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The International Finance Centre (abbr. IFC, branded as "ifc") is a skyscraper and an integrated commercial development on the waterfront of Hong Kong's Central District.
A prominent landmark on Hong Kong Island, IFC consists of two skyscrapers, the IFC Mall, and the 55-storey Four Seasons Hotel Hong Kong. Tower 2 is the second tallest building in Hong Kong (415 m), behind the International Commerce Centre in West Kowloon. It is the fourth-tallest building in the Greater China region and the eighth-tallest office building in the world, based on structural heights; by roof height, only the Taipei 101, Shanghai World Financial Center, Willis Tower, International Commerce Centre and Burj Khalifa exceed it. It is of similar height to the former World Trade Center. The Airport Express Hong Kong Station is directly beneath it.
IFC was constructed and is owned by IFC Development, a consortium of Sun Hung Kai Properties, Henderson Land and Towngas.[6]
In 2003, Financial Times, HSBC, and Cathay Pacific put up an advertisement on the facade that stretched more than 50 storeys, covering an area of 19,000 m2 (0.2 million square ft) and a length of 230 m, making it the world's largest advertisement ever put on a skyscraper.[7]
Contents
1 History
2 One International Finance Centre
3 Two International Finance Centre
4 Four Seasons Hotel Hong Kong
5 IFC Mall
6 Gallery
6.1 2 International Finance Centre
6.2 International Finance Centre Mall
7 See also
8 References
9 External links
History
Tower 1 is also known as 1IFC and branded in lowercase letters, as "One ifc". Likewise, Tower 2 is also known as 2IFC and branded as "Two ifc".[8]
1IFC opened in December 1998, towards the end of the Asian financial crisis. Tenants included ING Bank, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp, Fidelity International, the Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Authority[9] and the Financial Times.[10]
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority purchased 14 floors in 2IFC;[10] the Hong Kong Mortgage Corporation signed a 12-year lease on 24,000-square-foot (2,200 m2);[11] Nomura Group agreed to take 60,000 sq ft (5,600 m2) at 2 IFC; the Financial Times, an existing tenant at One IFC, took 10,000 sq ft (900 m2).[10] Ernst & Young took six floors (from the 11th to 18th floors), or about 180,000 square feet (16,700 m2), in 2IFC, to become the biggest tenant.[12]
2IFC, which was completed at the height of the SARS epidemic,[9] was initially available to rent at HK$25-HK$35 per square foot.[13] In 2007, as the economy has improved, high quality ("Grade A") office space is highly sought after; rents for current leases are $150 per square foot as of March 2007.[14]
The IFC's towers have featured in several Hollywood films, including Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life, where Lara Croft leaps off the then-under-construction 2 International Finance Centre, landing on a ship out in the Kowloon Bay, and The Dark Knight, where Batman leapt from 2 IFC to 1 IFC, where an action scene then takes place.[15]
The 88th floor of 2IFC is the backdrop of core scenes of the German Thriller "Im Schatten der Lombardis" [1] by Berit Paton Reid, a German writer based in Dubai, UAE.
One International Finance Centre
One International Finance Centre
IFC mall Phase 1 shopping arcade
One International Finance Centre was constructed in 1998 and opened in 1999. It is 688 feet (210 m) tall,[16] has 39 storeys and four trading floors, 18 high speed passenger lifts in 4 zones, and comprises 784,000 square feet (72,800 m2). It is similar in design and appearance to 30 Hudson Street in Jersey City, New Jersey. The building currently accommodates approximately 5,000 people.
Two International Finance Centre
Two International Finance Centre, completed in 2003, is attached to the second phase of the ifc mall. This 415-metre-tall (1,362 ft) building, currently Hong Kong's second tallest, is quoted as having 88 storeys and 22 high-ceiling trading floors to qualify as being extremely auspicious in Chinese culture. It is, however, short of the magic number, because "taboo floors" like 14th and 24th are omitted as being inauspicious – because 4 sounds like 'die' in Cantonese.
The highrise is designed to accommodate financial institutions. For example, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) is located at the 55th floor. It is equipped with advanced telecommunications, raised floors for flexible cabling management, and nearly column-free floor plans. The building expects to accommodate up to 15,000 people. It is one of relatively few buildings in the world equipped with double-deck elevators.
The 55th, 56th and the 77th to 88th floors were bought by the HKMA for US$480 million in 2001.[11] An exhibition area, currently containing an exhibit of Hong Kong's monetary history, and a library of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority Information Centre occupy the 55th floor, and are open to the public during office hours.[17]
Despite common practice for owners to allow naming buildings after its important tenants, the owners decided not to allow renaming of the building.[18]
Four Seasons Hotel Hong Kong
Main article: Four Seasons Hotel Hong Kong
The Four Seasons Hotel is a luxury hotel that was built near the IFC One and Two. It was completed and opened in October 2005. The 206 m (674 ft), 60-storey oceanfront hotel is the only Four Seasons Hotel in Hong Kong. The hotel has 399 guest suites, and 519 serviced apartments. Amenities include a French restaurant Caprice and spa.[19]
IFC Mall
It is an 800,000 sq ft, 4-storey shopping mall, with many luxury retail brands and wide variety of restaurants. The first official Apple Store was also located in this mall (a 3-storey flagship store in Hong Kong).
Hong Kong (Chinese: 香港; pronunciation in Hong Kong Cantonese: [hœ́ːŋ.kɔ̌ːŋ]), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China, is an autonomous territory on the eastern side of the Pearl River estuary in East Asia, south of the mainland Chinese province of Guangdong, and east of the former Portuguese colony and fellow special administrative region of Macau. With around 7.3 million Hong Kongers of various nationalities[note 1] in a territory of 1,104 km2, Hong Kong is the fourth-most densely populated region in the world.
Hong Kong was formerly a colony of the British Empire, after the perpetual cession of Hong Kong Island from Qing China at the conclusion of the First Opium War in 1842. The colony expanded to the Kowloon Peninsula in 1860, and acquired a 99-year lease of the New Territories from 1898. Hong Kong was later occupied by Japan during the Second World War, until British control resumed in 1945. The territory was returned to China under the framework of the Sino-British Joint Declaration, signed between the United Kingdom and China in 1984 and marked by the transfer of sovereignty of Hong Kong in 1997, when it became a special administrative region of the People's Republic of China.[13]
Under the principle of "one country, two systems",[14][15] Hong Kong maintains a separate political and economic system apart from China. Except in military defence and foreign affairs, Hong Kong retains independent executive, legislative, and judiciary powers.[16] Nevertheless, Hong Kong does directly develop relations with foreign states and international organizations in a broad range of "appropriate fields",[17] being actively and independently involved in institutions such as the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum[18] and the World Trade Organization.[19]
Hong Kong is one of the world's most significant financial centres, holding the highest Financial Development Index score and consistently ranking as the world's most competitive and freest economic entity.[20][21] As the world's eighth-largest trading entity,[22] its legal tender, Hong Kong dollar, is the world's 13th most traded currency.[23] Hong Kong's tertiary sector dominated economy is characterised by competitive simple taxation and supported by its independent judiciary system.[24] Although the city boasts one of the highest per capita incomes in the world, it suffers from severe income inequality.[25]
Hong Kong features the most skyscrapers in the world, surrounding Victoria Harbour, which lies in the centre of the city's dense urban region.[26][27] It has a very high Human Development Index ranking and the world's longest life expectancy.[28][29] Over 90% of its population makes use of well-developed public transportation.[30] Seasonal air pollution with origins from neighbouring industrial areas of mainland China, which adopts loose emissions standards, has resulted in a high level of atmospheric particulates in winter.[31][32][33]
Contents
1 Etymology
2 History
2.1 Prehistory
2.2 Imperial China
2.3 British colony
2.4 Japanese military occupation
2.5 Post-war industrialisation
2.6 Transfer of sovereignty
2.7 Special administrative region
3 Government and politics
3.1 Legal system and judiciary
3.2 Foreign relations
3.3 Regional and administrative divisions
3.4 Electoral and political reforms
3.5 Sociopolitical issues and human rights
3.6 Military
4 Geography
4.1 Climate
4.2 Architecture
4.3 Cityscape
5 Demographics
5.1 Languages
5.2 Religion
5.3 Personal income
6 Economy
6.1 Financial centre
6.2 International trading
6.3 Tourism and expatriation
6.4 Policy
7 Infrastructure
7.1 Energy
7.2 Water and sanitation
7.3 Health
8 Transport
8.1 Rail
8.2 Roads and taxis
8.3 Aviation
8.4 Ferries
8.5 Buses and trams
9 Education
10 Culture
10.1 Sport
11 Media
12 Notable people
13 See also
14 Notes
15 References
15.1 Citations
15.2 Sources
16 Further reading
17 External links
Etymology
Hong Kong
Hong Kong in Chinese 2.svg
"Hong Kong" in Chinese characters
Chinese 香港
Cantonese Yale Hēunggóng or Hèunggóng
Literal meaning Fragrant Harbour,
Incense Harbour[34][35]
[show]Transcriptions
Hong Kong Special Administrative Region
Traditional Chinese 香港特別行政區
(香港特區)
Simplified Chinese 香港特别行政区
(香港特区)
Cantonese Yale Hēunggóng Dahkbiht Hàhngjingkēui
(Hēunggóng Dahkkēui)
or
Hèunggóng Dahkbiht Hàhngjingkēui
(Hèunggóng Dahkkēui)
[show]Transcriptions
The name Hong Kong originally referred to a small inlet between Aberdeen Island and the southern coast of Hong Kong Island. The town of Aberdeen was an initial point of contact between British sailors and local fishermen.[36] The source of the romanised name is not known, but it is generally believed to be an early imprecise phonetic rendering of the spoken Cantonese pronunciation of 香港 (Cantonese Yale: hēung góng), which means "Fragrant Harbour" or "Incense Harbour".[34][35][37] Fragrance may refer to the sweet taste of the harbour's fresh water influx from the Pearl River estuary or to the incense from factories lining the coast of northern Kowloon. The incense was stored near Aberdeen Harbour for export before Victoria Harbour was developed.[37] Another theory is that the name originates from the Tanka, early inhabitants of the region; it is equally probable that a romanisation of the name in their dialect was used (i.e. hōng, not hēung in Cantonese).[38] Regardless of origin, the name was recorded in the Treaty of Nanking to encompass all of Hong Kong Island, and has been used to refer to the territory in its entirety ever since.[39]
The name had often been written as the single word Hongkong until the government adopted the current form in 1926.[40] Nevertheless, a number of institutions founded during the early colonial era still retain the single-word form, such as the Hongkong Post, Hongkong Electric, and the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation.
History
Main articles: History of Hong Kong and History of China
Prehistory
Main article: Prehistoric Hong Kong
Archaeological studies support human presence in the Chek Lap Kok area from 35,000 to 39,000 years ago and on Sai Kung Peninsula from 6,000 years ago.[41][42][43] Wong Tei Tung and Three Fathoms Cove are the earliest sites of human habitation in Hong Kong during the Paleolithic Period. It is believed that the Three Fathom Cove was a river-valley settlement and Wong Tei Tung was a lithic manufacturing site. Excavated Neolithic artefacts suggested cultural differences from the Longshan culture of northern China and settlement by the Che people, prior to the migration of the Baiyue to Hong Kong.[44][45] Eight petroglyphs dated to the Shang Dynasty were discovered on the surrounding islands.[46]
Imperial China
Main article: History of Hong Kong under Imperial China
In 214 BC, the Qin dynasty conquered the Baiyue tribes in Jiaozhi (modern-day Liangguang region and Vietnam) and incorporated the area of Hong Kong into China for the first time.[47] After a brief period of centralisation and subsequent collapse of the Qin dynasty, the area of Hong Kong was consolidated under the Nanyue kingdom, founded by general Zhao Tuo in 204 BC.[48] After the Han conquered Nanyue in 111 BC, Hong Kong was assigned to the Jiaozhi commandery. Archaeological evidence indicates an increase of population and expansion of salt production. The Lei Cheng Uk Han Tomb on the Kowloon Peninsula is believed to have been built as a burial site during the Han dynasty.[49]
Sung Wong Toi, believed to be a memorial to the last two boy emperors of the Southern Song dynasty, as it appeared before the Second Sino-Japanese War.
During the Tang dynasty, the Guangdong region flourished as an international trading center. A military stronghold was established in Tuen Mun to strengthen defence of the coastal area.[50] Lantau Island was a salt production centre and smuggler riots occasionally broke out against the government. The first village school, Li Ying College, was established around 1075 in the modern-day New Territories by the Song dynasty.[51] During their war against the Mongols, the Southern Song court was briefly stationed at modern-day Kowloon City (the Sung Wong Toi site) before their ultimate defeat at the Battle of Yamen in 1279.[52]
The earliest European visitor on record was Jorge Álvares, a Portuguese explorer, who arrived in 1513.[53][54] Having established a trading post in a site they called "Tamão" in Hong Kong waters, Portuguese merchants commenced with regular trading in southern China. Subsequent military clashes between China and Portugal, however, led to the expulsion of all Portuguese merchants from southern China.[55] After the Qing conquest, Hong Kong was directly affected by the Great Clearance, an imperial decree that ordered the evacuation of coastal areas of Guangdong from 1661 to 1669 as part of his efforts against Ming loyalist rebels in southern China. Over 16,000 inhabitants of Xin'an County, which included Hong Kong, were forced to migrate inland; only 1,648 of those who had evacuated returned in subsequent years.[56] With frequent pirate attacks and ever increasing incursions by European explorers, forts were constructed at Tung Chung and the Kowloon Walled City.[57]
Though maritime trade had previously been banned, after repopulation of the coast and final defeat of all rebels with Ming sympathies, the Kangxi Emperor lifted the trade prohibition in 1684 and allowed foreigners to enter Chinese ports.[58] Trade with Europeans was more strictly regulated and became concentrated in the Pearl River Delta after establishment of the Canton System in 1757, which forbade non-Russian ships from northern Chinese ports and forced all commerce to be conducted solely in the port of Canton, just north of Hong Kong.[59] While European demand for Chinese commodities like tea, silk, and porcelain was high, Chinese interest in European manufactured goods was comparatively negligible, creating a large trade imbalance between Qing China and Great Britain. To counter this deficit, the British began to sell increasingly large volumes of Indian opium to China.[60] Faced with a drug addiction crisis,[61] Chinese officials pursued ever more aggressive actions in an attempt to halt the opium trade.[60]
British colony
Main articles: British Hong Kong and History of Hong Kong (1800s–1930s)
City of Victoria, 1860s
In 1839, threats by the Qing imperial court to place sanctions on opium imports caused diplomatic friction with the British Empire. Tensions escalated into the First Opium War. After British victory in the Second Battle of Chuenpi, the Qing initially admitted defeat. As part of a ceasefire agreement between Captain Charles Elliot and Qishan, Viceroy of Liangguang, Hong Kong Island was declared to be ceded under the Convention of Chuenpi. British forces took formal possession of the island on 26 January 1841. However, disputes between high-ranking officials of both countries led to the failure of the treaty's ratification.[62] After more than another year of further hostilities, Hong Kong Island was formally ceded in perpetuity to the United Kingdom under the terms of the Treaty of Nanking on 29 August 1842.[63] The British officially established a Crown colony and founded the City of Victoria in the following year.[64]
The population of Hong Kong Island was 7,450 when the Union Jack raised over Possession Point on 26 January 1841. It mostly consisted of Tanka fishermen and Hakka charcoal burners, whose settlements scattered along several coastal hamlets. In the 1850s, a large number of Chinese refugees crossed the open border fleeing from the Taiping Rebellion. Other natural disasters, such as flooding, typhoons, and famine in mainland China would play a role in establishing Hong Kong as a place for safe shelter.[65][66] Further conflicts over the opium trade between the British and Qing quickly escalated into the Second Opium War. Following the Anglo-French victory, the colony was expanded to include Kowloon Peninsula (south of Boundary Street) and Stonecutter's Island, both of which were ceded to the British in perpetuity under the Convention of Beijing in 1860. The colony was expanded further in 1898, when Britain obtained a 99-year lease of additional territory from the Qing under the Convention for the Extension of Hong Kong Territory; Lantau Island, the area north of Boundary Street in Kowloon up to the Sham Chun River, and over 200 other outlying islands were given over to British control.[67][68][69]
Queen's Road Central at the junction of Duddell Street, c. 1900
Hong Kong soon became a major entrepôt thanks to its free port status, attracting new immigrants from both China and Europe. However, the population remained racially divided and polarised under early British colonial policies. Despite the rise of a British-educated Chinese upper-class by the late-19th century, racial discrimination laws, such as the Peak Reservation Ordinance, prevented ethnic Chinese from acquiring property in reserved areas, such as Victoria Peak. At this time, the majority of the Chinese population in Hong Kong had no political representation in the British colonial government. The British governors did rely, however, on a small number of Chinese elites, including Sir Kai Ho and Robert Hotung, who served as ambassadors and mediators between the government and local population.
File:1937 Hong Kong VP8.webmPlay media
Hong Kong filmed in 1937
The colony continued to experience modest growth during the first half of the 20th century. The University of Hong Kong was established in 1911 as the territory's first higher education institute. While there had been an exodus of 60,000 residents for fear of a German attack on the British colony during the First World War, Hong Kong remained unscathed. Its population increased from 530,000 in 1916 to 725,000 in 1925 and reached 1.6 million by 1941.[70]
In 1925, Cecil Clementi became the 17th Governor of Hong Kong. Fluent in Cantonese and without a need for translators, Clementi appointed Shouson Chow to the Executive Council as its first ethnic Chinese member. Under Clementi's tenure, Kai Tak Airport entered operation as RAF Kai Tak and several aviation clubs. At the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1937, when the Empire of Japan invaded China from its protectorate in Manchuria, Governor Geoffry Northcote declared the colony a neutral zone to safeguard Hong Kong's status as a free port.
Japanese military occupation
Main article: Japanese occupation of Hong Kong
Liberation of Hong Kong in 1945. Picture taken at the Cenotaph in Central.
On 8 December 1941, the same morning as the attack on Pearl Harbor, the Imperial Japanese Army moved south from Guangzhou and crossed the Sham Chun River to attack Hong Kong as part of a coordinated military offensive against the Allied Powers.[71] The Battle of Hong Kong lasted for 17 days, through which British, Canadian, Indian, and local colonial units defended Hong Kong. By the fifth day, Commonwealth troops, under heavy artillery and aerial bombardment, had been forced to abandon their positions in Kowloon and retreated to Hong Kong Island.[72] With the remaining troops unable to further mount an effective defence, Governor Young surrendered the colony on Christmas Day. This day is remembered by locals as "Black Christmas".[73]
During the occupation, the garrisoned Japanese soldiers committed many atrocities against both civilians and prisoners of war, including the St. Stephen's College massacre. Local residents suffered widespread food shortages, strict rationing, and hyperinflation arising from the forced exchange of currency from Hong Kong dollars to Japanese military yen. Widespread starvation and forced deportation of residents for use as slave labour to mainland China drastically reduced the population of Hong Kong from 1.6 million in 1941 to 600,000 in 1945, when control of the colony returned to the British.[74]
Post-war industrialisation
Main articles: British Hong Kong, 1950s in Hong Kong, 1960s in Hong Kong, 1970s in Hong Kong, 1980s in Hong Kong, and 1990s in Hong Kong
Flag of British Hong Kong from 1959 to 1997
Hong Kong's population recovered quickly after the war, as a wave of skilled migrants from the Republic of China sought refuge from the Chinese Civil War in a territory neutral to the conflict. When the Communist Party took full control of mainland China in 1949, even more refugees fled across the open border in fear of persecution.[67] Many newcomers, especially those who had been based in the major port cities of Shanghai and Guangzhou, established corporations and small- to medium-sized businesses and shifted their base operations to British Hong Kong.[67] The establishment of the People's Republic of China caused the British colonial government to reconsider Hong Kong's open border to mainland China. In 1951, a boundary zone was demarked as a buffer zone against potential military attacks from communist China. Border posts along the north of Hong Kong began operation in 1953 to regulate the movement of people and goods into and out of the territory.
Hong Kong in 1965
In the 1950s, Hong Kong became the first of the Four Asian Tiger economies that was undergoing rapid industrialisation driven by textile exports, manufacturing industries, and re-exports of goods to China. As the population grew, with labour costs remaining low, living standards began to rise steadily.[75] The construction of the Shek Kip Mei Estate in 1953 marked the beginning of the public housing estate programme, which provided shelter for the less privileged and helped cope with the continuing influx of immigrants.
Under Governor Murray MacLehose, the government began a series of reforms to improve the quality of infrastructure and public services through the 1970s. Systemic corruption in the uniformed services had crippled trust in the government; MacLehose established the ICAC, an independent security service under the direct authority of the Governor, to restore the integrity of the civil service.[76] Chinese was recognised as an official language during his tenure, accelerating the process of localisation in the government, slowly handing key official posts long held only by British members of the government over to local ethnic Chinese people.[77][78] To alleviate road traffic congestion and provide a more reliable means of crossing the Victoria Harbour, the Mass Transit Railway was constructed and began operations of its first line in 1979. The Island Line, Kwun Tong Line, and Tsuen Wan Line all opened in the early 1980s, connecting Hong Kong Island, Kowloon, and parts of the New Territories to a single transport system.[79] MacLehose was the longest-serving colonial governor and, by the end of his governorship, had become one of the most popular and well-known figures in the territory. MacLehose laid the foundation for Hong Kong to establish itself as a key global city in the 1980s and early 1990s.
A sky view of Hong Kong Island
An aerial view of the northern shore of Hong Kong Island in 1986
Since 1983, the value of the Hong Kong dollar has been pegged to that of the United States dollar. The territory's competitiveness in manufacturing gradually declined due to rising labour and property costs, as well as new industrial capacity developed in southern China under the Open Door Policy, which was introduced in 1978. Nevertheless, by the early 1990s, Hong Kong had established itself as a global financial centre, a regional hub for logistics and freight, one of the fastest-growing economies in Asia, and the world's exemplar of laissez-faire market policy.[80]
The Hong Kong issue
In 1971, China's permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council was transferred from the Republic of China, which had evacuated to Taiwan at the conclusion of the Chinese Civil War, to the People's Republic of China. Hong Kong was soon after removed from the organization's list of non-self-governing territories, at the request of the PRC. Facing an uncertain future for the colony and the expiration of the New Territories lease beyond 1997, Governor MacLehose raised the question of Hong Kong's status with Deng Xiaoping in 1979.
Diplomatic negotiations with China resulted in the Sino-British Joint Declaration in 1984. The United Kingdom agreed to transfer to China the entirety of the colony, including the perpetually ceded areas of Hong Kong Island and Kowloon Peninsula, at the conclusion of the 99-year New Territories lease in 1997, when Hong Kong would become a special administrative region governed separately from the mainland, retaining its free-market economy, common law judicial system, independent representation in international organizations, treaty arrangements, and self-governance in all areas except foreign diplomacy and military defence. The treaty further stipulated that the territory would be guaranteed a high degree of autonomy for at least 50 years after the transfer, with the Basic Law of Hong Kong serving as its constitutional document.[67]
A street at the edge of the Kowloon Walled City at night.
Under the terms of the Second Convention of Peking, the colony was expanded out to the New Territories, but the treaty did not include a small military outpost over which the Kowloon Walled City would later be built. After the end of Japanese occupation, thousands of refugees fleeing from the mainland during the Chinese Civil War made their way to the Walled City and became squatters occupying this parcel of land where China was technically still the sovereign power. Over the following decades, the population of this 2.6-hectare (6.4-acre) area dramatically increased, reaching 33,000 by 1987, making the Walled City the most densely populated area in the world at its peak.[81][82] Despite widespread illegal activity and unsanitary living conditions, the British largely took a 'hands-off' approach with regard to the Walled City due to the area's muddled territorial status and to avoid confrontation with the mainland authority.[83] The Sino-British Joint Declaration laid the groundwork for cooperation between the British and Chinese governments concerning any Hong Kong-related issues, including the fate of the former military fort. The Chinese government acquiesced to the demolition of the settlement in 1987.[84] The structure was cleared away in 1994 and the area converted into the Kowloon Walled City Park.[85]
Transfer of sovereignty
Main article: Transfer of sovereignty over Hong Kong
The Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, where the handover ceremony took place in 1997
On 1 July 1997, sovereignty over Hong Kong was officially transferred from the United Kingdom to the People's Republic of China, marking the end of 156 years of British colonial rule. As Britain's last major and most populous remaining colony, the handover effectively represented the end of the British Empire. This event made Hong Kong the first special administrative region of China. Exactly at midnight, all government organisations with royal patronage simultaneously dropped the Royal prefix from their titles and any regalia with references to the Crown were replaced with insignia bearing the Bauhinia.[86] After the handover ceremony, Chris Patten, the last Governor of Hong Kong, together with Prince Charles, departed the city on board the Royal Yacht Britannia.[87]
Special administrative region
Main articles: 2000s in Hong Kong and Hong Kong–Mainland conflict
Almost immediately after the transfer of sovereignty, Hong Kong's economy was severely affected by the Asian financial crisis and further depressed by the outbreak of the H5N1 strain of avian flu. Financial Secretary Donald Tsang used the substantial territorial foreign currency reserves to maintain the Hong Kong dollar's currency peg and spent over HK$120 billion on significant holdings of major Hong Kong companies to prevent a general market collapse.[67] While complete disaster was averted, Chief Executive Tung's housing policy of building 85,000 subsidised flats a year triggered a housing market crisis in 1998, depressing property prices and causing some homeowners to become bankrupt.[88] Hong Kong was again gravely affected by the outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in 2003.[89][90] In total, 1,755 people were infected, with 299 fatalities.[91] Economic activities slowed and schools were closed for weeks at the height of the epidemic. An estimated HK$380 million (US$48.9 million) in contracts were lost as a result of the epidemic.[92] While Hong Kong was also severely affected by the global recession of the late 2000s, the Tsang government introduced a series of economic stimulus measures prevented a prolonged recession.[93]
Infrastructure post-handover has been rapidly developed, with major transport links continuing to be planned and constructed. The Rose Garden Project, which began under British administration, to construct a new international airport was completed in 1998 and operations began at the new site during the same year. The Ngong Ping Cable Car, West Kowloon Cultural District, multiple new railway lines, and additional cross-harbour tunnels were all completed in the first 20 years of territorial self-governance. Direct infrastructure links with mainland China are also being actively developed, with both the Hong Kong–Zhuhai–Macau Bridge and Hong Kong section of the national high-speed railway currently under construction. Construction of the rail link generated a high level of controversy surrounding the demolition of key landmarks and displacement of residents along the planned route.[94]
Hong Kong Island north coast, overlooking Victoria Harbour and Central and East Kowloon from middle section of Lugard Road at daytime
Political debates have centred themselves predominately on issues surrounding electoral reform and Hong Kong's jurisdictional independence from the central government. Following the handover, democratic reform of the Legislative Council was immediately terminated and the government attempted to legislate sweeping national security legislation pursuant to Article 23 of the Basic Law. Coupled with years of economic hardships and discontent of Chief Executive Tung's pro-Beijing stance, over 500,000 people demonstrated against the government, which eventually led to Tung's resignation in 2005.[95] Further proposals by the government to introduce a national education curriculum and nominee pre-screening before allowing Chief Executive elections triggered a number of mass protests in 2014, collectively known as the Umbrella Revolution.[96] Violent attacks on journalists, an increasing level of press self-censorship, alleged extraterritorial abduction of anti-China publishers,[97] and covert intervention into Hong Kong's educational, political, and independent institutions have posed challenges to the policy of one country, two systems. In the 2016 legislative election, there were reports of discrepancies in the electorate registry, which contained ghost registrations across constituencies, as well as political intervention to strip pro-independence individuals of their right to stand in elections[98] and alleged death threats to election candidates.[99] Social tension heightened during Leung's term, with many residents believing that China increased their efforts to exert influence on everyday life in Hong Kong. A survey in 2016 showed that only 17.8% of residents considered themselves as "Chinese citizens", whereas 41.9% considered themselves purely as "citizens of Hong Kong".[100]
Government and politics
香港候任特首林鄭月娥13.jpg 政務司司長張建宗15.jpg
Carrie Lam
Chief Executive Matthew Cheung
Chief Secretary
Main articles: Government of Hong Kong, Politics of Hong Kong, and Elections in Hong Kong
Hong Kong is a special administrative region of China, maintaining a separate legislature, executive, and judiciary from the rest of the country. It has a parliamentary government modelled after the Westminster system, inheriting this from British colonial administration. The Sino-British Joint Declaration guarantees the territory's capitalist economic system and autonomous system of government for 50 years after the transfer of sovereignty.[note 2] Under this framework, the Basic Law of Hong Kong is the regional constitutional document, establishing the structure and responsibility of the government.[101][102] The head of government is the Chief Executive, who is selected by the Election Committee for a five-year term that is renewable once. The central government provides oversight for the regional government; final interpretative power of the Basic Law rests with the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress and the Chief Executive is formally appointed by the State Council after nomination by the aforementioned Election Committee.[101] Responsibility for foreign and military affairs is also assumed by the central authority.[note 3]
Government House, official residence of the Chief Executive.
A chamber within the Legislative Council Complex.
The grey dome and front gable of a granite neo-classical building, with a skyscraper in the background against a clear blue sky.
Court of Final Appeal Building in Central. Formerly housed the Supreme Court and the Legislative Council before its current function.
The Legislative Council is a unicameral legislature with 70 members, consisting of 35 directly elected members apportioned to geographical constituencies, 30 members representing professional or special interest groups formed as functional constituencies, and 5 members nominated by members of the District Councils and elected in territory-wide elections.[14][103] Legislators are elected using multiple different voting systems, determined by whichever constituency a particular seat is representing. All directly elected seats are filled using a proportional representative system, while functional constituencies other than the all-territory District Council constituency choose their councillors using first-past-the-post or instant-runoff voting.[104]
Government policy is determined by the Executive Council, a body of advisors appointed by the Chief Executive with the authority to issue delegated legislation and proposes new bills to the legislature for debate and promulgation. Direct administration is managed by the Civil Service, an apolitical bureaucracy that ensures positive implementation of policy.[14][105] Hong Kong is nationally represented in the National People's Congress by 36 delegates chosen through an electoral college.[16][106]
22 political parties had representatives elected to the Legislative Council in the 2016 election.[107] These parties have aligned themselves into three ideological groups: the pro-Beijing camp who form the current government, the pro-democracy camp, and localist groups.[108] The Communist Party does not have an official political presence in Hong Kong and its members do not run in local elections.[109]
The Monetary Authority is the currency board and de facto central bank of the territory.[110] It is responsible for regulation of the Hong Kong dollar and, along with HSBC, Standard Chartered Hong Kong, and the Bank of China, issues currency in the form of banknotes. Coinage is solely minted by the Monetary Authority.[111]
Legal system and judiciary
Main articles: Law of Hong Kong and Judiciary of Hong Kong
The judicial system of Hong Kong is derived from the common law system of English law, and was created at the establishment of the territory as a British colony. Chinese national law does not generally apply in the region, and Hong Kong is treated as an independent jurisdiction.[112] The Court of Final Appeal is the territory's highest court, exercising final adjudication over interpretation of laws and has the power to strike down statutes and legislation inconsistent with the Basic Law.[113][114] It is led by the Chief Justice and consists of three additional permanent judges and one non-permanent seat filled by judges from overseas common law jurisdictions on a rotating basis.[14][115] However, final interpretation of the Basic Law itself is a power vested in the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress. Judges on all courts are appointed by the Chief Executive on the recommendation of an independent commission.[14][116] As a common law system, judicial courts in Hong Kong may refer to precedents set in English law and Commonwealth jurisdictions.[14][115][14]
The Department of Justice is responsible for handling legal matters for the government. Its responsibilities include providing legal advice, criminal prosecution, civil representation, legal and policy drafting and reform and international legal co-operation between different jurisdictions.[112] Apart from prosecuting criminal cases, lawyers of the Department of Justice act on behalf of the government in all civil and administrative lawsuits against the government.[112] The department may call for judicial review of government action or legislation and may intervene in any cases involving the greater public interest.[117] The Basic Law protects the Department of Justice from any interference by the government when exercising its control over criminal prosecution.[14][118] Law enforcement is a responsibility of the Security Bureau and the Hong Kong Police, with agencies like the Customs and Excise Department and Immigration Department handling more specialised tasks.
We didn't expected it but when returning from North Ronaldsay the ferry didn't go between the islands but around Sanday so tried to take a few shots as the sea was wild at that time.
I was last here on a cold and grey day at the beginning or March.
Graveney stretches along the road, but All Saints sits on a quiet bend, and felt wonderfully isolated.
And not at all friendly, I have to say. It was locked, as expected, so I took aome outside shots and we moved on eatwards, but somehow I really wanted to see inside here, just to see if it could be warmer than it felt on that March morning.
I parked beside the road, I saw the door of the porch open, and a light filled space beyond.
Looked good....
The church was a hive of activity, with some people getting a table-top sale ready, others boiling the kettle and unpacking cakes for refreshments, whilst two others greeted me, and I was given my own tour.
Nooks and crannies everywhere, including an alcove in the north chapel, which must have held a figure, now as an artwork of the cross made my medieval nails found during restoration work.
Two panels of the original rood screen were still inside, though hidden away, and one had rings of concentric circles, to confuse the devil, I was told.
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The Victorians did not leave too much of a mark here, for the mellow red tiles, box pews and ledger slabs remain. There is a heavy medieval rood screen and the empty north and south aisles allow us to appreciate the building as it might originally have appeared. In the north aisle is a memorial brass to John Martyn (d. 1436) with cathedral-like proportions, being over 56 in long.
www.kentchurches.info/church.asp?p=Graveney
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GRAVENEY
LIES the next parish north-westward from Hernehill. It was called in the time of the Saxons, Graven-ea, and afterwards, by corruption of language, Gravenel, in like manner as Oxney, Pevensey, and Rumency, were corruptly called Oxenel, Pevensel, and Rumenel; (fn. 1) the name of it denoting its low and watery situation, and it is now, by contraction, usually called Grainey.
IT LIES about two miles from the high London road, on the north side of it, at the 48th mile-stone, the parish of Goodnestone intervening, in a low country adjoining the marshes, of which there is a large quantity, both fresh and salt within it, Faversham creek and the Swale being the western and northern boundaries of it. The soil of it various, there being in the level part some rich tillage land, and on the rises or small hills in it, a light soil of both sand and gravel. The church stands in the eastern part of the parish, having Graveneycourt, with an antient gateway, and numerous offices, singularly built round it, well worth observation, as denoting its former respectable state. In the western part is Nagdon, adjoining to Faversham creck, having a decoy for wild fowl, and a large quantity of marsh land belonging to it. There is but little thoroughfare here, and no village, the houses being interspersed straggling throughout it. Upon the whole though unhealthy, it has not an unpleasant aspect, being well cloathed with trees, especially elm, which are very thriving here, and in great plenty; the roads are remarkably well taken care of, as are the poor, and the whole parish seems to thrive well under the care of the inhabitants of Graveney-court. There are some parts of this parish separated from the rest by those of Faversham and Goodneston intervening.
There are several scarce plants observed by Mr. Jacob in this parish, and enumerated in this Plantæ Favershamienses.
THE ARCHBISHOP'S paramount manor of Boughton claims over the whole of this parish, as being within that hundred, subordinate to which is the manor of Graveney.
In the year 811, Wlfred, archbishop of Canterbury, purchased this place of Cenulph, king of Mercia, who had made the kingdom of Kent tributary to him, for the use of Christ-church, Canterbury, as appears by the leiger book of that priory, and that it was given L. S. A. that is, Libere Sicut Adisham, with the same liberties, immunities, and privileges that Adisham was. Soon after which, one Werhard, a powerful priest, and kinsman to the archbishop, found means to gain possession of it, and kept it till that prelate's death in 830, when Feogild succeeding to the see of Canterbury, though he sat in it but three months, yet in that time he compelled Werhard to restore Gravene then computed at thirty-two hides of land, to the church; and it was afterwards confirmed to it in anno 941, by king Edmund, Eadred his brother, and Edwyn son of the latter; (fn. 2) and it remained part of the revenues of Christchurch at the coming of archbishop Lanfranc to that see in 1070, when on his division of them, between himself and the monks of his church, this manor fell to his share, of whom it was afterwards held by knight's service. In which state it continued at the time of taking the survey of Domesday, anno 1080, in which it is thus entered, under the general title of Terra Militum Archiepi, that is, land held of the archbishop by knight's service.
In Boltune hundred the same Richard (who owed fealty to the archbishop) held of the archbishop Gravenel. It was taxed for one suling. The arable land is. In demesne there is one carucate, and eight villeins, with ten borderers having two carucates. There are five servants, and ten acres of meadow, and four saltpits of four shillings. In the time of king Edward the Confessor, and afterwards, it was worth one hundred shillings, now six pounds, of these the monks of Canterbury have twenty shillings.
Who this Richard was I do not find, though Somner calls him Ricardus Constabularius; however, it is not improbable, but he might afterwards adopt the surname of Gravene, from his having the possession of this place; certain it is, that it was afterwards held by a family who took their name from it. William de Gravene held it in the reign of king Henry III. of the archbishop, as one knight's fee. John de Gravene died possessed of it in the 56th year of the same reign, after which it became the property of the family of Feversham.
Thomas de Feversham died possessed of it in the beginning of the reign of king Edward III. leaving Joane his wife surviving, and in the window of the north chancel were formerly the arms of Feversham, A fess chequy, or, and gules, between six crosses, bottony, or; and underneath, Thomas Feversham, susticiar, & Johanna Uxor. ejus; on the pavement is a stone with two half-figures in brass for them, with an inscription round it in old French, part of which is gone; probably that which Weever mentions. (fn. 3) She afterwards entitled her second husband Sir Roger de Northwood to this manor, during her life; accordingly he paid aid for it in the 20th year of that reign, as one knight's see, which he held in right of his wife, of the archbishop, which was formerly held by Richard de Gravene. After her death her son Richard de Feversham succeeded to this manor, of which he died possessed in 1381, and was buried in this church, having married the daughter of Robert Dodde. His tomb, of Bethersden marble, remains against the south wall. In the south chancel, on the top, were two figures, and four coats of arms, the brasses gone; round the edge is this inscription, in brass, Ora pro aibs Roberti Dodde & Rici de Feuersham filii sui quonda dni de Gravene obiit, &c. Above the tomb, is a recess in the wall, with an antient carved arch above it. He had a daughter Joane, who became his heir, and married John Botiller, esq. and in her right became entitled to this manor, she died in 1408, and was buried in the south chancel here, her figure in brass on her gravestone is gone, but the inscription still remains. By her he had a son of his own name. Either he or his father was sheriff anno 22 king Richard II. John Botiller, esq the son, was knight of the shire in the 1st year of king Henry V.'s reign. They bore for their arms, Sable, three covered cups, or, within a bordure, argent; and John Botiller, probably the father, was esquire to archbishop Courtney, and mentioned in his will, proved anno 1396, being the 20th of Richard II.
There is a gravestone in the south chancel here, which most probably was for John Botiller the son; on it was his figure in brass, now gone, and four coats of arms; the two first are gone, the third Botiller, the fourth Feversham, a fess chequy, between six crosses, bottony, or. The inscription was remaining in Weever's time. This stone, I am informed, was some years ago removed out of the north chancel hither, and in the window of this chancel is this coat of arms, quarterly, first, Botiller, as above; second and third, a fess chequy, or, and gules, in chief three crosses, bottony, or; the bottom part being broken, the fourth is likewise broken. Underneath are these words remaining, Johes er, & Jonna ux ejs. Joane his wife was daughter and heir of William de Frogenhall, by whom he had a daughter and sole heir Anne, who carried it in marriage to John Martyn, judge of the common pleas, the son of Richard Martyn, of Stonebridge, who built much at his seat of Graveney court, where he partly resided. (fn. 4) He died in 1436, leaving his widow surviving, who then became again possessed of this manor in her own right. She afterwards married Thomas Burgeys, esq. whom she likewise survived, and dying in 1458 was buried beside her first husband in the north chancel of this church. His gravestone is of a very large size, and is most richly inlaid with brass, which is well preserved, having the figures of him and his wife, and other ornaments over the whole of it. There were four coats of arms, only the second of which, that of Boteler, is remaining. He bore for his arms, Argent, on a chevron, gules, three talbot bounds, passant, or. Her second husband Thomas Burgeys died in 1452, and was buried in the same chancel, where his gravestone remained till within these few years. At the upper end of the stone are two coats in brass, first Boteler impaling Frogenhall; second, a fess chequy impaling the like. Another coat, at the bottom, is gone, as is his figure.
In the descendants of Judge Martyn, residents at Graveney-court, this manor continued down to Robert Martyn, who likewise resided here, and died in the first year of Edward VI. (fn. 5) leaving his two daughters, Joane, married to Richard Argall, and Elizabeth to Stephen Reames, of Faversham, his coheirs. From them this manor was passed away by sale to John Pordage, of Rodmersham, in whose name it continued till it was at length sold to Daniel Whyte, esq. of Vinters, in Boxley, whose descendant of the same name, about the beginning of king George II.'s reign, alienated it to Mr. Edward Blaxland, who afterwards resided here, and bore for his arms, on a fess, three falcous volant, jessed and belled. He died in 1739. This occasioned this manor to be separated in several divisions and again afterwards in further subdivisions, among his descendants, in which state it now remains; but those of the male line of the name of Blaxland, still continue to reside at it. From the beginning of the last century to the middle of it, the Napletons, a family of good account in these parts of the county, were lessees of Graveney-court, and resided at it; and from that time to the latter end of it, the Houghhams were occupiers of it, and resided here. Many of both families lie buried in this church, as do all the Blaxlands, since their coming to the possession of this estate.
NAGDEN, formerly spelt Negdon, is a noted estate in the north-west part of this parish, consisting mostly of marsh land, which was once part of the endowment of the abbey of Faversham, and continued amongst the revenues of it till its final dissolution in the 30th year of Henry VIII. at which time it was valued at eight pounds per annum.
This estate thus coming into the hands of the crown, was granted by the king next year to Sir Thomas Cheney, lord warden, to hold in capite, who alienated it, in the 36th year of that reign, to Robert Martyn, of Graveney-court, who died in the first year of king Edward VI. (fn. 6) leaving his two daughters his coheirs, Joane, married to Richard Argall, and Elizabeth to Stephen Reames, who jointly possessed this estate. After which both these moieties seem to have been conveyed to Ciriac Petit, of Colkins, in this neighbourhood, who died possessed of the entire see of it in 1591, and in his descendants it continued down to Mr. William Petit, who in 1709 conveyed it by sale to dame Sarah Barrett, of Lee, widow, who died in 1711, upon which this estate came to her only son by her first husband, Sir Francis Head, bart. who died possessed of it in 1716. (fn. 7) He left four sons, who became entitled to this estate on their father's death, as coheirs in gavelkind. On the death of the eldest Sir Richard Head, bart. in 1721, his share devolved to his three brothers. James Head, esq. died afterwards intestate in 1727, and unmarried, on which Sir Francis Head, bart. and John Head, D. D. became possessed of it in undivided moieties, and the latter that same year conveyed his moiety of it to the former, who in 1745 sold the entire fee of it to John Smith, esq. of Faversham, who has since conveyed it to his son, John Smith, junior, esq. of Ospringe, the present possessor of it. The estate of Nagden pays nine shillings per annum, on Lammas day, to the vicar of Graveney, in lieu of tithes.
Charities.
On a tablet in the church, the benefactions of several pieces of land are recorded, amounting in the whole to upwards of four acres. These are put up as benefactions to the church; but by the information of the clerk, they belonged to the poor, to whom the yearly produce of them was distributed till of late. It is now applied to the repairs of the church.
The poor constantly relieved are about ten, casually 25.
GRAVENEY is within the ECCLESIASTICAL JURISDICTION of the diocese of Canterbury, and deanry of Ospringe.
The church is dedicated to All Saints, and consists of three isles and a high chancel, and two side ones formerly called chapels, the south one being dedicated to St. John, and the north one to the Virgin Mary. The steeple, which is a tower, stands at the north-west corner. In it are three bells. The antient gravestones in this church have been removed from where they originally laid, to make room for the present ones. Thus that of John Martyn, as I am informed, has been removed out of the north into the south chancel. In this north chancel they have been likewise still further displaced; there are now two rows of gravestones in it, lying three and three. In the west row are now, the first southward, Judge Martyn's; the second, Mr. Edward Blaxland's, who died in 1739; and the third, Thomas Burgeys, esq. For the making room for Mr. E. Blaxland's, Judge Martyn's stone was removed from the middle or second place to the first, where before his son's lay, till removed to the south chancel. This practice, of disturbing the ashes of the dead, as is but too frequent in churches of late, calls loudly for some authority to prevent it in future.
The church of Graveney, with the advowson of the vicarage, was in very early times part of the possessions of the priory of St. Mary Overies, in Southwark, with which it continued till the final dissolution of it in the 31st year of king Henry VIII. when it came into the hands of the crown, together with all the revenues and estates belonging to it.
The parsonage remained in the crown some years longer than the advowson of the vicarage, as will be mentioned hereafter, that is, till the 3d year of queen Elizabeth, when the queen granted this rectory, being then valued at 7l. 6s. 8d. yearly rent, to archbishop Parker and his successors, in exchange for other premises. (fn. 8) Since which it has continued part of the possessions of the see of Canterbury to this time.
This parsonage has been from time to time demised on a beneficial lease, at the above yearly rent. In 1643 Mrs. Elizabeth Robinson, widow, was tenant of it. John Baker, esq. of St. Stephen's, near Canterbury, is the present lessee of it.
But the advowson of the vicarage did not continue so long in the crown, for it was granted, among others, in 1558, to the archbishop and his successors, (fn. 9) with whom it now continues, his grace the archbishop being now patron of it.
This vicarage is valued in the king's books at fifty pounds, and the yearly tenths at 1l. 4s. per annum. In 1578 there were communicants here ninety. In 1640 the communicants were sixty-five, and it was valued at sixty pounds per annum.
In the year 1244 archbishop Boniface, on the presentation of the prior and convent of St. Mary Overies, as appears by an antient book belonging to it, instituted Ralph, the curate of Gravene, to the perpetual vicarage of this parish, so that he should receive and take in the name of it, all fruits and oblations, with all other things belonging to the church, excepting two sheaves of the tithe, and should take the same to his own use.
In the same manuscript, on a dispute between the prior and convent, rectors of this church, and Richard, lord of Gravenel, concerning tithes in this parish, it was decreed in 1283, before the rural dean of Ofpringe, that the vicar should receive, in the name of the religious, as well as in his own right, all tithes arising in future from the feedings and pastures in his own marshes, called North-marsh and Leved-marsh, which should be paid to him without any cavil or exception. (fn. 10)
The vicar has a house and two acres of glebe land.
¶The vicarage is worth about fifty pounds per annum. He is entitled, by the above composition, to all tithes, excepting the two sheaves mentioned in it, and by prescription likewise; which third part of the corn tithes is now usually known by the name of the vicar's third sheaf. But the impropriator's lease being for all the tithes of the parish, without any such exception, has occasioned many quarrels and disputes about this third sheaf, which are now entirely subsided, and the vicar is accustomed to take one shock out of every thirty shocks of corn, in right of his vicarage.
Attempting to use the Kodak Metal Printer, a contact printer from the 1950s. This printer was meant to be used with Kodak Velox or Azo paper (or the even slower Velite), none of which have been available for decades at this point. I tried using the printer with modern papers, but even with a 5 watt nightlight bulb in place of the original 10 watt bulb, the results came out too dark, even with 2 second exposures...
Enter: Adox Lupex. This paper is super slow and will actually work with this printer. I had to cut it down to size and then started experimenting. Getting a decent print was harder than I expected. The negative goes onto the glass first, then the red plastic printing mask goes over it (this gives the white border to the image, essentially deleting the edge markings from the final print, as well it helps hold the negative in place), and over the mask goes the paper, then the cover is closed and the exposure is made.
That's how it's supposed to happen. But there's four different ways to orient the mask and even more ways to orient the negative, so it took some trial and error to figure out what positioning in the printer worked best. There was the problem of the exposure being uneven. I suppose a conventional sized bulb would sit closer to the middle of the printer, but good luck finding a regular sized 10 watt tungsten bulb these days. The miniature night light bulb lights one half of the printer more than the other half. So I applied some white paint to the side of the bulb facing the paper. White paint so the light would still bounce off of it, but in the hope it would block enough direct light from the bulb to even everything out - guess what, it worked! (this solution was actually in the instruction book for the printer).
Then I had the problem of the mask bunching up keeping the paper from sitting flat against the negative. Well, every print has been a learning experience.
The festival celebrates the finest in both gardening and food. Visitors can expect stunning show gardens and nursery displays alongside a bounty of food producers, shopping and top tips from garden experts and celebrity chefs.
Set against the picturesque Malvern Hills, show gardens are always a number one destination, with five designers being awarded with RHS Gold Medals in 2016.
The Floral Marquee is bursting with examples of the finest nurseries in the UK and abroad, with many old favourites and new varieties on sale.
The foodie hotspot, Festival Food and Drink Pavilion, is a lively market of food producers offering a variety of artisan produce. At the heart is a Kitchen Theatre where celebrity guests and local producers showcase their skills and produce.
Other festival favourites include the School Gardens, Get Going Get Growing pavilion and Family Day (Sunday).
RHS Malvern Spring Festival is a joint partnership with the Royal Horticultural Society and Three Counties Agricultural Society.
An entirely new vision brings RHS Malvern Spring Festival into full bloom for 2017, taking inspiration from the event’s Spa town heritage. The landmark four-day spectacle, taking place from Thursday 11 – Sunday 14 May at the Three Counties Showground, welcomes all new features and exhibits and a vibrant line up of the finest in gardening, food and lifestyle.
Jane Furze, Head of RHS Malvern Spring Festival, said: “We are so excited to share the glorious plans that are afoot for RHS Malvern Spring Festival 2017. It really is going to be a sensational year for our leading event with plenty for everyone. Whether you’re a newcomer to gardening, a veteran horticulturalist or simply looking for a family day out, RHS Malvern Spring Festival has it all. We look forward to welcoming visitors to our stunning showcase of spring in May.”
The new vision for RHS Malvern Spring Festival takes inspiration from Malvern Spa’s Victorian heyday as a fashionable health resort – a place where day-trippers descended to take advantage of the clean air and to enjoy the health giving waters amongst the romantic beauty of the hills and into a town of pleasure gardens, assembly rooms and numerous eating-places.
Promising a bountiful day out for everyone, visitors can expect:
NEW FOR 2017
FLORAL MARQUEE
RHS Malvern Spring Festival boasts the UK’s longest Floral Marquee at over 195 metres – the equivalent length of four Olympic swimming pools. The Floral Marquee welcomes more than 65 leading UK and international nurseries, setting the horticultural standards with impressive displays of prized blooms and new varieties. Exhibitors in the Floral Marquee represent the very best in plants and advice available. Here visitors can browse and buy from the very best.
JOE SWIFT’S PLANT HUNTER PARLOUR
BBC Gardeners’ World presenter and acclaimed garden expert, Joe Swift brings to life a new centerpiece of the Floral Marquee – Joe’s Plant Hunter Parlour. This immersive experience like no other features daily talks from award winning nurseries and welcomes budding gardeners big and small to discover, learn and indulge their inner plant hunter.
LIVE WELL
Newly introduced for the very first time, this dedicated zone interprets and explores the theme of health and wellbeing in the 21st century.
JEKKA MCVICAR’S HEALTH & WELLBEING GARDEN
The centrepiece of the Live Well zone, British Queen of Herbs, Jekka McVicar designs and builds a specially commissioned permanent garden, bringing to life the role gardens continue to play in our health and sense of wellbeing. Jekka’s garden is a living working space for mind, body and senses.
The garden is both a tranquil seating space where visitors can spend time amongst the aromatic herb beds, and a place to learn and explore what living well meant in yesteryear and what it means today. Visitors are invited to join daily ‘herbal conversations’ with Jekka herself and explore the awe-inspiring world of alternative therapies. The garden is in support of Pathways, a day service for adults with learning disabilities and difficulties.
GROW
A horticultural experience by Jon Wheatley, RHS Gold Medal winning gardener and Chairman of RHS South West in Bloom, Grow takes inspiration from interactive Country gardens and wildflower borders, showcasing a variety of edible beds and bountiful Grow To Show competitions.
SPA GARDENS
A brand new category introduced for the very first time to RHS Malvern Spring Festival, offering a unique platform for emerging gardening talent. Glorious gardens from up and coming designers bring to life the new vision and reflect the thirst for knowledge, new horizons and innovative technology at the heart of Malvern’s Victorian heritage. Gold Medal winning Chelsea garden designer, Jo Thompson is mentoring the new talent as they embark on this exciting new challenge. The Spa Gardens category also features one garden from an international designer supported by the esteemed Moscow Flower Show. This is part of a newly introduced exchange programme, which in return offers one selected British Spa Garden designer the once in a lifetime chance to showcase at Moscow Flower Show in July.
INDOOR SHOPPING ARCADES
A premium quality shopping experience, it is here that visitors can pick up unique pieces in fashion, furniture, homewares, horticulture, gifts and more from independent designers, craftsmen, artisans and artists.
PLANT ARCADES
An exciting open-air shopping experience with over 35 nurseries, each showcasing a wonderful array of plants. Plant steals aplenty can be found here, especially during the famous sell-off on Sunday.
MAKING A WELCOME RETURN
FESTIVAL GREEN
The heart of RHS Malvern Spring Festival featuring a colourful array of pleasure gardens, a bandstand of live music, an impressive collection of classic cars, an array of global flavours from the International Street Food Market, and plenty of places to picnic. It is here visitors rediscover the Victorian love of amusement, surprise and delight, alongside enjoying unique show gardens unlike any other.
FESTIVAL THEATRE
Hosted by RHS Malvern Spring Festival favourite and award winning writer and broadcaster, James Alexander-Sinclair, the Festival Theatre plays host to a lively line up of leading experts and familiar faces. Visitors may take a seat and enjoy demonstrations, talks and exciting features as personalities share their knowledge and passion for all things gardening and food. Confirmed experts include Carol Klein, Joe Swift, Jekka McVicar and Jon Wheatley with plenty more to be announced soon.
SHOW GARDENS
The highest standard of garden design is showcased in the Show Gardens of RHS Malvern Spring Festival 2017. Leading designers create awe-inspiring gardens as they compete for prestigious RHS accolades including Gold medals and the coveted Best In Show. RHS Malvern Spring Festival is famed as the show that raises the bar for design and horticultural talent with numerous RHS Gold medals awarded in 2016. This year is tipped to be no exception.
FOOD & DRINK PAVILION
A foodie hotspot, the Food & Drink Pavilion is a magnificent celebration of British tastes with bountiful offerings from the country’s best-loved artisan producers. Expect the freshest field produce, big cheeses, bread of heaven, specialty gins, decadent bakes and more.
KITCHEN GARDEN THEATRE
This animated live kitchen, hosted by Mark Diacono, showcases a line up of delicious cookery demonstrations from culinary experts and the country’s top chefs. Mark shares advice from his home farm cookery school, Otter Farm and experience as head gardener at River Cottage.
YOUNG GARDENER
A hive of activity tailored to inspire the next generation of gardeners and horticulturalists with fun hands-on activities to help children learn and explore the wonderful world of plants and gardens.
FAMILY DAY
Budding gardeners great and small are invited to get green fingered with a dedicated Family Day on the Sunday of RHS Malvern Spring Festival. This exciting and educational day with plenty of hands on activities is the ideal opportunity to engage children in the fun of gardening and the great outdoors. Expect Kids Cookery demonstrations, make and take crafts, Kids Plant and Grow workshops with BBC Blue Peter Gardener, Chris Collins and more.
SCHOOL GARDENS
RHS Malvern Spring Festival is one of the only RHS Shows in the UK to have a collection of Show Gardens designed and built entirely by young people. This year sees over 12 schools and educational groups from across the three counties taking part, led by BBC Blue Peter Gardener, Chris Collins.
RHS Malvern Spring Festival 2017 will take place from Thursday 11 May until Sunday 14 May. For more information, please call 01684 584900 or visit
British Queen of Herbs, Jekka McVicar will unveil the first ever specially commissioned permanent garden at RHS Malvern Spring Festival 2017. A magnificent centrepiece of the celebrated event’s all-new Live Well zone, Jekka’s garden will bring to life the contribution horticulture continues to make to our health and wellbeing in today’s bustling modern world. The Health & Wellbeing Garden will be launched when the show opens its gates on Thursday 11 May at the Three Counties Showground.#
RHS Ambassador for Health through Horticulture, Jekka McVicar said: “I am delighted to have been asked to create a lasting garden for RHS Malvern Spring Festival. I want the Health & Wellbeing Garden to be a usable and beautiful space that is embraced by people of all ages – a space for growth, education and reflection. With the Malvern Hills as a dramatic backdrop, RHS Malvern Spring Festival is such a beautiful place and because it’s at the start of the summer, it’s always a time of such optimism. It is a real privilege to bring this garden to life as part of such a dynamic and exciting show.”
Jekka’s Health & Wellbeing garden, as the focus for the new Live Well Zone, is inspired by the increasing need for reflection and escape from the stresses of modern life. It also seeks to preserve and share the vital knowledge of how horticulture and its associated therapies can help the mind, body and soul. The garden will be a living, working space with a tranquil seating area, where visitors can immerse themselves amongst the aromatic herb beds, and also educate themselves on the place that herbs and horticulture play in today’s society.
Head of RHS Malvern Spring Festival, Jane Furze said: “It is a real pleasure to be working with Jekka to build a garden not only for this year’s event, but also for the future. Jekka’s designs look spectacular and we cannot wait to see these brought to life and shared with our many visitors. The Health & Wellbeing Garden will no doubt be a real highlight of RHS Malvern Spring Festival 2017 and for many years to come.”
Throughout the 4-days of RHS Malvern Spring Festival, Jekka will host daily ‘herb conversations’ in the garden, unearthing hidden gems from the world of alternative therapies, food and gardening. Jekka will also provide insights into herbs as the foundation of modern medicine, seeking to preserve the knowledge that over time is danger of being lost.
The Health & Wellbeing Garden is in support of Pathways, a work-focused day service for adults with learning disabilities and difficulties. Pathways use gardening and the environment as an educational tool to introduce young adults to the working world. Clients of Pathways benefit from gaining vital skills for entering the working world, these include trust, communication, interaction with peers, taking direction and responsibility for themselves and others.
Leaving a legacy, Jekka’s garden will provide Pathways with a nurturing space to continue their works in encouraging clients to grow. Throughout the show times, Pathways will sell plants and refreshments from the garden. Funds raised from these sales go towards covering the costs of the residential trip taken twice each year for clients of Pathways, a vital retreat for clients that contributes to their sense of wellbeing. Outside of show days, Pathways and local schools will host sessions in the garden. The garden aims to inspire visitors of all ages and abilities with engaging elements tailored for all.
Jekka’s design will incorporate the unique and flexible WoodBlocX system, specially selected to provide permanent raised bed structures to house the garden’s vast selection of herbs and edibles. The centrepiece of the garden contains four large planted sections featuring smooth curves constructed from the unique WoodBlocX system. WoodBlocX use sustainable, long-lasting, organic and FSC accredited wooden bricks, which can be used to create any shape such as the naturally fluid curves seen in Jekka’s elegant design.
Considered an unmatched expert by the UK’s top chefs and horticulturalists, Jekka McVicar is an enterprising British herb grower, organic gardening expert, author and broadcaster. Jekka’s Herb Farm, in nearby South Gloucestershire, boasts the largest collection of culinary herbs in the UK with more than 500 different varieties.
Alongside her RHS Ambassadorship for Health through Horticulture, Jekka’s accolades include 62 RHS Gold Medals, Garden Media Guild Lifetime Achievement Award and the RHS Lawrence Medal for the best exhibit shown at any RHS show in 2009. Jekka is also a Vice President of the RHS, Vice President of the Herb Society, is a founder member of the RHS Herb advisory group, and a member of the RHS Three Counties Agricultural Society Joint Committee. Jekka has herself exhibited at RHS Malvern Spring Festival since 1993 and has been a vital contributor to the team at Three Counties for over a decade.
RHS Malvern Spring Festival 2017 will take place from Thursday 11 May until Sunday 14 May. Tickets are now on sale. For more information and to book tickets, please call
Here is part of the path I keep open to get safely from the basement in an emergency or -- luckily, far more frequently -- to get to the compost.
The weather has been pretty dark and bleak here lately. This was during this morning's brilliant sunny period. I kept expecting to have my cranium punctured, trepan-fashion, by the ice falling out of the trees above me.
I had my very first maternity session this week. I thoroughly enjoyed it, but really can't wait for warmer weather so I can book sessions outdoors. This particular client was fabulous. She had all her props ready to go before I arrived, and was even willing to hop up on a bureau (she teaches dance, so she's pretty agile for a mom-to-be) to make use of the light coming in the window. Her house was extremely dark, but it was just too cold to take the show outside. Thank goodness for my new speedlight and Photoshop! :)
from Tim Robertson
Jun 15, 2014
Dear Friends and Family,
Last Saturday I found myself playing the role of fake teacher. I can now see the humor of the situation but it was not an experience that I had expected. I suppose I should have seen it coming the evening before, when my supervisor from the Office of Foreign Affairs invited me and my colleague out to dinner with some of her friends - the first time this has happened since I began teaching on the old campus. She began the occasion by giving us both a gift and then proceeded to apologize for not having done her job adequately in her responsibility toward us foreign teachers. I felt embarrassed for her since giving an explicit apology is quite uncommon in Chinese culture and, although true, it was surprising to hear her admit it. I quickly assured her that she had been very helpful and that she had a very difficult job with complicated situations. I wanted her to feel I was very sympathetic toward her so that she would be more inclined to get my papers filed and completed for my new job. I needed all the help I could get and I was desperate to use whatever leverage I had to move the process forward as best I could. Was this the answer to my prayers?
Midway through the elaborate dinner Greg and I were asked to help her friends to start a new English language school to prepare local high school graduates to attend college abroad. This was the real purpose of the invitation and by that time we had no choice but to agree to their request to help them recruit students and their parents. As it turned, out the next day the official college entrance exam (the infamous gaokou) was being held at local high schools so Greg and I were taken to various schools to pose as teachers for this new business. While there, I learned that I was not to identify myself as a teacher at the local college, since it would be illegal for us to work at a private school, not to mention a violation of our contract. We were just supposed to stand next to the local recruiters and lend a white face to provide prestige and credibility for a school that we knew nothing about. I don’t know how successful they were in signing up students but we went out in the morning and afternoon and were paid for our “services”. We were both relieved to find out that our participation was not needed on Sunday.
Hiring foreigners to pose as fake associates in a business is quite common in China (see link below) but it is was never something I aspired to do. In the past I have helped to give publicity for a local training school where I was actually teaching classes, and I expected that I would be doing somewhat the same this time as well. But the main motivation for me to accept was to curry favor with the college liaison in order to give her a personal reason to do her job on my behalf. She has been quite uncooperative and irritated with my frequent requests that she get the documents that are required by the system for this process to be completed. I am hoping she will be able to get the last document that I need to renew my resident visa, and then get a two week visitor visa to provide enough time for the process to be completed. This last official document should have been given to me a month ago but for political reasons too complicated for me to understand or explain, I will not get it until five days before my contract and resident permit expire. That is why I will need the additional two weeks to send the papers to Liaoning province, in order get my new Foreign Expert Certificate and resident permit.
Each of the ten documents so far have needed to be written, translated, signed and stamped by a different person, so it has been a real education for me to find my way through the bureaucracy without offending and irritating too many people by my persistence. If I do not get the last two documents all will be for naught and I will have leave the country in order to get a new entry visa, which can be quite expensive, time consuming and complicated. This is an education for me to see what Chinese must do on a regular basis and it illustrates the need to trade favors and use connections to get even simple things done. Being an outsider (non-Chinese) with no real connections or political influence, I am constantly bumping up against the inertia and indifference of officials who got their positions through family members in the party and feel no need to do anything to earn their salary. In fact, most of the time it is safer to do nothing so as to avoid irritating a superior or losing face by helping the wrong sort of people – like me.
This next week I will be doing final exams with each of my students by conducting an informal five minute discussion. It is challenging for me to ask different questions of each student based on their choice of one of the four movies we have used this semester. These students are masters at memorizing answers to questions if they know them ahead of time and, of course, they are expected to tell their classmates the questions that I have asked them. I find it difficult to evaluate their oral language skills objectively and consistently, especially when I am tired by doing so many within a limited time frame. My consolation is that I feel that I am getting better each time I do it, but I am keenly aware of my limitations. I also feel that I am responsible for their progress even though I have them for a total of an hour and a half each week, which is totally inadequate. But I do the best to work within the system, because, as my students often remind me, it may not be a good system, but it is the only one we have. So I feel compassion for them considering the system that they have work with and the disadvantages they have in this area of China.
Tonight I will go to my last English Corner and try to find something interesting to discuss. One of the recurring questions has been, “Why did you decide to come to work here?” This reflects the response to my question, “What is you biggest disappointment in life.” The most common response being, “having attend this college.” Anhui has the reputation of being the poorest province in China and has even been called “the Appalachia of China.” So it is understandable that they would want to know why I would want to teach at this college, which is in the poorest, most remote part of the province. They find it surprising when I say I like it here, but aside from it being true, I could hardly respond by showing lack of respect for the local conditions. I do like the students very much but many of them lack the motivation to study hard and do as little as possible. Perhaps this is true of a certain percentage of college students anywhere, but the standards here are dis-hearteningly low, with little incentive, since most everyone passes their classes no matter what.
To illustrate this point, I asked a graduating senior that I have gotten to know quite well and is known as a good student, “Did you download your senior thesis from the internet?” He became quite irritated at my question but not for the reason that I had expected. His response, “Of course I did, because 99% of all senior theses at this school are from the internet.” After looking over and reading his thesis, I was struck by how my research papers in high school had higher requirements, and that was before computers or the internet when I actually had to read books and type it on a manual typewriter with footnotes and bibliography. This was the only research paper required of these students in their four years of college. So it is easy for me to get cynical and feel I am part of a diploma mill as a fake teacher. But I take it as a challenge to give more than required and more than is expected out of concern for them as individual students and out of my desire to represent my Lord. Perhaps too out of a desire to feel that I am making a difference in their lives and they will remember and appreciate my efforts. Perhaps this illustrates my own overgrown ego to think I am doing something important and of eternal value.
Last week I went on a long bike ride with another foreign English teacher who is teaching at a local high school before returning to Iowa to begin her master’s degree. I took her on a ride I had made before, but this happened to be in the middle of the wheat harvest so the concrete road on top of the levee was covered most of the way with wheat stalks that were drying from the heavy rain a couple days before. As vehicles passed over them, the grain was loosened and would later be separated from the straw and the chaff. This is a normal part of the wheat harvest although it is technically illegal to use the road for drying and threshing of crops, but universally ignored. Perhaps we were of some assistance to the farmers as we rode on top of the wheat stalks, but it certainly took more effort and we often had to stop and manually remove the straw that had gotten wrapped around the gears and jammed the gear shift mechanism. This is an example of how the experience of riding over the same route can be completely different depending on the season and the activities of the local farmers. This week my allergies were activated by the smoke from burning straw in the fields - also illegal.
About a month ago I took a long ride with a couple of students and the fluff from the cottonwood trees was so thick in the air it seemed like a snow fall in mid-May. It was particularly enchanting because the “snowflakes” did not actually fall, but drifted on the breeze as far as the eye could see. I had to remember to close my mouth as I rode so as not to inhale the minute fibers causing me to stop from time to time to cough and clear out my throat. We paused to sit along the river bank in front of a local god house which had heaps of blown-up fire crackers and piles of ashes from the burnt incense. The door was locked but I could peer into the gloom and make out the three ancient ancestral gods of the village and three Buddhist images which seemed to have been recently added. It is always striking to me that one never sees a single image; there are always at least three versions of the main figure, and usually many more on the side, often stacked on top of each other. Like Lays potato chips you can never have just one, and the more the better, often numbering in the hundreds or thousands, like wallpaper. Such is the inflation factor of idolatry. One idol is clearly not adequate to represent a deity, but the more you have, the less the value. There is always a need for more, ad infinitum. So they have to build another temple and the process starts all over again, with many temples in a complex, and others under construction. Maybe it shows that they know the gods are fake too.
There is a small Buddhist nunnery a short distance from my apartment which I have visited on occasion. At present it is hard to find because it is in the middle of a massive construction site about a square kilometer. When I first arrived the area looked like a bombed out section of Berlin after WW2, covered with heaps of rubble and debris from demolished buildings except for the temple. Now, about 18 months later there are about a dozen high-rise apartment buildings rising out of the ground like erupting teeth in a toddler’s mouth. The work continues seven days a week and would be remarkable except this is going on all round the city and into the country side surrounded by farmer’s fields. This too would be remarkable except for the fact that this is going on all over China in every city and town, with no end in sight. “And now the day has come, soon he will be released, Glory Hallelujah! We’re building, building, building the perfect beast.” (Don Henley, 1984, Album: Building the Perfect Beast)
I have several good job offers to teach English in China so if you know anyone who is interested, I will be glad to send the job information and contact with a recruiter who will be happy to send a contract to start teaching in September.
Please pray during the next two weeks that all the paper work will be done on time and as I move to Dalian (more about that next time).
Thank God, he is in control!
Tim
Article on Fake executives: www.cnbc.com/id/37759560
Article on “naked officials”: qz.com/218369/beijing-is-having-a-hard-time-convincing-of...
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Surprise!
May 12, 2014
Dear Friends and Family,
Today I am thankful that I could take a shower, do laundry, wash dishes and flush the toilet again. Yesterday, instead of writing this letter as I planned I focused my attention and energy on getting the water turned back on to the foreign teacher apartment building and, thankfully I was successful. This saga begins about a month ago when I noticed an official looking message posted on my door. Being illiterate but curious, I asked a student to tell me what it was about. That is how I found out that the school had not paid the water bill and this was a warning that the water was about to be turned off. Fearing the worst I took down the paper and brought it to the foreign affairs office to see what should be done. The liaison officer told me not to worry, that it was no problem and it would be taken care of. So, having received these assurances I did not think much was amiss when there was no water this past Friday.
After a few hours I was informed by Greg, my upstairs colleague from the UK , that the water had been turned off due to non-payment by the college. So, at least they knew about the problem and it would be soon be resolved, I assumed. On Saturday morning I began to realize that all was not going as I’d hoped, so I began to send text messages and make phone calls, but got no response until around noon. We were told to go buy drinking water in the store, but that was not very practical for other necessities. Since I was going through a bout of intestinal difficulty, I was about to go down to the river next to my apartment and get a bucket of water to flush with. Eventually I got a return call telling me to meet a student who would take me to the appropriate office close by to make the payment and get the water turned on again. After an awkward discussion, several more phone calls, and my insistence that the water be turned back on to all of the apartments in the building, and not just my own, they told me it was the weekend but it would be done in an hour. After two hours I called again and was told that the man was waiting for the rain stop. Eventually, around 4:00 pm the valve was turned back on. Fortunately, I keep my bottles of boiled water numbered for just such an emergency.
This little vignette is somewhat symbolic of my relationship with my supervisor, whose job is to make sure that all goes according to contract. I am usually the one who goes to bat for the other foreign teachers, which often results in a satisfactory resolution of the problem but also gives me the reputation of a trouble maker and an agitator for change. I figure that if I am persistent, the unjust judge will eventually give me what I need, even if it produces the impression that I do not give proper deference expected by a Party member from an underling, and a foreigner to boot. So it was not a big surprise that the administration decided not to renew my contract for next year (coincidentally I found this out at the same time as I gave her the water bill notice). But perhaps being open about my faith, discussing taboo political topics with students, insisting on following the contract and persistent advocacy for my students were also contributing factors. My contract expires at the end of June, along with my resident permit that allows me to stay in the country. So I will need to leave China during finals week which does not give me a lot of time to finish oral exams, submit grades, pack my stuff and remove it from this apartment to my next location – wherever that may be.
When I wrote you last month I was planning on teaching here for another year with the same students that I have this year, so I was disappointed to have to change my plans rather abruptly. My job search via phone, internet and email for the last three weeks has resulted in four solid offers (so far) to sign a contract for next year. At the same time, I have been praying for guidance to lead me to the right place and make the best choice based on the limited information that I can get from various sources in English. As of yesterday, I have made a tentative choice as to which offer to accept and now all I need to do is sign the printed contract, scan it and send it back via email attachment. But I continue to pray for assurance before making a commitment for the next year.
This afternoon I am meeting a couple of students who asked to go with me for a long bike ride outside the city. It is somewhat ironic that I will be showing them the places where I have already gone but they have not yet ventured. Fortunately the steady rain of yesterday has given way to sunshine and a cool breeze. After that I will meet a man downtown, who has asked me to teach some of his students in an English school that he has recently started. I will see if his schedule will coincide with mine. It is another chance for me to learn by experience in a new setting and earn some pocket money. The opportunities that come my way are surprising and often don’t last very long for various reasons. So I hate to turn down the chance to try something new and challenging to my teaching abilities and add to my previous experience. Unfortunately I have only a few weeks left here to explore the possibilities.
At English Corner on Thursday I met several students from my class last year and invited them to come over to my apartment for a spaghetti dinner this evening. The students are always eager to try some American style food and “Italian noodles” are close enough to what they normally eat. I can buy the imported spaghetti and sauce at the local Walmart and cook it in my small kitchen with other local ingredients to make a reasonable facsimile. I only wish I could find Romano or Parmesan cheese to go with it since the supply that I brought back with me from the US has been consumed on previous occasions. I can fit 4 or 5 guests around my coffee table in the sitting room/office where I can play music from my computer and speakers in order to enjoy the friendship they have offered me. The students and teachers I have invited are always very gracious and complimentary toward my efforts at cooking since it is unusual for a man (and a teacher) to offer this sort of hospitality. They also enjoy looking around my apartment and relaxing in my back yard in the hammock among the palm trees and bamboo. Since the weather was great we ate outside until the darkness and bugs drove us back inside.
Now that I am facing a new future, I am eager to make the change to see other parts of China with different culture, climate and people. Perhaps I have become too comfortable and complacent here and I need to stretch my faith in God’s provision for me. I have chafed under the oppressive atmosphere at this college and I am hopeful that in time I will see his purpose in taking me through this valley. To paraphrase Paul in 2Cor 8-10: “I want you to be aware of the hardships I have suffered in this province in Asia. I was under such great pressure that at times I had lost hope. In fact I felt in my heart a sentence of death. But this happened so that I would not rely on my own strength, but on the Resurrection and the Life. He has delivered me from this hopeless situation and he will continue to deliver me. I have set my hope on his promise to keep on delivering me.” Hallelujah! God willing, I will go to the city of Hangzhou in September and spend the next year there teaching English, earning my salary and sowing seeds. (James 4:13-15) More on that next time.
I am finishing my series of classes on the movie Titanic. It has provided me an opportunity to point out many expressions of faith in the plot, dialogue and the music. For example, when Jack says “I am on God’s good humor.” I interpret that as an expression of his reliance of God’s provision for the future. When he says “Life is a gift and I don’t plan on wasting it,” it indicates that God is the giver of life and we have a responsibility to “make it count” for him. The popular theme song also expresses faith in an afterlife. “There’s nothing I fear, I believe that the heart does go on.” Faith is also expressed in the church service on the last day before the sinking and in the prayer of the priest as he quotes from Revelation and looks forward to “a new heaven and a new earth.” Jack can also be seen as a savior since he gives up his life for Rose and she says, “But now you know that there was a man named Jack Dawson and that he saved me in every way that a person can be saved.” There is also an example of lack of faith when Cal says, “God himself cannot sink this ship.” Director James Cameron has said he intended to depict the end of the world in microcosm. While not exactly the gospel, these offer an opportunity to discuss religious topics in class to students who have been indoctrinated with atheism. I pray that from such small seeds, faith can grow.
The influence and popularity of American culture is evident everywhere and hard to miss. From the never ending basketball games that occupy the fourteen courts and backboards that I see every day on my way to classes, to the popularity of faded jeans and tee-shirts emblazoned with fake designer brand names and other random English words. I am the only one on campus who wears shirts and hats with Chinese characters on them. That fits my status as a foreigner trying to honor the host culture that has shifted dramatically in the past couple of decades. Many of my students have watched more American TV shows and movies than I have (since they are freely available to download from the internet), and they know the characters names and personalities too. (Curiously, the most popular line from Titanic in China, which I frequently hear is, “You jump, I jump.” In the U.S. it is “I’m the king of the world!”) When I ask students what their dreams are, the most common response is, to go to America to study, or just to see places they have seen on their video screens. One of my quirks is to try to decipher the English words and letters printed on clothing since it is somewhat altered from the original, either intentionally or in error. Often the words and letters seem to be chosen without rhyme or reason. Most Chinese have no idea what the English words mean, just as many Americans have no idea what the Chinese characters say on their clothes and accessories. So are these people victims of fashion or willing participants in a bizarre cosmic joke? Either way, it brings a smile to my face.
Last month I mentioned that my mother’s has cancer is no longer treatable after over 20 years of successful treatment and she is expected to live only few more weeks. I had accepted that I may not see her again in this life, but since then she has regained some strength and I am hopeful that I will be able to see her after finishing this semester. I am still exploring options for how to spend the two months of July and August between spring and fall semester. I am open to suggestions and offers of hospitality. Perhaps this is a time to try to reconnect with members of my family whom I have not seen for many years.
Thank-you for praying with me,
Tim
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On Saturday, April 12, 2014 2:15 PM, "robertsontim66@gmail.com" wrote:
Dear Friends and Family,
I am have been experiencing internet connection problems for several days so I am not sure when I will be able to send this off, but as always, I do what I can and hope for the best.
Now that I have started my second year, classes are easier because I am able to reuse some of the lesson material that I created last year. I have to adapt them to my students on this campus who have lower English skills and don’t seem to be quite as motivated, but I enjoy the challenge. My students have become somewhat accustomed to my unorthodox teaching methods and my expectations of them. After many weeks I have gotten them to put away their mobile phones, and text books, and take notes in a notebook. That is the bargain I have struck with them, since they would much prefer using American movies as a source of dialogue than using their text, which is designed to teach British English to students in the UK. I have just finished a three week series using the Disney/Pixar video of Brave, which focuses on a mother daughter relationship and whether to follow tradition. Since 90% of my classes are made up of young women who are the first in their families to go to college, this is something they can all relate to on a personal level.
Next week I plan on starting a series on Titanic since it is a popular movie in China and many of the students have already seen it. Hopefully the level of difficulty will not be too high but I feel it is better to use real actors than animated characters, which I have used so far. I also choose popular songs to go with the plot of the stories from ones they have requested and written down for me in the attendance book that I pass around for them to mark. It usually takes three times before they feel ready to sing along, but repetition and review is part of the learning process. I also use short video clips of OMG!Meiyu that are produced by Voice of America and teach authentic language used by young people in American pop culture. The slang, idioms, and figures of speech are presented by a cute young American named Bai Jie (Jessica Beinecke) who speaks fluent Mandarin and has a large following on Weibo - the Chinese version of Facebook/Twitter. She is much more attractive and interesting to watch than me, so I use a couple of her three minute videos each week to help explain expressions related to the dialogue from the movie. I also find pictures and use music videos on the internet to help illustrate new concepts and settings. The combination of multi-media helps to produces images, sounds and scenarios so that I do a minimum of explaining and oral instruction. In addition, I make a list of new words and idioms from the script that I put up on the screen for them to write in their notebooks, along with the slang expressions, which I write on the chalk board.
After I show selected scenes from the movie with subtitles, and have them read the parts from the script (which I transcribe and project onto the screen) in groups. I then ask some of them to perform it in front of the class from a printed copy of the script, while the rest read along from the screen. In this way, they go over the same material three times. The visual images, pronunciation, context and plot are much better in communicating the meaning of the language than a textbook or a lecture on grammar or traditional memorization. This technique allows me to engage all of the students in the class all of the time without intimidation or embarrassment, since “losing face” is such a huge deterrent for them to speak up in class. I usually end the class by drawing parallels between the characters and situations in the movie to China and the students themselves. Thus, they learn English as well as how we share many things in common on a cultural and personal level. I teach each lesson eight times but I have to adapt and modify it each time according to how the students respond. By the end of the week I have the bugs worked out so that I can move seamlessly between the various programs and media in the right order and within the given time frame. The many hours spend preparing, finding and downloading pay off with greater enthusiasm and participation in the classroom.
I have started wearing short sleeved shirts as the weather warms and the bright green of new leaves appear on the various kinds of trees, especially the gingko and the dawn redwoods. The cherry blossoms are out and leaves are emerging on the bamboo and palm trees that I planted in my back patio area. I have strung up the hammock (that I bought in Qingdao last summer) between a tree and the concrete wall. I find it a relaxing way to end the day gazing up at the birds, moon and stars as they make their way through the tree branches in the evening. I listen to music with headphones or play my harmonica while tugging on a wire to keep swaying gently in the evening breeze. This reminds me of the many hours that I spent reading and relaxing at my home in the jungles of Peru many years ago, although I do miss the grand sweep of the Milky Way visible in the southern hemisphere.
The weather is also ideal for long rides out into the country side where the winter wheat is over a foot tall and the yellow rape seed is blooming in the fields and garden plots. The birds are singing to their mates, especially the black and white magpies which are as big as ravens and build onto their huge nests each year in the tops of the cottonwood trees. The air is full of the drifting fluff from the ever present cotton woods which is the primary tree planted for wood. On a recent ride I stopped to watch some men and women operating a large lathe to peel sheets off the logs, which are then cut put on racks in the yard to dry in the sun before being trucked off to be laminated. I was impressed at how much human labor was used and how small the logs were – usually less than a foot in diameter. The operators were happy to let me ride around and watch them at work, and even offered me a smoke. It was the first time I had observed this process although I have often seen the machinery and products along the road from a train or bus window. The physical exercise and the peaceful landscape, crowded with farms and villages give me a chance to see new aspects of life in this area which are good for body, heart and mind.
I have been gradually broadening my range of dishes that I can cook in my rudimentary kitchen equipped with only a hotplate, a microwave oven, a rice steamer and an electric tea kettle. As a result, I am finding it harder to shed the extra weight I gained during the winter when I spent many days without physical activity due to the weather and my travel itinerary. Perhaps I am also burning less calories in nervous energy that inevitably came with adapting to a new culture, profession and lifestyle. It seems I am continually moving around the cycle of tension, frustration, cynicism and complacency as a result of trying to solve various problems. I have learned to value the small progress in various areas from the classroom to my apartment and add to my knowledge of this strange and fascinating place called China. For instance, after eight months living in this apartment I was finally able to get my toilet bolted down to the floor. Now if it would only flush properly, stop flushing and refill the tank automatically! Each small victory encourages me to keep pushing for improvements on a personal or professional level. Although it does not seem like much, over time it adds up to significant progress.
Another interest I have is in teaching at a local pre-school one afternoon each week. I have finally realized that kids of this age are not impressed with technology and I have switched my focus to high touch. When I enter the room I go around to shake hands and greet them individually. At first, many were reluctant to extend their hands to me, but now they approach me and shake enthusiastically. When I leave at the end of class, I am surrounded by a crowd of three foot tall minions asking to shake hands and get a hug. Breaking the physical barrier also encourages them to speak and sing and dance with me even without the music and video on screen. Since most of my college students had never met or talked with a foreigner until my class, it is encouraging to see how quickly and easily three, four and five year-old children have adapted to me as their teacher – often, faster than college students. In China the old ways change very slowly but once the change has come on a personal level of experience, there is no going back. Building up familiarity, respect and credibility takes much time and effort, but it is the only way to open minds and hearts. In the same way I swing back and forth between empathy and impatience with my students and the pace of learning in the classroom, but the progress is evident and inevitable if I do not grow weary and lose heart.
There are many pleasant elements to life on campus, like the strains of instrumental melodies leaking out of the music building close to my apartment, and the family of feral cats that I feed on my back patio. (Thanks to Greg, my upstairs neighbor who buys their food.) They have gotten used to me giving them food and water, hanging up my laundry and hanging out in my hammock. So much so, that if I do not close my door, some of them will venture inside looking for more food. Somewhat less enjoyable is the chanting that comes from athletic field and vocal warm-ups of voice lessons starting around 6:00. I have gotten used to the frequent honking and the sound of fireworks going off at all times of the day or night. The students’ attire is also changing with the seasons and I am becoming accustomed to seeing short girls in high heels and short skirts with long straight black hair. They enjoy shopping for the latest fashions in the stalls and street markets as well as the large department stores. So, they are more attractively and fashionably dressed than us fashion-challenged foreign teachers. To compensate, I try to wear a different hat to class each week to go along with the lesson – another visual aid.
Along with these bright spots comes news of my mother who has recently returned home from the hospital and has been put on hospice care. The medications that she has been taking for the last twenty-five years are no longer effective and the cancer has spread from her breast to her lungs, diaphragm and liver. Unfortunately the cancer meds have also lowered her resistance to infection resulting in her stay at the hospital and taking high dosages of antibiotics. Her doctor estimates that she may have only two months left. I am trying to decide if I should return to Michigan to see her one last time, or for the funeral - as I did for my father about 18 months ago. I knew that when I visited her in early February that it might be the last time that I would see her. My oldest sister and her husband are there to help with another sister coming later from Canada to provide in-home care. The college administration has given me permission to go but I do not look forward to the time and rigors of travelling 10,000 miles there and back again, not to mention the costs. My younger sister has just begun to teach at an adult English training school in Shanghai and my older brother will soon be leaving for a job in Africa, but there will be many other family members who will be able to be there. So I am waiting to see what I should do and asking God for wisdom and guidance.
I hope you will pray along with me in this and many other matters that I face.
Looking forward to the resurrection,
Tim
= = =
Tim Robertson's posts about his time as an English teacher in Anhui at the Fuyang Teachers College are uploaded at: www.flickr.com/photos/ray_mahoney/9114089397/in/photostream, www.flickr.com/photos/ray_mahoney/8302698850/in/photostream, www.flickr.com/photos/ray_mahoney/14217075257/in/photostream; www.flickr.com/photos/ray_mahoney/9012874492/
+++ DISCLAIMER +++
Nothing you see here is real, even though the conversion or the presented background story might be based historical facts. BEWARE!
Some background:
The Wasp was a transonic British jet-powered fighter aircraft that was developed by Folland for the Royal Air Force (RAF) during the late 1940s and early 1950s. The Wasp’s origins could be traced back to a privately funded 1952 concept for a bigger and more capable day fighter aircraft than Folland’s very light Midget/Gnat. The Wasp’s development had been continued until the Gnat’s service introduction, and by then it had evolved under the handle “Fo-145” into a supersonic aircraft that took advantage of the new Armstrong Siddeley Sapphire turbojet engine, swept wings and area rule. The aircraft was built with the minimum airframe size to take the reheated Saphire and a radar system that would allow it to deploy the new de Havilland Blue Jay (later Firestreak) guided air-to-air missile. In this form the aircraft was expected to surpass the Royal Air Force’s contemporary day fighter, the only gun-armed Hawker Hunter, which had been in service since 1954, while using basically the same engine as its F.2 variant, in both performance and armament aspects. The missile-armed Wasp was also expected to replace the disappointing Supermarine Swift and the Fairey Fireflash AAMs that had been developed for it.
The Wasp strongly resembled the smaller Gnat, with a similar but much thinner shoulder mounted wing, with a sweep of 35° at quarter chord, but the new aircraft featured some innovations. Beyond the area-ruled fuselage, the aircraft had full-span leading edge slats and trailing edge flaps with roll control achieved using spoilers rather than traditional ailerons. Anticipating supersonic performance, the tailplane was all-moving. The cockpit had been raised and offered the pilot a much better all-round field of view.
The Wasp was armed with four 30 mm (1.18 in) ADEN cannon, located under the air intakes. Each gun had a provision of 125 rounds, from form a mutual ventral ammunition bay that could be quickly replaced. Four underwing hardpoints could carry an ordnance load of up to 4.000 lb, and the Wasp’s main armament consisted of up to four IR-guided “Firestreak” AAMs. To effectively deploy them, however, a radar system was necessary. For launch, the missile seeker was slaved to the Wasp’s AI.Mk.20 X-band radar until lock was achieved and the weapon was launched, leaving the interceptor free to acquire another target. The AI.Mk.20 had been developed by EKCO since 1953 under the development label “Green Willow” for the upcoming EE Lightning interceptor, should the latter’s more complex and powerful Ferranti AIRPASS system fail. A major advantage of the AI.Mk.20 was that it had been designed as a single unit so it could be fit into the nose of smaller single-seat fighters, despite its total weight of roughly 400 lb (200 kg). For the Firestreak AAM, EKCO had developed a spiral-scan radar with a compact 18 in (460 mm) antenna that offered an effective range of about 10 miles (16 km), although only against targets very close to the centerline of the radar. The radar’s maximum detection range was 25 mi (40 km) and the system also acted as a ranging radar, providing range input to the gyro gunsight for air-to-air gunnery.
Beyond Firestreaks, the Wasp could also carry drop tanks (which were area-ruled and coulc only be carried on the inner pair of pylons), SNEB Pods with eighteen 68 mm (2.68 in) unguided rocket projectiles against air and ground targets, or iron bombs of up to 1.000 lb caliber. Other equipment included a nose-mounted, and a forward-facing gun camera.
The Royal Air Force was sufficiently impressed to order two prototypes. Since the afterburning version of the Sapphire was not ready yet, the first prototype flew on 30 July 1954 with a non-afterburning engine, an Armstrong Siddeley Sapphire Sa.6 with 8,000 lbf (35.59 kN). In spite of this lack of power the aircraft nevertheless nearly reached Mach 1 in its maiden flight. The second prototype, equipped with the intended Sapphire Sa.7 afterburning engine with 11,000 lbf (48.9 kN) thrust engine, showed the aircraft’s full potential. The Wasp turned out to have very good handling, and the RAF officially ordered sixty Folland Fo-145 day-fighters under the designation “Wasp F.Mk.1”. The only changes from the prototypes were small leading-edge extensions at the wing roots, improving low speed handling, esp. during landings and at high angles of incidence in flight.
Most Wasps were delivered to RAF Germany frontline units, including No. 20 and 92 Squadrons based in Northern Germany. However, the Wasp’s active service did not last long, because technological advancements quickly rendered the aircraft obsolete in its original interceptor role. The Wasp’s performance had not turned out as significantly superior to the Hunter as expected. Range was rather limited, and the aircraft turned out to be underpowered, since the reheated Sapphire Sa6 did not develop as much power as expected. The AI.Mk.20 radar was rather weak and capricious, too, and the Firestreak was an operational nightmare. The missile was, due to its solid Magpie rocket motor and the ammonia coolant for the IR seeker head, highly toxic and RAF armorers had to wear some form of CRBN protection to safely mount the missile onto an aircraft. Furthermore, unlike modern missiles, Firestreak’s effectiveness was very limited since it could only be fired outside cloud - and over Europe or in winter, skies were rarely clear.
Plans for a second production run of the Folland Wasp with a more powerful Sapphire Sa7R engine with a raised thrust of 12,300 lbf (54.7 kN) and updated avionics were not carried out. During the 1960s, following the successful introduction of the supersonic English Electric Lightning in the interceptor role, the Wasp, as well as the older but more prosperous and versatile Hunter, transitioned to being operated as a fighter-bomber, advanced trainer and for tactical photo reconnaissance missions.
This led to a limited MLU program for the F.Mk.1s and conversions of the remaining airframes into two new variants: the new main version was the GR.Mk.2, a dedicated CAS/ground attack variant, which had its radar removed and replaced with ballast, outwardly recognizable through a solid metal nose which replaced the original fiberglass radome. Many of these machines also had two of the 30mm guns removed to save weight. Furthermore, a handful Wasps were converted into PR.Mk.3s. These had as set of five cameras in a new nose section with various windows, and all the guns and the ammunition bay were replaced with an additional fuel tank, operating as pure, unarmed reconnaissance aircraft. When Folland was integrated into the Hawker Siddeley Group in 1963 the aircraft’s official name was changed accordingly, even though the Folland name heritage persisted.
Most of these aircraft remained allocated to RAF Germany units and retired towards the late Sixties, but four GR.Mk.2s were operated by RAF No. 57 (Reserve) Squadron and based at No. 3 Flying Training School at Cranwell, where they were flown as adversaries in dissimilar aerial combat training. The last of the type was withdrawn from service in 1969, but one aircraft remained flying with the Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishment at Boscombe Down until 24 January 1975.
General characteristics:
Crew: 1
Length: 45 ft 10.5 in (13.983 m)
Wingspan: 31 ft 7.5 in (9.639 m)
Height: 13 ft 2.75 in (4.0323 m)
Wing area: 250 sq ft (23 m2)
Empty weight: 13,810 lb (6,264 kg)
Gross weight: 21,035 lb (9,541 kg)
Max takeoff weight: 23,459 lb (10,641 kg)
Powerplant:
1× Armstrong Siddeley Sapphire Sa.6, producing 7,450 lbf (33.1 kN) thrust at 8,300 rpm,
military power dry, and 11,000 lbf (48.9 kN) with afterburner
Performance:
Maximum speed: 631 kn (726 mph, 1,169 km/h) / M1.1 at 35,000 ft (10,668 m)
654 kn (753 mph; 1,211 km/h) at sea level
Cruise speed: 501 kn (577 mph, 928 km/h)
Range: 1,110 nmi (1,280 mi, 2,060 km)
Service ceiling: 49,000 ft (15,000 m)
Rate of climb: 16,300 ft/min (83 m/s)
Wing loading: 84 lb/sq ft (410 kg/m2)
Thrust/weight: 0.5
Armament:
4× 30 mm (1.18 in) ADEN cannon, 125 rounds per gun
4× underwing hardpoints for a total external ordnance of 4.000 lb, including Firestreak AAMs,
SNEB pods, bombs of up to 1.000 lb caliber or two 125 imp gal (570 l) drop tanks
The kit and its assembly
This kit travesty is a remake of a simple but brilliant idea of fellow modeler chrisonord at whatifmodellers’com (www.whatifmodellers.com/index.php?topic=48434.msg899420#m...), who posted his own build in late 2020: a Grumman Tiger in standard contemporary RAF colors as Folland Wasp GR.Mk.2. The result looked like a highly credible “big brother” or maybe successor of Folland’s diminutive Midge/Gnat fighter, something in the Hawker Hunter’s class. I really like the idea a lot and decided that it was, one and a half years later, to build my personal interpretation of the subject – also because I had a Hasegawa F11F kit in The Stash™ without a proper plan.
The Tiger was built basically OOB – a simple and straightforward affair that goes together well, just the fine, raised panel lines show the mould’s age. The only changes I made: the arrester hook disappeared under PSR, small stabilizer fins (from an Italeri BAe Hawk) were added under the tail section, and I replaced the Tiger’s rugged twin wheel front landing gear with a single wheel alternative, left over from a Matchbox T-2 Buckeye. On the main landing gear, the rearward-facing stabilizing struts were deleted (for a lighter look of a land-based aircraft) and their wells filled with putty. A late modification were additional swing arms for the main landing gear, though: once the kit could sit on its own three feet, the stance was odd and low, esp. under the tail – probably due to the new front wheel. As a remedy I glued additional swing arm elements, made from 1mm steel wire, under the original struts, what moved the main wheel a little backwards and raised the main landing gear my 1mm. Does not sound like much, but it was enough to lift the tail and give the aircraft a more convincing stance and ground clearance.
The area-ruled drop tanks and their respective pylons were taken from the Hasegawa kit. For a special “British” touch – because the Tiger had a radome (into which no radar was ever fitted, though) – I added a pair of Firestreak AAMs on the outer underwing stations, procured from a Gomix Gloster Javelin (which comes with four of these, plus pylons).
Painting and markings:
Since the RAF theme was more or less settled, paintwork revolved around more or less authentical colors and markings. The Wasp received a standard RAF day fighter scheme from the late Fifties, with upper camouflage in RAF Dark Green/Dark Sea Grey and Light Aircraft Grey undersides with a low waterline. I used Humbrol 163, 106 and 166, respectively – Ocean Grey was used because I did not have the proper 164 at hand, but 106 also offered the benefit of a slightly better contrast to the murky Dark Green. A black ink washing was applied plus some panel post-shading. The silver leading edges on wings, stabilizers and fin were created with decal sheet material, avoiding the inconvenience of masking.
The cockpit interior was painted in a very dark grey (Revell 09, Anthracite) while the landing gear, wheels and wells received a greyish-metallic finish (Humbrol 56, Aluminum Dope). The air intakes’ interior became bright aluminum (Revell 99), the area around the jet nozzle was painted with Revell 91 (Iron metallic) and later treated with graphite for a dark metallic shine. The drop tanks were camouflaged, the Firestreaks became white so that they would stand out well and add to a certain vintage look.
The decals were a mix from various sources. The No. 20 Squadron badges and the Type D high-viz roundels on the wings were left over from an Airfix Hawker Hunter. The fuselage roundels came from an Italeri BAe Hawk sheet, IIRC. The bent fin flash, all the stencils as well as the serial code (which was puzzled together from two real serials and was AFAIK not allocated to any real RAF aircraft) came from an Xtradecal Supermarine Swift sheet. The individual red “B” letter came from a Matchbox A.W. Meteor night fighter.
Finally, the kit was sealed with matt acrylic varnish – I considered a glossy finish, since this was typical for RAF aircraft in the Fifties, but eventually just gave the radome a light shine.
Basically a simple project, and quickly done in just a couple of days. However, chrisonord’s great eye for similarities makes this “Tiger in disguise” a great fictional aircraft model with only little effort, it’s IMHO very convincing. And the RAF colors and markings suit the F11F very well.
+++ DISCLAIMER +++
Nothing you see here is real, even though the conversion or the presented background story might be based historical facts. BEWARE!
Some background:
The Sondergerät SG104 "Münchhausen" was a German airborne recoillless 355.6 mm (14-inch) caliber gun, intended to engage even the roughest enemy battleships, primarily those of the Royal Navy. The design of this unusual and massive weapon began in 1939. The rationale behind it was that a battleship’s most vulnerable part was the deck – a flat surface, with relatively thin armor (as typical hits were expected on the flanks) and ideally with vital targets underneath, so that a single, good hit would cripple of even destroy a ship. The purpose of such a high angle of attack was likely to allow the projectile to penetrate the target ship's deck, where the ship's armor, if there was any, would have been much thinner than the armor on its sidesHowever, hitting the deck properly with another ship’s main gun was not easy, since it could only be affected through indirect hits and the typical angle of the attack from aballistic shot would not necessarily be ideal for deep penetration, esp. at long range.
The solution to this problem: ensure that the heavy projectile would hit its target directly from above, ideally at a very steep angle. To achieve this, the gun with battleship caliber was “relocated” from a carrier ship or a coastal battery onto an aircraft – specifically to a type that was capable of dive-bombing, a feature that almost any German bomber model of the time offered.
Firing such a heavy weapon caused a lot fo problems, which were severe even if the gun was mounted on a ship or on land. To compensate for such a large-caliber gun’s recoil and to make firing a 14 in shell (which alone weighed around almost 700 kg/1.550 lb, plus the charge) from a relatively light airframe feasible, the respective gun had to be as light as possible and avoid any recoil, which would easily tear an aircraft – even a bomber – apart upon firing. Therefore, the Gerät 104 was designed as a recoilless cannon. Its firing system involved venting the same amount of the weapon's propellant gas for its round to the rear of the launch tube (which was open at both ends), in the same fashion as a rocket launcher. This created a forward directed momentum which was nearly equal to the rearward momentum (recoil) imparted to the system by accelerating the projectile itself. The balance thus created did not leave much net momentum to be imparted to the weapon's mounting or the carrying airframe in the form of felt recoil. A further share of the recoil induced by the moving round itself could be compensated by a muzzle brake which re-directed a part of the firing gases backwards. Since recoil had been mostly negated, a heavy and complex recoil damping mechanism was not necessary – even though the weapon itself was huge and heavy.
Work on the "Münchhausen" device (a secret project handle after a fictional German nobleman created by the German writer Rudolf Erich Raspe in the late 18th century who reputedly had ridden on a cannonball between enemy frontlines), was done by Rheinmetall-Borsig and lasted until 1941. The first test of a prototype weapon was conducted on 9th of September 1940 in Unterlüss with a satisfactory result, even though the weapon was only mounted onto an open rack and not integrated into an airframe yet. At that time, potential carriers were the Ju 88, the Dornier Do 217 and the new Junkers Ju 288. Even though the system’s efficacy was doubted, the prospect of delivering a single, fatal blow to an important , armored arget superseded any doubts at the RLM, and the project was greenlit in early 1942 for the next stage: the integration of the Sondergerät 104 into an existing airframe. The Ju 88 and its successor, the Ju 188, turned out to be too light and lacked carrying capacity for the complete, loaded weapon, and the favored Ju 288 was never produced, so that only the Dornier Do 217 or the bigger He 177 remained as a suitable carriers. The Do 217 was eventually chosen because it had the biggest payload and the airframe was proven and readily available.
After calculations had verified that the designed 14 in rifle would have effectively no recoil, preliminary tests with dumm airframes were carried out. After ground trials with a Do 217 E day bomber to check recoil and blast effects on the airframe, the development and production of a limited Nullserie (pre-production series) of the dedicated Do 217 F variant for field tests and eventual operational use against British sea and land targets was ordered in April 1942.
The resulting Do 217 F-0 was based on the late “E” bomber variant and powered by a pair of BMW 801 radial engines. It was, however, heavily modified for its unique weapon and the highly specialized mission profile: upon arriving at the zone of operation at high altitude, the aircraft would initiate a dive with an angle of attack between 50° and 80° from the horizontal, firing the SG 104 at an altitude between 6,000 and 2,000 meters. The flight time of the projectile could range from 16.0 seconds for a shot from an altitude of 6,000 meters at a 50° angle to just 4.4 seconds for a shot from 2.000 meters at an almost vertical 80° angle. Muzzle velocity of the SG 104 was only 300 m/s, but, prior to impact, the effective velocity of the projectile was projected to range between 449 and 468 m/s (1,616 to 1,674 km/h). Together with the round's weight of roughly 700 kg (1.550 lb) and a hardened tip, this would still ensure a high penetration potential.
The operational Sondergerät 104 had an empty mass of 2.780 kg (6,123 lb) and its complete 14 inch double cartridge weighed around 1.600 kg (3,525 lb). The loaded mass of the weapon was 4,237 kg, stretching the limits of the Do 217’s load capacity to the maximum, so that some armor and less vital pieces of equipment were deleted. Crew and defensive armament were reduced to a minimum.
Even though there had been plans to integrate the wepaon into the airframe (on the Ju 288), the Gerät 104 was on the Do 217 F-0 mounted externally and occupied the whole space under the aircraft, precluding any use of the bomb bay. The latter was occupied by the Gerät 104’s complex mount, which extended to the outside under a streamlined fairing and held the weapon at a distance from the airframe. Between the mount’s struts inside of the fuselage, an additional fuel tank for balance reasons was added, too.
The gun’s center, where the heavy round was carried, was positioned under the aircraft’s center of gravity, so that the gun barrel markedly protruded from under the aircraft’s nose. To make enough space, the Do 217 Es bomb aimer’s ventral gondola and his rearward-facing defensive position under the cockpit were omitted and faired over. The nose section was also totally different: the original extensive glazing (the so-called “Kampfkopf”) was replaced by a smaller, conventional canopy, similar to the later Do 217 J and N night fighter versions, together with a solid nose - the original glass panels would have easily shattered upon firing the gun, esp. in a steep high-speed dive. A "Lotfernrohr" bomb aiming device was still installed in a streamlined and protected fairing, though, so that the navigator could guide the pilot during the approach to the target and during the attack run.
To stabilize the heavy aircraft during its attack and to time- and safely pull out of the dive, a massive mechanical dive brake was mounted at the extended tail tip, which unfolded with four "petals". A charecteristic stabilizing dorsal strake was added between the twin fins, too.
The ventral area behind the gun’s rear-facing muzzle received additional metal plating and blast guiding vanes, after trials in late 1940 had revealed that firing the SG 104 could easily damage the Do 217’s tail structure, esp. all of the tail surfaces’ rudders and the fins’ lower ends in particular. Due to all this extra weight, the Do 217 F-0’s defensive armament consisted only of a single 13 mm MG 131 machine gun in a manually operated dorsal position behind the cockpit cabin, which offered space for a crew of three. A fixed 15 mm MG 151 autocannon was mounted in the nose, too, a weapon with a long barrel for extended range and accuracy. It was not an offensive weapon, though, rather intended as an aiming aid for the SG 104 because it was loaded with tracer bullets: during the final phase of the attack dive, the pilot kept firing the MG 151, and the bullet trail showed if he was on target to fire the SG 104 when the right altitude/range had been reached.
The first Do 217 F-0 was flown and tested in late 1943, and after some detail changes the type was cleared for a limited production run of ten aircraft in January 1944. The first operational machine was delivered to a dedicated testing commando, the Erprobungskommando 104 “Münchhausen”, also known as “Sonderkommando Münchhausen” or simply “E-Staffel 104”. The unit was based at Bordeaux/Merignac and directly attached to the KG 40's as a staff flight. At that time, KG 40 operated Do 217 and He 177 bombers and frequently flew reconnaissance and anti-shipping missions over the Atlantic west of France, up to the British west and southern coast, equipped with experimental Henschel Hs 293 glide bombs.
Initial flights confirmed that the Do 217 airframe was burdened with the SG 104 to its limits, the already rather sluggish aircraft (the Do 217 had generally a high wing loading and was not easy to fly) lost anything that was left of what could be called agility. It needed an experienced pilot to handle it safely, esp. during start and landing. It is no wonder that two Do 217 F-0s suffered ground accidents during the first two weeks of operations, but the machines could be repaired, resume the test program and carry out attack missions.
However, during one of the first test shots with the weapon, one Do 217 F-0 lost its complete tail section though the gun blast, and the aircraft crashed into the Bay of Biscay, killing the complete crew.
On 4th or April 1944 the first "hot" attack against an enemy ship was executed in the Celtic Sea off of Brest, against a convoy of 20 ships homeward bound from Gibraltar. The attack was not successful, though, the shot missing its target, and the German bomber was attacked and heavily damaged by British Bristol Beaufighters that had been deployed to protect the ships. The Do 217F-0 eventually crashed and sank into the Atlantic before it could reach land again.
A couple of days later, on 10th of April, the first attempt to attack and destroy a land target was undertaken: two Do 217 F-0s took off to attack Bouldnor Battery, an armored British artillery position located on the Isle of Wight. One machine had to abort the attack due to oil leakages, the second Do 217 F-0 eventually reached its target and made a shallow attack run, but heavy fog obscured the location and the otherwise successful shot missed the fortification. Upon return to its home base the aircraft was intercepted by RAF fighters over the Channel and heavily damaged, even though German fighters deployed from France came to the rescue, fought the British attackers off and escorted the limping Do 217 F-0 back to its home base.
These events revealed that the overall SG 104 concept was generally feasible, but also showed that the Do 217 F-0 was very vulnerable without air superiority or a suitable escort, so that new tactics had to be developed. One consequence was that further Do 217 F-0 deployments were now supported by V/KG 40, the Luftwaffe's only long range maritime fighter unit. These escorts consisted of Junkers Ju 88C-6s, which were capable of keeping up with the Do 217 F-0 and fend of intercepting RAF Coastal Command’s Beaufighters and later also Mosquitos.
In the meantime, tests with the SG 104 progressed and several modifications were tested on different EKdo 104's Do 217 F-0s. One major upgrade was a further strengthening of the tail section, which added another 200 kg (440 lb) to the aircraft's dry weight. Furthermore, at least three aircraft were outfitted with additional dive brakes under the outer wings, so that the dive could be better controlled and intercepted. these aircraft, however, lost their plumbed underwing hardpoints, but these were only ever used for drop tanks during transfer flights - a loaded SG 104 precluded any other ordnance. On two other aircraft the SG 104 was modified to test different muzzle brakes and deflectors for the rear-facing opening, so that the gun blast was more effectively guided away from the airframe to prevent instability and structural damage. For instance, one machine was equipped with a bifurcated blast deflector that directed the rearward gasses partly sideways, away from the fuselage.
These tests did not last long, though. During the Allied Normandy landings in June 1944 E-Staffel 104 was hastily thrown into action and made several poorly-prepared attack runs against Allied support ships. The biggest success was a full hit and the resulting sinking of the Norwegian destroyer HNoMS Svenner (G03) by "1A+BA" at dawn on 6th of June, off Sword, one of the Allied landing zones. Other targets were engaged, too, but only with little effect. This involvement, however, led to the loss of three Do 217 F-0s within just two days and four more heavily damaged aircraft – leaving only two of EKdo 104's Do 217 F-0s operational.
With the Allied invasion of France and a worsening war condition, the SG 104 program was stopped in August 1944 and the idea of an airborne anti-ship gun axed in favor of more flexible guided weapons like the Hs 293 missile and the Fritz-X glide bomb. Plans for a further developed weapon with a three-round drum magazine were immediately stopped, also because there was no carrier aircraft in sight that could carry and deploy this complex 6.5 tons weapon. However, work on the SG 104 and the experience gained from EKdo 104's field tests were not in vain. The knowledge gathered from the Münchhausen program was directly used for the design of a wide range of other, smaller recoilless aircraft weapons, including the magnetically-triggered SG 113 "Förstersonde" anti-tank weapon or the lightweight SG 118 "Rohrblock" unguided air-to-air missile battery for the Heinkel He 162 "Volksjäger".
General characteristics:
Crew: 3 (pilot, navigator, radio operator/gunner)
Length: 20,73 m (67 ft 11 in) overall
18,93 m (62 ft 3/4 in) hull only
Wingspan: 19 m (62 ft 4 in)
Height: 4.97 m (16 ft 4 in)
Wing area: 57 m² (610 sq ft)
Empty weight: 9,065 kg (19,985 lb)
Empty equipped weight:10,950 kg (24,140 lb)
Max takeoff weight: 16,700 kg (36,817 lb)
Fuel capacity: 2,960 l (780 US gal; 650 imp gal) in fuselage tank and four wing tanks
Powerplant:
2× BMW 801D-2 14-cylinder air-cooled radial piston engines, delivering
1,300 kW (1,700 hp) each for take-off and 1,070 kW (1,440 hp) at 5,700 m (18,700 ft),
driving 3-bladed VDM constant-speed propellers
Performance:
Maximum speed: 475 km/h (295 mph, 256 kn) at sea level
560 km/h (350 mph; 300 kn) at 5,700 m (18,700 ft)
Cruise speed: 400 km/h (250 mph, 220 kn) with loaded Gerät 104 at optimum altitude
Range: 2,180 km (1,350 mi, 1,180 nmi) with maximum internal fuel
Ferry range: 2,500 km (1,600 mi, 1,300 nmi); unarmed, with auxiliary fuel tanks
Service ceiling: 7,370 m (24,180 ft) with loaded Gerät 104,
9,500 m (31,200 ft) after firing
Rate of climb: 3.5 m/s (690 ft/min)
Time to altitude: 1,000 m (3,300 ft) in 4 minutes 10 seconds
2,000 m (6,600 ft) in 8 minutes 20 seconds
6,100 m (20,000 ft) in 24 minutes 40 seconds
Armament:
1x 355.6 mm (14-inch) Sondergerät 104 recoilless gun with a single round in ventral position
1x 15 mm (0.787 in) MG 151 machine cannon with 200 rounds, fixed in the nose
1x 13 mm (0.512 in) MG 131 machine gun with 500 rounds, movable in dorsal position
Two underwing hardpoints for a 900 l drop tank each, but only used during unarmed ferry flights
The kit and its assembly:
This was another submission to the "Gunships" group build at whatifmodellers.com in late 2021, and inspiration struck when I realized that I had two Italeri Do 217 in The Stash - a bomber and a night fighter - that could be combined into a suitable (fictional) carrier for a Sondergerät 104. This mighty weapon actually existed and even reached the hardware/test stage - but it was never integrated into an airframe and tested in flight. But that's what this model is supposed to depict.
On the Do 217, the Sg 104 would have been carried externally under the fuselage, even though there had been plans to integrate this recoilless rifle into airframes, esp. into the Ju 288. Since the latter never made it into production, the Do 217 would have been the most logical alternative, also because it had the highest payload of all German bombers during WWII and probably the only aircraft capable of carrying and deploying the Münchhausen device, as the SG 104 was also known.
The fictional Do 217 F-0 is a kitbashing, using a Do 217 N fuselage, combined with the wings from a Do 217 K bomber, plus some modifications. What initially sounded like a simple plan soon turned into a improvisation mess: it took some time to realize that I had already donated the Do 217 K's BMW 801 engines to another project, an upgraded He 115... I did not want to use the nightfighter's more powerful DB 603s, and I was lucky to have an Italeri Ju 188 kit at hand which comes with optional BMW 801s and Jumo 211s. Transplanting these engines onto the Do 217's wings took some tailoring of the adapter plates, but was feasible. However, the BMW 801s from the Ju 188 kit have a flaw: they lack the engine's characteristic cooling fans... Another lucky find: I found two such parts in the scrap box, even though from different kits - one left over from another Italeri Do 217 K, the other one from what I assume is/was an Italeri 1:72 Fw 190 A/F. To make matters worse, one propeller from the Ju 188 kit was missing, so that I had to find a(nother) replacement. :-/
I eventually used something that looked like an 1:72 F6F Hellcat propeller, but I an not certain about this because I have never built this model...? With some trimming on the blades' trailing edges and other mods, the donor's overall look could be adapted to the Ju 188 benchmark. Both propellers were mounted on metal axis' so that they could also carry the cooling fans. Lots of work, but the result looks quite good.
The Do 217 N's hull lost the lower rear gunner position and its ventral gondola, which was faired over with a piece of styrene sheet. The pilot was taken OOB, the gunner in the rear position was replaced by a more blob-like crew member from the scrap box. The plan to add a navigator in the seat to the lower right of the pilot did not work out due to space shortage, but this figure would probably have been invisble, anyway.
All gun openings in the nose were filled and PSRed away, and a fairing for a bomb aiming device and a single gun (the barrel is a hollow steel needle) were added.
The SG 104 was scratched. Starting point was a white metal replacement barrel for an 1:35 ISU-152 SPG with a brass muzzle brake. However, after dry-fitting the barrel under the hull the barrel turned out to be much too wide, so that only the muzzal brake survived and the rest of the weapon was created from a buddy refueling pod (from an Italeri 1:72 Luftwaffe Tornado, because of its two conical ends) and protective plastic caps from medical canulas. To attach this creation to the hull I abused a conformal belly tank from a Matchbox Gloster Meteor night fighter and tailored it into a streamlined fairing. While this quite a Frankenstein creation, the overall dimensions match the real SG 104 prototype and its look well.
Other cosmetic modifications include a pair of underwing dive brakes, translanted from an Italeri 1:72 Ju 88 A-4 kit, an extended (scratched) tail "stinger" which resembles the real dive brake arrangement that was installed on some Do 217 E bombers, and I added blast deflector vanes and a dorsal stabilizer fin.
In order to provide the aircraft with enough ground clearance, the tail wheel was slightly extended. Thanks to the long tail stinger, this is not blatantly obvious.
Painting and markings:
This was not an easy choice, but as a kind of prototype I decided that the paint scheme should be rather conservative. However, German aircraft operating over the Atlantic tended to carry rather pale schemes, so that the standard pattern of RLM 70/71/65 (Dunkelgrün, Schwarzgrün and Hellblau) with a low waterline - typical for experimental types - would hardly be appropriate.
I eventually found a compromise on a He 177 bomber (coded 6N+BN) from 1944 that was operated by KG 100: this particular aircraft had a lightened upper camouflage - still a standard splinter scheme but consisting of RLM 71 and 02 (Dunkelgrün and Grau; I used Modelmaster 2081 and Humbrol 240), a combination that had been used on German fighters during the Battle of Britain when the standard colors turned out to be too dark for operations over the Channel. The aircraft also carried standard RLM 65 (or maybe the new RLM76) underneath (Humbrol 65) and on the fin, but with a very high and slightly wavy waterline. As a rather unusual feature, no typical camouflage mottles were carried on the flanks or the fin, giving the aircraft a very bleak and simple look.
Despite my fears that this might look rather boring I adapted this scheme for the Do 217 F-0, and once basic painting was completed I was rather pleased by the aircraft's look! As an aircraft operated at the Western front, no additional markings like fuselage bands were carried.
To set the SG 104 apart from the airframe, I painted the weapon's visible parts in RLM 66 (Schwarzgrau, Humbrol 67), because this tone was frequently used for machinery (including the interior surfaces of aircraft towards 1945).
RLM 02 was also used for the interior surfaces and the landing gear, even though I used a slightly different, lighter shade in form of Revell 45 (Helloliv).
A light black ink washing was applied and post-shading to emphasize panel lines. Most markings/decals came from a Begemot 1:72 He 11 sheet, including the unusual green tactical code - it belongs to a staff unit, a suitable marking for such an experimental aircraft. The green (Humbrol 2) was carried over to the tips of the propeller spinners. The unit's code "1A" is fictional, AFAIK this combination had never been used by the Luftwaffe.
The small unit badge was alucky find: it actually depicts the fictional Baron von Münchhausen riding on a cannonball, and it comes from an Academy 1:72 Me 163 kit and its respective sheet. The mission markings underneath, depicting two anti-ship missions plus a successful sinking, came from a TL Modellbau 1:72 scale sheet with generic German WWII victory markings.
After some soot stains around the engine exhaust and weapon muzzles had been added with graphite, the model was sealed with matt acrylic varnish and final details like position lights and wire antennae (from heated black plastic sprue material) were added.
Well, what started as a combination of two kits of the same kind with a simple huge pipe underneath turned out to be more demanding than expected. The (incomplete) replacement engines were quite a challenge, and body work on the hull (tail stinger, fairing for the SG 104 as well as the weapon itself) turned out to be more complex and extensive than initially thought of. The result looks quite convincing, also supported by the rather simple paint scheme which IMHO just "looks right" and very convincing. And the whole thing is probably the most direct representation of the inspiring "Gunship" theme!
expectant mother
Photographe pour femmes enceintes, bébé et famille sur toulouse et le sud ouest de la France.
Cette photo est la propriété de Jenny'S, toute reproduction, copie, modification ou autre autre est interdite sans mon autorisation. Merci
Page 1 of 2 (click here)
Page 2 of 2 (see below)
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Sept. 22, 2013 @ 9 a.m. (the half-marathon start time)
This year, about 22,000 runners are expected to participate in the 5 km or the 21.1 km (half-marathon) Canada Army Run race events. The Canada Army Run, now in its sixth year, continues to be the fastest-growing race event in Canada.
The runners listed below are:
a) local (Ottawa-Gatineau and area) half-marathon participants, who
b) registered through the Running Room.
The lists are sorted by community and first name, as follows:
(page 1)
A. Ottawa, Ontario
B. Gatineau, Québec
C. Kanata, Ontario
D. Nepean, Ontario
E. Orleans, Ontario
(page 2)
F. Other Ontario, by community
G. Other Québec, by community
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
F. Residents of other local "Ontario" communities
1427….Sigrun Schroeter….Alexandria
1428….Terry Koronewski….Alexandria
Almonte:
1429….Anna Bertrand
1430….Bob Mosher
1431….Daphne Lainson
1432….Emily Kehoe
1433….Jenny Sheffield
1434….Joanne Daykin
1435….Judi Sutherland
1436….Linda Melbrew
Arnprior:
1437….Connnie Palubiskie
1438….Dan Palubiskie
1439….Ghada Mulvihill
1440….Greg Palubiskie
1441….Jack Quinn
1442….Katelyn Patrois
1443….Laura Bayliss
1444….Mike Poirier
1445….Ray McCombe
1446….Rhonda Barone….Ashburn
1447….Sue Wheelband….Ashburn
1448….Aubrey Cottreau….Ashton
1449….Lynne Strickland….Ashton
1450….Peter Cottreau….Ashton
1451….Rob Walker….Ashton
1452….Chris Nicholas….Braeside
1453….Joanne Nicholas….Braeside
1454….Barb Kilgour….Brockville
1455….Mike Fowler….Brockville
1456….Rebecca Curtis….Brockville
1457….Terry Hodge….Brockville
Carleton Place:
1458….Bonnie Levesque
1459….Carolyne Buchanan
1460….Chris Loder
1461….Jennifer Blackburn
1462….Lee Thirlwall
1463….Naren Thaker
1464….Rob Illingworth
1465….Suzann Townend
1466….Trevor Bennett
Carp:
1467….Alfred Gillette
1468….Diana Baird
1469….Hans Buser
1470….Jane Parry
1471….Kathy Fischer
1472….Lyne Michaud
1473….Nancy Wawia Robb
1474….Peter Fischer
1475….Richard Snapper
1476….Danielle Carrière-Paris….Casselman
1477….Gillian Castonguay….Casselman
1478….Guy Brisson….Casselman
1479….Paul Groulx….Casselman
1480….Myra Gregor….Chalk River
1481….Sandra Heidel….Chalk River
1482….Cathleen Bourret….Chesterville
1483….Sarah Derks….Chesterville
1484….Nancy Boulianne….Clarence Creek
Cornwall:
1485….Garth Wigle
1486….Justin Wheeler
1487….Liane Ykema
1488….Melinda Fenton
1489….Pierre Doucette
1490….Richard Houde
1491….Genevieve Belanger….Cumberland
1492….Leslie Anne Patry….Cumberland
1493….Lynn Casimiro….Cumberland
1494….Monique Garneau….Cumberland
1495….Amy Festarini….Deep River
1496….Christine Lacroix….Dunrobin
1497….Ginny Fobert….Dunrobin
1498….Mark McLean….Dunrobin
1499….Vincent Mathieu….Dunrobin
1500….Jenny Benoit….Edwards
1501….Amber Hein….Eganville
Embrun:
1502….Aline Brosseau
1503….Carly Dussault
1504….Celin Alexiuk
1505….Chantal Cameron
1506….Cheryl DesRoches
1507….Colin Marvin
1508….Eric Deschamps
1509….Gordon Hastie
1510….Josee Lovett
1511….Lisa Fedak
1512….Lynne Brosseau
1513….Sonia Desnoyers
1514….Jay Buhr….Finch
1515….Denise Roy….Fournier
Gananoque:
1516….David Anderson
1517….Dustin Thorley
1518….Jessica Parkinson
1519….Jessica Thorley
1520….Jody Bovey
1521….Roberta Abbott
1522….Sandi Laveault
1523….Stephane Laveault
Gloucester:
1524….Angela Philion
1525….Benson Yee
1526….Brian McKay
1527….Bryar Engelbrecht
1528….David Clement
1529….Gilles Philion
1530….Jane Seabrooke
1531….Janet Engelbrecht
1532….Mark Engelbrecht
1533….Mary Murray
1534….Patricia Suys
1535….Sean Styles
1536….Sherri Forward
1537….Virginia Mofford
Greely:
1538….Casey Goheen
1539….Debra Harley
1540….Greg Matte
1541….John Ioannou
1542….Kevin Goheen
1543….Ricky Grisel
1544….Robert Lerch
1545….Benoit Carriere….Hammond
1546….Isabelle Tasse….Hammond
1547….Logan MacDonald….Hammond
1548….Louise Galipeau….Hammond
1549….Jean Claude Miner….Hawkesbury
1550….Lorne Thomas….Hawkesbury
1551….Christine Horne….Iroquois
1552….Karen Keeler….Iroquois
1553….Keira Cameron….Iroquois
Kemptville:
1554….Colleen Battista
1555….Dale Richardson
1556….Dave Springer
1557….Debi Pye
1558….Denis Bisson
1559….Emily Conway
1560….Fiona Tracey
1561….Heather Cranek
1562….Juanita Alexander
1563….Mark Blaisdell
1564….Pamela Hyndman
1565….Roxanne Harrington
1566….Stephane Sens
1567….Teena Dacey
1568….Paige Afelskie….Killaloe
1569….Amanda Burke….Kinburn
1570….Jennifer Higginson….Kinburn
1571….Maxine Hare….Kinburn
1572….Ron Stadnyk….Kinburn
1573….Terry Burke….Kinburn
1574….Tina Remillard….Kinburn
1575….Angèle Charron….Lanark
1576….Debbie Keaney….Lanark
1577….Scott Shaver….Lanark
1578….April Russell….Lancaster
1579….Camille Gravelle….Laurentian Hills
1580….Josee Adam….Limoges
1581….Rebecca Grenier….Limoges
1582….Simon Grenier….Limoges
1583….Martin Luys….l'Orignal
1584….Brian Carpenter….Maberly
Manotick:
1585….Emily Donaldson
1586….Fiona Valliere
1587….George Strawbridge
1588….Jill Payne
1589….Karen Donaldson
1590….Peter Stenger
1591….Robert Fabes
1592….Robert Lange
1593….Sara Wilson
1594….Tyler Bates
1595….Kevin Rayburn….Martintown
1596….Barbara Bacon….Merrickville
1597….Craig Killin….Metcalfe
1598….Cynthia Dubeau….Metcalfe
1599….Justin Turcotte….Metcalfe
1600….Richard Loewen….Metcalfe
1601….JoAnne Carter….Mountain
1602….Ada Gorrie….Munster
1603….Jason Greene….Munster
1604….Nancy Ann Smith….Munster
1605….Andrew Bridges….Navan
1606….Carole Charlebois….Navan
1607….Doug McNally….Navan
1608….Tony Benjamin….Navan
1609….Wally Burns….Navan
North Gower:
1610….Debra Hughes
1611….Gaye Godard
1612….Jenny McGill
1613….Kathleen Kerr
1614….Linda Stewart
1615….Lori Doehler
1616….Nicole Demers
1617….Sacha Van Den Hanenberg
Osgoode:
1618….Amy Blais
1619….Chris Morrison
1620….Joanne Bilodeau
1621….Michelle Harte
1622….Nancy Bleses
1623….Tim Lang
1624….Roger Sabourin….Oxford Mills
1625….Shaun Dunne….Oxford Mills
1626….Matt Verjans….Oxford Station
Pembroke:
1627….Amber Morris
1628….Amy Rutz
1629….Calvin Bertrand
1630….Carina Johnston
1631….Cindy Gale
1632….Corey Peckford
1633….Doug Thorlakson
1634….Garry Hartlin
1635….Heather Kilius
1636….Heather McNicoll
1637….Helen Hawes
1638….Jane Wood
1639….Janice Clouthier
1640….Julie Corrigan
1641….Karen Mullaney
1642….Laurie Thorlakson
1643….Lyndsay Smith
1644….Nathan Guirguis
1645….Patricia Lafreniere
1646….Sandy Farrell
1647….Sheri Gareau
1648….Theresa Bates
1649….Tim MacDonald
1650….Tricia Robinson
1651….Volkert Bobeldijk
1652….Genevieve Mclean….Perth
1653….Ivan Matte….Perth
1654….Sherry Burke….Perth
1655….Sue Matte….Perth
Petawawa:
1656….Aimee Lavallee
1657….Allan Lockley
1658….Anthony Sauve
1659….Anthony Shields
1660….Barry Malboeuf
1661….Brad Brooks
1662….Christine Styles
1663….Derek Church
1664….Hec Clouthier
1665….Helen Abbey
1666….Ingrid O'Connell
1667….Jeanette Carter
1668….Jennifer MacDougall
1669….Jessica Garneau
1670….John Theriault
1671….Kendra Bencun
1672….Kris Reeves
1673….Leendert Bolle
1674….Lisa Shields
1675….Maria Bolle
1676….Mark Zoretich
1677….Meagan Brooks
1678….Natalie Mooy-Beebe
1679….R. Amie Jones
1680….Robert Potter
1681….Ryan Bigney
1682….Stephen Shears
1683….Johanne Larabie….Plantagenet
1684….Nyköla Picarf….Plantagenet
1685….Tony Larabie….Plantagenet
1686….Veronique Gour….Plantagenet
1687….Christina Hughes….Prescott
1688….Claudine Dirksen-Fenard….Prescott
1689….Mark Dirksen….Prescott
1690….Chad Gilmour….Renfrew
1691….Hillary MacMillan….Renfrew
1692….Pat McGregor….Renfrew
1693….Amy Haber….Richmond
1694….Cheryl Gillies….Richmond
1695….Ruth Saunders….Richmond
Rockland:
1696….Adam Joiner
1697….Carole Joly
1698….Christine Hunter
1699….Esther Campbell
1700….Ethan Donald-Skinner
1701….Evan Skinner
1702….Greg Falardeau
1703….Isabelle Roy
1704….Jennifer Davis
1705….Livia Wright
1706….Melanie Carriere
1707….Michael Crabbe
1708….Michelle Turgeon
1709….Nancy Crabbe
1710….Pierre Caron
1711….Scott Bridger
1712….Terry Wright
1713….Allison Toohey-Faughnan….Russell
1714….Coralyn Johnston….Russell
1715….Diane Meagher….Russell
1716….Donna Johnston….Russell
1717….Mary Sweetlove….Russell
1718….Steve McFaul….Russell
1719….Colette Charlebois….Sarsfield
1720….Bethany Pattingale….Smiths Falls
1721….Debra Donovan….Smiths Falls
1722….Jenni McGrath….Smiths falls
1723….Natalie Lindsay….Smiths Falls
1724….Isabelle Beauchesne….St-Isidore
Stittsville:
1725….Amanda Leighton
1726….Andrea Currie
1727….Benoit Beaulieu
1728….Bill Theriault
1729….Braeden Radley
1730….Brian Hanlon
1731….Brian McClean
1732….Cathie Radley
1733….Cathy O'Neil
1734….Cathy Robinson
1735….Colin Guilbault
1736….Colleen Liddle
1737….Deborah McCarthy
1738….Derek Basinger
1739….Derek Liddle
1740….Elizabeth Buiting
1741….Evan Wile
1742….Jean Banerjee
1743….Jeanette Dionne
1744….Jennifer Anderson
1745….Joseph Watters
1746….Karen Whillans
1747….Keeghan Radley
1748….Krista Guilbault
1749….Linda Corriveau
1750….Lise Chabot
1751….Louise Guigue
1752….Luc Joly
1753….Lynn Pearson
1754….Maria Watson
1755….Mark Rhodenizer
1756….Matthew Dionne
1757….Melissa Brash
1758….Michael Self
1759….Mike McDonald
1760….Nic Daines
1761….Nicholas Alexander
1762….Nicole Porter
1763….Pam Norris
1764….Paula Rolston
1765….Pierre Bergeron
1766….Randall Toll
1767….Robert White
1768….Scott Miller
1769….Sean Gagnon
1770….Shari-Lynn Lawson
1771….Stephanie Chernichen
1772….Stephanie Eastman
1773….Stephen Lawson
1774….Steve McStravick
1775….Stewart Morris
1776….Susan Andre
1777….Susie Karrys
1778….Tarrynne Radley
1779….Telah Morrison
1780….Tim Radley
1781….Uyen Hoang
1782….Walter Hawes
1783….Louise Wanczycki….Vanier
1784….Ryan Benson….Vanier
1785….Tammy Frye….Vanier
1786….Meagan Dyer….White Lake
1787….Sarah Edwards….White Lake
1788….Trish Schlievert….White Lake
1789….Bill Chambre….Williamstown
1790….Brendan Kent….Woodlawn
1791….Jocelyne Barsalou….Woodlawn
1792….Kristi Raz….Woodlawn
1793….Susan Harford….Woodlawn
G. Residents of other local "Québec" communities
1794….Arek Rydel….Aylmer
1795….Luc Lacombe….Aylmer
1796….Robert Martel….Aylmer
Cantley
1797….Alain Theroux
1798….Alex McDermott
1799….Carl Boucher
1800….Carol Jr Groulx
1801….Gaetane Pouliot
1802….Karolyn Boyd
1803….Marie-claude Côté
1804….Martin Roussel
1805….Mylene Dube
1806….Sandra Roussel
1807….Yan Paradis
Chelsea:
1808….Alexandra Tremblay-Plourde
1809….Craig Higgins
1810….Derek Mahoney
1811….Heather Crooks
1812….Ian Hunter
1813….Joanie Verret
1814….Laura Bruin
1815….Serge Sincennes
1816….Alice Wegmueller….Grenville-sur-la-Rouge
1817….Bonnie MacGregor….Grenville-sur-la-Rouge
1818….Michel Paquette….Grenville-sur-la-Rouge
1819….Elizabeth Noel….Hull
1820….Francoise Bessette….Hull
1821….Laura Sanford….Hull
1822….Lori Jones….Hull
1823….Daniel St-Jean….Mont-Laurier
1824….André Pellerin….Val-des-Monts
1825….Jacynthe Côté….Val-des-Monts
1826….Marie-Josee Ouellette….Val-des-Monts
1827….Sylvain Sénéchal….Val-des-Monts
Wakefield:
1828….Annie Lance
1829….Archie Smith
1830….Dominic DeWolfe
1831….Geoff Dunkley
1832….Glenn Peters
1833….Jennifer DeWolfe
1834….John Miedema
1835….Pam Berthiaume
1836….Shirley Curran
There they were, a group of friends, and one salesman in a neighborhood shop for trendy clothes. Why the purchaser need so much help in choosing a pair of jeans, we'll never know. But I peeped through the window and took various shots of this scene. This shot is missing yet another young woman, who is hidden by the salesman. They have such different expressions...
The store, which sells "High-End Street wear" that's are both trendy and expensive, isn't the kind of place you'd expect to find in my neighborhood. Even the name is odd, not a word in any language I know--because I don't know Latin. Apparently it means honest or virtuous... If so, why the pricey price tags? :- >
Washington Heights, Upper Manhattan
New York, NY USA
-----
For the group six word story.
As would be expected, this is a lower maximum speed (120kph) class EA - now 40 - Elektroputere locomotive for goods train work. The EA1 - now 41 - had a higher maximum speed of 180kph , suitable for express passenger work. 060 EA1 267 was scrapped in 2002 (see note below by Running Man27)
Finding the invisible ⚫
New Webb data suggests that black holes in the early Universe are growing faster than we expected in early galaxies - and also growing faster than the galaxies that host them.
Researchers confirmed an actively growing supermassive black hole within a small, distant galaxy just 570 million years after the Big Bang. You might remember the Little Red Dots (LRDs) that Webb discovered, objects that seemed too big to exist in the early universe and remain a mystery to astronomers. One of these LRDs is called CANUCS-LRD-z8.6 and is the host of this supermassive black hole. Webb’s NIRSpec enabled researchers to observe the faint light from this distant galaxy and detect key spectral features that point to the presence of an accreting black hole.
While relatively small compared to younger galaxies, CANUCS-LRD-z8.6 is the most massive host galaxy known at such an early time, yet its central black hole is even more massive than we would expect. This suggests that black holes may have formed and started growing at an accelerated pace in the early universe, even in relatively small galaxies.
This image: This image shows the location of galaxy CANUCS-LRD-z8.6 in galaxy cluster MACS J1149.5+2223, as seen by Webb’s Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam). CANUCS-LRD-z8.6 is part of a class of small, very distant and strikingly red galaxies called Little Red Dots (LRDs), which have been spotted in increasing numbers by Webb’s surveys of the early Universe. It is located in the constellation Leo (the Lion), and is seen by Webb just 570 million years after the Big Bang.
Read more: esawebb.org/news/weic2522/
Image credit: ESA/Webb, NASA & CSA, G. Rihtaršič (University of Ljubljana, FMF), R. Tripodi (University of Ljubljana, FMF)
[Image description: The left side of this visual shows an image of many glowing galaxies in various shapes and colours, including spiral and elliptical galaxies, on a black background. A small box near the top of this image highlights a small collection of galaxies. This box is pulled out to the right side, showing the same area zoomed in to reveal its details up close. This region shows a small circular red galaxy in the centre, which is labelled “CANUCS-LRD-z8.6”.]
The history of Fort Hayes as a military post spans from its establishment in 1863 to the expected departure of the remaining military presence by the end of 2009.
Fort Hayes is a military post in Columbus, Ohio, United States. Created by an act of the United States Congress on July 11, 1862, the site was also known as the Columbus Arsenal until 1922, when the site was renamed after former Ohio Governor and later 19th U.S. President Rutherford B. Hayes. As of 2007, the property is primarily used for the Columbus School District's Fort Hayes Metropolitan Education Center and bus depot. Currently, the 391st Military Police Battalion and the 375th Criminal Investigations Division of the U.S. Army Reserve use the facility, but the last military presence on the property was in 2009. The military is building a new army reserve center in Whitehall, which will end a century and a half of military presence at Fort Hayes.
Columbus Arsenal
Ordnance Corps General C.P. Buckingham selected a site nearly two years after the congressional authorization of July 1862. It was a tract of about 70 acres northeast of the city, an oak grove owned by Robert and Jannette Neil of Neil House fame. The need for an army arsenal in Central Ohio was acute soon after war broke out. The state arsenal was jammed with arms and equipment for the states' first regiments, but that building was deemed unsafe and a fire hazard. The army needed a modern arsenal for the receipt and issuance of arms and equipment and the manufacture and storage of ammunition.
Captain J. W. Todd, of the U .S. Army Ordnance Corps, was the first commander of the Columbus Arsenal, as the post was first known. High command was nothing more than a field of oak stumps and some temporary shacks on land that Captain Todd also prepared the first arsenal master plan:
1 two-story brick workshop, 180′ X 60′: $27,758
4 storehouses, 200′ x 50′: $98,884
Barracks and EM quarters: $7,500
1 blacksmith shop: $2,000
1 stable and laboratory: $5,000
1 office building, brick, one-story: $2,400
1 officer's quarters, brick, two-story: $11,250
1 guardhouse and brick wall, 10′ high: $44,283
Railroad switch: $5,000
Landscaping: $10,000
Inflation: $10,000
Total Budget: $224,075
The Todd plan was $10,000 in excess of what Congress was to be asked to appropriate. Captain Todd did not remain at this assignment long enough to see his plan accepted for implementation. He was replaced by the "Father" of Fort Hayes, Captain T. C. Bradford, on January 16, 1864. Bradford arrived to build the new post from scratch, where he served until 1867, being promoted to Major, then Colonel before 1866. He resumed command again for six months in 1869, then departed for San Antonio.
Bradford's first task was to secure the completion of the rail spur and procure carts, horses, tools, hoisting machines and materials with which to build the main building and other buildings. By April 1864, the excavation was dug, the tracks' grading completed, and temporary carpenter's shop built, and two wells dug and equipped with pumps to supply water for the needs of men, animals, and construction.
Bradford called his magnum opus the "Store House", the first of many names which would be applied to the post's principal facility. Plans for the building had been drawn in Washington by the Ordnance Corps. Bradford, however, made many on-site changes to the plans as construction proceeded. Building materials in that time were difficult and expensive to obtain. For foundation material, Bradford went to Newark, Ohio, for sandstone, the first cargo brought in on the new rail spur during the summer of 1864. Brick was fired in Columbus by brickmakers who Bradford continually had to watch because of inferior workmanship. Flooring and other timber he obtained from southern Ohio (There are 50,000 board feet of ash flooring in the arsenal which cost $20.00 to $25.00 per thousand feet). Copper and cast iron cornices he had manufactured in Cincinnati.
The officers' quarters and magazine were ordered built on June 3, 1864, as designed by master building Joseph O. Sawyer. The foundation for the magazine, with a capacity of 2,500 barrels of powder, was built in September, ready for brickwork, and all lumber for this building was on the grounds.
As the main building rose, Bradford devoted much attention to the tower. The original purpose of this dominant feature was to accommodate stone steps to each floor. At Bradford's urging, the plans were altered to incorporate wooden steps and hoisting apparatus, and an elevator to move supplies more easily among the floors. As finally constructed, the tower was a duplicate of the one attached to the Indianapolis arsenal.
Long before the main arsenal building was completed in 1865, the post was receiving, storing, and issuing arms and accoutrements in large amounts. On May 6, 1864, 10,000 sets of equipage and five thousand Enfield rifles to arm "three-months" of enlistees were being issued, and the post had enough arms stored in the temporary warehouse to arm and equip 30,000 men. From its holding that month alone, the Columbus Arsenal shipped to other arsenals two million rounds of elongated ball cartridges, 400 percussion artillery shells, and 600 shells for 3-inch guns.
The first building at Fort Hayes was completed in 1864 and is known as Building #62. Arms and equipment of the "100-day" men being mustered out in Ohio were being received by the arsenal in August 1864, but not until late that year were the commodious facilities of the main building in use. Ironically, the first man killed on the post was a civilian, Nicholas Kaetzel, who, on April 5, 1865 was blown up while firing a salute to honor the capture of Richmond, VA.(Source: United States Senate Record, May 17, 1866)
The main business of the arsenal during the last months of the war was the trans-shipment of ammunition (paper and metal cartridges), the receipt and issuance of Springfield rifles, and sets of equipage for 10 regiments to be formed at Camp Chase in Columbus.
Civilians, under Colonel Bradford, conducted much of the business of the arsenal until October 25, 1865, when the first permanently assigned detachment of enlisted men were stationed here. Twenty-five men were authorized to be enlisted locally and were ordered to be one sergeant, four corporals, five privates first class, and twelve privates second class. These new recruits of the regular army were quickly trained by Bradford to receive the large amount of arms and equipment being turned in by Ohio regiments rapidly being deactivated. Civilian employees were retained to repair, in the main building, the Springfield and Enfield rifle muskets turned in by either cannibalizing or by adding new parts shipped in from the Springfield Armory. The rule was, if a piece could be made serviceable for fifty cents or less, to do so; if not, utilize only the unworn parts.
On November 10, 1865, with the magazine at the post filled to capacity, the main building's basement was authorized for storage of ammunition, and the first live rounds were placed in the building. Four million cartridges were placed in the basement that winter, and 10,000 new Spencer carbines were stored in upper floors. So crowded was the building late in November that the first public auction of military stores was authorized and held. By early 1866, artillery was stored in large numbers of pieces, transferred from the Newport, Kentucky arsenal under Colonel Bradford's personal supervision. The appearance of the Civil War era Columbus arsenal was ragged and cluttered until Spring of 1866, when the first shade and ornamental trees and shrubs were planted at a cost of $150. With the coming of peace, the post came to assume a more ordered, regulated posture.
The War Department transferred the Columbus arsenal on September 24, 1875 to the general Recruiting Service for depot purposes, where it came to be known as Columbus Barracks. At that time, the value of site and building was reckoned at nearly $500,000.
Columbus Barracks and Fort Hayes
In 1875, the War Department repurposed the facility for use as a recruiting intake and training facility. It became known as the Columbus Barracks and later the Columbus Arsenal.[2] In 1922, the property was renamed Fort Hayes, in honor of Rutherford B. Hayes.
Between 1875 and 1890, Columbus Barracks was used to instruct recruits, specifically music boys, select recruits, disposable recruits, unexamined recruits, and colored recruits. Four companies of cadre were organized in February 1881. Recruits were given specialized instruction of from one to four months' duration. In 1894, the command general of the Department of the East took charge of Columbus. Barracks and garrisoned it with the 17th Infantry Regiment. The post remained as a recruiting rendezvous manned by two skeleton companies for the next two years when it entered, during the Spanish–American War, a period of building and enlarged occupancy for recruitment and training. The arsenal building, now called the Main Building, was altered inside to accommodate 500 recruits. New barracks, officers' houses, and a host of other buildings were erected (among them the reception center, mess building, drill hall, new guardhouse and bandstand). A post newspaper, The Army Herald, was started in 1895 and continued until 1896. A file is in the library of the Ohio Historical Society.
In 1900, the post was enlarged by nearly 8 acres, and five years later became officially the Columbus Recruiting Depot of two infantry companies and six recruiting companies. A band was assigned the post in 1906 when concerns became a regular public attraction.
Electricity came to the depot in 1908, and with it a new building program of a hospital, PX, a gym, new officers' quarters, noncommissioned officers' quarters, a bakery, a laundry, a warehouse and several barracks.
The razing, in 1910, of the old headquarters building uncovered the site of one of Colonel Bradford's original wells. With the advent of World War I and the signing by President Wilson on May 18, 1917, of the Selective Military Conscription Act, old Columbus barracks became a beehive of activity. Barns and stables became garages and repair shops as the Army increased numbers of Regular Army recruits who passed through the post beginning in 1917. After the war, in 1922, the post became headquarters of the Fifth Corps comprising the areas of Ohio, West Virginia, Indiana and Kentucky. Major General George A. Reed was the commander when, in June, the corps came to Columbus. In 1922, the name of the post was changed to Fort Hayes in honor of Rutherford B. Hayes, an Ohio Governor and later President of the United States. In 1933, the present parade grounds were constructed and the Civilian Conservation Corps constructed seven new frame buildings
During the early years of World War II, Fort Hayes continued as it had in the past as a reception center when it had stationed on its grounds 2,000 officers and men. But on March 1, 1944, this function was discontinued. The Ohio National Guard was granted use of the post on December 17, 1946. Used by both the Army Reserve and the Guard of Engineers, it continued in use by the State and Federal governments for both military and civilian functions.
Fort Hayes Metropolitan Education Center
Fort Hayes Metropolitan Education Center (FHMEC), an urban public high school, located at the edge of downtown Columbus, has as its mission " …to create expectations of excellence within students through challenging and collaborative learning, blending the arts, academics and career programs."
The Fort Hayes Career Center was established in 1976 on the site of a part of the military base. Fort Hayes was used as a training and induction center during the Civil War through the Vietnam War, the Federal Government abandoned the fifty acres on which the Fort Hayes Career Center (now the Fort Hayes Metropolitan Education Center) is located. Through the leadership of Jack Gibbs and the efforts of two local congressmen, the Columbus Public Schools was able to purchase these fifty acres for one dollar ($1.00). The career center was composed of four buildings–the Business Building, the Health Building, the Visual Arts Center (Shot Tower—though shot was never made here[3]), and the Battelle Math/Science Building. In the fall of 1988, the Fort Hayes campus became the site for three unique educational programs: a career center program, The Battelle Youth Science Program, and an arts and academic high school. The Fort Hayes Career Center component offers vocational courses in health/medical services, data processing, commercial art and photography, and the fine and performing arts. The Battelle Youth Science Program provided advanced laboratory and academic courses in math and science. The Fort Hayes Arts and Academic High School, the newest component, focuses on excellence in performance–performance in a rigorous college preparatory program and a rich immersion in the art areas of music, dance, theater, and visual arts. During the 1988–89 school year, the Fort Hayes Arts and Academic High School was created, joining Columbus Public Schools' excellently rated arts, business, childcare, and health vocational programs. Ninth and tenth graders (about 223 of them) arrived to begin the work of starting a new high school, along with 23 new staff members. An additional grade level was added each year, and the first senior class graduated in June 1991. Twice in the past ten years, the school has been recognized by Redbook magazine as an outstanding school in the country, and in the Spring of 1995, by Ohio's Best Schools as an exemplary "Break the Mold School." In 1997, the school was recognized by Business Week magazine as one of ten schools in the nation for Instructional Innovation with an Arts-Driven Curriculum. The International Network for Performing and Visual Arts Schools selected Fort Hayes as the Outstanding School for the 1997–98 school year.
FHMEC reflects the cultural, economic, religious and ethnic diversity of the urban community it serves: 51 percent African-American; 47 percent Caucasian; nearly 4 percent Asian-American; and less than 1 percent Hispanic students. Sixty-three percent of the students are female. Students bring a variety of religious beliefs: Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu, and Taoist. Approximately 30 percent of the students reside in low-income households. With some exceptions, the remaining 70 percent reside in middle-income households. Over 1100 students, 80-plus faculty, and five administrators are located on the total campus in the course of a school day.
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In 2002 Hans Bruno Lund introduced the concept
"Multicomplex Management (MCM)" as a platform
for a new series of management concepts and tools,
e.g. "Expected Creative Potential (ECP)", desig-
ned as personal tools for the CEO of large, multicom-
plex organizations in addition to the traditional mana-
gement concepts and tools.
As of January 2010 the new concepts / tools "Multicomplex Management (MCM)" and "Expected Creative Potential (ECP)" were referred to on more than 800.000 websites or 40.000.000 webpages.
Literature:
Lund, Hans Bruno
Multicomplex Management (MCM)
Version 3
CD-ROM, 741 colored illustrations
Hans Bruno Lund
Skodsborg
Denmark
2009
A multicomplex organization:
Organization Structure Model used: Nordic Industrial Fund - Nordic Council of Ministers - Bio & Chemistry Division (BCD) - Division REI-activities (Research / Education / Innovation): 5 programmes: NordFood, Nordic Wood, NordPap, NordBio and NordYeast; 748 projects; 6.000 participating private and public companies, institutions, organizations and agencies in 62 countries. BCD connected 180.000 researchers, operators, engineers, technicians and company, organization and agency executives (1998). BCD was - in combination with NordTek (the organization managing the cooperation of the 23 Nordic technical universities) - the largest industrial and technological REI-network in Northern Europe. BCD was a 27.000 ECP Organization connecting 278.000 people totalling 2.7 million ECP. Photo on Picture 1: Hans Bruno Lund visiting the governor of Oulu province, Finland Dr. Eino Siuruainen during a NordTek seminar.
Hans Bruno Lund
Contact: hansbrunolund@hotmail.com
Pictures to Multicomplex Management (MCM): 1, 2, 3, ... , 16.
Multicomplex Management (MCM) Pictures:
Picture 1 - 9 on Page 1
Picture 10 on Page 2
Picture 11 - 12 on Page 6
Picture 13 - 15 on Page 7
Picture 16 on Page 8
Multicomplex Management (MCM) is explained in Picture 2.
Expected Creative Potential (ECP) is explained in Picture 2.
NORDIC INDUSTRIAL FUND
BIO & CHEMISTRY DIVISION (BCD)
RESEARCH SUBJECTS A - K:
Comment: are symboles for REI-areas which could
not be transferred from the original file.
Absorbent (413)
Acetylering (366)
Actin (NY13)
Acustic (240)
Adsorption (291/497)
Aerobic (056/059)
Aeromonas (442)
Affald (197/369) XMX
Affedtning (571)
Akvakultur (339/378/448/483)
Alkoholfuktvatten - Offset (574)
Alkyl-aryl-aromater (309)
Al-legering (202)
Aluminium (680)
Ammonia (047/462)
Anaerobic (100)(50%)
Anaerobic Processes (099-102)
Ändträförsegling (265) XMX
Animal Cell Cultures (047/421)
Antibodies (054/554)
Antimicrobial Activity (068)
AOX (087)
Aquaculture (461)
Aquaform (362)
Aroma development (073-076)
Aroma Transfer in PET (104)
Aromater (309)
ARS1 plasmids (NY11)
Aseptic Safety (126) XMX
Aseptic Symposium (521) XMX
Aseptiska processer (338) XMX
Associativa förtjockare (337)
Atlanterhavslaks (339)
Atlantic cod (065)
Atlantisk laks (378)
Automatisk prickräkning (166)
Avfallsfiber (197) XMX
Avgaser från stålugn (204) XMX
Avloppsvatten (5.3/167) XMX
Avsvärtningsteknologi (227)
Bacon (075)
Bacteria (057/090)
Bacteria (066)(067)(068)(069)(070)(072)
Bacteriocins (070/072)
Bakning - Energi (229) XMX
Bakteriell njurinflammation (347)
Balticum II(722)
Barley (049/050/052/055) XMX
Barriär och migration (171)
Bättre finpapper (432)
Beer (121) XMX
BENEFISH (570)
Benzyl (303)
Bergarter (674)
Bestruket papper (158/159)
Betonelement (375)
Betonelementer (686)
Betong (266/516)
Bildanalys (318)
Billedanalyse (138)
Bioautomation (630)
BioAutomation(533)
Biodegradation (090/092/093) XMX
Biofixation (094-098) XMX
Biofunktionella färgsystem (403)
Biogasproduktion (354) XMX
Biohydrometallurgi (397/479) XMX
Bioleaching (095) XMX
Biological Degradation (091/439) XMX
Biological fixation (094) XMX
Biological off-gas treatment (481) XMX
Biologisk gasrening (400) XMX
Biologisk marksanering (465) XMX
Biomass (249/498) XMX
Bioorganic synthesis (061)
Bioorganisk syntese (380)
Bioorganiska synteser (333)
Biopreservation (067)
Biopreservation (067-072)
Bioprocess Engineering (037-048)
Bioreactor (037/040/041)
Bioreactors (045/046)
BioRecNetwork(542)
Bioremediation (090) XMX
Biosamarbete Norden Europa (459)
Bioseminar (468)
Biosensors (043)
Biosorbents (096)
Biosurfaktanter (453)
BIOTANNOR (595) XMX
Biotechnica Hannover (474)
Biotechnology (031-102)
Bioteknik (329/349/426)
Bioteknisk metallutvinning (502) XMX
Biotekniska metoden (2.2.1.4)
Biotekniske substanser (377)
Biotekniske substanser (454)
Bioteknologi (466/490/507)
Bioteknologi (355)
Bioteknologikonference (424)
Biotester (168/170)
Bjelkelag (575)
Blandsyra (212)
Blåvilling (217)
Blekning (148) XMX
Blekningens miljöpåverkan (239) XMX
Bleksteg (143) XMX
Blekteknik (143-152/632) XMX
Blockpolymerer (307)
Branching enzymes (051)
Brandsäkra trähus (179/622)
Broer i tre (184/626)
Brokarage event (526)
Brus (153/155)
BSC (077/078/081)
Bullerskärmar i trä (187) XMX
Byggkomponenter (532)
Bygninger - Miljø (615) XMX
Car.pis. (069)
Carbohydrates (054/520)
Catalysis (425)
Cell Cultures (047)
Cell cycle gene cdc 21 (NY29)
Cell response (039)
Cellteknologi (421)
Cellular Development (458)
Cellulase (031/060)
Cellulase enzymes (032)
Cellulose (057/141)
Cerealier (263)
Chlorinated compounds (085) XMX
Chromgarvning (200) XMX
CIMFISK (563)
Cis-acting mutations (NY30)
Civil Guard (409) XMX
Cleaner Production (120) XMX
Cloned Polysaccharide Genes (509) XMX
Cloning (051/055/060/NY02/) XMX
Cloning (NY03/NY05) XMX
CO2-extraktion (414)
Cod (065)
Cod trypsin (034)
Collagenolytic enzymes (066)
Concentration gradients (039)
Control Methods (118)
Crude Oil Emulsions (475)
Cryotin (065)
Cured in bag bacon (075)
Cyclodextrin (631)
Dairies (119)
Dairy Hygiene (117) XMX
DAIRYNI (616)
Data Management Waste Water (450) XMX
Databases (035)
Datasystem - Fiskeindustrien (557)
Datorprogram Limträ (178)
Defibrering (488)
Degradation (091/100/439) XMX
Dehydrogenases (060)
Denitrifikation (491) XMX
Design of enzymes (356)
Destillationsregulering (359)
Dewatering of Sludges (089/438) XMX
Dextrin (631)
Dextrinase (055)
Dieelektrisk spektroskopi (135)
DIXI (612)
Djuptryck (515)
Djurkroppar (542)
DNA
DNA coding (NY03)
DNA gene sequence (NY08/NY28)
DNA polymeraser (431)
DNA-metoder (384)
DNA-symposium (401)
Doktorandutbytte (555)
Dörrar (183/546)
Dryforming paper (231) XMX
Dynabeads (471)
EDI i træindustrin (599)
EDISAW - Norden (182/588)
Egenskaper (178-179)
EG-netværk (463)
Electronic Miniturisation (629)
Elektronmikroskopi (137)
Emulgerte system (436)
Emulsioner (296)
Emulsions (112)
Energi (608) XMX
Energi biomassa (249) XMX
Energisnåla metoder (619)
Energy metabolism control (048)
Environm. Beer Production (121) XMX
Environm. Biotechnology (085-102) XMX
Environment (120-122) XMX
Environmental Seafloor mapping (496) XMX
Enzymatic lipid modification (083)
Enzymatic Modification (082-084)
Enzymatic modifications of lipids (084)
Enzymatisk affedtning (571)
Enzymatisk peptidsyntes (251)
Enzyme Catalysis (425)
Enzymer (147/571)
Enzymer fra marine råstoffer (297)
Enzymes (090/356/635)
Enzymes in yeast (NY24)
Enzymes/Lipids-stipend (511)
EPI (592) XMX
EROD-aktiviteten (169)
Eucaryotic tRNA (NY26)
EUREIN (613)
Eurodyn (398)
Europastandarder (165-176)
Evaluation - NordBio (606)
Expertsystem Medicin (270)
Expression of genes (NY02)
Fab domain (NY16)
Fabrik för blekt massa (277) XMX
Facadefilm (685)
Färg (155/207/237/335) XMX
Färgbrusmätning (155)
Färger (291/294) XMX
Färgers reologi (335)
Färgsystem (403) XMX
Fartøy (712)
Fartyg (290)
Fasadytor (541/573)
Fat (386)
Fatty Acid Synthethases (452)
Fatty acids (063)
Fermentated sausage (074)
Fermentation (038/076/079)
FerroAlloys (687)
Fiber (136/197)
Fiberåtervinning (2.3) XMX
Fiberlindningsteknologi (295)
Fibermaterial (2.1)
Fiberväggens egenskaper (2.2.3)
FIMS (562)
Fingerskarvning (597)
Finkemikalieområdet (286)
Fish Packaging (103) XMX
Fish Transportation (103) XMX
Fisk (124/169/395/557/558/563)
Fisk (267)
Fisk (564/568/570/594/609/617)
Fiskavfallenzym (268) XMX
Fiskeoppdrett (301)
Fiskeriutbildning (219)
Fiskfars (247) XMX
Fiskindustriell vattenvård (206) XMX
Fiskodling (292/412) XMX
Fission yeast (NY08/NY27/NY29
Fixation (094) XMX
Fjernvarmerør (352)
Flexotryckning (495)
Flow injection (048)
Flow processes (040)
Fluid dynamics (037)
Fluorescence (111)
FMS i nordisk treindustri (188)
Foaming in bioreactors (044)
Fönster (183/537/560)
Food (607/616/618)
Food Biotechnology (067-084)
Food Brokerage (593)
Food Fat (129)
Food Hygiene (116-119) XMX
Food Packaging (103-106/605) XMX
Förgasning torv (254) XMX
Förpackningar (548)
Forskerseminar (569)
Förstudie kemiområdet (260)
Förtjockare (337)
Förureningar (5.2)
Fouling av membran (264)
Friktion (174)
Frysfartyg (290)
Frysing (284)
Fuktvatten (574)
Functional starch types (053)
Furu kjernved (531)
Fyrfärgsproduktion (237)
Fytokemi (289)
Garvning (194/200/242/246/278) XMX
Garvning (595) XMX
Gas (191/254/345/354/400/481) XMX
Gasrensning (400) XMX
Gener (NY02)
Genetic recombination (NY07)
Genteknik - Utställning (456)
Genteknologi (327)
Geometriska tolleranser (218)
Geotermiska gaser (345) XMX
Ginsing (258)
Glasfiber (679)
Gluten (215)
Grafiska produkter (241)
Grain (132)
Gram-positive cocci (NY17)
Gran (536)
Gravity Ice Island (236) XMX
Grundvandsrensning (486) XMX
Gruvvatten (298) XMX
Hallbyggnader i limtræ (577)
Hälleflundra (483)
Hållfastighet - Træ (624)
Hårdförkromningsmetal (415)
Havskatt (483)
Health (128)
Heavy Metals (094-098) XMX
Hemaglutinin (NY12)
Hemicellulose (057)
Hepatocyter (169)
Hesteblod (336)
Heuristics (042)
HH Stansning (536)
High Pressure (130)
Hippoglossus (346)
Höga tryck (248)
Household waste (100) XMX
Høyutbyttemassa (330) XMX
HPLC control (041)
Hudpermeation (358)
Hum. mon. antikroppar (344/422)
Human parathyroid hormone (NY09/372)
Hushållsavfall (434) XMX
Hydrofobe fasadefilmer (573)
Hydrofobering (315)
Hydrogen Al-legering (202)
Hydrokarbonkjemi (281)
Hydrolytic Enzymes (064-066)
Hydrothermal Grain (132)
Hygiene (075/116-119) XMX
Hygienic Milk Packages (106) XMX
Hygienisering foder (273) XMX
Hygienproblem (470) XMX
Hygienproblem (503) XMX
Hyperbarisk CO2 (325)
Iminobenzyl (303)
Immunologi (478)
Immuntechnology (510)
Immunteknologi-NW (517)
Impregnerat virke (545)
Industrial Enzymes (056-058/635)
Industrial waste (100) XMX
Industrisamarbejde Island/Norden (353)
Infektionsskydd (304)
Influenza virus (NY12)
Inneklimasystem (416) XMX
Inorganic pyrophosphatase (NY18)
Inorganic pyrophosphate (NY04)
Instant pulping (256)
INVIS-projektet (602)
Islandsk perlit (203)
Japan (185)
Järnverk (190) XMX
Jäst- och växtceller (324)
Jästgenetik (276)
Jordrensning (486) XMX
Katalysatorgifte (391)
Katalysatorgifter (280)
Kem.mek. massa (550) XMX
Kemikalier (286)
Kemiområdet (260)
Kemisk massa (144/145) XMX
Keramer 01 (640)
Keramer 02 (641)
Keramer 03 (642)
Keramer 04 (643)
Keramer 05 (644)
Keramer 06 (645)
Klima (416) XMX
Kloningsvektorer (310)
Klorfria bleksteg (143) XMX
Kloridåtervinning (192) XMX
Kloridutstötning (209) XMX
Köksfläktar (238)
Kolhydrater (393)
Kompositter 01
Kompositter 02
Kompositter 03
Kompositter 04
Kompositter 05
Kompositter 06
Kompositter 07
Konfokal mikroskopi (138)
Konkurrenceevne (389)
Konsumentförpackningar (548)
Koordinatmålemaskiner (514)
Korntørring (539)
Korrosion (207/223/224/274)
Kreftrisiko (387) XMX
Kvalitet (220)
Literature
Lund, Hans Bruno
Multicomplex Management (MCM)
Version 3
CD-ROM, 741 colored illustrations
Dr. Hans Bruno Lund, Management Consultant
Skodsborg
Denmark
2009
Not available in libraries
Lost in Paradise
from Tim Robertson
robertsontim66@gmail.com
Sep 15， 2014
Dear Friends and Family,
I am back in China again after my summer of “couch surfing” as my daughters would call it. Since I had no friends in the Los Angeles area, the five days I spent there seeing Miranda at Moorpark College cost me more than the rest of my two months in the States. In addition to showing me her work in the teaching zoo, Miranda took me to see a Hindu Temple, Malibu Beach and Universal Studios, all somewhat iconic in their own ways. Because it was Labor Day weekend, the places were crowded and I felt like a tourist in a foreign land observing the strange customs of the natives. The waves of the Pacific Ocean seemed to be beckoning me to cross over to the other side, which is what I did the next day. It seemed that the most stressful part of the journey was getting through LA traffic to the airport and getting through security before the flight. I was thankful to be able to get a new ticket since I had made the silly mistake of not using my full name while booking my international ticket online. Not doing that again!
The day before my flight, the recruiting agency sent me an message to ask if I could arrive two days earlier. Since I was west bound instead of east bound I could not arrive earlier than I left – my powers of time travel are somewhat limited that way. I suspected that something was up, because they had previously insisted on my arriving later. So I skipped my extra day in Shanghai to see my sister and friends from Fuyang and went straight to the train station the next morning after arriving at 9:00 the previous evening. I took the train from a different station, closer than the one I had used earlier in June. I managed to get on the 10:00 train just before it left by dropping my bags and jamming my hand between the doors as they closed. I had not realized it was leaving so soon since there was no crowd for me to follow - which is what I usually do. When I sat down I seemed to be the only passenger in that car so I briefly enjoyed the feeling of being a majority - of one - until the next stop when I saw two men sitting in the front. At any rate, I was able to find the office in Hangzhou by taking a bus, a train, the subway and a taxi before noon.
On my arrival at the office, the first item of business confirmed my suspicions that all would not go as I expected. I was informed that I would be teaching at Zhejiang University of Technology near the center of the city instead the small private vocational technical college in the suburbs that I had applied for and been accepted three months earlier. I do not know if I could have refused, but they said that the university was the second most respected one in Zhejiang Province and they wanted the best teachers, so I was recommended to them. I wonder if that was really true or if it was merely flattery to get me to go along with change, but it worked. It seems that ZUT was unable to fulfill their usual number of teachers through a program that sends new graduates to them from Princeton and Harvard and desperate to fill the gap. So I was the first teacher to be recruited by this agency to work there and of course they welcomed the opportunity. As it is, I will be one of only six foreign English teachers instead of the eight that the university had requested.
The next item on the agenda was to go over the contract and sign it before I had time to go to see the campus or my apartment. At that point I was so exhausted and in need of a good sleep due to the time difference and loss of sleep on the plane, that all I wanted to do was get into a bed. I chose to go directly to the apartment instead of stay in a hotel so I was driven to my new apartment by private car. It is on the sixth floor without an elevator. (Most apartment buildings in China have only six floors, which is the maximum before they are required to have an elevator.) When I arrived, I met the administrator and the building manager who gave me the keys and showed me where it was. Fortunately it has air-conditioning since I was sweating profusely from the heat and the exertion of hauling my luggage to the top floor.
My first night I awoke to the sensation of the whole building swaying and I thought it must have been an earthquake, but after waking three more times, I realized the trembling must be caused by passage of heavy trucks on the busy street below. It would be interesting to find out what it would feel like in an actual earthquake, but I am willing pass up on that experience and hope I don’t find out. Fortunately this area does not get earth quakes like Szechuan Province in the eastern part of the country, otherwise this building may not have been here so long. The next morning I had to go get my health check repeated since the one I did three months ago was in Anhui province and would not be accepted by a public university in Zhejiang. I got a ride to the subway station with my friendly next door neighbor only to find out I had brought the wrong wallet which had only US dollars instead of Chinese Ren Min Bi to pay for my ticket. I found my way back to my apartment on foot, exchanged wallets and walked to another subway station several blocks away, and still arrived early to my meeting with my recruiter.
After going through the battery of about a dozen tests again, in about a half hour, I was glad this was socialized medicine, where I am treated very efficiently like a number instead of having to wait for an personal appointment. I then returned to the office by subway and found the boxes I had shipped from Fuyang in June and got them back up to my apartment where I began to unpack. The next two days I slept and rearranged the furniture to my liking. I could not figure out why the bed was in the living room area, until I moved it to the bedroom and found out the traffic noise was much louder, since it faced the street in front of the building. I am gradually getting used to sleeping through the constant background noise and the feeling of sleeping on Jell-O. A student named Alex was assigned to help me find my way around the campus and take me to the local shopping center. She was most helpful and I was able to get a lot of things done on my list – like the all-important internet connection.
On Sunday I found the location of the Hangzhou International Christian Fellowship on the map and found my way there by walking and subway. The congregation of foreigners (Chinese citizens are not allowed to attend) is made up mostly of students from various African countries. So the worship style is a mixture of contemporary songs, southern Black gospel and African rhythms which is a new experience for me. I have to admit that I dozed of listening to the American (white) teacher since his delivery was quite dry (in comparison) and I needed the sleep. It is a great encouragement to meet friendly people, many of whom have lived here many years. This is a spiritual benefit of living in a major city in China with a significant ex-patriot community, unlike Fuyang.
The next day was Mid-autumn Festival so I got my bicycle out of the shipping crate and put it back together. I then decided to go see West Lake, one of the most famous tourist sites in China. I rode around the lake and noticed how the causeways were thick with pedestrians as they walked across the lake and over the low arching bridges. On the far side of the lake I was surprised to find myself riding into the low hills between tea plantations that produce the best tea in China – according to the locals. I resolved to return another day when I have more energy to climb one of several mountain peaks on the west side of the city. Deep emerald green forest and well maintained gardens create the impression of a subtropical paradise. The lake is lined with the stately and classic architecture of luxury resorts, sumptuous restaurants and traditional tea houses. I noticed a traffic jam at Lei Feng Tower which was built to commemorate a tragic love story that had happened at this lake according to ancient mythology. Unfortunately they were charging an entrance fee so I decided I would wait until I have actually made some money here.
As I returned along the shoreline close to the downtown area I was seduced into stopping to watch the gondolas floating on the lake, the brightly lit dinner party boats and the various street performers that drew crowds. Although I had planned to make the trip in two hours, darkness arrived before I could tear myself away and begin my return to campus. I had brought a map to help guide me back, but in the dark I became hopelessly disoriented and had to stop several times to ask for directions. After getting various contradictory directions, I realized I was being sent to the other ZUT Campus which caused me to ride around in circles for a couple of hours. By the time I got back it was 9:00pm and I needed to find dinner quickly, so I went to the place called “Dirty Alley” to buy some street food as I often did at my previous school. By comparison, the conditions here are much cleaner than Fuyang but the fried noodles were not nearly as good to my taste.
I spent the last week catching up on sleep and trying to get my stuff organized in the available living space – an ongoing project. I was able to contact two of the veteran teachers (not Ivy Leaguers) from previous years who were very helpful in giving advice from several years of teaching here and elsewhere in China. I did not get my class schedule until Friday since it had to be revised for only six teachers. Although my contract is for a maximum of 20 hours, I was given 26 class hours to teach, and I was dismayed to find that the school will not pay overtime as is stated in my contract About half of my classes will be post-graduate students, and the rest will be first and second and third year students. About half of the classes will be at the old campus near downtown (which is across the street from my apartment) and the other half will be at the new campus, which is about an hour away by shuttle bus. My schedule requires that I do the two hour round trip commute four days each week.
On Saturday I was able to swap two of the classes which I have never taught before (Advanced Writing and Western Media) with a veteran teacher for more oral English classes and reduce my class hours to 24 per week. I also met the three new teachers who really are from Princeton and Harvard – in China, one never knows. As often happens when I move to a new location I picked up a local flu bug that I spent the weekend recovering from. Today is Monday and I taught my first class. When I arrived at the classroom I found I had stupidly left my memory stick in my computer at my apartment, so I returned to get it during the class break between the two sessions and my bike lock jammed. Other than these two minor disasters, I felt the class went as well as could be expected. I hope I am learning from my mistakes, since I am making so many of them.
As always I count on your prayers and Divine Providence to see me through the various obstacles and barriers that pop up as regularly as a video game - or a pinball game if you remember those. I am constantly amazed at what God has brought me through and stressing out over the new ones that I am facing each day. This is by far the biggest city I have lived in and the greatest teaching challenge that I have faced, “and all I have to do is follow.”
May His goodness and mercy follow you,
Tim
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from Tim Robertson, robertsontim66@gmail.com
Aug 17, 2014
Dear Friends and Family,
In a month’s time I will be occupied with my new classes at Yuying Vocational Technical College in Hangzhou and too busy to write. Since I have the time now I will keep up with my schedule of writing this monthly newsletter to stay in touch with all of you. I am now in Sequim, WA and staying in Stan and Patti Chapple’s basement apartment. They have graciously allowed me to store the boxes of books, clothing and leftovers from my previous life here. I have been sorting through the stuff to find some useful items that I can take back with me and adding a few others that I brought with me from Michigan. I am thankful for the free storage since it would hardly be worth paying good money for storage of detritus pressed down by time.
I look forward to the challenges and changes that I will face in Hangzhou and try not to form too many expectations that are sure to be altered by reality. I know the culture will be much different since Zhejiang is considered to the wealthiest province in China due to its proximity to Shanghai which is the largest city in the world and is governed as a separate municipality (one of four in China) rather than being part of a province. Since Anhui province is the poorest province in China (by per capita income), and Fuyang, my former city of residence, was probably the poorest part of Anhui, I will no doubt be experiencing a certain level of culture shock. Hangzhou has a subway system, connections by fast train and an international airport, not to mention a much higher cost of living. Although my salary will remain largely the same, I will not be able to live on 25% of it, and save the rest as I was able to do in Fuyang.
For that reason among others, I am considering taking on the additional responsibility of training other English teachers for Echo English, the recruiting agency with which I have signed my contract. The Academic Director has just sent me a job description as part of a proposal to teach other foreign teachers that they have hired to work in various places in China. (Most foreign English teachers only stay one or two years, so they are usually lacking in experience and training.) They seem to think that I am qualified and I am reluctant to try and convince them otherwise, although I definitely feel that way. I have not yet received a contract for that job, so I am waiting for more details before I commit to another new role for myself. Since I have not yet received my class schedule from the college, I am not sure whether I will have the time to commute across town by subway to put in four or five hours at the Echo office each week. It is likely that I will be teaching both first and second year students at the college which will require additional lesson preparation time. Being the only foreign English teacher on campus may also bring other duties and expectations that I am not currently aware of.
After being away for so long (especially from Stanton) it is interesting for me to look for the changes that have happened during my time in China. But the biggest differences are changes that have happened to me. I find myself noticing things that would not have attracted my attention before and seeing details that seem strange to my altered state of perception. For example, I have been noticing cemeteries which do not exist in traditional Chinese culture. As I went cycling through the fields and villages near Fuyang, I would sometimes stop at random points to count the burial mounds that I could see without turning around – usually between 20 and 30. Sometimes there were groups of 10 or 20 clustered together with black stone markers that stood three to four feet tall with personal details and poetry carved on it, but usually the brown conical mounds are scattered somewhat randomly through the small family plots of ground that provide subsistence to most rural village dwellers. Only close relatives can be depended upon to maintain the grave sites of their ancestors and this strengthens the filial bonds that bind families together with the land.
Tomb Sweeping Day (aka Qing Ming Festival, often translated as Chinese Memorial Day or Ancestor’s Day), was reinstated in 2008 as a national holiday and is held in April each year. My first impression was that it was celebrated to remind families of their duties to perform rituals for their ancestors as required by the teachings of Confucius. But on further research I found that the date was originally designated in 732 AD by the Emperor in the Tang dynasty in order to limit the time and money spent on expensive and extravagant ceremonies honoring departed family members. Now the concern of the government is that so much of the scarce fertile land is taken up by burial mounds that there is not enough land left for food production. The burial mounds of dark soil are also an obstruction to mechanized farming so that many small farms must use manual labor to till, plant and harvest the wheat in May and the corn in September.
Since Anhui is largely an agricultural province, the provincial government has recently begun to enforce the law against burying bodies. As part of the ban, police have been raiding local carpentry shops to destroy the coffins that are on sale for traditional burials. News stories (*see below) tell of elderly people killing themselves in order to be buried before the deadline of June 1st this year and thus escape the penalty of breaking the law and the necessity of cremation. With the announcement of changes to the residential registration system, 13 million people each year are moving from the rural areas into booming cities to get jobs, better education and health care. Many are reluctant to move as it will mean giving up the security of growing their own food and abandoning the tombs of their ancestors.
The loss of family members recently has made me more sympathetic to their concerns. After the burial of my mother in the cemetery next to my father I spent some time wandering among the headstones and noticing the names on them. Although I left Stanton right after my high school graduation in 1976, I saw surprised at how many names I recognized and remembered those people who I used to know. I found the graves of many former teachers, neighbors, paper route customers and church members among the markers that date as far back as Civil War dead. This being the only large hill in town, we would often come to “cemetery hill” to go sledding in the winter. Now I notice a sign the prohibits that activity out of concern for the danger of hitting grave stones and trees on the steep slope. When I visited once more before leaving I was struck by the wild flowers blooming around the edges of the gravesite and felt God had planted and caused them to grow for both of them.
Since that time I have been noticing the small green cemeteries in each town with small white headstones and colorful flowers and thinking how they express the traditional beliefs of Christians. Although Americans are known for highly valuing individualism and private property, they share the community space set aside for honoring the dead, while Chinese, known for their values of community and family, honor their dead privately on land that they do not own and are abandoning in large numbers. Perhaps that reflects the expectation of Christians that they will rise together to eternal life at the second coming of Christ, while the majority of Chinese traditionally believe in the reincarnation of individuals after they die. as taught by Buddhism. The only color at a gravesite in China is usually the red paper left from exploded firecrackers and remains of burned incense, “spirit money” and fake ingots of gold and silver for the next life, after which they will die again.
I am looking forward to living in Hangzhou, which is considered to be one of the most beautiful cities in China because of its natural scenery. Much of its reputation is due to the famous West Lake gardens which are pictured on the one-Yuan note and have been recreated in Japan and Korea. Another interesting feature is the Qiantang River which runs close to the Yuying College campus and is famous for having the highest tidal bore in the world which can be as high as 30 feet and travel up to 25 miles an hour inland from the East China Sea. The city is the capital of Zhejiang Province and is the fourth largest metropolitan area in China with a population of over 21 million people. I am looking forward to being able to cycling on top of the levy along the river as the tide changes and watching the “Silver Dragon” sweep up the river and into the harbor. Yes, they actually hold surfing competitions in the Qiantang River!
As you may have noticed, I am not one to take a lot of pictures, but I may have to change that and send along some to you in future newsletters. I have been looking at some of the pictures my mother gave me from the many photo albums that she kept of our large family. Many of them are of me as a young boy in the villages of the Ashaninka people where we lived on the headwaters of the upper tributaries of the Amazon River. There are some of the missionary boarding school in Tournavista, named after R. G. Letourneau who built the town and the school for MKs. Looking back, I can see many differences and similarities to what I am doing now. My father and mother went out as singles to the mission field where they got to know each other in a small Ashaninka village where they were both working. Dad was 32 when he married mom and they had 6 children, 5 of whom were born in Peru. As I go out alone to China, I feel a sense of following a pattern. I will live with the students on campus and enjoy the adventure of walking by faith.
I remember the old hymn sung at my mother’s funeral, “Here I raise my Ebenezer, hither by Thy help I’ve come.” (Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing)
Thank-you for remembering to pray for me as I seek to represent Christ.
Tim
P.S. *Article: www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2639757/Elderly-Chinese-...
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Tim Robertson's posts about his time as an English teacher in Anhui at the Fuyang Teachers College are uploaded at: www.flickr.com/photos/ray_mahoney/9114089397/in/photostream, www.flickr.com/photos/ray_mahoney/8302698850/in/photostream, www.flickr.com/photos/ray_mahoney/14217075257/in/photostream; www.flickr.com/photos/ray_mahoney/9012874492/
Having just arrived back from Salalah in the south of Oman, I really couldn’t help looking over some of the shots and choosing one to blog straight away.
Salalah is a city in the Dhofar region in the south of Oman, close to the border with Yemen and during the northern summer months it experiences a very different kind of weather than the rest of the region. Because of the Indian Ocean monsoon season, it gets quite a lot of storms and rain, which makes the sea agitated and full of waves.
Taking full advantage of the cooler ocean were a lot of camels who really seemed to enjoy having the waves washing over their legs. It’s an unexpected site, as camels just don’t seem to belong by the ocean. It’s probably because as we grow up, we’re always told that camels are these mighty animals that survive for days in the desert, without the need for any water. Yet here they are, enjoying a day at the beach!
To view the blog entry go to: www.momentaryawe.com/blog/?p=2929
Brockdish is one of three parish churches within about a mile that can be seen from the A143, but only the top of the tower is visible when heading north, and only fleetingly. THe only other clue is the truncated Church Lane which cuts across the main road, the name of which indicates the nearby church.
I came here at about eleven in the morning, having visited Oulton in Suffolk earlier, and wasn't expecting to find it open to be honest. But I heard the bells being rung, or at least pealing in intermittent intervals, the reason being some people were being given lessons.
Three cars were parked in the lane beside the church, which you reach by traveling up a green lane north out of the village before taking the track to the church.
The door to the tower, where the bellringers were being taught was ajar, and I could have gone up, but instead I go to the porch to try the door, and finding it open, I go inside lest someone comes and closes it.
Soon I am joined inside by the warden who is surprised, but pleased, to find a visitor: she is there to make teas for the ringers, and would I like one?
My breath had already been taken away by the tiles in the chancel, which are of exceptional quality. Tiles are something easily overlooked, and indeed many were clearly bought from catalogues, and so many are similar, but when more attention to detail was given, when extra quality was installed, it shines through.
I was told by the warden that the oldest glass had been purchased by the then vicar in Italy, certainly the three panels are ancient and European.
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When I first visited this church in 2005, it was with something of a sinking heart to arrive at the third church in a row that was locked without a keyholder notice. Today, nothing could be further from the truth. In the south porch there is a large notice now which reads Come in and enjoy your church! Fabulous stuff.
The trim graveyard includes some substantial memorials to the Kay family, including one massive structure with an angel under a spire which would not look out of place opposite the Royal Albert Hall. No expense was spared by the Victorians here at Brockdish. The rebuilding was paid for by the Rector, George France, who also advised architect Frederick Marable on exactly what form this vision of the medieval should take. The tower above is curiously un-East Anglian, looking rather unusual surrounded by Norfolk fields. All around the building headstops are splendid, and fine details like faux-consecration crosses on the porch show that France was generally a man who knew what a medieval church should look like.
It will not surprise you to learn that St Peter and St Paul is similarly grand on the inside, if a touch severe. France actually devised a church much more Anglo-catholic than we find it today; it was toned down by the militantly low church Kay family later in the century. They took down the rood and replaced it with a simple cross, painting out the figures on the rood screen as well. When I first visited, the very helpful churchwarden who'd opened up for me observed that Brockdish is the only church in Norfolk that has stained glass in every window, which isn't strictly true (Harleston, three miles away, has as well) but we can be thankful that, thanks to the Reverend France's fortunes, it is of a very good quality. The glass seems to have been an ongoing project, because some of it dates from the 1920s. In keeping with low church tradition, the glass depicts mainly Biblical scenes and sayings of Christ rather than Saints, apart from the church's two patron Saints in the east window of the chancel. There are also some roundels in the east window of the south aisle, which appear to be of continental glass. They depict the Adoration of the Magi, the deposition of Christ, what appears to be Paharoah's daughter with the infant Moses, and the heads of St Matthias, St John the Evangelist, and Christ with a Crown of Thorns. However, I suspect that at least some of them are the work of the King workshop of Norwich, and that only the Deposition and the Old Testament scene are genuinely old.
If this is rather a gloomy church on a dark day, it is because of the glass in the south clerestory, a surprisingly un-medieval detail - the whole point of a clerestory was to let light reach the rood. The glass here is partly heraldic, partly symbolic. The stalls in the chancel are another faux-medieval detail - there was never a college of Priests here - but they looked suspiciously as if they might contain old bench ends within the woodwork. Not all is false, because the chancel also contains an unusual survival from the earlier church, a tombchest which may have been intended as an Easter Sepulchre.
Above all, the atmosphere is at once homely and devotional, not least because of the exceptional quality of the tiled sanctuary, an increasingly rare beast because they were so often removed in the 1960s and 1970s, when Victorian interiors were unfashionable. Brockdish's is spectacular, a splendid example that has caught the attention of 19th century tile enthusiasts and experts nationally.
Also tiled is the area beneath the tower, which France had reordered as a baptistery. The font has recently been moved back into the body of the church; presumably, whoever supplies the church's liability insurance had doubts about godparents standing with their backs to the steps down into the nave.
I liked Brockdish church a lot; I don't suppose it gets a lot of visitors, but it is a fine example of what the Victorians did right.
Simon Knott, June 2005, revisited and updated July 2010
www.norfolkchurches.co.uk/brockdish/brockdish.htm
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Is the next adjoining town eastward, through which the great road passes to Yarmouth; on the left hand of which, stands the church, on a hill by itself, there being no house near it but the parsonage, which joins to the east side of the churchyard. The advowson always belonged to the Earl's manor here, with which it now continues.
In Norwich Domesday we read, that the rector had a house and 30 acres of land, that it was then valued at 15 marks, and paid as it now doth for synodals 1s. 9d. procurations 6s. 8d. and 12d. Peter-pence. It stands in the King's Books thus:
10l. Brokedish rectory. 1l. yearly tenths.
And consequently pays first-fruits, and is incapable of augmentation. The church stands included in the glebe, which is much the same in quantity as it was when the aforesaid survey was taken. It is in Norfolk archdeaconry, Redenhall deanery, and Duke of Norfolk's liberty, though he hath no lete, warren, paramountship, or superiour jurisdiction at all in this town, the whole being sold by the family along with the manors of the town.
In 1603, there were 103 communicants here, and now there are 50 families, and about 300 inhabitants; it was laid to the ancient tenths at 4l. but had a constant deduction of 14s. on account of lands belonging to the religious, so that the certain payment to each tenth, was 3l. 6s.
The Prior of St. Faith at Horsham owned lands here, which were taxed at 2s. 6d. in 1428.
The Prior of Thetford monks had lands here of the gift of Richard de Cadomo or Caam, (fn. 1) who gave them his land in Brokedis, and a wood sufficient to maintain 20 swine, in the time of King Henry I. when William Bigot, sewer to that King, gave to this priory all the land of Sileham, which from those monks is now called Monks-hall manor, and the water-mill there; all which Herbert Bishop of Norwich conveyed to his father, in exchange for other lands, he being to hold it in as ample a manner as ever Herbert the chaplain did; and in Ric. the Second's time, the monks bought a piece of marsh ground in Brokedis, to make a way to their mill, which being not contained in the grant of Monks-hall manor from Hen. VIII. to the Duke of Norfolk, William Grice, Esq. and Charles Newcomen, who had a grant of such lands as they could find concealed from the Crown, seized on this as such; and upon their so doing, the owner of the mill was obliged to purchase it of them, by the name of Thetford-Mill-Way, and it hath ever since belonged to, and is constantly repaired by the owner thereof.
Rectors of Brockidish.
12 - - Robert
12 - - Sir Ralf de Creping, rector.
1313, Sir Stephen Bygod. The King, for this turn.
1324, Nic. le Mareschal. Tho. Earl of Norfolk and Marshal.
1326, Mathew Paumer, or Palmer. Ditto. He changed for Canefield-Parva in London diocese with
Master Robert de Hales. Ditto.
1333, John de Melburn. Ditto.
1355, Roger de Wombwell. Lady Eleanor and Thomas de Wingfield, attorneys to Sir John Wingfield, Knt.
1356, John Knyght of Exeter. Mary Countess-Marshal, widow of Tho. de Brotherton, who recovered the advowson by the King's writ, against Sir J. Wingfield, Knt. and Thomas his brother, William de Lampet and Alice his wife, and Catherine her sister, and so Wombwell was ejected.
1357, John de Esterford. Mary Countess-Marshal. He resigned in
1367, to John son of Catherine de Frenge, and he in
1368, to John Syward. Sir Walter Lord Manney.
1382, John de Balsham, who changed for Stowe St. Michael in Exeter diocese, with
Bartholomew Porter. Margaret Marshal, Countess of Norfolk.
1405, Sir John Dalyngho of Redcnhall. Eliz. Dutchess of Norf. in right of her dower.
1417, he exchanged with Thomes Barry, priest, for the vicarage of Berkyng church in London. John Lancaster, Ric. Sterisacre, and Rob. Southwell, attorneys to John Duke of Norfolk, EarlMarshal and Notyngham, who was beyond the seas. Barry resigned in
1422, to Sir Thomas Briggs, priest, who died rector. Ditto.
1454, Sir Hen. White, priest. John Duke of Norf. Earl-Marshal and Notingham, Marshal of England, Lord Mowbray, Segrave, and Gower. He resigned in
1455, to Sir Thomas Holm, priest. Ditto. And he in
1478, to John Nun. The King, as guardian to Richard Duke of York and Norfolk, and Lady Ann his wife, daughter and heir of John late Duke of Norfolk.
1491, John Mene; he had a union to hold another benefice.
1497, John Rogers, A. M. Eliz. Dutchess of Norfolk. He resigned in
1498, to Sir John Fisk, priest, chaplain to the Dutchess. Ditto. At whose death in
1511, Sir Robert Gyrlyng, chaplain to Thomas Earl of Surrey, had it of that Earl's gift: he was succeeded by
Sir William Flatberry, chaplain to Thomas Duke of Norfolk, who presented him; he resigned in
1540, to Sir Nic. Stanton, chaplain to his patron, Tho. Duke of Norf. Lord Treasurer and Earl-Marshal, and was succeeded by
William Hide, priest. Ditto. He resigned, and the Duke presented it in
1561, to Sir John Inman, priest, who was buried here Aug. 1, 1586.
1586, Aug. 4, Master Richard Gibson was instituted, who was buried Oct. 1, 1625; he was presented by Robert Nichols of Cambridge, by purchase of the turn from William le Grice, Gent. and Hester le Grice, wife of Charles le Grice, Gent. true patrons.
1625, William Owles, who held it united to Billingford. John Knapp of Brockdish, by grant of this turn. He was succeeded in
1645, by Brian Witherel, and he by
Mr. James Aldrich, who died rector Nov. 10, 1657, from which time somebody held it without institution, till the Restoration, and then receded, for in
1663, May 14, Sir Augustine Palgrave, patron of this turn, in right of Catherine his wife, presented George Fish, on the cession of the last incumbent; he was buried here Oct. 29, 1686.
1686, Thomas Palgrave, A.M. buried here March 24, 1724. Fran. Laurence, Gent.
1724, Abel Hodges, A.B. he held it united to Tharston, and died in 1729. Richard Meen, apothecary, for this turn.
1729, Richard Clark, LL. B. was instituted Dec. 3, and died about six weeks after. Mrs. Ellen Laurence of Castleacre, widow.
1730, Alan Fisher. Ditto. He resigned in
1738, and was succeeded by Robert Laurence, A. B. of Caius college, who lies buried at the south-east corner of the chancel, and was succeeded in
1739, by Francis Blomefield, clerk, the present rector, who holds it united to Fresfield rectory, being presented by Mrs. Ellen Laurence aforesaid.
The church is dedicated to the honour of the apostles St. Peter and Paul, and hath a square tower about 16 yards high, part of which was rebuilt with brick in 1714; there are five bells; the third, which is said to have been brought from Pulham in exchange, hath this on it;
Sancta Maria ora pro nobis.
and on the fourth is this,
Uirgo Coronata duc nos ad Regna beata.
The nave, chancel, and south isle are leaded, the south porch tiled, and the north porch is ruinated. The roof of this chancel is remarkable for its principals, which are whole trees without any joint, from side to side, and bent in such a rising manner, as to be agreeable to the roof. The chancel is 30 feet long and 20 broad, the nave is 54 feet long and 32 broad, and the south isle is of the same length, and 10 feet broad.
At the west end of the nave is a black marble thus inscribed,
Here lyeth buried the Body of Richard Wythe Gent. who departed this Life the 6 of Sept. 1671, who lived 64 Years and 4 Months and 9 Days.
This family have resided here till lately, ever since Edw. the Third's time, and had a considerable estate here, and the adjacent villages. See their arms, vol. iv. p. 135.
Another marble near the desk hath this,
Near this Place lays Elizabeth Wife of John Moulton Gent. who died Oct. 31, 1716, aged 32 Years. And here lieth Mary the late Wife of John Moulton, who died March 20, 1717, aged 27 Years. And also here lyeth the Body of John Moulton Gent. who died June 12, 1718, aged 38 Years.
Moulton's arms and crest as at vol. iv. p. 501.
In a north window are the arms of De la Pole quartering Wingfield.
In 1465, Jeffry Wurliche of Brockdish was buried here, and in 1469 John Wurliche was interred in the nave, and left a legacy to pave the bottom of the steeple. In 1518, Henry Bokenham of Brockdish was buried in the church, as were many of the Spaldings, (fn. 2) Withes, Howards, Grices, Tendrings, and Laurences; who were all considerable owners and families of distinction in this town.
The chapel at the east end of the south isle was made by Sir Ralf Tendring of Brockdish, Knt. whose arms remain in its east window at this day, once with, and once without, a crescent az. on the fess, viz. az. a fess between two chevrons arg.
His altar monument stands against the east wall, north and south, and hath a sort of cupola over it, with a holy-water stope by it, and a pedestal for the image of the saint to which it was dedicated, to stand on, so that it served both for a tomb and an altar; the brass plates of arms and circumscription are lost.
On the north side, between the chapel and nave, stands another altar tomb, covered with a most curious marble disrobed of many brass plates of arms and its circumscription, as are several other stones in the nave, isle, and chancel. This is the tomb of John Tendring of Brockdish-hall, Esq. who lived there in 1403, and died in 1436, leaving five daughters his heirs, so that he was the last male of this branch of the Tendrings. Cecily his wife is buried by him.
On the east chancel wall, on the south side of the altar, is a white marble monument with this,
Obdormit hìc in Domino, lætam in Christo expectans Resurrectionem, Robertus, Roberti Laurence, ac Annæ Uxoris ejus, Filius, hujusce Ecclesiæ de Brockdish in Comitatû Norfolciensi Rector, ejusdem Villæ Dominus, ac Ecclesiæ Patronus, jure hereditario (si vixîsset) Futurus; Sed ah! Fato nimium immaturo abreptus; Cœlestia per Salvatoris merita sperans, Terrestria omnia, Juvenis reliquit. Dec. 31°. Anno æræ Christianæ mdccxxxixo. Ætatis xxvo. Maria, unica Soror et Hæres, Roberti Frankling Generosi Uxor, Fraterni Amoris hoc Testimonium animo grato, Memoriæ Sacrum posuit.
1. Laurence, arg. a cross raguled gul. on a chief gul. a lion passant guardant or.
2. Aslack, sab. a chevron erm. between three catherine-wheels arg.
3. Lany, arg. on a bend between two de-lises gul. a mullet of the field for difference.
4. Cooke, or, on a chevron ingrailed gul. a crescent of the field for difference, between three cinquefoils az. on a chief of the second, a lion passant guardant of the first.
5. Bohun, gul. a crescent erm. in an orle of martlets or.
6. Bardolf, az. three cinquefoils or.
7. Ramsey, gul. a chevron between three rams heads caboshed arg.
8. as 1.
Crest, a griffin seiant proper.
Motto, Floreat ut Laurus.
On a flat stone under this monument, is a brass plate thus inscribed,
Sacrum hoc Memoriæ Roberti Laurence Armigeri, qui obijt xxviijo die Julij 1637, Elizabeth Uxor ejus, Filia Aslak Lany Armigeri posuit.
Arms on a brass plate are,
Lawrence impaling Lany and his quarterings, viz. 1, Lany. 2, Aslack. 3, Cooke. 4, Bohun. 5, nine de-lises, 3, 3, and 3. 6, Bardolf. 7, Charles. 8, on a chevron three de-lises. 9, Ramsey. 10, Tendring. 11, on a fess two coronets. 12, Wachesam, arg. a fess, in chief two crescents gul. 13, a lion rampant. 14, Lany.
There is a picture of this Robert drawn in 1629, æt. 36. He built the hall in 1634; it stands near half a mile north-east of the church, and was placed near the old site of Brockdishe's-hall; the seat of the Tendrings, whose arms, taken out of the old hall when this was built, were fixed in the windows. The arms of this man and his wife, and several of their quarterings, are carved on the wainscot in the rooms.
On the south side of the churchyard is an altar tomb covered with a black marble, with the crest and arms of
Sayer, or Sawyer, gul. a chief erm. and a chevron between three seamews proper.
Crest, a hand holding a dragon's head erased proper.
To the Memory of Frances late the wife of Richard Tubby Esq. who departed this Life Dec. 22, 1728, in the 60th Year of her Age.
And adjoining is another altar tomb,
In Memory of Richard Tubby Esq. (fn. 3) who died Dec. 10th. 1741, in the 80th Year of his Age.
There are two other altar tombs in the churchyard, one for Mr. Rich. Chatton, and another for Eliz. daughter of Robert and Eliz. Harper, who died in 1719, aged 8 years.
The town takes its name from its situation on the Waveney or Wagheneye, which divides this county from that of Suffolk; the channel of which is now deep and broad, though nothing to what it was at that time, as is evident from the names of places upon this river, as the opposite vill, now called Sileham, (oftentimes wrote Sayl-holm, even to Edw. the Third's time) shows; for I make no doubt, but it was then navigable for large boats and barges to sail up hither, and continued so, till the sea by retiring at Yarmouth, and its course being stopt near Lowestoft, had not that influence on the river so far up, as it had before; which occasioned the water to retire, and leave much land dry on either side of the channel; though it is so good a stream, that it might with ease, even now, be made navigable hither; and it would be a good work, and very advantageous to all the adjacent country. That [Brod-dic] signifies no more than the broad-ditch, is very plain, and that the termination of ò, eau, or water, added to it, makes it the broad ditch of water, is as evident.
Before the Confessor's time, this town was in two parts; Bishop Stigand owned one, and the Abbot of Bury the other; the former afterwards was called the Earl's Manor, from the Earls of Norfolk; and the other Brockdishe's-hall, from its ancient lords, who were sirnamed from the town.
The superiour jurisdiction, lete, and all royalties, belonged to the Earl's manor, which was always held of the hundred of Earsham, except that part of it which belonged to Bury abbey, and that belonged to the lords of Brockdishe's-hall; but when the Earl's manor was sold by the Duke of Norfolk, with all royalties of gaming, fishing, &c. together with the letes, view of frankpledge, &c. free and exempt from his hundred of Earsham, and the two manors became joined as they now are, the whole centered in the lord of the town, who hath now the sole jurisdiction with the lete, belonging to it; and the whole parish being freehold, on every death or alienation, the new tenant pays a relief of a year's freehold rent, added to the current year: The annual free-rent, without such reliefs, amounting to above 3l. per annum. At the Conqueror's survey the town was seven furlongs long, and five furlongs and four perches broad, and paid 6d. to the geld or tax. At the Confessor's survey, there were 28 freemen here, six of which held half a carucate of land of Bishop Stigand, and the others held 143 acres under the Abbot of Bury, and the Abbot held the whole of Stigand, without whose consent the freemen could neither give away, nor sell their land, but were obliged to pay him 40s. a year free-rent; (fn. 4) and if they omitted paying at the year's end, they forfeited their lands, or paid their rent double; but in the Conqueror's time they paid 16l. per annum by tale. There were two socmen with a carucate of land, two villeins and two bordars here, which were given to Bury abbey along with the adjacent manor of Thorp-Abbots, but were after severed from that manor, and infeoffed by the Abbot of Bury in the lord of Brockdishe's-hall manor, with which it passed ever after. (fn. 5)
Brockdish-Earl's Manor, or Brockdish Comitis.
This manor always attended the manor of Forncet after it was granted from the Crown to the Bygods, along with the half hundred of Earsham, for which reason I shall refer you to my account of that manor at p. 223, 4. It was mostly part of the dower of the ladies of the several noble families that it passed through, and the living was generally given to their domestick chaplains. In 3 Edward I. the Abbot of Bury tried an action with Roger Bigod, then lord and patron, for the patronage; (fn. 6) pleading that a part of the town belonged to his house, and though they had infeoffed their manor here in the family of the Brockdishes, yet the right in the advowson remained in him; but it appearing that the advowson never belonged to the Abbot's manor, before the feofment was made, but that it wholly was appendant ever since the Confessor's time, to the Earl's manor, the Abbot was cast: notwithstanding which in 1335, Sir John Wingfield, Knt. and Thomas his brother, William de Lampet and Alice his wife, and Catherine her sister, owners of Brockdishe's manor, revived the claim to the advowson; and Thomas de Wingfield, and lady Eleanor wife of Sir John Wingfield, presented here, and put up their arms in the church windows, as patrons, which still remain; but Mary Countess Marshal, who then held this manor in dower, brought her quare impedit, and ejected their clerk; since which time, it constantly attended this manor, being always appendant thereto. In 15 Edw. I. Roger Bigot, then lord, had free-warren in all this town, as belonging to this manor, having not only all the royalties of the town, but also the assise of bread and ale, and amerciaments of all the tenants of his own manor, and of the tenants of Reginald de Brockdish, who were all obliged to do suit once a year at the Earl's view of frankpledge and lete in Brockdish; and it continued in the Norfolk family till 1570, and then Thomas Howard Duke of Norfolk, obtained license from Queen Elizabeth to sell it; it being held in capite or in chief of the Crown, as part of the barony and honour of the said Duke, who accordingly sold the manor, advowson, free-fishery, and all the place or manor-house, and demean lands; together with the lete, view of frankpledge, liberty of free warren, and all other royalties whatsoever, free and exempt from any jurisdiction or payment to his half hundred of Earsham, to
Charles le Grice, Esq. of Brockdish, and his heirs, who was descended from Sir Rorert le Grys of Langley in Norfolk, Knt. equerry to Ric. I. and Oliva his wife, whose son, Sir Simon le Grys, Knt. of Thurveton, was alive in 1238, and married Agnes daughter and coheir to Augustine son of Richard de Waxtenesham or Waxham, of Waxham in Norfolk, by whom he had Roger le Grys of Thurton, Esq. who lived in the time of Edward I. whose son Thomas le Grice of Thurton, had Roger le Grice of Brockdish, who lived here in 1392; whose son Thomas left John le Grice his eldest son and heir, who married a Bateman, and lies buried in St. John Baptist's church in Norwich; (see vol. iv. p. 127;) but having no male issue, William le Grice of Brockdish, Esq. son of Robert le Grice of Brockdish, his uncle, inherited; he married Sibill, daughter and sole heir of Edmund Singleton of Wingfield in Suffolk, and had
Anthony le Grice of Brockdish, Esq. (fn. 7) who married Margaret, daughter of John Wingfield, Esq. of Dunham, who lived in the place, and died there in 1553, and lies buried in the church, by whom his wife also was interred in 1562. His brother Gilbert Grice of Yarmouth, Gent. (fn. 8) first agreed with the Duke for Brockdish, but died before it was completed; so that Anthony, who was bound with him for performance of the covenants, went on with the purchase for his son,
Charles le Grice aforesaid, (fn. 9) to whom it was conveyed: he married two wives; the first was Susan, daughter and heir of Andrew Manfield, Gent. and Jane his wife, who was buried here in 1564; the second was Hester, daughter of Sir George Blagge, Knt. who held the manor for life; and from these two wives descended the numerous branches of the Grices of Brockdish, Norwich, Wakefield in Yorkshire, &c. He was buried in this church April 12, 1575, and was found to hold his manor of the hundred of Earsham, in free soccage, without any rent or service, and not in capite; and Brockdishe's-hall manor of the King, as of his barony of Bury St. Edmund in Suffolk, which lately belonged to the abbey there, in free soccage, without any rent or service, and not in capite, and
William le Grice, Esq. was his eldest son and heir, who at the death of his mother-in-law, was possessed of the whole estate; for in 1585, William Howard, then lord of Brockdishe's-hall manor, agreed and sold it to this William, and Henry le Grice his brother, and their heirs; but Howard dying the next year, the purchase was not completed till 1598, when Edw. Coppledick, Gent. and other trustees, brought a writ of entry against John son of the said William Howard, Gent. and had it settled absolutely in the Grices, from which time the two manors have continued joined as they are at this day; by Alice, daughter and heiress of Mr. Eyre of Yarmouth; he left
Francis le Grice, Esq. his son and heir, who sold the whole estate, manors, and advowson, to
Robert Laurence of Brockdish, Esq. (fn. 10) who married Elizabeth, daughter of Richard, son of Edmund Anguish of Great-Melton, by whom he had
Robert Laurence, Esq. his son and heir, who married Elizabeth, daughter of Aslack Lany, who survived him, and remarried in 1640, to Richard Smith, Gent. by whom she had one child, Eliz. buried here in 1641: he died July 24, 1637, and lies buried by the altar as aforesaid: he built the present hall, and had divers children, as Aslak Laurence, Robert, born in 1633, buried in 1635, Samuel Laurence, born in 1635, Ellen, born in 1635, Elizabeth, who married William Reynolds of Great-Massingham, Gent. and
Francis Laurence of Brockdish, Esq. his eldest son and heir, who married Ellen, daughter of Thomas Patrick of Castle-acre, Gent. widow of Mathew Halcote of Litcham, Gent. who survived him, and held Brockdish in jointure to her death, which happened Jan. 6, 1741, when she was buried in the nave of Litcham church: they had Frances, and Elizabeth, who died infants; Mary, who died single about 1736, and was buried in the vestry belonging to Castleacre church; Jane, married to Mr. Thomas Shin of Great Dunham, by whom a Thomas, a son, &c. she being dead; Ellen, now widow of Thomas Young of Oxboro, Gent. who died Oct. 1743, leaving issue, the Rev. Mr. Thomas-Patrick Young of Caius college in Cambridge, Benjamin and Mary, and
Samuel Lawrence, Gent. their second son, is now alive and single; and
Robert Lawrence, Esq. their eldest son and heir, is long since dead, but by Anne daughter of John Meriton, late rector of Oxburgh, his wife, he left one son,
Robert Laurence, late rector of Brockdish, who died single, and
Mrs. Mary Laurence, his only sister, who is now living, and married to Robert Frankling, Gent. of Lynn in Norfolk, is the present lord in her right, but they have no issue.
Brockdishe's-Hall Manor,
Belonged to Bury abbey as aforesaid, till the time of Henry I. and then the Abbot infeoffed
Sir Stephen de Brockdish in it, from whom it took its present name; he was to hold it at the 4th part of a knight's fee of that abbey: it contained a capital messuage or manor-house, called now Brockdishe's-hall; 105 acres of land in demean, 12 acres of wood, 8 of meadow, and 4l. 13s. 10d. rents of assise; he left it to
Jeffery de Brockdish his son, and he to
William, his son and heir, who in 1267, by the name of William de Hallehe de Brokedis, or Will. of Brockdish-hall, was found to owe suit and service once in a year with all his tenants, to the lete of the Earl of Norfolk, held here. He left this manor, and the greatest part of his estate in Norwich-Carleton (which he had with Alice Curson his wife) to
Thomas, his son and heir, and the rest of it to Nigel de Brockdish, his younger son; (see p. 102;) Thomas left it to
Reginald, his eldest son and heir, and he to
Sir Stephen de Brockdish, Knt. his son and heir, who was capital bailiff of all the Earl of Norfolk's manors in this county; he was lord about 1329, being succeeded by his son,
Stephen, who by Mary Wingfield his wife, had
Reginald de Brockdish, his son and heir, (fn. 11) to whom he gave Brockdish-hall manor in Burston, (see vol. i. p. 127, vol. ii. p. 506,) but he dying before his father, was never lord here; his two daughters and heiresses inheriting at his father's death, viz.
Alice, married to William de Lampet about 1355, and Catherine some time after, to William son of John de Herdeshull, lord of North Kellesey and Saleby in Lincolnshire, who inherited each a moiety, according to the settlement made by their grandfather, who infeoffed Sir John de Wingfield, Knt. and Eleanor his wife, and Thomas his brother, in trust for them; (fn. 12) soon after, one moiety was settled on Robert Mortimer and Catherine his wife, by John Hemenhale, clerk, and John de Lantony, their trustees; and not long after the whole was united, and belonged to
Sir William Tendring of Stokeneyland, Knt. and Margaret his wife, daughter and coheir of Sir Will. Kerdeston of Claxton in Norfolk, Knt. who were succeeded by their son and heir
Sir John Tendring of Stokeneyland, Knt. who jointly with Agnes his wife, settled it on
Sir Ralf Tendring of Brockdish, Knt. one of their younger sons, who built the old hall (which was pulled down by Robert Lawrence, Esq. when he erected the present house) and the south isle chapel, in which he and Alice his wife are interred; his son,
John Tendring of Brockdish, Esq. who was lord here and of Westhall in Colney, (see p. 5,) and was buried in the said chapel, with Cecily his wife, died in 1436, and left five daughrers, coheiresses, viz.
Cecily, married to Robert Ashfield of Stowlangetot in Suffolk, Esq.
Elizabeth, to Simeon Fincham of Fincham in Norfolk, Esq.
Alice, to Robert Morton.
Joan, to Henry Hall of Helwinton.
Anne, to John Braham of Colney.
Who joined and levied a fine and sold it to
Thomas Fastolff, Esq. and his heirs; and the year following, they conveyed all their lands, &c. in Wigenhall, Tilney, and Islington, to
Sir John Howard, Knt. and his heirs; and vested them in his trustees, who, the year following, purchased the manor of Fastolff to himself and heirs; this Sir John left Brockdish to a younger son,
Robert Howard, Esq. who settled here, and by Isabel his wife had
William Howard of Brockdish, Esq. who was lord in 1469; he had two wives, Alice and Margaret, from whom came a very numerous issue, but
Robert, his son and heir, had this manor, who by Joan his wife had
William Howard, his eldest son and heir, who died in 1566, seized of many lands in Cratfield, Huntingfield, Ubbeston, and Bradfield in Suffolk; and of many lands and tenements here, and in Sileham, &c. having sold this manor the year before his death, to the Grices as aforesaid; but upon the sale, he reserved, all other his estate in Brockdish, in which he dwelt, called Howard's Place, situate on the south side of the entrance of Brockdish-street; which house and farm went to
John Howard, his son and heir, the issue of whose three daughters, Grace, Margaret, and Elizabeth, failing, it reverted to
Mathew, son of William Howard, second brother to the said John Howard their father, whose second son,
Mathew Howard, afterwards owned it; and in 1711, it was owned by a Mathew Howard, and now by
Mr. Bucknall Howard of London, his kinsman (as I am informed.)
The site and demeans of the Earl's manor, now called the place, was sold from the manor by the Grices some time since, and after belonged to Sir Isaac Pennington, alderman of London, (see vol. i. p. 159,) and one of those who sat in judgment on the royal martyr, for which his estate was forfeited at the Restoration, and was given by Car. II. to the Duke of Grafton; and his Grace the present Duke of Grafton, now owns it.
the benefactions to this parish are,
One close called Algorshegge, containing three acres, (fn. 13) and a grove and dove-house formerly built thereon containing about one acre, at the east end thereof; the whole abutting on the King's highway north, and the glebe of Brockdish rectory west: and one tenement abutting on Brockdish-street south, called Seriches, (fn. 14) with a yard on the north side thereof, were given by John Bakon the younger, of Brockdish, son of John Bakon the elder, of Thorp-Abbots; the clear profits to go yearly to pay the tenths and fifteenths for the parish of Brockdish when laid, and when they are not laid, to repair and adorn the parish church there for ever: his will is proved in 1433. There are always to be 12 feoffees, of such as dwell, or are owners in the parish, and when the majority of them are dead, the survivors are to fill up the vacancies.
In 1590, 1 Jan. John Howard, Gent. John Wythe, Gent. William Crickmere and Daniel Spalding, yeomen, officers of Brockdish, with a legacy left to their parish in 1572, by John Sherwood, late of Brokdish, deceased, purchased of John Thruston of Hoxne, Gent. John Thruston his nephew, Thomas Barker, and the inhabitants of Hoxne in Suffolk, one annuity or clear yearly rent-charge of 6s. 8d. issuing out of six acres of land and pasture in Hoxne, in a close called Calston's-close, one head abutting on a way leading from Heckfield-Green to Moles-Cross, towards the east; to the only use and behoof of the poor of Brockdish, to be paid on the first of November in Hoxne church-porch, between 12 and 4 in the afternoon of the same day, with power to distrain and enter immediately for non-payment; the said six acres are warranted to be freehold, and clear of all incumbrances, except another rentcharge of 13s. 4d. granted to Hoxne poor, to be paid at the same day and place
In 1592, John Howard of Brockdish sold to the inhabitants there, a cottage called Laune's, lying between the glebes on all parts; this hath been dilapidated many years, but the site still belongs to the parish.
From the old Town Book.
1553, 1st Queen Mary, paid for a book called a manuel 2s. 6d.; for two days making the altar and the holy-water stope, and for a lock for the font. 1554, paid for the rood 9d. 1555, paid for painting the rood-loft 14d. At the visitation of my Lord Legate 16d. To the organs maker 4d. and for the chalice 26s. 1557, paid for carriage of the Bible to Bocnam 12d. for deliverance of the small books at Harlstone 15d.; the English Bibles and all religious Protestant tracts usually at this time left in the churches for the information and instruction of the common people, being now called in by the Papist Queen. Paid for two images making 5s.; for painting them 16d. for irons for them 8d. But in 1558, as soon as Queen Elizabeth ascended the throne, all these Popish, images, &c. were removed out of the church. Paid for sinking the altar 4d.; carrying out the altar 5d.; mending the communion table 3d.; 1561, paid for the X. Commandments 18d.; for pulling down the rood-loft 14d.; paid Roger Colby repairing the crosse in the street 26s. 8d.; for a lock to the crosse-house, &c.; 1565, for digging the ground and levelling the low altar, (viz. in the south chapel,) and mending the pavement. For makyng the communion cup at Harlston 5s. 4d. besides 6s. 2d. worth of silver more than the old chalice weyed. 1569, paid to Belward the Dean for certifying there is no cover to the cup, 8d. 1657, layd out 19s. 4d. for the relief of Attleburgh, visited with the plague. Laid out 17s. for the repair of the Brockdish part of Sileham bridge, leading over the river to Sileham church. This bridge is now down, through the negligence of both the parishes, though it was of equal service to both, and half of it repaired by each of them. In 1618, the church was wholly new paved and repaired; and in 1619, the pulpit and desk new made, new books, pulpit-cloth, altar-cloth, &c. bought.
From the Register:
1593, Daniel son of Robert Pennington, Gent. bapt. 13 July. 1626, John Brame, Gent. and Anne Shardelowe, widow, married Sept. 2. 1631, John Blomefield and Elizabeth Briges married May 30. 1666, Roger Rosier, Gent. buried. 1735, Henry Blomefield of Fersfield, Gent. single man, and Elizabeth Bateman of Mendham, single woman, married Feb. 27.
www.british-history.ac.uk/topographical-hist-norfolk/vol5...
By 1960, the US Army needed a new armored recovery vehicle (ARV). It was still relying on the M32, which was based on the World War II-era M4 Sherman; the M32 could neither be expected to survive on a nuclear battlefield, nor could it recover increasingly heavier marks of the M60 Patton. To replace the M32, the Army turned to the simple expedient of using the M48 chassis for a basis, which would provide commonality of parts as well. The M88 entered service in 1961. An improved version, with better nuclear protection and based on the M60 chassis, the M88A1, entered service in 1977.
Though it uses the chassis of the Patton, the M88 above the tracks is a completely new design. The crew is enclosed inside an armored casemate, with a crane and heavy winch attached, with a capability of towing 56 tons. A spade is provided that allows the M88 to dig fighting positions for tanks, or to brace it when pulling maximum loads. A single Browning M2HB .50 caliber machine gun is standard for self-defense. In a pinch, the M88 can even be used as an emergency refueling vehicle, transferring its own fuel to tanks, though this is not recommended on a regular basis.
The M88 and M88A1 proved to be reliable machines, but with the advent of the M1 Abrams, it took two M88s to tow a single M1, which weighed 70 tons. There was also concern (born out of Israeli experience in the Yom Kippur War and American experience in the First Gulf War) that the M88 was vulnerable to antitank missiles. The M88A2 went into production in 1991: it was slightly larger and heavier, which cost it in speed, but a single M88A2 could tow a M1. It could also be equipped with side skirts and applique armor to give it better protection. The Army gave the M88A2 the name HERCULES (Heavy Equipment Recovery Combat Utility Lift Evacuation System).
The M88A2 has become the standard ARV of the US Army, as well as 22 other nations. The still-heavier M1A2s of the Iraq conflict meant that the M88A2 could no longer safely tow a M1A2, so the US Army has ordered an upgraded M88A3 to accomplish this mission. As of this writing, there are no plans to replace the reliable and long-lived M88...except with another M88.
This former US Army M88A1 is a fairly recent arrival at the National Museum of Military Vehicles, as it is parked outside and not under the storage shed. Plans are for the NMMV to have a modern warfare wing, so eventually this M88 will be moved inside.
Museum Tower, at 560 feet tall and 42 stories costing $200 million dollars, is under construction with completion expected in late 2012. The rendering of Museum Tower in this photo shows what an incredible addition the tower will make on the Downtown Dallas cityscape. Museum Tower has been described as a "shaft of light".
Museum Tower, from this particular view, is visually located to the north of the Sacred Heart Catholic Cathedral, JP Morgan Chase Tower, 2100 Ross Avenue Tower, and the Trammell Crow Center with One Arts Plaza to the east. The explosive growth of dozens of skyscrapers and highrises in Downtown Dallas' Uptown District are immediately to the north of Museum Tower and are not seen in this image.
As seen in the rendering, Museum Tower is literally surrounded by the 68-acre, 19 contiguous block world class Dallas Arts District with its numerous cultural facilities in the heart of Downtown Dallas. The Dallas Arts District is now perceived as the finest in the country, surpassing the Kennedy and Lincoln Centers in New York City: www.flickr.com/photos/52949402@N03/5128988435/in/set-7215...
The 5.2 acre Woodall Rodgers Urban Park is under construction and a rendering for The Park is seen in the foreground of the image. The Woodall Rodgers Urban park is creating a "Central Park" like setting amidst the skyscrapers of Downtown Dallas and will be the "front lawn" to Museum Tower.
The Woodall Rodgers Urban Park is costing $110 million dollars and completion is expected in 2012. The Park will seamlessly connect the traditional Downtown Dallas Financial District to the skyscrapers and highrises in its Uptown District just immediately to the north into one continuous whole.
Woodall Rodgers Freeway is becoming the new 21st century "Main Street" of Downtown Dallas with the intense development that has occurred fronting Woodall Rodgers Freeway from both the south (the traditional Dallas Financial District) and the north (Downtown Dallas' Uptown District) sides of the freeway.
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Here is a fantastic video of Downtown Dallas from 07-24-10 driving along I-35 on the west side of Downtown that shows the wonderful density that has developed in the Downtown core with its Uptown District from 2006 to 2010. Select 720p HD and full screen. If you pause at 13 seconds into the video, right in the middle of the image between Hunt Oil and One Arts Plaza Towers, will be where the under construction $200 million dollar Museum Tower in the traditional Downtown Financial District will make its presence known. The construction crane seen center left at a 13 second pause is for the 17 story $185 million dollar Perot Museum of Nature and Science that is also currently under construction on the north side of Woodall Rodgers, a couple blocks away from Museum Tower's location on the side side of Woodall. Woodall Rodgers is the new 21st century "Main Street" of Downtown Dallas. Museum Tower's almost 600 foot tall 42 story presence once completed in late 2012 is going to make a huge impact on the Downtown Dallas cityscape as it will stretch the Financial District so far north that it will completely meld into Uptown and vice versa:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ao4gZRTDMyM&NR=1
This is another fantastic video shot from a helicopter circling Downtown Dallas on 07-09-10. Select 720p HD and full screen. The video generally focuses on the traditional Downtown Dallas Financial District, but if you look on the left hand side middle screen while the video is playing you will again see the incredible dense development that has literally sprung up almost overnight in Downtown's Uptown District (between 2006 and 2010). From between 5 and 13 seconds at the beginning of the video you can see how impressive the Uptown skyscrapers are from just seeing the edge of Uptown that is directly facing the Financial District across Woodall Rodgers. Also from around 35 to 40 seconds into the video is when you can see the dense Uptown development from a bit broader perspective. Woodall Rodgers is the new 21st century "Main Street" of Downtown Dallas. Also, Museum Tower's almost 600 foot tall 42 story presence once completed in late 2012 is going to make a huge impact on the Downtown Dallas cityscape as it will stretch the Financial District so far north that it will completely meld into Uptown and vice versa:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=PIks-YVYlj8
This is another great aerial video that literally offers a birdseye, multi-thousand foot view of Downtown Dallas shot on 10-24-10, in a jet flying over Downtown on its landing approach to DFW International Airport. Select 720p HD and full screen. For purposes of this discussion, freeze the video anywhere from 1 second to 10 seconds. The large mass of buildings in the very center of the video is Downtown Dallas, which includes all of the skyscrapers and highrises in Uptown as well as those in the more traditional Financial District which today forms the largest urban core in the nation outside of NYC, LA and Chicago with over 50,300,000 square feet of office space. The explosive growth of dense urban development in Uptown has vigorously extended Downtown Dallas northward. Downtown Dallas is now a long rectangle, anchored on its northern border by the CityPlace East (42 story) and Azure (31 story) skyscrapers with the mass of buildings stretching from the northern border southward through the traditional Financial District to just past I-30 to include the dense cluster of new developments in The Cedars District (the new City of Dallas Police Headquarters, the new Beat Condominium Tower, South Side on Lamar, and the just announced coup for Downtown Dallas of the NYLO Hotel South Side, etc.) . The W Hotel (31 stories) and The House Condominiums (29 stories) along with the Hyatt Regency Hotel (30 stories), Reunion Tower (50 stories) and the new half billion dollar Omni Convention Hotel (27 stories) clearly anchor the western side of Downtown running along Stemmons Freeway. One Arts Plaza (24 stories) and the dense Downtown Dallas Arts District along with the Sheraton Hotel's twin towers (42 stories and 31 stories) and the Comerica Bank Headquarters Tower (60 stories) run along Central Expressway anchoring the eastern side of Downtown, and which then extends just a little further eastward to include the massive Baylor Medical District complex (seen in the video as the large mass of white highrises farthest east of the Financial District). Like a beautiful necklace extending just immediately north of Uptown/Downtown in the video, one can see the long chain of highrise apartment and condominium towers in the Turtle Creek area of Dallas tracking the large swath of greenbelt just immediately north of the CityPlace East and Azure skyscrapers. As a pre-cursor for continued vibrant Downtown Dallas growth, a major keystone development that heralds future massive and dense urban development for Downtown can be seen in the video in the form of the instantly iconic new Calatrava Bridge spanning the Trinity River, which will bring billions in new development by extending Downtown Dallas' golden corridor, Woodall Rodgers Expressway, to the west side of the Trinity River. Woodall Rodgers has become the new 21st century "Main Street" for Downtown Dallas as it sets right in the middle of the bustling skyscrapers located on both the north and south sides of it. In the next ten to twenty years Turtle Creek, Uptown, Victory, Baylor, Deep Ellum, the Design District, the Financial District, The Cedars, and the newest urban frontier of West Dallas will seamlessly meld together to form a super dense core of the most dynamic and largest urban center in the nation outside of New York City and Los Angeles, and rivaling Chicago.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQPosFieMg8&feature=related
This cool video from 08-30-10 further reinforces the explosive growth of around 13,000,000 square feet in new Class A and Class AA office space that Downtown Dallas has seen in the last few years in its Uptown and Victory Districts from 2006 to 2010. Select 1080p HD and full screen. The video is shot from the same exact spot throughout but shifts its main focal point from the Financial District to Uptown at 14 seconds. From 0 to 13 seconds the focus of the video is the northern edge of the traditional Financial District with the bustling heavy traffic of Woodall Rodgers Freeway. During this segment one can imagine the imposing and impressive addition to the cityscape that the almost 600 foot tall 42 story Museum Tower will make as it will literally be positioned right behind Hunt Oil Tower, which is unmistakably dressed in its state-of-the-art LED lighting (blue at the time of the video). Still filmed from the exact same spot, from 14 seconds to the end, the focus of the video shifts slightly north looking across Woodall Rodgers Freeway to reveal just a small slice of the significant density of skyscrapers and highrises erected in Uptown mostly since around 2006. Woodall Rodgers is the new 21st century "Main Street" of Downtown Dallas. The construction crane that is clearly visible in this portion of the video is for the 17 story $185 million dollar Perot Museum of Nature and Science that is currently under construction:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=YP47TYaB7nQ&feature=related
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Downtown Dallas is experiencing a renaissance from more than $14 billion in new development that is currently underway in and near the Downtown core. As a result, Downtown Dallas is on the verge of a renewed greatness because of the billions in investment it has made in its Downtown core in general but also in its newest premier district, the Downtown Dallas Arts District.
An article published in the October 2010 "D Magazine" discusses how the relocation of corporate headquarters and businesses into Downtown Dallas is at an all time high. The level of interest in doing so (from out of state, in state and in town corporations) has also reached the highest level ever:
www.dmagazine.com/Home/D_CEO/2010/October/The_Rejuvenatio...
Dallas will surpass Chicago as the 3rd largest metro in the nation by 2030 or sooner, published 03-15-10 in The Dallas Morning News:
www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/bus/columnists/chall...
And another significant recognition and accolade from Forbes Magazine, published 09-02-09, naming Dallas as a "World Capital of the Future" that highlights Dallas' worldwide reach and influence and its growing significance on the world stage:
www.forbes.com/2009/09/02/world-capitals-cities-century-o...
There is a line of churches beside the A2 and along the Nailbourne, which winds its way along the bottom of the valley just down the hill from St Giles.
I have been here before, but looking at my shots, I see I took just three shots of the church, none of the building, and so a serious oversight on my part.
St Giles sits in a sharp bend in Church Lane, and there are fierce signs demanding that there is no parking, ut where else to park? One of the signs had been knocked over, so I parked in front of that. I was expecting someone to come out and yell at me, but none came, maybe the weather forcing people to stay inside.
It has been a dreary day in the Garden of England, and it would have been easy not to go out, but a 20 minute run up the A2, and a sharp turn off it into the Nailbourne valley brings you to a sleepy a village as you could want.
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A flint church dating from the early Norman period, when imported stone for quoins was expensive. This is one of the handful of churches in the county where the corners were rudely formed of flint. In the fourteenth century the chancel was extended to the east and a tower added at the west end. Three well-known nineteenth-century designers were involved at Kingston. The east window is by Heaton, Butler and Bayne, the chancel roof by William White and the choir stalls by Norman Shaw. Of medieval date is a plain Perpendicular piscina and a good aumbry, whilst the pulpit is a typical example of sixteenth-century work.
www.kentchurches.info/church.asp?p=Kingston
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A small church with a simple unaisled nave and chancel (no chapels, though a Lady Chapel is, oddly, mentioned in a 1525 will), and an added 15th century W. tower. There are also a 19th century vestry and N. porch.
As Elliston Erwood has shown, the plan of the nave and western part of the chancel (and the whole flint quoins) suggest an early Norman date for the earliest part of the church. The chancel was probably extended about 10 feet eastwards in the early 13th century.
Early in the 14th century four new windows were inserted into the east end of the nave (and by this time, any chancel arch had gone, and the east end walls of the nave cut back. On either side are 2-light windows with trefoiled heads and 'daggered bottomed' quatrefoils over - all under 2 centred arched hoodmoulds (ie just reticulated). The eastern windows in the nave are single-light cinquefoil headed windows which light the E. end of the nave very well. The window on the north is very low, and that on the south has internal shutter hooks at the bottom. Were these windows to light an altar or an early rood screen? There is a corbel (bracket) just west of the S.E. window. In the centre of the S. wall of the nave is a shallow niche under a wide pointed arch. It perhaps blocks an earlier doorway (see scar in render outside), and was perhaps originally for a tomb (Hasted says that there was a flagstone here from which the brass was gone). There was also apparently a 'Decorated' period E. window with a Rose until replaced by the present 3-light E. window in 1897 (?frags. over gateway in churchyard wall west of tower).
In the later part of the 15th century, a massive but small tower, with western angle-buttresses, was added to the west end of the nave after its west wall had been demolished. The tower arch is perhaps earlier. It has a fine 3-light trefoil-headed window over its W. doorway. The top stage of the tower has debased round-headed windows suggesting an early 16th century date. The large Ragstone quoins for the tower are still largely intact - most of the rest of the flint face is covered in render. There is a simple corbelled top. Inside the tower, in the S.W. corner, is a fine 14th century corbelled head.
A pair of two-light perpendicular windows, with square heads (and hoodmould on S.), were added at the west end of the nave on the N. and S. sides, and a fine new doorway with a square head and decorated spandrels inscribed (very worn):
"Pray for the soules of .... Thomas .... and Alys his wyf". This must also be later 15th century (no related will is known), and there is a fine holy water stoup immediately west of the doorway with a square hoodmould. (The porch is 19th century)
The chancel windows and fittings (Sedilia, Piscina and Aumbry) were also renewed in the 15th century. There are single-light windows one either side to the east, and 2-light windows on either side to the west. These have internal side jambs that come down much lower with a bench on the north - that on the south was cut away for the door into the vestry in the later 19th century. The door into the aumbry on the north was acquired, and put in, in 1928, by the Rector.
The nave and chancel both have fine surviving (c. 15th century) crown-post roofs that butt each other. The carved angel truss at the E. end of the chancel was inserted in 1873 when the lath and plaster ceilings were removed by William White.
There is a fine early 17th century pulpit at the S.E. corner of the nave.
Many alterations and repairs were carried out in the 19th century. In 1846, after repair and redecoration, a new floor was laid and new pews were put in. At the same time the W. gallery and chancel screen were removed.
In 1973, as mentioned above, the ceilings were removed, then in the 1880s more repairs were undertaken (another reflooring and reseating in 1886, with new choir stalls by Norman Shaw). The floor tiles in the chancel, also by Norman Shaw, were put in at the same time (see Newman B.O.E. (N.E.+E. Kent), 367).
Finally the east window was renewed in 1897 and the gable top was rebuilt and heightened with a coping.
BUILDING MATERIALS (Incl. old plaster, paintings, glass, tiles etc.):
The original material was local flint, but most of this is now covered by the external render used all over the building. There is some use of Caen in windows, etc., and, for the later work, Kentish Rag (from the Sandgate, etc. - boring mollusc holes), best seen in the tower buttress quoins.
Under the tower is an early 13th century octagonal font bowl (unusual at this date) on a new base (returned to the church in 1931 after have been discarded over 150 years earlier. (Glynne visiting in 1846 saw a wooden font!).
There are 3 bells in the tower, hung for chiming only : one by William le Belyetere (c. 1350) but cracked; one by Joseph Hatch, 1610 and a treble (blank).
There is a brass indent on the S. side of the chancel (by vestry door) with only two brass shields in situ.
EXCEPTIONAL MONUMENTS IN CHURCH: Monument to John Nethersole (ob. 1627) with small kneeling figures. There are also several fine wall monuments.
At the beginning of this century, Oyler mentions many hatchments in the church.
CHURCHYARD AND ENVIRONS:
Size: Small area N+E+S of church with larger extension to S.E.
Condition: Good
Apparent extent of burial: Churchyard burials recorded from 1481 (Wills).
Exceptional monuments: Some fine 18th century monuments and
headstones (from 1740) around church and still in situ.
HISTORICAL RECORD (where known):
Patron: The Lord of the Manor of Kingston.
Other documentary sources: Test. Cant. (E. Kent, 1907), 183 - Rood light (1472, 1475, 1479, 1491 wills). Also light of B.V.M. and a chapel of Our Lady (1525), and Image of St. Christopher (1472), and Lights of St. Giles (1475) 1491-1499 and St. Margaret (1525). Tabernacle of St. Giles (1478). Also paving the church (1479) and reparation of nave (1505). N.B. also Parish Register No. 2(1744-1812) also contains notes relating to repairs/alterations in 1846, 1873, 1881, 1882, 1886 and 1897.
ARCHAEOLOGICAL RECORD:
Reused materials: Above a gate into the old Rectory garden (N.W. of the tower) are various architectural fragments set up (? from the earlier E. window).
SURVIVAL OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL DEPOSITS:
Inside present church: ?Quite good.
Outside present church: Narrow trench cut all the way round the outside of the church (except N. and W. of Tower).
Quinquennial inspection (date\architect): 1989 ANDREW CLAGUE
ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL ASSESSMENT:
The Church and churchyard: A small but fine parish church with fine later medieval roofs, and some good monuments in, and around, the church.
REFERENCES: Notes by F.C. Elliston Erwood in Arch. Cant. 59 (1946), 1-2 (and plan of 1927). Also by G.R. Glynne Notes on the Churches of Kent (1877), 130, and Hasted IX (1800), 348-9.
Guide book: Leaflet by Margaret Smith (n.d.)
Plans & drawings: Plan in Elliston Erwood (above).
DATES VISITED: 26th November 1991 REPORT BY: Tim Tatton-Brown
www.kentarchaeology.org.uk/01/03/KIN.htm
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KINGSTON
LIES the next parish eastward from Bishopsborne, in the upper half hundred of Kinghamford. There is but one borough in it, which extends likewise over the whole of this half hundred.
KINGSTON is situated in the same fine healthy and pleasant country of East Kent, the Bourne valley continues through the centre of it, where it is very narrow, not more than a mile from east to west, but the other way it is more than four in length. The village, having the church and parsonage within it stands on the southern side of Barham downs, just on the rise of the hill, on the opposite side of the valley, through which the Nailbourne runs at times, near which the land is very good and fertile. Just above the village is a neat house, sitted up a few years since by Capt. Chicke, and now occupied by Edwin Humphry Sandys, esq. who married Helen, his only daughter and heir, by whom he has five sons and two daughters; the whole of it, with the woods and hills above, forming a part of that beautiful prospect along this vale, so conspicuous from the downs and the high Dover road over them. Above the village the hills rise pretty high to a poor barren and stony country, covered with woods, among which, on the summit of the hill, is that large tract of them called Covert wood, accounted a manor, and belonging to the archbishop; beyond this the parish extends to Parmsted and Linsey bottom, joining the parishes of Upper Hardres, Stelling, and Eleham. On the other side of the Bourne valley northward, the ground rises to an open uninclosed country, taking within its bounds great part of Barham downs, and Ileden and Dennehill, beyond the opposite side of them, and it extends beyond the latter to the scite of Nethersole-house, which stood partly within it. The soil from the vale towards the downs, and on great part of them, is but poor and barren, being chalk, and covered with flints, but the soil on the upper part of the downs, towards Ileden and thereabouts, inclines to a loam, and is more fertile.
BARHAM DOWNS, a part of this county so well known by name to almost every one, is a most pleasant range of pasture ground, of considerable extent; for though it is not more than half a mile wide on a medium, yet it is in length upwards of four miles. It is in general high ground, especially towards the east end, where it rises to a pretty high hill. It lies sloping to the south, towards which, along the whole of it, there is the most pleasing prospect as above-mentioned, of the adjacent country, interspersed with the several villages and gentlemens seats, with which it abounds on both sides. On these downs are the county races, and the king's plate is annually run for here in the month of August.
On that part of the downs within this parish, there are many remains of Cæfar's works, in his progress through this county, particularly one of his small advanced camps, made square, with the corners a little rounded, and a single agger and vallum on three sides of it, the upper or northern side being left open. It lies on the slope of the hill, facing Kingston-church to the south-west; and from this camp westward there continue several lines of entrenchments, as there do again round and about Dennehill eastward, contiguous to all which there are great numbers of tumulior barrows interspersed over the downs, some of which are of a considerable size, but all of them have been opened, and plundered of their contents. The late Rev. Mr. Faussett, of Heppington, opened upwards of 300 of these tumuli, and greatly enriched his valuable collection of Roman antiquities with the contents of them; among which were discovered several coins of the first and second brass, viz. Claudius, Gallienus-Probus, Carausius, Allectus, and Constantine the Great. He was firmly of opinion, that these tumuli were the graves of the inhabitants of the neighbouring villages, of men and women promiscuously buried in them at different times; and that those with military appearances in them were of those who had at some time been soldiers. A denarius of Tiberius was found among the entrenchments near them.—Twine, in his treatise De Rebus Albionicis, p. 75, says, there was a barrow of an immense size opened on these downs, in king Henry VIII.'s time, by Mr. William Diggs, and that there was dug out of it a very large urn, full of ashes and bones of the largest size, with brass and iron helmets and shields of an unusual bigness, but almost wasted away; yet there was nothing to judge by, either of its time, or whom it belonged to. The Roman military way, or Watling-street, runs, along the lower side of the downs, the whole length of them, in a strait line from Canterbury towards Dover. It is made circular, and composed of the soil of the country, chalk and flints blended together, and is at this time the greatest part of it entire, being made use of as the common high road.
On these downs, anno 1213, king John encamped with a mighty army of 60,000 men, to oppose Philip, king of France, who was marching to invade this kingdom; but Pandulph, the pope's legate, who was then at the house of the knights templars in this neighbourhood, sent two of them to persuade the king to come to him there, where the king, in the presence of his principal nobles and the bishops, resigned his crown to the legate, as the pope's representative; (fn. 1) and here, in king Henry III.'s reign, Simon Montfort, earl of Leicester, being declared general of their army by the discontented barons, arrayed a numerous army to oppose the landing of queen Eleanor, whom the king had left behind in France.
THE MANOR OF KINGSTON was part of those lands which were given by the Conqueror to Fulbert de Dover, and made up together the barony of Fulbert, or Fobert, being held in capite by barony; and Chilham being made the chief seat of it, or caput baroniæ, it came afterwards to be called the barony of Chilham. In his descendants, and in the Strabolgie's, earls of Athol, this manor continued, in like manner as Chilham, till it was forfeited by one of them to the crown, whence it was granted by Edward II. in his 5th year, to Bartholomew de Badlesmere, (fn. 2) who in the 9th year obtained the grant of a fair here, on the feast of St. Leonard the abbot, and free-warren within all his demesne lands in this manor; but his son Giles de Badlesmere died s. p. in the 12th year of king Edward the IIId.'s reign, leaving his four sisters his coheirs, (fn. 3) and upon the division of their inheritance, this manor, with the advowson of the church, was assigned to Sir John Tiptoft, in right of his late wife Margaret, one of them. His son Robert Tiptoft dying in the 46th year of it, without male issue, his three daughters became his coheirs, of whom Elizabeth, married to Sir Philip le Despencer, on the partition of his estates, had this manor, with the advowson, inter alia, assigned to her. Sir Philip died possessed of it anno 2 Henry VI. upon which it descended to his daughter Margery, then the wife of Roger Wentworth, esq. whose descendant Thomas, lord Wentworth, of Nettlested, alienated it, in the 35th year of that reign, to Thomas Colepeper, esq. of Bedgbury, who soon afterwards conveyed it to Sir Anthony Aucher, of Bishopsborne, in whose descendants it conti nued down to Sir Anthony Aucher, of Bishopsborne, who in 1647 passed away this manor, with the advowson, to Thomas Gibbon, gent. of Westcliffe, who next year settled it on his second son Richard Gibbon, M. D. whose two daughters and coheirs, Dorothy Gibbon, and Anne, wife of the Rev. John Stoning, whose window, her sister Dorothy being deceased unmarried, then became entitled to the whole of it. She left a sole daughter and heir Elizabeth, then the wife of Peter Peters, M. D. of Canterbury, who died possessed of it in 1697. The family of De la Pierre, or Peters, was originally of Flanders. The first of of them who came into England to reside, was Peter Peters, alias De la Pierre, who two years before the restoration purchased the Blackfriars, in Canterbury, where he and his descendants afterwards resided, and practised as physicians with much reputation there, they bore for their arms, Or, three roses, gules. Upon Dr. Peters's death, the inheritance of it descended to his sole daughter and heir Elizabeth, who in 1722 carried it in marriage to Thomas Barrett, esq. of Lee, whose second wife she was. He died possessed of it in 1757, upon which it descended to his only daughter and heir by her, Elizabeth, who entitled her husband the Rev. William Dejovas Byrche, to this manor, with the advowson appendant of the church of Kingston; his arms, Azure, on a chevron, argent, between three fleurs de lis, or, a cross clechee, gules, on a chief of the last, a portcullis, chained of the second, were granted to him in 1758. He died in 1792, as did his widow in 1798, possessed of it, on which it came to SamuelEgerton Brydges, esq. of Denton, who had married their only daughter Elizabeth, and he is the present owner of it. A court leet and court baron is held for this manor.
ILEDEN, or Ilding, as it was antiently written, is a seat in this parish, situated below the hill, on the opposite or northern side of Barham downs, which was antiently part of the possessions of the family of Garwinton, of Garwinton, not far distant from it; in which name it continued down to William Garwinton, who dying s. p. Joane his kinswoman, married to Richard Haut, was, anno 11 king Henry IV. found to be his heir, and their son Richard Haut having an only daughter and heir Margery, she carried it in marriage to William Isaac, esq. of Patrixborne, whose descendant James Isaac, about the middle of king Henry VII.'s reign, alienated this seat, which had now lost all reputation of being a manor, to Diggs, of Diggs-court, in Barham, in which it staid till the reign of queen Elizabeth, when it was at length sold to Sir Thomas Wilsford, who afterwards rebuilt this seat, and resided at it. He was only son of Thomas Wilsford, of Hartridge, in Cranbrook, and married Mary, daughter and heir of Edward Poynings, by whom he had Sir Thomas Wilsford, of Ileden, and other children. Sir Thomas married Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Edwin Sandys, of Norborne, by whom he had James and three other sons; of whom, Edward, the third, was captain of a troop of horse, and in holy orders, which was somewhat remarkable; but being a faithful royalist, he was present at the famous battle of Worcester, and among those who courageously fought at one gate of that city, where he was dangerously wounded in the shoulder, whilst the king made his escape at another part of the city; and the university of Oxford soon afterwards, in compliment to the king, conferred on him the degree of D. D. and the king gave him in recompence the vicarage of Lid, where he died, and lies buried in that church. They bore for their arms, Gules, a chevron, ingrailed, between three leopard's faces, or; which coat, impaled with Sandys, is in several of the windows at Ileden; and in the hall of it is the coat of Wilsford, quartering those of Corney, Poynings, Fitzpain, Bryan, Rokesley, Criol, Crevequer, and Averenches. In whose de scendants it continued down to his great-grandson Sir James Wilsford, of Ileden, who in 1668 sold this seat to Sir Robert Faunce, of Maidstone, who afterwards resided here. He was first of St. Margaret's, Rochester, and resided afterwards at different times at Cosington, in Aylesford, Ileden, the Precincts in Canterbury, Bekesborne, Betshanger, and Maidstone, and lies buried at Aylesford. He bore for his arms, Argent, three lions rampant, sable, collared, or. In 1679 he alienated this seat to John Cason, esq. afterwards of Ileden, and he about the year 1690 passed it away to Thomas Turner, esq. of London, descended from William Turner, of Sutton Valence, of the houshold to king Henry VII. being the son of William Turner, alderman of Canterbury. He was clerk of the drapers company. and was a benefactor to the poor of this parish. He had a daughter Elizabeth, married to Sir Thomas Lombe, of London. He died possessed of it in 1715, whose grandson Thomas Turner, esq. changed his name to Payler, for which an act passed, and resided at Ileden, and died possessed of it in 1771. He left one son Thomas, and a daughter Margaret, married to the Rev. Edward Taylor, of Bifrons. Thomas-Watkinson Payler, the son, married Charlotte, one of the daughters of William Hammond, esq. late of St. Albans, by whom he has seven sons and one daughter. They bear for their arms, Turner, per fess, ermine and sable, a pale counterchanged, three fer de molines, two and one, or, quartering Payler, gules, on a bend, or between three lions, passant-guardant, argent, three mullets of six points, pierced, sable. He was succeeded in it by his son Thomas-Watkinson Payler, esq. now of Ileden, the present owner of it.
DENNEHILL is another seat on the same side of Barham downs, at the eastern boundary of them, which took its name from the family of Dene, or Denne, of eminent note in this county, the possessors of it in very early times. One of them, Ralph de Den, held much land in Romney Marsh, and at Buckhurst, in Sussex, in the 20th year of William the Conqueror, as appeared by an old roll in the earl of Dorset's possession, being written in the record, son of Robtus Pincerna, a name probably given him from his being butler or sewer to one of our kings before the conquest. Sir Alured de Den was chief steward of the priory of Christ-church in the 29th year of king Henry III. and was a person so singularly esteemed for his wisdom, that when the laws and ordinances of Romney Marsh were compiled, by that venerable judge Henry de Bath, in the 42d year of that reign, this Sir Alured and Nicholas de Handloe were joined with him for that purpose; and what is remarkable, he at that early time sealed with three leopards faces, the antient paternal coat of this family, which afterwards continued owners of this seat, and resided here with much reputation as justices of the peace and other honourable employments of public concern, down to Michael Denne, esq. who lived here in the reigns of king Edward IV. and king Henry VII. being descended by the marriages of his ancestors from the families of Apulderfield, Earde, Arderne, and Combe, among others, whose posterity spread in several branches resident not only in Canterbury and the several neighbouring parishes, but in West Kent likewise. But after this seat had continued in an uninterrupted descent to him from Sir Alured de Denne above-mentioned, and from him again down to Thomas Denne, esq. who was recorder of Canterbury, and died possessed of it in 1655, it went by Mary, his youngest daughter and coheir, in marriage to Vincent Denne. esq. of Canterbury, sergeant-at-law, descended, as has been above-related, from the same stock of ancestry, but he bore for his arms, Argent, on two flaunches, sable, two leopard's faces, or, being the bearing of this younger branch of this family. The elder branch, of Dennehill, bore Sable, three leopards faces, or. (fn. 4) He died possessed of it in 1693, leaving four daughters his coheirs, viz. Dorothy, married to Mr. Thomas Ginder; Mary, to Mr. Stephen Nethersole; Bridget, to Mr. Robert Beake; and Honywood, to Gilbert Knowler, esq. who the next year vested their several interests in this seat by sale in Mr. Robert Beake before-mentioned, who died possessed of the whole of it in 1701, whose heirs, Thomas, Robert, and William Beake, in 1725 sold it to lady Hester Gray, whose husband Sir James Gray had, in 1707, been created a baronet of Scotland, bearing for his arms, Gules, a lion rampant, within a bordure wavy, argent. She conveyed it to her eldest son Sir James Gray, bart. and K. B. who died in 1775, and was succeeded in it by his brother lieutenant-general Sir George Gray, bart. who dying soon afterwards, it came again to his mother lady Hester Gray, and her daughters, Elizabeth Nicholl, widow, and Carolina Gray, who in 1774 joined in the sale of it to John Morse, esq. of London, merchant, who at no small expence greatly improved this seat, and the adjoining grounds belonging to it, and afterwards in 1777 alienated it to Hardinge Scracey, esq. late on of the clerks of the house of commons, who is the present possessor and resides in it, bearing for his arms, Argent, a cross engrailed, gules, between four eagles displayed, sable.
PARMESTED, usually called Parmsted, is a manor situated obscurely among the woods, on the opposite side of the parish, more than two miles from the church, close to the boundaries of Upper Hardres, in which parish great part of it lies, south-westward from Kingston church. It was, as early as any evidence drawn from record can discover, the inheritance of a family of the same name; for in several old deeds relating to lands contiguous to it, Hugh de Parmested is named among other witnesses, and most probably he was owner of this manor; but before the end of king Edward II.'s reign this name was become extinct here, and the family of Garwinton were proprietors of it, as appears by an old fine levied anno 8 Edward III. by Hugh Garwinton, in which he passed away his estate at Permested, to Thomas Garwinton, whose greatgrandson William Garwinton, dying s. p. Joane his kinswoman, married to Richard Haut, was anno 11 Henry IV. found to be his next heir, and their son Richard Haut leaving an only daughter and heir Margery, she carried it in marriage to William Isaac, esq. of Patrixborne, whose descendant James Isaac, about the beginning of king Henry VII. alienated it to Edward Knevet, esq. of Stanway, who died in the 16th year of it, leaving an only daughter and heir, married to Sir John Rainsford, but she died s. p. anno 1507, upon which it devolved to her next heir Elizabeth, wife of John Clopton, esq. and only daughter of Margaret, the eldest of the two sisters and coheirs of Edward Knevet, esq. above-mentioned, and they, anno 27 Henry VIII. passed it away by sale to Thomas, lord Cromwell, afterwards earl of Essex, who the next year sold it to Sir Christopher Hales, the king's attorney-general, who died possessed of it anno 33 Henry VIII. and his three daughters and coheirs conveyed it by sale to Thomas Alphew, otherwise Alphy, yeoman, who in the 5th of Elizabeth, alienated it to William Denne. draper, of Maidstone, who again passed it away to Vincent Denne, LL. D. whose grandson Vincent Denne, sergeant-at-law, of Canterbury, died possessed of it in 1693, without male issue, leaving four daughters his coheirs, the youngest of whom Honywood, on the partition of his estates, became entitled to it. She afterwards married Gilbert Knowler, esq. of Herne, whose second wife she was; they afterwards conveyed this manor to Tho. Harris, hopfactor, of Canterbury, who by his last will in 1726, gave it to his grandson Richard Barham, gent. whose son Mr. Richard Harris Barham, of Canterbury, and an alderman of that city, died possessed of it in 1795, and in the trustees of his will the possession of it is now vested.
Charities.
WILLIAM TURNER, by will in 1746, gave the yearly sum of 6l. 10s. to purchase wheaten bread, to be distributed to the amount of 2s. 6d. weekly, every Sunday after divine service, to the poor; and he charged the same on his estate in St. Martin'slane, in Bedfordbury; and 10s. likewise yearly to the clerk for his trouble in distributing it. Which is now paid by T. W. Payler, esq.
The poor constantly maintained are about twenty, casually ten.
THIS PARISH is within the ECCLESIASTICAL JURISDICTION of the diocese of Canterbury, and deanry of Bridge.
The church consists of one isle and one chancel, having a square tower at the west end, in which are three bells. It is dedicated to St. Giles. This church, though small, is neat. In the chancel is a small monument, with two figures kneeling, and inscription, for John Nethersole, esq. of Nethersole, obt. 1546. A monument for Gilbert Boroughs, A. M. twenty-six years rector of this parish, and master of the king's school, Canterbury, obt. 1718. A memorial within the altar-rails, for Margaret, wife of Thomas Turner, esq. of Ileden, obt. 1698. He died in 1718, and lies in the same vault. A monument within the altarrails, for Vincent Denne, sergeant-at-law, and Mary his wife, daughter of Thomas Denne, esq. deceased. He died in 1693; arms, Three leopards saces, which coat in her hatchment is the first, and argent, on two flaunchee, sable, two leopards faces, or, the second. A memorial for John Haslyn, parson of this parish 26 years, obt. August 24, 1600. A memorial for Robert Denne, obt. 1594. In the south wall is a very antient flat stone, under an arch, the brass gone. The altarpiece was given by Thomas Barrett, esq. patron of this church. In the body is a monument for the Turner's, of Ilden, A stone on the pavement, on which were the figures of a man and woman, and inscription in brass, now gone, which was for Thomas Botiller. Four shields of arms; on one an ox, and on another a sheep, the other two gone.
This church has always been appendant to the manor of Kingston, and continues so at this time, SamuelEgerton Bridges, esq. lord of that manor, being the present patron of it.
¶It is a rectory, and valued in the king's books at sixteen pounds, and the yearly tenths at 1l. 12s. It is now of the yearly certified value of 77l. 3s. In 1588 it was valued at eighty pounds, communicants 123; in 1640 the same. There was formerly a chantry in this church.
full essay : www.modkraft.dk/sektion/modkultur/article/expect-anything...
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Ny antologi anlægger et mere nuanceret og udvidet perspektiv på den situationistiske bevægelse ved at føje nye historier til om især den oversete skandinaviske sektion.
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Af Linda Petersen - 26. april 2011
ANMELDELSE: For nylig udkom Mikkel Bolt Rasmussen & Jakob Jakobsen (red.): Expect Anything, Fear Nothing. The Situationist Movement in Scandinavia and Elsewhere (2011), som redaktørerne angiver at være en fortsættelse af Forvent alt, frygt intet: Seminar om den situationistiske bevægelse i Skandinavien, der blev afholdt i Folkets Hus den 15. – 16. marts 2007. [1]
Bogen har ifølge de to redaktører en dobbeltmission, idet der på én gang er tale om historiekritik og (potentiel) samfundskritik.
Bolt & Jakobsen konstaterer således indledningsvis, at den situationistiske bevægelse har været genstand for stor opmærksomhed siden slutningen af 1980erne. Dette begyndte med den første store udstilling om bevægelsen, der blev præsenteret i Centre Pompidou i Paris i 1989, [2] og som på sin vis gav situationisterne en plads inden for i det skuespilsamfund, som de ellers havde stået uden for for at kritisere.
Dog har fokus alene været rettet mod den ene af de to grundlæggere af Situationistisk Internationale (SI), nemlig Guy Debord (1931-1994), der som den eneste var et gennemgående medlem fra SI’s grundlæggelse i 1957 frem til bevægelsens opløsning i 1972. Følgelig har historien om situationisterne overvejende været begrænset til den fransk-belgiske sektion, som Debord stod i spidsen for, og som for så vidt angår perioden efter SI’s interne brud i 1961 og 1962 har været fremstillet som værende ensidigt analytisk-teoretisk.
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Guy Debord, street art i Lyon. Foto: bibhop (kilde Flickr.com)
Bolt & Jakobsens udgangspunkt er derfor, at denne "rather tidy history of the group’s development which leaves out some of the more interesting inconsistencies and paradoxes that characterises the Situationist movement ... continue[s] to give it importance in any fight against the ruling powers." [3]
I kampen om at (tilbage)erobre billedet omhandler teksterne i Expect Anything, Fear Nothing således på den ene side den fransk-belgiske sektions fortsatte kunstnerisk-aktivistiske aktiviteter og på den anden side den tysk-skandinaviske sektion, der i bogen fremstilles som ikke alene at have været kunstnerisk-aktivistisk, men også analytisk-teoretisk. [4]
Samtidigt fastslår Bolt & Jakobsen, at det netop er disse modsætningsforhold inden for den situationistiske bevægelse, der har potentiale til at inspirere til samfundskritik i dag:
"What we find interesting about the Situationists is the contradictions and this the openness that the totality of the project is offering which has the potential to inspire people who still want to use words and images in the struggle against the prevailing forms of life." [5]
Den situationistiske bevægelse
Den situationistiske bevægelse var en kulturrevolutionær bevægelse, der tog sin begyndelse, da Debord og Asger Jorn (1914-1973) i 1957 grundlagde Situationistiske Internationale (SI).
De to var allerede begyndt at korrespondere sammen i 1954, mens Debord og Michelle Bernstein (f. 1932) [6] endnu var medlemmer af Lettrist International, der stod bag udgivelsen af Potlatch, og samme år, som Jorn efter opløsningen af COBRA havde grundlagt International Movement for an Imaginist Bauhaus. To år senere, i 1956, mødtes de tre til The Congress for Free Artists i Italien, der var arrangeret af Jorns organisation; et møde, der året efter førte til en "fusion" mellem de organisationer, da Debord og Jorn sammen dannede SI.
SI havde til formål at gå til kunstnerisk og politisk kamp mod forbrugersamfundet og dets fremmedgørelse, der havde forvandlet samfundet til et skuespilsamfund, hvori folk var blevet reduceret til at være passive tilskuere. Organisationen udgav tidsskriftet Internationale Situationniste, og skuespilsamfundet skildrede Debord også i den nu berømte pamflet La sociéte du spectacle (1967). [7]
Ud over Debord, Jorn og Bernstein var medlemmerne af SI bl.a. Jacqueline de Jong (f. 1939), Gruppe SPUR v/Hans-Peter Zimmer (1936-1992), Heimrad Prem (1934-1978), Helmut Sturm (1932-2008) m.fl., Attila Kotányi (1924-2004), Raoul Vaneigem (f. 1934), Ralph Rumney (1934-2002), Hardy Strid (f. 1921), Ansgar Elde (1933-2000), J.V. Martin (1930-1994), Peter Laugesen (f. 1942), Jørgen Nash (1920-2004) og Katja Lindell.
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Foto fra SI’s 4. konference, der blev bragt i Situationist International no. 5. I konferencen deltog bl.a. Debord, Jorn, Jong, Nash, Kotanyi, Zimmer og Prem.
Jorns bror Nash mødte første gang Debord i Danmark i 1957. De to mødtes igen i 1959, og mødet banede vejen for Nashs optagelse i SI som sekretær for den skandinaviske sektion.
Hollandske de Jong, et andet af SI’s medlemmer, havde mødt Jorn i 1959, men blev optaget i bevægelsen på grund af hendes kunstneriske samarbejde med den tyske sektion, Gruppe SPUR, [8] der udgav tidsskriftet SPUR, og som selv var blevet optaget i organisationen samme år. SI havde ekskluderet de hollandske medlemmer, [9] og Debord bad i stedet de Jong om at være den hollandske sektion.
På SI’s 4. konference i 1960 rejste Gruppe SPUR et stadig uløst spørgsmål i bevægelsen, nemlig hvilket form revolutionen skulle tage. På vegne den tyske sektion læste Prem en erklæring op, hvori man fastslog, at proletariatet aldrig kunne udgøre den drivende kraft i konfrontationen med den gamle verden, eftersom arbejderne ifølge deres analyse var blevet passive og tilfredse. Det var følgelig Gruppe SPUR’s konklusion, at det var avantgardekunsten, der måtte stå for opgøret.
Debord havde dog i skarpe vendinger kritiseret denne position, og flere medlemmer, herunder også Nash, mente, at Gruppe SPUR havde undervurderet de tyske arbejdere. Men i mangel af et fælles program fortsatte SI’s medlemmer ikke desto mindre med at udvikle tekster, kunstværker og eksperimenter, der ikke ligefrem fremstod som et sammenhængende hele, og som i visse tilfælde endog kunne synes at stå i direkte modsætning til hinanden.
I 1961 besluttede Jorn sig dog for officielt at forlade SI, eftersom han ikke længere kunne forsvare sammenhængen mellem sin egen kunstneriske praksis og Debords radikale afvisning af kunstinstitutionen. Jorn havde imidlertid ydet økonomisk støtte til SI, og med henblik på at kunne fortsætte hermed overtalte Debord ham til at forblive i organisationen som et hemmeligt medlem under pseudonymet George Keller.
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Asger Jorn (1963). Foto: Erik Mandelmann (kilde: Wikimedia Commons)
Det andet og større interne brud i SI fandt sted i 1962, efter at der i mellemtiden var kommet nye medlemmer til, heriblandt Katja Lindell, Hardy Strid, Ansgar Elde, J.V. Martin og Peter Laugesen.
Året forinden var Nash og Lindell flyttet ind i den svenske ødegård Drakabygget. Idéen med stedet var at skabe et frirum fra det tiltagende forbrugersamfund og et hjemsted for den nye avantgardebevægelse med dets kombination af leg og oprør. For at udbrede kendskabet hertil havde Nash sammen med Jorn, som i de første år var involveret i projektet, og som bidrog økonomisk hertil, grundlagt tidsskriftet Drakabygget. Jorn havde oprindelig foreslået at kalde stedet for Nordic Bauhaus, men på dets brevpapir endte Nash med at anføre "Bauhaus Situationniste – Drakabygget Örkelljunga Sverige – Section Scandinave de l’internationale Situationniste".
Tidligere havde Nash og Lindell opholdt sig hos Gruppe SPUR i München, og da malerne nu stod anklaget for blasfemi i Tyskland, [10] tilbød de dem eksil i Drakabygget. Blandt stedets øvrige beboere var også de Jong samt Gordon Fazakerley (f. 1937), der dog ikke var optaget i organisationen, eftersom han havde været forhindret i at deltage i SI’s konference i 1961.
På den nævnte konference, der var blevet afholdt i Göteborg, havde Nash foreslået at gøre "Divided We Stand" til SI’s slogan, hvilket Debord havde pure afvist. Ikke kun Debord, men også Kotányi og Veneigem kunne ikke længere acceptere modsætningerne inden for bevægelsen, og under et stop på vej tilbage til Paris havde de formuleret et mere klart defineret program for SI, der fik titlen The Hamburg Theses.
I forbindelse med et komitémøde i 1962 havde "Hamborg-fraktionen" på forhånd besluttet sig for at ekskludere Gruppe SPUR, [11] og da Nash og de Jong alligevel havde insisteret på at diskutere beslutningen, endte mødet med, at også de blev ekskluderet.
Forinden var det dog efter forslag fra de Jong blevet besluttet at udgive en engelsk version af Internationale Situationniste. De Jong fortsatte med projektet, og i kritik af eksklusionerne valgte hun at hellige det første nummer af The Situationist Times, der udkom i 1962, til netop Gruppe SPUR.
Nash derimod nægtede at acceptere sin eksklusion fra den situationistiske bevægelse. I 1961 havde han mødt Jens Jørgen Thorsen (1932-2000), [12] der overtog Jorns rolle som medredaktør af Drakabygget, og sammen skrev de Manifesto of the 2nd Situationist International, som blev trykt henholdsvis i Drakabygget 2/3 (1962) og i The Situationist Times no. 2 (1962). Af manifestet fremgik, at det ud over Nash og Thorsen var underskrevet af bl.a. Strid, Elde, Ambrosius Fjord (navnet på Thorsens hest), Fazakerley og de Jong, om end de to sidste blot havde modtaget et brev om, at deres navne var blevet tilføjet. [13]
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Manifesto of the 2nd Situationist International i Drakabygget 2/3
Som reaktion på Drakabygget og The Situationist Times publicerede SI i Internationale Situationniste nr. 8 (1963) en række nye definitioner, "Nashism", "Nashiste", Nashistique" og "Nashisterie", som Martin havde forfattet. Martin havde efter eksklusionerne overtaget Nashs rolle som sekretær for skandinaviske sektion, og sammen med bl.a. Laugesen stod han bag planlægningen af SI’s udstilling Destruktion af RSG-6 i Odense i 1963. Da Laugesen senere på året blev ekskluderet på grund af sin interesse for de amerikanske beatforfattere, var Martin det sidste skandinaviske medlem af SI. Det var tillige Martin, der organiserede SI’s udstilling Operation Playtime i 1967.
Også Drakabygget arrangerede flere udstillinger.
For at skaffe midler til at drive stedet havde Nash allerede fra begyndelsen af gjort sig selv til kunsthandler, og ikke alene solgte han værker af de bosiddende kunstnere; han solgte tilmed malerier, som efter sigende skulle have været udført af ham selv, men som ikke desto mindre var signeret "Jorn" med henblik på at øge prisen. I tillæg hertil blev der arrangeret egentlige kunstudstillinger med værker af Gruppe SPUR, bl.a. i Jorns Galleri Birch i København.
Seven Rebels, der blev præsenteret i Odense i 1962, var dog den første udstilling efter publiceringen af det nye manifest. De syv kunstnere bag udstillingen var Nash, Thorsen, Strid, Elde, Zimmer, de Jong og Fazakerley. Udstillingen blev efterfølgende vist i Göteborg i 1962 og Silkeborg i 1963. Men i forbindelse med sidstnævnte ændrede Nash og Thorsen imidlertid kataloget, således at de Jong og Fazakerley i stedet kom til at fremstå som henholdsvis Roy Adzak og Manfred Laber. Hvor de Jong og Fazakerly følte, at de var blevet kuppet, førte ændringen til, at de to brød med Nash og Thorsen.
Det var tillige i 1962, at Drakabygget i Møntergade i København præsenterede udstillingen CO-RITUS, der var en konkret kritik af den vestlige opfattelse af kunstneren som det geniale individ. Udstillingen var således udelukkende udstyret med materiale, hvormed kunstnere udfordrede de normalt passive beskuere til sammen med dem at skabe kollektive værker. Endvidere var der ved siden af galleriet en 300 meter langt grå indhegning, og på opfordring fra nogle af gadens beboere, dekorerede Nash, Thorsen, Strid og Dieter Kunzelmann denne med en række slogans. Da Nash og Thorsen blev arresteret herfor, tilbød de at male indhegningen færdig sammen med nogle af de mere anerkendte kunstnere, heriblandt Jorn. Men ikke blot blev tilbuddet afvist og Nash og Thorsen idømt en bøde; træt af igen at være blevet inddraget i deres provokationer fik det i 1963 nu også Jorn til at bryde med Nash, både i form af et personligt brev og i den offentlige debat, hvori Jorn deltog med et indlæg, der bar overskriftet "I Do Not Paint Fences".
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Jørgen Nash, Hardy Strid, Jens Jørgen Thorsen og Dieter Kunzelmann foran indhegningen i Møntergade i 1962. Pressefoto
I tiden efter fortsatte de Jong i samarbejde med bl.a. Nöel Arnaud [14] og Fazakerley med at redigere The Situationist Times, hvoraf der udkom i alt seks numre frem til 1967.
Også Drakabygget v/Nash og Thorsen udførte i de følgende år en række aktiviteter, der skulle provokere borgerskabet, heriblandt afsavningen af hovedet på Den Lille Havfrue i 1965.
Og selv blev SI opløst i 1972, da der kun var to medlemmer tilbage, Debord og Gianfranco Sanguinetti.
Imidlertid har de Jong afvist, at de aktiviteter, der foregik uden for SI efter bruddet i 1962, kan tilskrives den situationistiske bevægelse. Bl.a. i et interview med den amerikanske historiker Karen Kurczynski i forbindelse med Forvent alt, frygt intet-seminaret i København i 2007, som er gengivet i Expect Anything, Fear Nothing, har hun følgelig udtalt:
"I must say one thing about this "first" and "second" Situationist movement. This only exists in the ideas of the Scandinavians. There is no French writing about the Second SI, they are called Nashists. They are not a movement. Nor did SPUR ever consider themselves belonging to this Second Situationist International. I mean, there is not a "first". There is the Situationist movement, there is SPUR, there is Drakabygget, and there is The Situationist Times, but the Internationale situationniste is the only movement." [15]
En videreførelse af situationistiske traditioner
Expect Anything, Fear Noting forsøger på flere måder at videreføre traditioner fra den situationistiske bevægelse.
Dels synes samarbejdet mellem Bolt & Jakobsen i deres egenskab af henholdsvis historiker/teoretiker og kunstner/aktivist at være en bestræbelse på at vende tilbage til det, der oprindelig var udgangspunktet, da Debord og Jorn i sin tid grundlagde SI på baggrund af deres respektive forankring i teori og praksis.
Og dels synes antologien at være direkte inspireret af The Situationist Times. Karakteristisk var nemlig, at tidsskriftet rummede bidrag fra videnskabsfolk, arkitekter, digtere, musikere, surrealister, situationister og andre kunstnere, og i pendant hertil indeholder Expect Anything, Fear Nothing artikler, samtaler og et enkelt digt af henholdsvis kunsthistorikere, kunstnere og forfattere, herunder også af tidligere medlemmer af den situationistiske bevægelse.
Endelig har man fortsat idéen om "potlatch", hvad der for bevægelsen dengang en ret unik tradition. Potlatch betyder "at forære væk" eller "gave", [16] og i alle bevægelsens tidsskrifter var således inkluderet en anti-copyright erklæring. Eksempelvis stod der i The Situationist Times anført:
"… all reproduction, deformation, derivation and transformation of The Situationist Times is permitted." [17]
Også Expect Anything, Fear Nothing rummer følgelig en anti-copyright erklæring:
"This book may be freely pirated and quoted. However, please inform the authors and publishers." [18]
Endvidere kan antologien frit downloades her:
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Omslaget til Expect Anything, Fear Nothing. Pressefoto
Den kritiske diskurs
Expect Anything, Fear Nothing indeholder som nævnt tekster, der enten tegner et billede af den tysk-skandinaviske sektion som værende både kunstnerisk-aktivistisk og analytisk-teoretisk, eller som påviser, at den fransk-belgiske sektion udførte kunstnerisk-aktivistiske aktiviteter efter bruddet i 1962.
Jakobsen har med tilladelse fra Nashs enke, Lis Zwick, fået adgang til Nash/Jorn-arkivet, som Nash overgav til Det Kongelige Bibliotek i 1981, og som der ikke er fri offentlig adgang til. Med udgangspunkt heri har han med "The Artistic Revolution: On the Situationists, Gangsters and Falsifiers from Drakabygget" skrevet et længere indlæg om Drakabygget, herunder om kunstnerkollektivet i Sverige, om udstillingerne Seven Rebels og CO-RITUS samt om de to "partners-in-crime", Nash og Thorsen. I tillæg hertil er der gengivet en samtale mellem de Jong og Jakobsen, der fandt sted under seminaret i 2007.
Drakabygget er også emnet for Carl Nørresteds indlæg "The Drakabygget Films". Selv er Nørrested én af de få, der har set de fleste af Drakabyggets film, og i sit bidrag skriver han ikke alene om dets egne produktioner, herunder om filmen So ein Ding muss ich auch haben fra 1961 af Albert Mertz, Gruppe SPUR og Nash samt om flere af Thorsens film, men også om de fem filmfestivaler for eksperimentale film, som Drakabygget organiserede i 1964-65.
En af de mere teoretiske tekster er Karen Kurczynskis indlæg "Red Herrings: Eccentric Morphologies in the Situationist Times". Med reference til bl.a. Jorns teori om triolektik og Mikhail Bakhtins teori om det dialogiske diskuterer Kurczynski heri de mange roller, som typologien spillede i The Situationist Times. I forlængelse heraf er der også her gengivet en samtale mellem de Jong og Kurczynski fra seminaret i København.
En anden af de mere teoretiske tekster er Fabian Tompsetts indlæg "Open Copenhagen". Tompsetts ærinde er gennem en kritik af Alan Sokal og Jean Bricmonts teorier at påvise, at Jorn rent faktisk var en seriøs teoretiker, der var mere tro mod videnskaben, og ifølge Tompsett var Jorns teori om trolektik direkte inspireret af Niels Bohrs idé om "Open World".
Anderledes handler Bolts indlæg "To Act in Culture While Being against All Culture: The Situationists and the "Destruction of RSG-6" om SI’s udstilling i Odense i 1963. Britiske aktivister havde kort tid forinden afsløret en hemmelig bunker i byen Reading, "RSG-6", der var reserveret til lokalpolitikere og medlemmer af regeringen i tilfælde af atomkrig, og udstillingen skulle ses som en hyldest til aktivisterne, om end den også rakte også ud over deres fund. Udstillingen bestod af tre dele, henholdsvis et afsnit, der var indrettet som en bunker; et afsnit, hvori publikum havde mulighed for at skyde med rifler mod billeder af politiske ledere, paven og den danske udenrigsminister, samt et afsnit, der var indrettet mere eller mindre som en traditionel udstilling. [19] De danske situationister krævede imidlertid selv at få udstillingen lukket, fordi galleriejeren tillod de besøgende at gå direkte ind i udstillingens tredje del.
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Installationshot fra SI’s udstilling "Destruktion af RSG-6" i 1963. Pressefoto
Expect Anything, Fear Nothing rummer derudover bidrag af Laugesen, Strid og Home samt et fællesbidrag af Bolt & Jakobsen, der omhandler rydningen af Ungdomshuset, tillige med en gengivelse af den afsluttende samtale mellem deltagerne, der fandt sted under seminaret i 2007.
Den kritiske metode
Strategien bag Expect Everything, Fear Nothing synes altså at være, at man har villet foretage en indirekte kritik af skuespilsamfundet ved at råde bod på den fatale misforståelse, der er blevet skabt, fordi udviklingen i den situationistiske bevægelse har været fremstillet som én stor fortælling.
Antologien består følgelig af en samling fragmenter, som sammen giver et noget mere nuanceret og udvidet perspektiv på den situationistiske bevægelse.
Og der er mange interessante tekster heriblandt. Jakobsen og Nørrested bidrager således med et udmærket og i nogen grad sjældent indblik i aktiviteterne i og omkring Drakabygget, som fint suppleres af især samtalen mellem de Jong og Kurczynski. Det er dog især Bolts tekst, der tilbyder et dybere perspektiv, idet teksten ikke kun indeholder en detaljeret beskrivelse af udstillingen Destruktion af RGS-6, men også sætter den ind i en historisk kontekst.
Også Kurczynski og Tompsetts indlæg er begge meget interessante. De er dog langt mere akademiske og forudsætter til en vis grad kendskab til andre teorier og begreber.
Og de noget uhomogene tekster gør, at man godt kan være lidt i tvivl om, hvem antologien egentlig henvender sig til, ligesom det kan undre, at man har valgt bringe mange danske avisartikler på bogens indstikssider, når bogens tekster i øvrigt er på engelsk.
Det kan være af strategiske årsager, at man har undladt at redegøre nærmere for Debords analyser og teorier, men for de, der kunne være interesserede i at læse herom, kan Bolts Avantgardens selvmord, der udkom i 2009, anbefales. Heri er der så omvendt ingen reference til den tysk-skandinaviske sektion, uanset at bogen udkom, efter at seminaret i København var blevet afholdt. Også Avantgardens selvmord kan i øvrigt frit downloades her.
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Mikkel Bolt: Avantgardens selvmord (2009). Pressefoto
Det er samtidigt i Avantgardens selvmord, at man finder baggrunden for den kritiske metode.
Bolt fremhæver heri den tyske litteraturhistoriker Peter Bürger, der skrev Theorie der Avantgarde (1974), og som anses for at være den første egentlige avantgardeteoretiker.
I Theorie der Avantgarde foretog Bürger en korrektion af Theodor W. Adornos Ästetische Theorie, der blev udgivet posthum i 1970. Adorno havde fremstillet modernismen som noget radikalt nyt og dermed som indikation på en ny epoke, men Bürger insisterede på, at modernismen ikke var ny i radikal forstand. I stedet indskrev han modernismen i en større fortælling, idet han hævdede, at modernismen blot var en fase i den borgerlige kunst, der med autonomien som ideal var begyndt som en kritik af det kapitalistiske samfund, men som med realiseringen af dens æstetiske tilbagetrækning fra verden var endt som en bekræftelse af samme. Ifølge Bürger var det dette paradoks, der havde muliggjort 1910erne og 1920ernes avantgarde, som netop var radikal ny ved ikke at have været en udvikling af, men et brud på traditionen.
Hvor Bürgers teori således var funderet på en dialektik mellem modernismen og avantgarden, fastslog han, at sidstnævnte med midler som bl.a. fotomontagen og Marcel Duchamps readymades havde bestræbt sig på at reintegrere kunsten i livsverden i kritik af kunstens autonomi. Men han konstaterede også, at avantgarden havde fejlet, al den stund dens "værker" var blevet anerkendt som kunst. 1910erne og 1920ernes avantgarde betegnede Bürger derfor den historiske avantgarde.
I forlængelse heraf fastslog han, at 1960ernes avantgarde, som han gav betegnelsen neo-avantgarde, helt havde opløst dialektikken ved at have gentaget de samme påfund, efter at disse både havde opnået status som kunst og ophævet den historiske udvikling af teknikker og stilarter. Bürger konkluderede derfor, at ingen retning inden for samtidskunsten kunne hævdes at være hverken kritisk eller historisk mere avanceret som kunst end nogen anden. Hans teori gjorde det derfor også praktisk talt umuligt at skelne mellem begreberne "neo-avantgarde" og "postmodernisme".
Om end Bürgers teori i 1990erne var genstand for en del kritik, har den igennem de senere år nærmest fået en renæssance.
Også Bolt skriver således:
"Selvom Bürgers afvisning af neoavantgarden blev formuleret på baggrund af en teleologisk historieforestilling, der var problematisk … så formåede han ikke desto mindre overbevisende at pege på nogle af de forvandlinger, som avantgarden gennemgik i midten af det 20. århundrede." [20]
Hvor Bolt følgelig lægger Bürgers teori til grund, fremhæver han i stedet Situationistisk Internationale som et af de få eksempler, der bekræfter reglen:
"… hvis man følger Bürgers definition af avantgarden som kombinationen af et angreb på kunstinstitutionen med et utopisk projekt om en revolution af de samfundsmæssige forhold, så fremtræder Situationistisk Internationale som et af efterkrigstidens få eksempler på en avantgarde." [21]
Men at anvende Bürgers metode til at påvise en kritik inden for dele af neo-avantgarden er imidlertid ikke helt uproblematisk.
I Expect Anything, Fear Nothing er det såkaldte skuespilsamfund – bortset fra i Bolts egen tekst om Destruktion af RSG-6 – nærmest helt fraværende. I stedet fokuseres der heri på de interne brud i SI, hvorudaf der hævdes at være opstået den anden situationistiske bevægelse, der nok var analytisk-teoretisk, men som alligevel var forskellig fra den første ved at være mere kunstnerisk-aktivistisk.
Bestræbelserne i Expect Anything, Fear Nothing adskiller derfor ikke væsentligt fra Hal Fosters bestræbelse i The Return of the Real. The Avant-Garde at the End of the Century (1996). I en indirekte kritik af neo-konservatismen forsøgte han heri at udskille dele af neo-avantgarden fra postmodernismen. Foster påpegede godt nok ikke undtagelser, der bekræfter reglen. Foster hævdede nemlig anderledes, at dele af neo-avantgarden ikke havde negeret den historiske avantgarde, men i stedet havde ført kritikken af kunstinstitutionen ud i livet på et mere bevidst plan. I øvrigt skelnede Foster også mellem to faser af (neo-)avantgarden.
Trods forskellene synes resultatet ikke desto mindre at være det samme. I begge tilfælde har man således erstattet Bürgers dialektik mellem to diskurser, modernismen og den historiske avantgarde, med en dialektik inden for den samme diskurs, nemlig avantgarden, uanset om der er tale om en dialektik mellem den første og den anden situationistiske bevægelse eller om en dialektik mellem den historiske avantgarde og neo-avantgarden.
Men dermed synes man også at have erstattet en marxistisk dialektik med en hegeliansk dialektik, dvs. den samme dialektik, der lå til grund for den store fortælling. Konsekvensen er derfor, at man blot har udskiftet én stor fortælling med en anden.
Der forekommer derfor at være behov for en ny og mere tidssvarende avantgardeteori, og i Theorie der Avantgarde anførte Bürger da også selv:
"Aesthetic theories may strenuously strive for metahistorical knowledge, but that the bear the clear stamp of the period of their origin can usually be seen afterwards, and with relative ease." [22]
I Expect Anything, Fear Nothing er de Jong endvidere blevet citeret for at have sagt:
"Misunderstandings and contradictions are ... the basis of all art and creation." [23]
Det samme princip må naturligvis også gælde for teorien.
Samfundskritik
Bolt & Jakobsen har som sagt påpeget, at den situationistiske bevægelse har potentiale til at inspirere til samfundskritik i dag.
Men da der ikke i Expect Everything, Fear Nothing er angivet nogen eksempler på, hvordan man direkte eller indirekte har ladet sig inspirere heraf, vil jeg i stedet vove at komme nogle eksempler:
Oplagt er selvfølgelig at nævne Bolt & Jakobsens eget projekt Billed Politik fra 2010, der bestod af flere dele, og som havde et spænd, der gjorde det både kunstnerisk-aktivistisk og analytisk-teoretisk. Projektet rummede således en udstilling i Overgaden og et 2. akt i forbindelse med en forestilling på Det Kgl. Teater, der vel var baseret på idéen om "To Act in Culture While Being Against All Culture". Endvidere havde man arrangeret et filmprogram i Cinemateket, der anderledes synes at have været inspireret af Drakabyggets filmfestivaler. Om endelig blev der afholdt et seminar i Folkets Hus, der også dengang mundede ud i en antologi, nemlig Mikkel Bolt, Jakob Jakobsen & Morten Visby (red.): Billed Politik – at se er at dræbe (2010). [24]
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Installationsshot fra Jakob Jakobsens udstillingen "Billed Politik - brudstykker af samtidshistorien betragtet som tragedie" i Overgaden. Pressefoto
Et andet eksempel kunne være den amerikanske kunstner-aktivistgruppe The Yes Men, der anvender en form for détournement; en teknik, der blev udviklet af SI, og som går ud på at vende det kapitalistiske systems egne udtryk mod systemet selv. Typisk benytter The Yes Men således falske hjemmesider, falske pressemeddelelser og falske identiteter, der skal skabe situationer, der gør det muligt for dem at afsløre, hvordan multinationale selskaber og lobbyister fremstiller falske billeder af dem selv. The Yes Men kalder deres praksis for "Identity Corrections". [25]
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The Yes Men. Pressefoto fra filmen "The Yes Men Fix the World" (2009)
Endnu et eksempel kunne være den danske kunstnergruppe Wooloo.org, der arbejder med sociale eksperimenter. Bl.a. stod Wooloo.org bag projektet New Life Copenhagen i forbindelse med COP15 i København. Eftersom mange ikke kunne finde eller ikke havde råd til at betale for et sted at overnatte, overtalte de mange københavnere til at åbne deres hjem og give besøgende husly. Wooloo.org matchede vært og gæster og hjalp udenlandske delegerede og aktivister til mere end 3.000 gratis overnatninger. Med slogans som "dANMARK ER GÆSTFRIT" og "Participate or Die" synes projektet tillige at have været en kritik af den danske asylpolitik, som kunstnergruppen tidligere har bekæftiget sig med. New Life Copenhagen er siden overgået til at være et projekt, der finder husly til besøgende kunstnere, og Wooloo.org har dermed skabt deres egen fortolkning af en forening af kunst og livsverden.
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Visuel grafik af Wooloo.org i forbindelse med projektet "New Life Copenhagen" i 2008.
Også i forbindelse med kunstnerfestivalen Tumult i 2010 udfordrede Wooloo.org beboerne i landsbyen Horbelev. I syv dage fik de beboerne til at afstå fra at se TV for i stedet sammen dem at bygge en 52 meter lang kollektiv skulptur af gamle materialer, der blev fundet i landsbyens lader og garager. Projektet minder følgelig om Drakabyggets udstilling CO-RITUS.
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Wooloo.org’s projekt New Life Horbelev (2010). Pressefoto
Og endelig kunne et eksempel være den dansk/franske kunstner Thierry Geoffroy/COLONEL, der er ophavsmand til flere nye udstillings- og kunstformater. Bl.a. med sine "Emergency Rooms", der har været organiseret i København, Venedig, Hanoi og New York, og som på én gang er en kritik af maleriet med dets langsomme udførelsesproces og af selve kunstinstitutionen, undersøger COLONEL, hvorvidt kunstneren har mulighed for at spille en aktiv rolle i samfundet. Formålet med udstillingsformatet er således at træne kunstnere i at bruge deres visuelle ekspertise til hurtigt at reagere på de falske billeder, der er i omløb i medierne. Dette foregår i praksis ved, at et kunstnerkollektiv i en udstillingsperiode dagligt skaber værker, hvormed de inden for i kunstinstitutionen umiddelbart kommenterer på de aktuelle begivenheder, der foregår i verden udenfor.
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Installationshot fra COLONELs "Emergency Room" i MOMA i New York. Pressefoto
Også COLONELs øvrige formater er udviklet med henblik på at opøve en kritisk sans, som han selv betegner "the awareness muscle". COLONEL har følgelig skabt sin helt egen fortolkning af détournement, idet han bl.a. inddrager løb, fitnesscentre og sågar kinddans i en kritisk praksis, hvormed han opfordrer såvel kunstnere som almindelige mennesker til at deltage fysisk.
COLONEL anvender endvidere TV-, video- og sociale medier, og senest har han i samarbejde med bl.a. Copyflex begivet sig ind på musikmediet.
"DEMOCRACY" from the album DICTIONARY by COLONEL MUSIC
[1] Også seminaret var arrangeret af Bolt & Rasmussen i samarbejde med bl.a. Det Fri Universitet i København og Nordisk Netværk for Avantgarde-studier. Se programmet her.
[2] Titlen på udstillingen i Centre Pompidou var Sur le passage de quelques personnes à travers une assez courte unité de temps. A propos de l’Internationale Situationniste 1957-1972, og da udstillingen efterfølgende blev vist i London og i Boston, fik den den engelske titel On the passage of a few people through a brief moment in time. The Situationist International (1957-1972).
[3] Bolt & Jakobsen: "Introduction"; i: Expect Everything, Fear Nothing. The Situationist Movement in Scandinavia and Elsewhere (2011), s. 8.
[4] En af bogens bidragsydere, Stewart Home, foretager dog en lidt anden geografisk opdeling af bevægelsen. Home skriver således: "… the idea of Eurocentrism needs a further refinement if we are to understand why the activities of the Anglo-French Situationists are far better known in Britain, France and North America that those of the Scandinavian Situationist. … Britain, France and Germany … tend to view themselves as constituting the hub or core of this imperialist construct. Thus not simply language barriers but prejudice too has inhibited widespread discussion of the Situationist Bauhaus. Another factor is that since the dissemination of histories has traditionally been in written form, those constructing them tend to be biased towards textual sources and against visual ones – and it might be argued that although the French Situationists produced the most polished texts of this bifurcated movement, their visual work was weaker that that of the Scandinavian situationists."; Stewart Home: "The Self-mythologisation of the Situationist International", ibid. s. 214.
[5] Bolt & Jakobsen: "Introduction"; ibid, s. 9.
[6] Michelle Bernstein var da gift med Debord. Senere giftede hun sig med Ralph Rumney, der havde tilhørt den britiske fraktion, og som i én af teksterne i Expect Everything, Fear Nothing er citeret for i 1989 at have sagt: "Michéle had, and has, an extraordinary powerful and perceptive mind which is shown by the fact that she is among the most important literary critics in France today. A lot of the theory, particularly the political theory, I thing originated with Michéle rather than Debord, he just took it over and put his name on it"; Rumney citeret fra Stewart Home, ibid., s. 213.
[7] En engelsk oversættelse af Guy Debords La sociéte du spectacle (1967) kan downloades her. I 1973 lavede Debord ydermere en filmversion heraf i 9 dele. Links hertil kan findes i artiklen "Kampen om billedet", Modkraft.dk den 9. april 2010.
[8] Som repræsentant for SI havde Jorn i 1958 underskrevet Gruppe SPURs manifest, hvori man havde erklæret at have et tilhørsforhold til den europæiske avantgarde (futurisme, dadaisme og surrealisme).
[9] Ifølge de Jong skyldtes eksklusionen af de hollandske medlemmer deres arbejde med at designe en kirke.
[10] Anklagen var blevet rejst i forbindelse med 6. nummer af tidsskriftet SPUR.
[11] Undskyldningen for at ekskludere Gruppe SPUR var, at de ikke som aftalt havde bidraget til tidsskriftet Internationale Situationniste.
[12] Nash og Thorsen mødte hinanden på Wilhems Freddies udstilling i Galleri Køpcke, hvor Freddie præsenterede kopier af de værker, som politiet havde konfiskeret 24 år tidligere. Thorsen var da journalist på avisen Aktuelt.
[13] De Jong havde derfor også sat manifestet i The Situationist Times med den mindst mulige font, således at ingen kunne læse det. Gruppe SPUR havde øvrigt ikke underskrevet manifestet og valgte i 1962 helt at distancere sig herfra.
[14] Nöel Arnaud havde tidligere stået bag udgivelsen af tidsskriftet Surréalisme Révolutionnaire.
[15] De Jong i "A Maximum of Openness. Jacqueline de Jong in conversation with Karen Kurczynski", ibid., s. 189f.
[16] "Potlatch" er oprindelig navnet på en indiansk ceremoni, og ordet kommer fra det indianske sprog chinook.
[17] De Jong citeret fra ibid., s. 195.
[18] Citeret fra kolofonen i Expect Anything, Fear Nothing.
[19] Debord skrev en katalogtekst til udstillingen, der kan læses her.
[20] Mikkel Bolt: Avantgardens selvmord (2009), s. 12.
[21] Ibid., s. 16.
[22] Peter Bürger: Theory of the Avant-Garde (1984, opr. ty. 1974), s. 15.
[23] De Jong citeret fra Karen Kurczynski: "Red Herrings: Eccentric Morphologies in the Situationist Times", ibid., s. 173.
[24] Se også om Billed Politik i "Kampen om billedet", Modkraft.dk den 9. april 2010.
[25] Se også om The Yes Men i "The Yes Men Fix the World", Modkraft.dk. den 12. marts 2010.
I expected to find this bird in a denser, tree copse but luckily spotted him from a distance and he didn't flush. The previous photo shows how I originally found him, roosting much closer to the trunk. On several occasions, I have seen them roost low and close to the trunk, but most often in dense, dense stuff. However, at this location, this bird did not have much of a choice. I suspect he was moving through.