustav Mahler is also achieved.

2. The celebrant for the chapel services also feels relaxed but specifically due to the fact that his words can easily reach all the way to the back of the group. Thereby he feels intimately connected all the way to the very last row of the chapel. There is no inherent feeling of loss to the celebrant while he speaks.

 

The central courtyard is flanked perpendicularly by stairways that go to the basement where communal meals take place. A small low garden looms out and over a portion of the staircase, partially revealing the area below and connecting the two floors.

 

Other details as the light slits in the concrete roof, the position of the door behind the altar, the overhang at the main front door which is folds back & down, mimicking a large barn and the courtyard shape all support the main design details.

 

Note: the altar is not shown in the design drawing in order to simplify the enclosure to a trapezoidal space with matching doors at both ends. The only materials for the enclosure our concrete and light wood for the two doors. The courtyard adds stainless steel and glass.

 

Design, concepts, text and drawing are copyright 2016 by David Lo.

 

A couple weeks ago I posted on the difficulties of spotting Oophaga lehmanni in the wild, and its threatened status (www.facebook.com/paul.bertner/posts/1954323497983506). After deliberating for a week, while cooped up with the flu and a sprained finger, and rummaging online for records of O. lehmanni, I was struck not only by the overall dearth, but by the almost complete lack of 'in situ' images, with not a single one illustrating behaviour or a decent representation of the environment. For a critically threatened species, one whose risk of extinction is quite high, this to me represented a tremendous oversight. Though I'd already tried and failed to capture some behaviour shots on a short previous expedition, I decided to dedicate a week to the endeavour, if for no other reason than to have a record befitting such an elegant species.

 

Travelling to the same site as before, I settled in to photograph calling behaviours. Setting aside a week to get this rather modest shot was giving myself quite a lot of latitude I thought...I was wrong. Three days in and I had little to show for my efforts, resorting to shooting at 300mm + 1.4X TC, I was still struggling to surprise this elusive gem. Though I could hear the frogs calling, and could even see them doing so, creeping up on them and getting a respectable photo was proving an altogether different kind of a problem.

 

I tried remote shooting (however they rarely returned to the same perch, causing the framing to be off), I tried hides (though after waiting 2-3hrs in mosquito infested areas with the slightest movement causing the frogs to go diving back into root tangles proved frustrating to say the least). Nothing seemed to work, and I was beginning to despair.

 

This begged the question, "Why would a poisonous species which supposedly has no known predators be so timid?" The answer somewhat surprised me, "researchers". Apparently the frequent capture-release monitoring of the local populations has resulted in a rather poignant behavioural change. A species which would otherwise be fearlessly hopping the rainforest understory has had its buzzing call muted. It was a potent reminder of our influence on the natural world, whether it represents a kind of Schroedinger's cat problem, in which our very observation and monitoring of a species ultimately impacts its natural behaviours, or whether it's something more intrusive or sinister like manipulation for an aesthetic image or poaching, respectively.

 

We have to go further in I told the guide. And so we walked, and we walked and still the frogs fell silent at the sound of our approaching footfalls. 6 hours later, 2 of which we left the already weedy trail completely to bushwhack, and we came to a spot where we crept up upon a calling frog. It continued its buzzing call despite undoubtedly having already seen us. I made sure to shoot without flash and with a long lens to prevent any kind of potential habituation/aversion. Moments later a second male appeared from behind a leaf and they immediately began to wrestle. They flipped one another repeatedly, interspersed with calls. Rather evenly matched, this went on for almost 15 minutes. Finally the victor held his ground, whilst the vanquished retreated from the hallowed ground.

 

Upon reviewing the photos and videos, I felt privileged to have witnessed such a behaviour from a vanishing species. This is perhaps even truer than I'd originally thought, the two males despite their verisimilitude actually appear to be different species/sub-species. While one has all the characteristics befitting O. lehmanni, the other whose white fingertips, slightly broadened head and differing banding patterns indicates some degree of hybridization with the very closely related Oophaga histrionica. Perhaps extinction will not come in the form of habitat loss or extinction (though harbour no illusions that this undoubtedly plays its role), but through hybridization, and its absorption into a larger more robust population. To purists and hobbyists this would still represent a tragedy, though perhaps it's a gentler swan song, a muting of a call rather than its abrupt silencing.

 

Photos from the Cauca Valley, Colombia.

 

pbertner.wordpress.com/ethical-exif-ee/

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

EE Legend

-Health injury/stress levels (scale 1-10-->☠️)

👣-Translocation

⏳-time in captivity

📷 -in situ

- Manipulated subject

🎨 -Use of cloning or extensive post processing

↺ -Image rotation

All treks are quite difficult in Peru and you should be well prepared and healthy before starting the trek, and this applies to Salkantay trek difficulty. You have to be moderately fit to complete this trek. The altitude of this mountain is higher than other mountains in Cusco – Peru.

From the archives. The animals are grateful for home delivery of their groceries.

Hoover Dam is a concrete arch-gravity dam in the Black Canyon of the Colorado River, on the border between the U.S. states of Nevada and Arizona. It was constructed between 1931 and 1936 during the Great Depression and was dedicated on September 30, 1935, by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Its construction was the result of a massive effort involving thousands of workers, and cost over one hundred lives. It was referred to as Hoover Dam after President Herbert Hoover in bills passed by Congress during its construction, but was named Boulder Dam by the Roosevelt administration. The Hoover Dam name was restored by Congress in 1947.

 

Since about 1900, the Black Canyon and nearby Boulder Canyon had been investigated for their potential to support a dam that would control floods, provide irrigation water and produce hydroelectric power. In 1928, Congress authorized the project. The winning bid to build the dam was submitted by a consortium named Six Companies, Inc., which began construction of the dam in early 1931. Such a large concrete structure had never been built before, and some of the techniques were unproven. The torrid summer weather and lack of facilities near the site also presented difficulties. Nevertheless, Six Companies turned the dam over to the federal government on March 1, 1936, more than two years ahead of schedule.

 

Hoover Dam impounds Lake Mead, the largest reservoir in the United States by volume when full. The dam is located near Boulder City, Nevada, a municipality originally constructed for workers on the construction project, about 30 mi (48 km) southeast of Las Vegas, Nevada. The dam's generators provide power for public and private utilities in Nevada, Arizona, and California. Hoover Dam is a major tourist attraction; nearly a million people tour the dam each year. The heavily traveled U.S. Route 93 (US 93) ran along the dam's crest until October 2010, when the Hoover Dam Bypass opened.

 

As the United States developed the Southwest, the Colorado River was seen as a potential source of irrigation water. An initial attempt at diverting the river for irrigation purposes occurred in the late 1890s, when land speculator William Beatty built the Alamo Canal just north of the Mexican border; the canal dipped into Mexico before running to a desolate area Beatty named the Imperial Valley. Though water from the Imperial Canal allowed for the widespread settlement of the valley, the canal proved expensive to operate. After a catastrophic breach that caused the Colorado River to fill the Salton Sea, the Southern Pacific Railroad spent $3 million in 1906–07 to stabilize the waterway, an amount it hoped in vain would be reimbursed by the federal government. Even after the waterway was stabilized, it proved unsatisfactory because of constant disputes with landowners on the Mexican side of the border.

 

As the technology of electric power transmission improved, the Lower Colorado was considered for its hydroelectric-power potential. In 1902, the Edison Electric Company of Los Angeles surveyed the river in the hope of building a 40-foot (12 m) rock dam which could generate 10,000 horsepower (7,500 kW). However, at the time, the limit of transmission of electric power was 80 miles (130 km), and there were few customers (mostly mines) within that limit. Edison allowed land options it held on the river to lapse—including an option for what became the site of Hoover Dam.

 

In the following years, the Bureau of Reclamation (BOR), known as the Reclamation Service at the time, also considered the Lower Colorado as the site for a dam. Service chief Arthur Powell Davis proposed using dynamite to collapse the walls of Boulder Canyon, 20 miles (32 km) north of the eventual dam site, into the river. The river would carry off the smaller pieces of debris, and a dam would be built incorporating the remaining rubble. In 1922, after considering it for several years, the Reclamation Service finally rejected the proposal, citing doubts about the unproven technique and questions as to whether it would, in fact, save money.

 

Soon after the dam was authorized, increasing numbers of unemployed people converged on southern Nevada. Las Vegas, then a small city of some 5,000, saw between 10,000 and 20,000 unemployed descend on it. A government camp was established for surveyors and other personnel near the dam site; this soon became surrounded by a squatters' camp. Known as McKeeversville, the camp was home to men hoping for work on the project, together with their families. Another camp, on the flats along the Colorado River, was officially called Williamsville, but was known to its inhabitants as "Ragtown". When construction began, Six Companies hired large numbers of workers, with more than 3,000 on the payroll by 1932 and with employment peaking at 5,251 in July 1934. "Mongolian" (Chinese) labor was prevented by the construction contract, while the number of black people employed by Six Companies never exceeded thirty, mostly lowest-pay-scale laborers in a segregated crew, who were issued separate water buckets.

 

As part of the contract, Six Companies, Inc. was to build Boulder City to house the workers. The original timetable called for Boulder City to be built before the dam project began, but President Hoover ordered work on the dam to begin in March 1931 rather than in October. The company built bunkhouses, attached to the canyon wall, to house 480 single men at what became known as River Camp. Workers with families were left to provide their own accommodations until Boulder City could be completed, and many lived in Ragtown. The site of Hoover Dam endures extremely hot weather, and the summer of 1931 was especially torrid, with the daytime high averaging 119.9 °F (48.8 °C). Sixteen workers and other riverbank residents died of heat prostration between June 25 and July 26, 1931.

 

The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW or "Wobblies"), though much-reduced from their heyday as militant labor organizers in the early years of the century, hoped to unionize the Six Companies workers by capitalizing on their discontent. They sent eleven organizers, several of whom were arrested by Las Vegas police. On August 7, 1931, the company cut wages for all tunnel workers. Although the workers sent the organizers away, not wanting to be associated with the "Wobblies", they formed a committee to represent them with the company. The committee drew up a list of demands that evening and presented them to Crowe the following morning. He was noncommittal. The workers hoped that Crowe, the general superintendent of the job, would be sympathetic; instead, he gave a scathing interview to a newspaper, describing the workers as "malcontents".

 

On the morning of the 9th, Crowe met with the committee and told them that management refused their demands, was stopping all work, and was laying off the entire work force, except for a few office workers and carpenters. The workers were given until 5 p.m. to vacate the premises. Concerned that a violent confrontation was imminent, most workers took their paychecks and left for Las Vegas to await developments. Two days later, the remainder were talked into leaving by law enforcement. On August 13, the company began hiring workers again, and two days later, the strike was called off. While the workers received none of their demands, the company guaranteed there would be no further reductions in wages. Living conditions began to improve as the first residents moved into Boulder City in late 1931.

 

A second labor action took place in July 1935, as construction on the dam wound down. When a Six Companies manager altered working times to force workers to take lunch on their own time, workers responded with a strike. Emboldened by Crowe's reversal of the lunch decree, workers raised their demands to include a $1-per-day raise. The company agreed to ask the Federal government to supplement the pay, but no money was forthcoming from Washington. The strike ended.

 

Before the dam could be built, the Colorado River needed to be diverted away from the construction site. To accomplish this, four diversion tunnels were driven through the canyon walls, two on the Nevada side and two on the Arizona side. These tunnels were 56 ft (17 m) in diameter. Their combined length was nearly 16,000 ft, or more than 3 miles (5 km). The contract required these tunnels to be completed by October 1, 1933, with a $3,000-per-day fine to be assessed for any delay. To meet the deadline, Six Companies had to complete work by early 1933, since only in late fall and winter was the water level in the river low enough to safely divert.

 

Tunneling began at the lower portals of the Nevada tunnels in May 1931. Shortly afterward, work began on two similar tunnels in the Arizona canyon wall. In March 1932, work began on lining the tunnels with concrete. First the base, or invert, was poured. Gantry cranes, running on rails through the entire length of each tunnel were used to place the concrete. The sidewalls were poured next. Movable sections of steel forms were used for the sidewalls. Finally, using pneumatic guns, the overheads were filled in. The concrete lining is 3 feet (1 m) thick, reducing the finished tunnel diameter to 50 ft (15 m). The river was diverted into the two Arizona tunnels on November 13, 1932; the Nevada tunnels were kept in reserve for high water. This was done by exploding a temporary cofferdam protecting the Arizona tunnels while at the same time dumping rubble into the river until its natural course was blocked.

 

Following the completion of the dam, the entrances to the two outer diversion tunnels were sealed at the opening and halfway through the tunnels with large concrete plugs. The downstream halves of the tunnels following the inner plugs are now the main bodies of the spillway tunnels. The inner diversion tunnels were plugged at approximately one-third of their length, beyond which they now carry steel pipes connecting the intake towers to the power plant and outlet works. The inner tunnels' outlets are equipped with gates that can be closed to drain the tunnels for maintenance.

 

To protect the construction site from the Colorado River and to facilitate the river's diversion, two cofferdams were constructed. Work on the upper cofferdam began in September 1932, even though the river had not yet been diverted. The cofferdams were designed to protect against the possibility of the river's flooding a site at which two thousand men might be at work, and their specifications were covered in the bid documents in nearly as much detail as the dam itself. The upper cofferdam was 96 ft (29 m) high, and 750 feet (230 m) thick at its base, thicker than the dam itself. It contained 650,000 cubic yards (500,000 m3) of material.

 

When the cofferdams were in place and the construction site was drained of water, excavation for the dam foundation began. For the dam to rest on solid rock, it was necessary to remove accumulated erosion soils and other loose materials in the riverbed until sound bedrock was reached. Work on the foundation excavations was completed in June 1933. During this excavation, approximately 1,500,000 cu yd (1,100,000 m3) of material was removed. Since the dam was an arch-gravity type, the side-walls of the canyon would bear the force of the impounded lake. Therefore, the side-walls were also excavated to reach virgin rock, as weathered rock might provide pathways for water seepage. Shovels for the excavation came from the Marion Power Shovel Company.

 

The men who removed this rock were called "high scalers". While suspended from the top of the canyon with ropes, the high-scalers climbed down the canyon walls and removed the loose rock with jackhammers and dynamite. Falling objects were the most common cause of death on the dam site; the high scalers' work thus helped ensure worker safety. One high scaler was able to save a life in a more direct manner: when a government inspector lost his grip on a safety line and began tumbling down a slope towards almost certain death, a high scaler was able to intercept him and pull him into the air. The construction site had become a magnet for tourists. The high scalers were prime attractions and showed off for the watchers. The high scalers received considerable media attention, with one worker dubbed the "Human Pendulum" for swinging co-workers (and, at other times, cases of dynamite) across the canyon. To protect themselves against falling objects, some high scalers dipped cloth hats in tar and allowed them to harden. When workers wearing such headgear were struck hard enough to inflict broken jaws, they sustained no skull damage. Six Companies ordered thousands of what initially were called "hard boiled hats" (later "hard hats") and strongly encouraged their use.

 

The cleared, underlying rock foundation of the dam site was reinforced with grout, forming a grout curtain. Holes were driven into the walls and base of the canyon, as deep as 150 feet (46 m) into the rock, and any cavities encountered were to be filled with grout. This was done to stabilize the rock, to prevent water from seeping past the dam through the canyon rock, and to limit "uplift"—upward pressure from water seeping under the dam. The workers were under severe time constraints due to the beginning of the concrete pour. When they encountered hot springs or cavities too large to readily fill, they moved on without resolving the problem. A total of 58 of the 393 holes were incompletely filled. After the dam was completed and the lake began to fill, large numbers of significant leaks caused the Bureau of Reclamation to examine the situation. It found that the work had been incompletely done, and was based on less than a full understanding of the canyon's geology. New holes were drilled from inspection galleries inside the dam into the surrounding bedrock. It took nine years (1938–47) under relative secrecy to complete the supplemental grout curtain.

 

The first concrete was poured into the dam on June 6, 1933, 18 months ahead of schedule. Since concrete heats and contracts as it cures, the potential for uneven cooling and contraction of the concrete posed a serious problem. Bureau of Reclamation engineers calculated that if the dam were to be built in a single continuous pour, the concrete would take 125 years to cool, and the resulting stresses would cause the dam to crack and crumble. Instead, the ground where the dam would rise was marked with rectangles, and concrete blocks in columns were poured, some as large as 50 ft square (15 m) and 5 feet (1.5 m) high. Each five-foot form contained a set of 1-inch (25 mm) steel pipes; cool river water would be poured through the pipes, followed by ice-cold water from a refrigeration plant. When an individual block had cured and had stopped contracting, the pipes were filled with grout. Grout was also used to fill the hairline spaces between columns, which were grooved to increase the strength of the joints.

 

The concrete was delivered in huge steel buckets 7 feet high (2.1 m) and almost 7 feet in diameter; Crowe was awarded two patents for their design. These buckets, which weighed 20 short tons (18.1 t; 17.9 long tons) when full, were filled at two massive concrete plants on the Nevada side, and were delivered to the site in special railcars. The buckets were then suspended from aerial cableways which were used to deliver the bucket to a specific column. As the required grade of aggregate in the concrete differed depending on placement in the dam (from pea-sized gravel to 9 inches [230 mm] stones), it was vital that the bucket be maneuvered to the proper column. When the bottom of the bucket opened up, disgorging 8 cu yd (6.1 m3) of concrete, a team of men worked it throughout the form. Although there are myths that men were caught in the pour and are entombed in the dam to this day, each bucket deepened the concrete in a form by only 1 inch (25 mm), and Six Companies engineers would not have permitted a flaw caused by the presence of a human body.

 

A total of 3,250,000 cubic yards (2,480,000 cubic meters) of concrete was used in the dam before concrete pouring ceased on May 29, 1935. In addition, 1,110,000 cu yd (850,000 m3) were used in the power plant and other works. More than 582 miles (937 km) of cooling pipes were placed within the concrete. Overall, there is enough concrete in the dam to pave a two-lane highway from San Francisco to New York. Concrete cores were removed from the dam for testing in 1995; they showed that "Hoover Dam's concrete has continued to slowly gain strength" and the dam is composed of a "durable concrete having a compressive strength exceeding the range typically found in normal mass concrete". Hoover Dam concrete is not subject to alkali–silica reaction (ASR), as the Hoover Dam builders happened to use nonreactive aggregate, unlike that at downstream Parker Dam, where ASR has caused measurable deterioration.

 

With most work finished on the dam itself (the powerhouse remained uncompleted), a formal dedication ceremony was arranged for September 30, 1935, to coincide with a western tour being made by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The morning of the dedication, it was moved forward three hours from 2 p.m. Pacific time to 11 a.m.; this was done because Secretary of the Interior Harold L. Ickes had reserved a radio slot for the President for 2 p.m. but officials did not realize until the day of the ceremony that the slot was for 2 p.m. Eastern Time. Despite the change in the ceremony time, and temperatures of 102 °F (39 °C), 10,000 people were present for the President's speech, in which he avoided mentioning the name of former President Hoover, who was not invited to the ceremony. To mark the occasion, a three-cent stamp was issued by the United States Post Office Department—bearing the name "Boulder Dam", the official name of the dam between 1933 and 1947. After the ceremony, Roosevelt made the first visit by any American president to Las Vegas.

 

Most work had been completed by the dedication, and Six Companies negotiated with the government through late 1935 and early 1936 to settle all claims and arrange for the formal transfer of the dam to the Federal Government. The parties came to an agreement and on March 1, 1936, Secretary Ickes formally accepted the dam on behalf of the government. Six Companies was not required to complete work on one item, a concrete plug for one of the bypass tunnels, as the tunnel had to be used to take in irrigation water until the powerhouse went into operation.

 

There were 112 deaths reported as associated with the construction of the dam. The first was Bureau of Reclamation employee Harold Connelly who died on May 15, 1921, after falling from a barge while surveying the Colorado River for an ideal spot for the dam. Surveyor John Gregory ("J.G.") Tierney, who drowned on December 20, 1922, in a flash flood while looking for an ideal spot for the dam was the second person. The official list's final death occurred on December 20, 1935, when Patrick Tierney, electrician's helper and the son of J.G. Tierney, fell from one of the two Arizona-side intake towers. Included in the fatality list are three workers who took their own lives on site, one in 1932 and two in 1933. Of the 112 fatalities, 91 were Six Companies employees, three were Bureau of Reclamation employees, and one was a visitor to the site; the remainder were employees of various contractors not part of Six Companies.

 

Ninety-six of the deaths occurred during construction at the site. Not included in the official number of fatalities were deaths that were recorded as pneumonia. Workers alleged that this diagnosis was a cover for death from carbon monoxide poisoning (brought on by the use of gasoline-fueled vehicles in the diversion tunnels), and a classification used by Six Companies to avoid paying compensation claims. The site's diversion tunnels frequently reached 140 °F (60 °C), enveloped in thick plumes of vehicle exhaust gases. A total of 42 workers were recorded as having died from pneumonia and were not included in the above total; none were listed as having died from carbon monoxide poisoning. No deaths of non-workers from pneumonia were recorded in Boulder City during the construction period.

 

The initial plans for the facade of the dam, the power plant, the outlet tunnels and ornaments clashed with the modern look of an arch dam. The Bureau of Reclamation, more concerned with the dam's functionality, adorned it with a Gothic-inspired balustrade and eagle statues. This initial design was criticized by many as being too plain and unremarkable for a project of such immense scale, so Los Angeles-based architect Gordon B. Kaufmann, then the supervising architect to the Bureau of Reclamation, was brought in to redesign the exteriors. Kaufmann greatly streamlined the design and applied an elegant Art Deco style to the entire project. He designed sculpted turrets rising seamlessly from the dam face and clock faces on the intake towers set for the time in Nevada and Arizona—both states are in different time zones, but since Arizona does not observe daylight saving time, the clocks display the same time for more than half the year.

 

At Kaufmann's request, Denver artist Allen Tupper True was hired to handle the design and decoration of the walls and floors of the new dam. True's design scheme incorporated motifs of the Navajo and Pueblo tribes of the region. Although some were initially opposed to these designs, True was given the go-ahead and was officially appointed consulting artist. With the assistance of the National Laboratory of Anthropology, True researched authentic decorative motifs from Indian sand paintings, textiles, baskets and ceramics. The images and colors are based on Native American visions of rain, lightning, water, clouds, and local animals—lizards, serpents, birds—and on the Southwestern landscape of stepped mesas. In these works, which are integrated into the walkways and interior halls of the dam, True also reflected on the machinery of the operation, making the symbolic patterns appear both ancient and modern.

 

With the agreement of Kaufmann and the engineers, True also devised for the pipes and machinery an innovative color-coding which was implemented throughout all BOR projects. True's consulting artist job lasted through 1942; it was extended so he could complete design work for the Parker, Shasta and Grand Coulee dams and power plants. True's work on the Hoover Dam was humorously referred to in a poem published in The New Yorker, part of which read, "lose the spark, and justify the dream; but also worthy of remark will be the color scheme".

 

Complementing Kaufmann and True's work, sculptor Oskar J. W. Hansen designed many of the sculptures on and around the dam. His works include the monument of dedication plaza, a plaque to memorialize the workers killed and the bas-reliefs on the elevator towers. In his words, Hansen wanted his work to express "the immutable calm of intellectual resolution, and the enormous power of trained physical strength, equally enthroned in placid triumph of scientific accomplishment", because "the building of Hoover Dam belongs to the sagas of the daring." Hansen's dedication plaza, on the Nevada abutment, contains a sculpture of two winged figures flanking a flagpole.

 

Surrounding the base of the monument is a terrazzo floor embedded with a "star map". The map depicts the Northern Hemisphere sky at the moment of President Roosevelt's dedication of the dam. This is intended to help future astronomers, if necessary, calculate the exact date of dedication. The 30-foot-high (9.1 m) bronze figures, dubbed "Winged Figures of the Republic", were both formed in a continuous pour. To put such large bronzes into place without marring the highly polished bronze surface, they were placed on ice and guided into position as the ice melted. Hansen's bas-relief on the Nevada elevator tower depicts the benefits of the dam: flood control, navigation, irrigation, water storage, and power. The bas-relief on the Arizona elevator depicts, in his words, "the visages of those Indian tribes who have inhabited mountains and plains from ages distant."

 

Excavation for the powerhouse was carried out simultaneously with the excavation for the dam foundation and abutments. The excavation of this U-shaped structure located at the downstream toe of the dam was completed in late 1933 with the first concrete placed in November 1933. Filling of Lake Mead began February 1, 1935, even before the last of the concrete was poured that May. The powerhouse was one of the projects uncompleted at the time of the formal dedication on September 30, 1935; a crew of 500 men remained to finish it and other structures. To make the powerhouse roof bombproof, it was constructed of layers of concrete, rock, and steel with a total thickness of about 3.5 feet (1.1 m), topped with layers of sand and tar.

 

In the latter half of 1936, water levels in Lake Mead were high enough to permit power generation, and the first three Allis Chalmers built Francis turbine-generators, all on the Nevada side, began operating. In March 1937, one more Nevada generator went online and the first Arizona generator by August. By September 1939, four more generators were operating, and the dam's power plant became the largest hydroelectricity facility in the world. The final generator was not placed in service until 1961, bringing the maximum generating capacity to 1,345 megawatts at the time. Original plans called for 16 large generators, eight on each side of the river, but two smaller generators were installed instead of one large one on the Arizona side for a total of 17. The smaller generators were used to serve smaller communities at a time when the output of each generator was dedicated to a single municipality, before the dam's total power output was placed on the grid and made arbitrarily distributable.

 

Before water from Lake Mead reaches the turbines, it enters the intake towers and then four gradually narrowing penstocks which funnel the water down towards the powerhouse. The intakes provide a maximum hydraulic head (water pressure) of 590 ft (180 m) as the water reaches a speed of about 85 mph (140 km/h). The entire flow of the Colorado River usually passes through the turbines. The spillways and outlet works (jet-flow gates) are rarely used. The jet-flow gates, located in concrete structures 180 feet (55 m) above the river and also at the outlets of the inner diversion tunnels at river level, may be used to divert water around the dam in emergency or flood conditions, but have never done so, and in practice are used only to drain water from the penstocks for maintenance. Following an uprating project from 1986 to 1993, the total gross power rating for the plant, including two 2.4 megawatt Pelton turbine-generators that power Hoover Dam's own operations is a maximum capacity of 2080 megawatts. The annual generation of Hoover Dam varies. The maximum net generation was 10.348 TWh in 1984, and the minimum since 1940 was 2.648 TWh in 1956. The average power generated was 4.2 TWh/year for 1947–2008. In 2015, the dam generated 3.6 TWh.

 

The amount of electricity generated by Hoover Dam has been decreasing along with the falling water level in Lake Mead due to the prolonged drought since year 2000 and high demand for the Colorado River's water. By 2014 its generating capacity was downrated by 23% to 1592 MW and was providing power only during periods of peak demand. Lake Mead fell to a new record low elevation of 1,071.61 feet (326.63 m) on July 1, 2016, before beginning to rebound slowly. Under its original design, the dam would no longer be able to generate power once the water level fell below 1,050 feet (320 m), which might have occurred in 2017 had water restrictions not been enforced. To lower the minimum power pool elevation from 1,050 to 950 feet (320 to 290 m), five wide-head turbines, designed to work efficiently with less flow, were installed.[102] Water levels were maintained at over 1,075 feet (328 m) in 2018 and 2019, but fell to a new record low of 1,071.55 feet (326.61 m) on June 10, 2021[104] and were projected to fall below 1,066 feet (325 m) by the end of 2021.

 

Control of water was the primary concern in the building of the dam. Power generation has allowed the dam project to be self-sustaining: proceeds from the sale of power repaid the 50-year construction loan, and those revenues also finance the multimillion-dollar yearly maintenance budget. Power is generated in step with and only with the release of water in response to downstream water demands.

 

Lake Mead and downstream releases from the dam also provide water for both municipal and irrigation uses. Water released from the Hoover Dam eventually reaches several canals. The Colorado River Aqueduct and Central Arizona Project branch off Lake Havasu while the All-American Canal is supplied by the Imperial Dam. In total, water from Lake Mead serves 18 million people in Arizona, Nevada, and California and supplies the irrigation of over 1,000,000 acres (400,000 ha) of land.

 

In 2018, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) proposed a $3 billion pumped-storage hydroelectricity project—a "battery" of sorts—that would use wind and solar power to recirculate water back up to Lake Mead from a pumping station 20 miles (32 km) downriver.

 

Electricity from the dam's powerhouse was originally sold pursuant to a fifty-year contract, authorized by Congress in 1934, which ran from 1937 to 1987. In 1984, Congress passed a new statute which set power allocations to southern California, Arizona, and Nevada from the dam from 1987 to 2017. The powerhouse was run under the original authorization by the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power and Southern California Edison; in 1987, the Bureau of Reclamation assumed control. In 2011, Congress enacted legislation extending the current contracts until 2067, after setting aside 5% of Hoover Dam's power for sale to Native American tribes, electric cooperatives, and other entities. The new arrangement began on October 1, 2017.

 

The dam is protected against over-topping by two spillways. The spillway entrances are located behind each dam abutment, running roughly parallel to the canyon walls. The spillway entrance arrangement forms a classic side-flow weir with each spillway containing four 100-foot-long (30 m) and 16-foot-wide (4.9 m) steel-drum gates. Each gate weighs 5,000,000 pounds (2,300 metric tons) and can be operated manually or automatically. Gates are raised and lowered depending on water levels in the reservoir and flood conditions. The gates cannot entirely prevent water from entering the spillways but can maintain an extra 16 ft (4.9 m) of lake level.

 

Water flowing over the spillways falls dramatically into 600-foot-long (180 m), 50-foot-wide (15 m) spillway tunnels before connecting to the outer diversion tunnels and reentering the main river channel below the dam. This complex spillway entrance arrangement combined with the approximate 700-foot (210 m) elevation drop from the top of the reservoir to the river below was a difficult engineering problem and posed numerous design challenges. Each spillway's capacity of 200,000 cu ft/s (5,700 m3/s) was empirically verified in post-construction tests in 1941.

 

The large spillway tunnels have only been used twice, for testing in 1941 and because of flooding in 1983. Both times, when inspecting the tunnels after the spillways were used, engineers found major damage to the concrete linings and underlying rock. The 1941 damage was attributed to a slight misalignment of the tunnel invert (or base), which caused cavitation, a phenomenon in fast-flowing liquids in which vapor bubbles collapse with explosive force. In response to this finding, the tunnels were patched with special heavy-duty concrete and the surface of the concrete was polished mirror-smooth. The spillways were modified in 1947 by adding flip buckets, which both slow the water and decrease the spillway's effective capacity, in an attempt to eliminate conditions thought to have contributed to the 1941 damage. The 1983 damage, also due to cavitation, led to the installation of aerators in the spillways. Tests at Grand Coulee Dam showed that the technique worked, in principle.

 

There are two lanes for automobile traffic across the top of the dam, which formerly served as the Colorado River crossing for U.S. Route 93. In the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks, authorities expressed security concerns and the Hoover Dam Bypass project was expedited. Pending the completion of the bypass, restricted traffic was permitted over Hoover Dam. Some types of vehicles were inspected prior to crossing the dam while semi-trailer trucks, buses carrying luggage, and enclosed-box trucks over 40 ft (12 m) long were not allowed on the dam at all, and were diverted to U.S. Route 95 or Nevada State Routes 163/68. The four-lane Hoover Dam Bypass opened on October 19, 2010. It includes a composite steel and concrete arch bridge, the Mike O'Callaghan–Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge, 1,500 ft (460 m) downstream from the dam. With the opening of the bypass, through traffic is no longer allowed across Hoover Dam; dam visitors are allowed to use the existing roadway to approach from the Nevada side and cross to parking lots and other facilities on the Arizona side.

 

Hoover Dam opened for tours in 1937 after its completion but following Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, it was closed to the public when the United States entered World War II, during which only authorized traffic, in convoys, was permitted. After the war, it reopened September 2, 1945, and by 1953, annual attendance had risen to 448,081. The dam closed on November 25, 1963, and March 31, 1969, days of mourning in remembrance of Presidents Kennedy and Eisenhower. In 1995, a new visitors' center was built, and the following year, visits exceeded one million for the first time. The dam closed again to the public on September 11, 2001; modified tours were resumed in December and a new "Discovery Tour" was added the following year. Today, nearly a million people per year take the tours of the dam offered by the Bureau of Reclamation. Increased security concerns by the government have led to most of the interior structure's being inaccessible to tourists. As a result, few of True's decorations can now be seen by visitors. Visitors can only purchase tickets on-site and have the options of a guided tour of the whole facility or only the power plant area. The only self-guided tour option is for the visitor center itself, where visitors can view various exhibits and enjoy a 360-degree view of the dam.

 

The changes in water flow and use caused by Hoover Dam's construction and operation have had a large impact on the Colorado River Delta. The construction of the dam has been implicated in causing the decline of this estuarine ecosystem. For six years after the construction of the dam, while Lake Mead filled, virtually no water reached the mouth of the river. The delta's estuary, which once had a freshwater-saltwater mixing zone stretching 40 miles (64 km) south of the river's mouth, was turned into an inverse estuary where the level of salinity was higher close to the river's mouth.

 

The Colorado River had experienced natural flooding before the construction of the Hoover Dam. The dam eliminated the natural flooding, threatening many species adapted to the flooding, including both plants and animals. The construction of the dam devastated the populations of native fish in the river downstream from the dam. Four species of fish native to the Colorado River, the Bonytail chub, Colorado pikeminnow, Humpback chub, and Razorback sucker, are listed as endangered.

 

During the years of lobbying leading up to the passage of legislation authorizing the dam in 1928, the press generally referred to the dam as "Boulder Dam" or as "Boulder Canyon Dam", even though the proposed site had shifted to Black Canyon. The Boulder Canyon Project Act of 1928 (BCPA) never mentioned a proposed name or title for the dam. The BCPA merely allows the government to "construct, operate, and maintain a dam and incidental works in the main stream of the Colorado River at Black Canyon or Boulder Canyon".

 

When Secretary of the Interior Ray Wilbur spoke at the ceremony starting the building of the railway between Las Vegas and the dam site on September 17, 1930, he named the dam "Hoover Dam", citing a tradition of naming dams after Presidents, though none had been so honored during their terms of office. Wilbur justified his choice on the ground that Hoover was "the great engineer whose vision and persistence ... has done so much to make [the dam] possible". One writer complained in response that "the Great Engineer had quickly drained, ditched, and dammed the country."

 

After Hoover's election defeat in 1932 and the accession of the Roosevelt administration, Secretary Ickes ordered on May 13, 1933, that the dam be referred to as Boulder Dam. Ickes stated that Wilbur had been imprudent in naming the dam after a sitting president, that Congress had never ratified his choice, and that it had long been referred to as Boulder Dam. Unknown to the general public, Attorney General Homer Cummings informed Ickes that Congress had indeed used the name "Hoover Dam" in five different bills appropriating money for construction of the dam. The official status this conferred to the name "Hoover Dam" had been noted on the floor of the House of Representatives by Congressman Edward T. Taylor of Colorado on December 12, 1930, but was likewise ignored by Ickes.

 

When Ickes spoke at the dedication ceremony on September 30, 1935, he was determined, as he recorded in his diary, "to try to nail down for good and all the name Boulder Dam." At one point in the speech, he spoke the words "Boulder Dam" five times within thirty seconds. Further, he suggested that if the dam were to be named after any one person, it should be for California Senator Hiram Johnson, a lead sponsor of the authorizing legislation. Roosevelt also referred to the dam as Boulder Dam, and the Republican-leaning Los Angeles Times, which at the time of Ickes' name change had run an editorial cartoon showing Ickes ineffectively chipping away at an enormous sign "HOOVER DAM", reran it showing Roosevelt reinforcing Ickes, but having no greater success.

 

In the following years, the name "Boulder Dam" failed to fully take hold, with many Americans using both names interchangeably and mapmakers divided as to which name should be printed. Memories of the Great Depression faded, and Hoover to some extent rehabilitated himself through good works during and after World War II. In 1947, a bill passed both Houses of Congress unanimously restoring the name "Hoover Dam." Ickes, who was by then a private citizen, opposed the change, stating, "I didn't know Hoover was that small a man to take credit for something he had nothing to do with."

 

Hoover Dam was recognized as a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark in 1984. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1981 and was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1985, cited for its engineering innovations.

After my last story about the difficulties of planning a shot, let’s go to the opposite way : how not to take a picture ?

 

It’s a commonplace among amateur photographers on holidays : how to manage the desire to take pictures, the desire to have some rest, and the desire of others (wife, husband, child, friends, … ) of you NOT spending all the time taking pictures? How not to slow everyone else in a wandering when you wait for this butterfly to open its wings for the 7th time in order to be sure that you can get a 7th good shot “just in case” ? How not to prevent everyone from having a well-deserved meal after a long day walking (and waiting for you), and this precisely at the worst hour (aka the best for you) : the golden one ? How not to ruin their day by asking them to wake at inappropriate time in order to avoid people and get a decent light ?

 

Let’s be honest : the requirements of good photo seem to be – ironically – the exact opposite of the requirements of good vacations. And, as any other amateur-photographer-that-like-to-think-that-he-is-not-a-tourist-but-knows-very-well-that-it’s-exactly-what-he-is, you develop many strategies to manage your desire to be a good photographer and your desire to be a good husband/wife/dad/mom/friend and so on …

 

Some couples or families found THE strategy, which is quite simple : being all photography nerds ! Is there anything better that spending hours together four-footed at the first few meters of a pathway leading … you don’t even remember where … waiting for the butterfly to spread it’s wing for the 7th time ? Who cares about being back before dark ? Who care about sleeping or eating ? Who cares about going somewhere after all ? What matters is taking pictures ! I probably envy a little bit these couple of passionate people, but I still think that the “no limit” attitude in photography is also a little bit dangerous …

 

So my wife DON’T share my will of taking special pictures. She likes the fact that I bring back some souvenirs (she makes beautiful album back home), but she really don’t see the point of eating at 22pm because “it’s maybe possible that the light could become just a little bit better in a few minutes”.

 

So what are my strategies ? The first and the best : waking up early and being back when she wakes up. This let me HOURS to take nice shots in best light conditions. However, I still have to find strategies when I am with her. So the second one is simple : telling her that “it’s maybe possible that the light could become just a little bit better in a few minutes” and hoping she’ll understand; what she does … sometimes. The third one is to be confident, quick and effective : taking the right shot once for all and not needing to take 55 more shots with and without the little tree in the background just to be sure that I have a good one (which always turns out to be the first).

 

My last strategy, which I am still practicing, is to evaluate my chance to get an interesting shot in order to determine if it’s worth spending time on a picture or not. How many times did I fill up my memory card with 74 bracketed versions of the same shot before realizing, back home in front of my computer, that it has no interest at all ? Sometimes, there’s memorable things that can’t give you a memorable shot. In this cases, it’s probably better to take one picture and to live the moment …

 

That’s what I decided to do on this evening, in our last evening in Piran (Slovenia). We were sitting in a very nice Restaurant facing the sea, enjoying seafood spaghettis with grilled vegetables. The atmosphere was very nice and I had the will of being a good husband (for once). So I saw the sunset, tried to look relaxed and tried to convince myself that sunset shots are just cliché and that there’s nothing interesting to do with them anyway. I am pretty sure I was really good at doing this and that my secret desire to leave the table to take pictures was INVISIBLE ! However, my wife still told me a couple of time things like “Ok go ! I’ll wait” or “I don’t care as long as you come back soon” and so on. Every time, I bravely declined telling her how important for me it was to stay with her enjoying the moment (which was true, at least partially !). So we just enjoyed the sunset while eating … until the moment this sunset turned to be really crazy : there was four different colors in the sky.

 

Then all these questions about when to take or not to take pictures vanished : it was just absolutely sublime ! She told me to go once more, this time she was not “letting me go”, she really wanted a souvenir of that crazy colors. So I grabbed my camera, climbed on the rocks and took this shot and a few others. After two minutes the light decreased and the magic disappeared. I was back at the table happy to have been there at the decisive moment …

 

And you, what are your strategies ? Thank you for reading !

April 23, 2015 on our trip to the blipmeet at Wanaka, Central Otago in New Zealand. www.polaroidblipfoto.com/browse/me

 

Our first morning in Cromwell. We woke to heavy fog which took a while to lift. We have arrived at Mt Difficulty Estate Winery so John can do some tasting.

 

The unique microclimate of the Bannockburn area is partially created by the presence of Mount Difficulty which overlooks the southern Cromwell basin, and is the namesake of Mt Difficulty Wines. Mount Difficulty is integral in providing low rainfall and humidity for the region. Bannockburn enjoys hot summers, a large diurnal temperature variation and long cool autumns; conditions which bring the best out of the Pinot Noir grapes. These conditions, along with soils which are ideal for viticulture, provide an excellent basis not only for Pinot Noir, but also for Pinot Gris, Riesling, and Chardonnay. The soils are a mix of clay and gravels, but all feature a high pH level; grapes produce their best wines on sweet soils.

For More Info and photos: www.mtdifficulty.co.nz/aboutus/ourstory.html

Due to technical difficulties I have been unable to successfully update my website and add all my new images as promised. Hopefully Tim will get a chance to get his teeth into it tomorrow and then lots of new images, workshops, info and even a blog entry can go live.

In the meantime here is an LF image made locally on the evening of our alien cloud formation the other week. Really interesting colours projected down out of the storm cloud as it approached and had me running for home.

Group

 

Buena Fotografía!!! www.flickr.com/groups/2153540@N22/

 

The theme of this month. "Sculpture". It was a difficulty to me.

Wow. What a difficulty photographing Chicago from Sears Tower a.k.a. Willis Tower. First and foremost we had to stand in a line for almost 2 hours to get on to the top. Once we reached the 103rd floor it's completely a mad rush. Now you can imagine how popular this place is, in Chicago. Standing 1450 feet tall, this 108-story skyscraper offers excellent views of Chicago provided it is less busy. Tripods are not allowed and i had to literally lie down on the floor to take pictures. The observatory glass walls are kinda dirty too. Finally i could get one picture which is worth posting.

Poor raggedy ass little butterfly! Something has taken a bite out of his wing. He spent a long time resting on this daisy......but eventually flew away, without apparent difficulty.

Explore #373 July19/09

The texture is natural.....the plywood behind the daisies. I wish it had been a nicer colour, tho.

 

Copyright warning: All the pictures in my stream are my exclusive property and not to be used by any other person , business or entity without written terms and permissions. Please contact me if you are interested in this photo.

Brief History of Maryborough.

This fertile area of Queensland was the fifth area to be settled when it was still part of NSW. The first settlement in QLD was at Redcliffe (and later Moreton Bay) as a convict colony in 1824. This was followed by white settlement at Ipswich in 1842 and further inland in the mountains at Warwick in 1847. The NSW government sent explorers to the Mary River area in 1842 which was when the river was named. Then in 1847 inland from the Mary River a town was surveyed but not gazetted until 1849. It was Gayndah which now claims to be the oldest town in QLD. The establishment of Gayndah is remarkable given transport difficulties. Near the coast Maryborough was the site of a wharf for pastoralists in 1847 and later a small town was created in 1850 making Maryborough the fifth settlement in what is now QLD. The first land sales at Maryborough were in 1852 although a general store had opened before this time on leased land in 1848. The new town of Maryborough was sited on the Mary River which rises near the Glasshouse Mountains inland from the Sunshine Coast. It generally flows northwards to enter the sea a few miles downstream from the town of Maryborough. The Mary River was named after Lady Mary Lennox the wife of the Governor of NSW Charles Fitzroy. The little town struggled to establish itself but once QLD got independence from NSW in 1859 Maryborough began to grow more quickly as free white settlers spread around the new colony. The delays in growth were partly caused by local Aboriginal resistance to the white pastoralists. Between 1847 and 1853 twenty eight white settlers were killed by Aboriginal people. A white massacre of around 100 Aboriginal people in the early 1850s brought some calm to the area and broke the resistance of the Gubbi Gubbi people. The Gubbi Gubbi people were called the Gin Gins by white settlers hence the name for that town north of Maryborough. Like so many Australian towns Maryborough’s growth was fuelled by mining discoveries. Maryborough was declared an official QLD port in 1859 and the first ship load of immigrants disembarked directly at Maryborough in 1860. Most were female and instead of obtaining work as servants immediately accepted offers of marriage from the men of the district. Maryborough became a municipality in 1861. It soon had a Customs House, a Courthouse and School of Arts but it really grew with the discovery of gold inland at Gympie. Maryborough served as the pot for goods going to and from Gympie from 1867 onwards. The QLD Land Acts of 1867 also opened up the pastoral leasehold lands to farmers for the first time. The main crops grown were maize and sugar. At about the same time as the Gympie gold rush Maryborough got its first sugar mill, a timber mill and John Walker of Ballarat opened a foundry and engineering works to produce mining equipment just as he had done previously in Ballarat. The port expanded and the town grew. A new Post Office (1869), hotels and general stores opened to cater for the miners and the townspeople. By 1871 Maryborough had 3,500 residents with its own newspaper’s, churches and schools. The wider district population was 9,000 people. By 1876 the population had swelled to 5,700 people. The first railway opened in Maryborough in 1881 when a line connected the port with Gympie gold fields.

 

Maryborough South Sea Islander Hospital. The Kanaka indentured labour system was introduced to QLD in 1863. The Polynesian Hawaiians called themselves kanakas. This was the term used in the 19th century to cover the South Sea Islander indentured labourers. Most who came to the Maryborough region (and Bundaberg too) were from the Solomon Islands and the New Hebrides (now Vanuatu). Some Islanders were also taken as indentured labourers to Chile, to Canada, to California and to Fiji. The arrival of the first indentured islanders coincided with the beginnings of

the sugar industry in the Maryborough region. Sugar is a very intense labour crop and in the USA, the Caribbean and

South America African slaves were used for such work until the mid-19th century. The Americans had their tragic Civil War to end slavery there. British colonies were not allowed to have slaves by the 1830s century including all of the Australia colonies. African slaves were gradually freed in the Caribbean and elsewhere in the mid-19th century. South America had its slaves all freed by the 1870s. Although descendants of the South Sea Islanders like to refer to themselves as the Sugar Slaves this term would be highly offensive to all descendants of African slaves of the Americas and Caribbean. Indentured labour was a common labour system in the 19th century and continued into the 20th century. In Australia the Commonwealth government ran a similar indentured labour scheme for young British men who wanted to be farm labourers. They served a three year term, with no pay until they had completed their indenture, and they needed government permission to buy work boots or any other item. In SA this scheme was known as the Barwell Boys (Barwell was the SA premier at the time) scheme but it operated in WA and other states too. This indentured labour system ended in 1925.

 

So when the indentured South Sea Islander trade was established in Queensland in 1863 the first labourers were covered by the 1861 Masters and Servants Acts. (All colonies – and later states- had such acts which controlled labour relations right through to the 1980 and 1990s when anti-discrimination and equal opportunity acts watered them down.) Queensland acted quickly after 1863 and introduced the Polynesian Labourers Act in 1868. Amongst the many clauses of the act was the establishment of inspectors of conditions on plantations where South Sea Islanders were indentured. They weighed food rations, inspected housing and clothing. The act was also designed to protect the Islanders’ basic rights and to stop the “kidnapping” of Islanders. All ships captains had to ensure that there was no coercion and that the Islander’s recruitment was consistent with the QLD Polynesian Labourers Act. Although white settlers and Islanders died of fevers and tropical diseases frequently in the Maryborough area it had one of four Islander Hospitals erected by the QLD government in the early 1880s to help alleviate disease and death among the Islander populations in QLD. The first inspector for the health conditions of the Islanders began work in Maryborough in 1875.Their complaints about the conditions under which Islanders lived led to the opening of the 50 bed Maryborough Pacific Islander Hospital and doctor’s residence. Islanders had a higher death rate from disease than whites and extra health care was needed. Thus the Maryborough Hospital opened in 1883 to improve health conditions but it closed just five years later. Like other Islander hospitals it was funded from the wages due to dead Islanders. These wages were diverted to state government coffers. Attached to the hospital was an Islander cemetery which was formally established in 1891 but was used for interments whilst the hospital existed. A total of 363 Islander patients died at the hospital and were presumably all buried in the cemetery. The Maryborough Pacific Islander Hospital buildings were removed in 1892 and some equipment moved to the Maryborough Hospital which established a separate Kanaka ward. The site of the Pacific Island Hospital and cemetery was left vacant until sold off as vacant land in 1911. A controversy arose a couple of years when the Maryborough Council was considering allowing building on the former site. Action were than taken to have the site declared a heritage area. The outcome for this has not yet been decided. If building approval were to happen one can only hope that a suitable memorial and monument is placed there to remind everyone of Maryborough’s role in the South Sea Islander traffic. The site is near Tinana 5 kms west of Maryborough.

  

The first South Sea Islander labourers arrived at the port of Maryborough in 1867 on the schooner Mary Smith. All were male and found employed straight away with the Maryborough Sugar Company. They were paid £6 per year (paid at the end for the three year contract) compared with a white labourers who would have received up to £30 a year. The Islanders also were fed and housed which the white labourers were not. The Maryborough Sugar Company also paid for the voyage to and from the South Sea Islands. When the Mary borough Pacific Islander Hospital closed in 1888 it was partially because the number for South Sea Islanders was declining in the district. Numbers continued to fall in the 1890s as sugar profits declined. Then all South Sea Islanders were covered by the “White Australia Acts” of the new Federal Government in 1901. At that time the Islander population in Queensland was at its peak with around 9,000 Islanders. Commonwealth legislation banned recruitment from 1904 and started deportation in 1906. By 1908 7,000 Islanders had been deported and about 2,000 were allowed to stay on in Australia because of marriage or health or other issues. Over the life time of the South Sea Islander trade around 60,000 Islanders had been brought into Queensland and of those about a quarter were employed in the Maryborough district.

 

Turns out if I can get him under the quilt he rotates 90 degrees and I can read and pet cat simultaneously. Win.

The phenomenon of the Green Ray (or Flash) occasionally seen at sunset or — with greater difficulty — at sunrise is beautifully described by Marcel Minnaert In his book: "The nature of Light and Colour in the open air" (Dover publications inc., New York, 1954, pp. 58–63). As I have reported in a previous post ( www.flickr.com/photos/bob_81667/40402297274/ ), the visibility of the phenomenon is dependent on scattering and absorption processes occurring during the long path that sunlight takes through Earth's atmosphere to reach our eyes at these times. These processes result in what is known as the telluric spectrum of the sun which is distinct from the absorption resulting from the escape of light through the solar atmosphere.

 

The telluric spectrum of the sky and of the sun itself varies during the day (and night) depending on both the altitude of the sun above the horizon and on the varying content of atmospheric gases, most notably that of water vapour. In his book, Minnaert shows a rough sketch of the visual spectrum of the setting sun seen through a visual spectroscope (Fig. 55, credited to N. Dijkwel, Hemel en Dampkring, 34, 261, 1936). This shows the development of the gap between the green and the red segments of the spectrum as the sun reaches the horizon but is attributed by him to water vapour absorption which, although it does play a minor role, the much larger effect of ozone absorption on the spectrum of twilight was not widely appreciated at that time.

 

In this picture, I assemble some of the historical drawings along with modern digital spectra to help give a clearer picture of the contributors to the sunset spectrum.

 

The lower frame in the picture is the sketch from Minnaert's book of the of the sunset spectrum developing downwards with time. I assume that this is a prismatic spectrum which is squashed up towards the red end compared with the linear grating spectrum in the upper plot. I have coloured Minnaert's picture to show the correct orange colour between the middle two absorption bands. The 4th strip from the top shows two pairs of absorption bands that I have labelled, from the right to left, A, B, R and Greek(delta).

 

[Note added in December 2020: I am not certain in my attribution of the of the two reddest absorptions in row 4 to Fraunhofer A and B as was suggested by their position in the drawing. My own examinations of the setting sun with a visual prism spectroscope reveal that the two bands, alpha near 630nm and the combination of Fraunhofer C (H-alpha) and the water band near 650nm form a more prominent pair. If this is the case, it is worth remarking that these four features drawn in row 4 contain two bands from tetra-oxygen that could not be identified as such at the time of the original investigations by Ångström and others in the 19th century. It is now known that such CIA (see below) transitions contribute a small but significant part of the ensemble of absorptions that produce the global greenhouse effect. I think that the fact that we can see these bands with the eye through a simple spectroscope is interesting.

 

I have now (10/12/2020) replaced the figure with this new, and more likely, interpretation of Dijkwel's drawing.]

 

Above this, I have reproduced (in mirror image to reverse the spectral direction) the observations of the telluric spectrum made by Ångström and shown in the book "Spectrum Analysis" by H. Schellen, D Appleton and Company, New York, 1872, Fig. 95, p183. This is on a linear wavelength scale aligned with the spectral plots at the top of the picture. Download the full size version of the image to read the labelling on this. The drawing shows the strong solar Fraunhofer lines as well as the telluric features. Note that it also includes the blue tetra-oxygen feature at ~476nm that was shown at a shorter wavelength in one of Ångström and Thalén's (presumably earlier) maps shown in plate VI of the above book.

 

The top plot shows a sunset spectrum (blue line) and also a spectrum of the eclipsed moon (Pallé, E. et al. Nature volume 459, pages 814–816 (11 June 2009) — red line). These are marked with the major telluric lines and bands from H_2 O (water), O_2 (molecular oxygen), O_3 (ozone) and the O_2 * O_2 dimer (now known as the CIA O_4 Collisionally Induced Absorption). Overlayed on this is the first reported spectral plot I have found of the central part of the ozone Chappuis band absorption and reported in the Astrophysical Journal in 1934 ( articles.adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-iarticle_query?19... ). This is inverted and flipped left-right but you can see the characteristic double dip at the centre of the Chappuis band. The red and blue line spectra are plotted as a ratio of the the spectrum of an uneclipsed moon (top) and the spectrum of the sun seen high in the sky (bottom, blue line). This results in the removal of the intrinsic spectrum of the sun, leaving only the telluric spectrum.

 

So what's going on here? The principal difference between the red and blue line spectra (eclipse and sunset) in the top plot is the path that the sunlight takes through the atmosphere in these two situations. In the lunar eclipse, the light grazes the Earth on its way to producing the 'copper-coloured' moon but, in this case, the path avoids the low altitude atmosphere where most of the water vapour resides. You can see that the water band absorptions are much weaker than in the blue sunset spectrum. The other difference — a more subtle one — is that the CIA features (notice especially the one around 578nm) are stronger in the sunset spectrum which was obtained from a low altitude observing site, essentially sea-level. This is because the formation of the CIA lines needs two adjacent oxygen molecules and so its strength is dependent on the oxygen partial pressure squared and so is only really produced in the low atmosphere.

 

How do we interpret the spectrum sketches in Minnaert's book? The clear separation between the green and red segments in the 5th strip down is predominantly due to the ozone Chappuis absorption (see the model spectra in: www.flickr.com/photos/bob_81667/40402297274/ ). The central pair of absorptions seen in the 4 strips above is partly the result of the shape of the central part if the ozone Chappuis band but it is enhanced by the CIA absorption on the short wavelength side and by the water absorption on the long wavelength side. This water band was known by Victorian observers as "The Rain Band" since is was supposed to appear more strongly in damp weather and so was used for forecasting rain (though not very successfully!) This spectral region has a very characteristic appearance in a visual spectroscope with what appears to be a broad yellow 'emission' band flanked on either side by significant absorption. It is strong in both the sky and solar spectra when the sun is low: I have labelled these absorptions by 'delta' (as used by Ångström) and 'R' for Rainband. These are shown very clearly in the Spectral drawings by Piazzi Smyth made in 1875/6.

See: www.flickr.com/photos/bob_81667/11433988063/

 

The absorptions further to the red in the Minnaert sketch I suggest should be identified with the very strong molecular oxygen bands known as Fraunhofer 'A' and 'B' although it is not obvious why only a single band is shown on the 3rd strip. Maybe the observation was influenced by a strong water band marked 'a'?

 

Why should we be so interested in this apparently rather arcane branch of observational astronomy, even though it was all-the-rage in the late 19th century? The reason is that the use of long light paths through planetary atmospheres that can be extracted from observations of a planetary transit (when the planet crosses the disc of its ‘sun’) is one of the primary ways of learning about exoplanet atmospheres, currently a major ‘industry’ in astrophysics.

Eaglehawk Neck.

The dramatic coastline here shows the difficulties mariners faced reaching Hobart in the 19th century. There are caves and blow holes along the coast. The narrow isthmus which separates the Tasman Peninsula from the mainland shows why Port Arthur was such an easily defended prison site. The tessellated (tiled) pavement is unique in Australia. The flat sandstone here has fractured into rectangular tiles, which have then been eroded by water and waves. The fractures dry out at low tide allowing salt crystals to form which speeds up the erosion of the pan or tile surfaces, leaving the original fractures higher.

 

Port Arthur 1830-1877.

What became the largest convict prison in VDL was started at Port Arthur in 1830 and named after the strict disciplinarian governor of the day, Sir George Arthur. 75,000 convicts served time in VDL before 1853 compromising roughly half of all convicts transported to Australia. Most came direct from England, but a few thousand came from other colonies or Ireland. At its peak in 1847, there were over 30,000 convicts in VDL. The majority were assigned to work for private colonists, some worked on government projects such as roads and bridges and public buildings. The worst criminals and those least likely to reform themselves were sent to convict prisons such as Port Arthur. Most of those assigned to farm work were from the petty criminal class of the industrial cities of Britain but they were not necessarily less skilled than free workers of those days. Port Arthur never had more than 1,200 prisoners there at any one time during its 47 year history. But it had a well deserved reputation for brutality and harshness. It was not an idle penal base; its inmates, if not in solitary confinement, worked felling timber, in foundries, the prison gardens, erecting buildings, and in the nearby coal mines- usually in chain gangs. Port Arthur was an industrial complex. Six forges operated here, bricks, barrels, coach wheels, and shoes were among the major products produced. The dock at Port Arthur was always busy with shipping arrivals and departures. It was not until the last years of the prison that the complex based on Pentonville in London was constructed (1848-52) where the cells were six feet by nine feet, dark and damp. The most infamous commandant, known for his brutality was Captain Charles O’Hara Booth who headed the prison from 1833 to 1844.

 

The main structures at Port Arthur include many that have not been demolished over the years: the Commandant’s House 1833; the round guard Tower 1835; the church 1836 (partially destroyed by fire in 1884); the Shipwright’s House 1834; the Clerk of Work’s House 1841; the Hospital 1842; the Commandant’s Office 1848; the Magistrates House 1847; the Medical Officer’s House 1847; the large four storey mill and granary was converted into the Penitentiary for those who were left at Port Arthur after 1853; the Model Prison 1852. In its heyday Port Arthur was much bigger than what you see today. After the end of transportation those prisoners convicted for life stayed on until the prison closed in 1877. Some were then transferred to Hobart or other prisons.

 

The Island of the Dead that we will cruise past is believed to contain about 1,100 graves. Only about 90 still have headstones. The civil workers were separated even in death from the convicts who were buried on the Island of the Dead. Marcus Clarke briefly visited Port Arthur in 1870 as it was winding down to get material for his fictional account of the life of a convict called For the Term of His Natural Life, which was first serialised in newspapers between 1870-72.

 

the difficulty of moss and lichen photography is that it would require a large depth of field, which is unattainable at this magnification.

The difficulty when making the arguments for a 'new species' to be the product of hybrid origin is basically whether the new pedigree breeds true. That is to say whether the combination of the two original species is fixed in a genuine "nothospecies".

The opposite situation where offspring more closely resemble either of the originator species is called genetic segregation.

 

The bud above started a little deformed because I didn't realise that the plant was stressed from lack of water. However, this plant, resulting from Passiflora xbuzios x Passiflora xbuzios, produces racemes (originally from Passiflora racemosa) like its parents as well as unlobed leaves (originally from Passiflora galbana).

The crested cormorant (European Shag) is a large seabird the size of a goose. Body length 68-78 cm, wingspan 95-110 cm, weight approximately 2 kg. The plumage is black with a metallic sheen. It takes off with difficulty, usually from a cliff or from a cliff, from water - after a long run-up. The flight is heavy, with frequent flapping of wings. It stretches its long neck and legs in flight. He walks poorly on the ground, keeping his body upright. I have to dry my feathers for a long time, sitting on rocks and opening my wings. It swims and dives well, landing on the water is low, and only the head and a small part of the body are visible in swimming birds. A gregarious species. He's careful, he doesn't let people get close. Males and females in breeding attire have a small black crest on the front of their heads, the feathers of which are bent forward at the top. The plumage is black with a metallic green sheen. Back feathers and wing coverts with shiny velvety black fringes forming a scaly pattern. The legs are black. The beak is black, and during the mating season, and sometimes after it, a yellow spot stands out on the bare skin at the base of the lower jaw. The lower jaw is yellowish. The eyes are green. In the winter attire of adult birds, the plumage color does not change, but the crest disappears. In young birds, the upper side of the body is black with a faint green metallic sheen. The upper wing coverts are bordered by dark stripes along the contour. The chin is dirty-white. The neck is brown with fine mottling. The underside of the body is dirty white with rare blurred spots on the chest and sides of the belly. The flight and tail feathers are dark brown, without gloss. The legs are pinkish. The beak is brown with a dark stripe along the ridge of the upper beak. At the age of one year, the upper side of the body has a green metallic sheen. The wings are dark brown, with fawn fringes of the coverts of the flight feathers, which form a pale stripe on the wing of a flying bird. The underside of the body is brown, without mottling and gloss. The chin is dirty-white. The legs are brown.

 

It differs from other birds in flight by its black color and long rounded tail. Adult birds differ from the great cormorant in their small size, thinner and longer beak, absence of a crest on the forehead and white spots on the throat and side in their breeding attire. Young birds are distinguished by their dark bellies, thinner beak and protruding small feathers on the forehead (in young cormorants, the feathers stick out on the back of the head, closer to the back of the head). Voice. The silent bird. Only at the nest it makes low wheezing sounds, resembling a dull cawing. The range covers the coast of Western Europe from the Kola Peninsula to the Black and Mediterranean Seas. The distribution is generally sporadic; in the south it leads a sedentary lifestyle, in the north it is nomadic. In European Russia, there are 2 subspecies: the Mediterranean long-nosed cormorant Ph. A. desmarestii (the nearest breeding site is Crimea) and the Atlantic long-nosed cormorant Ph. a. aristotelis (nests on the Murmansk coast). Birds of different subspecies differ in the color of the swimming membranes (brown and black, respectively), the length of the beak and crest. The crested cormorant is a rare breeding species on the Murmansk coast. It migrates along the coasts of Scandinavia in a southwesterly direction, some birds stay for the winter on the Murmansk coast. It occurs off the Russian coast of the Black Sea during the autumn migrations, during which time bird registrations are also possible off the coast of the Sea of Azov. A seabird is associated with land only during the breeding season, and spends the rest of its time at sea off the coast. It prefers to nest on rocky coasts, islands and on isolated rocks in the sea. It nests in colonies, often together with other cormorants, gulls and puffins. It builds a nest of twigs, algae and grass, usually in rock crevices, in niches and under rocks. Open nests are rare. There are usually 3 blue eggs in the clutch, covered with a white calcareous layer. Both parents incubate for a month. The chicks hatch naked and blind, the development of plumage is slow, soon the chick is covered with blackish-brown down, somewhat lighter on the head and neck. The bare skin around the eyes is dark, and the corners of the mouth and lower jaw are dirty yellow. The eyes are light brown. The legs are brownish-black. The chicks leave the nest at the age of two months. It feeds on fish. It usually hunts alone.

 

Хохлатый баклан (European Shag).

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Хохлатый баклан (European Shag) - крупная морская птица размером с гуся. Длина тела 68–78 см, размах крыльев 95–110 см, масса примерно 2 кг. Оперение черное с металлическим блеском. Взлетает с трудом, обычно со скалы или с обрыва, с воды - после длительного разбега. Полет тяжелый, с частыми взмахами крыльев. В полете вытягивает длинную шею и ноги. По земле ходит плохо, держа тело вертикально. Вынужден подолгу сушить оперение, сидя на камнях и раскрыв крылья. Хорошо плавает и ныряет, посадка на воде низкая, у плавающих птиц бывает видна только голова и небольшая часть туловища. Стайный вид. Осторожен, человека близко не подпускает. У самцов и самок в брачном наряде на передней части головы имеется небольшой черный хохол, перья которого на вершине загнуты вперед. Оперение черное с зеленым металлическим блеском. Перья спины и кроющие перья крыла с блестящими бархатно-черными окаймлениями, формирующими чешуйчатый рисунок. Ноги черные. Клюв черный, в брачный период, а иногда и после него, на участке голой кожи в основании нижней челюсти выделяется желтое пятно. Нижняя челюсть желтоватая. Глаза зеленые. В зимнем наряде у взрослых птиц окраска оперения не меняется, но исчезает хохол. У молодых птиц верхняя сторона тела черная со слабым зеленым металлическим блеском. Верхние кроющие перья крыла окаймлены по контуру темными полосками. Подбородок грязновато-белый. Шея бурая с мелкими пестринами. Нижняя сторона тела грязно-белая с редкими размытыми пятнами на груди и боках брюха. Маховые и рулевые перья темно-бурые, без блеска. Ноги розоватые. Клюв бурый с темной полоской вдоль конька надклювья. В возрасте одного года верхняя сторона тела с зеленым металлическим отблеском. Крылья темно-бурые, с палевыми окаймлениями кроющих маховых перьев, которые у летящей птицы формируют бледную полосу на крыле. Нижняя сторона тела бурая, без пестрин и блеска. Подбородок грязновато-белый. Ноги бурые.

 

От других птиц в полете отличается черной окраской и длинным закругленным хвостом. От большого баклана взрослые птицы отличаются мелкими размерами, более тонким и длинным клювом, отсутствием в брачном наряде хохла на лбу и белых пятен на горле и на боку. Молодые птицы отличаются темным брюхом, более тонким клювом и торчащими мелкими перьями на лбу (у молодых больших бакланов перья торчат на задней части головы, ближе к затылку). Голос. Молчаливая птица. Только у гнезда издает низкие хрипящие звуки, напоминающие глухое карканье. Ареал охватывает морское побережье Западной Европы от Кольского полуострова до Черного и Средиземного морей. Распространение в целом спорадичное; на юге ведет оседлый образ жизни, на севере - кочующий. В Европейской России встречаются 2 подвида: средиземноморский длинноносый баклан Ph. a. desmarestii (ближайшее место гнездования - Крым) и атлантический длинноносый баклан Ph. a. aristotelis (гнездится на Мурманском побережье). Птицы разных подвидов отличаются цветом плавательных перепонок (бурые и черные, соответственно), длиной клюва и хохла. На Мурманском побережье хохлатый баклан - немногочисленный гнездящийся вид. Кочевки совершает вдоль берегов Скандинавии в юго-западном направлении, некоторые птицы остаются зимовать на Мурманском побережье. У российского побережья Черного моря встречается в период осенних кочевок, в это время возможны регистрации птиц и у побережья Азовского моря. Морская птица, с сушей связана только в период размножения, остальное время проводит в море у берегов. Гнездиться предпочитает на скалистых побережьях, островах и на отдельно стоящих в море скалах. Гнездится колониями, часто совместно с другими бакланами, чайками и чистиками. Гнездо строит из веток, водорослей и травы, обычно в расщелинах скал, в нишах и под камнями. Открытые гнезда встречаются редко. В кладке чаще всего 3 голубых яйца, покрытых белым известковым слоем. Насиживают оба родителя в течение месяца. Птенцы вылупляются голыми и слепыми, развитие оперения идет медленно, вскоре птенец покрывается черновато-бурым пухом, несколько более светлым на голове и шее. Голая кожа вокруг глаз темная, в углах рта и на нижней челюсти - грязного желтого цвета. Глаза светло-бурые. Ноги буровато-черные. Гнездо птенцы покидают в возрасте двух месяцев. Питается рыбой. Охотится обычно одиночно.

 

Новороссийск ✅

Фото: 2025.02.12

April 23, 2015 on our trip to the blipmeet at Wanaka, Central Otago in New Zealand. www.polaroidblipfoto.com/browse/me

 

Our first morning in Cromwell. We woke to heavy fog which took a while to lift. We have arrived at Mt Difficulty Estate Winery so John can do some tasting.

 

The unique microclimate of the Bannockburn area is partially created by the presence of Mount Difficulty which overlooks the southern Cromwell basin, and is the namesake of Mt Difficulty Wines. Mount Difficulty is integral in providing low rainfall and humidity for the region. Bannockburn enjoys hot summers, a large diurnal temperature variation and long cool autumns; conditions which bring the best out of the Pinot Noir grapes. These conditions, along with soils which are ideal for viticulture, provide an excellent basis not only for Pinot Noir, but also for Pinot Gris, Riesling, and Chardonnay. The soils are a mix of clay and gravels, but all feature a high pH level; grapes produce their best wines on sweet soils.

For More Info and photos: www.mtdifficulty.co.nz/aboutus/ourstory.htmlTalbe

Difficulties in female orgasm, masturbating and pornography are discussed by The Medical Center for Female Sexuality’s Sexuality Counselor, Shannon Bertha on MensNetTV with host Mel Feit. For more information on the medical techniques for treatment of female sexual dysfunction, including painful intercourse and low sex drive to enable women achieve sexual health and satisfying female sexuality visit: www.centerforfemalesexuality.com

Offices in Purchase, NY and Manhattan, NY.

 

FINANCIAL DIFFICULTY

 

Lord, these are trying times for all of us.

It’s hard enough to wake up everyday

To go to work and when payday comes

To settle all the bills on time.

Everything seems to be caving in on me.

So many obligations to meet!

Lord, how do I cope with all these?

Give me Your gift of perseverance

That I may continue this journey of trials.

Give me Your wisdom

To use my meager wealth responsibly

Help me understand

When You knock me down to my knees

It is from here I should rise again. Amen.

 

Bible inspiration : Luke 12:29-30

It is not for you to be in search of what you are to eat or drink. Stop worrying.. Your Father knows you need such things.

 

Pavel Srníček (10 March 1968 – 29 December 2015) was a Czech football coach and former professional player who played as a goalkeeper.

 

In a career that lasted from 1990 to 2007, he notably played in the Premier League mainly for Newcastle United. In addition, he represented Sheffield Wednesday, Portsmouth and West Ham United in England's top flight, and also played in Serie A for Brescia, Serie B with Cosenza, in Portugal for Beira-Mar, and in his native country for Baník Ostrava. After retiring, he worked as a goalkeeping coach for his own private school and for AC Sparta Prague.

 

Srníček played internationally for the Czech Republic from 1994 to 2001, earning a total of 49 caps. He was part of their squad that came runners-up at UEFA Euro 96, and was their first-choice goalkeeper when they came third at the 1997 FIFA Confederations Cup and contested UEFA Euro 2000.

 

Srníček made 30 appearances in the Czechoslovak First League for Baník Ostrava spanning the 1989–90 and 1990–91 seasons. He was signed for English side Newcastle United in January 1991 by manager Jim Smith for a fee of £350,000, being one of 23 players signed by Smith in a 2+1⁄2-year period as manager. Smith left just two months after Srníček's arrival. Under manager Ossie Ardiles, Srníček established himself as Newcastle's first-choice goalkeeper ahead of John Burridge and Tommy Wright. Srníček experienced difficulty in the first 15 games of the 1991–92 season, conceding 32 goals in that period including six in a single match against Tranmere Rovers. Ardiles replaced Srníček as goalkeeper with Wright and by February 1992, the club was merely one place from last in the Second Division. This led to Kevin Keegan replacing Ardiles as manager, with the club winning seven of their remaining 16 games, only managing to confirm their future status in the division with an away win against Leicester City on the last day of the season. The club started the 1992–93 season in the new Football League First Division, winning all of their first 11 matches. Wright lost his place as goalkeeper to Srníček after 14 games of the season. At the end of the season, Keegan's first full one as manager, the club was promoted to the Premier League with 96 points. 1993 saw the arrival of Mike Hooper from Liverpool, who competed with Srníček for the position of goalkeeper.

 

Srníček marked the opening of the 1994–95 season, a 3–1 away victory against Leicester City, by being sent off. A "terrible error" by Srníček in a September 1994 match against Liverpool resulted in a goal for Liverpool striker Ian Rush, ending Newcastle's perfect start to the season and leading Glenn Moore of The Independent to question how much longer the goalkeeper would remain in the first team.

 

During Srníček's league suspension in 1995, former Reading man Shaka Hislop assumed position as the team's goalkeeper. Later an injury to Hislop enabled Srníček to return to the first team, upon which he entered into an impressive run of form. He was named man of the match in a December 1995 match against Everton, his team winning 1–0. During the 1990s, Srníček became the longest-serving foreign Newcastle player, passing the time spent at the club by Chilean brothers George and Ted Robledo.

 

Srníček played in the UEFA Cup, making a "vital save" from Amara Traoré and keeping a clean sheet as Newcastle beat Metz 2–0 in a December 1996 match in Newcastle, to qualify for the quarter finals of the competition.

 

Newcastle United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England. The team compete in the Premier League, the first level of the English football league system, as of the 2023–24 season. Since the formation of the club in 1892, when Newcastle East End absorbed the assets of Newcastle West End to become Newcastle United, the club has played its home matches at St James' Park. Located in the centre of Newcastle, it currently has a capacity of 52,305.

 

The club has been a member of the Premier League for all but three years of the competition's history, spending 91 seasons in the top flight as of May 2023, and has never dropped below English football's second tier since joining the Football League in 1893. Newcastle have won four League titles, six FA Cups and an FA Charity Shield, as well as the 1968–69 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, the ninth-highest total of trophies won by an English club. The club's most successful period was between 1904 and 1910, when they won an FA Cup and three of their League titles. Their last major domestic trophy was in 1955. More recently the club have been League or FA Cup runners-up on four occasions in the 1990s. Newcastle were relegated in 2009, and again in 2016. The club won promotion at the first time of asking each time, returning to the Premier League, as Championship winners, in 2010 and 2017. In October 2021, a consortium led by the Public Investment Fund, the sovereign wealth fund of Saudi Arabia, became majority owners of Newcastle United.

 

The team's traditional kit colours are black-and-white striped shirts, black shorts and black or white socks. Their crest has elements of the city coat of arms, which features two grey hippocamps. Before each home game, the team enters the field to "Going Home", with "Blaydon Races" also being sung during games. The 2005 film Goal! featured Newcastle United, and many signings mentioned the influence the film had on them.

 

The history of Newcastle United Football Club, an English professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, North East England, covers the club's entire history from its formation to the present day. Formed by a merger between Newcastle East End and Newcastle West End to become 'United' in 1892, the club was elected to the Football League, which they entered in 1893.

 

Newcastle are England's 9th most successful club of all time. They have been English champions four times (in 1905, 1907, 1909, 1927) and FA Cup winners six times (in 1910, 1924, 1932, 1951, 1952, 1955). The club have also won the 1909 Charity Shield, the 1968–69 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, and the 2006 Intertoto Cup. Newcastle have reached the League Cup final twice, finishing runners-up in both years ( 1976 and 2023). They have played in England's top league from 1898–1934, 1948–61, 1965–78, 1984–89, 1993–2009, 2010–2016, and 2017–present, playing in the second tier at all other times.

 

The first record of football being played on Tyneside dates from 3 March 1877 at Elswick Rugby Club. Later that year, Newcastle's first association football club, Tyne Association, was formed. The origins of Newcastle United Football Club itself can be traced back to the formation of a football club by the Stanley Cricket Club of Byker in November 1881. They won their first match 5–0 against Elswick Leather Works 2nd XI. The team was renamed Newcastle East End F.C. in October 1882, to avoid confusion with the cricket club in Stanley, County Durham.

 

Shortly after this, another Byker side, Rosewood FC, merged with East End to form an even stronger side. Meanwhile, across the city, West End Cricket Club began to take an interest in football and in August 1882, they formed Newcastle West End F.C. West End played their early football on their cricket pitch, but in May 1886, the club moved into St James' Park. The two clubs became rivals in the Northern League. In 1889, Newcastle East End became a professional team, before becoming a limited company the following March.

 

West End soon became the city's premier club. East End were anxious not to be left behind and lured Tom Watson into becoming the club secretary/manager in the close season of 1888 and from that point, never looked back; Watson made several good signings, especially from Scotland, and the Heaton club went from strength to strength, while West End's fortunes slipped dramatically.

 

The region's first league competition was formed in 1889 and the FA Cup began to cause interest. Ambitious East End turned professional in 1889, a huge step for a local club, and in March 1890, they made an even more adventurous move by becoming a limited company with capital of 1,000 pounds in ten shilling notes. During the spring of 1892, in a season during which their results were at an all-time low, and in which they had lost to their bitter rivals, East End, five times, West End found themselves in serious trouble. They approached East End with a view to a take over, the directors having decided that the club could no longer continue.

 

What actually happened was that West End wound up, while some of its players and most of its backroom staff joined East End. East End also took over the lease on St. James' Park in May 1892.

 

With only one senior club in the city for fans to support, development of the club was much more rapid. Despite being refused entry to the Football League's First Division at the start of the 1892–93 season, they were invited to play in their new Second Division. However, with no big names playing in the Second Division, they turned down the offer and remained in the Northern League, stating "gates would not meet the heavy expenses incurred for travelling". In a bid to start drawing larger crowds, Newcastle East End decided to adopt a new name in recognition of the merger. Suggested names included Newcastle F.C., Newcastle Rangers, Newcastle City and City of Newcastle, but Newcastle United was decided upon on 9 December 1892, to signify the unification of the two teams. The name change was accepted by the Football Association on 22 December, but the club was not legally constituted as Newcastle United Football Club Co. Ltd. until 6 September 1895. At the start of the 1893–94 season, Newcastle United were once again refused entry to the First Division and so joined the Second Division, along with Liverpool and Woolwich Arsenal. They played their first competitive match in the division that September against Woolwich Arsenal, with a score of 2–2.

 

Turnstile numbers were still low, and the incensed club published a statement claiming "The Newcastle public do not deserve to be catered for as far as professional football is concerned". However, eventually figures picked up by 1895–96, when 14,000 fans watched the team play Bury. That season Frank Watt became secretary of the club, and he was instrumental in promotion to the First Division for the 1898–99 season. However, they lost their first game 4–2 at home to Wolves and finished their first season in thirteenth place.

 

In 1903–04, the club built up a promising squad of players, and went on to dominate English football for almost a decade, the team known for their "artistic play, combining team-work and quick, short passing". Newcastle started to purchase talented players, especially from Scotland, and soon had a squad to rival all of England. With players like Colin Veitch, Jackie Rutherford, Jimmy Lawrence and Albert Shepherd, Newcastle had a team of international talent. Bill McCracken, Jimmy Howie, Peter McWilliam and Andy Aitken were also household names in their day. Long after his retirement, defender Peter McWilliam said "The Newcastle team of the 1900s would give any modern side a two goal start and beat them, and further more, beat them at a trot".

 

Newcastle United went on to win the League on three occasions during the 1900s: in 1904–05, 1906–07 and 1908–09. Newcastle reached five FA Cup finals in the years leading up to World War I. In 1904–05, they nearly did the double, losing to Aston Villa in the 1905 FA Cup Final. They were beaten again the following year by Everton in the 1906 FA Cup Final. They reached the final again in 1908 where they lost to Wolves. In 1908 the team suffered a record 9–1 home defeat to local rivals Sunderland in the league but still won that season's league title. They finally won the FA Cup in 1910 when they beat Barnsley in the final. They lost again the following year in the final against Bradford City.

 

The team returned to the FA Cup final in 1924, in the second final held at the then new Wembley Stadium. They defeated Aston Villa, winning the club's second FA Cup.Three years later they won the First Division championship a fourth time in 1926–27. Record signing & Scottish international centre-forward Hughie Gallacher, one of the most prolific goal scorers in the club's history, captained the championship-winning team. Other key players in this period were Neil Harris, Stan Seymour and Frank Hudspeth. Seymour was to become an influential figure for the next 40 years as player, manager and director.

 

In 1930, Newcastle United came close to relegation, and at the end of the season Gallacher left the club for Chelsea, and at the same time Andy Cunningham became the club's first team manager. In 1931–32, the club won the FA Cup a third time in the infamous 'Over the Line' final. United won the game 2–1 after scoring a goal following a cross from Jimmy Richardson which appeared to be hit from out of play - over the line. There were no action replays then and the referee allowed the goal, a controversial talking point in FA Cup history.

 

Newcastle boasted master players like Sam Weaver and Jack Allen, as well as the first player-manager in the top division in Scottish international Andy Cunningham. But at the end of the 1933–34 season, the team were relegated to the Second Division after 32 seasons in the First. Cunningham left as manager and Tom Mather took over. Amazingly in the same season as they fell into the Second Division, United defeated Liverpool 9–2 and Everton 7–3 within the space of a week.

 

The club found it difficult to adjust to the Second Division and were nearly further relegated in the 1937–38 season, when they were spared on goal averages.

 

When World War II broke in 1939, Newcastle had a chance to regroup, and in the War period, they brought in Jackie Milburn, Tommy Walker and Bobby Cowell.

 

Newcastle United won no Wartime League trophies, but Jackie Milburn made his debut in 1943 in a "Stripes vs Blues" match. Milburn's side was losing at half-time 3–0, but following a switch from midfielder to centre forward, he scored 6 goals to help them win the match 9–3. Jackie went on to score 38 goals in the next 3 years of the league's life.

 

By the time peace was restored in 1945, Seymour was at the forefront of Newcastle's affairs, manager in all but name. He ensured that the Magpies possessed an entertaining eleven full of stars, a mix of home-grown talent like Jackie Milburn, Bobby Cowell and Ernie Taylor, as well as big signings in the shape of George Robledo, Bobby Mitchell, Joe Harvey, Len Shackleton and Frank Brennan.

 

Newcastle spent the first couple of years post-war in the Second Division. Crowds were extremely high after the return to football, and in 1946 Newcastle recorded the joint-highest victory in English League Football history, defeating Newport County 13–0. Len Shackleton, playing his debut in that match, scored 6 goals in the match, another record for Newcastle United.

 

Newcastle returned to the First Division in double of the time. Promotion was achieved in 1948 in front of vast crowds. An average of almost 57,000 at every home game saw United's fixtures that year, a national record for years to come. That was just the start of another period of success.

 

During the Fifties decade United lifted the FA Cup trophy on three occasions within a five-year period. In 1951 they defeated Blackpool 2–0, a year later Arsenal were beaten 1–0 and in 1955 United crushed Manchester City 3–1. The Magpies were known in every corner of the country, and so were their players; 'Wor Jackie' Milburn and Bobby 'Dazzler' Mitchell the pick of a side that was renowned the nation over. Other players of this time were Frank Brennan (like Mitchell a Scot), Ivor Broadis, Len White and Welshman Ivor Allchurch.

 

Despite having quality players throughout the era, stars like Allchurch, White and George Eastham during the latter years of the decade, United slipped from the First Division in 1961 under the controversial management of ex-Manchester United star, Charlie Mitten. It was a huge blow to the club.

 

An old war-horse returned to revitalise the Magpies in the shape of Joe Harvey, who had skippered the club to much of their post-war success. He teamed up with Stan Seymour to rebuild United and the Black'n'Whites returned to the elite as Second Division Champions in 1965. United then became very much an unpredictable side, always capable of defeating the best, but never quite realising their huge potential until very recently.

 

Joe Harvey's side qualified for Europe for the first time in 1968 and stunned everyone the following year by lifting the Inter Cities Fairs Cup; the forerunner of the UEFA Cup. United possessed a solid eleven and Newcastle's tradition of fielding a famous Number 9 at centre-forward since earliest years continued as big Welshman Wyn Davies was prominent along with the likes of Pop Robson, Bobby Moncur and Frank Clark.

 

In the years that followed European success, manager Harvey brought in a string of talented entertainers who thrilled the Gallowgate crowd. Pleasers like Jimmy Smith, Tony Green and Terry Hibbitt. And especially a new centre-forward by the name of Malcolm Macdonald.

 

Nicknamed 'Supermac', Macdonald was one of United's greatest hero figures. Brash, arrogant and devastating in front of goal, he led United's attack to Wembley in 1974, against Liverpool in the FA Cup. But the Magpies failed to bring the trophy back to Tyneside, and a complete lack of success in any of the competitions the next season resulted in Joe Harvey being sacked in mid-1975.

 

Blackburn manager Gordon Lee was appointed to replace Harvey, and despite a mediocre league campaign in 1975–76, led the club to its first League Cup final, which ended in defeat by Manchester City. Despite Macdonald controversially being sold to Arsenal for a cut price deal, the following season saw United's best League campaign for years, and by Christmas the club looked to have an outside chance of winning the title. However, Lee walked out on the club to take over at Everton at the start of 1977, and inexperienced coach Richard Dinnis was put in charge of the team after the players demanded that he be given the job. United's form initially remained quite consistent under Dinnis, and they secured 5th place and a UEFA Cup spot at the end of the season. However, the team totally fell apart the following season, and Dinnis was sacked after a run of ten straight League defeats and a thumping UEFA Cup exit at the hands of French team SC Bastia. Bill McGarry took over as manager, but was powerless to prevent United from being relegated in statistically their worst season ever. The only mercy they had was Leicester City's terrible goal difference preventing United from finishing bottom of the table.

 

McGarry remained in charge of the club, but only managed two midtable finishes before being sacked in the wake of an uninspiring start to the 1980–81 season, and it was his successor Arthur Cox who steered United back again to the First Division with ex England captain Kevin Keegan leading the attack, having joined the Magpies in a sensational deal in 1982.

 

The football inspired by Keegan captivated Tyneside and United stormed into the top division in a style only bettered by Kevin's own brand of football when he returned to the club as manager a decade later. Cox had also signed young winger Chris Waddle out of non-league football, as well as young striker Peter Beardsley, Liverpool midfielder Terry McDermott and former Manchester United midfielder David McCreery. The club was rocked however when Cox resigned after the board refused to offer him an improved contract in the aftermath of promotion, and, surprisingly, accepted an offer to take charge of Derby County - who had been relegated from the Second Division.

 

One of English footballs greatest talents, Paul Gascoigne or 'Gazza', emerged as an exciting 18-year-old midfielder in 1985-86, under Newcastle's next manager Jack Charlton, who left after only one season despite Newcastle achieving a secure mid-table finish on their return to the First Division. His successor was former player Willie McFaul. Newcastle consolidated their place in Division One but then a period of selling their best players (Beardsley to Liverpool, and Waddle and eventually Gascoigne both to Tottenham), rocked the club and led to supporter unrest, as did a share-war for control of the boardroom. The effect of this on the pitch soon proved evident, as McFaul was sacked after a dismal start to the 1988–89 season, and new boss Jim Smith was unable to turn Newcastle around, resulting in them finishing at the foot of the First Division in 1989 and dropping back into the Second Division.

 

Smith then signed Portsmouth striker Mick Quinn and Newcastle began the 1989–90 season on a high note, beating promotion favourites Leeds United 5–2 on the opening day with Quinn scoring four goals, and Newcastle appeared to be on the path to a revival. However, they missed out on automatic promotion by one place, before enduring a humiliating play-off exit at the hands of local rivals Sunderland. The intensifying boardroom battle soon took its toll on the club, and Smith resigned early in the following season with the side stuck in mid-table. Ossie Ardiles became the club's new manager, and despite being initially being the club's most popular manager since Joe Harvey, Newcastle dropped to the bottom of the Second Division in October 1991. Results failed to improve, despite the acquisition of a new striker in David Kelly and the efforts of promising young players including Steve Howey, Steve Watson and Gavin Peacock, and in February 1992 Ardiles was sacked. Despite being the best-supported side in the division and frequently still managing to pull in crowds of more than 20,000, Newcastle were also millions of pounds in debt and faced with the real prospect of third-tier football for the first time ever. A saviour was needed, and in came new chairman John Hall, who offered the manager's job to Kevin Keegan. Despite having vowed never to enter management following his retirement as a player, Keegan accepted the offer to manage Newcastle. His first task was to deliver Second Division survival.

 

Kevin Keegan returned as manager in the 1991–92 season, and survived relegation from the Second Division. The club's finances were transformed, with Hall aiming to put Newcastle among Europe's biggest clubs, and signings like Rob Lee and Andy Cole helped Newcastle to promotion the following season, 1992–93, as champions of the new First Division. The finish also secured qualification for the 1993–94 UEFA Cup upon return to the top flight in the 1993–94 Premier League season.

 

St James' Park was redeveloped during this time into an all-seated stadium with a capacity of 36,000. This increased to 52,000 in the late 1990s, after the rejection of Hall's proposal to build a larger stadium at Castle Leazes.

 

Keegan stunned fans and critics alike in 1995 when prolific striker Andy Cole was sold to Manchester United in exchange for £6 million and midfielder Keith Gillespie, leaving many to blame the sale to have affected Newcastle's title chances for the 1994–95 season, in which they finished sixth. The club, however, continued to build up a reputation for playing attacking football under Keegan. In the 1995–96 season, high-profile foreign stars David Ginola and Faustino Asprilla, in addition to British players Peter Beardsley and striker Les Ferdinand, guided the team to a second-place finish. During the 1996–97 season, Keegan made one signing, securing the services of England striker Alan Shearer for a then-world record transfer fee of £15 million to produce a shrewd partnership with Les Ferdinand, and claim a 5–0 victory over title rivals Manchester United. whilst remaining in contention to win the league.

 

With the team having failed to win any trophies under his reign, Keegan resigned as manager on 8 January 1997, saying, "I feel that I have taken the club as far as I can."

 

Kenny Dalglish replaced Keegan as manager, and maintained the club's good form through to the end of the season, finishing second. In the 1997–98 season, Les Ferdinand and David Ginola both left the club, whilst Alan Shearer broke his ankle in a pre-season friendly, keeping him out for the first half of the season. Dalglish signed Ian Rush, John Barnes, Duncan Ferguson and Stuart Pearce to bolster the squad, and achieved a 3–2 victory over Barcelona in the UEFA Champions League through a Faustino Asprilla hat-trick, but Dalglish's cautious brand of football, as opposed to the attacking style played under Keegan, did not prove successful—the club failed to progress beyond the Champions League group stage, finished 13th in the Premier League, and lost the FA Cup final to Arsenal. Dalglish began the 1998–99 season signing Nolberto Solano and Dietmar Hamann, but was soon dismissed following the club's declining form.

 

Ruud Gullit replaced him, however the club again finished the league in 13th place and again lost in the FA Cup final, this time to Manchester United F.C. Gullit resigned early in the 1999–2000 season, having fallen out with several senior players, including Alan Shearer and captain Rob Lee. Keith Gillespie later blamed Gullit's arrogance for his failure as manager of the club.

 

Ex-England manager Bobby Robson was brought in to replace Gullit in September 1999. He ensured Newcastle's survival in the Premiership, but the club remained in the bottom half of the table, finishing 11th in 1999–2000 and 2000–01. Robson, however, built up an exciting young squad, and an unlikely top four challenge emerged in 2001–02 season—Newcastle finished in fourth place.

 

Playing in the Champions League in 2002–03, Newcastle progressed to the second group stage in unlikely circumstances, beating Italian squad Juventus 1–0 along the way. United finished the 2002–03 season third in the Premier League, but lost their Champions League qualifier and played in the 2003–04 UEFA Cup instead, reaching the semi-final. In 2003–04, Newcastle finished fifth in the Premiership, lower than in previous seasons, and outside of Champions League contention.

 

Robson was then sacked following a poor start to the 2004–05 season and alleged discontent in the dressing room. In his autobiography, Robson was critical of Shepherd, claiming that while manager he was denied information regarding the players' contracts and transfer negotiations. He had previously publicly criticised the club's highly financed offer for Wayne Rooney, which the club later claimed they could not afford, stating young players were making excessive demands without first proving themselves on the pitch. He also criticised Shepherd and the club's deputy chairman Douglas Hall for their focus on the first team and St James' Park, causing them to neglect less glamorous issues, such as the training ground, youth development and talent scouts.

 

Graeme Souness replaced Robson and finished the season 14th in the league. Souness' arrival, however, was met with mixed reactions, with many expecting Robson being a hard task to improve upon, despite insisting he was aware of Sir Bobby's admiration and was ready for the role. In the January transfer window, Souness caused controversy in securing an £8 million bid for France international Jean-Alain Boumsong, who had joined Rangers for free just months before, prior to which Sir Bobby had travelled to France to review Boumsong but declined to sign him. The Stevens inquiry in 2007 documented that in this purchase Souness was accused of lack of consistency and was reviewed over the large media speculation the transfer received, but was eventually exonerated from any illegal participations. Going into 2005–06 season, despite signing several new players, including the return of Nolberto Solano from Aston Villa as well as Albert Luque from Deportivo de La Coruña for £10 million, Souness struggled with the opening games. He later blamed the state of the club's training ground for injuries suffered to players. The signing of Michael Owen (for a club record £17 million from Real Madrid) and his strike partnership with Alan Shearer produced goals at the end of 2005, but an injury caused Owen to miss the rest of the season and following a poor start to the new year, Souness was sacked in February 2006. Robbie Elliiot and Shay Given announced regret over his exit in the club's Season Review DVD but acknowledged his seeming favouritism of players and the amounting pressure on him damaged morale, whilst Alan Shearer blamed the injury crisis to first-team players.

 

Caretaker manager Glenn Roeder was issued the role of temporary first-team manager, seeing his first game against Portsmouth secure Alan Shearer's 201st goal for Newcastle United, becoming the club's all-time highest-scoring player. Roeder guided Newcastle from 15th to seventh place securing 32 league points from a possible 45 by the end of 2005–06, as well as securing a place in the UEFA Intertoto Cup and was given a two-year contract by chairman Freddy Shepherd. His appointment caused controversy, as at the time he did not hold the necessary UEFA Pro Licence to manage in the UEFA leagues and cup tournaments His role, however, was approved by UEFA who acknowledged that Roeder's diagnosis with a brain tumour in 2003 prevented him from developing his career, whilst Chairman Freddy Shepherd also fulfilled UEFA's request that he gain backing from all 19 other Premier League clubs to appoint him as manager. Alan Shearer retired at the end of the 2005–06 season scoring a record 206 goals.

 

Roeder encountered a difficult 2006–07 season, losing many players to injury, in particular Michael Owen, who had severely damaged his ligaments during the 2006 FIFA World Cup seeing him only play the final two games of the season. Newcastle won the 2006 Intertoto Cup, but a 5–1 exit to Birmingham City in the FA Cup, a round of 16 exit in the UEFA Cup and poor league results seeing a 13th-place finish led Roeder to resign in May 2007.

 

As the 2007 season drew to a close, St James Holdings Limited, the bid vehicle of billionaire businessman Mike Ashley, was reported to be in the process of buying the club. Ashley successfully acquired Sir John Hall's majority stake in the club in May 2007, leaving many to believe chairman Freddie Shepherd was set to depart after stepping down as chairman, should Ashley acquire more than 50 percent, which would see Shepherd no longer in control of the club and Ashley able to replace the board. Shepherd dismissed all speculation and proceeded to appoint ex-Bolton Wanderers boss Sam Allardyce as Newcastle manager, but eventually met with Mike Ashley and the board on 29 May. On 7 June 2007, Shepherd ended his 11 years with the club after Mike Ashley accepted his bid to buy his shares and in his role as chairman of the board, also having Shepherd advise the remaining shareholders to sell to Ashley. Ashley then announced he would be delisting the club from the London Stock Exchange upon completion of the takeover. The club officially ceased trading on the Stock Exchange as of 8 am on 18 July 2007 at 5p a share. Ashley brought in lawyer Chris Mort as the new club "deputy chairman".

 

Despite signing and building a seemingly strong squad, Sam Allardyce soon became widely unpopular with fans and players alike, and was surprisingly sacked by Ashley halfway through his first season after underwhelming results and pressure from the fans. Ashley, however, defended his decision to sack Allardyce, stating he made a mistake in not appointing his own choice of manager before the season started.

 

Kevin Keegan then made a sensational surprise return as manager. His return had an instant impact on club ticket sales as he sat with the fans, Mike Ashley and Chris Mort for the FA Cup replay 4–1 win against Stoke City. Following his return, Keegan had a disappointing first ten games back, with the club not winning a single game until his decision to include strikers Obafemi Martins, Michael Owen and Mark Viduka into a 4–3–3 formation, which saw the club back on goal-scoring and winning form and eventually finishing 12th in 2007–08. In May Keegan met with Mike Ashley and Director of Football Dennis Wise after he had suggested Champions League qualification was out of Newcastle United's reach and expressed dissatisfaction with the board's financial backing. Ashley was battling reports that he had lost hundreds of millions of pounds in a disastrous attempt to rescue bank HBOS. The morning following, after the club's 3–0 defeat to Arsenal, rumours were circulating that Keegan had either been sacked or resigned as Newcastle boss, citing board interference and his lack of control over transfers. Keegan confirmed the reports the same week, and reportedly held unsuccessful resolution talks with Mike Ashley the following week, leading to fan fury and protests around St James' Park, and marring the club's home defeat to Hull City, with fans accusing Ashley and club executives Dennis Wise, Tony Jimenez and Derek Llambias of forcing Keegan out.

 

Following mass media coverage of Keegan's departure, the club struggled to find a replacement, with the majority of managers showing no interest in the role. Ashley released a statement to the club's fans that in fear of his and his families reputation and safety, he was placing the club for sale. It was then announced that former Nottingham Forest manager Joe Kinnear was appointed temporary manager His appointment, however, saw a backlash from fans, prompting a verbal tirade from Kinnear at the media, who questioned his decision to take the job at such a time. By the end of the year, Ashley took the club off the market claiming he was unable to find a suitable buyer.

 

In the remainder of 2008–09, Kinnear won four out of 18 matches before stepping down due to reported heart problems. Chris Hughton then took temporary charge before Alan Shearer returned to Newcastle United as manager in April with Iain Dowie as his assistant. After winning only one out of eight games, the club was relegated to the Championship for the first time since 1992. Mike Ashley then re-issued his desire to sell the club once again and issued a £100 million sale price tag.

 

Prior to the start of the 2009–10 season, Keegan's dispute with the club was resolved after a Premier League Arbitration Panel ruled that he had been misled to believe he had the final word on the club's transfer policy when in fact Director of Football Dennis Wise had been handed such control. The signings of Xisco and Nacho González were ruled to have been made without the manager's approval; with González, Dennis Wise signed him only after viewing him off of YouTube. Wise and Derek Llambias were ruled to have deliberately misled the media to believe Keegan had the final say, which amounted to constructive dismissal. Keegan was awarded £2 million in compensation and re-offered his job as Newcastle United manager under fresh new terms, though in response to the offer, he stated the fans had "had enough" for the time being and declined. He stated in 2013 he would consider a return should Mike Ashley leave the club.

 

Chris Hughton was appointed full-time manager early in the 2009–10 season. The club dominated the Championship, winning 30 games, drawing 12 and losing only four, scoring a total of 90 goals and finishing top of the league with 102 points, thus re-gaining Premier League status at the first attempt.

 

Beginning 2010–11, Hughton remained on course to secure survival from relegation with the club's first win at the Emirates over Arsenal, and a memorable 5–1 defeat over Sunderland. However, fury once again was caused by the board, as the club controversially sacked Chris Hughton after a 3–1 defeat to West Bromwich Albion on 6 December 2010. Critics players and fans alike were shocked by Hughton's dismissal, leading to protests prior to the club's game against Liverpool in a bid to thank him for his work and support. Alan Pardew was then announced as being appointed manager on a five-and-a-half-year contract, with the club announcing they wanted a manager with more experience. Pardew stated he had nothing but respect for Chris Hughton and acknowledged the fact that other managers questioned his appointment. He secured his first win on his debut as manager with a 3–1 win over Liverpool On 31 January 2011, Newcastle sold striker Andy Carroll to Liverpool for a club record of £35 million. The sale of a young player at a high value proved controversial for Liverpool, with Alan Shearer ridiculing the price Liverpool paid as well as expressing sorrow at Newcastle for losing Carroll. Carroll himself stated that he did not want to leave the club but was forced out by the club's directors after Liverpool's final offer of £35 million; the board responded that Carroll had previously handed in a transfer request. Pardew said he was disappointed to lose Carroll, but pledged to invest in the club's summer transfer window. The remainder of the season saw Leon Best score a hat-trick on his debut in a 5–0 defeat of West Ham United, a memorable 4–4 comeback against Arsenal, and a 4–1 defeat of Wolverhampton Wanderers, eventually finishing 12th in the league.

 

Entering 2011–12, Pardew was reportedly denied the £35 million from the sale of Andy Carroll for transfers and told to sell players to raise funds, having claimed he had been assured the finances upon Carroll's departure. Kevin Keegan had previously stated Alan Pardew should not have expected the money following his issues with the board in 2008. The club signed many French-speaking players in the transfer window, including Yohan Cabaye, Mathieu Debuchy, Sylvain Marveaux and Demba Ba. and with impressive results throughout the season, Newcastle finished fifth.

 

In the 2012–13 UEFA Europa League, Newcastle reached the quarter-finals, and in the January transfer window, the French revolution continued into the new year, with Moussa Sissoko and Yoan Gouffran joining the squad. The team, however, had a poor 2012–13 Premier League and finished 16th in the Premier League.

 

Beginning the 2013–14 season, in a surprise move Joe Kinnear returned to the club as Director of Football, instantly causing fan fury following his outburst that he was "more intelligent" than the fans and critics, as well as mispronouncing various players names during a radio interview. However, he resigned after just eight months on the job following further critique for managing to sign only two players on loan—Loïc Rémy and Luuk de Jong—throughout the season's summer and January transfer windows, as well selling Yohan Cabaye to Paris Saint-Germain for £20 million, considered to be one of the most influential players at the time. Following the lack of transfer activity, Mike Ashley once again faced a fan revolt, with protests being launched at him to sell the club, and entered a dispute with several media titles whom the club banned from Newcastle United media facilities, press conferences and player interviews, declaring stories reported were intensely exaggerated and aimed only to damage Ashley's image further. Throughout the season, the club remained on course to ensure a top half finish, notably defeating Manchester United at Old Trafford for the first time since 1972. Nonetheless, the team struggled for goals following the sale of Cabaye. Further dismay upon the season was caused when Pardew was banned for seven matches and fined £100,000 for an assault on Hull City midfielder David Meyler. The club then encountered a poor run of form, losing eight out of ten games and finishing the season tenth in the league, though the club confirmed Alan Pardew would stay on.

 

The opening eight games of the 2014–15 season proved disappointing, with the club failing to secure a win. After the dip in form, however, the club had an emphatic resurgence, seeing a five-game unbeaten run whilst also surprising League Cup holders Manchester City with a 2–0 win and progressing to the quarter-finals of the tournament. Pardew, however, resigned from the club on 30 December 2014 following immense pressure from fans calling for his departure, with many posters at games designed with the Sports Direct logo advertising a website demanding his resignation. Pardew admitted in the months leading up to his departure that protests from the fans were affecting his family and was subsequently feeling unhappy at the club. He was replaced by his assistant manager John Carver, though the team subsequently earned just 13 points out of a possible 50, surviving relegation on the final day of the season with a victory over West Ham, Carver was dismissed before the club's pre-season for 2016 began. The club paid tribute to player Jonás Gutiérrez following his successful recovery from testicular cancer to resume his playing career.

 

Beginning the 2015–16 season, former England F.C. Manager Steve McClaren was appointed manager, signing Georginio Wijnaldum, Aleksandar Mitrovic, Chancel Mbemba, Florian Thauvin, Henri Saivet, Jonjo Shelvey, Andros Townsend and Ivan Toney. McClaren however struggled to produce results winning 6 and drawing 6 out of 28 games, whilst exiting both the FA Cup and League Cup in the Third Round. McClaren was subsequently sacked on 11 March 2016 with critics and former players voicing their favour of the decision. Rafael Benítez was announced as McClaren's successor the same day, signing a three-year deal. Benítez recorded his first victory in 3–0 defeat of Swansea City in the Premier League on 17 April 2016 after 5 games in charge, and maintained an emphatic 5-game unbeaten streak to the end of the season. Newcastle were however relegated from the Premier League along with Aston Villa and Norwich finishing 18th place, 2 points below safety. Betting websites confirmed after the final game that the club's 5–1 defeat of Tottenham Hotspur matched the initial odds of Leicester City's 5000/1 win of the 2015–16 Premier League season.

 

Starting the 2016-17 season, Rafa Benítez signed 12 new players full-time and also acquired 5 players on loan, whilst 8 players left the club and another 12 on loan. New signings Dwight Gayle and Matt Ritchie proved popular scoring a combined total of 39 goals, finishing among the top goalscorers that season. Despite failing to improve on their dominant success in the 2009/10 championship season, the club remained in contention for the trophy throughout; threatened only by Brighton & Hove Albion Newcastle enjoyed a 3-game winning streak to the final day of the season and lifted the Football League Championship trophy on 8 May 2017 following a 3–0 win over Barnsley. Rafa Benítez denied speculation that he would leave the club following promotion to the Premier League and confirmed his commitment to the club for the foreseeable future. Shortly prior to the season's finish, the club was subject to raids by HMRC following suspicions of tax evasion. Managing Director Lee Charnley was arrested during the raid, but was later released without charge.

 

Ending the 2017-18 season, the club finished 10th in the Premier League defeating the current champions Chelsea on the final day of the season, the highest finish achieved within 4 years. Beginning the 2018–19 season, Mike Ashley again came under scrutiny following lack of major signings in the summer transfer window, with many fans accusing him of lacking interest in the club following his purchase of troubled retail chain House of Fraser for £90m. Despite the January signing of Miguel Almirón from Atlanta United FC for £21 million surpassing the club's transfer record fee of £16.8 million for Michael Owen in 2005, the club struggled throughout the season with 12 wins, 9 draws and 17 losses seeing a 13th place league table finish, whilst exiting the League Cup at the 2nd round in a 3–1 defeat of Nottingham Forest F.C and a 4th round exit of the FA Cup in a 2–0 defeat to Watford F.C. The season also saw heavy speculation regarding Rafa Benítez remaining at the club following reports he was still in negotiations following the end of the season.

 

Following fresh reports of Ashley's intention to sell the club, Sheikh Khaled Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Founder and Chairman of The Bin Zayed Group of Companies, a member of the Al Nahyan royal family of Abu Dhabi, confirmed he had agreed terms to purchase the club for £350 million. On 5 June 2019 a company named Monochrome Acquisitions Limited was registered in Nahyan's name, whilst managing director Lee Charnley applied to have four companies linked to Ashley's company St James Holdings Ltd struck off, leaving many to believe the club was on course to be sold. Talks of a takeover however stalled throughout the summer transfer window, whilst Ashley confirmed he had not received an official bid from any prospective buyer.

 

Benítez rejected a new contract offer and departed the club on 30 June 2019, accepting a move to Chinese Super League side Dalian Yifang in a £12 million deal. Ashley criticised Benítez stating unfair demands were made making it impossible for him to remain as manager. Notable player departures saw Salomón Rondón join Benitez at Dalian Yifang after returning to West Bromwich Albion F.C. from loan, whilst Ayoze Perez joined Leicester City for £30 million and Mohamed Diamé was released by Newcastle upon the expiry of his contract at the end of the 2018–19 season.

 

BBC Sport reported in July 2019 that Steve Bruce had resigned from his managerial position at Sheffield Wednesday after he earlier admitted that he had held talks with Newcastle United over their managerial vacancy. His appointment was confirmed on 17 July. Sheffield Wednesday however stated there were still outstanding legal issues with Bruce having resigned just 48 hours before, leading a report being filed to the Premier League alleging misconduct in his appointment. Newcastle United denied any wrongdoing and stated they were confident no case could be escalated. Reaction from the fans was mixed, with some feeling Bruce would not achieve the standard set by Benítez, whilst his recent lack of Premier League football and management of rival club Sunderland proved controversial. Bruce later acknowledged Benítez's popularity and stated he hoped the fans would not rush to judgement and give him time to prove himself and manager of Newcastle. Due to visa problems in China, Bruce watched his first match as manager from the stands which saw Newcastle achieve a third-place finish in the pre-season 2019 Premier League Asia Trophy following a 1–0 victory over West Ham United F.C. Bruce quickly made his first transfer, signing Joelinton from TSG 1899 Hoffenheim for £40 million, breaking the club's transfer fee record previously held by Miguel Almirón at £21 million just 6 months before, before signing French international winger Allan Saint-Maximin from OGC Nice on a permanent deal for £16.5 million, Sweden international defender Emil Krafth for £5 million, central midfielder Kyle Scott on a free signing following his departure from Chelsea, and Netherlands international defender Jetro Willems on loan from Frankfurt F.C until the end of the 2019–20 season. Bruce made his final transfer of the pre-season on deadline day by re-signing striker Andy Carroll, who had left the club over 7 years earlier. On 4 February 2020, Steve Bruce's side ended a 14-year drought by reaching the 5th round of the FA Cup they beat League One side Oxford United 2–3 in a replay thanks to a late winner from Allan Saint-Maximin in extra time.

 

From March 2020, the season was affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. On 13 March, following an emergency meeting between the Premier League, The Football Association (FA), the English Football League and the FA Women's Super League, it was unanimously decided to suspend professional football in England. On 19 March, the suspension was extended indefinitely, with a restart date of 17 June announced in late May with all remaining games to be played without crowd attendance.

 

Newcastle finished the season in 13th place. Defender Danny Rose was an outspoken critic of the decision to continue the season, citing the virus was still in major circulation and accused the FA of having no concern for footballers' health. Karl Darlow has since urged players at the club to get vaccinated following his hospitalisation from complications of Covid, whilst manager Steve Bruce admitted some players had voluntarily declined the vaccination.

 

The 2020-21 season saw all matches played without crowd attendance until May 2021, in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. Newcastle failed to improve on the previous season, finishing 12th in the premier league and were knocked out of the FA Cup in the third round added time to Arsenal and exited the EFL Cup in the quarter-finals losing 1–0 to Brentford.

 

In April 2020, it was widely reported that a consortium consisting of Public Investment Fund, PCP Capital Partners and the Reuben Brothers, was finalising an offer to acquire Newcastle United. The proposed sale prompted concerns and criticism, such as arguments considering it sportwashing of the country's human rights record, as well as ongoing large-scale piracy of sports broadcasts in the region. However the consortium announced its withdrawal from the Newcastle deal on July 30, 2020, after multiple media reports highlighted realm as the staunch violator of human rights, and the WTO ruled that it was behind the piracy campaign using pirate-pay-service beoutQ. "With a deep appreciation for the Newcastle community and the significance of its football club, we have come to the decision to withdraw our interest in acquiring Newcastle United Football Club," the group said in its statement upon withdrawal. The group also stated that the "prolonged process" was a major factor in them pulling out. The collapse of the takeover was met with widespread criticism from Newcastle fans, with Newcastle MP Chi Onwurah accusing the Premier League of treating fans of the club with "contempt" and subsequently wrote to Masters for an explanation. Despite the consortium's withdrawal, disputes over the takeover continued. On 9 September 2020, Newcastle United released a statement claiming that the Premier League had officially rejected the takeover by the consortium and accused Masters and the Premier League board of " acting appropriately in relation to [the takeover]", while stating that the club would be considering any relevant legal action. The Premier League strongly denied this in a statement released the next day, expressing "surprise" and "disappointment" at Newcastle's statement.

 

On October 7, 2021, the Public Investment Fund, PCP Capital Partners and RB Sports & Media confirmed that they had officially completed the acquisition of Newcastle United. Governor of the investment fund Yasir bin Othman Al-Rumayyan was appointed non-executive chairman, whilst Amanda Staveley and Jamie Reuben were both appointed as directors and each held a 10% shareholding in the club.

 

The takeover led to widespread speculation that manager Steve Bruce was expected to leave the club. Although not denying the speculation that the club was keen to appoint a new manager, Staveley stated Bruce was to remain for the new owners first game against Tottenham Hotspur; his 1000th match as a football manager. However following Newcastle losing the game 3-2 and alleged discontent among the players, Bruce left the club by mutual consent. Bruce stated his sadness at leaving the club and felt Newcastle fans launched unnecessary verbal abuse at him during his time there. Interim manager Graeme Jones as well as Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta supported Bruce's claims stating the abuse he received was off putting for other managers to take the role.

 

Eddie Howe was appointed as manager on 8 November 2021. The announcement was made following reports that the club had discussed the role with him the previous week and confirmed following his attendance at the away draw to Brighton & Hove Albion. On 19 November 2021, Newcastle announced that Howe had tested positive for COVID-19 and would miss his first game in charge, which instead forced him to watch his first game as manager from a hotel room as Newcastle drew 3–3 with Brentford on 20 November.

 

Lee Charnley, who acted as Managing Director under Ashley's ownership, left the club on 19 November 2021 following a six-week handover period. His departure was the final of Mike Ashley's hierarchy, with Staveley stating the club was undergoing a "formal process" to appoint a new figure to replace the role.

 

Eddie Howe had to wait until 4 December 2021 for his first win as Newcastle manager in a 1–0 win against Burnley, which was also the first win since the takeover happened. Howe then made five signings in the first January transfer window under the new ownership which included a marquee singing in Brazilian midfielder Bruno Guimarães from Olympique Lyonnais. The transfer window and the players that were already there that Howe improved helped Newcastle to go on a 9-game unbeaten run in the Premier League to get them 10 points clear from the relegation zone and increasing the chance of guaranteeing survival. After Newcastle's 1–0 win against Crystal Palace, this was the first time the club had managed to win 6 home games in a row since 2004 when Sir Bobby Robson was in charge. Newcastle finished in 11th place after a run of 12 wins in their final 18 games, and became the first team in Premier League history to avoid relegation after not winning any of the first 14 games they played.

 

On 30 May 2022, the club announced they had reached an agreement of a compensation fee with Brighton & Hove Albion to appoint Dan Ashworth as the new Sporting Director, the appointment was confirmed on 6 June 2022. On 15 July 2022, the club brought in Darren Eales, from MLS side Atlanta United, as the club's new Chief Executive Officer - acting as a "key member of the club's leadership structure".

 

Newcastle United was set up as a private company limited by shares on 6 September 1895. However, by the 1930s, ownership of the company was dominated by a small number of individuals: Alderman William McKeag, George and Robert Rutherford, and William Westwood, 1st Baron Westwood. George Stanley Seymour was allocated some shares when he joined the board in 1938.

 

By the second half of the 20th century, these shareholdings had passed to the next generation: Gordon McKeag, Robert James Rutherford, Stan Seymour Jr. and William Westwood, 2nd Baron Westwood. The Magpie Group led by Sir John Hall built up a large shareholding in the club and then took control in 1992. In 2007, St James Holdings Limited, the bid vehicle of billionaire businessman Mike Ashley, secured control of the club and in 2021, the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia, PCP Capital Partners and RB Sports & Media confirmed that they had acquired ownership of the club.

  

 

Broken TV, Route 66, Mojave Desert, California

shot on Contax T2 with Kodak Gold 200

 

instagram: @stikksview

We were on the way to Tehachapi to catch the return of the California Limited with #3751.

Evidence and Mystery

 

God created the world out of nothing; this is the teaching of the Semitic theologies, and by it they answer the following difficulty: if God had made the world out of a preexisting substance, that substance must be either itself created, or else Divine. The creation is not God, it cannot therefore emanate from Him; there is an unbridgeable hiatus between God and the world, neither can become the other; the orders of magnitude or of reality, or of perfection, are incommensurable.

 

The main concern of this reasoning is not a disinterested perception of the nature of things, but the safeguarding of a simple and unalterable notion of God, while making allowance for a mentality that is more active than contemplative. The aim is therefore to provide, not a metaphysical statement that does not engage the will or does not appear to do so, but a key notion calculated to win over souls rooted in willing and acting rather than in knowing and contemplating; the metaphysical limitation is here a consequence of the priority accorded to what is effective for the governing and saving of souls. That being so, one is justified in saying that Semitic religious thought is by force of circumstances a kind of dynamic thought with moral overtones, and not a static thought in the style of the Greek or Hindu wisdom.

 

From the point of view of the latter, the idea of emanation, in place of creatio ex nihilo, in no way compromises either the transcendence or the immutability of God; between the world and God there is at once discontinuity and continuity, depending on whether our conception of the Universe is based on a scheme of concentric circles or on one of radii extending outward from the center to the periphery: according to the first mode of vision, which proceeds from the created to the Uncreated, there is no common measure between the contingent and the Absolute; according to the second mode of vision, which proceeds from the Principle to its manifestation, there is but one Real, which includes everything and excludes only nothingness, precisely because the latter has no reality whatsoever. The world is either a production drawn from the void and totally other than God, or else it is a manifestation "freely necessary" and "necessarily free" of Divinity or of Its Infinitude, liberty as well as necessity being Divine perfections.

 

As tor the contention that the creationist concept is superior to the so-called emanationist or pantheistic concepts because it is Biblical and Christ-given, and that the Platonic doctrine cannot be right because Plato cannot be superior either to Christ or the Bible, this has the fault of leaving on one side the real fundamentals of the problem.

 

First, what is rightly or wrongly called "emanationism" is not an invention of Plato, it can be found in the most diverse sacred texts; second, Christ, while being traditionally at one with the creationist thesis, nevertheless did not teach it explicitly and did not deny the apparently opposed thesis. The message of Christ, like that of the Bible, is not a priori a teaching of metaphysical science; it is above all a message of salvation, but one that necessarily contains, in an indirect way and under cover of an appropriate symbolism, metaphysics in its entirety. The opposition between the Divine Bible and human philosophy, or between Christ and Plato, therefore has no meaning so far as the metaphysical truths in question are concerned; that the Platonic perspective should go farther than the Biblical perspective brings no discredit on the Bible, which teaches what is useful or indispensable from the point of view of the moral or spiritual good of a particular humanity, nor does it confer any human superiority on the Platonists, who may be mere thinkers just as they may be saints, according to how much they assimilate of the Truth they proclaim.

 

For the Platonists it is perfectly logical that the world should be the necessary manifestation of God and that it should be without origin; if the monotheistic Semites believe in a creation out of nothing and in time, it is evidently not, as some have suggested, because they think that they have the right or the privilege of accepting a "supralogical" thesis that is humanly absurd; for the idea of creation appears to them on the contrary as being the only one that is reasonable and therefore the only one that is capable oflogical demonstration,as is proved precisely by tlfe method of argumentationused in theology.

 

Starting from the axiom that God created the worldout of nothing, the Semites reason thus, grosso modo: since God alone has Being, the world could not share it with Him; there had there fore to be a time when the world did not exist; it is God alone who could give it existence. On the religious plane, which so far as cosmology is concerned demands no more than the minimum necessary or useful for salvation, this idea of creation is fully sufficient, and the logical considerations which support it are perfectly plausible within the framework of their limitation; for they at least convey a key truth that allows a fuller understanding of the nature of God, as it is pleased to reveal itself in the monotheistic religions.

 

More than once we have had occasion to mention the following erroneous argument: if God creates the world in response to an inward necessity, as is affirmed by the Platonists, this must mean that He is obliged to create it, and that therefore He is not free; since this is impossible, the creation can only be a gratuitous act. One might as well say that if God is One, or if He is a Trinity, or if He is all-powerful, or if He is good, He must be obliged to be so, and His nature is thus the result of a constraint, quod absit.

 

It is always a case of the same incapacity to conceive of antinomic realities, and to understand that if liberty, the absence of constraint, is a perfection, necessity, the absence of arbitrariness, is another.

 

If, in opposition to the Pythagorean-Platonic perspective, the concept is put forward of an Absolute which is threefold in its very essence, therefore devoid of the degrees of reality that alone can explain the hypostatic polarizations - an Absolute which creates without metaphysical necessity and which in addition acts without cause or motive - and if at the same time the right is claimed to a sacred illogicality in the name of an exclusive "Christian supernaturalism'', then an explanation is due of what logic is and what human reason is; for if our intelligence, in its very structure, is foreign or even opposedto Divine Truth, what then is it, and why did God give it to us? Or to put it the other way round, what sort of Divine message is it that is opposed to the laws of an intelligence to which it is essentially addressed, and what does it signify that man was created "in the image of God"?

 

[According to Genesis "God created man in his own image" and "male and female created He them." Now according to one Father of the Church, the sexes are not made in the image of God; only the features that are identical in the two sexes resemble God, for the simple reason that God is neither man nor woman. This reasoning is fallacious because, although it is evident that God is not in Himself a duality, He necessarily comprises the principia! Duality in His Unity, exactly as He comprises the Trinity or the Quaternity; and how can one refuse to admit that the Holy Virgin has a prototype in God not only as regards her humanity but also as regards her femininity?]

 

And what motive could induce us to accept a message that was contrary, not to our earthly materialism or to ourpassion, but to the very substance of our spirit? For the "wisdom according to the flesh" of Saint Paul does not embrace every form of metaphysics that does not know the Gospels, nor is it logic as such, for the Apostle was logical; what it denotes is the reasonings whereby worldly men seek to prop up their passions and their pride, such as Sophism and Epicureanism and, in our days, the current philosophy of the world. "Wisdom according to the flesh" is also the gratuitous philosophy that does not lead us inwards and which contains no door opening on to spiritual realization; it is philosophy of the type of"art for art's sake” which commits one to nothing and is vain and pernicious for that very reason.

 

The incomprehension by theologians of Platonic and Oriental emanationism arises from the fact that monotheism puts in parenthesis the notion, essential metaphysically, of Divine Relativity or Maya; it is this parenthesis, or in practice this ignorance, which inhibits an understanding of the fact that there is no incompatability whatever between the "absolute Absolute", Beyond-Being, and the "relative Absolute", creative Being, and that this distinction is even crucial.

 

The Divine Maya, Relativity, is the necessary consequence of the very Infinitude of the Principle: it is because God is infinite that He comprises the dimension of relativity, and it is because He comprises that dimension that He manifests the world. To which it should be added: it is because the world is manifestation and not Principle that relativity, which at first was only determination, limitationand manifestation, gives rise to that particular modality constituting "evil". It is neither in the existence of evil things that evil lies nor in their existential properties nor in their faculties of sensation and of action, if it be a question of animate beings, nor even in the act insofar as it is the manifestation of a power; evil resides only in whatever is privative or negative with respect to good, and its function is to manifest in the world its aspect of separation from the Principle, and to play its part in an equilibrium and a rhythm necessitated by the economy of the created Universe.

 

In this way evil (wholly evil though it be when looked at in isolation) attaches itself to a good and is dissolved qua evil when one looks at it in its cosmic context and in its universal function.

 

Platonists feel no need whatever to try to fill the gap which might seem to exist between the pure Absolute and the determination and creative Absolute; it is precisely because they are aware of relativity in divinis and of the Divine cause of that relativity that they are emanationists.

 

In other words, the Hellenists, if they did not have a word to express it, nevertheless possessed in their own way the concept of Maya, and it is their doctrine of emanation that proves it.

  

View from Mt Difficulty Vineyard in Bannockburn where we are having lunch. April 27, 2016 Central Otago in the South Island of New Zealand.

 

The Cellar Door at Mt Difficulty Wines is known as much for its dramatic views of rugged rock and thyme landscapes as it is for its stylish wine and food.

 

The unique microclimate of the Bannockburn area is partially created by the presence of Mount Difficulty which overlooks the southern Cromwell basin, and is the namesake of Mt Difficulty Wines. Mount Difficulty is integral in providing low rainfall and humidity for the region. Bannockburn enjoys hot summers, a large diurnal temperature variation and long cool autumns; conditions which bring the best out of the Pinot Noir grapes. These conditions, along with soils which are ideal for viticulture, provide an excellent basis not only for Pinot Noir, but also for Pinot Gris, Riesling, and Chardonnay. The soils are a mix of clay and gravels, but all feature a high pH level; grapes produce their best wines on sweet soils.

 

For More Info: www.mtdifficulty.co.nz/aboutus/ourstory.html

The clock by the door signifies that the resident was a watchmaker.

There is no subject of greater interest than the study of how the early settlers managed to build their houses and fit them with chimneys, windows, glass, locks and other furniture so difficult of acquisition in those days. The pioneers, however, appear to have laughed at difficulties; for none of them thought it a matter worth recording. Their trials, struggles and disappointments have been buried in oblivion. There is no record of their heroism.

 

It was to be expected that immigrants coming from a country where stone was the chief building material, should have built clumsily and defectively with wood. The first houses were draughty, cold and uncomfortable. No sheathing paper or matched board was used in the early days, and as a result, the high winter winds forced themselves through the chinks and made the houses ice boxes. The early settlers did not seem to realise the great amount of cold that can enter a house from beneath the floor. None of them seem to have adopted the modern system of excluding draughts from underneath the floors. Beneath the floors the goats rested from the mid-day sun in summer and the homeless dogs found there some shelter in winter nights. The continuous rush of cold air beneath the floor drew away the heat from the rooms above. The open fireplaces and wide chimneys also allowed the heat to escape. Floors were single. The single uncanvassed floor was another factor in allowing heat to escape. Storm sashes were unknown. One guard against cold they adopted; they screened their beds with canopies. In building, there was no attempt to place the posts on bedrock. The result was that the houses were continually heaving with the winter frosts. Often, at night, the occupants were aroused suddenly from their sleep by the noise of nails bending or breaking in boards forced from their usual places by the heaving of the house. This alternate heaving and falling of the house had the effect of rendering it more draughty from year to year.

 

It was fortunate that plenty of wood could be procured; for with open fire places enormous quantities of wood were consumed in heating and cooking. Cod-oil and candles were the illuminants till the introduction of the kerosene lamp in the year 1870. Stoves, floor-canvas and lucifer matches came into use about the same time. The comfort and conveniences introduced by these three domestic improvements were marvellous The old wide chimneys were closed up, the back of the chimney whitewashed, and the large irregular flags of the hearth replaced by bricks which were reddened every Saturday afternoon with powdered brick and water. The sand was swept off the floor and the gayly-flowered canvas put down. The evil-smelling cod-oil lamp was thrown on the garbage heap and the glass kerosene lamp with its bit of red flame in the bottom to add colour, was hung by the wall. The tinder box followed the cod-oil lamp.

 

Friendly intercourse from house to house was more common than it is to-day. Winter brought with it certain brief periods of leisure during which the men assembled in knots and discussed the events of the day. Visiting neighbours was a relief from the monotony of outport life. No one thought of knocking before entering; you simply lifted the latch and went in. If you were not welcome you soon found this out; the silent greeting warned you that your presence was not desirable. The election year was always an inexhaustible source of discussion and the prospective weddings a delightful theme for the women and girls at the quilting and matting parties.

 

Besides the frequent dances there were raffles for some poor widow or other charitable object. There was a great variety of indoor games to fill in the long nights such as, Forfeits, Hide the-button, Hunt-the-slipper, Ride-the-gray-Mare, Start-the-cask-out-of-the-Cargo, and My-man-John.

 

Christmastide was anticipated keenly by young and old. It was mummering time. Long before Christmas, considerable time was spent on designing costumes and fantastic rigs. Christmas Eve ushered in the mummering period, and for a whole fortnight, the night air was tortured by the inarticulate cries peculiar to "jannies". The mummers went around in groups of various numbers touring the village from one end to the other. There was a heroic folk-play brought by the Irish immigrants from the "Old Country" that used to be performed by the young men during the Christmas holidays. The actors personated of the great heroes of history, Napoleon Bonaparte, Alexander, Doctors Faustus, Sir Isaac Newton, St. George, St. Patrick. But times have changed. To-day, the tidy housewife will not admit nine or ten roughly shod boys on her red-and-white chequered canvas. In the olden days, the sanded floor could stand consid goat-skin head. The cymbals were two pot covers. The triangle was a pair of tongs, and the tambourine was a tinpan or a metal tray. One Christmas Eve night, Stephen Ryan of Broad Cove played the tambourine. The night being chilly, and his hands exposed, they lost their sensitiveness, and when the parade was over, his knuckles were a mass of mangled flesh and blood. The incident is trivial; but it shows the hilarious fervor of the amusements of the olden days.

 

This violin band made itself prominent on other occasions. When Bishop Carfagnini of Harbour Grace made his first episcopal visit to King Cove in May 1873 the violin band greeted him on his approach from Trinity. The band accompanied by the whole populace, went out three miles on the Trinity road expecting to meet His Lordship at that point; but there was a delay and they proceeded two miles further. At the signal of the Bishop's arrival, there was a deafening salvo from dozens of sealing guns, and when the report died away, the Violin band sent forth the lively strains of "The White Cockade" and the "Rakes of Mallow." The latter air was hardly appropriate to greet two dignitaries of the church; but it must be remembered that in these early days the band's repertoire of music suitable for triumphal processions was undoubtedly limited. Tradition has remembered only four of the musicians who took part in that demonstration, namely: P. Murphy, R Lawton, M. Lawton and Jim Costello. It formed the orchestra at the theatrical performances and some of its members accompanied the Choir at Benediction at Sunday evening Service.

 

The chief dances of the old days were the cotillion, eight-handed red, single step and kissing dance. After the cotillion was finished, it was an unwritten law that each couple should dance a single step. The reel was an intricate and laborious dance and necessitated some preliminary practice in order to master its involutions. It was long and sweat producing and the male performers uniformly sought the outside air after each performance, while the female performers fanned themselves in a cool corner. The generation now passing were youngsters then; but they can recall the glamour which the dances at the "Big House" (as Big Allie's house was called) used to throw around them on a fine summer night when the gay dancers came out on the long front gallery to cool off, and we saw them through the trees saunter back and forth across the lighted windows. Looking back one is reminded of Byron's lines on the festivities at Belgium's capital. For Mrs. Murphy was indeed a chieftain, and the end of all the gay dancing in the "Big House" was as tragic as the end of Bunswicks's fated chieftain.

 

If the habitues of the modern dance halls were compelled to go through a cotillion or a reel of the olden days, they would be prostrated for weeks thereafter. The dancers disdained ballroom etiquette when choosing a partner for a dance. They simply walked over to the damsel and without speaking, took her hand She, silently acquiesced and took her place on the floor. When the dance was finished, her partner dropped her like a hot potato, without a word of thanks or any other ceremony, and left her to find a seat as best she could.

 

The cotillion was less laborous than the reel; and also less interesting. It was an inartistic dance. Its chief characteristics were an alternate time-beating by the men and their partner in the centre of the ring, followed by a violent swinging and a grand chain. This was repeated ad infinitum or as long as the participants could hold out. In the single-step dancing every dancer danced to his own favorite air; and the fiddler was expected to respond to the individual demands made upon his musical repertoire. The most frequent calls were for "The Wind That Shaked the Barley", and "The Rakes of Kildare."

 

Dancing was followed by singing. Those who could sing had to sing; no excuses were admissible. The songs were mostly of the sentimental type, and depicted the woes of the rejected lover.

 

There was usually some incident to add spice and variety to a ball of the olden days. As the ceilings were low,-not much over six feet-and the second floor beams were exposed, a tall man had to do most of his dancing between the beams, and had to maintain a stooping position during the "grand chain." As one of the rules of the cotillion was that the final beat of the last bar of the music should be accompanied by the dancers bringing down both feet together with as loud a "whelt" as possible, it was not unusual for one or more dancers to break through the single floor. An incident of this kind compelled the suspension of the dance till a new piece of board was procured; but instead of being considered an annoyance, it enhanced the terpsichorean notoriety of the dancer. Occasionally, those who were not invited to the dance, vented their displeasure by throwing one or more dead cats down the open chimney.

 

Occasionally, too, a good-looking girl was the source of an amorous jealousy which in the early hours of the morning disrupted the whole proceedings, and sent the jealous wooers out in the road to argue or fight the matter out. The most spectacular of these love comedies happened in the winter of 1872 at a dance held by the dramatic troupe in Pat Dwyer's old house. A certain young lady who was openly catering to the dalliances of an amorous swain, declined the offer of a dance from another ardent admirer. This aroused a violent jealousy in the latter. Sparks began to fly and as the adversaries glared at each other, the worst was feared. There was an ominous rush towards the door; for notwithstanding the comparative primitiveness of these days, there was an instinctive respect for the sanctity of their patron's house. Moreover it was considered that the open air was the proper place for the settlement of disputes of this kind. So there in front of Tom Brown's old house. in shirt sleeves and bare heads in the raw humid dawning of a March Sunday morning, the two adversaries argued till the onlookers, standing around on the snowBankss became bored and wearied by the incessant repetition of childish recrimination, quitted the scene to go home to breakfast. The drizzly atmosphere had a cooling effect on the protagonists who soon sought their homes also.

 

In McBraire's time horse-racing in winter on the harbor-ice was a favourite sport. The course was from Western Point to Sampson's Rock. Mr. Hartery, McBraire's, book-keeper was usually the winner. He was the champion so often that he was nicknamed "Chiffeney"-from the famous English jockey of that period.

 

There were times when provisions ran short, and the spectre of starvation was staring people in the face. The winter following the failure of Munn & Carroll was a gloomy one. Munn's vessels had taken away the summer's catch and no provisions had come back in return. No flour was obtainable in King's Cove that winter and one was lucky to get Indian meal. In our own day of plenty one looks back with sadness to these old days when five or six men had to tramp eighteen miles to Trinity for a barrel of yellow corn meal, and haul it through snow-Bankss with ropes over their shoulders. It was a pioneer's life,-stern, hard and reletent less. It is presumed that there was some good flour in these days, but we in the outports saw none of it. The most of the flour was yellow and bitter; accidentally one may happen to get a barrd that was palatable. The necessity of testing the flour before buying was acknowledged by the manufacturers; for they provided a small wooden stopper or "tester" about an inch and a half in diameter in the head of every barrel. It was an interesting sight to see crowds of fishermen getting their winter's supply of flour, each smoothing out a spoonful of flour on the palm of his hand with his pocket knife and testing it frequently. If the flour did not satisfy the intending purchaser, he replaced the "trier" and began to test another barrel.

 

On one occasion the ice remained in late in the Spring and provisions ran short especially in Broad Cove. The Broad Cove men heard there were some provisions in Catalina. They marched to Catalina in a body,-a distance of twenty-five miles-and asked the owner to give them some provisions till they would catch fish to repay him. He refused. The men then took a large boom and broke in the door. Every man took a half bag of hard bread on his back and walked back to Broad Cove, covering a distance of fifty miles in the one day. The Government later compensated the storekeeper for the goods taken.

 

Broad Cove-three miles from King's Cove-was in the early days inhabited solely by Irishmen. It was a picturesque sight to see them riding on horseback to Mass at King's Cove on Sunday mornings. Arriving at King's Cove, they threw their bridles over the chapel fence palings and greeted the King's Cove Irishmen with many a "Cead Mille Failtha"-a hundred thousand welcomes. The Wexford men spoke in English; but the Cork and Kerry men used Irish

 

Whilst the fisheries were good, times were prosperous. But towards the "sixties" symptoms of widespread depression began to show themselves. The old-time seal fishery had gone out and the cod fishery was gradually failing. Population was increasing, and the economic resources of the country were not developing proportionally. Bad times were looming ahead; something had to be done. In the Legislative Session of 1860 Governor Bannerman urged the Government "that no pains be spared to give encouragement to the development of Agriculture in order to prevent as far as possible the labouring classes resorting to pauper relief."

 

From this time on, the people were exhorted to go in for land cultivation and take in arable land wherever available. The slogan in King's Cove and other near-by settlements was "You can't starve on potatoes and herring."

 

Meanwhile, the Government, fearful of the continuation of these lean years of meal and molasses, sent a delegation to Ottawa to discuss with the Canadian Government the question of confederating with the Dominion. The Newfoundland people however, rejected the idea in the 1869 election as noted elsewhere.

 

The effect of the depressed times was that the young men were getting restless. One by one they were leaving for Boston and British Columbia where better opportunities awaited them. The young women began to follow their example and the once thriving village of King's Cove became only a shadow of its former self. The old King's Cove is gone; the best we can do is to give a picture of it in its balmy days.

 

Like most other settlements in Newfoundland. King's Cove has had its tragedies. The earliest recorded was the loss of the sealing schooner "John" with all hands,-a crew of forty-two. She was never heard from; how and where she went down remains a mystery.

 

An event which cast a gloom for many years over King's Cove was the loss of the schooner "Edward" in 1876. She was owned by Michael Murphy and Sons and had the following crew: Michael McGrath (father of the late Bernard McGrath); his son Jim; Jimmy Flynn (father of the late M. T. Flynn of Marystown); his son Dan; William Doyle (father of the late Capt. Tom Doyle) and a boy named Skeffington. The schooner left St. John's on the afternoon of December 16th, 1876 with a load of provisions for King's Cove and has never been heard from since.

 

In April 1869 John and Richard Kennifick and John Sullivan of Broad Cove were drowned at St. Croix near Keels, and the following day Larry Walsh was drowned at Knight's Cove Point. All of them were on the ice seal-hunting and went down through the broken ice.

 

An event which cast a gloom over the village was the drowning of Richard Handcock of Knight's Cove on the 15th of August (Lady Day) 1877. It is customary for parishioners to donate their catch of fish on the 15th of August (the Feast of the Assumption) to the Church. Handcock and Billy Ricketts were in the same boat and were returning with a good catch when a sudden squall overturned the boat and Handcock was drowned; Ricketts kept himself afloat till he was rescued by his brother who was not far off at the time of the accident. Father Veitch felt the tragedy keenly and on the following Sunday referred to it in regretful terms.

 

In the Fall of 1829 the "Agnes" was chartered at St. John's to load fish at King's Cove for a foreign market. Thomas McGrath who was at St. John's at the time, was engaged as pilot to take her to King's Cove. Between Western Point and Southern Head something gave out aloft and the mainsail had to be lowered. It was near nightfall and before repairs could be effected, night came on bringing with it a blinding snow storm and a north-west hurricane which lasted several days. The vessel never reached King's Cove. During the winter a vessel reached Trinity and reported having encountered the "Agnes" in mid-ocean with her spars cut away and no crew on board. There was no further news of her till the following May when Thomas McGrath arrived in King's Cove. He then told the story of his adventure. As they were nearing King's Cove, the north-west gale drove them outside the Grand Bankss. The ballast shifted and the "Agnes" was thrown on her beam ends. The spars were cut away and she righted. The ballast was replaced but she began to leak badly, and for 17 days they laboured night and day to keep her free. At the end of that time they sighted a vessel from Miramichi lumber-laden and bound for Liverpool, England. The shipwrecked crew were taken on board this vessel and landed at Liverpool. McGrath went to Waterford, Ireland in which port he was fortunate in finding a vessel ready to sail for King's Cove.

 

The following year-1830-Thomas McGrath commanded the sealer "John" at the icefields and a crew of nineteen. The "John" never returned. It is presumed that she went down in the heavy storm which occurred on April 15th of that Spring. Her loss was a terrible tragedy for a small hamlet like King's Cove. Long into the sunny days of May and even June the anxious eyes of distraught wives scanned the horizon from Western Point for a glimpse of the overdue sealer; but in vain. No doubt some of them hoped that a passing ship may have picked up the missing crew; but even that hope died out when with the superstitious credulity of these early days they listened to old Mrs. Barrett of 'Longshore' tell how she saw the crew of the "John" one night walk down the harbor in single file and disappear in the sea below her house. And Thomas McGrath who had left the green hills of Clonmel to fight the battle of Life, found his resting place in the turbulent waters of the North Atlantic.

 

Another marine tragedy connected with the history of King's Cove was the loss of the "King's Cove" in the early part of the 19th century. She left King's Cove with a cargo of fish in drums for Brazil. She never reached her destination. It was reported at one time that she had been captured by pirates and the crew murdered; but there was never any confirmation of this report.

 

An event which brought sorrow to the Murphy family was the tragic death of Bernard Murphy on a beautiful January Sunday morning in 1872. There was no priest in King's Cove at this time, and the chapel bell was ringing for the reciting of the Rosary by the school teacher, when the news spread that Bernard Murphy's house was on fire. A large crowd soon collected and buckets of water rushed along; but the building soon became a mass of flame. An attempt was made to pull down the house by putting a rope around it; but this proved ineffectual. Meanwhile anxiety as to the safety of the owner became general; for he was nowhere to be seen. It was known that he had gone on the attic with a bucket of water but whether he came down seemed to be uncertain. This uncertainty was however allayed for a time by a rumour that he had been seen running up the harbor in his shirt sleeves shortly after the alarm of fire was given. All doubt was set at rest a few hours later when his charred body was found in the burning debris. He was a brother of Pat Murphy for many years postmaster at King's Cove.

 

Tragedy seemed to dog the steps of Bernard Murphy's widow. She was Miss Elizabeth Gould, daughter of Michael Gould of Carbonear. She had been married previously to Arthur Thomey of Harbour Grace. Her first sorrow came to her when after a few brief months of married life, she had to hear the news of her husband's death by drowning at the ice-fields. The following summer, she happened to become acquainted with Mrs. Murphy-"Big Allie"-who invited her to spend the summer at King's Cove. There she met and married Bernard. After the latter's death she removed to Harbor Grace. Her daughter, Alice, died of consumption and her two grandchildren, Ron and Tom McGrath met untimely deaths-the former being killed in the Great War and the latter, who was a marine engineer, fell in the hold of his ship and was killed. Her third husband, John Thomey of the Harbor Grace Customs died suddenly on the Custom House steps not withstanding all her troubles she lived to the good round age of eighty-three years.

 

Her name deserves to be recorded in the annals of King's Cove. She was the leader of the first Catholic choir established by Father Veitch. In these early days, hymn books had not yet reached King's Cove, and the choir leader found it difficult to obtain music for the few hymns that were found necessary for the church services. The difficulty was surmounted by adopting well-known airs such as the "Meeting of the Waters", "Tara's Hall" and others to the hymns.

 

There are certain spots in and around King's Cove that will always fill a part of the King Covian exiles' dreams. Though nothing big or momentous happened at these spots, the thoughts and feelings that centered around them in boyhood will hallow them for ever in their memories. What King's Covian will ever forget Sampson's Rock? It was the village "Swimmin' Hole". To the young King's Covian in his untravelled days it seemed of immense breadth and depth. Today there seems to be scarcely enough of water in it to wash one's feet. But we can recall with what a thrill of pleasure and even heroism we ventured for the first time to dive off the "Rock" and swim across to the opposite Banks, a distance of seven or eight feet.

 

And who will forget "Gully Pond"? During the summer holidays we went there at least once a day. It was a mile or so outside the village. Those who had mastered the difficulties of Sampson's Rock had to be initiated into the hazards of Gully Pond. There was a small boulder about thirty feet from the shore. You passed your second degree in swimming when you could swim to that rock without faltering. You were given your third degree when you showed courage enough to dive off the lower rail of a stage head. You received your unwritten diploma when with a swaggering nonchalance you stepped on the top rail and buried yourself in the sparkling water below.

 

The "Oak Gulch" held a mystery for the boys of King's Cove into a cleft in the cliff at the water's edge had been driven a piece of oak scantling twenty-five or thirty feet long. It fitted the cleft so snugly that it was inconceivable how it had been driven there It had evidently been there for generations and a few superstitious tales grew up around it. Recently Austin Lawton braved the superstitious fears connected with the stick, crawled into the cleft and with chisel and saw removed the piece of scantling bit by bit.

 

The Pond-a small lake separating the north side of King's Cove from the south side-at times, especially at night-adds to the picturesqueness of the village by its various changes of mood. These changes are described by the local poetess-Miss Bertille Tobin in another chapter.

 

Sarah Brien's Hill will always be the landmark for which the homecomer will eagerly scan the horizon. It is an irregular plateau overlooking the village and sheltering it from the south-west gales. Before the fire of 1892 it was a beautiful hill thickly clothed to the summit with spruce, birch and fir. To-day, its granitic sides are bare of vegetation.

 

But still the exiled Kingscovian's pulses beat fast when he catches the first glimpse of Sarah Brien's Hill which looms up as the harbor is approached. For it has sheltered King's Cove from the south-west storms during the ages. And no wonder some sympathetic local poet has adapted the following lines to its memory:

  

"Oh Sarah Brien, loved Sarah Brien, how oft I dream of thee;

And of the days when by your side I wondered young and free;

Full many a land I've seen since then

Through Pleasure's flowery maze;

But never could find the bliss again

I felt in those sweet days."

 

An interesting event was the annual haul of wood for the priest and parson. On the appointed days, gangs of men started off to the woods-some with axes and others with dog-slides. All day long the woods resounded with the jingle of axes, the barking of dogs and the shouting of youngsters who had seized the opportunity to make a gala day of it. Several loads were brought out during the day. This hard days work of tramping and hauling through the woods was done in no niggardly or bargaining manner; for the day was to end up in an outburst of music and jubilation, as befitted the occasion. Was not the clergy man the light of the village-not only spiritually, but to many, a helper in their mundane affairs.

As the last loads came out, the slides were decorated with flags, and all the available violinists were ordered to take their places on the tops of the loads. As the long stream of dogs and horses passed in to the clergyman's backyard, he stood at the gate and greeted with radiant smiles the bustling haulers with oft repeated "Well done my brave fellows, well done."

 

There are only two religious denominations in King's Cove- the Church of England and the Roman Catholic. From the earliest history of the place, the greatest harmony and co-operation have existed between these two denominations. Both parties have contributed mutually to the erection of their school and church buildings. An example of this liberality of spirit was evidenced when the late Bishop Carfagnini made his first episcopal visit to King's Cove in 1873. Mr. J. C. Sheares-a prominent Church of England business man of the town, erected an arch at his own expense opposite his place of business.

 

An earlier instance of this friendly feeling is evident from the bantering way in which old William Brown (whose business career we have already noted) and Father Scanlan-the parish priest accosted each other. Here is a sample of their frequent encounter:

 

William Brown: Ha, you got your pockets full of dues now, I suppose, from the poor people."

 

Father Scanlan: "Ha, you old rascal, you never sent me the punt you promised me to paint the church."

  

"Well then" agreed William. "by the livin'man, you'll have it fo-morrow."

"By the livin'man" was his familiar expletive.

  

Within recent history, King's Cove was threatened by fire three times. On June 16th, 1828, a forest fire broke out on Plate Cove Road-west of the settlement-and fanned by a smart breeze. soon swept down towards "Steady Water" valley about half a mile west of the harbor. As night set in, immense volumes of smoke and fire shrouded the sky, and as the night advanced, a wall of fire illuminated the village. Nobody went to bed that night. All household goods and fishing gear were removed to the water's edge. But about half past one o'clock that night, the wind veered to the South-west, carrying the fire away from Steady Water on to Broad Cove-three miles to the north of King's Cove The houses on the north side of King's Cove barely escaped. The change of wind was so sudden that King's Cove escape seemed miraculous.

The fire struck the houses at Broad Cove and destroyed all of them except one-that of Thomas Carew. By 8 p.m. that evening, everything was in ashes stores, stages and flakes. John Skeffington lost a store full of Bummer fishery supplies. A heavy rain followed the fire next day and the residents were enabled to begin again the rebuilding of their homes.

 

How the Broad Cove people managed to survive this tragedy, with all their belongings reduced to ashes at the commencement of the fishing season, no one seems to have left a record. But such misfortunes were the constant lot of the early settlers, and we must come to the conclusion that our forefathers were men of grit and indomitable courage.

 

Since that time, King's Cove has had two narrow escapes from destruction by forest fires. In 1869, a huge fire swept down towards the village from the south-west; but fortunately only reached the outskirts. In 1892-the year of the St John's fire- the village was threatened again. Sarah Brien's hill which had from time immemorial been covered from its summit to its base with spruce and fir, became a prey to the devouring monster, which blackened its granitic sides and it has never since fully recovered its pristine beauty.

 

Previous to 1871 no photographer had visited King's Cove and there are no extant photographs of the residents who died before that date. In that year a photographer named Campbell spent several months in the village. He had his "dark room" in a corner of the "oilstore" of Michael Murphy & Sons. All his photos were of the "tintype" process. Mr. Campbell afterwards became a clerk in the General Post Office, St. John's. A few years later a Mr. Chisholm from Nova Scotia came to King's Cove and spent some time photographing. His work was of the modern "dryplate" type.

   

Because of the very active playground I have had difficulty photographing this memorial but today the park was almost empty.

 

Making a guess I would say that very few are aware of this memorial or the park in which it is located. The fact that the artist is unknown does not help.

 

The statue of Éire is the central feature of St. Michan’s park and it is positioned on a raised area of the green with on a high pedestal dated at the base to 1903. Apparently the pedestal designed to hold a memorial was installed before 1899. Some historians suspect that an already existing statue was purchased and installed as Éire but unfortunately there are no records of the statue being purchased, commissioned or installed.

 

Éire’s demeanour is subdued and downcast, holding a funerary wreath, a wolfhound looks up at her from one side and in the background the nationalist symbol of the high cross is clearly visible. The base of the monument has an inscription in Irish script with reference to the history of the prison that was adjacent to the park. It reads:

 

Within this park once stood Newgate prison

Associated in dark and evil days with the doing to death of

Confessors of Irish liberty who gave their lives to vindicate

Their country’s right to National independence

This memorial is erected to perpetuate their memory

To honour their motives and to inculcate a grateful reverence

In Irish minds for sacrifices thus nobly made

For freedom and to proclaim Ireland’s fidelity

To the principles of the men whose names are heron inscribed

In the belief that these will yet redeem and

Regenerate our fatherland for subjection